Dothan, AL – Blumberg is chairman of an organization offering Jewish families as much as $50,000 to relocate to Dothan. Get involved at Temple Emanu-El and stay at least five years, the group’s leaders say, and the money doesn’t have to be repaid.
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More Jews are living in the South than ever — about 386,000 at last count in 2001, according to Stuart Rockoff, a historian at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, Miss. But young Jews are leaving small places like Dothan in favor of cities like Atlanta and Birmingham, Rockoff said, and dozens of small-town synagogues have closed.
“A lot of the older people have died, and not many of the younger ones have stayed,” said Thelma Nomberg, a member of the Dothan temple who grew up in nearby Ozark, where she was the only Jewish student in public school in the 1940s. “We are dying.”
Launched in June, the Blumberg program has put advertisements in Jewish newspapers in Boston, Miami, Providence, R.I., and Washington, and it plans to expand the campaign.
“I think it’s important that we try to find young people that we could use in our religious school, our Sunday school and help in the way of trying to create more of a family-type atmosphere in our temple,” Blumberg said.
Downtown is filled with quaint red-brick buildings and colorful murals, and traffic never gets too bad on Ross Clark Circle, the perimeter road.
Wrong way to expand.
Right way – open an orthodox kollel with the 50k stipend for staying 5 years plus discounted tuition for elementary and high schools.
If there are any decent white collar employment in the area for some part time and some full time workers they can grow a community.
My son is getting married to a girl from Alabama!
Why would a Reform congregation fund an Orthodox Kollel?
I am Comin…
Mikey – They don’t want a kollel, they want to keep up their reformed temple. I would assume that the small town Alabama intermarriage rate is much higher than in big cities and despite their acceptemce of goyim many probably go the other way. That $50,000 can probably buy a house in Dothan.
dosan veavirom — stay away from these trouble makers
I was in Dotan a few times.
If you know your Tanaach, Dotan is significant.
If you blink, you’ve missed Dotan.
There is no kosher food other than basics that has Hashgacha in the supermarkets.
No kosher meat or chicken.
Nothing nearby that has anything.
Nearest minyan is Birmingham Alabama which is a few hours away.
There used to be shuls (orthodox) all over the south decades ago.
They are all gone now.
In some of these small towns were heilege European Talmidei Chachamim who wrote seforim.
The last of these of course is the Revivos Efraim – Harav Hagaon Efraim Greenblatt in Memphis.
The others are sadly all gone.
A decent job and job security is worth far more then $50,000.
They should join the crowd that wants to move to Washington Heights.
ok then maybe an reform kollel…..
Anon. 6:14PM. You’re wrong! First off, it’s DOTHAN which translates to DOYSON, in the Chassidic pronunciation (Nisht DOOOSON!)
Anon. 6:22PM. Among the things you enumerate [in your “Poem”/like] that aren’t [to be found in Dothan], IS, AGRI-PRO!!!
The city has it’s own website Dothan.com, much useful information. Taxes there are very very low. That is a break coming from Socialist New York
i think the idea has merit with some modifications. give $50,000 to any jew wishing to locate in dothan.don’t restrict where he prays or of what persuation of jewdiism he observes.at least jews will populate that town and bring more jewish life to its environs.you get one frum family and ten more will follow. i dont think that rule will apply to the conservatives or reform jews.the worst thing that may happen is that the synagogue becomes frum;thats alright, at least the neighborhood remains jewish and will infuse more jewdiism into the community.
wake -up dothan, you on the right track and you could make it work.
What we need is a couple of dozen frum families to take them up on their offer, become members of the synagogue, vote the current board out and convert the shul to orthodox.
What we need is a couple of dozen frum families to take them up on their offer, become members of the synagogue, vote the current board out and convert the shul to orthodox.
And what point would that serve?
They can’t support a kosher infrastructure.
The reform people would leave.
With their money.
And you’d have to start a tzekakah to buy bus tickets back to Shnorer Park for the Yidden who moved there.
One may not enter a reform temple, even if it is just to vote out the old board. BTW, will the music ban cover the south too?
i will do it in a heartbeat. I will even practice my religionsecretly, kind of like the marano jews and open a underground shelter to have everyone practice the real deal, while still collecting the salary from the reform YMS
שמענו אומרים נלכה דותנה
That’s right. Mr Anon 11:38. Dotan was the start of Jewish machloket and galus.
Now, who wants to go there?
Lighten up- its just the name of the place. Would you absolutely Not move to Hell, Montana?
there are alot of frum jews in birmingham alabama
they have a young israel and a chabad and alot of frum doctors
ok im taking 50k and i put a down payment on a 150k home then i will fleep it and that money i will invest etc. common guys why cant frum folks and reform live in peace!!!!!!!
I STAY IN DOTHAN & THE SAMC HOSPITAL’S MENU “CLAIM” TO HAVE KOSHER CHICKEN/BEEF. WHO SUPPLIES THEM?