Consecration 2009 First Annual Matzo Brei Cook-off
The members of Congregation Etz Chaim pride themselves on creating a safe and comfortable place for any Jew no matter their background to participate, grow, learn, or just relax and enjoy being Jewish.
Our Goals
To enhance the meaning of our lives as Jews, we strive to foster the reciprocal connections between the Synagogue and its congregants. Children and adults, individuals and families creating a multigenerational community participating in religious and social activities, lifelong Jewish learning, and the larger Jewish community.
Congregation Etz Chaim offers a Jewish foundation and “home” for individuals and families within Northwest Arkansas and neighboring communities. We are fully committed to a policy of welcoming anyone into synagogue life and our community regardless of gender, marital status, race, age, sexual orientation, or economic circumstances. We are committed to foster an environment that is a caring, multi-generational, and inclusive.
We encourage social responsibility. The performance of Mitzvot is an integral part of our Jewish lives and spiritual fulfillment -- within our community and by outreach to others.
Our History
Congregation Etz Chaim was found on August 4, 2004 by twelve families who met on July 13, 2004 in a home in Rogers, Arkansas to discuss the feasibility of such a task. The group with common goals and diverse talents were able to quickly do their due diligence in areas such as meeting places, clergy, religious school, and overall financial obligations. Once formed, the group quickly grew within six months to 32 families. On March 24, 2005, Congregation Etz Chaim's 32 families purchased a small church on the corner of Moberly and Central in Bentonville, AR and converted it into the first Synagogue in Benton County, Arkansas and said to be the first newly established Synagogue in a rural southern community in over 50 years.