May 18, 2007

Vol. LXXXVI No. 36 Omaha, NE

Youth rely on Louise’s Clothesline

by JOHN MOLLISON Vice-President of Girls and Boys Town-Human & Physical Resources The Clothesline was officially dedicated in honor of its founder Louise Abrahamson at a special ceremony May 1. Father Boes presented Abrahamson, who is retiring from fulltime work, a proclamation declaring it “Louise Abrahamson Day” at Girls and Boys Town.

“This is a really big surprise,” said Abrahamson as she wiped away tears from her eyes. “I always loved to see the children’s smiles and laughter. Their hugs and kisses made my day.”

Louise Abrahamson admires the “new” Louise’s Clothesline with her sons Steve, left, and Hugh.

Abrahamson founded The Clothesline in 1989, providing new clothes and accessories for Girls and Boys Town youth. She worked hard throughout her 18 years as manager, creating strong relationships with vendors and volunteers to sustain its services and provide countless donations for Girls and Boys Town children throughout the country.

Continued on page 2

Celebrating 86 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

1 Sivan, 5767 May 18, 2007

New Beginning for Blumkin Home means something new for Foundation and JFS

by OZZIE NOGG In the category called Jewish philanthropy, our community is a recognized leader. Witness Omaha’s per-capita gifts to Federation Campaigns, our contributions to synagogue and building fund drives, our financial support of missions to Israel, local Jewish education and organizations that enrich our Jewish lives.

And while the new Rose Blumkin Jewish Home is the latest concrete example of our community’s financial generosity, the facility also demonstrates a special brand of giving within -- and between -- the Home and two of our Federation agencies.

Marty Ricks became exec- Mike Silverman, left, executive director of JSS/RBJH, reviews the Home’s archtectural plans utive director of the Jewish with JFS Director Karen Gustafson and Marty Ricks, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Federation Foundation.

The office out of which the Federation Foundation Foundation almost nine years ago. “During this time,” Ricks said, “my relationship with the Blumkin Home does its work is located in the lower level of the Blumkin staff and Jewish Senior Services Board of Trustees has Home. Since Ricks arrived in 1998, the Foundation has always been positive.” Four years ago, when Mike grown from $28 million to $85 million, but even with Silverman took over as Executive Director of the increase in dollars and individual funds, the RBJH/JSS, plans for the New Beginning of the Foundation operates with a staff of four employees -three full-time and one part-time -- in just 750 square Blumkin Home began in earnest.

“Mike and I started working together frequently,” feet of space. But that will soon change.

“Mike and the Jewish Senior Services Board have graRicks said. “The Foundation is taking a significant part in the Home’s expansion project. Our office is directing ciously agreed to double our square footage to 1500, the safe investment of the seed money for construction which will give us space for a small conference room, Continued on page 16 as well as tracking the new gifts and pledges.”

Expectations high as facility is built for Argentine elderly

by FLORENCIA ARBISER BUENOS AIRES (JTA) Elderly Argentine Jews will soon have a new place they can call home when LeDor VaDor, a $10 million, state-of-the-art facility, opens in Buenos Aires.

LeDor VaDor is the first home for Jewish elderly in the capital that has the community’s central institutions involved in its direction. The home, which was inaugurated March 27 but will open this month, can hold 292 residents. Hundreds more can participate in daily activities.

The cost per resident will be $1,500 to $2,000 per month, but at least 190 residents will have their fees heavily subsidized. The building, a 150,000-square foot, rebuilt factory, is a concrete structure with high ceilings. Patios were designed to provide natural light and open spaces for leisure.

The building is located near neighborhoods with large Jewish populations, unlike existing Jewish homes for the elderly on the outskirts of the city that leave residents far from loved ones.

The Hirsch Israeli Philanthropic Association is highly regarded but expensive. The once-vigorous Argentine Jewish Home for Elderly in Burzaco, nearly a century old, is foundering under economic and structural problems.

Inside Opinion Page see page 24

T h e JDC survey also found that some 45,000 Jews in Buenos Aires and its surroundings are older than 60.

Local Jewish institutions have developed a network of 40 daily recreation centers for elders, but they aren’t equipped to care for those

Attending an inauguration ceremony of LeDor VaDor, the first home for the elderly in Buenos Aires on March 27, 2007, are: Sergio Bergman from Fundacion Judaica, left; Rabbi Tzvi Grunblatt, director of Chabad Luvabitch Argentina; Luis Grynwald, AMIA president; Rafael Eldad, the Israeli ambassador; and Shlomo Ben Hamu, the chief rabbi of Argentina.

Credit: AMIA Inside the city, the Sephardic Beit Sion with disabilities.

Douer can hold only 90 residents and is Three years ago, local Jews, American filled to capacity.

Jews and Jewish institutions in Argentina That has left many elderly Jews to live and the United States came together to in non-Jewish homes that do not provide plan a new home for seniors. a Jewish environment. Research two years According to JDC sources, the project ago by the American Jewish Joint was funded by local Jews and institutions, Distribution Committee showed that 75 the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg percent of the residents in 10 non-Jewish Foundation in Baltimore, the Greater private elderly homes in Buenos Aires Houston Jewish Federation, the JDC, were Jewish. and the David and Inez Myers

This Week: Senior Living Starts on Page 13 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’

Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland.

The home was modeled on state-ofthe-art elderly facilities in the United States and Israel. Perkins-Eastman, a U.S. architectural firm, offered free advice and supervision for the project. At the opening ceremony, 11 members from the Houston federation, along with Howard Schultz, president of the Latin American JDC Committee, and Mark Weiner, president and CEO of the Council for Jewish Elderly and a consultant to PerkinsEastman, joined local Jews. National and municipal officials, Israeli Ambassador Rafael Eldad and rabbis from several movements also participated.

“The presence of the rabbis here today is very significant,” said Jorge Fainzaig, a local Jewish businessman who is president of the LeDor VaDor Foundation and was one of the driving forces behind the project. “They show us that this project, which seemed to be pharaonic, was done with the help of God. We knocked on several doors and everyone opened their hearts and pockets,” he said.

Representatives from Argentina’s Social Development Ministry announced a subsidy of $450,000 to buy equipment for the new home.

Continued on page 2

Coming Next Month: Father’s Day/Graduation Issue on June 8

Jewish support for Sarkozy reflects stand on anti-Semitism: Page 3

Where Are They Now? features Stuart Stoler: page 5

Wertheimer says “we had to prove a point”: page 14

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 18, 2007

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FRIDAY, MAY 18 CDC Graduation and Reception, 10 a.m. at JCC Visions Luncheon, 12:30 p.m. at Venice Inn Temple Israel Shabbat Comes to Remington, 4 p.m.

Salute to High School Graduates, 6 p.m. at Beth El

I P

& S A V E

SUNDAY, MAY 20 Yachad Overnignt Camp at Mahoney State Park The Living Torah, 9:30 a.m. at Chabad House Annual Meeting, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Class with Rabbi Nadel, 9:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Adult Education, 10 a.m.-noon at Beth El JCC Staff Orientaton with Redwoods, 10 a.m.

Torah Trope Crash Course, 11:15 a.m. at Beth El Beth El Shavuot Social Action Day, noon at City Sprouts Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing, 12:30 p.m.

Visions Play and Dinner, 1 p.m. at Chanticleer Dance Recital, 2 p.m. at JCC Swim Team Parents Meeting, 6 p.m. at JCC

C L I P & S A V E

C TUESDAY, MAY 22 L I JCC Closes at 6 p.m. for Shavuot P WOW Tehillim & More, 9 a.m. at Chabad

C L I P

& Eye on Israel, noon at Kripke Library

&

Dinner and Study Sessions for Shavuot, 6 p.m. at Beth El

S WEDNESDAY, MAY 23 A JCC Closed for Shavuot V E THURSDAY, MAY 24 JCC Open/Federation Offices Closed for Shavuot 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

by JANIE MUROW Federation Community Development Director “Opportunity Omaha, It’s more than just a job” will kick off its second year right after Memorial weekend with an evening at La Casa Pizzeria. More than 20 college students applied for summer internships through this year’s program.

The Jewish Federation of Omaha and a committee of volunteers worked with the college students to find many of them summer jobs in career fields of interest. In addition to connecting students to jobs, the committee has planned some great programming throughout the summer, which is open to all college students (including incoming freshmen).

“The goal of Opportunity Omaha is to connect our young people to positions in Omaha that allow them to explore their educational and career interests,” said Margo Riekes, committee chairman. “During the sum-

mer we will provide social and educational opportunities for them as well.”

Riekes added. “We hope that they will make professional and social connections so they will stay in or return to Omaha after graduating from college.”

Upcoming programs include guest speakers on career development, the great city of Omaha, Israel advocacy, handling anti-Semitism on college campuses and much more. Participants will also be involved in community service projects throughout the summer. There will always be food and fun at each event! These programs are made possible by many Jewish Federation Foundation grants.

The first event will be held on Tuesday, May 29, 7 p.m., at La Casa Pizzeria. Come for dinner and hear more about the exciting summer planned for Jewish college students! Call me at 334.6566 or e-mail jmurow@jewishomaha.org for more information and to reserve your spot.

Argentine elderly get new facilitiy Louise’s Clothesline

MONDAY, MAY 21 JSS Senior Luncheon, 10 a.m.

Jewish Book Club, 11 a.m. at JCC Women’s Book Group, 1 p.m. at Beth El Hadassah Board Meeting, 1 p.m.

Judaism with Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, 6 p.m.

Friedel Graduation/Reception, 7 p.m. at JCC Jewish Film Series, 7 p.m. at Beth El Israel Nearing 60, 7 p.m.

JSS/RBJH Board Meeting, 11 a.m. JCC Senior Card Players, 11:30 a.m.

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT ing an after-school program with other Friedel graduIn only a few short weeks, the three sixth graders at ates, and says she can also talk with her brother, who has Friedel Jewish Academy will be saying goodbye to their spent time in Israel. beloved school. Graduation is just around the corner Samantha Wiener has always loved the holidays at for Tal Margalit, Cleo Rogers, and Samantha Wiener. Friedel. ‘You get to celebrate together,” she says, “and The girls look forward to the graduation ceremony, everyone gets involved. Purim and Hanukkah are my because they know it will be a very special event. favorites.” Another aspect of the school Samantha is Tal Margalit will cherish Red Ribbon Week as her impressed with is the supportive atmosphere among the fondest memory: “I like the fact that you get to dress students. “If you need help you can always ask one of differently each day. Pajama-day was my favorite, since the older kids. I remember how much help I received you don’t have to wear regular clothes at all.” Her from the older students when I first came here.” advice to the incoming Kindergartners is “to always lisSamantha is going to miss Denise Bennett the most, ten to the teachers and have fun.” Tal, who was born in because “she is a wonderful teacher, and makes learning Jerusalem, is the daughter such a fun experience.” of Eyal and Ruti Margalit, Samantha has impressed who have both been very the teachers with her carinvolved with the school. ing attitude, and strong She has been able to conconnection to the school. tinue studying Hebrew all “Graduation is an acathese years, because of demic rite of passage,” the excellent teachers at according to Principal Friedel. This is something Cookie Katskee, “and it is she is very grateful for: about this time that “Friedel has taught me to adults start to ask: ‘What speak more Hebrew, not do you want to be when less, and has challenged you grow up?’ Adults me in other areas as well, usually expect students to such as math.” answer with a noun, such Tal Margalit, left, Cleo Rogers, and Samantha Wiener Cleo Rogers, daughter as ‘doctor’ or ‘lawyer’. I of Scott Farkas and Mimi Rogers, has a long history at would like Friedel graduates to respond with adjectives: Friedel. When she came to the school, she was Pre-K, ‘I want to be happy, kind, warm.’ Of all the things they and Diana Zeman remembers that time well: “During have learned, the Jewish values are the most important.” her time here, she has shown such wonderful commitSaying goodbye will be bittersweet, according to ment to the school and to Judaism. We all are very Diana Zeman: “It makes us awfully sad to see these girls proud of what she has learned. In addition to that, Cleo go. They have been with us for a long time, and they is particularly nice and helpful towards the younger stu- have accomplished so much. However, we emphasize dents.” the pride we have in their success. We also make sure Cleo has good memories of her time in kindergarten: they are aware of what they have given us, as well as “I loved hearing and reading stories. Learning is impor- what they take with them. And, of course, we hope they tant at Friedel, and we have so much fun in the mean- will visit us often.” time. My advice to the younger students is exactly that: Friedel Graduation will be held on Monday, May 21, have fun.” Cleo plans to keep up her Hebrew by attend- 7 p.m., and family and friends are encouraged to attend.

Opportunity Omaha returns for a summer re-run

CLIP & SAVE

SATURDAY, MAY 19 Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel C 7th and 12th Grade Graduation, 9:30 a.m. at Beth El L BBG Annual Beau Dance, 6:30 p.m.

Out of Sight Saturday Night, 6:30 p.m. at JCC

A bittersweet goodbye for Friedel graduates

S A V E

Continued from page 1 Schultz told JTA it was his fourth visit to Argentina since the initial mission from Houston in 2003.

“These sort of projects that show respect for the elders are what distinguishes us as a people,” he said.

Weiner came with his Argentine wife, Patricia Voloschin, and their children Daniel, 10, and Samie, 12.

Weiner was emotional when he recounted how Samie told him, “Dad, I’m proud of you. You’re helping people you don’t even know.”

“The lessons I teach my children are that being Jewish is being part of a larger world, in which we’re connected,” he said.

Even before the building opens, there are great expectations.

“This shouldn’t be just a beautiful mall where we deposit the elderly,” said Alejandro Avruj, one of the rabbis at the opening ceremony. “There’s a lot of work to be done in order to feel that the elders living here will also be our zeydes.”

Continued from page 1 Abrahamson made sure all Girls and Boys Town children benefited, shipping donated goods to sites across the country. When Hurricane Katrina forced the evacuation of Girls and Boys Town of Louisiana children to Home Campus, Abrahamson helped provide evacuees with clothing.

“The children left with smiles on their faces and thank yous to me and my volunteers,” she told the Overlook Messenger on Sept. 15, 2005.

Abrahamson’s work providing essential items for Girls and Boys Town youth make her a strong part of its community. Though retiring from fulltime work, many hope to see her friendly face on occasion at Louise’s Clothesline. A past president of the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, she was profiled in the Feb. 10, 2006, issue of the Jewish Press for her contributions to the Jewish community and greater Omaha.

“The Clothesline is so special to me,” said Abrahamson. “I will continue to help in whatever way I can.”

EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE

Call Allan Handleman 334-6451

The Jewish Press office will be closed Wednesday and Thursday, May 23-24, for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, and for Memorial Day on Monday, May 28. The 9 a.m. deadline for the June 1 issue is Tuesday, May 22.

Questions? Call 402.334.6448.

May 18, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

Jewish support for Sarkozy reflects stand on anti-Semitism

by RINA BASSIST PARIS (JTA) -- The 53 percent support for Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round of France’s presidential election was the strongest showing by a right-wing candidate since Charles de Gaulle -- perhaps because he was the man who finally cut down far-right extremist JeanMarie Le Pen. Nonna Mayer, a professor at the prestigious Institute for Political Studies in Paris, noted that in the first round of voting on April 23, Sarkozy took more than one-third of far-right voters. In the May 6 runoff it jumped to two-thirds, as well as 40 percent of cenFrance’s newly elected presitrist votes.

“His victory is so con- dent, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Credit: Sarkozy campaign vincing in the sense that only a quarter of his voters chose him just in order to prevent Royal from the presidency,” Mayer said, referring to Sarkozy’s Socialist Party opponent, Segolene Royal. “Among Royal voters, some 47 percent voted not for her but against her rival -- anyone but Sarkozy.”

Sammy Ghozlan, president of the Union of Jewish Communities in the Paris region, congratulated Sarkozy for “his brilliant election as president of the republic.”

Ghozlan also heads an agency that fights anti-Semitism and has commended Sarkozy’s firm stance on the issue.

“We are persuaded that the new president will continue eradicating anti-Semitism the way he has begun doing,” Ghozlan said. “We will remain his partners in his efforts to construct civil peace here in France, and we assure him of our total confidence and support in his actions to establish peace between Israel and its neighbors.”

Sarkozy could hardly ask for more. Despite the French Republic’s official discouragement of sectoral politics, the Jewish community strongly supported Sarkozy.

Jewish voters saw the former interior minister as a friend to Israel and an important figure in the fight

against anti-Semitism. Soon after Royal conceded, Jewish groups came out with their good wishes.

Sarkozy, the grandson of a Greek Jew and the son of a Hungarian aristocrat, has pledged to make it tougher for immigrants to bring their extended families to France.

Among the economic reforms he has pledged are the abolition of a tax on overtime, a cut in the inheritance tax and measures to force the unemployed to take whatever work is offered.

Considered a law-and-order politician in the American mold, Sarkozy earned points in the Jewish community for his hard line against Muslim unrest in France, including riots and anti-Semitic attacks.

Sarkozy was one of the first French politicians to react strongly to a spike in anti-Semitic attacks in France after the Palestinian intifada began in 2000 at a time when other French officials did not seem to take the problem seriously.

The Jewish community’s respect for Sarkozy was demonstrated by absentee voting results from French Jews living in Israel. Sarkozy received 5,655 of the votes cast at the French Embassy in Tel Aviv -- more than 90 percent -- compared to just 580 for Royal.

That’s even greater support than the 87 percent Sarkozy received in his hometown of Neuilly-sur-Seine, where he has served as mayor. The Tel Aviv figures reportedly top those voting for Sarkozy in any other French voting bureau around the world.

The victory may well reflect a change in French political life. The phenomenon of right-wing extremist Le Pen making the runoff, as he did in 2002, is over, and France has returned to its traditional left-right balance.

Royal’s Socialists lost the presidential election for the third time in a row, and the internal battle over the party’s leadership is yet to begin.

Sources in the Jewish community say the shift back to a right-left balance is due in part to Sarkozy’s obstinate fight against anti-Semitism and racism. In April 2002 elections, 18 percent of French voters chose Le Pen, sending his anti-immigrant message -- which in the past has included anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial -- into the second round.

This year, in contrast, French voters elected a candi-

date whose father was an immigrant. Even most female voters chose Sarkozy, polls showed, despite Royal’s blatant plea for women to show gender solidarity.

Jews traditionally have supported the Socialists, but this year several Jews interviewed said no Socialist leader, including former President Francois Mitterrand, had succeeded in bringing Le Pen to his knees as Sarkozy did, perhaps ending Le Pen’s political career.

Sarkozy told of a difficult childhood in which he was hassled because of his unusual family name. In his inauguration speech he spoke of building a new France where no one would feel excluded regardless of his or her origins or beliefs.

Sarkozy’s tactics may not have been to the liking of some Jews -- Simone Veil, a Holocaust survivor and former Cabinet minister backed Sarkozy even though she deplored his call for a “national identity and immigration ministry” -- but the results can’t be contested.

What an impression!

Members of Visions enjoyed a beautiful day at the Joslyn Art Museum viewing the traveling exhibit of the Impressionists (Masterpieces from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute). Enjoying lunch at the Press Club are: Rosalie Greenspan, left, Sally Masnek, Rachel Rosenberg, Elaine Jabenis, Ethel Goldston, Rose Pitlor, Sandy Bromley, Florence Hauss.

