January 15, 2010

Vol. LXXXIX No. 17 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 89 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

Bagel Bin, an institution in the Jewish community for over 30 years and the only kosher bakery in town, was destroyed in a fire the evening of Thursday, Jan. 7. Other businesses in the same strip mall, located just south of 119th and Pacific Street, were also damaged. Above, the gutted restaurant is covered with icicles the morning after the blaze, as Omaha Fire Department officials manage the site. A cause for the fire has not yet been determined. See full story on page 3.

As zero hour nears, differences emerge regarding sanctions against Iran put to rest any notion that it will entertain the West’s

by RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) -- As long as the Iran conver- offer to enrich Iran’s uranium to medical research levels sation was broad and dealt only with “sanctions,” the in exchange for transparency about the Islamic Congress, the White House and the pro-Israel commu- Republic’s suspected nuclear weapons program. nity seemed to be on the same page.

“Our goal is to pressure the Iranian government, parBut now that Iran has rejected just about every bou- ticularly the Revolutionary Guard elements, without quet sent its way and the talk contributing to the sufhas turned to the details, longfering” of Iranians, “who standing differences over how deserve better than what best to go forward are taking they currently are receivcenter stage. ing,” U.S. Secretary of With the backing of many State Hillary Rodham Jewish groups, Congress Clinton said in a news appears to be pressing ahead conference Monday. with a package that targets Opponents of the conIran’s energy sector. gressional sanctions, While the White House which target just about appears to support new conany investment anywhere gressional sanctions, it appears in the world in Iran’s to favor more narrow measures energy sector, say they targeting the Iranian leadership would be inhumane and and the Iranian Revolutionary rally support for the Guards Corps, considered regime. especially vulnerable because of “Having opposed the the recent anti-government adoption of crippling turmoil. sanctions all along, In part, the debate is over Americans for Peace Now which approach would do U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, shown meet- is glad to see further affirmore to help opposition forces ing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in mation from the White in Iran. But also playing a role Jerusalem last October, says the Obama administration House that it does not is the Obama administration’s wants to pressure Iran’s government without contributing to seek such crippling sanccontinuing emphasis on secur- the suffering of ordinary Iranians. tions,” said Ori Nir, a Credit: State Department photo spokesman for APN, the ing international backing for

by Matty Stern, U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv only major Jewish group tougher measures against Tehran, the idea being that sweeping U.S. sanctions opposing the congressional package. aimed at the Iranian energy sector could turn off severIn defense of the proposed legislation, one insider al key nations. from a centrist pro-Israel group recounted a muchAdditionally, the Obama administration has not repeated scenario: The cab driver who runs out of gas in counted out the prospect of engagement with Iran, the middle of a traffic clogged street, gets out of the car, although the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad government has Continued on page 2

Inside Opinion Page see page 12

See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’

Fellman, Kooper scholarship applications available: Page 2

January 15, 2010

Author, Holocaust survivor to speak in Omaha

Fire devastates Bagel Bin

This Week: Women’s Health Issue starts on Page 8

29 Tevet 5770

by BETH SELDIN DOTAN Director, Institute for Holocaust Education The Institute for Holocaust Education and Westside Community Schools are bringing in internationallyacclaimed author, historian and Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein. She will speak at the Center for Faith Studies at Countryside Community Church on Thursday, Feb. 4, 7 p.m., and address students at Westside High School the following day.

For over five decades, Klein has captivated audiences worldwide with her powerful message of hope, inspiration, love and human- Gerda Weissmann Klein ity. In her numerous speeches and books, she draws from her wealth of life experiences: from surviving the Holocaust and meeting her future husband on the day of her liberation, to her journey to the United States, accepting an Oscar and Emmy for a documentary based on her life and her constant fight to promote tolerance, encourage community service and combat hunger. The Feb. 4 event is free and open to the public; reservations are required by email to holocaust@jewishomaha.org or by calling 334.6575.

Klein’s account of her experiences during the Holocaust is documented in her classic autobiography, All But My Life, which has been in print for 52 years, published in 62 editions and used in high schools and colleges around the world. It was the foundation for the Oscar and Emmy winning HBO documentary, One Survivor Remembers. This documentary is the cornerstone of a unique education curriculum, Teaching Tolerance, developed in partnership between the Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation and Southern Poverty Law Center, which has been used in over 104,000 schools, reaching over 10 million students.

Klein has authored eight books on a wide variety of topics for an array of different audiences, including The Blue Rose, a story about a mentally disabled child. The book subsequently became a film in India. Her work, Promise of a New Spring, is devoted to teaching young children about the Holocaust, while A Passion for Sharing is a biography of New Orleans philanthropist Edith Rosenwald Stern, which garnered its author the Valley Forge Freedom Award.

In 1996, Klein was one of five women to receive the prestigious international Lion of Judah award in Jerusalem. More recently, she has been featured on the cover of the McDougal-Littell high school textbook, The Americans, alongside such other notable figures as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan and Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf. In 2004, Klein released A Boring Evening at Home. Dedicated to her late husband, the book offers personal glimpses into her life with her family.

Klein, who has appeared on numerous TV shows, including Oprah, 60 Minutes and CBS Sunday Morning, has spoken to school children and community members in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. She has met with world leaders, including Golda Meir and Menachem Begin, as well as those here at home, including Eleanor Roosevelt and U.S. presidents from Harry Truman to Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

The Kleins’ story is portrayed in the film Testimony, a permanent exhibit at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. In 1997, President Clinton appointed Klein to the Holocaust Museum’s governing council.

In recognition of her international reputation and her inspiring message, she was the keynote speaker at the Continued on page 2

Coming Next Month: Simchas and Celebrations Jews more conflicted on immigration than leadership: Page 4

Should Israel be a model for U.S. airport security?

Page 16

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 15, 2010

Forget your troubles, come on get frailech.

Come be a Main Streeter.

Fellman, Kooper scholarship applications available now

by JAN ROOS The Bruce M. Fellman Charitable Foundation Trust has announced the availability of scholarships for the 2010-2011 academic year. The scholarships will be based on financial needs of students pursuing their postsecondary education. This is limited to undergraduate studies only and does not include any graduate programs.

Bruce, son of Tom and Darlynn Fellman, was a 1982 graduate of Westside High School. He was active in BBYO and served as president, vice president, secretary and treasurer of Chaim Weizmann AZA. He attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and was participating in the University of Pittsburgh’s Semester at Sea at the time of his death in 1984.

Trustees for the Foundation are Darlynn Fellman, Terri Schrager, and Howard Kooper.

Applications may be obtained by mailing a request to Kooper’s office, 809 N. 96th St., Omaha, NE 68114.

The application packet will be mailed out and must be returned to Kooper’s office no later than April 1.

The Robert H. and Dorothy G. Kooper Charitable Foundation Trust has announced the availability of

scholarships for the 2010-2011 academic year. It will be based on financial need for Jewish students with ties to the Omaha community who are pursuing their post-secondary education. This is limited to undergraduate studies only and does not include any graduate programs.

Robert Kooper had a long history of service to the Jewish community. He served as president for the following: B’nai B’rith in 1929; Beth El Synagogue in 1941; Highland Country Club in 1951; and the Jewish Federation of Omaha from 1958-1960. He died in 1961.

Dorothy Kooper was a dedicated member of the Jewish community, working with the Jewish Federation and Beth El Sisterhood. She passed away in 1995.

“Awarding a scholarship to a young Jewish person is a very appropriate way of honoring my parents,” said Howard Kooper, who, along with his wife, Sharon, fund the Kooper Charitable Foundation Trust. Tom Fellman also serves as trustee for the Foundation.

Applications for the Robert H. and Dorothy G. Kooper scholarship are available by mailing a request to Howard Kooper’s office. The applicaton must be returned to his office by April 1, 2010.

Zero-hour differences emerge on Iran sanctions

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Continued from page 1 and raises his fist and curses -- not the West as he might have just a year or so ago, but Ahmadinejad and the rest of Iran’s leadership.

“In tyrannies, the fiction that keeps people under control is the trust they have in government to take care of them and the fear they have of confronting the government,” the insider said. “In Iran, the trust is gone and the fear is still there, but going.”

Concerns that the congressional package will lead to human misery are overstated, its backers say. The bills include provisions for presidential waivers and are meant first as leverage.

Similar sanctions packages passed by Congress in the 1990s also were never implemented by Presidents Clinton and Bush, yet they had an almost immediate effect because of the threat of being implemented.

Major Western traders pulled out of Iran, which is partly why the country’s refinement capabilities are in disarray. Iran, a major oil exporter, still must import up to 40 percent of its refined petroleum.

The principals in shaping the previous sanctions -- in Congress, the Clinton administration and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee -- now openly admit that they were playing a coordinated “good cop-bad cop” game: Republicans who backed the sanctions would quietly shape their criticisms of the Clinton administration in consultation with administration officials; Clinton officials then would cite that “pressure” in

getting European nations to join in efforts to isolate Iran.

It’s not clear now whether a similar dynamic is at work between the White House and Congress. Some insiders say it is; others say the Obama administration is genuinely wary of punishing sanctions and is unhappy with the pressure from Congress and the pro-Israel community.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed its sanctions package in late December, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has pledged to attend to the Senate version as soon as the chamber reconvenes Jan. 19.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has said he is willing to consider the White House’s objections, particularly to a proposed blacklist of companies that deal with Iran and to sanctions that target third-party entities -companies and nations that deal with Iran.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration is moving ahead with the following actions: • Pressing other major powers to back a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution that would expand existing sanctions on travel and business dealings to 3,000 individuals associated with the Revolutionary Guards; • Intensify enforcement of existing U.S. sanctions on doing business with Iran; • Intensify efforts to uncover and fine companies that cover up their financial dealings with Iran.

Holocaust survivor to speak in Omaha Continued from page 1 United Nations’ first annual Official Observance of the Holocaust, in January 2006.

Klein’s constant striving for the preservation of human rights and dignity has earned her seven Doctorates of Humane Letters, along with countless other awards. In 1998 along with her husband, Klein founded the Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation www.kleinfoundation.org.

Dedicated to easing human suffering wherever it may be, Klein has worked tirelessly with her foundation to fight hunger, violence and prejudice, and to promote tolerance as well as encourage and teach young people to engage in community service and social action.

Klein’s latest endeavor is serving as the founder of Citizenship Counts, a nonprofit organization that provides a civics education curriculum to middle and high school students which culminates in children planning and hosting an actual naturalization ceremony in their schools. Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who sits on the organization’s national advisory board, officiated at last year’s naturalization ceremony for the pilot program, in which 100 students from Phoenix and Scottsdale participated.

Klein’s passion for the mission of Citizenship Counts

and love for her adopted country are best expressed in her own words: “America is a unique, diverse and wondrous country, comprised both of those who know its magnificence as their birthright, and others, like me, who are privileged to call our adopted country ‘our own.’ What we all share is a desire for our families to enjoy America’s boundless opportunities while extending to all our fellow citizens justice and the blessings and freedoms upon which the nation was founded.”

Klein lives in Scottsdale, AZ, and has three children, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

For more information about Klein and her Omaha visit, contact Beth Seldin Dotan, Executive Director of the Institute for Holocaust Education at 334.6575.

This program is sponsored by The Institute for Holocaust Education, Westside Community Schools, Center for Faith Studies/Countryside Community Church, The Anti-Defamation League, The Jewish Federation of Omaha, Cyndi and John Kugler, Project Interfaith, “Anonymous Donor from Skutt Catholic” for Advancing Holocaust Education in Catholic High Schools, Anonymous, Charlene Smith and Greg M. Smith of J. Greg Smith, Inc.

