VIDS 124 Daniel Fogel, Israel Si Dresner, Richard Levy, Hanan Clyde Sills, Allen Secher, Jerrold Goldstein, Carol Rovinski
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Joel Buchanan Archive of African American History: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ohfb Samuel Proctor Oral History Program College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Program Director: Dr. Paul Ortiz 241 Pugh Hall PO Box 115215 Gainesville, FL 32611 (352) 392-7168 https://oral.history.ufl.edu VIDS 124 Daniel Fogel, Israel Si Dresner, Richard Levy, Hanan Clyde Sills, Allen Secher, Jerrold Goldstein, Carol Rovinski, Paul Ortiz Documentaries, Public Events, Lectures (VIDS) Justice, Justice 1964 on June 17, 2014 2 hour 2 minutes | 46 pages For information on terms of use of this interview, please see the SPOHP Creative Commons license at http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AfricanAmericanOralHistory. VIDS 124 Speakers: Daniel Fogel, Israel Si Dresner, Richard Levy, Hanan Clyde Sills, Allen Secher, Jerrold Goldstein, Carol Rovinski, Paul Ortiz Event Title: Justice, Justice 1964 Date: June 17, 2014 CR: All right, does anyone know how to use this? I’m serious. Does—is this on? Audience: Yes. CR: Okay, hello! [Laughter] Aloha! Oh, I have to talk into it. Okay, very good. Thank you all for being here. We’ve been working— [Interrupted by discussion in audience] Get closer to—woo, okay, there we go! All right. Ooh! I can’t—I don’t like this! Okay. Thank you. Obviously, I’ve never done anything like this before. Is the volume okay now? Okay, welcome. It’s been about ten months since we’ve been working on this project, and it is just thrilling to have these rabbis here, and all of you here with us. I’m not going to take a lot of time because I want most of the time to be hearing what the rabbis have to say. So, my name is Carol Rovinski and I have the distinct— [Interrupted by applause] [Laughter] I have a good fan club, I think! I have the distinct honor of being the chairman of the Justice, Justice sub-committee of the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society, known as SAJHS. This has turned out to be one of the most difficult, but also one of the most stirring experiences of my life, since I’ve had the privilege of engaging with some of the most dedicated, spiritual, and committed people that one could imagine. The rabbis, of course, have many—I don’t know what I said there. Excuse me! I hope nobody’s taping that. Okay. Cancel! First, a bit about St. Augustine Jewish Historical. The organization was the inspiration of Rabbi Merril Shapiro. He is the president of his— [Interrupted by applause] I was going to say, “Please stand,” but Merril, you might as well stand now. [Applause] He’s the president of SAJHS. SAJHS was formed upon two major principles. One, to VIDS 124; Justice Justice 1964; Page 2 investigate the possibility and plausibility that the first Jews in what would become the United States of America came ashore here in St. Augustine in 1565 with Pedro Menendez. Secondly, to promote greater understanding and knowledge of the Jewish history in St. Augustine within a broad context. We were incorporated in February 2012, and became a 501(c)(3) a year later. Merril also brought to us, amongst other teachings, the historical facts of these rabbis’ involvement in the Civil Rights Movement here in St. Augustine, which led to the largest mass arrest of rabbis in the history of the United States. So, in June last year, SAJHS read the letter “Why We Went on the Bayfront,” across the street from where they were arrested, which is now the Hilton. After the reading, Sandra Parks from the Stetson Kennedy Foundation envisioned the possibility that we could bring the rabbis back this year, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their arrest. Sandra, would you please stand? [Applause] Thus, the creation of the Justice, Justice 1964 Committee. We reached out, and wherever they could, the rabbis responded. We chose the name Justice, Justice 1964 from the passage from Deuteronomy that says, “Justice, and only justice, shall you pursue.” And I’m sure that Rabbi Merril could speak to you for a good thirty minutes on the subject. And he does a wonderful job. He really does. There’s a quote from Helen Keller that says, “The world has moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker. Fifty years ago, these rabbis may have been one of those honest workers. But today, here in St. Augustine, they are our heroes. Let’s give them a rousing hand. [Applause] That’s going to be a hard