Beth El of Manhattan, Two-Testament Synagogue
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Beth El of Manhattan, Two-Testament Synagogue
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 199...
Episodis Recents
296 episodis
Hearing
"Accepting the Lord" (Psalm 2 & Psalm 24) involves exactly that: we come to be "saved" (in right standing with God) when we "accept (God as) The Lord"...
Two Leaders Sharing (Abbreviated Service)
Since there was a mini-service on 16 May with the rabbi absent, and no service on 23 May due to Memorial Day – we offer this in place of the usual ser...
God *Does* In The Real World
When God commanded us as Israel to do a "Shmittah" or a Jubilee year (every 7 years let the land rest without being farmed for a solid year) ... God a...
Not For Nothing (Schrödinger's Futility) :-)
We are told in Romans 8:20-21 that God has woven **apparent** futility into the fabric of existence in the material universe. Yet, Scripturally, it ex...
Not My Toy Or Trophy
Sermon Subtitle: "Limping With The Limp With Which God Has Made Us A Limper" Aaron, the first High Priest, lost both his sons early in the Exodus jour...
Beyond The Emoji Exodus
Going beyond reduction to simplicities and soundbites, the Scriptures tell a story of Israel's national origin that is highly complex and filled with...
The Flying "Nuun"
In the Torah portion this week there is an enlarged "nuun" (Hebrew Letter "N") in every Torah scroll's Exodus 34:7. This number in Hebrew represents t...
Change Is Coming
A double holiday with great meaning for Two Testament synagogues all over the world. God has declared certain things will happen. Not might happen - W...
Commanded To Command
"And you shall command ..." the week's Torah portion starts. Commands, vows, and promises powerfully elevate ideas by eliminating alternative options....
The Power Of Two ... Or More
"And Moses congregated the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and said to them, 'These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do.'"...
According To The Pattern ...
With the intricate descriptions of exactly how God wants the implements of the Temple Service to be made, we are given an summary commandment: "See to...
Love & Love ... And Love
This week's Torah portion "Mishpatim" contains an exquisite rhapsody on resisting the very human urge to attack and exploit weakness. It takes us to s...
God Ideas vs. Good Ideas
Revelation from God interferes with things coming naturally to humans: hurtful or wrongful deeds we often reflexively do. The 10 Commandments go to th...
Saved To The Uttermost (on "Shabbat Shirah")
In this parasha Beshalach on "Shabbat Shirah" – "The (Red Sea rescue) Song-Shabbat" – we hear sung, "And you have become my salvation." This salvation...
Becoming A Marvel
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 we...
The Name Above Every Name
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 T...
And They All Lived Happily Ever After
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...
Mercy Is The Air We Breathe
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 e...
Dysfunction Junction
How do we go about rightly being fallible Human Mortals following and effectively accessing the Perfect God among Imperfect Humans in A Stormy and Uns...
Going On While Bereaved
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...
The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner
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 s...
HaBai'yitah (Home)
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" i...
The Honey AND (Not OR) The Stinger
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 radiatio...
We Can't Deliver Perfection To God Or Each Other
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 err...
The Mercy Of Return (with Special Musical Treat At End)
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...
Newness From Here And Now
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...
Rise And Shine. Or ...
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...
Othering: Am I My Brother's Keeper? - Part 2
[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...
The Sure Mercies Of David
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 meriti...
Haftarat "Nachamu" Reading
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...
Right For Me, Right For Us - Part 2
We continue this Shabbat with the theme of interwovenness: how our decision-making is guided by balancing what Scripture calls "our own interests" wit...
Boundary-Making (with "Messiah Morsel" After Sermon)
We learn this week how "me" is balanced by "we."
This week's parasha "Matot/Maasei" continues our learning from the situation of...
God Remembers Devotion
God, Himself, declares, "I remember your devotion in your youth, the way you followed Me into a wasteland with no life in it." What grace! God remembe...
Daily Bread
Everything is not relative. That perspective can affect accuracy of understanding is genuinely an important consideration; but still, there are still...
The Song of "It Can't Be Done."
In the parasha, "Shelakh" we see what became our synagogue's logo: the Two Spies carrying the "Eshkol" (cluster of fruit). They saw the "land flowing...
The Shining (God's Name Placed Upon Us)
The "Aaronic Benediction" is described by God in the verse following it as "how you (the Aaronic Priesthood) shall put My Name on the children of Isra...
A Promise, Not A Command
The statement in the opening of this week's parasha is in the Hebrew future tense, which can read as either a statement of a future event, or a comman...
A Place For Us
Rabbi Bruce's first sermon back from his six-month sabbatical. [NOTE: Please forgive the sound quality: the air conditioner above the podium was mista...
Obedience
"These are the things the Lord has *commanded* (not suggested for) you to do."
The Fleas Come With The Dog
In this sermon for the weekly Torah portion "Terumah" (Voluntary Offering), Rabbi Bruce explores in deep detail and with personal examples how to repl...