Rabbi Deborah Bodin Cohen got into writing midrashim — contemporary interpretations of classic stories — when she realized, “These would make a really cool kids’ story.”
The Rockville resident is now the author of more than 20 children’s books with Jewish themes. Her book “Lilith’s Ark: Teenage Tales of Biblical Women” won a National Jewish Book Award for family literature.
“A lot of what I do is somewhat historical,” Cohen said. “I have a series of biographies [where] I find Jews [who] have done interesting things, but there’s something about their story that you can really learn something from, and I’ll write a picture book about that.”
Her biographical subjects include Hungarian-Israeli gymnast Ágnes Keleti and Mexico’s first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum. “When you’re writing, you get to feel kind of close to the characters or the person you’re writing about,” Cohen said.
“I’ve done a number of [books] that are biblically based and historically based, like here’s a particular setting, and I’m going to think about the characters who are fictional characters in a real historical setting,” Cohen added.
Cohen’s “Engineer Ari” series transports young readers to the 19th century Middle East and the 1892 birth of the Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway. The picture book series is a nod to Cohen’s daughter, Arianna, who was fascinated by trains and vehicles as a child.
“A lot of the books were inspired by [my kids] in one way or another,” said the mother of three. “They’ve always been influences.”
In writing kids’ literature, Cohen first seeks to entertain children — she read her books aloud to her own kids when they were younger.
“I want them to really love books, love reading and see themselves as somebody who can create a story,” she said.
But it’s more than words and colorful illustrations on a page.
“I want [children] to experience Judaism in a way that seems organic and fun, and isn’t hitting them over the head with it, but they come up feeling proud of being Jewish and knowing something new about the Jewish community,” Cohen said.
She is currently drafting a middle-grade novel and editing books through Behrman House, a Jewish educational publisher, while serving as part-time rabbi at Beth Chai Jewish Humanist Congregation of Greater Washington.
“People come to the congregation because they want to have some ownership over their Jewish involvement and Jewish identity,” Cohen said of the largely lay-led Beth Chai. “So it’s a place where people can come and grow. I spend a lot of time talking with people, teaching, I work really closely with our b’nai mitzvah students.”
Instead of the traditional Hebrew study in preparation for their big day, b’nai mitzvah kids at Beth Chai delve into a Jewish-related topic of interest. “They sort of become the teachers of the congregation and you get to really know the kids by doing that,” Cohen said.
“We wanted them to really think about what was important to them as a Jewish young person,” she said, adding that if a teen chooses to learn Hebrew, Cohen finds someone to tutor them.
In addition to lifecycle events, pastoral care and Sunday school, she leads “Jewish-oriented field trips” across the DMV, including walking tours of the Capital Jewish Museum and Baltimore’s Jewish Museum of Maryland.
Cohen is a true Maryland native. Born in Silver Spring and raised in Columbia, she was active in her synagogue’s youth group and spent summers at Camp Louise. So it made sense that she went on to work at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. It was there that Cohen became inspired to pursue her rabbinical career.
“I admired what the rabbis did,” she said. “I loved the fact that it was an intellectual career, but it was also applied to people’s lives. It wasn’t being in an ivory tower someplace. I really liked that you could stand up for issues that were important to you. It seemed like something where every day was going to be a little bit different, and it was a career that could grow with you.”
She spent two decades working full-time at various congregations before shifting to educational director work.
“And then I started doing the book writing, and the books became a really important part of being a rabbi for me,” Cohen said.
She sometimes sees her two worlds collide.
“I definitely bring my stories and other people’s stories to my rabbinic role,” Cohen said. “I share the stories I’m working on or new books that have come out.”
Her involvement in congregational life also helps Cohen as an author and editor. “I can kind of picture who might be listening to a particular story,” she said.
Cohen enjoys what she does, especially the people she’s gotten to know. “I love my congregants,” she said. “I like being part of their lives, getting to know them over the course of time and meeting them in different life moments, either big events like a bar mitzvah, wedding or shiva, and also small moments, like experiencing an adult education [event] together and then talking about it.”
“It’s just a lovely community with really wonderful people that are very intentional about their Judaism, and so it was a really good fit,” Cohen said of Beth Chai.
Looking forward, Cohen has “a number of” books expected to hit the shelves in the coming years.
“I’m really excited about bringing them out to the world,” she said. “I’d love to do more book programs in the community. … That’s one thing that I’m really hoping to do for my congregation.”
