Rabbi Cohen’s Writings

Dear Friends, Earlier this week, at our congregation’s Annual Meeting, Rabbi Klein, President Bryan Bloom, and I had the opportunity to share some personal reflections. As you might expect, it was bittersweet to attend my final Annual Meeting, but I am gratified to know that this community is [...]

Dear Friends, Shavuot began as an agricultural festival celebrating the first fruits and the barley harvest. But the rabbis transformed it into something far more enduring: a celebration of Matan Torah, the giving of Torah at Sinai. In doing so, they connected Shavuot to perhaps the defining moment [...]

Dear Friends, In the small section of the Talmud known as Pirkei Avot—Ethics of the Fathers—we find a powerful teaching that is as relevant today as when it was first uttered. In it, the rabbis warn us to be cautious with our words, teaching, “חכמים, היזהרו בדבריכם”Sages, be [...]

Dear Friends, As we approach the Festival of Shavuot, I wanted once again to spend some time this week exploring teachings from the small section of the Mishnah known as Pirkei Avot. Tradition teaches that we read one chapter each week between Passover and Shavuot, and one particular teaching [...]