Rabbi Cohen’s Writings

Dear Friends, Pikudei, this week’s Torah portion, is the last portion in the Book of Exodus. In addition to bringing the second book of the Torah to a close, it concludes the weeks-long process of collecting materials and fabricating them into the Tabernacle, the portable Temple our ancestors [...]

Dear Friends, In this week’s Torah portion, Vayakhel, the people are commanded to take the next step toward turning the “mixed multitude” that left Egypt into a sacred community. Anyone motivated to be one of the foundational community “builders” is invited to do so. As the text tells [...]

Dear Friends, Happy Purim!! While rereading the Book of Esther earlier this week, I noticed something that had previously escaped me and I’m finding it offers some powerful and relevant lessons for our own day. Let me step back a bit. As the story of Purim unfolds, Esther [...]

Dear Friends, Shamor v’zachor b’dibur echad. This phrase, which is uttered every Friday night to welcome Shabbat, is derived from the difference between the wording of the two statements of the aseret hadibrot—the Ten Commandments. In the Book of Exodus, we are commanded to “remember, zachor, the Shabbat.” In the Book of Deuteronomy, [...]