Through their work with Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy (HBHA) and Moishe House, Rabbi Elizabeth and Matt Bonney-Cohen work with young members of the Jewish community to ensure a positive Jewish education and experience.
The Bonney-Cohens moved to the Kansas City area last year from Massachusetts.
Rabbi Bonney-Cohen, who is originally from Overland Park, currently serves as HBHA’s rabbi for outreach and family engagement. Matt Bonney-Cohen is program director of Base, a program of Moishe House that provides “bases” — homes of rabbinic families which serve as a “grounding point” for Jewish young adults.
The following are two abridged interviews between The Chronicle and the Bonney-Cohens.
To Rabbi Bonney-Cohen: As HBHA’s Rabbi for Outreach and Family Engagement, what are some of your major goals for the school and its engagement opportunities?
“While a large part of my job this year has simply been to get to know the community, a major goal I have for the school’s engagement is for the community to get to know HBHA. It is a really special school, not only here in Kansas City, but on a national scale. Like our surrounding schools (both public and private), we offer outstanding academic experiences; in addition, we also offer robust Jewish studies and Hebrew programs that empower our students in developing their Jewish identities. But what makes HBHA special is the way in which our Jewish values permeate everything we do (not only Jewish studies classes), making our school culture and curriculum not only focused on intellectual development but also on cultivating strong personal character, a sense of communal responsibility, and learning as a lifelong endeavor…
“In our engagement efforts, there are a lot of misconceptions about HBHA that we need to dispel. As I speak with folks in the broader community, I hear things like ‘I’m not religious enough for HBHA’ or ‘HBHA is only for Orthodox families.’ While there is a strong Orthodox population at the school, it is incredibly diverse, with more than half the student body representing religious practice that is aligned with Reform and Conservative Judaism, and we offer Jewish Studies options that give families the chance to choose which kind of orientation to Jewish learning best fits them. I also hear from parents anxiety about transferring their students into HBHA from secular schooling, for fear that they’ll be behind their peers in the Judaics program. We regularly take lateral entry students, meeting them where they are and establishing a personalized plan to teach them what they need to thrive as a student here. It’s never too late.
“At HBHA, it is not only the students who find community, but the families, too. Parenting is hard, and having the chance to parent alongside other Jewish families, navigating some of the same challenges with similar language and values is huge. As a parent, I am personally so grateful for the network of extended family we gained overnight when we enrolled at HBHA.”
“There are many opportunities for us to increase our engagement at HBHA. While I’ll be shifting into a new role (as the School Rabbi) for the fall, I still expect to be involved in these efforts. We’re working with The J’s Child Development Center (CDC) to develop more formalized collaboration efforts, as well as with the other area Jewish preschools. We’re strengthening our relationships with synagogues in the area and other communal organizations, such as PJ Library, to learn about how we can be an asset to their programing and spread the word about ours. And, we encourage anyone to come for a tour to see what we’re all about.”
What inspired you to become involved in Jewish education?
“I have been the beneficiary of extraordinary Jewish education that has enriched my life in so many ways. To have the opportunity to give back to the Jewish community what has been given to me — to “pay forward” the wisdom, teaching, and mentoring that I’ve received — is a gift and a privilege. Judaism has so much to offer, and I’ve met so many people who haven’t been shown a way inside our tradition that speaks to their passions or empowers them as lifelong learners. As an educator and rabbi, I see myself as a kind of concierge, getting to know the inner workings of those with whom I’m in relationship and directing them to the parts of our tradition that will unlock something deep within them, sparking a love of Jewish learning and practice they may never have known to exist before.”
What was it like to be raised locally, go on the spiritual path of studying Judaism and becoming a rabbi away from Kansas, and then return to hold a leadership role in the Jewish community?
