Vol. LXXXV No. 38 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 85 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
Bringing Jews Home by LISA LIEB Federation Communication Specialist At age four, Eleanor Dunning knows more about tzedakah than most people ever will. Unable to fit one more coin in her tzedakah box, Eleanor turned to her mother, Toba Cohen, and announced, “It’s time to make a donation.” With Toba by her side, Eleanor handed the coins she had saved to Jody Malashock as her contribution to the Operation Promise campaign. “What a rare and wonderful gift for such a young child to understand the meaning of tzedakah,” praised Malashock, Co-chairman of the Operation Promise Community Event. “Her donation can make a difference to another Jewish child, living across the globe in unimaginable poverty.” Operation Promise is a national effort to raise $160 million over the next three years and keep our promise to the Jews of the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia. In the FSU, funds will help provide food, medicine and social welfare assistance to the elderly, and build a strong Jewish identity among the younger generation. Money raised by Operation Promise will also bring the Ethiopian Jewish community home to Israel, and help them to take their rightful place in Israeli society. Continued on page 4
NCJW to Honor Kahn and Scioli and Install New Board at Annual Meeting
Four-year old Eleanor Dunning donates the contents of her tzedakah box to Jody Malashock, Operation Promise Event Co-chairman in preparation for Thursday night’s event.
JCC Director Celebrates 20 Years at the Helm by CAROL KATZMAN Editor of the Jewish Press For 20 years, Jeffrey Aizenberg has recruited and trained professionals. He’s created and managed budgets, supervised staff, sat through hours of meetings with lay leaders and his colleagues on the campus of the Jewish Community Center. He’s trained leaders who have gone on to serve on Federation and other organization boards. He’s brought home numerous awards from the biennial meetings of the JCC Association. And he’s overseen the growth of the ‘J’ from a million dollar a year operation to more than four million a year, the facility grow from 108,000 square feet to more than 150,000 and its membership nearly double. And so, after two decades as Executive Director, Aizenberg will be honored for his major contributions to this community at the JCC’s annual meeting on Monday, June 5, 7:30 p.m., at--naturally--the JCC.
Yo-Yo Ma Wins Israel’s Dan Prize
The world renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma was awarded the one million dollar 2006 Dan David Prize at an award ceremony at Tel Aviv University last week in recognition of Ma’s contribution to culture and music. The funding is provided by international businessman Dan David. Credit: ISRANET Continued on page 2
Inside Opinion Page see page 12
Over the last two decades, his days have been anything but typical. Aizenberg has dealt with everything from major power outages (remember the October snow storm of 1997?) and medical emergencies to being the smallest JCC to host the Maccabi Games during August of 2002. But there’s one achievement he points to as his Jeff Aizenberg biggest--raising everyone’s expectations of just what the JCC could be. “When I arrived here in 1986, there was a patchwork of assorted furniture throughout the building,” he said in a recent interview. “There were weeds in front of the entrance and an attitude that seemed to imply that this was was acceptable,” he said, “but you’d never put up with this at home.” The first thing he did after his arrival from Dallas, TX, where he worked as the city’s Assistant JCC Executive Director, was to take down all the out-of-date photos and posters taped to walls throughout the building. “We should take pleasure in the way our ‘J’ looks,” he said. “This should be a first-class operation.” Parallel to upgrading the atmosphere of the JCC, Aizenberg began assessing the staff. “I’m proud of the staff we’ve developed over the last 20 years. We have little turnover; they like their work and it’s fun to be around them.” The job is easier, he insists, because of that. With a concentration on upgrading the facility and the staff, Aizenberg says the Omaha JCC is “out in front in developing a business model that works.” Generating nearly all its income, the ‘J’ is not dependent on outside sources as much at once was, though it does receive a subsidy from United Way for its youth programming and scholarships for its preschoolers from the Jewish Federation’s annual campaign. “Jeff is probably the most efficient administrator in business,” said Gary Epstein, outgoing JCC President, who will also be honored Monday night along with other JCC volunteers and staff, “and I don’t just mean the JCC world. He’s a professional. His intelligence and Continued on page 10
This Week: A Visit to Cuba’s Jews: Pages 4-5 See Front Page Stories at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’
JCC Summer Camp Revamped: Page 6
6 Sivan, 5766 June 2, 2006
by DEBBIE FRIEDMAN Awards Chairman National Council of Jewish Women A new slate of officers, new board members and two awards honoring the service of outstanding volunteers will highlight the annual meeting for the National Council of Jewish Women. On Thursday, June 15, 6 p.m., Rozanne Kahn will be recognized with NCJW’s Distinguished Service Award and Andee Scioli will be honored with the Emerging Leader Award. The dinner, which will take place at the Ironwood Country Club, will also feature the installation of Deb Marburg, a previous Emerging Leader award winner, as Omaha Section’s newest President. The Distinguished Service Award is presented to a member in recognition of Roxanne Kahn outstanding years of service to and/or impact on NCJW Omaha Section. Qualifications include a demonstrated loyalty, commitment, dedication to the Section, and an overall awareness of NCJW; volunteering with a willingness to work at any level. The Emerging Leader Award is a national award presented to an NCJW member who has shown potential for assuming future section leadership, who understands and supports the NCJW purpose and programs, and has served as a board member or on a committee for less than five years. This year’s honoree, Roxanne Kahn, personifies the attributes of the Distinguished Service award. Having lived in Omaha most of her life, she is the Director of Business Operations for Garbo’s Salons. She was cochairman of Beth El’s 75th Anniversary “Pour’em Event Spiel” and has served on the BBYO Advisory Board and is Advisor to Ediar BBG. In service to Omaha Section, she served as Finance Chairman and Public Affairs Vice President prior to serving as President-Elect and President of our Section. Kahn has committed to serving the Section during the next term as Parliamentarian and Chairman of the Nominating Committee. Scioli has served as an NCJW board member for the past four years, as a co-chairman for the annual Installations in 2002 and 2003 and has twice co-chaired the donor fund-raising event. This year, Scioli served as Co-Vice-President of Public Affairs and Education; she and Co-Vice-President Dana Cohn, put together a series of “Lunch and Learn” programs aimed at educating NCJW members about local community service programs, such as Uta HaleeCooper Village, Planned Parenthood, and Project Andee Scioli Harmony. In the up-coming year, Scioli will serve as the Co-Vice-President of Community Service with her mother, Pam Friedlander. “One of the highlights of my returning home to Omaha is that I am able to serve as a volunteer with my mother, Scioli said. “She has been a tremendous influence in my life. As a little girl, I knew how important NCJW was in her life. Now NCJW is a very important Continued on page 2
Coming Next Week: Father’s Day/Graduation Issue ADL’s Youth Leadership Mission Exhibits Work of Program: Page 9
AIPAC Speaker Says U.S. Needs to Get Tough with Hamas: Page 16