By Barbara Wind
Tikvat Israel Congregation member Elliot Cowan has had a long career in cancer immunology. Now 68, the Rockville resident set up his synagogue’s Torah Club where young congregants learn to chant Hebrew scripture. It’s an idea he took from the synagogue outside Philadelphia where he grew up.
Please describe your vocation.
I’ve always been interested in science and considered becoming a physician, but realized I was drawn to research, particularly cancer immunology and how the body fights the disease.
Research presents the possibility of helping the larger community. So I took that road, trained as a scientist, and earned a Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, where I met and married Bonnie, of blessed memory.
A post-doc fellowship at the National Institute of Health brought us to Washington, D.C. I worked as a research scientist at NIH for a decade, then moved to the Food and Drug Administration to be a drug regulator. I remained at the FDA for 20 years before I retired to work in consulting.
So, how does a such a busy scientist become a teacher of trope?
[In Philadelphia] our cantor founded the Torah Club for young kids who might be interested in learning to leyn [read/chant]. I was, and soon become hooked on Torah. When Bonnie and I moved to Rockville, we were warmly embraced by the rabbi, cantor and community of Beth Tikva [now Tikvat Israel]. Although our children were still far too young to join, I thought it might be worthwhile to start a Torah Club. Because it had enhanced my own life tremendously, I believed it could enhance many others, as well as the synagogue.
Please describe Torah Club.
It’s all about enabling. The only requirement is the willingness to learn a skill relatively few people have. Youngsters meet two Saturdays a month after Minchah and learn to chant Torah in an informal setting. It’s a no-pressure zone, where they have fun learning at their own speed, often through creative methods they invent. I encourage creativity, as well as peer learning, wherein older kids teach younger ones as early as 7-8 years.
It’s very effective because young brains are so pliant; the students’ universe expands with everything they learn. By the time they reach b’nai mitzvah age, their early exposure to Torah and synagogue services has turned them into confident, comfortable congregants and made them less susceptible to anxiety and pre-b’nai mitzvah jitters. Occasionally, these children become their parents’ trope teachers and enablers.
Since familiarity often leads to love and attachment, it raises hope for the continuity of Judaism. Those in Torah Club who have leyned at five Shabbat services receive a Tikkun — a large, beautifully bound Torah printed in several fonts, with and without vowels, and in English translation. It’s intended as a symbol of achievement, a reminder that work leads to reward, as well as a manual for practicing leyning throughout their lives.
You founded Partners In Diagnostics. Was that to realize your goal of serving the global community?
You could say that. I work in many places in the world, including sub-Saharan Africa. At the moment, I’m in Australia for a conference on HIV.
Has the COVID pandemic affected HIV-AIDS?
My answer may surprise you. I believe it actually had some very positive impacts. More people came to understand that AIDS and other highly contagious viruses can be contained. Vaccines, medications and proper precautions have made them diseases one can live with. Naturally, scientists hope to eradicate it as they’ve eradicated other life-threatening diseases.
In the meantime, one of the things we learned from HIV-AIDS is that testing was an effective means to contain the spread of the virus. COVID taught us that the public accepts and appreciates the ability to self-test. This has enormous ramifications for ensuring public health. The willingness of individuals to take responsibility for their own health and that of their loved ones is crucial. ■
Barbara Wind is a freelance writer.
Correction, Aug. 27, 2023, 8:45 a.m.: The spelling of Elliot Cowan’s name and Beth Tikva have been corrected.