May 25, 2007

Vol. LXXXVI No. 37 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 86 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

Jerusalem eternally united? Critics say reality falls short by DINA KRAFT JERUSALEM (JTA) -The group of Jerusalemites tumbles off the tour bus onto streets and hilltops where most of them have never set foot. They are in eastern Jerusalem, home to some 150,000 Arabs and, for most on the tour, an entirely new world. They take in views of Israel’s security barrier, here a hulking concrete wall that divides neighborhoods, and walk the narrow cracked roads lined with piles of uncollected trash. They marvel that this, too, is Jerusalem. They also make their way through the contrasting scene of paved roads and A strand of blue lights outline the top of the Old City walls at the Tower of David, right, May tidy, stone-faced apartment 13, 2007, to mark the 40th anniversary since the reunification of Jerusalem after the Six Credit: Brian Hendler/JTA blocs that make up the wide Day War in 1967. swath of Jewish neighborhoods in the east of the city, The idea that it is -- is a fiction.” She’s not alone: A poll of Jerusalem residents by the neighborhoods built between Arab ones since 1967, the fruit of efforts by successive Israeli governments to Dahaf Institute found that 62 percent do not consider the city united. ensure that the city is never divided again. “They have good reason,” Motti Elmaliah of the local As Israel prepares to mark the 40th anniversary of the Six-Day War and the reunification of Jerusalem -- con- Jerusalem newspaper Yerushalayim wrote of the poll. stantly touted in national slogans as “eternally united” -- “When was the last time you enjoyed a stroll on Saladin this group of students and professionals came to see for Street, one of the major arteries in East Jerusalem, and themselves the Arab neighborhoods of the city where felt at home? Except for a quick trip to eat hummous on Saturday morning in the Old City, and getting a tuneJews rarely venture. “I see regression, not progress,” said Michal, a psy- up in Wadi Joz, the Jewish residents of the city try not chologist who has lived in the Jerusalem area for 30 to go to East Jerusalem. That way they also don’t have years but had not been to the eastern part of the city for to see the dirt and the neglect there.” nearly as long. “Jerusalem never seemed united for me. Continued on page 2

8 Sivan, 5767 May 25, 2007

Featuring Hazzan Mizrahi, enter ‘The World of Jewish Music’ during Beth El’s Cantor’s Concert by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Become immersed in the beauty of Jewish music during the annual Beth El Synagogue Cantor’s Scholarship Concert, this year featuring Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi, one of the world’s most esteemed cantors. Planned for Sunday, June 10, 7:30 p.m., ‘The World of Jewish Music’ will celebrate the rich and varied musical heritage of the Jewish people, and will also be highlighted by performances by Beth El Cantor Gastón Bogomolni and Temple Israel Cantor Wendy Shermet. The Greek-born Mizrahi, a world-renowned tenor at Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago, has been hailed as one of the greatest interpreters of Jewish music. His repertoire spans nine languages, and he has performed for synagogue congregations throughout the country, as well as recitals, symphony concerts and operas around the world. A concert review in the London Times stated that, “Mizrahi was charismatic and fearless, unabashedly emotional ... he held you spellbound;” and the Boston Globe called him “A striking performer ... his voice is rich, vibrant, powerful.” Cantor Bogomolni, coordinator of this exciting musical event, is a longtime admirer of the hazzan. “Even when I was in Argentina 20 years ago, he was quite famous, along with cantors such as Mordechai Hershman, Yossele Rosenblatt, David Roitman and Moishe Oysher, among others.

Beth Israel mission to Israel an adventure for first-timers and returnees game and impressed me by MARY BORT for Beth Israel Synagogue quite profoundly. Hearing and reading about it is not Traveling to another like seeing it. You go to country halfway around the these tombs and it touches world. Walking the streets of you.” your ancestors. Visiting hisSome members of the toric sites of religious signifgroup had been to Israel icance. Meeting with promibefore, but still looked fornent rabbis, a Holocaust surward to the special nature of vivor, a famous Soviet Beth Israel’s Mission. “This refusenik and everyday resiwas my sixth trip to Israel,” dents of a place that feels like said Lynne Saltzman. “I home to you. That’s what really wanted to go on a tour members and friends of Beth with a religious slant to it.” Israel Synagogue did when For Kelly Kirk, the trip they traveled to Israel for 10 had significance for a couple days starting April 29. The group visited the factory where the blue thread, of reasons. “First, I hadn’t On the mission were: ticheilet, is made. While Marianna Tichauer watches, Rabbi visited Israel before, and Wendy Berenson, Bonnie Jonathan Gross, left, shows Ryan Tichauer how to attach the with a return to my faith Bloch, Rabbi Jonathan ticheilet to a tzitzit, the strings on a tallit, a prayer shawl. over the past four years, I Gross, Sandy Gross, George Photo by Lynne Saltzman knew this was going to be a and Esther Kalendareva, Kelly Kirk, Jack and Bette Kozlen, Ann Moskovits, very meaningful and emotional trip. Also, I was going Lynne Saltzman, Marty Tichauer; Ryan and Marianna on the trip with my mother, brother, his new wife and Tichauer, and Harry Wolfson. “This was my first time to her parents.” Israel and it was very, very enlightening,” said Wolfson. The group toured Akko, Tsfat, the Golan Heights, “We visited many of the historical sites that we’ve stud- Jerusualem and Hebron. Rabbi Jonathan Gross made ied in the Siddur and the Torah that we’ve talked about arrangements for each stage of the tour, drawing from and read about. Seeing things was a whole different ball Continued on page 4

Inside Opinion Page see page 12

Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi “Hazzan Mizrahi is very versatile and has performed with some of the best hazzanim around the world,” he added. “Not only can he sing wonderfully in Yiddish, he is also well-versed in Sephardic music and Mizrahi (Middle Eastern Jewish) music. His voice and cantorial skills are exceptional.” Hazzan Mizrahi, accompanied by pianist Alan Mason, will treat his audience to selections from a variety of musical styles, including Hazzanut, Hebrew, Ladino, Yiddish and contemporary; he will also sing with Cantors Bogomolni and Shermet. The performance will also be highlighted by the local cantors, who will have the opportunity to perform solo numbers, accompanied by pianist Yulia Kalashnikova. This event is a must-see for music lovers, Cantor Bogomolni remarked, noting, “To watch and listen to Alberto Mizrahi is comparable to the thrill of listening to Jan Pierce, Moishe Oysher, Richard Tucker, etc. Hazzan Mizrahi is known as the Jewish Pavarotti, so if you wouldn’t miss Pavarotti, you won’t want to miss this greatly talented cantor. He is entertaining, funny, charming and engaging -- definitely one-of-a-kind. When Mizrahi opens his mouth, he shares his fantastic musical world with everyone. This concert promises to be an unforgettable musical experience!” Continued on page 2

This Week: Monthly Calendar for June: Pages 8-9 Coming Next Month: Father’s Day/Graduation Issue on June 8 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’

Hadassah celebrates 40th anniversary of hospital’s return: Page 6

New to Jewish Family Service: a Blumkin Home veteran: Page 11

Next RBJH Open Forum set for May 30: Page 16

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 25, 2007

Jerusalem eternally united?

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coexistence in the city. Continued from page 1 Gil distributed maps of Jerusalem, full of color-coded The 40th anniversary has brought new attention to lines marking the course of the city’s various boundaries, the question of what Jerusalem’s unity means beyond including the municipal line along which the security political sloganeering and what might lie ahead for the barrier has been built and the border of the Old City. He city. New statistics show that the city’s Arab population said his goal was not political but was just to point out is growing faster than its Jewish one. the city’s complexity. According to figures from the Jerusalem Institute for “‘Are you sure this is the capital of Israel and not the Israel Studies, Jerusalem today is 66 percent Jewish and Third World?’”Gil asked, recounting the comments of a 34 percent Arab. While the Arab growth rate continues diplomat he took on a similar tour as the bus bumped to climb each year, an increasing number of Jews, mainover a rundown patch of road. ly secular ones, are leaving the city, fleeing what they say The comment, Gil said, goes to one of the essential is an increasingly Orthodox, politically tense and poor questions -the neglect of infrastructure in eastern city with few economic opportunities. Jerusalem. Jerusalem, these Jews say, is a place that feels less and “If Israel wants this as part of its capital, it needs to do less like home. something with it,” he said. On May 13, Mayor Uri Lupolianski warned the govMuch to Ir Amim’s surprise, there has been a huge ernment that the capital could lose its Jewish majority demand for information and tours: Some 4,000 people within a decade. have taken its tours of eastern “We won’t be satisfied with Jerusalem since Ir Amim began crumbs,” he said. “We need a offering them three years ago. comprehensive plan.” Among those they have escortThe vast majority of the pubed are Israeli army intelligence lic, 92 percent, said it is imporofficers, delegations from the tant or very important to American Israel Public Affairs maintain a Jewish majority in Committee and diplomats. the city, the Jerusalem Dore Gold, president of the Institute found in a survey Jerusalem Center for Public published Sunday. However, Affairs think tank, said the studies also have found that essence of the conflict over most Israelis would not choose Jerusalem is more religious than to live in Jerusalem, which economic or political, but they view as dangerous and Israeli authorities do have to impoverished. address the problems of the “If this trend continues, by eastern part of the city. 2025 about 50 percent of the “We have to invest a lot more city will be Palestinian, and in Jerusalem if we want to that means Jerusalem will be a strengthen our claim,” he said. binational city,” Hebrew Infrastructure is something of University geographer Shlomo a disaster in eastern Jerusalem. Hasson said. “The capital of a There is a shortfall of some Jewish and democratic state 1,000 school classrooms, shortwould be a binational city. This ages in most public services and is the first step toward a bina- An Arab tends to stand selling sweets in Jerusalem. other infrastructure needs rangtional state, so the question is: Photo courtesy of the Israel Minitrsy of Tourism. ing from water to sewage lines, ‘What needs to be done?’ “You can say every city is divided when you look at the proper roads and public transportation. Living conditions are overcrowded, as the municipalideeper issues such as religion and economy. Some are ty rarely gives building permits to eastern Jerusalem resmore divided than others,” Hasson continued. “We idents. Some say that is part of a policy to restrict develdon’t live in a divided city. We live in a polarized city.” opment and planning in Arab parts of the city. Just as educated, secular Jews are fleeing Jerusalem, Some observers see a policy of deliberate neglect by many of the city’s Arab elite are leaving for the nearby authorities who want to push Palestinians out of the city. West Bank city of Ramallah, which in recent years has Others say it’s simply a problem of representation: Arab replaced eastern Jerusalem as the Palestinians’ economic residents of eastern Jerusalem who were brought under and cultural hub because of the economic and logistical Israel control in 1967 do not recognize Israeli soverdifficulties of life in Jerusalem. eignty and, in protest, have elected not to vote in municMeanwhile, reflecting a change in recent years, the ipal elections. Jerusalem Institute poll found that 58 percent of Israeli Arab Jerusalemites have a peculiar political identity -Jews are in favor of concessions on Jerusalem as part of they are neither citizens of Israel nor subjects of the a possible future peace deal with the Palestinians. Palestinian Authority. Some say that despite the ecoSteeped in history and religious significance, nomic and other discrimination they may face, they are Jerusalem is among the most difficult issues in Israelireluctant to relinquish their status as Jerusalem residents Palestinian negotiations. Palestinians claim the eastern since it entitles them to Israeli medical insurance and part of the city as their future capital, a claim most social-security payments. Israelis continue to reject, although it reportedly was Despite their physical separation from other part of the Israeli government’s offer to Palestinian Palestinians, especially since the security barrier went up negotiators during peace talks in 2000. during the intifada, most eastern Jerusalem Arabs idenThe group on the recent tour of eastern Jerusalem was tify strongly as part of the Palestinian people. guided by Amos Gil, executive director of Ir Amim, an Continued on page 3 Israeli organization that promotes Israeli-Palestinian

