In 'The Big Easy' Israel is 'Politics'

I have written before about how tough it has been for me to get used to the pace of things here in New Orleans. While publicity and television and the music might lead you to believe that New Orleans is one big party, it just is not so. When all is said and done, this remains at heart, a sleepy small Southern town.

Dependent on tourism as its life blood, the city also has had to contend with its threat of hurricanes and a number of problems brought upon themselves.

Let’s start with this: The city itself is disappearing. For years, this low-lying city near the Gulf of Mexico prostituted itself to the gas and oil industry to the point that out-of-control drilling along its coast is causing the city to slowly be absorbed by the Gulf.

This is basically a Southern city. New Orleans carries a strong historical past. Settling here in the late 1500s Jews from Southern Europe found a safe haven from the virulent antisemitism, pandered basically by the Catholic Church. Its result was the Inquisition.

In the Civil War, Jews fought on both sides. Jewish families were split with members living between the North and South.

Its politics have been rife with corruption for years, with governors and mayors serving jail time on a regular basis. Names like Huey P. Long and Ray Nagin are typical of Louisiana and New Orleans politicians guilty of graft and illegal activities.

So, what does this have to do with Jews? The Jewish Community here dates back to the 1500s. Jews came here fleeing the Inquisition in Southern Europe. The language they spoke was Ladino, that mix of Hebrew and Spanish that mirrors Yiddish in the Northern States that is a mix of German, Hebrew and a mix of other languages as well.

Jews did well, despite virulent antisemitism that reflected the Sothern attitudes toward “Others.” Yes, 25 percent of Jews owned slaves — same as non-Jews. The difference is, we, the Jews were slaves. I have not been able to get my head around a Jew going to synagogue the night before Yom Kippur, thanking God for freeing him from slavery, then going home and beating his slave.

To be a people, you need two things: A place you and your people are from (we have Israel) and a language (we have Hebrew). We lost our place of origin for two thousand years as it was pillaged by Romans, Greeks, Turks, even the British before we took it back in 1948.

This is an incredible story of persistence, pride and a true history of our people. We should be proud of whom we are and from whence we came. It is our bulwark against antisemitism. It is a story that must be told. To the Jewish Community — of course. It should also be told to the general community not only to fight antisemitism, but to let the general community know our story and why Israel is important to us.

I’ve mentioned before that shortly after moving here, son Tom and daughter Robin came to visit. We visited the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience. That’s when I decided to volunteer there as I still do twice a week.

When we left Tom called Uber to take us to the WWII museum, the #1 attraction in New Orleans. As we drove away from the Jewish Museum, Tom asked the driver what country he was from. The answer was startling. The driver replied “Palestine.” Now, I don’t have to do this again, do I?

Palestine was the name the Ottoman Empire gave this strip of land when they took it from the Philistines who took it from the Romans who took it from the Jews.

When the Ottoman/Turkish Empire lost it to the Brits in WWI, the name stuck until the Jews took it from them in 1948 and returned the name Israel to the land. THAT is the story that should be told, here in New Orleans as well as in every other city in the U.S. and around the world.

In order for that to be on the agenda of a community, regardless of its size, it has to be told to everyone in that community. That is a basic reason for there to be a Jewish organization telling OUR story to the whole population.

It has not happened here. I am not alone in trying to solve this puzzle. The Federation has frankly, not been active enough in this endeavor. The synagogues do use their pulpits to preach to those already sold that Israel is a good thing and necessary for there to be a Jewish people.

I was asked once what was the basic task of the Jews of this century. It is to confirm that we are a people with a Nation and language of our own.