February 26, 2010

Vol. LXXXIX No. 23 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 89 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

12 Adar 5770

February 26, 2010

Helping Haiti: a different kind of family trip

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Milot, the town where the Schlessingers Editor of the Jewish Press were needed, is home to Hôpital Sacré For a year, Dr. Joel Schlessinger had Coeur, a Catholic run medical facility that been thinking about traveling to Haiti to was relatively undamaged after the earthhelp the local population. “It wasn’t comquake. “The hospitals in Port-au-Prince ing together, because the needs didn’t line were hit hard, and were in no position to up with the time I had available,” he said. help anybody,” Joel said. “Many survivors Then, on January 12 of this year, the found their way to Milot, so the hospital earthquake hit, and suddenly the definiwhere we were received many times the tion of ‘need’ changed enormously. “I number of patients they are equipped for. tried again, and on Saturday Feb. 6, I Where normally they have about 60 beds, found out that yes, they wanted me, and they now had a need for 465. The place we were leaving within a week. It all hapwas overflowing, people were in tents; pened very fast.” classrooms were converted to hospital Joel’s wife Nancy and their 15-year-old rooms, and so forth. Male and female son Daniel accompanied him. “We didn’t patients were separated, and children were even discuss it all that much at first,” in a specific pediatric unit.”

Nancy said, “it was just something we While the Schlessinger family encounboth felt we needed to do.” tered suffering and destruction, they also Once the decision to leave for Haiti was were confronted with an impressive nummade, Joel and Nancy did have a talk with ber of people who did what they could. their son. “They asked me what I wanted,” “The hospital had 10 doctors and nurses, Daniel said, “and I immediately said yes. Nancy, Daniel and Joel Schlessinger with patients at Sacred Heart Hospital Milot, Haiti. and anywhere from 30 to 90 volunteers on Getting to Haiti wasn’t easy, as most flights that cur- any given day,” Joel said. “Many of them were Not many teenagers get the chance to do something like this, and actually help people that are in need.” rently are allowed to land in Port-au-Prince are either Americans, but we encountered other nationalities as Daniel’s classmates were astonished that he would go military or relief planes, and the Schlessingers had to well. The most amazing thing was that here we were, to Haiti. “They wanted to know what I thought I arrange their own transportation. “We weren’t sure Jews from Omaha, working side by side with other would be doing, and whether I actually could be of any where to go, or how to get there,” Joel said, “which Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and we all had the help. I am 15, and sure, some day I’d like to enter the actually worked out for the best, since our final desti- same goal: to help as many as we could. We were formedical profession, but what could I offer now? I was- nation was 83 miles away from Port-au-Prince. Had we tunate to be a part of this; to be surrounded by people n’t sure either, but I knew I wanted to go. My family landed there, it would have taken us seven hours to who gave so freely of themselves was truly amazing.” has always traveled together, and I just had to be a part make it to Milot. The roads, already not of great qualWhat Haitians are dealing with now is not just those ity, were badly affected by the earthquake.”

Continued on page 3 of this.”

OTYG leader Molly Goldberg elected to NFTY North American Board

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Molly Goldberg, a senior at Westside High School, was recently elected to the NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth) North American Board at the NFTY midyear meeting at the Union for Reform Judaism’s (URJ) Greene Family Camp in Bruceville, Texas. After serving as Omaha Temple Youth Group programming vice president during her sophomore year, Molly was elected Missouri Valley regional social action vice president Molly Goldberg for her junior and senior years which ultimately led to her election to the North American Board for the 2010-2011 academic year.

“I’m psyched about the board,” she declared. “The president is from southern Florida and the other vice presidents are from Pennsylvania and northern California. NFTY is undergoing a strategic planning process and, as a board, we can’t wait to revamp NFTY to help it continue to strive.”

“My first NFTY event was NFTY Convention 2007 in Philadelphia my freshman year,” she said. “Combined, the passion, intelligence, and spirit of the 2,000 teens from across North America at the convention was ridiculous. It just blew me away. I remember singing and swaying during Havdalah and admiring the NFTY North American board, the five individuals, who, I felt could harness and unify the ruach (spirit) of all the other NFTYites.”

Inside Opinion Page see page 12

In addition to electing the board at the meeting in Texas, high school leaders from NFTY’s 19 regions laid the groundwork for the upcoming year. The youth movement’s leaders determined strategies for strengthening NFTY and considered new resolutions, policies, and themes.

Molly was a co-author of the action theme, “Anavah: Humility - What do we really need?” elected at the meeting. The action theme addresses overconsumption and encourages teens to consider their food, fuel, and mineral intake and its effect on the environment. To implement the theme, NFTY will coordinate with URJ’s “Just Table, Green Table,” an initiative that encourages congregations to implement food policy and programs that promote healthy, sustainable, and ethical eating such as Community Supported Agriculture projects like the one in which Temple members participated last summer. Other motions such as a resolution to support equal rights for Israeli Reform rabbis also passed during the meeting attended by 120 NFTY leaders.

Molly, a 4.0 student at Westside, is a member of Westside’s Ethics Council, Westside’s Simply Irresistible Show Choir and Warrior Choir, and the Project Interfaith Service Project. She has represented NFTY at various Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism meetings and served on the NFTY KUTZ Leadership Camp’s recruitment and planning team for the past two years.

Outside of NFTY, Molly maintains her commitment to social justice. An intern at the immunology lab at the University of Nebraska Medical Center last year, Molly has also been a volunteer at Munroe Meyer Institute’s counselor recreational therapy program for children with intellectual disabilities and cognitive impairments.

Additionally, she was a counselor at Camp Rainbow, a camp near St. Louis which serves children who have cancer and other blood-related disorders.

Molly is the daughter of David and Wendy Goldberg.

This Week: Monthly Calendar Pages 10 & 11 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press’

Omaha represented at conference on Holocaust testimonies Page 5

Former Omahan Mark Trustin receives Human Relations Award

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press On Friday, Feb. 19, in Durham, North Carolina, the City of Durham Human Relations Commission honored Mark S. Trustin -- originally from Omaha, -- for his work with atrisk youth. “Mark’s involvement in juvenile rehabilitation and guidance stems back almost 30 years,” his father, Yale Trustin, said. “While still in Nebraska, he worked with attorneys, judges, and the Boy Scouts of America to establish the Douglas County Diversion program.

This rehabilitation Mark S. Trustin program for at-risk youth, similar to the program originated by Judge Larry Gendler in Sarpy County, Nebraska, is still going strong today. Also, Judge Gendler and Mark, while still law students at Creighton University, conducted classes for Explorer Scouts who aspired to a law career.” Yale Trustin, who traveled to Durham to watch his son being honored, continued: “Mark married his Westside High School sweetheart, Dr. Marcia Ann Angle, and in 1993 moved his law practice to Durham. Once there, he recognized that Durham had no activity such as the Douglas County Diversion Program, and thus he involved himself in the Durham juvenile justice affairs. From that, the Continued on page 2

Coming Next Week: Home and Garden Jewish High School Athlete of the Year nominations due Page 6

Teen philanthropy event to offer a learning opportunity Page 8

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 26, 2010

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NEW YORK (JTA) -- In the 16th and 17th centuries, the vast expanse of the Caribbean Sea was a playground for European empires competing with each other for land, power and gold.

It was a playground for Jewish pirates, too.

This little-known history is the subject of Ed Kritzler’s best-seller Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom -and Revenge.

In dramatic prose, Kritzler recounts the tales of Jewish pioneers like the pirate Moses Cohen Henriques, who was the scourge of the Spanish treasure fleet, and his brother Abraham, who searched Jamaica for the hidden treasure of Christopher Columbus.

Kritzler, who is in his late 60s, told JTA that he stumbled upon the tale more than four decades ago in Jamaica when he found an old document written by an English pirate in the 17th century. The document told about a group of Marranos -- secret Jews who emigrat-

ised riches to the pirate if he were to invade Spanish-held Jamaica and liberate the Marranos from the Inquisition.

“It was incredible to find these Jews in the New World because nobody knew they were Jews,” Kritzler said.

The more Kritzler learned about the Jewish history of the Caribbean, the more interested he became.

After receiving a grant from Ainsley Henriques, the leader of Jamaica’s Jewish community and a distant relative of the Henriques brothers, Kritzler traveled to Spain and Britain to conduct research for his book. For two decades he rummaged through faded documents in national archives in Seville and London, discovering a world where Jews set sail on the high seas and fought back against their oppressors.

But his progress was slow.

“All these years people have been asking, ‘Hey, you still working on this book? When are you going to finish it?’ “ Kritzler said.

When his book was published finally in October 2008

by Knopf Doubleday, it reached as high as No. 4 on the Los Angeles Times best-seller list. Among experts and reviewers, however, the reception has been mixed.

Washington Post reviewer Ken Ringle called Kritzler’s book “an earnest but rather disjointed retelling of the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion of Jews from Spain in Continued on page 15

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Continued from page 1 Durham P.R.O.U.D. program was initiated. It has been very successful, and has been growing steadily for the past 14 years.”

Trustin has more than 30 years experience in the practice of civil and criminal trial law. In 1996, he co-founded P.R.O.U.D., which provides life-skills and development training for at-risk youth as well as their families.

Since 2001, Trustin has served as an adjunct professor at North Carolina Central University School of Law. Trustin is extremely dedicated to improving the lives of at-risk youth, particularly those who get lost in the educational system. “As in many urban centers around the country, we see many young people who commit violent acts both within the school setting, and in the community at large,” he says. “My efforts as well as interests are mostly directed towards school age kids, kids who aren’t able to fend for themselves, or find a way out once they have been expelled from school. When I started P.R.O.U.D., we focused on school age children who had very little support, if any, who suffered the consequences of poverty and poor role modeling. Some of these kids have no role models at all, and they need someone to stand up for them.”

Trustin quickly realized the number of children who fell into that category was astonishingly high, and all of them had trouble in school. “Once you take a closer look, you see that this is a large minority, and most of these kids are under-represented. Roughly 18% of all kids in North Carolina drop out of high school, and that number will stay that way when schools do not provide what is needed in the form of special, preventative programs.”

When asked why these youth are not getting what they need to address their troubles, Trustin does not blame individuals, but instead points towards bureaucracy. Many kids who are suspended or expelled from the school system end up that way because they have no legal representation, and because the schools don’t prioritize. “Many of these kids are suspended unconstitutionally, and that is simply not right. It is why I want to help them know their legal rights, and why I supervise law students who are trained to know what rights these kids have, and who hopefully will continue to fight for these children. It occupies me entirely.”

Over the years, Trustin has represented hundreds of youth who were wrongfully suspended, and who were unable to find their way back to school. “I can count the number of kids who truly did not belong in school on one hand. As a parent, as an adult, I just know that kids deserve a second chance, and they belong in school, they have a right to an education. One child had been banned from school for a total of 365 days; after our hearing, he immediately was able to go back. That is what I am looking for. There is no policy that encourages schools to help these kids when bad situations arise. What I would like to see is when a young person comes into contact with the law or makes a mistake, the school takes this as an opportunity to teach a lesson. That doesn’t happen; instead, they suspend and expel, and nothing is

done. The question we need to ask when young people are in trouble is: ‘How can we turn this around before it is too late?’ Instead, when schools expel children, they often add insult to injury by threatening a charge of trespassing if the child does try to enter school grounds.”

Trustin isn’t just looking at Durham, he also has his sights set on neighboring Wake County Public schools.

With four times as many kids, Wake County has 13 times more suspensions. “Many people will tell you this is not the school’s problem,” Trustin says, “but instead, the community’s problem. But the school system is part of the community; it is, after all, where kids are supposed to spend the majority of their time. In addition, for many kids this is a generational problem: their parents were faced with the same challenges before them, and what ends up happening is nobody in the family considers education a priority. People who aren’t taught forget the importance of getting a good education. If kids aren’t getting the message at home, they should at least get it from the school. Unfortunately, they are not at this time.”

