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Shalom Cohen (rabbi)

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Rabbi
Shalom Cohen
Cohen in 2014
Personal life
Born(1930-11-03)3 November 1930
Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine
Died22 August 2022(2022-08-22) (aged 91)
Jerusalem, Israel
NationalityIsraeli
SpouseYael Ben Shimon
Children8[1]
Alma materPorat Yosef Yeshiva
Religious life
ReligionJudaism
Jewish leader
PredecessorRabbi Ben-Zion Abba Shaul

Shalom Cohen (Hebrew: שלום כהן; 3 November 1930 – 22 August 2022) was an Israeli Haredi Sephardi rabbi. He was rosh yeshiva of the Old City branch of Porat Yosef Yeshiva, and the spiritual leader of the Shas political party. He was a member of the party's Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah rabbinic council from 1984[2] until his death and was its oldest member.[1][3]

Early life and education

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Born on 3 November 1930,[2] Shalom Cohen was one of eight children of Rabbi Efraim Hakohen, a Sephardi kabbalist, in Jerusalem who had been a disciple of Yosef Hayyim in Baghdad before immigrating to Palestine in 1924. In 1930, the year Cohen was born, his father was appointed rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef Yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem.[2]

Cohen began studying at Porat Yosef Yeshiva at the age of 13, and developed a reputation for "diligence and ingenuity".[2] He married Yael, the daughter of Rabbi Mansour Ben Shimon, a Safed kabbalist who also taught at Porat Yosef.[1] The couple had eight children.[1]

Cohen began delivering shiurim at Porat Yosef after his wedding,[2] and taught students for decades. He was named rosh yeshiva of the Old City branch of Porat Yosef Yeshiva in 1966.[1] Though his father and father-in-law were kabbalists, he himself was not.[1]

Political activity

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Cohen entered the political arena for the first time in 1984, when he agreed to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's request to support the founding of the Shas party and serve on the new Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah rabbinic council.[2] In April 2014, six months after Yosef's death, Cohen succeeded him as nasi (president) of the council.[2][4]

Cohen was an outspoken critic of Modern Orthodox and secular Jews in Israel.[2] In 2013, he compared the Religious Zionist community to Amalek, the biblical archenemy of the Jewish people,[5][6] and in 2015, he called the Israeli national anthem, "Hatikvah", "a stupid song".[7][8] He told Israeli soldiers at a prayer rally during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, "Do you think the people of Israel need an army? It is God Almighty who fights for Israel."[8]

He also expressed hard-line views on issues affecting the Haredi community in Israel. In 2014, he decried the dire effects on Israeli Sephardi Jews of the proposed Israeli law to draft yeshiva students,[9] and issued a letter in which he forbade Haredi women from undertaking post-high-school studies at academic colleges.[10] He urged his constituency to refrain from using smartphones and to strengthen their involvement in Torah study.[2]

Other activities

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Cohen was on the board of Beis Din Tzedek Neveh Tzion, a kosher certification agency founded by his brothers-in-law, Rabbi Nissim Ben Shimon and Rabbi Shlomo Ben Shimon.[2]

Death

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Cohen died in Jerusalem on 22 August 2022, at the age of 91;[11] tens of thousands attended the funeral.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Schlesinger, Yehuda (22 September 2014). "הכהן הגדול" [The High Priest]. Israel HaYom. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Labin, Yoel Asher. "'There Is So Much Torah Here!': My conversation with Rav Shalom Cohen and Rav David Yosef". Ami, 1 April 2015, p. 124.
  3. ^ Ettinger, Yair (19 April 2014). "Shas party's new spiritual leader: Deputy religious services minister is 'crazy'". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Shas names Rabbi Shalom Cohen as new spiritual leader". The Jerusalem Post. 18 April 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  5. ^ Ungar-Sargon, Batya (18 April 2014). "Israel's Shas Party Gets Controversial New Leader". Tablet. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Shas' Rav Cohen: The Kippot Srugot are Amalek". Yeshiva World News. 14 July 2013. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  7. ^ "Shas Spiritual Leader: Hatikva is a 'Stupid' Song". Arutz Sheva. 22 February 2015. Archived from the original on 6 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  8. ^ a b Sharon, Jeremy (22 February 2015). "Shas spiritual leader: 'Hatikva is a stupid song'". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  9. ^ Cohen, Yishai (25 February 2014). "כינוס המועצות: הגאון הרב שלום כהן פרץ בבכי מר" [Council Meeting: HaGaon HaRav Shalom Cohen Bursts Into Bitter Tears]. Kikar HaShabbat (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  10. ^ Newman, Marissa (24 June 2014). "Shas spiritual leader: Women shouldn't go to college". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 26 March 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  11. ^ "אבל בעולם התורה: חכם שלום כהן הלך לעולמו בגיל 91". Arutz Sheva (in Hebrew). 22 August 2022. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  12. ^ "Tens of Thousands at Funeral Of Rabbi Shalom Cohen Zt'l". VINnews. 22 August 2022. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
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