JGA July-August 09 - The Jewish Georgian

July-August 2009 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN Page 5
Waycross
From page 1
Despite this extreme level of population
turnover, the Jewish community of
Waycross began to organize in the 1920s.
Jews in the area first gathered to pray
together in 1920. Four years later, thirteen
men officially organized a congregation,
with Alex Gilmore as its first president. All
but one of these founders were immigrants
from Russia or Poland. Half of them owned
dry goods stores, though their numbers also
included peddlers, store clerks, and a
lawyer. In 1924, Waycross Jews traveled to
Valdosta or Brunswick for the High Holy
Days; the local newspaper noted that the
Jewish merchants in town closed their
stores for the occasion.
Between 1926 and 1953, the congregation
rented space in the Knights of Pythias
Hall, on Plant Avenue. Alex Gilmore bought
a Torah for the group in the 1920s; the
Gilmore family
donated a second
Torah to the congregation
in 1935, after
Alex’s death. The
congregation would
often bring in visiting
rabbis to lead
services on the High
Holy Days.
By 1937, 47
Jews lived in
Waycross, and they
began to discuss the
possibility of building
a synagogue.
Due to the effects of
the Great
Depression, the congregation
had to
postpone its plans
for a permanent
home. Finally, on
May 22, 1952, the congregation broke
ground on the Waycross Hebrew Center, on
Screven Avenue. They were able raise
money from local Jews, family members
who lived in other cities, Jewish-owned
wholesale firms in other cities that did business
with the area’s Jewish merchants, and
local gentiles. When the synagogue was
dedicated in the summer of 1953, the congregation
held an open house in which the
non-Jewish neighbors were invited to tour
the synagogue and learn about Judaism.
Local Christian ministers announced the
open house from their pulpits and encouraged
their members to attend.
The congregation was Conservative in
practice, though it has never officially affiliated
with any of the Jewish movements. A
kosher kitchen was maintained in the building,
even though most members did not
keep kosher at home. For some members,
walking to shul was not possible, as the
Waycross Hebrew Center attracted Jews
from several of the small towns in the area.
At the time of the synagogue’s dedication,
members lived in Alma, Blackshear,
Douglas, Homerville, Jessup, and Baxley, in
addition to Waycross.
A cemetery sign
Like all Southern Jews, the members of
the Waycross Hebrew Center had to adapt to
the local culture while working to maintain
their religious traditions. In many cases,
Waycross Jews had to make compromises.
Since so many of them owned stores, the
congregation held services only on Friday
nights, as members had to work on
Saturdays, the busiest trading day of the
week. Al Jacobson recalls moving the start
time for Friday night services from 8:00
p.m. to 7:30 p.m. during high school football
season when there were several
teenagers in the congregation. Since the
congregation was conservative, they insisted
on waiting until sundown, and thus, even
with the earlier start time and shortened
service, they still arrived late at the game.
As they entered the stands, other fans would
shout, “I hope you prayed for us!”
Soon after the congregation settled into
its own building, members discussed hiring
a full-time rabbi to lead the congregation,
but they came to the conclusion that it was
beyond their financial
means. In 1961, they
made an arrangement
with the Jewish congregation
in Valdosta,
that its rabbi, Samuel
Zakuto, would drive
the 60 miles to
Waycross each week
to teach Hebrew to the
children in the religious
school. Rabbi
Zakuto also officiated
at the Waycross congregation’s
lifecycle
events. He served the
congregation into the
1970s. Since then,
Waycross has relied on
student rabbis from the
Jewish Theological
Seminary for the High
Holy Day services and
lay readers for the rest of the year.
In 1948, 35 Jewish families belonged to
the Waycross Hebrew Center. By 1968, this
number had dropped to 24, as children
raised in Waycross moved away in search of
greater economic and social opportunities.
Historically, Jews had been concentrated in
retail trade in Waycross. By the 1970s, most
of these stores began to close, including
Weisser’s Jewelry Store, which had been in
business for over fifty years. Jacobson’s
Department Store closed in 1981, after 58
years in operation. Today, there are no more
Jewish-owned retail businesses in
Waycross.
In 2005, the congregation’s newsletter
declared, “We are shrinking.” After the
community Seder drew 47 people in 2008,
congregation President Al Jacobson noted,
“We were saddened by the fact that there
was not one Jewish child to ask the four
questions. We need youth.”
Despite this decline, the small but
close-knit membership of the Waycross
Hebrew Center has persevered and continues
to hold weekly lay-led Friday night
services. About 11 or 12 members regularly
attend, with some driving as much as 70
miles to get to Waycross. If they cannot
make a minyan, they hold an abbreviated
service.
The congregation still brings down a
student rabbi from the Jewish Theological
Seminary for the high holidays. The synagogue’s
kitchen is still kosher, and the
members bring in kosher meat from
Jacksonville for special events. Al Jacobson
continues to edit the congregation’s
Inside the synagogue
newsletter, which he has done since 1968.
Rich Luskin serves as the lay leader of the
weekly services, and Ann Jacobson, Al’s
wife, often adds a Torah commentary.
This small but dedicated group has
worked hard to ensure that Jewish life continues
in Waycross, Georgia.
Dr. Stuart Rockoff is historian at the
Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern
Jewish Life.