Rabbi Cohen’s Writings

Dear Friends, For reasons I’ll explain shortly, I’ve been thinking about one particular aspect of the upcoming Hanukkah festival more than usual this year—the latke. As is so often the case in Jewish life, it is the food—the smells and the tastes—that evoke memories of holidays long past. [...]

Dear Friends, Back in rabbinic school one of my teachers described his approach to Jewish ritual in a way that has stayed with me ever since. There were, he said, the practices he observed and then there were the practices he did not observe… yet. He pictured the [...]

Dear Friends, I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with family, friends, good food, and, most importantly, time to step back and recognize the blessings that fill our lives. This week’s Torah portion brings us into one of the most vulnerable moments of Jacob’s life. Having deceived Esau, Jacob [...]

Dear Friends, This week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah, carries a surprising name. It means “The Life of Sarah,” yet it opens not with Sarah’s life, but with her death: “Sarah’s lifetime, the span of Sarah’s life, came to one hundred and twenty-seven years. Sarah died in Kiriath-arba—now Hebron—in [...]