Everyone who donates to our ongoing 2026 Personal Giving campaign is invited to our Personal Giving Thank-You Brunch on Sunday, May 17, at 9 a.m., in Denville. Co-chairing the campaign are Dorothy Cohen and Anne Gorman. Our special guest speaker for the brunch will be Rabbi James Feder, assistant rabbi at Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, spotlighting the songwriter/musician/poet Leonard Cohen’s Jewish sources.
Speaking about his talk, Rabbi Feder observes, “Fittingly, for someone known as the ‘Cohen Gadol [High Priest] of Pathos,’ some of Leonard Cohen’s most famous and beloved songs are infused with references to Biblical stories and Jewish prayers. Together in this interactive and musical program, we’ll dive deep into some of the Jewish sources that inspired the man who inspired so many of us.”
Rabbi Feder is a graduate of the University of Glasgow and the University of St Andrews. Prior to beginning rabbinical school at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, he worked in journalism as a writer and editor. He then managed communications for an international consortium of non-profits, working to advance a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, first in New York and then in Tel Aviv. Passionate about literature and the arts, he enjoys weaving them into his rabbinic work.
For further information about our Personal Giving campaign, email Dorothy Cohen at dorothy_irvingcohen@msn.com.