What does the future of rabbinic leadership look like—and why does it matter for all of us?

In this episode of Common Faith, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and journalist Jon Frankel take on a question hiding in plain sight: Are we cultivating enough rabbis to meet the spiritual, communal, and moral needs of the Jewish future? Joined by Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein, Executive Director of ATRA: The Center for Rabbinic Innovation, the conversation moves from personal calling to systemic challenge.

Drawing on ATRA’s landmark national study, Rabbi Epstein shares eye-opening data about the rabbinic pipeline—who is becoming a rabbi, who isn’t, and why. Together, they explore the realities of rabbinic life today: meaningful work, burnout, blurred boundaries, financial barriers, and the changing ways people seek connection, guidance, and faith.

Along the way, the episode weaves together humor, heart, and hard truths—asking what it means to serve, to lead, and to pass sacred tradition from one generation to the next in a rapidly changing world. In a time when so many are searching for meaning, this conversation reminds us why spiritual leadership still matters—and what it will take to sustain it.

v ATRA
https://atrarabbis.org/

https://www.instagram.com/atrarabbis

https://www.facebook.com/atrarabbis/?_rdr

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/#

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

This week on Common Faith, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and Emmy Award–winning journalist Jon Frankel unwrap the deeper meaning of Hanukkah—beyond latkes, dreidels, and eight nights of gifts. Joining them is renowned writer and public intellectual Yossi Klein Halevi, whose personal journey from Brooklyn to Jerusalem illuminates the holiday’s layered history and its evolving place in Jewish identity.

Together, they explore the many versions of the Hanukkah story: the miracle of the oil, the military victory of the Maccabees, the struggle against assimilation, and the celebration of reclaimed Jewish sovereignty. Yossi reflects on growing up as the son of Holocaust survivors, his early attraction to Jewish extremism, and the decades-long transformation that led him toward a more expansive, nuanced understanding of Judaism, Israel, and power.

From public menorahs in Israeli town squares to quiet candle-lighting in American homes, the conversation traces how Hanukkah is celebrated across cultures—and how October 7th has reshaped Jewish vulnerability, resilience, and collective memory worldwide. With candor, humor, and heart, Elliot, Jon, and Yossi hold space for the tensions, debates, and hopes pulsing through Jewish life today.

A moving and timely episode that reminds us: Hanukkah isn’t just a holiday—it’s a lens on identity, history, and the stories we choose to pass on.

Yossi Klein Halevi
https://www.yossikleinhalevi.com/

https://www.facebook.com/YossiKleinHalevi/

https://x.com/YKleinHalevi

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/#

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

In this deeply human and unexpectedly joyful episode of Common Faith, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and journalist Jon Frankel sit down with celebrated artist Joel Mesler, whose vibrant, pop-infused works have become synonymous with healing, humor, and Jewish identity. Through Mesler’s remarkable life story — from a turbulent childhood in Beverly Hills to an intense yeshiva experience, to addiction, recovery, and artistic rebirth — the trio explores what it means to wrestle with your past while still choosing light.

Mesler speaks candidly about nine years of sobriety, the lies we tell ourselves in our own voice, and the moment he realized he needed help. He shares how art became both expression and salvation, and how Judaism organically re-entered his life through painting anonymous old “rabbi portraits” that no one wanted — until he transformed them into sought-after pieces of contemporary Judaica.

An inspiring conversation about creativity, faith, identity, recovery, and choosing light in a world that doesn’t always make it easy.

Joel Mesler
https://www.joelmesler.com

https://www.instagram.com/joelmesler/?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/#

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