Press Articles
Going the Distance to Lead the Faithful
(From: The New York Times. By: Emily Jane Fox)
Many communities without a rabbi of their own work throughout the year with the Institute of Southern Jewish Life and its staff rabbi, Jeremy Simons.... Most weekends, he travels from one remote Jewish community to the next in a rented cayenne-red Nissan Cube to lead bar mitzvah services, hold Torah studies and, of course, eat traditional Friday night chicken (only fried, Southern style). Read the rest of the story...
Many communities without a rabbi of their own work throughout the year with the Institute of Southern Jewish Life and its staff rabbi, Jeremy Simons.... Most weekends, he travels from one remote Jewish community to the next in a rented cayenne-red Nissan Cube to lead bar mitzvah services, hold Torah studies and, of course, eat traditional Friday night chicken (only fried, Southern style). Read the rest of the story...
Rabbi Marshal Klaven, ISJL Honored in Forward 50(From: The Jewish Daily Forward)
Rabbi Marshal Klaven does exactly what any one rabbi would do for any one congregation. He just does it with 110 congregations in 13 states. As the outgoing itinerant rabbi of the Mississippi-based Goldring / Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, Klaven, 35, has spent the past five years traveling among underserved communities from Oklahoma to Virginia. His mission is to bring rabbinic services to any congregation that wants them — even if it’s a congregation of one. Read the rest of the story... Pinpointing Our Roots(from: Atlanta Jewish Times, By Marcy J. Levinson)
Atlanta congregations mentor small-town shuls to preserve the Jewish South...... 
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ISJL: Setting the Slingshot Standard, Year After Year
(From: Slingshot)
Why did the ISJL make into the Slingshot Guide for the ninth year in a row? The ISJL works as a laboratory to develop methods that engage small and far-flung Jewish communities across the American South. The ISJL has mastered this delicate progress, continually evolving its programs to meet the changing needs of partner communities. Read the rest of the story... On the road through the Jewish South(from: DEEP SOUTH JEWISH VOICE)
As “traveling rabbi” for ISJL, Appel enjoys a wide variety of experiences. Before becoming a rabbi, Batsheva Appel had a particular mindset while doing her sales job — get from one place to another as quickly as possible. ......
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Sharing Shalom: Local Jewish Group Drawing a Crowd(from: The Independent Tribune)
Accompanied by the voices of three young girls, Barbara Thiede started strumming her guitar and singing in Hebrew. As husband Ralf tapped lightly on a drum, the children's parents steadily joined in......
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In Wal-Mart's Home, Synagogue Signals Growth(from: The New York Times)
Residents of Benton County, in the northwest corner of Arkansas, are proud citizens of the Bible Belt. At last count, they filled 39 Baptist, 27 United Methodist and 20 Assembly of God churches. For decades, a local hospital has begun meetings with a reading from the New Testament and the library has featured an elaborate Christmas display.....
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Oldest Synagogue in State to Say Farewell in Helena
(from: ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE)
The dwindling congregation of Temple Beth El in Helena-West Helena, the oldest synagogue in Arkansas, will hold its last worship service tonight before a private deconsecration service Saturday that symbolizes their disbanding and turning over the house of worship for secular use....
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B'Nai Israel to Unveil Historical Marker
(From: The Clarion LEdger, 04/28/06)
B’Nai Israel Temple, a landmark in the Natchez community, will receive a historical marker during a May 4 ceremony. Organized in 1843, the synagogue is the oldest Jewish congregation in Mississippi ...
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More Exciting News for Downtown Meridian
(From: The Meridian Star, 02/02/06)
Components of a revitalized, vibrant downtown Meridian keep falling into place. With the focal point of downtown redevelopment — the Mississippi State University Riley Center in the renovated Grand Opera House — nearing completion, it’s appropriate for community leaders to aggressively pursue complementary attractions....
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Museum Masterpieces
(From: The Jewish Week, 02/03/06)
"See America first" goes the familiar travel slogan, and that should include the array of Jewish museums in the U.S. They can vastly enrich your travel experience. Jewish museums are scattered across the country, but they do exist in every region - from coast to coast, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, in the Rockies, in the deserts and central plains ...
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Culture QuestionsRabbi Debra Kassoff, director of rabbinic services at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, leads a discussion about Jewish culture at United Hebrew Congregation ...
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A Rabbi, A Van and 28 Temples in 12 StatesWhen Rabbi Debra Kassoff shows up to lead Friday night shabbat services in McGehee, Ark., she is a bit of a star. People have been known to drive 90 miles to hear the slight 33-year-old read from the Torah and lead prayers. Sometimes, she says, there are even more Christians in attendance than Jews ...
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Eclectic and JewishWith its typically eclectic selection of films by Jewish talent, the fifth season of the Jackson Jewish Film Festival commences this weekend, from Sat., Nov. 5 through Tues., Nov. 8 at Millsaps College, as part of the school's Homecoming festivities ...
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Jackson Film Festival Uses Cinema to Promote, Preserve Jewish CultureIn 1956, songwriter Mike Stoller exchanged his first sizable royalty check for a three-month European vacation. One year earlier, African-American singer Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton recorded Hound Dog, a song Stoller co-wrote with a friend, Jerry Leiber. Life was good for the Jewish kid from Long Island, N.Y., despite a scary diversion on the way home. ...
