For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today by Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove
For Jews today, the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7 has drawn a clear and irreversible demarcation in time. The Jewish community woke up to an unrecognizable new reality on that day, witnessing first the sheer horror of the atrocities in Israel, followed immediately by the stark rise in antisemitism, the world’s oldest hatred, in its wake.
But even in this dark hour, the Jewish community is experiencing something profound and beautiful: a deep, abiding connection to community, culture, and faith. Drawing on the rich trove of Jewish history and tradition, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, one of today’s most influential thought leaders and spiritual guides, helps readers make sense of this fraught time. With warmth and wisdom, Rabbi Cosgrove explores the challenging questions embedded in the soul of contemporary Jewry. Where did all this antisemitism come from, and was it always there? How have Israel and Zionism shaped American Judaism, and what ties us and divides us today? How do we practice Judaism and understand our place in a world that has, without fail, in every century, turned against us?
Knitting together storytelling with ancient teachings, Rabbi Cosgrove helps navigate and understand the landscape of this new reality, turning over questions that have no clear or easy answer in the way only a very good Rabbi can.
For thousands of years, the Jewish people have wrestled with what it means to be Jewish. In this often-divisive era, Rabbi Cosgrove reminds us of how we can come together despite—and even because of—our differences.
FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS is a guide for a new generation that is reconciling the past with the present and facing the unknown future with courage, spirit, and unwavering hope. If you are interested in learning more or would like to receive a copy, please be in touch. I’d be delighted to share it with you.
Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove, PhD, is a leading voice of American Jewry, and a preeminent spiritual guide and thought leader. The Rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue since 2008, he was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1999 and earned his PhD at the University of Chicago Divinity School. He sits on the Chancellor’s Cabinet of Jewish Theological Seminary and on the Editorial Board of Masorti: The New Journal of Conservative Judaism. An officer of the New York Board of Rabbis, he serves on the boards of UJA-Federation of New York, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Hillel of the University of Michigan, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Rabbi Cosgrove was honored to represent the Jewish community at the National September 11 Memorial Museum during the visit of Pope Francis to New York. A frequent contributor to Jewish journals and periodicals, he is the author of 15 volumes of sermons and the editor of Jewish Theology in Our Time.
FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS: On Being Jewish Today
by Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove
On Sale September 24.
Harvest
$29.00 Hardcover
Available as an ebook and audiobook.