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

Jewish Jacksonville >> Jewish Jacksonville Yearbook

Samuel Benjamin (ed.) (American)
Jacksonville Jewish Year Book and Community Center Souvenir Journal
Jacksonville, FL
1927
Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica

In 1926, the orthodox B’nai Israel Congregation hired Rabbi Samuel Benjamin to serve as its spiritual leader. Rabbi Benjamin, ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in America, introduced the congregation to Conservative Judaism and the idea of the ‘synagogue-center’. A special publication, Jacksonville Jewish Year Book and Community Center Souvenir Journal (1927) was circulated widely in the Jewish community to explain the concept and to garner support for the center.

The impetus for the center was also the lamented state of Jewish education in Jacksonville at that time. Several articles in the journal deal with this question and how it might be resolved by a center catering to the entire community’s needs.

The journal is also a fascinating historical resource for charting the history of the B’nai Israel congregation and other Jewish organizations in Jacksonville in the 1920s. The copies held at the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica are two of just three known copies available in U.S. libraries.

Jewish Jacksonville >> Southern Jewish Weekly

Isadore Moscovitz (ed.) (American, 1911-)
The Southern Jewish Weekly
Jacksonville, FL, 1939-1992
November 3, 1939
Print from Microfilm
P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History

The Southern Jewish Weekly was a Jacksonville publication, featuring a regular column devoted to Jacksonville’s Jewish society news as well as Jacksonville classified notices and advertising. Yet, the newspaper also reported on news and issues relevant to the Jewish communities of Florida and the southeastern United States. Moreover, the newspaper provided excellent and insightful coverage of international news, particularly events in Europe during the Second World War.

It was established in 1924, but was renamed the Jewish Citizen in 1933 when it combined with the Florida Jewish Citizen. Three years later, due to popular demand, the original title was reinstated as it better evoked the community served.

The newspaper’s editor and publisher, Isadore Moscovitz, strove to produce a weekly edition; however, it ran as a monthly from 1944 to 1947 as a result of the economic situation. Mrs. Ethel Moscovitz assumed the editorship while her husband served in the army.

This newspaper is a largely untapped resource for research into the history of Southern Jewry in general and Jacksonville Jewry in particular. The print version is no longer available, and the University of Florida is the sole institution in the U.S. to own the entire run of issues (1939 to 1992) on microfilm.

All About Us

Heirs of a Proud Tradition

Jacksonville Jewish Yearbook

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.

Jewish Jacksonville >> Places >> Cohen Brothers

Cohen Brothers: “The Big Store”

Samuel and Morris Cohen moved from New York to Jacksonville in the 1860s and established Cohen Brothers Dry Goods House at 41-43 West Bay Street. Their brother Jacob, aged 13, joined them in 1875 and was left to operate the store by the 1880s. Known as “The Wannamaker of the South,” Jacob Cohen was probably the first merchant in the South to put price tags on his merchandise and to use pennies as change.

In 1901 the business 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.

The St. James Building was considered Klutho’s Prairie School masterpiece: the 300,000 square foot, four-story building covered an entire city block and was lit by 14 modern 3,000-candlepower street lights, the finest south of Baltimore. A large octagonal glass dome supported by eight colossal statues bathed the interior in natural light. Cohen’s “Big Store” was the ninth-largest department store in the United States and the third largest building in Jacksonville.

Cohen’s Big Store flourished and was a downtown institution for generations of Jacksonville families. In 1958, the St. Louis based May Department Stores purchased the business as part of the May-Cohens chain. Like many other downtown stores, May-Cohen’s big store also suffered in the economic downturn of the 1980s and permanently closed its doors in 1987.

Henry John Klutho (American, 1873-1964)
Blueprint of Duval Street and Church Street Elevations (Department Store and Office Building for Cohen Brothers, Jacksonville, FL)
c.1911
Architecture and Fine Arts Library

Cohen Brothers
Department Store Duval Street Elevation

St. James Building, Jacksonville, Fla
c.1917

Photographer Unknown
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings with Robert Camp at autographing party for Cross Creek & Cross Creek Cookery at Cohen’s department store in Jacksonville
1942
Jacksonville, FL
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Collection, Special Collections and Area Studies Department, University of Florida

Jewish Jacksonville >> Places >> Furchgott's

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.

