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Temple Shalom of
Northwest Arkansas

P. O. Box 3723
Fayetteville, AR 72702
(479) 973-2702
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Recent stories from the Temple Ground Blessing

Temple Unites Faiths

Jewish congregation "thrilled" to work with Muslim contractor on new building

This article was published on Thursday, December 21, 2006 7:44 PM CST in News
By Dug Begley of The Morning News

FAYETTEVILLE -- Who knew religious divisions could be solved in an Olive Garden?

Fadil Bayyari and Jeremy Hess laid the groundwork a few weeks ago for Bayyari, a Muslim, to build a new home for Temple Shalom, Fayetteville's Jewish congregation. By the time the endless salad and breadsticks arrived, Bayyari reached an understanding with Hess, head of the temple's building committee. The coming together of faiths often pitted against one another wasn't lost on either.

"Even though this is a Jewish worship place, it is great we can represent the community," Hess said.

Bayyari, a Springdale general contractor, will donate his services to Temple Shalom as they proceed with plans for a $1 million building at the intersection of Sang Avenue and Cleveland Street. Bret Park, the architect designing the new Temple Shalom, said it is too early to calculate how valuable Bayyari's donation will be.

"We don't know how much the materials are going to be," Park said. "We haven't gotten there yet."

The symbolism of the men working together is more significant than bricks and mortar, temple president Bill Feldman said. Bayyari and Feldman agreed demonstrating the positive side of Muslim-Jewish relations is important locally and internationally.
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"We are able to get beyond the differences in the United States," Bayyari said. "Why can't they?"

Calling himself a "student of the similarities" between Islam, Judaism and Christianity, Bayyari said he approached Hess through a friend in the local Rotary Club about lending his services. He said he thought it would be an important way to show his support. Bayyari previously built a mosque for Fayetteville's Muslim community.

"We are all children of God when you look at it," Bayyari said.

He noted that, if you trace Islam and Judaism to their roots, both begin with Abraham. He said meeting with Hess he saw how the two faiths shared common themes, and so did the people.

"We grew up in the same house, except his father was Jewish and my father was a Muslim," Bayyari said.

Announcing the partnership as the Jewish holiday Hanukkah ends tonight, and just before the Islamic celebration of Eid al-Adha on Dec. 31, is just an added bonus, Feldman and Bayyari said.

Feldman said members of Temple Shalom were "thrilled" to work with Bayyari, in order to demonstrate similarities in the two religions. Although separated by thousands of miles from conflicts in the Middle East, Feldman and Bayyari said they hope to set an example.

"My only dream I'd like to see in my lifetime is the Palestinian and Israelis live in peace," Bayyari said.

Hess said that, despite media accounts, he believes most residents of Israel want to have calm between the religions.

"Borders are arbitrary things we set up," Hess said.

In building the walls of their new Jewish worship center, Bayyari and Hess hope they can tear down others.

"We want people to look at what we're doing," Hess said. "It's a good thing."

Fund-raising continues

The new Temple Shalom planned for the corner of Sang Avenue and Cleveland Street in Fayetteville will be the local Jewish congregation's first worship center. The project is expected to take approximately one year to complete after the land is purchased in January, temple building committee member Jeremy Hess said. Fund-raising for the project continues, Hess added, including a new Web site, www.atempleofpeace.com, which is expected to go online soon.

Source: Staff report

At a Glance

Temple Shalom is one of four Jewish congregations in Northwest Arkansas:

• Hillel, a Jewish campus life organization at the University of Arkansas
• Chabad of Northwest Arkansas, based in Rogers
• Congregation Etz Chaim of Northwest Arkansas, a Bentonville-based congregation formed in 2004.

To see this story and comments, please visit The Morning News web site.

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