Eugene Kohn

Who was Eugene Kohn?

Eugene Kohn was a Reconstructionist rabbi, writer and editor.

Born in Newark, New Jersey he attended the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and in 1912 received ordination. It was here that he met Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan who taught him homiletics. Between 1912 and 1939 he served as a congregational rabbi in Conservative synagogues in the states of Baltimore, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin and Ohio. He also served as the president of the Rabbinical assembly 1936-1937.

He played a central role in the Reconstructionist movement. He edited its journal The Reconstructionist and, alongside Kaplan and Ira Eisenstein, edited The New Haggadah, The Sabbath Prayer Book and The Reconstructionist Prayer Book. Alongside Eisenstein and Milton Steinberg he was one of Kaplan's main disciples.