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The Times' retail reporter, the petite and Jewish Michael Barbaro, who yesterday wrote about the availability of petite-size clothing at Saks, informs us on today's frontpage that jobs at Walmart's HQ are apparently having the surprising effect of bringing Jews to Bentonville, Arkansas. (We, as Jews, find this situation just as troubling as we imagine the Bentonvillians do.) How many Jews have shown up in Bentonville? Enough for them to open their own synagogue — which recently celebrated its first bar mitzvah. And how did Bentonville mark the occasion? With two local DJs, who broadcast "Another Tim and Jeff Travelogue on Power 105.7!" to teach their listeners about this mysterious ritual. Barbaro quotes from the beginning of the segment:

"Jesus was Jewish," one D.J. noted in a dispatch from the reception at a local hotel. The other remarked, "I love Seinfeld."

But our favorite is this bit near the end:

Bar Mitzvah Boy: "The congregation meets, and you do the Torah."
DJ: "The Torah's the first five books of the Bible — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and another one that I can't remember."

That's the Bible Belt, folks.

In Walmart's Home, Synagogue Signals Growth [NYT]
Another Tim and Jeff Travelogue on Power 105.7! [NYT, MP3]