>> THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH A GRANT FROM THE LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, A STATE AFFILIATE OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES.

WITH ADDITIONAL FUNDING PROVIDED BY THE JEWISH ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION OF LOUISIANA.

FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION, LINKING OUR PAST TO OUR FUTURE.

AND THE WYES PRODUCERS CIRCLE, A GROUP OF GENEROUS CONTRIBUTORS DEDICATED TO THE SUPPORT OF CHANNEL 12'S LOCAL PRODUCTIONS.

[ MUSIC ] >> BUBBLING THROUGH NEW ORLEANS MULTICULTURAL HISTORY IN THE EXUBERANT UNDERCURRENT IN THE LOCAL JEWISH COMMUNITY.

ALTHOUGH JEWS HAVE NEVER ACCOUNTED FOR MORE THAN 1% OR 2% OF THE CITY'S POPULATION, THEIR NUMBERS BELIE THEIR SIGNIFICANCE AS A SOCIAL FORCE.

THEY HAVE BEEN THE HEARTBEAT OF NEW ORLEANS CULTURAL LIFE AND THE SOUL OF ITS COMMERCIAL WORLD BUT PERHAPS THE GREATEST LEGACY OF THE JEWS TO NEW ORLEANS IS THE DEEP AND ABIDING HUMANITY IN THIS SMALL BUT MIGHTY PRESENCE IN THE COMMUNITY.

[ MUSIC ] THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN NEW ORLEANS IS ONE OF THE OLDEST IN THE UNITED STATES, DATING BACK ABOUT 250 YEARS TO THE ARRIVAL OF THE MONSANTO FAMILY, THE CITY'S FIRST PERMANENT JEWISH SETTLERS.

THWARTING A FRENCH CODE OF LAW THAT CALLED FOR JEWS TO BE EXPELLED FROM COLONIAL LOUISIANA, SEPHARDIC TRADERS PLIED THEIR WARES IN THE IMPORT AND EXPORT BUSINESS BETWEEN NEW ORLEANS AND THE CARIBBEAN.

WHEN THE UNITED STATES ACQUIRED LOUISIANA IN 1803, MORE JEWS WERE DRAWN BY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY TO NEW ORLEANS, A CITY OF ABOUT 8,000 PEOPLE.

ONE OF THE MEN WHO ARRIVED ON THE EVE OF THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE WAS JUDAH TOURO, THE SON OF A NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND RABBI, WHO BECAME A LEGENDARY BENEFACTOR OF A NUMBER OF NEW ORLEANS INSTITUTIONS, INCLUDING TOURO INFIRMARY.

>> JUDAH TOURO WAS THE EARLIEST JEWISH PHILANTHROPIST IN THE UNITED STATES ,AND WE ARE JUST VERY LUCKY THAT HE SETTLED HERE.

FIRST BY MERCHANDISING AND SHIPPING AND THEN BY OWNING A FLEET OF SHIPS AND INVESTING IN REAL ESTATE.

AND NEVER MARRYING AND BEING A MISERLY BACHELOR, HE AMASSED A QUIET, SMALL FORTUNE LITTLE BY LITTLE.

>> BY 1826, THERE WERE ONLY ABOUT 100 JEWS IN LOUISIANA.

MOST OF THESE IMMIGRANTS WERE GERMAN, WHO WERE MORE INTERESTED IN FINANCIAL SUCCESS THAN RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

JEWISH MEMBERS OF NEW ORLEANS OLD BOURGEOISIE LIKE SANDAL HERMAN, WHOSE FRENCH QUARTER RESIDENCE BUILT IN 1831 IS NOW A MUSEUM, MARRIED FRENCH CATHOLICS AND ADOPTED SOUTHERN CUSTOMS INCLUDING SALVE OWNERSHIP.

>> JEWS WOULD SELF-SELECT TO COME TO A PLACE LIKE NEW ORLEANS.

THEY WOULD SELF-SELECT, THEY WEREN'T COMING BECAUSE THEY WERE A CADRE OF INTENSE RELIGIOSITY.

IT WAS BECAUSE THERE WAS PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITY.

YOU KNOW, THERE WAS SUGAR AND THERE WAS COTTON, AND THERE WERE PLENTY PEOPLE TO SERVICE IF YOU WERE A PEDDLER.

>> ATTEMPTS TO ESTABLISH A SYNAGOGUE FAILED DUE TO A LACK OF INTEREST AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT UNTIL 1828, WHEN A SMALL GROUP OF ASHKENAZI JEWS FROM GERMANY AND FRANCE MANAGED TO ORGANIZE THE FIRST CHARTERED CONGREGATION IN LOUISIANA.

THE GROUP HAD NO TORAH AND WORSHIPED IN A LOFT ROOM ON ST. LOUIS STREET.

>> AFTER 1828, WHEN GATES OF MERCY ORGANIZED, THERE WAS SOME ORGANIZED RELIGION.

ALTHOUGH, IT WASN'T THE USUAL FORM OF IT.

IT WAS FREEWHEELING, FRONTIER RELIGION.

>> SHANGARAI CHASSET, GATES OF MERCY, HAD DISAPPOINTED TOURO, PART OF THAT DISAPPOINTMENT LAY IN THE FACT THAT THERE WAS NO RABBI AND THERE WERE LAY LEADERS, ONE ROLEY MARKS, NOTORIOUS.

HE WAS A VOLUNTEER FIREMAN AND WOULD BE CONDUCTING THE SERVICE, CHANTING THE HEBREW.

AND, IF THE BELLS WENT OFF FOR A FIRE, HE WOULD EXCUSE HIMSELF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SERVICES, POUND THE PULPIT, THE BIMAH AND SAY, I'M OFF.

>> JEWISH LEADERS DECIDED THE ANSWER TO THE APPALLING STATE OF LOCAL JUDAISM WAS THE CREATION OF ANOTHER CONGREGATION.

>> GERSHOM KURSHEEDT IS THE ARCHITECT OF THE EARLY JEWISH COMMUNITY.

HE BECAME JUDAH TOURO'S FRIEND AND MENTOR, AND THAT DIDN'T HURT BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE MONEY WAS.

THAT HE WAS ABLE TO, ONE, ORGANIZE ANOTHER CONGREGATION AND THAT WAS DISPERSED OF JUDAH, NAMED FLATTERINGLY FOR JUDAH TOURO.

>> BY 1842, THE JEWISH POPULATION IN NEW ORLEANS HAD INCREASED TO 125 FAMILIES OR ABOUT 2,000 JEWS.

THAT NUMBER WAS TO INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY, HOWEVER, AS A TREMENDOUS WAVE OF GERMAN IMMIGRANTS CAME TO THE UNITED STATES IN THE MID-1800'S.

GERMANS OF ALL RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS SETTLED UP-RIVER IN THE SUBURB OF LAFAYETTE, WHERE 40 JEWISH FAMILIES ESTABLISHED NEW ORLEANS' THIRD CONGREGATION.

>> THEY FORMED WHAT WAS CALLED A HEBREW BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.

FROM THAT, THEY EVOLVED INTO AN ACTUAL CONGREGATION.

THE ACTUAL HEBREW IS "SHAARAI TEFILOH": GATES OF PRAYER.

>> THE CONGREGATION BOUGHT PROPERTY AT THE CORNER OF JACKSON AVENUE AND CHIPPEWA.

BUT PLANS TO BUILD A SYNAGOGUE WERE PUT OFF UNTIL AFTER THE CIVIL WAR.

>> THE STORY HAS IT THAT THEY HAD STARTED TO COLLECT BRICKS TO ACTUALLY BUILD THE FIRST BUILDING.

AND THEN ALONG CAME THE CIVIL WAR.

AND SO THEY HID THE BRICKS, THE NORTHERN FORCES COME IN AND TAKE THEM.

>> THE CIVIL WAR GAVE LOCAL JEWS THE CHANCE TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR ALLEGIANCE TO THE SOUTH.

JUDAH P. BENJAMIN, A YALE-EDUCATED NEW ORLEANS ATTORNEY, HELD HIGH OFFICE IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CONFEDERACY, INCLUDING SECRETARY OF WAR.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT HOME, THE UNION OCCUPATION OF THE CITY WAS INTOLERABLE FOR JEWISH SOUTHERN PATRIOTS.

>> WHEN BEN BUTLER CONQUERED THE CITY, HE ORDERED ALL FOREIGN NATIONALISTS THAT THEY COULD ONLY HAVE ALLEGIANCE TO THE UNION.

THE RABBI AT WHAT WAS THEN DISPERSED OF JUDAH CONGREGATION WAS KNOWN AS REVEREND JAMES GUTHEIM.

HE SAID THAT HE WOULD RATHER LEAVE THE CITY THAN TAKE AN OATH TO THE BUTCHER IN WASHINGTON, MEANING MR. LINCOLN.

>> WHEN THE WAR ENDED, GUTHEIM RETURNED TO THE CITY AND BECAME THE RABBI AT NEW ORLEANS FIRST REFORM SYNAGOGUE.

IN 1872, WITH ABOUT 300 PEW-OWNING MEMBERS, THE FIRST TEMPLE SINAI WAS DEDICATED ON CARONDELET STREET JUST OFF LEE CIRCLE.

>> WHEN THE TEMPLE WAS DEDICATED, NEW ORLEANS WAS THE LARGEST JEWISH COMMUNITY OF THE SOUTH.

AND THAT WAS ITS CATHEDRAL.

WELL, THEY WANTED THAT BUILDING TO SHOUT, WE ARE AMERICAN HEBREWS, AND WE ARE HERE TO STAY!

>> WHEN THE CONGREGATION BUILT THE SYNAGOGUE FURTHER UPTOWN IN THE 1920'S, THE BUILDING WAS USED FOR OFFICES AND LATER AS A THEATER.

IN 1977, THE 106-YEAR-OLD LANDMARK WAS DEMOLISHED TO PROVIDE PARKING FOR K&B PLAZA, THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE NEW ORLEANS DRUGSTORE CHAIN ESTABLISHED IN 1905 BY GUSTAVE KATZ AND SYDNEY BESTOV.

THE REFORM MOVEMENT CAUGHT ON QUICKLY IN NEW ORLEANS BECAUSE IT GAVE JEWS AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRADITIONAL JUDAISM WITH ITS STRICT DIETARY LAWS AND DEMANDING PRAYER SERVICES.

