Upon her ordination last year, Rabbi Eva Rose Cohen became the first and only rabbi affiliated with Humanistic Judaism in Minnesota. On March 22, she’ll make history again with her installation at Or Emet, Minnesota Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, becoming the congregation’s first-ever rabbi.
Or Emet was first founded in the 1980s by lay leaders interested in secular Jewish thought who gathered and learned in each other’s homes before formally affiliating with the Society for Humanistic Judaism. Co-founder Dr. Harold Londer became an ordained Madrikh and led the congregation until he retired in 2018.
The rabbinic installation represents a significant development for the growing local Humanistic community as well as a remarkable personal and professional journey for Cohen.
Though her title will be new, she has not only served as Or Emet’s spiritual leader since 2018, but she grew up in the congregation. After graduating from Brown University in 2009, she returned to the Twin Cities and taught in Or Emet’s Jewish Cultural Sunday School, eventually becoming its director.
Cohen has achieved a great deal since deciding to train as a rabbi in 2017. In addition to earning a rabbinical degree through the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, she completed a master’s in Classical and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Minnesota – and became a new parent in 2020.
Cohen’s interest in stepping into the role of congregational spiritual leader developed over her years serving Or Emet in multiple capacities throughout the years.
“I became more and more passionate and mission driven around this idea that it’s really important for Humanistic Jewish congregations…to exist so that people who want to connect with Jewishness in a nontheistic way have a community home,” she said.
This dedication to community and intellectual pursuit drove her interest in the rabbinate.
“To do work that would help to enrich and uplift and promote the continuity of this congregation, while getting to learn, teach, and write about all of this stuff that was so interesting and exciting to me, and that I [believed] could be positively inspirational for people,” Cohen said of her motivation.
The multifaceted nature of a rabbi’s job, which she likened to being a “Jack-or Jill-of-all-trades” since it involves teaching, counseling, and ceremonies, appealed to Cohen, who described herself as someone with a lot of interests and who craves variety.
Beyond the traditional work of overseeing the B Mitzvah program and lifecycle ceremonies, she has set a goal of “increasing support for non-religious (or secular) people dealing with addiction,” as many recovery programs are faith-based.
More broadly, “As the congregation’s first rabbi, my hope is that I can increase our profile locally and within the state. I want to make us more visible to Jewish people from all backgrounds who maybe don’t relate with more religious streams of Judaism. Everyone is welcome here,” Cohen said.
Rabbi Adam Chalom, rabbi at Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation in Deerfield, Ill., will attend Rabbi Cohen’s March 22 installation. He is also dean for North America of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism (IISHJ), where Cohen studied.
The following day, Chalom will lead an event as a scholar in residence, exploring “What Is a Jewish Book?” – a question Chalom also raises in his own recent book “Contemporary Humanistic Judaism: Beliefs, Values and Practices,” co-edited with Rabbi Jodi Kornfeld.
Chalom expressed high hopes for Rabbi Cohen’s continued impact as she begins the next step in her career.
“Studies show that growing numbers of American Jews, particularly younger American Jews, are not finding meaning in their Jewish identity through prayer, god belief, or conventional religion,” he said. “An experienced Humanistic Jewish community like Or Emet with a younger, brilliant, talented and committed leader and spokesperson like Rabbi Cohen will connect with these skeptical Jews in new ways that will resonate with what they already believe and how they already live their Judaism as a cultural identity. We’ve had the right message on happily officiating intermarriage ceremonies and celebrating mixed heritage and LGBTQ families for decades. Rabbi Cohen’s creative and intellectual talents will be a natural fit to sharing our message with this growing population that will welcome it.”
As a new movement in the 1960s, Humanistic Judaism’s first rabbis came from other denominations, and today some are still drawn to the community after experiencing what Cohen calls “a theological crisis.”
Chalom and Cohen, however, both grew up as Humanistic Jews, and as rabbis, each has witnessed the gratitude of new and existing community members for whom Humanistic Judaism proves both a vital community and way of living Jewishly.
“I hope that [my book] Contemporary Humanistic Judaism, and the programming and community Or Emet and Rabbi Eva Cohen provide in the Twin Cities, will speak to the thousands of Jews and those who love them who already believe what we believe and are Jewish like we are Jewish. Too many times, I’ve heard, ‘I’ve felt this way for most of my life, and now I’ve finally found you.” We’re here to be found and to help a diverse Jewish future thrive.’”
The public installation honoring Rabbi Cohen will be part of a Saturday havdalah celebration at the Minnesota JCC Sabes Center in Minneapolis on March 22 at 5 p.m. Rabbi Chalom’s adult program will be held at the Twin Cities German Immersion School in Saint Paul on March 23 at 10 a.m.
