July 13, 2007

Vol. LXXXVI No. 43 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 86 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

27 Tamuz, 5767 July 13, 2007

String of conservative rulings leaves groups Jewish cop joins Antiasking if they need new advocacy strategy Defamation League board by RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) -Following a string of conservative rulings in the closing weeks of this year’s Supreme Court session, some Jewish officials are suggesting that they may be forced to abandon their decades-long strategy on relying on the courts to protect liberal gains on a host of issues. For decades many Jewish groups counted on the top court to correct what they saw as the excesses of legislatures and chief executives across the country. But with the close of the court’s first full term with two recent conservative arrivals, Chief Following the close of this year's Supreme Court term, Jewish groups are wondering whether Justice John Roberts and Credit: Robert Dodge or not their legal strategy is off kilter. Justice Samuel Alito, Jewish sanguine when cases would come up, with the sense we groups say the situation has reversed itself. Not only has the Supreme Court thoroughly aban- would get a decision in our favor,” said Jeff Sinensky, legal counsel to the American Jewish Committee. doned a decades-old tradition of upholding the liberal gains of the 1950s and 1960s, it has become the premier “Looking forward, it’s likely that the majority, now bulwark of conservatism now that Democrats have headed by Justice John Roberts and with Justice Samuel retaken Congress and the White House is weakened to Alito coming on the court, have a fundamentally different perspective than the Jewish community.” the point of impotency. “To put it in the historical perspective, we were quite Continued on page 2

by GARY JAVITCH Special to the Jewish Press Except for the Yiddish first name, you might not even think the sandy-blonde woman was Jewish. And to look at the stylishly attired woman, dressed in a dapper black pinstriped pants suit, it was hard to imagine that she was an undercover operative for the Omaha Police Department. Yet that was how Detective Sergeant Shayna Louise Ray introduced herself to the Anti-Defamation League board last month as one of their newest members. Equipped with, among other things, a Master’s degree in Public Administration, Ray was set to help the ADL monitor hate groups and act as a liaison with the police department. With the exception of Israel, there are so few Jewish cops around that it may seem like an unusual occupation for a Jewish male or female. But for Ray, seeking a career on the police force was something she had always wanted to do. “I got the idea to become a policewoman after reading ‘Nancy Drew’ novels as a kid,” Ray remarked. “Besides my mom who has an engineering degree always thought I’d have more advantages in a male-oriented career. With a smile, she added, “‘Charlie’s Angels’ were my role models.” Still, becoming a cop would not prove easy for Shayna, and she has a way to go to achieve all her goals. Her parents, the former Jennine Kraft (now Goldberg) and Harlan Rimmerman were divorced when she was almost five. Continued on page 3

Nurses express a commitment to residents beyond clinical and administrative duties by OZZIE NOGG The dictionary definition: Nurse -- to tend the sick, injured or infirm; to comfort and treat, especially in order to prevent pain; to contribute to an individual’s physical and emotional well-being. Nursing -- a science and an art; a profession that promotes quality of life; the prudent use of clinical judgment to enable people to improve, maintain, or recover health, whatever their disease or disability, from birth to death. The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home definition: Nurse, nursing -- Darlene Golbitz and Sara Wolfson, who provide all the above to the elderly in our community. ••• Golbitz has been a nurse at the Blumkin Home since the doors opened, 25 years ago this November. “In Pittsburgh, where I grew up, taking care of the elderly was a way of life for my family. My grandmother was in a nursing home for twenty-five years, and we visited her every weekend from the time I was six. I saw my family honor her, even though she often had no idea who they were. I think that’s part of why I’ve chosen to stay so long at the Blumkin Home. Call it payback time.” Sept. 18 marks Wolfson’s 18th year at the RBJH, a fitting connection to the Hebrew numerical equivalent of chai -life. “I never understood the geriatric population until I started working here,” she said. “I have come to love and respect

Inside Opinion Page see page 12

Sara Wolfson, seated, consults with fellow nurse Darlene Golbitz about a resident at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. the residents in a way I never thought I would. Many of them are from the New York area, so I can talk to them about Coney Island or hot dogs or the Yankees. They help me be a little less homesick for the relatives I left behind back East. I only knew one grandparent, and the Blumkin Home residents have all been

my substitutes.” ••• Both women were inspired and influenced by their mothers. “My mom was a labor and delivery nurse,” Wolfson explained. “I used to read some of her books and watch her grade papers from the vocational nursing course she taught.”

She studied at the University of Arizona in Tucson and received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1979. After moving to Omaha she worked at the University of Nebraska Medical Center on the medical/surgical floor. “I left the workforce for a while when I got pregnant, but volunteered with the Red Cross, giving talks as part of their AIDS Speaker’s Bureau. That was tough. It was at the beginning of AIDS in Nebraska and people were very scared.” Golbitz delivers her backstory in one delightful take. “My mother was the deciding factor in my career choice and she was insistent that I become a nurse because her boss’s daughter had started nursing school and my mother’s boss was her guiding force so it seemed like an ‘okay’ choice, especially since my aunts wanted me to become a teacher like them but I couldn’t see myself as a teacher and so, now mind you I was only 14 at the time, I made the decision to become a nurse.” After high school, Golbitz attended nursing school at Montefiore Hospital in Pittsburgh on a full scholarship. After becoming an RN, she received further training through the University of Pittsburgh, and subsequently graduated from UNO in 1995 with a BGS degree, concentrating on gerontology and public administration. In addition, Darlene has a Certificate in Gerontology. Continued on page 5

This Week: Health & Wellness Starts on Page 12Coming Next Month: The Learning Curve education issue, Aug. 10 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’

Next Generation in Business features Health Fair provider: Page 6

RBJH nurses: up to the challenge: Page 7

Jewish nursing pioneers make their mark on noble profession: Page 14

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 13, 2007

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CLIP & SAVE

CALENDAR OF EVENTS FRIDAY, JULY 13 Camp Talent Show, 2 p.m. at JCC Camp Talent Show Reception & Slide Show, 3 p.m. SATURDAY, JULY 14 Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel SUNDAY, JULY 15 C L The Living Torah, 9:30 a.m. at Chabad House I Class with Rabbi Nadel, 9:45 a.m. at Beth Israel P Bible Study Group, 10 a.m. at Beth El Visions Ralston Theater and Dinner, 1 p.m. Kripke Library “Summer Shorts” Lecture, 7 p.m. & S A V E

MONDAY, JULY 16 JSS Nurse, 8 a.m. Aquatics MOD Meeting, 9:30 a.m. at JCC JSS Senior Luncheon, 10 a.m. Jewish Book Club, 11 a.m. Hadassah Board Meeting, 1 p.m. Beth El Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group, 7 p.m. Looking at Ecclesiastes, 7:30 p.m. at Kripke Library

TUESDAY, JULY 17 WOW Tehillim & More, 9 a.m. at Chabad Senior Card Players, 11:30 a.m. Eye on Israel, noon at Kripke Library Mah Jongg Players, 12:30 p.m. BBYO Night, 6 p.m. JCC Maccabi Games Parent/Athlete Meeting, 6:30 p.m. BESTT Board Meeting, 7 p.m. at Beth El C Parshah Roundup, 7 p.m. at Chabad House L Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Temple Israel I WEDNESDAY, JULY 18 P JCC Aquatics Swim Team Awards Ceremony, 6 p.m. & Kabbalah Circle, 7 p.m. at Chabad House THURSDAY, JULY 19 S A Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel V Yiddish Group, 1 p.m. E Camp Overnight, 4 p.m. at JCC NCJW Board Meeting, 7 p.m. Advanced Parshah Study, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel All events held at the JCC unless otherwise indicated. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of events. To keep calendar accurate or for questions, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437. FOR A COMPLETE LISTING, VISIT THE FEDERATION’S WEBSITE: www.JewishOmaha.org (click on calendar)

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C L I P & S A V E

Conservative rulings leaves groups asking Continued from page 1 Sinensky and others cite four decisions that have especially roiled the community over the last year since Alito replaced Sandra Day O’Connor, who carefully hewed to the center as the court's swing vote on several hot-button issues: • The court ruled in April that a ban on late-term abortions did not violate a woman’s right to privacy, rolling back in part the gains of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. • In May, the court imposed a tough 180-day limitation on an employee’s right to claim pay discrimination. • Last month a 5-4 majority of the justices ordered school districts in Seattle and Louisville, Ky., to end voluntary busing programs that sought to integrate schools that had become segregated through demographic trends. Also last month, the court ruled that taxpayers have no standing to stop the executive branch from spending federal funds on faith-based programs, a decision that would hamper efforts by Jewish groups to wage legal challenges on such matters. Not every Jewish group was unhappy with those decisions. Two Orthodox groups, the Orthodox Union and Agudath Israel of America, praised the ruling on faithbased programs. In fact, Agudah argued that it didn't go far enough, saying it should have eliminated challenges to congressionally mandate religious spending as well. “There’s not a whole lot of logic for the distinction between executive branch decisions and congressional decisions,” said David Zweibel, Agudah’s general counsel. Agudah also praised the abortion decision, but Zweibel stressed that the Orthodox community was not necessarily embracing a more conservative court. He noted that Orthodox lawyers in the past had been on the “liberal” side of arguments, for instance in expanding laws combating discrimination. “To say we’re conservative or liberal is wrong,” Zweibel said. For most of the Jewish communal stalwarts on jurisprudence, “disappointment” was the term that kept cropping up to describe the recently completed Supreme Court term. “We were 0-for-3 this term,” said Michael Lieberman, the Washington counsel for the Anti-Defamation League, referring to the ADL’s three friend-of-thecourt briefs: the abortion case, the taxpayer case and the desegregation case. According to Lieberman, the significance of the cases ran deeper than the losses. In each of the three cases he cited, the Supreme Court had gone out of its way to reverse lower court rulings. “It’s really going to be important going forward to pick our forums, Lieberman said. “The court system may not be the best way to vindicate rights going forward.” That prospect, of an activist conservative court seeking to correct what it perceives to be a liberal taint on

jurisprudence, led other Jewish groups to the same conclusion. “There’s a concern about finding the right cases to bring to the court,” said Mark Pelavin, the associate director of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center. He cited the faith-based funding case, Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation. “The Hein case is a great example of how a case is not necessarily one that the litigators would have chosen as the first case on the president's faith-based initiative,”Pelavin said. Jewish groups signed on as friends of the court in the case because of the potential that the justices would overturn precedent, Lieberman said, but generally believed the case was not worth the risk -- a sense vindicated by the court’s finding. As a result of the decision, Lieberman said, only those people directly affected by funding for faith groups could challeng the law. “What you’re asking for is someone who is among the least, the lost, someone with an alcohol addiction, a drug addition, someone who has no job, to come forward,” he said. “It’s so unlikely that someone falling through the safety net is going to say, ‘I need that methadone treatment program but I resent saying a prayer for it.’” Another strategy is to advocate for legislation on the local, state and federal levels tailored to circumvent the court’s reasoning. “It may be that a local ordinance is the next way to protect the workplace,” Lieberman said. “It may be state law, it may be Congress or the executive branch.” Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), a Jewish liberal representing parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, said he expects to take a legislative-based approach to dealing with the court’s ruling that employees seeking to file lawsuits charging discrimination in pay, must do so with the 180-day period. “Congress must make its intent clear: Anti-discrimination laws must be strengthened -- not weakened,” said Nadler, the chairman of the civil liberties subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives, in introducing legislation last week that would expand the 180-day limit. Sammie Moshenberg, who directs the Washington office of the National Council of Jewish Women, said her organization’s strategy of directly opposing some judicial candidates has been vindicated. Despite their concerns about the direction of the court, some other Jewish groups opted not to oppose President Bush’s judicial nominees, arguing that a president deserves leeway in placing his or her preferences on the court. In 2001, according to Moshenberg, when NCJW first started opposing judicial nominees, “We said ‘these people serve for a lifetime’ [and] ‘make incredibly important decisions that affect us for the rest of our lives ...’” The federal bench and the Supreme Court, Moshenberg said, “have really been the backstop for our constitutional rights throughout history.”

Rabbi Jonathan Gross asked to serve on RCA Executive Board

C L I P & S A V E

by MARY BORT for Beth Israel Synagogue Beth Israel’s Rabbi Jonathan Gross has been chosen to serve on the Executive Board of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA). “This is a prestigious honor,” noted Beth Israel’s Executive Director Beth Cohen. “We’re so pleased that Rabbi Gross is involved with this important organization. The RCA provides rabbinical oversight to the entire Orthodox community. It’s exciting that our senior rabbi will be an integral part of the process.” Established in 1935, the RCA has a membership of nearly 1,000 ordained rabbis from fourteen countries. According to the RCA website, the RCA’s purpose is “... to advance the cause and the voice of Torah and the rabbinic tradition by promoting the welfare, interests, and professionalism of Orthodox rabbis all around the world. During the past 80 years, the RCA has been in the forefront of many issues, movements, ideas and initiatives intended to enhance the status and impact of the many facets of Torah on Jewish life in its interactions with the world around it.” The RCA partners with many Jewish organizations such as Yeshiva University, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. Additionally, the RCA serves as the rab-

binic authority for The Orthodox Union. “When I became a rabbi, one of the first things I did was to become a member of the RCA,” said Gross. “It’s essential for any Orthodox rabbi. My maternal grandfather, Rabbi Joseph Maza, was an active member of the RCA. The RCA offers mentoring services, learning opportuniRabbi Jonathan Gross ties, a vast array of rabbinic resources and placement services. If you have a rabbinic question, the RCA is who you contact.” “It’s such an honor to be chosen as a member of the RCA Exec. Board,” he continued. “The RCA makes decisions and issues statements as to where they stand in regard to public, political and community policies. We look to the Torah as a guide to form the RCA response to current issues such as the environment, human rights, smoking, marriage and so much more.” Gross concluded by saying, “There are a lot of great rabbis on the Board; younger guys and veteran guys. I look forward to working with all of them on important projects.”

July 13, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

Jewish cop joins ADL board Continued from page 1 learned how to shoot a rifle and shotgun; they taught us Their parting did not stop her, however, from earning how to apply physical restraints, too. It was excellent academic honors at Central High, from becoming training and very compatible with what I would take on active in BBYO and other Jewish groups, or a writer for later in the police department. the school yearbook. “On the Job” “After high school graduation, I chose George Ray was 24 when she joined the Omaha Police Washington University because it was in the nation’s Department in April of 1994. “I love my job,” she says capitol and I thought it would be the best place to study enthusiastically. “I have the chance to make a differhistory and government, two of my favorite subjects.” ence.” GW also had a forensic science program that she liked. The hard part is that police life does take its toll. Her Then another roadblock popped up. “Unfortunately, academy class began with 41; five dropped out by gradI didn’t survive the first year,” she related. “I had too uation. Classmate Sgt. Jimmy Wilson was murdered much fun. And rather than take while on routine car patrol and time studying, I devoted myself to attrition took ten more. Only 24 exercising. I did too much socializothers remain from her original ing.” class. This setback in her career path Ray started as a patrol officer and did not prevent her from striving mainly worked the graveyard shift towards her goal. Indeed, it only from midnight to 7 a.m., all the heightened her motivation. while going to grad school. Forced to return to Omaha, she She found working the notorious decided she had to clean up her act; Northeast precinct preferable to the “I had an epiphany. Not going to quieter Southwest district. “That’s college was not an option. I was because the whole NE crew checks also determined that I would pay on you during the shift. The higher for my education myself.” priority calls get two officers: To do that, at various times she Everyone covers you during an inciworked as many as three jobs. “I dent; you get to see more action, was a teller at the track and I barand there’s more teamwork. It’s Shayna Ray, right, is congratulated by her actually quite exciting.” tended before and after races at the grandmother Reva Oruch when Ray was During her 13-year tenure, she old ‘18th Amendment.’” awarded the JCC Volunteer of the Year has worked in almost every departShe enrolled in criminal justice Award in 2005, but because she’s now workment and made all kinds of arrests courses at UNO, getting straight ing undercover, her face has been hidden. A’s, despite working full time. from traffic to homicide. “My most interesting department was the child vicIn 1992, fresh out of college, she took a job at the Correctional Center as a guard and then later a case- tims -- sexual assault unit. Most challenging was invesworker -- at her level, a position comparable to a ser- tigating SIDS deaths, especially when I was pregnant.” Another part of the job was dealing with the child geant on the police force. “It was a good job. More importantly, I learned to abuse cases. “It was very tough taking a baby from its take everything in stride. We were so outnumbered; you parent when you couldn’t determine who was responsible for the abuse – the parent(s) or the babysitter. I’m couldn’t afford to lose your temper. “I worked in medium security in the men’s prison. I so glad I’m out of that unit.”

