May 21, 2010

Vol. LXXXIX No. 35 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 89 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

Kripke’s Bed and Breakfast welcomes guests with open arms admissions process. It can be scary. So I envision my

by OZZIE NOGG Travelers know that bed-and-breakfasts offer hospital- office as a very welcoming, comfortable place. A space to ity in a home-like setting. take a deep breath and And most would agree that reflect for a moment. The personal service plus a warm, decor, the furnishings, the friendly atmosphere conJudaic accessories and books tribute to a B&B’s charm.

-- including work by both Enter the Kripke’s Bed Dorothy and Rabbi Kripke and Breakfast, located on - exemplify the non-instituMain Street at the Rose tional environment we’ve Blumkin Jewish Home. The created throughout the space -- a gift from Rabbi entire Home. Just sitting in Myer S. Kripke and his late the Kripke’s B&B with the wife, Dorothy -- is actually family and taking time to the office of Shane Kotok, answer their questions goes RBJH’s director of a long way toward making Admissions and Community this life-changing move feel Outreach. And since Kotok right for everyone is often the first person to involved.” meet with families of When describing Kotok, prospective Blumkin Home Rabbi Kripke said, “Shane residents, it’s fitting that she has a great sense of Jewish greet them in an office that warmth. She makes families resembles the cozy parlor in feel comfortable at once. a B&B. People are always apprehen“The need to move a par- Rabbi Myer S. Kripke in his room at the Blumkin Home, sur- sive when they come here to ent or spouse to a nursing rounded by his library. Among the works are Insight and a nursing home, but Shane home can be an emotional, Interpretation -- his reflections on the weekly sidrah -- and puts them at ease immedidifficult decision,” Kotok Let’s Talk About Right and Wrong and Raconte-moi Dieu, the ately.” Using biblical text as said, “so we do our best to French translation of Let’s Talk About God, by Rabbi Kripke’s a reference, Rabbi Kripke take the stress out of the late wife, Dorothy. went on to say, “With process. My office is often the first stop a family makes, Shane, I think of Abraham in the wilderness. When and they don’t always know what to expect from the Continued on page 3

8 Sivan 5770

May 21, 2010

HHEF and Creighton host tribute event for Louis Blumkin

by MARY BORT Heartland Holocaust Educational Fund On May 5, the Heartland Holocaust Educational Fund and Creighton University held a recognition dinner to honor Louis Blumkin. The Holocaust courses at Creighton, which are financed by the HHEF each year, were named the “Louis Blumkin Holocaust Series.”

Susie and Ron Blumkin flank Father John Schlegel at the tribute dinner for Louis Blumkin.

Unfortunately, Louie was unable to attend the dinner; his wife, Frances, accepted the plaque on his behalf.

HHEF founder and Auschwitz survivor, Sam Fried, and president of Creighton, Father John P. Schlegel, S.J., both spoke and presented the plaque to Frances.

Dr. Robert Lueger, Dean of Creighton’s College of Arts and Sciences, provided the opening and closing Continued on page 4

Supreme Court nominee Kagan seen as both brilliant and affable

by RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Rabbi David Saperstein runs through a shopping list of superlatives on Elena Kagan -- “self-evidently brilliant” and “steady, strategic and tactical” -- before acknowledging that he doesn’t have much of a handle on what President Obama’s choice to fill a U.S. Supreme Court seat actually believes.

In the Jewish community Saperstein, the head of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, apparently is not alone.

Community reaction to Obama’s selection of Kagan, the U.S. solicitor general, is enthusiastic until officials consider what it is, exactly, she stands for.

Kagan, 50, has never been a judge -- she would be the first Supreme Court justice without bench experience since 1974. It’s a biography the White House touts as refreshing, but also has the convenience of lacking a paper trail of opinions that could embarrass a nominee in Senate hearings.

“When someone’s a solicitor general, it is really difficult to know what is their own position and what is the position of the state they are charged to represent,” Saperstein said.

A similar murkiness haunts how Kagan handles her Jewishness -- she has alluded to it, but has not explicitly stated it since her nomination.

Her interlocutors in the Jewish community say Kagan is Jewish savvy, but they are hard pressed to come up with her own beliefs.

The White House strategy going into Senate hearings appears to be to blame whatever controversy trails her on her employer, on her client -- on anyone but Kagan herself.

The first such controversy to emerge since Obama announced the nomination Monday was Kagan’s

Inside Op-Ed Page: see Page 12

defense, as dean of Harvard University’s Law School, of the campus practice of banning military recruitment through the main career office (veterans were allowed to recruit independently) because of the military’s discriminatory hiring policies on gays.

President Barack Obama, shown here with Solicitor General Elena Kagan, during a meeting last month in the Oval Office.

Credit: Official White House Photo, Pete Souza Kagan inherited the policy when she became dean in 2003, but she was not shy about agreeing with it. When the Bush administration in 2004 threatened to withdraw funding, she rescinded the ban, but wrote to the student body, according to the authoritative SCOTUS blog, of “how much I regret making this exception to our antidiscrimination policy. I believe the military’s discriminatory employment policy is deeply wrong -- both unwise and unjust. And this wrong tears at the fabric of our own community by denying an opportunity to some of our students that other of our students have.”

Such stirring defenses are absent from White House

Next Week: Senior Living See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press’

materials that have emerged on the matter. Instead, the Obama administration is distributing an op-ed that appeared Tuesday in the conservative Wall Street Journal by her predecessor at Harvard Law, Robert Clark.

“As dean, Ms. Kagan basically followed a strategy toward military recruiting that was already in place,” Clark wrote, not mentioning her stated ideological investment in the matter.

Another debate pertains more closely to an issue that divides the Jewish community: federal funding for faithbased initiatives.

Kagan clerked for Thurgood Marshall in the late 1980s, and in a memorandum to the Supreme Court justice, she said there was no place for such funding.

In her Senate hearings last year for the solicitor general post, Kagan outright repudiated the position she had forcefully advanced in 1987.

It was “the dumbest thing I ever read,” she said. “I was a 27-year-old pipsqueak and I was working for an 80year-old giant in the law and a person who -- let us be frank -- had very strong jurisprudential and legal views.”

Her defense was convenient -- Marshall, of course, is long dead and unable to defend himself -- and troubling to Saperstein, whose group joins the majority of Jewish organizations in opposing such funding.

“People aren’t quite sure what to make of that,” he said.

The Orthodox Union’s Washington director, Nathan Diament, on the other hand, knows just what to make of it -- hay.

“As strong proponents of the ‘faith-based initiative,’ and appropriate government support for the work of religious organizations, we at the Orthodox Union find Ms. Kagan’s review and revision of her views encouraging,” he wrote on his blog Tuesday.

Continued on page 2

Coming Next Month: Salute to Graduates/Father’s Day Founder of JDub Records speaks at teen philanthropy event Page 7

New coalition government leaves British Jews uncertain on policy Page 11

B’nai B’rith Banquet welcomes NBA legend Abdul-Jabbar Page 16

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 21, 2010

Jackson Home Appliance “OMAHA’S MOST TRUSTED NAME IN APPLIANCE REPAIR” NOW BRINGS THAT SAME ATTENTION TO HEATING & COOLING

Jackson Heating & Cooling FEATURES CARRIER HOME HEATING & COOLING PRODUCTS CALL TODAY FOR YOUR FREE QUOTE FROM ONE OF OUR HVAC SPECIALISTS ON A NEW FURNACE, AIR CONDITIONER OR HEAT PUMP 8827 Maple Street Omaha, NE 68134

391-4287 Carrier Factory Authorized Nate Certified Technicians

It’s a Family Affair

Swanson Towers Omaha’s finest lifestyle experience featuring 24 hour full-service staff, tennis court, pool, large party room, and underground heated parking.

We are offering three spectacular Condos.

Alan Cohen

$199,000 HUGE REDUCTION! 2 Bedroom/2 Bath 1868 sqft. Penthouse level w/south & west views $275,000 2 Bedooom/2 Bath 1833 sqft.

Total remodel, all new décor w/granite, stainless $349,900 3 Bedroom/3 Bath 2706 sqft.

Penthouse Level views to the South & West

Anne Cohen

Marty Cohen

677-2524 850-4161 690-1591

TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR FUTURE. Create and implement a strategy designed to help you achieve your long-term financial goals.

Do something positive for yourself. Call today for a no-cost, no-obligation portfolio review. Together we can create the strategy that’s right for you based on your current situation, objectives and risk tolerance.

Mike Sigmond, AAMS® Financial Advisor .

1830 N 144th St Omaha, NE 68154 402-498-6401

www.edwardjones.com

Member SIPC

Film captures Holocaust survivors’ humor, zest for life

by ILANA WEISS Institute for Holocaust Education The Institute for Holocaust Education is pleased to present a screening of the film “Four Seasons Lodge,” on Sunday, June 13 at 3 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center theater. IHE is a local organization which focuses on the development and dissemination of educational resources and programs to teach the lessons of the Holocaust and their applications to life and society today, From the darkness of Hitler’s Europe to the lush mountains of New York’s Catskills, “Four Seasons Lodge” follows a community of Holocaust survivors who come together each summer at their beloved bungalow colony to dance, cook, fight, flirt -- and celebrate their survival. Beautifully photographed by a team of cinematographers led by Albert Maysles (“Gimme Shelter,” “Grey Gardens”) and Justin Schein (“No Impact Man”), this unexpectedly funny film confronts sobering topics like aging, loss and the legacy of the Holocaust, capturing the lodgers’ intoxicating passion for life as the fate of their colony hangs in the balance.

In an inspiring and startling documentary, a remarkable tribe whose members are fast disappearing come together for one final summer in the Catskill Mountains -- they’re Holocaust survivors with a captivating joie de vivre and a bracing sense of humor. “Four Seasons Lodge” is a counterintuitive film tied to the Holocaust, one that captures the lodgers’ intoxicating passion for

living, in bracing contrast to lives harrowed by loss. The documentary is about tightly-bonded friendships and the quest for peace in spite of haunting memories, as experienced through compelling people and the richness of their intensely close lives.

“It is the story of Holocaust survivors who refuse to be victims, who chase after life with intoxicating zeal, and who have learned that there is no difference between friendship and family,” states the film’s director, New York Times’ writer, Andrew Jacobs. “In the end, the film is also a last glimpse of a vanishing world and an inspiring testament to the men and women who survived Hitler’s murderous Final Solution.”

This vivid, inspiring, and funny portrait reveals the survivors’ indomitable spirit. “This is our revenge,” one camper explains. “To live this long, this well, is a victory.”

“I am always impressed with the ability of the IHE to educate, entertain and inspire,” stated Institute for Holocaust Education Governance Council member Jill Sideris. “The presentation of “Four Seasons Lodge” will definitely be a meaningful and enjoyable event for all who attend. Like so many other IHE programs, this screening will bring our community together, and also provide an avenue to learn about the Holocaust for those who may not have other opportunities to do so.”

Tickets for the screening, including a light reception, are $5. RSVP by calling 334.6576 or emailing holocaust@ jewishomaha.org. To make reservations online or to watch the film’s trailer, visit www.ihene.org.

Supreme Court nominee Kagan seen as brilliant, affable Continued from page 1 Saperstein noted that the Religious Action Center -along with other Jewish civil liberties groups, like the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee -- is preparing questions for Kagan to be submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee. RAC is soliciting questions from the public as well at a web site, AskElenaKagan.com.

These groups have welcomed the nomination; the National Council of Jewish Women has endorsed Obama’s choice to replace John Paul Stevens, who is retiring at the age of 90, after serving the Supreme Court for 35 years.

NCJW President Nancy Ratzan cited Kagan’s affirmation during her solicitor general confirmation hearings of Roe v. Wade as established law protecting a woman’s right to an abortion, and her defense of federal campaign funding restrictions as solicitor general before the Supreme Court -- a case the government lost.

“She gave us clarity as a champion for civil rights,” Ratzan said of Kagan. “We think she’s going to be a stellar justice.”

Other groups say that whatever she argued as solicitor general -- or whatever she said in seeking the job representing the U.S. government before the high court -might be seen more as reflecting the will of her boss, Obama, and is not necessarily a sign of how she would function as one of the nine most unfettered deciders in the land.

“There’s a lot we have to learn,” said Richard Foltin, the AJC’s director of national and legislative affairs, even after 15 years of interacting with Kagan dating to her days as a Clinton White House counsel on domestic policy.

Foltin and others who have dealt with Kagan say she is affable and easy to get along with, simultaneously selfdeprecating and brimming with confidence. She accepts with equanimity the nickname “Shorty” that Marshall conferred upon her, and charmed her Senate interlocutors at her solicitor general confirmation hearings when she said that her strengths include “the communications skills that have made me -- I’m just going to say it -- a famously excellent teacher.”

In addition to his interactions with Kagan during her Clinton years, Foltin -- a Harvard Law alumnus -- was impressed as well by her ability as dean of the school to bring conservatives and liberals together.

“This is an incredibly smart attorney who is able to reach out to people, take in diverse perspectives and bring people together,” he said.

Obama cited Kagan’s outreach in announcing her nomination.

“At a time when many believed that the Harvard faculty had gotten a little one-sided in its viewpoint, she sought to recruit prominent conservative scholars and spur a healthy debate on campus,” he said.

Saperstein, who also recalls Kagan from her Clinton White House days, says she brings the same deep understanding of all sides of a debate to the Jewish community.

“She was quite aware of where there were differences -- aid to education, government funding of religious institutions,” he said.

Kagan, whose nomination is believed to be secure -Republicans have said they are not likely to filibuster over it -- would bring the number of Jews and women on the highest bench in the United States to three.

That’s unprecedented in both cases. She would join Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer as Jewish justices. Sonia Sotomayor, like Kagan a native New Yorker, is the third female justice.

Stephen Pease, whose book The Golden Age of Jewish Achievement chronicles disproportionate Jewish representation in the law, in academe and the arts, said a third Jewish justice was not remarkable. Kagan would be seen as getting the job on her merits: clerking to two famous judges, teaching at the University of Chicago, advising the Clinton White House, heading Harvard Law, and then as the administration’s second most important lawyer, all by the age of 50.

“She’s done some pretty incredible stuff fairly quickly in her career,” Pease said.

Despite Kagan’s familiarity with the Jewish community, there are few clues as to her Jewish preferences. Her late father was on the board of West End Synagogue, a Reconstructionist shul in Manhattan, where she grew up on the Upper West Side. She had a bat mitzvah at the synagogue and, according to a New York Times profile, argued with the rabbi -- over what it’s not clear.

Like Obama, she is close to Abner Mikva, a former federal judge and a law professor at the University of Chicago. It’s not clear, however, whether she shared Mikva’s deep involvement in the Jewish community.

