Knesset speaker in-waiting: Moroccan immigrant who studied pluralism

Cohen, 64, was born in the Moroccan town of Essaouira and moved to Israel when he was seven years old. His family was one of the founding families of Dimona, the city he became mayor of in 2003.

By GIL HOFFMAN
Former Welfare and Social Services Minister Meir Cohen (photo credit: AVI HAYOUN)
Former Welfare and Social Services Minister Meir Cohen
(photo credit: AVI HAYOUN)
Yesh Atid MK Meir Cohen, who is expected to be voted in to replace Yuli Edelstein as Knesset speaker on Wednesday, unwittingly trained for the sensitive job 20 years ago when he took a course in pluralism.
When Cohen was principal of a high school in the southern development town of Dimona, he earned a master’s degree in Jewish studies and pedagogy at Jerusalem’s Schechter Institute, an educational organization devoted to the broad dissemination of Jewish studies for all sectors that offers pluralistic Jewish education to diverse populations.
The institute's rabbinical seminary is associated with the Masorti (Conservative) Movement, and Cohen took a course in the Streams of Modern Judaism. In the institute’s annual report seven years ago, Cohen recalled coming to Schechter at a critical juncture in his life.
“Schechter exposed me to a new type of Judaism that was accepting and open, where intellectual and spiritual quest was encouraged and where pluralistic thought was the norm,” he said.
Cohen, 64, was born in the Moroccan town of Essaouira and moved to Israel when he was seven-years-old. His family was one of the founding families of Dimona, the city he became mayor of in 2003 as part of Yisrael Beytenu.
During his time as mayor, Cohen regularly hosted delegations from the United States, thanks to the Jewish Agency’s Partnership 2Gether bond with a group of Jewish Federations called the Network of Independent Communities. He was credited with developing Dimona and was wooed by Yesh Atid, which made him an MK and then minister welfare and social services in 2013.
“It is very emotional that a modest immigrant from Morocco blossomed to be mayor and now may become Knesset speaker,” said former Jewish Agency chairman Ze’ev Bielski, who put him on the Agency’s Board of Director. “Him taking over for a Prisoner of Zion from the USSR would be the ultimate example of the success of the ingathering of the exiles. That is a beautiful source of pride.”
Schechter Jewish philosophy professor Yossi Turner, who taught Cohen at the institute, said he remembered being impressed by his leadership. Cohen brought with him from Dimona a group teachers to earn Master’s degrees.
“He was interested in the betterment of his school and of Dimona and thought extending higher education was the way to do that,” Turner said. “The teachers looked up to him as a natural kind of leader. They saw him as both a leader and a peer.”
Turner recalled Cohen standing up for the students after Turner criticized them for not taking their studies seriously enough.

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“I was impressed by how Meir publicly criticized authority responsibly in a respectful and balanced way,” Turner said.
Since then, Turner has followed Cohen’s rise. In the 20th Knesset, Cohen served as deputy Knesset speaker and chaired a subcommittee on "Narrowing the Health Gaps Between South and Central Israel."
“In recent years, every time I hear him speak, I hear his ability to consider and enunciate the complexity of issues and the perplexity of positions,” he said. “I am sure that comes in part from what he learned by us back then.”


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