If someone were to ask the average congregant, "Who was Susan Rissman?" perhaps one out of 10 people would know.  Susan "Suzie" Rissman was a member of Congregation Children of Israel for over 50 years.  She and her husband, Jackson Rissman, never had children, never served on the Board of Trustees but would come to Friday night services.  Mr. Rissman died in 1977 and Suzie lived another eighteen years by herself in Athens.  During those years, she came to services occasionally but a recluse, she was not...  She had a smile for everyone and endeared herself to several of Athens' finest Jewish families.

After she died at the age of 99 in 1995, the President of the Congregation got a call from the Executor of her estate. Imagine the shock and surprise when he was told that Mrs. Rissman had bequeathed a most sizeable portion of her estate to Congregation Children of Israel.  The money has been used to build one of the large classrooms in the Carol Leet Bush Education Building and part of the money has been set aside to form the Rissman Israel Scholarship Fund.

This scholarship fund helps support participation by our Temple youth in organized youth group trips to Israel. By helping to strengthen the bond between our youth and the larger Jewish world, such trips are an important element in ensuring Jewish continuity, and furthermore have the potential to be life-transforming experiences.

Several of our teenagers have received the generous Rissman scholarship awards and have traveled to Israel. All that is asked of them in return is that they donate 10 volunteer hours under the auspices of our Congregation, either to the Congregation itself, or to some organization on the Congregation's behalf.

Any members interested in taking advantage of this opportunity need only contact the Temple office for more information.