Rabbi Bonnie Cohen

Rabbi Bonnie Cohen has focused her life around interfaith cooperation, peace and reconciliation. She lived for extended periods of time immersed in each of the world's religions before becoming an Interfaith Minister and eventually was ordained a Rabbi in 2000. Rabbi Cohen has been walking the mystic's path for over fifty years and draws upon all traditions to reveal the light and knowledge hidden within each of us.

Rabbi Bonnie was a Spiritual Leader in Woodstock, New York for thirty-two years, in Barcelona, Spain and northern Italy for six years, and most recently in South East Asia.

Rabbi Bonnie is also a student of Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay), a Vietnamese Buddhist teacher living in exile in France since the Vietnamese War. A number of years ago, while on retreat in Plum Village, Rabbi Bonnie participated in a discussion about communal guilt. A Nun in residence at Plum Village told the story of when she and other community members accompanied Thay to Vietnam for his first visit after many years. The Sister was from Germany and although had been born after World War II she still carried enormous guilt about what occurred during the Nazi regime, an experience that helped her immediately empathize with the Vietnamese people she met. This Sister had tried to get the elders in her own family to speak about their experiences during the Holocaust but none would share their story so as a young child she assumed their guilt by association. There were about twenty other young Germans in the audience that afternoon with similar stories and most were able to acknowledge their feelings, cry, and ease their pain and suffering.

In Jewish tradition we are taught to pray for those who have hurt us, in this way compassion begins to bud within our hearts and we are gradually able to forgive others and reprogram our own software. Tikkun Olam, fixing the world, is a vision of world peace, a lofty ideal that can easily be accomplished if each of us begins by looking deep within our hearts and healing ourselves.

Taking the first step on the road to peace is often the most difficult and I look forward to joining with you in Weimar, Germany on August 21 and walking the path together.