May 19, 2006

Page 1

Vol. LXXXV No. 36 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 85 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

New Sokolof Funds Award $70,000 to Seven Recipients

A “Live from the 92nd St. Y” broadcast by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin last week served as the perfect backdrop for the presentation of the new Sokolof awards. Speaking about his new book, Code of Jewish Ethics, Telushkin noted that “Free will means we are responsible for our actions.” The actions of seven individuals were rewarded by the new fund as Karen Sokolof

Javitch and her son Mark presented $10,000 checks after the broadcast. Above, Javitch, right, announced that merit scholarship winners Dan Susman, left, also had been named Central High Student of the Year, and Abby Ginsburg was one of the winners of the Federation’s Teen Leadership award. More photos on page 2

21 Iyyar, 5766 May 19, 2006

Local Advocate to he Honored at NCCJ Humanitarian Dinner by AMY L. KRUEGER National Conference for Community and Justice The National Conference for Community and Justice of the Midlands (NCCJ) has announced that Dr. Magda Peck, Father Thomas M. Fangman, Jr. and Reverend L.C. Menyweather–Woods will each be honored with the Otto Swanson Spirit of Service Award. Rhonda and Howard Hawks and Gail and Michael Yanney will be recognized with Humanitarian Awards. Sharon and Dick C.E. Davis are Cco-chairing the Tuesday, May 30 event at the Holiday Inn Central in Omaha. In 1997, Dr. Peck was recognized by the Greater Omaha YWCA. In 1999, Dr. Peck was the recipient of the Whitney Young Award of the Urban League of Nebraska. She is a co-convener of Omaha’s Black Jewish Dialogue and serves on the national committee on Social Justice of the Union for Reform Judiasm. Dr. Magda Peck She has served on numerous local boards and committees, including Temple Israel, Girls Inc., the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, Planned Parenthood, the Governor’s Women’s Health Advisory Council. She recently participated in the Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C. For information and to purchase tickets to the dinner, please contact the NCCJ Midlands Regional office at 402.391.4460.

What Warren Buffett Saw In Israel Israel’s Economic Analysts Are Jubilant after Investor’s Groundbreaking $4 Billion Deal with Western Galilee Machine Tool Maker by JOSHUA MITNICK Israeli Correspondent First printed in the New York Jewish Week Tel Aviv--Arriving back home in Israel after securing one of the largest foreign investments in the history of the Jewish state, Iscar Co. Chairman Eitan Wertheimer flashed a palm full of business cards with one from Microsoft at the top. “We’ve been in a lot of talks with Bill Gates,” Wertheimer told Israel’s Channel 2 television news, half bragging and half joking. Wertheimer wasn’t the only one with a little extra hubris this week, after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway agreed to pay $4 billion in cash for 80 percent control of Iscar, a multinational machine tool maker with its headquarters in the northern Israel town of Tefen. Without ever visiting Iscar or Israel, the world’s second richest man has made an extraordinary wager on the Galilee manufacturer and the entire Israeli economy. The endorsement by Buffett, the Omaha businessman known for his prescient and conservative investment record, was better PR for Israel than any government ministry ad campaign. “Israel’s second independence day,” breathless commentators declared last Saturday night at news of the deal, quoting executives from Iscar. Then came “the Buffett Effect.” Flush with visions of a wave of businessmen who would follow the Berkshire Hathaway cue, euphoric investors on the Tel Aviv Stock Ex-change lifted the Israeli

Inside Opinion Page see page 12

Iscar Chairman Eitan Wertheimer, left, is elated as Warren Buffett announces the purchase of his Israeli company at the Berkshire meeting in Omaha. AP Photo/Nati Harnik market 2.7 percent to a record high and Palestinians is nowhere on the horizon the shekel strengthened to an 11-month and Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise. high against the dollar. Wertheimer said that he had received a Then on May 9, Buffett bought a sec- “clear mandate” from Buffett to continue ond Israeli company, a 60 percent interest expanding Iscar’s business “as fast and as in Agrologic, which designs and manu- high as we can,” which will mean expanfacturers systems for agricultural use. No sion of the company’s operations in Israel price was disclosed. and abroad. Economic analysts could find little “Israel produces good startups,” downside to the acquisition of Iscar by Wertheimer told The Jewish Week. “This is Buffett, who came to Israel for his first recognition that regular industries in major investment outside the U.S. Here Israel as well can be successful and part of was proof of Israel’s stability and resilience the global world.” Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in even though a peace treaty with the

This Week: Friedel’s 40th Brings a Look at its Past: page 6 See Front Page Stories at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’

Operation Promise’s Life Without Hesed: Page 3

Iscar was also confirmation that the Israeli economy of 2006 is radically different from the financial crisis and rampant inflation 1980s. It’s a monumental statement of confidence in the Israeli economy and its stability. Warren Buffett is as cautious an investor as there is,” said Len Rosen, Lehman Brothers’ country head for Israel. “I think that investors have become far, far less skittish in recent years, and … with respect to the safety of your investment in Israel,” this is further evidence. And yet, Wertheimer acknowledged that Iscar’s profile as an Israeli company was one of several limiting factors that prompted him to look for a partner like Buffett. “We wanted to be part of a bigger story. In each industry there are certain limitations and certain glass ceilings,” he said. “In each field, geography can play a role…When we arrive to a client in North Dakota, we’ll have fewer issues of explaining where Iscar is from.” To be sure, Buffett is by no means the first high-profile foreign investor to discover Israel. Intel, Motorola and IBM have each built a significant presence in Israel over the decades. And billions of dollars in foreign money rolled into Israeli technology firms during the Internet bubble. But Buffett’s investment stands apart from those deals in that he bought a mature company with deep roots in Israel, which operates in the relatively un-exotic industry of cutting machine tools. Continued on page 2

Coming Next Week: Senior Living Issue

Recipes for Shavuot, a New Twist on Dairy Foods: Pages 10-11

B’nai B’rith Wraps Up Another Successful Banquet: Page 16


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May 19, 2006 by Jewish Press - Issuu