Let’s build bridges in our Arkansas Jewish community and in our community in general. Building bridges and working all together is the only way to succeed. You'll notice that in several places in this e-blast I’m requesting your participation and your help. What a great way to build our bridges around the community!
This week has been a busy week at JFAR. We are so happy that the Covid numbers are down and we can return to our in-person gatherings to mark important Jewish occasions together. Following our wonderful PJ Library Purim in the Park parties we have a number of opportunities to gather coming up:
- We will start with gathering together to observe Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.
- We are working toward celebrating the wonderful volunteer efforts in our community at a fall Tikkun Olam event in the late October or early November.
- Also in the offing is the return of a Jewish food festival in the spring of 2023.
- Would you like to watch and talk about Jewish movies in a zoom room? We are thinking that an online Jewish movie festival would be a fun way to get to know more Jews living all around the state.
If you would like to be involved in any of these projects, please contact me at JFAR. we need your enthusiasm and creative ideas!
We are assembling a fantastic campaign committee to launch our annual campaign. You will receive more information about JFAR's accomplishments, goals, and dreams for the Arkansas Jewish community very soon.
The Yom HaShoah committee has begun to plan the central Arkansas community event. The committee wishes to honor individuals and families who were closely involved and impacted by the Shoah. If you have a Shoah story to share regarding your personal experience as a relative of someone who was in the Shoah, please send your personal experience to director@jewisharkansas.org
As I’m sure you know, Passover begins on April 15. A very important aspect of the festival is the food and part of the preparation is creating the Seder menu. Do you have a favorite Passover recipe that you enjoy each year, and you'd like to share? Watch this space next week where I’ll share my favorite flourless chocolate cake.
Thank you again for your generosity to our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. Money continues to flow through JFAR for this very immediate need. Your contributions will soon total more than $5000. If you would like to stay current and get more information from the Jewish Federation of North America, I invite you to join the Ukraine crisis update webinar each week on Mondays and Thursdays at 3:30pm.
You can continue to read more about JFNA efforts in Ukraine and donate here.
I would like to extend my gratitude to all of you for your kind words expressing how much you enjoy reading this weekly newsletter. You should know how much I enjoy keeping in touch with you!
Shabbat Shalom
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Jewish History in Arkansas |
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Boston Jew and West Bank Muslim
Build a Temple, and Bridges, in Arkansas
A Story of Temple Shalom
This article was written by Samuel G. Freedman
and first appeared in the New York Times on October 6, 2007
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Just before the school year started in August 1971, Bill Feldman steered his Volvo amid the pickup trucks and horse trailers of small-town Arkansas, bound for his first job as a math professor. He was coming to the Bible Belt as a Jew reared in a Boston suburb, a scholar educated in Canada and Europe. To ease the culture shock, an uncle had given
him three jars of kosher pickles for the trip.
The same month, 19-year-old Fadil Bayyari boarded the first plane of his life, carrying falafel from his mother for the journey from Tulkarem in the West Bank to Roosevelt University in Chicago. He handed a taxi driver at O’Hare the college’s address and was relieved of a month’s spending money when the cabby took the naïve newcomer downtown more or less by way of Indiana.
All these decades later, destiny or providence or something has delivered Mr. Feldman and Mr. Bayyari to the same acre of land at the bottom of one of Fayetteville’s many hills. There Mr. Bayyari, now a general contractor, will build the first permanent temple for the Reform Jewish congregation in Fayetteville, of which Mr. Feldman is president. And Mr. Bayyari, a Palestinian-American Muslim, is doing the job at no charge. Without
his sacrifice, the congregation probably could not afford the project at all.
“To me, it’s a place of worship,” said Mr. Bayyari, 55. “In my mind and in my religion, I believe in Judaism as part of Islam. We believe in Abraham. We believe in Moses. In the Koran, there’s lots of talk about Isaac and Joseph. I am always fascinated by this, and I always feel I have a relationship with this faith. And knowing what’s happened in the Middle East, what better way to build bridges?”
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Structures: Inside/Outside
Matthew Lopas and Jason McCann
Opening Reception | Sunday | April 2 | 6:00 PM
Conversation with the Artist | Friday | April 8 | 6:00 PM
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Matthew Lopas, a member of the Arkansas Jewish community and congregant at Congregation B'nai Israel, will showcase his art at Boswell Mourot Fine Art in Little Rock.
An accomplished artist, Matthew is also a Professor of Art at Hendrix College.
The show runs through April 23.
For more information:
Boswell Mourot Fine Art
1501 South Main Street, Suite H
Little Rock, AR 72202
(501) 454-6969
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Ukraine, The Refugee Crisis and Learning from History
Monday | March 28 | 3:00 PM CT
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With the Russian onslaught against Ukraine, the displacement of millions of people, and Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II, the world is witness to another humanitarian disaster. What lessons can be learned from the past? What are the moral and historical imperatives for intervention? How does this crisis affect policy on refugees and migration? Join TOLI (The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights) to discuss these issues. |
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A Conversation with Congressman Ted Deutch
Tuesday | March 29 | 4:00 PM CT
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Hear from U.S. Congressman Ted Deutch, the next CEO of the American Jewish Committee. Deutch will recall his journey into political life that led him to serve as a senior member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, fight against global antisemitism and bigotry, and sponsor legislation in the House to crack down on companies that financially support Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Presented by American Jewish University. |
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The Four Sons: Exploring the Haggadah through Art
Tuesday | March 29 | 6:30 PM CT
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The Four Sons of the Haggadah have been the center of the seder ritual for generations. Rabbi Aviad Bodner from Congregation Ramath Orah in New York will review images of the Four Sons from haggadot from the last 400 years and discuss what we can learn from them about our families today. |
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Touched with Fire: A Conversation with David Lowe
Sunday | April 3 | 3:00 PM CT
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Join the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience for a conversation with David Lowe, author of Touched with Fire: Morris B. Abram and the Battle against Racial and Religious Discrimination. Lowe will discuss the life and legacy of Georgia-born and raised civil rights lawyer Morris B. Abram. This fascinating biography was awarded the National Jewish Book Award. |
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Global Connections Forum
Russia: A New Cold War?
Wednesday | April 6 | 3:00 PM CT
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Sponsored by American Friends of Rabin Medical Center (AFRMC), join host Robert Siegel and a panel of industry experts to discuss the broader geo-political consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. |
JCPA 2022 National Conference
What Does it Mean to be Free?
Monday | April 11 | 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM CT
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This year the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) Annual Conference bring people together to reflect on and tackle today’s challenges and rededicate ourselves to ensuring freedom for all.
Since 1944, JCPA has been the organized national Jewish community’s convener, intergroup connector, and policy advocate. The Conference brings together the largest Jewish national network to engage on today’s crucial issues through a Jewish lens.
This year's featured speakers include Stacey Abrams, the Honorable Justice Stephen Breyer, Christine Todd Whitman, and the Honorable Michael Herzog, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.
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Check Out the JFAR Calendar |
The JFAR calendar is a great place to see what's happening in the Jewish communities around Arkansas.
Be sure to visit our website regularly so you don't miss a thing!
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CALLING ALL JEWISH CONGREGATIONS ACROSS ARKANSAS
Do you have an event you'd like to publicize to the greater Jewish community? Please let us know so we can include it in future emails.
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