By 1875 the store outgrew its location and moved to the southwest corner of Main & Bay Streets. The store continued its record of growth under the name of Furchgott, Benedict & Company. In 1880, the company was renamed Kohn-Furchgott & Company.

In 1900, a new four-story building was erected on the north-west corner of Bay and Main; a year later it was destroyed in the great fire. Kohn-Furchgott’s was reconstructed and now stretched from Bay to Forsyth on Main fronting three of the busiest Jacksonville thoroughfares. Continued growth called for another new building and in 1941 a 60,000 square foot, six-level, Art Deco, flagship department store was designed by Marsh and Saxelbye Architects. The store prospered for 43 years until it was permanently closed in 1984.

Jacksonville, Fla. East Bay Street
[Furchgott's on left]
c. 1915

Jewish Jacksonville >> Places >> 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.

During high school, Brest worked nights as a switchboard operator to realize his dream of studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1916, Brest graduated from MIT with a degree in Civil and Sanitary Engineering.

Stationed in Jacksonville during the First World War, Brest decided that he wanted to play a role in the city’s future. While teaching at the University of Florida in 1924, Brest conceived the Duval Engineering and Contracting Company. He offered his student, George H. Hodges, the position of company president to open doors for a “god-damn Yankee Jew.” Together, they amassed a fortune employing innovative strategies in road building. Brest’s engineering company also helped construct Jacksonville Naval Air Station and 18 other naval and air facilities during World War II, for which he won the Legion of Merit.

In later years, Brest funded the development of Jacksonville University, Metropolitan Park, the South Campus of the Florida Junior College, the University of North Florida, and the Alexander Brest Planetarium.

Deborah Simpson (American)
The Miracle Years: a biography of Alexander Brest
1991
Jacksonville University Press
TA140.B73 S51 1991
Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica

Cohen Brothers

Furchgott's

Roy A. Benjamin

Alexander Brest

Jewish Jacksonville >> Reverend 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.

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.

Articles of Agreement

Sermonette

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.

Jewish Jacksonville >> Family Life >> Wolfson Family

Wolfson Family Album: 200th anniversary of the birthdates of Sarah Goldberg and Morris David Wolfson
1984
Jacksonville, FL
Gift of Bruce and Stacey Goldring

Morris David Wolfson came to the United States as a poor immigrant from Lithuania. He worked as a tailor’s assistant in Baltimore, and married Sarah Goldberg in 1905. Struggling to find employment to feed his new and growing family, Wolfson moved to Missouri and then Jacksonville. Here, he was fortunate enough to buy a house with an attic full of contents. He sold the items and thus began his rags and bottles trade. With Sarah in charge of bookkeeping, the small business grew into a successful enterprise of metals and scrap iron. The business went bankrupt during the depression, but by the end of the 1930s, Wolfson’s business was thriving again. A former member of the B’nai Israel conservative congregation, Wolfson founded the orthodox Etz Chaim Synagogue. After his death in 1948, his legacy of philanthropy was continued through his children who established the Wolfson Family Foundation in his honor. The Wolfson Family Foundation has contributed to health, educational and religious institutions in Jacksonville.

Price Family

Dibobes 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

Keepers of the Fifth...

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.

Jewish Jacksonville >> Organizations >> Y.M.H.A.

Samuel Benjamin (ed.) (American)
Jacksonville Jewish Year Book and Community Center Souvenir Journal
1927
Jacksonville, FL
Gift of Edwin and Harriet Safer and Bruce and Stacey Goldring

The concept of a Young Men’s Hebrew Association (Y.M.H.A) was conceived in Baltimore in 1854 to provide for the mental, moral, social and physical improvement of Jewish young men. The first branch was established in New York in 1874 and functioned as a philanthropic and benevolent organization.

The Jacksonville branch of the Y.M.H.A, completed in 1914, stood opposite the B’nai Israel Synagogue on 712 West Duval Street at the heart of LaVilla’s Jewish community. In 1932, it relocated to Springfield, at the Jacksonville Jewish Center.

Now known as the Maceo Elk Lodge #8, the building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1992. It is the oldest building still standing in Jacksonville of significance to the Jacksonville Jewish community.

The Temple Sisterhood

Boy Scouts Troop 12

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.

