In honor of Yom Kippur, I thought it would be appropriate to give a brief history of that important and historic Atlanta institution The Temple. Founded as the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation in 1867, it was Atlanta’s first official Jewish institution. Its founders worshipped in a building on Garnett and Forsyth streets, a few blocks from the state capitol building. The Temple then moved into a building at Pryor and Richardson streets near the Georgia State stadium. In 1931, it moved into the Philip Trammell Shutze-designed building on Peachtree in Midtown. The floor plan is modeled on King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. Outer courts, represented by the foyer, led to inner courts, represented by the worship hall itself. All of these led to the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, represented in The Temple by the raised bimah and golden ark wherein the Torah scrolls are kept. G’mar chatima tova.
ATKII 