A Year in Blog Posts (And What’s Next)
As the second year of AVODAH New Orleans comes to a close, here are some updates on your friendly neighborhood Corps Members (and intrepid bloggers).
Rachel Glicksman, a native New Yorker, blogged about falling in love with a new city, hosting a pumpkin parade for her placement organization and helping to build a community garden. She will be working at Challah for Hunger, a national organization with over 30 chapters, which raises money and awareness for hunger- and disaster-relief, through the production and sale of challah bread. She will move to Austin for the next few months to help start up their national office, and hopes to eventually be located in New Orleans.
Rachel Lewis wrote of her first Mardi Gras, “it is a season that acknowledges the tensions it produces and deems it possible to exist within them, deems it acceptable to extract joy amidst the many problems that plague New Orleans.” She also blogged about the formation of an independent minyan and studying Genesis with a housemate from a very different Jewish background. Rachie plans to stay in New Orleans at her placement organization, Orleans Public Defenders through the High Holidays. Beginning this fall, she will be a fellow at Yeshivat Hadar, an egalitarian Jewish learning institute located in New York City.
Five weeks into her AVODAH year, Tina Wexler wondered “How can I not fall in love with the magic of the oaks draped in Mardi Gras beads and greenery, houses whose front yards are practically flowery jungles, the warmth I feel everyday when I go outside? How can I not mourn the loss of cypress swamps while marveling at the natural phenomenon of the bayous?” Tina blogged about present-day exonerees working for justice and how the historical exoneration of Jews from Egypt is a window for fewing current struggles. Tina is planning to work in clinical research in New York City next year, and is applying to medical schools.
In an account of her experience at a Nehirim retreat, Jordan Aiken described how it was “fascinating to feel like I shared a common bond, that my similarity with someone was through our ‘queerness’ or our “Jewishness”, when probably each person there defined their queerness and Judaism in very different ways.” Jordan also wrote about the web of emotions she felt working at a women’s shelter and the joys of experiencing a new neighborhood. In addition to forming a network for LGBT Jews in New Orleans, Jordan Aiken is now working at the Tulane Hillel where she is excited to be the Development Associate.
Laura Taishoff blogged about keeping it simple and navigating the school-to-prison-pipeline. Two weeks into the year she wrote “I may not know where this journey will lead me but I do know that my roommates and I, here in this unparalleled city, have miles to go together.” Laura is staying on at her placement – Juvenile Regional Services - as the Client Services Coordinator. She will continue to do educational advocacy and expand her organization’s community outreach component. Laura will be living in the New Orleans Moishe House.
On the eve of Tisha B’av, Gillian Locascio wrote “throughout the whole year, I have managed to find unending inspiration and hope in the people around me; in my housemates and fellow AVODAHnikot, who came home each day and shared their stories, their frustrations, their fears, and their successes.” Gillian blogged about the challenges of interpretation and the joys of second-lining. Gillian will be working with local residents on a community health project that she started last year in Western Panama. This winter she also hopes to be able to lay the foundation for a tutoring program in the area to accompany the middle-school scholarship program, FewForChange, that she and 6 fellow study-abroad students started nearly two years ago.
Miriam Liebman blogged about the support she received from her housemates when her grandfather passed away this year. She is excited to continue building on the work she did this past year at the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center and is currently applying for positions at social justice organizations.
Amanda Gross blogged about hosting a group of Northeastern students: “I feel incredibly grateful that I have had the ability to do more than go through the motions of my daily tasks in the office and am thrilled to have the chance to give these students a similar experience where they can connect with their work on a more meaningful level.” Amanda is staying on at her placement – Rebuilding Together - as a Neighborhood Liaison. She is excited to stay in New Orleans.
“Who are we to presume that we can bring about change, can make real differences?” These were the questions on Mallory Falk’s mind at the beginning of the year. Later she blogged about the lack of nurses and counselors in public schools and the Rethink news conference. Mallory is staying on at her placement – Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools - and moving into the New Orleans Moishe House.
Michal Boyarsky brought you an engaging audio essay entitled “This I Believe.” She also wrote about supporting mental health in the Gulf and “body-sitting.” Michal is moving to Israel and participating in the New Israel Fund/Shatil Social Justice Fellowship where she will work for Physicians for Human Rights.
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