Rabbi Gabriel Greenberg<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The day school\u2019s troubles and Topolosky\u2019s departure offer a counterpoint to the upbeat narrative of growth and resurgence often cited by Jewish community leaders in New Orleans.<\/p>\n
But the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, Michael Weil, says the two developments have specific causes that do not correlate with the overall health of the New Orleans Jewish community.<\/p>\n
Rather, school officials say, the day school has lost students because of parents\u2019 economic constraints, new high-quality public charter schools and the geographic shift of New Orleans Jewry from Metairie to New Orleans parish.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe school and Topolosky\u2019s move are not representative of a trend,\u201d Weil said. \u201cThe community is probably in the best place it\u2019s ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Orleans Jewry recently surpassed its pre-Katrina size of 9,500, according to Weil, with an estimated 9,870 Jews in the city. There are fewer older Jews but many more young Jewish professionals. The federation runs a Jewish newcomers program that offers young Jews who move to the city a free year of JCC and synagogue membership, a $500 credit at the Jewish school and a free meal at a local kosher restaurant.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe system gives something away for free of real value, enables us to track everybody and encourages people to engage in the Jewish community, which is really what we want,\u201d Weil said. \u201cWe probably catch in our net 75 percent of all the new Jews who move in here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Topolosky says it was difficult to leave New Orleans, but ultimately the community could not provide what his Orthodox family required.<\/p>\n
Even though Topolosky\u2019s congregation was able to rebuild, Beth Israel still has not been able to restore its pre-Katrina daily minyan. Now a typical Shabbat morning service draws about 40 worshipers, and Friday night services 25. Only a handful of families in New Orleans adhere to Orthodox observance.<\/p>\n
The other Orthodox synagogue in town, Anshe Sfard, has an even smaller congregation. There are also three Chabad centers in the area, and plans to open a new Chabad-run school in 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew Orleans never was, nor do I imagine it ever will be, a haven for Orthodox Judaism,\u201d Topolosky said. \u201cWe loved the idea of a small community, we loved knowing our congregation, being a part of making a difference. But the problem is those small communities rarely come with the benefits of a larger community — most importantly, a school.\u201d<\/p>\n
In their new home, the Topoloskys have been able to find a bit of both a large community and a small one.<\/p>\n
Beth Joshua, the congregation Topolosky will lead, has just 20 families. Though it is housed in a large Orthodox school, only a handful of Orthodox families live in the surrounding neighborhood, Aspen Hill. Nearly all of the students at Berman Hebrew Academy are driven in from nearby Silver Spring, Potomac and Washington\u2019s Shepherds Park neighborhood.<\/p>\n
For Topolosky, the move to Maryland is also a homecoming. Along with growing up in the area and attending the Berman academy’s high school, he also has family nearby.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were very lucky to find a very small Orthodox community we can grow and at the same time be surrounded by the amenities of a large community,\u201d Topolosky said, \u201cmost significantly, the school.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Topoloskys_Israel.jpg\" "\\"Topoloskys_Israel\\"")