To Submit Announcements to the Jewish Press: 12606 West Dodge Road • Omaha, NE 68154 • (402) 493-5807 www.centurypa.com

Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 (with photos we will scan and return). Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing: editor@jewishomaha.org.

January 15, 2010

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

Restaurant, recipes may be gone, but Bagel Bin owner vows to re-build

by JILL BELMONT the Jewish delicatessens in the larger cities. There was “I thought he was nuts,” Sue recalls, “but he loved it Interim Editor of the Jewish Press always a spot to sit down and kibbitz for awhile, and here. He thought this would be a great place to raise Omaha’s Jewish community has lost an old, familiar people were always holding meetings and discussion kids.” So move they did, and Bagel Bin became a friend. When Bagel Bin was decimated by a fire on groups there.” beloved institution for both the Jewish folks in town and January 7, people were stunned, saddened. This bakery Like Kirshenbaum, Dandy says his patronage will con- members of the general community. After Joel’s death in – the only kosher one in town -- had called the small tinue if the restaurant is re-built. “Wherever she 2004, Sue and her sons David and Scott continued to strip mall south of 119th and Pacific St., home for over [Brezack] goes – within my driving distance – I’ll be carry on the family business.

30 years. It was a regular meeting place for endless cof- there,” he said.

Earlier during the day on January 7, Brezack said she fee klatches and an assortment of locals: retirees, chilWithin 24 hours of the fire, a member of Facebook, felt terrible after finding out that the Elkhorn Lanes bowldren grabbing breakfast on ing alley had been destroyed their way to school, hunby a fire. Little did she know dreds of daily customers; all what was in store for her sevgathering there for the eral hours down the road. down-home atmosphere, the “I was getting into bed at company, and of course, the 9:50, when David called to specialty soups, bagels, pastell me about the fire by saytries and challah. ing, ‘You don’t have to go in When news came of the to work tomorrow.’ When I catastrophe, word spread like asked, ‘What do you mean?

- well, wildfire.

Don’t joke about that,’ he Kevee Kirshenbaum found said, ‘I’m not joking. It’s on out via phone call from his fire.’” She rushed to the locaScott Brezack, standing in back of the Bagel Bin building, tion, sat in a neighboring brother in California, who, in looks at the remains of his family’s business. turn had been notified by his Sue Brezack, flanked by sons Scott and David. business until 2:30 a.m., and Credit: Jill Brezack “watched it burn. It was devPhoto courtesy of the Midlands Business Journal son in Omaha. “I was really surprised and shocked,” he said. “I felt really bad about it.” the popular online social network, had created a new astating. I was watching our dream go down the tube.”

A regular for the past seven years, Kirshenbaum had group named “RE-BUILD Bagel Bin!!” At last glance, The fire took with it many of Brezack’s recipes. been a part of a Monday morning gathering that attract- the group had over 1,650 members. Loyal patrons post- “Everything’s gone except for the recipes that are in my ed up to 23 friends whose ages ranged from 86 to 97 ed messages such as, “NOOOOOOO - Bagel Bin was head,” she said. The recipes for the bagels and challahs (“and I was the youngest one,” he joked). like Cheers, where everybody knew your name”; “If you are safe; missing now are the formulas for items such as “It was great,” he said. “They treated us great – always rebuild it, they will come!”; and “You were there for us her honey cake and her black and white cookies. had our tables all set for us.” when we needed a bagel fix, you were there when our For the first time, she won’t be able to prepare her When asked where the group might meet now, friends needed jobs … You were there for so many of our annual batch of hamantaschen for Purim. “It takes me Kirshenbaum replied, “That’s a good question.” One memories, and now we are there for YOU! Please re- about two months to prepare it,” she said. “It’s not thing’s sure: when Bagel Bin opens for business some- build, and your loyal customers will be there when you going to happen this year.” time down the road, he said, “I’m sure we’ll go back.” re-open to make new memories!! Thanks for being such However, she was quick to add that, “We’re not going When the bakery first opened, it was the breakfast des- a small, but important part of our lives for so long!” to worry about it. We have to take it one step at a time.” tination for Don Dandy and his fellow exercisers after Owner Sue Brezack hopes to re-build the business that Bolstered by community support and her own unwathey finished their morning workout at the JCC. And she called “my husband’s dream.” In 1977, Sue and Joel vering optimism, Brezack is determined to see Bagel Bin he’s been a regular customer ever since. decided to move from their home on Long Island, New rise from the ashes, hopefully in the same location.

“Over the years, I’ve eaten at a lot of different bagel York, to Omaha, to open a bagel bakery. Joel was struck “You can’t sit and mourn - it’s gone. You have to keep places, and Bagel Bin stood out – it had an outstanding with the idea after he noticed, during one of the couple’s moving and figure out what you’ll do next,” she said. product,” he said. “I always enjoyed going there. The annual visits here to visit Sue’s family, that there was no “Omaha’s been a great place for us. We will rebuild. One place had the feel of a real old-fashioned Jewish deli, like place in the River City to buy bagels. way or another, we will do this.”

Page 4

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 15, 2010

When it comes to immigration, American Jews are more conflicted than communal leaders

by RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) -- A new poll suggests that American Jews are more conflicted about the challenges of immigration than their communal leaders -- but that’s to be expected, the Jewish leaders say.

The poll, commissioned by the pro-enforcement Center for Immigration Studies, shows that Jews who support “enforcing the law and causing [illegal immigrants] to return home over time” are statistically tied with Jews who favor “granting legal status and a pathway to citizenship to most illegal immigrants.”

That dead heat -- 43 percent for enforcement and 40 percent for the “legal” path -- reflects conventional wisdom about Jews trending more liberal than other Americans. Among Roman Catholics and Protestants, substantial majorities favored the enforcement option.

Still, the figure -- along with other answers in the poll -- also suggests that rank-and-file Jews are not as unequivocal as their leaders in supporting immigration reform that encompasses a path to legal immigration.

Another question outlining proposed conditions for the “legal path,” including fines, learning the English language and background checks, had 60 percent of Jews supporting and 35 percent opposing.

“It captures division in the community,” said Steven Camarota, the CIS director of research. “Yet that diversity of opinion is in no way reflected in what the leadership is pushing.”

The leadership did not disagree.

“We know that the Jewish community is not monolithic on this subject,” said Richard Foltin, the American Jewish Committee’s legislative director and counsel. “To the extent that it’s a fair representation, there’s a lot of education that needs to be done in the community.”

Rabbi David Saperstein, who directs the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, said the leadership and the rank and file occasionally outpace one another on issues.

“It’s not unusual for leadership to take a more assertive position on the issues than the amcha,” he said, using the Hebrew term for the rank and file.

“Sometimes the leadership is ahead, sometimes the grass roots is ahead -- it usually averages out.”

Stephen Steinlight, a senior analyst with CIS who for six years has preached enforcement to Jewish audiences, said he couldn’t help but experience a degree of Schadenfreude at the results.

“I feel vindicated,” he said. “The survey signals a mas-

sive rejection against the worldview of the American Jewish establishment, which is monolithic. There’s not a single organization represented in the JCPA,” the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella body for public policy groups, “that reflects these views.”

The poll, carried out by Zogby International in December, was conducted through online panels. Such panels are controversial because respondents are selfselected, but as “cold calling” has become more expensive and more and more Americans are making themselves available online, pollsters have increasingly used the method, particularly in assessing the views of small demographic subgroups.

Zogby reached 1,647 Jewish respondents, which it said represented a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

Saperstein said that he was reassured to see that Jewish respondents were more likely than members of other religious communities to embrace the “legal path” option.

“I’m not surprised the difference is smaller than in the general community,” he said. “We’re the immigrant community, the quintessential community of those fleeing deprivation and seeking freedom.”

That model no longer held, Steinlight said.

Jews “want an immigration policy based on not ‘what was good for my grandparents’ but ‘what’s good for my grandchildren,’” he said. “This country is the safest country for Jews outside of Israel, and anything that threatens to change the nature of this country is a risk.”

Steinlight said he expected Jewish percentages of those favoring enforcement and opposed to a “legal path” to catch up with non-Jewish percentages over time. The lower numbers, he said, were a result of pressures from Jewish leaders.

Jews “need permission to say, ‘you know, I don’t like this very much’ “ when it comes to current immigration policy, he said.

Saperstein and Foltin rejected notions that the leadership was dictating policy; longstanding positions in both organizations were the result of extensive consultations with the grass roots, they said. Current Reform policy on a legal path to immigration passed by a 9-1 margin in a poll of the movement’s 2,000 leaders on the grass-roots level, Saperstein said.

The Jewish groups backing comprehensive immigration reform also questioned how the questions were calibrated.

For instance, the first question cited “38 million legal and Continued on page 5

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Jewish communities around the world to celebrate “One Shabbat, One World”

by SHEVI KATZMAN for Chabad Center Just about everyone has dreamed about world peace; many have ideas about how to achieve it. Now, Chabad Center, the local branch of international Jewish outreach giant Chabad-Lubavitch, is doing something about it.

For an attempt at world peace, it’s not what you might expect. But it works.

“Every human being has his or her vision of Utopia,” says Rabbi Mendel Katzman, Chabad’s director. “In Judaism, the Sabbath day of rest on Saturday is more than just a religious holy day on which we don’t work - it’s a practice run for living the spiritual life right here in this material world. And that’s a huge part of what utopian world peace is all about.”

The “One Shabbat, One World” international initiative will ask worldwide Jewish communities to mark the 25-hour Shabbat, beginning Friday, Jan. 29.

Participants will light the traditional Shabbat candles on Friday eve and attend prayer services. They will also be invited to “test drive” the time-honored Shabbat meals, complete with the customary chicken soup, kugel and other Jewish delights.

Sabbath-observing Jewish communities have historically enjoyed the respect of their neighbors of other faiths, says Rabbi Katzman. “While the Sabbath may be a Jewish thing strictly for Jewish people, there’s no question it positively impacts other people.

“We believe strongly in the ripple effect, a sort of spiritual chaos theory, when it comes to changing the world into the better place it can and should be,” explains the rabbi. “When the Jewish person observes the Shabbat, he or she creates a stable home -- an anchor of absolute values in today’s chaotic world. A stable home creates stable neighbors, then a stable neighborhood, then a stable city, and ultimately, a stable universe. Besides being an island in time, a retreat from the hubbub of society, Shabbat is an absolute in a world filled with uncertainty, change and confusion -- a world that so desperately needs absolutes. What’s a better way to ignite world peace than to clear a peaceful time in your life once a week?”

At Chabad House in Omaha, One Shabbat, One World will begin with candle lighting at 5:18 p.m. and 6 p.m. Shabbat dinner on Friday, Jan. 29. Dinner and services are open to the entire community, at no charge.

Celebrations will continue on Saturday, Jan. 30 with services and a children’s program at 10:30 a.m. and Kiddush luncheon at noon.

For more information or to make a reservation, contact the One Shabbat, One World campaign at chabadoffice@cox.net, or 330.1800; or visit www.ochabad.com.

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January 15, 2010

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

WRJ plans “Girls’ Night Out� at Corkscrew Wine and Cheese

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator If you’ve been stuck in the house due to the unusual amounts of snow that have poured down from the sky on our city, along with glacial temperatures, it’s time for a Girls’ Night Out. Women of Reform Judaism has planned an evening to please your palette and appease your appetite.

