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 Note Introductory. 
 
 Believing that the members of the Congregation Emanuel, and 
 the numerous friends of the late Rev. Dr. Cohn would Hke to 
 preserve a souvenir of the departed, I have prepared the ad- 
 dresses delivered upon the occasion of his funeral and the me- 
 morial service in his honor, for publication, and introduced them 
 with an excellent likeness of my departed friend. It was in- 
 tended that the remarks of the Rev. Dr. Stebbins should be a 
 part of this memoir, but at a late hour I was compelled to go to 
 press without them. 
 
 The following pages contain the reverent expressions of a man 
 
 who loved Dr. Cohn as if he had been his father and preceptor. 
 
 Dr. Elkan Cohn was one of the greatest of men, because he was 
 
 one of the purest, and because of the lofty traits of character 
 
 that distinguished him, he will live in our memory perhaps 
 
 longer than those who in the days of stirring strife forgot that 
 
 words of peace and love are stronger weapons than the shafts of 
 
 abuse and malice. San Francisco and its Jewish community 
 
 loved him; and our local history will ever know him as the man 
 
 who did the most on this Coast towards elevating the standard 
 
 of progressive Judaism. This is the sum of his history. May 
 
 the earth rest softly on his ashes ! 
 
 J. V.
 
 ^1®i&niung^ 
 
 ■Jt^' 
 
 p^'niD nnv [nn^ca D^p^iy □'''?'iij 
 
 Talmud Babli Sanhedrin.- 
 
 Das Leben eines Mann's von echtem Adel, 
 
 Erhaben liber beide, Lob und Tadel, 
 
 Das wollen diese Blatter ehrlich schildern; 
 
 Sie soUen Nichts vergrossern und Nichts mildern. 
 
 So wahr wie er im Leben ist gewesen, 
 So wahr im Tode sollt ihr von ihm lesen; 
 Dann ruft auch ihr in trauervollem Tone: 
 " Ein Edelstein fiel aus Jisraels Krone!"
 
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 293123
 
 EULOOY 
 
 DELn-ERED O^-ER THE REMAINS OF THE 
 
 Btti. Br. SilUnn tCol\n, 
 
 On March 14th, 1889, 
 
 — BY — 
 
 Rev. Dr. Jacob Voorsanger. 
 
 2 Kings, II, Verse, 3. And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came 
 forth unto Elisha and said unto him, " Knowest thou that to-day the Lord will 
 take away ihy master from thy head ?" And he said, " I also know it; be still.' 
 Verses 11 -12. And it came to pass as they went on, speaking as they were 
 going, that, behold, there came a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and parted 
 them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a storm- wind to heaven; and Elisha 
 saw it, and he cried, " My father ! my father ! the chariot of Israel and their 
 
 horsemen." And he saw him no more 
 
 Friends, we meet to-day in the gloom and o'erhanging pall of 
 death. We are bereft, orphaned. Onr venerable teacher, the ob- 
 ject of our love and reverence, has answered the summons of eter- 
 nity. His gain is the peace eternal of God our father; our loss is 
 himself, his learning, his character, his virtues. Ever)' heart feels 
 best to-day what it has lost. The congregration of Israel is in 
 mourning. Far and wide the message has gone forth that Eman- 
 uel has lost its father, its teacher, its pure-hearted, gentle old 
 rabbi, and let us say to the world that it knows not the tenth part 
 of our loss. And my own lips would also be dumb to-day, and I 
 would fain sit with you in silence, in the silence of sorrow and 
 mourning, for my heart weeps for him, and my words can give 
 no adequate expression to the sentiments that fill my breast. For 
 I am left alone to teach you and to speak to you. Left alone, 
 without that cheering, venerable presence, that handsome old man, 
 whose looks were expressive of wisdom, whose smile of approval
 
 
 was mental nourishment to me, whose pure life and exalted char- 
 acter were the finest examples I have had during all the years of 
 my life. All that he was to you, to me, to his family and his 
 friends, — what language but tears of sorrow could express it to-day? 
 
 And yet must I speak; we will not carry him to the home we 
 have prepared for him without the tenderest adieux. If his life 
 was one long lesson, that taught the house of Israel the noblest 
 conception of duty, his death likewise shall teach us many lessons. 
 We are taught that the righteous never die. Disintegration affects 
 the dust only. His soul, in its upward flight, relieved of the 
 shackles that sometimes were painful to it, has left sparks of its di- 
 vine character with us, and we pray God that our dear teacher may 
 have left a double portion of his spirit behind him. Some other 
 time, when those who are doubly bereft, his dear children, shall be 
 better prepared to listen; when the poignancy of our own grief 
 shall somewhat have passed away, we will meet again in these 
 sombre halls, which are draped in the emblems of our mourning, 
 and before all the world we will give testimony of our great love 
 and reverence, and in accord with the usage of our fathers, pay 
 a fitting tribute to his noble life, and the great works he has 
 wrought. To-day let us give vent to our sorrow, the expression 
 of grieved hearts; but let us not part without permitting some di- 
 vine ray of consolation to illumine our dark surroundings, and 
 casting our eyes heavenward, invoke the grace of God upon the 
 living and the beloved dead. 
 
