Vol. LXXXVII No. 44 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 87 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
Israeli police and rescue workers inspect a car crushed by the bulldozer used in an Arab attack on July 2 in downtown Jerusalem. A Palestinian from East Jerusalem, Husam Duwayat, a 30-year-old father of two, plowed through traffic on Jaffa Road, one of the busiest streets in the Israeli capital, overturning a commuter bus, crushing cars, and killing three people. Just seconds before her car was crushed and she was killed, Batsheva Unterman, 33, threw her baby to safety; the father was reunited with his daughter a few hours later. Also killed were Elizabeth (Lili) Goren-Friedman, 54, and Jean Credit: Brian Hendler, JTA Relevy, 68. Duwayat was shot by an off-duty SWAT officer.
The ‘matriarch of Omaha’ dies at 91
Inside Opinion Page see page 8
Mary Arbitman Fellman Hadassah and its Business and Professional Women, and served as regional vice president of Hadassah’s Mountain Plains Region. A graduate of the University of Nebraska, Fellman was a past national secretary and treasurer of Sigma Delta Tau sorority. She was employed at an insurance company and by the U.S. engineers, before coming to work for the Jewish Press as an advertising salesperson, news editor and then the editor, until her marriage in 1947. Continued on page 3
by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Recently ordained as a cantor by the Jewish Theological Seminary, Beth Schlossberg began her job placement process with the determination “to look not simply for a congregation, but for a true Jewish home.” Her search recently ended and that ‘true Jewish home’ she sought will be at Beth El, where Cantor Schlossberg will be welcomed into the congregation as its new cantor at the beginning of Cantor Beth Schlossberg next month. “We are very pleased to welcome Cantor Schlossberg to our vibrant and dynamic synagogue,” said Rabbi Mordechai Levin, who noted that in addition to helping to lead services, the new cantor will perform pastoral duties, as well as serve as a teacher for both children and adults. “She is warm, friendly and enthusiastic, and her terrific talent and magnificent voice will bring added joy to our services.” At the beginning of her job search, Cantor Beth says her family encouraged her to “look widely and to be open to new possibilities. “I found Beth El and the larger Omaha community to be warm and inviting,” she shared. “I remember looking at an atlas with my roommate in New York, looking up Nebraska and Omaha. We quickly found Nebraska, but it took a few moments to find Omaha because the city happened to fall exactly on the center crease in the book. I looked back at her, winked and said, “‘now that’s what I call being at the center of things.’” Growing up in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, the cantor said she always felt a strong sense of Jewish identity and was involved with her synagogue, but did not consider joining the clergy until after graduating from the University of Michigan, where she earned a degree in voice performance. Her own cantor in Bryn Mawr was an important influence and a mentor in her decision to attend the seminary, she said. Her interest in music began at age 10, when she was away at summer camp in central Pennsylvania, which was “a wonderful place for arts and music.” She recalled that “At the time, I was more interested in fine arts than I was in music; however, I found myself in a bunk full of girls interested in music, and they thought it would be a fun activity to audition together for the camp play. To my surprise, I found I could sing, and I was chosen as the lead. Thus began my musical career.” Cantor Beth’s professional experience has included working with congregants of all ages, from young families and Women’s League, to teaching B’nai Mitzvah students, and extensive work with special needs students. She has also created and implemented music and prayer curricula for students in K-6, and has organized holiday programming and Judaic programming for children. In addition to participating in professional choirs and teaching voice and piano, the cantor has also worked with the Philadelphia Opera Company. Looking toward the future at Beth El, Cantor Beth noted that she is interested in building an active adult choir and also a youth choir. “Nothing strengthens bonds like active participation,” she noted. Continued on page 2
This Week: Community concert says farewell to cantor & family: Page 12 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’
Suffering economically, Zimbabwean Jews hold out: Page 2
July 11, 2008
For new Beth El cantor, Omaha represents “a true Jewish home”
Three dead, 45 injured in Jerusalem terrorist attack
by CAROL KATZMAN Editor of the Jewish Press Mentor. Leader. Founder. Mover and shaker. Anyone would be proud to be known by any of these adjectives. But one woman, Mary Fellman, was known by them all. She died July 6 at the age of 91 in St. Paul, MN, where she moved three-and-a-half years ago. Services were held July 8 at Beth El Synagogue, followed by interment at Beth El Cemetery, next to her husband of 36 years, Morris Fellman, who died in 1983. Called ‘the matriarch of Omaha’, Fellman was the first woman president of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, the co-founder of both the Jewish Cultural Arts Council and the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society. She created a Jewish singles network long before “jDate”, and was the winner of numerous leadership awards. Since her early teens, Fellman was involved with many facets of Jewish organizational life in Omaha, encompassing work from youth to older adult groups. She began by assisting her mother, the late Dora (Mrs. Max) Arbitman, with projects of the Daughters of Zion, predecessor to the Mizrachi Women organization which was the forerunner of AMIT Women. On each of her trips to Israel, she visited the various high schools sponsored by AMIT as well as Kfar Batya, the children’s and Youth Aliyah village. When her sister and brother-in-law, Annie and Harry Allen made aliyah to Israel, she visited more frequently, often reporting the changes she’d witnessed over the decades in the pages of this newspaper. An ardent Zionist and worker for Israeli and Jewish causes, Fellman served as chairman of the Women’s Division of Israel Bonds and the Women’s Federation Campaign, was president of the Omaha Chapter of
8 Tammuz, 5768
Coming Next Week: Health & Wellness
Planning to visit Israel? Books to read for your trip: Page 4
Segway to Israeli technology: Page 7