Cohen began studying at Porat Yosef Yeshiva at the age of 13, and developed a reputation for "diligence and ingenuity".[2] He married Yael, the daughter of Rabbi Mansour Ben Shimon, a Safed kabbalist who also taught at Porat Yosef.[1] The couple had eight children.[1]
Cohen began delivering shiurim at Porat Yosef after his wedding,[2] and taught students for decades. He was named rosh yeshiva of the Old City branch of Porat Yosef Yeshiva in 1966.[1] Though his father and father-in-law were kabbalists, he himself was not.[1]
Political activity
Cohen entered the political arena for the first time in 1984, when he agreed to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's request to support the founding of the Shas party and serve on the new Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah rabbinic council.[2] In April 2014, six months after Yosef's death, Cohen succeeded him as nasi (president) of the council.[2][4]
Cohen was an outspoken critic of Modern Orthodox and secular Jews in Israel.[2] In 2013, he compared the Religious Zionist community to Amalek, the biblical archenemy of the Jewish people,[5][6] and in 2015, he called the Israeli national anthem, "Hatikvah", "a stupid song".[7][8] He told Israeli soldiers at a prayer rally during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, "Do you think the people of Israel need an army? It is God Almighty who fights for Israel."[8]
He also expressed hard-line views on issues affecting the Haredi community in Israel. In 2014, he decried the dire effects on Israeli Sephardi Jews of the proposed Israeli law to draft yeshiva students,[9] and issued a letter in which he forbade Haredi women from undertaking post-high-school studies at academic colleges.[10] He urged his constituency to refrain from using smartphones and to strengthen their involvement in Torah study.[2]
Other activities
Cohen was on the board of Beis Din Tzedek Neveh Tzion, a kosher certification agency founded by his brothers-in-law, Rabbi Nissim Ben Shimon and Rabbi Shlomo Ben Shimon.[2]
Death
Cohen died in Jerusalem on 22 August 2022, at the age of 91;[11] tens of thousands attended the funeral.[12]
References
^ abcdefSchlesinger, Yehuda (22 September 2014). "הכהן הגדול" [The High Priest]. Israel HaYom. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
^ abcdefghijLabin, Yoel Asher. "'There Is So Much Torah Here!': My conversation with Rav Shalom Cohen and Rav David Yosef". Ami, 1 April 2015, p. 124.
^Cohen, Yishai (25 February 2014). "כינוס המועצות: הגאון הרב שלום כהן פרץ בבכי מר" [Council Meeting: HaGaon HaRav Shalom Cohen Bursts Into Bitter Tears]. Kikar HaShabbat (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2015.