Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA
A Blumkin Home wedding
March 11, 2011 5 Adar II 5771 Vol. 90 | No. 27
This Week
by OZZIE NOGG While a piano softly played, I Only Have Eyes for You, Norm and Marge Lincoln greeted family and friends who gathered to toast the Lincoln’s upcoming 68th wedding anniversary and watch the pair re-enact their vows. Andy Robinson, the couple’s grandson, escorted them down the aisle in the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Auditorium. Rabbi Myer S. Kripke conducted a brief service, Norm stomped on the glass, and after blessing the couple the Rabbi quipped, “I hope this one lasts.” The reception that followed featured a cake topped with the same bride and groom dolls that graced the Lincoln’s wedding cake on April 18, 1943. (The groom doll, by the With the help of Rabbi Kripke, Marge and Norm Lincoln celebrate 68 years together. way, wore a WWll army uniform, side and two hundred from his. Of the Home’s family community. They just as Norm did during his time in course, that’s because Norm comes smile all the time and take each day the military.) Joanie Bernstein, who from a family of eleven kids, so the as it comes. All of us here believe has known the Lincoln family for Lincoln extended mishpacha was their marriage was bashert. It was years, served as unofficial historian huge.” According to Bernstein, meant to be.” Sandy Epstein and Rocky Lewis, for the celebration. “Norm and “Marge and Norm moved to the Marge told me there were 206 peo- Blumkin Home in 2004, and that daughters of Marge Lincoln’s late ple at their wedding -- six from her was our lucky day. They're leaders in brother, Morrie Lipp (who was best
Gardening is this week’s special focus
Chabad to celebrate Purim on the chessboard Page 7
man at the 1943 wedding), were both touched by the ceremony. “When I’m with Aunt Marge,” Sandy said, “I see some of my Dad, so I was quite moved watching my Aunt and Uncle under the chuppah like my Dad did 68 years ago. I’m so impressed with their relationship, sharing so many ups and downs. What a beautiful tribute to marriage.” Rocky Lewis added, “I was thrilled to watch my only living aunt and uncle share this special time in their lives. They have always been there for us and I would do anything for them. Our community is so lucky to have the Rose Blumkin Home and the staff that staged such a beautiful celebration.” Both Sandy and Rocky praised Maggie Conti, RBJH Activities Director, for “thinking of this awesome idea. Just looking at people’s faces, you could see the impact on the entire room.” Blumkin Home Social Workers Shelly Fox, Bert Benson, Jennifer Richey and Shane Kotok carried the Continued on page 2
Alan Potash to explore South Gardening “Gene” runs American anti-Semitism in the Bleicher family tree Policeman rescues Torah scrolls from Christchurch rubble Page 12
by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator “With so much anti-Semitic rhetoric coming from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, we often don’t take the time to look at other voices that spew similar rhetoric,” says Alan Potash, executive director of the
Inside Point of view Synagogues In memoriam
8 10 11
Coming March 25 Home Improvement See Front Page stories and more at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press
Alan Potash Plains States Region of the AntiDefamation League. Potash plans to explore some of those other voices when he addresses “Jewish Life and
Anti-Semitism in South America,” during Beth El’s next Sunday Scholar Series program on March 13. During the 11 a.m. program, Potash’s focus will primarily be on two topics: the rise of antiSemitism/anti-Zionism, and the reasons why South American countries are so willing to recognize a Palestinian state. In particular, he will take an in-depth look at the comments and positions of Venezuelan leaders, “most notably Hugo Chavez,” he said, explaining that, “In the aftermath of the Gaza flotilla incident on May 31, 2010, President Hugo Chavez and his government apparatus once again resorted to antiZionist allegations, including false conspiracy theories about Israel.” He added that, “The two raids perpetrated by the [Venezuelan] government against the Jewish community complex in 2004 and 2007 have yet to be explained. The investigation of the attack on the Tiferet Israel synagogue by a violent anti-Semitic gang in 2009 has lacked conclusiveness. Anti-Jewish graffiti written on walls of Jewish institutions and Jewish-owned businesses have been ignored by the government. AntiSemitic rhetoric in the government controlled media is unchallenged.” The entire community is invited to attend the program, at no charge; refreshments will be served. For planning purposes, RSVPs are requested and may be made by contacting the synagogue office at 402.492.8550, or programming@ bethel-omaha.org.
by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Soon after Bob and Stacie Bleicher married in May of 1974, they bought a house in Iowa City, Iowa, and dug up the yard for a vegetable garden. “I do not believe we have had a single summer since
that had a small vegetable and strawberry garden, and my mother was also very active with house plants,” added Stacie, a pediatrician. When their first son, Benjamin, was about eight months old, the Bleichers moved to Lincoln. That was in 1983, and they lived there
Eagle Nursery is owned by Bob and Stacie Bleicher. then without some sort of vegetable garden,” reflected Stacie. Bob grew up in Omaha, and Stacie in Denver. They met through Temple youth group. Bob’s late father, Jerome, was a physician whose hobby was farming. Jerome was constantly planting trees for the future. Most of his and his late wife Freda’s seven children, “have the ‘gardening’ gene,” Stacie quipped. “Bob has accumulated a significant number of house plants -- up to 100 in our first Lincoln home -- which have always been an interest as a hobby outside of his practice of pulmonary medicine. I also grew up with a family
for 22 years. Their second son, Jeremiah, was born in 1987. “Our outside space for veggies was restricted due to large trees, but we established raised beds in a sunny area and grew enough veggies to share with friends and family. We also added a sun room to our home that housed a huge number of plants on shelving and hangers,” she said. “At some stage, Bob decided he would pursue a botany degree.” At the age of 50, he started taking one or two classes each semester, while in full-time medical practice, in the horticulture program at the Continued on page 6
2 | The Jewish Press | March 11, 2011
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Though Israel lives in a dangerous neighborhood, over the years it had adjusted to the status quo, more or less figuring out how to get by while keeping an eye on gradual change. But the sudden upheaval in the region that in a matter of weeks has toppled regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, and threatens autocrats in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and elsewhere, is forcing Israel to grapple with how to recalibrate for dramatic change. It’s not clear exactly how the game will change. “The best answer is we don’t know,” Ron Pundak, Demonstrator with an antithe director of the Peres Gaddafi sign outside the Libya Center for Peace in Embassy in Cairo shows his solHerzliya said this week at idarity for Libyans protesting the J Street conference in their leader, Feb. 22, 2011. Washington. “The biggest Credit: Sierragoddes via change since 1967 is this Creative Commons tsunami rolling across the region whose end results no one really can foresee,” said Samuel Lewis, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel who attended the conference. “Something new is happening in the Arab world.” In some places, like Libya, the immediate effects on Israel are minimal. Libyan strongman Muammar Gadhafi’s state has had no ties to Israel, so the dictator’s demise -- if it comes -- wouldn’t change much for Israelis. However, the cumulative effects of the Middle East unrest are prompting shifts throughout the region that may require dramatic strategic rethinking in the Jewish state. Every time a protest movement in the Middle East succeeds, protest movements elsewhere are emboldened, and that has put many regimes that for decades have not been hostile to Israel on alert and at risk. With Israel and the West engaged in a proxy war with Iran for regional hegemony, the fall of autocratic regimes allied with the West provides an opening for Iran to expand its power and sphere of influence. And Iran is intent on doing so. It was no accident that just days after the fall of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, Tehran dispatched two warships to sail through the Suez Canal -something Iran had not dared to do since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The ships docked in Syria in what Iran’s Navy chief, Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, described as “a routine and friendly visit” to “carry the message of peace and friendship to world countries.” In truth, it was an exercise in saber rattling. Iran is pro-
Judaica objects at JCC gallery by LYNN BATTEN JCC Publicity Associate and Gallery Supervisor Massachusetts artist, Frann Addison brings her elegant and timeless original works of Judaica to the JCC Gallery March 1-31. Her collection of beautiful Judaica objects acknowledge the past, yet offer new and beautiful forms in celebration of Jewish family life. All of her Jewish ritual objects satisfy the demands of function and religious requirements. Stylish Hebrew calligraphy, blended with the masterful use of pewter, brass, copper, and glass, make for one-of-a-kind Judaica pieces that speak to the heart, the eye, and the soul. For more information about the exhibit, contact Lynn Batten, Gallery Supervisor, at 402.334.6564. Gallery hours are Monday -Thursday, 8 am to 9 p.m., Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Coming Soon Home Improvement Issue on March 25 Questions or Submissions: Call 334.6448.
Nevertheless, he said, “I don’t like it, but I don’t think that any one of us should be worried by it.” When a pair of rockets fired from Gaza hit the Israeli city of Beersheba last week, some Israeli analysts saw it as another example of Iran’s saber rattling. Iran has sent weapons to Gaza and seeks more influence there, even though the strip’s Hamas rulers are Sunni Muslims, and Iran is a Shiite power. “I do not recommend that anyone test Israel’s determination,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the rocket attack. The great fear is that regimes friendly toward Israel (Egypt, Jordan), or friendly with Israel by proxy via the United States (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain), or not actively hostile (Libya, among others), will be co-opted by elements with greater animus toward the Jewish state. That hostility could come from any one of a number of places. On the Egyptian front, the long-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, an ally of Hamas, stands to gain greater power. In the cases of Tunisa and Libya, there is fear that al-Qaeda could capitalize on a power vacuum and take root. In Bahrain, which is overwhelmingly Shiite but ruled by a Sunni king, the concern is that genuine democracy could throw the country the way of Iran. “The regional balance of power is changing, and not necessarily in Israel’s favor,” Robert Serry, the U.N. secretarygeneral’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said at the J Street conference. But there could be some good news, too. The uprisings that have spread from North Africa to the Persian Gulf have been broad-based, loosely organized protest movements led by young people networking through the Internet and social media like Facebook. They have not been dominated by Islamists, and the protesters have not made Israel a focal point. Whether these young people really will take hold of the levers of power, and how they will relate to Israel in the future, are open questions. In Jerusalem, the government is still in the wait-and-see mode, albeit with as much handwringing as possible. Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, speaking Tuesday in Brussels, warned that the danger is that democracy movements in the Arab world will be “hijacked,” emulating the “model of Iran, the model of Hamas in Gaza, the model of Hezbollah in Lebanon,” according to the German news agency DPA. Ayalon also said the unrest in the Arab world demonstrates that the notion of the Arab-Israel conflict being the region’s most serious issue is just not true. “The real problem of the Middle East, which is now so glaringly evident, is the dysfunctionality of the Arab societies,” Ayalon reportedly said, noting the absence of “rights of any kind.”
