The 21-year-old

Congregation B'nai Israel held a groundbreaking last week of its very

own building, a synagogue under construction at the corner of Corinth

Road and Ga. Highway 54 east near the Clayton County line.

The new facility

is situated on seven acres purchased in 1991. The 6,233-square-foot building

will include a 231-seat sanctuary, a multipurpose room, two offices and

a kitchenette. The building is the first phase of a three-part building

process which allows for two additions in the future.

The congregation

has been meeting for the past 21 years at the Christ Our Hope Lutheran

Church on Ga. Highway 138 on the Fayette-Clayton line. The first meeting

of the original families was in the community room at Sears in Southlake

Mall.

The congregation

has grown from ten families to just over 80 families. "According

to the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, we can expect our membership

to double in two years because of the new temple," said building

committee member Scott Siegel.

Congregation

B'nai Israel is a reform congregation and a member of the UAHC. The only

synagogue on the south metro Atlanta area, it has members from a nine-county

area.

The building

committee members are co-chairpersons Linda Dushman and Siegel, along

with Norm Field, Mindy Smith (who is also president of the congregation),

Mike Goldstein, Barbara Chuven, Max Baratz, and Rachel Tabachnick.

The congregation

can be reached at 770-471-3586 or www.Bnai-israel.net .