January 9, 2004

Vol. LXXXIII No. 19 Omaha, NE

Sen. Ben Nelson in Israel, Jordan This Week Nebraska Senator Will Receive Friend of Zion Award

by JULIE EDWARDS Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson will be presented with a Friend of Zion Award during an upcoming trip to Israel. The award acknowledges Senator Nelson’s support for fostering strong U.S.–Israel relations.

“Israel has long been our strongest partner in the region and one of our strongest allies around the world. Our special relationship with this nation Senator Ben Nelson should be nurtured and encouraged and I’m pleased to help do so in the United States Senate,” said Nelson. “This award is a tremendous honor and I look forward to visiting Israel and talking with officials there about how to better pursue peace and stability for all the people of that nation.”

Senator Nelson will depart for Israel this Sunday, Jan. 11 and return on Thursday. While there, he will meet with Israeli government officials including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, President Moshe Kasav, and former Prime Ministers Shimon Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu. Nelson will also spend one day in neighboring Jordan where he will meet with His Royal Majesty, King Abdullah II. The Friend of Zion Award will be presented to Nelson in a special ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 15.

The award is given annually by the Jerusalem Fund, the development arm of Aish HaTorah, an apolitical, international network of Jewish educational centers. It provides opportunities for Jews of all backgrounds to discover their heritage in an atmosphere of open inquiry and mutual respect.

This year’s recipients of the Friend of Zion Award include Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Representative John Linder of Georgia and Representative John McHugh of New York. Past recipients include former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Senators Joe Biden of Delaware, John Kerry of Massachusetts, Orrin Hatch of Utah, and Harry Reid of Nevada, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman.

Israel Travel May Not Be Hazardous to Your Life, Just Your Life Insurance

by JOE BERKOFSKY NEW YORK (JTA)--As a young, newly married professional with a baby daughter, Adam Segal decided to take out a life insurance policy.

A senior associate at the Washington public-relations firm of Rabinowitz Media and a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, Segal, 26, figured his youth and good health made him a routine candidate.

In October he applied for life insurance from Fidelity Investments. In the process, he was asked if he had recently traveled abroad or planned to do so.

Segal wrote that he and his wife had visited Israel on their honeymoon at the end of 2002.

In early November, a Fidelity senior manager notified Segal that his application had been denied “due to past travel to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.”

It turns out Fidelity will not insure anyone who recently has visited a country where the U.S. State Department has a travel advisory, or who plans to do so soon, spokesman Vincent Laporchio told JTA. Continued on page 23

Inside

Celebrating 83 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

Brother-Sister Team to Lead Super Sunday

by PAM MONSKY Federation Communications Director The brother and sister team of Andie Gordman and Jay Gordman are the 2004 Super Sunday Co-chairman for the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s Annual Campaign. Super Sunday is the Federation’s largest group of Campaign donors, and Andie and Jay are looking forward to bringing their own personal touch to this annual fundraiser.

“When you have to reach over 1,400 donors, it’s a challenge to make that contact personal,” said Jay. “Our goal is to make every donor feel good about their gift to the Federation.”

Added Andie, “This year’s Campaign theme is “Investing in Jewish Omaha,” and I’d like each donor to know how their contribution to the Campaign impacts Jewish life locally and internationally. Even if someone’s only contact with the Jewish community is delivery of the Jewish Sister and brother team, Andie Press, they are receiving lead Super Sunday on Feb. 15. a benefit from their investment in the Annual Campaign.”

Super Sunday will be held Feb. 15 with volunteers calling from Omaha Steaks’ telemarketing facility. This is the eighth year in a row that Omaha Steaks has generously donated their state-of-the-art facility and equipment for Super Sunday.

Traditionally, Super Sunday is the finale for the Federation’s Annual Campaign culminating with a telethon when volunteers call community members for their Campaign pledge. This year, donors have the option of having their name listed in the “We’re Invested in Jewish Omaha” ad running in the Jewish Press when they increase their Campaign gift by any amount or make the same gift as last year.

The money raised through the Federation’s Annual Campaign funds Jewish causes locally and overseas. In Omaha, Campaign dollars support the Community Relations Council (CRC), the Jewish Community Center, Jewish Educational and Library Services, Jewish Family Service and Jewish Senior Services as well as Federation programs such as Jewish Experience Scholarships, missions to Israel, birthright Israel, Leadership Development, Children’s Needs Scholarships and Bar/Bat Gordman and Jay Gordman will Mitzvah Camp Grants.

Volunteer callers for Super Sunday are still needed from 8:30 a.m. until noon. Callers are served breakfast, snacks and will qualify for prizes donated by area business.

For more information and to volunteer, please contact Lana Reichardt at the Federation office at 334.6430 or e-mail lreichardt@jewishomaha.org.

Jewish Elderly May Pay More for Drugs under New Medicare Law

by MATTHEW E. BERGER WASHINGTON (JTA)--A law that was supposed to ease the burden of prescription drug costs for the elderly may force some Jewish seniors to pay more than they do now.

The Medicare reform legislation, signed by President Bush this week, grants some relief in prescription drug costs for seniors. But other provisions of the law may affect adversely more affluent seniors, including Jews.

Jewish groups still are learning what the law will mean for Jewish seniors and already are looking at ways to amend it. Several Jewish groups opposed the legislation, claiming it did not go far enough to aid seniors. They are looking to join coalitions of other advocacy groups to seek a new Medicare reform bill, or amendments to the current one, before most of the provisions go into effect in 2006.

Other organizations, including representatives of Jewish nursing homes, say the law will grant Jewish seniors some relief and is a step in the right direction.

The Medicare issue is an important one for Jews, since they are older on average than the general American population. According to the National Jewish Population Survey 2000-01, 19 percent of the U.S. Jewish population is over age 65, compared to 12 percent of the U.S. population as a whole.

Because Jewish seniors tend to be more affluent than seniors in the general population, they may be adverse-

This Week: Tax and Financial Planning Issue Starts on Page 13 Kosher Butchers: “Our Beef is Safe”: Page 2

15 Tevet, 5764 January 9, 2004

Reflections on Terrorism and the Mission to Israel: Page 5

ly affected by the new Medicare laws.

For example, Jewish seniors currently are more likely to be using private insurance, known as Medigap, to supplement what Medicare covers, including prescription drugs.

But the new law prohibits Medigap policies from covering prescription drug costs, so seniors who rely on that service may soon have to pay more out of pocket.

The same is true for seniors who are on prescription drug programs through their employers or pensions.

Some Jewish policy analysts fear that the prescription drug provisions in private insurance programs will be dropped or downgraded for retirees because of the availability of the optional Medicare program.

While the new law contains subsidies to encourage employers to keep prescription drug benefits for retirees, it’s unclear how good drug benefits must be for businesses to receive the subsidy-- and analysts say some employers may downgrade their programs to the minimum required.

Another possibility is that Jewish seniors who currently have low drug costs will pay more to opt into the program when it begins in 2006 or when they turn 65, to avoid penalties for joining later.

B’nai B’rith International opposed the legislation, along with several other Jewish groups. Rachel Goldberg, B’nai B’rith’s Assistant Director for senior Continued on page 6

Coming Next Month: Home & Garden Issue America Decides 2004 Howard Dean: Pages 8-9

People of the Byte Jewish Business Ethics: Page 17

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 9, 2004

Kosher Butchers: Our Beef Safer from Mad Cow Disease

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 9 Educator-in-Residence Rabbi Jan Katzew, 6 p.m. at Temple Israel SATURDAY, JANUARY 10 Educator-in-Residence Rabbi Jan Katzew, 10:30 a.m. at Temple Israel C SUNDAY, JANUARY 11 L Adult Education, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel I Educator-in-Residence Rabbi Jan Katzew, 10 a.m.

P at Temple Israel & Club 56 Event, noon at Temple Israel S HAZAK Program, 2 p.m.

A Girl Scout Troop Meeting, 3 p.m.

V E

MONDAY, JANUARY 12 YES Program, 10 a.m.

Adult Ed. Class, 11 a.m.

Driver’s Ed. Class, 6 p.m.

JELS Teacher Training Program, 7 p.m.

C L I P & S A V E

TUESDAY, JANUARY 13 Pennie Z. Davis CDC Omaha Symphony Day, 9 a.m.

Visions IMAX & Lunch, 11 a.m.

JFS Event, noon Adult Education, 6 p.m. at Temple Israel Driver’s Ed. Class, 6 p.m.

Executive Committee Meeting, 7 p.m. at Beth El

C L I P &

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14 Pennie Z. Davis CDC Omaha Symphony Day, 9 a.m.

Rabbis and Presidents Meeting, noon Crash Course in Hebrew Reading, noon Rabbinic Council Meeting, 1:30 p.m.

Beth El High School Dinner, 6 p.m.

Adult Education, 6:30 p.m. at Temple Israel Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 7 p.m. at Beth El

S THURSDAY, JANUARY 15 A V Walk-in Drop-in/Yiddish Group, 10 a.m.

Adult Education, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel E Jewish Wisdom of the 21st Century with Rabbi Levin, noon at Beth El All events held at the JCC unless otherwise indicated.The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of events.To keep calendar accurate or for questions, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437.

FOR A COMPLETE LISTING,VISIT THE FEDERATION’S WEBSITE: www.JewishOmaha.org (click on calendar)

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by JOE BERKOFSKY considered kosher.

NEW YORK (JTA)--New signs spice up the meat secAmong other anti-mad cow measures announced, the tion of the Hungarian Kosher Grocery in Skokie, IL, U.S. Department of Agriculture declared a new ban on one of the nation’s largest kosher food supermarkets. the use of such “downer” cows in meatpacking plants.

They reassure customers that, in light of the recent Kosher slaughterhouses also typically use younger scare and media hoopla over mad cow disease, kosher cows--between 18-24 months old--while the diseased cow beef is safer than non-kosher meat. in Washington is believed to be six and a half years old.

“Some people are paranoid. You tell them something Kosher slaughter also prohibits shooting or stunning on television, and they think that's the way it is,” says cows in the head, “which may cause brain matter, Sandor Kirsche, the supermarket’s owner. where the disease resides, to be scattered to other parts Kirsche posted the placards in response to customer of the body,” the O.U’s Genack added. inquiries about meat safety following the reports of Kosher slaughter mandates that the animal’s throat be mad cow disease in the United States in late December. slit, and potentially contaminated blood is drained Kosher food wholesalers and retailers, as well as top away from the carcass, he says. kosher-certification agencies, agree with Kirsche’s These kashrut experts and others also say that about assessment that kosher beef is much less likely to be 50 non-kosher slaughterhouses use a machine called infected with mad cow than is non-kosher cuts. the Advanced Meat Recovery System, which scrapes Kosher food industry sources say that a combination of safeguards--ranging from traditional kosher slaughtering practices to beef-purchasing policies-make kosher beef safer.

Some predict that the mad cow scare could create greater demand for kosher beef from Jews and nonJews alike.

Menachem Lubinsky, President of Integrated Marketing Communications, which produces the annual Kosherfest trade show, says he expects that the mad cow scare will boost sales of kosher beef the way several outbreaks of salmonella in the past few years sent kosher David Shrago checks the Bag ’n Save supply of Rubashkin glatt kosher beef from Agriprocessors in Postville, IA, which they carry along with Kohn’s of St. Louis and Empire, poultry profits soaring.

Still, industry sources cau- as do other area grocers such as HyVee, Baker’s and Albertson’s. tion that kosher meat isn’t immune to contamination every bit of meat from a carcass--including from areas with mad cow disease. near the brain and spinal column where BSE could “I don’t want to overstate the case. Some of the pro- reside--and some scraps go into packaged ground cedures related to kosher mitigate against MCD, but meat. there are no guarantees,” said Rabbi Menachem “In the case of some of the treif beef that’s out there, Genack, Rabbinic Administrator of the Orthodox they use anything,” says Rabbi Sanford Abramowitz, Union’s kashrut division. using the Yiddish word for non-kosher.

His comment came after the union, the world’s largest Abramowitz has his own beef to hawk. He is presikosher-certification agency, and Star-K, another major dent of Zalman’s Glatt Kosher, a wholesaler of premiinternational kosher-certification agency, issued state- um kosher cuts to supermarkets in the East and ments seeking to reassure consumers about mad cow.

Midwest that claims a 25 percent stake in the kosher Those reassurances came after a Holstein cow import- beef market and is one of only two meat producers in ed along with dozens of other cows from Canada tested the country. The other is Agri-Processing, owned by positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, a the Rubashkins, a Chabad-Lubavitch family with a large fatal brain-wasting disease similar to the human variant operation in Postille, IA. (Editor’s note: Their glatt Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD. kosher beef is carried by supermarkets in the Omaha Most reports of humans contracting CJD from eating area and in Des Moines.) diseased beef occurred in the 1990s in the United Zalman’s uses “muscle meat” taken from the foreKingdom. So far, 139 cases have surfaced worldwide. quarter and geared for roasts and steaks. Those cuts are Like the United States, not all countries have strict test- taken only from steers and heifers, rather than the type ing regimens in place. of retired diary cow that contracted mad cow, In June 2002, a cow in Israel’s Golan Heights was Abramowitz explained. His company uses meat from found to be infected with mad cow, but Israeli health cows raised by International Glatt in Wyndham, MN, he officials said the animal was isolated and no infected added. meat reached consumers.

Others, such as Star-K’s Pollack, say kosher slaughLast week, the first instance of mad cow in the United terhouses import much of their meat from Latin States was reported in Washington state. Health officials American nations such as Costa Rica and Uruguay, believe the animal got sick from infected Canadian feed where no cases of mad cow have cropped up. before arriving in the United States.

However, asked what kind of inspections those counBut U.S. officials say tough new measures against tries conduct for mad cow, Pollack laughs, “You don’t mad cow protect the domestic feed supply and that the want to know.”

U.S. beef supply remains safe.

Other factors point to kosher beef being safer.

Still, ground meat from the infected cow has been Pollack says that only 35 percent to 40 percent of the recalled from supermarkets in eight Western states and cows that arrive at kosher slaughterhouses end up Guam. being used, as many do not meet kashrut standards Kosher food experts maintain that there is every rea- because of other health issues, such as diseased lungs. son to believe people should have no beef about eatKirsche, in Skokie, says he had expected a drop in ing kosher meat. demand for kosher beef because of the mad cow scare but While some of the dozen kosher slaughterhouses in that he still is seeing his typical $25,000 in weekly sales. the country buy their cattle at the same auctions that Abe Hollander, manager of the meat department at supply non-kosher producers, a shochet, or ritual Supersol in Lawrence, N.Y., another major kosher slaughterer, would never accept a visibly sick cow such outlet, says he, too, has fielded questions from worried as the infected bull found in Washington, industry customers. insiders say.

But if the mad cow outbreak remains confined to a “An animal that is a ‘downer’--that cannot walk to the few states, he noted, “it should have no affect whatsoslaughtering place on its own--would not be used,” ever” on the kosher beef industry. says Rabbi Avrom Pollack, President of the Baltimore“I don’t pay any attention to it. It’s the mad butchers based Star-K. If the animal were sick, it could not be you have to worry about!”

January 9, 2004

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder accident; this time, I was right behind three motorcycles that came speeding past me at night. One motorcycle hit the median and I was the first person on the scene and again saw a body flying in the air.

Now, the first thing that comes to my mind today is “Do I have bad luck or what?” However, what is relevant to this story is my reaction at the time of this second accident. My whole body began shaking and I couldn’t even remember how to put my car into park in order to stop. Once I did stop, I tried to step out of the car, but my knees were shaking so badly I could not walk. This was a very unexpected sensation.

By the time other people, including the police, were on the scene, I made sure to tell the officer that I saw everything--I didn’t want any more regrets and did not want to think about this accident like I had the other. As a result, I had no other symptoms.

What is the point of sharing this story?

To show you how PTSD can happen to anyone, at any time. My automatic reaction to this second accident was beyond my control at the time and not immediately understood.

The solution to PTSD can vary depending on the severity of the symptoms and the longevity and intensity of the initial traumatic event. It is important for people with symptoms to tell a licensed therapist and to share any information they can regarding the initial event or trauma. Without this knowledge many people get misdiagnosed with little to no relief of their symptoms.

To learn more about PTSD, it's symptoms or treatment options, please call JFS at 330.2024.

JFS CORNER

by KAREN M. GUSTAFSON Jewish Family Service Therapist With the nation once again on “high alert”, it is important for us to remember that we can have unexplained reactions to events that can't always be explained.

We may ask ourselves, “Why did that just make me sad?” or “Why did I just blow up at him?” This is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. PTSD is a natural emotional reaction to a deeply shocking and disturbing experience or a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. It is not just acts of terrorism and combat situations that cause PTSD. Other events such as personal assaults (physical, mental, emotional, sexual, bullying), natural or human-caused accidents and disasters, and robbery can trigger PTSD. PTSD can affect people of any age, culture, gender and/or socioeconomic class.

About five years ago I was a witness to a brutal car accident involving a pedestrian hit by a Chevy Blazer. As a result, I would not cross Dodge St. at the spot of the accident by myself for quite some time. I was a little concerned that my co-workers thought I was exaggerating my fear, but I literally could visualize the woman who was hit flying through the air and rolling on the ground like a rag doll.