>> BY THE LATE-1880'S, MEN WERE NOT ALLOWED TO WEAR HEAD COVERINGS IN THE TEMPLE.

THE SERVICE IMMEDIATELY FEATURED ORGAN AND MIXED CHOIR VOICES, MEN AND WOMEN.

FROM THE BEGINNING, MEN AND WOMEN SAT TOGETHER AT TEMPLE SINAI.

>> REFORM SERVICES REFLECTED A KIND OF PROTESTANT-IZATION OF AMERICAN JUDAISM THAT IN FORM WAS VERY HIGH CHURCH.

>> IF YOU GO TO AN ORTHODOX CONGREGATION, ALL THE MEN HAVE GOT TO GET THROUGH THE PRAYER BOOK.

AND THEY'RE DOING IT AT THEIR OWN SPEED, SO YOU'RE HEARING ALL OF THIS CACOPHONY.

SO, THEY WANTED SERVICES TO BE DECOROUS AND THE SYNAGOGUES THEMSELVES TO BE BEAUTIFUL EDIFICES THAT WOULD BE SETTING JEWS UP AS A RELIGIOUS CULTURE RATHER THAN AN ETHNIC GROUP.

>> IN 1881, THE TWO OLDEST ORTHODOX CONGREGATIONS MERGED.

THE COMBINED CONGREGATION CALLED ITSELF TOURO SYNAGOGUE, AFTER ITS BENEFACTOR.

IN 1908, THE GROUP MOVED FURTHER UPTOWN TO ITS PRESENT LOCATION AT THE CORNER OF ST. CHARLES AND GENERAL PERSHING.

SHORTLY BEFORE THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, BOTH TOURO AND GATES OF PRAYER WERE REORGANIZED AS REFORMED CONGREGATIONS, WHICH, IF ANYTHING, SERVED TO STRENGTHEN RATHER THAN WEAKEN LOCAL SYNAGOGUE AFFILIATION.

NO MATTER WHICH CONGREGATION THESE 19TH CENTURY JEWS BELONGED TO, WHAT THEY HAD IN COMMON WAS A GROWING PROSPERITY THAT IS REFLECTED IN THE UPTOWN LOCATIONS OF THEIR SYNAGOGUES, TWO OF WHICH ARE NESTLED AMONG THE MANSIONS THAT SOME OF THE MEMBERS OF THEIR CONGREGATIONS CALL HOME.

MOISE STEEG'S GRANDFATHER AARON ARRIVED IN NEW ORLEANS IN THE MID-1880'S.

AFTER CLERKING FOR HIS FUTURE FATHER-IN-LAW, HE BOUGHT A PRINTING COMPANY AT 938 LAFAYETTE STREET AND BEGAN PUBLICATION OF THE JEWISH LEDGER, A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER RELATING PRIMARILY TO JEWISH TOPICS.

>> THEY PUBLISHED ARTICLES OF NEWS INTEREST THAT THEY FELT WOULD APPEAL TO THE READER, AND THEY HAD A SOCIAL COLUMN, WHICH THE LADIES LOVED.

AND THAT'S WHAT WAS THE BASIS OF THEIR CUSTOMERS.

THAT'S WHERE THEY GOT ADS.

>> IN NEW ORLEANS, THE RAGS TO RICHES SUCCESS OF THE JEWS WAS OFTEN REALIZED ON CANAL STREET.

TOMMY GODCHAUX WAS THE FOURTH OF FIVE GENERATIONS TO SERVE AS AN EXECUTIVE IN THE FAMILY-OWNED DEPARTMENT STORE ON CANAL STREET FOUNDED BY HIS GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

>> ORIGINAL LEON GODCHAUX, BORN IN ALSACE IN FRANCE, CAME TO THIS COUNTRY IN 1837.

AND HE STARTED PEDDLING GOODS UP AND DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER ON THE PLANTATIONS.

AND THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF, I GUESS YOU'D SAY, THE DYNASTY.

>> A PUBLICATION PUT OUT BY THE NEW ORLEANS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN 1894 DESCRIBES GODCHAUX'S, LOCATED AT THE TIME ON CANAL AND CHARTER STREET, AS "FAR AND AWAY THE LEADING CLOTHING HOUSE OF THE CITY".

>> MOST OF HIS SONS WENT INTO THE SUGAR BUSINESS BECAUSE HE HAD BOUGHT SUGAR LANDS WITH THE MONEY HE MADE FROM THE STORE.

AND THAT WAS GODCHAUX SUGARS.

>> MILDRED COVERT FATHER IMMIGRATED TO NEW ORLEANS FROM POLAND WHEN HE WAS 16 YEARS OLD.

TRAINED AS A TAILOR, HE WENT INTO THE FUR BUSINESS AND EVENTUALLY BECAME PROPRIETOR OF THE L&L FUR SHOP ON CANAL STREET.

>> HE BECAME WHAT WAS KNOWN AS THE LARGEST FURRIER IN THE SOUTH.

THE CANAL STREET WAS THE CENTER OF SHOPPING.

IT WAS THE CENTER OF THE VERY SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMEN THAT STARTED FROM SCRATCH AND ROSE TO THE TOP.

>> SO, YOU WENT ALONG CANAL STREET.

YOU HAD GUS MAYER, MARK ISAACS, KELLER-ZANDER.

MASON BLANCHE WAS JEWISH OWNED.

KRAUSS COMPANY, GODCHAUX'S, OF COURSE.

WELL, IT WAS A HERITAGE, I GUESS, OF JEWS.

THERE WERE A LOT OF THINGS THAT THEY COULDN'T DO, WERE PROHIBITED IN THE EARLY DAYS OF GOING INTO MEDICINE AND LAW, EVEN IN SOME AREAS FROM OWNING LAND.

SO THEY WERE MERCHANTS.

[ MUSIC ] >> WHEN THE RUSSIAN CZAR WAS ASSASSINATED IN 1881, A JEWISH CONSPIRACY WAS BLAMED, THEREBY LAUNCHING A WAVE OF STATE-SPONSORED MASSACRES KNOWN AS POGROMS.

UNTIL THE U.S.

PASSED SEVERAL IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS LAWS IN THE 1920'S, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT OVER 3 MILLION EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS ARRIVED IN THIS COUNTRY.

THE ESTABLISHED JEWS OF NEW ORLEANS DID NOT EXACTLY GREET THIS NEW POPULATION WITH OPEN ARMS.

>> ESTABLISH GERMAN REFORMED JEWS WERE WORRIED THERE WERE TOO MANY OF THESE RUSSIAN JEWS WITH THESE FUNNY HATS STARTED ANTI-SEMITIC BACKLASH AGAINST ALL THE JEWS IN THE CITY.

THERE WERE ATTEMPTS TO TRY AND KEEP EAST EUROPEANS OUT OF NEW ORLEANS.

>> BY THIS TIME, THE GERMAN JEWS WERE CANAL STREET MERCHANTS.

THEY HAD THEIR OWN SOCIAL CLUB.

AND THEY HAD A DEFINITE SOCIAL CIRCLE AMONGST THEMSELVES.

AND I THINK PROBABLY SOCIALLY THEY JUST LOOKED DOWN UPON THESE OTHER JEWS WHO SPOKE WITH ACCENTS, OF COURSE, OFTEN SPOKE YIDDISH.

AND, OF COURSE, THEY WERE ALL ORTHODOX IN PRACTICE.

>> THERE WAS NO JEWISH SECTION UNTIL THE EASTERN EUROPEANS COME OVER AND SETTLED DRYADES STREET.

IT WASN'T THE GHETTO BUT IT WAS A SELF-IMPOSED ONE.

ONE OF THE REASONS, OF COURSE, WAS THEY WALKED TO SYNAGOGUE.

MY FAMILY NEVER HEARD OF WALKING TO SYNAGOGUE.

>> THEY WOULD JUST SET UP LITTLE, TINY CONGREGATIONS THAT WERE FOR PEOPLE FROM THEIR VILLAGE OR PEOPLE FROM THEIR PARTICULAR PART OF POLAND OR THE UKRAINE.

AND THEY'D ALL HAVE THEIR OWN LITTLE RITUALS.

AND RIGHT AROUND THE EARLY-1900'S THESE LITTLE CONGREGATIONS BEGAN TO COALESCE.

>> BETH ISRAEL WAS ORIGINATED WITH A COLLECTION OF MEN WHO HAD INDIVIDUAL MINIONS, OR PRAYER-GATHERING SERVICES.

SOME IN THEIR HOMES, SOME IN THEIR LIVING ROOMS, SOME IN THEIR KITCHENS AND AROUND THE DOWNTOWN AREA.

A GROUP OF THESE DECIDED TO JOIN TOGETHER AND MAKE ONE CONGREGATION.

AND THAT WAS THE ORIGIN OF BETH ISRAEL.

>> IN 1925, THE CONGREGATION BUILT THE SYNAGOGUE ON CARONDELETE STREET WITH A SOCIAL CENTER THAT WAS KNOWN AS THE MENORAH INSTITUTE.

TWO OTHER SMALLER SYNAGOGUES WERE ORGANIZED IN THE AREA.

>> CHEVRA THILIM AND ANSHE SFARD ONLY HAD ABOUT MAYBE 75 OR SO PEOPLE.

BETH ISRAEL WAS MUCH LARGER, ORIGINALLY WHEN IT WAS FOUNDED BY 1910 IT ALREADY HAD OVER 100 MEMBERS.

AND, EVENTUALLY, THEY REFERRED TO THEMSELVES AS THE LARGEST ORTHODOX CONGREGATION IN THE SOUTH JUST BEFORE THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

>> THE CONGREGATION OF ANSHE SFARD STARTED IN 1909 DOWN ON RAMPART STREET, MUCH NEARER INTO THE CITY, NEAR THE FRENCH QUARTER.

AND, AS THAT COMMUNITY GREW, IT WANTED TO RELOCATE TO A BUILDING.

AND SO THIS BUILDING WAS PURCHASED IN 1925.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS A VERY JEWISH NEIGHBORHOOD.

SO THIS IS VERY MUCH A THRIVING COMMUNITY.

AND SO THIS SYNAGOGUE WOULD BE PACKED EVERY SINGLE WEEK.

