Endowed by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA June 12, 2015 25 Sivan 5775 Vol. 95 | No. 39
2015 Jewish Federation of Omaha
Annual Meeting
This Week
RBJH honors volunteers at LOVE installation Page 2
Goodbye, Josh and Amanda Page 5 The Humanitarian of the Year Award winners Sarah and Ted Seldin. See page 7 for more photos from the Annual Meeting.
Blumkin Home seeks “Sammy” Sigma Junior Volunteers Alpha Mu returns How do you say Limmud in Armenian? Page 12
Inside Point of view Synagogues In memoriam
Next Week Senior Living See Front Page stories and more at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press
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Emma Klein, left, Lily Kay, and Gina Mancuso by OZZIE NOGG age 12 and up, to assist with Resident Young people looking for a way to activities and services,” said Linda perform acts of loving kindness this Cogen, RBJH Volunteer Coordinasummer will find a solution at the tor. “The work gives kids the chance Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. “The to interact in a friendly way with Home is seeking Junior Volunteers, Residents, while also giving them the opportunity to earn service hours in a Jewish environment committed to caring, compassion and customer service. As a bonus, they also meet other teen volunteers from schools all over the city. Last year’s participants made new friends and gained valuable experiences they are now applying in school and the workplace. We invite all interested young people to call for an interview. Continued on page 3
by KEN SCHNEIDER As alumni of a proud fraternity prepare to celebrate the 90th anniversary of their chapter’s founding in Lincoln, Sigma Alpha Mu (headquartered in Indianapolis) has officially announced its plans to return to the University of Nebraska this fall. Originally founded as the Sigma Omicron chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu in 1926, “Sammy at Nebraska” has initiated nearly 670 men since – among them, an Olympic athlete (Jim Hartung), legal counsel to the President of the United States (Lee White), former Chief Justice of Nebraska (Norman Krivosha) and the current University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor (Harvey Perlman). Ken Schneider, Sigma Alpha Mu’s professional staff consultant heading up the Lincoln expansion effort, shares some perspective: “The fraternity provides an opportunity for the motivated college man to learn, firsthand, life lessons not taught in the classroom. Sammy’s focus on scholarship, leadership, philanthropy and
community service combine to support the brotherhood fostered in this collaborative, values-based working environment.” Schneider adds, “The challenge of building a fraternity chapter from the ground up means more than just bringing another club onto campus. This situation provides an immediate opportunity for leadership and personal development on an international scale, an experience otherwise unattainable in traditional college confines.” Founded nationally in 1909 at the College of the City of New York, Sigma Alpha Mu presently has 54 existing chapters and new “colonies” across the US and Canada. In 2013-2014, the fraternity raised nearly $300,000 in philanthropic activity, with $75,000 of that being directed to the Alzheimer’s Association – its national philanthropy of choice. That same year, Sammy fraternity men collectively performed over 31,300 hours of community service. Continued on page 3