Inside Appalachia Takes a Look at Jewish Appalachians' Evolving Traditions

On this West Virginia Morning, we hear an Inside Appalachia preview. In honor of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which begins Dec. 12, this weekend’s episode of Inside Appalachia explores stories of Jewish-Appalachians.

Rabbi Victor Urecki has led the congregation at B’Nai Jacob Synagogue in Charleston for almost 30 years.

Roxy Todd recently sat down with Rabbi Urecki and asked him to talk about how the ex-migration of people leaving Appalachia has affected the Jewish community in in Charleston.

Also on today’s show, Mississippi-born songwriter Paul Thorn has appeared on Mountain Stage nine times since 1997. This time he brought extra reinforcements as he presented his Mission Temple Fireworks Revival, featuring renowned family gospel singers The McCrary Sisters.

For this week’s Mountain Stage Song of the Week, they sing about a man of faith who sells “Cherry bombs for Jesus in a tent beside the road.”