Florida's interesting Jewish history

On May 27, Heritage Florida Jewish News employee Gil Dombrosky, along with his wife, Risa, and daughter, Karyn, attended a lecture on the Jewish History of Florida at the DeLand Regional Library. Sam Friedman, former director of Stetson University Hillel and now chief development officer of Shalom Orlando, presented the program.

Some interesting facts presented were:

• The first Jewish congregations in the state were Ahavath Chesed in Jacksonville and Temple Bethel in Pensacola, both claiming to be the oldest synagogue founded in 1898.

• The first Jewish settler, Isidore Cohen, arrived in Miami in 1896, three months before the first train. He also was the first merchant to open a store in the city.

• In 1953, following 26 mayors, Abe Aronovitz became the first Jewish mayor of Miami.

• Florida's one and only Jewish governor was David Scholtz, who served from 1933-1937. His parents were Russian Jews.