94 133 “A SOUTHERN JEW” (Solomon Cohen of Savannah?) Autograph Manuscript essay sent to ISAAC LEESER, written in English. The article, entitled: “A Short Essay on the Truth of the Jewish Religion” appeared in the Occident (Vol. 4, pp. 169-175). The author argues that the unity of God is of the utmost importance to religion and firmly rooted in the Bible. Eleven pages. Lightly stained. Folio. n.p, Tamuz, 5606 / July, 1846. $1500 - $2000 ❧ The pseudonymous correspondent “A Southern Jew” sent Leeser a letter from Savannah that appeared in the Occident in 1843 (Vol. I, no. 5). “A Southern Jew” advocated that “the establishment of public journals, and periodicals by the Jews in Europe and this country, must be productive of much good, not only in advocating, and illucidating [sic] our holy faith, but in collecting and disseminating information on the dispersed of Israel.” This individual might well be Solomon Cohen, a correspondent of Leeser from Savannah - indeed, a comparison of the handwriting shows similarity. Cohen (1802-75) was a lawyer from South Carolina, who moved to Savannah where he served in the state legislature. A slave-owner, Cohen nevertheless spoke in favor of reconciliation with the North in 1860. During the Civil War he was Postmaster for the Confederacy. In 1866 Cohen was elected to the U.S. Congress, but as a former Confederate official, he was not admitted. 134 LILIENTHAL, RABBI DR. MAX (1815-82). Autograph Letter Signed to Julius Feinberg (1823-1905) one of Cincinnati’s leading citizens, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and a close ally to Lilienthal. A Halachic opinion concerning the disinterment of graves from an older Jewish cemetery in Cincinnati in order to transfer the remains to family plots in Cincinnati’s new Jewish cemetery. Written in English with three words in Hebrew. One page. Lower left corner torn. Folio. Cincinnati, 31st August, 1871. $3000 - $5000 ❧ AN IMPORTANT LETTER BY RABBI MAX LILIENTHAL REGARDING REFORM PRACTICE. The Chestnut Street cemetery, the oldest Jewish cemetery west of the Allegheny Mountains, was used by the Jewish community of Cincinnati until 1849, after which it was closed due to the large number of burials following an outbreak of cholera. The following year, the Jewish community opened a new cemetery, Walnut Hills. After much contentious deliberation it was agreed to relocate all remains from the old cemetery to the new one, a controversial decision made by Rabbi Max Lilienthal and fully endorsed by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise. Indeed Lilienthal’s final paragraph in the present letter notes: “You have also requested me to beg Rev. Dr. Wise, to give his opinion in regard to the pending question… He considers the intended disinterment not only a Mitzvah [Hebrew], but an honor to those that are buried.” Clearly Lilienthal felt that Wise’s opinion was crucial in influencing communal views on this along with so many other matters relating to tradition and community. See J. D. Sarna and N.H. Klein, The Jews of Cincinnati (1989) p. 46 who notes that the decision was ultimately never actualized due to the objection of one family and thus the lack of complete unanimity on the matter. Lot 133 Lot 134