Wal-Mart Jews

Whether it's the image of a synagogue in rural Arkansas or the splendid unintended consequences of the corporatization of America, there is much delight to be had in this story about the so-called Wal-Mart Jews:

Residents of Benton County, in the northwest corner of Arkansas, are proud citizens of the Bible Belt. At last count, they filled 39 Baptist, 27 United Methodist and 20 Assembly of God churches. For decades, a local hospital has begun meetings with a reading from the New Testament and the library has featured an elaborate Christmas display.

Recruited from around the country as workers for Wal-Mart or one of its suppliers, hundreds of which have opened offices near the retailer's headquarters here, a growing number of Jewish families have become increasingly vocal proponents of religious neutrality in the county. They have asked school principals to rename Christmas vacation as winter break (many have) and lobbied the mayor's office to put a menorah on the town square (it did).

Wal-Mart has transformed small towns across America, but perhaps its greatest impact has been on Bentonville, where the migration of executives from cities like New York, Boston and Atlanta has turned this sedate rural community into a teeming mini-metropolis populated by Hindus, Muslims and Jews.

Is there not something really worth celebrating in this story? A much-maligned corporate mammoth has encouraged cultural diversity and tolerance by doing no more than hiring the most qualified corporate executives, regardless of their religious background. It probably won't change anyone's opinion on Wal-mart, good or bad, and it certainly doesn't change mine. But it's nice to see a heretofore unexplored angle get some attention.