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Page 4

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 18, 2007

Sarkozy, seen as Israel’s friend, expected to look inward early on

by RINA BASSIST PARIS (JTA) -- Optimistic and celebratory, Jewish groups were quick to offer congratulations to Nicolas Sarkozy after his victory in French presidential elections.

Sarkozy, of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), defeated Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal in Sunday’s runoff. He garnered some 53 percent to Royal’s 47 percent in the election, which featured a huge voter turnout.

The former interior minister was seen by Jewish voters as a friend to Israel and an important figure in the fight against anti-Semitism. Soon after his opponent conceded, Jewish groups came out with their good wishes.

“At a time when French Jews felt directly threatened by the rise in violent anti-Semitism in Paris and elsewhere across France a few years ago, Sarkozy played a critical role in moving the French government to finally recognize the gravity of the problem and to do what is necessary to address the ill winds that not only threaten the largest Jewish community in Western Europe, but, as we know from history, would ultimately pose a threat to wider French society,” American Jewish Committee Executive Director David Harris said in a statement.

The AJCommittee recalled that Sarkozy during that period was instrumental in stepping up police protection around Jewish buildings and schools, and arresting and prosecuting those who committed anti-Semitic acts. He told the group in a Washington address in 2004 that he would “consider any insult against Jews an insult against France.”

CRIF, the French Jewish community’s umbrella group, addressed its “warmest and most respectful congratulations” to Sarkozy in a Sunday statement.

“Your position statements during the electoral campaign carry much hope for a France that needs to be reconciled with itself,” President Roger Cukierman wrote. “I was touched by what you said and I understand that you intend to be a standard bearer of the French values we so cherish, those of a republic that... respects every individual and leaves no room for intolerance, racism and anti-Semitism.”

In a race that offered a clear choice between conservative and liberal policy, the voters gave Sarkozy, 52, a clear mandate for his economic and social reforms when he takes office May 16.

The grandson of a Greek Jew and the son of a Hungarian aristocrat, Sarkozy has pledged to initiate tougher rules to make it more difficult for immigrants to bring extended families to France. Among the economic reforms Sarkozy has pledged to push through early on are abolishing a tax on overtime, cutting the inheritance tax and obligating the unemployed to take

work that is offered.

Sarkozy, who will succeed Jacques Chirac, will become the first president of immigrant stock.

Known as an American-style, law-and-order politician, Sarkozy had earned points in the Jewish community for his hard line against Muslim unrest in France, including anti-Semitic attacks -- though he drew fire from some liberal and immigrant groups for referring to some of the rioters as “rabble.”

In his victory speech at party headquarters in Paris, Sarkozy mentioned France’s relationship with the United States. “True friends can accept each other even if they have differences of opinions,” he said.

Frederic Encel, professor at the prestigious SciencePo Institute, said that Sarkozy’s unusual willingness to be associated with the United States also strengthens hope for good relations between France and Israel.

Nicolas Sarkozy is by far the most pro-Israeli French presidential figure could have hoped for,” he said. The fact that Sarkozy had not been trained at France’s national public administration school or by the Foreign Ministry “is a great advantage for Israel, as he is not committed to traditional diplomacy,” Encel said.

“Royal would have stuck with existing approach,” he added, allowing people like her adviser Jean Louis Baillancourt, a member of a pro-Palestinian organization, to lead French diplomacy.

Royal, 53, who trailed in the polls since Sarkozy won the first round of voting on April 22, had warned that electing Sarkozy might spark the kind of rioting that took place in the suburbs last year. She said his candidacy represented “a dangerous choice.”

“It is my responsibility to alert people to the risk of [his] candidature with regards to the violence and brutality that would be unleashed in the country,” said Royal, who during a televised debate May 2 accused Sarkozy of “political immorality.”

Both candidates symbolized a break with the old guard. Both were born after World War II and said they were intent on bringing a real change after Chirac’s 12year rule. But the similarities ended there: French voters had to choose between two very distinct personalities, attitudes and political programs.

Sarkozy entered politics as a protege of Chirac, but the two had a falling-out that remains to this day when Sarkozy backed Chirac’s rival for the presidency in 1995.

The Jewish community has seen Sarkozy as a friend of Israel, though he maintains the Jewish state must make concessions to allow the Palestinians to establish a viable state. But he has made clear to the Palestinian Authority that there is no justification for violence to achieve its means.

In an interview in The Jerusalem Post, Sarkozy called the 2002 Saudi initiative “constructive.” Under the

YOU DO HAVE ACHOICE!

two-state proposal, Arab states would recognize Israel if it withdrew to its pre-1967 borders and calls for a “just solution” for Palestinian refugees.

In the interview, Sarkozy said, “Only if Israel is guaranteed that its existence will not be threatened and the Palestinians are allowed to form a viable state can we achieve a durable and viable solution.”

One Jewish voter said, “As far as Israel is concerned, Royal has nothing to offer us, compared to Sarkozy.”

Outside a synagogue in the Jewish Quarter, one Sarkozy voter rued some of Royal’s supporters. “As a Jew I don’t like the fact that many pro-Palestinian radical activists participate at her meetings,” said Armand, who asked that his last name not be used. “I think this is dangerous.

“Sarkozy, on the other hand, is one of the only [future] heads of states to have gone to the U.S. to meet President Bush. I’m not a fan of Bush, but still. In any case, I don’t think that Sarkozy is a fascist, as some people try to make us believe.”

Learn how to enhance in-law relationships during next Beth El Rosh Hodesh group

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Maneuvering through in-law relationships can be tricky at times, especially mother-in-law/daughter-inlaw issues, which often pose puzzling or difficult challenges. Those interested in developing better rapport with their mother-in-law or daughter-in-law, are invited to explore this topic during Beth El’s next Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group meeting, Tuesday, May 29 at the home of Ann Goldstein, 9856 Devonshire. Goldstein’s co-host for the evening will be Cheryl Cooper.

“Admittedly, the daughter-in-law and mother-inlaw roles are tough ones to learn,” Cooper said.

“They require relationships between two people who had no choice in the matter. During ‘Making the Most of Being or Having a Mother-in-Law,’ we'll have some fun discussing the positive ways we can enhance our relationships, and we hope that women of all ages will attend and join in the conversation!”

Social hour will be at 7 p.m., and the formal meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. Reservations are needed and may be made by contacting Goldstein at Akgoldstein@gmail.com or 391.1050; or Cooper at Coopsrandc@cox.net or 391.7514.

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May 18, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 5

Texas resident fondly recalls life in Omaha Nebraska football, and calls the team, ‘my Cornhuskers.’ You’re not allowed to call her on the phone while the team is playing. Her greatest joys are her grandchilby GLORIA SHUKERT JONES dren, Madisen, Evan and Jordan, and a great-grandson, Eitan, who is a year old.”

Whenever I hear the song, “For He’s A His sister, Elene Sue, and her husband, Jolly Good Fellow,” it always reminds me Jerry Wacks, live in Lexington, of Stuart Stoler, a personable and friend- Massachusetts. Jerry has an adult son, ly guy. Stoler was a boyhood pal of my David, from a previous marriage, who brother, Mike Shukert, and they still keep teaches at Oregon University. David and in contact today. However, I had not seen his wife Katharine, are the parents of Stoler for many years, until last summer Eitan. Elene Sue, also known as “Susie” is when he had come to Omaha, as he does retired from teaching and counseling, several times a year, to visit his mother, and his brother-in-law, Jerry, is a psychiaother family members, and some friends trist. with whom he still keeps in touch.

“My brother, Alan, is a lawyer here in “I didn’t think you’d recognize me,” Omaha, and he and my sister-in-law, he said, “as I’ve put on a few pounds and Kim, are Madisen’s parents. Madisen lost most of my hair since you last saw attends Central High, and I enjoy hearme--too bad it wasn’t the other way ing about the school I attended 48 years around.” ago,” Stoler added.

This good-natured poking fun at him“Madisen loves sports, dancing and self is typical of Stoler. I music, and I enjoy had to admit, he was watching her grow up not the skinny kid I to be a young woman. knew from childhood, Evan and Jordan, their but his spontaneous twin sons, are attending one-liners and mischieLewis and Clark Junior vous grin had not High. If I close my eyes, changed. He had been it’s like hearing Alan recently diagnosed with talk about his activities diabetes, and signed up when he was a student. for a trial medication You feel old when you that also includes a see the boys developing weight-loss regimen and into smart, independent an exercise program he young adults,” he said. has to follow. Watching Stoler, a bachelor by one’s food intake must Former Omahan Stuart Stoler lives in choice, never cared be quite a sacrifice for Dallas, TX. about marriage or havsomeone who loves food as much as ing kids, but evidently dotes on his young Stoler does, however he hopes his efforts niece, nephews and grand-nephew. “I to improve his health will inspire others come from a large family, so we had a lot to do the same. of holiday dinners at our house.”

“I am not upset seeing young guys with Stoler attended Castelar School, long, odd-colored hair, either,” Stoler Central High, and the University of went on. “I’m just jealous because I Nebraska. He worked for the divisional don’t have any.” He then related the fol- offices of Safeway, and Brown and lowing story.

Williamson Tobacco, and lived in Grand “When I was a salesman for Brown and Island for a while. He then was employed Williamson Tobacco back in 1973, my with Watts Marketing and IBM. While boss, a Mr. Shields, never knew that I with IBM, he was transferred to Dallas wore a hair piece. We were seated at with 60 other employees from Omaha in Bakers at 132nd and Center, having a 1996. He now owns a house in cold drink after calling on Abe Baker. Carrollton, Texas, with “two bossy, conShields said my hair was too long. I took trolling dogs who are great company.” off my hair piece and handed it to him, Describing life in Texas, he says, “You saying my barber could not cut anymore water the foundation, not the lawn. The off of it.” biggest problem is fire ants, as you never Evidently Stoler’s boss was so sur- can get rid of them.” prised, he sought stronger libations at a He emphatically announces he will nearby bar, taking Stoler with him. Later, never be a Dallas Cowboy fan. “My at his retirement party, Shields told of the bumper sticker says, ‘I wasn’t born in hair piece incident, saying he was so Texas, but I got here as fast as I could’. shocked, it was the first time he was ever Dallas is a fun, big city, and the only place speechless. where you drive with one hand on the Stoler was born in Bellingham, WA, steering wheel, and the other on a gun. and raised in South Omaha. His grand- The traffic is unreal. An accident on the parents had owned a grocery store on tollways can hold you up for hours.”

18th and Dorcas that dated back to the So where does one go to get someyear 1915. Eventually, his aunt, Belle where faster? A road less traveled, of Siegel, took over the store’s operation. “I course, which is an icy road, an anomaly worked in the store, making change for in the warmer winters of Texas, but occathe customers before I was six years old,” sionally when it does exist it is largely Stoler said. His parents are Esther (Tibe) unused. According to Stoler, “No one Siegel Stoler, and the late Jay Stoler. there has any idea how to drive on one.”

“My father, Jay, was the owner of Stoler states he misses his mother’s Pacific Fish Company. He passed away in cooking, and that of his sister-in-law, 1994. My mother still lives in her house Kim, who makes the “best homemade on J.E. George Boulevard. She’s a great pies.” mother and grandmother, very opinion“Steaks in Dallas are not what you ated and very independent,” Stoler expect in Omaha,” he adds. “ I think the remarked. meat comes from across the border in the “Mother’s advice is still given. She says middle of the night. Their Tex-Mex is now that she’s 94, she’s becoming mean- not as good as OJ’s. Dallas has great barer and more stubborn. I told her I’ve becue and acceptable Jewish delis. But I known her for 65 years, and I see no dif- miss Gorat’s, Taco John’s, the Bohemian ference!”

Café and Big Fred’s.”

Stoler then added, “My mom still loves Continued on page 6

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May 18, 2007

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The Six Day War through the eyes of Time

PEOPLE OF THE

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by MARK MIETKIEWICZ It’s very hard, four decades later, to imagine the fear and then, the euphoria that spread through Israel and the Jewish world as the Middle East was plunged into war in 1967. It’s hard. but with the help of the Internet, you can get a taste of the war whose effects are still being felt after 40 years. We celebrated Yom Yerushalayim and as the 40th anniversary of the Six Day War approaches, you can relive coverage of that war.

Although the war was covered in depth by world media, most of the sources in this column refer to Time magazine and to a lesser extent, the BBC. That’s because Time is one of the few major publications that has made its entire archive accessible online -- free of charge. I assume that coverage in the weekly newsmagazine was fairly typical of how much of the Western media covered the war.

At the heart of its coverage, Time’s June 9, 1967 issue features Israeli Premier Levi Eshkol on its cover [http://tinyurl.com/2xvwkn] and looks at Israel: The Struggle to Survive. “Last week, 19 years after the Diaspora dream of return to Zion became a reality in the first Jewish state in almost 2,000 years, Levi Eshkol and his people found themselves besieged and threatened as few nations have ever been in their history.” [http:// tinyurl.com/239j65] The following week, the magazine devoted another 5,000 words to “How Israel Won the War.” There’s much written about the “new Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, the dashing, one-eyed ‘Hero of Sinai,’” (also featured on that week’s cover [http://tinyurl.com/2h3g6x]). Other personalities featured prominently in the coverage include Egypt President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Jordan’s King Hussein. [http://tinyurl.com/25 wvx6] That same issue contains a much shorter but in some ways, a much more telling article. Given the pain and loss of life suffered over the years since then, it’s eyeopening to read an article which retold the “chutzpalaced jokes about the Middle East conflict.” Titled

“Blintzkrieg,” it epitomizes the headiness felt by Israelis and supporters around the world right after the war. A selection: • Reports from the second day of fighting indicated that the Egyptians had destroyed four Jeeps, a kosher mobile kitchen and 14 air-conditioned Cadillacs. The Israelis claimed 400 MIGs and 24 flying carpets.

• It’s unfair,” said a U.A.R. (Egyptian) spokesman.

“They have 2,300,000 Jews on their side. And we have none.”

• At one point in the campaign, an Arab division spotted a lone Israeli sniper on a sand dune. The commander dispatched three men to get him. When they did not return, he sent a dozen. None of them came back. So he finally sent an entire company. Two hours later, one blood-splattered Egyptian soldier crawled back. “It was an ambush,” he explained. “There were two of them.” [http://tinyurl.com/28cboj] If you want a break from all the articles, go to the BBC site and watch a few reports from the war. On June 6, correspondent John Bierman was stationed with Israeli troops at Khan Younis on the Gaza Strip. “It would appear from a military briefing that we’ve just been given that the Israeli plan in this part of the front at any rate is to cut off the Gaza Strip from the rest of Egypt.

The Gaza Strip which has been described by Israeli strategists as a pistol pointing straight at the heart of Tel Aviv.” [http://tinyurl.com/yrn93d] Don’t miss the timeline at the center of the page which links to more BBC audio and video clips from this and other Mideast wars. Over at YouTube, a vintage newsreel complete with dramatic narration and over-the-top background music. [http:// tinyurl.com/2bf9mh] As you listen to the report and pore over the articles, it’s hard to believe some of them were written forty years ago. Two weeks after the war. Time wrote “In a rational world, Israel’s terms would not seem overly harsh.

What it asks in exchange for the land it has conquered is not a return to its dangerous existence before the war but a guarantee that it can live in peace. ‘Our watchword is not backward to belligerency, but forward to peace,’ explained its ever-eloquent Foreign Minister Abba Eban.” [http://tinyurl.com/ywy5ar] Mark Mietkiewicz is a Toronto-based Internet producer who writes, lectures and teaches about the Jewish Internet. He can be reached at highway@rogers.com.

Where Are They Now Continued from page 5 Stoler had back surgery in 2000 and developed a staph infection that lasted six months. He was on disability until September of 2006 and is now retired. He does aquatic exercises at the YMCA to help him keep fit. He also volunteers at a local hospital.

“I have gained a lot of friends here. I met a man named Bob Gleason who went to Creighton University in the 1950s, and worked with my grandfather, Isaac Stoler, at the Nebraska Clothing Company. It’s a small world.”

The culinary talents of Stoler’s mother have been inherited by the son. “I made a Passover lunch for 24 members of the ‘Y’, some of whom were over 80 years old,” he told me. “I fixed matzo ball soup, turkey, potato kugel, farfel muffins and hot fruit compote. I don’t think any person I invited had ever met anyone Jewish or discussed Passover.”

Stoler says he keeps in touch with a lot of his former co-workers from IBM and keeps busy at the Carrollton Senior Center. He belongs to Temple Shalom and its senior group, Shalom Silver.

Again, the subject of food came up as he told of a potluck dish he prepared for the senior group. “I made cocktail-size sweet and sour meatballs in cabbage leaves.

I heard some people saying they could not believe I made such an item. I came back to the serving table and it was all gone. Some who had attended the dinner called me the next day and asked for the recipe.”

Stoler is also a member of the North Texas for Nebraskans. “We go on trips and have parties to watch the Huskers,” he explained. “There are about 300 members of this group. It is not so enjoyable when a Texas team beats us,” he smiles.

Stoler has traveled to such places as the Caribbean, Europe and Israel. His most recent trip was to Omaha to celebrate his mother’s 94th birthday. While here, he hosted a surprise luncheon in her honor and invited a group of some former neighbors from Dorcas Street.

“We laughed and reminisced for three hours. Some of the conversation was about my dad getting all the neighborhood kids in the back of his fish truck to go to Peony

Park, the zoo, Riverview Park, and to get ice cream at Evans. I learned a lot of gossip from the three mothers present, about the neighborhood circa 55 years ago.

They sure kept secrets from us kids,” Stoler recalled.

“In July, I traveled to Boston to spend time with Elene Sue and Jerry, saw the sights, attended the Boston Pops, and spent a few days at their house on Chappaquidick, overlooking the ocean, a perfect place to relax.”

One of Stoler’s most amusing stories concerns the time one of his friends wanted someone of Stoler’s circumference to dress up as Santa and deliver holiday gifts to various households.

At first he was reluctant. A Jewish Santa? Unheard of!

Absurd!

However, he buckled under pressure and ultimately agreed. “I didn’t need a lot of pillows,” Stoler observed.

“The first house I went to, was to see Roy, a six-year-old whose family had just returned from the funeral of his favorite uncle. The family was so down, you could feel the sadness. I asked Roy what he wanted from Santa, and he said he wanted his mother to smile again. It almost brought tears to my eyes.”

Stoler continued, “Roy left and returned from the kitchen, carrying a bag of oranges he wanted Santa to have. I gave him his gifts and as I was getting ready to leave, the Santa pants, which were too big even for me, fell to the floor, along with a few pillows. Even though I had my walking shorts on underneath, it was still so embarrassing, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

However, the entire family, despite their recent bereavement, was laughing so hard, they said it was the most fun they’d had for the entire holiday season.”

Stoler, who turned 66 on Nov. 27, says his plans for the future are to enjoy the little things in life. “I worry a lot less about things now than I used to. I guess my only present concerns are the four M’s: Medicine, Medicare, Money and Male Menopause!”

In addition to his sparkling wit and candor, Stoler also offers these words of wisdom: “Live each day as if it were your last. Be true to yourself and to others. Learn from your mistakes and failures, as well as your successes.

These are the things that make you who you are.”