During her years as a lecturer at the University of Chicago, from 1991 to 1995, she was not involved with the local federation.

The White House did not shy away from Kagan’s Jewishness in making the announcement, nor did it make her faith explicit. Invitees to the announcement included the usual array of representatives from Washington offices of national Jewish groups: the AJC, ADL, NCJW and RAC, along with the National Jewish Democratic Council and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

Both Kagan and Obama noted that her late parents were the “children of immigrants.”

“Elena is the granddaughter of immigrants whose mother was, for 20 years, a beloved public schoolteacher -- as are her two brothers, who are here today,” Obama said.

Kagan added that “My parents’ lives and their memory remind me every day of the impact public service can have, and I pray every day that I live up to the example they set.”

May 21, 2010

Kripke’s Bed and Breakfast welcomes guests Continued from page 1 three angels, disguised as strangers, came by Abraham’s tent, he invited them in, washed their feet and offered them food. The strangers turned out to be angels. Of course, all the preparations for the

Rabbi Kripke with Shane Kotok, RBJH Director of Admissions and Community Outreach, who said, “Since Rabbi Kripke has been at the Blumkin Home, we’ve become good friends. I’m honored by the relationship we’ve developed.” angelic guests were made by Abraham’s wife, Sarah.

And since Shane’s Hebrew name is Hannah Sarah, it’s no coincidence that she personifies the hospitality one finds at the Blumkin Home.”

Rabbi Kripke, now 96, has been a Blumkin Home resident for 10 years. “This is a splendid place,” he said. “Mike Silverman has a talent for picking good people. People who are very nice, indeed. I’ve never heard a rough word between staff and resident or between staff and staff, all of whom are able, talented and considerate, and that is not flattery.” When asked for his take on the Kripke’s B&B -- and the total look of Main Street -- Rabbi echoed Genesis. “It is very good,” he said.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

Jewish federations ask young Jewish adults, “What’s your ‘ish?’”

strategic marketing, Adam Smolyar, said. “We want to

by JACOB BERKMAN NEW YORK (JTA) -- The Jewish Federations of interest and intrigue them in the federation, but it has to North America wants to know “what’s your ‘ish?’ -- as be done in their language.” in, what makes you Jewish?

The campaign is the latest effort to reach a segment of The Jewish federation system will launch a significant the Jewish population that is considered insufficiently advertising and marketing campaign next week aimed at aware of or engaged in Jewish federations. According to young Jews that asks them to a marketing study the JFNA use social networking tools conducted last year, only 29 to share what makes their percent of an estimated 1.2 inner Jew tick. million Jews between 19 and The idea is for the young 36 even know what a Jewish Jews, aged 19 to 36, to federation is. express themselves Jewishly “This campaign will not via Twitter, Facebook or solve all of our problems, but YouTube -- and to raise their it is very targeted,” Smolyar awareness about Jewish fedsaid. “We know we have erations. Participants who problems with focus and submit an ‘ish’ can designate know we need to have more one of several charitable eyeballs on the federation. causes to which 25 cents of a The idea is that when they $50,000 Jewish Federation As part of a campaign launched by the Jewish Federations of are interested in giving to fund will go. The Jewish fed- North America, comedy twins Randy and Jason Sklar talk Jewish causes, we are on erations hope that at least about their ‘ish’ -- as in, what makes them Jewish. their eyeball.”

Credit: JFNA By asking users to tag their 200,000 people tender submissions, allowing the organization to give away the contributions with the mark #ish, the JFNA plans to use entire $50,000. a combination of automated technology and human In one submission, comedians Randy and Jason Sklar project managers to post all submissions -- be they 140made a two-minute video describing why former New character tweets or five-minute videos -- on the website York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s prostitute scandal made them www.whatsyourish.com. feel Jewish.

The site is live now, but will be promoted with an “When the scandal hit, non-Jews were like, ‘Ugh, his online ad campaign on Jewish sites geared toward poor wife, he’s probably going to lose his job. There’s younger Jews, such as like Jewcy.com and bad news there,” the two, who have appeared on such Heebmagazine.com, as well as on larger sites such as TV shows as “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and The New York Times.

Some early contributions on Twitter: “Craving a “Entourage,” say on the video. “But Jews -- Jews were like, ‘This is bad for Jews everywhere. This is bad for the kn#ish,” “Gentiles envy my beard” and “I’m single because my mother still hasn’t met anyone she likes yet.”

State of Israel. This is bad for Rod Carew.’”

Barring an instance where a submission is racist or That’s right, the JFNA is pitching a video which uses offensive, the JFNA intends to allow any type of contrithe word “hooker.”

“We didn’t anticipate them going there, but that bution. brings authenticity,” the organization’s vice president for Continued on page 5

Thanks to You the Dream Came True The June 25, 2010 issue of the Jewish Press will feature a special pull-out keepsake section celebrating the new Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. The completion of construction marks an exciting accomplishment for our entire community, and we invite you to place a personal congratulatory note in the special section.

Just select one of the three ad sizes pictured on the right, and fill out the form shown below with the names you want listed in the ad. Feel free to include a message, but please limit it to 10 words. Deadline for inclusion in this special section is June 4, 2010. Thank you.

A

$52

Questions? Call Allan Handleman at 402.334.6451.

B

$65 Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Congratulation Order Form _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Name __________________________________________ Address ____________________________________ City, State and Zip __________________________________________________ Phone ______________________ Please check appropriate size. ___ A ___ B ___ C Check enclosed for $ _________

Send check to The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 by June 4.

C

$78

Page 4

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 21, 2010

Summer is ‘in the bag’ at the Kripke Library

by SHERRIE SAAG Center for Jewish Education The Kripke Jewish Federation Library Summer Reading Program begins its fifth year this summer with a new format, new children’s literature, and better prizes! Starting June 1 and continuing through August 13, children in kindergarten through sixth grade can read their way to fantastic prizes at the Kripke Library.

This summer, Gary Katz, library administrator, along with library staff, has lined up a summer’s worth of reading fun – and it’s all in the bag. “We have organized this summer’s material into fun, colorful beach bags that kids will just love to take home,� Katz said.

There are 10 bags in all; each has a different theme organized by age group and subject matter, so kids can choose their interest. Five of the bags are geared toward younger readers, ages three to eight, and five bags are for young adult readers, ages nine and up. Inside the reading bags are three books selected by the library staff, plus a toy or a craft.

Each bag’s specific theme was chosen from favorite authors or themes in the library. For the younger set, there is Noah’s Ark, Sammy Spider, Animals, Mitzvahs and Grandparents. The older readers will choose among American Girl, mysteries, sports, Houdini and Women in History. “We can’t wait for the children to check out summer reading bags. Each one has great books and other fun things inside for the kids to enjoy while reading.� said Katz.

Young readers in kindergarten through third grade (Juvenile) will receive prizes for numbers of books read, with rewards for every 10 books. Children in grades four through six (Young Adult) will log their reading time, winning rewards for every four hours spent reading.

It’s no mystery that the library is a cool place to discover great summer reading. Children are encouraged to read anything they want from the Kripke Library, so they can develop their own interests and a love of reading.

For more information, contact Gary Katz or Sherrie Saag at 334.6462 or e-mail gkatz@jewishomaha.org or ssaag@jewishomaha.org.

The Summer Reading Program is presented by the Center for Jewish Education, and generously supported

by Marty and Iris Ricks.

HOLIDAY CLOSING The Jewish Press will be closed Monday, May 31 for Memorial Day. Questions? Call 402.334.6448.

HHEF and Creighton University honor Blumkin Continued from page 1 ognize your achievements by dedicating the ‘Louis remarks during the program.

Blumkin Holocaust Series’ at Creighton, so that all may The son of Isadore and Rose Blumkin, Louie was born know of you and what you did for us.� in Omaha in 1919. What many may not know about Blumkin family members attending the recognition him is that he gave up an opportunity to compete as a dinner included sons Ron and Irv. Speaking on behalf diver at the collegiate level, and perhaps the Olympics, of the family, Ron thanked Creighton and HHEF for to join the U.S. Army. “He was an All-American diver,� honoring his father. He also told the story of how, some explained Frances. “He had a scholarship to attend 20 years ago, his father once showed him a photograph Washington University, but made the decision to serve that he kept in his wallet. “It wasn’t a photo of my his country.� mother or my brothers or other While he has always prefamily members,� recounted ferred to give credit for success Ron. “Instead, the one photo to others, Louie is known as he carried in his wallet was of a the man behind the phenomeconcentration camp he helped nal growth and success of the liberate during World War II. Nebraska Furniture Mart.

He said he carried it to ‘never After returning home from forget.’�

WWII, he, along with his Louie has been a longtime supmother, Mrs. B., developed porter of Creighton athletics the Nebraska Furniture Mart and is a member of the to become the nation’s largest Creighton Society.

While furniture store at a single locaHHEF partners with other coltion. Louie and his mother Sam Fried, left, Fran Blumkin, and Father John P. leges and universities in order to were inducted into the U.S. Schlegel, chatted following the tribute dinner. ensure that Holocaust education furniture industry’s Hall of Fame. Warren Buffett is provided at the college level, it seemed most fitting to bought majority interest in the store in 1983. Today, select the Holocaust courses at Creighton for Louie’s Louie is the Nebraska Furniture Mart’s chief policy offi- recognition. cer and board chairman emeritus, while two of his sons, “Creighton was good to Jewish students, early on,�

Ron and Irv, operate the store. noted Frances. “For example, many Jewish lawyers gradLouie served in the Army from 1939 to 1945, helped uated from Creighton, and we don’t forget that. And liberate prisoners from the concentration camps, and we’re dear friends with Father Schlegel. So, it was wonwas awarded a Purple Heart. “There are no words to derful for Louie to receive this recognition. It’s really express my gratitude to Louis Blumkin, who witnessed, quite an honor for him.� firsthand, the atrocities of Hitler’s Third Reich,� said Father Schlegel spoke of Louie’s support of higher Fried, during the program following the dinner. “He education and the honorary doctorate Creighton was among those who mercifully liberated living skele- bestowed on him. He also expressed his gratitude to the tons from Nazi slave labor and death camps.�

Blumkin family for supporting Creighton and the comAfter the war, Louie and Frances helped Holocaust munity. survivors make new lives in Omaha. “Louis Blumkin not Dr. Lueger also thanked the family for their contribuonly participated in saving our lives; he also made it pos- tions to Creighton. In addition, he spoke of the imporsible for survivors who moved to Omaha to partake in tance of Creighton offering Holocaust education. the American dream,� Fried said. “The highest level of Louie is a benefactor of many organizations, including tzedakah is when one helps the other person help him- the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, Henry Doorly Zoo, self, as is the case when he helps him find a job. Louis Gene Mahoney State Park and the Ronald McDonald Blumkin has provided employment and a place where House. Through the Blumkin Foundation, he has finansurvivors of the Holocaust could rebuild their lives, cially supported several Jewish and fine arts organizations. learn a new language, and raise a family.

Louie and Frances have been married for 64 years; “I am very appreciative for having had the opportuni- their family includes sons Ron, Irv and Steve and their ty to settle in Omaha,� he continued. “Here I found the wives, plus eight grandchildren and four great-grandbridge that spanned the dissolution of my faith in children. humanity to a renewed sense of me as a free human In addition to financing Holocaust education courses being, where I could rebuild my life. at the college level, HHEF also supports the Nebraska “We honor you, Louis, for your contributions as a lib- Holocaust Memorial at Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln. To erator as well as a supporter of those who survived the learn more about HHEF, call 334.6459 or email Holocaust and came to Omaha,� stated Fried. “We rec- mbort@holocausteducationfund.org.

The Class of 2010 has earned more than $3.7 million in scholarships and been accepted to the following colleges and universities:

.ORTH (APPY (OLLOW "LVD s /MAHA .%

brownell.edu Contact Julie Adams, Director of Admissions, at 556-3772 or juadams@brownell.edu for information.

The University of Alabama, American University, Arizona State University, Boston College, Boston University, Brown University, University of California at Irvine, University of California at Riverside, University of California at San Diego, Cedarville University, University of Chicago, Creighton University, Davidson College, University of Denver, Doane College, Drake University, Duke University, Emory University, The George Washington University, Georgetown University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Southern University,University of Georgia,Grinnell College,GustavusAdolphus College, Hampton University, Hastings College, Howard University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Iowa State University, University of Kansas, The King’s College, Lake Forest College, Loyola Marymount University, Loyola University Chicago, Loyola University New Orleans, Marquette University, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, University of Missouri Columbia, University of Missouri, Kansas City, University of Nebraska at Kearney, University of Nebraska at Lincoln (4), University of Nebraska at Omaha, Nebraska Wesleyan University, New York University, Northwestern University, Old Dominion University, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg, Pepperdine University, Pomona College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rockhurst University, Saint Louis University, Sarah Lawrence College, University of Southern California, Southern Methodist University, Spelman College, St. Olaf College, Syracuse University, Tabor College, Texas Christian University, Vanderbilt University, Vassar College, Washington University in St. Louis (2), Wayne State College, Wheaton College, College of William and Mary, Xavier University of Louisiana Indicates a school selected for enrollment.

PREPARE TO BE...

exhilarated at our New Location!

Art • Lamps Furniture • Accessories One Week Custom Framing

Knitting • Needlepoint Quilting • Weaving

8600 Cass Street • 391-7733 M-F 9-6 • Sat 9-3

May 21, 2010

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 5

Temple’s Hermene Zweiback Center going “beautifully” after 10 years

provide more planned giving resources to

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator our congregants and to create conversaSetting up a fund in an area of particu- tions that will result in new funds which lar interest to you “is a huge opportunity will ensure that donors’ wishes continue to make a significant difference in an area far into the future.” of Judaism that is appealing to you,” Zweiback suggested setting up endowemphasizes Speedy Zweiback, a member ments to perpetuate congregants’ interof Temple Israel since 1971. ests or donating a yearly That’s what he did. After amount. Four or five areas marrying Hermene Davis in could be created, he said.

