Cohon, Samuel S(olomon) 1888-1959

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COHON, Samuel S(olomon) 1888-1959

PERSONAL: Born February 22, 1888, in Minsk, Belarus, Russia; immigrated to the United States; died August 22, 1959, in Los Angeles, CA; son of Solomon and Rachael Cohon; married Irma Reinhart. Education: University of Cincinnati, A.B., 1911; Hebrew Union College, ordained rabbi, 1912.

CAREER: Rabbi of Jewish congregations in Springfield, OH, 1912-13, and Chicago, IL, 1913-23; Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, OH, professor of theology, 1923-56, research fellow, 1956-59, professor emeritus, 1959.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) David Neumark, Toldot ha-pilosofiyah be-Yisrael, two volumes, 1921-29.

(Editor) B'nai B'rith Manual, [Cincinnati, OH], 1926.

(Editor, with others) Union Haggadah, 1928.

(Editor, with others) Rabbi's Manual, 1928.

(With Harris Franklin Rall) Christianity and Judaism Compare Notes, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1927.

(Editor and bibliographer) David Neumark, Essays in Jewish Philosophy, 1929, reprinted, Philo Press (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1971.

What Jews Believe, Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Cincinnati, OH), 1931.

Authority in Judaism, 1936.

Saint Thomas et les Juifs, [Montreal, Quebec, Canada], 1937.

Judaism—A Way of Life, Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Cincinnati, OH), 1948.

Collected Writings, Volume 1: Jewish Theology: A Historical and Systematic Interpretation of Judaism and Its Foundations, Volume 2: What We Jews Believe and a Guide to Jewish Practice for the Enlightened, Modern Jew, Van Gorcum (Assen, Netherlands), 1971.

Religious Affirmations, limited edition, [Los Angeles, CA], 1983.

Essays in Jewish Theology, Hebrew Union College Press (Cincinnati, OH), 1987.

Other writings include the pamphlets "Why Do the Heathen Rage? Exposing the Deliberate Falsifications and Distortions of the Bible, Talmud, and Other Sacred Jewish Literature," c. 1939; "Judaism and War," Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Cincinnati, OH), c. 1943; and "The Jewish Idea of God," Commission on Information about Judaism (Cincinnati, OH).

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Religious Leaders of America, 2nd edition, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1999.

OBITUARIES:

PERIODICALS

New York Times, August 23, 1959, p. 92.*

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