A Blumkin wedding Continued from page 1 canopy under which the Lincolns stood. “As social workers, we’re here to support residents in many ways,” Kotok said, speaking for her colleagues. “To be part of this simcha was glorious, because by holding the chuppah we gave support in a time of joy. Moments like this validate everything we do here.” The Lincoln wedding celebration added a particularly sweet touch of nostalgia to the Wedding Day Memories Exhibit currently on display on Main Street at the RBJH. The exhibit -- a joint effort of the Nebraska Jewish The wedding included the origiHistorical Society, the nal topper from 1943 Carl Frohm Archival Center and the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home -- contains treasured vintage wedding gowns and wedding photographs belonging to members of the Omaha Jewish community. “This entire undertaking has been a labor of love,” said Renee Corcoran, NJHS Executive Director. “Working with the Home, the residents, the staff, it’s all been such fun.” The Wedding Day Memories Exhibit will run through mid-April.
March 11, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 3
Purim celebrations at Beth Israel First community-wide B’nai Tzedek Jewish Philanthropy Fair by BETH COHEN Executive Director, Beth Israel Synagogue It’s that time of year! It’s time to get creative and choose your costume. And, it’s time to make plans to attend Megillah readings and enjoy festive meals with your family and friends. Amid all of the fun of Purim celebrations, everyone has an obligation to fulfill four requirements: Mishloach Manot (sending food packages), Matanot L’Evyonim (gifts to the needy), Seudat Purim (festive meal), and Kriat HaMegillah (reading of the Megillah). “The purpose behind these mitzvot is to bring us together as a community,” explains Rabbi Jonathan Gross of Beth Israel. “Mishloach Manot gives us a chance to tell a person how much we care about them. Matanot L’Evyonim reminds us of our obligation to help those less fortunate. The Seuda gives us a chance to celebrate together, and the reading of the Megillah is a public session of study that allows us to learn and explore our shared tradition and history.” “It is very important to fulfill all four of the Purim Mitzvot on the day of Purim so at Beth Israel we make it convenient for people,” continues Gross. “In order to help facilitate the mitzvah of gifts for the poor on Purim, I have a special arrangement set up with the directors of Orot Chesed in our Israel Partnership city of Akko. Money can be donated anytime in the weeks leading up to Purim. Just before Purim ends, I call the director and make a pledge of all the money collected. The money goes directly towards feeding hungry families in the city. Many Omaha people have volunteered there on trips to Israel and know the wonderful work that they do.” Because the Megillah reading for Purim takes place soon after Havdalah on
Saturday, March 19, everyone is invited to the night’s Megillah reading in pajamas. Minchah will be at 7 p.m. followed by a special Seuda Shlishit including an ice cream social. Havdalah is at 8:17 p.m. and the Megillah reading will begin at 8:30 p.m. For the Purim Day celebrations, “Where the Wild Things Are” is this year’s theme. Come dressed as a story book character, an animal or just in a wild costume. Shacharit on Sunday, March 20 will be at 8:30 a.m. Megillah readings at Beth Israel will take place at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Rabbi Jonathan Gross will read the Megillah at 3 p.m. at Remington Heights, and again at Beth Israel at 4:15 p.m. A traditional Purim Seuda – festive meal– will follow, beginning at 5 p.m. The annual Costume Parade will take place during the Seuda. Best Costume prizes will be awarded by age category – adult, child and baby – and the historically hotly-contested prize for best group costume will be given out. Back by popular demand, Poppin’ Penelope will be making balloon creations for kids of all ages. The Purim Seuda meal, including meatloaf and mashed potato bar, costs $12 for adults, $6 for kids ages four to twelve, and is free to children three and younger. Please make meal reservations with the synagogue office. “We always have such a great time during our Purim celebrations, with the costumes and the entertainment and the Megillah readings,” noted Beth Israel’s Rabbi Jonathan Gross. “You won’t want to miss out on the enjoyment and sense of community that we share as we observe this festive holiday.” To RSVP for the March 20 dinner, please contact the synagogue office by calling 402.556.6288 or emailing BethIsrael@ OrthodoxOmaha.org.
by SHIRI TENE was founded to help ensure that Jewish B'nai Tzedek Teen Philanthropy Coordinator youth in Omaha are able to make educated This month the B’nai Tzedek Teen and informed decisions about charitable Philanthropy program will hold its first Jewish giving and to deepen their commitJewish Philanthropy Fair. The event will take place on March 30 in the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home on Main Street. The fair will be a youth and communitywide event and will be designed to showcase the exceptional non-profit Jewish organizations in Omaha. The night will kick off with a dinner for the teens and their families at 6 p.m. followed by the comAlyssa Kirshenbaum and Daniel Schlessinger munity event at 7 p.m. “The Jewish Philanthropy Fair is a new ment to social action. Shiri will help motievent for Omaha. We will be presenting vate and spur their interest to establish Jewish sponsored nonprofit organizations individual funds which will be matched by to our youth as well as to the entire Jewish funds provided by the Foundation. community,” said B’nai Tzedek “This is an exciting opportunity to proCoordinator, Shiri Tene. “The fair will have mote what the different Jewish organizatables where each Jewish organization will tions do and will help educate participants present information about their activities. about the goals and services of each organAttendees will have the opportunity to ization” states Dr. Guy Matalon, Executive learn about the many groups to which they Director of the Center for Jewish could potentially allocate their philan- Education. “What better way than to have thropic money.” all the organizations in the same place at The B’nai Tzedek Teen Philanthropy the same time.” Program is a coordinated effort of the If you are a B’nai Tzedek teen and family Center for Jewish Education, a beneficiary member please send your RSVP for dinner agency of the Annual Campaign of the to Shiri by March 24. For more informaJewish Federation of Omaha, and support- tion on the B’nai Tzedek program, please ed by the Jewish Federation of Omaha contact Shiri at stene@jewishomaha.org Foundation. The B’nai Tzedek program or 402.334.6464.
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4 | The Jewish Press | March 11, 2011
In the news
Make Merry on Purim at Temple Israel’s sing-along Spiel and Carnival
Susan Freeman, was elected President of the Kappa Chapter of Alpha Epsilon Phi at Cornell University. She is the daughter of Robyn and Bob Freeman.
by CLAUDIA SHERMAN favorite Purim character or musician or wear other approTemple Israel Communications Coordinator priate attire. Rock out at Temple Israel on Erev Purim, 5 p.m. After rocking out Haman’s name in the sanctuary, take Saturday, March 19, and prove that the power of laughter your children or grandchildren to the Friedman Social is stronger than tears! Hall to play the games which will be staffed by Omaha If you think it would be fun Temple Youth Group. Play to sing the story of Queen Plinko, Par One Golf, Esther and Mordecai saving Chicken in a Pot, Roller the Jewish people of Shushan Bowler, Bring Home the from the first edict of genoBacon, Soc-It-to Me, cide, join the congregation Rebound, Bean Bag, Ball for a sing-along spiel, carniBounce, Tip It, Crossbow val, and dinner. Darts, Shoot the Chute, Ring Clergy, Religious School Toss, and slide down teachers and students, youth Gorilligan’s Island. group members and others By the way, Mordechai and have been rewriting the lyrics Esther have declared that to popular tunes for the singthere will be no Religious along. The melodies will be School the following day, performed so the congregaSunday, March 20. tion can participate with the If you get hungry, pizza, hot help of song sheets. dogs, pasta, and haman“My seventh grade Torah taschen will be served buffet study class rewrote the words style. To enjoy both the dinto Cee Lo Green’s Forget You ner and the carnival is only as a celebration of Esther’s $10 per family. (Additional Amy Rabinovitz, left, and Mary Wampler were among Purim victory,” said Jay charge for seconds.) Women of Reform Judaism members and their families Spiegelman. Cantor Wendy Rabbi Azriel will facilitate an who made approximately 1,000 hamantaschen for Shermet along with the choir adult text study in the Temple Temple Israel’s Purim celebration. will also participate in the Israel library at 6:45 p.m. on sing-along. Rabbi Eric Linder and Omaha Temple Youth the topic, “Haman and the Jewish Xenophobia.” Group member Hannah Perry are rewriting the lines of a While everyone’s having a good time, please take time out song adjusted to celebrate Purim. Karen Sokolof Javitch, to observe one of the special mitzvot of Purim -- gifts to award-winning composer and lyricist, will use her own the poor. It is an obligation to set aside money on Purim original music to open and close the scene of the story of specifically for the purpose of feeding the hungry. Temple Esther. Israel, in conjunction with the other synagogues in Omaha A family-friendly service and megillah reading will be and the Partnership with Israel, will be raising money on part of the sing-along. This is a costume party so everyone Purim to eradicate hunger in Acco, Israel, by contributing -- children and adults -- is encouraged to dress as their to the voluntary organization, Orotchesed.
