June 18, 2004

Vol. LXXXIII No. 42 Omaha, NE

Becki Brenner to Head JFS

by JUSTIN COOPER President, Jewish Family Service Former Omahan Becki Brenner will return from Kansas City to take over the management of Jewish Family Service from departing director Steve Stiel, who recently accepted the position of Exectuive Director at Beth Shalom Synagogue in Kansas City, MO. “We’re thrilled to have a professional with Becki’s extensive experience to lead JFS,” said Todd Simon, JFS Executive Committee member and head of its search committee. “With Becki at the helm, we anticipate a smooth transistion and the beginning of a new chapter of community service for JFS.” Brenner, who earned a Becki Brenner Masters in Health Administration, has extensive non-profit management experience. She has demonstrated keen ability in organizational development, program creation, planning and building community liaisons. Most recently, she was Director of Clinical Services for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.

Brenner had been dividing her time between her work in Kansas City and her family in Omaha. She’s thrilled to be able to give back to the Omaha Jewish community, and spend more time with her husband, William, her children and grandchildren, all in Omaha.

Brenner can be reached at JFS starting July 7; her phone number is 334.6492.

Celebrating 83 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

Breakthrough in Helping Parkinson’s Patients Announced by UNMC

by CAROL KATZMAN Parkinson’s disease Editor of the Jewish Press remain palliative, such a A research team at the University of vaccination strategy repNebraska Medical Center (UNMC), resents a promising therworking collaboratively with Columbia apeutic avenue.

University, has made a research breakWhat that means in through dealing with Parkinson’s dislaymen’s terms is that this ease. The breakthrough was published experiment on mice on Monday in the Proceedings of the could potentially lead to National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) clinical trials for humansand announced at a press conference.

-and that, if successful, Dr. Howard Gendelman, Director of could mean a vaccine the Center for Neurovirology and that could slow down the Neurodegenerative Disorders (CNND) progressive debilitative led a team from UNMC that partnered effects of Parkinson’s diswith the Center for Neurobiology and ease. The vaccine also Dr. Howard Gendelman Behavior at Columbia University in New has implications for sufYork City to immunize mice against the death of brain ferers of Lou Gehrig’s deases (ALS) and Alzheimer’s, cells--one of the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s dis- according to Dr. Gendelman. ease. Parkinson’s starts with the slowing of emotions “As of today drugs are available which only treat and voluntary movement, rigid muscles, abnormal pos- symptoms of disease. Regrettably, nothing is now availture and tremors. It’s a progressive, neurological dis- able that prevents or reverses the course of brain ease affecting people mainly over the age of 50, of both degeneration. Our vaccine approach changes this by sexes and all ethnic groups--and there’s no cure. bringing a new excitement to a developing field of According to UNMC spokesman Tom O’Connor, the investigation called ‘neuroprotective medicine.’ A vacvaccine approach utilizes a compound called cine therapy that protects the dopamine nerve cells Copaxone or Cop-1, a Food and Drug Administration- damaged in Parkinson’s disease is novel,” noted Dr. approved and well-tolerated drug. Cop-1 has been Gendelman, who has built the CNND since his arrival used effectively in patients with chronic neuroinflam- in Omaha in 1993. “What we have done is take an evil matory disease such as relapsing remitting multiple process (inflammation) and turned it on its heels. We’ve sclerosis for more than a decade. Given the safety taken a destructive process and contained it.” record for Cop-1 and that current treatments for Continued on page 3

JCC Wins Awards at Biennial; JCCA “Redesigns” Image

by JOE BERKOFSKY for “fulfillment,” urges JCCs to see themNEW YORK (JTA) -They are the sleep- selves as one institutional stop on the ing giant of American Jewish life. road many American Jews follow to map Jewish Community Centers reach out a complex identity. Other measures 800,000 homes with 1.7 million Jews-- may include joining synagogues, attendone-third of the entire U.S. Jewish com- ing camps or day schools and participatmunity--surpassing even the burgeoning ing in cultural activities.

Reform movement’s membership rolls, Continued on page 11 according to a new report for the JCC Association of North America.

Yet few Jews realize it.

“JCCs need to be seen as serious players impacting people’s Jewish experiences,” Allan Finkelstein, the JCCA’s President, told JTA. “We know that, but I’m not sure everyone else knows.”

The JCCA, which represents 350 JCCs, YMHAs Omaha’s delegate representatives included Executive Director and Jewish camps across Jeffrey Aizenberg, Vice-president Bob Belgrade, Assistant the continent, is trying to Executive Director Lisa Shkolnick, and President Gary D. change that perception. Epstein. The Omaha JCC excelled in several programming and At its 150th biennial in service areas, and awards received include the following: Montreal this week, the Communications Merit: The JCC Calendar, JCC Monthly group unveiled a new Centerpiece Newsletter, and the JCC Maccabi Games Highlight strategic plan dubbed Video; Innovation Awards: Continuing Education for “Hagshama: Inspiring Professional Staff, “Now, Discover Your Strengths”; Merit Jewish Journeys” that Awards: The 92nd St. Y programming for Program Services calls for repositioning provided to the Community, JCC Staff Orientation Program for JCCs within the Jewish Retention of Professional Staff, The Eddie Belgrade Memorial world.

3-on-3 Basketball Challenge for JCC Revenue Development, “Hagshama,” Hebrew and the JCC Maccabi Games for Jewish Living and Learning.

Inside

Beth El’s Plans for a Bright Future with “Pathway to Ner Tamid Endowment Fund”

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator As Beth El prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary, the congregation has an opportunity to ensure that the synagogue will thrive for the next 75 years and far beyond, according to synagogue president Hyman Sukiennik.

“We are proud to announce the establishment of the Pathway to Ner Tamid Endowment Fund, which will enrich Beth El and enhance our lives as Conservative Jews,” Sukiennik said. “Through our concerted financial support, this fund will secure quality Jewish education for our children and their children, create exciting social, spiritual and educational programming for the entire community, and provide expanded, comprehensive programming for adults.”

The fund-raising endeavor, chaired by Allan Noddle and Steven Friedman, will offer congregants different levels of giving, plus the option of paying their pledges over a three-year period.

Every gift is important and will help to lay the foundation for a vibrant Beth El for the next 75 years, said Rabbi Mordechai Levin. “In the last two years we have initiated many new activities

This Week: “Honey” Kulakofsky Turns 105: page 12 Omaha Physician Certified as Reform Mohel: Page 2

29 Sivan, 5764 June 18, 2004

Singer Fund Announces Grants: Page 3

and improved many programs. We have the potential to do so much, and through the congregation’s support, we will increase the variety and quality of our programs and create new avenues for more people to be part of Beth El.” Sukiennik summarized the potential of Pathway to Ner Tamid by noting that through widespread participation, “our congregants will be able to control our synagogue’s destiny.

“Beth El Synagogue is proud of serving its members and the community for the past 75 years,” Sukiennik said. “Many generations have made the synagogue the focus of their religious and spiritual needs.

That has been possible due to the foresight and generosity of the original founders and supporters throughout the years.

Continued on page 2

Coming Next Month: Healthy Living Issue on July 9 Teens Report on March of the Living: Page 5

Beth El Launches Quilt Project: Page 12

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

June 18, 2004

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by CLAUDIA SHERMAN American Rabbis, and the Union for Reform Judaism.

Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Begun in 1984, the HUC Berit Milah Program seeks to Dr. John Vann, an Omaha pediatrician, is about to provide an alternative to the mohel who would arrive become the first certified Reform mohel in Nebraska. at a home, utter a few prayers, circumcise, and then Although he has already performed approximately 500 leave. The 250 Reform mohalim -- men and women -circumcisions, Dr. Vann, a member of Temple Israel, throughout the United States and Canada who have spent four days in Los Angeles at the Hebrew completed the program and received cerUnion College-Jewish Institute of Religion tification from the Berit Mila Board of (HUC-JIR) at the Berit Mila Program of Reform Judaism, intend for the ritual of Reform Judaism. By learning the prayers and berit mila to be a relevant and beautiful the traditions of berit mila, Dr. Vann said, the ceremony for the families they serve. circumcisions he performs “will be more Additionally, Reform mohalim serve spiritual.” families who might otherwise be refused.

