Beth Israel Congregation (Jackson, Mississippi)
Encyclopedia
Beth Israel Congregation is a Reform Judaism
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.
, 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.
. 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.
A number of accounts state that the congregation's first synagogue was built at South State and South streets in 1861 and burned by the Union Army
in 1863, but the veracity of this claim is disputed. In 1867 the congregation constructed a wood frame
building at the corner of South State and South streets. The building, which was used both as a schoolhouse and for prayer services
, was the first synagogue
in Mississippi.
From the start the congregation was not unified. However, as there were only about 50 Jews in Jackson in 1868, the community was too small for two synagogues. Conflicts arose between the older German-Jewish members and post-American Civil War
Jewish immigrants from Poland
, particularly over synagogue ritual. The synagogue followed the Orthodox
nusach Ashkenaz, but some members wanted to adopt Isaac Mayer Wise
's reformist Minhag America
Prayer-Book.
Tensions eased when Beth Israel hired its first Rabbi, the Reverend L. Winter, in 1870. He moved the congregation towards Reform Judaism, replacing Saturday services with Friday night ones, giving sermons in English, and adding confirmation ceremonies. However, Winter left soon afterward. Beth Israel's building burned down in 1874, and was replaced by a stone and brick building at the same location. In 1875 Beth Israel formalized its move to Reform by joining the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now Union for Reform Judaism
).
To accommodate members who had moved away from Jackson's downtown, in 1940 the congregation commenced construction of a new building on Woodrow Wilson Drive, while holding services at Galloway Memorial Methodist Church. The congregation moved into the new building in 1941, and dedicated it in January 1942. The sanctuary had solid walnut pew
s that sat 300. At the time of the move, Beth Israel's old building at South State and South was the oldest building used for religious purposes in Jackson.
In its first few decades Beth Israel went through a number of rabbis, whose tenures were all short-lived, and endured many periods without any rabbi at all. One rabbi, Louis Schreiber, was hired in 1915, and fired the next year, for "grossly insulting and hurting the feelings of Beth Israel members". In 1929 the congregation hired Meyer Lovitt as rabbi, and with him Beth Israel achieved a measure of stability. By 1939, the synagogue had 72 members, out of a total Jewish population in Jackson of around 250.
Lovitt was non-confrontational, and avoided getting involved in issues relating to the civil rights movement in the United States. He minimized the differences between Christianity and Judaism, and viewed assimilation positively. He preferred that the congregation celebrate the Jewish holidays in ways that attracted no attention, and had no objection to members putting up Christmas trees, which he referred to as "Hanukkah bush
es." Lovitt would remain with Beth Israel until his retirement in 1954.
in 1908 and raised there, Nussbaum had attended a small Orthodox
synagogue as a boy, and, after high school, worked as secretary for the Holy Blossom Temple
's rabbi Barnett R. Brickner. With encouragement from Brickner, in 1926 he applied and was accepted into a combined eight-year rabbinic ordination and degree program at Hebrew Union College
in Cincinnati and University of Cincinnati
. He graduated in 1933, Hebrew Union College's first Canadian graduate. He was the last member of his class to receive an offer of a position, so he had to accept as his first rabbinic posting a role at a Reform synagogue in Melbourne. This did not work out, as he was too inexperienced. Nussbaum subsequently served at a synagogue in Amarillo, Texas
, and in 1937 accepted a position as a prison chaplain in Pueblo, Colorado
, where he also worked as a part-time librarian at the local university, and taught public speaking. In 1941 he became rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in Wichita, Kansas
, and in 1943 he joined the Chaplain Corps of the United States Army
. He served in the Philippines
, and eventually became a colonel
in the United States Army Reserve
.
