A New Orleans Shliach’s Diary
This morning (Thursday) Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff took Rabbi (Zelig) Rivkin and myself to the Astrodome, the staging ground for the evacuees, where we spent several hours searching for familiar faces and counselling people. We also had a chance to network with the Red Cross and other groups that are heading up the relief effort in Houston. We met a New Orleans Times Picayune reporter who is Jewish and spent some time with him.Meanwhile, Bluma, Malkie and Yosef Rivkin have been manning the phones trying to contact people and follow up with the myriads of messages from people who want to locate loved ones, offer help etc.
Rabbi and Mrs. Traxler of Chabad of Houston have allowed us to use some of their office space as a little central command for New Orleans Jewish connections. Rabbi Rivkin met with the Houston federation leadership along with members of the New Orleans federation who are in Houston to discuss the relief effort and future rebuilding. Several New Orleans children spent their first day at Torah Day School in Houston.
Tonight there was a prayer service, where Rabbi Rivkin addressed the assembled about the situation and the fund that was set up on our site. We met with a member of the New Orleans community who is still trying to track down his mother. We are trying to connect local host families with people in need of hospitality. We are receiving constant requests for interviews from various news agencies and members of the media just walk up to us and start filming and asking questions. It has been a grueling day and we intend to continue tomorrow to keep looking for missing people. As news of more people that are located comes in we are happy. I was elated to finally have spoken with Rabbi Nemes who is in Memphis currently. His neighbors, Jane Tavlin and the Walthers are finally safe as well, thank G-d.
Chabad here has really opened up for us and they continue to amaze us with their generosity and willingness to help. People are bringing things by and calling off the hook with offers for help. I will try to get more in tomorrow before Shabbat begins.
