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ASBEE is one of four thriving Orthodox synagogues in Memphis and is well known for its annual International Kosher Barbecue Contest drawing hundreds each year. The congregation sells over 8,000 hamentachen a year, and boasts a full array of educational learning opportunities. The community is home to an Orthodox school, the Margolin Hebrew Academy, pre-K to 12, and the Bornblum Solomon Schechter School, K-12. With a full array of kosher food available, a number of local Rabbinical scholars, as well as affordable housing, the Memphis Jewish community has long been a great place to raise a Jewish family. Recently, the community has embarked on a program to promote Memphis and entice people to move here. Information can be found at Jewishmemphis.info.
The first wave of Jewish immigration into Tennessee took place in the 19th century before the Civil War. Some of these Jews were merchants and craftsmen from Central Europe. In the late nineteenth century, around 1880, when Jews fled the pogroms of Eastern Europe, many came to Tennessee, and were assisted in their Americanization by the more established earlier settlers. Later waves of Jewish immigration to Tennessee included Holocaust survivors and Russian Jews fleeing anti-Semitism. Today, more than 20,000 Jews live in Tennessee.
State Capital: Nashville
State Nickname: The Volunteer State
State Motto: Agriculture and Commerce
State Flower: Iris
State Bird: Mockingbird
First Shul: Temple Adas Israel, founded in 1882
Basketball Team: Memphis Grizzlies
Football Team: Tennessee Titans
Hockey Team: Nashville Predators