February 20, 2009

Vol. LXXXVIII No. 25 Omaha, NE

Special daytime ‘Eye on Israel’ to review recent elections in Israel by SHERRI SAAG Center for Jewish Education Last week’s Israeli elections ended with a race that was too close to call -- even the next morning. The elections ended in a near draw between Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni and Likud chief Benjamin Netanyahu, with each claiming victory. Both are now jockeying to form coalition governments. And the possibility of political turmoil in the weeks ahead as a prime minister is chosen will make for a great debate. Join Dr. Guy Matalon, executive director of the Center for Jewish Education and Professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and Dr. Moshe Gershovich, UNO Professor of History, for a lively panel discussion on the elections. This special daytime edition of “Eye on Israel” will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 12-1 p.m., in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library. An interactive forum, the panelists welcome and expect the audience to participate in the discussion and share their thoughts and opinions. “The program will take place during the lunch hour and we encourage everyone to bring a brown bag lunch and join in what is sure to be an educational and engaging hour. This is a great time to get connected with the new political reality in Israel,” said Matalon. “The outcome over the war in Gaza emerged as a central issue in the campaign and, I believe, was a central issue on Election Day. Israelis put safety and security first in 2009,” he added. “National security will dominate discussions in both Israel and America in the coming weeks.” The program is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Mary Sue Grossman at mgrossman@jewishomaha.org or call her at 334.6445.

Celebrating 88 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

wouldn’t hand over more territory to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank until an “economic peace” is achieved between Israel and the Palestinians. If Netanyahu ends up getting the chance to lead a coalition goverment -- and given the outcome of last week’s election, he might -- the question of whether or not Netanyahu will stick to these hard-line positions may be determined in large part by the coalition he puts together. This time, Netanyahu has said, he has no intention of repeating the mistake he made in his first term as prime minister, from 1996 to 1999: relying on a narrow, right-wing coalition to govern. Given the conflicted nature of Tuesday’s outcome, in which Kadima won the most seats as a single party but the Likud-led right wing bloc the most seats as a bloc, a broad-based national unity government may be in the cards. If Netanyahu is the one to lead it, he’d have a lot more room to maneuver than last time around. Binyamin Netanyahu and Likud activists gathered at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Ground a few In the mid-1990s, hours after it became clear that Kadima had gained at least one more seat than Likud in the Netanyahu also ran a hardFeb. 10 election. Likud intended this to be a victory celebration, however televised exit polls line campaign but as prime at the close of voting showed that Kadima, lead by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, had a two minister wound up handing seat advantage over Likud according to all the main TV channels. By the next morning, with West Bank territory over to 99% of the actual votes counted, it became clear that Kadima only had a one seat advan- the Palestinian Authority tage over Likud, with 28 Knesset seats. Israel Beiteinu was confirmed with 15 and the once and even secretly negotiatstrong Labor party managed only 13 seats. It is not clear yet whether Livni or Netanyahu will ing with the Syrians over the Credit: ISRANET Continued on page 2 be Israel’s next prime minister, but both are claiming victory.

by LESLIE SUSSER JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Two days before Election Day, Benjamin Netanyahu planted a tree on the Golan Heights as a gesture to show he has no intention of returning the strategic plateau to Syria. During the campaign, the Likud Party leader also vowed to topple the Hamas regime in Gaza and said he

Jerusalem Prize awarded to Japanese author

Department statement by RON KAMPEAS said in its statement. “Nor WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The Obama does it indicate that we administration is working to ease Jewish will necessarily participate concerns about its decision to take part in a in future preparations for preparatory meeting for considering the the Conference. These upcoming Durban II conference. decisions will be taken at a At issue is the upcoming Durban Review later date, depending on Conference, set to take place at the United the results that we see Nations headquarters in Geneva in late from the negotiating April. process.” U.S. Jewish groups are worried that the The consultations, also gathering will be a repeat of the anti-Israel, anti-Jewish free-for-all that was the first contaking place in Geneva, ference in South Africa in 2001. are shaping the draft docCanada and Israel already have said they ument that will set the will not participate. The Netherlands and tone for the conference. France also are considering not attending. Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch. One signal that the Credit: U.N. Watch Obama administration is But the U.S. State Department set off alarm bells Sunday in the Jewish community by announc- making its concern with Israel bashing a priority is its ing that it would be taking part in consultations this week inclusion of Felice Gaer, a board member of the American Jewish Committee, in the U.S. delegation to ahead of the conference. By the next day Daniel Shapiro, the National Security the preparatory meetings. AJC officials would not return Council officer handling Israel affairs, had convened a calls for comment. conference call with Jewish communal leaders. Shapiro U.N. Watch, a Geneva-based watchdog with affiliareinforced the message in the State Department release tions to the AJC, reports that Iran in earlier drafting sesthat the administration was still a long way off from sions led a number of countries in objecting to language attending the actual conference. that specifies Jewish suffering during the Holocaust. “Our participation in these informal negotiations does “There is a notion inside this paragraph where there is not indicate -- and should not be misconstrued to indi- talk about condemning without reservation any denial of cate -- that the United States will participate in April in Holocaust,” U.N. Watch quoted the Iranian delegation the World Conference Against Racism itself,” the State Continued on page 15

Opinion Page see page 12

February 20, 2009

Is this the moment for Netanyahu?

Jewish groups watching U.S. participation in Durban II talks

Inside

26 Shevat, 5769

This Week: First of mayoral interviews: Page 7 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’

Passover/Easter conflicts subject of discussion: Page 5

Renowned Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, right, received the ‘Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society’ from Mayor Nir Barkat at the opening of the 24th Jerusalem International Book Fair on Monday. Despite calls from anti-Israel factions around the world for Murakami to boycott the ceremony, he ignored the boycott call and came to Israel to receive his award. Past recipients include to such literary greats as Arthur Miller, Susan Sontag, J.M. Coetzee, Graham Green, V.S. Naipaul and Bertrand Russell. Several the went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Five of Murakami’s books have already appeared on Israel’s best-seller list; he is one of the country’s more widely read foreign writers. In 2006, after Murakami became the sixth recipient of the Franz Kafka Prize from the Czech Republic, he said of the Jewish author at the time, “In a way, reading Kafka’s works served as a starting point for me as a novelist.” Credit: ISRANET

Coming Next Week: Local Camp and Summer Programs Friedel hosts Love & Logic, open house: Page 9

Author of Bielski brothers book getting recognition: Page 10

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 20, 2009

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Is this the moment for Netanyahu? Continued from page 1 return of nearly all of the Golan. His term in office helped give Netanyahu a reputation as someone who cannot be trusted -- a reputation his opponents tried to exploit in this campaign. Ten years on, Netanyahu has worked hard to rehabilitate his image. But he remains something of an uncertain quantity to Israelis, and the question stands: What, exactly, would Israel be getting in a Prime Minister Netanyahu? Benjamin Netanyahu was born in Tel Aviv on Oct. 21, 1949. His father, Benzion, a renowned historian, had been secretary to Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the charismatic leader of the hawkish revisionist Zionist movement that claimed title to a Greater Israel, including both the east and west banks of the Jordan River. In 1963, after Benzion felt he had been denied a permanent post at the Israeli election results by party. Hebrew University because of his revisionist affiliation, the family moved to America. Benjamin, who became known as Bibi, spent most of his formative teenage years in the United States, graduating from Cheltenham High School in Philadelphia. In 1967 he returned to Israel for service in the Israel Defense Forces. For five years he served in Sayeret Matkal, an elite commando unit, attaining the rank of captain. In May 1969, weighed down by heavy equipment, Netanyahu nearly drowned in the Suez Canal while on a mission during the 1968-70 war of attrition with Egypt. He took part in several still-classified cross-border raids and won the respect of the unit’s commander. Ironically, that commander was the man who defeated him for the premiership in 1999 and remains one of his chief political rivals today: Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the Labor Party leader. After his army service, Netanyahu returned to the United States to study architecture and business administration at MIT, graduating with a master’s degree in 1977. As a student he appeared several times on national TV pleading Israel’s cause. To hone his skills, he took lessons in public speaking from top communications consultant Lilyan Wilder. In his first year of graduate school, his older brother, Yoni, then commander of Sayeret Matkal, was killed in one of the IDF’s most spectacular missions: the rescue in July 1976 of some 100 hijacked Israelis and other hostages at Entebbe Airport in Uganda. In late 1978, after working briefly for the Boston Consultancy Group, Netanyahu returned to Israel, taking a job as marketing chief for a large furniture company. His big break came four years later when Moshe Arens, then Israel’s ambassador to the United States, appointed him deputy chief of mission. The first Lebanon war against the PLO had broken out in June 1982, and Arens needed an articulate spokesman. The young, telegenic Netanyahu proved the ideal choice. From there, Netanyahu went on to make his reputation as Israel’s eloquent ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1986. Affluent American Jews, who already saw him as a potential national leader, formed a support group dubbed “the yellow submarine,” which would lay low until needed. When Netanyahu returned to Israel in 1987 and joined the Likud, he already was a star. In 1988, with the help of Avigdor Lieberman -- now leader of the staunchly right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu Party but then Netanyahu’s right-hand man -- Netanyahu was elected to the Knesset. He immediately was named deputy foreign minister by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and played a prominent PR role during the 1991 Gulf War, when Israel came under Iraqi Scud missile attack, and at the Madrid peace conference later that year. Madrid paved the way for the 1992 defeat of the intransigent Shamir and the election of Laborite Yitzhak Rabin. Shamir withdrew from politics and Netanyahu, just 44, won the Likud leadership, beating out Menachem Begin’s son, Benny Begin, as well as outgoing foreign minister David Levy. As Likud leader, Netanyahu took an uncompromisingly critical stand against the Oslo process and was widely blamed for helping fuel the incitement that eventually led to Rabin’s assassination in November 1995. On one