On Thursday, Jan. 21, 6:30 p.m., join WRJ at Corkscrew Wine and Cheese in Rockbrook Village, 108th and West Center Road, for a wine tasting. “Come out and learn about five different types of wine,� said Kim Noddle, who is planning the event with Mimi Silverman. “Sample each and nosh a bit� on cheese and nut appetizers, she suggested. Someone from the Corkscrew will describe the wines. “It should be a fun evening of wine

tasting,� added Silverman. “All women are invited to join us for Girls’ Night Out.�

Since 2006, when owner Corey Keith and his wife Anne opened the Corkscrew, their “number one focus is wine and cheese. The wine-tasting bar features wine by the glass and a small menu of light appetizers, cheese plates and desserts. The Keiths’ goal is “to demystify wine and cheese selection for the widest audience.� Corey Keith said he “based his business on wine stores he saw on the East Coast.�

Cost to attend the wine tasting is $10 per person. RSVP to the Temple office at 556.6536. An 8 p.m. no-host dinner at Pasta Amore, also in the Rockbrook Shopping Center, will follow the wine tasting.

Jewish Community Foundation of Kansas City announces deadline for summer experience scholarships

by BEATRICE FINE Director of Funder Services & Education-Jewish Community Foundation The Margie and Paul Alperson Summer Experience Award Fund makes an annual award to Jewish high school or college student(s) from the Omaha area who are seeking to participate in an approved Jewish summer travel experience which encompasses leadership development, community development or personal Jewish enrichment. Awards are based upon merit. Financial need may be taken into consideration.

The purpose of the scholarship is to encourage students who have potential,

but who are marginally “connected� to the Jewish community through participation in youth groups, their congregation, JCC programs, or in Hillel/other Jewish organizations on their college campus, to consider spending the summer immersed in a Jewish environment.

Applications and letters of recommendations are due by Feb. 26. Applications are available on the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s website – www.jewishomaha. org – under the Scholarships and Grants page of the Center for Jewish Education.

Previous scholarship recipients may not reapply. For more information, call Beatrice Fine at 913.327.4618.

Jews more conflicted

Continued from page 4 illegal immigrants� living in the country, conflating both groups into a huge number. That question, asking whether immigration was too high, had a plurality of Jews answering yes: 50 percent against 5 percent who thought it was too low and 22 percent who answered “just right.�

The next question notes that the number of illegal immigrants is estimated at 11 million to 12 million.

The survey also asks respondents to endorse one of two propositions: “Past efforts to enforce immigration have been grossly inadequate and the government has never made a real effort to enforce the law� and “We have made a real effort to enforce our immigration laws, but we have failed because we are not allowing in enough immigrants legally.�

Jews favored the first statement over the second, 60 percent to 21 percent.

However, missing from such a formulation were two options: one combining both propositions, and one that did not frame U.S. policy as necessarily a failure.

Past polls, by Benenson and Pew Research, showed that voters favor enforcement combined with a path to legal immigrant status. “It sets up false choices about legalization vs. enforcing the law,� said Melanie Nezer, who heads the Washington office of the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society. “It doesn’t make distinctions among people who are here. There’s no distinction made between someone who came over the border yesterday and someone who’s married to someone who’s fighting with our soldiers in Iraq.�

Camarota countered that the Zogby firm strove for neutral language, avoiding such terms as “illegal aliens� and “amnesty.� As for false choices, he noted

that pro-legalization groups tend to depict enforcement as draconian and necessarily leading to deportation.

The AJC, for instance, in a 2007 poll of American Jewish voters, cast the choices as follows: “Should the government deport all illegal immigrants back to their home country, OR allow illegal immigrants to remain in the United States in order to work but only for a limited amount of time, OR allow illegal immigrants to remain in the United States and become U.S. citizens but only if they meet certain requirements over a period of time?�

Respondents favored the last option by a substantial majority of 67 percent.

Foltin dismissed the complaint, saying there wasn’t much difference in the AJC’s language casting the enforcement option as “deport all immigrants� and the CIS, which in one question casts a choice between legal status and “causing them to return home over time.�

Camarota in his analysis says that such questions skate over real concerns about enforcement. “Strong majorities of Christian and Jewish voters feel that lack of enforcement is the reason there are so many illegal immigrants in the country,� he said.

Steinlight said the question in the CIS survey was the first to offer Jewish respondents a real choice between a legal path and “attrition� -- a policy that would lead illegal immigrants to return to their homelands of their own volition, and not through forced deportation.

Foltin suggested that CIS had set up a false dichotomy. “The question is not too much immigration or too little,� he said. “The question is what do you do with 12 million undocumented people that is consistent with our needs and values?�

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 15, 2010

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Chabad Center to present “Portraits in Leadership”class

by SHEVI KATZMAN for Chabad Center This February, the Chabad Center will launch its winter course, “Portraits in Leadership: Timeless Tales for Inspired Living.”

Portraits in Leadership is a study of the inspiring life story of six figures whose courage and determination helped Judaism weather its darkest hours. In the face of the first-century Roman assault on Jerusalem, the fundamental institutions of the Jewish people were utterly destroyed. But with wisdom and verve, these leaders took the radical steps that managed to preserve the essence of Judaism to this very day.

“The JLI class I attended was superb,” said Mushka Katzman. “I especially appreciate the fact that I have my textbook as a go-to book to help me retain the information and inspiration I gleaned from the course.”

Lessons will examine a range of classic Jewish sources, drawing extensively from the stories of the Talmud and modern commentaries that point out their personal significance to our lives.

“The story of our people is filled with tales of leadership and vision, kindness and compassion,” explained Marlene Post, a JLI student and President of Hadassah International. “These are the gifts that enriched our own communities,

A group of the JLI fall graduates and instructors display their diplomas: from left, Mushka Katzman, Judy Rubin, Patty Nogg, Sandee Friedman, Nancy Rampey, Sandra Kohll, Rabbi Mendel Katzman, Phil Wolf, Nancy Wolf, Shelly Buchanan, Jill Sideris, Gus Sideris, Barry Summer, David Cohen, Marlene Cohen, Rebbetzin Shani Katzman, Irv Goldenberg and Elaine Urban.

“This course is one part history, one and they are gifts we have shared with part biography — all parts uplifting inspi- others around the world. The past proration,” said Rabbi Mendel Katzman, vides us the inspiration to continue to course instructor and director of Chabad work for the betterment of society.” of Nebraska. “It is about decisions made Beginning Feb. 1, the course will run 2,000 years ago that continue to shape the for six Monday evenings from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Chabad House, 1866 South contours of contemporary Jewish life.”

“Leadership is in a crisis,” said Dr. 120th St. For more information, call Thomas D. Zweifel, JLI student and Shevi Katzman, 330.1800 or e-mail her Professor of Leadership, S. Gallen at JLI@OChabad.com. Cost for the class Business School. “From business to gov- is $79 which includes textbook. Couples ernment, from religious institutions to the registering together will receive a 20 perUN, leaders have lost their moral com- cent discount.

“Portraits in Leadership” is designed pass. The Rohr JLI course offers 21st-century leaders of all stripes a crucial light- for people at all levels of Jewish knowledge. All JLI courses are open to the house in the sea of ethical uncertainty.”

“Students are constantly looking for public; attendees need not be affiliated tools to deal with day-to-day challenges,” with a synagogue or temple.

Visit ochabad.com for up-to-date inforsaid Rabbi Katzman. “What better way to find guidance than from the wise example mation about the class. JLI courses are of others who encountered hardships and presented in Omaha under the auspices of used them as the impetus for growth and Chabad of Nebraska. change?”

ENGAGEMENT

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ALLAN Handleman Call Allan Handleman at 402.334.6451 or email: ahandleman@jewishomaha.org

WOLF/SCHMIDT Nancy and Philip Wolf announce the to fifth to eighth graders at Martin engagement of their daughter, Hannah Luther King School.

Beth, to Michael Steiner Schmidt, son She is the granddaughter of Donald of Barbara Steiner and Robert Schmidt of Lindow, of Grosse Pointe Woods, MI, Glencoe, IL. and the late Helen Lindow, and Harriett The brideWolf of Libertyville, IL, and the late to-be graduAaron Wolf. ated from Her fiancé earned his BA in Psychology Grinnell from Grinnell College. He is in his secCollege with ond year of studies at Creighton a BA in University School of Law. Psychology.

He is the grandson of Carl Steiner of She is in her Northbrook, IL, the late Elaine Steiner, second year and the late Harold and Mary Schmidt of with the Teach For America program. She Trenton, MI. joined as a charter corps member in An August 8, 2010 wedding is planned Kansas City, MO, where she teaches math at Lauritzen Gardens.

To order a gift subscription to the Press...

Send a check for $35, made out to the Jewish Press, to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154.

For more information on how to connect your out-of-town relatives and friends, call 334.6448.

January 15, 2010

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

ORGANIZATIONS

JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICES The Heartland Philharmonic presents “Winter Dreams” on Sunday, Jan. 24 at 1:45 p.m. in the auditorium of the JCC. Featuring works by Franz Schubert, Peter Warlock and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Heartland Philharmonic Orchestra is UNO’s 70-member orchestra comprised of students and community members, which has performed on Omaha’s local classical radio station, and at the Holland Performing Arts Center. All are welcome and there is no admission fee.

CENTER FOR JEWISH EDUCATION “Tough Jews” with Jeremy Wright on Wednesdays, Jan. 13, 20, 27, 7-8:30 p.m. in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library.

“Tough Jews” takes a completely unique look at a unique group of Jews – the tougher, the better! Week one examines “Jews of the Old West”; week two studies “Tough Gangsters”; and the final week looks at “Tough Jews Today.”

Tuition is $26, discounted to $21 for donors to the Annual Campaign of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Pre-registration is required. To register or for more information, please call 334.6445 or email mgrossman@jewishomaha.org.

YOUNG ENERGETIC SENIORS Join us as we celebrate the new year with Yesterday’s Kids, on Monday, Jan.

18. Lunch cost is $7 per person. Bingo begins at 10 a.m. Lunch will be served at noon; the program begins at 12:30 p.m.

Call Theresa for transportation at 330.4272. For information call Maggie Conti at 334.6521.

LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Yiddish brings us closer to our roots!

Come join us every Thursday afternoon from 1-3 p.m. in the social hall of the JCC. For information call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638.

VISIONS, B’NAI B’RITH, HAZAK AND 39 FOREVER Health Care Reform: An Update, is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 17, 2 p.m. at the JCC. Come learn what is or is not in the legislation; Medicare/Medicaid changes; cost savings and more. Guest speakers are Mark Intermill, AARP associate director in charge of advocacy, and Harris Frankel, M.D., president of the Omaha Medical Society and president of Nebraska Health Information Initiative Board. The community is welcome; no admission. For more information, call Dr. Jim Wax, 393.4442.

VISIONS Luncheon meeting is Friday, Jan. 15, 12:30 p.m. at the Venice Inn. Cost is $5 per person – Visions will subsidize the remaining balance. Join the fun with musical entertainment by Tom Lucas playing folk music, song parades and more! Send reservation form to Tootie Simon, 8725 Izard Street, Omaha, NE 68114. For information, call Harry Alloy at 697.8709. For our next and final mitz-

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vah project, we are asking members to bring donated items to re-stock Jewish Family Service’s pantry. Paper products are needed, including paper towels, paper napkins, toilet tissue, paper plates and paper cups. Or, if you would like to give a donation, make checks payable to Jewish Family Service. Please bring these items to the luncheon or deliver to the Blumkin Home in care of Maggie Conti.

Questions? Call Florence Hauss at 571.4583.

