A 19-year-old man set fire to the only synagogue, Beth Israel Congregation, in Jackson, Mississippi in early January. The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, a nonprofit with offices located inside the synagogue, was also damaged in the fire.
Stephen Goldring and Malcom Woldenberg are benefactors of Tulane University’s Goldring/Woldenberg Business Complex, the building that houses Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business. Between the two of them, the men have donated to the University of New Orleans, the Anti-Defamation League, Touro Infirmary and the Jewish Children’s Regional Service, among other organizations.
A Mississippi grand jury indicted Stephen Spencer Pittman on a first-degree arson charge with a hate crime enhancement on Jan. 13. According to officials, Pittman targeted the synagogue because of its “Jewish ties.”
The bombing came just hours before the synagogue’s Shabbat service, damaging Torahs, an administrative office and the synagogue’s library. No deaths or injuries were reported in the attack.
After the attack, Executive Director of the Museum for Southern Jewish Experience Kenneth Hoffman said communities across the country have reached out to offer support, which he described as a small but meaningful silver lining.
The attack was “disturbing and a little bit scary when you see things happen close to home,” Hoffman said.
According to Hoffman, the attack pointed to a larger problem: a lack of awareness about Jewish life in the South. Hoffman said that, while Southern history is often taught through the lens of race, “stories of Jews who live in the South [are] sort of somewhat of an unknown story to a lot of people.”
That gap, he said, makes Jewish communities feel invisible.
Tulane Hillel Executive Director Gary Brandt echoed that concern, emphasizing the importance of relationships and exposure.
“If you don’t have relationships with people that are different than you, it’s much more difficult to have conversations or ask things that you don’t know about,” Brandt said.
Peggy Steckler, a Mississippi student who attended high school with the suspect, said people in her community rarely encounter Jewish peers before college.
“I’ve really never met any Jewish people before coming here, or actually interacted with them,” Steckler said. “Maybe if he’d interacted with a Jewish person literally once in his life, that wouldn’t have happened.”
Steckler said her high school’s religious education was basic, discussing Judaism in Catholic religion classes where they focus on broad themes like tolerance rather than sustained engagement.
At Tulane, Brandt sees college as a turning point where students begin to encounter new identities and perspectives.
“This is the best time for you to lean into everything … expand your worldview,” Brandt said.
Editor’s note: The original version of this piece incorrectly labeled Kenneth Hoffman as the executive director of Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life.