February 1, 2008

Vol. LXXXVII No. 21 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 87 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

25 Shevet, 5768

February 1, 2008

Museum launches service for Holocaust archives by RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Digital technology will allow Holocaust survivors, researchers and others access to one of the largest troves of Nazi-era documents -- but at a pen-and-paper pace. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum told survivors’ groups last month that searches of the digital version of the Bad Arolsen archives it had obtained would take six to eight weeks to fulfill. “People understood the challenges,” said Jeanette Friedman, who represented the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants at a closed-door meeting Jan. 17 at the Holocaust museum here. The inquiry process, launched that day, will integrate the 46 million documents the Holocaust museum already possesses with more than 18 million documents made available by the International Tracing Service, the agency based in Bad Arolsen, Germany. The availability of the archives ends a decade-long political and legal battle to open the Bad Arolsen archives, which houses information on the fates of about 17.5 million Jews and non-Jews. Most of the documents now available through the museum relate to incarceration, persecution and concentration camps. Archivists ran a slide show showing how an index card in the files could help David Bayer, a survivor who volunteers at the museum, track his Auschwitz identifi-

Steven Vitto, a researcher in the U.S. Holocaust Museum’s Benjamin and Vladka Meed Registry of Holocaust Survivors, shows copies of documents from the Bad Arolsen archive. Credit: USHMM/Arnold Kramer cation card and a census of the Jewish Those who want to make an inquiry ghetto in his birthplace, Kozience, can call 866.912.4385 or go to Poland. The census was the only extant www.ushmm.org/its. record of his entire immediate family, Beth Seldin Dotan, director of the some of whom perished. Institute for Holocaust Education, an More documents relating to slave labor arm of the Plains States Region of the and to postwar witness testimony are slat- Anti-Defamation League/Community Relations Committee of the Jewish ed to be delivered by 2010.

Federation, is no stranger to the archives. “I have had numerous discussions, e-mail exchanges, and a personal meeting with Steve Vitto, one of the individuals who works in the museum registry and has been trained to use the Bad Arolsen archive,” she told the Jewish Press. He was helpful in giving the IHE direction when we were researching Sami Jalilov’s information -- the Auschwitz survivor who is from Tajikistan and is Muslim.” Dotan added, “This opportunity to search the archives, so long overdue, will provide a certain closure, however unsettling, to many survivors, and hopefully to people in our Omaha community. Just as we have seen a surge of unpublished documents suddenly surface from private individuals, we will now be witness to the uncovering of entire family histories that were not available for almost a generation.” The digital archives were released simultaneously last year to the 11 nations that control the tracing service. Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, was the first to establish a request-processing service last week, although it will not have an online capability until later this month. Much of the material delivered to the museums on hard drives packed into suitcases is not yet digitally searchable; images of the documents and 50 million index cards that arrived between August Continued to page 2

An era ending: Ziv Tzedakah Fund ready to close shop

African children’s group to perform at Temple on school tikkun olam day

by ERIC FINGERHUT impact on Jewish philanthropy” in a Washington Jewish Week variety of ways, from popularizing bar January marked 33 years and bat mitzvah tzedakah projects to since Danny Siegel decided allowing donor-designated contributo try something new. tions -- a practice Jewish federations Instead of the usual tradition have adopted increasingly in recent of waiting until his friends years. It also taught that there is “no gave him the typical dollar such thing as a small amount of or two to bring to Israel for money,” she said. And even as the tzedakah, he solicited them fund grew in size, that concept for money. He wound up remained true. When Siegel read off a with $955. When he got to list of the most recent checks depositIsrael, he asked around -ed, there were a few $5,000 amounts, “Who’s doing good but far more written for $10, $18 things?”-- distributed the and $36. funds, then came home and “Ziv was based on a model that was wrote a report to his donors small and very simple,” Siegel, 63, describing the recipients. said in an interview last week. It was He continued that pattern all about “finding good people and for several years. By 1981, his getting them ... money to allow them pre-trip collection had grown Danny Siegel is known as the Pied Piper of Tzedakah. to do what they do best,” he said. Ziv to $12,000 and a friend suggested that he register as a primarily has supported individuals or small programs 501(c)(3) charity. A published poet and writer, Siegel that provided direct services with a minimum of overformed a board and the Ziv Tzedakah Fund was born. head and bureaucracy. Twenty-six years later, having grown into a fund that Siegel discovered what he calls “mitzvah heroes” by distributed more than $1.9 million to more than 100 simply asking others the same question he asked on that charities in the United States and Israel last year and $12 trip to Israel: “Who’s doing good?” But joined by just million overall, Ziv Tzedakah has just become too large Eisenberger in the U.S. and a part-time staffer in Israel, and complicated to sustain in its present form, says Siegel, who does not draw a salary for his work with Ziv, Siegel, a longtime Rockville resident who grew up in said he couldn’t have the personal contact with each Arlington. beneficiary that he wanted. “Ziv as it is now does not By the end of 2008, Ziv will be defunct. resemble the vision,” said Siegel, a longtime member of Naomi Eisenberger, Ziv’s New Jersey-based managing Congregation B’nai Israel in Rockville, MD. director, credits Ziv with having made “a tremendous Continued on page 4

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Temple Israel students will be filling backpacks with healthy snacks and meals for children from low-income families, a Campfire Girls project; assembling brown bag lunches for the Nebraska AIDS Project; making blankets to donate to a family shelter; and designing friendship bracelets for Camp Rainbow, a summer camp for children with life threatening illnesses. These tikkun olam, (repairing the world), projects will be prepared on Tikkun Olam Day, .Wednesday, Feb. 6. In addition, Chosen, a children's song-and-dance group associated with the AIDS Orphan Education Trust (AOET), will have dinner with the Temple teens and then perform their diverse repertoire which has won Continued on page 2

Inside

This Week: Election coverage continues: Page 3

See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’ Opinion Page see page 12

Former police chief addresses Beth El Men’s Club: Page 4

This year's cast of Chosen will sing and dance their way into the hearts of Temple Israel's middle and high school students on Feb. 6.

Coming Next Week: Simchas and Celebrations Drug prevention program opens lines of communication: Page 7

Jews among Golden Globe winners, Oscar nominees: Page 10

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 1, 2008

Holocaust archives

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Continued from page 1 after assuming control of the archives from the and November of last year are in jpeg form. International Committee of the Red Cross. Converting those images to searchable files will take Privacy concerns, particularly among the European much time and millions of dollars, officials of the U.S. nations and the Red Cross, kept it inaccessible, officials Holocaust museum said at a news conference before the said. Pressure from survivor groups seeking evidence to meeting with survivor groups. bolster restitution claims led the tracing service to “To make it machine-readable would take millions and announce in 1998 that it would open the archives, but millions,” said Sara Bloomfield, the museum’s director. finding a formula acceptable to all was difficult. “We don’t have the time.” Paul Shapiro, the director of the museum’s Center for Instead, said Michael Haley Goldman, the director of Advanced Holocaust Studies, said some nations wanted the museum registry, the priority would be to answer to create a “worst common denominator” standard, survivor questions with trained staffers searching applying each nation’s most restrictive standards across through the material. the board. Top priority will be Shapiro said the U.S. given to survivors with Holocaust museum sucoutstanding restitution cessfully argued instead claims on the assumption that each nation should that some information apply its own standards obtained through the upon receipt of the search could facilitate the archives. claims. There were no restricOf about 800 inquiries tions on who could ask received even before the for information, museum launch of the service, officials said. So citizens most had to do with surof a nation that applies vivors seeking informarestrictive standards to tion on the fate of famisharing the information lies, Goldman said. are free to submit Officials said that in inquiries to Yad Vashem some cases, the archive or to the U.S. Holocaust material would provide museum, which do not. death and burial informa- Maria Raabe, a spokeswoman for the Bad Arolsen archive, in front Shapiro said that one tion, which would help in of some of the millions of postwar cards tracking the passage of restriction kept in place at insurance restitution cases individuals through Nazi camps or ghettos. Credit: Toby Axelrod the behest of some of the

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1 Visions Board Meeting, 9 a.m. Parent/Toddler Class, 9:30 a.m. at Temple Israel Beth El USY Winter Shabbaton, 3 p.m. and Kadima Shabbaton, 3:45 p.m. thru Feb. 2 Tot Shabbat and Dinner, 6 p.m. Beth El Shabbat Dinner, 6:15 p.m., at Beth Israel C SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2 L Yachad at Creighton Basketball, 7 p.m. I SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3 P Men’s Club WorldWide Wrap, 9 a.m. at Beth El & Reading the Rambam Class, 9:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Bible Study Group, 10 a.m. at Beth El Lessons for the Jewish Soul, 10 a.m. at Beth El S BESTT Grade 5 Family History Museum, 10 a.m. A Mishpacha Mornings, 10:15 a.m. at Chabad V Know Thy Service, 10:30 a.m. at Temple Israel E Visions Film Streams and dinner, 12:45 p.m. Al Rhea Art Exhibit Reception, 1 p.m. Beyt Shalom Religious School, 1:30 p.m. at JCC

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5 WOW Parsha, Prophets and Prayer, 9 a.m. at Chabad BBYO Night, 6 p.m. Yachad Vocational Skills Class, 6 p.m. Parshah Roundup, 7 p.m. at Chabad

All events held at the JCC unless otherwise indicated. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of events. To keep calendar accurate or for questions, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437. FOR A COMPLETE LISTING, VISIT THE FEDERATION’S WEBSITE: www.JewishOmaha.org (click on calendar)

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European nations -- he did not name them -- was that each nation maintain a single repository. Museum officials suggested that the provision allowing each nation to distribute the materials according to its own laws and practices meant the museum was not bound by the restriction. However, the museum will not share the materials with other U.S. Holocaust centers for now to avoid frustrating individuals searching for information, said spokesman Andy Hollinger. Museum staffers are specially trained to search the Bad Arolsen documents and to integrate those searches with other archives in order to provide the most comprehensive possible responses, Hollinger said. Another consideration, according to sources, is that commission members of the tracing service who still have privacy qualms would be angered if documents were freely available on the Internet. Disagreements now could hobble delivery of databases still held by the tracing service. Ultimately, said Friedman of the Holocaust survivors and descendants group, the goal is to integrate existing archives in the United States, Israel and Europe into a single searchable database, but that could take a decade. Carol Katzman Editor of the Jewish Press, also contributed to this article.

