Rabbi Emily Cohen
@thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
5.2K followers 510 following 860 posts
Happy Brooklynite. Lefty in all the ways. Rabbi of West End Synagogue but views here are only my own (She/Her/Hers) www.rabbiemilycohen.com
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thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
And for those who don't know me and ended up following by...chance? Algorithm? Recommendation? Idk how this works exactly... a tiny intro to me:

-rabbi
-brooklynite
-writer
-musician
-queer
-progressive
-(married) cat lady

website is www.rabbiemilycohen.com

my shul is West End Synagogue!
Rabbi Emily Cohen
www.rabbiemilycohen.com
Reposted by Rabbi Emily Cohen
meganpiont.bsky.social
#NYC! We have an ICE Watch Hotline! I repeat, we have an ICE Watch hotline! I updated the zines to include the hotline #. FINALLY!!!

(If you have the old zines, you have my blessing to write the # in with a sharpie or pen.)

drive.google.com/file/d/1y2S_...
NYC-SALUTE-zine-10-6.pdf
drive.google.com
Reposted by Rabbi Emily Cohen
therealbrent.bsky.social
Heads up there’s an ICE checkpoint in Harlem right now apparently
Reposted by Rabbi Emily Cohen
clairewillett.bsky.social
it’s actually so insane that having a huge following, bringing tons of high-profile active users to the site, and generating exactly the kinds of lively and thoughtful conversations social media companies want to be perceived as facilitating makes you a bad guy here
Reposted by Rabbi Emily Cohen
amandasmith.bsky.social
Suspending Erin Biba, a Jewish woman for this skeet is nasty work. Between this and intentionally misreading Link’s use of a meme as a threat, bsky mods are more than willing to ban based on the Spirit Of The Law for *some* posters but never Jesse Singal.

bsky.app/profile/aman...
"All the Jews have to die or convert to trigger the rapture. Then our dead bodies surround Jerusalem and they climb over us to reach Jesus, who will bring them to heaven. It's why they're all Zionists obsessed with Israel.
Cause they need Jews to go there so we can die"
Reposted by Rabbi Emily Cohen
joelhs.bsky.social
Over the past days, a story broke finding 4 in 10 American Jews think Israel is committing genocide in Gaza: www.timesofisrael.com/poll-nearly-...

and another that Israel is investing millions in trying to court Christian support in the US: www.jta.org/2025/10/03/i...

This is the same story.
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
Annnnnd between getting off Instagram at the start of Shabbat and coming back to it, the reel I posted with a clip from this sermon got me called a:

-kapo rabbi
-satanic cult [member I assume?]
-criminal war monger

This is apparently what nuance gets you in 2025
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
I'm sharing my full Kol Nidre drash. I dive hard into Gaza. I've had sermons that were more difficult to write than this one but I've never had one that was this difficult to deliver. Thank you to @theradr.bsky.social and so many other colleagues for giving me the courage.
Reckoning Within: A New Ashamnu for Our Times
YouTube video by Rabbi Emily Cohen
www.youtube.com
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
May the protestors in Chicago be safe.
May their care for their fellow human beings inspire a nation in desperate need of humanity.
May this be the worst it gets.

And if it must get worse
(for it will get worse)
May we cultivate strong wills and soft hearts.
And may we keep protesting.
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
Three things to say to my fellow yid'n and allies:

1) Thank you for responding so kindly to my drash.

2) If your rabbi said something on the holidays that moved you, especially related to Israel/Gaza, please tell them because they're def gonna be hearing from people who were upset.

3) שבת שלום
Reposted by Rabbi Emily Cohen
ellearmageddon.bsky.social
certainly plenty of antisemites demand that anti-zionist jews pass purity tests before they’re willing to believe we deserve to be treated with a modicum of humanity (which is antisemitic)

but lots of antisemites — often the most violent of them — really don’t give a shit about our beliefs
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
This does make me very sad, but it doesn't surprise me.

Too many people want someone to demonize.
maladroithe.bsky.social
I once pointed out there are many Jewish rites and ceremonies that can ONLY be performed in a group; and gentiles telling Jews to abstain from those rites and ceremonies if there isn’t a sufficiently anti-Zionist congregation in driving distance is insulting, and some dude called me a “z*o cunt”
jsx.bsky.social
1) my synagogue openly calls for an end to the genocide in Gaza, and it doesn't stop of us from receiving threats and requiring security.

