Katz succeeds Franco at Federation
Morton Katz took over the reins of leadership at the 100th annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, thanking outgoing president Alan Franco for his past two years of service to the Jewish community.
Incoming Jewish Federation president Morton Katz, right, congratulates outgoing president Alan Franco. (Photo by Alan Smason)
The event held Wednesday, September 11, on the 12th anniversary of the attacks on America, was an upbeat affair, featuring music and singing by Katz and other players, reminiscent of two “shpiels” presented at Federation meetings in 1978 and 1982. Katz, who still owns an impressive singing voice, participated in both of those plays, the latter of which was captured on videotape and the song “We Grew and We Grew” replayed over a large screen at the end of the evening’s series of speeches and awards presentations.
“Nothing’s changed. We keep growing and we still need you,” Katz said in his initial address as Federation president. “In fact, we need you more than ever.”
Katz referred back to the challenges endured with the loss of a third of the members of the Jewish community numbered at near 10,000 prior to Hurricane Katrina. He recalled the measures put into place including incentives designed to lure young professionals to the city with the Newcomers Program (now part of Federation’s JNola program) and proclaimed that new estimates suggest the Jewish community is back to its pre-Katrina numbers.
“The JNola program has been a tremendous success,” he emphasized. “Without it we probably wouldn’t have reached this milestone.”
Katz recalled his grandmother Emma Katz of blessed memory, who escaped the pogroms of Russia and emigrated to the United States in 1900, living in New Orleans until her passing in 1983 at the age of 109. She was a resident at the time of the founding of the New Orleans Jewish Federation in 1913, which was then intended to support only the Jewish population of the city, he said.
Today’s Federation programming has expanded in ways that has made it a force in the general New Orleans community as well as helping to support constituent Jewish agencies, Katz continued. He pointed to its support of the St. Bernard Project and the Emergency Medical Project as examples.
“This is not your grandmother’s or grandfather’s Federation,” Katz stated.
Katz announced plans to stimulate the present annual campaign, which he described as “flat” over the course of the more recent post-Katrina years at $2.5 million. He said he hopes to stimulate giving to push that fund to an annual mark of $3 million.
Alan Franco (Photo by Alan Smason)
Franco reflected at the onset of the program on his work with Federation. “I really have a lot of fun doing this,” he said. “I know that our community has a great spirit and I know that our community is a place where people want to come and where people want to be involved.” He cited a recent figure that put Jewish community member involvement at 61%.
A diehard University of Alabama fan, Franco recalled his tenure with the words of Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, whose exact 100th birthday was September 11. “He always said ‘The price of victory is hard, but so are the rewards.’ Every day has been a victory,” Franco said.
Federation executive director Michael Weil used the occasion to celebrate the past 100 years of progress at the Federation. He noted three insights into Federation’s survival through the years. First, he said, is Federation’s ability to adapt and respond to to local, national and global needs and crises.
Secondly, he noted the continuing pattern of Federation’s response to immigrants and newcomers coming into the country that started with the wave of Russians at the turn of the 20th Century, the German Jews who fled the Nazis prior to World War II, the post-Holocaust survivors who came to New Orleans over a three-year period that began in 1949, the Soviet Jews who fled oppression there and the influx of post-Katrina young professionals who have chosen New Orleans as their home.
Third has been the support of Jewish benefactors and the work with Jewish agencies to advance the needs of the Jewish community.
Weil outlined four goals he hopes will see Federation into its next century. Where necessary, the Federation needs to respond to the future and make changes, he said. Secondly, the Jewish community needs to grow and strengthen. Weil stated a population of 25,000 Jews is possible.
New Federation president Morton Katz, right, sings while Judge Sol Gothard plays in a shpiel at Federation's Centennial Celebration meeting. (Photo by Alan Smason)
Third, he continued, the Federation needs to work in bringing progress in a variety of social and economic measures that can benefit the City of New Orleans on the whole and thereby leave its mark. Lastly, he encouraged the use of cutting edge technology and innovation to keep Federation poised to respond.
The 2013 annual campaign brought in a total of $2, 568,572, according to Federation sources. Campaign chairs Dana Shepard and Henry Miller were acknowledged with special streetcar tzedakah (charity) boxes.
Janice Stern and Dr. Eddie Soll were recipients of the Ann Goldsmith Hanaw and Jerome Hanaw Tikkun Olam Award for their past work with Federation and associated Jewish agencies.
Stacey Weinreb, the incoming chair of Federation’s Partnership 2Gether program was the recipient of the 2013 Herbert J. and Margot Garon Young Leadership Award. She was presented the award by past Federation president Bobby Garon, the son of the awards’s namesakes.
A 17-minute professional film detailed the past 100 years of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans with filmed interviews of several of the noted past presidents of Federation such as mother Carol Wise and daughter Julie Wise Oreck, Hugo Kahn, and community leaders such as Billy Goldring, Margot Garon and Bill Hess. It was Hess’ great-grandfather Julius Rosenfeld, who was instrumental in getting support to form the Jewish Federation in New Orleans, the sixth such organization in the United States. In the film Hess was captured at the kickoff of the Centennial Celebration, dressed in a period costume to emulate his forbear.
Also elected to officer positions of Federation by a slate accepted by acclamation were vice-presidents Louis Good, III, Kathryn Shepard and Shea Soll. Josh Force was selected as treasurer, while Dana Shepard was given the nod as secretary.
Elected to various two-year terms as Federation directors were Cathy Bart, Brook Bissinger, Vivian Cahn, Jay Corenswet, Shellye Farber, Shellie Jacobson, Dr. David Kaplan, Jonathan Lake, Seth Levine, Dr. Ralph Lupin, Amy Malish, Mark Mintz, Karen Sher, Sylvan Steinberg, Rob Steeg, Charles Stern, Jr., Joanna Sternberg, Stephen Timm,Weinreb, Ginny Wise and Gary Zoller.
Jewish Endowment of Louisiana board members were also elected to a two-year term that expires in the fall of 2015. Accepted as a slate were: Allan Bissinger, Cathy Bart, Alan Franco, Deena Gerber, Maury Herman, Marcus Hirsch, Lawrence Lehmann, Betty Meyers, Dr. Sanford Pailet, Mark Stein, Michael Stern, Beverly Wainer, and Marilyn Zackin.
Touro Synagogue Rabbi Alexis Berk delivered an invocation and remembrance of the September 11th attack 12 years previously, while her congregation’s Cantor Jamie Marx sang both the national anthem and “Hatikvah” at the start of festivities.
Rabbi Ethan Linden of Shir Chadash Conservative Congregation delivered the benediction before closing the 100th annual meeting.
Kosher hors d’oerves and wine were served prior to the meeting with music performed by the Mike Pellera Trio, which hails from the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA). It was announced at the onset of the program that the next year’s annual meeting will take place at NOCCA in the Faubourg Marigny
Pictures from the event are here:
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