African children’s group to perform at Temple

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4 JSS Senior Luncheon, 9:30 a.m. Derech Torah: Judaism 101, 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6 C L Beth El Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group, 7 p.m. I THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7 P Women of the Torah, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel & Insights and Values from the Torah, noon at Beth El Torah Therapy: Jewish Ethics at Work, noon at Temple Israel S Yiddish Group, 1 p.m. A Women’s Book Group, 1:15 p.m. at Beth El V Friedel Executive Board Meeting, 5:30 p.m. E Friedel Board of Directors Meeting, 7 p.m. Class with Rabbi Gross, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel Understanding Jewish Mysticism, 8 p.m.

where survivors need specific documentation. But officials also warned that in the vast majority of cases, such information was not recorded or preserved at the time. Another imperative of the archives, Bloomfield said, was to add evidence at a time of a resurgence in antiSemitism and Holocaust denial. “Keeping the International Tracing Service closed at a time when the president of a country says the Holocaust didn’t happen is morally indefensible,” she said, referring to Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. About 30 representatives of survivor groups attended the closed briefing; Friedman said questions were mostly technical and calm. That made for a quiet denouement to a process that at times has been roiling. Some survivors, particularly those still seeking restitution in various forms, had campaigned for instant, internet-searchable access, and they wondered at the snail’s pace of the effort to open the archives. “We need closure, we need to know what happened,” said David Schaecter, president of the Florida-based Holocaust Survivors Foundation-USA, who was not at the meeting but has been one of the most outspoken critics of the process. The nations controlling the International Tracing Service -- Belgium, Greece, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland, Britain and the United States -- had signed an accord in 1955

C L I P & S A V E

Continued from page 1 acclaim across the globe. AOET is an independent, indigenous non-governmental African organization with the prime mandate of providing an education -- formal and/or vocational -- to desperately poor, neglected and forgotten orphans whose parents have died of AIDS, according to the organization's website. AOET assists children with AIDS and widows who have lost their spouses to the disease. Miekka Milliken, who arranges Chosen’s performances in this area, said that “AOET is a very respected organization in Africa. It started in Uganda but now is operating in Kenya, Zambia, Rwanda, and Botswana as well. They have grown slowly and carefully, always with children and families at heart.” She explained that AOET was started by Sam Tushabe who raised himself from age six. His father abandoned the family, and his mother and sister died of AIDS. While in college, Tushabe watched a little girl, about four years old, look through garbage for food. She was apparently alone in the world as he had been. The scene brought back his memories of childhood, and he realized that without the help of caring adults who provided opportunities along the way, he would have been in the same situation as the little girl. AOET provides formal and vocational education for children whose parents have died or are dying of AIDS, training for widows of AIDS so they can support their

families, training for two-parent families to support orphans the couples are willing to adopt, and medical care for people suffering from AIDS as well as AIDS testing, education, and counseling for their families. The organization is in constant need of financial support to continue its mission. About a year ago, Grant Glazer started collecting school supplies for his Bar Mitzvah tzedakah project for AOET after being touched by the innocent kids he saw singing joyous songs about Africa perform at his school. “If I had met these kids without knowing where they came from, I would have guessed that they were normal happy children,” he said. “Too bad they aren’t. A few of them have AIDS, and many of their friends and family members have AIDS also. These kids live in extreme poverty, and resources such as food and water are many miles away.” Grant collected 10 suitcases full of pens, pencils, erasers, and notebooks after the children of Chosen presented their dynamic routine at Temple Israel last year and then enjoyed the Purim Carnival with the crowd at Temple. Chosen’s performance “just kind of inspires something inside of you,” said Grant, who became a Bar Mitzvah on Dec. 8, “at least, it did for me.” Having them at Temple on a night dedicated to tikkun olam is appropriate, according to Grant. “They’re all about repairing their country, Africa, and their lives.”

February 1, 2008

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

With Jewish states up for grabs on Feb. 5, candidates seek edge by BEN HARRIS NEW YORK (JTA) -- After split decisions in both parties in early primary states, the focus is shifting to Super Tuesday, when states with some twothirds of American Jews hold presidential primaries or caucuses. New York, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois and Connecticut are among the 22 states that will be awarding delegates on Feb. 5, and with nominations from both parties still up for grabs, Super Tuesday results could well be shaped by the groundwork campaigns have laid in building their Jewish outreach operations. Last fall, the campaign for U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) created Chai for Hillary, a network of young Jewish professionals in cities across the country. In October, the group drew some 250 guests to an event in Washington with U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.). The theme was chai, the number 18 thought to be lucky in Judaism: It was held at the 18th Street Lounge with an admission price of $18, and guests were asked to spend 18 hours volunteering for the campaign and reach out to 18 friends. Recruiting younger Jews may prove crucial as Clinton attempts to fend off her chief Democratic challenger, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), whose campaign has shown a powerful appeal to younger voters. It’s a campaign brimming with momentum, too, coming off Obama’s easy victory in the South Carolina primary and Monday’s endorsement from veteran Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy. In a speech before an overwhelmingly youthful crowd at American

University in Washington, Kennedy said al connection to the campaign, and havObama represents a “new generation of ing a Jewish connection to the campaign leadership.” is even better,” Geller said. Obama has beaten Clinton among votIn one case, Geller swayed a Jewish ers younger than 29 in every state thus far poker dealer from another candidate and has won more college newspaper ahead of the Nevada caucuses, which endorsements than any other candidate, Clinton won. “By the end she couldn’t according to the Web site Politico.com. wait to caucus for Hillary,” Geller said. Still, as the campaigns move to the Clinton campaign officials are reluctant country’s largest Jewish cities, Clinton to quantify the size of Chai for Hillary, appears to be reaping the benefits from noting that it has grown through online her efforts to line up young Jewish sup- social networking sites like Facebook. porters. The Chai for Hillary page on Facebook In Washington, Chai for Hillary has has 206 members. been active in setting up phone banks “Hopefully this group will grow and where volwill stay unteers a c t i v e can make through calls to the general Jewish votelection, ers to disand get to c u s s the point Clinton’s w h e r e positions w e ’ r e on issues attracting of Jewish people concern. who aren’t “ I ’ v e already done a lot supportof camers, but SOURCE: JTA Staff attracting paign work Jews in 22 states will vote this Tuesday. for Hillary, and the Jewish voters are so new people,” said Alexandra Moller, a interested in her campaign,” said Rebecca Northeastern University law student and Geller, a Chai for Hillary leader in one of the group’s leaders. Washington. “The response rate for talkAmong Jewish voters, Obama has had a ing to Jewish voters is outstanding.” somewhat rockier experience, particularly Geller says the D.C. group is doing since an e-mail smear campaign falsely phone-banking “like crazy” in advance of asserting that Obama is a Muslim and Feb. 5, and some group members are took his oath of office on a Koran made planning to travel to Super Tuesday states the rounds among Jewish leaders. with large Jewish populations. Monday, Obama spent nearly 30 min“One of the most interesting things to utes on a conference call with the Jewish me is that people are craving this person- media stressing his support for Israel and

urging them to counter the smear. Without an expansive Jewish network like Clinton, Obama’s Jewish outreach effort has used alternative tactics. The campaign’s Jewish liaisons have sold more than 400 Obama-kahs, a leather yarmulke emblazoned with an Obama ‘08 logo. The campaign has also built a sophisticated online networking application that, like Facebook, allows users to create profiles, share photos and start online groups. About a dozen Jewish Obama groups have been created. Both campaigns have relied also on more conventional methods to reach Jewish voters, seeking endorsements from prominent Jewish figures and dispatching surrogates to approach rabbis and organizational leaders. Meryl Frank, the Jewish mayor of Highland Park, N.J., led a Jewish-focused event for Clinton in Iowa prior to the caucuses and has been speaking to voters throughout New Jersey about Clinton’s candidacy. “We Jews have many things in common,” Frank told JTA. “We care about social justice. We care about health care, education. But if you scratch the surface a little, I believe we understand what a dangerous world this is. And we understand that in a very direct way.” All the presidential campaigns in their bid for Jewish support have stressed support for Israel and strength in combating Islamic terrorismn. Republican Rudy Giuliani in particular has launched a concerted effort to win Jewish supporters in Florida with his tough talk on Israel and the terrorist threat. But even among liberal voters, Israel has featured prominently in campaign events aimed at Jewish audiences.

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February 1, 2008

Ziv fund ready to close shop Continued from page 1 ideas” and had “an open heart and an open mind,” The decision was not a hasty one. Siegel had been dis- called him “a light that’s gone out.” In fact, the Hebrew cussing it with board members for more than a year and word ziv means radiance. Siegel, though, says he has “no said he explored options other than closing the fund. He doubt whatsoever” that groups like CHAI and Am said it wasn’t feasible to shrink the organization, while Echad will get support. hiring more staff would have changed Ziv’s essential “All these needs will be met,” said Siegel, noting he’s nature. (Until this past year, staff salaries were not taken confident that the tens of thousands of people to whom out of general Ziv funds, but covered by designated he’s spread the message of how ordinary people can donations. In 2006, the fund distributed $1.9 million to become “mitzvah heroes” will pick up the ball and run charity of the $2.1 million it raised.) with it -- from the congregants at the 500 synagogues Plus, with Siegel synonymous with Ziv, having some- he’s spoken to throughout the years, to the 15,000 one else head up the organization also was not an teens he has taught as the scholar-in-residence for the option, said board member Glenn Easton. “It could not USY Israel Pilgrimage program, to the educators Ziv has possibly be the same organization,” Easton said. “There brought on trips to Israel, to the fund’s interns, fellows is only one Danny Siegel.” and donors. He also said he will make sure all of Ziv’s The executive director at Congregation Adas Israel in donors have information on how to support the fund’s the District, Easton first met Siegel as a 12-year-old, current beneficiaires. when the Ziv founder was driving the United “Now we can look to others” to continue the work, he Synagogue Youth bookmobile. It’s rare to see an organ- said. If Ziv did its job, it “will inspire others to form ization “go out on top,” Easton noted. Eisenberger, organizations to carry on his work,” said Easton. In fact, who was with the fund for 16 years, said that working Eisenberger, for one, said she is hoping to start a new for Ziv “was one of the most joyous things I’ve ever had organization to follow in Ziv’s footsteps. in my life.” As for Siegel, he Officials at organizaquipped that he’s not tions that benefited from closing Ziv just so he can Ziv are sad to see the nonget more sleep. He also profit getting ready to stressed that his health is close shop. Igor fine and that he does Feldblyum -- whose want to spend some more Potomac-based Am time with friends. But the Echad financially assists author of several books of Jews in St. Petersburg, poetry said he wants to Russia -- said Ziv provides spend more time on his about 20 percent of his writing. He also hopes to organization’s annual expand his educational budget of approximately work by teaching 15$35,000. That often hour “mini-courses” includes paying for onearound the country. time medical emergencies, The last time Danny Siegel was in Omaha was a year ago, when he When Siegel visits a in addition to the month- urged kids at Temple Israel’s Religious School, and their parents, synagogue for a ly payments Am Echad to get involved in mitzvah projects. Shabbaton, he speaks for provides close to 100 Russian Jews. “It’s going to be dif- about three hours throughout the weekend. A “minificult for us” to raise that “substantial chunk” of money, course” would give him the time for extensive text study, Feldblyum said, indicating that he will probably have to videos and other elements. “I need people who know work on finding a large donor or two to supplement the my stuff a lot better,” he said. numerous $18 and $36 donations he already receives. As for the closing of Ziv, he is confident he has made “I’m very saddened” and “don’t have the words to the right decision, offering a quote from educator John describe how I really feel [about] what [Ziv] did for so Holt to illustrate what Ziv has built: “Charismatic leadmany people,” said Feldblyum. “I wish it would go on.” ers make us think, ‘Oh, if only I could do that, be like Nina Natelson, whose Ziv-supported, Alexandria-based that.’ True leaders make us think, ‘If they can do that, organization, CHAI (Concern for Helping Animals in then ... I can, too.’” Israel), works to prevent and relieve animal suffering in (Editor’s note: Siegel’s books on tzedakah and of poetry Israel, also said she would have to do more outreach. are available in the Kripke Library. Information about Natelson, who said Siegel was “always open to new the Ziv Tzedakah Fund is available at www.ziv.org.)

