Vol. LXXXIV No. 31 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 84 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
An Evening of Magnificent Music...
The past and present came together at Beth El Synagogue last Monday night, as (from left) Cantors Ray Edgar, Gastón Bogomolni, Emil Berkovits and Wendy Shermet, along with the Nebraska Choral Arts Society Masterworks Chorus, wowed the crowd of over 550 people during “The Voices of
Beth El,” Beth El’s 75th Anniversary Cantor’s Concert. The concert, a benefit for the Beth El Youth Scholarship Fund, was underwritten by the Noddle family, in memory of their parents, Robert and Edith Noddle. More pictures on page 2
Is Gaza Part of Land of Israel? It All Depends on Whom You Ask by DINA KRAFT During biblical times, Gaza was part of the land TEL AVIV (JTA)--The sandy strip of land known as the promised to the Jews but never part of the land actualGaza Strip--wedged between the flat, arid landscape ly conquered and inhabited by them, said Nili Wazana, where Egypt, Israel and the Mediterranean Sea meet-- who lecturers on Bible studies and the history of the is something of a conundrum in Jewish history. Jewish people at Hebrew University and is writing a Depending on how one interprets the Bible, Gaza either book on the borders of the biblical Land of Israel. was or was not included in the Land of Israel conquered She said there are contradictory references to Gaza in by the Israelites; Samson is the only Israelite noted for the Bible. One passage, often cited by Jewish settlers having set foot there; and in the Middle Ages, the false and their supporters is a passage in Judges which says messiah Shabbatai Zevi gave the area a bad name when the tribe of Judah took control of the area. But other he launched his movestories in the Bible conment from its shores. tradict this--typical of the After a contentious Bible, she said. debate, Israel’s Knesset “On almost everyrecently voted to unilatthing you will find an erally withdraw from the opinion and an opposite Gaza Strip and evacuate opinion. It was not a the 7,500 Jewish settlers homogenous text, it was who live in suburbannot written at the same style settlements there, time, and there are comwhere sprawling green peting ideologies,” lawns and playgrounds Wazana said. “The quesare protected by wire tion of Gaza is one of the fences and military issues where you will search towers. find different opinions.” The settler population is Polls show that most dwarfed by the 1.3 million The Jewish settlement of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip, as seen in an Israelis are in favor of Palestinians who live in undated file photo. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said he leaving Gaza. They see densely populated Gaza, will remove most of the settlements in the Gaza Strip. neither historic nor strateCredit: Brian Hendler/JTA gic reason for staying. which is 25 miles long and just 6 miles wide. The settlements often come under But to Yigal Kamietsky, the rabbi of the Jewish setattack by rockets and mortar fire. School busses are tler bloc in Gaza known as Gush Katif, Gaza is an intearmored and escorted by soldiers in an area where drive gral part of biblical Israel. by shootings and roadside bombings are facts of life. “Gaza is part of Land of Israel, no less than Tel Aviv But the Jews who have made the Gaza Strip home in and Bnei Brak,” he said. “There is no doubt it is part of the years since settlement returned there following the the borders.” He said that not only was it considered a Six-Day War in 1967, remain defiant and hopeful that mitzvah to settle there, but that “if we were not here, I the close-knit communities they have built will be am not sure the State of Israel would still be there.” allowed to remain. Continued on page 4
Inside Opinion Page see page 12
This Week: Passover Recipes: Page 10 Buber Scholar to Speak at Brooks Lecture: Page 2
28 Adar II, 5765 April 8, 2005
Losing Grandmother Leads Family to Help Others Cope with Grief
by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Isaac and Becki Frishman were both close to their grandmother, Helen Mason. One of their favorite things to do with her when she visited Omaha from her home in New Rochelle, New York, was to go out to lunch -sometimes followed by a movie or a visit to a museum. When Helen died in August 1999, Isaac seemed angry, and Becki cried a lot, recalled their mother, Martha Frishman. So she asked her pediatrician how she could help her children cope with the loss of their beloved grandmother. The doctor's nurse recommended the Centering Corporation founded in 1977 by Dr. Marvin and Joy Johnson. Sponsored by the Centering Corporation, Kids Kamp is a grief workshop for families which the Frishmans attended. The Johnsons eventually started Ted E. Bear Hollow. Helping families, especially children, cope with the loss of a loved one is the primary goal of Ted E. Bear Hollow. Grief support groups are facilitated by trained child grief facilitators at day camps and on follow-up Saturdays. “We focus on four tasks,” pointed out Joy Johnson: “recognizing the death, grieving the death, commemorating the person who died, and moving on with relationships.” Isaac, now a 15-year-old sophomore at Millard South High School, described the organization as “a place where people go to mend their wounds and get back to life as they knew it before someone in their family passed away. It helped me get back to my life and continue.” Losing someone close to you, “is something that never goes away,” Isaac acknowledged. “Certain things trigger memories and sometimes I get depressed,” but he has learned to move his thoughts on to something that isn’t depressing.
Brother and sister, Isaac and Becki Frishman, are helping others cope with death as they recover from the loss of someone they loved.
Becki, 13, said, Ted E. Bear Hollow is “a place where people go to talk about people who they loved who died. They can help each other grieve.” She added that Ted E. Bear Hollow “helped me deal with my grief and not take my anger out on other people.” Although she still feels angry sometimes and still cries sometimes, she learned it helps to talk to other people. She also writes about her grandmother “in my English reports at school.” Becki is an eighth grader at Peter Kiewit Middle School. Both Becki and Isaac are now volunteer team peer facilitators at Ted E. Bear Hollow at the request of the Johnsons. “They had done so well when they attended Kids Kamp in integrating their own grief and helping others,” said Joy Johnson, that the youngsters as well as their mother were asked to participate in Ted E. Bear Hollow’s pilot year in 2001. Martha Frishman is now a member of the organization's board. Continued on page 4
Passover Issue Coming Next Week: “Jewish Omaha: A Global Village”
YJO Sponsors Passover cooking Class: Page 3
Passover Crossword Puzzle: Page 11
New Op-ed Feature “In My Opinion”: Page 13