FMAMS Class in New Orleans
New Orleans, LA

New Orleans, also known as the birthplace of jazz and famous for its Mardi Gras parades has a distinct European flavor seen in the architecture, the food and the music heard everywhere. It is the only U.S. city where French was the predominant language for more than one century. The French Quarter is known for its exquisite architecture, elegant shops, lacy ironwork, jazz clubs, and Bourbon Street in a setting complete with cobblestone streets. New Orleans has more than 35,000 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, more than any other U.S. city. Washington, D.C. is the closest contender with just over 20,000. There is also a large population of Cajuns, descendants of French Canadians, who for several generations, raised crops and lived on the bayou where they fished and trapped. Today, Cajuns are famous for their unique French dialect (a patois of 18th century French), their music, and their spicy cooking.

The Mini-School was begun in New Orleans to raise the level of adult Jewish learning in the community and establish Jewish education for all ages as a community priority. Since the Jewish community is small, there is fair amount of communication and coordination between the agencies and a community calendar to help prevent conflicts with competing programs.

Debbie, Pesses, nee Katz, grew up in a small town in Mississippi. After graduating from Memphis State University with a degree in Communications, Debbie moved to New Orleans, where she met her husband, Leon. As a stay at home mom to Greta, now a preschool teacher in Atlanta, and Evan, now a filmmaker in Lost Angeles, Debbie was a volunteer activist in the New Orleans Jewish Community, having been president of her sisterhood, vice president of her synagogue, on the Jewish Federation board, and a proud Melton graduate. Named Outstanding Young Woman in America, Debbie became the Jewish Enrichment Director at the New Orleans JCC in July, 2005. Debbie has been the Director of the FMAMS, New Orleans, since August 2007.

Following Hurricane Katrina, when the Jewish community of New Orleans was decimated by a third, the sponsoring agency, the Jewish Federation, transferred the Melton tutelage to the Jewish Community Center. As the Jewish Enrichment Director of the JCC, and an avid Melton graduate, it was natural for Debbie to take over from the very capable hands of the first New Orleans Melton director, Teri Gross.

Class Schedule
There are two classes, an evening class and a morning class, consisting of a couple of students in their 30’s, a few in their 40’s; with the majority in their 50’s and 60’s and one couple who are in their 70’s. In the evening class most of the students work and in the morning class they are mostly volunteers in the community. Only one of the teachers is a Rabbi who is Modern Orthodox. The other two teachers are Educational Directors of a Reform and Conservative synagogue respectively.

The Jewish community in New Orleans has become more interested in exploring Judaism than they were 15 years ago. For those that are taking the course it has sparked their desire to learn more about Judaism and a sense of community has developed in each class. New friendships have developed as well.

One class loved being together so much they continued to study on their own in the summer. Another class had an end of the year dinner to celebrate their teacher. As they say, out of the ashes, in this case, the flood waters.  New Orleans continues to thrive.

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