Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson was chartered in 1861, and its synagogue on South State Street was the first in Mississippi. Toronto native Rabbi Perry Nussbaum came to Beth Israel in 1954, and during his nineteen years of service he became an important voice for racial justice amid the tension and turmoil of the Civil Rights Movement. Morally opposed to racial discrimination, he preached that people of all races are children of God, condemned the Citizens' Council, and in 1961 visited imprisoned Freedom Riders weekly at Parchman Penitentiary while sending letters to their parents about their welfare. In 1964 he helped organize the Committee of Concern, an interfaith, interracial group of clergy that raised funds to rebuild black churches bombed and burned by the Ku Klux Klan. Beth Israel broke ground that year for a new synagogue on Old Canton Road, and the first service was held there on March 19, 1967, with racially diverse members of the Committee of Concern attending the dedication. Six months later the Ku Klux Klan bombed the new synagogue, targeting the rabbi's office, and two months after that Klansmen bombed the Nussbaum home; no one was hurt in either attack, and local clergy organized a Walk of Penance to express sorrow and support after the synagogue bombing. On May 1, 1968, Rabbi Nussbaum and many congregants joined 270 of Jackson's white leaders in signing a public call for improved race relations, and later that month, after the Klan bombed Temple Beth Israel in Meridian, members of both Beth Israel congregations helped thwart a planned June attack on the home of Meridian Jewish leader Meyer Davidson when an FBI informant's warning brought law enforcement to the scene. Through the years, members of Beth Israel Congregation engaged in many efforts supporting social justice and racial reconciliation, reflecting the leadership of Rabbi Perry Nussbaum.