2) "just don't go to the only synagogue(s) in your location on Yom Kippur" is a ridiculous ask of observant Jews.
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
I appreciate this perspective a lot and I think that on-the-same-side disagreements are things that we are all going to have to get a lot better at navigating.

I also appreciate your noting the audience
Reposted by Rabbi Emily Cohen
jsx.bsky.social
1) my synagogue openly calls for an end to the genocide in Gaza, and it doesn't stop of us from receiving threats and requiring security.

2) "just don't go to the only synagogue(s) in your location on Yom Kippur" is a ridiculous ask of observant Jews.
Reposted by Rabbi Emily Cohen
mismatched.bsky.social
I know not everyone in my following list wants to hear or read this but it is beautifully put together, a blending of yom kippur liturgy and stark truths about gaza from a perspective of someone with hereditary jewish trauma who has had to unlearn a lot about Israel.
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
I'm sharing my full Kol Nidre drash. I dive hard into Gaza. I've had sermons that were more difficult to write than this one but I've never had one that was this difficult to deliver. Thank you to @theradr.bsky.social and so many other colleagues for giving me the courage.
Reckoning Within: A New Ashamnu for Our Times
YouTube video by Rabbi Emily Cohen
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Rabbi Emily Cohen
heartbreak.one
I don't usually post about this on here...or anywhere...but, this is very good.
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
I'm sharing my full Kol Nidre drash. I dive hard into Gaza. I've had sermons that were more difficult to write than this one but I've never had one that was this difficult to deliver. Thank you to @theradr.bsky.social and so many other colleagues for giving me the courage.
Reckoning Within: A New Ashamnu for Our Times
YouTube video by Rabbi Emily Cohen
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Rabbi Emily Cohen
theradr.bsky.social
Proud of @thatrabbicohen.bsky.social and all my colleagues who chose to speak painful truths instead of doing what would have been easy and convenient this High Holy Day season.

Text version in skeet below this one.
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
I'm sharing my full Kol Nidre drash. I dive hard into Gaza. I've had sermons that were more difficult to write than this one but I've never had one that was this difficult to deliver. Thank you to @theradr.bsky.social and so many other colleagues for giving me the courage.
Reckoning Within: A New Ashamnu for Our Times
YouTube video by Rabbi Emily Cohen
www.youtube.com
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
Some people cried because they were so relieved to hear a rabbi in a mainstream shul say it, and some people walked out, which was a first for me. An Israeli leftist hugged me after so that was heartening at least. I expect I'll get a lot more challenging feedback in the next couple of weeks.
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
I'm sharing my full Kol Nidre drash. I dive hard into Gaza. I've had sermons that were more difficult to write than this one but I've never had one that was this difficult to deliver. Thank you to @theradr.bsky.social and so many other colleagues for giving me the courage.
Reckoning Within: A New Ashamnu for Our Times
YouTube video by Rabbi Emily Cohen
www.youtube.com
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
And bringing that up in response to an attack on a synagogue in the UK on the holiest day of the year shows that you really don’t get it.

We are entitled to mourn.

Israel’s actions do not justify terror against Jews in the diaspora.

Your conflation of the two is wrong.
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
And this is the problem.

Because antisemitism is always, always wrong.

This was an attack on British Jews, praying in their shul on the holiest day of the year.

If your response to hearing of their murder starts with “but Gaza” you are missing the point.
self.agency
i really don't know how much more vocally anti-israel and anti-genocide i have to be before goyim actually care about what i have to say about their antisemitism
Reposted by Rabbi Emily Cohen
joelhs.bsky.social
If your response to a fatal attack on a synagogue outside of Israel-Palestine on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar is to make it entirely about Israel-Palestine, in either direction, consider that you are part of the problem.
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
This is not the post I wanted to make coming out of Yom Kippur.

Antisemitism must be addressed just as fiercely as other forms of baseless hatred

And— If the attack had been in America it would have been with a gun.

May the memories of the dead be blessings.

May the wounded heal.

May we learn.
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
Relatedly:

If you drink normally today and then chug a bunch of water right before services tonight you will

1) have to pee a bunch during services and you won't enjoy it
2) not be hydrated.

The best time to start over-hydrating is a few days ago. The second best time is this morning.

Drink up.
thatrabbicohen.bsky.social
Annual pre-Yom Kippur PSA that if you are a coffee drinker and are planning to fast** you should start cutting back/moving towards decaf today. You’re welcome.

**do NOT fast if it is not physically and emotionally safe for you to do so. I’m breastfeeding so I’ll be eating this year!