Richard Kaufman, Jewish Musician and Longtime Philadelphian, Dies at 89

In the 1950s at Philadelphia’s Gilded Cage coffeehouse, Richard Kaufman sang and played his guitar for circles of friends and strangers, mixing American folk songs by Pete Seeger and The Weavers with Israeli songs like “Dodi Li” and “Yamin U’Simol.”

At a Sunday afternoon song circle at the Gilded Cage, he met a teenager named Hannah, who would become his wife of 64 years. Music bound them early on, and his guitar remained a constant presence — heard in their West Oak Lane home, at Camp Galil, at youth gatherings and at countless family celebrations.

“My dad always had a guitar in the living room,” said his son Dan Kaufman, who plays piano. “He would pick it up every night and play. Music was a huge part of my childhood.”

Richard Kaufman, a musician who came of age in Philadelphia’s 1950