Institute of Southern Jewish Life

Some of the most inspiring Jewish communities in America aren’t on the Upper West Side of Manhattan or in Hyde Park, Chicago, but are rather in towns like Jackson, Mississippi and Forth Smith, Arkansas. Throughout the American South there is a rich tradition of Judaism going back hundreds of years. The challenge faced by the Goldring/ Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL) is to preserve that history and build a dynamic future, all while battling the trend of thousands of young people leaving the rural South for urban America. Toward this goal, ISJL has built a portfolio of programs to build Jewish identity and community across 13 Southern states. 

ISJL employs a rabbi and eight Jewish educators who travel back and forth across the South, logging 99,000 miles in 2008 alone, to assist communities without rabbinic services or professional Hebrew school staff. They also create a weekly “taste of the Torah” message read electronically by hundreds of Jews across the region. In addition, ISJL developed, tested and distributed a uniform Hebrew school curriculum, which is used by more than 3,000 students and 350 teachers in 11 states. With the goal of bringing “big city” services directly to each community, ISJL also develops cultural programming such as Jewish art shows and a Jewish  lm festival. And finally, in order to preserve the history of Jewish people in the South, ISJL also operates two museums. 

Macy Hart, President of ISJL, who grew up in Winona, MS, was “dragged” by his parents to major cities in order to find Jewish connections, so he knows firsthand the need to cultivate a southern Jewish community. Macy is “a true visionary” who has found success by creating “an institution with multiple interlinking program areas” and “a new model on how to serve many small communities from a central location.” One Slingshot investor points out, “Just as we are trying to preserve and build on our history in Eastern Europe, so too should we be preserving our history in the South and bringing it to other regions across the country.” Macy is eager to share his programming strategy in order to serve other areas of the country where rural Jewish populations remain isolated.