Danny Raznick, a senior studying Architecture at the University of Minnesota College of Design, made the Dean’s List last semester. He is the son of Jeanne Katelman and Jerry Raznick and the grandson of Richard and Judy Stern and the late Morris Raznick and the late Bess Katzman. His great-grandmother is Lillian Schrager. The University of Michigan recently recognized Amy Levinger as a James B. Angell scholar and University Honors student for earning straight A’s during two consecutive terms. Amy, a sophomore in the University’s school of nursing, is the daughter of Steve and Bonnie Levinger. Hannah Budwig of Westside High School has been invited to attend the National Young Leaders State Conference in Wichita, KS. This 4 day meeting is a unique program which helps young scholars take an introspective and highly personalized assessment of their leadership skills and abilities. Sponsored by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, the conference nominees must have high academic standing plus the recommendation of their school. The program is being held in 35 cities across the country and will help students create and implement plans that will determine how they view their role as leaders in their communities. Hannah is the daughter of Larry and the late Kirsten Budwig.
DEADLINES Please send all articles, photos and ads to the Press by Thursdays, 9 a.m., for all regular issues (early deadlines and office closings for holidays will be announced in advance). Questions? Call 334.6448.
Coming Soon! Brunch on Sundays at Jack & Mary’s Starting the first Sunday in April, we will be hosting Omaha’s newest Sunday brunch. Our menu includes Chef Archie’s famous fluffy omelette, eggs benedict, and-
Kip
chicken and waffles, which is a huge hit on the east and west coasts. We open at 10 a.m. and serve brunch until 2 p.m. We want to thank the Jewish community for their sup-
Archie
port, and we look forward to serve all of you in the future. The first week of every month the we serve Matzo Ball as our soup special. If you need Matzo Ball soup for a gathering or a party, it is
Steve
available upon request in gallon size. We do ask for a few of days notice so we have time to prepare it. We hope to see you at brunch on Sunday.
Alfredo
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Come celebrate Purim at Beth El by JILL BELMONT auction and raffle, a ping pong tournament, plus the mindBeth El Publicity Coordinator boggling magic of Joe Cole. Also, as in past years, lunch will Purim fun at Beth El is infectious and entertaining, offer- be served by the synagogue’s Men’s Club members. ing a rollicking good time to holiday revelers of all ages. This According to organizers, game tickets are five for $1, four year, the synagogue’s festivities will begin at 7 p.m. on for $1 the day of the carnival. Raffle tickets are $1 each – buy Saturday, March 19, with a scrumptious hamantaschen and 10 and get one free. Individual meal tickets are $7, and ice cream social, plus a variety of children’s activities. (Note: patrons may also take advantage of the combo packages For those wishing to attend Minha, the service will begin at being offered: a combo pack (one meal, 10 game tickets and 7:15 p.m.) A silly Purim spiel, one raffle ticket) is $8 in performed by a group of paradvance, $9.50 the day of the ents from the congregation, carnival; or the Family Pack will also provide a special (including four meals, 50 treat. And everyone is encourgame tickets and 11 raffle aged to strut their stuff in tickets) is $40. silly/creative costumes: those Ticket orders are being taken showing up in wacky garb -now: checks -- made payable adults and children alike -to Beth El USY – may be sent will receive a free game ticket to Beth El Synagogue, 14506 for the Purim Carnival, slated California St., Omaha, NE for the next day. 68154. For more information At 7:40 p.m., a costume about the carnival, contact parade will lead the evening’s carnival chairmen Lilly fun into the sanctuary for the Phillips at lilly123@cox.net; boisterous Family Megillah Adeev Potash at speedee. USYers Noam Margalit, left, and Kylie Kirshenbaum Reading. An abbreviated readarrow@gmail.com; Aaron announce raffle prize winners during last year’s BILU USY ing of the tale of Shushan and Zipursky at alzipursky@cox. Purim Carnival. its shenanigans will have peonet; or Youth Director Shiri ple joining in the fun, clapping, stomping their feet, cheering Tene at 402.492.8550, or youthdir@bethel-omaha.org. for Queen Esther and booing for Haman. The full Megillah The Purim carnival serves as USY’s biggest fund-raiser of reading will take place following the family program. the year; proceeds are used for convention travel expenses The synagogue’s holiday festivities continue on Sunday, and scholarships, and a portion is donated to two charities March 20, as the teens from USY present their annual Purim selected by USY members. The entire community is invited carnival from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. The event will feature to support Beth El’s teens and have a great time in the entertaining game booths for children of all ages, a silent process.
Warm environment at Camp Gan Israel by RABBI Y. EPSTEIN for the Chabad Center Spring is in the air, and summer is fast approaching. After months of forbidding cold, the question now becomes: how does one take fullest advantage of summer? Camp Gan Israelat Chabad of Omaha is a place created with a single goal in mind: to give your child the summer experience of a lifetime. Each child is genuinely cared for by dedicated and responsible staff. It is place where he or she will learn and grow, under the guidance of experienced teachers, and with the aid of the very latest in multi-media teaching technology. He or she will learn the value of sportsmanship, experience the joys of song and prayer, and bask in the warmth of newfound friendship. Camp Gan Israel provides an atmosphere of constant fun, but with an added emphasis on moral and social development. It will help develop your child’s sense of Jewish identity, in a tolerant, non-judgmental fashion, and it is part of the largest, and fastest growing network of camps in the world. “I would recommend Chabad camp to anyone.” says Bonnie Pfrenger, whose two daughters attended the camp this winter. “It is a very loving and warm environment where each child is treated with respect and looked upon as a bless-
ing from G-d. This your kids will definitely feel!” Tippi Denenberg, also the mother of past attendees, agreed. “I love Chabad’s kid-oriented activities because they create fresh, high-energy comprehensive programs that are equal parts entertainment, inspiration, and learning. They understand that each child has different interests, and each participant is addressed individually. The high level of ethical behavior modeled by the counselors and expected of the campers results in new friendships, life lessons and an overall soulful experience.” So please, join us at Camp Gan-Israel this year, as we endeavor to make this summer, the most memorable, exciting, and rewarding Gan-Israel experience yet! This coming summer, camp will be in session for two weeks, beginning June 27-July 8. Camp hours are from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon. Healthy kosher lunches and snacks are served daily. Registration is open to all children ages four through ten. Cost per week: week 1 $180. week 2 $145. 5% discount is offered for sibling signup and for attending both weeks. Early bird discount (last summer's prices) is offered to those who register by March 31. Some scholarships are available. To register online, or for more information, please go to www.ochabad.com/camp or call 402.330.1800.
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LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Yiddish words have made their way into every phase of modern life, show biz, law, classrooms, etc. Come join us at our new meeting room (across from the beauty salon) at the Blumkin Home, every Thursday, 1-3 pm. For information, call Anne Skolkin at 402.343.1638.
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Dining
MAINSTREETERS Sign up for a fresh new musical comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Bellevue Little Theater on Sunday, March 20. Dinner following at the Greek Islands (dinner is on your own). The cost of $14 per person for show admissions – transportation is sponsored by Jewish Social Services. Be at the JCC by 12:45 p.m. to depart at 1 p.m. and return approximately 7 p.m. Make check payable to Jewish Social Services and send to Mainstreeters, c/o Maggie Conti at 323 South 132 Street, Omaha, NE 68154. For information call Rose Pitlor at 402.558.5144. Mainstreeters Luncheon is Monday, March 21 at 12:30 p.m. at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home auditorium. The
On March 11, at 8 p.m., the Pizza Shop Collective will present An Angel Cried a Tear Last Night, a play by Amy Marschak that tells the story of child abuse from a Jewish perspective. The theater is located at 6065 Maple Street. Tickets are $15 for general admission, and $10 for students; for more information, call 1.303.440.7441 or visit human theatre.org/Omaha.html. Stacey Dinner-Levin’s play Autistic License will be performed by Snap Productions, 3225 California St., Omaha, from March 4 through March 27. Autistic License is the autobiographical account of one family’s journey to raise a son with autism. The audience learns about the impact of autism on family life. M. Michele Phillips will direct this passionate and funny play; for ticket prices and showtimes, call 402.341.2757 or visit www.snapproductions.com.
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guest speaker will be Greg Wagner from the Nebraska Games and Parks. Come enjoy this outdoor enthusiast and Discover the Good Life! The cost is $10 per plate. Make check payable to Jewish Social Services and send to Mainstreeters, c/o Maggie Conti, 323 South 132nd Street, Omaha, NE 68154. For information call Linda Abrams Tederman at 402.468.4939.