Enter ‘The World of Jewish Music’ Continued from page 1 The annual Cantor’s Concert benefits Beth El’s Youth Scholarship Program, which provides opportunities for youth to attend Jewish summer camps, visit Israel or attend a Jewish youth convention. Debbie Denenberg is serving as this year’s concert chairman; Shane Kotok is the Scholarship chairman. Ticket categories for the musical gala are: Director, $5,000 (10 tickets); Executive Producer, $1,000 (six tickets); Investor, $500 (six tickets); Manager, $100 (two tickets); Agent, $50 (two tickets); Patron, $36 (2 tickets); Single, $18; Student, $5; and Children, $1 (ages 12 and younger). All supporters whose tickets are purchased by June 1 will be listed in the concert program, according to Cantor Bogomolni. To purchase tickets, send a check, made payable to Beth El, to Beth El Cantor’s Concert, 14506 California St., Omaha, NE 68154-0430.

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The Nebraska Jewish Historical Society was given this picture by Ed Malashock. Do you recognize any of the people in the photo? If so, please contact the NJHS at 334.6442.

May 25, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

Jerusalem eternally united? Continued from page 2 Gold, author of the recent book The Battle for Jerusalem, says the idea that Palestinians might be satisfied with an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood as their future capital is an “Israeli illusion.” “The real issue in Jerusalem comes down to access to holy sites,” he said. The Palestinians “want the Old City. If you simply pull back from East Jerusalem neighborhoods, the Palestinians will demand the Old City, which is their real goal.” Hillel Cohen, a historian who just published a book, The Market Square is Empty: The Rise and Fall of Our Jerusalem, said the debate is not over whether Jerusalem is a truly unified city of two peoples living in an integrated way. Clearly it isn't, he said. “I don’t think there’s any debate on the facts of life in Jerusalem. The debates are what to do with reality,” Cohen said. “Should some neighborhoods be handed to the Palestinian Authority? Should regional municipalities be established? What will happen to the Temple Mount?” Rami Nasrallah, an urban planner who heads the board of the International Peace and Cooperation Center in eastern Jerusalem, said efforts were never made to truly unite the city, with equal resources given

Kassam rocket fatal in Sderot

A 35-year-old woman was killed and another wounded Monday when a Kassam rocket fired hit a car in Sderot. It’s the first death since November in the continuous attacks from Gaza. The woman, who was standing next to the car, died on the way to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. Responsibility was claimed by three Palestinian groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Resistance Committee. The attack came while a meeting was starting between Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and the European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. Credit: ISRNAET

to the Jewish and Arab sectors. Meanwhile, he said, as the security barrier makes life increasingly restrictive for Jerusalem Arabs and as an entire generation of Palestinians living outside the city

A Hasid prays at the Western Wall, Judaism’s most sacred site, in the old City of Jerusalem. Photo courtesy of the Israel Minitrsy of Tourism. limits grows up without being able to visit the city and its holy sites, the situation becomes increasingly volatile. “Symbols become more important, and it becomes

more of a religious conflict than a national conflict,” Nasrallah said. “This is a situation that you cannot control.” Both the Israeli and Palestinian governments are weak, and even with the best of intentions, the political force needed to broker a peace deal is lacking, he said. Hasson, the geographer, said that in the absence of a permanent resolution of Jerusalem’s status, interim solutions are needed. He suggested three options. The first is based on the Brussels example, where one overarching municipality deals with larger issues of infrastructure and planning and two separate municipalities oversee cultural, religious and social issues. A second option could be a unilateral separation, with Jewish neighborhoods under Israeli control and Arab ones under Palestinian Authority control. Acknowledging that the city is almost equally divided among Arabs, Orthodox Jews and non-Orthodox Jews, Hasson said a third option would be to create separate boroughs for each sector. The Old City itself could be a fourth borough. Each of these possibilities has its shortcomings, Hasson acknowledged, but suggested, “These could be the first steps to a permanent-state solution and could change the frame of mind of both sides.”

Omahans travel to nation’s capital for ADL Conference Rangel. She and I met with an by GARY JAVITCH Conference Delegate aide, while Nachman and Fried Washington, D.C., was home to the Anti-Defamation talked to Rep. Lee Terry of League’s annual conference earlier this month. The 460 Omaha’s Second Congresional assembled board members and staff from around the District. country heard high-ranking American and Israeli government officials, key media figures and former policy makers give their views on the issues ADL follows: civil rights, immigration and Israel, among other topics. Joining Omaha’s Great Plains Regional Director Alan Potash were Observing an impromptu Ellie Batt, Jim Fried, Gary Nachman, press conference of conand this writer. Israeli Ambassador Meridor, Senators Ted Kennedy and Omahans band together after the lobbying trip: Gary gressional representatives Arlen Spector as well as former Middle Nachman, left, Ellie Batt, Jim Fried, Bob Wolfson, who wanted the U.S. to close the Guantanamo East peace negotiator Dennis Ross and Gary Javitch, and ADL Director Alan Potash. NPR’s Mara Liasson, a Fox News contributor, were A trip highlight included a prison for detainees, folamong those who spoke to the group. visit with former Omaha ADL lowing their recent trip to Besides being privy to information of current interest, director Bob Wolfson who Cuba are Jim Fried, left, the conferees had an opportunity to lobby their con- now holds a top position in the Ellie Batt, and Gary gressional representatives on the key issues noted above. ADL hierarchy. In his new Nachman. Batt, who divides her time between New York City and position only a few months, Wolfson has already had a Omaha, visited the Office of Representative Charles significant impact within the organization.

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May 25, 2007

Beth Israel mission an adventure Continued from page 1 his experiences in Israel to create a meaningful trip for everyone in the group. “It was a marvelous trip and very well-planned,� commented Wolfson. “I think Rabbi Gross did a beautiful job with the arrangements and with the meetings we had with people. All the hotels were nice and the food was excellent. Rabbi speaks the language and knows the ‘what, where and when.’ And he introduced us to some very nice rabbis.� “My vision for this trip was to impart a real picture; a real sense of Israel,� explained Rabbi Gross. “I lived there for two years and have visited there seven times in the past six years. I feel a connection with the land. This is what I wanted to impart on the members of our group, so they would feel my experiences with the people that have made my experiences so special. We weren’t simply tourists wearing our Mickey Mouse hats; we had opportunity to connect with those who live in Israel.� Gross continued, “Wherever we went, we met people who lived there, who were friends of mine. This was something planned. The idea was for our group to meet ‘real’ people and get a true picture of Israel, beyond the stereotypes or what we see in the media. For example, when we visited Golan Heights, we saw for ourselves, with our own eyes, how important the Golan is for Israel. It gave us incredible insight into the current events and Israel’s relationship with neighboring countries.� Perhaps the most newsworthy aspect happened on the last day of the visit, when the group had a meeting with Natan Scharansky. Scharansky, who was born in Ukraine, is well-known for being a founder and spokesperson for the Soviet refusenik movement. His resistance activities in the former Soviet Union led to his imprisonment, including nine years in a Siberian labor camp. Pressures on the Soviets by the West ultimately led to Scharansky’s release, in exchange for two Soviet spies, in 1986. Scharansky immigrated to Israel, and served in Israel’s cabinet. Noted as one of the top 100 most influential people of 2005 by Time magazine, he is the recipient of the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “Scharansky is a hero of mine, and has been since I was a little kid,� declared Gross. “He’s the Elie Wiesel of my generation. He represents the struggle of Soviet Jewry. This was the seminal issue of my formative years.� It was Rabbi Gross’ friendship with his teacher, Rabbi Benny Eisner, that led to the special visit with Scharansky. “Rabbi Eisner and his wife are close with Natan and his wife, Avital,� explained Gross. “Rabbi Eisner was an activist while Scharansky was in prison. When I was making plans for our group to have dinner with the Eisners while we were in Israel, they asked if

Duitch and has lived in Israel with his wife, Laurie, and three children for nearly 25 years. “We had a wonderful guide who was heartfelt and sincere,� Wolfson concurred. “He was well-versed and brought out the highlights of the historical sites. I loved every bit of the tour.� The group also had a friendly face provide protection. Yitzchak Mizrachi, grandson of Rebbitzen Jeanette Nadoff, was the tour guard. Mizrachi is an IDF veteran. “Yitzchak has been to Omaha and spent last Sukkot with us,� said Gross. “It was nice to see a friendly face -- to have someone that we already knew.� In Naharyia, the group enjoyed a welcome dinner. “We strolled along the beach, admiring the beauty of the Mediterranean Sea,� said Gross. “Then we hit the sack, so we would be well-rested for our first official day.� The next day brought visits to the historic cities of Akko and Tsfat. “I kept a diary about all of our travels,� said Gross. “For Akko, I wrote, ‘We toured the infamous Akko Prison, now a museum, and relived the exciting story of the daring escape of the Jewish soldiers from British custody in 1947 before the foundation of the state of Israel. We actually walked in the cells and traced the footsteps of the heroic men who perpetrated what was considered the most ingenious prison escape in history.’� Gross’ travel diary entry continued with, “Next we toured the Mission participants who met with former Soviet dissident and Member of the Israeli Knesset ancient city and visited Natan Scharansky, include: Harry Wolfson, seated center, and, from left: George and Esther the shul of the legendary Kalendareva, Bette Kozlen (hidden), Marianna Tichauer, Sandy Gross (hidden), Lynne Saltzman, 17th century Rabbi Scharansky, Rabbi Jonathan Gross, Kelly Kirk, Wendy Berenson (in front of Kirk), Ann Moskovits, Moshe Chaim Luzzato. Ryan Tichauer (hidden), Marty Tichauer, former Omahan Jonathan Duitch (guide), Jack Kozlen, We learned of his Laurie Duitch, and Yitzchak Mizrachi (Jeanette Nadoff’s grandson and guard). astounding accomplishrent optimism of Israel and the Jewish people.� ments and together, in the very room where he once sat, Meeting with Scharansky was not the only highlight. we learned a passage from his famous book, ‘Mesliat Everything the group did prior to meeting with him on Yisharim.’� their last day in Israel, went beyond expectations. Ann Beth Israel’s Mission also visited an elementary school. Moskovits sentiments were expressed by many of the “When we visited a first grade class in Akko, we spent group members. “It was amazing,� she stated. “It was time with these cute kids,� stated Gross. “There was a the trip of a lifetime.� sense of familiarity, that they were like our kids.� The “trip of a lifetime� began in the resort town, According to Rabbi Gross’ travel diary, “From Akko Naharyia. Upon arriving in Israel, the group was met by we went to the ancient and holy city Tsfat. We visited the Jonathan Duitch. “Duitch, who is from Omaha, was our majestic synagogue of the great 17th century Kabbalist, tour guide,� explained Saltzman. “He told us he had the Arizal, and the synagogue of Rabbi Yosef Caro, always wanted to lead a tour with a group from Omaha. author of the ‘Shulchan Aruch.’� It was nice how he explained things with references to The second day began with a visit to the Golan Omaha.� He’s the son of Jean Duitch and the late Jack Continued on page 5 We’ll come to you with custom design and products to fit your style and budget.

