History Department

Though Jews have lived in Lexington since the late 1830s, it took several decades for them to organize religiously.  In 1904, Rabbi Abram Brill, who served the Hebrew Union Congregation in Greenville, Mississippi, traveled to Lexington and convinced the local Jews to form Temple Beth El (House of God).  Brill agreed to make regular visits to Lexington to lead services, which he did until 1911, when he left Greenville.

Over the years, Lexington has been served part-time by the rabbis in Greenville, Vicksburg, and Jackson.  In November of 1905, Beth El dedicated their first synagogue on Spring Street, a small frame structure with an entrance hall, two small classrooms on either side of the front entrance, and a sanctuary.  The land for the synagogue and the cemetery was donated by local Jewish businessman Morris Lewis.  This modest yet beautiful synagogue continues to serve the congregation today.

In 1907, Beth El had 15 member families, many of whom were young, as evidenced by the 20 children in the congregation’s religious school.  From its founding, Lexington has been a Reform congregation, and affiliating with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1904.  Beth El’s services were almost entirely in English, and were held on Sundays, when their visiting rabbi was available.  In 1940, Beth El had 30 members. Despite these small numbers, Beth El had an active sisterhood, which was named after Julia Lewis.  Lexington also had a local B’nai Brith chapter, the Isidore Hyman Lodge, that was formed in 1926.

Little Temple Beth El was put on the national Jewish map thanks to the generosity of Gus and Cecil Herrman.  The two brothers from Lexington, who never married, left the bulk of their estates to Hebrew Union College, America’s seminary of Reform Judaism.  Gus gave H.U.C. $7 million, which is the largest single gift ever given to the institution.  Cecil gave over $3 million.  These gifts to H.U.C. are quite remarkable as Beth El never had a full-time rabbi of its own.  Cecil and Gus were inspired to make this gift due to their relationship with Rabbi James Wax, who had served Beth El as a student rabbi before his long and distinguished career at Temple Israel in Memphis.

Beth El has continued to be active into the 21st century.  Once a month, the rabbi at Jackson’s Beth Israel Congregation leads services in Lexington on Sunday.  For the high holidays, Beth El’s service is led by congregant Henry Paris.  On December 3, 2005, Temple Beth El celebrated its 100th anniversary with a special Shabbat service attended by people from across the country who have roots in Lexington.

The longevity of Temple Beth El is remarkable.  Lexington has always been a small town of around 2,000 people, and the Jewish community has never been larger than 80 people.  No other small town in Mississippi has supported a Jewish congregation for as long.  And while Beth El is certainly in decline, and may disband in the near future, their 100-year legacy of Jewish life in Holmes County will remain.