occasion, Netanyahu led a procession with a coffin through Ra’anana; on another he spoke from a balcony over Zion Square in Jerusalem where demonstrators held up pictures of Rabin in an SS uniform. The right was discredited by the assassination, but Shimon Peres, Rabin’s successor as prime minister, did not immediately call for new elections. A spate of suicide bombings the following year turned the tide back toward the right, and on May 29, 1996, in the first direct election of a prime minister in Israel’s history, Netanyahu defeated Peres by just one percent of the vote. As prime minister, Netanyahu built a narrow right-wing government and introduced the “reciprocity principle” by which Israel would make concessions to the Palestinians only in return for substantive gains. As a consequence, Netanyahu constantly found himself navigating between U.S. pressure to carry out Israel’s commitments under the Oslo Accords and domestic right-wing pressure against handing over more West Bank territory. He ended up pleasing no one. His territorial concessions in the Hebron agreement of 1997 and the Wye River agreement of 1998 antagonized the right, while his general intransigence and perceived arrogance alienated the Clinton administration. A secret bid for peace with Syria conducted by Netanyahu’s close friend, the U.S. cosmetics magnate Ronald Lauder, also failed. Plagued by petty financial scandals and perceived political ineptitude, Netanyahu became extremely unpopular. He was forced to call an early election in May 1999 and was trounced by Barak by a margin of more than 12 percent. Netanyahu announced his temporary retirement from politics, handing the Likud leadership to Ariel Sharon. He returned briefly in December 2000, only to pull out of a leadership race with Sharon over a decision to confine the coming general election to a vote for prime minister and not for a new Knesset. Sharon won that election against Barak and made Netanyahu foreign minister. In 2003, after winning a second election, Sharon appointed Netanyahu to the Finance Ministry. With the second Palestinian intifada still raging and the economy in deep trouble, Netanyahu introduced budget reforms. Though the package included steep welfare cuts, the moves ultimately were credited with helping trigger the period of strong economic growth Israel experienced through late 2008. His success as finance minister, however, was tempered by his opposition to Sharon’s central political plan: full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and dismantlement of the Jewish settlements there. After an attempt to lead a party putsch against Sharon failed, Netanyahu resigned in August 2005 over the planned Gaza disengagement. In November, when Sharon left Likud to found the more centrist Kadima Party, Netanyahu again became party leader. With him at the helm, the Likud won only 12 seats compared with Kadima’s 29 in the 2006 election. Soon, though, several factors helped Netanyahu and the Likud rebound dramatically. In January 2007, Ehud Olmert took over from Sharon after a massive stroke left the prime minister comatose. Olmert’s popularity sank as Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 went badly and corruption probes against him mounted. In addition, the persistent rocket fire on Israelis from Hamas-controlled Gaza seemed to bear out Netanyahu’s claim that pulling out of Gaza had been a major blunder. Netanyahu has ridden the Israeli public’s disaffection with the left-wing’s peacemaking efforts and Kadima’s failed efforts at unilateral withdrawal. But a party to the right of Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu, benefited even more in recent weeks, as its support rose while Likud’s poll numbers stayed flat. In the end, Likud scored 27 seats, the biggest gain in the Knesset from the last election, in 2006, but less than projected two months ago.Yisrael Beiteinu won 15 seats, and Kadima lost a single seat, dropping to 28 but still beating out any other single party. Once the dust clears and it becomes clear who is prime minister and with what coalition, the real work will begin: dealing with the threat of Iran and its proxies in Lebanon and Gaza, and managing the economy at a time of global economic dysfunction.

February 20, 2009

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 20, 2009

Beth El fourth graders support worthy cause and learn value of giving

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator It’s one thing to talk to children about the importance of being philanthropic; it’s another to let them walk the walk and experience the personal satisfaction of giving to others. The latter was the objective of Beth El Talmud Torah (BESTT) teacher Margo Riekes, when she announced to her class in September that they would be raising money for a charitable cause which they would select. Riekes had the children choose from among four charities which she thought would interest fourth graders. They discussed where the money would go what the needs of each charity was, and in the end, “they voted for the one that they thought was most worthwhile,� she said: the United Synagogue Disaster Relief Fund, through which they designated their funds to benefit hurricane relief efforts. “That intrigued them, because they knew about [Hurricanes] Katrina and Ike,� Riekes explained. “We talked about how the Torah teaches us that we must care for others, and I gave them the quote from God that said, ‘Do not harden your hand or your heart from your brothers and sisters in need.’� Riekes sent a note home to parents, asking them to give their children simple jobs around the house, and then compensate them. “It wasn’t about the amount of money – it was that the kids were doing this and that they were learning to give of themselves,� she said, adding, “It was different than when they just drop money in the JNF tzedakah box because that money had been given to them by their parents; they now had a stake in this because they chose it.� Some of the children were eager to share what they did to earn money: Jason

Gallagher washed dishes and cleared the dinner table; Ally Kavich set the table at mealtime, made her bed and cleaned her room; Cali Epstein cleaned her cats’ litter boxes several times a week; Geordi Gonzales helped her grandfather paint a weathered statue in front of his house; Jake Spivack mowed the grass, emptied

would like to have, I was actually giving it to people who needed it.� Cali shared that she liked the fund-raiser because “it would help build homes and go toward food and clothing. I liked knowing that at the end, our money was going to help people.� Her classmate Josie agreed, adding that, “This had value -- you knew it was going to a good cause,� and Jason chimed in, saying, ‘it made me feel good.� Quoting the wellknown adage that “it’s better to give than to receive,� Jake remarked that “I got enjoyment from knowing I was giving up something I really wanted for something I needed to do. I’m happy about this.� BESTT fourth graders proudly display posters they created about the In their classroom, a importance of giving to others, as well as their special tzedakah box large thermometer and a copy of the $100 check they will present the United Synagogue drawn on a piece of Disaster Relief Fund: Jason Gallagher, left, Ally Kavich, Cali Epstein, poster board was Jake Spivack, Josie Slovut, Geordi Gonzales and teacher Margo tacked to the wall to Riekes. keep track of the the dishwasher and picked up dog drop- money raised. Each Wednesday, the chilpings in his yard (“which you don’t want dren counted their money, which was to know about,� he said, comically rolling collected in a special tzedakah box; they his eyes.); and Josie Slovut shoveled snow also colored in the thermometer as their and babysat her three-year-old brother. cash accumulated. The shoveling, she said, “was a pain, but At first it was slow going, Riekes, said, babysitting my brother was fun because so as an extra motivator, she promised to he’s a fun person.� match whatever her students raised, “so For Geordi, the work was rewarding that they could see that I also had a stake because, “So many people don’t have in it.� That seemed to spur the class on, shelter or clothing, and we wanted to and in the end, they raised about $50. raise money to help them. Instead of Their teacher made good on her pledge, spending the money I earned on things I bringing the total up to $100.

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“When I wrote my check right in front of them and put it in the tzedakah can, they went bonkers -- they were so excited!� she recalled, adding jokingly that “they felt even better that I had to pay so much money!� The class’s heartfelt efforts were not lost on their teacher, who reveled in the valuable -- and fun -- lesson learned. “I was more excited than they were because I saw the looks on their faces -they were absolutely joyful -- they felt so good about all of this,� she said. “They were so proud of themselves and I was very happy with their reaction -- that’s what made me happy.� At one point the children expressed concern that $100 wouldn’t buy much, but Riekes reassured them that $100 to any charity -- especially during these difficult economic times -- was a great gift and would buy a lot of food or supplies. She also emphasized to the children that their contribution “was a great gesture. It showed that they cared and that the victims of these storms were not forgotten.� Saying that planting the seeds of philanthropic behavior “was the whole idea of this project,� Riekes added, “Listen to Obama and what he thinks is going to change this nation -- that everybody should get involved. That’s the Jewish way -- repairing the world, with everybody making a contribution in some way to help. “This is the kind of thing the children won’t forget,� she continued. “They may forget other things that I’ve talked about, but they’ll remember this.� And as proof that the project worked its magic on the children, the teacher proudly proclaimed that, “They’re ready to do another one.�

February 20, 2009

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

The joys, challenges of Jewish-Christian relations

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator If you’re ever wondered why some Christians have seders, if the Last Supper was actually a Passover Seder, or why Easter is so important to Christians, Beth Katz, founder and executive director of Project Inter faith, will respond to these questions when she examines the evolution of JewishChristian relations since the 1 9 6 5 Project Interfaith Director Beth S e c o n d Katz will be at Temple Israel on V a t i c a n Sunday, March 1, to discuss Jewish-Christian relations. Council. During a one-hour session, open to the community,on Sunday, March 1, 10:30 a.m., at Temple Israel, Katz will look at how the Second Vatican Council provided an unprecedented launching point for Jewish-Christian relations when Nostra Aetate was issued sending a ripple through religious communities around the world. Protestant denominations as well as Catholics reexamined their connections with the Jewish community in the wake of the Vatican’s declaration regarding the relationship of the Church to non-Christian religions. “We will trace the development of Jewish-Christian relations as manifested in how these two communities view the Passover-Easter season and some of the current tensions and issues that this season raises for both communities,” Katz said. “We will also look at the significance of Easter for Christians and why, for some Christians, these two holidays are connected.” She explained that the spring holidays embody much of the historical tensions between the two communities, such as blood libel accusations and passions plays. Opportunities and challenges presented in the current state of JewishChristian relations provide reasons to be hopeful about future relations. However, she added that historical events have left “lingering affects” even today. The significant strides that have strengthened Jewish-Christian relations since the Second Vatican Council, like any relationship, “are fluid and need to be constantly nurtured to ensure that they

continue,” Katz explained. “While there are pockets of clergy and lay leaders who clearly are committed to this, I think we need to look for meaningful ways to educate and engage more Jews and Christians on these issues. This can be quite challenging given the incredible diversity in theology, practice, and culture within Christianity and to a certain extent in Judaism,” she added. She also noted that “for those of us, like me, who were born in a post-Second Vatican world, we have had much greater interaction with people of different faiths than our parents or grandparents and may be inclined to assume that because Jews and Christians are our neighbors, friends, or even relatives that the need to actively work on forging deeper understanding and respect among our communities has diminished when actually this is precisely why it is needed more than ever.” Katz, who works with religious groups, educators, care givers, corporations, and many segments of the community to promote a deeper understanding and respect for religious diversity, plans to provide some basic information about Easter and its significance for many Christians as well as look at some local opportunities to become further educated and engaged on these issues. She’ll also point out how the seder can be a vehicle for both strengthening and straining Jewish-Christian relations. According to Katz, conflict in the Middle East is one of many factors affecting interfaith relationships. “But I think it points to the importance of having strong, healthy relationships between Jews and Christians -- and people of other faiths and beliefs,” she said. “A relationship is built on trust and commitment -- not agreement -- which means that we have to be willing to honestly share our views, hear others’ views, and continue to be engaged even if we don’t always agree and even if at times, it is uncomfortable.” Director of Project Interfaith since 2005, Katz also teaches courses on international conflict resolution and religious diversity issues at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. In 2008, she was appointed by Mayor Mike Fahey to the Mayor’s Clergy Advisory Board and also serves on the board of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce Young Professional Council. Katz’s presentation at Temple is sponsored by the Hermene Zweiback Center for Lifelong Jewish Learning.

Scholarship application deadlines approaching

by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Director of Operations & Programming The Center for Jewish Education Deadlines are fast approaching for the submission of scholarship applications for consideration by the Financial Aid Committee of the Center for Jewish Education. Deadlines are as follows: March 2: Israel Peer Programs, Jewish Summer Residential Camps and JCC Summer Camp; March 16: Undergraduate, Graduate, Professional and Yeshiva Studies and the Academic Excellence Scholarship April 1: Friedel Jewish Academy and Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center Pre-school The mission of the Financial Aid Committee is “to administer the allocation and distribution of scholarship funds

entrusted to it for the benefit of Omaha’s Jewish youth. This duty includes the guarantee of confidentiality to the applicants and their families in conjunction with the diligent stewardship of community funds.” Community members can be assured that confidentiality is the highest priority of the 14-member Committee. The committee chairman is Cheryl Cooper. The generosity and foresight of so many people who have established endowments throughout the years provide the committee with over 40 funds from which awards can be made. All applications are available on the “Scholarships and Grants” page of the Center for Jewish Education at www. jewishomaha.org. Any questions should be directed to 334.6445 or scholarships@jewishomaha.org.

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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Dreams will come true thanks to OTYG spaghetti dinner and auction by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Somewhere over the rainbow, there’s a pot of spaghetti and an opportunity to win a two-night stay at Arbor Lodge in Nebraska City, two Husker football tickets, a day at Lake Waconda, chocolate, wine, and symphony tickets. Omaha Temple Youth Group (OTYG) is getting ready for its annual spaghetti dinner, aptly entitled Somewhere Over the Rainbow, on Sunday, March 1, 5 p.m. The dinner and auction raise funds to donate to Camp Rainbow, Camp CoHoLo and Temple’s various youth groups. Mendy Halsted, who has been assisting OTYG members reach out to the community to request everything from jewelry to movie tickets for the silent auction which begins at 10 a.m. and the live auction during the dinner, is pleased with the number and variety of donations. “It’s going well,” she said. Included in the auction will be a Nintendo Wii game system, an iPod nano, a flat screen television set, a Garmin GPS, and tickets to the College World Series, Creighton basketball and UNO Maverick hockey games.

We’re grateful to have our previous donors step up again this year as well as some generous new donors,” she added. “And we’re still getting in a lot!” At Camp Rainbow, near St. Louis, and Camp CoHoLo, near Gretna, dreams really do come true for children who are seriously ill from cancer and blood disorders. Camp Rainbow was a dream that became a reality in June 1988. Co-sponsored by numerous groups including the North American Federation of Temple Youth-Missouri Valley Region, seriously ill children who previously were unable to do so now enjoy a week of camp. Camp CoHoLo, an acronym for courage, hope and love, was founded in 1985. It has grown from a three-day event for 22 children to an eight-day camp for 140 to 160 children. Proceeds from the auction also help support youth group programming and scholarships to attend regional conclaves. Adult meals are $10 each; children, three to 12 years old, can attend for $4 each. There is no charge for kids two and younger. Make reservations by calling Temple Israel at 556.6536 by Wednesday, Feb. 25.

IN THE NEWS Elaine Jabenis received the lifetime acheivement award last month at the third annual Omaha Entertainment Awards at the Holland Performing Arts Center. She is the first to receive this OEAward in the performing arts category. She also received a lifetime achievement award from the Omaha Community Playhouse in 2005, and another from the Theatre Arts Guild in 2006. Regarded as the Grand Dame of Omaha community theatre, for five decades of award-winning performances, Jabenis is the only actor to have won this coveted award from three different theatre organizations. The Food Bank’s annual Celebrity Chef Fundraiser will recognize the following businesses and volunteers for their outstanding service: Food Donor Companies of the Year Rotella’s Bakery, an Omaha staple, has baked bread for more than 80 years. The Food Bank’s partnership with Rotella’s has provided the most basic food item, bread, to the area’s men, women and children who face hunger every day. Great Harvest Bread has provided bread to The Food Bank for distribution at every opportunity. For several years, Great Harvest Bread has helped The Food Bank honor and celebrate the hard work of its pantries by providing various breads for the annual Hunger Awareness Day Community Dinner. Non Food Donor Company of the Year Valpak of Omaha has supported The Food Bank’s mission for over four years by helping to increase the community’s awareness of hunger and the call to action. Each year, Valpak, owned by Scott Farkas and Mimi Rogers Farkas, is a returning sponsor for the Dine Out Against Hunger campaign and, last year participated as a m a j o r sponsor for The Food Bank’s 1st Annual “O! What A Duck Race!”.

Linda Mertz was named Volunteer of the Year. Cat Cora, the first and only female Iron Chef on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America, will host the Food Bank’s annual fundraiser, Feb. 26, and provide a cooking demonstration of several recipes on stage, followed by a sit-down dinner and a silent auction for more than 600 attendees. In 2006, Bon Appetit Magazine awarded her with their Teacher of the Year Award. Tickets for the evening are available for $125 and can be purchased by calling The Food Bank at 402.331.1213.

Steve Hogan, who died last year, imagined and built the youth golf program known as Hogan’s Heroes at Miller Park golf course, to give low-income children in Omaha an opportunity to learn and love the game of golf. Hogan’s mission was to empower children by giving them a positive growing experience that not only taught golf, but shaped their life skills as well. The program is collecting old golf clubs to donate to Miller Park in Hogan’s memory and in support of his family. Along with Ironwood Country Club and Omaha Temporary Services, Emily Muskin will hold a collection drive in the east parking lot of Ironwood on Monday, March 2, 2-6 p.m. Any donations would be appreciated; for more information, contact Muskin at 402.690.8421.

Howard Gendelman, M.D., professor and chairman of the department of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience (PEN), has been selected as the 2008 Scientist Laureate at the University of Nebraska Medical Center for his work in battling neurodegenerative and infectious diseases. Scientist Laureate is the highest recognition given to a UNMC investigator. The first two recipients were Stephen Rennard, M.D. and Irving Zucker, Ph.D. All three are members of the Jewish community.

February 20, 2009

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

Suttle Runs for Mayor AMERICA DECIDES 2009 by JOAN K. MARCUS

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles about the three candidates running in this spring’s primary election on Tuesday, April 7, for Mayor of Omaha. Jim Suttle spoke recently at Breadbreakers; Jim Vokal and Hal Daub will be featured in upcoming issues. Jim Suttle, former Public Works Director for the City of Omaha, has held transportation planning positions with the cities of Albuquerque and Wichita. He was also vice chairman of the board of directors of HDR, Inc., the nation’s 17th largest architecture engineering firm. He is a licensed professional engineer and has served as a member and chairman of the Board of Engineers and Architects. During his tenure at HDR, the firm’s presence was expanded in all modes of transportation. This was both domestic and worldwide markets and included bridges, highways, railways, and traffic engineering. Now, Suttle wants to be the next mayor of Omaha. He will vie with former Mayor Hal Daub and present city councilman, Jim Vokal, in the April 7 primary. He describes his campaign as a musical crescendo or “getting louder as time goes on.” When he ran for the Omaha City Council four years ago, Suttle was told he couldn’t keep taking from Omaha without giving back. He took early retirement from HDR in order to run for city office because he thought that it was time “to give back” to the city that has been so good to him and his family. He is married to former state senator Deb Suttle and they have two adult daughters and three grandchildren. In a recent address to the B’nai B’rith Breadbreakers, Suttle told of his 2005 election to District One of the Omaha City Council and of his vision for Omaha. “I firmly believe that Omaha is your city. Those of us who run for public office have the privilege of being in office because you have elected us. We have to be respectful of you who voted for us and remember that we are there to do the best that we can for a short window of time,” he told the group. “There are three things that seem to be on the minds of the Omaha citizens. It doesn’t matter if I’m in Florence, Elkhorn, South Omaha or Millard, people are worried about gun violence and crime, fire and police pensions, and what we are going to do about the 1.5 million dollar sewer separation mandate by the government -- and we’ve now added in a 147 million dollar stadium.” He’s been frustrated with some of the things that he has seen at City Hall. “I’m an engineer and a business

person. I’ve been trained to solve problems. I’ve found that in order to solve these problems, I need to be in the mayor’s office. It is time to stop the rhetoric and get real solutions and results.” Suttle hopes to see law enforcement be tough on crime and more focused. “We will never solve the gun violence and crime in our city unless we as a people are willing to solve the unemployment problem -- particularly on the north side. Unemployment was 17.5% and now it is rising toward 25%. We need to put more solid efforts into the ‘war on crime.’” If elected, he says he will focus on law enforcement and the hard core problems with gangs, guns and drug trafficking. He cites education as being the “key” for everyone, and would hire a fulltime staffer to focus on job development.

