KOLLIN (KOLINSKY), ABRAHAM (1879-4 Apr. 1968), attorney and community leader, was born in Lithuania, to David and Hannah Rose (Wolf) Kolinsky. He came to the U.S. when a boy and studied at Cleveland and Western Reserve University law schools. Admitted to the Ohio Bar Assoc. in 1902, Kollin practiced law until his retirement in 1959. An ardent Zionist, Kollin was the first local writer to defend political Zionism in the Cleveland Jewish press, arguing that there had to be a territorial basis in a person's belief in Judaism, an argument that put him in direct conflict with the Reform community leaders. He was president of the Cleveland Zionist District during the 1920s. Kollin was a leader of 2 unsuccessful attempts to organize the East European Jewish immigrants' organizations into a single representative body. In 1906, he was a founder of the UNION OF JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS, and in 1913 helped organize the KEHILLAH, another umbrella organization. Kollin was a charter member of the American Jewish Committee and was president of the Cleveland Lodge No. 16 of B'NAI B'RITH in 1910. He was also a member of ANSHE EMETH congregation. He was a charter member of the Cleveland CITY CLUB. In June 1917, Kollin was one of 5 men elected in a community wide vote to represent Cleveland at the first American Jewish Congress, an attempt to create a democratically elected national Jewish organization with representatives from all sectors of the American Jewish community. Kollin died at his sister's home in CLEVELAND HEIGHTS and was buried in the PARK SYNAGOGUE Cemetery.
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