Huffington Magazine Issue 8 | Page 54

HUFFINGTON 08.05.12 SHALOM Y’ALL tive traditions. Her own spiritual observance is varied. She attends synagogue once or twice a month and hosts shabbat dinners on Fridays. She also enjoys the occasional barbecue pork rib. She’s armed with the email addresses of hundreds of young Jews who have left Birmingham — procured from their parents — a stack of resumes and an inbox with descriptions of job openings. Her goal: to get one child from every Jewish Birmingham family to settle in the city and to convince those who happen to pass through that it’s a worthwhile place to be Jewish. That can be difficult. MAKING THE PITCH Pataky, the student who arrived in Birmingham in the spring for an internship as a physical therapist, knows the hurdles. “When I moved here, it was Passover. And when I said to people around town that I was observing Passover, nobody knew what it was,” she recalls. “I never had to explain it before.” Jefferson County, where Birmingham is located, is commonly ranked as one of the most Christian places in the nation — there are 67 churches for every syna- “When I moved here, it was Passover. And when I said to people around town that I was observing Passover, nobody knew what it was. I never had to explain that before.” gogue. But despite the community being overwhelmingly Christian, its people by and large embrace diversity. There are two Hindu temples, two Buddhist temples, a Sikh gurdwara and several mosques. Birmingham is also home to a small community of Russians and popular Greek and Lebanese restaurants. No matter for Pataky. A selfdescribed “atheist cultural Jew” who observes the occasional Jewish holiday, she has a month to go in the city. It’s not a bad place, she insists. She’s not accustomed to being around so many evangelical Christians, but everyone has respected her beliefs. She’s grown attached to the craft brewery not far from her suburban apartment. She loves the job and has been less bored since making friends through Seligman’s introductions over sangria. But when her internship is done, she hopes to move to New York,