Solomon Frank
{{Short description|American-Canadian Orthodox rabbi and speaker}}
{{about|the American–Canadian rabbi|the German poet|Salomon Franck}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox Jewish leader
| honorific-prefix = Rabbi Dr.
| name = Solomon Frank
| title =
| image =
| caption =
| synagogue = Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, Winnipeg
| synagogueposition = Rabbinical leader
| yeshiva =
| yeshivaposition =
| organisation =
| organisationposition =
| began = 1926
| ended = 1947
| main_work =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| rabbi =
| rebbe =
| kohan =
| hazzan =
| rank =
| other_post = Spiritual leader, Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1900|01|05}}
| birth_place = New York City, US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|10|21|1900|01|05}}
| death_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| yahrtzeit =
| buried =
| burial_place = Mount Royal Cemetery, Outremont, Quebec
| nationality =
| denomination = Orthodox Judaism
| residence =
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| father =
| mother =
| spouse = Elsie Frank
| children = 1
| occupation =
| profession =
| alma_mater = B.Sc., University of Buffalo, 1922
LL.B., University of Buffalo, 1923
M.A., University of Manitoba
PhD, University of Manitoba
| semicha = at Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio
| signature =
}}
Solomon Frank (January 5, 1900{{spnd}}October 21, 1982) was an American–Canadian Orthodox rabbi, speaker, and civic and community leader. He served as rabbinic leader of Shaarey Zedek Synagogue of Winnipeg, Canada, from 1926 to 1947, and spiritual leader of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal from 1947 until his death. Active in interfaith affairs, he was also a chaplain for Jewish and Christian organizations and hospitals. In Montreal, he broadcast a weekly radio message on Jewish thought and practice for more than 25 years.
Early life and education
Solomon Frank was born on January 5, 1900, in New York City, the only child of Abraham and Gerta Frank.{{sfn|Stingel|2000|p=205}}{{sfn|Gottesman|1965|p=98}} At age 4, he moved with his parents to Buffalo, New York, where he attended public schools. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University at Buffalo in 1922 and a Bachelor of Laws from the same institution in 1923.{{sfn|Stingel|2000|p=205}}{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54346575/obituary-for-rabbi-frank-aged-82/|title=Rabbi Frank dies of brain tumor|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=October 22, 1982|page=45|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} He received his rabbinic ordination at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio. He later earned a master's degree and PhD at the University of Manitoba.
Career
=New York=
From 1922 to 1924, Frank served as associate rabbi of Temple Beth Zion in Buffalo.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54351423/the-winnipeg-tribune/|title=Prominent Churchmen|newspaper=The Winnipeg Tribune|date=December 28, 1929|page=14|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} Originally his duties involved teaching high school classes in the temple's religious education division and giving adult lectures.{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54377221/buffalo-morning-express-and-illustrated/|title=At Temple Beth Zion|newspaper=Buffalo Morning Express|date=February 24, 1922|page=4|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54352704/buffalo-jewish-review/|title=Lecture Series by Solomon Frank|newspaper=Buffalo Jewish Review|date=February 24, 1922|page=22|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} However, due to the illness of the main rabbi, he was called upon to lead the synagogue services.{{cite web |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54353066/buffalo-courier/|title=Preacher-Lawyer Serves Temple in Rabbi's Absence|newspaper=Buffalo Courier|date=May 25, 1924|page=103| via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} He discussed some of the ideas he lectured about—Zionism, the situation in Mandatory Palestine, the success of the League of Women Voters, and evolution—in a local newspaper interview in 1924. He delivered a eulogy for President Woodrow Wilson in the synagogue in February 1924.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54377147/buffalo-courier/ |title=Hold Services to Honor Memory of Solomon Rosenau|newspaper=Buffalo Courier|date=February 9, 1924|page=12|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} From 1925 to 1926, Frank served as rabbi of Temple Beth David in the same city.
=Winnipeg=
In 1926, Frank was appointed rabbinical leader of Shaarey Zedek Synagogue in Winnipeg, Canada. According to the Manitoba Historical Society, Frank applied his training from his Reform rabbinical seminary to oversee "the gradual liberalization of synagogue practice at Shaarey Zedek without initiating any radical breaks with tradition".{{cite web |url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/76/movingsouth.shtml|title=Manitoba History: Moving South: The Other Jewish Winnipeg Before the Second World War|first=Daniel|last=Stone|date=Fall 2014|publisher=Manitoba Historical Society|accessdate=June 29, 2020}} Frank was the first rabbi of an Orthodox synagogue in Western Canada to deliver his sermons in English rather than Yiddish. In 1929, Shaarey Zedek changed its ideology from Orthodox to Conservative, and introduced more English to the services a number of years after that.
