By STACEY PLAISANCE
Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Standing on moldy and debris-covered floors, college students cleaning up a Jewish temple paused Monday for a prayer service - the first at Beth Israel Synagogue since Hurricane Katrina flooded it with more than 10 feet of water three months ago.
The dozen or so students were among roughly 50 from colleges across the country who have come to New Orleans to spend their winter break helping with recovery efforts at the century-old synagogue, as well as at area homes and schools left damaged by the storm.
The students, wearing face masks and gloves, hauled out to the synagogue's front lawn books, furniture and holy items such as a shofar - a ram's horn used in holiday rituals.
The items were sorted by what would be buried on Tuesday in Jewish burial grounds in another part of the city and what would be thrown out.
Beth Israel was the only New Orleans synagogue completely destroyed during Hurricane Katrina, said Jackie Gothard, the congregation's president. Roughly 150 families attended services there before the storm.
"We have to clean up, regroup our membership and plan for the future," she said.
With only about a third of the area's pre-Katrina Jewish community of 13,000 back in the city, Gothard said consolidation and downsizing is possible.
"We just don't know what's going to happen," Gothard said. "We don't know for sure that we'll be able to keep this property."
The student volunteers came from more than two dozen states. In the synagogue's library, Jeff Kamen, a recent graduate of the University of Illinois, separated the thousands of books to be buried from those that will be thrown away. The room was covered with mold.
Talking through his face mask, he said coming to New Orleans "sounded like a worthwhile way to spend my time."
Monday's recovery effort was a joint project organized by Chabad Lubavitch Rabbi Yochanan Rivkin, director of Tulane University's Jewish student center, and the "Chabad on Campus" volunteer mission.
Gothard said the New Orleans Jewish community will be relying on nationwide support, especially during the celebration of Hannukah, which begins at sundown on Sunday.
A dozen Jewish communities are donating more than 500 menorahs and dreidels on Tuesday to families who have lost theirs in the storm. Also, the American Jewish Committee planned Wednesday to present four institutions a total of $575,000 from its Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund.
The recipients are Dillard University, St. Clement of Rome Catholic Church, Congregation Gates of Prayer and Beth Israel.
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On the Net:
Chabad on Campus: http://www.chabad.edu
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Standing on moldy and debris-covered floors, college students cleaning up a Jewish temple paused Monday for a prayer service - the first at Beth Israel Synagogue since Hurricane Katrina flooded it with more than 10 feet of water three months ago.
The dozen or so students were among roughly 50 from colleges across the country who have come to New Orleans to spend their winter break helping with recovery efforts at the century-old synagogue, as well as at area homes and schools left damaged by the storm.
The students, wearing face masks and gloves, hauled out to the synagogue's front lawn books, furniture and holy items such as a shofar - a ram's horn used in holiday rituals.
The items were sorted by what would be buried on Tuesday in Jewish burial grounds in another part of the city and what would be thrown out.
Beth Israel was the only New Orleans synagogue completely destroyed during Hurricane Katrina, said Jackie Gothard, the congregation's president. Roughly 150 families attended services there before the storm.
"We have to clean up, regroup our membership and plan for the future," she said.
With only about a third of the area's pre-Katrina Jewish community of 13,000 back in the city, Gothard said consolidation and downsizing is possible.
"We just don't know what's going to happen," Gothard said. "We don't know for sure that we'll be able to keep this property."
The student volunteers came from more than two dozen states. In the synagogue's library, Jeff Kamen, a recent graduate of the University of Illinois, separated the thousands of books to be buried from those that will be thrown away. The room was covered with mold.
Talking through his face mask, he said coming to New Orleans "sounded like a worthwhile way to spend my time."
Monday's recovery effort was a joint project organized by Chabad Lubavitch Rabbi Yochanan Rivkin, director of Tulane University's Jewish student center, and the "Chabad on Campus" volunteer mission.
Gothard said the New Orleans Jewish community will be relying on nationwide support, especially during the celebration of Hannukah, which begins at sundown on Sunday.
A dozen Jewish communities are donating more than 500 menorahs and dreidels on Tuesday to families who have lost theirs in the storm. Also, the American Jewish Committee planned Wednesday to present four institutions a total of $575,000 from its Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund.
The recipients are Dillard University, St. Clement of Rome Catholic Church, Congregation Gates of Prayer and Beth Israel.
---
On the Net:
Chabad on Campus: http://www.chabad.edu
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
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