Dear Friends,
As I write this final Shabbat message as your rabbi, I find myself returning to one word:
Gratitude.
For thirty-four years, I have had the extraordinary privilege of serving a community I love. Few people are blessed to spend an entire career doing work that gives their lives such purpose and meaning. I have never taken that gift for granted.
Thank you for allowing me into your lives.
Thank you for inviting me to celebrate your simchas and to walk beside you through heartbreak. Together we welcomed children into the covenant, stood beneath chuppot, mourned loved ones, wrestled with difficult questions, celebrated life’s milestones, and sought to bring a little more holiness into the world.
Those moments were never simply my work. They were among the greatest blessings of my life.
Like every enduring relationship, ours had moments of disagreement and challenge. But never—not for a single day—did I lose sight of what an extraordinary privilege it was to serve as your rabbi.
Pirkei Avot teaches:“Lo alecha hamlacha ligmor, v’lo ata ben chorin l’hibatel mimena.”“You are not obligated to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.”
Over these past weeks, I have found myself thinking about those words often.
None of us ever finishes the work. We simply carry it faithfully for a time and then, with gratitude and humility, place it into the hands of those who follow.
That is the story of this congregation.
Long before I arrived, generations of devoted members built a community rooted in Torah, compassion, generosity, and Jewish commitment. I simply had the privilege of adding my chapter to its remarkable story.
And now a new chapter begins.
I leave with complete confidence in Rabbi Allie Klein, Cantor Rebecca Moses, our extraordinary staff, devoted lay leadership, and all of you. Because what has always made TSTI extraordinary was never its building or even its clergy.
It has always been its people.
The quiet acts of kindness no one sees.
The meals delivered.
The hospital visits.
The phone calls.
The volunteers who simply keep showing up.
The willingness to care for one another, even when we don’t always agree.
That is what makes a synagogue holy.
As Raina and I prepare to begin our new life in Israel, we do so with hearts overflowing with gratitude. We will carry this community with us always.
If, over these thirty-four years, I helped even a few people feel more connected—to Judaism, to Israel, to this congregation, or simply to one another—then I will consider my rabbinate a blessing beyond anything I deserve.
At the conclusion of each book of Torah we proclaim:Chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek.Be strong, be strong, and let us strengthen one another.
Those words have always captured the essence of Jewish life for me. We strengthen one another. We carry one another. And in doing so, we build communities that endure from generation to generation.
Thank you for your trust.
Thank you for your friendship.
Thank you for allowing me the extraordinary privilege of serving as your rabbi.
May God bless you, bless this sacred congregation, and bless the Jewish people.
Shabbat Shalom,Rabbi Daniel M. Cohen
P.S. Raina and I will both be posting our experiences on Facebook, and I’ll be sharing future Shabbat messages, articles, and musings on my Substack page.