Hebrew Union Congregation’s annual Corned Beef Deli Luncheon returns to downtown Greenville on Thursday, March 5, from 11:30 to 1 p.m. continuing a Delta tradition that has brought Jews and gentiles together over overstuffed sandwiches for decades. Tickets are $18. The fundraiser, sponsored by the Hebrew Union Temple Sisterhood, will be held in the temple’s assembly hall at 504 Main St., with proceeds supporting the historic congregation and its community programs.
Each year, volunteers slice and stack hundreds of pounds of corned beef shipped in from a Chicago deli, pile it onto fresh rye bread, and top it with sauerkraut made from a long‑time Greenville family recipe. The result is the classic deli plate Delta residents have come to expect: corned beef on rye, chips, a pickle spear and potato salad, all served in a bustling lunchroom that fills with friends, neighbors and out‑of‑town visitors.
The luncheon is the temple’s largest annual fundraiser and one of Greenville’s best‑known food events, an outgrowth of a Sisterhood supper that began in the late 19th century when the city’s Jewish community was flourishing. As the local Jewish population has declined in recent decades, members of other congregations and civic groups now join temple members in the kitchen and serving line to help keep the event going.
Hebrew Union Congregation, founded in the 1870s and housed since 1906 in its landmark Main Street sanctuary, remains a hub of Jewish life in the Delta and a regular stop for visitors interested in the area’s history.
