Rena Cohen (May 31, 1940 – Jan. 1, 2023) was a leading activist in the Soviet Jewry movement in Canada, and a Canadian journalist. From 1978 to 1983, Cohen was one of four “key leaders”Saundra Lipton, “Let My People Go: Calgary Community Support for the Free Soviet Jewry Movement,” Canadian Jewish Studies 40 (2025), 93. in the Calgary campaign to compel the U.S.S.R. to comply with the Helsinki Accords, a human rights document it had endorsed but was said to violate. After moving to Toronto, Cohen continued her advocacy with Genya Intrator, “a key player in the Canadian Soviet Jewry movement.”Wendy Eisen, Count Us In: The Struggle to Free Soviet Jews. A Canadian Perspective (Toronto: Burgher Books, 1995), 19. As a journalist, Cohen’s writings were mainly focussed on Soviet Jewry. She was “deeply involved” with the development of The Jewish Star, Calgary’s first independent Jewish newspaper.Lewis Levendel, A Century of the Canadian Jewish Press: 1880s-1980s (Ottawa: Borealis Press, 1989), 242 (where Cohen’s first name is misspelled “Rina”).
Personal life Cohen was born RowenaAs a youth, Cohen went by both Rowena (“Youthful Actors Charm Audience,” Calgary Albertan, June 7, 1951, 9) and her Hebrew name Rena (Fred Kennedy, “Agricultural Alberta,” Calgary Herald, April 10, 1954, 16), preferring the latter exclusively later in life. Dvorkin in Calgary to Ted Dvorkin (1910–97)Ted Dvorkin death notice, Calgary Herald (Jan. 11, 1997), C21. For Ted Dvorkin’s arrival in Calgary: Gary Dvorkin, “The Dvorkin Family: A Century in Scrap Metal,” Discovery: Journal of the Jewish Historical Society of Southern Alberta 28 (Winter 2018), 2–3. and Miriam (1913–2006)“Dvorkin – Miriam,” Calgary Herald (June 20, 2006), B8. née Bercov. Her paternal“Four Children Travel Here All Way From Russia. D. Dworkin Sees His Family For First Time in Nine Years,” Calgary Daily Herald (Aug. 30, 1922), 11. and maternal“Mrs. William Bercov,” Calgary Herald (May 27, 1955), 38; “William Bercov,” Calgary Albertan (Dec.12, 1957), 18. grandparents were born in Russia, as was her father;“Four Children Travel Here All Way From Russia. D. Dworkin Sees His Family For First Time in Nine Years,” Calgary Daily Herald (Aug. 30, 1922), 11. her mother“Dvorkin – Miriam,” Calgary Herald (June 20, 2006), B8. was born in Calgary. In 1955, she graduated from Connaught School,“Graduation Is Held At Connaught School,” Calgary Herald (June 29, 1955), 32. and in 1979, completed the Library Arts Programme at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, both in Calgary.“About our instructors,” Calgary Jewish News (Sept. 1979), 8. On Feb. 16, 1960,“Engagements,” Calgary Herald (Nov. 4, 1959), 33; “Social Notes,” Calgary Albertan (Feb. 2, 1960), 6. she married businessman Myer Cohen (1936–2019),“In Loving Memory: Frederick M (Myer) Cohen,” Calgary Herald (Jan. 24, 2019). from whom she was later divorced. The couple had four children.
Cohen moved to Toronto in 1983Editorial, “A Star is Gone,” Calgary Jewish Star (July 15, 1983), 4–5. and started Cohen Marketing Services,Advertisement, Calgary Jewish Star (Oct. 3, 1986), 15. a sales and marketing company. In March 1991, she made aliyah, settling in Tsfat,Gil Kezwer, “Cohen one among many: Canadians make aliya again,” Canadian Jewish News (March 21, 1991), 22. where she remained the rest of her life. Affiliated in Calgary during her early and married years with the Shaarey Tzedec Congregation,For example, “Sisterhood Plans Annual Dance,” Calgary Albertan (Oct. 6, 1962, 8). a Traditional synagogue which lacked a mechitza,“Shaarey Tzedec Votes to Keep Family Seating,” Calgary Jewish Star (July 15, 1983), 1. in Tsfat she underwent a religious transformation and lived “a completely observant Jewish lifestyle”.Judy Lash Balint, Jerusalem Diaries II: What’s Really Happening in Israel ([Longwood, Florida]: Xulon Press, 2007), 171. Cohen was treated for breast cancer in 2007,Video interview of Cohen by Glenn Richter, Oct. 27, 2010, Soviet Jewry Oral History Project, Yeshiva University, New York, at 1:33. and died in Tsfat.
Soviet Jewry activism The effort to secure the right of Jews to emigrate from the Soviet Union – “a twenty-five year struggle that involved hundreds of thousands of people”Natan Sharansky, Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy (New York: Public Affairs, 2008), 130. – was deemed "the pre-eminent task of this generation of American Jews.”“[Theodore] Mann: Rescue of Soviet Jews is Pre-eminent Task of U.S. Jews,” JTA Daily News Bulletin (Nov. 17, 1981), 1. A Soviet Jewish activist said that “without this support, we are lost.”Yuri Stern, cited in Robert A. Cohn and Carol B. Lundgren, “CJF Adopts Resolutions on AWACS, Women, Soviets, Falashas,” St. Louis Jewish Light (Nov. 18, 1981), 34. Canadian efforts to secure the right of Jews to emigrate from the Soviet Union spanned the late 1960sGerald Tulchinsky, Canada’s Jews: A People’s Journey (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008), 430–2. to 1991.Saundra Lipton, “Let My People Go: Calgary Community Support for the Free Soviet Jewry Movement,” Canadian Jewish Studies 40 (2025), 91. In Calgary, Soviet Jewish activism began in 1970, and a Calgary Committee for Soviet Jewry (CCSJ) was established in 1974.Saundra Lipton, “Let My People Go: Calgary Community Support for the Free Soviet Jewry Movement,” Canadian Jewish Studies 40 (2025), 92.
Cohen had not “paid a great deal of attention” to the subject until, while on a Jewish organizational trip to Israel in 1978,Cohen, letter to the editor, “Russia refuses exit visa,” Calgary Herald (June 14, 1978), 8. she heard from Alexander SlepakAlexander Slepak (born 1952) was the elder Slepak son, and at the time lived in Jerusalem (David Friedman, “Mrs. Slepak Tells of Questioning by Moscow Police,” JTA Daily News Bulletin, June 5, 1978, 3). about the efforts of his parents, Maria and Vladimir Slepak,“Slepak, Vladimir,” Who’s Who in World Jewry 1978 (Tel Aviv: Olive Books, 1978), 843. to leave the Soviet Union.Video interview of Cohen, Oct. 27, 2010, Soviet Jewry Oral History Project, Yeshiva University, New York, at 1:33-3:55. Soviet authorities arrested the Moscow couple on June 1, 1978, after they displayed a banner demanding that they be allowed to reunite with their son in Israel.“Slepak Sentenced to 5 Years, Nudel 4 Years of ‘Internal Exile’,” JTA Daily News Bulletin (June 22, 1978), 1. On June 21, Vladimir Slepak, 50, an electrical engineer known as “the father of the Jewish emigration effort in the Soviet Union and one of the leading refuseniks,”Haskel Lookstein, “‘Father’ Of The Refusenik Movement,” New York Jewish Week (April 28, 2015). was sentenced to five years in exile in Russia.Kathryn Warden, “ ‘Prisoners of conscience’ rally draws prayers and signatures,” Calgary Herald (July 18, 1978), B14; Cohen, letter to the editor, “Here’s more of the tragic tale of Vladimir Slepak,” Calgary Albertan, Sunday Tab (Nov. 12, 1978), 15.
