Towering above the bagels, blintzes and other kosher delicacies at the Jewish Food Festival on Sunday will stand a replica of Judaism’s most sacred site.
The event, from 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. in downtown Little Rock’s River Market Pavilion, will showcase an 8-by-15-foot model of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, also known as the Wailing Wall.
There, people regardless of their faith can attach written prayers. An emissary from Israel will take them to Jerusalem next summer and place them in the crevices of the actual millennia-old monument.
“It gives people who might never have an opportunity to go to the Western Wall a glimpse of Israel,” said Leah Elenzweig, one of the annual event’s organizers and a member of Temple B’nai Israel in Little Rock. “It’s important to Christianity, Judaism and Islam — that part of Jerusalem.”
The Western Wall, or the Kotel in Hebrew, is the last remnant of the Second Temple that Roman forces destroyed in A. D. 70.
Jews built the Second Temple in the sixth century B. C., about 70 years after the Babylonians flattened Solomon’s Temple. King Herod — the villainous ruler mentioned at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel — greatly expanded the edifice during the first century B. C.
Over the centuries, the one remaining vestige of Judaism’s holiest site became a pilgrimage destination for Jews from around the globe. Their fervent prayers at the structure prompted non-Jews to call it the Wailing Wall.
Naama Strich, an Israeli emissary to the Jewish Federation of Arkansas this year, will have a booth on Israel near the model wall at the festival and hand out slips of paper for visitors to write down their own words to God.
She also will be the one to take people’s prayers back to the Holy Land.
Strich comes to Arkansas through the Jewish Agency of Israel, which sends emissaries to strengthen the nation’s bond with Jewish communities around the world. Strich plans to visit synagogues, churches and other religious communities across the state as well as the festival.
“I want to show people the real Israel, not just what they see in the news,” she said.
Strich, who grew up in northern Israel, has prayed at the real Western Wall many times before, inserting her written supplications into cracks in the stones.
Visiting the wall, she said, “You can feel time, going down into the centuries and back.”
“What I also like about it,” she said, “is that you can see the variety of society in Israel — from Muslims and Christians to Jews. Anybody can go there to pray.”
The wall has significance to more than just the Jewish faithful. According to tradition, the two Temples were built on Mount Moriah where Jews and Christians believe Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac and where Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.
In Jerusalem’s Old City, the wall stands near other important landmarks in the three Abrahamic faiths. These include the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which some believe was the site of Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. Towering nearby are also the gilded Dome of the Rock, the Muslim shrine that encloses the rock where Muslims believe Muhammad made his ascent, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, where Muslims make their prayers at the holy site.
The Jewish festival organizers hope the replica will give Arkansans a sense of that history.
The festival has included a wall replica all three years it has been held downtown, but this year, organizers are striving for a more realistic-looking structure. The old wall had been decorated by children.
The new wall will be covered in a laminated photographed image of the stones and lined with photos of people praying at the wall.
In addition to the wall, the festival will feature exhibits on Jewish history, booths of Judaica and Jewish musical entertainment. There also will be a model of the Jewish tabernacle — the portable temple that housed the Ark of the Covenant before the construction of the First Temple.
The festival, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, is the one annual event that brings together Jews from around the state.
“It’s been a great communitybuilding event for us,” said Rita Fagan, executive director of the federation. “It’s been very good for the community at large to see what we do and who we are. Some people in Arkansas had never seen a Jew before.”
Mark Levine, a member of Congregation Etz Chaim in Bentonville, is among those who plan to travel down from Northwest Arkansas for the event.
Levine, who lives in Rogers, also plans to man a booth that will sell $ 12 T-shirts to raise money for Etz Chaim. The Tshirts in “Razorback Red” and “Tennessee Orange” read “Shalom Y’all.”
He said he especially looks forward to showing his 4-yearold son more about Jewish religion and culture, including the miniature Western Wall.
“I live my life pretty much through my son now, and exposing him to that and teaching him means a lot,” he said. “For the people who are not Jewish, it really gives them an opportunity to learn something about us and how we operate and our culture.” A GUIDE TO JEWISH CUISINE
Many of the delicacies for sale at the third Jewish Food Festival have a religious meaning.
The gathering, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, will be from 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. Sunday at the River Market Pavilion, 400 President Clinton Ave. in Little Rock.
Here is a guide to the history behind some of the food: Challah bread: Braided egg bread eaten after the blessing on the Sabbath (except during Passover ). The bread commemorates the manna God sent to Israelites in the desert during the Exodus. It reminds Jews that God will provide. Knish: Fried or baked dough traditionally stuffed with mashed potatoes. The knish and other stuffed dishes, such as stuffed cabbage, are traditional during the fall harvest festival of Sukkot because they represent the bounty of the harvest.
Latkes: Potato pancakes typically served at Hanukkah. The hot oil they’re cooked in reminds Jews of the oil that, according to the Talmud, miraculously burned for eight days while Jewish forces rededicated the Temple in 165 B. C. Hamantashen: Triangular pastries filled with fruit and traditionally eaten during Purim. The treats celebrate Queen Esther and Mordecai’s success in foiling Haman’s plot to annihilate the Persian Jews. Hamantashen are said to represent Haman’s hat, pocket or the three Patriarchs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Matzo ball soup: The soup made with matzo meal, the unleavened bread the Israelites ate as they escaped Egypt during the Passover.
Blintzes: These sweet crepes stuffed with cheese are often eaten during Shavuot, the spring holiday that celebrates when Moses received the Torah. Some Jews believe the dairy ingredient and sweetness of the blintzes evoke the Land of Milk and Honey. Bagel: This popular Jewish delicacy has no religious significance, but many Jewish families will serve bagels with lox, cream cheese, tomato and onion during the breaking of the Yom Kippur fast.