Berman recounts a story that during the Civil War, Benjamin was called to the Torah at Beth Ahabah synagogue in Richmond. However, there is no proof of this, nor does Benjamin's name appear in any surviving record of the Jews of that city. "But whether or not Benjamin practiced Judaism overtly or contributed to Jewish causes, to the Jews of the South, he was a symbol of a coreligionist who was a man among men". According to Evans, "Benjamin survives, as he willed it: a shadowy figure in Civil War history". Kahn noted that Benjamin "is epitomized as a foremost orator, lawyer, and statesman, without a peer at the bars of two of the world's greatest nations". Meade questioned whether Benjamin's character can ever be fully understood: