Hirsch Cohen

Hirsch Cohen, most actively identified with the educational and moral progress of the Jewish people in Montreal, may point with justifiable pride to various schools and synagogues which have been established through his instrumentality. A Russian by birth, his natal day was in April, 1863, his parents being Hircom and Sarah Cohen, both of whom have now passed away, the latter dying in 1896 and the former in 1911 at a ripe old age, being over ninety years old. Liberal educational advantages constituted the foundation for the important and far-reaching life work of Hirsch Cohen who was educated in a Hebrew college in Russia. The year 1890 witnessed his arrival in Montreal, since which time he has been active in promoting work among the people of his own faith. He has established eight synagogues, including one in Lachine and one in the city of Quebec. At that period the people of his faith could not stand the regular tithing system and there were only a few small synagogues to carry on the work among the Hebrew people. Prosperity, however, has come to many and a fair degree of success to others and as they have prospered they have contributed to the work of intellectual and moral progress with a result that there are today a number of large congregations and various smaller ones, each an active force in promoting the moral development of the Hebrew people. Mr. Cohen has been a leader in this work and he is also a director on the school board of the Baron de Hirsch Institute. For the past seven years he has been acting as chaplain for the Jewish prisoners in the province of Quebec. He is chairman of various Hebrew schools in the city and has been practically the founder of them all and in the meantime has established places of study where adult Hebrews can acquaint themselves with various lines of knowledge. He has founded three different synagogues in Montreal since his arrival and another important branch of his work has been the care which he has given to newcomers during the periods of largest immigrations to Canada among the Hebrew people. Moreover, he has taken a most active and helpful part in bringing about the amalgamation of the charitable institutions of the Jewish people into a coordinate whole. He has seemed to neglect no line of effort that contributes to the welfare of people of his faith. It was through his instrumentality that all Jewish slaughter houses were brought under the required supervision. He was one of those who took part in the organization of the Free Loan Association, and he was one who aided in establishing the Jewish Daily Eagle, to the columns of which he makes frequent and welcome contributions. He is one of the officers in the Zionist movement and one of the officers in the Association of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, in which he is also a member of the executive committee.

Mr. Cohen’s first wife was Miss Sarah First, whom he married in 1888, and their children were Mrs. Annie Presnau, Mary, Julius, Ethel, Goldie and Lazarus. In 1913 he married Leah Nochumofsky. It would be difficult to determine how important has been the life work of Hirsch Cohen, for there is no standard whereby to judge influence, especially when it is exerted along lines of intellectual and moral progress. His worth, however, is widely recognized, not only by those of his own faith, but also by the Gentiles who respect him as a man and honor him for his loyalty to his belief and for his great work in behalf of his cause.