I did not step forward as a witness, causing some regrets. This regret led to some of my symptoms. I can still picture this in my head today even though my fear of crossing the street has vanished.

Three years later I witnessed another

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

Beth Israel to Help Congregants Prepare for Move many board members volunteered to provide any assistance needed by congregants as they look into moving near the new building.

“The Beth Israel Board of Directors feels that is it of the utmost importance to help as many congregants as possible who wish to move west,” said CohenDunning.

“By providing some financial assistance toward moving expenses, we hope that this will have a two-fold effect: first to relieve some financial pressure, if it so exists, and, second, to encourage those who are as yet undecided to live near the new shul.

Ultimately, we want everyone to feel included in as Beth Israel moves to a new home,” she explained.

Any congregant interested in more information about this “moving stipend” or other moving assistance may contact me at the synagogue at 556.6288.

Congregants view the interior of the new building at the The new synagogue December open house. The raised bima is under a stained building is scheduled to glass menorah on the east wall; to the left and right are six open with a festive Shabbat stained glass windows representing the 12 tribes of Israel. on Feb. 13 and 14, 2004.

by BETH COHEN Executive Director Toba Cohen-Dunning, chairman of Beth Israel’s Relocation Committee, presented the following motion which was passed at the December meeting of the Board of Commissioners: Beth Israel will offer up to $1000 to assist with moving expenses for those members in good standing who are moving to be within walking distance of the new synagogue.

In addition to passing this motion,

JEWISH PRESS NOTICE Photos from the 2003 New Year’s issue are still available in the Jewish Press office. For pick up, come to the Jewish Press office, Monday-Friday, during regular business hours.

Photos from prior special issues have been donated to the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, bur synagogue and organizational photos are still archived in the Press files.

Questions? Call the Press at 1.402.334.6448 or the NJHS, 1.402.334.6442.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 9, 2004

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Etz Chayim Preschool Goes Full-time

by ARIELLA HOFFMAN parents do not want to feel they are sacrificing kinderfor Etz Chayim Preschool garten-ready skills and a strong secular education to As the 2004 year begins, Etz Chayim is gearing up for achieve a Jewish education, which is why the new curthe exciting and challenging goal of next fall’s full-time riculum includes classes in the English alphabet, numpreschool program. ber recognition and counting, music, arts and crafts, The current program gives parents in Omaha a taste and computer skills. There will also be various field of a traditional Jewish preschool, but it is time to trips and special events to be arranged according to the increase the program to include a wider range of secu- season or to correspond with particular study units. lar subjects. While Etz Chayim currently offers classes The new program will begin in the fall, so in addion Tuesdays and Thursday, the new full day program tion to our current part-time teaching staff, Etz Chayim will allow working parents and their children to bene- is bringing in new teachers to run the full-time profit from an integrated Jewish preschool. gram. These teachers will be qualified for both secular While Omaha does boast excellent schools and and Judaic studies. Head teacher Shari Blum resigned preschools all around, parents who are interested in Etz from the school in December; she and her husband, Chayim are those who want their children to under- Rabbi Aryeh Blum, are leaving Omaha this month. stand the depth and beauty of Judaism.

Starting in the next academic year, the school will According to Rabbi Tuvia Hoffman, Administrative also have a morning preschool program and afternoon Director of the school, these parents “want children daycare to include those parents that need a full-time who recognize the Hebrew care facility. The preschool alphabet with the same will be accepting applicafamiliarity as they show tions for students ages two with the English alphabet. to five beginning Jan. 15.

They want kids who can A unique facet of Etz sing all the traditional songs Chayim is a program Rabbi that we sing at the Passover Hoffman created for the seder.

In one sentence, parents of its students. Most they want to give their chilparents of Etz Chayim dren the kind of Jewish preschoolers felt they neededucation that they themed to strengthen their own selves would have liked to comprehension of Judaism, have enjoyed.” so Rabbi Hoffman develSome of the classes and oped a program called the skills preschoolers will be Family Learning Incentive, working on include: Jewish which gives parents a holidays and history, tuition reduction for attendHebrew prayers, blessings, ing classes on Jewish phiand songs, learning about losophy, Jewish parenting, Shabbat, Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew, and other topics of Parasha (weekly Torah porinterest. tion), and character Assistant teacher Brooke Shrago and preschooler Isabella For more information, call Seina, daughter of Craig and Tanya Seina, take a “ride” on Rabbi improvement.

Hoffman at It goes without saying that a fire engine during a winter camp field trip.

402.981.0569.

Raise Your Hand if You’re Prejudiced

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by Jordana Glazer for the ADL/CRC The headline is just one of the thought-provoking questions that was heard this fall at the AntiDefamation League’s 17th Annual High School Prejudice Elimination Workshop (PEW).

How much time have you spent discovering who you are? What do you really know about your own culture, your own histories? And what do you know about people who are different from you? What have you done to learn more about people who don’t look like you, worship like you, or share a similar history or culture?

In November, 350 Omaha-Area high school students spent time at the PEW answering these questions, at an event funded by the Murray H. and Sharee C. Newman Supporting Foundation.

Debbi Zweiback, Assistant Director of ADL/CRC started the day by noting the “important connection between knowing your own self worth and appreciating others value.” By asking some intimate and challenging questions, PEW provided students with an understanding of stereotyping, bigotry, intolerance, prejudice, and discrimination and the harm they inflict upon individuals and society. Taking a step further, through action plans, the workshop challenges the students to make a personal commitment to create a moral and a just society.

Students from the Omaha area selected to represent their school communities because they had been identified as leaders by their teachers. They were diverse in color, culture, religion, ethnicity, sexuality and ability.

They represented many communities: Asian, Native American, African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian.

They were Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, atheist, and agnostic.

Zweiback stressed, “We have been taught to believe that different is bad. Different isn’t bad or good; it is just different. Different is fine, it’s okay, but hardly anyone ever tells you that.”

Students were encouraged to search for truth and to look at things from each others’ perspective. “The goal is not to change somebody’s perspective, but instead to learn about each other; learn to respect each others differences and most importantly, learn to get along,” Zweiback added. “We do not need to be in agreement, we need to be in relationships that are respectful and kind.”

She faithfully wears a pin that says “Hate Hurts” and explained, “We are so good at hating;we’re not so good at loving. We are experts at exclusion. Where we need improvement is loving and inclusion. We are not all enjoying freedom or equality. Being different places people at risk. Where is the justice in that?”

The day concluded with a slide show and a music video by the group Black Eyed Peas. Their hit song, “Where is the Love?” resonated with the students Yo, whatever happened to the values of humanity; Whatever happened to the fairness in equality; Instead in spreading love we spreading animosity; Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity; Where is the love?

Where is the love?

The ADL asks you to ask yourself....“Where is the love?” What are your biases? What are you doing to create a more inclusive society? If you are interested in learning more about the ADL’s Anti-Bias programming, please contact the office at 333.1303.

Beth El to Pay Tribute to Rabbi Myer Kripke

by DIANE AXLER BAUM for Beth El Synagogue During Shabbat morning services Jan. 17, Beth El Synagogue will pay tribute to Rabbi Emeritus Myer S. Kripke, known and loved as a brilliant and caring scholar, teacher and role model, whose 90th birthday will be five days later.

Beth El has arranged for Rabbi Jules Harlow--editor of Siddur Sim Shalom, the daily and Sabbath prayer book and the High Holiday Prayer Book used in synagogues nationwide--to come to Omaha to make a presentation

based on Rabbi Kripke’s life and accomplishments.

Congregation President Dick Fellman and Rabbi Mordechai Levin also will speak. Rabbi Kripke will offer his own concluding remarks. Immediately following services, Rabbi Kripke’s children and grandchildren will invite all in attendance to join them for a kiddush lunch.

“The Beth El family is proud to celebrate Rabbi Kripke’s achievements which have benefited Jewish Omaha and the Jewish people,” said Rabbi Levin. “We look forward to sharing this milestone occasion with many of the people whose lives he has touched.”

January 9, 2004

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 5

Reflections on Terrorism and the Mission to Israel

by STEVEN J. RIEKES “You must be crazy to go to Israel.”

That’s what some said to Margo and me before we went with about 30 others on the Omaha Mission to Israel sponsored by our Jewish Federation this past November. Others may have harbored the same thought, but were too polite to say it.

Unsettled by these fears for our safety, we were, nevertheless, undeterred. We went and returned and it was a memorable experience.

While the sites of Israel are very stimulating, both aesthetically and intellectually, it was contact with the people that was the most meaningful for us.

Because fear of terrorism has kept so many away, we were doubly welcomed by everyone wherever we went.

We witnessed the rich diversity of our people, from India to Ethiopia, from Italy to Yemen, all reuniting in our ancient homeland. We met with physicians who were treating Jew and Arab alike, in a hospital in the Western Galilee. It was a state of the art facility designed to withstand attack, including chemical and biological warfare.

We met with children from families who were stressed by poverty. We met with the elderly who were making beautiful handicraft items for themselves and

others. I met with appellate lawyers like myself, who were arguing before the Israel Supreme Court, in a country that venerates the law and not the fist.

We marched through the streets of Jerusalem with 4,000 delegates from the United States and Canada. We wanted to show the world who we are and that we are not afraid. We wanted to show the Israelis that they are not alone in their struggle to exist in their own land.

The most memorable experience of all, was going with Rabbi Mendel Katzman to visit Steve Riekes and his niece, Annie Weinstein, who lives victims of terror in their homes. in Jerusalem with her family.

The victims we met had been on so cruelly and so darkly? buses blown up by suicide bombers.

What kind of mindset are they that That others cared meant so much to plan such activities? They that call them them and so much to us. martyrs and heroes? That excuse them or The suicide bomber is not content with justify them? Or report these acts as simthe indiscriminate killing of young and ply news of a violent world, with no old, men and women, Muslim or Jew or more meaning than the moral equivalent Christian. One of the victims we saw had of tit-for-tat? been severely injured by shrapnel. The While I was safe in Israel, I heard of suicide bomber places shrapnel around the bombing in Istanbul, Turkey. I his body so that those whom he doesn’t attended Shavout services at Neve manage to kill will nevertheless continue Shalom Synagogue this past summer. I to suffer. had had such an enjoyable time there.

What kind of mindset sees the world Yet, but for a relatively short interval, it

could have been me with the scores of Jews and Muslim Turks who were killed and injured.

Is Israel safe? Is Turkey? Is New York?

As I write this piece, our country is now on code orange alert. We have a new granddaughter and went to Seattle to see her. Before we came, however, our daughter was concerned about us traveling during this dangerous time.

But, as we were not deterred in being with our people in Israel when they need us, neither shall we be deterred in visiting our own granddaughter.

Nowhere is safe from terrorism and no one can hide from the struggle.

This is not a struggle between Israelis and Palestinians, or Jews and Arabs, or between the West and the Middle East.

It is, instead, a struggle between civilization and life and a cult of indiscriminate death and destruction. It is a struggle between those who hope for mankind and those who dance in the streets, shouting their hatred, when other humans are killed.

We must not let the dark forces of terrorism win. We shall continue to visit Israel. We shall continue to visit our granddaughter.

We shall continue to believe in a God whose Torah is a tree of life to those who cling to it.

Despite Cold Shoulder from Iran, Jews and Israelis Aid Quake Victims

by RACHEL POMERANCE NEW YORK (JTA)--Beggars apparently can be choosers--or so the Iranian government seems to believe.

The Islamic fundamentalist regime in Iran, which is struggling to recover from a Dec. 26 earthquake that killed at least 20,000 people and wrecked an entire region, has announced that it will not accept humanitarian aid from the “Zionist entity.”

But American Jews and Israelis still are finding ways to help the victims.

And one of the few U.S. non-governmental organizations running relief on the ground is led by an Iranian-American Jew. Farshad Rastegar formed the Los Angeles-based nonsectarian Relief International 14 years ago to aid victims of an earlier earthquake in Iran.

As an Iranian-American Jew working in his native country, it’s “very emotional,” he told JTA from Los Angeles. Rastegar, who was planning to leave for Iran in the coming days, said his group has raised more than $150,000 for relief work in Iran, $65,000 of which already has been routed to a bank there.

Like other Jewish humanitarians working in Iran, Rastegar tries to keep politics out of the picture.

“Pain is the same everywhere, whether you’re in Bosnia in Sarajevo and somebody’s shooting at you or whether you’re in Chechnya,” he said. “A bullet is a

bullet, a child is a child and pain is pain.” He added, “The religion, the ethnicities, the national differences really dissipate in the face of these kinds of tragedies.”

Rastegar’s religion is known to Iranian government officials, and his group, which worked with professionals in Iran before the earthquake, continues to be well received, he said.

Despite the Iranian government’s hostile attitude toward Israel and Jews, there should be no problem in routing Jewish funds to those in distress, Haroun Yeshaya, head of Iran’s Jewish community, said Tuesday in a phone interview from Tehran.

“All Iranian people are going to be glad” to receive funding from anyone in the world, Yeshaya said through Kamram Broukim, a translator in California.

Through his organization--the Fariborz “Fred” Matloob unit of B’nai B’rith, named in memory of an Iranian Jewish boy--Broukim has raised more than $50,000 since Dec. 26 for earthquake victims.

The funds will be directed to Iran’s Jewish community, which plans to use the money to set up a medical clinic in Bam, the center of the disaster. Broukim is working with Iranian Jews in New York and London to raise additional funds.

About 18,000 of Iran’s 30,000 Jews live in Tehran; another 8,000 live in Shiraz. There are no known Jewish casualties of the earthquake.

Despite Iran’s rebuff to Israel, at least one Israeli

NGO is addressing the tragedy.

“I have a direct and open line to Iranians,” said Ra’anan Amir, project manager of Latet, an Israeli humanitarian group that provides domestic and international relief. Latet has sent “tens of thousands of dollars” to earthquake victims, Amir said.

“We are welcomed, and we have the routes to come and work in Iran,” he said.

Amir wouldn’t say whether Latet has people or equipment on the ground in Iran, and he admitted he has encountered patches of anti-Israeli resistance along the way. However, he said, such resistance in Iran and elsewhere comes from politicians or government officials, not individual citizens.

According to the New York Sun, Iranian citizens criticized their government’s refusal to accept aid from Israel, which has highly trained disaster relief teams that have assisted victims around the globe.

Asked if he thinks humanitarian goodwill will help bridge political or religious divides, Amir said he doesn’t “fool with idealism.”

“In the first few days of every disaster like this one, nobody thinks about any of these topics. People are just looking for a place to put their head at night, to get covers, to get something to eat, to get something to drink and to find their relatives,” he said.

Rastegar expresses similar sentiments. “The agenda is the humanity of it,” he said.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 9, 2004

Bankruptcy in Washington THE HISTORIAN’S F OOTPRINT

by OLIVER B. POLLAK Congress passed the Bankruptcy Reform Act and President Jimmy Carter affixed his signature in 1978. In October, the American Bankruptcy Institute hosted a 25 year observance with scholars, judges and practitioners (that’s me) gathering to think historically about its passage, implementation, and effectiveness, and the policy impact of the proposed modifications long stalled in Congress.

My law partner, David G. Hicks, and I decided to attend. It turned out to be an intellectual feast with much attention spent on the role of political gridlock.

Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren leads the public opposition to the “reform” bill. She and her daughter recently wrote the Two Income Trap.

They cogently argue that bankruptcy has become commonplace among the economically fragile middle class. This accounts for the record breaking 1.6 million households filing for bankruptcy

protection during the last year. This actually amounts to about 2.1 million people and if you include their minor children, it hovers at perhaps three million people.

New York’s senior Senator Charles Schumer has been fighting the bill with his killer amendment on abortion. He lost a valuable ally in the airplane death of Paul Wellstone.

Readers should be reminded of the verses in Deuteronomy and Leviticus that provide for cancellation of certain debts every seven years.

Much of the conference was focused on political polarization in Washington.

Our luncheon speaker, Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, characterized the difference between 1978 and 2003 comparing earlier bipartisanship placing the players somewhere midfield, between the 35 yard lines.

Today the opposing sides are between five yard lines and behind the goal posts.

Name dropping is not the same as lashon hora (gossip). It has its place, if pertinent, and has its limits. At Eppley airport waiting for the plane Dave and I

met Professor Michaela White of Creighton University also going to the conference. Michaela’s father is former Nebraska Chief Justice White who succeeded Chief Justice Norman Krivosha.

Michaela’s colleague, Marianne Culhane, has been the American Bankruptcy Institute Robert M. Zinman Scholar in Residence this year.

Chris Dugas who has the financial beat for USA Today was in attendance. Nancy Rapaport, the former dean of the University of Nebraska College of Law, succeeded Harvey Perlman in that position, was on the roster of attendees but did not appear. No doubt her deanship at the University of Houston Law Center Law makes its demands. Her book on Enron will be out in December.

White, Culhane, and Rapaport, probably were the strongest force outside of Elizabeth Warren at Harvard and Karen Gross at New York Law School, the author of Failure and Forgiveness, for restraining the anti-women and anti-family implications of the proposed reform bill.