>> THE OLD BLACK SHOPPING DISTRICT IN CENTRAL CITY WAS LARGELY RUN BY JEWS ON DRYADS STREET, NOW ORETHA CASTLE HALEY.

>> JACKIE GOTHARD CAN TRACE HER LINEAGE TO TWO LARGE DRYADS STREET CLANS: THE FAMILIES PRESSNER AND KANSAS.

>> BOTH OF THESE FAMILIES WERE IN THE DRYADS STREET AREA.

IT WAS THE CENTER OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY.

IN THE EARLY 1900s.

THE KANSAS BAKERY WAS ON DRYADS STREET RIGHT OFF OF MELPOMINE, WHICH IS NOW MARTIN LUTHER KIND BOULEVARD.

AND JUST ON MELPOMINE WAS WHERE JAKE PRESSNER, MY GRANDFATHER HAD HIS CHICKEN BUSINESS.

YEARS LATER, MY MOM FROM THE KANSAS BAKERY MARRIED RALPH PRESSNER FROM THE CHICKEN BUSINESS.

MY PARENTS THEN OPENED A KOSHER DELI UPTOWN ON BARONNE AND FOUCHER STREET, WHICH WAS A STEP ABOVE DRYADES AS THE JEWISH COMMUNITY WAS BEGINNING TO MOVE UPTOWN.

>> RAMPART STREET JUST OFF CANAL WAS ANOTHER COMMERCIAL STRIP THAT WAS PREDOMINATELY JEWISH.

DAVID COVERT AND HIS WIFE MILDRED HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR ALMOST 60 YEARS.

THE PAIR GREW UP IN THE SAME UPTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD BUT MET ON A BLIND DATE IN 1947.

>> MY FATHER WAS IN THE SHOE BUSINESS.

THEY HAD A SHOE STORE IN THE 100 BLOCK OF SOUTH RAMPART STREET.

FROM THE 100 BLOCK ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE 200 AND THE 300 BLOCK OF RAMPART STREET WERE AN AWFUL LOT OF JEWISH MERCHANTS.

THERE WERE SOME IMMIGRANTS BUT MOST OF THEM WERE SECOND-GENERATION CHILDREN OF THE IMMIGRANTS THAT CAME OVER HERE.

MY FATHER'S FATHER BROUGHT MILDRED'S GRANDFATHER OVER HERE FROM EUROPE TO WORK IN THE SHOE STORE WITH HIM.

I THINK HE WAS A SHOEMAKER.

[ MUSIC ] >> THE FIRST REX WAS A JEWISH GENTLEMAN NAMED LEWIS SALOMAN, ALTHOUGH SOME CLAIM THAT HE WAS NOT JEWISH BUT HE WAS DEFINITELY JEWISH.

HE DIDN'T LIVE A JEWISH LIFE BUT HE WAS BORN JEWISH, AND HE'S BURIED IN A JEWISH CEMETERY IN NEW YORK CITY.

JEWS WERE MEMBERS OF COMUS AND REX AND ALL THE OLD KREWES UNTIL ABOUT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY WHEN THERE WAS ANTI-SEMITIC BACKLASH THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AND A LOT OF THE OLDER KREWES STARTED DISALLOWING NEW JEWISH MEMBERS.

>> ALTHOUGH INSTANCES OF OVERT ANTI-SEMITISM WERE RARE IN NEW ORLEANS, NATIVISM HAD USHERED AN INTOLERANT ATTITUDE IN THE MAINSTREAM CULTURE THAT WAS AT ODDS WITH ANTEBELLUM ACCEPTANCE OF THE JEWS.

>> AND MY HUSBAND RODE REX FOR 50 YEARS.

THE CONVIVIALITY OF IT AND THE FUN OF BEING ON THE STREET IN THE SUNSHINE ON MARDI GRAS DAY WAS WHAT HE GOT PLEASURE FROM.

I THINK IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU WANT OUT OF CARNIVAL.

IF WHAT YOU WANT OUT OF CARNIVAL IS TO BELONG TO THE BOSTON CLUB, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET THERE.

>> I WAS WORKING ON A CASE WITH TWO OTHER LAWYERS, ONE FROM OUT OF TOWN, ONE FROM NEW ORLEANS.

THEY WERE IN MY OFFICE.

LUNCHTIME CAME AND I SAID, LET'S GO TO LUNCH.

AND THEY SAID, WELL, WE'RE GOING TO THE BOSTON CLUB AND YOU CAN'T COME.

[ MUSIC ] >> LONG BEFORE SOCIAL EXCLUSION REARED ITS UGLY HEAD, JEWISH LEADERS HAD ALREADY ESTABLISHED A VARIETY OF ORGANIZATIONS TO PROVIDE JEWS WITH CHARITABLE ASSISTANCE, AS WELL AS CULTURAL AND RECREATIONAL OUTLETS.

A COUPLE OF YEARS BEFORE HIS DEATH IN 1854, JUDAH TOURO OPENED A SMALL HOSPITAL IN AN OLD MANSION ON TCHOUPITOULAS STREET, NEAR THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

FROM THIS HUMBLE BEGINNING GREW TOURO INFIRMARY, A PRYTANIA STREET INSTITUTION, WHICH BECAME ONE OF THE LARGEST HOSPITALS IN THE SOUTH.

>> IN JUDAH TOURO'S WILL, THERE IS A MISSION TO HAVE INDIGENT JEWS HERE.

IT ALSO, FROM THE DAY IT OPENED, TOOK IN AFRICAN AMERICANS.

>> TOURO INFIRMARY OWES AT LEAST SOME OF ITS SUCCESS TO COTTON MERCHANT JULIUS WEIS.

TOMMY GODCHAUX IS WEIS' GREAT-GRANDSON.

>> JULIUS WEIS WAS FROM NATCHEZ, MOVED INTO NEW ORLEANS RIGHT AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, AS I RECALL, WAS VERY, VERY ACTIVE IN CIVIC WORK IN NEW ORLEANS.

HE WAS HEAD OF THE HOSPITAL FOR A WHILE AND A BENEFACTOR.

>> IN 1856, WEIS AND OTHER PROMINENT JEWS IN THE HEBREW BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION BUILT AN ORPHANAGE ON JACKSON AVENUE FOR JEWISH CHILDREN WHO WERE ORPHANED DURING A YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC IN 1853 THAT CLAIMED ALMOST 8,000 LIVES.

ONE OF THE EARLIEST JEWISH SOCIAL CLUBS WAS THE YOUNG MEN'S HEBREW CLUB, WHICH MOVED TO BRAND NEW QUARTERS IN 1896: THE ATHENAEM ON ST. CHARLES AVENUE.

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER GREW OUT OF THE YMHA.

IN 1948, THE ORGANIZATION CHANGED ITS NAME, AS WELL AS ITS LOCATION, WHEN IT MOVED INTO THE SECOND JEWISH HOME FOR ORPHANS AND WIDOWS THAT HAD BEEN BUILT IN 1887 AT THE CORNER OF ST. CHARLES AND JEFFERSON.

IN THE 1960'S, THE BUILDING, BADLY IN NEED OF REPAIRS, WAS DEMOLISHED AND THE PRESENT JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER BUILDING WAS ERECTED ON THE ORIGINAL SITE.

>> THE CENTERS EVOLVED IN THE MID-1900'S, I WOULD SAY, AS SETTLEMENT HOUSES AROUND THE COUNTRY.

THEY ABSORBED THE IMMIGRANTS AS THEY WERE COMING INTO THEIR COMMUNITIES.

PART OF THE MISSION OF JCC'S WAS TO GIVE JEWISH CHILDREN A PLACE TO PLAY BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T ACCEPTED IN EVERY CLUB OR ORGANIZATION.

>> WE HAD SOCK HOPS IN THE AFTERNOON.

IN THE SUMMERTIME, THE POOL WAS A FAVORITE HANGOUT.

BASKETBALL AND VOLLEYBALL WERE REALLY BIG THEN.

WE WENT TO SPORTS AND EVEN IN SPORTS YOU WERE SOCIALIZING.

SO IT WAS REALLY, REALLY NICE.

[ MUSIC ] >> ISADORE NEWMAN CAME TO NEW ORLEANS FROM GERMANY IN 1853.

HE BECAME AN INVESTMENT BANKER AND HAD A STAKE IN A NUMBER OF SUCCESSFUL LOCAL VENTURES.

IN HIS LIFETIME, NEWMAN GAVE AWAY ABOUT $2 MILLION TO WORTHY CAUSES, BUT HIS MOST IMPORTANT LEGACY WAS ISADORE NEWMAN MANUAL TRAINING SCHOOL ON JEFFERSON AVENUE, ESTABLISHED IN 1903 FOR THE CITY'S JEWISH ORPHANS WHO LIVED NEARBY.

IN 1931, THE SCHOOL OFFICIALLY CHANGED ITS NAME TO NEWMAN SCHOOL AND IS TODAY ONE OF THE TOP NON-CATHOLIC PREP SCHOOLS IN THE CITY.

HERMAN KOHLMEYER IS NEWMAN'S GREAT-GRANDSON, AS WELL AS A GRADUATE OF NEWMAN SCHOOL.

>> IT STARTED AS A RESULT OF A STUDY BY PEOPLE AT THE JEWISH ORPHANAGE THAT WONDERED WHAT SHOULD THEY BE DOING TO MAKE THE LIVES OF THOSE KIDS BETTER.

IT WAS BASICALLY A VOCATIONAL TRAINING SCHOOL AT THAT TIME.

AND IT WAS CALLED MANUAL TRAINING AND ALL THE OLD PICTURES OF THE FOOTBALL TEAMS AND THE LIKE, THEY WORE AN 'M' INSTEAD OF AN 'N'.

>>NEW ORLEANS HAS ALWAYS RELIED ON THE KINDNESS OF ITS JEWISH BENEFACTORS.

ON ONE LEVEL, JEWISH GENEROSITY IS TIED INTO THEIR BIBLICAL MANDATES: EFFECT OR FIX THE WORLD.

THE TERM "TZEDAKAH" COVERS GIVING AND THEN SOME.

>> "TZEDAKAH" MEANS JUSTICE, IT MEANS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

AND, FOR JEWS, WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO BE GIVING.

IT'S NOT SOMETHING WE DO SIMPLY OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF OUR HEARTS.

