Phil Cohen, at The Blogs

Phil Cohen

Oct 18, 2024, 5:59 AM

Dear Reader, I was caught in a traffic jam today in the rain and wondered if that situation bore any resemblance to Sukkot. The relationship may require a large stretch of the imagination but let me see if I worked out...

Nov 8, 2023, 1:50 AM

The Shanda of Neturei Karta

It’s a rainy day in Albany, NY and a haredi looking type, long beard, payot, horn rimmed glasses, is addressing a crowd. His black hat is covered by what appears to be a plastic garbage bag intended to protect...

Feb 3, 2023, 10:04 AM

On the New Gang on the Hill

I’ve attempted writing several blog posts since the Israeli elections with Bibi and his new gang mounting the hill. But each attempt has been dumped in the digital hopper. I’m the sort who’s slow of mind, which means it...

May 23, 2022, 7:01 AM

Featured Post

The war is over; the good guys lost

A person pays his respects at a makeshift memorial outside the scene of a shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, May 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Home to regular mass shootings, America does little to stop them - and then the next guy pulls his constitutionally guaranteed trigger and kills some more

About Me

Phil Cohen is a Reform rabbi and a scholar of Jewish thought, who writes bioethics, theology, on Israel, and parshanut. He is also an author of fiction. His novel, Nick Bones Underground, a dystopian Jewish science fiction mystery, won a Finalist prize from the Jewish Book Council. He currently lives in San Ramon, CA with his wife Betsy Gamburg. He serves as rabbi of Beth Chaim Congregation in Danville, CA.