Huffington Magazine Issue 8 | Page 48

BY JAWEED KALEEM PHOTOGRAPHS BY CARY NORTON WHY THE SOUTH IS LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD JEWS B I R MI N G H A M, A LA . — On a recent Tuesday night at Rojo, a trendy Mexican restaurant on the south side of the city, a group of women were kicking off an unusual welcome party for someone they’d never met. Their guest of honor: Lisa Pataky, a 25-year-old student who was new to town, trying out a summer internship and considering moving to Birmingham full-time. Around her were supporters of the Birmingham Jewish Federation, peppering her with reasons to stay: abundant jobs, lack of traffic, low cost-of-living, and — most important – a friendly, tight-knit community of 5,200 Jews spread among five congregations. Caren Seligman, the outreach coordinator for the group, had recently been introduced to Pataky through a mutual friend. And Seligman was the one responsible for inviting these women to the restaurant that evening for their first crack at recruiting Pataky to their city. “If I can get her to like this place for the next six weeks, maybe I can get her to move back here when she graduates,” Seligman, 53, recalls thinking at the time. Though the population of Jews in the South hovers at 1.1 million overall, Jewish life in less bustling parts of the region has taken a dive. More than half of Southern Jews — 638,000 — are in Florida. Another 140,000 are in Texas; 120,000 reside in Atlanta, and 97,000 are in Virginia. But the