WE DO IT BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT IS WHAT GOD EXPECTS US TO DO.

>> THESE WERE NEWCOMERS AND WHAT DID THEY DO?

THEY SET UP BIG INSTITUTIONS.

YOU KNOW, THEY SET UP MUSEUMS AND THEY MADE THEMSELVES MORE ATTRACTIVE BY THEIR PHILANTHROPY.

>> THE FIRST IN A LONG HISTORY OF LOCAL JEWISH ART PATRONS WAS ISAAC DELGADO, A SEPHARDIC JEW FROM JAMAICA WHO CAME TO NEW ORLEANS IN THE 1840'S.

DELGADO MADE A FORTUNE IN SUGAR AND HIS NAME IS STILL PROMINENT ON A NUMBER OF LOCAL INSTITUTIONS INCLUDING THE NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART.

MUSEUM DIRECTOR, JOHN BULLARD: >> ISAAC GAVE $150,000 TO BUILD THE BUILDING BACK IN 1910.

HE WAS NOT AN ART COLLECTOR, BUT HE WAS CONVINCED BY FRIENDS THAT A CITY OF NEW ORLEANS' SIZE AND IMPORTANCE SHOULD HAVE AN ART MUSEUM.

>> WHEN THE MUSEUM EXPANDED IN 1970, THE NAME WAS CHANGED TO THE NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART.

THE PRESTIGE OF THE THRIVING ART MUSEUM IS DUE IN LARGE PART TO THE GENEROSITY OF ITS LOYAL JEWISH SUPPORTERS.

IN 2003, NOMA OPENED THE SYDNEY AND WALDA BESTHOFF SCULPTURE GARDEN, WHICH WAS DESIGNED TO DISPLAY A COLLECTION OF 20TH AND 21ST CENTURY WORK.

THE BESTHOFF'S BEGAN COLLECTING SCULPTURES IN 1975 AND 41 PIECES IN THE GARDEN WERE ORIGINALLY ON VIEW AT THE K&B DRUGSTORE HEADQUARTERS ON LEE CIRCLE.

>> THAT'S PROBABLY THE REALLY MAJOR DONATION OUR MUSEUM HAS RECEIVED IN ITS WHOLE NEARLY 100-YEAR HISTORY.

THE BESTHOFF'S PROVIDED A WONDERFUL COLLECTION OF SCULPTURES,WHICH THEY CONTINUE TO ADD TO.

AND WITH THE SUPPORT OF CITY PARK, WE WERE ABLE TO ACQUIRE A FIVE-ACRE SIDE ADJACENT WITH THE MUSEUM.

AND IT IS NOW ONE OF THE BEST SCULPTURE GARDENS IN THE COUNTRY.

I THINK SINCE THE SECOND WORLD WAR, WHEN A GREATER AWARENESS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ARTS IN THE CITY OCCURRED, JEWISH FAMILIES HAVE PLAYED AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE MAJOR INSTITUTIONS IN THE CITY.

>> FEW MEN WHO LEFT AN INDELIBLE MARK ON THE COMMUNITY WERE STEPHEN GOLDRING AND MALCOLM WOLDENBERG.

THE PAIR TEAMED UP NOT ONLY IN BUSINESS BUT ALSO IN PHILANTHROPIC ENDEAVORS AND GAVE GENEROUSLY TO LOCAL UNIVERSITIES, HOSPITALS, CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS.

THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, GOLDRING IMPRESSED UPON HIS SON, BILL, THAT WITH FINANCIAL SUCCESS COMES SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.

AS PRESIDENT OF THE GOLDRING FAMILY AND WOLDENBERG FOUNDATIONS, BILL GOLDRING WITH HIS WIFE JANE, SON JEFFERY, DAUGHTER DIANE AND SON-IN-LAW ALAN FRANCO CARRIES ON THE LEGACY OF HIS FATHER AND UNCLE MAL.

>> WHAT THE GOLDRING FAMILY AND THE WOLDENBERG FOUNDATION SUCCEED IN DOING AT EVERY LEVEL IS NOTHING SHORT OF AN INSPIRATION.

THEY DO NOT JUST TAKE CARE OF JEWISH CONCERNS.

THEY LOOK TO THE ARTS AND TO THE MUSIC AND TO THE EDUCATIONAL AND UPLIFT US IN EVERY WAY.

>> JEWS HAVE RECEIVED LOCAL RECOGNITION IF NOT UNCONDITIONAL SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE THROUGH THEIR GOOD WORKS.

>> NEWMAN WAS THE SECOND MAN TO WIN THE TIMES PICAYUNE LOVING CUP AND IT WAS AWARDED TO JEWS EVERY THIRD OR FOURTH YEAR FOR A VERY LONG TIME.

MUCH OF THE PHILANTHROPY AROUND HERE WAS FROM JEWISH FAMILIES, CERTAINLY FAR DISPROPORTIONATE TO THEIR NUMBERS.

THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT.

>> EVEN AMONG A ROSTER OF IMPRESSIVE LOCAL PHILANTHROPISTS, EDITH AND EDGAR STERN STAND OUT.

THEY ARE REMEMBERED NOT ONLY FOR THEIR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE CITY'S CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS BUT ALSO FOR THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN ISSUES SUCH AS INTEGRATION AND VOTERS' RIGHTS.

EDITH ROSENWALD STERN'S GRANDSON, BILL HESS: >> SHE GREW UP IN CHICAGO AND HER FATHER WAS A BIG TIME INDUSTRIALIST WITH SEARS ROEBUCK.

ENGRAINED IN HER FATHER, MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER'S PSYCHE FROM DAY ONE WAS TO GIVE AWAY A THIRD.

AND SHE INHERITED THE PUBLIC SPIRIT, AS WELL AS THE BENT-ON PHILANTHROPY BUT SHE ALSO MARRIED AN ORLEANIAN AND CAME FROM THE NEW ORLEANS SOCIETY.

AND HE HAD BEEN PRESIDENT OF THE SCHOOL BOARD AND HE WAS INVOLVED WITH THE COTTON EXCHANGE.

AND HE WAS A MERCHANT IN HIS OWN RIGHT AND ESTABLISHED IN HIS OWN RIGHT BEFORE THEY WERE MARRIED.

>> HER FATHER WAS VERY PROGRESSIVE ON RACIAL MATTERS FOR HIS TIME.

A LOT OF THE ROSENWALD SCHOOLS THAT WERE BUILT IN THE SEGREGATED SOUTH WERE WITH HIS MONEY.

AND HIS DAUGHTER TOOK THAT UP.

>> THE ROSENWALD AND STERN FAMILIES WERE AMONG THE FOUNDERS OF DILLARD UNIVERSITY AND THROUGH THE YEARS PROVIDED HUNDREDS OF SCHOLARSHIPS TO THE LIBERAL ARTS SCHOOL FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS.

FOR THEIR MANY ENDEAVORS, EDITH AND EDGAR STERN ARE THE ONLY HUSBAND AND WIFE TO HAVE BEEN LOVING CUP RECIPIENTS.

LONGVIEW HOUSE AND GARDENS, THE URBAN ESTATE OF THE STERNS COMPLETED IN 1942 IS A NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK THAT IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

>> I THINK THAT MY GRANDMOTHER WAS A VERY DEFINITE WOMAN.

AND SHE DESIGNED THAT HOUSE DOWN TO THE PLACEMENT OF THE MATCHBOOKS AND THE CIGARETTES.

SHE WAS REALLY AN AMAZING WOMAN.

AND SO SHE HAD VARIOUS INTERESTS AT DIFFERENT TIMES, AND VISION.

HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU KNOW WHO ARE WILLING TO PUT THEIR 18-YEAR-OLD GRANDCHILDREN ON THEIR FOUNDATION BOARD THAT'S GIVING AWAY A HALF A MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR?

AND THERE WERE TIMES WHEN SHE WOULD SPEAK UP AND SHE'D SAY WE WEREN'T BEING RADICAL ENOUGH.

>> SOME LOCAL JEWS DISCOVERED THERE COULD BE A PRICE TO PAY FOR POLITICAL ACTIVISM.

TOMMY GODCHAUX WAS BRANDED AS TOO LIBERAL TO SERVE ON A FEDERAL HOME BANK BOARD AFTER HIS INVOLVEMENT IN COMMUNITY AFFAIRS.

MOISE STEEG WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN ORGANIZING THE URBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER NEW ORLEANS IN 1938.

THE ATTORNEY DISCOVERED THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS LIBERAL WAYS DURING WORLD WAR II WHILE SERVING IN THE ARMY AIR FORCE.

>> OPENINGS TOOK PLACE IN THE INTELLIGENCE FIELD ,AND I APPLIED TO GO TO INTELLIGENCE SCHOOL AND IT WAS TURNED DOWN.

AND I WAS TOLD THAT I WOULD PROBABLY NOT BE SENT OVERSEAS BECAUSE I HAD AN INDICATION OF RADICALISM.

>> STEEG, WHO ALSO PIONEERED PROJECT UNDERSTANDING, A PROGRAM PROMOTING INTERFAITH RELATIONS, RECEIVED THE TIMES PICAYUNE LOVING CUP AWARD IN 2004 FOR HIS SELFLESS WORK IN THE COMMUNITY.

[ MUSIC ] >> SOCIAL ACTIVISM HAS LONG BEEN A PART OF THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE, EVEN IN THE SOUTH.

AND LOCAL RABBIS WERE AMONG THE MOST VOCAL.

MAX HELLER, WHO WAS RABBI AT TEMPLE SINAI FOR 40 YEARS WAS INVOLVED IN THE ANTI-LOTTERY LEAGUE, A GROUP THAT FOUGHT SUCCESSFULLY TO DESTROY THE LOUISIANA LOTTERY.

THE FORWARD-THINKING REFORM LEADER ALSO SPOKE OUT AGAINST LYNCHINGS.

>> HE WAS AN OUTSPOKEN ADVOCATE OF DESEGREGATION AND THAT WAS, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, IN BARELY RECONSTRUCTIONIST TIME NEW ORLEANS, SOMETHING THAT WAS VERY, VERY CONTROVERSIAL.

AFTER ALL, THIS IS A PERIOD WHEN LYNCHINGS IN THE SOUTH WERE COMMON.

