Who is David Lefkowitz?
David Lefkowitz (April 11, 1875 – June 5, 1955) was a rabbi who led Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, Texas from 1920 to 1949, after having worked at Temple Israel in Dayton, Ohio. He opposed the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, which had been revived in 1915; it was strongly opposed to immigrants from eastern and southern Europe who were Jews and Catholics. He was a Founding Executive Committee Member of the Dayton Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He and his wife Sadie Braham (July 21, 1879 – February 21, 1955) bequeathed their collection to the Perkins School of Theology, which houses the "Sadie and David Lefkowitz Collection of Judaica". Sadie Lefkowitz was also active in the National Association of Temple Sisterhoods. A Mason, Rabbi Lefkowitz continued to attend meetings knowing that Klansmen were present. He discussed incidents of violence to convince other members that the Klan was inhibiting progress of their booming city.
