Common Faith

Yom Kippur asks us to reflect, repent and repair—but what happens when repair cannot return us to what was? Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and Jon Frankel begin with the meaning and traditions of Judaism’s holiest day before welcoming Rabbis Nicole Guzik and Erez Sherman, the husband-and-wife co-senior rabbis of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. Their conversation begins with their own preparation for Yom Kippur: the relationships that may never look the same, the stories that remain untold, and the possibility of making room for hope even when remorse or regret remains.
That idea takes on deeper meaning through their book, Grieving a Child: A Companion Guide for Clergy. Born from years of conversations with a family that experienced the death of a child, the guide addresses what religious training and traditional rituals cannot always prepare clergy to face: what happens before, during and long after devastating loss. From navigating shiva and anniversaries to remembering milestones a child never reached, Guzik and Sherman argue that pastoral care cannot end when the formal mourning period does.
At the heart of the conversation is a powerful image: the scar. Repair may be possible, Rabbi Guzik explains, but repair does not mean returning to what existed before. A scar remains; what can change is how we see it, carry it and allow it to become part of our lives. The rabbis also offer practical wisdom for anyone trying to comfort a grieving family: don't make their loss about your own experience, don't offer assurances, don't be afraid to speak about the child—and don't disappear once shiva ends. Sometimes the most meaningful words are simply, this is heartbreaking, and I'm still thinking about you.
As Yom Kippur draws near, the conversation becomes ultimately not only about death, but about life: the people we remember, the relationships we carry, and the community that surrounds us as we enter another year.

Rabbi Nicole Guzik:
https://www.sinaitemple.org/about/clergy-senior-staff/rabbi-nicole-guzik/
Rabbi Erez Sherman:
https://www.sinaitemple.org/about/clergy-senior-staff/rabbi-erez-sherman/
Grieving a Child: A Companion Guide for Clergy:
https://momentmag.com/clergy-child-loss/?srsltid=AfmBOorNTf4Eket9D6YuZSPKW8lfVDlfzqHhrL1VYkOUBqIwx8xAEuXD

Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove:
https://www.instagram.com/elliot_cosgrove
https://x.com/RabbiCosgrove
Park Avenue Synagogue:
https://www.pasyn.org
https://www.instagram.com/parkavenuesyn/#
Jon Frankel:
https://www.instagram.com/skifrankel

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What does Rosh Hashanah ask of us beyond apples, honey and the promise of a new beginning? Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and Jon Frankel begin their Rosh Hashanah special with a candid conversation about the High Holidays—the joy of renewal, the weight of Yom Kippur and the difficult work of repairing relationships before we ever enter the synagogue.
They are joined by renowned theologian, scholar and activist Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg, who reframes Rosh Hashanah as something even more fundamental: the holiday of creation. For Greenberg, recognizing that life is finite gives every human being a responsibility to decide how we will use the time we have. Every word, relationship and action presents a choice between forces that strengthen life and those that diminish it.
That idea also sits at the heart of Greenberg’s new collection, Life Against Death. The conversation moves from the Holocaust and the renewal of Jewish life to October 7, Israel, Zionism and the increasingly difficult relationship between Israel and American Jewry. Greenberg and Cosgrove wrestle with how Jews can defend Jewish self-determination while remaining willing to criticize Israel and its government—and why a healthy Jewish community needs room for disagreement, competing voices and genuine pluralism.
At the beginning of a new year, Greenberg ultimately offers both a challenge and a hopeful vision: human beings have extraordinary agency. We cannot perfect the world all at once, but moment by moment, choice by choice, we can move it toward life.

Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg:
https://www.hadar.org/about/people/rabbi-yitz-greenberg
Life Against Death:
https://tinyurl.com/y3vby2r7


Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove:
https://www.instagram.com/elliot_cosgrove
https://x.com/RabbiCosgrove
Park Avenue Synagogue:
https://www.pasyn.org
https://www.instagram.com/parkavenuesyn/#
Jon Frankel:
https://www.instagram.com/skifrankel

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Jewish High Holidays are built around memory, renewal, and the passage of time. But what happens when time itself has broken? As Rosh Hashanah approaches, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and Jon Frankel welcome Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh was taken hostage on October 7, 2023 and murdered in captivity after 328 days. Rachel’s new book, When We See You Again, gives voice not to recovery or closure, but to what she calls “packages of pain.”

