COMMUNITY Rabbi Revisits Jewish Civil Rights History By Bob Bahr Temple Sinai paid tribute earlier this month to a group of largely forgotten Southern rabbis who were leaders in the civil rights struggle during the 1950s and
At Temple Sinai, Rabbi Brad Levenberg hailed the careers of five Southern rabbis.
1960s. In a scholar-in-residence program June 4-5, Associate Rabbi Brad Levenberg called the group of five religious leaders in the South “giants” whose seminal work in this critical period of American history has mainly been ignored. Levenberg researched the careers of the rabbis for a Ph.D. dissertation he just completed. He believes that their work 60 years ago is directly relevant to the challenges rabbis face today. In an interview after the presentation, Levenberg said, “Rabbis today have a lot to learn from the leadership examples of these rabbis of yesterday, specifically how they dealt with the contentious and divisive community issues, how they were able to read and understand the context of their community and their role in the community, and as well how unafraid they were to be able to take stands according to their moral convictions.” Typical of the activists was Rabbi William Silverman, who led Nashville’s largest synagogue Congregation Ohabai Sholom during the 1950s, Levenberg said. Silverman hosted a weekly radio show and was a strong supporter of racial integration in the years following the historic 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing segregated schools. In 1958, the same year that The Tem52 | JUNE 15, 2021ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES
ple in Atlanta was bombed, the Nashville Jewish Community Center was also attacked. Minutes after the community center blast, a caller from the “Confederate Underground” called the Silverman home to tell the rabbi that his synagogue
were prominent retailers in the city, he issued a direct challenge to integrate their work force. “In a really jarring example, he compelled his congregants at one point to hire more African American work-
bility for a history of supporting racial injustice but was met with less than complete success. During his Temple Sinai presentation, Levenberg quoted Padoll’s critical words to his Charleston congregation during the 1960s. “My request of you over these past critical years have been based primarily on your responsibilities towards your fellow man. But many of you have refused to listen. You’ve said that this is not a Jewish problem and that therefore you would not lead the way. You already lost the chance to lead the way.” After seven years in Charleston, Padoll resigned. According to Levenberg, the reluctance by Jewish business leaders in the South to embrace the activism of their rabbis led many religious leaders to work quietly, but effectively, behind the scenes. He was particularly impressed by the work of Rabbi Irving Bloom, who served the Springhill Avenue Temple in Mobile, Ala. from 1960 to 1973. Bloom, like so many rabbis of the time, successfully worked in Southern Jewish communities characterized by what one commentator called an “almost possible” and “almost impossible” racial climate. Levenberg said of Bloom during the scholar-in-residence program, “He was a convener. He was somebody who built relationships and worked to use those relationships to make a difference in Mobile.” Levenberg did his research over a three-year Rabbi Irving Bloom in Mobile was an effective In Nashville, Rabbi William Silverman behind-the-scenes civil rights advocate. was an activist who carried a gun program in Leadership for his personal protection. and Change at Oberlin College in Ohio. He was impressed by how his congregants see would be next. ers. And they did. But they hired them what occurred during the civil rights era Silverman answered the threats to work in the back rooms, never on the against the synagogue with a sermon the main floor,” Levenberg said during his as a reflection of much of what is happening today. following Friday night that was defiantly presentation. “I have been receiving recurring titled “We Will Not Yield.” But he was The activist rabbis in the South were also made a deputy sheriff and carried a not always successful in convincing their comments after my presentation from people who come up to me and say, gun with him wherever he went. congregations to follow their lead. He organized interfaith clergy and A prime example was Rabbi Burton it’s interesting, the vocabulary may participated at sit-ins and civil rights Padoll, who led the Kahal Kodesh Beth have changed and the times may have training sessions at Fisk University, Elohim congregation in Charleston, S.C., changed, but these are some of the exNashville’s historically black college. beginning in 1961. He continually exhort- act same issues we’re dealing with right To the synagogue’s members who ed his congregation to accept responsi- now.” ì
