April 24, 2015

Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA

Help Friedel grow

April 24, 2015 5 Iyar 5775 Vol. 95 | No. 32

This Week

Friday Learning Series

by MARK KIRCHHOFF Center for Jewish Life Today’s Israeli Defense Force did not materialize overnight. Its evolution is a fascinating study.

How is it that the Israeli military evolved from a few committed night watchmen guarding rural agricultural settlements to one of the most professional and highly capable armies in the world? Dr. David Muchlinski found that

Community gallery Page 2

You get a smile with your purchase: volunteers Karen Cohen and Gabby Blair at last year’s plant sale

by GABBY BLAIR Spring is here! Mother’s Day is just around the corner... That means it is again time to dig up the flower beds and till your vegetable gardens! And where else would you shop for your seedlings and starters than at the annual Friedel Jewish Academy’s PTO Plant and Flower Sale, Thursday, May 7 and Friday, May 8 from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the JCC main entrance. At our successful and highly anticipated sale, you can select high quality organic, locally grown vegetable and herb seedlings, many of

When El Al flew to Tehran and other things about Israel’s past Page 6

which are available in rare, heirloom varieties, fresh from Blooms organic Farm. Choose from tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, broccoli, eggplant, cucumber, melons, lettuce, chard, kale, basil, chives, rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, chamomile, lemongrass, sage, nasturtiums and verbena, just to name a few. You will be dazzled by the beautiful selection of brightly-colored bedding flowers including marigolds, sunpatiens, impatiens, geraniums, coleus, daisies, petunias, begonias, pentas, and vincas all grown and lovingly tended at

Omaha’s Estate Landscape Nursery.

Why not surprise Mom with one of our amazing hanging flower baskets, sure to brighten up anyone’s mood and porch.

When you support events of the FJA-PTO, such as buying your garden starters at our plant sale or attending the Hanukkah Latke Lunch, 100% of all proceeds directly benefit the students and teachers at the school. Through the generosity of those who attend our events and of the parents who donate their time Continued on page 2

A return to tradition Holocaust education is in transition Page 12

Inside Point of view Synagogues In memoriam

Next Month Mother’s Day See Front Page stories and more at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press

9 10 11

by SCOTT LITTKY Program Director, Temple Israel We are the people built around tradition. We build upon our memories and, from one tradition grows another tradition. It has been a few years, but at Temple Israel we are excited to be bringing an old tradition from our Cass Street building to west Omaha. We are thrilled to announce The First Annual Sterling Ridge Drive Poker Tournament, to be held on May 5 here at Temple Israel, 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive.

The Poker Tournament will begin with dinner at 6 p.m., and the Tournament will start at 7 p.m. The cost of the event is $50 a person. As in past years, Alan Widman will be com-

ing in from Kansas City to run the tournament. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Scott Littky, Program Director, at 402.556.6536.

On Tuesday, May 12, we will begin our second season of Holy Smokes, a chance for the men of our congregation to gather to study a little, enjoy an adult beverage and, of course, smoke a good cigar. Rabbi Josh Brown will be teaching us a little Torah on May 12. We will enjoy some of the fine brews from local Omaha breweries and smoke a sampling of fine cigars. There is no cost for the evening which will begin at 7 p.m.

You do, though, need to RSVP to Scott Littky, Program Director, at 402.556.6536.

Finally, save-the-date for our annual golf outing to be held on Monday, Aug. 17. More information on the event will be available in the near future.

For more information on any of these events or to RSVP, please contact Scott Littky.

Dr. David Muchlinski question especially intriguing through his studies of the pioneering settlements of the Yishuv period, especially the kibbutzim and moshavim. As part of the Center for Jewish Life’s Friday Learning Series, Dr. Muchlinski will share what he has learned about how forces of evolution and ideology have shaped Israeli military strength in a series he calls, Darwin and Marx – Evolution and Revolution in the Israeli Military.

The series promises to present an amazing mix of ideas, philosophies, and a study of an evolving national defense force.

The Friday Learning Series is a regular program of the Center for Jewish Life, generally consisting of three or four one-hour sessions.

This three-part series will meet on consecutive Fridays, May 8, 15 and 22 from 11 a.m. – noon in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library.

Cost for the series is $26, reduced to $21 for those in good standing with their contribution to the Annual Campaign of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. To register, email mkirchhoff@jewishomaha .org or phone 402.334.6463.

Dr. Muchlinski is an adjunct professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, with a joint appointment in the Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies, also at UNO. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Arizona State University in 2013. Muchlinski’s subfields of specialization are Middle Continued on page 2

2 | The Jewish Press | April 24, 2015

Help Friedel grow Continued from page 1 through volunteering, the PTO is able to hold schoolwide holiday celebrations and provide support to teachers in the form of teacher appreciation, meals during conferences, and classroom supply allowances.

Please consider helping support the efforts of a truly amazing group of grassroots volunteers to whom Jewish education for their children is a priority, by getting your garden plants from us on May 7 and 8. If gardening is not your passion, consider planting the seeds of kindness by making a donation to the FJA-PTO as we rely on tzedakah to continue our acts of chesed that support the school.

Please remember that all sales are cash or check only, please.

Community G A L L E R Y

Friday Learning Series

Top, left: The Edwards family enjoys an evening at Star Deli during Passover; Far left, 2nd row: Norm Denenberg came to the 3-on-3 basketball challenge to cheer on his grandson; Top, right: April 16, 2015, Internationally marks a day of remembrance for the lives lost in the Holocaust. Friedel Jewish Academy students lit candles. Left, middle: Blumkin Home residents were given a chance to express themselves and honor the voices lost in the Holocaust through an art experience. Residents collectively painted rocks that will be used in a mural to portray a message of peace and hope for future generations. Pictured are POla Katskee and Lucile Nearenberg with Doug Smith, Activities Director. Bottom, right: the cast of Beauty and the Beast Junior is hard at work rehearsing every Sunday. Hannah Goodman practices her steps with Courtney Stein while Steve Denenberg watches.

Left, bottom: Shaliach Eliad Eliyahu, center, with Matan, left, and Hen from StandWithUs, told their stories as Israel soldiers at Eye on Israel, BBYO and Breadbreakers.

Continued from page 1 Eastern Politics with a focus on Israeli politics, conflict studies – including studies of civil, ethnic, and religious conflict – and political methodology. He has taught such classes as Introduction to International Relations, Israeli Foreign Policy, Introduction to Political Science, and History of the Modern Middle East. He has published numerous journal articles, book chapters and book reviews and is currently working on a book manuscript Swords and Plowshares: Jewish Rebel Governance in British Palestine 1920-1948. Beyond his scholarly endeavors, he also enjoys the culinary arts, biking and running in Omaha, classic cars, concert going, and baseball.

Muchlinski emphasized that “This is more than an interesting historical study. Today there are numerous rebel and violent groups emerging that place a spotlight on defense.

There is much to be learned from studying how such groups establish themselves and govern others who are under their rule.” He also will discuss ways in which levels of wealth influence political and social behavior. The sessions are fashioned for those who wish to explore the topics apart from the rubrics of a strict academic setting and promises to be a fascinating exploration.

Mark your calendars for May 8, 15 and 22 from 11 a.m. to noon in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library and register right away at mkirchhoff@jewishomaha.org or 402.334.6463. The Friday Learning Series is presented by the Center for Jewish Life, an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, whose mission is to maximize involvement of Omaha’s Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences.

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by May 1, 2015 to: Linda Cogen c/o Rose Blumkin Jewish Home 323 South 132 Street Omaha, NE 68154 (402) 334-6519 On Friday, May 8, Resident orders will be delivered, and all pick-up orders will be available in the RBJH Gift Shop between 1 and 4 p.m.

Thank you for brightening Mother’s Day!

April 24, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 3

In L.A.’s Koreatown, Wilshire Boulevard Temple bets big on the past for its future

by ANTHONY WEISS the Stars,” and its list of contributors to the building fund in LOS ANGELES (JTA) -- The time has long since passed the lobby includes Hollywood studio honchos such as Jack when the Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s address on its name- Warner, B.P. Schulberg and Louis B. Mayer. sake boulevard was considered glamorous.

