Crescent City Jewish Newstm

Crescent City Jewish News TM SOURCE2016-2017 / 5777 Arts & Culture • Business & Professional Community Resources • Education Entertainment • Goods & Services Health & Fitness • Jewish Holidays Lifecycles • Religious Life Annual Guide to Jewish Living in New Orleans and North Shore 2016/17 SEASON IT’S ONLY A PLAY JELLY’S A Co-Production with LAST JAM The NOLA Project PIPPIN Book by George C. Wolfe By Terrence McNally SOURCE Book by Roger O. Hirson Lyrics by Susan Birkenhead JUN 9 — JUN 25 Music and Lyrics by Music by Jelly Roll Morton Stephen Schwartz and Luther Henderson SEPT 16 — OCT 2 JAN 27 — FEB 12 CURTAIN CALL BALL September 9, 2016 at LPT and Tableau FREUD’S DIVIDING LAST SESSION THE ESTATE By Mark St. Germain By Horton Foote NOV 4 — NOV 20 MAR 24 — APR 9 WWW.LEPETITTHEATRE.COM | 504.522.2081 | #lepetitnola 504.523.1661 504.522.2467 504.522.0111 504.934.3463 605 Canal St. 716 Iberville St. 144 Bourbon St. 616 St. Peter St. PalaceCafe.com DickieBrennansSteakhouse.com BourbonHouse.com TableauFrenchQuarter.com 2 Crescent City Jewish News ™ TABLE OF CONTENTS SOURCEIntroduction 4 Jewish New Orleans 5 Candlelighting Times 7 Holidays 8 Listings 10 NOLA Entertainment 26 Baton Rouge 29 Women of Valor 30 Women’s Rights 39 Women in the Rabbinate 40 Tal’s Hummus 41 CRESCENT CITY JEWISH NEWS Editorial & Advertising Offices 3810 Nashville Avenue • New Orleans, LA 70125 Editorial Contact: Advertising Contact: [email protected] [email protected] Source 3 INTRODUCTION On Streamlining and Matriarchs hat you hold in your hands – SOURCE 5777 – is the latest installment of the ongoing mission of the Crescent City Jewish News (www.crescentcityjewishnews.com)W to publish an accurate and convenient resource guide for the New Orleans Jewish community. When we fi rst set out to make this a reality Our family’s business savvy matriarchs (from left) Annette four years ago, we did so with the encouragement of many Smith Smason, record store proprietor, and Rosa Breen others who spoke of a void needing to be fi lled. What we Smith, drugstore owner and licensed pharmacist. didn’t expect was how quickly we would be embraced by so many outside of New Orleans or that we would receive interest. We are hoping that with suffi cient advertising several fi rst place awards for our journalistic excellence revenue throughout the year, a return to the semi-annual and design work from the Press Club of New Orleans. publication schedule could occur. We have been gratifi ed to know that our entry into the When we began to plan this year’s SOURCE, we knew print journalism market has been rewarded and that our we wanted to spotlight the many accomplishments of dedication and diligence have generated respect among our our local matriarchs. We did the research and have come colleagues and peers. up with a list of nine amazing Jewish women, all born In addition to SOURCE, we have also published our before the advent of the right to vote, who we believe semi-annual editions of e Best of the Crescent City are indicative of the highest ideals of leadership in civic Jewish News. ese were created to increase our visibility activities or were true pioneers in their own fi elds of in the community and to encourage others to check out endeavors or the arts. ese women dared to succeed in an our website for the latest in news and updates of interest era when the “good ole boys” reigned. We hope you enjoy to the New Orleans Jewish community. We fi rst published reading about their tremendous accomplishments and take e Best of the Crescent City Jewish News as an annual pride in the legacy they have left for we who follow. publication, but decided to expand to its present semi- In our own family, we are especially proud of our own annual publication schedule after encouragement from matriarchs – Rosa Breen Smith, of blessed memory advertisers and community members. and Annette Smith Smason. Both these women were Unfortunately, after subsidizing these publications for trailblazers in creating their own local retail businesses. A the past four years, we have come to understand that graduate from the fi rst class at Loyola University in 1916, despite our continued commitment, we are not receiving a our grandmother was one of the fi rst licensed female suffi cient amount of advertising revenue to off set our costs pharmacists in the state, while our mother turned her nor to compensate our staff for the many volunteer hours passion for music into a thriving center for pop, classical, they give each year. opera and show tunes. She was also a partner in S&S erefore, we have decided to go back to our previous Productions, which promoted many of the top-ranked model of an annual yearbook for the New Orleans Jewish performers who appeared live in New Orleans concerts community, commencing in January. We will continue during the 1960s and early 1970s. to publish SOURCE, but will publish one additional Alan Smason, Editor edition including obituaries and other stories of local Arlene S. Wieder, Advertising and Marketing Director 4 Crescent City Jewish News JEWISH NEW ORLEANS A Historical Account of the New Orleans Jewish Community s we prepare to celebrate the upcom- ing tri-centennial of New Orleans, we should recall that our beloved founder,A Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville, selected the site of the modern city of New Orleans because it was the highest and driest land in the area. Ignoring his chief engineer’s advice in 1718, Bienville picked an area that was well known as predisposed to periodic flooding due to frequent and heavy rainfalls and, occasionally, major storms. As a matter of fact, less than four years after its founding, the first recorded hurricane struck New Orleans, significantly crippling the area because of high water and slow drainage. Sadly, these issues still remain today, often a constant torment to local residents. As the port grew under French rule in the 18th century there were six Jewish residents listed as dwelling in the French colony. Although the French “Le Code Noir” (or “black code”) forbade permanent Jewish residents, it was never enforced. e few Torah scrolls procession at the 2012 dedication of Beth Israel. Rabbis David Pos- secular Jewish traders and merchants who ternock of Beth Israel and Robert Loewy of Gates of Prayer with local benefactor were allowed to live in the colony developed Morris Bart, center. into prosperous businessmen. credit behind the establishment of this ish families. Acceptance was crucial for these Unfortunately, once France signed the institution is given to a New York merchant, families so they could attend services together Treaty of Fontainebleau with Spain in 1762, who had moved to New Orleans named and be buried in the Jewish cemetery. ese life changed for the Jewish residents living Jacob Solis. early families were culturally Jewish, but not in the Louisiana colony. Within two years of Solis was appalled by the lack of “Jewish- very religious. the signing, the local Spanish government ness” in the city. More specifically, he was Judah Touro, who was gravely wounded banished Jews from living in the colony and frustrated there was no available matzoh while fighting the British in one of the early the government confiscated all Jewish assets. supply during the period of Passover. An- skirmishes just before the famous Battle of Monetary acquisition seemed to be the pri- other historical account suggested Solis was New Orleans, is credited with making the mary motivation, rather than anti-Semitism. also irritated because there was no place to most impact on the New Orleans commu- By enforcing the code, the local government worship in New Orleans for the Jewish High nity in the 19th century. Commonly referred was able to expropriate acquisitions that were Holidays. Regardless of his motivation, all to as the first significant Jewish philanthropist held by the wealthy Jewish residents. sources concur that Jacob Solis spearheaded in the United States, Touro purchased an e first notable affluent Jewish family the movement that successfully established Episcopal church and paid to remodel and was the Monsantos. Because they were Jew- the Gates of Mercy, which was chartered in convert the church into a synagogue. A few ish, they were expelled in 1769 and all their 1828. years later he established Touro Infirmary, possessions were confiscated. e family fled Most of the earliest Jewish families in New a charity hospital supported by the local to Pensacola, which at the time was under Orleans were interfaith unions. e pre- Hebrew Benevolent Association. When British rule. Within one year the family was dominantly Jewish males found themselves Touro died in 1854, his will directed money allowed to return, yet their property was lacking sufficient numbers of Jewish ladies. to numerous New Orleans causes and other never returned to them. Traditional Jewish laws were largely ignored Jewish institutions around the country. After the expulsion, the return of Jewish in order that their spouses and progeny Touro’s funding helped Sir Moses Montefiore citizens continued, but at a very slow pace. It would gain acceptance and be considered establish Mishkenot Sha’Ananim, the first took several decades before the Jewish com- part of an extended Jewish community. Jewish settlement outside of the Old City munity finally chartered its first synagogue, ese early compromises seemed a necessity walls in Jerusalem. called Congregation Gates of Mercy. e for the survival of the first New Orleans Jew- Congregation Gates of Prayer organized Source 5 JEWISH NEW ORLEANS in 1850 as Shaarei Tefilah. e first members of this congregation were Jews escaping from European unrest.

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