Jewish Jacksonville >> Synagogues >> Temple Ahavath Chesed

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.

In 1901, the great fire of Jacksonville destroyed the synagogue, but it was soon rebuilt in the same style. The Temple’s longest serving spiritual leader, Rabbi Israel Kaplan, joined the congregation in 1916 (retiring in 1946). By 1927, the rapid expansion of its membership created the need for a new residence. The building purchased in Riverside was originally built in 1907 and designed by Henry Klutho. The new Temple served as the religious community center, and organizations such as the Sisterhood, Brotherhood, Temple Men’s Club, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts all met there.

A fire destroyed the building in the 1940s, and all records of the Congregation and its affiliated organizations were destroyed. A new house of worship was constructed on the same site and dedicated in 1950. However, a decade later, the need for a synagogue with room for growth impelled the purchase of land on San Jose Boulevard, in Mandarin. The new facility was dedicated in 1979. A recent remodeling of this building allowed for a larger library and an archives display room.

Jewish Jacksonville >> Synagogues >> Beth Shalom Congregation

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 first location of the synagogue was a deserted furniture store in Phillips Highway Mall. The new rabbi, Laurence Scheindlin, came freshly ordained from the Rabbinical Assembly in New York. Together the members of this fledgling ‘Storefront Shul’ would have to sing rousingly in order to drown out carols emanating from the mall.

The new congregation strove to become egalitarian and include women in its services. It was the first egalitarian conservative synagogue in Jacksonville. In 1973, the members of Beth Shalom had to vacate the store; another temporary home was found in the recreation room at Mt. Carmel Gardens, a senior living center.

The synagogue’s President, Ben Friedman, found a permanent residence for the congregation on Sunbeam Road in Mandarin and the groundbreaking was held on January 27, 1974. Rabbi Gary Perras became the new spiritual leader and stayed with the congregation until 2001. Under his guidance, the Beth Shalom congregation became recognized for its interfaith initiatives involving the Christian and Arab communities such as Bible studies, music festivals and picnics.

A learned scholar and bibliophile, Rabbi Martin Sandberg, replaced Rabbi Perras in 2001. In 2011, however, dwindling membership forced the closure of the synagogue, and the congregation merged with the conservative Jacksonville Jewish Center.

Beth Shalom Shofar, Just Between Me and You

Jewish Jacksonville >> Synagogues >> Jacksonville Jewish Center

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.

The B’nai Israel Congregation was formed in 1901 with Rev. Benjamin Safer as its first spiritual leader. Situated on the corner of Jefferson and Duval Streets in the Lavilla neighborhood, the B’nai Israel Synagogue was officially dedicated in 1909.

In 1926, Rabbi Samuel Benjamin, ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in America, introduced the B’nai Israel Congregation to Conservative Judaism and the idea of the ‘synagogue-center’. A site for the Jacksonville Jewish Center, was established in Springfield in 1927 at the corner of Third and Silver Streets. The building was dedicated on January 8, 1928 with an address by the Governor of Florida, John W. Martin.

Promising to represent the entire Jewish community of Jacksonville, the Center separated itself from the B’nai Israel Synagogue. Services were held at both the Center and in the old Synagogue (the “downtown branch”). The downtown services were discontinued in 1930 when Rev. Safer moved to Springfield.

By the 1970s, the Jacksonville Jewish Center, with a membership of 800 families, needed to expand. Three years later, on September 16, 1973, the groundbreaking of a new synagogue-center took place on a 36-acre complex on San Jose Boulevard in Mandarin. On January 11, 1976, the synagogue’s Torah scrolls were transported from their ark at Third and Silver to the new center in a special dedication ceremony.

Today, the Jacksonville Jewish Center boasts a vast array of programs and two schools, the Martin J. Gottleib Day School and the Bernard & Alice Selevan Religious School. The Center’s large, multi-generational membership has recently increased with the integration of the former members of the Beth Shalom synagogue.

Temple Ahavath Chesed

Beth Shalom Congregation

Jacksonville Jewish Center

University of Florida

George A. Smathers Libraries

People and Places

Rev. Benjamin Safer

Jacksonville Jewish Families

River Garden

Jewish Societies and Organizations, Jacksonville, FL

Synagogues