Vol. LXXXVIII No. 20 Omaha, NE
Chabad presents program to encourage unity of heart, through unity of purpose by SHEVI KATZMAN In a lecture that will be be broadcast all over the world, Rabbi Adin Even Yisrael Steinsaltz, the renowned teacher, philosopher, social critic and prolific author will explain the concept of Hakhel, an event that took place every seven years when the entire Jewish nation convened in Jerusalem as one. Hailed by Time magazine as a “once-in-a-millennium scholar,” his lifelong work in Jewish education earned Steinsaltz the Israel Prize, his country’s highest honor. The lecture, on Sunday, Jan. 25, 1:30 p.m., will be followed by the graduation of Chabad’s Parsha Club at 2:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center. The Parsha Club kids have been learning the Book of Genesis since the end of October; this year is a Hakhel year, a year of gathering and connection, celebrating Jewish unity of heart through unity of purpose. The graduates include Danny Stein, Emily Kirk, Feigy Katzman, Isabella Persky, Isabella Wright, Lauren Kirk, Yael Schuller, and Zalmen Katzman. Assembled at the Holy Temple, they listened as the king read the Torah and they felt the awe of G-d. Awe is a profound Rabbi Adin Yisrael Steinsaltz Credit: Erik Tisch feeling and who that
Among the Parsha Club graduates are: Danny Stein, above left, Lauren Kirk, and Isabella Persky. gathered there were inspired to regenerate their sense of purpose as a people with a task to transform themselves and the world. In this year of Hakhel -- the gathering of the people - although there is infinite value to each individual life, Judaism is not meant to be lived in isolation. Adults and children alike thrive on the dynamic excitement of being part of something greater than themselves. While forebears trekked for days and weeks to Jerusalem, the advent of technology affords a new opportunity for Jews from every corner of the globe to join as one without traveling a single mile. The Unity Lecture Series will connect hundreds of communities and thousands of individuals on every continent who will participate in a simultaneous web-cast of Torah study. Produced by the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, the largest adult education network of its kind, the lectures will be presented by leading Jewish scholars. Kelly Kirk, whose daughters, Lauren and Emily, fit Parsha Club into their busy schedule, says, “Parsha Club is an amazing addition to Chabad’s educational program for kids. I know that each week not only are my girls learning more than I ever thought possible, they are doing it in an environment that makes Jewish Continued on page 2
Inside Opinion Page see page 8
Celebrating 88 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
20 Tevet, 5769
January 16, 2009
How’s the mood in Israel? Depends where you live by DINA KRAFT ASHKELON and TEL AVIV, Israel (JTA) -- In Tel Aviv, the lunch crowd suns itself at bustling sidewalk cafes. But in Ashkelon the playgrounds are deserted, municipal buses run without passengers and stores are shuttered with no customers to even see the notes taped on the doors of “We’ll be back soon.” Just as in the summer of 2006, when the northern part of the country huddled in bomb shelters during the Second Lebanon War and the rest of the country carried on with its business, a new war has come that affects Israelis -- at least in part -- according More than 100 Omahans gathered Jan. 8 for a special “Eye on Israel” with Dr. Guy Matalon, to geography. Leah Hassan, a nursery director of the Center for Jewish Education, left, and Alan Potash, director of the ADL. “Israel is a small country and we all feel that we are school teacher in Ashkelon, left her home Tuesday for the first time since the Israeli operation on Gaza began. part of this war,” Dora said. “Even if I am meeting “Everyone I see outside looks pale with the same fear friends for coffee, this is what we are talking about. We I feel,” she said. “Going out today I did not even want all have family and friends in the south and know soldiers fighting inside Gaza.” to drive I was so scared.” Nearby, behind the counter of a cafe known for its “I feel traumatized,” Hassan said. “Every time there is a siren I go into the safe room and shaking, I pray until homemade cakes and jams, two workers disagree about I hear a boom and then I wonder where it fell and my how out of touch the locals are about the fear and rocket fire in cities like Ashdod only a 45-minute drive south. imagination begins to race.” “Some really do feel close to what’s going on,” said In Tel Aviv, meanwhile, Shlomo Dora, 31, sits back on a black leather chair at a popular bistro with the sound Shani Asulin, 24, a waitress at the cafe. Asulin is worried for her best friend, who works in of a crooning jazz singer on the stereo and catches up army intelligence near the Gaza border, and her brothwith a friend. “Being out and about is not about a lack of solidarity er, a border policeman who has been doing security at because we all feel the pressure of what is going on here, demonstrations by Arab Israelis in the north. “What? We live in a bubble here,” said Anat Mazor, but we need to get on with our daily so-called ‘sane’ routine,” said Dora, who works at a company that makes the cafe’s manager. “I would expect people to feel things medical devices. In tiny Israel, he insists, far is never that more, but they don’t seem to.” Continued on page 2 far away.
Federation mission group donates EKG to Partnership in honor of Rabbi Kripke
During the 60th Anniversary Mission to Israel in November, current Federation President Bob Lepp, center, and Past Federation Presidents Jerry Slusky, left, and Norm Sheldon pose with one of two new EKG machines purchased for the
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Western Galilee Hospital. The participants from the 2008 Kripke Leadership Mission Group raised the funds to purchase the machines in honor of Rabbi Myer S.Kripke, who will celebrate his 95th birthday this month.
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OTYGers “go green” at Cincinnati seminar: Page 7