- This topic has 39 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 9 months ago by .
-
Posts
-
Does anyone have any information regarding the frum community in Atlanta, Ga. I hear it is a well-established community with a close-knit, growing (spiritually) population. Any other details?
Beautiful community. BT oriented. There are 3 main shuls in the “main area” One orthodox/mainstream with a kollel(Beth Jacob and Atlanta Scholars Kollel), one modern orthox(Young Israel of Toco Hills), and one sefardi(Ner Hamizrach). Elementary school (Torah Day School of Atlanta), Temima High School for Girls, Yeshiva Ohr Yisroel for boys. More left wing Yeshiva Atlanta(co-ed), Greenfield Hebrew Academy(elementary- non deneminational). Two main grocery stores(chains) with kosher meats, deli, and dairy. One has full kosher bakery. One butcher. Restaurants include chinese, dairy/vegetarian, schwarma, ice cream/ fro places. Check out kosheratlanta.com for more info. This is all in Toco Hills.
About 20 minutes from Toco is a smaller community in Dunwoody that is also growing. Congregation Ariel(sister congregation to BJ and part of kollel) is located there. This is a very close-knit community and is still very small. It is led by a wonderful family.
The main(i.e. biggest) Chabad is in an area called Sandy Springs . Congregation Beth Tefillah.
are you planning on moving to Atlanta?
Had the pleasure of stopping there for a Shabbos. Very sweet community. Humid as heck in the Summer, though!
The Chabad in Sandy Springs is fairlylarge.They built a beautiful new building several years ago that besides the shul has catering facilities and classrooms. Between 100-200 people raven there on an average shabbos.theyalso started a shabbos minyan for Israelis, vj
If you have any other or more specific questions dont hesitate to ask me.
If you want to know the rabbis:
Beth Jacob: Rabbi Ilan Feldman, Rabbi Yechezkel Freundlich
Atlanta Scholars Kollel: Rabbi Doniel Pransky
Ariel: Rabbi Binyomin Friedman, Rabbi Michoel Friedman
Chabad Beth Tefillah: Rabbi Yossi New, Rabbi Yossi Lew
Young Israel Toco Hills: Rabbi Adam Starr
Hope this also helps if you want to look anyone up and get a better feel for what you are looking for.
Explanation: Southern Hospitality and love for a fellow yid.
And where else but in a place like Atlanta will you hear someone say “Shabbat Shalom Y’all”?
Minyan Gal, its funny but I dont think I ever heard those words all used in the same phrase. I get the point though.
KIEBE: If you do decide to come for a Shabbos, let me know and I can try to set you up for hospitality. I can host for meals but dont have room for sleeping arrangements at the mpment but can set you up with another family for that.
We are 5 hours from Savannah, and that is a very small community with not so many resources( i.e. food, schooling options). I think Jacksonville is about 6 hours and Miami is 12. I am one of the minority of multi-generational Georgians. Many members of our community are Northern “transplants”. We’ve become northernized.
We do not feel isolated though, I meant to say, as we have everything we need..and more. There is also a strong connection to Baltimore, which the BJ/ASK community is really a product of (Ner Israel) and are B’H zoche to have many well known Rabbonim and speakers frequent our community.
Also, if you dont mind me asking where are you located now?
Ah, Queens. Yes, we are a very different “living” than Queens. In a good way. Queens is good too.-just noiser and more fast paced NY., although Atlanta is getting a lot faster paced than it used to.
Sender Av-I have been to Atlanta twice (quite a number of years ago) and found it to be a delightful place. I didn’t get much of a chance to learn much about the Jewish community as I was accompanying my ex-hubby on a business convention. I did get quite a laugh at the one Jewish house of worship that I passed on Peachtree called “The Temple”. To this day, it makes me laugh to think of an unfortunate, unnamed, generic temple – almost as if when they were building it, they coudn’t afford a name.
As for Savannah, I was there about 7 years ago. For a small community, it does have a lot to offer. It is a great tourist spot with the oldest synagogue in the south. It does have at least 3 synagogues, a day school/JCC and, according to the American Jewish Federations, the Jews in Savannah donate more money per capita than any other Jewish community in the US – of course, the stats are at least 7 yrs. old, but still very amazing.
Minyan gal, very funny. The Temple is actually probably the synagogue with the most money. Unfortunately most members are probably not Jewish.
Our community should be on the map. It was featured in both Mishpacha and Hamodia magazines this past year.
Sender Av, I agree with you. Religion aside, many articles have been written about Atlanta and how “livable” a city it is. It is very beautiful and relatively easy to get around, except for the high number of streets with the name Peachtree in them. That could be confusing – of course, I was there in the pre-GPS era. I even was able to navigate quite well using public transit. And most importantly, I felt safe there. A year after being in Atlanta, I visited New Orleans and did not feel safe for one second. I think you are very lucky to live in such a nice community.
Kish, are you still planning on checking out ATL?
Mishpacha’s site has archives. The Back Issues link will take you to a page with the cover pages of all of their magazines since July 2010. I’m sure if you enlarge each cover you’ll see which one has the article about Atlanta that you’re interested in.
Josh Echad, Queens, like each borough has its open leafy areas. (Jamaica Estates )and its overcrowded congested areas (Kew Garden Hills, Forest Hills ). Staten Island, with the its low population and absence of apartment houses on most of the island is most oot
Could I revive this conversation? Anything new to say here about the Atlanta community? We are thinking to move there and would also like to know if there are jobs around and if it is relatively affordable? Is there a welcoming committee? 🙂 (that was a bit of a joke)
I was in Atlanta on business for a few weeks years ago and have nothing but positive things to say about the community (and not just the Jewish population).
The only thing I found disconcerting is that just about every street and avenue seems to be named with some variation of “peachtree”. How’s a Northeastern Yankee supposed to find his way around the place even with a map?!
I just checked and Delta as 35 daily flights from Atlanta to New York between 6am and 10pm. There are seven additional flights to the Westchester County Airport. I flew to Atlanta from NY just last week for $250 RT. The flights go to all NY airports and take about 2 1/2 hours.
Unemployment in the Atlanta area is now 5.9%. New York is only 5.6%. If you really want a strong job market, try Fargo, North Dakota: 2.5% unemployment with a Chabad. .
The following story was told to me by my grandmother appoximately 50 years ago, and it serves as a warning for anyone considering Atlanta.
Two Satmars went to Atlanta, got on a bus, and were the objects of ridicule by several people on the bus. The Satmars changed buses, changed direction, tried walking, but there always people following and ridiculing them. Finally one of the Satmars said to one of the people ridiculing them: “What’s the matter with you? Ain’t you ever before seen a Yenkee?”
Mfgo3, your castigating a community over something that, if it happened at all, occurred over 50 years ago? I was in Atlanta two weeks ago and found it very pleasant. Whether we took the MARTA or a tram, you g men, both black and white, immediately got up and offered their seats to my wife and I. When we exuted MARTA ( Atlanta’s rail network) and couldn’t find the Coca Cola museum, a young man saw we were lost and, walking out of his way, took us there (I was wearing a kippa ). There is a boys yeshiva high schoola ( soon to move into a bigger campus after receiving approval rwo weeks ago from the zoning board ) and a girls yeshivas high school. Besides kosher groceries, two big chains ( Publix and Kroger ) both have large kosher food sections with good hashgachas, including meat, fresh baked goods and wine
Is there a proper Kollel there? I get the sense that all of the Orthodox shuls are also doing kiruv. That is fine…I am just trying to get a feel of the community and what to expect in terms of yiddishkite and hashkafa. Thanks!
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.