WBZ Radio broadcast of The New England Jewish Hour featuring short Reform worship service at Temple Israel with sermon by Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn: “The Longest War in History”, December 15, 1956. Wyner Archives of Temple Israel of Boston.

TI-AV_90084-003

Item Information

Title:
WBZ Radio broadcast of The New England Jewish Hour featuring short Reform worship service at Temple Israel with sermon by Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn: “The Longest War in History”, December 15, 1956. Wyner Archives of Temple Israel of Boston.
Description:
In this partial Sabbath evening radio service with sermon, Rabbi Gittelsohn asserts that the American Civil War, begun in 1865, is still raging in the South, where states’ rights and equality between Blacks and whites have yet to be resolved. He lists four actions that white southerners must take to improve the situation, citing facts and examples related to education, the impact of boycotts, and religious hypocrisy: desegregate; stop grudging behavior towards Blacks, improve economic opportunities for all, and face their moral dilemma. Gittelsohn argues that if the South remains intransigent, it will risk economic collapse and moral ruin. This recording was part of a radio program series, The New England Jewish Hour, that was produced in collaboration with WBZ and broadcast on Saturday evenings. Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox rabbis conducted short services and preached in rotation; every third Saturday the program, with choral music by Temple Israel Choir, Herbert Fromm, conductor, was recorded at Temple Israel.
Speaker:
Gittelsohn, Roland Bertram, 1910-1995
Musical director:
Fromm, Herbert
Composer:
Fromm, Herbert
Creator:
Congregation Adath Israel (Boston, Mass.)
Date:
December 15, 1956
Format:
Audio recordings (nonmusical)
Location:
Temple Israel of Boston
Wyner Archives
Collection (local):
Past Voices, Audio Recordings, 1934-1979
Subjects:
Reform Judaism--United States
Synagogue music--Sabbath services--United States
Religious broadcasting
Radio sermons
Race discrimination--United States--History--20th century
Southern States--Race relations--History--20th century
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Places:
Massachusetts > Suffolk (county) > Boston
Extent:
1/4" open reel tape (29 min., 35 sec.)
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/w6636t42v
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
This work is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives License (CC BY-ND).
CC BY-ND icon
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
WBZ Radio broadcast of The New England Jewish Hour featuring short Reform worship service at Temple Israel with sermon by Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn: “The Longest War in History”, December 15, 1956. Audiovisual Collection, Wyner Archives of Temple Israel of Boston.
Notes (funding):
This project was supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Notes (historical):
Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn (1910-1995), social justice activist, Zionist, and writer, was Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel from 1953-1977 and Rabbi Emeritus thereafter. He served as founding rabbi of Central Synagogue in Rockville Center, NY from 1936-1953. During WWII, he became the first Jewish Marine Corps chaplain, and, in 1945, he delivered a moving, oft-quoted eulogy on brotherhood at Iwo Jima. After his retirement he was a co-founder of ARZA (the Association of Reform Zionists).
Herbert Fromm (1905-1995), Temple Israel’s organist and Music Director (1941-1973), was a German-born conductor and composer forced to leave Germany in 1937. A prolific composer of religious music, much of which became part of the standard synagogue repertoire, and secular works, he also published many articles and essays and several books.
Identifier:
TI-AV_90084.003