Vol. LXXXVII No. 25 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 87 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
by LARRY LUXNER MIAMI (JTA) -- Fidel Castro’s announcement last week that he’ll step down after 50 years as president of Cuba may be cause for celebration in South Florida -but Cuban exiles here say precious little will change for the few Jews remaining on the island “This means absolutely nothing for the Cuban Jewish community,” said Jaime Suchlicki, director of the University of Miami’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies. “Why would they be affected? There will be no change in policy.” Omaha Rabbi Maximo Shechet, who left Cuba as a young teen to attend yeshiva Cuban exiles play chess at Maximo Gomez Park in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, a Credit:: Larry Luxner in New York, thinks there hotbed of anti-Castro sentiment in South Florida. will eventually be “pay back.” Many of Miami’s Cubans freedom in the country. The country’s new leadership is still remember their lossses, he said, surmising that not expected to make any immediate changes to the sta“there might be bloodshed,” not necessarily by Jews, tus quo on either of these two policies. Stanley Cohen, international chairman of the B’nai but by others who still harbor resentment toward the Communist takeover, and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion B’rith Cuban Jewish Relief Project, said Castro’s retirement will have no effect on Cuba’s foreign relations. in 1961 during John F. Kennedy’s administration. Castro’s younger brother Raúl Castro, who has been Cohen has taken more than 900 Americans to Cuba on directing the country’s day-to-day affairs since Fidel 35 humanitarian missions through B’nai B’rith. He estitook ill about a year and a half ago, is widely expected to mates that Cuba has some 1,300 Jews, many of them be named his brother’s official successor by Cuba’s 31- converts. “In Cuba, they’ve resigned themselves to the fact that member Council of State when the council meets in Fidel is no longer there. It’s the rest of the world that’s Havana this week. While Cuba under Fidel Castro has been stridently concerned,” he said. anti-Israel, Cuba’s Jews have enjoyed relative religious Continued on page 2
New JFS Assistance Coordinator brings a lifetime of service to others
Inside
makes perfect sense for me,” she says of her current placement in relation to her previous experience. She was approached about the open position at JFS and is up and running with the job already. Previous work as an Assessment Coordinator for an assisted living facility and volunteer work for more than 30 years for organizations from National Council of Jewish Women-Omaha Section, Hadassah, and Temple Israel, to Omaha Symphony, Junior the new Assistance Coordinator League’s Jumble Shop, and the Henry Doorly Zoo has prepared her well for her post as the point-ofcontact for every assistance client inquiring at JFS. Most of her career, to this point, has been spent in the healthcare industry in settings ranging from hospital to skilled care, but she’s enthusiastic about working with people of every age. Continued on page 2
This Week: Women’s Health Section starts on page 15
See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’ Opinion Page see page 20
Obama surges in primaries, faces critcism related to Israel: Page 4-5
February 29, 2008
Noted psychologist still pushing ideas some think are radical
Castro gone but Cuban Jews expect little to change, for now
by ANDREA BARTMAN for Jewish Family Service She describes herself as “educated as a nurse -trained as a volunteer,” but her spirit of service to others was instilled at an early age by her father. Sandy Nogg is the new Assistance Coordinator at Jewish Family Service, and she’s bringing her passion for people to the job. Nogg describes growing up at home with her father, who was a country doctor, and her mother, his nurse, and how paying visits to people in need Sandy Nogg has been named as was just part of a normal for Jewish Family Service. day for her. She went along on these visits before there were laws restricting an eight-year-old from serving lunch trays at the nursing home or helping make someone comfortable at home when they were ill. She’s spent her whole life in volunteer service in addition to working, so there’s nothing new to her about helping out where it’s needed. “Being in a non-profit
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by CAROL KATZMAN Editor of the Jewish Press Almost 40 years after publishing his groundbreaking book, Ten Heavy Facts About Sex, Dr. Sol Gordon continues to push parents, school districts and others to respond to children and teens. And he hasn’t given up the hope that adults can be trained to be “askable.” He’ll say it again on Wednesday, March 5, 7 p.m., when he speaks to parents and teens at the Jewish Community Center about “Being an Askable Parent.” Now Professor Emeritus after a long distinguished career as founder of the Institute for Family Research and Education at Syracuse University in upstate New York, Dr. Gordon is a proponent of discussing these issues and others with children because, as he told the Jewish Press, “No one else is doing it. There’s little sex education in the schools today. So parents have to respond to their children’s questions. Where are they going to get answers? You can’t count on newspapers and TV giving kids the answers they need.” Author of more than 100 books and articles and the recipient of numerous awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from Planned Parenthood, Dr. Gordon says if kids don’t ask, parents have to take the initiative: “There are things they have to know,” he insists. Dr. Gordon is no stranger Dr. Sol Gordon to Omaha. He was here in 1981 in a two-day event sponsored by Jewish Family Service and the Jewish Cultural Arts Committee. In addition to a public lecture on human sexuality, Gordon also ran workshops for mental health professionals and educators. In the Dec. 18, 1981, Jewish Press coverage of the event, Dr. Gordon was quoted as saying, “Children need role models, not critics.” In a separate session with young teens, he advised them that all thoughts are normal, but that behavior can be abnormal. He stressed the point that “sex is never a test of love.” Today Dr. Gordon adds, that for so many young people who are confused about sex and their emerging sexuality, harboring thoughts they assume are wrong can lead to drastic results, including suicide. “Some kids who feel guilty about their thoughts of homosexuality, for example, wind up committing suicide because they don’t realize those thoughts are normal,” says Dr. Gordon. “And kids need to know that masturbation is normal as well. There’s nothing wrong with those thoughts or the action,” he adds, as long as it takes place privately and not obsessively. His newest book is How Can You Tell If You’re Really In Love, published by Adams Media in 2001. Because he thinks adolescent sexual health is so neglected by his peers, he wrote this book to tell young people not to confuse lust, sex, love and friendship. “About 50% of marriages fail today,” Dr. Gordon says. “Love and sex are not the issues in a relationship. Young people should be learning how to be in an intimate caring friendship. Spend a year with that person before you commit.” He has spent a lifetime addressing this issue as a clinician, sex educator and author. In an interview with the scholarly journal, Contemporary Sexuality in March, 2002, the author, Diane Richard, notes that Gordon’s career “got its major push with the publication of the 1971 comic book that put him in the cross hairs of conservatives for his openness to sexual experience, either Continued on page 2
Coming Next Month: Spring Home & Garden: March Monthly Calendar for March: Pages 12-13
Blumkin Home opens new addition to tours: Page 18