Wichita, Kansas, in 1963, Frequently conferring with and moving to Omaha in Temple Executive Director 1971, they became members Dennis DePorte about the of Temple and raised their Lifelong Learning Center, three children within the Zweiback remarked, “Workcongregational community. ing with Dennis is great. The Speedy, a retired surgeon, model we’ve stumbled into was raised in an Orthodox is the best” for me, congregation in Omaha. But Zweiback acknowledged. It Speedy Zweiback Hermene wanted to join a gives him “some control” Reform Temple. “She got involved in all which he appreciates. His wife, Debbi, the activities and was always at the “has been a great supporter of both the Temple doing something. She was presi- Temple and the fund,” added Speedy. dent of Sisterhood and was on the Board When he dies, Zweiback has arranged for of Temple. And she became quite good a philanthropic foundation, administered friends with (Rabbi) Aryeh (Azriel). Both by his survivors, to be established to perSpeedy and Hermene, who was in the petuate the Hermene Zweiback Center. first adult B’nai Mitzvah class at Temple, “Years from now,” commented Rabbi got involved on the first adult education Azriel, “when the time will come again to committee at the synagogue. write the story of Temple Israel, this genHermene, however, became “very sick” erous gift for lifelong learning will remain in 1996 and died in September 1999. one of the most important and innovative “We were talking about how much she contributions in Jewish philanthropy for loved adult education,” recalled Speedy. our Jewish community.”

“I wanted to honor her. I gave Temple a Zweiback is pleased with the way the relatively small amount of money to study adult education program at Temple has the idea.” been functioning since the establishment That’s how the Hermene Zweiback of the Lifelong Learning Center. “It’s Center for Lifelong Jewish Learning was gone beautifully,” he believes. “Once we born. Iris Ricks was the first program had a David Ellenson (president of director to implement the educational Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute opportunities provided by the Center 11 of Religion), one of my favorites, or a years ago. She was followed by Hermene Joseph Telushkin (a widely known spiriand Speedy’s daughter, Rosie Zweiback, tual leader, author, and lecturer), you and currently by Program Director attract others. It’s worked well for us.”

Wendy Goldberg.

Most of the speakers and scholars “give us “Find people who have an interest in a a lot of mileage.” Speedy’s also been specific area,” Speedy recommends. “In pleased with the chairs of the adult educamy case, it was adult education. It could be tion committee. “The committee has someone who has an interest in music or done a great job of picking good, camp or youth development.” Other areas thoughtful people. The classes and speakhe mentioned were the grounds commit- ers have been a great benefit to those tee and architecture. “There are so many members of the congregation who adore areas -- limited only by your imagination.” learning. I’d like to see that grow.”

Judy Josephson, leading a new develop“The pleasure that I’ve received has ment team “to promote current and provoked me to experience the same joy,” future support for a vibrant and secure he confided. “It’s been the high point of congregation,” said, “We will encourage my giving and includes all the elements of donors to be as generous as possible. We reaping pleasure.” want to take advantage of opportunities Others who are considering the creto talk to donors and give them the ation of a new fund at Temple Israel to opportunity to pass their gifts from one support a particular interest, can call generation to another. We’re anxious to DePorte at 556-6536.

Asking young Jewish adults, “What’s your ‘ish?’”

Continued from page 3 This is the third time over the past two years that the group has attempted a significant outreach effort using online social media. Its first attempt, which tried to engage people in an online color war of sorts through Facebook, did not get the hoped-for response.

But last fall the JFNA ran a highly successful campaign called Jewish Community Heroes, that asked participants to nominate and then vote for people making a difference in Jewish life. The campaign garnered 1.5 million views on Facebook and 570,000 votes, and captured 40,000 e-mail addresses. The winner received a cash prize.

That campaign was about putting the federation system on the map for young Jews, organizational officials said. The ‘ish’ campaign takes the idea a step further and starts to talk about what the fed-

eration system is.

“This campaign is more about the power of collective and giving,” said Vincent Mota, JFNA’s director of online giving.

The JFNA also is working with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, to promote the project and has enlisted Hillel interns on 50 college campuses to get college students to make submissions.

While whatsyourish.com has a feature that will help participants find their local federations, the campaign is more about teaching the message of the system, Smolyar said.

“Without being preachy, this is about letting them discover in their own way,” he said. “As they are learning a little bit about what we do and our mission, seeing the celebrities talk about it in their ways, they also get to experience diversity and needs in the community.”

Grow YOUR BUSINESS Advertise For advertising opportunities in the Jewish Press, call Allan Handleman at 402.334.6451 or email: ahandleman@jewishomaha.org

Memorial Day Service Monday, May 31 • 11 a.m.

Oak Hills/Bikhor Cholim Cemetery 1350 East Pierce Street, Council Bluffs, Iowa

Plots Available, Call Marty Ricks, 402/334-6440 Cemetery Manager John O’Connor, 670-8913 Bob Kully, President; Patty Nogg,V.P. ; Sheldon Gallner,V.P.; Sissy Silber, Secretary; Marty Ricks,Treasurer; Harold Bernstein, Beth Seldin Dotan, Mark Eveloff, Mike Gallner, Dave Goodman, John Goldner, Rick Katelman, Gail Krasne Kenkel, Lloyd Krasne, and Ted Seldin

The right choice for personalized assisted living in a comfortable, home-like environment • • • •

Social, recreational and cultural opportunities Restaurant style dining Transportation Wellness center, library and game room

168th & Blondo • 402-614-5222 HeritagePointeOmaha.com

Bar & Bat Mitzvahs Let Us Be Your Party Planning Coordinators Full-service Event Planning Packages Flexible and Adaptable to Your Needs 25 Years of Experience in Memorable Celebrations of Life Events Great Central Location Complimentary Local Area Shuttle Complimentary Custom Web Page For reservations or more information call 516-3617

10220 Regency Circle, Omaha, NE 68114-3766

Page 6

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 21, 2010

Jewish doctor in Ethiopia hailed in new book, film

motorcycles roadsters scooters ATVs

utility vehicles snowmobiles watercraft trailers

9004 S. 145th St. Omaha, NE 68138 (402) 333-0655 333-0414 fax www.leisurelifesports.com

8405 Indian Hills Drive For more photos and information see my website at tonirosen.cbshome.com

TONI ROSEN Multimillion Dollar Career Sales

334-7257 | 630-8664

Mercedes-Benz of Omaha Under New Management Please contact Ryan Knott, your Mercedes Sales Consultant 402.891.2612

Mercedes-Benz of Omaha 14335 Hillsdale Ave. (Just South of 144th & “L”)

LEWIS & CLARK LAKE (Near Crofton, NE & Yankton, SD) LAKE GET-AWAYS! So Many Choices - All Price Ranges!!!

See www.landlakecrofton.com

Sellers are motivated and choices are terrific at Lewis and Clark Lake.

Options include (5) Cabins under $200,000.00 with beach and boating nearby.

Impressive Lake Acreage with log sided home adjoining Corp Land.

HUNTING CABIN with abundant wildlife & privacy. LOG HOMES & Lake Lots.

See www.landlakecrofton.com or call (402) 388-4852 for added information!

“Tyler loves to visit his Grandpa Sam at Remington Heights!”

– Laurie E. Granddaughter of Sam E., a happy resident of Remington Heights

12606 W. Dodge Rd. Omaha, NE 68154 402.493.5807 remingtonheightsretirement.com

hospital room when Bewoket could barely breathe, had a

by URIEL HEILMAN NEW YORK (JTA) – For years, Dr. Rick Hodes has heart twice the normal size and was expected to live no been going about his life-saving work in Ethiopia with more than a couple of months, is now a healthy young man. Adissu, Bewoket’s brother, once a shoeless, illiterate little fanfare but with a loyal following.

From medical specialists scattered about the United boy from a tiny rural village, is now a college-bound States who offer free consults and sometimes free surger- 12th-grader at a Quaker boarding school in Ohio.

Today, more than 20 people live in Hodes’ three ies for his patients, to the volunteers who have done rounds with him at Mother Teresa’s mission for the homes in Addis Ababa. Hodes has formally adopted five dying and destitute in Addis Ababa, Hodes long has children, the legal limit in Ethiopia.

Hundreds more Ethiopians owe their lives to Hodes, been regarded as a lifesaver for otherwise hopeless, sick who spends much of his scant spare time e-mailing photochildren in one of the world’s poorest countries.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Hodes, who works for the graphs and data about his unusual patients to doctors American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, had his around the world in a bid to find the right specialists, treatwork thrust into the spotlight when CNN selected him ments and funding. He also manages the JDC’s clinics in as a finalist to be a CNN Hero. A year earlier, Hodes had the Ethiopian city of Gondar for thousands of would-be immigrants trying to reach been the subject of an Israel, and he has started a award-winning 2006 profile project to build schools and story by JTA. dig wells in rural Ethiopia.

Now the subject of a new Hodes ascribes to God the HBO film and book, Hodes tremendous good fortune he again finds himself in the had getting world-renowned limelight. With any luck, specialists to join in on his some very sick Ethiopians cases. with diseases like cancer, Now an observant Jew, rheumatic heart disease and Hodes tells the story about tuberculosis of the spine will how a chance encounter at a benefit.

Minneapolis-area synagogue Already, according to Hodes, donors in California Dr. Rick Hodes, shown here in March 2005, with a patient in -- Hodes had stopped in Credit: Uriel Heilman because he needed a place to and New Jersey have con- Ethiopia. tacted him about sponsoring surgery for a spinal patient put on tefillin and recite his morning prayers -- resulted -- at a cost of about $13,000 per person -- at the hospi- in a pair of lifesaving, free surgeries for patients with mastal in Ghana that Hodes uses, compared to about sive tumors other doctors had considered inoperable.

One of them, a Muslim patient named Merdya Abdisa, $250,000 for the surgery in the United States.

But Hodes is not letting the fuss about his work get to had an orange-sized tumor removed from her eye at a Catholic hospital in St. Paul by the Orthodox Jewish his head.

For one thing, he claims he hasn’t even read his biog- doctor Hodes met at the shul, Eric Nussbaum.

Nussbaum also operated on Dawit, who had a 7 1/2raphy, This Is a Soul: The Mission of Rick Hodes by Marilyn Berger (Harper Collins, $29.95), which was pound tumor growing out of his forehead. Today Dawit published in April. is free of the tumor and is back in Ethiopia getting “I can’t read anything about myself,” Hodes told JTA chemotherapy. during a recent interview. “Is it any good?”

“For those of us who put on tefillin, if you had said to The book chronicles the work and journey that Hodes, me that morning, ‘Rick, if you put on tefillin today an assimilated Jew from Long Island, took to arrive at his you’ll save the life of a Muslim patient,’ I’d have said you present station: doctor in Ethiopia, Orthodox Jew and were nuts,” Hodes told JTA. father to a gaggle of Ethiopian children whom he adoptBerger’s book on Hodes is filled with similar stories, ed when they were sick or neglected, nursed back to and it fills in the details about a doctor and Fulbright health, and gave a life of opportunities virtually scholar whose quest for fulfillment took him from medunknown in Ethiopia. ical school at the University of Rochester, in upstate The 25-minute documentary, “Making the Crooked New York, to volunteering at a clinic in India to Aish Straight,” by Susan Cohn Rockefeller, debuted last HaTorah Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and, finally, to Ethiopia month on HBO, and offers glimpses of this world on in 1990, on a six-week mission for the JDC. Two film. The documentary is given over entirely to Hodes’ decades on, he’s still there. voice.

For Hodes, the book and film are just two more One scene shows the Hodes household during a typical avenues that might help his patients get help. In an interShabbat dinner: Everyone, from the one-legged Muslim view ostensibly about the publicity surrounding his cancer patient who lives there and calls Hodes “Dad,” to work, Hodes quickly steers the conversation to his the Orthodox Christian sons he has formally adopted, patients -- and how little money it takes to save lives in joins hands to sing “If I had a Hammer” and talk about Ethiopia. what they were thankful for that week. Then Hodes “We have 300 cases of Hodgkin’s disease per year that pushes back his glasses, holds an ArtScroll siddur to his come to Addis. We can cure 80 percent of Hodgkin’s face and recites Kiddush. Shabbat dinner is the only coer- disease with ABVD, the same drugs you get at Sloancive religious ceremony in Hodes’ multifaith household. Kettering,” Hodes says of the renowned cancer hospital Hodes’ family is an unlikely assemblage. Aside from in New York City. “We just need the funding.”

Mohammed, whose chemotherapy after a leg amputation Hodes’ lobbying for patients never takes a break. for bone cancer began on Hodes’ front porch, there is “He has a very deep-rooted moral compass,” Zvi Mesfin, an abandoned orphan with growth hormone defi- Kresch, a medical student who volunteers with Hodes, ciency. Bayelign, a former child soldier who at 13 became says in Berger’s book. “He looks at how he can affect a professional killer, is now a registered nurse and soft- certain circumstances regardless of whether or not it’s spoken elder brother to the children in Hodes’ house- the best thing for him. It’s not within Rick’s realm of hold. Bewoket, whom Hodes met in a crowded Ethiopian understanding to turn your back on need.”

“Women of the Wall” member attacked for tefillin imprint JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A Jewish woman was attacked in Beersheba reportedly for having the imprints of tefillin lines visible on her arms.

Noa Raz was physically assaulted last week by an ultraOrthodox man in Beersheba's Central Bus Station, where she was waiting for a bus to her job in Tel Aviv, according to a news release issued Wednesday by the Israel Religious Action Center.

According to the release, the man asked Raz twice if the imprints were from tefillin. When she told him they were, he began to kick and strangle her while screaming “women are an abomination.” Raz, who practices Conservative Judaism, reportedly broke free from the man and boarded her bus.

Raz is a member of Women of the Wall, which holds a monthly Rosh Chodesh women’s prayer service at the Western Wall. In March, haredi men threw chairs at the women as they prepared to pray at the Wall.

Raz filed a police report on the incident. The Israel

Religious Action Center has called on the Beersheba police to treat Raz’s assault as a hate crime.

Anat Hoffman, the center’s executive director, said the assault on Raz for wrapping tefillin “should not be seen as an isolated incident but as taking place within an atmosphere of growing violence toward and intimidation of women who seek to pray freely and equally.”

BIRTH

Marti and George Poulos announce the May 6 birth of their son, Leo George.

He is named for his great-grandfather Leonard Finkel.

Grandparents are Joel and Lois Finkel, and Dan and Kathy Poulos of Council Bluffs.

Great-grandparents are the late Sue and Dave Greenberg, and the late Helen and Leonard Finkel.

May 21, 2010

IN THE NEWS

On Wednesday, June 30, the sixth annual Dr. Ben Kutler Memorial Golf Classic will take place at Iron Horse Golf Club, 900 Clubhouse Drive, in Ashland.

Kutler was an Omaha dentist who served as a role model to the dental profession by his caring and compassionate treatment of all, regardless of financial circumstance.

Funds generated by this charity golf outing will benefit the Creighton University School of Dentistry, which provides dental care to those in need.

Check-in time is 12:30 p.m. Dinner and awards will follow immediately after golf. Cost: individual, $125; dinner only, $30; hole sponsor, $500.

To register, sponsor a hole or make a donation for the silent auction, please contact Dr. Tom Meng at 280.5083.

