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Beth Israel Congregation (Jackson, Mississippi)

Beth Israel
Basic information
Location 5315 Old Canton Road,
Jackson, Mississippi,
 United States
Geographic coordinates 32°22′11″N 90°07′57″W / 32.369722°N 90.132619°W / 32.369722; -90.132619Coordinates: 32°22′11″N 90°07′57″W / 32.369722°N 90.132619°W / 32.369722; -90.132619
Affiliation Union for Reform Judaism
Status Active
Leadership Rabbi Jeffrey Kurtz-Lendner
Website bethisraelms.org
Completed 1941

Congregation Beth Israel (Hebrew: בית ישראל‎‎) is a Reform Jewish congregation located at 5315 Old Canton Road in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. Organized in 1860 by Jews of German background, it has always been, and remains, the only synagogue in Jackson. Beth Israel built the first synagogue in Mississippi in 1867, and, after it burned down, its 1874 replacement was at one time the oldest religious building in Jackson.

Originally Orthodox, the congregation joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1874. After going through a series of rabbis, and periods without one, the congregation hired Meyer Lovitt as rabbi in 1929; he would remain until 1954. The congregation moved to a new building in 1941.

Dr. Perry Nussbaum, Beth Israel's rabbi from 1954 to 1973, was active in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1967 the congregation moved to a new synagogue building, (its current one), and both the new building and Nussbaum's house were bombed by the Ku Klux Klan that year.

As of 2010, the congregation was led by Valerie Cohen, Beth Israel's first female rabbi. With a growing membership of 200 families, Beth Israel was the largest Jewish congregation in the state.

The congregation was originally established in 1860 by Jews of German background. Its primary purpose was to create a Jewish cemetery, which it immediately did, on State Street. In November 1862 the congregation hired a Mr. Oberndorfer as cantor; its next goal was provide a Jewish education for the congregation's children. At the time Jackson had 15 Jewish families.


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