May 18, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

Seven adults at Temple Israel to accept Torah on Shavuot

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Rabbi Aryeh Azriel of Temple Israel emphasized that “in every generation, we need to see ourselves not only as the people who marched to freedom but also as the people who willingly accepted a gift of Torah for eternity.”

As the Jewish community approaches Shavuot, which commemorates the Jews receiving the Torah at Sinai, seven adults at Temple Israel, all members of a yearlong adult class, will become B’nai Mitzvah on Erev Shavuot, Tuesday, May 22, 7 p.m.

“I have learned so much, and I have become more spiritual along the way, a pleasant surprise,” said Wendy Reiss. “I chose to become a Bat Mitzvah at this time so I could help my daughters as they became B’nai Mitzvah, and I soon discovered that I was really doing it for me and realized how much I needed this in my life. The class exceeded my expectations.”

She added, “It’s been fun learning from Rabbi Azriel, Rabbi Linder, and Cantor

Shermet.” Reiss also praised the instructors. “Colleen Kennealy gave us a great start, and Naama Arzi has been phenomenal!”

For Jennifer Miller, becoming a Bat Mitzvah means “that I have come full circle in my journey of Judaism,” she explained. “I converted about 17 years ago and have taken a lot of classes as well as taught religious school. I have always felt that there was something missing in my journey. I have one daughter who just had her Bat Mitzvah and another one next year. It has also brought my family a lot closer, because this past year we have been going to services and participating more than ever. My children see how important being Jewish is and having G-d in our everyday lives,” Miller remarked.

She described the teachers as “amazing.

I almost hate for the class to be over, because Tuesday evenings have been my special evenings to study, and I have really enjoyed every minute.”

“For me having a Bat Mitzvah means even more of a commitment to Judaism,” said Don’L Dacey. “It just seemed like a

natural thing to do after conversion, to learn the language of the community I committed myself to, to understand the meaning of the prayers I was saying. I truly enjoyed getting to know those in my class.”

Lynn Beha considers this to be “a significant rite of passage into the Jewish community.” As a Jew-by-choice, she took the class “to learn Hebrew and the prayers, and I’m nearing the end of it with friends I never expected to come with the experience.” Like her classmates, Beha felt that Arzi did “a great job picking up where Colleen left off, helping me feel confident in my ability to read Hebrew. I also enjoyed the time we spent with the rabbis and cantor and having the opportunity to get to know them a little better.”

Others in the class are Patrick Jensen, Elaina Ozeroff, and Toby Fellman.

Colleen Kennealy, who taught Temple’s adult B’nai Mitzvah classes for the past several years, moved to Minneapolis after beginning with this year’s students. She congratulated them

for their “passion for Jewish learning. You lead busy lives, whether working, parenting, or loading up on volunteer activities, yet each of you made a special effort to add these classes to your already full schedule. You studied Hebrew, learned to chant Torah, and explored many aspects of Jewish tradition,” Kennealy pointed out. “What impressed me even more than your love of learning, though,” she added, “was your care for each other.

When one of you struggled to decipher a new Hebrew word, you had friends around the table who would help.” She also noted that they studied together, a Jewish tradition. “I’m sure our ancient sages would be delighted to see that custom living on at Borders in Omaha!”

Following the Shavuot service, there will be a traditional Shavuot dairy Oneg, featuring several flavors of cheesecake and ice cream sundaes you can create yourself.

On Wednesday, May 23, 10:30 a.m., worship service and yizkor will conclude Shavuot services. The Temple office will be closed that day in observance of Shavuot.

Kripke Library to offer pre-loaded digital books

by CHERYL LERNER Kripke Library Assistant The Kripke Jewish Federation Library announced that it will begin offering Playaway -- the first self-playing digital audio book -- adding the innovative digital format to their existing audio book collection.

Not an MP3 or CD player and not software, Playaway is the self-contained audio equivalent of a book. Half the size of a deck of cards, Playaway is packaged with earphones, a lanyard and a standard AAA battery to allow for immediate listening.

Using clearly marked buttons, Playaway gives listeners the option of placing digital bookmarks and controlling the speed of a narrator’s voice, all while easily moving both forward and back through audio book selections that can range from six to 24 hours.

Additionally, Playaway has a universal headphone jack that works with almost any type of headphone or mobility accessory. “Playaway’s simple functionality and immediate usability separate it from other audio book formats,” said Gary Katz, Library Administrator. “With Playaway,

our patrons can enjoy best-selling content with first-rate digital audio.”

Playaway currently has licensing agreements with several leading publishers and content owners, including HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Penton Overseas, Brilliance Audio, Blackstone Audio, Franklin Covey, Random House and Recorded Books. The Kripke Library’s Playaway collection will include: Night by Elie Wiesel, Walking the Bible by Bruce Feiler, The Plot Against America by Phillip Roth, Everyman by Phillip Roth, Hebrew: The Short Course, and Everything

is Illuminated by Jonathan Safron Foer.

Each Playaway title is available in secure, protective casing specifically designed to meet library needs. “With Playaway, we set out to create a product that was portable, technologically simple and easy to use, and it’s been a perfect fit for libraries,” said Christopher Celeste, President, Findaway World. “Through new title acquisition and program initiatives, we look forward to greatly expanding our library program capabilities.”

For more information, contact 334.6462 or visit www.jewishomaha.org.

Page 8

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 18, 2007

Celebrate Shavuot with dinner and study at Beth Israel

by MARY BORT for Beth Israel Synagogue Shavuot is a time to celebrate the giving of the Torah. Beth Israel Synagogue plans to participate in such celebrations by holding services, a dinner and classes during Shavuot, May 22-24, and the community is invited to attend.

According to Rabbi Jonathan Gross, “Shavuot is a time to increase our understanding of the Torah. As we celebrate our receipt of the Torah, we also engage in scholarly activity to further our knowledge of this great gift. We’re planning some programs that you definitely won’t want to miss.”

On the eve of Shavuot, Tuesday, May 22, Minchah is 8:15 p.m. Ma’ariv will be at 8:26 p.m., followed by a dairy dinner at 8:45 p.m. Cost is $12 per person and reservations are necessary. After dinner, Tikun Leil Shavuot will commence -the study of the Torah.

“In shuls all over the world, Tikun Leil Shavuot means that people stay up all night, the night before Shavuot, learning Torah,” explained Gross. “As is the custom, we plan to stay up late into the evening, studying various aspects of the Torah. While we won’t be up the entire night, we do plan to continue our studies - on a variety of stimulating topics - into the wee hours of the morning.”

The first class, taught by Rabbi Gross, will begin at 9:30 p.m. and is entitled, “Eliya-Who? Who Was This Guy and What is He Doing at My Seder?”

“We’ve all heard of Eliyahu and he seems to be very central in Jewish rituals and practice,” noted Gross. “People are always asking me for more details. So, Shavuot is a good time to explore the texts that discuss the episodes in his life.

He happens to be my favorite Biblical character.”

Gross continued, “Eliyahu was a navi,

which is usually translated as ‘prophet,’ but really means so much more. Let’s discuss that as well; what it means to be a navi.”

Rabbi Seth Nadel will teach the next class, “Links in the Chain: The Philosophy and Methodology of Jewish Education,” at 10:30 p.m. “Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah,” said Nadel. “We have an imperative to study the Torah and pass it on, generation to generation. We’re all links in the chain. In this class, I’ll draw from traditional sources and my experience in the classroom to talk about the methods for passing this along and how to do so successfully. I’ll have advice for parents and educators on how to inspire our next generation.”

From 11:30 p.m. and on, studies will focus on Sefer HaChinuch, “The Book of Mitzvah.”

“As we all know, there are 613 mitzvot

in the Torah,” said Gross. “The Sefer HaChinuch is a medieval text that lists them in the order they appear in the Torah. It’s concise and comprehensive.

We’ll see how late we go on Tuesday night; we should be able to cover a large portion.”

Wednesday, May 23, the first day of Shavuot, Beth Israel will hold morning services at 9 a.m., followed by a dairy Kiddush. Minchah and Ma’ariv is 8:30 p.m. The second Day of Shavuot, on Thursday, May 24, will begin with 9 a.m. morning services, Yizkor at 10:45 a.m., and a sponsored dairy Kiddush after the services. Minchah will be held at 9:30 p.m.

“I always look at this time as an opportunity to enhance my relationship with the Torah, both during services and during Tikun Leil Shavuot,” Gross said. “We hope everyone will learn and celebrate with us during Shavuot.”

Beth El to commemorate Shavuot with study, singing and celebration

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Shavuot, the Jewish festival which commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, will be celebrated at Beth El Synagogue with an evening of study and song on Tuesday, May 22. Led by Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Gastón Bogomolni, the festivities will begin with 5:30 p.m. Minha/Ma’ariv services, followed by a 6 p.m. dairy dinner and two thought-provoking study sessions. (Dinner is optional; those wishing to only attend the study sessions are welcome to do so.)

Preceding the evening’s program, Rabbi Levin will offer a short presentation about the meaning of Shavuot. His

talk will be followed by the 6:50 p.m. study session, entitled “A GenderSensitive Scripture for Jews: A First Look at the Jewish Publication Society’s New Translation of the Torah,” and led by Dr. Leonard Greenspoon. During this exploration of what JPS calls ‘The Contemporary Torah,’ Greenspoon said attendees “will spend some time assessing the positive features of this new edition, along with some of its drawbacks.”

At 7:40 p.m., Dr. Toby Schonfeld will lead an in-depth discussion about “The Bible and Bioethics: What Judaism Can Teach -- and Learn from -- Other Approaches to Bioethics.” According to Schonfeld, “We will look at two main

g i n y o j En ard w e r e h t . e m i t e f i l a of

things that Jewish and feminist approaches to bioethics have in common.

Then we’ll also talk about why secular bioethics should take religious approaches to bioethics seriously.”

During a 20-minute break between the study sessions, Cantor Bogomolni will lead attendees in a lively sing-along, featuring songs related to the holiday.

To conclude the evening, and in accordance with Shavuot’s emphasis on study, a fitting tribute will be paid to the congregation’s adults who have attended Beth El’s adult education classes during the year.

Those adults will receive participation certificates for their dedication to continuing their Jewish education, Rabbi Levin said.

“We’re proud to recognize the many adults who have made a commitment to enhance their Jewish life through our weekly classes,” he remarked, adding that “we look forward to the fall, when we will once again offer a rich variety of adult education classes and fascinating mini-courses to everyone in the Jewish community.”

The evening’s activities are open to the entire community. Cost of the dinner is $8.50 for adults, $4 for college students; $6.50 for children ages 6-12; and free for children 5 and younger. Reservations are needed by May 18 and may be made by contacting Margie Gutnik at the synagogue office, or programming@bethelomaha.org.

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Chabad celebrates Lag B’Omer

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT As Jews from different walks of life came together to There aren’t many things that will stop Rabbi Mendel enjoy the food and games, it was obvious that the spirit Katzman and his wife Shani from opening their doors to of Lag B’omer matches Chabad’s philosophy very well. the community. And, the massive rain that pounded “We attempt to spread a sense of community, since we Omaha during the weekend of are all one family,� she added, Lag B’Omer did not stand in “and we love opening the the way of a joyous celebration, Chabad House for anyone who complete with a cookout. wants to come, not in the least While the Katzmans enterthe children.� tained -- and educated -- their Children will have a chance to guests, Bob and Kim Goldberg experience one of the most were kind enough to man the important dates on the Jewish barbecues during the spare dry calendar on May 23, when moments. Joanne Andresen Chabad hosts its annual Shavuot celebration, marking was responsible for the vast array of delicious foods. the giving of the Torah.

Although Shavuot is not as “This is a day of Jewish widely known or celebrated, it unity,� Shani Katzman said, is at the epicenter of Jewish tra“and it is traditionally celebratdition and identity. There will ed outside. It commemorates be a traditional dairy meal and the relief of the tragedy that ice cream social. surrounded Rabbi Akiva’s stuThe day will start at 11:30 dents. Rabbi Akiva lived during a.m. with the reading of the Talmudic times. It also emphasizes the beauty of each individ- Bob Goldberg, discusses the upcoming Shavuot learn- Ten Commandments. This is a ual. Lag B’Omer marks the day ing sessions with Rabbi Mendel Katzman during the ceremony that is especially meaningful to children, since that the holy Rabbi Shimon Bar recent Lag b’Omer barbeque.

Yochai died, and it was his request that his yahrzeit be they are the keepers of the Torah.

As always, everyone in the community is welcome. celebrated, not mourned. This should be a day of joy, a Special lactose-free meals will be available. day to emphasize a meaningful relationship with G-d.�

Beth El congregants to show off their green thumbs during upcoming Social Action Day

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Beth El congregants are ready to pack up their gardening gloves, sunscreen and enthusiasm, and participate in a special Social Action Day on Sunday, May 20, at City Sprouts, 40th and Franklin. Sponsored by the synagogue, participants will be busy from 1-3 p.m., weeding, tending ornamental and decorative plants, working on basic repairs, cleaning the house at the garden and building garden beds, according to the organizer Toby Schonfeld.

City Sprouts is an organization whose mission is to sustain communities through gardening, and to help Omaha neighborhoods, civic groups, schools, youth groups and residents develop lasting, productive green

spaces. To achieve its goal, City Sprouts brings together volunteers from around Omaha to work alongside innercity residents to grow vegetables, flowers and herbs, and provide a comfortable setting where people of diverse backgrounds can work together. “This is a great opportunity to come together and make a difference in our community,� Schonfeld said. “Let’s all come together - children and adults alike -and enjoy friendship, a little exercise and the joy of performing the great mitzvah of helping those in need.�

Carpools will leave from Beth El at 12:45 p.m.

Registrations are needed by May 18, and may be made by contacting Program Director Margie Gutnik at 492.8550, or at programming@bethel-omaha.org.

To order a gift subscription to the Press ... Send a check for only $25 for the remainder of the calendar year, made out to the Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. For more information on how to connect your out-of-town relatives and friends, call 402.334.6448.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 9

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May 18, 2007

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IN THE NEWS Irving Zucker, Ph.D., a University of Nebraska Medical Center professor whose research focuses on heart failure, is the new president-elect of The American Physiological Society (APS). The APS, comprised of 10,500 members, was established in 1887 and is one of the nation’s oldest scholarly societies for scientists.

Dr. Zucker is the Theodore F. Hubbard professor of cardiovascular research and chairman of the department of cellular and integrative physiology at UNMC. He began his tenure May 1 at the 120th annual meeting of the APS in Washington, D.C., a conference that attracts more than 12,000 scientists and exhibitors.

Dr. Zucker will serve for three years: one year as president-elect and succeeding years as president and past president. The three-year rotation ensures experienced leaders continue to guide APS. Dr. Zucker has been a member of the APS since 1972 and has been actively involved in the society’s governance since 1995. He served as chairman of the Public Affairs Committee and has served on the APS Council, the equivalent of the board of directors. His research at UNMC focuses on heart failure, including the role of exercise training in reducing some abnormalities found in the central nervous system of animals with heart failure.

In 2004, Dr. Zucker and his research team received a renewal of a five-year grant totaling more than $10.6 million from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, one of the institutes which make up the National Institutes of Health. The grant provides funding for Dr. Zucker’s team to study the mechanism for cardiovascular deterioration in heart failure.

Miles Ehrenkranz, a 25-year resident of New Rochelle, New York, and one-year resident of Omaha, informed various press affiliates that he has been asked to run for a city council seat 1,200 miles away. Four political parties have asked Ehrenkranz to run for City Council in New Rochelle.

Ehrenkranz, a two-time Republican District Leader, volunteer firefighter, former staff member of Presidential hopeful Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-DCT), and White Plains Mayor Joseph Delfino (R-NY) announced he will accept the “plea” by the Republican, Independent, Conservative, and Working Families party heads to run for public office in New York but will campaign from Nebraska.

“My focus is on fiscal responsibility, municipal services, quality of life issues, and working to reduce our out-ofcontrol property taxes,” Ehrenkranz said. “Should I win, I will promptly return to New York to serve the people.”

Representatives from Iowa Public Broadcasting System (IPBS) television were at B’nai Israel to film Shabbat services. This was part of a documentary on small Iowa town places of worship. B’nai Israel was the only synagogue featured. It chosen because of its historical significance. This was aired in March and copies may still be purchased by contacting IPBS. B’nai Israel is included in the Bluffs Arts Council Tour and in their booklet, Behold the Beauty. B’nai Israel is a point of interest in the tour of houses of worship on June 3, 1-5 p.m. Community members will ride buses and stop at various churches and B’nai Israel. According to Laurel Ronk of the Arts Council, “The community has shown a great deal of interest in the synagogue.”

Hannah Wolf, Class of ’08 and a member of the Grinnell College women’s basketball team, has been recognized for her stellar play this season by being one of six athletes named to the 2007 Jewish Sports Review Women’s Basketball All-America First Team.

The Omaha native, daughter of Nancy and Phil Wolf, finished third in Division III in scoring this season (22.3 points per game), while finishing third in three-point field goals made per contest (3.5). Her points per game average was tops in the Midwest Conference, as was her made three-point baskets. She finished seventh in the league in assists per game (3.04) and three-point percentage (32.0 percent). Her 80.6 percent free-throw shooting was fourth-best in the MWC, while her 1.40 assist-to-turnover ratio was second-best.

She also moved into third-place on the school’s alltime career scoring list with 1,203 points. Following the season, she was named to the All-Midwest Conference First Team.

Howard Gendelman, M.D., has received the Joseph Wybran Scientific Achievement Award, given for extraordinary scientific contributions and possesses exceptional vision in integrating the disciplines of pharmacology, neuroscience and immunology. Named in honor of the late Joseph Wybran, a worldrenowned immunologist and physician, who made important discoveries before he was murdered in Belgium in 1989, the award is the highest honor bestowed by the Society.

“Dr. Gendelman’s critical contributions, particularly as it pertains to the immune response to infectious agents including the HIV” is the reason for the award, said Thomas Rogers, Ph.D., president of the Society on Neuroimmune Pharmacology. “His research has shown us how elements of the immune system can influence the ability of the nervous system to function, and how in certain disease states, the immune response can actually contribute to the development of disease, he said.

“The award is shared by all my students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculties that have work with me side by side to achieve so much,” said Dr. Gendelman. “Nonetheless, this is just the beginning. The next step must focus on ways to harness immunity to better treat the many people who are afflicted with disorders of the nervous system.”

Dr. Gendelman is the Larson professor of internal medicine and infectious diseases, chairman of the department of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience and director of the Center for Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative Disorders at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

MARRIAGE SHAPIRO/KAPLAN Pam Shapiro and Scott Kaplan of Chicago, IL were married on Oct. 7, 2006, at Adath Jeshurun Synagogue in Minnetonka, MN. Rabbi Harold Kravitz performed the ceremony.

The bride is the daughter of Bonnie Shapiro of Minneapolis and the late Jerry Shapiro. She graduated from the University of California-Berkeley. She earned two master’s degrees, one in Nursing from Rush University and the other in Public Health from the University of Illinois. She works as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.

Her sister, Raleigh Shapiro Fromstein, and sister-inlaw, Stacy Kaplan, were her attendants.

The groom is the son of Ronna and Gene Kaplan. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and is completing dual master’s degrees in Business Administration and Non-Profit Management at North Park University in Chicago. He is employed as a Residential Manager for the Developmentally Disabled.

His brother, Corey Kaplan and his brother-in-law, Rich Fromstein were his attendants.

