Shalom Y'all

In Jackson, Tennessee, pride abounds in our southernness and Judaism. We are a community in all aspects of the word. This is a place where everyone knows each other's name and Shabbat dinner is shared as one family.

For over 120 years, the congregation has continued its vital role of weaving our rich culture throughout this community. Our beautiful, stately structure has graced the corner of West Grand and Campbell streets since 1941. We are small, welcoming Reform congregation of about 30 families overflowing with a rich history dating back to 1885.

Shabbat services are held every Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. in the beautiful sanctuary, which was completely restored in April of 2000. These services are a treat, simply in their variety, as they are led by members of the congregation. In true Jewish and southern tradition, this congregation combines faith and community in every aspect. Following Shabbat services, the congregation joins together for a friendly informal dinner at a local restaurant.

Rabbi Laura Schwartz Harari comes to us from California monthly, from September-June, to conduct services beginning at 7:00 p.m. Friday evening. Her responsibilities include preparing B'nai Mitzvah students and potential converts to Judaism, as well as counseling members on personal, spiritual, and ethical matters. When Rabbi Laura leads services, we are fortunate to enjoy her wealth of Judaic musical knowledge and guitar accompaniment, giving our services a casual, upbeat demeanor while retaining all the traditional Hebrew and melodies. Her manner is less formal but very informative and uplifting. Following Rabbi Laura's Friday night Torah Services, we celebrate Shabbat with an Oneg Shabbat. She also conducts Shabbat morning Torah Study and a catered Saturday evening Adult Education gathering where we finish with an intimate Havdalah Service. 

If you are new to the area, contemplating a move to Jackson/West Tennessee, or already live in the area, we invite you to join us for services and to become a part of our family. All are welcome. Please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. us if you would like to be added to our B'nai Israel Weekly email or would like to have additional information.

Our street address is 401 West Grand, Jackson, Tennessee, and our mailing address is P.O. Box 10906, Jackson, Tennessee 38308.

Rosh Hashanah Message from Mike Silver
President of the Congregation

Being a small congregation is different. It's different quantitatively, of course. We don't have as many members as they have in large congregations. But--even more so—it's different qualitatively from large congregations. There are things they have that we don't.

But there are other things—very important things—that we have that they don't. And a lot of large congregations spend a lot of time and money trying to capture—or recapture—that something that we have.

• WE HAVE A SENSE OF FAMILY. We have members we are close to, members we get along with, and members who drive us crazy. But there aren't enough of us that we can afford to get uppity. We need each other. And so we care about each other, and we know that every last one of us is important. We aren't an institution. We're still people.
  
  
• WE HAVE A SENSE OF TENACITY. We know how fragile our presence is and how important it is that we stay alive, stay involved and stay together—no matter what. So we do.
  
  
• WE HAVE A SENSE OF INVOLVEMENT. When organizational research indicates that most organizations operate on an average level of involvement of 5 per cent of the membership, it's rewarding to know that most of us are involved most of the time.
  
  
• WE HAVE A SENSE OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY TO THE CONGREGATION. When everyone depends on you, you tend to carry through. You might not always want to, but you do what you have to do, and you usually end up glad that you did.
  
  
• WE HAVE A SENSE OF TOLERANCE. We exist in an areas relatively isolated from mainstream Jewish life where many most of our marriages are (or were) mixed, and where some of our best friends aren't Jewish. And our kids' best friends aren't Jewish. And our survival may depend less on turning in on ourselves than on sharing what we have with others so they can see that we have something worth working for.
  
  
• WE HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR. In a congregation with an old building, no resident rabbi, and very little money, we have to have something enduring!
  
  
• WE HAVE A SENSE OF INTIMACY WITH OUR RABBI. We really get to know the rabbi, one-on-one. And the rabbi gets to know us.
  
  
• WE HAVE A SENSE OF CONTINUITY. We are able to survive because we have close personal relationship models of all ages. We have a wide diversity in age range, but we aren't big enough to be separated by age. So nobody thinks about age. We're just us.
  
  
• WE HAVE A SENSE OF COMMUNITY. In a very real way, we are Judaism in our respective communities Jackson and Camden and Huntington and Cedar Grove and Medina, and Brownsville and everywhere in West Tennessee.

We realize that we have the responsibility to carry on the traditions of Judaism in places not ordinarily known for their Jewish culture. And we do it with all the enthusiasm and energy we can summon. Because there's nobody to do it but us.