Beth El of Manhattan, Two-Testament Synagogue

A stirring look at the utter disruption of a family's entire status quo, leading to greater self-realization, long-unfulfilling goals – and challenges along the way that boggle the imagination.

Since last Saturday morning was Simchat Torah, and no sermon was given in the Shabbat morning service in Manhattan - so we offer Rabbi Bruce Cohen's sermon "in" Congregation Beit Ariel of Cape Town, South Africa - given via video the evening before for Erev Simchat Torah there. We hope you enjoy it! Shalom.

In North Carolina last week, people of both political parties, facing Hurricane Helene's recent damages impeding their ability to get to voting stations, became a shining example of what America can be if her citizens decide to be the non-adversarial, right versions of themselves. Let us feast together on the encouragement coming from a great real-life example of many Scriptural precepts about par...

How Yeshua the Messiah's atonement provided by God is not just "'a' way to God," but "'THE' (exclusive, single, only) way" to God ... given there were countless people who lived and died before His arrival in Israel; and there have always been human beings far out of reach of hearing about, or knowing of the faith of Israel.

Handling things of the highest value in ways their value deserves; and avoiding toying with things in life not meant to be toyed with.

Shabbat "Shuvah" is the "Sabbath of 'Return'" after Yom Teruah (aka, "Rosh HaShanah") and before Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement. Returning to God is taught to us by Messiah Yeshua in the form of the parable of "The Prodigal Son." It is a powerful model of how return from irrational separation into relational joy is enabled by rational and spiritual erasure of ill-founded shame.

Creating rightful newness by removing what IS, which has no or lesser merit - and replacing it with what SHOULD BE, having greater merits as to accuracy or truthfulness. Specific example: assaying for merit the system of "trope" - the tradition of singing the Torah scroll's contents –– rather than following the one clear model Scripture gives us (per Isaiah 8:20) of how to run a Torah service. (Ne...

From the Parasha, as to how the Levites became the priesthood. Don Quixote style, they saw things others did not see, and so acted in ways masses of other others did not act. Human history's heroes are such. We explore this idea together.

The ceremony of the First-fruits commanded in this parasha has the impact of connecting FORWARD parts of the Jewish journey in God's will with the PREVIOUS legs of the journey. As Yeshua of Nazareth taught, "Others before you have labored, and you have entered into their labors." Healthy connection to the past is important to the present and future. We explore this in the parasha "Ki Tavo" today.

The path of God-following offers us guidance at times seeming supremely wise, and at other times, outright folly. How shall we find our way forward with such polar opposites of possibility?

The ritual at the end of this Parasha ends with a statement of the impact of "doing what is 'yashar' in the sight of God." Yeshua our Messiah taught us often, saying, "The kingship/dom of God is like ..." followed by a parable to open up how God's reign "works" in the real world. We use these Scriptures and others to open the idea of seeking God's view of what is "yashar" in any given situation.

In this week;'s Torah parasha, "Re'eh" – are commanded to see. This by the God who made us capable of "scotoma" - the willful blanking out of relevant ideas and rational thought leading to healthy conclusions, and replacing them with ill-formed prejudices, gaslighting, and other unhealthy psycho-gymnastics. What is a human-being trying to find and walk in truth to do?

Parashat "Ekev" - a study in the nature of, and results from, hearing God, when He calls to each of us.

It is natural for human beings to seek comfort: relief from stress, or healing from harm. In this, as with all human appetites, we are prone to both accuracy and error. CAN genuine comfort be found? And if so, WHERE? What IS it? WHAT does it feel and look like? What placebos try to replace it? This week's parasha "V'Etchanen" and its Haftarah (from which the Shabbat's title, "Nachamu" derives) pro...

Essentially, this sermon is about living during season of history when shalom is in short supply. In an era of conflict, how do we, as believe ... live, and do more than just survive? How do we love, enjoy life, do meaningful work that brings us personal satisfaction ...? All these, during times of crisis or war? We explore.

This week's Haftarah shows how far into folly we humans can go when we invent "religion" from of our own ideas. How do we avoid falling into the traps of false religion, and end up with genuine "revelation" – knowledge or direction from On High?

The central concept in this week's parasha is rightful "zeal," as demonstrated by Pinchas ben Eliezer. We look this week at such zeal in modern Zionism - in Hemda Ben Yehuda, the 2nd wife of Eliezer ben Yehuda, and partner in the resurrection of the Hebrew language, whose unpublished autobiography of the life she and her husband lived for the sake of their work was, "The War With Satan" – clearly,...

From the Haftarah for "Balak" (Micah 5:6-8) - a stunning portrait of Israel's sojourn in Exile, easy to read past because of the poetry within which it is expressed; and the uneasy subject of human jealousy as it influences Antisemitism and other behavior from ancient times up to the present day. We dive in - deep.

After our People lived 430 years next to the Nile River - a four thousand mile source of always-flowing fresh, drinkable water -God led us into a terrifying desert: "The Tzin Wilderness." It was a landscape appearing void of water, food, and safety. Then, Miriam the prophetess died, so our leadership team was down from 3 to 2. Our People were being tested to the limit of their endurance. What can...

In this week's Torah portion, we see the standard for genuine spirituality set - Aaron's almond branch budded: the only one to do so among all the tribes; and this singular token, God directs to be put "on watch" in the Tabernacle, to quench the complaints of the "B'nai Mey-ri" (sons of rebellion). We are directed to the immense importance of genuine truth-seeking vs. self-exaltation by outwardly...

Directly inspired from this week's Haftarah in Joshua 2 in the story of Rahab. The Founders of The United States of America chose to separate themselves from the greatest military power on earth - and on this date in 1776, openly published why. The courage and clarity it took to choose this "treasonous" path is an inspiration to every generation since - and was quoted by Golda Meir on 14 May 1948...

God says in this week's HAftarah, "I'm arriving now ... and here's what will happen as a result." We explore what this Haftarah opens up about the reality of God's שְׁכִינָה "Shechi'nah" - his manifest, dwelling Presence, which the Messiah Yeshua's atoning sacrifice made available to us without our judicial debt of sin before God blocking the way.

The Gershonites were given a dismaying assignment by God in this parasha: the exact same kind of labor they did as slaves back in Egypt. We never read of one word of complaint from the Gershonim ... how did they do it? How did they accept their assignment from God in a "good spirit?" The Kibbutz Mentality, as expressed in this sermon, is a clarity as to VALUE: "A community of THIS kind MUST rise H...

In this parasha, we read "in the wilderness of Sinai." We were taken into the desert. But ... what about when God allows the desert to close in on us?

The Jewish People, and all God-following Two-Testament Believers, have gone through many seasons of history during which "big" problems – like being enslaved, being in exile, being exploited, or hated, or hunted, or blamed en masse - have gone unsolved by prayer and the "arrival" of God's "mighty hand and outstretched arm for years, decades, or centuries – and yet, within their personal capsules o...