April 4, 2008

Vol. LXXXVII No. 30 Omaha, NE

28 Adar II, 5768

April 4, 2008

The Heartland celebrates Yom Ha’Atzmaut with Israel@60

Lights out

At 8 p.m., Israel time on Sunday evening, lights in Tel Aviv were either turned off or dimmed for one hour, as Israel participated in the world-wide event to raise awareness of global warming. The focal point of Israel’s visual contribution was when President Shimon Peres turned off the switch at the three-tower Azrieli complex in the center of the nation’s busy commenrcial center. One by one, lights on each of these landmark towers went black in common with many other buildings and institutions whose owners Credit: ISRANET cooperated in the global event.

Community commemorates Yom Hashoah

by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Center for Jewish Education Administrator Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, will be observed Wednesday, April 30, 7 p.m., at Beth Israel Synagogue, with a commemoration service open to the community. The service will begin with the lighting of the Shoah memorial candelabra.

“The phrase ‘never forget’ is heard so often,” commented Toba Cohen, Yom HaShoah Committee Chairman “This is an evening for the community to come together and give action to this phrase in showing its respect to those who perished in the Shoah. It is also the opportunity to honor the survivors in our own community and express our appreciation for their strength and inspiration.”

Roman Kent is the featured speaker of this year’s commemoration. Kent, who was born in Lodz, Poland, was in the Lodz Ghetto for six years and was also in the Auschwitz, Mertzbachtal, Dornau, and Flossenburg concentration camps.

He is the chairman of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and is the treasurer and board member for the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. Kent also produced the documentary film, Children of the Holocaust, and is the author of My Dog Lala, a touching true story of a young boy and his dog during the Holocaust.

Continued on page 2

Inside

Celebrating 87 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

by RACHEL BLUM prize redemption booth.

JCC Jewish Program Director Several local restaurant vendors will provide tasty foods and LISA SHKOLNICK for the Yom Ha’Atzmaut festivities, including El Basha, JCC Associate Executive Director Julio’s, Zio’s Pizzeria, and Bagel Bin. It’s only four weeks away, but already community The Kripke Jewish Federation Library will be featuring leaders expect more than 1800 people to celebrate film previews from 12-2 p.m. Catch a glimpse of some Israeli Independence Day at the Jewish Community of the most informative Israeli films, like Israel: A Nation Born and The Gates of Jerusalem. As each film Center on Sunday, May 4, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This celebration will be like no other, as the Heartland will only be viewed for one hour, copies of these films celebrates 60 years of independence for the State of will be available for checkIsrael. This year’s festivities include exciting and new out to be viewed in features and programs; including their entirety. a Community “Walk for Israel”, Sponsored by a special Israel Vendor Fair, a Omaha’s Henry unique “round-robin” session Monsky Lodge, with our Omaha rabbis, and an the annual performance of Israeli band B’nai B’rith Kolot Ort, just to name a few.

Israel Even before Yom Trivia HaAztmaut opens at the JCC, a “Walk the Land”: The Community Walk for Israel (rain or shine), is planned.

Sponsored by the Afikim Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Omaha, registration opens at 10 a.m. with breakfast; the walk begins at 11 a.m. This one-mile walk begins at the JCC Pavilion and will be lined with murals depicting cities in Israel, as part of a global celebration.

Walk the Land will take The Kolot Ort band will perform on Sunday, May 4, 3:30 p.m. during Israel@60 at the JCC. place in communities around the world. Cost in Omaha is $5 per adult and Quiz is a 25-question contest at 1 p.m. The quiz covers includes a t-shirt, water bottle and a sling backpack. such topics as Israeli history, culture, music, literature, and Registration is free for kids, which includes a t-shirt more, all relating to Israel in honor of Israel’s 60th. Any (while supplies last). For more information, contact member of the Jewish community 13-years-old or older Kathy McGauvran at 334.6427 or visit www.jewishom- can participate, and teams may not include members of the clergy or full time professional religious educators. aha.org to register before April 14.

During the May 4th Israel@60 celebration, there will The prize for first place is $250; second place is $100, be entertainment all day. Starting at 11 a.m., Tuffy’s and third place, $50. A separate category for teens will Klezmorium, which has been playing together for near- also be offered, and half of each prize will go to an Israeli ly 20 years, will fill the JCC auditorium with a variety of charity of the winning team’s choosing. Advanced regismusical styles, including klezmer and Israeli jazz, which tration for participation in the quiz is preferred, howevconsists mostly of music written by Jewish composers. er, participants can sign up the day of the event. Entry The band features Tuffy Epstein on saxophone, clarinet, forms are available at the synagogues and at the JCC. and flute, Steve Thomas on percussion and trap set, and The Elinor A. Whitman Book Contest is an annual Dan Cerveny on keyboards. event created to perpetuate goals that Mrs. Whitman Kolot Ort, an Israeli band from Omaha’s Partnership had during her lifetime of devoted service to the youth with Israel region in the Western Galilee, will begin their of the Omaha community -- promoting Jewish literature performance in the JCC Theater at 3:30 p.m. for children.

Kolot Ort band members hail from Akko; the nine talThe contest is divided into two categories: Book ented young adults, ages 20-22, are just finishing their Jackets (kindergarten-sixth grade) and Book Reports service in the army. Introducing Kolot Ort will be a spe- (first-sixth grade) and winners will be announced in the cial performance of “Tell Our Children Now”, a song Kripke Library at 2:30 p.m. All participants will receive written by Karen Javitch and Joanie Jacobson, written a certificate of participation and winners will receive new and sung for author and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel hardcover books. For more information please contact when he visited Omaha in 1991. Dacia Jabenis and Gary Katz, Library Administrator, at 334.6462.

Michael Lyons will perform the song.

The Jewish Federation of Omaha will present the Throughout the day, organizers will provide lots of Jewish Teen Leadership Awards at 3:30 p.m., prior to fun, engaging activities for all ages, including inflatables, the Kolot Ort performance. These awards honor Jewish games and face painters in the Kids’ Court. Activities teens who demonstrate outstanding leadership in BBYO include, “Catch-a-flight to Israel” with a remote-control or a synagogue youth group. The award comes with a led Airplane, “Challenge yourself in the Israeli Boot $1,000 stipend that can be used towards Jewish educaCamp Course”, “Bounce-Around-Israel” in the tional course work or a Jewish experience such as camp Moonwalk Inflatable and “Climb Masada” on the Israel or a trip to Israel.

Starting at 1 p.m., join Omaha’s rabbis for 15-minute Rock Wall.

Additionally, children can try their luck at our Israeli sessions to learn more about Israel. It’s informative; it’s Carnival Booths, which include games such as Ix Mix fun. On the quarter hour, the rabbis will take turns disDrix (Tic Tac Toe), Israeli Plinko, Pluck-a-duck from cussing the different topics; drop in for one or all. Each the Sea of Galilee Duck Pond, Israeli Balloon Darts, rabbi will present twice, so attendees at Yom HaAztamut Israeli Lollipop Tree Game, and an “Israel Poster” Ring- can participate in other activities, too.

Toss Game. All games earn shekels to use toward our Continued on page 10

This Week: Purim in the Heartland: Page 11

See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’ Opinion Page see page 16

Where Are They Now? features doctor in Kosovo: page 4

Coming This Month: Israel@60 on April 18 Obama and Clinton in dead heat among Jewish voters: page 6

Jewish Parenting: Sedering with the kids: page 14

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

April 4, 2008

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FRIDAY, APRIL 4 Visions Board Meeting, 9:30 a.m.

Understanding Jewish Mysticism, noon SATURDAY, APRIL 5 Junior Congregation Spring Break, 4:30 p.m. at Beth El “Out of Sight Saturday Night,” 6:30 p.m.

C SUNDAY, APRIL 6 L Reading the Rambam Class, 9:45 a.m. at Beth Israel I Bible Study Group, Lessons for the Jewish Soul, and Men’s Club Breakfast and Speaker, 10 a.m. at Beth El P Torah Study 101, 10 a.m. Temple Israel Shiputznick Teen Mitzvah Day, 12:30 p.m. & Beyt Shalom Religious School, 1:30 p.m. at JCC Shiputznick Teen Mitzvah Day BBQ, 5 p.m.

S MONDAY, APRIL 7 A V JSS Senior Luncheon, 9:30 a.m.

E Beginning Hebrew, 7 p.m.

Beth El Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group, 7 p.m.

Derech Torah: Judaism 101, 8 p.m.

C L I P & S A V E

TUESDAY, APRIL 8 ADL Project Interfaith Focus Group, 7:30 a.m.

ADL/CRC Board Meeting, noon Hebrew Lunch ‘n Learn, 12:15 p.m. at Temple Israel BBYO Council Elections, 6 p.m.

It’s Not Your Maxwell House Haggadah, 7 p.m.

Parshah Roundup, 7 p.m. at Chabad WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9 Friedel Academy Executive Board, 5:30 p.m.

Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Beth Israel C JFS’s Love and Logic, 7 p.m. Beth El L Friedel Academy Board of Directors, 7 p.m.

I NCJW Board Meeting, 7 p.m.

P THURSDAY, APRIL 10 Women of the Torah, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel & Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Insights and Values from the Torah, noon Beth El S Yiddish Group, 1 p.m.

A Women’s Book Group, 1:15 p.m. at Beth El V BBYO Spring Regional Convention in Omaha, April 10-13 E CJE Committee Meeting, 6 p.m.

“To Die in Jerusalem,” 7 p.m.

Class with Rabbi Gross, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel All events held at the JCC unless otherwise indicated. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of events. To keep calendar accurate or for questions, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437.

FOR A COMPLETE LISTING, VISIT THE FEDERATION’S WEBSITE: www.JewishOmaha.org (click on calendar)

This Space For Rent Call Allan Handleman 334-6451

C L I P & S A V E

Federation of Omaha and the

by LISA LIEB Federation Communications Director Institute for Holocaust Education, a division of the Leslie Klein’s visit to Dachau haunted her Anti-Defamation League/ with the horrors suffered by so many during Community Relations the Holocaust.

Committee.

“The quiet pressed down around my ears. I “The Institute for Holocaust couldn’t breathe, afraid to talk too loud Education is proud to co-host among the flat and empty rows of markers,” this exhibit with the she recalls.

Federation,” said Beth Dotan, A mixed media and fiber artist from San IHE director. “We continue to Antonio, Texas, Klein channeled her artistic find opportunities for collaboenergy to create “All That Remains” a ration and seek ways to help Holocaust exhibition in fiber that will be on the community understand the display in the JCC Gallery from April 4-29.

Holocaust from different perAn Artist’s Reception, free and open to the spectives. Leslie Klein’s artpublic, will take place on Wednesday, April work is a perfect example of 16, 5-7 p.m.

Leslie Klein this teamwork, and this kind of Klein has worked in pastels, oil pastels and quality and creativity is a spemixed media, creating her images from a Jewish and cial gift to our community durfemale perspective. She has had ing the month in which we many one-person shows both commemorate Yom Hashoah in the U.S. and in Israel, (Holocaust Remembrance including “The Eden Trilogy”, Day).” an installation in oil pastel “It has been my privilege to exhibited at the Artist’s House become acquainted with Leslie in Jerusalem. Klein is also well over the past few years,” added known for her work in fabric Jan Goldstein, executive direc-- painting, dying and contor of the Federation. “Leslie’s structing clothing, exhibition passion for creating Holocaust art work, and Judaic pieces memorabilia is uniquely such as custom challah covers expressed in her creative work and tallitot. with fiber. Our community is “All That Remains” features very fortunate to have the conceptual art clothing, wall opportunity to see the amazing hangings, drawings and instalwork of this talented artist, as lation pieces that address the we visit the Holocaust through Holocaust and anti-Semitism her unique point of view.” through layers of meaning and An additional exhibit imagery: abstracted concentra“Displaced: Europe 1945tion camp stripes, airbrushed 1946, Photographs by Maxine with body parts, the yellow star “Lily’s Birthday Dress” portrays an effort at normal- Rude” will be on display in the and Jude calligraphy, bricks cy and love amid the horrors of the ghettos and con- Pennie Z. Davis Gallery for from the ovens and ghetto centration camps. At first glance, it appears to be a Holocaust Education around walls, a tangle of eyeglasses. sweet party dress with frills, beads and lace. Upon the corner from the main JCC But every piece also contains closer looks, the real story begins to dawn on us. The Gallery. within it faith in Torah, pride skirt, made of the artist’s original fabric reminiscent Maxine Rude, a photograin the Jewish people, and stub- of concentration camp uniforms, and its delicate pher for the United States born resistance to oppression. dotted Swiss apron, are sooty and burned. When the Army and then for the United “I don’t know the ghosts viewer looks more closely at the bodice embroidery, Nations organization UNRAA, who visit themselves in my fab- beleaguered children’s faces emerge. The under- was a witness to the events of rics, but they follow me sleeve bears semi-hidden photos from the camps. Its post World War II Europe. nonetheless, showing up in decorative trim reveals itself as barbed wire, while Rude’s work from the garments to instruct the way the lining betrays again the specter of the camps.

