Rabbi Recognized for Clergy Council Work

Rabbi Bernard Cohen, retiring at 66 and turning over control of his 12-year-old Clergy Network to a newly formed clergy council in the San Fernando Valley, received unusual praise Wednesday at a luncheon marking the transition.

One speaker termed the outspoken Cohen diplomatically as “unique.” The Rev. Jeff Utter of Chatsworth Congregational Church called the Reform rabbi “idiosyncratic.”

The administrator of Woodland Care Center in Reseda--the host of the Clergy Network’s monthly talks on health care and other issues for the last three years--admitted that Cohen’s determined drive was initially disconcerting. “I’m finally used to the guy and now he’s leaving,” lamented Jane Alexander, the administrator.

Rabbi Aaron Kriegel of Encino’s Temple Ner Maarav, who sparked the recent formation of the more broadly conceived Valley Interfaith Clergy Council, said Cohen was unusual in good ways.

“If anyone had trouble with Bernie Cohen, it was because we weren’t ready to move so fast,” Kriegel said. “No one ever did anything about [forming a clergy group], and without Bernie, the idea would have languished forever.”

Cohen expanded the Clergy Network into a dozen other cities in California and out of state at a time when associations of priests, ministers and rabbis have been difficult to sustain. But Cohen said Wednesday that the networks have grown so large that he had to turn them over to local leaders.

A rabbi emeritus at Temple Solael in West Hills, Cohen gave a mailing list of about 800 names to the Valley Interfaith Clergy Council, whose leaders say they will not only continue the monthly talks but also will take stances on Valley social concerns and increase fellowship opportunities among clergy of different religions.

The newly merged clergy council will operate under the aegis of the Chatsworth-based Valley Interfaith Council--a largely lay-led organization that has links to 370 congregations.

“If the clergy can’t work together, then we are trouble in the religious community,” said Barry Smedberg, executive director of the Valley Interfaith Council.