>> IT'S HARD TO UNDERSTAND WHY HELLER AND OTHER JEWISH LEADERS WOULD RISK UNLEASHING SOME TRUE ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE GREATER COMMUNITY BY CHAMPIONING UNPOPULAR ISSUES REGARDING AFRICAN AMERICANS.

>> I THINK IT'S BIBLICAL.

WE WERE SLAVES, TOO.

AND WE WANT TO HELP THOSE THAT NEED THE HELP.

AND THAT'S WHY SO MANY OF THESE REFORM RABBIS, NOT ONLY HERE BUT THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH, WHO STEPPED FORWARD AND PUT THEMSELVES ON THE LINE.

>> THE LIBERAL IMPULSES OF LOCAL REFORM RABBIS DIDN'T ALWAYS SIT WELL WITH THEIR CONGREGATION MEMBERS.

RABBI NATHANIAL SHARE OF THE GATES OF PRAYER ADVANCED THE PUSH FOR INTEGRATION FROM THE PULPIT.

>> RABBI SHARE SPOKE OUT ON THE TOPIC A NUMBER OF WAYS.

AND I HAVE HEARD THAT, LIKE OFTEN IS THE CASE, SOME OF THE CONGREGANTS DIDN'T LIKE THAT.

THEY DIDN'T LIKE ROCKING THE BOAT.

THEY DIDN'T WANT THE SYNAGOGUE TO BE AS VISUALLY OUT THERE ON SOME OF THESE ISSUES.

THEY KNEW THAT, AS WAS THE CASE, FOR EXAMPLE, AT THE TEMPLE IN ATLANTA AND THE SYNAGOGUE IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, THAT THOSE SYNAGOGUES ACTUALLY BECAME TARGETS OF BOMBINGS.

AND SO PEOPLE WERE NERVOUS.

>> FURTHER UPTOWN AT TOURO SYNAGOGUE, LEO BERGMAN, WHO WAS RABBI FROM 1948 UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT IN THE MID-1970'S, WAS ALSO ENGAGED IN THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY.

>> HE INTERACTED WITH THE BLACK COMMUNITY, WITH BLACK MINISTERS.

HE HAD FRIENDS IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.

AND HE STOOD UP FOR INTEGRATION.

THEY USED TO SAY, ANY RABBI THEY DON'T WANT TO THROW OUT OF TOWN IS NO RABBI.

AND ANY RABBI THEY SUCCEED IN THROWING OUT OF TOWN IS NO RABBI EITHER.

AND SO THEY WANTED TO THROW LEO OUT OF TOWN A MILLION TIMES, I'M SURE.

AND THAT'S BECAUSE OF THE COURAGEOUS POSITIONS HE WOULD TAKE.

>> IN 1949, RABBI JULIAN FEIBELMAN FROM TEMPLE SINAI CAME UNDER HEAT IN THE COMMUNITY WHEN HE ALLOWED AN INTEGRATED AUDIENCE IN THE SYNAGOGUE FOR AN APPEARANCE BY UNITED NATIONS DIPLOMAT RALPH BUNCHE.

>> THE WELCOMING OF RALPH BUNCHE HERE IN THIS ROOM WITH THE FIRST INTEGRATED PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, THAT WAS HISTORY.

THAT WAS COURAGE.

[ MUSIC ] >> EVERY SPRING SINCE 1962, AROUND THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING, MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN NEW ORLEANS HAVE GATHERED AT THE JCC TO REMEMBER THE HOLOCAUST AND TO HONOR A GROUP OF LOCAL SURVIVORS WHO MADE THEIR WAY TO NEW ORLEANS AFTER THE WAR.

THOUGH THEIR RANKS ARE GREATLY DIMINISHED, THESE NEW AMERICANS ARE POIGNANT REMINDERS THAT ULTIMATELY, THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JEWS ARE OF LITTLE CONSEQUENCE.

THE SURRENDER OF GERMANY IN 1945 LEFT BEHIND MILLIONS OF REFUGEES, INCLUDING MANY JEWS, WHO HAD SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST.

AFTER WORLD WAR II, IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS ENACTED IN 1924 MADE IT DIFFICULT FOR HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS TO ENTER THE UNITED STATES.

FINALLY, IN 1948, PRESIDENT TRUMAN SIGNED A DISPLACED PERSONS ACT, WHICH ALLOWED 60,000 SURVIVORS TO COME TO THIS COUNTRY.

>> THERE ARE A LOT OF SURVIVORS WHO CAME THROUGH THE PORT.

AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY THE GERMAN REFORM JEWISH COMMUNITY, WERE VERY ACTIVE IN TRYING TO HELP THEM IN THAT TRANSITION PERIOD FROM BOAT TO TRAIN TO PLANE.

>> ONE GROUP THAT WAS ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN ASSISTING THE JEWISH DP'S WAS THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN.

THE ORGANIZATION HAS BEEN ON THE VANGUARD OF VOLUNTEERISM IN THE CITY SINCE THE LATE-1800'S.

SARA STONE JOINED THE COUNCIL BOARD IN 1946.

>> I CAME ON WHEN THEY WERE AN UNBELIEVABLE GROUP OF WOMEN AT THE LEADERSHIP.

IT WAS ALSO PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN INVOLVED IN THE FORMATION OF THE SECTION.

SO I HAD THE BENEFIT OF THEIR WISDOM, AND I BECAME PRESIDENT IN 1951.

>> ALMOST FROM THE TIME THE LOCAL SECTION WAS FORMED, COUNCIL MEMBERS HAD OFFERED AID TO JEWISH IMMIGRANTS WHO ARRIVED FROM EASTERN EUROPE IN THE 1900'S.

>> ALL THE OTHER WORK DONE WITH PEOPLE WHO CAME INTO THIS COUNTRY WAS A PRELUDE FOR WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE DISPLACED PERSONS ACT.

THESE SHIPS CAME IN ABOUT ONCE A MONTH FOR A PERIOD OF ABOUT THREE YEARS.

THEY CARRIED APPROXIMATELY 1200, 1300 PEOPLE, AND OF THAT NUMBER THERE WOULD BE 150 TO 200, 250 JEWISH PASSENGERS ONBOARD.

WE HAD PEOPLE WHO SAT AT THE GANGPLANK.

AS THE PEOPLE CAME DOWN, THEY WOULD MEET THEM.

OUR GROUP WENT TO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER WHERE THERE WAS ANOTHER GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS WHO SAW TO IT THAT THEY WERE FED.

THEY HANDLED IT AS IF THEY WERE HANDLING A PARTY IN THEIR OWN HOMES.

>> ANNE SKORECKI LEVY IS A POLISH HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR WHO ARRIVED IN NEW ORLEANS WITH HER FAMILY IN 1949.

ANNE, WHO WAS ABOUT 13 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME, HAS VIVID MEMORIES OF THEIR RECEPTION BY VOLUNTEERS FROM THE JEWISH WOMEN'S COUNCIL.

>> ONCE WE WENT THROUGH THE LEGAL ENTRY, THEY WERE THERE ON THE OTHER SIDE TO GREET ALL THE NEWCOMERS, AS WE CALLED OURSELVES.

AND I REMEMBER THEM BRINGING US TO THE JCC HERE ON ST. CHARLES AVENUE.

WHEN WE WALKED INTO THE JCC, THEY HAD TABLES WITH WHITE TABLECLOTHS AND EVERYTHING WAS PREPARED.

IT MADE AN IMPRESSION ON ME, THE SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY WAS THERE.

>> THEY DECIDED TO CAST THEIR BUCKETS DOWN WHERE THEY WERE, WHICH WAS IN NEW ORLEANS.

AND THEY JOINED THE SMALL GROUP OF OTHER SURVIVORS THAT WERE BEGINNING TO GROW, HAD FAMILY HERE, UNLIKE THEM AND SOON FORMED A CLUB CALLED THE NEW AMERICANS.

>> THE ESTABLISHED JEWS OF NEW ORLEANS WERE HAPPY TO OFFER THE NEWCOMERS ASSISTANCE, IF NOT KINSHIP.

>> IT WOULD BE UNFAIR TO SAY THEY DID NOT TRY TO HELP THEM.

BUT, WHEN IT CAME TO SOCIAL LIFE, A CURTAIN FELL.

YOU KNOW, THEY WERE A LITTLE UNCOMFORTABLE ABOUT THE ORTHODOX AND ETHNIC MARKERS THAT THIS COMMUNITY BROUGHT WITH THEM.

[ SPEAKING IN HEBREW ] >> ANOTHER LOCAL HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR IS SHEP ZITLER, A LITHUANIAN JEW WHO WAS DRAFTED INTO THE POLISH ARMY IN FEBRUARY OF 1939.

SEVEN MONTHS LATER, HIS UNIT WAS CAPTURED, AND FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS AND SEVEN MONTHS, HE WAS FORCED TO WORK IN VARIOUS P.O.W.

LABOR CAMPS.

AFTER HE WAS LIBERATED IN 1945, ZITLER WAS SENT TO SCOTLAND.

THEN HE MADE HIS WAY TO ENGLAND.

>> AND THEN WE WAITED FOR THREE AND A HALF YEARS 'TIL THEY GOT MY VISA.

AND I COULDN'T GO TO PALESTINE SO I FINALLY WENT TO AMERICA.

AND, WHEN I CAME OVER HERE, I HAD ONLY ONE UNCLE.

HE WAS OLD, WITH A COUSIN OF MINE.

THAT'S HOW IT STARTED.

THAT'S WHY I CAME OVER TO NEW ORLEANS.

>> ZITLER GOT INVOLVED WITH THE NEW AMERICANS SOCIAL CLUB IN 1961 AND ACTUALLY BECAME THE CLUB'S FIRST PRESIDENT.

BUT THE INFORMAL SOCIAL GROUP BECAME A SOCIAL FORCE.

THE CHANGE WAS PROMPTED BY THE VISIT TO NEW ORLEANS BY THE FOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN NAZI PARTY, GEORGE LINCOLN ROCKWELL.

>> WELL, THEY REACTED AS A GROUP.

WHEN ROCKWELL CAME INTO TOWN WITH HIS HOOLIGANS, BECAUSE "EXODUS" WAS PLAYING AT THE MOVIES THAT TIME, AND THEY WERE PROTESTING THE MOVIE.

