In 1958, he became rabbi of Temple Emanuel in Greensboro, North Carolina. On February 1, 1960, the Greensboro sit-ins began, an effort to desegregate the lunch counter at the local Woolworth's store. He was one of only two local white clergymen who collaborated with black community leaders and black clergymen in support of racial tolerance and desegregation, including the sit-ins. This sit-in movement spread throughout the southern states, leading in many communities to progress toward desegregation, and increasing political pressure on the federal government. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made segregation of public accommodations illegal. As a rabbi in the deep South, he did not hesitate to speak out against racial discrimination in the workplace, even when the employers were Jewish.