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Dick Fellman, who received a Fullbright Scholarship to teach in the Ukraine, will discuss his experiences on Wednesday, Jan. 20, noon at Jewish Community Center. Everyone in the community is invited. The program is free; an optional buffet lunch is $13; beverage service, $3. For more information or to be placed on the email list, contact Jenny at 334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org.

IN THE NEWS Richard Katskee, assistant legal director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State in Washington D.C., has been elected to the American Law Institute.

Election to ALI is considered one of the highest honors in the legal profession; those selected have made significant professional contributions and have demonstrated leadership.

Katskee, an Omaha native, is the son of Judy and Milt Katskee. He has been affiliated with AU, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to preserving the constitu-

tional principle of church-state separation, since 2004. Based in Washington, DC, AU numbers more than 75,000 members in 68 chapters around the country.

Violet’s Bake Shop in Queens, NY, now offers its kosher products online. The shop specializes in Hungarian cakes and pastries and has everything from challah and rye bread for Shabbat to eclairs and petit fours. For more information, email info@violetsbakeshop.com or call 718.468.1243 or to order visit www.violetsbakeshop.com today and use “webten” coupon code for 10% off your entire order.

From generation to generation we carry on the richness of our tradition & the promises of tomorrow.

Please join our family in Ceremony and Celebration as

Jacob Vann is called to Torah as a Bar Mitzvah January 30th, 2010 10:30 in the morning Temple Israel 7023 Cass Street Omaha, Nebraska John & Wendy Vann

Page 8

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 15, 2010

Local doctor dedicated to fighting breast cancer

by JOAN K. MARCUS At first glance, I thought that I was at the wrong place.

I was sent to interview a doctor who was a member of Nebraska Cancer Specialists.

Instead, I was greeted by a young woman who appeared to be barely out of high school and maybe even still a cheerleader! Turns out that I was wrong on all accounts—except for the fact that Dr. Kirsten M. Hotton Leu is certainly a cheerleader when it comes to her patients and the enthusiasm that she has for their recovery.

Leu, originally from Evanston, Ill., has been with Nebraska Cancer Specialists -- a provider of care for people with cancer (oncology) and diseases of the blood and blood forming organs (hematology) -- since 2005.

She graduated from The University of Iowa at Iowa City in 1992, with a Bachelor of Science with an emphasis on Exercise Science and Physiology, and received her medical degree from the same university in 1996. She has privileges at almost every hospital in Omaha and has received numerous awards, in addition to having many manuscripts published.

She said that the three most common cancers that are found in women are breast, lung and colon. We talked mostly about breast cancer, since that seems to be the most prevalent.

“The way that breast cancer is usually detected is on a mammogram, and our recommendations for mammographic screening have not changed,” Leu said. “We still say that screening should begin at age 40 and continue every year thereafter.”

She went on to say that many women have cancers diagnosed by a mammogram when they are still in their 40s. Breast cancers can also be detected when a woman performs her own breast examination or during her yearly physical examination.

I asked Dr. Leu about women who come from a family where a mother or sister has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Her answer was, “For instance, if you have three relatives who were diagnosed at ages 45, 48 and 50, you would go with the 45 year-old and begin screening ten years prior to that or at age 35.

“A minority of women with breast cancer do have an identifiable genetic predisposition. And that means a

gene that we can test for through a blood test to see if there is something identifiable that runs in your family.

The most common gene mutations are BRCA1 and BRCA 2. If these do appear, then family members can be checked as well, to see if they are at increased risk for breast, ovarian and other cancers.”

Dr. Kirsten M. Hotton Leu Dr. Leu cautioned, “If a woman notices a lump during her self exam, she should go and have an exam by her physician. At that point, arrangements should be made for a more detailed mammogram, as well as an ultrasound, to try to get a sense of whether or not the lump is a cyst or something else.”

She added that, “Just because you feel a lump in your breast doesn’t always mean you have cancer! However, it needs to be evaluated and you should never assume that it is just a cyst. You should always get a mammogram and an ultrasound to better characterize that lump.”

If the lump looks like anything but a classic, simple cyst, a biopsy -- a simple, outpatient procedure -- will be recommended. If the biopsy confirms a cancer diagnosis, the patient is referred to a surgeon and later, an oncologist. The surgeon will ascertain whether the cancer has spread to any other places in the body.

According to Leu, the surgeon will then discuss with the patient removal of the lesion. For the majority of women, the options are either lumpectomy, where just the affected area of the breast is removed, followed by radiation therapy; or mastectomy.

The woman and her surgeon discuss the options and weigh the pros and cons of each approach.

“Whether or not you have a lumpectomy and radiation or a mastectomy has no bearing on whether or not we will recommend chemotherapy,” the doctor noted.

“Quite often, we recommend an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to give us a more detailed view of the breasts, to make sure that there isn’t something in the other breast we hadn’t detected, and also to make sure there aren’t any other spots in the breast that have the nodule. That would tell us that maybe a localized procedure like a lumpectomy might not be the thing to do.”

She noted that attention is also paid to the axilla (armpit), because “cancer can spread locally, meaning the structures around it, through the lymph system and then through the blood stream. We call that metastatic disease.”

Since cancer tends to spread to lymph nodes first, that area is examined during the patient’s surgery. A sentinel lymph node biopsy is performed, where radioactive tracer is injected into the breast and a device is used to detect which lymph nodes are the first to be draining that breast. The pathologist then does a detailed analysis of those lymph nodes.

“We’ve demonstrated that in over 95 percent of women, it will be detected in the first one or two lymph nodes” Leu said, “and if there is any substantial cancer detected, the surgeon will do a second procedure and remove the majority of the nodes.”

“There are really two different times when women come to Nebraska Cancer Specialists. The first is when all of the cancer has been removed and none shows up on chest x-rays or laboratory studies. Then, women come to us and ask what they can do to decrease the risk of the cancer coming back. The other case is when the cancer has spread through the bloodstream. There are some newer therapies that are available for these women.”

Continued on page 9

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Two tie for first in exciting B’nai B’rith Bible quiz match-up

by GARY JAVITCH when committee member and questioner Gloria Kaslow B’nai B’rith Henry Monsky Lodge president revealed the results, just three of the remaining seven Fourteen students started the contest. They were were able to correctly respond to the final query. divided into two groups for the preliminary rounds.

Two emerged as the winners. In an outstanding disThe students were asked to study the last book in the play of knowledge, Hannah Perry and Aaron Priluck were the triumphant Torah, Deuteronomy – Bible Quiz champions. the subject area for the Joe Hack, the third per24th Annual B’nai B’rith son to give the correct Zorinsky Bible Quiz. final answer took the secThey did an extremely ond position. Twins, good job because in the Adeev and Ezra Potash 10 years I’ve been tied for third place. involved with the proQuiz founder, Steve gram as Lodge president, Riekes, remarked that, I thought the preliminary “This group was extremequiz scores were the highly well prepared for the est I’d seen.

Quiz. But in the end, all The winners of each the students who entered round and the next five and studied for this conhighest point scorers from both rounds faced off Pictured from left, Ezra Potash, Aaron Priluck, Gary Javitch, test come away as winners, because knowing against each other in a Hannah Perry, Joe Hack and Adeev Potash. championship round. The students were so well versed your history and the bible are the marks of truly educatin the fifth book that until the third question was asked, ed people.”

Lois Epstein was remembered in a memorial ceremothere was still a six-way tie for first place. The questions got tougher as they headed toward the last one. Still, ny at the start of the contest. Her husband, Mel, acceptafter the eighth question – the second to last – four ed an engraved crystal desk piece that cited the dedication, loyalty and outstanding service the late Lodge secyoungsters were battling for first place.

The ninth question required a written answer and retary provided.

Challah maven has great kneads for Beth El fund raiser

by JILL BELMONT get to talk and hang out a lot while the bread rises.”

Beth El Publicity Coordinator The specialty challahs will be sold for Purim, Shavuot, Making delectable challahs seems to be in Susan Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot; each will feature a different Fellman Witkowski’s genes. Taught years ago by her flavor. For example, the Shavuot challahs will be made in grandmother, Dina Bloom, Witkowski honed her skills the Ukrainian tradition, using a ladder style. Made with and is now putting those five rungs which symbolbaking talents to good use ize the five books of by creating holiday chalMoses, the ladder reprelahs as an ongoing fund sents Moses’ ascent up raiser for Beth El’s Mount Sinai, before he Sisterhood. receives the Torah. Rosh Calling her grandmothHashanah challahs will be er “an outstanding chaltraditional: braided and lah baker,” Witkowski round; and the Sukkot said she didn’t really start challahs are stunning to bake challah until after multi-colored works of Bloom’s death in 2005. arts, infused with yellow, “She always did it, so I red and green vegetable didn’t need to.” puree (with no vegetable In 2006, Witkowski taste). All challahs are picked up the rolling pin kosher and pareve. and started to get serious Surrounded by her special, multi-colored challahs in the Beth El Orders are being taken about carrying on the kitchen, Susan Fellman Witkowski is ready to roll up her sleeves now for festive Purim family tradition. That was and bake the tasty breads for a Sisterhood fund raiser. challahs, filled with the year her daughter entered kindergarten at the Friedel chocolate and cinnamon and covered with candy sprinJewish Academy; after joining a group of moms who kles. Cost is $7 each or four for $25; order deadline is prepared dough for the school children to form into Feb. 19; pick up will be Friday, Feb. 26, at Beth El. For loaves, she became more dedicated, “trying various more information or to place an order, call the synarecipes and techniques, probably becoming somewhat gogue office at 492-8550, or email programming@ bethel-omaha.org. obsessed with finding my perfect recipe in the process.

“Baking challah is a lot of fun for me, and discovering “I finally got to my current recipe by combining the different challah traditions from various countries for aspects of various recipes that I liked,” she said.

Witkowski thought that selling specialty challahs different holidays was a real eye-opener,” Witkowski would be a fun, new idea for a fund raiser for the syna- said.

In addition to the satisfaction of supporting gogue’s Sisterhood; she has rounded up several volunteers, and encourages all interested bakers to join in the Sisterhood, this project is close to her heart for another important reason: “I feel like sometimes my grandma is fun by contacting her at susiecat@cox.net.

“This combines some of my favorite things to do: bak- there with me when I’m pounding out challah dough; ing bread and spending time with friends,” she said. “We it’s the connection back to her that I treasure.”

Local doctor dedicated to fighting breast cancer

Continued from page 8 Although the cancer has been removed, she said, there is always a risk of recurrence, depending upon the size, grade and if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.

“When a woman comes to us, we will give a ballpark estimate of what percent chance she has of it coming back,” Dr. Leu said. “We review the therapy options and the benefits of decreasing the risk of it returning. The pathology report is important because that is where we get the size and grade of the tumor.”

Although most women come in after their surgery and

Out

Dining

January 15, 2010

are leery about chemotherapy, Dr. Leu said, “The way that I approach it is by telling women the approximate chance of their cancer coming back in 10 years.

“If we do hormone therapy, the chance of it coming back drops to this percent. And, if we add in chemotherapy, it drops to another percent. Based on your tumor, this is what I would recommend and these are the potential side effects.

“Then, the woman can take these recommendations and decide what she wants to do. At Nebraska Cancer Specialists, we support our patients in any way we can.”

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Page 9

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 15, 2010

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There is something to be said for those first days after childbirth. The satisfied feeling that comes with a job well done, a healthy baby, lots of visitors, gifts, pampering and attention; not to mention the fact that you get to update your Facebook profile with all those cute baby pictures. Enjoy it now, because pretty soon, people will tell you, you won’t get any sleep at all. As midnight feedings become routine and your baby refuses to stick to anything resembling a regular schedule, you will become more and more exhausted. Your anxiety levels will rise, and you won’t have time to think about yourself as often. Forget about spending time alone with your partner or your friends, because being a parent will use up all your energy. However, it will all be worth it; after all, these are the happiest days of your life.

