"#BethIsrael was where my parents were married. It was where my sister and I both became #BatMitzvahs, where we formed our #Jewish identity through #religiousschool and participation in our small but mighty youth group. It was where my husband and I married.

Last Saturday, Beth Israel Congregation was set on fire by someone who hates #Jews simply for being Jews. Seeing the charred images of the library is painful. I have vivid memories of being in that library playing hide-and-seek, participating in classes and youth group meetings, getting ready for my wedding and signing my #ketubah in that room.

If I close my eyes, I can see the ark where the #Torahs—now reduced to ash—once sat."

https://mississippitoday.org/2026/01/16/growing-up-jewish-in-mississippi/

"The suspect #arrested for allegedly setting #fire to a #Mississippi #synagogue on Saturday confessed to the #FBI that he had targeted the #congregation due to its “#Jewish ties.”

#StephenSpencerPittman was charged on Monday with maliciously damaging or destroying a building by means of fire or an explosive, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Mississippi.

The blaze, which tore through the #BethIsrael Congregation, the only synagogue in #Jackson, Mississippi, early Saturday morning, destroyed two of the synagogue’s #Torahs as well as its library and offices. Several other Torahs belonging to the congregation were damaged, though no injuries were reported."

https://www.jta.org/2026/01/12/default/man-charged-with-setting-fire-to-mississippi-synagogue-targeted-it-due-to-its-jewish-ties-fbi-says

"As smoke filled the building, and ash began falling in the parking lot one year ago, Berman searched for her husband through the darkness, calling out to make sure the #Torahs were being carried out. Joined by the #synagogue’s president and custodian, they worked quickly, loading the 13 scrolls into two cars as the fire, a beast consuming #LosAngeles, roared closer. By night’s end, the building was destroyed, the flames claiming it all.

Over the past year, the #synagogue has been doing the work of recovery in plain sight and in borrowed space. It has not seen a collapse in membership; as many families have joined since the #fire as in the year before it. The calendar has remained full."

https://forward.com/news/794992/pasadena-jewish-temple-center-fire-rebuild-synagogue/