Manny Goldberg, founder of Keystone Pharmacy, received the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Service Citation from the Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, during the school’s Graduation and Hooding Ceremony last week.

Goldberg opened his first pharmacy in 1956; the first Keystone Pharmacy was opened the following year. His business eventually grew to 16 pharmacies.

Goldberg helped found, and served as president of the Nebraska Pharmacy Network; he also served on the board of directors for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the advisory boards for Creighton’s School of Pharmacy and the University of Nebraska College of Pharmacy.

ORGANIZATIONS

LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Yiddish brings us closer to our roots! Come join us every Thursday afternoon from 1-3 p.m. in the social hall of the JCC. For information call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638.

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Mark Martinez, Omaha’s former deputy chief of police and the newly-appointed U.S. Marshal for the district of Nebraska, will discuss his outlook for our state and the nation on immigration and crime, among other topics on Wednesday, May 26, noon at the Blumkin Home. The program is free. An optional buffet lunch costs $13; beverage service is $3. For more information or to be placed on the e-mail list, contact Jenny at 334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

Founder of JDub Records visits Omaha teens; emphasizes importance of “giving Jewishly�

by MARY BORT Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation Music, videos, giving, personal and Jewish values -these were some of the topics addressed by founder and CEO of JDub Records, Aaron Bisman, during his talk on May 4 to Omaha teens about “giving Jewishly.� The Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation’s B’nai Tzedek Teen Philanthropy Program invited Bisman to a pizza dinner for 20 of the teens who have established philanthropic funds with the Foundation. Bisman enjoyed a meal and conversation with the young philanthropists.

Following the dinner, he spoke to a larger group of teens at the Jewish Community Center.

music, culture and social networking sites on the Internet, young people can connect to their Jewish identity. “Now’s the time in your life to get involved in the things you care about,� stated Bisman. “Find things that have personal meaning and significance for you, and find where Jewish values and personal values intersect. You have the opportunity to give money and time to the causes that are important to you.�

Bisman delivered a similar message to the larger group of teens he spoke to after the dinner. “Aaron, who lives in New York, began by telling the teens that he was born in Lincoln, Nebraska,� said Murow. “That got their attention! His overall message was so positive and

Aaron Bisman, center, met with teens following his talk.

Over the past year, the teens have been learning about non-profit organizations in the community, including organizational missions, populations served and the needs of the organizations. Those who attended the dinner were there to listen to Bisman and to make allocations from their B’nai Tzedek donor-advised funds. “This was the night they’d been waiting for,� said Janie Murow, Omaha’s B’nai Tzedek director. “Each year until the teens graduate from high school, they will be able to donate a percentage of their individual funds to non-profits of their choosing. We’ve learned what issues are of concern to the teens and then researched Jewish non-profits in Omaha, the United States and Israel that aligned with their concerns. During this dinner with Aaron, the teens selected the non-profit organizations that would receive their support this year.�

JDub Records is a non-profit organization that Bisman founded and is dedicated to innovative Jewish music, community and cross-cultural dialogue, and promoting Jewish role models in the mainstream. Bisman is a graduate of New York University’s Music Business program and is cocreator of the Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Artists.

In addition to sharing his own experience in starting his non-profit organization, Bisman urged the teens to create and find Jewish experiences. He explained that through

Aaron Bisman, center, with his parents, Rabbi Mark and Fredda Bisman. inspired the teens to think more about philanthropy and to become more involved in Jewish experiences.� “Aaron’s parents, Rabbi Mark and Fredda Bisman, used his speaking engagement in Omaha as a reason to see their son in action and come back to visit dear friends in Lincoln,� she continued. “Aaron’s father was rabbi at Tifereth Israel during the late 1970s until 1983, when they moved to Scottsdale, Arizona.� Currently, Rabbi Bisman is the senior rabbi of Har Zion Congregation.

The dinner and talks featuring Aaron Bisman was the “capstone� to a series of events held this school year by the B’nai Tzedek program. In order to make plans for next year’s events, Murow will hold a special evaluation meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8 at the JCC. “We’re holding the meeting before the BBYO meetings, and all teens are invited to attend this meeting,� Murow said. “We want to assess our programming and get ready for next year, and their feedback is an important part of the process. As an incentive, the first 10 teens to RSVP and attend on June 8 will receive a $5 gift card to Starbucks.�

Murow also emphasized that teens who have established B’nai Tzedek funds with the Foundation, but have not yet made their first allocations, should get in touch with her right away. She can be contacted at 334.6566 or jmurow@jewishomaha.org.

!%,%D'0'9 >%!"2'&+0E%,

'2' &"#' 3!# 2!45 !"# %&' (!)*%+,- .&/0++& 1&!"2' &', 3045&%+ 62+,"7%0'!"#$%&'#()*'$ !,-(-"./!.!0)1(1- 8!0'9 :2; 0+;/0'</&5&=" >!%/0%! >!&4704% *2! &,?&'4%, %:% 4&!%#

TYPE II DIABETICS! Earn up to $3,740 in your spare time.

1,'&)".)()'1 @ /%,04&+ A ";!904&+ %:% 4&!%- 0'4+;,0'9 +&"%! 7!%&7/%'7 &".. 3!# "6 ",,!)6(/'6( +&)%"0,% +24&702'

t .FO XPNFO t "HFT UP t 4NPLFST OPO TNPLFST t 0OF PWFSOJHIU TUBZ SFRVJSFE

"TL BCPVU PVS SFGFSSBM QSPHSBN CALL TODAY at 1-800-639-7732 3PTF 4USFFU -JODPMO t www.helpresearch.com

FGHIJ *!&'4%" "7!%%7- ";07% FJJ 2/&5&- '% GHFKJ 7895:;;5<<88 !%9%'4: +24&702' LMJ !%9%'4: >&!)C&:- ";07% FFJ 2/&5&- '% GHFFL

@ !2;70'% %:% %B&/" @ 4&7&!&47 ";!9%!: @ 42!'%& ";!9%!: @ /&4;+&! ,%9%'%!&702' 75%!&>: @ !%70'&+ A ?07!%2;" ,0"2!,%!" @ ,0&8%704 %:% 4&!% @ >!%/&7;!% '%C82!' %:% 4&!%

7895:;;5<<88

?0"07 ;" 2'+0'% &7 0+;/0''2'1#42/

Page 8

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 21, 2010

Temple Israel annual meeting slated for May 25

Beth El fourth graders get a taste of ‘I do’s’ during annual mock wedding

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator The groom wore a tux, the bride donned a fancy white dress and veil, the attendants smiled all the way down the aisle; the sanctuary was decorated in tulle, flowers and balloons; parents snapped photos and took videos. The occasion: Beth El’s annual fourth-grade wedding, a muchloved tradition for the synagogue’s religious school.

Led by teacher Margo Riekes (for the 21st year), the wedding is the culmination of the children’s studies about Jewish wedding rituals. During the past semester,

This year’s wedding participants were: Hannah Stein, bride; Adam Lehman, groom; Natalie Pichik, mother of the bride; Jacob Kirshenbaum, father of the bride; Catherine Cox, mother of the groom; Grant Jabenis, father of the groom; Julia Raffel, maid of honor; Joshua Stein, best man; Claire Endelman, bridesmaid; and Lauren Dietrich, flower girl. Officiants were Rabbi Levin and Cantor Beth Schlossberg; Esther Wax provided musical accompaniment.

Different aspects about Jewish weddings were fascinating for the students: for Joshua Stein, it was learning

Participants in this year’s fourth-grade wedding were Joshua Stein, Natalie Pichik, Jacob Kirshenbaum, Hannah Stein, Grant Jabenis, Adam Lehman, Lauren Dietrich and Julia Raffel. Not pictured: Catherine Cox and Claire Endelman.

During the ceremony, Rabbi Mordechai Levin, left, asked the bride and groom to exchange vows, promising to be “friends until the end of the wedding reception.”

students learned the origins of the rituals and created their own artistic, colorful ketubot. After the ceremony – during which Rabbi Mordechai Levin declared the bride and groom “friends until the end of the reception” -- each student offered a short presentation about the various wedding traditions.

For Riekes, experiential learning is instrumental in the children’s education. “They learn by doing,” she said. “I could tell them about Jewish weddings, but with this event, they experience it. Standing under the chuppah, smashing the glass, exchanging rings – they live it.

“Each year, the event “is always different, always fun,” she added. “The students’ enthusiasm keeps it fresh, and this is one of the most excited groups I’ve ever had.”

about the chuppah and how it symbolizes a home; for Natalie Pichik, decorating her ketubah was a favorite; Julia Raffel liked learning about the bride’s veil and why it is lifted before the ketubah signing (so the groom can’t be tricked into marrying the wrong bride); Claire Endelman said the ‘get’ (the Jewish divorce decree), “is weird, because you have to get permission to divorce and it’s not your decision.”

Adam Lehman (“a groom who actually wanted to be the groom!” Riekes joked), said he had fun learning about Jewish weddings, and wanted to wear a tux “because it’s a really special event.” And as with any Jewish groom, Adam’s favorite part of the ceremony -next to his natty attire -- was the breaking of the glass.

JCC to host one-day silk-painting workshop

by LYNN BATTEN JCC Gallery Supervisor Flex your creativity! On Sunday, June 6, from noon to 4 p.m., the JCC will host a silk-painting workshop under the instruction of local artist, Inna Kulagina.

This one-day workshop will teach participants the fine art of silk painting. Each participant will paint a large silk scarf while learning how to mix and apply dies using various techniques. Line drawings and photos of items to paint will be provided for each participant.

After completion, the silk scarves will be steamed at

Kulagina’s studio and later returned to students. No previous painting experience is necessary for this class.

The cost for the class is $80 and includes all supplies.

The instructor will provide: silk dyes, brushes, silk yardage, scarves, silk resist, stretchers for scarves, rubbing alcohol and salt. Students should bring a hair dryer with them to class to aid in the drying of paints.

To register for the class, contact Cindy Reed, Registration Associate at 334.6419. Space is limited and enrollment will be based on a first-come, first-serve basis.

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Temple Israel’s nominations for Board of Trustees and officers for 2010-’11 will be presented for a vote at the congregational annual meeting on Tuesday, May 25, 7 p.m. John Lehr, acting president, has been nominated for his first full year. Other nominees are Sally Kaplan, president-elect; Mike Norton and John Waldbaum, vice presidents; Stacey Rockman, secretary; Katherine Finnegan, treasurer; Jordana Glazer, assistant treasurer; Jon Meyers, past president.

Nominated to serve three-year terms are Sharon Comisar-Langdon, Alan Fredricks, Mike Halsted, and Paul Miller. Judy Josephson has been nominated to serve a two-year term.

Lehr said he looks forward “to paying tribute to our board members who have successfully completed their terms, welcoming our new board members, and along with Rabbi (Aryeh) Azriel, sharing my thoughts for the year to come.” Rabbi Azriel added that he will give a review of the year as well as share his vision of the future.

Jan Schneiderman will be recognized at the annual meeting for her presidential and board service.

Retiring from the Board of Trustees after serving six years, are Ducky Milder, Jeff Schweid, who served for nine years and as treasurer, and Vicki Perlmeter, who was on the board for six years.

Jon Meyers chaired the nominating committee which also included Jane Rips, Ted Friedland, Louri Sullivan, and Patrick Jensen.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

The Rose Theater is now offering $75 family memberships for the upcoming season. This special rate is good through July 31; after that, the price increases to $85.

Membership provides families with 28 free tickets (four tickets to the seven regular-season shows), and discounts on the three premium-event shows: “Peter Pan - The Musical,” Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s “The Nutcracker,” and “The Sound of Music.”

For more information, call 345.4849.

The inaugural season of Omaha Performing Arts Presents Jazz on the Green at Midtown Crossing, will kick off its schedule on Thusday, July 8, with a performance by the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band. Also on the schedule are jazz keyboardist and recording artist Lao Tizer, on July 15; blues group Sugar Thieves, July 22; pop-swing, jump-blues groups the Prairie Cats and Grand Marquis, on July 29; Latin jazz-dance band, Orquesta Alto Maiz, August 5; and as the season finale on August 12, a tribute to the late Luigi Waites, featuring Luigi, Inc., and special guests.

Concerts are free to the public; no tickets or reservations are necessary. Performances begin at 7 p.m.

Jazz on the Green is sponsored by Mutual of Omaha, Omaha Steaks and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Be a role model; the person you want your kid to be.

Experienced doctors. Compassionate care.

When your patients are facing cancer, choosing the right facility and doctor for their care is the most important decision you can make.

Trust the regional leader with national honors in cancer diagnosis, treatment and research.

Margaret Block, M.D. M. Salman Haroon, M.D. Ralph J. Hauke, M.D. David Hsu, M.D. Robert M. Langdon, Jr. M.D. Kirsten Leu, M.D. Patrick J. McKenna, M.D.

Luke T. Nordquist, M.D. David A. Silverberg, M.D. Gamini S. Soori, M.D. Yungpo Bernard Su, M.D. Stefano R. Tarantolo, M.D. Stephan D. Thomé, M.D. Peter M. Townley, M.D.

Margaret Block, M.D.

BERGAN MERCY SOUTH PAVILION 7520 Mercy Road, 1st Floor 393-3110

nebraskacancer.com

METHODIST ESTABROOK CANCER CENTER 8303 Dodge Street, Suite 250 354-8124

WEST DODGE MEDICAL PLAZA

MIDWEST CANCER CENTER LEGACY

MIDWEST CANCER CENTER PAPILLION

515 N. 162nd Avenue, Suite 102 445-8010

17201 Wright Street, Suite 200 334-4773

611 Fenwick Drive 593-3141

PLUS FREMONT, COLUMBUS AND WEST POINT

What stronger anti-drug message is there?

For more information call: 1-800-648-4444 http://www.prevlink.org

May 21, 2010

Jerusalem: The city that drives people mad

by DINA KRAFT background. A Jewish patient, for example, is more likeJERUSALEM (JTA) -- A middle-aged Russian tourist ly to be among the King Davids, while Christians might dressed in white and claiming to be Jesus checked in last imagine themselves Mary Magdalene or John the week at the Petra Hostel in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Baptist.

