The Rabbi with the Southern Twang

<p> A seventh-generation rabbi born in Greenville Mississippi raised in the nearby town of Greenwood but then educated at the Yeshiva Torah V'Das and Chafetz Chaim in New York Rabbi Seymour Atlas came back to the South in 1943 to serve as a pulpit rabbi. With his characteristic wit charm and insight into Southern life and human behavior Rabbi Atlas describes the trials tribulations adventures and oddities but also the tremendous excitement of his whirlwind journey through five different Jewish communities of the South: Greenwood Mississippi (1943-1946); Montgomery Alabama (1946-1956); Bristol Virginia (1956-1959); Birmingham Alabama (1959-1962); and Little Rock Arkansas (1962-1970). When his children went to college in New York Rabbi Atlas searched for a pulpit closer to them and was delighted to find one in Wildwood New Jersey (which was technically Southern in that it lies south of the Mason-Dixon line). Rabbi Atlas remained in Wildwood for 20 happy years until his retirement in 1990. As a current resident of Hollywood Florida and active member of the Young Israel of Hollywood Rabbi Atlas is a popular speaker and teacher and is known for his Kiddush with the Southern twang.</p>