Beth Israel Congregation

Call Directions Website Contact the place of worship

Beth Israel Congregation Beth Israel is a vibrant and warm Reform Jewish congregation in Jackson, Mississippi. All are welcome to our services. Friday Shabbat Services: 6:00 p.m.

Our programs reach a wide variety of interests; our worship is inspiring; and our youth programming instills a love of Judaism in the next generation. Gathering for prayer, music, and words of Torah enriches both mind and spirit. During this sacred time, we set aside daily concerns and experience a sense of community. Together we celebrate life’s joys and find spiritual strength to guide us through times of need. Saturday Shabbat Services: 9:00 a.m. Torah Study: 10:15 a.m.

All six of Student Rabbi Ben’s High Holy Day sermons for 5787 are now available online.Together, they follow the journey...
09/22/2026

All six of Student Rabbi Ben’s High Holy Day sermons for 5787 are now available online.

Together, they follow the journey of these sacred days—from waking up to the life already happening around us, to remembering what we have inherited, turning toward the lives we want to live, listening for wisdom, looking honestly at ourselves, and rediscovering what it means to belong to a living Jewish tradition.

Whether you heard these sermons in person or are encountering them for the first time, we invite you to read, reflect, and perhaps find a spark that speaks to where you are in your own journey.

Read the complete collection, Sacred Sparks: The High Holy Day Sermons of 5787, at bethisraelms.org/sacred-sparks.

Another year has passed. Some things changed dramatically. Others changed so slowly we barely noticed.Rosh Hashanah inte...
09/15/2026

Another year has passed. Some things changed dramatically. Others changed so slowly we barely noticed.

Rosh Hashanah interrupts ordinary time long enough for us to realize something both simple and enormous:

Your life is happening.

Both of our Rosh Hashanah sermons are now online.

Erev Rosh Hashanah — “Your Life Is Happening”
We do not have to become somebody else at sunset. T’shuvah means turning, not replacing ourselves — and before we can turn, we have to notice where we are.

Rosh Hashanah Morning — “Remember Us for Life”
What if, somewhere in this enormous inheritance, there is something you need? A way to rest. A way to grieve. A way to celebrate. A way to notice. You do not have to earn an inheritance before you are allowed to open it.

Read both at bethisraelms.org/sacred-sparks.

שנה טובה
Shanah tovah — may the new year be a good and sweet one.

09/06/2026

As Shabbat draws to a close, Havdalah invites us to linger at the threshold—to notice the difference between sacred time and ordinary time before stepping back into the week. We lift the w**e, breathe in the sweetness of the spices, and hold our hands toward the braided flame, carrying a little of Shabbat’s light with us into whatever comes next. Hamavdil bein kodesh l’chol—the One who distinguishes between the sacred and the ordinary. May the week ahead be filled with enough light to help us recognize the holiness woven through both. ✨🕯️

#שבועטוב

09/05/2026

Read “Across the Sea,” a reflection on Nitzavim-Vayeilech, broken relationships, and the first step of return as we approach the High Holy Days. bethisraelms.org/sacred-sparks. Main page link in bio.

*Originally given during Shabbat services at Beth Israel Congregation on Friday, September 4, 2026.*

09/04/2026

Shabbat Shalom! 🕯️🕯️ As another week draws to a close, may Shabbat bring us the space to slow down, breathe deeply, reconnect with one another, and notice the sacred moments we too often hurry past. May our homes and communities be filled with peace, warmth, gratitude, and joy, and may we enter the week ahead renewed in body and spirit. Wishing you and those you love a peaceful and meaningful Shabbat. **Shabbat Shalom!** 💙

#שבתשלום #שבת

09/04/2026

Some distances between people feel impossible to cross.

A careless word. A betrayal. An apology that never came. Something we said and desperately wish we could take back.

And when the distance becomes wide enough, we start looking across it—waiting for something to change on the other side.

But what if that’s not where the way back begins?

This week, Torah gives us a haunting image: “It is not beyond the sea.”

The ocean may be real. The hurt may be real. Reconciliation may still be a very long way off.

And yet:

Distance is measured in miles. Return is measured in direction.

What might change if teshuvah begins not when we finally reach the other shore—but in the moment we stop walking away?

Join us for services tonight at 6:15 as we learn more!

Sometimes the hardest part of finding our way back is believing there is a way back at all. Between two people there can...
09/03/2026

Sometimes the hardest part of finding our way back is believing there is a way back at all. Between two people there can be hurt, silence, years—even what feels like an ocean. But as we approach the High Holy Days, Torah asks us to look for the beginning of the journey somewhere surprising: not on the other shore, but right where we are standing. Join us for Kabbalat Shabbat this Friday at 6:15 PM as we explore teshuvah, the distance between us, and the first step back. Come pray. Come learn. Come begin again.

09/02/2026

How do you forgive someone when the hurt is real? Judaism doesn’t ask us to pretend we weren’t wounded—or to simply forget what happened. Forgiveness asks something harder of us. A story about two friends, one painful moment, and what it means to refuse to let hurt have the last word.

#סליחה

Address

5315 Old Canton Road
Jackson, MS
39211

Telephone

+16019566215

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Beth Israel Congregation posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Place Of Worship

Send a message to Beth Israel Congregation:

Shortcuts

Share

Category