Rachel remembers Hersh as “the perfect ordinary, and the blessed ordinary”—a curious young man with a remarkable capacity to listen. She recalls the final moment she saw him, walking out the door after Shabbat dinner and turning back to say, “Love you. See you tomorrow.” Nearly three years later, Rachel remains frozen there even as the world moves forward.

That collision between Jewish time and the timelessness of grief sits at the heart of the conversation. Yizkor commands Jews to remember, but Rachel remembers every waking second. Instead, she says she would prefer eight minutes of amnesia—a striking challenge to notions of faith, ritual, healing, and resilience.

And yet, there is yet. Rachel speaks about the parts of her former life she cannot return to “yet,” and searches for a “why” powerful enough to help her bear the “how” of living without Hersh. This is not a conversation about moving on, but about what it means to keep moving at all.

 

Rachel Goldberg-Polin's Book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GFSNF8GV?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

 

Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove:

https://www.instagram.com/elliot_cosgrove

https://x.com/RabbiCosgrove

Park Avenue Synagogue:
https://www.pasyn.org

https://www.instagram.com/parkavenuesyn/#

Jon Frankel:

https://www.instagram.com/skifrankel

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

College football has its sacred places, rituals, traditions, rivalries—and some very devoted believers. So when does fandom begin to look a little like faith?

Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and Jon Frankel welcome ESPN’s Paul Finebaum for a wide-ranging conversation about the two worlds that have shaped his life: Judaism and college football.

Finebaum reflects on growing up Jewish in Memphis, attending an Orthodox synagogue, losing his father at a young age, and navigating a career in Southern sports while trying to maintain a connection to Jewish tradition. He recalls covering an Auburn game while fasting on Yom Kippur, searching out synagogues while traveling through SEC country, and the complicated ways he has continued Jewish practices in honor of his parents. 

Along the way, the three wrestle with questions that extend far beyond sports: What do we owe the communities and institutions we love? When does loyalty become idolatry? How much wrongdoing are we willing to overlook when our side keeps winning? And can the things that divide us also provide a common language that brings us together?

Plus: Finebaum on the changing economics of college sports, the decline of the NCAA, the Big Ten versus the SEC, Michigan’s recent controversies, the traditions every college football fan should experience—and the three people he’d invite to his Yom Kippur break-fast.

 

Paul Finebaum:
https://www.secsports.com/championships/the-paul-finebaum-show2

https://www.instagram.com/finebaumshow/?hl=en

 

Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove:

https://www.instagram.com/elliot_cosgrove

https://x.com/RabbiCosgrove

Park Avenue Synagogue:
https://www.pasyn.org

https://www.instagram.com/parkavenuesyn/#

Jon Frankel:

https://www.instagram.com/skifrankel

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What does it mean to be Jewish on a college campus right now? The headlines often tell a story of antisemitism, protests, polarization, and fear. Those realities matter—but they are not the whole story.

In this back-to-school episode of Common Faith, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and Jon Frankel are joined by three leaders whose campuses could hardly be more different: Rabbi Jessica Kirschner of Stanford University, Rabbi Rachel Isaacs of Colby College, and Rabbi Ari Israel of the University of Maryland. Together, they discuss what a Hillel rabbi actually does, how Jewish campus life has changed since October 7, and how students are responding to an atmosphere that can sometimes make Jewish identity feel contested.

What emerges is a more complicated—and ultimately more hopeful—picture. Jewish students are not simply retreating. Many are searching for community, connection, knowledge, pride, and the confidence to engage rather than hide. From harvesting Maine lake ice for a mikvah to launching Tashlich into the stratosphere to bringing hundreds of Jewish students together through basketball, Hillel becomes something larger than a campus institution: a laboratory in which young Jews learn how to build Jewish life for themselves.

The challenge, the rabbis suggest, is to acknowledge the oy without allowing it to eclipse the joy—and to prepare young Jews not merely to feel protected, but empowered.

 

Rabbi Jessica Kirschner:
https://www.stanfordhillel.org/staff

Rabbi Rachel Isaacs:

https://www.rabbirachelisaacs.com/

 Rabbi Ari Israel:

https://marylandhillel.org/staff/ari-israel/

 

Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove:

https://www.instagram.com/elliot_cosgrove

https://x.com/RabbiCosgrove

Park Avenue Synagogue:
https://www.pasyn.org

https://www.instagram.com/parkavenuesyn/#

Jon Frankel:

https://www.instagram.com/skifrankel

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.