229:. Pioneering efforts to integrate spiritual practices to support those who were suffering from illness or personal loss, she co-founded the Jewish Healing Center in 1990. Utilizing a combination of traditional texts, secular literature, mental health methodologies, and insights from other faith traditions, healing services were created which encompassed elements such as songs, psalms, chants, ritual immersions in a mikvah, and meditation sessions.
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Cowan founded and served as the
Executive Director (2004-2011) for the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), which offers retreats and programs for rabbis, cantors, Jewish educators, and lay leaders combining Jewish wisdom with contemplative practices like meditation and mindfulness. Rabbi
142:(May 29, 1941 – August 31, 2018) was a rabbi, leader, and spiritual innovator who founded the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. She helped interfaith families find more welcoming community in Jewish ritual life and was the mother of the "Jewish Healing" movement.
210:. During this time Ansche Chesed housed five small congregations but had no rabbi. Realizing rabbis could enhance lifecycle events and provide counseling some members pursued ordination including Cowan, who converted to Judaism in 1980.
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Paul's battle with leukemia further motivated Rachel to address the inadequacies of Jewish tradition in responding to illness and grief. After his passing in 1988, she completed her rabbinic studies and was ordained in 1989 by the
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died of the same disease. About a year before she died she recorded a video asking members of
Congress to preserve Medicare, urging them to talk to their constituents whose lives were in their hands.
237:, who succeeded Cowan at IJS from 2011 to 2019, noted "she was always a seeker, and things happened in her life to which the Jewish community had no adequate response". In 2015, Cowan co-wrote
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days and who worked to create children's school libraries in the Boston public schools. She was the oldest of four children, grew up in
Wellesley, Massachusetts and was brought up in the
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Rachel Cowan's final years were marked by her battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. She died on August 31, 2018, less than a week after
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217:(1988). She traveled the country to speak with communities about how to integrate non-Jewish members of interfaith families into synagogue life.
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Rachel Ann Brown was born May 29, 1941 in
Princeton, NJ to Arthur A. Brown, a mathematician who could trace his ancestry to the
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182:. They spent time in Mississippi registering Black voters and later after they married in 1965 served in the
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becoming involved in the 1970s Jewish revival in their neighborhood and were active in their synagogue
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Rachel Cowan and her husband became advocates for interfaith couples, co-authoring the book
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573:"Rabbi Rachel Cowan, diagnosed with brain cancer, has a message for Congress"
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Mixed
Blessings: Overcoming the Stumbling Blocks in an Interfaith Marriage
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Mixed
Blessings: Overcoming the Stumbling Blocks in an Interfaith Marriage
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majoring in sociology. After college she and her sister Connie joined the
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311:"Rabbi Rachel Cowan, pioneer in the Jewish healing movement, dies at 77"
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Rabbi and founder of
Institute for Jewish Spirituality (1941–2018)
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Rachel and Paul Cowan were married in 1965 and had two children.
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which focused on religious and spiritual approaches to aging.
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Hebrew Union
College – Jewish Institute of Religion alumni
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Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience, & Spirit
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Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience, & Spirit
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and
Margaret Warren Brown, whose roots went back to
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223:Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
82:Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
367:"Rachel Cowan Was The Mother Of Jewish Healing"
284:"Rachel Cowan, Innovative Rabbi, Is Dead at 77"
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499:de la France, Jean Claude (December 6, 1984).
541:Cowan, Rabbi Rachel; Thal, Dr. Linda (2015).
501:"Scholars talk about Jewish family education"
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282:Berger, Joseph (September 1, 2018).
428:Cowan, Paul; Cowan, Rachel (1988).
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596:Institute for Jewish Spirituality
482:"Rabbi sees Judaism as a journey"
335:Kelman, Naamah (21 August 2023).
93:Creator of Jewish healing service
522:"Remembering Rabbi Rachel Cowan"
407:Murphy, Mary Jo (June 6, 1985).
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198:In 1968, the Cowans moved to
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527:Nathan Cummings Foundation
466:New York Times Book Review
227:Nathan Cummings Foundation
578:Jewish Telegraphic Agency
315:Jewish Telegraphic Agency
245:Personal life and passing
621:Bryn Mawr College alumni
166:tradition. She attended
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47:Princeton, New Jersey
530:. February 11, 2019.
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396:. December 4, 1993.
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43:May 29, 1941
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616:2018 deaths
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372:The Forward
254:John McCain
194:Life's work
184:Peace Corps
162:Church and
605:Categories
260:References
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160:Unitarian
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130:Children
188:Ecuador
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