Learn about Memphis at the OU Jewish Communities Fair on April 30<\/a><\/p>\nLindi Vanderwalde grew up in LA and attended school on the East Coast\u2014both very different landscapes than Memphis. \u201cMy husband and I were seeking jobs that suited us better, and when a headhunter advertised a job in Memphis, one of the top 20 cities in the U.S., I thought, there has to be Jews there,\u201d recalled Lindi. She and her husband, both oncologists, flew to Memphis for the day of the interview, and loved it.<\/p>\n
\u201cMemphis is a major city, but it\u2019s easy to navigate and most people\u2019s commutes to work are very simple,\u201d said Lindi. \u201cYou don\u2019t realize until you leave LA how much time you spent in your car. It\u2019s an easier way of life here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lindi and her family also love the shul community. \u201cIt\u2019s much smaller than LA, but there are still three Orthodox shuls and a Chabad here,\u201d said Lindi, who attends the Baron Hirsch Congregation, a flagship Orthodox shul in America since the 1860s.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most striking thing about being part of a smaller Jewish community is that the shuls are more diverse because there\u2019s not a million shuls where people can find their exact demographic and segmentalize themselves,\u201d said Lindi. \u201cFurthermore, numbers count here and people really matter. It helps make for a community where people are truly invested in the programming and show up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Margolin Hebrew Academy offers K-12 education, and families also send children to the Bornblum Jewish Community School for grades 1-8. Memphis has plenty of kosher food at the local Kroger\u2019s, including prepared foods like rotisserie chickens and sushi, and residents frequent two small kosher eateries housed in the Memphis Jewish Home and the JCC.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe JCC has a lot of programming and is a real focal point of our community,\u201d said Rachel Siegel, who moved to Memphis in 2004 when her husband applied for a residency program there; the couple specifically wanted a non-NY community. \u201cBased on lifestyle and cost, Memphis was our first choice, and residency was a great way to try it out for a few years. We thought it would be a three-year stint, but we felt it was a wonderful place in which to raise children, so we stayed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel emphasizes the family-friendly nature of Memphis, with the Memphis Zoo, Shelby Farms Park, where families can rent boats or go zip lining, and the Memphis Children\u2019s Museum. \u201cThere is never a shortage of family activities, plus the Orthodox community has a tremendous amount of programming where there is almost never a\u00a0Sunday<\/span>\u00a0where people have nothing to do,\u201d she continued, mentioning that Jewish educators also run programming throughout the year for their students like\u00a0melava malkas<\/em>, learning, and Shabbat and\u00a0yom tov<\/em>meals.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s very empowering that individuals can really help make things happen here,\u201d said Rachel. \u201cYou definitely feel like you\u2019re a part of something bigger than yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0Check out more Torah communities outside the NYC metropolitan area at our biannual Communities Fair on April 30!<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drawn by its solid Jewish infrastructure, Southern grace and hospitality, and affordable cost of living, young families flock to Memphis, TN, an incredibly warm and well-established Jewish community. Learn about Memphis at the OU Jewish Communities Fair on April 30 Lindi Vanderwalde grew up in LA and attended school on the East Coast\u2014both very different<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":292,"featured_media":57287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-inspiration","series-communities-snapshot"],"yoast_head":"\n
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