Does multiple coincidence create a pattern? Does serendipity have meaning? Is it a small world after all? The conference is over. Dave and I are walking on Louisiana

Avenue toward the Mall. I see a vaguely familiar face towing his luggage to Union Station. He was familiar because he had attended the same conference but we had not talked there. So we stood on the corner and recapped the conference. His name is Edward J. Janger, a professor at Brooklyn Law School. Dave and I identify ourselves as Omahans.

Allen proceeds on the corner and later through e-mail to relate his Omaha family connections. His great-grandfather, Jacob, was an Omaha junk man. His great uncles Harry and Irv had a little grocery store. The names Batt and White also appear. His uncle Norman Harris and Aunt Bernice (nee Silverman, the daughter of Betty Janger, Edward’s great aunt) endowed the Harris Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Nebraska. Edward will be replacing Marianne Culhane as the next ABI Scholar in Residence.

Bankruptcy is a serious personal and national concern. But our nation’s capital is also a place to play. Washington’s music, museums and books will be topics of future footprints.

Oliver Pollak is a local attorney and historian. He can be reached at: OBPOMNI@aol.com.

Jewish Elderly Continued from page 1 services and advocacy, said the main concern was a gap in prescription drug coverage for seniors.

While the law offers discounts for those who spend less than $2,250 a year on drugs, the next discounts do not start until after one pays $5,100 a year.

“People are going to be really surprised when they look at it,” Goldberg said.

The demographics of the Jewish community mean Jews may be among the first to see how the new provisions affect spending on senior services.

Not only is the Jewish community older, but Jewish families also have fewer children than the U.S. average, meaning that there are fewer sources of income to offset growing costs in a family.

“What’s going to happen nationwide, we’re a microcosm of that,” Goldberg said. “It’s going to happen to us first.” That includes assisting poorer Jews. While Jewish elderly generally have more money than elderly in the general population, 9 percent of Jews over age 65 live at or below the poverty level, and 18 percent live in households that earn $15,000 or less a year, according to the population survey.

Another 15 percent live in households that earn between $15,000 and $25,000.

People on Medicaid will have to begin paying a small co-payment, and poor Jews who do not apply for Medicaid may have to deplete their assets to receive increased benefits, Goldberg said.

“The low income portions of the bill are better than we feared, but nowhere near as good as we hoped,” she said.

Harvey Tillipman, Executive Director of the Association of Jewish Aging Services of North America, said that portions of the legislation outside of the prescription drug provisions could aid Jewish nursing home programs, which are essential for dealing with an influx of aging Jews who can’t necessarily rely on family for help.

“There are pieces in that bill that are very important, not only to Jewish homes but other homes as well,” he said. That includes the restoration of federal funds for physical therapy programs in nursing homes, which had been cut in recent years.

“I don’t think it’s a bill that will hurt Jewish nursing homes or residents,” Tillipman said. “It’s a modicum of

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help, but it’s a question of how much help it will be.”

Jewish groups say they’re beginning to educate their membership about the new laws and are working with other advocacy groups to mobilize an effort to repeal portions of the legislation.

“People are wrestling with it,” said Shelley Klein, director of advocacy for Hadassah. “They want to know more about it, and they are disappointed.”

Advocates say several factors could help them make changes to the law, including the fact that 2004 is a presidential election year and that a lot of the law’s provisions don’t take effect until 2006.

But there is concern that some lawmakers will be disinclined to reopen the Medicare issue so soon after a long fight on Capitol Hill produced this legislation.

Bert Goldberg, president and CEO of the Association of Jewish Family and Children’s Agencies, said his organization will analyze the law and try to advise seniors how to take advantage of its options.

“We now at least have something that deals with drugs for seniors, and we’ve never had that,” he said.

“That’s at least something to be pleased about.”

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The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land

by Donna Rosenthal (New York: Free Press, 2003, $27)

by AARON LEIBEL Washington Jewish Week, Arts Editor WASHINGTON--I have one problem with this book--its title. Trust me, Israelis are not “ordinary people.”

But aside from that ill-conceived attempt at being cute (“ordinary” juxtaposed with “extraordinary,” obviously the work of a P.R. person at the publishing house), this is a wonderful book. Its collection of vignettes of life in the Jewish state collectively paints an accurate, nuanced picture of the “the honey and the thorn” of Israeli existence, in the words of poet and songwriter Naomi Shemer.

It is written by Donna Rosenthal, who understands Israel very well, viewing her subjects with the penetrating vision found in a good journalist’s eyes and writing with a reporter's sense of immediacy.

The Israelis provides the best description I have read of what people in the Jewish state have faced during the 21/2 years of Palestinian murder and terror called the Intifada.

Last year, Muhammad al-Ghoul, a graduate student studying Islamic law at Al-Najah University in Nablus, blew himself up on bus 32A in Jerusalem killing 19 people and wounding 74.

At his home in a refugee camp near Nablus, his sister said she wasn’t unhappy because her brother “was a hero.” His father said, “I’m happy he is a martyr.”

The family would receive the $25,000 from Iraq as well as support from Saudi Arabia, as did all the families of suicide bombers, Rosenthal writes.

Raffi Berger, who worked in a chemistry lab at Hebrew University and had just returned from reserve duty on the West Bank, was on that bus. His wife, Orit, took a later bus, which suddenly took an alternative route. The change was due to a terrorist attack, the bus driver told her.

“Orit dialed Raff’s cell phone. No answer. She dialed again. And again. She phoned his lab at the Hebrew University.

He hadn’t arrived yet. She phoned his parents. They rushed from hospital to hospital.”

Finally the three traveled to the national forensic institute in Tel Aviv.

“Bodies were so mangled that it was impossible to identify him. The Bergers were shown charred shoes and wedding rings. A nurse took blood samples from Raffi’s mother and father. The DNA matched a slice of tissue. As fate would have it, Raffi was safer as a soldier

searching for terrorists near Jenin [in the West Bank] than...sitting in the front of a Jerusalem bus.”

And then there is the Malha Mall in Jerusalem, whose 200 stores opened in 1993 to great fanfare and visits by wealthy tourists from all over the Middle East. Today, Rosenthal writes, the TV in the mall is split in two to allow viewers to see soccer on one side and the latest terrorist outrage on the other.

“Its called the routinization of terror,” the author writes.

“Because Israelis are cocooning in the safety of their homes, there’s a sales boom for cappuccino machines, ice cream and bread makers. There’s also a run on diet, detective and spirituality books.”

Or to understand the chasm that separates secular and Orthodox Jews, Rosenthal provides the following oft-told (in Israel) story: “When a reservist’s father stopped to give a hitchhiking soldier a lift, an ultra-Orthodox yeshiva student also tried to get into the car. ‘Sorry, I only give rides to Israelis who serve in the army,’ the father told him. ‘But I serve in the army of God,’ the ultraOrthodox student said. ‘Good,’ the father answered. ‘So ask God for a ride.’”

The author also has a chapter (Out of Africa) about Ethiopian Jews in Israel. The story she relates about the May 1991 airlift of Ethiopian Jews to the Jewish state, just as rebel troops were closing in on Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, is poignant.

Solomon Ezra, the first Ethiopian Jew to become an officer in the Israeli air force, tells how crowded the planes were. “‘I asked the pilot how many passengers in the plane. He told me over one thousand. I warned him that it was impossible, that the plane couldn’t hold more than 500,’ recalls Solomon. His answer? ‘It’s okay. I don’t want to leave any of my people behind.’ I never felt more proud to be an Israeli.’”

Non-Jewish Russian Israelis and their co-citizens, the fervently Orthodox nonZionists and fervently Zionist Orthodox settlers are found in the pages of The Israelis. So are Christians, Muslims, Druze and Bedouin people of Israel.

Out-of-the-closet gays make an appearance. And, of course, there are adulterers, drug addicts and prostitutes.

And they want to tell us that Israelis are “ordinary people.”

The book is available at the Kripke Jewish Federation Library.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 9, 2004

Jewish Knowledge Reaches Deep into Howard Dean’s Past--and His Home

AMERICA DECIDES 2004

by MATTHEW E. BERGER CONCORD, N.H. (JTA)--In the middle of a rowdy rendition of “I Have a Little Dreidel” at the Sobelson family Hanukkah party, Howard Dean walks in and declares himself the cantor.

The Democratic presidential candidate recites the blessings over the candles in near-perfect Hebrew in a dining room crowded with campaign staffers.

“It’s another Jewish miracle,” Carol Sobelson exclaims.

After more songs and a reprise of the Hanukkah blessings for Israeli television, Dean begins to pass out doughnuts and cake.

It’s just a regular Hanukkah for Dean, the former Vermont governor later says, “except there’s usually only four of us, instead of 54 of us.”

Dean’s most immediate connection to Judaism is his Jewish wife and the couple’s two children, who identify themselves as Jews. But Dean says he has been connected to the religion for decades.

Dean never considered converting to Judaism, but he says the family did ponder the prospect of joining the Reform synagogue in Burlington, VT, though they “never got around to it.”

The candidate’s ties span from a college friendship with a Zionist activist, to frequent political appearances at Vermont’s synagogues, to lighting the menorah and participating in other Jewish rituals at home.

“We light the menorah; we have about

three of them, we sing the prayers,” ey game and an electronic board game Dean told JTA recently as he was driven called Operation. from the Hanukkah party back to his Dean’s first spiritual home was the hotel, picking with his fingers at a take- Episcopal Church, but he became a out container of General Tso’s chicken.

Congregationalist after fighting with the “We always like the first night the most Episcopal Church in Vermont 25 years because we like the third prayer,” he ago over a bike path. said.

Rivals say the switch signals a cavalier Dean asked the Sobelsons if he could approach to worship, but Dean says his chant the Shehecheyanu, the blessing for move was prompted by his former a first-of-the-season event, even though church’s arrogance. it was the third night of Hanukkah.

He got permission from Rachel Sobelson, 19, the New Hampshire campaign office manager and daughter of the hosts, who said it was okay because “it’s the first night that Howard Dean is at the house.”

Dean is spending a lot of time in New Hampshire, and it’s paying off. He has a healthy lead in polls there, and political Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean hands out prespundits have all but ents to children at the Manchester Jewish Federation Hanukkah anointed him the party Dec. 21 in Manchester, N.H. Credit: Matthew E.Berger/JTA favorite to win the Democratic primary campaign.

“We were trying to get the bike path The candidate stopped by the built,” Dean told ABC’s “This Week with Manchester Jewish Federation last month George Stephanopoulos.” to pass out Hanukkah presents for chil“They had control of a mile and a half dren. He brought two of his own child- of railroad bed, and they decided they hood favorites for the swap--an air hock- would pursue a property-right suit to

refuse to allow the bike path to be developed.”

Born on Nov. 17, 1948 in East Hampton, N.Y., Dean had a prep-school education and grew up in New York City and at a country house on Long Island.

His first connection with the issues and concerns of the Jewish community came when he enrolled at Yale University in 1967 and became friends with David Berg, a fellow student who was a former president of Young Judaea.

“My memory is that Howard was unusually interested, respectful and accepting of that whole part of who I was,” Berg, a psychologist in New Haven, CT, said from Burlington, where he was visiting his daughter, a staffer on the campaign, and the Deans, with whom he spent Hanukkah.

In college, Dean was unafraid to discuss Middle Eastern politics in the tumultuous period following the 1967 Six-Day War. “It was a prickly topic of conversation, and I confess to being prickly in conversations in that regard,” Berg said.

“Howard was not afraid to have those conversations, not from a critical point of view, but from a curious point of view.”

Their friendship developed over the years, and Berg counseled Dean on his interactions with the Jewish community-for instance, when he attended the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and married a Jewish woman.

Dean chose Einstein, the medical school of Yeshiva University, simply Continued on page 9

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Dean’s Past Continued from page 8 because it was the best school available to him, but the selection clearly impacted his education on Jewish issues.

“I used to commute with a woman who was Orthodox and kept kosher, so I learned a lot about the dietary laws and more ritualistic parts of Judaism,” Dean said.

Berg said Dean felt very comfortable in the environment at Einstein.

“I remember us sitting down and talking about kashrut at the dining hall at Einstein,” he said. “He wasn’t afraid of making a mistake; he wasn’t treating it like going to a foreign country.”

These days, Dean slips into Jewish terminology like a set of comfortable old clothes. Before a November debate in a Des Moines, Iowa, synagogue, he circulated among congregants and chatted amiably about how hard it was for Burlington’s Orthodox shul to get a minyan together until Chabad-Lubavitch came to town.

“We were impressed that he knew what a minyan was,” congregant Dory Goodman said afterward. Her friend Ann Kaplan said, “We were impressed he knew the difference between a synagogue and a temple.”

When Dean began to date his future wife, Judith Steinberg, a fellow student at Einstein, Berg broached the issue of intermarriage.

“I had slightly mixed feelings about it from the Jewish side,” Berg said. “There was some of my mother in me saying, ‘This is a Jewish person marrying a non-Jewish person.’” But, he said, “I got over that quickly.”

Dean’s family had little problem with the fact that he was marrying a Jewish woman, the candidate said.

“I think the reason it wasn’t an issue in my family was because my father was a Protestant and my mother was a Catholic, and when they got married, that was a very big deal,” Dean said. “My father, I think, was determined not to put me through the experiences he went through when he married outside his faith.”

Dean’s mother bonded with his future wife over a shared love of The New York Times Book Review, which no one else in the Dean family read.

However, while the Deans welcomed Steinberg, “there were a few insensitivities,” the candidate said.

The first time Dean brought his future bride home for Christmas in East Hampton, Dean’s uncle served ham.

Steinberg doesn’t keep kosher, but Dean still found it inappropriate. “Those things happen when you mix cultures,” he said.

And there was some frustration in the Steinberg household that Judith was marrying a Christian.

“It was a little bit of an issue for Judy’s grandmother, because she was of the old school,” Dean said. “But she loved me and I loved her.”

Steinberg’s grandmother would tell Dean stories about escaping pogroms in Poland and coming to the

Page 9

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United States by herself at age 17.

“We were very close, even though she would have been happier if I were Jewish,” Dean said.

Steinberg’s parents were less concerned.

Judith Steinberg, who Dean says is “not political at all,” has given few interviews and does not campaign with her husband. The campaign did not make her available for comment, but her spokeswoman, Susan Allen, has said that Steinberg views time spent with reporters as time taken away from her patients.

The Deans soon settled in Vermont, where they began a medical practice and a family. The couple has two children: Annie, who is studying at Yale, and Paul, who is a senior in high school.

“From early on, he was committed to them both, to giving them some Jewish education,” Berg said, noting that Dean would take the children to synagogue.

Neither child had a Bar or Bat Mitzvah or much formal Jewish education. Dean has said he allowed both children to choose their religion, and both now identify as Jewish. The family celebrates Passover and the High Holidays at home.

“It is a household in which their Jewish heritage was never denied or soft-pedaled,” Berg said. But Berg also acknowledged that the Deans don’t practice Judaism as he would define it. “Religion was never a central feature of their family life,” he said.

Rabbi James Glazier, who leads Burlington's Reform synagogue, Temple Sinai, says he is not really sure what the family's religious practices are. A Congregationalist in a family where everyone else sees themselves as Jewish is hard to define, he says.

“The paradox is between himself and what the Jewish community is,” he said.

Glazier first met Dean briefly when the rabbi was asked to give an invocation in the State Senate and Dean, then the lieutenant governor, was presiding.

Dean was thrust into the governor’s office in 1991 with the sudden death of Gov. Richard Snelling. Glazier’s synagogue invited Dean to speak one Friday night to express its appreciation for the smooth transition.

By that time, Dean had become a full-time politician, forced to give up completely the family medical practice that he had scaled down after being elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1982 and after becoming lieutenant governor in 1986.

When he attended political events at the synagogue, Dean would remark that he felt very comfortable, Glazier said, and once said he would like to join the temple.

Dean said he left the decision about joining to his wife, and that the family did not get around to affiliating.

Glazier said that about half the members of his congregation were not born Jewish, and that his synagogue does extensive outreach to interfaith couples. “How much more welcoming can we be?” he asked.

Dean Staff Addresses Comments on Israel, Both Real and Distorted

by MATTHEW E. BERGER BURLINGTON, VT (JTA)--An e-mail smear campaign distorting Howard Dean’s positions on Israel, coupled with the candidate's genuine gaffes, has his staff working overtime to persuade Jewish voters that he is committed to Israel.

“Even-handed is not a way anyone fairly describes Howard Dean,” said Stu Brody, chairman of the Democratic Rural Conference in New York and a former liaison between the Vermont governor and Jewish leaders.

“His commitment to Israel is as strong as anyone’s.”

The former Vermont governor’s now famous comment that he would support an “even-handed” approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict led more than a few Jewish community leaders to fret that Dean would push Israel to make risky concessions for peace.

The e-mail campaign this fall--denounced by the Anti-Defamation League as a distortion of Dean’s record--accuses Dean of having “promised” to “no longer support Israel the way it has in the past under both Democratic and Republican presidents.”

“In his own words, he will insist that the United States be ‘even handed,’” said the unsigned e-mail. “I urge you that if you have any love for America and Israel you should not and cannot vote for Howard Dean for the office of president.”

