The Minnesota Congregation for Humanistic Judaism has a new leader, and for Rabbi Eva Rose Cohen, it’s a leadership position she was destined to achieve.
The now 37-year-old St. Paul native and recently ordained rabbi became the spiritual leader at Or Emet in May 2024. It is the very congregation in which she grew up and came of age.
Rabbi Eva Rose Cohen
“My family has been involved with Or Emet since I was around 8 years old,” she said. Rabbi Cohen attended Or Emet’s Sunday School in the 1990s, and after graduating from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in 2009, returned to the Twin Cities to do a year of AmeriCorps VISTA service — and also reconnected with Or Emet.
Cohen began teaching in the congregation’s Jewish Cultural Sunday School. In 2012, she was named as the school’s director. In that role, one of her primary jobs was to train B Mitzvah-bound students.
“I find it meaningful to teach young people and build relationships, and create excitement about Jewish culture,” said Rabbi Cohen.
Since it was a part-time position, she also took on roles as an afternoon schoolteacher at St. Paul’s Talmud Torah, and as a research assistant for nonprofits. In addition, she did some work as a standardized patient trainer, and completed work as an artist. Cohen specializes in compositions that incorporate expressive line work and hand-drawn collage elements that are figurative and a bit surreal.
“The common thread through all of my experiences has been to do work I find engaging. I enjoy drawing on my skills, learning new things and making a positive difference in the world,” said Rabbi Cohen, who made the decision to train to become a rabbi in 2017.
She earned her master’s degree in Classical and Near Eastern studies from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a focus on the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East. She earned a rabbinical degree through the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, and shortly after being ordained was named the spiritual leader at Or Emet.
In addition to leading services for the congregation, and presiding over weddings and funerals, Rabbi Cohen plans to continue to teach and lead the congregation’s B Mitzvah program. Plus, she plans to do some advocacy work.
She is interested in increasing support for non-religious (or secular) people dealing with addiction. “The non-religious/secular part is key; a lot of recovery programs and resources are faith-based, which is problematic for atheists and agnostics — including secular Jews,” said Rabbi Cohen, who also plans to work to address immigrant rights as a social issue.
“As the congregation’s first rabbi, my hope is that I can increase our profile locally and within the state. I want to make us more visible to Jewish people from all backgrounds who maybe don’t relate with more religious streams of Judaism. Everyone is welcome here,” said Rabbi Cohen.
About Rabbi Eva Rose Cohen
Rabbi Eva Rose Cohen and her husband, Jack Spencer, live in Minneapolis. They have a four-year-old daughter named Freyja, who was born in February 2020, just as the Covid-19 pandemic was striking.
Rabbi Cohen is a 2005 graduate of St. Paul’s Central High School. She went on to Brown University in Rhode Island from which she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology and visual art. She graduated in spring 2009. She was awarded her Master of Arts in classical and Near Eastern studies from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in January 2020, and received rabbinic ordination from the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism in May 2024.
In addition to being Or Emet’s first rabbi, she is also the first Humanistic rabbi in Minnesota.
About Or Emet
Or Emet is the Minnesota congregation for Humanistic Judaism, and welcomes all who identify with the history and culture of the Jewish people. Or Emet celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2018. The congregation currently has more than 160 members. Learn more at Oremet.org.
About Humanistic Judaism
Or Emet is an affiliate of the Society for Humanistic Judaism (SHJ), an international movement founded in 1963 in Detroit, Michigan, by Rabbi Sherwin Wine as a non-theistic alternative in contemporary Jewish life. Humanistic Jews believe in creating a meaningful Jewish life free from supernatural authority, and in celebrating the secular roots of Judaism.
SHJ has affiliates in North and South America, Israel, Europe and Australia. Learn more at Shj.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE: To arrange an interview with Rabbi Eva Rose Cohen, contact Rachel M. Anderson, publicist, at 952-240-2513 or rachel@rmapublicity.com.
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