Rabbi Dr. Shimon D. Cowen

Rabbi Dr Shimon Dovid Cowen, has a dual background in secular and religious studies. He received a PhD in social philosophy from Monash University , Melbourne and rabbinic ordination (s'micha) both in the Kollel Menachem Lubavitch, Melbourne , of which he was Programme Director, and from the chief rabbi of Haifa.Time Magazine in a feature article on Australian Jewry called Rabbi Dr Shimon Cowen, Australia's "most famous" Ba'al T'shuvah. The reason for this might be that he was forging into Jewish learning and practice when his father, Sir Zelman Cowen, was Governor-General (Head of State) of Australia from 1977-82. He founded the Institute for Judaism and Civilization in 1998 http://www.ijc.com.au/