I am writing to respond to the question “Where…are the Jews?” in a recent rant [The Rant, January 8, 2007].
Congregation Beth Israel was founded in Charlottesville in 1882. The congregation currently has more than 400 members who attend Reform services on Friday nights or lay-led Conservative services on Saturday mornings. CBI also serves as a center for Jewish life in Charlottesville, hosting cultural events and publicizing others through its e-mail newsletter and bulletins. For more information, visit CBI’s website at cbicville.org or sign up for free, weekly e-mails at office@cbicville.org. The University of Virginia also hosts a Hillel chapter; there is a Chabad congregation in town; and there is a Chavurah group that can be contacted through the Gesher Center for Jewish Spirituality, Meditation and Healing.
As for Jewish food, Littlejohn’s on University Avenue and Durty Nelly’s Pub and Wayside Deli on Jefferson Park Avenue both make a respectable pastrami on rye. And Padow’s in the north wing of Barracks Road Shopping Center is another shop that makes good deli sandwiches.
Charlotte Crystal
Member
Congregation Beth Israel
This old home
Thanks for the good article on the possibility of historically designated areas and places in Charlottesville [“City agrees in concept to expand historic properties,” c-ville.com, January 15, 2007]. My own home is in Belmont and was built in 1893. I bought it in 1996. It’s nothing fancy—just a big old farmhouse—but it’s beautiful and sits on one of the few Belmont double lots. In 1893 there was just the Belmont Plantation, my house, and a couple of other houses on this side of the railroad tracks. Rufus Holsinger took a picture of this house once—now in the UVA collection.
It worries me, with all the expansion and all the big money getting spent, that this wonderful old home isn’t historically protected. So I’m certainly in favor of expanding historical designation protections to any beautiful residence over 100 years old—especially one which, like mine, was a sort of “pioneer house” in one of the Charlottesville neighborhoods.
Leo Daugherty
Charlottesville