A man has been arrested on suspicion of setting fire overnight between Friday and Saturday to the historic Beth Israel synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi. The building sustained heavy damage. According to reports, no one was injured.
The fire broke out at the synagogue shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday. The synagogue’s library and offices were completely destroyed. Two Torah scrolls were burned beyond repair, and five others were damaged in the flames that spread during the Shabbat. One Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust was kept inside a glass case and was not damaged.
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The Jackson’s historic Beth Israel synagogue
(Photo: The Jewish community of ‘Beth Israel’ in Mississippi)
The fire also damaged the synagogue’s memorial board, including plaques honoring and documenting special community events such as bar and bat mitzvahs. At first, community members believed lightning from thunderstorms the previous night had caused the fire, but investigators later determined conclusively that it was a deliberate act of arson.
Charles Felton, the chief fire investigator for the Jackson Fire Department, confirmed the arrest Saturday night to Mississippi Today but did not disclose the suspect’s name or the charges. Felton said the department had determined with certainty that the fire was intentionally set.
Zack Schamper, president of the synagogue, said the community is still assessing the extent of the damage and has received messages of support from other synagogues, according to Mississippi Today. The synagogue’s leadership announced that all activities have been suspended indefinitely. “We have already received messages from other synagogues in the Jackson area, and we deeply appreciate their support during this difficult time,” Schamper said in a statement.
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Damage to the synagogue exterior
(Photo: The Jewish community of ‘Beth Israel’ in Mississippi)
The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting in the investigation, Mississippi Today reported. Investigators have not yet determined a possible motive. Bailey Martin, a spokesperson for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, said the agency is also assisting with the investigation.
The synagogue, the largest in Mississippi, was previously targeted in a Ku Klux Klan attack in 1967, in response to the Jewish community’s involvement in civil rights activism, according to the Institute for Southern Jewish Life, whose offices are also located in the building.
As with Saturday’s fire, the 1967 bombing and arson caused severe damage to the synagogue’s administrative offices and library, but no members of the community were injured. The rabbi at the time, Perry Nussbaum, said antisemites were responsible and believed they may have been inspired by an antisemitic campaign that played a prominent role in that year’s elections.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, 70, said he has a personal memory of the 1967 attack, when he was 12 years old. “I remember how the Jewish community and the African American community at the time formed alliances and partnerships to fight racism, to fight injustice and to fight mistreatment of citizens for any reason,” the mayor said.