Arthur's books in Mississippi and why “The Manosphere” matters
by Rabbi Nate DeGroot
Dear companions in love and justice,
Shortly after the January arson attack on Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi, Rabbi Phyllis Ocean Berman, Reb Arthur’s beloved widow, reached out to their synagogue leadership with an offer to ship them some of Arthur’s personal book collection, to help them restock their library which had been destroyed in the fire. They graciously accepted Reb Phyllis’ offer and Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi will soon have a collection of Reb Arthur’s books in their library.
All across the country, in the aftermath of this tragedy, Jews reached out to Beth Israel Congregation, offering support and solidarity.
Here in Metro Detroit where I live, Congregation Shaarey Zedek quickly arranged to donate a Torah to Beth Israel Congregation! A group of 55 “Beth Israel” synagogues from all across the country - Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist and unaffiliated communities - banded together with their namesake community in Jackson, Mississippi to express solidarity and provide material assistance. And countless other people donated and made other generous gestures that I’m sure I don’t know about. What an incredible blessing and testament to the power of communal support and care!
Next week, we are offering another way to show solidarity. And that’s thorough learning, at our upcoming webinar, “The Manosphere.”
It may not feel quite as heartwarming as donating books or a Torah, but we believe that showing up to learn is just as important. Both to educate ourselves on why Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi was arsoned, why other synagogues, Jewish institutions, and Jews are under threat, and how we might try to interrupt the disease that is leading to such attacks, not just on Jews, but critically on women and countless other folks with marginalized identities.
Stephen Spencer Pittman, the suspect in a Saturday arson attack at a historic Mississippi synagogue, targeted Beth Israel Congregation because of its “Jewish ties,” according to the FBI. In an interview, he called the shul the “synagogue of Satan,” and his recent social media posts included an antisemitic cartoon.
But on a Christian fitness site registered to Pittman and linked across his social media profiles, Hebrew is liberally sprinkled throughout workout advice and scripture study.
That a man who would burn a synagogue would also be so interested in Hebrew language study, or pepper it throughout his Christian fitness site, may seem surprising. But understanding the reference points of Pittman’s fitness website helps explain the cultural touchstones and media diet he was likely consuming, one that may have influenced his thinking.
That media diet and those cultural touchstones that Pittman was likely consuming centers around what has been coined “The Manosphere,” a term now so popular that a new documentary about the subject was released just yesterday on Netflix.
“The Manosphere” is a term for an online culture and community pushing far-right forms of masculinity rooted in radical misogyny, male supremacy, and domination. While those beliefs are not new and patriarchy has long defined the culture we live in, social media and online influencers have been making massive, terrifying, and rapid inroads with an entire generation of boys and young men, succeeding in widely spreading toxic beliefs and spurring violent action. Like the arson attack in Jackson in January.
We are living today in a society and culture indelibly shaped and branded by violent masculinity, from the grassroot edges of internet subcultures to ICE agents executing American citizens on our streets, to the very highest realms of our political and social elites, as we see in the Epstein Files and the White House, to our military leaders giving unprovoked wars fraternity-style names like “Epic Fury,” which would be comical if only it wasn’t true.
This is why we’re hosting a webinar on this topic next Thursday, to learn more about the history of the manosphere and gender-based violence, the intersection of the manosphere with antisemitism, Christian nationalism, and broader far-right movements, how it all relates to the arson in Jackson, misogyny in our current society and political reality, and what we can do about it.
The session will be led by three experts in their fields:
Jennifer Pozner is a media critic, speaker, and founder of Women In Media & News. Ben Lorber works as a Senior Research Analyst at Political Research Associates, focusing on white nationalism and antisemitism. And Rabbi Salem Pearce serves as Director of Spirituality at the Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL) and spent a summer as the ISJL’s Rabbinical Intern in 2017 in Jackson, Mississippi, working out of Beth Israel Congregation.
We are living within a historical context, culture, and administration shaped deeply by the influence of the manosphere. It would do us well to be acquainted with this highly influential and highly dangerous subculture so we can be part of uprooting, diffusing, and transforming it.
Please join us Thursday night, March 19th, to be part of this important learning, laying the foundation for future action and transformation.
In care and solidarity,
-Rabbi Nate