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GREENSBORO — The weather was unseasonably balmy and the babka, challah and knishes were a great accompaniment to the dancing, music and kiddie zone.

Those factors and more combined to draw hundreds Sunday to Temple Emanuel’s autumn Jewish Festival, held every other year to spread cultural awareness and raise money for the congregation.

“It’s fun to see everybody having such a good time and to introduce visitors to the culture,” said Ron Milstein, president of the congregation on Jefferson Road that includes 620 families.

The event from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. filled the temple parking lot with people and cars, and then the parked cars overflowed for several blocks along nearby streets.

Traditional foods that ranged from deli fare to hummus, bagels (from Manhattan, no less) and lox were a major draw. But the day also featured religious and cultural education, including a replica of Jerusalem’s Western Wall and roving characters from the Old Testament including David, Moses, Miriam and Sara.

Noah was played by Hank Brodt, a member of the congregation in his mid-80s and a survivor of five Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

Entertainment included demonstrations of Israeli dancing, but also performances of Broadway tunes all coordinated by veteran Community Theatre of Greensboro leader Mitchel Sommers.

Sunday marked the third festival since the every-other-year event debuted during the temple’s celebration of its 100th anniversary.

“We had talked about doing this for so many years and never could get it off the ground until our centennial year of 2007,” said Sherry Dickstein, a past president of the congregation.

One of the afternoon highlights involved a dedication ceremony for an array of solar panels that the congregation installed recently as part of its focus on environmental healing.

The five-kilowatt rooftop system makes Temple Emanuel the state’s third house of worship to deploy such a system and the first in the Triad.

Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or taft.wireback@news-record.com