Stacks Image 425

About the Author

Michael M. Cohen is a graduate of the University of Vermont where he received the History Award, and graduated in 1980 with honors for his work on Lenin’s Theory of Self-Determination and the Muslims of the Soviet Union.
Rabbi Michael Cohen


Rabbi Cohen received ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1990. He was the Rabbi of the Israel Congregation in Manchester Center, Vermont from 1990-2000. He has also served as the President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.

Rabbi Cohen was a founding faculty member of The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (
www.arava.org) located on Kibbutz Ketura in 1996 while on sabbatical from the Israel Congregation. He returned to the Arava Institute in 2000. From 2001-06 he served as the Executive Director of The Arava Institute North America. In 2002 he co-founded the Green Zionist Alliance, the first Environmental Zionist party to run in the World Zionist Congress elections.

He again returned to the Arava Institute for 2004-06, where he worked on Palestinian Student recruitment, development, and other projects. He also teaches two classes at the Institute: “Genesis As a Key to Environmental Thought” and “Moses: A Study of Leadership and Environmental Wisdom.” Rabbi Cohen is currently the Director of Special Projects for the Friends of the Arava Institute in North America, working on development and student recruitment.

He is the author of numerous articles that have appeared in Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, The Jerusalem Report, The Palestine Times, The Israel-Palestine Journal, The Jordan Times, and The Rutland Herald.

Einstein's Rabbi is his first novella.