Mississippi
The synagogue means something special to Southern Jews — which makes the Mississippi arson that much darker
The burned building of Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi. Courtesy of Jackson Fire Department
Rachel Fink
January 13, 2026
The arsonist who confessed to burning a synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi, told police he targeted the building because of its “Jewish ties.”
What an odd phrase, I thought. As if there was nothing more than a flimsy connection between the building he aimed to destroy and the living tradition contained within it.
For those of us raised in one of the small Jewish communities scattered across the South, nothing could be further from reality. I grew up in Louisiana, attending a Reform temple that was very similar to the one the arsonist called a “synagogue of Satan.” Baton Rouge, like Jackson, isn’t a small town, but both cities’ Jewish communities aren’t big enough for a day school or a kosher butcher. There’s no mikveh, and no chevra kadisha. Like so many other tiny communities scattered throughout the region, we did not have a Jewish Community Center, a Jewish bookstore or a Jewish museum.
And so our synagogues had to be everything to everyone, all at once.
We listened to the blast of the shofar in the same auditorium where we giggled late into the night at youth group lock-ins. We learned our first Hebrew words in the same classroom where we organized against KKK Grand Wizard David Duke’s political campaigns. We played fierce basketball games against each other in the same space where we came together to mourn the murder of Yitzhak Rabin.
The synagogue gave us our only access to kosher corned beef sandwiches and parent-approved teenage crushes; our only chance to sit in a sukkah or watch our fingernails glow in the flames of a Havdalah candle; our only opportunity to hear firsthand testimony from Holocaust survivors.
As Jewish minorities in the Bible Belt, some of us encountered open antisemitism; others simply learned what it meant to feel subtly, but perpetually, like an outsider. We were navigating a world where “Merry Christmas” was the default greeting and our sports teams recited the Lord’s Prayer before every game. Where we had to explain, again, why we missed school for Yom Kippur. The synagogue was where we went to feel completely at ease in our Jewish skin.
This is another part of what makes Southern Judaism so unique: just like their members, the synagogues themselves form an incredibly tight-knit network, so we have all spent time in one another’s sanctuaries and social halls. Reading coverage of the fire, I was bemused but not surprised to learn that the temple president is an old camp friend.
Decades ago, I celebrated friends’ bar and bat mitzvahs at Beth Israel and spent weekends there for North American Federation of Temple Youth conclaves. Now, my daughter is invited to those friends’ children’s rites of passage, sitting in the same pews where we once whispered loudly to each other behind tattered prayerbooks. For so many of us, Sunday’s fire was not just another horrific act of antisemitism. It was an attack on our very identity, an attempt to destroy the place where it has been formed, practiced and passed down for generations.
But Southern synagogues have survived violence and trauma before. And in the wake of this outrage, I take comfort in the fact that so often, when tragedy has stricken, we have been comforted and cared for not only by fellow Jews across the region but also by allies of other faiths.
When a hurricane rendered my childhood synagogue unusable, the Baptist church next door offered us their space for High Holiday services. Without being asked, they draped large cloths over the crosses in the sanctuary so that we would feel more comfortable. After the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, the imam of the local mosque reached out to our rabbi to invite the congregation to an interfaith service of prayer and peace.
And so it has been in the aftermath of the Jackson fire. Within hours, faith leaders from across the city had reached out, offering the dislocated Jewish community their spaces for services. Outside the charred entrance, bouquets of flowers lay on the ground. Someone left a simple note: “I’m so very sorry.”
The arsonist may have aimed to sever the “Jewish ties” Jackson Jews have to their community’s physical home, to the holy books and sacred artifacts kept inside it. But he grossly underestimated so much: our long legacy of resilience; the unbreakable commitment we have to our faith and our values; and most importantly, the Jewish — and Southern — tradition of caring for one’s neighbor, of standing arm in arm to overcome injustice and hatred.
Odds of winning the Powerball and Mega Millions are NOT in your favor
Odds of hitting the jackpot in Mega Millions or Powerball are around 1-in-292 million. Here are things that you’re more likely to land than big bucks.
The Mississippi Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 25, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mississippi Match 5 numbers from June 25 drawing
01-06-09-13-23
Check Mississippi Match 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 3 numbers from June 25 drawing
Midday: 3-3-8, FB: 5
Evening: 4-0-8, FB: 7
Check Cash 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 4 numbers from June 25 drawing
Midday: 2-8-3-2, FB: 5
Evening: 5-0-3-2, FB: 7
Check Cash 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from June 25 drawing
Midday: 01
Evening: 07
Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Story continues below gallery.
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
Winnings of $599 or less can be claimed at any authorized Mississippi Lottery retailer.