He is the grandson of Ida Halperin, and the late Yale Halperin.

Following the wedding, the couple will reside in Chicago.

ORGANIZATIONS YOUNG ENERGETIC SENIORS Join us on Monday at the JCC featuring The Sounds of the Night Life with Roger Webb playing golden oldies. Lunch is served at noon for $6 per person. Join us for bingo with Eileen or Miles Remer at 10 a.m. Call Dee Dee at 330.4272 for transportation. For information, call Maggie Conti at 334.6521.

LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Come to the Yiddish meeting at the JCC on Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. Even if your Yiddish isn’t so “Aye-Aye-Aye” -- you’ll enjoy it anyway! If you have any Yiddish books you would like to donate, please call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638.

VISIONS Reminder: For those going on the day trip on Sunday, May 20, to Council Bluffs to see The King and I at the Chanticleer Community Theater, please be at the JCC by 12:45 p.m.

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS There will be no Breadbreakers on Wednesday, May 23, due to the holiday of Shavuot.

May 18, 2007

Noa Baum charms audiences at Temple Israel with her stories

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator It took years for a Jewish woman and a Palestinian woman, who met one another in California, to build enough trust to begin a dialogue about the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians. Noa Baum, the Jewish woman, shared the story of these two women and their families at a performance at Temple Israel on May 2.

Baum, who was born and raised in Israel, has been living in the United States since 1990. She Originally from Jerusalem, was invited to Noa Baum captivated sevTemple Israel as eral audiences with her an artist-in-resi- storytelling performances dence during a throughout her three days year highlighted at Temple Israel. by scholars, artists, and events that featured the theme: “Shema Temple Israel, Many Stories. One Congregation.”

Baum received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater Arts from Tel Aviv University and then continued her study of acting in New York. She received her master’s in educational theater from New York University. Returning to Tel Aviv in 1986, Baum combined storytelling and drama in her work there. An award-winning artist, Baum’s recording, Far Away and Close to Home, won a Parents’ Choice Recommended Award.

As she staged her one-woman show at Temple, switching parts and accents throughout the 70-minute performance, Baum portrayed the drama of “A Land

Twice Promised,” illuminating the complicated and conflicting history of Jerusalem.

Although Baum now lives in Silver Springs, Maryland, she still talks to her friend in California. “We talk above the roaring storm,” Baum explained. “We hold on to our compassion (in the midst of) parallel narratives that are refusing to hear each other.”

The following morning, Baum presented a workshop exploring how stories can connect people to their past, to others, and to themselves. “By providing the gift of listening, you can do something good in the world,” offered Baum.

“I thought it was fabulous,” raved Karen Lepp. “It was just too short. I wish it could have been all day. I would have stayed another four or five hours.”

The next day, at the Women of Reform Judaism’s Donor Tea, Baum told a story from her childhood about her dissatisfaction with her name. She also related a story demonstrating that “being big and strong” is not necessarily about size.

Finally, on Friday night at Shabbat worship services, Baum told a story that seemed to enchant both children and adults. Nine-year-old Abby Reiss, said, “I think she would be a good actor. The story was really good. I couldn’t believe her grandmother was a bad storyteller, and she was a such a good storyteller.”

Abby’s sister, Ellie, seven, agreed that Noa “was a good storyteller.” Not only was the story good, but Ellie thought, “it was kind of funny,” too.

Baum’s residency was co-sponsored by the Special Donor Advised Fund of the Jewish Federation Foundation and the Hermene Zweiback Center for Lifelong Jewish Learning.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

Secrets of a Jewish Baker

by George Greenstein (Ten Speed, $29.95)

READ IT AND EAT Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN A James Beard award winning cookbook to help bread making wannabes and experienced bakers alike make 125 kosher (marked D or P) yeasted and quick bread recipes with tips and Baker’s Secrets from three generations of bakers. Greenstein operated the Cheesecake King Bakery in Long Island until his retirement.

The opening information on basic materials isn’t to be missed. Ingredients are carefully explained (in professional baking flour types are known as King, Queen or Common flour bins were marked K, Q or C rather than brands of flour probably because many bakers couldn’t read or write), equipment is described (including calling the food processor “the whiz.” (You can whiz through tedious kitchen chores.)

Correcting misconceptions deals with proofing yeast, scalding milk (unnecessary with today’s sterilized milk) and adding vinegar in sourdough bread and the whys.

Bread Making A to Z covers mistakes, allbut-forgotten secrets of New York Jewish bread baking, common mistakes and how to avoid and correct them and more.

Three versions of clear instructions for each recipe are for mixing by hand, using the food processor or stand mixer. All reader friendly and in a very approachable style.

The chapters are for Basic Yeast Bread, Corn & Potatoes: Seeds of the Americas, Breads of All Nations, Sourdough Breads, Rolls, Biscuits & Muffins, Quick Breads

and Twelve Menus: A Morning of Baking (covers making “several days” worth of breads in 2 to 4 hours, or one morning on your own, or with family or friends.12 time saving plans). Make Onion Pletzel, Bagels, Challah, Rye and Pumpernickel breads and other favorites for every day and holidays. Read of the joy of a baker experiencing “rye bread sing” Use an ice-cream scoop to drop out this easy muffin recipe.

BLUEBERRY CORN MUFFINS 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 1 cup cornmeal, preferably stone-ground 1/3 cup sugar 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons shortening, butter or margarine, softened 1 egg, beaten 1 cup buttermilk 1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in or rub in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg and buttermilk and mix only until incorporated. Dredge the blueberries in a little flour and fold into the batter. Drop into greased or buttered muffin tins, filling each cup twothirds full.

Bake until browned and the center springs back when gently pressed with the fingers (15 to 20 minutes).

Yield Makes 9 to 12 muffins, daity or pareve.

Lois Friedman can be reached at ReadItAndEat@yahoo.com.

Radio sportscaster draws crowd to annual B’nai B’rith sports banquet

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Page 12

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 18, 2007

Senioritis

BERT’S EYE VIEW

by BERT LEWIS Senior life? Are you kidding?

Having written many, many words on the events and experiences of junior life (and even sophmore and freshman,) may I tell you I’m now equipped to speak about senior life! Oh yes, put me down as a card-carrying member of the group who have voted for the last nevermind-how-many presidents.

What can I tell you? I have more free time now then ever before in my life? Shall I admit that isn’t always a plus, or shall I let you think I’m really lucky?

I can tell you now I better understand that old expression about there being two sides to every coin. For example, I can indulge my life-long love of reading now, without feeling guilty about ignoring some chore waiting for me. Everything waits, because I’ve discovered it isn’t very important to put that load of laundry in the washer right now. It’s no emergency. I can do it after I finish this chapter. The other side of that coin has to do with my eyes and my ability to just keep reading. My vision isn’t the same as when I was younger, nor is my ability to stay awake. My eyelids often declare closing time when I think I’m still reading!

Here’s another thing I’ve noticed. While I’m lucky to be able to do most everything I want to do, there are things I can’t, like it or lump it. I’m not so busy that I couldn’t take myself to the opening of an art show or even to a mall to just walk around. Except for one little thing -- my walking apparatus doesn’t work like it used to and my legs protest after a short time. So nu, where does that leave me? At home, bourching about it.

You see, while there are days I get up and look outside and feel excited about a new season and the greening of the world, there are also days when I get up feeling like the mayor of kvetch city. You know: this hurts and that pinches and what’s that in my shoulder? I never felt that before!

Then there’s the subject of food, which calls to mind

that old adage about not having the money for fancy steaks when young enough to enjoy them and not having the digestive system for them when older and find them affordable. (There’s a wonderful Yiddish expression about that; I’m sure many of you know it.)

It’s interesting too, to see how contrary the human body can be with the addition of multiple decades. If you knew me when I was a young girl, you know I was always very slender. My mom used a lot of energy trying to encourage me to eat more. Fine. Then somethng happened and all of a sudden, I’m hearing strange things from the talking scale. I find the slender girl has deserted me and left a much more substantial person. Even remembering that my mom often said a great-grandmother could be kylachdik (that means round!), it’s no comfort when I look in the mirror. Of course it’s nice to have a cashier advise, when paying a bill, “with your senior discount, etc., etc ...� I mean, who doesn’t love a bargain? And that senior discount is useful, once a person overcomes that embarassment about using it.

Whether a person is 60 or 70 or 80 or more, if decent health is part of the package this aging business can be okay. It’s nice to go to bed when you want to, not at some special time because “I have to get up early� in the morning. And it’s nice to now and then say “I don’t care

... I’m having a salami omelet for dinner and I don’t want a salad!� It’s also nice to take a nap when you feel like it and not worry it’ll interfere with the night’s sleep.

In other words, it’s really nice to have the freedom to do whatever, whenever, regardless of who might object.

Of course, this takes the gift of at least half-way-decent health and the ability to ignore that which causes minor kvetching. It ain’t easy kids; I wouldn’t fool you. But when we’re given the opportunity to hang around long enough to see our children turn into adults who make us proud, and enjoy the grandchildren who deliver boundless supplies of naches and even great-grandchildren, well then what’s to complain?

So it hurts when you bend and you can’t tie your own shoes anymore. Get a pair of slip-ons. So you need three different pairs of glasses to read the paper? Big deal, at least you’ve got the glasses. And yes, you get heartburn when you eat forbidden food? Take a Pepcid and get over it!

Senior living has its hazards, but so did life when we were younger. None of us know how much time we’ll have to do both our bourching and our kvelling. I say enjoy what we have now, be thankful for whatever it is and if it isn’t good, pray it doesn’t get worse. When I go to bed on Friday night, I still say “Oh goodie, no school tomorrow!�

Bert Lewis can be reached at BertLewis39@aol.com.

“Eye on Israel� enters cyberspace

by CHERYL LERNER Center for Jewish Education Administrative Assistant The Center for Jewish Education will begin offering an online version of “Eye on Israel,� one of the longest running programs offered by the agency. Led by Dr. Guy Matalon, Executive Director of the Center for Jewish Education, the course is intended as a forum for learning and discussion of events in Israel and the Middle East.

In addition to reading posted articles of interest, participants will be able to access on-line resources, engage in a discussion and interact directly with Dr. Matalon and other online registrants during scheduled “chat� times.

The four-week program will run June 21-July 12, with “chat� times from 8-9 p.m. on June 21, 28, July 5, 12. “By offering this course on-line in the convenience of

people’s own homes, we hope to make the program more accessible to people,� said Dr. Matalon. “In addition, I find lots of articles that I would love to share and discuss with the group, and now I can do that. All people have to do is point and click and the article is there to read.�

The registration fee is be $23, discounted to $18 for donors in good standing to the Federation’s Annual Campaign. To register and receive an enroll keycode, contact Mary Sue Grossman at the CJE, 334.6445, or email mgrossman@jewish-omaha.org. This program is made possible with the support of the Gertrude T. and Albert B. Newman Endowment Fund.

For those who prefer the 3-D version, “Eye on Israel� continues “live� on Tuesdays, noon-1 p.m. in the Kripke Library through May 29; there are no sessions in June, but it starts again Tuesdays in July.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 13

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 18, 2007

Iscar CEO says “we had to prove a point”

by CAROL KATZMAN Editor of the Jewish Press Every time you fly --almost anywhere in the world -- there’s a 40% chance that the compressor blades in the aircraft are manufactured by Iscar, an Israeli company.

That’s just one of the factoids the company’s CEO told a group of Federation major donors recently. Eitan Wertheimer, CEO of Iscar, was in town at the beginning of this month for one of the world’s most unusual stockholders’ meeting, that of Berkshire Hathaway. Iscar, one of the newest members of the Berkshire family of companies, was purchased a year ago

by Omaha financier Warren Buffett, who according to Wertheimer, “made a statement” by buying an Israeli company. The four billion dollar purchase was Buffett’s first outside of the United States.

“See,” Wertheimer smiled, “when you fly, you fly Jewish!”

He spoke of his appreciation, of Buffett’s confidence in him, his company and the State of Israel. For the rest of the world, “we had to prove a point. Our job is so Warren would say, ‘I didn’t buy a good company; I bought a great company.’”

In fact, he added, the world’s second richest man told him he never had media coverage like he had with the Iscar purchase. “Until I met you,’ Buffett told Wertheimer, “I was a nobody!”

Wertheimer added that “Israel is too small to be a part of the world. We do, however, have a chance to become successful ... but we’re not sure how to make our neighbors successful. Politics is local,” he smiled, “but business is global.” And Wertheimer’s goal is export.

Iscar sells their precision tools to more than 60 countries worldwide, many of which do not have diplomatic relations to Israel. However, as Buffett said in his September, 2006, trip to Israel, “Business is business.”

Ron Blumkin, scion of the Blumkin family’s Nebraska Furniture Mart (sold to Buffett on a handshake with its founder, Rose Blumkin), attended the donor gathering with his wife Chris. Ron, who had accompanied Buffett, his brother Irv Blumkin, and Berkshire staff members Shami Jacobs and Marc Hamburg to Israel last September, hopes to make a return visit with his wife.

The couple had an opportunity to speak with other members of

Wertheimer’s family, including his wife Ariella, daughter Sivan and son, Assaf, who recently founded his own company, an internet start-up, www.eganu.com.

“We’re trying to reach the kids who only know Israel from the news,” Assaf Wertheimer told Chris and Ron Blumkin.

“This is a website where we have ordinary people talking to ordinary Israelis. The reason so many young Jews outside of Israel are losing touch is that they don’t know Israel or Israelis. We hope this website will put them together.”

Wertheimer told the crowd that he called Buffett every Friday during last summer’s war with Lebanon, which began less than two months after the announcement of the Iscar purchase at the annual Berkshire meeting.

“We sent half our employees south, many to Tel Aviv,” Wertheimer explained.

Even though many of the employees’ families accompanied them, “the remaining staff set a production record for the month of August. We had to show them (the world) in our own way” that the war “would not stop us from exceeding our manufacturing goals.”

Wertheimer also expressed his appreciation to the Omaha Jewish community for its support before, during and after last summer’s war. “Please know you have a partner in the Western Galilee,” he said, speaking of Omaha’s Jewish Federation’s Partnership with Israel program. Iscar, located in the Tefen Industrial Park, is in Omaha’s Partnership region and has sent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last decade to specific projects there.

Following the war, dollars were directed to not only repairing shelters, but building an early warning center for the security forces stationed in the Western Galilee, in order to alert the local population during a terror attack or war.

“We have full pockets,” Wertheimer

Photos from top left: Iscar CEO Eitan Wertheimer addresses a crowd of more than 100 at a major donor event on May 6; Gail Veitzer smiles as Wertheimer greets Shami Jacobs, who works for Berkshire Hathaway, Iscar’s parent company; Rabbi Mendel Katzman, right, and Phil Wolf, vice president of National Indemnity, another BH company, speak with Wertheimer; Eitan and Ariella Wertheimer listen during the introduction; Wertheimer discusses the Israeli economy with event chairman Murray Newman, left, and Nelson Gordman. added, “but not full hearts. Yet, Israel has a lot of partners today.”

One of those partnerships is Atidim, a Hebrew acronym which translates to “Education and Enrichment for Equality and Excellence.” Wertheimer spoke at great length about his hopes for the project, noting that atid means “future.”

Atidim began with just 79 young people, mostly from development towns, from families where higher education was not the norm. From there, it has grownfrom 400 to 12,000 and Wertheimer hopes it will serve 40,000 shortly. “We have the Israeli Defense Force involved, as well as universities, the Technion, civil servants, yeshiva bochurs (students), and even the Arab community.” The goal is to teach these kids the value of good careers in Israel’s high tech sector; it’s a win-win for business owners, the State of Israel, and of course, for the kids, he said.

By the way, he added, “The country fell in love with Warren.” And why not?

Buffett showed the world what Wertheimer already knew: “The Israeli economy is booming!”

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 18, 2007

New Beginning for Foundation and JFS Continued from page 1 two more offices and additional storage -- all in the same area we now occupy,” Ricks explained. “We’re very grateful to the JSS Board. They recognize how important we are to the Federation and to the Blumkin Home.They understand that the Foundation is entitled to grow and upgrade along with the Home in this very exciting expansion project.”

A second beneficiary of the Blumkin Home expansion is Jewish Family Service. Under the watchful eye of its Director, Karen Gustafson, LMHP, the agency helps individuals, couples, and families cope with a broad range of issues and special needs, including psychological, social, developmental, and physical or “life-cycle” changes. And when people need assistance during times of financial crisis, JFS is the agency to which they turn.

“Some of our clients can’t pay their medical bills,” Gustafson said. “Some lack basic shelter and food. We help them get back on their feet.” The help comes in the form of donations from the Omaha Jewish community.

“Mike and I have had numerous conversations about the things people need and the things people want to donate,” Gustafson said. “There are many emotional stories of community members who -- oftentimes after the death of a loved one -- want to donate clothes, furniture and other household goods to JFS -- tangible items that could be used by needy families within the Omaha Jewish community. But because of our limited storage space, we sometimes have to say

no to a donor. When that happens, donors seem truly heartbroken.

She added that “Mike was very moved by these stories. He looked at our single storage closet, recognized we had to eliminate this problem, and offered us additional storage space in the Blumkin Home basement.”

According to Gustafson, “Space is just the beginning of our plans to share resources. With dollars increasingly stretched, it is vital to the community that all Federation agencies do what they can to work together to share resources.

After all, what is available on the campus has been purchased by the community, with community dollars. We as directors are just the keepers, not the owners.”

Silverman noted, “Our Blumkin Home project is intended to meet the needs of the entire Omaha Jewish community, and that includes the agencies that serve that community. Jewish Family Service has lacked storage space for years. The space we’re providing allows JFS to keep donated items on the campus, so they’ll be able to respond to specific family and individual needs immediately.”

Adding, “We’ve always enjoyed a wonderful relationship with the Foundation, they have grown the endowments of the Blumkin Home and those of the Jewish Federation of Omaha substantially.

Because of the Foundation’s work, each agency is able to better meet its mission.”

And so, he said, “Providing this space - to the Foundation and to JFS -- is just another way of affirming our partnership with the agencies on this campus.”

First Open Forum adds more towards $18 million goal

Photos from top left: Mike Silverman, JSS/RBJH executive director, discusses improvements to the Blumkin Home with Bonnie Horwich at last week’s first Open Forum; the Zipurksy twins, Naomi and Aaron, whose grandfather lives at the Home, were members of the “greeters; Don Nogg, who broke his pelvis in an accident, recovered in the Home’s rehab program; Beth El’s Rabbi Mordechai Levin visits with Rabbi Myer S. Kripke, a Blumkin resident and rabbi emeritus of Beth El; Rocky Stern and Dick Rochman also greeted members of the community and can vouch for the Home’s impressive More on page 28. safety and care record.

May 18, 2007

Cheese wrapped in tradition: Blintzes are worth it for Shavuot

by LINDA MOREL NEW YORK (JTA) More than 50 years ago my grandmother took me to a friend’s apartment. “Bertha turns out blintzes by the dozen,” Granny explained.

“Even if there’s no company expected, she makes them and stocks her freezer.”

I stood on a stool and watched melting butter turn frothy before meeting a smooth batter. The combination filled Bertha’s kitchen with the scent of sweet dough. As I sat at her speckled Formica table, the taste of cheese tinged with vanilla oozing from an airy crepe left a lasting impression, as passionate as a first crush, long before I was old enough to date.

