Join our Community
Support ToI and remove all ads
Learn more
English
العربية
Français
فارسی
עברית
Get The Daily Edition
Account
Sign In
The Blogs
Yonatan Cohen
About Me
search
search
Israel & the Region
Jewish Times
Israel Inside
Tech Israel
Real Estate
Israel
The Blogs
Podcasts
Video
Newsletters
The Daily Edition
What Matters Most Today
Tech Israel
Updates from Silicon Wadi
Real Estate Israel
Weekly Update
The Weekend Edition
The Best Reads of the Week
Weekly Highlights
Choice Voices From The Blogs
Partners
Atlanta
Atlanta Jewish Times
North New Jersey
The Jewish Standard
Pittsburgh
Jewish Chronicle
United Kingdom
The Jewish News
Australia
The Australian Jewish News
For Publishers
Become a Partner
Community
Join our community
Sign in
About The Times of Israel
Advertise on The Times of Israel
Contact us
Get the Daily Edition
submit
Follow us
Facebook
Twitter
© 2023 The Times of Israel , All Rights Reserved
Terms and conditions
Privacy policy
search
The Blogs
Yonatan Cohen
RSS
The Blogs
Home
Featured
Latest
Popular
Terms of Use
About Me
Apply for a Blog
Advertisement
Dec 2, 2023, 1:40 PM
Like Dreamers
As the first set of images of hostages released from Hamas’ captivity came across my screen, I felt like a dreamer, and this verse came to mind: “A song of ascents. When the Lord returns the returnees to Zion,...
Nov 27, 2023, 11:27 AM
Featured Post
There’s no shortcut to redemption
The trials of the Jewish nation are not fair: Some get more than their fair share, and some must fight for a crumb, but that is how we build
Nov 4, 2018, 8:05 AM
Survival, Resilience, and Faith
Last Sunday morning, while driving a few 3rd and 4th graders from my community, I was privy to listen in to their conversation. One of the children mentioned the tragic mass shooting in a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Though I...
Sep 21, 2018, 3:01 AM
The Invisible String
A few months ago at the Berkeley Men’s Shelter, I had a powerful encounter with a homeless man. After being served dinner by one of our shul volunteers, the man requested to see the priest. As a rabbi who...
Sep 12, 2018, 5:27 PM
I Have Never Seen the King – On Simple Faith
My maternal grandfather, Nono Meir, was a travelling salesman in Egypt. Throughout the year, he would travel from town to town by train, selling merchandise and soliciting offers for commercial goods. Once he stayed in a hotel overnight, where...
Sep 10, 2018, 12:50 AM
Responsibility beyond Culpability
Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel was perhaps one of the greatest Jewish American theologians of the 20th century. Beyond his scholarly work, Heschel is probably the most important and well-known Jewish social activist of the previous generation. Through his very...
Jan 30, 2017, 2:52 PM
The Debt (HaGomel Le’Chayavim)
It was late last night. It could have been as late as midnight but I would not dare write midnight as only a clock or God in His infinite wisdom could have revealed the exact hour. As I did...
Jun 2, 2015, 11:22 PM
Prayer for the Rabbis
Blessed and Holy One — Shield and protect us from the power of our rabbinate Straighten the structures of our professional organizations and communal boards Strengthen the hands of our lay leaders and amplify the voices of our community members Shelter our fears,...
Sep 23, 2014, 8:21 PM
A Letter to Isaac
On Rosh Hashanah, many years ago, Abraham took his son, his only son, the one whom he loved, as we read in the Torah, to the place that God had shown him. The image of a father binding his son,...
Aug 4, 2014, 7:25 AM
Mourning without a Prayer
At some point during this war, and especially as the extent to which Hamas is wont of Israel's destruction became clearer than ever, I lost faith in the possibility of peace. Simultaneously however, I seem to have also lost...
Load more
About Me
Rss
Yonatan Cohen serves as the rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel, a thriving Orthodox community in Berkeley, CA. He is a senior fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and North America as well as a lecturer for the Wexner Foundation.