- Jews for New Orleans » Corps Member Featured in the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent

Sharing a meal

Corps members live communally in their Jefferson Avenue house uptown

Shine

Purim Masks

Corps members prepare for Purim celebrations by creating masks

Churches

Planting trees in Central City

Rachel Glicksman works with residents to beautify the neighborhood

Civic Involvement

Celebrating Chanukah

Corps members welcomed coworkers and community members to their home

Action

Learning about Bayou Bienvenue

Alum David Eber teaches the group about deforestation in the cypress swamps

Churches

Highlighting the Jewish Community's Involvement in Rebuilding New Orleans

This site is hosted by AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps, which launched its New Orleans program in the fall of 2008. AVODAH engages young people in direct work on the causes and effects of poverty in the United States. This work partners Corps members with service providers and residents in low income communities and equips our Corps members and alumni to emerge as lifelong agents for social change, whose work for justice is rooted in and nourished by Jewish values.

Corps Member Featured in the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent

Jan 1st, 2010 by Rachel Lee | 0
Rachel Lee

Here’s a taste of a thoughtful article that Rachie Lewis wrote for the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent:

“New Orleans is a small town disguised as a city. It has its own culture, its own rituals and its own flavor. People sincerely ask you how you are doing, and will capitalize on any excuse to have a party. As a result of its size, warmth and collective curiosity, our Avodah group often gets attention, sometimes with expressions of gratitude, and other times with criticism, asserting our white privilege.

In my job at the public defender’s office, I work as a case manager, matching clients with the resources they need to facilitate a successful re-entry into society after their legal difficulties. I often have firsthand experiences of feeling like an outsider. Working with a predominantly black population — frequently doing so in spaces that create an uncomfortable power dynamic, such as jail and court — has made me very attuned to the limitations of what I can offer people who will not initially trust me. And why should they?”

You can read the entire article here.

Leave a Reply