Since then I’ve been relegated to eating blintzes at delis, where they’ve been decent but far from sensational. However, with Shavuot approaching, a craving for Bertha’s blintzes drove me to replicate the nirvana of that first experience.

The blintz, a flexible pancake wrapped like an envelope around fillings such as cheese or fruit, is a cousin of the French crepe. With humble roots the blintz probably originated in Poland and spread out. Blintz pancakes are called blini in Russian and blintse in Yiddish.

In Hungarian the word pancake is palascinta.

Prevalent in Austria, too, palascinta are often filled with apricot preserves or walnuts finely ground with sugar.

My husband David’s fondest childhood memories revolve around the palascinta his mother made for her three children every Sunday night ? one at a time.

“I’d be right there next to mom, pressuring her to go faster,” David says. “I couldn’t wait for my next palascinta.”

Reading his mother’s recipe, the one she brought with her when she emigrated here from Vienna, I saw that it dovetailed with the directions for blintzes.

One Sunday I whipped up batter and began ladling it in a frying pan. David hung around the kitchen waiting for a delicious payoff, the way he did as a child.

“I have to intervene,” he said. “Your pancakes are too small and thick. Instead of being tissue-paper thin and covering the entire bottom of the pan, they’re more like flapjacks, too fat to fold around a filling.”

“What am I doing wrong?” I asked.

He gave the batter a brisk stir and ladled some in a buttered pan. I watched in awe as he lifted the handle, twirling quickly, guiding the thickening dough to evenly cover its bottom.

He returned the pan to the flame, waited a couple of minutes, and gave it a shake. “So the batter doesn’t stick.” When the lower side sizzled to a gorgeous golden brown, he flipped over the blintz shell. A couple of minutes later, he turned it onto a plate.

“Now you try making one,” he said.

Once the batter hit the pan, I attempted to imitate how he coaxed it to cover the entire cooking surface.

“Your movements are too staccato,” he said. “You’re using too much elbow. Relax, roll the pan, and the dough will cooperate.”

Several lumpy blintzes later, I mastered the technique.

David just kept piling the sauteed shells on a plate.

“They’re not as delicate as you’d think,” he said.

We spent hours frying, filling and folding pancakes before browning the finished blintzes, which we nibbled as we worked. It was a labor-intensive job, but well worth the time and calories.

It’s no wonder that blintz-making is a dying art. Yet in the Old Country, where Jews had less money and more time, blintzes were a treasured part of Shavuot celebrations.

“Why do we eat blintzes on Shavuos?” asked Tevye, the beleaguered father in the musical Fiddler On The Roof. “I’ll tell you why. I don’t know why. It’s tradition.”

This reason is as good as any to explain why Jews love blintzes on Shavuot, the holiday that commemorates God giving the Torah and its laws to the Children of Israel.

While no one knows for sure what the ancient Israelites ate after receiving the Torah, historians speculate that they didn’t keep kosher until encountering the dietary laws found in this sacred scroll. Because they couldn’t immediately change their ways, their only option was to eat a dairy meal until they could make kosher their cooking utensils and meat.

Shavuot traditionally has been a dairy holiday, a time to celebrate God for giving the Jews “a land flowing with milk and honey,” a line from the Torah that has tied Jews to their ancestral home for centuries.

In Eastern and Central Europe, blintzes were filled with curd cheeses such as pot cheese or farmer cheese.

But in America, Jewish housewives began using cottage cheese.

“My mother bought large dry curd cottage cheese for blintzes,” says Ann Amernick, author of The Art Of The Dessert (John Wiley & Sons, 2006). She is also a co-owner and the executive pastry chef at Palena restaurant in Washington.

“Back then, there were stores where people bought fresh dairy products packed in boxes similar to Chinese take-out containers,” Amernick recalls. “Creamy by comparison, today’s cottage cheese doesn’t have the intensity of flavor of old-fashioned dry curd cheeses.”

In 20th century America, the blintz met highs and lows. Cream cheese, with its smooth texture and subtle tang, was mixed with cottage cheese, becoming a velvety but pleasingly assertive blintz filling.

However, the quality dipped when food manufacturers started freezing and mass marketing blintzes, relieving housewives of this arduous task. On the upside, the blintz souffle was born. A casserole with layers of soft dough surrounding cheese, these souffles are easily assembled and delicious.

As David and I made blintzes that Sunday, I thought of the Fiddler On The Roof, who kept playing music in spite of hard times and hard work.

Perhaps Tevye was right. We make blintzes on Shavuot because it’s tradition. Or perhaps some of us were lucky enough to have a bubbe or a Bertha who left us with a taste for warm blintzes fresh from the pan.

Continued on page 19

Gambling on long-term care: study shows many not prepared for likely need

by AMY HUCK State Farm agent A 48-year-old father of two is left with permanent injuries after an auto accident. A 66-year-old recent retiree suffers a serious stroke. An otherwise healthy 75-year-old grandfather falls and breaks his hip. These people have one thing in common. Quite unexpectedly they’re each likely to need some form of long-term care, through nursing care at home, in a nursing home or at an assisted living facility.

The odds are good that many Americans will find themselves in a similar situation, as estimates by the Health Insurance Association of America indicate that over 70 percent of people over age 65 will need some form of long-term care. But a Roper survey recently released by the American Society of Aging (ASA) and funded by State Farm shows that most Americans are willing to try and beat those odds because so few have done anything to prepare for the high cost of long-term care.

“Long-term care may not be a subject people like to talk about, but it’s something every family should discuss and plan for,” said ASA’s Jim Emerman. “The need for long-term care can arise so suddenly that unless we’re financially prepared, it can rob a family of its assets and its financial future.”

With government data placing the average cost of nursing

home care at $56,000 a year, failing to plan can be a costly gamble. According to Roper study, two-thirds of Americans 45 years of age and over say it’s very important they have enough money to be able to choose the setting in which they’ll get longterm care if they need it. But only 37 percent say they’ve been able to put aside money for this purpose and only 17 percent have purchased long-term care insurance specifically designed to cover it. By comparison, nearly nine in ten of the adults surveyed have health insurance and three out of four own a life insurance policy. Why don’t people plan better? Many tend to procrastinate, the Roper study shows. Half of adults over the age of 45 believe they won’t need long-term care until they’re older and don’t want to think about it now. Others take the longterm care gamble because they mistakenly believe they’re already covered or that the government will pay for it.

Americans need to protect themselves and their financial assets by making sure they insulate themselves from the high costs of long-term care. That’s why I urge people to visit a financial services professional to talk about long-term care insurance. It can help protect assets, preserve long-term care choices and help control independence.

Long-term care insurance is one of the most important components of a family’s financial plan.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 18, 2007

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by JILL BELMONT do this so that I can be more educated as a Jewish perBeth El Publicity Coordinator son. Israel is such an important part of the Jewish faith; A group of Beth El teens will get a great ‘two-fer’ this therefore, after experiencing it, I will be able to feel summer as they enjoy one six-week trip with two mar- much more connected to my own religion.” velous destinations. The globe-trotting teens will travel The Westside sophomore also expressed excitement to Spain and Israel during a USY ‘Great Summer about taking the journey “with four of my best friends Escape’ trip, sponsored by United Synagogue Youth, a from home,” plus the opportunity to make friends from branch of the United Synagogue of Conservative across the country. “I really enjoy meeting new people,” Judaism, and the Jewish Agency’s Youth and Hechalutz she said, “and to be able to travel and share such an Department. experience with them will ensure many lifelong friends The first stop of their jourafter the trip.” ney will be Spain, where parSaying that for years, his ticipants will spend one parents have been setting week exploring the counaside funds for a trip such as try’s vast Jewish heritage, this, Millard North sophowhich includes philosophers, more Ygal Schuller writers and poets such as remarked that “when the Maimonides, Abarbanel, opportunity arose to go on a Ramban and Ibn Ezra.

USY trip to Israel and Spain, The participants will then I couldn’t resist the temptaspend five weeks in Israel, Moshe Levi, left, USY's Emtza Region Shaliach, recently met tion to go. I’m very curious learning about the land, his- with Effie Tsabari, Joey Kahn, Alec Lerner, Salo Cemaj and to learn about the roots of torical Israel, plus contem- Ygal Schuller, to ready them for their upcoming USY summer the Jewish people in Spain, porary Judaism and Israeli pilgrimage to Spain and Israel. and I want to explore Israel society. The group will travel with peers around the with other teenagers. country, staying in hotels, youth hostels and kibbutzim, “The holy land is talked about constantly by the whole and will have the opportunity to swim in Lake Kinneret, community, and knowing that there is one place desigclimb Masada, and spend three weeks immersed in life in nated for people just like me makes Israel feel like a Jerusalem. home away from home,” he added. He noted that Members of the Beth El contingent expressed excite- although he visited Israel as a small child, “I never fully ment about their upcoming trip. explored the depths of Israel as a tourist or as a teenagJoey Kahn, a sophomore at Burke remarked that, “I er. The memories I have are little things, not monusigned up for this program not knowing what to expect. ments or experiences. I hope to have lots of inspiring All my friends who have gone have told me that this trip moments during this trip.” is awesome and that I am lucky to be going. I’m so By participating in this USY trip, Alec Lerner follows excited and am counting down the days until we leave. in the footsteps of his brothers and sister, who also travThis is going to be the summer of my life and I can’t eled to Israel during their high school years. “It was just wait.” a matter of time until it was my turn,” he noted.

Effie Tsabari said her decision to go on the pilgrimage While he has never visited Spain, this will be the secwas also influenced by fellow USYers who took the trip ond trip to Israel for Lerner, a sophomore at Burke. “I last summer. While attending USY’s Leadership went to Israel when I was in the fourth grade, and as you Training Institute last fall, “I roomed with two girls who would expect, all I remember was the food. I look forhad taken the Pilgrimage to Israel, and they really got ward to refreshing my memory about our homeland.” me interested in going,” she said. “I was able to listen to Saying “you can't be a real Jew unless Israel is a part of their experiences on a more personal level and decided your heart,” he added that “I strongly believe that making that there was no other way that I would rather spend a pilgrimage to Israel will take my Jewish faith to a whole my summer than doing the types of things they were new level. When I think of Judaism, I think of Israel.” describing.”

And, in typical high school fashion, he added that he Tsabari, who has visited Israel in the past, said this looks forward to meeting new people during the trip, upcoming trip is important to her because, “although I “including, of course, the beautiful Jewish ladies.” have been there, I haven't gotten the chance to see it as Looking forward to making great memories during an a Jewish teen or from a tourist point of view. I'm glad I unforgettable summer, the teens will embark on their will get to experience that. It's important that I get to ‘great escape’ on June 25 and will return Aug. 6.

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May 18, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 19

Blintzes are worth it for Shavout Continued from page 17 The following recipes are by Linda Morel.

BASIC BLINTZ RECIPE Ingredients: 2 eggs 1 cup milk 3/4 cup flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons sugar 2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus 6 tablespoons or more for frying blintzes 8-inch frying pan, preferably nonstick Preparation: Place ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat until lumps disappear.

Melt additional butter in a frying pan on medium flame. With a 1/4 cup measuring cup, ladle batter into frying pan quickly. Immediately lift pan’s handle and swirl batter around to evenly cover entire bottom surface of the pan. Return to flame. After a minute or two, give pan a shake so blintz shell doesn’t stick. Continue frying until edges curl and begin to brown.

When blintz shell is golden brown, with a thin spatula,

sauteed.

GOAT CHEESE AND HONEY FILLING 1/2 cup goat cheese, room temperature 1 cup low-fat whipped cottage cheese 1/4 cup honey, plus extra for drizzling 2 teaspoons dried thyme, plus extra for drizzling Beat ingredients in a mixing bowl until smooth. Fills 8 blintzes. Drizzle extra honey and thyme over fried blintzes just before serving.

CHOCOLATE FILLING 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, cold from the refrigerator 1 teaspoon Confectioners’ sugar 2 teaspoons heavy cream 6 ounces semi-sweet bakers chocolate for drizzling Grind chocolate chips and sugar in a food processor until chips reduce to half the size, about 30 seconds. Add cream and mix well.

Fill blintzes with this mixture and fry immediately.

Meanwhile, melt bakers chocolate in a double boiler and drizzle on top of blintzes when ready to serve. Fills 8 blintzes.

Continued on page 20

flip the shell and repeat on other side. When second side is golden brown, transfer to a plate. Pile shells on top of one another. Give batter a brisk stir before ladling it for subsequent shells. Repeat steps 1 to 4 until batter is gone.

Move one shell to another plate. Selecting a filling recipe below, place 2 scant tablespoons of filling in an elongated oval in the center of shell. Keep filling away from edges.

Fold top and bottom edges down about 1 inch. Fold the right edge over the filling. Fold the left edge over the right flap. Fill remaining blintz shells. (Blintzes can be frozen folded side down and defrosted at this point before proceeding.)

Melt butter in a large frying pan. Placing blintzes folded side down; saute until brown.Yield: 8 blintzes.

SWEET CHEESE FILLING 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature 1/2 cup ricotta cheese at room temperature 2 teaspoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon vanilla Confectioners’ sugar for dusting, optional Beat first four ingredients in a mixing bowl until smooth. Fills 8 blintzes.

Sprinkle Confectioners’ sugar over blintzes after they are

Retirement: how much can you take out?

by ROB RANDELS This is a common question I hear when discussing the distribution phase of one’s retirement.

First, let me create a scenario from a recent meeting I had with a potential client. He suggested he had been making about 10% in his investment account historically. He felt he could take about 8% from his account each year and this should provide him with a 2% cushion and he should never run out of money – Right? WRONG! Why? One of the wonderful advantages we have when we are accumulating wealth is dollar cost averaging. This is the phenomenon that allows us to buy (more) at lower prices and (less) at higher prices. This same principle works against us in the distribution phase.

A safe distribution rate is about 1/2 of the assumed investment rate in a portfolio that has almost any degree of volatility.

In other words, if you can reasonably expect to earn 8%, then you can reasonably take out 4%. When we take a distribution from an account when prices are low, we can never recover those shares that are redeemed.

Also, we need to be cautious to assume we might average 10% in the market over the next five years. Statistically, there are two up years and 1 down year for every three years in the stock market. Unfortunately, this does not come in neat little packages. We have now experienced four good years in a row without a down year. Are we overdue? I would suggest -- Yes! Now is the time to be more cautious, not more aggressive.

Also, can we expect 10% on an investment portfolio that is

designed for consistency and safety in the retirement distribution phase? I believe this is a tall order to fulfill. We normally need to lower the risk in our portfolio at this life stage which also lowers the return long term.

When an individual needs to start taking money from the nest egg they have created we need to be sure we don’t “lose” the retirement nest egg we have created. This is serious core money and should be treated as such. Hopefully this provides some insight for your planning objectives.

Happy, safe and prosperous investing to you!

Rob A. Randels, CFP®, MBA, ChFC is a Wealth Management Advisor with the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network based in Omaha. To contact Rob A. Randels, CFP®, MBA, ChFC, call 402.390.8271 or e-mail him at rob.randels@nmfn.com.

Chamber music series brightens Omaha’s summer classical scene

by ROSS SNYDER Executive Director, Omaha Chamber Music Society Just when the lights go out in the Holland Center and the Orpheum for summer, downtown Omaha heats up with chamber music on Sunday afternoons. Presenting its sixth annual Summer Concert Series will be the Omaha Chamber Music Society. Trinity Cathedral, at 18th & Capitol, will serve as the series’ exclusive venue.

Area musicians have known of the concerts for some time, but word is still traveling amongst Omaha’s music lovers. “Our artists are local,” said Ross Snyder, Executive Director of the

Society, “but they all have national and sometimes international experience. We’ve had great concerts since starting in 2002, and now we’re seeing the audience growth our players deserve.”

The series begins on June 10 with the Liebeslieder Waltzes of Johannes Brahms, as originally scored for vocal quartet and piano four-hand. Violist and Artistic Director, Thomas Kluge, joins the vocalists for songs by Vaughan Williams and Reutter on the program’s first half.

New instrumentalists perform each week, starting with string trio on Father’s Day, June 17. The next weekend, trombone quartet Trombonisti and three other brass players present five

centuries of music. Series founder and violinist Dan Fletcher joins for Antonín Dvofiák’s piano quartet on July 1. The season concludes on July 8 with an all-20th century, all-European program for flute, violin, viola and piano. All concerts take place on Sundays at 3 p.m.

Handicap parking is available outside the Cathedral, and discounted parking at the Central City garage is available. Packages of five and ten tickets, interchangeable for all performances, cost $35 and $70. Single admissions at $15 apiece will be sold at the door. For tickets or for more information, contact the Society at 561.0091 or via its website, omahachambermusic.org.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 18, 2007

Blintzes are worth it for Shavout Continued from page 19 BLINTZ SOUFFLE 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature 1/3 cup sugar 16-ounce container cottage cheese 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 cup sour cream In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese on high speed until fluffy, at least 2 minutes. Add remaining filling ingredients and beat at medium speed for 5 minutes. Reserve.

Dough: 11/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) sweet butter, room temperature 1/3 cup sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 cup flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 8-ounce container cottage cheese 1/4 cup sour cream 5 eggs at room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 cup heavy cream Preparation: Butter a 9-by-11-inch ovenproof baking dish. Preheat oven to 350 . In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients: baking powder, flour, salt and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, beat wet ingredients: cottage cheese, sour cream, eggs, vanilla and cream.

Into the butter-sugar mixture, add dry and wet ingredients alternately, 1/3 at a time. Beat until well combined.

Divide dough batter into 2 equal amounts. Evenly spread half of dough into prepared pan.

Dollop filling on top of dough in pan.

Gently spread out filling, disturbing dough as little as possible. Don’t worry if filling doesn’t evenly cover dough or if the two commingle a bit.

Cover filling layer with remaining dough, spreading it out to cover entire surface. Don’t worry if it isn’t completely even.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown. Dough will be soft. Turn off oven and leave door ajar for 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Serve warm with Strawberry Sauce (below).

Recipe freezes well and can be brought to room temperature and reheated briefly.

STRAWBERRY SAUCE cup orange juice 3 tablespoons cornstarch 3/4 cup water 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 cup sugar 1 tablespoon orange liqueur 1 pound fresh strawberries, cleaned well, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice Warm orange juice in a small pot.

Slowly sprinkle in cornstarch and whisk vigorously.

In a medium-size pot, simmer water to hot, but not boiling. Add juice-cornstarch mixture and whisk vigorously until lumps disappear, about 1 minute.

Turn off heat. Add cinnamon, sugar and liqueur. Whisk until well blended.

Add strawberries. Cover pot and simmer on low flame for about 15 minutes.

Stir every 5 minutes, so sauce doesn’t boil over. Sauce should be slightly thicker than maple syrup. Serve hot or at room temperature.

1/4

Mom and Dad need help!

by MELISSA WHITTLE for Care Consultants for the Aging What do I do? Who do I call? More and more people are finding themselves taking care of a senior who needs help, whether it be oneself, a parent, or another loved one. With so many services available for seniors in the area, finding the right ones can be an overwhelming task. Adding to this difficulty can be the emotional trouble of realizing you need assistance yourself or having to make choices on someone else’s behalf. Once you realize the help is needed, you must determine the type of assistance needed and the best place to look for it.

