Rabbi Jonathan Cohen

Rabbi@cewichita.org

316-364-4199

Rabbi Jonathan Cohen was born in Israel and read law in the United Kingdom. He wrote his doctorate in Jewish law under the supervision of Professor Bernard S. Jackson at the University of Liverpool and was the first David Patterson Junior Fellow in Jewish Law at the Oxford Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.  Rabbi Cohen joined the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion faculty in 1998. In 2001, he was appointed director of the University of Cincinnati-Hebrew Union College Center for the Study of Ethics and Contemporary Moral Problems. In 2011, he was appointed dean of the Cincinnati campus. During his tenure as dean, the Rabbinical School launched a service-learning fellowship program for rabbinical students, the Pines School of Graduate Studies received a transformative naming gift and re-emerged as the largest Jewish and interfaith graduate studies program in North America, the Skirball Museum re-opened and grew fourfold, and a Jewish Family Service food pantry and counseling facility was opened on the campus. His teaching and research interests included aspects of Jewish commercial law, the status of Jewish women, rabbinic writing on Jewish communal organization, and medical and business ethics. Rabbi Cohen was ordained in 2012. He served as Senior Rabbi of The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Beachwood Ohio between 2018 and 2024. His tenure there was marked by new adult Jewish learning offerings, significant growth in the Temple’s museum, and new interfaith and social justice collaboration initiatives. 

Throughout the past two decades, Rabbi Cohen has served as board member of arts, social service, outreach, and religious organizations. He consults, coaches, and otherwise serves churches, congregations, clergy, and not-for-profit organizations and leaders.  Rabbi Cohen also lectures in academic and religious settings throughout the United States and internationally. Recently, he has been increasingly engaged in efforts to revive and strengthen Judaism in Poland. In August 2026, he was appointed Rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El in Wichita Kansas. 

President

Scott Wagner

Scott Wagner has been the president of Congregation Emanu-El since 2019.

Scott Wagner was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill. He personally knew victims of the October 2019 massacre.

A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh’s AFROTC, he obtained his commission in the United States Air Force and attended pilot training in Columbus, Mississippi. After a twenty-year military career as pilot, instructor, commander, wing staff officer and commander he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel and went to work for The Boeing Company in Wichita, Kansas. As a technical writer, systems analyst, and business development professional he worked closely with the Boeing engineering team on preparing proposals and engineering technical documents for the USAF’s next-generation aerial refueling aircraft competitions.

After retiring from Boeing, he started his own proposal writing consultancy. He has a B.A. in English-Writing, an M.A. in Human Resources Development, and has served on the faculty of the Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College, the USAF’s mid-career leadership school for field grade officers. Scott has also served on the board of Big Brothers and Sisters of Sedgwick County, the board of The Independent School, is currently serving a second term as President of Congregation Emanu El, volunteers with the local International Rescue Committee, and helps the Read to Succeed program.

He is married to Tammy, a retired estate attorney, and has a daughter attending college. Their family has one beloved rescue dog and a crazy cat. His hobbies include fitness (“yeah, fit’ness pizza in my mouth”), reading history, automobilia, and gadgets.