2021 Annual Campaign Donate here
Sherry & Alan Leventhal Center for Interfaith Families Learn more here.
Edie & Paul Rosenblum Gift of Israel Program More
Jewish Pride New Orleans More

2021 Annual Campaign Donate here
Sherry & Alan Leventhal Center for Interfaith Families Learn more here.
Edie & Paul Rosenblum Gift of Israel Program More
Jewish Pride New Orleans More

Yom Kippur in New Orleans

Here's what Greater New Orleans has scheduled for Yom Kippur - we wish you an easy and meaningful fast.

Learn more here.

Volunteer with Nechama

The Jewish Federation is partnering with Nechama to help those most affected by Hurricane Ida this Saturday, September 18 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Norco, Louisiana (approximately 30-40 minutes from New Orleans), weather permitting. Volunteers will assist a mother of two whose husband is currently serving in the military overseas.

Lunch and snacks are included and the Federation team will have water available but not single-use plastic bottles, so please bring your own water bottle! We'll need your help with the following:

Mucking - the removal of mud, muck, and other typically semi-solid material from a home, caused by flooding.
Gutting - the removal of damaged construction-related materials, including drywall, insulation, etc.
Lifting - removing items that may weigh up to 30 lbs.

Those who have registered with the Jewish Community Response Volunteer Initiative (JCRVI) will receive the address and more details later this week. If you have not signed up for the JCRVI, please do so by clicking here.

All volunteers must be vaccinated.

Hurricane Ida Resources

We are in communication with other local and national Jewish leadership, and will be updating a resource list on a rolling basis. In the interim, should you need anything, please feel free to reach out at arnie@jewishnola.com or 504-905-9025.

Stay well, south Louisiana. Our hearts are with you, and we are working hard to offer support as we can. If you have updates on resources or streaming High Holiday services, please email cait@jewishnola.com or call her at 850-449-3667.

Disaster Assistance

FEMA Disaster Relief Application
Louisiana DSNAP Registration
FEMA Evacuation Hotels
Red Cross Shelter Map
Entergy Outages Map
Entergy Storm Center
Jewish Family Service Resources
Cooling Centers/Supply and Food Distribution in Metro New Orleans
World Central Kitchen
State of Louisiana Hurricane Recovery Resource Page
Oxygen Tank Exchange Sites
Operation Blue Roof
JCRS has gift cards and financial assistance for Jewish families with minor children impacted by Hurricane Ida. Melanie Musser melanie@jcrs.org is the JCRS staff coordinator and case manager. She has been fully operational in Houston and JCRS is working to have the ability to distribute cards directly in New Orleans as early September 10.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

NOLA Ready

Jefferson Parish Emergency Operations

Get a Game Plan

Ready.Gov

National Hurricane Center

Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans relaunches program to feed New Orleans’ frontline workers

The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans is pleased to announce the return of the Greater New Orleans Jewish Community Healthcare Workers Take Home Meal Program, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor.

This program will serve staff in COVID units at New Orleans East Hospital, Children's Hospital, and Ochsner Health System. Over the next four weeks, this program will serve almost 2,000 take home meals to frontline medical staff and healthcare workers - all while supporting local kosher restaurants.

This is a way to support small Jewish businesses in our community in a way that reflects our Jewish values - a reflection of our commitment to tikkun olam (repairing the world).

"On behalf of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, we are honored to resume our health care workers meal program and to assist our community's dedicated health care providers," said Arnie D. Fielkow, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans. "They are the heroes of our community!"

Three local kosher restaurants and caterers – Kosher Cajun, Rimon at Tulane Hillel, and Dvash Catering – will be cooking healthy, delicious meals for the three hospital campuses each week.

If you would like to volunteer to help pick up meals and deliver them to hospitals, please click here. Meal delivery begins September 23.

If you would like to support the mission of the Federation and help make our work possible, please click here to make a donation to the 2021 Annual Campaign.

Together, but virtually: 2021 Annual Meeting

The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans’ 108th Annual Meeting will take place virtually on Wednesday, October 6 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. The meeting will include the election of Brian Katz as Board Chair, as well as Federation Board of Trustees members. Donors to the 2021 Annual Campaign, who are a part of a Jewish household, are considered members of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans and are eligible to vote virtually for officers at the Annual Meeting. The nominating slate is listed below.

Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans Nominating Slate for 2021-2023

Board Chair: Brian Katz

Vice Board Chairs: Jonny Lake, Melinda Mintz, Shea Soll

Secretary: Marc Behar

Treasurer: Kathy Shepard

Board of Trustees Members at Large:

Ben Caplan | Jason Gaines | Susan Hess | Keith Kornman | Diana Mann

Respectfully submitted by:

Henry Miller, 2020-2021 Federation Nominating Committee Chair

Federation Nominating Committee Members:

Our in-person annual celebration has been rescheduled for December 8 at the Jerome S. Glazer Audubon Tea Room, and we look forward to seeing you all again - when it's safe and healthy to do so!

