More than 8,500 people have donated to support Mississippi synagogue damaged in arson attack

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of Central Synagogue and Zach Shemper, the president of Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi. Courtesy of Zach Shemper

By Benyamin Cohen January 25, 2026

Zach Shemper never expected to spend Shabbat on the bimah of one of the largest congregations in America, but that’s where the president of Mississippi’s largest synagogue, which was damaged in an arson attack two weeks ago, found himself on Friday night.

After the fire at Beth Israel in Jackson, Shemper was invited to Central Synagogue in Manhattan  — and then, hours later, was speaking before another congregation hundreds of miles away — carrying a story he never expected to tell before returning on Saturday to Jackson, where a winter storm forced the shul to cancel Sunday school.

Shemper, 45, said the trip to New York came together with startling speed. After learning that Central Synagogue had helped raise a substantial donation for Beth Israel, he called Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the head of the Union for Reform Judaism, and asked him to reach out to Central’s senior rabbi, Angela Buchdahl. Within minutes, Buchdahl called on Tuesday to invite Shemper to speak before Central’s congregation — and the thousands more who tune in to its weekly livestream. By Friday, he was on the plane.

For a small Southern congregation with fewer than 150 member households, the invitation signaled how quickly a local antisemitic attack had become a national Jewish concern.

Beth Israel was targeted earlier this month by Stephen Spencer Pittman, authorities say, a 19-year-old whose interest in Christianity and fitness may have led him to antisemitic messages online. The fire destroyed the synagogue’s library and offices, burned Torah scrolls and books, and sent smoke and soot through the sanctuary.

“It’s not like I signed up for this,” Shemper said in an interview. “For a small congregation in Jackson, Mississippi — it’s amazing what’s happening.”

Shemper’s New York trip also included a meeting with Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, who met him at his hotel for about an hour before services. They spoke, Shemper said, about antisemitism, security and “the strength of the Jewish people.”

Central Synagogue — a flagship Reform congregation whose reach extends far beyond New York — has its own history with fire. In 1998, a blaze severely damaged its landmark building on Lexington Avenue, forcing the congregation to rebuild — a history Shemper referenced as he stood before the congregation.

During the Friday night service, Shemper participated in the Torah procession and was given an aliyah, a ritual gesture of public honor and solidarity.

Speaking from the bimah, Shemper said the attack in Jackson was meant to do more than cause physical damage. “They’re meant to strike fear in an entire community, to make it want to hide, to make it feel isolated and alone.”

Buchdahl framed the congregation’s response as an expression of Jewish peoplehood that transcends geography, a theme she returned to in her sermon that evening. She cited Shemper’s visit as a reminder that Jewish communities remain bound to one another, and that when one is attacked, others are called to walk alongside it.

Early Saturday morning, Shemper flew to Florida, where he addressed the Palm Beach Synagogue, a Modern Orthodox congregation.

“Within 15 minutes of my arrival, they had me on the pulpit speaking,” he said. After services, he stayed for a luncheon and a question-and-answer session before heading back to the airport.

The rebuilding effort

Shemper said he has been careful about how he describes the financial response to the fire. More than 8,500 people have donated so far, he said — unsolicited.

“We haven’t asked anybody for anything,” Shemper said. “Everything that’s been given to us has been from the kindness of strangers — Jews and not — reaching out and saying, ‘How can we help?’”

The focus now, he said, is on rebuilding. Engineers have determined that the sanctuary walls are structurally sound. But the ceiling throughout the building will need to be replaced because of smoke damage, and much of the rest of the structure — including administrative offices and the library — will have to be demolished. The timeline, he said, is likely one-and-a-half to three years.

In the meantime, Beth Israel will be housed at nearby Northminster Baptist Church, a return of a favor decades in the making. In the 1960s, when Northminster was being built, Beth Israel hosted the church’s services.

In the immediate aftermath of the fire, many churches reached out to offer their spaces. The shul thought they would move every few months so as not to overstay their welcome. But Northminster’s congregation had other ideas.

“They came back to us and said, ‘We’d like to house you for the interim,’” Shemper said. “My initial response — after crying — was to say no. But we were wandering Jews for many years. We’d rather do less of that these days.”

Any donations that exceed the cost of restoring the building, Shemper said, will be placed into an endowment to support Jewish life in Jackson for generations to come.

“If the kindness keeps coming,” he said, “we’ll be able to support four or five generations. Maybe more.”

Despite the upheaval, Shemper said the fire has ignited something unexpected.

“There’s been a spark of Jewish identity with Jews all over the world,” he said. “We’re focusing on seeing the light through the darkness. We’re moving forward.”