Education = Tolerance

Florida was brought into statehood by David Levy Yulee, a Jew, but its history is scattered with periods of anti-Semitism. During the early Twentieth Century, it was rare to find Jewish families north of Miami Beach’s Fifth Street. Jews were banned during Spanish control in the Eighteenth Century (way before Mel Gibson was born), when only Catholics were invited to stay. Nonetheless both the State of Florida and Miami Beach have prospered from their Jewish residents, and it’s time to celebrate that heritage when Florida Jewish History Month kicks off today at 10:30 a.m. at the Jewish Museum of Florida.

The event highlights the newly restored museum, which is housed in the first synagogue on Miami Beach (built in 1929). Exhibits include “An Artist’s Look at Architecture: Does the World Have to Look Like It Does?” “Shanghai’s Jewish History: A Hundred Years in Fifty Minutes,” “Jewish Genealogy: The Process and the Results,” and much more.
Sun., Jan. 7, 10:30 a.m.