David Lefkowitz (rabbi)

Rabbi David Lefkowitz (April 11, 1875 – June 5, 1955), an historic Texan rabbi, became Temple Emanu-El (Dallas, Texas)'s rabbi in 1920. He was rabbi until 1949, when he was replaced by Rabbi Levi Olan.[1] He took a firm stance against the Ku Klux Klan. [2]. The Perkins School of Theology houses the "Sadie and David Lefkowitz Collection of Judaica".[3] Sadie Lefkowitz was active in the National Association of Temple Sisterhoods.[4] Rabbi Lefkowitz was a mason and would attend meetings in attempts to convince fellow masons that the KKK was destructive.[5]

Texas A&M Hillel, the oldest Hillel Foundation organization in the United States,^[1] was founded in 1920, three years before the national Hillel Foundation was organized at University of Illinois. Texas A&M Hillel began as the "TAMC Menorah Club" and was organized in 1916 by Dr. Jacob Joseph Taubenhaus (the chief of plant pathology and physiology at the Agricultural and Mechinical College in College Station, later Texas A&M), and his wife Esther Taubenhaus. In 1920, the group was transformed into the "TAMC Hillel Club" with assistance from Rabbi David Lefkowitz of Dallas.^[1][2][3]

The Handbook of Texas states that, "The formal preservation of the history of Texas Jewry goes back to Rabbi Henry Cohen of Galveston and Rabbi David Lefkowitz of Dallas, who set out to interview as many early settlers and their families as possible. They produced a historical account for the Texas Centennial in 1936."^[4]

See also

• History of the Jews in Brazos County, Texas
• History of the Jews in Dallas, Texas

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Texas A&M Hillel History Texas A&M Hillel Retrieved on 2008-07-09
2. ^ From Christian Science to Jewish Science: Spiritual Healing and American Jews Oxford University Press page 160
3. ^ Gabrielle Birkner (2005-05-06). "A Cushy Fit In Bush Country". The Jewish Week. http://www.jewishweek.org/news/newscontent.php3?artid=10860. Retrieved 2007-12-30. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Jimmy Kessler (2008-01-17). "JEWS". Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/JJ/pxj1.html. Retrieved 2009-01-15. 

Persondata
Name	Lefkowitz, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1875-04-11
Place of birth
Date of death	1955-06-05
Place of death