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Virginia Tech to Present Jewish Film Festival Nov. 6-8The first Jewish Film Festival at Virginia Tech will be held on campus Nov. 6-8. The festival will feature guest speakers or special programs at all screenings to engage the audience in dialogue about the Jewish experience and elements of each film. ...
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Chance to View Independent Movies Never Looked So GoodThe opportunity for independent film alternatives to mainstream cinema expands each year as dedicated organizations, such as the Crossroads Film Society, the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, Millsaps College with its prestigious Southern Circuit Film Series and movie distributors, such as Regal Entertainment, scout out critically successful movies uncompromised by a jumbo-sized budget. ...
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World War II and "GI Jew" Author Touring Area Towns Where Jewish Soldiers Were Stationed
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Site of Mississippi's First Synagogue Dedicated
Underneath a hot Spring sun on April 15, Rabbi Debra Kassoff noted that while everyone there was sitting in a parking lot in downtown Jackson, looking at a gas station, "once it was a synagogue, a path to heaven." Quoting Jacob's reaction upon awaking from his famous dream, Kassoff said "Surely the Lord is here in this place, and I did not know it." She asked, "Did you know it?"
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The Long History and Strong Spirit of Jews in the Deep South Growing up in Wynona, Mississippi, Macy B. Hart was a member of the only Jewish family in town. His father, a merchant, kept late store hours on Saturday nights. But early every Sunday morning, he would drive Hart and his siblings 160 miles to Hebrew school. He would read the Hebrew lesson with one hand and drive with the other, remembered Hart.
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Conference Focuses on Small Communities Educational and Rabbinic Services From June 27 through June 30, Alene Jo Kaufman, Director of Gait Arni Preschool, and Betsy Kamtkin, former Assistant Director of the United Jewish Federation of Tradewater, experienced a real southern experience.
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Adding Preschool to the Mix in Version 3.0 : Institute of Southern Jewish Life Expands Curriculum for Small Southern Congregationsdsjdeepsouth
"School may be out for the summer, but on June 19, the lessons were just beginning. Religious school administration and teachers from about two dozen congregations in the Deep South congregated at Golden Moon Resort in Philadelphia, Mississippi for the third annual "Go and Teach" educator's conference for the Institute of Southern Jewish Life."
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Southern Teachers Hit the Road to Educate Rural CommunitiesThe Forward, August 29, 2003, by Lisa Keys
"The Institute of Southern Jewish life unveils a new education curriculum for small Jewish congregations in the South. After attending a three day conference in Canton, MS, parents and volunteers from the Deep South head back home to perform their secondary occupation — religious school teacher." To request a complete copy of this article please email information@isjl.org.
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Southern Jews & A Vanishing Culture
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The Traces of Jewish Life in Mississippi
Philadelphia Inquirer, April 14, 2002, by Michael Schuman
"One of the largest concentrations of Jewish-related sites is in the Southern Mississippi River towns stretching from Vicksburg to the Louisiana border. Yet the best place to begin a visit is in rural Utica, 24 miles southeast of Vicksburg and the home of the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience." To request a complete copy of this article please email information@isjl.org.
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Small Enough to Save
Detroit Jewish News, July 6, 2001, by Andrew Muchin
"It would seem that the end is in sight for the temple and for organized Jewry in Natchez. But the community has a guaranteed legacy. When B'nai Israel's local membership falls to 10, the congregation will transfer ownership of the historical synagogue to the Goldring Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life. The year-old ISJL, based in Jackson, seeks to preserve synagogues and Jewish cemeteries as it works to develop educational, cultural and rabbinic services for fledgeling communities across 12 Southern states. To request a complete copy of this article please email information@isjl.org.
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Temple in Transition
Montgomery Advertiser, October 13, 2001, by Alvin Benn
"There is so much Jewish history in Selma that it would be a shame to let it disappear and be forgotten...With more money going out than coming in, Mishkan Israel's few remaining members have turned to the Jackson, Miss.-based Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience for help. The organization's leader, Macy Hart, was in Selma a few weeks ago and met with temple members to discuss the situation. In 1992, Hart's group worked out a similar arrangement with Temple B'Nai Israel in Natchez, Miss... It may not have equated to heavenly salvation for the historic Mississippi synagogue, but it was the next best thing. The museum will keep B'Nai Israel from falling apart - a fate that could be around the corner for Mishkan Israel unless something is done soon." To request a complete copy of this article please email information@isjl.org.
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Dixie Diaspora
Preservation, July/August 2000, by Andrea Oppenheimer Dean.
"In communities along the lower Mississippi River, the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience helps residents preserve the evidence of a once-flourishing presence."
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Cultural Legacy: Hart Helps Preserve Jewish Heritage
Clarion-Ledger, May 3, 2000, by Orley Hood.
"Macy Hart will now give himself full-time to the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life. The idea, he says, is to meld good old ideas with good new ideas, giving Jewish culture a firmer foothold in the ever-shifting sands of American life." To request a complete copy of this article please email information@isjl.org.
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