Jim Suttle, center, is greeted by B’nai B’rith members Nate Schwalb, left, and Phil Wayne. “We are going to have to put in place a hands-on program that will take the unemployed and develop the skill sets that are necessary for the widget factory or whatever else they will be doing. However, the life skills are missing -- how to associate with people and how to do the things that all of us do on our jobs. I think this will help us with a lot of other problems,” he explained. “The gangs have become a surrogate family and business. They fill two voids. So we need to bring back the family structure and put it in place for those youngsters who do not have a sense of reliability. On the business side, we need to make sure that we’re giving our youth an opportunity to understand what a job is about and have access to some ‘clean’ money.” He referred to the “middle class” that used to be part of the north side of Omaha. “Many of the AfricanAmericans you know in their 50s and 60s are products of that working middle class. We had a sense of direction for the youth then and we need to bring that back. We need to restore the jobs that were the foundation.” Suttle joked that Omaha doesn’t have sandy beaches, mountains or ski resorts. Therefore we need to target people and their work ethic in order to attract people. “We need to use our assets to find the right mix of

investors to come in and build factories like Lozier and Airlight Plastics.” During the question and answer period, attorney Steve Riekes asked, “I recognize the importance of the NCAA Men’s College Word Series economically and I don’t disagree that, in order to satisfy the NCAA, we need a new stadium. But, to put a building like that on that particular site? It’s going to be used essentially two weeks of the year? With no retail space? Aren’t we headed toward a colossal mistake?” Suttle responded, “We could talk for days, weeks and hours on this! This whole issue of the stadium got pushed forward very quickly. In many ways, it was a rush to judgment and became a fast-moving freight train. I decided that I would do what I’m good at as an engineer and ask questions. I saw the whole thing as a wedge of Swiss cheese -- asking the hard questions in order to try and fill as many of the holes as possible.” He added, “Because of all the questions that people have been asking, there is now a firewall and it comes down to the fact that the NCAA has to make up the difference on the cash flow of this stadium. However, we’re forgetting that this stadium is plopped down in an important part of our city. It has to also work for what we’re trying to do downtown. This is where we have a problem.” He asked for suggestions about what can be done with the new stadium during the rest of the year. Some of the answers included: professional soccer, polo, winter sports, music concerts, religious gatherings, and maybe even bull fighting! “We need to be very innovative because there’s no such thing as a stupid idea!” he said. Suttle believes that we ought to be working on regional solutions, too. “Certainly, we’re not working on a regional solution if we end up funding two baseball stadiums that are about 10 miles apart with government money.” The candidate advises that we need to start looking at the vitality of our two key revenue sources: property and sales taxes. He suggests we take a hard look at the revenue stream and the assets that we have as a city. Accountant Alan Goodman asked about the possibility of a city earning tax that would apply to people who live outside Douglas County but who work in Omaha. Suttle answered, “I have said that we need to talk about everything. But, we have to include the people who are shareholders in this corporation that we call Omaha!” He ended by saying, “You ought to have a voice in how we set priorities and how we plan the future. We need a five-year plan that decides what level of service you want for your parks, snow removal, streets and ambulance service. You need to have a voice as your elected leaders are trying to pull all of this together! “That’s what I’ll do as your mayor!”

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 20, 2009

Camp Gan Israel hosts open house

Tu B’Shevat is “too much fun” at Beth El-Lauritzen Gardens celebration

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Spring was in the air at Lauritzen Gardens earlier this month, as Beth El and and the botanical garden co-sponsored the fourth annual community-wide Tu B’Shevat celebration. Adults and children packed the gardens’ visitor center and were treated to a variety of art activities, a musical performance by Cantor Beth Schlossberg and several congregants, plus presentations about re-using and recycling. Above: event volunteers Nancy Skid and Nancy Rips (in foreground) helped enthusiastic little ones decorate cookies; a representative from the Nebraska State Recycling Association presented visitors with an exhibit of energy-friendly and recyclable materials; and below: congregant Cary Grossman led a tour of the indoor garden, explaining the holiday and traditions of Tu B’Shevat.

Chabad of Nebraska will host a camp open house this Sunday, Feb. 22, 1-2 p.m., at Chabad House, where the camp is based in the summer. Photos from top: Gan Israel 2008 campers: Rochi Katzman, left, Michael Denenberg, Yael Schuller, Shevi Katzman, Emily Kutler, Elizabeth Kazor, Rachel Sullivan, Devorah Katzman, Emily Kazor, Adi Gill, Emily Sacks, Ilyana Hamicksburg, Lily Goldberg, Zalmen Katzman, Estie Katzman, Destiny Wiseman, Feigy Katzman, Alex Kraft, Tommy Sullivan, Ethan Shrago, Danny Denenberg, Mushka Katzman, Dahlia Hamicksburg take the time to pose on the bridge at a children’s museum on a busy field trip. Happy campers and counselors Leah Gurock, left, Miri Katzman, Ayla Denenberg anticipate a field trip at Camp Gan Israel last summer. Ruti and Tal Margalit enjoy the family programs at Camp Gan Israel. To reserve for the open house, e-mail PamKutler@hotmail.com. For more information, visit www.OChabad.com. To receive an informational brochure and sample schedule in the mail, e-mail ChabadOffice@cox.net.

Win 2 tickets to see Dora!

Color Dora and Boots! Kids (up to age 10), color this drawing of Dora the Explorer, and win 2 Tickets to see Dora the Explorer at the Orpheum on Mar. 17 Send drawing with your name, address, phone number, age, and name of parents, by Mar. 6 to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. Winners will be announced in the Mar. 13 Issue of the Jewish Press.

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February 20, 2009

Love and Logic finds a home at Friedel

time to time to find the right answers, and so I often bring up more of my personal mistakes than success stories. It is essential for parents to have a realistic view, and know they are not alone.” PTO member Lise Sasson has been instrumental in bringing the Love and Logic seminar to Friedel: “This has been such an excellent opportunity for all of us as parents to grow, while at the same time getting to know each other better. The Friedel PTO has sponsored the classes, with help of a grant from the Howard and Judy Vann Family Education Fund. Without their assistance, I don’t think we could have pulled this off! We are so grateful to Howard and Judy Vann; because of their generosity, we were able to offer the classes free of charge.” Sasson is enthusiastic about the content of the seminars: “The one most important draw of the Love and Logic parenting style, in my opinion, is that this is the philosophy and method of discipline used by our own teachers at Friedel. It is very important for us as parents and teachers to be on the same page, because this way, we keep consistency between home and school. And it works! I have heard so much positive feedback from so Victor Schuermann, left, and Karen Gustafson, right, are run- many parents. Everyone, ning Love at Logic at Friedel, chaired by Lise Sasson, under the regardless of their own auspices of Friedel principal Ron Giller. parenting styles, seems to Based on the 1990 book, Parenting agree that these classes offer great tools.” “For those interested in attending a with Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility by Foster W. Cline M.D., Love and Logic seminar, Jewish Family and Jim Fay, Love and Logic seminars are Services presents the material twice a held all over the United States. Jewish year,” Gustafson says, “and the next dates Family Service’s Karen Gustafson and are April 2, 16, 23, and 30 of 2009. Victor Schuermann have been presenting Anyone who wants more information L&L locally for the past seven years. Each about cost and materials, such as tapes session runs for a four week period, and and books, can call JFS at 330 2024. costs $60 for the first time. We’ll be happy to assist them.” “We encourage parents to keep coming In addition, Friedel Jewish Academy is back,” Gustafson explains, “because we opening its doors for the annual Open don’t believe in a one-time fix. Parenting House on Thursday, March 5, 7- 8:30 is a continuing part of our lives, and we p.m. invite people who have taken our class in “Prospective parents, and anybody else the past to come in for a refresher, for in the community who has an interest in only $5, a fraction of the cost. After all, Friedel, is welcome,” says Yaffa parenting a three-year-old is very differ- Podbilewicz-Schuller, who is in charge of ent than interacting with a teenager. We recruitment. “Teachers will speak about their classbelieve Love and Logic offers helpful rooms, and former graduates will share strategies for every stage of parenting.” Gustafson and Schuermann don’t stand their experiences at our school. There will in front of their students as therapists, but be refreshments, and plenty of opportunias co-parents. “We are in the same boat,” ties to get all your questions answered, as Gustafson says, “and we certainly don’t well as connect with current parents,” she present the materials as if we have all the added. For more information about the Open answers. It can be difficult for any parent to attend a parenting class, because it feels House, or to schedule a tour of the as if one is admitting one’s children are school, please call Mary Jane Tweedy at ‘bad’. The truth is, we all struggle from 334 0517.

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT During the past several weeks, staff from Jewish Family Services and Friedel Jewish Academy have banded together to bring the community a great parenting resource. Karen Gustafson and Victor Schuermann, have offered the ‘Love & Logic’ parenting class at the school, for the benefit of community members. “It is important that parents are included in our school,” Friedel Principal Ron Giller said. “Friedel is not just for kids, and this was a fantastic way to put a spotlight on parenting within and outside the school. The program was extremely enlightening, and offered many opportunities for adults to learn new strategies. I was impressed with the manner in which the Love & Logic curriculum emphasizes a respectful relationship between children and adults.”

Jewish Identity photo exhibit opens at JCC Gallery

A photo exhibit -- “Exploring Jewish Identity Through Photography, a Partnership with Israel program for teens from the Sulam Tsor High School in the Western Galilee and Temple Israel -- opened in the JCC Gallery and will be on display through the end of this month.

