Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities - Pensacola, FL
Overview
Pensacola, located at the western edge of the Florida Panhandle, boasts the first confirmed Jewish residents in the state, as well as Florida’s oldest congregation. The city, named after the American Indian group who lived in the area prior to European colonization, emerged as a strategic military hub and trading center at the end of the 17th century. Pensacola developed slowly in the 18th century, and only briefly attracted Jewish settlers during a short period of British rule. After Florida became a United States territory in 1822, Jewish settlement picked up again, and local Jews established Temple Beth El in 1876. The Pensacola Jewish community has never been large, nor has it experienced the rapid growth of some other Florida cities. In this regard, Jewish Pensacola resembles communities in nearby Alabama, and Pensacola Jews have historically maintained strong connections to Mobile and other Deep South Jewish communities.
Early Jews in Pensacola
While it is possible that crypto-Jewish settlers lived in Florida during the first period of Spanish colonization, the extent of their continued Jewish identification or practice is unclear. Consequently, the first known Jews to arrive in colonial Florida came in 1763, after the Treaty of Paris transferred Spain’s claim on Florida to the British and passed control of New Orleans from France to Spain. Several New Orleans Jews, anticipating Spanish enforcement of anti-Jewish policies, migrated to Pensacola, newly hospitable to Jews under British rule. These early Pensacola Jews included Joseph de Palacios, Samuel Israel, and Alexander Solomons—all of whom moved on to Mobile, Alabama, after a short time. Isaac Monsanto also migrated to Pensacola from New Orleans, having been expelled by Spanish officials, and sold some of his family’s enslaved Africans to pay for the move.
A handful of Jews came from other destinations during the 1760s, including Jamaica. Pensacola Jews fit the profile of Jews in other Atlantic and Caribbean port cities; largely Sephardic, engaged in trade, highly mobile, and closely linked to Jews in other colonies. There is no evidence that Pensacola Jews ever met for religious reasons in the 18th century, and there were likely never enough local Jews to form a minyan. Joseph de Palacios ultimately moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he was able to join an organized Jewish community. When colonial authority over Florida reverted to Spain in 1783, Pensacola’s Jewish development stalled, and several Jews left for more tolerant environments.
A handful of Jews came from other destinations during the 1760s, including Jamaica. Pensacola Jews fit the profile of Jews in other Atlantic and Caribbean port cities; largely Sephardic, engaged in trade, highly mobile, and closely linked to Jews in other colonies. There is no evidence that Pensacola Jews ever met for religious reasons in the 18th century, and there were likely never enough local Jews to form a minyan. Joseph de Palacios ultimately moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he was able to join an organized Jewish community. When colonial authority over Florida reverted to Spain in 1783, Pensacola’s Jewish development stalled, and several Jews left for more tolerant environments.
Children of Joseph and Fanny Gundersheimer, c. 1880, in Milton, Florida. State Archives of Florida.
Jewish settlement in Pensacola resumed in the early 1820s, following the United States’ purchase of Florida from Spain. In 1822, Louisa and Samuel Myers welcomed a daughter, Virginia, the first known Jewish child born in the city under U.S. rule. The Jewish population remained small, however, until mid-century. Louisa and Samuel Myers, for example, returned with their children to Virginia by the end of the 1820s. In the 1850s, an influx of migrants from Central Europe led to the establishment of a durable Jewish community in the area.
Michael Levy in Confederate Army uniform, 1862.
Some of the newcomers first settled in Milton, Florida, on the far side of Escambia Bay, where they traded with the nearby lumber camps. Joseph Gundersheimer and Gerson Forcheimer, both natives of Bavaria, owned stores in Milton around 1860. Forcheimer moved to Pensacola in 1869, and Gundersheimer arrived in Pensacola in the 1880s after living in New Orleans for a number of years. Gerson Forcheimer’s brother Abraham also lived in Milton from before 1860 until the early 1870s and held four enslaved African Americans as of the 1860 census.
