Toco Hills, Atlanta GA – A Growing Orthodox Jewish Community.

Toco Hills, Atlanta GA – Along the sidewalks and side streets of LaVista Road in Toco Hill, a distinct rhythm plays out each week.

It’s where the swish of long skirts and the ritual of candlelight, the importance of family and the choreography of prayers — a rocking movement of bows, dips and bends —all tick to the drumbeat of tradition.

At Congregation Beth Jacob, an Orthodox synagogue on LaVista Road, Rabbi Ilan Feldman prepares for Friday evening services. At 53, Feldman is the spiritual leader for much of Toco Hill. His father was Beth Jacob’s first rabbi.

Members of the Congregation Beth Jacob walk home after Friday evening’s shabbat prayer service. Shown here is Moshe Stein, 10.

For the hundreds of Orthodox Jewish families who make their home here, life is lived, and celebrated, by the literal interpretation of Judaism’s holiest book, the Torah.

A tightly knit and thriving community of Jewish families and institutions has grown up here, ironically cloistered around a jumble of streets rest whose restorative power symbolizes heaven on earth, sets its tone and pace.

In Toco Hills, Friday’s sinking sun kindles the community, giving rise to spirited singing and communal prayer.

With driving restricted — it’s considered a form of work — the neighborhood’s streets and sidewalks fill with the faithful, headed to synagogue for services and each other’s homes, where they will dine on simmering stews and challah, doughy loaves of sweet, braided bread.

Friends and acquaintances wish each other “Shabbat Shalom,” a peaceful sabbath, and the sound of children’s laughter and horseplay can be heard.

Until sundown Saturday, it’s more of the same. No driving, cooking or shopping, among other prohibitions, render the day ripe for feasting, resting and singing.

Read extended article [atlanta journal constitutions]