One example of the bureaucracy Trustin sees is the pace at which changes are made: “We received a twoyear grant to implement an anti-truancy program; the schools agreed to be on board. Now it is six months later, and nothing has happened. We haven’t even been given a list of children who are at risk of being suspended from school. It is enormously frustrating to see that those people who work with kids every day are expected to put out fires, but aren’t given the tools and resources from the top down, or the support to really make a difference. I know the law, and it isn’t applied fairly to these kids.”

Sarpy County Judge Larry Gendler has known Mark Trustin for many years, and applauds his dedication: “I am aware of Mark’s efforts in Durham, as I have visited him there and met the P.R.O.U.D. program director,” he says. “What does not surprise me, but would others, is that Mark moved to Durham about 16 years ago, knowing nobody other than his future wife Marcia. He quickly immersed himself in those issues that grabbed his attention, and within a very short period of time did something about it. I have known Mark a long time, in fact, we attended law school together, and graduated at the same time. I respect his intellect as well as his tenacity; his involvement is not for fanfare, in fact, he shuns it. It is not because he is looking to improve his own status within the community, but only to help those who need it, while not embarrassing anyone in the process.

He is very engaging, entertaining, and impossible to say no to. Those traits have enabled him to achieve much on behalf of others. I am proud of him for what he has accomplished there, and know the legal community here still misses him.”

As long as at-risk youth end up in prison or on the street rather than in school, the cycle of poverty and hopelessness will continue. For many kids around the country, receiving a good education is the only way out.

With someone like Mark Trustin on their side, some of these youth have at least a fighting chance.

February 26, 2010

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

A family trip to help Haiti Continued from page 1 all at once. You have to leave all these people behind, who have died, but those that lived: the number of and you can’t shake anything. This will stay with us, and amputations is staggering. At least half of the patients in we feel odd, it’s difficult to think about anything else but Milot had to have a limb amputated, which meant the who we left there.” risk of infection was high. “One of the biggest problems The Schlessingers will return to Haiti sometime in right now,” Joel said, “is that with 50,000 to 100,000 amputees, nobody knows how Haiti is going to deal with the follow-up. The country has never been very handicap-friendly, and now a massive part of the work force is going to need care, prostheses, and continued rehabilitation. In order to make that happen, much more help is needed.”

Joel and Nancy worked from 7:30 in the morning until midnight, every day; in the meantime, son Daniel found out he didn’t need a medical degree to feel useful.

“Of course, I wondered whether I would be able to handle this,” he said. “Several people brought up the fact that this could very well be a traumatizing experience. These are people who really suffer, they are wounded, and many of them are dead.

There is a harsh reality there, and once you are in the middle of it, it will affect you. But, I thought I would be able to handle myself; once I was in the hospital, I found out exactly how useful I could be.”

Daniel, who attends Millard North High School, Joel Schlessinger assists one of the many wounded in Milot, Haiti. has been studying French, and was able to put his lan- April. “This is not just an immediate disaster,” Joel said, guage skills to good use. “Many people speak Creole, “ but one with long-term consequences. If there is no which is very close to French,” he said, “and so I was follow-up care, the country will not be able to cope. We asked to translate, and help the doctors communicate cannot forget about Haiti; much, much more help is with their patients. This meant I was actually able to make needed.” a difference, and it left me feeling I was serving a definite The organization with which the Schlessingers went to purpose. In addition to translating, I was also able to give Haiti is Crudem, a Catholic relief organization that emotional support to many patients -- something that can focuses on taking assistance directly to the places where be as important as medical assistance. I learned that you it is needed. “There was such a push to donate to the don’t have to be a trained medical professional to make Red Cross,” Daniel said, “but while we were there, we an impact when people are truly in need.” didn’t see any evidence that any of that had arrived in Maybe the hardest part, according to Nancy, was com- Milot.” ing home. “While we were there, things were frantic.

Joel agreed: “It’s hard to be sure where things end up.

You work such long hours, you don’t have time to There are enormous trailers at the airport, with supplies process anything. Then you come home, and it hits you inside, but not in all cases are they getting to the people

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who need them. In addition, a lot of the money is earmarked for long-term infrastructure projects, rather than for immediate relief. People need antibiotics, toothbrushes, toilet paper, clothing; these patients had to leave everything behind, and ended up with absolutely nothing.”

“When we left, we left everything but the clothes on our back,” Nancy said. “Because the temporary tents were pitched over gravel, many of the patients who went shoeless tripped over it and hurt themselves. The hospital asked all volunteers to leave behind any extra sneakers, because they simply don’t have any.”

To find out more about Crudem, visit www.crudem.org. This website will tell you more about the hospital where the Schlessingers volunteered, as well as provide an opportunity to donate directly and find out what is needed. “The needs change on a daily basis,” Joel Schlessinger said, “and when we go back in April, I would certainly love to be able to answer some of those needs. Also, we are hoping there are others who will follow our example and volunteer. Medical professionals are very much in need, especially rehabilitation specialists and physical therapists. If anyone wants to talk to me about this, I hope they will contact me and ask about opportunities.”

“Not everybody is able to get on a plane and physically go there,” Daniel added, “but if this trip has taught me anything, it is that everybody has their own way of helping. If you are a high school student, you may think there isn’t much you can do.

However, I think even high school kids have the power to make a difference. Where else can you spread the word to thousands of kids than at your high school? You can write about it in your school paper, you can start a fundraising campaign, and you can raise awareness. Haiti continues to need our help.”

To contact the Schlessingers, send an email to skindoc @lovelyskin.com -- they will gladly answer your questions.

Editor’s note: Beth El’s Rabbi Mordechai Levin will discuss the Schlessinger’s trip and Haiti’s continued needs during Shabbat services on Feb. 27, 2010.

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February 26, 2010

Haiti response spurs new fund-raising tool: texting Israel maintains

by TAMAR SNYDER NEW YORK (New York Jewish Week) -- Over the course of the past year, The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s Next Gen initiative had been looking into launching a mobile giving campaign.

When an earthquake devastated Haiti last month, suddenly the race was on to get it up and running immediately.

The entire setup process took less than 48 hours, and JDC announced its text-to-donate campaign at “Help Haiti Now,� an emergency benefit held Jan. 19 at a popular music venue. In addition to the minimum $36 donation, attendees were asked to text “JDCHAITI� to 85944, which would result in a $10 donation added to their cell phone bills.

The event raised $8,200, and up to $3,600 raised through texting will be matched dollar for dollar by the owners of the Havana Central restaurant chain.

Among Jewish organizations, the American Jewish World Service and the JDC are among the first to try mobile giving campaigns. The UJA-Federation of New York has launched the Chai Society, which enables recent college graduates to donate $18 a month to the UJA by texting the word “Chai� to 58126.

But in wider U.S. nonprofit circles, mobile phone giving is reaching a tipping point, says Lucy Bernholz, a longtime adviser to philanthropic foundations and a well-respected blogger and analyst of philanthropic trends.

The question is how successful these campaigns are and whether other Jewish organizations will jump on the bandwagon.

Industry analysts say that mobile giving is growing at a far quicker pace than online giving. In 2008, when mobile giving first got off the ground, $500,000 was donated via text messages. Last year the number increased to $3 million.

But last month, in the wake of the Haiti earthquake, the Red Cross alone raised more than $30 million via $10 text message donations. The organization had raised $200,000 through mobile giving during the 2008 hurricane season. “The tragedy in Haiti has raised the awareness among the general population of the ability to make a donation very quickly through a mobile phone,� says Douglas Plank, CEO of MobileCause, which is among about nine service providers in the United States that are approved by the Mobile Giving Foundation.

Only 500 of the more than 1 million U.S. nonprofits are running text-to-donate campaigns, but Plank envisions a large increase in the coming year. “The heightened awareness of mobile giving has caused nonprofits that support Haiti and those that don’t to realize that this is a viable fund-raising tool that they need to start using,� he says. “With just a few

PREPARING FOR

clicks, you can initiate your campaign.�

The costs for running text-giving technology have fallen in recent years. MobileCause, for example, offers packages that run from $99 to $250 a month.

Part of the appeal of mobile giving is its “ability to bring in brand new supporters at a low adoption rate,�

Plank says.

There are downsides to mobile giving campaigns, including the fear that potential donors will ease their conscience with a quick $10 text donation and not bother to make a larger gift.

That presents a dilemma to organizations such as the American Jewish World Service, which has an average online gift of $100 to $115. While the organization is experimenting with a text-to-donate campaign to benefit the Haiti relief efforts (text “AJWS� to 25383), it has opted not to publicize the texting number on its Web site. “If we encouraged people to text, it’s $10,� says Riva Silverman, the director of development for AJWS. “If they’re already on the donate page, why would we shoot ourselves in the foot?�

The point of the mobile giving campaign, she says, is to reach people who otherwise wouldn’t go to the group’s Web site to donate.

For the past three years, the UJA’s “Generosity� event for Jewish philanthropists in their 20s and 30s has featured donor pledge technology that enables attendees to text pledges from their cell phones along with messages honoring the honorees, which are then broadcast on screens around the room. “Our research has shown that younger people tend to think that we’re their grandparents’ charity,� says Michelle Waranach, director of Emerging Leaders and Philanthropists at the UJA. “This sends the message that we’re cutting edge and technologically savvy.�

Text-to-pledge technology has replaced traditional pledge cards. Of the 600 people who attended Generosity in January, more than one-third contributed via text, in addition to the event’s $180 ticket price. The amounts ranged from $10 to $6,500 and contributed to 40 percent of the event’s gross profits, according to the UJA. The UJA requires attendees to list their cell phone numbers when they sign up for Generosity, which is crucial for tracking and following up on pledges -another concern for those adopting text pledging. “We see disaster gifts as entry points to the AJWS,�

Silverman says. “We’ll send an e-mail thanking donors for coming to us to give to Haiti and share what we did in Haiti -- and then, let us tell you all about the rest of our work. You can’t do that with texting. “Online giving was the new technology for the tsunami,� she adds, “and clearly texting has become the new technology for this disaster.�

presence in Haiti

IsraAID, in partnership with local aid agency ProDev and JP-HRO, has opened today the first Child Education Center in the Petionville Refugee Camp - the largest refugee camp in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

The Petionville Refugee Camp has 60,000 residents living under the patronage of the American ambassador.

The Israeli team has provided medical-post trauma treatment to thousands of refugees in the camp, working closely with other agencies, such as Operation Blessing, JP-HRO and ProDev.

The IsraAID pictures show children in the Petionville Refugee Copyright: ISRANET Camp in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

The Child Education Center will function in tents donated by the Israel Defence Forces that had served the IDF field hospital. The tents will now become a child friendly space where activities for 250 children at time will take place. The educational programs which were prepared in partnership with all three agencies as well as the local teachers include pedagogical content, music, sports, training for readiness in case of another earthquake.

This successful model will be duplicated into an additional refugee site this week.

The third relief team left Israel last night with the purpose of expanding the post trauma and educational efforts currently taking place in the camp.

IsraAID’s post trauma project in the camp will be led

by Tevel Betzedek an IsraAID member who primarily deals with development programming in countries such as Nepal.

Since the earthquake hit Haiti, three IsraAID member teams have been operating in various locations in Portau-Prince providing emergency medical aid, post trauma and relief distribution assistance.

The IsraAID missions to Haiti are funded by American Jewish Committee and UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, B’nai B’rith International, Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago as well as a number of other Jewish Federations including Los Angeles, Cleveland, St. Louis, San Francisco, New York and Miami.

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February 26, 2010

Omaha well represented at an international conference on the future of Holocaust testimonies

by MOSHE GERSHOVICH, Professor of of Israeli scholars of the Shoah who have History, University of Nebraska-Omaha, and followed in his footsteps, gathering surBETH SELDIN DOTAN, Director, Institute of vivor testimonies and enriching our perHolocaust Education spective and comprehension.

