History Department

Although the first Jews came to Lee County as early as the 1850s, it was not until after World War II that a full functioning synagogue emerged.  In an unusual twist, a sisterhood preceded the formal creation of a congregation in Tupelo.  In the hometown of Elvis Presley, women led the way toward an organized Jewish community.

In the late 1930s, there were enough Jews in the towns of Northeast Mississippi to form the first Jewish organizations in the area.  Based in Tupelo, the Northeast Mississippi Sisterhood was created in 1936 under the leadership of Marion Peltz and Mrs. Solomon Weiner.  Giving the women the opportunity to socialize and to develop charities under the umbrella of a true Jewish community, Mrs. Weiner’s husband led a similar effort two years later to form Tupelo’s B’nai Brith Lodge.  By 1939, the Jews of Tupelo were holding services in private homes, and soon calls were coming for the foundation of a permanent house of worship.  On August 24, 1939, Temple B’nai Israel was organized and eventually found a home on the streets of Marshall and Hamblin.  Sol Weiner became the first president of the congregation followed by Bob Bloom in 1940 and Meyer Weiner in 1941.  B’nai Israel has served ten communities in northeast Mississippi and northwest Alabama.

A reform congregation, B’nai Israel has never had a full-time rabbi. Members of the congregation have always led services.  People such as Maury Stein in the 1960s and current lay leader Jack Cristil have taken on the task of leading services every Friday night and on special holidays.  The Sisterhood has supported the temple through fundraising and other services over the years.   Some congregants, like Jack Cristil, were from more Orthodox backgrounds but preferred the Reform style because it fit better with life in Tupelo.

Tupelo, the site of a major metropolitan area, still functions today with a Jewish community made up of a small group of families.  In 1995, there were twenty-eight families in the congregation with people going to services as well as attending annual community Passover Seders and regular Sunday school.  For many, this arrangement has been good enough to raise a Jewish family; others have decided over the years to travel back and forth to Memphis for greater Jewish opportunities.  Memphis is home to the Jewish cemetery primarily used by the residents of Tupelo.  While some who have passed have found plots in Tupelo’s Glenwood Cemetery with surnames like Strauss, Fried, Elbaum, and Weil, Memphis is still in the hearts and minds of Tupelo Jews.  The Tupelo synagogue remains strong today, but some worry about the future. While concern may be appropriate, a major metropolitan area between Birmingham and Memphis may be able to withstand prior losses and keep intact Temple B’nai Israel.