Vol. LXXXV No. 18 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 85 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
13 Tevet, 5766 January 13, 2006
With Sharon Sidelined, Bush Team Reaches out to Potential Successors by RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA)--The Bush administration is juggling two stages of grief in dealing with the absence of Ariel Sharon: denial and acceptance. Sharon has been the premier agent of change in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since Bush took office. One message the administration is pushing is to deny that Sharon’s disappearance from the political scene substantively changes anything. Two top Bush administration envoys were set to fly to the region Tuesday to remind all parties that systems are still go, despite the massive stroke Jan. 4 that has kept the Israeli prime minister incapacitated and likely has ended his political career. The other message is to accept the reality that Sharon is gone, establish the same level of trust with his deputy, Ehud Olmert, now the acting prime minister, and feel out the other two leading candidates in March 28 elections in Israel. It’s a delicate balance for a delicate time. The Bush administration has dramatically increased its investment in the peace process, successfully betting last year that Sharon’s longstanding reputation as Israel's last lion of war would guide the Jewish state through its most searing peace move, evacuating Gaza Strip settlements.
In the Israel and coming the West year, the Bank. administra“We all tion hoped know that Sharon P r i m e w o u l d Minister begin to Sharon is evacuate in the hossubstantial pital, and portions of we continthe West ue to hope Bank. State his for Departrecovery,” m e n t McCorspokesman mack said S e a n M o n d a y. McCor“There are mack said still agreeElliott ments in Abrams, place that the deputy require folnational low-up. We security are followadviser to ing up, as the White This photo was taken of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at his are others House, and last public appearance on Jan. 4 during the sale of Bank Leumi. on impleCredit: ISRANET mentation D a v i d Welch, the top State Department envoy to of those agreements.” the region, would press the Palestinians to Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of hold legislative elections as scheduled on state, stepped in personally in November Jan. 25, and would push Israel to open up to broker the transit agreement, and is transit points between the Gaza Strip, anxious that Israel has yet to open the
When Tragedy Hit the Gulf Coast, U.S. Jews Were Quick to Contribute by LARRY LUXNER UJC funds also have gone NEW ORLEANS (JTA)-to the Jewish Federation of Major Jewish organizations Greater Houston, as well as have raised over $30 million groups such as Mazon: A to house, feed, educate and Jewish Response to Hunger, relocate thousands of victims to aid 13 food banks and of Hurricane Katrina in other groups along the Louisiana and Mississippi. storm-ravaged Gulf Coast. The biggest chunk of Smaller amounts have money has come from the been allocated to groups United Jewish Communsuch as the Dallas Mayor’s ities, which represents 155 Housing Initiative, to provide housing assistance to Jewish federations and 400 evacuees ($250,000); the independent communities Jewish Federation of across North America. As of Northern Louisiana to proDec. 13, UJC said it had collected $25.5 million in vide Wal-Mart gift cards to evacuees in shelters Katrina disaster relief, of Longtime Beth Israel congregant Sol Lebow removes brass ($153,900); and the Jewish which $7.9 million already plates, including one commemorating his bar mitzvah, from community of Jackson, MS, has been allocated to Jewish a flood-damaged wall of the New Orleans’ synagogue on for emergency aid to evacand non-Jewish hurricane Dec. 26, 2005. Credit: Larry Luxner/JTA uees ($50,000). victims. (Editor’s note: The The American Jewish Committee also has been active. Jewish Community Center of Omaha contributed $10,000 to the JCC Association, specifically for the JCC In mid-December, the group's executive director, David of New Orleans, while the Jewish Federation of Omaha Harris, visited New Orleans to present a total of contributed $7500 directly to UJC. That figure does $575,000 in hurricane relief funds to four institutions: not include individual donations from Omahans to UJC Dillard University, a predominantly black college, got of the JCCA, nor does it include contributions from syn- $200,000 to help rebuild its Information Technology Center, while $125,000 went each to Clement of Rome, agogue members to their respective movements.) The single largest beneficiary of UJC's generosity has a Catholic church, and two synagogues--Congregation been the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, Gates of Prayer, a Reform synagogue next to St. which received $4 million for programs ranging from Clement, and Congregation Beth Israel, an Orthodox emergency assistance for individual Jews to general shul in suburban Lakeview severely damaged by Katrina. Continued on page 24 funding for social services.
Inside Opinion Page see page 20
This Week: Tax & Financial Planning Starts on Page 13 Beth El Unveils Wall of Honor: Page 3
Final Part of Series--Struggling to Make the Grade: Pages 4-5
transit points. Israel is worried that the Palestinian Authority is not taking control of terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Yet while it’s business-as-usual on the micro level, Bush administration spokesmen make clear that they understand the tectonic political changes underway in Israel ahead of the March elections. As Sharon’s front man on the peace process, Olmert was already a known quantity to the administration. He has spoken extensively with Rice since assuming the acting premiership. Rice canceled a planned tour of Indonesia and Australia to keep a close watch on developments in Israel. “We stay in close contact with the government of Israel and we have officials that travel there on a fairly regular basis as well,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Monday. “I expect we’ll be going back there in the near future, too.” A breakthrough in the IsraeliPalestinian peace success might purchase Arab and international goodwill and help the Bush administration navigate its other grand plan loaded with potential booby traps: the transition t democratic self-rule in Iraq. Sharon broke away from his Likud Party late last year because it continued to defy his plans to withdraw from some Continued on page 2
Omaha Synagogues to Compete for Fun and “Bragging Rights” by CLAUDIA SHERMAN “You could feel the enthusiasm in the room tonight, the energy level boosting up,” said Mike Silverman, one of three coordinators for Jewish Omaha’s First Annual Decathlon scheduled throughout the month of February. Captains from Temple Israel, Beth El Synagogue, and Beth Israel Synagogue met on January 4 at the Jewish Community Center to determine how many players can participate in each of the ten events and play on each team, rules for each competition, and dates and locations for each event. Scott Simon and Beth Cohen are the coordinators, respectively, for Beth El and Beth Israel. Sparked by two softball games between Temple Israel and Beth El’s Men’s Clubs last year, Simon and Silverman wanted to keep the fun rolling. They met with Cohen and the decathlon idea came to life. Continued on page 11
Scott Simon, left, Mike Silverman and Beth Cohen “shake” on the deal to compete in Omaha’s “decathlon.”
Coming Next Month: Simchas & Celebrations on Feb. 10 News for Omaha Jewish Teens-Passover Issue, Contests, More: Page 8
Op-ed on Ariel Sharon and What Happens Next: Page 21