Thank you for the responses. After considering multiple options, I solved this by creating my own Whitelist as a rule. Here is how I did it.
Creating the Rule
1) Go to: Mail —> Preferences —> Rules
2) Add Rule, and name the new rule “Whitelist”
3) For the new rule:
- Choose if Any of the following conditions are met.
- Choose From in the first drop down and Ends With in the second drop down. Then in the text field to the right of the Ends With drop down, type the email address OR domain of email addresses you want to go to your inbox instead of Junk.
Example 1: John@abc.com (sends John’s emails to your inbox) .
Example 2: @abc.com (sends emails from anybody whose email address ends @abc.com to your inbox including John).
4) In the Perform the following actions section, choose Move Message in the first drop down and Inbox in the second drop down. NOTE: Even if Inbox is already selected in the second drop down, you still need to click the second drop down and choose Inbox again for Apple Mail to register the choice.
Adding Additional Emails to the Rule
1) Each time you need to add a new email address to your whitelist go to: Mail —> Preferences —> Rules, find your Whitelist rule, and select Edit.
2) Find an email address or domain of email addresses you added to the rule previously, and click the + symbol to the right of it.
3) Repeat Step 3) for the additional email address or domain of email addresses.