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According to the Georgian hagiography, Jewish communities existed in Georgia in the 1st century. A Georgian Jew called Elias was said to be in Jerusalem during the Crucifixion and brought Jesus' robe back with him to Georgia. He had acquired it from a Roman soldier at Golgotha.
Savannah, Georgia is home to the United States' third oldest Jewish community. On July 11, 1733, forty-two Jewish immigrants coming from London, England arrived in Georgia, drawn by the promise of religious freedom. Jewish immigrants later came from other European countries such as Spain, Portugal, and Germany.
Rabbi R. A. Belzer tells the story of the arrival of Georgia’s first Jewish settlers. The city of Savannah can boast that it is the home of Congregation Mickve Israel, Georgia’s oldest Jewish congregation and the third oldest in the country.
Several historical sources place the first settlements of Jews not at Kartli (Mtskhet) but on the Black Sea coast of Georgia, at the mouth of the Ch'orokh River, at Guria, and at Laziki (Kolkhida) from the ninth to the eighth centuries b.c.
Feb 26, 2023 · From its peak of 100,000 members, today the Georgian Jewish population comprises only a few thousand people, after the majority immigrated to Israel, United States and Belgium. The event listed here is hosted by a third party.
- Primary
- February 26, 2023
Georgia’s Jewish history stretches back to 1733 when the ship the William and Sarah landed at Savannah with 42 Jews. This small group made Savannah the largest Jewish settlement in England’s North American colonies at the time. This group organized a congregation, Mickve Israel, in 1735.
Some of the detail regarding the early Jewish settlers has been heretofore ably presented to this society by the Hon. Charles C. Jones, the distinguished historian of Georgia,2 but there is so much additional material, much of which Mr. Jones did not have at the time his paper was presented, that the present writer hopes to be pardoned for prese...
