Jewish Jacksonville

 

Prior to the 1930s, the Jewish community of Jacksonville represented Florida’s largest and most significant Jewish population. Yet, in spite of its former preeminence, the story of this community is still little known, and the rich history of Jewish Jacksonville is just beginning to unfold.

In celebration of Jewish American Heritage month, Jewish Jacksonville features special materials held in the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica and the University of Florida. These materials provide a snapshot of Jewish life in Jacksonville from the late 19th century to the end of the 20th century. Highlighted here are elements of Jewish family, communal and institutional life, as well as some of the ways in which Jewish people have impacted the development and structure of Jacksonville itself.

Among the exhibited items are unique manuscripts from the recently donated Safer family archives, a special Torah scroll from the former Beth Shalom synagogue, in addition to previously unseen and un-cataloged Temple bulletins, yearbooks and newsletters held only in the Price Library.

 

 

CREDITS

 
All About Us 1954 Census
All About Us
Heirs of a Proud Tradition
Heirs of a Proud Tradition
Jacksonville Jewish Year Book
Jacksonville Jewish Yearbook
The Southern Jewish Weekly
Southern Jewish Weekly
Jewish Jacksonville >> Places

People and Places

Cohen Brothers: “The Big Store”

In 1901 the Cohen Brothers Dry Goods Store was lost in the Great Fire. However, Jacob Cohen used the situation to conceive something greater than Jacksonville had ever seen: a massive retail store “for the people” away from the retail district of Bay Street. Cohen commissioned renowned architect Henry John Klutho to design the impressive St. James Building.

 

Furchgott’s Department Store

Furchgott’s was Jacksonville’s fifth oldest business establishment. In 1868, Herman Furchgott, a Jewish merchant from Charleston, bought the nascent store from Mr. Fairchild and shipped over larger and better stock. In the first year of its opening, Furchgott’s made $40,000, an incredible amount for the small city of Jacksonville. By its third year, the store was making $100,000 under the directorship of Leopold Furchgott (also a member of the Board of Governors of the Jacksonville Board of Trade) and renamed Furchgott and Brother.

 

Roy A. Benjamin

Roy A. Benjamin designed many of Jacksonville’s institutions, particularly its theatres, including the Imperial Theatre (now demolished), the Palace Theatre (demolished), Riverside Theatre, San Marco Theatre and Arcade Theatre. He assisted on the Florida Theatre and on Memorial Park. He designed the Elks Club, the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, many residential buildings, and the Elephant House at Jacksonville Zoo.

 

Alexander Brest

Alexander Brest (1894-1996), born in East Boston to a poor Jewish immigrant family, was one of Jacksonville’s premier philanthropists who helped shape the landscape of the city.

 

 
Cohen Brothers Blueprint
Cohen Brothers
Furchgott's Department Store
Furchgott's
Roy A. Benjamin
Roy A. Benjamin
Alexander Brest
Alexander Brest
Jewish Jacksonville >> Reverend Safer

Rev. Benjamin Safer

Rev. Benjamin Safer
Rev. Benjamin Safer, c. 1907.

At the turn of the 20th century in Jacksonville, a small orthodox community broke away from the main Jewish congregation, Ahavath Chesed, after it voted to join the reform movement. In 1900 the orthodox community formed the B’nai Israel Congregation.

Certificate of Naturalization
Benjamin Safer's Certificate of Naturalization, 1914.

This newly formed congregation – whose constituents hailed largely from Lithuania – turned to their homeland in search of a spiritual leader with an affinity for its members. They approached Joseph Shraga of Pokroi, Lithuania who, feeling too old to relocate, recommended his son Benjamin.

Benjamin Safer, although not officially ordained as a Rabbi, served as B’nai Israel’s spiritual leader from 1901 to 1912, as well as the community cantor, kosher butcher and mohel. Safer continued to be hired as the congregation’s temporary Rabbi whenever the position was vacant.

 
Contract of Employment
Articles of Agreement
Sermonette
Sermonette
Contract of Employment
Pinkas
Jewish Jacksonville >> Family Life

Jacksonville Jewish Families

The Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica holds papers, records, and special items belonging to a few of the prominent and long-standing Jacksonville Jewish families. Included in its collections to-date are items pertaining to the Wolfson family (descended from Morris David Wolfson of Lithuania), the Safer,Witten and Falis families (Jacksonville families descended from Joseph Shraga Dibobes and his wife Hinda Reiza Sweetgal of Lithuania), the Horovitz families (descended from Yachiel Horovitz of Romania) and, of course, the library’s donors: the Price family (descended from Isser Price of Poland and his wife Rae), represented here by the personally annotated Price family haggadah.

 
Price Family
Price Family
Dibobes Family
Dibobes Family
Wolfson Family
Wolfson Family
Jewish Jacksonville >> River Garden

River Garden

The River Garden Hebrew Home, Florida’s first Jewish home for the aged, was founded in 1946. Its establishment was due to the tireless efforts of the Ladies Hebrew Sheltering Aid Society (established 1922), which first campaigned for a home for the aged in its 1931 charter.

From its inception, River Garden attracted not only the financial support of the community but also assistance from a strong corps of voluntary workers. Included in their various activities was the provision of family entertainment by “The River Garden Players” who first staged a musical production in 1952. An auditorium at River Garden was later named in their honor.

The River Garden Hebrew Home has been the four-time recipient of the Florida Governor’s Gold Seal Award for Excellence in Long-Term Care. With the increasing expansion of the elderly population of Florida, River Garden continues to serve as an important and central institution in Jacksonville Jewish family life.

 
River Garden Players
River Garden Players
Keepers of the Fifth Commandment
Keepers of the Fifth...
River Garden News
River Garden News
Jewish Jacksonville >> Organizations

Jewish Societies and Organizations, Jacksonville, FL

Represented here are just a few of the many vibrant Jewish societies and organizations formed in Jacksonville in the early 20th century, including youth groups, the sisterhood groups, and other Jewish women’s societies like Hadassah. Among the items in this collection are the Jacksonville Jewish Center Yearbook, the Temple Ahavath Chesed Yearbooks, and other uncataloged, hidden ‘ephemeral’ items, like the sisterhood recipe book.

 
Temple Sisterhood
The Temple Sisterhood
Boy Scouts troop 12
Boy Scouts Troop 12
Young Men's Hebrew Association
Young Men's Hebrew Association
Jewish Jacksonville >> Synagogues

Synagogues

Temple Ahavath Chesed

The Congregation Ahavath Chesed was formally chartered in 1882. Most of its congregants originated from orthodox communities in Prussia and Germany, and these roots were reflected in the synagogue’s architecture. The congregation adopted the Reform Movement of Judaism in the 1890s.

 

Beth Shalom Congregation

The Beth Shalom Congregation was founded in 1972 by just 13 families, including Joseph P. Safer and members of the Price family, who felt the need for an additional conservative synagogue in Jacksonville.

 

The Jacksonville Jewish Center

At the end of the 19th century, as the Ahavath Chesed Synagogue embraced Reform Judaism, five orthodox families in Jacksonville called for the creation of a traditional Jewish congregation.

 
Temple Ahavath Chesed
Temple Ahavath Chesed
Beth Shalom Congregation
Beth Shalom Congregation
Jacksonville Jewish Center
Jacksonville Jewish Center