A wife’s intellectual convictions could steer a devout husband from religion to ethical culture

Evidence

Many of the more intellectual members of Our Crowd became impressed during the 1870’s with the philosophy of a German rabbi’s son named Felix Adler, who was talking about substituting ethics for religious piety. Rosalie Cohen became one of Adler’s most enthusiastic supporters. When the Society for Ethical Culture was formed in 1876, with Joseph Seligman as its first president, she became a member—and so did Bernhard Cohen, who previously had been one of the most devout members of Temple Emanu-El, the stronghold of Reform Jewry in New York. On May 13, 1897, after absent-mindedly taking a walk in the rain without an umbrella, Bernhard caught pneumonia and, four days later, died. His funeral services were conducted by Dr. Adler. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 119

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies what the Society for Ethical Culture was and how it drew Reform Jews in 1870s-90s New York.
• XREF: connects to: Strong-willed women in the family bent their more religious husbands to Ethical Culture — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 144; A single rationalist conversation can convert religious comfort into intellectual commitment — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 877

Broader Connections

• Strong-willed women in the family bent their more religious husbands to Ethical Culture #corroborates (0.95) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 144
• A single rationalist conversation can convert religious comfort into intellectual commitment #expands (0.75) — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 877