Meet Jonathan Cohen, our Rabbi...
Ordination: Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, 1998. Master of Hebrew Letters, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College M. A., Concordia University, Montreal B. A., McGill University, Montreal If
I were to describe myself (on one foot) I would start by calling myself
a Reconstructionist in the classical model of Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan.
I am particularly fond of preparing and leading adult education study
sessions. My greatest hope is to lead the congregation, united by the
common goal of seeking guidance-but not easy answers-from our tradition
to help build and maintain a community of mutual caring.
I
enrolled in Rabbinical College because I enjoy learning about Jewish
history and tradition, and teaching what I have learned to others, both
Jews and non Jews. I can think of few feelings more exhilarating than
that which occurs when I connect with the congregation or group of students.
I am especially interested in learning and teaching about the various
times when Judaism has renewed itself through contact with other civilizations.
I am committed to a model of learning in which the teacher joins the
students both in challenging the tradition - and in allowing themselves
to be challenged by it. Whether in the pulpit or the classroom, I foresee
making my greatest contribution in the rabbinate as a teacher.
I
have had to discover for myself how the Jewish tradition can help a
contemporary person navigate the uncertainty, anxiety, impotence, and
disorder which characterize modern life. Judaism today is facing a greater
challenge than at any time since the destruction of the Temple. Many
of our people are secularly knowledgeable, but Jewishly ignorant. All
too often, they feel that being Jewish is more of a problem than a privilege.
If we fail to make Jewish civilization relevant to them, many of the
brightest and most dynamic of them, and their children, will be lost
for ever. I want to play an active part in keeping this from happening.
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*Much of these Torah summaries is borrowed from the "Family Shabbat Table Talk" site of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Other material comes from The Bedside Torah by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson; Teaching Torah: A Treasury of Insights and Activities by Sorel Goldberg and Barbara Binder Kadden; The Torah: A Modern Commentary by Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut; and Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary published by the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism |
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