After the war, he was assistant rabbi at a synagogue in Trenton, New Jersey
(a position several other rabbis had rejected). Finding that the rabbi there wanted a secretary, not an assistant, Nussbaum resigned after less than a year, and moved to Temple Emanu-el of Long Beach, New York
. He found the position there extremely political, and after three years became rabbi of Temple Anshe Anusim in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
. After Lovitt retired from Beth Israel, the chair of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (and former classmate and friend), Rabbi Nathan Perilman, recommended the post to Nussbaum. Perilman stated the congregation was wonderful, and would respect and appreciate him. He also lauded the city of Jackson. Looking for stability, and some "rest and relaxation", Nussbaum interviewed for the role; the search committee's first question to him was "Doctor, what's your position on school desegregation?" He replied that he was a liberal, but was careful not to get his congregants into trouble. Though the committee was concerned about his liberalism, they offered him the role, which he accepted, resigning from Temple Anshe Anusim.
Nussbaum had a forceful personality, and was outspoken and not particularly tactful; some congregants remembered him decades after he retired as "headstrong" and "abrasive". He was a good educator, speaker, and pastor, and had a particular knack for composing original prayers. Nussbaum found Beth Israel's membership highly assimilated, and, in his view, some congregants were "anti-Hebrew, anti-Israel, anti-everything!" He criticized members who put up Christmas trees (a large proportion did), and slowly re-introduced Jewish rituals such as bar mitzvahs to the congregation's practice. He also developed an annual educational program for adults, and added Hebrew studies.
He supported Zionism
and Israel
, causes which his congregants typically publicly avoided. Upon arriving at Beth Israel he discovered that some of his richest members were supporters of the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism
, and he immediately prohibited them from meeting in the synagogue's premises, which, according to Nussbaum, "left its scars". He openly declared that Judaism was a religion distinct from Christianity, rather than just an Old Testament
version of it. In 1955 he organized the Mississippi Assembly of Jewish Congregations, which had representatives from all twenty-five of Mississippi's synagogues, and was elected its president. He was always keen on ecumenical work, but discovered that rabbis were excluded from the Jackson Ministerial Association, which was Protestant-only. He instead helped found the Jackson Interfaith Fellowship.
Following the bombing of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple
in 1958, Nussbaum wrote an article in Beth Israel's bulletin titled "It Can Happen Here", in which he expressed the view that such a bombing was quite possible in Jackson. A copy of the article was reprinted in Jackson's secular press, and raised considerable opposition amongst Jackson's leadership. This in turn led to Nussbaum's first battle with his congregation; at the next board meeting it was proposed that Nussbaum be required to clear all public statements with the board before making them. The rabbi's supporters were able to defeat the resolution, but the attempt shook Nussbaum, though he did not end his activism. In 1961 Nussbaum provided considerable support to the early Freedom ride
rs imprisoned in Mississippi jails, and in 1966 Nussbaum began sponsoring annual "Clergy Institutes" at Beth Israel, to which he invited local black ministers.
heightened over the Civil rights movement
, the Jews of Jackson came under threat, being targeted by both the Ku Klux Klan
(KKK) and the Americans for the Preservation of the White Race (APWR). The latter set up a booth at Jackson's state fair selling antisemitic literature, and Samuel Bowers, the KKK's Imperial Wizard in Mississippi, ordered attacks on both the synagogue and Nussbaum. The position of Beth Israel's memberhip in Jackson was not secure; according to Murray Polner, writing in 1977, "Judaism may rank higher in the moral order of the Bible Belt fundamentalists than, say, Black Christianity or Roman Catholicism, but it remains nonetheless a less–than–equal sect, and extraneous and foreign religion in an area of xenophobes." Jews were unofficially excluded from membership in the Jackson Country Club, and the congregants were used to "customary slights and indignities" from Jackson's dominant white evangelical Protestant community.
In 1967, the congregation moved to its current location, a building on Old Canton Road described by Jack Nelson
as "an octagonal structure dominated by a massive roof". At the dedication in March of that year, both black and white ministers participated. On September 18, 1967 the new building was wrecked by a dynamite bomb placed by Klan members in a recessed doorway. According to Nelson, the explosion had "ripped through administrative offices and a conference room, torn a hole in the ceiling, blown out windows, ruptured a water pipe and buckled a wall."