act for them VIDS 124; Justice Justice 1964; Page 3 to follow, isn’t it? After these two standing ovations, they’re—you can go home now! [Laughter] Okay. I take great pleasure in briefly introducing our honored guests. Would you just raise your hand when I say your name? Rabbi Israel Si Dresner. [Applause] And, actually, I think we’ll hold the applause, because I want them to talk. I want you to hear them. So let—Rabbi Dresner, a freedom rider, and a friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., through his actions became known as the most arrested rabbi in America. [Laughter] Rabbi Daniel Fogel—would you just raise your hand, rabbi? Thank you—is a social leader who’s been active across the nation for over fifty years. Through his appreciation of Tikkun Olam. And will one of you tell us what Tikkun Olam is, please? ID: The perfection of the world. CR: The perfection of the world. Now, earlier today, I asked each of them, and they each told me something different. So I was just curious what was going to come out tonight. Okay. Now. Rabbi Jerrold Goldstein is a leader at heart whose many passions lend a helping hand to all who are near him. Okay. [Applause] Rabbi Richard N. Levy—and I forgot to ask him why the “N” is there—is a recipient of the 1994 Covenant Award, a prestigious honor given to those who exemplify outstanding zeal as a Jewish educator. Rabbi Allen Secher remains— [applause]—remains an active member of his community, and a pioneer in the use of multimedia techniques in sermonic expression. And finally, Rabbi Hanan T. Clyde Sills—has been an activist—you’re supposed to raise your hand. [Laughter] Okay—throughout his life. Rabbi Sills has positively impacted countless individuals and communities worldwide. We also have in our presence VIDS 124; Justice Justice 1964; Page 4 today, and through our events today and tomorrow, a man who shared the stage with these rabbis back in June of 1964. Mr. J.T. Johnson, would you please stand? [Applause] Mr. Johnson is an Albany native, and was twenty-six years old when he jumped in the pool with others in June of 1964. [Applause] Throughout his continued association with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, known as SCLC, Mr. Johnson proved invaluable to the Civil Rights Movement. And because Mr. Johnson has been invited to somewhere else also, he’s going to take his leave now. But we will be seeing him tomorrow at our other events. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Okay, so here is our agenda for the evening: first, we’re going to view a video taken of Rabbi Joseph Herzog on March 29th this year. He passed away less than three weeks after we got the interview. His daughter called me a few days later, and she said, “Carol, Dad died.” I said, “Oh, my!” And she said, “But I want you to know that he died happy knowing that the story will be remembered.” Unfortunately, Rachel couldn’t be with us tonight, but she’s already seen the video. She’s the only one who has seen the video that you’re about to see. Secondly, Rabbi Joshua Leaf will conduct a mini memorial service for all of the rabbis who have passed. And are there yarmulkes? I thought that there—are there? Yes, there are. If somebody would like to, when you say the Jewish prayer for kaddish, if somebody would like to have a yarmulke. You don’t need to, though, this is not a church. But if someone would feel the need to, that’s fine. Oh, I’m sorry. Would you like to stand up for a moment, or you’ll wait ‘til your turn? U1: I can wait. VIDS 124; Justice Justice 1964; Page 5 CR: Okay. And like most rabbis, he does know how to project his voice. I will introduce Dr. Paul Ortiz, who is going to conduct the panel discussion—and I’ll introduce him in a moment—and then we will suspend the panel discussion at 8:25 for a few moments, to just put before you our entire event that we’re having, and then, if there are people who do need to leave, they can. And then, other people who want to stay and ask questions, we’re going to have a question and answer session. There’s one thing that’s not on this piece of paper that I need to say to you: somehow, the box that had the papers for—we have a small mini- grant from Florida Humanities Council, and we have a box—if anybody sees a blue box anywhere, there are evaluation sheets that in order to qualify for our grant. So, what I’m going to ask, and I will remind you again at 8:25, is, assuming nobody finds the box before then, if each of you would be so kind as to email [email protected], I will email you that form, and then you can email it back.