During the last week of January the two While both the first and second days of of us had the honor of attending a very the conference were held on the Western special gathering of scholars that dis- Galilee campus in Akko, the third and cussed the future of Holocaust testi- final day was hosted by the Ghetto monies. The conference was organized by Fighters Museum, housed at the Kibbutz the Holocaust Studies Program at of the same name, a few miles north of Western Galilee College (WGC) in Akko, Akko. Originating from a modest exhibit with support from our Israel Partnership put together by the founders of the of 16 American Communities and the Kibbutz (all survivors of the Shoah and Western Galilee and a collaboration of several of them survivors of the Warsaw organizations including the Ghetto Fighters’ Museum and Bar Ilan University.

With the passage of time and the natural course of life, the number of Holocaust survivors is constantly diminishing. Already now, most of the survivors living among us were small children during those years of horror. Within a few decades, humanity will be bereft of anyone carrying a first-hand memory of that "Professor Dov Levin, left, receiving an award for his pioneerperiod. Now more than ever, ing enterprise of gathering Holocaust testimonies. Included it is essential to gather and in the photo are the conference's co-organizers, Dr. Boaz preserve their testimonies Cohen, right and Dr. Ronit Fisher of Western Galilee College."

Credit: Moshe Gershovich and use them as a means to educate future generations. With that Ghetto uprising) shortly after its foundaimperative in mind, the conference pre- tion in 1949, this is the first museum ever senters considered both historical exam- created to commemorate the Holocaust ples of testimony-collection from and and its victims. A particularly moving among Holocaust survivors, as well as addition to the museum, which opened in theoretical, methodological, and ethical the early 1990’s, is Yad Layeled perspectives inherent in that endeavor.

“Monument to the Child,” which is More than 30 scholars from Israel, designed to transmit aspects of the Europe, and North America presented Holocaust to younger audiences. papers at the conference which was held During this final day, Dotan gave her last January. The gathering coincided paper titled: Connecting Community to with the United Nation’s International Survivor Testimony. The paper focused on Holocaust Memorial Day, January 27, Nebraska Survivors and how their experithe second day of the conference. On that ences impact the community, as well as day, the conference deliberations were Institute for Holocaust Education trainopened to the general public. ings for Rose Blumkin Jewish Home staff Simultaneous translation in Hebrew and where Holocaust material is presented to English was available to participants assist in employee sensitivity training. including many Holocaust survivors Visiting the museum, its collections, residing in the Western Galilee and exhibits, and archives served as an excelbeyond. The highlight of that day’s pro- lent finale for a rich program of panels, ceeding was an award bestowed upon papers, professional interactions, and Professor Dov Levin from the Hebrew social events which left all the participants University in Jerusalem. A partisan in of the conference with the unanimous Lithuania during the Holocaust, Levin desire to expand on these deliberations in pioneered the gathering of testimonies future gatherings at Western Galilee and among his fellow partisans during the late elsewhere.

1940s. He has instructed two generations

Beth Israel’s Pesach preparations under way

by BETH COHEN Executive Director of Beth Israel With Purim celebrations this weekend, it may seem surprising to already be thinking about Passover. However, Beth Israel Synagogue has begun Passover preparations by taking orders for shmurah matzah and “Pesach To Go!” meals.

“If you want to have authentic shmurah matzah at your Seder, then we can help,” said Rabbi Jonathan Gross. “Each year, we provide the community with the opportunity to order shmurah matzah.

We’re grateful to Bag ‘n Save for coordinating our order.”

A one-pound box of shmurah matzah costs $17.25. Each box has approximately eight whole matzahs. Please place your order with the synagogue office. The deadline for orders is March 1.

Beth Israel’s annual “Pesach To Go!” will again be offered. The synagogue’s caterer, Nancy Mattly, will cook up just

what you need for your Seder dinners, as well as food you can eat throughout the holiday. “Our annual ‘Pesach To Go!’ has become so popular,” noted Gross.

“Passover is a busy time, and having this delicious homemade food makes things much easier for everyone. You can focus on enjoying Seders with family and friends.” Entrees, gefilte fish, side dishes, soup and desserts are available. For a complete list of the items that you may order, and to place your order, contact the synagogue office. “Pesach To Go!” orders must be placed by March 15 and can be picked up on March 29.

Pesach product guides, from both the Orthodox Union (OU) and the Chicago Rabbinical Council (CRC), are available in the synagogue office beginning in March. You can also visit the OU and CRC websites: www.ou.org and www. crcweb.org.

The Pointe is Choice

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 5

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Jewish High School Athlete of the Year and JCC Athletic Wall of Fame nominations due April 5

by LISA SHKOLNICK 3. Lettered and excelled in a varsity JCC Associate Executive Director sport for a high school or university, The Jewish Community Center is now and/or won a city or state championship accepting applications and nominations in a particular sport for the 2010 “Outstanding Jewish High 4. Community service criteria: Devoted School Athlete of the Year” and the “JCC at least 3-5 years of service towards the Athletic Wall of Fame” Awards. All betterment of the community. This servAthletes and Wall of Fame nominations ice is: a contribution to the Jewish who meet their respective criteria will be Community Center and/or the Jewish honored with a plaque and presentation community by being active on commitat the JCC Board Meeting on Tuesday, tees, a volunteer leader through a proJune 8 at 7 p.m. Award winners will also gram, acting as chairman on committees, be recognized in the Jewish Press and in the Centerpiece.

The “Outstanding Jewish High School Athlete of the Year” award recognizes the achievements of Omaha’s elite Jewish athletes in high school.

Criteria: 1. Must be Jewish 2. Must be a senior in high school 3. Must have lettered in a 2009 Outstanding High School Athlete of the Year recipients: Joey Kahn, left, Rachel Martin, Alec Lerner, Sam Salzinger, sport at the varsity level.

The “JCC Athletic Wall of and Nathan Wolf.

Fame” award recognizes the achieve- or promotion of programs.

Nomination/Application forms for ments of Omaha’s Jewish athletes who participated in JCC sports programs in both awards can be downloaded online at their youth and went on to make signifi- www.jccomaha.org. Questions or applicant contributions to the Jewish commu- cations for the Outstanding Jewish High nity, the general community and/or the School Athlete of the Year can be directJewish Community Center. Nominations ed to Diane Malashock, JCC Sports and for this award will be approved and Recreation Program Supervisor at judged by the JCC Health and Fitness 590.2143 or dmalashock@jccomaha. org. Questions or nominations for the Committee.

Criteria: (Persons nominated must JCC Wall of Fame Award can be directed to Ed Heller, JCC Fitness Center meet all four) Director at 334.6580 or eheller@jccom1. Must be Jewish 2. Participated in at least one JCC aha.org. sponsored sports program

Residents get involved A new program at RBJH called “Residents’ Round Table” will feature music with Norm and Marge Lincoln, as well as water color portraits by Marion Johnson, Ph.D., and stories by Selma Shamberg.

All residents are encouraged to present/attend the “Round Table” activity scheduled for the last Thursday of each month at 1:45 p.m. in the northeast dining room says Linda Fitzgerald, one of the home’s activity directors.

Marion Johnson, middle, shares her art with Marge and Norm Lincoln.

Selma Shamberg takes an active role in Blumkin Home’s new program.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Klezmer clarinet virtuoso David Krakauer collaborates with James Brown, long-time trombonist Fred Wesley and beat architect So-called to create an allout klezmer-funk dance party! The extraordinary team of musicians from Abraham, Inc. will rock the stage at the Lied Center for Performing Arts on Saturday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m.

This performance is possible in part by generous support from the Friends of

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Tickets for this performance are $19.

Tickets for students are half price. Call the Lied Ticket Office at 402.472.4747 or 800.432.3231 for availability. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.liedcenter.org.

For more information about Abraham, Inc., visit http://www.bernsarts.com/ abraham/abraham.html.

To order a gift subscription to the Press...

Send a check for $35, made out to the Jewish Press at 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 26, 2010

New Classic Family Dinners READ IT AND E AT Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN

by MARK PEEL (Wiley, $34.95) Turn every meal into a festive celebration. Mark Peel, award-winning chef and owner of Campanile, the award-winning Los Angeles restaurant, shares 200 recipes from ten years of Monday family night feasts/meals/menus. Inspiration is a holiday, seasonal ingredient, a type of food or a craving for either classic or lowbrow comfort food. At the Monday Family Dinner Night everyone eats the same menu. This might feature a decidedly Mediterranean dish: stewed chickpea salad with feta, olives and mint or a red and green version of coleslaw. Iceberg lettuce is combined with a roquefort-buttermilk dressing.

For beet borscht you are admonished not to wear any clothing you value…well, red is okay, beer-braised brisket with caramelized root vegetables…trim the fat after cooking, key lime cheesecake utilizes the best of this little lime. If Jello pudding could fantasize greatness it would be chocolate pudding with whipped cream, Mac ‘n’ cheese becomes macaroni and cheese with mushrooms, and the chicken pot pie in puff pastry would make Swanson swoon. ‘Unabashed, unashamed southern fried chicken’ says it all. The recipe for ‘mashed potatoes finally revealed’ has 1 1/2 cups each of heavy cream and butter. Learn Peel’s appreciation of Heinz Ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco as ingredients in the Russian Dressing recipe. This also

includes how to hard-boil eggs for just the right consistency.

Because of its crystalline structure, kosher salt is not as salty as regular table salt or fine sea salt. It is used in all the recipes except pastry.

Inviting color photographs illustrate how-to and finished recipes. Detailed instructions are numerical and the recipes range from extraordinarily simple to extravagantly complex. Variations are included. Just in case you won’t be in L.A. on a Monday night, gather your family and friends for a celebration and create your own three-course family style meal with the help of the menus included and this simple recipe.

PARSLETED POTATOES 1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut in half 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley kosher salt 1. Steam the potatoes until tender, about 20 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool and dry out for about 5 minutes, then cut in thick (3/4-inch) slices.

2. Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and add the butter. When the butter has ceased foaming and has begun to color lightly, add the potatoes and turn the heat to medium. Cook on one side until crusty and lightly browned about 5 minutes, then turn over and cook on the other side until crusty and lightly browned. Add the parsley and salt, toss together for a minute, and serve.

Makes 4 servings Lois Friedman can be reached at ReadIt AndEat@yahoo.com.

Class of 2010 HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS High School Seniors and Parents We will be publishing our annual Graduation Teen Age on June 11, 2010.

To be included, we need your graduation photo and the following information.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

Friedel invites community to annual Open House

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT On March 4, 7-8:30 p.m. staff, former students, and parents at Friedel Jewish Academy will welcome a variety of visitors to come and get a taste of Jewish education. Jewish Federation President Bob Lepp will address the visitors as keynote speaker. Principal Ron Giller is hoping for a big turnout. “The annual open house gives us a chance to share our success with the entire community,” he said.

“Last year, more than a hundred people attended, and we hope to repeat that this year. We want to get the word out that everybody who is interested in the school is welcome. Friedel is a fast growing day school, and an important part of the Jewish community. We have a diverse student population in which all synagogues are represented, and we have many exciting plans for the future.” Giller plans on sharing the school’s vision, sharing educational insights, and providing guests with an opportunity to ask plenty of questions.

As usual, the open house is coordinated

by Yaffa Podbilewicz-Schuller. As Friedel’s recruitment officer she spreads the news about the school, and offers tours to parents of prospective students.

“Many people hear about our school from friends and family, they might look at the website, or read the brochure.

Seeing the school with your own eyes, however, is a different experience. It really gives us at Friedel the chance to show people how special our school is. A Jewish day school is a vital part of a thriving Jewish community,” she continued, “and the annual open house has become a very

exciting event. It is also the only time we gather graduates of various ages to come back and re-live their experiences. Parents of prospective students can hear a different perspective, because recent graduates, as well as students who have finished college by now all have similar stories about the timeless value of a Jewish education.”

