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For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today
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October 14, 2025
I’ll admit something here; this was a second choice book. I meant to read THE AMEN EFFECT by Sharon Brous over the High Holidays, but I didn’t take into account the long holds line at the library. So on I went to another rabbi’s book! :P
Usually I try to read something religious over the High Holidays, and although this book definitely contains biblical teachings, it’s kinda secondary. Mostly, Cosgrove is ruminating on political and cultural life for Jews in the post-October 7 world.
So maybe that colored some of my response to the book—though it certainly was a fast-paced read in its way. It might not have been exactly what I wanted. I also thought the first section, the “What Was,” section, was a little pat. It’s largely covering the ground of evolving (or devolving) Israeli policy and worldwide antisemitism as seen from a progressive but still old school Jewish perspective.
Even Josh Hanft, writing for the Jewish Book Council, seemed to agree that things didn’t pick up as much until the second section, “What Is.” “Cosgrove details what it was like to support a community in a moment of terrible anguish. He takes us through some of the moments of grief, clarity and solidarity.”
But it’s also here where Cosgrove, a prominent Gen X rabbi in the American Conservative Jewish tradition, grapples with how to reach out to younger antizionists or non-zionists. The friend of one of his daughters, in fact, challenges the idea of any nationalism. In retrospect, he forms a response to her. (In pulpit rabbi fashion it’s more of a sermon than anything but then again, sermons are better than sound bytes.) But here’s my favorite sound byte of the sermon: “Israel is now in crisis. Are you going to exit—walk away and stand on the sidelines? Or are you going to use your voice—leverage your moral compass and the piercing clarity of your conscience to effect change, fight for your values, and help not only Israel but all the nations of the world realize a vision of national identity that does not oppress others?” My geriatric millennial self would agree this is more effective than trying to burn everything to the ground.
The biggest biblical takeaway from this book is actually in the title: a Book of Esther quote! The Purim story begins with the promise of violent antisemitism, and Esther is our hero “for such times as this.” Her cousin Mordecai in essence tells her to take up the mantle to do anything she can (marry a king in her case) to try and stop this tragedy. “Esther does not choose her moment, it chooses her,” Cosgrove says. “She is being asked to rise to the occasion. This exchange between Mordecai and Esther is a turning point, not just in the biblical story but in all our stories. There is a happenstance nature to our lives—far more is beyond your control than within it. What we can shape, however, is our response to whatever is happening to us.”
The best way to go forward, (part three being "What Might Be,") especially when surrounded by competing narratives, is with what Cosgrove calls “epistemic humility.” I copied this quote (and more) to Facebook, claiming truth is “like the butterfly that emerges from its cramped chrysalis gently, humbly and over time…We do not need to give up our truths in order to hear others. We just need to learn to hold them humbly enough so that we can listen to other trusts, which deserve an airing.”
The Jewish story is only going to experience more flux in time going forward. I hope we can embrace it with this much empathy and nuanced thought.
Usually I try to read something religious over the High Holidays, and although this book definitely contains biblical teachings, it’s kinda secondary. Mostly, Cosgrove is ruminating on political and cultural life for Jews in the post-October 7 world.
So maybe that colored some of my response to the book—though it certainly was a fast-paced read in its way. It might not have been exactly what I wanted. I also thought the first section, the “What Was,” section, was a little pat. It’s largely covering the ground of evolving (or devolving) Israeli policy and worldwide antisemitism as seen from a progressive but still old school Jewish perspective.
Even Josh Hanft, writing for the Jewish Book Council, seemed to agree that things didn’t pick up as much until the second section, “What Is.” “Cosgrove details what it was like to support a community in a moment of terrible anguish. He takes us through some of the moments of grief, clarity and solidarity.”
But it’s also here where Cosgrove, a prominent Gen X rabbi in the American Conservative Jewish tradition, grapples with how to reach out to younger antizionists or non-zionists. The friend of one of his daughters, in fact, challenges the idea of any nationalism. In retrospect, he forms a response to her. (In pulpit rabbi fashion it’s more of a sermon than anything but then again, sermons are better than sound bytes.) But here’s my favorite sound byte of the sermon: “Israel is now in crisis. Are you going to exit—walk away and stand on the sidelines? Or are you going to use your voice—leverage your moral compass and the piercing clarity of your conscience to effect change, fight for your values, and help not only Israel but all the nations of the world realize a vision of national identity that does not oppress others?” My geriatric millennial self would agree this is more effective than trying to burn everything to the ground.
The biggest biblical takeaway from this book is actually in the title: a Book of Esther quote! The Purim story begins with the promise of violent antisemitism, and Esther is our hero “for such times as this.” Her cousin Mordecai in essence tells her to take up the mantle to do anything she can (marry a king in her case) to try and stop this tragedy. “Esther does not choose her moment, it chooses her,” Cosgrove says. “She is being asked to rise to the occasion. This exchange between Mordecai and Esther is a turning point, not just in the biblical story but in all our stories. There is a happenstance nature to our lives—far more is beyond your control than within it. What we can shape, however, is our response to whatever is happening to us.”
The best way to go forward, (part three being "What Might Be,") especially when surrounded by competing narratives, is with what Cosgrove calls “epistemic humility.” I copied this quote (and more) to Facebook, claiming truth is “like the butterfly that emerges from its cramped chrysalis gently, humbly and over time…We do not need to give up our truths in order to hear others. We just need to learn to hold them humbly enough so that we can listen to other trusts, which deserve an airing.”
The Jewish story is only going to experience more flux in time going forward. I hope we can embrace it with this much empathy and nuanced thought.
Displaying 1 of 1 review