 That ancient tradition I just read to you hath a forceful lesson 
 just now. Popular veneration of the great prophet, whose 
 migration to celestial regions caused so much sorrow in the hearts 
 of his disciples, easily transfigured his death into a mere departure 
 to heaven. There is no mysticism in the loving, tender thought 
 that our loved ones never die. Israel had no monument to be- 
 stow upon Elijah, except the noblest; it engrafted upon the mem- 
 ory of posterity the great fact, that, though his body had disap-
 
 peared, his speech was no longer heard, his defiance no longer 
 luirled at the irreligious and unrighteous, he was not dead. And 
 he left disciples behind him, too; men, who, unworthy of wear- 
 ing his mantle, prayed that they might continue his work and live 
 and labor by his example. So hath oriental fashioning given us in 
 quaint form one of the living facts of history, one of the factors of 
 human endeavor, namely, that the work and the experience of 
 good, brave men never die, but serve the double purpose of in- 
 structing humanity and causing the memory of the good to endure 
 forever. In that deduction from the closing scenes of Elijah's life 
 lies my trust and consolation, as, my beloved, it must be yours. 
 Our own teacher, your faithful guide of thirty years, that modern 
 Elijah, who raised the standard of our sacred faith high toward 
 the skies, whose brilliant qualities distinguished him among his 
 fellows, the leader and teacher of his professional brethren, the 
 true gentleman, the pious, venerable patriarch whose gentle eye 
 never cast an angry ray upon a loved child or friend, whose white 
 hairs were a crown of glory adorning a head that never harbored 
 an impure, unholy thought ; friends, the whirlwind that men call 
 Death has taken him up, and like Elisha by the border of Jordan 
 and the disciples further off, we stand here, piercing the sky with 
 strained eyes and persuading ourselves that, though the earth 
 must have his body, he is indeed, not dead, no, not dead; and I 
 am come to teach you why he shall continue to live in our hearts. 
 
 The world hath many failings. It hath the imperfection natural 
 to all dust ; oftentimes its memory fails when the deeds and ac- 
 comphshments of the past are to be reviewed. Every generation 
 gives a shout of triumph at its own success, and in the hour of 
 successful accomplishment ungrateful comparisons are made. But 
 the world is not altogether oblivious of its obligations to the past. 
 Its memory is stunted sometimes, but rarely fails altogether. 
 God, who gives peace eternal to our righteous and our good, gives 
 them likewise a place in our memory. In the hours of tender
 
 remembrance the dead arise, and the great army of them place at 
 our feet the blessings of many generations. When memory is 
 active, human speech is eloquent to proclaim, to loudly proclaim 
 the noble deeds the present inherits from the past, and as the sun 
 leaps forth at the break of day to shed light on silent earth, on 
 resting, sleeping men, so come these deeds to warm our silent 
 hearts into newer and greater love for ihe dead. And in the 
 present instance let us determine that his name shall live amongst 
 us; let us speak tender, loving words of him to our little ones; de- 
 scribe the beauty of his soul, the holiness of his life; describe the 
 man whose whole career was a grand offering to the God of his 
 fathers, who min'stered at the altar in truth, in simple-hearted 
 faith, in the purest intentions that ever pervaded human breast. 
 You will doubtless speak in after days of his great learning, that 
 he was one of the modern scribes, deeply versed in the law; that 
 the Talmud was an open book to him; that he spoke many lan- 
 guages, and had exhausted the well-springs of knowledge. But 
 tell your children likewise that, great scholar as he was, he was a 
 greater man; that his heart was as pure as his mind was lofty, and 
 that deeply as we admired his learning we yet loved him better 
 for his character, which, of God's own making, made Dr. Elkan 
 Cohn one of the truest, noblest gentlemen that ever graced his 
 generation. Tell these children that he himself esteemed his 
 learning but as a means of accomplishing greater works than 
 writing books. Tell them of to-day, when in this great city of 
 San Francisco and in the congregations he served in his young 
 manhood, there are men and women weeping and mourning for 
 that by his death the hand of God rests heavily upon them. The 
 great number that as children felt his dear hands rest upon them 
 in blessing, the great number who as happy couples stood before 
 him to hear him tell of the noble mission of men and women when 
 united in marriage, the happy throng of children to whom his 
 venerable presence was an inspiration — they will all remember 
 him and love him until their eyes also close in death, — and could
 
 the procession but find room, you would witness a spectacle to- 
 day that would create a lasting impression upon you. You would 
 see throngs of men crying that their benefactor is dead. You 
 would hear testimony that this modest man, this retiring scholar 
 eased and solaced the pain of hundreds, gave them of his sub- 
 stance, spoke words of the tenderest love to them, healed the 
 wounds in their hearts by the balm of his great aftection for hu- 
 manity, was a father to orphans who almost idolized him, was a 
 counselor to widows who blessed God that Dr. Elkan Cohn was 
 living to aid them in their terrible straits. And you would also 
 hear testimony that this man stood between factions and created 
 peace by the pure force of example. Ask those who knew him 
 to be an ardent, consistent reformer — those who differ with me 
 and differed with him — ask them for the merits of this man. And 
 they will give testimony that he was pure ; that no truer servant 
 of God ever stepped the soil of this land; that all differences of 
 opinion were forgotten when his virtues were considered; that he 
 never, never held man accountable for an opposite opinion, but 
 looked upon Jew and Christian alike as the children of a good 
 God, whose servant he was, and whose service demanded the ex- 
 ercise of loving kindness to all men. With him — though he was 
 a Jew to the core of his heart — creeds were but means to accom- 
 plish noble deeds, and he esteemed them all alike as the instru- 
 ments of Deity to effect the moral education of mankind. 
 
 And fail not, my brethren, to tell your children that Dr. Elkan 
 Cohn was a patriot, an ardent believer in the holiness of the Amer- 
 ican Constitution, a faithful, self-sacrificing citizen, whose lofty 
 conception of duty and obedience to law gave utterance in days 
 of fateful strife between brethren to words that helped to save. 
 Teach them also, friends, your knowledge of our departed friend's 
 virtues. He never spoke but for the good of his fellow-men. He 
 never thought but to bless and to do good. He never harbored 
 an impure sentiment. He never gave willing offense to a soul on
 
 God's earth. He never breathed an offensive word against his 
 neighbor. When he was offended he was silent and grieved in 
 his heart, yet too noble to repay evil, and those among you who 
 knew him longer than I did will surely bear me witness that I 
 have spoken the whole truth. For all of this, my brethren, his 
 loss to us is so great that we shall only be able to estimate it when 
 Sabbath after Sabbath his chair shall remain vacant, when the 
 poor shall come and cry that they miss him, when I and others, 
 who turned to him for guidance, shall look in vain and find none 
 other to take his place in the same degree. But he shall live 
 amongst us, shall he not ? Such men as our departed Rabbi do 
 not die "and they that bring many to righteousness shall be like 
 the stars and shine forever and ever." 
 
