Columnist Drew Pearson charged in a radio newscast last night that Congressmen are investigating the loyalty of Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver.
“Congressmen hunting for Communists in the clergy have gone so far as to investigate the loyalty of two of the three ministers who offered prayers at President Eisenhower’s inauguration,” Mr. Pearson said. “They are Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill, Episcopalian, and Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, of Cleveland, both distinguished Americans, loyal to their God and their conutry.”
“However,” continued Mr. Pearson, “suspicious Congressmen discovered that Bishop Sherrill many years ago sponsored the American-Soviet Friendship Council and Rabbi Silver had signed one of the early petitions on behalf of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.” Mr. Pearson pointed out that “actually, both ministers have been leaders in the fight against Communism.”
(Reached by the JTA at his home in Cleveland, Rabbi Silver said that his stand on the Rosenberg case is well known and was published in the press. He stated that he accepts the judgment of the Rosenberg’s guilt, but thinks that the death sentence is too severe a punishment in peace time.)
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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.
