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Rabbi Ezra Cohen
Photo by Nachi Troodler
I n August, the Jewish Exponent’s weekly Synagogue Spotlight
section focused on Lower Merion Synagogue, the Orthodox shul
where congregants walk to Shabbat services.

The article focused on how the community that started in 1954
with five families never stopped growing over the decades. Today, it
has more than 450 households and is the largest Orthodox synagogue
in Pennsylvania.

The article also mentioned that the continued growth required
LMS to hire its first-ever assistant rabbi. It just did not include that
new rabbi’s name. He’s Ezra Cohen, and he’s excited to introduce
himself to the wider Jewish community in the Philadelphia area.

Cohen, 27, lives in Merion Station near the shul and works under
Rabbi Avraham J. Shmidman, LMS’ spiritual leader. The assistant
rabbi started in July after accepting the offer and moving from New
York City with his wife Tova. Cohen grew up in New Rochelle, a sub-
urb of NYC, and attended Yeshiva University in the city. This is his
first job out of rabbinical school.

“I thought it was a community I wanted to work at,” he said.

“It’s definitely great to have a new world to explore,” Cohen added
of the Philadelphia area. “I am enjoying the weather that’s warmer by
about 2 degrees every day.”
The young rabbi chose LMS because it checked out both on paper
and off, as he put it.

On paper, the synagogue wanted a rabbi who would get out there
and interact with people; and Cohen likes to do that in general,
not just in his professional life. The
shul also wanted a young leader whose
religious philosophy aligned with its
denomination; Cohen, for his part,
believes in interpreting Jewish law as
it’s been interpreted throughout his-
tory. And lastly, LMS wanted a rabbi
who could teach and help expand its
educational programming; the 27-year-
old is already working on a new ini-
tiative to bring classes into people’s
homes. While those qualities were evident
to Cohen during the interview process,
he would not have taken the job if it
didn’t feel right. So when he came for
his Shabbat visit in March, he tried
to determine if the Main Line syna-
gogue could become his home, he said.

And during services, meals and con-
versations, he felt a “warmth” from the
congregants in attendance. They were
excited about the Cohens’ visit.

“We found people we wanted to be
with and people who wanted to be with
us,” he said.

Cohen did not accept his offer with a
promise of replacing Shmidman down
the line. The head rabbi started at
LMS in 2008 and is still in his prime,
according to his new protégé. So, for
the younger rabbi, the job was a place
to start, learn and grow. And he is
doing all three so far.

Cohen said his job description is
“very long.” He is handling sermons
and teaching classes, including a fam-
ily learning course after Shabbat every
Saturday night. He is making himself
available for congregants’ life cycle
events and for their questions about
Jewish law. He’s also just trying to
meet and speak with as many people
as possible.

“There’s something exciting about
it,” the young rabbi said. “There’s a lot
of potential.”
Ezra and Tova Cohen have been
married for a little over a year and do
not yet have kids. She is still in nursing
school at Columbia University and
commuting to New York City once or
twice a week. The husband and wife
are young and figuring it out. And
outside of his job, they are not tied
or settled down. Cohen said they will
probably have a conversation about
their long-term future in 6-10 months.

But the young rabbi is already doing
what he wants to do. He grew up in an
Orthodox household and was always
committed to studying Talmud. Then
as a freshman at Brandeis University
in Massachusetts, he kept coming back
to psychology and Judaic studies as
possible majors.

“I said, ‘What is it about them?’ I
thought about it and realized they were
just a proxy for the two things I loved
most: the Torah and people,” Cohen
explained. “I want to engage and inter-
act with Torah in a serious way. I want
to engage and interact with people in a
serious way. I said, ‘I guess I want to be
a rabbi.’ And I never looked back.”
That was in 2015, and Cohen’s love
for both has only grown, he said.

“I think Torah is very deep and the
more you poke and prod, the deeper
you realize it is,” Cohen added. “And
I’m increasingly mesmerized by it.” JE
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