Ex-local rabbi is back with a book

Clergy are accustomed to visiting patients in hospitals. But what happens when the clergy become patients themselves?

In the case of Rabbi Douglas Kohn, who developed metastatic tall cell papillary thyroid cancer in 2004, it precipitated a book.

"Life, Faith and Cancer: Jewish Journeys Through Diagnosis, Treatment and Recovery" is a compilation of stories by rabbis, cantors, Jewish educators and social workers throughout the country.

Kohn, the former rabbi at Beth Tikvah Congregation in Hoffman Estates, wrote one of the chapters about his own journey. He will share some of the stories in the 18 chapters with area audiences on Sunday, first at Congregation Beth Tikvah and then Temple Chai in Long Grove.

One chapter was written by the late comedian Gilda Radner's physician, who also developed cancer.

Kohn, 49, said all his contributors faced cancer.

"They had to reassure their own family members and find spiritual motivation and connections they'd never thought about before," he said.

Kohn said the book, which took 2½ years to put the book together, offers an authentic voice of cancer and Jewish scholarship and leadership -- "a way to find faith and hope that speaks to non-Jews, as well."

"It's a rare window into how clergy live when faced with what could be a life-threatening and dangerous disease," he said.

Each chapter, he said, describes the contributor's narrative about their disease and the Jewish teaching to which they relate it.

When Kohn was diagnosed, he underwent a total radical neck dissection, a 12-hour operation to remove the thyroid gland and dozens of lymph nodes. That was followed by an intensive course of radiation.

"I found unfair martyrdom to be instructive," he said by phone from California, where he serves Temple Emanu-el in San Bernardino.

Still, he said, "I had only one weekend of worry and self-pity.

"During the Mishabeyrach (the prayer for healing during which names of those who are ill are said aloud) after my diagnosis, I silently said my own name, but that was very troubling," he said.

"I had to come up with a way to tell the members of my congregation and I worried about that."

Post-surgery, he had difficulty swallowing. His arm gave him problems, because the surgery severed some nerves. His parathyroid was also removed.

Now, after extensive physical therapy to regain complete use of his arm, he said he is a gym rat and enjoys running every morning.

Kohn will speak about his book at 9:15 a.m. Sunday at Beth Tikvah, 300 Hillcrest Blvd. in Hoffman Estates.

His second talk at Temple Chai, 1670 Checker Road, Long Grove, is from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.