Rabbi Cohen’s Writings

Dear Friends, One of the things I most love about studying our tradition is that there are always new ways to view and understand familiar texts, rituals, and holidays. That’s particularly true this year, and a recent insight will change the way Hanukkah is observed in the Cohen-Goldberg [...]

Dear friends, Last week, we had the privilege of welcoming Dr. Rachel Fish as our resident scholar. I was delighted to have my friend Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz welcome our communities from the TSTI bimah and was deeply moved when the clergy from both congregations harmonized to create beautiful [...]

Dear Friends, This week’s Torah portion begins with Jacob fleeing his home. Esau, enraged after Jacob tricked him out of the birthright, the special status and inheritance the eldest son received in Biblical times, vowed revenge. Consequently, Jacob found himself alone in the wilderness. The Torah recounts Jacob’s [...]

Dear Friends, It is rather amazing to me that the day after Thanksgiving, a day based on the Jewish holiday of gratitude known as Sukkot, has become a day of conspicuous consumption as companies offer discounts in the hopes of capturing our dollars. Then, not content with just [...]