Cohn, Dawid

  General Notes:

Dawid Cohn was a son of Fiszel Moskowicz [Cohn] and his wife Golda. He was born circa 1794 and died Aug. 21, 1874 in Warsaw. He was a silk merchant. He was married to Szajna Ruchla Jeszurin (b. circa 1799; d. Feb. 5, 1872, Warsaw). Her maide n name, Jeszurin, comes from the marriage record of their son Wolf (Wladyslaw). Dawid and Szajna Ruchla are buried beside each other in the Warsaw Jewish Cemetery (sector 10, row 3, number 30).

Dawid Cohn was a member of the Dozor Bozniczy (Synagogue Inspection Committe), head of the Jewish Burial Society, chairman of a charitable organization that provided clothing to the porr, and a member of the Jewish hospital for 25 years. During t he Polish Uprising of 1830-31 (the November Uprising) he was an officer in the Civic Guard. He petitioned the government three times - unsuccessfully - to obtain the privilege of "favored citizen." He was also a generous benefactor to Jewish set tlers in Jerusalem and was president of the Warsaw branch of the Meir Baal HaNess Fund. According to his obituary in the newspaper Izraelita he had a special reverence for the land of his ancestors.

According to the birth record of their son Jankiel, Szajna Ruchla was born in Szczuczyn in the Lomza Gubernia (although in the record it is spelled "Szczucin"). (There is also another town of the same name, currently spelled "Scucyn" located furt her east in present day Belarus). Her father was Icek son of Hayim and her mother was named Haia daughter of Herszek.

It seems that Rabbi Jakub Meir Jeszuron, who was a dayan in Warsaw -- and prior to that, rabbi in Pultusk -- was Szajna Ruchla's brother. At least all the known evidence suggests this. The town of Szczuczyn was located within the congress Kingdo m of Poland but in the north-east, not too far from Lithuania and Byelorussia (Belarus). From his book Imrei Yaakov (Warsaw, 1914) we know that Jakub Meir Jeszuron was a mitnaged of the Lithuanian school. He was a disciple of Rabbi Chiam of Volo zhin, so presumably Jakub Meir attended his famous yeshiva in Volozhin. (This yeshiva recruited Jakub Meir from Szczuczyn). Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin was the premier disciple of Rabbi Elija, the Vilna Goan, and Rabbi Jakub Meir also quotes him i n his book. Moreover, Rabbi Jakub Meir Jeszuron's book contains two approbations by Rabbi Chaim Berlin and Rabbi Chaim Solovietchik, ,both famous rabbis who taught at the Volozhin yeshiva.

From is tombstone inscription in the book Nachlat Olamim, we know that Jakub Meir Jeszuron's grandfather was the preacher (magid) Chiam of Szczuczyn (or Chiam Szczuczyner). Rabbi Jakub Meir received a Torah scroll which belonged to his grandfathe r Chaim. Chaim of Szczuczyn is described in the book as a wealthy man who helped his fellow Jews. The name Chaim agrees with the name of Szajna Ruchla's grandfather from the birth record of Jankiel Cohn, as was stated above. However, we don't k now if Chaim of Szczuczyn was Jakub Meir's paternal or maternal grandfather.

These facts, and also the fact that their ages are not too far apart, make it seem very likely that Szajna Ruchla Jeszurin and Rabbi Jakub Meir Jeszuron were brother and sister.

Dawid married Szajna Ruchla (Jesinier) Jeszurin, daughter of Izaak and Unknown.