Goes to the Associated Press for this story: “Group dangles $50K for Jews who move to Ala. town” Don’t adjust your computer monitors, you read that correctly.
Larry Blumberg is looking for a few good Jews to move to his corner of the Bible Belt. Blumberg is chairman of an organization offering Jewish families as much as $50,000 to relocate to Dothan, an overwhelmingly Christian town of 58,000 that calls itself the Peanut Capital of the World. Get involved at Temple Emanu-El and stay at least five years, the group’s leaders say, and the money doesn’t have to be repaid.
Wow – talk about promoting religious diversity. It looks like Larry Blumberg is willing to put his money where his mouth is.
I sympathize with Temple Emanu-El, their membership is declining. I’ve read stories about churches recruiting new congregants by offering $10 to attend a service, but this is a much larger scale investment.
What do you think of this idea? Would you ever consider moving to a new part of the country if your house of worship made a similar offer? Leave us a comment.