Dovid M. Cohen, at The Blogs

Mar 19, 2024, 1:13 AM

Holding Out for a Hero: Our Boys in Green

Completion of Officers Training Course:

On the left- Amitai Granot HY"D
Third from the left- Eitan Fisch HY"D
Fifth from the left- Daniel Peretz HY"D

חבל על דאבדין ולא מתשכחין

Picture courtesy of the Granot Family

On Thursday evening January 17, 1991, I was carrying an Uzi tasked with guarding the perimeter of Kibbutz Shaalvim and the Hesder Yeshiva on its grounds. Suddenly, around midnight, I heard a massive boom. I sped back with my weapon to my dorm room, which doubled...

Mar 11, 2024, 7:01 PM

The Uzi is Defunct but the Feelings Are Still Real

Jewish Trauma post October 7th 2023 On Thursday evening January 17, 1991, I was carrying an Uzi tasked with guarding the perimeter of a Kibbutz in Israel upon which my gap-year program was situated. Suddenly, around midnight, I heard a...

Aug 28, 2023, 11:47 AM

Abba/Zeide

The past year was encapsulated by two personal milestones. The first milestone was my fiftieth birthday celebrated on shabbos bereishis. Not having been to Israel since before the pandemic, my wife & I made the trip in November for four days to...

Sep 17, 2020, 7:13 PM

The Audacity of Hope

I admit stealing my title from President Barack Obama. That's because the title fits what I'm feeling on the last days of 5780. Fifteen years ago, my life took a detour. I was married for fifteen months and my first...

Jun 23, 2020, 9:45 PM

World Mask: Re-Thinking A Mask In a Pandemic

"The Emperor's New Clothes” is a tale written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1837. It is a story of the illusion of an Emperor wearing invisible garments. It takes a child to reveal the truth. The emperor is really naked, he...

Jun 8, 2020, 10:52 PM

Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, Harrison Ford and Josh

A little over a week ago marked the passing of the iconic Jewish leader Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm z’l. Last week I read many moving tributes to this great thinker and transformative leader. What is unique to my perspective is...

May 7, 2020, 11:01 PM

Coronavirus, the Tombstone and a Cemetery

There is a story about a wealthy man who kept a tombstone in his study. Most people have diverse memorabilia, but this was a bit much. When confronted about this odd artifact, he responded that it kept him grounded and...

Dec 22, 2019, 8:52 AM

Jersey City Darkness & Chanukah Light

On the heels of the recent heinous anti-Semitic attack in Jersey City, many are searching for a cogent response. Anti-Semitism is flourishing in the United States of America circa 2020. Attacks were up 63% in New York City for...

Dec 13, 2018, 10:45 PM

Featured Post

Do you love your teacher?

Illustrative. Female students seen studying at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Jerusalem, February 16, 2015. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Until qualified women repopulate a system inundated with men, male educators must guard against any intimation of impropriety

Oct 1, 2014, 5:02 PM

Beheading ISIL

I recently read an article in the Boston Globe entitled, “Why Beheading?” by orthodoxly observant but politically conservative columnist Jeff Jacoby. In it, he explains that the Islamic State (ISIL) has used the traumatic and dramatic tactic of “beheading”...

About Me

Rabbi Dovid M. Cohen served as a pulpit Rabbi for eighteen years in the NY/NJ area and as a scholar in residence around the world. He earned his law degree from Columbia Law School and a Masters degree in Marital Therapy from the University of North Texas. He is the author of the book “We’re Almost There: Living with Patience, Perseverance and Purpose,” presenting a pathway for confronting challenges. His more recent book "Together Again: Reimagining the Relationships that Anchor our Lives" is an exploration of our post pandemic relationships. Rabbi Cohen is the host of the Jewish Philanthropy Podcast ("The JPP") and a Senior Relationship Officer at the Orthodox Union. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship & Strategy at YU's Sy Syms School of Business. He resides in N. Woodmere, NY with his wife & 6 children.

Contact Me