Park Avenue Synagogue Podcast

Sermon - Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: As Difficult As Splitting The Sea -April 6, 2021

Can a miracle be difficult for God? Follow Rabbi Cosgrove into a sea of stories and interpretations as we discover how building a relationship is like making a miracle.

Dialogue - Jennifer Stern Granowitz, Erin Beser and Rabbi Geoff Mitelman: How We Talk About Science - March 24, 2021

In this episode, Jen Stern Granowitz and Erin Beser speak with Rabbi Geoff Mitelman, the Founding Director of Sinai and Synapses. The organization bridges the religious and scientific worlds, offering people a worldview that is scientifically grounded and spiritually uplifting. Rabbi Mitelman shares advice on how to talk with your learners about the Torah and God while also validating their understanding of science and history.

Discussion and Reflection Questions

1. How do you authentically connect with the Torah and God? To use Rabbi Mitelman’s words, how do you bridge the religious and scientific worlds?
2. How have you or would you respond to a student who does not want to engage in learning about our Biblical stories because “this didn’t even really happen”?
3. When teaching about Passover specifically, how have you or would you help your students connect to the holiday if they are struggling to connect with something that “didn’t even really happen”?
4. A question from Rabbi Mitelman: Where do I find meaning even if something is not necessarily factually true?

Sermon - Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky: Sinners, Singers and Second Chances – March 20, 2021

We all make missteps. Sometimes we need to receive a second chance, and sometimes we need to offer one. Rabbi Witkovsky discusses the sacrificial system of Va-yikra as the Torah’s way of codifying the importance of second chances, a message we all need today.

Sermon - Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: Kavod Shabbat In Covid - March 13, 2021

May we break Shabbat in order to keep Shabbat? The tension between working to make Shabbat and resting to have Shabbat is as old as Shabbat itself. Looking back over our pandemic year, Rabbi Cosgrove questions how our use of technology will affect how we keep Shabbat in the future.

Dialogue - Jennifer Stern Granowitz and Erin Beser: How We Talk About Art- March 10, 2021

In this episode, Jennifer Stern Granowitz and Erin Beser speak to Jewish educator and artist Sarah Damelin about the importance of integrating art in Jewish education to teach valuable critical thinking skills of exploration, interpretation, and decision making. Listen to Damelin’s advice on how to engage different types of learners when making art and how to talk to them about their work.

Discussion and Reflection Questions

1. How can you incorporate art in a new way during an upcoming lesson?

2. Next time you see a student’s work, what is a new way you could respond?

3. A question from Sarah Damelin: How can you use art experiences in your classroom to push kids to develop their sense of confidence and self-worth in other things that they do?

 

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

Sermon - Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: Don't Make Me Choose - March 6, 2021

Rabbi Cosgrove reflects on the vituperative reaction of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox to last week’s Supreme Court decision regarding conversion and the uncomfortable choice faced by diaspora Jewry.

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

Sermon – Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: From Within or Without? Leadership Lessons from Esther – February 27, 2021

Is it better to make change from the inside or outside? On our annual UJA Shabbat, Rabbi Cosgrove looks to the Megillah for two models of leadership that can guide our choices today.

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

Sermon – Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky: Laws, Lincoln, and Lessons Learned – February13, 2021

“Laws are the love language of the Torah.” Rabbi Witkovsky explores Parashat Mishpatim and an 1838 speech given by Abraham Lincoln. He shows the importance of laws in Jewish and American tradition and of ensuring that our laws reflect our values and are followed. No one is above the law, but the law must also be molded for equity and justice.

For more information available at www.pasyn.org or follow us @parkavesyn or https://www.facebook.com/parkavenuesyn.

Dialogue – Jennifer Stern Granowitz and Erin Beser: How We Talk About Purim – February 17, 2021

In this episode of How We Talk About, Jen Stern Granowitz and Erin Beser speak with Purim Spiel Director Cantor Rachel Brook about the adult themes of the Book of Esther, a biblical text that involves forced sex, substance abuse, genocide, and mass murder. And yet, year after year, we turn this story into endearing entertainment for all ages. Listen to Cantor Brook share her advice on how to talk about Purim and discuss the importance of the merriment and laughter of this holiday!

Sermon – Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: We're No Angels – In Memory of Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski, z"l – February 6, 2021

In the face of sin and addictive behavior, how can Torah guide us to realize our best selves? The legacy of Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski, z”l, inspires us to take personal agency over our lives.

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