When The Rabbis Came To Town

A World Premiere, The Waterworks, St. Augustine, Florida, June 17, 6 p.m.

On June 17, 1964, sixteen rabbis at an Atlantic City convention answered an emergency appeal from the Southern ChristIan Leadership Council’s Reverend Martin Luther King. They flew to St. Augustine, Florida to join civil rights protestors who had been beaten and confronted with death threats. A prayer service the following day in the parking lot of the segregated Monson Motel led to their immediate arrest by Ku Klux Klan members deputized by the local sheriff.

National media headlined this event, the largest arrest of rabbis in American history. While the rabbis put the finishing touches on their “Why We Went” letter in a tiny sweltering cell, the U.S. Senate immediately passed Lyndon Johnson’s long delayed Civil Rights bill 73-27. King credited the courageous rabbis for their decisive role in bringing down the curtain on more than 100 years of American segregation.

Acclaimed actor Adam Bell performs the role of Rabbi Allen Secher, the last of the 16 famous rabbis still alive. Following this world premiere event he will be joined by Rabbi Secher for an audience conversation.

Seating for this event is limited and advance reservations are recommended. All Ticket Sales Are Final. No Refunds or Exchanges.

For more information please contact the St. Augustine Film Society at staugustinefilmsociety@gmail.com . Contact producer Roger Rapoport at the Heartland Independent Film and Drama Forum at rogerdrapoport@me.com or (231) 720-0930 (voice only).