Harpur student spotlight: Tamir Cohen

Recounting the extraordinary stories of his great-grandfather’s life journey, Tamir Cohen knows the value of perseverance.

“My great-grandfather has a journal about him from the early 1900s in which he starts as a Jewish villager in this nothing village,” Cohen said. “His dad gets kidnapped, killed, he’s eating grass, going from village to village as a 9-year-old. He goes more and more west, then he finds himself in Istanbul, joins the army, gets a lot of awards, becomes a businessman and ends up making a lot of money.”

Cohen’s family history has not only equipped him for the unpredictable, but has brought him across the world.

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Cohen moved to Haworth, N.J., when he was 3, and lived there most of his life. Now, a Judaic studies and political science double major at Binghamton University, Cohen is preparing to complete his undergraduate degrees after just three years.

“Judaism has always been a big part of my life,” Cohen said. “And I was always into politics. I was on the debate team in high school, I was on the debate team for the past two years here, so I just connected the two together.”

Last summer, Cohen was able to embrace both disciplines in a single internship with the Israel Policy Forum, a Jewish non-profit organization that works to support American Jewish leaders and U.S. policymakers to improve the security of Israel and its people.

“They do all sorts of different things,” Cohen said. “They have this thing called the IPF Atid where they educate young professionals with different lunch-and-learns and different events with political parties in Israel. And the other side to them is creating or promoting different sorts of policies for either America and Israel or Israel itself.”

During his time with IPF, Cohen served as the digital communications intern, where he made flyers and maintained the organization’s website. He will continue working with IPF over the next year, as well: The Binghamton University Judaic studies program has teamed up with IPF and created a program that Cohen is excited to be spearheading.

Currently, Cohen’s personal project involves creating an iPhone app to organize and promote all of IPF’s articles, press releases and events. He is also working on a booklet for quarterly reports.

Cohen attributes his involvement in the IPF to the help of the mentors he has met at the University, specifically Randy Friedman, the director of the Judaic studies program. To Cohen, his professors are the best part of Binghamton University.

“I think it’s different here in the sense that a lot of these professors are research people, so you can always talk about their research. And they always love to talk about it. And that’s helped me in so many ways,” Cohen said. “I wouldn’t have gotten that internship if it wasn’t for Randy Friedman.”

Cohen’s diverse contributions to the organization also stem from his diverse set of hobbies and skills. He considers himself a programmer as well as an artist, and is particularly interested in 3D animation.

“I love it. I’ve been doing it for years,” Cohen said. “I create video games on the side. That’s just like a hobby.”

For the future, Cohen knows he wants to be able to embrace all of his interests simultaneously.

“I want to do something that can connect programming and art, wherever that leads me,” he said.

Cohen said much of his inspiration comes from his family. His mother’s family is from a small community of eastern Turkish people of the Jewish faith called the Nash Didan, which has strengthened his bond with his Israeli identity.

“My father has a big part of me,” Cohen added. “I always see him as a really good negotiator and businessman, so I always try to learn from that. He’s always able to convince people. My great-grandfather too. His journal is insane. I took a lot of his inspiration.”