The e-mails have had an effect, and national Jewish organizations report fielding calls from constituents worried about Dean’s record.

Brody and other Jews close to Dean insist that the U.S. approach to Israel would not significantly change under Dean’s watch, and that Dean is a strong sup-

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

porter of Israel’s security.

They say Dean’s “even-handed” comment referred to perceptions that the Bush administration had distanced itself from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while Dean meant that he wanted the United States to resume its role of honest broker between the sides.

Morris Amitay, a pro-Israel activist, said Dean’s offthe-cuff remarks mean more than his scripted clarifications after the fact. “He can say the right thing, but they aren’t obviously what he feels when he’s speaking on his own,” said Amitay, a former Executive Director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. “He’ll have to go to real great lengths to convince people that he can be trusted on this issue.”

Jewish leaders say their concerns run deeper than the off-handed use of “even-handed.” They worry that Dean does not have a clear record on the Middle East --largely because he is a former governor and not a legislator--and that he has made other questionable comments and decisions.

They include naming Clyde Prestowitz as a foreign policy adviser. Prestowitz has said U.S. aid to Israel should be conditional on Israeli concessions to the Palestinians. Campaign officials stress that Prestowitz will focus on globalization and international economics, not the Middle East.

Dean has called Hamas terrorists “soldiers,” a term that some say legitimizes the group. Dean used the term on CNN in defending Israel’s right to single out Hamas leaders for targeted killings, and his campaign says the word reinforces the argument that terrorists are legitimate military targets.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 9, 2004

Once Superman, Christopher Reeve Now Focuses on Spinal Cord Research

by MARILYN SILVERSTEIN BEDFORD, New York (JTA)-Penetrating and intense, Christopher Reeve’s eyes dominate the large, iconic painting in the foyer of his country house in Bedford, N.Y. They are a mesmerizing reminder of his moment as Superman.

At the back of the house, in a windowfilled sunroom, Reeve sits in his motorized wheelchair, his gaze gentler but his focus no less intense.

His bookshelves are heavy with the weight of texts on spinal-cord injuries--a sign of the paralyzing reality the actor has lived with since the spring of 1995, when he was thrown from his horse during an equestrian competition.

The fall fractured vertebrae in Reeve’s neck and crushed his spinal cord. Now Reeve, 51, focuses his energies on finding and supporting scientific research into effective treatments and a cure for the paralysis caused by spinal-cord injuries.

Last July, those interests brought Reeve to Israel, home to cutting-edge research into spinal-cord injuries.

“It was one of the most rewarding trips of my life,” said Reeve, who grew up in Princeton, N.J. “It was really a privilege to have been there, not just because they treated me so well--that was great--but because of the people we met.”

So far, the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, a national nonprofit organization based in Springfield, NJ, has made $45 million in research grants to neuroscientists working on spinal-cord injuries.

Reeve has become increasingly visible as an activist pushing to keep the research moving toward its goal.

Reeve has testified before the U.S. Congress and several state legislatures to speak out in support of federal funding for human embryonic stem-cell research --research that is opposed by the Bush administration and America’s religious right wing.

Reeve brought his spirit of activism to the five-day fact-finding trip to Israel this summer.

His mission was to visit Israeli research institutions and rehabilitation centers. He was particularly interested in the work of neurobiologist Dr. Michal Schwartz, of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, and scientists from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

The trip was organized by the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles and sponsored, in part, by the

Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.

At January’s Annual Leadership Educational Forum sponsored by American Friends of the Hebrew University in Palm Beach, FL, Reeve will address the Jewish community on the issue for the first time, focusing in particular on his personal reactions to the pioneering work he witnessed in Israel.

“I went home actually glad that we live in a global village today, because what we don’t accomplish in one country will be done in another country, and no one can stop the free exchange of ideas and technology around the world,” Reeve said.

“She began by asking the question: Why doesn’t the spinal cord regenerate?

And her theory was that no one had come up with a way to contain the damage at the time of injury,” he said. “And so she decided to use macrophages, scavenger cells that eat debris in the body.”

In Schwartz’s study, macrophages are removed from the injured person’s body and then reintroduced into the spinal cord to create a clean environment for healing.

“In her Phase I study, out of 14 patients operated on within the first two weeks of injury, all of them showed improvement, including one individual I

Christopher Reeve met with patients at Israel’s Alyn Pediatric Hospital in July of 2003.

CREDIT: Israel Hadari As he spoke, the flow of Reeve’s words was punctuated by pauses for breath, electrically prompted by the diaphragmpacing device that was implanted in his chest through laparoscopic surgery in March. The device allows him to breathe without a ventilator.

Reeve’s brother Kevin lived and worked in Jerusalem for almost a year in 2000.

“He wrote such interesting letters about Israel and about the Israeli people, the beauty of the country and the life there. So it was something I had been meaning to do for a long time,” Reeve said of his own visit to the Jewish state.

The trip also was prompted by a personal invitation from the Weizmann Institute’s Schwartz, who visited Reeve at home several years ago and described a radical new idea she had for treatment.

Schwartz’s idea involves using the body’s own cells--macrophages--to help the body heal from spinal-cord injury, Reeve said.

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met in Israel who two years ago suffered a complete transection of the spinal cord,” Reeve said.

That patient had macrophage implantation, spent two years in aggressive rehabilitation, and today is able to walk with the support of parallel bars, Reeve said.

“That’s the most impressive example of recovery from spinal-cord injury I’ve ever heard of,” he said. “It was very satisfying, very rewarding for me to see how much progress” Schwartz is making.

Reeve also visited Haifa’s TechnionIsrael Institute of Technology and the Beit Halochem Rehabilitation Center, and the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer.

He also met with scientists from Hebrew University, where researchers are working on creating purified lines of human embryonic stem cells.

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cells to become new heart tissue, he said, and are doing cutting-edge work in computational neuroscience, the study of how the brain and nervous system work.

“That technology is moving along very rapidly in Israel,” Reeve said. “The United States is giving away its pre-eminence in biomedical research because of pressure from social and religious conservatives, and it’s particularly disturbing because polls show that 70 percent of the American public is in favor of all forms of stem-cell research.”

Reeve said he came away from his meetings in Israel with a strong sense of the courage of Israeli scientists and the importance of science to the Jewish state.

His trip also left him with a sense of admiration for the average Israeli.

“I sensed the precariousness, the fragility of everyday life,” he said. “I got a real sense of people working together, of a great deal of mutual respect--that the Israeli people are very full of life, full of energy, and they seem to make the most out of every moment.”

Just prior to his trip, Reeve said, he had been focusing his energies on supporting state legislative initiatives that would allow scientists to conduct research on stem cells from any source.

California passed such legislation in September 2002.

“We’re getting very close in a number of key states, like New Jersey and New York,” he said.

“What I’m fighting for is the freedom of scientific inquiry,” he said. “Stem cells will probably benefit millions of people suffering from a wide variety of diseases.”

But Reeve acknowledges that many difficulties must be overcome before a safe and effective treatment can be devised to help people like himself, a quadriplegic with a chronic spinal-cord injury.

“In terms of acute injuries, there are now therapies ready for humans today,” he said. “Treatment for people with chronic injuries--that’s a little further off.”

But, he continued, “I’m glad that trials to help people in the acute phase are under way,” Reeve said. “I think clinical trials for chronic injury won’t be that far behind. But I know it’s going to take time. I’m going to have to be very patient.”

Marilyn Silverstein is a staff writer for the New Jersey Jewish News.

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Beth El Synagogue Saturday, January 31

by LYNDA MIRVISH merchandise available are: Michael Shrago, Larry for Beth El Synagogue Novak, Michael Hoberman and Tom Kahn.

Ask Marilyn Tipp what makes a fund-raising event sucPraising her hard-working committee, Tipp said, “We ceed and she will tell you that “you need a star performer, have a terrific corps of volunteers. My husband, Steve, a spectacular opening act, a very worthy cause, energetic, has designed and produced the art for the posters and dedicated volunteers, and, of course, a flyers that are blanketing the city. social reception to follow the show.”

The rest of the committee is just And she should know, Tipp is amazing,” she added. spearheading the committee that is Tipp’s committee includes: Larry organizing Beth El Synagogue’s DeBruin, who is working on proforthcoming Bob Alper Comedy ducing the program; Hanna DeBruin Show on Saturday night, Jan. 31, 8 and Lynne Shkolnik are organizing p.m., and the silent auction that will the reception that will follow the precede it at 7 p.m. show; Buddy and Gloria Goodman “And,” Tipp adds, “All those eleare in charge of tickets and coordiments are in place. Rabbi Bob Alper nating Hazak volunteers; M’Lee claims to be ‘the world’s only practicHasslinger will be arranging the ing clergyman who does stand-up room set-up and producing the flycomedy ‘intentionally’ and from what ers and posters which will be disI have heard about his routines, he tributed by Natalie Rubin and Gloria does it brilliantly. And my committee Goodman; Les Kay is coordinating is handling all the other aspects to Men’s Club activities which includes make the evening a big hit.” recruiting volunteers to work the bar Rabbi Bob Alper “Planning is well underway for at the event; Cheryl Lerner is workBeth El’s biggest and BESTT-ever silent auction,” said ing with the Beth El Talmud Torah PTA to encourage Lesli Shrago, chair for the auction sub-committee. parents of students of BESTT to support the auction “The auction will be an integral part of the evening with and the show. In addition, members of USY will be merchandise, tickets and gift certificates from businesses helping with the coat room. This writer is responsible of all types: museums, artists, organizations, sports and for media publicity, entertainment, even hotels, all available to the high bidAll tickets include the silent auction, the show and ders. And,” added Shrago, “in addition to items from the the post-show reception, and are tax-deductible.

Omaha/Lincoln/Council Bluffs area, we will even have General admission: Copper-Gilda’s Gigglers $18. Patron items to bid on from the Kansas City area. tickets are: Platinum-George Burn’s Balabatim: $180 “Proceeds from the auction and Rabbi Alper's stand-up (includes Saturday luncheon, signed CD and comic will benefit BESTT (Beth El Synagogue Talmud Torah),” book. Gold-Seinfeld’s Circle: $54 (includes autoShrago continued, “The funds will purchase supplies and graphed CD and comic book). Silver‹Groucho’s teaching aids to ensure that these students will continue Groupees: $36 (includes comic book). to receive the best Jewish education possible.”

For tickets and further information, please call Beth Helping Shrago solicit the best gift certificates and El Synagogue, 492.8550.

Visionaires were recently entertained by Earl Bates, who demonstrated trick and fancy roping along with down home songs with member Sandy Bromley. He also impersonated Will Rogers. At the luncheon, members collected $550 for Jewish Family Service’s Project Dreidel.

Conversation to Plug In to Jewish Topics of Interest

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Temple Israel welcomes anyone in the community who is interested in learning more about Judaism to join in an informal conversation on Saturday, Jan. 17, 7 p.m., featuring “Rabbi Azriel: Unplugged”. This opportunity to talk about any and all matters of Jewish interest as well as to discuss Rabbi Azriel’s insights into the community, world events, and the role of Judaism in our everyday lives will be “open and friendly,” said Todd Hutton, chairman of Temple’s Outreach Committee.

Jennifer Glazer, who attended “Unplugged” two years ago, said, “It was great to have the opportunity to ask Rabbi Azriel questions that had been on your mind.

There wasn’t any one specific topic,” she added. “It was an open forum in a personal, intimate atmosphere.”

Havdalah will precede the conversation at the home of Katherine Finnegan and David Gilinsky, 3326 So. 98th St. Dessert and wine will also be served. Those who plan to attend are asked to call the Temple office at 556.6536 or to send their reservation via e-mail to tisrael@qwest.net. There is no cost to attend.

Page 11

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Come to bid at 7 p.m.–stay for a hilarious evening of comedy with Bob Alper at 8 p.m.

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by JENNY BINDER Community Relations Coordinator JCC of Greater Pittsburgh Jewish singles in their 30s, 40s and 50s from across the nation are invited to cruise Alaska this July, aboard the Celebrity Cruise Line’s Summit, on a trip sponsored by the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and Amazing Journeys.

From July 2-9, travelers will experience vast glaciers and scenic fjords, while exploring Alaskan wildlife.

Packages begin at $1,399 and include seven nights accommodations, all shipboard meals and entertainment, customized and discounted group tours, exclusive onboard events, Shabbat services, all gratuities and port charges, special gifts, contests and prizes, and VIP treatment throughout the cruise.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 9, 2004

Keeping Warm

Round and Round We Go and Where Do We Stop?

by BERNARD MANN Legacy Crossword Puzzles, © 2003 Sponsored by CATEGORY ONE

ACROSS 1. BAD WINTER STUFF 6. GOOD WINTER STUFF 10. Cathedral part 14. Nymic prefix, indicating father’s side of the family 15. “In days of ____” 16. Informal review 17. ____ vincit amor (love conquers all) 18. Start of a fall by Charlie Chaplin or Chevy Chase 19. Muscle characteristic 20. Mar enders 21. SLEEPWALKERS IN WINTER CABINS, BEWARE OF THESE! 23. Horse gait 25. WHAT YOU DO WITH A BALL MADE OF 2 ACROSS 26. Add two to this for Trevi fountain song 30. Honey or Africanized 31. The ____ from Babylonia, headed by Ezra and Nehemiah 32. Exec locale 37. Out there between the stars 38. Turf 39. “___-te, for a very important date" 40. Argumentative answer to one who says, “Well, I do!”

42. I.D.F and U.S.A. 43. Steve Chase's outfit 44. Where Rock-a-bye Baby

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hangs out 45. THIS MIGHT HOLD FIREWOOD 48. Water pit below pump 49. TASTY THINGS YOU DO UP IN 22 DOWN 51. Short for a type of art print 56. Debt chits 57. Dinesen 58. 22 DOWN RESIDUES 59. B___, Vermont granite quarry city 60. Prefix for certain grains 61. Bivalve mollusks 62. Born as, with les belles 63. Hebrew number for a minyan 64. Weird DOWN 1. Lady Macbeth wanted it removed 2. Prefix indicating a thin layer 3. Sicilian blaster 4. Ireland 5. YOU DO THIS OR THAT TO MARSHMALLOWS, GOES THE DEBATE 6. Use this to empty a gas tank (var.)

7. “Good news!” said the home inspector, “There’s ____ in your wood” 8. “I’ll meet you at 5:00 ____ 6:00” 9. Store warning sign at a

recently mopped stair 10. Muni or Bacall or Midler 11. Utah city 12. Tendon 13. Summers at the Sorbonne 22. WHERE YOU DO THE DEBATED MARSHMALLOW THING 24. Tin-Tin’s first name 26. Galena and bauxite 27. Businessman’s dreaded result 28. Cal starter 29. Signaled 30. Fitness folks slang for torso 32. ___-lot 33. Lousy, as in excuse 34. Leave out 35. Butter sub 36. Woodworking tool 38. Chummy name for a Hebrew king 41. Words of disapproval 42. Hand support 44. Elephant, slangily 45. WOOD-CHOPPING, e.g.

46. What 7:00 is, in Quebec 47. Snaky letters 48. Gawk 49. Color-copier color 50. Kitchen gadget with 100 ___!

52. Man, Pines, or Wight 53. ___ she blows!

54. Half, as with sphere 55. Prefix relating to bone

I remember from algebra, trig, and calculus--a circle is a 360º sphere---with one end meeting the other end in a perfectly symmetrical manner.

Question? Where does the circle start, and where does it end? I mean--is there any point in that curved line that I can say--positively--that’s the starting point. I think not--leaving myself wide open to corrections and additions by those much more math-knowledgeable than I am.

Why all the interest in “rithmatic”? The Wall Street Journal. Yup. WSJ printed an article on Dec. 17, headlined: “Halliburton advances on settlement-unit files for Chapter 11; fuel cost defense mounted.”

How did I react--before reading the article? Angry. Cynical. Mad. Helpless.

Teed off. Dazed. Asking, where does it stop. I’m referring to this seemingly never ending stream of high level corporate robbery, thievery, stealing, mismangement, lying, misrepresentation, and not being such good guys.

How did I feel after reading the article? Nauseated. Like my life was passing before me. Revulsion. Mistrust.

Halliburton is the giant corporate predator that gobbled up billions of dollars of unbid Iraqi rebuilding--and then proceeded to overcharge our “Guv’mint” millions on fuel over charges. But you can bet your bippy they’ll mount a successful if not reasonable defense against charges.

So we have this perfect circle--and somewhere there has to be a beginning.

Like a bright young entrepreneur has an exciting idea for a new product or new service. He builds and sells Halliburton a hot shot electronics gizmo-starting in his garage or kitchen--and within a few years turns it into a multibillion, multi-national conglomerate— which he sells to a larger conglomerate—whom we shall call “Tentacles”--for want of a more descriptive name.

The young genius is idealistic, but he’s also practical, and kind of likes the good life style. So he remains on as President of the newly formed Division devoted to finding new ways to cheat, lie, steal and make unconscionable amounts of money for the Executive officers and Board of Directors--at the expense of the stock holders, employees, and the public.

First move by the founding genius is

to hire 200 newly graduated MBAs from the Mafia school of Business. Each is charged with uncovering new, barely legal--or illegal accounting procedures that will paint an over exuberant picture of Tentacle’s operating statement.

