Edward F. Sugarman Papers

Temple Sinai came into being because there were Jews in Atlanta who sought to deepen their engagement with Judaism, in a community dedicated to living more fully Jewish traditions. In the winter of 1968 meetings were held to discuss the possibility of establishing Atlanta’s second Reform congregation of over one hundred and forty families with a Rabbi, and a Torah provided by the Temple on Peachtree. Rabbi Lehrman and the congregation worked at rethinking the traditions of Reform Judaism so as to make them their own. They wanted to worship together, to better understand their heritage, to address contemporary social problems in Atlanta – for their Judaism to be alive. With such ideas they proposed building their own synagogue: they succeeded in raising close to a million dollars and celebrated the dedication of the present building in the autumn of 1973.