For the next 13 years, in Calgary and Toronto, Cohen drew public attention to the cause of Soviet Jews. In 1978, she was co-chairman of the CCSJ of the Calgary Jewish Community Council;Elliot Cohen and Rena Cohen, letter to the editor, “Soviet dissident petition supported,” Calgary Herald (Aug. 3, 1978), 8. The Cohen letter writers (who were not related) are identified as “Co-chairmen, Calgary Committee for Human Rights in the Soviet Union,” which appears to be the same as the CCSJ (Saundra Lipton, “Let My People Go: Calgary Community Support for the Free Soviet Jewry Movement,” Canadian Jewish Studies 40, 2025, 105 fn.28); “About our instructors,” Calgary Jewish News (Sept. 1979, 8). Elliot Cohen went on aliyah in 1980 (“M.A.P.,” Calgary Jewish Star, Aug. 22, 1980, p. 5). from 1979Calgary Jewish Star (Dec. 4, 1981), 7, and Saundra Lipton, “Let My People Go: Calgary Community Support for the Free Soviet Jewry Movement,” Canadian Jewish Studies 40 (2025), 92. to 1981“Organizations Polled for Response to UJA Motions,” Calgary Jewish Star (Dec. 4, 1981), 7. she was CCSJ chairperson;“About our instructors ,” Calgary Jewish News (Sept. 1979), 8. The date when she was Head is given as from 1979 in Calgary Jewish Star, Dec. 4, 1981, 7. in 1981, she started the short-livedSaundra Lipton, “Let My People Go: Calgary Community Support for the Free Soviet Jewry Movement,” Canadian Jewish Studies 40 (2025), 93. Calgary Action Program for Jews in the Soviet Union.Previously called “Calgary Committee to Free the Paritsky Family”: Cohen letter, “Fight for human rights,” Calgary Herald (Dec. 12, 1981), A8; “Mostly About People,” Calgary Jewish Star (Dec. 18, 1981), 5.
Cohen taught a course on Soviet Jewry at the Calgary Jewish Centre,Cohen, “From Chmielnicki to Sharansky: The Soviet Jewish Experience,” Calgary Jewish News (Sept. 1979), 9. spoke locallyAt Temple B’nai Tikvah, Nov. 18, 1979 (“Liberal Congregation Notes,” Calgary Jewish News, Nov. 1979, 8; March 1980, p. 14); “Activist to Lecture on Soviet Jews,” Calgary Jewish Star (Nov. 8, 1985), 3. and at Soviet Jewry conferences,For example: Workshop, “Jews in the U.S.S.R.” at Western Canada Conference of Jewish Communities (“Conference of Western Jewish Communities Provides Forum for Discussion and Analysis,” Calgary Jewish Star, Oct. 23, 1981, 5). and urged community members to join her in connecting directly with refuseniks by writing letters to them.“M.A.P.,” Calgary Jewish Star (April 3, 1981), 5 (for Passover). She assisted in organizing a public rally in downtown Calgary for Soviet Jews,Kathryn Warden, “‘Prisoners of conscience’ rally draws prayers and signatures,” Calgary Herald (July 18, 1978), B14. and organized another at Calgary City Hall.“Ceremony for Refuseniks Held on City Hall Steps,” Calgary Jewish Star (Jan. 22, 1982), 1. She had her younger son, at his bar mitzvah celebration, recognize a Soviet Jewish refusenik unable to mark such an occasion by “twinning” the event,“Cohen Bar Mitzvah,” Calgary Jewish Star (Oct. 31, 1980), 7; “M.A.P.,” Calgary Jewish Star (Nov. 14, 1980), 7. and urged others to do likewise.“M.A.P.,” Calgary Jewish Star, Nov. 14, 1980, p. 4; Cohen letter to the editor, “‘Glasnost’ in Calgary,” Calgary Jewish Star (Mar. 27, 1987), p. 4. Having lobbied the office of John William Thomson, her Member of Parliament, she was assured of support for the Soviet Jewry cause in Ottawa.Video interview of Cohen, Oct. 27, 2010, Soviet Jewry Oral History Project, Yeshiva University, New York, at 21:51-23:14; “M.A.P.,” Calgary Jewish Star (Feb. 19, 1982), 5.