These days, the membership leans more toward professions Now the surrounding blocks are the clamorous heart of such as real estate, law and finance, sources close to the conKoreatown, with all its urban grit: traffic snarls, hulking gregation said, although it is still home to members such as office buildings, electronformer Disney board ics shops, dentists, and member Stanley Gold and banks with signs in Korean Pulp Fiction producer and some in Spanish. Here Lawrence Bender. the Wilshire Boulevard The temple is in the midst Temple -- the grand of building a four-story Byzantine-revival synagarage that will house gogue built in 1929 -parking for 450 cars and a seems like a relic of anothfull-sized playing field on er era, before this city’s the roof. On the ground prospering Jewish comfloor will be the new Karsh munity moved west and Social Service Center. The north, leaving the neighparking garage, field and borhood to subsequent school buildings are waves of immigrants. expected to open in But these days, the temSeptember, and the social ple complex is alive with service center early next its own dust and clamor. year. Plans are still being Construc-tion workers are developed for the final toiling to put up new construction phase, a fivebuildings and renovate old story building that will The Wilshire Boulevard Temple is undergoing a restoration and ones, part of a multi-year likely include a banquet expansion project that when complete will have taken more than a capital project that has hall, cafe, offices and only decade and cost nearly $200 million. Above, the synagogue’s restored the polish to the the second non-Orthodox sanctuary.

Credit: Tom Bonner mikvah in Los Angeles. once-neglected sanctuary building. The religious school is full, and a new elementary The synagogue is planning to partner with the Korean day school is growing with each school year.

Health, Education, Information, and Research Center, When all is said and done, the Glazer Campus, as it is which runs a nearby health clinic, to open a dental and called now, will fill an entire city block. vision clinic -- medical services that are not provided by If successful, the project will be not only a stunning emergency rooms and thus are in intense demand among rebirth for a complex that once seemed at risk of moldering poorer residents. An array of nonprofit legal centers, includinto obscurity, but a large and expensive commitment to ing Bet Tzedek and Asian Americans Advancing Justice, will Jewish presence in the type of diverse urban neighborhood offer low-cost or pro bono legal services. that the American Jewish community once seemed on the “If we are nothing more than a landlord that charges no verge of abandoning. rent, we are a failure,” said Rabbi Beau Shapiro, who is over“This is really an urban synagogue that has decided to seeing the planning for the social service center. commit to the urban core of a city,” said Rabbi Susan On that front, the early signs are positive. A January workGoldberg, one of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s eight rab- shop for citizenship applications held at the temple was so bis to be assigned full-time to the eastern campus. “It’s a dif- popular that it attracted more volunteers than the number of ferent way of seeing our strong Jewish identity as one iden- clients the organization had brought for the occasion. One tity in this multicultural community of L.A.” of the volunteer lawyers was so moved by the applicant he That commitment to the urban core was, at one point, in was helping that when he discovered that she didn’t qualify serious doubt. When Steven Leder took over as senior rabbi for a fee waiver for her citizenship application, he arranged in 2003, the temple was large and prosperous, with not only for his law firm to cover the cost. the original temple complex but a gleaming new full-block “We were like, ‘Oh my God, we hit the jackpot here,’” said campus 10 miles away in wealthier west Los Angeles, a pair Nasim Khansari, the citizenship project director for Asian of campgrounds and a conference center in the Malibu hills. Americans Advancing Justice, who ran the workshop.

The membership was more than 2,000 families.

Johng Ho Song, the executive director of the nearby However, there were festering problems at its original Koreatown Youth and Community Center, said he has been home. The synagogue building was deteriorating from years impressed with the temple’s outreach to community groups of neglect, and the size of the kindergarten class at the like his own and expressed hope that the temple’s collaboraaccompanying East side religious school was zero. Synagogue tive vision could become a model for institutions in other leaders debated whether it was time to sell the building. neighborhoods as well.

But Leder had fallen in love with the sanctuary from the “They’re making a very conscious decision to work togethfirst moment he walked into it in 1987, when he first inter- er and share their resources, which is very unusual here,” Song viewed to work at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple. He had told JTA. “I think they’re really trying to demonstrate that no intention of selling. they like to be involved with the community, they want to be “I said to the board, we have to make this decision, but if part of community, and they want to make a positive impact.” you guys really think it’s best to sell it and become an excluThat, in turn, could help nurture a closer relationship sively west L.A. congregation, you should look for another between the temple members and the surrounding commusenior rabbi,” he told JTA. “I’m not going to be the one who nity. At the same time, Rabbi Goldberg has been tasked with turns that place into a church.” reaching out to the east side’s burgeoning Jewish communiBesides, Leder saw signs of opportunity. He had noticed, ty, a task that ranges from teaming with organizations such and a demographic study for the temple confirmed, that as East Side Jews to create events from living room younger Jewish families had again started moving to the east Havdalahs to monthly Friday night services where everyone side. The key was to attract them, and that meant more than sits on the grand sanctuary’s bimah to make the space feel simply restoring the old synagogue -- the result, he believed, more intimate. would be a beautiful but empty building.

So far, the signs for the new campus are positive – synaWorking with the firm of architect Brenda Levin starting gogue membership has been stable at around 2,400 memin 2005, the congregation developed the ambitious master bers, and Leder notes that the age of membership is trending plan for the campus -- a restored synagogue, a new Jewish younger, as new families joining replace older congregants early childhood center, a new Jewish elementary school, a who have died. The schools are at capacity with waiting lists. social service center, an athletic field, a community gatherIf Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s very expensive bet does ing space and more. pay off in the long run, it will be because what were once It was a plan that would require the synagogue to buy up thought to be its greatest vulnerabilities -- the massive old the rest of its city block and embark on a massive fundrais- sanctuary and the diverse, teeming neighborhood around it ing campaign, sustained through the Great Recession, that -- prove to be unique strengths. has raised $126 million toward an apparently unprecedentLeder argues that the synagogue and the social service ed total estimated at $180 million to $190 million. center, on opposite sides of the block, represent the two porLarge and expensive projects are nothing new to the tals into Judaism -- worship and engagement with the probWilshire Boulevard Temple. When the 1929 building was lems of the world. constructed, the synagogue was known as the “Temple to “All we have to do is open our doors,” he said.

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Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH Beth El Synagogue Brings Shabbat to Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m.

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SUNDAY, APRIL 26 Principles of Jewish Thought, 7:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Annual Blood Drive, 8:30 a.m. at Temple Israel Bagels & Beit Medrash, 9:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Strange Customs of Modern Day Jews, 10 a.m. at Beth El Torah Tots, 10:15 a.m. at Beth El Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 11 a.m. at Beth El TED Talk, 11 a.m. at Temple Israel Musical Theater Rehearsal, 2 p.m.

MONDAY, APRIL 27 Principles of Jewish Thought, 7:45 a.m. at Beth Israel JFO Board Meeting, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH Scholar’s Club for Boys, 3:30 p.m.

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TUESDAY, APRIL 28 Principles of Jewish Thought, 7:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Rabbi Abraham’s Class, 10 a.m. at Beth El JSS Board of Directors Meeting, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH BBYO Night, 6 p.m.

Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 8 p.m. at Beth Israel WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29 Principles of Jewish Thought, 7:45 a.m. at Beth Israel UNO Class w/ Assaf Gavron, 10 a.m.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 30 Principles of Jewish Thought, 7:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Women’s Class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel What Makes A Value Jewish?, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Beth Israel Med Center Chabura, 1 p.m. at UNMC Scholar’s Club for Girls, 3:30 p.m.

Dr. Eric Weiner Lecture, 6 p.m. at RBJH Spring Love & Logic Class, 6 p.m.

Avot U-Banim Parent & Child Learning, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel Ethical Wills: Words from the Jewish Heart, 7 p.m. at RBJH Beth Israel Jews and Brews Class, 8:30 p.m. at the Shtrobach Home FRIDAY, MAY 1 Principles of Jewish Thought, 7:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Yale Richards Professional Education Seminar, 8 a.m.

Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH SATURDAY, MAY 2 Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m. at Beth El SUNDAY, MAY 3 Principles of Jewish Thought, 7:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Bagels & Beit Medrash, 9:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Beginning Prayer, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Torah Chanting, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 11 a.m. at Beth El Non Jews Raising Jewish Children, 11 a.m. at Temple Israel Musical Theater Rehearsal, 2 p.m.

Cast B Dance Recital, 4 p.m.

MONDAY, MAY 4 Principles of Jewish Thought, 7:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Cast B Dance Recital, 6:30 p.m.

Scholar’s Club for Boys, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel

TUESDAY, MAY 5 Principles of Jewish Thought, 7:45 a.m. at Beth Israel BBYO Night, 6 p.m.

Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 8 p.m. at Beth Israel WEDNESDAY, MAY 6 Principles of Jewish Thought, 7:45 a.m. at Beth Israel UNO Class w/Assaf Gavron, 10 a.m.

