Katrina’s Jewish Voices

Rabbi Schiff shoveling the first mud into the grave of the torahs from Beth Israel Synagogue, March 2006. Photograph by Paula Picker.

Beth Israel Torah burial ceremony, March 2006. Pictured from left are past and current shul presidents Jackie and son Eddie Gothard, Rabbi Yisroel Shiff conducting the service (arms folded), and synagogue member Jack Fisher. Photograph by Paula Picker.

This is an entry from the blog of Deep South Jewish Voice, www.deepsouthjewishvoice.blogspot.com. Deep South Jewish Voice is the Jewish newspaper of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Northwest Florida. This blog entry, “Deep South File: ZAKA Rescues Flood-Damaged Torahs,” is from September 14, 2005.

This is a photograph of a water-stained Torah cover from Beth Israel, an Orthodox synagogue in New Orleans’ Lakeview district that was badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina. This photograph was taken by Martine Kaplan, a participant on the Jewish Community Center Association’s ‘Days of Caring and Sharing’ trip in January, 2007. The trip involved JCCA board members and executive directors who witnessed some of the destruction still present in New Orleans 16 months after the storm, visited Beth...

This is a photograph of Torahs being being placed in the ark at the Chabad Lubavitch Center after being evacuated from New Orleans. This photograph is from the website of the Texas Friends of Chabad Lubavitch, www.chabadtexas.org.