Please register to attend our virtual annual meeting and election at https://meetings.jewishnola.com/annualmeeting.

8-15-21 LJC Series

Join David Hammer and Aaron David Miller in conversation over stories from the negotiating table.

What's Happening Now?

8-22-21 segment on the U.S. legislative approach to Israel & a conversation with parents.

2021 Annual Campaign

Since 1913, you and those who came before you have raised the dollars through the Jewish Federation Annual Campaign which have nourished our New Orleans Jewish community. Our donors have helped resettled immigrants who fled the threat of WWII, and then embraced the survivors with open arms. Your generosity helped build the State of Israel, opened our hearts to Russian refugees, and airlifted Ethiopians to safety. More recently you have protected the security of our Jewish community and tackled the impact of lack of engagement in Jewish life—but everything is different now.

We find ourselves facing a global pandemic—a historic moment that will define us for years to come.

Will we rise to meet the challenge? We have, and we will. Because now, it’s even more important.

The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans was built for this moment: taking collective action to tackle our community’s most devastating and seemingly intractable challenges, because, as the Talmud mandates, Kol yisrael arevim zeh bazeh—all Jews are responsible for one another. Now more than ever, our goal is to safeguard Jewish New Orleans—specifically, here’s how your Jewish Federation responded in 2020:

We established a direct individual grant program for Jewish New Orleanians administered through Jewish Family Service (JFS) and funded by the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana.
We launched a Health Care Take Home Meal Program, which supported kosher businesses while providing 6,600 meals this past spring and summer to health care workers at five local hospitals.
We served as the central local organization facilitating the federal Paycheck Protection Program, with 16 agencies/synagogues joining our efforts. All were approved.
We joined with JFS to create a helpline program to assist our community with delivery of groceries/pharmacy items, medical transport, and emotional support. More than 60 volunteers signed up to help.
We led the statewide Jewish response to Hurricane Laura, raising more than $220,000 to assist those in need, and organized volunteer efforts.
And most importantly, we continue to assess and address the financial stabilization needs of our community partners.

As the connector for Jewish New Orleans, our mission is to sustain our Jewish agencies and organizations for the future of our community, and that’s never clearer than during times of crisis. Despite everything, our 2020 Annual Campaign raised $2.606 million—and an additional $700,000 in supplemental giving, an important form of Jewish fundraising.

While every dollar is critically important, the needs are even greater. That’s why we need your support for the 2021 Annual Campaign.

Did you know you can schedule your donation up to three months in the future? Or set up a monthly payment schedule?

Other ways to support the Federation

Transfer stock to the Federation’s Morgan Stanley Account (#575-060565-239). Contact Carla Marciniak at carla.marciniak@morganstanley.com or 504-587-9645 (please be sure that your name is on the stock transfer). Kindly contact the Federation office at 504-780-5600 to notify Federation what kind of stock and how many shares have been transferred.
Make a gift from your Jewish Endowment Foundation donor advised fund,and let Sherri Tarr you’ve done so by emailing sherritarr@jewishnola.com.
Donate from your IRA through a regular distribution.
Mail a check (payable to the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans) to 3747 W. Esplanade Avenue, Metairie, LA 70002.
Please consider leaving a legacy for the Jewish Federation – for more information on how to endow your gift, please contact Bobby Garon or Debbie Berins at the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana at 504-524-4559.

All new and increased gifts to the 2021 Annual Campaign will be boosted by the 25% Goldring/Woldenberg match.

The 2021 Annual Campaign is chaired by Mara Force & Joshua Rubenstein.

An Ally in Federation

After coming out, Idit and Asher didn't have spaces where they could be both gay and Jewish. So they built them. And with help from Federations, they've revolutionized what it means to be Jewish and gay in America.

Learn how.

Edie & Paul Rosenblum Gift of Israel

A trip to Israel is one of the most important formative experiences in your child's Jewish development - and the Edie and Paul Rosenblum Gift of Israel Program can unlock this experience. Together with the the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans and area synagogues, your child's Israel experience is closer than you realize.

Learn more here.

Moving Mountains in Nepal

The future looked bright for Mira’s family. They were saving up and had even added a new room to their modest home. Then the twin earthquakes of 2015 destroyed all their progress. By helping her tap into her passion for sewing, Federation partner JDC helped Mira lift her family out of a tent city and back into their home. Now, their future looks bright once again.

Learn how.