She has also worked as a regional investigator, in burglary, traffic and (currently) vice (prostitution alcohol, gambling). “That is an ‘undercover’ task,” she explained. “For that work, I wear jeans and a t-shirt.” There are some humorous moments, too, she reflected. “One time I was placing a 90-year old man under arrest for soliciting prostitution. I was so surprised by his age that I let my guard down for a just a moment and the guy groped me!” she revealed with a tinge of embarrassment. Then, at the College World Series, she recently collared a ticket scalper from Texas. While the reseller was enticing her to follow him to a secluded spot for the “buy” on his overpriced ticket, he cautioned Shayna, “We have to watch out for that guy ‘over there’ -- he’s a cop.” When the money changed hands, Shayna then introduced herself to the astonished crook: “I’m the partner of that guy ‘over there’ and you’re under arrest.” In a sweet voice that is her trademark style, she added, “And don’t try to run for it, because you’re surrounded.” To stay in shape for her work, she lifts lightweights and runs 25 miles a week. That running goal is not a requirement, but the energetic cop wants to run a halfmarathon on her 38th birthday, coming up in September. Even at a svelte 5 feet, 5 inches, Sgt. Ray wouldn’t reveal her weight. “I’m going to my 20-year high school reunion and I still want to lose five pounds,” she smiled. In the fall, she would like to take the Lieutenant’s test. Her career goal is to retire in 12 to 14 years -- as a captain. Maintaining the hectic schedule that propelled her through undergraduate school, the gumshoe overcame many challenges, met and married Matthew, now 37, and had three children. The family belongs to Temple Israel. For now, the former JCC “Volunteer of the Year” can take added pleasure in knowing that she will be able to use some of her intelligence-gathering skills to help improve the Jewish community in which she grew up.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 13, 2007

Health begins at the table

BERT’S EYE VIEW by BERT LEWIS The fourth of July has come and gone for this year, but as I write, it’s still ahead of me and I’m planning a menu. Isn’t that typical? The minute we make arrangements for a coming holiday, the first thing on the agenda is the food. Since many of my favorites are connected to holidays, I don’t mind that, except for one thing. How the heck are we supposed to eat sensibly, avoid sugar, fat and too much of everything else that tastes good and still enjoy the holiday? Everything we read or hear about maintaining health seems to begin at the table -- the breakfast, lunch and dinner table. And, interestingly, everything we read or have always heard about holidays, Jewish or secular, also focus on the table. I realized a long time ago (actually about 20 pounds ago) there was a correlation between holidays and food. For example, the most recent Jewish holiday was Shavous, and who doesn’t think of that one without also thinking of blintzes or kugel or any other dairy favorite? Or maybe our recent July Fourth, which conjures up plump hot dogs and wonderful grilled burgers, and don’t forget the potato salad that goes with them both! Does any of this sound like good nutrition and low fat eating? (I can picture my doctor raising her eyebrows!) The next holiday coming up looks like Labor Day, another one of those picnictype holidays that inspire foods fried or

those liberally salted. And every single one of them is high on the no-no list! Oh, they’re good, and we all love them, but so many of us are supposed to be avoiding that kind of stuff, how do we get around them? Before I even think of an answer, I realize how soon after Labor Day I’ll be checking to see if I have enough honey on hand to start baking for yomtov! I don’t know who thought up the expression “you can’t win,� but it comes to mind right about here. If we’re to really try to maintain good health habits, we know where we must begin; it has to be at the table.

more mature time of life and discover you really do like artichokes dipped in butter or other stuff swimming in melted cheese. So are you allowed to enjoy these new found pleasures? Heck no; like I said, no fair! Which is directly related to that wonderful old yiddish expression, “when you want to you can’t, and when you can you don’t want to.� (Of course, it’s better in Yiddish.) So are there answers to all this? Is there a way to enjoy holidays without breaking all the rules of the food police? Can you eat something naughty without feeling such guilt it gives you heartburn later? (Or do you get heartburn because you ate something naughty to begin with?)

Food, glorious food!

On a tour of his neighborhood, former Omahan Evan Saltzman sent the Jewish Press these shots of famous kosher food stops on the Lower East Side of Manhattan:

fresh bialys at Kossar’s, left, and Gus’ Pickles, made famous in the film, Crossing Delancy, directed by another former Omahan, Joan Micklin Silver.

And there’s something not fair about that, as the little kids say. By that, I mean that when we’re very young, there are things we reject because either we don’t like them or they’re very extravagant for early budgets. Okay, fast forward to a

This makes me remember a tv program where the mom is determined to serve a healthy Thanksgiving dinner; she solves her problem by molding tofu into a turkey shape. If you know what tofu is, you probably already eat in a healthful

way. If not, go eat the turkey gezunterheit, just don’t eat the skin! I guess that’s maybe the bottom line. We all have to be in charge of how we feed ourselves and we must learn to say “no thank you� when presented with the option of cheesecake or the sinful chocolate decadence. And, according to my doctor, we have to find some form of exercise besides sitting quietly on the couch waiting for dinner to digest. There are ways to accomodate the rules, they just take some work, and a lot of dicipline! I learned years ago I could make a really good egg salad with nine eggs and using only two of the yolks. It really worked, and the guy I made it for loved it. That’s only one little example. The rest of it comes with a two word admonition from the doctor. Portion control. Translated? Don’t eat like a chazer. The rest of it, having to do with exercise, I’ll leave to you, because I’m certainly not an expert. Too bad, because I really need a regular program of that good health rule. But don’t follow my example. You go to the gym and work out, or run four miles daily or whatever else suits you. I’m too much a couch potato (and I’m not allowed potatoes!) to sound like a maven. I’m the original woman who said, “I joined a gym and now they expect me to use it!�. Of course, if my doctor is listening, I’m only kidding. I hope you all take very good care of yourselves and behave at least somewhat, at holiday time. I’ve always thought that lovely old Yiddish way of saying goodbye was appropriate ... Zie gezunt. Bert Lewis can be reached at BertLewis39@aol.com.

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Nurses express a commitment to residents Continued from page 1 ••• There’s no typical day for Wolfson at the Blumkin Home. “I’m a Charge Nurse, which means on some days I coordinate and direct the staff so the shift runs smoothly from both the clinical and administrative sides. On other days I do a little of everything -- pass medications from the cart, do assessments, give shots and treatments. I toilet, bathe and dress people. I never sit at the desk very long because I like to be with the residents.” She knows the upcoming changes will impact her work. “With the new specialized units, residents who require different types of attention will no longer live together. The care at the Home will be even more personal, and that’s a positive thing. On the other hand, I’ll miss those residents that I no longer will see much of. I expect it will take some time to get used to the changes, but I’m pretty flexible.” Golbitz is currently Charge Nurse at the Home’s North Station, and when the new Special Care Unit is up and running, she’ll take over as Charge Nurse there. “I’ve attended classes and conventions related to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and based on what I learned at those sessions I’ve been asked to give input into the physical planning of the new SCU. It’s exciting to watch the building take shape from the schematic plans.” Her new job description includes SCU admissions and discharge criteria, plus the development of specialized ways to improve the quality of life for Special Care Unit residents as well as for its staff. ••• “My mother went to nursing training with several Jewish friends,” Wolfson said, “but even they agree that traditionally, there aren’t many Jewish nurses. When I worked at UNMC I was the only Jewish nursing person out of about sixty-five on my floor, and the first Jew that many staff had ever known. I wasn’t used to that. I was used to New York where everyone seemed to be Jewish, so I had a lot of educating to do. At the Blumkin Home I’m very impressed with the level of knowledge that the mostly non-Jewish staff has for Jewish customs and beliefs. They treat them with dignity.”

“The whole staff gets a lot of credit for sensitivity and compassion and caring,” Golbitz added. “I think it’s important to serve as a link for the families, both in and out of town, and it’s an honor to be part of the residents’ celebrations and milestones and those of their families. When my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she moved here from Pittsburgh so I could take care of her. For the last two months of her life, I entrusted the Blumkin staff with her care and they were fantastic. I work with some very special people.” ••• The concept of dor l’dor -- from generation to generation -- is evident at the Blumkin Home. “This work completes me,” Golbitz said. “It fulfills my emotional and spiritual needs. I love reminiscing and learning everyone’s history and the stories that are meaningful to them and to their families. Sometimes it’s just saying Shabbat Shalom or Good Shabbos on Saturday morning to the Jewish residents and seeing the recognition and remembrance in their eyes.” When Golbitz acknowledged that some current residents are children of people she cared for 25years ago, she was uncharacteristically hard pressed for words. “I’m privileged to care for them, just as I cared for their parents. With a resident or family member there are special feelings that come with end-of-life times. It’s difficult to express.” Just as is the case with Golbitz, when Wolfson speaks about the Blumkin Home it’s clear that her commitment goes far beyond administrative and clinical duties. “The residents live and eat together every day, so in a way they’re like a big family,” she said. “They try to help each other. A woman who can walk will push someone in a wheelchair to the dining room. Or a resident with dementia, sitting next to another, will spontaneously grab that person’s hand and stroke it. Residents ask each other, ‘Are you okay?’ They come to a staff person and say, ‘So and so needs you’. And their sense of humor can be surprising. One day while walking into the lounge, I tripped and landed flat on my face in front of a resident. He looked at me and said, ‘So, you finally fell for me, huh?’ He really eased my embarrassment. Still, every day they tell me, ‘Don’t get old.’”

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 5

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“I hope I’m serving as a role model for my children and grandchildren.” Darlene Golbitz

“I have become an advocate of more choices for older adults.” Sara Wolfson

IN THE NEWS The Families Connecting with Families Conference, taking place July 13-15 in Omaha, is a national conference bringing together more than 150 families from 30 states and five continents designed to address all aspects of raising and educating a child with vision loss. The weekend-long event, sponsored by American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI), and The Seeing Eye (America’s preeminent dog guide school), comprises multiple workshops, panel discussions led by a variety of experts, and support groups. Young conference attendees will also stay engaged with fun activities such as a trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo and a pioneer-style family cookout. “Parents of children with visual impairments are oftentimes their most tireless advocates when it comes to securing the proper resources and services crucial to the success of a child with vision loss,” said Susan LaVenture, NAPVI Executive Director. “The Families Connecting with Families conference provides a forum for these parents to connect on a personal level and share stories that can help make their experiences more productive and positive.” The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is a national nonprofit that expands possibilities for people with vision loss. AFB’s priorities include broadening access to technology; elevating the quality of information and tools for the professionals who serve people with vision loss; and promoting independent and healthy living for people with vision loss by providing them and their families with relevant and timely resources. For more information visit www.afb.org. NAPVI is a non-profit organization committed to providing support to the parents of children who have visual impairments. NAPVI is a core partner for the Families & Advocates Partnership for Education (www.fape.org) project spearheaded by the Parent Advocacy Coalition for Education Rights (www.pacer.org).

Film delves into meaning of Jewish identity by STEVEN J. RIEKES An award-winning movie about identity, Rashevski’s Tango, will be shown on Sunday, July 29, 6 p.m., at the Jewish Community Center. The movie will be preceded by a light deli dinner. After the showing, there will be a brief panel discussion headed by Rabbi Jonathan Gross and Dr. Stephen Skulsky. The evening is being co-sponsored by Henry Monsky Lodge B’nai B’rith and the Center for Jewish Education. Rashevski’s Tango was the audience award winner at the recent Boston Jewish Film Festival. According to the Boston Globe, the movie takes a subtle look at identity. It “wonders, without much noise or hand-wringing, what on earth it really means to be Jewish. The movie doesn’t presume to know the answer (is there one?), but it is seriously made and sincere enough to assemble a gallery of affecting characters who grow increaingly at ease with themselves. “The Rashevskis are a modern clan settled in a Belgium that’s gone secular, much to the dismay of one of its senior members, Sammy, an Orthodox rabbi in Israel, who, out of disapproval, has estranged himself. His exceedingly dapper brother, Dolfo, tries to reach out to Sammy on behalf of his sister-in-law and Sammy’s late wife, Rosa. She was the secular force holding the Rashevskis together, and without her guidance the children and grandkids turn questioning and uncertain: Who are we -- as a family, as individuals, as Jews?” The article continues, “After Rosa’s funeral, her two sons, Simon and David, discuss how their mother’s death makes them feel more Jewish They recall that after their father left, ending up in Israel, their mother gave them the gift of tango, which she promised would allow the boys to dance their troubles away ...” Reservations for the dinner may be made by calling the the Kripke Federation Library, 334.6462, or B’nai B’rith, 334.6443. The dinner and movie is $7. This is an adult film and no one under 17 will be admitted.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 13, 2007

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Health Fair provider lives a fit life NEXT GENERATION IN BUSINESS by JOAN K. MARCUS At age 39, Omaha entrepreneur Alan L. Kohll likes living here. His central Omaha location is home for him and young daughter, Abby, who lives with him about half of the time. Kohll, president of Health Fairs of America, says he enjoys spending time with his parents, Jerry and Gail Tretiak Kohll. He is the third generation in his family to run a business. His parents and grandparents, Selma and Is Tretiak, the late Leona and Louis Kohll, and Gerald Cohn, precede him as entrepreneurs. He grew up with an older sister, Cindy (Persky) and younger one, Allison Kohll. Although both sisters have moved to New York, Alan has chosen to remain here. His younger brother, Jason, lives and works in Houston. “We were always family oriented,” he recalls. “I went to Westside High School and was interested in sports, science and business. For a time, I thought that I might be interested in becoming a pharmacist like my father. However, I soon forgot that when I got ready to graduate from high school.” He noted that when he was growing up, his dad always gave the Kohll kids jobs to do in his pharmacy. “I learned to clean the soda fountain, make deliveries and work the cash register. It was fun on the holidays because he would give the employees time off and we would help to run the store,” he smiled. “On Christmas eve, we would wrap presents for people who came in to buy last minute gifts and batteries.” He worked hard for his spending money. “When I was a teenager, my parents didn’t just give me cash. I had paper routes, worked at Hardee’s and worked in the drugstore,” he said. “I value hard work and I like working for myself. The thing about the world today is that you can be wired as long as you have Internet connections. I can be on the beach in France and people think I’m in Omaha!” After graduation from Westside in 1986, Kohll attended Tulane University in New Orleans, majoring in business management and education. He has been certified to teach up to eighth grade and still thinks about being a teacher. In 1991, he began his business career at a young start-up company in Tyler, Texas. His next move was back to Omaha where he joined his father in the business operations department of KHS or Kohll’s Health Services until 1996. “That operation was a ‘closed door nursing home pharmacy’ where we dispensed medications, oxygen and medical supplies.” Jerry Kohll sold his company in 1996 and Alan was looking around for opportunities when he started Health Fairs of America in 1998. “My initial focus was to deliver health screenings and flu shots to only major corporations -- not to the general public. In a way, I can use my teaching skills to make people more aware of their health.” The process begins by hiring nurses and professionals to run the programs. “Then, I had to market myself to large companies. I offer just shots or complete health fair type events,” he noted. “I promise to do whatever companies require. Some want additional tests such

as cholesterol screening, blood pressure or bone density exams.” Companies place their trust in Kohll; almost all the business done by Health Fairs of America is done in other cities as well. “Because of our mobile society today, I can fly to New York or California for a day in order to run a health fair. When I worked for my dad, much of our business was with nursing homes and I saw older people with bad health.” He added, “So, I thought that with health fairs and screenings, I could help people with prevention of illnesses. Now, people are interested in learning about their health. There’s a lot of new information -- and sometimes it isn’t totally accurate. It’s our job to give the proper information.” Kohll noted that, “This business is totally unique because it takes time to build up a network of reliable nurses and employees. We want to make sure our professionals do a good job for the companies that hire us, and for their employees. Over any given year, we can offer services to half a million people. The most common screenings are Alan Kohll for high blood pressure, but we could provide anything the business requested.” Kohll agreed that health care costs are out of control. Most large companies are doing everything that they can to keep employee health costs down and health screenings top the list. “Businesses are going to ask employees to become responsible for their own costs,” he said. “Employers are going to switch to high-deductible, consumerdriven health plans. This means that they may have deductibles as high as $5000. He added that many companies already have established health savings accounts similar to a 401K. “ An employee’s own money will go into his or her health savings account. Workers can build up a balance and draw from it when they become ill. This makes it a big incentive to stay healthy. That’s where I come in with my company and prevention.” Alan lives what he teaches. He is physically fit and has encouraged his parents to follow his example. “They used to make fun of me because I worked out so much, but now they’re really into fitness.” In addition to spending time with Abby, age five, he is an athlete. He traveled to Tempe, Arizona, in May, to compete in the Ironman Triathlon in the spring. It meant training for such events as swimming for 2.4 in open water and riding 112 miles on a bike. After that, there was the 26.2-mile marathon. And he finished it all! The whole triathlon takes 10-12 hours to complete. “It was an unbelievable experience I hope to repeat in 2008.” In addition to the Ironman, he has competed in several marathons and other triathlons. It is obvious that Kohll is a man who takes care of his own health -- as well as helping other people learn about theirs. “You don’t have to complete an Ironman to be healthy. Exercise should be fun, not work. To me, working out at the gym is not fun,” he added. “When you have 2,000 competitors, from ages 19 to 84 trying to complete an Ironman, that is something very special.”

