Conversation with Ari Melber packs Alliance campaign event

PROVIDENCE – A lot of people figured that a guy like Ari Melber, MSNBC and NBC chief legal correspondent and host of “The Beat,” would have some insight into the current political situation in the United States. They packed the Baxt Social Hall at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center. There were so many people that they spilled into the adjacent Board Room to watch on a livestream set up there.

Melber did not disappoint.

On Nov. 3,  an evening when there was plenty of competition for sports fans’ time, Alliance CEO Adam Greenman welcomed the 450 people attending with the promise that “we will get you out of here by 8 o’clock,” in time to get home for the Patriots’ showdown game against Baltimore. He went on to thank the crowd for support of the annual campaign to foster a stronger, more vibrant Jewish community.

There were welcomes by event chairs Pamela and Jeffrey Vogel and James Pious, chair of the board, who announced that the 2020 campaign thus far has raised more than $1.3 million from 787 donors.

Alan Rosenberg, executive editor of The Providence Journal, asked Melber questions in an informal interview-style format followed by audience-submitted questions. The program lasted about 90 minutes.

For more highlights of the evening and the questions and answers, go to http://bit.ly/33OR6Kz.