Danny Denenberg, front left, Rebecca Denenberg, and Melanie Schwarz are enjoying art class “Yaffa is our biggest advocate,” Giller said, “and her efforts are tireless. She is often the one who makes first contact with prospective parents, and she does a fabulous job. The fact that we have grown so much is in large part due to her hard work.” Friedel hopes to be home to more than 60 students for its 2010-11 school year.

Refreshments will be offered during the open house; babysitting is provided free of charge. For more information, please call Mary Jane Tweedy at 334.0517.

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Page 8

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 26, 2010

Holocaust survivor visits Omaha

Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein recently spoke to over 30 Lion of Judah women of the Jewish Federation, 600 community members at Countryside Community Church and over 1,000 students at Westside High School, including students from Millard South, Millard North, Skutt High and Burke.

Remarked Jan Goldstein, “From Gerda’s moving Holocaust experiences, we learn to value our freedoms and we learn of our collective responsibility to speak out and work towards our Jewish ideal of tikkun olam – repairing the world.”

Teen philanthropy event will offer participants a learning opportunity

by MARY BORT Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation Next Wednesday, March 3, all Jewish teens in 7th – 12th grade are invited to attend an evening event presented by the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation’s B’nai Tzedek Teen Philanthropy Program. The event will be held at the Quality Living Institute (QLI), located at 6404 N. 70th Plaza.

The B’nai Tzedek Program gives teens in 7th – 9th grades the opportunity to establish individual endowment funds, with matching funds provided by the Foundation. For those in 10th through 12th grades, teens can participate in a youth philanthropy foundation that is being formed. All teens learn to become philanthropists who make informed decisions about charitable giving. Events, such as the one on March 3, provide participants with opportunities to develop a more thorough understanding of becoming philanthropic leaders.

“This is the second in a series of events we are holding this school year,” explained Janie Murow, Omaha’s B’nai Tzedek Director. “Last time we got together, the teens learned about the different agencies of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. This time, we thought it would be beneficial to expose them to one specific non-profit group, getting an inside look at what a non-profit organization can accomplish and meeting individuals who benefit from the work that they do.”

QLI is one of the nation’s premier facilities for non-

geriatric adults with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, or severe physical disabilities.

“The QLI staff has a terrific evening planned, including ‘stations’ that the students can rotate through,” stated Murow. “One station will include some empathy activities to see what the world looks like through the eyes of someone with a brain injury. A second station will include a presentation by one of the residents on his journey through his brain injury experience. Another station will feature a musical performer who will be at QLI assisting residents with their music skills. Our teens will help facilitate that activity.”

“QLI is a unique facility and we’re happy our students will be able to see the campus, meet with staff and residents, and learn about this exceptional non-profit organization in Omaha,” said Murow.

Murow also noted how Omaha’s Jewish community has come together to support the B’nai Tzedek Program. “It is exciting to see more and more teens participating in our philanthropic program,” she said.

“And, we would like to thank Temple Israel and Beth El for allowing us to arrange this event during Hebrew high school hours and for providing transportation for their students.”

For more information about this event or transportation arrangements, or for details about the B’nai Tzedek Teen Philanthropy Program, contact Murow at jmurow@jewishomaha.org or at 334.6566.

IN THE NEWS

Top to bottom: Jewish Federation Executive Director Jan Goldstein, left, Gerda Weissmann Klein and Zoë Riekes chat at Jewish Federation Women’s gathering on Feb. 3; Klein signs a copy of her book All But My Life, for Nikki Kirshenbaum; Westside students Emily Stier, Mary Susman, Allie Fischer, Lilly Phillips and teacher Jon Priester join Klein following her presentation.

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February 26, 2010

The violinist and the chorus—B’yachad, together

by DICK FELLMAN About five minutes before four oclock women began We were walking to Chesed Shapira about mid-after- coming into the room, taking off their coats, and sitting noon in early December on one of the oldest streets in around the conference table, but they seemed to be sitUzhhorod, Ukraine, paved with cobblestones in the half ting in some sort of order, not taking whatever seat was concentric-circle pattern found throughout Europe. The empty, and as soon as they were seated they opened up street wound around a bend on the side of a small hill, a plastic bag...everyone seems to carry these in much like a row of crops which had been contour Ukraine...and pulled out a large notebook filled with plowed, but this street was once a small stream flowing pages of Cyrillic writing I could neither read nor underinto the Uzh river. stand. And they waited.

On both sides of the street the buildings were old.

They waited until about six or seven women arrived, Some of them had in recent years been restored to their then without any word or direction, one woman stood, original grandeur, some were in the midst of being went to the piano next to the conference table, and remodeled, and some remained dilapidated. The city began playing the Hebrew song, Sholom Aleichem, the street itself rose and fell, as the cobblestones had worn greeting that literally means, “may peace go with you,” and sunk through the years. the same as the Latin, “pax We were on our way to vobiscum.” The song, sung Chesed Shapira, the commuon the Sabbath at the synanity chest organization of gogue, at the Sabbath meal the Jews of Uzhhorod, with the family in the home, named Shapira in honor of and as both a greeting and a its primary donor and called farewell, was sung to the Chesed, as similar organizatune known the world over tions are throughout to every Jew. Ukraine.

Chesed, in I listened carefully, began Hebrew, simply means kindto sing along with the ladies, ness, caring, a kind of and soon understood that United Way. We had been this group of women was not invited to observe an after just a meeting singing a tune school program for grade of welcome, but some sort of school children run in the musical group, singing this group’s well kept building favorite as a sort of warm-up just off the main area of the Dick Fellman, right, accompanied by the violinist he met in exercise. They sang verse old city center. after verse, each with more Uzhhorod, Ukraine.

As we walked we caught vigor, more depth, more up with a man we hadn’t richness. As I listened to seen since the weather their Hebrew, I could hear turned chilly and he left the their Russian accent. Their spot on a former street in the Hebrew, though clear in city center now closed to each word they sang, had a vehicular traffic that he roudifferent accent than the one tinely occupied each day. It I heard every week in was the violinist, the man we America, and different, too, thought might be gone for from the Israeli sound I had the winter. During the warm heard many times before. It weather, from early spring was Russian, which in this until late autumn, he sat on a regard is not different from small stool playing his violin.

Ukrainian.

In front of him as he played, The women sang, the lady and laying open, was his vioat the piano played...I lin case, a thoroughly conlearned she was actually the temporary piece, and in it, director of the group...and along side some pages of the violinist, off on the side, music, was a tall tin can played his violin. which had held Folgers cofI wondered who these fee. As people walked by, or The B’yachad chorus rehearses every every Monday and women were, how old they stood and listened to him, Thursday, and performs all over Transcarpathia. were, and what they were bills and coins were placed in the can. doing that afternoon; and when I saw each of them It was clear he was not a beggar, not in any manner. reach in their purse for reading glasses, I could answer He earned his livelihood, at least a portion of which part of my question. must have come from playing each day on the street.

Later one of the women explained that this was a choWhen we first saw the violinist that December after- rus, they met to rehearse and sing every Monday and noon, he was wearing a warm, down-filled, light weight Thursday afternoon at four o’clock for just one hour, parka, one much in style in Ukraine this year, with a and that they performed, singing before groups all over hood, and solid black, seemingly the favorite color of all the city and even all over TransCarpathia, the oblast in clothing here. His violin case was slung over his shoul- western Ukraine. And they wore a costume, plain and der. To the degree a man of his size and age can have a simple, usually white blouses and black skirts. And some jaunty look, he had it. And that was before we saw his of the women danced. bright red sweater.

The chorus even had a name, B’yachad, which in So, we walked along the old street with the violinist.

Hebrew means together.

“To Chesed Shapira?” we asked. He nodded , “yes.”

One woman stood, reached for me, and began a circle Together, the three of us, Bev, me, and the violinist, dance. Soon she had Bev dancing, and within moments entered the gate. We passed the guard, dressed in black two or three others had joined. The woman from the (every Jewish institution in Ukraine needed a full time chorus clearly knew what she was doing as she danced, off duty police officer for protection and safety) into stepping this way, then that, the firm step and beat of an Chesed’s building. The violinist knew his way and left us experienced dancer. as he went upstairs and into a room behind closed doors.

What about the violinist, I asked.

We were met and taken to the children’s room.

Yes, one chorus member told me, Vladimir Paley, the Within a few minutes I heard violin music coming violinist, who would be 75 in just a few months, came to from a conference room just off the children’s room, each rehearsal and to every performance to accompany and entered it to find the violinist, seated at the corner them. He had been playing a violin since he was a child, of a large conference table, playing his instrument. Now the woman said, and for many years, when he was and then he would stop, make an adjustment to the younger, he played violin in a major opera orchestra in piece attached to the violin where he placed his chin, and Omsk, a large city in Siberia. again he would play a few bars. Then he stopped, tightBefore leaving, I stood off on the side of the room and ened his bow, and began once again, just a few bars. watched the women of the chorus sang, and sometimes After doing this two or three times he began playing, just they danced. The pianist led. The violinist simply played as he did while sitting on the street in warm weather. and smiled. And I thought to myself, there they are, all And he smiled, a broad smile, showing his wide mouth, of them together, B’yachad. with almost no teeth, a smile that went from ear to ear across his round face.

Dick Fellman spent 4 months in the Ukraine on a On the wall behind him, and above the conference Fulbright Fellowship teaching American politics at table, were the flag of Ukraine and the flag of Israel.

Uzhhorov National Univeristy.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 9

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 26, 2010

Your Look...

Your Lifestyle

March

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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28 Adult Education classes begin, 9 a.m. at Beth Israel Adult Education classes, 10 a.m.-noon at Beth El USY Purim Carnival, 11:30 a.m. at Beth El Purim Luncheon, Costume Contest, Megilah Reading, 1 p.m. at Chabad Purim Seuda & Costume Contest, 5 p.m. at Beth Israel

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MONDAY, MARCH 1 YES Luncheon, 10 a.m.

Minchah/Ma’ariv & Mishnah, 5:15 p.m.

Hebrew 101, 6:30 p.m.

Portraits in Leadership: Timeless Tales for Inspired Living, 7 p.m. at Chabad Derech Torah: Judaism 101, 8 p.m.

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27 Shabbat Tunes and Tales, 11:15 a.m. at Beth El Purim Family Megillah Reading & Dinner, 6:30 p.m. at Beth El Megillah Reading & Ice Cream Social, 7:15 p.m. at Beth Israel

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TUESDAY, MARCH 2 Parsha Prayer and Prophets, 9 a.m. at Chabad Federation Partnership Workshop, 10 a.m.

Scholars Club for 4th, 5th & 6th Graders, 3:45 p.m.

Executive Board Meeting, 5:30 p.m. at FJA Federation Partnership Workshop, 6 p.m.

BBYO Night, 6 p.m.

Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel Board Meeting, 7 p.m. at FJA YJO ‘cocktails and conversations’ series with The Schlessingers, 8 p.m. at the Fox and the Hound WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3 Partnership with Israel Committee Meeting, noon OTYG Lounge Night, 5p.m. at Temple Israel Adult Education Classes, 6:30 p.m. at Temple Israel Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel

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THURSDAY, MARCH 4 Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Rabbi Levin’s Weekly Class, noon at Beth El Yiddish Group Meeting, 1 p.m.

Community Open House, 7 p.m. at FJA Wisdom Literature: Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes with Dr. Guy Matalon, 7:30 p.m.

Rabbi Gross’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel FRIDAY, MARCH 5 Visions Board Meeting, 9:30 a.m.

Speech Contest, 1:20 p.m. at FJA Beth El USY’s Kadima Kinnus; Excelsior Springs, MO SATURDAY, MARCH 6 Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel BESTT Shabbat School & lunch for grades PreK-7, 10 a.m. at Beth El SUNDAY, MARCH 7 Adult Education classes begin, 9 a.m. at Beth Israel No BESTT classes - Beth El Adult Education classes, 10 a.m.-noon at Beth El Music of Jewish Religious Movements, 10:30 a.m. at Temple Israel MONDAY, MARCH 8 IHE Governance Council Meeting, 11:30 a.m.