AND IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT THE MEN, AND BY THAT TIME I WAS MARRIED, THEY GOT TOGETHER AND THEY SAID, WELL, WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING.

>> IN ORDER TO PROVOKE JEWS AND WIN SOME BACKLASH SYMPATHY, THE NEO-NAZI GROUP ORGANIZED PROTEST MARCHES IN FRONT OF THEATERS SHOWING "EXODUS," A MOVIE ABOUT THE FOUNDING OF ISRAEL.

>> AND THEY CHOSE TO DO IT IN NEW ORLEANS IN MAY OF 1961 IN ORDER TO COINCIDE WITH THE SCHEDULED ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST CONTINGENT OF THE BLACK AND WHITE FREEDOM RIDERS TO NEW ORLEANS.

>> ROCKWELL'S HATE RIDE TO NEW ORLEANS DIVIDED THE JEWISH COMMUNITY BETWEEN THOSE IN THE ESTABLISHMENT WHO WANTED TO WORK THROUGH THE SYSTEM AND THE NEW AMERICANS WHO WANTED TO FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE.

>> WE HEARD THAT ROCKWELL WAS GOING TO COME HERE AND HE'S GOING TO MARCH AGAINST THE FILM "EXODUS" WITH PAUL NEWMAN.

AND THEY SAY ONCE BECAUSE I'M GOING TO KILL HIM.

I'M GOING TO KILL.

WHO WANTS TO KILL RIGHT NOW?

I MEAN, WE ARE NOT KILLERS, WE ARE HERE IN AMERICA AND WE MADE A BIG HOO-HA.

>> DESPITE THREATS AND ARM-TWISTING FROM THE ESTABLISHED JEWISH COMMUNITY, ABOUT 20 SURVIVORS DROVE TO THE CIVIC THEATER ON BARONNE STREET ARMED WITH BASEBALL BATS AND IRON PIPE.

>> I WAS GOING WITH THE CAR AROUND WHEN WE SAW THEM MARCHING AND WE DID WANT TO GET OUT, YOU KNOW?

YOU COULDN'T STOP BUT YOU WENT AROUND, AND DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK?

SOMEHOW THEY HAD THE INPUT.

THEY WERE ONLY MARCHING MAYBE LESS THAN 10 MINUTES.

>> THEY WENT DOWN THERE TO CONFRONT THEM, BUT THE POLICE CHIEF AT THE TIME, JOE GIARRUSSO, WHO WAS LATER CITY COUNCILMAN, WAS DETERMINED NOT TO LET ANYTHING HAPPEN.

AND SO AS SOON AS ROCKWELL AND HIS PEOPLE APPEARED ON THE SCENE IN FROM OF THE OLD CIVIC THEATER, THEY WERE JOHNNY ON THE SPOT AND IMMEDIATELY ARRESTED THEM AND TOOK THEM OFF THE STREET.

>> THEN, RIGHT THERE, WE DECIDED THAT WE SAY, IF AS WE CAN BE A STRENGTH TO BE TOGETHER, SEPARATE WE ARE NOTHING.

>> 28 YEARS AFTER ROCKWELL STIRRED UP THE COMMUNITY, JEWS RETURNED TO THE POLITICAL ARENA WHEN INFAMOUS NEO-NAZI DAVID DUKE WAS SWEPT INTO MAINSTREAM POLITICS WITH A SHOCKING VICTORY IN METAIRIE.

>> HE WON A SPECIAL ELECTION FOR MY DISTRICT, DISTRICT 81, THIS VERY WELL —TO-DO DISTRICT, TO THE STATE HOUSE IN 1989.

AND I KNEW THEN, EVEN THOUGH HE SQUEAKED BY WITH A COUPLE OF HUNDRED VOTES, THAT THERE WERE THINGS GOING ON IN THE STATE THAT WOULD ALLOW HIM TO GAIN A HEAD OF STEAM.

>> DUKE'S STRATEGY WAS TO TAP INTO THE SENSE OF WHITE GRIEVANCE AGAINST AFRICAN-AMERICANS FUELED AT THE TIME BY AFFIRMATIVE ACTION.

>> IT WAS A COMBINATION OF RACE AND ECONOMIC INSECURITY.

BUT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S THE SAME KIND OF FORCES THAT HELPED BUILD THE NAZI MOVEMENT.

>> IN 1989, THE NEO-NAZI MET AN UNLIKELY FOE IN BATON ROUGE.

TO HER OWN SURPRISE, ANNE LEVY CONFRONTED DAVID DUKE IN THE ROTUNDA OF THE STATE CAPITOL DURING AN EXHIBIT OF HOLOCAUST POSTERS FROM THE SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER.

>> AND I SAID, WELL I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING LOOKING AT THESE POSTERS, BUT IF YOU'D LIKE, I COULD TELL YOU ABOUT IT BECAUSE I LIVED THROUGH IT.

THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT IT GOT INTO A MAGAZINE ABOUT THIS LITTLE OLD JEWISH LADY THAT WAS CHASING DAVID DUKE.

SO WHEN THEY ASKED HIM ABOUT IT IN THAT ARTICLE HE SAID IT WAS A ZIONIST CONSPIRACY.

>> WHENEVER HE TRIED TO SPEAK SOMEWHERE, SHE WOULD TRY TO SEARCH HIM OUT BECAUSE SHE REALIZED SHE HAD SOME POWER OVER HIM.

SO WHEREVER HE SPOKE, SHE'D BE THERE AND LET HIM KNOW THAT SHE WAS NOT GOING TO LET HIM RUN FROM HIS PAST.

>> DUKE WAS DEFEATED WHEN HE RAN FOR SENATE IN 1990 AND AGAIN IN THE GOVERNOR'S RACE A YEAR LATER.

HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS AND OTHER JEWS PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE CAMPAIGN TO DEFEAT DUKE AND END HIS CAREER AS A LEGITIMATE POLITICIAN.

>> WE WERE BEGGING FOR PEOPLE TO VOTE FOR THE CROOK BECAUSE EDWARDS WAS RUNNING AGAINST HIM AND WE HAD NO CHOICE.

[ MUSIC ] >> WHEN IT COMES TO FOOD, MUSIC AND EVEN HOLIDAY OBSERVANCE, JUDAISM IN THE CRESCENT CITY HAS ITS OWN UNIQUE FLAVOR.

TAKE JAZZ FEST SHABBAT, A SPECIAL WORSHIP SERVICE AT TOURO SYNAGOGUE DURING THE FIRST WEEKEND OF JAZZ FEST THAT INCORPORATES NEW ORLEANS MUSIC AND MUSICIANS.

EVEN BY NEW ORLEANS STANDARDS, THE LOCAL JEWISH COMMUNITY IS AN ANOMALY.

WHILE SOME JEWS ARE REVISITING THEIR ROOTS BY LEARNING ISRAELI DANCING UNDER THE DIRECTION OF ELLIOTT RAISEN, OTHERS ARE HANGING LIGHTS ON THE CHRISTMAS TREE.

>> NORTHERN RABBIS DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS PLACE BECAUSE IT REALLY IS TRULY VERY, VERY DIFFERENT.

THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND THE CULTURE, THE FACT THAT PEOPLE WERE COMFORTABLE WITH CHRISTMAS TREES AND SO FORTH.

>> WE LIT THE HANUKAH CANDLES BUT ALWAYS IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLINKING LIGHTS OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE.

>> WHILE JEWS MAY NOT BE WELCOME IN SOME OF THE OLD LINE MARDI GRAS KREWES, THEY HAVE MANAGED TO PUT THEIR OWN STAMP ON CARNIVAL.

>> WHAT THEY DID WAS BAND TOGETHER WITH THEIR IRISH FRIENDS AND ITALIAN FRIENDS AND CREATED CARROLLTON AND MID-CITY AND THOTH, AND THEY JUST MADE THEIR OWN GROUPS AND HAD A GREAT TIME.

>> JACKIE GOTHARD IS TRUE MARDI GRAS ROYALTY.

HER FATHER WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO BRING DOUBLOONS AND CZECHOSLOVAKIAN BEADS INTO THE CITY, STRAIGHT FROM THE OLD COUNTRY.

>> HE HAD PRESSNER'S CARNIVAL MART AND IT GREW AND GREW.

HE WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST MERCHANDISERS OF CARNIVAL BEADS SO MARDI GRAS WAS BIG IN MY FAMILY.

>> A LESS TRADITIONAL JEWISH CARNIVAL ORGANIZATION IS THE KREWE DUMISHIGAS, A SPIN-OFF OF THE KREWE DU JIEUX, THE FIRST JEWISH MARDI GRAS KREWE.

THE KREWE, WHICH IN ITS OFF-SEASON HAS MEMBER SHABBAT AND SCHMOOZE DINNERS AND PASSOVER SEDERS, MARCHES WITH THE ECLECTIC KREWE DU VIEUX.

>> THIS YEAR, WE HAD 34 MARCHING MEMBERS.

WE TRY TO KEEP JEWISH THEMES OR A JEWISH ELEMENT TO OUR THEME.

SO, THIS YEAR, IT WAS THE TOWER OF BABBLE, LAST YEAR IT WAS NOLA' S ARK.

WE'VE HAD THE METAIRIE JEW BILLIES.

A LOT OF OUR THEMES, ESPECIALLY IN THE EARLIER YEARS, WERE BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF FLAGGING AND BUSTING JEWISH STEREOTYPES.

>> THE KREWE'S COVETED THROW IS A DECORATED BAGEL, A SPOOF ON ZULU'S COCONUT.

BUT IT HAS ALSO BEEN KNOWN TO THROW YIDDISH DICTIONARIES.

>> THERE ARE A LOT OF JEWS PARTICIPATING IN CARNIVAL.

I MEAN, THEY'RE SORT OF INVISIBLE IN THAT THEY DON'T FLAG THEIR JEWISHNESS.

KREWE DU VIEUX, THE ENTIRE KREWE IS A LITTLE OVER 900, AND I WOULD SAY SOMEWHERE BETWEEN A QUARTER AND A THIRD OF THE MEMBERSHIP OF KREWE DU VIEUX ARE JEWISH.

>> HOW MANY SYNAGOGUES SCHEDULE THEIR SERVICES AROUND MARDI GRAS PARADES?

THAT'S NEW ORLEANS.

