ents were charter members. Her
mother was sisterhood president..
Her father was house chairman.
She worries there aren't enough
younger members to take the
reins.
Other Institutions
Meanwhile, Lachoff predicts that
Metairie's Gates of Prayer and
Shir Chadash Conservative
Congregation will expand as
more Jews resettle in the
Jefferson Parish suburb, which
did not see as much flooding as
central New Orleans. Torah
Academy, a Chabad day school in
Metairie, reopened in January
with 28 students, half its normal
enrollment.
The combined budget for
Chabad of Louisiana and Torah
Academy is more than $600,000
a year, Rabbi Rivkin said, and the
school is not charging tuition
• this year.
How will they make up the dif-
ference? "Honestly," he said, let-
ting out a heavy sigh, "we don't
know."
The loss of Orthodox commu-
nity members has prompted
other agencies to scale back
services for the elderly.
Jewish Family Service lost
nearly two-thirds of the 600 sub-
scribers to an electronic emer-
gency response system. After the
hurricane, the United Way cut
funding for a program that dis-
patches home aides to help the
elderly maintain their independ-
ence. The JCC cut its senior pro-
gramming from three days a
week to one.
Other services are in high-
demand. Residents are lining up
for couples and children's thera-
py offered by Jewish Family
Service. The agency is offering
relocation assistance under a
$300,000 program.
Similarly, the fitness center at
the JCC on St. Charles Avenue is
hopping, with aerobics and
sports leagues under way and
150 members exercising daily.
The center rolled back its mem-
bership dues to 1997 rates,
Barron said.
The JCC's satellite campus in
Metairie — part of a complex that
includes the federation head-
quarters and the community day
school and shares a parking lot
with Shir Chadash — remains
closed for repairs. It is expected
to open next month.
The JCC expects full enroll-
ment at its summer day camp,
thanks to a scholarship fund.
And its nursery school program
is nearly full because it's now
accommodating children of
Tulane faculty.
On the other end of the age
spectrum, Woldenberg Village,
the only Jewish seniors home in
New Orleans, has a waiting list
for its independent and assisted
living programs and is fully
staffed. Its parent company suf-.
fered more than $20 million in
storm-related damage said Don
Morris, Woldenberg's executive
director.
The federation is watching
population trends and will create
programming based on the new
community's needs, said Roselle
Unger, the federation's assistant
.executive director.
In the meantime, the federa-
tion has established a registry for
residents to update their contact
information.
Like other natives of New
Orleans, Unger, 48, has evacuated
every few years
since she was a
teenager. She said
she considered
leaving New
Orleans for good
after Katrina "for
about five min-
utes."
Apart from
Beth Israel, Gates
of Prayer sus-
tained the most
structural dam-
age, totaling about
$1 million. The
synagogue
remains open,
holding services
amid folding
chairs and
cement.
Touro, the old-
est Jewish congre-
gation in America
outside the origi-
nal 13 states,
escaped major
damage at its
location on the
edge of the Garden District.
Flooding in the days after
Biloxi Rolls The Dice
Tova Fruchtman
Special to the Jewish News
hile people in Biloxi, Miss., desper-
ately searched the rubble of their
homes, businesses, schools and
places of worship for some souvenir, some
memento, some piece of life from before the
destruction, they also got down to work after
Hurricane Katrina.
Steve Richer, president of Biloxi's 65-family
Beth Israel 'synagogue and executive director of
the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and
Visitors Bureau, said about 15 Jewish families
lost their homes in the storm, and the synagogue,
within three blocks of the beach, was badly dam-
aged:
• The roof was destroyed everywhere but
over the sanctuary, and water caused most of
the ceiling to fall in the social hall, the kitchen,
the library and the school rooms.
• The caretaker's living quarters and the fur-
niture inside were destroyed.
• The kitchen equipment was broken, and the
electrical system was damaged.
• Half the brick that made up the syna-
Debris still litters the front yard of Biloxi's
Beth Israel, which lost most of its roof and
much of its brick façade during Hurricane
Katrina.
gogue's front facade was scattered in the yard
amid fallen trees.
The congregation now holds its Friday night ,
services at the Beauvoir Methodist Church.
Richer said donations from the national
Jewish community have made quite an impact
in the area.
More than $70,000 of assistance went to
Jews in the area, and more than $15,000 went
to the community at large. That's not to men-
tion the truckloads of donated goods from the
Jewish community. And Jewish volunteers
from around the country have helped clean up
the synagogue and homes.
"There is a very strong sense of the Jewish
community helping out," Richer said "I think
the impact of the Jewish community far over-
shadows the size of our presence here in the
Mississippi Gulf Coast. People have noticed
there's been a lot of help nationally from the
Jewish community, so that's nice,"
Richer said the cooperation among segments
of the Jewish community and within the faith
community at large has been important in the
process.
"The thing that's been really beautiful about
it, regardless of political perspective, regardless
of faith, regardless of race, regardless of where
they came from ... all of these religious groups
are helping anyone and everyone who needs
help just because they are.human beings,"
Richer said.
On Jan. 3, the synagogue "building committee
held its first post-Katrina meeting. Howard
Levy is the chairman. "We have a good group
of officers, and we're all looking forward to get-
ting to the same place as quickly as possible,
but not so quickly that we don't do it right,"
Levy said.
They are exploring options: rebuilding, which
leaves no room for expansion; tearing down all
but the sanctuary and rebuilding from there;
or building from scratch at a "high and dry"
location.
The group hopes to put a temporary, modu-
lar building on the site - and not overstay their
welcome at the church. Beth Israel plans to
hold a seder at the church this spring and has -
invited the Methodist congregation to attend.
The ultimate goal, Levy said, is to have the
synagogue complete by Passover 2008.
"We will build it. We will grow," Levy said.
"The important part right now is making sur
we have a cohesive group that wants'to see
Conservative Judaism continued in the Gulf
Coast." D
Tova Fruchtman is a staff writer for the -IN's sister
publication, the Atlanta. Jewish Times.
Renewal on page 30
February 16 • 2006
29