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February 20, 2009

Author gains new exposure from Holocaust film

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was one of only three that survived the war intact from by BEN HARRIS WESTPORT, Conn. (JTA) -- When Nechama Tec set a prewar population of some 40,000. After the war Tec immigrated to Israel, where she marout to write a book about the Bielski brothers more than two decades ago, she sought to fill in omissions and cor- ried. Later she moved to the United States, where she rect distortions created by their almost total excision earned a doctorate at Columbia University. She has two children, one of whom -- son Roland -- co-produced the from historical accounts of the Holocaust. “The omission is the conspicuous silence about Jews film. Tec met Tuvia Bielski only once, in Brooklyn, N.Y., who, while themselves threatened by death, were saving just weeks before his others,” Tec wrote in the opening to her 1993 book, death in 1987. Bielski’s Defiance. “The distortion is the common description of legendary charisma still European Jews as victims who went passively to their was manifest, Tec says, death.” even though he was old With the release earlier this month of a major and frail. Hollywood adaptation of the book, Tec’s efforts to cor“He was whispering,” rect the historical record have reached a vast new audishe recalled. “I thought ence. that my tape recorder In its first weekend of wide release, Defiance, which won’t get anything. And I stars James Bond hero Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber was trying to have the as the Bielski brothers, Tuvia and Zus, grossed more information flow. And as than $10 million, the eighth highest take in the country he got into his past, he that weekend. No less an authority than the New sort of just, before my Yorker’s David Denby said he was “stunned” by the Nechama Tec, who wrote the eyes, he became the perfilm. book on which the film Defiance son that he was, this Meanwhile, the book has been released in a new ediis based, says anti-Semitism is a charismatic leader, that tion, with Craig’s bellicose mug on the cover, and in “chronic addiction.” has this absolute power in audio book format narrated by Stefan Rudnicki. Credit: Ben Harris the unit.” “It is most gratifying,” Tec told JTA in an interview at She added later, her Connecticut home. “I “When he came into the think I am very fortunate room, he filled it with that it happened.” himself.” Like the book, the film Tec’s intention in docversion of Defiance has umenting the Bielski hisrestored to public attention tory, to challenge the a long overlooked part of dominant Holocaust narHolocaust history -- the rative of Jewish passivity, story of the small minority of is also what has made the Jewish victims who dared to brothers’ story appealing fight back against their to Jewish educators and oppressors. Historians have activists. The Jewish long known of uprisings at Partisan Education the Auschwitz and Treblinka Foundation has crafted an camps, in addition to the entire curriculum in better-known rebellion in response to the film in the the Warsaw Ghetto led by hopes of perpetuating the Mordecai Anielewicz, but memory of the Bielskis the story of the Bielskis difand encouraging students fered fundamentally in that to grapple with the thorny it was successful. ethical questions raised by For years the brothers, their legacy. sons of a large peasant famiJon Loew, the founder ly from Stankiewicze in of the pro-Israel group western Belorussia, led a Fuel For Truth, says he band of forest dwellers that has given out scores of ultimately swelled to 1,200. copies of Tec’s book in an The community established effort to awaken Jews to a hospital, tannery, school their own history and and bathhouse while remaininspire them to stand up ing perpetually on the move for themselves. and carrying out acts of sab“One of the chalotage against German Daniel Craig, right, stars as “Tuvia Bielski” and Liev Schreiber lenges we face as a people troops. Their efforts are con- as “Zus Bielski” in Defiance, playing now. Credit: PARAMOUNT VANTAGE, is that many Jews living sidered the largest rescue of a Division of PARAMOUNT PICTURES today are not willing to Jews by Jews during the war. Prior to the film, Tec was little known beyond the aca- resort to violence under any circumstances,” Loew said. demic world and the tight-knit community of American “We don’t want to ‘lower ourselves to their level.’ But Holocaust survivors. For nearly five decades she has unfortunately, the only way to get a bully to stop picklived quietly in Connecticut, producing mainly works of ing on you is to stand up to them and, if necessary, Holocaust scholarship and teaching sociology at the punch them in the eye. So we can negotiate and beg and University of Connecticut in Stamford, a satellite of the plead all we want, but I’m not sure if in the history of university’s main campus 100 miles up the road in the world an aggressor ever stopped pursuing its prey because the prey asked nicely.” Storrs. Tec is not unaware of the implications of the Bielskis’ Now she is the focus of popular attention. Sales of Defiance have exploded. The publisher, Oxford story for contemporary Jewry. If Tuvia Bielski saw how University Press, says the book has been the label’s top southern Israeli towns were enduring waves of Hamas seller the past two weeks and has generated new interest rocket fire, Tec said, “he wouldn’t take it. He’d probain several of Tec’s earlier works. Interview requests have bly kill them.” poured in from around the world. But while Tec believes the film will do away with the As a reporter waited in Tec’s living room last week for notion that Jews are cowards, she is under no illusions an interview to begin, the Polish-born author was busy that Jewish toughness will bring about the end of antiin the kitchen speaking to a reporter from a Polish pub- Semitism, an illness she attributes -- like racism and sexlication. ism -- to an impulse to blame the victim. “I really am very conscious that this is a very special “Anti-Semitism is with us; it is like a perpetual, chronmoment for me,” she said. “It very rarely happens with ic addiction of humanity,” she said. “You cannot learn a book like this, a scholarly book.” about anti-Semitism by examining what the anti-Semites Tec, a Lublin native, was 8 years old when the tell us because this is not based on fact. It is based on Germans arrived. She and her sister survived three years their need to blame somebody for something that they by posing as the nieces of a Catholic family. Her family have not done.”

To order a gift subscription to the Press... Send a check for $35, made out to the Jewish Press, to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. For more information on how to connect your out-of-town relatives and friends, call 334.6448.

February 20, 2009

ORGANIZATIONS

BIRTHS

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

One Bite At a Time by Rebecca Katz (Celestial Arts, $21.95)

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS B’nai B’rith will join with AIPAC at Ironwood Country Club for a special event on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 11:45-1:15 p.m. Cost is $25 for lunch. RSVP required; for more information or to get on the email list, contact Lois at 334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org.

Amanda and Josh Gurock announce the Dec. 28, 2008, birth of their daughter, Sophia Kae. She has a sister, Leah, age four, and twin brothers, Max and Jacob, 18 months. Grandparents are Jerry and Candee Mack, and Noah and Peggy Gurock of Passaic, NJ. Great-grandfather is Morris Bresel.

WALK-IN, DROP-IN For those members going to the Horseshoe Casino on Thursday, Feb. 26, please meet at the JCC front entrance by 8:45 a.m. For information, call Maggie Conti at 334.6521.

Former Omahans Rebecca and Brian Rosen of Denver, CO, announce the Jan. 30 birth of their son, Samuel Brody, named for his late grandfather, Sheldon Perelman. He has a brother, Jakob. Grandparents are Jan and Howard Goldstein, Kathy and Steve Rosen, and Cindy Sundeen. Great-grandparents are Jack Brody, Florence Brody, and the late Norman Rosen.

LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Yiddish brings us closer to our roots! Come join us every Thursday, 1-3 p.m., at the JCC. For information, call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638.

VISIONS Join us for the pick of the season at the Omaha Community Playhouse Howard Drew Theatre for the Bat Boy: The Musical matinee on Sunday, March 22 2 p.m. Meet in the lobby by 1:30 p.m. This biting comedy presents a witty, campy take on the Weekly World News saga about a bat boy found in a West Virginia cave. Bat Boy is shunned by society as an outsider despite refining his skills -- learning to speak, sing and dance. Dinner (on your own and optional) following the show at Jason’s Deli. Send reservations to Rose Pitlor, 827 Dillon Dr., Omaha, NE 68132 by March 4. For information, call Rose Pitlor at 558.5144. Make check payable to VISIONS.

JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICES The Nebraska Choral Arts Society presents Many Voices, One Vision on Sunday, March 8, 2 p.m. in the JCC auditorium. There is no admission fee. The Society is the umbrella organization of the Masterworks Chorus, Choral Arts Society Teens, and the Nebraska Children’s Chorus (NCC). Eight different choirs make up the Society. For more information, call Adrienne Kitagawa, Activities Director at 334.6520.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT The award-winning Israeli film Waltz with Bashir opens Friday, Feb. 27 and runs through Mar 5 at The Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, 313 No. 13 St. in Lincoln and in Omaha at the Ruth Sokoloff Theater at FilmStreams from Feb. 27-March 12. One of the universally praised films from this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Ari Folman’s debut documentary reconstructs the filmmaker’s missing memories from his time as a soldier in the 1982 Lebanon War. But instead of using archival footage and talking heads, Folman makes an animated film, giving himself the freedom to expand his thoughts and recollections farther than any conventional documentary on the subject could ever go. Having already won six awards from the Israeli Film Academy, Waltz with Bashir won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. Tickets prices at the MRRMAC are: $8.50; $7 for students, $6.50 seniors, $6 for members, and $5.50 for children. Matinee prices: $6.50, $5.50 for seniors and children, $5 for members. For the Omaha showing, visit www.filmstreams.org.

READ IT AND E AT Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN

In this special needs cookbook, chef Katz, who teaches through her San Francisco Bay area company, The Inner Cook, presents “creative culinary solutions to people navigating cancer treatment and its after effects.” She is credited with being aware of “how a survivor’s appetite changes” while moving through the phases of cancer diagnosis, treatment, recovery and survivorship and riding the emotional and physiological roller coasters. The introduction begins with the power of “Yum” and from her personal experience as a cancer survivor, Katz shares an array of 85 recipes to help you “keep well while battling cancer” and get your taste buds and appetite going one bite at a time. The recipes have clear instructions, nutritional analysis, Inner Cook Notes, colorful graphics and photographs, that are listed in the chapter pages. Essays, chapter notes, sidebars, and headnotes are positive, supportive and full of good ideas. This second edition is intended to help patients and caregivers make good choices and provide balanced meals. Keeping everything as simple as ABC -- that is Anytime Crunch, Best Ever Oatmeal and Chicken Stew from My Nana. Try this dressing using dulse, a nutrientrich sea vegetable. SEA-SER DRESSING 2 tsps. Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, 11/2 tsps. dulse flakes, 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce or vegetarian Worcestershire sauce, 2 cloves garlic minced, 1/4 tsp. sea salt, 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil Mix the mustard, lime juice, dulse flakes, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt, and add a 1/4 cup water in a small bowl. Slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream, whisking constantly until emulsified. Makes about 1 cup. Lois Friedman can reached at ReadItAndEat@ yahoo.com.

