Beth Israel Congregation rebuilds after arson, saying "there's healing that comes"

Summary

Podcast Summary: Beth Israel Congregation Rebuilds After Arson, Saying "There's Healing That Comes"

Consider This from NPR – January 18, 2026
Host: Sarah McCammon
Featured Guest: Rachel Myers, leader of the Beth Israel Congregation’s religious school (Jackson, MS)

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the aftermath of a devastating arson attack on Beth Israel Congregation, the only synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi. The discussion focuses on the congregation’s resilience, the healing process, and the community’s response in the context of both current trauma and past attacks tied to the civil rights era. Through interviews and reflections, the episode emphasizes how faith communities process violence and rebuild, carrying forward lessons of resistance and unity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Immediate Aftermath and Community Response

• Shabbat Service in a Church:
  Beth Israel’s first Shabbat service after the fire was held in a neighboring church that generously offered its space, reflecting interfaith support in times of crisis.
  (00:03)

• The Attack:
  The arsonist specifically targeted the building for its Jewish ties. The fire destroyed much of the synagogue, especially the library.
  (00:34–00:45 — Charles Felton, Jackson Fire Department Chief of Investigations)

• Historical Resonance:
  This attack echoes another from the late 1960s, when the KKK bombed the synagogue and rabbi’s home for supporting civil rights.
  (01:05–01:56)

2. Messages of Hope, Healing, and Resilience

• Quoting Dr. King:
  Charles Felton, at the service, invoked Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

  “The attack was filled with hate, but the Shabbat is filled with love. Dr. King taught us that darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. So together, let's banish the darkness.”
  (01:38 — Charles Felton)

• Rabbi’s Message:
  “There is healing that comes,” said the rabbi leading the first post-arson service, setting the tone for moving forward in faith and unity.
  (03:32)

3. Processing Trauma and Teaching Resilience

• Maintaining Joy Despite Grief:
  Rachel Myers shares how the service was “joyful and resilient,” focusing on celebration even in loss:

  “You know, our spiritual leader, Ben Russell, did a fantastic job…prompting us to be joyful and resilient. I'm always the first one to kind of give a woohoo…if there's a time to celebrate, there's a time to celebrate.”
  (04:15–04:40 — Rachel Myers)

• Uplifting Jewish Tradition:
  Rachel Myers highlights the tradition to “find joy together,” especially through communal prayers like Ma Tovu. Even in pain, these songs unite the community and offer comfort.
  (04:40–05:20 — Rachel Myers)

• Educating Children:
  Myers describes honest but hopeful conversations with the congregation’s school children:

  “I was teaching them that Jewish people are resilient and we do not cower in fear. And we continue, we rebuild. We'll be stronger together.”
  (05:33 — Rachel Myers)

• Acting in Defiance and Tradition:
  Children’s response:

  “…They just said, be more Jewish than ever.”
  (06:38 — Rachel Myers)

  Myers explains:

  “It means we do Hebrew as an act of resistance…us learning our traditions, us learning this language, us practicing Judaism out loud is a sign and is a symbol that we do not cower in fear…”
  (06:46–07:22 — Rachel Myers)

4. Historic Legacy and Civic Duty

• Civil Rights Legacy:
  The synagogue’s history in the Civil Rights Movement—having been bombed in 1967 for supporting racial justice—frames today’s resilience as a continuation of a broader struggle for justice and equality.
  (07:22–08:42)

• Responsibility to Educate and Include:
  Myers sees it as the community’s job in the Deep South “to be educators about Judaism, to be inclusive, to be welcoming, to be loud about our Judaism in a way that people understand us.”
  (08:28 — Rachel Myers)

5. Salvaging Artifacts and Memory

• Destruction and Recovery:
  Most of the library’s artifacts are lost, but some items can be recovered and “will tell a story of a congregation that has been attacked twice but is stronger than ever and continues to remain.”
  (08:44–09:05 — Rachel Myers)

• The Holocaust Torah:
  The congregation preserved a Torah scroll from Prague, damaged during the Holocaust—a powerful symbol of survival:

  “There was one in the lobby…which was the Holocaust Torah…And that one was able to be salvaged.”
  (09:07–09:35 — Rachel Myers)

6. Foundations for Healing and Future Action

• Music as Comfort and Mobilization:
  Myers is drawn to Jewish songs, such as Kehilah Kedosha (“holy community”), that highlight the holy work required to sustain community and strive for a better world.

