NORTHEAST FLORIDA JEWISH LIFE
THE EIGHTH ANNUAL COMMEMORATION OF LARGEST MASS ARREST OF RABBIS By Savannah Feustel, The Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida
June 18, 1964 was a day to remember for Jews and AfricanAmericans in the city of St. Augustine. Hailing from different states and Jewish congregations, sixteen rabbis stood in an integrated group for a protest against racial segregation, discrimination, and violence. Acting on behalf of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the rabbis came to St. Augustine to support justice, righteousness, the Civil Rights Movement, and to break the US Senate filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Marching through the streets they arrived at the Monson Motor Lodge—which refused to rent rooms to Blacks or serve them in its restaurant—to pray. During the service, rabbis distracted police so that a group of black youths could jump in the swimming pool. Immediately, the hotel manager poured acid into the pool, which was photographed, and became a poster statement for the civil rights movement.
While continuing to pray, the rabbis were arrested and stuffed into one cell at the St. Johns County Jail. Inside, by the light of a naked bulb they began to pen a response, “Why We Went to St. Augustine.” 10
The day following the arrest, the Senate passed the Civil Rights bill that the House had already passed – after a filibuster lasting 60 days. Two weeks later, President Johnson signed it into law. Over 55 years later, on June 18, 2021, the Eighth Annual Commemoration of Largest Mass Arrest of Rabbis was held outdoors at the Hilton St. Augustine Historic Bayfront (previously the Monson Motor Lodge). In front of the wall marker of the historical event, retired Rabbi Merrill Shapiro spoke to the large, diverse crowd. He welcomed Lincolnville Museum’s Gayle Philips who read three short letters written to the rabbis in June 1964 from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Secretary Reverend C.T. Vivian and two letters from Reverend King. After she read the moving letters, she and two representatives from the NAACP awarded Rabbi Shapiro a plaque for his participation in the 1964 civil rights protest. Following the award, actor and playwright Lee Weaver read the historic letter. “We came to St. Augustine mainly because we could not stay away.” Weaver’s voice boomed, “We could not pass by the opportunity to achieve a moral goal by moral means. We came as Jews who remember the millions of faceless people who stood quietly, watching the smoke rise from Hitler’s crematoria. We came because we know that, second only to silence, the greatest danger to man is loss of faith in man’s capacity to act." If interested in learning more, visit the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society at https://sajhs. com/history/. Through their efforts, each year the St. Johns County Commission, with the St. Augustine City Commission proclaims January, “Florida Jewish History Month” to honor these courageous rabbis.