Displaced Person’s camps they are made and tell of their focuses on the search for juslives,” said Klein. “We Jews inhabit the past in order to tice against perpetrators of genocide, and the return of fully understand our present. I won’t move on without life by victims of the Nazis. them.”

Group tours of “All That Remains” are available by “All That Remains” is presented by the Jewish contacting Dotan at 334. 6575.

Community commemorates Yachad takes to the lanes Yom Hashoah Continued from page 1 “It is a great honor for our agency to coordinate the annual commemoration of the Holocaust,” said Dr. Guy Matalon, executive director of the Center for Jewish Education. “Giving tribute to the survivors and the memory of those who perished is such an important responsibility of each and every Jew. We consider this event as one of the most important responsibilities of our agency.”

Prior to the community event, an educational program for Jewish teens will be held at Beth Israel. The program will be held in the synagogue social hall and begins with dinner at 5:45 p.m.

The Yom Hashoah event is presented by the CJE and sponsored by Beth El, Beth Israel, and Temple Israel and the Institute for Holocaust Education. Committee members also include Beth Seldin-Dotan, Beth Cohen, Rabbi Jonathan Gross, and Zohar Weiner. For more information, please call 334.6445.

EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE The Jewish Press will be closed Monday, April 21 for Passover. The Passover issue publishes April 18; synagogue schedules are due to the Press office no later than April 4.

The deadline for the April 25 issue is Wednesday, April 16, 9 a.m. for all ads, articles and photos.

Questions? Call 402. 334.6448.

Yachad members recently met at Maplewood Lanes for an energetic (and good natured) bowling outing. Above: Volunteer Karen Lepp, left, gives Yachad member Marilyn Zevitz some pointers before her turn on the lane. As always, some dedicated volunteers were on hand to offer assistance and mentoring to the group, including Mark Kazor.

According to Duane Pieper, Yachad program coordinator, “This is a sport that everyone can participate in and truly enjoy. The experience, rather than the score, is what is remembered.” For information on how you can become involved, please call Jewish Family Service at 334.6491.

April 4, 2008

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

Israeli singer climbs charts with boost from Apple ad

by BEN HARRIS NEW YORK (JTA) -- Musicians not so long ago would be regarded as colossal sell-outs for licensing their work for use in a TV commercial.

But in following a trail blazed by such titans as the Rolling Stones and U2, the French-Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naim has little reason to be ashamed that she is best known for a maddeningly catchy tune featured in the current MacBook Air laptop ad http://youtube. com/watch?v=GBCfW9-hjKI. Those who’ve watched even a moderate amount of television lately have probably heard the song, “New Soul.” It opens with a jangly piano line as a disembodied hand pulls a sliver of laptop from a manila envelope.

More than one million YouTube viewers have watched the 30-second clip. Another 4.6 million people have watched the longer, full-length video of the song http://youtube.com/watch?v=2gtbzS0PcEg in which Naim’s apartment decorating session morphs into a sort of impromptu dance party on a river raft.

Last month, the song was the eighth most popular download on the digital music service iTunes, and last month Naim became the first Israeli to crack the

Israeli actors engage Omahans

Last week, actors from the Akko Theater Group in the Western Galilee performed the play Lech Lecha (Go Forth) for Omaha Jewish women, in the final program of the Federation’s Partnership with Israel Performing Arts Series. Niv Ben Azar, left, Sagit Damti, Smadi Gerrasey, Neta Plotzky, and Osnat Schnek and Hytem Abo Hamed, not pictured), remained on stage to talk with audience members. Dinner with the cast followed the performance.

Billboard Top Ten, ranking ninth in the United States for sales of “New Soul” in the second week of February.

Naim, 30, says she rejected other offers to license the song before Apple came calling. Besides the priceless exposure afforded an artist whose last album was a commercial disappointment, she says there’s something natural about her music being featured in an ad for a laptop.

“We really make a lot of music with computers,” Naim told JTA. “We made this album on a computer.

So it’s part of the music process.”

Of course, Naim is not the Rolling Stones. Prior to the Mac ad, she was a relatively unknown songwriter still licking her wounds after the 2001 debut album flopped.

Now she’s seemingly everywhere.

In the last month alone, Naim has been featured in USA Today, Time Out New York and the New York Daily News, and she has performed on Conan O’Brien’s latenight show, the CBS “Early Show” and at the major music industry festival South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.

She wrapped up her first U.S. tour last month, a jaunt through three cities that finished at the sold-out Bowery Ballroom in New York City.

When Naim performed “New Soul,” which she did twice in the course of a barely hour-long set, the Bowery audience burst to life, a spontaneous chorus belting out its addictive melody.

“It’s nice,” she told JTA the morning after.

Naim was born in Paris to Tunisian immigrants in 1978 and moved to Israel at the age of four. Not particularly religious, the family celebrated holidays and had

big dinners on Friday nights. But her family was interested in the arts -- her father’s Beatles records that diverted her interest from classical music -- and Naim served in the Israeli army for two years as a singer.

“I had a really great childhood because it was a country with summer most of the year and children are really independent in Israel,” Naim said. “Growing up like this, in this kind of freedom, made me really curious about the world and about other cultures and just being a human being first.”

Her new album, “Yael Naim,” was released March 18 in the United States. Recorded in her Paris apartment with musical partner David Donatien, it took more than two years to complete. It was Donatien, a percussionist from the West Indies, who encouraged Naim to sing in Hebrew, something she had resisted because she didn’t think anyone was interested.

“When I heard this song, I thought that it was really true and really personal,” Donatien said of Naim’s Hebrew music. “It gave her a great identity.”

Naim calls her decision to sing in Hebrew a “huge release.”

On the album, a collection of ballads that could be the perfect soundtrack for an afternoon stroll by the Seine, Naim sings in a mixture of Hebrew and charmingly accented English, with a smattering of French. The one dissonant note is the strange inclusion of a mellowedout cover of the Britney Spears hit “Toxic.” http://youtube.com/watch?v=j5pP55u9s10 In concert, though, Naim is buoyant and playful, and the music has a slightly coarser edge.

Flitting around the Bowery stage with an almost girlish glee, Naim was clad in a loose purple dress and leg warmers, and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the attention. She crossed her legs demurely as she played guitar, her porcelain face framed by long dark tresses, her crystalline voice soaring over sparse arrangements of percussion and guitar with mild electronic inflections.

In the coat check line after the show, one Israeli expat enthused about Naim’s interactive style on stage, explaining how she was bringing an Israeli performance style to American audiences.

“It’s going to spread like wildfire,” he said. “Just wait.”

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

April 4, 2008

Former Temple student in Kosovo is living his mission to do something of value WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Rand Engel grew up here in the 1950s and ‘60s and had what he described as “a fairly normal Omaha childhood.” His parents, Dr. Robert Engel and Renee Greenberg Engel, originally joined Temple Israel in 1947. Rand, a Central High School graduate, recalled that he “was a particularly undistinguished student” at Religious School.

But “schools were good, our lives were peaceful and prosperous.

We were mostly remote from the dangers of the world except for air raid sirens and crawling under our desks at school” during atom bomb drills. He Rand Engel has been in Kosovo wanted to be president since 1999, improving lives diswhen he grew up. “I now rupted by ethnic cleansing. see from the attack on Senator Obama’s kindergarten aspiration that it is no longer an acceptable wish, but I think it was normal then.”

Engel was influenced by the people and events -- near and widespread -- of that era such as John F. Kennedy’s presidency, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Rabbi Sidney Brooks’ (Temple Israel’s rabbi from 1952-85) sermons, the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, and his grandfather Dr. Abe Greenberg’s dedicated public service as a vice president of International B’nai B’rith and president of the Jewish Federation in 1957 and 1958.

Whether it was Reform Judaism’s emphasis on social justice or the social injustices of the times, Engel “wanted to do something” when he saw the news coming out of Kosovo in the 1990s. Prior to that, the Brandeis University 1970 social psychology graduate leaned toward “social entrepreneurship.”

He ran businesses like non-profits and non-profits more or less like businesses, he explained. “I’ve bought and sold property, worked in energy conservation, been a small business consultant, and been decidedly in the profit sector working for a clothing manufacturer in Asia.”

Since June 1999, though, he’s been working in Kosovo with Balkan Sunflowers, an international grass-

roots organization, which began just two months earli- have varied, said Engel, who is the coordinator of Balkan er, to aid Kosovar refugees. He had seen “the distressing Sunflowers in Kosovo. The organization has built city images...of trains packed with people being ethnically parks, run Kosovo-wide environmental campaigns, and cleansed. During the campaign of murder and ethnic sponsored youth video programs resulting in ten young cleansing aimed at Albanians in Kosovo in 1999, more people now working as filmmakers who showed films at than 10,000 people were murdered and more than Sundance and the Cannes Film Festivals.

1,800,000 people fled their homes -- some 120,000 of Through Balkan Sunflowers, 56 weeks of “Great Films which were burned,” Engel said. “At the time, however, that Change Our World,” a weekly film about human it seemed it might have been far worse. The train images rights, democracy, and social change were presented folrecalled the Holocaust, if inaccurately. My various lowed by panel discussions. “Youth working with us curinquiries about volunteering were not answered by the rently are leading students in model debates and diamajor organizations, but Balkan Sunflowers did answer. logues in 300 secondary school classrooms as part of the So I traveled to Albania Great Films projwhere I started work in ect.” refugee camps.”

Engel pointed out As part of the first team that “Kosovo is in to go to Kosovo in July some ways quite 1999, “our work was simnormal and in ple. Established organizasome ways not. tions were dealing with Most everything food, hygiene, shelter, one might want is medical services, family available but nothreunifications, etc. We ing like the quality were doing activities of all or variety we sorts with children, and (Americans and secondarily, with families. international The basic concept was workers from that children have had wealthier counterrible experiences, seen Former Omahan Rand Engel works with youth in Kosovo. tries) are used to.” terrible things, been traumatized, but that giving posiThere are some 40 Jews living in Kosovo in the histive care, and attention ... can help them more quickly toric city of Prizren. “I’ve attended a number of holiday recover, and having new people who are kind and play- dinners, sponsored by the American Jewish Joint ful with them can counter the experience of the ‘other’ Distribution Committee, with them. as destroyer.”

“Over the years in Kosovo,” admitted Engel, who Engel added that “over the years, the activities have returns to Omaha about twice a year, “there were perievolved. As the Albanian refugees re-established their ods when I was new to it and (was) very happy. Then lives, much attention turned to other minorities, partic- there were years when I wanted out but felt somewhat ularly the most marginalized (such as) the Roma, pejo- stuck. If I left, what we were doing would stop. But I ratively known as ‘gypsies.’ Since 2000, we have worked don’t think much about being happy or unhappy. This is in Albania, Macedonia, and in Kosovo with Roma, par- what I do, this is where I am. I used to always look for ticularly, to help children stay in school” through pre- greener grass. I have mostly stopped doing that. I have school activities, homework assistance, tutoring, and many friends (in Kosovo). I am moved by what our volschool materials. unteers do and am motivated by enabling that and the In 2008, with support from the Sunshine Lady rippling of that effect out and by the flowering of so Foundation, Balkan Sunflowers is expanding its many children and youth that we support.”

Learning Centers Network. “If we meet the conditions Somewhat self-deprecating, Engel said the most diffiof a challenge grant from the Sunshine Lady cult part of his life “is being a lousy fund raiser, knowing Foundation, we’ll expand to seven learning centers serv- that so much more could be done if I was somewhat beting approximately 1,000 children,” according to Engel. ter at my job.” Looking at his life through the context Activities, under the umbrella of “social reconstruc- of work, “the best thing is being able to do something tion, the elements that bring social harmony and peace of value,” which he noted “has often seemed like the and enhance the quality of life and belief in the future,” persistence to stick with it.”

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April 4, 2008

Chabad of Nebraska: the next generation

by DEVRA BRAM for Chabad House Chabad of Nebraska is celebrating 20 years in Omaha and serving the greater Nebraska community. As Michael Yanney, one of the honorees of the Gala, says, “At Chabad House, through mentoring and counseling, Rabbi Katzman is reaching out and touching families and troubled souls. It is what we should all be doing.”

In addition to the many programs and help Rabbi and Shani Katzman have provided over the years, 20 years of Chabad of Nebraska means that the next generation of Chabad is on board. Currently,

Huskers, insiders as it were, whose dream it is to share with the community, with the kids with whom they grew up, and with their families.” Adding “Of course, as parents we are thrilled to be working with Estie and Shevi,” Katzman says, “and to witness their incredible resourcefulness put to work. We are extremely proud of their accomplishments both personally and professionally and their devotion to Yiddishkeit and the teachings of the Rebbe.”

