Six

20TH-CENTURY CLERGY

A native of Stockholm, Sweden, Rabbi Emil W. Leipziger (1877–1963) was a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and Hebrew Union College. Before coming to Touro Synagogue in New Orleans, he served at a congregation in Terre Haute, Indiana. He served Touro Synagogue for 34 years, and was known for his contributions to Jewish and community life, particularly in the fields of social service and philanthropy. He was one of the founders of the Community Chest of New Orleans (he presiding over the first meeting in 1924), for which he was awarded the Times-Picayune Loving Cup in 1925.

Congregation Gates of Prayer was founded in 1850 in Lafayette City, then a suburb of New Orleans. Its first rabbi was Maurice Eisenberg, who served from 1885 to 1892, followed by Rabbi Morris Sessler, who served from 1892 to 1904. These early rabbis were followed by Moise Bergman (1887–1948), pictured at left, a graduate of Hebrew Union College and a native of Louisiana. Under his leadership, Gates of Prayer joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1908. When Rabbi Bergman’s wife became ill in 1913, he moved with her to Albuquerque, New Mexico, swapping pulpits with Rabbi Mendel Silber.

A native of Lithuania, Rabbi Mendel Silber (1882–1970) attended Hebrew Union College and was ordained in 1904. He was also a medical doctor, serving as acting dean and professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico. He came to Gates of Prayer congregation in New Orleans in a “rabbi swap” with Moise Bergman. Under Rabbi Silber’s leadership, Gates of Prayer continued is gradual transformation from traditional Orthodox Judaism to the Reform Movement. Gates of Prayer also moved from the Jackson Avenue synagogue to the Napoleon Avenue synagogue, which was dedicated in 1920. Rabbi Silber was one of the editors of The Jewish Ledger and author of Palestine, the Holy Land (1927) and America in Hebrew Literature (1928).

Rabbi Moses Hyman Goldberg (1885–1940) came to New Orleans in 1909 to serve as rabbi at Beth Israel, but left within a year and became rabbi at Chevra Thillum. He served the Orthodox community for over 30 years as its spiritual leader and, just as importantly, the local mohel, who did ritual circumcision.

Rabbi of Temple Sinai for 30 years, Julian B. Feibelman (1897–1890) was a courageous community leader though the difficult years of the Great Depression, World War II, and the civil rights movement. He, with the approval of the temple board, invited United Nations delegate Ralph Bunche to speak at Temple Sinai to the first integrated audience in New Orleans. In the words of then mayor Ernest “Dutch” Morial, “He was a clear and forceful voice for human concerns and human rights long before these became popular movements.” A truly ecumenical man, Rabbi Feibelman established close relationships with other clergy of all religions. His innovative “Operation Understanding,” involving visits between congregations of Christians and Jews, continues to this day.

Camp Henry Jacobs is a household word in the Deep South, but not many of the young Jewish children and teens who enjoy the camp know much about the man for whom it was named. Henry S. Jacobs (1907–1965) was a musician, first and foremost. He was trained by Pietro Yon, organist emeritus of the Vatican, and he played in many churches here in New Orleans before becoming organist and executive director of Temple Sinai. He was an associate of the American Guild of Organists. He served in the Navy in World War II. Henry Jacobs’s dream was to create a camp to fill in the gap for Southern Jewish youth between confirmation and adulthood. A site was found in rural Mississippi, and the camp developed into a living memorial to his vision.

Rabbi Louis Binstock (1896–1976) was born in Hungary, came to the United States as a child, and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. After receiving degrees from the University of Tennessee and the University of Cincinnati, he completed his studies at Hebrew Union College and was ordained a rabbi. Before coming to New Orleans in 1927, he served congregations in Baltimore and Charleston, West Virginia. While he was serving at Temple Sinai, the congregation moved into its new home on St. Charles Avenue. Rabbi Binstock was known as a spellbinding speaker who lectured on books, plays, pictures, and his travels, as well as religion, and filled the temple on Friday nights. After 10 years at Temple Sinai, he left for a pulpit at Temple Shalom in Chicago, which he held for 38 years.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Rabbi Leo A. Bergman (1913–1981) graduated from Case Western Reserve and Hebrew Union College. Before coming to Touro Synagogue in New Orleans, he served congregations in Boston and Rockford, Illinois. Rabbi Bergman was known for his outspokenness at a time of great turmoil in the South. Not only was the civil rights movement dividing neighbors, but also the controversy over whether there should be a Jewish state raised tempers in many congregations. Although it was not popular with his congregation in general, Rabbi Bergman supported the State of Israel’s right to exist.

Rabbi Nathaniel Share (1908–1974) was the leader of Gates of Prayer Congregation for 40 years. Born in Montreal, Canada, he graduated from Hebrew Union College and was ordained in 1932. Before coming to New Orleans, he served two congregations in West Virginia. His first impact on Gates of Prayer was a reorganization of the religious school. He led his congregation through the difficult years of Depression, World War II, and the controversial civil rights movement, and through the happy events of their centennial in 1950. His courage, even in the face of criticism from his own congregation, impressed the community, and his death was greatly mourned.

Rabbi Murray Blackman (1920–2001) served as Temple Sinai’s senior rabbi from 1970 until 1987, when he became rabbi emeritus. His interest in art, especially Jewish art, led to his becoming a master docent at the New Orleans Museum of Art and lecturer on European, Israeli, and American-Jewish artists. After his retirement, he served as interim rabbi worldwide, including such places as New Zealand, Honolulu, Curacao, the Queen Elisabeth II, Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Shreveport, Louisiana.

Before coming to Temple Sinai as their senior rabbi in 1987, Edward Paul Cohn (b. 1948) occupied pulpits in Atlanta, Georgia; Macon, Georgia; Kansas City, Missouri; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Following in the tradition of Rabbi Feibelman, Rabbi Cohn revived Operation Understanding in 2004. Rabbi Cohn has served as the chair of the New Orleans Holocaust Memorial Project, which installed a sculpture by Agam on the riverfront in Woldenberg Park. He is founding chairman of the Human Relations Committee of New Orleans. He serves on many committees both local and national, and teaches at both Dillard University and Notre Dame Seminary. In his honor, members of his congregation have had the magnificent organ in the sanctuary restored, knowing his passion for organ music.

Rabbi David Goldstein (b. 1937) was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio and Hebrew Union College. He was ordained in 1965, after which he served as a chaplain in the United States Navy, retiring with the rank of captain. Before coming to Touro Synagogue in 1978, he served as associate rabbi of Baltimore Hebrew Congregation. Rabbi Goldstein serves on the faculty of Tulane University as adjunct professor of Jewish studies and is published in many scholarly journals. In 1981, 1983, and 1986, he and his wife traveled to the Soviet Union, where they visited with hundreds of Jewish “Refuseniks” and helped to organize secret classes in Jewish studies and music. In 1999, he was the recipient of the Weiss Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

Rabbi Robert H. Loewy (b. 1950 ) is the ninth rabbi to occupy the pulpit at Congregation Gates of Prayer. A native of Hempstead, New York, he is a graduate of Cornell and Hebrew Union College, and was ordained in 1977. He became rabbi of Gates of Prayer in 1984. Among his many leadership roles in New Orleans were the chairmanship of the community relations committee of the Jewish Federation and presidency of the Jewish Day School and the Southwest Association of Reform Rabbis. Rabbi Loewy is a Jewish Chautauqua Society lecturer at Loyola University, and served on the steering committee for the Dillard University Center for Black/Jewish Relations.