Jewish Roots in Southern Soil
Introduction/Chapter 1
Growing up in New York City provided me with a vast Jewish community, but also a drastially diverse environment. I grew up attending hebrew school surrouded by my close Jewish friends, was Bat Mitzvah'd, and was always proud of who I was. Yet on the other hand, outside of this Jewish bubble, I spent time with friends and others of all backgrounds and cultures. Further, after spending my entire childhood in New York, coming to Atlanta for college allowed me to explore a new environment as both a Jewish girl and just a young adult alone. Jewish Roots in Southern Soil explores the Jewish history in the South, which now is very applicable to my experience and I am eager to learn more about the history of my current home.
While reading the Introduction and first chapter, I was shocked to learn about the immense prevalence of Jews in Savannah, Georgia. After recently visiting Savannah for the first time, I learned about a historic culture while wandering cobblestone streets side by side with horse carriages. Historic landmarks included various churches and spots with mystical backgrounds and thus it was both surprising and intruiging to later learn of an extensive Jewish population as part of Savannah's history as well. I am curious about how, when, and why this culture shift occured.
Additionally, the juxtaposition of Jews being held as slaves in our past and Jews apparently also acting as slave owners (as mentioned in the Introduction) is extremely interesting to me. I am inquisitive about if and how the history of being enslaved at one point had an effect on the treatment of slaves from a Jewish slave owner and I look forward to researching more about this in the search for more information.