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there was anyone else I’d like to invite. I jokingly suggested Scharansky. It turned out that while he wasn’t available to attend Friday night dinner, he was more than willing to spend time with us on Sunday, which we did.� “When we met with him, I introduced our group, telling him we were from Omaha, and that I brought regards from Shirley Goldstein, whom Scharansky knows very well. He told us he would do anything for Shirley, and that we didn’t need our Rabbi Eisner ‘connection’ to see him, since we knew Shirley.� “I’ve known of him,� said Wolfson. “It was nice to have the opportunity to be in his audience and hear him speak. He’s a person of ethics. Additionally, Scharansky typically only speaks for 15 minutes, but he was with us for 45 minutes.� According to Gross, “Scharansky spoke about current events in Israel, the threat of a nuclear Iran, and the recent successes of Israel’s economy. He also answered questions from our group. I was impressed with his cur-

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Continued from page 4 impressed with Ari’s cousin and the booklet he gave us Heights. “It was a beautiful drive,� noted Wolfson. “We about his son,� noted Saltzman. had Yitzchak with us all the time. They gave us a special Saltzman was also impressed by the group’s visit to bus that was secure and had big, steel plates. We had all Yad Vashem, the world’s largest Holocaust museum. this protection and we never saw any trouble.� Following a tour, they met with Holocaust survivor “Seeing Golan Heights, we learned about the history Leah Weiss. “I really appreciated listening to her� said of the place, as well as its importance in regard to Saltzman. “It brings a personalized view to hear from a Israel’s security,� stated Gross. survivor.� Gross’s travel diary described the group’s next destiExperiencing Shabbat in Jerusalem was another high nation, “We took a scenic route and visited Ptil point. According to Gross’ travel diary, “We went to Techeilet, the factory where they produce the blue the Kotel and with thousands of Jewish people from all thread mentioned in the Torah tied to make tzitzit.� over the world; we escorted in the Shabbat Queen. We “Going to the factory was a highlight,� stated walked back to the hotel where we had a delicious dinSaltzman. “It was interesting to learn about the ner, joined by my rabbi from yeshiva, Rabbi Eisner and process, with the use of snails’ glands to create the his family. After dinner, we enjoyed a stimulating leccolor.� ture. For Shacharit, we davened at our Jerusalem sister “We went to Ma’aleh Admium and met with Rabbi congregation, Beth Israel, in the neighborhood Yemin Raphael Groner, son of the late Rabbi Benjamin Moshe.� Groner, who was a rabbi at Beth Israel in Omaha,� said One of the most moving experiences for Wolfson was Gross. “He spent some time showing us some of the when the group visited Rachel’s tomb, on the last day sites, such as their hesder yeshiva, which is a five-year of the tour in Israel. “It was very emotional,� he said. program combining Torah study with service in the “I would say that the most moving experience for me army; we were able was the Cave of to meet some of the the Patriarchs, students.� the Ma’arat The group also HaMachpelah,� enjoyed Judaica Saltzman conshopping, with the curred.� I read opportunity to purabout it in the chase Judaica made Torah. That was by many different the coolest thing Israeli artists. They for me.� also dined in a wide The visit to variety of restauHebron made a rants. One evening strong impresthey enjoyed a meal sion on Kirk. in a kosher Italian “Hebron is a restaurant. There place I won’t Ann Moskovits and Bette Kozlen explore the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount. were also meals in soon forget,� Photo by Lynne Saltzman. the various hotels stated Kirk. “We and at other unique restaurants. visited Rachel’s Tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs One of the most moving experiences for Gross was on - where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their wives are their first day in Jerusalem. “Our day began with a trip buried. Walking in the same places our forefathers to the Goldman Promenade where we overlooked one walked was unreal. In so many places in the Torah, we of the best views of the city,� wrote Gross in his travel read about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, diary. “There Harry Wolfson led us in reciting the Leah and Rachel. Now I know where they lived and Shehechiyanu, thanking Hashem for allowing him to where they are buried. From this point forward, I will finally set his own eyes on the most precious city in the never feel the same about my Jewish history.� world for the first time in 88 years.� Hebron made an impression on Kirk in another way. Of course, a highlight for many was visiting the Kotel. “I saw a small piece of what life is like for Jews living in According to Wolfson, “Rabbi Gross took me there an area that stirs deep religious and political passions for twice. It was really touching. I said a prayer and left a both Jews and Arabs. Because the Israeli government note, just as millions have done before me.� agreed to give the Arabs control of Hebron, one of the The Kotel also held special significance for Kirk. four holy cities where Jews have had a presence for cen“I’ll never forget,� she said. “Walking up to the Wall turies, there is much conflict. Unfortunately, the media for the first time, seeing it, touching it and saying only tells part of the story, most of which is biased ‘tehillim’ (psalms) was unlike anything I’ve ever experi- against Jews. Now I know the truth and will try and enced. It was emotionally overwhelming. Being there educate others.� was the closest I’ve ever felt to God. I wish each and The group had a wonderful trip and many speak of every Jew could experience the Kotel. I think visiting going there again. “The trip was very impressive,� there changes people for the better.� emphasized Wolfson. “We’re very fortunate to have The Mission also toured the tunnels beneath the such a knowledgeable man for a rabbi, as he helped Kotel. “We walked on the same roads our ancestors make the trip so memorable. Everyone was congenial walked over 2000 years ago; we approached the center and got along beautifully. The girls all looked after me. of Har Habayit and stood opposite the holiest spot on Every place we went had some significance. I gained a earth, where the Aron Kodesh resided when the Beit religious outlook from what we saw.� He would go Hamikdash stood,� wrote Gross. back again, he says, next time to see the southern part While in Jerusalem, the group had the opportunity to of Israel. have dinner with Nate Joseph; he and his parents, Ed “It was very emotionally impressive,� continued and Anne Joseph, are members of Beth Israel. “Nate Wolfson. “Any Jewish person should visit Israel. I rechas been studying in Ohr David Yeshiva in Jerusalem,� ommend that a person should be younger than I. It’s explained Gross. “We’re proud of his accomplishments better if you are able to really walk around with out as a Torah scholar.� problems. That was the only difficult part.� There was another connection. The mission met with The Mission to Israel was deemed “the best ever� by Yossi Apter, a cousin of Beth Israel’s high holiday chaz- Gross. “I look forward to the next Mission to Israel, zan, Ari Dembitzer. Apter shared the story of his son, where we’ll take more people from Beth Israel. Noam, who was killed by Arab terrorists while he was However, we’ve raised the bar with what we did and on kitchen duty in his yeshiva. Noam locked himself in saw this time around. It will be quite an accomplishwith the terrorists, allowing 70 boys to escape. “I was ment to surpass.�

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Hadassah celebrates 40th anniversary of return of its hospital on Mt. Scopus by ROBERTA ELLIOTT town Jerusalem, hundreds of war wounded were treated Israel’s hospitals have always been central to its war by medical personnel working around the clock. efforts, but probably no other hospital figured as largeAccording to notes made at the time: “Within four ly in the early years of the state as Hadassah Hospital on days, 985 patients, 50 of whom were Jordanian prisonMt. Scopus. The upcoming 40th anniversary of the Six ers of war, had been treated….Eight casualty teams Day War is also the 40th anniversary of the return of the worked incessantly, preparing the wounded for the operMt. Scopus hospital to Hadassah’s hands as a vital med- ating theater….310 operations were performed in just ical facility in service of the Jerusalem public. over 60 hours and, thanks to the remarkable dedication On April 13, 1948, during the War of Independence, of the staff, the death toll amongst the 985 patients was a convoy of medical personlimited to 11. Of 60 soldiers nel taking supplies to the who received eye injuries, hospital (opened in 1939) not one lost his sight.” was ambushed and massaPast National President cred by Arab attackers as Rebecca Shulman, was in they climbed Mt. Scopus. Jerusalem during the Six After a fierce day of relentDay War and went to the less attack -- during which Ein Kerem hospital with British mandatory troops then-Prime Minister Levi refused to intervene until Eshkol, who addressed the the very end -- 78 doctors, staff: “On behalf of the nurses, and other personnel, mothers, wives and sisters of including the hospital’s the wounded, I wish to director, Haim Yassky, were thank you from the bottom murdered. of my heart for all that you They had risked their lives In June of 1967 Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus, which have done and are doing to for the patients because sup- had been in Jordanian hands for 19 years, lay battered and treat them and to bring plies and food were low in wounded from the fierce fights of the Six Day War. On June them back to productive life. the face of severely limited 9th, the fifth day of the war, Hadassah’s flag was raised once I want to add that I am access to Mt. Scopus. again on Mt. Scopus. At far left is Rebecca Shulman, former speaking too for the relatives Following this devastating National President of Hadassah. of the wounded Arab solmassacre, it was determined diers. that keeping the hospital “God knows that in our open was too dangerous and hearts, we have no hatred it was closed in May, 1948. for the Arabs, and I hope It was to lie dormant for that we can work out some the next 19 years -- defendsystem of peaceful co-exised by a UN-monitored gartence for the benefit of both rison of Israeli policemen peoples. The proof of this and civilians to ensure that lack of hatred is the extreme no one entered the abancare that is being given to doned and desolate buildthese Arab prisoners of war ings. On June 6, the second here in Hadassah. I am sure day of the Six Day War, the that the same spirit can preIsrael Defense Forces recapvail and be extended to all tured Mt. Scopus. And on our relations in peace time. Friday, June 9, permission Charlotte Jacobson, then-National President of Hadassah, The common bonds of came from the IDF for a receiving keys to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus from humanity bind all people.” Hadassah delegation to visit Israel Defense Forces Commander Menachem Scharfman Today, Hadassah Medical the ruins of the once thriv- on June 21, 1967. Center in Ein Kerem still ing hospital. treats all residents of the Their first stop was at the site where the 78 men and region, without regard for religion, ethnicity or politics. women described above had been murdered. After say- It is the most advanced medical center in the Middle ing a memorial prayer, the group proceeded to the hos- East. Hadassah University Hospital on Mt. Scopus is the pital’s roof, where they raised the Hadassah flag. On largest hospital in eastern Jerusalem, serving the citizens June 21, then-National President Charlotte Jacobson of the capital city and its neighboring communities. received the keys to the hospital from IDF Commander Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of Menachem Scharfman. America, is the largest women’s, largest Jewish and The Hadassah National Board in New York -- in con- largest Zionist organization in the U.S., and supports sultation with the government of Israel -- soon decided the Hadassah Medical Organization in Israel. HMO is that the hospital would be renovated and expanded and the most advanced medical and research center in the that a major portion of it would be used for a rehabili- Middle East: Nearly one million patients from all over tation unit for war wounded. Meanwhile, at sister hospi- the world are treated each year at the two hospitals, a tal, Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem, which had community health center, and more than 100 outpatient been opened in 1961 following 13 years of Hadassah clinics. For more information on Hadassah, please visit patients being housed in temporary quarters in down- www.hadassah.org

