Passover countdown
March 19 (1 Nisan 5786)
👋🏼 Hi folks, Between Passover’s impending arrival and local Jewish news, Y’alla is chock-full this week. Have something to share? Email Logan.
🏀 In basketball news, Emory beat Illinois Wesleyan to advance to the school’s first ever Final Four. Last week, the Eagles defeated Yeshiva. Israelis Deni Avdija, Danny Wolf, and Ben Saraf shared the court in a Portland Trail Blazers-Brooklyn Nets matchup on March 16.
🤩 JNF’s Gladys and Jack Hirsch Breakfast for Dinner fundraiser attracted 400 people, focusing on Israel’s current needs.
📽️ Mazel Tov to Max Mendes, student at Davis Academy, who won third prize for the documentary,”Liberty for Sale: Who Really Has a Voice in America?” about campaign finance.
🐑 Next week, Y’alla will be all about Passover: how to engage multi-generational guests, keeping little hands busy at the seder table, fun afikomen prizes, and more.
🍽️ Check out this multicultural seder on Saturday, March 22 in Atlanta’s West End at Ry’s Table, a Jewish-owned wellness space. It’s free and open to the community.
As always, thanks for reading!
Y’alla,
Logan
🎉 Your child can experience Jewish connection all school year long at Jewish Kids Groups! 2026-2027 registration is open for JKG’s Weekday Afternoon Community (K-5th grade, 3 locations, Transportation from school), B Mitzvah (6th-8th grade), and Teen Leadership Academy (8th-10th grade). Learn more. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Needle Nook celebrates 50 years
🫶🏼 DeAnne Jacobson promised at her dying mother’s bedside that she’d keep the Needle Nook open. She hadn’t planned it; the words just slipped out. There was no plan of succession. In fact, just two weeks prior Arlene Jacobson wasn’t even ill.
“I’ve pretty much taken over my mom’s entire life,” Jacobson laughed. “It’s been very rewarding. Emotional at first, and now, [running Needle Nook] is near and dear to my heart in a very positive and loving way.”
In Toco Hills, the shop celebrates 50 years of business on Friday, March 20 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. with champagne, open crafting tables, and fun.
➡ Read Logan C. Ritchie’s article.
Experience Atlanta’s COOLEST Adventure
SPONSORED BY FERNBANK MUSEUM
🦣 Discover mammoths, saber tooth cats and Neanderthals as you explore how the Ice Age shaped our planet at Fernbank Museum.
Immersive galleries, incredible specimens and interactive experiences bring history back to life in this limited-time exhibit, on view through May 3.
JCRC Hunger Seder
🍴 The 15th Atlanta Interfaith Hunger Seder presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Atlanta, will be held on Sunday, March 29 at Ahavath Achim (AA) Synagogue.The program features a Passover seder with traditional sections modified to highlight food insecurity.
The marketplace will open at 5 p.m. followed by the program at 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Jason Holtz of Temple Kehillat Chaim and Rabbi Eric Feld of AA, along with Rev. Dr. Lisa Heilig, Rev. Cassandra E. Henderson, and Rev. Sean B. Smith.
Bridges of hope
🫱🏽🫲🏼 The Atlanta Israel Coalition is hosting Bridges of Hope on Sunday, March 29 in for a celebration of courage, talent, and unity across communities and faiths.
Guests include Ghazal Mizrahi, an international singer who blends Persian and Jewish world music; JoDavi (Joshua Washington), director of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel and acclaimed recording artist and composer; and Mustapha Ezzarghani, a Moroccan-born author and peace advocate focused on Muslim-Jewish coexistence.
“The whole point of Zionism is that a people gets to build something – not just survive. Bridges of Hope is about building,” AIC Executive Director Cheryl Dorchinsky said.
Opinion: I love the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. This year, it left me heartbroken
🎬 I’ve heard Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” hundreds of times. But one recent Friday afternoon, returning from the grocery store with food for Shabbat dinner, was the first time I truly listened to the words.
“There’s battle lines being drawn,” the band sang. “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong / Young people speaking their minds / Are getting so much resistance from behind.”
Six decades later, those lines felt less like a period artifact than a live transmission.
I’ve spent most of my adult life working in and around Atlanta’s Jewish community, including six years on staff at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, leading community engagement and guest programming. So when the Israeli Consulate General to the Southeastern United States pulled its sponsorship of AJFF mid-festival last month — publicly rebuking the organization over its engagement with a Muslim Morehouse College student who had made social media posts criticizing Israel’s actions in Gaza — I felt it the way you feel a fracture in your own family.
➡ Read the full story on the Forward.
Editor’s note: Dina Fuchs-Beresin is a longtime member of the Atlanta Jewish community.
Look & Listen
🕺🏻 Tune in to the New Orleans Klezmer All Stars band on Sunday, March 22 at The Breman. Wear your dancing shoes to this concert, a mix of funk, R&B, and Dixieland.
🎧 Read or listen to Ken Stein’s take on Israel-Iran relations. Stein taught Middle Eastern history, political science and Israel studies at Emory University for 47 years.
🎉 Your child can experience Jewish connection all school year long at Jewish Kids Groups! 2026-2027 registration is open for JKG’s Weekday Afternoon Community (K-5th grade, 3 locations, Transportation from school), B Mitzvah (6th-8th grade), and Teen Leadership Academy (8th-10th grade). Learn more. SPONSOR MESSAGE
What’s doin’ around town
SPONSORED BY CONGREGATION OR HADASH
📍 March 20: Or Hadash Torah (study) Tour at Alon’s Phipps Plaza.
👩🏻 March 20: Discussion group for women 50+.
🎓 March 22: Coaching for parents of high school seniors.
🛝 March 22: Let my people play! Passover edition.
🏃🏽♀️➡️ March 29:Daffodil Dash honors children who perished in the Holocaust.
✡️ The next Jewish holiday is Passover on April 1.
🕯️ Light Shabbat candles this week at 7:31 p.m.
📅 Join Or Hadash on March 22 for a conversation with Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Professor Ken Stein. Nuanced. Insightful. Timely. All are welcome—click here for program details and to register.
Before you go
🎶 National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) hosted nearly 150 guests on Wednesday, March 18 at the Community Women’s Seder. The event was co-chaired by Gabby Spatt and Molly Light (pictured).