He did not stay long, the hostel’s clerk said. Just a few Pesach Lichtenberg, director of the men’s psychiatry days and he was gone. division at Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem and head of the The man likely was suffering from a psychiatric condi- psychiatry department at the city’s Hebrew University, tion known as Jerusalem Syndrome, in which tourists, said that defined more broadly, the syndrome includes and in some cases even Jews who have fantasies of locals, become so overbringing redemption. whelmed by the experience “You have a robust internal of Jerusalem that they tourism of people drawn to believe themselves to be bibJerusalem. Sometimes it can lical characters or messengers be an extremely gradual of God. process where people come “There is a very special from other areas of the spiritual feeling some people country and move to have arriving here,” said Dr. Jerusalem,” Lichtenberg Gregory Katz, a psychiatrist said. “They stay on and who heads the emergency sometimes that process gathroom at Jerusalem’s Kfar ers steam and they want to Shaul Mental Health Center, be more and more part of where 30 to 40 patients a some sense of anticipated year are treated for Omran Dakkak, a shopkeeper in Jerusalem’s Old City, says action. These are Jews who he has seen many people over the years exhibiting signs of want to hasten the Third Jerusalem syndrome.

Credit: Dina Kraft Temple.”

“Jerusalem is where the Jerusalem syndrome.

Bible stories they have learned took place,” Katz said.

He added, “They are hooking into the same sense of Seeing it and experiencing the place firsthand, he said, holy vibrations or intonations within a special happening “changes everything for them and makes some people here, something they feel is at the center of the universe.” believe they are in fact walking the Bible.”

Identifying oneself either as a reincarnated King David Most of those diagnosed with the syndrome have a his- -- who, according to Jewish tradition, was anointed as tory of mental illness. But in a small number of cases, the the original messiah -- or one of his descendants is the person’s experience being in Jerusalem and at its holy most popular choice for Jews with the syndrome, sites appears to trigger psychosis for the first time, Katz Lichtenberg said. said. In such cases the condition is temporary and easily Those affected by the syndrome are known for wantreated by medication. dering the streets preaching prophecies or chanting bibAt a time when Jerusalem is again at the center of lical psalms or verses. Others are seen cloaked in white major political debate and has put U.S.-Israel relations robes, sometimes cut from hotel linens, and feel a need under strain, these cases are a reminder that the city not to purify themselves for messianic missions by washing only drives politicians a bit mad, but some visitors, too. and bathing obsessively.

Even Homer Simpson was diagnosed with a case of Most are not considered to be dangerous to others.

Jerusalem Syndrome in a recent episode of “The However, Israeli newspapers reported earlier this month Simpsons” TV show set in Israel. In the episode, Homer that an Irish tourist, suspected of suffering from awakens from a dehydrated stupor believing he has been Jerusalem syndrome, was caught wielding a knife at the chosen to bring Jews, Christians and Muslims together Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is built on the site in the form of a new religion called Chrisjumas. where tradition says Jesus was crucified and buried. An The late Israeli psychiatrist Yair Bar-el, the first to label Israeli policeman shot him in order to apprehend him. and define Jerusalem Syndrome as a mental health condiIn 1969, an Australian tourist claiming to be on a mistion, had asserted that it could be triggered in people sion from God tried to burn down the Al-Aksa Mosque, especially agitated by the contrast between the romanti- setting off Arab riots. cized biblical image of Jerusalem and the modern-day city.

“I think it comes from people being overly immersed in “Those who succumb are unable to deal with the con- religion,” said Omran Dakkak, 65, owner of the Old City crete reality of Jerusalem today,” Bar-el wrote in a 2000 Bazaar, a souvenir shop selling olive wood crosses and British Journal of Psychiatry article. “A gap appears small menorahs near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. between their subconscious idealistic image of Jerusalem Dakkak inherited the store from his father and used to and the city as it appears in reality. One might view their work there as a boy. For as long as he can remember, he psychotic state and, in particular, the need to preach said, he has seen people draped in rosary beads and robes their universal message as an attempt to bridge the gap claiming to be various messiahs. between these two representations of Jerusalem.”

Hadar Gittelman, 22, an Israeli who is a messianic Jew Although the condition appears to affect predominate- and works at a Christian guest house in the Old City, ly Christian, and specifically Protestant, tourists from the says she has seen her share of such people pass through, United States and Scandinavia, Jewish ones, including including a recent American tourist who called himself Israelis who have traveled to the city from elsewhere in the “Angel Jesus.” the country, also have been treated.

“People come here and feel some sort of extra holy Those who fall ill with its delusions and visions tend to spirit. They breathe it in as if it’s in the air,” she said. identify with characters relevant to their own religious “They feel like they possess the truth.”

Cornucopia: oil paintings and hand-painted silk scarves to be on exhibit in the JCC Gallery

by LYNN BATTEN JCC Gallery Supervisor “Cornucopia,” a whimsical and beautiful mix of oil paintings and painted silk scarves will be on display in the JCC Gallery from June 121. Flowers, landscapes, and portraits are presented in a unique mixture of Fauvism- and Expressionism-influenced oil paintings, while the hand-painted silk scarves on display explore the theme of flowers through vibrant artistic silk dyes.

Inna Kulagina created this body of work in three different countries: Uzbekistan, Honduras, and the USA.

Each culture has influenced her work in a particular way. Uzbekistan, Kulagina’s home as a child, gave her a superb art education. Honduras provided her with an array of vibrant tropical colors and a greater love of flowers. America taught her the art of silk painting. All items in the exhibition are available for purchase.

Gallery hours are Monday - Thursday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the exhibit, contact Lynn Batten, Gallery Supervisor, at 334.6564.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 9

Fine Indian Cuisine and Indian Fusion Check our new extended wine list 12 different wines by the glass, 10 by the 1/2 bottle and 137 by the full bottle.

Lunch Thurs, Fri.: 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

Dinner Sun.-Thurs.: 5:30-9:45 p.m.

Dinner Fri., Sat.: 5:30-10:45 p.m.

Rockbrook Village 108th and Center Streets

www.jaipurbrewhouse.com

402/392-7331

Outdoor Patio Now Open!

When people mention Jack & Mary’s, they’re talking

Chicken!

RESTAURANT

Lunch and Dinner Miracle Hills Square

Steaks • Seafood Chicken 114th & Dodge 496-2090

How is this publication thinking about the future?

By becoming part of the past.

This publication is available from ProQuest Information and Learning in one or more of the following ways: • Online, via the ProQuest® information service • Microform • CD-ROM • Via database licensing

Electronic Databases

Microform & Print

Chadwyck-Healey

For more information, call

1-800-521-0600, ext. 2888 (US) or 01-734-761-4700 (International) www.il.proquest.com From

Page 10

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 21, 2010

PRINTING, COPYING and DIGITAL NETWORK

3706 South 132nd Street • 402/330-5050

Letterhead • Brochures • Newsletters Business Cards • Mailers • Postcards Business Opportunity

Sam & Louie’s Nebraska & Iowa’s premier pizzeria and Italian restaurant with 17 locations in Omaha, Des Moines, Norfolk, Blair, Gretna, Lincoln and Council Bluffs is looking for entrepreneurial individuals to develop a Sam & Louie’s in your community.

If this sounds like something you are interested in visit our web site

www.samandlouiesnyp.com or contact Michael at (402) 850-0337 for more information or email at mn@samandlouiesnyp.com

Moving?

Please give us the following information: Name ______________________________________________ Address _____________________________________________ City, State, Zip ________________________________________ (Or attach your mailing label) Name ______________________________________________ Address _____________________________________________ City, State, Zip _________________________________________ New Phone ___________________________________________ Effective Date _________________________________________ If moving out of town, please check one: ❍ Discontinue Press ❍ Bill Me ❍ Full-time College Student ❍ Snowbird date of return _____________________ Mail this coupon to 3 weeks in advance to:

The Jewish Press 333 South 132nd Street, Omaha, NE 68154 or see bottom of page 12 for email address and Fax number

NOW HIRING Satellite Television Installers Excellent pay and beneÞts including health insurance, retirement program, free Satellite TV service. We provide paid expert training, a vehicle, gas card, tools, and uniform.

For some remote positions, you will work out of your home and all positions require that you be willing to work ßexible schedules, including weekends.

Job Requirements: High school diploma or GED; the ability to learn and perform required duties. Working knowledge of satellite/television installation services preferred. A valid driver’s license with a clean driving record is required.

Apply online at

www.dishnetwork.com/installer or Call our centralized ofÞces 402-435-2300 for Lincoln 308-535-9200 for North Platte Dish Network is an Equal Opportunity Employer

%XCLUSIVE ,AKE OF THE /ZARKS Condo Vacation Ownership

CHOOSE YOUR WEEKS K TUC ET

BAY

REGISTER FOR A FREE WEEK AT THE LAKE Plus ATTEND THE SEMINAR & REGISTER FOR A FREE WEEK OWNERSHIP VALUED UP TO $30,000!

NAN

ABSOLUTE AUCTION - SATURDAY JUNE 12

You must be present at the June 12 auction in Lake Ozark to win.

BUYER’S SEMINARS

RESORT

Saturday, MAY 29 – LAKE OZARK

Lake of the Ozarks

Seminar held at 10:00 a.m. at the JB Hooks restaurant on Bus. Hwy. 54. The Open House/Inspection of the condominiums will be from Noon to 4 p.m.

NantucketBayResort.com

Visit our website for additional details – ProStarAuctions.com 10% deposit due the day of auction. 10% buyers premium will apply.

Bus. Hwy. 54 & Crossing West Drive PO Box 2651 Lake Ozark, MO 65049 Phone: 573-365-7272 Fax: 573-365-7273 www.ProStarAuctions.com

RESIDENTIAL - CONDOS - LAND - RESORT - COMMERCIAL

Capturing the Moon BOOK REVIEW

by BEHRMAN HOUSE Rabbi Ed Feinstein narrates 36 classic and modern folktales that transmit our culture, inform our values, and educate our people. Stories take readers from ancient Israel to the European shtetl, to modern-day Israel and America. Each story concludes with questions that explore the story’s themes and translate its lessons to the readers’ lives. A values index lets readers locate stores relevant to subjects as diverse as activism, collective responsibility, love and marriage, and self-discovery. The complimentary excerpt below deals with the mentioned value of community.

The Rabbi and the Gladiator Somewhere in the north of Israel sometime in the second century, two men met on a narrow bridge that crossed a rushing stream. One was named Simon. Simon was an orphan, born of a Jewish family but kidnapped by the Romans and raised to be a gladiator, a fighter in the Roman arena. Simon was a mountain of a man. He was stronger, fiercer and more feared than any other champion in the Roman Empire. No one could withstand his might and his rage.

Simon was in a hurry to get to his next contest. Across the bridge he rushed, wearing the armor and weapons of a gladiator. At the center of the bridge, his way was blocked by another man, a different kind of champion.

Rabbi Yochanan was a small man with fine features and gentle eyes. The leader of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel, he was renowned for his deep learning and love of Torah. The rabbi wore no armor and carried no weapons. He carried only a scroll of ancient wisdom.

The two men met at the center of the bridge. Simon was in a terrible hurry, so he demanded that the rabbi move aside and let him pass. But the rabbi would not budge. Simon shouted a command: “Move aside!” But still the rabbi would not move. So Simon bellowed and stomped. He reached for his sharpest sword and threatened the rabbi: “If you will not move on your own, I will feed you to the fish of the stream!” But the rabbi held his place.

The gladiator raised his sword. But just as he was about to bring it down on the rabbi, the men’s eyes met.

And something amazing happened. Simon, the greatest gladiator in all the arenas of the Roman Empire, was accustomed to seeing fear in the eyes of his adversaries.

He was accustomed to seeing terror in the faces of his

rivals, the kind of paralyzing terror that alone enabled him to defeat his foes. But not this day. Not this time.

Simon saw something in the eyes of the rabbi he had never seen before. He saw absolutely no fear. He saw in the eyes of the rabbi a man who knew exactly where he fit in God’s world, a man who knew exactly what he was sent into the world to do. He saw in the rabbi’s eyes a strength and a power he had never seen in all his opponents in all the battles in all the arenas of Rome. The power of the rabbi’s eyes shook Simon to his soul. He stood for a long time staring, and then he dropped his sword and let go of all his rage. He was absorbed by the gentle face of the great rabbi.

For his part, the rabbi saw something remarkable in the eyes of the gladiator. There was much more to this gladiator than his fury. Beyond all the bluster and rage and violence, the rabbi saw in the gladiator’s eyes a ferocious power to love and a deep longing to be loved. Behind the armor was a heart, a soft human heart.

The rabbi spoke softly to the gladiator. He said, “My brother, where are you going in such a hurry? To kill or be killed in the service of Roman glory? My brother, let me show you a different way, a way to a greater glory.”

“There is no glory greater than Rome! Rome is eternal! I serve only Caesar!” The gladiator repeated the oath he had sworn many times.

“One day soon Rome will be gone, its Caesars forgotten and all its arenas reduced to rubble,” explained the rabbi. “But the glory of God is forever. And you, my brother, are created in the image of God. You carry God’s light. That is the word of God’s Torah. You should serve no Caesar and no empire. God’s Torah is the only decree anyone should put above himself! Come and join a greater cause, my brother. Come and master God’s Torah!”

“I know only the arts of battle. How can I sit with a scholar like you?” the gladiator retorted with embarrassment.

“Your heart is stronger than your sword, and that is all God requires. Come, my brother,” answered the rabbi.

Perhaps it was the rabbi’s truth. Perhaps it was his gentle, loving voice. Perhaps it was that the rabbi was the first person ever to call him brother. Whatever the reason, the rabbi’s words broke through the gladiator’s armor and reached his heart. For the first time in his life, the gladiator began to cry. Tears covered his face, and his sobs filled the valley. He dropped his weapons into the stream. He unbuckled and cast away his armor. He turned and followed the rabbi.

Simon became Rabbi Yochanan’s most devoted student, and in time the gladiator, too, became a rabbi, the great Reish Lakish. He married the sister of Rabbi Yochanan and became his brother-in-law. They fought and wrestled over the words of Torah for the rest of their lives as they led the Jewish people with love and with learning.

Rubashkin: I should not have entered the family business

by JTA NEWS STAFF NEW YORK (JTA) -- With a federal judge expected to issue a sentence in his case later this month, a former kosher meatpacking executive expressed regret for his actions -- and entering the family business.

The two-day sentencing hearing in the financial fraud conviction of ex-Agriprocessors official Sholom Rubashkin was held last week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Linda Reade reportedly indicated that she will issue her ruling May 27.

At least 10 witnesses spoke on Rubashkin’s behalf, including a psychiatrist who interviewed Sholom Rubashkin him in jail. The psychiatrist said Rubashkin expressed regret for the harm he had caused himself and others, the Des Moines Register reported. Several former business partners and family members also testified.

In his testimony, Rubashkin reportedly said that he made mistakes and expressed remorse. He described himself “a conflicted and flawed human being” -- as someone who was thrust into running the family business without adequate training or interest.

“Conflicted in that I allowed myself to be drafted into my family’s business against my wishes and better judgment,” Rubashkin said, according to The Associated Press. “I basically should have stayed in

teaching and being an emissary” for the Lubavitch movement.”

