What's New?

Dothan's First-Ever Interfaith Thanksgiving Service

On Sunday evening November 23, Dothan’s First United Methodist Church hosted the city’s first-ever Interfaith Thanksgiving Service. The faith community’s congregations participating in the service included: Buddhist, Presbyterian, United Methodist, Catholic, Jewish, Lutheran, Muslim, and the Spiritual Enrichment Center. More…

Panama City Congregation's Religious School Visits Dothan

On Sunday November 16, the students and teachers from Temple B’nai Israel of Panama City spent the day at Dothan’s Temple Emanu-El. More…

Temple Annual Bill Nomberg Memorial Hadassah Auction

On Sunday night November 2, Temple Emanu-El hosted the annual Hadassah goods and services auction benefiting both Hadassah and the congregation. More…

About Dothan

Dothan - A Great Place to Live, Grow and Work

Ideally located for family living, Dothan is located in the most southeastern corner of Alabama, twenty miles from Florida, ten miles from Georgia, and seventy-five miles from the gorgeous white beaches of Panama City, Florida (known as the Emerald Coast).

Ours is a vibrant, progressive and growing community. Dothan is very much a regional center of commerce, transportation, shopping, medical care and recreation (serving approximately 500,000 citizens in the tri-state area's radius of ninety miles).

Here's the top eleven reasons to help your family answer the crucial question: "Why Dothan ?"

• A well kept secret

  - Dothan is poised for greatness, it is an exciting and positive place for Jews to move, work and play; a wonderful town to raise your children and to retire.

• Small town

  - We offer a friendly and welcoming small town atmosphere, yet we enjoy a scope of relatively sophisticated amenities and facilities you find in larger communities
  
  
  

• Affordable

  - Dothan enjoys a low cost of living, a healthy, diversified, growing economy and workforce. The city's manufacturing and distribution centers are an integral part of our sustained growth as is transportation.

• Transportation

  - Travel destinations such as Atlanta, Montgomery, Birmingham, Tallahassee and Pensacola are easily accessible. The area features an excellent highway system as well as air service to over 170 cities via the Dothan Regional Airport. We are also very excited about the region's new Panama City International Airport that is currently under construction.

• Quality of life

  - Dothan is not plagued by uncontrolled growth, congestion or soaring crime rates. Ours is a community of diverse cultures that enjoys, appreciates and supports the arts (music, dance, theatre and music) at venues such as the 900 seat Civic Center, historic/restored Opera House, and Cultural Arts Center.

• Fun

  

  - Dothan offers great opportunities for restaurants, entertainment and recreation (especially golf, hunting, fishing and boating) as well excellent museums. We have wonderful weather, are only ninety minutes to the Gulf beaches, and have easy access to recreational opportunities throughout Alabama, northern Florida and west Georgia.

  The city's leisure services department, named the State of Alabama's Recreation Department of the Year for 2008, manages 20 parks on 600 acres, 6 swimming pools, a 12 acre water theme park, seven recreations centers, 11 children's playgrounds, and 42 tennis courts including a 16 court professional tennis events venue. Dothan has been designated a "Playful City, USA," one of only 31 such cities in America; clearly demonstrating our community's commitment to providing great play spaces for your children.

• Shopping

  - Dothan is a regional commercial hub, consequently, compared to other cities our size, we offer an exciting and much broader selection of retail businesses.
  
  
  

• Physical safety

  - Dothan is close enough to enjoy the Gulf beaches but sufficient distance away so that we are not threatened by hurricanes' destructive forces. Consequently, our community's property owners are able to purchase casualty insurance for their homes and businesses against such storms, at a reasonable cost.

• Education

  - Dothan's residents are seriously committed to providing the very best education, from pre-school to doctoral degrees. The public schools offer eleven elementary, four middle, and two high schools. Two facilities are magnet schools (one is academic and the other focuses on math, science and technology). There are eight private schools in Dothan including Houston Academy which is an independent co-educational secular K-12 institution. Our community is honored to have a state supported two-year associates degree institution (Wallace Community College) as well as a campus of Troy University which awards undergraduate and graduate degrees in many disciplines.

• Excellent healthcare

  - Dothan's healthcare system is a huge community asset serving as an established regional center for top quality medical services serving the tri-state area. We are home to three hospitals, two intermediate care clinics, mental health and rehabilitation facilities, as well as a sophisticated air transportation program for the critically ill/injured that helps ensure Dothan's outstanding level of care. Our two major hospitals offer an aggregate of 630 beds and employ 3700 trained professionals (including over 300 physicians representing virtually every medical specialty).

• Worship

  - Dothan's faith communities reflect our diversity; there are more than 140 houses of worship providing many opportunities for interfaith learning and community service.

Dothan's Jewish Community - Prominent & Respected

Ever since our arrival 115 years ago, Dothan's Jewish families have been active, prominent and highly respected in the greater community. We are a caring Jewish community with strong lay leadership, one that warmly embraces newcomers' needs.

Your new extended family at Temple Emanu-El is very eager to grow: our doors are open and opened wide.

Living Jewishly in Dothan

Dothan's Jewish community is served with distinction by the Jewish Federation of Central Alabama (located in Montgomery), our region's designated United Jewish Communities agency. Federation's mission is to build Jewish identity, pride, unity, and activism through education, leadership development and opportunities for volunteerism.

Temple Emanu-El is an active member of the Union for Reform Judaism's Southeast Council, North America's largest geographic region, comprised of almost 100 congregations throughout Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Eastern Tennessee, and the Bahamas. The Southeast Council enjoys strong professional leadership under Rabbi Linda Joseph, Joan Winograd and their staff.

Your children have the fantastic opportunity to attend summer camp at our region's designated URJ facility - The Henry S. Jacobs Camp in Utica, Mississippi. - serving Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Western Tennessee. Since 1970, Jacobs Camp has been providing a caring Jewish community that builds young people. Our camp program has a profound impact on our campers. The opportunity to live as part of a close-knit community and develop new skills, assisted by a dynamic and enthusiastic staff, coupled with Jewish values and the development of one's Jewish identity result in the experience of a lifetime.

Dothan's Jewish community receives comprehensive, invaluable support from a very unique and distinctive organization: The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life (the ISJL). Their mission is to provide educational and other services to southeast Jewish communities, documenting and preserving the rich history of the Southern Jewish experience, and promoting a Jewish cultural presence throughout a thirteen state region.

When your children attend major universities in our region, you can count on there being superior opportunities for them to join and actively participate in campus Hillel organizations. Here's just two examples: the Universities of Alabama and Florida.

At the University of Alabama, Hillel is a place where all Jewish students can feel at home; where all strive to create a fun and inviting environment for students so that they may celebrate their religion and culture. Jewish students from all backgrounds, secular and religious, are welcomed.

At the University of Florida, Hillel is the center for Jewish life on campus with almost 7,000 Jewish college students. Hillel offers students the means to explore and celebrate their Jewish identity in a dynamic and comfortable environment. Each year, Hillel connects students to their community, their peers and their heritage through an array of social, cultural and community service programs. Every student at the University of Florida will be sure to find a friendly home here.

Wow, we trust that this overview of the opportunities, awaiting your family to live and grow Jewishly in Dothan, is proof positive as we sincerely say:

Welcome to your new Jewish neighborhood !