Austin Texas Jewish Community

Austin the capital of Texas now has an estimated Jewish population of 14,000 residents, as well as 4,000 Jewish students attending Universiies and Colleges in the city. Since the 1990s Austin's Jewish population has grown by 400%, however, the orthodox community is not as large as Houston or Dallas, but is certainly growing.

There are currently two Jewish day schools in Austin, Pre-K through middle school. Both schools accept children from all religious backgrounds; one is the Austin Jewish Academy (pluralistic), and the other is Tamim Academy of Austin (orthodox). There are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform houses of worship in Austin including Congregation Tiferet Israel - CTI, and Chabad of Greater Austin.

Austin has a Mikvah, Austin Women's Mikah @ Chabad.The Kosher Store at H-E-B (Supermarket) has a dedicated kosher section which includes kosher meats, fish, and the deli section is kosher certified. There's also the Kosher Shuk which carries lots of kosher products as well as those from Israel. For the College students in Austin, both Chabad and Hillel have outreach centers.

Remember the Alamo? It's located in Austin, and it's also one of the most famous museums in Austin. Other notable museums are the Blanton Museum of Art, the Bullock Texas State History Museum, and more. For the kids there's Austin's, a park that includes rides, mini-golf, bumper boats, batting cages, go-carts, and more, The Lake Travis Waterloo Aventures park with water rids, or the Typhoon Texas Water Park, plus many other smaller adventure parks throughout the area.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is located at the Southeast edge of the city and is approximately 15 minutes from the Jewish communities. Like the rest of Texas, there are plenty of highways to get around within the city and to neighboring cities. Interstate 35 runs through the Capital of Texas and connects to San Antonio, the nearest large city, just 90 minutes away. On the other hand, Dallas is 195 miles to the North and Houston is 162 miles to the East. Texas is the largest Continental state, so expect to drive if you plan on going anywhere.