Yousef routinely travels back to the West Bank to see his family. And always, the Hebron City landscape where he was born and raised looks unfathomably different. 

“I typically try to go every year, at least for a month. I was actually planning to be with my family during the fasting month, Ramadan,” said the Asheville resident who, out of concern for his safety, requested The Smoky Mountain News refer to him on a first-name basis. 

A tambourine-lover with creative tactics meant to take congregants outside of their comfort zone, Rabbi RuthE Levy of Mountain Synagogue in Franklin doesn’t mess around when it comes to musical shabbat. 

Known in Hebrew as Shabbat Shirah, this service takes place at the beginning of the harvest season, long before the Jewish holiday of Passover — the latter holiday at the start of April 2026, the former portion in late February — but it tells a well-known Passover story.

On Sept. 23, Mountain Synagogue welcomed a new year — and a new rabbi.  

The Franklin-based congregation gathered for morning Rosh Hashanah services at the old St. Cyprian’s chapel. One of the most important Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah literally translates to “head of the year” and, in 2025, marked the start of 5,786 on the Hebrew calendar.

The word “Jewish” can be used to describe both an ethnicity and a religious faith; some people are one or the other and some people are both, but you don’t have to be either to appreciate the cross-cultural crunch Nefesh Mountain brings to the stage.

There aren’t many synagogues in Western North Carolina, just one west of Asheville. Mountain Synagogue in Franklin is a community of Jews practicing their faith in the All Saints Episcopal Church of Franklin. And as with most Jewish communities around the world, safety is top priority.

Globalization has made our big world seem much smaller, but it’s also pushed us farther away from one another. 

Instead of focusing on finding common ground with those who have opposing religious or political views, society segregates itself with others who believe the same way they do. 

SEE ALSO:
Speakers call on interfaith work for social justice
Participants take home renewed faith