Prizes between $600 and $99,999, may be claimed at the Mississippi Lottery Headquarters or by mail. Mississippi Lottery Winner Claim form, proper identification (ID) and the original ticket must be provided for all claims of $600 or more. If mailing, send required documentation to:
Mississippi Lottery Corporation
P.O. Box 321462
Flowood, MS
39232
If your prize is $100,000 or more, the claim must be made in person at the Mississippi Lottery headquarters. Please bring identification, such as a government-issued photo ID and a Social Security card to verify your identity. Winners of large prizes may also have the option of setting up electronic funds transfer (EFT) for direct deposits into a bank account.
Mississippi Lottery Headquarters
1080 River Oaks Drive, Bldg. B-100
Flowood, MS
39232
Mississippi Lottery prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing date. For detailed instructions and necessary forms, please visit the Mississippi Lottery claim page.
When are the Mississippi Lottery drawings held?
- Cash 3: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
- Cash 4: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
- Match 5: Daily at 9:30 p.m. CT.
- Cash Pop: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Mississippi editor. You can send feedback using this form.
See video of MS Lt. Gov. Hosemann speaking on redistricting
Mississippi Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann speaks on redistricting during the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, MS, on June 24, 2026.
PHILADELPHIA — When asked about his campaign plans for the statewide elections in November 2027, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann has avoided giving a straight answer. Usually, he tells the media that his next focus is a long checklist of priorities to tackle next legislative session.
The governor’s race next year, the first this decade without term-limited incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves, is rumored to feature a crowded field. For current officeholders, even those who don’t work directly with the state Legislature, the bills that they can endorse and urge across the finish line are often the feathers in their cap touted on the campaign trail.
During the two days of political speaking at the Neshoba County Fair, Hosemann and other state leaders gave attendees a clearer view of what their goals are for those 60 days of debate.
Redistricting
One of the priorities common to most speakers was legislative and congressional redistricting in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that prohibited drawing voting districts on the basis of race. Reeves initially called a special session on redistricting, specifically regarding the state Supreme Court districts, but he later canceled it.
The governor opted to cancel the session, he said, because Mississippi had already had its primary. Instead, he charged Hosemann and House Speaker Jason White, the leaders of each chamber, with navigating the process during the next legislative session.
Through their redistricting committees, both said at the Neshoba County Fair, they are preparing to do exactly that.
“The Democrats used [prior Supreme Court rulings] to make sure they elected Democrats and not the people that you wanted. Now the Supreme Court has changed that, and we’re back to ground one where we should be,” Hosemann said. “We’ve appointed a committee, they’ll be out in Mississippi … looking at who do you want to represent you and how is your district to be set up? It’s coming back to the people where it was before, where it should be today.”
Mississippi Rep. Scott Bounds and Sen. Lane Taylor, both of whom represent the Neshoba County area, are on their respective redistricting committees. Both promised that redistricting is among the first issues that the Legislature plans to take up in January, with Bounds adding that the focus is on redrawing the state legislative districts.
“I believe the best way to enact common sense, conservative policies is by electing Republicans to office,” Jason White said. “The Mississippi House of Representatives stands for that, and we will examine redistricting and elect more Republicans to local, state and federal offices.”
Reeves confirmed that he “would not be surprised” if there is a special session before the next legislative session begins in January, but that even without it, the Legislature “would definitely have redistricting done” before the statewide elections in November 2027. Reeves has the power to call a special session at any point.
K-12 and higher education
Hosemann and White took, if not opposite perspectives, then at least different approaches to improving the state’s public and higher education systems.
White’s primary focus, he said in his speech, lays again with school choice. He told the crowd that, while lawmakers were still drafting legislation, Mississippians could expect to see a similar attempt this upcoming year as representatives put forward in January.
“I think you’ll see most statewide candidates for governor fully endorsing the idea of school choice and pushing it forward. I think the reason they will do that is because they’re smart, they’ve been polling, they’re spending their money to see what issues are important to people,” White said after giving his speech. “They’re finding out that when you get outside of the room and have a real conversation with parents, they want those choices.”
The 500-page, sweeping bill from last year primarily proposed using state money to fund vouchers for students to attend private and charter schools. It passed the House, where it originated, in a narrow vote before getting a resounding “no” vote in the Senate education committee.
“I wish the Senate would come forward and say, ‘Look, we don’t want to go through all that again. Here’s what we would do,’” White said. “I wish there would be a way to find a win-win, but to this point, they’ve been unwilling to have a conversation. That makes it tough politics for me when they’re unwilling to even have a conversation.”
Hosemann has loudly opposed state-funded vouchers, and he took the dais to advocate for more funding in public schools. One of his education priorities for the next year, he told the crowd, was opening more special-purpose schools for children with disabilities and developmental disorders such as autism.
