Rabbi Cohen’s Writings

Dear Friends, Other than the Shehecheyanu blessing that thanks God for allowing us to share moments of power and importance, perhaps the most famous blessing in all of Judaism appears in this week's Torah portion. Birkat Cohanim—the Priestly Blessing—is a three-sentence blessing that is used to recognize the [...]

Dear Friends, Thank you to everyone who attended the TSTI Annual Meeting this past week. For those unable to attend I wanted to share both my and out Temple President Bryan Bloom’s remarks. Wishing you all a Shabbat of Peace. Rabbi Daniel Cohen My Words:  https://vimeo.com/954866268 Good evening. [...]

Dear Friends, The period between Passover and Shavuot is known as Sefirat HaOmer—the Counting of the Omer. By ritually announcing each day for seven weeks, we mark our ancestors’ journey from the shores of the Reed Sea to their arrival at the foot of Mt Sinai. It was [...]

Dear Friends, In the small section of the Talmud known as Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of Our Fathers, we find the following teaching: “Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Perachya says, ‘Make for yourself a teacher and acquire for yourself a friend, and judge each person favorably.” (Pirke Avot Chapter 1, [...]