Destroyed New Orleans synagogue to break ground

A New Orleans synagogue destroyed by Hurricane Katrina will break ground on a new building.

Congregation Beth Israel, a century-old congregation destroyed by the 2005 storm, will mark the occasion on Sunday at a new location five miles from its former home.

“Since Katrina, our job has been to rebuild a sense of community within our congregation,” said Rabbi Uri Topolosky in a news release. “Now we have to build a building and give our family a home.”

Beth Israel’s old building absorbed ten feet of water during the 2005 hurricane which destroyed vast swaths of New Orleans. Its contents, including thousands of prayer books and seven Torah scrolls, were also lost.

The land for the new synagogue was purchased from a nearby Reform congregation, Gates of Prayer.