Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities - Bentonville, Arkansas
Historical Overview
Until the late 20th century, Bentonville seemed an unlikely location for a significant Jewish community to emerge. The small town served as the seat of Benton County, but its position in the sparsely populated Ozark region of Northwest Arkansas was less favorable for Jewish settlement than other parts of the state. As the home of Walmart Inc., however, Bentonville and surrounding towns have experienced consistent growth since 1970, and the area has become a magnet for white collar professionals, tourists, and retirees.
By the early 21st century a sufficient number of Jewish newcomers had arrived in Bentonville to consider founding their own Jewish organizations. Many of these so-called “Walmart Jews” actually worked for other companies—manufacturers and service vendors that kept offices in Bentonville in order to do business with the retail giant. After the establishment of Congregation Etz Chaim in 2004 and the opening of a Chabad house shortly thereafter, Bentonville’s Jewish community drew attention as a story of Jewish growth in a state where the overall Jewish population had declined for some time. The apparent boom in Jewish activity ultimately proved unsustainable, though, largely due to high turnover among Walmart-adjacent corporate workers.
By the early 21st century a sufficient number of Jewish newcomers had arrived in Bentonville to consider founding their own Jewish organizations. Many of these so-called “Walmart Jews” actually worked for other companies—manufacturers and service vendors that kept offices in Bentonville in order to do business with the retail giant. After the establishment of Congregation Etz Chaim in 2004 and the opening of a Chabad house shortly thereafter, Bentonville’s Jewish community drew attention as a story of Jewish growth in a state where the overall Jewish population had declined for some time. The apparent boom in Jewish activity ultimately proved unsustainable, though, largely due to high turnover among Walmart-adjacent corporate workers.
Precursors to Jewish Bentonville
While an organized Jewish community did not emerge in Bentonville until the 21st century, a handful of Jews likely had likely settled in the area by the early 20th century. Census records indicate that a smattering of immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe found their way to Benton County around that time, but most records do not definitively demonstrate whether these locals were Jewish. In 1930, however, Sam and Rose Bosse lived in Bentonville with a fifteen-year-old son, Leonard. Sam was a native of the Russian Empire whose first language was likely Yiddish, and Rose had been born in Missouri to Russian-Jewish immigrants. The family operated a general merchandise store from the 1920s until sometime in the 1930s, after which they moved to St. Louis, Missouri. As of 1937 there were reportedly no Jews in the town of Bentonville.
A Different Jewish Story
Bentonville remained a small town for most of the 20th century, but the area grew significantly starting after World War II. Development in Benton County centered around poultry processing, manufacturing, and tourism and retirement. From 1970 to 2020 Bentonville proper increased its population by an average of 60 percent each decade. The 2020 census recorded 54,164 residents in Bentonville, nearly ten times the population in 1970.
The largest single factor in Bentonville’s growth was Walmart. Merchandiser Sam Walton purchased a variety store on the town square in 1950, and then opened the first Walmart (spelled Wal-Mart until 2008) in nearby Rogers. In 1970 Walton established Walmart Inc., which made its initial public offering the same year. Headquartered in Bentonville, the company’s steady rise among national and global retailers led to a local transformation, fueled both by an increase in corporate management jobs and also through projects funded by the Walton Foundation.
Among other changes, Walmart has increased the ethnic and religious diversity of Northwest Arkansas. By the early 20th century, nascent Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu communities called the area home. Walmart employed a number of these newcomers directly, but many of them worked for the company’s many vendors—companies who maintained Bentonville offices as a prerequisite for doing business with the megaretailer.
The largest single factor in Bentonville’s growth was Walmart. Merchandiser Sam Walton purchased a variety store on the town square in 1950, and then opened the first Walmart (spelled Wal-Mart until 2008) in nearby Rogers. In 1970 Walton established Walmart Inc., which made its initial public offering the same year. Headquartered in Bentonville, the company’s steady rise among national and global retailers led to a local transformation, fueled both by an increase in corporate management jobs and also through projects funded by the Walton Foundation.
Among other changes, Walmart has increased the ethnic and religious diversity of Northwest Arkansas. By the early 20th century, nascent Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu communities called the area home. Walmart employed a number of these newcomers directly, but many of them worked for the company’s many vendors—companies who maintained Bentonville offices as a prerequisite for doing business with the megaretailer.
Jewish Life in Bentonville
In the summer of 2004, a group of local Jewish residents established Bentonville’s first Jewish organization, Congregation Etz Chaim. They had initially been involved with the Jewish congregation in nearby Fayetteville and even considered constructing a synagogue halfway between the two towns, but as more Jews moved to Bentonville they opted to open their own congregation. From fifteen founding families, the group soon grew to 35 households, primarily recent transplants and many with young children.
Congregation Etz Chaim originally hosted services in a room at the Bentonville Boys and Girls Club and held religious school classes in a conference room at the Bentonville Advertising and Promotion Commission. In 2005, they bought a former Assembly of God church and converted it into a synagogue, holding their first services in the building on May 20. On September 16, 2005, they held a dedication ceremony for their new synagogue, which featured representatives from the local Baptist, Catholic, Islamic, and Hindu communities. Shortly after the founding of Congregation Etz Chaim, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary family moved to Bentonville; as of 2023, Rabbi Mendel Greisman and Rebbetzin Dobi Greisman have provided Jewish resources, prayer services, and educational opportunities to residents and visitors for more than seventeen years.