Page 12

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 20, 2009

Living in a Kafka novel Between the Stimulus Bill and TARP, there are enough crazy ideas on the table and events reported in the news to make us shake our heads. We wish we could say these are just for laughs, but they’re not. Here are a few: • The House included $250 million for grants for states to create systems tracking individual student data; the Senate (wisely) took it out. It’s not practical and won’t create jobs. • The House also included $300 million for “funding for the Energy Star program offering tax credits to consumers purchasing new energy-efficient appliances.” If you need a new dishwasher, the only appliances you’ll find these days are Energy Star. The Senate took that credit out, too. • The House and Senate agreed on a 10% tax credit for bicycles and other low-speed vehicles, amounting to $118,000 million, if you ride the bike to work. But how will a taxpayer prove that she did? And how can this be enforced? (Geez -- we’d like some funding at the Press to develop and launch our new website, too -- wonder where we can find that in this 1,034-page bill?) • Extra funding for cleanup at closed military installations -- $300,000 million. If the bases are closed, why do we need to clean them up? • Another two billion dollars (that’s billion, not million) was approved by both the House and Senate for the manufacturing of “advanced” batteries. Pardon us for asking, but if there’s a market for this, why do the companies need the funding? And if there’s no market, why, exactly, are taxpayers paying businesses to develop them? Just how are we going to pay for this $790 billion “stimulus”? Uncle Sam will have to

borrow (probably from the Chinese). So add another $400 billion and call it $1.2 trillion. Then you have to add that to the $700 billion TARP billion, which means we’re already in the hole nearly two trillion dollars (that’s more zeroes than most calculators can handle). If this Congress had been in place in the 20th century, buggy-makers and manufacturers of manual typewriters would have been bailed out. But the first rule of economics 101 is: if no one is buying out-of-date products that are more expensive than the market demands, then companies who make them should go out of business! Yes, one side argues that we have to “do something.” Others insist that bigger tax cuts would do more to stimulate the economy. And while many of these programs and projects might be worthy of funding, do they really belong in a “stimulus” bill? The effect of this bill is likely to be inflationary, too, so expect both increased taxes and tax rates in a few years. The good news, at least for non-profits, is that there might be more of an incentive to make bigger donations in order to claim them on IRS filings and save a few bucks on these higher taxes. Besides the folly in Congress, consider these absurdities: • In Saudi Arabia, a woman who was gangraped and became pregnant will be allowed to serve her prison term until the baby is born before receiving her

“punishment” of 100 lashes. And the men who committeed the atrocity -- they’re off the hook. • A terrorist arrested in the Mumbai attacks in November has accused a female American FBI agent with “sexually abusing” him. Caught with maps marked with the targets in which 173 people were killed, including Rabbi Holtzman and his wife at the Chabad House, could the terrorist possibly have an active imagination or wishful thinking or has he been reading old letters to Playboy magazine? • Egyptian Cleric Hazem Shuman warned Muslim youth against Valentine’s Day, saying it’s more dangerous than AIDS, the Ebola virus, and cholera. (Take that, Hallmark!) • And finally, scientists have announced the development of television reception on contact lenses. If men and women didn’t listen to one another before this invention, watch out now! All-in-all, just another (weird) news day.

NEWS ANALYSIS by RON KAMPEAS

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Crooks. Whores. That’s what they call each other in polite company. UNRWA, the massive United Nations bureaucracy that administers assistance to the Palestinians, is locked in an unseemly epithetladen battle here with some proIsrael figures who say the relief agency should be shut down because it has been co-opted by radicals. They challenge not only the legitimacy of UNRWA but the refugee status of the 4.3 million Palestinians it is charged with serving, including 1.6 million in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It’s not a new fight, but its tone has become ferocious just when the new Obama administration is attempting to restore civility to a peace process bloodied by the conflict last month in the Gaza Strip. The fight comes as policymakers say the United Nations Relief and Works Agency is more critical Cover of a report on the U.N. Relief and Works Agency published by than ever in getting desperately the Washington Institute on Near East Policy, which is the latest needed food and supplies to the salvo in political wars in Washington over the agency. Palestinians, and also when the agency is facing physical attacks from the cutoff in funding for UNRWA until a U.S. review of the agency is completed. Hamas-led regime in Gaza. In a recent conference call organized by the In the U.S. Congress, Reps. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) are reviving Conference of Presidents of Major American their campaign to cut U.S. funds to UNRWA Jewish Organizations, Rothman said he needuntil it comes clean about what the lawmakers ed Jewish communal help to overcome institusay are its irregularities and its coziness with tional resistance in Washington to cutting off terrorists. The United States provides between funding for UNRWA, particularly among “the

Jewish Press Board Michael Sigmond, Vice President; Stan Mitchell, Secretary; Michael Siegel, Treasurer; Howard K. Marcus, Immediate Past-chairman; Marc Brodkey; Andie Gordman; Michael Kaufman; Bette Kozlen; Susan Lehr; Jamie Meyerson; Andy Ruback; 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. Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service/Jewish Senior Services, and the Jewish Press . Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

Battle gets nasty at critical juncture for U.N. agency aiding Palestinians a fifth and a quarter of UNRWA’s $440 million to $540 million annual budget. (The discrepancy in the 2008 figures arises from the gap between pledges from donor countries and actual projected payments.) In recent weeks, the lawmakers have been seeking Jewish support for a nonbinding resolution calling on UNRWA to tighten its employment policies against terrorist infiltration, and for a separate letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asking for a

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

U.S. Senate leadership who think that is an unfair and unreasonable burden on Palestinians.” Later, in an interview with JTA, Kirk bluntly likened the agency to his home state's scandal-plagued political machine. “This reminds of Rod Blagojevich in its corruption,” Kirk said, referring to the recent removal of the Illinois governor over pay-forplay allegations. In their letter to Clinton, Kirk and Rothman suggest alternative “bilateral assistance mechanisms” to deliver aid. The problem with this idea, some observers say, is that only a few such mechanisms exist on the ground, and they lack UNRWA's infrastructure. The respected American Near East Refugee Aid, for instance, has managed to distribute $4 million in food and medical aid since the end of fighting -- a minor amount compared to the tens of millions UNRWA is expected to deliver. In the past, Israel has said that despite its frequent disagreements with the agency, UNRWA is critical in getting relief to the Palestinians; Israel relies on the agency to keep Gaza from a total collapse. Israeli officials would not comment for this article. Israeli authorities watched nervously after UNRWA temporarily shut down operations to protest raids by Hamas gunmen on its storehouses. The agency reportedly resumed operations Feb. 9. The Bush and Obama administrations also have seen UNRWA as critical. President Bush in December ordered most of the $85 million in Palestinian relief funds to be funneled through the agency, and President Obama ordered that $13 million of $20 million in emergency postwar assistance be set aside for UNRWA. Continued on page 13

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 (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $35 per calendar year U.S.; $72 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or e-mail to: jpress@jewishomaha. org.

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Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2007

February 20, 2009

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 13

Act to free Gilad Shalit

FOCUS ON IbySSUES ZELDA HARRIS and MARIAN LEBOR

TEL AVIV (JTA) -- People throughout the world, including the beleaguered south of Israel, of all places, are collecting and donating humanitarian aid to Gaza. Courts of law in numerous countries are being employed against Israelis to issue civil lawsuits and undertake criminal investigations using allegations of “war crimes,” “crimes against humanity” and other alleged violations of international law. By contrast, there are very few calls for the filing of cases against any war crimes perpetrated by Hamas, and there is a resounding silence regarding the violation of Gilad Shalit’s rights under the Geneva Conventions as a prisoner of war. While worldwide attention is concentrated on the Palestinians’ humanitarian plight, where is the concern about the condition of one Israeli in Gaza who has been denied very basic human rights for 959 days, and counting? Gilad Shalit has been held in captivity in Gaza, whereabouts unknown, since early Sunday morning, June 25, 2006, when a Gazan terror cell launched a cross-border attack on an Israel Defense Forces post near Kibbutz Kerem Shalom in southern Israel. Lt. Hanan Barak from Arad and Sgt. Pavel Slocker from Dimona were killed in the attack in which Gilad Shalit was kidnapped. Nearly 1,000 days later, we ask: Where is Gilad Shalit? No one outside of Gaza knows and no one in Gaza is willing to say. Hamas, as the “declared” government of Gaza, must

abide by international conventions if it is to be recognized. Yet Hamas is content to bargain with Gilad’s life and deny him his most basic human right as a prisoner of war. All Palestinian prisoners in Israel are entitled to visits by the International Red Cross. These prisoners can all be accounted for. We are asking for the International Red Cross to be given access to Gilad Shalit now. At the recent rally to mark 21 years since the founding of Hamas, the world witnessed an abhorrent spectacle on TV: A young boy dressed in IDF uniform masqueraded as Gilad Shalit and read from a prepared text in Hebrew saying that he missed his parents, while 200,000 Gazans jeered. Imagine if Gilad were your son, grandson, brother, nephew or neighbor? What would you do if you knew that he was less than a two-hour drive from you and there was no way to get to him? Why can’t a member of the International Red Cross visit Gilad? We want tangible evidence that he is alive. We want this now, ahead of any prisoner exchange. There is a precedent for the involvement of the International Red Cross with Israeli prisoners of war. On Sept. 11, 1969, an Israeli fighter plane was downed over Egypt and the pilot, Capt. Giora Rom, bailed out. Rom was wounded and taken captive. He was returned to Israel three months later. During his captivity, the International Red Cross visited Rom. In arecent radio interview, he said he thought his life was over until this visit, which gave him reason to hope and to live, and to expect that one day he would be released. Gilad Shalit has had no such moral support. He

remains in captivity, all alone. The International Red Cross works in Gaza. We want the organization to provide us with the answer to our question: Where is Gilad Shalit? In the 1970s and 1980s, Jewish communities around the world asserted themselves in the “free Soviet Jewry” campaign. It was a grass-roots movement comprising Jews of all ages and backgrounds who had a single aim: to free their Russian brethren who were arrested and imprisoned for openly expressing their desire to leave the Soviet Union and immigrate to Israel. Not a day went by without demonstrations, and letter-writing and telephone campaigns, organized to target Soviet embassies, consulates, businesses, artists and sportsmen, and to lobby lawmakers to exert diplomatic pressure on the Soviet Union. We ask that people worldwide organize themselves along similar lines now to help Gilad Shalit. Those who care about human rights should take Gilad into their hearts. Contact your member of parliament, congressman, elected official or any agency purporting to stand up for human rights and ask them to act. Contact your synagogues, churches, organizations or clubs that you attend to enlist support. Organize a vigil outside the Red Cross headquarters in your country and inform the media. Do not let a day go by without thinking of Gilad Shalit and doing what you can to find out where he is. While the world is focused on Gaza and the plight of the Palestinians, we must not forget Gilad Shalit.

