He was a Founding Executive Committee Member of the Dayton Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Together with his widowed mother Lena and three brothers, he immigrated as a child, arriving on 31 May 1882[6] in New York City in the United States.
Later he was assistant to his father at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas from 1937 to 1940, before becoming the rabbi of B'nai Zion Congregation in Shreveport, Louisiana.
A growing industrial city, Dallas attracted both black and white migrants from rural areas, as well as European immigrants, making for a volatile social mix.
He appealed to civic spirit by telling how the KKK's hostility to newcomers and violent incidents would work against the city's reputation and growth.