Rabbi Prof. David Kaufmann, 65

By COLlive reporter

Rabbi Dovid Yisroel Ber Kaufmann, who has transformed his life as a student to become an influential figure for many other Jews, passed away on Thursday, 4 Adar 5777.

He was 65 and has been bravely battling cancer in recent years.

As a student at the University of New Orleans, he first met the Louisiana Shluchim Rabbi Zelig and Bluma Rivkin. Drawn to his Jewish roots and the Chassidic teachings, “he attended everything,” says Mrs. Rivkin, from Shabbos meals to Torah classes.

His quest for knowledge and truth, led Kaufmann to continue to pursue Judaic studies alongside a PhD in English at Tulane University. He later joined Tulane as an Adjunct Lecturer of both Jewish Studies and English at the university’s School of Liberal Arts.

In the 1980s, Kaufmann, now a rabbi, joined the Rivkins as an official Shliach at at Chabad-Lubavitch of Louisiana, focusing his energy and talents to interacting with Jewish students in the same position he once was.

“Over the years, Rabbi Kaufmann had a profound impact on many students,” Mrs. Rivkin told COLlive.com. “Many of them are now frum Jews who have beautiful families and kosher home thanks to his dedicated efforts.”

Rabbi Kaufmann and his wife also led the Camp Gan Israel summer day camp in New Orleans to great success. They were also the force behind the annual celebration Chanukah at Riverwalk held at the outlet mall located along the Mississippi River waterfront.

For 8 years, Rabbi Kaufmann was the unidentified writer of the lead article in the L’Chaim Weekly published by Lubavitch Youth Organization in New York. He also authored translations of Jewish and Chassidic philosophy and the book “Judaism Online: Confronting Spirituality on the Internet” which he wrote with Susan Zakar.

When he noticed that there weren’t novels with ‘kosher’ storylines available in the publishing industry, he founded the Scotch & Herring Mystery series and went on to author the novels “The Silent Witness, Trees” and “Forest: A Mystery.”

He was also a practicing poet, has edited peer-reviewed medical research, chess classics and essays of general interest and published nearly 400 essays of Jewish thought. Tulane noted that his articles on narrative have appeared in Philological Quarterly (Austen), Studies in the Novel (Twain) and Religion and Literature (narrative closure).

What he was perhaps most proud of was the Chassidic family he and his wife raised, with many of his children serving as Shluchim of the Rebbe, kashrus and teaching Torah and Chassidus just as he did.

He survived by his wife Shlucha Nechama Kaufmann, their children Rabbi Saadya Kaufmann – Houston, Texas; Mrs. Rochel Traxler – Houston, Texas; Rabbi Shmuel Kaufmann – Montreal, Canada; Mrs. Chaya Mushka Silver – Crown Heights; Rabbi Yosef Kaufmann – Johannesburg, South Africa; Mrs. Chana Bracha Hellinger – Crown Heights; Devorah Leah Kaufman – New Orleans; grandchildren.

The levaya will take place on Friday morning in Houston, Texas.

Baruch dayan haemes.