Letter in the handwriting and signature of the Rabbi of Switzerland, Rabbi Asher Michal (Arthur) Cohen - 1911.
Rabbi Asher Michael (Arthur) Cohen [1862-1926] Rabbi of the city of Basel in Switzerland for forty years. Descendant of a family of rabbis. In his youth he served as a rabbi in Galob, established a yeshiva there and kept in touch with Rabbi Akiva Eiger. His rabbis were Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer (His distinguished rabbi), Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman and Rabbi Shlomo Bamberger. In 1885, at the age of 23, he began to serve as the first rabbi of the Jewish community in Basel, Switzerland, the second largest in the country (after the Zurich community). He served in the position for about forty years, until the winter of 1926, when he fell ill near his death, when he replaced him in the position of Rabbi Ephraim Arthur Halevi Weil. He established the first Torah institution in the city where they studied Torah, united the community and fought various reform trends.
Rabbi Cohen is mentioned in the annals of political Zionism mainly due to his consent to the holding of the first World Zionist Congress in his hometown of Basel in 1897. Herzl sought a place to hold the first congress, after the Munich community rejected it due to opposition from protest rabbis. Through the mediation of Dr. David Farbstein, Rabbi Cohen agreed to hold the event in his city, and even spoke about the relationship between the Zionist movement and the Jewish tradition. In response to his speech, Herzl briefly stated that the movement does not intend to "harm the religious faith of any sect within Judaism". Prior to the congress, Herzl visited Rabbi Cohen's house, and later, at the rabbi's request, he even went up to the Torah on Shabbat in the city's Great Synagogue.
[1] leaf. Official stationery. 22x14 cm. Very good condition.