During the Civil War, Abraham Forcheimer served the Confederacy as part of a reserve unit based in Mobile, Alabama. Mitchell (or Michael) Levy, a Confederate veteran from Central Europe, moved to Milton and then Pensacola after the war. At least one Pensacola Jewish family—Joseph and Ida Isenburg and two young daughters—permanently left Florida for the North during the war. While the Isenburg family’s move likely reflects the ambivalence that some Florida Jews felt about slavery and the Confederate cause, the examples of Forcheimer and Levy in Pensacola also demonstrate a level of support.
During the Civil War, Abraham Forcheimer served the Confederacy as part of a reserve unit based in Mobile, Alabama. Mitchell (or Michael) Levy, a Confederate veteran from Central Europe, moved to Milton and then Pensacola after the war. At least one Pensacola Jewish family—Joseph and Ida Isenburg and two young daughters—permanently left Florida for the North during the war. While the Isenburg family’s move likely reflects the ambivalence that some Florida Jews felt about slavery and the Confederate cause, the examples of Forcheimer and Levy in Pensacola also demonstrate a level of support.
Organized Jewish Life
Pensacola experienced an economic boom in the wake of the Civil War, fueled largely by the local lumber industry. Jewish migration to the city continued, and local Jews developed communal institutions in the 1870s. The city’s first Jewish cemetery dates to 1869, when Samuel Goldbach transferred land to Gerson Forcheimer for Jewish burials. After the establishment of the Pensacola chapter of B’nai Brith—the first in Florida—in 1874, the fraternal order took ownership of the cemetery and oversaw maintenance.
In 1876, Pensacola Jews established Temple Beth El, the first Jewish congregation in Florida. Without a full-time spiritual leader, they initially relied on travelling rabbis and lay leaders for religious services. Additionally, they met in either members’ homes or borrowed spaces until 1878, when they built a synagogue on East Chase Street near the intersection with Tarragona Street. Temple Beth El soon took ownership of the Jewish cemetery, and the congregation grew from ten families at its founding to twenty member families by 1889, when they joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the governing body of Reform Judaism in America.
In 1876, Pensacola Jews established Temple Beth El, the first Jewish congregation in Florida. Without a full-time spiritual leader, they initially relied on travelling rabbis and lay leaders for religious services. Additionally, they met in either members’ homes or borrowed spaces until 1878, when they built a synagogue on East Chase Street near the intersection with Tarragona Street. Temple Beth El soon took ownership of the Jewish cemetery, and the congregation grew from ten families at its founding to twenty member families by 1889, when they joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the governing body of Reform Judaism in America.
Pensacola Jewish women, c. 1896. Sidonia Kahn, seated on left, was an immigrant and early member of the congregation. State Archives of Florida.
Temple Beth El’s early membership consisted primarily of German speaking immigrants and their descendants. Additionally, most of them had lived in other parts of the South before settling in Pensacola. Lewis Bear, Mitchell Levy, and Adolph Greenhut, for example, had all lived in Greenville, Alabama—about 120 miles north-northeast of Pensacola. The early families were also bound by kinship. Lewis Bear’s sister Sarah, for example, married Adolph Greenhut before the families relocated to Pensacola. Bertha Goldstucker, whose brothers Otto and Adolph lived in Pensacola, married Gerson Forcheimer when he still lived in Milton. Pensacola’s German-Jewish families continued to intermarry in the subsequent generation. Jacob and Caroline Kahn’s son Harry married Sallie Bear (daughter of Lewis and Henrietta), while their son Max married Sallie’s cousin Edna Greenhut (daughter of Adolph and Sarah). Similarly, two of Gerson and Bertha Forcheimer’s daughters married into the Greenhut and Dannheiser families.
By the end of the 19th century, Pensacola began to attract Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe—primarily the Russian Empire but also Romania—who often spoke Yiddish as a first language and tended to maintain more traditional religious practices. In 1899, such newcomers made up the majority of the eleven founders of Pensacola’s second Jewish congregation, B’nai Israel. Temple Beth El initially supported the new, Orthodox congregation by allowing them to hold services in the temple vestry, although B’nai Israel soon moved their activities to the Oddfellows Hall. The establishment of Congregation of B’nai Israel made Pensacola the first city in Florida to have two Jewish congregations.
