Religious Leaders of the Boston-Edison Historic District
Rabbi Morris Adler
Morris Adler, the son of a Rabbi, was born in Russia and came to the United States as a boy in 1913. He served in Buffalo and then in 1938, accepted the pulpit of Shaare Zedek in Detroit. Except for a stint in the US Army in WWII, Adler stayed with Shaare Zedek for the rest of his life. During his tenure, the congregation grew to one of the largest in the world. Adler was a good friend of Walter Reuther, and as a chairman of the Public Review Board of the United Auto Workers. In 1966, Adler was killed during Sabbath service in his synagogue by a mentally ill youth. Morris Adler lived at 2062 Edison.
Rev. Henry Hitt Crane
Henry Hitt Crane was born in Illinois, and completed his theological education in Boston in 1916. He served as a chaplain in WWI, an experience which prompted him to become a pacifist. He had a reputation as an excellent public speaker, and served in a number of large Methodist churches. In 1938, Crane came to Detroit to become minister of the Central Methodist Church, a position which he held for twenty years. In addition to his pacifism, Crane was a leading supporter of racial equality, civil liberties, and workers' rights. Henry Hitt Crane lived at 671 Edison.
Read a dissertation on Rev. Henry Hitt Crane.
Rabbi Leo M. Franklin
Leo M. Franklin was born in 1870 and ordained in 1892 by the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. He served as rabbi of Congregation Temple Israel from 1892-1899, where he gained a reputation as an eloquent and idealistic preacher. In 1899, he began his career as Rabbi of Temple Beth El, a post he held until 1941. Temple Beth El was Michigan's first Jewish congregation, founded in 1850, and Franklin was the eleventh rabbi to serve. Franklin, however, set out to revitalize Judaism in his congregation. He is credited with inspiring congregational participation and turning the small Temple into a thriving organization. He organized the children's choir, the children's Sabbath morning service, Bible classes for young people, a Women's Auxiliary, a Young People's Society, and the publication of a regular Temple Bulletin.
Rabbi Franklin's activities were not confined to the pulpit. He was the Jewish Ambassador to the community. He oversaw the organization of United Jewish Charities, Detroit's first umbrella philanthropic group. His philosophy was a reflection of the classic goals of classical Reform Judaism: to integrate Jews into the American Community, so that they might be considered as Americans who believe in and practice the Jewish Faith. He was a good friend of his neighbor Henry Ford, who earlier in life had been anti-Semitic, and greatly influenced Ford's thinking.
Rabbi Leo M. Franklin lived at 26 Edison.
Read more on Rabbi Leo M. Franklin from Temple Beth El.