January 17, 2014

Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA

Herbert Goldsten is still building dreams

January 17, 2014 16 Shevat 5774 Vol. 94 | No. 18

This Week

Kindergarten Roundup at Friedel Jewish Academy Page 6

An Israel Encounter for Temple Israel students Page 7

Inside Next Week The Food Issue See Front Page stories and more at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press

in the U.S. Army from 1917 until the end of WW I and was initially assigned to the infantry. After two months, he was transferred to the medical department and was promoted to sergeant by the end of the war. He was recommended for officer candidate school, but chose civilian life as an employee of Wolf Brothers at 16th and Farnam. After that, he tried his luck in real estate, and that is where Herb --together with brother David-- really made his mark. Many of the properties built or purchased by the Goldsten Bros. could be found along Leavenworth Street’s 3100 block. Herb’s career in real estate was one marked by longevity, and that longevity also shows up in other areas. He was a member of B’nai B’rith for more than 68 years, a life member of the Jewish War Veterans, the American Legion and the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society.

“When I worked at City Hall,” Renee Corcoran, NJHS Director, Continued on page 2

Beth El presents Rabbi Naomi Levy

A glimpse of Middle East peace in New York Page 12

Point of view Synagogues In memoriam

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMPWRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press What makes a community thrive?

It’s often a combination of people dedicated to each other, each going the extra mile to make sure there are places and programs where members can come together. People who make sure the future is secure, by providing funds, as well as time and effort.

Then there are those who go beyond the extra mile, who have the ability to make such an impact that it helps propel the community forward for decades to come.

Herbert Goldsten was such a man.

Known throughout Omaha as “a real estate magnate,” according to the Jewish Press in 1989, Herb died in May of 1990, and left behind an impressive legacy.

Herb was born in Omaha to Harris and Sarah Goldsten and was one of six children. He had four sisters, Anna Ruth, Rose, Frances and Eva, and one brother, David. Herb served

8 10 11

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Rabbi Naomi Levy, recognized as a unique and passionate voice in the contemporary Jewish world, will share her wisdom with the Omaha community when she serves as Beth El’s scholar-in-residence from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2.

The founder and spiritual leader of Nashuva, a Jewish outreach organization based in Los Angeles, Rabbi Levy lectures widely on topics of revitalizing faith, spirituality, healing and prayer. Through Nashuva, she has helped to connect unaffiliated Jews with a Judaism that is soulful, committed to social justice, meaningful, relevant and fun.

In addition to appearing on NBC’s Today show and on Oprah, the rabbi has been featured in Parade, Newsweek, Redbook, The Boston Globe, and The Los Angeles Times.

She is also the bestselling author of To Begin Again, Talking to God, and Hope will Find You. The Jewish Forward has listed

A resolution you can live with

Rabbi Naomi Levy Rabbi Levy as one of the 50 most influential Jewish leaders in America, and Newsweek recognized her in its “Top 50 Rabbis in America.” In addition, she holds the distinction of being in the first class of women to enter the Jewish Theological Seminary’s rabbinical school and was the first female Conservative rabbi to head a pulpit on the West Coast.

“I’m intrigued with Rabbi Levy because she believes that ‘Stories remind us of who we are, and the best stories might heal us,’” said Nancy Rips, who, along with Joanie Jacobson, will co-chair a special Woman’s Havdalah on Feb. 1, featuring Levy.

“I’ve always believed stories are all we have. Stories are tangible. We pass them on from generation to generation. We learn from them, remember, and grow.”

Continued on page 3

by LYNDA MIRVISH This is the year you resolve to exercise more, join a gym, eat healthy food, maybe even lose a few pounds.

Along with these New Year resolutions, there is an even more important one: be tested to see if you are a carrier of a Jewish genetic disease!

What does genetic, or genetics, mean? Genetics is the branch of science concerned with the transmission of hereditary conditions and what these conditions mean to a person and their family.

Certain inherited diseases occur more frequently in specific ethnic, demographic or racial groups than in the general population. In the case of Jews of central or eastern European descent (Ashkenazic Jews) these include: Tay-Sachs Dis-

ease and Late Onset Tay-Sachs Disease, Canavan Disease, NiemannPick Disease-Type A, Gaucher Disease-Type I, Familial Dysautonomia, Bloom Syndrome, Fanconi Anemia-Type C, Cystic Fibrosis and Mucolipidosis Type IV (Deafness).

Today we know that one in four Ashkenazic Jews can be a carrier of one of these diseases. Carriers are healthy individuals and are typically unaffected by the disease for which they carry. But he or she can pass on the defective gene to the next generation.

If both parents are carriers of the same defective gene, each parent may pass the gene on to their offspring. Then, if a baby inherits a Continued on page 2

2 | The Jewish Press | January 17, 2014

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Continued from page 1 remembers, “I used to see Herb Goldsten and his brother David walking down the street all the time. Little did I know then the impact Herb would someday have on me. I cannot say enough about how much he has done for the Historical Society.”

Herb never married, left no children, and, assisted by friends Joe Kirshenbaum and Howard Kaslow, made the decision to leave his assets to the Jewish community.

Howard Kaslow drafted the documents, and in December of 1990, the Herbert Goldsten Trust was activated with an initial distribution of $1.2 million. The trust was established specifically to benefit Jewish religious, charitable, and educational organizations in the Omaha metropolitan area, including but not limited to synagogues, Jewish schools, and the Jewish Federation of Omaha. The trustees at the time were Howard Kaslow, Arthur Goldstein, Joe Kirshenbaum, Arthur Grossman and Yale Richards.

Since then, total grants made by the Herbert Goldsten Trust have totaled approximately $2,367,000. Howard Kaslow and Joe Kirshenbaum continue to serve as Trustees and have been joined by Robert Belgrade, Janie Murow, and Norman Veitzer; the late Ann Goldstein was a Trustee as well.

What does a gift like this really accomplish? We can take a close look at the numbers, and the sheer volume of dollars is impressive to say the least; but we may get a better picture if we pay attention to where the money has gone. The Jewish Federation of Omaha, as well as every agency of the Federation, has at times been a recipient of a grant from the Goldsten Trust.

For instance, from 1991 to 1995, the Trust made grants of $100,000 to the then Bureau of Jewish Education (now the Center for Jewish Life) to directly benefit children from the former Soviet Union in the form of scholarships. In 1991, the Trust gave a grant to Friedel Jewish Academy to hire a part-time instructor to teach English as a second language.

There was a large gift to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home that same year that allowed the Home to refurbish and redecorate residents’ rooms. The Jewish Community Center was able to purchase a vehicle for the Youth Department in 1992, and the Artza teen trip to Israel was funded by the Trust. The Nebraska Jewish Historical Society was able to put on the exhibit “Memories of Jewish North 24th Street.” Another trip to Israel, the 1992 Chazak Young Leadership Mission, was funded later that year, as were Beth Israel’s Jewish Heritage program and the choral groups at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

The JCC sound system was replaced in 1993, and Beth El received funds to provide transportation to services and activities for its members. A safety entrance with an intercom was installed at the Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center, and the Anti-Defamation League/ Community Relations Committee put on the “Children of the Dream” program, all thanks to Herb Goldsten’s vision.

The Riekes Shul was restored in 1993, and Friedel Jewish

Academy was able to do a market survey in 1994. The RBJH hired a Director and pianist for the choral group, and the Trust partially funded JFO’s Shalom Omaha Mission, also in 1994. The National Council of Jewish Women received funds for the third edition of their teen resource guide, and in 1995, yet another mission was funded: this time it was the Young Adults Mission to Israel.

Also in 1995, the Trust contributed to the March of the Living program, helping the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization send teens to Poland and Israel. In 1996, Beth El received funds for its building completion program, and the JCC received assistance for the Regional Youth Maccabi Games.

Mount Sinai Cemetery received a contribution towards the permanent endowment fund in 1997. Funds went to Jewish Family Service to update the computer equipment in ’97 and to fund the Jewish Women’s Symposium in 1998. The Jewish Press received grants in 2004 and 2005 to facilitate the front page exhibit; and in 2007 and 2009, the Goldsten Trust helped the Press create a digital archive and get ready for the new website, which was launched in early 2011.

During the next 15 years, the Trustees kept giving: from the rehabilitation of Beth El’s cemetery to scholarships for numerous children, from supporting elderly Jews in the Former Soviet Union to multiple Missions to Israel, from the Jewish Press operating budget to Holocaust education programs, and from community kosher Seders to youth programs. The Herbert Goldsten Trust has had a massive impact. In 2013 alone, 18 different grants were given out. In total, 272 grants have been awarded to the numerous Jewish organizations, agencies and synagogues in our community since the Fund’s inception. Those numbers are impressive, to say the least.

“Every time I look at the cumulative list of grants,” Howard Kaslow says, “I am fascinated by their diversity, as well as the imagination of the organizations requesting the grants.”

The list goes on and on, and one could get dizzy trying to imagine how many people have been positively affected throughout the years. And: during all this time, a sizable annual contribution has been made to the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s Annual Campaign, which opens the door to an even bigger ripple effect.

Praise should go to Herb, for having the vision and for daring to dream big, because he dreamt for all of us. And a very important element was the way he set up his Trust: by choosing people who he knew would share that dream and continue it after he was gone.

We don’t always stop to think what it’s like to have that responsibility: handing out funds to various charitable causes, year after year, and being responsible for someone else’s desire to give after that person is no longer here. It is a heavy duty, and one that the Herbert Goldsten Trustees have taken very seriously and carried out beautifully. As a community, we should be aware of what Herb’s legacy has meant and continues to mean for us, and we should say thank you, as often as possible.

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A resolution you can live with Continued from page 1 copy of this defective gene from each parent, he or she will have the disease.

Genetic conditions or risks affect individuals at all ages from pregnancy to adulthood. Genetic screening, which can determine carrier status, is available but must be ordered by a healthcare provider. Many family physicians or obstetricians and gynecologists are familiar with carrier screening.