Minchah/Ma’ariv & Mishnah, 5:15 p.m.

Hebrew 101, 6:30 p.m.

Portraits in Leadership: Timeless Tales for Inspired Living, 7 p.m. at Chabad Derech Torah: Judaism 101, 8 p.m.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 9 Parsha Prayer and Prophets, 9 a.m. at Chabad Eye on Israel, noon Scholars Club for 4th, 5th & 6th Graders, 3:45 p.m.

ADL Essay Contest Judging Night, 5:30 p.m.

BBYO Night, 6 p.m.

Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10 Rabbis & Presidents Meeting, noon Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel THURSDAY, MARCH 11 Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Rabbi Levin’s Weekly Class, noon at Beth El Center for Jewish Education Board Meeting, noon Yiddish Group Meeting, 1 p.m.

Israeli Movie Club, 7 p.m.

RBJH “Opera Omaha” Community Concert, 7 p.m.

Wisdom Literature: Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, 7:30 p.m.

Rabbi Gross’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel FRIDAY, MARCH 12 FJA End of 3rd Quarter Temple Israel Shabbat Comes to You at Remington Heights, 4 p.m.

Say ‘Shalom!’ to Shabbat!, and Tot Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El SATURDAY, MARCH 13 Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel Men’s Club Shabbat, 9:30 a.m. at Beth El BBYO Weizmann Sweetheart Dance, 6 p.m. at Champions Run SUNDAY, MARCH 14 Adult Education classes begin, 9 a.m. at Beth Israel Pesah Activities PK -2nd Gr, 10:30 a.m. Beth El Adult Education classes, 10 a.m.-noon at Beth El JYG Whole Foods Cooking Class, noon at Temple Israel Sunday Night Dinner, 6 p.m. at Beth Israel MONDAY, MARCH 15 FJA Beginning of 4th Quarter YES Luncheon, 10 a.m.

Pesah Activities Grades 3 - 7, 4:30 p.m. at Beth El Minchah/Ma’ariv & Mishnah, 5:15 p.m.

Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group, 7:30 p.m. at Beth El Jewish Press Board Meeting, 7 p.m.

Derech Torah: Judaism 101, 8 p.m.

TUESDAY, MARCH 16 Rosh Chodesh Nisan Holiday Parsha Prayer and Prophets, 9 a.m. at Chabad Scholars Club for 4th, 5th & 6th Graders, 3:45 p.m.

BBYO Night, 6 p.m.

Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel BESTT Board Meeting, 7 p.m. at Beth El PTO Meeting, 7 p.m. at Friedel Board of Trustees Meeting, 7 p.m. at Temple Israel WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17 NJHS Board Meeting, 3:30 p.m.

OTYG Lounge Night, 5p.m. at Temple Israel Adult Education Classes, 6:30 p.m. at Temple Israel Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel THURSDAY, MARCH 18 Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Kindergarten Round-Up, 10:30 a.m. at FJA Kripke Library Book Discussion Group, noon Rabbi Levin’s Weekly Class, noon at Beth El School Directors’ Committee Meeting, noon Yiddish Group Meeting, 1 p.m.

2010 Rabbi Sidney H. Brooks Lecture with Jennifer Michael Hecht, 7 p.m. at UNO Open Arms Informational Meeting, 7 p.m. at Beth El NCJW Board Meeting, 7 p.m.

JOLT Session, 7 p.m.

Rabbi Gross’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel FRIDAY, MARCH 19 Minister’s Institute, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel USY Shabbat Dinner, 6 p.m. at Beth El Scholar in Residence Jennifer Hecht, 6 p.m. at Temple Israel

SATURDAY, MARCH 20 Scholar in Residence Jennifer Hecht, and Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel Shabbat Morning LIVE!, 10:30 a.m. at Beth El Jr. Congregation Family Shabbat, 11 a.m. at Beth El YJO Speaker Event, 6 p.m.

SUNDAY, MARCH 21 AIPAC Policy Conference 2010 in Washington, DC Adult Education classes begin, 9 a.m. at Beth Israel Scholar in Residence Jennifer Hecht, 10:30 a.m. at Temple Israel Adult Education classes, 10 a.m.-noon at Beth El Chaverim Olympics, 2 p.m. at Beth El Concert Green Room, 2 p.m.

RBJH Concert “Intergenerational Orchestra,” 2 p.m.

Deli Night, 5 p.m. at Temple Israel MONDAY, MARCH 22 Minchah/Ma’ariv & Mishnah, 5:15 p.m.

Federation Executive Board Meeting, 6 p.m.

CJE Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Federation Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m.

Derech Torah: Judaism 101, 8 p.m.

TUESDAY, MARCH 23 Parsha Prayer and Prophets, 9 a.m. at Chabad Scholars Club for 4th, 5th & 6th Graders, 3:45 p.m.

BBYO Night and Council Elections, 6 p.m.

Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel JCC Board Meeting, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24 Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel THURSDAY, MARCH 25 BBYO Spring Regional Convention in St. Louis Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel CDC 4’s Model Seders, 11 a.m.

Rabbi Levin’s Weekly Class, noon at Beth El Yiddish Group Meeting, 1 p.m.

Parent/Teacher Conferences, 5p.m. at FJA JFS “Love & Logic” Class, 6 p.m.

LOVE Board Meeting, 7 p.m.

Wisdom Literature: Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, 7:30 p.m.

Rabbi Gross’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel FRIDAY, MARCH 26 FJA No School Parent/Teacher Conferences Reflections on Aliyah Perspectives: Daily Life in Israel, 6 p.m. at Temple Israel Tot Shabbat and Dinner, 6 p.m. at Temple Israel SATURDAY, MARCH 27 Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. Temple Israel Jr. Congregation, 10 a.m. at Beth El USY Scavenger Hunt, 2 p.m. at Beth El SUNDAY, MARCH 28 Adult Education classes begin, 9 a.m. at Beth Israel No BESTT classes at Beth El Pesach/Spring Break WRJ Board Meeting, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Adult Education classes, 10 a.m.-noon at Beth El MONDAY, MARCH 29 Ta’anit Bechorot - Fast of the First Born Holiday FJA No School Passover Break No BESTT classes at Beth El Pesah/Spring Break Minchah/Ma’ariv & Mishnah, 5:15 p.m.

RBJH Seders, 5:30 p.m.

Derech Torah: Judaism 101, 8 p.m.

TUESDAY, MARCH 30 JCC Closed for Passover Parsha Prayer and Prophets, 9 a.m. at Chabad Scholars Club for 4th, 5th & 6th Graders, 3:45 p.m.

RBJH Seder, 5:30 p.m.

Community Second Seder, 6 p.m. at Beth El Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel Second Seder, 8:30 p.m. at Beth Israel WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31 No BESTT classes at Beth El Pesah/Spring Break Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel

Advertise For advertising opportunities in the Jewish Press, call Allan Handleman at 402.334.6451 or email: ahandleman@jewishomaha.org

All events held at the Jewish Community Center unless otherwise noted. This calendar does not include all community events. For a complete listing, visit the Federation’s website: www.jewishomaha.org (click on calendar). To keep calendar accurate, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of the above events.

February 26, 2010

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by TOBY AXELROD ent. Merk talks with Heymann’s older relatives in BERLIN (JTA) -- Israeli filmmaker Tomer Heymann German, and on Passover he reads aloud from a prewar almost never stops shooting. He shoots his mother. He German Haggadah that had been stowed away for shoots his relatives. And, most of all, he shoots his decades.

German boyfriend.

“Through my relationship with Andreas, the German Heymann’s latest documentary, “I Shot My Love,” side that was sleeping so long in my family came out,” tells the sometimes painful story about how his love Heymann told JTA. affair with his German boyfriend, Andrea Merk, is comThe film juxtaposes Heymann’s open, emotional plicated by the tortured German-Jewish past.

Israeli family with Merk’s reserved yet equally emotionThe film was one of several Israeli offerings at the 60th al German Catholic family. It also explores the theme of Berlin International Film victimhood, and not just Festival earlier this on Heymann’s side. month.

Merk talks about the “What does it mean sexual abuse he suffered that more than 60 years as a child at the hands of a after the Shoah, we are in Catholic priest. love?” Heymann said in Victimhood “is a state of an interview, describing mind,” he tells Heymann. his film. “And what do we “For me, giving myself to solve by being together?” you, it’s like a big thing The two men met in because I give it out of 2006 following the freedom and out of screening of Heymann’s choice.” film “Paper Dolls” at the Merk doesn’t always 2006 Berlin film fest, have an easy time of it. where the movie won sev- Israeli filmmaker Tomer Heymann, left, with his mother, Noa, and Two years into the relahis German boyfriend Andreas Merk at the Berlin International tionship, he stares down eral awards.

Credit: Toby Axelrod the camera and says, “It’s Heymann, whose Film Festival. grandparents fled from Berlin to Palestine in the 1930s, like, hello? I am not just a story. I’m your partner and started filming his new boyfriend almost immediately, this story is alive. In me.” providing the footage for this unusual documentary. The Today the couple lives in Israel. Merk said he mostly film follows Merk after his first date with Heymann, who feels welcome, though he occasionally finds himself the can be heard from behind the camera and throughout subject of off-color remarks about the Holocaust. their relationship as it evolves and the couple moves to When they are in Germany, the two do not visit Tel Aviv.

Holocaust memorials.

German-Israeli love affairs are not uncommon. Many “I don’t like these rituals; they seem fake,” Heymann Germans of the first postwar generation visited Israel, fell said. in love and settled down with Israelis.

But when Merk recently showed him a “stumbling Heymann, 39, and Merk, 31, are different because block” memorial -- a small brass plaque embedded in the they are of the second generation, and they are gay. pavement in front of a building noting the name of a forWhen Merk says on camera that he never asked his mer Jewish tenant who was deported -- Heymann is grandparents about their past during the Nazi era, moved.

Heymann wants to know why.

“This touched me, and created something very close “I was afraid,” Merk answers. “Maybe that’s why I between me and Andreas,” Heymann said. “Hey, somedidn’t ask.” thing happened between our nations, but today, most Merk ultimately finds a surprising connection with Israelis open themselves to create something new.”

Heymann’s family, whose German roots are very appar-

ORGANIZATIONS YOUNG ENERGETIC SENIORS Join us on Monday for a musical program with Christine Coulson. The cost for lunch is $7 per person.

Lunch will be served at noon and the program will begin at 12:30 p.m. Come play bingo at 10 a.m. Call Theresa for transportation at 330.4272. For information call Maggie Conti at 334.6521.

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Page 11

Shooting a German-Israeli relationship

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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

JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICES Join us for a JSS Community Concert with Opera Omaha called Educate Engage and Enrich on Thursday, March 11 at 7 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center auditorium. Fall in love with Voices in the Community.

This series of engaging, interactive, multi-media performances is customized for all ages. Famous solos and ensembles, insightful narration, and background information on composers and librettists are just some of the aspects of these live performances. Featuring Opera Omaha’s four Omaha Voices – Artists in Residence and Resident Musical Director J. Gawf, the program provides a framework for experiencing the interaction of words and music, the essence of opera. All are welcome – no admission fee.

The Intergenerational Orchestra of Omaha will perform on Sunday, March 21 at 2 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center auditorium. The Intergenerational Orchestra of Omaha mission is to combine the talents of two diverse generations of musicians for the purpose of creating beautiful music and then sharing that music.

Join us as the orchestra performs a lively repertoire of well-known movie and television themes, along with popular hits that span the generations. In addition, the group performs original compositions written for the Orchestra by Conductor Chuck Pennington, who cre-

ates music to complement the unique blend of musicians that comprise the ensemble. All are welcome – no admission fee.

