Vol. LXXXII
No. 38
Omaha, NE
21 Iyyar, 5763
May 23, 2003
SERVING NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA FOR 82 YEARS
Federation Honors Volunteers of the Year at 100th Annual Meeting by PAM MONSKY, Federation Communication Director The Jewish Federation of Omaha will honor seven volunteers for extraordinary service to the Jewish community at its 100th Annual Meeting, Monday, June 9, 7 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center. The meeting will commemorate the Federation’s Centennial year and will be hosted by Federation President Steve Pitlor. The entire Jewish community is invited to attend. Marvin Gerber, who died suddenly on Tuesday, will be honored posthumously. The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home has selected Lyubov Blyakher as their Volunteer of the Year. Lyubov, and her husband, Aaron, immigrated to the United States from the former Soviet Union in 1991. Thousands of Soviet Jews were brought to the United States and Israel during Operation Exodus, a rescue and resettlement effort funded by the Jewish Federation of Omaha through United Jewish Appeal (now United Jewish Communities). While Blyakher faced formidable challenges adjusting to life in the United States, she began volunteering her time in her new community. She started volunteering at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Blumkin Home because it was near her home and now assists the residents to and from Bingo, Pokeno, Sing-A-Long and teatime.
Lyubov Blyakher
Gary Epstein
Marvin Gerber
Sally Kaplan
Suzanne Singer
John Sutin
Fred Tichauer
She is always one of the first ones to arrive to set up for a resident party and the last one to leave after cleaning up. Blyakher also has the knack of knowing when a resident needs extra attention, taking them under her wing to make them feel special. (Continued on page 6)
JCC Maccabi Games Wins Community Service Award
Committee Prepares for L.O.V.E. Event
by PAM MONSKY, Federation Communications Director The 2002 Omaha JCC Maccabi Games, which took place Aug. 4-9, will receive the Community Service Project Award at the Jewish Federation’s 100th Annual Meeting, June 9. Accepting the award on behalf of the Jewish Community Center will be Jody Malashock and Marcia Pitlor, Co-Chairmen of the JCC Maccabi Games. The Award is selected by the Jewish Federation’s Executive Committee from nominations submitted by Jewish organizations and the synagogues. The award is granted to the project that is the most creative and innovative, and has successfully Jody Malashock, left and Marcia Pitlor comet it’s stated goals. chaired the 2002 JCC Maccabi Games. Jeffrey Aizenberg, into the Games. By doing so, we were able to create JCC Executive Director, a much richer experience for the athletes, their explained, “Our goal families, our volunteers and the community at from the beginning was large,” she explained. to find a project that The Maccabi program in and of itself is unique. It would involve the maxifosters creativity by requiring the volunteers and mum number of people staff involved to develop innovative programming. in our community and Since many of the local and visiting athletes and allow a wide variety of organizations to participate and be part of the their families participate in the JCC Maccabi excitement and satisfaction of doing something Games year after year, the challenge to create extraordinary. Being a host community for the JCC something new and exciting was paramount during the planning stages for the Omaha Games. Maccabi Games fit the bill!” “My involvement with the Omaha Games was one The JCC Maccabi Games fulfilled the award criteria and then some. The opportunity to host the of the most rewarding experiences in my life,” said Games in Omaha was the Jewish community’s Malashock. “It’s hard to measure the significance largest endeavor. The volunteer leadership of the that the Games had on the people involved…this Games set and exceeded their primary goal of “unit- was more than an event. When people in a commuing the Omaha Jewish community in a collaborative nity come together for a common purpose, someproject that builds cooperation, understanding and thing magical happens. It was an extraordinary supports the mission of the JCC: to provide oppor- process of cooperation and camaraderie. “The result was this incredible sense of communal tunities for our Jewish youth and community.” JCC Assistant Director Lisa Shkolnick served as pride in our accomplishment and the knowledge the Omaha Maccabi Games Director. “What I loved that each person in the Omaha Jewish community about the Maccabi experience was that it went was invested in the outcome,” she noted. Pitlor agreed, adding, “The best part for me was much deeper than athletic competition,” she said. “The competition was the main event, of course, watching the athletes and the host families bond but we felt it was important to incorporate educa- with each other. I think at the beginning, before the tional, social action and Jewish cultural experiences (Continued on page 9)
The Gift of Time: Honoring Our Jewish Clergy, a musical program to recognize and celebrate the Jewish Clergy of Omaha, is scheduled for Sunday, June 8, 1:30 p.m. in the Jewish Community Center Theatre. The fundraiser is sponsored by L.O.V.E. (League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly), the auxiliary of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.
by OZZIE NOGG
Eileen Remer, L.O.V.E. Co-President, left, and Kathy Weiner, member of the “Celebrating Our Jewish Clergy” committee, measure a Torah for a new needlepoint cover to be presented to the Blumkin Home. The Torah covers are being designed by Minneapolis artist, Alice Nussbaum, whose work adorns the Torahs in use at Beth El Synagogue. (Continued on page 10)
INSIDE: JCC Basketball Tournament to Memorialize Eddie Belgrade ........................................ page 7 Temple, Beth El Honor Graduates .... page 10 WRJ Hosts Second Annual Retreat ... page 12