Except, sometimes they aren’t. If you find yourself threatening your husband with divorce because he put the wet wipes back in the wrong spot, or you weep uncontrollably for half an hour over a Hallmark commercial, you may be asking yourself: is this normal, or is something else going on? According to the research, between 10 and 15 percent of all pregnant women experience symptoms of ante- or postpartum depression. These symptoms can range from irritability, anxiety, sleeplessness, to outright anger; they can also take more physical forms, such as headaches, chest pains, unexpected weight loss or gain, or hyperventilation.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s not something many women like to talk about, as any type of depression continues to carry a stigma. More often than not, it goes undiagnosed: who is willing to admit, fresh out of the hospital, that they are less than happy?

Even to themselves?

We’re all familiar with the stories of depressed mothers that float around the Internet, that come at us as part of the headline news. I sometimes think those stories do more harm than good; when the evening news reports on a woman somewhere who does unspeakable things to her children and herself, we don’t make a connection to our own mood swings. The fact that we yelled at three different friends during the past 24 hours, or that we cry a little bit too often, has nothing to do with the heart- wrenching images we see on the screen. “That’s not me,” we say: “I would never even think about being that unhappy.” And we are probably right. Most women who suffer from postpartum depression don’t experience suicidal or homicidal thoughts. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be treated, early, and with compassion. After all, we prefer not to let a cold linger until it turns into pneumonia either.

The assumption is that mood swings during and immediately after pregnancy are normal and will disappear after a few weeks. Often, these ‘baby blues’ do indeed disappear on their own. When they do not, it is time to find help from your family physician, your obstetrician, your doula, or anybody else who might have experience with your condition.

There are those women who carry higher risk factors for ante- and postpartum depression. The list includes, but is not limited to: recent immigrants, people with a history of depression, and in some cases, women who suffer from pregnancy-related high blood pressure.

Don’t let the fact that you’re not on the list fool you; it can strike anybody, any time; its duration is unpredictable and it can show up months after delivery.

Finally, being diagnosed with pregnancy-related depression does not mean you are not a good mother, or that you don’t love your baby. It does mean you have to try a little harder to take care of yourself. You’ll have to find support rather than wait for it to find you.

You will have to explain to your family and friends what’s going on, and this can be difficult. Once you break your isolation, and start talking to other women, you may find that your private fears and emotions aren’t all that rare. If anything about this article hits a nerve or sounds familiar, call somebody today.

Everybody deserves to be happy, especially you, especially now.

For a full list of possible symptoms, see: http://postpartumprogress.typepad.com/weblog/ To find local support in Nebraska, visit: http://postpar tum.net/localsupport/?state=nebraska, which also provides a tollfree number that you can call day or night.

Relieve pain, restore motion

by TERESA D. MILLER, PT BodyWise Therapy, PC Stop for a moment and focus on your body. Relax your shoulders (Did you notice that they were up by your ears?). Are you aware of pain or tension anywhere in your body?

When we quiet our selves and truly listen to our bodies, we may become aware of tension, pain and spasms which are side effects of injuries, surgeries, adhesions/restrictions and repetitive movements and postures. Many people are led to believe that they simply must live with their pain. This seems to be especially true for women after childbirth or breast or abdominal surgeries.

Pain and tension are messengers. Their message is, “There is something wrong somewhere.” If the message is ignored, the body will send louder and louder messages.

Myofascial Release treatments are a very effective way to relieve pain, spasms and/or movement restrictions. Myofascial Release uses hands-on bodywork techniques that provide sustained pressure and stretch into myofascial restrictions which help to reduce or eliminate pain and restore motion. Myofascial Release treats the cause of the problem (to eliminate the source of the problem, not just the symptoms). Treating the problem leads to permanent structural changes resulting in a pain free, active lifestyle.

BodyWise Therapy is Omaha’s premier Myofascial Release Clinic. BodyWise Therapy provides healing space in which clients receive individualized and customized treatments to assist in their healing process. With 35+ years of experience, clinic owner/therapist Teresa Miller, licensed physical therapist and advanced Myofascial Release Therapist, is uniquely qualified to combine the Myofascial Release (MFR) treatment approach with traditional physical therapy interventions for a comprehensive approach for treating pain and loss of function.

More information about BodyWise Therapy and Myofascial Release is available at www.bodywiseomaha.com , call 932.8686 or email Teresa at Teresa@bodywiseomaha. com.

Massage = preventive care

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Hoping for peace

“A New Decade for Hope and Peace,” was the theme behind the recent Sderot Rally for Hope, initiated by Sderot Media Center, a social media organization dedicated to bringing the voices of Sderot residents to the attention of the international community. Over 300 supporters including Israeli youth and international students from France, Australia, South Africa, United States and Canada, participated. The marchers, carrying Israeli and international flags, along with signs that read “Children for Hope, Not for War,” trekked up a muddy hill to release white balloons with peace messages that children from a local Sderot Elementary School had written to Gaza children a day before.

Credit: Anav Silverman, Sderot Media Center

January 15, 2010

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

Female Orthodox scholars help women talk about sex

by DINA KRAFT JERUSALEM (JTA) -- With Shabbat fast approaching, the sun was beginning to melt in the Jerusalem sky when the phone rang in Noa Lau’s kitchen.

On the line was a woman who spoke in a voice still raw from the grief of a recent miscarriage. She was anxious to ask Lau, trained as a consultant on Jewish law, when she could again visit the mikvah, the Jewish ritual bath, and resume physical intimacy with her husband.

Lau reviewed the relevant Jewish laws with the woman, providing her with an answer both compassionate and in accordance with halachah, or Jewish law.

“At times like this I tell myself, so what if I have cooked a bit less for Shabbat? I’ve helped calm and reassure someone who was distraught,” said Lau, one of the first women to become a yoetzet halachah, Hebrew for consultant in Jewish law.

Lau is the coordinator of an accreditation course for these consultants at Nishmat, an Orthodox seminary for women. It is the only one of its kind in the Orthodox world, and most of its graduates live in Israel.

Lau and the 60 other certified yoatzot, as the consultants are known in Hebrew, have been become accustomed to women stopping them without notice, often with a whispered, urgent question about Jewish law.

Whether on their doorstep, in the synagogue or at the supermarket, women have questions for which they ache for answers but are hesitant to ask a male rabbi, especially when it comes to family purity laws -- the laws relating to sex.

The emergence of women scholars serving as authorities in Jewish law marks something of a quiet revolution in an Orthodox world dominated by male authorities, where change has come slowly and incrementally. The emergence of the yoatzot -- 10 years have passed since Nishmat’s program was inaugurated -- also is a reflection of the advancement of women’s religious education in the modern Orthodox world.

For the women who turn to them, the yoatzot appear to be fulfilling a deep need.

Shirley Kapon, a religiously observant doctor in Ramat Gan, met with a yoetzet several times as she prepared to marry a secular man. She wanted guidance on following family purity laws, and sought a trained woman’s knowledge and depth of understanding.

“I cannot tell you how many times people have said to me, ‘Your yoatzot have saved me,’ “ said Rabbanit Chana Henkin, dean of the program at Nishmat.

“There is a lot of pain out there,” Henkin said. “If you don’t have a competent address, people will suffer.

Women want ownership of their religious lives, and if they don’t understand what they are experiencing and don’t understand the laws, they feel left out.”

Women who are too intimidated to ask a halachic question often become overly severe in their observance

for fear of violating Jewish law. That can lead to months or even years of suffering from unresolved medical or sexual questions -- some needlessly exacerbating fertility problems, several yoatzot said.

With Nishmat, women can ask yoatzot questions either in person, through a telephone hotline -877.YOETZET -- or via e-mail at Nishmat’s web site, www.nishmat.net.

According to traditional Jewish law, married women must refrain from physical intimacy with their husbands for at least 12 days from the onset of menstruation; the period is called niddah and ends with a visit to the mikvah. Irregular periods, bleeding and other anomalies and ambiguities prompt questions to Jewish legal authorities.

“We are dealing with an area of halachah that affects the core of our marriages,” said Atara Eis, a yoetzet in New York. “I can think of no area of Jewish law that impacts the family more, and having a proper dialogue in this area of law truly affects the bedrock of Jewish life, the family.”

A yoetzet halachah, or Jewish legal counselor, answers a hotline for women with questions relating to Jewish laws on sex and intimacy.

Photo credit: Courtesy Nishmat Expanding women’s leadership in this area is crucial, Eis said, and rabbis are beginning to understand that.

“What happens if a woman’s physiology causes that period of niddah to last for six months?” Henkin said.

“Yoatzot are finding solutions.”

The yoetzet program focuses on the study of family purity laws along with the other two fundamental areas of observant Jewish life, Shabbat and kosher laws.

Students in the program take an intensive two-year course on Jewish law and women’s health, studying fertility, sexuality, prenatal testing, menopause and diseases including breast cancer.

The questions the yoatzot field range from women asking if a baby born to a non-Jewish surrogate will be considered Jewish to questions from observant Israeli backpackers traveling in India asking if the Ganges River qualifies as a kosher mikvah (a mikvah must be a natural body of water).

Nishmat’s yoatzot program has a $500,000 annual budget that is privately funded and helps cover the salaries of the women who work on the hot line and the Web site.

Many of the yoatzot go on to work on a volunteer basis; there are few opportunities for pay.

Eis is one of the handful of yoatzot in the United States who is paid for her work. She works for several congregations in New York, including Manhattan’s Lincoln Square Synagogue and Kehilath Jeshurun. She consults by phone and in person at synagogue gatherings on Shabbat.

Eis says the idea of using a yoetzot is catching on, albeit slowly.

“We are off to a decent start,” she said. “We are changing from a culture of silence to a culture of discussion, and that takes time.”

In the fairly remote West Bank Jewish settlement of Hemdet, in the Jordan Valley, yoetzet Ruth Madar dispenses information and counsel to an increasing number of women, many of them the newly married wives of local yeshiva students. She receives no salary for her work.

“Especially for young women with no experience before marriage, there is a real lack of information,” Madar said of couples who have no physical contact until they marry.

“Sometimes people just have very little knowledge about their own bodies,” Lau said. “The focus on modesty education has become so central. Women are told to cover up and everything is forbidden, and then suddenly everything is permitted. The transitions can be very fast and sometimes it’s very scary.”

During a recent morning at Nishmat, women studying in the program sat in study pairs poring over religious texts. Many are mothers, and several babies gurgled on blankets near the rows of desks or in the women’s arms.

One study pair, Judith Fogel and Sara Cheses, discussed a text written in the 16th century dealing with family purity.

“I find it fascinating how early commentators understood the woman’s body and that we are now applying that knowledge and using it today,” Fogel said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity we have now that women do have access to learning in a way that extends beyond knowledge of kashrut and Shabbat.”

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Page 12

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 15, 2010

Jewish Press continues to inform, connect our community GUEST E DITORIAL

by JAN GOLDSTEIN Executive Director, Jewish Federation of Omaha Every year, The Jewish Press has special issues, like this one, that inform us and help us respond to specific issues that are important to our community. The Press is not only in the newspaper business: it is also in the business of connecting those who live here, or once did, to our programs, our events, and the stories of our lives.

Decades ago, people had all sorts of personal connections, living in tight-knit Jewish neighborhoods. The world today is in many ways different. We don’t have a central Jewish neighborhood with Jewish markets and Jewish vendors and a place where all the families congregate.

