Emanu-El goes on mitzvah mission near Cajun Country

By Michael Simpson

July 4, 2008

From May 25 to May 29, Temple Emanu-El of Edison, under the leadership of Rabbi Deborah Bravo, brought 44 people ages 10 to 80 on a mitzvah mission to New Orleans to keep the once thriving, culturally rich city alive after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

Although it's been almost three years after the horrific disaster, the city is still far from full recovery. The temple recognized this calling for help and decided to do something about it.

The group volunteered at Beacon of Hope Resource Center, an approved non-profit corporation, founded in early 2006, to rebuild neighborhoods and communities in New Orleans. Specifically, they "gutted" a house that was untouched since the hurricane hit two-and-a-half years prior. This included removing a washer and dryer with clothes still in it, ripping down the walls of the house, and smashing anything and everything that could be taken out.

On another day, Beacon had the congregants work on a street with a few empty lots and an abandoned home, which were blanketed with overgrown weeds and plants that grew tall enough for a game of hide-and-seek. The group was equipped with weed-whackers, lawn mowers, branch cutters, and, of course, mini portable fans that sprayed water to keep them cool while under the sun all day. They successfully rid the land of the nuisance.

In addition to helping rebuild homes, Temple Emanu-El's group visited a local grade school, New Orleans Free Academy. Here, the adults helped clean the yard while the children and teenagers aided the teachers in getting the classrooms empty for summer break. They also held group discussions with some of the students, played on the computer with them, and watched a 2nd-grade girl spin the hoola-hoop around her waist 600 times. Besides providing some enjoyment and manual labor, the congregants donated boxes upon boxes of school supplies and generously gave monetary aid to the school. 

The team from Edison not only wanted to help a city in dire need, but they wanted to learn about who and what they were helping. The first night they visited Touro Synagogue, the oldest Jewish congregation outside of the original 13 colonies dating back to 1828. Every day, there were at least one or two guest speakers to talk about his or her shelter or organization, the city of New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, or what ordinary citizens of America could do to help. The temple also made donations to each of the speakers' charitable organization, which also included a Temple Emanu-El Mitzvah Mission T-shirt and hat.

And while it may have been a mitzvah mission, the group made sure to there was room for fun in the packed schedule. Each night, the group ate at a different restaurant in a different location; one day for lunch they ate at Kosher Cajun, deli, and one night they enjoyed themselves in the party shack at a minor league baseball game. And they didn't forget about those beignets at Café Du Monde.

Overall, the group participants said the trip was very rewarding, and it rated a 5 out of 5 by almost all of the "New Orleans Heroes." Hopefully, there will be more heroes like those at Temple Emanu-El to visit and provide the necessary aid New Orleans sincerely needs.

The author, a rising sophomore at the University of Michigan, was a participant on the trip.