July 13, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

Blumkin Home nurses: up to the challenge by ANDREA BARTMAN est standards of care due to a heightened commitment by tional ten hours of this training.” for JSS/RBJH the community to the care of the Jewish elderly. The nursThe National Institute on Aging’s newsletter, They all have the same thing to say when asked the ing homes of the past, described by Golbitz and Osborne Connections for the Alzheimer’s Disease Education and question; “What type of person does it take to be a nurse were never an accurate depiction of the Blumkin Home. Referral Center, suggests that nurses and other staff these days?” The answer is unanimously, “flexibility.” Restraints, both physical and chemical, were not a method employ techniques such as the following in dealing with “We’re still looking for people with caring and com- used here, as in many other nursing homes. the disruptive behaviors of dementia patients: touching passion. The kind of person that is required in these Here, with so many people living longer, techniques or hugging them, giving them something to hold onto, positions hasn’t changed in 25 years,” says Darlene have changed and adapted to new concerns. Creativity showing movies or providing interactive activities such Golbitz, Charge Nurse at the Rose Blumkin Jewish in long-term care has increased. One place that creativi- as sing-alongs, distracting them with conversation and Home. ty is a cornerstone is in the care of residents with demen- engaging them in activities like cooking or crafting. Natalie Osborne, Nursing Manager, adds to these tia or Alzheimer’s. Obviously, the RBJH is already employing these techcomments by describing how today’s nurses are required Today, it is estimated that five million Americans suf- niques and more; and their challenge is to maintain a to take into consideration the expectations of the state, fer from Alzheimer’s. Millions more suffer from other workforce of nurses who appreciate how beneficial these their management and family members besides tending forms of dementia. Without a cure, it is estimated that things are in addition to physical care of patients in the to the physical needs of their patients. by 2050, 15 million Americans will have Alzheimer’s. dementia wing. So flexibility remains Emily Stohlmann, a stunumber one. But what dent of Bethel University has changed and what are in Minneapolis, is spendthe new challenges and ing some time with the opportunities to the nursRBJH for practicum over es at the RBJH today? the summer. She First and foremost, says describes a chapter in Osborne, is that “We’ve school on “challenging had to become more behaviors” for dementia skilled than twenty years patients and how to hanago. We do a lot more dle these situations, but IV’s, tracheotomy tubes, says that it isn’t as much etc. We’re now more speof a focus as it probably cialized in wound care. should be. This reinforces These are some things that Golbitz is meeting that are new within the the challenge by bringing last several years.” a spirit of ongoing educaThese new expectations tion into the Home. are common place for Osborne helps arrange today’s long-term care this type of education as nursing staff. “People The north nursing station is busy even on an average day at the Student Emily Stohlmann, right, works quickly to keep up with well. She’s in contact on a aren’t staying in hospitals. Home, according to Darlene Golbitz, left, and Elizabeth Bougher. the pace of Pauline Cullin. regular basis with the staff Insurance companies are taking people out of the hospiThe new RBJH building will include a Special Care of other long-term care facilities. She notes, compares tals, but they can’t go home yet, so they come here, to Unit for those residents suffering from dementia. Golbitz and contrasts the differences continually to make sure the skilled nursing unit,” she adds. will be heading up this wing of the new Home as Charge the nursing staff of the RBJH is on top of their game. Osborne describes an atmosphere of cooperation Nurse. She details the ongoing training she seeks out and Young nurses like Stohlmann are a valuable resource among staff, social workers and the families of residents then applies it to the education of the entire nursing staff. to the increasingly older population now needing care. that benefits the residents greatly. She’s recently attended the Alzheimer’s Association Attracting high quality personnel is a challenge in “The community has become extremely knowledge- annual convention and describes her research into today’s long-term facilities, but with attention to posiable, which is good,” she says. People are no longer in obtaining her CDP training (Certified Dementia tive working environment, staff support, ongoing trainthe dark as to how their loved one is being cared for. Practitioner). Once she’s attended these types of contin- ing and maintaining top of the line equipment, the This creates a positive change for the resident, and pres- uing education opportunities, she returns to the RBJH RBJH is able to attract nursing staff who want to stay. ents a challenge to nursing staff to increase their knowl- and educates the other nursing staff. This really benefits the residents in terms of the staff edge base and hone their communication skills so they “The staff sensitivity is already there,” she says. “We knowledge and personal connections. may effectively partner with family members regarding just help them learn how to incorporate new techniques Osborne says that the RBJH nurses meet the daily their loved one’s care. This is an opportunity for today’s in dealing with these residents. All of the aides here cur- challenges of connecting with the people in their care long-term care nurses to use their interpersonal skills in rently have to do a minimum of ten hours of in-service and that they take it even farther. “We have a lot more a way that was less utilized in nursing home of the past. in dementia training. With the introduction of the new nurses now that are more fully understanding of Jewish Of course, the RBJH has always held itself to the high- Special Care Unit, we’re going to be requiring an addi- Continued on page 8

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 13, 2007

Up to the challenge Continued from page 7 beliefs and customs and are taking that under consideration when providing care. To see our nurses take an active role in maintaining Jewish customs and traditions is so important. They really learn fast and it makes them feel like part of this family.” According to an article from Nurse Week, author Jose Alaniz says “With half of today’s nursing workforce expected to retire within fifteen years, the nursing student -- the nurse of the future, that is – may not necessarily be a superman/woman, but the challenges to come will certainly require superhuman resources.” This makes time spent at the RBJH by students like Stohlmann a unique opportunity to our current staff to show them why the Home is the place to be. Another opportunity Osborne sees is in attracting more new male nurses to the Home. “One thing that is really positive to me is the number of men who have become nurses. We’ve got quite a few male staff.” This mix provides options for the care of residents in terms of their security and comfort level. Care decisions regarding long-term residents are more and more a challenge in the hands of nurses. “Doctors are busy with people in the hospitals,” says Osborne. “Our nurses have become required to make more critical decisions and be the eyes here for the doctors. For example, residents with recurrent pneumonia -- nurses can recognize the immediate signs and can call the doctor and say ‘this is what you put her on last time, do you think she requires it again?’” This challenge is one met through

Israeli baby in intensive care after transplant

knowing the residents well and maintaining a level of care that identifies need sometimes before a doctor is even present to see it. The Home provides transportation to and from doctor’s visits for those residents able to tolerate the trip. Dr. Tom Cotton is the Home’s Medical Director, and as such he provides care for residents on site as well. Golbitz and Osborne both site an increase in paperwork as a definite challenge to their nurses. Obviously, for both of them and for their staff, they’d like the focus for nurses to remain on the care and attention to their patients. “The government has mandated new regulations for nursing homes,” says Osborne. “For the residents, the outcomes are better, but it’s made a lot of paperwork for nurses. We have more things now that need to be looked at and documented.” Osborne describes it as a burden, but one that she understands is necessary for the proper care of residents. Not so much the residents of the RBJH, but nationwide. This reporting creates a higher standard of care that benefits all people in nursing homes. How can she not support that? For its part, the RBJH staff is completing all the paperwork and continuing to maintain the highest level of care for their residents. Osborne and others like Shelly Cash, Director of Nursing, take on most of the paperwork so that their nursing staff is free to make quality care the focus of every day. All of the above challenges are being addressed and met by this dedicated RBJH nursing staff. Opportunity continues to knock and they answer the call.

Omaha Performing Arts Presents 2007 | 2008 Season

by GARY JAVITCH Special to the Jewish Press After waiting almost 12 weeks, 15month old Michael Sweisa received three new internal organs at the Lied Transplant Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Following the seven-hour surgery, doctors placed the Israeli baby on a ventilator in the pediatric intensive care unit, where he continues making progress as of press time. “The surgery went well,” according to Dr. Jean Botha, a member of the University’s Transplant Team. He commended Dr. Alan Langnas, the lead surgeon and chief of transplantation. “He is internationally recognized and a pioneer in the field. “The typical recovery period is one to two months in the hospital, followed by a three to six month stay in the Omaha area while we oversee the recovery.” Speaking with the permission of the family, Dr. Botha continued, “The baby came in jaundiced, extremely underweight and very ill with liver and intestinal failure. Our biggest concern right now is preventing organ rejection and infections, while at the same time balancing the use of immune-suppression drugs and anti-biotics.” Almost two weeks after the procedure, surgeons noted positive signs: Michael’s jaundiced color had nearly disappeared and the measure of that -- the bilirubin count -- had dropped from a high of 36 down to 20 and then to a reading of two. (A number below 1.5 represents normal.) The plan when the baby is off the ventilator is to feed him intravenously at first to test out the new bowel. “This particular transplant program started in 1990.

We have the biggest pediatric intestinal program in the country now,” the transplant surgeon related. “We performed 22 transplants last year. This year we have already completed 20. With all of our experience, we have increased our one-year success rate to 80%,” Dr. Botha said. While, the outlook for the baby is very promising, Dr. Botha cautioned that Michael is far from out of the woods and still has many hurdles to overcome. It takes a village to save a child Smadar Sweisa brought her son Michael to Omaha along with her daughter, Ortal, 11, her parents Chaguy and Nurit Maman, from near Be’er Sheva; they speak almost no English. They came alone, yet thanks to a welcoming committee organized by Chabad Rabbi Mendel Katzman, “family” picked them up at the airport. Marsha Kleinberg, Tippi Dennenberg and Nancy Wolf joined the rabbi, who explained that he is frequently called to help at UNMC, especially when observant Jews come here. His wife Shanni and her children prepared a kosher for Passover meal. Under the auspices of Chabad, Nancy Wolf organized a group of volunteers to ferry the family to doctor appointments and show them around the city. The family receives some money from the Chabad of Tenafly, NJ. “Many others helped also,” Rabbi Katzman stated. He rattled off a partial list of names that included volunteer translators like Moshe Gershovich, Guy Matalon, Ruth Margalit, Jonathan and Yoni Kipnis. Transplant recipient Ann Goldstein, as well as Jim Anreson and Gedalya King, also assisted the family. For updates, visit www.ochabad.com.

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July 13, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Outdoor summer fun for the whole mishpacha

JEWISH P ARENTING by SHARON DUKE ESTROFF Back when my children were babies (sunhats on head, pails and shovels in hand) I’d drum up glorious images of summers to come. My kids would skip home from school once that final bell rang, ready for three months of fun in the sun. I’d greet them in the backyard with a badminton set and a pitcher of lemonade. They’d play, I’d pour. That’s it. I never considered that my vacationing charges might reach for video-game joysticks over badminton racquets. Or that they’d want to spend their lazy, hazy days surfing the net not the waves. It didn’t cross my mind that once those babies turned into kids (Braves hats on head, remote controls and computer mice in hand), my blissful imagery of carefree romping in the summer sun would give way to the SpongeBob Sizzling Summer Marathon on Nickelodeon. Now, many summers and melted parental fantasies later I understand that I’m not alone in my plight. That the summertime couch potato syndrome is all over the modern child population like guilt on Jewish mothers. In fact, the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan reports that kids today spend half the time playing outdoors than kids did two decades ago. Unfortunately, there is mounting concern over this generational shift from the backyard to the couch. A recent broad-scale study featured in the April 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health reports that summertime sedentariness among children has them packing on the pounds at twice the rate over the summer than during the school-year. While a plethora of other research links inactivity among modern kids with increased incidence of childhood depression and anxiety and traditionally adult health problems like cardiovascular disease and high cholesterol. Experts also warn that the demise of traditional outdoor play could hinder children’s development. “Outdoor experience isn’t just something nice for kids to have,” writes Richard Louv, author of the book Last Child in the Woods, “They have to have it.” Neuroscientists tap interaction with the natural world as a primary player in children’s sensory development. Ditto for physical development, as running around outside is critical in refining children’s large and small motor skills and achieving “full brain activation.” So how can we ensure our kids remain happy, healthy and active during their lengthy school siesta? We begin with strict rules and limitations regarding screen time (The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than two hours daily of television, video games and computers combined), and follow up with plenty of opportunity for child-oriented fun in the sun. The following list of high-interest, low-maintenance, outdoor activities (some of which families can do together and others of which kids can conquer on their own) promise to help keep your crew off the couch and out the door –-- all summer long. Sporty Kids • Play Backyard Volleyball. Use a clothesline as a net (make sure it’s higher than the tallest child’s head) and a lightweight beach ball or balloon as a volleyball. • Make a Baseball Splash. Fill a bucket with water balloons. Have kids take turns pitching and batting…and getting drenched.

• Have a Hula Hop. Spread hula hoops around the backyard, varying the distance between them; challenge children to jump from one to the next. Sweaty Kids • Play Water Limbo. Use water from a garden hose instead of a stick; players bend, crawl or slither under the stream to avoid getting wet. Driest kid wins. • Build a Water Slide. Secure plastic sheeting (available art hardware stores) with garden stakes in a grassy inclined area; turn on the sprinkler and let kids slide away. (Feet-first sliding only, adult supervision required.) • Play Splash Tag. In a cool variation of the old standby, the player who’s “it” uses a squirt or spray bottle or throws a wet sponge to soak his targets; once drenched, that player becomes the new “it”. Artsy Kids • Make a Backyard Mural. Soak an old sheet and hang it on a clothesline or fence. Put out various tempera paints and applicators -- sponges, paintbrushes, squirt bottles -- and let kids go at it. • Create Natural Window Decor. Go on a nature hike and pick some pretty summer flowers. Have children arrange them on contact paper (sticky-side up) and seal the deal with a second piece of contact paper (stickyside down). Trim the edges, punch a hole, and hang it in the window with ribbon. • Build Sandcastles. A couple of bags of sand from the hardware store are all it takes to make a bona fide backyard beach. Throw in some plastic pails and shovels and let the creative construction begin. Exploratory Kids • Search for Buried Treasures. As long as you’ve got a pile of sand in the backyard, bury some inexpensive goodies (or even a bunch of pennies) in it and let kids dig for the loot. • Go Geo-Caching. This amazingly cool family activity is an outdoor treasure hunt in which the participants use a GPS receiver (or GPS-activated cell phone) to hide and seek containers (called “geocaches”) hidden all over the world. Find details at www.geocaching.com/. • Have an A-Z Scavenger Hunt. Write the letters of the alphabet in a column on a piece of paper. Take an urban hike and search out items that begin with each letter. Tik (Tikkun Olam) Kids • Plant a Butterfly Garden. Summer is the ideal time for this beautiful family project. Find out how to design and plant a kid-friendly butterfly garden at www.amazingmoms.com/htm/childrensgardening2.htm. • Make Bird Feeders. Plaster a couple of pinecones with peanut butter. Roll them in bird seed and hang them from a tree branch with yarn or ribbon. • Tap Your Resources. Books like The Earth Book for Kids by Linda Schwartz offer oodles of kid-friendly, environmentally-conscious activity ideas. Menschlich Kids • Have a Car Wash. Kids will love getting wet and sudsy, and they can donate the profits to tzedakah. • Dog Walk. Have children lend a hand to an elderly neighbor or frazzled new mom by taking her favorite four-legged friend on a walk. • Open a Refreshment Stand. Help kids set up shop with some lemonade and cookies so they can provide sweaty passers-by with cool, sweet treats.

Page 9

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Sharon Duke Estroff is an internationally syndicated Jewish parenting columnist, award-winning educator, and mother of four. Her first parenting book, “Can I Have a Cell Phone for Hanukkah?” will be released by Broadway Books, a division of Random House, in 2007. Read more at: www.sharonestroff.com.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 13, 2007

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Film Streams announced the 10 films chosen by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alexander Payne for the nonprofit cinema’s opening repertory series. An early and avid supporter of Film Streams, Payne selected 10 of his favorite movies of all time for the series. Each film will play for three-to-four days each during Film Streams’ grand opening month (July 27 to Aug.30). Beginning Friday, July 27, Film Streams’ two-screen theater, located within the Saddle Creek Records development at 14th and Webster, will be open seven-days-aweek. The theater will show movies weekday evenings and all day on weekends. On July 28, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Film Streams will host a special Open House, with tours of the venue, trailers playing on loop in both theaters and free popcorn for visitors. The “Alexander Payne Presents” series: Seven Samurai (dir. Akira Kurosawa,1954); Viridiana (dir. Luis Bunuel 1961); Room at the Top (dir. Jack Clayton, 1959); La Notte (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni, 1961); Modern Times (dir. Charlie Chaplin, 1936); McCabe & Mrs. Miller (dir. Robert Altman, 1971); The Wild Bunch (dir. Sam Peckinpah, 1969); 81/2 (dir. Federico Fellini, 1963); The Last Detail (dir. Hal Ashby, 1973); and To Be or Not to Be (dir. Ernst Lubitsch, 1942). Tickets for all screenings within the month-long series will go on sale at www.filmstreams.org. Ticket prices are $8 for regular admission, $6 for students and seniors, and $4 for Film Streams Members. Omaha Performing Arts announced that Omaha’s newest nightlife experience, 1200 Club at the Holland, will be partnering this season with Playing With Fire, a local presenting organization known for its outdoor blues concerts. During select weekends from October to May the Holland Performing Arts Center’s most intimate venue, the Suzanne and Walter Scott Recital Hall, will once again be transformed into 1200 Club at the Holland -an elegant lounge where patrons can experience performances by world-class artists in folk, jazz, blues, Broadway, gospel and world music. While enjoying entertainment, audience members may order hors d’oeuvres and cocktails served to their table.

“The blues shows were particularly popular in our first season, explains Joi Brown, vice president for programming and education at Omaha Performing Arts, so we’re excited that this partnership will enable us to continue feeding the blues appetite. Playing With Fire has done a wonderful job with their outdoor series and is an ideal partner to expand our year-round programming.” Playing With Fire will contribute the following artists to the 2007-08 Season of 1200 Club at the Holland: Jan. 19, 2008, Toni Lynn Washington; Feb. 16, Ellen McIlwaine; March 8, Les Grandes Dames du Blues; March 29, Ndidi Onukwulu; and April 19, Ruthie Foster. Tickets for performances at the 1200 Club are $25 in advance, and $30 the day of the show. All five shows listed above may be purchased as a package for $125, or individually for $30 each. Tickets are available starting Monday, July 23, and may be purchased through Ticket Omaha by phone at 402.345.0606, online at www.ticketomaha.com, or at the TicketOmaha box office inside the Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas. Ticket prices include admission and the performance. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Opera Omaha announces its 50th anniversary season which has a mixture of the new and the traditional. The popular “Evenings with Stewart Robertson” return, starting with “An Evening of Cabaret” with composer Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, is Nov. 28, and the second concert, “Solo and Duets by Carmen and Don José,” is on Feb. 11, 2008. In January, Opera Omaha in collaboration with The Rose Theater offers another side of Sir Richard Rodney Bennett with All The King’s Men. Kicking off the spring will be The Tragedy of Carmen, an adaptation by Peter Brook of Georges Bizet’s famous opera, Carmen. The season finale, and truly the highlight of the season, is an all-new production of Verdi’s Aida, with scenery and costumes designed by local artist Catherine Ferguson, known for her installation art and sculptures. Single tickets range from $10-$95. Memberships and single tickets can be purchased online at www.operaomaha.org or by calling the box office at 34.OPERA (346.7372). Single tickets can also be purchased by calling Ticket Omaha at 345.0606.

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B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Roger Morrissey will speak at Breadbreakers on Wednesday, July 18, noon, at Regency Lodge, according to Gary Javitch, chairman. Morrissey is the Douglas County Assessor and will speak about tax hikes. All men and women in the community are invited to attend. Cost is $12 for a complete lunch and $3 for beverage service only. YOUNG ENERGETIC SENIORS Enjoy the JCC Dancers on Monday at the JCC Auditorium and meet the new JCC Dance Director Esther Katz. Lunch is served at noon for $6 per person. Join us for Bingo with Eileen or Miles Remer at 10 a.m. Call Dee Dee at 330.4272 for transportation. For information call Maggie Conti at 334.6521. LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Come to the Yiddish meeting at the JCC on Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. If you have any Yiddish books you to donate, please call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638. VISIONS Reminder: For those members going to the Ralston Community Theater to see Jekyll & Hyde The Musical, on Sunday July 15, please meet at the Ralston High School’s lobby (8959 Park Drive) at 1:30 p.m. to pick up tickets.

Luncheon meeting is Friday, July 20, 12:30 p.m. at Caniglia’s Venice Inn. The cost is $10 per person. Special guest is Alan Potash ADL/CRC Director. Send reservations today to Tootie Simon, 8725 Izard St., Omaha, NE 68114. For questions, call Harry Alloy at 697.8709. For transportation, call Betty Kolnick at 553.4748. Visions invites you to Lauritzen Gardens Botanical Center on Monday, July 30 (gather at 9:45 a.m.; tram will leave at 10 a.m.) Lunch follows at Lucky’s Restaurant (1001 Pacific). Cost is $20 and includes lunch, tax, tip and gardens admission (if you have a current membership to the Lauritzen Gardens, bring your card, and your cost is $13 per person). Send reservations by July 25 to Sissy Silber, 311 Oakridge Ct., Bellevue, NE 68005. For questions, call Doris Alloy at 697.8709 and rides, call Betty Kolnick at 553.4748. Brownville Concert Series presents The Great American Songbook with Tom Michael and Beckie Menzie on Sunday, Aug. 12 in historic Brownville Nebraska. Dinner follows at Jack and Mary’s. The cost of $35 includes coach, admission, dinner, tax and tips. Depart from the JCC at noon (be at the JCC by 11:45 a.m.) and return approximately at 7 p.m. Send reservations to Rose Pitlor, 827 Dillon Dr., Omaha, NE 68132 by July 26. For questions, call Ethel Goldston at 393.7358; for rides, call Betty Kolnick at 553.4748. Make all checks payable to Visions.

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Building upon the success of the first Rita L. Cassling Image Recovery Center at Bergan Mercy Medical Center, which helps cancer patients and survivors prepare for and navigate the physical side effects of treatment-the Alegent Health Cancer Center’s second location, opening in west Omaha, will pay special tribute to a local cosmetology legend. Family and friends of the late Lyal McCaig are asking the community to honor his memory by naming the Image Recovery Center after

him. To that end, they are hosting fundraisers, starting with One Man, One Cause on July 14. On that day, salons participating in the fundraiser will donate a portion of their proceeds to the Alegent Health Foundation in memory of Lyal McCaig, followed by a dinner on Sunday, July 22, at Jobber’s Canyon and a golf tournament on Sept. 17 at the Players Club at Deer Creek. For more information or to donate to the Alegent Health Foundation, visit www.omahahairlegend.com.

July 13, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

Most people mistakenly believe Healthy vacationing on a cruise CAPS: children of aging parents by KRISTI OAKEY by LAURA WILLIAMS long-term care is covered Assistant General Manager of Remington Heights for Cruise Planners by AMY M. HUCK State FarmŽ agent Have you failed to get insurance for long-term care in a nursing home because you think you already have coverage? If so, you’re like a lot of other people, according to a Roper survey of Americans 45 years of age and over, recently released by the American Society on Aging (ASA). That misconception can become costly when you consider long-term care in a nursing home currently averages $56,000 a year, according to the US Government, and is expected to quadruple by 2030. People could easily find their assets depleted, their choices limited and their independence gone if they need long-term care but have made no plans to pay for it. And chances are good they will need long-term care. Statistics released by the Health Insurance Association of America say that after age 65, Americans have more than a 70 percent chance of needing some form of long-term care, whether it’s an aide coming to their home, a stay in an assisted care facility or an extended stay in a nursing home. Younger people may also need long-term care if they’ve had a stroke, for example, or been in an accident. Some of the common misconceptions uncovered in the study: • Forty-two percent were not aware that Medicare only covers long-term care expenses for a short time, and only after someone is released from the hospital. • Thirty percent were not aware that Medicaid coverage for long-term care is only available after someone’s financial resources are exhausted. • Almost half (46 percent) are under the impression their health insurance will automatically cover long-term care. It’s dangerous to assume you’re covered for long-term care. When the need for a nursing home stay or other long-term care arises, you may discover you’re not covered and have waited too long to buy insurance. Long-term care insurance is an important part of a financial plan.Speak with a financial services professional about the need for long-term care insurance.

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Presently, CAPS averages about 10,000 requests for assistance each year and the number is increasing. In 1995, there were 33 million Americans over the age of 65. In 2020, there will be almost 70 million, doubling in less than 25 years. Over 23% of all U.S. households contain a caregiver. This translates into an estimated 22,411,200 caregiving households nationwide. The average caregiver is 46 years old. Seven in 10 caregivers are female. Only 5.5% of the over-65 population reside in nursing homes. Children of Aging Parents mission is to assist the nation’s almost 23 million caregivers of the elderly with reliable information and referrals, a network of support groups, publications and programs promoting public awareness of the urgent needs and the profound value of caregivers. Caregivers searching for answers need advice and fast answers. CAPS can help with reliable information and referrrals. CAPS covers all aspects of caregiving, providing assistance such as names and phone numbers for nursing homes, retirement communities, elder law attorneys, day care centers, medical insurance providers, respite care, assisted living centers, state, county, federal agencies and much more. The serious need for support in the Omaha community and surrounding counties is witnessed amongst the family members of today’s seniors. The local chapter of CAPS will have monthly meetings citywide to help and educate families. Topics and speakers will be beneficial to the group’s needs. We will also provide sources needed to help provide the family with educated decisions. This is a non-profit organization and there will be no cost to attend, nor will you be exposed to sales pitches regarding senior products or services. CAPS is about giving the caregiver the emotional support and information they require. Together we can make a difference in helping each other and our friends in support for our parents. They were there for us, now we can be there for them. For more information or to receive a schedule of meetings, call 402.493.5807 or e-mail: kristi_oakey@lcca.com.

your life and to correct this imbalance- to help you be on a more even keel and to lessen the negative influences which trouble you. But there are both risks and benefits to counseling and psychotherapy. The counseling process may include discussions of your personal challenges and difficulties which can elicit uncomfortable feelings such as sadness, guilt, anxiety, anger, and frustration. Often growth cannot occur until you confront the issues that cause these uncomfortable feelings. Also, you might experience a feeling of stress that is associated with the change. Offering Hope However, counseling has been shown to have many benefits. It can often lead to better interpersonal relationships, improved work and academic performance, solutions to specific problems, and a reduction in your feelings of distress. You might

feel more in control of your life and grow as a person. At Sloter Counseling and Consulting Services, our mission is to support you and provide you with the best counseling available as you face these challenges. As your life improves, so will the lives of those with whom you have an impact. With us, you can develop the safety and trust needed in counseling to realize the healing and growth that you desire. Just by reading all of this, you have taken an important step on your journey towards wholeness. But do not stop just at this point- the sense of empowerment that you are feeling needs to be coupled with action to be longlasting. Please do not hesitate to call us at 402.597.2292 to schedule an appointment. You and those who care about you will be glad you did. You may also check us out on-line at: www.sloter-counseling.com.

The old myth that you will absolutely gain weight if you go on a cruise is completely wrong and the sea air does not shrink your wardrobe. Today cruising can be one of the healthiest ways to vacation. Cruise ships offer every opportunity to not only stay healthy, but to improve your health while onboard. Yes, there are numerous and seemingly never ending opportunities to eat some fantastic food, but you choose when, what and how much you partake. Cruise lines today offer many alternatives to the pool side hamburgers and fries. There are specialty menus for specific dietary needs as well as huge fruit trays, veggies of all kinds and other healthy choices nearly everywhere you turn. You can make healthy selections from even the most formal dining venues. Most ships today offer state-of-the-art Fitness Centers to rival the finest gym you belong to at home. Classes are offered throughout the day including just walking the track with a personal trainer to yoga, Pilates and spinning. Equipment includes just about anything you are accustomed to using at home including treadmills, bikes, weights and more. Ships today also feature activity opportunities like golf simulators, basketball courts, rock climbing walls, ice skating and even onboard surfing. After a great workout you can relax with an all-inclusive menu of services from the shipboard spa. Activities while in port also offer endless opportunities from an exploration walk on your own to scuba diving, snorkeling or parasailing. On shore activities will vary depending on your itinerary and ports of call, but there is always more to choose from than you can possibly fit into the day. For those with health concerns vacationing can be frightening when you don’t know if there will be health care available at the hotel or wherever you are staying. It is very comforting to know there is always medical staff on board each ship. You never need to wonder where to go for medical assistance should you need it.

Counseling will improve your life by BARRY SLOTER We have all had experiences that have left an impression on our life, whether that be in the form of our thoughts, feelings or behaviors. Sometimes the impression is a pleasant one, and at other times the impression is not so pleasant. But how we interpret our experiences has the greatest impact on the way we think and feel about ourselves and, in turn, how we relate to others. As a result, we may find ourselves putting energy into relationships and other pursuits which are neither rewarding nor fulfilling. This only serves to magnify the effects of depression, anxiety, stress, or marital and relationship problems. The way we have learned to cope greatly influences the quality of our present life. Professional counseling is designed to improve the quality of

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 13, 2007

Riekes Museum donors to be honored at NJHS 25th anniversary by SILVIA ROFFMAN for the NJHS Dorothy and Henry Riekes’ grant to the Jewish Federation of Omaha was the catalyst for the construction of the first permanent Jewish museum in Nebraska: The Riekes Museum. Housed on the south side of the Jewish Community Center, adjacent to Friedel Jewish Academy, the museum was dedicated Oct. 29, 1995.

Chance encounter brings Omahans together

Jewish Historical Society. Given in memory of their parents, Benjamin and Anna Chait and Samuel and Dora Riekes, their donation includes funds for maintenance and additions to the museum such as updating the timeline of synagogue information -- for this unique museum pays tribute to all congregations in the area, past and present. In addition, a corner of the Museum displays objects from the “Riekes Shul”,

In Jerusalem on a birthright israel trip, Abby Ginsburg, left, and Robert Mosenkis meet up with Liatte and Yonatan Dotan at the Wall in the Old City. The Dotans went to visit relatives in Kibbutz Ayelet Hashachar while their mother, Beth Seldin Dotan, director of Omaha’s Insitute for Holocaust Education, met Central High teacher Jennifer Stastny at a conference at Yad Vashem.