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Dr. Beau Konigsberg, an orthopedic surgeon, will talk about the successes of medicine in working with knee joints, in particular and your aching bones on Wednesday, March 3, noon, in the JCC social hall at 333 S. 132nd St. Everyone in the community is invited.

The program is free; an optional lunch is $13; beverage service, $3. For more information or to be placed on the email list, contact Jenny at 334.6443 or bnaibrith@ jewishomaha.org.

BIRTHS

Aviva and Yosi Applebaum of Chicago announce the Feb. 9 birth of their twins Chana and Avraham.

They have siblings Dov, six, Shlomo, five, Ephraim, three, and Eliyahu, two years old.

Grandparents are Harriet and Walter Richtman of Chicago, Rabbi Martin and Rosalie Applebaum of Lakewood, NJ. Great-grandparents are Rosa Richtman of Highland Park, IL and the late Dave Richtman.

Elizabeth and David Kulakofsky of Chicago announce the Jan. 16 birth of their son, Joshua Louis.

He is named for his late great-grandparents Jeanette and Louis Miller, and his Hebrew name, Avraham Levy, is named after his late, great-grandparents, Anita and Leondard Kulakofsky.

Grandparents are Janie and Alan Kulakofsky, and Marsha and Ray Miller, Milwaukee, WI. Great-grandparents are the late Jack and Frances Fox, and the late Leonard and Anita Kulakofsky, and the late Jeanette and Louis Miller.

Page 12

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 26, 2010

Foundation wears many hats GUEST E DITORIAL

by MARTY RICKS Executive Director Jewish Federation Foundation Let me first welcome Annette to the professional world of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. I hope you have as much professional fulfillment as I have had in my 11 years leading the Jewish Federation Foundation. You will be reporting events and stories about one of the most successful Jewish communities in North America.

Each fall we prepare and insert our glossy Foundation Annual Report in the Press reporting on the previous June 30 year-end.

Writing the editorial this week gives me the opportunity to hit on some Foundation and campus highlights at our fiscal midyear point.

From a financial standpoint, the turnaround in the stock market brought about new donoradvised funds and significant additions to existing donor-advised funds, especially from year-end stock donations. Therefore our managed assets grew from $48 million at June 30, 2009 to $53 million at December 31, 2009.

Several of our new donor-advised funds resulted from an article published last October 30 about Mike and Mimi Silverman establishing their donor-advised fund. (A donoradvised fund is established by making a taxdeductible gift of cash or stock to the Foundation. The donor may then recommend that grants be made from this fund to other IRS recognized charities. All record-keeping is maintained by the Foundation and donor names and contributions are not disclosed to the public.) As evidenced in this article, Mike and Mimi have set a wonderful example for other young families in Omaha. We have even witnessed for the first time a family with an existing donor-advised fund establishing two funds, one for each of their adult children who live outside of Omaha.

In administering our donor-advised funds, we now have the capability to allow our donors to view their financial fund reports online. This has been a goal of the Foundation staff and Board. With so many people having easy access to technology, this is another

added convenience we will offer.

Regarding the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home construction, our Foundation office has been working behind the scenes paying the construction invoices and attempting to keep sufficient cash available to make the payments timely. Having our offices in the Home, and witnessing four years of construction, we are overwhelmed by the beauty of the finished product. Last week, I was shown Main Street, and, to use a favored expression, I am “blown away” by its uniqueness. We have really taken care of our esteemed elders!

At the same time we have not ignored Omaha’s Jewish youth. The teen philanthropy program that was started a year ago has seen tremendous success: 35 teens in 7th through 9th grade have joined the program. They have each donated $125 of their Bar/Bat Mitzvah money which has been matched by an additional $375 from the Foundation to create $500 individual funds in each of these students’ names. Educational programming is provided to help the teens learn to become philanthropists and make informed decisions about charitable giving.

Another segment of the program is to form a Youth Foundation for older high school students. The teens will experience a collective grant making process by soliciting and reviewing grant requests and allocating funds to local Jewish organizations. The primary goal is to teach our young people about philanthropy and non-profit organizations. The hope is that they will get interested in issues and causes that are important to them individually, as well as important to our Jewish community. The teen philanthropy program and the Youth Foundation are administered by Janie Murow.

The Foundation is a significant contributor to the operating budget and scholarship needs of our resident schools, the Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center (“CDC”) and the Friedel Jewish Academy (“Friedel”). The continued success of the CDC and the growing enroll-

ment of Friedel provide a youthful spark to the hallways as they head for the Blumkin Home to interact with the residents and perform in the JCC theater.

And in this challenging economic climate, our supporting and other foundations which have trusted us to hold their money have gone above and beyond to grant extra funds to Omaha’s Jewish Family Service to help families in need of emergency assistance.

Our new Foundation Board President, Jay Noddle, is a pleasure to work with and has some creative ideas as we move forward. He leads a terrific board of Directors.

Finally, two of our Foundation employees had employment anniversaries last December, Laurie Peatrowsky at ten years and Janet Henthorn at five years. They are both intelligent, dedicated individuals who I hope will remain at the Foundation many years beyond my retirement.

and reckless behavior, without having to suffer the consequences first-hand. Bad guys get to do whatever they want, without experiencing any moral dilemmas. They get to be impulsive and lead exciting lives, they get to say what they want, to whomever they want, and who hasn’t fantasized about that? They are allowed to be unapologetically selfish, they are usually well dressed, and what’s more: they often have followers who blindly do what they ask. They are as unpredictable as they are dangerous, but never boring. Sometimes, they even have cookies named after them. They are type-A movers and shakers, and it is as much fun to watch them connive, as it is to watch them fall.

Identifying the bad is something we all like to do, and sometimes it puts us on a slippery trajectory. In real life, ‘bad’ isn’t always so clearly defined. You can’t look into the crowd and point out who is planning to destroy the world, and who is planning to save it; yet, we still try. Of course, I am being facetious: real life is nothing like the movies, and we don’t wonder on a daily basis whether our neighbor is building a nuclear bomb in his garage. Our daily categorizing of good vs. evil occurs on a smaller scale: we identify who cuts in line, who parks in our spot, who throws his trash out the car window, who doesn’t mow his lawn often enough. Then we tell ourselves: “Well, I am

not perfect, but at least I don’t do that,” and we get to feel better about our own little shortcomings.

The most interesting aspect of the Purim story is that the struggle between good and bad is clear-cut. Haman is bad, Mordechai is good. Black and white, easily wrapped up for our convenience, all’s well that ends well. Yet, at the same time, Purim is all about turning the world on its head. It is also a time when we put on disguises, we wear our masks, and the line between real and imaginary fades a little bit. Purim serves as an excellent reminder that things, or people, aren’t always what they seem. The queen, who is forced to hide her true self, comes out and saves her people. The Grand Vizier who is so powerful even the king does what he asks, ends up hanged. Alliances shift, the winners lose, and the losers win. In real life things can get awfully confusing, especially when those bad guys we admire so much in theory show up, baring their fangs and carrying big sticks.

And so we have to admit that we don’t always know the difference, and sometimes our judgment is off. Sometimes we judge too fast, other times, we don’t judge fast enough.

Real life isn’t like a story; the big question is: what are we going to do about that?

Jewish Press Board Andy Ruback, Vice President; Michael Sigmond, Secretary; Michael Siegel, Treasurer; Howard K. Marcus, Immediate Past-chairman; Daphne Pollak Alperson, Marc Brodkey; Eric Dunning; Jason Epstein; Andie Gordman; Michael Kaufman; Bette Kozlen; Jamie Meyerson; Jim Simon; 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.

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: editor@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org.

Who’s your Haman?

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press He’s one of the more colorful characters when it comes to anti-Semitic antagonists: Haman the Grand Vizier, who has such nefarious plans for the Jews. This Purim, as every other year, we will once again make lots of noise every time his name is uttered, as if to drown out his name will drown out his very existence.

Haman is moderately successful, but with ever-higher aspirations; he’s murderous, likes to overreact, is manipulative, and has delusions of grandeur. All in all, he is your typical bad guy, and no different than any of the other evil characters we hear so much about. Pharaoh, Antiochus, or Nebuchadnezzar: they all fit the profile. In reading about them year after year, we reaffirm our notions about good vs. evil. In the end, the good guys always win, and the bad guys never see it coming. In addition, we don’t have to wonder who the bad guys are: it is painfully obvious, even to a small child, and we get to feel smarter at the end of the day because, unlike Haman and co., we recognize a bad career move when we see one.

Maybe that is why, when it comes to movies and literature, as well as Biblical stories, we like bad guys so much: it provides us with the opportunity to vicariously enjoy poor choices

(Founded in 1920) Bobbi Leibowitz President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Managing Editor Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper

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: editor@jewishomaha.org..

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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 it 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.

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February 26, 2010

Saving equal rights for Israeli women FOCUS ON ISSUES

by NANCY RATZAN

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Last April, two Israeli newspapers doctored photographs of the new Israeli Cabinet to remove the images of two female ministers, Limor Livnat and Sofa Landver. In one paper, the women’s faces were replaced with two male ministers; in the other they were blotted out.

The erasure of the women’s faces was in accordance with the ultra-Orthodox view that it is immodest to print images of women.

Freedom of the press dictates that such editorial decisions are perfectly legal and to be protected, but the incident highlights contradictions facing women in Israel on a daily basis.

It’s time to admit that Israel faces an emboldened movement against women’s equality, not a just a series of isolated incidents.

For more than three years, Israeli feminists have been campaigning to end gender segregation on publicly funded bus lines that serve the ultra-Orthodox as well as the general community. Bus segregation has arisen only in the last 10 years. Women sitting where they wished on such buses have been subject to verbal and physical harassment by male passengers, with bus drivers doing nothing.

The Ministry of Transportation and the Israeli Supreme Court have been engaged in seemingly endless consideration and reconsideration as to what to do about the women’s complaints.

On Jan. 31, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz effectively rejected the recommendation of his own ministry’s committee that passengers may sit where they wish, and that buses serving the Orthodox population allow passengers to enter and pay in the front or the rear if they want to segregate themselves. Katz dismissed allegations of violence against women and advocated "behavior-directing" signs asking (though not mandating) that passengers sit separately.

At Jerusalem’s Western Wall, the organization Women of the Wall has been fighting for equal rights to pray for 20 years. Women who chose to wear a kipah and/or tallit, and pray out loud and read from a Torah scroll, have been given a designated, and many would say, inferior place to worship near but not at the Western Wall itself.

Harassment of women deemed by bystanders to be

immodestly dressed and of female worshipers alleged to be engaged in prayer in the wrong place or in the wrong way has increased.

Last November, Nofrat Frenkel, a medical student and a Conservative Jew participating in a monthly Rosh Hodesh service with Women of the Wall, was arrested at the wall for wearing a tallit and reading from the Torah.

Along with others, the National Council of Jewish Women called for the charges to be dropped.

Despite the ensuing uproar, the police have not backed down. In December, Anat Hoffman, director of the Reform movement's Israel Religious Action Center, was questioned by police and told she might be charged with a felony for violating rules of conduct at the wall.

The authorities assert that they are enforcing the 2003 Supreme Court decision that allowed arrests at the wall for actions that are “offensive to public sensibility.”

Israeli women today are asking if their sensibilities matter.

The Israel Religious Action Center says it will soon be releasing a study that has found instances of medical clinics seeing male and female patients on separate days, post offices with separate lines, stores that have separate entrances, and funeral homes that forbid men and women to sit together.

At one government meeting, according to the study, women were told to move to the back of the room, and sidewalks once segregated only for special religious occasions are now segregated all the time.

These findings corroborate what NCJW has found and fought against.

To top it off, the Knesset again is considering whether to expand the authority of rabbinical courts to rule on financial and civil disputes based on Jewish law.

Rabbinical courts have had jurisdiction over personal status issues such as marriage, divorce and burial, but not over financial or civil disputes.

Women would likely wind up victims of the move, pressured to transfer property disputes involving divorce to religious authorities in return for a get, the Jewish divorce decree itself.

