Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA
JFStival! to mark centennial
January 7, 2011 2 Shevat 5771 Vol. 90 | No. 18
This Week
by OZZIE NOGG questions to ensure that the integrity Jewish Family Service will mark its of the agency is always in the fore100th Anniversary with a joyous front of any long-term decisions. The JFStival! on Monday work of Jewish 1911 - 2011 evening, June 6, at Family Service is Beth El Synagogue. guided by compasThe event begins at 6 sion, connection, p.m. with cocktails, commitment and followed by dinner caring. Gloria and surprise-filled Kaslow personifies entertainment. Andi those principles.” Willensky is JFStival! Kaslow’s affiliaChairperson. Todd tion with JFS and Betiana Simon began decades ago and Carol and Steve Bloch are when the agency was located in the Honorary Chairs. During the cele- JCC downtown. “I’m attracted to bration, Gloria Kaslow will be recog- the work of Jewish Family Service nized as the Jewish Family Service because its mission is so comWoman of the Century. pelling,” she said. “Guided strongly When describing Kaslow, JFS by Jewish values, the goal of JFS is Director Karen Gustafson said, to sustain and nurture the eco“From the moment I entered the nomic and emotional well-being of doors of Jewish Family Service over families and individuals in our 10 years ago, I understood how community. We all recognize that instrumental Gloria Kaslow was in life can be challenging, and JFS’s role advocating for the agency. With the traditionally has been to help people support of other JFS Board members, navigate those challenges.” Gloria made sure we continued to “A centennial birthday is an amazoperate through staff and leadership ing achievement for any organizaturnovers. From my direct experi- tion,” Kaslow continued, “but it is all ence, Gloria is the ‘goto person’ in the more so for JFS. This agency, by times of change. She quietly offers definition, does much of its work her support and guidance. She asks outside the public eye in order to
respect the privacy and confidentiality of its clients. Because of its low profile, JFS has faced some serious
A century of caring
Gabe Carimi: Star in shul and on the football field Page 6
Chihuly returns to Israel with retrospective exhibit Page 7
Inside This Month The Women’s Issue See Front Page stories and more at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press
challenges over the years in its effort to stay funded and continue its mission of supporting and strengthening individuals and families. I’m happy that this anniversary event brings the work of the agency into public view for all to appreciate. I feel deeply honored to receive an award that celebrates such a momentous milestone
Beth El Cantor’s Concert Hidden archive of the Warsaw promises a dazzling night Ghetto travels to Omaha
JFNA mobilizes quick response to fire Page 12
Point of view Synagogues In memoriam
Gloria Kaslow
in the life of Jewish Family Service. It is an honor that truly belongs to a large cadre of devoted volunteers, past and present, and to the dedicated and devoted staff of JFS.” In the late 1980s through the mid90’s, resettlement of Soviet Jews became one of the biggest projects of Jewish Family Service. Kaslow chaired the Education Committee, which provided English language tutors and programs that helped new immigrants use their previous education and training to find jobs. “I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with many wonderful volunteers in the process of resettling Soviet families in Omaha,” Kaslow said. “The real reward of this work is the many friendships we formed with the new immigrants. Twenty years later, I feel that some of those whose planes we met in the middle of the night have become like family. The addition of the former Soviets into our lives and into the life of our Jewish community is a wonderful gift.” As part of the JFS Jewish Family Life Education, Kaslow helped design early programs including the Women’s Symposium and the Men’s Continued on page 2
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by JILL BELMONT talents that spread across many Beth El Publicity Coordinator media, music included.” On Saturday, Jan. 29, Beth El will The annual Cantor’s Concert raisbe transformed into a dazzling es funds for Beth El’s Youth venue of art and music during Scholarship Program, which proCreativity and Philanthropy: An Art Extravaganza, the synagogue’s gala Cantor’s Concert. As the theme indicates, this year’s event will be presented with an unusual twist: unlike past concerts, this unique evening will feature oral and silent art auctions, with artwork by artists from around the country. The 7 p.m. event will also be highlighted by a musical performance by the celebrated Salem Baptist Church Gospel Choir. “At Beth El, we have held wonderful fund-raising events that uti- Sandy and Amy Friedman are serving lize the musical talents of much of as honorary chairmen for Beth El's our membership and community,” upcoming community-wide fundraising said Cantor Beth Schlossberg, who event, Creativity and Philanthropy: An is organizing the event, along with Art Extravaganza. local artists Daniel Christensen and Carole Greenberg. “This year vides opportunities for youths to we thought an art auction would be attend Jewish summer camps, visit a wonderful way to showcase that Israel and participate in Jewish our community and the greater youth conventions. community across the country have Honorary chairmen of this year’s gala event are Amy and Sandy Friedman, longtime Beth El members who are committed to assuring a thriving Youth Scholarship Fund for generations to come. “Now that our children are adults, we can look back and see that the Jewish summer camp experience was instrumental in helping them form a strong Jewish identity,” Amy said. “We don’t want any child to be Continued on page 2
by HILLARY FLETCHER Marketing Assistant, Institute for Holocaust Education From Jan. 5 through Feb. 25, the Institute for Holocaust Education will present Scream the Truth at the World: Emanuel Ringelblum and the Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto in the Jewish Community Center Art Gallery. This is the most recent stop on a national tour, which is curated and circulated by the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, New York, and the Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw. Recognizing that the events unfolding around him in Europe in the fall of 1939 were unprecedented and required careful documentation and preservation, Warsaw historian Emanuel Ringelblum gathered a few dozen writers, historians, rabbis, teachers, and welfare workers. Together, they formed a group, code-named Oyneg Shabbes [Joy of Sabbath]. The group collected reports on the deportation and murders of Jews, ghetto artifacts, photographs, children’s school essays, and ghetto art. The group’s members originally assumed that they themselves would use the material collected to write this bitter chapter in the history of Polish Jewry. When the annihilation of the Jews became apparent, members of Oyneg Shabbes made efforts to raise the alarm in the free world. As the Nazis began liquidating the
Ghetto, members of Oyneg Shabbes buried the archive in several caches. On Sept. 18, 1946, the first cache was pulled from the Ghetto’s rubble; a second cache
was found in 1950; the last cache has never been discovered. Less than a handful of the group’s members survived; Ringelblum Continued on page 2