It’s like shooting Saddam in a Spider Hole. The stock goes through the roof.

Everybody jumps on the hyped up band wagon--brokers, business show commentators, school teachers retired Bubbehs and Zaydas.

In the meantime, insiders are quietly selling as fast as they can hide their sales and pick up their options. The average Bernie on the street continues buying as fast as he can raise, borrow, or steal money. After all, we all know that what’s good for Tentacle is good for Tentacle.

Sell AT&T, Pennsylvania Railroad, Johns Manville--(don’t get excited--we know they’re history)--even the Walmart and Microsoft—your grandmother put away for life stocks.

Pretty soon, Bernie average guy decides he’s had enough greed. He calls his broker and says, “Sell Tentacle. I’m rich enough.”

The broker answers, “Haven’t got anybody to sell to. You’re the only one left.

Everyone left the ship a couple hours ago.”

Far fetched? Yah. But not really. This is a slightly burlesque presentation of some of the horrors played out in corporate America during the past couple years.

Where in the world are all the watch dogs? They were eating each other live like sushi. The accountants fell all over themselves to get Tentacle’s business.

The attorneys notarized and signed off on the bogus accounting. The SEC was busy raising salaries. And we were all greedy!

Where does that circle of deceit start and end? I need some answers to the theorems I have put forward--and I really need to see a few of these guys locked up.

Halliburton needs protection from a bankruptcy court like Atilla needed sponge bath and warm milk before going sleepy by. Like Hitler needed nursery rhymes read to him at night. Like Gov. Schwartzenneger needs financial advice from Warren Buffett.

Protect Halliburton--my Aunt Matilda’s pink under garments.

And maybe Arnold could take a few friendly suggestions from Warren.

Bernie Meyers writes on topics of interest and amusement; he can be

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Auditions for Into the Woods and Buried Child for non-Theatre Majors and adults from the general public will be Wednesday, Jan. 14, 7-10 p.m., in the Theatre of the Weber Fine Arts Building on the UNO campus, 6001 Dodge.

Those auditioning can prepare a monologue and/or 16 measures of a song or be prepared to read from the scripts. An accompanist will be provided.

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Production dates for Into the Woods are April 15-17 and 21-24. For more information, call 554.2406.

The Metropolitan String Quartet will be performing on Sunday, Jan. 18, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., at the Bridal Fair at the Qwest Center in downtown Omaha.

This experienced group has played for hundreds of area weddings, concerts, and even parties for visiting dignitaries, such as President Clinton, Senator Hillary Clinton, and Barbara Bush The Metropolitan String Quartet’s featured repertoire at the Bridal Fair will include the works of Pachelbel, Mendelssohn, Bach, Vivaldi, and other pieces suitable for wedding ceremonies and receptions.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 9, 2004

IRS Offers Help for Filers and Preparers as Tax Season Begins

by JEWISH PRESS News Service For the fourth year, the Internal Revenue Service will offer a daily series of Tax Tips during the federal tax filing season, which began Jan. 5.

IRS Tax Tips will offer concise, useful information on topics affecting millions of taxpayers. These easy-toread tips will cover a wide range of topics, from child credits and higher education benefits to Individual Retirement Accounts and Social Security issues.

Sample topics include: • 2003 tax law changes for individuals and businesses; • Tax credits available to those eligible to claim them; • Clean fuel deduction; • Common errors to avoid when preparing your taxes; • Free tax help from the IRS; • E- filing; • Charitable contributions; • Capital gains and losses; • Refinancing or selling your home; • When Social Security benefits are taxable; • What to do if you can't pay your tax; and • Amended returns.

More than 70 Tax Tips will be available, a new one for each business day until the April 15 tax deadline.

The Tax Tips will be available at the IRS web site at www.irs.gov on The Newsroom page. Look for a link to them under the Topics sidebar.

Tax Tips is one of nine services available through the e-News Subscriptions list on IRS.gov. A variety of other subscriptions are available via e-mail, including IRS Newswire, which delivers news releases as soon as they are issued. And the IRS Digital Dispatch delivers a weekly update of recent tax guidance and news for tax professionals.

Simple Steps Can Help Taxpayers with Charitable Donations WASHINGTON--As the end of the year approaches, the Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers that they may be able to use their gifts to tax-exempt charitable and religious groups to reduce their taxes.

Taxpayers also need to keep in mind some simple steps to make sure they get appropriate benefit for their generous donations. In particular, there are some important guidelines for donating used cars and other property, such as stocks and bonds.

The tax benefit for charitable contributions is only available for taxpayers who itemize deductions-- about one-third of all filers. Those who take a standard deduction receive no additional tax benefit for their contributions.

In 2000, the last year for which complete data is available, about 37.5 million taxpayers made deductible charitable contributions totaling nearly $140.7 billion.

Of these gifts, nearly $98.2 billion were cash donations.

Only contributions actually made during the tax year are deductible. For example, if you pledged $500 in September but paid the charity only $200 by Dec. 31, your 2003 deduction would be $200. You include credit card charges and payments by check in the year they are given to the charity, even though you may not pay the credit card bill or have your bank account debited until the next year.

Those itemizing deductions reduce their taxable income by the total contributed to qualified tax-exempt organizations, with some limits. The tax saving usually

equals the deduction times the marginal tax rate--the top rate for the person’s income level.

For example, an individual with a taxable income of $50,000 donates $2,000 to his or her synagogue. The tax savings from this generosity will be $500--$2,000 times the taxpayer’s marginal tax rate of 25 percent.

Donations of stock or other property are usually valued at the fair market value of the property. For stocks and bonds with an active market, the fair market value is the average price between highest and lowest selling price on the valuation date. Figuring the value of other personal property can be more complicated.

The IRS also reminds taxpayers to keep appropriate records to substantiate the value of their gifts. For example, for any single gift of $250 or more, a taxpayer must have a written acknowledgement from the charity by the earlier of the date the person files the tax return or the filing deadline, including extensions. A person donating property valued at more than $5,000 must obtain a qualified written appraisal.

Taxpayers can find help regarding the donations they make in Publication 526, Charitable Contributions. A second reference, Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property, answers many of the questions that donors have when they make noncash contributions. Both publications are available at the IRS Web site, www.irs.gov, or by calling 1.800.TAX-FORM (1.800.829.3676).

Charitable Giving: Know Your Options Before Making a Gift

by LAURA SCHABLOSKE Foundation Director, Nebraska Children’s Home Society Foundation There is no greater time to reach out and find ways to make a difference. It may sound somewhat cliché but the truth of the matter is that one has many choices on how to make their charitable contributions work for them. Many individuals who make charitable gifts often state that they receive satisfaction by supporting the mission of a charity through their generosity.

Learning about the ways to can give is important since there are numerous vehicles available. A potential donor needs to do their homework to find the type of gift that best fits their individual needs. To help clarify, we have outlined some ways to approach your giving.

The Traditional Favorites Cash: The favorite choice of many as all cash donations are deductible, if you itemize in the year the gift is made, up to 50 percent of your adjusted gross income. Contributions in excess of this amount can be carried forward for the

next five years.

Securities: Mutual funds and stock can be transferred to a charity and offer tax benefits.

It is important to evaluate your portfolio prior to making a gift. The way an appreciated stock that you have held for more than one year verses a security that has lost value should be transferred to the non-profit via different means in order for you to maximize your tax benefit. Most charities can accept an electronic transfer of stock. Your broker or financial planner can help you evaluate which of your

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holdings makes the most sense for you to donate.

Life Insurance: Policies can be donated to a charity or you can name the non-profit as the beneficiary of the policy. Tax benefits on this type of gift vary based on the way the policy is given and where you are at in the payment process of the policy.

Bequests: Bequests are the most common type of planned gift. Leaving a charity in your will reduce the size of your taxable estate while Continued on page 17

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January 9, 2004

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 15

A Disciplined Approach to Financial Success

by JOSEPH M. JOHN, CLU, ChFC for Prudential Financial Organization...Discipline..Sense of Purpose. They sound like qualities a football team would stress in preparing for the next weekend’s opponent, but they can also be virtues in helping you achieve your financial goals.

Ideally, you should consult with a professional financial planner to map out a comprehensive strategy. But wlth personal commitment and perhaps some sacrifice, you can take sevexal steps on your own to build a successful financial game plan.

Tax Relief for Investors

by LEE SCHALLER, CPA for McDermott & Miller The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA) which was passed during 2003 provided some svelcome tax relief to investors.

Capital Gains: The maximum long-term capital gain tax rate was reduced from 20% to 15% for most taxpayers for sales after May 5, 2003. If the taxpayer is in the lower 10 or 15% bracket, the long-term capital gain tax rate drops to 5%.

Please note that the investment has to be held for over one year to qualify.

Special tax rates apply if depreciation was clairned on the asset prior to the sale. The lower rate does not apply to collectibles such as artwork or coins.

Dividends: For investors, who have invested in stocks, the JGTRRA provides a Icwer tax rate as well. The top tax rate for dividends received in 2003 is 15%. It is a big break because an investor in the top federal tax rate of 35% can save 20% of the tax on dividend income. Investors in the lowest tax brackets can also benefit from this law change. If the investor is in a 10 or 15% tax bracket, then the tax rate is 5%.

Not all dividends qualify for the special tax rates. Dividends received from a tax-free fund, credit unions, and dividends that are essential interest but reported, as dividends do not qualify.

Investors need to review their portfolios to take advantage of the lower tax rates, as they might not last long.

For more information, contact your tax professional, lawyer and/or accountant.

Know Yourself--Take inventory of your finances. Calculate your assets--cash, IRAs, mutual funds, real estate, life insurance and your liabilities, like a mortgage or consumer debt and deferred income taxes on investments. Prioritize your objectives by what’s most important to you: Retirement planning, saving for college, increased investment returns, risk management, etc. Determine your current tax bracket and understand its implications for your strategy.

Start Saving Now--Assuming an average 8% annual return and a retirement age of 65, every dollar saved at age 25 is worth nearly five times as much as a dollar saved at 45. Probably the first thing to do is make sure that you’re subscribed to the maximum in any qualified savings program offered by your employers. Don’t miss out on the “Triple Treat” of an initial tax deduction, matching employer contributions and tax deferred earnıngs offered by most 401(k) or 403(b) plans.

Take Stock of the Market--It’s been demonstrated that investments in the stock market produce the best retums over time.

Mutual funds are probably the best way to start in the stock market. Find one that's well managed and meets the risk profile you will be comfortable with. If you can, sign up for the built-in discipline of a monthly automatic investment program. Also, if you choose a fund, plan to stick with it for a while. Remember even the best financial pros have trouble timing the market.

Curb Your Credit Cards--If your total monthly debt payments (excluding your mortgage payments) are 20% or more of your monthly take-home pay, you're probably overextended. Analyze your debts and see if any of the interest rates are more than the after-tax return on your invested savings. If they are, it makes sense to pay off these loans out of your savings. If you can’t pay off your credit cards in full every month to avoid paying interest, shop around for the card with the lowest available rate.

Be wise with Windfalls--If you come up with a significant lump sum bonus, an inheritance, or maybe even a mid-size lottery win -- try to resist the urge to buy the hot sports car you’ve always dreamed of Your long-term Financial future will probably be a lot rosier, although not quite so dashing, if you plow at least part of it into a mutual fund or an IRA. Keep Current--Financial markets are a dynamic, fluid environment. That, combined with the impact of major life events such as births, deaths, inheritances, or new jobs, make it imperative that you carefully review your strategy every year or so.

Naturally, your review should be rigorous and disciplined, just like any successful game plan.

This material contains references to concepts that have legal, accounting and tax implications. It is not intended as legal, accounting or tax advice. Consult your own attorney and/or tax advisor for advice regarding your particular situation.

Life Insurance: It’s for the People Who Live

by GARY KUDYM for State Farm Insurance Life insurance is a practical way to protect your family’s financial hopes and dreams.

The death of a family member can be devastating to survivors both emotionally and financially. Life insurance can provide cash to help with your family’s immediate and long-term needs.

• Immediate need include funeral expenses, unpaid medical bills and taxes; • Long-term needs include: care for a disabled child or elderly parents, college expenses, and, in general, the chance for members of your family to continue to live the life to which they are accumstomed.

Life insurance is not for the people who die, but for the people who live. It’s wise to explore options while you are still healthy;

health problems can make life insurance expensive or unavailable.

Three forms of life insurance are most common today: • Term life insurance--This is temporary life insurance for a specific time period (one, five, 10 or more years). It can provide short-term coverage on a limited budget. Term insurance costs more as you get older. There are two types of term insurance: Level Term (the amount of protection remains the same during the coverage period); and Decreasing Term (the amount of protection gradually declines during the coverage period).

• Whole life insurace--Premiums are generally level with cash value growth through the life of the policy. Cash value can be borrowed (with interest charged) during the insured person’s lifetime to help meet temporary or emergency needs. Funds borrowed reduce the death benefit and cash surrender value.

Continued on page 16

Earn up to 12% on your money, and 100% of a nation’s gratitude.

Hal Linden, Actor JNF National Spokesperson Santa Monica, CA with his grandson, Justin “Charlie” Linden

For as little as $5,000, you can help achieve your financial goals and those of a nation — Israel.

With today’s low interest rates, there is more reason than ever to create a charitable gift annuity with Jewish National Fund. JNF offers planned giving opportunities that give you a generous return, the benefit of tax savings, plus prominent public recognition in Israel. At the same time, JNF receives much-needed support to continue major projects ranging from water conservation to education, planting trees, building security roads and comfort zones for Israel Defense Force soldiers, and other programs that enhance the quality of life throughout Israel.

For a confidential illustration or a copy of our brochure on charitable gift annuities, contact one of our planned giving specialists at 1-800-562-7526 or plannedgiving@jnf.org.

SINGLE-LIFE GIFT ANNUITY* Age Rate 65 7.3% 70 7.8% 75 8.5% 80 9.6% 85 10.9% 90 & Over 12.0%

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For more information, call 1-800-562-7526 * Rates as of print date.

Rates are subject to change – please contact the planned giving department for the most up-to-date information.

Forestry

Water

Community Development

Security

Education

Research

www.jnf.org

To u r i s m & R e c r e a t i o n

Page 16

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 9, 2004

Tax Deductible Donations Available Through the Jewish National Fund Lebanon so that 2,500 schoolchildren and their parents can travel to school and to work safely; • Building parks and recreational facilities to provide families relief from constant stress and tension. JNF runs short retreats throughout the year as well as summer camp programs for children who are victims of terrorist attacks in Israel; • Building meeting places for Israel Defense Force soldiers and their families so they can share precious moments together.

For more than a century, JNF has fulfilled its mandate to provide Zionist education to Jewish children around the world. Through JNF’s ecoZionism programs, children learn about their homeland and the importance of protecting the environment.

JNF is a physical presence in almost every Israeli public school and provides activities and curricula for the classroom, as well as funding summer camps, extracurricular programs and educational materials.

In the United States, JNF has educational programs from grade school through university-from Tu B’Shevat programming to the awardwinning programs of the College Activists

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Annuities have limitations and withdrawl charges.

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Guarantees are based in the claims-paying ability of the issuing company. Prudential Financial is a service mark of The Prudential Insurance Company of America, Newark, NJ and its affiliates.

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by RONALD S. LAUDER President, JNF In battling Israel's chronic water shortage since the mid-1980s, JNF has increased Israel's water supply by more than seven percent--equivalent to providing for the annual household consumption of more than 1.2 million people. JNF’s work to resolve the water crisis includes: • Building 156 reservoirs and dams, supplying the country with an additional 34 billion gallons of water.

• Implementing innovative water recycling programs that help extend Israel's water resources and make Israel the leading country in the world in the usage of recycled water.

• Creating programs that enable the use of brackish water to sustain fish farming and agriculture in southern Israel.

• Rehabilitating polluted rivers and preparing drainage systems.

JNF’s work in the area of security is focused on protecting all Israelis and enhancing their lives so they may continue to live safely in their communities. JNF’s work includes: • Building security roads for the communities along Israel's northern border with

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Phone: 402/397-8811 Fax: 402/397-3051

Department. Each year JNF’s programs reach more than 250,000 schoolchildren.

JNF’s College Activists department focuses on creating active student leaders while building awareness and support of Israel on college campuses. The Caravan for Democracy program was created to promote constructive dialogue about the Mideast crisis by bringing speakers representing a wide spectrum of political and philosophical thought from Israel to American college campuses. These speakers discuss the shared values of freedom and democracy between Israel and the United States.

Israel’s numerous historical and natural sites draw visitors from every corner of the earth and from throughout Israel. The tourism industry provides employment and income for many local economies.

JNF works to bridge the gap between budgetary constraints and the needs for tourist infrastructure by: • Building some 450 national and regional parks, picnic areas, playgrounds and recreation centers, many of which are carefully designed to be handicapped-accessible, for enjoyment by Israelis and tourists; • Constructing access roads and observation areas and sites; • Restoring archaeological and historical sites.