Hoffman refers to the growing pressure to relegate women to second-class status as a “mudslide.” It is one in desperate need of new and stronger retaining walls, if women’s rights in the 21st century are to be saved.

Otherwise, friends of Israel will watch in horror along with a majority of Israelis as aspects of Israeli life become eerily reminiscent of its most backward neighbors. We can’t let that happen.

Nancy Ratzan is president of the National Council of Jewish Women.

Groups call for more transparency from religious institutions

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

by JACOB BERKMAN

NEW YORK (JTA) -- A network of philanthropists and family foundations is calling for greater transparency from Jewish religious institutions.

Most American nonprofits are required to file 990 tax forms that make public how the organizations pay their top employees and allocate money to outside organizations. But religious institutions such as synagogues, day schools, yeshivas and Chabad outposts are under no such obligation.

Prompted by this summer’s money-laundering scandal in Deal, N.J., and Brooklyn, involving a number of synagogues, the Jewish Funders Network has drafted a list of guidelines that essentially would require religious institutions to be as transparent as other nonprofits.

The network, which represents hundreds of major funders of Jewish organizations, is asking its members to insist that the organizations they fund adopt the following standards: • Organizations should have governing boards that have financial oversight for the organization’s expenses and transactions.

• Organizations should be open to independent audits and should make financial data available upon donor request.

• Compensation of the chief executive should be decided by a compensation committee.

• Organizations should draft a code of ethics that includes, among other issues, non-conflict of interest,

whistleblower and gift-acceptance policies.

“We engaged in discussions with our members and found that some just weren’t aware of what the regulations were, and some felt they were in an awkward position to request financial information,” said Mark Charendoff, the president of the Jewish Funder Network. “If they don’t have to provide these kinds of statements to the IRS, then they felt they had no right as funders to demand that kind of financial transparency. ...

Now they can say, ‘We are part of this group. This is what we are demanding.’ We are not taking our case to the government; we are hoping our community can rise to a higher level of understanding and we can effectively police ourselves.”

Synagogues comprise the vast majority of Jewish religious institutions, and as last summer’s money-laundering scandal shows, they can run into sticky situations when they act as conduits for money to other charitable organizations.

But the guidelines also could end up focusing attention on transparency issues that have surrounded a number of Jewish institutions in the United States and abroad, and could put pressure on a variety of institutions to be more forthcoming, including rabbinical schools such as the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary, Chabad outposts and overseas yeshivas.

“We are directing our energy toward any institution taking advantage of the religious exemption given by the IRS, and not giving financials to investors and prospective investors,” Charendoff said.

This article was adapted from Jacob Berkman’s philanthropy blog, TheFundermentalist.com.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 13

Adar and Purim Time JOURNAL ENTRY FROM ISRAEL

by TEDDY WEINBERGER

Because Purim is celebrated on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar (on the 15th in Jerusalem), the whole month takes on a festive role in the Jewish imagination. Thus, the tradition says: “When Adar begins, we make merry.”

Israeli children have a special way of fulfilling this commandment. It’s called Takanon Adar—the rules of Adar.

On Rosh Hodesh Adar (which occurs this year on Sunday Feb. 14), Takanon Adar will come into effect in national-religious schools in Israel (ultra-Orthodox schools and non-religious schools, it seems, are less committed to the Adar spirit).

Through the Takanon, students issue rules for their teachers that must be followed--or else the teachers cannot teach. Thus, for the two weeks leading up to Purim (which this year begins on Saturday night February 27), there are specified days when teachers have to come to class in slippers and pajamas, when they must permit gum-chewing in class, and when Purim is Israel’s have to start masquerade holiday and they class by telling either a joke or of a Halloween is America’s. (a time when On one of the days lead- fadiha they embarrassed ing up to Purim all Israeli t h e m s e l v e s ) .

Needless to say, children, religious and homework is very much discouraged secular alike, are given the rules for the opportunity to come under Adar.

This is my 13th to school in costume. year as a father of Israeli schoolchildren. The longer I am here, the mellower is my attitude toward school. Israelis are much less uptight about school than American Jews, I don’t think that I ever cut a class in high school; yet I didn’t particularly think that I was a goody-goody. (My children, however, assure me that I was one; or as they say using the appropriate slang Hebrew word: “Face it Dad, you were a super chnooon.”) I never learned the art of cutting class (another slang Hebrew word: l’havriz means “to cut”). I was always concerned that I would get into “trouble” or that it would be difficult for me to make up missed assignments. Israeli schools sort of take the guesswork out of cutting by institutionalizing it. Kids, especially in the upper grades, are routinely let out of classes anytime a teacher is absent. The educational system seems to tell the kids: we know that the most important thing in high school is to socialize, and we’re going to allow you a lot of opportunity to do this.

It turns out that the smartest girl in my high school class at the Yeshivah of Flatbush also feels that she worked too hard in school. A few years ago we spent a Shabbat with Rena Polin (now Langer) and her family at Kibbutz Ein Hanatziv. (Rena and her husband Meir made aliyah more than 25 years ago and have four children.) I was astounded to hear Rena—whom all the teachers adored—confess that, like me, she felt that she did not socialize enough in high school. Thankfully, my two children in high school (as well as my three who already graduated) have more than corrected their father’s fault in this matter.

End-note on Halloween and Purim: Purim is Israel’s masquerade holiday and Halloween is America’s. On one of the days leading up to Purim all Israeli children, religious and secular alike, are given the opportunity to come to school in costume (there is no school on the holiday itself). Because of this, Purim provides a stark contrast between Jewish life in Israel and in the diaspora. It makes me sad to think that throughout the United States there are thousands of Jewish children from secular Jewish families who do not get to celebrate Purim (but who do relish Halloween and who will be celebrating St. Valentine’s Day on February 14 instead of Rosh Hodesh Adar). Happily, though, I live in Israel, where every Jewish child knows of this fun holiday called Purim and anxiously looks forward to it. Happy Purim!

Teddy Weinberger made aliyah in 1997 with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children.

Their oldest two, Nathan and Rebecca, recently completed mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces; their daughter Ruthie is still serving in the IDF. Weinberger can be reached at weinross@netvision.net.il.

Page 14

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 26, 2010

Candlelighting Friday, February 26, 5:54 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 Prayer Group 1317 No. 57 St. Omaha, NE 68132 551.6609

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

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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.; Joel, Nancy and Daniel Schlessinger will speak about their recent experience helping with relief efforts in Haiti; Junior Congregation (grades 3-7), 10 a.m.; Learners’ service, 10:15 a.m.; Shabbat Tunes & Tales, 11:15 a.m. for preschoolers and their parents, led by Patty Nogg; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 6 p.m.

PURIM FAMILY MEGILLAH READING: Saturday, 6 p.m. services and Family Megillah reading. Free pasta dinner will follow around 7 p.m. No dinner charge, but RSVP’s are needed; contact the office; Full Megillah reading, 7:45 p.m.

PURIM CARNIVAL: Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

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

SUNDAY: 10 a.m., Beginning Hebrew, with Eadie Tsabari, and Bible Study Discussion Group; Jewish Images on the Big Screen, 11 a.m. with Susi Frydman-Levin.

THURSDAY: Rabbi Levin’s Understanding and Living Jewish Values, noon.

MINI COURSE: Biblical Wisdom Literature: Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, led by Prof. Guy Matalon, on Thursdays, March 4, 11, 25, and April 1, 7:30 p.m., will focus on a genre of Hebrew literature that challenges our ways of thinking by questioning the basic theology of the Bible. Cost: $36, discounted to $27 for donors to the Jewish Federation’s Annual Campaign.

Pre-registration is required by calling Mary Sue Grossman at 334.6445 or via email at mgrossman@jewishomaha.org.

HAZAK: Group for those 55+ will visit the Durham Museum on Sunday, March 7, 1 p.m. Cost is $8. For more information, call Esther Wax, 393.4442.

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

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, 5:54 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes, 9:45 a.m. with Torah Parade; Kiddush is sponsored by Jack & Bette Kozlen in honor of their wedding anniversary; “Guard Your Tongue,” “The Great Midrash” and “Advanced Parshah Study for Kids” (ages 10 and up), one hour prior to Mincha every Shabbat;

Mincha, 5:45 p.m. followed by Seuda Shlishit; Havdalah, 6:55 p.m.; Megillah Reading, 7:15 p.m. followed by an ice cream social. “Sweet Dreams!” Children are encouraged to come in their pajamas to the Megillah reading.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 8:30 a.m.; Megillah reading, 9:15 a.m. and 10 a.m.; Sunday morning classes are canceled due to Purim celebrations; Megillah Reading at Remington Heights, 1:15 p.m.; Mincha, 4 p.m.; Megillah Reading, 4:15 p.m. followed by Purim Seuda and Costume Parade. Everyone is encouraged to dress in costume with this year’s Purim theme, “Sweet Dreams!”

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

MONDAY: Orders due today for Shmurah Matzah for Passover.

Matzah comes in one pound boxes (about 8 whole matzahs) for $17.25. Place your order with the office.

TUESDAY: Scholars Club for fourth-sixth graders, 3:45 p.m. at the Blumkin Home; Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Rabbi Weiss’s weekly class, 7:30 p.m.; Advanced Halacha Kollel, 9 p.m. fFollow the Kollel at www.omahakollel. blogspot.com.

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: Service, 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.; W.O.W. Prayer, Prophets, and Prayer, 12:45 p.m.; Megillah reading, 7 p.m.

SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.; Mishpacha Mornings Remix, 10:15 a.m.; Purim celebration at Rose Blumkin Home, 11 a.m.; Purimania, 1-3 p.m.

WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m.

Portraits in MONDAY: Leadership: Timeless Tales for Inspired Living, 7 p.m. Visit www.OChabad.com for more details or to register.

THURSDAY: The Parsha Club for Level I beginners, ages 5-6; and Level II intermediates and experts, ages 7-9, 3:50 p.m. Please contact Shevi@ochabad.com.

All programs are open to the entire community.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel.

FRIDAY: Peaceful Shabbat Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel, with oneg following hosted by Amy Zlotsky.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m., led by Rabbi Emanuel; Joint Purim Service

with Tifereth Israel, 6:30 p.m.

Havdalah service followed by a Purim service. The evening includes a costume parade and megillah reading.

SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 1-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon meet at South Street Temple to deliver Misloach Manot Baskets; Gan SimchaKindergarten, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Winter Lecture Series, 7 p.m. at Unitarian Church, 6300 A Street: “Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

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

ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAYS, 7 p.m. Intro to Judaism, led by Rabbi Emanuel.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to the Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m. led by Temple Israel members; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. led by Nancy Rips and Andy Greenberg.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Andy Greenberg.

SUNDAY: Megillah Reading, 11 a.m. Chabad.

TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat ServiceHealth Care for the Future, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Aryeh Azriel and Cantor Wendy Shermet. Ruth Margalit, M.D., associate professor and director of the InterProfessional Service Learning Academy, College of Public Health at the UNMC, will share her insight on what lies ahead in the health care environment.

SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.

Madison and Courtney Bierman, daughters of Mary Wampler, will celebrate their

Purim at Friedel

Top: Friedel students Yael Schuller, Ilana McNamara, and Myra Dennison enjoy dressing up for Purim; bottom: Josh Pollack, and Doran Margalit are showing their most glamourous side. Every year during the week before Purim, the Friedel commons is transformed into a glitzy, festive place.

B’not Mitzvah; Purim Spiel, Dinner and Carnival, Saturday, 5-8 p.m.

SUNDAY: No Religious School WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 46 p.m.; OTYG Cooking for Ronald McDonald House, 5 p.m.; All School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Family School, 6-8 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6 p.m. B’nai Tzedek Field Trip to Quality Living; Adult Hebrew, 6:30 p.m., with Mor Sheinbein; Is Religion Good?, 6:30 p.m. with Rabbi Linder. Cost is $18 for members; $25 for non-members; no charge for Family School parents.

