June 24, 2005

Vol. LXXXIV No. 42 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 84 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

17 Sivan, 5765 June 24, 2005

Stem Cell Researchers Lincoln Synagogues Hire New Rabbis in Israel Warily Eye Debate Rabbi Emanuel Joins Tifereth Israel Announces in Washington Rabbi Roiy Shaffin South Street Temple

by DINA KRAFT HAIFA (JTA)--Dr. Shulamit Levenberg pulls out a dish of human embryonic stem cells from an incubator and carefully places them under a microscope to see how they are beginning to take form as human tissue.

Levenberg, a researcher at the Technion University in Haifa, is working on cutting-edge tissue engineering research with the help of human embryonic stem cell-research that she hopes will eventually lead to the creation of lab-manufactured tissues and organs for transplants.

These days, Israeli scientists who have helped pioneer the field of embryonic stem cell research are warily eying Washington, where a showdown is brewing between the U.S. Congress and the White House over federal policy on research in the field.

Dr. Shulamit Levenberg examines samples of embryonic stem cells in her lab at the Technion in Haifa.

Credit: Dina Kraft/JTA A bill passed in May by the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to expand government funding for embryonic stem cell research and now is set to go to the Senate. President Bush has threatened to veto the legislation, which would expand the number of research lines of stem cells eligible for federal funding.

According to current law, funding is available only to research lines that existed in 2001 and before.

Developments in Washington are a cause of concern for Israeli scientists because if research funding in the United States decreases, there will be less of a pool for funding worldwide.

“It may affect progress in the field if Bush stopped the process of more liberal funding,” said Dr. Binyamin Reubinoff, who heads the Hadassah Embryonic Stem Cell Research Center. “It has an influence on scientists and the availability for money for research.”

In the United States, there has been opposition to embryonic stem cell research from some Catholics and conservative Christian groups who link it to human cloning and abortion.

Furthermore, Bush and his supporters claim that life is being destroyed by using the stem cells because embryos are destroyed in the process of the research.

American Jewish groups across the religious and political spectrum have joined together to advocate for more stem cell research.

And in Israel, following the dictates of Jewish law that do not view the embryo as potential life until it is inside the uterus of an expectant mother, such research is not controversial.

“In Israel the attitudes are much more positive,” said Levenberg, who herself is an observant Jew. “Here it is not thought of as killing the cells but of using them to save life.”

Researchers are eager to use embryonic stem cells, which appear just days after fertilization, because the Continued on page 12

Inside Opinion Page see page 8

by DAVID FEINGOLD Communications Chair for Congregation B’nai Jeshurun Rabbi Ilan Emanuel says he really didn’t have much of a choice in choosing a career. In his family, you’re either a rabbi or a lawyer.

Rabbi Emanuel, recently ordained at Hebrew College in Union Cincinnati, is the new rabbi at Lincoln’s South Street Temple, B’nai Congregation Randi and Rabbi Ilan Emanuel Jeshurun.

His father is Rabbi Charles Emanuel, an American rabbi who has led the North Western Reform Synagogue in London for 20 years. The Emanuels left the States when Ilan was five, moving from Huntsville, AL, to Leeds in the United Kingdom. His mother, who is FrenchMorrocan, is an attorney, as is his brother and his wife Randi, who has been an assistant attorney general in Indiana and was an assistant criminal appeals prosecutor in Cincinnati.

The rabbi says he didn’t go into the rabbinate right away because dad was a rabbi, and quips, “What kind of job is that for a nice Jewish boy?” So, he first followed his mother and brother into a legal career and tried it for a few years until the pull of his very strong Jewish identity sent him in the direction of his father’s career. He left his job as a solicitor in London and emigrated back to the States to train for the rabbinate at the HUC. Congregation B’nai Jeshurun was facing a tough challenge. It had to replace a very successful and highly respected rabbi. When Rabbi Debbie Stiel and her husband, Steve, decided to leave Nebraska for Kansas City, the South Street Temple’s board arranged for her to be its part-time rabbi and began a search for a replacement.

Rabbi Emanuel was ready to assume his first full-time pulpit and kept in mind the one piece of advice his father gave him: “Join a small congregation.”

Continued on page 2

by JULIE BROCKMAN President, Tifereth Israel Synagogue Starting Aug. 1, Rabbi Roiy Israel Shaffin will become the new rabbi of Lincoln’s Conservative synagogue-Tifiereth Israel. He will replace Rabbi Stanley Rosenbaum who is leaving his pulpit at the end of this month to pursue other opportunities.

Rabbi Shaffin is a recent graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City and a member of the Rabbinical Assembly. During his rabbinical training, Rabbi Shaffin was the religious leader for Temple Emanuel at Parkchester in the Bronx, one of the five boroughs of New York City. According to the Bronx Times, a local publication, Rabbi Shaffin’s approach to Judaism is “refreshing and inspiring.”

Prior to entering the rabbinical program at JTS, he worked for the Shoah Foundation. In addition, Rabbi Shaffin has extensive cantorial training and has taught religious school and adult Jewish education classes.

He also has served as the Education Director at Ramah Day Camp in Berkeley, CA, and has Rabbi Roiy Shaffin taught Jewish education classes in Hungary and Romania. In fact, he and his wife of less than one year, Shoshanna Schechter-Shaffin, travelled to Romania with other JTS students last May to study how the Romanians respond to the Holocaust today.

Shoshanna Schechter-Shaffin is also a recent graduate from the Jewish Theological Seminary and earned a Master of Arts in Jewish Women’s Studies.

The congregation eagerly awaits their arrival and is looking forward to a new direction and a bright future with Rabbi Shaffin’s religious guidance. Rabbi and Mrs. Shaffin will move into the Tifereth Israel’s newly updated parsonage, located at 3600 So. 30 St. in Lincoln.

Spend Friday Night with the Israel Scout Caravan

by LYNN BATTEN JCC Administrative/Publicity Associate For one night only, Friday July 8, the Israel Scouts Caravan will be at the Omaha JCC to share an inspiring evening with the Omaha Jewish community. This year, the JCC is excited to welcome its third troop, Caravan Lavi to the JCC Frohm Pavilion.

Beginning at 6 pm, community members are invited to relax in the grass and enjoy their own picnic dinner (vegetarian/dairy only please). At 6:30 p.m., Temple Israel’s Rabbi Craig Marantz will conduct Kabbalat Shabbat services and the evening will conclude with a memorable 7 p.m. performance by the Israel Scouts Caravan.

The Israel Scouts Caravan is a performance group composed of 10 Israeli teenagers. Each member was selected for this prestigious group based upon their talents as performers and role models. Every summer the Caravan tours the United States. In addition to per-

This Week: Monthly Calendar: Pages 6-7 Volunteers Recognized at Blumkin Home: Page 2

to Lead Synagogue

Rabbi Debbie Stiel Joins St. Joe Congregation: Page 3

forming for audiences, the Caravan also works one-on-one with various Jewish communities throughout our nation.

Although in town briefly, the Caravan will have a busy day on Friday working with the JCC Day Campers, teaching Israeli history, customs, and traditions. Campers will have the opportunity to learn Israeli songs and dances from some of Israel’s best. Handson learning experiences for the campers also include creation of their own Hebrew necklaces, and making their own specialized tambourines, to name a few.

Friday evening’s events are open to the entire Jewish community and JCC members as well, and are free of charge. The Israel Scouts Caravan visit to Omaha is sponsored this year by the Herbert Goldsten Trust and the Murray H. and Sharee C. Newman Supporting Foundation.

For more information , please contact Lisa Shkolnick, JCC Assistant Executive Director, 334.6425 or via email at: lshkolnick@ jccomaha.org.

Coming Next Month: Health and Wellness on July 15 Single Parents to Celebrate the Fourth--on the Third: Page 4

UNMC Seeks Breast Cancer Patients for New Study: Page 11

Page 2

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June 24, 2005

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It Just Takes a Hammer and Some Time

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator “If I had a hammer. I’d hammer in the morning. I’d hammer in the evening, all over this land.” or at least in Omaha. That’s what Habitat for Humanity of Omaha is hoping, and they’ll give you a hammer.

In partnership with low-income families in need of decent, affordable, safe housing, Habitat for Humanity has built 184 homes since it started 20 years ago.

Most of the Habitat homes have been built in northeast and southeast Omaha.

Since May, volunteers have been working on a house at 4708 Ellison Avenue for a Sudanese family.

Joan Marcus, chairperson of Temple Israel’s Social Justice Committee, is recruiting volunteers from the Jewish community to help. Construction experience is not required. Habitat brings together skilled and unskilled workers who are willing to teach and learn from each other. Habitat emphasizes partnership and participation among people of different economic circumstances, racial backgrounds, and religious affiliations to work together. The houses are built or renovated with as much volunteer labor and donated materials as possible in order to keep the cost low and, ultimately, affordable for low income families. More than 30,000 hours were donated to Habitat houses in the past year in Omaha.

Families accepted into the program help build their new homes and go through an extensive homeowner-

ship education series which includes workshops on insurance/escrow, legal issues, financial budgeting, predatory mortgage lenders, home repair, home maintenance, yard care, and community development. Upon completing 350 service hours (referred to as “sweat equity”) and the educational program, families buy their homes at a zero-interest mortgage. Money received for mortgage payments is then filtered back into the Habitat program to help build more houses.

Although applicants for homes wait as long as a year and a half, 16 local families who were living in inadequate housing became homeowners in 2004 providing added stability and improvement to neighborhoods. Sideby-side, people from 16-75-years-old, the new homeowners and corporate African-Americans, executives, Caucasians, Hispanics, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews all work together to build community as they change the lives of needy families.

As one new homeowner said, “Now we know where we will sleep and eat. We have a place for the kids to get dressed for school and a place for them to come home and study.”

Volunteers must be 18; 16- and 17-year-olds can volunteer with parent or guardian supervision. Work has already begun on the home for the Sudanese family.

Please call Marcus at 333.5995 to volunteer on Temple’s scheduled day, Sunday, July 17. Other dates are also available.

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The Jewish Press 333 South 132nd Street Omaha, NE 68154 or see page 8 for email address and Fax number

Contributions of more than 100 volunteers and the purchase

by League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly (L.O.V.E.) of a new sport utility vehicle for Jewish Senior Services and the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, were recognized during a reception June 12. Above, L.O.V.E. co-presidents Miles and Eileen Remer presented a check for the van to Bob Belgrade, who will be installed as new JSS board president later this month. Top right, After receiving the Lee Jane Parsow volunteer of the year award, Sarah Schondelmeyer accepted congratulations and appreciation from Maggie Conti, JSS activities director. Schondelmeyer brings pets to visit with Blumkin Residents and participates in a variety of other projects each week. Right, Kate Ferer received a gemstone and pin honoring her more than 20 years of weekly volunteer work at the Home. According to Lois Wine, JSS director of

volunteers, the pins are part of a new recognition program honoring 100-, 500-, 1,000-hour increments of volunteer service.

Rabbi Emmanuel Joins South Street Continued from Page 1 Barbara Barron, chair of the South Street Temple Board of Trustees, says of Rabbi Emanuel: “He charmed all who met with him on his April visit to Lincoln. He was well-prepared and an excellent facilitator at his adult education presentation. He fielded all questions with grace and good humor. His life-time experience as a rabbi’s son was an added bonus to his formal rabbinical training and all of his references were glowing.”

Rabbi Emanuel was a distinguished student at the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion, where he received the HUC-JIR Nathan Stern Prize, awarded to the HUC student who completes the Master of Arts degree with the highest academic standard. His thesis was “The Shofar Liturgy of Rosh Hashanah,” which discussed the development of the prayers and liturgy connected with blowing of the shofar and explored themes in Torah, rabbinic writing, medieval works and the treatment of the shofar liturgy in Reform and Reconstructionist prayerbooks.

While continuing his studies, Rabbi Emanuel held

positions as a student rabbi at several midwestern congregations including Temple Beth El in Dubuque, Iowa; Temple Beth Sholom in Marquette, Michigan; and Temple Ohev Israel in Newark, Ohio.

The rabbi is looking to his Lincoln pulpit with great enthusiasm and anticipation and says he wants to be “someone who can make Judaism vibrant, meaningful and fun for both adults and children”, making it an enjoyable and relevant part of their lives. He is also excited about the growing links with Lincoln’s other synagogue, Tiffereth Israel, and the joint religious school the two congregations have created. The rabbi is especially eager to become involved with the greater Nebraska Jewish community.

Ilan and Randi have a baby daughter, Mira, who is now a year old. They are preparing to move to Lincoln later this month and then to visit his parents in London.

He begins work at the South Street Temple on Aug. 1 and will be formally installed the last weekend of August, with his father, Rabbi Charles Emanuel, officiating.

June 24, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

Yachad Applauds Former Lincoln Rabbi to Serve Adath Joseph in St. Joe STONE Adath Joseph. She said the members function as a famTransformation of the ‘Beast’ byStaffJEN Writer ily, with congregational dinners, acknowledgment of

by DUANE J. PIEPER All aspects of the production at Omaha’s Rose Theater came together to capture the magic of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast on June 12. Through charming and effective sets, colorful and imaginative costumes, fun-filled dance routines, and a spirited array of musical numbers the story unfolds. The plot revolved around whether the ‘Beast’ would be delivered from a spell brought on by his own hard-heartedness before the fragile rose of time shed all it’s petals.

Jill, left, and Lisa Saloman meet ‘Beauty’ Samantha Butler.

The Yachad group, who received special recognition from the Rose Theater, were transported back to a “tale as old as time”. Witnessed by their response and applause, the story captured everyone’s attention and imagination. The agony of the Beast’s journey from pride, regret and bitterness to a vulnerable and sensitive prince with a transformed heart prompted and encouraged by the ‘Beauty’ is a powerful story.

It was more than just a happy ending. The lesson was learned, the spell was broken and the ‘Beast’ was delivered from his bondage. Yachad thoroughly enjoyed the production and at it’s hope-filled conclusion the entire group gave the cast a fitting standing ovation. It was a special performance that spoke to hearts of all ages. At the conclusion of the show members received autographs from their favorite characters.

For information about Yachad, call 330.2024.

Kansas City Jewish Chronicle Temple Adath Joseph in St. Joseph, MO, has found a new, part-time rabbi, Debbie Stiel of Overland Park, KS. For the last year, since moving with her family to Kansas City from Omaha, Rabbi Stiel has commuted two weekends a month to Lincoln to fulfill her Rabbi Debbie Stiel contract with Congregation B’nai Jeshurun. She will finish her work at the end of this month and begin at Adath Joseph in July.

For the past couple of years, Adath Joseph worship services had been led by Eileen Kollins, (a para-rabbi working in the Union for Reform Judaism regional office in St. Louis) who would drive over to St. Joseph every three weeks. Adath Joseph’s President Rick Schwarz said that when Kollins moved to Cleveland a year ago she continued her services for a time, until March. “I think the traveling stress just got to her,” he said.

Schwarz said he got Rabbi Stiel’s name from Rabbi Lane Steinger, Executive Director of the URJ’s Midwest Council in St. Louis. Schwarz said he and Rabbi Stiel “emailed back and forth for a while, and we found out what her possibilities were.”

On April 8, Rabbi Stiel volunteered to lead a service at the St. Joseph congregation. “We really clicked,” Rabbi Stiel said. “They have a sanctuary full of stained glass that’s huge and gorgeous, and the people there are very committed to their congregation.”

Adath Joseph was, in fact, one of the first Reform congregations in the nation, and one of the founding synagogues for the United American Hebrew Congregations, now the URJ. “What was so impressive was that the people really care greatly; they care about adult education and keeping the place alive and going.”

Rabbi Stiel said there are very few young people left in the congregation. “They all come to Kansas City for their religious training,” she said.

And yet Rabbi Stiel likes the sense of community at

individual members' birthdays and more. As part of her duties, Rabbi Stiel will conduct two Shabbat services a month, the High Holy Days services and any life-cycle event for which she is needed. She will also help out with community-outreach services, such as visiting the sick or elderly within the 50-family community.

Rabbi Stiel said that the congregation at Adath Joseph had a “hunger to learn and be active Jews.”

Rabbi Stiel is married to Steve Stiel, former Director of Omaha’s Jewish Family Service and since last summer, the Executive Director of Kansas City’s Conservative Congregation Beth Shalom. They and their two sons, Jonah, 6, and Micah, 9, will remain congregants at Beth Shalom, Rabbi Stiel said, but her family will become more active in St. Joseph, too. “We just feel very at home there,” she said.

Train Wreck in Israel Kills Eight, Injures Hundreds

Israeli rescue workers search the wreckage for victims after a passenger train smashed at high speed into a truck on June 21, near Kibbutz Revadim in southern Israel. As many as 180 people were wounded and at least eight killed in Israel’s worst railway disaster in years.

Credit: Rafi Babayan/Courtesy MDA/BP Images/JTA

Page 4

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

June 24, 2005

Single Parent Families During Shavuot Study Sessions Beth El Congregants Join Together To Celebrate the Joy of Jewish Learning to Celebrate the Fourth

by JILL BELMONT ing, so knowledgeable – it’s a pleasure to study with on the Third Beth El Publicity Coordinator them.” Ed added that, “We always enjoy studying with The synagogue’s 75th anniversary “Best of Beth El” musical revue may be over, but for Rabbi Mordechai Levin, the best of Beth El was out in full force during the recent Shavuot celebration, as 110 of the synagogue’s adult-education students were recognized for their commitment to Jewish learning.

Joining together on June 12 to attend the synagogue’s annual Shavuot study sessions, students receiving participation certificates included those who regularly attended “The Most Important People and Ideas of the Hebrew Bible,” taught by Rabbi Levin; “Hebrew Crash Course,” “Living Hebrew” and “Jewish Pot Pourri,” all led by Susi Frydman-Levin; the Adult Bible Study class, coordinated by Professor Leonard Greenspoon; and the Adult B’nai Mitzvah class, taught by Cantor Gastón Bogomolni.

“After enjoying our ‘Best of Beth El’ show, I began to think about the many aspects of our synagogue that make up the best of Beth El on a regular basis,” Rabbi Levin said. “Our services and programming are certainly a part of the best of Beth El, as are our enthusiastic congregants and many volunteers.

Our education program is also a shining example of the best of Beth El, as well as all the congregants who participate in them. We are so proud to have so many adults studying in our congregation, and are gratified to see their ever-growing dedication to Judaism.”

In return, the students applauded their teachers, bestowing upon them gifts and cards in appreciation for the innovative educational programming they’ve brought to Beth El. Congregants Ed and Carole Schneider, who have participated in many adult-education offerings at the synagogue during the past several years, expressed their appreciation to the Levins and Cantor Bogomolni, and called their instructors’ passion for Jewish education “infectious.”

“It’s so rewarding to be around these people,” Carole said. “They’ve opened up a whole new world for so many of us and have helped us to grow. They’re so car-

Rabbi because of his manner, his wit, and the way he shares his knowledge, which makes us want to continue our learning. He makes Jewish education very inviting.

Susi’s classes are always creative and innovative, and she makes sure that each student participates. She motivates everyone to want to give their best – that’s a great quality in a teacher. When you’re finished studying one hour with her, you just want to get up and hug her.”

Noting that his wife is currently a student in the Adult B’nai Mitzvah class, Schneider applauded Cantor Bogomolni for his enthusiasm in preparing his class for this important milestone in their lives, saying “He never fails to make learning exciting.”

Beth El’s Shavuot study sessions followed the age-old tradition of studying Torah and other Jewish sources on the first night of the festival, and Rabbi Levin described each presentation as fascinating and thought-provoking.

The evenings topics included “Engendering the Text: Do Jews Need an Egalitarian Bible for the 21st Century?” led by Professor Greenspoon, who holds the Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization at Creighton University, and “Talmudic Sage and Kabbalistic Master: Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai,” taught by Professor Guy Matalon, Judaic Studies instructor at UNO and Director of Jewish Educational and Library Services at the Jewish Federation of Omaha.

“Both speakers offered us stimulating presentations and interesting perspectives on their respective topics-great food for thought,” Rabbi Levin remarked.

The evening ended on a musical note of appreciation, as attendees sang Debbie Friedman’s “Kadish D’Rabanan” to their teachers. “This song was so appropriate for the end of the year,” said congregant Ann Goldstein, who spearheaded the sing-along. “At the culmination of a year of study with Rabbi, Susi and Gastón, this song, which thanks our teachers, provided a really nice conclusion and created the warmth that we all experienced in our classes throughout the year.”

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator For the third year, Steve Danon is planning a good old-fashioned Fourth of July party including barbequed smoked brisket, chicken, and ribs, and of course, a fireworks finale. All single parents and their children as well as others who would like to attend, according to Danon, are welcome. The fun is on Sunday, July 3, 6 p.m., at Danon’s home, 4804 So.160th St. Last year, Danon said, there were 50 to 60 people at the celebration including some of his neighbors. “We went for a walk around Lake Zorinsky, sat on lawn chairs on driveway, my watched fireworks and fireflies!” he added.

“It’s a good opportunity for people who don’t have families here or others to hang out with” to enjoy the holiday and each other.

“My family is my two kids,” he acknowledged. The party is their way of being inclusive, one of the goals of Temple Israel’s Outreach and Synagogue Community Council which has recently reached out to various community groups including those who have chosen to become Jews, couples of interfaith marriages, and gay and lesbian Jews.

“Bring chairs and your own beverages,” Steve suggested. There’s no cost to attend. RSVP to the Temple office at mkube@templeisraelomaha.com or call 556.6536 or call Danon at 894.0830.

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ENGAGEMENT

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 5

ORGANIZATIONS

PAPER/LERCHER Jami Alison Paper, daughter of John and Jo Paper of State Center, IA, and Ryan Michael Lercher, son of David Lercher and Dr. Minnie Abromowitch, announce their engagement and upcoming wedding.

The bride-to-be received a Bachelor of Music degree from Iowa State University in 2002 and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Wales in Bangor in 2004.

She was employed in Atlantic, IA, as a middle school vocal music instructor.

Her fiance is a 2002 graduate of Iowa State with a degree in Management Information Systems. He is a quality engineer with Veritas Software in Minneapolis.

The couple plans an outdoor ceremony on Sunday, July 3 at Iowa State University in Ames. After the wedding, they will live in Minneapolis, MN.

COMMUNITY JEWISH SINGLES Community Jewish Singles, a recently-formed group for Jewish adults throughout the entire metropolitan area, will join together to enjoy a musical evening outdoors at Jazz-on-the-Green, on Thursday, July 7, 6:15 p.m. at Joslyn Museum. Attendees will meet at the large yellow sculpture on 24th Street, according to coordinator Harriet Einziger, who added that purple balloons will also mark the meeting spot. All Jewish singles, from every congregation or with no synagogue affiliation, are encouraged to attend, Einziger said. For more information about the evening, contact her at 492.8550.

VISIONS Reminder: Visions board meeting is Friday, July 1 at 9:30 a.m. in the Blumkin Home Conference room.

Cruise down the river on the River City Star on Tuesday, July 26, 6:30-8 p.m. (meet at the dock at 6 p.m.) Enjoy good company, music, food and a super evening. The cost of $27 per person includes the cruise,

dinner buffet and music. Send reservation form to Sandy and Fred Bromley, 13419 Marinda St., Omaha, NE 68144 by July 18. Make check payable to Visions.

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

WALK-IN, DROP-IN For those members going to Bluffs Run Casino trip Thursday, meet at the JCC main entrance at 8:45 a.m BREADBREAKERS Howard and Gloria Kaslow will be the guest speakers at B’nai B’rith Breadbreakers on Wednesday, June 29, noon, at the Park Inn Regency, according to Gary Javitch, chairman. The Kaslows participated on the March of the Living trip to Poland in May. Cost is $11 for a full lunch and $2 for beverage service only.

IN THE NEWS

MARRIAGE HEIFETZ/MYERS Chavie Heifetz, daughter of Chaim and Rochel Heifetz of Har Nof, Jerusalem, and Yonaton Myers, son of Avraham and Jillian Myers of Beit Shemesh, were married on June 15, the eighth of Sivan, at the Central Hotel, Jerusalem.

The bride’s grandparents are Morton and Judy Heifetz and Cantor Leo and Annette Fettman.

Fannie Sherman Chunovic is her great-grandmother.

The groom is the grandson of Sam and Babs Kantor.

After the week of Shevah Brachas, the newlyweds will continue their studies at the Yeshiva in Ofakim, Israel.

BIRTH Kelly and Thomas Kirk announce the June 6 birth of their son, Jacob Gannon.

He has two sisters, Lauren and Emily.

Grandparents are Fred Tichauer, Marty Tichauer, Michael Kirk and the late Virginia Kirk.

Great-grandparents are Helena Tichauer and the late Walter Tichauer, and the late Ben and Minia Maurer.

Out

Dining

On June 2, attorney Hugh I. Abrahamson was invited by Jose Cuevas, Consul of Mexico to a Special Ceremony of Designation as Legal Counsel for the Mexican Consulate in Omaha. During this ceremony, Hugh received an official Certificate of Recognition as Legal Counsel for the Mexican Government.

Lev Ginsburg, a student at Westside High School has been selected to attend LeadAmerica’s 2005 Congressional Student Leadership Conference in Chicago, IL. The CSLC is a college-accredited invitational leadership program for academically talented and promising young leaders. Exceptional high school students who have a record of academic achievement and extracurricular or community involvement, are invited to participate from across the United States and internationally.

The University of Pennsylvania awarded an honorary doctorate to former Omahan Saul Kripke at last month’s commencement in Philadelphia. A major philosopher, Kripke published his first essay at the age of 18; his book, Naming and Necessity, is considered one of the milestones in 20th century philosophy of language. A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Philosophical

Society, he won the Rolf Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy, awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences in 2001.

He is the son of Rabbi Myer S. Kripke and the late Dorothy Kripke.

Angela Friedman, daughter of Debbie and Scott Friedman., has been named a Deans Scholar at Bradley University. She is a recent graduate of Central.

Scholarship selection is based upon grade point average, high school class rank, ACT or SAT scores, leadership and community service. Bradley’s Deans Scholars represent the top ten percent of all college-bound students in the nation.

Beth Israel announced that Adam Gendelman, son of Howard Gendelman and Bonnie Bloch, and Shoshy Shrago, daughter of Leon and Dani Shrago, have been awarded Sidney Epstein Scholarships for 2005-06. The fund was established by Gert Epstein and her sons in honor of her late husband’s volunteer efforts in the Jewish community. Up to two $2,500 scholarships are awarded each year to students continuing their Jewish studies at a college or university, or post-secondary program in Israel.

Applicants were required to write an essay stating how they are pursuing Jewish studies and how they will incorporate what they learn into how they will lead their lives.

Gendelman will attend the University of Arizona in Tucson. Shrago attends Brandeis University.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

June 24, 2005

June 24, 2005

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Yachad, 1 p.m. at Schramm State Park Aquarium & Picnic MONDAY, JULY 11 Gan Israel Day Camp, July 11-22, 9 a.m. at Chabad House JSS Senior Luncheon, 10 a.m.

JSS Senior Exercise, 10 a.m.

FRIDAY, JULY 15 JELS - Introduction to Rabbinic Literature, 11 a.m.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

June 24, 2005

Excitement in Lincoln Inspiring to Omaha As Well When it was learned last winter that both synagogues in Lincoln were looking for new rabbinic leadership, the assumption was made that it was highly unlikely that two new rabbis would be hired. Not only have the number of graduates from non-Orthodox rabbinic centers of learning been small of late, but many of those graduates are finding employment in other arenas: in Jewish education, as Hillel directors, and for other non-profit agencies.

For Lincoln, a small Jewish community with no full-time Federation and no Jewish Community Center, to hire not one, but two recent graduates is nothing short of a miracle.

The leadership of both congregations should be congratulated on their planning and research, as well as their determination and persistence.

So what can we learn from this?

First of all, not every graduate of Hebrew Union College’s four campuses (New York City, Cincinnati, Los Angeles and New York), the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York or the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, wants to live and work in a big city. Secondly, many of these rabbis do not want to start as assistant rabbis in mega-synagogues. And thirdly, some of them at least, have begun to realize that being a big fish in a small pond offers opportunities that would almost never come their way in a New York or L.A. We anticipate that after settling in this August, Rabbi Ilan Emanuel of B’nai Jeshurun and Rabbi Roiy Shaffin of Tifereth Israel will begin to assess the needs of their new congregations, meet with as many congregants as they can, prepare for the High Holidays, and then start reaching out beyond their syna-

gogues. With the University of NebraskaLincoln right on their doorsteps, there are opportunities to find “hidden” Jews, bring Jewish students together in a Hillel or Jewish Student Union, offer a myriad of classes to members--and potential members--and in general, make use of a big university to enhance the lives of their congregants as well as their own.

In addition to UNL, there are other colleges and universities nearby--and of course, Omaha is only 50 miles away, less time than it takes for a New York City commuter to get to Northern Westchester or Long Island.

And while Rabbi Emanuel and Rabbi Shaffin may be anxious to take advantage of what Lincoln and Omaha have to offer them (both professionally and personally), the Jewish community of Omaha now has a new opportunity, too. Not that we don’t have energetic, erudite rabbis right here in Omaha--but more is better--and we Jewish hope Educational and Library Services and the Omaha congregations will take advantage of these two new bright young men to offer their insights into our

age-old traditions and texts.

There’s another opportunity that our two communities should consider--and that’s combining our young people. B’nai Jeshurun and Tifereth Israel have taken the first steps: combining both their youth groups and their religious schools while still allowing the teens from each synagogue to attend their own youth group conclaves and learn the minhag, the traditions that the Reform and Conservative movements reflect.

Now the leadership of Jewish Omaha--from the Federation to the synagogues--should consider how to work with these two congregations in Lincoln and how combining forces would make us all stronger. It’s an opportunity we shouldn’t squander.

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press the Jewish Committee, 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.

Listening to Stem Cells

FOCUS ON ISSUES

by RABBI AVI SHAFRAN The controversy over government funding of stem cell research--and about such research itself--is unlikely to fade away any time soon. On one extreme are those who equate experimentation on embryos with murder; on the other, those who dismiss out of hand any concern for what is done to a biological mass that, provided the proper environment, will grow into a baby boy or girl.

From the perspective of Jewish religious law, things are not as simple as either of the polar positions. A host of fine-point factors apply to the issues, and that is why Agudath Israel, on the advice of the rabbinical leaders at its helm, has not taken a public stance. But there is one vitally important thought that every intelligent and sensitive soul can and should take from the stem cell debate: what a miracle is biology.

We humans tend to swell with wonder when some of us manage to manipulate the effects of cells or their genetic material, but we too seldom dwell on the fact that the marvel really lies not in the manipulation but in the manipulated.

The thought may have been most memorably expressed by Emerson, who conveyed it as only a great poetic mind could: “If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years,” he wrote in an 1836 essay, “how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the City of G-d which had been shown.”

We human beings tend to perk up only when faced with something novel. Were we suddenly able to fly at will or read minds or travel back in time--ah, how we would marvel

at the miracle! And yet not only the scintillating night sky above us but the daily workings of the very bodies we inhabit (indeed even the lowliest components of the biosphere) are equally astounding things, and become more astonishing the more we learn about them.

Consider: When a sheep was first successfully cloned almost 10 years ago, what was essentially accomplished was the coaxing of genetic

Are the technological breakthroughs really what amaze us here… or is the true source of our astonishment and wonder the suddenly revealed workings of Creation itself? material to do precisely what it does all the time: code for traits, replicate and direct protein synthesis.

The achievement of producing Dolly bat Dolly (“bat” being Hebrew for “daughter of”), to be sure, was a major one; myriad obstacles had to be overcome, and a single set of chromosomes, rather than the usual pair from two parents, had to be convinced to do the job. But it was still, all said and done, a job that takes place millions of times in thousands of species each and every day without capturing anyone’s attention. It is not a job at all, of course, but a miracle.

Similarly, the unprecedented medical promise of stem cells-- undifferentiated human cells that can form practically any tissue of the body --derives from modern science’s ability to coax such cells to do, essentially, what they routinely do in embryos everywhere.

If such cells, culled from fertilized human

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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 is a constitutional committees of the Jewish Federation.

eggs (or from adult humans, a source some researchers feel is just as scientifically promising) can be induced to develop into pancreatic cells, they will hold the promise of curing diabetes; if they can be convinced to turn into dopamine-secreting brain cells, they may be able to reverse Parkinson’s disease; if into muscle, heart, liver or blood cells, they will figure prominently in treatments for muscular dystrophy, cardiac disease, liver failure and leukemia. The list is potentially even longer.

And yet every healthy person, we might pause and remind ourselves, has sufficient numbers of all those very cells working constant miracles, cells that once developed from embryonic stem cells naturally.

And so it behooves us all to step back a moment and consider: Are the technological breakthroughs really what amaze us here… or is the true source of our astonishment and wonder the suddenly revealed workings of Creation itself? Once upon a time, after all, heart transplants, too, were flabbergasting.

But, at least to thoughtful men and women, they were never remotely as amazing as hearts.

For Jews who put their faith in the Jewish religious tradition, resolving the formidable ethical issues surrounding things like cloning or stem cell research will have to await a consensus of Torah scholars.

It would be unfortunate, though, if recent-and future--developments in science didn’t seize our attention and leave us with a deeper awareness of the manifold miracles we routinely, if obliviously, experience.

And with a deeper realization of the fathomless debt we owe our Creator.

Rabbi Avi Shafran is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America; this op-ed of courtesy of Am Echad Resources.

Rabbi Shafran can be reached at: shafran@agudathisrael.org.

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The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions, but should be printed as soon as possible to ensure timeliness. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 9

Jewish Inaction in Bolton Fight Highlights Groups’ Policy Dilemmas

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

by MATTHEW E. BERGER WASHINGTON (JTA)--The White House is pressing American Jewish organizations to speak out in favor of John Bolton, President Bush’s choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as Republicans push for votes to approve him.

While Bolton has been criticized by Democrats, he has been well received in the Jewish community, predominantly because he was the architect of the 1991 repeal of an infamous 1975 United Nations resolution denigrating Zionism as racism.

But Jewish groups have not expended much energy on Bolton’s behalf. That has angered Bush administration officials who say that Bolton’s philosophy on U.N. reform is in line with Jewish community views, and that the community should be backing a nominee who can help Israel in the international body.

The administration also hopes Jewish community support will counterbalance lingering questions about Bolton’s past statements and work style, and help him win the necessary votes for Senate confirmation. “We are surprised at the half-hearted efforts by Jewish organizations who know that John Bolton is exactly the right guy to bring reform to the United Nations, which is an institution desperately in need of reform,� a White House official said.

The lack of effort on Bolton’s behalf highlights the dilemmas Jewish groups face in taking policy positions.

While Bolton may appeal to some groups, speaking out for him might pit

them against liberal colleagues who are concerned about some of Bolton’s actions, and even against some of their own members, who have been reluctant to support a White House appointee because of Bush’s stances on domestic policy issues. When asked about efforts for Bolton, several Jewish groups said they don’t take positions on nominations, viewing them essentially as partisan battles.

Isaacson, Director of Jason Government and International Affairs at the American Jewish Committee, said his organization finds nomination battles “personal and political� and said they necessarily advance the don’t AJCommittee’s agenda.

But we’re certainly on record in the past as having been grateful to John Bolton on positions he has taken on ‘Zionism equals racism’ and highlighting non proliferation,� Isaacson said.

Republicans have been unable to garner the Senate votes needed to move the nomination forward amid allegations that Bolton tried to exaggerate U.S. intelligence about Syria and Cuba and that he bullied subordinates at the State Department.

On Monday, for the second time in a month, Senate Republicans were unable to garner the 60 votes necessary to end debate. The White House reportedly is considering a recess appointment for Bolton, which would put him in the job for 18 months without a Senate vote.

Democrats have been seeking additional information about Bolton’s knowledge of several countries’ weapons programs, but also have suggested that his criticism of the United Nations might make him an inappropriate choice as U.S. envoy.

They have tried to block his nomination

by voting against cloture--in effect, filibustering. Republicans failed to garner the necessary 60 votes for cloture on May 26, losing 56-42. Monday’s vote was 54-38, suggesting Bolton’s support is dwindling.

The White House has been watching Jewish groups’ engagement on the issue for several months, since Bolton’s nomination became controversial. But they have become more proactive in recent weeks, calling Jewish organizational officials to ask what they’re doing to back Bolton.

The White House wants Jewish figures to reach out to senators, especially Democrats, extolling Bolton’s pro-Israel record. But that has not happened.

Many Jewish organizational leaders said their support of Bolton is known; indeed, some issued press releases praising his nomination when it was announced in March. “They know we are supportive of Bolton,� said Malcolm Hoenlein, Vice-chairman of the Executive Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The conference met last week with congressional leaders of both parties, but Bolton was barely discussed.

One Senate Democratic staffer said prominent Jewish donors have praised Bolton’s support for Israel, but that Jewish organizations have done no lobbying for him. Some Jewish officials in Washington suggested the issue was not a priority, while others hinted they didn’t want to get involved in such a divisive issue.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which brought 5,000 delegates to Capitol Hill last month, didn’t push Bolton’s nomination in the group’s action agenda, even after former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer backed him in a speech at AIPAC’s policy conference.

The White House wants AIPAC to make the nomination a priority, and to count the cloture vote for Bolton as part of the group’s assessment of senators' records on Israel.

Jeffrey Berkowitz, White House liaison to the Jewish community, sent an e-mail last week to Jewish leaders highlighting Bolton's support for Israel, his work on non-proliferation issues and his commitment to U.N. reform. A similar e-mail was sent by the Republican Jewish Coalition.

White House officials say backing Bolton aggressively is in keeping with the Jewish community’s emphasis on U.N. reform. Indeed, Jewish groups actively backed the U.N. Reform Bill of 2005, which passed the House of Representatives on Friday.

The bill would press the United Nations to make Israel a full member of the Western European and Others Group, where it is now a temporary member, and would withhold some U.S. contributions to the United Nations until that happens.

The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs has been actively backing Bolton. The organization, which has stronger ties to foreign policy conservatives than most other Jewish groups, has been reaching out to senators and issuing statements backing Bolton. “I think he deserves all the support he can get from the Jewish community,� said Tom Neumann, JINSA’s Executive Director.

Neumann said Jews have almost an obligation to back Bolton, suggesting he would be in the same mold as Jeane Kirkpatrick and Daniel Patrick Moynihan--strong supporters of Israel-as U.N. ambassador.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

June 24, 2005

Candlelighting Friday, June 24, 8:43 p.m.

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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

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Tifereth Israel Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 423.8569 www.tiferethlincoln.org

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to register or for more information.

BEYT SHALOM BETH EL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m.; Summer K’tantan, 10:45 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored

by Beth El Synagogue; Evening Service, 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 is available during Friday night and Saturday morning services, on a drop-in basis, at no charge.

HAZAK: Celebrate the Fourth of July with Hazak! Group members will meet for a 5:30 p.m. dinner (restaurant to be announced), then back to Beth El to enjoy the Boys and Girls Town fireworks. For more information, contact Gloria Goodman at 333.3351.

COMMUNITY JEWISH SINGLES Thursday July 7, 6:15 p.m.: Jewish adults from throughout the Jewish community will meet at Jazz-on-the-Green at Joslyn Art Museum. Attendees will meet at the yellow sculpture on 24th St.; organizers will be carrying purple balloons. For information or to make reservations, contact Harriet Einziger at 492.8550.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Hours: MondayOffice Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross.

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

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Free Babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 10:30 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by by Jordana Kurtzman in honor of Isaac’s fourth birthday; Mincha, 8:45 p.m.; Havdalah, 9:53 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Contact the synagogue office for Mincha/ Ma’ariv service time.

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Contact the synagogue office for Mincha/Ma’ariv time.

The Intensive Hebrew Class will be held July 6-22, from 9 a.m. to noon each weekday. Contact Mary Bort in the synagogue office

FRIDAY: Shabbat in the Home.

SATURDAY: Blumkin Home Shabbat, 9 a.m.

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 7 a.m.; Ima & Me, 10:30–11:45 a.m.

SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9 a.m.; Services, 9:30 a.m., followed by a Kiddush luncheon.

SUNDAY: Services, 8:30 a.m.

Mishneh class, 9:30 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m.

MONDAY: Halacha, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY:Torah for Teens, 4:15 p.m.

FRIDAY, July 1: Services, 7 a.m.; Ima & Me, 10:30–11:45 a.m.

Programs are open to the community. For information or to register, call the office or visit: www.nebraskajudaism.com.

435.8004 so the board can adequately prepare.

ADULT EDUCATION “Contemporary SUNDAY: Jewish Women’s Voices” led by Rabbi Debbie Stiel, 9:30-11 a.m.

Many women have written eloquent poetry, new life cycle events, Torah commentary, and new liturgy in an attempt to add their voices and insights to our heritage. Together we will look at some of what has been written in the last century, discuss what prompted these works, and reflect on how they affect Judaism today.

Please join us for our last Adult Education class with Rabbi Stiel.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Services, 6:45 p.m. led by Nancy Rips.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Services, 9 a.m. led by Marti Nerenstone and Beyt Shalom.

OUTREACH AND SYNAGOGUE COMMUNITY Celebrate the 4th of July and connect with your Temple friends at the home of Steve Danon, Sunday July 3, 6 p.m. For more information, e-mail Steve at: sdanon@aol.com. RSVP to the Temple office, mkube@templeisraelomaha.com. (See full article on page 4.)

SHABBAT UNDER THE STARS Friday, July 8, 6 p.m. at the JCC Frohm Pavilion. Kabbalat Shabbat services will be preceded by a bring-your-own dairy picnic dinner at 6 p.m. Rabbi Craig Marantz will lead the 6:30 p.m. service, followed by the Israel Scout Caravan Concert at 7 p.m.

(See full article on page 1.)

There will also be a 6 p.m. worship service at Temple in the Livingston Chapel.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN AT TLC FRIDAY: Kabbalas Shabbos, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharis, 9 a.m.

TEMPLE ISRAEL CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Rabbi Debbie Stiel will be in Lincoln two weekends a month.

Please call her at 402.416.2321 or e-mail: dstiel@everestkc.net to set up appointments.

FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m., led by Rabbi Debbie Stiel, with oneg following provided by the Board of Trustees in honor of Rabbi Stiel.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. all led by Rabbi Stiel.

FAREWELL TO RABBI STIEL The Temple Board of Trustees invites all members of the South Street Temple congregation to a Farewell BBQ in honor of Rabbi Debbie Stiel Join us Saturday, June 25, 6 p.m. At the home of Barbara Barren and Mark Calidonna, 1145 Mockingbird Lane No. Please bring a side dish, salad or dessert to share, as well as lawn chairs or blankets. The board will provide drinks, BBQ hamburgers and hotdogs, buns, and table service. Join us as we honor Rabbi Stiel and thank her for her service to South Street Temple! Please RSVP to the Temple office

FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 6 p.m. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel and Jeffrey Taxman will officiate. Join us for our summer worship-study discussions about “Praying in the 21st Century.”

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

SITTER SERVICE will not be available during summer worship times. Check the Temple website, www.templeisrael-ne.org, for the fall schedule.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Rabbi Stanley M. Rosenbaum. Minyan, MONDAY & THURSDAY, 9 a.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 8 p.m.

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

WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. If you do not receive a call, contact Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066.

To Submit B’nai Mitzvah Announcements Announcements of children becoming Bar or Bat Mitzvah will be printed on the synagogue page of The Jewish Press one week prior to the event if submitted eight days prior to publication. The following information may be included: name, name of parents, grandparents and/or great-grandparents (including late parent[s] and/or late grandparent[s]), names of siblings, date and location of event.

In addition, the school which the child attends, honors and hobbies may be included, if space permits, as well as the name of the child’s Mitzvah Project and a short description. A clearly identified photo is welcome if it is easily reproduced.

Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing the Editor at: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org. You can also submit announcements online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements.

Shavuot Discussion at Temple Reflects on Meaning of Commandments

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Dr. Leslie Joseph, left, a psychologist and member of Temple Israel, and Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, center, led a discussion on the seventh commandment, “You Shall Not Commit Adultery” on Erev Shavuot, as Doris Alloy listened.

Hidden behind Dr. Joseph are Jeff Schweid, chairman of Temple’s Adult Education Committee, and Rabbi Craig Marantz, who talked about the fourth command-

ment to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy.

Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization at Creighton University, led off the Tikkun Leil Shavuot at Temple on “Broken Tablets: Restoring the Ten Commandments and Ourselves.” He then joined Cantor Wendy Shermet in an exchange on the last commandment which prohibits coveting your neighbor’s wife or anything that is your neighbor’s. The study session was preceded by worship services and a dessert reception.

“I thought it was a wonderful service,” commented Howard Needelman who attended with his wife Lee. He described the Tikkun Leil Shavuot as an “enjoyable and informative discussion. The speakers had much to offer.”

JEWISH PRESS NOTICE The Press office will be closed Monday, July 4 for Independence Day. Pictures from the June 10 Senior Graduation issue may be picked up during regular business hours.

College students: let us know when you’ll be home for the summer, so we can stop delivery of the Press to your dorm. Just e-mail us at: jpress@jewishomaha.org.

June 24, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

13 Attributes of Godhead

SPARKS FROM THE WORD

by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Shelah L’kha Our Sidra has Moses sending out scouts into the Land as any good leader would do. Are the people there strong or weak? Are they many or few? The Land itself, is it good, or poor? Are there trees there? Are the towns open or fortified?

The scouts brought back a cluster of grapes so heavy it had to be carried on a frame, by two stalwart men.

They spent 40 days scouting out the Land. The report was that it was a good Land, but inhabited by strong peoples. The people wept and suggested returning to Egypt. But Joshua and Caleb insisted that with the Lord’s help, we can take them.

The Lord is angry but Moses, from a different angle, warns the Lord that if He harms this people and they die in the wilderness, his reputation in Egypt and other lands will be destroyed.

A new chapter offers a miscellany of laws, sacrifices, gifts to the Lord. And here we have the famous insis-

DEATH RICHARD SPIEGAL Richard H. “Dick” Spiegal died June 13 at the age of 96. Services were held June 16 at Pleasant Hill Cemetery.

A longtime Omaha businessman, he and his late wife, Bertha “Billie” Spiegal, owned Ideal Hardware and Furniture. A sergeant in the U.S. Army, he served during World War II and then as an instructor at Fort Hood, TX. He is survived by his daughters and sons-in-law, Arlene and David Beber and Connie “CJ” and Mace Horoff, of Willington, FL; daughter, Bonnie J. Hines; sister, Lillian Yaffe of Dallas, TX; 10 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

Memorials to charity of choice.

tence that if there are strangers living with you, there is one law--an identical law--for you and the stranger who lives among you.

There are several things things that we ought to note, that the task of scouting out the Land was not assigned to people of low rank. This dangerous task was undertaken by the chieftains of the tribes. They themselves were the scouts.

Second, we have an uneasy feeling about the morality of invading the land of the Canaanites and taking it.

Is it justification enough to say that the survival of Israel resulted in the teaching of monotheism and the fundamentals of morality to the world?

Note too that a minyan of 10 people for many Jewish ritual purposes stems from this grouping of scouts.

Only two brought back a totally good report. The 10 whose report said that the challenge was too great for the Israelites, are called an edah, a grouping. Hence for ritual purposes we have maintained down to our day that a minyan is 10 people. Twelve scouts, of whom 10 brought back a less than optimistic report became the standard number for a minyan.

One thing further, it is in our Sidra that we have the famous 13 attributes of the Lord, which occurs in our liturgy a number of times during the year.

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JEWISH PRESS NOTICE NO PRESS ON JULY 8 The Press office will be closed on Monday, July 4, for Independence Day. There will be no Press published on July 8 in order for the staff to perform computer maintenance and software upgrades.

The deadline for the July 15 publication--our annual Health and Wellness issue--is Tuesday, July 5, noon. For more information, call the Press office at 334.6448.

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To Submit an Obituary Notice: Send full name, age, date of death, location of service and burial site to the Jewish Press via e-mail: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; fax, 402.334.5422; or mail, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. Call 334.6448 for more information.

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UNMC Conducting Research into Breast Cancer Vaccine

by MARGARET BUMANN UNMC Public Affairs The University of Nebraska Medical Center is seeking to enroll up to 50 breast cancer patients for a unique vaccine trial for breast cancer patients with nonmetastatic disease. Researchers believe giving the vaccine to patients at an earlier stage of cancer may produce a better chance of preventing a recurrence and cause regression of any remaining disease.

The vaccine is also unique in that it’s made from the patient’s own dendritic cells. “We believe a cancer vaccine created from dendritic cells in the blood may be the most effective way to induce an immune response to fight breast cancer,” said Ken Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center.

Dr. Reed emphasized this is the only site in the country using a breast cancer vaccine made from dendritic cells. Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida is also conduct-

ing a vaccine trial using dendritic cells, but that trial is focusing on patients with lung cancer.

To make the vaccine, patients in the study will have a small amount of their white blood cells, or lymphocytes, removed through a process similar to blood donation called leukopheresis. The lymphocytes are turned into dendritic cells in the laboratory, and “infected” with the P53 protein through a viral vector.

The vaccine is then given to patients in the study in a series of four injections. The patients will be randomized to receive the vaccine through-out the course of their treatment with chemo-therapy and radiation, or they will get all doses of the vaccine at the end of their treatment. The goal is to find out when during the course of treatment the vaccine produces the best response from the patient’s immune system.

If you’re interested in learning more about qualifying for this study, please call 559.5582.

Flower Pot Garden Class at Beth Israel Creates Shavuot Decorations

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In order to prepare for Shavuot, members from Beth Israel, including: Bette Kozlen, left, Margie Alperson, Jordana Kurtzman, Susan Polack, Sandy Kohll, Bonnie Bloch, Jeanette Nadoff, Pacey Shyken, Donald Gerber, Alex Grossman, Susie Shyken, Maggie Gerber, Mary Sue Grossman, Dee Maly, and her assistant; and children Joshua Kurtzman, Joshua Polack, Aaron Kurtzman, and

Max Polack, met the morning of June 12 for a hands-on flower pot garden class led by Dee Maly, owner of Dee-Sign Landscaping. In addition to making individual flower pots to take home, the class created two beautiful planters that now decorate the synagogue’s entrance. Maggie Gerber and Bonnie Bloch made arrangements for the class.

Credit: Lesley Gendelman.

Phone _______________ Check enclosed for $ _________ Mail to jBay, The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 The Jewish Press jBay classifieds are only for use by individuals–businesses should contact the Advertising Department– Allan Handleman, 334.6451 for display ads.

Page 12

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

June 24, 2005

Stem Cell Researchers in Israel Continued from page 1 cells have the ability to develop into body tissue.

Theoretically, once the DNA of such cells is successfully manipulated in the lab, they can one day be transplanted into humans to help treat a wide range of diseases, among them neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s Alzand heimer’s diseases (a project that conDr. Howard Gendelman tinues at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, under the guidance of Dr. Howard Gendelman and the Center for Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative Diseases--CNND), as well as for multiple sclerosis, heart failure, diabetes and other conditions.

The use of fetal cells from elective abortions by the CNND has been the focus of a statewide controversy, so the Gendelman team began using the “rapid autopsy” method to find a new source of stem cells.

There’s a lot of interest in the Jewish community on this topic. In fact, Beth El HAZAK will present a panel discussion on Stem Cell Research on Sunday Sept.

18, 1-3 p.m., at Beth El Synagogue.

In Israel funding for research is scarce and researchers rely heavily on grants from abroad.

The Hadassah Embryonic Stem Cell Research Center has been one of the leading labs for stem-cell research internationally. Hadassah, in cooperation with

universities in Australia and Singapore, was the second group in the world to derive stem cells from human embryos.

The group produced six of the human embryonic stem-cell lines that are currently available for federally funded research in the United States. Some of these lines are among those that are distributed to labs researching stem cells around the world.

In Jerusalem, Reubinoff’s team at Hadassah found that by implanting human stem cells into the brains of rats, some symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are alleviated. The discovery, announced last year, gives some hope to the millions around the world who suffer from the disease because it may pave the way for using embryonic stem cells as a treatment.

Along with the Technion and Dr. Shulamit Levenberg in her lab at the Hadassah, the Hebrew University is the Technion University in Haifa.

Credit: Technion other cutting-edge research leader in the embryonic stem-cell research field in His lab is also involved in taking disIsrael. eased embryos that were discarded durRecently, Hebrew University's Dr. ing in vitro fertilization treatments and Nissim Benvenisty went to Capitol Hill studying them in order to better undertogether with several other U.S. stand the diseases they carry. researchers to brief lawmakers in the He recalls getting word that he and his House and the Senate about embryonic lab would be able to use human embrystem-cell research. onic stem cells for the first time.

A professor of genetics and the head of Previously they had been limited to the the stem-cell unit department at the life embryonic stem cells of mice. sciences institute at Hebrew University, “I literally could not sleep at night,” Benvenisty presented new data from his said Benvenisty. “We are in special days lab as he tried to convince the lawmakers where we can do real pioneering research; that embryonic stem-cell research, prop- we call it ‘the cell that can do everything.’ erly regulated, was the responsible scien“It can generate every cell in our tific way to go. body,” he said, while at the same time it Benvenisty’s research team was the first to is involved in so many aspects of human genetically manipulate human embryonic medicine. stem cells and in doing so, found that such “I am sure it will revolutionize the way cells have a lower chance of being rejected we will do research and also transplantaby the body than other cells, he said. tion medicine.”

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On those scaffolds they attach cells and by exposing them to certain hormones, are trying to grow specific types of tissues, including skin and cartilage.

Levenberg and other researchers credit Israel for quickly assembling regulations and guidelines that helped enable their research.

In 2001 the Bioethics Committee of the National Committee of Science wrote the regulations that now govern the research in Israel. It stipulates what kind of embryos could be used for research and how consent should be procured from families who were no longer using the embryos as part of in vitro fertilization treatments.

Since then, the guidelines have been studied around the world by other countries attempting to set their policies for such research.

Jewish law’s tenet that an embryo outside of the uterus does not constitute life helped pave an easier path for research in Israel, said Dr. Michel Ravel, a professor in the department of molecular genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the chair of the committee that set Israel’s regulation on embryonic stemcell research.

“Jewish law has a strong tendency towards saving lives,” he said. “Therefore it was easier than in many countries that are under Christian influence to accept the ethical value of the guidelines.”

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