Dr. Vann, who is associated with Omaha Whether it is a family in which the mothChildren’s Clinic, was asked by Rabbi Craig er has converted to Judaism, or if it is a Marantz of Temple Israel to enroll in the mixed marriage in which the father is HUC-JIR program. “There aren’t very many Jewish but the mother is not, or if it is a Reform mohalim in the Midwest,” pointed gay or lesbian couple, the Berit Mila Dr. John Vann out Rabbi Marantz. “Rabbi (Aryeh) Azriel Program recognizes all families committed and I thought it would be important to seek doctors in to Jewish life and living. town who perform circumcisions. Several doctors Dr. Vann said there were 18 participants in his class. expressed an interest in a class for physicians in the Sixteen were urologists, pediatricians, or obstetricianMidwest which we hope to hold someday, but John gynecologists, and two were nurse midwives. They stepped up and expressed a willingness to go to HUC. came from all over the United States as well as Poland “John is interested in learning the customs of circum- and Argentina. cision. With his training, he’s now able to make his Dr. Vann’s enrollment in the HUC-JIR Program was work a sacred experience.” Rabbi Marantz said that funded by Rabbi Marantz’s Discretionary Fund which most of the circumcisions Dr. Vann will do in Omaha included donations made in honor of the birth of Jared will be done with a rabbi. However, Dr. Vann, who is Micah Marantz, the infant son of Rabbi and Betsy “already trusted as a doctor, has learned the prayers Marantz. and is able to put parents at ease and make berit mila “It was great,” according to Dr. Vann. “I learned more a meaningful and beautiful part of each family’s life about the Jewish religion and customs than I had in 39 cycle rituals. His skill and caring inspire trust,” noted years! It was mostly, but not all, intensive religious Rabbi Marantz. training.” Two mohalim came to talk to the class which Only qualified medical practitioners are eligible for studied Jewish history; Halacha; Torah; Tanach; the certification as mohalim. Physicians and certified nurse “Who is a Jew?” question; when to have a circumcision; midwives enter the program with the medical skills and technique; and the differences between Conservative, expertise to perform circumcision -- the HUC Berit Mila Reform, Orthodox, and Reconstructionist berit milah.

Program provides the religious education and training “We talked about everything including how to deal for them to become mohalim. The program is jointly with a stressful family situation. It was incredible to say sponsored by HUC-JIR, the Central Conference of the least.”

CLIP & SAVE

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Neighborhood Minyan Plans Month of Learning Torah in Memory of Ben Heisler

SUNDAY, JUNE 20 Bible Study Group, 11 a.m. at Beth El Beth El Synergy, 5 p.m.

C L I P & S A V E

C L I P &

MONDAY, JUNE 21 YES Program, 10 a.m.

BEAM Meeting, 7 p.m. at Beth El TUESDAY, JUNE 22 BBYO Night, 6 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23 Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 7 p.m. at Beth El NCJW Board Meeting, 7 p.m.

THURSDAY, JUNE 24 Walk-in Drop-in, 10 a.m.

Adult Education, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Crash Course in Hebrew Reading Beginners, noon Yiddish Group, 1 p.m.

Weekly Torah Portion Class, 7:30 p.m.

“From Generation to Generation” Performance, 7:30 p.m.

S A V E All events held at the JCC unless otherwise indicated. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of events. To keep calendar accurate or for questions, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437.

FOR A COMPLETE LISTING, VISIT THE FEDERATION’S WEBSITE: www.JewishOmaha.org (click on calendar)

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by RABBI TUVIA HOFFMAN When a loved one passes from our lives, we think of them as “up there” and us “down here”, with an impenetrable divider between us. The truth is however, we do have the ability to pierce that great spiritual divide, and that is through learning Torah and commandments--mitzvot.

This can best be explained by a story.

There was once a wise man that wrote a book that helped Jews become better people. When he died, the Heavenly Court, after reviewing his life and calculating all his deeds and misdeeds, decided he was worBen Heisler thy to receive sublime delight in a very cozy section of heaven.

The following year, he returned to the Heavenly Court and said, “I’d like better accommodations in heaven.”

Surprised the angels responded, “How can you expect to have nicer accommodations? Only observance of mitzvot can move a person to a nicer place! Since you are dead, how have you performed any?”

He answered, “When this Heavenly Court first convened to judge my life, only a few people had read my book. That’s why you only gave me this section in heaven. But by now, certainly hundreds of Jews have read it, and have improved their lives because of me.

“I call for a new trial!”

When the Almighty heard the man’s appeal He said, “He’s right! When the living act righteously because of the dead, I count the actions of the living as if they are the actions of the departed. Give him nicer heavenly accommodations!” And so that man was moved up.

This story teaches us that the living do have the power to raise up the level of a departed soul.

According to Yehoshuah Halir, who wrote in Toldot Yehoshua on Ethics of Our Fathers, it doesn’t matter if that departed soul was a parent, grandparent, friend, or even, like in this story, someone you never met. And it doesn’t matter if the deceased has changed your life completely or maybe affected you just a bit; if you do something in their merit, you are able to raise them up.

Upon hearing of the passing of our friend and mentor, Ben Heisler, people at the Neighborhood Minyan have decided to learn selected pieces of Torah teachings for 30 days to honor his memory.

Heisler was known as an honest and kind man who always had the time to listen to others. He could always be counted on for minyan, and he showed us that no matter what you had seen or done in life, still at 70, 80, 90 years, studying Torah was valuable and enlightening.

To end these 30 days of learning, the Neighborhood Minyan will host a free Friday night dinner and Shabbos lunch on Friday and Saturday, June 25-26, in honor and memory of Ben Heisler, z”tl. Call 553.5397 for reservations.

Beth El Plans Ner Tamid Endowment Continued from page 1 “These past two years have shown a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm for the activities and services that the synagogue provides,” Sukiennik added. “As we begin our next 75 years, we will celebrate with a variety of programs, and also invest in the future needs of the synagogue and its new generations.

Our participation at whatever level will support a

vibrant and dynamic institution.”

An informational meeting and question/answer session for the entire congregation regarding Pathway to Ner Tamid will be held on Sunday, June 27, 11 a.m., at the synagogue, Sukiennik said, adding that he encourages everyone to attend and learn more about this exciting venture.

For more information, call Beth El at 492.8550.

June 18, 2004

Beth El, Temple Israel, and Jewish Family Service Receive Singer Memorial Fund Grants

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Foundation Public Relations Coordinator A leadership training program for youth at Beth El Synagogue, a program that emphasizes raising self-reliant children by using Jewish techniques, and scholarships for counseling and for parents to enroll in a Jewish Family Service (JFS) course on parenting are the three most recent recipients of grants from the Lazier L. Singer Memorial Fund for Youth.

Convening in April for their eighth annual grants committee meeting, the Singer Memorial Fund members reviewed applications for funds. The committee looks for programs that deal with problems and issues facing Jewish youth under the age of 20. Issues of alcohol and drug use, sexuality, eating disorders, interfamily relations, violence and gangs, suicide and depression, and Jewish identity are among the contemporary problems considered.

To strengthen teenagers’ ability to cope with problems related to drugs, sex, alcohol, and violence and to address the unique needs of Jewish teens in Omaha, BESTT, Beth El’s Religious School, will offer a leadership training program for seventh through twelfth graders. A qualified professional trainer will lead the year-long workshop and involve participants in activities that address Jewish identity, peer pressure resistance, and leading by example.

Positive preventative task management skills will help equip teens with coping mechanisms for an increasingly complex teen-scene. By providing the youth with a safe, supportive environment to mature, the program supports/promotes a healthy sense of identity, self-confidence, and resistance to temptations.

Child psychologist Dr. Wendy Mogel, author of The Blessings of a Skinned Knee: Using Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children, came to believe after 15 years in private practice that children were experiencing problems related to values and character. She also recognized that she could find insights and practical tools within Judaism “that spoke directly to both psychological and spiritual problems.”

Temple Israel has invited Dr. Mogel to speak to parents about how certain aspects of our culture get in the way of parents who are raising self-reliant, compassionate, optimistic children. She will also discuss guidelines that define appropriate expectations for children, where to draw the line in granting children freedom, how parents can make an effort to establish themselves as honored “rulers” in their homes, and for channeling the impulse for evil.

Members of the Singer Memorial Fund

also granted assistance and scholarships to families interested in taking parenting classes and seeking counseling. JFS offers a program entitled “Becoming a Love and Logic Parent” to assist parents in dealing with everyday issues. The philosophy of love and logic helps parents interact with their children in a way that allows them to grow through their mistakes and live with the consequences of their choices.

In the 2003-2004 year, the Singer Memorial Fund made grants to Temple Israel’s Middle/High School and Jewish Family Service for a workshop on communication between parents and teens.

Jerry Kaye, director of Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute in Wisconsin, presented the workshop by showing scenes from popular films that triggered a natural flow of discussion on issues that affect Jewish adolescents by providing opportunities for open communication, getting involved in a positive environment, a warm and positive sense of relationship, and voicing opinions in a non-judgmental forum.

A grant was also made last year to the National Council of Jewish Women for the fifth edition of Resources Available for Teens (R.A.F.T.), a resource directory distributed free of charge to all seventh through twelfth graders in most Omaha area public schools as well as to school counselors, social service agencies, and area professionals who serve youth. For the first time, R.A.F.T. was available on the internet and in Spanish.

Three Israeli teens and their chaperon spent a week living with three Omaha teens and their families prior to the 2003 JCC Maccabi Games in St. Louis, MO. Following the week here, the Israeli youngsters, who had practiced with their Omaha counterparts to prepare for the Maccabi Games, participated in the daily athletic competitions, evening programs, Judaic activities, and community service opportunities with the Omaha team in St. Louis.

“This experience of meeting a peer from a different country was interesting and special to all of the teens involved, and it was especially exciting for our local teens to identify with the common heritage that Jewish teenagers from around the world share,” said Rachel Blum, JCC Jewish program director. The Singer Memorial Fund partially funded this Maccabi Sister City Program.