JNF’s landmark work in ecology and forestry creates new habitats for flora and fauna, transforms arid landscapes, is a key resource for recreation and community development and is an essential force that emphasizes sustainable development and enhances the environment and the quality of life in Israel. JNF's accomplishments in the field of forestry and ecology include: • Planting 240 million trees on 250,000 acres across the land of Israel. JNF plants approximately 2.5-3 million saplings each year.

Because of this, Israel is the only country to end the twentieth century with more trees than it had at the beginning. JNF’s forests help replenish underground aquifers, inhibit soil erosion and curtail the greenhouse effect, while allowing Jews from around to world to connect directly to their homeland by planting a tree as a living memorial, tribute or celebration.

• Tending and maintaining forests including pruning, brush clearing and other fire prevention efforts, as well as fire fighting; • Reclaiming land for more than 1,000 communities throughout Israel and more than 250,000 acres for agriculture. Today, JNF works to prevent desertification in and around communities of the Negev and Arava deserts.

• Undertaking riverbed restoration as well as watershed and flood water management to protect the environment from increased salinity.

JNF builds the infrastructure necessary to create and support entire communities throughout Israel with a major focus on Israel's northern and southern regions. To achieve these goals JNF works to: • Build agricultural infrastructure enabling the use of advanced irrigation and hothouses to increase agricultural productivity.

• Build regional and local roads in outlying areas and forests (more than 4,000 miles built to date).

• Build parks and playgrounds in and around Israeli towns and villages, of which over 450 sites have been constructed to benefit hundreds of thousands of Israelis.

• Improve recreational facilities for Israel Defense Force soldiers and their families, including the construction of handicappedaccessible parks and nature reserves.

• Develop new communities in the Negev Desert in order to provide a better quality of life

alternative for Israelis currently living in the densely populated center of Israel.

Israel, a semi-arid country bordering one of the world's great desert expanses, has taken the lead in promoting arid lands research.

JNF's investment in R&D has had a tremendous impact on the face of Israel and other countries around the world.

JNF is responsible for all agricultural research and development stations in Israel.

The results of the research developed at these stations are not only integral to Israel's economy, but have made Israel a leader in cuttingedge agriculture and sustainable development.

JNF is a founding member of the International Arid Lands Consortium (IALC), which promotes arid lands research across the globe. Together with six American land grant universities and representatives from Egypt and Jordan, the IALC sponsors international research and conferences on a wide range of ecological topics.

JNF undertakes research projects on ecology, forestry, water, technology, desert agriculture and soil quality.

As a new year begins, JNF donors should be thinking about a JNF Charitable Gift Annuity.

Considering that interest rates are still at their lowest point in almost 40 years and that the financial markets have not fully recovered from their tremendous slide, JNF donors may benefit from the annuity program.

The program allows an individual to make a gift to JNF and get income for life, receive an income tax deduction for a portion of the gift, benefit from a tax-free return of principal if the annuity is funded with cash and, more important, help JNF's important work.

The annuity rate depends on the age of the annuitant at the time of the gift. For instance, annuity holders receive 7% at age 60, 7.8% at age 70; 8.5% at age 75 and at age 80 you will receive 9.6%. At age 90, annuity holders get a rate of 12%!

Other considerations are gifting long-term appreciated assets such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds. You can deduct the fair market value and avoid the capital gains tax by making an outright donation of these assets to JNF. To get further information on how to leave a bequest in your Will, or for a confidential illustration for a CGA, please call JNF’s Planned Giving Department at 1.800.562.7526.

Life Insurance: It’s for the People Who Live Continued from page 15 •Universal Life Insurance--This offers many traditional advantages of whole life insurance (such as protection for life), but also offers flexibility. Coverage amounts and premium payments are flexible to help meet changing needs during an insured person’s lifetime (subject to certain conditions).

When you buy life insurance, you buy a prom-

ise of protection against financial loss caused by death. The promise is only as good as the company that stands behind it.

In today’s marketplace, life insurance buyers should be concerned about: • The financial strength of the insurer; and • Customer service.

Contact your insurance agent for more specific information about life insurance.

January 9, 2004

Jewish Business Ethics PEOPLE OF THE

BYTE

by MARK MIETKIEWICZ

The (secular) New Year has begun. Are you planning to cheat on your taxes this year? Or take soap and shampoo home from a hotel room? Or slam the phone down on a telemarketer? Or download MP3s?

You may not think the Gemarah has much to say about copying MP3s but you’d be surprised.

Contemporary rabbis and other Jewish thinkers have studied the “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots” found in the Torah, Talmud and traditional sources and have applied them to ethical dilemmas of modern-day life.

As always, if you have a problem, read up on the Internet but consult a trusted authority who knows you and the details of your difficulty.

Before getting to the answers, the Business Ethics Center of Jerusalem explains how Judaism views wealth, poverty and greed. Judaism recognizes that self-interest plays a major (but not the sole) role in ensuring ethical standards. (For example, “Do not do unto others as you would not like done to yourself.”)

The site also points out that unlike other traditions, Judaism has never viewed poverty as a virtue. Wealth, however, has always been seen as a challenge. Judaism places many social and charitable responsibilities on the financially stronger elements within society and emphasizes the need to prevent exploitation of the weak. And greed, while being an important motivation for economic activity, is also a source for unethical behavior. [www.jewishethicist.com/] Okay, but what about that unwanted telemarketer?

Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir seems well positioned to respond. He’s director at the Center for Business Ethics, Jerusalem College of Technology and received his PhD at MIT. He suggests that telemarketers wouldn’t have fazed the rabbis of the Talmud. The rabbis recognized that door-to-door salesmen provided a valuable service.

“Other passages show that the rabbis recognized the peddler’s potential for mischief.” Rabbi Meir reminds us “that everyone has to make a living, and this includes salespeople. Ask yourself how you would want to be treated by prospects if you were in this line of work.”

He recommends a polite thanks, but no thanks. The Jewish Ethicist website has dozens of other intriguing ethical questions and answers--including thoughts on tax evasion--in its archive. [www.besr.org/ethicist/ar-chive.html]

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Disaster Recovery Essentials Here’s another question from Torah.org’s Business Halacha website. If you pay for something by check and realize after a few months that it hasn’t been cashed, should inform the seller? The site suggests that you do not have to inform the seller. For the reasoning and many other scenarios, check out the site. [www.torah.org/advanced/businesshalacha/5757/] The Jewish Association for Business Ethics looks at contemporary issues like whistleblowing, when is a gift a bribe and whether you can trash your competition. [www.jabe.org/] Darché Noam Institutions has links to articles on everything from debt collection to the treatment of dismissed employees to halachic models for copyright protection. [www.darchenoam.org/ethics/pe_home.htm] And for something novel, spend some time at JewishBusiness.com. Part ethics site, part commercial venture, it attempts to “to fuse commercialism with education; materialism with religion and spiritualism.” [www.jewishbusiness.com/] Of course Jewish ethics and moral instruction are nothing new. From the Biblical prophets to the 19th century Mussar Movement to more recent works, Jews have examined ways of applying moral instructions to their everyday lives. You can read an overview at the Wikipidia online encyclopedia. [http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Jewish_ethics] Now that you have studied the basics, where do you stand? In the Jewish Ethics Challenge, Rabbi Arthur Gross Schaefer, a business law and ethics professor, poses several questions. [www.uahc.org/rjmag/1197 ag.html] For example, “you are a member of a temple board which is debating the need to renovate the main temple bathroom to accommodate people with disabilities.

There is not enough money in the temple’s building fund to pay for the work and get the permit. Therefore, most of the board members want to proceed with the renovation without the permit.” What should you do?

Schaefer doesn’t supply the “right” answer. Rather, he tells you “Jewish tradition has always demanded good citizenship, which requires following fair laws and showing regard for the decision-making process of the community in which we live … However, this does not demand blind obedience to the community's laws where they are in conflict with other ethical values.”

And then the choice is up to you.

Mark Mietkiewicz is a Toronto-based Web site producer who writes, lectures and teaches about the Jewish Internet. He can be contacted at: highway@rogers.com.

by DR. MARK LANGEMO, CRM adapted by GARY COHEN of Nicholas Pierce Technologies from Office Systems, March ’97 Every business, no matter how small, should develop a formal disaster recovery plan. It should be noted that there are differences between the concept of disaster recovery and that of business resumption. We define business resumption as the ability to perform critical business-related processes as soon as possible after the initial outage. Full recovery from the disaster usually occurs many days after the start of the business resumption process.

Most computer outages are caused by relatively small, localized incidents like broken water mains, fires, smoke damage or electrical equipment failures--not the flash floods, tornados, etc. highlighted in the media.

Here are some key points to consider: 1) Select a process owner. Someone to develop business continuity strategies and tests of the process. 2) Obtain executive support. Be sure top level management provides the necessary resources to develop a solid plan. 3) Identify and prioritize requirements. Define specific criteria for declaring a disaster and determining which processes are to be recovered and in what time frames. 4) Choose participants and clarify their roles for the recovery team. 5) Thoroughly document the disaster recovery plan. 6) Try to plan and execute at least one regularly scheduled test of the plan annually. 7) Conduct a lessons-learned postmortem after each test.

At the heart of disaster recovery is the need for a valid BACKUP, stored offsite. We are talking about the lifeblood of your business. Without it, you will have a very difficult and lengthy recovery process.

Some 90% of U.S. organizations in private business or industry that lost their records due to some type of disaster in a 25 year period between 1970 and 1995 never opened their doors again!

Charitable Giving: Know Your Options Continued from page 14 also time helping fulfill the mission of the organization of your choice.

Gifts that Give Back to the Donor: Charitable Gift Annuities; Deferred Charitable Gift Annuities; Flexible Deferred Charitable Gift Annuities; Polled Income Fund; Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust (CRAT); Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT); or Charitable Lead Trust Other Vehicles to Think About: Real Estate; Tangible Personal Property; Bank Accounts & CDs; and Retirement Plan Assets As one can see the options available to a prospective donor are vast. The types of gifts and options you have can be tailored to fit into your estate plan. For more information on any of the above, please contact your financial advisor.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 9, 2004

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ORGANIZATIONS Y.E.S. Members will meet Monday at the JCC. Play bingo at 10 a.m. with Eileen Remer or exercise with Stacey Paskert at 10:30 a.m. Bring articles to share for “YES Talk” at 11 a.m. Following lunch at noon, the Mystery Guest will speak. For transportation call Dee Dee at 330.4272.

Call Maggie Conti for all reservations at 334.6521 for the Mystery Trip on Jan. 15; the movie Seabiscuit on Jan. 22; and Bluffs Run Casino on Jan. 29.

The Omaha Theater for Young People presents Broadway Town starring Sue Booton and Earl Bates on Monday, Jan. 26, 12:45 p.m. Lunch begins at noon in the Auditorium of the JCC. Based on the famous musical On the Town, this musical follows the adventures of a lone sailor looking to see some Broadway shows. Deadline is Jan. 19. There is no charge for the performance. Lunch is $6 per person. Call Maggie at 334.6521 for reservations.

WALK-IN, DROP-IN For those members going on the Mystery Trip on Thursday, please meet at the JCC at 10 a.m. For transportation call Maggie Conti at 334.6521.

LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Want to have a “Freylichen Tog”? Come to the Yiddish meeting at the JCC on Thursdays, 1-3 p.m.

Even if your Yiddish isn’t so “Aye-Aye-Aye”, you’ll enjoy it anyway! Call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638 for information.

VISIONS Reminder: India: Kingdom of the Tiger at the IMAX is Tuesday, Jan. 13, 11 a.m. (meet in the IMAX lobby at 10:40 a.m.).

Luncheon Meeting is Jan. 16, 12:30 p.m., at Caniglia’s Venice Inn. Join us for the Installation of Officers with musical guest Robert Valenta, who will performs Songs of Broadway with accompanist Esther Wax. Membership dues to Visions for 2004 are due. Please mail your $5 check, payable to Visions, to Visions, c/o Gilda Pieck, 6955 Cuming, Omaha, NE 68132.

ENGAGEMENT KRIGSTEN/SAYLAN Jacki and Steve Saylan announce the engagement of their son, Kevin, to Marcy Krigsten, daughter of Barbara and Ray Krigsten of Sioux City, IA. The bride-to-be graduated from Wayne State College with a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice. She is employed with The WB Television Network in Kansas City, MO. She is the granddaughter of the late Leonard and Ida Hall and the late Joe and Molly Krigsten.

Her fiancé graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in marketing and management. He is employed with Toyota Motor Sales in Kansas City, MO. He is the grandson of Edythe Friedman of St. Louis and the late Arthur Friedman, and Rosalie and Milton Saylan of Palm Springs, CA. A September, 2004 wedding is planned in Sioux City.

IN THE NEWS Inducted into the Burke High School chapter of the National Honor Society were juniors Corey Green, Jason Rich, and Amy Saylan; and seniors Ben Gerber and David Martin. Members of National Honor Society are selected on the basis of scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

Parents of the students are Sherri and Gary Green, Diane and Phil Rich, Jacki and Steve Saylan, Maggie and Donald Gerber, and Julie and David Martin.

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Joan Squires, President of the Nebraska Performing Arts Center at Breadbreakers on Wednesday, Jan. 14, noon, at Park Inn Regency, according to Gary Javitch, January Chairman. Cost is $9 for lunch and $2 for beverage service only. Breadbreakers is open to the community.

OMAHA CENTER FOR TORAH LEARNING “Hidden Dimensions of Psalms,” organized by Shirley Goodman meets at the home of Annette Fettman on Tuesdays, 4:30 p.m. Rabbi Tuvia Hoffman will explore the meaning of Psalms.

A crash course in Hebrew Reading with Rabbi Hoffman also meets Wednesdays at noon in the Federation Conference Room; Advanced Hebrew Comprehension meets at 7 p.m. at the OCTL Beis Midrash; call 981.0569 for more information.

ANNIVERSARY

Pictured are new Burke High School NHS students: Jason Rich, left, Corey Green, Amy Saylan, and Ben Gerber

BIRTH Dana and Michael Kaufman of Wellesley, MA, announce the Dec. 20 birth of their daughter, Abigail Paige, named in memory of her great-grandfathers, Abraham Afremoff and Philip Becker.

Grandparents are Ruth and Joe Erman, and Lois and Steve Kaufman of Boston.

Great-grandparents are Frances Afremoff of Worcester, MA and Ruth London of Lake Worth, FL.

Marbles, Marbles and More

SM

SM

PIZZERIA 13463 W. Center Rd.•330-1444 7924 W. Dodge Rd.•391-1881 1213 Howard St.•344-2222

Max and Dorothy Platt celebrated their 71st anniversary with150 people at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, where they both live now. The Platts were married in Lincoln on Nov. 14, 1932, when Max was just 19 and Dorothy was 21.

Their children are Michael Platt and Connie Stillwell. They are grandparents of eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Roy Katskee, second from right, a collector of marbles, entertained Y.E.S. members, including: Rabbi Meyer Kripke, left, Gerald Meyer, Norm Zevitz, recently as the first Mystery Guest speaker. Katskee brought an assortment of his beautiful marbles from around the world, along with a variety of postcards, photos and news clippings.

January 9, 2004

Home Baking

by Jeffrey Alford & Naomi Duguid (Artisan, $40)

R EAD IT AND EAT Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN You can almost smell the aromas of baking breads, cakes, pastries and cookies as you flip through the pages of this beautiful oversized cookbook. These talented, award winning authors (and he is the photographer) traveled the world with emphasis on small villages, farms and farmhouse kitchens and collected recipes from the source as they went.

It is hard to believe that with simple ingredients and the simple pleasure of the process you can make such an array of delights...turning flour into food.

These are the recipes and traditions for the experienced and the beginning baker as well. Push open the kitchen door, roll up your sleeves, get baking and have fun.

The index in the front of the book offers baking suggestions for all occasions...to dazzle guests, household staples, last-minute baking, to feed a hungry crowd, standbys for snacking, child-friendly recipes to make together, campfire baking, great for sandwiches, unusual techniques to try, for those who can’t eat gluten (Celiacs), for those who prefer whole grains, toast, classics, exotic flavors and something to take as a present.

Then the cookbook is divided in four sections: Pastry, Bread, Smaller Breads and Cakes and Cookies. The introductions of each section covers techniques, equipment and terminology. Ingredients and techniques are further described and explained in the back of the book glossaries.

Solution to “Keeping Warm” Crossword Puzzle on Page 12

❄❅❆❅❄

Out

RAISIN DROP COOKIES Makes four dozen small, lumpy, raisin-studded drop cookies, sweet and chewy There were always handfuls of these simple drop cookies for scavenging hungry after-school fingers to find in our family cookie jar. They look like small raisin-studded rocks, but they’re actually soft and very easy to eat in quantity. Each cookie is a small morsel, two or maybe three bites at most.

2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup packed light brown sugar 12 tablespoons (11/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 1 large egg 1/4 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup dark raisins Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375º. Lightly butter two baking sheets.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add the brown sugar, butter, egg, milk, and vanilla. Mix to blend the ingredients and beat with a spoon or a mixer for about 1 minute. Add the raisins and mix thoroughly.

Drop the batter by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the greased baking sheets, leaving about half-inch between them. (Do not flatten, the cookies hold their shape and stay lumpy as they bake.)

