“A story,” wrote the director, screenwriter, and film critic Jean Luc Goddard, “should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order.” What he meant, as evidenced by his own films, is that when it comes to the sequencing of a story in a movie or, for that matter, a book
January 12, 2019
The Great Schism
Occasion(s) / Bo
If you have ever taught Hebrew School or been a student in a Hebrew school classroom, then you know that one of the great set inductions for a discussion of Jewish identity is the deceptively simple question: “Is Judaism a religion?” The immediate response from the class will often be a resoundin
January 05, 2019
Hardened Hearts
Occasion(s) / Va-era
Of all the interpretive riddles that have perplexed biblical commentators over the ages, none is more longstanding and insoluble than the matter of Pharaoh’s hardened heart.
December 15, 2018
Hidden Goblets
Occasion(s) / Va-yiggash
The conventional wisdom regarding this week’s Torah reading and its placement in the Joseph cycle is as follows:
December 01, 2018
One-Sixtieth
Occasion(s) / Va-yeishev
Of all the questions connected to tomorrow night’s festival of Hanukkah, the seemingly most straightforward is “Why is Hanukkah eight nights?” The Talmud relates that having defeated their Greek oppressors, the Maccabees entered the Temple to rededicate it and found only a single cruse of oil, en
November 18, 2018
Excelsior!
Occasion(s) / Va-yetzei
Like an archeologist unearthing a long-forgotten artifact, I ventured into the deepest corner of my apartment’s storage locker to unearth a treasure that has not been touched since we arrived ten years ago.
November 02, 2018
#PittsburghStrong
Occasion(s) / Hayyei Sarah
Of all the gut-checking, gulp-inducing moments of this past week, the one I want to focus on this morning was, relatively speaking, rather modest.
October 12, 2018
Stand!
Occasion(s) / Noah
More than the 19.8 seconds of lightning-fast speed, fifty years later, it is the ninety seconds of motionless and statuesque protest that we will remember this week. The date was October 16, 1968; the setting was the Olympic Games in Mexico City. The event was the 200-meter race.
September 28, 2018
A Time to Speak
Occasion(s) / Sukkot
Long before present day political divides, first century rabbinic society was divided into two separate houses: the House of Hillel and the House of Shammai. As I mentioned over the High Holidays, their disputes ranged from matters ritual, ethical, and theological to the truly mundane.
September 19, 2018
Rabbi Dr. Aaron Panken, z"l
Occasion(s) / Yom Kippur, Yizkor
Taking inspiration from his friend and colleague Rabbi Aaron Panken, z”l, Rabbi Cosgrove enjoins us to make the values of our loved ones meaningful in our own lives.