With the silver tsunami quickly approaching, many more of us are going to need to answer these difficult questions.

There ARE some options, though. One is the “ElderCare Resource Handbook,” which Care Consultants for the Aging has been producing since 1991. This valuable resource contains a complete listing of senior services organized in an easy-to-use format. After years of both fam-

ilies and professionals using the printed book, it is now available on the web as well! With two easy ways to find the much needed services in the Omaha and Lincoln areas, it is easier to make those difficult choices. To obtain the newest edition of the “ElderCare Resource Handbook”, call Care Consultants for the Aging at 402.398.1848 or go online to www.careconsultants.com and click on the Resource Handbook tab.

Another great source of information is your local Area Agency on Aging office. Each county has an Area Agency on Aging that is developed by the government to assist with senior services. The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging serves Dodge, Douglas, Sarpy and Washington counties in Nebraska. You can reach the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging by calling 402.444.6444. To find the government agency serving your county, call 1.800.677.1116 or visit their website at www.eldercare.gov.

Fun for all seasons

by MARY SMITH Leisure Life Sports is a family owned business started in 1987 by Marty and Mary Smith.

It started because of Marty’s love of snowmobiling and the first products for sale were SkiDoo snowmobiles. Growth followed with the addition of Polaris ATVS, Can-Am ATVS and Sea-Doo personal watercraft.

On land and on water, “Fun for all seasons” was now on sale. As the business grew and Marty and Mary’s two sons joined the business, the decision was made to expand into a new building. May 2005 saw a move to 9004 S 145th St. near Sapp Brothers truck stop. With the move came the addition of Vespa and

Piaggio motor scooters and Polaris Ranger utility vehicles. Now even more “fun 4 all seasons” and terrains became available.

Along with great fun products for sale, Leisure Life Sports carries clothing, parts, and accessories and has a great staff of trained technicians to keep your fun vehicles running at peak performance.

Find out what fun is all about. Leisure Life Sports’ motto is, “Get out, live life, with Leisure Life.”

You can learn more by logging on to our great web site at www.leisurelifesports.com or call us at 402.333.0655. See you soon.

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Quoted prices are per person, double occupancy. For more information about our tours, please call Ward or Kathy Kinney or Brigid Christensen at Fontenelle Tours at one of the numbers listed.

Just a Sampling of our 2007 Tours ¤ Rob , MBA, Rob A. A. Randels, Randels, CFP MBA, ChFC,ChFC CFP® Wealth Management Investment Specialist Advisor Northwestern Northwestern Mutual Mutual Financial FinancialNetwork NetworkofofNebraska Nebraska Embassy Embassy Tower, Tower, Suite Suite 500 500 9300 9300 Underwood Underwood Avenue Avenue Omaha, Omaha, NE NE 68114 68114 (402) (402) 390-8271 390-8271 rob.randels@nmfn.com rob.randels@nmfn.com www.nmfn.com/robrandels www.nmfn.com/robrandels

05-2261 © 2004 Northwestern Mutual. Northwestern Mutual Financial Network is the marketing name for the sales and distribution arm of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, WI (NM) and its subsidiaries and affiliates, including the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network of Nebraska.

Financial Representative is an agent of NM (life insurance, annuities and disability income insurance.)

Securities are offered through Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (NMIS), which is wholly owned by NM and a member of the NASD and SIPC. Frank Russell Company is a subsidiary of NM. NM and the Northestern Mutual Financial Network of Nebraska are not registered broker-dealers. CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP® and federally registered CFP (with flame logo), which it awards to individuals who successfully complete initial and ongoing certification requirements. 4044-187

New Mexico Land of Enchantment: May 29-June 5. $916. Visit Taos, Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Including Spanish Missions, Loretto Chapel, Bandelier National Monument, Sandia Peak, Black Mesa Winery, Native American Pueblo, and Dance.

“Oh My! Doggies & Pie!”: June 7. $79. Learn how dogs are trained to assist individuals with disabilities. Tour MarCon Pies to see pie creation and get samples with our lunch! Visit Roca Berry Farm for fresh strawberries enroute home.

Wisconsin Dells & More: June 11-16. $697. Includes House on the Rocks, water show, Lost Canyon carriage ride, Clydesdales, dinner cruise, progressive dinner, “Grease” dinner theater and more. Stops at Iowa wind farm and Kalona.

Chicago: June 19-22. $536. Enjoy the Hancock Observatory, Navy Pier, Lake Michigan lunch cruise, “Late Night Catechism” dinner theater performance, Adler planetarium, Stained Glass Museum, Ethnic neighborhood tour and more. Winery lunch enroute.

Mississippi River Cruise: June 25-28. $549. Includes Twilight Riverboat Cruise, Grand Harbor Resort, National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, a visit to the Amana Colonies, and Maytag Dairy Farms.

Kansas City Summer Theater: July 10-11. $219. Show “Sweet Charity” with dinner at the Starlight Theater and the musical “Oklahoma” with lunch at the New Theater. Visit Country Club Plaza, Museum of Art, and 1950’s All-Electric House.

Summer Days in Brownville: July 14. $108. Visit Brownville Mills and the Whiskey Run Creek winery, have lunch at the Lyceum Café, shop, enjoy a play at the Brownville Village Theater, and a dinner cruise on the “Spirit of Brownville”.

Wizard of Oz in Kansas City: July 23-24. $227. Enjoy the Broadway production “The Wizard of Oz” at the Starlight Theater including a backstage tour and catered dinner. Visit the beautiful Powell Gardens, World War I Memorial, and try your luck at the Isle of Capri Casino.

Matchstick & Hot Air Balloons: August 3. $94. Lunch at the Machine Shed in Des Moines and visit the incredible art display of matchsticks turned into models (a 13 foot model of the battleship Iowa as a example). Then enjoy the evening lift off of the hot air balloons in Indianola.

We have many more trips available (Branson, Nebraska State Parks and more). Watch for continuous updates on our website at www.fontenelletours.com, as well as our monthly “Better Living’ and “New Horizons” ads.

A $25 deposit will hold your reservation!

May 18, 2007

Agricultural Settlement from the Encyclopedia Judaica, 2nd Edition May 1939: The moshav (farming settlement) Shadmot Devorah (“fields of Devorah”), located northeast of Kefar Tavor, was founded by German settlers. In 1970 the moshav had 166 inhabitants; in 2002: 367. Its economy was based on field crops, fruit orchards, and dairy cattle.

Devorat ha-Tavor, a silk- and honey-production visitors center is located in the moshav. The moshav is named for Dorothy (d. 1988; Devorah), wife of British politician and philanthropist James de Rothschild.

May 10, 1948: German and Hungarian immigrants founded Sheluhot (“shoots,” “sprouts”) kibbutz in northern Israel at the foot of Mt. Gilboa upon the area’s capture by the Haganah during the War of Independence. In 1970 Sheluhot had 340 inhabitants; in 2002: 414. Its farming was based on irrigated field and fodder crops, palm orchards, dairy cattle, poultry, turkeys, and carp ponds.

It operated electrical and metal factories and guest rooms.

May 1, 1930: Eastern European settlers founded the Ei Vered (“Rose Spring”) moshav in central Israel, in the southern Sharon. Ein Vered was enlarged to absorb new immigrants after 1948. Farming was intensive, with citrus groves, field crops, beehives, and flowers as the principal branches. In 1969, there were 510 inhabitants; in the mid-1990s, 650; and in 2002, 965.

May 10, 1949: Kibbutz Barkai (“morning light”) was founded in central Israel by pioneers from North America, joined later by newcomers from Romania and from English-speaking and other countries. In the mid-1990s the population was approximately 500, and by the end of 2002 it had decreased to 327. Farm branches included dairy cattle, poultry, avocado plantations, and field crops. The kibbutz runs a factory for polyethylene products.

May 2, 1939: Pioneers from Romania and Germany established the Daliyyah kibbutz (collective community) in Israel, in the Manasseh Hills of N.W. Samaria. Its economy was based on intensive farming (field crops, orchards) and two industrial enterprises: “Arad” for the production of water meters and fine mechanical instruments, and “Zohar” for soaps and detergents. The name (“vine tendril” in Hebrew) was taken from DÇliyat al-R-ha, a former Arab village in the vicinity. In 2002, the kibbutz had 739 inhabitants.

May 3, 1882: The notorious “May Laws” were enacted in imperial Russia in response to civil and economic unrest that led to the pogroms of 1881. The “temporary laws” satisfied the demands of the Russian rural merchant class that sought to be rid of its Jewish rivals in the villages of the Ukraine and Belorussia. In effect they were a contraction of the Pale of Settlement, confining Jews to smaller towns and voiding their deeds of sale and leases of land in the countryside. Emblematic of the sharply worsening conditions of Eastern European Jews, the May Laws coincided with the other forces motivating Jewish agricultural settlement in Palestine: the rise of socialism and the Hibbat Zion (“Love of Zion”) movement in Europe.

Need a little extra help?

by KIRK HENG Vice President Marketing & Business Development of Hillcrest Health Systems Hillcrest Health Systems is devoted to delivering innovative and exceptional senior care choices for you and your family.

The Hillcrest Family of Services includes: rehabilitation following hospitalization, outpatient physical therapy, assisted living, memory support and adult day services.

Hillcrest Health Systems has drawn from 40 years of senior care experience to open Hillcrest Home Care to better accommodate those in need in our community. This program is part of our continuing efforts to provide services that will allow seniors to enjoy the highest possible quality of life.

Hillcrest Home Care offers nursing, therapy (physical, occupational, speech), homemaker and companion services allowing seniors to maximize their independence while allowing them to remain in the comfort of their own home Perhaps your grandmother needs a little extra help to remain safe and independent. She loves having her family around but she doesn’t want her needs to get in the way of their lives. The reality is that many families cannot provide appropriate day-today care for their loved ones. Schedule demands, geographic location and lack of training are just a few of the difficulties family care givers face. In this struggle Hillcrest Home Care is here to fill in the gaps with expertise and compassion. In the clients home we work with the same values and professionalism that have built the Hillcrest reputation over the last 40 years.

We understand that the decision to use in-home-care can be difficult and sometimes be an immediate necessity. Our trained staff can help make this experience a positive one. We are happy to offer in-home-care to Adult, Senior and Pediatric clients. We provide short term care as well as long-term continuous care. Hourly care and intermittent visits are available. Call 402.682.4808 for your free in-home assessment.

Hillcrest Health Systems is located at 1804 Hillcrest Dr, in Bellevue. Contact us at: 402.682.4206, via fax 402.682.4253, of via e-mail: kheng@hillcresthealth.com.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 21

If the Customer is Always #1, Things are Being Done Right. euman

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May 14, 1948: The Israeli Declaration of Independence was promulgated and the State of Israel established during the War of Independence. During the war, the kibbutzim played an essential role, serving as bases for the Haganah defense force and the Palmah commando section (founded May 19, 1941). Most of the new villages established under emergency conditions during and immediately after World War II, especially in the Negev, were kibbutzim. By the establishment of independence, they numbered 149 out of the 291 Jewish villages in the country.

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May 23, 1948: Allonei Abba, a moshav shittufi (collective settlement), was founded during the War of Independence in western Lower Galilee in northern Israel. Many of the settlers were survivors of the Holocaust from Czechoslovakia, Romania, Germany and other countries. The economy was based mainly on farming: poultry, dairy cattle, field crops, and vineyards. The name refers to the natural Tabor oaks in the vicinity (allon, “oak”) and also commemorates the Abba Berdiczew, a hero of the Haganah killed in combat during World War II. Population in 2002: 283.

A concept to “stretch” your LTC benefits

by ROBERT M. NELSON, V.P. Grace/Mayer Insurance Financial & Estate Planning Division I have long thought that “scare tactics” do not belong in talks about insurance. Yet we have all heard the scary stories about the rising costs of long term care … both in nursing homes and care received at home.

I am also always looking for ways to balance risk and insurance costs … in other words, we have lots of fun ways to spend money … buying insurance isn’t one of them. So how should a husband and wife decide on whether to buy LTC insurance and what kind should they buy.

First, let’s be clear that governmental benefits for LTC are limited and mostly available once you have spent down your own assets. Government benefits are also not likely to increase considering the strain on governmental budgets at all levels.

So is there anything “new” that we should check out?

Recently, I have become a big fan of a concept called “Shared Care.” Simply stated, “shared care” provides a benefit shared between a husband and wife. For example, you might set up a plan for a “shared benefit” of eight years. If the first person requires care, he or she is eligible to use up to eight years of benefits. If that person only uses two years, then six more years of benefits remain for the surviving spouse. If the first spouse doesn’t use any, it leaves eight years of benefits for the surviving spouse. The flexibility of shared care is what I like best.

The cost of an eight year “shared care” plan is approximately the same as two individual plans with a five year benefit. The “shared” concept seems to fit the uncertainty of just how much and when two people might need care.

As with most important financial decisions, your options should be checked out carefully so that you can make an informed decision. You should find a “trusted advisor” and make your decisions together. A final thought is to communicate your plans with family members who might also enjoy peace of mind that you have addressed these issues.

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Senior Moving Services

Fact: As a senior or a family member of a senior, moving to a new home is one of the most challenging and stressful events a person may have to experience.

Whether it's a move to another home, a retirement community, managed care facility, or a simple transfer within your existing facility, we offer a full range of moving services to assist seniors and their families in making the transition as smooth and seamless as possible.

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Page 22

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

• Walkers & Canes • Scooters & Wheelchairs • Stair Glides • Electric Seat Lift Chairs • Bathroom Aids • Diabetes Supplies & Shoes

May 18, 2007

• Nutritional Supplies • Oxygen & Respiratory Equipment • Mastectomy & Lymphedema Products • Vaccinations & Health Screenings • Home Medical Equipment & Repair

Full-Time Professionals To Serve You: Retail & Compounding Pharmacists • Occupational Therapists • Repiratory Therapists Certified Repair Technicians • Certified Mastectomy Fitters Certified Orthotic Fitters • Nurses • Certified Compression Garment Fitters Seven Convenient Locations

Kohll’s

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Ready to hear the world around you?

The audiologists at Boys Town National Research Hospital understand that you have questions, concerns and maybe even hesitations when it comes to wearing a hearing aid.

Bergan Mercy Clinic

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ping or even a family outing we would be glad to take you there. Most people do not know that such a service is available.

Whatever your medical transportation needs may be, you have the option of using a private service to transport you, your friend or your loved one where ever they need or want to go.

As a private service one of our specialties is long distance transports, in and out of the state. Where do you need to go? Our services are available 24 hours every day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. We care for you, your friend or your loved ones just as we would our own family.

Omaha Ambulance Service has proudly been serving the Omaha and surrounding areas since 1938. If you have any questions regarding any transportation needs call day or night 402.345.6666.

New cash benefit account insurance pays for long term care

Let our highly trained staff help you make the right choice.

by LEONARD BERTHELSEN Managing Partner-L&R LTC Solutions Rochester, NY -- A new approach for personal funding of long term care will eliminate the needless complexity of a typical long term care insurance policy and will instead pay a 100% guaranteed cash benefit, regardless of the cost of services or the type of services used.

The new product, aptly named Simplicityii SM, is for consumers who are concerned about having their family and lifestyle disrupted if they ever become disabled, yet have been reluctant to purchase long-term care insurance because of its complexity.

Simplicityii is being launched this spring by MedAmerica (MedAmerica Insurance Company of New York.), Leonard Berthelsen Managing Partner of L&R LTC Solutions of Omaha will be offering this new product in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. The new product has already earned the highest independent rating of any long term care insurance on the market (SellingLTC.com). according to Chris Perna, President of MEDAmerica Insurance Co. “Everyone understands a bank account,” says Perna, “Why not enable people to have an account set aside for their long term care needs? Like a bank account withdrawal, benefits are paid in cash, to the policyholder.”

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by BARBARA RINE Did you know that you need not have an emergency to use an ambulance service?

Suppose you, a friend or loved one need a transport to a doctor or dentist’s office, to a clinic, dialysis, physical therapy, radiation or any other medically oriented facility, who would you call?

American and Omaha Ambulance Services are the only local, family-owned private services in Omaha offering you a caring, personal, professional private service.

We have many specialized vehicles, not just ambulances that we use to transport people where they need to go. We transport to all hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, retirement centers and assisted living facilities. Our vans are equipped with wheelchair lifts so if you need to go to the grocery story, the hair salon, shop-

We offer a wide selection of hearing aids from all major manufacturers to meet your needs and personal preferences.

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Using ambulance services when it’s not an emergency

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Simplicity's innovation is that it pays cash from a personal Cash Benefit Account. Cash Benefit Accounts are available in varying amounts from $100,000 to $1 million and can grow over time using various inflation protection options. When a policyholder becomes benefit eligible, the Cash Benefit Account is distributed in a Monthly Cash Benefit check payable to the insured. The amount paid is not dependent upon receiving services, so a person can use the funds as they choose, no company approval required.

“Baby boomers are shouldering a financial risk that could devastate their finances and families,” says Perna, “Traditional long term care insurance is too complicated and limited to defined care settings, such as nursing facilities, that are available in today’s world. With advances in technology and medicine, who can define or predict how care will be delivered in 20 or 30 years? ‘Smart’ homes with computerized assistance devices, GPS monitoring, and even robotics will enable people to preserve their lifestyle while receiving needed care in their own homes,” he explains.

“Boomers should have access to coverage that is truly relevant to their particular needs, desire for independence and aversion to having to end up in a nursing home,” says Perna.

Call us at L&R LTC Solutions, 614.9930.

Age gracefully with help from HomeAide

by BROOKE ORTNER for Envoy Inc. Household activities such as cooking and doing laundry can be impossible tasks for millions of Americans. Individuals who need help to maintain their independent lifestyles can turn to the safety and security of The Visiting Nurse Association’s HomeAide program.

Services HomeAide provides homemaker/companion and personal care assistance for those who don’t require extended medical care at home, but may benefit from assistance with daily activities.

Homemaker/companions provide assistance with: meal preparation, shopping, travel to appointments and other minor tasks. A higher level of care is available with home health aides who assist with bathing, dressing, ambulation and other personal care. Services range from simple visits to long-term assistance.

All personal and therapeutic care services are performed by Licensed Home Health Aides who have 24/7 access to a VNA registered nurse, have completed a Nebraska staterequired 75-hour training program, have undergone competency testing and attend monthly continuing education seminars.

HomeAide services include: • Meal preparation • Light housework • Shopping/Errands • Maintain a safe environment • Assistance with personal care needs • Respite for caregivers Qualifications Before selecting HomeAide, assess your needs, the costs and check references and credentials. Caregivers are fully insured, bonded, thoroughly screened and well trained.

HomeAide also manages tax and workers’ compensation details – a service not guaranteed by independent caregivers.

Before hiring assistance, ask yourself these questions: Is everyone comfortable with the caregivers? Do they have the required skills?

Are they trustworthy, especially in emergencies? Are their personalities compatible with yours?

Rest assured that you’ll receive the highest quality care for your dollars. HomeAide is backed by the quality standards that VNA has held since 1896.

To learn more or to schedule your free consultation, call 402.930.4240.

