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Martin Samuel Cohen is rabbi of the Shelter Rock Jewish Center in Roslyn, New York.
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Martin Samuel Cohen is rabbi of the Shelter Rock Jewish Center in Roslyn, New York.
Cohen was educated at the City University of New York and at Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he was ordained a rabbi and received his Ph.D. in ancient Judaism. His dissertation dealt with the early Jewish mystical work Shiur Komah. At that time he also studied the legal writings of Maimonides together with his friend Rabbi Dr. Zvi Leshem, currently the director of the Gershom Scholem Collection at the National Library of Israel.
He has taught at Hunter College, at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, at the Institute for Jewish Studies of the University of Heidelberg, and at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver School of Theology. Cohen also served as rabbi at 1986–1999 at Beth Tikvah Congregation in Richmond, British Columbia and from 1999 to 2002 at Congregation Eilat in Mission Viejo, California. In 2002, he became rabbi of the Shelter Rock Jewish Center in Roslyn, New York. [1]
Cohen is the author of academic articles, novels, and books of essays. His publications include Our Haven and Our Strength: The Book of Psalms (Aviv Press, 2003) and The Boy on the Door on the Ox: An Unusual Spiritual Journey Through the Strangest Jewish Texts (Aviv Press). Rabbi Cohen published a Siddur in 2007 called Siddur Tzur Yisrael.
From 1997 to 2000, Cohen was chairman of the Publications Committee of the Rabbinical Assembly, and he then became chair of the editorial board of the quarterly journal Conservative Judaism .
In April 2012, the Rabbinical Assembly published a new guide to Jewish law and practice, The Observant Life: The Wisdom of Conservative Judaism for Contemporary Jews, edited by Rabbi Cohen and Rabbi Michael Katz.
Conservative Judaism is a Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations, more than from divine revelation. It therefore views Jewish law, or Halakha, as both binding and subject to historical development. The conservative rabbinate employs modern historical-critical research, rather than only traditional methods and sources, and lends great weight to its constituency, when determining its stance on matters of practice. The movement considers its approach as the authentic and most appropriate continuation of Halakhic discourse, maintaining both fealty to received forms and flexibility in their interpretation. It also eschews strict theological definitions, lacking a consensus in matters of faith and allowing great pluralism.
The Rabbinical Assembly (RA) is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards for the Conservative movement. It organizes conferences and coordinates the Joint Placement Commission of the Conservative movement. Members of the RA serve as rabbis, educators, community workers and military and hospital chaplains around the world.
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Criticism of Conservative Judaism is widespread in the Orthodox Jewish community, although the movement also has its critics in Reform Judaism and in other streams of Judaism. While the Conservative movement professes fidelity to Jewish tradition, it considers Halakha to be a dynamic process that needs reinterpreting in modern times. The criticism by Orthodox Jews and traditionalists within the movement itself revolves around the following:
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Theodore Tuvia Zvi Friedman was an American and Israeli conservative rabbi, spiritual leader, and author. From 1962 to 1964, he served as the president of The Rabbinical Assembly, the international association of Conservative rabbis. During his tenure, he supported the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
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