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Feature article
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Exhibit celebrates century of Jewish life in the Tri-Cities
By James Brooks
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In 1904, six Jewish families formed the first congregation of B'nai Sholom, and this year the synagogue celebrates its centennial in the Tri-Cities.
An exhibit opened at Carroll Reece Museum at East Tennessee State University this week depicting the rich history and abundant symbolism of the Jewish faith. Each holiday is explained and illustrated with objects such as Menorahs, shofars, yarmulkes and rollers for the Torah scrolls.
Holidays, such as Passover and Rosh Hashana, and traditions such as the bar mitzvah are explained and illustrated.
It takes 10 Jews as the minyan needed to hold a public worship in a synagogue or other place, and in the 1980s the B'nai Sholom congregation began counting women as among the minyan. Jews are also urged to pray three times a day in addition to the Friday evening Sabbath (or Shabbat) services. This is the only rite mentioned in the Ten Commandments. Two candles are lit at sundown to begin the service, and it is followed with a festive dinner in the home featuring two loaves of braided bread called Challah.
Rosh Hashana, or the Jewish New Year, begins with the Days of Awe and leads up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is the holiest of Jewish holidays and is punctuated with the blowing of the shofar, an ibex or kudu horn, up to 100 times a day.
Hanukah celebrates the rededication of the temple in Israel in 164 BC. It is an eight-day festival in which a miracle of a single day's oil lasting for eight days is symbolized with a nine-candle Menorah, in which a candle is lit from the center candle each day and allowed to burn all the way down.
The Passover celebrates the Exodus from bondage in Egypt.
Spring house cleaning includes the removal of all leavened products from the homes and the rite of meals with unleavened bread is an important aspect.
Other holidays include Sukkot, a harvest festival; Simchat, celebrating the annual end of reading the Torah; Purim, celebrating the victory over the King of Persia; and Shavuot, another harvest festival occurring seven weeks after the Passover.
The ark in the temple contains the sacred Torah scrolls, kept on rollers so it can be read without being touched. A pointer, called a Yad, is used to keep place.
Bar (or bat) mitzvah at age 13 celebrates the coming of age where a youth begins to participate in the services and is regarded as an adult who must shoulder adult responsibilities.
The first synagogue was built on King Street in Bristol, and in 1956 the congregation had grown enough to seek new property in Blountville, where the Armand Hecht Jewish Community Center was built and dedicated in 1958. It is the only Jewish synagogue between Roanoke, Va., and Knoxville.
In October 1977, a tornado hit the building, causing heavy damage, but it was rebuilt in time to celebrate its 75th anniversary in 1979.
In 2001, the congregation had grown to the point that its first full-time rabbi in 25 years was hired. Rabbi Brian Nevins-Goldman continues today as the spiritual leader. Currently 35 youths are participating in religion classes leading to the bar mitzvah at age 13, and confirmation classes that follow.
The Sisterhood, or women of the synagogue, have long been active in the affairs, and judging from the role food plays in the various celebrations, it is little surprise that one of the group's early activities was the publication of a cookbook.
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