Beth Israel congregation was organized in 1860. In the first years, services were led by members of the Congregation. In 1870, Rabbi Winter was hired and under his leadership, BIC moved toward Reform Judaism. The Congregation met in a wood frame building during this early period, but it was destroyed by fire in 1874.

A new synagogue was built and dedicated in June 1875 on State Street.

In 1941 the Congregation moved to Woodrow Wilson. Starting in 1929 Rabbi Meyer Lovitt led BIC until 1954.

Finally in 1967, the Congregation moved to its current home on Old Canton Road.

Soon after that move, the Temple caught up in the Freedom Struggles of the period was bombed along with Rabbi Perry Nussbaum’s home.

In the years following the bombings Beth Israel and Rabbi Perry Nussbaum were lauded as stalwart proponents of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.

In the decades that followed Beth Israel has grown and worked within the wider community to help fulfill the mission of Tikkun Olam.