May 24, 2013

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

A visit to Budapest

May 24, 2013 15 Sivan 5773 Vol. 93 | No. 36

This Week

Our Annual Salute to High School Graduates Pages 8 & 9

Omaha’s Russian Jews celebrate Victory Day Page 10

by STEVEN J. RIEKES Note: This is a continuation of a description of the Jewish Heritage trip that Margo and I, Nate and Hannah Schwalb, and Bernard and Naomi Bloom took with Professor Stephen Berk of Union College last summer. Incidentally, after the publication of my articles about Jewish sites in Poland, Professor Berk gave an outstanding lecture at the UNO Schwalb Center. After leaving Poland and traveling through Slovakia, we arrived on a Friday afternoon at Budapest, capital of Hungary, a city with a substantial Jewish population, of 50,000 to 100,000. This beautiful city is a combination of the cities of Buda and Pest. Our base was the Grand Kempinski Hotel in Pest, which more than deserved the name “Grand.” We walked from there to have Kabbalat Shabbat services at the Dohany Street Synagogue, also known as the Great Synagogue. The synagogue is a world heritage site. It is the largest synagogue in Europe, with a capacity of 3,000. Built between 1854 and 1859, its design is “Moorish Revival,” based on Islamic models. The architect, Ludwig

Interior of the Dohány Street Synagogue, also known as The Great Synagogue or Tabakgasse Synagogue Forster, created this style on forms used by “Oriental peoples,” because they were related to the “Israelite people.” It is a memorable design, later copied by synagogues elsewhere

The JCC is going green

in the world, including Central Synagogue in New York. The style and the size of the synagogue are not the only unusual aspects. The synagogue has a huge pipe

organ which accompanies the service along with the choir. We were quite surprised by this musical accompaniment, because the service Continued on page 2

Growing up in the class room

The way to Rio Page 16

Inside Point of view Synagogues In memoriam

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

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The Harold and Linda Mann Frohm Foundation Community Garden by LYNN BATTEN Publicity and Gallery Manager “Tikkun Olam” is a Hebrew phrase that translates to “repairing the world.” This simple phrase holds a powerful meaning, suggesting that humanity has a shared responsibility

to heal, fix and transform the earth on which we live. Here at the JCC, we continue to take steps that fulfill this responsibility by creating an energy efficient “green” campus. As part of this movement, we are proud to announce initiatives that will help us work at “tikkun olam.” 1. Reducing Paper Use and Increasing Paper Recycling. Our quarterly newsletter, the JCC Centerpiece, is now an online publication. The Centerpiece will no longer be mailed. Instead, it will be available for download off of our website, www.jccomaha.org. Limited printed copies of the Centerpiece will be available at the Member Continued on page 2

Zane Fletcher

Grant Glazer

by DAVID GOLBITZ Temple Israel Staff Writer Friends since elementary school, Zane Fletcher and Grant Glazer have much in common, including graduating together this spring from Westside High School. And for the past three years, Zane and Grant have shared teaching duties at Temple Israel’s Religious School, discussing with sixth graders stories from various Jewish texts, including the Tanakh. Grant, who as an eighth grader was a madrich for the Religious School fourth grade class and the following year assisted Rabbi Azriel, became lead instructor of the sixth grade Torah Studies class when he was in the tenth grade.

“I had the entire class to myself,” Grant said, “which was very challenging, especially with discipline. Here I am, only a few years older than these kids, and I need them to take me seriously as an ‘adult’ and as their teacher.” After that first year, Grant realized he needed help, and he asked his friend Zane to teach with him. “I brought in Zane to help with the discipline stuff, and he helped lead some of the more intellectual discussions,” Grant said. “Zane is incredibly smart, and together I think we were able to talk to the kids on their level and get them to actually think about things.” For Grant, teaching at Religious Continued on page 9


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