 A question that remains to be answered now is: "What shall 
 we do without this good shepherd, whose noble example created 
 so much happiness, whose wisdom spread so much intelligence?" 
 That also, brethren, shall be answered by the mercy ol God. 
 Speaking for my noble friend and in his name, I say to you : 
 Brethren, we are orphaned but not forsaken. We have still his 
 life to guide us, and we have God to aid and strengthen us. Two 
 years ago, when he could still speak to us in unimpaired vigor, I 
 heard him preach a sermon, some sentences of which I will never 
 forget. " Time flies," he said, " but hope remains." " Life de- 
 parts," he said then, " but love never dies." " God takes every 
 generation in due time," said he, " but God deprives no one of 
 the message of His love." With such noble teachings, which I 
 bring you as his last message, shall we despair that the future is 
 a blank ? No, no, he was the last to be discouraged when calamity 
 stalked abroad. He had faith in God, he loved man, and gentle 
 as you knew him, there rested in him an indomitable spirit that 
 never drooped, never despaired, never doubted the eternal watch- 
 fulness of God's providence. In that Providence, brethren, let us 
 put our trust in the hour of our sorrow. In Dr. Elkan Cohn's name,.
 
 I charge you, brethren, close ranks ! Brethren, no halt in God's 
 work, no cessation in loving deeds. He loved you, and he loved 
 Emanuel with every fibre of his great soul, and could he speak 
 now, he would charge you to go onward, to take the standard 
 from his hands and raise it still higher, still higher for the honor 
 of God's name and the happiness of humanity. Brethren, in 
 honor to his memory, in faithful remembrance of his distinguished 
 services, let us determine to remain true and faithful to our mission 
 to promote the happiness of mankind, to serve God with heart 
 and soul, and to do those deeds of loving kindness which he loved 
 to do, as much the impulse of his true heart as in obedience to his 
 high principles. Then, though he be gone from us, he will bless 
 us, even as though his priestly hands were upHfted over us to give 
 us the benediction that came from his inmost heart. 
 
 And now, brethren, my most painful task has come. I must 
 say adieu for him — a loving, tender farewell from him to you, 
 from you to him. From him to these sacred precincts in which 
 he taught so long and so well; from him to this sanctuary he con- 
 secrated with benisons to the God of Israel; from him to you, who 
 were the holiest care of his life, and to your children , whom he loved 
 as his own; from him to the son and daughters, whom he adored 
 and into whom he strove to breathe his own spirit of loving kind- 
 ness; from him to you, Messrs. President and Vice-President 
 and brethren of the Board, whom he faithfully seconded in every 
 noble endeavor to promote the welfare of our beloved congrega- 
 tion; from him to the many poor and distressed whom he took as 
 charges from his Father in heaven; from him to all of you, men 
 and women of all classes and conditions, the last farewell of a 
 noble and upright teacher in Israel. And adieu to thee, our de- 
 parted teacher, from all those who loved thee well. Adieu, thou 
 son of a race of teachers, scion of a noble family. Adieu, thou 
 good, true man, thou loving friend, thou wise master. Adieu, and 
 the peace of God go with thee. Yonder, where our hands shall
 
 plant flowers in afiectionate remembrance of thee, yonder we will 
 bend our steps, and on thy eternal resting place we shall pray that 
 thy noble soul may find eternal peace in the arms of God. 
 Blessed was thy coming in, blessed be thy going out. May the 
 beauty of the Lord thy God be upon thee and His glory encom- 
 pass thee. We shall not forget thee. To us thou hast left a 
 precious inheritance, and it shall inspire us to follow in thy foot- 
 steps. And may God strengthen us in this bitter hour, and teach 
 us so to live that the beatified spirit of the departed sage shall 
 bless us, and our own happiness be the reward of pure lives and 
 noble efforts. May the Eternal our God be with us as he has 
 been with our fathers. May he not abandon nor forsake us. 
 Amen.
 
 LETTER OK CONDOLENCE 
 
 ADDRESSED BY THE 
 
 OF SAN FRANCISCO, to the 
 
 Boar£k of ©it^ttors of temple Stmanu^lElt 
 
 ON THE OCCASION OF THE DEMISE OF 
 
 REV. DR. ELKAN COHN. 
 
 The Trustees of the First Unitarian Church of San Francisco 
 to the Presidency of Congregation Einanu- El: 
 
 Brethren — In our own name, and in the name of our 
 Church, we offer you and your people our sincere regards, and 
 unite with you in common sentiments of respectful and tender 
 sorrow at the death of your beloved and revered Rabbi, the late 
 Dr. Elkan Cohn. He was the teacher and friend of your people, 
 and the dignity and purity of his character made him beloved by 
 all. We have special reason to recognize and feel his wise mag- 
 nanimity, his liberal judgment and high sense of duty. Allow us, 
 brethren, to unite with you in these sentiments, and while we ac- 
 cept trustfully the will of heaven, to commit him, and ourselves, 
 and our people to God as to a faithful Creator. 
 
 Very sincerely, 
 
 Chas. M. Gorham, 
 Sheldon G. Kellogg, Moderator of the Board. 
 
 Clerk. 
 
 Resolved, That the foregoing letter be sent to the Presidency 
 of Congregation Emanu-El. 
 
 The above resolution was adopted by the Board March 26, 1889. 
 
 Sheldon G. Kellogg, 
 Clerk Board of Trustees First Unitarian Society.
 
 'Sag B« o* tftc mshteotts that ^e f|a»h Oo«c twell." 
 
 A SERIVLON 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 Memorial S^rtiit^ 
 
 HELD IN HONOR OF THE LATE 
 
 REV. Dr. Klkan Cohn, 
 
 <Dn Bnudag, ^prtl Ttft, 1889, 
 
 By rev. dr. JACOB VOORSANGER. 
 
 Text — Isaiah III: lo. " Say ye unto the righteous, that he hath done wellj 
 and from the fruits of their doings shall they eat." 
 
 It is now nearly thirty days since we have deposited the re- 
 mains of our beloved pastor in their eternal resting place. Need- 
 less to recall the sad event to your minds ; our synagogue is still 
 decked in the sombergarb of mourning. Still everything around us 
 reminds us of our loss; his absence from our midst as we gather 
 here Sabbath after Sabbath to offer up our devotions, has con- 
 verted every service into a memorial of the dear departed. His 
 vacant chair, adorned by tender hands with the flowers he best 
 loved, is the mute witness of our regrets, and we can scarcely re- 
 concile ourselves to the stern reality that his gentle voice, ever 
 charged with wise counsel, shall nevermore be heard amongst 
 us. To - day we meet again to honor his memory. A custom, 
 begotten by deepest reverence, warrants the public meeting of 
 Israel within thirty days after the passing away of one of its sages 
 to give public testimony of his works and his worth, and to im- 
 press upon the minds of the living the beautiful examples set by 
 the ever-remembered dead. This labor of love, this task of rev- 
 erence is ours to - day. Let us, then, pause for a brief while to 
 commune together. Thereafter the strife and struggle of life will 
 commence anew, and we shall severally run our course, each ac-
 
 cording to the intelligence God has given him, to lay him down 
 to rest when the word of command is spoken that never yet has 
 been disobeyed. 
 
 Brethren, in unfolding the chapter of our beloved Rabbi's life 
 before you, I experience a sense of reverence akin to the pro- 
 phet's feeling when he was informed he stood on holy ground. 
 The four decades that have preceded our time have witnessed 
 struggles in the house of Israel that are inscribed on a separate page 
 in our religious history. The air was rent with cries of war, the 
 ground heaved under the violent movements of the combatants, 
 but to us younger men the ground is holy. The battle was waged 
 around the sanctuary, to preserve it in its purity, to keep its 
 holy spirit from dying amongst men, to permit its continuance as 
 the witness of God unto his people. The heroes are all dead or 
 dying. One or two are left to enjoy the fruits of their labors and 
 receive the measure of our reverence, and let us thank God that 
 the great number of these valiant soldiers did not pass away 
 without at least seeing the silver line of Jordan, and beyond it 
 the certainty that they had not lived in vain. When to - day we 
 mention the name of Dr. Elkan Cohn, we do not simply mention 
 the name of Emanu - El's faithful pastor, but that of a man who 
 in the spiritual struggles of the last forty years took a prominent 
 part; who contributed a large share towards the wondrous up- 
 building of Judaism in the United States ; who braved contempt, 
 despised danger, risked rank and fortune, and the good opinion 
 of his brethren, in the attempt to liberate Judaism from the 
 deathly stupor in which it had fallen. Years before his death he 
 knew that the cause had succeeded; and, though his compeers 
 were one after the other borne hence, having fought the good 
 fight, he knew that the foundations of the regenerated Judaism 
 being well set, no human hand could henceforth undermine it. 
 
 He was born on February 22 — a memorable ;day — of the year 
 1820. The town of Kosten in Posen, where hisparents lived, had
 
 experienced little of the European upheaval of a few years before. 
 All around, in the great cities of Europe, the downfall and exile of 
 Napoleon had been succeeded by the re-establishment of old lines, 
 which carried with them a recurrence of conservative thought in 
 religious matters. The nascent Jewish reform party, which had 
 been favored by the Napoleonic princes, despite the anathemas 
 of the Rabbis, spoke with but a timid voice. Its early leaders 
 were dead or indifferent, and Israel was in no present humor to 
 give ear to liberal thought. Everywhere Rabbinism had ob- 
 tained a stronger hold, its resentment against the religious an- 
 archists who dared preach a reconciliation between the spirit of 
 Judaism and the spirit of modern times was deep and bitter. No 
 wonder, then, that Elkan Cohn was born in orthodox surround- 
 ings. His father was a learned and intelligent man, who, on 
 account of the early death of his wife, was compelled to send his 
 son to Shempin, where his grandparents lived. In the latter 
 village the child was raised in an atmosphere purely Talmudical. 
 Traveling Rabbis were the guests of his relatives; learned dis- 
 cussions were the topics at family meals ; morning and evening 
 the hum of dialectics, the monotone of controversy and exposition 
 resounded in his ears. In these surroundings Elkan Cohn im- 
 bibed that great desire for knowledge that clung to him through 
 life. When he left his grandparents' house at the age of four- 
 teen to begin his studies, he was already well equipped in Tal- 
 mudical lore. An eager, receptive mind was his — endowed by 
 nature with the remarkable faculty of not alone grasping the sa- 
 lient points of knowledge, but of retaining them to be used as the 
 material for future structures of wisdom. I do not know whether 
 in the home circle he was permitted to enrich his mind with the 
 elements of profane knowledge. But he had the making of a 
 great scholar in him, and his wonderful application and incessant 
 devotion to his tasks made him the favorite pupil of all his teach- 
 ers. Remember that the men and generation of his class became 
 scholars in profane knowledge, not by the consent or the com-
 
 mand of their early teachers. The spirit of Israel's teachers, ex- 
 cepting a few, was then inimical to profane knowledge; versa- 
 tility in the Talmudical codices, dialectic ability, learning in the 
 complex Talmudical jurisprudence, were deemed the highest ac- 
 complishments. The greatest Talmudist was the greatest scholar. 
 The Mendelssohnians— the men of progress, of whom Zunz was 
 already a worthy representative — who stood then well-nigh alone, 
 the others having fallen away, were deemed next to infidels. 
 The generation of Rabbis who had publicly anathematized Men- 
 delssohn's German translation of the Scriptures, was succeeded 
 by men whose enmity was of no less degree. Few were then 
 the Rabbis who sought to supplement their Talmudical accom- 
 plishments by a university career. These few, every one stand- 
 ing out as a hero amongst men, were the forerunners of our 
 modern Judaism. They infused a desire for classical knowledge 
 and for scientific attainments into the Talmud Bachurim, whom a 
 consciousness to rise above their surroundings had driven to the 
 German schools. Some of our leading American Rabbis, the 
 greatest number of whom are now gathered to their fathers, be- 
 longed to that class. 
 