B’nai B’rith BreadBreakers, noon at RBJH B’nai B’rith Sports Banquet Committee Meeting, 5 p.m.

Cast A Spring Dance Recital, 7:00 p.m.

THURSDAY, MAY 7 Principles of Jewish Thought, 7:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Women’s Class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel What Makes A Value Jewish?, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Beth Israel Med Center Chabura, 1 p.m. at UNMC Scholar’s Club for Girls, 3:30 p.m.

Cantor’s Concert: “Divas on the Bima,” 7 p.m. at Beth El Cast A Spring Dance Recital, 7 p.m.

Avot U-Banim Parent & Child Learning, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel Beth Israel Jews and Brews Class, 8:30 p.m. at the Shtrobach Home FRIDAY, MAY 8 Principles of Jewish Thought, 7:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Friedel’s Annual PTO Plant Sale, 9:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

Alzheimer’s Support Group, 10:30 a.m. at RBJH Friday Learning Series Darwin and MarxEvolution and Revolution in the Israeli Military, 11 a.m.

Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH SATURDAY, MAY 9 Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m. at Beth El BBYO Movie Night, 7 p.m.

SUNDAY, MAY 10 Bagels & Beit Medrash, 9:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 11 a.m. at Beth El Musical Theater Rehearsal, 2 p.m.

MONDAY, MAY 11 IHE Governance Council Meeting, 11:30 a.m.

Scholar’s Club for Boys, 3:30 p.m.

Teen Class, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel Jewish Press Board Meeting, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY, MAY 12 Rabbi Abraham’s Class, 10 a.m. at Beth El Eye on Israel with Eliad, noon BBYO Night, 6 p.m.

Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 8 p.m. at Beth Israel WEDNESDAY, MAY 13 B’nai B’rith BreadBreakers, noon at RBJH Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Beth Israel THURSDAY, MAY 14 Women’s Class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel What Makes A Value Jewish?, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Center for Jewish Life Board Meeting, noon Shanghai Playing, 1 p.m. at Beth El Synagogue Beth Israel Med Center Chabura, 1 p.m. at UNMC Scholar’s Club for Girls, 3:30 p.m.

B’nai Brith 61st Omaha Charity Sports Banquet, 5:45 p.m. at Century Link Center featuring speaker Mike Riley Avot U-Banim Parent & Child Learning, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel Beth Israel Jews and Brews Class, 8:30 p.m. at the Shtrobach Home FRIDAY, MAY 15 Friday Learning Series Darwin and MarxEvolution and Revolution in the Israeli Military, 11 a.m.

Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH CDC Graduation Ceremony and Reception, 10 a.m.

SATURDAY, MAY 16 Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m. at Beth El SUNDAY, MAY 17 Bagels & Beit Medrash, 9:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 11 a.m. at Beth El Musical Theater Rehearsal, 2 p.m.

MONDAY, MAY 18 Mainstreeters Lunch, 11 a.m.

JFO Board Meeting, 11:30 a.m.

Scholar’s Club for Boys, 3:30 p.m.

Teen Class, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel TUESDAY, MAY 19 BBYO Night, 6 p.m.

JCC Board Meeting, 7 p.m.

Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 8 p.m. at Beth Israel WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 B’nai B’rith BreadBreakers, noon at RBJH THURSDAY, MAY 21 Women’s Class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel School Directors Committee Meeting, 9:30 a.m.

What Makes A Value Jewish?, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Beth Israel Med Center Chabura, 1 p.m. at UNMC Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group, 1 p.m.

Scholar’s Club for Girls, 3:30 p.m.

Avot U-Banim Parent & Child Learning, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel Beth Israel Jews and Brews Class, 8:30 p.m. at the Shtrobach Home FRIDAY, MAY 22 Alzheimer’s Support Group, 10:30 a.m. at RBJH Friday Learning Series Darwin and MarxEvolution and Revolution in the Israeli Military, 11 a.m.

Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH Mainstreeters Movie, 1 p.m.

Beth Israel - Brings Shabbat to Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, MAY 23 Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m. at Beth El SUNDAY, MAY 24 Bagels & Beit Medrash, 9:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Musical Theater Rehearsal, 2 p.m.

MONDAY, MAY 25 Scholar’s Club for Boys, 3:30 p.m.

Teen Class, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel TUESDAY, MAY 26 Rabbi Abraham’s Class, 10 a.m. at Beth El JSS Board of Directors Meeting, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 B’nai B’rith BreadBreakers, noon at RBJH THURSDAY, MAY 28 Women’s Class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel What Makes A Value Jewish?, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Beth Israel Med Center Chabura, 1 p.m. at UNMC Scholar’s Club for Girls, 3:30 p.m.

Avot U-Banim Parent & Child Learning, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel Beauty and Beast Jr Performance, 7 p.m.

Beth Israel Jews and Brews Class, 8:30 p.m. at the Shtrobach Home FRIDAY, MAY 29 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH SATURDAY, MAY 30 Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m. at Beth El SUNDAY, MAY 31 Bagels & Beit Medrash, 9:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Beauty and Beast Jr Performance, 2 and 5 p.m.

All events held at the Jewish Community Center unless otherwise noted. This calendar does not include all community events. For a complete listing, visit the Federation’s website: www.jewishomaha.org (click on calendar). To keep calendar accurate, call Pat Anson at 402.334.8200. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of the above events.

April 24, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 5

Obama condemns anti-Semitism

by JTA NEWS STAFF (JTA) -- President Barack Obama condemned antiSemitism in a Holocaust Remembrance Day message.

“It is incumbent upon us to make real those timeless words ‘Never forget. Never again,’” Obama said in the statement released Thursday morning. “Yet even as we recognize that mankind is capable of unspeakable acts of evil, we also draw strength from the survivors, the liberators and the righteous among nations who represented humanity at its best.

“With their example to guide us, together we must firmly and forcefully condemn the anti-Semitism that is still far too common today. Together we must stand against bigotry and hatred in all their forms. And together, we can leave our children a world that is more just, more free, and more secure for all humankind.”

On April 16, Israelis stopped what they were doing and stood at attention for two minutes as a siren wailed throughout the country in memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

The previous evening, during a ceremony at the Yad Vashem memorial, six Holocaust survivors representing the six million Jewish victims of the Nazis lit torches after telling their stories in a prerecorded video.

During the ceremony, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who used his address to criticize the framework agreement signed earlier this month with Iran on its nuclear program, compared the Islamic Republic to the Nazis.

Obama and Netanyahu have been at odds over the agreement, with Obama saying it is a good diplomatic solution to prevent Iran from manufacturing nuclear weapons and Netanyahu saying it puts Israel, and the rest of the world, in great danger.

“Just as the Nazis hoped to crush a civilization, so Iran strives to take over the region and from there spread onwards, with the stated intention of destroying the Jewish state,” Netanyahu said at the ceremony, Meanwhile, a new U.S. congressional task force charged with combating anti-Semitism met with the ambassadors to the United States from France, Britain and Germany.

The U.S. Congressional Task Force Against AntiSemitism, a bipartisan effort that was established last month, had its inaugural meeting on Tuesday.

“I was pleased to hear from our French, German and British partners that they are taking this issue very seriously and are working to bolster security for Jewish communities,” California Representative Lieu said in a statement.

“I look forward to working across party lines to explore creative ways not only to protect these communities but also to reverse these trends.”

Summer Intern

Remembering Sheldon Bernstein

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT was selected to fill his shoes.

Jewish Press Editor The Foundation, which was established only eight years In his eulogy for Sheldon Bernstein, Rabbi Steven earlier, grew significantly during Bernstein’s tenure. It had Abraham spoke of the upcoming Seder and the reading of approximately $10 million in assets in 1992, and Bernstein the Haggadah. “In a way,” he said, “a eulogy is a Haggadah, had almost tripled that by the time he left six years later. a retelling of the life tale of the deceased.”

“All of us who worked for the Foundation loved what we And the story of Sheldon Bernstein’s life is quite remark- were doing,” he said at the time. “It was easy to help it grow.” able, not just for its length, but for its many different chapMarty Ricks, who took over after Bernstein left in 1998, ters. Born in 1922 to Sarah and Joseph Bernstein, he started recalls Bernstein’s strength in connecting to the donors. his life in Omaha as so many “He was out there, connectothers: as a young man, he ing on a personal level with worked at a variety of jobs, the community. He did a great including Bakers Shoe Store job educating people about all and several meat packing the different opportunities the plants. He enrolled at Foundation offered. When I Creighton University in 1940 arrived, I had such a strong and majored in accounting base to work with, because and economics. While at Sheldon laid the groundwork.