Members of the Singer Memorial Fund Committee are Harriet Singer, Sandy Kutler, Mark Singer, Gloria Kaslow, Elyce Azriel, Irving Veitzer, and Frances Blumkin.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

UNMC Announces Breakthrough Continued from page 1 The immune cells created by this vaccine can go into brain regions that are affected during disease and reduce the inflammation in the area of injury, as it would elsewhere in the body following local infections and trauma. This may be a way to use the body’s own defense to work towards its own repair, Dr. Gendelman added.

In the United States, at One of the supporters of this research is the Blumkin family. least 500,000 people are Frances, whose husband Louis, right, suffers from believed to suffer from Parkinson’s, spoke openly about Parkinson’s research at the Parkinson’s and about press conference Monday.

50,000 new cases are reported annually. many researchers get,” Lewis explained.

Among the team of researchers was a “It’s exactly the direction I want to take young Omahan, Travis Lewis, a 2002 in the future. Having a resource like Dr. graduate of Washington University. He’s Gendelman in the community made my been working with Dr. Gendelman for entrance into this field very exciting!”

Dr. Gendelman closed with his “sinthe past two years and will be leaving next month for Birmingham, AL, where cere gratitude and high regards to the he’s starting the seven-year M.D./PhD Frances and Louis) Blumkin and (Alan program of the University of Alabama and Marcia) Baer families who donated generously to this work and allowed it to School of Medicine.

“The ability to work on something can prosper beyond anything we thought actually be useful is an experience not possible.”

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Benefit Performance & Reception In Memory of Dr. Ben Kutler & Jan Anderson Saturday, June 26, 7:30 p.m.

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Additional Performances Thursday, June 24 at 7:30 p.m.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

June 18, 2004

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Jewish Senior Services/Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Hosts Volunteer Recognition Event

by LOIS WINE JSS DIrctor of Volunteer Services The dining room of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home was filled to capacity with volunteers, residents, and guests for the annual volunteer recognition and LOVE Installation recently.

Kathy Weiner, CoChairman of the event, welcomed guests and Bill Bill Haber acted as emcee and Haber spoke on behalf of introduced the honorees. the residents telling the volunteers they are valuable for making residents feel special.

LOVE Co-Presidents, Miles and Eileen Remer presented a check for $10,000 to Jewish Senior Services Board President, Joanie Bernstein. This is the first installment of a pledge to purchase a new van for the Home. This past year LOVE underwrote the remodeling of both lounges. The residents are enjoying the open feeling and the bright and cheerful decoration.

The Helen Shukert Teen Volunteer of the Year was presented to Seth Kudym. Shukert was very active with the original LOVE organization and would spend hours at the Dr Philip Sher Home and then at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

When the Home needed a specific item, Helen would go to community members and raise the funds, making certain that the residents never went without. She was instrumental in seeing that residents were taken out to lunch, and that Above: John Kolm was honShabbat services were pro- ored with the Lee Jane vided.

Parsow award; right: JCC Helen put in endless Director of Volunteer hours and was an advocate Services Lois Wine, presents for young people to Seth Kuydm with the Teen become volunteers at the Volunteer of the Year award.

Home. With that in mind, her family established the Helen Shukert Teen Volunteer of the Year Award in 2001. Our Teen Volunteer of the Year, Seth Kudyn, began volunteering more than two years ago assisting with Shabbat morning services. He then progressed to Sunday afternoons, helping with activities, escorting residents to programs, and assisting with bingo.

The Lee Jane Parsow Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to John Kolm. Parsow was involved with volunteering at the Dr. Philip Sher Home. She knew that living in a nursing home meant more than just sitting around looking at four walls and helped develop programs that would bring the outside world inside for the residents.

This caring lady knew that group activities and volunteers would go a long way toward eliminating loneliness and boredom. Many of these programs still exist at the Home today.

Kolm’s mother was a resident and John asked what he could do to help in the Home. He began calling bingo and pokeno more than seven years ago. You can still find him in the Tea Room each Monday and Thursday after lunch, making certain that everything is set up properly for bingo. He then spends time visiting with staff and residents. In addition to volunteering two days each week, he also volunteers on holidays.

UNMC Alzheimer’s Research Fund Established at University of Nebraska Foundation in President Reagan’s Honor

by TOM O'CONNOR research in neurodegenSenior Associate Director erative disorders, UNMC UNMC Public Affairs Department is studying the basic sciPresident Ronald Reagan’s patriotism ence and clinical treatand leadership touched the hearts of ments of Alzheimer’s dismany Americans. Watching his decadeease, including new drug long battle with Alzheimer’s nearly broke therapies. those same hearts.

Howard Gendelman, UNMC, through its research efforts, is M.D., director of the trying to eliminate the pain of Alzheimer’s Center for Neurovirology and other neurodegenerative disorders. and Neurodegenerative Citizens from Nebraskans can join in the Disorders (CNND) at fight against Alzheimer’s. A research fund UNMC, is among the has been established at the University of nation’s top researchers Nebraska Foundation, with all contribuin brain disease. He has tions directed toward UNMC to fight $5.5 million in federal Alzheimer’s disease. The fund will serve funding to research neuas a tribute to former President Reagan, rodegenerative diseases. who was buried last Friday, after a Dr. Niemann said that decade-long fight with Alzheimer’s, said several private gifts over John Niemann, Ed.D., Senior Vice-presi- President Ronald Reagan. the past several years dent for the foundation.

Credit: Reagan Presidential Library have assisted UNMC in “Like so many Americans, President its Alzheimer’s research Reagan and his family suffered unmercifully from this efforts. Gifts can be made online at www.nufoundahorrible disease,” said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. tion.org or by mail at: University of Nebraska Maurer, M.D. “At UNMC, neurodegenerative disease Foundation, c/o University Alzheimer’s Research Fund, research is among our highest priorities. We have 8712 W. Dodge Road, Ste. 100, Omaha, NE 68114. tremendous expertise in this area, and we’re working UNMC is the only public health science center in the very hard to find cures for all of these devastating dis- state. Its educational programs are responsible for traineases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and AIDS- ing more health professionals practicing in Nebraska related dementia.” than any other institution.

Currently, the Nebraskans suffering from Alzheimer’s Through its commitment to education, research, disease could fill Memorial Stadium. With Baby patient care and outreach, UNMC has established itself Boomers reaching retirement age and life expectancies as one of the country's leading centers in cancer, transincreasing, the number of the state’s citizens who suf- plantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neufer from the disease will reach 100,000 in just a few rodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetyears. ics, biomedical technology and arthritis. UNMC’s UNMC, through its research efforts, is trying to research funding from external sources is now about reverse that trend. With more than $8 million in $65 million annually.

June 18, 2004

Learning About the Holocaust Is Not the Same as Seeing

by BETSY GOODMAN and GAL TSABARI The March of the Living is an experience that takes your emotions and puts them on a roller coaster. A week in Poland followed by a week in Israel showed us things we are still trying to cope with. We couldn’t have gotten through without each other and the support of 70 other teens who grew to be our best friends.

This is an opportunity that everyone should be given, and we thank those who made our journey possible.

Since we had studied with Beth Dotan for the past four months, we had many built up expectations, but no amount of studying could have prepared us for what we were about to embark upon. We both agree that our perception of Photos from top: Gal Tsabari Poland was less than fair. and Betsy Goodman pause Like everyone else who has- to get cool on a hike in n’t visited Poland, we Israel. Below: Some 6000 thought it would be gray Jewish teens marched from and raining all week. Birkenau to Auschwitz; a Although when we got off view of the Kotel, Judaism’s the plane it was raining, holiest site.

Poland had beautiful new cities and quaint old towns, but we were not there to take in the beauty of the county.

The hardest part was to believe that the atrocities actually took place.

For example, Auschwitz looked like a college campus with its nicely built brick buildings and broad boulevards.

Once we learned the extent of the mind games the Nazis played on their prisoners, we understood why the camp looked as it did.

Auschwitz gave us all a false sense of security. It was not until we entered the bunkers and read about the torture that people experienced that we realized how lucky we were to be able to walk out of such an evil place.

MARRIAGE MANCHIK/BARNHILL Alexandra Manchik of Grand Island and Ryan Barnhill of Jamestown, N.C., were married March 25, at the home of the bride’s parents in La Quinta, CA. Lyle and Anita Manchik of La Quinta, formerly of Grand Island, are parents of the bride. The groom’s parents are Mickey and Gwen Barnhill of Jamestown, NC. The bride’s attendant was her sister, Lara Manchik. The bride’s identical twin sister, Estie Manchik of Emeryville, CA, was her honor attendant; the twins were Ak-SarBen countesses in 1999.

The bride graduated from the University of North Garolina at Chapel Hill, N.C., with a double major. She received a bachelor of arts degree in public policy analysis with an emphasis on environmental protection and in communications. She is pursing a juris doctorate with an environmental law certificate from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. The groom graduated from the University of North Carolina where he received degrees in political science and history. He is member of the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Division Brigade, 74th Infantry Detachment, Long Range Surveillance, stationed in Vicenza, Italy. He served with his brigade for the past year in northern Iraq.

