Featured Sacred Place :
Touro Synagogue , New Orleans , WA
Over the past year Rabbi Katie
Bauman and the congregation at Touro Synagogue in New Orleans , Louisiana , had to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining congregational life and increasing their efforts to end systemic racism . This vibrant and engaged religious community was able to do just that , pivoting to digital platforms and building interfaith initiatives to advance social justice .
Touro has enriched the New Orleans community for over 193 years , and its current building has served as a landmark on St . Charles Avenue for over 100 years . The congregation has made a practice of welcoming nonmembers into its space through public programs incorporated into the city ’ s largest events , such as Jazz Fest Shabbat and the Mardis Gras Krewe of VIPs . The congregation also hosts a variety of educational activities as a beit midrash , or house of learning , including a public charter school , interfaith initiatives , and religious education for both children and adults ( including members of the congregation and nonmembers ).
When the Touro congregation determined it needed to make major repairs and renovations to its landmark building , including a new HVAC system and elevator to make the building more welcoming and comfortable for diverse audiences , it approached Partners to conduct a feasibility study for a capital campaign . Rabbi Bauman says , “ We are so excited to be working with Partners for Sacred Places as we envision and enact the next chapter of our historic congregation . Partners is passionate about the preservation and strengthening of historical congregations , and so working with them has never felt like a transaction but rather a mission-centered , supportive , and mutually uplifting relationship in which we can dream and actualize those dreams together .”
Supported by the results of the feasibility study , Touro is now in the process of planning for important repairs and renovations to its building , supported by funds from members of the congregation and the wider New Orleans community , as well as the National Fund for Sacred Places . For more information visit tourosynagogue . com .
Senior Rabbi Katie Bauman , outside Touro Synagogue in
New Orleans , LA . Photo : Touro Synagogue
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