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6 | The Jewish Press | March 11, 2011
Gardening “Gene” runs in the Bleicher family tree
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Continued from page 1 in the horticulture field,” he said. “Both my University of Nebraska at Lincoln. mom and my grandfather attempted to Ultimately, he completed the program with expose me to various forms of horticulture a specific interest in landscaping and nurs- and agriculture, but at the time, I wasn’t very ery management. interested. Then, during the third semester “We had the opportunity to purchase some of my college education, I took Introduction ‘farm land’ about 12 years ago,” Stacie pointed to Horticulture.” After that class and Plant out, and “that began our current gardening Propagation, the instructor offered Eli a job endeavor, Eagle Nursery, on property south as an undergraduate teaching assistant, “and of Eagle, Nebraska.” Initially a Christmas tree it became blatantly obvious that horticulture farm, it was all evergreens which certainly was the field for me. I continued to take attracted “this Colorado girl,” Stacie acknowl- courses in horticulture at UNO, and after edged. “We decided we didn’t like cutting down trees but would prefer to plant them.” Thus began the transition of the property about ten years ago from Scotch pines to deciduous trees and shrubs. A variety of evergreens are still grown as well. Bob describes it “as Tu B’Shevat every day at this place! Tree planting is a mitzvah and a joy.” Although Bob remains in the medical field part-time as Eli Bloom, UNL horticulture student. a hospice medical director and on weekend pulmonary call, the nurs- spending two years there, I transferred to ery takes up at least 80 percent of his time. UNL where I continued to pursue my Stacie, who remains a full-time physician, degree in horticulture.” handles the nursery bookkeeping and helps Eli narrowed his area of study to plant with pruning, weeding, inventory and sales. production. His favorite courses include In addition to growing trees and shrubs, organic farming, greenhouse management, they also design and build landscapes. Bob nursery management, plant identification, and his crew of 12 install and maintain the plant physiology, and vegetable production. landscapes of both private/residential and Over the past two years, he’s been president commercial customers within about a 60- and vice president of Pi Alpha Xi, the hortimile radius of Eagle including Lincoln, culture honors society. In charge of fund Omaha, York, Geneva, and many rural raising, he produced lettuce greens which he areas. They designed and installed much of sold to the local organic food CO-OP. the landscaping surrounding the newly When he graduates, he plans to take a year remodeled Rose Blumkin Jewish Home and off to get involved in WWOOF (the World help with plantings and maintenance at Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) proLincoln’s South Street Temple and the gram. WWOOF provides people who are Holocaust Memorial at Wyuka Cemetery interested in organics with information and also in Lincoln. Pine boughs for the annual logistics needed to visit and work on just Sukkot structures on the Jewish Community about any organic farm anywhere in the Center campus come from Eagle Nursery. world. “Hopefully, taking a bit of time off will When they lived in Iowa City, the Bleichers allow me to gain some experience outside the attended Temple in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. walls of the educational institution, broadenAfter they moved to Lincoln, they joined ing my knowledge of horticulture systems,” South Street Temple. “Bob has always had a Eli explained. He plans to pursue his master’s lot of family in the Omaha area. As our boys degree most likely in sustainable agriculture. approached Bar Mitzvah age, we felt we Eli believes that “since the green revoluwanted them to have a more formal educa- tion of the 1960s, “farming practices have tional experience,” Stacie explained. “We changed dramatically. The industrialization were excited regarding the chance for them to of agriculture has caused a marked decline in have exposure to Rabbi Azriel so we joined species diversity, ecosystem functioning, and Temple Israel and began commuting for edu- the overall productivity of our farmlands. cation and services.” Bob and Stacie still Industrialized agriculture has not only poienjoy long-term friendships with Temple soned our natural surroundings but also sigIsrael members they met as youth groupers nificantly changed our existence as humans. and also through their medical work. Before mechanization, native and tribal sys“Bob and I moved out to the nursery tems rarely had problems with unemployproperty four years ago and love living here. ment and starvation, but since the globalizaWe love country living as long as the snow tion of technology, one has seen a marked isn’t as bad as the 2009-2010 season!” decline in the standard of living for the peasBenjamin, now 29, and Jeremiah, 23, do at ant class in a good number of societies.” times provide some muscle for work at the For many,” Eli added, “this has been nursery,” Stacie mentioned, but the garden- deemed unacceptable, causing a cultural ing gene may not have transferred to them. mindset switch that supports local organic “Neither has a major passion for the nurs- production.” He applauded Temple Israel for ery,” confided Stacie. getting involved in the Blooms Organic CSA However their cousin, Elias (Eli) Bloom, (community support agriculture) and hopes son of Brent and Rebecca Bloom (Bob’s sis- that the project helped people realize how ter), is infected with the horticulture virus. important organic farming is. Born and raised in Omaha, Eli and his “Unfortunately, the majority of the modbrother Alex attended Religious School at ern world doesn’t seem to see the problem in Temple Israel where they became B’nai the same light as I do, leading to skepticism Mitzvah and were confirmed. Eli graduated over…whether or not organic food could from Central High School and began college ‘feed the world’ or if the use of genetically at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. modified foods will have an effect on our “My family has owned Blooms Organic environment.” for over nine years,” Eli pointed out. During Eli pledges to do his best, as a student and that time, he spent “many summers working a horticulturist, to promote education and on our acreage as well as in other sectors of sustainability in support of a world that recthe horticulture industry.” However, “initial- ognizes the benefits of organic production ly, I didn’t really know that I was interested and restores a healthy earth.
March 11, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 7
Purim on the chessboard
New book unmasks Purim by STEPHEN STEINER Readers will gain a deeper and more mature understanding of Megillat Esther from Rabbi David Fohrman’s new book, The Queen You Thought You Knew: Unmasking Esther’s Hidden Story. The biblical book of Esther can easily masquerade as a child’s tale. There is a villain about to hang Mordechai and murder his countrymen; a king who enjoys drinking; and a beautiful and noble queen. There are assassins, palace intrigue, suspense, and a climactic battle scene – and a happy ending, to boot. What more could you ask for in a good child’s story? But the Bible is no fairy tale. In his new book, Rabbi Fohrman invites the public to look at Megillat Esther with fresh eyes. With the engaging style that has made him such a popular lecturer, he takes readers on a guided adventure -- a close reading of the ancient biblical text -- in which he reveals another Purim story. Hiding in plain sight is a richer, deeper narrative -- more suited perhaps to the eyes of an adult than to a child. As layers of meaning are gradually revealed, Esther’s hidden story comes alive in a vibrant, unexpected way, offering the reader a fascinating and thought-provoking encounter with the queen they thought they knew. Copies of this book, which costs $24.95 each, are available through www.OUPress.org.
Birth Jenifer and Oved Ruff announce the Feb. 25 birth of their daughter, Rayna Shoham. She has a brother, Isaac. Grandparents are Janet Jares of Cheyenne, WY, Sam Simpson of Johnstown, CO, and Claudia Ruff of Rock Springs, WY.
by RABBI Y. EPSTEIN pos than in the story of Mordechai and Esther, for Chabad Center Achashveirosh and Haman. With its intricate plot of strateFrom throwing dice to playing cards and from Gameboys gic political maneuvering, its many sequences of bold and to the wireless Wii, many individuals throughout history risky moves, and the ultimate “checkmate” as the black king have devoted their lives to the thoughtful task of providing is cornered and exposed, it does seem as though the city of society with the “perfect” Shushan may have been the game. More recently, ever stage for the grandest game of since Charles Darrow’s chess ever played. incredible success with his Incidentally, according to A brainchild, Monopoly, today’s History of Chess, the very next multi-billion dollar gaming country to take up the game industry churns out so many after India was ancient new games and updated verPersia. sions each year, that it can be “The miracle of Purim is not difficult to keep up. Many simply an ancient story that times, a game or device purwe retell every year only as an chased at the height of its excuse to celebrate,” explains glory, may, after no more than Rabbi Mendel Katzman of a year or two, be all but obsoOmaha’s Chabad Center. lete. One consequence of this “Rather, it is an annual fast-paced industry is that This year, dress up as a knight for Purim reminder of who we are as a very few of the world’s older games remain in use, and many people. We have incredible reserves of strength and resolve have been forgotten. within us as individuals; even more so when we stand united There is, however, one venerable pastime of the past, as a people.” At times, each one of us may feel that we are just which has withstood the test of time, and that is the game of a pawn, living through our very own version of the Purim Chess. According to A History of Chess, by the prominent story. We have our own personal Haman who torments us as chess historian H. J. R. Murray, the game was originally we are tempted by the smell of the evil king’s lavish feast. The played in ancient India, as early as 600 CE. Today, over four- Holiday of Purim serves to reminds us that just as a powerteen-hundred years later, the game still enjoys a distin- ful Queen awaits at the end of every Pawn’s journey, so too, guished place among the ranks of the casual gamer and con- there are kings and queens lying dormant within each and tinues to be much admired by many. every one of us, just waiting to be brought to the surface. In Take for example Warren Buffet, who famously entertains addition, the story of Purim teaches that we should be secure his shareholders with chess demonstrations at his annual in the knowledge that though events may sometimes seem Berkshire-Hathaway Shareholders weekend. Other chess random, each one of our “moves” is deliberately orchestrated enthusiasts include such notable figures as Bill Gates, by the greatest chess-master of them all, Hashem. Bertrand Russell, Sir Isaac Newton, and George Bernard In the spirit of the above, Chabad extends an invitation to Shaw. the entire Jewish community to join us for a special ChessBenjamin Franklin is reported to have said “Life is a kind themed Purim party, on March 20, at the Chabad Center, of Chess, with struggle, competition, good and ill events.” 1866 S. 120th St. at 5:00 pm. In addition, all are invited to This sentiment was later echoed by chess legend Bobby dress up as any of the pieces from the chess board in either Fischer, when he said, “Chess is life.” black or white, in concert with the theme of the party. Of all the spellbinding tales in our storied history as Jews, To RSVP, please call 402.330.1800 or visit www.ochabad. nowhere is the metaphorical “chess game of life” more apro- com/purim.
Passover Greetings This year you can send your greetings through these very special ads that will run in our annual Passover issue. Each ad can be personalized with your name, the names of your children or your grandchildren. Just fill out the form below and send or bring it to the Jewish Press office. But hurry these ads will only be accepted through March 21, 2011.
