Leo Morris Franklin (March 5, 1870 – August 8, 1948)[1] was an influential Reform rabbi from Detroit, who headed Temple Beth El from 1899 to 1941.

[2] He immediately began advocating changes to strengthen Reform Judaism in his congregation, suggesting the adoption of the Union Prayer Book and the ritual endorsed by the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

[2] Due to his ministrations and other activities, including contributions to various periodicals, Franklin garnered a reputation as one of the more promising young Reform ministers.

His speech was received with such approval that Detroit's Temple Beth El immediately invited him to serve as their rabbi, replacing the recently departed Dr. Louis Grossmann.

Franklin pondered the matter, and, sensing a greater opportunity in Detroit, accepted Temple Beth El's offer.

[3] In 1901, Franklin organized the Woman's Auxiliary Association (later the Sisterhood of Temple Beth El), and assumed editorship of the Jewish American, Detroit's first English-Jewish weekly.

[3] Franklin thought a new temple on Detroit's "Piety Row" along Woodward would serve the congregation by increasing the visibility of the Jewish faith.

In addition to Ruth, born in Omaha, Hattie Franklin gave birth to another daughter, Margaret, and a son, Leo.

He reached out to Orthodox and Conservative congregations, instituted an interdenominational community Thanksgiving service, and spoke often at church groups to attempt to bridge the gap between Jews and non-Jews.

[5] However, in 1920, Ford began publishing a series of anti-Semitic "International Jew" articles in his paper, The Dearborn Independent.

Franklin believed Ford was, at heart, a good man and an ally; he wrote: "Such venom could only some from a Jew-hater of the lowest type, and here it was appearing in a newspaper owned and controlled by one whom the Jews had counted among their friends.

[5] When the Independent continued to publish anti-Semitic articles, Franklin returned his latest customized Model T, with a letter of protest to Ford.

That day came much later: in 1927, Ford endured a libel trial over the Independent that caused him to close the paper and issue a public apology.

Smarting from the fallout over his acceptance of a Grand Cross of the German Eagle from Nazi Germany, Ford asked Franklin to disseminate the message that he wished to hire displaced European Jews.

Franklin worked with Ford to craft a message decrying the treatment of Jews and delivered the missive to Detroit's newspapers.

[6] Meanwhile, in the early 1920s, Beth El was outgrowing the temple that had been constructed in 1902; the congregation had grown and many had moved north into neighborhoods such as Boston-Edison (where Franklin himself lived).

Franklin also wrote and published multiple books, including The Rabbi, the Man and His Message; The Road to Understanding Between Christian and Jew; and An Outline History of Congregation Beth El, Detroit, Michigan.