Creighton, he joined the He had a great way with peoinfantry ROTC; when he ple, he had this beautiful subgraduated in 1944 he was sent tle sense of humor, and knew to Camp Shelby in everybody because of his Hattiesburg, Mississippi. many years in Omaha.”

Three months later, he found Today, the Foundation has himself aboard the Queen numerous endowment funds Mary, on his way to Scotland. Back row: The late Sheldon Bernstein, left, and Marty Ricks, from college funds to the He immediately participated front row: Lorrie Bernstein, left, Iris Ricks and Sheila Rosen Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, in battles in France and Germany; and by early 1945, his from the Jewish Press to the Nebraska Jewish Historical unit joined up with the American Third Army, commanded Society. Marty credits Bernstein for that.

by General George Patton.

“He had a sheer passion for the Jewish community,” Marty Bernstein was part of a special combat unit that was says. “He was a person who could not sit still, even when he tasked with holding the town of Bonnerue, Belgium. His moved to Oceanside, California. He stayed busy and unit suffered heavy casualties and by the end of the battle, involved. His idea of retirement? Being the Treasurer for his the Germans captured him, along with 17 of his soldiers. He Home Owner’s Association as well as for the Master Home was beaten by the Nazis for being Jewish, until a German Owner’s Association, which covered several additional General interceded on his behalf and had him taken to a developments. He just really enjoyed volunteering.” field hospital. There, he met up with other prisoners.

In 1995, Bernstein and his wife, Lorrie, established the In March of 1945, Bernstein escaped, along with a number Sheldon A. and Lorrie Bernstein Endowment Fund at the of other American officers. They were recaptured and taken Foundation. The purpose of the fund is to support the annuto a special camp for allied officers. American forces helped al Grandparents Day programming that benefits the resithem escape later that spring, and Bernstein made his way dents of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. In spite of moving from Germany to France, and from there back to the United to California, Bernstein always felt a special connection to States. He served out his time at Camp Robinson in Omaha.

Arkansas and was released from active duty in February of “Omaha is where I was born and grew up,” he once said, 1946. He earned the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, a Purple “so we arranged this fund to support Omaha’s Jewish comHeart and various battle stars, including for the Normandy munity.”

Invasion and the Prisoner of War Medal.

“I’m grateful for everything he taught me,” Marty says.

The next chapter of Bernstein’s life involved a career as a “Even after he left, he was never far away in spirit. He would CPA, where he distinguished himself as the president of the call regularly and come back every few years to make sure I Nebraska CPA Society. He then became the president of the was okay. Over time, we became good friends.”

Central States Council of CPAs. He was a partner in two Los Sheldon Bernstein is survived by his wife Lorrie, daughAngeles CPA firms before returning to Omaha in 1992. ters Sharon, Sandy, Sue, Nikki and Sunni, and many grandJerry Rosen, the first Director of the Jewish federation of children and great-grandchildren.

Omaha Foundation, passed away that year, and Bernstein

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6 | The Jewish Press | April 24, 2015

When El Al flew to Tehran -and 9 other things you may not know about Israel’s past

by URIEL HEILMAN (JTA) -- Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, falls on April 23. In honor of the Jewish state’s 67th birthday, we present, in no particular order, 10 littleknown aspects of its history.

1. El Al used to fly to Tehran.

Iran and Israel enjoyed mostly good relations up until the Islamic revolution that overthrew the shah in 1979. Iran recognized Israel in 1950, becoming the second Muslim-majority country to do so (after Turkey). Iran supplied Israel with oil during the OPEC oil embargo, Israel sold Iran weapons, there was brisk trade between the countries, and El Al flew regular flights between Tel Aviv and Tehran. All that ended a week after the shah’s ouster, when Iran’s new rulers cut ties with Israel and transferred its embassy in Tehran to the Palestine Liberation Organization. Even after 35 years of hostilities, however, Iranians have less antipathy toward Jews than any other Middle Eastern nation. A 2014 global antiSemitism survey by the Anti-Defamation League found that 56 percent of Iranians hold anti-Semitic views -- compared to 80 percent of Moroccans and 93 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. For more on Israelis in Iran, check out the 2014 documentary Before the Revolution.

2. Israel is home to hundreds of Nazi descendants.

At least 400 descendants of Nazis have converted to Judaism and moved to Israel, according to filmmakers who made a documentary about the phenomenon several years ago. In addition, others converted to Judaism or married Israelis but do not live in the Jewish state – such as Heinrich

Himmler’s great-niece, who married an Israeli Jew and lives overseas. In Israel’s early years, the state was roiled by a debate over whether to accept German reparations for the Holocaust (it did), and Germany remained a controversial subject: From 1956 until 1967, Israel had a ban on all Germanproduced films.

nel, and broadcasts were limited to specific hours of the day. A second channel debuted in 1986, and cable was introduced in 1990.

Israeli couscous was invented in the 1950s.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

This 1958 scene of a family watching television could not have been photographed in Israel, as the Jewish state had no TV until Credit: Wikimedia Commons 1966.

3. Ben-Gurion invented Israeli couscous (sort of).

The tiny pasta balls known as Israeli couscous – called ptitim in Hebrew – were invented in the 1950s at the behest of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who asked the Osem food company to come up with a wheat-based substitute for rice during a period of austerity in Israel. The invention, which Israelis dubbed “BenGurion’s rice,” was an instant hit.

4. Israel had no TV service till the late ‘60s.

The first Israeli TV transmission did not take place until 1966, and at first was intended only for schools for educational use.

Regular public broadcasts began on Israeli Independence Day in May 1968. For almost two decades more, Israel had only one chan-

Today, Israeli TV is a popular source for Hollywood scriptwriters: Homeland (Showtime), In Treatment (HBO), Your Family or Mine (TBS), Allegiance (NBC), Deal With It (TBS), Tyrant and Boom (Showtime) all are remakes of Israeli shows.

5. Queen Elizabeth II’s mother-in-law is buried in Jerusalem.

Prince Philip’s mother, born in 1885 as Princess Alice of Battenberg and congenitally deaf, spent much of her life in Greece after marrying Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (yes, he was simultaneously prince of two different European countries).

During the Nazi occupation of Greece, Alice hid a Jewish woman and two of her children from the Nazis, earning her eventual recognition by Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial as a “Righteous Among the

Nations” and by the British government as a “Hero of the Holocaust.” She moved to London in 1967 to live in Buckingham Palace with her son and daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II. After the princess died two years later, her body was interred in a crypt at Windsor Castle. In 1988, she was transferred to a crypt at the Convent of Saint Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives – honoring a wish she had expressed before her death.

The Mount of Olives is home to the world’s oldest continuously used cemetery.

6. Alaska Airlines airlifted thousands of Yemenite Jews to Israel.

When anti-Jewish riots broke out in Yemen after Israel’s victory in the 1948 War of Independence, Yemen’s Jewish community decided to move en masse to the Jewish homeland. James Wooten, president of Alaska Airlines, was among those moved by their plight. Between June 1949 and September 1950, Alaska Airlines made approximately 430 flights in twin-engine C46 and DC-4 aircrafts as part of Operation Magic Carpet, the secret mission that transported nearly 50,000 Jews from Yemen to Israel. Pilots had to contend with fuel shortages, sandstorms and enemy fire, and one plane crash-landed after losing an engine, but not a single life was lost aboard the flights.

7. Golda Meir was the world’s third female prime minister.

Meir (nee Myerson), who became Israeli prime minister in 1969, was preceded only

by Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka (1960-65) and Indira Ghandi of India (196677). Born in Kiev and raised in Milwaukee, Continued on page 7

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April 24, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 7

Friedel Jewish Academy

Tod ay ’s

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by CLAUDIA SHERMAN “Jewish values, language, and literacy are for Friedel Jewish Academy the building blocks of strong, positive, joyful Editor’s note: In last week’s issue, we Jewish identity... that we want our kids to featured the second part in a series of carry with them to college campuses. With three articles about Friedel students, and these building blocks, Friedel makes Judaism what they have to say about their school. second nature, instead of second best.”

This week, you can read part three.

Academically, Denenberg stated that Debbie Denenberg, mother of Friedel Friedel students “consistently outperform the Jewish Academy sixth grader Rebecca, men- majority of Nebraska students,” turn out distioned that “national research has shown trict and state champions in the Modern that day school graduates have the greatest chance of growing up to become Jewish leaders, volunteers, and contributors to Jewish organizations.

