Rabbi Cohen ’72 to Give Talk on Role of Jewish Biblical Personages in the New Testament

WORCESTER, Mass. – Rabbi Norman M. Cohen ’72 will give a talk titled “What are Nice Jewish Boys Like Moses and Abraham Doing in a Book Like the New Testament? The Role of Jewish Biblical Characters in Christian Writings” on Sept. 8 at 3 p.m. in Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross. The event is free and open to the public.

Cohen is the founding rabbi of Bet Shalom, an 800-family congregation in Minnetonka, Minn., created by 31 families in 1981.

Prior to his arrival in Minnesota, Cohen served the oldest Jewish congregation west of the Alleghenies, Rockdale Temple in Cincinnati, in addition to teaching at Hebrew Union College and other colleges in Cincinnati. He has continued to serve on college faculties in the Twin Cities area, including the College of St. Catherine, Macalester College, the United Theological Seminary, and St. Olaf College.

Cohen is active in local civic and Jewish community affairs and plays an active role in Jewish Christian relations. He serves as chaplain for the Minnetonka Police Department, has been a member of the Hopkins Crime Prevention Fund Board, and is currently on the State Board of the Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police. Cohen has been on the Religious Advisory Council of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities, executive board member of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation and is an honorary advisor to the Minneapolis Jewish Family and Children’s Service. He is past president of the Midwest Association of Reform Rabbis, the Minnesota Rabbinical Association and is active in numerous organizations, locally and nationally, most significantly the Joint Commission of the Rabbinic Mentoring Institute, the National Committee on Rabbinic Congregational Relations and as vice chair of the Reform movement’s Joint Commission on Synagogue Management.

Cohen has authored numerous magazine and newspaper articles and the book Jewish Bible Personages in the New Testament. He has appeared as scholar in residence in over two dozen cities. Cohen is currently working on a book titled Stereotypes and Misconceptions that Christians and Jews Hold About Each Other.

The event is sponsored by the Chaplains’ Office.