Three days later the Greater Jackson Clergy Alliance "expressed their sorrow and support for the Jewish community" by organizing a "Walk of Penance". The Alliance, which had been formed two months earlier, comprised 60 clergy from 10 denominations, "the first racially integrated association of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews in Mississippi." Nussbaum had help found it, merging into it the Jackson Interfaith Fellowship. The Reverend Thomas Tiller, the Alliance president, stated that "by default, we may have contributed to a climate of opinion which gives rise to terrorism. What concerns us, and others like us, is that we may not have been zealous enough in protecting our God-given freedoms." Despite this show of solidarity, and a reward offered of several thousand dollars, the perpetrators were not discovered.
In November of that year the same group planted a bomb that blew out the front of Nussbaum's house, while he and his wife were sleeping there. Nussbaum blamed the bombings on local antisemitism and bigotry, but most of his congregation blamed it on Nussbaum's anti-segregationist
activism. Though the congregation officially supported him, a number of members privately urged him to leave Beth Israel and find another pulpit. The synagogue's board of trustees voted to prohibit non-Jewish groups from using the synagogue's premises unless they had prior approval from the board; the intent was to put an end to the interracial meetings that Nussbaum held there.
In the wake of the bombings, Nussbaum wanted to leave Jackson, but as a 60-year-old rabbi was unable to find another posting. He stayed at Beth Israel till his retirement in 1973, when he and his wife moved to San Diego.
in Memphis, Tennessee. While serving as rabbi, he was also a visiting professor in Millsaps College
's religion department. In 1977, he won the Samuel Kaminker Memorial Award for his informal education curriculum, and in 1983 he was alumni-in-residence at Hebrew Union College in New York. He would serve at Beth Israel until 1986, then move to Congregation Schaarai Zedek in Tampa, Florida
.
Birnholz was followed by Eric Gurvis, Steven Engel, and Jim Egolf, all of whom, like Nussbaum before them, also served as the rabbis of Temple Beth El in Lexington, Mississippi
, leading services there once a month on Sunday. At the end of the 20th century, Beth Israel was the largest of the fourteen synagogues in Mississippi, with 213 members.
In 2003, Beth Israel hired Valerie Cohen, Beth Israel's first female rabbi. Cohen had originally earned a B.A. in public relations
, then studied at Hebrew Union College
's Israel, Cincinnati and New York City campuses. She graduated in 1999 and was ordained at Manhattan
's Temple Emanuel. After serving for three years as assistant rabbi at Temple Israel in Memphis, Tennessee, Cohen joined Beth Israel. She continued the tradition of her predecessors of also serving as the rabbi of Lexington's Temple Beth El.
In 2005 Cohen started classes for adults who wished to celebrate their Bar and Bat Mitzvah, but had not had the opportunity when 12 or 13. That same year, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
, Beth Israel welcomed between 75 and 100 evacuees from New Orleans. In 2006 Beth Israel had a membership of approximately 200 families which, in contrast with Mississippi's other Jewish congregations, was slowly growing. Beth Israel's services were attended by about 50 people in 2008. , it remained the first, and only, synagogue in Jackson, and was the largest Jewish congregation in the state. Cohen was the rabbi.
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
congregation located at 5315 Old Canton Road in Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Organized in 1860 by Jews of German background
History of the Jews in Germany
The presence of Jews in Germany has been established since the early 4th century. The community prospered under Charlemagne, but suffered during the Crusades...
, it has always been, and remains, the only synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
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
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
, the congregation joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations
Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism , formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations , is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H...
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
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
. 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
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
that year.
, 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.