Yachad members honored at Temple Israel As the Yachad Program Director, I gave a brief histoby DUANE J. PIEPER Earlier this month, Yachad members attended the ry of the program and its future aspirations. One of the Shabbat service at Temple Israel as special guests of dreams of the members is to be included at all levels of Rabbi Aryeh Azriel and the congregation. The service community life. Expanded support and involvement will celebrated the variety of gifts which this group of Jewish not only help the members to realize their potential, but allow them to contribute adults brings to the commumore fully to the well being nity. of the community. Debbie Salomon, a As Rabbi Azriel said, “In Temple congregant whose this season between Pesach daughters participate in Yachad, gave the d’var and Shavuot we have passed Torah. She chronicled the through the sea and now journey of her daughters and our eyes should be fixed on the various challenges their the ‘mountain’ ahead and all family has met. Today Lisa the promise it holds.” and Jillian are living semiTo learn more about independently in their own Rabbi Aryeh Azriel enjoys othe Oneg at a Friday night Yachad and how you might apartment and are enjoying Shabbat service with Avi Wolfson, front row left, Lisa be a part of its vision and the fruits of vocational train- Solomon and Michael Parsow, Nancy Isler, Jillian Salomon, future, please call Jewish ing and satisfaction of being Grace Isler, Ra bbi Azriel, and Jeff Steinberg. Not pictured: Family Service at 334.6491. Alan Friedman. employed.

May 25, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

Jump into summer reading Community teachers prepare for educators’ mission Dora Goldstrom, a teacher at Temple Israel, is no by CHERYL LERNER at the Kripke Library Center for Jewish Education Administrative Assistant novice. She’s been teaching for 25 years. “I love teachby GARY KATZ Library Administrator The Kripke Jewish Federation Library invites you to join “Kugel” the Kripke Library Kangaroo and jump into summer reading. The Summer Reading Club, a great way for children in kindergarten through sixth grade to read their way to great prizes, runs from June 11-Aug. 26. 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. To entice young people, library staff has lined up a summer’s worth of fantastic reading fun. Young readers in kindergarten through third grade will win prizes for numbers of books read, with rewards for every 10 books. Children in grades four through six will log their reading time, winning rewards for every four hours spent reading.

Children’s Summer Reading Events Summer Story Time (ages two-five) Mondays, June 11, 25, July 9, 23; Aug. 6, 20, 11 a.m.

Summer Reading Club Kick-Off Party Monday, June 11, 4:30-6 p.m.

“Sundaes on Monday” Ice Cream and Craft Parties Mondays, June 25; July 9, 23; and Aug. 6, 20, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Wrap-Up Party Sunday, Aug. 26, 12:30-1:30 pm. So what about those prizes? This year’s participants can earn toys to treats, books to bagels. Additionally, anyone who completes their reading charts will qualify for a raffle to win more prizes. In addition, Summer Reading Club members will be invited to special member only events, “Sundaes on Monday” ice cream and craft parties. Children will receive their personal invitation from “Kugel” the Kangaroo in the mail for “Kugel’s KickOff Party” on Monday, June 11, 4:30- 6 p.m., along with a “Kugel-Kard” which children can bring to the library to redeem for their first prize, and their summer reading packet when they sign up for the Kripke Library Summer Reading Club. For more information, call Cheryl Lerner or me at the Kripke Library at: 334.6462, or e-mail gkatz@jewishomaha.org or clerner@jewish-omaha.org.

The school year is winding down and while school ing. But even so, I’m hoping that this trip will invigorchildren are unpacking their book bags, teachers in the ate me so I can bring more excitement into my classJewish community will be packing theirs -- not just book room.” People who have visited Israel almost universally bags, but suitcases and suntan lotion as well. With financial support from the Omaha community, 21 teachers affirm it as a life changing experience. They return from the Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center, inspired, motivated, and enthused -- all features that are Beth El, Temple Israel, Beyt Shalom, and the Lincoln essential to producing high-quality teachers. In the Jewish Community School will be taking part in the arena of Jewish education, it is an asset to have instrucCenter for Jewish Education Educators’ Mission to tors who have a personal connection to the land and people of Israel. Israel, June 5-13. Carole Greenberg is the Assistant Director at the Participants will tour the Partnership area in the Western Galilee, see the view from the heights of CDC, and teaches art there and at the JCC. “This is a Masada, take a dip in the great opportunity for me to Dead Sea, walk the cobblerefresh my Jewish soul and stone streets of Tzfat, expespirit.” She also sees the trip rience Shabbat in Jerusalem, as an opportunity to make visit Yad Vashem, and much Israel more than the name of more. However, this mission a far away place. “I plan to won’t be a trip consisting of take a lot of pictures of all travel and sightseeing. everyday life that will help The mission has been young children make a conbilled as one of, “extensive nection to Israel which is touring, intensive study.” just a name to them. They The tour is led by Dr. Guy will see images of other chilMatalon, executive director dren just like them, and of the CJE. He will conduct associate them with things seminars on Israel and that we do here in the U.S.” Judaism. In addition, lessons Deborah Kronick teaches Friday afternoon shoppers purchase foods and flowers from will be augmented with lecpre-schoolers at the CDC Jerusalem’s Machane Yehudah market. turers from the Western and also teaches older stuGalilee College. dents at Beth El Synagogue Talmud Torah. She is excit“The overall goal of the mission,” says Dr. Matalon, ed about being able to share her experiences with her “is to enhance the Jewish education of youth in the students. Omaha area by providing a unique teacher training “We as teachers need to project a love for Israel and be experience to Omaha educators. By providing educators able to pass that devotion on to our students,” she said. with the opportunity to experience Israel in conjunction “The sights, the sounds, the history, the people, all these with teacher training sessions, the knowledge gained will experiences will help me to share a more personal side of be carried into the classroom and provide a distinctive Israel with my students from preschool through B’nai advantage in reaching the students.” Mitzvah age.” The challenge of nurturing and retaining knowledgeWhile most of the educators are from Omaha schools, able, dynamic, talented and skillful educators is real. participants in the mission include two teachers from Area educators are hungry for more teacher training. Lincoln, Tracy Gordon and Shoshanna SchechterBut, opportunities are few, often limited to staff meet- Shaffin, who teach at the combined religious school for ings, articles to read, or one-time presentations. Tifereth Israel and Congregation B’nai Jeshurun. Their In addition, most community teachers juggle multiple participation is made possible in part by support from jobs, teaching being just part of an already overloaded the Jewish Federation Foundation schedule. Where can one fit in yet another class or meetThe Mission is made possible with support from the ing? At a time when the people of Israel are calling out Jewish Federation Foundation Special Donor-Advised to the world Jewish community to come experience Fund, the Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Supporting Israel, our teachers are asking for the opportunity and Foundation, the Herbert Goldsten Fund, the Milton S. inspiration needed to lead children in the paths of Jewish and Corinne N. Livingston Foundation, and the Murray life. This mission provides the perfect vehicle. H. and Sharee C. Newman Supporting Foundation.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 25, 2007

May 25, 2007

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All events held at the Jewish Community Center unless otherwise noted. This calendar does not include all community events. For a complete listing, visit the Federation’s website: www.jewishomaha.org (click on calendar). To keep calendar accurate, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of the below events.

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www.martinizing.com/omaha FRIDAY, JUNE 1 Summer Fun Days, 9 a.m. at JCC Visions Board Meeting, 9:30 a.m. at JCC SATURDAY, JUNE 2 Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel BBYO Pledge Night, 7 at JCC Pool SUNDAY, JUNE 3 Yachad at Royals Baseball Game The Living Torah, 9:30 a.m. at Chabad House Class with Rabbi Nadel, 9:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Bible Study Group, 10 a.m. at Beth El BESTT Chaverim Trip to Mahoney State Park, noon Volunteer Recognition & LOVE Installation, 1:30 p.m. at Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Irene Blecher Art Reception, 3 p.m. at JCC Basketball Camp Coaches Meeting, 5 p.m. at JCC BILU USY’s Mystery Bus Ride CMT 2007, 5 p.m. at Beth El

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MONDAY, JUNE 4 Camp Staff Orientation, 7:30 a.m. at JCC ADL Holocaust Education Class, 8 a.m. at JCC Summer Fun Days, 9 a.m. at JCC Aquatics MOD Meeting, 9:30 at JCC Theology 354: Judaism with Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, 5:45 p.m. at JCC Jewish Family Service Board Meeting, 7 p.m. at JCC

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TUESDAY, JUNE 5 Camp Staff Orientation, 7:30 a.m. at JCC ADL Holocaust Education Class, 8 a.m. at JCC WOW Tehillim & More, 9 a.m. at Chabad Summer Fun Days, 9 a.m. at JCC Senior Card Players, 11:30 a.m. at JCC RBJH Medicare Meeting, 1 p.m. at JCC BBYO Night, 6 p.m. Parshah Roundup, 7 p.m. at Chabad House JCC Final Board Meeting of the Year, 7:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6 Camp Staff Orientation, 7:30 a.m. at JCC Summer Fun Days, 9 a.m. at JCC Kabbalah Circle, 7 p.m. at Chabad House THURSDAY, JUNE 7 Camp Staff Orientation, 7:30 a.m. at JCC ADL Holocaust Education Class, 8 a.m. at JCC Summer Fun Days, 9 a.m. at JCC Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Yiddish Group, 1 p.m. Theology 354: Judaism with Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, 5:45 p.m. at JCC Hebrew Classes, 6 p.m. Advanced Parshah Study, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel FRIDAY, JUNE 8 Camp Staff Orientation, 7:30 a.m. at JCC Summer Fun Days, 9 a.m. at JCC Temple Israel Shabbat Comes to Remington Heights, 4 p.m. SATURDAY, JUNE 9 Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel

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SUNDAY, JUNE 10 Yachad at Royals Baseball Game The Living Torah, 9:30 a.m. at Chabad House Class with Rabbi Nadel, 9:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Bible Study Group, 10 a.m. at Beth El LOVE Pan Tournament, noon WRJ-O Annual Book Sale, 1p.m. at Temple Israel Policeman/Fireman Recognition Reception, 2 p.m. at JCC National Register of Historical Places, 2 p.m. at B’nai Israel Synagogue Cantor’s Concert, 7 p.m. at Beth El MONDAY, JUNE 11 ADL Holocaust Education Class, 8 a.m. at JCC Aquatics MOD Meeting, 9:30 at JCC JSS Senior Luncheon, 10 a.m. Hadassah Workshop, 10 a.m. WRJ-O Annual Book Sale, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Theology 354: Judaism with Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, 5:45 p.m. at JCC NCJW Book Club, 7 p.m. Jewish Press Meeting, 7:30 p.m. at JCC TUESDAY, JUNE 12 ADL Holocaust Education Class, 8 a.m. at JCC WOW Tehillim & More, 9 a.m. at Chabad WRJ-O Annual Book Sale, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel JCC Specialty Camp Musical Theater Production of the Lion King, 11 a.m. at JCC ADL/CRC Board Meeting, noon at JCC BBYO Night, 6 p.m. Parshah Roundup, 7 p.m. at Chabad House The Story of Religious Pluralism, 7 p.m. at Temple Israel

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13 ADL Holocaust Education Class, 8 a.m. at JCC Kabbalah Circle, 7 p.m. at Chabad House Annual Meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Beth El Synagogue

TUESDAY, JUNE 19 WOW Tehillim & More, 9 a.m. at Chabad BBYO Night, 6 p.m. BESTT Board Meeting, 7 p.m. at Beth El Parshah Roundup, 7 p.m. at Chabad House Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Temple Israel

THURSDAY, JUNE 14 Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Yiddish Group, 1 p.m. JSS Concert, 1:30 p.m. at JCC Theology 354: Judaism with Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, 5:45 p.m. at JCC Hebrew Classes, 6 p.m. Advanced Parshah Study, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20 Kabbalah Circle, 7 p.m. at Chabad House JSS Iowa Western Community Band Concert “Sensational Summer Sounds,” 7 p.m. JCC

SATURDAY, JUNE 16 Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel SUNDAY, JUNE 17 The Living Torah, 9:30 a.m. at Chabad House Class with Rabbi Nadel, 9:45 a.m. at Beth Israel Bible Study Group, 10 a.m. at Beth El MONDAY, JUNE 18 Aquatics MOD Meeting, 9:30 at JCC Jewish Book Club, 11 a.m. at JCC Hadassah Board Meeting, 1 p.m. Theology 354: Judaism with Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, 5:45 p.m. at JCC Beth El Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group, 7 p.m. JFS Board Meeting, 7 p.m. at JCC

THURSDAY, JUNE 21 Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Yiddish Group, 1 p.m. Camp Overnight, 4 p.m. JCC Theology 354: Judaism with Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, 5:45 p.m. at JCC Hebrew Classes, 6 p.m. NCJW Board Meeting, 7 p.m. Advanced Parshah Study, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel Online with Eye on Israel, 8 p.m. FRIDAY, JUNE 22 Temple Israel Shabbat Comes to Blumkin, 2:30 p.m. SATURDAY, JUNE 23 Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel

MONDAY, JUNE 25 JSS Nurse, 8 a.m. Aquatics MOD Meeting, 9:30 at JCC JSS Senior Luncheon, 10 a.m. JCC Theology 354: Judaism with Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, 5:45 p.m. at JCC

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TUESDAY, JUNE 26 WOW Tehillim & More, 9 a.m. at Chabad JSS/RBJH Board Meeting, 11 a.m. at JCC BBYO Night, 6 p.m. Parshah Roundup, 7 p.m. at Chabad House WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27 Kabbalah Circle, 7 p.m. at Chabad House THURSDAY, JUNE 28 Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Yiddish Group, 1 p.m. RBJH LOVE Meeting, 7 p.m. at JCC Elizabeth Bergman Technical Show, 7 p.m. at JCC Advanced Parshah Study, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel Online with Eye on Israel, 8 p.m. SATURDAY, JUNE 30 Elizabeth Bergman Dance Performance, 8 a.m. at JCC Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel Hazak Lunch and Learn, noon at Beth El

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 25, 2007

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Bob the Builder and his Can-Do Crew invite aspiring builders and their families to help get the job done, as the first-ever hands-on “Bob the Builder-Project: Build It” traveling museum exhibit comes to Omaha Children’s Museum from June 2 through Sept. 2. This multimedia exhibit replicates elements from Bob the Builder’s world, inviting exploration, inspiring teamwork and bringing environmentally friendly building themes to life for children and families. A popular children’s character, Bob the Builder, embodies the combination of a can-do attitude and teamwork mentality, and concern for the environment. Families can also work together to install new parts to sinks in Bob the Builder’s mobile home and in his building workshop, and learn about water conservation, courtesy of exhibit presenter Delta Faucet Company. Museum hours are: Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday 1-5 p.m.; Closed Monday and major holidays. Members are admitted free as are children under 24 months of age; children ages two-15, $7; adults ages 16-59, $7; Seniors 60+, $6. This is the fourth year Nebraska Children’s Home Society (NCHS) Foundation brings Sand in the City™ presented by First National Bank to the Omaha Riverfront at Miller’s Landing on June 8–10. More than 350 tons of sand will be transformed as corporate teams and architects will be a part of the sand sculpting competition on Friday, June 8, noon-5 p.m., followed by awards and the Sand Blast in Paradise Patron Party on the River City Star and Docking area. Saturday and Sunday’s Family Fun Weekend will be open free (donations welcome) to the public on June 9, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and on June 10, 11 a.m. -5 p.m. Purchase Sand Dollars for $1 to vote for a favorite sand sculpture in the People’s Choice Awards. The event is to help raise awareness for the programs of Nebraska Children’s Home Society, which include statewide adoption services and education, unplanned pregnancy services, medically fragile foster care and child care programs. Erin Malashock, daughter of Jody and Neal (Buzz) Malashock recently graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri - Kansas City Law School.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT The Omaha Symphony Musicians Organization is reviving its annual Big Band Benefit and Dance with a 16-piece big band comprised of musicians from the Omaha Symphony joined by many local musicians on Sunday, June 3, 7-10 p.m. at the Eagles Club on 24th and Douglas. Music to be performed will include swing-era hits from the libraries of Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, and the Dorsey Brothers. Members of the Omaha Jitterbugs will join everyone on the dance floor, and will offer swing dance lessons starting at 6:30 p.m. that evening, Sunday, June 3. Tickets are $10/$5 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at the door.

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Police Detective Steve Henthorn will speak at Breadbreakers on Wednesday, May 30 noon, at Regency Lodge, according to Marty Ricks, chairman. Henthorn, lead officer on the Amber Harris murder case, will reflect on that and other cases in his lengthy career in homicide and the Special Victims Unit. All men and women in the community are invited. Cost is $12 for a complete lunch and $3 for beverage service only.

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Members of Congregation Beth Israel, whose New Orleans synagogue was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, dance around a new Torah donated by Temple Beth Emet in Anaheim, CA. The May 20 celebration was held at Congregation Gates of Prayer/Sh’are Tefillah in nearby Metarie, Louisiana, which has lent one of its chapels to Beth Credit: Alan Smason Israel since Katrina hit.

B’nai Israel closes out Speaker Series for the year David Mayer Gradwohl, Professor Emeritus of An thropology at Iowa State Universitym was the guest speaker earlier this month at B’nai Israel in Council Bluffs. Dr. Gradwohl discussed “The Grandee vs. Our Crowd: Intra-group Diversity in American Cemeteries.” He spoke of his extensive research into the creation of American Jewish cemeteries and how they illustrate the relationship among Jewish groups. Cemeteries have helped to trace the history of the Jewish people from when they arrived in America. This was the final event in the 2006-07 Speaker Series; a new series will begin in the fall.

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May 25, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

New to JFS: a veteran at the Blumkin Home by ANDREA BARTMAN Family Service, agrees: “JFS therapists for Jewish Family Service can work with a client on mental health Abigail Erpelding is spreading her aspects of their problem and our wings to apply her social work skills at Assistance Coordinator can assess the two agencies in the Federation. Since financial aspects of their problem, but March of this year, she’s begun working often times even more help is needed. for Jewish Family Service as their Helping clients develop a broad support Assistance Coordinator. Erpelding is not system, which may include JFS and their new to the Federation. synagogue, if affiliated, is She’s been working for our goal for long term the Rose Blumkin Jewish health and wellness.” Home since her under“Part of what I’ve had graduate days at Dana to do is to learn what College in Blair. types of resources are While still a student, available in the Omaha Erpelding completed her area that I can connect practicum work at the our Jewish community RBJH and then graduatmembers with,” she says. ed in 2004. Her new “We want to continue to work at Jewish Family provide financial assisService is broadening the tance, but we also want to scope of the assistance connect people with the she’s accustomed to proappropriate resources so viding the Jewish comwe can get them a step Abigail Erpelding munity of Omaha. “I find beyond needing help one it extremely rewarding,” she says, or two times; we want to help them in “because I’m working with a different the long run and give them the skills and population and I’m able to meet and help resources they need for their future.” a lot of people in the Jewish community These resources may include connectthat I otherwise wouldn’t have been able ing clients with the United Way or helpto.” ing them make special arrangements with As the Assistance Coordinator for JFS, utility companies. According to Erpelding provides financial assistance to Erpelding, need encompasses nearly clients who are in need. She is careful to every age group from young families in demonstrate the difference between her their 30s to people in their 60s or 70s. job and the jobs of the therapists at JFS. She expresses how a sense of loss and She describes how therapists address the hopelessness can affect nearly anyone emotional components of how people who has encountered a financial stummay be dealing with issues ranging from bling block in life. Sometimes it may only financial hardship to marriage or family be one medical bill a client needs help issues. Erpelding’s job is to help alleviate with. Other times it is repeated setbacks. the stress that short term financial hard“I think it’s hard for people to reach ships present, by arranging for the neces- out and ask for assistance, Erpelding sary financial assistance and providing notes. “Many of them have been self sufinformation on resources available to get ficient their entire life and because of just her clients over the hump they are expe- one or two reasons they’re having diffiriencing. culty and they need the help.” “I don’t think everyone realizes how She stresses the security of confidentialmany Jewish community members we ity in these situations. JFS is diligent in have in Omaha that have gone through a their protection of people’s private lives. financial hardship or that do need assis- When asked what she enjoys most about tance from JFS. I feel like we’re doing a her new work with JFS, she responds by lot of good here,” she says. saying, “Just seeing people so genuinely Karen Gustafson, Director of Jewish appreciative of the help JFS provides. I’ve Before someone offers you alcohol or other drugs, decide what you are going to say. Having the facts can give you confidence

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had people cry, saying how thankful they are.” Erpelding is spending about eight hours a week working for clients of JFS. The remainder of her time, about 32 hours a week, is spent doing what she’s always done well at the Blumkin Home; and the two jobs are actually quite similar. At the RBJH Abigail works primarily with residents who are at the Home for a short term stay. Since receiving her Master’s degree in social work from UNO, she’s been specializing in working on residents’ discharge plans and connecting them with the resources they will need to return home. “Our focus at the Blumkin Home is to get them stronger and help them return home and be safe there,” she says. Among the services she helps arrange are home health care, companion services, meals on wheels and physical therapy. Erpelding is enjoying her work tremendously at both agencies and this coopera-

Beth El youth group plans jaunt to Mahoney State Park by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Beth El’s Chaverim youth group will hold its final program of the year at Mahoney State Park on Sunday, June 3, and all Jewish fourth to sixth grade kids in the community are invited. Among the activities planned for participants is a picnic lunch, a slip-sliding good time at the water park, paddle-boating in the pond and tons of fun in the sun! Carpools will leave from Beth El at noon and will return at 4:15 p.m. Cost is Among past activities Chaverim members have enjoyed $10 for Chaverim mem- include an afternoon at Fontenelle Forest, above. The bers and $12 for non-mem- youth group’s final activity of the year will be a trip to bers; to register or for more Mahoney State Park on June 3. information about the field trip or about Mosenkis in the office, or at joining Chaverim, contact Robert youthdir@bethel-omaha.org.

