Simeon Cohen

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Nov 10, 2023, 4:59 PM

Now and Then: October 7th and November 9th

Last week, the Beatles released their final song, a wistful postscript to their career called “Now and Then.” “Now and Then” is built around a demo-track that John Lennon recorded in his home studio 1977. In 1995, fifteen years...

Mar 11, 2022, 7:57 PM

The Spirit of the Jewish People Thrives in Ukraine

In the first century of the Common Era, Rome was the world’s unquestioned leading imperial superpower. The Roman Empire reigned all over Europe and the Mediterranean basin, from Britain to Egypt, including, of course, Judea–the land of Israel. Yet...

Jan 17, 2022, 5:54 AM

Looking out from the Mountaintop after Colleyville

On April 3rd, 1968--the day before he was assassinated–Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his legendary “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop Speech” in Memphis. He closed that speech with the following words: “I don't know what will happen now. We've...

May 24, 2021, 11:02 AM

At 80 years old, may Bob Dylan stay forever young

In 1966, just a month after the release of his iconic double-album Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan, the great Jewish American bard, crashed his motorcycle. In the wake of the accident, Dylan largely withdrew from public life -- he...

May 13, 2021, 8:54 PM

A prayer for my daughter

Illustrative baby (iStock)

May she grow up to see the day when Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians see each other as brothers and sisters

Jul 25, 2017, 9:55 PM

What the Grateful Dead Can Teach us about Tisha B’av

Yesterday was the 1st of Av, which marks the beginning of the darkest month on the Jewish calendar. The Talmud teaches that when Av begins, our joy is diminished, as we begin the process of communal mourning that culminates...

Jun 29, 2017, 2:12 PM

A Newly Minted Rabbi in Morocco

On Thursday, May 18th, I was ordained as a rabbi by the Jewish Theological Seminary. Three days later (and nearly a year after our wedding), my wife Ariel and I departed on a belated honeymoon to Morocco. Ariel is...

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About Me

Rabbi Simeon Cohen is the rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston, NJ, where he resides with his wife, Dr. Ariel Fein, their daughter Amalya and their samoyed, Ophelia.