Suspension lifted for longtime Tucson rabbi

A suspension preventing a longtime Tucson rabbi from doing rabbinic work has been lifted.

In September, Rabbi Samuel Cohon, the former senior rabbi at Temple Emanu-El, was forced to step down after roughly 18 years with the congregation.

Cohon’s resignation followed a suspension by the Central Conference of American Rabbis and a request from the temple’s board. Cohon appealed the national conference’s decision and appeared before its Board of Appeals in January.

On Feb. 16, the group’s board announced its decision to lift the suspension. It instead censured Cohon, requiring him to “continue in a regular course of psychoanalytic therapy” and work with “an appointed rehabilitation and counseling team,” according to the decision released by the Board of Appeals.

“The BOA finds that substantial fairness requires Censure rather than Suspension in this case,” the decision said.

The Board of Appeals did affirm Cohon’s violation of the “personal responsibility” and “sexual boundaries” sections of the CCAR Code of Ethics, said Rabbi Steven A. Fox, the conference’s chief executive officer, in a prepared statement.

“As a Censured rabbi, Rabbi Cohon remains subject to the T’shuvah, rehabilitation and counseling process, along with the oversight of the Ethics Committee and a T’shuvah, Rehabilitation and Counseling team,” he said. T’shuvah is an idea similar to repentance or returning.

Although he can again work as a congregational rabbi, Cohon said he "can’t speak for what Temple Emanu-El chooses to do.”

Following the decision, the temple’s board president, Mona Gibson, emailed the congregation with the announcement, acknowledging the removal of the suspension.

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“However, he is no longer employed by Temple Emanu-El,” the letter said. “The CCAR’s BOA decision does not change the current course of the congregation. Going forward from this point, our Temple Transition Think Tank will continue to work on developing recommendations for our Board of Directors regarding the congregation’s future and organizational structure.”

In an email to the Star, Gibson wrote that temple leadership anticipates a time to “receive and review input and the recommendations from our membership.”

Rabbi Batsheva Appel, the rabbi educator at Temple Emanu-El, has stepped into the primary leadership position.

“The backstory is that there were some personal issues involved, and I was going through a divorce that started in April,” Cohon told the Star in October. “All divorces are difficult. It led the board to determine that they felt that I should no longer be the senior rabbi.”

The decision by the Board of Appeals means that Cohon can resume his work as a rabbi within Reform Judaism, he said, even if that’s not with Temple Emanu-El.

“I’m really grateful that the suspension is removed and I have the opportunity to work as a rabbi,” Cohon said.

“It has been my career for 22, 23 years, and I’m grateful that I can do life-cycle events and visit hospitals and lead services and teach and do everything I was trained to do.

“I don’t have specific plans right now, but I’m in the process of seeing what my options are.”