Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?

On Friday, January 5th, we got together with about 80 students for a Kabbalat Shabbat service in a volunteer camp "Camp Coastal" in Kiln, Missisipi. It was the last day of our work in the Gulf Coast. Between Monday, Jan 1st and that Friday, we painted, framed houses, put up siding and did a lot of gutting. We also met house owners, families, cab drivers and Jewish community members. We talked to people that lost everything, witnessed rape and murder and had relatives die. We talked to people that bring great energy and hope to rebuilding the Gulf Coast and the city of New Orleans. At Kabbalat Shabbat Rabbi Lehmann pointed out some parts in the service that, being in the Gulf Coast and doing what we were doing, had a powerful meaning that I never paid attention to before.

Psalm 29, Song of David

Yah’s thunder rolls over the sea. Storming over the vast expanse of water.

Yah’s sound is forceful. Yah’s sound is majestic.

Yah’s thunder shatters cedars, The very mighty Cedars of Lebanon.

They leap about like calves, Lebanon and Siryon cavort

As if they were young lambs.

Hurricane Katrina was the coastliest and deadliest of the hurricanes to ever hit the US. The storm surge caused severe and catastrophic damage along the Gulf coast, devastating the cities of Mobile, Alabama; Waveland and Biloxi/Gulfport in Mississippi; and New Orleans and other towns in Louisiana. Levees separating Lake Pontchartrain and several canals from New Orleans were breached by the surge, subsequently flooding 80% of the city and many areas of neighboring parishes for weeks. Severe wind damage was reported well inland. There are over 300 miles of devastation along the Gulf Coast.At least 1,836 people lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina and in the subsequent floods.

Yah’s thunder splits firebrands. Yah’s crash makes the deserts tremble-

The very desert of Kadesh. Yah’s din makes the gazelles give birth.

Strips bare the forests. – While in His Palace

All adore and honor Him.

50% of the population of New Orleans did not return after Katrina. Every day of our to the worksites we would drive past the unbelievable devastation – houses falling apart, destroyed gas stations and restaurants, empty parking lots. This is 16 months after The Storm.

What amazed me the most was not the amount of devastation, but lack of central organization. Where do you go if you want to rebuild? Who gets to decide what happens with the 9th Ward? Who do you talk to about insurance issues? Who, after all, gives a damn? Katrina now is regarded by the media as “old news”. Newpapers don’t write about it, television doesn’t film it, government doesn’t fund it.

There are houses on the streets of New Orleans that haven’t been touched, that still have full refrigirators and dish washer since before Katrina. Last day of our trip we gutted a house in Lower 9th ward – the poorest area of New Orleans that was hit the hardest when the levees broke. The owner, Angela, is 87 years old and has not been able to return to the house since the storm – the doorways were blocked by falled furniture. Angela’s daughter had a stroke just before Katrina hit, and passed away in the hospital during the storm, because of a failed generator. In the ruins of the house we found Angela’s social security card, many editions of the African American Bible and wonderful family photos. We took out plates, drywall and cabinets, mardi gras beads and family mementos.

Angela says her granddaughter grew up in the house, and she wants to have it rebuilt for her. The collective destiny of the Lower Ninth Ward remains a mystery, with different sides arguing whether it should be rebuilt.

The man that we were building the house for has 24 grandchildren. He keeps chickens as pets – during the storm the chickens were eggs, and after spending almost 7 weeks under water, they hatched.

Majestic city, proudly rear

Your head, come forth, no need to fear.

No need to shed another tear,

Just yield and flow in mercy's grace.

Hope! rise up from the dust of the earth.

Your radiant clothes proclaim your worth.

Lekha Dodi

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