My Jewish family left New Orleans four generations ago, after a series of tragedies. But today, I feel a spiritual connection to the city, and I am doing all I can to reclaim my heritage there. To understand the gothic drama of this story (my husband suggests I write it as a ghost story), you have to go back 150 years, to my great-great-grandparents, Newman and Gusta Adler.

The Adler saga is now included in the marvelous Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, which opened in New Orl...