Curriculum Night

Breakfast features former police chief as Beth El Men’s Club ‘wraps’ two programs into one by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Beth El’s Men’s Club will be busy this Sunday morning, as it sponsors two noteworthy programs for the Jewish community: the Worldwide Wrap (tefillin, that is), which will take place during the Feb. 3, 9 a.m., minyan; and following the ‘wrap session,’ a special breakfast featuring former Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren. The Worldwide Wrap, sponsored by the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs (of which Beth El Men’s Club is an affiliate), is an annual event which brings Jews together from around the globe to learn about and wrap tefillin. It is held to offer men, women and teens a wonderful opportunity to gain a new understanding about this important mitzvah. Glen Fineman, Beth El Men’s Club member who introduced the ‘Wrap’ to Omaha seven years ago, said he feels strongly about encouraging Jews to wrap tefillin, a ritual that “makes me feel a real connection with God. “It means so much to me that on the Sunday of the Worldwide Wrap, I’m doing the exact same thing as Jews around the country and around the world.” Fineman, who serves on the FJMC’s national board, encouraged all Jews to participate in this event, saying “it helps others to feel a strong sense of Jewish identity, and it reminds us that we’re part of a group, a family -we’re part of something bigger than ourselves.” For those who have never wrapped tefillin but would like to learn how, volunteers will offer assistance at 8:45 a.m. Following minyan, a complimentary breakfast will be served at 10 a.m., and Warren, who is part of the Men’s Club monthly speakers’ series, will make his presentation at 10:45 a.m. The newly-named president and CEO of the Urban League of Nebraska, Warren will discuss a variety of issues during the morning, including the recent tragedy at the Westroads shopping center. Men’s Club President Scott Simon expressed enthusiasm for the new speakers’ series, saying, “We’re looking forward to having speakers on the first Sunday of every month in order to get our members, as well as others in the community, together for food, festivities and good conversation on issues/topics concerning our community.” Simon said next month’s guest presenter will be Nebraska State Treasurer Shane Osborn, on Sunday, March 2, 10 a.m. Then on Sunday, April 6, 10 a.m., former Omahan Larry Raful, Dean of the Touro Law School in New York, will be welcomed back. There is no charge to attend. Simon also announced that during this Sunday’s programs, a $50 gift certificate will be awarded to one of the morning’s attendees. The community is invited.

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community of learning. by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Judy Vann agreed that “Family School Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Philanthropy, family and education are encourages fellowship between kids and the words Wendy Vann uses to describe helps parents develop friendships and her mother-in-law and father-in-law, Judy bonds, and kids get to know their classand Howard Vann. “That’s what’s most mates’ parents. They all become a more congenial group.” important to them” she explained. “We started going to Family School “Howard helped raise billions of dollars to eradicate polio through Rotary three years ago,” explained Wendy Vann, International,” according to his daugh- “because if you don’t participate in your ter-in-law. “There’s a statue at Children's child’s education, the children don’t realize you value it. I love that we moved Hospital in his honor,” she said. Howard Vann, a real estate broker who Family School to Wednesdays. The clergy started Vann Realty Company, died five and middle and high school students are years ago, but his wife Judy remembers at Temple on Wednesdays which sets a her husband volunteering along with good example. My kids see that religious many other Rotarians to administer the education doesn’t stop at the Bar or Bat polio vaccine to children in India. Mitzvah. I love that.” Wendy Vann, who will chair Temple’s Howard also supported Rotary’s scholarship fund that awarded graduate students Religious School Steering Committee two years of training to promote peace and conflict resolution among nations. Both born and raised in Omaha, Judy and Howard Vann were married in 1955 and have belonged to Temple Israel ever since. Their philanthropic pursuits have been a tradition throughout their marriage. “I like to give to projects that I believe in and I know my husband would have believed in,” said Judy Vann, in an interview last year in the Jewish Press. She funds Three generations, including Wendy, left, Jacob, Judy, and Jewish Family Service’s Love Cecelia Vann, are learning together at Temple Israel Family and Logic parenting course School on Wednesday nights. and provides scholarships to a University next year, is from Syracuse, New York. of Nebraska at Lincoln student and to Wendy’s husband John Vann grew up at Immanuel Hospital for a physical therapy Temple. Wendy and John joined the constudent. gregation as a family in 1997. Their lives Two years ago, Judy established the orbit around their children’s activities. Howard and Judy Vann Temple Israel “My two youngest grandchildren went Family School Educational Grant to sub- to Family School,” Judy said. “Wendy sidize special events and speakers for told me what activities would be possible Temple’s Wednesday night Family if there were to be a fund for Family School. School.” Wendy Vann said that Judy Vann, a forThis year alone, the Vann Family mer District 66 elementary school School Educational Grant has sponsored teacher, understands that it’s important events to enrich the Family School curfor parents to participate in their chil- riculum such as the Rick Recht concert to dren's education and be willing to put kick off Religious School in September, their time into it to demonstrate how the Pancake Man, participation of Jewish much the parents value education. Family Service, and speakers such as “I’m a believer that if parents are aware Rabbi Gary Zola who will talk to Family of what to do, they can be good parents,” School parents in February about the hissaid Judy Vann, who used to be a Religious tory of Reform Judaism. School teacher at Temple. Howard taught, “The Vann Family School Educational too, for a year after he returned from the Grant has given our Family School the Korean War occupation. opportunity to reach our educational goals Family School, which was implemented and the goals of creating an educational at Temple in 1996, provides parents the community for families to study Torah, opportunity to share in their children’s learn Hebrew, and develop the ‘habits’ of Jewish learning experience on several lev- ritual observance, celebration, and learnels. As parents model the importance of a ing as a family,” pointed out Director of continuing, lifelong Jewish education, Religious Education Elyce Azriel. they can share their learning experiences Sometimes, Judy Vann attends Family long after they leave the classroom and School herself with her children and reinforce learning experiences at home. grandchildren. “It’s amazing what’s In addition, parents and students connect going on on Wednesday nights,” she with other Jewish families as they build a remarked.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 1, 2008

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Beth El’s special activities and programs make Judaism a real family affair by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator “If you build it, they will come” might as well be Judy Rubin’s mantra. Since coming to Beth El in 2004 as the synagogue’s education director, Rubin has created a series of family programs which has parents, grandparents and children flocking to the religious school, eager to learn about Jewish traditions, rituals and ways of life. The programs, interwoven into the Beth El Synagogue Talmud Torah (BESTT) curriculum, have proven Rubin to be an equal-opportunity educator: the events offer both adults and children the chance to learn together, make memo-

last Sunday, was enjoyed by parents, grandparents and youngsters. During the morning, families visited 19 hands-on activity centers which offered a variety of holiday-related exercises, from planting seeds, learning about agriculture in Israel and becoming more aware of nature’s gifts, to adding names to a Beth El family tree and tasting the fruits connected with the holiday. Saying that her daughter, Natalie, “loves it when I come with her to the programs,” Shelly Pichik added, “She had a great deal of fun [last Sunday]. When I asked her what the best part of the program was, she said, ‘The best part was being able to spend the morning with you;

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The annual fourth-grade mock wedding is a perpetual favorite with congregants of all ages.

Seventh graders and their parents participated in the “Belonging” program earlier in the school year. oh, and the coloring, too!’ That’s what makes it all worthwhile for me. I love seeing her excitement and watching her create and think.” Pichik also shared her sevenyear-old’s most ringing endorsement of the morning, an exclamation that, “‘It was the best day ever!’” Dan Schuller, who enjoyed the morning’s activities with his daughter, Yael, 5, complimented the format of the Tu B’Shevat program, especially the fact that “there was no specific time assigned to each station or a bell reminding us that we needed to move on to During last week's Tu B'Shevat program, trees contribute to our lives; children added the next activity. That way, Dan Schuller and daughter Yael worked their family members' names to a special every child was able to spend together to make a list of the many ways Beth El Family Tree as much time as needed in ries, and make their desired activity, even if they didn’t complete all of an invaluable the activities. My daughter was really engaged in the activJewish con- ities and I enjoyed watching her complete the projects.” nection. According to Jon Jabenis, who attended the program “Family pro- with his son, Grant, 7, said, “What was so enriching for gramming is so my son was that the Tu B’Shevat activity centers helped important to him to see, in a visual sense, the basis for some of our the survival of prayers and traditions. It was an expression, from a J u d a i s m , ” child’s eye view, of how we celebrate Israel in our lives.” R u b i n He added, “Programs like this can only help to bener e m a r k e d . fit families to become more appreciative of the Jewish “When even traditions, as we celebrate them. The more perspective one thing that our children gain, the easier it will be for them to is learned in a embrace their heritage.” Jill Simon assisted her daughter, Amanda, structured setEric Dunning, father of five-year-old Eleanor, praised right, and Julia Raffel with an art project. ting is trans- the holiday celebration, remarking that a parent-child ferred to a family's home, it becomes part of the child’s Jewish program “is always a great event. It gives us a chance to memories to be passed on from generation to generation.” show Eleanor how important Jewish learning is to us. She went on to explain that she created these interac- And it gives her a chance to learn with us, so that we are tive programs because, “I wanted to help empower par- all learning something together.” ents to be their children's Jewish role models. These Rubin was appreciative of the parents’ support and programs are designed for the parents to learn alongside applauded the enthusiasm shown by the families in their children; at the same time, parents are teaching attendance, saying, “BESTT families are terrific. They their children. The most important aspect is that families always turn out for our special programming and are are learning together about Judaism in the synagogue.” committed to supporting their children.” Recently-held programs have included “Becoming a Upcoming BESTT family programs include the Fifth Bar/Bat Mitzvah” for sixth graders, during which stu- Grade Family History Program on Sunday, Feb. 3, dents and parents discover how experiencing this mile- where families research their histories and create a famistone will make a difference in their lives; and ly tree; the Third Grade Family Siddur Program on “Belonging,” a program geared to seventh graders, Sunday, Feb. 24, during which parents and their chilwhere parents and students explore ways to become dren learn about prayer and the Siddur through cooperresponsible members of the adult Jewish community. ative learning centers, and design Siddur covers for the Exercises during this program had participants assuming siddurim they will receive during consecration on March the role of a synagogue membership committee member 9; and the annual Fourth Grade Wedding on Sunday, who must make vital decisions affecting the congrega- May 11, during which students role play an entire wedtion; they also gained a heightened appreciation of syn- ding ceremony, and share with their “wedding guests” agogue activities and how they would be missed if they the rituals and traditions surrounding Jewish nuptials. To find out more about BESTT’s family programs, were no longer offered. The most recent program, an interactive Tu B’Shevat contact Rubin at 498.0904, or eddir@bethelcelebration for children in Pre-K to second grade held omaha.org.

February 1, 2008

ORGANIZATIONS B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS James Blasengame will speak at Breadbreakers on Wednesday, Feb. 6, noon, at Regency Lodge, according to Steve Riekes, chairman. Blasengame, new in town and a member of Beth El, is an FBI agent. He will talk about his work as an intelligence analyst in the Middle East. All men and women in the community are invited to attend. Cost is $12 for lunch and $3 for beverage service only. YOUNG ENERGETIC SENIORS Members will meet Monday at the JCC. Take a musical journey with Jonathan Rathsam and Esther Wax. Lunch is served at noon at $7 per person; the program begins at 12:30 p.m. Try your luck with bingo at 10 a.m. with Miles Remer. For transportation, call Dee Dee at 330.4272. Call Maggie Conti at 334.6521 for reservations for the day trip to Ameristar Casino on Friday, Feb. 28. LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Come to the Yiddish meeting at the JCC on Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. If you have any Yiddish books to donate, please call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638. VISIONS Reminder: For members going to Film Streams to see the film, The Savages, please meet at the JCC by 12:30 p.m. Following the movie, we will stop at Jason’s Deli for dinner on your own. Questions? Call Doris at 697.8709 or Sissy at 292.8062. The deadline is Feb. 1 to see the musical Company at the Omaha Community Playhouse on Sunday, Feb. 24. If you are a Fonda-McGuire member, send voucher with reservations. Make check payable to Visions and send to Betty Sanford at 9205 Western Ave. #127, Omaha, NE 68114.

