Dianne Cohler-Esses
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Dianne Cohler-Esses grew up in Brooklyn, New York and is the first Syrian-Jewish woman to become a rabbi.[1][2][3][4][5] She was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1995.[6][7] She is a leader in Jewish education and has worked with many institutions including the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, the Bronfman youth fellowships, the Curriculum Initiative, and the UJA Federation.[8] In 2012, she took on the position of Director of Lifelong Learning at Romemu, a Renewal Congregation on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.[3][9]. Amongst her achievements is her role as lead educator in the Open Book program - a hybrid in-person and virtual weekly class attended by participants from around the globe.[10]
In 2025 Cohler-Esses was the recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award for Jewish education. According to the Covenant Foundation: "Rabbi Cohler-Esses’ work as an adult educator also extends well beyond Romemu. She co-teaches the Artists’ Beit Midrash Skirball Academy class at The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Cultural Center and teaches Torah to lay leaders through the UJA-Federation of New York. She is also an adjunct faculty member at the Academy for Jewish Religion and she has been a bold leader in creating chesed programs that inform and inspire the community on topics including Judaism and disabilities and issues relevant to Jewish women."[11] Ilana Trachtman, Director and Producer of Praying with Lior, produced a video portrait of Cohler-Esses for the Covenenant Foundation in 2025
She is married to Larry Cohler-Esses, with whom she has three children: Ayelet, Elichai, and Shira. She lives in New York City on the Upper West Side.[2]
The 2022 art exhibit “Holy Sparks”, shown among other places at the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum, featured art about twenty-four female rabbis who were firsts in some way;[12][13] Siona Benjamin created the artwork about Cohler-Esses that was in that exhibit.[14]