To celebrate, join the exciting gala “Mitzvahs and Music” on April 13, 5:30 p.m. The program has several exciting

Gan Israel campers look to counselors Estie from right, both in the back row.

Estie and Shevi Katzman, the Katzman’s two eldest daughters, have returned after graduation and work outside Omaha to work fulltime for Chabad of Nebraska.

They have been busy organizing holiday programming and outreach activities including the Chabad’s website, www.

OChabad.com. Their focus is children’s programming and they are the pioneers of Chabad’s Sunday School which is taught to the whole family, and the successful children’s camp, Gan Israel.

As Shani Katzman describes it, “Estie and Shevi add a new dimension of creativity and enthusiasm to the work of Chabad. Each is highly skilled and extremely talented and sought after in schools and institutions throughout the country. The fact that they have chosen to return home and be part of the local Chabad team underscores and emphasizes their dedication and commitment to this community. They are born and bred

Katzman far left, and Shevi’ Katzman, third surprises, an open bar, and fresh, delicious meal: all in a hip, relaxed environment. The venue is the new Omaha Creativity Center, KANEKO which features a brand-new space displaying Jun Kaneko’s ceramic sculpture.

As Sandee Friedman commented, “It was like walking through ceramic canyons. The variety of colors and textures is amazing.” The entertainment includes a not-to-be-missed music program featuring the 2001 Van Cliburn Gold Medal winner, pianist, Stanislav Ioudenitch from Uzbekistan and show tunes from the gifted Uruguayan singer, Marcelo Guzzo.

The entire community is invited to attend. Ticket information can be found at www.Ochabad.com or by calling 402.330.1800. If you would like to attend but can not afford the $100 ticket price at this time, please make a confidential call to Rabbi Katzman at 578.6724.

At Beth El Men’s Club breakfast, former Creighton Law dean to discuss lessons of the Nuremburg trials

by JILL BELMONT leading legal and historical experts in the Beth El Publicity Coordinator fields of jurisprudence and the Nazi legal A thought-provoking morning is system, but also some of the members of promised for all who attend the upcom- the Nuremberg prosecution team who ing Beth El Men’s Club Speakers’ Series are still alive today. event on Sunday, April 6, “As part of that confer10 a.m., as the synagogue ence,” he continued, “we welcomes former Omahan produced what is now an Larry Raful, Dean of the award-winning 30-minute Touro Law Center in video about the trials and Huntington, New York. the rule of law in Nazi Raful, a longtime Beth El Germany, and what lessons member and a former dean this period holds for us of Creighton University’s today, regarding issues such Law School, will lead a disas the Patriot Act and issues cussion about the lessons of of national security versus Larry Raful Nuremburg Trials; his presindividual freedoms. entation will be based on an award-win“The questions we raised in this short ning video (which he helped to produce), film discuss not only how the legal system which commemorates the 60th anniver- was perverted in Germany beginning in sary of the trials.

1933, but how the United States today In 2005, Touro Law School organized can learn from these events as we attempt a major international conference in to balance our need for security against Nuremberg, Germany, on the 60th terrorism while at the same time protectanniversary of the Nuremberg trials, ing our precious civil liberties. The paralRaful explained. “The four-day confer- lels are real and provocative.” ence focused specifically on the trial of The entire community is invited to Nazi judges and ‘the betrayal of the rule attend at no charge; a complimentary of law’ by the Nazi legal system. Speakers breakfast will be served. at the conference included not only the

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 5

Always there for the people of Israel.

Jewish National Fund

Israelis are being attacked in their schools and homes, while trying to lead their daily lives. JNF doesn’t just respond to headlines – we have partnered with the people of Israel from the beginning.

We are there! JNF builds security bypass roads to protect residents living on dangerous borders, providing parents and their children safe means of traveling to work and school.

We are there! When 9,000 Gaza evacuees were left homeless, JNF cleared ground for greenhouses and fields, funded temporary homes for families in need and broke ground on two new communities in the Negev.

We are there! JNF helps alleviate the trauma experienced by Israeli children living in areas under attack by bringing them to recreational camps in JNF forests. JNF has created youth leadership programs for Sderot and other communities in need.

We are there! JNF has improved the quality of life for residents of Sderot and the western Negev region by constructing two security roads, three Central Parks, playgrounds, recreational facilities and four reservoirs. JNF is providing fire trucks. It’s building new communities like Be’er Milka, which are improving the region’s economy.

JNF makes life better for Israel’s people.

Take action now to support our work through volunteering or by making a donation at:

1-888-JNF-0099 www.jnf.org www.jnf.org

Page 6

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

April 4, 2008

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Obama, Clinton in dead heat among Jewish Democrats

by RON KAMPEAS Times op-ed by a Hamas leader after it came to light that WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Even as conservatives con- Wright had republished it last summer in his church bultinue to paint Barack Obama as being surrounded by letin. In an e-mail to JTA, Obama called the op-ed “outanti-Israel advisers, a new poll shows the Illinois senator rageously wrong.” The candidate has consistently and Hillary Rodham Clinton in a neck-and-neck battle defended Israel and condemned Hamas terrorists. for Jewish support.

In a broader speech last week on Wright’s inflammatoA Gallup Poll tracking views according to religious ry rhetoric, Obama singled out Israel as an area where he beliefs March 1-22 found Jewish Democrats in a statis- disagreed with Wright, saying his former pastors’ views on tical dead heat in their support for their party’s presi- the U.S.-Israel relationship were “profoundly distorted.” dential nominees.

The freshest controversy, however, may be tougher to Clinton, a New York senator, led Obama, 48 percent douse. The American Spectator, a conservative magato 43 percent -- a differential falling within the 6 percent zine, uncovered a 2003 interview with U.S. Army Gen. margin of error for the 368 Jews who were interviewed. Merrill “Tony” McPeak, currently a co-chairman of the The results reflect the dead heat found among voters Obama campaign and -- like Obama -- an early and conin general in a separate national Gallup Poll released sistent critic of the Iraq war.

Monday.

In the interview with The Oregonian, McPeak faulted At the same time, Obama did better among Jews than the Bush administration’s Iraq policy in part for not among white Protestants and white Catholics. being part of a broader Middle East strategy. Asked who The poll comes after months of aggressive efforts by is at fault -- the White House or the State Department Obama and his campaign staff to repel ongoing e-mail - he answered: “New York City. Miami. We have a large attacks painting him as unsupportive of Israel, and amid vote -- vote, here in favor of Israel. And no politician speculation that he was in danger of losing Jewish sup- wants to run against it.” port.

The reporters pressed McPeak to assign responsibility Over the past week, conservative Web sites revealed to a faction within the Bush administration, but he and played up the fact that Obama’s pastor reprinted a insisted on returning to Israel and its U.S. supporters.

Los Angeles Times opinion piece challenging Israel’s “I think that everybody understands that a settlement right to exist, and pointed to a 2003 interview in which of the Arab-Israeli problem would require the Israelis to one of his top advisers appeared to blame the pro-Israel stop settling the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and lobby for failures in the Middle East peace process. maybe even withdraw some of the settlements that’ve Citing these sorts of attacks in its news release on the already been put there,” he said. survey, Gallup seemed surprised by the close margin “And nobody wants to take on that problem. It’s just among Jewish voters. But some Democratic observers too tough politically. So that means we can’t ... you can’t familiar with the Jewish community said the tight battle develop a Middle East strategy. It’s impossible.” should not come as a shock.

The Republican Jewish Coalition called on Obama to Mark Mellman, a top Democratic pollster, noted that sack McPeak, who has proven an important asset to the the Jewish community is rich in two constituencies that campaign in terms of furnishing military credibility. are considered natural “Rather than putting the redoubts for each of the canblame where it belongs -- on didates. the Palestinian leadership “White women favor and their continued reliance Clinton and college-educaton terror, General McPeak ed white men favor finds it more convenient to Obama,” said Mellman, who blame American Jewry and has not declared for either their perceived influence,” candidate. the group said in a stateIra Forman, the executive Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, and Barack Obama are run- ment. director of the National ning neck and neck in a Gallup Poll of Jewish Democratic In an e-mail to JTA, Jewish Democratic Council, voters taken this month.

Obama’s campaign disCredit: Hillary Clinton for President/Obama for America tanced the candidate from agreed, noting that Clinton also was likelier to draw older voters. the comments but not from his co-chairman.

“We’ve got a Jewish electorate that’s professional and “Senator Obama’s longstanding commitment to Israel highly educated, and that’s good for Obama,” said is clear to anyone who has reviewed his voting record, Forman, who also has not endorsed a candidate. “We’ve read his speeches or looked at his policy papers,” the got a Jewish electorate that’s also older, and that’s not statement said. good for Obama.”

“As he has said, his support for our democratic ally The national Gallup Poll, conducted March 21-22 and Israel is based on America’s national interests and our on March 24, found the two candidates were virtually shared values. Neither Senator Clinton nor Senator tied, with 47 percent for Obama and 45 percent for Obama agrees with every position their advisors take, Clinton. For results based on this sample of 4,399 reg- and in this case Senator Obama disagrees with General istered voters, the margin of error was plus or minus 2 McPeak’s comments.” percentage points.

Forman accused Jewish Republicans of playing politics They were virtually tied among Protestants in the poll with Israel. based on religious beliefs. But among white Protestants, “This type of ‘gotcha’ politics is destructive to the biparClinton topped Obama, 56 percent to 34 percent. She tisan support for Israel,” the Jewish Democratic council commanded a similar lead among white and non-white leader said. “If these conservatives were serious about Catholics. highlighting a candidate’s weakness on Israel, they’d be Obama leads among those with no religious affiliation attacking their own candidate, John McCain, for his and those affiliating with non-Christian and non-Jewish choice of advisors, Jim Baker and Brent Scowcroft.” religions. Gallup did not break down results according McCain said as recently as a year ago that he would to region, age, income or college education, so it was take Middle East advice from the first President Bush’s unclear if the differences among white groups were a top foreign policy team, who were perceived as cool on function of any of those characteristics.

Israel. Baker and McCain recently held a joint news conA Gallup spokesman failed to return multiple calls for ference, during which McCain accepted the former seccomment. retary of state’s endorsement.

Given the broad timeline when the poll of Jewish votThe fact that Gallup played up the Jewish findings ers was conducted, many of the respondents would have when releasing its surveys this week reflects a common registered their views before the controversy over misunderstanding among many political analysts unfaObama’s former pastor reached a peak in mid-March miliar with the Jewish community. Many of these analysts with the broadcast of some of the Rev. Jeremiah tend to overemphasize the importance of Israel policy.

Wright’s more controversial sermons condemning U.S. “Obama’s ability to win votes in the U.S. Jewish compolicy in the Middle East. munity has been questioned, given suggestions that he Obama and his staffers have waged an aggressive cam- does not support Israel as strongly as other candidates,” paign to roll back concerns over Wright. They also have the release said. “Some of Obama’s supporters (includinsisted that other critics of Israeli policy, including ing the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of Obama’s Zbigniew Brzezinski, the Carter administration’s church) and foreign policy advisers are regarded as antinational security adviser, and Robert Malley, a Clinton Israel. Obama has met with Jewish leaders to reassure administration Middle East negotiator, had been incor- them of his commitment to Israel.” rectly identified in some media reports as the candidate’s Unless Israel is perceived as being imperiled by a canmain advisers. didate’s views, it historically has not figured as a makeObama also was quick to denounce a Los Angeles or-break issue with Jewish voters.

April 4, 2008

WALK-IN, DROP-IN For those members going on the day trip to the Ameristar Casino on Thursday, please meet at the JCC by 8:45 a.m. For transportation, call Maggie Conti at 334.6521.

LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Come to the Yiddish meeting at the JCC on Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. If you have any Yiddish books to donate, please call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638.

VISIONS Mystery Tour is Sunday, April 13.

Depart from the JCC at 11 a.m. (be at the JCC by 10:45 a.m.) to return to the JCC by approximately 5:15 p.m. Cost of $30 per person includes transportation, lunch, admission, tax and gratuity. Send reservations to Phyllis Aron, 11306

Harney Plaza Circle, Omaha, NE 68154.

For Information, call Harry Alloy at 697.8709. For transportation to the JCC, call Florence Hauss at 571.4583.

Make check payable to Visions.

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN NCJW-Omaha Section is hosting a “Meet the Candidates Panel” in conjunction with the League of Women Voters and B’nai B’rith on Sunday, April 13, 2 p.m., at the JCC. All of the Congressional candidates have been invited to participate, including Congressman Lee Terry, Jim Esch, Steven Laird and Richard N. Carter. We encourage everyone in the Jewish community to attend this free event and learn about the delegates positions on today’s issues.

