page_title: Congregation Beth Israel (Meridian, Mississippi)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Congregation Beth Israel (Meridian, Mississippi) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: A postcard of the Greek Revival style temple used by Congregation Beth Israel in Meridian, Mississippi from 1906 to 1964. This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 89000169
context_page_description: Congregation Beth Israel in Meridian, Mississippi, is a Reform Jewish congregation founded in 1868 and a member of the Union for Reform Judaism. The congregation's first permanent house of worship was a Middle Eastern-style building constructed in 1879. The congregation moved to another building built in the Greek Revival style in 1906, and in 1964 moved to a more modern building, out of which they still operate.
  The congregation was initially made up of only ten families but grew to include 50 members by 1878. By the time their second building was built in 1906, the congregation included 82 members, and Meridian as a whole had grown to include 525 Jewish residents by 1927. By the 2000s there were fewer than forty, mostly elderly Jews remaining in the city, however, and the congregation no longer has a full-time rabbi. Former rabbis include Judah Wechsler, after whom the Wechsler school was named, and William Ackerman, whose wife Paula Ackerman became the first woman to perform rabbinical duties in the country after her husband's unexpected death.
  In 1968, the education building of the new complex was bombed by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
context_section_description: In the early days of Lauderdale County before Meridian was established, the nearby town of Marion was the largest settlement in the area. The families of Abraham Threefoot, Isaac Rosenbaum, Leopold Rosenbaum, E. Lowenstein, and Jacob Cohen lived in Marion during these early years. These families, along with other Jews in Marion, worked with Jews from the up-and-coming Meridian to build a temple halfway between the two towns. After the American Civil War, Meridian began to grow rapidly and Marion began to decline. As a result, many of Marion's Jews elected to move to Meridian. In 1868, the Jewish community established the first Jewish congregation in Lauderdale County, Beth Israel, and bought the lot which is now the Beth Israel Cemetery for $100 (today $2,000).
  The congregation initially consisted of only ten families and met in several temporary locations before moving to a permanent building. These locations included a house on 24th Avenue and 9th Street, a room above Carney's Grocery Store, and Sheehan Hall. In this interim period, the congregation grew to include 50 members by 1878, with David Burgheim serving as rabbi. The Middle Eastern style building at the corner of 8th Street and 22nd Avenue, constructed by the growing congregation in 1879, was the first building in the city with gas-powered lighting. Rabbi Burgheim was succeeded by Rabbi W. Weinstein, then Rabbi Jacobs, and then Rabbi Judah Wechsler. Wechsler, who became rabbi in 1887, led a movement to provide public schools for blacks, which culminated in a bond issue to construct the first brick public school building for African Americans in the state. The Wechsler School was named after him and has since been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a Mississippi Landmark. The congregation stayed in this building for several years, before eventually being forced to move due to complaints of flies attracted by horse droppings outside of a nearby retail store.
  In 1906, a new Greek Revival octagonal synagogue designed by architect P.J. Krouse and modelled after the Temple of Athena Nike was built at the corner of 11th Street and 24th Avenue. The marble steps leading to the entrance of the building were flanked by large Ionic columns. The new synagogue could seat 500 and featured stained glass windows displaying the Ten Commandments, a menorah, the Star of David, and Noah's Ark. A fire damaged the building during its first year of operation, and while it was being repaired, services were held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. By 1907, the congregation had grown to include 82 members and was led by Rabbi Max Raisin. By 1927, the Jewish community in Meridian had grown to 525 people, partly due to an influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe. The members of Beth Israel sponsored these newcomers, helping them to find jobs and homes and holding night classes to teach them English.
  Some of the congregation's members had preferred a more strict form of worship and a smaller Orthodox congregation, Ohel Jacob, had been formed in 1895.  The two congregations had good relations, however, and a number of Meridian Jews belonged to both.
  In 1951, the congregation included 100 members and was the second largest Jewish community in the state. When Rabbi William Ackerman, who had served the congregation from 1924 to 1950, suddenly died while still in service, Beth Israel asked his wife Paula Ackerman to take his place until they could find a replacement. No women had been ordained at this time, and it would be a full 20 more years before the first woman would be officially ordained in the United States. Nonetheless, without ordination Paula Ackerman served as "spiritual leader" (the congregation elected not to call her "rabbi") for three years until Beth Israel could find another. Despite the unwillingness to call Ackerman "rabbi," she performed all the duties of a normal rabbi, including conducting weekly Shabbat services, giving sermons, and performing marriages and funerals. In spite of much media attention and criticism from other Jews in the country, the con
caption: Postcard of Beth Israel's temple used from 1906 to 1964
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