Geneticists and genetic counselors at the Munroe-Meyer Institute (MMI), part of the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), use diagnostic testing performed by the UNMC Human Genetics Laboratory (HGL), and other reference labs, to diagnose genetic abnormalities.

They then assist individuals and families in understanding

the diagnosis, treatment and management of a disorder.

They offer advice on recurrence risks and future family implications, in addition to helping parents gain an understanding of what may have caused an anomaly.

If you don’t have a doctor or if your doctor doesn’t assist with genetic screening or counseling, you can make an appointment to be seen by a geneticist and/or genetic counselor by calling the MMI Patient Information Office at 402.559.6418. Although testing for Jewish genetic diseases is not performed onsite at HGL, genetic counselors can assist families with the ordering process and interpretation of results. If you are unsure about testing and simply have questions, you can speak with a genetic counselor by calling the MMI Genetic Medicine department at 402.559.3446.

January 17, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 3

Seldin Company continues tradition of giving

by NOFEL MOLAI Assistant Vice-President of Marketing, Seldin Company The fifth annual Seldin Company Food Drive in the Omaha area community food drive yielded over 19,000 pounds of food to the Foodbank for the Heartland.

Seldin Company food drives in West Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, and Texas brought in over 10,000 items for food banks in the local regions, while the food drive at Seldin’s corporate office in West Omaha collected about 3,300 items for the Siena Frances House. The massive charitable effort to the Foodbank for the Heartland not only raises the bar for the company, but was one of the largest donations of its kind in the area.

Seldin Company’s Omaha area donation to the Foodbank for the Heartland was delivered Friday, Dec. 20 and brought in 19,149 pounds of food, nearly surpassing the 2012 total of 20,490 pounds. According to a representative at the Foodbank for the Heartland, this donation will provide 17,000 meals for those in need in the area and was the single biggest donation not a part of a

state or nationwide food drive effort.

Efforts in West Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas and Iowa added an additional 10,351 items to the drive. The Sioux Falls Food Pantry, Food Bank of Iowa, San Antonio Food Bank, Southeast Texas Food Bank and

the Salvation Army are just of few of the organizations that have benefitted from these additional items.

Seldin Company is extremely proud of the dedicated employees and loyal residents who have made this outstanding food drive possible. The donation contributes to the tradition of community service that has been imbedded in the company since its founding in 1923.

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Rabbi Naomi Levy Continued from page 1 you want to hear,” Jacobson said. “Not During her visit to Beth El, Rabbi Levy because she’s a rabbi and not because she’s will speak at a 7 p.m. congregational a nationally-acclaimed author and speaker Shabbat dinner on Friday, Jan. 31; her who’s been on TV. It’s because she’s creditopic will be Life Under Construction: He a ling Ourselves, Healing Our World. For dinner cost and reservation information, visit www.bethelomaha.org.

O n S a t u r d a y, Nancy Rips and Joanie Jacobson Feb. 1, during 9:30 a.m. morning services, she will ble. This woman has endured some of life’s present the D’var Torah, entitled, toughest times -- faced some of life’s greatSometimes a Single Step Can Cause Seas to est challenges, and found her way back.

Part: Finding the Power to Push Forward. A Her father was murdered in an armed robKiddush lunch will follow services. bery when she was 15. Her daughter was A special ‘Women’s Shabbat Salon,’ fea- diagnosed with a rare and fatal disease. She turing Rabbi Levy as guest speaker, will has a compelling story to share, rock-solid take place on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. at the answers you can take to the bank, and her home of Nancy Rips, 1302 S. 101st St., very own words of prayer, spoken in a lan#314. guage we can all understand -- and use.

The rabbi will lead a conversation about “That’s why we called this Shabbat weekTalking to God: Finding Our Own Voice in end “Spirituality To-Go!” -- because the Prayer. All women in the Jewish communi- Naomi Levy experience doesn’t end when ty are invited to join the conversation; she’s done speaking. It stays with you. It RSVP to Rips at nrips@cox.net, or feeds your soul. And, you can take it 402.397.7977. home!”

Finally, the rabbi will lead the synagogue’s Rabbi Levy’s visit has been made possiSunday Scholars Series on Feb. 2, 11 a.m.; ble by the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s there is no charge to attend, and the entire Herbert Goldsten Trust, and the Shirley community is invited to participate. and Leonard Goldstein Supporting “Naomi Levy is just the kind of person Foundation.

4 | The Jewish Press | January 17, 2014

Eye on Israel: More than a news report

by MARK KIRCHHOFF Administrative Assistant, Center for Jewish Life When asked about his “Eye on Israel” sessions, Eliad Eliyahu Ben Shushan, Omaha’s Community Shaliach, remarked: “If all I am doing is presenting news broadcasts, then people can read Israeli newspapers or visit websites and get more information. I want to bring not only the events, but a way for participants to experience how Israelis respond to those events. I am always excited about finding ways to bring Israel to Omaha.”

In keeping with this goal, the process is definitely eliciting a variety of opinions and lively interchanges between those attending Eliad’s “Eye on Israel” sessions. To experience that for yourself, plan to join Eliad for the next “Eye” session on Tuesday, Jan. 21, noon-1 p.m. in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library. And be prepared to offer your opinions.

In looking back at the December meeting, “Eye” examined the “Women of the Wall” issue. This isn’t the first time it has been a topic of conflicting opinions, nor is it likely to be the last. The strong opinions that emerge from Israel were matched by the lively interchange between the “Eye” participants. In the November session, Eliad recounted the history of the Haredim and the IDF that dates back to time of Ben Gurion. Haredi yeshiva students are permitted to postpone service in the IDF to enable them to study Torah full time.

Eliad explained this is a topic of social and governmental concern plus one with religious and traditional cultural perspectives. Mix social, governmental, religious, and traditional viewpoints together and you always get passionate responses, and the conversation during the “Eye” session was no exception.

Why does Eliad present such lively topics? From his most recent blog post, which can be found on the Community Shaliach page from www.jewishomaha.org/education, he explains, “I do this not because I want to create an exciting discussion that will give people food for thought after the session (okay, this is one of my reasons), but also because I feel that the most important thing these days is to understand that in Israel we live with diversity. This is one of the things that is so special and unique about being Israeli.”

At the Jan. 21 “Eye on Israel” session, Eliad will first present a true story that will touch your heart, open your eyes, and perhaps change your perspective of life in Israel. The story is based on happenings during Syria’s civil war and the critical injuries, not to mention deaths, of Syrian men, women and children due to the use of chemical weapons. As the story played out in stateside media and the U.S. government faced a decision on how to respond, Israel prepared its citizens for the real possibility of the war crossing Israel’s borders. Only now, months after Assad’s promise to turn over all the chemical weapons, stories have come forth showing the war did in fact cross into Israel but in a very dif-

ferent way than expected. The stories, many of which were reported on Facebook and other social media outlets, tell of the humanitarian care that Israeli hospitals provided – and continue to provide -- to victims of Syria’s on-going conflict.

The Western Galilee Medical Center located in Nahariya, which is also involved in Omaha’s Partnership2GETHER program, was one of the first to receive wounded. The story that Eliad will share will focus on a severely injured threeyear-old Syrian girl who was delivered to the Syrian/Israel border and then taken to the hospital by Israeli soldiers.

Due to the severity of her injuries, the girl was kept in a medically induced coma for two weeks. When she was brought back to consciousness, she found herself alone – without her mother – in the midst of strangers speaking a foreign language. The story of the loving care that was provided to her, plus an incredible coincidence that promoted the healing of this little girl will make you feel proud of the empathy and caring shown by the Israeli soldiers and the hospital staff.

While it may be a foregone conclusion that any hospital would care for a severely-wounded three-year-old child, regardless of her ethnicity, it shows Israel’s willingness and ability to live with the diversity that exists within its borders.

There is also another side. In the second focus of the January session, Eliad will talk about the estimated 15,000 asylum

seekers found in Tel Aviv. These people who are from Eritrea and Sudan have been marching for several weeks carrying signs reading “Freedom” in protest of the Israeli government’s unwillingness to review asylum requests and the state’s detention policies.

Unlike caring for the needs of a wounded child, a response to an influx of refugees is more complicated and will have a significant social impact. “Eye” will look at stories of human rights violations and the apparent unwillingness of the government to assist people in finding a safe place to live. But what limit should be placed on providing refuge? Is the current position of the government moral? What do other citizens in Israel think about helping “strangers” from Eritrea, Syria or Sudan? How is the city of Tel Aviv accepting them?

No doubt, this will be a very lively discussion.

And while Eliad is bringing Israel to Omaha, Omaha recently made it on Israeli primetime news, and this time it wasn’t because of Warren Buffet. Eliad smiled saying “It was because of the cold weather that was in North America and Omaha was the example! I felt so proud to be here, but my mother was less proud. So in a strange twist, there was an ‘Eye on Omaha.’”

So please join Eliad for “Eye on Israel,” on Tuesday, Jan 21 at noon in the Kripke Jewish Federation library. The discussion session is open to the community and free of charge.

You are encouraged to bring a friend who doesn’t agree with your opinions, or one who does. “Eye on Israel” is presented by the Center for Jewish Life whose mission it is to maximize involvement of Omaha’s Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences. For additional information, please call 402.334.6463.

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Fellman and Kooper scholarships available

by JAN ROOS The Bruce M. Fellman Charitable Foundation Trust has announced the availability of scholarships for the 2014-2015 academic year. The scholarships will be based on financial needs of students pursuing their post-secondary 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 Louri Sullivan, Terri Schrager, and Howard Kooper.

The Robert H. & Dorothy G. Kooper Charitable Foundation Trust has announced the availability of scholarships for the 2014-2015 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 was elected B’nai B’rith president in 1929; headed Beth El Synagogue in 1941; was president of Highland Country Club in 1951; and was President of the Jewish Federation of Omaha 1958-1960.

He died in 1961.

Dorothy Kooper was a strong supporter of and worked with the Jewish Federation and Beth El Sisterhood. She passed away in May, 1995.