 Elkan Cohn, having passed some time in Breslau, was sent to 
 Braunschweig, the cradle ot poets and scholars, where he was ex- 
 ceptionally fortunate in the selection of his teachers. Amongst 
 Dr. Cohn's papers there is a certificate in Dr. Herzfeld's hand- 
 writing, to the effect that the young student had been for three 
 years a pupil of Rabbi Isaac Eger, a son of the great Rabbi 
 Akiba Eger, and that after the death of that scholarly Talmudist, 
 the famous historian himself had instructed him. The name of 
 Herzfeld suggests the ripest knowledge, the finest historical acu- 
 men, the most versatile talents, and from him, whose history of 
 the Jews is still a text-book among students, Elkan Cohn im- 
 bibed that scholarly faculty of industrious, painstaking research, 
 which enabled him to master difficult problems of learning, and
 
 did not leave him until his growing infirmities robbed him of the 
 pleasure of patient study. Meanwhile he attended the gymna- 
 sium, where he received a thorough modern education. At the 
 age of twenty, Herzfeld sent him to Berlin with letters of loving 
 regard to the spiritual authorities and influential Jewish laymen, 
 and then, in that great center of learning, he slowly developed 
 those remarkable faculties which were destined, under the pro- 
 tection of Heaven, to become a blessing to the Jews of the far 
 West. He matriculated as a student of the humaniora at the 
 University of Berlin, and pursued his theological and Rabbinical 
 studies under the famous J. J. Ettinger, then chief Rabbi of the 
 Berlin community. His ten years' residence in Berlin form a 
 tale of patient toil, often diverted by intercourse with learned and 
 polite society. In no haste to seek a professional position, he 
 maintained himself, independently of the world, as a private 
 tutor, and was enabled, as seems always to have been his fondest 
 desire, to pursue science for its own dear sake, giving but a 
 fleeting thought to the responsibilities he would be called upon 
 in future to assume. The university made him a scholar; his 
 intercourse with Zunz and the growing number of progressive 
 scholars opened his eyes to the demands of the times. Israel 
 wished to break its fetters; the young particularly had grown 
 weary of Rabbinical domination. In them the embers of a purer 
 faith were being fanned until they grew into bright flames; and 
 they had learned already that the sum of all knowledge was not 
 contained in the Talmud, its codices and commentaries. They 
 had a precious bequeathment of the generation preceding them, 
 namely, the great thought that Israel's political freedom could 
 not be accomplished in the midst of mental stupor; that to wrench 
 enfranchisement and manhood from the nations would be impos- 
 sible if Israel persisted in enveloping itself in its oriental frame. 
 That thought, spoken first in whispers, grew to an angry demand 
 when Elkan Cohn was a student, and those who found the Ger- 
 man Jews indifferent to spiritual regeneration had already crossed
 
 the seas to dedicate new shrines to the God of Israel on the vir- 
 gin soil of free America. Our friend was one of those young men, 
 whose pursuit of literature and intercourse with refined minds had 
 rendered them forever incapable of a career circumscribed on all 
 sides by Rabbinical restrictions. But his time had not yet come. 
 He plodded patiently, diverting himself by writing beautiful He- 
 brew poetry, copying the Syriac version of the Pentateuch, or com- 
 posing Greek and Latin verse.* He remained long enough in Ber- 
 lin to witness the exciting scenes of the revolution of '48, and, 
 being a member of the students' corps, the peaceful devotee of 
 science became a soldier for the nonce, and did good service in 
 defense of the national property. In Berlin also the romance of 
 his life was enacted. In one of the families he attended in the 
 capacity of tutor he met the lady whom most of you have known 
 and esteemed, who was herself patiently moulding young minds 
 given in her care. Her beauty, her gendeness and sweet de- 
 meanor, no less than her charming gifts of mind, attracted the 
 student, and between these two there sprung up an attachment 
 that ripened into a love true and tender and all-absorbing, and 
 they agreed that God had created them for each other. When 
 he left Berlin in 1850, having become Rabbi of Brandenburg, he 
 brought his young wife with him, and she ever remained the 
 proudest and most cherished treasure of the gende scholar, who 
 but for that dear companion by his side might have found some 
 difficulty in braving the risks of his period. For he was essentially 
 a man of peace. God had created him with a gentle nature, a 
 temperament the reverse of aggressive, and though he was the 
 peer of any scholar in the land, he might have remained content 
 with a pittance and his beloved books, but for that pure wifely 
 ambition that led the noble young sage into more worldly paths 
 for the happiness of those who had already begun to admire the 
 depth of both his learning and his character. Four years he re- 
 
 *Several very interesting poems and a fragment of the manuscript above alluded 
 to, I have found among Dr. Cohn's papers.— J. V. 
 
 19
 
 mained in Brandenburg-. Then the world unfolded to his gaze, 
 and he was summoned to do manly toil. 
 
