To celebrate my 20 years at Hillcrest Jewish Center, I want to invite you to explore my newly renovated website. In it you will find a selection of divrei Torah (sermons), as well as a collection of articles, which featured in the newsletter of the Hillcrest Jewish Center in the last 20 years.
I also included an interactive link to my book, Fables from the Jewish Tradition, beautifully illustrated by Marcelo Ferder, as well as a series of classes on the book geared to different ages. You will also find my compilation of commentaries on the Scroll of Esther in the Original Hebrew with a Corresponding Spanish Translation.
Between 2004 and 2006 I taught a course on the Shoah at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The course addressed the complexity and moral dilemmas around the Shoah and the role that religious faith played in the death camps. On this website you will find a link to the syllabus of the course and to the reading materials.
Since the beginning of my tenure at Hillcrest Jewish Center, I have been teaching four or five weekly shiurim (Torah classes). Some of these classes followed a particular text, like my Wednesday Talmud classes, my Monday Mussar classes, or my Lunch and Learn series on the weekly Torah portion.
However, my proudest accomplishment is a series I taught uninterrupted since my arrival to Hillcrest Jewish Center 20 years ago, called Stories with a Twist, in which I explore rabbinic and Hassidic stories and their timeless lessons. A few years ago, I started a new related series, Mishnah with a Twist. On the website you will find a link to all the handouts I shared as part of the preparation of these series. These handouts are an invitation to you to explore (or re-explore) these texts and their message.
Occasionally I taught shorter series on different topics. For many of these series I prepared handouts, which I am including on this website as well.
I would like to thank Eve Dorothy Kastin for helping me to bring this idea of a website to fruition.
This website is but a stopping point in my rabbinical journey. As I celebrate 20 years at Hillcrest Jewish Center, and more than 30 in the rabbinate, I look back at my rabbinical calling with a feeling of gratitude and accomplishment. I hope you find the content of this website inspiring and stimulating.
Thank you to all of you for accompanying me so far. It has been a true privilege to share this special journey with you.
Many blessings,
Rabbi Manes Kogan