Climate in crisis

Dorothy Riekes and her husband, Henry Riekes (who died in 2005). The Riekes family will receive the Mary Fellman Award which recognizes people who have made a significant contribution to preserve the history of the Nebraska and Western Iowa Jewish communities. The award will be presented on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2 p.m., at the Jewish Community Center at the 25th anniversary of the formation of the Nebraska

which was housed in a building several doors from the home of the Samuel Riekes family on North 19th St. The NJHS’s silver anniversary celebration will feature a new gallery exhibition, “There WAS Film in the Camera,” which highlights the decades of community photographs by the late Gary Gerelick. For more information, call the NJHS office at: 334.6442.

Israeli Greenpeace activists visited hundreds of shops and businesses in the Tel Aviv area to encourage owners to use lower energy light bulbs in place of incandescent. The campaign was part of the local Greenpeace effort to reduce energy consumption in support of the ‘Live Earth’ 24-hour, seven-continent concert series on July 7. The concerts broughttogether more than 100 artists and two billion people to focus on the present climate crisis which is affecting the whole planet. The founder of ‘Live Earth’, Kevin Wall, formed a partnership with Al Gore and the Alliance for Climate Protection to ensure momentum Credit: ISRANET inspired by the global presentation is maintained into the future.

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— GAUCHER DISEASE SIGNS & SYMPTOMS — • FATIGUE (ANEMIA) • BONE PAIN • EASY BRUISING AND/OR BLEEDING • ENLARGED ABDOMEN (SPLEEN AND/OR LIVER) If you are Jewish and of Eastern European ancestry, and would like more information, call Genzyme Medical Information at 1-800-745-4447 (option 2) or visit www.genzyme.com. r-GCR/US/P264/06/06

July 13, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 13

Health+Wellness The Jewish Press

Cruising: The healthy vacation! You can come back feeling healthier than when you left! False: On a cruise you eat 24 hours a day and gain weight! True: On a cruise you can eat healthier than you do at home!

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True: On a cruise you can participate in activities of all levels.You can participate in an enrichment program with distinguished specialist in various fields of health and wellness with sessions on everything from how to manage headaches to tips for a healthier golf game. Attend daily exercise classes including Yoga, Pilates, personal training sessions and much more. Cruise ships feature everything from walking tracks to surfing simulators and rock climbing walls. True: You can be pampered in a state of the art spa with a menu of services that will rival any facility available! True: Dine on fresh fruit, fresh fish, creative salads, low-calorie and low-carb meals are also readily available. Food allergies and sensitivities can also be accommodated.

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Page 14

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 13, 2007

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Jewish nursing pioneers make their mark on noble profession STAYING IN TOUCH by OZZIE NOGG In her book, As We See Ourselves: Jewish Women in Nursing, Evelyn Rose Benson proves that when it comes to TLC, Jewish women do more than dish up chicken soup. In a series of profiles, Benson weaves Jewish history with women’s history, describes the development of nursing as a profession and focuses on the experiences and contributions of Jewish women to nursing. One contributor was Lillian Wald. Born in 1867 to wealthy German-Jewish immigrants, Wald grew up in luxury. But at sixteen, Lillian decided she wanted serious work. After assisting at the birth of her sister’s child, Wald -- inspired by the attending nurse -- enrolled at the Women’s Medical College in New York City. Early in her career Wald offered a class in home nursing and hygiene to women on the Lower East Side. After visiting a tenement Wald wrote, “Over broken asphalt, over dirty mattresses and heaps of refuse we went. There were two rooms, and a family of seven not only lived here but shared their quarters with boarders. I felt ashamed of being a part of society that permitted such conditions to exist. What I had seen had shown me where my path lay.” Wald set up shop where no one else was willing to work and dedicated her life to the tenement community. By her late-twenties, she had become a legend to the Jewish immigrants who came to America at the turn of the century. With her talent for fundraising, Wald charmed millionaires including Jacob Schiff, one of the wealthiest Jews of the time. With contributions from philanthropists and friends, Wald established the Visiting Nurses Service in 1893. In January 1895, she founded the renowned Henry Street Settlement House, the base from which she championed public health nursing, housing reform, suffrage and the rights of women, children, immigrants and working people. Wald’s influence eventually went beyond Henry Street. Due to her efforts, the New York public school system provided school nurses and school lunches, and the New York City Board of Education established the first Department of Special Education. In the early 1900s, Settlement House opened branches in Manhattan and the Bronx to provide services and employment for the Italian, Hungarian, and AfricanAmerican communities. Wald supported civil rights and was actively involved with the National Negro Conference, later known as the NAACP. Wald was also instrumental in the creation of the WTUL -- a women’s trade union; she inspired hundreds of insurance companies to follow her lead after Henry Street and Metropolitan Life formed an alliance to provide quality health care to employed workers; together with her colleagues, Wald established the National Organization of Public Health Nurses (NOPHN) which set professional standards for public health nurses. By Wald’s 70th birthday, New York Governor Lehman, Mayor LaGuardia and President Roosevelt had recognized her contributions to public health. When she died in 1940 at seventy-three, Wald was already considered one of the most influential Jewish women in the past century. She never married. “Nursing is love,” she said. Today, the Henry Street Settlement House continues Wald’s work, advocating for the homeless, building AIDS awareness, combating illiteracy, fighting domestic violence and offering programs for youths and seniors. Her earliest biographer and friend, R. L. Duffus, wrote, “She instinctively wanted to change things, to do better.” While Lillian Wald fought disease in the tenements, other Jewish nurses have fought in every American war during the past 150 years. Here are a few. • Phoebe Yates Levy Pember (Civil War) Phoebe Yates Levy was born to a prosperous Jewish family in Charleston, South Carolina. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War, Phoebe’s husband died, and the young widow moved to the Confederate capitol in Richmond. Pember’s friendship with Mrs. George W. Randolph, wife of the Confederate Secretary of War, resulted in Pember receiving the post as Matron of the Chimborazo Military Hospital, the largest military hos-

pital in the world at that time. The number of deaths at Chimborazo from battlefield injuries was staggering, and shortages of personnel, medicine, food and equipment -- along with the primitive facilities and unsanitary practices -- created tragic working conditions. Dedicating herself to the soldiers, Pember administered medication, patched wounds and assisted during surgery -- frequently without anesthetic. Often she served as a final companion to the dying -writing letters, reading stories, holding their hands and praying. At the end of the war, Pember wrote her memoir -- A Southern Woman’s Story -- considered the most realistic treatment of the Civil War ever published. The work is also a landmark in Women’s History, thanks to Pember’s vivid descriptions of the difficulties she faced as one of the first women to enter the previously all male world of nursing, • Ethel Gladstone (World War l) Born and raised in Chicago, Gladstone graduated in 1916 as a Registered Nurse. When the United States entered World War I, she joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and went overseas as part of the Fifth Army Corps Expeditionary Force. In her post at Evacuation Hospital Number 7, Gladstone cared for casualties from the Battle of St. Mihiel, led by General John J. Pershing against German positions on the Western Front. Following the Allied victory, she stayed on active duty and served with the Army of Occupation in Germany. After their discharge, Gladstone and the nursing staff at St. Mihiel were given special commendations for bravery and devotion to duty. Gladstone died at the age of 91 and is buried at the Quantico National Veterans Cemetery near Washington, DC. • Yetta Moskowitz (World War ll) New York City native Yetta Moskowitz, fresh out of nursing school, enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps in 1943. “Fever was running high for nurses to serve in the military,” she explained. Trained as a flight nurse at the Air Force School of Air Evacuations, Moskowitz sailed for the South Pacific where she evacuated casualties from battlefields in New Guinea and the Philippines. Between July 1944 and December 1945, Moskowitz cared for approximately 7,000 troops, including the first contingent of WACS sent overseas. Her performance under fire earned her a promotion to Chief Nurse of her squadron. Moskowitz was discharged from the Army Air Force as a 1st Lieutenant and received an Air Medal for flying more than 100 hours above combat territory to evacuate the wounded. • Frances Slanger (World War ll) Slanger came to America at age seven after living through World War l in Lodz, Poland. While helping her father peddle fruit in Boston’s immigrant neighborhoods, Slanger dreamed of becoming a nurse. Later, anxious to join the fight against Hitler, she enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps and was assigned to the 45th Field Hospital to aid casualties from the allied invasion of France. Dressed in army fatigues and helmet, Slanger was one of the first U.S. nurses who waded ashore at Normandy Beach on DDay, June 1944. With her unit, Slanger crisscrossed Normandy, comforting the wounded with a song, a gentle touch or talk of home. She felt great respect for Slanger earned nursing credenthe men she treated and tials in 1937 at Boston City on Oct. 19, 1944, wrote Credit: Sidman Hospital. a tribute to them in a family collection letter to Stars & Stripes. Two days later Slanger died in an enemy attack, the first nurse killed in the Normandy landings. Stars & Stripes, unaware of her death, ran her letter as a guest column at the top of the editorial page, an honor previously allowed only to General Eisenhower. “We had read several articles in different magazines and papers sent in by grateful GIs praising the work of the nurses around the combat zones,” Slanger wrote. “Praising us -- for what? continued on page 15

July 13, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 15

Jewish nursing pioneers

So many farms, so many horses!

continued from page 14 We wade ankle-deep in mud. You have to lie in it. Sure we rough it, but you -- the men behind the guns, the men driving our tanks, flying our planes, sailing our ships, building bridges -- it is to you we doff our helmets. To every GI wearing the American uniform, for you we have the greatest admiration and respect.” “We have learned a great deal about our American boy and the stuff he is made of,” Slanger continued. “The wounded do not cry. Their buddies come first. The patience and determination they show, the courage and fortitude they have is sometimes awesome to behold. It is we who are proud of you, a great distinction to see you open your eyes and with that swell American grin, say ‘Hiya, Babe. Holy Mackerel, an American woman’ - or more indiscreetly, ‘How about a kiss?’” More than 100,000 copies of Stars & Stripes with Frances Slanger’s letter were delivered to troops serving in northern Europe. The subsequent news of her death generated hundreds of responses from service members urging that something be done to honor her memory. On July 1, 1945, the Navy commissioned a hospital ship, the Frances Y. Slanger, which would, fittingly, bring America’s war wounded home from Europe. • Marita Silverman (Viet Nam) After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from the University of Maryland, Silverman joined the Army Nurse Corps and was deployed to Vietnam where she served as Emergency Room Night Supervisor at the Eighth Field Hospital in An Khe. Though located in an extremely isolated area, the Hospital received many casualties -- both military and civilian. Silverman’s primary mission was to stabilize patients for transfer to larger hospitals along the coast. With the escalation of the war, the under-equipped Eighth Field Hospital closed, and Silverman was reassigned to the Intensive Care Unit and Post Anesthesia Recovery Unit in the 95th Evacuation Hospital in Da Nang. After serving in Viet Nam for a year, Silverman left the military with the rank of Captain, returned to graduate school, and received a Master’s Degree in pediatric nursing. Reflecting back, Silverman said, “It was an experience that served me well in my subsequent professional life. I learned to do a lot with a little. I learned compassion when there wasn’t anything else to be done. I developed an inner strength that has continued to serve me well.” Note: The complete Frances Slanger narrative is told in American Nightingale: The Story of Frances Slanger, Forgotten Heroine of Normandy by Bob Welch. The book includes much of Slanger’s own writings. Additional stories about Jewish nurses can be found in Amelia Greenwald and Regina Kaplan: Jewish Nursing Pioneers, by Susan Mayer.

there. And food is no problem. “They’re grazers,” he tells me. “All they need is grass and water, and some hay in the winter. Once a week I give them grain.” He explained that, “There are more horses in Nebraska now than there were in pioneer days,” he explains. That’s because there are so many more people living there now, and Nebraskans just love horses. Weiner doesn’t own any mules. A mule isn’t a horse; it’s part horse, part donkey, and although a Jew is not allowed to breed mules, because of the mitzvah of kilayim, he is allowed to buy them from non-Jews. Did you ever think of a mule as being smart? “Horses are so much more beautiful than mules,” Mr. Weiner says with confidence, “but they’re not as smart. A horse might eat too much, drink too much or work too much, and doing any of those things could make it so sick it could die from it. A mule will never do that!” Every animal Hashem made has something to teach us. Years ago, horses used to be very important to farming and transportation -who ever heard of a farm without horses? But, I asked Weiner, in our modern world, do horses serve any practical purpose on a farm? “Nowadays, people keep horses mostly for pleasure, as a hobby,” he says, but many farmers use them for getting around the farm quickly, especially for “riding the fence” -- that means riding all around the boundaries of the farm to check the fence and make sure it’s in good repair. I asked him about riding a horse. “Oh, there’s nothing Vered grazes in the pasture where Sharon Mizrachi met her last year. to it,” he says with a smile. That mare did not survive, and her loss caused Weiner “Just keep your right leg on the horse’s right side, your great pain. Someone suggested another horse for him -- left leg on the left side, and your head in the middle!” a very young horse that was nothing much to look at, Sounds good to me. but he took her. “Well, the ugly duckling turned into a Weiner likes to quote an old saying: “There’s somebeautiful swan,” he tells me, and I know it is true- - thing about the outside of a horse that’s very good for Vered is so very beautiful. the inside of a child” -- and, he insists, for the inside of “In Nebraska it’s easy to keep horses,” Weiner says, an adult, too! and he should know; he’s helped many people find pasFormer Omahan Sharon Mizrachi is the daughter of tures for their horses. Weiner is a real-estate broker; he Jeanette Nadoff and the late Rabbi Isaac Nadoff; she sells all types of real estate, including farms, so he has lives in Neve Yaakov, a suburb north of Jerusalem. This lots of inside information about where horses can be piece is excerpted from a longer article in Binah kept. For a relatively small fee, landowners rent out their Bunch, a publication of the Binah Magazine pastureland and keep an eye on the horses people keep Corporation. by S.C. MIZRAHI Not too long ago, I had a great time visiting with Dik Weiner, an old friend of the family in Omaha, located smack in the middle of the United States. Weiner took us out to the pasture where he keeps his horses, and he taught me how to groom them -- how to brush the different parts of a horse and what type of brush to use for which purpose. Besides keeping the horse clean and healthy, it’s a good way to check to make sure that all’s well with the horse, and of course to bond with it. I certainly did bond with Weiner’s horse Vered when I groomed her! “I’ve had horses for 57 years,” he tells me, “ever since I was 13-years-old, I’ve had 24 horses in my lifetime.” His mare (female horse) Vered is 10-years-old now and is strong and healthy. “When my last mare was 31-yearsold she became injured in childbirth.”

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Page 16

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 13, 2007

UNMC study to evaluate effectiveness in repairing lung damage

Creating the perfect home office by JANE JOYCE Owner/Decorator INTERIORS by Decorating Den Gone are the days when you only had the choice of a desk and chair for your home office. Today’s home office furnishings options are all but endless. So, first things first! As with any decorating project, you first need to determine what you want to accomplish in your new home office, and then match those needs with the right furnishings! While many people purchase a conventional desk, more and more are requiring extra space. If you fall into this category, you might consider a workstation. With an L-shaped configuration, you should find that it provides approximately twice the work space of a traditional desk. Plus, the storage options are virtually endless – cubbyholes, drawers and cabinets are all designed to store office essentials. Another popular workstation option is the office armoire: two tall doors open to reveal a drop down work surface and plenty of storage space. Available in a multitude of design styles and furniture finishes, these popular pieces can easily fit into any design style. Chairs, too, have vastly improved in terms of aesthetics as well as comfort. This is one place you can really put a personal stamp on your home office. Who says you can’t work from a traditional wing chair? Or even a country style Adirondack chair? Once you’ve determined you style preference, you next need to give careful consideration to the ergonomics. If you spend a majority of your time working at a computer, you may want to opt for a chair with separate adjustments for lumbar and lower back support, arm width and height, seat back angle and seat height. Another extremely important consideration in creating the home office of your dreams is storage. Books, files, mail, magazines, and a plethora of other paperwork are essential to any full-fledged office – and as we all know – every piece of paper deserves its own home. Take stock of how many linear feet of open and closed storage you need right now, then multiply that figure by 25% to 50% to allow for future growth. Once you’ve come to a comfortable conclusion, consider various storage options – everything from conventional steel files to traditional wood cabinetry. And finally, don’t forget those furnishings that will put the “home” in “home office”. Decorative lighting, an ottoman for put-your-feet-up comfort, even a home entertainment unit can add up to an office ready for any job. And of course, those finishing touches – custom window treatments, area rugs, artwork and collectibles will all help to say, “This is my space!” Given the right decorative approach, you’ll find it hard to leave work when 5 o’clock rolls around!

