Kaufmann Kohler (May 10, 1843 – January 28, 1926) was a German-born Jewish-American biblical scholar and critic, theologian, Reform rabbi, and contributing editor to numerous articles in The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906).

Abraham Geiger, to whose Zeitschrift Kohler became a contributor at an early age, strongly influenced his career and directed his steps to the United States.

In 1869, he accepted a call to the pulpit of the Temple Beth-El in Detroit, Michigan; in 1871, he became rabbi of Chicago Sinai Congregation.

In 1879, he succeeded his father-in-law, David Einhorn, as rabbi of Temple Beth-El in New York City; his brother-in-law, Emil G. Hirsch, became his successor in Chicago.

He later expressed doubts about the Pittsburgh Platform, stating in 1892: We ought not be blind to the fact that Reform, with no other principle but that of progress and enlightenment, has created a tendency to treat the past with irreverence and to trifle with the time-honored institutions and venerable sources of Judaism.