The Rabbis Go South

This final episode examines the enduring impact of the 1964 civil rights protests in St. Augustine. Has this city significantly improved, or was all that happened there, including the participation of the rabbis, no more than a historic footnote? We also explore whether what occurred the day the rabbis were arrested had surprising national significance. Did it actually affect the passage of the mo...

Those with deep familial roots in St. Augustine’s Jewish community recount their experiences growing up in a city marked by racial tension, anti-Semitism, and KKK activity. They recall Jewish relations with the Black community, and what they were doing when outsider rabbis arrived to protest their city’s segregation laws. For a small, vulnerable religious minority, was the civil rights movement co...

16 rabbis and one Jewish layperson are arraigned in the county jail by the local KKK leader and then squeezed together in a cell big enough for only two. During an uncomfortable night of imprisonment, the rabbis find an important mission. They write a joint manifesto, “Why We Went,” articulating their philosophical and religious reasons for coming to St. Augustine. Meanwhile, the African-Americans...

The rabbis gather at a St. Augustine motor lodge notorious for its segregationist policies. When the rabbis participate in a pray-in with Black clergy, local police move in for an arrest. Simultaneously, a group of Black activists head to the motor lodge swimming pool to attempt to desegregate it. Nationally assigned television crews are on the scene to film these dramatic, chaotic events. Their i...

In this episode, we share the harrowing moment when 16 Reform rabbis are thrust onto the frontlines of the civil rights movement. Allen Secher and Jerry Goldstein, now in their 80s, tell of “the most frightening night of their lives.” That’s when 16 rabbis including Secher and Goldstein are paired with Black protestors and, holding hands, march through St. Augustine facing hostile segregationists...

500 rabbis arrive at an annual conference of Reform rabbis in Atlantic City. The conference is disrupted by a telegram from Dr. King urging rabbis to leave immediately for St. Augustine. 16 rabbis and a Jewish lay person obey King’s call to action, and soon are on a plane for Florida. Dr. King greets them in a Black church in St. Augustine, proclaiming to the congregation, “Moses’s people have arr...

Imagine 16 American rabbis jailed for acting on their beliefs. The Rabbis Go South is a thrilling seven-part narrative podcast that brings to life a true story of Jewish-Black solidarity in St. Augustine, Florida during the Civil Rights Movement. An inspiring tale of hope for a divided world.