THURSDAY: Adult Study with the Clergy, 10-11:30 a.m.; Religious School Steering Committee Meeting, noon.

NEIGHBORHOOD PRAYER GROUP FRIDAY: Minyan, 5:54 p.m.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Nancy Coren, Lay Leader. Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and Friday, 8-11 a.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush lunch and Talmud study; Joint Purim Celebration with B’nai Jeshurun, 6:30 p.m. Havdalah service followed by a Purim service. The evening includes a costume parade and megillah reading.

SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 1-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon meet at South Street Temple to deliver Misloach Manot Baskets; Gan SimchaKindergarten, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple.

WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Contact Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066; Hebrew classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

February 26, 2010

SPARKS FROM THE WORD

by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Tetzaveh Our Sidra opens with a command to Moses to keep a light burning in the sanctuary at all times. It was not permitted to go out. But it was continuously lit with new oil so that it should be a perpetual light. (In most of our synagogues, we try to remember this by keeping a light burning at the aron at all times.)

A very large part of our Sidra is given over to the elaborate garments of Aaron, the High Priest, and his sons.

These garments were for “honor and beauty.”

There follows a seven-day ceremony of ordination.

The details are very elaborate, much too much to repeat here.

But Aaron and his sons, the priests, could not but be impressed with the importance of their duties. Indeed, the ordination was peppered with the word “sanctify” or “holy.” Aaron and his sons were no doubt impressed with the sacredness of their duties.

The altar itself was to be sanctified as well. And, here too, there are elaborate ceremonies to induct it into its beauties, beauties of sacredness and importance.

The Israelites, pushing their way through an unmarked wilderness for 40 years, were no doubt impressed with the duties of the priesthood and the duties that lay upon them as well.

At the end of 40 years, this stubborn slave people were now servants of the Lord Himself, and no longer slaves of the Pharaoh. It was a different kind of service; no longer was it imposed by Egyptian overlords, but rather now a service gloriously accepted as service to God Himself.

Adventure seeker strikes gold with Jewish pirates

Continued from page 2 1492 and their flight to such refuges as Holland, Brazil and Jamaica, where they played a growing role in trade during the 16th and 17th centuries.”

To be sure, while there were quite a few Jews who crisscrossed the Atlantic in this early era of discovery, very few were bona fide pirates. In his book, Kritzler doesn’t make much of a distinction between pirates, groups of individuals who elected their leaders democratically and lived vicariously off looting and plunder, and privateers, mercenaries hired by monarchs to steal from their enemies on the high seas.

Some scholars have criticized Kritzler’s reading of history as lacking in historical evidence. Kritzler contends that with the exception of a few minor errors, his depiction is accurate.

The author says his interest in Jewish adventurers goes back to his childhood in Roslyn Heights, on New York’s Long Island. Fascinated by tales of cowboys and conquistadors, he longed for his own adventures.

In 1960, at the age of 19, Kritzler visited Cuba, where he witnessed up close the revolution that brought a young Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara to power.

“I stood in the midst of a sea of 2 million Cubans who shouted ‘Cuba, si! Yankees, no!’” he recalls. “This was the high point when everyone was in favor of the revolution, the first year.”

After graduating from the University of Vermont, he worked as a journalist in the New York area. He wrote about music and met many rock stars; Kritzler interviewed Bob Dylan right after he went electric.

Kritzler made it to Jamaica in 1967, where he discovered the document that eventually would lead to his book. Today the kid from Long Island who dreamed of Spanish gold is basking in his newfound success.

“I love being a minor celebrity,” Kritzler told JTA. Kritzler, who now travels back and forth to Jamaica from Chapel Hill, N.C., says he hopes to start leading tours of the remnants of the early Jewish community of Jamaica, such as the old Jewish cemetery at Hunter’s Bay. Among its 17th century tombstones, many of which are covered with skulls and crossbones, Kritzler says he will regale visitors with stories of the restless lives led by those laid to rest in its confines.

DEATH SIDNEY S. PEARLMAN Sidney S. Pearlman died on Feb. 18 in Des Moines, IA. A memorial service was held Feb. 21 in Des Moines.

He is survived by wife Nancy, of Des Moines; children Pam and Henry Monsky, Rob and Jennifer Pearlman of Thousand Oaks, CA, and Geoff Pearlman of Sherman Oaks, CA; grandchildren Rachael and Sam Monsky, and Josh and Carly Pearlman; sister Anita Itkin of Rochester, NY and many wonderful friends.

He was a retired retail executive, and served as President of Brandeis Department Store from 19801988, and retired from Younker’s Department Stores in Des Moines. Sid was born in Rochester, New York on January 11, 1932, and graduated from Michigan State University.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Leukemia Society or the Scleroderma Research Foundation, San Francisco, CA.

Pulverent e

CORRECTION In our February 19 issue, it was reported that the Creighton University Holocaust course was made possible in part by the National Holocaust Endowment. This should have read Heartland Holocaust Educational Fund.

Page 15

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JTA NEWS BRIEFS • Israel halted the launch of a Kassam rocket in the West Bank with information provided by the Palestinian Security Forces.

The homemade rocket was set to be launched toward the center of the country, one of Israel’s most populated areas.

The warning about the rocket is seen as a product of the successful cooperation between the Israeli army and the Palestinian Security Forces, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Other recent cases show the same spirit of cooperation, including Sunday night’s storming into Jericho of right-wing activists, where Israeli troops were allowed to enter the Palestinian-controlled area to avoid a possible violent confrontation.

• Iran said it will begin construction on two new uranium enrichment sites in the mountains.

Construction on the nuclear facilities will begin next month, the chairman of Iran’s atomic energy organization said Monday.

Ali Akbar Saleh said during an interview with the Iranian News agency ISNA that the facilities will have a similar production capacity as the Natanz facility’s thousands of centrifuges. Saleh said a new kind of centrifuge will be used, according to reports.

It would be difficult for an attack on the site dug into the mountains.

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned in an interview published in a Spanish newspaper Monday that a pre-emptive Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities would lead to “disaster in the entire region.”

“This would have unforeseeable consequences that I would not even want to imagine,” he said.

Erdogan said the dispute with Iran over its nuclear program must be resolved through diplomatic channels.

• Israel and the United States Trade Representative struck a deal that will remove Israel from the USTR watch list.

Israel was on the Special 301 Priority Watch List, which monitors international intellectual property, because of a disagreement over protections of pharmaceuticals.

Israel had allowed the manufacture of generic drugs five years after a patented drug was approved for use.

Other violations cited by USTR included the failure to adequately address Internet piracy and leaking undisclosed pharmaceutical data obtained from U.S. manufacturers.

Under the new agreement announced last week by the Israeli Embassy in Washington, foreign companies can market their product exclusively for a longer period of time in Israel and will receive commercial incentive to introduce new drugs into the Israeli health care system in a timely fashion. When the drug’s patent expires in either the United States or Europe, Israeli generic companies can begin manufacturing.

U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), who has pushed to have Israel removed from the list, welcomed the agreement.

“I have long believed that Israel, a close ally at the cutting edge of IP innovation with strong IP laws and rigorous IP enforcement, should not have been included in the Special 301 report,” he said.

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Page 16

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

February 26, 2010

Israel debates giving expats the vote overseas

by MARCY OSTER JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Hilary Levenson holds three passports: from her native Britain; Israel, to where she immigrated in 1974; and the United States, where she has lived since 1990.

But she exercises her right to vote only in the country in which she lives -- at a polling station near her home in Norman, Okla.

If Israel’s Yisrael Beiteinu party has its way, however, Levenson soon could be eligible to vote from the United States in Israeli elections.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fulfilled a coalition pledge to Yisrael Beiteinu in proposing a bill last week to grant Israelis overseas the right to vote. Current law requires Israelis to be in the country to vote, diplomatic staff excepted.

Even if the bill passes, Levenson says she wouldn’t vote in Israeli elections.

“I would not vote from outside of Israel,” Levenson said this week in Israel during a family visit. “Each vote affects everybody here. I’m not living here anymore or bringing up kids here anymore.”

The exact contours of the bill are still under debate, and the chances of its passage are slim. One version would limit voting rights to those who hold Israeli passports and have been abroad for less than 10 years.

Netanyahu is said to favor a time limit of four to six years -- about the length of time it takes to achieve one or two academic degrees.

To a large extent, the debate over the bill is about the legitimacy of Israelis spending time overseas. In a country this small, going abroad is not just a rite of passage but, in many professions, a virtual requirement.

Academics are encouraged to do post-doctoral studies overseas, and doctors are urged to take fellowships and train outside the country.

The question for Zionists is how much time abroad is too much.

Giving Israelis who live overseas the right to vote from abroad “legitimizes leaving the country,” said Shlomo Avineri, a professor of political science at Hebrew University who served as director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry under Yitzhak Rabin.

“It’s a very bad idea,” he said. “It’s a matter of princi-

ple. If you don’t live here, you don’t vote. Participation in the political process while you are not going to have to live with the consequences is immoral and undemocratic.”

A Yisrael Beiteinu spokesman, Danny Hershtal, noted that the current law allows even Israelis who haven’t lived in Israel for decades to vote -- they just have to come to Israel to cast their ballot.

“Every Israeli has a right to vote. What prevents most Israeli citizens from voting is that they do not have enough money to fly to Israel on Election Day,” Hershtal said of Israelis overseas. “A person who cares about Israel has a basic right as a citizen to vote. We simply want to equalize it and make it more convenient.”

Israeli election workers at the Knesset count absentee ballots from soldiers and others during Israel’s last election, Feb. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90/JTA 12, 2009.

In theory, because of the unique nature of Israeli immigration laws that grant any Jew the right to immigrate, the prospect of such a bill raises the possibility that Diaspora Jews could obtain Israeli citizenship simply to get a say in Israeli elections without going through the trouble of actually living in Israel, even on Election Day. Several versions of the bill under consideration aim to eliminate that possibility.

The bill seems to be gaining little traction, though it has served as fodder for newspaper editorialists and columnists to opine about the subject. Haaretz http:// www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1149059.html and the Jerusalem Post http://www.jpost.com/ Opinion/Editorials/Article.aspx?id=168352 both

wrote editorials against it.

Columnist Michael Freund http://www.jpost.com/ Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=168357, writing in the Jerusalem Post, said he thought it was a good idea.

“To be sure, Israelis who choose to live abroad have elected to cast their fate elsewhere, for whatever reason,” he wrote. “But the choice we face is whether to write them off or seek ways to strengthen their bonds to this country, in the hope that one day they or their children will return.

“Giving them the right to vote seems like a good place to start,” Freund wrote.

Avineri called such thinking “nonsense,” arguing that it destroys the distinction between the Diaspora and Israel.

The Absorption Ministry estimates that 750,000 Israelis are living overseas -- about equal to 10 percent of the population in Israel. But many of them do not have valid passports and would be unlikely to win eligibility to vote.

During recent highly contentious elections in Israel, political activists arranged for subsidized charter flights to bring Israelis living in the United States to Israel to vote on Election Day. The proposed bill to allow voting without going through the hassle of getting on a plane to come to Israel is seen as favoring Israel’s right wing because Israelis living overseas trend to the right.

The president of the Zionist Organization of America, Morton Klein, who opposes the proposed bill, dismissed that notion.

“Israelis that I know living in America are very left wing, very secular,” he said. “People who are nationalistic live in Israel.”

Israel’s left-wing parties are against the proposed bill, but so are some members of right-wing parties, including Shas. Knesset members from the centrist Kadima Party are divided; party leader Tzipi Livni is staunchly opposed.

“I believe that we must encourage Israelis to return to Israel, but the right to determine what will happen in the state needs to be reserved only for those who chose to base their future here,” Livni said. “The privilege of determining the fate of Israel must be in the hands of those living in Israel and are willing to pay the price of their decisions in elections, for better or for worse.”

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