Temple B'nai Israel is a

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

congregation and

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located at 1301 Marshall Street, in

Tupelo Tupelo commonly refers to: * Tupelo (tree), a small genus of deciduous trees with alternate, simple leaves * Tupelo, Mississippi, the county seat and the largest city of Lee County, Mississippi Tupelo may also refer to: Places * Tupelo, Arka ...

, Lee County,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, in the United States. The congregation was established in 1939. , about 35 families were active in the synagogue.

History

At the beginning of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

Tupelo had only 20 Jewish residents, out of 20,000 total residents. Temple B'nai Israel in Tupelo was established on August 24, 1939, with Sol Weiner as its first President. The congregation first met in Tupelo City Hall. In 1945, the congregation added a

holy ark A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Ko ...

, and was given its first

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

by the Vine Street Temple in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Tennessee. It later rented space on South Spring Street above the Fooks'

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dealership. In 1949, a student rabbi from

Hebrew Union College Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ohio, conducted Temple services for the

high holidays In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim; , ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm'') consist of: #strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year") and Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"); #by extension, th ...

. In 1953, it moved to space over Biggs Furniture Store. A synagogue building was dedicated on September 1, 1957, with then-Mayor James Ballard giving the remarks. The building was funded by Manny Davis, an Okolona sportswear manufacturing businessman, local banks, manufacturing companies, and other businesses, the local community, Jews from across the nation, and 41 percent by

Gentile ''Gentile'' () is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish. Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, have historically used the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is used as a synony ...

Leadership

Due to its modest size, the Temple does not have a full-time

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

, and instead uses a

lay leader A lay leader is a member of the laity in any congregation who has been chosen as a leader either by their peers or the leadership of the congregation. In most denominations, lay leadership is not an ordained clerical office, and the lay leader's res ...

. Maury Stein was a lay leader of the congregation in the 1960s. Marc Perler has served as a lay leader of the synagogue. As of 1955 Maurice Stein (who owned a dress shop on Main Street) was president of the synagogue, Len Shane and Linda Levy were later president of the temple, and as of 2020 Leslie Mart was president of Temple B’Nai Israel. Ron Baker has served as the congregation's Director of Religious Education. Gloria Lenhoff has served as the

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

Notable members

* Alan Mark Bank, Tupelo's 2010 Outstanding Citizen of the Year *

Jack Cristil Jacob Sanford "Jack" Cristil (December 10, 1925 – September 7, 2014) was the long-time radio voice of Mississippi State University Bulldog men's basketball and football. Over his 58-year tenure (1953–2011), Cristil called 636 football games ( ...

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

Bulldog broadcaster, served as lay leader in 2011

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:B'Nai Israel (Tupelo, Mississippi) 1939 establishments in Mississippi 20th-century synagogues in the United States Buildings and structures in Tupelo, Mississippi Jewish organizations established in 1939 Reform synagogues in Mississippi Synagogues in Mississippi Synagogues completed in 1957 Tupelo, Mississippi

History

Leadership

Notable members

See also

References

External links