The Agriprocessors plant in the Iowa town of Postville was the site of a federal raid in May 2008.

Federal prosecutors submitted a sentencing memorandum last month requesting life imprisonment based on their reading of federal sentencing guidelines.

Rubashkin’s attorneys have requested that he be sentenced to no more than six years in prison.

Sentencing memos filed by prosecutors in the case accuse Rubashkin of bribing Postville Mayor Robert Penrod. Rubashkin was not charged with bribery, but the presiding judge can take such accusations into account when deciding on a sentence. Rubashkin’s attorneys told the Register that Agriprocessors made a loan to Penrod under duress from the mayor.

Rubashkin supporters held prayer services on his behalf in cities throughout the country and around the world April 27, the night before the start of the twoday hearing. They describe him as a kind, charitable father of 10 who may have committed crimes but does not deserve a life sentence.

Earlier that day, six former U.S. attorneys general in a letter to Reade criticized prosecutors’ request that Rubashkin be sentenced to life in prison.

Federal immigration officers arrested hundreds of employees during the 2008 raid. The raid set the company on a slow slide toward bankruptcy.

Prosecutors dropped immigration charges against Rubashkin last November, just days after a jury convicted him of financial fraud.

May 21, 2010

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

Unusual coalition government leaves British Jews uncertain on policy

by WINSTON PICKETT “Given that both parties in the coaliLONDON (JTA) – With Britons tion will be preoccupied with the econouncertain of how the country’s first coali- my and that the Conservative Party has tion government since World War II will shown no real interest in the Middle East go about governing, the country’s Jewish anyway, the British Foreign Office will community appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach to the new Conser vative-Liberal Democrat government.

During the campaign, many Jews expressed alarm at Liberal Democratic positions on Israel.

Now party leader Nick Clegg, who last year called for a European arms boycott of Israel, is Britain’s deputy prime minister. And William Hague, the Conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron, right, and Deputy Party leader who during the Prime Minister Nick Clegg, during their first joint media con2006 Lebanon war called ference on May 12. (Prime Minister's Office) Israel’s military response to Hezbollah’s find itself in an immensely powerful posiattack “disproportionate,” is the new for- tion to influence the direction of policy,” eign minister.

Shepherd said. “In other words, the What influence that will have on British Arabist-oriented bureaucracy is likely to foreign policy is, like much about the new inherit a lot of power by default as top government, a political unknown. politicians attend to other matters.”

The new prime minister, David Candidates affiliated with the ConserCameron of the Conservative Party, has vatives and Liberal Democrats said the been a strong backer of Israel. It is one of Jews should not worry. the many issues on which the “I don’t think the Jewish community has Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have anything to fear,” said Robert Halfon, a fundamental philosophical differences. Jew and prominent figure in Conservative Others include how to trim the country’s Friends of Israel who won a parliamentary deficit and bring spending under control. seat last week for the Conservatives repre“With so much on the government’s senting Harlow, north of London. plate, Israel -- along with foreign policy in Matthew Harris, a Liberal Democratic general -- will be put way on the back candidate in Hendon who finished third in burner,” said Robin Shepherd, foreign a race won by the Conservative candidate, policy director of the Henry Jackson said, “I think British Jewry will be pleasSociety think tank and author of Beyond antly surprised by this government, and the Pale: Europe’s Problem with Israel. particularly by the quality of the five Lib-

Dem Cabinet ministers that will be taking up their posts. Whether on faith schools, security and even Israel, I think people will find the Lib-Dems and this coalition to be broadly supportive of Jewish interests.”

For the time being, official Jewish bodies made do with issuing pro forma statements congratulating the new government.

The country’s Jewish umbrella group, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, put out a statement saying it “warmly welcomes the new prime minister, David Cameron, and his coalition Conservative/Liberal Democrat government” and that it “looks forward to a constructive, fruitful working relationship with Mr. Cameron, his Cabinet and his wider team together with a continued, regular dialogue with politicians of all parties and key civil servants.”

Jeremy Newmark, chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, had no comment.

“As a strategic body, it is not our role to provide a running commentary on a government that has yet to finalize its Cabinet and set out key policies,” he told JTA. Leaders of various Jewish organizations are hoping the candidates’ pledges to the Jewish community, made in interviews with the country’s main Jewish newspaper, the Jewish Chronicle, will hold fast.

Both Clegg and Cameron promised support for security for the community.

Clegg pledged to put 3,000 more police officers on the streets, and Cameron backed the funding of security around Jewish institutions, including schools.

Both candidates also said they backed changes to the current “universal jurisdiction” legislation, which allows British magistrates to issue arrest warrants for visiting foreign politicians and military

staff. The law has been used to target Israeli officials and soldiers for alleged war crimes, in some cases scaring away Israeli officials from visiting Britain.

Cameron and Clegg also have spoken out forcefully against anti-Semitism.

As news of Britain’s new coalition government sank in, Jews also were trying to assess how the government’s priorities for cutting spending would affect domestic Jewish interests.

“It’s too early to know how a deficit reduction program will impact on funding for state-supported Jewish schools and social services,” said David Seidel, a community organizer in Brighton and a member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. “Ditto for the final outcome of the new government’s policies generally, as well as whether the government can remain stable.”

In post-election analyses, it appeared that the Jewish community, like the rest of Britain, swung Conservative in last week’s vote.

In an analysis by the London Jewish Forum of 18 parliamentary constituencies, 40 percent of Jews voted Conservative, 37 percent voted Labor and 19 percent voted Liberal Democrat.

That differed only slightly from the London-wide general vote, which went 34 percent Conservative, 37 percent Labor and 22 percent Liberal Democrat.

“This is a shift from a dominant Labor preference in years past and is something that is important to keep in mind on the local level where day-to-day Jewish interests are represented,” said the director of the London Jewish Forum, Alex Goldberg. “When faced with budgetary cutbacks promised by the new coalition government, grass-roots alliances are key."

The Jewish Federation of Omaha is proud to nominate the following community members for positions of leadership

ELECTION 2010-2011 INFORMATION For the Jewish Federation of Omaha and its Centers of Excellence This slate will be approved at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board Meeting May 24, 7p.m. • Jewish Community Center • 333 South 132nd Street • 402-334-8200

JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA OFFICERS & CHAIRMEN: President ..........................................................................Jody Malashock Past President .........................................................................Bob Lepp Vice President .....................................................................David Gilinsky Vice President ...................................................................Stacey Rockman Treasurer .....................................................................Ian “Shami”Jacobs Secretary ..........................................................................Keith Josephson Foundation Chairman ...............................................................Jay Noddle Budget and Allocations Chairman ...........................................Stacey Rockman Building and Grounds Chairman ................................................Mark Martin ADL/CRC OFFICERS: President .........Jonathan Rockman Past President ..........Richard Evnen Financial Officer ......Michael Levine CENTER FOR JEWISH EDUCATION OFFICERS: President ......Toba Cohen-Dunning Vice President ............Bonnie Bloch Vice President ..........Patrick Jensen Treasurer ................Susan Langnas JEWISH PRESS OFFICERS: President ..............Bobbi Leibowitz Vice President ............Andy Ruback Treasurer ...................Eric Dunning Past President ........Howard Marcus

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OFFICERS: President ......................John Glazer Immediate Past President ...Kimberly Robinson Past President ............Michael Miller

JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE OFFICERS: President ........................Jim Farber Past President .............Bob Belgrade Vice President ...............Paul Epstein Vice President .........Howard Epstein Secretary .......................Carol Bloch Treasurer .......................Cliff Levitan

Page 12

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 21, 2010

Really, I do not suffer from Jerusalem Syndrome

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT the inside. The proceeds enable Lifeline to Editor of the Jewish Press provide the artists with a stipend and benefits, Apparently, it’s a real disease. According to a such as transportation, meals, medical assisJerusalem Post article from May 16, 2010, it tance, and a generous dose of self-respect. mostly affects those of O m a h a Protestant, Northern Federation European descent. That dollars help means, if you’re a Lifeline stay Lutheran from, say, in business, Finland, you should be and we careful when visiting should all Israel. Being confronted be proud to by impressive sites of be a part of Biblical origin, you could that. suffer a mental breakWe also down of Biblical proporvisited Bet tions. It involves stealing Elazraki Women on a mission: Sandi Cole, left, Mission co-chair Jeanie Neff, Mary hotel sheets and preach- Kay Young, Phyllis Aronson, Nancy Noddle, Ruth Erman, Dana Kaufman, Children’s ing on street corners Kim Noddle, and Mission co-chair Lisa Epstein. Not pictured: Jan Goldstein, H o m e , about the coming apoca- Kathy McGauvran, Miriam Gross, Annette van de Kamp established lypse. There’s nothing pleasant about that, and in 1969 in Netanya. Here, the youngest vicit doesn’t make for a good story to tell the tims of abuse and neglect are encouraged to home front. pick up the pieces of a broken childhood. We In Israel, I kept my wits about me; yet, it is were greeted by a deafening noise, as every hard to return without feeling there’s a mes- child in the home sage that needs to be delivered. This has more sang for us, and put a to do with the places we visited than with any face to the organizareal or perceived religious zeal (I hope); the tion. You can read recent Women’s Mission took us to destina- fancy brochures, and tions that are not always part of the typical you can go online tourist’s itinerary. and do your research, Take Yad LaKashish, for instance, or but there is no com‘Lifeline for the old’. Lifeline is located in parison to being Jerusalem, and provides work opportunities there in person and for the needy elderly and disabled, all without seeing for yourself government funding. In their sprawling build- what Federation doling near City hall, one finds a large number of lars can do, and the workshops, where elderly find “stimulating difference that can be and creative work opportunities, and produce forged with even the beautiful, handmade Judaica, which are then smallest donation. sold in the gift shop”. In other words: they Then, there was make cool stuff, the kind of things that look the Western Galilee great in your home and make you feel good on Hospital in Nahariya,

the city that is home base to the Partnership for Israel. Here, in 2006, the Ketusha rockets found their target; photographs of the damage are on view, and the staff are full of stories about what it means to perform miracles under pressure. With both staff and building designed to stand up to violent attacks, this is a place worthy of support in word and deed.

All these places, and many others the Jewish Federation of Omaha supports, deserve their own article. I certainly can’t do them justice in one little editorial, and so, over the next months, you will see an increase in stories about what’s really going on in Israel. While there, we met many people, representing many organizations; they all are eager to have their story told. I think we owe them that much, and I hope it will give us a little more to think about regarding our position towards Israel.

Amidst all the noise the media produces, it sometimes can be difficult to find the truth; hearing directly from the Israelis themselves will -- I hope -- not only be educational, but refreshing.

FOCUS ON ISSUES

by URI REGEV

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, dispatched his deputy minister, Danny Ayalon, and Knesset member David Rotem to the United States recently to pacify the Jewish leadership agitating over the conversion bill his party is trying to push through the Knesset.

Their mantra is clear: You simply don’t understand. You have nothing to worry about.

Conversions taking place overseas will not be affected.

However, under the guise of helping immigrants from the former Soviet Union get converted to Judaism, the law, in reality, strengthens the power of the Chief Rabbinate, jeopardizing the achievements of the nonOrthodox movements and creating a wedge between born Jews and Jews by choice.

Rather than draw the logical and necessary conclusion supported by the clear majority of Israel and world Jewry -- namely, removing the monopoly over conversion and marriage in Israel from the Orthodox Rabbinate altogether -- Yisrael Beiteinu and Rotem went the opposite way.

Several months ago they pushed through the Knesset a shameful Registered Union law, which offers quasi-marriage only to one “religionless” individual to enter into a “union” with another “religionless” individual of the opposite sex. While some 400,000 Israeli citi-

Jewish Press Board Andy Ruback, Vice President; Michael Sigmond, Secretary; Michael Siegel, Treasurer; Howard K. Marcus, Immediate Past-chairman; Daphne Pollak Alperson, Marc Brodkey; Eric Dunning; Jason Epstein; Andie Gordman; Michael Kaufman; Bette Kozlen; Jamie Meyerson; Jim Simon; Dorothy Spizman.

The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service/Jewish Senior Services, and the Jewish Press .

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

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole.

The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content.

The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

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

Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: editor@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org.

Proposed Israeli conversion bill called divisive, deeply flawed zens -- including non-Orthodox converts to Judaism who live in Israel and many immigrants from the former Soviet Union -- are barred from marrying in Israel, this new law would apply to only approximately 200 couples a year who must be willing to be branded publicly as “goyim.”

The bill as it stands betrays the principles of “freedom of religion and conscience” promised in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, betrays the will of the people and betrays Yisrael Beiteinu’s own constituents, most of whom are said to be immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

A growing number of rabbinic judges are now voiding lenient Orthodox conversions.

Similarly, some chief rabbis of Israeli cities refuse to marry such converts if they deem them insufficiently observant.

Rotem presents the bill as providing protection against nullification of conversions, but the bill does nothing of the sort.

The most recent draft mandates that the ultimate authority in deciding whether a conversion would be nullified rests in the hands of a special panel of the Rabbinic Court of Appeals appointed by its president -- currently Rabbi Shlomo Amar -- and requiring his explicit consent.

Given the pattern of growing extremism in the rabbinic establishment and the dominance of the ultra-Orthodox, or haredim, in the selection of chief rabbis, there is a real danger that the Jewish status of converts is becoming conditional and temporary. This law does not provide safety measures other than entrusting the decision to a chief rabbi who may not live up to Rotem’s hopes for moderation.

Made aware of this problem, Rotem now

(Founded in 1920) Bobbi Leibowitz President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Managing Editor Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper

reportedly is saying that he will change the draft so that the ultimate authority over each conversion will remain in the hands of the court that conducted the conversion. He is honest, though, to admit that he has no idea if the haredi parties will agree to this. I predict they won’t.

In landmark Israeli Supreme Court decisions in the past decade, two chief justices, Meir Shamgar and Aharon Barak, ruled that the Rabbinate should not be given any special authority in deciding who is a Jew for civil issues, such as the Law of Return and being registered as a Jew in the Population Registry.

Rather, they said, a civil state authority should oversee recognizing conversions in Israel. They strongly rejected the state’s claim that this was a matter to be decided by the Chief Rabbinate.

Rotem’s bill instead increases the power of the Chief Rabbinate over conversion. Just as bad, the bill would limit recognition of Jewish status under the Law of Return by denying converts who spent time in Israel prior to their conversion the right to automatic citizenship under the Law of Return. This would establish for the first time a highly objectionable wedge between Jews by birth and converts to Judaism.