 In America men were needed. The nascent congregations of 
 Israel clamored for the teachers in whom the fire of faith had be- 
 come intensified by research and study. A few were on the 
 premises already, men who had come of their own choice. To 
 give you a picture of Judaism in America in 1854, the year of 
 Dr. Cohn's arrival, would require more time than may be utilized 
 at present. The distant thunder of revolution was being heard. 
 The broad spirit of the land created in the hearts of the Jews ir- 
 reconcilable objections to petrified traditions. Everywhere cal- 
 lousness, indifference, lack of spiritual fervor were the result of 
 imperfect organization, half- educated preachers, and an ortho- 
 doxy ot form, an empty shell, beneath which the substance of 
 faith had disappeared. The congregations suffered from the 
 want of preachers. The number of educated men of that class 
 was surprisingly few. The cause of reform had just been stirred, 
 and the attempts to hush the timid voices were many. Already 
 in 1832 a Jewish layman of Charleston, Isaac Harby, had plead- 
 ed with his congregation for an intelligent, modernized presenta- 
 tion of Jewish religious forms. For a long time his voice re- 
 mained unheard, outside of his own congregation ; then in the 
 north one voice after the other gave forth sound The battle 
 was soon to commence. Our revered friend, quietly ministering 
 to his Brandenburg congregation, received a call from the Jewish 
 community of Albany, N. Y. , to cross the ocean and become 
 their spiritual guide. Without any thought of the agitation in 
 which he was to take so prominent a part, simply conscious that 
 his talents would be useful to his coreligionists in the New World, 
 Dr. Elkan Cohn, at the age of thirty-four, in the closing months 
 of the year 1854, took his wife and child, and committing him- 
 self to the mercy of Heaven, withstood the perils of the sea to 
 found for himself an American home.
 
 He arrived in Albany in the closing month of the year, was 
 received with the honors due his exalted station, and instantly 
 went to work. In New York a few choice spirits had welcomed him 
 — men who knew the solid mettle of the new-comer. Lilienthal, 
 whom agratetul posterity has named the " Prince of Peace," was 
 the principal of an academy, Merzbacher was preaching to the 
 Emauu-El congregation, Raphall was preacher of the B'nai Jes- 
 umn, and the lamented Isaacs was in the midst of his career of 
 blessed usefulness. Wise, Dr. Cohn's predecessor in Albany — 
 a fiery, warlike spirit, whose perennial strength seems to with- 
 stand the times — had gone to Cincinnati; Gutheim had departed 
 for New Orleans; Einliorn and Adler had not yet come, but they 
 were in time for the battle. The outposts were being filled, the 
 sentinels properly stationed, and the notes of war were rumbling 
 like distant thunder in the angry sky. The casus belli is histori- 
 cal. When the forces separated the gage lying between them 
 was the Ark of the Covenant. The one side coveted the ark, 
 the other its contents. That is the simplest presentation of the 
 case. We render our opponents the justice that they sought on 
 their side to cultivate the spirit of Judaism, and felt that they 
 could do so by perpetuating the traditional envelopments of that 
 spirit. Whether they succeeded or not I need not answer. 
 Forty years of history have given answer. Dr. Wise during his 
 ministrations in Albany had been the means of throwing the con- 
 gregation into a ferment. He had spoken with no doubtful voice; 
 he demanded changes which, denounced at the time in the bit- 
 terest, most abusive language, have since been adopted by nearly 
 every congregation in the land. In New York, Merzbacher had 
 launched his new abridged prayer-book with much fear and tim- 
 idity. The time for open discussion had come. What meant 
 these turbulent reformers, these half-infidels, violators of the tra- 
 ditional law, who openly disregarded many of the traditional cus- 
 toms? Their answer never was equivocal. They demanded 
 the upbuilding of the spirit of Judaism, the elevation of Jewish
 
 manhood, the abrogation of spiritless devotional compositions; 
 and the great underlying factor of their movement was the har- 
 monizing of Jewish religious ideas with the spirit of the times. 
 Nine reform congregations existed in- 1854. To-day w^e have 
 two hundred. These nine with their leaders stood the brunt of 
 battle and not for a moment wavered, nor was their crest lowered 
 on the day ot war. Jewish organs fulminated against them in 
 Pope-like bulls; they were denounced as enemies of Judaism; of 
 some it was said they were self- called preachers. A temporary 
 truce was called a year later. In 1855 an attempt was made to 
 harmonize the differences between the parties, and had these dif- 
 ferences been as to the form only, the reform party of the United 
 States would have died in its infancy. A convention of Rabbis 
 and delegates was called at Cleveland in 1855. The call set forth 
 grandiloquently the great things that were expected. Peace was 
 to reign supreme, asylums to be established, colleges to be en- 
 dowed; in brief, the sanguine hopes ot these young men gave a 
 rosy color to the attempt. When the convention met the new- 
 comer was honored as befitted his station. Wise was president; 
 Lilienthal, secretary; Elkan Cohn was vice-president and chair- 
 man of the committee on text and prayer-books. The results of 
 that convention may be summed up in the fact that after its ad- 
 journment the delegates were more than ever convinced of the 
 futility of a compromise. And in the course of a few years, when 
 the reform cause prospered by accession to its ranks, it was read- 
 ily seen how impossibly the few real reformers could harmonize 
 with the advocates of the status quo. When Einhorn of honored 
 memory began to thunder against half- reform, against the pomp 
 and tinsel and glitter of a compromise worship, Dr. Elkan Cohn 
 readily came to his side, and thereafter his history in the East 
 was closed. He was no Titan, no world-stormer, simply a peace- 
 ful citizen, who could accomplish his sacred objects by teaching, 
 and he loathed from his soul the bitter words that were spoken 
 on both sides.
 
 In the month of January, i860, the Board of Trustees of the 
 Emanu-El Congregation of San Francisco, Henry Sehgman then 
 being president, elected Dr. Elkan Cohn their Rabbi and minis- 
 ter for three years. In the fall of that year, in time for the sol- 
 emn festivals, he arrived and was installed. He came, after a 
 struggle with himself. Six years of devoted service had endeared 
 him to his Albany congregation. Another child had been born 
 to him, and his surroundings were thoroughly congenial. He 
 was aware of the future that awaited him, knew that all the schol- 
 arly attainments acquired by years of painstaking labor would 
 not be valued as highly as the faculty to organize schools and to 
 build up the rather lukewarm spirit of the West. He felt that he 
 would be a pioneer minister, and realized the difficulties of that 
 position. If he hesitated for a moment before he came, you who 
 knew him can testify that he never wavered in his devotion to his 
 work after he arrived. Numbers who welcomed him to San 
 Francisco are here to-day within the reach of my voice; they can 
 do him better justice than the young who inherit the fruits ot 
 their parents' toil. Those who have seen him wend his way to 
 the old Broadway Synagogue, those who were with him when he 
 descended from the chair of an academician to become the 
 teacher of little children, do him the justice that no man of his 
 tastes and inclinations ever made greater sacrifices than he did ; 
 and he was well rewarded. No man was more admired, no man 
 enjoyed the love of his flock in such a degree. And when in his 
 elegant German discourses he began to plead the cause of re- 
 form, he found a congregation ripe for the change and willing to 
 follow. He was no half- hearted reformer. Whatever savored 
 of unreason, whatever was retrogressive, whatever partook of the 
 nature of the insensate was abhorrent to his soul. To educate 
 his people to a pure, reasoning worship of God — a worship clad 
 in forms harmonious — was one of the main objects of his mission. 
 In our local history he therefore occupies the place that Einhorn, 
 Lilienthal, Wise and others occupied in their respective spheres. 
 
