Clergymen in Virginia today rose to the defense of Rabbi Emmet A. Frank of Alexandria’s Temple Beth El who was attacked by segregationists for championing school integration in a Yom Kippur sermon.
The clergymen, who declared they were not concerned with what Rabbi Frank said but with his right to say it, included eleven Protestant ministers in Alexandria, and a Fairfax County Unitarian Minister.
The eleven Virginia Christian ministers voiced “strong disagreement” with the attack on Rabbi Frank. They said “church and temple, minister and rabbi must endeavor to speak to the deepest needs of people. ” The Rev. E.H. Sommerfeld of Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church in Virginia said segregationists “held the big stick of anti-Semitism over the rabbi. “
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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.
