FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

A distinguished New York City rabbi reflects on being Jewish during a time of renewed hostility between Palestinians and Jews.

The Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel turned Cosgrove’s life and the lives of his fellow clergy “upside-down.” Furthermore, “in the week that followed (and before any Israeli counterattacks), over 150 anti-Israel rallies were held across the United States.” Cosgrove was suddenly confronted with difficult questions about the nature of “diaspora Jewry’s obligations to Israel” in a post-Shoah world. Jews living outside of Israel often live in a state of cultural tension characterized by “the disorienting struggle to integrate…multiple selves” and multiple ways of expressing affiliation with Judaism. Complicating the situation is the conflicted political situation in Israel, which has manifested in assassinations—like that of Yitzhak Rabin, who championed a framework for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—and, in more contemporary times, a hard turn toward militant authoritarianism. The author notes that many among the younger generations of diaspora Jews feel that “the Israel they love does not love them back, or even care that [they] exist.” At the same time, anyone attempting to speak about Jewish issues in the U.S., even nonpolitical ones, may find themselves shut down—as Cosgrove was at a university lecture after the Hamas attack in 2023. Part of what makes this book so compelling is the author’s willingness to criticize Israel for being antidemocratic in its hardline Zionism while also expressing his deep and abiding love for it. In a world where diatribe trumps civil discourse, Cosgrove’s moderate, carefully reasoned approach, grounded in both history and biblical scholarship, is a welcome balm. “God knows, we are all in need of a place to start,” he writes. “Wholeness and brokenness, every step of the way, on our journey toward the Promised Land.”

Searching, soulful reading for exceedingly difficult times.