I didn’t have the opportunity to grow up in Omaha. Growing up in the vastness of the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, we didn’t have the local BBYO chapters and easily accessible youth group programs that I hear so much about today from our donors, who talk about the days in ‘Bagel” or how they hung out after school at the old JCC, across from Central High.

The way we live today is very different.

Today we live in a high-tech world where our most common connections are through cell phones and email. Today, that’s how many of our relationships exist.

However, our Omaha Jewish community is still very connected on a traditional level, by our Jewish Press. The Press has served us for the last 90-plus years and continues to be timely, relevant and reflective of our values and concerns, and is the heart and soul of our beloved Jewish community.

The Jewish Press is our community’s newspaper. It is an agency of the Federation, fully funded by all of you, through your generous gifts to the Annual Campaign. It is governed by a lay board and is directed by its own bylaws and guidelines.

I want to praise Carol Katzman, who served as editor of our Jewish Press for over 13 years. Her work and the successive lay leadership over the years have built the Press into a paper recognized both locally and nationally for its excellence and value to our community.

The current search process to find the next editor has brought to light the Press’ outstanding reputation. We know this because all the seasoned individuals applying for this position have a clear knowledge of the high caliber and national reputation of our newspaper.

This is making the search process much easier than we had imagined.

Carol and the Jewish Press board have put us in a great position to move forward.

Equally important is the fact that the younger leaders on the Press board and in our community are entirely committed to ensuring that this written publication remains intact as we expand its services technologically.

We as a Federation, both the board and professional leadership, underscore this commitment to those in our community who still like to hold the paper in their hands every week or place it on the coffee table prior to Shabbat. We also recognize and embrace the need to extend the Press’ reach and abilities through internet technology.

This is where we are turning a page. Like everything we do here in Omaha, we pay respect to the past and to those who have gone before us, but we keep our eyes looking toward the future, improving our ability to engage and nurture future generations.

Under the wise leadership of Jewish Press President Bobbi Leibowitz, we are conducting a nationwide search to find the right person to take the reins of this paper that is delivered to the mailboxes of Omaha’s Jewish families.

I want to thank Jill Belmont for stepping in as interim editor to give us the opportunity to conduct this thorough search. While Jill is giving us the time, our three terrific staff professionals, Richard Busse, Lori KooperSchwarz and Allan Handleman, along with

the Jewish Press volunteers, give us a solid foundation and the expertise to allow this search process to unfold, while still putting out a great weekly paper.

The Jewish Press is the vehicle for opinions and discussion within our community, and I would be less than honest if I didn’t admit that Carol’s desire to sometimes bring sensitive topics to the forefront occasionally gave me some sleepless nights.

However, I believe that this community is smart enough, caring enough and diverse enough to handle these discussions. And everyone has an opportunity to voice their respectful opinions in the letters to the editor, as exemplified by the thousands we have read over the years.

While this edition of the Jewish Press focuses on women’s issues, know that next week, next month and into the future, our newspaper will continue to inform us, excite us and connect us to this beautiful Jewish community we call home.

FOCUS ON ISSUES

by Lynn Schusterman

TULSA, Okla. (JTA) -- In 2007, I issued a call to the Jewish community to make service to others a top priority. I urged that we step up our commitment to tzedek and tikkun olam by increasing both the number of young Jews doing service and our support for Jewish organizations that provide authentic service programs. I envisioned a day in which an immersive service experience is a rite of passage for young Jews, as commonplace in Jewish lives as a bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah.

Three years later, as I have watched Jewish service begin to blossom, I am even more convinced than I was then that service can provide a channel for the Jewishly engaged to live out their deepest values and for the less Jewishly inclined to actualize their desire to make a difference in the world in a meaningful Jewish context.

As we honor the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. by taking part in a day of national service on Jan. 18, it is fitting for us to take stock of our progress in expanding opportunities for young Jews to serve and to consider what more we can do in our quest to make service a universal Jewish experience.

Jewish Press Board Andy Ruback, Vice President; Michael Sigmond, Secretary; Michael Siegel, Treasurer; Howard K. Marcus, Immediate Past-chairman; Daphne Pollak Alperson, Marc Brodkey; Eric Dunning; Jason Epstein; Andie Gordman; Michael Kaufman; Bette Kozlen; Jamie Meyerson; Jim Simon; Dorothy Spizman.

The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service/Jewish Senior Services, and the Jewish Press .

Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, 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.

Editorial The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha.

Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: editor@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org.

Martin Luther King Day should inspire Jewish call to service It is a time to celebrate the significant advances our community has made and, with a new decade at hand, to rededicate ourselves to helping unleash the power of a nascent Jewish service movement.

In the past several years, we have seen a burgeoning demand for service opportunities among young Jews who care about making an impact in the world and a plethora of new and existing programs rising to meet that need.

The core institutions of Jewish life -- including the Jewish Federations of North America, synagogues, JCCs and youth organizations such as BBYO, Hillel and Birthright NEXT -- are also increasingly embracing service as central to their programming.

Another positive development is the growth of cross-organizational collaboration, resulting in innovative ways to pool resources, enhance program offerings and create shared platforms for advancing service across key age cohorts.

These collaborations include, among others, Repair the World, the Panim Institute of BBYO and the AJWS-AVODAH Alumni Partnership. Finally, robust partnerships with secular service programs, including Teach For America and City Year, which hold tremendous appeal for young Jews, are being forged with increasing depth and frequency.

These successes and others are built upon a new generation of Jewish service programs that share a deep-seated belief in repairing the world and engaging in service as a way to lead

(Founded in 1920) Bobbi Leibowitz President Jill Belmont Interim Editor Richard Busse Managing Editor Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper

richer, more meaningfully Jewish lives.

And yet, even as we acknowledge our progress, much work remains to be done to weave these burgeoning efforts together and make service fundamental to the fabric of American Jewish life. There are tangible steps we can take as individuals, as organizations and as a community, to ensure we build momentum in the coming year and decade.

As individuals, we can commit ourselves to making service more prominent in our lives and encourage our friends and families to serve. Even in our busy schedules, we can carve out time to volunteer together, be it preparing meals at a soup kitchen, making care packages for soldiers or visiting the elderly.

As organizations, we can elevate service on our institutional agendas and highlight it as a priority for our lay and professional leadership.

We can incorporate service into our work, devote resources to it and even provide release time for our employees to serve. In so doing, we will grow the number of opportunities and organizations enabling Jews to address real world needs and, importantly, to view their service as rooted in fundamental Jewish values.

As a community, we can unite in a shared commitment to forging a culture in which serving others is paramount. This means supporting initiatives, partnerships and collaborations that offer young people the impetus and chance to serve in Jewish programs, as well as Continued on page 13

Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1-402-334-5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: editor@jewishomaha.org..

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 it 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. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet.

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 information, call the Editor, 402.334.6450.

Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $35 per calendar year U.S.; $72 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422.

Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or e-mail to: jpress@jewishomaha. org.

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January 15, 2010

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 13

After Pius move, Pope Benedict practices delicate Jewish dance

by RUTH ELLEN GRUBER ROME (JTA) -- For at least the third time in his papacy, Pope Benedict’s XVI is doing the Jewish dance that takes him one step back, one step forward.

The step back came when Benedict made a move in mid-December to bring Holocaust-era Pope Pius XII a bit closer to sainthood. The step forward -- the penitence, some might say -- will come in mid-January, when Benedict visits Rome’s main synagogue.

The question is whether this bid to smooth over Catholic-Jewish relations will work.

“It is an important event, a milestone in the dialogue,” Rome’s chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, told Vatican Radio about the planned synagogue visit. “We have great expectations for what it can mean in terms of the general climate.”

“If we stop at the things that divide us deeply, we won’t get anywhere,” he said. “The differences are important to move forward.”

Benedict’s visit -- set to take place Jan. 17, the Catholic Church’s annual Day of Dialogue with Judaism -- will come a month after he recognized the religiously defined “heroic virtues” of both John Paul II and Pius XII, putting them one step away from beatification.

The Polish-born John Paul made fostering CatholicJewish relations a hallmark of his papacy. But critics have long accused Pius of having turned a blind eye to Jewish suffering during the Holocaust. The Vatican and other supporters say Pius acted behind the scenes to help Jews.

Gary Krupp, a Jew and the head of Pave the Way, a nonsectarian foundation that promotes interfaith dialogue, wrote in a recent Op-Ed in The New York Post that criticism of Pius XII began in the 1960s as part of a Soviet smear campaign against the Catholic Church, which at the time was profoundly anti-Communist. The AntiDefamation League responded with a call on the pope to disregard Krupp’s “flawed” evidence.

Scholars and Jewish organizations for years have called on the Vatican to fully open its secret archives in order to clarify the issue before Pius is moved any further toward sainthood. Benedict’s decision to green-light Pius’s advance drew widespread criticism from Jewish bodies. While many Jewish organizational leaders said it

was up to the Vatican to decide whom to honor with sainthood, they renewed calls for the archives to be opened.

“As long as the archives of Pope Pius about the crucial period 1939 to 1945 remain closed, and until a consen-

Pope Benedict XVI, seen on a visit to Israel last May, faces the challenge of repairing Catholic-Jewish ties following his decision to move the Holocaust-era pope closer to sainthood.

Credit: Flash90/JTA sus on his actions -- or inaction -- concerning the persecution of millions of Jews in the Holocaust is established, a beatification is inopportune and premature,” the World Jewish Congress’ president, Ronald Lauder, said in a statement.

The Vatican responded with a conciliatory statement saying Benedict’s move was in no way “a hostile act towards the Jewish people” and should not be considered “an obstacle on the path of dialogue between Judaism and the Catholic Church.”

The uproar over Pius XII is not the first episode where the Vatican had to backpedal, clarify or explain a Pope Benedict decision that angered Jews.

In 2008, Jewish protests over the reinstatement of a Good Friday Latin prayer that appeared to call for the conversion of the Jews led the Vatican to change some of the prayer’s wording. Still, Italian rabbis were so angry over the issue that they boycotted participation in last year’s January 17 Day of Dialogue with Judaism.

One year ago, the pope’s lifting of a 1988 excommunication order against Richard Williamson, a renegade Bishop who turned out to be a Holocaust denier, sparked outrage among political figures and mainstream Catholics as well as Jews. Williamson was one of four bishops rehabilitated as part of the pope’s effort to bring their ultra-conservative movement, the Society of St. Pius X, back within the mainstream Catholic fold.

The Vatican ordered Williamson to recant and admitted that the pope had not been aware of his views -despite a video of Williamson that was widely circulated on YouTube.

The pope himself issued a strong message of support to a visiting delegation from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and announced to the group the plans for his May 2009 visit to Israel, his first to the Jewish state as pontiff.

Analysts said Benedict’s move on Pius is part of the pope’s effort to shore up conservative forces within the church.

“The pope apparently has chosen to balance his unquestionable commitment to the Catholic Church’s good relations with world Judaism with his commitment to recuperating the religious right wing of Catholicism,” said Lisa Palmieri Billig, the American Jewish Committee’s liaison to the Vatican. “Obviously his path is strewn with warring obstacles.”

Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, an expert in interfaith relations and the vice president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, said, “The great struggle of this moment is shoring up the most traditional elements of his church as he fights the growing secularization and Islamification of the European stage, which is right before his eyes.”

Bretton-Granatoor said that the visit to the synagogue in Rome is “far more telling about the state of CatholicJewish relations” than the move to elevate Pius.

His visit to the shul next week will mark only the second time that a pope has crossed the Tiber River from the Vatican to visit the synagogue in Rome. As pope, Benedict has visited synagogues in his native Germany and in the United States, and he made the trip to Israel last May.

