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S: Anything stand out in your mind, in its history, that seems to be...?

W: Yeah, I hate to put this on tape, but as I was about to mention a few min-
 utes ago, the one thing that stands out in my particular mind is that the
 opposition in the community to the establishment of the home for the aged.
 I hate to give personal opinions, because that has nothing to do with his-
 tory, but....

S: As your opinion, we want to hear it.

W: The opposition was very intense. The leaders of the new Jewish center felt
 like anything that was against the center, taking away money from the center,
 was against the center, and that shouldn't be done. And some of the ones who
 were the most bitter antagonists of the organization of the home for the
 aged finally even spent their last days there. So....

S: Could you mention names or I don't want you to say anything thatyou don't
 feel we, we can't....

W: I could mention the names, but it wouldn't be any proof. They're deceased,
 and why say anything like that? I can tell you that one of the most
 vivid memories that I have is this opposition and it goes a step further.
 I would say that later on, in being active in the Jewish Community Council,
 again it's my opinion, and it doesn't mean that I'm right and everybody else
 is wrong, but the potential formation of a Jewish Community Center would have
 saved all the religious institutions of this city a tremendous amount of
 money, would have inspired many of the Jewish youths to intermingle more,
 to know each other better. But it was so bitterly opposed by the Jacksonville
 Jewish Center. To me, that was a calamity. Because now, well, I don't want
 to have to tell you about now, because we know about now, but I think that
 with that the religious institutions could have been really stronger. They
 wouldn't have had to have such a tremendous repetition of services. They
 could have been doing in one community center. It's been successful in
 other cities. Why we've never pushed it and pursued it was due to the
 strong opposition of a very strong person or persons. Now where do we go
 from here? What did we leave out?
 Let's go back with social activities. Back in 1930s, there were no
 big social clubs, because money being tight, everyone had to sort of form
 their own little intimate groups, and have social events at home, or per-
 haps have dinner together somewhere and try to have a little dance, or a little
 kind of affair of some kind. The only social group that other than in the
 early days, when some girls' groups, called the Jolly Eight and then finally
 the EMers-this is back in the, maybe the early twenties or so....But the
 men, I don't recall having any particular group, other than say the Young
 Judea groups and so forth. But at the Temple, which was the Reform group,
 they did have a men's social group called the Jesters. The Jesters was
 strictly a Reform group. With the Depression coming along and say 1930,
 "31, '32, the Reforms were not privileged to avoid the Depression. They
 were hit also, and the roster of their club became very weak. In the meantime,