Bake one sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes, until just starting to be touched with color on top and golden on the bottom. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

The cookies are best a day or more after they’re baked.

They keep well in a sealed cookie tin.

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Page 19

Dining

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Within each section there are two or three chapters covering a specific aspect of home baking with an index at the beginning of each listing the recipes and delightful writings of interest. Each of the more than 200 savory and sweet recipes includes a few paragraphs describing the area, the people, the experiences. Some of the essays included are .... Pastry relies on “creativity and imagination, and they are just plain fun to make.” Describing taste, sense of smell, they write, “food is so much a point of place.” This is a terrific book to curl up with a glass of tea and a couple cookies to thumb through and read.

And the magnificent color photography is of finished goodies, ingredients, kitchen tools, people, bucolic scenes and invite you to wander the world with the authors and savor ripe pears in Tbilisi, Georgia, curbside pretzels in Manhattan, visit a market in France, Brazil or Morocco, see a vista in Canada, Ireland, or Tibet.

The recipes include detailed, clear, well-written instructions with notes and variations. Sprinkled throughout the chapters are these recipes with Jewish flavors. Onion Pletzel and Potato Pletzel, Challah, Russian Sweet Anise Bagels, Montreal Bagels, Rich and Sticky Buns, Russian Apple Pancakes, Honey C a k e , Cheesecake, Mandel-Melbas, Muhn Cookies. Try this recipe that reminds me of the cookies Grandma Friedman always baked for special occasions...like when our four children were born.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 20

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 9, 2004

Opinion What Would You Do...

If you had won the $210 million Powerball last week? Your share would have been $70 million if you were the sole winner (that’s after taxes and after the state had taken its piece).

Let’s see: $70 million to spread around. Even taking off a few million for fun items such as a remodeling or purchasing a house, buying new cars, and taking several vacations, there would still be millions available for: Several large endowments. Consider these: • adding to the Federation’s unrestricted fund which could mean much-needed dollars in times of economic downturns and extra dollars for special projects and programs even when the Annual Campaign is up; • a maintenance endowment for this campus and/or your synagogue to help defray future expenses like utilities, lawn care and snow removal and replacement of old equipment like furnaces and air conditioners; • the creation of a pool of money for Jewish education that every Jewish organization can share, funding such things as full-time professional Jewish educators for our religious schools, pre-schools and day school--or full scholarships for young adults entering the field of Jewish education or Jewish communal work, not based on their need for funds, but on our community’s need for the future!

Outright grants, like: • Funds to bring Jews from Argentina; • More funds to assist the underemployed or the unemployed; and • even a fund that would help entrepreneurs start new businesses in Omaha (like a kosher deli, perhaps?).

Think we’re done. Not so fast--$70 million is a lot of money to spend.

Here are some more ideas: • The purchase of million-dollar life insurance policies, naming charitable organizations as the beneficiaries (and giving local insurance sales professionals a hefty share of the business as well!); • Endowing your Annual Campaign contribution with a PACE or

(Founded in 1920)

LOJE endowment (Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment or Lion of Judah Endowment), and doing the same for your synagogue and other organizations in which you’re involved; and • Working with the Federation’s Community Development Director to pay for creating and placing newspaper, radio and television ads in East and West Coast media to lure Jewish singles, couples and families here to grow our Jewish community.

Okay--so no one here won Powerball last week. But--you can plan for your financial future--and we’ve published some articles from our advertisers in this Tax and Financial Planning Issue to help you do just that. Even if you’re not the winner in a lottery, you can still gift life insurance policies to your favorites organizations; you can still endow your Annual Campaign gift; and you can still ensure that your family’s financial future is secure. It’s just one of the services provided by the Jewish Press and our advertisers to our readers. Though we’re not big Powerball winners--yet--we can dream, can’t we!

BEHIND THE HEADLINES Blacks Should Fight for Rights of Jews Facing Anti-Semitism

by RABBI MARC SCHNEIER and RUSSELL SIMMONS NEW YORK, (JTA)--The Jewish people are under attack.

Horrific expressions of anti-Semitism are spreading across the United States and the world.

These attacks, both verbal and physical, are occurring at all levels of society, from the highest ranks of government to individuals on the street.

This month, as we honor the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., we ask blacks to embrace his legacy and to join Jews in defeating the injustice of anti-Semitism.

Even as King struggled to achieve equality for black Americans, he did not hesitate to express total disdain for antiSemitism, especially when it reared its ugly face in his own community.

King championed the civil rights of Jews, spoke out for the human rights of Soviet Jews and reminded the world of those Jews who endured beatings and humiliation and gave their lives for the civil rights movement.

The Jewish community cannot alone fight the battle against anti-Semitism.

Blacks and Jews have a long shared history of working together to effect social change, as when Jews stood by their African-American brothers and sisters in the civil rights era.

King said, “In the struggle for human rights, as well as in the struggle for the upward march of our civilization, we have deep need for the partnership, fellowship and courage of our Jewish brother.”

Now the Jewish community needs the partnership, fellowship and courage of black Americans. The civil rights of Jews are now at stake.

A recent national poll by the

Foundation for Ethnic Understanding found that 77 percent of blacks and 73 percent of Jews agree that they should work together on civil rights.

Anti-Semitic incidents are up dramatically in the United States, including a 24 percent increase on college campuses in 2002.

In England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Turkey and other countries throughout Asia and Europe, synagogues are bombed, Jewish schools are torched and members of the Jewish community are forced to hide their yarmulkes and Star of David pendants.

Were King alive today, he would speak out vociferously against this new wave of anti-Semitism. He also would not tolerate the moral laryngitis that many political leaders seem to suffer in the face of these despicable acts against the Jewish people.

King invoked the immortal words that “a people who fight for their own rights only are as honorable as when they fight for the rights of all people.”

He acknowledged the interdependence of our two communities, black and Jewish.

“Every Negro leader is keenly aware, from direct and personal experience, that the segregationists and racists make no fine distinctions between the Negro and the Jew. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny,” King said.

In this spirit, we appeal to black Americans to stand in solidarity with their Jewish brothers and sisters who face the scourge and evils of antiSemitism.

Rabbi Marc Schneier is founder and president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding; Russell Simmons is the group’s chairman.

Joanie Jacobson Chairman Carol Katzman Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Ray Pred Account Executive Timothy J. Ketelsen Bookkeeper Lori Kooper-Schwarz Production Assistant Jewish Press Committee Howard K. Marcus, Vice-Chairman; Bobbi Leibowitz, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Finance Chairman; Steve Simon, Treasurer; Fred Tichauer, Immediate Past-chairman; Jean Duitch; Penny Endelman; Kip Gordman; Stanley Mitchell; George Quittner; Linda Saltzman; Joey Shyken; Nancy Skid; and Melanie Weinstein.

The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Centers of Excellence of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Educational and Library Services, Jewish Family Service, and Jewish Senior Services. The Jewish Press and the Foundation are constitional committees of the Jewish Federation.

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Committee, the Jewish Federation of Omaha or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole.

The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

FOCUS ON ISSUES In Argentina’s Depressed Economy, Unplanned Babies are at the Bottom

by FLORENCIA ARBISER BUENOS AIRES (JTA)--It’s tough being a parent these days in cash-strapped Argentina. But it can be even tougher being an unplanned baby.

Growing up, Johanna Klas, 21, was used to private schools, private health insurance and a comfortable middle-class life. But after Argentina’s economy collapsed at the end of 2001, Klas and her family fell into poverty. Her parents lost their jobs, the family had a home mortgage to pay and the young Klas and her two siblings began going to Jewish welfare organizations for their daily meals.

Then Klas learned that her life would change forever: She was pregnant with an unplanned baby, due this coming Feb. 11. Now she has to worry about getting enough nourishment for her baby, both during her pregnancy and after.

Klas is not unique among Argentine Jews.

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, which provides many of the welfare services for Argentine Jews, says babies and pregnant mothers are among the most vulnerable of the country’s Jews.

Approximately 35,000 of Argentina's roughly 200,000 Jews receive JDC support in Argentina; of them, 803 babies under three years of age and 98 pregnant women live below the poverty line. Faced with the possibility of undernourishment, these women and their children are the target of a new JDC program called Baby Help.

“Now that the storm seems to be over,” Alejandro Kladniew, the local JDC official, said of Argentina’s slowly improving economic situation, “we are focusing on the most vulnerable cases.”

The new Baby Help program is meant to do just that, with an estimated budget of $330,000 for 2004.

In Buenos Aires, an entire floor of a local Jewish organization has been remodeled to serve as Baby Help’s central offices. The new space serves as a meeting place for parents, pediatric experts and early-stimulation workshops to benefit babies.

In August, Baby Help distributed to parents its first “Baby Help bags,” kits filled with food, vitamins, educational brochures and medicines. Baby Help officials say they also expect to be able to pay three months worth of day-care fees for babies whose parents have jobs.

Editorial The Jewish Press is a Constitutional Committee of the Jewish Federation of Omaha.

Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, noon, eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org.

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Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be singlespaced typed, not hand-written.

Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.”

The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions, but should be printed as soon as possible to ensure timeliness. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing.

All letters must be signed by the writer, but the name can be withheld at the writer’s request.

No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf.

Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For more information, contact Carol Katzman, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450.

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Nebraska Press Association

National Newspaper Association

January 9, 2004

Facts Show Cause for Optimism recovery led by external demand.”

The local Manufacturers’ Association, studying the prospects, expects that in the coming year the economy will expand by 1.5%, investments will grow by 6.26% and industrial exports will rise by 5%.

by CARL ALPERT Further, industrial exports in the third quarter of 2003 rose by 1.5% to $19.1 billion. in contrast to a 5% fall in Haifa--For the past several years each of the past two years. The country’s Gross the declining state of Israel’s economy has been cause Domestic Product rose by an annualized 22.7% in the for serious concern. Decline in exports, reduction in third quarter of 2003 after contracting by 1.7% in the foreign investment and a sharp rise in unemployment second quarter and 2.8% in the first. Similar reports on are obvious indications that the country has been in the various economic fronts have been multiplying in midst of a serious recession. recent weeks.

One does not have to be an economist to identify the Eli Horowitz, chairman of the highly successful drug major causes of this situation. Perhaps foremost are the firm, Teva, pointed to what should follow. Everyone’s security problems, the continued terrorism and the elu- confidence in the economy must be vastly increased, sive prospects for peace with our neighbors. he said. The depressed national mood is a central facA second factor embraces the economic policies of tor in the lack of growth. the government and the state of the national budget. A Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already further cause is a reflection of the global economy. All proclaimed that the recession was over. Israel Harel, of these combined tend to undermine public confi- writing in Ha’aretz, reported that studies presented at dence and lead to caution the Herzlia Conference ...the International Monetary Fund that visited and conservatism. prove that there is a high The result is the creation Israel recently reported that “the protracted decline degree of optimism among of a negative public mood in economic activity since October 2000 has given the public with regard to which builds up into what way to an incipient recovery led by external the future. we call a recession, and at What Saul Singer in The demand.” its worst, a depression.

Jerusalem Post calls the External factors could change that mood, but lacking “ecstasy index” (in contrast to the “misery index”) must such encouragement, only a gradual process of internal be given priority in government planning. psychological encouragement can gradually create a As the year 2003 approached its end, the Bank of Israel new atmosphere which will lead to hope, confidence reported that the S Index (State of the Economy) rose in and economic revival.

November by 0.3%, the third consecutive month of The recent news from Israel is providing numerous growth. Not all figures were positive, to be sure, but the sparks which could well lead to such a change. Minute signals add up to a gradual recovery of the economy. in themselves, they may well add up to a reversal of the All set for a change in the economic climate? otherwise gloomy mood, and encourage public confiOne element has been overlooked: Israeli politics. dence.

Opponents of the Sharon/Netanyahu government could Thus, we are informed that the international rating not bring themselves to add their voices and their support agency, Fitch, noting government reforms and to the ground swell of optimism. Instead, they have hit all improved economic indicators, has upgraded its rating the negative notes and trumpet their objections. on Israel’s long term foreign currency from negative to It is premature to call the recession history, they say. stable.

Success of big firms? Any parallel between their results Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reports that the and the situation of Israel’s economy is purely coincicountry’s trading surplus for the first nine months of dental. Israel is still despondent. Netanyahu is making 2003 was $400 million, compared to an $800 million twisted, misleading speeches. The treasury is deceiving deficit in the same period of 2002. the public with promises of miracles, they say.

According to press reports, a delegation from the All this despite the facts, and despite the need to add International Monetary Fund that visited Israel recently to the growing public confidence. Only time will tell if reported that “the protracted decline in economic activ- they will have succeeded in puncturing the mood leadity since October 2000 has given way to an incipient ing to economic growth and stability.

OUR MAN IN ISRAEL

LETTER TO THE EDITOR To the Editor: The devastation of the recent Iranian earthquake is unspeakable. Half of the 80,000 residents of Bam may have died. In The New York Times of 12/28/03: “Government spokesmen said that foreign aid workers would not need entry visas and that aid would be welcome from everywhere but Israel.”

Sadly, the Iranian government’s hatred for Israel is more meaningful than aid for its people. We can react in one of two ways: The first is to judge the Iranian response. The second is to ask what element of own-

ership we (Jews, Defenders of Israel, Lovers of Peace) must accept for the kind of hatred that transcends human tragedy.

I reject the first reaction by definition. Let G-d judge.

The second reaction requires us to somehow stand in the shoes of those that hate us. This task is too complex for discussion in 250 words, but it is an example of the task that Jews and the Israeli government must endeavor if there are to be meaningful steps toward lasting peace.

Gary Weiss

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 21

LETTER FROM ISRAEL

by HARRY ALLEN In thinking about the year 2003 in Israel one is tempted to rely on the verse from Chapter One of Kohelet, “and there is nothing new under the sun”. But one could also turn to the famous soliloquy in Chapter Three, the one made famous by the 60’s folk singer icons, Peter, Paul and Mary, “a time to keep and a time to cast away.”

It may well be that the Israel of 2003, and particularly Ariel Sharon, have both arrived at a time of keeping and a time of casting away and there may indeed be something new under the sun.

Listen to Sharon, the godfather of the settlement movement speak plainly, time after time, of the inevitability of “relocating” settlements from the West Bank and Gaza. And listen to Ehud Olmert, Jerusalem’s former mayor, openly advocate some kind of ...implementation will governance be easy or rapid enough Palestinian in Arab Jerusalem. for the critics--but Sharon Then understand, that and Olmert and others in at the gut level, a decithe Likud have have clear- sion has been made to “cast away” some and ly made the decision of to keep some of the what to keep and what to West Bank.

This represents a cast away. major revolution in the political calculus of the Likud party. This is not to say that the implementation will be easy or rapid enough for the critics--but Sharon and Olmert and others in the Likud have have clearly made the decision of what to keep and what to cast away.

What Sharon is essentially advocating is the plan by Yigal Alon after the Six-Day war in 1967. General Alon advocated returning most of the West Bank to Jordan, while keeping a security border along the Jordan River.

Returning the West Bank to Jordan is now no longer an option (Shimon Peres worked out such a deal with King Hussein in London, but the plan was shelved by Prime Minister Shamir). But Sharon’s plan for unilateral disengagement looks and feels much like Alon.

On the economic and social front as well it was a time of mostly casting aside and little of keeping. Bibi Netanyahu, the ambitious and telegenic Minister of Finance, succeeded in dismantling much of Israel’s welfare state--a devious accomplishment and one which contains the seeds of future social upheaval.

Netanyahu also challenged the Histradut, Israel’s huge federation of trade unions, and wrested control of pension funds.

Last year also saw the casting away of ultra-Orthodox control over many aspects of public policy--though others were kept. Still, for the first time in Israeli history, a coalition government was formed without the ultra-Orthodox parties and the corrupt local religious councils were abolished.

What good may come of this remains to be seen.

So while on the surface the Israel of 2003 would seem best described by Kohelet’s, ”there is nothing new under the sun”, lurking just below that surface is the reality that 2003 was more a year in which the decisions were made about what to keep and what to give up.

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Page 22

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Synagogue Listings

January 9, 2004

Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.

B’nai Israel Synagogue 618 Mynster St. Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 322-4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com

Beth El Synagogue Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Omaha, NE 68154-1980 492-8550 www.bethel-omaha.org

Beth Israel Synagogue Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 1502 N. 52 St. Omaha, NE. 68104 -5013 556-6288 BethIsrael@novia.net

Beyt Shalom An Affiliate of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation 3012 S. 119 St. P.O. Box 390352 Omaha, NE 68139 660-2395 http://welcome.to/beytshalom/

Chabad House An Affiliate of the Worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch Movement 1866 S. 120th St. Omaha, NE 68144-1646 330-1800 nebraskajudaism.com email: chabad@aol.com

Congregation B’nai Jeshrun South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 S. 20th St. Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 435-8004 jewishnebraska.org

Offutt Air Force Base SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway Offutt AFB, NE 68113 294-6244

Rose Blumkin Jewish Home

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

FRIDAY: Join us for a musical Kabbalat Service, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning Services, 9:30 a.m. Kiddush sponsored by Beth El. Junior Congregation will meet at 10:30 a.m.. K’tantan, 10:45 a.m.; Evening Services, 5 p.m.

