Rabbi Aryeh Cohen

Rabbi Aryeh Cohen is a professor of rabbinics at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies of the American Jewish University. He is a co-convener of the Black Jewish Justice Alliance (BJJA) and a member of Clergy for Black Lives. From 2016 to 2022, Cohen served as the rabbi in residence at Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, a national social justice organization. In this role, he organized the Jewish community around issues of immigration justice and restorative justice, and mobilized a multifaith community of clergy and laypeople to nonviolent direct action. From 2012, Cohen was a board member of CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice), and from 2018 to 2020, he was co-chair of the board. Cohen is the president of the Society for Jewish Ethics. In 2023, he was unanimously appointed by the Los Angeles City Council as commissioner on the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission. He was also appointed by Los Angeles District Attorney to the first ever District Attorney’s Interfaith Advisory Board. His latest book is Justice in the City: An Argument From the Sources of Rabbinic Judaism (Academic Studies Press).