Back from Retirement (Again): Sandy Cohen Serves As Interim Administrator

Sandy Cohen was surprised. Cohen, who had spent more than 36 years as a synagogue director, had just received a phone call asking if he was interested in becoming the interim administrator at Temple Micah. Cohen, 78 but looking more like a man in his 50s, had already retired twice. Without hesitating, he said yes, and started at Micah in March.

As interim administrator, Cohen fills in for Susie Blumenthal, Temple Micah's longtime administrator who has been on sick leave since March. Blumenthal is expected back by the end of the year, Rabbi Zemel said. In addition to assisting the professional staff, Cohen oversees the temple's planning for private parties, bar and bat mitzvahs, and onegs, as well as High Holy Day preparations and facility maintenance.

Pleasantly surprised to be back as a synagogue administrator, Cohen--who prefers to be called Sandy-- quickly found Temple Micah and its members to be interesting and intriguing. "These are my people," he said, adding: "Temple Micah is a warm and comforting place to be. I hope to have an impact and to help people here."

Surprise and change of direction seem to be the hallmarks of Cohen's life and career. Although raised as a Conservative Jew by his parents in Providence, R.I.--a city he still considers home even though he has lived in the New York and Washington areas since 1994--Cohen has worked at both Conservative and Reform synagogues. Before becoming a synagogue administrator, he expected to go into his father's and later father-in-law's businesses. And, while a college student at the University of Rhode Island and later New York University, he anticipated a career as a college professor.

But opportunity sometimes takes one in unexpected directions. After stints as a substitute teacher and a salesman of housewares, auto parts and watches, Cohen took a job in 1963 as youth director at Forest Hills Jewish Center in Queens, N.Y. "I love kids," he said. "The job was a natural for me." He held that position for 11 years, including six where he doubled as assistant executive director.

Opportunity knocked again in 1974, while Cohen was leading about 100 teenagers from Forest Hills on a trip to Israel. Someone from United Synagogues of America, the association of Conservative temples, told Cohen that Adas Israel Congregation in Washington was looking for a director. Was he interested? "Oh, yes, I was," Cohen replied.

Cohen served as executive director at Adas Israel from 1974 to 1985 and at Washington Hebrew from 1985 to 1987. He had the same position at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation from 1988 to 1996. Cohen also served as president of the Metropolitan Association of Temple and Synagogue Administrators (MATSA), a professional association of synagogue directors from the Baltimore, Washington and Richmond, Va. areas. He is a past president of the National Association of Synagogue Administrators.

Cohen retired the first time in 1996, but soon found himself working in the men's department at Nordstrom in Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Cohen once again returned to synagogue administration, this time as executive director at B'nai Israel in Rockville, before retiring for a second time in 2005.

Not one to do nothing, Cohen soon found himself reading to, driving or simply accompanying seniors who had nobody to help them with doctors' appointments or shopping.

Originally hired at Temple Micah to work two days a week for two months, Cohen now finds himself working four days a week in his fifth month. "I love it," he says. "I truly love it. Some people thought I was crazy to leave business, but I have been happy. I have been fortunate to have been able to help people. I have been very lucky to have had a great career."

Cohen has five children and seven grandchildren. He and his wife Beverly live in Bethesda.

[By Jeffrey P. Cohn; from August-September 2009 Vine] 

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