2008 Woodie Awards
Gulf Coast Jews try to mark high holy days
Rachel Zoll
Associated Press
Issue date: 10/5/05 Section: In The Spirit
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Bad luck keeps following Stephen Richer. Last year at the start of Rosh Hashana, a hurricane evacuation sent him and a cantor at his tiny Biloxi, Miss., synagogue on an odyssey across the state to find a congregation where they could mark the Jewish New Year.
This year, as the High Holy Days begin Monday night, Richer will once again be searching for a spiritual home. His conservative synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel, is one of many across the Gulf Coast that have been shuttered by extensive damage from Hurricane Katrina.
"I'm very happy to have this year over," Richer said. "We've had a lot of tragedy."
The 10-day period of repentance and renewal, among the most important in the Jewish calendar, arrives as Jewish evacuees are scattered throughout the country, their homes destroyed, their jobs gone and their future unclear.
Victims say the generosity of religious leaders in cities where they've sought refuge has helped ease discomfort about celebrating the holidays in an alien environment. Orthodox Jews have found housing for evacuees near congregations so they can observe the Jewish prohibition against driving on the High Holy Days. One Florida rabbi packed his Cessna with kosher meat and cheese, Sabbath candles and challah and flew the supplies to Biloxi, where members of Beth Israel may hold services at a military base. Other Jewish groups have sent prayerbooks, while Baptist, Roman Catholic and Unitarian churches have offered space for services.
Still, many displaced Jews say the pain of having lost everything will only be compounded by observing sacred rituals among strangers.
"I think the word is bittersweet," said Ruth Kullman, president of Touro Synagogue in New Orleans, a Reform congregation that was damaged and will not reopen for the holiday period, which ends with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Kullman, her husband and her 93-year-old mother-in-law fled to Memphis where Kullman's sister lives. "We're all so grateful to be here and together. We're just sad that we can't be celebrating the way we always had," she said.
This year, as the High Holy Days begin Monday night, Richer will once again be searching for a spiritual home. His conservative synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel, is one of many across the Gulf Coast that have been shuttered by extensive damage from Hurricane Katrina.
"I'm very happy to have this year over," Richer said. "We've had a lot of tragedy."
The 10-day period of repentance and renewal, among the most important in the Jewish calendar, arrives as Jewish evacuees are scattered throughout the country, their homes destroyed, their jobs gone and their future unclear.
Victims say the generosity of religious leaders in cities where they've sought refuge has helped ease discomfort about celebrating the holidays in an alien environment. Orthodox Jews have found housing for evacuees near congregations so they can observe the Jewish prohibition against driving on the High Holy Days. One Florida rabbi packed his Cessna with kosher meat and cheese, Sabbath candles and challah and flew the supplies to Biloxi, where members of Beth Israel may hold services at a military base. Other Jewish groups have sent prayerbooks, while Baptist, Roman Catholic and Unitarian churches have offered space for services.
Still, many displaced Jews say the pain of having lost everything will only be compounded by observing sacred rituals among strangers.
"I think the word is bittersweet," said Ruth Kullman, president of Touro Synagogue in New Orleans, a Reform congregation that was damaged and will not reopen for the holiday period, which ends with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Kullman, her husband and her 93-year-old mother-in-law fled to Memphis where Kullman's sister lives. "We're all so grateful to be here and together. We're just sad that we can't be celebrating the way we always had," she said.
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