Friedel Jewish Academy benefits every Jewish institution from the synagogues to the JCC to the Federation and its agencies” by teaching and modeling and talking about Jewish values. “Our school recognizes not only the winner at flashcards but the child who Debbie and Becca Denenberg notices when someone falls on the playground and rushes to help her Woodmen of America speech contest, have up. Our children do projects taken second place in the citywide with residents at the Rose math tournament, and have Jewish Aca l e Blumkin Jewish Home “hands down the finest de ied r m and thus learn to be wellness program in the F part of a communistate. In addition, ty and to respect referring to the art our elders. program, “We think Through daily way outside the living, our kids crayon box.” e m b r a c e This year, Friedel G e m i l u t Jewish Academy is Chasadim (acts celebrating the 50th of loving kindanniversary of ness) and Tikkun adopting the name Je li Olam (repairing the Omaha Hebrew w is o o world).”

Academy as the school’s h Day S ch “We are the people of official corporate name. the book,” Denenberg added, “Ethical communities “so we must be able to read that book.” take care of their past the way we do at the Her daughter Rebecca reads a prayer at Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. And practical night from a Hebrew siddur. This year, communities take care of their present, the “she’ll read a novel in Hebrew. Language way we have with our Federation reorganiprovides access to holy Jewish texts…and zation. Wise and visionary communities when she travels to Israel, she’ll have a real take care of their future. Friedel Jewish connection to her brothers and sisters in the Academy is our future,” Denenberg conLand of Israel through language. cluded, “and it’s a bright one.”

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When El Al flew to Tehran Continued from page 6 Meir moved to an Israeli kibbutz in her early 20s and quickly became active in Labor politics. Challenges rose during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when she opted not to preemptively attack the Arab forces massing on Israel’s border with Syria. Though the Agranat Commission that investigated the war cleared Meir of direct responsibility, she resigned shortly afterward and was succeeded as prime minister by Yitzhak Rabin in 1974 (who served until 1977, but again became prime minister in 1992).

8. Israeli law began requiring solar water heaters in all new homes in 1980.

The law was passed following the energy crisis of the late ‘70s and made Israel the world’s leader in the use of solar energy per capita. Today, an estimated 85 percent of Israeli households use solar systems for hot water, amounting to some three percent of the nation’s energy consumption. However, today Israel lags behind other countries in implementing other solar energy solutions, and a growing number of new buildings in Israel utilize legal loopholes that provide exemptions to the solar heater law.

9. Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus is not technically part of the West Bank.

Though situated in eastern Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, where Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital have campuses, has been in Israeli hands since the state’s founding. After the conclusion of the War of

Independence in 1949, the hilltop was controlled by Jews but surrounded by Jordancontrolled eastern Jerusalem. Israel maintained its Mount Scopus exclave by ferrying in troops and supplies every two weeks under United Nations guard. The convoys were frequently subject to Arab enemy fire, and an attack in 1958 killed four Israelis and one U.N. soldier. Mount Scopus was reunited with the rest of Jewish Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. 10. Albert Einstein was offered Israel’s presidency The offer came from David Ben-Gurion in November 1952 in the days after the death of Israel’s first president, Chaim Weizmann. “I am anxious for you to feel that the Prime Minister’s question embodies the deepest respect which the Jewish people can repose in any of its sons,” Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban wrote to the famed scientist. Einstein turned down the invitation, citing his advanced age and inaptitude at dealing with people. “I am deeply moved by the offer from our State of Israel, and at once saddened and ashamed that I cannot accept it,” Einstein replied, noting, “my relationship to the Jewish people has become my strongest human bond, ever since I became aware of our precarious situation among the nations of the world.”

Interestingly, Ben-Gurion initially denied press reports about the invitation. Einstein died less than three years later.

Class of 2015 High School Seniors and Parents

We will be publishing our annual High School Graduation Class pages on May 22, 2015. To be included, we need your graduation photo and the information below. You can also email the items to: jpress@jewishomaha.org.

High School Senior Information

Name ________________________________________________________________________ Parent(s)’ Name(s) ________________________________________________________________________ Current High School ________________________________________________________________________ College you plan to attend ________________________________________________________________________ Send by May 1 to: The Jewish Press | 333 So. 132 St. | Omaha, NE 68154

8 | The Jewish Press | April 24, 2015

Anniversary

Dr. Weiner’s Jewish heart

Congratulations to Pete and Rhoda Milder who celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary. They were married April 15, 1943.

Organizations B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Highly-successful local Omaha Investor, Alan Parsow, will offer some tips on the stock market and take your questions... on Wednesday, April 29, noon. For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org.

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by LINDA POLLARD Endowment Assistant/Staff Writer, Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation Dr. Eric Weiner, author of Ethical Wills: Words from the Jewish Heart will be speaking at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Auditorium on Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m. Leaders of Jewish organizations asked Dr. Weiner to write a book with a Jewish perspective after the publication of his book, Words from the Heart: A Practical Guide to Writing an Ethical Will. Dr. Weiner uses the HEART acronym from Words from the Heart, and adds material that is relevant to Jewish wisdom and teachings.

“We all leave a legacy, rich or poor and everyone in between,” according to Dr. Eric Weiner. Wealth is more than just money or real estate, and Dr. Weiner wants his audiences to Dr. Eric Weiner gain a new way of thinking about the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next.

Dr. Weiner has studied the differences between families who transfer wealth successfully and families who fail, and believes that ethical wills can help to eliminate the chance of failure.

During his presentation Dr. Weiner will discuss how ethical wills can be used as a tool for promoting conversations in families. The book presents a guide to help readers get started writing their own ethical wills as a way of sharing their beliefs, hopes, spirituality, and past experiences in life

with their children, grandchildren, friends or family.

“It was one of the most meaningful gifts I have ever received”, stated Shane Kotok after having received Words from the Heart. According to Shane, “An ethical will is a treasure we can leave for our families that can last for generations.” With Dr. Weiner’s permission, Shane recently used the book in a talk at UNO. Shane went on to say that she was touched and excited by it.

An Omaha native, Dr. Weiner is a consultant, speaker, and therapist. His professional training includes a Doctorate in Marriage and Family Therapy from Kansas State University, and academic appointments at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Michigan State University.

Dr. Weiner’s presentation is open and free of charge to the community. The Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, Jewish Family Service, the Center for Jewish Life, Jewish Senior Outreach and the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home are cohosting and co-sponsoring this event.

In the news Bob Freeman has been selected as the 2015 recipient of the Omaha Bar Association’s Robert M. Spire Public Service Award. It recognizes career efforts to improve the public’s knowledge of and access to the law and justice systems.

Freeman was also noted for his work in providing pro bono legal work to the City of Omaha on the development of what became CenturyLink Center Omaha, which he continues to represent; and pro bono counsel to Omaha’s Police and Fire Pension Task Force, which addressed solutions to a $500 million funding deficit. Freeman currently serves as General Counsel for the Omaha Chamber of Commerce and as an Adjunct Law Professor at Creighton Law School, where he teaches Sports law. Bob has also served on numerous boards and committees in the Jewish community, including as President of Temple Israel’s Board from 1993-1995.

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The award will be formally presented at the Omaha Bar Association’s Law Day Luncheon on April 30. Senior Federal District Court Judge Lyle Strom will make the presentation.

On Sunday, May 10, at 2:30 p.m., in the Old Avoca, Nebraska, Schoolhouse, multi-instrumentalists Greenblatt and Seay will perform a selection of original songs.

The family-friendly concert will be followed by light refreshments and a chance to chat and jam with Greenblatt and Seay.

Admission is $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for students and senior citizens, and $1.00 for children. Seating is limited. For more information, call 402.275.3221 or e-mail debby@ greenblattandseay.com.

April 24, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 9

Point of view

American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

Join the Club (again!)

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor At the Jewish Press, we are very excited, because it is that time of year: we are bringing back the Annual Press Club!

This will be our fourth time, and we’ve made some minor changes. We added another, larger category: $360.

At the same time, the original categories are a little more flexible: up to $36, $37 to $72, and $73 to $180. The advantage is, if you choose to give, you can choose the number that works for you. We want you to know that any number is appreciated, regardless of giving level.

Creative Director Richard Busse has once again done a fabulous job designing the ads, and we love featuring our youngest community members in those ads. If you would like to see your children in those ads, please email me at avandekamp@jew ishomaha.org, and we’ll schedule a photo session. The more, the merrier!

The proceeds from our Press Club go directly into our operating budget, and are a great help with meeting our day-to-day needs.