Zelda Harris, who lives in Israel, was a leading activist in the 35’s-Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry in the 1970s and is a former director of BIPAC-Israel. Marian Lebor, who also lives in Israel, is a freelance writer and filmmaker who was active in the universities committee for Soviet Jewry in the 1970s.

Battle gets nasty for U.N. agency aiding Palestinians

Continued from page 12 Even as it is set to receive additional U.S. aid, the relief agency is facing a new wave of criticism -- this time from its former chief legal counsel, James Lindsay. In a recently released report written for a pro-Israel think tank, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Lindsay described UNRWA as highly politicized. In the report, Lindsay refused to embrace the all-ornothing approach favored by Kirk and Rothman and some Jewish groups, describing it as counterproductive. He insisted that UNRWA “is part of the solution,” and has praised the role of its schools in creating the Palestinian intellectual class that now takes a leadership role in multiple disciplines throughout the Arab world. Still, Lindsay asserted, UNRWA is also “part of the problem” because it allows itself to be politicized by the Palestinians. Lindsay took part in a heated debate Feb. 3 at the Washington Institute’s office with Andrew Whitley, the director of UNRWA’s offices in New York. In a scathing reply, Whitley produced a tall pile of volumes of works on UNRWA to refute Lindsay’s claim that his report was an unprecedented expose of an agency no one dared criticize. Whitley then held up Lindsay’s handsomely bound report and said it reminded him of a period he had lived in Paris. The report, he said, “reminds me of the ladies of Place Pigalle,” the district famed for its transvestite prostitutes who promise one kind of adventure but deliver another. If each side doth protest too much, it arises out of years of mutual frustration. UNRWA critics say it is stubbornly resistant to changes that would make it more accountable. The agency complains that the other side makes assessing whether it has reformed impossible by constantly shifting the goal posts. In his report, Lindsay presented a litany of examples of UNRWA pronouncements that place the agency firmly on one side of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, beyond the considerations a relief group might have in protecting its

charges. He noted instances in which UNRWA did not immediately condemn Hamas rocket fire into Israel. Whitley, in his presentation at the Washington Institute, also could not resist such politicking. Responding to allegations that the agency does not properly vet its staff for terrorist affiliations, the UNRWA official delivered a “who is a terrorist” disquisition, noting that some of Israel’s founders had been accused of terrorism. That elicited groans from the audience.

... UNRWA’s prevailing consideration should be that any funding of Hamas, however indirect, violates the laws of its largest donor, the United States. It was only afterward, during the question-and-answer session, that Whitley noted UNRWA’s practice of periodically running staff names through Israel’s intelligence services and summarily removing staffers with suspected terrorist ties. That answer might have put the matter to rest for a pro-Israel audience that instead was rankled by a history lesson on Israel’s prestate militias delivered in Whitley’s posh Oxbridge tones. Lending credence to UNRWA’s claim that its critics create movable targets is how the other side treats the staffing issue. Kirk, Rothman and several Jewish groups accuse UNRWA of effectively hiring terrorists, citing anecdotal evidence but not substantive research. The critics never mention that UNRWA runs its staff names by Israel. In his report which otherwise is tough on UNRWA, Lindsay dismissed the claims that the agency employs terrorists, noting that only a “few” of its 15,000 workers in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have “been convicted of terrorism-related charges.” Besides," he added, “the relatively few examples of staff involvement in antiIsraeli violence that critics often cite are, for the most part, not clearly convincing.” But Lindsay criticized UNRWA for allowing staff to

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become members of banned political groups, including Hamas. “The agency makes no effort to discourage supporters or members of Hamas (or any other terrorist group) from joining its staff,” he writes. UNRWA says it simply does not have the resources to track the extracurricular activities of all 29,000 staffers around the world. Doing so would effectively cripple the agency’s operations in Gaza, where Hamas membership predominates and at times has been foisted upon residents. Lindsay, Rothman and Kirk cite anti-Semitic and antiIsrael depictions in textbooks used in UNRWA schools. Whitley acknowledged the problem, saying it was especially aggravated among Palestinian refugees in Syria. But the UNRWA official said the agency is constricted by rules aimed at integrating Palestinians into surrounding societies. In an interview with JTA, Rothman said UNRWA’s prevailing consideration should be that any funding of Hamas, however indirect, violates the laws of its largest donor, the United States. “It’s against U.S. law to have U.S. taxpayer dollars flow to a terrorist organization,” he said. “During the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, it is unacceptable that an organization receiving U.S. financial aid should not be required to be accountable for every dollar it receives.” The General Accounting Office, Congress’ auditing body and a member of the U.N. Board of Auditors -- it did not participate in the most recent UNRWA audit -is writing a report on UNRWA that should be ready by the spring. Nothing has been released, but the sides already are exchanging barbs: UNRWA insiders say they are eager to see the report, believing it will vindicate the agency, while Kirk accuses UNRWA of not allowing GAO staff sufficient access for a thorough report. “There are basic principles at stake here,” Kirk said. “The spending of U.S. taxpayer funds should be transparent and accountable, and bad activities should have consequences.”

Page 14

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 20, 2009

Candlelighting Friday, February 20, 5:47 p.m

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Services conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Beth Schlossberg. FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m.; USY/KADIMA Shabbat, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation (3-7), 10 a.m.; Minha/Ma’ariv, 5:55 p.m. SHABBAT MORNING LIVE: Saturday, Feb. 21, 10:30 to noon. Program for Pre-K to 2nd grade children and their parents. All families in the Jewish community are welcome; no charge. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. Bible Study SUNDAY: Discussion Group; Navigating our Services with Joy led by Susi Frydman-Levin, 10 a.m.; The Mitzvah Club also led by Frydman-Levin; and Synagogue skills class led by Cantor Schlossberg, 11 a.m.; The Choreography of Shabbat Services, led by Cantor Schlossberg, noon. SISTERHOOD BAKING: Hamantaschen bakers needed this Sunday, 9 a.m. For information, call the office. USY/KADIMA ICE SKATING PARTY: Sunday, 3 p.m. at Tranquility Iceplex, 123rd & W. Maple. Cost is $5; RSVP to Robert Mosenkis in the office or at youthdir@bethel-omaha.org. WOMEN’S ROSH HODESH GROUP: Feb. 24, 7-9 p.m. at the synagogue to help Sisterhood package hamantashen for Purim. THURSDAY: Rabbi Levin’s Jewish Ideals and Ethics for Everyday Living, noon. PROPHETS, PROPHECY & POLITICS: Final session, Thursday, Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m. SHABBAT TUNES & TALES: Saturday, Feb. 28, 11:15 a.m.

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

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Allan Handleman, 402.334.6451

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fri., 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross and Rabbi Yitzchak Mizrahi. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 5:47 p.m.; A special Women’s

Kabbalat Shabbat, led by Ilana Weiss, will run concurrent to the regular Kabbalat Shabbat service. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m. free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes, 9:45 a.m. with Torah Parade; Kiddush sponsored by Drs. Howard Gendelman and Bonnie Bloch in honor of Emma Ehrenkranz’s first birthday; “Guard Your Tongue” and “The Great Midrash” and “Advanced Parshah Study for Kids (ages 10 & up)” one hour prior to Mincha, 5:30 p.m., followed by Seudah Shlishit; Havdalah, 6:48 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Reading the Rambam, 9:45 a.m.; Rabbi Gross’s Teen Class, 10 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m. TUESDAY: Mishnah Club for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders, 3:45 p.m. at the Blumkin Home; “Spirits & Sisterhood’s Spirituality,”, 7:45 p.m. at the home of Talia Mizrahi, led by Liat Shyken. Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class is canceled this week. THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m.; Rabbi Gross’s weekly class, 7:30 p.m.

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Services, 7 a.m. SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9 a.m.; Service, 9:30 a.m.; Youth Minyan, 10:30 a.m. MiniMensch title will be awarded; Kiddush lunch follows; join Rabbi Katzman from 12-1 p.m. SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.; Mishpacha Mornings, 10:15 a.m. For more information or to register for a month email Estie@ ochabad.com; Camp Gan Israel Open House, 1-2 p.m. RSVP to camp@ochabad.com. WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Kabbalistic Insights for Women, 12:15 p.m.; You be the Judge II-exploring Jewish Civil Law, 7 p.m. Space is limited. Enroll now at www.myjli.com. More information call 330.1800 or email JLI@chabad.com. TUESDAY: W.O.W. Prayer, Prophets, and Prayer, 9:15 a.m. WEDNESDAY: Achieving Integrity, Torah Studies for the Workplace, 7 p.m. For information call 330.1800 or e-mail

Free Haggadah from The Jewish Heritage for the Blind This year, the Passover Seders will be celebrated on April 9 and 10. If you are expecting guests who are seniors or visually impaired, you many obtain a Braille or large print Haggadah free of charge by contacting the Jewish Heritage for the Blind at 800.995.1888; or fax 718.388.0653; or e-mail to jhb.ny@verizon.net.

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.

TorahStudies@ochabad.com. THURSDAY: Jewish Thought, 12:45 p.m.; The Parsha Club for Level I beginners, ages 5-6; and Level II for ages 7-9, 3:45 p.m. Please contact shevi@ochabad. com for a pass. All events and programs are open to the entire community.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel, with oneg following hosted by Judy and Norm Zlotsky. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. all led by Rabbi Emanuel; Game Night/Potluck, 6 p.m. Call Deb Swearingen if you have questions. SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Grades 1-2, 9:45 a.m.12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.Israel; noon at Tifereth Federation Board Meeting, 1 p.m.; Winter Lecture Series, 7 p.m. at Unitarian Church: A Canadian State Department representative will contrast Canada’s normal relationships with Cuba and U.S. policies. WEDNESDAY: Hebrew classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. ADULT EDUCATION FEB. TUESDAYS, 7:30 p.m. Yoga for Every Body, led by Barbara Barron.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Alan Shulewitz.