BIRTH Michelle and Stu Kazor annouce the Nov. 9 birth of their son Zachary Maddox, (Melech Lahav Yaakov), named for his great-grandmother, Mollie Franklin, and Lena Kaplan and Jim Kolm. He has sisters, Emily and Elizabeth. Grandparents are Louie and Renee Kazor, and Peggy and Bill Kolm. Great-grandparents are the late Mollie Franklin, the late Rose Kazor, Mildred Kolm of Fremont, and Alice Kwapiszeski of Panama, IA.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

Drug prevention program opens door to conversation between parents and teens by ANDREA BARTMAN for Jewish Family Service December’s drug prevention program, held at the JCC, helped bring to the forefront a topic that for many families is difficult to discuss openly. A group of adults from the community, along with their middle and high school students, gathered for a day of information sharing and group discussion regarding teen drug and alcohol use. Omaha Police Sergeant, Shayna Ray, a panelist for the program, had this to say about her hopes for what the attendees took away from their involvement: “Drinking underage, providing alcohol for minors and allowing minors to drink in your home is dangerous. Too many of our children are getting hurt and killed as a result.The start of alcohol and drug prevention is in the home. It was great to see parents and teens together at this type of program. Hopefully it generated some open communication in families. Parents who talk to their children about these subjects are part of the solution.�

Panelists and attendees participated in open discussion. The need to speak more directly about these issues was exactly what many parents and teens had on their minds after attending the program. To facilitate future programming, each attendee was asked to fill out an evaluation at the end of the session. These evaluations, according to Karen Gustafson, director of Jewish Family Service, are the best way to see what attendees felt they gained, and what they would like to see in the future. This program was the first of a three-part series intended to reach every teen and pre-teen in the Jewish community, along with their parents. Dawnna Hill, project director for the LiveWise Coalition which provided resources for the program, comments: “True investment from community partners, parents and students took place that Sunday afternoon, and will serve as momentum for moving forward for the remainder of the series; a series that no doubt will impact the lives of several more community members as information flows and is more deeply penetrated in the community.� She added, “As more youth and parents are involved in the planning of such events, a greater impact will be

made. LiveWise looks forward to sharing and assisting in the community's empowerment to shift societal norms, reflecting a healthier lifestyle free from problems caused by the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.� When asked one thing they would change as a result of attending the program, one parent wrote; “Emphasizing the importance of having an adult in her life she can talk to.� Another parent commented, “Check more often on my kids.� These themes were a strong message from panel members including Juvenile Court Judge Lawrence Gendler, and keynote speaker Ellen Goldstein. Their plea to parents was a greater focus on following up with other parents and really knowing who your kids’ friends are. Parents weren’t the only ones whose opinions mattered, of course. Teens were given the opportunity to comment, as well, on what they learned and what they’d like to see in future programs, and those comments will be utilized. This spirit of community involvement is exactly what will make the next two portions of the program an even bigger success. According to Gustafson, “As a result of this program, several volunteers have come forward to help us organize additional events for the community.� One such event, sparked by the input of participants, is the involvement of Joan Friedman and the Safe Homes program coming up in part two of the series. Near the end of the program, she will be presenting an opportunity to develop a parent network of community members who seek to support a drug and alcohol free environment for their teens. This second program, entitled “Matt’s Dream�, has been scheduled for Sunday, April 29, 7-8 p.m., in the JCC auditorium. The “Matt’s Dream� Foundation was formed to organize communities in the fight against drinking and driving. The program brings attention to the effects drinking and driving has on the family and friends of someone that is injured or killed. Through the use of audience interaction, each individual is put into the position of one of the victim's family members. After the completion of the “Matt’s Dream� program, the “Safe Homes� presentation will take place. The April date, according to Gustafson, is especially significant. April is Alcohol Awareness Month and the high school prom season will be in full swing. With graduation parties just around the corner and plenty to celebrate at this time of year, it is the goal of Jewish Family Service, in conjunction with the generous volunteers and donors who are making these programs available, to make members of the Jewish community acutely aware of the dangers involving substances and their teens. For more information, please contact JFS at 330.2024.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 1, 2008

Interfaith community learns together by HANNA WANZENRIED Program Coordinator-Project Interfaith, an affiliate of the ADL Project Interfaith, an affiliate of the ADL, once again brought Jews and Christians together to learn about and strengthen relations between the two communities through two workshops led by acclaimed Jewish New Testament scholar Dr. Amy-Jill Levine last month. Although stormy weather prevented Levine from arriving in time to lead a workshop for the Jewish community scheduled for the prior evening, the next day Levine presented to an audience of more than 160 Jewish and Christian clergy, lay leaders, scholars and community members from communities as far away as Hastings, Nebraska and Des Moines, Iowa. At a luncheon workshop “From the Academy to the Pews: What Clergy, Lay Leaders, and Scholars Need to Know About the Origins, Evolutions, and Future of Jewish-Christian Relations,” Levine highlighted historic issues impacting JewishChristian relations and engaged participants on today’s most pressing issues. She also offered actions that clergy, scholars, and community members can take to educate themselves and others on these issues and strengthen relations between the two religious communities. In her talk, Levine noted that Omaha is on the forefront of interfaith work in this country and that she views the work that Project Interfaith and others are doing to be a model to which other communities can look. For this workshop, Project Interfaith partnered with a variety of Christian and Jewish organizations including the Center for Faith Studies at Countryside Community Church, Morning Star Lutheran Church, the Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation; the Archdiocese of Omaha, the Hermene Zweiback Center for Lifelong Jewish Learning at Temple Israel, the ADL, and the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska and its sponsoring congregations.

That same day, Levine led an evening workshop for volunteer and professional Christian educators that attracted more than 150 Sunday school teachers, Christian adult education leaders, and other Christian educators. Participants came from a plethora of Christian denominations. Levine showed Christian educators how they can bring about healthy relations between Jews and Christians by understanding Jesus in his historical context and suggested ways in which Christian educators could assess and purge their teachings of anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism. Organizers were thrilled with the demand for both programs. “We had no idea that people would be willing to drive hours and leave work to be part of workshops on Jewish-Christian relations. We also were blown away by the rich religious, ethnic, and geographical diversity of workshop participants,” said Beth Katz, Director of Project Interfaith. “I think this is another affirmation that people are looking for meaningful, thoughtful opportunities to learn about and explore these important issues.” Katz said that she wanted to bring Dr. Levine after seeing the incredible interest generated by Levine’s Omaha community presentation on Jewish-Christian relations that she gave last year. “This time, we wanted to bring her back to work with targeted communities and to expand on the foundation that she laid in her talks to the general community,” Katz added. “We especially wanted to reach volunteer Christian educators such as Sunday school and confirmation teachers because they have such a formative impact on people’s faith development and knowledge. We were delighted that Dr. Levine jumped at this opportunity.” For more information about these or other Project Interfaith programs, contact Katz by calling her at 402.334.6573 or emailing bkatz@adl.org.

Yachad joins Temple Israel in prayer and song by DUANE J. PIEPER On a crispy cold morning last month, the Yachad members gathered at Temple Israel to prepare for the Shabbat service. With the direction and encouragement of Cantor Wendy Shermet the members familiarized themselves with the music and readings of the prayer service. Rabbi Eric Linder also discussed the significance of Shabbat with the Yachad members and how it is a day of rest, set aside for thanking God for creating and blessing each one of us. As the Temple community gathered in the cozy setting of the chapel, the music and prayers transformed the space into an intimate place of worship. In this welcoming and inclusive environment everyone became an integral part of the celebration. Yachad members Alan Friedman and Jeff Steinberg were given the privilege of reading selected portions of the siddur. As Rabbi Linder expounded on the significance of the parting of the Red Sea and the deliverance of the Jewish nation from bondage, the congregation was invited to view how the scribe creatively depicted the waves of the sea in this portion of the Torah scroll. The extra preparation enabled the Yachad members to comfortably participate in the Shabbat service with the rest of the synagogue members.The morning culminated in the social hall with brunch prepared by Dennis DePorte and his staff. Yachad members look forward to participating in future social and liturgical events in the Jewish community. Please contact Jewish Family Service at 334.6491 to help organize and/or participate.

Yachad members at Temple services included, back: Cantor Shermet, left, Alan Friedman, Rabbi Linder, Jeff Steinberg, front: Lisa and Jill Salomon, Grace and Nancy Isler.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 9

IN THE NEWS The practice of law requires years of schooling, successfully completing the bar exam, complying with a distinct code of ethics, and hours of ongoing continuing legal education. However, for Abrahams Kaslow &. Cassman LLP, those tests are just the beginning. In addition, the firm further puts itself to the test through a diligent review process that includes exacting self-assessment, peer review by other law firms, and client comments provided to a third party. These tests are just part of Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman LLP’s membership in Meritas, a closely integrated group of fullservice law firms that provide business clients with worldwide access to comprehensive legal services. Membership in Meritas is by invitation only; with only one firm admitted for each selected geographic marketplace. Members are ranked among the top firms in most cities. Abrahams Kasiow & Cassman LLP is the only Nebraska member. As part of its drive to ensure continued high caliber legal services among its nearly 200 member firms worldwide. Meritas also stipulates a periodic recertification process as a requirement for membership and Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman LLP was recently awarded recertification. Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman LLP has earned a reputation for providing highquality legal counsel and serving the Omaha community through their involvement in professional, civic and charitable activities for over 60 years. For more information, visit their website at www. akclaw. com. Howard N. Epstein was appointed as the Executive Director and legal counsel

of the Milton S. and Corinne N. Livingston Foundation, Inc. at its November meeting of the Board of Trustees. Epstein is also a partner in the law firm of Marks Clare & Richards, L.L.C., and has been actively involved for many years in service to Omaha’s general and Jewish community. He currently serves as the Treasurer of Jewish Senior Services, has served as President of Beth El Synagogue, Henry Monsky Lodge of B’nai B’rith, and Jewish Family Services. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Omaha and Suburban Rotary Club of Omaha. A native Omahan, Epstein is a graduate of Creighton Law School and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Business Administration. The Livingston Foundation was established by Omaha philanthropists Milton S. and Corinne N. Livingston in 1948. Since its inception, the Livingston Foundation has been a major benefactor to Jewish institutions and Jewish and secular charitable projects within the Metropolitan Omaha area and the State of Israel, including its annual award of scholarships to Omaha area Jewish college students. Since 1976, the Livingston Foundation has provided charitable grants totaling more than $11,000,000 to benefit the Jewish Federation of Omaha, Temple Israel, the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, Beth El, Beth Israel, and numerous other worthy organizations and causes. Former Omahan Joshua H. Wees has joined Goffstein, Raskas, Pomerantz, Kraus & Sherman, a St. Louis law firm, as

an associate, concentrating his practice in litigation and insurance defense. Wees was previously affiliated with the firm in 2005 when he began as a law clerk. “We were impressed with Josh from the beginning of his career when he joined us as a law clerk, and we are grateful he chose to continue his career with our firm,” said Robert Susman, partner. Wees received his law degree from the University of Missouri in 2006. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in public affairs from Indiana University in 2002. He is a member of the Missouri Bar Association and the Illinois Bar Association. Wees is married to Kori Wees, a senior buyer at Busch Media, an affiliate of Anheuser Busch, in St. Louis. Wees is the son of Dr. Steven and Joye Wees.

School and Beveridge Middle School. Winners of each school take a written exam to qualify to participate in their state geography bees, following individual school contests in January. In Nebraska, that means scoring in the top 100 statewide. The National Geographic Bee, held in the spring for each state’s winner, is hosted by Alex Trebek, host of the “Jeopardy!” television game show. Joe and Justin both competed in the Nebraska State Geography Bee in 2007. This is Aaron’s first win, and all three boys are hoping to qualify for this year’s state bee. Joe, a seventh-grader, is the son of Rosie Zweiback and Mace Hack. Justin is in sixth grade, and the son of Susie and Mike Norton. Aaron is the seventh grade son of Sally and Jim Zipursky.

In a recent article in the Forward, one of the country’s most prestigious weekly Jewish newspapers, Omaha’s Beth El Synagogue received recognition for its creative use of musical instrumentation during its Friday night Shabbat service. Beth El was one of four congregations noted in the article, “Synagogues Become Rock Venues,” for markedly increasing service attendance, in part because of the warm and lively musical accompaniment.

Wine Enthusiast magazine has recognized Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Omaha with its coveted Award of Distinction. The February 2008 issue, announcing its Restaurant Awards for 2007, is a list of the best restaurants in the world for wine.

Three young members of Omaha’s Jewish community have passed the first hurdle in competing in the 2008 National Geographic Geography Bee. Joe Hack, Justin Norton and Aaron Zipursky won the geography bees held at their respective schools, Westside Middle School, Oakdale Elementary

Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln presents an exhibition of 30 prints, dating from 1860 to 1960, that documents the evolution of the printmaking craft in American art. “Winter Wonderland: Prints from the Collection of Norman and Judy Zlotsky” includes paintings, engravings, woodcuts and lithographs, and will be on view through March 23. Norman and Judy Zlotsky moved to Lincoln two years ago from Connecticut and are members of South Street Temple.

Save the Date Jewish Family Service, in conjunction with Beth El, Beth Israel and Temple Israel would like to invite the community to a FREE educational event by

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Dr. Sol Gordon is a clinical psychologist and internationally acclaimed expert in sexual education for teenagers.

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Jewish Family Service

Page 10

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 1, 2008

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Also making the cut is Poland’s entry, Katyn by by TOM TUGEND LOS ANGELES (JTA) -- Two films with Jewish Andrzej Wajda, which dramatizes the massacre of some themes were nominated for Academy Awards in the 20,000 Polish officers and intellectuals by the Soviets in Foreign Language Film category. Israel’s entry Beaufort 1940. and Austria’s “The Counterfeiters” received the nod Another Jewish-themed foreign film, Brazil’s The Year Tuesday from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and My Parents Went on Vacation, was among the nine semiSciences. The Oscars will be handed out Feb. 24 at the finalists in the category but did not make the final cut. Kodak Theatre in Los It is the story of a boy with one Angeles. Jewish parent who is thrown Beaufort, directed by into an Orthodox environment Joseph Cedar, is a wrenchwhen his parents flee the 1970 ing war movie depicting the military dictatorship. The direcfinal action of the first tor, Cao Hamburger, is the Lebanon War, when a small grandson of Jewish refugees Israeli unit evacuated the from Hitler’s Germany. medieval Beaufort fortress. To the surprise of most film In the Counterfeiters by critics, the Romanian entry 4 Stefan Ruzowitzky, the Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days didNazis round up dozens of A scene from Beaufort, a Joseph Cedar film about an n’t even make the semifinals. skilled Jewish craftsmen Israeli unit stationed in Lebanon that was nominated for The film on the tribulations of from concentration camps an Academy Award in the Foreign Language Film catego- getting an abortion in commuCredit: www.bufor.co.il nist Romania had won the to create perfect counter- ry. feits of British and U.S. currency in a last-ditch ploy to Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and top wreck the economies of the two allies. honors at the European Film Awards.

Several Jews win Golden Globes, but stay home due to writers’ strike by TOM TUGEND LOS ANGELES (JTA) -- The size of the Jewish Golden Globe winners’ contingent was slightly more impressive than the modesty of the hourlong newscast. Daniel Day-Lewis snagged the Best Dramatic Actor Award for his role as a tough oil prospector in There Will Be Blood. Day-Lewis is the son of British Jewish actress Jill Balcon. His wife, Rebecca, is the daughter of the late playwright Arthur Miller. David Duchovny, star of the adult sitcom “Californication,” was selected best actor in a musical or comedy series. Duchovny, whose father is Jewish, told reporters that he had been too nervous to listen to the results and instead went to a movie. “I knew if my phone was ringing when I walked into my hotel room that I would have won,” he said. “And it was. Nobody calls a loser.” Neither Day-Lewis, Duchovny nor other A-list stars in all their finery were on hand Sunday evening to accept their awards because of the writers’ strike against major

film and television studios. Their absence reduced the customary three-hour blowout to a drab reading of names at a news conference. Nevertheless, the Golden Globe Awards, conferred by the otherwise insignificant Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are considered an audition of sorts for the prestigious Academy Awards on Feb. 24, so the winners’ names were trumpeted in the media. Other Jewish winners included Julian Schnabel, the painter and musician, as the director of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The film about a stroke victim who can communicate only by blinking his left eyelid also won top foreign language film honors for France and the United States. Brothers Ethan and Joel Coen were awarded best screenplay for the thriller No Country for Old Men. Hollywood icon Steven Spielberg was to be honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award, but the presentation was postponed to next year. Among television awards, Jeremy Piven topped the Best Supporting Actor category as the acerbic Hollywood agent Ari Gold in “Entourage.”

In the words of a toddler: “It’s mine, it’s all mine”

TIME OUT by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT My son has recently begun to talk in full sentences. This is a very exciting time for us, as he previously mostly made his needs known by grunting and screaming. He now says things like “I want that”, “It’s mine”, and “Give me that, I want to have it.” He has even learned to speak of himself in the third person: “It doesn’t belong to you, it’s Mendel’s!” That’s right, he has mastered the possessive. Language is a handy thing, he finds. It helps him remind the rest of us that nothing in the house belongs to anyone but him. The fridge? It’s his. The dining room table, the stove, the dirty laundry, and even the cat: “Mine”. My purse, our clothes, and the car: they’re all really his. And he managed to become the very wealthy owner of all this without owning a credit card or checking account; it’s a sheer miracle. We do draw the line at steak knives and over-thecounter medication, though. However funny this seemed at first, when we find a three year old, sitting on the couch, clenching a dayplanner (mine) and a cell phone (my husband’s) close to his body, refusing to let go, it becomes annoying. We decide to do something about it through time-outs and other equally useless interventions. My daughter has her own methods: she randomly takes things away from him, including toys that really are his, to teach him that material things are, at best, fleeting. This leads to much screaming, pulling, pushing, and throwing the toy in question, which in turn lead to more time-outs. There are time-outs for him, time-outs for her, timeouts for everybody, including mommy. It’s obvious: we

need a different strategy. I channel Mandy Patinkin, grab my son’s blanket and favorite stuffed animal, and yell “Mine!” in order to show him that two can play this game. It doesn’t go over well. Sensing that we are willing to do something about his possessiveness, my son ups the ante and readies himself for battle. Language apparently no longer serving his purpose, he adds physical aggression to the mix. While he is a virtual angel at his pre-school, at home he turns into the Terminator. He bites, claws, kicks and hits to his heart’s content when things don’t go his way. Sometimes he seems to do it just for fun, or to pay us back for some imaginary insult that hasn’t happened yet. And the worst part of it is, it hurts! Last week he headbutted me so hard, I’m not embarrassed to admit that I cried a little. I read the Gesell Institute’s Your Three-Year-Old in a vain attempt to find some guidance. Do other kids his age act like this? Is it a stage? Will it go away? And the most important question of all: how soon? I find zero answers. The book claims that children are much less aggressive at three then they were at two-and-a-half, so either the book lies, or we have an abnormal child. But wait: It says something about a relationship between aggression and humor. What? The bloody lip, the bruise on my arm, the bite marks, they’re really jokes? Oh, well then. That explains the maniacal laughter he displays when I say “Ouch! You’re hurting mommy!” I guess we’ll just wait it out. Maybe in the meantime we’ll purchase some helmets, just to be safe. And we’ll always have our secret weapon: sarcasm, which we use as often as possible. We set such a good example that our daughter starts addressing her little brother as “Your Highness.” Whichever traumatizing effect that particular nickname might have on his development, we will have to wait and see. Annette Van de Kamp-Wright is a stay-at-home mom who also writes for Chabad and the Friedel Jewish Academy.

February 1, 2008

Book gives convincing argument for source of Jewish power BOOK REVIEW by POLLY M. ZAVADIVKER Staff, j. the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California In 1977, Israel and Egypt initiated the first historic attempts at diplomacy ever undertaken between the Jewish state and an Arab country. During talks, Golda Meir reputedly told Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, “We can forgive you for killing our sons. But we will never forgive you for making us kill yours.” Golda’s words are often proudly quoted for their acerbic wit and irony. But for Ruth Wisse, her statement exposed a profound weakness to her political foe: “Golda expressed more concern with Israeli children’s decency than with her enemies’ designs on them. She would have demonstrated greater understanding of her Egyptian counterpart ... had she asked Sadat to convey to his people the message ‘We Jews are here to stay.’” This bold interpretation lies at the heart of Wisse’s excellent new book, Jews and Power. A professor of Yiddish literature at Harvard, Wisse brandishes a mighty pen in her striking analysis of Jewish political traditions -- and in her explanation of their implications for Israel’s precarious status in the world today. Skillfully weaving a narrative that spans from the Second Temple era to modern-day Israel, Wisse identifies the Jewish relationship to power that enabled diaspora communities to survive in conditions of powerless. But a single burning question illuminates the work throughout its concise 184 pages: Have the Jewish people undergone the necessary self-transformation required for political sovereignty in Israel? With Wisse as our history guide, we observe how Jews planted roots and lived for generations in each new land, from Babylonia to Spain and Eastern Europe. Lacking power and without means of self-defense, a central government or land, Jews relied on the tolerance of their host nations to ensure their survival. Their utter depend-

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ency evolved a strategy of appeasement and accommodation to the needs of their rulers. But persecution wrought its damage in other ways too: with every successive expulsion and pogrom, Jews focused more intensely inward to their spiritual and religious culture, developing an elaborate system in which divine justice, ethics and decency functioned as a source of the power they lacked in the physical realm. Despite their creative adaptation and, in some cases, assimilation to the necessities of life in new lands (Wisse proudly lists all the Jewish Nobel laureates in French, German, Russian, English, Hebrew and Yiddish literature), Jews were never able to escape their role as “nofail targets” for rulers who needed ready-made explanations for their own political failures. Culture, however valuable and necessary to human existence, does not defend against annihilation. The crimes against Jewish victims over two millennia in exile are well known. But to read Wisse’s coherent articulation of their effects provides an innovative lens with which Wisse reveals diaspora dynamics at play in the Jewish state. Given the widespread lack of faith in divine justice that premodern ancestors possessed, Wisse concludes that “modern Jews today could not claim to be moral unless they themselves intended to supply the missing dimension of power.” That power is in Israel and its security. Wisse convincingly proves how the security of each individual Jew depends on Israel’s existence and provides substantial evidence of the country’s enemies. But it is not clear whether, guns and uniforms notwithstanding, Jews have transcended a need for approval from those who would rather see them dead. Jews and Power has provoked admiration from all camps for the forcefulness of its argument and the presentation of its evidence. Although Wisse steers clear of party-line agendas, she argues that Israelis should “remain morally confident and remind others that they are the plaintiffs, not the defendants, in the international arena.” Most admirably, this work constitutes a profound act of resistance against the anti-Zionist sentiment that has become a profitable and hegemonic industry among academia today. Jews and Power offers a beacon of clarity in a world increasingly beset by political and moral confusion. Jews and Power by Ruth R. Wisse, (Nextbook/Schocken, $19.95), is available at the Kripke Jewish Federation Library.

DEADLINE NOTICE Please send all articles, photos and ads to the Press by Thursdays, 9 a.m., for all regular issues. Early deadlines will be announced in advance. Questions? Call 334.6448.

