Tiny US town attempts to lure in Jews
Association offers Jewish families up to $50,000 in return for relocation to southern Christian town of 58,000 people in order to attract youths to synagogue, religious school. Though town is considered 'peanut capital of world', none have made the move yet
Larry Blumberg is looking for a few good Jews to move to his heavily Christian corner of the US south. As chairman of the Blumberg Family Relocation Fund, he is offering Jewish families as much as $50,000 to relocate to Dothan, an overwhelmingly Christian town of 58,000 that calls itself the Peanut Capital of the World.
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.
More Jews are living in the southeastern US than ever, about 386,00 at last count in 2001, according to Stuart Rockoff, historian at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, Mississippi.
But young Jews are leaving small places like Dothan in favor of big southern cities like Atlanta and Birmingham, Rockoff said, and dozens of small-town synagogues in the so-called 'bible belt' have closed.
But trying to lure Jewish families to a quiet Southern town in a state with a reputation for hard-right politics and racial intolerance might be difficult. About 20 Jewish families have sought information about Dothan, though none have made the move.
Looking for Jewish friends: Emanu-El. (Photo: AP)
Launched in June, the Blumberg program has put advertisements in Jewish newspapers in Boston, Miami, Providence, Rhode Island, 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.
Self-proclaimed peanut capital of the world. (Photo: AP)
Advertisement: An Elvis peanut
Dothan lies at the heart of the South's peanut region, in Alabama's southeastern corner, just minutes from Florida and Georgia. It's dotted with big fiberglass peanuts painted to resemble characters and people; there's even an Elvis peanut.
But the Blumberg foundation is selling prospective Jewish residents on Dothan's quality of life: Its low cost of living, the heritage of its synagogue and its proximity to Florida beaches, about 80 miles away.
Downtown is filled with quaint red-brick buildings and colorful murals, and traffic never gets too bad. Rabbi Lynne Goldsmith didn't know quite what to expect when she moved to Dothan a year ago to serve as pastor at Temple Emanu-El, which was founded in 1929.
A Connecticut native, the rabbi halfway expected the Alabama of old with wide-open racism and dirt roads. "The Northeast has a really warped perception of what the South is all about, and I found out it was all wrong," she said. "The South is a wonderful place to be. The people are warm and friendly. There's very little traffic. And best of all, there's no snow."