In addition to his rabbinical duties, Frank was very active in community affairs. He served as president of the Winnipeg lodge of B'nai Brith, president of the League of Nations Society, vice-president of the United Nations Society, and executive director of the Winnipeg Joint Public Relations Committee.{{sfn|Stingel|2000|p=45}} He assisted in the founding of the first Winnipeg chapter of the Canadian Legion. During World War II, he was a part-time chaplain with the Canadian army{{sfn|Gottesman|1965|p=98}} and visited a Canadian field hospital in Europe.{{sfn|Segal|2010|p=15}} He was also a chaplain of the Canadian Club of Winnipeg, the Jewish Scouts and Guides, and Mount Sinai Lodge, president of the 9th Manitoba Provincial Command, Boy Scouts Association, and Grand Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias.
In 1939, Frank and his wife were among the 105 prominent Canadian personages invited to a royal luncheon at Government House to welcome the King and Queen.{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54377423/the-winnipeg-tribune/|title=105 Will Attend Royal Luncheon|newspaper=The Winnipeg Tribune|date=May 23, 1939|page=1|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54377484/the-winnipeg-tribune/|title=Royal Luncheon, continued|newspaper=The Winnipeg Tribune|date=May 23, 1939|page=4|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}
Frank was a popular speaker for both community and civic groups.{{sfn|Gottesman|1965|p=98}} He was also active in interfaith affairs.{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54355778/the-gazette/|title=New Rabbi Here|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=August 23, 1947|page=20| via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} In 1935, he delivered a sermon at a "joint service of worship and thanksgiving" at the city's Knox Church upon the silver jubilee of King George V.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54376604/the-winnipeg-tribune/|title=Joint Service to be Held at Knox Church|newspaper=The Winnipeg Tribune|date=May 4, 1935|page=24|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} In 1940, he joined a symposium with Catholic and Protestant clerics to discuss "Common Ground".{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54376742/the-winnipeg-tribune/|title=3 Clerics Discuss Common Heritage|newspaper=The Winnipeg Tribune|date=November 26, 1940|page=7| via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} He shared the podium with Dr. E. Crossley Hunter, pastor at Knox Church and chairman of the Canadian Conference of Christians and Jews, at Fellowship Day of the Young Men's Hebrew Association in March 1942.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54376667/the-winnipeg-tribune/|title=Y.M.H.A. Marks Anniversary|newspaper=The Winnipeg Tribune|date=March 7, 1942|page=27| via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}
=Montreal=
In 1947, Frank moved to Montreal to become spiritual leader of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal.{{cite journal |title=Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue (Shearith Israel) Montreal, 1768—1968|first1=Esther I.|last1=Blaustein|first2=Rachel A.|last2=Esar|first3=Evelyn|last3=Miller|journal=Transactions & Miscellanies|publisher= Jewish Historical Society of England |volume=23|pages=128–9|year=1969–1970|jstor= 29778791}} Under his leadership, daily morning and evening services were reinstated in 1949 along with the Shabbat morning Kiddush. From 1949 onwards, membership increased and overflow services were required on the High Holy Days in two additional locations. Frank was one of the officiators at a synagogue memorial service for King George VI on the day of his funeral, February 15, 1952.{{sfn|Shuchat|2000|p=189}}
In Montreal, too, Frank involved himself in civic and community affairs. He was a member of B'nai Brith and the Montreal Rotary Club, and served as a deputy chaplain at the Masonic Grand Lodge of Quebec.{{cite web |url=https://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/rabbi-bright-is-quebec-masons-first-jewish-grand-chaplain|title=Rabbi Bright is Quebec Masons' First Jewish Grand Chaplain|first=Janice|last=Arnold|date=May 31, 2019|accessdate=June 30, 2020|work=Canadian Jewish News}} He performed chaplaincy services for the Jewish General Hospital, Verdun General Hospital, Queen Mary Veterans' Hospital, St. Anne's Veterans' Hospital, Montreal Children's Hospital, the Archambault penitentiary, and the Bordeaux jail. In 1948, he was one of the founders of the Cercle juif de lange française, a lecture and publishing society within the Canadian Jewish Congress.{{sfn|Langlais|Rome|2010|p=140}}