SITTER SERVICE Friday Night and Saturday Morning Sitter Service provided at no charge on a drop-in basis.

WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sunday, 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, 6:55 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY: Rabbi Levin will meet with BESTT parents, 10 a.m. for “Why and How to Enrich Shabbat in Your Home.”

Adult Bible Study Group meets at 11 a.m. in the Library, Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, continues his class on the Book of Samuel.

WEDNESDAY, 7 p.m.: Adult B’nai Mitzvah class meets again with Cantor Bogomolni.

THURSDAY, Jan. 15, noon: “Jewish Wisdom for the 21st Century”--with Rabbi Levin.

Optional lunch available at 1 p.m. For more information, call the synagogue, 492.8550.

COME & DANCE! Israeli Dance group will get together again, Thursday, Jan. 15. More information, contact Cheryl Lerner, 334-8430.

A THOUGHT FOR SHABBAT To receive Rabbi Levin’s weekly “Thought for Shabbat” message by e-mail, please send your email address to exec@bethelomaha.org. This is free and open to the entire community.

333 S. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

Temple Israel

Office Hours: MondayThursday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Services

Member of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations 7023 Cass Street Omaha, NE 68132-2651 556-6536 templeisrael-ne.org

Tifereth Israel

Candlelighting Friday, January 9, 4:55 p.m.

conducted by Rabbi Howard Kutner.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Services, 5 p.m. Shabbat Dinner following services at approx.

6:15 p.m. Dr. Lob will speak after dinner at 7:30 p.m.

Babysitting available. No West Minyan due to Scholar-inResidence.

SATURDAY: Morning Services, 8:45 a.m.; Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 10:30 a.m.; Kiddush sponsored

by Sisterhood; Lunch following services; Dr. Lob will speak after lunch. Mincha, following kiddush; Havdalah, 5:53 p.m.

SUNDAY: Morning Services, 9 a.m.; Supper Sledding, 1 p.m.

Mincha, 4:40 p.m.

Weekday Morning Services, 7 a.m.; Weekday Mincha and Ma’ariv, 6:30 p.m.

TUESDAY: NCSY Jr’s Game Night, 5:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: NCSY Sr’s Game Night, 6 p.m.; “Tunes of the Davening,” a new class with Rabbi Kutner, Rabbi B.P. Simon and Donald Gerber teaching new and old tunes of the Shabbos Mussaf service, 8 p.m. at the JCC.

9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m.

SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE SUNDAY, Jan. 11: Rabbi Jan Katzew, 4 p.m. Teen and adult session on Jewish ethics, “Making Mentchen”.

TUESDAY, Jan. 13, 7 p.m.: Rabbi Eric Yoffie video and discussion.

JEWISH SUMMER CAMP Don’t forget to register your children. There are still funds available from Lincoln Jewish Federation to help send many more children. Please contact Rabbi Stiel or Jaine Graham at 481.8499 for more information.

INTRODUCTION TO HEBREW Are you interested in a beginning Hebrew class if offered? If you are please call Temple secretary, Kristi at 435-8004.

BEYT SHALOM

TEMPLE ISRAEL

FRIDAY, Jan. 2: Family Shabbat, 7 p.m. Jones/Beach SUNDAY: Blumkim Home Shabbat, 9 a.m.

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. MondayFriday, Morning services, 7 a.m.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Rabbi Debbie Stiel will be in the office Tuesdays and Thursdays, all day. You may reach her 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays at 416.2321 (local for Lincoln), or at rabstiel@aol.com.

FRIDAY: Family Shabbat Services, 6:15 p.m. with nosh prior to services at 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning Services,

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.; led by Beyt Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation.

ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY, 10:30 a.m.-noon: The 4B’s: Behaving, Belonging, Believing and Bagels Rabbi Jan Katzew will discuss “Raising Mensches: Helping Your Human Being Become a Humane Being.”

WEDNESDAY, 6:45-8:30 p.m.: “Israel in the Middle East: Modern and Contemporary History” with Prof. Moshe Gershovich.

THURSDAY, 10-11:30 a.m.: Adult Study with the Clergy with Rabbi Azriel will lead this week’s class.

SHABBAT SUPPER SERIES Friday, Jan. 16, 6 p.m. in the Chapel, Rabbi Craig Marantz will present a D’var Torah entitled “Israel Diaries.” His passion for Israel and his recent visit there have inspired new reflections on the meaning of this land to the Jewish people. Immediately following services, all are invited to enjoy a meal together in a private room at Pasta Amore, located in Rockbrook Village.

Call the Temple office at 556.6536 or via e-mail at: tisrael@qwest.net by Monday, Jan. 12, to make a reservation.

TIFERETH ISRAEL

FRIDAY: All male members of Temple Israel are invited to a weekly informal get together at Spirit World, 7517 Pacific St. Join us for relaxation and great conversation, 11:45 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 6 p.m.; Shabbat Evening Service, 6 p.m. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel and Cantor Wendy Shermet will officiate. Rabbi Jan Katzew, Educator-in-Residence, will give the D’var Torah.

SATURDAY:Bagels and Sacred Books, 9-10:15 a.m.; Rabbi Jan Katzew will join this week’s discussion; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. Max Amar Sherman, son of Usha and Dan Sherman, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah JANUARY SERVICE TIME: All services are at 6 p.m. during the month of January.

Services conducted by Rabbi Stanley M. Rosenbaum. Minyan, Monday & Thursday, 7:15 a.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 8 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.

WEDNESDAY: The Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m.

SUNDAY: Join the Hebrew Schoolers, 4 p.m. for a special presentation by Rabbi Jan Katzew, Ph.D at B’nai Jeshrun; Join knitters and crocheters, 10 a.m. in support of Project Linus.

UPCOMING EVENTS Tuesday, Jan. 20: Ladies Lunch Bunch.

Thursday, Jan. 22: The next Mindstretcher class.

Sunday, Jan. 24: Lunch and Learn after services.

Temple Israel Lights Up Hanukkah with Families and Remington Heights Residents

Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 423-8569 tiferethisraellincoln.org

If you’re looking at this space, so are others!

YOUR AD CAN GO HERE... to reserve space, call Allan Handleman, 334-6451, or Ray Pred, 334-6559.

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coodinator On the first night of Hanukkah, families filled the Friedman Social Hall at Temple Israel to usher in the holiday with a brisket and latke dinner served

by Women of Reform Judaism. The crowd sang and lit their menorahs. Photos from left: Joanie and Marty Lehr celebrated with their grandson Adam

Goldberg and the rest of their family. After the meal, Abigail Reiss (in foreground, from left), Alison Goldstein, Eliana Reiss, Jane Glazer, McKenna Bates, Zoe Vann (back row), Brenna Robinson, Molly Goldberg, and Sydney Robinson get ready for the Shabbat and festival worship service.

Throughout the eight nights of Hanukkah, Temple Israel staff members and congregants including

Rabbi Aryeh Azriel; Rabbi Craig Marantz; Cantor Wendy Shermet and her son, Sam; Stephanie Grossman; Harry Alloy and his family: Shelly, Rick and Naomi Fox, and Wendy, Todd, Alissa, Diana, and David Manvitz; Sheila Tomps; and Gary and Sally Kaplan with their daughter and son-in-law, Katie and Michael Cohen; lit the menorah with residents of Remington Heights.

January 9, 2004

The End of the Family of Our Patriarchs

SPARKS FROM THE WORD

by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Vayehi Our Sidra brings the Book of Genesis to an end. It has been largely devoted to the establishment of the family of Jacob. We meet him when he thinks he has 10 sons, and then 11, and finally 12, and one daughter.

We today might well call the family of the Patriarchs dysfunctional, since it was marred by intrigue and dislike that morphed into hatred and violence.

But the main story is the side story, the rise of Joseph to eminence and great power, enabling him to show great magnanimity to his brothers, now helpless, but sinners against him.

It is well to note that the final act of Jacob is to bless his children, each according to his character. We need not apologize to note that the blessing really includes future events that Jacob could not know of, but that we know of from reading history. It is important to note that Jacob adjures them to bury him with his wife Leah, and his parents and grandparents. His beloved son, Joseph, closes Jacob’s eyes and Jacob is buried with his family in Canaan.

DR. MARVIN DEAN BORDY Dr. Marvin Bordy died Dec. 25 in Kansas City at the age of 76. Services were held Dec. 26 at the Louis Memorial Chapel.

Dr. Bordy, who grew up in Silver Creek, NE, received both a BS and a medical degree from the University of Nebraska. He served as a hospital corpsman during World War II and practiced pediatrics and served on the boards of several Kansas City area hospitals. Recently, Dr. Bordy was honored with the Distinguished Medical Service Award from the Metropolitan Medical Association of Greater Kansas City.

Probably best known for his research and treatment in juvenile diabetes and Down Syndrome, Dr. Bordy was also recognized for his pioneering use of the polio vaccine.

Dr. Bordy is survived by his wife of 52 years, Alice Rostov Bordy of Kansas City; children Michael and Melissa Bordy of Los Angeles, CA, Stephanie and Jeff Dagoberg of Portland, OR; Valerie Bordy; and Jennifer Wendt Bordy and Bruce Wendt of Bozeman, MT; eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Eugene and Barbara Rostov of Miami, FL; and sisters-in-law, Sylvia Brody of Louisville, KY, and Mirah Rostov.

Memorials to the American Diabetes Association, Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Kansas City,

There is an illuminating human touch in the story when Joseph’s brothers plead with him not to get even with them for the evil that they had previously done to him.

The text does not read anything into Joseph’s plea with those who were to survive him, that when a day comes that the Israelites in Egypt return to Canaan, the land that was to be the Land of Israel, that they bring along the bones of Joseph to be buried in Canaan.

And the book ends with the note that Joseph’s bones were kept in a coffin in Egypt.

It seems to me that there is a whole philosophy of life and death involved in the passing note that when Jacob died, “breathing his last, he was gathered to his people.” The Bible does not suggest that there is “life after death,” but it seems to be telling us that death is not painful nor dreadful, but it simply a last event in the physical life of a person. It doesn’t seem bad, does it, to be gathered to one’s people.

I must comment on the fact that Joseph insisted on being buried in Canaan, where the family originated.

All of this, mind you, after he had reached the position of Viceroy of Egypt! What called him back to the land of his family? And what must the Egyptians have thought after raising this foreigner to such a position, and then realizing his heart had always been in another land? Something of what they thought is made clear to us as we read the next Sidra.

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HENRY M. GREENBERG Henry Greenberg, owner of Philips Stores, died at the age of 88. A memorial service was held Jan. 4 at Temple Israel.

Greenberg served as President of the Highland Country Club and was active in civic affairs, serving on the boards of Immannuel Hospital, Goodwill and United Way. He became President of Philips in 1943 when his father, Philip Greenberg, the store’s founder, retired. Before the stores closed in 1987, Greenberg expanded the business to Council Bluffs and Lincoln.

He was preceded in death by a son, Justin, and his first wife, Eleanor.

He is survived by his wife, Shirley; daughter and sonin-law, Midge and Bill Bowers; grandchildren, Michael, Daniel, Lisa, Amy, Jody, Debbie, Courtney and Jordan; 11 great-grandchildren; sister, Ruth Terman of Tucson, AZ; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Sheldon and Janice Harris; step-children and spouses, Marcia and Colman Kahn and Cecil and Martin Fogel, all of Colorado; and step-grandchildren, Heather, Zachary and Paul.

Memorials to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

MORRIS ADLER Morris “Morrie” Adler died on Jan. 7 at the age of 87.

A memorial service will be held on Jan. 9 at Temple Israel, followed by burial at Fisher Farm Cemetery.

Morrie is survived by his wife of 57 years, Bernice; son Bob and daughter and son-in-law Shelly and Abe Wisnia of Omaha; daughter and son-in-law Shari and Nils Asplund of Altadena, CA; granddaughter Lisa and grandson Adam and wife Dana Wisnia.

Israel Travel Continued from page 1 Fidelity isn’t alone: Some other leading insurance providers also refuse to sell life insurance to anyone traveling to Israel or any of the 28 areas on the State Department’s advisory list, which includes: Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Fidelity’s rejection stunned Segal, who called the policy on Israel “outrageous.”

“It sends a sharp political message to any American Jew interested in having short- or long-term financial security for their spouses or children that if they’ve visited Israel, don’t apply.”

Ironically, the risk of being harmed while visiting Israel remains comparatively low. Average life expectancy in Israel is 78 years, compared to 77 in the United States. And even in the wake of the Palestinian intifada, deaths from accidental injury were about 11 per 100,000 in Israel in 2002, compared to 17 per 100,000 in the United States.

Page 23

Pulverente MONUMENT CO.

DEATHS DOUG LIEB Doug Lieb died Dec. 24 in Overland Park, KS, at the age of 37. Services were held in Kansas.

He is survived by his wife, former Omahan Lisa Gordman Lieb; a son, Sammy Lieb, both of Overland Park; parents, Don and Jeanie Lieb; brother, Dave Lieb; and mother-in-law and father-in-law, Linda and Jerry Gordman.

Memorials to the American Cancer Society.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Fidelity’s spokesman defended the policy of considering both past and future travel. Fidelity will not sell a life insurance policy to anyone who has visited a country on the State Department’s watch list in the past two years, nor will the company cover anyone who plans to travel to those places in the next two years.

CORRECTIONS The spelling of several names in the caption under the photo of the fashion show at the Blumkin Home last month was incorrect. Phil Ennis and Phil Ennis, Jr., are related to staff member Loria Ennis, an activity director at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home; the “Phils” are not RBJH staff members.

In addition, the day of the Bob Alper event was incorrect in last week’s Press; it is Saturday, Jan. 31, not Wednesday, at Beth El Synagogue.

In Rachel Martin’s Bat Mitzvah announcement, her father was incorrectly identified; he is Mark Martin.

The Jewish Press regrets the errors.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 9, 2004

Former Omahan Invites Local Artists to Show Exhibit as “Barn Girl Art” Opens at JCC

by MARGIE UTESCH Publicity Director Jewish Community Center Former Omahan Suzanne Horwich, will host the first “Barn Girl Art Group” show to exhibit new talent by Julie Phillips and Dena Fouts, as well as some of her own work at the Jewish community Center. The exhibit opens Jan. 16 and runs through Feb. 26.

According to Horwich--who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, “Barn Girl Art’s quest is to encourage, inspire and mentor all of those artist out there who need a good push! I see so many talented people who are too afraid to get their work out in the public,” she explained.

“Being an artist can be such an isolated existence but it doesn’t have to be.”

Among the local artists whose works will be shown in the exhibit are Julie Phillips and Dena Fouts.

The artists will host an opening reception on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2 p.m. at the JCC. All proceeds will go to the David Barker Living Memorial Fund for the arts.

“I produce work that enables me to communicate, allowing the audience to see my soul in everything creative,” Horwich added. “I hope the viewer walks away from my work with the sense of their own freedom and a bit of inspiration that applies to their own state of being.”

Julie Phillips, who volunteers her time as an art instructor at the Friedel Jewish academy, concentrates on collages of fabric and paint.

Through art, I am able to express my appreciation for the simple moments of

Barn Girl Art by Suzanne Horwich

Fabric/paint collage by Julie Phillips

Landscape by Dena Fouts

joy in my life,” Phillips noted. “My current works capture these moments through the layering of vintage kimono fabrics and the over-painting of stylized, abstract design. There is a sense of connectedness to the past that using these art deco fabrics and vintage frames creates. I want my paintings to become something familiar and sentimental to the viewer, like peeking into a grandmother’s jewelry box, stirring memories, then finding joy in the present moment.”

Dena Fouts, a friend of Horwich’s who specializes in landscapes, explained, “My work has a lot of variety that are motivated by my perspective on how I experience the world. Creating a body of work for Cornucopia has been a fantastic experience.

“When my friend Suzanne asked me to contribute on a group show with her and Julie, I soon realized that it isn’t about finding recognition or validation for my work but rather it’s about the community of art, the support of friends, and the

sharing of the process,” she added.

Horwich was living in Istanbul, Turkey, and working as an English teacher when it became clear to her that venturing out on the streets as an unescorted woman was just not accepted in Turkish society. In the village of Kadikoy, located on the Asian side of Istanbul, there was very little to do.

But, there was “a fabulous little art store” in the village and luckily not long after arriving in Istanbul, she stumbled upon it. It was during these days in Turkey that her destiny as Suzanne Horwich an artist

became “set in stone.”

Fellow artist David Barker took Horwich under his wing while she was visiting Omaha. Every visit here, Barker taught Horwich more, pushed her harder and encouraged her to have the confidence to be an artist.

Barker died during the summer of 2002 just five months before Horwich’s first solo show at the JCC. But a local artist, Ken Maxwell, heard of her struggle. “Like an angel from heaven,” Horwich added, “Ken offered his help. It was Ken who boosted my confidence and supported me in my continuing efforts to make it as an artist.

“Most people in life don’t even have one mentor. How is it possible that I have two?” Horwich asked. “The act of such kindness by two people with no other motive is breathtakingly beautiful.

“The act of giving was contagious and I now wanted to help new artists to make their dreams come true. This is why I created Barn Girl Art,” she said.

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