Vol. LXXXIII No. 40 Omaha, NE
Federation Annual Meeting to Include Genetic Testing Sign-Up by PAM MONSKY Federation Communications Director The entire Omaha Jewish community is invited to the Jewish Federation’s Annual Meeting on Monday, June 7, 7 p.m. in the Theater at the Jewish Community Center. The year’s outstanding community volunteers will be honored and Federation Executive Officers along with new agency Presidents will be elected to their respective terms of office. The Volunteer of the Year Awards, given in recognition of outstanding service to the agencies of the Jewish Federation of Omaha will be presented to Harry Berman and Jay Gordman for the Jewish Federation of Omaha, Rose Frankel for the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, Jennifer Glazer for Jewish Educational and Library Services, Barton “Bucky” Greenberg and Melissa Medvin for the ADL/CRC, Scott Meyerson for the Jewish Press, Michael Miller for the Jewish Continued on page 11
Celebrating 83 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
15 Sivan, 5764 June 4, 2004
Beth El to Celebrate 75th Anniversary with Event-Packed Year of Festivities by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Beginning this fall, the entire community will be invited to take part in a full year of joyous celebrations and special events commemorating the 75th anniversary of Beth El Synagogue. From sentimental tributes and worldrenowned guest speakers to a gala celebration and Beth Jim Fried El-style musical revue, this festive year will go down as one of Beth El’s most memorable, according to Joanie Jacobson, who, along with Jim Fried, is general cochairman of the anniversary activities. Events during the year will include: Oct. 30-31: The anniversary’s kick-off event, “A
Weekend with Ron Wolfson,” featuring presentations by this Jewish educator and former Omahan who is the Director of the Whizin Center for the Jewish Future at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. Wolfson, author of The Art of Jewish Living series, is widely known for his passionate and engaging presentations, and will lead Joanie Jacobson a spirited Shabbat celebration with the community (event chairmen are Bob and Sibby Wolfson and Bruce and Pam Friedlander); Nov. 13: The 75th Anniversary Gala, including music, fine dining and fun galore, will be held at the Continued on page 10
Goldsteins Donate Struggles of Colonies’ First Jews Presaged Later U.S. Jewish History $100,000 to Support by JONATHAN D. SARNA (Editor’s note: At its 101st Annual Meeting this Monday evening, the Jewish Federation of Omaha will kick off a year celebrating “350 Years of Jewish History in America.” Jewish Educational and Library Services as well as several Omaha synagogues will also be presenting programs geared to this theme. This article will be the first in a year-long series, provided by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.)
WALTHAM, MA (JTA)--About 350 years ago, in 1654, a small vessel named the Ste. Catherine, or St. Catrina, sailed into the port of New Amsterdam. Most of the ship's passengers--“twenty-three souls, big and little,” according to an account at the time-were bedraggled Jewish refugees from Recife, Brazil, who had been expelled when the Portuguese recaptured the South American colony from the Dutch. The refugees were not the first Jews to arrive in North America. In 1585, a Jew named Joachim Gaunse served as the metallurgist and mining engineer for the ill-fated English colony on Roanoke Island. Thereafter, a small number of other Jews, mostly intrepid merchants bent on trade, made brief stops at American ports to conduct business. However, the “big and little” refugees from Recife differed from the Jews who came before them. Though economically ruined, they sought to settle down and form a permanent Jewish community in North America, to “navigate and trade near and in New Netherland, and to live and reside there.” Much can be learned from the experience of America's earliest Jews. For one thing, they displayed political savvy in fighting for their rights and illustrated by personal example their principle that “all Israel is responsible for one another.” Helped by their fellow Jews back in Amsterdam, among them “principal shareholders” in the Dutch West India Company that controlled New Amsterdam--
Inside
which later became known as New York--they succeeded in overcoming a series of legal and political obstacles, including fierce opposition from the colony’s anti-Jewish governor, Peter Stuyvesant. Over Stuyvesant’s objections, they won the right to set down roots in New Amsterdam, specifically the right to “travel, trade, live and remain,” provided that “the poor among them shall not become a burden to the company or to the community, but be supported by their own nation.” No less important a theme from 1654 is the fact that the Dutch authorities, forced to choose between their economic interests and their religious sensibilities, voted with their pocketbooks in allowing Jews to remain--a significant sign of modernity. The Jews’ usefulness--the fact that they might help to enrich the colonies-proved far more important to the Dutch than the fact that they were not Christians. The Dutch West India company feared that a heavy-handed and restrictive colonial policy would diminish the population, discourage immigration, and scare off investors. New Amsterdam’s Jews also extended the boundaries of American religious pluralism. Stuyvesant, an elder in the Dutch church and the son of a minister, sought to promote morality and social cohesion by enforcing Calvinist orthodoxy and clamping down on competing faiths. One of his many reasons for denying Jews rights was that, “Giving them liberty, we cannot refuse the Lutherans and Papists,” as Catholics were then known. He understood that the decision about admitting Jews to New Amsterdam was, at the deepest level, a decision about the social and religious character of the young community. Over his objections, the Dutch West India Company extended limited rights to people of different religions. Its advice to Stuyvesant in 1663 became, in time, the policy that distinguished America from other countries around the world. “Shut your eyes, at least [do] not force people’s consciences,” the company wrote, “but allow every one to have his own belief, as long as he behaves quietly and legally, gives no offense to his neighbor and does not oppose the government.” Continued on page 6
This Week: Father’s Day/Graduation Special Issue A World War II Vet Remembers: Page 3
Omahan now a ComputerLiterate Shepherd in Israel: Page 7
Transplant Research at UNMC
by JENNIFER ARNOLD University of Nebraska Foundation While the number of Americans awaiting a life-saving organ or t i s s u e transplant grows by one every 16 minutes, at least 10 potential recipients die every day. T w o years ago, Ann Goldstein and Cheryl Cooper Omahan Ann Goldstein was one of the 80,000 persons nationwide facing these circumstances. Fortunately, the unwavering kindness of a friend saved her life. For years Goldstein suffered from inherited polycystic kidney disease--a disease that claimed the lives of her mother and brother. In 2002, she was tested for a kidney transplant, and shortly thereafter her name was added to the national list for donor organs. Goldstein said her physicians indicated it would take time. “I understood it could be years and that patience counts, so I adjusted my mind-set accordingly,” she said. As Goldstein’s health continued to fail, family members and friends were tested as possible donors. Her close friend, Cheryl Cooper, was found to be a match. On May 3, 2002, the husband/wife transplant surgeon team of R. Brian Stevens, M.D., Ph.D., and Lucille Wrenshall, M.D., Ph.D., directors of UNMC’s kidney and pancreas transplantation program, successfully performed the transplantation at UNMC/The Nebraska Medical Center. Now, two years later, Goldstein says she has “absolutely returned to a full life.” She also says it’s difficult to find the words to express her gratitude to a friend who was willing to share life. “It seems so trite to say, but true; it truly was a gift of life,” she said. Continued on page 2
Coming Next Month: Healthy Living Issueon July 9 Salute to the Class of 2004: Pages 11-12
KC Rabbi Performing Conversions in Spain: Page 24