Rotem and Ayalon should be hearing unequivocal and strong criticism from American Jewish leaders, who ought to resent the attempt to divide and conquer by drawing a distinction between American non-Orthodox movements and their Israeli counterparts, and by a bill that would treat converts as second-class Jews.

It is time that Israel be guided by its own for equality and freedom of religion. This is the desire of the majority of Israelis and world Jews: pluralism rather than constantly giving in to the haredim. This will not only strengthen Continued on Page 13

Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1-402-334-5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: editor@jewishomaha.org..

Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be singlespaced typed, not hand-written.

Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.”

The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions, but it should be printed as soon as possible to ensure timeliness. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing.

All letters must be signed by the writer, but the name can be withheld at the writer’s request. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet.

No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf.

Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, call the Editor, 402.334.6450.

Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $35 per calendar year U.S.; $72 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422.

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

American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

May 21, 2010

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 13

Disconnect to reconnect: New initiative urges the Google generation to unplug and slow down versations are harder to come by than er candidate for the 21st Assembly “How I Met Your Mother” will soon write about his experience on the they were a few years ago. As we voyage District primary on June 8.

FOCUS ON deeper into the digital world, our attenBecker owns a BlackBerry (his seventh) Huffington Post.

ISSUES The Sabbath Manifesto is one of severtion spans are silently evaporating.” and an iPhone. He has 110,000 messages

by STACEY PALEVSKY

SAN FRANCISCO (j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California) -- You have 73 new e-mails. Someone just posted on your wall. You have been tagged in a photo.

You turn on your cell phone: “Four missed calls” ... “Two new voice mails” ... and a long string of unread text messages.

Buzz. Ring. Tweet.

Tweet. IM. Tweet.

Tweet.

The avalanche of connectivity is constant in today’s world. Our eyes and ears are constantly stimulated with smartphones and computer notebooks that make it nearly impossible to feel unplugged from the outside world.

This nonstop exchange of information creates the expectation that we are available 24/7 to reply to a text message, take a call or write an e-mail.

One Jewish initiative is seeking to change this behavior -- at least for one day per week.

Known as the Sabbath Manifesto, the new initiative challenges both Jews and non-Jews to reconnect to a slower life by using the weekly day of rest to disconnect from the phones and computers -- even television screens -- that drown us in data and stimuli.

It’s a tech timeout, if you will.

“There’s clearly a social problem when we’re interacting more with digital interfaces than with our fellow human beings,” said former San Francisco resident Dan Rollman, creator of the Sabbath Manifesto. “Rich, engaging con-

Rollman, who now lives in New York, came up with the Sabbath Manifesto concept in 2008 at a retreat for Reboot, a national non-profit that brings together creative Jews twice a year. The gatherings give the Rebooters the time and space to brainstorm ways to reinvent Jewish rituals and ideas, and to plan large-scale endeavors or programs for their local communities.

A brainstorming session led to 10 simple directives that compose the core principles of the manifesto: Avoid technology; connect with loved ones; nurture your health; get outside; avoid commerce; light candles; drink wine; eat bread; find silence; give back.

“Though the manifesto incorporates certain Jewish traditions, we made a conscious effort to make this project secular,” Rollman said. “We believe that everyone can benefit from a respite from the relentless technology.”

Reboot, based in New York but with additional staff on the West Coast, formally launched the Sabbath Manifesto with the National Day of Unplugging, which began at sundown Friday, March 19 and concluded at sundown March 20. It encouraged people to take on the first principle of the manifesto: Avoid technology.

“It was an odd feeling, like you’re missing a limb, to reach for the BlackBerry and not have it there,” said Josh Becker, a Rebooter and a first-time political candidate with his eye on the California state Assembly.

Becker, of Menlo Park, unplugged even though it was the day Democratic Party delegates were deciding, among other things, whether to endorse him or anoth-

in his e-mail inbox, and while he does regularly check his gmail on Shabbat, he also attends Congregation Beth Am’s weekly Shabbaton in Los Altos Hills.

Still, he has often yearned to take his Sabbath observance to the next level.

“For years I’ve thought about keeping a full Shabbat but never did it,” Becker said. “So [the National Day of Unplugging] really captured my imagination and served as a rallying cry for me.”

He lit candles, drank wine, went outside with his family and enjoyed the quality, uninterrupted time with his wife and two children.

The 10 principles that comprise the Sabbath Manifesto have been debated, discussed and dissected online. For example, does unplugging from technology conflict with the decree to connect to loved ones? How can people find silence if they live in the heart of a city? What’s so special about drinking wine and eating bread when we can do that any other day of the week?

Reboot hopes that other people feel the same. To continue the momentum from its National Day of Unplugging, Reboot has devised the ongoing Unplug Challenge.

The challenge recommends that people unplug once a week, or even just once a month -- whatever feels reasonable for them -- and experience a 24-hour period without the hum of technology, be it sundown to sundown or even on a Sunday.

A few “celebrity” Rebooters have taken the Unplug Challenge: Humor columnist Joel Stein wrote about his experience in Time magazine, and actor Josh Radnor of

al tech-free initiatives popping up these days.

The owner of Actual Cafe in Oakland turns off the Wi-Fi every weekend, an experiment intended to revive the kind of social atmosphere that existed before wireless connections and laptops.

Intel in Santa Clara established “Zero Email Fridays” in 2007. The policy doesn’t entirely ban e-mail on Fridays, but does encourage employees to meet face to face that day of the week.

AdBusters magazine recently sponsored Digital Detox Week as a way to encourage its tech-savvy readers (and others) to cut back on digital stimulation and take time to reflect.

There also has been some renewed focus on slowing down, in the wake of the recently-published The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time. Author Judith Shulevitz not only looks at the Christian and Jewish Sabbath historically, but also reflects on her own struggles with Shabbat.

“In this tech-drenched society, the notion of the Sabbath, or even of a day of rest, has been lost,” said Tanya Schevitz, a former San Francisco Chronicle reporter and now Reboot’s San Francisco program coordinator.

At the same time, technology is playing a key role in helping the Sabbath Manifesto’s Unplug Challenge gain traction as more people find out about the initiative online.

“We recognize irony,” Schevitz said, “that we’ve used technology to shut down technology because it was the best way to get the word out.”

To fight divestment efforts on campuses, ‘true face of Israel’ must be emphasized

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

by WAYNE L. FIRESTONE

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The efforts of anti-Israel activists to pass divestment resolutions at the University of California, San Diego and University of California, Berkeley are troubling developments, but not for the reasons their proponents are proclaiming. These resolutions -– thwarted by pro-Israel students on campus in both cases -– hold little practical impact and likely would be overturned on technical grounds if they should ever win passage. Nevertheless, the pro-Israel community must take these measures seriously for their potential to demonize Israel and foster anti-Israel sentiment on campus.

This isn’t the first time in recent history that the openness of the campus has drawn the attention of divestment forces.

In the fall of 2001, a self-proclaimed divestment movement announced plans to stage a conference at UC Berkeley in response to the outbreak of the second intifada a year earlier. Although the conference was postponed to the spring in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the efforts launched a six-year effort to turn the presumed local conference into a national phenomenon by staging it in subsequent years at the University of Michigan, Rutgers, Ohio State, Duke and Georgetown.

The pro-Israel community learned several lessons from this anti-Israel campaign -- first and foremost that it was neither about divestment nor was it a movement.

The so-called divestment movement

was not about economic sanctions but was a cunning attempt by marginal groups on campus to drum up publicity by comparing today’s Israel with yesterday’s apartheid South Africa. Divestment has been a thinly veiled effort to delegitimize and demonize Israel. Then as now, these groups have no reasonable chance of affecting university investment policy.

Yesterday’s divestment movement was destined to fail because it was not truly an organic, authentic movement of local students, faculty or trustees. Divestment conferences of the past featured off-campus speakers and participants from anarchist, far left and anti-Israel groups who flew in for the occasion. Local students, faculty and staff looked on with amazement and chagrin as national radical hotheads hijacked their campuses for a weekend and moved on. Other guerrilla tactics of the era, like mock “checkpoints,” were met with similar shame, bemusement and embarrassment. At the University of Virginia, the student newspaper cried shame and editorialized that such conduct had no place in the birthplace of Jeffersonian democracy.

Today’s divestment movement is different. The divestment movement is no longer seeking to hijack the campus; it wants to hijack the student government.

Organizers are using the tools of democracy to lobby their student government representatives to sponsor and support anti-Israel measures. What may seem like a simple, pro-forma, sense-of-the-senate resolution to an unsuspecting college legislator has profound symbolic significance for friends of Israel on campus.

The only way to combat these efforts is to strengthen the efforts of the tens of

thousands of pro-Israel students on campus who have participated in a TaglitBirthright Israel trip or another similar program. At Berkeley and San Diego, anti-divestment activity was mobilized immediately with the collaboration of a Hillel Jewish Agency for Israel fellow, the Jewish Community Relations Council, the Israel Consulate and myriad proIsrael organizations in the Israel on Campus Coalition. The day before the Berkeley vote, the Israel fellow on campus had worked with other campus groups to sponsor a high-level seminar on Israeli democracy featuring renowned Israeli jurist Ruth Gavison.

Moving forward, three specific strategies should help guide our response to the new divestment movement: • Student empowerment: This is a battle that needs to be fought and won locally. Off-campus groups should resist the temptation for uncoordinated fly-ins that undermine local efforts or send signals to the students that they cannot or should not take ownership of this issue.

• Coalition building: Israel delegitimization is not a battle the Jewish students should fight alone. It has been heartening at several AIPAC policy conferences to see hundreds of non-Jewish student government presidents who are publicly associated with the pro-Israel movement.

• Israel’s brand: Israel’s friends on campus cannot abandon efforts to promote Israel’s remarkable success as a high-tech democracy, a “start-up nation.” We must continue to represent the true Israel as a country that shares America’s Western values and contributes to the world in a variety of fields, not the least of which are industry, medicine and the arts.

This campaign presents Hillel and the pro-Israel community with an opportunity to continue to educate the campus about the true face of Israel. We cannot sit by idly as anti-Israel activists undermine Israel’s position among the future leaders of this nation. We cannot be silent as a central tenet of Jewish identity is defamed.

With only a few weeks left in this school year, it is unlikely that a specific divestment effort will succeed. However, it is important for the community to recognize the seriousness of the warning signs from this year, to support student empowerment and training, and to be prepared to fight next year’s as opposed to last year’s battle.

Wayne L. Firestone is the president and CEO of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

Proposed conversion bill called divisive continued from Page 12 Israel as a democracy but also will enhance Israel’s Jewish character.

Freedom of religion will bring Jews back, in creative ways, to their rich Jewish heritage. Religious coercion will only drive them further away.

Both Israel’s well-being and its future relationship with the Jewish people will depend on ending the anti-pluralistic monopoly of the haredim. The Rotem bill in its current formulation is a move in the wrong direction.

Rabbi Uri Regev is president and CEO of Hiddush, which advocates for religious freedom and equality in Israel.

Page 14

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 21, 2010

Candlelighting Friday, May 21, 8:24 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

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 323 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 Prayer Group 1317 No. 57 St. Omaha, NE 68132 551.6609

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

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

Your ad can go here... to reserve space,

call

Allan Handleman, 402.334.6451

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

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Services conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Beth Schlossberg.

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

SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m.; Minha/Ma’ariv, 8:35 p.m.

SHABBAT MORNING LIVE: Saturday, May 22, 10:30 a.m.noon. led by Holly Weill, for 4-8 year olds and their favorite adult(s). No charge to attend, but for planning purposes, RSVP to programming@bethelomaha.org.

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

Bible Study SUNDAY: Discussion Group, 10 a.m.

MEN’S CLUB SOFTBALL: Summer softball series with Temple Israel begins on Sunday, May 23, 10 a.m., at the JCC ball fields. Bring a sack lunch for after the game. You don’t have to be a Men’s Club member to play. For more information, contact Scott Simon at 616.4089, or simonsz @cox.net.

YOUTH GROUP WATER PARK PARTY: BESTT Chaverim and Kadima will end the school year with a big “splash” at CoCo Key Water Park at the Holiday Inn Central, 72nd and Grover St., on Sunday, May 23, 2-5 p.m. Cost: $22, which includes admission and snacks.

RSVP to Amy Saylan at amy.saylan@gmail.com or Judy Rubin at eddir@bethel-omaha.org, or call 498.0904.

PARSHA AND PIZZA: led

by Cantor Schlossberg, Wednesdays, May 26, 7-8 p.m.

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

of the Oxman Family by their many friends; “Guard Your Tongue,” “The Great Midrash” and “Advanced Parshah Study for Kids” (ages 10 and up), one hour prior to Mincha every Shabbat; Mincha, 8:15 p.m. followed by Seuda Shlishit; Havdalah, 9:32 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Bagels & Beit Midrash begins with breakfast, 9:40 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

TUESDAY: Sisterhood Luncheon, 11:30 a.m.; Scholars Club for 4th-6th graders, 3:45 p.m. (last class of the school year); Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m.; Advanced Halacha Kollel, 9 p.m.

Follow the Kollel at www.omahakollel.blogspot.com.

THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m.; Rabbis Around the World, 7:30 p.m taught via skype.

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: Shabbat Minyan, 10 a.m.; Youth Minyan, 10:30 a.m. Mini-Mensch title will be awarded. Kiddush lunch follows.

Join Rabbi Katzman from 12-1 p.m.; W.O.W. Parsha, Prophets, and Prayer, 12:45 p.m.

SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m.

MONDAY: JLI class, Beyond Never Again, How the Holocaust Speaks to Us Today, 7 p.m. Visit www.OChabad.com for more details or to register.

THURSDAY: The Parsha Club for Level I beginners, ages 5-6; and Level II intermediates and experts, ages 7-9, 3:50 p.m. Please contact Shevi@ochabad.com with any questions or to receive a guest pass.

All programs are open to the entire community.

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

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes, 9:45 a.m. with Torah Parade; Kiddush in honor

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

FRIDAY: Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel, withoneg hosted by Nancy and Mark Intermill.

SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. all led by Rabbi Emanuel.

SUNDAY: LCJS Board, 2 p.m. at South Street Temple.

ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAYS, 7 p.m. Intro to Judaism, led by Rabbi Emanuel.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME FRIDAY: Chef’s Demo, 1 p.m.

by Chabad.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Miles Remer.

Beth El, 10 a.m. at the JCC fields; Kol Rina on Key for May, 11 a.m. at St. Paul United Methodist Church, 5410 Corby St. presenting the music of Salomone Rossi.

TUESDAY: Temple Israel Annual Meeting, 7 p.m. (see full story on page 8.)

THURSDAY: Adult Study with clergy, 10 a.m.

