Come celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month with us

Celebrate Jewish American

Heritage Month

We are celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month with a fact-a-day program. Every day we will be posting a new fact that can also be found on our Facebook Page and Twitter (@JCRCAtlanta). We will also be sharing other links and sources of information as we go, so please share! We would love to have your suggestions to add to our resources!

You can also sign up for a daily email through the month of May.

May 2

The first Jewish community in Georgia started in 1733 in Savannah with 90 Jews of Portuguese and German descent. They were financed by the Jewish community of London and established Congregation Mickve Israel almost immediately bringing with them a Torah and a circumcision box. It is the third oldest Jewish congregation in America.

In 1820, this congregation built the first synagogue in Georgia, replacing it with a new Gothic-style synagogue in 1876-1878. The Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue in Charleston, SC, is the oldest synagogue in continuous use. It was built in 1840 to house Congregation Beth Elohim, which was established in 1749. The congregation is often cited as the home of Reform Judaism in the US.

A New Colossus

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Emma Lazarus, 1904,

Statute of Liberty

We look forward to conncting with our Jewish peoplehood and through our shared heritage. Feel free to share with the links below! Contact Leslie Anderson at info@jcrcatlanta.org or 770-366-7686 with questions, concerns or ideas.

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