Lisa Priddle wonders why she is trying so hard, why she is prepping and cooking and buying Hanukkah dreidels for people in the small Southern city that she and her husband moved to because a Jewish millionaire paid them to come build up the Jewish community there.

Given an offer of up to $50,000, she and Kenny picked up their lives and came to Alabama, but now they must think seriously about the anti-Semitism they’ve experienced, about moments you don’t forget, about that lingering feeling of being on the outside.

When the Priddles first heard about Dothan, Ala., it seemed too good to be true. But the magazine advertisement was clear: A local millionaire, Larry Blumberg, wanted to pay Jewish families up to $50,000 each to move to his town.

Lisa was so excited that she ran out of the bathroom holding the copy of Reform Judaism magazine and shouted to Kenny: “We’re doing this.”

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Lisa and Kenny Priddle are among 11 families who moved to Dothan, Ala., when a millionaire offered each up to $50,000 to attract more Jews to his hometown.
Here, the Priddles pose for a portrait in the sanctuary at Temple Emanu-El. (Kevin D. Liles for the Washington Post)

The Arensons are delighted with their decision to raise their daughter, Emily, who was 6 when they moved from Los Angeles in 2014, in Alabama. “Dothan is a great place to live, an awesome place to bring up a kid. Much slower pace of life, lower cost of living. People in the Deep South are super friendly,” Terence says.

I was brought up in the Bible Belt. Adolescence ain't so great there if you're anywise different. I wouldn't want to raise a kid there.