Congregation B'nai Israel

"A home for your total Jewish experience on the Southside of Atlanta"

 

B'nai Israel History


History is what ties Jews together. The Jewish people have endured and enjoyed thousands of years of history. At Congregation B'nai Israel, we are celebrating more than 25 years as a group of Jews praying, celebrating simchas, mourning deaths, and watching children grow up together. Our humble beginnings took place after a chance meeting of local Jews at a "Who Shot J.R." party in the fall of 1981. At this party, an idea developed into a plan to invite all the local Jews to a community meeting at Sears in Southlake Mall. This significant meeting took place on November 13, 1981. Thus, Congregation B'nai Israel was born. Over the years, the vision of five families has grown into a vibrant, active congregation of over 110 families.

Our "temple" for twenty years was Christ Our Hope Lutheran Church in Riverdale. There were twenty years of transforming a church into a synagogue every Friday night, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and B'nai Mitzvot. In 1989, the seed of a vision to build a synagogue was planted with the purchase of our land on Highway 54 at Corinth Road. It took another twelve years of building fund drives and meetings until our groundbreaking ceremony on April 16, 2002. Our beautiful synagogue was built, furnished, and ready just five months later. It was all completed just in the whisker of time for Erev Rosh Hashanah on September 6, 2002.

We are blessed to have two incredible Torah scrolls. Our Holocaust scroll has been on loan from the Westminster Torah Trust in England since April 1984. This Torah had been confiscated in Sobeslav, Czechoslovakia and catalogued by the Nazis for their "Museum of an Extinct Race." The Holocaust Scroll was our only Torah and there was concern about how frail it was becoming. Our "new" Torah was commissioned, then the scribe arrived with his kosher ink and quill and finished the Torah for us on July 1, 1984. These two Torahs, both with phenomenal backgrounds, have become our link to the past and our path to the future.

We have had a long list of religious leadership with three part-time Rabbis and eight student Rabbis. We are fortunate Rabbi Louis Feldstein came into our lives virtually the minute we started worship in our new synagogue in 2002. Rabbi Feldstein's education, insight, humor, and knowledge of Judaism have brought us to a new level of prayer. Our own numerous, dedicated lay-leaders and our Cantorial Soloist, Susan Levine has provided our continuous religious experience. Susan had volunteered as our Cantorial Soloist since 1986. In 1998, Susan became our paid Cantorial Soloist and has taken on even more responsibilities as our Administrator. Over the years, Susan has become the backbone of our spirituality and religious identity at Congregation B'nai Israel.

The history of Congregation B'nai Israel is merely the introduction to a great future for Jews in the south Atlanta metro area. We are a close-knit group of people dedicated to living the wonders of Judaism. As we grow, we must remember our humble beginnings and continuously strive to make Congregation B'nai Israel a great synagogue and a meaningful place to worship.

Ralph Ellis, President 2006-2010



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