Isaac Cohen
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Isaac Cohen | |
|---|---|
 Dr Isaac Cohen | |
| Title | Chief Rabbi of Ireland |
| Personal | |
| Born | Isaac Cohen 26 July 1914 |
| Died | 30 November 2007 (aged 93) Jerusalem, Israel |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Spouse | Fanny Weisfogel |
| Denomination | Orthodox |
| Occupation | Chief Rabbi |
| Jewish leader | |
| Predecessor | Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits |
| Successor | David Rosen |
| Position | Chief Rabbi |
| Began | 1959 |
| Ended | 1979 |
| Other | Chief Rabbi of Ireland |
Isaac Cohen (26 July 1914 – 30 November 2007) was a Talmudic scholar and Chief Rabbi of Ireland for 20 years.
Education
Born in
Jews College and University College London and gained a Bachelor of Arts in Semitics in 1935. In 1939 he married Fanny Weisfogel of London and they settled in Leeds. After the Second World War, he returned to London to complete his rabbinical diploma, which he gained in 1948, and subsequently took up a rabbinical position in Edinburgh. In 1956 he gained his PhD from the University of Edinburgh
for research into Talmudic thought.
Appointments
His first post was at Harrow and Kenton Synagogue in Middlesex in 1935. In 1939 he moved to
Av Beth Din in Dublin. With the decline of the Irish community, he considered leading a community in London or taking up a position at the London Beth Din. He ended up remaining in Dublin until retiring in 1979 and eventually settled in Jerusalem
, Israel.
Legacy
While officiating in Dublin he promoted Jewish education and dealt with problems involving the supply of
Soviet Jewry Campaign
and encouraged his community's support for Israel.
His main work was his 25-year study Acts of the Mind in Jewish Ritual Law – An Insight into Rabbinic Psychology which was published two weeks before his death. The book was requested by the University of Edinburghin order to award him an honorary doctorate.
Sources
- (25 January 2008). Obituaries: Rabbi Dr Isaac Cohen. Jewish Chronicle, p. 32.
- Chief Rabbi Isaac Cohen – tribute on his first Yahrzeit
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| People | |