Those day-to-day needs are changing all the time. While the paper as it is has been a constant in our community for almost one hundred years (and who can imagine Jewish Omaha without it?) we also need to move with the times. Which is why we are currently exploring our options to put our newspaper on line. There are different ways to accomplish this, with matching price tags, but rest assured that the Jewish Press Board and staff will move forward in the best possible way while remaining fiscally responsible. Over the next weeks, you may see random Pdfs pop up on the Press website, which means we are running

tests. We’re not eager to shut down the website entirely, and have one of those annoying “under construction” notices pop up. There is no reason you cannot enjoy the Jewish Press stories online while we are working on this. We are very excited, and hope you are too!

As always, when you decide to join the Press Club, you will receive Press Cash. Right now, you can use this at Star Deli for various menu items; you also have the option to donate your Press cash to Jewish Family Service, and the

wonderful employees there will make sure it finds a good home.

So, join the Press Club today, and be part of something great! You’ll be able to open the paper each week, knowing you are part of our family. And: I know how many of you have supported us during our previous Press Club runs, and I want you all to know how much we appreciate it. There are not many communities in the country who support their local paper at the level you do, and we are aware of that every single day. Thank you!

The Jewish Press is still looking for an intern.

The Murray and Sharee Newman Supporting Foundation generously underwrites our summer internship, and we are looking for a high school or college student who fits the bill. You need to be at least 16 years old, enjoy writing articles and meeting new people. This year’s intern will also be expected to help prepare for our 2016 exhibit by scanning in materials from the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and other odd jobs around our office. You’ll need to be Internet savvy (although mentioning that makes me sound old, I think—of course you have digital skills if you fall into this age group).

It’s a great way to add a Jewish communal experience to your resume, and get to know our Omaha Jewish Federation on a whole new level.

We are looking for someone who has a lot of energy, is interested in our community, has a healthy sense of humor and isn’t afraid of a little hard work.

If this is you, send your resume and cover letter to us at avandekamp@jewishomaha.org, or call me at 402 334 6450. We can’t wait to meet you!

Ensuring Community safety: Emergency preparedness on the JFO campus

From the desk of the CEO ALAN POTASH, CEO, Jewish Federation of Omaha A year ago this past week a shooting incident occurred on the Jewish Community Center campus in greater Kansas City. This was not the first time a Jewish institution was the target of such an attack and, unfortunately it won’t be the last.

This week I learned of a window in a Nashville synagogue being hit with a bullet (as of this writing the incident is still under investigation and it is unclear whether the synagogue was the intended target).

A frequent question I am asked is, “What are we doing in Omaha to address these types of incidents?”

First off all, let me say that we currently do not have any credible threats to any of our Jewish institutions and we are fortunate to live in a community where Jewish community leaders work closely and regularly with local law enforcement.

In my previous role as the ADL Regional Director I regularly met with law enforcement officials to stay informed of regional threats and issues and this continues to this day.

National ADL would keep me posted on national and international issues. If necessary, I would immediately contact the Jewish institutions in our region. Also, if one of the synagogues received a threat or reported suspicious activity, I would assist as well as share the information.

In 2013 I asked the US Department of Homeland Security

(Founded in 1920) Andrew Ruback President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Jessie Wees Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Thierry Ndjike Bookkeeper

Jewish Press Board Eric Dunning, President-Elect; Scott Farkas, Sandy Friedman, Paul Gerber, Debbie Kricsfeld, David Kotok, Paul Rabinovitz, and Nancy Wolf.

The mission of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish Community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world.

Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations Committee, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish LIfe, Jewish Social Services, and the Jewish Press.

Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www jewishoma ha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’

to conduct a study of our campus and make recommendations on what we could do to enhance our level of safety and preparedness. Training, access control and communications were three recommendations that we determined needed to be enhanced. Funds were allocated in the 2014-2015 budget by the JFO Board to begin implementing these enhancements.

We have begun installation of an access control system to insure that community members who work, visit and volunteer on our campus have the authorization while in the building. For example, enhanced access control to the Child Development Center ensures that only people with permission to pick up students are allowed to do so. Additional features will allow us, in case of an emergency, to identify who is in the building and account for every one of our employees and guests.

In any emergency, communication is key to alerting people and guiding them to safety. Whether a storm (we do live in tornado ally) or other such event, directing people to safety is critical. Tornado shelter signs are now posted across the campus guiding people to safe areas.

An overhead paging system has also been installed to alert everyone on campus of an emergency situation requiring immediate attention.

New security procedures also include the ability to communicate with the Omaha synagogues. Emergency two-way radios have been provided for cross communication in the event phone lines go down.

We learned that the key to preparedness is training. With that in mind, early last year, a team made up of a cross section of staff created training sessions for the entire campus.

Campus staff has already undergone initial preparedness training and training for synagogue staff will take place in

the near future.

Training included: responding to suspicious people and packages, bomb threats, weather emergencies, missing children and intruders. Emergency binders are now visible and easily accessible in meeting rooms and offices to further guide people in an emergency.

As we move forward with further enhancements, ID badges, similar to JCC membership cards, will be issued.

However, rather than swiping them through a card reader, technology now allows us to merely place the card near a “reader”. Upgrades to surveillance cameras, both inside and outside the building are also taking place.

We hope you agree that while even the best prevention and preparedness cannot guarantee protection against every conceivable disaster, it was incumbent upon us to ensure we do everything possible to make our community and all those who enjoy and participate in campus programs and services as safe and prepared as possible.

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer, but the name can be withheld at the writer’s request. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf.

Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid per-

Editorial The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha.

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material and photos to: avandekamp @jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jew ishomaha.org.

Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1.402.334.5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jew ishomaha.org.

Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events.

News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.”

To submit announcements: Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154.

Readers can also submit announcements -- births, b’nai mitzvahs, engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements.

Deadlines are normally eight days prior to publication, on Thursdays, 9 a.m. Please check the Jewish Press, for notices of early deadlines. sonal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de KampWright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450.

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Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or email to: jpress@jewishomaha.org.

10 | The Jewish Press | April 24, 2015

Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 |712.322.4705 email: BnaiIsraelCouncilBluffs@gmail.com Join us for our monthly Shabbat Speakers Series on May 8, at 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker, Maggie Conti, Director of Activities at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home on How my high school years at Council Bluffs St. Albert led to a career in Jewish Omaha. Oneg to follow service. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel!

Larry Blass will officiate at all of the Speaker Series Services.

For information on our historic synagogue, please contact any of our board members: Mark Eveloff, Rick Katelman, Carole Lainof, Marty Ricks, Sissy Silber, Nancy Wolf and Phil Wolf.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California | Omaha, NE 68154-1980 | 402.492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

FRIDAY: Lunch at Nebraska AIDS Coalition, 11:30 a.m.; Beth El Brings Shabbat to the Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Service, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 10 a.m.; Mini Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8 p.m.

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

SUNDAY: BESTT Classes, 9:45 a.m.; Torah Study Group, 10 a.m.; Strange Customs of the Modern Day Jew, 10 a.m.; Torah Tots, 10:15 a.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 11 a.m.; BESTT Kindergarten Round-Up, 11:15 a.m.

TUESDAY: Wrestling with Rabbis of the Talmud, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham.

WEDNESDAY: BESTT Classes, 4:15 p.m.; Hebrew High School goes to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home and Sienna Francis House to serve dinner, 6:15 p.m.

BESTT Shabbaton for grades 3-7, Friday, May 1-Sunday, May 3.

Got Shabbat/Family Shabbat (Grades K-2), Friday, May 1, 6 p.m., followed by dinner.

All classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street | Omaha, NE. 68154 | 402.556.6288 www.orthodoxomaha.org Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Ari Dembitzer.

FRIDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv/Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Seudah Shlishit, 7:45 p.m.; Havdalah, 9 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Bagels and Beit Midrash, 9:45 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

MONDAY: Scholar’s Club for Boys, 3:30 p.m.; Teen Class, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY: Wrestling with Rashi Class, 8 p.m. with Rabbi Weiss.

THURSDAY: Women’s Class, 9:30 a.m.; Med Center Chaburah, 1 p.m.; Scholar’s Club for Girls, 3:30 p.m.; Avot U-

Banim-Parent Child Learning, 7 p.m.; Jews and Brews Class, 8:30 p.m. at the Shtrobach home.

CHABAD HOUSE An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street | Omaha, NE 68144-1646 | 402.330.1800 www.OChabad.com | email: chabad@aol.com Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m SATURDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 9:30 a.m.

SUNDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 8:30 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

TUESDAY: Dynamic Discovery with Shani Katzman, 10:15 a.m. A class for women based on traditional texts with practical insights and application. RSVP by calling the office.

WEDNESDAY: Personal Parsha class, 9:30 a.m. with Rochi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office; The Development of the Oral Tradition, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office. In memory of Forrest Krutter -- Efrayim Menachem Ben Avraham Yitzchak.

THURSDAY: Women’s Study at UNMC with Shani Katzman, noon. RSVP by emailing Marlene Cohen at mzcohen@unmc.edu.

All programs are open to the entire community.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN South Street Temple | Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street | Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 | 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org Services conducted by Rabbi Craig Lewis.

FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. honoring Steve Ganz as he departs for Israel with oneg following hosted by Pam Ganz.

SATURDAY: Boker Bash -- Breakfast and Family Shabbat Service, 9:30 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Tazria-Metzora; Game Night/Potluck, 6 p.m. All ages welcome.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan - Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Confirmation Class, 10:15 a.m. at South Street Temple; Please Note: LJCS Grades 1-7 will be cleaning the Holocaust memorial site at Wuyka cemetery that morning. Parents of children in grades 1-7, please pick up at noon at Wyuka cemetery located on 44th and O Street; Yom Ha’atzmaut Celebration, 12:30 p.m. at Antelope Park, near the playground – bring your own dairy picnic lunch – Maccabia Field day and Israel Activities – in case of rain, the event will be held at the South Street Temple.

WEDNESDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

THURSDAY: Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, 7:30 a.m. at the Cornhusker Marriott, 333 South 13th Street.

Speaker: Dr. Sarah Sayeed, Director of Community Partnership.

ADULT EDUCATION TUESDAY: Intro to Judaism, 6:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Lewis.

THURSDAY: Beginning Hebrew, 6 p.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 7 p.m.

Tot Shabbat and Dinner, Friday, May 1, 5:45 p.m. with Jennifer Rosenblatt at Tifereth Israel.

President’s Office Hours, Sunday Mornings, 10 a.m.–noon at SST. If you have any Temple business, programs, or new

France to pour $107M into fighting anti-Semitism, racism

by JTA NEWS STAFF (JTA) -- French Prime Minister Manuel Valls pledged to finance a $107 million plan to fight racism and antiSemitism.

The recent increase in prejudice in France is “insufferable,” he said at a news conference last Friday in which he announced the plan.

“Racism, anti-Semitism, hatred of Muslims, of foreigners and homophobia are growing in an insufferable manner in our country,” Valls told reporters in Creteil, just outside Paris, after presenting his plan. Creteil was chosen because of an attack on a young couple in their home there five months ago, Radio France Internationale reported.

The attackers raped the woman and said that they believed the victims had money because they were Jewish.

In January, after Said and Cherif Kouachi murdered 12 people at the headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, their accomplice Amedy Coulibaly took hostages and killed four people at a kosher supermarket,

prompting the government to promise action against antiSemitism, racism and terror attacks.

Five ministers, including Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, accompanied Valls in Creteil. The government pledged $107 million over three years to putting the 40-point plan into action.

Among its principal measures are the inclusion of hate speech, previously banned in the law on the press, in penal law; the establishment of racism or anti-Semitism as an “aggravating factor” that can lead to tougher sentences for a related crime; permitting class-action suits for discrimination and the creation of a national police unit to combat hate on the Internet.

The allocated funds will be spent on publicizing the aims and taking local action against prejudice.

“French Jews should not be afraid of being Jewish,” said Valls. “French Muslims should not be ashamed of being Muslims.”

Candlelighting Friday, April 24, 7:56 p.m. ideas you would like to discuss with Temple president David Weisser, please email him at president@southstreettemple. org or call him at 402.513.7697, or stop by the Temple between 10 a.m. and noon on Sundays when religious school is in session.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road | Offutt AFB, NE 68123 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to the Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m. led by Beth El. SATURDAY: Service, 9:15 a.m. led by Andy Greenberg.

Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend.

TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive | Omaha, NE 68144-1206 | 402.556.6536 http://templeisraelomaha.com FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Brown and Cantor Shermet.

SATURDAY: Tot Shabbat, 9 a.m. for families with children ages five and under. Please contact the Temple Israel office, 402.556.6536, to let us know you are coming; Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.

Jeremy Silverman, son of Mimi and Michael Silverman, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah; Experience Shabbat for Grades K6, 4 p.m.

SUNDAY: Blood Drive, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; No Religious School; OTYG Baking and Service Run through for Spring Chavurah (Open to ALL OTYG), 10 a.m.; Temple Israel TED Talk, 11 a.m.

MONDAY: OTYG Work Night for Spring Chavurah, 5 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 4 p.m.; OTYG Work Night for Spring Chavurah, 5 p.m.; School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Family Night, 6 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6 p.m.; The Omaha Symphony Chamber Orchestra Presents: Our Biblical Heritage: Music of Haydn, Prokoflev, Milhaud, and More!, 7 p.m. with guest conductor Judith Clurman. No tickets are necessary for this free concert presented by the Omaha Symphony in partnership with the Congregation of Temple Israel.

THURSDAY: What Makes a Value Jewish?, 10 a.m. with Debbie Massarano.

First Annual Sterling Ridge Drive Poker Tournament, Tuesday, May 5. Dinner at 6 p.m., Tournament at 7 p.m.

Cost is $50 and includes dinner and tournament. For more information, please contact Program Director Scott Littky, 402.556.6536.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard | Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 | 402.423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning service, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush Lunch.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan - Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Please Note: LJCS Grades 1-7 will be cleaning the Holocaust memorial site at Wuyka cemetery that morning. Parents of children in grades 1-7, please pick up at noon at Wyuka cemetery located on 44th and O Street; Israel is turning 67 years Celebration, 12:30 p.m. at Antelope Park, in pavillion #2. Please bring your own dairy picnic lunch. Maccabia Field day and Israel Activities – in case of rain, the event will be held at the South Street Temple.

WEDNESDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

THURSDAY: Annual Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, 7:30 a.m. (doors open at 7 a.m.) at Cornhusker Marriot Hotel, 333 South 13th Street. Speaker: Dr. Sarah Sayeed, Director of Community Partnership.

Tot Shabbat and Dinner, Friday, May 1, 5:45 p.m. with Jennifer Rosenblatt at Tifereth Israel.

Kylie McCormick will be our guest Lunch and Learn speaker on Shabbat morning, May 2. Her topic will be Jewish Slave Owners in the Confederacy. Kylie is a UNL graduate student who is earning her master's degree in history.

Pulverent e

April 24, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 11

In memoriam HAROLD ABRAHAMSON Harold Abrahamson passed away on April 19 at age 87 in Los Angeles. Services were held in Los Angeles.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Betty and Louis Abrahamson.

He is survived by his wife, Gloria; three children; seven grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

He graduated from Omaha North High School in 1945 and from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1950. He served in the Navy Air Force during WWII. He was active in Film production in Los Angeles.

Memorials may be made to Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration or any cancer fund.

ALFRED WALTER (AL) BRODY Alfred Walter (Al) Brody passed away on April 12 at age 95. Services were held April 15 at Menorah Chapel in Staten Island, NY. He was preceded in death by his grandson, Benjamin Brody, and brother, Don Brody.

He is survived by his loving wife, Shirley and recently celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary; daughters and sonsin-law, Betty Ann Brody Bucksbaum and Steve Bucksbaum of Glenview, IL, Carolyn and Frank Schwarz of Pittsburgh, PA; daughter, Francie Brody of Pittsburgh, PA; son and daughter-in-law, Bob and Pamela Brody of Weston, MA; grandchildren: Noah and Teddy Bucksbaum, Matt Schwarz, and Tim Schwarz and Jennifer Knight, Jennifer and Zachary Brody; great-grandchild, Owen.

Al was born in Bronx, NY. He was a specialist in lung disease at Creighton University Medical School in Omaha, NE. While in the Army in Germany and Austria just after World War II, he headed up doctors caring for injured soldiers in the Army hospital. In the early 1950s, he founded the Pulmonary Department at Creighton University Medical School and St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Memorials may be made to the organization of your choice.

SUSAN “SUZIE” (ASH) HERSTEIN Susan “Suzie” (Ash) Herstein of Mesa, AZ, formerly of Minneapolis and Omaha, passed away at age 71 after a long and courageous battle with Parkinson’s. Services were held on April 19 at Minneapolis Jewish Cemetery Chapel in Penn Richfield, MN. She was preceded in death by her parents, Mary and Sol Ash; parents-in-law, Sophie and Dave Herstein; brothers-inlaw, Elliot and Morty Herstein; special cousin, Eddie Bailen and very special friends, Marsha and Larry Trachtenberg and Aronita and Mel Engel.