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by VICKY CERINO UNMC Public Affairs The University of Nebraska Medical Center is participating in a 13-state study to test the safety and effectiveness of retinoic acid, a vitamin A derivative, to determine whether it will repair damaged lung tissue in peo-ple with emphysema. The phase II, two-year randomized double-blind study will be conducted in 30 centers with 500 stud participants, and is funded by Roche Pharmaceuticals. Stephen Rennard, M.D., UNMC Larson Professor of Medicine, is principal investigator for the study at UNMC. UNMC will recruit from 20 to 40 participants with emphysema, age 44 and older, who have been smoke-free for a year. “It’s a very important study,” Dr. Rennard said. “If it works, this will be a completely new way to restore lung function in people with emphysema and offer them things that no other therapy today does, short of transplantation.” Retinoic acid has been found to stimulate growth of lung tissue in mouse models, even after the formation of emphysema. Retinoic acid controls the formation of cells in the walls of the lungs and is present in the lungs before and after lung development and through the formative years. “If this drug worked perfectly, you could restore lung function to 100 percent. Though that’s extremely unlikely, if this works, potentially it could restore lung function to maybe 40 percent. Going from 30 percent lung function to 40 percent could be very meaningful. It might make a difference between being able to walk up a half-flight of stairs with difficulty to walking up a full flight of stairs without much difficulty,” Dr. Rennard said.

The study also is important because it will explore new methods for evaluating people with emphysema, Dr. Rennard said. “Even if the drug has a modest effect, the study design itself could be important in the sense that researchers are exploring scientific territory previously unexplored.” An estimated two million Americans have emphysema (about 25,000 Nebraskans), a disease that involves the destruction of healthy lung tissue, thereby constricting the airways. Emphysema, most commonly caused by smoking, causes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which leads to obstructive airflow and causes inability of the body to repair damaged lung tissue. The most common problem for people with COPD is shortness of breath. “Since they get short of breath with exertion, they stop exerting; they restrict their activity,” Dr. Rennard said. “What goes along with that is predictable. People get depressed.” During the study, participants will make about 14 visits to UNMC for various tests, including lung function, blood and urine specimens, X-ray, CT scan and questionnaires. Qualified study participants will receive a small stipend. A pill form of retinoic acid will be administered once a day in the control group. Dr. Rennard, who is recognized internationally as an expert in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, served as a consultant to Roche to help design the study. He serves on the executive committee of the grant and is chair of the biomarkers committee responsible for evaluation of the biological responses of the drug. For more information about the study, contact Sandy, 402.559.6365, 559.8245, or stalbott@unmc.edu.

Visiting Nurse Association meet health care needs by BROOKE ORTNER Envoy, Inc. The Visiting Nurse Association has roots in Omaha going back more than 100 years. As the area’s need for comprehensive, accessible health care has grown, so has their scope of services. The VNA provides health care for all citizens, regardless of age, income or situation. Services fall into four categories: • Home Care • Hospice and Palliative Care • Community Health • HomeAide Home Health Care includes treatment and support for people with injury or illness. VNA staff is trained to meet diverse medical needs, including skilled nursing care, home infusion, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, Alzheimer’s care, cardiopulmonary care, wound care, nutritional services, and telehealth. VNA is well known for its hospice and palliative care for persons with life-limiting illnesses. VNA professionals are trained to take care of the whole person -- physical, emotional, social and

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spiritual by creating a pain-free, relaxed, comfortable environment where the patient is surrounded by family and loved ones. Through community healthcare, VNA strives to foster dignity while increasing self-care and independence regardless of financial status. Services include skilled nursing and therapies for persons with limited resources, home health aide and companion services, family support services, services for moms and babies, childbirth education, homeless shelter nursing, and flu prevention. HomeAide, provides homemaker/companion and personal care assistance for individuals who may not require extended medical care at home, but who can benefit from assistance with daily living activities. HomeAide allows you or your loved one to remain safe and well at home by providing that extra help needed in order to maintain an independent lifestyle. The VNA is a nonprofit organization providing health services, education, advocacy and care in homes, community centers, nursing care facilities, and homeless shelters. It has been serving greater Omaha since 1896. For more information, please call 402.342.5566 or visit the website www.vnaomaha.org.

July 13, 2007

Resources for Jewish deaf

PEOPLE OF THE

BYTE

by MARK MIETKIEWICZ One of the areas in which the Internet excels is its ability to allow people with relatively specialized needs to exchange information and even forge virtual communities around the world. This is particularly true for people who are Jewish and deaf who would may feel excluded or even alienated from the larger Jewish community. The Internet has some excellent resources for Jewish people who are deaf, their families and for the community-at-large that wants to build bridges and understanding. To get an understanding of the special challenges faced by the Jewish deaf community, read the article “Hearing: Their Silent World,” a two-part feature which appeared in Hamodia Magazine last year. In it, Rochel Issacson introduces us to Shimon and Frady Steinhouse, both of whom are deaf, and parents to children who can hear perfectly. Although she is living a very rewarding life, Frady says the community’s lack of awareness of her needs affected a very special time in her life. While attending her children’s graduations, “I couldn’t feel the nachas I should have felt” because sign language interpreters were not made available to her. [http://tinyurl.com/2e7cye] We then visit Toronto’s Yeshivah Nefesh Dovid, an international Jewish high school which caters to boys who are deaf or hard of hearing. Issacson describes the atmosphere in the classroom. “The students’ hands cut through the air as they sign while learning Torah together, their eyes alive with excitement. Says one boy, ‘I used to go to a regular yeshivah, with 25 students in my class, and I frequently could not understand what the rebbi was saying. Here the classes are smaller, and the communication is much easier.’” [www.nefeshdovid.com/] What are some of the halachic issues surrounding people who are deaf? Several years ago, Rabbi Mordechai Shuchatowitz, spiritual leader of Congregation Agudas Israel of Greenspring in Baltimore, wrote a paper called Halacha Concerning the Deaf and Hearing Impaired. Some excerpts: “The use of hearing aids is permitted on Shabbat even though they are technically considered miniatur-

ized, portable microphones which are usually prohibited on the day of rest. But because hearing aids don’t produce sound audible to the public, they’re kosher. “Shuchatowitz declares that ‘the deaf and hearing impaired can be counted on to complete a minyan.’ In explaining that God’s presence rests amongst a group of 10 Jews and that the minyan results from a special closeness when 10 Jews daven, Shuchatowitz argues that ‘this special closeness is the result of God’s relating to 10 Jewish souls, and does not depend on their hearing ability.’” Rabbi Shuchatowitz’s four children all have either severe or profound hearing loss. [http://tinyurl.com/ 2hlaez] What can congregations do to make themselves more accessible to the entire community? Our Way has several suggestions for creating a Synagogue that is Blind/Deaf Friendly. [http://tinyurl. com/286p27] • Provide interpreters for services, rabbis’ speeches and other community events. • Designate specific seats for the deaf to make it easier for them to either see the interpreter or read the lips of the people leading the prayers and reading from the Torah. • Encourage congregants to interact with deaf/blind or visually impaired worshippers. If you do not speak sign language and the deaf individual does not lip read, you can simply smile. Sounds nice in theory. But what’s it like to host three deaf boys for a Shabbat dinner? For someone who doesn’t like “awkward silence,” Richard Rabkin’s Friday night meal was a learning experience. “As we completed our meal and the boys got up to leave, I wished them a ‘Good Shabbos.’ But this time, they didn’t have to read my lips -- by then I knew how to say it in sign language. Over the course of the evening I learned a few words and was putting my newfound vocabulary to work. After a few moments I realized that I was having a direct conversation with my new friends, but doing it in silence. There was nothing awkward about this silence. This silence was golden.” [http://tinyurl.com/22vxye] Mark Mietkiewicz is a Toronto-based Internet producer who writes, lectures and teaches about the Jewish Internet. He can be reached at highway@rogers.com.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 17

Exercise = Health & Wellness

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When to do something about hearing loss by BROOKE WITTROCK Coordinator Public Relations/Special Events Boys Town National Research Hospital Hearing loss affects 35 percent of adults between the ages of 65-75 and 45 percent of adults 75 years and older. Everyday living is more challenging when someone has a loss of hearing. Simple communication can lead to frustration and anxiety. Social and business situations can be stressful. If you or a loved one is having difficulty hearing, there is something you can do. Boys Town National Research Hospital is world-renown as the leader in hearing research. Our audiologists are nationally certified and have extensive experience testing patients from infancy to adults. The most current evaluation techniques are used to help match the individual needs of each patient with the most affordable and highest performance technology available. We offer a wide range of hearing aids and lis-

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Page 18

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 13, 2007

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The sporting scene JOURNAL ENTRY FROM ISRAEL by TEDDY WEINBERGER

Maccabi club in another city. The biggest sports club in Israel is Maccabi Haifa, which was founded in 1913 and fields professional and amateur teams in a variety of sports, including soccer, basketball, swimming, tennis, and volleyball. No matter how exotic, if you’re committed to a sport and don’t live too far from a major metropolitan area, chances are that you will find a few dedicated fellow athletes at a sports club-whether the sport is ice hockey, gymnastics, team handball, water polo, or boxing. It turns out that in the entire metropolitan Jerusalem area there is just one

Rebecca Ross, one of Israel’s finest high-school athletes, graduated from Evelina de Rothschild School in Jerusalem last month. For the past eight years, Rebecca played basketball for Jerusalem’s top program for girls, run out of the Hebrew University’s Givat Ram campus. Since Rebecca happens also to be my daughter, I have learned a lot about Israel’s youth sports system. The picture, I’m afraid, is far from rosy. In general, there are no serious sports programs in Israel’s schools. To be sure, there are gym classes, but it’s rare to find that a school has a paid coach -- in even one sport -- who conducts regular practices throughout the year. There are school leagues, primarily in basketball and soccer, but the teams are slapped together for the purposes of playing a game with another school and there are hardly any practices. When you contrast this state of affairs with your average public high school in America, with the wealth of varsity and junior varsity sports available, you understand that Israeli kids are missing out on something. Parents who want their children to play sports Rebecca Ross plays basketball in Israel. must look for options outside the school setting. Often, this basketball program for girls that is in begins with the local recreational center Israel’s top league, the one in Givat Ram, (Israel’s equivalent to the JCC, known by within the ASA (Academic Sports the Hebrew acronym “MATNAS,” Association) Jerusalem sports club which stands for: “Center for Culture, (which includes other sports such as tennis, swimming, and fencing). ASA Youth and Sport”). Rebecca began her basketball career in Jerusalem takes girls basketball seriously. The year begins in mid-August, and the Israel playing on a boys Givat Ze’ev MATNAS team during her first two years girls play three times a week (during the in the country, when she was in third and season, a game and two practices; otherfourth grades. We knew that in the fifth wise, three practices). During school grade the team would come under the vacations there are extra practices. Rebecca’s program is a fairly well-kept jurisdiction of the Israel Basketball Association and that we would have a secret. There is little attempt made to hard time convincing them to allow recruit new girls or to advertise. Because Rebecca to play on a boys team, and so other teams, though drawing from a we began to look for other opportunities much smaller population area (like the upper Galilee) do a better job of recruitfor Rebecca. In the absence of sports in the schools, ment, Rebecca’s team often ended the what Israel has are sports clubs. Popular game on the short end of the score club names are Maccabi and Hapoel, (remember that it’s a team sport -though there is no real connection Rebecca can’t do everything). between a Maccabi club in one city and a Continued on page 19

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The sporting scene

The Brain Diet

Continued from apge 18 Basketball is Israel’s most popular women’s team sport, and Israel has a professional women’s basketball league, whose stars are African American WNBA players, looking to make some money in their off season (ASA Jerusalem has one of these teams, and this past year Rebecca had the thrill of practicing-and playing a little-with these gifted athletes). Israel also has two semi-professional women’s basketball leagues. There are sports in the universities here, but it’s on the level of American college intramural play, rather than part of a big college sports world. Some of Rebecca’s basketball peers elect to put off army service (sometimes, it turns out forever) and go play ball for a college in the States. Rebecca will be entering the Israel Defense Forces in a few months, though she does not plan on retiring from basketball (in fact, she’s looking for something in the army that will let her continue to play). Anyone involved in girls’ basketball in Israel knows Rebecca, but she did not get that popular acclaim that my wife feels was her due. Sarah, who comes from Omaha (where high school girls basketball is a state craze), often bemoaned the fact that were Rebecca in America, she would have played her basketball before stands packed with her fellow cheering students, instead of playing before empty stands with a scattering of parents. Truth be told, Rebecca has gotten plenty from basketball in Israel. Let’s not forget that Sabbath observance and being a top high school athlete in America do not easily go together. Rebecca did not play in a league for religious Jewish girls, she played in a league of serious athletes. In her eight years playing the highest caliber of basketball in Israel, there was not one game scheduled on Shabbat. Stop by and see Rebecca play sometime. Her energy on the court is ferocious (a quality that complicates matters in trying to live with her); whatever the score, she plays full out. And Rebecca’s speed is phenomenal. Though she is often the shortest one on the court, if she spies an opening she will accelerate toward the basket for a layup -- even through a crowd of “jirafot� (i.e., tall girls, using the Hebrew word for a well-known tall animal). Rebecca is a super athlete, Sabbath observant, has just graduated an all-girls religious high school, and is very very cool. I don’t know if America is able to produce a girl like Rebecca. I doubt it. Teddy Weinberger made aliyah 11 years ago with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children. He works in the Education Department of the Jewish Agency for Israel and can be reached at weinross@netvision.net.il.

by Alan Logan (Cumberland House, $22.95)

READ IT AND EAT Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN Now here is a book you’ll want to read. It offers practical advice in a very readable form and addresses that “few people realize that poor nutrition also is an underlying factor in other medical conditions.� This is a guide for the promotion of mental health and for the whole body -- a guide to brain health -- “the brain is the conductor of the body’s orchestra.� Ten chapters include Nutrition Realities, Cutting the Common Threads: Oxidative Stress and Inflammation, Chewing the Right Fat, Waist Management, Waste Management, The Gut-Brain Connection, Dietary Context, Dietary Supplements, The Changing Japanese Diet and the Importance of Breakfast, and The Brain Diet Plan: In Health and in Sickness. Brief case reports and chapter summaries are fascinating, as are the author’s Closing Remarks. Learn of the term “nutritional neuroscience� and the importance and sources of Chromium, Magnesium, Selenium, Zinc, B12, Folic Acid, Vitamin D, and Riboflavin in your diet. Add some spice to your life ... namely cinnamon, tumeric and ginger -- which “can pack a major genetic punch.� Use everything in moderation, including green tea,

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 19

sesame seeds, seaweed, nuts, coffee. Eat 10 servings of vegetables and fruits daily; “It’s as if the blueberry is the WD40 of the nerve cells� and “think variety and deep color.� Take some guidance from a health-care provider, make appropriate choices, eat oily fish, seafood, whole grains, healthy fats and lots more. Logan, a faculty member of the Harvard Medical School’s Mind-Body Institute, presents pages and pages packed with reader-friendly information on the connection between nutrition and mental health and suggests eating more slowly -- more chewing and less “wolfing down,� using chopsticks and small plates versus supersize portions as finger food, and eating breakfast. The Brain Diet action plan has seven universal steps to live by and improve your odds against conditions from anxiety to depression to migraine headaches and more as you age. The 30 recipes are infused with Japanese flavors and are for Soups, Salads, Chicken, Fish, Smoothies, Egg dishes, Black Sesame Delight for Two and this rice dish to help you on your way to a brain-healthy diet. CILANTRO RICE 2 tablespoons canola oil 1 small onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 11/2 tablespoons cilantro 1/4 teaspoon cumin Pinch tumeric 1 cup short grain brown rice Heat the oil in a skillet and saute the onion and garlic until slightly brown. Mix in the spices and heat for about 15 or 20 seconds. Add this mixture to the lightly salted boiling water and bown rice and cook as per rice package directions. Lois Friedman can be reached at: ReadItAnd Eat@yahoo.com.