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

Applications for the Bruce M. Fellman Charitable Foundation Trust and the Robert H. & Dorothy G. Kooper Charitable Foundation Trust scholarships are available by contacting Kooper’s office in writing at 809 North 96 Street, Omaha, Nebraska, 68114; or email to jroos@broadmoor.cc. The application packet must be received back in Mr. Kooper’s office no later than March 3.

Organizations B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Speaker to be announced for Wednesday, Jan. 22, noon, at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. An optional buffet lunch costs $11; beverage service only is $3.For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnai brith@jewishomaha.org.

LOMIR REDN YIDDISH The Lomir Redn Yiddush group will be on hiatus from Dec. 20 through April 2. For information, please call Anne Skolkin at 402.343.1638.

January 17, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 5

Beth Israel hosts Super Bowl party

by SHIRLY BANNER for Beth Israel He’s at the fifty, the forty, the thirty, the twenty, the ten, touchdown! For all you Super Bowl fans, Beth Israel will be hosting their 4th Annual Super Bowl Party this year on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2.

Come to watch the Super Bowl on the big screen (OK it’s projected on the wall but it’s a really big wall). For most attendees, and it really doesn’t matter where it’s being held, it really doesn’t matter which teams are playing (as of this writing that is still to be determined); what matters is that it’s a good time to get your fill of wings (Spicy, Hot, Mild, or to your liking) and noshes, and to enjoy the game and schmooze.

Also on the menu this year is chili, a nacho bar (sans cheese), and mini sub sandwiches with your choice of fixings, along with crowd favorites of assorted chips, veggies, dips, and cinnamon popcorn. And what, might you ask, is the cost for all of this? It’s a mere $8 for adults and $30 for a family (parent(s) and non-adult kids). Proceeds from the dinner will go to purchase some much needed items for the kitchen.

The festivities begin with the pre-show and munchies at 5:30 p.m. and kick-off with dinner at 6 p.m. Please RSVP to tmcclun@orthodoxomaha.org or 402.556.6288

by Jan. 26 and be a part of this “Super” event.

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Children’s Hospital celebrates the life and legacy of Jill Folsom

by SARAH WELLER the region.

A passionate community volunteer, Family of the late Jill Folsom gathered at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center on Folsom served on Children’s Friends Board.

Dec. 7, to celebrate her life and legacy of serv- She also connected to Children’s mission as ice. Family attended a ceremony that dedicat- a mother of two boys. ed a new patient room in her memory. The room is located in Children’s newly renovated Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), where Folsom served as a volunteer.

“Jill was a life-giving person,” said Children’s Chaplain Julia Knezetic, who shared a special blessing in the room. “What a fitting tribute to have her Jill Folsom name be what greets all Folsom died unexpectedly in those who enter this life-giving space.”

2010 at age 49. Children’s received many Before the room dedication, Folsom’s contributions in her memory that helped to loved ones enjoyed a presentation by Robert fund the NICU renovation.

Spicer, M.D., clinical service chief for “We are incredibly grateful for the genPediatric Cardiology. Spicer’s comments erosity of Jill, her family and friends,” said centered on Children’s new Heart Roger Lewis, executive director, Children’s Transplant Program. He shared the pro- Hospital & Medical Center Foundation. gram’s success stories, emphasizing the “Jill’s legacy of giving and spirit of caring important role the NICU plays in caring for lives on at Children’s.” the infant transplant recipients. Children’s For more information, please contact launched the new service in 2013; it is the Felicia Schrier, Folsom’s mother, at only pediatric heart transplant program in 402.504.3939

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Cooking in Israel Reviewed by SYBIL KAPLAN Cook in Israel by Orly Ziv, published by Orly Ziv, $35 hardcover, 245 pp., 2013 If you’ve been hunting for an authentic Mediterranean/Israeli cookbook, this one surely rates at the top of the list.

Orly Ziv was a clinical dietician for many years before launching her company, “Cook in Israel,” in 2009, to offer culinary tours of Israel and intimate cooking classes in her Tel Aviv home. A vegetarian for the past 30 years, she offers 100 recipes (only a very few with poultry or meat), taking into account her Greek mother’s teaching and her instincts for the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean diet.

One unique idea is her table of contents— quite different from typical cookbooks. Her categories are: eggplant and tomatoes, salads, vegetables, grains and legumes, breads, fish, family recipes, holidays and sweets.

One of my favorite aspects of cookbooks—especially those that have a warm, family connection—are those that have a personal comment by each recipe, and this one rates high because of that.

She also uses the metric system and converts it for those unfamiliar with it.

The author learned to prepare Eggplant Baladi with date honey in a cooking class;

multicolor pepper antipasti is one her mother made often; Tabouleh she seasons with cinnamon and allspice, learned from an Arab friend; the recipe for leek patties for Rosh Hashanah is her mother’s recipe, often made by Jews from Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria; Malabi is a Middle Eastern milk pudding.

Another stylistic issue I look for when reviewing cookbooks is the page layout, and she gets a high grade on that. Ingredients are in one column, numbered instructions are in the next column.

About the only negatives I can find with this cookbook is a lack of number of servings by each recipe (really important for me when I am cooking-so I know if this is just for the two of us or if I can make it for a company dish).

The other is inconsistency in mentioning approximate times, as guidelines, for various methods of cooking—e.g., sautéing, until something has dissolved, until something has softened, until water has been absorbed.

To enhance the cookbook, there are 200 color photographs. Many are part of step-bystep instructions--such as stuffed peppers with rice, makluba (upside down rice), borekitas and date and walnut pinwheel cookies.

Continued on page 6

Passover Coming in April

The Jewish Press is looking for Passover-related photographs, stories and recipes.

Have something to share?

Please email avandekamp@jewishomaha.org today!

6 | The Jewish Press | January 17, 2014

future to the Listen

Omaha Area Youth Orchestra Upcoming Concerts and Events February 2014 2/2 Youth Symphony Concert 2:00 PM UNO Strauss Performing Arts Center 2/15 Play-A-Thon 4:00-6:00 PM Westroads Mall 2/17 Chamber Music Concert 7:00 PM Presbyterian Church of the Cross For more information on concerts or auditions: visit www.oayo.org or call 402.238.2044

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Kindergarten Round-Up at Friedel Jewish Academy

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN when they were older to take care of the younger kids.” Friedel for Friedel Jewish Academy has certainly “exceeded our expectations,” Segall stated.

“There are great schools” in the Omaha area, admitted At Kindergarten Round-Up, children are observed perAviva Segall. “But Friedel is the best investment parents can forming “teacher prescribed activities,” said Cohn. Jewish make in the Jewish identity of studies and general studies their child,” she said. She and teachers look for “social and her husband, Patrick emotional interaction among McNamara, “really wanted a the children; gross and small good Jewish education and a motor skill development; stusolid Jewish identity” for their dents’ knowledge of basic coldaughters, Ilana, now 12, and ors, numbers, letters and Leora, ten. “Friedel is the best shapes; and the length of attenway” of achieving those goals, tion spans.” Children must she believes. turn five years old prior to July With Kindergarten Round31, 2014 to attend, according Up planned from 9:30 to 11 to state requirements. a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23, While the children are being Friedel Principal Pam Cohn observed, Cohn will meet with pointed out the benefits of the parents to give them an attending the Jewish day overview of the school’s curschool, which is accredited by riculum, enrollment procethe Nebraska State Depart- Eva Cohen, a current kindergartner; left; Evelyn Smith, dures, and to answer questions. ment of Education. Class sizes fourth grader; and Ari Finkelstein, fourth grader, are stu- Parents will be provided with are small, resulting in dents at Friedel Jewish Academy which is hosting a preschool evaluation form to increased attention for individ- Kindergarten Round-Up on Thursday, Jan. 23. be returned to Friedel prior to ual students. Instruction is presented in English and in Hebrew individual screening for kindergarten. Prospective students and experiential learning and hands-on project-based activi- will meet one-on-one at Friedel with Diana Zeman, Friedel’s ties are provided. Highly qualified and dedicated staff mem- kindergarten teacher, who will administer a kindergarten bers integrate technology into learning through the use of readiness test from Scholastic Testing Service, a developmeniPads. In addition, Cohn said weekly swimming lessons as well tal screening measure to assess skills that are the foundation as enrichment activities with residents of the Rose Blumkin for academic and social success. The cost to take the test is Jewish Home and the children from the Child Developmental $50 per child, to be pre-paid to the school prior to testing.

Center are included in the curriculum. Day care is available at Zeman also conducts an informal interview with each child Kidz Inn on the Jewish Community Center campus. to assess personal skills and social-emotional development.

According to The Jewish Education Network, other bene- Parents must accompany their children to the individual fits for children attending a Jewish day school include study- screening process which takes approximately 45 to 60 mining in a safe environment, combining a secular education utes. Test results will be shared with parents at a later meeting. with a Jewish education, which better equips children to Zeman, Cohn, and the primary Jewish studies teacher enter society at all levels, enriching family life, living a more review results of the readiness test and other relevant informeaningful life and developing pride in being Jewish, learn- mation. This will be followed by a parent-only follow-up ing to be a better person, providing protection from cults and meeting with the admissions team which determines if missionaries, and advancing survival of the Jewish people.

Friedel is an appropriate learning environment for each child.

In addition, William Jeynes, a senior fellow at the Enrollment information and tuition payment forms are Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, published mailed to parents whose children are accepted. A $100 regthe “Peabody Journal of Education” which notes that istration deposit should be returned to the school along with “attending private religious schools is associated with the completed forms. The deposit will be applied to tuition. highest level of academic achievement among the three Tuition support may be available for qualifying families. school types [religious private schools, charter schools and The Jewish Federation of Omaha’s Center for Jewish Life public schools], even when sophisticated controls are used offers scholarships. Applications are due by Monday, March to adjust for socioeconomic status.” Jeynes is not a Jewish 3. Beth Israel Synagogue offers tuition stipends to member day school professional. families, and Beth El Synagogue may also offer need-based Ilana McNamara, who graduated from Friedel and is now tuition assistance. in middle school, and her sister Leora, a Friedel fifth grader, Cohn encouraged parents to contact her at the school (at “just love being at Friedel!” emphasized their mother, Aviva 402.334.0517 or pcohn@jewishomaha.org) with any quesSegall. “I think one of the things we like about being there is tions related to the admissions process. Those planning to it feels like a family. The younger students are treated so nice- attend Kindergarten Round-Up are asked to call Lorrie at ly by the older ones. And it’s been great for our daughters 402.334.0517.

