Religion
Leo M. Franklin
1870–1948 · Reform rabbi of Temple Beth El
Rabbi of Temple Beth El from 1899 to 1941 who built Detroit's leading Reform congregation and two Albert Kahn temples on Woodward Avenue.
- Born
Cambridge City, Indiana- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 78- Birth name
- Leo Morris Franklin
- Also known as
- Rabbi Leo Franklin
- Detroit years
- 1899–1948
- Field
- Religion
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Leo Morris Franklin, an Indiana-born graduate of Hebrew Union College, was serving in Omaha when a guest sermon in Detroit in 1898 won him an invitation from Temple Beth El, the city's oldest Jewish congregation. He preached his first sermon there in January 1899 and led the congregation for 42 years. Franklin organized the United Jewish Charities, founded the temple's sisterhood and edited the Jewish American, Detroit's first English-language Jewish weekly. Believing Judaism belonged on the city's Piety Row, he moved the congregation to a new temple on Woodward Avenue in 1903, designed with the help of his young congregant Albert Kahn, and in 1922 to a grander Kahn building farther north at Woodward and Gladstone. He was a leading voice in interfaith work and against antisemitism, including Henry Ford's campaign in the Dearborn Independent. He retired as rabbi emeritus in 1941 and died in Detroit in 1948. Both of his Woodward temples survive, one as Wayne State University's Bonstelle Theatre.
Highlights
- Rabbi of Temple Beth El, Detroit, 1899–1941
- Moved the congregation into Albert Kahn-designed temples in 1903 and 1922
- Founded the United Jewish Charities of Detroit
- Edited the Jewish American, Detroit's first English-Jewish weekly
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1903–1922
Bonstelle Theatre (former Temple Beth El)
Temple Beth El's 1902–1903 building by Albert Kahn, where Franklin preached for two decades; converted to a theater in the 1920s, it is now Wayne State University's Bonstelle Theatre.
Worked here · 1922–1941
Former Temple Beth El, Woodward and Gladstone
The congregation's 1922 Albert Kahn temple, Franklin's pulpit until his retirement; today the Bethel Community Transformation Center.