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8 | The Jewish Press | March 11, 2011
Point of view
American Jewish Press Association Award Winner
Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008
Cheer up, Charlie by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press Imagine being a famous television-slash-movie star, and saying something wrong in public (for instance, you could make fun of your Jewish producer by calling him Chaim). Instead of the public giving you a break, they fall all over you for running your mouth. It’s unfair, because you’d like to see them try to get by on $1.8 million per episode, with that drug habit and all, and so you go on the offense. No ‘gently going into the night’ for you: you find every talk show host in the country who will have you, and you speak your strung-out mind. Then, instead of letting it go, the ADL’s Abe Foxman makes a public statement, and calls you ‘borderline anti-Semitic.’ Now that stings, and so you ask your lawyer to file a complaint. The lawyer, unlike your publicist, has no intentions of quitting his job under these circumstances, and gets right on that. Foxman will certainly see the error of his ways and give you that apology as soon as he finds his pen. Which is never, but that shouldn’t stop you, should it? Don’t worry, Charlie Sheen, you’re not alone. Even though every time I turn on the television in search of some ‘real’ news (you know, Gaddafi, Egypt, Pakistan, that kind of stuff) all I see is your face, there is actually hope for you yet. You know why? Because you have some stiff competition in the area of ‘talk first, think later.’ Take Mohammad Aliabadi, head of Iran’s National Olympic Committee, who decided London’s 2012 Olympic logo looks like it spells ‘Zion,’ and has therefore threatened to boycott the games. Or Helen Thomas, who has the unfortunate habit of popping up at awkward moments, spouting nonsense. Or Wikileaks' Julian Assange, who allegedly told Private Eye magazine editor Ian Hislop that he is the victim of a Jewish conspiracy. Or fashion designer John Galliano, who told a
French Jewish woman she and her family ought to be gassed, denied it, sued for libel, and was caught red-handed when it turns out somebody filmed his drunken rant. He has since been arrested and will now stand trial in Paris. And he was fired from Dior, where he was head designer. What is that expression again? Oh, yes. There’s no such thing as bad publicity. Maybe someone should rewrite that cliché. Luckily you don’t live in France, but in the USA; here, you can’t be arrested for saying unreasonable things. When even the Westboro maniacs can face a Supreme Court battle and win the right to wave their tired old signs during military funerals, people can hardly expect you to worry about the random things you say. In other words, there is always another person on the horizon who thinks it’s okay to run his or her mouth. If you could just wait this out, and keep your opinions to yourself for, oh, three days or so, this will all blow over. Your audience will go back to thinking about you as a mediocre actor who had one single shining moment playing a junkie in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (although, in retrospect, was that really acting?), and not much more. It’s kind of sad, isn’t it? How there’s always another one. It has become so routine; mild insults don’t even make the news these days. Every case of foot-in-mouth has to be bigger than the last. And the worst part is, we can’t stop talking about it. We’re stuck halfway between “can you believe what he said” and “glad that’s not me.” It’s as if the entire world is one big high school cafeteria where the meatloaf is always rancid and the gossip is endlessly recycled. We, the audience, are the popular-but-insecure kids; Schadenfreude is the glue that keeps our mascara from running and our homecoming tiara firmly in place. Are we ever going to grow up? To be honest, I’m not always sure whether all this serves as a warning sign, or as comic relief. I’m afraid it’s the latter.
Maybe that’s why Charlie Sheen is getting so much attention: at least his mishaps don’t involve dictators being ousted and entire societies running amok. There is a clear beginning, middle, and end to this type of story: boy gets famous, boy messes up, boy disappears from public view. It’s familiar, and in a weird way, it’s comforting. Much more comforting than having to worry about any real news.
Settlers accusing Netanyahu government of imposing silent building freeze
Behind the headlines LESLIE SUSSER JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Although the 10-month moratorium on building in Jewish settlements in the West Bank was lifted last September, settler leaders complain that no construction is being allowed in the large urban areas and warn that a de facto freeze on all Jewish building in the West Bank is looming. The settler leaders maintain that the Netanyahu administration is refusing to publish new tenders and that all current building is based on a limited number of permits issued years ago by previous governments. “It’s like a pipeline into which no new water is being pumped,” Danny Dayan, chairman of the Yesha Council, the umbrella leadership of the settler movement, told JTA. “Water still comes out on the other side because there is still some inside. But it will soon dry up.” According to Dayan, already there are no major building projects in large West Bank towns such as Ma’aleh Adumim, Ariel and Betar because the Netanyahu government has not published a single land tender for urban construction in the West Bank in the two years it has been in power. “This has led to the absurd situation in which nearly all the building going on now is by private contractors in small isolated settlements outside the blocs slated to remain in Israel in any future agreement with the Palestinians,” he said. “And in the settlements on which there is a consensus, the freeze is still in force.” With plans for more than 4,000 new housing units still awaiting government authorization, the mayors of Ariel and Ma’aleh Adumim recently fired off letters of complaint to
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Netanyahu, and settler leaders announced that they were considering launching a nationwide “save our towns” campaign. But according to Peace Now, a group that is against the settlements and monitors construction in the West Bank, the settler claims are grossly misleading. “Immediately after the freeze was lifted, we saw a flurry of building the likes of which we hadn’t seen for years,” Peace Now Chairman Yariv Oppenheimer told JTA. “Since the freeze ended, the settlers have begun work on about 1,700 housing units in 67 different settlements.” Oppenheimer acknowledged, however, that the Netanyahu government is withholding permits for new building in the large urban areas. In his view, Netanyahu ended the freeze to please the settlers, but is not issuing new permits to please the Americans. “It creates a situation in which no one is happy and the national interest is compromised,” Oppenheimer said. In mid-February, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman seemed to confirm that the construction moratorium was still largely in effect. At a meeting with U.S. Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, Morton Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, asked whether it was true that the government was not issuing new permits in towns like Ma’aleh Adumim and Ariel. “I am going to answer, like many politicians do -- no comment, no comment, no comment,” Lieberman replied. “But Morton, we’re going to change this.” To some extent Lieberman may have been playing politics. For some time he has been sniping at Netanyahu in a bid to usurp his position as the natural leader of the Israeli right, and last September Lieberman delivered a speech at the United Nations in which he implied that Netanyahu’s peace
policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians was totally unrealistic. Also, just a few weeks ago, Lieberman again publicly humiliated the prime minister by shooting down Netanyahu’s candidate for the key post of Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, outgoing National Security Adviser Uzi Arad. The settler claims about a de facto freeze were grist to Lieberman’s mill, and it would have been surprising if he had let the chance slip by for another implicit broadside at the prime minister’s right-wing credentials while boosting his own. Nevertheless, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the 10-month moratorium on building and the quiet freeze on new construction permits have not won Netanyahu many points from the international community -- so much so that he is now considering launching a new political initiative to redress the balance. News of this first emerged during an angry telephone conversation in late February with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who accused him of not having done anything to promote peace with the Palestinians. “There are discussions at the highest level on Israel taking a diplomatic initiative, including the possibility of another major policy speech by the prime minister,” a senior Netanyahu aide told JTA. “There is an understanding that we have to take the lead.” The idea is that in what is being dubbed as a “second BarIlan speech,” Netanyahu will articulate in greater clarity his vision of peace. If this brings the Palestinians back to the negotiating table, well and good. If not, at least it will show the world that it is the Palestinians who are obstructing peacemaking, not Netanyahu, the aide explained. Continued on page 9
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March 11, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 9
Wisconsin governor’s plan threatens workers and Jewish values LAURIE ZIMMERMAN MADISON, Wis. (JTA) -- More than 100 Jews from all three Madison synagogues gathered Feb. 25 to celebrate Shabbat with services in the Wisconsin State Capitol. Four Madison rabbis led the services for the community members who had crammed into the North Gallery. Below us, the Capitol Rotunda was teeming with energy protesters from all over the state were waving signs of opposition to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget repair bill. Singing Shabbat psalms and reciting prayers, we had found a Jewish expression for our deepest values -- values of community, education and justice; values of respecting the elderly and caring for the poor, the sick, the mentally ill and the disabled; values of discussion, debate and compromise. The governor’s legislation threatens these values. His budget repair bill has nothing to do with solving an emergency budget crisis, nor does it have to do with curbing the excesses of labor unions. This is about political power: Destroy the unions and you have destroyed a key institution representing the interests of the middle and working class. If this were only about balancing the budget, there would be no need to strip workers of their right to organize or to ram through the legislation without negotiation, compromise or even debate. Jewish support for the labor movement often stems from religious texts mandating workers’ rights. As the Torah states, “You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer.” Or it stems from pride in our involvement and leadership in the labor movement in the early 20th century. While Jewish opposition to Walker’s attempts to destroy labor unions is certainly rooted in these religious and secular ideals, it also centers on fundamental questions at the heart of our Jewish values: What kind of society do we want
Settlers accusing Netanyahu Continued from page 8 The Israeli estimate is that Palestinians will return to the peace table only if they are disabused of the notion that they will be able to achieve their goals through unilateral moves in the United Nations. “That is why Netanyahu was so pleased with the U.S. veto of the Palestinian-initiated Security Council vote against the building in the settlements and so disappointed with the European decision to go along with it,” the aide said. But will Israel be able to get the Palestinians back to the negotiating peace table without imposing an official new settlement freeze -- and is Netanyahu’s refusal to grant new building permits a move in that direction? At a Likud Knesset faction meeting Monday, the prime minister indicated that it might be. Excoriating settler efforts to obtain new permits, he said, “Israel is facing a very difficult international reality” and the settler leaders “don’t understand where they are living.” The senior Netanyahu aide told JTA that “The settler community has to understand that the diplomatic struggle isn’t over additional building in the settlements, it’s over the settlements themselves.”
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Behind the headlines
to live in? What kind of world do we want to leave to our children? How can we stand idly by when proposed legislation will devastate the very fabric of our communities? Last week all eight rabbis in Madison representing the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative movements of Judaism signed on to a letter distributed to colleagues throughout the country that strongly opposes Walker’s proposed legislation. We have enjoyed deep and broad support for this letter because there is a significant consensus that the governor’s bill will have dreadful effects on our state. Walker and his supporters have tried to pit the public sector and their unions against the private sector, which is largely not unionized. Yet we know that with this legislation we all lose. We all lose because his legislation will drastically reduce the quality of our public schools, state universities and park systems, as well as our nursing homes, child care centers and hospitals. This is an affront to our Jewish values. Far from being a coddled class, public employees are our teachers, bus drivers, prison guards, firefighters and police officers -- the very heart of our communities. They are streaming into our Capitol day after day from around the state because their livelihood is in jeopardy. It is not just the public employees who are protesting. The more than 70,000 people who converged on the Capitol on Feb. 26 were quite diverse: young and old, rural and urban, wealthy and poor. It is a testament to how deeply they care about our future. Their passion and commitment demonstrate our human capacity to raise our voices when people’s health, security and well-being are threatened and to work diligently to create a better world. As Rabbi Hillel once said, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” Laurie Zimmerman is the rabbi of Congregation Shaarei Shamayim in Madison, Wis.