 23
 
 If his language was less bitter than that of some of his colleagues 
 in the East, his cause lost not an iota by it. Sabbath after Sab- 
 bath he attacked the rust of centuries, grew eloquent when point- 
 ing out the needs of timely changes, and the objects to be accom- 
 plished thereby. In the stately temple his congregation meant 
 to erect for him, not a sound of disharmony should be heard, and 
 the worshipers should be weaned from the unreasonable features 
 of traditional thought and worship. But, thoroughgoing radical 
 as he was in these respects, he shared with Einhorn and Lilien- 
 thal the beautiful distinction that no purer men, no better Jews, 
 no greater lovers of their people, no more pious worshipers of 
 the God of their fathers ever trod the soil of America. Dr. 
 Cohn's reverence was the result of an abiding faith in God; his 
 reforms were no mere policy, no mere catering to a more or less 
 modern taste. They were the results of an anxious, prayerful 
 inquiry how to render the greatest honor to the God he rever- 
 ently worshiped. Many misunderstood him ; many opposed 
 him. He made enemies for truth's sake, but, gentle soul that he 
 was, he never yielded an inch in the service of his cause. Only 
 recently, shortly before his fatal illness overtook him, he spoke 
 again with some degree of impatience of the men who, just when 
 the congregation assumed a heavy financial debt to enable them 
 to build the new sanctuary, left the ranks and founded a new con- 
 gregation, ostensibly upon principles diametrically opposed to 
 his own — principles they never kept, for, with but trifling differ- 
 ences, their present worship and doctrines of religion are the same 
 as ours. How his heart swelled with pleasurable emotion when 
 for the first time he performed his priestly functions in this house! 
 How his soul sung paeans of praise, that at last the cause had 
 been permanently established! Since then twenty - two years 
 have come and gone, and say now of him that he faithfully min- 
 istered unto you, never yielding when he was right, always for- 
 giving when he was assailed. Not one among you who has not 
 at some time received his ministrations, for he was a priestly
 
 Rabbi, who came to your households to give you peace. Thus 
 he pursued his career and passed his Hfe in the far West — 
 preaching, teaching, ministering; arousing every noble impulse 
 in his flock; fostering every charitable sentiment; assisting in the 
 foundation and endowment of our public charitable institutions ; 
 setting an example every day of his life— the example of a singu- 
 larly devoted husband, a loving father, a rehgious man, a public- 
 spirited citizen, and a benefactor of his kind in speech, thought 
 and action. Every impulse of his noble soul, every thought of 
 his rich mind was consecrated to God, to religion, to humanity, 
 and in the domain of charitable action his spirited example cre- 
 ated noble philanthropists among the young Hebrews of the 
 West. You will not, I am sure, contradict me when I aver that, 
 much as the Emanu-El Congregation of San Francisco — today 
 
 the most liberal and most intelligent congregation of the West 
 
 owes to its public - spirited laymen, to its devoted presidents and 
 officers, its standing is in a large measure owing to the twenty- 
 nine years services of Dr. Elkan Cohn. 
 
 And now that his last page is turned, now that the elegies have 
 been sung, and the hoary head has been laid to rest on its eternal 
 pillow, let us say of him with deep reverence: 2MD *3 pHV TlCi< 
 "Tell ye of the righteous that it was good." Well done— well done, 
 good and faithful servant ! What need to recount the long list 
 of his services to his generation, the singular devotion that char- 
 acterized his every action ? What need to name the beautiful 
 deeds of each year, the wise teachings of every period ? Give 
 him one page in your history, men of San Francisco; inscribe on 
 that page simply his name — the honored, revered name of Dr. 
 Elkan Cohn — and the name will stand for all that is beautiful in 
 life, all that is lofty in character, all that constitutes the true man, 
 the faithful shepherd, the noble scholar. 
 
 And thus let us part with him, reserving loving thoughts for 
 his dear memory in our hearts. In a few days these emblems of
 
 mourning will be removed and our synagogue will resume its 
 wonted appearance, for it is not meet to lament forever. But 
 look to it, brethren, that with the emblems that so sadly suggest 
 his departure, his spirit doth not depart from 5^ou. Look to it, 
 that he who gave you the best part of his life, whose ambition 
 centered in your spiritual well-being — look to it, brethren, that 
 his memory be not offended by any retrogressive act on your 
 part. He leaves you a precious legacy; keep it well. Continue 
 his work, labor in his spirit, promote every noble cause as he 
 did, and thus shall ye be blessed of God and men, and your 
 works shall be the noblest monuments erected to the memory of 
 the gentle shepherd, whose spirit, in the realms of eternity, will 
 be happy because of your happiness. Consecrate this temple 
 anew to a pure service, to a living faith, to noble acts, and con- 
 secrate your lives by the pure light of the teachings that shall 
 not cease their voice in these halls, and then his labors shall not 
 have been in vain, and the faithful work of his hands shall come 
 back to us, to abide with us, and to bless the future of our chil- 
 dren. 
 
