OP-ED: Building community with red beans and rice

In case you hadn’t heard, the 1st Original Red Beans & Rice Cook-Off is being held on Labor Day, Monday, September 7, and jointly sponsored by the Crescent City Jewish News and Torah Academy. We wanted to clarify why we are holding this fundraising event and why we hope all segments of the Greater New Orleans Jewish community will participate.

Ten years ago on a similar Labor Day weekend in Cleveland, CCJN Editor Alan Smason was reeling from the effects of the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina. With his home filled with water and disconnected from his own beloved Jewish community, he somewhat reluctantly, attended the Community Rib Burn-Off held for the Solomon Schechter School in Pepper Pike. It was there he beheld a wonderful and heartrending spectacle.

This was clearly marked as a competition and benefit for a Conservative Jewish day school. Yet, there were members of the local Chabad institutions, several Reform temples, numerous Conservative synagogues and various Orthodox houses of worship all rallying around the cause of building community in a spirit of cheerful competition for the entire Jewish community of Cleveland.

This year’s cook-off is being housed at Torah Academy for the first year of what we hope will be an annual event. Torah Academy is excited to invite the entire Jewish community onto their grounds to see the magnificent new structure they have erected. Also, they were happy to help ensure that the highest standards of kashrut are observed. Torah Academy has also offered to store the cooking equipment for next year’s event. As this year’s host, Torah Academy will receive all registration fees and will share proceeds with the Jewish Endowment Foundation’s Zachor “Remember” New Orleans Fund.

We have already had preliminary talks with another institution about sponsoring next year’s Original Red Beans & Rice Cook-Off, which we anticipate will be rotated on a regular basis to deserving community institutions each year.

The Crescent City Jewish News is looking at this event as an  opportunity to build community through some fun and friendly competition. We have listened to those non-profits who have found the entry fee to be a barrier for entry and are now offering an affordable non-profit team rate with some restrictions.

The point is to register and to plan to attend this event in a positive manner. We believe the Original Red Beans & Rice Cook-Off will become a very anticipated and well-attended event each year. It will benefit all sectors of the Greater New Orleans Jewish community, not just one or two. But we need you and your team there. Please make it happen for all of us. Besides, what could be more New Orleans than sharing a plate of red beans and rice on a Monday?