By the end of the 19th century, Pensacola began to attract Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe—primarily the Russian Empire but also Romania—who often spoke Yiddish as a first language and tended to maintain more traditional religious practices. In 1899, such newcomers made up the majority of the eleven founders of Pensacola’s second Jewish congregation, B’nai Israel. Temple Beth El initially supported the new, Orthodox congregation by allowing them to hold services in the temple vestry, although B’nai Israel soon moved their activities to the Oddfellows Hall. The establishment of Congregation of B’nai Israel made Pensacola the first city in Florida to have two Jewish congregations.
Economic, Civic, and Social Life
During the late 19th century, Jews came to play important roles in Pensacola’s ongoing development. Jewish shops and wholesale businesses, especially in groceries, clothing, and general merchandise were increasingly prominent throughout the 1880s and 1890s. After Lewis Bear moved from Greenville in the mid-1870s, he sold ship supplies and general merchandise out of a store on South Palafox Street. In 1885, he expanded the business with a new wholesale operation, and the company moved to a new, two-story headquarters at the corner of Palafox and Main Streets in 1892. As established businesses advanced—by growing, moving into wholesale, or carrying more selective goods—recent Jewish migrants continued to open smaller, more humble businesses. A number of new firms also formed when Jewish employees at older businesses left to strike out on their own.
Established merchants were active in Pensacola’s general civic life and in non-Jewish fraternal organizations, such as the Masons and Rotary Club. Sol Cahn, who worked for the Lewis Bear Company before starting his own grocery and deli, served as a city alderman in the 1890s and early 1900s and as acting mayor in 1898-1899. Other Pensacola Jews in local government included Alderman Heinberg in the 1890s and Mayor Adolph Greenhut, 1913-1916.
Jews advanced educational and cultural life in Pensacola as well. Elsie Block Wagenheim opened the city’s first kindergarten in 1917, attracting Jewish and non-Jewish students alike. The private kindergarten remained in operation under Wagenheim’s leadership until 1962. The Levy family was another highly acculturated Jewish family, and Sidney P. Levy owned the Pensacola Opera House for many years. Levy also contributed to philanthropic causes, promoted local theater, and authored the lyrics to a song called “Pensacola Town.” However, inclusion in white, middle-class culture required Jews to conform to racial norms and encouraged their participation in racist customs. In 1900, for example, the children of established Jewish merchants performed in a black-face minstrel show put on by the Ladies’ Benevolent Association of Temple Beth El.
Despite Jewish Pensacolans’ business successes, civic leadership, and social adaptation, they did experienced discrimination in the 19th and early 20th centuries. When, for example, Paula Herschkovitz (later Paula Ackerman) performed as a piano accompanist for a visiting opera singer at an elite bayshore dinner party around 1910, she was the only Jewish person in attendance. In response to their exclusion from selective organizations, Pensacola Jews organized their own social and literary group, the Progress Club, in 1897. The Progress club occupied the second story of the Pensacola Opera House until 1909 when they constructed their own building, which was reported to have the city’s largest ballroom at the time. Although social exclusion decreased over time, some discrimination persisted for decades, and the Pensacola Country Club did not accept Jewish members until the 1970s.
Established merchants were active in Pensacola’s general civic life and in non-Jewish fraternal organizations, such as the Masons and Rotary Club. Sol Cahn, who worked for the Lewis Bear Company before starting his own grocery and deli, served as a city alderman in the 1890s and early 1900s and as acting mayor in 1898-1899. Other Pensacola Jews in local government included Alderman Heinberg in the 1890s and Mayor Adolph Greenhut, 1913-1916.
