Sep 16, 2009 -- Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen is the rabbi of the Aitz Chaim Congregation in West Palm Beach, Florida. In the past five years since his arrival, the congregation has increased its membership by over one hundred Torah observant families.

A prolific writer who has published over one thousand articles in the Anglo-Jewish media, he contributes a popular weekly article, entitled “Halachic Questions”, to the Jewish Press newspaper. In addition, he has published seven volumes on halacha, including his most recent, “Shabbat The Right Way – Resolving Halachic Dilemmas” (Urim Publications). Other volumes include "How Does Jewish Law Work (vol. 1 and 2)", "Timely Jewish Questions: Timeless Rabbinic Answers", "Intermarriage and Conversion", "The Jewish Heart", and "The 613th Commandment." He has also contributed to the RCA's publications, Tradition and Hadarom.

Rabbi Cohen is a noted orator and has served in prominent rabbinic and leadership positions. He was the first rabbi of Congregation AABJ and D in West Orange, New Jersey. Subsequently, he was the founding Executive Director of the Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty. He then served for eighteen years as the Spiritual Leader of Congregation Shaarei Tefila in Los Angeles, California. There, he was elected as a Vice President of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, the first Orthodox Rabbi so honored. After serving as the scholar in residence to the Mizrachi Kehilla in Melbourne, Australia, he was offered the position as Mara D’Atra and served in that capacity for over seven years. Melbourne Koshrut, the national kashrut certifying agency of Australia, was a subsidiary of the Mizrachi Kehilla under his supervision.

Proud of his lineage, Rabbi Cohen is a descendant of eighteen consecutive father-to-son generations of communal rabbis. His father, Rabbi Meir Cohen, was the Executive Director of the Agudat HaRabonim for over twenty years. His paternal grandfather was the noted author of widely consulted halachic Sefarim, including Minchat Shabbat and Ma’adanai Shmuel (on Hilchot Pesach.)

Over the years, he has received many honors, include the Jerusalem Prize for rabbinic leadership; he was the first to receive the rabbinic award of the West Coast Region of the Orthodox Union. He studied at Yeshivat Rabbi Chaim Berlin and Kollel Gur Aryeh and was ordained by HaGoan HaRav Yitzchok Hutner. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and has several secular degrees.

Rabbi Cohen and his rebbitzen Shoshana have been blessed with four children as well as with several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.