Park Avenue Synagogue Podcast

Parashah Study – Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky: Sh’lah L’kha and Overcoming Powerlessness – June 15, 2020

Rabbi Witkovsky takes a message of hope from the week’s parashah. For those feeling overwhelmed by challenges, this parashah calls on us to acknowledge our ability to act and do good.

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Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: That's My Bible – June 6, 2020

Rabbi Cosgrove shows us how the Bible can provide inspiration, guidance, comfort, and even challenge, as we seek to respond to the systematic racism that infects our country.

For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org.

 

Sermon - Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: To Begin Again - May 30, 2020

At any Yizkor service, mourners are called on to stand together – separated in their grief. This year we are “together apart” more than ever.  Rabbi Cosgrove urges us to follow the examples of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz, reaching beyond our own pain of loss to help ease the grief of others. 

For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org.

Parashah Study – Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky: Privilege and Oppression: Grappling within Our Texts and Our Times – June 5, 2020

Rabbi Witkovsky and Rabbinic Intern Viktoria Bedo discuss the disturbing Sotah ritual described in parashat Naso. Is there any meaning to be made from this oppressive ritual? And perhaps most importantly, can the way we treat this Biblical account of privilege and oppressions teach us anything about how to address such issues today?

 

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Parashah Study – Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky: Making Sense of the Census – May 21, 2020

This week we begin the book of B’midbar, and we do it with a census of the Israelites (or some of them). Rabbi Witkovsky interviews Benny Witkovsky, a Sociology PhD student who comes from a great family. They talk about the censuses in the Torah and the United States and try to tease some meaning out of those numbers.

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Sermon - Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: From Chancellor to Chancellor - May 16, 2020

In honor of our annual “Seminary Shabbat,” Rabbi Cosgrove tracks the history of the American Jewish experience through the seven chancellors of the Seminary and raises the question of what sits on the docket of the soon to be announced next chancellor. 

For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org.

Parashah Study – Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky: Security and Community – May 14, 2020

Rabbi Witkovsky discusses a strange phrase that appears three times in B'har. What does security in our land have to do with the way we treat one another? Listen to find out!

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Sermon - Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: Dreams Deferred - May 9, 2020

How do we respond to the loss of occasions and opportunities during the pandemic? Rabbi Cosgrove advises us how to acknowledge each other’s sorrow and be present for one another as we gather our strength to step into an uncertain future. 

For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org.

Parashah Study – Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky: Emor: Holidays and Holiness – May 7, 2020

Rabbi Witkovsky finds a bit of wisdom from the parsha to help us address the religious needs of our current situation. He also talks with Cantor Rachel Brook, Dr. Matthew Holman, and their daughter Lila about the holidays we love and which ones we are still working on.

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Sermon - Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: Like I Told You, It's an Honor - May 2, 2020

Rabbi Cosgrove describes serving as clergy during the past two months and how the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way families experience the death of a loved one and the Jewish rituals of burial and mourning. As difficult as our moment may be, there remains holiness – kedushah – before death, in death, and after death. 

For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org.