Steven M. Cohen (born April 3, 1950) is an American sociologist whose work focuses on the American Jewish community. He served as a research professor of Jewish Social Policy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and as Director of the Berman Jewish Policy Archive at Stanford University before his July 2018 resignation stemming from allegations of sexual harassment.
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.Ford, Luke. "Emancipation and Enlightenment". LukeFord.net, July 30, 2008. 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 City. He has two children.Steven M. Cohen Faculty Page and Curriculum Vitae , Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Cohen's early intellectual influences include Leonard (Liebel) Fein, Calvin Goldscheider and Charles S. Liebman.Cohen, Steven M. Keynote Address on the Reception of the Marshall Sklare Award, December 19, 2010
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.Steven M. Cohen Author Page
He has been producing studies, articles, and books since he received his Ph.D. in 1974.
Sexual harassment allegations Allegations of a years-long pattern of sexual improprieties toward and harassment of female colleagues and subordinates have been made against Cohen, based on interviews with a number of sources.Hannah Dreyfus, "Harassment Allegations Mount Against Leading Jewish Sociologist." The New York Jewish Week, July 19, 2018
Following the allegations of sexual harassment against Cohen, three scholars of American Jewish history co-authored an article in The Forward, in which they proposed a link between Cohen's alleged sexual pattern of misogynistic behavior and the conclusions of some of his sociological studies focused on the "continuity crisis." Namely, the authors Kate Rosenblatt, Ronit Stahl, and Lila Corwin Berman wrote:
The cultural critic Rokhl Kafrissen has further concluded that "Cohen saw himself as an authority figure and thus entitled to the private lives and bodies of his female colleagues and subordinates, just as he saw himself entitled to dictate policy and control the fertility of American Jewish women. It becomes very hard to disentangle the sexism of an abuser from the patriarchal agenda he spent decades pushing."Rokhl Kafrissen, "How A #MeToo Scandal Proved What We Already Know: 'Jewish Continuity' Is Sexist." The Forward, July 20, 2018
Without defending Cohen's behavior, the McGill historian Professor Gil Troy, defended the broad field of continuity studies.Gil Troy, "Center Field: Jewish continuity isn’t sexist, and hasn’t been #MeTooed" The Jerusalem Post, July 31, 2018
Following an attempt to rehabilitate Cohen's reputation through a series of scholarly gatherings, which included Cohen nearly three years after the allegations of sexual harassment against him, the Association for Jewish Studies Women's Caucus issued a statement condemning such activity on 23 March 2021, as being in conflict with the core values of the Association of Jewish Studies regarding diversity and inclusion, ethical conduct, and good faith.
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,Cohen, Steven M., Eisen, Arnold M., The Jew Within: Self, Community, and Commitment Among the Variety of Moderately Affiliated, Indiana University Press, 2000. 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."Interview with Steven M. Cohen - Highly Engaged Young American Jews: Contrasts in Generational Ethos", Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, September 15, 2010 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.Cohen, Steven M. "Beyond Distancing: Young Adult American Jews and Their Alienation from Israel" Jewish Identity Project of Reboot, 2007.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
Selected research on young leadership and generational change
Interview with Steven M. Cohen - Highly Engaged Young American Jews: Contrasts in Generational Ethos, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, September 15, 2010 Cohen, Steven M.. Kelman, Ari Y.. "Uncoupled: How our Singles are Reshaping Jewish Engagement". Jewish Identity Project of Reboot. 2008 Cohen, Steven M.. "Changes in American Jewish Identities: From Normative Constructions to Aesthetic Understandings - Interview with Steven M. Cohen". Changing Jewish Communities, No 30. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). 16 March 2008 Cohen, Steven M., Landres, J. Shawn, Kaunfer, Elie, & Shain, Michelle. Emergent Jewish communities and their participants: Preliminary findings from the 2007 National Spiritual Communities Study. New York: S3K Synagogue Studies Institute and Mechon Hadar. 