Early years
The congregation was originally established in 1860 by Jews of German backgroundHistory of the Jews in Germany
The presence of Jews in Germany has been established since the early 4th century. The community prospered under Charlemagne, but suffered during the Crusades...
. 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
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
; its next goal was provide a Jewish education for the congregation's children. At the time Jackson had 15 Jewish families.
A number of accounts state that the congregation's first synagogue was built at South State and South streets in 1861 and burned by the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
in 1863, but the veracity of this claim is disputed. In 1867 the congregation constructed a wood frame
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
building at the corner of South State and South streets. The building, which was used both as a schoolhouse and for prayer services
Jewish services
Jewish prayer are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
, was the first synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
in Mississippi.
From the start the congregation was not unified. However, as there were only about 50 Jews in Jackson in 1868, the community was too small for two synagogues. Conflicts arose between the older German-Jewish members and post-American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
Jewish immigrants from Poland
History of the Jews in Poland
The history of the Jews in Poland dates back over a millennium. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland was the centre of Jewish culture thanks to a long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy. This ended with the...
, particularly over synagogue ritual. The synagogue followed the Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
nusach Ashkenaz, but some members wanted to adopt Isaac Mayer Wise
Isaac Mayer Wise
Isaac Mayer Wise , was an American Reform rabbi, editor, and author.-Early life:...
's reformist Minhag America
Minhag America
Minhag America is a siddur created in 1857 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise that was intended to address conflict between sides supporting and opposing traditionalism in early Reform Judaism in the United States...
Prayer-Book.
Tensions eased when Beth Israel hired its first Rabbi, the Reverend L. Winter, in 1870. He moved the congregation towards Reform Judaism, replacing Saturday services with Friday night ones, giving sermons in English, and adding confirmation ceremonies. However, Winter left soon afterward. Beth Israel's building burned down in 1874, and was replaced by a stone and brick building at the same location. In 1875 Beth Israel formalized its move to Reform by joining the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now Union for Reform Judaism
Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism , formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations , is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H...
).
First half of the 20th century
Following its founding the congregation grew very slowly; by 1908 there were still only 37 members, and 16 children in the religious school. By 1918, membership had fallen to 24, and children in the religious school to 10. That year the synagogue's total income was $800 (today $).To accommodate members who had moved away from Jackson's downtown, in 1940 the congregation commenced construction of a new building on Woodrow Wilson Drive, while holding services at Galloway Memorial Methodist Church. The congregation moved into the new building in 1941, and dedicated it in January 1942. The sanctuary had solid walnut pew
Pew
A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...
s that sat 300. At the time of the move, Beth Israel's old building at South State and South was the oldest building used for religious purposes in Jackson.
In its first few decades Beth Israel went through a number of rabbis, whose tenures were all short-lived, and endured many periods without any rabbi at all. One rabbi, Louis Schreiber, was hired in 1915, and fired the next year, for "grossly insulting and hurting the feelings of Beth Israel members". In 1929 the congregation hired Meyer Lovitt as rabbi, and with him Beth Israel achieved a measure of stability. By 1939, the synagogue had 72 members, out of a total Jewish population in Jackson of around 250.
Lovitt was non-confrontational, and avoided getting involved in issues relating to the civil rights movement in the United States. He minimized the differences between Christianity and Judaism, and viewed assimilation positively. He preferred that the congregation celebrate the Jewish holidays in ways that attracted no attention, and had no objection to members putting up Christmas trees, which he referred to as "Hanukkah bush
Hanukkah bush
A Hanukkah bush is a bush or tree—real or simulated—that some North American Jewish families display in their homes for the duration of Hanukkah...
es." Lovitt would remain with Beth Israel until his retirement in 1954.
