‘We’re still standing’: Beth Israel congregation vows to rebuild after arson attack

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Three days after someone set fire to their synagogue, the congregation of Beth Israel is doing something the attacker didn’t expect — they’re moving forward together.

“It’s cracked, but we’re still standing,” said Rabbi Benjamin Russell, who started as a rabbinical student and spiritual leader at Beth Israel in July.

Stephen Spencer Pittman is accused of setting the fire early Saturday morning. According to an FBI affidavit, he called Beth Israel the “synagogue of Satan” when he confessed to investigators.

He faces federal arson charges and is recovering in a hospital after catching himself on fire during the attack.

But to the people who worship at Beth Israel Congregation on Old Canton Road, this building is home — and they’re not going anywhere.

For Sarah Thomas, the attack was deeply personal. She’s been a congregant her entire life — about 36 years.

“I consider Beth Israel to be my home,” Thomas said. “This is where my grandparents were. This is where my mom grew up. I grew up here. I had my baby naming here. I was consecrated. I was bat mitzvahed. I was confirmed.”

The fire damaged much of the interior of the building, leaving behind melted equipment, scorched walls, and busted windows. The congregation is now cleaning up what the flames left behind.

But Thomas said the attack hasn’t destroyed what matters most.

“Just because we can’t use this building doesn’t mean that I still don’t have the community support and the friendships and the family and the sense of home,” she said.

Congregation president Zach Shemper, who has been at Beth Israel for over a decade, didn’t mince words about his reaction.

“Well, I’m angry as hell,” Shemper said. “I’m saddened by what’s happened. Angry that there’s people out there that think that this proves anything.”

Shemper said he received the call about the fire Saturday morning from the congregation’s executive director. He came straight to the building, where fire crews had already extinguished the flames.

Beth Israel is the largest synagogue in Mississippi, with about 140 families. It’s the only synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi’s capital and largest city.

“Most people that I meet in South Mississippi, I’m the only Jew or first Jew that they say that they’ve ever met,” Shemper said.

Despite the damage and the hate that motivated the attack, Abram Orlansky, who has worshiped at Beth Israel for 41 years, said the arson has had an unintended consequence.

“The only thing that this horrible act succeeded at was bringing Jackson’s Jewish community closer together and making us more determined than ever to be proudly and defiantly Jewish here in Jackson,” Orlansky said. “And the only thing that it’s done is bring us closer together with our Christian neighbors.”

Orlansky said watching the surveillance video of the attack was shocking.

“Seeing that security footage of someone coming into our home and choosing to desecrate it and set it on fire was a shocking moment,” he said.

But he said the congregation quickly moved into recovery mode.

“We’d moved into a place of almost defiance and being ready to practice our Judaism without missing a beat,” Orlansky said. “And that’s still how we’re feeling.”

Russell said the community response has been overwhelming.

“Justice is the reverse of what this person wanted to do, which is to make us feel unsafe and unwelcome,” Russell said. “And the irony is that all of the communities in Jackson, all of the faith traditions in Jackson, every single faith tradition has reached out to us.”

Russell said the attack has actually strengthened the community.

“What this person did, actually, the poetic justice is that it has brought us together,” he said. “And so, rather than singling us out and making us feel afraid, it has actually made us a stronger community and a stronger city, faith-wise.”

Russell said he’s been contacted by clergy from all over Jackson and rabbis from around the country offering support.

“I feel so supported in this particular moment,” Russell said. “And I feel very blessed that people are reaching out to hold both me and the community up.”

This isn’t the first time Beth Israel has been targeted. In 1967, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the same building during the civil rights era.

Russell said that history is discussed among congregants, and this second attack has brought the community together.

“This being a second target is something that the community recognizes, but it’s something that brings us together because it’s a fact that we know that we are a stronger community in spite of what happens to us,” Russell said.

In the days since the fire, the congregation has received an outpouring of support from the wider Jackson community.

Several churches have offered their worship spaces to Beth Israel. Jewish communities in Hattiesburg and Memphis have sent Torah scrolls and prayer books to replace those damaged in the fire.

“We’ve had so many people reach out and offer support,” Thomas said. “We’ve got Jackson community, faith-based communities, reaching out to offer a space. We’ve gotten great support from city officials.”

Shemper said he’s received calls from governors and state representatives from around the country offering condolences and asking how they can help.

Despite the damage, the congregation plans to resume services this week. They’re keeping the location private for security reasons.

The congregation is even hosting a bat mitzvah on Friday.

“This doesn’t stop us at all,” Shemper said. “We’re still going to celebrate our Judaism.”

Shemper said rebuilding the building will likely take about a year. But the congregation is ready for that journey.

“It still is a physical structure that can be rebuilt,” Shemper said. “Again, it’s not stopping anything. It’s just hindering it.”

Thomas said the attack has reinforced what she already knew about her community.

“The community of Beth Israel, we persist,” Thomas said. “We will continue to be together. We are going to continue to celebrate and comfort one another and live our lives as Jews. We are proud to be Jewish. We are not going to change our beliefs because of a hateful act.”

She said antisemitism is not new, and it’s something every Jewish parent talks to their children about.

“Just because this space won’t be used and our safe space was violated does not mean that we are any less strong,” Thomas said.

The congregation has a donation page on its website. Other organizations are also holding fundraisers to support Beth Israel.

Shemper said when the congregation returns to the building in about a year, they’ll have “the most beautiful library we’ve ever had,” thanks to people who have offered to donate their personal book collections.

Pittman appeared in federal court from his hospital bed on Monday. He faces five to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of the federal arson charge.

Prosecutors asked that Pittman remain in custody. His attorney agreed to both a preliminary and detention hearing. Those hearings are scheduled for next Tuesday.

Pittman is expected to be released from the hospital on Wednesday.

The FBI is continuing to investigate whether additional charges, including hate crime charges, are warranted.

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