In spring 1962, Frank visited Jerusalem and after his return spoke about the religious and historical implications of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls before a meeting of the St. James Literary Society.{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54377053/the-gazette/|title=New Light Cast On History By Long-Lost Manuscripts|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=December 1, 1962|page=15|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}
Frank delivered a popular Sunday-morning radio message on CJAD radio in which he explained aspects of Jewish thought and practice. The program was followed by Jews and Christians alike for a quarter of a century.{{sfn|Shuchat|2000|p=339}}
Awards and honors
In 1936, Frank received the Tau Delta Phi medal from the Omega chapter of the University of Manitoba for his intercultural and interfaith work. In 1962, he was presented with the B'nai Brith Community Service Award for "outstanding contribution to life in Montreal".{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54354313/the-gazette/|title=Honored|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=December 8, 1962|page=34|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} In 1968, he was awarded the Canada Centennial Medal.{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L07jAAAAMAAJ&q=frank|title=Personalities in the News|journal=The American Sephardi|volume=2|issue=1|year=1968|publisher=Sephardic Studies Program, Yeshiva University|page=43}}
Personal life
Frank and his wife, Elsie, had one daughter.
Frank died of a brain tumor on October 21, 1982, aged 82. He was buried in the Spanish and Portuguese Section of the Mount Royal Cemetery in Outremont, Quebec.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54348279/the-gazette/|title=Unveiling: Dr. Solomon Frank|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=September 30, 1983|page=22|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}
Legacy
Upon Frank's death, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal established a memorial fund in his memory. A book of essays, which the editors intended to present to Frank on the occasion of his eightieth birthday,{{sfn|Joseph|Lightstone|Oppenheim|1983|p=iv}} was instead published as a memorial volume for the occasion of the unveiling of his gravestone on October 2, 1983.
Bibliography
- Frank, Solomon (1968). Two Centuries in the Life of a Synagogue. Montreal: Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue.
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSskAQAAIAAJ&q=rabbi+solomon+frank+canadian+jewish+congress|title=Who's Who in Canadian Jewry|first=Eli|last=Gottesman|year=1965|publisher= Jewish Institute of Higher Research}}
- {{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BVM9DgAAQBAJ&pg=PR5|title= Truth and Compassion: Essays on Judaism and Religion in Memory of Rabbi Dr. Solomon Frank|editor-first=Howard|editor-last=Joseph|editor2-first=Jack N. |editor2-last=Lightstone|editor3-first=Michael |editor3-last=Oppenheim|year=1983|publisher= Wilfrid Laurier University Press|isbn= 978-0-889-20143-9}}
- {{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=V9PfAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA140|title=Jews and French Quebecers: Two Hundred Years of Shared History|first1= Jacques|last1= Langlais|first2=David |last2=Rome|year=2010|publisher= Wilfrid Laurier University Press|isbn= 9781554587261}}
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4fSgGCYsIYC&pg=PT15|title=The Long Road Back: Creating Canada's New Conservative Party|first=Hugh|last=Segal|authorlink=Hugh Segal|year=2010|publisher=HarperCollins Canada|isbn=978-1-554-68948-4}}
- {{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9mIBBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA189 |title= Gate of Heaven: The Story of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Montreal, 1846-1996|first=Wilfred|last=Shuchat|authorlink=Wilfred Shuchat|year=2000|publisher= McGill-Queen's Press |isbn= 978-0-773-56866-2}}
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RqEg6BLilUC&pg=PA205|title=Social Discredit: Anti-Semitism, Social Credit, and the Jewish Response|first=Janine|last=Stingel|year=2000|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|isbn=978-0-773-52010-3}}
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Category:Canadian Orthodox rabbis
Category:Canadian Conservative rabbis
Category:University at Buffalo alumni
Category:University of Manitoba alumni
Category:Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion alumni
Category:Orthodox rabbis from New York City
Category:People from Buffalo, New York
Category:Burials at Mount Royal Cemetery
Category:Canadian talk radio hosts
Category:Canadian military chaplains
Category:Deaths from cancer in Quebec
Category:Neurological disease deaths in Quebec
Category:Deaths from brain cancer in Canada