David Barnhill of Annapolis, MD, brother of the groom, was best man. Music was provided by keyboardist and vocalist Seth Manchik, brother of the bride.

After a wedding trip along the California coast, the couple makes their home in Emeryville, CA.

Although there were many times while viewing the camps when we leaned on each other, there were times we felt strong and invincible. These feelings were most prominent during The March. It was a breathtaking sight to see about 7,000 Jewish teens from 50 different countries covering the entire distance from Auschwitz to Birkenau. We had such high spirits that day because even though we couldn’t fathom the amount of people who had fallen in the place that we were standing, we were alive and Hitler had not succeeded.

Those high spirits brought us to Israel.

WoHoo! We were so excited and there was not a frowning face among us. While the prior week had been physically and emotionally draining, we were fully recovered when we stepped off the plane.

Israel was a whirlwind of places and people; the atmosphere was fulfilling to our mind and our soul. Israel is one of those places where you can just be--and be happy--the feeling is unexplainable. It is the one place that all Jewish people can call home. Even if it’s your first time, the country still welcomes you.

Now that we’re home, the message of our trip must be passed on. We have so much to say and we would be more than happy to share our first-hand experience with anyone or any group. Without learning, history is bound to repeat itself; we feel personally responsible to teach and never let people forget.

IN THE NEWS Sioux City, IA, graduates of North High School include: Jillian Connor, daughter of Bill and Sue Connor, who will attend Briar Cliff University; Aliya Gordon, daughter of Dr. Steve Gordon and Bethany Manning, will attend University of Colorado; Allison McCuddin, daughter of Kent and Barb McCuddin, will attend Creighton University; and Jacey Tevis, daughter of Jeff Slotsky and Anita Tevis, will attend Iowa State University. Jordan Ungar, daughter of Mike and Susan Unger, graduated from West High School, and will attend St. Benedict College in Minnesota.

Former Omahan Evan Saltzman has been promoted to Senior Systems Coordinator at The Rockefeller Group in New York City, NY. In addition to managing RGI’s IT Help Desk, Saltzman has responsibility for setting PeopleSoft projects modules, and works closely with the Data Center on a wide variety of projects.

He joined RGI in 2002 after managing the technical support and Help Desk at Rapaport Diamond, Inc. He holds a BS-MJS from Yeshiva University.

He is the son of Lynne and Errol Saltzman.

The cover article in the summer Creighton Magazine, the quarterly Creighton University alumni magazine, is “10 Commons Misconceptions about Bible Translations”

by Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, who holds the Klutznick chair in Jewish Civilization. Also in that issue is an article about Shabbat by Prof. Larry Raful, who is leaving Omaha this month to assume the position of Dean of the Touro Law School in New York.

Save the date for Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and historian David Halberstam, who will speak on Thursday, Sept. 9, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Tickets to the benefit dinner with Halberstam include a reserved seat for the lecture and are available from the Nebraska Humanities Council.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 5

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Dining

Page 6

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

June 18, 2004

ORGANIZATIONS

Out

Y.E.S. Members will meet Monday at the JCC. Play bingo at 10 a.m. with Eileen Remer or exercise with Stacey Paskert at 10:30 a.m. Bring articles to share for “YES Talk” at 11 a.m. Join us for the “Kick Off to Summer Party” with musical entertainment by Eileen and Miles Remer and Esther Wax accompanying. For transportation call Dee Dee at 330.4272.

When you patronize these fine establishments, tell them you saw their ad in the Jewish Press.

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WALK-IN, DROP For those members going on the day trip to the Bluffs Run Casino on Thursday, please meet at the JCC main entrance at 8:45 a.m. For transportation call Maggie Conti at 334.6521.

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LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Come to the Yiddish meeting at the JCC on Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. Call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638 for information.

VISIONS Visit the Henry Doorly Zoo to see the new Hubbard Gorilla Valley on June 30, 10 a.m (meet at the upper main entrance). Lunch will be at Piccolo Pete’s at 12:30 p.m. The cost is $18 per person includes entrance to the zoo, lunch, tax and tip. If you are a member of the zoo the cost is $9.75 per person. Make check payable to Visions and mail to: Sandy and Fred Bromley, 13419 Marinda St., Omaha, NE 68144, by June 21.

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Christi and Kevin Finkle of Philadelphia, PA announce the June 7 birth of their son, Eli Garrison.

Grandparents are Lois and Joel Finkle, and Michael and Jane Siegel of Philadelphia, PA, and the late Gladys and Obie Swayne.

Great-grandparents are Helen and Leonard Finkel, and Sue Greenberg and the late David Greenberg.

Cantor Gastón and Lena Bogomolni announce the June 11 birth of their daughter, Emmanuelle Noa. In Hebrew, Emmanuelle means “God is with us” and Noa was one of a group of sisters in the biblical book of Numbers 26:33 /27:1) who successfully petitioned Moses for daughters to have the right of inheritance (if there were no sons), so she was one of the earliest fighters for equal rights for women.

Emmanuelle has a brother Samuel Natan.

Grandparents are Mirta Serebrinsky and Gabriel Bogomolni of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Liliana Parvex of Sweden; great-grandmother is Raquel Braylan of Buenos Aires.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Major General Roger Lempke and Brig. Gen. Paul Cohen (Retired) will speak at Breadbreakers on Wednesday, June 23, noon, at the Park Inn Regency, according to Gary Javitch, Chairman. Lempke and Cohen will discuss the National Guard and the Armed Forces and the role they continue to play in Iraq. Cost is $10 for lunch and $2 for beverage service only.

Breadbreakers is open to the community.

JMR Productions presents From Generation to Generation at the Jewish community center Theatre on Saturday, June 26, 7:30 p.m., as a benefit performance in memory of Dr. Ben Kutler and Jan Anderson.

Proceeds will benefit the Nebraska Foundation for Visually Impaired Children. Tickets that night are $20 for adults and $15 for children and include a reception.

The musical about Rose Lieberman and her efforts to create an enduring gift for her unborn granddaughter, also runs on Thursday, June 24, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, June 27, 2 p.m. and again on Thursday, July 8 and Saturday, July 10, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children. For information, call 393.3893.

TORAH LEARNING CENTER Rabbi Tuvia Hoffman will teach the following classes: on Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m., Jewish Philosophy, an ongoing discussion on Jewish philosophy and selfgrowth; Wednesdays, noon, learn about “Down To Earth Jewish Philosophy” at the JCC; at 7 p.m., Hebrew Comprehension at the TLC Beis Midrash, 1313 No. 58 St.; Thursdays, 7:30 p.m., is a class on the Weekly Torah Portion, at the JCC. New home-study groups and classes and individual study sessions are available at the Torah Learning Center. Please call Rabbi Hoffman at: 981.0569 for more information.

Any Wednesday by Muriel Resnik runs through June 27 at The Grande Olde Players theatre. Michael Taylor Stewart will direct a cast of four in this romantic comedy: Kristine Dunbar as Dorothy, Jerry Evert as John, Shayna Flatowicz-Farmer as Ellen and Todd Maxwell as Cass. Taylor Stewart describes this script as a Neil Simon style comedy or TV-land comedy such as Nick at Night. Taylor Stewart is a familiar face in Omaha theatre having worked as an actor, director, and production person for virtually every community theatre in town over the last 15 years. For reservations, contact Colene Moreno at 397.5262. Ticket prices are: adults $15, seniors $14, and children under 18 are $5.

If You’re Lucky, Celebrate with Your Dad

OPEN SUNDAYS LUNCH: Mon-Fri,11-2:30 DINNER:Tue-Sun,Open at 5 p.m.

BIRTHS

BERT’S EYE VIEW

by BERT LEWIS

Father’s Day--it’s that time of year again. Time to pay a little extra attention to good old Dad, especially if you’ve been remiss lately. And here’s a suggestion, or more accurately a plea: Please don’t head straight for the necktie department. Chances are he not only has all the ties he wants, but that stored away in a drawer are ties from past years still in gift boxes! Also, it should be remembered that most guys like to pick out their own ties, which don’t necessarily look like the ones you like.

Then there’s the matter of men’s cosmetics. The people who manufacture and sell such things tell us more men are using these products than ever before. Okay, that’s cool. Should you buy that after-shave you think smells so nice? I’d say no, because again, if a man wears something with a fragrance, he darn well will choose it himself. See, if you select a men’s cologne he’ll think of it as feminine. If he picks it out, it’s macho. Trust me. It’s a guy thing.

Well, should you maybe head to the shirt department and find him something jazzy to wear on Sundays?

That’s a little iffy also, unless you’re positive he’ll wear turquoise or mauve. I mean, if his favorite sport shirt looks like something he wears because he lost a bet, maybe you could get away with choosing. If, on the other hand, he’s conservative about style and color, you should resist the urge to change his habits.

So where does that leave the shopper when it’s prac-

tically Father’s Day? How about the book store? Or the music store--or how about a couple of tickets to a ball game or some other entertainment event? Or, and this is really sinking pretty low and should only be used when absolutely desperate, do you have a recent photo of a grandchild/children you could frame? A snapshot of a family gathering that turned out particularly good, when enlarged and framed, would be something to kvell about.