Jews advanced educational and cultural life in Pensacola as well. Elsie Block Wagenheim opened the city’s first kindergarten in 1917, attracting Jewish and non-Jewish students alike. The private kindergarten remained in operation under Wagenheim’s leadership until 1962. The Levy family was another highly acculturated Jewish family, and Sidney P. Levy owned the Pensacola Opera House for many years. Levy also contributed to philanthropic causes, promoted local theater, and authored the lyrics to a song called “Pensacola Town.” However, inclusion in white, middle-class culture required Jews to conform to racial norms and encouraged their participation in racist customs. In 1900, for example, the children of established Jewish merchants performed in a black-face minstrel show put on by the Ladies’ Benevolent Association of Temple Beth El.
Despite Jewish Pensacolans’ business successes, civic leadership, and social adaptation, they did experienced discrimination in the 19th and early 20th centuries. When, for example, Paula Herschkovitz (later Paula Ackerman) performed as a piano accompanist for a visiting opera singer at an elite bayshore dinner party around 1910, she was the only Jewish person in attendance. In response to their exclusion from selective organizations, Pensacola Jews organized their own social and literary group, the Progress Club, in 1897. The Progress club occupied the second story of the Pensacola Opera House until 1909 when they constructed their own building, which was reported to have the city’s largest ballroom at the time. Although social exclusion decreased over time, some discrimination persisted for decades, and the Pensacola Country Club did not accept Jewish members until the 1970s.
Developing Congregations
Temple Beth El, 1912. State Archives of Florida.
Temple Beth El faced a setback in 1895, when their original wooden synagogue burned, but they rebuilt in a short time. Rabbi Isaac E. Wagenheim moved to Pensacola to serve the congregation in 1897, and although he took a post in Pennsylvania in 1903, the Wagenheim family continues as part of the local Jewish community as of 2019. By the time of Wagenheim’s arrival, the congregation boasted a religious school and an active women’s group, which helped maintain and raise funds for the cemetery.
After holding services in rented spaces for more than 20 years, the Orthodox congregation B’nai Israel obtained its own building in 1923. The small, two-story structure, a former home at 400 N. Barcelona St., served as a synagogue, social hall, and cultural center, and the congregation converted the front rooms to serve as a sanctuary, complete with a mechitzah (divider) between men’s and women’s sections. The second floor served as a residence for the family of Rabbi Samuel Spector, who led the congregation for most of the 1920s. In addition to his ritual duties in the synagogue, Rabbi Spector performed brit milah ceremonies for male Jewish newborns, taught Hebrew, and acted as a kosher butcher.
Beyond the Reform and Orthodox communities, a third group of Jews organized sometime before 1930. Benjamin Bear—no relation to the other Jewish Bear family—was a Polish-born immigrant born in 1885. After moving to Pensacola in 1911, he started a dairy company with a brother and a sister. Bear and a group of about 15 Jews started a secular Jewish organization known as Sheyvet (‘tribe’ in Hebrew and Yiddish) that ran after-school classes in Yiddish language and culture for children. Core members likely subscribed to some variety of Jewish secular nationalism, but congregants from B’nai Israel also enrolled their children in the classes. Pensacola was also home to the Shams family during the early 20th century, who emigrated from the Ottoman Empire around 1916 and found their way to Pensacola after stops in Egypt and Mexico. While Ottoman Jews in larger cities often had little to do with Ashkenazi Jewish institutions, the Shams family found the Pensacola Jewish community welcoming and became active members in B’nai Israel.
For smaller Jewish communities such as Pensacola, recruiting and retaining spiritual leaders often proved challenging. Temple Beth El employed a series of rabbis during the 1910s and 1920s, with none staying for more than a few years. The position stabilized in 1928 with the arrival of Rabbi Martin Friedman, who served the congregation until his death in 1939.
The general population of Pensacola grew significantly in the early 20th century, from some 17,000 residents in 1900 to more than 37,000 by 1940. The years of fastest growth were 1900-1920, with a second, smaller surge during the 1930s. The presence of a Naval Air Station beginning in 1914 established Pensacola as a military center, as well as a trade hub, and the opening of a bridge across Pensacola Bay in 1931 allowed for greater beach access and the development of the local tourism industry. This overall growth in both the population and the local economy corresponded to a larger and more stable Jewish community. When Temple Beth El’s synagogue suffered a major fire in 1929, the Reform congregation was able to rebuild a larger synagogue in 1931 (with seating for nearly 400 in the main sanctuary) despite the advent of the Great Depression. They still occupy the historic Art Deco synagogue as of 2019. At the time of its construction, Temple-Beth El consisted of around fifty families and claimed the title of second largest Reform congregation in Florida.
