Metuchen congregation donates 250-year-old Torah scroll to Mississippi synagogue after arson
Neve Shalom’s gift to Beth Israel in Jackson came months after a fire destroyed two of the congregation’s scrolls and displaced the community from its historic building
Unveiling the Torah scroll, wrapped in a mantle woven by the Neve Shalom Sisterhood using Mississippi Delta cotton, at Northminster Baptist Church. (Courtesy: Ira Grubman, Neve Shalom)
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Chris Howell | June 29, 2026
On Friday, inside Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi, a 250-year-old Torah scroll was carefully unwrapped from layers of protective fabric, transferring it into the hands of a congregation that had lost two of its own to a fire that investigators say was deliberately set.
The scroll was a donation from Neve Shalom, a Metuchen congregation, to Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson. About 10 Neve Shalom volunteers made the trip south for the dedication ceremony, capping a journey that began when Ira Grubman, Neve Shalom’s president, reached out to Beth Israel shortly after the January 10 fire.
The Metuchen Borough Council honored the donation with a proclamation at its June 22 meeting, where Mayor Jonathan Busch and Rabbi Stefanie Gedan explained what drove the congregation to act. State Sen. Pat Diegnan, whose district includes Metuchen, attended the ceremony at Borough Hall.
“The words of Torah are sacred, and all the more so the very scroll upon which it is written,” Rabbi Gedan said. She said that when Grubman first approached her about donating a scroll, her answer was simple. “Whatever it took.”
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The religious leader described the Torah as a thread connecting Jewish communities around the world, regardless of differences in tradition or practice. “By donating one of our beloved Torah scrolls to Beth Israel, our community is affirming the universal connection to the entirety of the Jewish people — we are all one people, connected through God and love of Torah.”
Mayor Busch noted the timing of the trip. The delegation departed for Jackson as the country prepared to mark its 250th birthday on July 4. Because of security concerns tied to the current climate of antisemitism, Busch said the delegation coordinated with the FBI for the delivery. The scroll, too large and delicate to check as luggage, had its own seat on the airplane.
According to the proclamation, the scroll is written on natural parchment, stands 44 inches tall, and is rendered in the Ariza Le Safardi style with 59 lines per column. Neve Shalom’s Sisterhood wove a new Torah mantle for the scroll using cotton from the Mississippi Delta, supplied by descendants of Morris Grundfest, the same cotton previously used to weave Judaic items for the Museum of Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans. The delegation visited the museum as part of the trip. The congregation’s religious school students contributed money they had raised during the year.
Neve Shalom volunteers carry the donated Torah scroll to its new home at Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi, June 2026. (Courtesy: Ira Grubman, Neve Shalom)
The January 10 fire at Beth Israel’s historic building destroyed two Torah scrolls and damaged five others, which were sent to specialists for restoration. A suspect was indicted on arson and federal hate crime charges, according to federal prosecutors. Court records detail the charges.
Beth Israel has existed in Jackson for more than 150 years. The congregation previously survived a 1967 bombing by the Ku Klux Klan, which targeted the synagogue because its rabbi at the time, Perry E. Nussbaum, had supported the civil rights movement.
Editor’s note: The Central Jerseyan is free to read and supported by advertising. If you value this kind of local reporting and want to help sustain it, you can become a citizen supporter on Patreon. Your contribution helps fund continued coverage of local government, schools, and community issues.