THE VISIONARY
SARINA ROFFÉ
THE LEGACY OF DAVID E. COHEN A”H IS THE COMPLETION OF THE BUILDING OF CONGREGATION SHAARE ZION IN 1960. BUT DAVE CONTRIBUTED SO MUCH MORE TO THE COMMUNITY THAT I FEAR THE WORDS I WRITE WILL NOT DO HIM JUSTICE.
He was a giant among men, a visionary, a teacher and strategist committed to keeping the community united. He passed away in 2021 just before his 95th birthday.
David Eliahu Cohen was born in 1926 and grew up in Bensonhurst during the Great Depression. Like most children of the time period, he began working at age 11. By the time he got to high school he was earning $15 a week doing odd jobs before and after school. His high school guidance counselor told the students that if they graduated, they could earn $25 a week. He laughed and quit school at 16 knowing he could earn way more working full time.
He married Regina Shamula in 1947. They had four children—Eileen, Elliot, Aaron, and Shari—and were married for 74 years. They left a legacy of multiple grandchildren, great, and great-great grandchildren.
“My father was a visionary. From a very young age he noticed the uniqueness and importance of our community. As time went on, he became aware of the great value of our exceptional traditions which go back a thousand years,” said his son Elliot Cohen. “As he first got involved in the building of Shaare Zion and then went on to become its president, his love of our community only became greater. The goal of all his work was always to strengthen our community, keep us unified and preserve our ancient traditions of faith and tolerance. That was always what it was all about for him.”
With a sharp mind, inborn leadership, great people and political skills, Dave accomplished ambitious goals. Shaare Zion became a template for the community’s multiple synagogues. In 1983, it was Dave who crafted the synagogue’s constitution, revolutionized its election procedures and started the first Torah learning center in Shaare Zion.
He also had a behind the scenes hand in many other community organizations. According to his son Aaron, “He had a hidden hand in the Sephardic Community Center, Congregation Har Lebanon, Ahi Ezer housing, the Avenue S Mikveh, and Magen David Yeshivah High School.”
He was often called upon by builders of other community congregations for his advice on how to optimize space in their new buildings.
“Today the phenomenon of what the Jewish Syrian community has become is clear to all of us and is now recognized throughout the Jewish world. What my dad recognized in his early years is now obvious to all,” said Elliot.
Even though he dropped out of high school, Dave never stopped learning. He had high intelligence and read thousands of books that were often discussed at the dinner table. He quoted from Ralph Waldo Emerson, wise old Arabic sayings, Machiavelli, and Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations.
He was also blessed with tremendous verbal skills. He interacted with several chief rabbis, Israeli prime ministers, as well as governors, senators, congressmen, and mayors. Yet, he could just as easily speak with a young grandchild on their level.
He worked with Abe M. Cohen A”H to bring the long-stalled project at 2030 Ocean Parkway to fruition. Together, they built the community’s mother synagogue, a place where thousands of couples married and had many joyous events in the community’s first social hall. Determined to get the building completed, Dave and Abe became an inspiration to generations of community leaders that followed. Videos on YouTube tell his story.
His sons say he was their best teacher and that anyone who talked to or interacted with Dave was a student of the DCU (Dave Cohen University). Elliot was just seven years old when he often joined his father as they built Shaare Zion and then their home on East 5th Street, learning about construction. After Dave finished his term as Deputy Borough President of Brooklyn in the mid-1970s, he began a men’s apparel business on West 42nd Street in Manhattan with his sons. The business put his sons on a path to success. When they needed a bookkeeper, he brought in his daughter Shari, who knew nothing about bookkeeping. She soon became a graduate of ‘DCU.’
In the mid-1950s, Jews were emigrating from Egypt to New York. He not only hired many of them but gave them shares in his business which freed him up to put his energy into the Shaare Zion project.
Also in the mid-1950s, Dave did something revolutionary for the time. He enrolled his daughter Eileen in Yeshivah of Flatbush. He met with the great educator, Joel Braverman who was pleasantly surprised because Syrian girls were not yeshivah educated then. Though she was first entering in third grade, he made sure she caught up and she excelled there. Today, many of her children and grandchildren are talmidei hachamim.
“I remember him taking lessons to play the oud. We had Syrian music jam sessions in our backyard in Bradley Beach. He was teaching me that I can learn to play an instrument and jam,” said Elliot.
Dave loved the pizmonim of his childhood. Concerned that this important part of our heritage would be lost, he started the Pizmonim Project. In the 70s, he gathered most of the popular hazanim and musicians at that time. He had them arrange and rehearse 12 popular pizmonim. He called them the ‘greatest hits.’ Working with Joe Catton A”H, they took the group to a recording studio in Manhattan.
“They produced the recording and included a booklet so the listener could easily learn to sing along. Needless to say, it was a big hit!” said Elliot. “First the songs were released as 8-track tapes, then cassettes, CDs and now they are on YouTube, Apple Music, and Spotify where they have thousands and thousands of hits! Walk into a sebet and listen to all the singing. We never lost our pizmonim.”
Mayor Abe Beame, and Bert Shabot
He was generous to a fault. Once he had his own business, he employed his wife Regina’s three younger brothers who had grown up fatherless. He also helped his immigrant uncles get on their feet financially. Dave had first cousins he had never met living in Israel. He went there, sought them out and found one of them living in an apartment with virtually no furniture. He wept upon seeing this. He arranged to furnish their home. Many years later that same cousin was a victim of a suicide bomber where several family members were killed. Dave was right there raising funds for them.
“Dad’s mother was a DePicciotto,” said his son Aaron. “A family with a history of being ambassadors and diplomats going back to the 1700s. He was so proud to be part of that. He would reach out across the globe to connect with anyone named Picciotto. He found a distant cousin in Milan, Italy with whom he helped craft a family tree.”
In his memory, Shehebar Sephardic Center in Israel is forming the David E. Cohen Leadership Initiative. According to Rabbi Sam Kassin, Dean, “From the building of Congregation Shaare Zion and establishing its constitution to being its president for many years, it was David E. Cohen who handled it all with foresight and commitment. He brought rabbis and teachers to guide the community. Often people didn’t agree with him and caused a flurry, but he worked and found solutions we live with today. His love for Judaism and his people was nothing more than an extension of his family.”
David E. Cohen will be teaching for generations to come through videos captured on YouTube and Sephardic Heritage films.
A genealogist and historian, Sarina Roffé is the author of Branching Out from Sepharad (Sephardic Heritage Project, 2017). Sarina holds a BA in Journalism, and MA in Jewish Studies and an MBA.
