Claim OwnershipBeth El of Manhattan, Two-Testament Synagogue
Subscribed: 27Played: 951
Subscribe
© 2026 Congregation Beth El of Manhattan
Description
Rabbi Bruce L. Cohen’s sermons at Congregation Beth El of Manhattan – an unaffiliated Conservative Synagogue of "Two-Testament" Judaism in the Upper East Side of New York City – where Jewish people and “People of Calling” (not born Jewish), and Interfaith couples come together in Manhattan since 1993 to observe, connect, and celebrate. For more information, please visit us online at www.bethelnyc.org or an Facebook.
282 Episodes
Reverse
In the Parasha "Lech Lecha" we have what is considered by many Scripture scholars "the" core text on God-following in the entire Bible. The Hebrew is an idiom for "get going" - but it literally means "go to yourself." Your true self. The reason you are on the planet. "Home." Your genuine "spot" in the center of God's will and the reasons for which He brought you into being. We continue to explore this idea of "Home" we started with last Shabbat.
In our era, it is tempting to retreat from the storm-tossed world into a faith-life that is meditative, contemplative, and sealed off. Is this essentially monastic life God's goal for us in regard to "holiness?" Or – is the goal of contemplation the development of right views leading to the kind of rightful agency in the real world we call "doing justice?" We explore from the Haftarah this week affixed to the Torah portion, "Kedoshim.".
An examination of specific examples of denominational theologies having produced inaccurate translations: and a recounting of my lunch with the late Dr, Alan F. Segal, PhD, professor of religion at Columbia University in New York City, in which he and I explored a"tortured text" – a skewed translation of Mark 7:19 in regard to kosher laws affecting Jewish perpetuity.
In this week's Torah portion we see the Exodus from Egypt being accomplished with miracles involved in the process. The words used for what God did were "Otot" (signs) and "Mof'téem" (marvels). In Psalm 71, the writer says, "I have become a 'marvel." ("Mo-fétt" singular of "Mof-téem.") How exactly does a *person* become a "marvel?"
What does it mean that we have been given awareness of, access to, use of, and right to "stand within" The Name Above Every Name? The name of Yeshua The Messiah. We steep ourselves in His Name in this message. Enjoy!
The Haftarah with this week's Torah portion "VaYechi," closing out the book of Genesis, shows King David at the end of his life cleaning up loose ends and passing the baton to his son, Solomon. It is not a one-dimensional story of "happily ever after." It is a balanced story of fulfillments, disappointments, enjoyable blessings to pour out, and unpleasant-but-necessary justice & statecraft to put into action. King David rises off his death bed to put his last efforts into right outcomes after his passing. A very balancing read.
God's very Name in which we are told to trust (Isaiah 50:10) is "Rakhum V'Chanun" – Compassionate & Merciful. We see the traits in this Name surface especially clearly in moments of high chaos like this week's Parasha in which Jacob returns to Beth El, and his name is changed to "Israel" after he wrestles for his rightful destiny with passionate endurance.
How do we go about rightly being fallible Human Mortals following and effectively accessing the Perfect God among Imperfect Humans in A Stormy and Unsafe Universe? This sermon "gropes for truth" as to these questions through the powerfully unvarnished and candid Patriarchal Narratives of Genesis.
This week's Torah and Haftarah are both about the endgame of human existence. Everyone ages and passes away - and for the aging and the bereaved, the rest of life does not necessarily go kind and gentle before, during, or afterwards. This week, we watch some of life's hardest hammer-blows land on God-following (not perfect) souls (Abraham and David), and learn from these passages which other Scripture tells us "were written down as examples for us, of our instruction." (1Cor. 10:11) So - let us learn together.
Choice-making narrows our world. Choosing to be a long-distance runner has inherent in it the choice to be often alone. The story of Noah gives us a sobering portrait of how some choices in God-following and truth-living can lead to seasons narrow or lonely - with Noah as an extreme example. Scripture also teaches us how people of truth survive such storms. We solemnly engage with this lesson this week.
The Hebrew word "HaBai'yitah" (Home) has been rich in the news as the remaining living Israeli Hostages in Gaza were returned home to Israel. "Home" is a sentiment deep in the heart of the People Israel in the Jewish homeland - and scattered across the world. "Home" for God-followers is a concept God defines: and His definition is worthy of serious contemplation. And so - we ponder, together.
We are commanded to rejoice exclusively for seven days, and yet we are conscious of the Hostages still in Gaza as we rejoice, like background radiation in everything we do. As Believers who seek to do God's will as revealed through His Word, how do we SANELY engage with life as life throws itself at us? We are not the first generation of God-followers to have such a balancing act made incumbent upon us. We explore together.
Since we cannot deliver perfection to God or humankind in our actions or ideas ... how can we live with reasonable "shalom" in a world filled with error/sin-committing-and-repeating creatures ... like ourselves?
Fresh from "Tashlikh," we are full of consciousness of God's mercy that leads to relationship with Him in this world (Olam Ha'zeh), and eternity with Him in the next (Olam Ha-Ba). We take a deep dive into God's mercy toward us - and right mercy toward ourselves and our fellow human beings. AFTER the sermon is a 1981 recording by the musical group Kol Simcha of a song our Rabbi Bruce Cohen composed, arranged, and played piano on - based on Micah 7:18-20, one of today's Haftarah passages, and the very passage upon which Rosh HaShanah's "Tashlikh" ceremony is based. Shanah Tovah.
How do we get to "new" from where we are now? With all swirling about us in the news and our own human life-journeys, how do we genuinely walk in the spirit of the greeting "Shanah Tovah L'cha" - "A Good Year For You!" beyond merely practicing "mindfulness" on the purely human level?
The Haftarah for the Torah parasha Ki Tavo this week exhorts, "Rise, and shine!" This means someone is needed to arise, and some darkness needs light to shine into it." Judges 5 tells us, "Village life in Israel ceased until I arose ..." A person arose - and life restarted, and darkness was dispelled. How does this dynamic apply to each of us - now - today - in our individual arcs of influence?
[FYI - Sermon is only 11 minutes in length.] Continuation of the theme of "Ahavat Adam" ("love of all humankind) from recent sermons, "do not look out for your own interests, but for those of others also," (Philippians 2:4) ... an attitude Scripture tells us "was in Messiah Yeshua" and exhorts us to "let it be in you also." We are to factor in the interests of all humankind for whom Messiah offered up Himself. (Isa. 49:6ff)
In this week's Haftarah, God promises those who come to Him for guidance the same mercies given to King David, himself. What hope do we have of meriting such things as "the man after God's own heart" received from On High? Well ... given King David's nearly bipolar history of glories and errors – it turns out, our chances are pretty good. Let's study and see.
On the 2nd Saturday of every month, we have an abbreviated Shabbat morning service with no Torah Service or Sermon, so after services the synagogue's members and attendees can do "Nosh n Drash" – a communal discussion of the weekly Torah portion and other writings or ideas related to it. S0 - instead of a sermon, this week we share with you our Rabbi's reading of the weekly Haftarah portion from the Prophet Isaiah 40:1-11,, in the style we read the Torah in Beth El services, based on Nehemiah 8:8's clear description of how The Scriptures were read to Israel. Enjoy!
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States