Exploring Judaism in the Sipp

[Oxford, Miss.] There are many places of worship in Oxford, MS. When driving around, you'll see multiple Baptist, Methodist, and Catholic churches as well as a Mosque. The one place of worship you won't see is a synagogue.

Despite the lack of a place of worship, there is still a small group of locals, students, and faculty at the University of Mississippi who practice Judaism in Oxford. The size of the population has ebbed and flowed over the years but, seems to be in a gradual decline.

One student of the University and Oxford local, Zoe Rubenstein, shared her experience growing up Jewish in Oxford.

"When I was younger, my parents would have to drive me all the way to Memphis every Sunday to attend Temple," Zoe Rubenstein, an Ole Miss student and Oxford local shared. "I was one of the few people from Mississippi there."

Historically, Mississippi has always had a very low Jewish population. Even Oxford, a place that is claimed to be one of the most diverse cities in Mississippi has a population that is less than 1% Jewish.

Jordan Cohen, a member of the faculty at Ole Miss shared her thoughts on why the population is declining;

"A lot of people who are Jewish in Mississippi who want to find a partner with the same faith and live in a more prominent Jewish community will go to a city with a large Jewish population rather than stay here," she said. "Or, they'll live their own solo Jewish life like me."

The book, "The Lonely Days Were Sundays" by Eli N. Evans shares the idea that life in the South as a Jewish person can be particularly lonely at times. Watching friends attend church, youth groups, prayer meetings, etc. has been a struggle for some younger Jewish people in Oxford.

"There was a death on campus last semester and my friends held a prayer circle before one of our sorority's meetings," Rubenstein recalled. "I was the only person sitting out in the dining room waiting for it to be over and someone came up to me and asked why I wasn't at the prayer meeting. I didn't want to have to explain to her that I'm Jewish and don't pray to Jesus."

Although the Jewish population at Ole Miss and in Oxford may be declining, there is an effort to increase their numbers.

"I want our Hillel to expand. I want people to know about us," Rubenstein says. "I think we should start tabeling or passing out flyers in front of the Student Union like other people do.