House of worship

BY DUSTIN TRACY Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Monday, October 15, 2007

After 26 years of wandering Northwest Arkansas without a real home, members of the Temple Shalom congregation can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

About 100 people from all walks of life and all different faiths gathered Sunday to help bless the ground at 699 N. Sang Ave. in preparation for the synagogue to be built in Fayetteville.

“ The Jews in the Bible wandered around for 40 years, and we’ve cut that down by 14, ” said Jeremy Hess, building coordinator and a founding member of Temple Shalom.

Builders have broken ground on the $ 2. 2 million building, and construction should be finished within a year, he said.

For most of the 50 families who attend Temple Shalom, it’s been and answer to prayer. Rabbi Jacob Adler has been a part of the temple since 1984 and became the temple’s rabbi in June 2006.

He said the whole thing was hard to believe.

“ Up until now, there’s been a slightly homeless feeling, ” Adler said. “ I wasn’t even sure we’d (build the synagogue ) in my lifetime. ”

It was quite a journey for the congregation to get to where it is today. Hess said that when the group formed in 1981, it had dreams of meeting in its own place. Two years ago that dream almost became a reality when the group made an offer on the E. Fay Jones Butterfly House on Rockwood Trail. The offer was accepted, Hess said, but neighbors said they did not want a house of worship in their neighborhood.

After a debate and even a stint in front of the Fayetteville City Council, the group withdrew its offer and began looking other places, which ended up being a blessing in disguise, Adler said. At that point Fadil Bayyari, a Muslim from Palestine who works as a general contractor in Springdale, entered the picture.

“ He approached one of our members and said he had heard about the Butterfly House situation, and he wanted to help us, ” Hess said.

Bayyari offered to perform all the general contracting work for the temple’s construction free of charge and has literally put a piece of himself into the project, Hess said.

Bill Feldman, president of Temple Shalom, spoke to the group at the ground blessing.

“ It’s a thrill for us today to begin this building project, ” he said. “ It’s a project that took a little time considering Jews have been in Northwest Arkansas for over 100 years, but it finally happened. ”

Donna Musarra, co-chair of Building a Dream Ground Blessing, the capital fundraising campaign for the project, said the temple is a present not just for the congregation but for future generations.

“ It’s our way to contribute to the future diversity of the area, ” she said.

Adler agreed.

“ It was really beautiful and inspiring to see people from different walks of life give their blessings to us, ” he said.

At the ground blessing ceremony, Episcopalian ministers, Tibetan monks and Unitarian reverends all said a blessing for the ground. The idea fit in well with the congregation, which shared a meeting place with Unitarian Universalist Fellowship for a long time on Cleveland Street.

Adler said the new building is really a big step for Jews in the South, which he claims have been on the decline.

“ It’s really great to say that we’re going and opening up our own place instead of closing one, ” Adler said.