We were not the only rabbis volunteering. Two other rabbis participated as part of the Nashville contingent. Saul Strosberg (of Congregation Sherith Israel) and Shana Goldstein (of The Temple (Ohabai Sholom)). We posed for a rabbinic moment before going out on Wednesday.
On Wednesday we returned to our house of Tuesday to “finish the job”. When we arrived, the local refuse collectors were busy cleaning up our mess. The fellow who owned the company (and drove the Bobcat with amazing skill) was from Florida… he’d only recently gotten into the refuse business. What we had “produced” the previous day filled the dumpster (on a truck) and enough remained for a second load.
This gave us an opportunity to take our group photo for that day.
After two days of work we have learned a bit about how to tear a house apart. Even so, there are many times when we’re not sure what to do next. That’s when we ask Gene. Gene Borochoff (the man in the Nechama tee shirt standing inside the truck on the left of the photo above), a distant relative of Ber Borochov retired from General Mills and now spends much of his time working with Nechama.
This was our complete team. There were times when some of us split off to take care of other tasks, some arrived late and others left early.
While we started out strangers, we got to know each other in a special way. We rode 45 minutes from the “camp” to our work site. We supported each other, finding ways to ease the task we confronted. We ate strange food together, and rode back to “camp” cramped together in the van, side by side, filthy. We shared a special sense of camaraderie and became close in ways we would not have expected, or possibly imagined. We were a very diverse group.
Most of the gross work had been done the previous day, so Wednesday, while still busy, had a different pace. All the trim got removed and Danny took much of it out in long strips.
Adam removed flooring in the back bedroom;
as did Dave and Kfir (we did our best and were able to preserve the tile in the bathroom);
towards the end of the day Irv was able to find an easier job for a few minutes and cleaned up the garden area;
Mike paused to have his photo taken.
Here, as well, we found flowers blooming.
Debbie and Cindy organized a gift for Ora of a gift card to a local store along with a Christmas card. Before we left, we presented it to her. Meeting her personalized the experience of loss for us tremendously. (Steph took this photo)
That evening most of the group went into New Orleans for a Debbie Friedman concert sponsored by the New Orleans JCC/Federation. We had fun, Debbie and I even had a chance to dance a bit to “I Am a Latke”. We had an opportunity to spend a few minutes visiting with our friend and colleague Rabbi Bob Loewy who was there along with much of the Jewish community.
On the way “home” from the concert it began to rain. It did not stop. Thursday morning we awoke to more rain. Our teams were mixed up a bit as some went out to “power wash” Ora’s house and the one we’d worked on the previous day. We went to a new area… in St. Bernard’s Parish.
On the ride we played “Crazy Annie” and had more fun.
Even as we arrived, the water was coming down hard and serious puddles had already accumulated.
We entered the house to begin removing the smaller pieces of furniture and all the personal belongings that had begun to rot. While the water lines still functioned, the gas and electricity had been turned off long ago. as we moved our way into the dark house walking back and forth through the hallway, we were a bit disgusted to realize we’d been walking over the carcass of a dead opossum. You never know what you’ll find.
The rain increased in its intensity,
and we got word that flooding was beginning in the area.
There was no place to sit and eat our lunch, and, the police began to close off some of the roads. We were told to return to camp before we got stranded. We quickly took our team photo,
and we said goodbye to Shelly, Gaby and Dave
who took their car back to wash up and begin the 13 hour drive back north… to escape before it got too difficult.
We went back to camp for hot showers, lunch, some laundry and drying of shoes.
The Nashville crew leave early Friday morning, after a 4:30 (?!) AM wake-up call.
More thundershowers are expected tomorrow
(We hope to be able to get some work done.)
Debbie and I leave for Houston in the evening, but will likely spend a few hours waiting in the airport.
Don’t expect a report on Friday.