NEIGHBORHOOD PRAYER GROUP FRIDAY: Minyan, 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.

TEMPLE ISRAEL

TIFERETH ISRAEL

FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Eric Linder and Cantor Wendy Shermet. Temple Kol Rina and the St. Paul United Methodist Church Choir will present the music of Salomone Rossi.

SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m.; Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.; Wil Beach, son of Mona Jones and Ron Beach will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah.

SUNDAY: MRJ Men’s Club Softball game - Temple Israel vs

Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m. with Simchat Bat ceremony of Brynn Olivia Halpern followed by Kiddush lunch in honor of Brynn and Talmud study.

SUNDAY: LCJS Board, 2 p.m. at South Street Temple.

Tot Shabbat with Miss Jennifer on Friday, May 28 at 6 p.m.

Pat Buchanan slams Obama over Kagan (JTA) -- Syndicated columnist Pat Buchanan slammed President Obama for nominating a Jewish woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Of the last seven justices nominated by Democrats JFK, LBJ, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, one was black, Marshall; one was Puerto Rican, Sonia Sotomayor. The other five were Jews: Arthur Goldberg, Abe Fortas, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan. If Kagan is confirmed, Jews, who represent less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, will have 33 percent of the Supreme Court seats. Is this the

Democrats’ idea of diversity?”

Buchanan wrote on May 14.

Obama announced his nomination of Elena Kagan to replace John Paul Stevens, a liberal stalwart who is retiring at 90.

The Anti-Defamation League, responding to the column, called Buchanan “a recidivist antiSemite who doesn’t miss an opportunity to show his fangs.”

“His remarks about the Jewish background of Elena Kagan and the religious makeup of the Supreme Court are bigoted and unacceptable in a pluralistic society such as ours,” ADL National Director Abraham Foxman.

Beth Israel elects new board

by BETH COHEN Executive Director of Beth Israel At a congregational meeting held May 2, the members of Beth Israel Synagogue elected its 2010-11 Board of Commissioners. Officers of the new board are President, Guy Matalon; Administrative Vice President, Alex Grossman; Financial Vice President, Alan

Kricsfeld; Membership Vice President, Bruce Goldberg; Treasurer, Josh Gurock; and Secretary, Rachel Kanner. Board members include Howard Gendelman, Debbie Kricsfeld, Susan Polack, Bruce Potash, Zoë Riekes, Dani Shrago, Michael Shrago, Susie Shyken, Jeff Stein and Harry Weiner.

late Teresa Reising-Lilly of Blair, NE.

Beveridge Magnet Middle School.

She received the Beveridge Bull Dog recognition.

She was first place as the Nebraska State winner in the Woodman of the World Speech contest.

Her interests include acting, public speaking, writing, hebrew conversation, dance, art, and hanging out with friends.

She has a sister, Samantha.

Grandparents are Molly and Martin Feldman, the late Goldie Wiener, and the late Alan Wiener.

B’NAI MITZVAH Wil Cory Beach, son of Mona Jones and Ron Beach, will become a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, May 22, at Temple Israel.

Wil is a seventh-grade Honor Roll student at H a r l a n M i d d l e School in Harlan, IA. His interests include cross coun-

try, wrestling, track and band.

He has a sister, Dru and a brother, Jon-Aron.

For his mitzvah project, Wil sent Kosher for Passover items to 10 soliders in Iraq and Afganistan.

Grandparents are Marlene Jones of Underwood, IA, Marilyn and Bill Beach of Sac City, IA., and Pearle and Donald Norgaard of Harlan, IA Great-grandparents are the late Clyde Lewis and Geraldine Miller Kruse of Glenwood, IA, and the

Elissa Wiener, daughter of Audrey and Richard Wiener, will become a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, May 29, at Beth El. Elissa is a seventh-grade Principal’s Honor Roll student at

Pulverente MONUMENT CO.

May 21, 2010

The Danger in the Blessing

SPARKS FROM THE WORD

by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE

DEATH

60 Years Experience With Jewish Lettering and Memorials

Page 15

1439 So. 13th 341-2452

Frank L. Ciciulla, Jr.

Shoulder Pain Pump Alert!

The FDA has ordered Baxter Healthcare to recall and destroy its Colleague Volumetric Infusion Pumps. If you had shoulder problems following arthroscopic surgery which may have been caused by a pain pump, compensation may be available. Please call us.

Lee J. Hollis Attorney at Law

Toll Free 1-800-701-3672

OPEN HOUSE Saturday, May 22, 2010 8:00 am - 6:00 pm 5 2 1 2 5 We s t H w y 2 7 5 , N e l i g h , N E Come and see what these doors have to offer for you. New or existing buildings.

MANIA FRIEDMAN Mania Friedman, April 3, 1920 – May 17, 2010.

Funeral Services were held May 18 at Beth El Cemetery, 84th & L Streets.

She was preceded in death by husband, Zalman.

She is survived by daughter and son-in-law, Rose and Harvey Cooper; son and daughter-in-law, Morris and Cindy Friedman; grand children, Jennifer Cooper, Alan Friedman and Michael Friedman; sister, Rachel Rosenberg; sister and brother-in-law, Bluma and Joe Polonski; and many nieces, nephews and friends.

Mania was a Holocaust survivor. She and Zalman owned Friedman’s Bakery in Countryside Village for over 20 years.

Memorials may be made to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, Beth El Synagogue or the Institute for Holocaust Education.

67186

Naso I am regularly amazed, astounded all over again, as though for the first time, when I read passage after passage, in different parts of the Bible, to find how powerful, how delicate, how skillful is the use of words in the Scriptures.

Excepting for Hebrew responses like Amen and Hallelujah, there probably is no word, phrase, or group of phrases more times repeated in human history than the three-sentence blessing, “Y’varekhekha” (“The Lord bless you and keep you.”) It rises from the columns of our Sidrah.

Its sheer literary beauty and rhythmic grace, whether in Hebrew or English (or other languages too?) recommends it for frequent use. It is hard to spoil its beauty, unless it is delivered in a totally insensitive and perfunctory manner. It is so brief, so succinct, and yet so sweeping in its implications, so profound in its values, and so broad in its horizon that it is unmatched in religious literature.

The blessing opens with three Hebrew words, carried into seven or more English words, “The Lord bless you and keep you.”

It is obvious that “keep you,” as the Hebrew word indicates, means “watch over you.” May the Lord, Himself, guard you, it means, that is to say, guard you from evil. The Lord is pictured here as a watchman of the night, or of the day, who sees to it that no evil befalls His charge, no marauders come, no assassin, no brigand, no harmful attack -- in this case, even no unexpected, chance assault by the unpredictable forces of Nature.

But in the Midrash, the rabbis added a penetrating insight. “The Lord Bless you,” they said, obviously includes blessing in material status, wealth, possessions, economic comfort, even economic power.

In that case, their thought continued, there is the terrible vulnerability of wealth to spiritual stiffness and insensitivity.

I have seen the children of some of our affluent families totally unaware that there were children of their age, their mental ability, their character, and their human worth, hungry and ragged -- within 10 minutes’ drive of their well-appointed homes! Their parents, in spiritual stiffness, had shielded them from human responsibility - and even chided me, sometimes, for lifting the veil of comfort to reveal human misery.

The third word of the blessing, the rabbis said, must therefore have another meaning. Veyishmerekha, “and keep you,” they said, means keep you, guard you from spiritual stiffness. May the Lord, it means, help you to break through the vulnerability of wealth, to see to it that your wealth does not control you, does not blind you, does not make your heart hard and self-satisfied, lacking in sympathy and warmth. “Keep you?” Yes, “keep you from danger, even from the danger of wealth.”

Who but a Jew would have had his thoughts turned this way? The rabbis were always capable of this kind of delicate, exquisite ethical sensitivity.

Editor’s note: This column was reprinted from Rabbi Kripke’s 1988 book, Insight and Interpretation.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Ackerman resolution calls for Shalit’s release

by JTA NEWS STAFF WASHINGTON (JTA) -- A U.S. congressman introduced a resolution calling for the immediate release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the House of Representatives subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, on Monday introduced Resolution 1359 calling for the immediate release of Shalit, who was captured by Hamas gunmen into Gaza during a cross-border raid in 2006.

“Hamas claims to be a religious organization, but their cruelty and inhumanity belies such claims,” Ackerman, who is Jewish, said in a statement. “Gilad

Shalit is a human being, not a bargaining chip. He should be returned immediately and unconditionally.

“The Red Cross has never been allowed to see Gilad Shalit, and he’s been compelled to appear in Hamas propaganda videos. This outrageous and deeply immoral conduct is absolutely contrary to both international humanitarian law and the most basic standards of human conduct.”

Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), the senior Republican member of the subcommittee, co-sponsored the resolution, which he said he hopes will be passed before the June 25 anniversary of Shalit’s abduction.

Shabbat celebrations at Beth El: fun for everyone

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator

Statewide Classified ADVERTISE STATEWIDE for $210/25 word classified ad. Over 170 newspapers with circulation of more than 365,000. Contact the Jewish Press at 334-6448 or call 1-800369-2850.

AFFORDABLE PRESS Release service. Send your message to 177 newspapers across Nebraska for one low price! Call 1-800-369-2850 or www.nebpress.com for more details.

Pedal Cars/Tractors, Wagons, 1949 Nash Statesman, 1955 Metropolitan, Steamer Trunk, Victrola, License Plates, Oil Cans, Lionel Trains. Chapman Auction, May 22, 10 a.m., Fairmont, www.larsensauctions.com FLOOR MODEL Hot Tub Sale, $1,995 to $4,995. Walk-in bathtubs. Buy direct from manufacturer. Call 1-800-869-0406. We deliver. Town Center Showcase, Lincoln, NE, goodlifespa.com.

WALK IN bath tubs. Lowest prices guaranteed. Over 40 models. Can meet all requirements. Maintain independence, safety, dignity. Eliminate fear of falling. Call 1-800-8133736. www.bathingsafety.com.

RESTAURANT EQUIPMENT Outlet; new & used restaurant equipment. See www.Chillmasters.biz for more info; Sioux City, IA, 1-800-526-7105.

SELL YOUR classic car, truck or motorcycle online. Call this newspaper or call 800-3692850 to place your ad on the national www.midwestclassiccars.com web site for only $25.00. Your ad runs until your vehicle is sold!

ATTENTION LANDOWNERS! Use your land or family land for 3, 4, 5 bedroom turn key packages. These are great deals. Modular, Doublewide and Singlewides. 800-3753115.

MOTEL FOR Sale: Huge upside potential, great investment for couple/family. 26 rooms and big living quarters. Near busy highway. $395,000. Geneva, Nebraska, 866429-4409, info@budgethostgeneva.com.

Shabbat celebrations at Beth El come in different sizes, shapes and places; there’s always something for community members of all ages. Recent festivities hosted by the synagogue include, above, Tot Shabbat, where Rabbi Mordechai Levin joined the fun with leader Patty Nogg, and the 75 participating youngsters and their families; top right, Say Shalom! to Shabbat, during which facilitator Susi FrydmanLevin, left, and attendees joined in a cozy little nook in the religious-school hallway to chat about why Shabbat is meaningful to them; and bottom right, Shabbat on the Green, which drew 125 people to the synagogue’s back lawn on a beautiful spring evening for a picnic dinner and an outdoor musical Kabbalat Shabbat service.

FOR SALE: Well established bowling center in Central Nebraska. Eight lanes, well-maintained and updated equipment. Kitchen has wet ansul system. Call 308-452-3741 or 308-233-7738.

LEGAL SECRETARY/legal assistant position open with Ogallala law firm. Pay commensurate with skills and experience. Would consider training someone who has exceptionally good word processing and computer skills, good command of language, and good references. Reply to PO Box 359, Ogallala, NE 69153.

DRIVERS: OWNER Operators run Midwest, Northwest, Southwest or our long haul division. Plates, fuel card available, miles & money! www.pssjms.com, 800-494-3532.

BANKRUPTCY: FREE initial consultation. Fast relief from creditors. Low rates.

Statewide filing. No office appointment necessary. Call Steffens Law Office, 308-8728327. www.steffenslaw.com. We are a debt relief agency, which helps people file bankruptcy under the bankruptcy code.

Page 16

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 21, 2010

B’nai B’rith Banquet welcomes NBA legend AbdulJabbar; honors teen athletes

Around 850 people flocked to the Qwest Center on May 12 for the annual B’nai B’rith Sports Banquet, this year featuring professional basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Photos, clockwise from upper left: Abdul-Jabbar, right, chats with fellow former NBA star Bob Boozer, center, and Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman; UNO Athletic Director Trev Alberts, left, congratulates Bert Render Award winner Ronald Coleman, Jr., and Earl Siegel Award winner, Sarah Nelson, the teens recognized as the metro area’s most outstanding high school scholar/athletes; Father Steven Boes, National Executive Director of Boys Town, introduces Abdul-Jabbar during an afternoon press conference at the Boys Town Hall of History; BBYO teens Ben Lohman, left, Ryan Kirshenbaum and Max Saferstein-Hansen look up (literally and figuratively) to the 7foot, 2-inch basketball star, seen here with Omaha Royals president, Alan Stein; a gracious Abdul-Jabbar took time to sign autographs following the afternoon press conference.

Widman finds that good things come to those who wait

by JILL BELMONT For The Jewish Press For generations, Jews have planted trees in Israel for Tu B’Shevat through the Jewish National Fund. Children have taken part in the tradition at Hebrew schools, planting trees in memory or in honor of loved ones.

But when he was nine years old, in 1972, Omahan Larry Widman decided to plant a tree in honor of his hero, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Later that year, according to Widman’s uncle, Marshall Widman, Abdul-Jabbar and his team were scheduled to play in Omaha.

“The story got around, and someone thought it would be fun to have Larry present the treeplanting certificate to Abdul-Jabbar before the game,” Marshall recalled. “It was a great story about a Jewish boy planting a Widman presents Abdul-Jabbar with tree in Israel to his JNF tree certificate. honor someone with the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.”

However, on game day, the security detail at the arena wouldn’t allow the presentation to be made. “Larry was left disappointed,” his uncle said.

But as the saying goes, “All good things come to those who wait.” At last week’s B’nai B’rith Sports Banquet, the featured speaker was none other than Abdul-Jabbar.

And 46-year-old Larry Widman, now a sports psychiatrist living in Lincoln, got his chance to present the tree certificate to his childhood idol during a VIP reception.

Expressing admiration for Abdul-Jabbar’s humanitarian efforts to bring people together, Widman noted that “he has really made a difference in the world.”

Abdul-Jabbar “really appreciated the tree certificate,” he added. “He said the meaning of the tree - connecting with people -- ‘that’s what it’s all about.”