Re'em HaCohen was born in
Jerusalem on 1 March 1957 to Yedaya, a principal at
Yeshivat Har Etzion and son of Zionist thinker
Shmuel HaCohen Weingarten (he), and Dina, head of
Midreshet Emuna and daughter of Zionist pioneer
Natan Gardi (he). He was named after his great-grandfather, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai. He grew up on the border of Jerusalem's
Rehavia and
Sha'arei Hesed neighbourhoods. In his youth, Hacohen would frequently visit the house of
Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. He studied at Netiv Meir Yeshiva High School under Rabbis Arye Bina and David Fuchs, and after that at
Yeshivat Har Etzion in
Alon Shvut under Rabbis
Aharon Lichtenstein and
Yehuda Amital. He served in the
Israeli Armoured Corps and advanced to the rank of
Major in the
Reserves. HaCohen received
semikhah from Rabbi Lichtenstein and
Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg (author of the halachic treatise
Tzitz Eliezer). He also studied with Rabbi Sholom Eisen, a
posek in the
Edah HaChareidis. HaCohen served as a
Ra"m at
Yeshivat Or Etzion under
Rabbi Haim Drukman and at Yeshivat Shvut Yisrael in
Efrat. In 1994, he was invited by rabbis Binyamin Kalmanzon and Ami Ulami to be a
Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshivat Otniel. After Ulami was murdered that year, HaCohen became the community rabbi of the town of Otniel. In the past, Rabbi HaCohen worked with the organisation "Circles of Justice". In 2006, he was nominated for the post of
Chief Rabbi of the IDF. He serves on the judging panel of "Kane Lecha Chaver", a
Torah competition run by
Mifal HaPayis.
Family Rabbi HaCohen and his wife Noa have 9 children. His son, Rabbi Uri HaCohen, is a Ra"m at Yeshivat Otniel. Another son,
Lt. Col. Yoni HaCohen, is the commander of the
IDF Paratrooper's 890th "Efah"
Battalion . His oldest brother is Major-General Gershon HaCohen, a senior IDF officer. His other brothers are Rabbi Elyashiv HaCohen, Rosh yeshiva at Yeshivat Beit Shmuel in
Hadera, Rabbi Aviya HaCohen, Ra"m at Yeshivat Tekoa, and Rabbi Chayim HaCohen, head of the Beit Yatir pre-army program. His brother-in-law is Rabbi Aharon Harel, head of Lev Chadash Yeshiva High School in
Shilo. == Opinions and philosophy ==