Funeral services for the Rev. Dr. Joseph Silverman, for 34 years rabbi of Temple Emanu-El and rabbi-emeritus since 1922, who died Saturday afternoon, will be held at ten o’clock this morning at Temple Emanu-El. He would have been 70 in August. The eulogy will be delivered by the Rev. Dr. Stephen S. Wise, rabbi of the Free Synagogue. Burial will be in the family plot at Salem Fields Cemetery, Long Island. All the trustees of Temple Emanu-El have been invited to serve as honorary pall-bearers.
Rabbi Silverman, the second prominent New York rabbi to pass away in recent weeks, Rabbi Maurice Harris having been the first, was the youngest man to be selected as rabbi of one of the country’s most important congregations. He was 29 years old when he came to New York from Texas as assistant rabbi at Temple Emanu-El, then at Fifth Avenue and 43rd street. Rabbi Silverman was named rabbi of the congregation in 1903 at the age of 43 when Dr. Gustav Gottheil died.
Rabbi Silverman was born in Cincinnati where he obtained his rabbinical and secular education. In 1884, the year of his ordination, he became rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in Dallas. After one year of work in Texas he had established a circuit to bring the Jews of the state into closer touch with each other. Later he was called to Temple Israel in Galveston where he remained until he came to New York in 1888.
The Jewry of New York found in Rabbi Silverman a tireless worker. He became one of the outstanding leaders in the organization of charitable groups, community centers, and social welfare bodies which were so much needed then to take care of the wave of Jewish immigration that completely changed the complexion of the New York Jewish community in less than a generation. When he became rabbi of Temple Emanu-El 27 years ago he was the fourth spiritual leader of this famous congregation. He continued as the active head until 1922 when he resigned to devote himself to communal and literary endeavors. The congregation then elected him rabbi-emeritus for life.
When the old Temple Emanu-El gave way to a skyscraper Rabbi Silverman felt a personal loss for in this famous house of worship he had confirmed, married and buried a generation of New York’s leading Jews. Every member of the congregation was known to him by name.
ESPOUSED ZIONIST CAUSE
One of the most prominent rabbis in America, Rabbi Silverman was also known as a writer, speaker, social worker and scholar. Although a reform rabbi he did not hesitate to be an outspoken advocate of Zionism. At a time when most of the reform rabbis in America were holding aloof from Zionism he had the vision to espouse it.
Two years ago he was the guest of honor at a distinguished gathering of reform and orthodox rabbis, members of his congregation, Christian ministers and many prominent Jews of New York who came to Temple Emanu-El to do him honor on the occasion of his 40th anniversary in the rabbinate. Rabbi Silverman had been president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and honorary president of the Association of Reform Rabbis and of the New York Board of Jewish Ministers.
An impressive figure in the pulpit his eloquence made his addresses real gems. Known for his courage he scathingly attacked political corruption, opposed woman suffrage and fought against anarchism and Bolshevism. He was the author of several works on reform Judaism, textbooks and newspaper articles as well as a consulting editor of the Jewish Encyclopedia.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
