Zaki Cohen

Zaki Cohen (Arabic: زكي كوهن) born in 1829 in Aleppo in the Ottoman Empire, was a Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in Beirut, Lebanon and a playwright.^[1] In 1874, he founded Beirut's first modern Jewish school,^[2] called Tiferet Yisrael ("Glory of Israel") in Hebrew and al-Madrasa al-Waṭaniyya al-Isrāʾīliyya ("The National Jewish School") in Arabic, where he served as director.^[3] The school continued to operate until 1899, when it was superseded by College Alliance Israelite Universelle of Beirut. Cohen died in Alexandria in 1904.

Theatre

Cohen and his son Selim were among the leading Jewish playwrights active in Beirut in the late nineteenth century. While the others, including Selim Cohen, wrote in Arabic, Zaki Cohen wrote plays in Hebrew. In 1876 one of his works became the first play in Hebrew to be performed in Beirut.^[4]

At his school, Tiferet Yisrael, theatre was encouraged and two plays a year were normally staged.^[5]

See also

• History of the Jews in Lebanon

• Maghen Abraham Synagogue

• Theatre of Lebanon

References

1. "Les Juifs du Liban".
2. Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906, article "Beirut": "The first to open a Jewish school upon modern European methods was Ḥakam Zaki Cohen."
3. https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/cohen-zaki-SIM_0005560?s.num=6: "Born in Aleppo in 1829, Zaki Cohen (Zākī Kūhīn) was rabbi of the Beirut Jewish community. Around 1874, he founded Tiferet Yisrael (The Glory of Israel), also known in Arabic as al-Madrasa al-Waṭaniyya al-Isrāʾīliyya (The National Jewish School). Beirut’s first modern Jewish school, anteceding the Alliance Israélite Universelle school by four years, it was probably intended to be an alternative to Christian missionary schools."
4. The Jews Of Lebanon Between Coexistence And Conflict by Kirsten E. Schulze, p. 25
5. Matti Moosa, The Origins of Modern Arabic Fiction, p. 31 & p. 380