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tion between the two benefits the Jewish community as a whole. Gustafson explains; “Abby is our first ‘shared’ employee. Mike Silverman and I knew that there was crossover between the two agencies but it was not yet measurable. With Abby now moving, literally, between the two agencies on a daily basis, we are beginning to identify families that receive services in both locations. Abby’s familiarity with these families only helps have a better picture of the overall needs of each family, allowing us to better serve them.” Erpelding adds, “My job has changed and grown, and I like it because I’m constantly meeting new people and working with families. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to work for the Jewish Community; because there’s a sense of community and once you’re familiar with people, there’s a strong sense of belonging. People want to work with one another and people truly care for one another.”

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 25, 2007

A Jewish take on the latest immigration issue Based on our own history of fleeing countries across the globe due to persecution, Jews have long been involved in issues related to immigration. A House/Senate bill, just introduced this week after a compromise between Republicans and Democrats, attempts to deal with the current immigration issue and the handling of the 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. Rabbi Jill Jacobs, an advocate for the Jewish Funds for Justice, has a long op-ed on this issue on page 13. And while her sentiments are in the right place -- “Our own success should make us more, not less, sympathetic to those immigrants who differ from us only in the language they speak and the decade they arrived in America” -- her conclusion is off. Of course, Jews are sympathetic to the plight of immigrants -- to legal immigrants that is. After all, not only were Jews in the forefront of the Soviet Jewry movement, but many also were involved in helping Latin American refugees escape from the clutches of the Sandinistas in El Salvador and other guerrilla groups in Guatemala and Honduras. Jews advocated for them, as well as assisting boat people from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Today, Jews and Jewish organizations are leading the fight to save the lives of men, women and children being systematically slaughtered in Darfur. There is a difference, however, in raising funds, lobbying congress and telling the story of real refugees, that is those persecuted because of their religion or political beliefs, or because of the threat of death against their tribe or race -- and the issue before Congress today. All the groups for whom Jews have worked over the decades were people entitled

to refugee status. And though these refugees could “jump the queue” so to speak because of imminent danger to their lives, they were still subject to quotas. In the 1980s, thanks to the help of such men as the late Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson (DWA) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), quotas were raised allowing more Jews from the Soviet Union to enter the United States. The road was long and hard, however; Jews in the USSR who applied to immigrate (either to the U.S. or Israel) were immediately terminated from their jobs, forced to leave the university and more often than not, lost their housing. The process took years, sometimes leaving the refugees penniless. Even after permission was granted, refugees were forced to travel to either Vienna or a refugee camp outside Rome for additional questioning and waited sometimes up to a year. And while today’s immigration advocates decry the separation of families, that happened all too often in the 1970s and ’80s, as many parents sent their children to Israel until they themselves received official permission to leave the USSR. While it’s understandable that so many Mexicans want to improve their lives and the lives of their families, they are neither entitled to refugee status nor should they “jump the queue” ahead of thousands of legal immigrants who have applied for U.S. citizenship. The fact that, as Rabbi Jacobs says. S. 2611 is “not quite the bill for which immigrant advocates had hoped” is actually a good thing. Those on the right aren’t too happy either, accusing the compromise bill’s authors of offer-

ing amnesty. The bill, while giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, also means they will stand in line for years to obtain this valuable item -- American citizenship, just as legitimate refugees have done. It means that it’s worth the wait, while forewarning others attempting to immigrate illegally that such conduct will no longer be acceptable. A country -- or religion -- or organization that has no standards for membership won’t last, while one that maintains high standards for entry remains a goal to which others continually strive. Let’s keep our goals high -- and our immigrants legal. Illegals can become legal U.S. citizens; those who can’t or won’t shouldn’t be here in the first place.

F OCUS ON ISSUES by ARI Y. KELMAN DAVIS, Calif. (JTA) -- For many younger American Jews, American Jewry looks like this: “Synagogues are for people with children. And they’re generally uninspiring.” “JCCs are for people with children. And they don’t have great gyms, either.” “Federations only want my money. Then they want me to be quiet.” “This Jewish organization wants to tell me how I ought to be Jewish.” “That Jewish organization wants to tell me I should be having children sooner rather than later (and with whom I should be having them).” “I can’t even talk about Israel.” Whether or not this impression of American Jewry is accurate is, of course, a matter of opinion. What is not up for debate is that young American Jews who remain single later in life are responding to these perceptions with a wave of cultural and organizational creativity that American Jewry has not experienced since the early part of the 20th century. They are inventing new communal outlets and projects that reflect their individuality and commitment to living meaningful Jewish lives. In Los Angeles, hundreds of young Jews belong to IKAR, a “community” that blends spirituality with social justice. Out of New York, Reboot publishes the quarterly literary magazine Guilt & Pleasure, building communities of readers who use articles as the basis for salons. Across North America, the music label JDub Records has built communities of fans who are drawn to the “Jewish sensibilities” of its artists. These are just three notable examples of a

We are seeing young people who want to build something new that follows a different vision of what an institution can be and that will cater in a different way to the needs of American Jews for meaningful Jewish engagement. One hundred years ago, young immigrants and allrightniks built the American Jewish infrastructure that we have today -- from both AJCs to the landsmanshaften to nightclubs and shuls with pools. Now we are seeing smaller, more localized but no less provocative efforts to rejuvenate, engage, practice and live Jewish lives organized on their own terms by people younger than 40. In cities across the country they are creating their own minyanim instead of joining synagogues; they are writing and publishing their own journals instead of just subscribing to existing ones; they are playing their own music, putting out records and producing

Jewish Press Committee Bobbi Leibowitz, Vice-Chairman; Stan Mitchell, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Treasurer; Michael Siegel, Finance Chairman; Joanie Jacobson, Immediate Past-chairman; David Herzog; Susan Lehr; Jamie Meyerson; George Quittner; Melissa Schop; Michael Sigmond; Jim Simon; Nancy Skid; and Dorothy Spizman. The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Centers of Excellence of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service, and Jewish Senior Services. The Jewish Press is a constitutional committee of the Jewish Federation. Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Committee, the Jewish Federation of Omaha 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.

Traditionalists have nothing to fear from creative ways of young Jews movement that has been quietly gaining momentum for more than a decade. Many traditionalists and Jews from older generations view this phenomenon as a disintegration of American Jewish life because they believe these new efforts are not serious enough to foster meaningful Jewish life. “The music is fine,” they say, “but is it enough to shoulder the burden of identity?” Rather than concluding that these new endeavors are weak or competing versions of existing institutions, we will do better to understand them as expressing an alternative vision of what Jewish communities can look like and how they can serve the needs of their members.

(Founded in 1920) Howard K. Marcus Chairman Carol Katzman Editor Richard Busse Managing Editor Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Terri Greenwood Advertising Executive Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper Anne Muskin Editorial Intern

their own concerts. They are hosting salons and movie screenings. They are involved in the creation of Jewish life that is thoughtful, popular and exists largely on the margins of mainstream Jewish organizational life. These new endeavors do not look like their predecessors because they are responding to the perception that the offerings of synagogues, federations and JCCs are simply too narrow and do not adequately address the diverse needs of American Jews. This translates also into practice, as the organizations typically resist anything hierarchical, denominational, exclusionary or judgmental. This resistance is partially a critique of mainstream Jewish organizations and partially an expression of deeply held beliefs in pluralism, as well as an understanding of the fluidity of identity in general. These are some of the lessons that Steven M. Cohen and I address in “The Continuity of Discontinuity,” our newly published study on this phenomenon. In the study we explore the ways in which these new organizations represent a response to institutional Jewish life by offering a variety of responses to it. The organizations we highlight -- and there are many more across the country -- are the result of creative, thoughtful, dissatisfied people who had no desire to join committees, take over sisterhoods or participate in the young leadership branch of local or national communal organizations. But they understood that the landscape of Jewish life could sustain a greater diversity of organizations and experiences. Today there is much communal anxiety over the behaviors, attitudes and activities of American Jews between 18 and 35. Members of that age cohort are not following their elders into the halls of existing institutions, which could threaten these institutions. Continued on page 13

Editorial The Jewish Press is a Constitutional Committee 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: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org. 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: ckatzman@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 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. 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 more information, contact Carol Katzman, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly on Friday for $33 per calendar year U.S.; $40 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.

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Page 13

Shavuot lesson: Jews must champion cause of strangers in a strange land

BEHIND THE HEADLINES by RABBI JILL JACOBS NEW YORK (JTA) -- As Shavuot approaches, Congress again seems poised to take up the question of immigration reform. Frustrated by last year’s stalemate on the subject, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid earlier this month announced his intention to bypass the normal Judiciary Committee process and take an immigration bill that the Senate passed last year straight to the floor for debate. The bill, S.2611, is not quite the bill for which immigration advocates had hoped. It would provide additional visas for prospective immigrants; create a means for some of the 10 million-12 million immigrants here illegally to change their status; speed up the familyreunification process; and guarantee that those who provide social services to immigrants will not be prosecuted. Unfortunately, it also would create a complicated, three-tiered legalization process that probably would leave millions unable to adjust their status, and would include “touchback provisions,” which require immigrants already in the United States to leave the country in order to return legally. Critics of these touchback provisions worry that this requirement will constitute a financial and bureaucratic disincentive for immigrants to go through the legalization process. The White House is backing a different bill that essentially would end the family-reunification system, which keeps families together by giving immigration preference to close relatives of U.S. citizens. The bill also would create a guest-worker program in which workers could receive three-year legal status through their employers. We should think about these bills as we read the Book of Ruth on Shavuot. Fittingly, the book begins with a double migration: fleeing the famine in Canaan, Elimelech, his wife Naomi and their two sons leave for Moab. The sons eventually marry Moabite women and, in short order, father and sons die of unexplained causes. Naomi returns to Canaan with Ruth, one of her daughters-in-law. Without any way to earn an income, the women fall into poverty. We might imagine each of the central characters feeling simultaneously at home and out-of-place at each critical point in the story: Elimelech and his family are at home in Canaan, yet find their land betraying them by failing to produce sufficient produce. In Moab, where the family should feel out-of-place, the sons find wives and establish

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households. Upon returning to Canaan, Naomi finds herself distanced from her former community and dependent on her foreign daughter-in-law to provide for her. Finally, Ruth finds her real home in Canaan, far from her family and within a new community and religious tradition. This narrative of place and displacement finds a parallel in the central event of Shavuot, the re-enactment of the revelation of the Torah at Mount Sinai. In the biblical story, the Israelites flee slavery in Egypt on the promise of becoming a sovereign nation in their own land. The people soon arrive at Sinai, where they formally establish themselves as a covenantal community in relationship with God. While the people find their place in the cosmos, so to speak, almost immediately after being liberated from slavery, it takes another 40 years and the death of an entire generation for them to claim a physical home as well.