Cooking in Israel Continued from page 5 This would definitely be a winner for anyone who is a vegetarian combined with a love for authentic Mediterranean-style family cooking.

PUMPKIN STEW WITH CARROTS AND RAISINS 300 g (10 31/2 oz.) pumpkin, peeled and diced 2-3 carrots, sliced vegetable oil 2 onions, sliced 150 g (about 3/4 cup) golden raisins 1 cup cooked chickpeas (optional) 1-2 tbsp. sugar 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. ground cloves salt 1. Cook the pumpkin and carrots separately in boiling water until soft but not mushy.

2. Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil in a large skillet and sauté the onions until golden.

3. Add the pumpkin, carrots, raisins, chickpeas, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and a little water and cook, uncovered, for 1015 minutes.

4. Season with salt and serve with couscous.

ROASTED EGGPLANT WITH TOMATO SALSA 2 medium eggplants 2 tomatoes, chopped 2-3 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro green hot pepper, chopped (optional) salt juice of 1 lemon, or more to taste 3 tbsp. tahini paste 1/2 cup canned or boiled chickpeas (optional) 1. Roast the eggplants over an open flame or in the broiler until very soft and charred.

2. Cut a slit at the bottom of the eggplants and place in a sieve. Leave to drain.

3. Once drained and cool enough to handle, remove the peel and dark seeds (leave the stem on).

4. Put the tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, hot pepper and salt in a bowl and mix to combine.

5. Drizzle the eggplants with the lemon juice and tahini, then spoon the tomato mixture over.

6. Garnish with chickpeas, if using, and serve.

January 17, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 7

An Israel Encounter for Temple Israel students

by DAVID GOLBITZ Temple Israel Staff Writer and MARY SUE GROSSMAN The Center for Jewish Life A group of Temple Israel high school students, accompanied by Cantor Wendy Shermet, recently returned from a ten-day Israel trip. The 11th and 12th grade teens included Jacob Arnold, Hannah Budwig, Malka Eisenberg, Max Gendler, Justin Norton, Mallory Rogers and Rachel Stoneking, Coordinated through the Partnership2GETHER program, Cantor Shermet, Rabbi Josh Brown and Eliad Eliyahu Ben Shushan, Omaha’s Community Shaliach, worked together extensively on the itinerary. “The focus of the trip was for our kids to meet Israeli teens,” said Cantor Shermet. “We want our young people to have friends in Israel and viceversa, so that they feel that connection with Israel.”

Partnership2GETHER, a program of the Jewish Agency for Israel promotes people-to-people relationships between Israel and communities throughout the world. Omaha is one of 12 cities in the U.S. partnering with the city of Akko and the Matte Asher region in northern Israel, sharing cultural, social, medical, educational and economic programs.

Omaha’s Partnership programs are coordinated by the Center for Jewish Life.

The group arrived in Israel on Dec. 23, traveling first to Jerusalem. They explored the City of David, visited the Old City and the Western Wall and had a unique experience at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. “It was crazy packed,” said Hannah Budwig. “It was really powerful to go there. It really doesn’t mean so much to us as Jews, but for Christians, I can imagine how powerful it would be.”

It was then time to travel north for the main activities of the trip in the Partnership2GETHER region in the Western Galilee. The group met their Israeli counterparts at Sulam Tsor High School, with whom each student would be spending home hospitality for four nights, including Shabbat. The introduction session included presentations by the participants about life as a teen in his/her respective country.

One difference highlighted was post-high school choices.

Max Gendler commented: “We talked about how we go to college and how they go to the military and also about their feelings about going into the military.” Budwig added that

Temple Israel teens with their Israeli counterparts on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea near Nahariya. Alona Johnson, left, Max Gendler, Omer Shafrir, Liad Rozenberg, Rachel Stoneking, Jacob Arnold and Lidor Lachmish. during school the Israelis go to different army bases, like a field trip, to see what might interest them. “Then as juniors they spend a week at an army base, experiencing what military life is like before they join. As an outsider looking in, I think that would scare me, having to join the army, but for them it’s just a part of everyday life.”

The first day in the region also included a visit to the Ghetto Fighters Museum, where they were greeted by former Omahan Beth Seldin Dotan. The group, which included both the Omaha and Israeli teens, took part in joint activities and then traveled to Hafuch-al-Hafuch, a center in Akko for at-risk youth. The day ended with pizza and bowling.

The next day, the Partnership activities continued as the Temple Israel students and their Israeli peers participated in social action volunteering around the area. They toured a food bank and helped sort and pack meals. They then went to the Western Galilee Medical Center, where they visited children’s rooms and handed out balloons, although occasionally the balloons were rejected. “The person who led us around the hospital told us since these kids are in the hospital, they have no control over their lives,” Budwig said.

“Letting them reject the balloons gives them a little control over something.” The teens learned that the hospital, which is just miles from the Israeli-Syrian border, has also been treating refugees from the conflict in Syria.

It was then time for Kabbalat Shabbat services which the group attended at Emet Ve Shalom, a reform synagogue.

Shabbat was spent with the host families. “My favorite thing that we did was on Shabbat,” said Budwig. “We went to Haifa and saw the Baha’i Gardens and the Baha’i Temple. Then we went to an air force base where we had snacks with my host family’s son, the brother of the girl who was my age. It was Shabbat, so all these families came, and everyone was having a picnic with their family member who was in the military.

It was really cool.”

Gendler enjoyed spending time with his host family and the rest of the teens in the program. “The best experience I had there was getting to know the teens in our partner city.

Spending time with them, their families, and spending a bit of our touring with them was so great. It was really amazing how closely related to each other we are although we live so far apart. I learned that we aren’t different after all and that life where they live is much like ours, except tweaked a little.”

The final two days of the trip were spent in Tel Aviv where they visited the Beit Daniel Center for Progressive Judaism and also toured Old Jaffa and visited Independence Hall.

Based on the success of the mission, Temple Israel is planning an 11th and 12th grade trip to Israel, every other year.

On the alternate year, the teens will take part in a college Hillel trip.

“This was a great mission and the Partnership staff in Israel loved working with the teens,” commented Eliad Eliyahu. “And thanks to social media, the kids will keep in contact. Then in April, they will all be together again when the Israeli teens visit Omaha.”

Coming in January

The

Women’s Issue

Publishing Date | 01.31.14 Space Reservation | 01.22.14 Camera Ready Deadline | 01.24.14 Contact your advertising representative to advertise in this very special edition.

Jessie Wees | 402.334.6559 | jwees@jewishomaha.org

8 | The Jewish Press | January 17, 2014

Point of view

American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

This again?

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press When New Yorker Menachem Stark was found brutally murdered on Jan. 3, it caused quite a stir locally. It didn’t really become a national story until the New York Post ran this headline: “Who didn’t want him dead?”

Instantly, the murder stopped being the story, and the coverage of that murder took its place. It wasn’t just that headline, either. The Post article spoke of the “millionaire Hasidic slumlord,” who was embroiled in “shady business transactions” and was “up to his tuches in debt.”

There was the “trail of angry tenants,” there were “unpaid contractors” and “angry business associates.” The Post even went so far as to reprint random, hateful comments that were posted around the Internet. Because we all know that comments left by anonymous readers have such journalistic value. Cue the anti-Semitic pizza-eating loners who won’t pass up the opportunity to make fun of Mr. Stark’s streimel.

We shouldn’t be so surprised. Yes, the Post is sensationalist, cheap, and a little disgusting, and the way Menachem Stark was portrayed wasn’t very nice.

However, that’s like saying the Catholic Voice doesn’t print enough stories about the value of atheism. People don’t read the New York Post because they want to read nice stories; they read it because they want scandal. It is that simple, and if the Post is to blame, then so is the public. After all, the public keeps reading.

There is a larger issue, though. This habit we have of forgetting the original story, and focusing on how that story is

told (and who told it), is a little strange, isn’t it? It’s as if the minute anyone reports on anything, we’re all watching each other’s responses. A&E found that out when Mr. Duck

Dynasty shared his homophobic ideas in GQ Magazine.

Anticipating the public outrage, they suspended the reality TV star, only to be denounced for being hypocritical. The audience, at least for a few irritating days, was focused on the TV channel, rather than on the Duck guy himself (I don’t know his name and refuse to look it up), even though he said some very questionable things. It is apparent that many of us have much more fun being upset at the reporter or TV exec-

utive than at the original story.

None of this happens in a vacuum. With the increase of information sharing, with the Internet in our pocket and a myriad of publications at our fingertips, we have become somewhat wary of reporters in general. These days, it is just as likely for a political disagreement to focus on a candidate, as on which news channel we watch. Tell me your favorite news anchor, and I’ll tell you whom you vote for.

We are hardwired to believe stories that are put in writing or told to us by someone behind an anchor desk. At the very least we consider the possibility it’s true. It’s a holdover from the time when reporting the news was a craft. So when a reporter tells lies or is blatantly subjective, it sometimes makes us angry. But the line between truth and fiction has been blurred for so long, and we are getting so used to instant online sharing, that it’s becoming harder and harder to be a discernible reader. We need to bring back some healthy doubt. When we read an article, or watch a news program on TV, we must consider the source.

We have to ask ourselves: “Where did you get that? Is this true? What’s the evidence?” We need to take back some of the responsibility for knowing what’s real and what’s not.

And if we must know about a tragedy, we shouldn’t look to papers like the New York Post for answers. Gossipy rags don’t consider people’s feelings, or the fact that when a man dies so brutally it really isn’t relevant whether he was shady or a tzadek. A man died, his family is grieving, and everything else is background noise. What we need is facts, not fiction; it has to be about the story, rather than about the paper that prints it.

