In the path of Hurricane Ian, rabbis open their homes and safeguard Torahs
'It’s pretty awful out there,' said Rabbi Bruce Diamond, watching the hurricane rage outside his Fort Myers home
Savannah
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Fast Forward Savannah Rabbi Who Gave Sex Abuse Talk to 9-Year-Old Girls Quits Synagogue
A rabbi whose sex abuse lesson to children divided a Savannah community has decided not to pursue a new contract at his synagogue. Rabbi Ruven Barkan decided not renew his contract with Congregation Agudath Achim and “will be seeking other rabbinic opportunities,” according to a January 6 email from the synagogue board and the rabbi…
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Fast Forward Savannah Congregation Defies Board, Votes Yes to Controversial Rabbi
A controversial Savannah rabbi may retain his pulpit for another three years, despite the synagogue board’s recommendation that his contract not be renewed. Savannah’s Congregation Agudath Achim voted 132 to 53, with two abstentions, to keep Rabbi Ruven Barkan in a secret ballot held October 19. As the Forward reported in July, several families left…
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Culture A Peach of a Synagogue
If you were asked to guess the top tourist destination in each state, you might go with the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas, the “Bean” monument in Chicago, or Central Park in New York City. Your local synagogue might not immediately spring to mind. Unless you live in Savannah, Georgia, that is. The reform congregation…
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News Rabbi’s Sex Abuse Talk to 9-Year-Old Girls Sends Savannah Into Turmoil
The 9-year-old girl was unusually quiet that Sunday evening at supper. Her parents thought that maybe she was tired. After all, she had worked all afternoon in the family’s booth at The Shalom Y’all Food Festival in Forsyth Park. Finally, the girl told her parents that she wanted to talk about that morning’s class at…
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News Washington’s First Letter to Jews Is Lost
Just a little more than a year after George Washington became America’s first president, Levi Sheftall, a Jew from Savannah, wrote him a letter. Sheftall, president of Congregation Mickve Israel, congratulated Washington on behalf of his fellow Savannah Jews, who had high hopes for religious freedom in their new country. But as if to prove…
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