Misplaced Pages

Gerson D. Cohen

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
American rabbi and academic (1924–1991)
Gerson D. Cohen
Personal life
Born(1924-08-26)August 26, 1924
New York City
DiedAugust 15, 1991(1991-08-15) (aged 66)
New York City
NationalityAmerican
Alma materCity College of New York, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Columbia University
Religious life
ReligionJudaism
DenominationConservative

Gerson David Cohen (August 26, 1924 – August 15, 1991) was a Jewish historian, a Conservative rabbi, and the Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America from 1972–86. He was born in New York in 1924 and graduated from City College of New York in 1944.  Cohen received his bachelor's degree, master's degree, and rabbinic ordination (1948) from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.  He received his Ph.D. in Semitic Languages at Columbia University in 1958.

Cohen served as Gustav Gottheil Lecturer at Columbia University and in a number of posts at the Jewish Theological Seminary.  His posts at the Seminary included Librarian (1950-1957), Lecturer (1957-1960), Visiting Assistant Professor (1961-1964), Visiting Professor (1964-1970), and Jacob H. Schiff Professor of History (1970-1991). He was named Chancellor of the Seminary in 1972.

Cohen is especially noted for ordaining the first female rabbi in Conservative Judaism in 1985. As Chancellor, he appointed a special commission to study the issue of ordaining women as rabbis in 1977.

Cohen died in New York in 1991.

References

  1. ^ Scheindlin, Raymond P. (1992). "Gerson D. Cohen (1924-1991)". Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research. 58: 15–18. ISSN 0065-6798. JSTOR 3622622.
  2. "Cohen New JTS Chancellor, President; Mandelbaum Named President Emeritus". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1972-05-24. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  3. Goldman, Ari L. (August 19, 1991). "Gerson D. Cohen Is Dead at 66; Ex-Chancellor of Jewish Seminary". The New York Times.


Stub icon

This biographical article about an American rabbi is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

Categories: