Henry Cohen (rabbi)
Encyclopedia
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
who served Congregation B'nai Israel in Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
from 1888 to 1952.
History in Galveston
Henry Cohen is also known for saving a Greek Catholic from deportation and banishing Shakespeare’s ShylockShylock
Shylock is a fictional character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.-In the play:In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is a Jewish moneylender who lends money to his Christian rival, Antonio, setting the security at a pound of Antonio's flesh...
from the Galveston public schools. In 1928 Congregation B'nai Israel decided to add a new facility and name it the Henry Cohen Community House.
Galveston Movement
Cohen played an integral role as a founder of the Galveston MovementGalveston Movement
The Galveston Movement, also known as the Galveston Plan, was one immigration assistance program operated by several Jewish organizations between 1907 and 1914. The program worked to divert Jewish immigrants, fleeing Russia and eastern Europe, away from East Coast cities, particularly New York,...
. The Galveston Movement operated between 1907 and 1914 to divert Jews fleeing Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
away from crowded East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
cities. Ten thousand Jewish immigrants passed through Galveston, Texas during this era, approximately one-third the number who migrated to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
during the same period. Cohen personally petitioned President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
for an immigrant.
Jewish Texan historian
The Handbook of TexasHandbook of Texas
The Handbook of Texas is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association .-History:...
states that, "The formal preservation of the history of Texas Jewry goes back to Rabbi Henry Cohen of Galveston and David Lefkowitz
David Lefkowitz (rabbi)
Rabbi David Lefkowitz , an historic Texan rabbi, became Temple Emanu-El 's rabbi in 1920. He was rabbi until 1949, when he was replaced by Rabbi Levi Olan. He took a firm stance against the Ku Klux Klan. . The Perkins School of Theology houses the "Sadie and David Lefkowitz Collection of Judaica"...
of Dallas, who set out to interview as many early settlers and their families as possible. They produced a historical account for the Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
Centennial in 1936."
Further reading
- Cohen, Kindler of Souls: Rabbi Henry Cohen of Texas (University of Texas Press 2007), ISBN 978-0-292-71461-8