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Notes On Natchez:
ATouch Of Judaism

NANCY LIEFER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

atchez, Miss., seemed the
most unlikely place to find
a temple.
But there it was before
us — a beautiful domed structure
surrounded by exquisite stained
glass windows with towering pil-
lars on the sides of its entrance.
Not until I came closer and rec-
ognized the Star of David over the
doorway did I believe we had ac-
cidentally found Mississippi's old-
est Jewish congregation, Temple
B'nai Israel.
The doors of B'nai Israel were
locked and we were disappoint-
ed that we could not see the in-
terior. I must admit that I was
not as interested in the Jewish
history of Natchez as intrigued
with the "Gone With the Wind"
way of life that had once existed
there.

N

merchants were at the center of
the Natchez economy. The Jews
lent money to farmers to buy seed
and were wholesale dry goods
people. They gave immigrants
packs on their backs to become
peddlers. According to the his-
torians in Natchez, the city would
not have prospered after the Civ-
il War had not been for the Jew-
ish citizens. During the time
between the Civil War and the
turn of the century, the Jews
comprised only about 5 percent
of the population of Natchez, but
they operated one third of the
businesses. The Jews of Natchez
made their city a major trade cen-
ter.
After 30 years without a build-
ing, delayed by the Civil War, the
first reform synagogue was built
in 1872. The frame building

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In Natchez, high on a bluff
overlooking the mighty Missis-
sippi River, I was mesmerized by
the stately mansions that in-
stantly swept me back over 100
years. The fabulous grounds and
gardens of these homes were
breathtaking. Natchez is world
famous for its annual spring and
fall Home Pilgrimages when
many of its 500 antebellum
homes and buildings are show-
cased.
During the Civil War, Jews
fought for the Confederacy.
Natchez was spared from de-
struction and had only one
wartime casualty—a little Jew-
ish girl named Rosalie Beekman
who was struck by a blast from a
Union gunboat docked Under the
Hill. After the war, the old plan-
tation system for growing cotton
was dead. Farmers were penni-
less and had no way to finance
their cotton crop. The Jewish

NANCY LIEFER

burnt down in 1903 and the pre-
sent building was completed in
1905. There were approximate-
ly 141 members in 1906 and this
would be its peak membership.
The Depression years hit Natchez
very hard, but the Jews were at
the forefront in its recovery. In
1932 a group of visionary women,
many of them from the Jewish
community, felt that the public
might like to pay to come to see
the beautiful mansions. This was
the beginning of the Natchez
Pilgrimages that are world fa-
mous. The Jews had a major role
in building the Natchez tourism
economy which is the cornerstone
of the Natchez economy today.
This beautiful city that I once
thought of only as part of Amer-
ican history with its elegant an-
tebellum mansions and
riverboats, now held a place in
Jewish history that was ab-
solutely fascinating. ❑