Jewish in Tega Cay/Fort Mill (Columbia, Charleston: neighborhood, good schools, quality of life)

[amynoel]

Hi All-
My husband, myself, and my 2 daughters (3 yrs. and 8 mo.) are planning to move to the Carolinas from Huntington, NY after the 06-07 school year. I'm a teacher and my husband a business analyst/controller in the restaurant/food service industry. I've spent a lot of time doing research on the Carolinas and have narrowed my search down to Tega Cay and Fort Mill in SC or south of Charlotte in NC. One area I'm having a difficult time finding info. on is Jewish life in the area. My husband was brought up Jewish and myself Episcopal. In NY, interfaith marriages are common these days and the Jewish religion is as typical as any christian religion. We do not practice one religion over the other and we basically just celebrate the holidays we have each been brought up celebrating at this point. We're wondering how we would be accepted in the area? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

[lovethecarolinas]

Originally Posted by amynoel

Hi All-
My husband, myself, and my 2 daughters (3 yrs. and 8 mo.) are planning to move to the Carolinas from Huntington, NY after the 06-07 school year. I'm a teacher and my husband a business analyst/controller in the restaurant/food service industry. I've spent a lot of time doing research on the Carolinas and have narrowed my search down to Tega Cay and Fort Mill in SC or south of Charlotte in NC. One area I'm having a difficult time finding info. on is Jewish life in the area. My husband was brought up Jewish and myself Episcopal. In NY, interfaith marriages are common these days and the Jewish religion is as typical as any christian religion. We do not practice one religion over the other and we basically just celebrate the holidays we have each been brought up celebrating at this point. We're wondering how we would be accepted in the area? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

hey there amynoel: I live in Tega Cay, SC. Prior to Tega Cay I lived in California. I can tell you there is definitely more churches out this way then CA. I can tell you too that there are more churchgoers here than in CA. What I can't tell you though is how many of my friends and neighbors around here have interfaith marriages....why can't I tell you?....because it doesn't seem to be very important here either. Now here's the thing....if you can accept us saying Hey to you, and smiling and waving as you drive by...then by all means..Come On Down!

[amynoel]

Thanks so much for your response. We don't mind being the ony interfaith family in town as long as we're accepted as a part of the community. Waves, smiles, heys are all great! I understand the community is rich in churches which doesn't bother us ( I am Protestant afterall) and we don't need a temple within arms reach. We just need to be sure our children are going to be accepted within the community and in schools by their peers and parents. I can't imagine that anyone would avoid them based on religious practices (or lack there of) but I'm coming from an extremely diverse area (NY) making this assumption so I'm looking for first hand opinions. Thanks so much for yours!

[sal707]

Recently having made the move from NY, I can tell you, that it is what you make of it. People here are very excepting and more concerned with other isssues. I was tired of NY and the declining way of life. One thing I noticed, is that many Northerners come here and constantly compare the New York Lifestyle to here. After a while it gets very tiring and you wonder, if you miss New York so much, why did you come here. I am very satisfy and happy here and in my opinion, New York can't hold up to the quality of life. The peace, the tranquility, the friendly atmosphere, and the southern hospitality can never be compared. I grew up in NY for 34 years and every day, it is very warming to know I made the move, wish I would have done sooner! Good luck!

[amynoel]

Thanks SAL707. I appreciate the feedback. As of now, we're coming in a year. While I'll miss many aspects of NY I'm sure, I look forward to new beginnings and a better quality of life which I believe I can have in SC. Thanks for the reassurance that people are accepting. That's all I needed to boost my confidence as we make this move.

[anonymous]

South Carolinians always get a bad wrap in popular culture and the media about being racist, intolerant, or just generally backwards. There are cases where "it" (i.e. the stereotypical bad things about southerners) is true, but they're usually due to cultural ignorance rather than malicious intent.

I really don't think you'll have any sort of problems with your religion, even in small towns. Depending on where you move, you may have a difficult time finding a synagogue or a strong Jewish community. But as far as being accepted goes, I've always found that southerners are very neutral when it comes to Judaism.

On a side note, Forest Acres (in Columbia, SC) has two very large synagogues on Forest Drive, in a good neighborhood w/ good schools. Charleston, SC is known for having a decent sized Jewish population, and it has a really cool Greek doric temple as a synagogue.

[anonymous]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=1140575

this is an NPR story about "The Jews of South Carolina", talking about the strong Jewish history of SC. Lots of interesting trivia I did not know about.

[lovethecarolinas]

here are a couple of other links that might of interest to you amynoel

www.sabbathrest.org

www.charlottejcc.org

www.jewishcharlotte.org

www.tegacaysc.org

www.fort-mill.k12.sc.us

[amynoel]

I truly appreciate all the feedback. Thank You!!! I'll check out those links.

[larryhaley]

Saw your post while seaching for something else, my wife and myself and our two daughters, ( 3 years old as of dec 15, and one due Feb 23, 2007) are moving from Syracuse, NY to Tega Cay in April, We are also interfaith, myself Jewish, my wife Catholic. So you will not be the only one, i have been told that Charotte have a strong Jewish commiuty, but it will be nothing like northern Long Island.

Good luck with the move.

Larry
Hi All-
My husband, myself, and my 2 daughters (3 yrs. and 8 mo.) are planning to move to the Carolinas from Huntington, NY after the 06-07 school year. I'm a teacher and my husband a business analyst/controller in the restaurant/food service industry. I've spent a lot of time doing research on the Carolinas and have narrowed my search down to Tega Cay and Fort Mill in SC or south of Charlotte in NC. One area I'm having a difficult time finding info. on is Jewish life in the area. My husband was brought up Jewish and myself Episcopal. In NY, interfaith marriages are common these days and the Jewish religion is as typical as any christian religion. We do not practice one religion over the other and we basically just celebrate the holidays we have each been brought up celebrating at this point. We're wondering how we would be accepted in the area? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!