After holding services in rented spaces for more than 20 years, the Orthodox congregation B’nai Israel obtained its own building in 1923. The small, two-story structure, a former home at 400 N. Barcelona St., served as a synagogue, social hall, and cultural center, and the congregation converted the front rooms to serve as a sanctuary, complete with a mechitzah (divider) between men’s and women’s sections. The second floor served as a residence for the family of Rabbi Samuel Spector, who led the congregation for most of the 1920s. In addition to his ritual duties in the synagogue, Rabbi Spector performed brit milah ceremonies for male Jewish newborns, taught Hebrew, and acted as a kosher butcher.
Beyond the Reform and Orthodox communities, a third group of Jews organized sometime before 1930. Benjamin Bear—no relation to the other Jewish Bear family—was a Polish-born immigrant born in 1885. After moving to Pensacola in 1911, he started a dairy company with a brother and a sister. Bear and a group of about 15 Jews started a secular Jewish organization known as Sheyvet (‘tribe’ in Hebrew and Yiddish) that ran after-school classes in Yiddish language and culture for children. Core members likely subscribed to some variety of Jewish secular nationalism, but congregants from B’nai Israel also enrolled their children in the classes. Pensacola was also home to the Shams family during the early 20th century, who emigrated from the Ottoman Empire around 1916 and found their way to Pensacola after stops in Egypt and Mexico. While Ottoman Jews in larger cities often had little to do with Ashkenazi Jewish institutions, the Shams family found the Pensacola Jewish community welcoming and became active members in B’nai Israel.
For smaller Jewish communities such as Pensacola, recruiting and retaining spiritual leaders often proved challenging. Temple Beth El employed a series of rabbis during the 1910s and 1920s, with none staying for more than a few years. The position stabilized in 1928 with the arrival of Rabbi Martin Friedman, who served the congregation until his death in 1939.
The general population of Pensacola grew significantly in the early 20th century, from some 17,000 residents in 1900 to more than 37,000 by 1940. The years of fastest growth were 1900-1920, with a second, smaller surge during the 1930s. The presence of a Naval Air Station beginning in 1914 established Pensacola as a military center, as well as a trade hub, and the opening of a bridge across Pensacola Bay in 1931 allowed for greater beach access and the development of the local tourism industry. This overall growth in both the population and the local economy corresponded to a larger and more stable Jewish community. When Temple Beth El’s synagogue suffered a major fire in 1929, the Reform congregation was able to rebuild a larger synagogue in 1931 (with seating for nearly 400 in the main sanctuary) despite the advent of the Great Depression. They still occupy the historic Art Deco synagogue as of 2019. At the time of its construction, Temple-Beth El consisted of around fifty families and claimed the title of second largest Reform congregation in Florida.
Jewish Pensacola in the Mid-20th Century
Hadassah’s “Night of the Stars,” c. 1940s. This annual event combined professional, out-of-town performers with local talent and was a major fundraising and social event for decades. State Archives of Florida.
Florida Jewish communities, like many others in the South, experienced a flurry of activity with the United States’ entry into World War II. The Temple Beth El Sisterhood, which reached a membership of more than 100 women in the early 1940s, contributed to local USO activities, as did the Pensacola chapter of Hadassah, founded in the late 1930s. Both congregations provided hospitality to Jewish service members stationed in the area, and at least one Jewish chaplain served the Naval Station. More than 40 young Jewish men from Pensacola served in the U.S. military during the war.