Perry Nussbaum era
In 1954 Lovitt was succeeded by Dr. Perry Nussbaum. Born in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
in 1908 and raised there, Nussbaum had attended a small Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
synagogue as a boy, and, after high school, worked as secretary for the Holy Blossom Temple
Holy Blossom Temple
The Holy Blossom Temple is a Reform synagogue located at 1950 Bathurst Street in Toronto, Canada. It is the oldest Jewish congregation in Toronto. Founded in 1856, it has more than 7,000 members. W. Gunther Plaut, now retired, was a long time Senior Rabbi for this synagogue...
's rabbi Barnett R. Brickner. With encouragement from Brickner, in 1926 he applied and was accepted into a combined eight-year rabbinic ordination and degree program at Hebrew Union College
Hebrew Union College
The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.The Jerusalem...
in Cincinnati and University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
. He graduated in 1933, Hebrew Union College's first Canadian graduate. He was the last member of his class to receive an offer of a position, so he had to accept as his first rabbinic posting a role at a Reform synagogue in Melbourne. This did not work out, as he was too inexperienced. Nussbaum subsequently served at a synagogue in Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
, and in 1937 accepted a position as a prison chaplain in Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....
, where he also worked as a part-time librarian at the local university, and taught public speaking. In 1941 he became rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
, and in 1943 he joined the Chaplain Corps of the United States Army
Chaplain Corps (United States Army)
The Chaplain Corps of the United States Army consists of ordained clergy who are commissioned Army officers as well as enlisted soldiers who serve as assistants. Their purpose is to offer religious services, counseling, and moral support to the armed forces, whether in peacetime or at war.-Army...
. He served in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, and eventually became a colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the United States Army Reserve
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
.
After the war, he was assistant rabbi at a synagogue in Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
(a position several other rabbis had rejected). Finding that the rabbi there wanted a secretary, not an assistant, Nussbaum resigned after less than a year, and moved to Temple Emanu-el of Long Beach, New York
Long Beach, New York
Long Beach is a city in Nassau County, New York. Just south of Long Island, it is located on Long Beach Barrier Island, which is the westernmost of the outer barrier islands off Long Island's South Shore. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 33,275...
. He found the position there extremely political, and after three years became rabbi of Temple Anshe Anusim in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Its area code is 413. Its ZIP code is 01201...
. After Lovitt retired from Beth Israel, the chair of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (and former classmate and friend), Rabbi Nathan Perilman, recommended the post to Nussbaum. Perilman stated the congregation was wonderful, and would respect and appreciate him. He also lauded the city of Jackson. Looking for stability, and some "rest and relaxation", Nussbaum interviewed for the role; the search committee's first question to him was "Doctor, what's your position on school desegregation?" He replied that he was a liberal, but was careful not to get his congregants into trouble. Though the committee was concerned about his liberalism, they offered him the role, which he accepted, resigning from Temple Anshe Anusim.
Nussbaum had a forceful personality, and was outspoken and not particularly tactful; some congregants remembered him decades after he retired as "headstrong" and "abrasive". He was a good educator, speaker, and pastor, and had a particular knack for composing original prayers. Nussbaum found Beth Israel's membership highly assimilated, and, in his view, some congregants were "anti-Hebrew, anti-Israel, anti-everything!" He criticized members who put up Christmas trees (a large proportion did), and slowly re-introduced Jewish rituals such as bar mitzvahs to the congregation's practice. He also developed an annual educational program for adults, and added Hebrew studies.
He supported Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, causes which his congregants typically publicly avoided. Upon arriving at Beth Israel he discovered that some of his richest members were supporters of the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism
American Council for Judaism
The American Council for Judaism is an organization of American Jews committed to the proposition that Jews are not a nationality but merely a religious group, adhering to the original stated principles of Reform Judaism, as articulated in the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform.The ACJ was founded in June...
, and he immediately prohibited them from meeting in the synagogue's premises, which, according to Nussbaum, "left its scars". He openly declared that Judaism was a religion distinct from Christianity, rather than just an Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
version of it. In 1955 he organized the Mississippi Assembly of Jewish Congregations, which had representatives from all twenty-five of Mississippi's synagogues, and was elected its president. He was always keen on ecumenical work, but discovered that rabbis were excluded from the Jackson Ministerial Association, which was Protestant-only. He instead helped found the Jackson Interfaith Fellowship.
