June 20, 2014

Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA

World Refugee Day Health Fair

June 20, 2014 22 Sivan 5774 Vol. 94 | No. 40

This Week

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN There are an estimated 25,000 refugees in Nebraska with 15,000 in Omaha alone, according to Omaha resettlement agencies and federal resettlement reports. On Saturday, June 21, hundreds of them are expected to attend a health fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Benson High School. The health fair is part of World Refugee Day, a free event organized by the Omaha Refugee Task Force.

Established by the United Nations, World Refugee Day is observed in numerous countries every year to honor the courage, strength, and determination of women, men, and children who are forced to flee their homeland under threat of persecution, conflict, and violence.

Overseeing the health fair is the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Inter-Professional Service Learning Academy (SLA). Ruth Margalit, MD, is the founding director of the SLA and an associate professor, College of Public Health, Health Promotion, Social and Behavioral Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) faculty.

Continued on page 2

Caned and able Page 5

Jewish Press Summer Internship Page 6

Dr. Ruth Margalit, in front at left, with her Bridge to Care leadership team.

Mainstreeters in July Typecast/Recast Forrest N. Krutter Remembrance Service Page 11

Inside Point of view Synagogues

8 10

No Press The Jewish Press will not publish on July 4, 2014 See Front Page stories and more at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press

by OZZIE NOGG Mainstreeters invites you to liven up those lazy days of summer with these cool activities. So get out of your hammock and circle these dates on the July calendar right now.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame: Thursday, July 10.

Come see the Omaha Storm Chasers battle the Iowa Cubs at Werner Park Stadium in Papillion. Take advantage of the free transportation sponsored by Jewish Social Services. Depart from the JCC by school bus at 6 p.m. Return to the JCC by approximately 10 p.m. Cost is $8 per person for game admission. Please reserve by July 3. Make check payable to Jewish Social Services. Send Reservation with full payment to: MAINSTREETERS, c/o Maggie Conti, 323 So 132nd Street, Omaha, NE 68154. Dinner will be on your own. Choose from all the

excellent food venders at the ball park including Omaha Steaks, La Mesa, Famous Dave’s and The Reuben Sandwich -- an Omaha original. For more information call Harry Alloy at 402.697.8709. This will be a fun night!

Jamie Burmeister’ s artwork can be seen in the front; Avery Mazor's is in the background.

Join Us at the Movies: Frozen, Friday, July 25, 1 p.m. in the JCC Theater. No charge for the film or for unlimited bags of warm, delicious popcorn. No reservations necessary.

Invite your grandchildren. This beautifully animated Disney film takes viewers to a kingdom trapped in eternal winter. The movie follows Anna, a fearless optimist, as she sets off on an epic quest with rugged mountain man Kristoff (and his loyal Continued on page 2

by ALAN POTASH Regional Director, ADL Plains Region/ Community Relations Committee JFO The Anti-Defamation League Plains States Region (ADL) is excited to announce the official public opening of TypecastRecast scheduled for Sunday, June 22 at 1 p.m.

The original opening, delayed due to weather, TypecastRecast was installed in April of this year. The installation includes six pieces of public art dedicated to starting a dialogue in Omaha about differences and community within this city. The ADL is the nation’s premier civil rights and human relations agency with a mission to fight all forms of bigotry, defend democratic ideals and advocate for civil and human rights. Regionally, the ADL Plains States Region implements programming that directly addresses this mission. TypecastRecast is the

largest and most visible effort to date.

Because of its size and location, TypecastRecast has the potential to reach a much larger and perhaps more diverse audience in a shorter amount of time than some of our traditional programming, and this kind of potential is very exciting for us. We hope to hear more dialogue during the next few months.

Over the next several months, the site will be used for several educational events for school groups, corporations and community groups.

Finding starting points to have difficult conversations can often be challenging. With art, there is no right or wrong answer, and it’s a great vehicle to promote engaging in discussion. We hope this project will open doors to many meaningful conversations and, possibly, transform people’s lives by making Continued on page 2

2 | The Jewish Press | June 20, 2014

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51 kids received need-based scholarships to Jewish summer camps thanks to Foundation scholarship funds. Additional funds are always needed. Establish a camp scholarship fund today!

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World Refugee Day Health Fair Continued from page 1 In addition to UNMC’s College of Public Health, the Service Learning Academy, and Bridge to Care, other sponsors of the local World Refugee Day are Southern Sudan Community Association, Lutheran Family Services, Embrace the Nations, Omaha Together One Community, Institute of Public Life, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Douglas County Health Department, Ready in Five, Alegent-Creighton Florence Clinic, One World Community Health Centers, Omaha Public Schools, and more than 250 refugee leaders and key community members.

As director of the Service Learning Academy, Dr. Margalit and a medical student created the Bridge to Care program in 2010. A partnership between health profession students, leaders from city and state refugee service organizations and refugee leaders, Bridge to Care is a student-led organization that strives to engage with refugees, develop cultural sensitivity and provide services that address community identified needs.

“The partnerships with the resettlement organizations make this project successful,” said Dr. Margalit. The SLA facilitates four other campus-wide inter-professional community-based experiences like Bridge to Care. According to Dr. Margalit, “Bridge to Care provides opportunities for students to engage in experiences that are not otherwise available in their standard curriculum. While providing essential services, students are able to enhance cultural and communications skills and gain experience working with an inter-professional team.”

Prior to resettlement, refugees have limited access to health services and arrive with inadequate knowledge of basic hygiene practices, general health care issues, and little understanding of the American health care system.

Refugees begin the process of seeking resettlement after fleeing their home countries. When arriving at the nation providing asylum or temporary residence, they face three possible endpoints, one of which is resettlement in a third country such as the United States. This process often takes more than five years while refugees live in harsh conditions.

In fiscal year 2013, there was a record high of 1,006 refugees resettled in Omaha, reported Dr. Margalit. Over the years, refugees from Sudan, Somalia, Burma, Bhutan, Nepal, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Liberia, Congo, and Burundi have been resettled in Nebraska. As of 2006, it’s estimated that more than 50 percent of the Sudanese population in the USA settled in Nebraska. In more recent years, the majority of resettled refugees come from camps in Thailand after fleeing Burma (Myanmar).

It’s not unusual to find individuals with complicated health

issues that continue for years following resettlement. Past histories of poor nutrition, poor sanitation, exposure to ongoing violence, and lack of adequate medical care all play a part in contributing to poor health.

In addition to health education sessions and focused services like flu shot clinics, Bridge to Care organizes two major health fairs/linkage-to-care events each year. The fairs offer a wide range of education opportunities including information related to proper hygiene, nutrition, immunizations, mental health and chronic disease management, and maternal and child health. Prescription and over-the-counter medication counseling are also available at the health fairs.

Free preventative services are also provided.

Dr. Margalit’s husband, Eyal Margalit, MD, PhD, an ophthalmologist and retina specialist at UNMC, and six to ten other faculty members help supervise the students working at the health fair. He and another ophthalmologist will examine hundreds of refugees and help provide glasses donated during UNMC’s spring drive.

Since April 2010, more than 700 students and 4,000 refugees have worked together to address health needs. Through this engagement, students benefit from improving their communication skills, developing compassion, and enhancing cross cultural awareness. All are important skills that will impact how these future health professionals care for patients who are likely to come from various cultural backgrounds.

Funding for Bridge to Care activities comes from local and national grants, in-kind contributions, and fundraising.

“The amount of effort that goes into this project is well worth it,” explained Dr. Margalit. “Bridge to Care has formed numerous partnerships with local businesses and service providers. For example, for the second year now, when flu shots were not available from the government, Walgreens stepped up and contributed over 400 vaccines with pharmacist-volunteers. We are constantly looking for more resources and funding so we can respond appropriately to the vast needs. Cash and material contributions, resources and volunteers are much appreciated!

“The stories refugees share with us remind me again and again of the racial atrocities and persecutions the Jewish people suffered. My mother survived the Warsaw Ghetto and came to Israel on a refugee boat,” Dr. Margalit, pointed out.

“Perhaps we as Jewish people have a special role in responding to populations saved from ethnic violence. Please come and see for yourself -- a celebration of now free people from around the world resettled in our Omaha community.”

For volunteer opportunities, contributions, and questions, please contact Dr. Ruth Margalit at rmargalit@unmc.edu.

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Continued from page 1 reindeer, Sven) to find the Snow Queen and put an end to the icy spell.

Featuring the voices of Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel, Frozen won Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song. If you want to have lunch at the Star Deli at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home before the show, call Maggie Conti at 402.334.6521 to reserve a table.

Lunch is on your own. The Star Deli opens for business at 11:30 a.m. For questions, call Maggie Conti at 402.334.6521.

Lunch with former Omaha Police Sergeant Mark Langan: Real crime, real-life cop stories, Monday, July 21, 12:30 p.m. in the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Auditorium. You’ll be mesmerized as Langan, author of Busting Bad Guys, relives his front-row seat working the seamier side of crime during his decorated twenty-six-year career -- from youngest rookie in 1978 to narcotics sergeant -- on the Omaha Police force.

Before he retired in 2004, Langan caught burglars, hit bookie joints in smoke-filled bars, squeezed snitches for information, and went undercover in the 1980s when LA gang members invaded Omaha and claimed neighborhoods to sell crack. In his presentation, Langan delivers a graphic and authentic look at solid policing on the streets of America’s heartland, and takes you inside the high-adrenaline, topsecret investigations that outsmarted the criminals.

Currently, Mark Langan is Vice-President of Field Operations for the Nebraska Humane Society, where he supervises animal cruelty investigations in the Omaha area. For your indoor-picnic entree, choose either a hot dog, hamburger or vegetable burger served with cole slaw, baked beans, chips, watermelon and beverage. Cost is $10 a plate. Make checks payable to Jewish Social Services and send full payment to: Mainstreeters c/o Maggie Conti, 323 So. 132 Street, Omaha, NE 68154. For transportation, call Maggie at 402.334.6521.

According to Conti, Director of Activities and Outreach

Programs at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, “Mainstreeters main goal is to offer activities and programs that give area residents -- age 60-plus -- the chance to participate in new experiences, meet new people and enjoy life to the fullest. We invite you to add these July activities to your summer schedule.”

Mainstreeters programs are supported in part by grants from the United Way of the Midlands and the Jewish Federation of Omaha.

Typecast/Recast Continued from page 1 them aware of their own biases.

The exhibit will be in place through the Fall of 2014 and is appropriate for all visitors.

The six pieces of art were chosen by a jury from among more than 50 entries by artists in Omaha and the surrounding communities. The ADL sought artists who have experience working in the public realm, as well as those for whom the project would represent an expansion of their practice. The selection process was led by the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts.

“We were delighted to be able to connect the ADL to a terrific network of artists for this project,” said Adam Price, Executive Director of the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. “The ADL should be congratulated for initiating important dialogue in this community through great public art.”

The free community opening event is planned for Sunday, June 22 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the installation site at 12th and Cass Streets. For more information on TypecastRecast, please visit www.typecastrecast.org. To schedule a docent-led tour for your company or organization, please contact Susan Wallis at Swallis@adl.org.

The Plains States Regional Office serves Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas. For more information on this office, please visit Omaha.adl.org.

June 20, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 3

Beth El’s Adult B’nai Mitzvah class revels in its milestone celebration

by JILL BELMONT ies with Hazzan. My conversion 20 years ago “It has made the service much more Beth El Publicity with Rabbi Drazen was intense and so was approachable and meaningful,” he said.

If you think the ritual of Bar Mitzvah is this part of my Jewish journey. Even though Saying “I am truly thankful for the opporonly for 13-year-olds, three Beth El congre- we come to services weekly, I feel a different tunity to reconnect with Judaism and my gants would beg to differ. Saundra Clarke, connection with the text than I did before I personal journey,” Clarke added that, “Over Jay Gordman and Becca Ruetsch- began studying.” the course of a lifetime, we all need to reconFinkelstein recently proved beyond a nect and ground doubt that becoming B’nai Mitzvah is ourselves by refor adults, too, as they celebrated their exploring our conmilestone event at the synagogue. nections to The May 31 service marked the culJudaism; refining mination of a two-year course of the nuances and study, during which the students practices of our learned Torah tropes, Hebrew readbeliefs; and even ings, plus the structure and meanings redefining ourof the prayers in the Shabbat service. selves Jewishly.

Beth El’s cantor, Hazzan Michael Personally, I believe Krausman, served as their instructor. that all Jews in “The adult class was an interesting America are ‘Jews and diverse group – a real pleasure to by choice,’ as there learn with,” Hazzan Krausman said. are so many distrac“Although not all of them chose to tions that can derail actually learn a Torah reading, many us from our path or started from learning the aleph, bet, lure us away from and made the incredible and difficult Hazzan Michael Krausman, second from right, is flanked by this year's Adult the beliefs and journey from beginning Hebrew B'nai Mitzvah class: from left, Becca Ruetsch-Finkelstein, Jay Gordman, and practices that reading to reading from the Torah. Saundra Clarke. define us as a We had many stimulating and insightful disGordman’s commitment to celebrating a People. My Bat Mitzvah studies with Hazzan cussions about the content of the Shabbat second Bar Mitzvah was also inspired by his Krausman have afforded me a unique opporservice.” children. tunity to further my studies and reconnect Each celebrant brought his or her person“Even though I had a Bar Mitzvah at with the Jewish community and my family in al motivation for taking on this challenge.

Temple Israel when I was 13, I wanted to a very meaningful way!”

“This was not just for me, this was also for learn more about the Conservative service The students expressed appreciation to my children,” Ruetsch-Finkelstein said. “It and customs,” he said. “It is important for their teacher for his guidance and instruction. was important to me that they see how spe- me to learn what my kids are learning at “Hazzan Krausman is so knowledgeable cial this is to me. It was also important for BESTT [Beth El Synagogue Talmud Torah], about our religion, the service and Torah,” me to be able to read Torah for their Bar and show them that understanding our reli- Gordman said. “I enjoyed learning a better Mitzvahs in a couple of years.” gion and the Jewish faith is very important.” understanding of the history and meaning Noting that her Bat Mitzvah journey has Since taking the Adult B’nai Mitzvah class, of the service. He made it very interesting.” deepened her connection with Judaism, Gordman said he has become more comThe Saturday morning B’nai Mitzvah servRuetsch-Finkelstein said that, “There is a fortable with both the Shabbat service and ice left both teacher and participants with a different connection since I began my stud- the Torah. great sense of pride and accomplishment.

“Shabbat morning was especially meaningful to me because the B’nai Mitzvah, by reading from the Torah, became part of a centuries-old tradition that connects them not only to our ancestors but to Jewish communities around the world who, virtually at the same time, were reading the same Torah portion from essentially the same Torah,” the hazzan said.” Moreover, reading Torah also connects the reader to all of the future generations who will carry on this tradition.

Torah reading is the nexus between past and future and between our community and the entire Jewish world.”

Ruetsch-Finkelstein shared that reading from the Torah “was the most special part of the service, as I have never done it before.

“The most challenging aspect [of class] was learning the tropes,” she added. “The most satisfying was being able to say ‘I did it!’”

Gordman also cited learning Torah tropes as his greatest challenge of this journey, and that being able to chant in front of his sons – who are also studying the service and Torah – was the most special part of the service.

For Clarke, the most meaningful aspects of her Bat Mitzvah service were three-fold.

“On one hand, I was so very proud of Becca and Jay, who also read Torah on that special day. I was also very thankful and humbled by the presence and support of class members whose journey ended before that day. Lastly, it was truly special for me to be able to share my Bat Mitzvah service with my oldest son, who will be taking this journey in just over three short years.”

Hazzan Krausman says his next Adult B’nai Mitzvah class will begin this fall, after the High Holidays. Anyone interested in participating is encouraged to contact him at the synagogue office, 402.492.8550, or hazzankrausman@bethel-omaha.org.

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4 | The Jewish Press | June 20, 2014

NCJW Board Installations

by ANGELA FRIEDMAN and RACHEL MARTIN Kirk, Lori Kooper-Schwarz, Julie Martin, Tina Meyers, Jill for National Council of Jewish Women-Omaha Section Simon, and Sarah Spooner. The Nominating Chair is Debbie On Sunday, June 8, the National Council of Jewish Friedman.

Women Omaha Section made their way north to Florence to This year, the nominating committee gave awards to four experience the past, present, and future. Multiple genera- women for their continuous efforts as dedicated members of tions of Jewish women, along with some husbands and chil- NCJW. Sonia Tipp presented Alice Klein with the Emerging Section Leader award which dren, gathered in an hisis given to a member who has toric house that once a potential for future section belonged to Crime Boss leadership, understands and Tom Dennison. Becki supports the NCJW purpose Brenner and her husband named their gorgeous and programs and is commithome “The Old Rectory.” ted to the section.

It was a perfect site for a Debbie Friedman presented new year and a new board Jan Fischer and Julie Martin for the 2014-2015 year. each with the Distinguished Members exchanged Service award. This is given recipes for the myriad to members in recognition of desserts, dips and sips their outstanding years of served at the meeting. service to the Omaha section.

Installing Officer, Kate They are loyal, committed, NCJW 2013-2014 Award winners Alice Klein, left, Julie Martin, Kirshenbaum installed and dedicated as well as willJan Fischer, Sandy Nogg Holly Weill for her second ing to work at any level. term as President; Sonia Tipp as Community Service Vice Lois Friedman presented Sandy Nogg the Hannah G. President; Becki Brenner as Public Affairs/Education Vice Solomon award. Sandy has changed the lives of others President; Roxanne Kahn as Fundraising Vice President; through leadership and service, helped to change and Alice Klein as Public Relations Vice President; Beth expand the role of others in vital areas of community life, Dworkin as Treasurer; Patty Nogg as Financial Secretary; and has worked to improve the quality of life of people of all Angela Friedman as Corresponding Secretary; Cheryl ages and backgrounds.

Lerner as Recording Secretary; and Lisa Lewis as Here’s wishing the NCJW Omaha section many more Parliamentarian. years of success with the younger generations working to The Directors for the 2014-2015 year are as follows: Kelly make it their own.

The Value of Using Irrevocable Trusts in Medicaid Planning

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by CATHERINE N. SWINIARSKI Attorney at Law, Elder Law of Omaha, P.C., L.L.O. People often wonder about the value of using irrevocable trusts in Medicaid planning. Certainly gifting of assets can be done outright, not involving an irrevocable trust. Outright gifts have the advantages of being simple to do with minimal costs involved, including the cost of preparing and recording deeds and the cost of preparing and filing a gift tax return.

So, why create a trust? Gift transaction costs are only part of what needs to be considered. Many important benefits that can result from gifting in trust are forfeited by outright gifting.

These benefits are what give value to using irrevocable trusts in Medicaid planning.

Key benefits of gifting in trust can include, but are not limited to: • Asset protection from future creditors of beneficiaries • Preservation of the exclusion of capital gain upon sale of

the principal residence • Ability to select whether the settlors or beneficiaries will be taxable as to trust income • Ability to make assets in the trust noncountable in regard to the beneficiaries’ eligibility for government benefits, such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) • Ability to determine who will receive any trust assets • Possible avoidance of need to file a federal gift tax return Thoughtful planning and careful drafting is necessary to take advantage of the benefits available. If care is taken to include the desired provisions, an irrevocable trust can greatly enhance the value of your Medicaid planning beyond what can be accomplished through outright gifting.

We are happy to assist seniors and their loved ones with considering whether an irrevocable trust may be appropriate for them. Please contact our office at 402.614.6400 to schedule a time to discuss these issues further.

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June 20, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 5

Caned and able

by LEONE STROH-COYLE Sometimes I hurt. There are times when I need a cane and there are times when I am okay without it. I bought a copper-colored cane, because it matched my outfits. I am an earth-tone gal.

I loved that cane, but apparently the cane didn’t love me: it was always trying to get away. To the person who found my cane in the lobby of the Holiday Inn in Little Rock: you need to hear the story of my cane, and why you may not be able to hold on to it very long.

It all started in Baker’s supermarket in Omaha. I was selecting meat, when both my basket and my cane disappeared.

Luckily, the butcher came to my rescue and found it. Two weeks later, in that same store, my basket and cane left my side again. This time, all the employees searched. They finally found it behind the produce counter. Whoever put it there, it was not nice to hide my cane like that. Or did it hide itself?

Once, when I was visiting my sister-in-law in a nursing home, I left without my cane. I went back the next day and searched and searched. Finally, the supervisor got in on the act and found it for me. She claimed the cleaning lady must have put it behind a dresser, so that only a small portion of the handle was showing. I didn’t think it wise to tell her the cane might have moved on its own.

The next time the cane disappeared, I had been shopping at my favorite department store, Younkers. I arrived home minus the cane, and had to go back the next day. I went to the courtesy counter: no cane. As I left through the men’s department, a lovely lady clerk asked if she could help me. Smart aleck me said; “Yes; can you please find my cane?”

She answered; “If it’s copper-colored, I already have.”

I did not shop in the men’s department, but this clerk had run an errand to the upper floor, and while there discovered the cane leaning against a chair.

Another time I went shopping on my way to the eye doctor. I leaned my cane against the car, put my packages in the trunk, and

drove off. When I came back to look for it, it was gone. I flagged down a security guard, but he had not seen my cane. However, when he called a second security guard, he said; “Ask her if it’s copper colored.” Now, if I hadn’t lost my cane, I never would have met these nice people. It’s kind of like walking a dog.

When I lost my cane at Penney’s twice in a row, the same clerk found it both times. She said; “Yes, I have it.

We are becoming very familiar with your copper-colored cane.”

I thanked her, but didn’t care for her attitude. Wait until she has to use a cane.

Once, I was waiting in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel in Anchorage while my son was getting the car.

I walked away without my cane, but a nice doorman saved it for me. Did you know their front desk is made from green jade? I like green. It also goes with my outfits.

Another time, I made stops at four different stores. I came home without you-knowwhat. I backtracked and found my cane at K-Mart. The lady at the courtesy desk asked; “What took you so long?”

Does that sound like courtesy to you? I thanked her anyway.

My son called one morning from his bank to ask; “Mom, where is your cane?”

“In my car;” I told him. “Where I always keep it.”

He insisted I check, and of course, it wasn’t there. So off I went to get my cane, which I had left at the bank the day before.

By then, my children threatened to chain my cane to me. So when my nephew picked me up at the Holiday Inn in Little Rock, took me to the airport, and then offered to go back to pick up my cane and mail it to me, I told him no. Enough was enough. That cane simply did not want to stay with me.

Whatever its reasons, it wanted a life of its own. When I came back to Omaha, I ordered a new one.

I’ve only lost it once, so far.

Leone is a resident of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

Brooke and Ben Gordon announce the June 4 birth of their daughter, Laney Victoria Ruth.

She is named for her maternal and paternal great-grandmothers.

Grandparents are Sandy and Bruce Gordon, Katharine Chaussee, and Eric and Deb Chaussee.

Great-grandparents are John Taylor and the late Erma Taylor, Ellen Chaussee and the late Curt Chaussee of Sioux City, IA, the late Annette and Malcolm Gordon of Santa Monica, CA, and the late Betty and Maurice Weiss.

Organizations B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Speaker to be announced for Wednesday, June 25, noon, at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. An optional buffet lunch costs $11; beverage service only is $3.

For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@ jewishomaha.org.

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Births Jaclyn and Tom Aronson of Santa Monica, CA, announce the May 31 birth of their son, Robert Mason (Bobby).

He is named for his paternal grandfather, Robert Aronson.

Grandparents are the late Robert Aronson of Oak Park, CA, Allison Aronson of Westlake Village, CA, Camille Lombardo of Long Beach, NY, and Joe Lombardo of Long Beach, NY. Great-grandparents are the late Harvey Aronson, the late Lenore Aronson, and Phyllis Aronson.

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LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Our meetings are on Thursdays from 1-3 p.m., at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home’s boardroom. We welcome all who would like to attend. For information call Anne Skolkin at 402.343.1638.

Bruce Belgrade Marlene & David Cohen Mimi & Scott Farkas Fran and Rich Juro Gloria & Howard Kaslow Marsha & Milton Kleinberg

Jody & Neal Malashock Iris & Marty Ricks Memorial Howard Silber Mimi & Mike Silverman Nancy & Phil Wolf Jeremy Wright

E D I T O R Beth Cohen & Harry Berman Randi Friedel Jablin Julee Katzman

Abigail & Adam Kutler Memorial Howard Silber Suzanne Singer Esther & Jim Wax

RE P O RT E R Marcia Arch Janey Dann Liz & Yonatan Feldstern Judith Feigin Lois N. Friedman Jerry Gordman Myrna Grumer Margie & Bruce Gutnik Sara & Ari Kohen

David Lercher Judy & Van Marcus Elinore Penner Susan Rothholz Lynne & Errol Saltzman Caryn Scheer Memorial Howard Silber Susan Silverman Jan & Phil Wayne

6 | The Jewish Press | June 20, 2014

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by SARA COHEN Jewish Press Intern On Sundays, the kitchen table in my household cannot be discerned underneath the layers of newspapers that conceal its wooden body. The Omaha World Herald operates as a mere undergarment, whereas The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, in addition to the standard set of Jewish newspapers, provide adequate clothing for the now garishlydressed piece of furniture.

Throughout the day, members of the family will pick out pages, replacing them in their designated areas upon finishing. It remains this way until our family sits down to dinner, when the intellectually-stimulating table garments are tossed aside to be reread throughout the week. This ritual has gone on for as long as I can remember, and has undoubtedly helped to develop my admiration and predilection for the written word.

In conjunction with this source of motivation, the summer before my sophomore year of high school, I read a book written by longtime coworkers and companions Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd of the Atlantic Monthly. Titled Good Prose, the publication detailed the involved processes of researching and producing work in the field of nonfiction. Enamored with the idea of publishing similar work of my own, I enrolled in a journalism elective course at school

and submitted my first set of stories the following fall.

Due to the small scale of my school – I wrote on attending Duchesne Academy in a previous issue of The Jewish Press – and its subsequently limited scope of subject material for me and other members of The Bird Post to cover, I often found myself delving into more anomalous topics. One example of this was my trifold series of opinionated articles on the legal plights of Buckyballs, a company known for its production of recreational cubes of miniscule magnets. Somehow, one of the aforementioned stories found its way to the desk of Craig Zucker, CEO of the troubled company, who sent me a congratulatory email (which I later printed and mounted on my bedroom wall) and a complimentary discount code.

Though his company has since been shut down, I often cite Zucker as one of the primary sources for my enthrallment in the art of journalistic writing.

Since the Buckyball trilogy, I have had numerous stories published in each issue of The Bird Post, and was recently promoted to the position of Editor. Although I am currently unsure of whether or not I will pursue a career in journalism, I am certain that my time at The Press will only bring positive experiences that will aid me tremendously next semester in my work on the school paper, and also in whichever profession I ultimately choose. I could not think of a more productive, rewarding, or enjoyable way to spend my summer, and I am honored to have been selected for this position.

The Jewish Press summer internship is made possible by a generous grant from the Murray H. and Sharee C. Newman Supporting Foundation. We are very grateful to Murray and Sharee for making this program possible.

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June 20, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 7

Foodies in the Holy Land

by OLIVER B. POLLAK The University of Nebraska’s Schwalb Center trip to Israel included stays in Tel Aviv, Akko, Kibbutz Lavi near Tiberias and the lower Galilee, and Jerusalem with numerous stops in between, guided by fellow foodie Gila Rosenfield.

Three meals a day offered an adventure in novel cuisine and taste. Israeli hotel breakfasts can be splendiferous.

Middle Eastern lunch and dinner salads are a bounteous banquet display, with as many as 12 dishes accompanying the main course.

We ate in hotels, formal restaurants, kibbutzes, and hole-in-the-wall market eateries. Modern fast food included McDonalds, Pizza Hut and falafel; in three homes (Christian, Druze and Yemenite with music and dancing), the kitchen was opened to tourists.

In Tel Aviv, the Carlton Hotel breakfast area offered caviar, vodka and cava, as well as a cold fish assortment that included lox, herring, anchovies, kippers and smoked whitefish. The food stations offered a wide variety of breads, vegetables, eggs to order, fruit, Israel's famous seedless watermelon, oranges, cantaloupes, orange and grapefruit segments, canned peach and pear halves, three varieties of figs and designer coffee, including Turkish.

Our 15 traveling companions, UNO students and members from the community, enjoyed the cornucopia. One student ate her first date and halva, a community member drank her first pastis and then another. Gefilte fish, not so popular, engendered fierce attachments as to style, preparation and taste ranging from Ashkenazi to Moroccan.

We purchased coffee crusted halva, perhaps as inauthentic as blueberry bagels? The clerk’s knife cut too large a piece, about a pound. Sharing with our fellow travelers on the bus did not work. It took eight days in Omaha to finish it.

Steve Riekes led the Shabbat dinner blessings in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The hotel provided small screw top bottles of sweet red wine for kiddush. Carlton provided a kippah.

Carlton’s Shabbat buffet had 58 courses, fresh, sautéed and roasted vegetables, fish, meat, soup, sauces, garnishments, and 40 desserts. Shabbat in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem included goose.

Dessert at Tel Aviv University Club, a Pavlova meringue evoked Proust; my wife and I enjoyed the confection in West Los Angeles during the l960s.

The Akko restaurant offered fish or meat: Denise Sea Bream, salmon or St. Peter's Fish (tilapia); entrecote (steak), Kofta (ground lamb or beef balls) and two styles of chicken.

The following day, a Christian Arab family in Old Akko offered tantalizing tabouli and garbanzo beans in tomato sauce.

After a lecture on the Druze religion in Isifiya, Carmel, we had a splendid meal. We were five or six around low tables.

Sergei, the bus driver from Lvov, really tucked in.

The thirteen course meal included: Flat bread lavosh, pita with olive oil and zatar, pita with tomato sauce, ground lamb in tomato sauce, lamb kofta in tahini, hummus, zucchini, courgette, or marrow stuffed with rice (like my mother’s stuffed green peppers or tomatoes),

roasted eggplant (with distinct smoky peat malt scotch hints) with chickpeas, shredded chicken and rice, stuffed grape leaves with rice, vermicelli-like rice-a-roni, tomato and parsley salad, chopped cucumber with cilantro and dessert. Druse do not eat pork or Egyptian spinach, the latter being considered an aphrodisiac.

We ate three remarkable meals on our free time. I met my 77 year old paternal cousin for the first time. He has lived on a kibbutz for 71 years. We supped at the St. George in Jaffa,

A Fish dinner in Jaffa an Arab owned restaurant that opened two weeks earlier in a 131-year-old building previously used for storage. The high roof supported by graceful arches provided breathtaking grandeur. My grilled St. Peter's fish, head and all, reminded me of a magnificent sole served on a wooden plank in Cape Town in 1972.

The concierge in Jerusalem’s Dan Panorama hotel and our guide recommended several restaurants. Little Italy across the street, close for weary travelers, had closed two weeks earlier. So we mosied down to the Old Train Station, converted into eateries and shops. Our group of about ten, aged 23 to 75 settled on Adom [red] which had owned Little Italy.

The waiter’s excellent English flawed only by hors d’oeuvres included “sotted mushrooms,” actually sautéed in butter, not alcohol.

The cocktail menu had an almost negroni, developed in Milan, replaced vermouth with Dubonnet and combined with equal parts of Campari and gin and bitters. I courted my wife in the mid-1960s with Dubonnet. My lamb ossobuco bone was a paschal candidate.

The enjoyment of meals is heightened by the company you keep. We had wide ranging tastes and experiences from being born in a Nebraska village of 300 to London and eight million; from never being out of the Midwest to worldly travelers with well-worn passports. The camaraderie will be cherished as long as memory holds. I would characterize it as “at table with fellow travelers, some may prefer pilgrims.”

Mona, in Jerusalem, in the Artist's House, former home of the Bezalel art school, has been open for a dozen years, the last two under new owners. The attractive inside was quite noisy. We sat in a charming quieter patio, which, however, permitted smoking. We selected the 2009 Flam Cabernet Sauvignon from a nearby winery and proceeded to build our meal around the wine, rather than pairing wine to the food.

Several items on the menu were unavailable. The waiter whisked away our disappointment with a delightful gazpacho served in a demitasse-sized heavy basalt bowl. Our first course included poached egg over asparagus in blanc beurre, so delectable we requested more bread to sop up the sauce. Splitting the poached yolk three ways presented some difficulties. The goose and chicken liver pate with tomato marmalade was remarkable. Karen, who usually disdains this hors d’oeuvre, had dibs for cleaning out the jar.

Visiting the fresh fish market.

The Oxtail bourguignon over polenta was a sentimental choice. I did not like it so much when my mother prepared it in my childhood, but it shows up so rarely in restaurants that I could not resist. The wild sea bass on a bed of spinach with mussels was a wild hit. Israeli grappa closed the meal.

Pleasantly full, we slowly walked the five blocks to our hotel.

We visited two synagogues in Tsfat’s sprawling artist quarter. I left the Birthright crowded pathways and followed the signs down a stone pathway to Abouhav Winery opened six months ago. Three days earlier they opened their restaurant.

I tasted their pleasant 2012 Almaya syrah and merlot blend of local grapes.

The patio overlooked terraced grass turf and tumbledown stone structures needing repair. I sipped, gazing across the Amoud Valley at 3963 foot Mount Meron, Israel’s highest mountain. The owner, after prayers, told me he acquired the building, which had been used as a storage room, extending it toward the valley to contain a dining room and patio.

Excavating revealed a several centuries-old underground vault, ideal for a wine cellar.

Standout tastebud memories include the Yemeni bread and mildly spicy tomato purée; the 20-ounce Israeli white beer at Ima Bukharan café in Jerusalem's Machaneh Yehuda market savoring kube sorrel soup and hummus with ful (fava bean).

Hummus appeared in amazing manifestations at almost every meal. Fresh colorful savory salads covered the table.

Early in the trip I concluded Tums was the new ‘life savers.’

Our food, not everyday fare, was for guests, tourists and celebration. It would have been good to weigh in at the beginning of the trip and again on the way out.

These observations, recollections and reflections are not complete, deeply researched or definitive. Karen, my spouse, and tour guide Gila Rosenfield assisted.

8 | The Jewish Press | June 20, 2014

Point of view

American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

Kidnapped On Friday June 13, three Rabbi Steinsaltz yeshiva students ly? Yes, it is. Is it possible while Hamas is allowed a seat at the were abducted in the West Bank city of Hebron. Their table? No, it most definitely is not. names are Yaacov Naphtali ben Rochel Devorah, Gilad Ahmed Abdel-Raheem, an Egyptian poet, actor, and Michael ben Bat Galim, and Ayal ben Irit Teshurah. political intellectual wrote this in The Commentator: Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas has promised his full cooperation, but we’ll see how that turns out.

Although it wasn’t immediately clear who exactly was responsible for the kidnapping, the Israeli government, including Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, is pointing fingers at Hamas. Which, indirectly, makes the PA responsible, because of the ‘warming’ relations with Hamas in the building of the Palestinian transitional government. Still with me?

“Netanyahu’s announcement of Hamas involvement came after Israeli security forces detained 80 Palestinian suspects overnight in an large-scale military sweep that stretched across the West Bank,” the Washington Post reported on Sunday. “Among those arrested were top Hamas political leaders, former government ministers and members of the Hamas militant wing. University lecturers, clerics and members of the group Islamic Jihad were also detained.”

Thousands of people came to the Kotel last Friday to pray for Since the beginning of 2013, the Shin Bet Security Service the safe release of the three students Credit: Edgar Asher has foiled 37 kidnapping attempts, according to IDF’s website. In September of 2013, Sgt. Tomer Hazan was abducted “As an Arab, when I heard about the Fatah-Hamas unity and murdered by a terrorist who later admitted he wanted to government, I was happy and saw this as positive. In fact, trade the body for his imprisoned brother, who also is a con- like many in the Arab world, I had always thought that victed terrorist. Kidnapping is a popular pastime for the var- Hamas was a force for good and represents a majority of the ious Hamas-connected cells in both the Gaza strip and the Palestinian people. However, my eyes were opened via a West Bank. Wanna-be abductors are regularly found with chance meeting I had recently with a Palestinian from Khan handguns, duct tape, box cutters and ski masks. The most Yonis who related some horrible stories that disclosed to me memorable is of course the five-year-long kidnapping of a dark side of Hamas that had not been visible to me.”

Gilad Shalit, which ended with the trade of 1,000 Palestinian He goes on to describe how Hamas terrorizes the prisoners for Shalit’s safe return.

Palestinian population, and how it threatens family memThe more things change, the more they stay the same. bers of those who would speak out against it. But AbdelIs it possible for Palestinians and Jews to coexist peaceful- Raheem’s is just one voice; generally speaking, the battle

lines have been drawn, and finding any observation about Hamas is colored by its source. Case in point: the IDF’s Terrorism 101 blog emphasizes the number of Palestinian youth who graduate from Hamas paramilitary camp (13,000 in January of this year) and points out how its leaders stay true to its fundamentalist roots. In the meantime, the Hamas publicity machine cranks out news of “atrocities committed by the occupying forces” and celebrates its martyrs. In addition, there are claims that the arrests made by the IDF target civilians only. We know whom we believe, and they know whom they believe, and at the end of the day the various media are just as far apart as the original players in the conflict. There seems to be zero overlap.

How should we, as American Jews, respond to the news we hear coming out of the Middle East? What can we do, besides sitting around and talking about it until we are blue in the face? To be honest; I’m not sure I have an answer to that.

What we can do is continue to be supportive of Israel, we can continue to push back against the boycott and divestment movement, and remain a strong voice for peace. We can refuse to fall into the trap of thinking the conflict is black and white, and work harder to see the various shades of grey. But beyond that, we are here, at a safe distance, and not there.

Those three yeshiva boys are there. They might have some interesting stories to tell us, if and when, God willing, they are released to their families in one piece. And when that happens, we should listen. All of us should listen. That includes those, at this safe distance, who continue to buy the “Israel Apartheid” narrative. Those who use words like “ethnic cleansing, colonization, racial discrimination, and military occupation.” Because as long as such blatant revisionism is tolerated, nobody wins.

Does anti-Semitism threaten American Jews?

Focus on issues KENNETH L. MARCUS

(JNS.org) In a recent issue of Time magazine, Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, former president of the Union for Reform Judaism, writes that anti-Semitism is “not a threat to American Jews.” He could not be more wrong.

Let us start with the obvious. Any threat to world Jewry is a threat to American Jews.

According to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) important new study, there are now one billion adult anti-Semites in the world. As Rabbi Yoffie acknowledges, this is fully a quarter of the world’s adult population. Can American Jewry shrug this off?

One can quibble with the ADL’s methodology, but it is not far-fetched. ADL considers a person to be anti-Semitic if they give a positive response to six out of 11 survey questions like these: “Jews are responsible for most of the world’s wars,” “People hate Jews because of the way Jews behave,” and “Jews have too much control over the United States government.”

Consider the magnitude of this finding. In 2012, according to the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University, there were 686 reported incidents of physical violence, direct threats, and major acts of vandalism against Jews and Jewish institutions worldwide. This is bad enough on its own, representing an increase of approximately 30 percent over the prior year.

Worse, these figures understate the problem. According to the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency, 64 percent of European Jews who have experienced physical violence or threats do not report even the most serious incident.

If this holds true for Jews elsewhere, the actual incident rate

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is approximately three times higher than reported, reaching 2,000 serious incidents annually.

But it gets worse. Even the adjusted figures suggest that Jews and Jewish institutions are enduring only one serious anti-Semitic incident per 500,000 anti-Semites annually.

This means that in any given year, the overwhelming majority of anti-Semites are not acting on their aversions. Their reasons may be lack of opportunity, want of courage, fear of consequence or adherence to convention. Economists call this “pent-up demand.”

As the post-Holocaust taboo against anti-Semitism erodes, the ramifications are troubling. Suppose that one in ten thousand anti-Semites should physically harm or threaten Jews or Jewish institutions in a given year. Under this scenario, serious anti-Semitic incidents would increase to 100,000 per year, even if anti-Semitic attitudes remain constant. In other words, things can get much worse.

Should Americans worry? In Western Europe, one in four Europeans harbors anti-Semitic attitudes. One recent survey indicates that roughly the same percentage (26 percent) of European Jews has been harassed for being Jewish within the last year. Perhaps the worst anti-Semitic incidents will be limited to the Middle East and Europe. But was the Nazi Holocaust no threat to American Jews merely because it remained off American shores? If there is any such thing as Jewish peoplehood, then security threats to any are threats to all.

Now consider the dangers to Israel. In the Middle East and North Africa, nearly three quarters of the adult population hold anti-Semitic attitudes. This can only fuel continuing threats to Israel. Can American Jews feel secure as long as Israel remains under continuing danger? Given Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Israel remains under the steady risk of catastrophe. No Jewish American could feel secure about this.

Now consider what Rabbi Yoffie probably meant to say.

His point is that Americans do not face a direct threat of severe anti-Semitism. He is right that American Jews are not under siege. But he is wrong to minimize the threat that does exist. According to the ADL, only nine percent of Americans hold anti-Semitic attitudes. This sounds good, but it translates to 21,000,000 people. It means that there are far more anti-Semites than Jews in America. This may be one reason why the Federal Bureau of Investigation regularly reports that anti-Jewish hate crimes exceed hate crimes against any other religious group. On some university campuses, Jewish students have recently been spit at and called “dirty Jews” and worse. The problem is greater for those students who are known to support Israel on campuses where anti-Israel activism runs high.

As anti-Jewish attitudes increase on some campuses, in some political circles, and in some corners of the Internet, it is naïve to assume that the Jewish American community will not face spillover security risks. Moreover, we cannot assume that the factors that have rendered America exceptional will persist. In a global age, ideas, attitudes and behaviors are less constrained by national borders than they once were. Immigration, trade and international communications all bring foreign elements to American shores, both for better and for worse. To ignore the dangers of resurgent worldwide anti-Semitism is to misunderstand the ways in which we will all be touched by developments around the world, whether we choose to recognize them or not.

Kenneth L. Marcus is president of The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (www.brandeiscen ter.com) and former staff director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Oxford University Press will publish his book on “The Definition of Anti-Semitism” in 2015.

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June 20, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 9

Joseph Ross Daval Graduates High School

Journal entry from Israel TEDDY WEINBERGER My nephew Joseph Ross Daval graduated from Quaker Valley High School on June 9. Joseph is the son of my wife's sister, Jenny Ross, Principal Second Violinist of the Pittsburgh Symphony, and Charlie Daval, Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and Principal Trumpet of the Pittsburgh Opera and Pittsburgh Ballet. Joseph will be attending Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University in the Fall.

He is an award-winning classical guitarist with a keen interest in history.

Though he grew up within a Joseph Ross Davel mixed marriage, Joseph maintains a strong Jewish identity, and I asked him to reflect upon this identity as he marks a major transition in his life.

Growing up as one of a trickle of Jews in an otherwise very Christian neighborhood, I always found it rather disturbing that parents knowingly lie to their children on a yearly basis about the existence of Santa Claus. My friends would open their eyes in shock and wonder when I told

them that no, I do not celebrate Christmas, and furthermore, that they are being fed lies by the ruling elite about an obese, red-clad, all-knowing stalker in order to perpetuate the hierarchical system characterized by gross over-consumerism to which the proletariat masses ignorantly submit themselves during the so-called “holiday season.”

(Okay, maybe not in those exact words.)

It was in this environment that my Jewish identity developed. I knew, as I lit candles with my family every Friday night, that no other family in the neighborhood was doing the same. Self-identifying as a minority gave me a sense of uniqueness and pride and allowed me to look at things in a different perspective, often more critically than my peers.

That sense of differentness has come to root me in my identity as a Jew. Questioning and non-conformity are, I believe, inherently Jewish traits. Our literature is filled with examples of individualism in the face of conformity: Moses the liberator, Joseph the dreamer, and Jacob the wrestler of angels, to name a few. On the holiday of Passover, not only are questions and arguments required, but their duration and obscurity are to many a source of pride. (My sister and I take this very seriously, much to the dismay of our parents.)

It is through our questioning of authority (or “kvetching”) that we continue to evolve as a people while maintaining our identity.

This year I exit the gilded cage of high school and move on to college (or “the promised land”). As my personal religious practices are taken entirely into my own hands, a number of questions present themselves, such as: How will I continue my practice of Judaism? How active will I be in the Jewish community on campus? How important will it be to me that a serious significant other (assuming she exists--fingers crossed) is Jewish? And perhaps most

importantly: Poppy seed? Plain? Everything? Are all bagels really created equal?

The truth is, I’m not really sure (except about the bagels: “Everything” all the way). Of course it is important to me to maintain my Jewish identity, just as I know I will crave the taste of apples and honey, and cardboard matzah. But one thing I’ve learned in the college-selection process is that what I think I know, who I think I am, and who I want to become should not be completely known to me right now.

The college experience is a learning process, one that I have been looking forward to since I was seven years old (really!), a process that will hopefully define who I am as a musician, as a historian and as a Jew. How that happens, whether through regular attendance at services or through a highspirited lunch-time discussion with a Jewish (or nonJewish) classmate, I can’t really know. I shouldn’t be able to know.

What I do know is that I am Jewish. I always have been, and I always will be. I love Jewish food, Jewish humor, and Jewish music. I know Jewish rituals and traditions will always be a part of my life. I share a special bond with my Jewish friends, and I will always maintain my connection to the Jewish community.

It is because I feel confident in my individual Jewish identity that I don’t feel the need to conform to any idea of what a “good Jew” in college should be or do. It was Judaism that taught me to be an individual, and through Judaism I will continue to become one.

Teddy Weinberger made aliyah in 1997 with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children. Their oldest four, Nathan, Rebecca, Ruthie and Ezra are veterans of the Israel Defense Forces; Weinberger can be reached at weinross@netvision.net.il.

Jewish Day School: Why or Why Not?

Focus on issues ARI KOHEN I’m the product of private schools.

Growing up, my family sent me to a Jewish day school from kindergarten through eighth grade; our days were essentially split in half, with classes in both English and Hebrew. By the time I went to high school, in addition to standard science, literature, grammar, math, art, music, and physical education, I was also fluent in a second language, I had working knowledge of the Hebrew Bible and commentary, I’d taken classes on Jewish values and ethics, and I’d benefited from the very small class sizes that tend to be the hallmark of a private school education.

One of the main reasons we moved to Omaha, despite the fact that I work fifty miles away in Lincoln, is that Omaha’s Jewish community is younger and more vibrant; it also boasts a Jewish daycare, where I currently send my kids, and a Jewish day school, where I plan to send my kids. Not only do I think my kids will benefit in all the same ways I did by attending a Jewish day school but, in a place like Nebraska where the Jewish community is a microscopic minority, fos-

tering and maintaining a strong Jewish identity is something that takes real work, and a day school reinforces the work we do at home and at the synagogue.

From everything I’ve heard and seen, our day school in Omaha is exceptional in both the Judaic and secular education it provides to students … but it’s also tiny. The very, very small class sizes allow for individualized learning that comes from the kind of student/teacher interaction about which an educator only dreams. But why is the enrollment so small?

My graduating eighth grade class had forty students and my school has expanded in the 20+ years since I graduated (even as tuition has risen and economic conditions in the Detroit area have worsened). Most graduating classes at the day school here in Omaha have fewer than fifteen students.

Interestingly, the Jewish daycare is enrolled to capacity … with both Jewish and non-Jewish families who pay a premium for their kids to get Jewish content from six weeks through pre-k. They could save money by sending their kids to a myriad of other nearby daycares that are perfectly fine but they pay more for the Jewish one. And yet once those kids hit kindergarten, the interest in Jewish education wanes … even as tuition drops. That’s right: Tuition at the private Jewish day school costs less than the annual rate for the

Jewish daycare. And when you compare the tuition costs with other Jewish day schools around the country, it’s staggering.

Omaha’s Friedel Jewish Academy runs $6,650 a year. By comparison, Hillel Day School in Michigan, my old stomping grounds, costs $17,975 annually. The Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Maryland will run parents $22,060, the Jewish Primary Day School in Washington, DC is $21,950, the Ramaz School in New York is $31,125-$35,500, and Rodeph Sholom School in New York weighs in at a whopping $39,000-$42,250. Financial assistance is available at all of these schools, of course.

So why isn’t Friedel full to capacity?

Ari Kohen is Schlesinger Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Forsythe Family Program on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. In addition to numerous refereed journal articles, he is the author of two books of political philosophy, Untangling Heroism: Classical Philosophy and the Concept of the Hero (2014) and In Defense of Human Rights: A Non-Religious Grounding in a Pluralistic World (2007). He blogs daily about human rights, political theory, and pop culture at kohenari.net.

Letter

Was Eric Cantor’s loss a Jewish thing?

TO THE EDITOR

by AMI EDEN David Wasserman went there.

From a post-election New York Times story: David Wasserman, a House political analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said another, more local factor has to be acknowledged: Mr. Cantor, who dreamed of becoming the first Jewish speaker of the House, was culturally out of step with a redrawn district that was more rural, more gun-oriented and more conservative.

“Part of this plays into his religion,” Mr. Wasserman said.

“You can’t ignore the elephant in the room.”

My first reaction to reading this was — yes, it’s true that there will now be more Jews in the Iranian parliament than Jewish Republicans in Congress, but hold your horses.

Cantor is hardly the first establishment GOP lawmaker to go down at the hands of a Tea Party-minded challenger hammering away on immigration, federal spending and the general out-of-touchness of Washington elites. And those other deposed Republican incumbents weren’t Members of the Tribe. So this isn’t a case where there’s a purge that conveniently begins and ends with the only Jew in the room.

It was a Jewish, conservative radio talk show host – Mark Levin – who helped lead the charge against Cantor.

The Times followed up with a second-day story giving the Jewish issue the full treatment:

Dear Editor This letter is written to bring to the attention of all Jewish readers of the Omaha Jewish Press an article published in the June 6 issue in regard to an action taken by the National Office of the ADL. They have taken a position on an issue having nothing to do with the ADL’s primary purpose of dealing with the persecution of Jews in the world. ADL took a position supporting the changing of the name of the NFL Washington Redskins generally thought to be an unreasonable drive by a group of American Indians.

This position by ADL could easily be detrimental to all Jews and Jewish organizations and should be refuted with a sincere apology to the Jewish Community of the USA for a direct violation of ADL’s designated purpose of operation.

Outside of this action they are a major force in fighting persecution of Jews.

Alan Goodman

JEWISH PRESS NOTICES The Jewish Press office is closed Friday, July 4, for Independence Day; the deadline for the July 11 issue is Tuesday, July 1, 4 p.m. There will be no Jewish Press on July 4, 2014. Questions? Call 402.334.6448.

The answer to [whether people voted against Cantor because of his Jewishness] political analysts and Jewish leaders in Richmond say, is no: Mr. Cantor, who resigned as House majority leader on Wednesday, effective July 31, was toppled because voters saw him as out of touch. Mr. Cantor appeared to give a nod to the religion issue on Wednesday, when he opened a news conference by saying that “growing up in the Jewish faith” he had “read a lot in the Old Testament, and you learn about setbacks.”

But analysts do say that Mr. Brat — who has a divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and often invokes God in his speeches — appeals to Christian conservatives in a way that Mr. Cantor simply cannot.

Speaking to Talking Points Memo, a former GOP aide in the House said: “He lost because he spent more time, raising his profile for Speaker/potential VP nominee than tending to his district,” said the aide. “He wears Prada shoes with lifts and regularly attends Davos. None of those things make him a bad man, but they do make him an absentee representative.”

Another theory floating around is that Democratic voters took advantage of Virginia’s open primary system to stick it to one of the highest-ranking Republicans in the House. Whether or not religion played a role in Cantor’s defeat, don’t expect Jewish Dems to show any sympathy for their co-religionists on the other side of the aisle.

10 | The Jewish Press | June 20, 2014

Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 | 402.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com For information on our historic synagogue – dates and times for Friday night services, please call 712.323.8885.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California | Omaha, NE 68154-1980 | 402.492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m.; Our Shabbat Tables, at congregants’ home, following Shabbat services.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Services, 9:30 a.m. with special speaker, Marty Shukert will will dicuss Korach and political/religious power; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:45 p.m.

WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.

MONDAY: USY-on-Wheels stops in Omaha.

THURSDAY: Dames & Drinks, 7 p.m., poolside at the home of Carole Greenberg, and co-hosted by Sara Kohen.

Lunch at Nebraska AIDS Project, Friday, June 27, 11:30 a.m.

Shabbat morning speaker Dr. Waitman Beorn, Professor of Holocaust Studies, UNO, Saturday morning, June 28.

Social Action Committee members serve dinner at the Stephen Center, Sunday, June 29, 5:30 p.m. To volunteer, sign up online at www.bethel-omaha.org, or contact M’Lee Hasslinger, at mlee011@gmail.com.

Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group, Monday, June 30, 7 p.m., at the home of Helen Epstein, and co-hosted by Alice Kosowsky.

All classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street | Omaha, NE. 68154 | 402.556.6288 www.BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 7:15 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit (Barchu), 9 a.m.; Mincha, 8:25 p.m.; Havdalah, 9:53 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

family with Temple connections? If so, please give their contact information to Barb Straus at barbstraus@gmail.com.

LJCS Camp Israel, July 14-25 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Cost is $75 per week (includes lunch and snack). If you are enrolling two or more children, the cost is $50 per child per week.

Please let us know if you are interested by emailing Tracy at tgordongjc@yahoo.com or Andrea at ahalpern1386@ gmail.com. We require all campers to be registered through the LJCS; therefore, we cannot accept drop in guests. If you would like assistance covering the cost of the camp fee, please do not hesitate to ask us about discretionary funds.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road | Offutt AFB, NE 68123 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Chef ’s Demo, 1:30 p.m. led by Temple Israel.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by David Herzog and Jim Polack.

Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend.

TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive | Omaha, NE 68144-1206 | 402.556.6536 http://templeisraelomaha.com FRIDAY: Summer Shabbat Evening Services: A Pause for

Candlelighting Friday, June 20, 8:42 p.m.

Reflection, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.

SUNDAY: Mah Jongg Tournament, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Registration was required; Temple TED Talks, 11 a.m.

THURSDAY: Summer Thursday Morning Study Group, 10 a.m. Session will be led by the group.

Summer Shabbat Evening Services: A Pause for Reflection with Brent Bloom, Friday, June 27, 6 p.m.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard | Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 | 402.423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning service, 10 a.m. followed by a Kiddush luncheon.

SUNDAY: Tifereth Israel Board Meeting, 2 p.m.

LJCS Camp Israel, July 14-25 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Cost is $75 per week (includes lunch and snack). If you are enrolling two or more children, the cost is $50 per child per week.

Please let us know if you are interested by emailing Tracy at tgordongjc@yahoo.com or Andrea at ahalpern1386@ gmail.com. We require all campers to be registered through the LJCS; therefore, we cannot accept drop in guests. If you would like assistance covering the cost of the camp fee, please do not hesitate to ask us about discretionary funds.

Brussels Jewish museum shooter no 'lone wolf'

by JTA NEWS STAFF (JTA) -- France’s interior minister said he believes the Frenchman suspected of killing four people at the Jewish Museum of Belgium should not be considered a “lone wolf.”

Bernard Cazeneuve made the statement on June 10 during an address before the French Senate about Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old alleged radical Muslim whom French and Belgian authorities believe committed the murders on May 24, the Belgian daily Le Soir reported.

“I would like to take the opportunity to reject the term

and a handgun –- weapons that match the type of firearms reportedly used at the museum. Nemmouche’s lawyer says his client stole the weapons from a parked car in Brussels and did not commit the murders.

A French court will determine on June 26 whether Nemmouche, who is believed to have fought with jihadists in Syria last year, is to be extradited to Belgium to face trial there. His attorney said he would not oppose extradition to Belgium if Belgium promises not to extradite him to a “third country.”

CHABAD HOUSE An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street | Omaha, NE 68144-1646 | 402.330.1800 www.OChabad.com | email: chabad@aol.com Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

SATURDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 9:30 a.m.

SUNDAY: Minyan, 8:30 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

TUESDAY: Dynamic Discovery with Shani Katzman, 10:15 a.m. A class for women based on traditional texts with practical insights and application. RSVP by calling the office.

WEDNESDAY: Personal Parsha class, 10 a.m. with Rochi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office; The Development of the Oral Tradition, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office. In memory of Forrest Krutter -- Efrayim Menachem Ben Avraham Yitzchak.

THURSDAY: Women’s Study at UNMC with Shani Katzman, noon. RSVP by emailing Marlene Cohen at mzcohen@unmc.edu.

All programs are open to the entire community.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN South Street Temple | Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street | Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 | 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org Services conducted by Rabbi Craig Lewis.

FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. with oneg following hosted by Caty Reed.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Korach; Game Night/Potlcuk, 6 p.m.

SUNDAY: Board of Trustees Meeting, 2 p.m.; Cantillation Class, 6 p.m.

TUESDAY: Star City Kochavim Rehearsal, 6:30 p.m.

As part of the Temple’s 130th anniversary celebration, we want to reach as many former members and clergy as possible. Are you in touch with someone who used to attend?

With kids who grew up and moved away? With friends or

Bernard Cazeneuve, Interior Minister of France ‘lone wolf,’ which proliferated during the attack committed by Mohammed Merah A woman stands at the entrance to the Jewish Museum in Brussels. The musein March 2012,” Cazaneuve told the um remains closed until further notice Credit: JNS.com Senate’s legislative committee in reference to the murder of a rabbi and three Jewish children in Also on June 10, the United Nations’ high commissioner Toulouse, France, “and which was revived in describing for human rights, Navi Pillay, condemned the killings durMehdi Nemmouche after the killings at the Brussels Jewish ing a speech in Geneva in which she focused on the rise of museum.” far-right politicians in Europe, noting the recent successes The term suggests an assassin or terrorist who is work- of France’s National Front. ing independently of partners or any larger framework.

“There is a road to perpetration of human rights violaBut actions such as Nemmouche “begin a long way tions, and hate speech, particularly by political leaders, is back,” he said. The processes of radicalization, Cazeneuve on that road,” she said, adding that the museum shooting added, “have to transcend many stages,” including procur- “is connected to this climate of extremism.” ing weapons” and “arriving in conflict zones or terrorism.”

Her words drew criticism from the Belgian League He concluded by saying: “What I want to say is that accom- Against Anti-Semitism, or LBCA. plices are important here not only in the procurement of “Mrs. Pallay is right, but she should apply her words at arms that terrorists use. This leads me to think, without her own house,” the league’s president, Joel Rubinfeld, said any reservation, that the ‘lone wolf ’ is anything but.” in a statement the following day. “Indeed, the U.N. Human In the hours after Nemmouche’s arrest on May 30 in Rights Council is probably the most high-level internaMarseille, Cazeneuve himself used the phrase in describing tional arena where xenophobic speeches are held, includNemmouche, as did the Paris region public prosecutor, ing attempts to portray Israel as a Nazi state, with tragic Francois Molins. consequences we are experiencing across Europe.”

According to French and Belgian authorities, On June 9, the French imam Hassan Chalghoumi led a Nemmouche traveled from the Belgian capital to Marseille delegation of imams on a visit to the still-closed museum in southern France. Customs officers arrested him during “to express solidarity with the victims and utter rejection of a routine bag inspection and found an AK-47 assault rifle extremism,” he told the Belga news agency.

June 20, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 11

A moment of unity

by BEN SALES GIVAT SHMUEL, Israel (JTA) -- On the rolling green fields of a suburban Tel Aviv park, hundreds gathered to pray for the imminent rescue of three kidnapped Israeli teenagers.

Rabbis delivered speeches, singer Yonatan Razel performed two pieces based on liturgical invocations of God’s mercy, and a prayer was recited for the safe return of Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach, who were kidnapped last week while hitchhiking from the West Bank settlement of Kfar Etzion.

Nearby, the calm warmth of summer in Israel seemed to take the edge off the anxiety a little. Children played and babies cried. Adults snapped pictures on their smartphones.

Last week’s kidnapping brought Israelis together as few things do in this divided nation. Thousands joined prayer vigils across the country, including a massive one at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

News -- or lack thereof -- about the kidnapped teens is dominating life here, from news reports to conversations among friends in cafes, prompting a rare thaw in the political and religious debates that typically overshadow Israeli discourse.

Rabbis at the vigil in this Tel Aviv suburb mostly stayed away from politics, sticking to broad mantras of solidarity with the prisoners -- two 16-year-olds and a 19-year-old -and faith in God. The only exception was Rabbi David Stav, who called for the release of Jonathan Pollard, the American defense contractor convicted of spying for Israel in 1985.

Pollard’s case is controversial in the United States, but the call for his release is a near-consensus issue in Israel.

Politicians steered clear of divisive statements, too. The boys belong to all of us, said government ministers from left and right. On Facebook or in speeches, they repeated safe declarations of zero tolerance for terror and expressed sympathy for the families, even refusing to answer questions about what this means for deteriorating Israeli-Palestinian relations.

On June 16, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time in a year, insisting the Palestinian leader help find the abducted teens and their kidnappers.

Coming from people who just days ago accused each other of bringing the country to ruin, the constant declarations of unity seem a little performative. And the solidarity evident across the country feels fragile, threatened to be forgotten amid the small inconveniences of daily life or swallowed up by the existential questions that serve as the backdrop to this tragedy.

Radio reports from the Israeli military’s chief of staff came sandwiched between the latest pop music hits. Even at the vigil, as Razel came onstage, hands holding smartphones rose up from the crowd to record the performance.

Israelis, of course, are experts at this sort of juxtaposition, famous for reboarding buses or casually sipping espresso in cafes that were recent scenes of terrorist carnage. Surely this national focus on the teens’ plight too will pass and we’ll all soon enough return to the ideological battles that are the norm here.

Forrest N. Krutter Remembrance Service A remembrance service for Forrest N. Krutter will be held on Monday, June 30 at 4 p.m. in the Garden of Memories at Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha, Nebraska.

Immediately following the remembrance service, light refreshments will be served in the Great Hall and Terrace area. (In the event of rain, the remembrance service will be held in the Great Hall.)

Suggested Dress: Business appropriate attire. Women may wish to consider wearing flat shoes as there will be a short walk to and from the Garden of Memories on some uneven terrain.

Friday Stock Ticker

by RUSS KAPLAN Russ Kaplan Investments Inc With more and more Baby Boomers hitting retirement age, it is time for the retired and the soon-to-be retired to do some planning, but hopefully most have already done their retirement planning.

When hitting retirement age a rule of thumb is to calculate all your assets and withdraw 4% a year. This helps to ensure you to never run out of money. It also means that no matter what your age is, you need to save a significant amount of money such as 15% of your income, before you retire. A stroke of reality for many people is that with the rising cost of living, you will need at least one million dollars to live a comfortable, but not luxurious, lifestyle. Keep in mind the average social security recipient receives $1200 a month.

Think about it: could anyone realistically live on that amount per month, taking into account your medical costs, food, utilities and more?

Retirement is not for everyone, and if you love what you do, keep on working as long it’s enjoyable. If you are able to and do decide to retire, keep in mind there will be a gap of about 40 hours per week that need to be filled. With all that extra time available, it is important to keep your body and mind active. Consider joining a gym, or get involved with volunteering and/or joining some fine organizations out there such as the Jewish Federation or the Rotary.

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12 | The Jewish Press | June 20, 2014

Jewish Social Services Meeting the Social Service needs of the Omaha Jewish Community Rose Blumkin Jewish Home

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