jewish community in dunwoody (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: work, sick, house)

[lucy2georgia]

we are thinking of moving to GA, currently we have been living in birmingham alabma for the past 2 years (previously from Chicago) and we are not very happy here. Next year my husband will finish his residency and we are trying to decide where to move. Although I want to go back to chicago, our options there are limited. My husband would love to move to the Atlanta area. I am trying to get a feel for the jewish community. I am sick of living in areas where people are anti-semitic and look at you strangely once they find out you are Jewish. Just wondering what it is like in Atlanta, and what cities would be recommended.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Wow Lucy, you must not be in Mountain Brook! I've only been here for short while, but I assume there's a strong Jewish community in Dunwoody. The Kroger has a kosher deli and even kosher desserts!

I've seen a couple of temples in the area, and at least one school.

[LovinDecatur]

I don't think you'll encounter strange looks here. I would recommend:
Dunwoody
Sandy Springs
East Cobb
North Druid Hills/Toco Hills (sizable Orthodox community)

[lastminutemom]

Parts of Alpharetta, too.

There is a large Jewish community in Dunwoody. If you are young, you might want to consider Buckhead/intown as many young Jewish families are settling intown.

I agree with Roslyn-- you must not be in Mountain Brook.

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

There is a large Jewish community in Dunwoody.

Actually, for someone new to town and wanting to network, it might be desirable to be close to the MJCCA in Dunwoody.

MJCCA

[lucy2georgia]

We had one weekend to buy a house and no, not in mt. brook. We had not idea what we were doing. My kids however, do go to preschool at the JCC in Mt. Brook.

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by lucy2georgia

We had one weekend to buy a house and no, not in mt. brook. We had not idea what we were doing. My kids however, do go to preschool at the JCC in Mt. Brook.

So weird to think you get that reaction anywhere in the US in this day and age because you're Jewish.

[lucy2georgia]

Thanks for all the info this is really helpful. Unfortunately it is not too uncommon to come across anti-Semitic people. I think a lot has to do with people not being exposed to Jewish people. I had an experience with a supervisor of mine in Chicago (where you would never think this would happen) making an anti-Semitic remark that I overheard. I have found here in Birmingham (outside of Mt. Brook and maybe Homewood) that people just have never meet any Jewish people and don’t know what to expect. It is truly sad, but it is a reality. That is why I want to raise my children in an area that they will not encounter this and will not feel different from all their peers.

[CMMom]

Atlanta has a sizeable Jewish population. Dunwoody, especially, is on the rise because we have the MJCC. I'm not Jewish, but my understanding is that we have both Orthodox and Reform. You didn't mention your leanings, but you can probably find whatever you need in Dunwoody.

[rackensack]

The swath of the northern metro area just outside I-285 from about Peachtree Industrial Blvd on the east to approximately Powers Ferry Road on the west, encompassing Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Roswell, East Cobb/Marietta, and to some extent Alpharetta, is where you'll find the largest, most diverse Jewish community.

As others have said, Dunwoody has several shuls of different denominations as well as the main campus of the Marcus Jewish Community Center, and of course a large, diverse Jewish population. Sandy Springs has a handful of shuls also, and there are Reform and Conservative shuls in East Cobb as well. There's a list organized by neighborhood at Atlanta's Synagogues listed by neighborhoods, but oddly it omits the East Cobb synagogues. I made a Google Map a while back for another thread here that shows the locations of most of them, which you can find here -- note that there's four pages to the map (couldn't figure out how to get them all on one page).

The largest Orthodox community is around the Toco Hills area in northeastern Atlanta, inside the perimeter, just northeast of Emory University. There aren't a lot of shuls of other denominations in the area, however -- Shearith Israel (egalitarian Conservative) and Anshi S'Fard (Orthodox/Sephardic) are in the Virginia-Highland/Morningside area just west of Toco Hills, Congregation Shaarei Shamayim (traditional -- split from Shearith Israel when it adopted egalitarian practices) is on the western edge of Toco Hills, and Congregation Or VeShalom (Conservative Sephardic) is just north of Toco Hills in Brookhaven.

There are eruvim in Toco Hills, Virginia-Highlands, Sandy Springs, and Dunwoody, if that's a consideration at all.

We live in the East Roswell area (Centennial High area) and are members at Temple Emanu-El in Dunwoody. I always see plenty of Centennial High sweatshirts/t-shirts and Holcomb Bridge Middle/Hillside Elem/River Eves Elem car magnets when I'm dropping off or picking up the kids from religious school, and I don't think either of my school-age kids has been the only Jewish kid in their class since moving into this area. I know several families who live in Alpharetta who attend Emanu-El also, so it's not as if you have to actually live in Dunwoody or Sandy Springs or East Cobb or Toco Hills to be around other Jewish people, but there's certainly more of us in those areas.