obituaries

Obituaries from page 88

Top Cop

R

euben Greenberg, the Jewish,
African American former police
chief of Charleston, S.C., died
Sept. 24, 2014. He was 71.
Chief Greenberg's funeral at Synagogue
Emanu-El in nearby West Ashley, S.C., was
attended by hundreds of family, friends
and admirers.
Greenberg served Charleston for 23
years, revolutionizing police-community
relations and cutting the crime rate. His
success gained him national fame and a
highly viewed segment on the CBS news-
magazine 60 Minutes.
In a portrait of Greenberg in the July
18, 1986, Detroit Jewish News, former JN
Editor Phil Jacobs posed the question,
"What's it like to be Jewish, black and the
law in a Southern city?
Here's how the JN described Greenberg
28 years ago:
In his four years as chief, crime dropped
a dramatic 21 percent. Criminals with
prior records who are out on the streets
are watched closely by his police depart-
ment. Officers often walk the beat in more
comfortable sneakers than spitpolished
black shoes. Greenberg himself is well

known for his swashbuckling style and
contempt for the repeat offender. And he's
not above putting on a pair of roller skates
and directing traffic.
On 60 Minutes, reporter Morley Safer
asked him, "What's a nice
Jewish boy like you doing in a
place like this?" The exposure
was so overwhelming that
Greenberg's office received
hundreds of letters of approval
from citizens and police
departments all over the world.
Interestingly, several of the
letters targeted the chief's reli-
gious choice. He received more
than his share of Christian
tracts and requests to recon-
sider his conversion.
On a Friday night, he would attend ser-
vices at a packed Synagogue Emanu-El.
And after the finale of "Adon Alom," he'd
share in the joy of a bar mitzvah boy's oneg
Shabbat, surrounded by other congregants
in conversation. At Emanu-el, Greenberg
was a fixture. Indeed, he's a cochairman of
the adult education committee and is on the
shul's board of trustees.

"I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT NEVER
IN MY WILDEST DREAMS DID I
EXPECT TO BE REVIEWING WEB
STATS FROM MY FATHER'S
FUNERAL. HAVING SAID THAT,
IT IS GRATIFYING TO SEE THE
INTEREST FROM SO MANY
STATES AND COUNTRIES."

WE APPRECIATE THE FEEDBACK WE
RECEIVE FROM THE FAMILIES WE SERVE.

THE IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL

Bringing Together Family, Faith & Community

18325 W. 9 Mile Rd Southfield, MI 48075 • 248.569.0020 • I raKaufman.com

90 October 2 • 2014

Obituaries

For Greenberg, then 40, life was a dou-
ble conversion. He wasn't always Jewish,
and he wasn't always a cop. His grandfa-
ther, a Jewish Russian immigrant, mar-
ried a black woman. While growing up in
Houston's ghettos, Greenberg
rarely learned about his
Jewish ancestry. And it wasn't
until he was 26-years old that
he converted.
He became interested in
Judaism as an offshoot of
his participation in the Civil
Rights Movement. And he
noticed that during the 1960s,
many of the white move-
ment's participants were
Jews, especially in the San
Francisco area where he lived.
Because many civil rights meetings were
held in synagogues and involved rabbis,
Greenberg started asking questions and
doing his own religious research.
"I converted to Reform in San
Francisco:' Greenberg told the JN. "I had
always had some interest, but it wasn't
really religious contact but secular con-
tacts that led to the religious part of it.

When I was growing up in Houston, a
black couldn't eat in restaurants owned by
Jews, so one would assume you couldn't go
to the synagogues as well.
"But I was interested in Judaism's philo-
sophical approach and its questioning
nature he added. "I mean, I remember
people in the civil rights movement ques-
tioning and arguing with rabbis. That
amazed me because that never would have
happened in the Baptist Church. That kind
of independence of mind is not fostered by
a lot of religions in the world:"
Greenberg's wife is Baptist. Sarah
respected his religious choice and even
participated with him to a degree by join-
ing Hadassah and attending services once
in a while.
It was the civil rights marches of the 60s
that also led Greenberg to an interest in
law enforcement. He said he started to talk
to many of the police officers on the other
side of the marches and found out that
they were regular family men just doing
their jobs. It was their job that interested
him.
Greenberg is survived by Sarah, his wife
of 33 years.

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