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May 18, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 23

As Israel baseball league drafts its players, charities draft league

by JACOB BERKMAN Jewish community a way to identify with Israel and to NEW YORK (JTA) -- The inaugural player draft for define their own Judaism,” league founder Larry Baras the Israel Baseball League started with a 22-year-old told JTA. Jewish prospect and ended with a 71-year-old Jewish Baras said he receives calls every day about potential Hall of Famer. partnerships with an assortment of Jewish organizaWith the first selection in the six-team draft on April tions.

26, the Modi’in Miracles chose Aaron Levin, a powerThe league is working with the North American hitting outfielder from Cuesta Community College in Conference on Ethiopian Jewry to provide baseball San Luis Obispo, Calif.

The Miracles had the last pick, too, and went with Sandy Koufax, the left-hander from the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers who famously refused to pitch in the 1961 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur.

It was an obvious publicity stunt, as even league organizers acknowledged it would take a real miracle for Koufax to suit up for Modi’in but Jewish organizations trying to associate with the league are hoping the publicity pays off.

The IBL, Israel’s first professional baseball league, will play a 42-game schedule starting June 24. It has pur- NBC’s Len Berman, former Met Art Shamasky, ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap and Israel Baseball posefully attached itself to League founder Larry Baris joined IBL players for the league’s inaugural players draft April Credit: Damion Edwards Photography several high-profile names 26, 2007, in New York. from the Jewish American sports world. equipment and baseball training to Ethiopian Israelis. It Three of its managers are well-known former major is working with Maccabi USA to provide baseball leaguers: Art Shamsky, a member of the 1969 “Miracle equipment to Maccabi teams such as Argentina that Mets”; Ken Holtzman, a left-hander who notched 174 cannot afford it. The aim is to have those teams comvictories pitching for four teams; and Ron Blomberg, pete in the biennial Pan American Maccabi Games and baseball’s first designated hitter as a member of the the quadrennial games in Israel.

New York Yankees.

There’s a “Bat” mitzvah project in which b’nei The draft was hosted in part by prominent Jewish mitzvot can help buy baseball equipment for those in sportscasters Len Berman and Jeremy Schaap. need.

Even before its first game, the league has created And perhaps most notably, the Jewish National Fund quite a buzz, getting more than 3 million hits on its has partnered with the IBL on “Project Baseball” to Web site since its launch two months ago. build diamonds throughout Israel.

Helping to stir interest is the league’s public relations “Baseball has had a hard time getting off the ground director, Marty Appel, the former PR head of the there because the kids had no place to play,’’ said the Yankees.

JNF’s campaign coordinator for Los Angeles, Joyce But just as the IBL attached its name to Koufax, the Sacharpoff. “There were three fields, and at the best Associated Press and espn.com each ran a story on the one you had to run uphill to get to first base.” draft. Jewish organizations are lining up with the league Sacharpoff said JNF, which will take a mission of 25 in what they see as a unique way to connect Americans to Israel for the IBL’s first two games, sees the IBL as a to Israel. marketing tool to involve potential donors in Israel.

“We are giving a big segment of the North American “It opens up different doors with young people and

PERMAX ALERT

with baseball fans,” she said. “For Americans going over there, it is fascinating to see something so typically American being started in Israel. We are in the business of creating connections between Americans and the land of Israel.”

Baras said that wasn’t what he had in mind when he started the league after attending a minor-league game outside Boston, where he lives. He said he just wanted to give Israelis the light, friendly experience of baseball.

The charity aspect has been a happy byproduct, he said, and grander projects could be on the way.

Baras said he has had discussions with birthright israel about treating the more than 20,000 young adults that birthright takes to Israel for free each year to a night at the ballpark.

Indeed, the draft April 26 at Cardozo Law School in New York City Dan Rootenberg of New York was sponsored by wears his team’s cap after birthright and the New being drafted to the Netanya York Cornell ConnecTigers at the Israel Baseball tion, a young leadership League’s inaugural draft April alumni group of the 26, 2007, in New York.

Hillel at Cornell Credit: IBL University in Ithaca, N.Y. David Borowith, the founder of Dor Chadash, a group designed to connect young Americans to Israel, said the IBL would be a great way to sell aliyah to Americans because it could offer them a creature comfort of the American lifestyle in Israel and ease their transition.

Baras said he has had several discussions with Nefesh B’Nefesh, which helps thousands of Americans make aliyah each year, on collaborating with the league.

Perhaps, he said, Nefesh B’Nefesh would offer new Israeli immigrants free tickets to games.

At the draft, most of the players selected were just happy for the chance to spend two months in Israel this summer playing the game they love.

For Alan Gardner, a Manhattan lawyer who at 45 is going to finally live a boyhood dream of playing professional baseball, it’s a more than enjoyable way to give back to Israel.

Joking before the draft, Gardner said, “Thank God I’m being drafted by the Israeli Baseball League and not the Israeli army.”

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Page 24

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 18, 2007

Why mazal is more than good luck Eitan Wertheimer spoke to a group of major donors earlier this month when he was in Omaha for the annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting. Wertheimer, you’ll recall, is the CEO of Iscar, the precision tool manufacturing company purchased by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire holding company a year ago. In speaking about the success of the company founded by his father, Stef Wertheimer, a survivor of the Holocaust, it was obvious that he understands the politics of a world economy.

“We have a chance to become successful ... but we’re not sure how to make our neighbors successful,” he said almost wistfully.

In the almost unimaginable success of Iscar (remember, Buffett paid four billion dollars for it), there is a lesson for us all, especially Israel’s neighbors. If this can happen in Israel (or India), why can’t it happen elsewhere?

Stef Wertheimer came to Israel following the horrors of World War II. He had no family, no money and suffered the ravages of that war that we can’t fathom. But he had a dream.

He settled in the northwestern part of the country, the Western Galilee (which just happens to be Omaha’s Partnership with Israel region). It’s an idyllic place of rolling hills, beaches, ancient structures like the fortress of Acco on the Mediterranean and Crusader castles. The region is what we in America would call “multi-cultural.” There are Jews -- secular and religious, kibbutznicks and middle class; Arabs and Druze, Christians and Muslims.

It’s not a wealthy area, per se, and it’s usually off the beaten path for tourists. But Stef Wertheimer took what he knew -- tool and die manufacturing -- and turned it into a worldclass business. It’s the Jewish concept of mazal, what we would call luck, but it is something more powerful.

Mazal is a Hebrew word composed of three letters: mem, zion and lamed. Mem stands for makom or place; zion for z’man or time. And lamed begins the word limmud, which means knowledge. Put it together and it’s being in the right place at the right time with the right

information.

That’s what Stef Wertheimer had, despite having to overcome the struggles he faced in his native Hungary during the war years. He did not play the victim card and he didn’t let his past shape his future -- except to make him stronger. His son Eitan took it a step further, training employees to think like managers.

Observing workers in a plant in Japan, Eitan Wertheimer figured out a way to make his employees accept robots in the Iscar plant without feeling threatened. “Each robot has a plant employee as his ‘master.’ It’s similar to Greek restaurants, where every waiter has an assistant to boss around.” So, too, each Iscar worker now has a robot to “boss around.”

“Politics is local,” Wertheimer added, “but business is global.”

Politics is about ensuring that the streets are paved, the water is clean enough to drink, the schools are decent and the garbage will be picked up each week. But business is about creating something unique in the (world) marketplace and thereby ensuring jobs for residents who will pay the taxes that politicians will use (occasionally wisely) to accomplish the tasks mentioned above.

We r t h e i m e r father and son have done just that ... and then some. And it’s something over which they have control (unlike politics -- unless you count voting politicians out of office, or nearly 200,000 Israelis in Kikar Rabin demanding that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resign).

Yes, there are

lots more like Wertheimer in Israel. Don’t forget, one of Berkshire’s subsidiaries, the CTB corporation in Indiana, purchased Agrologic, a small company near Netanya that makes computerized sensor devices.

In fact, Wertheimer told a story in Omaha about another Israeli businessman trying to sell his company to a group of New York investors. After getting bogged down on a Friday, the Israeli businessman urged the group to take a break. The next day, however, Warren Buffett announced the purchase of Iscar and by Monday, the New York investors were begging to buy the Israeli’s company.

“You have no idea what you’ve done for us,” the man told Wertheimer.

Kudos to Warren Buffett who told the press just a few weeks after the war in Lebanon had ended that “Berkshire Hathaway is staying in Israel.” Kudos to Stef Wertheimer, who overcame the Nazi war machine to follow a dream and give jobs to a multicultural community in the Western Galilee. Kudos to his son, Eitan, who carried the dream to the world marketplace and put its products on a par with Boeing and General Electric.

Now that’s what we call mazal!

‘Arab Schindler’ provides valuable lesson to Arabs today, author says

F OCUS ON ISSUES

by ARMIN ROSEN NEW YORK (JTA) -- Some see Khaled Abdelwahhab as an “Arab Oskar Schindler” for risking his life to shelter Jews while Tunisia was under Nazi occupation.

Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, sees the Tunisian farmer as “a very powerful symbol from a historical point of view.”

He believes Abdelwahhab’s tale of heroism, and other stories Satloff collected of Arab actions during the Holocaust -- from indifference to collaboration to attempts at saving and sheltering Jews -- would “turn the discussion of the Holocaust on its head” in the Arab and Muslim world, where Holocaust denial is rampant.

Speaking about his latest book, Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust’s Long Reach into Arab Lands, last month at Yeshiva University in New York, Satloff said the stories of Abdelwahhab and others reveal no difference between reactions to the Holocaust in Europe and the Arab world.

Event sponsors included Y.U.’s Stern College for Women and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Satloff said the book explains that the Holocaust is part of both the Arab and Jewish experience. He nominated Abdelwahhab, who hid 24 Jews on his family farm for months during the Nazi occupation, for the distinction of “Righteous Among the Nations” at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Israel.

Abdelwahhab would be the first Arab among nearly 22,000 “Righteous Gentiles.”

Spreading the word about Abdelwahhab’s actions could help breed the kind of tolerance needed to heal rifts between the Arab and Jewish communities, Satloff said.

Abdelwahhab’s daughter Faiza, who joined Satloff at the Y.U. presentation, said she hopes her father’s story will “help Jews and Arabs to become more like they were in Tunisia” before World War II. “We were very mixed,” Faiza said of the town where she grew up. “Thirty percent were Italian and French. Thirty percent were mixed [Arab and French], and 30 percent were Jewish. Everyone got along together very well.”

... the book explains that the Holocaust is part of both the Arab and Jewish experience ... Spreading the word about Abdelwahhab’s actions could help breed the kind of tolerance needed to heal rifts between the Arab and Jewish communities.

Faiza remembered her father as a “very stubborn person” who saw no difference between the various ethnic and religious groups in his hometown.

Satloff said Abdelwahhab’s nonchalance about his actions was similar to that of other non-Jewish rescuers during the Holocaust.

“They have very humble motivations,” Satloff said. “I don’t see any difference here.”

Faiza said she did not learn that her father had sheltered Jews until Satloff uncovered it while researching his book.

But she wasn’t surprised.

Since Abdelwahhab, who died 10 years ago, lived in a society with fewer distinctions separating people, she and Satloff both characterized his deed as a “natural” thing to do for his fellow countrymen.

Satloff hopes that for the Arab world, recapturing this neglected aspect of its history will mean accepting the basic premises of the Holocaust. Holocaust denial is rampant in the Arab world, even in schools and governmentsponsored media, with many Arabs apparently believing that denying the Holocaust will undermine Israel’s legitimacy.

Satloff said the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks provided the “trigger” for his work, as he began to deeply consider the societies from which the attackers sprang.

“It got me thinking about Holocaust education in Arab society,” Satloff said. The book “is my modest way of fighting the hatred of 9/11.”

He said he tried “to make the Holocaust a story acceptable to Arabs. So I talk about choices Arabs made; it’s an Arab story.”

With the book available in Farsi and Arabic, Satloff hopes it will help counter the “grotesque view of the Holocaust that is being propagated” in the Middle East and allow Arabs to “access their sides of the story” of the Holocaust.

(Founded in 1920) Howard K. Marcus Chairman Carol Katzman Editor Richard Busse Managing Editor Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Terri Greenwood Advertising Executive Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper Anne Muskin Editorial Intern Jewish Press Committee Bobbi Leibowitz, Vice-Chairman; Stan Mitchell, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Treasurer; Michael Siegel, Finance Chairman; Joanie Jacobson, Immediate Past-chairman; David Herzog; Susan Lehr; Jamie Meyerson; George Quittner; Melissa Schop; Michael Sigmond; Jim Simon; Nancy Skid; and Dorothy Spizman.

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Page 25

Iran not just a Jewish problem: We must galvanize everyone

BEHIND THE H EADLINES

by MARTIN J. RAFFEL WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Why is the Jewish Council for Public Affairs making a nucleararmed Iran its principal concern in the year to come?

Keeping Iran from developing nuclear weapons is a goal that unites people of diverse races, ethnic backgrounds, nationalities and religions. Not only in the United States, but also in Germany, Great Britain, France, Russia and Japan, 82 percent to 97 percent of people polled expressed opposition to allowing Iran to develop nuclear weapons, according to a June 2006 survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project.

Moderate Arab states, too, are extremely worried about the destabilizing influence of Iran’s determination to develop nuclear weapons capability.

But for American Jews, it is the profound threat to Israel posed by a nuclear-armed Iran that is galvanizing a growing activism. Iran’s support of terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, its role in supplying improvised explosive devises to insurgents in Iraq and the outrageous statements of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- including the assertion that Israel should be “wiped off the map” -- make the prospect of a nuclear Iran terrifying and intolerable.

Our heightened apprehension on behalf of the Jewish state, however, does not make this a Jewish issue or an Israel issue. It is a world issue. The Jewish community must be part of, even leaders of, efforts to apply the strongest possible pressure on Iran -- but we must not stand alone.

The Jewish community relations field is uniquely positioned to educate and engage a broad array of organizations and community leaders -- religious, ethnic and civic -- in calling for diplomatic, political and economic

measures to halt Iran’s progress on nuclear weapons development. Many of these leaders already see the importance of stopping Iran, but may not feel the urgency that resonates in the Jewish community.

Some may not yet recognize the critical stage Iran has reached in producing enriched uranium. It is vital that leaders in the Jewish community relations field reach out now to our allies, and even to our adversaries on some issues, in order to build the broad coalition essential to taking effective action.

From civil rights to immigration to Darfur, the Jewish community has stood with others in demanding social justice, civil liberties and humanitarian aid. Now we must encourage our colleagues and friends to stand with us...

This is not new for us. For more than half a century, JCPA and local Jewish community relations councils have forged relationships with counterparts in other religious, racial and ethnic communities in order to build support for Jewish community issues, gain insight into the concerns of other groups and present a united front in areas of common cause.

From civil rights to immigration to Darfur, the Jewish community has stood with others in demanding social justice, civil liberties and humanitarian aid. Now we must encourage our colleagues and friends to stand with us, to educate their constituencies, and to encourage America’s political leaders and nations around the globe to take strong, unambiguous actions to end Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons.

The JCPA, whose capacity has been greatly augmented by the United Jewish Communities/JCPA Israel Advocacy Initiative, is developing educational programs, convening regular conference calls, identifying speakers, conducting media briefings, preparing talking points and model Op-Ed pieces, and offering guidance on

Shavuot by Tnuva

JOURNAL ENTRY FROM ISRAEL

by TEDDY WEINBERGER As one might expect of the Jewish state, the holy days of the Jewish religion are national holidays. A good example of this is the holiday of Shavuot which begins this year on Tuesday night, May 22. While it is possible to go about one’s business in the diaspora without even realizing that Shavuot has come and gone, this could never happen in Israel. For one thing, all government offices, banks, and businesses are closed, and children begin their second day of a threeday holiday. Additionally, several weeks before the holiday, Tnuva, Israel’s huge food company (which almost has a monopoly on milk and milk products), takes great care to tell every person in the State of Israel: “Shavuot Tnuva -- An Israeli Celebration.”

The Tnuva juggernaut is quite impressive. In the weeks before the holiday, one cannot walk by a dairy case anywhere in Israel without realizing that Shavuot is approaching and that Tnuva is ready to help you celebrate. There are sales on dairy products, introductory offers for new products, and a tempting array of cheesecakes -- including a “cheesecake kit for easy and fast preparation” of the holiday’s signature dessert. Of course, all this “Bounty” (the English word for “Tnuva”) is accompanied by a huge advertising blitz in newspapers, on television and radio, on billboards, and in a “magazine for Shavuot” that is inserted into your newspaper about a week before the holiday. On the cover of this glossy, full-color “special magazine for the holiday of Shavuot,” one reads: “Tnuva is happy to present you with a complete collection of recipes, tips, advice, and stories for the Shavuot holiday.”

In the magazine, Tnuva speaks of Shavuot as “the most Israeli of holidays” because of the old kibbutz tradition of displaying the plentiful yields. In the center of the magazine, there is a beautiful photo of various fruits and assorted cheeses with the words (obviously meant to sound like a biblical injunction): “On the holiday of Shavuot, you shall make for yourselves a Tnuva holiday table.”

The bulk of the magazine consists primarily of recipes that make excellent use of the Tnuva Dairy (and are accompanied by colorful photographs of the finished products). Tnuva dutifully provides several of the traditional reasons for eating dairy products on this, the hol-

iday that commemorates the giving of the Torah to Israel. One of these reasons uses the technique known as “gematria,” which assigns a numerical value to each Hebrew letter. The numerical value of “milk” (“halav”)=40 = the number of days that Moses spent on Mt. Sinai when he received the Torah. Playfully, Tnuva points out that 40 reduced to a single digit =4 (4+0) and that the word “Tnuva” (whose total =463) can also be reduced to 4 (4+6+3=13=1+3=4). “And maybe,” says Tnuva in the magazine, “here begins our deep connection with the holiday of Shavuot.”

Tnuva is thus largely responsible for making sure that the Israeli public knows well in advance of the approaching Shavuot holiday. And since the company is willing to expend a large amount of capital on its Shavuot campaign, it would seem that a large segment of Israel celebrates this holiday -- as far as Tnuva is concerned.

This is not to say that the holiday is a deep religious experience for most Israelis. For the secular portion of the population, the holiday is an opportunity for a long weekend at the beach. This leads to an interesting religious question, given the Jewish legal principle that says that a person who is ignorant of a law is punished less severely than someone who knows the law but who consciously violates it. Following this line of reasoning, it could be argued that the situation of a Jew in the diaspora who goes to work on May 23 without realizing that it’s Shavuot is less severe than an Israeli who violates religious law -- since all Israelis know that the day is a Jewish holiday.

Precisely at this point, however, is where the modern religious Jew parts ways with the ultra-Orthodox. While from a legal perspective the secular Jewish diaspora position on Shavuot may have its advantages, in terms of Jewish culture and Jewish peoplehood, I believe that the Israeli situation is much to be preferred over a diaspora Shavuot. As long as the traditions of the Jewish people are still current in Israel’s vocabulary, one can hope for a reconstruction of these traditions to suit a broad spectrum of Israeli society. Even if a person’s celebration of Shavuot consists of eating more dairy products than usual, that person is exercising some degree of ethnic and national responsibility -- which I think is all to the good.

So buy your (preferably Tnuva) dairy products, and have a Happy Shavuot.