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS The Democratic congressional candidates Jim Esch and Richard Carter hav been invited to speak on Wednesday April 9, noon, at Regency Lodge, according to Gary Javitch. All men and women in the community are invited to attend. Cost is $12 for a complete lunch and $3 for beverage service only.

BIRTH Lesley Gendelman and Miles Ehrenkranz announce the Feb. 18 birth of their daughter, Emma Elizabeth (Vered Elishevah), named for her maternal great-great gradmother.

Grandparents are Drs. Howard

Page 7

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

ORGANIZATIONS THE YOUNG ENERGETIC SENIORS Join us on Monday at the JCC with music program “Sentimental Journey” by Sue Wagle. Lunch is served at noon for $7 per person. Join us for bingo with Miles Remer at 10 a.m. Call Theresa at 330.4272 for transportation. For information, call Maggie Conti at 334.6521.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Gendelman and Bonnie Bloch, Dr. Eleanor Ehrenkranz of New York, and the late Louis Ehrenkranz.

Great-grandparents are Susan Bloch, and Soffia Gendelman of Philadelphia, PA.

Music Director Thomas Wilkins and the Omaha Symphony present the power of classical music, sunny vocal harmonies, lush masterworks, a Greek sensation, an R & B superstar, trips to exotic locales, and the Music of the Mouse with the 2008-09 season.

With more than 50 concerts in eight distinct series – MasterWorks, Symphony Pops, Casual Classics, West “O” Casual Classics, Chamber, Discovery Chamber Matinees, Family, and the new Symphony Rocks -- the Omaha Symphony season features programs for all tastes in music.

The Symphony Rocks series features programs for the classic rock fan, young professional, baby boomer or anyone who wants to experience something new and unique. These one-night-only concerts are sure to present entertaining experiences concertgoers won’t soon forget. The three-concert series line-up features the mystique of Cirque de la Symphonie, the music of Michael Cavanaugh -- star of the Broadway musical Movin’ Out, and the rockin’ sounds of the Music of Queen.

Some highlights of the season include the soulful sounds of Grammy-winner Roberta Flack, the Baroque appeal of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the sunny vocal harmonies of the Beach Boys, the adventure of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Greek vocal sensation Mario Frangoulis, Ravel’s ever-popular Boléro -- along with a tribute to South American composers, the romantic sounds of Englebert Humperdinck, and the Magical Music of Walt Disney.

Season ticket packages for all Omaha Symphony series are available by calling 402.342.3560, visiting www.oma-

hasymphony.org, or at the box office, 1605 Howard.

Former Omahan Rebecca Rosen will conduct a group reading at the Jewish Community Center on Wednesday, April 23, 7-9 p.m., in which she will give messages she receives from loved ones in the spirit world to their friends and family members in the audience.

“As a medium, it is my intention to be the channel through which souls who have crossed over into spirit form reconnect with their loved ones who are still living,” explains Rosen, who has been working professionally as a medium since 2001. “It is the spirit’s intention to convey their true essence through signs and messages, and to let those they care about know they made the journey back home safely while continuing to surround those they care about here with loving energy, support and guidance.”

Rosen conducts audience readings, workshops and seminars across the United States and has appeared on such national television shows as Entertainment Tonight, the Rachael Ray Show and the Megan Mullally Show. She has been featured in newspapers around the country, including the Detroit Free Press, the Denver Post and the Santa Cruz Sentinel, and has been a frequent guest on local television news and radio programs. Tickets are $40 per person when purchased in advance at www.rebeccarosen. com and $50 at the door on the day of the event.

Passover To Go Enjoy your Seder meals without all the work.

First Seder Saturday, April 19

Second Seder Sunday, April 20

Matza Ball Soup Honey Chicken Glazed Sweet Potatoes Garden Mixed Vegetables Relish Tray Honey Cake

Matza Ball Soup Prime Rib with Au Jus Herbed Potatoes Fresh Asparagus Relish Tray Fruit Compote/Cookies

Eat in with the Residents at 6 p.m.on April 19 and 20.

Call Maggie Conti at 334-6521.

$18.00 Adults | $12.50 Children Special pricing for single items.

Reserve your Seder meals by Monday, April 14.

For any questions call Laura at 334-6523.

Jewish Senior Services THE ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME

Page 8

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

April 4, 2008

The Blumkin Home beauty shop: never a bad hair day

Beth El’s community seder promises a special evening for the entire family

by OZZIE NOGG ladies” -- is 102-years-old. “She loves to The look and location of the Beauty have her hair colored,” Inserra said. The Shop at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home salon menu includes hair cuts, combare now totally different, but longtime outs, manicures and pedicures, which ressalon proprietor Pat Inserra hasn’t idents receive in their rooms if a trip to changed her style. She still works a special the shop is difficult. hands-on magic that insures residents -- both men and women -- leave the shop looking good and feeling pampered.

“I’ve been at the Home for twenty-seven years,” Inserra said. “I think this is my calling. When people move into the Home it’s a big change for the resident and for their children. If I can offer some compassion and make them feel that we’re all family here, I’ve Workman install the mirror in the new beauty shop. done my job.”

Inserra’s sensitivity to the needs of the Inserra is on the job Monday through elderly can be traced to her own experi- Thursday from 7 a.m. until mid-afterence. “I had a loving Italian nana -- noon. She is clearly grateful for the grandmother -- that I cared for. And my improved ventilation system that effiparents were both residents of the Home ciently sucks chemical smells out of the for a short while before they passed away. new beauty shop, and welcomes the now

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator From babies to bubbes, Beth El’s annual community seder, held on the second night of Pesach, is a wonderful celebration for the entire family. This year’s seder is scheduled for Sunday, April 20, 6 p.m., and everyone in the Jewish community is invited to join in the festivities as Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Gastón Bogomolni lead the commemoration of the Exodus, celebrating the Jewish people’s journey from slavery to freedom.

“A warm, joyful evening is being planned, filled with singing and meaningful concepts from the Haggadah to reflect modern slavery and freedom,” Rabbi Levin said. “We look forward to sharing our celebration with the community.” He also noted that in honor of Israel @ 60, a part of the evening will be spent honoring and celebrating Israel’s milestone 60th birthday.

Attendees will have dinner choices including meat, fish or vegan selections.

For reservations received by April 11, cost of the Seder is $20 for adults; $15 for children six to 12; $6.50 for children ages two to five; free for all children

younger than 2. After April 11, the cost will be $25 for adults, $18 for children 612, and $9.50 for kids five and younger (children younger than 2 may still attend at no charge). The price includes a three percent contribution to Mazon, the Jewish Response to Hunger.

Take advantage of these early-bird prices and make your reservation today.

To reserve a spot, mail a check -- payable to Beth El -- to Beth El, 14506 California St., Omaha NE 68154. Please note with whom you’d like to sit, and if you will need a high chair or booster chair for little ones. For more information about the seder, contact Program Director Margie Gutnik at 492.8550, or programming@bethel-omaha.org.

Prior to the holiday, Rabbi Levin will present a special class on Sunday, April 13, 10 a.m., offering ideas for “Involving Your Whole Family in the Passover Experience.” This class will offer attendees a variety of ways to share the Seder experience; during the morning the class will also explore the significance of the holiday’s rituals. There is no charge to attend; all adults in the Jewish community are welcome to attend. To register, contact Gutnik in the synagogue office.

Beth Israel’s Sisterhood offers candygrams and more

Pat Inserra, Blumkin Home Beauty Shop proprietor, takes care of Pearl Herzog, one of Pat’s “ladies” My dad thought the therapy was the best and he loved the food. The attention he and my mom received from the Blumkin staff was beautiful.”

One of Inserra’s current Blumkin Home clients -- she calls them “my

A welcome sign at the Blumkin Beauty Shop. constant hot water supply. But Inserra prefers to focus on the human element in the salon.

“I have no old people in my shop,” she says. “The ladies are not old in my eyes. I listen to their stories. We talk and gossip about everything. I love my ladies. They deserve to be pampered.”

by MARY BORT for Beth Israel Synagogue As the saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers.” April also brings Mah Jongg and Mother’s Day Candy Grams as Beth Israel’s Sisterhood continues with their unique offerings to the community.

Join Sisterhood for Mah Jongg on Monday, April 7, 7-9 p.m. Bring your card and set. Light snacks will be served and non-members are welcome. For planning purposes, please RSVP with the office. Also mark your calendar for the May date, which will be held on May 12, 1-3 p.m.

Order a sweet treat for mom or grandma! Sisterhood is again offering Mother’s Day Candy Grams. “This was a successful program last year,” noted Beth Cohen, Beth Israel’s Executive Director.

“Sisterhood decided it was a nice service to the community; one that people enjoyed.”

Candy grams are large sized Hershey bars with custom made Mother’s Day wrappers. The cost is $6 for your first order and $5 for each additional order. If you would like the Candy Gram mailed to the recipient, add $2 per candy gram.

New this year, you can also order a Sisterhood Cookbook and Candy Gram combo. “Happiness is Still Good Food” includes recipes for appetizers, entrees, breads, desserts, Passover dishes and much more. The cost for the combo is $15; add $5 if you want the combo mailed.

Please place your Candy Gram orders

by April 28. To place your order, or to RSVP for Mah Jonng, call the synagogue office at 556.6288.

To order a gift subscription to the Press...

Send a check for $30, made out to the Jewish Press, to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. For more information on how to connect your out-of-town relatives and friends, call 334.6448.

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Israel@60 celebration Continued from page 1 Temple Israel’s Rabbi Aryeh Azriel will relate his experiences growing up in: “How to Survive on the Streets of Tel Aviv” at 1 and 2:15 p.m. Beth Israel’s Rabbi Jonathan Gross gives his insights on “The Future of the Jewish State” at 1:15 and 2:30 p.m. Rabbi Mendel Katzman of Chabad of Nebraska asks “A Jewish State or a State for Jews?” at 1:30 and 2:45 p.m. Beth El’s Rabbi Mordechai Levin will discuss “Why Israel Omaha rabbis highlighting issues related to Israel are: Rabbi Eric Linder, left, Rabbi Mendel Matters” at 1:45 and 3 Katzman, Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Rabbi Jonathan Gross.

An Israeli artist living in Kansas City, Limor Katz-Evans p.m., and Temple’s Rabbi Eric Linder will speak about created Ella how “Our Hearts Yearn for the East” at 2 and 3:15 p.m.

Klara: Powerful Sam Nachum opened Jerusalem Stone in January Clothing by 1995 in Kansas Design.

She has City, and has been designing a been a source of line of t-shirts and natural stone clothing with imported from unique designs Israel for distriever since she bution and sale launched Ella in the US ever Klara in November since.

Their products include home flooring, countertops, fireplace 2005. She has been adding more designs to her collecsurrounds, tub surrounds, sinks, and showers to name a tion that includes Hamsas, Kabballah symbols, the Jewish few. Gift items include charms, key chains, necklaces, star, and more. In honor of Israel@60, one of her recent menorahs, photo etching, bookends, and coasters. A designs is a dove, which reflects the modern history of wide variety of items will be available at this year’s Israel Israel through a collage of images from the recent past.

Vendor fair, with prices ranging from $2-$750. Their Her clothing is designed for babies, children, women and men. To visit Ella Klara, go to: www.ellaklara.com. work can be viewed at www.jerusalemstone.com.

Ophir Palmon is a local photographic artist and the Owned and operated by Israeli native and Omaha resowner of Artistic Visions studio, founded in 1993. ident Gady Tene, Born and raised ShirTal Jewelry is a in Israel, he now unique company offerlives with his ing crafted jewelry and family in Omaha. imports from exclusive His projects Israeli designers. Many range from intipieces resemble classic mate home life Mediterranean treasto large family ures, specifically e v e n t s . designed for modern Palmon’s’s phocontemporary women tography projof all ages. All jewelry is personally crafted, individually assembled, and superb ects have taken him around the world, including Israel, Russia, and locations around the United States. For this in quality.

“It is our mission to support the creative talents, econ- Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration, Palmon will be selling omy and the people of Israel.” Visit the ShirTal website special photographs from his Israel collection. See more of his artwork at www.avpol.com. at www.shirtal.com.

AHAVA was founded in the Dead Sea region of Israel, Smadar Livne, an Israeli-born artist, is currently living and is available globally in more than 30 countries today. and creating in The mineral-rich waters of the Dead Sea have a rich hisOwings Mills, tory, and are renowned for its healing and skin-soothing MD. Educated at properties.

Haifa University, Founded in 1988, AHAVA is driven by a deep passion Smadar has to unearth the degrees in art, litsecrets of the revierature, and architalizing effects of tecture.

