The Beth Israel synagogue erupted in flames on Saturday morning before dawn, according to Jackson, Mississippi, Mayor John Horhn, Jackson Fire Department (JFD) Chief RaSean Thomas, and the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL), in what was suspected to be a hate-motivated arson.
The fire occurred at 3 a.m. but was contained and extinguished by the fire department, Horhn said in a statement. The ISJL said on Facebook that there were no injuries. A suspect was reportedly arrested by Sunday.
According to Southern Jewish Life, there were no injuries, but the building suffered significant fire and smoke damage. The library was reportedly charred, and two Torah scrolls held there were destroyed. The ISJL offices and sanctuary were undamaged, and other Torah scrolls were removed for safekeeping.
ISJL said that the synagogue had been its home since 2021 but was unable to continue operating from the site for the time being.
The congregation did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but Horhn indicated that he believed the incident to be an act of antisemitism.
“Acts of antisemitism, racism, and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a whole and will be treated as acts of terror against residents’ safety and freedom to worship. Targeting people because of their faith, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation is morally wrong, un-American, and completely incompatible with the values of this city,” said Horhn.
“Jackson stands with Beth Israel and the Jewish community, and we’ll do everything we can to support them and hold accountable anyone who tries to spread fear and hate here.”
Thomas echoed the mayor on Facebook, offering condolences to the congregation and affirming that “hate has no home here.”
Jackson Police Department (JPD) Chief Tyree Jones condemned the suspected arson as “unacceptable” and assured that his force would protect the Jewish community and hold those that target them accountable.
“When a place of worship is targeted, it affects more than one congregation. It shakes the entire community,” Jones said on social media. “These acts are not just crimes. They are attacks on people’s sense of safety and their freedom to worship without fear.”
The investigation of the incident was conducted by the JFD’s Arson Investigation Division and the JPD, in collaboration with the ATF, the FBI, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker denounced the incident on X/Twitter as “despicable.”
The American Jewish Congress said on social media that the incident was “the most recent symptom of the dangerous rising antisemitism facing Jewish communities across the country and around the world.”
Anti-Defamation League South Central denounced the suspected arson and noted the historic synagogue’s past as a target for antisemitic violence.
Jackson's congregation's history of arson
The congregation was first established in 1860, according to its website, establishing the first synagogue in the state inside a wooden schoolhouse. The schoolhouse burned down in 1874 and was replaced with a brick building until 1940, when it moved to a new site on Woodrow Wilson Avenue.
The Woodrow Wilson Avenue site was bombed by local Ku Klux Klan members in 1967, and the rabbi’s home was bombed by the same group two months later, though no one was harmed.
The congregation moved to its current location on Old Canton Road the same year and has served as the sole synagogue for the city since.