Educational excellence in day schools

Focus on issues ERICA BROWN This is part of a series of essays on Jewish day schools being published by the Sustainable Stories project of PEJE, the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education.

SILVER SPRING, Md. (JTA) -- I don’t know about you, but as a Jewish day school graduate, parent and former board member, I am a little tired of hearing about how excellent we are. This is not because I embrace mediocrity but because I am increasingly unsure of what it means.

I do see the word “excellence” strategically placed in development materials all the time. It is used in speeches to describe everything from preschool standards to board commitments.

But if we know one thing about excellence, it’s that it never surfaces in the telling, only in the showing. And if we do not define excellence, it becomes virtually impossible to achieve.

Major companies known for excellence do not assume that their employees understand what they mean by the word. Instead, they create core principles, behaviors and standards; train employees to attain them; and then evaluate performance relative to their articulated criteria. This is true at Disney, Zappos, Nordstrom and L.L. Bean.

Some companies, notably the Ritz-Carlton chain, make their employees regularly recite their principles or carry them in wallet-size cards. Everyone is expected to know and embody what the company stands for. Ignorance can never be an excuse. Great customer service is consistent and shared across all levels of employment and in all departments. Training is no guarantee, but it creates the force of a shared language and high expectations.

It is in the arena of shared language, expectations and consistent service that we often find ourselves failing. The receptionist is friendly, but the first-grade teacher pretends you’re invisible. The librarian is eager to help, but the principal responds to your emails two weeks late. A parent is

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treated with respect, but the student is told off in front of other students. To be an excellent institution means that excellence permeates the entire environment.

Here are four different understandings of excellence that come from worlds far outside education.

Relative excellence: We are probably not excellent, but we’re a lot better than any other game in town. This can best be summed up in the words of Dolly Parton: “It’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.” In a rhinestone world, a really good fake might not be exposed for what it really is.

And relative excellence involves no striving or driving ambition for greatness.

Instrumental excellence: We’re not committed to excellence for its own sake but for the sake of efficiency. This is not a bad motive, but it’s not inspirational enough to create true excellence. It’s just easier to do it right the first time, as captured by basketball coach John Wooden: “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have the time to do it over?”

Aspirational excellence: We set our standards so high that they become unattainable. Some people believe that unrealistic standards should not be a problem because if you create a really high bar, you can get closer than if your bar is too low. Football coach Vince Lombardi put this sentiment into his own winning words: “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” But if your standards are so pie in the sky that they cannot be measured, you might as well have no standards at all.

Focused excellence: We cannot accomplish every goal, so we need to determine what we can really do best and be laser-focused on it, share the same objectives and subsequently take deep pride in the results together. This is embodied not only in the words of Steve Jobs but in the products produced by his company. His theory of excellence: “We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life.”

Our uniqueness emerges from the Jewish knowledge, identity and values-based community we are trying to build.

The Jewish piece of the equation is often our most mediocre component. We might have a few teachers who shine or a good curriculum on a subject, but on the consistency front we consistently fall down on the job.

Excellence cannot be measured solely through the lens of high scores on standardized tests rather than high marks in differentiated learning, character development, or multiple modalities of learning. We even defend our mediocrity by excusing the quality of teaching, the tedium of the prayer services or the confusion around school identity and ideology.

This is not focused excellence. It is not even relative excellence.

Ron Berger is an elementary school teacher. He is also a carpenter. In his book An Ethic of Excellence, he describes how carpentry influences his approach to education: “In carpentry there is no higher compliment builders give to each other than this: This guy is a craftsman. This one word says it all. It connotes someone who has it all. It connotes someone who has integrity and knowledge, who is dedicated to his work and who is proud of what he does and who he is. Someone who thinks carefully and does things well ... I want a classroom full of craftsmen.”

In the mishnah that we read traditionally each Friday night, we refer to a passage in the Talmud with a clever word-play (Brakhot 64a): “Students of Torah bring peace to the world, as it is stated, ‘When all your builders are studying the teachings of God, then the peace of your children will flourish’ [Isaiah 54:13]. Instead of reading children read builders [al tikrei banaiekh ela boneiakh].”

Our children are our builders -- our craftsmen -- builders of our future. We want them and the entire school community to have integrity and knowledge, dedication and pride.

And when you put that all together, you get focused excellence. And that’s what we have to deliver every day. So let’s stop talking about excellence, and let’s start achieving it and measuring it.

Erica Brown is the author of eight books, including her newest, “Leadership in the Wilderness.”

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January 17, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 9

Anti-Semitism links boycott of Israel to quenelle

Behind the headlines BEN COHEN (JNS.org) About five years ago, I participated in a head-tohead debate about contemporary anti-Semitism that was published in the Congressional Quarterly. Facing off against a particularly tiresome Jewish anti-Zionist, I tried to shed some light on the issue by drawing a distinction between what I called “Bierkeller” and “Bistro” anti-Semitism.

“Bierkeller” anti-Semitism -- named for the drinking establishments in Germany where the Nazis chugged down beer while shouting themselves hoarse about the “Jewish menace” -- is, I said, pretty transparent. You wear a uniform, you yell about Jews -- (not “Zionists,” mind you, but “Jews”), and you burn down a synagogue. By contrast, “Bistro” antiSemitism—named for the trendy eateries adored by bienpensant metropolitan leftists—is an altogether more refined affair. It does not demonize Jews as Jews. It regards any talk of anti-Semitism as a reprehensible technique to divert attention away from Israel’s “crimes.” And it insists that there is no common ground between today’s calls to destroy the Jewish state and Hitler’s obsession with destroying the Jewish people; the former is grounded upon principles of justice, while the latter refers to a regrettable historical event that is, whatever the paranoid fantasies conjured up by Jewish leaders, over and done with.

As I observed the furor around two separate but related events in recent weeks—the mushrooming of a movement in American universities in favor of an academic boycott of Israel, and the disturbing trend in France for performing the “quenelle,” an inverted Nazi salute, in public spaces—I

thought once more of that distinction. What, I asked myself, connects the worldview of Dieudonné M’bala M’bala -- the anti-Semitic French comedian who invented the quenelle, and who heads a party called the “anti-Zionist List” while admitting that the voice of a Jewish journalist makes him nostalgic for the gas chambers -- with the worldview of the Israel-haters in the American Studies Association, the Modern Language Association, and similar academic bodies? Put another way: Is there now an inviting bistro in some corner of the loud, intimidating bierkeller?

It’s likely that many, though not all, American advocates of the academic boycott of Israel would be horrified by any association with Dieudonné. In their minds, a huge expanse separates their opposition to what they call Israel’s “apartheid” system of government from the young man who gave the quenelle while standing outside the Jewish school in Toulouse where, during a March 2012 terrorist atrocity, a rabbi and three small children were murdered. That fellow, they would say, is motivated by hatred of Jews; we, on the other hand, are motivated by justice for the Palestinians.

The truth is that it’s nowhere near that simple. Here’s why: In the post-Holocaust era, there isn’t a single example of something defined as “anti-Zionism” that hasn’t been contaminated by anti-Semitism. When the Arab League launched its “anti-Zionist” boycott in 1945, three years before Israel’s creation, its target was the besieged Jewish community in British Mandate Palestine. When the Soviet Union threw in its lot with the Arab regimes during the Cold War in the name of “anti-Zionism,” the primary victims were Soviet Jews. When Poland’s ruling communists launched an “anti-Zionist” campaign in the late 1960s, the people whom they purged were Jewish. And when left-wing

Israel’s Temple Mount policy is wise

Focus on issues DAVID ROSEN (JNS.org) In the 1920s, the Jerusalem Waqf, the local Muslim religious authority, published and distributed a pamphlet for visitors to the Haram al-Sharif, the Temple Mount. It explained that the location is named Al-Aqsa, in accordance with the Quran reference to the place the prophet Mohammed visited on his night journey to Heaven.

It indicated that the Prophet visited this site precisely because it was holy since time immemorial, and was where King Solomon built the Jewish Temple for divine service.

The Temple connection is also reflected in another of the most important Muslim names for the site, Beit Al-Maqdis, the Arabic version of Bet haMikdash, the Hebrew name for the Temple.

Today, however, it is virtually impossible to obtain any official Muslim Palestinian acknowledgement of this biblical origin of the Temple Mount. In fact, one of the most prominent Palestinian Sharia judges told me privately that only when peace comes and a Palestinian state is established with east Jerusalem—including Al-Aqsa—as its capital, would it be possible to acknowledge that history. In other words, recognition of the Jewish historical and religious connection to the Temple Mount is currently seen as a political concession.

Indeed, most Palestinian Muslims, and perhaps most Muslims in the world today, see affirmation of Jewish attachment to this site as political provocation. The issue has become an effective tool and rallying cry for those seeking to make political capital—such as Sheikh Ra’ed Salah (of the northern section of the Islamic movement in Israel), who has, in the past, inflamed the passions of thousands of young Palestinians with incendiary accusations against Israel.

Ironically, it is actually Israel that guarantees the Islamic presence on the Temple Mount, for both religious and security reasons. For centuries there has been a de facto Orthodox Jewish restriction on ascending the Temple Mount. This was formally confirmed by Chief Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Kook and has been the official position of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate since the establishment of the state, supported by most Orthodox authorities and virtually all haredi authorities.

This seemingly paradoxical self-restriction on Jews entering their most sacred site is due precisely to its holiness.

When the Temple stood, biblically mandated rites of purification were required in order to enter its precincts. The official Orthodox rabbinic position continues to maintain that since the core site remains eternally sacred, the mount is entirely prohibited to Jewish entry in the absence of the tra-

ditional purification rites.

Thus, when Moshe Dayan and Levi Eshkol reassured the Muslim authorities, after Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, that the Temple Mount would remain under the religious control of the Waqf, there was minimal Jewish religious opposition. Nevertheless, under Israeli secular democratic authority, Jewish visitors (overwhelmingly secular) as well as visitors of other faiths have been able to visit the site.