AND, OF COURSE, THERE'S THAT OTHER MAJOR RELIGION OF LOUISIANA AND NEW ORLEANS, THAT BEING THE SAINTS.

AND RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO CLOSE EARLY ON DAYS OF A HOME GAME.

>> KEEPING KOSHER IN A CITY THAT IS RENOWNED FOR ITS SHELLFISH HAS PROVEN TO BE A CHALLENGE.

REFORM JEWS DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DENYING THEMSELVES THE PLEASURE OF LOCAL SEAFOOD DELICACIES.

BUT EVEN ORTHODOX JEWS ADMIT THAT THEY GIVE IN TO TEMPTATION.

AS ONE LOCAL PUT IT, WE KEEP A KOSHER HOME, BUT WHEN I'M OUT I HAVE THE LOBSTER.

>> WELL, THEY ASKED ME WHY MY FAMILY CAME HERE AND I SAID, BECAUSE THEY HEARD THE SEAFOOD WAS SO GOOD.

A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE KOSHER STILL WILL EAT SOME OYSTERS IF NOBODY'S LOOKING.

>> WE NEVER KEPT KOSHER.

IN FACT, WE JOKINGLY SAID IN THE FAMILY THAT THE ONLY WAS WE KEPT KOSHER WAS WE NEVER ATE RAW OYSTERS IN A MONTH WITHOUT AN “R ”.

>> I TELL PEOPLE ALL THE TIME THAT JEWS IN NEW ORLEANS HAVE FIVE SETS OF DISHES.

ORTHODOX JEWS.

MILK DISHES AND MEAT DISHES.

PASSOVER MILK, PASSOVER MEAT AND THEN YOU HAVE THE CRAWFISH DISHES.

>> NOW ONLY TEMPLE SINAI HAS SEAFOOD BINGO STILL, BUT TOURO SYNAGOGUE USED TO HAVE SEAFOOD DINNERS.

OUTSIDERS WOULD SAY, THEY HAVE WHAT?

[ MUSIC ] >> WHEN CAJUN COOKING BECAME A NATIONAL SENSATION IN THE 1980'S, LOCAL AUTHORS MILDRED COVERT AND SYLVIA GERSON PROVIDED KOSHER COOKS WITH TASTY ADAPTATIONS TO THE REGIONAL CUISINE WITH A SERIES OF COOKBOOKS THAT ARE STILL POPULAR TODAY.

>> I THINK WE ARE CREDITED WITH CREATING A DIFFERENT TYPE OF COOKING BUT PROBABLY ONE THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE ALREADY DOING AND JUST DIDN'T NAME IT OR CLASSIFY IT.

YOU HAD TO ADAPT.

AND I THINK THAT'S A KEY WORD IN OUR BOOKS.

IT'S A KEY WORD IN JEWISH LIVING.

IT'S A KEY WORD IN ANCESTRY FOR JEWISH PEOPLE.

I FIX A CHICKEN CLEMENCEAU.

WHAT DIFFERENCE WHETHER I USE A KOSHER CHICKEN OR A REGULAR CHICKEN?

AND I'LL FIX THE SAME CHICKEN CLEMENCEAU THAT GALATOIRE'S DOES.

NO DIFFERENCE.

SO I MAKE MY RED BEANS WITH A KOSHER SMOKED SAUSAGE.

BIG DEAL.

AS SYLVIA AND I WOULD WRITE, WE'D SAY, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN CREOLE KOSHER COOKS ALL OUR LIVES, WE'VE NEVER REALIZED IT UNTIL WE PUT IT INTO WRITING.

>> KOSHER CAJUN DELI OWNER JOEL BROWN HAS HIS HANDS FULL KEEPING UP WITH THE DEMAND FOR KOSHER FOOD AT THE METAIRIE BUSINESS HE STARTED 20 YEARS AGO.

>> GROWING UP IN A KOSHER HOME, THE WANT WAS THERE.

ALSO, GROWING UP IN NEW ORLEANS AND SEEING WHAT WAS LACKING IN THE KOSHER FOOD INDUSTRY HERE OR WHAT WAS AVAILABLE.

JUST IN SOME OF THE GROCERY STORES THEY HAD, JUST LIKE THERE'S AN ASIAN SECTION AND A CHINESE SECTION, THERE WAS LIKE A FOUR-FOOT KOSHER SECTION WITH SOME OF YOUR STAPLE ITEMS.

THE FAMILIES HERE THAT KEPT STRICTLY KOSHER HAD TO BRING IN STUFF FROM OUT OF TOWN.

NEW YORK DELI IS OUR THEME, REAL AUTHENTIC NEW YORK DELI.

CORNED BEEF AND PASTRAMI, KNISHES AND CHOPPED LIVER, MATZO BALL SOUP.

>> ALTHOUGH THE DELI TOOK ON SEVERAL INCHES OF WATER DURING KATRINA, BROWN WAS ABLE TO REOPEN THE BUSINESS AFTER THREE HARD MONTHS OF CLEAN-UP AND CONSTRUCTION.

BUSINESS IS BETTER THAN EVER AND HE'S SEEN THE PERCENTAGE OF HIS NON-JEWISH CLIENTELE INCREASE TO ABOUT 75% OF HIS SALES.

AS SETTLEMENT PATTERNS CHANGED AND CONGREGATION MEMBERS DISPERSED THROUGHOUT THE CITY, THE OLD SYNAGOGUES WERE LEFT BEHIND.

>> A LOT OF BETH ISRAEL FAMILIES WERE MOVING OUT TO THE LAKEVIEW AREA, AND BETH ISRAEL WAS THE FIRST TO MOVE FROM THE INNER CITY AREA TO THE LAKEFRONT AREA.

AND WE WERE THERE UNTIL KATRINA.

>> IRONICALLY, GATES OF PRAYER, WHICH HAD BEGUN AS THE CITY'S FIRST SUBURBAN SYNAGOGUE IN THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE, WAS THE FIRST CONGREGATION TO MOVE TO THE SUBURBAN AREA OF METAIRIE SOME 100 YEARS LATER.

>> IN THE LATE 1960S, THERE WAS TALK ABOUT MOVING THE CONGREGATION TO THE SUBURBS.

THERE WAS A SHIFT OF THE JEWISH POPULATION TO THE SUBURBS TO METAIRIE AND ULTIMATELY LATER ON TO KENNER.

WE ALSO SAW THAT HAVING THE THREE REFORM CONGREGATIONS OF NEW ORLEANS SIMPLY WITHIN BLOCKS OF EACH OTHER DIDN'T MAKE A LOT OF SENSE.

NOW THE WEST ESPLANADE CORRIDOR OVER TOWARDS CAUSEWAY, RIVALS THE JEWISH CORRIDOR OF SAINT CHARLES AVENUE.

>> CHANGES IN LOCAL JUDAISM HASN'T BEEN RESTRICTED TO GEOGRAPHY.

>> WHEN CONSERVATIVES STARTED, WHICH IS SHIR HADASH TODAY, SOME OF OUR MEMBERS WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN HELPING THEM GET STARTED AND MOVED OVER TO THE CONSERVATIVE CONGREGATION.

>> I GREW UP GOING TO THE CONSERVATIVE TEMPLE, WHICH USED TO BE UPTOWN AT THE TIME.

IT WAS CALLED CONSERVATIVE CONGREGATION.

MY FATHER WAS THE PAST PRESIDENT OF THAT SHIR.

AND HE WAS PRESIDENT AT THE TIME WHEN THEY BOUGHT THE LAND DOWN IN METAIRIE ON WEST ESPLANADE.

IT WAS CALLED TIKVAT SHALOM AND NOW THE THIRD NAME IS SHIR CHADASH WHEN THEY MERGED WITH CHEVRA THILIM.

>> NO MATTER WHICH SYNAGOGUE THEY ATTENDED IN THEIR YOUTH, IT'S NOT UNUSUAL IN NEW ORLEANS FOR JEWS TO SWITCH AFFILIATION WHEN THEY REACH ADULTHOOD.

SANDY LEVY, A MEMBER OF TEMPLE SINAI WHO HAS SERVED AS PRESIDENT OF THE CONGREGATION, WAS RAISED IN AN ORTHODOX HOME.

>> I THINK THAT WHAT WAS ATTRACTIVE TO ME ABOUT REFORM JUDAISM IS THE LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION THAT WOMEN HAD.

AND, AT THE TIME THAT I WAS GROWING UP, YOU DIDN'T ALWAYS SEE THAT IN ORTHODOX JUDAISM.

THINGS ARE REALLY CHANGING.

>> WHEN WE OPENED THE HEBREW SCHOOL, WE HAD PEOPLE WHO WEREN'T AFFILIATED ANYWHERE.

THEY WERE A BIT CONCERNED THAT THEIR KIDS KNEW MORE ABOUT EASTER THAN PASSOVER.

SO WHEN WE OPENED THE SCHOOL I WAS, LIKE, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE MEMBER.

COME IN.

THE KIDS WOULD LEARN.

THE POINT WAS THAT NOW THEY HAD A CONNECTION WITH THE JEWISH COMMUNITY.

>> FURTHER ALTERING THE IDENTITY OF NEW ORLEANS JEWS ARE CHANGES IN CONGREGATIONS THAT HAVE BLURRED THE LINE BETWEEN REFORM AND ORTHODOX WORSHIP.

>> WHEN I CAME HERE IT BECAME APPARENT THAT WE REALLY NEEDED TO HAVE A CANTOR.

WELL THE ATTITUDE WAS A CANTOR IS ORTHODOX AND SO WE FOUGHT THAT BATTLE AND WE GOT A CANTOR AND THEY IMMEDIATELY LOVED THE CANTOR.

>> THE CHANGES IN THE REFORM SYNAGOGUES HAVE NOT BEEN EMBRACED BY ALL OF THE UPTOWN GERMAN JEWS.

>> I HAVE AN ACQUAINTANCE WHO BELONGS TO TOURO SYNAGOGUE WHO SAID TO ME JUST RECENTLY, I DON'T CONSIDER TOURO REFORM.

I SAID, YOU DON'T?

AND SHE SAID, NO, IT'S NOT REFORM LIKE I KNEW IT.

JUST THE WHOLE TENOR OF THE SERVICE NOW IS MUCH MORE TRADITIONAL, MUCH MORE JEWISH.

