Mississippi’s largest synagogue severely damaged in suspected arson attack

Suspect arrested, but authorities yet to divulge a motive for attack on 160-year-old Beth Israel Congregation

Mississippi’s largest synagogue was heavily damaged Saturday morning in a predawn fire that local authorities believe was caused by arson, though investigators did not immediately say whether they suspected it was a hate crime.

The Jackson Fire Department, along with the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, arrested a suspect they believe caused the fire intentionally, according to local media. The suspect’s name and the suspicions against them were not immediately released.

Beth Israel Congregation is the only synagogue in the city of Jackson, and is believed to be the largest of the 14 or so synagogues in the southern US state. About 3,000 Jews live in the state, or 0.1 percent of its 3 million residents.

According to reports, firefighters received a call about 3 a.m. Saturday morning and found flames rising from the windows upon arrival. All doors to the building were locked, and suspicions that the fire had resulted from thunderstorms the night before were ruled out.

The synagogue’s library and administrative offices were destroyed in the fire, as were two Torah scrolls stored in the library. The main sanctuary was not damaged, and the Torahs there were later removed for safekeeping. A Torah rescued from the Holocaust and stored in a glass case was not damaged.

In an email to the congregation following the fire, congregation president Zach Shemper said there was “significant” soot and smoke throughout the building, but no injuries. He later said the building was “unusable” and would need extensive cleanup and repair.

Prayer services have been suspended indefinitely. Worshipers who arrived Saturday morning for Shabbat services helped sort through some of the items damaged in the blaze.

“We have already had outreach from other houses of worship in the Jackson area and greatly appreciate their support in this very difficult time,” Beth Israel said in a statement.

The Reform temple was established in 1860 as the first in Mississippi. It was attacked in 1967 by members of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan hate group who targeted its rabbi, Perry Nussbaum, for his work supporting civil rights.

Recent years have seen several hate attacks on US synagogues, including the 2018 attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, in which a gunman killed 11 people and wounded six others during Shabbat services. That attack, the deadliest ever on a Jewish community in the US, was carried out by a white supremacist with antisemitic ideologies.

Other synagogue attacks have included a shooting at the Chabad of Poway in California in 2019, in which one person was killed and three were injured, and a 2022 hostage standoff at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, where all the congregants escaped safely.

More recently, as antisemitism has risen across the world since the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, in Israel, synagogues across the United States have increasingly faced bomb threats, vandalism, and other attacks. In Australia, there have been several incidents of synagogue arson in recent years, including a December 2024 attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne.

Following Saturday’s attack, Jackson Mayor John Horhn called on locals to unite to avoid hatred.

“I would hope that all Mississippians and all Jacksonians would commit themselves toward moving beyond such behavior and activity and find a way where we can all get together and get along,” Horhn said.

The state Homeland Security Office is assisting in the investigation, local media reported.