In recent years, some Jewish religious groups and their rabbinic leaders have contested the religious prohibition against going on the Temple Mount, claiming that there is substantial historical and archaeological proof that the Temple did not stand on the southern part of the area, and that Jews should be able to enter and pray there. But the Israeli secular courts and law enforcement agencies have prevented any organized prayer on the site, out of consideration for Muslim sensibilities and concern for possible violent Muslim reaction.

Indeed, not only because it is the third holiest site of Islam, but also precisely because of its politicization, it wouldn’t take much to strike a spark that ignites the tinderbox.

In August 1968, an Australian Christian, Denis Michael Rohan, who claimed to be “the Lord’s emissary” seeking to facilitate “the second coming” of Jesus, set fire to the pulpit of the Al-Aqsa mosque. Outrage across the Muslim world held Israel culpable. At that time, communications were nowhere near as sophisticated, immediate, and widespread as they are today, when feelings can be so swiftly and extensively inflamed.

Since then, there have been riots against Israeli archaeological digs or the visits of Israeli politicians to the site, with deadly consequences. These extreme reactions prove the wisdom of Israeli policy restricting Jewish access on the Temple Mount.

Unfortunately, Israel gets little credit for this. Recently, some Knesset members have suggested relaxing the restrictions, and allowing Jews to exercise their religious freedom and pray at the site. This has caused legitimate concern, as well as wildly exaggerated rhetoric that lends itself to political exploitation.

Most notably, there is overwhelming opposition both in the Knesset and the Israeli government to any such change.

And since the Israeli religious establishment and the haredi community determinedly oppose such change, there is every reason to be confident in the continuation of Israel’s responsible policy that guarantees exclusive Muslim religious authority on the Temple Mount.

Rabbi David Rosen is the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC’s) International Director of Interreligious Affairs (www.ajc.org).

visit us at jewishomaha.org

German terrorists hijacked an Air France plane in 1976, they demonstrated their “anti-Zionism” by separating the Jewish passengers from the non-Jewish ones.

Today’s boycott activists need to be reminded of this sordid history. They need to be asked why the cause of Israel’s elimination is a magnet for individuals like Dieudonné, as well as for the myriad others who warn darkly about the power of the so-called “Israel Lobby,” or the existence of an “Israel Firster” mentality among Jews. Is it just a coincidence? Or are we dealing with a situation in which antiSemitism is acceptable so long as it calls itself by some other name? Are we really so dim as to be fooled by an exercise in rebranding? After all, if the anti-Semitic Nazi salute were not illegal in France, there would be no need for the “antiZionist” quenelle.

Israel’s defenders might also want to ponder the important question of what the future holds. Will forthcoming incarnations of anti-Zionism belong to the earnest dogmatists of the academy, or will they be trumped by the theatrical provocations of Dieudonné and his quenellistas?

Only the latter have the possibility of becoming a mass phenomenon, because they exercise an appeal that stretches from the street corners of depressed European cities to glitzy VIP rooms filled with celebrity athletes. That’s why the days when we look back upon the academic boycott of Israel as a comparatively innocent affair may not be too far in front of us.

Ben Cohen is the Shillman Analyst for JNS.org. His writings on Jewish affairs and Middle Eastern politics have been published in Commentary, The New York Post, Ha’aretz, Jewish Ideas Daily and many other publications.

Five ways to turn women away

by TALIA LAVIN (JTA) Aish.com, the website for the Orthodox outreach organization Aish HaTorah, has more than just Torah commentaries and explanations of Jewish ritual; it also offers dating advice.

A new piece on Aish.com, “5 ways to turn off a guy,” gives women some helpful tips (garnered from three recently married men, who are, by virtue of being married, now experts on male-female interactions everywhere) on how to keep the attention of the men they desire. From way No. 1 to turn off a guy, “Debate with him” -- because disagreement is like a blast of cold water to a Jewish Lothario -- to No. 5, “Pursue him,” passivity seems to be Aish.com’s prescription for a successful dating life for women.

Other ways to turn off a guy? Failing to dress up and get made up for a date; listing too many academic and professional accomplishments on your online dating profile (“I’m looking for a wife, not a business associate,” one of Aish’s male informants explained); and opening up too much about your personal life (especially instances like the time “You and your sister didn’t speak for two years after a man you both liked chose to date her”). If professional and personal topics are taboo, one wonders what’s left for women to converse about on dates: The weather?

Meals she would enjoy cooking for her current suitor? Or better yet, no conversation at all, lest it wind up in a datedestroying debate?

Aish later went back and added a coda to the post, claiming the piece was misinterpreted and offering reworded, “blunter” versions of their sage advice. But the authors still admonish women not to “throw yourself at him,” “look as if you don’t care about your appearance,” or “spill your guts to him right away.” As a proud self-thrower, sweatpants-lover and acknowledged guts-spiller (who is engaged to be married), my best dating advice is be yourself and be wary of unsolicited dating advice.

UPDATE: After its short-lived editorial note, Aish.com swiftly took down the post, claiming that their points had been “misconstrued.” Aish also removed all the negative comments from the piece, trimming the comments from 31 down to five. Perhaps the site’s moderators “misconstrued” the comments (because “misconstrue” and “disagree” are now apparently synonyms).

Anyway, I guess widespread discontent about the post made its point... so it’s time to settle back for a good long argument about the finer plot points of The Wire with my fiance. In an enormous T-shirt. While also talking about my feelings. And sharing my professional accomplishments.

Good work, everyone.

10 | The Jewish Press | January 17, 2014

Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 | 402.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com For information on our historic synagogue – dates and times for Friday night services, please call 712.323.8885.

FRIDAY, Feb. 14: Services, 7:30 p.m. followed by an oneg with guest speaker, Richard Fellman, Retired Lawyer and Adjunct Professor at UNO on Jews in Cuba. The community is invited.

Miles Remer will officiate at all of the Speaker Series Services.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California | Omaha, NE 68154-1980 | 402.492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m.; Gabby Witkowski, daughter of Drs. Susan and Issac Witkowski, will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah, 9:30 a.m.; MiniMinyannaires, 10:45 a.m.; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 5:15 p.m.

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

SUNDAY: No BESTT Classes this week; Torah Study Group, 10 a.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 11 a.m. with Hazzan Krausman.

MONDAY: Tai Chi, Better Balance for everyone, six-week class at the synagogue through Feb. 10, 6–6:45 p.m., led by certified Tai Chi instructor, Beth Staenberg. Cost, $30.

Register online at Beth El’s website.

TUESDAY: Wrestling with the Rabbis of the Talmud, 10 a.m. weekly adult-education class led by Rabbi Abraham.

No charge to attend; everyone is welcome.

WEDNESDAY: BESTT Classes (grades 2-7), 4:15 p.m.

BESTT Hebrew High Classes, 6:45 p.m.

THURSDAY: Dames and Drinks, 7 p.m. at Brix, Village Pointe. RSVP to host Abby Kulter, aerpelding@gmail.com; Choir Rehearsal, 7:30 p.m.

Have a cup of coffee wth God, Shabbat, Jan. 25, 9:30 a.m.

USY, Saturday, Jan. 25, 6 p.m., Havdallah and dinner at the home of Alyssa Cohen.

Torah Tots, Sunday, Jan. 26, 10:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

Sunday Scholar Series, Jan. 26, 11 a.m., Rabbi Abraham will speak on Issues of Contemporary Jewish Law; Sunday, Feb. 2, 11 a.m. Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi Levy will speak on Moses Never Drove Carpool, How Do We Maintain Balance and Presence in a Hectic Life?

Challah Baking 101, Thursday, Jan. 30, 7 p.m. Learn with the expert, Laura Bair, the art of perfect challah making.

Cost, $5, Beth El members, $8, non-members. RSVP to chairman, Sonia Tipp, stipp0811@yahoo.com.

Scholar-in-Residence, Friday, Jan. 31–Sunday, Feb. 2.

Rabbi Naomi Levy. (see full story on pages 1 and 3.)

Bat Mitzvah Eleanor Dunning, daughter of Toba Cohen-Dunning and Eric Dunning, will become a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Jan. 25, at Beth Israel.

Eleanor is a sixth-grader at Wilson Focus School which concentrates on Leadership, Communication and Technology in the Omaha Public Schools. She is the president of the Student Council and a member of the Youth Congress. For the last two years, she has been an avid member of the school’s robotics program.

Last year, her team received the highest award for integrity, creativity and communication and was invited to the national competition.

Her interests include a passionate interest in the welfare of animals, swimming, traveling and spending time with friends and family.

Most of her parsha is learning about the laws related to animal welfare. Mishpatim is a perfect match for her. She has toured the Boys Town National Research Hospital animal labs, toured the NE Humane Society, has been doing research on animal welfare over the last year and will be interviewing someone during her bat mitzvah who has directly benefitted from animal research and as a result has a cochlear implant.

She has a brother, Teddy.

Grandparents are Jane M. Cohen and the late Jack. E. Cohen, Frank Dunning, Patrick O’Donnell and the late Gina Dunning.

The Secrets of the Jews, Sunday, Feb. 9, 10 a.m. Monthly adult-education class led by Andy Greenberg. Register online at www.bethel-omaha.org.

All classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street | Omaha, NE. 68154 | 402.556.6288 www.BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross.

FRIDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 5:04 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit (Barchu), 9 a.m.; Good Shabbos Nebraska is on mid-season hiatus; Mincha, 4:40 p.m.; Havdalah, 6:09 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

MONDAY: Daf Yomi: Week in Review with Rabbi Gross, 7:45 a.m.

THURSDAY: Sacred Grounds, 9:30 a.m.

CHABAD HOUSE An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street | Omaha, NE 68144-1646 | 402.330.1800 www.OChabad.com | email: chabad@aol.com Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

SATURDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 9:30 a.m. followed

by Kiddush lunch.

SUNDAY: Minyan, 8:30 a.m.; Breakfast Bonanza, 9:30 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

TUESDAY: Dynamic Discovery with Shani Katzman, 10:15 a.m. A class for women based on traditional texts with practical insights and application. RSVP by calling the office.

