Huffington Magazine Issue 8 | Page 56

HUFFINGTON 08.05.12 SHALOM Y’ALL Though its neighbor two-and-ahalf hours east was also founded as a railroad town in the mid-19th century, the growth spurt that hit Atlanta never transferred to Birmingham. Many Birminghamians will lament the conservative Christian culture that pervades everyday life outside the area’s urban core where more than a third of Alabama’s counties ban alcohol sales. They’ll half-jokingly call the city, where a 24-hour restaurant is rare, “Boringham.” EXPRESSING YOURSELF “JEWISHLY” “Our growth really depends on the fortunes of the city of Birmingham,” says Rabbi Jonathan Miller, a Reform rabbi who has led the city’s largest and oldest Jewish congregation, Temple Emanu-El, for 21 years. He points to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, home to one of the best medical research programs in country, which has attracted an increasing number of the region’s new Jews and temple members. He mentions the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa — about an hour from Birmingham and a feeder to the city — where a vig- orous campaign to recruit Jewish students recently resulted in a 50 percent increase in Jewish enrollment over just a few years. Similar to Seligman’s program, the university’s efforts included visits from admissions officials to far-flung Jewish communities in Maryland, Texas and Georgia. A new Hillel building opened in 2010 that serves 675 students, and the Jewish fraternity and sorority have grown. The Birmingham Jewish Federation’s recruiting, which began six years ago, has so far netted a few dozen new or returning young Jews to the city, and Miller has gleefully offered a spiritual home to many of them. His congregation, which dates to 1882, has about 690 members, according to Miller. About a quarter of them attend services in its airy, 62,000-square foot temple that includes a sanctuary with colorful stained glass windows, small chapel, religious school and banquet hall. While Miller boasts that membership has barely budged during his time, he admits it’s graying. Last year, Miller hired a 27-yearold rabbi to increase young adult involvement in the temple. Rabbi Laila Haas, who was raised in Mi-