Lifelong Educator
Teaching Judaism at 90
SELAH MAYA ZIGHELBOIM | JE STAFF
I t’s been 15 years since Sara Cohen retired from her position as educational
director at Har Zion Temple, but her love of teaching and Judaism keeps the
90-year-old educator coming back.

Once a week, she leads an adult tefillah class, where she and her students
delve into Jewish prayer — the meaning behind the words, who wrote them
and why.

“I just love teaching,” said Cohen, who has lived in the same Wynnewood
home for decades. “The mitzvah, the commandment, is to learn, but it’s also to
learn and to teach.”
Cohen was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. Her zayde taught her to love
Judaism, she said. He was shomer Shabbat and would often spend Shabbat with
her family. She remembers walking with him to shul.

Her parents were not particularly religious, and, she said, they ended up
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Sara Cohen teaches a class at Har Zion.

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“I believe that our children
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our traditions, and therefore,
they would appreciate it.”
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finding Judaism through her.

Cohen wanted to attend Hebrew school, but her mother felt
like Sunday school was enough for a girl. Her father agreed to it,
and she started a more serious Jewish education later than her
peers at 10 years old. She finished when she was in high school
and did extra learning in the summer so she could catch up for
Hebrew high school.

“Jewish education was education as it should be,” Cohen said.

“There was a lot of learning, serious learning. I believe that our
children should really learn and know our traditions, and there-
fore, they would appreciate it, which they did.”
Her father was first violist in the CBS Symphony Orchestra.

One day while at the recording studio, he met a young serviceman
named Irving Cohen who was in the army band. Her father told
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