WEDNESDAY: Personal Parsha class, 10 a.m. with Rochi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office; The Development of the Oral Tradition, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office. In memory of Forrest Krutter -- Efrayim Menachem Ben Avraham Yitzchak.

THURSDAY: Women’s Study at UNMC with Shani Katzman, noon. RSVP by emailing Marlene Cohen at mzcohen@unmc.edu.

All programs are open to the entire community.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN South Street Temple | Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street | Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 | 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org Services conducted by Rabbi Craig Lewis.

FRIDAY: Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast on 7 a.m. at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 1040 P Street. Keynote speaker is Dr. Marilyn Johnson-Farr, professor at Doane College.

Reservations required; FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE! Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. with oneg following.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Yitro; Game Night/Potluck, 6 p.m. All ages welcome. Questions? Please contact Deborah Swearingen.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Purim Spiel Rehearsal, 1 p.m.

MONDAY: Temple office closed for Martin Luther King, Jr Day. TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at Grandmothers, 70th and A Streets.

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

ADULT EDUCATION THURSDAYS, Beginning Hebrew, 6 p.m.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road | Offutt AFB, NE 68123 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month.

Candlelighting Friday, January 17, 5:04 p.m.

TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive | Omaha, NE 68144-1206 | 402.556.6536 http://templeisraelomaha.com FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Azriel, Rabbi Brown and Cantor Shermet. Celebrate with Leora Azriel and Matt Werner, after Shabbat Services. Please join us for a special toast to Leora Azriel and Matt Werner on the eve of their wedding day for an oneg sponsored by Mary and Tom Bernstein, Judy and Jim Farber, Nancy and Don Greenberg, Cookie and Jerry Hoberman, Joanie and Marty Lehr, Sharee and Murray Newman, Nancy Noddle, Judy and Allen Ross, Suzanne Singer and Andi Willensky.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.; Torah Reader: Ann Osborne.

SUNDAY: No Religious School.

TUESDAY: Executive Meeting, 5:45 p.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 6:30 p.m. with Na’ama; Board of Trustees Meeting, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 4 p.m.; School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Family School, 6 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6 p.m.; Judaism and Religious Literacy, 6:30 p.m. Fr. Damian Zuerlein.

THURSDAY: Hiddur Mitzvah: The Art of Beautifying Judaism, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Brown.

Experience Shabbat, Saturday, Jan. 25, 4-6 p.m. Please plan to join us for our second Experience Shabbat for Kindergarten through Sixth Grade. This is a Religious School day – instead of Sunday, Jan. 26.

The Way to the Heart of Judaism is Through the Stomach, Thursdays, Jan. 30 - March 6, 10 a.m. Debbie Massarano, Director of Lifelong Learning, will lead this series. Our food tells about our people’s history, migrations, expulsions, living as a minority influenced by the majority culture, and daily life.

Super Bown XLVIII Party, Sunday, Feb. 2, 4:30 p.m. at Temple Israel. Activities for kids and sitter service are provided. We will also provide all you can eat appetizers and non-alcoholic drinks. BYOB. Suggested donation $5/person or $10/family. Please RSVP by Thursday, Jan. 30.

Sponsored by the Men of Reform Judaism.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard | Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 | 402.423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

FRIDAY: Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast, 7 a.m. at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 1040 P Street. Keynote speaker is Dr. Marilyn Johnson-Farr, professor at Doane College; Services, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning service, 10 a.m. followed by a Kidduch Lunch.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Purim Spiel Rehearsal, 1 p.m.; Tifereth Israel Board Meeting, 2 p.m.; PJ Library Kick-off Event: PJ’s and Pancakes, 5:30 p.m.

TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at Grandmothers, 70th and A Streets. If you have any questions please contact Stephanie Dohner.

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

Friday Evening Service and Potluck Dinner, Jan. 24, 6 p.m. at Swartz-Scherba Home, 2540 Lafayette Ave. Please bring a dairy side dish or dessert (hechshered ingredients) in a new disposable pan or glass bowl. If the item is baked, please follow our policy of double wrapping the pan in aluminum foil and cleaning your oven in advance if you do not maintain a kosher kitchen. The main dish will be provided. RSVP to Nava in the office 402.423.8569 to let us know you are coming and what you will be bringing.

LCJS Family Ed. day for fifth and sixth grade classes, Jan. 26, 10-11 a.m. with Rabbi Lewis, Nancy Coren, and Charley Friedman.

Richard Evnen will share the experiences he had working for the AJWS (American Jewish World Services) in Cambodia on Sunday, Jan. 26 at 3 p.m.

To Submit B’nai Mitzvah Announcements ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Chef ’s Demo, 1:30 p.m. led by Chabad.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Services, 9 a.m. led by Miles Remer and Joan Kripke.

Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend.

Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewish omaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154.

Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, by e-mailing the editor at: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org or online at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press.’

Pulverente MONUMENT CO.

January 17, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 11

A strong stomach

In memoriam ILONA BERK

Sparks from the word RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parsha Yitro Before we come to the Ten Commandments, we are told that Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, joins the Israelites in the wilderness. He has heard of Israel’s miraculous escape from Egypt, and now Moses fills in the story for him. He tells him not only details of the escape, but also details of the plagues visited on Egyptians.

And Jethro exclaims: “Now I know that the Lord is the greatest of all gods.”

One of our medieval commentators points out that what excited the imagination of Jethro was that God was responsible both for the good that happened to the Hebrews, and the punishment of the Egyptians. To us this seems natural enough. But to ancient pagans, the good was usually attributed to one god, and evil and punishment to another.

In philosophy, Plato’s doctrine of idea vs. matter is the beginning of philosophical dualism, which continues in some forms to this day. And Christianity’s pitting the spiritual against the physical is a derivative of this kind of thinking.

Personally, I have never been convinced that the stress on the Satan, the Devil, both in formal and folkloristic Christianity, is anything other than the continuation of the idea of an extra, a second, antagonistic god. Jews have flirted with these ideas also, but they never entered mainstream Judaism.

The Shema insists on the oneness of God. The prayerblessing immediately after the Call to Worship, the Barekhu, praises God who creates light and darkness, establishes peace and creates all things.

Is this hard theological doctrine? Undoubtedly it is. But monotheism is impossible without it.

The idea of monotheism, of one God who is the only Power, requires a strong theological stomach. But any attempt to cure the distress of this theological stomach is worse than the distress. The cure has side effects, which destroy the luminous idea of the oneness of God, Israel’s watchword and its greatest contribution to the spiritual life of mankind.

Goodbye to Ariel Sharon

by JTA NEWS STAFF JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Ariel Sharon was one of Israel’s “most outstanding leaders and most daring commanders,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following a moment of silence for the late prime minister and war hero.

Netanyahu eulogized Sharon at the start of Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting less than a day after Sharon died at 85 after eight years in a coma following a massive stroke.

“Arik was, first and foremost, a warrior and a commander, among the Jewish people’s greatest generals in the current era and throughout its history,” Netanyahu said. “In all of his positions -- defense minister, housing minister, infrastructures minister and foreign minister -Arik contributed to the State of Israel, as he also did as prime minister. I think that he represents the generation of Jewish warriors that arose for our people upon the resumption of our independence.”

Netanyahu added: “He was tied to the land; he knew that it had to be defended. He understood that above everything, our revival is our ability to defend ourselves by ourselves. I believe that he will be remembered in the heart of the Jewish people forever as one of our most outstanding leaders and most daring commanders.”

Sharon’s coffin was placed in the Knesset Plaza on Sunday. The burial took place on Monday, on the grounds of his Negev ranch next to his wife, Lily.

The official cause of death was heart failure, though for the last week Sharon had been in renal failure without receiving dialysis, multi-organ failure and suffered from a blood infection.

“My dear friend, Arik Sharon, lost his final battle today,” Israeli President Shimon Peres said following Sharon’s death. “Arik was a brave soldier and a daring leader who loved his nation and his nation loved him. He was one of Israel’s great protectors and most important architects, who knew no fear and certainly never feared vision.

Ehud Olmert succeeded Sharon as head of the Kadima Party and as prime minister after Sharon fell into the coma from which he never awoke.

Ilona Berk passed away on Dec. 6 in Omaha at age 95.

Services were held at Greenwood Cemetery in Grand Rapids, MI. She was preceded in death by her husband, Sam; brothers, Yidou and Peretz; sisters, Idush and Zisele.

She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Jim and Beth Berk of West Bloomfield, MI; grandchildren: George and Sarah; sisters, Ethel Feuerstein, Rita Klein and Margaret Havasi, all of Florida; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Ilona Berk was a Holocaust survivor who aided in the survival of others; she became a wife and mother and turned a passionate talent into a career in dress design.

Born Aug. 24, 1918, in Czechoslovakia to Jacob and Hana Dorenter, she was a member of Hadassah and Congregation Tifereth Israel in Lincoln, where she lived for most of her life.

Memorials may be made to Congregation Tifereth Israel, 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502, www.tiferethisraellincoln.org, or Holocaust Memorial Center, 28123 Orchard Lake Road, Farmington Hills, MI 48334, or to the organization of your choice.

60 Years Experience With Jewish Lettering and Memorials

GEORGE JACOB SHAFER George Jacob Shafer passed away on Dec. 29 at age 95.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Miriam Shafer.

He is survived by his daughters and sons-in-law, Patty and Michael Sherman and Bunny and Steve Rothenberg; five grandchildren: David Sherman, Ali Sherman, Alexis Rothenberg, Max Rothenberg, Ian Rothenberg; and two great-grandsons: Isaac Sherman and Aaron Sherman.

George was a WW II Air Force veteran, a long-time member of B’nai B’rith, Masonic Lodge #288, Tangier Shrine, Scottish Rite, and American Legion. He was active in VIE and the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society. He enjoyed his family, friends, activities, being involved in life, and humor.

Memorials may be made to the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, 333 South 132 Street, Omaha, NE 68154 or the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

Bye Bye Birdie Auditions Auditions for Bye Bye Birdie will be held Sunday, Jan. 19.

