Sam Cohen, at The Blogs

Jun 19, 2026, 11:46 PM

Before blessing, before prophecy, before national failure itself, the Torah asks a deeper question: What happens when two souls are granted extraordinary gifts, yet walk toward completely different destinies? That question stands at the heart of Parashat Balak through two towering...

Jun 16, 2026, 8:18 AM

Living Moshe’s Dream

Dedicated in loving memory of my beloved Saba, Moshe ben Kudma Meshumar Cohen ז״ל, on the occasion of his yahrzeit, 6 Tammuz 5752. לעילוי נשמת סבי האהוב, משה בן קדמה משומר כהן ז״ל ו׳ בתמוז תשנ״ב ────────────── Parashat Chukat stands as one of...

Jun 14, 2026, 8:18 AM

Tammuz: The Chet of Constriction

After the liberation of Nissan, the healing work of Iyar, and the grand revelation of Sivan, the Jewish calendar undergoes a sudden change in tone. The brilliant light of Sinai begins to fade into the heavy heat of summer, and...

Jun 9, 2026, 8:18 AM

The Staff of Peace

Back in the early 1980s, while living on Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael in northern Israel, I received an invitation that seemed strangely simple. One cold late-winter evening, Racheli—the head of the overseas kibbutz volunteers—told us to meet at the front gate...

Jun 2, 2026, 8:15 AM

Of Dust and Stars

I once learned with a chavruta named Jimmy from America. One thing about him was impossible to miss—he was meticulous about tzitzit. If someone’s fringes dragged along the floor, he would gently lift them. He never rebuked; he simply...

May 24, 2026, 12:52 PM

A Mezuzah on Wings

Right at the heart of Parashat Beha’alotcha, suspended between movement and wilderness uncertainty, lies one of the Torah’s smallest yet most astonishing mysteries. Just two verses. Nineteen Hebrew words. Eighty-five letters — the minimum number Chazal identify as constituting a...

May 17, 2026, 1:46 PM

Blessing Under Cover

The stones of the Kotel stood bathed in the soft light of a Jerusalem morning as tens of thousands gathered for Birkat Kohanim during Chol HaMoed Sukkot. A sea of white tallitot stretched across the plaza like living waves...

May 14, 2026, 9:54 AM

The Letter Zayin and Revelation — The Work of Sivan

Every Hebrew month carries its own spiritual rhythm—a distinct energy inviting deeper self-understanding. After the liberation of Nissan and the healing journey of Iyar, Sivan arrives with a higher calling: revelation. This is the month when freedom becomes covenant,...

May 10, 2026, 11:21 AM

When One Is Missing

There is a well-known story about a group of shochtim and rabbis who regularly supervised kashrut at an abattoir. Each day, they entered together, inspected carefully, completed their duties, and left together. Like the others, one rabbi greeted the...

May 5, 2026, 1:55 PM

Only When We Are Here

Across centuries, empires conquered the Land of Israel, foreign rulers claimed it, and yet something within its soil seemed to resist permanence—its abundance muted, its promise restrained, as though waiting for something unfinished. There is a question that has quietly...

About Me

Sam writes on faith, Jewish identity, geopolitics, and the enduring covenant between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel. Living between the UK and Israel, he explores renewal, sovereignty, and the forces shaping the journey home.