Wednesday, Nov. 16th - 7pm
Doubletree Hotel & Meeting Center Downtown Get Tickets at: www.JohnEdward.net or call: 800-233-3123
OPEN HOUSE LEWIS & CLARK LAKE (Near Crofton, NE & Yankton, SD) LAKE GET-AWAYS! Open House Details on Website www.landlakecrofton.com or contact scuster@landlakecrofton or (402)388-4852 Prepare for summer fun at Lewis & Clark Lake. Options include lake homes, acreages, and building sites of all price ranges. Schedule your appointment.
OPEN HOUSE APRIL 2 & 3 (Plan Early): See Website for Details
Don’t mess with Natalie by AMI EDEN OK, so maybe you were hoping that Hollywood’s shayna maidel, Natalie Portman -- the only actress to play Anne Frank and Princess Leah’s mom (yes, I know how George Lucas spells it) -- would tie the knot with a Jewish guy. Or maybe you thought Black Swan was over-hyped and someone else was more deserving of the Best Actress Oscar. But don’t think the Israeli-born Portman’s lost that Jewish feeling. In case you missed Galliano-gate, here is part of the JTA brief: British fashion designer John Galliano was fired by the Christian Dior fashion house after allegedly harassing a couple using anti-Semitic and racist slurs. Actress Natalie Portman, who is the face of Dior perfume and is Jewish, said Monday that she would not be associated with Galliano. “I am deeply shocked and disgusted by the video that surfaced today,” Portman said in a statement. “In light of this video, and as an individual who is proud to be Jewish, I will not be associated with Mr. Galliano in any way.” For better or for worse, The New York Post asserts that Portman, the face of Miss Dior Cherie perfume, delivered the “coup de grace” when she said that “she would walk from her contract unless it cut ties with Galliano.”
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Large Machinery Auction TRACTORS - PAYLOADERS - COMBINES - HEADS - HAY & FEEDING EQUIP. - PLANTERS - ASST. MACHINERY - TOOLS - SHOP ITEMS
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011 9:00am in Marion, SD Items For Lonny Schlim Estate & Others For Full Listing And Directions Visit Our Web Site: www.wiemanauction.com
WIEMAN LAND & AUCTION CO., INC. 800-251-3111 or 888-296-3536 - Marion, South Dakota
Open March 21st! Express Truck Center York, NE
March 11-13, 2011 Lancaster Event Center 84th & Havlock Ave. | Lincoln, Nebraska
Join us!
Fri.: 12-9 p.m. | Sat.: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. | Sun.: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Come join the fun at this 3-day equine event packed with excitement and information, from the youth rodeo to the featured clincians. Visit the exhibits, the horses, the vendors. Enjoy the competition of The Mane Challenge, the diversity of the Parade of Breeds, the knowledge shared at the many clinics. View the equine photo contest or visit with a farrier or vet. With so much to see and do, don’t miss this Equine Extravaganza! Admission Fees: Ages 13 and over: $10 per day or $25 for 3-day pass Ages 6-12: $5 per day Children 5 and under: FREE with adult accompaniment
The Nebraska Horse Council
Parts, Sales & Service
Craig Cameron The Cowboy Horseman/Innovator
Open March 21st! A new Freightliner truck dealership at 4814 S. Lincoln Ave.,York, NE. This location is at the I-80 and highway 81 crossroads, just south of the truck stop. The addition of this Express Truck Center is due to customer demand. York is a good market and we’re excited about the increased ability to serve our customers.
YORK
US 81 & I-80 | York, NE
Van Hargis Horsemanship with a Message Title Sponsor
www.nebraskahorsecouncil.org | info@nebraskahorsecouncil.org | Jamie 308-379-3368
www.e-freightliner.com 402.362.2440 | 866.751.1185 Parts and service open 7 days | Total parts inventory over $7,000,000 Parts delivery available | Fully certified technicians Service for all makes and models of class 5-8 trucks
Featuring Outdoor Channel Stars Lee & Tiffany Lakosky and Rick & Julie Kreuter PLUS your chance to shoot with a celebrity!
• Miller High Life Big Buck Contest • Golden Arrow Archery Club 3D Classic sponsored by Full Draw Archery • Scheels Trail Cam Photo Contest • North American Shed Hunters Contest • Over 100 exhibitors showcasing your favorite outdoor products & services • Professional seminars by outdoor industry leaders
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10 | The Jewish Press | March 11, 2011
Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 | 402.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker, Rachel Jacobson, Executive Director of Film Streams, will discuss Film Streams Ruth Sokolof Theater Omaha’s Nonprofit Cinema. The community is invited.
BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California | Omaha, NE 68154-1980 | 402.492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org Services conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Beth Schlossberg. FRIDAY: Join Rabbi Levin for lunch at the Blumkin Home’s Star Deli on Friday, March 11, noon, for a delicious meal and some serious schmoozing. Walk-ins are welcome, but RSVPs are appreciated so the rabbi can reserve seats. Contact him at rabbilevin@bethel-omaha.org.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m.; Debbie Turetsky, daughter of Lucy and Boris Turetsky, will become a Bat Mitzvah this evening and Sturday morning. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m.; BESTT Shabbat School, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:15 p.m. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. SUNDAY: Torah Study Discussion Group, 10 a.m.; Jewish Images on the Big Screen, 10:30 a.m. with Susi FrydmanLevin; Scholars Series with Alan Potash, ADL Executive Director, 11 a.m. To RSVP, contact the office or programming@bethel-omaha.org. MONDAY: Let’s Wine About It, 6:30 p.m. meet Cantor Beth at Fox and Hound, 506 N. 120th St. for a get-together filled with conversation about anything and everything Jewish. All adults in the Jewish community are welcome. THURSDAY: Rabbi Levin’s Life Lessons from the Hebrew Bible, noon. Cost is $36 for members and $45 for non-members. Open to all adults in the Jewish community. To register, contact the office; Everyday Holiness, 7 p.m. mini course, taught by Guy Matalon. PURIM FESTIVITIES: Celebrate a colorful, fun-filled Purim on Saturday, March 19, beginning with a 7 p.m. ice cream social, followed by the Family Megillah Reading at 7:40 p.m. Wear a costume and get a free ticket for the Purim carnival! Full Megillah reading will take place after family program. BILU USY PURIM CARNIVAL: March 20, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Don’t miss the great game booths, prizes, ping pong tourney, silent auction, raffle, or the magic of Joe Cole. And remember, if you wear a costume, you get four FREE game tickets! All Beth El classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street | Omaha, NE. 68154 | 402.556.6288 www.BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org 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, 6:09 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes begin with Torah Parade, 9:45 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored in honor of March Simchas; The Laws of Shabbat, 4 p.m.; Advanced Parshah Study for Kids (ages 10
Bar Mitzvah Brandon Idelman, son of Jill and George Idelman, will become a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, March 19, at Temple Israel. Brandon is a seventh-grade Honor Roll student at Beveridge Magnet School. He was a member of the 14year old Maccabi Games Basketball team this summer in Omaha. His interests include playing football at Beveridge and baseball for Omaha Suburban. For his mitzvah project, Brandon volunteered at Quality Living Inc, which provides postacute rehabilitation for young adults with brain or spinal cord injury. He has a brother, Justin. Grandparents are Barbara and Ronald Archer of Assaria, KS, and Gloria and Martin Hersh of Northbrook, IL.
and up), 5 p.m.; Mincha, 6 p.m. followed by Seuda Shlishit; Havdalah, 7:09 p.m. SUNDAY: Gemara class, 8 a.m., learning tractate Kiddushin; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Beth Israel hosts R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (Relationship, Empowerment for Students, Parents, Educators & Community Through Theatre). Two anti-bullying-themed theatre productions specially geared to the children in kindergarten through sixth grade will be presented with concurrent parent workshops. Stop and Think, for kindergarten through third graders, 2 p.m. and Spelling It Out, for fourth through sixth graders, 3 p.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Weekly Teleconference Mishnah Class, 10:30 a.m. Contact the office to get the dial-in number and access code. TUESDAY: Scholars Club for fourth-sixth graders, 3:45 p.m. at the Blumkin Home; Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m.; Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Advanced Halchic Kollel, 9 p.m. THURSDAY: Fast of Esther begins, 6:11 a.m.; Women of the Torah class with Rabbi Gross, 9:30 a.m.; Fast of Esther ends, 8:07 p.m.
Candlelighting Friday, March 11, 6:09 p.m.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway | Offutt AFB, NE 68113 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.
NEIGHBORHOOD PRAYER GROUP 1317 North 57 Street | Omaha, NE 68132 | 402.551.6609 FRIDAY: Minyan, 6:09 p.m. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to the Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m. led by Mainstreeters Members; Kabbalat Shabbat, 5 p.m. led by Nancy Rips. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Andy Greenberg. Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend Services.
TEMPLE ISRAEL
An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street | Omaha, NE 68144-1646 | 402.330.1800 www.OChabad.com | email: chabad@aol.com Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Service, 7 a.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Minyan, 10 a.m.; Youth Minyan, 10:30 a.m.; Mini Mensch title will be awarded. Kiddush luncheon follows. Join Rabbi Katzman, noon-1 p.m.; W.O.W. Parsha, Prophets and Prayer, 12:45 p.m. SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m. MONDAY: After school teen program, 2:40-4 p.m.; JLI class, Toward a meaningful life, 7 p.m. Register at www.my jli.com or call 402.330.1800. To request you first class free or have questions contact JLI@OChabad.com. 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 with any questions or to recive a guest pass. All programs are open to the entire community.
Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street | Omaha, NE 68132-2651 | 402.556.6536 www.templeisrael-ne.org FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to You at Remington Heights, 4 p.m.; Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Linder and Cantor Shermet. SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.; Torah and Haftarah Reader: Miles Remer. SUNDAY: Hebrew Teacher Meeting, 9 a.m.; OTYG Board Meeting, 9 a.m.; Red Cross Blood Drive, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; Grades PreK-6, 10 a.m.; Revitalizing the Festivals, 10 a.m.; Grade 3 at Rose Blumkin Home, 10:15-11:45 a.m.; Club 56 Cooking Israeli Style, noon with Na’ama Artzi. Email, call or text Lori Bennett, lbennett@templeisraelomaha.com or 402.305.4934; OTYG Program and Dinner at Stephen Center, noon. Cost of the event is a donation of nonperishable foods. TUESDAY: Adult B’nai Mitzvah, 6:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY: No Religious School, No Middle School and No Family School. THURSDAY: Adult Study with the Clergy, 10-11:30 a.m. Purim Sing-Along, Carnival, and Dinner, Saturday, March 19, 5-8 p.m. (see full story on page 4.)
CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN
TIFERETH ISRAEL
South Street Temple | Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street | Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 | 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel, with oneg following hosted by Jennifer Wright and Paul Nelson. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. all led by Rabbi Emanuel. SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Gan Simcha-Grade 2, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Winter Lecture Series, 6 p.m. at Unitarian Church, 6300 A Street for the concluding and discussion. TUESDAY: Women’s Lunch Group, noon at the Egg and I, 70th and A Streets. Questions? Contact Stephanie Dohner. WEDNESDAY: Hebrew classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.
Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard | Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 | 402.423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. FRIDAY: Shabbat service, 6:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Learners Minyan, 9:30 a.m.; Morning Service, 10 a.m. followed by a Kiddush luncheon and Lunch and Learn all sponsored by Mike Eppel. SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Gan Simcha-Grade 2, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel. TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch, noon at the Egg and I, 70th and A Streets. Please contact Stephanie Dohner at dohners@windstream.net with any questions. WEDNESDAY: Hebrew classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. Join us Friday, March 18 for services and a dairy potluck dinner at the home of Cindi and Marlon Weiss, 6400 Country View Lane. Services begin at 6:15 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:45 p.m. Please bring a dairy dish. Please RSVP to Nava in the office by Wednesday, March 16. Megillah Reading on Sunday, March 20, 10 a.m. followed by a light lunch and then a clown show for children beginning at 1 p.m. Book Club will meet on Sunday, March 27, 4 p.m. at Marcia Kushner’s house, 1632 Old Farm Rd and will discuss Peony by Pearl S. Buck and Jews in China. Please let her know if you plan to come 402.423.5959 or kushner.marcia @gmail.com.
CHABAD HOUSE
B’nai Israel Speaker Series Mitch Sherman was the guest speaker at B’nai Israel on Feb. 11. Mitch explained how he became interested in becoming a sports writer and gave those attending a glimpse of what it is like to be objective in writing about the Huskers. He is a sports reporter for the Omaha World Herald. His discussion during services was entitled Covering Nebraska Football and Sports. The Speaker Series continues on March 11 with Rachel Jacobson, Executive Director of Film Streams. She will present Film Streams Ruth Sokolof Theater -Omaha’s Nonprofit Cinema. The entire Jewish community is invited to attend.
To Submit Announcements to the Jewish Press: Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewishomaha.org or online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on Jewish Press and go to Submit Announcements; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 (with photos we will scan and return). Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org.
Pulverente MONUMENT CO.
March 11, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 11
The witness and servant
In memoriam
60 Years Experience With Jewish Lettering and Memorials
HYMAN HURWITZ
RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parsha Vayikra Our Sidrah opens the book of Leviticus. This third book of Torah, except for a few unusually luminous and influential passages, leaves American Jewish readers somewhat puzzled and somewhat uninterested. For the book deals largely with the ancient system of worship by sacrifice, the offering of animal life on an altar as a principled method of worship. There is an elaborate system. But American Jews –indeed most Jews of recent centuries- are unhappy with this method of worship, unhappy even that our ancestors used this all-but-universal ancient method of worship. Our Haftarah, from the wonderful book of Deutero-Isaiah, gives us some perspective on ancient forms of worship when the prophet turns his attention to the idol-worship which he saw as an exile in Babylonia. He is appalled at idolatry and cannot penetrate the mind of the idol-worshiper. He permits himself to mock and deride the pagans around him for their unthinking practices. He describes how the craftsman chooses a good tree, choosing with great care; and the craftsman-artist develops a form for the figure that is to be created; and the carpenter meticulously cuts and planes the timber; and the artists sculpts the figure of a man, a god, and bows down to it and prays to it. Wait, the prophet says. Can he not recognize that this is the same wood he used for his fire? With the fire he warms himself and bakes his bread and roasts his meat. And some of the wood he forms into an idol, and cries: Save me! You are my god! The famous Israeli scholar, Ezekiel Kaufman, suggests that the prophets, who were so derisive of idolatry, did not recognize that the idol-worshiper basically used the idol as a symbol of the god, and not as the god itself. But the prophet will have none of it. He sees God as One only, Master of nature and Master of history, Ruler of the physical universe and Ruler of mankind. Further, the prophet holds out to the House of Israel a special raison d’etre, a special role in history. You, he declares to Israel, are God’s witness and God’s servant. Thus he places on Israel’s shoulders the task of teaching and demonstrating, the task of exemplifying in group life through the centuries the ways of peace and love that testify to God’s presence and Rulership. Our people long ago eschewed idolatry. Their sacrificial system vanished with the destruction of the Temple 2000 years ago. What remains? What remains is the religious system that replaced the Temple, and the role of Israel as God’s witness and servant. It is no small responsibility to be a Jew. Editor’s note: This column was reprinted from Rabbi Kripke’s 1988 book, Insight and Interpretation.
Marilyn Henry, journalist and reparations authority, dies at 57 by JTA NEWS STAFF (JTA) -- Journalist Marilyn Henry, an authority on German reparations and the recovery of Jewish properties looted and displaced in Europe during the Nazi and communist eras, has died. Henry, of Teaneck, N.J., died of cancer on March 2, four days before her 58th birthday. She was a columnist for The Jerusalem Post, where she also served as a staff writer reporting from Israel, Europe and the United States. She was a contributing editor to ARTnews and worked briefly as interim managing editor of JTA. She also worked part time as an archivist for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. She began her journalism career at the Jacksonville (Fla.) Times-Union, and also worked at Newsday. Her articles have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, the Forward and Aufbau, and in publications in Germany, Switzerland, Britain and the Netherlands, according to the New Jersey Jewish Standard. Henry was the author of “Confronting the Perpetrators: A History of the Claims Conference” and lectured on the topic of German reparations. “She will be always remembered for her relentlessness, her tenacity, her love of all things Jewish, and her sincere attachment to the truth, regardless of where the chips may fall,” said Marc Masurovsky, co-founder of the Holocaust Art Restitution Project.
U.S. soldiers’ killer hates Jews and Israel, police say by JTA NEWS STAFF BERLIN (JTA) -- The man who shot and killed two U.S. servicemen at Frankfurt Airport was possessed by hatred of Jews and Israel, police say. Arid Uka, 21, born in Albania, had posted remarks on Facebook condemning German Chancellor Angela Merkel as an “infidel” for her support for Israel, according to a Wall Street Journal report. He wrote that “means we’re on the side of the Jews.” He likened this to a “declaration of war on Muslims.” The DAPD news agency reported that Uka had openly expressed hate for Jews, Shiite Muslims and “nonbelievers” on several Internet forums. Police said the gunman, who is in custody in Karlsruhe, had ties to well-known Islamic extremists but probably acted alone. He is facing charges of murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault. The murdered servicemen were part of a British-based U.S. Air Force Security Forces team on a military bus about to go to the U.S. airbase at Ramstein, Germany. Uka allegedly forced himself onto the bus and fired his gun before fleeing. He was caught by German police and an American serviceman. Uka reportedly has confessed to the crime.
Frank L. Ciciulla, Jr.
Eat. Drink. Watch the horses run... Columbus Races Saint Patrick’s Day Simulcast Celebration! Food and drink specials all day! KUSO-US 92 will broadcast live from 6 to 8 p.m. 6&+7)8 95!:$49:5#;; < =)/8 >>>?@AB@(C?D+. One lucky person will receive Miranda Lambert (the NEW QUEEN of Country) tickets* at the end of the broadcast! !"##$ &'()#* +,-./(!#(-"! "-0 1 !! #$%& '%())% 1 *+,-./-01 23 4 45# "#$% &' ()'$'*% %+ ,-*. /+*0')% '1'*% 2 3')$4-*5 /'*%') 2 6-*0+7*8 9()-7 :
FT. CALHOUN AMERICAN LEGION POST 348 2011
Sparks from the word
Hyman Hurwitz passed away in Rancho Mirage, CA at the age of 98. Services were held in Sioux Falls, SD on Feb. 25 with burial at Mt. Zion Cemetery. He was preceded in death by his wife Lillian of 42 years and his second wife, Jean Rae Kalin of 11 years. He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Jeanne and Maximo Shechet, sons and daughters-in-law, Robert and Barbara Hurwitz of Columbia, MD, and Larry and Joan Hurwitz of Seattle, WA, and daughter, Marilyn Badolato of Denver, CO; 11 gandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Memorials may be sent to Mt. Zion Temple Cemetery in Sioux Falls c/o Jeanne Shechet, the National Autism Society or the charity of your choice.
