David Kohn (1838–1915) was a Russian archaeologist and Hebrew writer. He was born at Odessa and received a

rabbinic Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...

education, but at the age of fourteen he took up the study of medieval literature and modern languages, and soon afterward, history and archaeology. Some of his early writings included essays on fossil animals, the life of Rabbi Solomon Bennet, the Messianic movement, and the origin of

Hasidism Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Judaism, Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory ...

. He also contributed to "

Ha-Shiloaḥ ''Ha-Shiloaḥ'' () was a Hebrew-language literary journal, founded by Ahad Ha'am and the Ahi'asaf Publishing House in 1896. He edited the journal until December 1902, whereupon it came under the editorship of historian Joseph Klausner. It ceased ...

." Kohn was editor of the Aḥiasaf edition of Abraham ibn Ezra's "Diwan" (1894), as well as of

Jacob Emden Jacob Emden, also known as Ya'avetz (June 4, 1697 April 19, 1776), was a leading German rabbi and talmudist who championed Orthodox Judaism in the face of the growing influence of the Sabbatean movement. He was acclaimed in all circles for his ...

's autobiography and various other important works. He was also the first to attack

Heinrich Graetz Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (now Książ Wielko ...

's criticism of the Biblical text, and to defend the

Masorah Masorah or Mesorah ( he, מסורה) refers either to the transmission of Jewish religious tradition, or to the tradition itself, and may refer to: * The Hebrew vowel points also known as niqqud. * Masoretic Text, the authoritative text of the Tan ...

. Besides the works already mentioned, he published: ''Meḥḳere Ḳohelet ben Dawid'', a historico-critical introduction to the Book of Ecclesiastes; ''Masoret Seyag le-Miḳra'', in defense of the Masorah against the hypercriticism of modern exegetes (1880); and ''Or we-Ḥoshek''.

Edition of Ben Sira

In Odessa he made an edition of the discovered Hebrew Text of the Wisdom Book of Ben Sira in Hebrew with introduction, a good reconstruction of the lost parts and vocalisation of the whole text, *Dawid Kohn
''Die Sprüche Simon des Sohnes Sirachs. Der gefundene hebräische Text mit Einleitung und Kommentar.''
Verlag "Tuschlija", Warschau, 1912

References

* 1838 births 1915 deaths 19th-century writers from the Russian Empire {{Russia-bio-stub