Religious timeline of the atlanta jewish community
- 1867: The only synagogue in Atlanta is the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation known as The Temple
- 1887: An influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe come to Atlanta. They are not welcomed by the current predominantly German/Yiddish Jewish population and therefore form their own synagogue: Ahavath Achim
- 1902: Ahavath Achim Rabbi B. Meyerowitz began to deliver his sermons in English.
- 1904: Orthodox Jews founded a synagogue and called it Shearith Israel. The synagogue was actually in an old church because they were too poor to construct a new building.
- 1906: A Conservative congregation is formed called Beth Israel out of demand for a synagogue less orthodox than Shearith Israel but more religious than The Temple, which was very reform.
- 1906: Two sephardic congregations form in Atlanta following the immigration of Jews from Rhodes (Greek Island) and Turkey.
- 1914: Both sephardic congregations finally merge and form the Oriental Hebrew Association.
- Intermarriage between the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews was not common until after 1940.
All of the historic content on this webpage is cited from Arnold Shankman's article Atlanta Jewry
Header photo courtesy of Sound and Scripture
Header photo courtesy of Sound and Scripture