Bet Shalom's New President Adam Cohen
Adam Cohen, Bet Shalom’s incoming president, sat down with me recently for an interview. Adam familiarizes us with his life and family, and he discusses his previous involvement at Bet Shalom and his plans for our congregation’s future. - Eric Bressler
Congratulations on becoming Bet Shalom's new President, Adam! Thanks for all you do for the congregation. Let's help people get to know you a bit better. Please tell us about your family, when you moved to Minnesota, and when you joined Bet Shalom.
I grew up in a suburb of Chicago and spent many of my early years in the Midwest, including undergraduate and business school degrees from the University of Michigan. I also spent time in the Southwest pursuing a graduate degree in English at the University of New Mexico. There I was fortunate to meet my wife, Rosa, to whom I’ve been married for 23 years. We moved to Minnesota 20 years ago for work, and all our children – Ilan (18), Ronen (15), Lev (13), Noam (10) – have grown up at Bet Shalom since 2010.
Tell us about your professional life.
I just retired from a 20-year career at UnitedHealth Group where I led efforts across strategic planning, process re-engineering, revenue enhancement, and culture transformation. It was a wonderful organization that brought me to Minnesota when I knew nothing about Minnesota and into the healthcare industry when I knew nothing about healthcare! I’ve found that I can’t sit still, though. I have joined with a few other industry alumni to bring our learning about creating a culture of belonging to organizations that might not have the internal resources to chart that course otherwise.
You’ve been involved at Bet Shalom for quite a while; I remember meeting you first at a leadership bonding event before COVID. Tell us about the roles you’ve played and how they led you to consider being our President.
My involvement began when I realized I wanted my children to see that I was at Bet Shalom for more than just driving them to religious school each week. Any time a class needed a volunteer to support a program or a field trip I planned my day around that. I was honored to be nominated to the Board of Trustees in 2017 and then to be Vice President. I also led the Strategic Planning Committee and the You Belong Here Capital Campaign. In each capacity I was moved to serve and to give back to the community that has meant so much to my family and me and made us feel so welcome.
What are your short-term and long-term goals for your two-year term as President?
I am very interested in working with our clergy, staff, Board and broader membership base on taking a Strategic Framework that we developed previously and bringing it further to life in our congregation:
· Kehilah K’Doshah: Building Sacred Community
We aspire to create deep relationships by connecting people wherever they gather.
· Talmud Torah: Applying Study to Our Lives
We aspire to support our members’ lifelong Jewish learning.
· Tikkun Hanefesh: Enriching Our Souls
We aspire to deepen members’ connection to Judaism and how it guides and enriches their lives.
· Tikkun Olam: Repairing the World
We aspire to serve as model members of society – locally and globally.
These themes can influence how we operate, how we make decisions and where we invest our time and energy. Longer term, I envision a focus on how these themes promote an environment that leads to an even stronger sense of belonging across our congregation.
How do you see the range of roles and responsibilities you had at UnitedHealth Group applying to your role as President?
My professional experience may apply to various aspects of my new role as we work on executing our strategy, enhancing our processes, and optimizing revenue generation at Bet Shalom. But my background in culture transformation holds the most potential for application. While our sacred organization operates differently from the corporate world, there are principles and practices that foster healthy, high-performing teams in any environment. These can be directly applied, ranging from effective coaching and feedback models to fostering collaboration and innovation among all members of our community.
You have diverse outside interests. How do you spend your spare time?
On the weekends you can almost always find Rosa and me exploring nature with our children. We most often try to find a new path, trail, or destination… and almost always cap that off with a family meal at a new-to-us restaurant.
Another interest of mine is anything related to strength training. I’ve been lifting weights for most of my life, and for the past decade I’ve trained for Strongman competitions that entail anything from pulling trucks, to tossing kegs, to pressing logs overhead. I like to think of it as “picking up heavy things and putting them down somewhere else.” That has come in handy when helping move things around during the set-up for synagogue events!
Favorite Jewish Holiday and foods?
So many good ones to choose from! My favorite is Passover. I love how it involves an oral tradition where everyone has a role to play, and how I see my kids participating the way I did when I was their age. And I also love the food of Passover! Brisket, matzoh balls, matzoh kugel… Rosa is always bringing new recipes and approaches to the classics. She creates dishes that I’d eat year-round, not just at the Seder.
Final thoughts?
I’d like to end here the way I like to begin every day: with gratitude. I am grateful for everything that Bet Shalom has provided to me, to my family, and to those who I’ve had a chance to interact with. And I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the community in this way. Onward and upward!