Following the bombing of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple
Bombing of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple
The Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple, a Reform Jewish temple located on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, and known simply as "The Temple," was bombed in the early morning hours of October 12, 1958. An explosion of approximately fifty sticks of dynamite tore through the side wall of the...
in 1958, Nussbaum wrote an article in Beth Israel's bulletin titled "It Can Happen Here", in which he expressed the view that such a bombing was quite possible in Jackson. A copy of the article was reprinted in Jackson's secular press, and raised considerable opposition amongst Jackson's leadership. This in turn led to Nussbaum's first battle with his congregation; at the next board meeting it was proposed that Nussbaum be required to clear all public statements with the board before making them. The rabbi's supporters were able to defeat the resolution, but the attempt shook Nussbaum, though he did not end his activism. In 1961 Nussbaum provided considerable support to the early Freedom ride
Freedom ride
Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States to test the United States Supreme Court decisions Boynton v. Virginia and Morgan v. Virginia...
rs imprisoned in Mississippi jails, and in 1966 Nussbaum began sponsoring annual "Clergy Institutes" at Beth Israel, to which he invited local black ministers.
Bombings
As tensions in the Southern United StatesSouthern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
heightened over the Civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
, the Jews of Jackson came under threat, being targeted by both the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
(KKK) and the Americans for the Preservation of the White Race (APWR). The latter set up a booth at Jackson's state fair selling antisemitic literature, and Samuel Bowers, the KKK's Imperial Wizard in Mississippi, ordered attacks on both the synagogue and Nussbaum. The position of Beth Israel's memberhip in Jackson was not secure; according to Murray Polner, writing in 1977, "Judaism may rank higher in the moral order of the Bible Belt fundamentalists than, say, Black Christianity or Roman Catholicism, but it remains nonetheless a less–than–equal sect, and extraneous and foreign religion in an area of xenophobes." Jews were unofficially excluded from membership in the Jackson Country Club, and the congregants were used to "customary slights and indignities" from Jackson's dominant white evangelical Protestant community.
In 1967, the congregation moved to its current location, a building on Old Canton Road described by Jack Nelson
Jack Nelson (journalist)
John Howard "Jack" Nelson was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist praised for his coverage of the Watergate scandal and described by New York Times Managing Editor Gene Roberts as "one of the most effective reporters in the civil rights era."-Youth:Born in Talladega, Alabama, Nelson's...
as "an octagonal structure dominated by a massive roof". At the dedication in March of that year, both black and white ministers participated. On September 18, 1967 the new building was wrecked by a dynamite bomb placed by Klan members in a recessed doorway. According to Nelson, the explosion had "ripped through administrative offices and a conference room, torn a hole in the ceiling, blown out windows, ruptured a water pipe and buckled a wall."
Three days later the Greater Jackson Clergy Alliance "expressed their sorrow and support for the Jewish community" by organizing a "Walk of Penance". The Alliance, which had been formed two months earlier, comprised 60 clergy from 10 denominations, "the first racially integrated association of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews in Mississippi." Nussbaum had help found it, merging into it the Jackson Interfaith Fellowship. The Reverend Thomas Tiller, the Alliance president, stated that "by default, we may have contributed to a climate of opinion which gives rise to terrorism. What concerns us, and others like us, is that we may not have been zealous enough in protecting our God-given freedoms." Despite this show of solidarity, and a reward offered of several thousand dollars, the perpetrators were not discovered.