Her minerals on the works are vibrant skin.

Over the and exciting, and years, AHAVA has express the joy developed a series that Smadar sees in life, and subtle messages are also painted into each piece. Technique sets Smadar apart of premier skinfrom the rest; using bold, bright colors and wide strokes. care product lines, To this, she adds other items in a layering technique. The renowned internaeye-catching result contains layers of paint, fabric, objects, tionally for their superior efficacy. Beauty First will be and meaning.

Visit her website at selling AHAVA products for both men and women.

Hamsas, or the Hand of Miriam, is a powerful ancient www.smadarlivne.com.

Middle Eastern symbol that Ifat Naslavsky is a young artist, born and raised in is still used today. This symKibbutz Givat Oz in the north of Israel. bol is said to bring good luck Her jewelry and protect you and your features vivid family from the evil eye. Eve colors and a Rabinowitz Randone has unique combitaken creative license with nation of glass her interpretation of the and ceramic Hamsa motif by infusing beads, with Eilat her love of color and texture stone, along into each piece. with metal Each work is unique and pieces of Jewish while some may be similar, motifs such as the Star of David, Hamsa (the Hand, a no two are ever exactly the symbol of good luck in Jewish folklore), fish (symbol of same.

Some of the elements prosperity), A’yin Ha’ra (the Eye, a protective force), that are included in her Yonat Shalom (a dove of peace, our longing hopes for work are hand dyed fabric, peace symbol). There is no “same of a kind” item, and Continued on page 12 each piece is “only once done,” as the artist likes to say.

April 4, 2008

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

Celebrating Purim in the Heartland

Above: Twins Ari and Ethan Finkelstein joined in the festivities at Beth El as Tigger and Scooby Doo. Right: Steve Denenberg, Cantor Gastón Bogomolni and Rabbi Mordechai Levin led the Family Megillah reading at Beth El, which drew 300 Purim revelers.

Ygal Schuller, USY president and Purim Carnival chairman, hawks one of the carnival’s raffle prizes.

Photos at right: Helping with the Purim celebration at the Chabad House are Elaine left, Urban, Maya Wertheimer, and Miri Katzman, who are preparing hamentashen and other treats for the crowd, including Rabbi Mendel Katzman, left, Michael Kellen, and Danny Margolis, after the reading of the megillah.

Above: Enjoying the carnival merriment at Temple Israel were Bella Radler, left, and Cecelia Vann; below: Haley Burns and Rachel Saferstein were among the youth groupers who supervised the games; and Destiny and Sarah Wiseman. Four days later, Temple staff, bickered on the bimah over what to present for a Purim Schpiel to the tune of “The Muppet Show”, “My Favorite Things”, and “Tradition”, as well as a poetic interpretation according to Dr. Seuss. The whining, crazy rhymes and songs gave way to a costume parade. When it was all over, the staff, including Rabbi Eric Linder, above left, crooned its gratitude to Esther and Mordechai for the opportunity to be ridiculous.

Jim and Selma Shamberg were crowned Purim King and Queen at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

At Beth Israel’s megillah reading, brothers Josh and Max Polack, above, came dressed as Rivka and Yitzchak. Right: the ‘royal family’ includes Renee Kazor and Helene Shrago, along with other Kazor family members, while Alice in Wonderland (aka: Lesley Gendelman) holds the Cheshire cat (baby Emma).

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Page 12

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

April 4, 2008

Israel@60 celebration Continued from page 10 different types of beads that are hand sewn to the surface, stamping, and machine embroidery. Her work can be viewed at www.starbirdstudio.etsy.com.

M & M Roses are Miriam and Myron, producers of cut roses for export to the United S t a t e s , Europe, and for local sale in Israel.

M&M Roses have been growing roses in Moshav Sde Nitzan for more than 25 years.

The Northern Negev of Israel is an area blessed with abundant sunshine, which is perfect for rose production.

They produce in more than five acres of modern greenhouses. Their newest greenhouses have completely computerized climate control, carbon dioxide enrichment, winter heating, summer cooling, and computer control of irrigation and fertilization. All of this adds up to a first class product, picked daily, “quick cooled”, and rushed to the major flower markets in Europe and the USA. Proceeds will go to the Israel Travel Fund at Temple Israel.

The award-winning Homeland: The Illustrated History of the State of Israel is the complete histor y of the State of Israel in graphic novel form.

How the State of Israel

came to be, how it sur vived against all odds and still continues to grow is an amazing stor y. Histor y, religion, politics and the current Middle East situation are all given comprehensive coverage. The winner of the 2007 National Jewish Book Award, Children’s and Young Adult Literature Sydney Taylor Award Notable Book for Teens, more about Homeland can be found at: www.nachshonpress.com.

Safed Candles is nestled in the hills of Northern Israel, and is a company famous for its personal creative talents in reviving the ancient art of candle-making.

Yachad will be selling Israeli c a n d l e s , Jerusalem Teas and Safed Candles. Their craftsmen skillfully convert pure beeswax and other materials into a large variety of candles, such as Hand-dipped paraffin tapers, Hanukkah candles, hand crafted pillars, and a beautiful selection of candle art, distinguishing Safed as one of the worlds fastest growing candle makers.

Formulated and designed in Israel, Mount of Olives Treasures introduces an exclusive collection of delicious and aromatic teas. Each product has been formulated with ancient herbs. These

THE RESIDENTS OF THE ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME EXTEND A CORDIAL INVITATION TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO SHARE THE SEDERS WITH THEM IN THE JCC AUDITORIUM

ingredients have been referenced historically for thousands of years, scientifically analyzed and proven to be effective. The result is improved health and vitality; as each cup contains antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

Eileen Smith, an Israeli native currently living in Kansas City, brings two unique Israeli products to Omaha; imported Israeli Olive Oil and paintings from Israeli artist, Perla Nassi.

Galilee Village, producers of 100% Pure Extra Virgin Olive Oil, manufactures a distinctive, firstpressed olive oil, ideal for seasoning and cooking tasty Mediterranean-style meals and recipes. ES Imports will carry Souri variety at Israel@60.

Perla Nassi, who immigrated from Izmir, Turkey to Israel in 1970, began her studies in 1975 at the Avni School of Art in Old Jaffa.

Upon ending her apprenticeship, and still to the present, her work is abstract, primarily acrylics and watercolors in bright, bold hues.

Influenced by events of her childhood and daily life, both in Israel and abroad, her work is ever evolving. Perla continues to con-

tribute to the painting and arts community in Israel, with her constant instructional presence and local painting groups in Herzlia.

Members of the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization will be selling t-shirts in all sizes that read “Omaha or “Nebraska” in Hebrew, in time for the football season in the fall.

A portion of the proc e e d s will be designated to offer merit scholarships for teens who participate in trips to Israel.

Chabad Judaica Boutique and Beth Israel Gift Shop will be selling Israeli made and themed gift items and collections of Judaica.

Israel@60, the community-wide Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration is sponsored by the Carl L. Frohm Foundation, the Morton A. Richards Endowment Fund, the Herbert Goldsten Trust, the Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Supporting Foundation, the Murray H. and Sharee C. Newman Supporting Foundation, the Ann Woskoff Schulman Memorial Endowment Fund, the Gertrude T. and Albert B. Newman Endowment Fund, the Special Donor Advised Funds of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, and the Jewish Federation of Omaha.

Reservation deadline is April 10. Please call Maggie Conti at 334-6521 with any questions. Make check payable to: Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

Mail this order form with payment to: Rose Blumkin Jewish Home c/o Maggie Conti,Director of Activities and Outreach Programs 323 South 132nd Street Omaha, NE 68154 Name: __________________________________________________

Seder 1 – April 19 at 6:00 p.m.

Leaders Andy and Carole Greenberg

Seder 1 Menu Matza Ball Soup Honey Chicken Glazed Sweet Potatoes Garden Mixed Vegetables

Seder Plate Relish Tray Honey Cake Coffee/Hot Tea

Seder 2 – April 20 at 6:00 p.m.

Leaders Miles and Eileen Remer

Seder 2 Menu Matza Ball Soup Prime Rib with Au Jus Herbed Potatoes Seder Plate

Fresh Asparagus Relish Tray Fruit Compote/Cookies Coffee/Hot Tea

Address: ________________________________________________ Residents you would like to sit with: __________________________ _________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________

April 19 – Seder 1 Meal

April 20 – Seder 2 Meal

Number of Adults ($18.00) _____

Number of Adults ($18.00) _____

Children under 12 ($12.50) _____

Children under 12 ($12.50) _____

No charge for Residents

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Jewish Senior Services THE ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME

April 4, 2008

IN THE NEWS

Former Omahan Steve Wasserman obtained one of Missouri’s biggest defense verdicts of 2007, as reported in a January issue of Missouri Lawyers Weekly.

Wasserman, a partner with the trial law firm of Williams Venker & Sanders LLC in St. Louis, defended a trauma surgeon and his surgery group in a medical malpractice/ wrongful death lawsuit. The jury returned a verdict in favor of all defendants. Wasserman is the son of Jerry and Phyllis Wasserman of Omaha.

Dr. Alvin H. Rosenfeld, Director of the Institute of Jewish Culture and the Arts and Professor of Jewish Studies and English at Indiana University, will present “The Return of Antisemitism: The Intellectual Assault Against the Jews and the Jewish State” in a lecture sponsored by the Norman and Bernice Harris Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Rosenfeld is director of the Institute of Jewish Culture and the Arts and a professor of Jewish Studies and English at Indiana University in Bloomington. He is editor of William Blake: Essays, Collected Poetry of John Wheelwright, and Confronting the Holocaust: The Impact of Elie Wiesel, and is the author of numerous scholarly and critical articles on American poetry, Jewish writers and the literature of the Holocaust.

His book credits include A Double Dying: Reflections on Holocaust Literature and Imagining Hitler. A new book, The Writer Uprooted: Contemporary Jewish Exile Literature is forthcoming. He is also editor of a series of books on Jewish literature and culture published by Indiana University Press.

Rosenfeld has served as a board member and scholarly consultant to institutions and organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish

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Omaha has been chosen by the Orthodox Union to be highlighted to those in the New York area seeking to relocate to a close-knit and warm community, with a growing Orthodox presence, employment opportunities, and the availability of affordable housing and yeshiva tuition. This presentation will be made as the OU presents its first Emerging Communities Showcase, to focus on 13 cities the OU considers to be highly attractive locations for those contemplating a move. The Showcase will be held in New York on Sunday, April 6. The communities ton display are: Charleston, SC; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Houston, TX; Indianapolis, IN; Memphis, TN; Oakland, CA; Omaha, NE; San Diego, CA; Seattle, WA and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Representatives from the OU synagogues in each of the cities will be present at the fair to describe what their community offers in terms of housing, Jewish education and synagogue life, as well as employment opportunities.

The Orthodox Union Job Board, which lists hundreds of positions coast to coast, will participate in the Showcase, to match participants with openings in the communities.

Rabbi Jonathan Gross of Beth Israel said, “This innovative emerging community program is our opportunity to showcase our wonderful city and to make people aware of the good life of Jewish Omaha. Having lived in large Jewish communities on both coasts, I can honestly say that the Omaha Jewish community, located in the country’s heartland, has much to offer. Excellent quality of life, warm and hospitable people, and a vibrant, growing and inviting shul. The excellent day school with inexpensive tuition is certainly an enticing feature as well.” He called on his congregation to “encourage all of your friends and family in the New York area to attend the program and to consider coming home to Nebraska.”

More information is available at the OU website, www.ou.org, or call 212.613.8188.

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JobShuk.com, Israel’s fastest growing online employment marketplace, is hosting the country’s first-ever Internet-based International Business Expo to take place on Thursday, April 8, 5 p.m., Israel Time (10 a.m.

CDT) at www.JobShuk.com/expo.

JobShuk was founded in 2007 by small business consultant Zvi Landsman, who designed the site as an avenue to connect service providers in Israel with potential clients around the world. The Expo will incorporate innovative uses of technology to bring together people looking to provide a wide range of services with business owners and potential clients in search of top-level Israeli talent.

The goal for the Expo -- which will take place using the Voice Over IP (VOIP) telephone service, Skyp -- is to encourage global partnerships with Israel-based service providers. For business owners who want to support the Jewish state and hire talented and knowledgeable workers, JobShuk.com bridges geographic distances.

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Committee, Lilly Endowment, Wexner Heritage and Koret Foundations. He held a presidential appointment on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, serves on its executive committee, and chairs the academic committee of its Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies.

Free and open to the community, the event will be held on Sunday, April 13, 7 p.m., at the Great Plains Art Gallery, 1155 Q St. in Lincoln.

