Vol. LXXXVI No. 25 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 86 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
“Silent Exodus” refugee in Omaha wants her story told, too complex than it appears by GARY JAVITCH on the surface. Special to the Jewish Press For example, in his essay Two significant stories on “The Palestinian surround the mass moveRefugees,” scholar-author ment of refugees before Mitchell Bard contradicts and after Israel’s declarathe Arab explanation: tion of statehood in “The Palestinians left 1948. their home in 1947-48 The first you know for a variety of reasons.” about. The rich left early, anticiThat’s the one concernpating the war, while othing the Palestinian Arabs ers left, he explained, who lived in the British “[to] get out of the way mandate that became of advancing armies.” Israel. Still, “a handful were Equally compelling and expelled, but most simply generally left out of hisfled to avoid being caught torical accounts is the secin the cross-fire of battle.” ond narrative, the one By UN estimates, these that concerns the forced original 462,000 refugees migration of Jewish from their (650,000 by Israel numrefugees bers; one million people, homes throughout the Arab figures) Middle East during this using same period and beyond. demand the right to Until recently, this topic return to their old homes. has received very little This Right of Return has become the unresolved attention. obstacle in all the peace This article will focus proposals, even after nearon that “Silent Exodus” ly six decades. as seen through the eyes of Helene (In French, it is Pictured here in 1961, Helene Avigdor (Weber) was born in Cairo, The underlying assumppronounced Elle-en’) Egypt, and lived there until she was 13-years-old, when she and her tion for all the Arabs who Avigdor Weber, an family fled first to Marseilles, and then Paris, before arriving in fled was that the seven invading Arab armies Egyptian Jew who lived Wilmington, DE, in 1963. through this period and now resides in Omaha. would quickly crush the nascent Jewish state and then But first, some historical notes on the Palestinians who the Arabs could return to their homes and enjoy the claim that Israel forced them out of their homes in 1948. spoils of war. As everything in the Middle East, this issue is far more Continued on page 5
Largest Nebraska group ever to attend AIPAC conference in D.C. by CAROL KATZMAN Editor of the Jewish Press Among the highlights of the upcoming American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s Annual Policy Conference in the nation’s capital will be an opening dinner featuring Eitan Wertheimer, CEO of Iscar Enterprises, the Israeli company purchased by the world’s second richest man, Omaha’s Warren Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway paid four billion dollars for a share in the precision tool manufacturing plant in 2006. Iscar is located in the Western Galilee, Omaha’s Partnership with Israel region. Wertheimer will kick off the conference with Michael Oren, Senior Fellow at the Shalem Center, and John Hagee, founder and Senior Pastor, Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, TX. Nearly a dozen Nebraskans will be on hand for AIPAC’s annual Conference, March 11-13 in Washington, D.C. The group will lobby members of Congress and show their support for the U.S.-Israel relationship. More than 5,000 pro-Israel activists, including 1,000 students representing more than 250 campuses are expected to attend, as well as these Omahans: Gary and Mark Javitch, Milt and Marsha Kleinberg, Steven Riekes, Jan Schneiderman, Janet and Jerry Slusky, and Lincolnites Bob Evnen and Rabbi Royi Shaffin. Continued on page 2
Inside Opinion Page see page 12
American billionaire investor Warren Buffett, left, gave a news conference with Eitan Wertheimer, head of the Israeli company, Iscar, at the Iscar Metalworking headquarters, Sept. 18, 2006, in the Tefen Industrial Zone in the Western Galilee. Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway company bought an interest in Iscar for four billion dollars in May, 2006, visited Iscar and met with employee Noam Shalit -- father of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier kidnapped by Gazan terrorists in June 2006. Buffett also met with Israeli Credit: BPH Images/JTA political and business leaders.
This Week: Teen Age features Lincoln’s South Street Temple: Page 11 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’
Israeli reporter to discuss Jewish identity: Page 2
12 Adar, 5767 March 2, 2007
Dead Sea Scrolls and writing instruments by OLIVER B. POLLAK Union Station in Kansas City is exhibiting the Dead Sea Scrolls until May 13. In 1947, Bedouin goat herders discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls near Qumram. Eleven caves revealed over 100,000 Biblical and non-Biblical texts. Carbon dating, magnetic fields, coins, and stratigraphy, date the documents between the third century BCE and 136 CE. The scrolls contain hymns, prayers, rules, laws, wisdom and commentaries. Manuscripts are hand-written documents. Scrolls or rolls are continuous records like the Torah, as opposed to a codex, which is a bound book. All may be stored on book shelves, but the Dead Sea Scrolls were stored in sealed clay pots or jars in caves. Visitors to the exhibit are inspired by the antiquity, as well as the technical process of finding, preserving, translating and interpreting the fragments. Their linkage to the Hebrew Bible and contemporary affairs has exercised the imagination of archeologists, religious scholars, historians and the public for over half a century. Several years ago I saw the Library of Congress exhibition, “Scrolls From the Dead Sea: The Ancient Library of Qumran and Modern Scholarship.”
Chief curator of National Treasures Hava Katz was in Kansas City last month to set up the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at Union Station; a poster advertising the exhibit is behind her. Credit: Rick Hellman, Kansas City Jewish Chronicle My particular fascination in Kansas City was the writing process, the medium: “paper,” pen, ink, and calligraphy. This mechanical focus was sparked by a visit to an old haunt, the Pen Place at the Westin Crown Plaza. Cities of a certain size can support a pen specialty store. Pens serve as Bar Mitzvah, graduation and even wedding gifts. Every time the pen is used it ignites the memory of the donor and the event, and what remorse when the pen is lost. For a short period, Omaha had a pen store in Westroads. Now pen aficionados go to niche counters at the Gadgeteer and Borsheims for a limited offering of fine writing instruments. The British calligrapher Donald Jackson and the brothers of Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, are creating the first illuminated bible in 500 years. The work in progress was the centerpiece of a magnificent exhibit at the Joslyn Museum in 2006. The Pen Place has been in business for 17 years, and at the Crown Plaza for 12. David Ackelson, the owner for the last five years, disclosed his customers’ buying habits: 45% ball point, 25% roller ball, 20% fountain pens and 10% mechanical pencils. The fountain pens run from a few dollars to stunning collectable limited editions costing a few or more thousands of dollars. Gold, silver, diamonds, rubies, and resins adorn these pieces of writing jewelry that are packed in highly stylized containers. Roller balls are not good for everyone. I destroy them quickly by pressing too hard. Ackelson has a ballpoint retrofit, only available in broad black, which brought new life to my Pelikan. Continued on page 2
Coming Next Week: Home & Garden Issue
Temple scholar reveals stories of early rabbis: Page 3
Five local artists to exhibit works in JCC Gallery: Page 16