Wal-Mart Employees' Shul

I know people have been blogging about it for days, but I just read this article in the New York Times about the Wal-Mart employees in Arkansas who built their own shul in a Bible Belt small town. Reading it, I felt like I was reading about my own family, from the Chanukah presentations in school to the Jesus comments.

What I found to be one of the most interesting lines in the article -

"You have to try harder to be Jewish down here."

I think that was my experience growing up - my parents made and effort to make sure that we knew we were Jewish, because it wasn't a commodity that everyone related to. I think my Jewish identity is stronger for it, even though it wasn't always easy being different. I hope that the Jews in Bentonville, Arkansas can appreciate the strength they derive from their situation as well.