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Upcoming concerts sponsored by the Omaha Symphony and featuring Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy have been rescheduled. Originally slated for Feb. 15-17, the Frankie Valli concerts will now be June 6-8 at the Holland Performing Arts Center. The times will remain the same for the performances; 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, originally scheduled for Saturday, June 7, 8 p.m. is to be determined. All previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new dates, and refunds will be issued upon request. In addition, all Omaha Symphony Subscribers will be treated to a special 2008/09 Season Preview Concert on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2 p.m. at the Holland Performing Arts Center. For information, contact the Ticket Office at 402.342.3560 or via e-mail at boxoffice@omahasymphony.org. Omaha Performing Arts welcomes Ladysmith Black Mambazo to the Peter Kiewit Concert Hall at the Holland Performing Arts Center on Friday, Feb. 8, 8 p.m. First introduced to the pop music world with their appearance on Paul Simon’s ground breaking 1986 recording, Graceland, Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a GRAMMY® Awardwinning vocal group from South Africa that has conquered nations in its own way with a joyous and spiritually charged brand of vocal music and choreography. The group’s performance at the Holland Center is part of their current Long Walk to Freedom tour. Tickets, priced from $19-$35, may be purchased through Ticket Omaha online at www.ticketomaha. org, by phone at 402.345.0606 or toll free at 866.434.TKTS (8587), and at the box office at the Holland Center, 13th and Douglas streets. Omaha Performing Arts welcomes Natalie MacMaster to the Kiewit Concert Hall inside the Holland Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Feb. 2, 8 p.m. The niece of famed Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster, Natalie is one of Canada’s major talents. In July of 2006, she became one of the youngest people ever to receive Canada’s highest civilian honor -- the Order of Canada. MacMaster also took home awards for “Best Female Artist of the Year” and “Best Roots/Traditional Solo Recording” at Canada’s East Coast Music Awards in 2005. Four of her previous five CDs have been certified “gold” in Canada, and two have charted on Billboard’s Top 20 Selling World Music Charts. Tickets, priced from $19-$30, may be purchased through Ticket Omaha online at www.ticketomaha. org, by phone at 402.345.0606 or toll free at 866.434.TKTS (8587), and in person at the box office at the Holland Center, 13th and Douglas streets.

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February 1, 2008

Nothing lasts forever On this week’s front page is coverage of the end of the ZIV Tzedakah Fund. Created by the “Pied Piper of Tzedakah” Danny Siegel, the fund has raised and spent millions over its three decades to improve lives of Jews and non-Jews in the United States and Israel. But at the end of 2008, Siegel said the fund will end. Danny Siegel has been a familiar figure to Omahans. As a former International President of United Synagogue Youth, Siegel’s leadership was apparent to Ron and Bob Wolfson, both charismatic figures in their own right. Ron Wolfson, author, lecturer and director of Synagogue 2000 (now 3000), and Bob Wolfson, former ADL-CRC director in Omaha who now works for the ADL national office, have worked with, lectured with, and admired Siegel for decades. In fact, Ron Wolfson and Danny Siegel were the featured speakers of a Young Leadership Shabbat dinner in New York City at the 1992 General Assembly. Attendees said then it was probably “the best dog-and-pony show” they’d ever seen -especially when Wolfson and Siegel demonstrated the physical characteristics of Hebrew letters and hilariously translated that into genuine instructions for action. Who knows how many of those “young leaders” now hold influential positions in their communities! Siegel has addressed groups at Beth El and Temple Israel, as well as the Jewish Federation of Omaha and Lincoln. He’s participated in conventions for United Jewish Communities, National Council of Jewish Women and

Hadassah, among others. He’s brought more than 15,000 USYers through Jerusalem’s Yad LaKashish, “Lifeline for the Old,” a sheltered workshop for the elderly. And he’s hosted Jerusalem mitzvah makers in his summer apartment, inviting anyone who knows him to stop by for snacks and inspiration. We can safely say that Danny Siegel has probably been one of the most inspiring figures of our generation, encouraging young and old alike to do more mitzvot, help more people, turn simchas into opportunities for tzedakah, and, in turn, inspire others. He’s influenced many to use B’nai Mitzvah invitations as tribute cards for charitable organizations, and centerpieces as items that can be donated. His maniacal devotion to mitzvah-making led former Omahan Rabbi Josh Zweiback to create his own fund -Kavod -- which does much of what ZIV does, though still on a smaller scale. (Maybe the end of ZIV will allow Kavod to grow!) Nothing lasts forever -- except Torah, our sages say. And even a far-reaching fund like ZIV could not continue forever.

After all, Siegel, who seems to have more energy that most, is entitled to take a break. Almost compulsive in his drive toward turning people on to the value of tzedakah, he’s going back to his first love -- writing. We have no doubt that his influence will be felt for generations to come and wish him well. Kol HaKavod, Danny! As Eric Fingerhut wrote in his interview with Siegel in the Washington Jewish Week, Siegel said of Ziv’s demise: “Charismatic leaders make us think, ‘Oh, if only I could do that, be like that.’ True leaders make us think, ‘If they can do that, then ... I can, too.’”

Talk to the snakes

FOCUS ON ISSUES by RABBI AVI SHAFRAN In a 1938 essay, Mohandas (“Mahatma”) Gandhi, the spiritual and political leader of the Indian independence movement, counseled Jews in Nazi Germany to neither flee nor resist but rather offer themselves up to be killed by their enemies, since their “suffering voluntarily undergone will bring them an inner strength and joy.” When all hope is lost, a Jew about to be killed “al Kiddush Hashem” -- as a Jewish martyr -- is indeed to reach for serenity, even happiness, at the opportunity to give up his life because of who he is. When Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, the great Lithuanian Jewish religious leader and scholar, was murdered by Hitler’s henchmen in 1941, he reportedly told the students about to be killed with him that “In Heaven it appears that they deem us to be righteous because our bodies have been chosen to atone for the Jewish people… In this way we will save the lives of our brethren overseas… We are now fulfilling the greatest commandment… The very fire that consumes our bodies will one day rebuild the Jewish people.” But Jewish martyrdom is not something to be courted. And so Mr. Gandhi’s advice for Jews during the Holocaust was, even if consonant with his personal beliefs, from Judaism’s point of view profoundly wrong. And Gandhi’s advice was even more disturbing in light of his admission, in that same essay, that the “cry for the national home for the Jews does not make much appeal to me.” Jews, he said, should “make… their home where they are born.” It is, moreover, he went on, “inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs.” Apples, they say, don’t fall far from trees. A rotten one fell with a loud splat recently over

at The Washington Post. On a weblog -- “On Faith” -- sponsored by that paper in conjunction with Newsweek Magazine, Arun Gandhi, a grandson of Mohandas and co-founder of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence at the University of Rochester, opined that “the Jews today” are intent on making Germans feel guilty for the Holocaust (which he chose to spell with a lower-case “h”) and that they insist that “the whole world must regret what happened to the Jews.” “The world did feel sorry,” he reminded his readers, “for the episode.” But “when an individual or a nation refuses to forgive and move on, the regret turns into anger.” Ah, yes, that unpleasant “episode,” more than 60 years ago. And those Jews still can’t bring themselves to forgive the Nazis.

... if your ultimate concerns are in fact peace and humanity’s survival ... your ire should have been not those living in the snake pit, but rather the snakes themselves. Like his grandfather was, Mr. Gandhi petitfils is also concerned with Israel. Addressing those who defend the Jewish State’s security barrier and use of weapons to fight terrorism, he challenged: “[Y]ou believe that you can create a snake pit -- with many deadly snakes in it -- and expect to live in the pit secure and alive?” And so the man of peace, grandson of the same, reached the conclusion that actions like Israel’s “created a culture of violence, and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity.” Interesting. Although his own concern about Jews was not exactly their militarism, Mr. Hitler similarly saw them as jeopardizing humanity’s survival. Well, whatever. Grandson Gandhi subsequently apologized for his “poorly worded post.” In the course of his apology he even took care to capitalize

“Holocaust.” But his apology itself, unfortunately, consisted solely of his regret at having implied that “the policies of the Israeli government are reflective of the views of all Jewish people.” Many Jews, he explained, “are as concerned as I am by the use of violence for state purposes…” Well, thank you, Mr. Gandhi. But no thanks. I cannot speak for all of the Jewish people, of course, but for my part I must decline your apology. Not because I bear you any grudge or ill will and certainly not because I am hardhearted. I don’t think I have ever rejected an apology in my life, until now. It’s not because I am blinded by some ethnic rage over the unpleasantness of that World War II episode. And not because I am a kneejerk defender of Israel in whatever her leaders decide to do; I am not. No, I reject your apology simply because you seem to have missed the entire point of why your original post was so offensive -frankly, revolting. It is astounding that you still don’t seem to realize your insult and error. They lie in where you directed your words. You are welcome to criticize Israeli decisions, even the wisdom of Israel’s establishment itself, if you agree with your grandfather’s views. But if your ultimate concerns are in fact peace and humanity’s survival, then in a world where Jews are regularly attacked simply for being Jews and Israelis simply for being Israelis, where Jewish tombstones are defaced and broken, where Arab countries will not permit Israelis to enter their borders and Arab textbooks teach children to hate Jews as a matter of religious and cultural obligation, where a United Nations routinely ignores murder, mayhem and unspeakable cruelty in scores of countries but just as routinely condemns Israel for defending herself, the primary focus of your ire should have been not those living in the snake pit, but rather the snakes themselves. Rabbi Shafran is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America. This op-ed is courtesy of Am Echad Resources. Rabbi Shafran can be reached at: Shafran@agudathisrael.org.

(Founded in 1920) Howard K. Marcus President Carol Katzman Editor Richard Busse Managing Editor Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper Anne Muskin Editorial Intern Jewish Press Board Bobbi Leibowitz, Vice President; Stan Mitchell, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Treasurer; Joanie Jacobson, Immediate Past-chairman; Susan Lehr; Jamie Meyerson; George Quittner; Eve Randone, Melissa Schop; Michael Siegel, Michael Sigmond; Jim Simon; Nancy Skid; and Dorothy Spizman. The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Centers of Excellence of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service, and Jewish Senior Services. The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation. Highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment. Editorial The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org. Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1-402-334-5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org.. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be singlespaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions, but should be printed as soon as possible to ensure timeliness. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer, but the name can be withheld at the writer’s request. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For more information, contact Carol Katzman, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly on Friday for $33 per calendar year U.S.; $40 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or e-mail to: jpress@jewishomaha. org.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the Editor: As leaders of the Jewish community, none of whose organizations will endorse or oppose any candidate for President, we feel compelled to speak out against certain rhetoric and tactics in the current campaign that we find particularly abhorrent. Of particular concern, over the past several weeks, many in our community have received hateful emails that use falsehood and innuendo to mischaracterize Senator Barack Obama’s religious beliefs and who he is as a person. These tactics attempt to drive a wedge between our community and a presidential candidate based on despicable and false attacks and innuendo based on religion. We reject these efforts to manipulate members of our community into supporting or opposing candidates. Attempts of this sort to mislead and inflame voters should not be part of our political discourse and should be rebuffed by all who believe in our democracy. Jewish voters, like all voters, should support whichever candidate they believe would make the best president. We urge everyone to make that decision based on the factual records of these candidates, and nothing less. Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center William Daroff, Vice President, United Jewish Communities Nathan J. Diament, Director, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America Abraham Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League Richard S. Gordon, President, American Jewish Congress David Harris, Executive Director, American Jewish Committee Rabbi David Saperstein, Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism Phyllis Snyder, President, National Council of Jewish Women Hadar Susskind, Washington Director, Jewish Council for Public Affairs To the Editor: Over the past several weeks, many in the Jewish community have received hateful e-mails that use falsehood and innuendo about Senator Barack Obama’s religion and attack him personally. As Jewish United States Senators who have not endorsed a candidate for the Democratic nomination, we condemn these scurrilous attacks. We find it particularly abhorrent that these attacks arc apparently being sent specifically to the Jewish Community. Jews, who have historically been the target of such attacks, should be the first to reject these tactics. We won’t dignify these falsehoods by repeating them in order to refute them. Instead, we will express our outrage at these tactics, which are being used to demonize a good and decent man and our friend and colleague. Attempting to manipulate voters into supporting or opposing one candidate or another based on despicable and fictitious attacks is disgraceful. These false and malicious attacks should not be part of our political discourse. All voters should support whichever candidate they believe would make the best president. We sincerely hope that Americans will make that decision based on the factual records of these candidates, not false charges circulated by anonymous mass e-mails. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT) Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI)