“It’s certainly been a journey — I grew up Presbyterian, attended a Catholic high school (Sion), graduated from a Baptist College (William Jewell), converted to Judaism (for the first time) while at a Christian Divinity School (Yale), and converted again before being ordained as a rabbi at Hebrew College (a transdenominational/pluralistic rabbinical school).
“I have always taken faith seriously, and it’s fitting that ‘Yisrael’ means ‘one who wrestles with the Divine,’ because in a way, I have always been a God-wrestler. While this journey has been a lifelong one for me, and my internal and external transformations have happened as subtle shifts over time, so much of the external process has happened away from Kansas City. Not only did I become Jewish, but I am a traditionally practicing Jew — I cover my hair, keep kosher, keep Shabbat. So, when I run into an old friend from high school, someone I haven’t seen in almost 20 years, the change they see is stark…
“And while I was born and raised just a few minutes from where I currently live, I have felt like a total newcomer to town since moving back and becoming involved in the KC Jewish community in July. The streets are the same, but the people, the organizations, and the acronyms are all different. Despite this, I have felt a tremendously warm embrace from the community. There has hardly been a Shabbat or holiday since we moved that our family hasn’t been invited to a meal at someone’s home. The faculty, staff, students, and parents at HBHA have been a huge part of our integration into the community, seeing us as part of an extended family and welcoming us with open arms.
“One of the things I love most about HBHA is its diversity of Jewish expression. We have interfaith families and Ultra-Orthodox families, Conservative, Reform, Modern Orthodox, and everything between. In my spiritual journeying, I’ve had the privilege of encountering and being part of many different kinds of Jewish community, representing a wide range of practices, politics, spiritual understandings, and ritual orientations. I’m grateful that the pluralism represented in my lived experience and professional training have helped me develop the ability to speak and relate to many different kinds of Jews with deep respect — a skill and specialty that serves me well in my work here at HBHA.”
To Matt Bonney-Cohen: What does your role as program director of Moishe House’s Base program entail?
“In my role as the Base Program Director, I first and foremost provide support and guidance to the six Base rabbinic couples that are currently leading communities across the country, ensuring they have the resources (financial and otherwise) to create and sustain their new communities. I serve as the supervisor for the Base rabbinic couples in the Bay Area, Denver and Harlem (and beginning this summer, in Los Angeles and a second location in New York City); facilitate a community of practice to provide our Base couples with emotional, communal, and spiritual support; and serve as the main liaison between Base and the other program verticals within Moishe House, such as the flagship Moishe House and Moishe Pod models, Moishe House Without Walls, and Immersive Experiences (Retreats and Camp Nai Nai Nai).”
How did you get involved with Jewish young adult organizations (including Moishe House)?
“My decision to serve the Jewish people in a professional capacity dates back to one of the most formative experiences of my life: participating in OTZMA, a 10-month service-learning program in Israel that was run by Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Agency for many years, in 2009.
“After graduating from college, I had worked for three years in sports television (my dream job at the time) before going on OTZMA, and it was this immersive time in Israel that showed me that education needed to be at the center of my career. That's been true of every step of my professional career since then. I began working for Base in January 2020, when it was still a part of Hillel International's Office of Innovation, and I view my work at Base as my way to serve God and the Jewish people.”
Are there upcoming plans for Base and/or Moishe House in the Greater Kansas City area?
“Moishe House would love to find a handful of young Jews interested in building Jewish community through the Moishe House Without Walls program. Like the flagship Moishe House model, it revolves around peer engagement and the opportunity to infuse life with meaningful Jewish experiences, with the added distinction that any one person between the ages of 22-32 can become a Without Walls host. Given the changes in demography shown by the 2022 community study, ideally there could be hosts in KCMO, the Northland, Overland Park, Olathe and Lenexa... we'd love to see a flurry of applicants from KC.”
The Bonney-Cohens live in Overland Park with their three children: Ma’or (age 5, kindergartener at HBHA), Tziona (age 3, a preschooler at the CDC) and Tehillah (age 2).
