By the special wish of the deceased, expressed in his will, the Cantor of the Koenigsberg Great Synagogue, Dr. Pick, and the synagogue choir attended the funeral of the famous Old Testament authority, Dr. Max Loehr, Professor of Protestant Theology of Koenigsberg University, which has just taken place at the Koenigsberg Crematorium, and sang Adon Olam, after which Pastor Rohde read the 19th. Psalm and committed the ashes to the earth.
Dr. Loehr, who was 67 years of age, was in 1903 and 1904 and in 1908 and 1909 at the German Archeological Institute in Jerusalem studying ancient records of Judaism. His works include the “History of Israel”, “Old Testament Religious History” “The Life of the People in the Holy Land of the Bible”, “Introduction to the Old Testament”, “Studies in the Psalms”, “The Spirit of Hassidism”, and commentaries on “Lamentations”, “Samuel” and “Amos”.
Professor Loehr, although he was not a Jew, had an intimate knowledge and sympathy with Jewish life and teachings. He had a great many Jewish friends, and he was in close contact with Jewish institutions. He exercised a great deal of influence over his pupils at the Faculty of Protestant Theology, training them in a spirit of tolerance towards the Jews and respect for Judaism. He was a close friend of Rabbi Professor Felix Perles, of Koenigsberg, the well-known Jewish scholar.
At the time of the ritual murder agitation in Memel about two years ago, he published a statement in the Memel press, declaring that Protestane theology had proved the ritual murder story a lie, and the statement had a great effect in putting a stop to the agitation.
Professor Loehr had a seat in the Great Synagogue in Koenigsberg, and regularly attended there on all Jewish festivals, following the service prayer-book in hand. When the Torah was taken out of the Ark, he always bowed before it. He used to attend the Seder on Passover, and on the last Day of Atonement he attended the service in the synagogue. Death came to him suddenly, while he was at his desk, writing.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