Lion cubs meet Israeli public Following a last minute veterinary checkup three lion cubs were shown to the public in the spring at the Ramat Gan Safari Park lion enclosure. The cubs were born four months ago to Sivan. This is the first time that Sivan, who was also born at the Safari, has given birth. As the lions were released to roam free over their large outdoor domain, the three cubs at first reluctantly left the closed security of the only world they had ever known accompanied by Sivan. Soon they were rolling in the grass. The cubs have been a big draw since. Credit: ISRANET

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 13, 2007

Online with the Jewish Press If you’ve got acess to a LexisNexis database through your university, law firm or the large corporation for which you work, you can view selected articles from the Jewish Press online. Thanks to a commitment made by editor emeritus Morris Maline with SoftLine Communications (now part of the ProQuest family of databases and services), you can read selected articles from issues dating as far back to 1977. For example, a number of features from last spring’s Passover issue: “The Rose Blumkin Home at 25: a New Beginning” are available at http://proquest.umi.com. Just type in “The Jewish Press of Omaha” and select “Jewish” from among the list of ethnic newspapers from ProQuest’s Ethnic NewsWatch site, and up will pop a listing of more than 5000 articles! The earliest article posted to this site is a feature about tenor Neil Rosenshein’s appearance in Omaha. Written by then Managing Editor Judith Marburg, the article appears in the Jan. 14, 1977, issue. And it’s not the only one of Marburg’s stories to appear online! Fifteen more stories by Marburg are available at Ethnic NewsWatch, from 1977-97. ProQuest is a paid service site, but is available at no charge at universities and colleges, and at some large corporations and law firms. Unfortunately, the Omaha Public Library is not one of them. Though the OPL has access to more than 60 databases (including ProQuest’s Newstand), Ethnic News Watch (ENW) is not among its offerings. ENW features more than 250 publications from the African-American, Hispanic, NativeAmerican and Jewish communities. The Press was one of the first Jewish newspapers to agree

to be featured, making our annual royalty payments an important part of our revenue stream. Naturally we’d like to see the OPL take advantage of this additional service offered to libraries. In addition to increased royalties for the Press, being able to access ENW would provide invaluable resources to Omaha’s expanding and diverse population. Of course, you can also read front page articles, social announcements and obituaries each week at the Federation’s website: www.jewishomaha.org (Click on ‘Jewish Press’ in the column at the left). Each week, new articles and features from the current Press are posted, but many are still available in archives on the Press’ home page. Just type the keyword in the search box and related articles will be listed. There’s more to come. With the help of a major grant, the Nebraska Press Association has now partnered with Universal Information Services in O m a h a , (with which many of you are familiar for its clipping services), to digitize current

and back issues of Nebraska’s community newspapers -- including the Jewish Press. One day, in the note-too-distant future, subscribers will be able to access not only weekly issues, but research all the way back to the Press’ beginnings in late 1920! This is exciting news, not just for readers who want the Press online, but for the Press, which will be able to expand its circulation to online subscribers and researchers. It will be several years, of course, before the entire body of work will be available in this format (the Press is 86-years-old, after all!), but we won’t be giving up our print edition either. For those readers who have been requesting an online edition of the full Jewish Press -- your wait is almost over. We think it’s the best of both worlds!

large part on the future course of radical Islam, which in turn depends in some part on its understanding by the American president. Over the years, Mr. Bush has generally shown an increased understanding of this topic. He started with platitudinous, apologetic references to Islam as the “religion of peace,” using this phrase as late as 2006. He early on even lectured Muslims on the true nature of their religion, a presumptuous ambition that prompted me in 2001 to dub him “Imam Bush.”

ment of a U.S. special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, directing this envoy to “listen to and learn from” his Muslim counterparts. But the OIC is a Saudi-sponsored organization promoting the Wahhabi agenda under the trappings of a Muslim-only United Nations. As counterterrorism specialist Steven Emerson has noted, Bush’s dismal initiative stands in “complete ignorance of the rampant radicalism, pro-terrorist, and anti-American sentiments routinely found in statements by the OIC and its leaders.” Adding to the event’s accommodationist tone, some of the president's top female aides, including Townsend and Hughes, wore makeshift hijabs as they listened to him in the audience. In brief, it feels like “déjà vu all over again.”As columnist Diana West puts it, “Nearly six years after Sept. 11 — nearly six years after first visiting the Islamic Center and proclaiming ‘Islam is peace’ -- Mr. Bush has learned nothing." But we now harbor fewer hopes than in 2001 that he still can learn, absorb, and reflect an understanding of the enemy’s Islamist nature. Concluding that he basically has failed to engage this central issue, we instead must look to Mr. Bush’s potential successors and look for them to return to his occasional robustness, again taking up those difficult concepts of Islamic extremism, Shariah, and the caliphate. Several Republicans -- Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and (above all) Fred Thompson -are doing just that. Democratic candidates, unfortunately, prefer to remain almost completely silent on this topic. Almost 30 years after Islamists first attacked Americans, and on the eve of three major attempted terrorist attacks in Great Britain, the president’s speech reveals how confused Washington remains. Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum. Read more at: www.DanielPipes.org.

When Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicated the Islamic Center in Washington, D.C., in June 1957, his 500-word talk effused good will (“Civilization owes to the Islamic world some of its most important tools and achievements”) even as the American president embarrassingly bumbled (Muslims in the United States, he declared, have the right to their “own church”). Conspicuously, he included nary a word about policy. Exactly 50 years later, standing shoeless, George W. Bush rededicated the center last week. His 1,600-word speech also praised medieval Islamic culture (“We come to express our appreciation for a faith that has enriched civilization for centuries”), but he knew a mosque from a church -- and he had more on the agenda than flattery. Most arresting, surely, was his statement that “I have invested the heart of my presidency in helping Muslims fight terrorism, and claim their liberty, and find their own unique paths to prosperity and peace.” This cri du coeur signaled how Mr. Bush understands to what extent actions by Muslims will define his legacy. Should they heed his dream “and find their own unique paths to prosperity and peace,” then his presidency, however ravaged it may look at the moment, will be vindicated. As with Harry S. Truman, historians will acknowledge that he saw further than his contemporaries. Should Muslims, however, be “left behind in the global movement toward prosperity and freedom,” historians will likely judge his two terms as harshly as his fellow Americans do today. Of course, how Muslims fare depends in

Bush has retreated to safer ground, reverting last week to decayed tropes that tiptoe around any mention of Islam. Instead, he spoke inelegantly of “the great struggle against extremism that is now playing out across the broader Middle East” ... As his understanding grew, Mr. Bush spoke of the caliphate, “Islamic extremism” and “Islamofacism.” What euphemistically he called the “war on terror” in 2001, by 2006 he referred to with the hard-hitting “war with Islamic fascists.” Things were looking up. Perhaps official Washington did understand the threat, after all. But such analyses roused Muslim opposition and, as he approaches his political twilight, Mr. Bush has retreated to safer ground, reverting last week to decayed tropes that tiptoe around any mention of Islam. Instead, he spoke inelegantly of “the great struggle against extremism that is now playing out across the broader Middle East” and vaguely of “a group of extremists who seek to use religion as a path to power and a means of domination.” Worse, the speech drum-rolled the appoint-

Jewish Press Committee Bobbi Leibowitz, Vice-Chairman; Stan Mitchell, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Treasurer; Michael Siegel, Finance Chairman; Joanie Jacobson, Immediate Past-chairman; David Herzog; Susan Lehr; Jamie Meyerson; George Quittner; Eve Randone, Melissa Schop; Michael Sigmond; Jim Simon; Nancy Skid; and Dorothy Spizman. 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, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service, and Jewish Senior Services. The Jewish Press is a constitutional committee of the Jewish Federation. Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Committee, the Jewish Federation of Omaha or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

Shoeless George Bush

BEHIND THE H EADLINES by DANIEL PIPES

(Founded in 1920) Howard K. Marcus Chairman Carol Katzman Editor Richard Busse Managing Editor Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Terri Greenwood Advertising Executive Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper Anne Muskin Editorial Intern

Editorial The Jewish Press is a Constitutional Committee of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org. Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1-402-334-5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org.. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be singlespaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” 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. All letters must be signed by the writer, but the name can be withheld at the writer’s request. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For more information, contact Carol Katzman, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly on Friday for $33 per calendar year U.S.; $40 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or e-mail to: jpress@jewishomaha. org.

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Israel ... a year after Lebanon

BEHIND THE HEADLINES by LESLIE SUSSER JERUSALEM (JTA) -- One year after the Second Lebanon War, Israel’s northern front is quiet, United Nations forces are patrolling the border area and Hezbollah fighters have been pushed back deep inside Lebanese territory. That’s the good news. On the other side of the equation, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is still under pressure to resign for his poor conduct of the war, home-front defenses are suffering from neglect, Hezbollah is rearming with bigger and better rockets, and there has been no sign of life from the two abducted Israeli soldiers whose abduction on July 12, 2006 sparked the 34-day conflict. One year later, these questions remain: How has Israel’s performance in the war affected its standing in a hostile environment? Is U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which brought the fighting to an end, proving effective? What are the chances of a prisoner exchange? What has been done to bring the Israel Defense Forces up to speed and to bolster home defenses? And on the political front, can Olmert survive as prime minister? In the fighting, 119 soldiers and 44 civilians were killed. Israeli forces proved unable to stop daily Hezbollah rocket barrages on civilian population centers, national leadership was indecisive, ground troops did not perform well and the captured soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, were not freed. Most experts maintain that on balance, the war hurt Israel’s deterrent capacity. The problem is particularly acute on the Syrian front, where President Bashar Assad has been building up his arsenal of ground-to-ground, anti-aircraft and antitank missiles. The Israeli concern is that Assad, given his perception of the Israeli performance in Lebanon, may miscalculate his military strength relative to Israel’s and start hostilities. In recent months, the Israeli government has sent Assad two clear messages: Israel has no intention of attacking Syria and, if war does break out, Syria would be far more vulnerable to Israeli firepower than Hezbollah because of its state apparatus and infrastructure.

Israeli intelligence believes the messages were received, but no one on the Israeli side is discounting the possibility of another war in the North this summer. In the immediate aftermath of the war, Olmert presented U.N. Resolution 1701 as a major strategic gain. It placed a “robust” U.N. force of more than 13,000 troops in the border area previously occupied by Hezbollah, creating an effective buffer between Israel and the Sh’iite militiamen.

than 150 miles. Hezbollah, according to the report, apparently is building new positions outside the U.N. zone from which it would be able to launch rocket attacks against Israel. Israel has complained several times about the porous nature of the Syria-Lebanon border, but no one seems to be doing anything about it. Israel also is concerned about the possible military coordination among Iran, Syria and Hezbollah. For example, if

The pictures show soldiers from IDF paratroop brigade in a joint operation with IDF armored units at the Shizafon base in the Negev. The maneuvers are part of the IDF training program Credit: ISRANET to ensure all army units are operating at maximum efficiency. Indeed, in the year since the war, Hezbollah has not fired a single shot across the border. An isolated rocket attack on Kiryat Shemona in mid-June was attributed to a radical Palestinian faction. Hezbollah fortifications near the border have been destroyed, and arms and ammunition found there have been confiscated. Olmert says the days are gone when Hezbollah forces near the border, with more than 10,000 Katyusha rockets trained on civilian, military and strategic targets, could hold Israel captive. A late June report released by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, however, paints a more somber picture. According to Ban, Hezbollah continues to receive vast quantities of arms from Syria and Iran in blatant violation of 1701. Most of the weaponry comes overland across the Syria-Lebanon border and includes rockets with a range of more

Assad were to launch hostilities later in the summer, Israeli intelligence believes Hezbollah would join in, and Iran would provide more weapons and logistical support. Ban’s report on the fate of the two Israeli captives is equally downbeat. He is sharply critical of Hezbollah for not providing any sign of life from the two soldiers and says concerns about their fate are growing. Israeli officials believe that during the abduction, one of the men may have been badly wounded. Contacts between Israel and Hezbollah through a German intermediary are continuing, but nothing has been revealed about the soldiers’ conditions. Bargaining over a prisoner exchange apparently has yet to get off the ground. The most dramatic change since the war has occurred among Israel’s military forces. Following the criticism of its performance, the army set up more than 40

internal panels to analyze shortcomings and recommend improvements. As public protest swelled, Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, an Air Force man, resigned and was replaced by Gabi Ashkenazi, a seasoned infantry general. Ashkenazi introduced key changes in doctrine and training. The notion that modern wars could be won by firepower alone was replaced with the classic IDF doctrine of firepower and ground force maneuvers combined. Training of ground forces and reserves was increased significantly in light of the modified doctrine. In late May, the IDF carried out joint exercises on a scale not seen in years. There also has been new thinking on home-front defenses. Dan Meridor, a former minister for strategic affairs, recently produced a detailed report, “The Home Front as Battlefield,” in which he argues that in modern rocket warfare, civilians are as likely to find themselves on the frontline as soldiers, and that it is incumbent on the government to prepare them psychologically and provide the funding for their protection. Gaps in levels of security for rich and poor could harm national resilience, Meridor said. But there has been little government action on building new shelters, making old ones more habitable and providing funds for the construction of reinforced rooms in private homes and apartments. The big political question in the wake of the war is whether Olmert can maintain his hold on power much longer. The Winograd Commission, the main panel investigating the overall conduct of the war, issued a scathing interim report in April that was particularly critical of the prime minister’s performance. By moving quickly to close ranks in his Kadima Party, Olmert managed to survive. Pundits say, however, that if the committee is as or more scathing in its final report, expected in August, the prime minister may have to go. The Labor Party under the new defense minister, Ehud Barak, is threatening to bring down the coalition government -of which Labor is a key element -- if Olmert stays. For Israel, the Second Lebanon War undoubtedly was a traumatic experience. But paradoxically, it may have served as a timely wake-up call for both the military and the politicians. As a result, regional perceptions notwitstanding, the country may have emerged stronger.

Words and deeds

F OCUS ON ISSUES by HOWARD KOHR Executive DIrector, AIPAC Hamas is a band of “murderous terrorists,” the embattled leader told his deputies. There will be “no dialogue” with them. This statement did not come from the Prime Minister of Israel, or even the President of the United States. The words were those of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was speaking in the wake of Hamas’ recent bloody takeover of the Gaza Strip. The fact that Abbas’ newly expressed views on Hamas resemble those of Western leaders is cause for encouragement among those who hope for a genuine and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. For too long, Abbas pursued a political accommodation with Hamas without requiring the organization to renounce terrorism, accept Israel’s right to exist and embrace previous agreements concluded between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). He seemed blind to the impossibility of seeking peace with Israel while governing alongside a group that sought its destruction. Now, the Palestinian president has kicked Hamas out

of the Palestinian government and formed a new leadership that accepts the international community’s three conditions. Abbas’ action suggests that he finally recognizes Hamas for what it is--a terrorist group whose program threatens not only Israel, but also the future of the Palestinian majority, which professes a desire to live sideby-side in peace with the Jewish state. History ultimately judges leaders by the actions they take and the sacrifices they make to realize their lofty visions.

Abbas’ action suggests that he finally recognizes Hamas for what it is--a terrorist group whose program threatens not only Israel, but also the future of the Palestinian majority ... Israel’s recent past is full of instances in which leaders made painful concessions for the sake of peace with the Arab world and the Palestinians. Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, for example, fully withdrew Israeli citizens and soldiers from Gaza and parts of the West Bank in 2005, reversing decades of Israeli policy. After Sharon was incapacitated by a stroke, Ehud Olmert was elected to succeed him on a platform

that promised further territorial concessions. Most recently, almost immediately after the formation of the new Palestinian government, Israel announced the release of hundreds of millions of dollars in withheld tax revenue to the PA and began planning to bolster the Hamas-free PA leadership by releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and easing West Bank security measures. Similarly bold steps are now required of Abbas. Initial decrees from his emergency government are promising. It has banned the carrying of arms in the West Bank without a license. Salam Fayyad, Abbas’ new prime minister, vowed in a recent speech to collect the illicit arms “and replace them with pens and books.” The prime minister has also warned clerics to stop inciting their congregations to violence against Israelis, stating that religion should be “a way of tolerance, not a cover for bloodshed.” These statements reflect a promising realization of what will be required to root out Palestinian terrorist groups and replace a culture of violence with one that recognizes the imperative of making peace with Israel. Should the new Palestinian government follow through with a crackdown on the myriad terrorist organizations in the West Bank, it will have lived up to the expectations raised by such stirring and honest rhetoric.

