Temple Sinai celebrates with gala at Sazerac House
The extended Temple Sinai family celebrated at its annual gala and fundaiser on Sunday afternoon, April 6, at the Sazerac House with a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party theme “Wonderland and Whimsy.”
Temple Sinai Cantor Rebecca Garfein with Fox 8 chief meteorologist Bruce Katz at the Sazerac House. (Photo by Alan Smason)
Senior Rabbi Daniel Sherman said many of the celebrants prefer to have the event away from the Uptown synagogue located on St. Charles Avenue. Mindful of that, the event committee booked Sazerac House for the event and decorated the room with reminders of Lewis Carroll’s characters found in “Alice in Wonderland” and other works like “Through the Looking Glass.”
Fox 8 meterologist Bruce Katz, a Temple Sinai member, served as the emcee for the event that featured silent auctions to raise money for the synagogue’s operations.
Emeritus Rabbi Ed Paul Cohn, Temple Sinai’s spiritual leader for more than three decades ,was honored in a special presentation as he prepared to leave New Orleans to reside in Atlanta to be closer to family there.
Cantor Rebecca Garfein, attired in a dress that was evocative of Alice, sang Debbie Friedman’s “Tefilat Haderach (Traveler’s Prayer)” to Rabbi Cohn, wishing him well on behalf of the congregation while her husband Alexander Hatzidiakos, dressed like the Mad Hatter, looked on.