Teddy Weinberger made aliyah 11 years ago with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children. He works for JAFI, the Jewish Agency for Israel, in its Department of Education. He can be reached at weinross@netvision.net.il.

divesting pension funds and other assets from companies doing business in or with Iran.

JCPA’s Web site, www.jewishpublicaffairs.org, includes a separate section on Iran with suggestions for action, news stories and other resources, among them JCPA’s new online publication, the Iran Monitor. All of these activities are intended to support the work of our national and local member agencies.

At the local level, JCRCs have begun reaching out to non-Jewish coalition partners to build advocacy campaigns reflective of the widespread concern about Iran’s actions. The Boston and Chicago JCRCs have produced comprehensive strategic plans that include enlisting the active involvement of elected officials, along with civic, ethnic and religious leaders and other non-Jewish influentials; a media strategy that encourages Jewish and non-Jewish community leaders to write Op-Ed pieces and letters to the editor, call in to radio talk shows and monitor news coverage of Iran; support for sanctions, divestment and other economic measures; and outreach to key foreign governments through visits or communications with consuls general.

Momentum is building in the United Nations and governments around the world to find a way to alter Iran’s course. On March 24, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution imposing increased economic sanctions on Iran. The sanctions are having enough impact on the Iranian economy that some factions within the country are beginning to criticize Ahmadinejad’s policies.

But it is not enough. The American government must keep the pressure on the United Nations, and the American people must keep the pressure on our government.

This is a crucial moment in a critical fight. To win, the voice of the Jewish community must be loud and clear, but only one among many. Jewish community relations agencies can play the vital role of forging the coalitions that bring together a wide range of voices singing one song that Iran will be sure to hear.

Martin J. Raffel is the senior associate executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the Editor: We are halfway into May, which also happens to be American Jewish Heritage Month. Have any of you seen any spots on any of your local television stations recognizing American Jewish Heritage Month? Especially any station that has aired Black Heritage or Hispanic Heritage spots during those months?

Call this an unofficial survey. I have not seen any here in Florida. If this is happening in your area, contact those stations and ask them why they are not giving the same recognition for American Jewish Heritage Month.

Please let me know at: hanukkah@myspeedworks.com if they answer you. I haven’t gotten an answer from my local stations. Maybe they just don’t Ronald Scheiman care.

Boynton Beach, FL. To the Editor: A threat of government confiscation of the historic Volozhin Yeshiva in Belarus will likely be averted due to the quick formation of an ad hoc committee that has pledged to raise funds to make immediate exterior repairs to the vacant 200-year-old building, allowing it to remain under control of the local Jewish community.

The ad hoc committee, comprised of representatives of Agudath Israel of America, the American-Canadian Foundation for the Education and Welfare of Jews of the CIS, and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, conferred to plan for the raising of the $20,000 needed for initial external repairs to the structure that town authorities insisted must begin this month or the building would return to the municipality.

A full renovation is expected to cost well over $100,000. This would be undertaken later in the year if a plan for the proper use of the building can be developed by the Belarus Jewish community with international Jewish organizations. Parties interested in participating in the rescue of the building, which housed the famed yeshiva founded in 1803 by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin, a student of the Vilna Gaon, are encouraged to write checks to any of the three organizations above, earmarked for the Volozhin project.

The committee members also invited the public to propose ideas for appropriate use of the building once it is renovated.

Rabbi Avi Shafran Director of public affairs Agudath Israel of America

Page 26

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 18, 2007

Candlelighting Friday, May 18, 8:21 p.m.

Tuesday, May 22, 8:25 p.m.

Wednesday, May 23, no earlier than 9:24 p.m.

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

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

Tree of Life Center 2925 Prairie Road Lincoln, NE 68506 613.7443 email: treeoflife.rabbimichael @yahoo.com

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Allan Handleman, 334.6451, or Terri Greenwood, 334.6559.

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m.

The synagogue is a point of interest in the tour of houses of worship on June 3, 1-5 p.m.

Community members will ride buses and stop at various churches and B’nai Israel in the Bluffs.

eighth grade Kadimaniks are invited. The evening will include executive board installations for 200708, awards, plus a photo slideshow featuring highlights of this past year. Cost is $5. To RSVP, contact Robert Mosenkis in the office, or youthdir@ bethel-omaha.org.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6:30 p.m. The service will honor the congregation’s graduating high school seniors. A special reception will be held prior to services at 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m. highlighted by BESTT seventh and 12th grade graduation and teacher appreciation; Kiddush is sponsored by graduates’ families and BESTT faculty; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 8:35 p.m.

W E E K D AY S E R V I C E S : Sundays, 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.; weekdays 6:55 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

SUNDAY: Torah Trope crash course, 11:15 a.m.; Social Action Day, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at City Sprouts. Carpools will leave from Beth El at 12:45 p.m. For more information, call the office.

WHAT’S JEWISH ABOUT BUGS? For children ages 3-6 and their parents, on Monday, May 21, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Open to all Jewish families free of charge. For more information or to RSVP, contact the office.

SHAVUOT STUDY NIGHT: Tuesday, May 22, 5:30 p.m.

Minha/Ma'ariv services will be followed by an optional 6 p.m. dairy dinner. Study sessions, beginning at 6:50 p.m. Open to the community, the dinner costs $8.50 for adults, $4 for college students; $6.50 for children ages 6-12; and free for children five and younger.

Call the office by May 18 to RSVP. (See page 8 for full article.)

SHAVUOT SERVICES: Tuesday, May 22, 5:30 p.m.; Wednesday, May 23, 9:30 a.m.; 5:30 p.m.; Thursday, May 24, 9:30 a.m. Yizkor and dedication of memorial plaques, 8:40 p.m.

WOMEN’S ROSH HODESH GROUP: Tuesday, May 29 at the home of Ann Goldstein, 9856 Devonshire Dr. Social hour, 7 p.m.; formal meeting, 7:30 p.m.

RSVP to Goldstein at Akgold stein@gmail.com or 391.1050; or co-host Cheryl Cooper at Co opsrandc@cox.net or 391.7514.

USY FINAL BANQUET: Wednesday, May 30, 6 p.m., at the synagogue. All USYers and

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: 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 in commemoration of the yahrzeit of Manny Kreitstein; Mincha, 8 p.m. followed by Suedat Shlishit with Gemara class; Havdalah, 9:29 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Annual Meeting and Elections, 10 a.m.; Breakfast will be served and babysitting will be provided; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m.

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

TUESDAY, Erev Shavuot: The office will close at noon; Mincha, 8:15 p.m.; Candle Lighting, 8:25 p.m.; Ma’ariv, 8:26 p.m.; Dinner, 8:45 p.m. followed by Tikun Leil Shavuot.

At 9:30 p.m., Rabbi Gross will teach, “Eliya-who? Who was this guy and what is he doing at my Seder?;” At 10:30, Rabbi Nadel will teach, “Links in the Chain: The Philosophy and Methodology of Jewish Education.;” At 11:30 p.m., the rabbis will lead the study of Sefer HaChinuch, the Book of Mitzvah.

WEDNESDAY, Shavuot Shacharit, 9 a.m. followed by a dairy Kiddush sponsored by Sisterhood; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m.

THURSDAY, Shavuot Shacharit, 9 a.m. with Yizkor service at 10:45 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored

by Scott and Sarah Saltzman in commemoration of the yahrzeit of Martin Weber; Mincha, 8:30 p.m.; Havdalah, 9:34 p.m.

BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Shabbat in the Home.

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

FRIDAY: Service, 7 a.m.

SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9

a.m.; Service, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush luncheon follows the service.

SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.; Living Torah, 9:30 a.m., 20minute video broadcast.

WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m.

MONDAY: Maamar Kabbalistic Insights for Women, 12:15 p.m.; Halacha, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY: W.O.W. Prayer Circle Tehillim & More, 9 a.m.; Midnight Madness Shavuot Night Torah Studies, 11 p.m.-2 a.m.

WEDNESDAY: Service, 9:30 a.m.; 20th Annual Shavuot Family Celebration, 11 a.m.

THURSDAY: Service, 9:30 a.m.; Yizkor, 11 a.m.

All events and programs are open to the entire community.

Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.; Oliver Rockman, son of Stacey and Jonathon Rockman, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah.

TUESDAY: Adult B’nai Mitzvah Service, 7 p.m. Our Adult B’nai Mitzvah class: Lynn Beha, Don’L Dacey, Toby Fellman, Patrick Jensen, Jennifer Miller, Elaina Ozeroff and Wendy Reiss will read from the Torah and lead this service, commemorating the receiving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai. A special Oneg Shabbat follows the service.

WEDNESDAY: Shavuot service and Yizkor, 10:30 a.m.

THURSDAY: “Adult Study with the Clergy” with Rabbi Linder, 10-11:30 a.m.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN

NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN

Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel.

FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. all led by Rabbi Emanuel; Game Night/Potluck, 6 p.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 2-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; K-1, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; LJCS Family BBQ, 12:15 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY, 7 p.m. The Book of Ruth (Part 1I) 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 Steve Riekes.

TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to you, 4 p.m. at Remington Heights; Confirmation/Graduation Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Rabbi Eric Linder, and Cantor Wendy Shermet will lead the service honoring: Jessica Danon, Nicholas Ferer, Nimrod Ginsburg, Allison Levinger, Jacquelyn Neesman, Aaron Parsow, Aaron Passer, Anne Rips, Justin Slutzky, Sarah Spooner, Brandon Thomas.

David Trubnikov, Taylor Workman.

SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15-10:15 a.m.;

FRIDAY: Minyan, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.

There will be no services on May 23 and 24.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Rabbi Royi Shaffin. and Minyan, MONDAY THURSDAY, 9 a.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m. followed by a light oneg.

SATURDAY: Weekly Parashah class, 8:30 a.m.; Morning service, 9:30 a.m. followed by Shabbat lunch and Talmud class.

SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 2-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; K-1, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; LJCS Family BBQ, 12:15 p.m. at Tifereth Israel; Congregational Meeting, 4 p.m.

TUESDAY: Tikun Leil Shavu’ot dinner, Torah study, 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group meets at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Call Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066.

TREE OF LIFE CENTER Services conducted by Rabbi Rabbi Michael Weisser.

FRIDAYS: Sabbath Experience, 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAYS: Havdalah: Rites of Separation, 6:30 p.m.; following Havdalah Drumming Meditation until 8 p.m.; following Drumming Social Time until 10 p.m.

Sitting/Silent MONDAYS: Meditation, 6 p.m.; Teachings/ Discussion, 7:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAYS: Sitting/ Silent Meditation, 6 p.m.; 8 Weeks to Mindfulness Class, 7:30 p.m.

B’NAI MITZVAH Samuel Kohll, son of Janet and David Kohll, will become a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, May 26, at Beth Israel.

Sam is a seventhgrade Honor Roll student at Beveridge Magnet School and is a participant in the Duke Talent Idenitification program.

His interests include basketball,

cross country, golf, swimming, track and wrestling. He is also involved in the National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY).

For his mitzvah project, Sam is donating sports equipment to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Omaha.

He has an older sister, Anna, and three younger brothers, Max,

Jack and Leo. His grandparents are Sandra and Marvin Kohll, and Virginia and Chester Stefanski.

Ze’ev M. Lailari, son of Stefani and Guermantes (Eyov) Lailari, will become a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, May 26, at Beth El. Ze’ev is a seventh-

grade Honor Roll student at Kiewit Middle School and is a member of the HAL program.

His interests include soccer, track, reading and dogs.

He has a sister, Aliza, and a brother, Natan.

His grandparents are Flore Dufour, and Gladys Nacht, and Len Nacht, and the late Milton D. Lowenstein.

May 18, 2007

The wilderness -- where the hand of man never set foot

SPARKS FROM THE WORD

by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat B’Midbar If that title amuses you, it amused me also the first time I saw it and continues to do so each time I think of it.

But the Book of B’Midbar (or Ba Midbar as most people ordinarily say it) deals seriously, if not historically accurately, with the peregrinations of the Children of Israel during the so-called 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. It is now impossible to trace these journeys, and it is even impossible to know if they occurred as the Sacred Text relates. It is a given, however, that our ancestors spent 40 years between the Exodus from Egypt and the entrance into the Promised Land.

Rabbinic wisdom has it that it took 40 years, a gener-

ation or so to get the slavery of Egypt out of them and sensitivity to the Torah into their consciousness, so that they could enter the Land of Israel as conscious and conscientious Jews.

Thus, the Fourth Book of Torah is a fitting introduction to the Fifth. It prepares us for the astonishing brilliance of the Book of Deuteronomy, the Fifth Book of Torah.

It is not usual for there to be so long an introduction to the Book of Deuteronomy as we have. The Book of B’Midbar Sinai which we now begin gives no hint that it considers itself an introduction to Deuteronomy. It wants only to make clear that there was a very real transition period between the emphasis on ritual in Leviticus and the emphasis on morality and spirituality in which the wonderful Book of Deuteronomy abounds.

The Book of B’Midbar thus should be read seriously, if not naively. We cannot trace its historicity, but we recognize the literary necessity of a transition before Deuteronomy.

DEATHS

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PEARL ANN JABENIS Pearl Ann Jabenis died at the age of 86. Services were held May 14 at Beth El Cemetery.

She worked with her husband at their family business, Travelware Luggage, for more than 35 years.

She is survived by husband of 67 years, Eli; daughters and sons-in-law, Maxine and Allen Passer, and Judy and Steve Epstein; daughter, Nancy Kagan; brothers, Harold Gersh and Charlie Gersh, both of Kansas City; sisters, Mary Plotzker and Eunice Zacharish, both of California; grandchildren, Brent Passer, Sheri Dietrich, Mark Passer, Derek Passer, Andy Epstein, Laurie Epstein, David Epstein, Kim Kahn, and Kathy Kagan; and five great-grandchildren.

Memorials to Beth El Synagogue.

HOWARD RUBACK Howard Ruback, a past president of Beth El Synagogue, died at the age of 79. Services were held May 13 at Beth El, followed by interment at Beth El Cemetery.

He had a 50 year career in the grocery business including owning Food City, Ruback’s Supermarkets, and World of Foods. He was a past president of Beth El, chairman of the Federation’s Budget and Allocations Committee for three years and served as a member of the Federation Board of Directors. He also was a lifetime member of the Nebraska Kennel Club.

Probably his proudest achievement, however, was his involvement in Beth El’s building committee. While still in high school, Ruback would sneak out of school in order to work the sound systems in the Orpheum Theatre. As a young man, he owned his own sound equipment company and worked for a national company.

Former Beth El rabbi, Rabbi Paul Drazen, who hired

by Ruback, said, “Howard was responsible for a decade of plans for the new synagogue. He was a personal friend of mine and I considered him to be part of my family.

He was always at services, concerts and special events to run the sound system.”

Ruback also served on the boards of United Talmud Torah of Omaha, the Esther K. Newman Grants Committee, and Friedel Jewish Academy.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Faye; daughters and sons-in-law, Shari and Bob Eades, Nancy and Terry Wiseman, and Cindy Ruback and Mark Lowen; and son, Randy Ruback; sister and brother-in-law, Barbara and Marshall Kushner; grandchildren, Cari and Gustavo Torres, Brian and Leslie Eades, Debra and Steve Skiles, Bari Wiseman, Mallory Wiseman, and Joshua Lowen; and five great-grandchildren.

Memorials to Beth El or the American Diabetes Association.

PAUL (PEP) BOGDANOFF Former Omahan Paul (Pep) Bogdanoff died on May 2 at the age of 92 in California, his home since 1954.

He was a World War II Veteran and was awarded a Purple Heart.

He is survived by his wife, Ida; children, Barbara and Steven; grandchildren, Adrian and Rachel; and sister, Eva Ferer.

WILLIAM LOHRMAN William “Bill Lohrman died May 11 at the age of 93.

Services were held May 15 at Temple Israel Cemetery.

He is survived by his wife, Sarah Lohrman; sons and daughters-in-law, Robert and Sharon Lohrman, and John and Linda Lohrman of San Diego, CA; son, Jerry Lohrman; daughter, Joni Laguens of San Diego; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and sisters, Helen Soiref, Florence Braun of New Orleans, and Jean Hecht of Stamford, CT. Memorials to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

To Submit an Obituary Notice: Send full name, age, date of death, location of service and burial site, as well as other pertinent information to the Jewish Press via e-mail: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; fax, 402.334.5422; or mail, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68114. Obituaries--as well as engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies, and births--also can be submitted at the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s website. Just go to: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press and click on “Submit Announcements.” Guidelines are located on the Jewish Press home page.

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Beth Israel to hold annual meeting

by MARY BORT for Beth Israel Synagogue Beth Israel Synagogue will hold its Annual Meeting and Board Election on Sunday, May 20, 10 a.m. and all synagogue members are encouraged to attend.

During the meeting, President Shami Jacobs will give his “State of the Synagogue” report. Additionally, proposed revisions to the bylaws will be presented for a vote. Following the election of board members, the

board will meet in executive session to elect its officers.

“This is our important, end-of-the-year gathering where we set the stage for next year,” noted Executive Director Beth Cohen. “In previous years, this meeting has been well-attended; we anticipate the same this year.

RSVPs aren’t necessary for the Annual Meeting.”

Babysitting will be provided during the meeting, and a light breakfast will be served. For more information, please call the office at 556.6288.

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Page 28

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 18, 2007

New Beginning surpasses $13 million; First Open Forum adds more to $18 million goal

Paul Epstein: “Now you all have the opportunity to make history. We are most appreciative of your interest in the development of our Home. What we are doing here is truly a mitzvah for our families and our community.”

Joanie Jacobson: “If you live in Omaha you have a personal stake in the future of the Home. Maybe your parents live there -- or might live there. Maybe you or someone close to you will need to recover from an illness or injury there. Or maybe you -- or I -- might live there one day. Who knows? But don't worry. We could not be in better hands, and if we’re successful in creating a New Beginning for the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, you and I would just be moving to a new neighborhood.”

Sandy Epstein: “For me, stepping up is what it's all about.

For all of us. It’s about the people who have already given.

The people whose lives the Home touches now. The ones who know that it will touch them some day. Generation to generation stepping up to do what we do best ... help each other. Help our seniors who were so vital to the community we have inherited. We have also inherited the commandment to honor them. That means we all have to step up to the plate. This is the time to do it.”

Richard Jacobson: “Why am I involved? Why am I so passionate about this project? My mother lived at the Home for four-and-a-half years and I owe the Home a huge debt of gratitude. The wonderful way the staff treats the residents and their families is indescribable.

Now, with your help, we have the opportunity and the means to build a state of the art facility.”

More than 125 people attended the Blumkin Home’s first Open Forum last week for a “Virtual Tour” and an opportunity to make pledges. Photos from top left: RBJH nurse Darlene Golbitz shows plans to Annette Fettman, whose mother, Fannie Chunovic is a Blumkin resident; New Beginning Co-chairman Richard Jacobson and Howard Kooper, fundraising chairman, discuss the campaign; Blumkin resident Sara Lohrman and Dee Fox talk about changes to the Home; volunteer Nancy Rips leads Shabbat services at the Home; Campaign Co-chairmen Joanie Jacobson and Sandy Epstein; Campaign Co-chairmen Paul Epstein and Richard Jacobson, prepare for the presenation with JSS/RBJH Executive Director Mike Silverman.

The next Open Forum is Wednesday, May 30, 7-8 p.m., at the JCC.

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