 From his grave in our home of peace, where he sleeps beside 
 his faithful wife — these two who loved and were true in life are 
 not separated in death — there comes to us the odor of sweet 
 flowers, planted by loving hands in tender memory of the father, 
 the teacher, the friend. And every gently -freighted breeze so 
 coming from the southland brings to us a message from the 
 dear departed — a message of peace, of love, of truth. And to 
 the west from his grave, beyond the sloping hills and the flower- 
 clad landscapes, there is the silver line of the sea, kissing the 
 shore of the land he loved with a mighty love. You have often 
 watched how that silver line recedes and advances? It is an em- 
 blem of the eternal continuance of God's Providence. It brings a 
 daily message to toiling, struggling, suffering man, that overlook- 
 ing the world with care infinite is God, who giveth life and watch-
 
 eth the birth of centuries and generations. To Him, then, who giv- 
 eth His beloved sleep, to Him we entrust the soul of our gentle, 
 loving Rabbi, and pray that the rich reward of a nobly spent life 
 may be his. And as with the recurrence of the seasons, the earth 
 dons its smiling garments, breathing the hope of eternal life into 
 the hearts of men, so let us hope, then, brethren, and pray with 
 might that immortality doth crown the life we have mourned for, 
 and the sweet repose of the righteous is vouchsafed unto him. 
 Amen. 
 
 And now let us rise together once more and in honor of his 
 memory recite the customary benediction. 
 
 27
 
 RESOLUTIONS 
 
 PASSED BY THE 
 
 Board of '^vnsit^s ol i:^ein|]Ie ^manu^^EI 
 
 RESPECTING THE DEMISE OF THE 
 
 REV. DR. ELKAN COHN, 
 
 "The Lord hath given, the Lord hath taken; Blessed be the 
 name of the Lord." 
 
 Our worthy and revered minister, our noble teacher, our 
 most excellent friend, the Reverend Dr. Elkan Cohn, has yielded 
 up his spirit and has been taken to his final resting place. God 
 in his wisdom has decreed to call him from his labors in our 
 midst, and we bow to the eternal will. 
 
 But whilst, in the spirit of our faith, rendering this homage to 
 the Judge of the spirit of all flesh, we must give expression to the 
 grief felt not only among the members of this Board, nor solely 
 in the Congregation to which he ministered for three decades, but 
 throughout the entire community, irrespective of creed. These 
 general manifestations of sorrow are more eloquent than words, 
 and emphasize the leading position he held in this community by 
 his learning, his nobility and uprightness of character. Let his 
 example and precepts be a beacon-light to us and our children, to 
 guide us in the path to which beloved to direct our footsteps, and 
 let our action be a vindication of the great truths he delighted to 
 unfold to us. 
 
 Thus shall we raise him a monument more enduring than stone, 
 and keep his memory alive for future generations.
 
 Resolved, That as a token of respect to the nieniory of oui- 
 noble deceased teacher, it is hereby ordered : 
 
 1. That the Synagogue in which he so faithfully ministered 
 before the Lord be draped in the emblems of mourning for thirty 
 days. 
 
 2. That a public memorial service in honor of his memory be 
 held on Sunday, April 7th, 1S89, at 2 o'clock P. M. 
 
 3- That a memorial tablet be built into the wall of the vesti- 
 bule leading to the sanctuary, on which his name, suitably en- 
 graved, shall tell all who come to worship of the distinguished 
 services rendered by Dr. Elkan Cohn to his Congregation. 
 
 Resolved, That we condole with his family in their great be- 
 reavement, and offer our sympathy for their great loss. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these Resolutions be sent to the fam- 
 ily, and also be spread upon the minutes of the Board. 
 
 Signed, 
 
 P. N. LiLIENTHAL, 
 
 M. Heller, President, J. Greenebaum, 
 
 A. Anspacher, Vice-President, S. Rosener, 
 
 E. Lk\-v, Secretary. Connnittee.
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF REGRET 
 
 PASSED RV THE 
 
 Bonrd of 5E6ttcotioii of Congregation 3Emnnu-3:l 
 
 ox THE OCCASION OF THE PASSINT, AWAY OF THE 
 
 REV. DR. KLKAN COHN. 
 
 San Francisco, March 15, i8<S9. 
 
 The Board of Education of Temple Emanu-El desires, in 
 common with other bodies and organizations, to place on record 
 its great esteem of the memory of the Rev. Dr. Elkan Cohn, and 
 its sorrow at his untimely departure from the held of human 
 action. 
 
 Dr. Cohn assumed charge of our Religious School upon his 
 arrival in San Francisco in i860, and gave the institution the ben- 
 efit of unremitting care and sagacious counsel. His great learn- 
 ing and his experience as a practical educator were applied to 
 the reorganization of the school, and, during his long career, a 
 generation of pious and Godfearing Israelites passed from the 
 class-room and from under his loving eye into the world. All ot 
 these ex -pupils of Dr. Elkan Cohn, many of whom are now 
 honored members of Temple Emanu-El and occupy stations of 
 trust in society, look back with gratitude to the time when their 
 revered teacher prepared their spirits for contact with the world, 
 and taught them the wise words of religion applied to daily ac- 
 tion. And their children also, those at present in our care, 
 mourn for the venerable Rabbi, whose lofty ambitions included a 
 generous pride in the successes of the school, and an earnest de-
 
 sire to associate its name with the high precepts of a pure and 
 progressive Judaism. 
 
 Resolved, That by the death of Rev. Dr. Elkan Cohn, formerly 
 Superintendent of the Religious School of Temple Emanu-El, 
 that institution loses a benefactor whose name will be forever re- 
 vered, and whose memory will be reverently honored. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these presents be spread on the min- 
 utes, and in an engrossed form, forwarded to the family of the 
 departed Rabbi. 
 
 Signed, 
 
 Jacob Voorsanger, 
 
 Superintendent. 
 
 L. L. Dennery, Chairman, 
 P. LiPPiTT, Secretary, 
 R. Peixotto, Treasurer, 
 
 S. FUERTH, 
 
 M. Wertheimer, 
 H. Erlanger, 
 S. Greenebaum, 
 I. W. Goldman. 
 
 293123
 
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