42nd

Connecting with Mother Earth will conclude a dynamic series of highly successful discussions hosted by Omaha’s Women of Spirit. The series, “Wisdom Circles: What Feeds Our Spirits”, is exploring multi-faith differences in an effort to discover common ground.

Three women of different faith perspectives will introduce the session on Sunday, April 6, 2 p.m., at Servite Center of Compassion, 7400 Military Ave. The cost is $20. Paid advance registration is required, as seating is limited. Women intentionally walking spiritual paths are encouraged to attend. A registration form can be printed from the group’s website at http://groups. creighton.edu/womenofspirit. For additional information, contact Nancy Phillips at 280.2934.

Kids who learn from their parents or care-givers about the risks of drugs are:

Page 13

FOR SALE

For the eighth consecutive year, Nebraska AIDS Project and restaurants in Lincoln and Omaha are teaming up to provide communities with an opportunity to help in the fight to eliminate HIV and AIDS. Nearly 60 restaurants have pledged 25 percent or more of their sales for designated meals on Tuesday, April 8, to Nebraska AIDS Project. Dining Out for Life is a national event held in more than 50 cities throughout the United States that raises more than $2 million annually.

In Omaha, Passport and Omaha Prime restaurants have generously offered to kick off the 2008 Dining Out for Life season with a special offer. During the months of March and April, when patrons mention Nebraska AIDS Project while making reservations at either restaurant, a percentage of their party’s total bill will be donated to Nebraska AIDS Project. Passport Restaurant can be contacted at 402.344.3200, and Omaha Prime can reached at 402.341.7040.

You are the most powerful influence in your child’s daily life.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 14

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Sedering with kids JEWISH P ARENTING

by SHARON DUKE ESTROFF Passover Seders and antsy kids traditionally go together like matzah balls and chicken soup. Fortunately, it’s perfectly possible to prevent the fifth question (are we done yet?) and the eleventh plague (restless natives) from showing up at our Pesach celebrations this year. Taking into account that every family has different comfort levels, objectives and degrees of observance, here are some tips toward creating a fun and meaningful Passover Seder that promises to captivate the interest of all kinds of kids - wise, wicked, simple and just plain unable to ask: • That’s the Ticket. Prior to the big night, make “matzah tickets” out of index cards. Award the tickets to children throughout the Seder for reciting the Mah Nishtanah (the Four Questions), answering tricky Passover trivia questions, helping little brothers and sisters make Hillel sandwiches and oodles of other desirable Seder behaviors. At the end of the evening let ticket-holders redeem their winnings for Passover related prizes (i.e. stickers, candies, plastic frogs).

• Keep the Karpas Coming. Grumpy kids and hungry tummies go hand in hand. A steady flow of *karpas* (a.k.a. carrots and celery) and kosher for Passover salad dressing for double dipping, will keep your kids happily crunching away until it’s time for the main course.

• Give out Goody Bags. Keep your junior Seder participants happy and occupied with special plague goody bags. While you can purchase already prepared “bags of plagues” at Judaica stores and online for around $12 a piece, you can accomplish the same thing at the dollar store for a fraction of the price. Try plastic sunglasses for darkness, toy frogs, wild beasts and insects (lice and vermin); kosher for Passover marshmallows for hail, red dot stickers for boils; and band-aids for blood.

• Don’t Passover the Books. Visit a library or bookstore and stock up on Passover themed books. Scatter them around the table for children to peruse during the longest stretches of the Seder. A few surefire hits are: Shlemiel Crook’s by Anna Olswanger, Wonders and Miracles by Eric Kimmel and Uncle Eli’s Passover Haggadah by Eliezer Segal.

• Have an Afikomen search party. It’s always the same story at my house: The big cousins find the afikomen and the little cousins get upset; the little cousins get a prize anyway and the big cousins get upset.

By making the afikomen hunt a team effort rather than a competition, we can do away with such griping. Use post-it notes to lead the search party from one destination to the next “Go to the place where Elijah will enter”, or “Pharaoh had frogs jumping in his bed”, see if there are any jump-

ing in yours.” The clues should ultimately lead the pack to the illusive dessert of honor. Be prepared with inexpensive “afikomen finder” rewards for the whole crew.

• Take Plague Breaks. Help kids stay focused and fidget-free during long Seders by periodically letting them get their wiggles out. Should your children’s attention start to stray from the task at hand, call for a “plague break” and instruct all antsy guests to jump like frogs or run in place like wild beasts.

• Have a Matzah Match. Before the Seder, write matched pairs of Passover words on index cards. For example, write “Hillel” on one card and “sandwich” on another; “ten” on one card and “plagues” on another.

Keep going -- four/questions; matzah/ball; Elijah’s/ cup -- until you have enough cards to secretly stash one under every guest’s plate. Sometime before dinner, tell everyone to lift their plates, look at the card and track down their matching half.

(Hint: For children too young to read - or to understand the match mentality - cut cards in half using varying puzzle cuts and write one word on each half. When kids find a card that “fits” theirs, they’ll know they’ve found their match).

• Put a spotlight on stories. The true purpose of the Seder is to pass down the Passover story from generation to generation, but why stop there? Ask a few of your senior guests to come prepared to share stories about Seders past. When kids get antsy, pass a play microphone to a family patriarch or matriarch and let the storytelling begin.

• Perform a little Elijah magic. Give little skeptics something to think about by making Elijah’s wine magically disappear. Secretly place some super absorbent polyacrylamide crystals (sold in gardening or craft stores as Aqua Crystals or Hydro Gel) in the bottom of an opaque Elijah cup. Just before you welcome the prophet, let your children see you fill the cup with “wine” (a.k.a. water with kosher for Passover food coloring).

By the time you finish singing “Eliyahu Ha Navi” the liquid will be solidified. That’s when you turn the cup upside-down and reveal -- tada -- Elijah drank every last drop! (Hint: A pre-Seder practice round will help ensure a successful liquid/crystal ratio.)

• Keep an eye on the big picture. Sure, planning a kid-friendly Seder is liable to take more work than simply bribing our kids to behave with a pound of chocolatecovered macaroons, or locking them in the playroom with a babysitter for the night. But we’ll know our efforts have been well worth our while when our fidgety children one day do the same for our fidgety grandchildren.

Sharon Duke Estroff is an internationally syndicated Jewish parenting columnist, award-winning Jewish educator and mother of four. Her Jewish parenting book, Can I Have a Cell Phone for Hanukkah?

(Broadway Books, 2007)is available everywhere books are sold. Read more at: www.sharonestroff.com.

B’nai B’rith banquet to honor top scholar athletes

by HOWARD BORDEN The names of the metro area’s top male and female high school scholar/athletes are no surprise to Omahans who follow area sports. Tim Biere of Omaha Westside and Amy Monson of Papillion-LaVista High School were selected for that honor by local media representatives, athletic directors, and coaches from metro area high schools.

The Henry Monsky Lodge, the local affiliate of B’nai B’rith International will honor the two seniors at their 54th Annual Banquet, according to Gil Cohen, event chairman.

Legendary Oklahoma Sooner and Dallas Cowboy Football Coach Barry Switzer, the featured dinner speaker, will highlight the Wednesday, May 7 event. In addition, the ever-popular Otis XII will reprise his humorous role as emcee at Qwest Center Omaha, the new banquet location.

Biere will receive the Bert Render Award as the Metro area’s top male scholar/athlete. Monson will accept the Earl Siegel plaque, the counterpart award. Each will receive a $1,500 scholarship provided by radio sponsor NRG Media. The schools of the award recipients will receive a $500 donation for its scholarship fund.

Tickets for the banquet, annually among Omaha’s largest and most popular, can be obtained by calling Lois Epstein at 334.6443. Patron tickets are $110 each with a table of 10 going for $1,100. A special VIP ticket, which includes a private reception with Switzer is $150 (table of 10, $1,500). Other sponsorships are also available.

Biere, the son of Dan and Ann Biere, lettered in three sports, garnering accolades for his superior play in football and baseball. In the fall, he will attend the University of Kansas in Lawrence on a football scholarship.

Monson earned great acclaim for her accomplishments in softball an basketball. Amy plans to attend Iowa State University in Ames. She is the daughter of Brett and Sherri Monson.

Beth Israel’s children prepare for Pesach

by MARY BORT for Beth Israel Synagogue Preparations for Pesach are underway, and that includes an opportunity for youngsters to creatively get into the spirit of the holiday. Beth Israel Synagogue will hold a Kids’ Crafts event this Sunday, and children are invited to attend.

To get ready for Passover, children are invited on Sunday, April 6, 11 a.m. to noon. Led by Andreea Shnayder, they will make a wooden bencher holder and a tile hotplate. Since there will be painting involved in the activity, children should wear clothes that can get a little messy with paint. Children should be accompanied by an adult.

There is no charge for the Kids’ Crafts activity, but in order to make plans for supplies, a reservation is required. To RSVP or for more information, please contact the synagogue office by calling 556.6288.

April 4, 2008

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 15

Omaha Performing Arts Presents

Anonymous 4 with Special Guests Darol Anger and Scott Nygaard

Long Time Traveling Friday, April 11, 2008 | 8:00 p.m.

Kiewit Concert Hall | Holland Performing Arts Center

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Page 16

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

April 4, 2008

A falling dollar may not be all bad -- when it comes to Israel With the shekel no longer pegged to the dollar, a decrease in value has several important implications for Israel, but not all of them are bad. On the one hand, funds raised in the Diaspora through annual Federation campaigns won’t stretch as far as they did the prior year. That could lead to some services and programs being cut for the people who need them most.

It will also affect the work of the Joint Distribution Committee in places like the former Soviet Union, where it provides hot meals and medicine for the elderly and Jewish educational and camping experience for kids and teens. That, too, is bad news for the recipients, who depend on “the Joint” for vital services.

But, a devalued dollar also means the cost of Israeli goods will appear more and more attractive, not only to buyers of everything from tulip bulbs and tomatoes to processor chips and drip irrigation, but also to investors in the companies that manufacture and produce them. (The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway purchased precision tool manufacturer Iscar in 2006, also purchased through one of its subsidiaries, Agrologic, the developer of wireless climate control devices. Maybe now it will be Israeli companies buying up American ones!)

Just last year, the dollar was worth more than four shkalim; now it only costs Israelis three shkalim for a U.S. dollar. And, as an FYI; Israel’s GNP rose 0.4% in February!

This newspaper has long been a proponent of the “other” side of Israel, the one usually ignored by the media. The average viewer or

reader regularly gets a taste of Israel through the lens of conflict, a message that was brought home last week when Dr. Andy David, Deputy Consul General of the Israeli Consulate in Chicago, spoke to members of the Federation Board of Directors, local politicians, and others in the community.

“We’ve been very successful at influencing decision makers,” Dr. David told the Jewish Press. “From the highest level down to state legislators, the situation has never been better.” The proof is in the pudding, so to speak, when measured by the number of pro-Israel resolutions and other legislation. But when it comes to the image the average American (and the average Jew!) has of the tiny country, it’s not so great.

And that’s what Dr. David and others in government, business and public relations are trying to change.

“The goal is to have the world view us as ‘normal’, to want to invest in Israel and visit there,” Dr. David added. That doesn’t mean to be just like every other country, for he insisted that “Israel is unique ... the home to three great world religions, a place where a visitor can visit a desert, beaches and snowy mountains” in a single day, and “diversity” in its people.

“Our efforts to ‘brand’ our country should reflect the reality,” he added, that Israel is a safe, fun, exciting, spiritual place unlike any other. It’s not only a world leader in medical developments and technological inventions, it’s also a

destination for oenophiles and scuba divers, for gardeners, architects, bikers and hikers, for teens and adults, families and singles.

So the dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to in London or Paris? In Tell Aviv, you can still purchase high fashion on Sheinkin Street, sip Turkish coffee in an outdoor cafe in Haifa, watch artists at work in Jerusalem, and wind surf in Eilat. Whaddya waitin’ for?

As one new Israeli ad now says, “You’ll never be the same again!”

Queen Esther, a new study, tells us not to panic over intermarriage

FOCUS ON IbySSUES LEONARD SAXE, FERN CHERTOK and BENJAMIN PHILLIPS WALTHAM, Mass. (JTA) -- Purim is a time to dull our senses with drink and cloak our identity by dressing in costume. We do so in order to confront a troubling part of our history and the threats to Jewish life and continuity in the Diaspora. In our retelling of the Purim story, we sometimes forget that our heroine was intermarried.

The Talmud teaches that she was forced to marry the king, but there is no doubt that Esther lived a wholly secular life, virtually cut off from her Jewish community. Her disengagement has much to tell us about not only the intermarried today but about the challenges of contemporary Jewish life.

In a study we recently completed at the Steinhardt Institute at Brandeis University, we examined the predictors of Jewish engagement. Our goal in part was to assess the claim that intermarriage was the greatest threat to American Jewish life.