The point I’m trying to make here isn’t hard: try to do something original and enjoyable when buying Dad a gift. If nothing else comes to mind, do a spur-of-themoment thing like phoning and inviting him out to lunch. Then just the two of you go someplace where you can eat as well as have a good visit.

On second thought, do that no matter what you choose as a present. Why? Because you never have enough time to just sit down and shmooze with your sweet dad. He’s not busy, but you are, which would make an out-of-the-blue invitation mean a lot.

I know you didn’t ask for suggestions, but I’m such an old hand at buying the wrong as well as the right gift, I thought I owed it to you to help. I learned the error of my ways when I ended up being the designated drawer-empty-er. I found ties never removed from gift boxes, ties from every decade starting with the ’40s, shirts in gift boxes, handkerchiefs still folded in orginal packing...and, oh yes, socks! There’s an item a guy should either buy himself or print instructions for the use of the shopper.

Does all this mean men are hard to shop for? Maybe.

Or maybe it just means I wanted to talk to you about Father’s Day. More than likely, the real truth is simply this: you’re lucky if you can celebrate this little holiday with your Dad. How I wish I could.

June 18, 2004

Visions Step Out

Doris Alloy, left, Sheldon and Sally Masnek were among the Visions group who attended several plays and musicals recently, including It Runs in the Family at Mahoney State Park, Stepping Out at the Omaha Community Playhouse and La Cage Aux Folles at the Chanticleer Theater.

Beth Israel Honors Returning Soldiers

Staff Sgt. Jay Benton, right, and Sgt. Ernie Birt will be honored tomorrow at a kiddush at Beth Israel Synagogue for serving in Iraq. The two soldiers returned in March with the 530th Military Police Battalion. Birt’s sister, Robin, is a 1991 graduate of Friedel.

Camp Gan Israel Campers Swim and Jump to Tzedakah Award

by HILLY NEWHOUSE for Chai Lifeline The children of Camp Gan Israel swam and jumped their way into the hearts of more than 3000 seriously ill children and their families last summer when they raised funds to support Chai Lifeline.

Swimathon/Jumpathon is a national summer tzedakah program run by the international health support organization which provides emotional, social and financial support to families of children with lifethreatening and lifelong illnesses. Children raise money by earning pledges for each lap they swim, walk or jump during events in camps across the United States.

Funds raised during the summer are earmarked for Camp Simcha and Camp Simcha Special, Chai Lifeline’s medically supervised programs and the only kosher camp for such children.

According to Shani Katzman, Swimathon/Jumpathon is a perfect fit for Camp Gan Israel. “We want our children to understand that caring for others is a 24/7 responsibility. Even during the carefree days of summer, tzedakah and chesed are part of their lives,” she said.

“For children suffering from serious childhood illnesses, summer camp is an impossible dream without these programs,” she added. “Swimathon/Jumpathon helps make that dream come true for more than 350 children each year.”

This year’s Jumpathon is Thursday, July 15.

Campers who participated last summer discovered that doing a mitzvah can be rewarding in many ways. As they collect their pledges, the campers were eligible to choose from a number of prizes and gifts.

For more information about Chai Lifeline, contact me at: swim@chailifeline.org or call Chabad of Nebraska at 330.1800.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Dining

Page 7

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FJA Holds Yearly Graduation

by JORDANA L. KURTZMAN in 2002, said he’ll miss celebrating all the Jewish holifor Friedel Jewish Academy days at school.

Friedel Jewish “They’re more fun Academy celebrated the than national holidays. end of another exciting On Purim, we have way and successful school more fun than other kids year with its yearly graddo on Halloween.” Like uation ceremonies. In Anna, Jesse attended addition to all the Friedel Friedel since kinderchildren singing Hebrew garten, although his famsongs and dancing to ily moved to Princeton, Israeli music, the school New Jersey for 18 honored graduates Anna months while his father Kohll, Jesse Reno, and was on sabbatical.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

June 18, 2004

Opinion What Board Members Deserve to Know One consistent theme the Press has articulated over the years is the notion that members of an organization and its board of directors have certain rights. Because so many volunteer groups have recently installed new boards of directors and new officers, it’s seems appropriate to once again reiterate just what those rights are.

The role of any board is to set policy for the organization whose members the board was elected to represent. Clear and explicit directives should then be given to the staff (or in some cases, the volunteers) charged with the task of carrying out those goals and objectives.

And, by the way--there is a difference between those last two; a goal is a broad statement--for example, “The Jewish Federation of Omaha seeks to increase its Jewish population.” An objective is the means by which the board achieves that goal--like hiring a Community Development Director, instructing her to seek out newcomers to Omaha who haven’t affiliated with the Jewish community, and working with local business leaders to recruit more Jewish employees here.

• Board members should have access to all pertinant documents that guide the organization. This includes, but is not limited to: Bylaws, Policies and Procedures, and Personnel Practices (or Employment Guidelines). In order to conduct the “business of the board”--and that’s everything from hiring a new director to approving the annual budget--board members must understand the mission of the organization, its goals and objectives in carrying that out, and how the organization operates (in other words, who is responsible for achieving each aspect of the organization’s mission).

• Board members should also have access to all financial information. This includes everything from the annual buget, the complete list of assets, endowment funds and cash on hand, and the monthly financial

statements. There’s no point in making decisions if boards don’t have access to financial information. How can an organization decide how much to spend if the board hasn’t a clue as to how much money they have on hand or expect to get from membership dues, fundraisers, endowment income and the like?

• Board members should also be trained-either by a professional or volunteer representing the national organization or by someone local from another organization. They should understand Roberts Rules of Order (or the newer Sturgis Rules), how to read and interpret a monthly financial statement and an annual budget, and how to set an agenda and run an efficient meeting.

• Board presidents or chairmen should know how to keep their members on track, how to keep boardroom conversations civil, how motions are made and seconded and discussed and passed or rejected. They shouldn’t do all the talking--in fact, they should be presiding--and letting those board members whose responsibility it is explain their project, program or request. Personal comments should never be part of any board discussion and if they are, the president should rule them out of order. Board members can disagree--but they shouldn’t take it personally when that happens.

• Once in a while, a president should have a brainstorming meeting to allow board members to present “off the wall” ideas for the group to consider. No idea should be rejected out of hand and all should be on the table for full disucssion, even if the ideas are radical, heretical or just not feasible. It’s an opportunity to hear from everyone on the board (especially those board members who are normally quiet) and sometimes, even crazy ideas can be reformatted, mold-

(Founded in 1920)

ed and restructured into reasonable, affordable achieveable goals.

• Finally, board members need communication. They need it from their president and director and from one another. They need to be “in the loop” so they’re not surprised when someone outside the organization asks them about a change. It’s embarrassing for board members to be made to “look stupid” when everyone else knows--except them.

And the board needs to communicate to its members, too. Without members, there’s no point in having a board of directors!

If you’re a board member or a general member of an organization not providing you with the information you need, speak up!

After all, it’s your name on the board list.

Editorial The Jewish Press is a Constitutional Committee of the Jewish Federation of Omaha.

Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, noon, 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.

JDC Helps Eastern European Jews Use Returned Property for Self-sufficiency

FOCUS ON ISSUES

by MAGNUS BENNETT PRAGUE (JTA)--Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe are getting a hand at becoming self-sufficient thanks to a real estate loan program.

The idea behind the Strategic European Loan Fund, or SELF, is to help communities maximize revenues from restituted property and then pump the money back into projects that benefit local Jewry.

Initial experiments with the program have proven so successful that the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, which introduced SELF, is now looking to develop the interest-free loan program all over the continent. Already, JDC has begun setting up seminars in different countries to provide community representatives with real estate know-how.

The JDC's nominee for president, Ellen Heller, told JTA last week that an important aspect of a recent four-country mission by representatives of the JDC's Eastern European committee was economic empowerment-”how we can assist communities to becoming self-sufficient.”

Jerry Spitzer, a JDC board member and property management consultant, said many communities face difficulties in deciding what to do with real estate that has been returned to the Jewish community recently, decades

after their seizure by the Nazis during World War II. “The fact that you have gotten a building can be a liability,” Spitzer said. “Unless you can turn it into an income-producing property, it is a drain because you have to insure it, maintain it.”

Local Jewish communities often find banks reticent to lend money for projects that have yet to show any income, he said. Through SELF, JDC provides both the financial assistance and technical knowledge to maximize revenues from the restituted properties.

The idea behind the Strategic European Loan Fund is to help communities maximize revenues from restituted property and then pump the money back into projects that benefit local Jewry.

But the JDC wants to see the revenues go to social service improvement projects for the Jewish community, Spitzer said.

“We are not going to tell them what are the priorities, but as long as it is something that is going back into the community,” he said.

The program already has gotten under way in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, where the JDC lent the local Jewish community $45,000 to help convert a hospital returned under restitution laws into a hotel.

Fero Alexander, executive chairman of

Joanie Jacobson Chairman Carol Katzman Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Ray Pred Account Executive Timothy J. Ketelsen Bookkeeper Lori Kooper-Schwarz Production Assistant Jewish Press Committee Howard K. Marcus, Vice-Chairman; Bobbi Leibowitz, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Finance Chairman; Steve Simon, Treasurer; Fred Tichauer, Immediate Past-chairman; Jean Duitch; Penny Endelman; Kip Gordman; Stanley Mitchell; George Quittner; Linda Saltzman; Joey Shyken; Nancy Skid; and Melanie Weinstein.

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, Jewish Educational and Library Services, Jewish Family Service, and Jewish Senior Services. The Jewish Press and the Foundation are constitional committees 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.

Slovakia's Central Union of Jewish Religious Communities, said the SELF program had made the project possible.

“At that time, we could have gotten a loan from the banks here at 16 percent interest, which would have been impossible to pay back,” he said.

But as a result of SELF's interest-free loan, the community already has paid back the bulk of the JDC money in about two years.

Alexander said he hoped the scheme would benefit all of the country’s 11 official communities.

Alexander's Czech counterpart, Tomas Kraus, also praised the JDC program, saying he hoped that smaller communities with few members, few properties and little income would use it to achieve self-sufficiency.

Meanwhile, the JDC is looking to collaborate with other Jewish organizations in developing the program. Not long ago, the group announced that it was setting up a joint project in Bulgaria with the Britain-based World Jewish Relief.

“We think it is a global issue, not an American Jewish issue for Europe,” Spitzer said. “We are one people; this is a global village.”

(Editor’s note: A portion of the donations received by the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s Annual Campaign is allocated for the Jewish Agency for Israel--JAFI--for social service needs there and to the American Joint Distribution Committee--JDC--for overseas needs. Last year, $1,145,700 was sent to JAFI and JDC; for 2004-05, $1,200,150 has been allocated--an increase of $54,500.)

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..

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June 18, 2004

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 9

Standing Orders

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

by RABBI DAVID ELIEZRIE It was 10 years ago this week that I stood at the graveside in New York following the interment of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. A hundred of us filled the Ohel, the small stone building that encompasses his grave and that of his father in the law the previous Rebbe. The solid granite walls of the open aired structure rose up to the heavens the and the blue summer sky shined down on us. Tens of thousands more surrounded the building from the outside. We stood in somber silence as the funeral had ended with trepidation in our hearts.

As Hassidic custom dictates there had been no eulogies. Some prayers and few chapters of Psalms had been recited. The Rebbe’s secretaries Rabbis Kirnsky, Groner and Klien had uttered the Kaddish in unison.

The Rebbe has no children of his own, even though thousands considered him their spiritual father.

Questions swirled in our heads. Should we continue to stand or go? What next for us Hassidim, for Chabad as a community and more importantly for world Jewry.

Suddenly the booming voice of Rabbi Shlomo Cunin was heard, the indefatigable schliach from California.

Speaking from the heart he said “Rebbe, in the name of my fellow shluchim (emissaries ) I am assuring you, and making an oath to continue the mission that you have entrusted us, to safeguard the institutions the Rebbe has opened, to expand and develop them.”

Cunin spoke from the heart.

In a few words Cunin had said it all. As Hassidim the last 10 years have been painful. There is no question we are orphans. Not a day goes by I do not ponder the terrible loss.At the same time I am boosted. The

communal consensus is that the key to Jewish survival is Jewish education. Spirituality has become paramount, fostering the growth of Jewish observance and traditions.

As historian Jonathan Sarna wrote in his recently published American Judaism, there is a rise in mitzvah observance and Jewish tradition in the more liberal segments of the community...a clear indication of the Rebbe’s impact.

The Rebbe’s agenda has even seeped into the Jewish establishment. A new focus on the soul of the Jewish people as evidenced by a wide range of initiatives from small local efforts to a new division of the UJC dedicated to Jewish Renaissance and Renewal. This has begun to energize projects focused on the spiritual welfare of the Jewish community, an area, once considered outside the realm of the Jewish establishment.

The Rebbe changed the way many of us think about ourselves as Jews. He taught us to value every single person, to look beyond the labels to the essence of each person as being good and holy. He wanted to shatter the divisions in Jewish life and empower each of us to make a difference. The effect was far beyond his own Hassidim or even the Orthodox community.

Recently, a friend of mine, a local Reform rabbi, was telling me of his upcoming retirement in Israel. “I am taking a page from Chabad, I am buying a big Shabbat table and every week it will be filled with guests.”

And even the Rebbe’s vision of the final goal of his “standing orders” has seeped into the consciousness of the Jewish community. Just last week I heard a prominent Conservative rabbi finish his remarks with a reference to the coming of Moshiach. The Rebbe removed this central Jewish tenet from the theological closet and planted it firmly as the goal of the orders he left to all of us.

Rabbi David Eliezrie is the Chabad Schliach in Yorba Linda California, he can be reached at rabbi@ncchabad.com.

This, Too, Is Israel

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the Editor: We have been reading and hearing complaints about the upkeep of our cemeteries in our community. I am, in turn, writing to let you know how beautifully kept Mount Sinai Cemetery is.

It is rewarding to know our loved ones are being cared for and a good feeling knowing the people who take that care. The majority of my family is buried at Mount Sinai; only one gravestie needed tending. I contacted Kevee Kirshenbaum (who serves on the Mt. Sinai Cemetery Committee) on a Tuesday and on Wednesday he called back to say it had been done.

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful group of men who take pride in carrying on the tradition of preserving Mount Sinai as a beautiful, well kept cemetery.

Julie Schapiro To the Editor: Thanks to our alert Jewish Press readers, the two Jewish genetic testing dates on July 11 and Sept. 1 have been filled! For more information or to register for a waiting list, please call me at 393.1141.

Jean Duitch, Founder Greater Omaha Committee on Jewish Genetic Testing

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Rebbe’s rich heritage of learning, insight and leadership is vibrant and living.

A few years later we organized a major event in the Rebbe’s honor in Washington. Billed as “Living the Legacy”, hundreds of Chabad rabbis and supporters gathered in the nation’s capital. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz questioned the theme of the event, when in a lecture in the Library of Congress, he said “The Rebbe did not leave a legacy, he left standing orders.”

Within a decade since that summer day, there is much on which to reflect. The standing orders are being fulfilled. A new Chabad Center opens every 10 days. In the last decade Chabad has doubled, more than 2000 couples have, as the Chabad expression, “go out on schlichus.” They have moved to towns and cities across the globe...in Novosibirsk in far off Russia and ritzy suburbs. Today there is is not only Chabad in Katmandu, but in the Hamptons, Kinshasha and Bulgaria.

The Rebbe demanded we take Jewish education seriously, that we take individual responsibility for the destiny of the Jewish people. Not to stand by when a child is not knowledgeable about Judaism in Boca Raton, or an old Jew in Minsk or Vilna needs a kosher meal. The Rebbe cared about each and every one of us, this was the Rebbe’s agenda. The Rebbe did not create followers, but community leaders. He empowered his Hassidim, and more importantly, every Jew, to focus on our spiritual welfare and even more importantly the spiritual welfare of others, Jew and non Jew alike.

It’s clear that the Rebbe”s “Standing Orders” have reached far beyond the Chabad community. The core of the Rebbe’s agenda has risen to center stage in contemporary Jewish life. Many are emulating Chabad with a wide variety of outreach and educational projects.

The Rebbe’s first initiative when he arrived in the United States in the early forties was to start the first national network of Jewish day schools. Today, the

333-7900 292-7900 322-7900 423-8885

OUR MAN IN ISRAEL

by CARL ALPERT Haifa--When the headlines are gloomy and the situations both here and abroad are discouraging, some friends of ours stop reading the newspapers. We prefer to turn to the back pages and seek out the short items, some- times known as fillers, which editors use to complete a column. This was one of those unhappy weeks, and this is what we found: • Oh, Those Translations. Hebrew subtitles on English films often follow the original text too faithfully. Thus, in the film Victoria and Albert, it is reported that the latter was slow in pursuing the romance. “He does not press his suit,” the text declared. And the faithful translator recorded in Hebrew: “His men’s suit was not ironed.”

• Udderly High. Israel’s milk production per cow is the highest in the world. Each cow produces an annual average of 10,500 liters, compared to 9,500 in the U.S. and 7,500 in the European Union. Israel’s best milker is a cow on a Galilee kibbutz that produced 18,965 liters of milk in 2003.

Any bulls interested?

• Circumstantial Evidence. There has been considerable criticism of the anti-Israel reports which the BBC airs from its Israel correspondent, Orla Guerin. A Jaffa correspondent of The Jerusalem Post points out that “Orla” in Hebrew is an unattractive, useless bit of skin that should be removed from a sensitive area.

• Israelis with Wanderlust. Where do Israeli tourists head? Last year’s totals reveal that the U.S. was the number one destination. In second place was Turkey, followed in order by Britain, Germany, France and Italy. Last on the list of 10 were Russia and Holland.

• Keeping Arab Streets Clean. In the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, Palestinians are ashamed to be seen cleaning their streets, though they accept such employment in Jewish cities. The contractor employed by the town council has brought in a crew of mainly Russian Jewish immigrants from nearby Nazareth Ilit who perform their tasks diligently.

