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From Rabbi Cohen: Moses
He was having the vacation of all time up there on Mount Sinai: not an iota of stress, the unmistakable sense that everything was a-ok. He was spending time with the best friend a lawgiver could ever have, and Moses had never felt better. Even some chronic pain that had recently taken residence in his […]
From Rabbi Cohen: All Creatures Great and Small
Of dogs and cats and critters like that: when you see your neighbor’s donkey lying under its burden Is it not uncommon on the Zoom with you folks these days to see a critter or two cross in the background of someone’s rectangle, or even into the foreground. Usually a dog or a cat, these animals […]
From Rabbi Cohen: The Ten Commandments
This week’s Torah portion contains the Ten Commandments. I first saw the Cecil B. DeMille blockbuster The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston when I was around six years old. DeMille took the biblical tale and gave it the full star treatment. The actual giving of the Ten Commandments in the movie was full of thunder and lightning […]
Purim – It’s Time to Celebrate!
Congregation Beth Shalom is happy to provide you with a unique opportunity to fulfill two mitzvot of Purim this year: the giving of tzedakah and Mishloach Manot–Sh’lach Manos, or sending packages of food to friends. You can honor your Beth Shalom friends and support your synagogue while following this wonderful tradition. For more info and […]
From Rabbi Cohen: The Birthday of Trees
Today, Thursday, is the festival of Tu B’Shvat, the fifteenth of the Hebrew month Shevat, the day we celebrate the vast world of trees among which we are blessed to dwell. It’s a festival that has found deep resonance among our people for many centuries. The 16th century Kabbalists of Tsvat in northern Israel took what was mainly […]
From Rabbi Cohen: Judaism and the Messiah
The central idea of the Jewish tradition is the concept of the messiah. I’m not sure how many Jews think about the messiah other than that we well know that messianism dominates Christianity. But if you’ve not considered this, trust me. It’s true. In Judaism, of course, messianism is different from Christianity, but critical nonetheless. […]
