Rabbi Cosgrove Pens New Book on Jewish Identity
The new work is entitled, “For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today.”
Robyn Spizman Gerson is a New York Times best-selling author of many books, including “When Words Matter Most.” She is also a communications professional and well-known media personality, having appeared often locally on “Atlanta and Company” and nationally on NBC’s “Today” show. For more information go to www.robynspizman.com.
Many Atlantans will recognize the name Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove, PhD, who has served as the rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York since 2008. A leading voice of American Jewry and preeminent spiritual leader, he represented the Jewish community at the National September 11 Memorial Museum during Pope Francis’s visit to New York. The author of 16 volumes of sermons, and podcast host of Conversations with Cosgrove, Rabbi Cosgrove has written a hot off the press book entitled, “FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS: On Being Jewish Today.”
In conversation, he explained his gulp moment was when a dear friend shortly after the attacks of Oct. 7 called him and said, “Elliot, whatever plans you have for this year, your life has changed.” The Jewish community woke up to an unrecognizable new reality and Cosgrove added, “The script for the most horrible reasons was rewritten. I pivoted, the synagogue pivoted, and the Jewish community pivoted.”
Over the following months framing the singular moment as our world tragically changed, he wrote a page-turning, tallit-bag sized purpose-inspired book.
Cosgrove’s skillful narrative emotionally embraces the reader from page one into the path that Rabbi Cosgrove has taught and shared for decades. He sensitively guides how we must move forward despite the trauma, and even because of it, to explore our own Judaism and faith.
Rabbi Cosgrove explained, “The title was drawn from the scroll of Esther which is read by the Jewish community during the festival of Purim. This serious story is told of Queen Esther at a critical moment and referenced as, ‘for such a time as this.’ I asked myself and my community at this moment of crisis to leverage our position towards the wellbeing of the Jewish people in the same way that Esther did.”
While Cosgrove is aware of the blessings in his life, he cares deeply for our strong and supportive community who are invested in the Jewish and civic world and added, “I had long hoped to write a book. It was a challenge as the events were unfolding and it’s with great sadness now, that the war is still being waged, hostages are still captive and the tensions on campus life are erupting again.”
Rabbi Cosgrove continued, “For years, I have been speaking about the themes of American Jewish identity, the Diaspora of Israel, the line between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, and the generational divide within the Jewish people. Oct. 7, beyond the horror of the day, brought these thoughts into full view. In writing this book, I describe the road that led us to that day, what followed and offer some preliminary path forward.”
With great intention, Rabbi Cosgrove explained, “I often think that the job of a rabbi or a pastor is to give someone a vocabulary to speak about what they are experiencing. Addressing the sorrow of losing a loved one, the unknown feelings facing illness, or the joy of a child being born, is what I do each day as a rabbi. I think this book provides a vocabulary for American Jewry to talk about the moment in which we find ourselves and my hope is that it serves as a way people can talk between one generation and the next, the political and toxic divides, and discourse of our times. I hope it will remind us of the enemies from within, how we talk to each other and show each other that in the world we can disagree without being disagreeable. These are the values in which I believe and are championed in this book.”
Focused on hope, Cosgrove shared, “Hope is the ingredient that is at the foundation of this message and our people. Israel’s national anthem is Hatikvah .. which means ‘the hope.’ In the darkest of times, we have always believed that tomorrow can be better than today. To be a Jew is to work towards a desired future (tikkun olam) even if we don’t arrive there. Right now, the fevering hope I have is that the Jewish people can live at peace side by side with their Palestinian neighbors. Hope is not something abstract that sits on a shelf, but hope prompts us to action.”
He continued, “I’m the father of four college-age kids, each of whom have thoughts and opinions of their own. Many are different from my own, but my goal as a rabbi, and a communal leader, is to create a metaphorical Jewish table that all of us can sit at and be in dialogue with each other and across the generations. I try to model in my life and this book that everyone has a seat at the table.”
“FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS” is a modern-day guide for a new generation that is reconciling the past with the present and facing the unknown future with courage, spirit, and unwavering hope. Rabbi Cosgrave sheds light, “We are all shattered and like the Israelites of old we need to learn to keep on our journey forward not withstanding our broken state. As I told my congregations we are traumatized, but we can’t be paralyzed.”
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