Eugene Kohn (January 26, 1887 – April 1, 1977) was an American Reconstructionist

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

, writer and editor. Born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

he attended the

Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studi ...

and in 1912 received ordination. It was here that he met Rabbi

Mordecai Kaplan Mordecai Menahem Kaplan (born Mottel Kaplan; June 11, 1881 – November 8, 1983), was a Lithuanian-born American rabbi, writer, Jewish educator, professor, theologian, philosopher, activist, and religious leader who founded the Reconstruction ...

who taught him

homiletics In religious studies, homiletics ( grc, ὁμιλητικός ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or ...

. Between 1912 and 1939 he served as a congregational rabbi in Conservative synagogues in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

s of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. He also served as the president of the Rabbinical assembly 1936–1937. He played a central role in the Reconstructionist movement. He edited its journal '' The Reconstructionist'' and, alongside Kaplan and

Ira Eisenstein Rabbi Ira Eisenstein (November 26, 1906 – June 28, 2001) was an American rabbi who founded Reconstructionist Judaism, along with Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, his teacher and, later, father-in-law through his marriage to Judith Kaplan, over a period o ...

, edited '' The New Haggadah'' (1941), ''The Sabbath Prayer Book'' (1945) and ''The Reconstructionist Prayer Book'' (1948). Alongside Jack Cohen, Eisenstein and

Milton Steinberg Milton Steinberg (November 25, 1903 – March 20, 1950) was an American rabbi, philosopher, theologian and author. Life Born in Rochester, New York, he was raised with the combination of his grandparents' traditional Jewish piety and his fath ...

he was one of Kaplan's main disciples.

Works

* ''Manual for Teaching Biblical History'' (1917) * ''The Future of Judaism in America'' (1934) * ''The Future of Judaism in America'' (1934) * ''Religion and Humanity'' (1953) * ''Religious Humanism: A Jewish Interpretation'' (1953) * ''Good to be a Jew'' (1959) * ''Shir Hadash'' (1939) (edited) * ''New Haggadah'' (1941) (edited) * ''The Sabbath Prayer Book'' (1945) (edited) * ''The Reconstructionist Prayer Book'' (1948) (edited) * ''Mordecai M. Kaplan: An Evaluation'' (1952) (edited)

References

External links

* * American Reconstructionist rabbis American Conservative rabbis American Jewish theologians 1887 births 1977 deaths New York University alumni Jewish Theological Seminary of America semikhah recipients Clergy from Newark, New Jersey Religious naturalists American Zionists Jewish American writers Writers from New Jersey 20th-century American rabbis {{US-rabbi-stub