Vol. LXXXVIII No. 40 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 88 Years of
Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
by RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) -Jewish groups don’t endorse U.S. Supreme Court nominees, at least in writing. The tears and choked sobs when Sonia Sotomayor accepted President Obama’s nomination on Tuesday told another story. Packed into the room along with Sotomayor’s family, friends and colleagues were representatives of Jewish groups that have consulted with the White House about prospective replacements for David Souter. The story of her life -- the daughter of a Puerto Rican single mother from the Bronx, NY, whose ambitions knew no President Obama meets with Judge Sonia Sotomayor in the Oval Office on May 21, five bounds -- resounded with a days before he nominated Sotomayor for a U.S. Supreme Court seat. Credit: Pete Souza community that has made the story of immigrant tri- for strong Jewish-Hispanic relations. In 1986, when she umph over struggle a template of Jewish American suc- was in private legal practice, she joined one of the first young leadership tours of Israel sponsored by Project cess. “It was impossible not to moved by her personal Interchange, which is affiliated with the American story,” said Mark Pelavin, the associate director of the Jewish Committee. Sotomayor so enjoyed the country -- its immigrant Reform movement’s Religious Action Center. “To see her mother sitting there and think about what this says culture, its popular music influenced heavily by Jewish about her and her country -- the combination of some- immigrants from Argentina and Brazil -- that she made one who grew up in a housing project, who has been on a return visit in 1996 when she was a federal judge, and the bench for a long time, but who has been a prosecu- recently joined a Project Interchange U.S.-Israel forum on immigration. In the process, she formed a lifelong tor as well, that combination is very powerful.” “It was thrilling,” said Sammie Moshenberg, the friendship with Project Interchange founder Debbie director of the National Council of Jewish Women’s Berger and her husband, Paul, who attended her swearing-in as a Manhattan appeals court judge in 1998. Washington office. It doesn’t hurt that Sotomayor, 54, is a poster child Continued on page 2
Former Omaha teen leader completes IDF service, begins university in Israel
Inside
As a fluent English/Hebrew speaker, Lt. Gal Tsabari served as a liaison to United Nations troops stationed in the Golan, running operations to prepare for crises.
This Week: Father’s Day/Graduation issue starts on Page: 6
See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’ Opinion Page see page 12
NCJW to honor Pichik and Raffel at installation event: Page 3
June 5, 2009
My father remembered
Life story, Israel trips tie Sotomayor to Jews
by CAROL KATZMAN Editor of the Jewish Press Omahans may recall Gal Tsabari as one of the 2005 winners of the Federation’s Teen Leadership Award. But her comrades in the Israel Defense Force, know her as Lt. Tsabari. She recently mustered out of the army, but like every Israeli, she’ll be subject to a reserve call-up. The 22-year-old daughter of Eitan and Eadie Tsabari is home for a month on vacation and spoke to the Jewish Press about her three and a half years of army service. She’ll be returning to her home next week in Tel Aviv, before she moves to Jerusalem in the fall to enter Hebrew University. She knew five years ago that this would be her path. “I was 17 when I made the decision, “Tsabari said. “Omaha was a wonderful place to grow up, a great environment, but there was something missing.” Her father, Eitan is a sabra and served in the IDF during the 1967 Six-Day War. Her mother, Eadie, a native Omahan, moved to Israel in 1979 where she met and married Eitan, who already had two sons, Onie and Ran. “I’ve always been drawn to Israelis and my brothers are both living there now,” she added, “so I thought the best way to find out if it was the right place for me was to join the army.” Gal joined Garin Tzabar, which keeps a group of new recruits from the Diaspora together, many of them children of Israelis. The program, which is funded by the UJC, (United Jewish Communities) from annual campaign Continued on page 10
13 Sivan 5769
by ROBERT RICKOVER Editor’s note: This article is from a eulogy given at Temple B’nai Jeshrun in Lincoln, at Yom Kippur services on Oct. 9, 2008. Admiral Rickover, known as the Father of the Nuclear Navy, died on July 8, 1986, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Today, Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, is best remembered for developing the first atomic-powered submarine. With the launching of first of these, the Nautilus, in 1954, he was dubbed “The Father of the Atomic Submarine”. As Admiral Rickover’s only child, that made me The Atomic Submarine and you can imagine what I now had to live up to. And just when I had become used to it, several atomic-powered surface ships were built and my father became “The Father of the Nuclear Navy” - and I acquired an even more bizarre identity! My father had a well-deserved reputation for doing whatever was necessary to see his projects to completion. He was famous for ignoring traditional naval customs and for bypassing existing organizational hierarchies. He created his own independent power structure with the help of sympathetic members of congress and the media. He demanded the very highest standards and pushed defense contractors, his own staff and himself to the limit.
Admiral Hyman Rickover chats with President Jimmy Carter in the Oval Office, 1979. He would fly into a rage with anyone he felt was lazy or incompetent. His interviews with the young officers who wanted to join his program were legendary. He wanted to make sure they could adapt to whatever situation they found themselves in and so they were typically placed in unexpected and stressful circumstances. During the interviews, they typically found themselves sitting in a chair with the front two legs shortened so that they had to struggle to remain seated. If they gave unsatisfactory answers to my father’s questions, they were summarily dismissed, or sent to sit in a broom closet for hours to re-think their answers. Many were assigned bizarre and extremely challenging tasks to test their resourcefulness. Of course I didn’t see a lot of this firsthand, but when my father was at home, he spent a good deal of time on the phone and my mother and I could always tell whether he was talking to an errant contractor (loud cursing and yelling), one of his subordinates (never a “hello” or “goodbye” as these niceties wasted precious seconds), or to a Congressman, Senator or other VIP (polite and very respectful). Today, I’d like to talk about some aspects of my father’s personal life that are not so well known. Although he traveled a great deal, he tried to be home for at least part of every weekend. On Sundays, he and I would take very long walks through Washington’s Rock Creek Park and we discussed all manner of topics. I recall once, during the 1952 presidential campaign, he said he didn’t think Eisenhower would win. I was certain he would and offered to bet money not only on the national election, but on the outcome in a number of states. but on the outcome in a number of states. Continued on page 7
Coming This Month: Senior Living: June 26 Salute to graduating high school seniors: Pages 8-9
Temple students attend HUC leadership conferences: Page 16