>> ALL THE DIFFERENT REFORM, CONSERVATIVE AND ORTHODOX, EVERYONE'S SHIFTING TO BE A LITTLE MORE RELIGIOUS, A LITTLE CLOSER TO GOD, TO PUT A LITTLE MORE OF THAT BACK INTO OUR DAILY LIVES.

>> THE HURRICANE THAT ROARED INTO NEW ORLEANS ON AUGUST 29, 2005, WAS AN EQUAL-OPPORTUNITY DISASTER THAT CHANGED THE REALITY OF EVERYONE IN THE CITY.

>> THE JEWISH COMMUNITY'S BEEN HIT LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE IN GREATER NEW ORLEANS IN A BAD WAY.

WE WERE ORIGINALLY NUMBERED AROUND 10,000 SOULS.

WE'RE DOWN TO ABOUT 6,700 PEOPLE.

SO WE'VE LOST ALMOST 30% OF OUR PEOPLE.

WE'RE A SMALLER COMMUNITY, BUT I THINK WE'RE MUCH STRONGER THAN WE WERE BEFORE AND I CAN SHOW THAT IN A NUMBER OF WAYS.

PEOPLE ARE PARTICIPATING.

PEOPLE ARE INVOLVED IN WAYS THAT THEY WEREN'T BEFORE.

>> WE'VE PROBABLY LOST AROUND 20% OF OUR MEMBERS.

THAT WAS HARD TO LOSE SPECIAL PEOPLE.

AND WHEN YOU LOSE PART OF YOUR CONGREGATIONAL FAMILY, IT HURTS.

LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, YOU LEARN TO LICK YOUR WOUNDS AND MOVE FORWARD.

WE CAN PROUDLY SAY WE'RE BACK ON OUR FEET.

>> UNFORTUNATELY, THE SAME CANNOT BE SAID FOR BETH ISRAEL, WHICH WAS COMPLETELY DEVASTATED BY 12 TO 15 FEET OF MUDDY LAKE WATER THAT POURED INTO THE SYNAGOGUE FROM THE BREACH IN THE 17TH STREET CANAL FOLLOWING THE HURRICANE.

>> IT HAD BEEN TWO AND A HALF WEEKS SINCE THE FLOOD.

THE MOLD HAD ALREADY TAKEN OVER AND THE BOOKS WERE STREWN ALL OVER THE PLACE, ALL THE PRAYER BOOKS.

NOT ONE BENCH, NOT ONE PEW, NOT ONE READING TABLE WAS IN ITS PLACE.

EVERYTHING HAD JUST BEEN SWIRLED AROUND AND TOSSED AROUND BY THE WATER, AND IT WAS SO DEVASTATING.

>> WITH ITS CONGREGATION SCATTERED ACROSS THE COUNTRY, BETH ISRAEL'S SEVEN TORAH SCROLLS WERE REMOVED FROM THE SYNAGOGUE BY MEMBERS OF A JEWISH RESCUE AND RECOVERY ORGANIZATION FROM NEW YORK.

UNFORTUNATELY, THE SACRED TEXTS, THE HOLIEST OBJECTS IN JUDAISM, COULD NOT BE REPAIRED AND SO ACCORDING TO JEWISH TRADITION THEY WERE BURIED ALONG WITH 3,000 PRAYER BOOKS IN THE CONGREGATION'S CEMETERY IN GENTILLY.

>> IN THE LIFE OF MOST JEWS, THEY WILL NOT SEE A TORAH SCROLL BEING BURIED.

AND THE SAD THING THAT WE HAD TO DO WAS BURY SEVEN TORAH SCROLLS AT ONE TIME.

>> WHILE THE ORTHODOX CONGREGATION STRUGGLES TO REGROUP FROM ITS LOSS, IT HAS ACCEPTED THE OFFER OF GATES OF PRAYER TO HOLD SERVICES TEMPORARILY IN ITS METAIRIE FACILITY.

A YEAR AND A HALF AFTER KATRINA, THE ANNUAL CHANUKAH CELEBRATION AT THE RIVERWALK HOSTED BY CHABAD OF LOUISIANA WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HOLIDAY FUN, NOT TO MENTION ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT LATKES.

IT WAS ALSO AN OCCASION NOT ONLY TO OBSERVE THE MIRACLE OF THE MENORAH BUT ALSO ANOTHER MIRACLE OF SORTS: THE PULLING TOGETHER OF THE VARIOUS FACTIONS OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY.

[ MUSIC ] SINCE THE DISASTER, LOCAL JEWISH AGENCIES AND INSTITUTIONS HAVE PARTNERED IN A TREMENDOUS EFFORT TO ASSIST THE JEWISH COMMUNITY.

FOR SEVEN MONTHS AFTER KATRINA, THE UPTOWN JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER SERVED AS A FEMA CENTER, REPLICATING ITS ROLE AS A SAFE HAVEN FOR REFUGEES.

>> WHEN ANNE LEVY TALKED ABOUT COMING HERE AFTER THE HOLOCAUST, THAT WE SET THE TABLES, WE HAD DINNER, WE WANTED THINGS TO BE NORMAL FOR PEOPLE AND WELCOMING AND RETURNING.

IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR US TO WELCOME PEOPLE BACK TO NEW ORLEANS.

>> THE NEW ORLEANS JEWISH ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION HAS BEEN SAVING FOR A RAINY DAY SINCE IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1967.

EACH YEAR, THE ORGANIZATION DISTRIBUTES OVER $2 MILLION TO BOTH JEWISH AND NON-JEWISH CAUSES.

>> WE WERE VERY FORTUNATE THAT JEWISH INDIVIDUALS LEFT MONEY TO THE JEWISH ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION FOR JUST SUCH A DAY AS THIS ONE, WHEN WE WOULD NEED TO DIP INTO OUR RESOURCES TO HELP SECURE AND STABILIZE OUR JEWISH AGENCIES AND OUR JEWISH COMMUNITY.

>> TO ENCOURAGE JEWS TO MAKE NEW ORLEANS THEIR HOME, THE JEWISH FEDERATION HAS PUT TOGETHER AN INCENTIVE PACKAGE TO ATTRACT 1,000 JEWISH FAMILIES OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, WHILE ENHANCING JEWISH LIFE IN THE CITY SO THAT FAMILIES WHO ARE ALREADY HERE WILL STAY.

>> WE ARE COMPLETELY COMMITTED TO SUPPORTING THE FEDERATION'S EFFORTS TO RETAIN THOSE THAT WE HAVE AND ATTRACT NEW PEOPLE.

IT'S VERY CHALLENGING TO STAY HERE, BUT I THINK THAT IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU BASICALLY BLEED NEW ORLEANS, IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO CONCEIVE OF LEAVING AND GOING SOMEPLACE ELSE.

>> DISASTERS ARE TERRIBLE AND WHAT HAPPENED HERE IS REALLY HEARTBREAKING, BUT IN A STRANGE SORT OF IRONIC WAY, DISASTER ALSO BRINGS OPPORTUNITIES.

>> THINGS ARE STARTING TO LOOK UP FOR BETH ISRAEL.

THE CONGREGATION RECENTLY RECEIVED A SECOND TORAH AS A GIFT FROM MEMBERS OF A CONSERVATIVE CONGREGATION WHO WERE IMPRESSED BY THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE ORTHODOX AND THE REFORM SYNAGOGUES.

THE JEWS OF THE CITY ARE READY FOR WHATEVER COMES THEIR WAY, DRAWING COMFORT FROM THE OVER 250 YEARS OF LOCAL TRADITION AND A FAITH THAT REMINDS THEM THAT THERE ARE STILL MANY REASONS TO CELEBRATE.

THE STORM HAS ADDED GREATER DEPTH OF MEANING FOR HOLIDAYS LIKE SUKKOT, A FALL FESTIVAL WITH BOTH HISTORICAL AND AGRICULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE.

AS FAMILIES AND CONGREGATIONS DECORATE THE SUKKAH, THEY ARE REMINDED THAT THEY ARE INTRINSICALLY CONNECTED TO A PEOPLE WHO POSSESSED THE ULTIMATE SURVIVAL SKILLS.

>> THE SPLENDID ARRAY OF THE COLOR OF THE LEAVES REASSURE THAT WHAT APPEARS TO BE THE END REALLY ISN'T AT ALL.

SO THE SUKKAH BOOTH IS A SYMBOL OF THE HOMELESSNESS AND THE PILGRIMAGE OF OUR PEOPLE.

AND THERE AGAIN IS A WONDERFUL ANCHOR OF FAITH, THE UNDERSTANDING THAT WE DON'T CELEBRATE OUR ARRIVING.

WE CELEBRATE THE JOURNEY.

[ MUSIC ] >> THERE ARE LOTS OF EXPRESSIONS.

THAT'S ONE OF THE BEAUTIES OF THE CLAN, WHATEVER THE RELIGION, THE NATION, THE PEOPLE, WHATEVER IT IS THAT WE ARE.

YOU HAVE SORT OF TREMENDOUS DIVERSITY AND INTENSE CLEAVAGE TO THIS THING CALLED TRADITION.

[ MUSIC ] >> THE THING ABOUT THE NEW ORLEANS JEWISH COMMUNITY IS WE'RE SMALL.

AND SOMETIMES BEING SMALL HAS AN ADVANTAGE BECAUSE IF YOU GROW UP WHERE THERE ARE A MILLION JEWS IN A COMMUNITY, YOU CAN KIND OF GET LOST IN THOSE NUMBERS.

>> I ONCE SAID, "JEWS CANNOT BE A MINORITY.

THERE ARE TOO MANY DIFFERENT FACTIONS.

THERE ARE TOO MANY MEETINGS.

YOU CAN'T BE A SMALL GROUP AND HAVE THAT MUCH ASCENSION."

YOU KNOW, THEY SAY, "PUT TWO JEWS TOGETHER, YOU GET THREE OPINIONS."

>> THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH A GRANT FROM THE LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, A STATE AFFILIATE OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES.

WITH ADDITIONAL FUNDING PROVIDED BY THE JEWISH ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION OF LOUISIANA.

FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION, LINKING OUR PAST TO OUR FUTURE.

AND THE WYES PRODUCERS CIRCLE, A GROUP OF GENEROUS CONTRIBUTORS DEDICATED TO THE SUPPORT OF CHANNEL 12'S LOCAL PRODUCTIONS.