The Jackson Arson: A Conversation on the Jewish South

The devastating synagogue arson in Jackson, Mississippi, has revived attention to the experiences of Jews in the American South. Shari Rabin, an associate professor of Jewish studies and religion at Oberlin College and the author of the 2025 book “The Jewish South: An American History,” told JTA this week that the incident in Jackson is "a reminder that Jews can live in a place, have a community in a place for decades, 150-plus years, they can be acculturated and part of the community and prominent members in all sorts of ways, and there still is sort of an underlying precarity that makes them vulnerable.” Join Professor Rabin, in conversation with JTA's Philissa Cramer and Grace Gilson, to learn more about the arson in Jackson, the community response, and what life in the South means for Jews going forward.