Rabbi Cohen ’72 to Visit Campus, Shares Sermons From ‘Days of Awe’

Rabbi Norman M. Cohen ’72, the founding rabbi of the reform Jewish congregation Bet Shalom in Minnetonka, Minn., will meet with students and faculty, visit classes, and attend religious services while he is in residence at Holy Cross on Oct. 28 through Nov. 3. The Chaplain’s Office will celebrate Shabbat on Friday evening (Nov. 2).

This will be Cohen’s fourth College-sponsored visit back to his alma mater. Last year was his first extended stay at the College, and he’s looking forward to doing it again.

“I meet with Jewish students and faculty in a variety of settings,” he says. “When I began my student days at Holy Cross in 1968, I was the only Jewish student and there were only a few Jewish faculty.”

Today, he notes that there are more than a half a dozen Jewish students and about two dozen professors who are Jewish.

“I hope to be helpful to the Chaplains’ Office and supportive of the growing Jewish community on campus. I also hope to serve as a resource for professors who might ask me to visit their classes,” he says. “The Holy Cross environment is also conducive to personal study of the book of Ruth, which is a project I have been working on in my study leave time from my congregation.”

Like his last weeklong visit, Cohen will be staying in Ciampi, the Jesuit residence. “The Jesuits are quite welcoming and hospitable,” he says. Rev. James Hayes, S.J., rector of the Jesuit community, and Rev. Edward Vodoklys, S.J., senior lecturer in classics, were his Holy Cross classmates.

Cohen is sharing his sermons from the Days of Awe (Sept. 13-22). The ten days starting with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur, the Days of Awe is a time for serious introspection; and a time to consider the sins of the previous year and repent before Yom Kippur.

Related Information:

* Dead Wood and the Living Tree (.pdf) * Give Me Your Tired (.pdf) * www.betshalom.org * Chaplains’ Office