We Stand with Beth Israel Congregation

We stand in solidarity with the members of Beth Israel Congregation, a historic and valued tourism asset for our destination, and with the entire Jewish community. Visit Jackson will continue to champion its progress of unity to uplift a Jackson that is open, inclusive and safe for all who live here and all who are welcomed here.

odds with those congregants who wanted to maintain the status quo of a segregated society. Some feared his speaking out would have perilous consequences, but he was undeterred in his activism. In a 1955 sermon, the rabbi declared that Judaism teaches that people of all races are children of God. In another sermon, he condemned the Citizens' Council and advised against supporting it.

When hundreds of Freedom Riders were arrested in Jackson and sent to Parchman Penitentiary in 1961, he drove to visit them each week and sent letters to their parents about their children's welfare. In 1964, he helped organize the Committee of Concern, an interfaith, interracial group of clergy that raised funds to rebuild black churches that had been bombed and burned. That year Beth Israel broke ground for a new synagogue on Old Canton Road, and on March 19, 1967, the first service was held. Racially diverse members of the Committee of Concern attended the dedication.

Six months later, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the new synagogue, targeting the rabbi's office. Fortunately, no one was in the temple at the time. Three days after the attack, local ministers from the Greater Jackson Clergy Alliance organized a Walk of Penance to express their sorrow and support for the congregation. Two months later, Klansmen bombed the Nussbaum home. Although the house was severely damaged, the rabbi and his wife, Arene, escaped injury.

On May 1, 1968, 270 of Jackson's white leaders signed their names to "A Statement of Belief and Intention," a full-page ad in the Clarion-Ledger calling for improved race relations. Among them were Rabbi Nussbaum and many congregants.

Later that month, the Klan bombed Temple Beth Israel in Meridian. Members of both Beth Israel congregations paid an FBI informant who alerted authorities to an attack planned for the home of Meyer Davidson, a Meridian Jewish leader, in June. When the Klan arrived, law enforcement was waiting. One bomber was killed, and the rest were captured.Through the years, members of Beth Israel Congregation have engaged in many efforts supporting social justice and racial reconciliation, an appropriate tribute to the leadership of Rabbi Perry Nussbaum.