  “It is up to us. And I feel that more than ever, I really do this week.”
  (09:51–10:34 — Rachel Myers)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Community Response:

  “The attack was filled with hate, but the Shabbat is filled with love.” (01:38 — Charles Felton)

• On Teaching Children:

  “We do Hebrew as an act of resistance…us learning this language, us practicing Judaism out loud is a symbol that we do not cower in fear.”
  (06:46–07:22 — Rachel Myers)

• On Music and Healing:

  “The one thing that keeps getting me, keeps, you know, making me weep is music…each of us really must work. It's holy work…”
  (09:51–10:34 — Rachel Myers)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:03] – Shabbat service held in a church after arson
• [00:34] – Details of the fire and its impact on the building
• [01:05] – Historical context: previous attacks in the 1960s
• [01:38] – Dr. King’s words and community message
• [04:15] – Joy and resilience at the first service post-arson
• [05:33] – Talking with children about trauma and rebuilding
• [06:38] – “Be more Jewish than ever”—children’s message
• [06:46–07:22] – Practicing traditions as an act of resistance
• [08:44–09:05] – Recovery and meaning of lost and saved artifacts
• [09:07–09:35] – Holocaust Torah’s survival
• [09:51–10:34] – Music and the holy work of community

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Tone and Closing Thoughts

Throughout the episode, the tone balances sorrow and steadfastness, grief and hope. Through direct testimony and collective memory, the voices of Beth Israel’s community model how devotion to faith, education, and mutual responsibility can overcome violence and hatred—rekindling light in the face of darkness.

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Transcript

[Sarah McCammon]

Shabbat Shalom.

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Shabbat Shalom.

[Sarah McCammon]

This Friday, Beth Israel Congregation's Shabbat service in Jackson, Mississippi, started like most others. But that night, the congregation was not in a synagogue. They met in a nearby church that had offered its worship space for the occasion.

[Charles Felton]

After the trauma of last Shabbat's arson attack on your beloved congregational home, I'm sure you are still shaken by the harm it has caused not only to your building, but to your sense of well being.

[Sarah McCammon]

Just after the previous week's service, Beth Israel's synagogue was attacked. According to investigators, an arsonist broke into the building and set a massive fire that destroyed many parts of the historic synagogue.

[Charles Felton]

The library sustained extensive fire damage, and as you go back toward the sanctuary, the fire damage is not as great, but there is smoke damage throughout the entire building. Therefore, the Beth Israel congregation would not be able to utilize this building for an extended period of time.

[Sarah McCammon]

That's Charles Felton, chief of investigations at the Jackson Fire Department. The suspect was later caught by law enforcement and indicted by a grand jury. He told the FBI that he set fire to the building because of its Jewish ties. Beth Israel is the only synagogue in Jackson, and this is not the first time the congregation has been attacked. In the late 1960s, the synagogue and the rabbi's home were bombed by KKK in retaliation for the congregation's work on behalf of civil rights. But on Friday and Saturday, the Beth Israel congregation pressed on.

[Charles Felton]

The attack was filled with hate, but the Shabbat is filled with love. Dr. King taught us that darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. So together, let's banish the darkness. Shabbat Shalom.

[Sarah McCammon]

Consider religious language. Emphasizing an appeal to the humanity of all people, whatever their race or religion is foundational to the civil rights movement. But how do people in religious communities move forward in that spirit after a violent attack? From NPR, Sarah. I'm Sarah McCammon.

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Many of them would struggle with a Basic explanation. And it wouldn't even be, did they do it or not?

[Rachel Myers]

It would just be like, where were you that day?

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[Sarah McCammon]

It's Consider this from NPR News. There is healing that comes. That's what the rabbi leading the first services since the arson attack at Beth Israel Synagogue told those gathered in Jackson, Mississippi on Friday night. It was the second time the synagogue has been attacked, the first during the height of the civil rights movement. Rachel Myers, a leader of the congregation's religious school, has focused on finding the words to answer her students questions about how Jewish life in the community will continue after their place of worship was devastated by the fire. We invited Rachel Myers to talk with us about how she, the children, and the congregation are doing. First, I asked her about the messages she took from the weekend's services.

[Rachel Myers]

You know, our spiritual leader, Ben Russell, did a fantastic job of really setting the tone. You know, he was prompting us to be joyful and resilient. I'm always the first one to kind of give a woohoo. Like, I just feel like, you know, if there's a time to celebrate, there's a time to celebrate. And it truly did feel like that.

[Sarah McCammon]

I was struck by the fact that you said it was a joyful service even after everything.

