Jewish merchants in Mobile, Alabama date back to 1777. Later in 1840, the congregation Shaare Shamayim was organized there. German Jews settled in Selma in the 1840’s. In the 1960’s, American Jewish leaders, such as Heschel, took part in the struggle for civil rights in this state. There are Jewish communities in Birmingham (about 5,500), Mobile (1,100), Montgomery (1,200), and Huntsville (750).