Tobias Geffen (August 1, 1870 – February 10, 1970) was an American Orthodox rabbi. He served as the leader of Congregation Shearith Israel in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1910 to 1970. Geffen is widely known for his 1935 decision that certified Coca-Cola as kosher.
Biography
Geffen was born on August 1, 1870, in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas (called Kovno at the time, part of the Russian Empire).[1] He was ordained by Rabbis Tzvi Rabinowitz of Kovno and Moshe Danishevsky of the Slobodka Yeshivah.[1]
He immigrated to the United States in 1903 and became rabbi of New York's Congregation Ahavat Zedek in New York City.[2] Because of the cramped tenement conditions, he moved to Canton, Ohio, in 1907 to become the rabbi of a small synagogue.[1]