Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 59, No. 36, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 8, 2005 Page: 1 of 24
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TJP V59-36 09-08-05 p01-04 9/6/05 7:13 PM Page 1
-e
Thursday, September 8,2005
4 Elul 5765
Texas Jewish
J Since 1947
Post
Does ft
a Differ®106-
Mississippi coast's
only synagogue
weathers storm
2
Local authors' book
'Jewish: Does it Make a
Difference?' a must read
Prepare your yard
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14
VOLUME 59 NO. 36
texasjewishpost.com
Community
reaches out
to Katrina
evacuees
Louisianans tell how
they're disconnected
from pre-hurricane lives
By Ste\'e Israel
Special to the TJP
DALLAS — Local Jews embraced
more than 550 New Orleans-area
residents over the Labor Day
weekend after the Louisianans
sought the high ground of Texas,
about 500 miles from last week's
deadly flooding, spawned by Hur-
ricane Katrina.
Jewish Family Service profes-
sionals thanked the community for
its "astonishing" generosity, and
asked everyone to continue to reach
out as the evacuees move from the
current "crisis" stage to a longer
period of adjustment and
rebuilding.
Streams of storm evacuees —
who fled the New Orleans area with
few belongings — poured through
JFS offices at 5402 Arapaho Road at
the Dallas North Tollway, taking
advantage of professional JFS per-
sonal and job counseling services
and generous donations of clothes,
food and personal items from syn-
agogues, individuals, scouts, schools
and many other groups.
Some 25 of JFS' 40 staff members
went into overdrive while contin-
uing to deliver their usual
mental-health, career and social ser-
vices to the Dallas community.
Jews and non-Jews told stories of
shock, fear, loss and disconnected-
ness from their normal lives.
Eva and Henry Geller, who are in
their 80s, said the unexpected hur-
ricane experience jolted back
memories of Nazi oppression in
their native Poland. "For us it is a
shock like a second Holocaust," the
82-year-old Eva Geller maintained.
see JFS p. 3
m
m
. Midi
l'
When JFS volunteer Joan Goltz (left) heard that Hurricane Katrina ruined Rachel Johnson's telephone-teletype electronic
device, Goltz offered Johnson a similar device that her own deaf daughter no longer uses. The women crossed paths at
JFS offices over the weekend, renewing an acquaintance from years earlier when they met at a training course for the
deaf. The New Orleans woman "hears" by reading lips, Goltz explained. Photo: Steve Israel
Rabbi s grass-roots shelter burgeons
By Matt Samuels
Jewish Herald-Voice
BATON ROUGE, La.—Pardon
Baton Rouge Rabbi Barry Weinstein
if he looks like he hasn't slept in a
couple days. The truth is, he hasn't
had time for rest because he is too
busy making sure others are given
that opportunity.
Rabbi Weinstein and his congre-
gation at B'nai Israel Synagogue
started a grass-roots shelter opera-
tion for evacuees fleeing the New
Orleans area during the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina. With desig-
nated Red Cross shelters reaching
capacity all around Louisiana, Rabbi
Weinstein has opened his arms and
his doors to anyone that needs a
place to stay or food in their mouth.
"As a student of the Holocaust, I
know7 full well how Jews and others
were abandoned so often during the
war years and so many people were
bystanders and couldn't find a way to
help," Rabbi Weinstein said. "This
whole epi sode reminds me of the suf-
ferings. It really is a parallel—a storm,
a threat, poor, underprivileged
people. What some of these kids wrent
through we can't even imagine."
More than 100 people are passing
through the synagogue each day, while
up to 70 are spending the night every
evening. Congregation members are
answering the call with donations and
food, while others are volunteering
their time around the clock.
Sleeping bags and cots fill rooms
where religious school would nor-
mally be taught. Diapers and baby
clothes line the area where they have
oneg Shabbats. And a conference
room has been converted into a
makeshift hospital room.
A neurologist in the Jewish com-
munity is treating those who need
medical attention. A local man
spent time cooking large pots of
chicken soup. Another man drove
his school bus down to New Orleans
to pick up those in need.
Even younger groups are lending
a hand. A 9-year-old prepared and
served scrambled eggs for breakfast
one morning. The youth group is
helping out by baby sitting some of
the smaller children. A local Boy
Scout troupe provided tents that are
being used for overflow guests.
Dorothy Marshall, a schoolteacher
from Williamsburg, Va., decided to
come to the area because she felt her
help was needed. When she couldn't
get all the way down to New Orleans,
she wound up at B'nai Israel.
"Everybody back home thought
I was crazy for coming all the way
here," Marshall said. "They said I
would be bitten by alligators."
Instead, she has become another
see GRASS-ROOTS p. 10
$1.00
Hurricane
Katrina inspires
outpouring of
creative support
By Melissa Maroff
DALLAS — As soon as reports of
Hurricane Katrina touching down in
New Orleans hit the news wires, Dal-
lasites Gina and Alan Tolmas' phone
was ringing off the hook. Alan's par-
ents and sister live in New Orleans
and people wanted to make sure they
were OK. "We got calls from all over
the country. We even got one from
Israel at 1 a.m. their time," says Gina.
The Tolmas' daughter Sheina and
two of her eighth-grade classmates
at Akiba Academy who also have
connections to New Orleans, Eric
Wohlstadter, whose grandparents
survived the hurricane, and Miles
Pulitzer, whose great-grandmother
had to evacuate, are in charge of
collecting money and supplies from
their schoolmates as part of a drive
organized by the eighth-grade class.
Gina and daughter Cara, a sixth
grader, take the donations of
canned food, pillows, blankets,
clothing and baby needs, and dis-
perse them to various organizations
to aid Katrina victims. In addition,
the mother-daughter team drops
off supplies such as bottled water at
local Residence Inns where a large
number of evacuees are staying.
Several Jewish evacuees had
enrolled in Akiba at presstime.
Yavneh Academy of Dallas' stu-
dent council has also been
collecting dollars and donations for
victims. Students have been asked
to bring in a minimum of $10
(many brought more) that will be
sent to the Jewish Federation of
Greater Dallas for dissemination. In
addition, clothing, canned goods,
water and other items are being col-
lected which will be sent to various
organizations serving the victims.
As part of the school year's first sci-
ence project, students at The Wise
Academy in Dallas tracked the progress
of Hurricane Katrina — little did they
know they would find themselves
taking up a collection for its victims.
see SUPPORT p. 21
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Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 59, No. 36, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 8, 2005, newspaper, September 8, 2005; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth188096/m1/1/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .