Congregation Beth Jacob (Atlanta)

Beth Jacob Atlanta
Basic information
Location 1855 Lavista Road, Atlanta, Georgia, US
Geographic coordinates 33°49′00″N 84°19′35″W / 33.816625°N 84.326498°W / 33.816625; -84.326498Coordinates: 33°49′00″N 84°19′35″W / 33.816625°N 84.326498°W / 33.816625; -84.326498
Affiliation Orthodox Judaism
Status Active
Leadership Senior rabbi: Ilan D. Feldman
Website www.bethjacobatlanta.org

Congregation Beth Jacob is an Orthodox congregation located at 1855 Lavista Road in Atlanta, Georgia. It is Atlanta's largest Orthodox congregation.[1]

The synagogue first held services in the fall of 1942 for traditional Jews living on the north side of the railroad tracks (today's Old Fourth Ward).[2] It was officially founded in 1943 by eight individuals who were concerned with what they saw as a move away from Orthodoxy by Atlanta's Ahavath Achim synagogue. The eleven petitioners for the original charter were Maurice Gavronski, Frank Taffel, M.S. Katz, A. Tenenbaum, E. Miller, Sam Kingloff, R. Shavin, H. Pfeffer, S. Miller, J. Prolotsky, and H. Epstein.[3] The first location was a converted house on Boulevard.[4]

Yosef Saffra became the first rabbi in 1951; at the time the congregation had forty members. Emanuel Feldman joined as rabbi in 1952, then a newly married young graduate of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel of Baltimore, Maryland. In 1956 the congregation moved to a former church on Boulevard, and in 1962 moved to its current location in Toco Hills. At that time the synagogue had grown to 190 families. Membership reached 500 families in 1976, and 560 by 1994.[4]

Feldman remained with the synagogue for 39 years until his retirement in 1991. His son, Ilan D. Feldman, took over as rabbi, and is currently the spiritual leader of Beth Jacob. [5][4]

Because of the influence and activity of Beth Jacob in the Jewish life of Atlanta, a large number of Jews moved into the area along LaVista Road. Eventually, this led to the establishment of 5 other Jewish congregations near by as well as an Orthodox high school for girls (Temima) and Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael, an Orthodox high school for boys. Also, Torah Day School of Atlanta, an Orthodox elementary school, moved to the area.

References

  1. ↑ "Congregation Beth Jacob Hires a New Assistant Rabbi" Archived 2010-02-18 at the Wayback Machine., Congregation Beth Jacob website. Accessed March 6, 2010.
  2. ↑ "New Congregation on North Side Organized". The Southern Israelite. 4 September 1942. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  3. ↑ Petition for Charter. Congregation Beth Jacob. Southern Israelite. June 18, 1943 p 6.
  4. 1 2 3 Olitzky, Kerry M.; Raphael, Marc Lee. The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook, Greenwood Press, 1996, ISBN 0-313-28856-9, p. 111.
  5. ↑ Staff Archived 2009-08-12 at the Wayback Machine., Congregation Beth Jacob website. Accessed March 6, 2010.
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