Casablanca Restaurant, the Moroccan kosher restaurant located at 3030 Severn Boulevard in Metairie, suffered extensive roof and ceiling damage along with resultant water damage from the driving rains of Hurricane Issac. Owner Linda Waknin said the upstairs took the brunt of the damage to her facility, including shutting down the upstairs dining area and forcing a cleanup to her storage room and office.
On the seventh anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in history, Hurricane Issac advanced upon Southeast Louisiana in a slow, plodding manner, stalling and making landfall twice, eventually dumping record amounts of rain that caused widespread flooding in several neighborhoods. Rain continued throughout the day on Thursday, even though the center of the massive storm was located over 150 miles away.
Seven years after swirling floodwaters from broken levees flooded its sanctuary on Canal Boulevard, Congregation Beth Israel opens its new doors to the public in a weekend of special activities designed to acknowledge the tenuous journey it has endured and to spotlight the hope and promise of a bright new future. The Modern Orthodox facility, located at 4004 West Esplanade in Metairie, is situated on land the...
As the 8 o’clock hour approached last Monday morning, Bob Berk, PhD., the head of school for the New Orleans Jewish Day School (NOJDS), girded for the first rush of cars that would deliver his new and old charges for yet another school year. He put on his broadest smile and opened doors for the young students who were to be part of the 16th historic year of operations for...
They may not have won a trove of gold, silver or bronze medals, but the 12 members of Team New Orleans representing the New Orleans Jewish Community Center at this year’s Maccabi Games in Memphis are instead carrying a lifetime of memories with them.
Accompanied by JCC sports director Josh Tolbert, the team arrived aboard a bus in Memphis on Sunday, August 5, to meet with JCC assistant director Brian...
It’s not every day that one gets to meet the inspiration behind his or her career choice. Nor is it likely that when one does, it will be in front of a camera being filmed for posterity. But that’s exactly what’s been happening this past week with Jessica Wightkin, a local culinary arts educator and chef. Inspired to take up the honorable profession...
Cantor Joel Colman, a hulking figure of a man with a deep and rich bass-baritone voice to match his size, has been a busy bee these days. Fresh off the June summer worship services at Temple Sinai, Colman, who hails from Detroit, was invited to visit his best friend and fellow Cantor Alan Lieder with whom he grew up. Lieder, who now lives in Fairfax, VA, was...
Until this year, when Hollywood released “The Avengers,” there had been no comic book character adapted for the screen as successful as the Batman. Making his debut in Detective Comics 73 years ago, Batman was the brainchild of Jewish illustrators Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Together they came up with the concept of a masked hero who struck fear in the hearts of criminals and who, without...
(JTA) – A Black Sea coast town in Bulgaria became the scene of carnage when a bus carrying Israeli tourists exploded, killing at least five people and injuring at least 33. Nine people reportedly were missing. The explosion Wednesday at Sarafovo International Airport in Burgas hit one of three tour buses carrying Israelis, Israel’s Channel 1 reported. Some news reports said a suicide bomber boarded the bus...
Coming back from the brink of disaster, Congregation Beth Israel took its first tentative steps as Metairie’s newest Orthodox Jewish presence holding the very first minyan in its own synagogue at 4004 West Esplanade Avenue on June 29.
As Shabbat continued with Saturday morning worship services the next day, Congregation members filled every available seat in the new sanctuary. There are several interior areas where finishing touches still remain to...
