That night, a city that prides itself on playing host to Sam’s Club proved that it also hosts another club 

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entonville is a remote city in Arkansas that houses the global headquarters of Walmart and Sam's Club, two of the largest retail conglomerates in the world. That means the small city attracts many frum businessmen, who fly in and out as part of their dealings with the Walmart brand.

Yet despite the heavy frum traffic, amenities servicing Orthodox Jewish visitors are limited to a single Chabad house, run by Rabbi Mendel and Mrs. Dobi Greisman. The intrepid couple are active in arranging minyanim and offering whatever they can to visiting Jews.

Last week, a plane transporting seven frum passengers left the gate at the Bentonville airport, bound for New York, when East Coast weather conditions forced a delay. As passengers on the flight waited to be cleared for takeoff, the pilot suddenly announced that the flight was canceled, and would be returning to the gate.

No one on the aircraft was excited about being forced to spend the night in Bentonville, but for the seven frum passengers, the inconvenience was compounded by the fact that this was no major airport with an abundance of kosher stands — and they hadn’t packed food for the extra night.

One of the passengers sent a WhatsApp notification to Rabbi Greisman, asking if he could help. He wasn’t home, but a few minutes later, the passenger received a message from the good rabbi’s wife, who happily set up a warm dinner — with a choice of salmon or pasta — for her hungry brethren. That night, a city that prides itself on playing host to Sam’s Club proved that it also hosts another club — one with a membership a fraction of the size, but that much deeper.

HAPPENING IN… Florida

On Pesach, teaches the second mishnah in Rosh Hashanah, we are judged on tevuah — grain. The mishnah’s focus is agricultural, but it can be understood allegorically as well; Pesach is when our conceptual “grain,” our work, our productivity, our income, are scrutinized.

One might think that the pre-Pesach season is not a time for business conferences, but the H3 Business Halacha Summit recognizes that the best way to prepare for the judgment on grain is to recommit to earning parnassah in the most halachically and hashkafically ideal manner.

In that vein, rabbanim and businessmen from communities from across Florida converged in Aventura for the state’s first ever H3 Business Halacha Summit. Severe weather warnings clouded hopes for attendance, but in the end over 400 people packed the 12-hour conference. The attendees will enter Pesach with these ideals firmly planted in their hearts and minds. May it be a wonderful year of “tevuah” for all.

The Lens

In an industry where “competition” is more than welcome, Reb Eli Stefansky of the MDY Daf Yomi shiur paid a visit to Reb Sruly Borenstien of the Lakewood Daf Yomi shiur, with a request: Would the Lakewood maggid shiur record a video in support of MDY’s crowdfunding campaign? Of course, Reb Sruly graciously acquiesced and proceeded to do just that. Here, two titans of Torah share a light moment shortly before the video cameras started rolling.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1007)