Abraham Kohn

Abraham Kohn

Rabbi Abraham Kohn (born Jan. 1, 1807, Zaluzan, Bohemia; died at Lemberg, Galicia, Sept. 7, 1848) was a Reform Jew that was the Chief Rabbi of Lemberg, and who was allegedly poisoned to death.

In 1828, he entered the University of Prague, where he applied himself to philosophy, while devoting his spare time to rabbinical studies. In July, 1833, he was appointed rabbi of Hohenems, Vorarlberg, where he remained for eleven years. Besides organizing various charitable societies, he greatly improved the educational facilities for the young, and introduced many reforms into the public service. In May, 1844, he accepted the rabbinate of Lemberg. Here in a comparatively short time he opened a well-equipped "Normalschule" of which he was the superintendent, dedicated a new reform temple, abolished many old abuses, and did not rest until the degrading tax on kosher meat and Sabbath candles, imposed upon the Jewish community by the government, was removed.

Death

But while the less traditional element rallied about him, the traditionalists of the community bitterly protested changes to their religion. On Sept. 6, 1848, a man, said to be hired by a fanatical clique, entered Kohn's kitchen and was said to have poisoned the dinner. While the other members of his family recovered, Kohn and his youngest child (cf. "Reformed Judaism and its Pioneers" by E. Schreiber, where he writes that the only victim of the murder was Rabbi Kohn himself and the rest of the family recovered), died the following day. That is, after Kohn died one person stood trial for his murder and was convicted. However, on appeal this was overturned. After the verdict was overturned, it was again reviewed by the highest court and the appellate court's judgment was upheld. To this day, it is still unclear if Kohn was, in fact, murdered, or if his death was due to some other cause.

ources and References

*JewishEncyclopedia
* Michael Stanislawski, A Murder in Lemberg: Politics, Religion, and Violence in Modern Jewish History (Princeton University Press, 2007)
* [http://seforim.blogspot.com/2007/04/review-of-dr-michael-stanislawski.html"the Seforim blog", Tuesday, April 17, 2007 Review of Stanislawski's book]


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