Sharon L. Cohen, March 31, 2017

Sharon L. Cohen, March 31, 2017

Rabbi Sharon L. Cohen was born in 1969 in Miami, Florida. While her parents are both from the United States, her great-grandparents emigrated from Russia. Growing up, Cohen’s parents raised her in a Jewish home with strong values that eventually influenced her decision to attend institutions of higher education with strong Jewish student life. The importance of Judaism in her life also shaped her career choices. Cohen was ordained as a rabbi and she later was employed as the first female rabbi at Ohavay Zion Synagogue in Lexington, Kentucky. Cohen describes the varying levels of acceptance she encountered: she felt welcomed by her congregants, while she also experienced some resistance to her authority from others. In her life, Cohen has taken on many different roles--as a Rabbi, Jewish educator, chaplain, mother, and more. Due to these sometimes-competing roles, she struggled with which version of herself to show to the world in various environments.
She has advocated for gender equality in the professional realm, and discusses the challenges that pursuing a career and higher education can present for women who also want to have a family. She reflects on the experiences of parenting small children while in her forties while also continuing to work. Consequently, she has dealt with the struggles and benefits of raising a Jewish family in Lexington, Kentucky. Now, her life focuses on her family as she has two young sons and a husband. Though she is no longer the rabbi at Ohavay Zion, she still continues to work as a chaplain. She describes how Lexington and its Jewish culture has evolved over the years.

Families.

Childhood

Jews--Social life and customs.

Jewish families.

Jewish children

Jews--Identity.

Judaism.

Religion

Jewish women

Worship (Judaism)

Rabbis

Women rabbis

Jewish leadership

Lexington (Ky.)

Discrimination.

audio

2017oh231_jk051

Hannah Thompson

Trupte Patel

Dylan Morris

Sharon L. Cohen

Education, Higher

Higher education

Anti-Semitism

Antisemitism

Ohavay Zion Synagogue

Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA)

Dating (Social customs)

Sex discrimination against women

Phoenix (Ariz.)

Miami (Fla.)

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

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Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.