Cost for JCC members is $133; for non-members it is $166 (code: 16-201) Auditions for adults ages 18 and over are scheduled for 3-4 p.m.; children ages 8-18 should come from 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Rehearsals start on Sunday, Feb. 2, 3-5 p.m.

For more information, contact Jessica Reed at jreed@jccomaha.org or 402.334.6402, or Esther Katz at ekatz@jccomaha.org or 402.334.6406.

We are seeking candidates for our Industrial Maintenance Operations, located at the Cargill Corn Milling Site in Blair, NE.

• Grounds Technician • Welder Technician• Janitorial Technician Experience in Tig Welding • Electrical Instrumentation Technician • Pipe Fitter-Tig Welding Experience w/ Journeyman’s license • Vac Truck Technician We o er an excellent beneÞts package: paid holidays/vacation, medical/dental insurance, 401(k) and work uniforms. Background check and drug screen required.

Submit resume with position title to: teri.evans@dtz.com or by mail to P.O. Box 227, Blair, NE 68008 or fax to 402-533-4305 No phone calls, please.

EOE/M/F/D/V Visit our website at www.dtz.com

Frank L. Ciciulla, Jr.

Project Coordinator Wanted Aschoff Construction Inc. is a General Contractor looking for a Project Coordinator to estimate jobs, oversee subcontractors, materials procurement, scheduling and customer relations. The right candidate should have previous construction experience or training. Commercial and/or Residential experience and knowledge of AutoCAD preferred along with good computer and mathematical skills. Attention to detail and ability to be accountable for one’s work is a must.

Aschoff Construction is a team oriented company that offers a competitive !"#$!%&$"'#!($)#%#*(+$,-'$,.//$(01#$#12/-31#%(4

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SALLY G. FOX Sally G. Fox passed away on Jan. 10 in Burlington, VT at age 62. Services were held on Jan. 12 at Temple Sinai in Burlington, VT and were officated by Rabbi Aryeh Azriel of Temple Israel in Omaha.

She was preceded in death by parents Philip and Dee Fox and father-in-law, Joseph Sirotkin.

She is survived by husband, Michael Sirotkin, Burlington, VT; sons, Jacob Sirotkin of New York and Jesse Sirotkin of New York; brother and sister-in-law, Rick and Shelly Fox; brother, Michael Fox; sister and brother-in-law, Marsha and Michael Greene.

Sally was in her second term in the Vermont State Senate.

She was previously elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 and served seven terms. She served as chair of the House Appropriations Committee and House Judiciary Committee. Fox was a lawyer and held a J.D. from the State University of New York Law School. She ran the Developmental Disabilities Law Project for Vermont Legal Aid for 11 years from 1977 to 1988 where she defended the rights of Vermonters. Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin served with Fox when he was first appointed to the House.

Governor Shumlin ordered that flags on state and federal buildings be lowered to half-staff from Sunday through Tuesday in Fox’s honor.

Memorials may be made to the Dee Fox Memorial Fund at Temple Israel.

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Nebraska STATEWIDE CLASSIFIEDS ATTENTION ADVERTISERS! For $225/25 word classified you can advertise in over 170 Nebraska newspapers. For more information contact the Jewish Press at 402-334-6449 or call 1-800-369-2850.

IN LINCOLN, The Family Show, The 45th Annual Boat, Sport, Travel Show, Jan. 31-Feb. 2, Lancaster Event Center. Boats, RVs, Travel, Tackle, Entertainment. www.nebraskasportsshow.com.

ROCK CREEK Renegades Modern/Black Powder Gun Show, Early American Trade Fair, Jan. 25 & 26, Lancaster Event Center, 84th & Havelock, Lincoln, 402477-6409, www.rockcreekrenegades.com.

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Statewide filing. No office appointment necessary. Call Steffens Law Office, 308872-8327. steffensbankruptcylaw.com. We are a debt relief agency, which helps people file bankruptcy under the bankruptcy code.

PELVIC/TRANSVAGINAL Mesh? Did you undergo transvaginal placement of mesh for pelvic organ prolapse or stress urinary incontinence between 2005 and the present? If the mesh caused complications, you may be entitled to compensation. Call Charles H. Johnson Law and speak with female staff members, 1-800535-5727.

AFFORDABLE PRESS Release service. Send your message to 175 newspapers across Nebraska for one low price! Call 1-800-369-2850 or www.nebpress.com for more details.

FOR SALE: Kimball Laundry & Dry Cleaning, Kimball, NE. Est. 1953, and Monograms & More (monogramming, silk screening and heat transfer). For more information, call Jim O’Brien, 308-235-5792.

SELL YOUR classic car, truck or motorcycle online. Call this newspaper or call 1800-369-2850 to place your ad on the national Midwest Classic Cars web site for only $25.00. Your ad with photos runs until your vehicle is sold!

QUONSET FOR sale. 70’x160’ with 51 arched wood trusses. Floor to ceiling is at least 30’ in the center. One 16’ overhead door. Tin is fair. Must be removed from existing location prior to April 2014. In Nebraska City. Reasonable offers considered. dkelly@stez.org, 402-873-8901.

ORTHMAN ENERGY LLC, Fuel Tank Containment Systems, Double wall tanks, Certified (SPCC) Plans, Installation and Service, N/G Irrigation Power Units 50 to 300 HP, Free quotes. Contact: mcrawford@orthman.com, 308-962-6101.

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12| The Jewish Press | January 17, 2014

In New York, a glimpse of Middle East peace

by ADI MEYERSON NEW YORK (JTA) -- It was 11 o’clock on a chilly September night and I was coming home from a gig -my first in New York City. I had just moved to Manhattan from Jerusalem a couple of months before to become a professional jazz bass player and would take any job I could get.

Now here I was, all 5-foot-3 and 105 pounds, lugging my giant instrument through the East Village, with only $30 in my pocket and tears in my eyes.

“Is this how Manhattan is going to be?” I thought to myself. I wondered if I had made a mistake.

Passing by a Greek restaurant with tables on the street, I locked eyes with a middle-aged man in a suit with blue eyes and gray hair eating outside with friends. He looked at me carefully while I was walking by and smiled. I politely smiled back and continued to make my way home when the man stopped me and asked what instrument I played.

I told him I was coming back from a gig where I played the bass. I needed to get home and could not afford a cab, but the man intrigued me. His accent was different, Middle Eastern, maybe even Israeli. I politely asked where he was from.

“I am from Palestine,” he said. “And you?”

Without thinking I blurted out, “I’m from Israel.” Only as I said it did it occur to me that I was talking to my enemy.

My parents moved to Jerusalem in the 1990s from California and decided to buy an old Arab house in the Baka neighborhood, in the southern part of the city. Growing up I was taught to avoid contact with any unfamiliar Arab men. The only Arabs with whom I would be allowed to speak were my Dad’s Christian Arab friends who worked in our garden and lived in eastern Jerusalem.

“From Israel?” he said smiling, “Come join us for dinner.

Let’s talk.”

As a lone 21-year-old woman, I politely refused his offer to dine with four strange men. Yet after more persuasion and warm smiles, I decided to join them. I was flattered -- and pretty hungry.

Over the next hour we talked about food, argued over who had the best hummus in Jerusalem and who invented shakshuka, the Middle Eastern stew of poached eggs in tomato sauce. He and his friends told me stories about the treatment they received every morning at the Israeli-Palestinian bor-

der coming from Gaza, and I told them about how I hadn’t been allowed to take buses as a child to lower the risk of being in a suicide bombing.

We agreed on the music of Miles Davis, Umm Kulthum and Zohar Argov. We spoke English, yet we discovered that our languages, Hebrew and Arabic, share multiple words.

Politics was not mentioned -- just five ordinary people sitting around a dinner table.

Halfway through the meal, the suited man made a toast: “For peace, love and understanding.”

“This is not the people’s war; this is between our leaders,” he said. “If only they could sit down and have a conversation over dinner, they might realize that we are all human.”

After a Greek salad, two glasses of wine and some honey cake, the suited man explained to me that he was the Palestinian ambassador in the United States and that I was having dinner as well with the Palestinian coordinator for the United Nations and the son and grandson of the current Palestinian prime minister.

At first I didn’t believe them. There was no way I could have just happened to run into these four very important politicians and join them for a normal supper at a Greek diner. But the suited man wasn’t lying.

They treated me to dinner and gave my bass and me a ride home in their black car while listening to Umm Kulthum. I

couldn’t help but wonder why I felt so safe. I would never get into a car with a Palestinian in Israel, let alone four.

But in New York, my new city, somehow anything felt possible.

The suited man turned to me and joked, “Now that you’re in a car full of politicians, you’re not going to kidnap us and use it against us, right?”

I laughed, feeling reassured. Yes, anything was possible here.

We said goodbye and exchanged emails. They promised to let me know when they come to New York again.

I’d let them know about my next gig. I climbed the stairs to my Hell’s Kitchen apartment feeling confused yet rewarded. One meal did not mean world peace, I knew, but for the first time in my life, I felt a glimmer of hope.

When I called my parents to tell them what happened, I was scared they’d be mad that I’d put myself in a risky situation. Instead they were amazed.

“I’m proud of you,” they said, promising to share my story with their friends who felt hopeless about peace throughout the endless negotiations between the two lands being revived by the U.S. government. (Maybe the solution to the problem should be to bring the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to the United States instead of trying to revive the talks in the Middle East.)

Not that I thought I would ever see the Palestinian men again. Our dinner probably did not have as much as an impact on them as it had me.

But a few months later I received an email from the ambassador inviting me to be his guest to the Seeds of Peace gala. I was anxious and a little worried. What if I didn’t recognize him? What if the whole thing turned out to be a scam?

When he walked in the room, I immediately remembered him. He had that same inviting and familiar smile that made me trust a complete stranger.

At the gala, the ambassador introduced me as his guest, proudly telling the story of how we met.

“Peace can be made,” he said, “if you are willing to let it happen.”

Adi Meyerson grew up in Jerusalem and recently moved to New York to study at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary music, majoring in jazz performance on the upright bass.

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