Book Club, 10 a.m. The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time by Jeffrey D. Sachs facilitated by Creighton Professor Tracy Leavelle. TUESDAY: WRJ Presents: Women In Need, Noon. Guest speakers are Sandy Nogg, assistance coordinator for Jewish Family Service, and Laura Bergevin, education coordinator for the YWCA. Cost is $10 for lunch. Please contact the office or mkube@templeisraelomaha.com, to make a reservation by Friday, Feb. 20. WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 46 p.m.; All School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Family School, 6 p.m.; Grades 712, 6 p.m.; Caring Community Card Making, 6:15 p.m. Volunteers interested in making cards to congregants; Religious Worldviews: Primal Religions, Christianity and Islam, 6:30 p.m. UNO Professor Mary Ann Krzemien will take a broad overview of two major religions that took root in the Middle East/West. Open only to Family School parents. THURSDAY: “Adult Study with the Clergy” with Cantor Shermet, 10 a.m.; Torah on Wheels, noon at Grace Mayer Insurance. Contact the Temple office for reservations. Lunch is $6; Men’s Club Annual Poker Night, 6 p.m. (Registration) 7:15 p.m. (First Hand) No Limit Hold ‘em Poker with prizes. Tickets can be purchased for $50 in advance by calling Adam Kirshenbaum, 965.8935 or e-mailing adam.kirshenbaum@huschblackwell.com. Proceeds support Temple. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” Annual Youth Group Spaghetti Dinner and Auction, Sunday, March 1, 5 p.m. (See full story on page 6.)

NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN FRIDAY: Minyan, 5:47 p.m. SATURDAY: Srvices, 9 a.m.

TEMPLE ISRAEL

TIFERETH ISRAEL

FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to You at Remington Heights, 4 p.m.; Tot Shabbat and Dinner, 6 p.m. informal child-oriented Shabbat worship service, led by Rabbi Eric Linder. A fun art project follows. Hosts are Joan and Justin Cooper, Sarah and Jeff Howard, Annette and Jeremy Wright. Cost is $5 for adults and no charge for children. Call the office or contact mkube@templeisraelomaha.com to reserve; Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Aryeh Azriel. SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Service, 10:30 a.m. Leah Brookstein, daughter of Debbie and Spencer Brookstein, will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah. SUNDAY: Teacher Meeting, 9:30 a.m.; Grades PreK-6, 10 a.m.; WRJ Book Sorting Day, 10 a.m. Select five free books for helping. Please call Danielle Gordman at 343.1435 or e-mail dsgordman@cox.net or call Director Wendy Program Goldberg at Temple or wgoldberg@templeisraelomaha.com;

Services conducted by Nancy Coren, Lay Leader. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. MONDAY and THURSDAY: Minyan, 9 a.m. FRIDAY: Services, 6 p.m. at the home of Cindi and Marlon Weiss with a Shabbat dinner following at their home. Please RSVP to the office. There is no charge for this meal, however, your donations to the Kiddush fund are always appreciated. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m., and Talmud study. SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Grades 1-2, 9:45 a.m.12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.noon at Tifereth Israel; Federation Board Meeting, 1 p.m. 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.

February 20, 2009

Judgments and laws

SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Mishpatim One might irreverently ask, once we have the 10 Commandments, why do we need anything else? But now we have to consult Einstein: it’s all a matter of a relativity. For example: if the 10 Mitzvot say, “Thou shalt not kill,” that’s one thing. But the Bible describes, as well as countries of the modern world do kill all the time. Execution is one form; warfare is another. So we have to understand that “Thou shalt not kill” as “Thou shalt not murder.” The same goes for almost anything else. “Thou shalt not speed” while not one of the 10 Commandments, means one thing on the highway and quite another in a thickly settled city neighborhood and even another on a kids’ playground. Another example “Thou shalt not covet” perhaps doesn’t need to have added “your neighbor’s wife” if you had one look at her and decided to leave her to him! But if it means anything your neighbor has, you might easily covet his portfolio and bank account, especially after seeing your portfolio down 50% and your bank account near empty. Thus we certainly stand in need of laws and judgments to give attention to a myriad of situations that are subsumed in the 10 Mitzvot, but not specifically enumerated.

DEATHS MIRIAM SHRIER Miriam Shrier died Jan. 29, at the Rose Blumkin Home at the age of 90. Services were held at Beth El Cemetery on Feb. 1. A private drama teacher for more than 20 years, she was often on stage at the Omaha Playhouse, winning many awards, including the Fonda-McGuire award. She was also active with Jewish community groups, writing skits, directing and performing, and was known for her one-woman performances. She was preceeded in death by husband, Hy Shrier. She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Gail and Bob Ginsburg, Seattle WA and Jane and Russ Sawyer, Mission TX; daughter, Julie Shrier of Sunnyvale, CA; five grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. Memorials to Temple Israel or the Blumkin Home. HERMAN RUBIN Herman Rubin died after a long illness on Feb. 4 at the age of 81. Services were held on Feb. 6 at Loyalty Cemetery in Fairfield, CT. He enlisted in the Army Air Force as a senior in high school after World War II and then earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Connecticut. A social worker for more than 30 years, he was the Assistant Executive Director of the Jewish Community Center in Omaha until 1979. He then worked as Program Director for the Social Settlement Association of Omaha until his retirement in 1990. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Natalie Comen Rubin; sons, William Rubin of Eagan, MN, and Joel Rubin of Bloomington, IN; daughter and son-in-law, Lori and Brad Nacht of Millburn, NJ; three grandchildren, Jacob, Samuel and Daniella Nacht; and sisters, Frieda Rubin and Florence Rubin of Waterbury, CT. Memorials to Beth El Synagogue, the Midlands Chapter of the Alzheimers Association, the Parkinson Association Nebraska Chapter, or charity of choice. JEANETTE HULMAN Former Council Bluffs resident Jeanette “Jane” Hulman died Feb. 13 at the age of 75 in Bethesda, MD. Services were held on Feb. 15 at Temple Emanuel in Kensington, MD, with interment at Judean Memorial Gardens in Olney, MD. She is survived by her husband, Jerry Hulman; children, Joni and Murray Pelta, Jeffrey Hulman, Julie and Aria Bamdad; grandchildren Jacob and Helly Schtevie, Mark and Michael Pelta. Memorials to the Jacob and Sarah Siegel Fund for Volunteer Services, Jewish Community Center, 6125 Montrose Rd., Rockville, MD 20852.

It is not surprising, then, that our Sidra begins with slavery, i.e., enforced labor. A people who had endured slavery in what seemed like an endless period, would need, and want, a regulation for servitude, if not direct slavery, and for hired employment. This need will be found throughout the complicated life of a free people. The difficult world of the ancient Israelites was a mere straight highway in comparison with the complications of present-day life. Nonetheless, even they required laws that would cover as many as one could think of then in the varied situations of professional and business entanglements. Our Sidra does not distinguish between laws and judgments. In fact, it begins with “judgments” -- Mishpatim. Immediately, we find ourselves in need of laws for the intricacies of the relationships in society, laws that will lead to judgments. Although the code of laws that legislatures in modern American states must require annual touch-ups and revisions, the less complicated situations of the ancient Israelites were also in need of laws and judgments. Hence the Torah does not hesitate to give us examples. Our Sidra could foresee everything that future generations would encounter. Thus later generations needed the Talmud; and still later generations needed commentaries and interpretations of the relatively minimal laws of Torah. We are told there are 613 Mitzvot -- laws of Torah. That is a paltry number, indeed, of what is needed in modern societies. Nonetheless, it is important to examine the laws and judgments of ancient societies to see in which direction JUSTICE points!

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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U.S. participation in Durban II talks Continued from page 1 as saying at a January preparatory meeting. “This entails with it implicit restriction on elaboration and review, or critical examination and review and study of Holocaust -- which is a very clear example of a violation of freedom of expression, a fundamental principle right for a democratic society. We suggest deletion of this paragraph.” Among the groups represented on the call with Shapiro, there was widespread understanding with the Obama administration’s sense that it needed to test the waters, considering the president’s commitment to diplomatic outreach and thoroughly revisiting his predecessor’s policies -- described by Vice President Joe Biden as “pressing the reset button.” “I would say it’s important for the Obama administration to act in a multilateral way in order to distinguish their vision of America’s role in the world from the previous administration in order to press the reset button, as the vice president said,” said William Daroff, the director of the Washington office of the United Jewish Communities, who was in on the call. Like Daroff, a number of other participants told JTA that they hung up reassured that the United States would pull out if it looks likes DurbanII will repeat its namesake’s sins. One thing Jewish groups will watch for, a Jewish insider said, is who wins in the “Clinton-Rice” nexus, referring to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Susan Rice, the U.N. ambassador. There is speculation in some circles that Clinton may favor pulling out absent a change of direction in the draft negotiations, while Rice opts for sending a delegation that would issue a strongly worded “minority report” objecting to the Israel bashing. Jewish groups would line up with Clinton in that fight, the insider said. Other participants on the call believed that the Obama administration would do better to tweak its approach -announce its intention not to attend the conference unless it is convinced otherwise in the preparation meetings. Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said that the signals in preparatory meetings so far -- including the continued emphasis on Israel bashing and on attempts to squelch criticism of militant Islam under the rubric of “defamation of a religion” -made Durban II a non-starter. “We have called on them to declare now that the circumstances that have been created -- the singling out of a country, the ‘defamation of a religion’ discussions -would make it impossible for the United States to participate,” Hoenlein said from Israel, where he was on a Presidents’ Conference tour. “According to Hoenlein, Durban II had come up in meetings with Israeli leaders.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 20, 2009

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