1439 So. 13th 402-341-2452
WOODWORKERS SHOW Saturday, March 19 th 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Ft. Calhoun Community Hall • 1200 Court St., Fort Calhoun
WIN 200 gift $
certificate to Midwest Woodworkers
Concessions • FREE Parking OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! Admission: $300 • Kids 12 & Under Free Forvendorinformation,contact:JohnLinton402-468-4517orjplinton@yahoo.com
General Laborer/Driver Operator in the Blair, NE & Council Bluffs, IA Area Job involves travel, usually gone 1 to 3 weeks at a time. Employer provides travel, motel, and a per diem allowance. Job duties include sand blasting, water blasting, and vacuuming tanks. Actual days off arranged. Will start as part-time employee with more hours available. Must have a valid driver’s license and a clean driving record. CDL preferred. Employer will conduct background check.
Need 4 positions filled in Blair. Work every day, no travel.
For more information, contact: W-S Industrial 712-366-8886 • www.w-sindustrial.com
Nebraska STATEWIDE CLASSIFIEDS ADOPTION: THE promise of a secure home for your unborn child, filled with warmth, compassion & endless love! Expenses paid. Legal/Confidential. Kathy & Chris, 1-877274-5156.
Join our sales team The Jewish Press advertisement department is looking for a part time sales executive • flexible hours • commission only • sales experience preferred To apply, send resume and cover letter to: The Jewish Press c/o Annette van de Kamp-Wright 333 South 132 Street, Omaha, NE 68154 Email to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING works! Place your 25 word ad into thousands of Nebraska homes for $210. Contact the Jewish Press at 402-334-6448 or call 1-800369-2850. BANKRUPTCY: FREE initial consultation. Fast relief from creditors. Low rates. Statewide filing. No office appointment necessary. Call Steffens Law Office, 308-8728327. steffensbankruptcylaw.com. We are a debt relief agency, which helps people file bankruptcy under the bankruptcy code. LOOKING FOR the classic car, truck or motorcycle of your dreams? Go to www.midwestclassiccars.com. It’s your Midwest connection to classic vehicles for sale. Need to sell a classic vehicle? For only $25, your ad with photos will run until sold! Call this newspaper today for more information or call 1-800-369-2850. AFFORDABLE PRESS Release service. Send your message to 178 newspapers across Nebraska for one low price! Call 1-800-369-2850 or www.nebpress.com for more details. GREAT RESTAURANT opportunity, Oscar’s for sale in Ponca, NE. Home of Ponca State Park, Nebraska’s #4 tourist attraction. Call 1-402-755-2224. IN-ROW STARTER & Foliar Fertilizers. Highest quality. 100% orthophosphate. Delivered direct to your farm. Call or text for pricing to: 1-402-430-7727. RESTAURANT EQUIPMENT Outlet; new & used restaurant equipment. See www.Chillmasters.biz for more info; Sioux City, IA, 1-800-526-7105.
COLUMBUS ANTIQUE FLEA MARKET Ag. Park, Columbus, NE Sat., March 12th • 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sun., March 13th • 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. $2 admission good both days! Dealers inside & out
Furniture•Primitives Hunting•Fishing Postcards•Books Glassware•China Pottery•Crocks Toys•Tools Jewelry•Prints Paintings•Linens VintageClothing Political &CampaignItems Much,Much More ~ Dealer Inquiries Welcome ~ We NEVER Cancel!
YOUR LAND and $250 deposit is what you need. Big 3-bedroom doublewide. Delivered to your land. It’s easy to prequalify. Call 800-375-3115.
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PAULSEN, INC. is taking applications for an experienced Asphalt Lay Down Foreman. Competitive salary package. Contact Jim Jewell, jim.paulsen@cozadtel.net, 308-7843333. An EEO employer. AREA CURRICULUM Developer/Trainer: 15-month grant funded Full-time position. Provide leadership, coordination/management of Renewable Energy Curriculum and training focusing on Hydropower. AAS or higher in a related field or 10+ years work experience in Hydropower or Electrical setting. Instructions/information: www.mpcc.edu. EEO Employer Educator CITY OF Columbus, NE. Communications Supervisor. Pay Scale $14.91 to $20.12/hour. Apply by Wednesday, 3/9/11. See details at www.columbusne.us. CALIFORNIA BOUND! Play in Vegas, Hang in LA, Jet to NYC! Hiring 18-24 girls/guys. $400-$800 weekly. Paid expenses. Call 1-877-259-6983. YOU GOT the drive, we have the direction. OTR Drivers, APU equipped pre-pass EZpass, pets/passenger policy. Newer equipment. 100% No Touch. 1-800-528-7825. ATTENTION OWNER Operators! Earn up to $200,000/year. No upfront costs! Bonus programs. Home weekly. Must be 25, 2 years OTR, CDL-A. Call 866-946-4322, www.fccinc.com. DRIVERS: OTR. New career/guaranteed job? FFE offering free tuition at FFE Driver Academy, Fort Worth, TX. Experienced? $1,000 sign-on. CO & O/O’s! 1-800-569-9232, recruit@ffex.net. OTR DRIVER for flatbed operation. Norfolk, NE, based company. Midwest runs, home most weekends and holidays, competitive pay. Call 1-402-582-4791. BUYING GOLD & Diamonds! Sartor Hamann Jewelers, your trusted local buyer in Lincoln or Grand Island. Cash or trade. www.sartorhamann.com or 877-570-9138.
12 | The Jewish Press | March 11, 2011
Culinary Currency
Gypsy chicks JOEY HOFFMAN I’m newly vegan. Scratch that, I eat fish. Fegan? I’m shedding pounds, toxins and icky beliefs. Still, I’m deeply humbled by the following: 1. Nala, our Greyhound puppy, has more muscles than I do. 2. My new juicer is worth more than my Outback. 3. Nala runs faster than my Outback. 4. Me: Climbed 17 stairs from the parking lot. Gym receptionist: “Morning!â€? Me: Audible heaving. 5. Raw, unsalted sunflower seeds bum me out. So does that receptionist. 6. Daughter Daisy, a vegephobe, adores roasted seaweed by the bagful. Dog Sadie, who once ate a club chair, won’t touch the stuff. Growing up, I survived on ’50s fare Stouffer’s, pot roast and boiled potatoes, upside down pineapple cake with maraschinos. My first words? “Chocolate chip mint clown cone please.â€? Favorite after-school snack: Rolled-up Swiss cheese dunked in Hellmann’s (Note to self: Check cholesterol). Of course, there were times when I ate fruit. I do not recall when, but I’m sure I did. Wait! I drank canned Mott’s apple juice with my brown-bagged lunch. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until college that my culinary choices caught up with me. When I met Domino’s, I gained the clichĂŠ freshman 15 (ok, 20). Madison, WI’s sub-zero temps did nothing to make my abs and me visit the campus
gym. I didn’t even know there was a campus gym until my childhood friend Carolyn came to visit and, with carrot juice in hand, asked: “Want to take an aerobics class?� I declined politely, then sat in my dorm lounge watching my Food Science class on closed-circuit TV. Carolyn’s house next door was a hub of health. No wonder I logged half the ‘80s there, I got what I needed. Every morning, I’d hop the chainlink fence and skip into her house, led by wafts of burnt toast (her family loved to scorch then scrape it). In the breakfast room, I’d find my spot at the round marble table in the middle of which was a wooden lazy Susan that spun like the Wheel of Fortune, offering a beautiful line-up of wholesome cereals. As I cleanse, I crave clean, like a whole organic tomato eaten like a red delicious apple. When I asked Carolyn recently if she had the recipe for her family’s homemade tomato vegetable soup infused with whole peppercorns, she was blown away that I even remembered it. Funny how seemingly small details of one’s life is another’s precious memory. Best-tasting morsel? Daisy and her newfound appreciation for foods plucked from the ground or a tree, not an assembly line. Her plate is morphing from beige to orange, red, and yellow. She begs me to buy pomegranates and savors strawberries (Disclaimer: I promised Daisy that once she gained a bit more weight per her dietician, she may eat -gulp -- her dream meal: A Lunchable). Is it hot in here?
Policeman rescues Torah scrolls from Christchurch rubble by JTA NEWS STAFF although it is unclear if they were in the SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) -- Two Torah South Island at the time of the tremor. scrolls buried under the rubble of the Rabbi Mendel Goldstein, the head of Chabad house in Christchurch, New Chabad in New Zealand, said that “We are Zealand, have been saved. really overjoyed by the remarkable rescue Rabbi Shmuel Friedman, who escaped by this heroic police officer. He went into from the Jewish outreach center with an Israeli backpacker when a devastating earthquake struck Feb. 22, was trying to salvage remnants of the building in central Christchurch on Wednesday when he was stopped by a police detective, Chris Bell. “When he heard of the importance of the Torah to Jews around the world, he put on his helmet and gloves and went in himself,� Friedman told Chabad’s website, Chabad.org. “For me, it was extremely emotional,� said Friedman, who 24 hours earlier had said Kaddish for two Israelis before their bodies were repatriated. “It was such a Police Det. Chris Bell retrieves the two Torah scrolls from beautiful scene when I saw the Chabad house rubble in Christchurch, March 2, 2011. Credit: Chabad the detective coming out from the Chabad house. It was like a fire- what is literally an extremely dangerous man coming out of a burning building situation and pulled out the Torahs; it’s clutching a baby.� completely unbelievable.� The quake has claimed more than 160 Pledging to rebuild the Chabad house, lives, including three Israelis. The final Goldstein said he was organizing food death toll is expected to reach as high as from the North Island and Australia to 240, police have warned. Two Israelis have feed volunteers as well as local Jewish famyet to make contact with their families, ilies who lost their homes in the quake.
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Classic movie musicals will charm you as the symphony provides a live soundtrack. Don’t miss scenes and songs from The Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, The King and I, South Pacific, and Carousel.
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Nothing says classy and cool like the songs of Frank Sinatra. Join crooner Steve Lippia for an evening of magical “Ol’ Blue Eyes� hits, including “Come Fly With Me,� “New York, New York,� and “My Way.� SERIES SPONSOR
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