Our focus was on those who said they were raised as Reform Jews. We tried to understand what would lead adults, as well as children, from both inmarried and intermarried families to be engaged in Jewish life, raise Jewish children and feel connected to Israel.

We looked at various sources of data, including the National Jewish Population Study of 2000-2001and more recent data from applicants for birthright israel.

What is clear from each of our analyses is that the threat of intermarriage as the key cause of disengagement has been overstated.

There are, to be sure, substantial differences in the way in which adult children of inmarried and intermarried households were raised.

On a number of dimensions, those with intermarried parents had fewer formative Jewish

experiences. But when one takes account of critical socializing experiences such as Jewish education, Jewish friends and exposure to home ritual, the impact of intermarriage is significantly reduced.

It is one’s experiences of Jewish living, edu-

Perhaps those who intermarry need special programs and services to encourage them to join the Jewish people, but our fundamental challenge is to engage all Jews. cation and friendship that determine who lives a richly Jewish life, not just who one’s parents are. Both for inmarried and intermarried individuals, their Jewish capital -- the storehouse of Jewish experiences -- is what centrally predicts engagement.

Some may interpret our conclusions as far too optimistic and perhaps think that the prospect of alcohol and revelry on Purim has dulled our abilities to perceive reality. In fact, our assessment is profoundly troubling rather than overly optimistic. It suggests that the dilemma for the majority of American Jews is the lack of meaningful Jewish experiences.

Like Queen Esther, too many contemporary Jews, whether raised by one or two Jewish parents, have not been exposed fully to the riches their heritage has to offer.

If there is room for optimism, it is that the situation may be reversible. Our study also examined data from a sample of Taglitbirthright israel applicants. Since its inception, nearly 200,000 young American Jewish adults

have applied to the program. Despite the fact that the program attracts those who are interested in Israel, most of the applicants have had impoverished Jewish backgrounds.

What is clear from our assessment of the program’s impact on those young adults who participate is that the trajectory of Jewish engagement can be altered. As different as those from intermarried and inmarried households look at the start of the program, they look similar after the program.

The threat to Jewish life in the Diaspora is not the fact that Jews fall in love and marry non-Jews. Rather it is that the Jewish community has not created the kind of meaningful experiences needed for our traditions to be passed on to the next generation. Perhaps those who intermarry need special programs and services to encourage them to join the Jewish people, but our fundamental challenge is to engage all Jews.

The miracle we celebrate on Purim is that Esther eventually embraced her Jewish identity and convinced the king to spare her community, the Jewish people. In retrospect, it was fortunate that a Jew was married to a non-Jewish king. But the lesson is not that intermarriage is good. Rather we learn the importance of peoplehood and the fragility of life.

As contemporary Jews in America, we live as an accepted and highly successful minority. If our tradition is to be passed on to the next generation, we need to confront the very real threat of disengagement. Dealing with it is likely to be far more difficult, but also more rewarding, than simply telling our children whom they can marry.

Leonard Saxe, Fern Chertok and Benjamin Phillips are researchers at the Steinhardt Social Research Institute of Brandeis University. A copy of their new report, “It’s Not Just Who Stands Under the Chuppah: Intermarriage and Engagement,” is available at www.brandeis.edu/ssri.

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April 4, 2008

Mahmoud Abbas, verbatim

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

by JOSH LIPOWSKY

The confusing and complex campaign for aid to a pro-terror Palestinian Authority

BEHIND THE HEADLINES Last month, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that American officials are again pressing Congress to open up the U.S. aid pipeline to the Palestinian Authority. And then on March 19, as Reuters reported on March 19, Washington agreed to transfer $150 million in budgetary support to the PA to help Mahmoud Abbas’s government, out of $550 million pledged at a donors’ conference last year.

If the plea for help for the Palestinians sounds familiar, it ought to. Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, Americans have been subsidizing the activities of the P.A. to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

Today, as in the past, the arguments in favor of this policy are urgent. We are told by both administration officials who are friends of Israel and by some Israelis that unless we help fund the training and the payment of Palestinian security forces, the P.A. will have no way to cope with terrorists who want to sink any chance of a two-state solution which would enable Israel to live side-by-side with a peaceful Palestinian partner.

The Only Option?

With Hamas in control of Gaza, the P.A., under the current leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, is, we are informed, the only address for creating a moderate force that will work for peace. Given the alternative of the Iranian-backed Hamas or the equally unpalatable choices of either Israel reoccupying the territories or an international peacekeeping force doing so, reinforcing the P.A. seems to make sense. But does it really?

Doubts about the wisdom of the policy have led Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-N.Y.) — respectively, the chair and the ranking minority member of the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee — to place a hold on a request of another $150 million in direct assistance to the P.A. It now seems to have gotten around that and has even asked the committee to okay an additional $25 million in indirect funding for the military training program.

Both Lowey and Ros-Lehtinen rightly worry about the commitment of Abbas and his Fatah Party to peace. They cite recent statements by Abbas in which he would not rule out a return to “armed resistance” against Israel. The support by

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the Editor: To my surprise I recently learned that there are more than 100 people who do what I do. We all call 202.456.1111. A sweet voice answers, “White House Comment Line. Would you like to leave a comment for the President?”

Why am I doing this? Pikuach nefesh -to save a life! What do I say, “Please pardon Jonathan Pollard. He has been in prison for 22 years. In the history of the United States, no one else has served more than four years for a similar crime.”

If you and 1000 others call the White House every day, it would be a mitzvah.

Jonathan Pollard is sick; he is a loyal American and deserves to be pardoned.

Irwin Goldenberg To the Editor: Dorothy Kaplan was my co-worker for

Page 17

Your tax dollars at work in Gaza

by JONATHAN S. TOBIN (Editor’s note: President George Bush announced last week that he has invited Abbas to Washington, D.C. this month.)

The Palestinian Authority will resume peace talks with Israel, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced last month. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had called off negotiations earlier this week in response to Israel's retaliation in Gaza against the incessant attacks

by Hamas. Withdrawing from negotiations gives the terrorists more power, Rice said earlier that week to persuade Abbas to return to the table.

Abbas has been called, by some, a man of peace who genuinely believes negotiations are the way forward for the Palestinians. But in an interview with the Jordanian daily al-Dustur last month, Abbas was scarcely circumspect.

“At this present juncture, I am opposed to armed struggle because we cannot succeed in it, but maybe in the future things will be different,” he told the paper.

Later in the interview, he expressed pride in being among the first Palestinians to attack Israel in 1965.

Even as Rice lauded his decision to return to the negotiating table, Abbas called the peace process “a strategic choice.”

The evidence could not be clearer.

Unlike Yasser Arafat, who spoke of peace in English but war in Arabic, Abbas speaks plainly in both languages about his desire to reach a settlement. But peace is not a goal for Abbas; it is a means to an end -- the end of Israel, whether by military, political, or demographic means.

Obviously, Abbas must be careful of what he says so as not to appear dovish, lest he lose more than just his political life. But his words reveal his agenda.

The Palestinian Authority has chosen peace because it could not succeed in war and, apparently, only because it could not succeed in war. The Palestinians have been touting their patience for decades.

Even if it took centuries, they said, they would defeat Israel.

Choosing peace as a strategy now does not negate that goal. And calling it a strategy and saying a return to violence could be near -- only strengthens our suspicions that peace with Israel, is not Abbas’ goal. Rather, it seems to us that his goal is: “Israel in pieces.”

Josh Lipowsky is assistant editor of The Jewish Standard

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

almost 20 years. She was my very good friend and confidant. She was the older sister that I never had. We shared our love for books and our dedication to the Federation Library. Much of what was accomplished in building the library was due to her working with me, providing sound advice and developing relationships with the entire Jewish community.

Dorothy was an optimist and a wonderful listener; people would drop in to chat with her as much as to borrow a book. She always knew just the right book to suggest for a particular person.

She had a zest for life; she loved reading, going to the movies and out for dinner with friends. We will all miss her!

Edythe C. Wolf, Sarasota, FL. Director, Jewish Federation Library, 1974-1999

the P.A. media for attacks against Israelis, such as the slaughter of eight students at a Jerusalem yeshiva this month, as well as the ongoing blitz of southern Israel

by Hamas missiles, is also reason to doubt the P.A.’s sincerity.

The P.A. also continues to honor the memory of slain terrorists as “martyrs” and, as The Jerusalem Post reported this week, plans to celebrate Israel’s 60th birthday by having Arab refugees to rush Israel’s borders to promote a “right of return,” which is synonymous with the destruction of the Jewish State.

Supporters of aid respond that these statements do not reflect Abbas’ real goals.

Yet, they ignore the fact that what the P.A. has done for the past 15 years is to legitimize a Palestinian culture in which political plaudits are won only by killing Jews.

Indeed, via its control of broadcast outlets, newspapers and the schools, the P.A. has solidified a mindset of hate.

Just as bad is the history of attempts to create a P.A. security force. The Oslo agreements called for the creation of a Palestinian police force that would combat terrorists. But Arafat had other ideas.

While most of the billions that came his way via aid from the European Union and the United States went into the pockets or Swiss bank accounts of Fatah officials, some of it was used to create a byzantine web of Palestinian “security” agencies whose purposes were anything but peaceful. When push came to shove as Arafat blew up the peace after the Camp David summit in 2000, it was these P.A. forces (including some who’d been trained by the Philadelphia Police Department) who committed terrorist acts against Israelis.

Adding to that sorry tale was the fiasco in Gaza in 2006 when Fatah thugs, aided and equipped by foreign sources at the specific instigation of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, sought to maintain Abbas’ control of the area, even after the Hamas election victory.

As detailed in an investigative report published in the April issue of Vanity Fair magazine, the concerns voiced by some Israelis and skeptical members of Congress over that particular venture in bolstering Abbas were prophetic.

While Fatah goons tortured and kidnapped some of their rivals, neither they nor their leader Abbas had the stomach to face down Hamas, despite promises to do so. In the end, Abbas’ men wouldn’t fight, and the more popular Hamas seized control of Gaza. As David Rose

writes in Vanity Fair, “The exact thing both Israel and the U.S. Congress warned against came to pass when Hamas captured most of Fatah’s arms and ammunition -- including the Egyptian guns supplied under the covert U.S.-Arab aid program.”

For 15 years, critics of such expenditures have been labeled as “anti-peace,” but that tag just served as an excuse for whitewashes of misbehavior by first Arafat and now Abbas.

An anonymous U.S. official told JTA that the 1,100 P.A. gunmen currently in Jordan, at American expense and with Israeli permission, are being schooled in such things as “training in riot control, human rights, and effective arrests and defensive shooting.” But so were their predecessors. Left unanswered in this account is why reasonable people should think this group will behave any differently.

Painted Into a Corner The alternatives to Abbas are frightful.

He is both weak and probably not much less ill-intentioned than Hamas, but he and his loyalists are seen as a counterforce to Iran’s allies.

Should American supporters of Israel therefore feel obligated to support the continued flow of funds to P.A. sources?

The problem is, the peace processors have painted themselves into a corner.

Having coronated first Arafat and now Abbas, they are forced to ignore or suppress the truth about them in order to maintain American support for a twostate solution.

At the same time, Israel’s government takes the position that it needs a Palestinian partner who at least pays lip service to peace, as Abbas does. And no one here wants to do anything that would help create a greater “Hamastan.”

Yet experience shows that the realpolitik strategy of propping up Fatah has not undermined Hamas, nor promoted peace. Perhaps the beginning of wisdom is the recognition that it’s time to stop reinforcing failure.

America’s attempts to create a Palestinian peace partner have failed. No amount of money will buy us a moderate state that will accept peace with Israel if the Palestinians don’t want one. If the president and the secretary of state aren’t honest enough to admit this, then perhaps it’s appropriate to ask Congress to turn off the spigot that sends more of our tax dollars down a Palestinian drain.

Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia. He can be contacted via e-mail at: jtobin@jewishexponent.com.

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Page 18

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

April 4, 2008

Candlelighting Friday, April 4, 7:34 p.m.

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

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker, artist Eliska Morsel Greenspoon, A Presentation of Light Works. The community is invited.

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

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

Beyt Shalom An Affiliate of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation 3012 S. 119 St. P.O. Box 390352 Omaha, NE 68139 660.2395 www.beytshalomomaha.org

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

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

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

Rose Blumkin Jewish Home 333 S. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154

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

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

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

If you’re looking at this space, so are others!

YOUR AD CAN GO HERE...

to reserve space, call

Allan Handleman, 402.334.6451 or Robyn Belgrade 402.334.6559

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Services conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Gastón Bogomolni.

FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m.; Men’s Club member will participate in the service; Kiddush sponsored by Beth El; Minha/Ma’ariv, 7:45 p.m.