As Pensacola Jews followed the news of the Jewish crisis in Europe and participated in the homefront war effort, they maintained their Jewish practices, including religious services and Jewish education. B’nai Israel had continued to grow, and members of the congregation began to discuss plans for a new synagogue in the early 1940s. The converted home that they had occupied for nearly 20 years showed signs of age, and the congregation desired a home that looked like a proper synagogue. According to congregational history, a bequest from E. and Ida Silberman allowed B’nai Israel to construct a new building on the corner of Ninth Street and Mallory Street, which was dedicated in 1954 under the leadership of Rabbi Jacob Holzman and President Abe Levin. The construction came at a time of transition for B’nai Israel; by the early 1950s, some members of the congregation had expressed interest in Conservative Judaism, and B’nai Israel affiliated with the Conservative movement in 1955. Temple Beth El launched its own construction project in the 1950s, with the addition of an education building adjacent to its Palafox Street synagogue.
Whereas B’nai Israel enjoyed rabbinical stability under the leadership of Jacob Holzman from 1942 to 1960, Temple Beth El experienced greater turnover. They employed three rabbis between 1940 and 1961, with apparent gaps between hires. In 1962, the congregation appointed Paula Ackerman as interim lay-leader. Mrs. Ackerman’s husband, Rabbi William Ackerman, had been the leader of Temple Beth Israel in Meridian, Mississippi, at the time of his death in 1950, and Paula Ackerman served as the congregation’s spiritual leader from 1951 to 1953. Mrs. Ackerman, known as the first woman to head a Jewish congregation in the United States, was a Pensacola native, so her five-month stint at Temple Beth El served as a homecoming. In July 1962, Rabbi N. William Schwartz assumed rabbinical duties at the congregation, a position that he held for 28 years.
Although Pensacola’s Jewish community was never especially large, the city’s Jewish residents continued to hold a prominent place in the public eye. In 1961, John Frenkel and B. Irvin Greenhut won election to the city council. Frenkel received more votes than any other candidate in the election, and Greenhut—son of former mayor Adolph Greenhut and a former city councilman himself—received the third highest share. Local B’nai B’rith president Milt Levinson told the Southern Israelite that the election marked “a significant acceptance of Jews by [the] community.”
As Pensacola Jews followed the news of the Jewish crisis in Europe and participated in the homefront war effort, they maintained their Jewish practices, including religious services and Jewish education. B’nai Israel had continued to grow, and members of the congregation began to discuss plans for a new synagogue in the early 1940s. The converted home that they had occupied for nearly 20 years showed signs of age, and the congregation desired a home that looked like a proper synagogue. According to congregational history, a bequest from E. and Ida Silberman allowed B’nai Israel to construct a new building on the corner of Ninth Street and Mallory Street, which was dedicated in 1954 under the leadership of Rabbi Jacob Holzman and President Abe Levin. The construction came at a time of transition for B’nai Israel; by the early 1950s, some members of the congregation had expressed interest in Conservative Judaism, and B’nai Israel affiliated with the Conservative movement in 1955. Temple Beth El launched its own construction project in the 1950s, with the addition of an education building adjacent to its Palafox Street synagogue.
Whereas B’nai Israel enjoyed rabbinical stability under the leadership of Jacob Holzman from 1942 to 1960, Temple Beth El experienced greater turnover. They employed three rabbis between 1940 and 1961, with apparent gaps between hires. In 1962, the congregation appointed Paula Ackerman as interim lay-leader. Mrs. Ackerman’s husband, Rabbi William Ackerman, had been the leader of Temple Beth Israel in Meridian, Mississippi, at the time of his death in 1950, and Paula Ackerman served as the congregation’s spiritual leader from 1951 to 1953. Mrs. Ackerman, known as the first woman to head a Jewish congregation in the United States, was a Pensacola native, so her five-month stint at Temple Beth El served as a homecoming. In July 1962, Rabbi N. William Schwartz assumed rabbinical duties at the congregation, a position that he held for 28 years.
