What does it mean to be courageous, especially during times that, on the surface, call for resignation? Through an exploration of Jewish history, rabbinic thought, and High Holiday liturgy, Rabbi Zuckerman reflects on the bravery that is hard-wired in the DNA of the Jewish people.

How do a people in exile maintain their traditions, ideals, and knowledge of history? Rabbi Zuckerman explains that Jewish survival is not dependent on rebuilding a physical structure, but rather by maintaining a structure of learning and nurturing Jewish identity, and how you can bring these str...

Can you imagine peace between sworn enemies? Through the story of how Jews and former Nazis cooperated to find and reinter the remains of an American Jewish soldier buried in a German mass grave, Rabbi Cosgrove offers hope that the enmities of our day may also be resolved someday.

What happens after a fragile vessel shatters? Rabbi Cosgrove teaches that the divine light of our loved ones remains even after they are no longer present, and especially at Yizkor, we can still gather their sparks.

How do we heal from so much pain and loss this year? Rabbi Koffman reflects on what we can learn from the framework of Mourner’s Kaddish.

Do you have hope for the future? Rabbi Cosgrove teaches that all of Jewish history has been a series of trials and tests, and it is hope that has sustained the Jewish people throughout. To guarantee the Jewish future, we must channel our hope into living vibrant Jewish lives.

What do we seek when entering a synagogue? By way of a visit to his grandfather’s synagogue, Rabbi Cosgrove teaches that we hope to experience gratitude for the people and values that have shaped us and to dedicate ourselves to becoming even better versions of ourselves.

The moment of Yizkor makes us aware of the finite and indefinite length of our lives. Rabbi Cosgrove encourages us not only to remember our debts to those who have gone before but also to recognize our responsibility to those who will follow us and will, in time, remember us.

Anger is part of our shared human experience and the core of what Yom Kippur is about. Rabbi Zauzmer describes three categories of anger and derives lessons from God's anger to help us manage our own.

While we hope for long life, we fear the inevitable losses of old age; most of all, we fear becoming irrelevant. Rabbi Cosgrove charges us with revering our elders, not only by caring for their physical and social needs, but above all, by maintaining their values in our own lives.

In an imagined conversation with the founding father of Zionism, Rabbi Cosgrove assesses the accomplishments, the aspirations, and the complexities of the Jewish state, and provides a charge for us all to create strong Jewish identities.

Rabbi Zauzmer explores the meaning of honey on Rosh Hashanah and throughout the year. Through sharing about her own upbringing, she discusses how we can create our own sweet Jewish traditions (metaphorical "honey moments") to instill a love of Judaism in our children, our grandchildren, and ourse...

Given that our lives can be upended in an instant, Rabbi Cosgrove exhorts us to make every day count, taking on personal agency through teshuvah/repentance, tefillah/spiritual living, and tzedakah/righteous giving.

What does eating apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah mean to you? Rabbi Cosgrove suggests several possible explanations to consider and discuss over the holidays.

Occasion(s) / Rosh Hashanah

Jewish law differentiates between ideal and nonideal situations. Rabbi Witkovsky uses this distinction to help us navigate the nonideal world in which we find ourselves. We must choose the values that are truly important to us and fight for them.

Occasion(s) / Rosh Hashanah

Judaism has survived periods of calamity because visionary leaders have transformed Jewish life to accommodate changed circumstances.

Occasion(s) / Erev Rosh Hashanah

The pandemic has contracted our horizons and cost us innumerable losses, but we can still find hope and meaning in what we do. Rabbi Cosgrove encourages us to find and create beauty and joy even within the smaller scale of our lives.

Occasion(s) / Rosh Hashanah

Let me tell you, it’s never been easy to be the rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue, beginning with our founding rabbi, Edward Benjamin Morris Browne.

Occasion(s) / Rosh Hashanah

If our synagogue’s present construction serves as any indication, then on that first Shabbat of Creation, when the good Lord stepped back to behold the divine handiwork, the wi-fi was nowhere near close to being hooked up.

Occasion(s) / Rosh Hashanah

There are people, explains the Talmud, who koneh olamo b’sha·ah ehat (Avodah Zarah 10b), who “acquire eternity in a moment,” and for Joseph Welch, that moment occurred on June 9, 1954. The context was a post-war America unnerved by fears of Communist influence and sub...