Religious leaders and civil rights activists condemned what authorities said was an act of arson after a fire heavily damaged the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi, shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday.
Authorities said the blaze ripped through the synagogue and that when firefighters arrived, flames were billowing out of windows and all doors to the synagogue were locked. They also said no congregants or firefighters were injured.
Local and federal officials arrested a person for investigation of arson at a hospital where that person had non-life threatening burns, according to Charles D. Felton Jr., the chief of investigations for the Jackson Fire Department. Felton said late Sunday that the suspect’s name was not being immediately released.
A spokesperson for the FBI said the bureau was “working with law enforcement partners on this investigation.”
Photos taken after the fire showed charred remains of an administrative office and the synagogue library, where several Torahs were destroyed or damaged, the report said.
The Beth Israel Congregation, a 160-year-old synagogue described as the largest in Mississippi and the only one in Jackson, had been targeted before. The Institute of Southern Jewish Life said the site was bombed in 1967 by the Ku Klux Klan in response to the congregation’s role in civil rights activities, and that the rabbi’s home—described as an outspoken critic of racial segregation—was also bombed two months later by the same group.
CJ Rhodes, a prominent Black Baptist pastor in Jackson, said in a Facebook post that “That history reminds us that attacks on houses of worship, whatever their cause, strike at the heart of our shared moral life.”
Jim Berk, CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said in a statement that the fire underscores the importance of interfaith solidarity in standing up to hate and bigotry. Berk said, “It was an assault on the heart of Jewish life in the South, and on a legacy shaped in partnership with the Black community through the long, unfinished struggle for civil rights,” adding, “This attack is not only an act of antisemitism, it is an assault on that legacy, testing whether the lessons of that era still hold.”
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of The Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement that “That it has been attacked again, amid a surge of antisemitic incidents across the US, is a stark reminder: antisemitic violence is escalating, and it demands total condemnation and swift action from everyone.”
Beth Israel officials said they plan to keep worship services going. Michele Schipper, CEO of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life and a past president of the congregation, said the congregation was assessing damage but would continue its regular worship programs and services for Shabbat, likely at one of the local churches that had reached out.
Beth Israel Congregation President Zach Shemper said, “We are a resilient people,” adding, “With support from our community, we will rebuild.”
Schipper said one Torah that survived the Holocaust was behind glass and was not damaged in the fire. She said five Torahs inside the sanctuary were being assessed for smoke damage, while a synagogue representative said two Torahs inside the library—where the most severe damage was done—were destroyed.
The report said soot covered the sanctuary’s floors, walls and ceiling, and that the synagogue will have to replace upholstery and carpeting.
The fire’s condemnation and historical context came as authorities continued investigating the suspected arson.