Thursday, July 17, 2014

Who was ד"ר ב' קאהן and why was his name removed from the שו"ת ויען יוסף ?

If you look back at the Luach Pupa 1943 that we published this week recently you'll see the name ד"ר ב' קאהן mentioned as a source for zmanim, since he was a בקי in Astronomy. Makes perfect sense. Not much thought went into worrying about his Doktor Rabbiner status or which kehillah he belonged to - שטטוס קוו או ארטאדאקסית - he knows his stars so he can tell us when night falls. Yet as much as we think that we're continuing our glorious European traditions we seem to be VERY self-conscious about much of what went on there! At least twice in the new edition of ויען יוסף where they quote לוח פאפא תש"ג they omit his name and the fact that he was an "אשכנזי" - i.e. a learned Yekke.  What do today's Pupeners know that their esteemed Rebbe and mentor didn't? Why was it good enough for him and not for the folks on Bedford Avenue? See the final paragraph in the attached file, starting from ולענין זמן צאת הכוכבים. So, as far as the question we ask in the title: why was his name removed from שו"ת ויען יוסף, I guess we're protecting our children???

Who was Dr. B. Kohn? see 'סימן ל for a תשובה from Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Hoffman to the good Dr. Rabbiner.

He attended the Kenessiah Gedauloh and is mentioned in the 3rd paragraph as הרב ד"ר קאהן, ראוויטש

15 comments:

  1. Don"t accuse the whole Kehila for it, its a solo operator by the name Goldberger, who censors and adds as he wishes.
    He obviously did not like that Halacha was based on a DOKTOR

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  2. If he was a Tzioni that would explain it

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  3. The gedolei Eretz Yisroel including even the Edah are consulting with scientific experts. In Brisk it is a mesorah to do so.

    Seems to me to be from the meshugass of the Hungarian peasant class who don't respect any kind of education and often do not respect talmidei chochomim either. You see this from some of the reiche Munkatchers & others in BP / FB / Monsey. These types only respect gelt and if you gained it dishonestly they think you are gor a klugger. I'm not saying this shnit is the roiv but they exist and they are disgusting.

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  4. Give Respect for Gelt
    Your brush is too wide ...its a little idiotic

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  5. this historical revisionism is nothing compared to what artscroll/ the Sorotzkins did to the Oznayim L'Torah

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  6. Tzelemer,

    You've never met anyone like that?

    I said they are not the roiv and I definitely did not cast too wide of a net. There are whole groups of them. Do you know anything about the gantz chabura in Torah Vodaas that Rav Sekula the Mashgiach called zey vus shteyen arim fin bima? They needed to impress people that they were officially in yeshiva so they made a bull session around the bima every day in their custom made shirts & gold cuff links. He gave them an ultimatum that if they don't sit down to learn they are kicked out. A few got scared & sat down, a few ignored him and were kicked out, the rest spoke chutzpadik to him & dropped out for full time work or Brooklyn College.

    There is the oylam in Monsey who imported a ruv from Edah Charedis but they wanted a ruv who when they say "jump!" he is supposed to ask "how high?" and he didn't fit the bill, so they threw him out.

    There are certain tell-tale signs of the Hungarian peasant class. One siman is hiding chulev stam ice cream in the back of the freezer.

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  7. Frankel's shul mizrach vant(z)Thursday, July 17, 2014 1:32:00 PM

    Please don't expose the Flatbush Hungarians!

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  8. Chaim - can you provide a list of what Artscroll edited from the Oznayim LaTorah? The one I came across was that in the Hebrew version he writes that he read Robinson Crusoe to explain the midah cineged midah why a mitzorah is sent chutz limachaneh - and was omitted in the Artscroll - I showed the omission to Horav Boruch Sorotzkin children and they were not aware of it.

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  9. "Dokter Rabbiner said..."

    Your info is not correct. It is generally a good idea to know what you are talking about (and be honest, of course) before commenting.

    As the Rebbe said, אמת לאמיתו.

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  10. Hirshel
    somehow this particular posting turned into a outlet for people venting personal vendettas against certain people and organizations. The comments have no relationship to the post.
    It is simple personal laundry and don't do it in a commercial laundromat.

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  11. I am an einikel of Rabbiner Dr Cohn of Rawitsch (later in Breslau/Wroclaw), who was rabbi of the orthodox community there, and active in Aguda. But I do not know why he would be referred to as B. Cohn when his name Yonah (or in documents Jon).

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  12. OK, have sorted it out. Rav Yonah Cohn was the rabbi of Rawitsch, he was active in Aguda and went to Knesia Gedola etc., Berthold Cohn was an astronomer born in Rawitsch who lived in Strasbourg. Berthold Cohn is the one who worked on the zmanim and received the long teshuva from Rav Dovid Tzvi Hoffman, therefore the zmanim were considered to be on the authority of Rav Hoffman who came from Verbo and was a talmid of Maharam Schick and tehrefore teh zmanim were very respected in Pupa.
    Cohn, Berthold, “Zur Frage der Sichtbarkeit der neuen Mondsichel”, Astronomische Nachrichten, 171 (1906), 35-38 [nr. 4083] [ADS link].
    Cohn, Berthold, Der Almanach perpetuum des Abraham Zacuto: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Astronomie im Mittelalter (Strassburg: Karl J. Trübner, 1918 [= Schriften der Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft in Straßburg, Heft 32]), 22-26 & 29 [Internet Archive link].

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  13. Einikel
    thanks for your info,
    it seems that Dr. Cohns calender was was accepted already years earlier by the Last Satmar Ruv, Rav ED Grunwald, when he was still Rav in Tzelem and Visheve that is decades earlier then this Luach

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