Where Hosemann and White have agreed is that Mississippi’s education systems are bloated. Hosemann spoke specifically about higher education, telling reporters after his speech that some institutions graduate fewer than 25% of their enrollment. He touted the benefits of performance-based funding in ensuring that schools are motivated to educate high-performing students, and Mississippians could likely see changes to the funding formula in 2027.
White has largely focused, for the moment, on K-12 public schools. He formed a committee on school consolidation that has zeroed in on small schools and districts, and top officials with the state education department have asked for the Legislature to draft a framework for closing schools in the coming years.
How big should the government be?
Maybe the only thing that every Republican speaker agreed on was that Mississippi’s government needs to be smaller, but they phrased reform in different ways.
Reeves promoted artificial intelligence that makes workflows more efficient and decreases the number of state employees needed to do a certain job. White urged the government to decrease property taxes, because the burden makes property owners “feel like they rent the property that they own.”
Hosemann pointed to a Senate committee on efficiency and transparency that has moved to eliminate 17 government committees and boards he described as useless. White formed a similar special committee on government efficiency that has met over the summer to weigh cost-cutting measures.
While details on which departments could be downsized and precise estimates of potential savings have not been publicly outlined, nearly every state official, member of the Legislature and candidate who spoke at the Neshoba County Fair promised significant reform next session.
Bea Anhuci is the state government reporter for the Clarion Ledger. She has covered Mississippi politics since the start of 2026. Email her at banhuci@usatodayco.com.
Celebrate the Fourth of July at these free events with fireworks displays in the Jackson area.
How to help your dog deal with July 4 fireworks
The loud bang of fireworks causes anxiety for dogs. Here’s how to help your pet on July 4.
Independence Day is always an exciting holiday in Mississippi with burgers and hot dogs sizzling on the grill and the dazzling displays of fireworks.
This year is even more special as America celebrates its 250th birthday. It is a celebration of a milestone not to be missed and the fireworks displays will be spectacular.
If you live in the Jackson area there are plenty of events to choose from and not all of them are on Saturday, July 4, so you can go and enjoy more than one. To make them even better, the events are free.
So, here are some of the area events that include fireworks where you can celebrate America 250.
Jackson Fireworks Extravaganza
- When: 5 p.m., Wednesday, July 1
- Where: Smith Wills Stadium, 1200 Lakeland Drive, Jackson
- Admission: Free
The City of Jackson is hosting its Fireworks Extravaganza starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 1, at Smith Wills Stadium.
Before the fireworks, guests can enjoy local food vendors and live entertainment. The event also will include a kid zone with water slides, bounce houses, face painting and games.
Independence Celebration at The Rez
- When: Saturday, June 27, 5-9 p.m.
- Where: Bobby Cleveland Park at Lakeshore and Old Trace Park
- Admission: Free
Celebrate Independence Day Rez-style at the Ross Barnett Reservoir. The event takes place the Saturday before the Fourth of July at Bobby Cleveland Park at Lakeshore and Old Trace Park.
Live music, kid zones, food vendors and beer will be on hand. Fireworks begin at 9 p.m. No outside coolers are allowed.
Freedom Fest
- When: 6 to 10 p.m., Friday, July 3
- Where: Brandon Amphitheater, 8190 Rock Way, Brandon
- Admission: Free
Brandon’s complimentary Freedom Fest will be a kick-off to the holiday weekend celebrations. The event will include inflatables for the kids, a Cornhole tournament, face painting, food trucks and will close with a patriotic concert and fireworks display.
Red, White and Blue Fest
- When: 4 p.m., Saturday, July 4
- Where: Soccer Row, Traceway Park, Clinton
- Admission: Free
The 36th annual Red, White and Blue Fest in Clinton starts at 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 4.
Local live music, food and games lead up to the fireworks finale at 9 p.m. Live music performances include blues prodigy John Clayton White at 5:30 p.m. and The Fountain City Players at 7:15 p.m.
Brian Broom has been reporting on and photographing Mississippi for more than 35 years. He can be reached at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.
-
Health3 minutes agoSwitching from cigarettes to vapes linked to higher risk of major eye diseases, large study finds
-
Sports8 minutes ago2026 World Cup Odds: Which Nations are Favored to Reach Semifinals?
-
Technology15 minutes agoWorld Cup ticket scams target desperate fans
-
Business17 minutes ago
Snap sued by parents of girl who was raped by man she met on Snapchat
-
Entertainment23 minutes ago‘The Bear’ at closing time: Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy Allen White reflect on five seasons
-
Lifestyle30 minutes agoL.A. Affairs: After decades of near-misses, I finally told him: ‘I’m not leaving here without you’
-
Politics33 minutes agoTrump budget request omits funds for L.A. fire relief, prompting criticism from senators
-
Science38 minutes agoEPA touts crackdown on smuggled pesticides in L.A. visit