For generations, our immigrant history has driven American Jews to champion the rights of others who wish to settle in the United States. Throughout all of this the people complain, paradoxically, that they felt more at home in Egypt, where they were officially and permanently relegated to outsider status. Jewish history and memory are full of such stories of displacement, interrupted by the periodic discovery of home. We have formed our collective identity around the assumption that we are destined always to be wanderers. In America, Jews have found a greater level of stability than at virtually any other point in our legendary wanderings. While we still tell our families’ immigration stories, they increasingly have become folk tales told by and to those born too late to meet the immigrant subjects. Despite our power and security, we continue to identify ourselves as the still-vulnerable descendants of poor immigrants who somehow managed to scramble their way into the middle class. For generations, our immigrant history has driven American Jews to champion the rights of others who wish to settle in the United States. Opinion polls routinely show that American Jews hold more positive views of immigrants than does the general population; virtually every mainstream Jewish organization with a domestic agenda has passed a position in favor of maintaining the United States as an immigrant nation; and more than 20 local and national Jewish organizations, convened by the Jewish Funds for Justice and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, have spent the past year collaborating to garner Jewish support for immigrants and for an immigration-reform bill that would make it easier for newcomers to build a better life here.

On the other hand, some Jews have argued that an influx of immigrants will threaten our ability to maintain our place in the middle and upper-middle class. Others worry that immigrants from Muslim countries pose a security risk to Jewish communities. Still others shy away from immigration issues out of ambivalence about the presence of an undocumented Israeli immigrant community. As the memory of our own immigration begins to fade, and as we feel increasingly at home in America, some of us begin to see strangers only as a threat to our comfort and not as mirror images of our own immigrant relatives. We reinvent our own coming-to-America stories, imagining that our families came through the appropriate channels and worked their way to the top without any outside support. Unlike Ruth, Naomi and the Israelites who stood at Sinai, we can feel entirely at home in the place where we live. As a community we have acquired significant wealth and influence; we mostly are able to care for our own community’s basic needs; and we can live, attend university and work wherever we want. Our growing comfort in America threatens to make us less likely to protest when cities pass ordinances prohibiting landlords from renting to “illegal” immigrants, or when employers forbid immigrants from speaking their native languages on the job. We differentiate ourselves from the immigrants who enter America illegally, forgetting that many of our own families were able to enter the United States only by virtue of the open-border policies of the first part of the 20th century, and that millions of Jews died as a result of the visa system established in 1924. We complain that today’s immigrants are draining our public resources, ignoring the fact that our own entrance into the middle class was made possible by the public education system. According to one oft-cited midrash on the Book of Ruth, Elimelech and his family leave Canaan not because they’re starving as a result of the famine, but rather because they’re wealthy and wish to hide their own food stores from the desperate masses. This selfishness prompts God to punish the family through the deaths of Elimelech and his sons. The irony of the story, according to this midrash, is that Elimelech flees Canaan in order to protect his own wealth, only for his wife and daughter-in-law to find themselves back in Canaan destitute and dependent on the generosity of the wealthy. The point of this midrash is clear: Our own success should make us more, not less, sympathetic to those immigrants who differ from us only in the language they speak and the decade they arrived in America. Jill Jacobs is the rabbi-in-residence at Jewish Funds for Justice.

Creative ways of young Jews Continued from page 12 But what we are seeing is not the loss of Jewish practice in North America. We are seeing young people who want to build something new that follows a different vision of what an institution can be and that will cater in a different way to the needs of American Jews for meaningful Jewish engagement. In so doing they are not simply mimicking extant communal structures. They are building on the margins where people may think it strange to support ritu-

al theater or a salon or a record label, but where the future of Jewish life is being built. Ari Y. Kelman is an assistant professor of American studies at the University of California at Davis. He has written, spoken and published widely on American Jewish culture. The Continuity of Discontinuity, authored by Kelman and Steven M. Cohen, was commissioned by the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, and can be downloaded at: http://acbp.net/pub/Continuity..

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 25, 2007

Candlelighting Friday, May 25, 8:28 p.m.

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

Beth El Synagogue Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Omaha, NE 68154-1980 492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org

Beth Israel Synagogue Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific St. Omaha, NE. 68154 556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org

Beyt Shalom An Affiliate of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation 3012 S. 119 St. P.O. Box 390352 Omaha, NE 68139 660.2395 www.beytshalomomaha.org

Chabad House An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 S. 120th St. Omaha, NE 68144-1646 330.1800 www.OChabad.com email: chabad@aol.com

Congregation B’nai Jeshurun South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 S. 20th St. Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 435.8004 southstreettemple.org

Offutt Air Force Base SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway Offutt AFB, NE 68113 294.6244

Rose Blumkin Jewish Home 333 S. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154

Temple Israel Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street Omaha, NE 68132-2651 556.6536 templeisrael-ne.org

The Neighborhood Minyan 1317 No. 57 St. Omaha, NE 68132 551.6609

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 3, 1-5 p.m. :The synagogue is a point of interest in a tour of houses of worship. Community members will ride buses and stop at various churches and B’nai Israel in Council Bluffs.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by Guermantes and Stefani Lailari, in honor of their son, Ze’ev, becoming a Bar Mitzvah; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 8:40 p.m. Sitter Service is available during Friday night and Saturday morning services, on a drop-in basis, at no charge. W E E K D AY S E R V I C E S : Sundays, 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.; weekdays 6:55 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. SUNDAY: Bible Discussion Group, 10 a.m.; Torah Trope crash course, 11:15 a.m. WOMEN’S ROSH HODESH GROUP: Tuesday, May 29 at the home of Ann Goldstein, 9856 Devonshire Dr. Social hour, 7 p.m.; formal meeting, 7:30 p.m. RSVP to Goldstein at Akgold stein@gmail.com or 391.1050; or co-host Cheryl Cooper at Co opsrandc@cox.net or 391.7514. USY FINAL BANQUET: Wednesday, May 30, 6 p.m. All USYers, Kadima members and parents are invited. The evening will include executive board installations for 2007-08, awards, plus a photo slide show featuring highlights of this past year. Cost is $5. RSVP by May 28 to Robert Mosenkis in the office, or youthdir@ bethel-omaha.org. CANTOR’S CONCERT: Sunday, June 10, 7:30 p.m., featuring Hazzan Alberto Mizrachi of Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago. Cantors Gastón Bogomolni and Wendy Shermet will also perform. Tickets are on

sale now for the gala event; for information, contact the office.

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. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Bar Mitzvah of Sam Kohll; Shacharit, 9 a.m. Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes, 9:45 a.m. with Torah Parade; Kiddush luncheon is sponsored by David and Janet Kohll in honor of the Bar Mitzvah of their son, Sam; Mincha, 8:15 p.m. followed by Suedat Shlishit with Gemara class; Havdalah, 9:36 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; “Reading the Rambam” with Rabbi Nadel, 9:45 a.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m. MONDAY, Memorial Day: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; The synagogue office is closed; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m. THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m.; Advanced Parsha Study, 7:30 p.m.

BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Shabbat in the Home.

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Service, 7 a.m. SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9 a.m.; Service, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush luncheon follows the service. SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.; Living Torah, 9:30 a.m., 20minute video broadcast. WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Maamar Kabbalistic Insights for Women, 12:15 p.m.; Halacha, 7 p.m. TUESDAY: W.O.W. Prayer Circle Tehillim & More, 9 a.m.; Parshah Roundup: Weekly Torah Portion Class, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Kabbalah Circle, 7 p.m. All events and programs are open to the entire community.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel with Oneg following provided by Sara Friedman. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. all led by Rabbi Emanuel. SUNDAY: Rabbi Emanuel will be out of the office through June 11. MONDAY: Temple office will be closed for Memorial Day.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.

TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. Rabbi Eric Linder, and Tami Field will lead the service. SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15-10:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. SITTER SERVICE: Available each Friday evening service except when there is a Tot Shabbat, Saturday mornings when there is a bar or bat mitzvah, and Sunday mornings when there is Religious School. Advance reservations and a $5 donation are appreciated. Sorry, no facilities for infants.

WEDNESDAY: All Religious School Madrichim are invited to the year-end celebration, 5:30-7 p.m. at the home of Elyce and Rabbi Azriel. Please RSVP to Lori at 556.6536 or lbennett@templeisraelomaha.com.

NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN FRIDAY: Minyan, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Rabbi Royi Shaffin. and Minyan, MONDAY THURSDAY, 9 a.m. FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m. followed by a light oneg. SATURDAY: Weekly Parashah class, 8:30 a.m.; Morning service, 9:30 a.m. followed by Shabbat lunch and Talmud class. WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group meets at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Call Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066.

TREE OF LIFE CENTER Services conducted by Rabbi Rabbi Michael Weisser. FRIDAYS: Sabbath Experience, 7:30 p.m. SATURDAYS: Havdalah: Rites of Separation, 6:30 p.m.; following Havdalah Drumming Meditation until 8 p.m.; following Drumming Social Time until 10 p.m. Sitting/Silent MONDAYS: Meditation, 6 p.m.; Teachings/ Discussion, 7:30 p.m. WEDNESDAYS: Sitting/ Silent Meditation, 6 p.m.; 8 Weeks to Mindfulness Class, 7:30 p.m.

Mazel tovs all around

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

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

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To Submit B’nai Mitzvah Announcements Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing the Editor at: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org. You can also submit other announcements -- births engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements.

BAT MITZVAH Abbey Giller, daughter of Barb and Stu Giller, will become a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, June 2, at Temple Israel. Abbey is a seventhgrade Honor Roll student at Peter Kiewit Middle School. Her interests include dance, volleyball and cheer. For her mitzvah project, Abbey helped at the JCC’s

Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center, by leading several activities with the preschoolers. She also took her dog, Maggie, to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home to visit with residents. She has a sister, Emily. Her grandparents are Doris and Alvin Abramson, and the late Oscar and Belle Giller.

