Rabbi Tobias Geffen
Born in Kovno, Lithuania in 1870, Rabbi Tobias Geffen received his
smicha from Rabbi Tzvi Rabinowitz of Kovno and from Rabbi Moshe
Danishevsky of the Slobodka Yeshiva. With his wife, Sara Hene
Rabinowitz and two children, he immigrated to the United States in
1903.After four years in New York, he moved to Canton, Ohio, where he
served as Rabbi from 1907-1910. In 1910, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia
where he served as Rabbi of Shearith Israel Synagogue, where he
remained until his death at the age of 99 in 1970.

Rabbi Geffen was far more than merely the Rabbi of a synagogue in
Atlanta, Deeply concerned with religious, educational and practical
matters and imbued with great learning, personal piety, human warmth
and compassion, practical administrative ability and above all, a deep
and sincere love of the Jewish People and the Land of israel, he
became leader of the traditional Jewish community of Atlanta. He was
acknowledged as the dean of the Orthodox rabbis of the southern United
States and the spiritual leader of that vast area. Rabbi Geffen's
influence was also spread through his family of 8 children and 17
grand- children whom he taught formally and informally, for whom he
was an inspiration and a role-model.

Biographical information was submitted by Dr. Joel Ziff (Grandson of
Rabbi Geffen).