Congregation Etz Chaim, meanwhile, engaged a traveling rabbi for monthly visits beginning in 2006. Rabbi Jack Zanerhaft worked as an attorney in Tulsa during the week and served Congregation Etz Chaim until 2014. Debbye Zanerhaft, his then-wife, provided cantorial services as well, and the couple also worked with Hebrew Union Congregation in Fort Smith. The Bentonville congregation followed a blend of Conservative and Reform traditions, reflecting a wide range of observance among its members.
Congregation Etz Chaim originally hosted services in a room at the Bentonville Boys and Girls Club and held religious school classes in a conference room at the Bentonville Advertising and Promotion Commission. In 2005, they bought a former Assembly of God church and converted it into a synagogue, holding their first services in the building on May 20. On September 16, 2005, they held a dedication ceremony for their new synagogue, which featured representatives from the local Baptist, Catholic, Islamic, and Hindu communities. Shortly after the founding of Congregation Etz Chaim, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary family moved to Bentonville; as of 2023, Rabbi Mendel Greisman and Rebbetzin Dobi Greisman have provided Jewish resources, prayer services, and educational opportunities to residents and visitors for more than seventeen years.
Congregation Etz Chaim, meanwhile, engaged a traveling rabbi for monthly visits beginning in 2006. Rabbi Jack Zanerhaft worked as an attorney in Tulsa during the week and served Congregation Etz Chaim until 2014. Debbye Zanerhaft, his then-wife, provided cantorial services as well, and the couple also worked with Hebrew Union Congregation in Fort Smith. The Bentonville congregation followed a blend of Conservative and Reform traditions, reflecting a wide range of observance among its members.
Former Etz Chaim President Dawn Bachman (center) and other celebrants dance at the tenth anniversary of Congregation Etz Chaim, 2014. Courtesy Soraya Rudofsky Photography.
By the time that Congregation Etz Chaim reached its tenth anniversary in 2014, it had grown to 55 member households. Despite the congregation’s small size, 30 students attended its religious school, reportedly the second highest enrollment in the state. They also faced challenges, however. Their synagogue building flooded in 2014, afterwhich the congregation met in a rented facility owned by the First Christian Church, and while the predominance of young families led to an active religious school, many of those families proved transient. Journalistic coverage of Arkansas’ newest synagogue noted that the short-term corporate positions that brought Jews to Northwest Arkansas also led to a high turnover rate among Congregation Etz Chaim’s membership.
Still, Bentonville served as a beacon for Jewish Arkansas in the 2000s and 2010s, a period of Jewish decline and synagogue closures in other parts of the state. Congregation Beth Israel in El Dorado, Arkansas—then down to a handful of members—gifted the new congregation a Torah scroll, and Helena’s Temple Beth El donated various pieces of Judaica upon its closure in 2006. Congregation Etz Chaim reached a membership of approximately 75 families and even employed Rabbi Robert Lennick on a full-time basis from September 2014 to February 2016. Rabbi Lennick, who holds a Reform ordination, later formed an alternative congregation in the area, which only remained active for a few years.
Still, Bentonville served as a beacon for Jewish Arkansas in the 2000s and 2010s, a period of Jewish decline and synagogue closures in other parts of the state. Congregation Beth Israel in El Dorado, Arkansas—then down to a handful of members—gifted the new congregation a Torah scroll, and Helena’s Temple Beth El donated various pieces of Judaica upon its closure in 2006. Congregation Etz Chaim reached a membership of approximately 75 families and even employed Rabbi Robert Lennick on a full-time basis from September 2014 to February 2016. Rabbi Lennick, who holds a Reform ordination, later formed an alternative congregation in the area, which only remained active for a few years.
The 2020s
The Bentonville area’s Jewish boom began to falter by 2020. Congregation Etz Chaim hired Cantor Samuel Radwine after the departure of Rabbi Lennick, and Radwine received his rabbinical ordination in 2020. Jewish departures outnumbered Jewish arrivals, however, as fewer Jewish professionals seemed to end up in short-term assignments with Walmart vendors. The children of the congregation’s permanent members began to age out of religious school, and enrollment fell. Congregation Etz Chaim ran classes collaboratively with Temple Shalom of Fayetteville for a few years before closing its religious school around 2018.
When the covid-19 pandemic arrived in 2020, the congregation held online services, but when they returned to in-person worship, few people showed up. At the same time, longserving congregational leaders had become burned out and felt the need to pursue other activities. In March 2022 Congregation Etz Chaim announced its impending closure.
As of 2023 Bentonville and surrounding communities continue to attract tourists and retirees in addition to the Walmart-related white collar workforce, so the dissolution of Congregation Etz Chaim did not mark the end of Jewish life in the area. Some Bentonville-area Jews opt to travel to nearby Fayetteville to attend Temple Shalom, the only non-Orthodox congregation in Northwest Arkansas. Additionally, Chabad of Northwest Arkansas continues to host religious services, classes, and holiday events in and around Bentonville, and Rabbi Cantor Sam Radwine, who still lives in Rogers, remains available for local lifecycle events.
When the covid-19 pandemic arrived in 2020, the congregation held online services, but when they returned to in-person worship, few people showed up. At the same time, longserving congregational leaders had become burned out and felt the need to pursue other activities. In March 2022 Congregation Etz Chaim announced its impending closure.
As of 2023 Bentonville and surrounding communities continue to attract tourists and retirees in addition to the Walmart-related white collar workforce, so the dissolution of Congregation Etz Chaim did not mark the end of Jewish life in the area. Some Bentonville-area Jews opt to travel to nearby Fayetteville to attend Temple Shalom, the only non-Orthodox congregation in Northwest Arkansas. Additionally, Chabad of Northwest Arkansas continues to host religious services, classes, and holiday events in and around Bentonville, and Rabbi Cantor Sam Radwine, who still lives in Rogers, remains available for local lifecycle events.