[Rachel Myers]

Yes, yes. And that just, I think that's a Jewish tradition. I think there is such a Jewish tradition to need to find joy together. You know, the, the prayers are meant to be uplifting. They're meant to, you know, bring us together. This morning I, I did get choked up at the very first prayer. It's, it's called Mato vu. You're supposed to say it right when you enter a sanctuary to kind of be grateful to be in, in a, in a sacred space. Space together. And we'll continue to sing that same song. We'll continue. When I met with the Sunday school kids the very next day, I was very intent to show them photos of what happened inside the building so that they could see what was done to us. And then we immediately started dreaming of what we were going to do next. And they had some great ideas for things that they want in our next space. You know, I was teaching them that Jewish people are resilient and we do not cower in fear. And we continue, we rebuild. We'll be stronger together.

[Sarah McCammon]

What were those conversations with the kids like?

[Rachel Myers]

Some of them asked why, why Would someone do this to us? And, you know, I had to repeat that. It wasn't really time for us to try to answer that yet. You know, we'll learn more about the person who did this and why. But what was important is that we were together. And. And even though our sacred space was attacked and destroyed, we can make sacred spaces together. And when we're together, we can be Jewish. And I couldn't help but think about 1967. This building had been bombed then. And I asked them, what did they do after the bombing? And they knew the Jewish congregation had kept going. People worked to make it. And so I asked them, what should we do now? And they were so sweet. They just said, be more Jewish than ever.

[Sarah McCammon]

What do they mean by that?

[Rachel Myers]

What does that look like? It means we do Hebrew as an act of resistance. Being a young person and trying to learn a new language is very difficult. You can imagine little kids, they're going to complain about doing the work, but now it's an act of resistance. Now, us learning our traditions, us learning this language, us practicing Judaism out loud is a sign and is a symbol that we do not cower in fear, that we are a strong people, that Judaism is important to us, just the same way it was important to the generations before us.

[Sarah McCammon]

You mentioned the attack in the 1960s. Beth Israel, as I understand it, is the only synagogue in Jackson. It has a long history with the civil rights movement. That attack in the 1960s was carried out by the Ku Klux Klan. And one of the reasons was the rabbi at the time was supporting the Civil rights movement. How do you think about that legacy? In a moment like this, I couldn't.

[Rachel Myers]

Help but put myself in their shoes. You know, what did the congregation do then? What were the leaders working towards? Whether or not that they were in the spot to align themselves with the Civil rights movement at a time that, you know, that was quite violent and difficult myself, putting in the congregation. Now I have to align myself with things that are violent and difficult. That choice wasn't given to us, to me, and that's what I'm leading with the kids as well. You know, it is our responsibility as this Jewish community in the Deep south to be educators about Judaism, to be inclusive, to be welcoming, to be loud about our Judaism in a way that people understand us. And there can be more love and appreciation than the hatred that we've seen.

[Sarah McCammon]

Were there some items you were able to recover?

[Rachel Myers]

A lot of the items in the building will be able to be recovered and cleaned, but the majority of what was in that library space is no longer. The artifacts that we recover will tell a story of a congregation that has been attacked twice but is stronger than ever and continues to remain.

[Sarah McCammon]

Those scrolls have their own history, don't they?

[Rachel Myers]

There was one in the lobby behind a glass case which was the Holocaust Torah. So decades ago, we have Holocaust survivors here in the congregation and they had worked to get a Torah that was from Prague, you know, that was damaged during the Holocaust. And it was on display in our congregation as a reminder of never again.

[Sarah McCammon]

And that one was able to be salvaged.

[Rachel Myers]

And that one was able to be salvaged. Yes.

[Sarah McCammon]

You know, the idea of the humanity of all people, whatever their race or religion, has been a part of the movement for civil rights for a long time. Is there anything that comes to mind from the Jewish tradition as you think about and as you talk to the.

[Rachel Myers]

Kids about how to move forward? The one thing that keeps getting me, keeps, you know, making me weep is music. And I'm playing some of these Jewish songs that I really haven't listened to in a long time. And one of them is this song called Kahila Kedosha, which means holy community and how each of us really must work. It's holy work, but we have to work to maintain a Jewish congregation, to maintain Jewish life. We have to put in the work to make this world a better place. And whether that's our Jewish community or it's the entire faith community of Jewish Jackson or it's the world like it is up to us. It is up to us. And I feel that more than ever, I really do. This week.

[Sarah McCammon]

Rachel Myers is a leader of the religious school at Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi. Thank you so much.

[Rachel Myers]

Thank you, Sarah.

[Sarah McCammon]

This episode was produced by Henry Larson and Avery Keatley with additional reporting from Shamira Muhammad of Mississippi Public Broadcasting. It was edited by Sarah Robbins. Our executive producer is Sami Yeniget. It's consider this from NPR. I'm Sarah McCammon.

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