RABBI SAM COHON'S BLOG

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Losing and Gaining

Preposterous Pollsters & Predicting the Future

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The Search for God in the Accelerator—and in Life

Sermon, Shabbat Breisheet (Genesis), Congregation Beit Simcha, Tucson, Arizona This weekend we are completing the first month of the year...

The Masks We Wear

Kol Nidrei Eve 5781 Congregation Beit Simcha, Tucson, AZ Gmar Chatimah Tovah. All of us are getting used to wearing masks now, aren’t we?...

Imperfect Choice

Sermon, Parshat Nitzavim/Vayelech 5780 Congregation Beit Simcha, Tucson, Arizona As a perfectionist I am always frustrated by the imperma...

Patriotism and Pandemic: the 4th of July 2020

This is the 4th of July weekend, a time when as recently as last July we used to celebrate our country with barbecues and fireworks and b...

Jews and Money

Sermon Shabbat Mishpatim 5780 Congregation Beit Simcha, Tucson, Arizona I heard quite a funny but problematic joke recently. A Catholic,...

Lighting up the Darkness in a Season of Anti-Semitism

Sermon Shabbat Hanukkah Mikets 5780 Congregation Beit Simcha, Tucson, AZ How many of you have personally experienced the midnight sun, th...

Is Being Jewish a National Identity?

Sermon Shabbat Vayishlach 5780 Congregation Beit Simcha, Tucson, AZ Near the beginning of our Torah portion of Vayishlach this week, Jaco...

Belief and Gratitude

Sermon Shabbat Chayei Sarah 5780 Congregation Beit Simcha, Tucson, AZ You know the classic joke: the waiter stops at the table at the kos...

Bad Jews/Good Jews

Congregation Beit Simcha, Tucson, AZ Kol Nidrei Eve 5780 How many of you here tonight think you are a bad Jew? I mean, we have already c...

What Gives You the Right to Bless Me?

Sermon Shabbat Naso 5779 Congregation Beit Simcha, Tucson, AZ You may remember this gesture from a re-run of the famous TV show Star Trek...

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