Sixteen Rabbis

Lessons in Stirring Up Trouble from the St. Augustine Movement

by Jay Saper

From his jail cell in St. Augustine, Florida, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dictated a message to have telegrammed to his friend Rabbi Israel Sy Dresner. Before long, sixteen rabbis boarded a plane to fly down to Florida.

On June 18, 1964, Dr. C.T. Vivian and Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth led the rabbis to a sit-in at the Monson Motor Lodge. When motel owner James Brock denied them service, they knelt down to pray and Brock attacked them. The largest mass arrest of rabbis in the history of the United States unfolded.

The commotion diverted attention away from the motel’s pool, where two white guests brought their Black friends to swim. When Brock discovered the dive-in taking place, he grabbed two gallons of muriatic acid and poured them into the pool.

Photographs capturing this moment circulated across the globe. The very next day, the Senate ended its filibuster and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law.

I was fortunate to develop a friendship with Rabbi Dresner in his later years. It is the wisdom I gained through our conversations together that I distilled into this zine, Sixteen Rabbis: Lessons in Stirring Up Trouble from the St. Augustine Movement, a direct action manual to honor the legacy of the movement that I gifted to Rabbi Dresner on his 90th birthday.

I have had the honor of leading direct action workshops with dear friends based on this zine for young Jewish activists across the country. I hope you find it as supportive as they have for your own efforts to stir up trouble. Reach out if you’re interested in a workshop with your group.