2007. Cohen, Steven M.. Kelman, Ari Y.. "The Continuity of Discontinuity: How Young Jews Are Connecting, Creating, and Organizing Their Own Jewish Lives". 21/64. 2007 Benjamin, Mara. Cohen, Steven M.. Wertheimer, Jack. "Peoplehood in the Next Gen". Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility. Jewish Family & Life (JFL Media). October 2006: 2--4. Cohen, Steven M.. Kelman, Ari Y.. "Cultural Events and Jewish Identities: Young Adult Jews in New York". UJA-Federation of New York. February 2005 Cohen, Steven M.. "Changing Conceptions of Jewish Collectivity Among Young Adult Jews and Their Implications for Jewish Education: A Dual Research Project". Jewish Agency for Israel. Department of Jewish-Zionist Education. Research and Development Unit. 25 August 2002 Cohen, Steven M.. Eisen, Arnold. "The Sovereign Self: Jewish Identity in Post-Modern America". Jerusalem Letter/Viewpoints No. 453. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). 1 May 2001
Selected research on connections to Israel
Cohen, Steven M.. Kelman, Ari Y.. "Beyond Distancing: Young Adult American Jews and Their Alienation from Israel". Jewish Identity Project of Reboot. 2007 Abrams, Sam. Cohen, Steven M.. "Israel Off Their Minds: The Diminished Place of Israel in the Political Thinking of Young Jews". 27 October 2008 Chazan, Barry. Cohen, Steven M.. "What We Know About American Jewish Youth and Young Adults: Some Implications for Birthright Israel". Journal of Jewish Communal Service. Jewish Communal Service Association of North America. 2000 Cohen, Steven M.. "Did American Jews Really Grow More Distant from Israel (1983-1993)? A Re-consideration". Magnes Press (Jerusalem). 1996 Cohen, Steven M.. Israel in the Private Sphere of Jewish Identity". Charles R. Bronfman Centre for the Israel Experience. January 1996 Cohen, Steven M.. "Attitudes of American Jews Toward Israel and Israelis: The 1983 National Survey of American Jews and Jewish Communal Leaders". Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations. September 1983
Intermarriage and Jewish continuity
Cohen has been a strong proponent of Jewish in-marriage: "Intermarriage does indeed constitute the greatest single threat to Jewish continuity today."Warikoo, Niraj. "Do interfaith marriages threaten Jewish identity?" USA Today. October 14, 2010 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.".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 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.Fishkoff, Sue. "Latest Salvo in Intermarriage Debate Suggests a Split in Jewish Community." InterfaithFamily.com, February 7, 2007
Some of Cohen's major critics on this issue include Kerry Olitzky of the , Ed Case of 18Doors (formerly InterfaithFamily), Len Saxe of Brandeis University's Cohen Center, and Bethamie Horowitz of the Mandel Foundation.
Selected research on intermarriage and Jewish continuity
Cohen, Steven M.. "Seeking a Third Way to Respond to the Challenge of Intermarriage". Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR). March 2008 Cohen, Steven M.. "A Tale of Two Jewries: The "Inconvenient Truth" for American Jews". Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life. November 2006 Cohen, Steven M.. "Engaging the Next Generation of American Jews: Distinguishing the In-Married, Inter-Married, and Non-Married". Journal of Jewish Communal Service. Jewish Communal Service Association of North America. 2005 Cohen, Steven M.. "Non-Jews in Jewish Families". American Jewish Committee (AJC). 2005 Cohen, Steven M.. "The Conversion Illusion" in Jewish Identity and Religious Commitment: The North American Study of Conservative Synagogues and Their Members, 1995-6. Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) Press. 1997: 29–35 Cohen, Steven M.. "Intermarriage and the Jewish Future". American Jewish Committee (AJC). 1997: 10–19. Cohen, Steven M.. "Why Intermarriage May Not Threaten Jewish Continuity". Moment Magazine. December 1994
Selected critiques of Cohen's position
Kafrissen, Rokhl. "How A #MeToo Scandal Proved What We Already Know: ‘Jewish Continuity’ Is Sexist." The Forward. July 20, 2018. Rosenblatt, Kate, Lila Corwin Berman, and Ronit Stahl. "How Jewish Academia Created a #MeToo Disaster." The Forward. July 19, 2018. Weiner, Julie. "Steven M. Cohen Promotes "Meaningless Jewish Associations"", The New York Jewish Week: In the Mix, December 14, 2010.