THEN & NOW: The Evolution of Toco Hills

In 1962, when Rabbi Emanuel Feldman presciently made the bold decision to move Congregation Beth Jacob to Lavista Road in Toco Hills (the synagogue was founded in 1943 and had held services in a couple of previous Atlanta locations), the irony of its new location must have been obvious. Surrounding homes in Toco Hills were on streets named Christmas, Merry, Bramble, Pinetree, and Holly — streets today that are home to Jews of every ilk, mostly Orthodox families.

Today, 53 years later, there are 10 synagogues in the Toco Hills area, and the latest two — Chabad of Toco Hills and Netzach Yisrael — moved from their original Toco quarters into new buildings on Lavista Road this year in time for Rosh Hashanah.

The synagogues underscore the diversity of the Toco Hills Jewish residents, most of whom live within walking distance of their houses of worship. The shuls are all in walking distance of each other, and many families belong to and support two or more synagogues. In this mixture of Jewish cultures, one finds four Orthodox (Chabad, The New Toco Shul, Beth Jacob, and Beth Jacob North), two Modern Orthodox (Ohr Hatorah and Shaarei Shamayim), one Reconstructionist (Bet Haverim), two Sephardic (Netzach Yisrael and Ner Hamizrah), and one Kollel. Walk through the Toco Hills neighborhood any Shabbat morning to meet the hundreds of worshippers on their way to services.

Toco Hills has kosher restaurants, take-out places, and groceries. The Kosher Gourmet, which moved to Toco Hills from Virginia Highland in 1983, and The Spicy Peach, which opened in 2013, both provide kosher groceries, gifts, specialties, and fresh and frozen take-out foods. Kroger and Publix offer countless kosher options. The Toco Grill on Lavista Road opened in 2004 with a Middle Eastern vibe, and Chai Peking, in the Toco Hills Kroger, prepares kosher Chinese food. Restaurant Formaggio Mio on Briarcliff Road was founded in 2018, and Sababa’s Burgers, in the Toco Hills Shopping Center, opened in 2024.

To ensure that facilities maintain high kosher standards, the Atlanta Kashrut Commission (AKC) was established in 1979. Its director, Rabbi Reuven Stein, manages a staff of mashkichim, who, in addition to supervising venues throughout Atlanta, regularly supervise all of the Toco Hills food-service places. The AKC answers questions about all areas of kashrut, as well. Its offices are located on the Beth Jacob campus.

Parents, eager for their children to receive a Jewish education, once had limited choices: The Hebrew Academy elementary school, Yeshiva High School (at the old community center on Peachtree Road), or out-of-town schools (Memphis’ yeshiva was a popular choice for Orthodox Atlanta families). Today, there are three accredited Atlanta Jewish schools in the Toco Hills area. Elementary Torah Day School moved from its first rented quarters on Montreal Road to a large, new building on Lavista Road in 2003. Temima High School for Girls, founded in 1985, moved from trailers on the Torah Day School campus into its own building on Lavista in 2015, and nearby boys’ Yeshiva Ohr Yisroel welcomed its first class in 2002. Additionally, the Beth Jacob preschool is now four times larger than in the 1960s.

In 1987, Beth Jacob Rabbi Ilan Feldman arranged for a Kollel (traditionally, a men’s advanced Jewish studies consortium) to come to Atlanta, with the specific purpose of outreach. The initial group of three Atlanta Scholars Kollel rabbis (ASK) has grown to 21 Kollel families. Atlanta’s ASK was the first outreach Kollel in the United States, with the goal of spreading Jewish learning beyond its own scholarly studies into greater Jewish Atlanta. ASK has its own building on Lavista Road, where it holds services, runs classes, and maintains a large beit medrash (study hall) for individuals and learning partners.

Unique Jewish community events characterize the Toco Hills neighborhood, most remarkably the annual Purim Parade which proceeds down Lavista Road on the Sunday preceding Purim, with floats, music, performers, and costumed marchers. Its first year was 1992. In 2017, members of the Toco Hills community worked together in Beth Jacob’s Heritage Hall where they were officially recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records for creating the world’s largest Israeli flag made out of cookies. The event raised $10,000 which was distributed among several Israeli nonprofits.

Following Hurricane Irma in 2017, Beth Jacob mobilized the Toco Hills synagogues to coordinate logistics to provide shelter, meals, and support to hundreds of displaced Floridian families, a powerful multi-shul, multi-week effort. Visitors stayed in neighborhood homes and met for meals in Beth Jacob’s Heritage Hall.