RJ Blog

It’s been seven years since Hurricane Katrina’s made landfall over Louisiana, causing destruction, devastation, and death throughout the Gulf Coast region. This week, JTA tells a story of hope and rebuilding in the post-storm years. It’s the story of Modern Orthodox Congregation Beth Israel and our own Congregations Gates of Prayer in Metairie, LA, the former hard hit by the force of the hurricane. Ultimately left without a home to call their own, Beth Israel has leased synagogue space from Gates of Prayer for the past seven years and recently purchased land next door to the Reform congregation upon which [...]

by Allison Bernstein “As a returning resident born and raised in New Orleans post hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it has been a struggle to rebuild our Historic Lower 9th Ward Community. I am truly grateful to Patti Vile and Volunteer Expeditions and the many wonderful volunteers she continues to bring every year to help rebuild our lives, homes, churches, gardens and neighborhoods in the City of New Orleans…Their work is priceless!”       Warrenetta Banks, Volunteer Coordinator of the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development Inspiring work comes from many places. One such place is the Union for Reform [...]

by Rabbi Elizabeth WoodReform Templeof Forest Hills(originally posted on Rabbi Wood’s blog, Sects and the City) During our 4th grade Family Education session this last week at The Reform Temple of Forest Hills we were discussing the various characteristics of what makes someone like a prophet. The words inspiration, guidance, spokesperson, and leader all flew around our heads. But the one way to characterize a prophet which everyone agreed on was “seeker of justice.” AndI could not have agreed more – especially after my recent trip to NewOrleans for the annual Central Conference of America Rabbis Conventionwhich focused on the [...]

by Jonathan “J.C.” CohenDirector, URJ Henry S. Jacobs CampOriginally posted on the Jacobs Camp blog For more info, see Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans 5 Years Later With the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina upon us, so many memories from that time have come flooding back – and I know all of you who were close to that experience are also taking time to reflect. I continue to be tremendously proud of the work that Jacobs Camp did. We were really out there making a difference in a time of tremendous need. We were blessed by the opportunity to [...]

by Leslie G. Woods Representative for Domestic Poverty & Environmental Issues in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C. Originally posted on the RACBlog [Editor's Note: for more on the Reform Movement's Gulf response efforts in the five years since Hurricane Katrina, visit our Katrina & New Orleans: 5 years later resource page.] I arrived in the faith-based advocacy community in Washington, DC, fresh out of divinity school.  I had moved to Washington to take an internship in the Public Life and Social Policy Office of the United Church of Christ – a public policy ministry [...]

by Rabbi Jeffrey Kurtz-LendnerRabbi Kurtz-Lendner is the rabbi of Temple Solel of Hollywood, FL. During Hurricane Katrina he was the rabbi of Northshore Jewish Congregation in Mandeville, LA, just outside of New Orleans. In the following reflection, Rabbi Kurtz-Lendner beautifully weaves together his experience during Hurricane Katrina, the Torah reading from last week (“Bo”) and the crisis in Haiti, capturing what so many are feeling in the wake of the devastation. There are always natural disasters in the world.  But sometimes there is such a disaster so devastating that it touches our souls.  Our information laden world with instantaneous transmission [...]

by Kate BigamPress Secretary at the Religious Action Center(First posted on RACblog) Thirty young Jewish adults took off for New Orleans, Louisiana this morning to help rebuild the city’s 9th Ward, still damaged from 2005′s Hurricane Katrina. These volunteers are participating in the Union for Reform Judaism’s Tzevet Mitzvot: Young Adult Mitzvah Corps program, which combines five days of social action, worship and fun in the Big Easy.