Historically, Jews have lived in Atlanta since its founding (georgiaencyclopedia.org). The business needs of Jews combined with their economic needs contributed to their cultural, political and educational settlement in society. These principles exist today and the population is continually growing. The statistic that Atlanta ranks number 16 as a metropolitan city with the most amount of Jewish residents is both surprising and fascinating. An article written in 2006 from the Jerusalem Post, comments on the surge in Atlanta's Jewish Population. When Rabbis Mario Karpuj and Analia Bortz chose to leave South America for a stable country and a thriving Jewish community, they considered two cities: New York and Atlanta. When visiting Atlanta the two Rabbis "fell in love with the community" paying attention to the variety of Jewish day schools and synagogues the city had to offer (Pomerance, 2006). The two noted that Atlanta was the place to be and applied through the Conservative movement to start the congregation and lead it. In this article, Pomerance notes how 15 applications were submitted in solely three days for the exact same position, a number nearly unheard of, reflecting the draw of Atlanta. In the past decade, Atlanta's Jewish population has risen 60 percent to 120,000 (Pomerance, 2006). A recent survey of the community could provide insight into the new landscape of Atlanta Jewry. Historically, Atlanta is a hybrid city, a city with both natives and newcomers, which creates challenges and integration, whilst combining integration and success for intact institutions and establishments. As the city has sprawled in several directions, so has the Jewish community, encompassing 7 distinct areas where Jews are mainly populated. Michael Jacobs, of the Atlanta Jewish Times offers optimism to the cities Jewish population by stating, "Atlanta's got the right combination of history and youth and energy and space and the right economy" (Pomerance, 2006). This article was interesting as Pomerance makes note of the struggles and obstacles Atlanta faces while trying to maintain its Jewish population. Pomerance explains how some challenges include trying to unite Atlanta's Jews, being that Atlanta is unique in that it is a hybrid city. This offers a challenge to the Jewish community. Likewise, another challenge is the decrease in students enrolled in Jewish day schools. Perhaps the reason it has not kept up its pace is because the institutions are not sufficiently spread out enough to reach the population.
The Jewish population in the south, specifically in Atlanta, is continually growing and several resources exist for Jewish residents to look to for support, help and advice (atljewishlife.com). The last quarter of the twentieth century saw tremendous growth of the Jewish population in Atlanta. This era was filled with small numbers of immigrants from Iran, Russia, South Africa and Israel combined with transplants from the North and other cities in the South. In 1992, it was estimated that there were roughly 70,000 Jews residing in Atlanta (georgiaencyclopedia.org). Nearly a decade later, the metropolitan city served as home to roughly twenty-five synagogues, seven Jewish day schools and the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum (georgiaencyclopedia.org). In 1967, the federation reorganized under Max C. Getting and still again under David Sarnat during the 1990's to meet the changing needs of the Jewish population. Today, many of Atlanta's Jews participate in numerous programs and activities to visit Israel. Overall, there is a positive connotation associated with jews in Atlanta, as these individuals remain active members of society and consciously contribute to the thriving nature of the community.
In addition, an article written by Anthony Weiss in 2008 titled "Growing Number of Jews Have Georgia on Their Mind" explains how Jewish leaders and civilians are scrambling to cope with the expansion of Jewish explosion in this sprawling southern boomtown. There are an estimated 4,300 new Jews a year moving to Atlanta, which has become one of the fasting growing Jewish cities in the country (Weiss, 2008). This growth is combined with infusing Jewish life in Atlanta with novel energy and momentum, which in turn put a strain on the cities organizations, institutions and synagogues to accommodate the influx of Jews. For much of its history, Atlanta was an uneasy place to be a Jew, it is remarkable to see how this has shifted to becoming one of the most prominent and aspired cities to live in for American Jews.
Today, Judaism in Atlanta is so enormous that the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta exists to help care for Jews in need and to build a strong Jewish community (jewish atlanta.org). The mission of the federation is to bring people together and to deepen engagement in Jewish life and to strengthen Jewish identity by creating connections among Jews both locally and globally. Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta is a community-driven organization that helps connect Jews in Atlanta and around the world through different programs, affiliates and services. Several funding efforts, such as the Annual Campaign, Federation is able to build and sustain educational, social, cultural and recreational benefits that strengthen the Atlanta Jewish community.
Although the amount of Jews in Atlanta is continually growing, there are still signs of antisemitism in the city. For example, the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta received another bomb threat in the middle of March 2017 (ajc.com). This is the second threat that the Jewish center, which also contains a school on its property, has received since the start of the year (ajc.com). In early March 2017, other signs of anti-Semitism broke out, such as four Anti-Defamation league offices receiving bomb threats. These threatening phone calls came on the same day a school and four Jewish Community Centers were targeted in yet another round of nationwide threats. Within the last three months, there has been a report 160 threats to Jewish institutions (ajc.com). These incidents warrant greater concern over the Jewish population in Atlanta.
In recent years, Jews have remained active in Atlanta Metropolitan Area. Sam Olens, a prominent Georgian politician is often credited with this increase involvement. Olens is part of large wave of Northern-born Jews who have changed the Atlanta Jewish community over the last few decades. Jewish Atlanta has grown along with the city itself. The Atlanta metropolitan area grew from 726,789 people in 1950 to 4,247,981 in 2000. Atlanta remains one of the fastest growing cities in America, with its metro area growing 38% between 1990 and 2000. The Jewish community of Atlanta has grown at an even faster pace than the city itself (ISJL.org).
In the 21st century, Atlanta has become one of the ten largest Jewish communities in the United States, and its tremendous growth shows no signs of stopping. Drawn by its attractive economy, temperature and vibrant Jewish social and cultural life, young Jews raised in smaller cities and towns continuously flock to Atlanta. How the Atlanta Jewish community manages this enormous growth will profoundly shape its history in the 21st century and beyond.
Bauman, Mark K. "Jewish Community of Atlanta." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 11 October 2016. Web. 11 April 2017. http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Atlantas-Jewish-population-surges https://jewishatlanta.org Weiss, Anthony. "Growing Number of Jews Have Georgia on Their Mind." The Forward. N.p., 13 Mar. 2008. Web. 11 Apr. 2017. <http://forward.com/news/12941/growing-number-of-jews-have-georgia-on-their-mind-01480/>. http://www.isjl.org/georgia-atlanta-encyclopedia.html