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Family and friends gathered recently to witness Beth El’s always-anticipated fourth grade mock wedding, a ceremony which caps the students’ yearlong study of lifecycle rituals. Each child played a specific part during the festivities, and after the formal ceremony, where the bride and groom promised to remain “best friends until the end of the wedding reception,” the children presented

explanations about the rituals that had just taken place. Above, Rabbi Mordechai Levin officiated at the wedding, which took place under the chuppah in the sanctuary; at left, the bride and groom (Sarah Kutler and Alec Epstein) listened intently as the rabbi performed the service. In addition to Kutler and Epstein, other participants and their roles were: Jessica Shandell, maid of honor; Benny Dietrich, best man; Jacob Levy and Alexandra Pichik, parents of the bride; Sammy Lieb and Madison Weaver, parents of the groom; Ethan Potash and Max Weiner, groomsmen; Jennifer Libov, bridesmaid; Elissa Wiener, flower girl; Andrew Klein, ring bearer; Veronica Dubov and Zachary Stein, ushers. Esther Wax provided musical accompaniment.

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May 25, 2007

Celebrating the Ten Commandments

SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Naso The parasha before us deals with the continued census of the Levites, the laws of the Nazirites and the identical gifts that the 12 chiefs of tribes brought to the Mishkan when it was ready for use. One must not skip the famous, beautifully structured priestly blessing. How many trillions of times has this blessing been recited in Judaism and Christianity! But our attention must leave the Sidra and come to Shavuot, one of the agricultural festivals of the year, along with Pesah and Sukkot. The creativity of the rab-

bis developed Shavuot so that no one would think of it except having to do with the Ten Commandments. To its own satisfaction, Rabbinic Judaism established that 50 days after the Exodus was the assembly at Sinai. Notice this: Rabbinic Judaism, without saying so, transferred Pesah, Shavuot and Sukkot, which biblically were all nature, agricultural festivals, to historical events. Passover becomes a celebration of the Exodus from Egypt; Sukkot, the Lord’s protection of the wildernesswandering Israelites, and now Shavuot, the anniversary of the Ten Commandments. In this respect, rabbinic religion is far more important than biblical religion. It places its emphasis on history, the life of the people, rather than on the produce of the soil. Judaism is a religion of civilization that emphasizes the march of history, rather than what is important for the farmer. Editor’s note: this was excerpted from one originally published on May 28, 2004, in the Jewish Press.

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Graphic novel draws out history of Israel Homeland: The Illustrated History of the State of Israel by Marv Wolfman, Mario Ruiz and William J. Rubin (Nachshon Press, Skokie, Ill. 2007. 124 pp. $19.95, soft cover and $34.95 hard cover.)

BOOK REVIEW by ALAN SMASON Cleveland Jewish News Staff Reporter With last month’s publication of Homeland: The Illustrated History of the State of Israel, the triumvirate of writer Marv Wolfman (The New Teen Titans), illustrator Mario Ruiz (Samson, Judge of Israel) and executive editor William Rubin have produced a graphic novel that is intended to be an educational and historically accurate depiction of the Jewish state. Starting from biblical times, the small volume condenses the entire history of the Jewish people into a few pages of illustrations, with the majority of the work focused on the recent epoch in which the modern state of Israel was created. While this abbreviated account might offend the sensibilities of some religious scholars, it reveals, practically at a glance, the historical connection of Jews to the Holy Land and the basis for Zionism. Homeland explains and illustrates the reasons for the existence of the Jewish homeland in terms that Jews and non-Jews can easily understand. It is geared to the level of a 12th-grader and above, but younger students can easily enjoy its inviting and fine artistic renderings. Homeland employs the backdrop of a classroom in an unnamed, diverse American university. Students are being taught the origins of the modern state of Israel prior to their leaving for a trip to Israel. The knowledgeable and pretty professor bears a striking resemblance to Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider of video-game fame. (It seems obligatory that all women pictured in graphic novels must be ravaging or alluring!) Students ask pointed questions of the shapely scholar, and her answers allow them to understand the political crises, economic successes, military victories, and scientific

advances found in the Jewish homeland. The illustrated history is decidedly pro-Israel, but the publication does leave room for consideration of other perspectives and does not fail to point out several of Israel’s missteps and failures. Events chronicled in the book are the Holocaust, the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948, the Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars, the 1976 Entebbe raid, the two intifadas, and last summer’s war in Lebanon. When possible, photographs are blended with tastefully crafted artwork. Homeland succeeds on several levels because the subject matter is addressed in an appealing way to an older, more adult audience. Like other graphic novels, which have defined the medium, Homeland is an original, selfcontained work, never before serialized. Unlike traditional comic books, graphic novels employ dramatic, realistic conventions that rise above stereotypical portrayals such as battles between good and evil. Once the students and their professor arrive in Israel, the storyline moves from an historical to an analytical perspective on the progress Israel has achieved in several areas, including the arts, sciences, culture and the pursuit of peace. Pictures of noted performers like Itzhak Perlman and Gil Shaham or artist Yaakov Agam are shown, along with pictures of Nobel Prize winners. They attest to the enormous impact Israel has had on the world during its 59-year existence. The graphic novel now enjoys a greater acceptance and consideration as a major art form than it did in the past. Yet the medium still struggles with its image as little more than “an expensive comic book.” Perhaps Homeland will help change that image. (Editor’s note: When former Omahan Barbara Chandler visited Omaha earlier this month, she left copies of Homeland with Gary Katz at the Kripke Jewish Federation Library, where it may be checked out or purchased. Chandler, who held the position of Communications Director for the Jewish Federation of Omaha until 1995, is now the Director of Business Development at Nachshon Press. Homeland is also available at www.nachshonpress.com or by calling 847.676.1948.)

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DAVID BLOCH Former Omahan David Bloch died May 15 at the age of 57 at his home in St. Louis, MO, after a long battle with cancer. He was an accomplished appellate lawyer, having graduated from Central High, Colgate University, and the Washington University Law School. He is survived by his wife, Sharon; son, Chaim; sister, Susan “Bunny” Greenstein; and brother and sister-inlaw, Steven and Carol Bloch.

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Page 16

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 25, 2007

The beauty of plants: art by science

Second Open Forum set for next week as New Beginning Campaign reaches nearly $14 million

by IRENE BLECHER Israeli Artist The JCC of Omaha Art Gallery presents an exhibition of Botanical Art from Israel from June 1- 27. Some 40 of my watercolor paintings will be on display. I am a professional botanist and a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists. Flower painting is a term that can be used to describe any painting consisting predominantly of flowers. In contrast, botanical art has botanical accuracy as its foundation. Early Israeli art, at the beginning of the 20th century up to the 1950s, is replete with flowers and vegetation. Floral motifs appear in paintings of landscapes and gardens, decorative designs, still lifes, and portraits. While inspired by Western artistic Sodom Apple, 2005 traditions, these works drew Irene Blecher on the new Zionist culture and the ideals of tilling the land, fulfilling the vision of national regeneration, and making the desert bloom. Between 1923 and 1927 the artist Shmuel Charuvi prepared a series of botanical paintings for an encyclopedia of plant life in the Land of Israel envisioned by one of the early botanists of the Zionist community, Ephraim Hareuveni, and his wife and colleague, Hannah. In 2006, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem presented a major exhibition “The Botanist’s Brush - Floral Treasury of the Land of Israel.” The past few decades have seen an amazing renaissance for botanical art. It takes a trained eye and much skill to produce a rendering of a plant that not only reproduces the reality of the plant in structure and form, but illuminates the grace, textures and details. Come to an artist’s reception in the Gallery on Sunday, June 3, 3-5 p.m. Gallery hours are MondayThursday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday, 1-5 p.m.

by OZZIE NOGG A second Open Forum and Virtual Tour of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home is scheduled for Wednesday, May 30, 7-8 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center. “Please don’t be left out,” Sandy Epstein said. “It doesn’t matter how old you are. The Home will affect you in one way or another, so be part of it from the beginning.” Sandy and her husband, Paul, along with Joanie and Richard Jacobson, are co-chairmen of the Home’s New Beginning Community Campaign. According to Joanie, “Our May 8 Open Forum was a ‘one-of-a-kind’ kind of evening. Mike Silverman’s Virtual Tour had over 120 people watching every minute and listening to every word. Mike and Howard Kooper answered questions with ease, Jeanie Neff :The Blumkin Home questions ranging project provides the consummate from ‘Do we have answer to dignified, gracious living for enough money?’ to our elders -- both physically and ‘Will there still be emotionally. The tour showed a animals in the new contemporary, lovely way to live. The facility?’ There was evening was so uplifting and inspiring an energy and -- it was thrilling. I’m enthralled with it. warmth in that room you wouldn’t expect from a discussion about a nursing home. It was more like we were talking about a new condo development! I think people left feeling upbeat, hopeful, and ready to make it happen.” “This project is an investment in our community’s future,” Richard said, “and everyone should find out as much as possible about what the facility will offer. You wouldn’t make an investment without knowing anything about the investment managers or their past performance. You’d ask about their plans for the future and about their vision. At our first Open Forum, people had the opportunity to talk to our investment managers and see the vehicle they were investing in -- the New Beginning for the Blumkin Home. Whether you’re able to contribute -- invest -- $10 or $100,000, you owe it to yourself to come to our second Open Forum. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.”

“Please join us,” Paul Epstein said. “The event is open to the community, whatever your age. Don’t miss this opportunity to become involved with such a dynamic project.” Beth and Ron Brodkey attended the first Open Forum and praised the professional staff of the Blumkin Home as well as the profesDee Fox: “Mike was marvelous sional quality of the and the campaign leadership Virtual Tour. were so sincerely enthusiastic. “We’ve always had the The Virtual Tour made me feel leadership talent to like I was really walking through move the Home to the building. Some people may another level,” Ron pooh-pooh the expansion, the said. “And the Virtual expense, but once they see this Tour walkthrough and narrative is a must-see presentation they’ll be very for everyone in the impressed.” community. It’s like a wish list for every Executive Deb Marburg: Being at the Director of every nursing Open Forum served to home in the country, and further reinforce how proud light years ahead of what’s I am and how truly blessed going on in other communiI feel to live in such a ties.” supportive, caring and “We’re so blessed in Omaha,” Beth Brodkey concerned Jewish community. I also think this added. “So lucky. When facility will go a long way in friends visit from out-oftown the first thing we show breaking down and eliminating stereotypes and them is our campus and the Blumkin Home. I encourage stigmas associated with ‘old-age homes.’ I think the everyone to see the Virtual Tour and to support the presentation is a New Beginning in whatever ‘must-see’ for everyone. way they can. Both my mother and Ron’s mother lived at the Home. We’ve told our kids we’ve already made our reservations. They think that’s funny, but it’s true.” Reservations for the May 30th Open Forum are appreciated. Please call 397.2528 or e-mail slepstein@ cox.net.

COMING JUNE

Father’s Day Gift Guide Publishing Date » 06.08.07 Space Reservation » 05.30.07 Camera Ready Deadline » 05.30.07

COMING JUNE

Salute to High School

Graduates

Publishing Date » 06.08.07 Space Reservation » 05.30.07 Camera Ready Deadline » 05.30.07

Contact your advertising representative to advertise in this special edition. Call Allan Handleman at 402.334.6451 or email: ahandleman@jewishomaha.org

Call Terri Greenwood at 402.334.6559 or email: terrigreenwood@jewishomaha.org