Birthright Israel NEXT continuing Jewish journey for young adults

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

by AL LEVITT

NEW YORK (JTA) -- Ten years after its founding, Birthright Israel is a universally acknowledged success.

More than 200,000 young Jewish adults worldwide have participated. Studies have confirmed the remarkable degree to which this free 10-day trip to Israel strengthens the Jewish identities of its alumni.

Less clear is the extent to which our community is engaging Birthright participants upon their return.

Indeed, one of the questions heard most often in the Jewish philanthropic world today is “What are we doing to follow up with Birthright alumni?”

The good news is that young Jewish adults are engaging in Jewish life in record numbers due in large effort to Birthright Israel NEXT. Tens of thousands, many of whom grew up without a strong Jewish identity and lacking any substantive Jewish educational background, are turning to Birthright Israel NEXT for ways to deepen the connections to Jewish life that they have been inspired to seek because of their trip to the Jewish homeland.

More than 10,000 young Jews in the United States alone took part in a myriad of Birthright Israel NEXTrelated activities just last month. Over 700 Birthright alumni hosted Shabbat dinners in their apartments and homes throughout the U.S. Thousands more participated in local cultural and educational events in cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver and Atlanta.

Looking ahead to 2010, NEXT is quietly on target to stimulate the engagement of more than 100,000 young Jewish adults through an array of meaningful post-trip experiences carefully designed to increase the Jewish literacy of this group and build connections to the broader Jewish community. This figure does not even count what’s happening at colleges and universities across the country, where tens of thousands of other Birthright alumni have immersed themselves in projects and programs sponsored by their local Hillels and other campus-based organizations. Hundreds more are signing up

for Jewish and Israel studies courses as a way of contin- to help hundreds more learn Hebrew each day.

We are building attachment to Israel by encouraging uing the Jewish journey they started on Birthright.

Much work remains to be done to broaden and deep- return visits, offering joint programming with Israeli en both the scope and reach consulates and introducing of Birthright follow-up. We Birthright alums to Israeli appreciate that this is not a peers working or studying in job for NEXT alone. We see the United States. Through our role as that of a catalyst. a variety of volunteer and We fully intend to continue service opportunities, we are to partner with a multitude helping young Jewish adults of organizations, both estabappreciate their connection lished and emerging, to and their responsibility to meet the needs of young fellow Jews.

Jewish adults and ensure We appreciate the full they are on a path toward extent of the time and resources that have been increased communal invested by so many in involvement.

Birthright Israel in an effort Programmatically, our educational focus is to help Birthright Israel marks its 10-year anniversary in 2010, with a to help secure the future of Birthright alumni continue variety of celebrations and activities. Omaha students spend- American Jewry. We are fully to making their Jewish journeys in four ing part of their winter break on a January Birthright trip committed Birthright follow-up every areas to which they were included Rebecca Crabb, Zach Muskin and Steven Meyer. introduced on the trip: Shabbat celebration, Hebrew bit as rich, textured, meaningful, absorbing -- and life language learning, meaningful ways to connect to Israel changing -- as the trip itself.

Birthright Israel NEXT is dedicated to helping the and Jewish peoplehood.

Each of these areas holds great potential. The NEXT American Jewish community nurture, educate and susShabbat program already has encouraged 4,000 young tain future generations of young Jews. We welcome and adults to host dinners and open their homes to serve will vigorously pursue partnerships with all who share 60,000 Shabbat meals to young adults. We sponsor our goal.

Al Levitt is president of the Jim Joseph Foundation Hebrew language programs (ulpanim) for young Jewish adults in 10 cities, and use SMS and iPhone applications and the new chairman of Birthright Israel NEXT.

King’s day inspires Jewish call to service Continued from page 12 providing Jews serving in nonsectarian programs with Jewish framing, connections and experiences. It also means investing in the leadership, innovation and infrastructure needed to increase the resources, scale, quality and impact of those programs.

With these commitments in mind, I believe we have an unprecedented opportunity to inspire, awaken and reinvigorate the Jewish community and to make a palpable difference in our world. A community committed to a life of service, tzedakah and tikkun olam -- this is a community in which young Jews will want to take

part. This is a community whose members will be engaged in caring and purposeful work, and who will inspire others to serve. This is a community that will have truly answered its calling to be a light unto the nations. This can be our community.

In the year ahead and beyond, I hope we will begin to forge a community in which service is prevalent, prominent and powerful. After all, as experience has taught me, life truly begins when we begin to serve.

Lynn Schusterman is the chair of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.

Page 14

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 15, 2010

Candlelighting Friday, January 15, 5:03 p.m.

Synagogue Listings 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 12604 Pacific St. Omaha, NE. 68154 556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org

Chabad House An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 S. 120th St. Omaha, NE 68144-1646 330.1800 www.OChabad.com email: chabad@aol.com

Congregation B’nai Jeshurun South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 S. 20th St. Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 435.8004 southstreettemple.org

Offutt Air Force Base SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway Offutt AFB, NE 68113 294.6244

Rose Blumkin Jewish Home 323 S. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154

Temple Israel Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street Omaha, NE 68132-2651 556.6536 templeisrael-ne.org

The Neighborhood Prayer Group 1317 No. 57 St. Omaha, NE 68132 551.6609

Tifereth Israel Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org

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B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Services conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Beth Schlossberg.

FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6 p.m. Tot Shabbat/Say Shalom! to Shabbat, 6 p.m. services, 6:30 p.m. dinner.

All families in the Jewish community welcome. RSVP to the office.

SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush sponored by Beth El; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:05 p.m.

BESTT SHABBAT SCHOOL: Saturday, 10 a.m.–noon, for students in Pre-K-7. Theme: Tu B’Shevat. Lunch will be served.

No BESTT classes on Jan. 17 or 18.

WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.

SUNDAY: Beginning Hebrew, with Eadie Tsabari, and Bible Study Discussion Group, 10 a.m.; Jewish Images on the Big Screen, 11 a.m. with Susi Frydman-Levin.

Classes open to all adults in the Jewish community. To register, call the office.

PARENTING COURSE: Sundays in January, 10 a.m., Karen Gustafson, executive director of Jewish Family Service, leads “Love & Logic” class. Cost: $18 for Beth El members, $25 for non-members. To register, contact the office.

THURSDAY: Rabbi Levin’s Understanding and Living Jewish Values, noon; Women’s Book Club, 1:15 p.m. will discuss Fabulous Small Jews.

WOMEN’S ROSH HODESH GROUP: Monday, Jan. 18, 6:30 p.m. for a dinner and movie night. RSVPs needed by Jan. 15; contact Susi Frydman-Levin, susifrydman-levin@cox. net, or Sandee Friedman, 359.8660, or javanut53@aol.com.

HAZAK: Sack Lunch & Cinema Series, Sunday, Jan. 24, noon.

Cost for picnic lunch: $6 for Hazak members, $7 for non-members.

RSVP by Jan. 18 by sending a check to Esther Wax, 118 S. 88th St., Omaha NE, 68114. Questions?

Call Esther at 393.4442.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fri., 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross and Rabbi Yitzchak Mizrahi.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 5:03 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes, 9:45 a.m. with Torah Parade; Kiddush sponsored

by Kohll family; “Guard Your Tongue,” “The Great Midrash” and “Advanced Parshah Study for Kids” (ages 10 and up) one hour prior to Mincha every Shabbat; Mincha, 4:45 p.m. followed by Seuda Shlishit; Havdalah, 6:07 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Bagels & Beit Midrash begins with breakfast, 9:40 a.m.; Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m.

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha, 5:15 p.m.

MONDAY: Mincha & Mishna, 5:15 p.m., Mishna study with the rabbis along with Mincha/ Ma’ariv services.

TUESDAY: Scholars Club for fourth-sixth graders, 3:45 p.m. at the Blumkin Home; Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Rabbi Weiss’s weekly class, 7:30 p.m.

THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m.; Rabbi’s Gross’s weekly class, 7:30 p.m

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Service, 7 a.m.; Rugelach baking, 1 p.m. at the Blumkin Home.

SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9 a.m.; Service, 9:30 a.m.; Youth Minyan, 10:30 a.m. MiniMensch title will be awarded; Kiddush lunch follows; join Rabbi Katzman from 12-1 p.m.

SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.; Mishpacha Mornings Remix, 10:15 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m.

TUESDAY: W.O.W. Parsha, Prophets, and Prayer, 9:15 a.m.

THURSDAY: The Parsha Club for Level I beginners, ages 5-6; Level II intermediates and experts, ages 7-9, 3:50 p.m. Contact Shevi@ochabad.com.

FRIDAY, Jan. 15: Service, 7 a.m.; Shabbat services with Seniors at the Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m., to join, call Mushka, 330.1800.

Coming up on Jan. 29, One Shabbat One World, Shabbat Dinner (see full story on page 4.)

Starting Feb. 1, new JLI course, Portraits in Leadership: Timeless Tales for Inspired Living. (see full story on page 6.)

All programs are open to the

entire community.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel.

FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m.; Game Night/Potluck, 6 p.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 1-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Gam Simcha-Grade 2, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.noon at South Street Temple.

TUESDAY: Women’s Lunch Group, noon at Olive Garden.

WEDNESDAY: Hebrew classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAYS, 7 p.m. Intro to Judaism, led by Rabbi Emanuel.

TUESDAY, Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m. Jewish Ethics: Animal Experimentation, led by Rabbi Emanuel and Nancy Coren at Tifereth Israel.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME FRIDAY: Chef’s Demo, 1 p.m. at Chabad; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. led by Nancy Rips and Andy Greenberg.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by David Herzog and Jim Polack.

TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to You at Remington Heights, 4 p.m. led

by Rabbi Aryeh Azriel; Family School and Scout Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Cantor Wendy Shermet, and Temple’s Family School. The National Jewish Committee on Scouting will present awards.

SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.

SUNDAY: No Religious School.

TUESDAY: Executive Meeting, 6 p.m.; Board of Trustees Meeting, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 46 p.m.; OTYG Ga-Ga, 5 p.m.; All School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Family School, 6-8 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6 p.m.; Values that guide our lives, 6:30 p.m.

THURSDAY: “Adult Study

with the Clergy,” 10-11:30 a.m.; Kol Rina Rehearsal, 6:30 p.m.; WRJ Girls Night Out, 6:30 p.m. (see full story on page 5); Jewish Law and Racism, 7 p.m. led by Rabbi Azriel at Barnes and Noble at Oak View.

Tot Shabbat and Dinner, Friday, Jan. 22, 6 p.m. Enjoy music, prayer and dinner with your children. Event sponsored by Kelly and Jeff Nogg, and WRJ. Contact the Temple office, 556.6536 or mkube@templeisraelomaha.com, to make a dinner reservation. Cost: $5 for adults, no charge for children.

Men of Reform Judaism Annual Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament, Thursday, Jan. 28. Registration, 6 p.m., First Hand, 7:15 p.m. Open to the entire community. Food and drinks available. Prizes to be awarded. For tickets, contact Barry Streit, 289.1148, or Mike Silverman, 740.2200. Proceeds benefit Temple Israel.

Shabbat Shira, The Shabbat of Song, Friday, Jan. 29, 6 p.m.

Cantor Wendy Shermet and the Kol Rina Choir will lead the congregation in reading Parshat Beshalach.

NEIGHBORHOOD PRAYER GROUP FRIDAY: Minyan, 5:03 p.m.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Nancy Coren, Lay Leader. Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and Friday, 8-11 a.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush lunch and Talmud study.

SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 1-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Gam Simcha-Grade 2, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.noon at South Street Temple.

WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Contact Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066; Hebrew classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

ADULT EDUCATION TUESDAY, Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m. Jewish Ethics: Animal Experimentation, led by Rabbi Emanuel and Nancy Coren, at Tifereth Israel.

BAR MITZVAH Spencer Newman, son of Karli and Jody Newman, will become a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, Jan. 23, at T e m p l e Israel.

Spencer is a seventh-grade Honor Roll student at Beveridge Magnet School. He

received the Clarence Teal Cameo Award-Omaha from Community Playhouse in 2007.

His interests include playing guitar, listening to music, reading, and acting.

For his mitzvah project, Spencer is working with All Our Kids, Inc to tutor a Sixth grade student.

He has a two sisters, Bailey and Zoey.

Grandparents are Joanne Urban

and the late William A. Urban, Audrey Newman and the late Gerald Newman, and Howard Wallenstein.

Max Weiner, son of Kathy and Harry Weiner, will become a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, Jan. 23, at Beth Israel.

Max is a seventh-grade Principal’s Honor Roll student at Beveridge Magnet School.

His interests include karate and video games.

Grandparents are T o o t i e Simon, the late Milton Simon, the late Max and Jeanette Weiner.

Pulverent e

January 15, 2010

How God appears to man

SPARKS FROM THE WORD

by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Va’eira In our Sidra, God appears to Jacob in the form of “two men” (or was it three?).

We ask: How does God appear to us? The answer to that is, “any place that will let let Him in.”

In the most secular terms possible, God appears to man when the earth itself does not reject mankind.

It could, for example, reject mankind as it rejects the water horse, an ancient animal sometimes referred to as the Loch Ness monster. At one time, the earth was populated with various two-legged and four-legged creatures, like the dinosaur. As time went on, however, the earth began to reject one creature after another -- until man appeared.

We are told that was about six million years ago.

During this six-million-year period, mankind (including women, of course), has learned how to civilize itself and to attempt to reach toward ethical living.

We have a long way to go, however.

I think that during the next six million years, man will learn how to live decently and we can expect the earth to finally accept him.

War is the greatest stupidity of mankind, where he rejects himself. In war, of course, even the winner is clearly a loser. We shall have to learn how to use explosives more intelligently, to use them for instead of against ourselves.

When we have finally learned how to live in brotherhood and love, we shall have learned how God appears to man. ...

(Editor’s note: this parasha was Rabbi Kripke’s Bar Mitzvah portion -- 83 years ago!)

Blumkin Home sing-along

DEATH SARE RIDDELL ARESTY A memorial service was held on Jan. 10 for Sare Riddell Aresty, of Houston, TX, who died on Jan. 6, following a battle with lung cancer. She was 85.

A Chicago native, she graduated from Northwestern University, where she met her future husband, Maurice.

After moving to Omaha years later, she was an active volunteer at Temple Israel, the Omaha Playhouse, Cub Scouts, Campfire Girls and with the PTA. She also worked with special-needs children. Her family moved to Houston in 1969.

In addition to her husband of 63 years, she is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Joel and Pattie Aresty of Sunny Isles Beach, FL; daughter and son-in-law, Anne and David Naman, of The Woodlands, TX; and grandsons Jay Aresty, Ian Aresty and Daniel Naman.

Memorials may be sent to Houston Hospice, 1905 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030; or to the Houston Congregation for Reform Judaism, 801 Bering Dr., Houston, TX 77057.

GARET ALLEN BROMLEY Garet Allen Bromley, 24 years old of Granada Hills, CA passed away December 29, 2009.

Beloved son of Linda Meyer Chernoff, formerly of Omaha and stepfather Dave Chernoff. Other survivors are his brother, Tyler, and grandmother, Karen Forbes Meyer, also formerly of Omaha; his uncles Brent and Sheryl Meyer, Jason and Mia Meyer; many aunts, cousins and friends.

Memorial service was held on January 3 in California.

Memorials to Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

LEWIS ROMAGNANO Lewis S. Romagnano, chairman of the Math Education Department at Metro State College in Denver, died January 11 at his home in Colorado, following a brief battle with cancer. He was 57.

He is survived by his mother, Charlotte Casten, and sister, Beth Friedman, of Omaha.

A memorial service will be held Thursday, Jan. 14, 5:30 p.m., at Friedman’s home, 15666 Farnam Cir. Shiva service will be at 6:30 p.m.

The family has established the Lewis S. Romagnano Scholarship Fund for Math Educators, at Metro State College. Memorials, made to the MSCD Foundation, may be sent to Friedman.

JTA NEWS BRIEFS

Rabbi Yaakov Weiss leads the R.B.J.H. residents in a special sing-along focusing on classical and modern Jewish songs. The grand finale featured a guest appearance with Rabbi Elihu Milder, as everyone sang the “Song of Shabbos.”

PERSONAL We would like to express our gratitude to all organizations and individuals who sent us greetings and best wishes on the occasion of the birth of our daughter Miriam Ginsburg.

Elvira Stepanova and Mike Ginsburg I send a heartfelt thank you for all the cards, good wishes, phone calls and visits. Your kindness was greatly appreciated.

Kevee Kirshenbaum

To Submit Announcements to the Jewish Press: Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 (with photos we will scan and return).

Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org.

Readers can also submit other announcements -- births engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements. Deadlines are normally eight days prior to publication, on Thursdays, 9 a.m. Check the Jewish Press, however, for notices of early deadlines prior to secular and Jewish holidays.

• JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Egypt said it will ban Gazabound aid convoys from traveling across the country.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit made the comment Saturday to the government newspaper Al-Ahram following the departure of the Viva Palestina aid convoy led by British lawmaker George Galloway.

Abul Gheit said members of the convoy committed hostile and criminal acts in Egypt on the way to Gaza.

“Egypt will no longer allow convoys, regardless of their origin or who is organizing them, from crossing its territory,” Abul Gheit said.

Galloway was deported last Friday from Egypt and declared a persona non grata.

Some 55 people were injured in clashes last week between convoy activists and police. Seven protesters were arrested.

• SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) -- Two more proPalestinian protesters were arrested as Israeli tennis star Shahar Pe’er lost in the semifinals of a tournament in New Zealand.

Pe’er, 22 and ranked No. 30 in the world, lost last Friday to third-seeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in the ASB Classic in Auckland.

Prior to last Friday’s arrests, seven other members of Global Peace and Justice Auckland and Palestine Human Rights Campaign Auckland, including the organizer of the protests, were arrested.

Play had to be suspended on Jan. 6 as officials debated whether to continue Pe’er’s match due to the small but noisy demonstration outside the tennis complex.

To submit obituaries: E-mail to the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; fax to 402.334.5422, or mail to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154, or online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements.

The Press does not “pick up” obituaries from other publications. For more information, call 402.334.6448.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 15

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Page 16

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

January 15, 2010

Should Israel be a model for U.S. airport security?

thoroughly searched.

by GIL SHEFLER NEW YORK (JTA) -- As U.S. officials try to figure out The Israeli approach has fueled the debate about how to improve airport security in the aftermath of the whether it is necessary for U.S. airports to introduce new failed Christmas Day bombing attempt of a Northwest security checkpoints and sophisticated machinery, Airlines flight to Detroit, many North Americans are including full-body scanners. Whereas U.S. airport seculooking to Israel as a rity relies primarily on model. technology, the Israeli David Harris, executive system relies primarily on director of the American human intelligence and Jewish Committee, wrote profiling. a piece for The Passenger profiling by Huffington Post about Israeli airport security has the lessons U.S. airport been criticized heavily security officials can learn over the years. Many Arab from their counterparts in passengers, including Israel.

Arab Israelis, have com“From the perspective plained of being forced to of security, one is in a class undergo excessive and by itself: Israel’s Ben demeaning security Gurion Airport,” Harris checks. Israeli civil rights said. “In the wake of the groups and Israeli-Arab thwarted terrorist attempt lawmakers have petitioned on Northwest Flight 253, Some have encouraged U.S. airport officials to look at Israeli Israel’s Supreme Court it’s time to revisit the security techniques as they plan to improve their own screening asking that it ban ethniciIsraeli model, as other process, seen here at Denver International Airport in 2009. ty-based profiling as disCredit: Dan Paluska/Creative Commons criminatory. countries ask what more can be done to prevent such near-catastrophes.”

The failed Northwest Airlines bombing attempt El Al, Israel’s national airline, has been the target of spurred U.S. officials to institute new rules mandating more attacks and specific threats than any other airline in special searches for passengers from 14 nations, raising the world. After a number of shootings and hijackings by the ire of U.S. civil liberties groups. terrorists during the late 1960s and early 1970s, the govJennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and head of The ernment-owned company introduced a set of stringent Israel Project, a pro-Israel advocacy group, says profiling security measures aimed at thwarting future terrorist is not discriminatory. On the contrary, she says, in Israel attacks. it has benefited both Jews and Arabs.

The enhanced security extended to Ben Gurion Laszlo Mizrahi draws a parallel with the West Bank International Airport, which also had been the site of security fence, which she credits with drastically reducing terrorist attacks. Security there is comprised of a number terrorist attacks in Israel. of rings, only some of which are visible.

“The security fence has also been criticized but has Passenger profiling has been a major component of the saved lives on both sides, just like the airport measures security success. Security officials question passengers have saved lives on both sides,” she told JTA. “There are before sending their luggage and screen them based on plenty of Arab citizens that are also being protected by their answers and backgrounds. Passengers considered a these security measures. They may be inconvenient but potential risk are taken aside for further questioning and if they save lives, the end result is worth it.”

PEOPLE WHO READ NEWSPAPERS ARE

STUDENTS WITH BETTER GRADES It all starts with Newspapers

by JILL BELMONT Beth El publicity coordinator A dozen children will be able to wrap themselves in the warmth and comfort of soft, colorful fleece blankets this winter, thanks to the Beth El Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group. The women met several weeks ago to make blankets for Project Linus, a national organization which provides blankets for seriously ill and traumatized children. Caryn Rifkin, Annie Rifkin and Jane Dreyfus organized the evening’s activities.

Below, Carol Parsow and Pam Friedlander work on a sportsthemed blanket; Helen Rifkin and Rose Davis display their finished product.

The next Rosh Hodesh get-together is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 18, 6:30 p.m., when the group will enjoy a dinner and movie night at Beth El. Co-hosts of the evening include Susi Frydman-Levin, Sandee Friedman, Lea Grunkin and Wendy Berenson. All women in the Jewish community are invited to attend. To RSVP, contact Frydman-Levin at susifrydman-levin@cox.net, or Friedman at 359-8660, or javanut53@aol.com.

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Call this newspaper or 1-800-369-2850 for more information.

Nebraska 2x2/2x4 Display Ad Network

Karen Kare Sokolof Javitch Music Scholarships Merit scholarships for Jewish students currently in college or graduate school majoring in or pursuing a degree in gra music performance, composition or music education.

Cantorial students are eligible.

Canto

NATIONAL RADON AWARENESS MONTH Isn’t it time your home was tested?

Special Offer

(Radon Awareness Month Special)

$50 OFF Radon Test

According to the EPA,

Radon causes 21,000 cancer deaths a year

(regular price $105)

or

$75 OFF Radon Mitigation system

Call Today:

877-892-3583

Applicants must be from the Omaha metropolitan area.

Application deadline: March 8, 2010

Applications online at www.jewishomaha.org Select Center for Jewish Education, Scholarships and Grants

Or contact Janet Henthorn, Jewish Federation Foundation 334-6551; jhenthorn@jewishomaha.org