• No Jews Wanted? The Hebrew press in Haifa has been carrying full page ads printed entirely in Arabic, without Hebrew text. The figure $124,000 appears in big letters alongside a picture of a high rise apartment house labelled in English, “Stella Maris residence”.

Carl ALpert can be reached at: alpert@techunix.technion.ac.il.

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Page 10

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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 nebraskajudaism.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 jewishnebraska.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

June 18, 2004

Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning Services, 9:30 a.m., Kiddush sponsored by Ardyne Solomon and Jeffrey Solomon in honor of their son, Alex, becoming Bar Mitzvah.

K’tantan (K-2), 10:45 a.m.; Evening Services, 8:55 p.m.

WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sunday, 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Weekdays, 6:55 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

SITTER SERVICE During Friday night and Saturday mornings services, on a drop-in basis, at no charge.

ADULT EDUCATION WEDNESDAY, 7 p.m.: Adult B’nai Mitzvah class with Cantor Bogomolni.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS COME & DANCE! Israeli Dance Lessons Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. For information, contact Cheryl Lerner, 334.8430 or cldancer@ aol.com.

MONDAY, June 21, 7 p.m.: “The Power of Music: Food for the Jewish Soul” will be the theme for our women’s Rosh Hodesh meeting in Beth El’s front courtyard. Reservations are needed by Wednesday, June 16, and may be made by emailing Susi Frydman-Levin at Susifrydmanlevin@cox.net or Jill Belmont at BeanK2@aol.com.

SUNDAY, June 27: BEAM

Lydia Stern, daughter of John Stern and Cynthia Shafer-Stern, will become a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, June 26 at Beth El Synagogue.

Torah Learning Center 1313 No. 58 St. Omaha, NE 68132 553.5397

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BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: MondayThursday, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 a.m-noon. (These office hours are effective through June). Services conducted by Rabbi Howard Kutner.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Services, 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 10:30 a.m.; Kiddush sponsored by the family of Jack E. Cohen in memory of his birthday; Mincha, 8:30 p.m. and Havdalah, 9:44 p.m.

SUNDAY: Morning Service, 9 a.m.; Evening Service, 7 p.m.

Weekday Morning Service, 7 a.m.; Weekday Evening Service, 7 p.m..

BEYT SHALOM

Lydia is a seventh-grade honor roll student at Lewis and Clark Middle School.

She was selected to participate in the Duke University Talent Identification Program. She participated in swim team, tennis, bowling club, and plays percussion in the school band. She enjoys cheerleading, reading, music, computers,

ate level, 7 p.m.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Rabbi Debbie Stiel will be in the office Tuesdays and Thursdays, all day. You may reach her 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays at 416.2321 (local for Lincoln), or at rabstiel@aol.com.

FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. Led by Rabbi Stiel with Oneg to follow provided by the Dohner family. The study topic is History of Reform Judaism--“Reform Judaism’s Beginnings in Germany and Europe.”

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 10:30 a.m.; at 6 p.m.: Game night.

ADULT EDUCATION TUESDAYS: Beginning Hebrew Prayers, using the book Hineini, 5:45-6:45 p.m. Please call the office to sign up.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME

CHABAD HOUSE

TEMPLE ISRAEL

Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman.

Monday-Friday, Morning services, 7 a.m.

SATURDAY: Mamarim class, 9 a.m.; Services, 9:30 a.m.

SUNDAY: Services, 8:30 a.m.

Mishneh class, 9:30 a.m.

MONDAY Halacha Intermedi-

July and August, Sitter service will be available at each Friday evening service. Please check the Temple Tidings worship page, the Temple website www.templeisrael-ne.org, or The Jewish Press for service times. Please make a reservation through the Temple office. Cost is $2 per family. Sorry, there are no facilities for infants.

SUMMER SERVICE TIMES In June, services will be at 6 p.m. on June 18, and at 7:30 p.m on June 25. Beginning Friday, July 7, continuing through August 27, all Friday evening services will begin at 6 p.m. in the Livingston Chapel.

Saturday morning services remain at 10:30 a.m.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN AT TLC FRIDAY: Kaballat Shabbat services, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat services, followed by a kiddish luncheon, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m.,, followed by Havdalah.

TIFERETH ISRAEL

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.; led by Andy Greenberg.

FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 6 p.m. Cantor Wendy Shermet will officiate.

SATURDAY: Bagels and Sacred Books, 9:30-10:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.

SITTER SERVICE SUMMER SCHEDULE During the months of June,

Services conducted by Rabbi Stanley M. Rosenbaum. Minyan, Monday & Thursday, 7:15 a.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 8 p.m.; Sol Eppel, son of Kathy and Mike Eppel, will be confirmed. A special Oneg Shabbat is sponsored by his parents.

SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.

WEDNESDAY: The Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m.

Beth El Honors Volunteers, Hosts Art Exhibit spending time with friends, and summers at Camp Sabra in Lake of the Ozarks, MO. In addition to Camp Sabra, this summer she will travel to Hastings, NE, to attend the Nebraska Scholars Academy, and to Columbus, OH, to participate in the dance division with the 2004 Junior Maccabi Games.

For her mitzvah project, she has volunteered time for the past two years, and raised money for Yachad, a program for Jewish individuals with developmental disabilities.

Lydia has a younger brother, Cameron.

Grandparents are Marie and Don Shafer, and Carolyn (Rocky) Stern and the late Arnold Stern.

Great-grandmother is Naomi Cohn.

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A celebration occurred last Sunday as Beth El Synagogue held its annual meeting and installation ceremony The afternoon also included a thank-you party honoring all synagogue volunteers, plus the “Artists of Beth El” exhibit. Top left: outgoing President Richard Fellman, left, welcomes newly installed President Hyman Sukiennik;

Debbie Roitstein, bottom left, displays her newly acquired artwork, created by Tiffany Hoberman; Daniel Christensen, top right, and Ophir Palmon, served as Co-chairmen of the art exhibit; and bottom right: award winners Sam Edelstein, left, Carol and Ed Schneider, and Dinah and Larry Raful, are recognized for their work to the synagogue.

Great idea! Here’s my check, made out to the Jewish Press, for $40.

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Friday, June 11, 8:39 p.m.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m.

BAT MITZVAH

The Neighborhood Minyan

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

(Beth El Association for Mitzvot) volunteers will cook and serve meals at the Stephen Center. 1214 volunteers will be needed to help out. To volunteer or for more information, please contact Toby Schonfeld at schonfeld@unmc.edu, or M’Lee Hasslinger at mlee1@tconl.com.

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June 18, 2004

Service, or Personal Status

SPARKS FROM THE WORD

by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Korah Greed, they say, is as old as Man. Jealousy, they say, is as cruel as death.

Now that that has been said, we have identified the problem with Korah. Perhaps not. For his name may be really a nickname, something like “Baldy”. He may have suffered much joshing and kidding about his name, and his striking back with anger and jealousy may be simply a human reaction.

But others were not so sympathetic. “You want to be like Aaron and like Moses! Isn’t it enough for you that you are a Levite and have all of the privileges of the Levites? Must you also be like the Kohanim?”

There is also much other dissension in the congregation. Again the dissenters complain to Moses and Aaron that they have been dragged here out of Egypt, a land “flowing with Milk and Honey (the irony is obvious) but you have dragged us into this wilderness to die.

Just because we are not satisfied, would you put out our eyes?”

The Lord threatens to kill the whole nasty lot of them.

And Moses, unable to restrain himself any longer, suggests that all the dissenters will die and probably by a new kind of death. In a moment the earth opens up and all 250 of the complainers are swallowed up alive

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Be a role model; the person you want your kid to be.

into the bowels of the earth and Sheol.

And in due order, the same people who had been among the complainers complained to Moses, “You have killed the Lord’s own people!” Aaron tried to protect them from the Lord’s wrath that followed, and he was able to save some, but almost 15,000 died in the plague.

To make it clear that the Kohanim and Leviim were specially appointed for special tasks, each of the 12 tribe leaders, together with Aaron, bring a staff to the Tent of Meeting. And in the morning, behold! Aaron’s staff blossomed and produced almonds. Thus, the Kohanim and Leviim, Aaron’s family, were identified as the workers for the holy tasks at the Tent of Meeting.

All of that now concluded, our Sidra goes on to other matters. First fruits, wine and grain belong to the Lord.

So, too, does the first born of every animal, and first born humans are redeemed. (This continues until our own day. Pidyon haben...did you have it in your family? You need five silver dollars for the ceremony. And your bank may have to scrounge around to find such an anomaly in our society.)

Our Sidra ends with a notation that the Levites get tithes from new produce, but the tribe of Levi is assigned no land holding in the new Land.

Turning back for a moment to Korah, it is obvious that he is rejected not because he wanted additional duties, but because he wanted the personal aggrandizement associated with them. If only he had been sincere! The wise statement now is, “If you can fake sincerity, you’ve got it made.”

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JTA NEWS BRIEFS • Jewish organizational leaders discussed their alert system for Jewish organizations and religious sites with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. Ridge praised the community’s pilot program, the Secure Community Alert Network, and discussed the community’s security needs, those involved in the meeting said. Ridge suggested that the Jewish community's plan for alerting members about a terrorist attack could be a model for other ethnic minorities. Department officials met with Jewish leaders this week to discuss information sharing and coordination opportunities. Legislation to use homeland security funds to secure high-risk nonprofit organizations, such as synagogues and other Jewish sites, was not discussed, participants said.

to recognize the Jewish state if it relinquishes lands conquered in the 1967 Six-Day War. Syria until now has clung to the “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel,” resolutions reached

by Arab heads of state at a Khartoum conference three months after the 1967 conference.

• Syria reportedly plans to abandon the anti-Israel policy known as the “three no’s.” The Persian Gulf newspaper Al-Watan on Tuesday cited sources in Syria’s ruling Ba’ath Party saying that Damascus was drawing up a new policy whereby it would be willing

• Israeli troops thwarted a Gaza Strip car bombing.

Soldiers spotted a suspicious Palestinian car approaching the Netzarim settlement Tuesday and opened fire, detonating explosives inside. The Al-Aksa Brigade and the Islamic Jihad claimed joint responsibility.

• Queen Elizabeth honored one of Britain’s leading liberal rabbis. Rabbi David Goldberg received an Order of the British Empire for his services to interfaith relations, while Judith Usiskin earned the same honor for Jewish charity work. Also, a Jewish member of Parliament, Gerald Kaufman, who frequently is accused of being anti-Israel, was knighted.

Page 11

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JCC Group Continued from page 1 “We want to help people on every journey they want to take,” said Leonard Rubin, JCCA’s executive vice president of program services.

In part, JCCs are being urged to blur the traditional lines of organizational life by forging closer ties with other Jewish institutions in hopes of encouraging Jewish activity. The idea is to “promote collaboration with other Jewish institutions, like synagogues and federations,” Rubin said.

That will be crucial in coming years, said Robert Hyfler, senior vice president of research and development for the United Jewish Communities, the umbrella organization of North American Jewish federations. UJC is one JCC funder.

“The key to the future in the 21st century will be dynamic partnerships,” Hyfler said, as public institutions such as JCCs, federations and synagogues--and their individual donors and major philanthropic supporters--change how they do business. These groups must “appreciate their unique strengths, while breaking down institutional egos that prevent us from getting the collective job done,” he added.

Hagshama also is urging JCCs to undergo a “rebranding” that plays up their Jewish content alongside their preschools and fitness centers.

The JCC should be a “community within a community” that encourages “the spiritual, emotional and physical development” of members though all stages of life, the plan states. “We intend to build a strong image for the movement, a public statement about what we stand for Jewishly,” Finkelstein said.

This isn’t the first time the JCCA has attempted to raise its profile. Over the past century, JCCs evolved from urban settlement houses for immigrants and places for young men to play basketball, to gleaming suburban centers built around camps, preschools and gyms, much like YMCAs. During the 1990s the JCCA tried to “put the J back in JCC,” publicizing the fact they also offer adult Jewish education and Jewish cultural events. But “the world has totally changed” since then, Finkelstein said.

First there was a 1999 shooting at a Los Angeles JCC, followed by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Both events underlined the need for tighter security. Then the 2000-01 National Jewish Population Survey came out, showing that nearly 20 percent of the 4.3 million most Jewishly active members of the community--out of some 5.2 million Jews in the United States-belonged to a JCC. That study reaffirmed the notion that many Jews have stepped into a JCC in recent years, Finkelstein said.

Working from the NJPS figures, the JCCA plan estimated that 28 percent of Jewish households--amounting to 1.7 million Jews, or one-third of American Jewry-either belong to a JCC or have participated in an activity at one. The JCCA then hired a leading branding firm, Landor Associates of New York, to retool its image. The firm, which has led campaigns for Hewlett-Packard, Federal Express and the Department of Homeland Security, interviewed more than 100 educators, rabbis, Jewish communal professionals and others about JCCs. (JTA Correspondent Bram Eisenthal in Montreal contributed to this story.)

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Page 12

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

June 18, 2004

“Living an Ageless Story”--Through Quilt Project, Loved Ones to Be Inscribed in Beth El’s History

by JILL BELMONT up the art 14 years ago. To create her work of art, an Beth El Publicity Coordinator upcoming trip to the fabric store is on the agenda, Beth El’s 75th anniversary celebration will be memo- where “we’ll lay out bolts of cloth of every color and rable for the entire Jewish community, offering senti- see what looks good together,” mental tributes, musical galas and special guest speakIn addition to marking this milestone in Beth El’s hisers throughout the year. And after the year’s festivities tory, “Living an Ageless Story” will offer the communihave passed, the anniversary’s most ty an opportunity to pay tribute to visible legacy-- four magnificent loved ones, by having their names quilts designed and created by a woven into the quilt. group of congregants--will be on “These quilts will not only add beauty permanent display in the synaand spirit to the synagogue, but also a gogue social hall for generations to sense of history,” said Joanie Jacobson, come. who, along with Jim Fried, is serving as The quilt project, “Living an 75th Anniversary co-chairman. “They Ageless Story,” will feature four will pay tribute to those who came unique creations crafted by six talbefore us, while recognizing Beth El ented Beth El artisans in honor of families and friends present in the year 75 years of religious and spiritual 2004 to mark 75 years of Conservative life together: “Joseph’s Coat of synagogue life in Omaha, Nebraska.

Many Colors,” designed by Karin The fact the project has the potential to Levine; “Jacob’s Ladder,” by Barbara raise thousands of dollars for Beth El is Rennard; “Miriam and the Women,” definitely the frosting on the cake.” created by Ozzie Nogg and Susi For only $36 per member unit (family, Frydman-Levin; and “Jerusalem of individual, former member, or nonGold,” by Julie Phillips and Carole member), individuals and families may Greenberg. Ellene Edelstein serves Surrounded by some of the materials inscribe their names and those of their as chairman of the project; Janie to be used to create “Living an Ageless loved ones, Jacobson said, and for only Kulakofsky is serving as administra- Story” are Beth El quilt project partici- $18 per additional name, parents, tive coordinator, and Andy pants: front row, Janie Kulakofsky, left, grandparents, grandchildren and other Greenberg, promotional chairman. Susi Frydman-Levin and Ozzie Nogg; significant others may be added.

Each quilt will possess its own back row: Ellene Edelstein, Julie The deadline to turn in names is July unique design and brilliant color Phillips and Karin Levine. Not pic- 15; sign-up forms have been mailed to scheme, mirroring the artists’ cre- tured: Carole Greenberg and Barbara congregants, and additional forms are ativity. “Miriam and the Women” Rennard. available in the synagogue office and on will use a variety of materials donated by women in the the synagogue’s website: bethel-omaha.org/quilcongregation, as well as portions of the Hebrew text tev.htm. For more information, please contact Andy telling the story of Miriam as she and her companions Greenberg at: agreenberg @nashua.com, or call arrived at the sea, according to Nogg. “We’ll use lace, 392.6088 (daytime phone). ribbon, scraps from the past, jewelry – pieces of peoArtists’ renditions of each quilt are on display in Beth ple’s lives. Hopefully, it will reflect all the women of El’s community court. “Living an Ageless Story” will be Beth El and their different ages, ideas, attitudes and joy. unveiled at the December 12 event, “A Tribute to Beth We want this to be a representation of all of us,” she El,” featuring nationally-acclaimed author and scholar said.

Rabbi Harold Kushner.

The prototype of “Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors” “July 15 is just around the corner,” Jacobson said. boasts of brilliantly-hued stripes; the design is well-suit- “Make sure you and your loved ones become a proud ed to its creator, Karin Levine, who possesses both a part of Beth El’s history as we continue to celebrate love of color and a passion for quilting, having taken ‘Living an Ageless Story!’”

Oldest Resident of Blumkin Home Turns 105

by CAROL KATZMAN Editor of the Jewish Press Helen “Honey” Kulakofsky has lived in three centuries. Born to Sol and Bessie Levy in 1899 in Leavenworth, KS, she celebrated her 105th birthday Sunday surrounded by friends and family. Honey eloped with Louis Kulakofsky in 1919; he was an owner of Central Market and later went directly into the beef business. Louis died in 1968.

Her son Leonard (pictured with her above) is the only one of her three children still alive; he flew in from Chicago with his wife, Anita. Honey’s son, Arthur, died in 1995, but daughter-in-law, Shirley, considers herself a “cose friend” to her mother-in-law and is a regular visitor to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, where Honey has lived since 1999. Honey’s daughter, Anna Jane Katelman. died in 1992.

Kulakofsky drove her children to New York in 1939, played golf, and helped to run the servicemen’s canteen at Union Station during World War II. An active member of the National Council of Jewish Women and Planned Parenthood, Helen received a major award from the Jewish Federation in 1948 for what was probably her most notable volunteer achievement--founding the Women’s Campaign in 1945 and serving as its first chairwoman!

Family members flew in from as far away as Seattle, WA, and Washington, D.C., to help this remarkable woman celebrate a milestone birthday. As Shirley notes, “Mother had a good time and that’s what’s important.”

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