Congregation Agudas Achim welcomes new senior rabbi

Congregation Agudas Achim has announced the hiring of Rabbi Sharon Cohen as the congregation’s new Senior Rabbi beginning August 1. 

Rabbi Cohen was born in Miami, Florida, and spent her teen years in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  As an undergraduate, she was a double major in History and Jewish & Near Eastern Studies at Washington University in St. Louis.  She earned a Master’s of Hebrew Letters from the University of Judaism (now American Jewish University) in Los Angeles, and Master’s in Rabbinic Literature and Rabbinic Ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.   

Following Rabbinical School, Rabbi Cohen served three years as an Assistant Rabbi at a congregation in Phoenix, Arizona, before coming to Lexington to serve as Rabbi at Ohavay Zion Synagogue. After nine years as Rabbi at Ohavay Zion, Rabbi Cohen shifted her rabbinate toward chaplaincy and enrolled as a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Chaplain Resident at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center in Lexington. Following her CPE year, she worked as a Family Support Liaison with Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA), guiding families in the hospital setting in making the decision to give the gift of life to others, and supporting them in the organ donation process.   

As both education and spiritual care are among her Rabbinic passions, Rabbi Cohen currently serves as the Director of Adult and Youth Education at the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass and as a Pool Chaplain at St. Joseph Hospital and St. Joseph East. She enjoys cooking, walking the beach during rare vacations, and watching a variety of sports. She is married to husband, Jeffrey, and a mom to 6-year-old Jonah and 4-year-old Joshua. 

If you are interested in taking part in the welcoming plans for the Cohen family, contact Renee Glazier at [email protected].