She is survived by her loving husband of 50 years, Jeff; daughter, Roshelle “Shelle”; sons, David and Sean and very special daughters-in-law, Olivia and Hillary; granddaughters, Miriam, Sidney and Nava; and Aunt Millie of Omaha.

Sue worked at the Minneapolis JCC for years prior to moving to AZ where she started her second career in customer service at a bank. The family would like to thank the

entire staff at Muhammad Ali Parkinson’s Center, Springdale Village and the Valley of the Sun Hospice.

Memorials may be made to Muhammad Ali Parkinson’s Center, 240 W Thomas Rd, Suite 302, Phoenix, AZ 85013 or Hospice of the Valley, Fund Development, 1510 E. Flower St., Phoenix, AZ 85014.

MILTON MINTZ Milton Mintz passed away on April 3 at age 94 at Gentiva Hospice in Fort Worth, TX. Services were held April 7 at Congregation Ahavath Sholom Cemetary in Fort Worth, TX

by Rabbi Andrew Bloom.

He has preceded in death by his wife, Betty Mintz.

He is survived by daughter, Frances Mintz Brookstein of Northbrook, IL; son and daughter-in-law, Joe and Kit Mintz of Fort Worth; son, Alan Mintz of Dublin, OH; grandchildren, Pamela Brookstein Burke and Ron Burke, Mark and Dana Brookstein, Jacqueline and Stephanie Mintz, and David and William Mintz; great-grandchildren: Talia and Avra Burke, Lyla and Fisher Brookstein; cousins, Lowell Mintz of New York, NY and Dr. Norbett Mintz of Boston, MA. He was a native of Brooklyn, NY, Milton was born April 19, 1920, the son of Solomon and Anna Steiner Mintz. He was raised in Brooklyn, NY. He served in the United States Army from 1940 through 1945, participating in the WWII European Campaign. Following his military service, he began his career as a Cattle Hide Buyer with H. Elkon & Co. in Chicago, IL, then Omaha, NE where he married his wife Betty Rebecca Mintz in 1950. During this time they were members of Beth El Congregation. They celebrated nearly 50 years of marriage before her passing in Nov, 2000. Milton moved with his family to Fort Worth in 1971 with a company change to Chilewich Corp. Betty and Milton relocated to Houston in 1981 due a job transfer, and returned to Fort Worth in 1991 upon his retirement. He was a member of Congregation Ahavath Sholom, B’nai B’rith and the Fort Worth Post of the Jewish War Veterans.

Memorials may be made to Congregation Ahavath Sholom USY/Kadima Fund (Fort Worth TX), Fort Worth Jewish Federation/Jewish Family Services, or a organization of choice.

VELMA ANN SACKS Velma Ann Sacks passed away on March 27 at age 83.

Services were held on March 29 at Paradise Gardens Cemetery in Scottsdale, Arizona.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Kenneth.

She is survived by daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Steve Gelb of Wyomissing, PA; daughter, Karen Sacks of Scottsdale, AZ; grandson and fiancé, Jeffrey Gelb and Melissa Jaffee; granddaughter, Abby Gelb; and sister, Ina Gene Grodzin of Chicago, IL. Memorials may be made to Beth El Synagogue or to St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance in Phoenix, AZ.

Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154.

Readers can also submit announcements -- births, b’nai mitzvahs, engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements. Deadlines are normally eight days prior to publication, on Thursdays, 9 a.m. Please check the Jewish Press, for notices of early deadlines.

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12 | The Jewish Press | April 24, 2015

With fewer survivors around, Holocaust education is in transition

by PENNY SCHWARTZ BOSTON (JTA) -- On a recent morning, a group of seventh-graders in Natick, Massachusetts, was absorbed in a video of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s acceptance speech of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize.

“Why did he win?” asked their teacher, Tracy Sockalosky.

She guided the discussion to the importance of remembrance, a theme reflected in Wiesel’s book Night, which the class had read earlier in the year as part of an eight-week unit on the Holocaust that Sockalosky co-teaches with a colleague.

Sockalosky, a 39-year-old history and world geography teacher at Natick’s Wilson Middle School, was one of 25 educators from around the world who traveled to Poland in January for the commemoration ceremonies of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The five-day trip, organized by the University of Southern California’s Shoah Foundation-the Institute for Visual History and Education, in partnership with Discovery Education, included workshops at Warsaw’s new Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews, visits to Jewish historical sites and meetings with survivors.

A webcast produced during the trip, Auschwitz: The Past is Present Virtual Experience, will be made available to teachers and students in grades 9-12 on May 13 through the foundation’s recent partnership with Discovery Education, a company that streams educational content to teachers and classrooms across the country.

With the last cohort of survivors in their final years, Holocaust education, which once relied heavily on classroom visits from survivors, is in a period of transition.

“We’re on the cusp of a shift,” when it will no longer be easy to find survivors to speak directly with students, says Roger Brooks, president of Facing History and Ourselves, a Boston-based nonprofit that offers multidisciplinary professional development, curricula and resources for teaching about the Holocaust and other genocides.

Founded in 1976, Facing History, which now has programs in 150 locations around the world, combines teaching the history of the Holocaust with readings that explore ethics and questions of civic responsibilities. Its Center for Jewish Education, started in 1990, works with educators in more than 750 Jewish educational settings, including about 100 day schools.

While no one knows how many schools in the United

States teach about the Holocaust, people in the field sense it has become more of a mainstream phenomenon in public, private and parochial schools all over the country, even in communities that lack significant Jewish populations.

Five states -- New Jersey, New York, California, Illinois and Florida -- have some type of mandate to teach about the Holocaust in public K-12 schools, according to Peter

Holocaust survivor Nate Leipciger speaking to a class of students participating in the Facing History and Ourselves curriculum.

Credit: Facing History and Ourselves Fredlake, director of teacher education at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Others encourage Holocaust education or make curricular recommendations.

But approach, quality and goals vary dramatically, with some schools teaching the Holocaust strictly for its historical significance and others with hopes of imparting lessons about civic responsibility and the dangers of intolerance.

Meanwhile, more than 80 groups throughout the United States offer resources and training for Holocaust educators, according to the U.S. Holocaust museum.

Many are grappling with how to teach about the Holocaust in a post-survivor age.

For the past 20 years, in anticipation of the shift, USC’s Shoah Foundation has collected more than 52,000 testimonies of Holocaust survivors for its Visual History Archive.

More than 1,500 of the testimonies are included in the foundation’s IWitness, a program designed for classroom use that enables students to stream video and audio testimonies and create their own multimedia presentations. The program

reaches some 39,000 educators, and the January trip, in addition to seeking to deepen teachers’ understanding of the historical landscape of Poland before and after the Holocaust, sought to promote the use of the IWitness program.

“This is really bringing the power of storytelling in the digital environment,” according to Kori Street, director of education at the Shoah Foundation. “It’s putting a human face to history.”

Testimonies can’t be presented on their own, however, Street and others caution. Instead, they say, testimonies must be supplemented with lessons about the context of anti-Semitism and the history that led to the Holocaust.

By “looking at the small and insidious steps as they unfold, it helps students learn about warning signs, and to recognize and respond to them in their own lifetimes,” says Jan Darsa, director of Facing History’s Jewish education program.

At its best, says Simone Schweber, the Goodman professor of education and Jewish studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison whose research has focused on Holocaust education, teaching the Holocaust challenges students to examine their own deeply held ideas.

“It’s really hard to do,” she acknowledges, noting that students don’t always construct the moral lessons that their teachers assume, particularly if they bring in stereotypes and preconceptions that go unaddressed.

Sarah Cushman, academic program liaison officer at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, says, “People assume that if you teach [about the Holocaust], students will understand that they shouldn’t bully. There’s a disconnect between what’s being asked of this history and what students are getting from it.”

“The lessons must be made more explicit,” she suggests.

Sockalosky, the suburban Boston teacher, acknowledges that the material she has presented to her students requires highlevel critical thinking skills and can be challenging for seventhgraders. But the experience of standing with survivors at the gates of Auschwitz in January has deepened her commitment to reaching students at the level they are at, she says.

“I have to find a way to make learning about the Holocaust not just another historical event we study,” Sockalosky says.

“It’s not just about the history; it’s about the human experience.”

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