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Page 13

Israel vows to keep pressure on Gaza to stop rocket salvoes

NEWS ANALYSIS by LESLIE SUSSER JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Despite international and Arab protests, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has indicated Israel will keep up its pressure on the Gaza Strip in an effort to force Hamas and other Palestinian militias to stop their cross-border rocket attacks on Israeli civilians. But Israel relaxed its blockade somewhat last week after masses of Palestinians tried to cross the Gaza-Egypt border. On Jan. 23, the crowds succeeded in knocking down the border fence, and thousands of Palestinians streamed into Egypt to stock up on supplies before returning to Gaza. Israel’s blockade of ... Israel countered that the Gaza Strip could Hamas is making the have some major positive policy ramifica- situation look worse than tions. It aims to make it is to arouse internaa decisive impact on the seven-year-long tional sympathy and cross-border war of says no humanitarian attrition, it could crisis is in the offing ... weaken Hamas’ hold on Gaza and it could influence the Annapolis peace process. It also has reinvigorated international condemnation of Israel, which was widely criticized for closing border crossing points to Gaza last week and reducing diesel fuel supplies used to produce electricity. Critics charge that shortages of electricity, food and medicine could cause a humanitarian crisis among Gaza’s 1.5 million inhabitants. Though Israel countered that Hamas is making the situation look worse than it is to arouse international sympathy and says no humanitarian crisis is in the offing, Israel decided on Jan. 22 to allow fuel, food and medicine to enter the strip. The fuel included enough industrial diesel to power Gaza’s lone electricity plant for a week. The plant had shut down three days earlier, plunging much of northern Gaza into darkness. The European Union, which sponsors the plant, said Israel has agreed to restore weekly fuel shipments. Israel said the imports were subject to weekly reviews. In a phone conversation last week with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Olmert indicated there would be no change in Israeli policy until the Palestinian cross-border rocket attacks ceased. Mubarak had called to urge Olmert to lift the closure to avert a looming humanitarian crisis. Olmert replied that Israel would not allow anything like that to happen because it would play into Hamas’ hands, but he insisted Israel would not ease the pressure. The situation on the perennially tense Israel-Gaza border escalated sharply last week after Israel killed 19 mainly Hamas operatives in a cross-border raid, and Hamas retaliated by stepping up the shelling of Sderot and other Israeli towns and villages near Gaza. Over the next few days, Palestinian militias fired more than 200 Kassam rockets and mortar shells at Israeli civilians -- more in three days than in all of December. Israel retaliated by targeting more militiamen, bombing a building that once served as the Palestinian interior ministry and closing the border crossing points between Gaza and Israel. It was the last step that drew intense international criticism from Europe, the United Nations and the Arabs. The criticism highlights the dilemma Israeli decisionmakers face: How to stop a nonstate authority that cannot easily be deterred from firing rockets at civilians without incurring international opprobrium or heavy military losses. Basically, three major options are available: • A large-scale ground operation and reoccupation of Gaza for at least several months. The advantage would be to give the Israel Defense Forces the kind of control it has in the West Bank, enabling the IDF to prevent missile launches, destroy

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missile workshops and arrest militia operatives. In other words, to deal the Hamas military infrastructure a devastating blow. There is a downside: Taking Gaza and then maintaining an Israeli presence would probably entail heavy IDF casualties; the move would not play well in the court of international opinion; and it could also stymie peace talks with the more moderate West Bank Palestinians under Mahmoud Abbas. Defense Minister Ehud Barak argues that this step will eventually have to be taken and says that army units are training intensively for it. • Negotiating a cease-fire. That would be the most effective way to stop the Kassams -- for now. A cease-fire, however, would enable Hamas to build up its military capabilities, making an Israeli attack several years down the road far more difficult. Although some ex-generals advocate this course, the government now is strongly against it. • Keeping up strong military and economic pressure, including targeted killings of Hamas operatives, pinpoint ground raids to keep the militiamen off-balance, and reducing fuel and other supplies to the civilian population without causing a humanitarian crisis. The problem with this route -- the one the government has adopted – is that it will inevitably run into international criticism and rather than getting the beleaguered civilian population to press the militiamen to stop firing, it might actually unite Gazans around Hamas. With little fanfare, Israel ratcheted up the military pressure a few weeks ago. Since the beginning of the month, more than 70 militants have been killed in targeted airstrikes and pinpoint land operations. On Jan. 17, the government added the civilian component, closing all the crossings to Gaza and significantly reducing fuel supplies. The moves -- fully consistent with the government’s policy of changing political realities in Gaza through pressure on Hamas -- sparked a fierce propaganda war. Palestinians claimed there was no electricity in Gaza, with children carrying candles marched through the darkness to make the point. They also claimed that at least six people had died in hospitals because there was no electricity to power their life-support systems. On Jan. 23, apparently because of the blockade, tens of thousands of Palestinians forced their way across the Gaza border into Egypt. Gunmen blew up sections of the barrier separating Gaza from the Sinai, allowing the Palestinians to surge across as Egyptian police watched without intervening. Many of the Palestinians who entered Egyptian territory quickly stocked up on supplies before returning home. Israeli spokesman insist Hamas is faking the consequenes of the blockade. Col. Nir Press, the head of the IDF’s Coordination and Liaison Administration, pointed out that Israel is still supplying 70 percent of Gaza’s electricity and it is Hamas that decides how to ration it. There was no need for a total blackout in Gaza or for hospitals to be running on generators, he said. Nevertheless, to ensure that it could not be blamed for any hospital deaths, Israel renewed the diesel supplies. Israeli officials said the decision came following a cessation of rocket fire on Jan. 20. “We hope Hamas got the message,” said foreign ministry spokesman Arye Mekel. International criticism of Israel throughout has been harsh. For example, John Holmes, the United Nations' emergency relief coordinator, lambasted the closure on Gaza as collective punishment. “This kind of action against the people of Gaza cannot be justified even by these rocket attacks,” he declared. On Jan. 22, members of the U.N. Security Council in an emergency meeting discussed a resolution that called on Israel to end its blockade of Gaza and ensure “unhindered access for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people,” according to a text obtained by Agence-France Presse. 2-DAY GROCERY STORE LIQUIDATION & REAL ESTATE AUCTION FRI., FEB. 8, 2008 10:00AM DODGE, NE: 153 Oak (Main) St. (Auction on Premises in Heated Bldg.) Can’t make it to the auction? Bid Live on Proxibid.com COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE: 15,000 SF Brick Bldg. w/3 Levels – Many Uses & Possibilities! For Terms, Info or Showing, Contact Auction Company. GROCERY & MEAT PROCESSING EQUIP: Auto Fry SS Deep Fat Fryer; Hobart Vac Slr, Mt Slcr, 4632 Mt Grndr, 5614 Vert Band Saw, 403 Steak Tndrzr, Dig Meat Scale; Heat Sealer; Wisco Oven; (6) SS Work Tbls; MUCH MORE! COOLERS/FREEZERS: Hussmann 5-Dr Dsply Frzr; Tyler 10-Door Dsply Frzr; Hussmann 16’, 20’ & 24’ Reach-in Clrs; Friedrich 12’ Reach-in; True 1-Dr Soda Clr; More. PLUS: Pallet Jcks; (48) Sects. 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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 1, 2008

Candlelighting Friday, Feb. 1, 5:21p.m.

Synagogue Listings B’nai Israel Synagogue 618 Mynster St. Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com

Beth El Synagogue Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Omaha, NE 68154-1980 492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org

Beth Israel Synagogue Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific St. Omaha, NE. 68154 556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org

Beyt Shalom An Affiliate of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation 3012 S. 119 St. P.O. Box 390352 Omaha, NE 68139 660.2395 www.beytshalomomaha.org

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

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

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

Rose Blumkin Jewish Home 333 S. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154

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

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

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

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m. FRIDAY, Feb. 8: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker, Zohar Winer, xommunity shlicha, speaking about “An Eye to Israel.”

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Services conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Gastón Bogomolni. FRIDAY: Musical Shabbat services, 6 p.m.; Tot Shabbat, 6 p.m., led by “Miss Patty” Nogg. Dinner will follow. Cost is $5 for adults, free for children ages six and younger. Open to Jewish families in the community. To RSVP for dinner, call the synagogue office. SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m.; Note: No Junior Congregation on Feb. 2; Minha/ Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY, Bible Study Discussion Group, 10 a.m.; Nurturing Your Spirit: Enriching Your Jewish Soul, 10 a.m.-noon. led by Susi Frydman-Levin. THURSDAY: Rabbi Levin’s Insights and Values from the Torah, noon; Women’s Book Club, 1:15 p.m. KADIMA SHABBATON: Feb. 1–3, for sixth-eighth graders, at the 4-H campsite in Gretna. BESTT: No sixth and seventh grade classes on Sunday; fifth grade Family History Program, 10 a.m. in the West Court. WORLDWIDE WRAP: On Sunday, 9 a.m. minyan, an annual event to learn about and wrap tefillin. Complimentary breakfast follows at 10 a.m. MEN’S CLUB SPEAKER SERIES: Sunday, 10:45 a.m. featuring Thomas Warren, former Omaha police chief. SISTERHOOD MEETING: Tuesday, Feb. 5, 7 p.m. , open to all members. Call Caryn Rifkin, 334.7216, for more information. WOMEN’S ROSH HODESH GROUP: Wednesday, Feb. 6, 7 p.m., at the home of Ruth Goldenberg, 2307 No. 133 Cir. “What will you do with your one extra day/extra month?” RSVP to Dottie Rosenblum, 397.4805 or Goldenberg, 505.9877. UNDERSTANDING JEWISH MYSTICISM with Guy Matalon on Thursdays, Feb. 7, 14, 21, and 28, 8-9 p.m. Cost is $23; fee

is discounted to $18 for donors to the Federation Campaign. To register, contact Margie Gutnik in the office, or at programming@bethel-omaha.org. SHABBAT TUNES AND TALES: Saturday, Feb. 9, 11:15-11:45 a.m. Monthly Shabbat sing-along program, led this month by “Miss Carrie” Fingold; open to Jewish children (up to age five), their parents and grandparents. YOUNG FAMILIES’ SHABBATON: Feb. 22-23 at Lied Lodge in Nebraska City. For information, call the office. SISTERHOOD HAMANTASCHEN SALE: through Feb. 21. Cost is $6.25 a dozen. Order forms in the office, or send a check -- made out to Beth El Sisterhood -- to Beth El, 14506 California St., Omaha NE 68154. Specify flavor and number desired. Pick-up is Sunday, March 16, 11 a.m.-noon, or at the Purim Carnival, Sunday March 23, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fri., 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 5:21 p.m. with Shabbat Dinner in honor of Rabbi Gross’s 30th co-sponsored by birthday, Sisterhood following. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m. free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes, 9:45 a.m. with Torah Parade; Kiddush is sponsored by David & Sandy Gross, Amy Gross, Nina Gross, Laura, Avi, Joe, Atara, Ike, Jake, Judah and Sam Greenbaum in honor of Rabbi Gross’s 30th birthday; Mincha, 5 p.m., followed by Suedat Shlishit sponsored by the Jewish Federation in honor of the 124th birthday of Rabbi Kripke and Rabbi Gross; Special musical Havdalah, 6:26 p.m., and concert with Ruby Harris will follow. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; “Reading the Rambam” with Rabbi Oxman, 9:45 a.m.; Rabbi Gross’s teen class, 10 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m. THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m.; Rabbi’s weekly class, 7:30 p.m. Leon Shrago will be teaching while is on the Rabbi Gross Federation’s Mission to Israel.

BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Shabbat in the Home. SUNDAY: Religious School, 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the JCC.

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Services, 7 a.m. SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9 a.m.; Service, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush luncheon follows the service. SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.; Mishpacha Mornings, 10:15 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Maamar Kabbalistic Insights for Women, 12:15 p.m.; Halacha, 7 p.m. TUESDAY: W.O.W. Prayer, Prophets, and Prayer, 9 a.m.; Parshah Roundup: Weekly Torah Portion Class, 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Kabbalah Circle, 7 p.m. All events and programs are open to the community.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. FRIDAY: Snacks, 6 p.m.; Early Family Shabbat Service, 6:15 p.m., led by Rabbi Emanuel. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. all led by Rabbi Emanuel. SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Gam Simcha-Grade 2, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.-noon at Temple. WEDNESDAY: Hebrew classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. THURSDAY: Board of Trustees meeting, 7 p.m. ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAYS, 7 p.m. Intro to Judaism, led by Rabbi Emanuel. MONDAYS, 7-8:30 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. Hebrew Reading Crash Course One Day Review and Module II .

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Marti Nerenstone & Beyt Shalom Congregation.

TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, 7:30

p.m. Rabbi Eric Linder and Cantor Wendy Shermet will lead the service. SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m.; Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.; Rylee Zimmerman, daughter of Linda and Todd Zimmerman, will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah. SUNDAY: Teacher Learning Coffee, 9:30 a.m.; Parent/Teacher Conferences, 10 a.m.; Teacher Appreciation Lunch, noon. TUESDAY: Hebrew Lunch & Learn, 12:15 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 4 p.m.; All School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Family School, 6 p.m.; Grades 712 Informal Ed-Tikkun Olam Day, 6 p.m. THURSDAY: “Adult Study with the Clergy” with Cantor Shermet, 10 a.m.; Torah Therapy: Jewish Ethics at Work, noon at Grace Mayer Insurance. Contact the Temple office for reservations. Cost is $6. TOT SHABBAT & CANDLE MAKING: Friday, Feb. 8, 6 p.m. Bring your family’s candlesticks to Tot Shabbat and the children will make candles to bless for Shabbat that evening. Stay and share a home cooked Shabbat meal. To make a dinner reservation, contact the office at mkube@templeisraelomaha.com. The cost is $5 for adults and free for children.

NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN FRIDAY: Minyan, 5:21 p.m. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Nancy Coren, Lay Leader. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. MONDAY and THURSDAY: Minyan, 9 a.m. Contact the office to arrange for a minyan. FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m. followed by kiddush lunch and Talmud study. SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Gam Simcha-Grade 2, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.noon at South Street Temple. WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Contact Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066; Hebrew classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. ADULT EDUCATION MONDAYS, 7-8:30 p.m. Hebrew Reading Crash Course One Day Review and Module II.

If you’re looking at this space,

Beth El’s Women’s Rosh Hodesh group to share the gift of time at next meeting

so are others!

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator How often have we wished for more time: time for things we need to do and would like to do? Because 2008 is a leap year, everyone will find themselves with extra time on their hands; in addition, this year’s Jewish calendar provides us with a theoretical “leap month,” Adar II, along with Adar I. With the gift of an extra day and the idea of an extra month, the

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to reserve space, call

Allan Handleman, 402.334.6451

co-hosts of Beth El’s next Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group meeting are posing the questions, “What would you like to do with this extra time?” and “What do you think you’ll actually do?” Ruth Goldenberg and Dottie Rosenblum hope attendees will ponder these queries and share their thoughts at the meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 6, 7 p.m., at Goldenberg’s home, located at 2307 No. 133 Cir.

“During the presentation, we’ll explain the whys and wherefores of the two Adars and the coincidence of that “extra month” with our extra day on Feb. 29,” said Rosenblum, “and we’ll be curious to see what they come up with. We’ll make some suggestions and encourage input from our group members; the end result leading them into a lively and interesting discussion!” About the upcoming “leap

month,” Goldenberg explained that, “Adar II is not really extra, because we don't get free days in March, when it occurs; we just wanted to use the idea of an additional month to jar everyone’s imaginations. It will be interesting to hear how people would choose to spend their time.” The Rosh Hodesh Group is open to all Beth El women; to RSVP, call Rosenblum at 397.4805, or Goldenberg at 505.9877.

February 1, 2008

A proud obsession

SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Mishpatim Our Sidra issues forth naturally from the previous Sidra. The Ten Words deal with broad principles. For example, “Lo, tignov” -- “You must not steal.” But how is this defined. We need a whole discussion of what torts are. And Mishpatim begins this fuller discussion. We are pleased and proud that the first consideration, is the slave. Israel had been for 400 years, slaves to the Egyptians. Now with the institution of slavery still in existence, biblical law surrounds it with mitigating requirements. Rabbinic law goes further, so that the man who buys a slave, buys a master. Moreover, the requirement to pay him off as he leaves makes his service a kind of multiyear service, paid off -- even handsomely -- by multiyear salary. We note here the beginning with Israel’s obsession with the idea of liberty and freedom. This quality -- liberty -- becomes deeply ingrained in the Hebrew-Israelite soul. Wherever there is demand for liberty, Jews are likely to be involved at the source. Americans like to say that we are liberty-loving people. So too, Jews. We stand up against opposition of all kinds; we look upon the oppression of Jews through the Christian centuries of Europe as a time of impaired humanity. We cannot omit from this discussion the problems of the land of Israel in our time. Are Jews oppressing Palestinians? The strongest complaints and the strongest demands against our brothers in Israel come from Jews! Whether or not there is oppression, and there is serious discussion on both sides, is a matter of personal judgment. Americans are proud to speak unendingly about “human rights.” But do my rights and my neighbor’s rights sometimes clash with each other? Now who is the arbiter? Who is the decisor? Can liberty be defined in such a way that both my neighbor and I are satisfied? I am told to love my neighbor as myself, but is there someone who gives the same message to him? (Editor’s note: Rabbi Kripke is on vacation; his column will resume next week. This column was excerpted from a column which ran in the Jewish Press on Jan. 31, 2003.)

PASSOVER ISSUE REMINDER The Jewish Press will publish “Israel@60: a salute to Israel’s 60th birthday” on April 18. If you’ve lived, learned or visited Israel -- on a teen trip, a mission, or on your own -- see your story and photos in this special issue! Send story in the body of your e-mail with attached .jpg or .tif files to: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org or send hard copy with photographs to: The Jewish Press Passover issue, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 by Feb. 29.

FOUNDATION TEMPORARILY RELOCATES TO JCC Effective Monday, Feb. 4, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation office will be relocated to the JCC. For the next two months due to construction at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, the Foundation office will be operating from the conference room at the Anti-Defamation League/Community Relations Committee, just right of the ADL entrance and down the hall from the Jewish Press. Please call 334.6439 or 334.6551 if you have any questions.

To Submit Announcements to the Jewish Press: Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 (with photos we will scan and return). Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org. Readers can also submit other announcements -- births engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements. Deadlines are normally eight days prior to publication, on Thursdays, 9 a.m. Check the Jewish Press, however, for notices of early deadlines prior to secular and Jewish holidays.

Conservative rabbinical parley heavy on political conservatives by RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) -- With the Conservative Jewish movement set to hold its Rabbinical Assembly convention here next month, the agenda reads like a who’s who of the U.S. conservative political movement. The assembly’s chief honoree is John Roberts, the U.S. Supreme Court chief justice whose appointment in 2006 marked what was perhaps President Bush’s signal achievement as a conservative president. Other speakers at the convention of the Conservative Jewish movement’s rabbinical association include such leading Jewish neo-conservative lights as Charles Krauthammer, the Washington Post columnist; Ruth Wisse, the Harvard University Yiddishist; and David Brooks, The New York Times columnist. U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), one of the Senate’s leading religious conservatives, also will be there. It’s an unusual lineup for a religious movement that has sided mostly with Democrats on domestic issues and last year came close to excoriating the Bush administration on the Iraq war. The Conservative Jewish movement backs reproductive rights; Brownback is among the Senate’s most vocal opponents of abortion. No one is complaining, at least not on the record. Participants say it’s understood that when it comes to Washington convention RSVPs, sometimes a convention will skew one way or another. Organizers would not name the invitees who turned down the group, but they noted including some of the Democratic Party’s leadership in Congress. Democrats, who are now controlling Congress, are less likely to have the time to attend a convention than the opposition Republicans. That made sense to Rabbi Jack Moline of Agudas Achim in Alexandria, Va., who is known for his affiliation with liberal causes and his closeness to Rep. Jim Moran (DVa.), a stalwart of the Democratic Party’s left wing. “We found much less resonance on the John Roberts, U.S. Supreme Court Democratic-progres- chief justice, will be the main honsive side of the scale,” oree at the Conservative said Moline, who was Rabbinical Assembly’s convention. Credit: U.S. Supreme Court not on the conference organizing committee but was asked to issue invitations to the Feb. 10-14 gathering. Roberts’ invitation and honor -- he’ll receive the Rabbinical Assembly’s Truth and Justice Award -- is more about the office than the man, the movement’s leaders said.

DEATHS STEPHEN M. HOBERMAN Stephen M. Hoberman died on Jan. 18 in San Francisco, CA. Services were held Jan. 27 at John A. Gentelman Mortuaries, officated by Rabbi Aryeh Azriel. He is survived by his daughter Katie Hoberman, Winnetka, CA; son and daughter-in-law, Kyle and Sara Hoberman; daughter, Molly Hoberman; grandson, Logan; and brother and sister-in-law, Bruce and Holly Hoberman. Memorials to the American Red Cross, 2912 So. 80 Ave, Omaha, NE 68124. JACQUE DOLGOFF Jacque Dolgoff passed away at the age of 91. A graveside service was held on Jan. 29 at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Born and raised in Omaha, he served in the Army on a hospital ship during World War II. Following his service, he settled in New York to raise his family. He returned to Omaha in the mid-1980s, was active with the Jewish War Veterans, and volunteered with the Salvation Army. He was preceded in death by his wife, Adele, and son, Douglas. He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Gene and Suzanne Dolgoff; by son and fiancé, Gary Dolgoff and Cindy Taylor; and grandchildren, Jaimie, David and Lara Dolgoff.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 1, 2008

Omaha Performing Arts Presents

Hypnotic South African Voices Ladysmith Black Mambazo Long Walk to Freedom Friday, February 8, 2008 | 8:00 p.m. Kiewit Concert Hall | Holland Performing Arts Center Sponsored by Media Partners: Power 106.9, City Weekly and metroMAGAZINE

Tickets from $19

Band of the Coldstream Guards and the Pipes, Drums and Dancers of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

Sunday, February 10, 2008 | 2:00 p.m. Kiewit Concert Hall | Holland Performing Arts Center Media Partners: The Reader and Omaha Magazine

Tickets from $19

| 402.345.0606 | www.ticketomaha.org | 13th and Douglas streets