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

ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY, Bible Study Discussion Group, 10 a.m.; Nurturing Your Spirit: Enriching Your Jewish Soul, 10 a.m. led by Susi Frydman-Levin.

THURSDAY: Rabbi Levin’s Insights and Values from the Torah, noon; Women’s Book Club, 1:15 p.m., led by Susan Paley.

BESTT: Spring break April 521 for all classes and activities.

MEN’S CLUB SPEAKERS’ SERIES: Sunday, April 6, 10 a.m., featuring Larry Raful, Dean of the Touro Law School. (See full story on page 5.)

WOMEN’S ROSH HODESH GROUP: Monday, April 7, 7 p.m. at the synagogue. Theme: “A Lite and Easy Passover.” To RSVP, contact Evie Mitchell at 333.7668 or evmit@ cox.net; or Anna Mosenkis, at 330.1127, or igormos@yahoo. com.

JUDAICA SHOP SALE: April 6 – 13.

LOVE AND LOGIC: Final class session scheduled for Wednesday, April 9, 7 p.m.

TOT SHABBAT: Friday, April 11, 6 p.m.

COMMUNITY SEDER: Sunday, April 20, 6 p.m. (See full story on page 8.)

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fri., 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross.

FRIDAY: Reservations due today for the Second Seder on April 20. Orders of food for “Pesach To Go!” are also due today; Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m. free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes, 9:45 a.m. with

Torah Parade; Kiddush is sponsored by Georgia Ann Steinberg and family in honor of the anniversary of Jeffrey’s Bar Mitzvah; Mincha, 7 p.m., followed by Suedat Shlishit; Havdalah, 8:37 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; “Reading the Rambam” with Rabbi Oxman, 9:45 a.m.; Rabbi Gross’s teen class, 10 a.m.; Gift Shop will be open from 10 a.m. to noon; Kids’ Crafts with Andreea Schnayder, 11 a.m. (See full story on page 14.)

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m.

MONDAY: Sisterhood Mah Jongg, 7 p.m.

THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m.; Rabbi’s weekly class, 7:30 p.m.

BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Shabbat in the Home.

SUNDAY: Religious School, 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the JCC.

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 7 a.m.

SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9 a.m.; Service, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush luncheon follows the service; Youth Minyan, 10:30 a.m.

SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m.

MONDAY: Maamar Kabbalistic Insights for Women, 12:15 p.m.; Parsha class for pre-schoolers, 12:30 p.m.; Halacha class, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY: W.O.W. Parsha, Prophets, and Prayer, 9 a.m.; Parshah Roundup: Weekly Torah Portion Class, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Parsha class for first graders, 3:45 p.m.

THURSDAY: Jewish Thought, 12:45 p.m.

All events and programs are open to the community.

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

FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel, with guest Rabbi Jonathan F. Adland providing the sermon, the oneg following, hosted by the Board of Trustees.

SATURDAY: Shabbat service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah service, 10:30 a.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Gam Simcha-2, 9:45 a.m.-12:15

BAR MITZVAH Zachary Owen Finkle, son of Sue and Terry Finkle, will become a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, April 12, at Beth El. Zachary is a seventh-grade Honor Roll student at Kiewit Middle School.

He has played center for the last four years for the YMCA, for Jerry Feilmeier, and played football at Kiewit Middle School.

Zachary has a brother, Alexander.

Grandparents are Barbara Finkle, the late Maynard O. Finkle, and the late Barbara B. Pierson.

p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Federation Board meeting, 1 p.m. at Tifereth Israel; Jewish Federation of Lincoln Kick-Off, 7 p.m. showing of The Band’s Visit at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center. RSVP to Elaine Evnen, 423.2200 or esevnen@aol.com.

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

ADULT EDUCATION TUESDAY, 7 p.m.: Jews Off the Beaten Path: The Jews of Morocco led by Rabbi Emanuel.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Andy Greenberg.

TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Family Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. Rabbi Eric Linder and Cantor Wendy Shermet will lead the service along with Grade Four student.

SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Service, 10:30 a.m. Morissa Miller, daughter of Jennifer and Paul Miller, will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah.

SUNDAY: Teacher Learning Coffee, 9:30 a.m.; Grades K-6, 10 a.m.; Torah Study 101, 10 a.m.

Why should I care about what some French guy says about Torah with Rabbi Linder. To register, contact Program Director Rosie Zweiback, 556.6536 or rzwei back@templeisraelomaha.com; Cradle Roll, 10:30 a.m. Come for a Passover craft, snack and storytime. RSVP to Temple, 556.6536; Adult Ed Meeting, noon; JYG Color War, noon. Bring $5 with you, lunch is provided.

TUESDAY: Hebrew Lunch & Learn, 12:15 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: No Family or

Religious School; No Middle/High School.

THURSDAY: “Adult Study with the Clergy” with Rabbi Azriel.

TOT SHABBAT, Friday, April 11, 6 p.m. Cost for the dinner is $5 for adults and no charge for children. Contact the Temple office, 556.6536 or mkube@templeisraelomaha.co m to make a reservation.

DELI NIGHT, Sunday, April 13, 5-7 p.m. Enjoy your favorite deli. Carryout service is available.

C O N G R E G AT I O N A L SECOND SEDER, Sunday, April 20, 6 p.m. A traditional Seder meal and a vegetarian option will be served. Adults, $19; children in sixth grade and younger, $8; children two-yearolds and younger, no charge. Your check payable to Temple is your reservation and must be received in the office by Friday, April 11.

The cost after April 11 is $22 for adults and $11 for children in sixth grade and younger.

NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN FRIDAY: Minyan, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Nancy Coren, Lay Leader. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

MONDAY and THURSDAY: Minyan, 9 a.m. Contact the office to arrange for a minyan.

FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m., followed by kiddush lunch and Talmud study.

SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Gam Simcha-2, 9:45 a.m.12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.noon at South Street Temple.

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

“Rabbi Pickle” to teach kosher snack’s history

by ESTIE KATZMAN for Chabad House Make your own jar of pickles in a workshop that teaches the history of the kosher pickle. The Kosher Pickle Factory is coming to Omaha on Sunday, April 6, 3 p.m., at the Jewish Community Center.

The recipe is a secret but Rabbi Mendy Margolin, better known as “Rabbi Pickle”, will reveal the trick to a good kosher pickle-no authentic kosher pickles contain vinegar. When pressed, Rabbi Shmuel Marcus, Chabad representative in Cypress, CA, is quick to assert that “there is no exact recipe-it is an art.”

During the hour-long presentation, participants can choose their own spice combinations and tartness. According to Rabbi Marcus, adults prefer the deli pickle, associating it with traditional Judaism, much like a bagel

shmeared with cream cheese and lox.

“It’s all about keeping it kosher,” says Rabbi Mendel Katzman, director of Chabad House, on the program’s broader goal. With five million pounds of this popular snack consumed daily, there seems no better way to reach an audience.

“Bring along your best pickle jokes,” says Shevi Katzman, educator at Mishpacha University, “and stump those rabbis!”

Cost is $6 per person, and discounts are available for Mishpacha University and Camp Gan Israel Families, as well as seniors. Cost includes cucumbers, jars and supplies to make and take several pickles home for yourself and your neighbors. For more information, contact Kelly Kirk at 330.1800 or kkirk@cox.net, or visit www.ochabad.com.

April 4, 2008

Preparation for Passover

SPARKS FROM THE WORD

by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Tazria Our ancient ancestors were determined not to come to Passover with any suspicion of bodily impurity. Any contact with a human corpse or indeed, any dead animal, or any unusual bodily secretions of one’s own or the presence of leprosy (we cannot identify the disease the ancients meant), rendered one impure.

We have already noted in comments on the previous Sidra, that the concept of purity and impurity is alien to us.

A woman after childbirth is considered impure, and the onset of various diseases rendered one impure. To the ancients, none of this seemed strange, as it does to us.

And they accepted it as quite natural that the priest served as chief medical officer. It was he, who examined and re-examined a person afflicted by disease, pronounced him clean or unclean, and could quarantine him and re-examine him after the enforced separation from the community.

The text also includes “leprosy” of the garments of the affected person. And leprosy of his house, as well!

We might consider all of this to be some kind of fungus, or mold, in today’s world.

There is a fascinating story told in II Kings.

Somewhere in the ninth century, BCE, the Assyrians were besieging Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom of the Jews. Two lepers brought the good news to the city fathers that the siege had been lifted.

The people inside the city walls refused to believe it, until they had sent a small taskforce to verify the news.

And the found that the Arameans’ military had fled in defeat at a strange sound in the heavens.

It may well be noted that the Torah identifies the spring month (Aviv or Nisan) as the beginning of the months, the first month of Israelite freedom after the Exodus.

(Editor’s note: this column originally appeared in the April 8, 2005, issue of the Jewish Press. A new column from Rabbi Kripke’s will appear next week.)

To submit obituaries: E-mail to the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; fax to 402.334.5422, or mail to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154, or online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements.

It’s a Dr. Suess Day for Purim at Friedel

DEATHS TOBY MENDELL RAZNICK Toby Raznick died March 19 at the age of 87. Services were held March 23 at Golden Hill Cemetery.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Harry Raznick.

She is survived by her son Art Raznick; daughter Inalou Raznick Kaufman; granddaughters, Sarah and Susie Kaufman, all of Phoenix; and sister, Anne Stone of Chicago.

Memorials to Beth Israel Synagogue.

THERESA DIAMOND Theresa Diamond died March 22 at the age of 84.

Services were held March 24 at BHH/Fisher Farm Cemetery.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Oscar, and son, William.

She is survived by her son, Richard Diamond, and his fiancee, Cheryl Kricsfeld; and a sister, Yetta Kommer of London.

Memorials to Temple Israel or charity of choice.

MARY SMITH Former Omahan Mary Garfinkle Smith died March 30 in Chicago at the age of 95. Services were held April 2 at BHH/Fisher Farms Cemetery.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Harry Smith, and son, Jerry Smith.

She is survived by sons and daughters-in-law, Roger and Jeri Smith and Stuart and Judy Smith; grandchildren, Brent and Mara, Adam, Scott and Jill, and Brad Smith; and three great-grandchildren.

Memorials to Beth Israel or the charity of your choice.

MAX PROSTOCK Former Omahan Max Prostock died March 27 in Overland Park, KS, at the age of 88. Services were held at Mt. Sinai Cemetery in Hastings on March 29 .

A graduate of Central High School at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he is survived by his wife of 60 years, Bobbie Prostock; daughters and sons-in-law, Beth and Jeff Dorfman of Leawood, KS, and Judi and Jim Gessford of Lincoln; son and daughter-in-law, Jeff and Cynthia Prostock of Ft. Worth, TX; seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

DR. RUDOLF SELO Former Omaha and Council Bluffs resident Dr. Rudolf Selo died April 1 in Surprise, AZ, at the age of 99. Services and burial were held April 3 in Sun City.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Irene, second wife, Jean Priesman Selo, and daughter, Doris.

He is survived by his daughter, Elaine Selo of Ann Arbor, MI; son and daughter-in-law, Richard and Margaret Selo of Lafayette, IN; grandchildren, Daniel and Lauren Selo of Nashua, NH; Elizabeth and Jeremy Winchester of Chicago; and one great grandson.

Memorials Donations to Temple Beth Shalom, 12202 N 101 Ave., Sun City, AZ 85351, Hospice of the Valley, 1510 E Flower St., Phoenix, AZ 85014, or charity of choice.

Women’s seder to benefit Jewish Family Service pantry

Cookie Katskee, left, principal at Friedel, and secretary Mary Jane Tweedy dance as Thing One and Thing Two, characters from Dr. Suess’ Cat in the Hat, at Friedel's Purim celebration.

Nebraska Mennonite Relief Sale Quilt and Craft Auction Fri., April 4 4-9 p.m. Sat., April 5 6:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.

HAMILTON COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS – 310 A Street, Aurora, NE – Sold at Auction...Beautiful Quilts, Handmade Crafts, Art Items & More! * Food Booths * Fun for the Kids

by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Center for Jewish Education Administrator The dessert recipes are selected. The reservations have been pouring in. The centerpieces are ready to adorn the tables. The excitement is building for the 2008 Women’s Seder on Monday, April 14, 7 p.m., at the Jewish Community Center.

In addition to the enjoyment of the dessert seder, attendees are also asked to remember the statement in the haggadah -- “Let all who are hungry come and eat.”

Everyone is asked to bring a non-perishable Passover item for the Jewish Family Service Food Pantry.

The Women’s Seder is open to all women in the community. The cost for ages 10 through high school is $10, and for others, $18. A limited number of seats are still available by calling Vicki Perlmeter at 392.2610.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

April 4, 2008