In November of that year the same group planted a bomb that blew out the front of Nussbaum's house, while he and his wife were sleeping there. Nussbaum blamed the bombings on local antisemitism and bigotry, but most of his congregation blamed it on Nussbaum's anti-segregationist
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
activism. Though the congregation officially supported him, a number of members privately urged him to leave Beth Israel and find another pulpit. The synagogue's board of trustees voted to prohibit non-Jewish groups from using the synagogue's premises unless they had prior approval from the board; the intent was to put an end to the interracial meetings that Nussbaum held there.
In the wake of the bombings, Nussbaum wanted to leave Jackson, but as a 60-year-old rabbi was unable to find another posting. He stayed at Beth Israel till his retirement in 1973, when he and his wife moved to San Diego.
Late 20th century and 21st century
After Nussbaum's retirement, Beth Israel hired Richard Birnholz as rabbi. Birnholz was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1971, and had served from 1971 to 1973 as assistant rabbi of Temple IsraelTemple Israel (Memphis, Tennessee)
Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation in Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States. It is the only Reform synagogue in Memphis, the oldest and largest Jewish congregation in Tennessee, and one of the largest Reform congregations in the U.S. It was founded in 1853 by mostly German Jews as...
in Memphis, Tennessee. While serving as rabbi, he was also a visiting professor in Millsaps College
Millsaps College
Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college located in Jackson, Mississippi. Founded in 1890, the college is recognized as one of the country's best private colleges dedicated to undergraduate teaching and educating the whole individual. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, Millsaps...
's religion department. In 1977, he won the Samuel Kaminker Memorial Award for his informal education curriculum, and in 1983 he was alumni-in-residence at Hebrew Union College in New York. He would serve at Beth Israel until 1986, then move to Congregation Schaarai Zedek in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
.
Birnholz was followed by Eric Gurvis, Steven Engel, and Jim Egolf, all of whom, like Nussbaum before them, also served as the rabbis of Temple Beth El in Lexington, Mississippi
Lexington, Mississippi
Lexington is a city in Holmes County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,025 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Holmes County.-Geography:Lexington is located at ....
, leading services there once a month on Sunday. At the end of the 20th century, Beth Israel was the largest of the fourteen synagogues in Mississippi, with 213 members.
In 2003, Beth Israel hired Valerie Cohen, Beth Israel's first female rabbi. Cohen had originally earned a B.A. in public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
, then studied at Hebrew Union College
Hebrew Union College
The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.The Jerusalem...
's Israel, Cincinnati and New York City campuses. She graduated in 1999 and was ordained at Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Temple Emanuel. After serving for three years as assistant rabbi at Temple Israel in Memphis, Tennessee, Cohen joined Beth Israel. She continued the tradition of her predecessors of also serving as the rabbi of Lexington's Temple Beth El.
In 2005 Cohen started classes for adults who wished to celebrate their Bar and Bat Mitzvah, but had not had the opportunity when 12 or 13. That same year, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, Beth Israel welcomed between 75 and 100 evacuees from New Orleans. In 2006 Beth Israel had a membership of approximately 200 families which, in contrast with Mississippi's other Jewish congregations, was slowly growing. Beth Israel's services were attended by about 50 people in 2008. , it remained the first, and only, synagogue in Jackson, and was the largest Jewish congregation in the state. Cohen was the rabbi.
Further reading
- Cohen, Edward. The Peddler's Grandson: Growing Up Jewish in Mississippi, University Press of MississippiUniversity Press of MississippiThe University Press of Mississippi, founded in 1970, is a publisher that is sponsored by the eight state universities in Mississippi:*Alcorn State University*Delta State University*Jackson State University*Mississippi State University...
, 1999. ISBN 1578061679
External links
- "A Community’s Trials: Cop Mans Post as Grandmother Is Buried", The ForwardThe ForwardThe Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
, September 9, 2005. - "A map and a mission: N.Y. students visit Miss.", The Clarion-LedgerThe Clarion-LedgerThe Clarion-Ledger is the Pulitzer Prize winning daily newspaper of Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second oldest company in the state of Mississippi and is one of only a few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide...
.