Vol. LXXXIV No. 23 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 84 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
2 Adar, 5765 February 11, 2005
Federation Approves Jewish Senior Services Campaign to Rebuild State-of-the-Art Facility by RITA SHELLEY for Jewish Senior Services A capital campaign, approved by the Jewish Federation of Omaha (JFO) at its Feb. 1 meeting, launches a new era in senior care for the Jewish community. “We can now go immediately to our community to explain why Omaha needs a re-built facility for Jewish seniors,” said Joanie Bernstein, President of Jewish Senior Services (JSS). New Plan Adds Dementia Unit A pressing need is for a special care unit designed for residents at all levels of dementia. Bernstein and Mike Silverman, JSS Executive Director, cited research that proves the progression of these diseases can be slowed in a properly designed environment. The proposed new wing would include private rooms and secure, shaded outdoor areas with appropriate walkways. Current Home Built on ‘Hospital Model’ According to Silverman, the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home was designed on a hospital model, which was state-of-theart at the time. For example, the long hallways create great distances for residents to walk to meals or activities. The hallways also increase the time for the
e n t i r e JCC nursing Gallery to departExtend ment to into reach resiHome dents and The proto respond p o s e d to their facility also needs, will feature Silverman a more said. accessible, Need for direct pasPrivacy s a g e “In addibetween tion,” he the Jewish continued, Commun“we want ity Center to provide and the our resiH o m e , Joanie Bernstein, President of Jewish Senior Services, and Mike dents with making it Silverman, JSS Executive Director, have announced the launch of r o o m s easier to the fundraising campaign to rebuild the Home for Jewish seniors. with more visit both. privacy, individual windows and accessi- This will contribute to additional interable, up-to-date, less institutional and gency programming on the Federation more home-like bathrooms.” campus. Improved locations of Re-hab Unit to Expand entrances, parking and restrooms for volOther features of the re-building unteers and visitors are planned. include enhanced short-term care areas Steering Committee Excited for post-hospital recovery, expanded Bernstein assembled a steering comrehabilitation services for residents and mittee with co-chairmen Bob Lepp, JFO community members. Vice-president and a past JSS President,
American University Professor to Serve as Temple Scholar by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Known as “an excellent speaker, well prepared, informative, and a person who clearly enjoys what she is doing,” Pamela S. Nadell, a professor at American University in Washington, D.C., will present three windows into American Jewish life over the past 350 years when she visits Temple Pamela S. Nadell Israel the weekend of March 4-6 as a scholar-in-residence. A native of New Jersey, Professor Nadell was educated at Douglass College, Rutgers University and at Ohio State University where she received a doctorate in history. She spent her junior year studying at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 1982, she joined American University as an assistant professor and then became an associate professor. She has been the director of the Jewish Studies Program at the University since 1994. “I was educated in a Conservative afternoon congregational school,” Professor Nadell said, “had a Saturday morning Bat Mitzvah there, did a lot of reading of historical novels (such as Exodus and The Source) as a teenager, and was active in NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth) in high school. Those led me to a Jewish studies major as an undergraduate. I always loved history,” she added. She will begin her residency, which is sponsored by Temple’s Hermene Zweiback Center for Lifelong Jewish Learning, at the Shabbat worship service on Friday, March 4, 7:30 p.m. Continued on page 6
Inside Opinion Page see page 8
The Faces of Aliyah: Two Israelis Talk About Life as New Immigrants by CAROL KATZMAN Editor of the Jewish Press The term aliyah--a synonym for immigration to Israel--actually means going up. It’s used during the Torah service to call someone up to the bimah to recite a blessing before the reading of a section of the weekly Torah portion. And for two young men who visited Omaha last week, aliyah was literally a blessing. Meet Nataniel Kadoche and Alejandro Okret-both 26 and two of Israel’s newest citizens--who came to Omaha last week as part of a seven-city tour of the United States. Accompanied by Maya Neiger (a fifth-generation Jerusalemite) who works for the Jewish Agency for Israel, the two young men spoke about their reasons for making aliyah, their military service and university studies, and how JAFI helped them overcome Nataniel Kadoche, left, originally from Morocco; Maya Neiger, the their loneliness in the process of becoming JAFI representative who accompanied them; and Alejandro Okret from Buenos Aires, were in Omaha last week to talk about how the Israelis. Kadoche, who comes from a long line of Jewish Agency helped them in the process of becoming Israeli citiMoroccan Jews, was born in Casablanca and zens. attended private school there. Fluent in French After finishing high school, he visited his brothers in and English, he did pick up Hebrew by studying Paris and began making plans for aliyah. Eventually he Talmud and learning prayers in the siddur, but admit- enrolled in the Rothberg School at Hebrew University ted his conversational Hebrew “wasn’t so good.” At the to improve his Hebrew. age of 15, he participated in an organized trip to Israel, “I met Jews there from all over the world,” he said sponsored by JAFI. with a smile. “Learning Hebrew together united us.” “I was really curious about Israel,” he recalled. “My As a “lone student” in Israel, Kadoche had the help dream was to live in Israel, but I was concerned about of a JAFI program, which gave him stipends to help learning the language.” him financially, and also arranged for him to spend His two older brothers were living in Paris already, Shabbat and holidays with Israeli families. Kadoche having attended university there, and his parents stopped his studies after a second year, this time at Bar assumed he’d do the same. What they didn’t know is Ilan University, to join the Israel Defense Force, serving that he left a note in the Western Wall during his first in an Air Force anti-aircraft unit. JAFI stepped in again, trip stating that one day, he’d become an Israeli. Continued on page 3
This Week: Books for 350 Years of Jewish History in America: Page 5 Former Omahan Honored by South Dakota Governor: Page 4
and Bob Belgrade, a JSS Vice- president. Community leaders Howard Kooper and Harlan Noddle, along with Silverman and Bernstein, complete the committee. “The steering committee’s mandate is to continue the level of excellence our community has always demanded and supported,” Bernstein said. “The facility will be forward-looking and second-tonone in design.” Kooper concurs. “For almost a century we have been taking care of our Jewish seniors in our community,” Kooper said. “Now, 23 years after the Blumkin Home opened, it’s a privilege for me to be involved in carrying on the tradition of our predecessors--to once again provide a state-of-the-art facility for our Jewish seniors and continue the same high standards of care and security.” According to Noddle, “We have a wonderful facility now. However, we all recognize its physical limitations. We want-and need--a Home that will take us a long time into the future, so we’re obviously very excited to see this next phase of the project being launched.” Steering Committee co-chairmen Lepp and Belgrade share this enthusiasm for what the future holds. Continued on page 2
Crossword Puzzle: Champions of Sport: Page 7
Coming Next Week: Simchas Issue
Person-to-Person with Condoleeza Rice: Pages 8-9
Rabbi Marantz Looks at the Two Kushners: Page 12