Although Pensacola’s Jewish community was never especially large, the city’s Jewish residents continued to hold a prominent place in the public eye. In 1961, John Frenkel and B. Irvin Greenhut won election to the city council. Frenkel received more votes than any other candidate in the election, and Greenhut—son of former mayor Adolph Greenhut and a former city councilman himself—received the third highest share. Local B’nai B’rith president Milt Levinson told the Southern Israelite that the election marked “a significant acceptance of Jews by [the] community.”
Harry and Ann Kahn, dressed for the Fiesta of Five Flags, 1972. State Archives of Florida.
Even as Palafox Street, the former hub of Jewish commerce in the city, lost customers to new shopping centers outside downtown, Jewish business people maintained their prominence. Harry D. Kahn, for example, received the honor of portraying Don Tristan de Luna XXIII, the king of the annual Fiesta of Five Flags, in 1972. Martin “Trader Jon” and Jackii Weissman opened a bar called Trader Jon’s on Palafox Street in 1953 that became a hot spot for naval aviators at the nearby air station and eventually a famous attraction for aviation enthusiasts. Weissman became famous for his idiosyncratic business practices, and Trader Jon’s attracted aviation enthusiasts who came to see the huge collection of Navy memorabilia that he accumulated over several decades and displayed proudly in the bar. Weissman ran the bar until he suffered a stroke in 1997.
In the legal world, businessman Abe Levin’s son David started a law firm with future Florida Governor Reubin Askew in 1955. His brothers Frederic and Stanley later joined the firm, as well, and Frederic Levin became a major trial attorney. Frederic Levin’s most notable accomplishment was to draft a 1993 amendment to state law that would allow Florida to sue large tobacco companies for Medicaid expenses related to smoking. In 1998 the tobacco industry agreed to a $13 billion settlement with the State of Florida, and Levin’s firm earned a large fee from the case. Frederic Levin has made large donations to a number of educational and philanthropic institutions, including the University of Florida, which named its law school after him.
In the legal world, businessman Abe Levin’s son David started a law firm with future Florida Governor Reubin Askew in 1955. His brothers Frederic and Stanley later joined the firm, as well, and Frederic Levin became a major trial attorney. Frederic Levin’s most notable accomplishment was to draft a 1993 amendment to state law that would allow Florida to sue large tobacco companies for Medicaid expenses related to smoking. In 1998 the tobacco industry agreed to a $13 billion settlement with the State of Florida, and Levin’s firm earned a large fee from the case. Frederic Levin has made large donations to a number of educational and philanthropic institutions, including the University of Florida, which named its law school after him.
Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries
While some other Jewish communities experienced periods of rapid growth during the second half of the 20th century, Pensacola’s Jewish population increased slowly. An estimated 775 Jews lived in the area as of 1989, according to the American Jewish Year Book. When Temple Beth El celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2001, it had reached its highest membership with 200 family units. B’nai Israel reportedly served 100 family units at that time. As of 2015, an estimated 800 Jews live in the Pensacola area, although synagogue membership has decreased somewhat. A local Chabad center opened in Pensacola in 2018, with the hope of attracting locals as well as Jewish tourists.
Jewishly, Pensacola remains a small, southern community, despite the nearby white sand beaches and significant tourism economy. A number of longstanding families participate in the Jewish community, and Pensacola Jews maintain links to communities in Alabama and the Deep South. The Temple Beth El and B’nai Israel religious schools (which briefly combined in 2010-2013) have used the Institute of Southern Jewish Life Education Curriculum. As of 2019, Children from Temple Beth El participate in the Southern Region of the National Federation of Temple Youth, and many attend Jacobs Camp in Utica, Mississippi.
Jewishly, Pensacola remains a small, southern community, despite the nearby white sand beaches and significant tourism economy. A number of longstanding families participate in the Jewish community, and Pensacola Jews maintain links to communities in Alabama and the Deep South. The Temple Beth El and B’nai Israel religious schools (which briefly combined in 2010-2013) have used the Institute of Southern Jewish Life Education Curriculum. As of 2019, Children from Temple Beth El participate in the Southern Region of the National Federation of Temple Youth, and many attend Jacobs Camp in Utica, Mississippi.