Letters of support to Rabbi Perry Nussbaum

Preaching Acceptance from the Pulpit

Rabbi Perry Nussbaum (1908-1987) was born in Toronto, Ontario, and was ordained as a rabbi by Hebrew Union College in 1933. He led eight congregations and served as a World War II army chaplain in a span of twenty years. In 1954 he moved to Jackson Mississippi, where he remained for the rest of his career. At Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Nussbaum found a Jewish community that did not like to differ from their Christian neighbors. He slowly added rituals into the service that had been removed, facing tension within the congregation the entire time. Nussbaum began to pioneer interfaith activities and shocked the congregation by working with African-American religious leaders. He also ministered to locally jailed Freedom Riders. On September 18, 1967, a bomb destroyed the Beth Israel building, and on November 22, 1967, another bomb destroyed Nussbaum's home. He received hundreds of letters of support from all over the country and the world, from Jews and non-Jews, leaders and laypeople, adults and children. He stayed with the congregation until retiring to San Diego in 1973.