Atlanta, Georgia and All It Has to Offer Lubavitchers

By Danit Schusterman for COLlive.com

Over the past few years, many Lubavitch families are exploring different communities around the world to set up roots. One such community is in the Sandy Springs neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia.

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city of the state of Georgia. With an estimated 2019 population of 506,811, it is also the 37th most populous city in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, home to more than 6 million people and the ninth-largest metropolitan area in the nation. Atlanta has attained international prominence as a major air transportation hub, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being the world’s busiest airport by passenger traffic since 1998.

Atlanta’s economy is considered diverse, with dominant sectors that include aerospace, transportation, logistics, professional and business services, media operations, medical services, and information technology. Atlanta has topographic features that include rolling hills and dense tree coverage, earning it the nickname of “the city in a forest”. Gentrification of Atlanta’s neighborhoods has intensified with the growth of the Atlanta Beltline, altering the city’s demographics, politics, aesthetics, and culture.

Atlanta has a humid subtropical climate with four distinct seasons and generous precipitation year-round. Summers are hot and humid and the winters are cool but variable, occasionally susceptible to snowstorms even if in small quantities on several occasions.

Many Lubavitchers that have moved to Atlanta over the past few years appreciate the larger living spaces that they can provide for their families. The homes are very large with often two-car garages as well as ample outdoor space for their children to play.

“It’s a great family life here,” says Hershchel Kessler. “You’re living in nature and the weather is really beautiful. It’s a great balance of family and community. You get the warmth of a Lubavitch community with the mix of a Chabad house-style community. This community is really made up of people who are family as well as community-oriented. It’s really nice.”

The people already living in the Chabad community in Sandy Springs are known to be friendly and welcoming when new families move in. There is not much social pressure, otherwise known as ‘keeping up the Schwartz’s’ and the blooming Lubavitch community lends a very laid back, non-judgemental and accepting atmosphere.

Rochel Avtzon adds, “The quality of life here is really amazing. I have forged great friendships within the Lubavitch and Jewish communities. When it comes to Chessed, the women here give it their all rallying together, providing full support in any situation. Another thing I love about living here is that the community is close yet everyone gives each other space to be their own person.’

While you definitely need a car to get from one place to another as public transportation is not very convenient, there are lots of activities for couples as well as families to do. There are parks, sprinkler parks, museums, attractions and so much more. You get the best of both worlds being able to live in the beauty of suburbia while still having access to the buzzing city life just a short car ride away.

There are meat and dairy restaurants, specialty kosher supermarkets and kosher caterers as well as a huge selection of kosher foods in the major supermarkets. Everything you need as a frum Jews, you have access to in Atlanta.

There is a wonderful warm shul that the Lubavitch community go-to for weekly minyanim and Shabbos. Congregation Beth Tefillah is run by Georgia’s Head Shliach Rabbi Yossi New. There are between 40-50 Chabad families that attend Shabbos services along with over 400 other families from the surrounding area. There is an early and later minyan on Shabbos morning followed by a weekly Kiddish at shul as well as a children’s program. Beth Tefillah offers daily Minyanim all week. (For a complete list, visit bethtefillah.org).

There is a keilim Mikvah as well as mens and womens Mikvah in Sandy Springs. There are other womens’ Mikvahs in the surrounding areas.

You have a few options regarding preschools and elementary schools and hopefully, there will be a natural progression to have a Lubavitch girls high school and a Yeshiva in the future.

Lubavitch Preschools and Day School

Chaya Mushka Children’s House – https://www.cmchpreschool.org
Chaya Mushka Children’s House is a progressive Jewish Montessori school serving children who are 18 months through kindergarten.

Torah Tots Preschool – https://www.chabadnf.org/4277595
Torah Tots Preschool offers small classes with excellent student/teacher ratios, a professional staff, and a modern facility.

Intown Jewish Preschool – https://intownjewishpreschool.org
Intown Jewish Preschool offers a creative, Reggio-inspired Jewish environment with an experiential and intentional approach to teaching and learning.

Chaya Mushka Children’s House Elementary School and Middle School- https://www.cmchatlanta.org
CMCH is an innovative Jewish school serving elementary through middle school children.

Kosher Supermarkets

Kosher Gourmet- A combination of different and varied types of raw and prepared foods
The Spicy Peach- The Spicy Peach is a kosher market that provides new and innovative kosher food products to the Atlanta marketplace.

Restaurants

Toco Grille – meat
Formaggio Mio – dairy
Fuego Mundo – meat
Adama Street Food – Israeli Vegan
Chai Peking – meat Chinese
CBT Thursday night pizza

Kosher Catering

EB Kosher Catering- Kosher catering servicing the southeast. Offers pick up and delivery for local retail clients out of “EB GHOST KITCHEN.” www.ebghostkitchen.com

Real Estate Agents

Shani Vardy- 770-990-9690 [email protected]
Gitty Lipszyc- 678-599-5358