Steven M. Cohen

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Steven M. Cohen
Born (1950-04-03) April 3, 1950
Brooklyn, New York
Occupation Sociologist
Spouse(s) Rabbi Marion Lev-Cohen
Children Adam Wall, Edeet Cohen

Steven M. Cohen (1950) is a sociologist whose work focuses on the American Jewish Community. He is currently a Research Professor of Jewish Social Policy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Director of the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner.[1]

Biography

Cohen was born April 3, 1950, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Toby (Fassman) Cohen and Max Cohen, and the grandchild of four East European-born grandparents. Raised in a home marked by strong Jewish ethnicity and nominally Orthodox affiliation, his family kept kosher in the home only.[2] He attended Erasmus Hall High School and then Columbia College. He made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) in 1992. He is married to Rabbi Marion Lev-Cohen. They live in both Jerusalem and New York. He has two children.[3][4]

Cohen's early intellectual influences include Leonard (Liebel) Fein, Calvin Goldscheider and Charles S. Liebman.[5]

Academic Background

Cohen received his BA from Columbia College in 1970 and his Ph.D. from Columbia University's Department of Sociology in 1974. His doctoral dissertation was on "Interethnic Marriage and Friendship".

Past professorial and research positions include Queens College CUNY, Brandeis University, Hebrew University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and the Melton Centre for Jewish Education. He has also served as Director of the Synagogue Studies Institute of Synagogue 3000 and Director of the Florence G. Heller-JCCA Research Center.


Cohen's research centers on the North American Jewish Community, with focus on the issues of Jewish continuity, intermarriage, and generational change. He has produced work under the auspices of various academic institutions and Jewish organizations and foundations such as the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, the Florence G. Heller-JCC Association Research Center, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Jewish Agency for Israel Jewish Education Committee, and the Jewish Federations of North America.[6]

He has been producing studies, articles, and books since he received his Ph.D. in 1974.,.[4][6]

Young Leadership and Generational Change

In recent years, Cohen has worked on understanding how Jewish leaders in their 20s and 30s are changing Jewish life, practices, and values. His earlier work on the Baby Boomers,[7] served a point of contrast for his analysis in his later work on the younger generation and their approach to religious, institutional, political, and cultural norms.[8] He has also done work on how Israel attachment is changing across generational lines, generally finding that while younger Jews still care, they feel less political connection to Israel than their older peers.[9][10]

Selected Research on Changing Jewish Leadership, Values, and Practices

Selected Research on Changing Connections to Israel

Intermarriage and Jewish Continuity

Cohen has been a strong proponent of in-marriage among Jews: "Intermarriage does indeed constitute the greatest single threat to Jewish continuity today."[11] His criticisms of intermarriage and its consequences for American Jews have inspired discussion and controversy.

In his 2007 article, "A Tale of Two Jewries: The `Inconvenient Truth' for American Jews," Cohen argued that inmarried and intermarried Jews form two distinct halves of the Jewish community and that the Jewish future, he argues, rests with the inmarried. Based on a 2010 study he produced for the Foundation for Jewish Camp, he challenged the idea that a lack of welcome is what is deterring interfaith households from participating in Jewish life: "There is no longer a stigma attached to walking into a synagogue with a non-Jewish spouse, but what remains a problem is that that husband or wife then does not have access to what is going on once he or she is there.".[12] Consequently, he has challenged the value of investing in outreach to the intermarried and prefers a strategy of encouraging Jewish in-marriage and the conversion of non-Jewish spouses and partners to Judaism.[13]

Some of Cohen's major critics on this issue include Kerry Olitzky of the Jewish Outreach Institute, Ed Case of InterfaithFamily.com, Len Saxe of Brandeis University's Cohen Center, and Bethamie Horowitz of the Mandel Foundation.[13]

Selected Scholarship on Intermarriage and Jewish Continuity

Selected Critiques of Cohen's Position

Other Work

Cohen's research spans many areas, including the composition of the Jewish professional workforce, issues of gender and sexuality equity in the Jewish workplace, religious communities, and educational institutions, and the impact of various educational programs. His 2010 study, "Profiling the Professionals: Who's Serving Our Communities?", revealed that a twenty thousand dollar wage gap disparity persists between the salaries of men and women working for Jewish organizations.[14][15]

Selected Other Research

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "BJPA's Management". Retrieved 21 December 2013. 
  2. ↑ Ford, Luke. "Emancipation and Enlightenment". LukeFord.net, July 30, 2008.
  3. ↑ Limmud NY 2010 Presenter Biographies
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Steven M. Cohen Faculty Page and Curriculum Vitae, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
  5. ↑ Cohen, Steven M. Keynote Address on the Reception of the Marshall Sklare Award, December 19, 2010
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Steven M. Cohen Author Page
  7. ↑ Cohen, Steven M., Eisen, Arnold M.,The Jew Within: Self, Community, and Commitment Among the Variety of Moderately Affiliated, Indiana University Press, 2000.
  8. ↑ "Interview with Steven M. Cohen - Highly Engaged Young American Jews: Contrasts in Generational Ethos", Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, September 15, 2010
  9. ↑ Cohen, Steven M. "Beyond Distancing: Young Adult American Jews and Their Alienation from Israel" Jewish Identity Project of Reboot, 2007.
  10. ↑ Cohen, Steven M., Abrams, Sam. Israel "Off Their Minds: The Diminished Place of Israel in the Political Thinking of Young Jews". Berman Jewish Policy Archive, September 28, 2008
  11. ↑ Warikoo, Niraj. "Do interfaith marriages threaten Jewish identity?" USA Today. October 14, 2010
  12. ↑ Beckerman, Gal. "New Study Finds That It’s Not a Lack of Welcome That’s Keeping the Intermarrieds Away." The Jewish Daily Forward, July 16, 2010
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Fishkoff, Sue. "Latest Salvo in Intermarriage Debate Suggests a Split in Jewish Community." InterfaithFamily.com, February 7, 2007
  14. ↑ Snyder, Tamar. "The Jewish Community’s $20,000 Gender Gap". The New York Jewish Week. November 20, 2010
  15. ↑ Brown, Dan. "The Gender Disconnect." EJewish Philanthropy. November 21, 2010.
  16. ↑ Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry Awards
  17. ↑ Video of 2010 Marshall Sklare Award Presentation by Dr. Arnold Eisen, Keynote by Prof. Steven M. Cohen, and Responses by Profs. Kelman and Benor
  18. ↑ Pollak, Steve. "National Jewish Book Awards announced," Jewish Literary Review. January 12, 2011.
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