History Department

Jews did not settle in Hattiesburg until the early 20th century, but by 1910 a number of Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe had settled in Mississippi’s “Hub City.”  In September of 1915, Hattiesburg Jews organized Congregation B’nai Israel (Children of Israel), though they had already begun worshipping together in private homes prior to this.  Initially, the congregation met at the local Odd Fellow’s hall.  In 1919, they acquired land for a permanent home on the corner of Hardy and West Pine Streets. Using building materials from the Jewish Welfare Board recreation hut at Camp Shelby that had been torn down, the congregation finished work on the simple, white frame synagogue in 1920. The new synagogue had a sanctuary, auditorium and Sunday school rooms in the basement.

From its origin, B’nai Israel was an alliance of Reform and Orthodox Jews. There weren’t enough Jews in Hattiesburg to support two congregations, so members compromised and cooperated. Two separate services were sometimes held. In 1935, the congregation hired their first rabbi, Arthur Brodey, to lead the congregation. He was a Reform rabbi, and Orthodox members still periodically held their own services under the lay leadership of Sam Eisman. This Orthodox faction was not marginalized within the congregation. Eisman served on the congregation’s board for many years. In 1939, the congregation voted to join the Reform Union of American Hebrew Congregations. In 1946, Congregation B’nai Israel, with 55 member families, decided to leave their building on Hardy and West Pine, and begin building a new temple at 901 Mamie Street, which still houses them today.

Rabbi Brodey served B’nai Israel until 1942. It took five years for the congregation to find his replacement, Rabbi David Shor, who served until 1950. Rabbi Charles Mantinband arrived in 1951 and served the congregation during much of the Civil Rights era.

Mantinband was an outspoken proponent of racial equality and civil rights, arguing that because of their own experience with discrimination, Jews should empathize with the plight of blacks. Mantinband was a friend and mentor of Clyde Kennard, the African American from Hattiesburg who unsuccessfully tried to integrate Mississippi Southern University and ended up framed on bogus theft charges. Fearful of violent reprisals, members of B’nai Israel tried to get Mantinband to quiet his voice on the civil rights issue. The local white Citizen’s Council made implicit threats to B’nai Israel members that they needed to get rid of their outspoken rabbi. Throughout his tenure, Mantinband faced pressure from a congregation that wanted him to stay out of the brewing struggle. Finally, in 1963, Mantinband decided to leave Hattiesburg for a congregation in Longview, Texas.

After Mantinband left Hattiesburg, B’nai Israel had a series of rabbis, including Ben Ami, Avery Grossfield, Norman Lipson, Samuel Rothberg, David Ostrich, Cyril Stanway, Judith Bluestein, Reena Judd, and Celso Cukierkorn. The congregation has also had a number of student rabbis, including most notably Sally Priesand, who would later become the first woman ordained as a rabbi.

Priesand’s appointment as their student rabbi in 1969 almost split the congregation apart. The Orthodox faction strongly opposed having a female student rabbi, but after much discussion, they accepted the pioneer. Four years later, Priesand would make history when she was ordained by Hebrew Union College. Twenty years later, B’nai Israel became the first Mississippi synagogue to hire a female full-time rabbi when Judith Bluestein led the congregation.

Although all of its full-time rabbis were Reform, B’nai Israel continued to accommodate its Orthodox members. On Friday nights, Orthodox men would hold their own separate service. On the high holidays, they would bring in an Orthodox rabbi to lead their service. B’nai Israel helped to pay for this Orthodox rabbi even though they already had a full-time rabbi at the time. The Orthodox services were discontinued in the 1970s when there were no longer enough Orthodox members to make a minyan. Despite the religious differences within the congregation, they accommodated one another out of necessity; there simply weren’t enough Jews to support two congregations.

Today, B’nai Israel has a full-time rabbi, Uri Barnea, who leads weekly Shabbat services for the congregation’s fifty member familes. B’nai Israel has 15 to 20 children, making it the second largest Jewish Sunday school in Mississippi. While the congregation is not growing, it seems relatively stable. Congregation B’nai Israel in Hattiesburg will likely continue to be a center of Jewish life in southeast Mississippi for years to come.