Lis Kahn
Rebuilding her life time and again after great upheaval gave Lis Kahn unique insight as she helped the Jewish community of New Orleans heal after Hurricane Katrina. Kahn grew up in Copenhagen, where she lived through the German occupation as a child. After she moved to America in 1960, she settled in Indiana, where she trained at Indiana University as an RN and worked as a nurse for years before earning a law degree from Valparaiso University. She then combined her talents, serving as an attorney for Lincoln National Life Insurance in Fort Wayne and credentialing transplant physicians for hospitals. While in Indiana, she suffered the double loss of her husband and stepdaughter. Kahn moved to New Orleans in 1991, where she became involved with the local Jewish community as campaign chair for the Jewish Federation and member of her regional branches of Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women while continuing to work as a pro bono attorney. In 2006, in the wake of Katrina, she became president of her synagogue, Shir Chadash, helping lead the community through the difficult task of rebuilding.
Lis begins by discussing her Jewish education and how she met her husband, Hugo. She highlights converting to Judaism and the different Jewish communities she has been a part of. Lis characterizes the New Orleans Jewish community and the city as a whole. She remembers evacuating New Orleans to Galveston before Hurricane Katrina and spending eight weeks on the road because her house was destroyed. She shares the story of high holiday services after the hurricane and the support she felt from the American Jewish community. Lis explains many people decided not to return to New Orleans and says there were new challenges for New Orleans and her synagogue, Shir Chadash. She recalls her return to New Orleans, starting over in the same city. Finally, Lis reflects on what the Jewish community means to her and what she has learned from Hurricane Katrina.
