WASHINGTON (CNN) — White House spokesman Tony Snow fired back at former President Bill Clinton after Clinton charged that the Bush administration believes the law is a “minor obstacle” in the “Scooter” Libby case.
“I don’t know what Arkansan is for chutzpah, but this is a gigantic case of it,” Snow told reporters in an off-camera briefing Wednesday.
Since there are only an estimated 1700 Jews in Arkansas, I’m pretty sure there is no Arkansan equivalent…
In 2001, an estimated 1,700 Jews lived in the state. Congregations in Helena, Blytheville, and El Dorado closed, while others struggled to survive. The Jewish population has become concentrated in a few communities such as Little Rock, Hot Springs, Fayetteville, and Bentonville. In 1937, thirteen cities in Arkansas had more than fifty Jews. In 2006, only four did. As of 2006, only congregations in Little Rock and Hot Springs had full-time rabbis.
But, thanks to Wal-Mart, we’re making a comeback…
The only exception to this downward trend is Bentonville. In the twenty-first century, as Wal-Mart has encouraged major suppliers to open offices in its corporate hometown, Bentonville has seen its Jewish population skyrocket. In 2004, a dozen Jews founded Bentonville’s first Jewish congregation, Etz Chaim, which quickly became the state’s fastest-growing congregation. Most of the founding members of Etz Chaim are not Arkansas natives. Unlike the peddlers and merchants who initially settled in Arkansas, these twenty-first-century migrants are executives at large corporations. They represent the generation of Jewish professionals who have largely replaced the Jewish merchant class in the South’s metropolitan areas.