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Recovery & Rebuilding
Back in New Orleans, not just for good... but for better
Signs of life began to be seen in the New Orleans area. People started returning to assess the damage and initiate the rebuilding process. Many Jewish emergency personnel and workers were present as well. For Yom Kippur, despite severe damage to the facility, Chabad Center of Metairie was opened for services. With the help of dedicated volunteers the building was gutted and rendered minimally usable. A catered meal was flown into New Orleans from Florida and over 80 people joined Chabad for the pre and post-Yom Kippur meals and services. Most of New Orleans, including the uptown area where Chabad House is located, was still without power. As soon as power was restored, the New Orleans Chabad House was reopened and the only Sukkah in town was visited by hundreds throughout the week of Sukkot. For Simchat Torah over 100 people joined Chabad for very joyous Hakafot services. In the weeks and months that followed, Chabad in both locations hosted dozens of people each Shabbat for meals in a community spirit. The daily minyan was restarted in late November and classes and programs were being held again. Chanukah at Riverwalk, Chabad’s annual public celebration, had special meaning as it symbolized the determined spirit of New Orleans and the Jewish community. Over 1000 people attended the very moving celebration. 
In late December and early January, Chabad on Campus National Foundation arranged two relief missions to New Orleans by students that attended Chabad on Campus throughout the country. Chabad at Tulane in New Orleans hosted these missions of over 100 students. They gutted houses and helped clean out the Beth Israel Synagogue building that was completely destroyed by Katrina. They also helped bury over 5000 sacred texts, including several Torahs, which were ruined by the storm. (See the video clip of the moving burial ceremony.)
In January of 2006 Torah Academy, Chabad’s day school reopened. Though the building was significantly damaged by the floodwaters and was being used by Government agencies as an emergency assistance center, it was readied in time to become the only Jewish day school to reopen in New Orleans after the hurricane. Volunteers from all over the country came and helped prepare the facility for the diminished student body and faculty. Torah Academy student, Chaya Schreiber stood with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and addressed  the assembled at the Menorah lighting on the National Mall in Washington, DC about what it meant to her to return home to attend her school. Rabbi Zelig Rivkin was invited by President Bush to the Whitehouse to attend a meeting about Jewish education in Post Katrina USA. In an emotional opening day ceremony the children expressed that they have finally come home.
In an effort to promote a sense of unity and caring, Chabad delivered nearly 500 Purim “Mishloach Manot” packages to homes in New Orleans. Volunteers were met with delight and overwhelming appreciation. An alliance with the Milken Community High School in Los Angeles resulted in a similar campaign that saw nearly 500 packages of Shmura Matzah delivered before Pesach and another for Rosh Hashanah in partnership with UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey.
Now, two years later, the rebuilding is in full swing. Many however are still suffering in a variety of ways. On of the most important things that people want is a sense of normalcy. There is a comfort in the good things that are consistent. Our programs and events provide that sense of normalcy to the many that participate.
Through the efforts of the United Jewish Communities, working in partnership with the Jewish Federation of New Orleans and other national Jewish groups, the Jewish organizations of New Orleans were given financial support. We are eternally grateful to them for giving us this sense of stability. This continues through the end of 2007. In 2008 we will once again have to rely soley on you - our donors and supporters - for our financial support. Take a moment to go to our donate page and make a contribution to the future of the New Orleans Jewish community. May the Almighty bless you for your help.
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