Page 22

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 13, 2007

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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 www.OChabad.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 southstreettemple.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

The Neighborhood Minyan 1317 No. 57 St. Omaha, NE 68132 551.6609

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

Tree of Life Center 2925 Prairie Road Lincoln, NE 68506 613.7443 email: treeoflife.rabbimichael @yahoo.com

If you’re looking at this space, so are others! YOUR AD CAN GO HERE...

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Allan Handleman, 334.6451, or Terri Greenwood, 334.6559.

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

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Services conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Gastón Bogomolni. FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by Beth El; D’var Torah by Steve Riekes; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 8:50 p.m. Sitter Service is available during Friday night and Saturday morning services, on a drop-in basis, at no charge. W E E K D AY S E R V I C E S : Sundays, 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.; weekdays 6:55 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. SUNDAY: Bible Discussion Group resumes Sunday, Aug. 12. WOMEN’S ROSH HODESH GROUP: Monday, July 16, 7 p.m. at the home of Pam Friedlander, 1376 So. 137 Ave. Theme: “Family Recipes to Share and the Memories They Bring.” RSVP to Friedlander at pfriedla@cox.net or 334.8773. BARBECUE & BARCHU: On Friday, July 27, 5:30 p.m., enjoy Shabbat for all ages at Zorinsky Lake. Meet at Shelter #2 (off of 156th St., south of West Center Road). Dinner is planned for 6:15 p.m.; services, 6:45 p.m. Cost: $8.50 for adults; $4 for children five-12; no charge for children younger than five. RSVP by Monday, July 23 to Margie Gutnik in the office, or at programming@bethel-omaha.org. Note: Shabbat services will also be held at 8:30 p.m. at the synagogue. HAZAK INSTALLATION: Annual installation ceremony and champagne brunch is Sunday, July 29, 11 a.m. Featured speakers are nutritionists Ruth and Irwin Goldenberg, who will offer healthy eating tips. Cost: $11. To

RSVP, send a check to Natalie Rubin, 2004 So. 138 Ave. Cir., Omaha NE 68144. For more information, call Gloria Goodman at 333.3351.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fri., 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m. Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes, 9:45 a.m. with Torah Parade; Kiddush is sponsored by Beth Israel in honor of Rabbi Seth and Na’ama Nadel. Mincha, 8:30 p.m. followed by Suedat Shlishit and Gemara class; Havdalah, 9:46 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; “Reading the Rambam” with Rabbi Nadel, 9:45 a.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m. THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m.; Advanced Parsha Study, 7:30 p.m.

BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Shabbat in the Home.

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Service, 7 a.m.; SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9 a.m.; Service, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush luncheon follows the service. SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.; Living Torah, 9:30 a.m., 20minute video broadcast. WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Maamar Kabbalistic Insights for Women, 12:15 p.m.; Halacha, 7 p.m. TUESDAY: W.O.W. Prayer Circle Tehillim & More, 9 a.m.; Parshah Roundup: Weekly Torah Portion Class, 7 p.m. Kabbalah WEDNESDAY:

Circle, 7 p.m.; A Peek Through the Lens of Kabbalah, 8 p.m. THURSDAY: Jewish Thought, 12:45 p.m. All events and programs are open to the entire community. For information or to register call the office or visit the website.

a bar or bat mitzvah, and Sunday mornings when there is Religious School. Advance reservations and a $5 donation are appreciated. Sorry, no facilities for infants. TUESDAY, 6 p.m.: Executive Board meeting; 7:30 p.m.: Board of Trustees meeting.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN

NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN

Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. FRIDAY: Shabbat evening service 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel, with oneg following provided by Randy Reinhart and Gina Matkin. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. all led by Rabbi Emanuel. TUESDAYS: Beginner Hebrew: A Crash Course, led by Rabbi Emanuel on Tuesdays, July 17, 24, 31 and Aug. 7, 14, 21, and 28, 7 p.m. THURSDAY: Choir Rehersal, 7 p.m. For more information, call the synagogue office.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led byRabbi Maximo Shechet.

TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel and Tami Field will lead the service. D’var Torah: Rabbi Azriel- “I Became a Jew in America.” SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15-10:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. SITTER SERVICE: Available each Friday evening service except when there is a Tot Shabbat, Saturday mornings when there is

FRIDAY: Minyan, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Nancy Coren, Lay Leader. Office hours are Monday - Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. FRIDAY: Light Nosh, 6:15 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat Services, 6:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m. MONDAY and THURSDAY, Minyan, 9 a.m. Please contact the office if you want to make arrangements for a Minyan at another time. TUESDAY, JULY 17, noon: Women’s Lunch Group will meet at the Lonestar on ‘O’ and 70th. Please contact Elaine Evnen if you need a ride. WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group meets at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Call Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066. Monday, July 23, 8:30 p.m.: Tisha b’Av services.

TREE OF LIFE CENTER Services conducted by Rabbi Michael Weisser. FRIDAYS: Sabbath Experience, 7:30 p.m. Havdalah: SATURDAYS: Rites of Separation, 6:30 p.m.; Drumming Meditation follows ’til 8 p.m.; Social Time ’til 10 p.m. Sitting/Silent MONDAYS: Meditation, 6 p.m.; Teachings/ Discussion, 7:30 p.m. WEDNESDAYS: Sitting/ Silent Meditation, 6 p.m.; 8 Weeks to Mindfulness Class, 7:30 p.m.

Nebraskans enjoy summertime fun at Camp Sabra Photos from top left: Sadie Evnen of Lincoln, left, Molly Helm, Michael Parsow and Jessica Levinger, all of Omaha, were among the many campers and staff at Camp Sabra this summer; Michael Parsow and counselor Idan Horovitz demostrate their waterfront skills; Sabra campers take a break from the Ozark resort heat in the camp pool; Michael Parsow and Sabra staff Allison Levinger share a light moment. Photo credit: Michael Parsow. EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE The Jewish Press office will be closed Monday, Sept. 3 for Labor Day. The annual Jewish New Year’s issue publishes Sept. 7. Questions? Call 402.334.6448.

July 13, 2007

Freedom: the Midianites and Bastille Day

SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashiyyot Mattot/Masei It is hard to think that in the second week of July that we may be in the waning days of summer, but our Torah parshiyyot this week close the Book of B’midbar (Numbers) and we have left only the wonderful Book of Deuteronomy (Devarim) before us -- and this brings us to the end of the fall Holy Days, to Simchat Torah. If we have compressed several months into a sentence or two, so be it. But thought tends to make this clear. Moreover, this Shabbat is Bastille Day, when in France the people rose against the nobility and freed France for democracy, as it were, copying the events that began in 1776 in America. Our Sidrot make possible freedom for the Israelites from enemies who would have made their life in the land of Israel impossible. It is not too far a stretch to say that it is a happy coincidence that Bastille Day coincides with these two Sidrot. It has been said, quite correctly, that “freedom is not free.� The Israelites had to wage war against the Midianites to ensure freedom; the French people, in 1790, had to indulge in a bloody revolution against the nobles of their time. No doubt there were excesses, which cannot be overlooked. The rage of the French people, if not forgiven, must be understood. It must similarly understood that the rage of the Israelites against the Midianites was a blow for freedom, freedom to enter the Holy Land, freedom to establish an Israelite community with its thrust towards morality, freedom to create the Bible and the defense of freedom and morality forever after.

JTA NEWS BRIEFS • For the first time, the Arab League will send a delegation to Israel .This week’s delegation, to be led by Egyptian and Jordanian officials, will discuss the threat posed by Hamas and Islamic extremism as well as the 22-nation league’s peace proposal. The plan offers full Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for its full withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, repatriation of Palestinian refugees and the creation of a Palestinian state. • France pledged to help Israel recover the soldier held hostage in the Gaza Strip. Relatives of Gilad Shalit, an army conscript abducted and taken to Gaza by Hamas gunmen in June 2006, met Monday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris. Shalit’s father, Noam, said Sarkozy took note of the fact that the soldier holds French nationality and is from a French family. “From the moment he assumed office, he told us he has been taking action on all relevant channels and with the relevant people,â€? Noam Shalit told Israel Radio. “He considers Gilad a French citizen in all respects.â€?

To Submit Announcements: 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 other announcements--births engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press� and go to Submit Announcements.

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DEATHS JEROME S. ZEFFREN Jerry Zeffren died June 27 at the age of 91. Services were held June 29 at the Tri-City Jewish Center in Rock Island, IL. A longtime owner of one of the Midwest’s first exclusive wine and gourmet shops in Rock Island, Zeffren was active in Rotary, B’nai B’rith, the Tri-City Jewish Center and later at Beth El Synagogue. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Andrea Zeffren Alter. He is survived by his wife, Rosalyn Zeffren; daughters and sons-in-law, Joan and Paul Sher of Portland, OR, and Shane and David Kotok; grandchildren, Meridee Alter, Eric Alter, Matthew and Liz Sher, Andy and Halla Shami Sher, Larry and Jessica Aronoff Sher, Joe Alter, David and Camelle Alter, Seth Kotok, Andrea M. Kotok, and Stephen Kotok; and six great-grandchildren. Memorials to the Tri-City Jewish Center, Beth El Synagogue scholarship fund, the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, or charity of choice. FRIEDA BELZER Services were held July 3 at Beth El Cemetery for Frieda Belzer, a long-time resident of Omaha. She was preceded in death by her husband of more than 60 years, Marvin Belzer. She is survived by her three children, Irvin Belzer M.D., Tuscon, AZ, Maynard Belzer, M.D., of Camarillo CA, and Phyllis Salter, Valley Village, CA, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Memorials to Beth El Synagogue. MARIAN WOLPA NOGG Marian Wolpa Nogg died July 7. She would have been 86 on July 30. Services were held July 8 at Beth El Cemetery. She was an active volunteer, serving on the boards as as an officer of La Sertoma, Hadassah, American Association of University Women, Program for Women and Successful Aging, League of Women Voters. She was preceded in death by her husband, Irving Nogg, and brother, Bernard Wolpa. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Carole Cantor Adelstein and Robert Adelstein of Denver; son and daughter-in-law, Russell and Jeanne Nogg of Anchorage, AK; and daughter, Nancy Nogg; grandchildren Jennifer and Ron Jensen of Houston; James Cantor of Denver; Sara Nogg and David Nogg of Anchorage, Alexis and Jason Hughes-Hoopman of Minneapolis, and Ari and Madeline Rauhauser; two great-grandchildren; brothers and sisters, Dorina Wolpa, Leonard Wolpa, S. Jerry Wolpa, Homer Wolpa; brother and sister-in-law, Warren and Tony Wolpa; and sister-inlaw, Charlotte Slutsky Koom. Memorials to Jewish Family Service; Mazon, 1990 So. Bundy Dr., Suite 260, Los Angeles, CA 90025; or a charity of choice. HELYN LEDERMAN Kearney resident Chaia “Helyn� Lederman died July 8 at the age of 88. Graveside services were held July 10 at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Lincoln. She was preceded in death by her husband of 49 years, Jack Lederman, both longimte members of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in Lincoln, and a grandson, Christopher Rainwater. Survivors include her son and daughter-in-law, Joel and Nadine Lederman of Parker, CO; daughter, Judy Lash; daughter and son-in-law, Brenda and Larry Rainwater, all of Kearney; seven grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; sisterin-law, Jennie Lederman of Lincoln. She was an honorary admiral in the Nebraska Navy. In 1973-74, she served as the first lady of the National Travelers Protective Association. Memorials to the Transitional Care Unit at Good Samaritan Hospital, to the TPA Scholarship Fund for the Deaf or Near Deaf, or to a charity of choice.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Statewide Classified CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING works! Place your 25 word ad into thousands of Nebraska homes for $195. Contact the Jewish Press at 334-6448 or call 1-800-3692850. ATTENTION ANTIQUE dealers! Lexington Area Chamber of Commerce, 21st Annual Labor Day Extravaganza. Booth spaces with concrete floors still available. Call 308-3245504 or www.visitlexington.org/extravaganza. BANKRUPTCY: FAST relief from creditors. Statewide filing. Affordable rates. Call Steffens Law Office, 308-872-8327. www.steffenslaw.com. We are a debt relief agency, which helps people file bankruptcy under the bankruptcy code. LOOKING FOR the classic car, truck or motorcycle of your dreams? Go to www.midwestclassiccars.com. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your midwest connection to classic vehicles for sale. Need to sell a classic vehicle? For only $25, your ad with photos will run until sold! Call this newspaper today for more information or call 1-800-369-2850. GOT TERMITES? Call Bear Termite Company. 30 years in business. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve earned the B.B.B. Excellence Award the last 6 years. Phone 800-241-7179. HOT TUBS! Something new! Salt water spas! Chemical free, crystal clear water, buy direct from manufacturer and save. Information package, prices, 1-800-869-0406. MISSOURI LAKE lot: $44,900 includes boat slip! Ready to build, paved roads, pool/clubhouse. Direct lake access @ MM 31. Call today! 1-573-280-5167 x2795. RETAIL IN Estes Park, CO. One of a kind business. Year-round, currently operating with two year established customer base. Inventory and fixtures included! 970-213-6995. ALL CASH candy route. Do you earn $800 in a day? Your own local candy route. Includes 30 machines and candy all for $9,995. 1-888-755-1356. AIRLINES ARE hiring. Train for high paying aviation maintenance career. FAA approved program. Financial aid if qualified. Job placement assistance. Aviation Institute of Maintenance, 888-349-5387. NEBRASKA HEREFORD Association is looking for a secretary/treasurer. Must be organized with good bookkeeping skills. Part time. Contact Kay Morgan, hereford@nctc.net for info. A COOL travel job!! Now hiring 18-24 guys/gals to work and travel entire USA. Paid training. Transportation and lodging furnished. Call today, start today. 1-877-646-5050. ADVANCED FULL time farm position on central Nebraska corn operation. Pivot and farm machinery experience needed. Work history with references required. Competitive pay package and housing available with signing bonus. Non-smoking environment. Could work into a foreman/management position for right individual. Call 308-529-0180 or 537-3545, leave message if no answer. EXPERIENCED FOREMAN for earth moving company needed immediately. Responsibilities include managing job sites, employees, etc. Room for advancement. Excellent wage/benefits, pickup provided. Call 1-800-421-7698. EOE. GET CRANE trained! National certification prep. placement assistance, financial assistance. $12-30/hr. starting pay. Oklahoma College of Construction, www.Heavy9.com, use code â&#x20AC;&#x153;NECNHâ&#x20AC;? or call 1-866-994-8585. ACT NOW! Sign on bonus, 36 to 45 cpm/$1,000 + weekly, $0 lease/$1.20pm, CDLA + 3 months OTR, 800-635-8669. CDL CLASS A with OTR experience. Company and O/Os for van and flatbed. New! Owner operator pay increase. Medical benefits available after 1st month. Premium flatbed pay! 1-800-228-9842 ext. 137, www.fcc-inc.com. DRIVER: KNIGHT Transportation. Did you notice our trucks were moving? Enough freight to make you smile!!! Qualify by phone. KC paid orientation, great newer Volvos. Daily/weekly pay, great pay with benefits. Anna/Miranda, 888-562-7783. www.knighttrans.com. Class-A CDL/4 months OTR. Owner Ops: 800-437-5907. DRIVERS: WE are looking for you!! Excellent compensation package! Terminals in Grand Island, NE and Rensselaer, IN. Dedicated flatbed carrier for Chief Industries. Class A-CDL/1 year OTR experience required. GICC, 877-367-4422, www.gicc.chiefind.com.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 13, 2007

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