July 18, 2008

Vol. LXXXVII No. 45 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 87 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

15 Tammuz, 5768

July 18, 2008

2008 Olympics

Rhythmic gymnasts go to the mat with approach born in former Soviet Union by DINA KRAFT NETANYA, Israel (JTA) – On one side of the cavernous gym, six members of Israel’s first Olympic rhythmic gymnastics team warm up in a circle, chatting softly in a mix of Russian and Hebrew while stretching their legs in effortless splits on the mat. Nearby, Irina Risenzon, a fellow gymnast competing in the individual category, is trying to master a leap in which her head must tilt backward to meet a bent leg. It’s late afternoon and the young women, ranging in age from 17 to 22, have been practicing for much of the day. In black T-shirts and black shorts, they appear to be in uniform, reinforcing a feeling of discipline and order that marks their training and routines. “There are harder workouts and easier ones,” says Risenzon, 20, her auburn hair pulled into a bun. She sits on a wooden bench on the edge of the gym, watching the team begin its routine. The gymnasts practice about 10 hours per day. “But you know why you are here,” she says. “For me it's my goal: the

Olympics.” Like every Olympian, her ultimate goal is the gold. “That’s the dream,” Risenzon says, breaking into a smile, a marked contrast from the grimace she’s been wearing for the past two hours while trying to perfect her leaps and pivots before her hard-driving coach, Ira Vigdorchik. Risenzon has been training with Vigdorchik since she was nine, the same year she and her family immigrated to Israel from Ukraine. The language in the hall is predominately Russian; six of the eight rhythmic gymnasts are immigrants from the former Soviet Union. The two Israel natives are the daughters of immigrants: Rachel Vigdorchik, who tutors Risenzon, and Neta Rivkin, who at 17 is the youngest member of the Israeli Olympic team. This large contingent of rhythmic gymnasts is why the Israeli squad has nearly as many women as men this year in its 39member delegation for the Olympics in China. The sport combines ballet, theatrical dance and gymnastics and is divided into individual, pair and team event categories. Ropes, hoops, balls, clubs and

Irina Risenzon, a Ukrainian emigre to Israel, practices her routine in preparation for the rhythmic gymnastics competition at the Beijing Olympics. Credit: Brian Hendler ribbons are used in the routines. the gym she runs in Holon and at anothAbout 3,000 girls are training in gyms er branch in Jaffa for Arab girls. across the country, according to Rachel Vigdorchick, who moved to Israel in Vigdorchik. She oversees 300 of them at Continued on page 2

Attorney brings experience, passion to new ‘job’ as Federation president

New Blumkin kitchen will dish up enhanced menu and kosher catering

by LISA LIEB Federation Communications Director With a mom who sings and a dad who plays trombone, Bob Lepp’s Chicago years featured inside access to the hub of the music industry. Born in Chicago and raised in the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Bob’s mom Eleanor performed in nightclubs across the country. His dad Harry played for traveling Broadway shows and accompanied some of the biggest names in the business. For Lepp it was a fascinating childhood. “It was so interesting seeing my mom sing and my dad play the trombone. Commodities broker by day, trombone player by night, Dad played with a number of stars who were in Chicago on tour, including Diana Ross, Patty Page and Jerry Lewis. From the orchestra pit, I also remember watching Dick Van Dyke with my dad during a performance of ‘Bye Bye Birdie’.” Continued on page 9

by OZZIE NOGG sweets, Shabbat-2-Go, for RBJH/JSS Passover items and other When the new kitchen at special holiday treats. the Rose Blumkin Jewish After architects drew up Home is completed in late the kitchen plans, Aparo August, it will offer an contributed important expanded kosher menu to changes and put considerresidents and also introduce able time and thought into Ess’N Catering to the entire the arrangement of applicommunity. “In the past ances. Overhead racks for year, there has been pots and pans will open up increased demand for kosher more shelf space. The basecatering,” said Mike Aparo, ment storeroom is large RBJH Director of Food and enough to handle up to six Environmental Services. months of cold and dry stor“Our new kitchen space age, and a new elevator that allows us to offer a catering carries supplies directly to menu and prepare meals, the kitchen is another conready for pick up, for synavenience. gogues, local Jewish organi“We’ll also switch to soft zations and private homes.” water, which is much easier The current Blumkin on the dishwashers, steamers kitchen already sells kosher and other equipment,” pizzas at the Child Dave Beecham, construction crew member, in basement of Aparo said.” The new Development Center, an RBJH kitchen preparing footings that will eventually carry kitchen features an onsite idea Aparo credits to Josh pillars supporting Main Street’s high roof. bakery, a flame broiler with Gurock, RBJH Administrative Intern. Gurock and smoker box, an ice maker capable of producing 700 Laura Bair, Blumkin Home Food Service and Catering pounds of ice, and PVC pipes that move soda and other Manager, are working with Aparo on the catering menu beverages straight from the basement storage room to and pricing. Entree selections are an eclectic mix of the main floor beverage station. The kitchen -- located meat, dairy and vegetarian entrees -- including BBQ in what was the North nurses station -- also incorporates short ribs, salmon with mango sauce, apple walnut a Bistro area with food service window that will open chicken, veal scaloppini and eggplant stuffed yellow pep- onto Main Street. pers -- along with appetizer trays, shiva orders, gourmet Continued on page 2

The Lepp family: Kelsey, 19, left, Dustin, 21, Karen and Bob, and Allison, 23.

Inside

This Week: Health & Wellness starts on Page 13

See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’ Opinion Page see page 20

B’nai B’rith honors memory of young leader: Page 3

Coming Next Month Sports & Recreation on Aug. 8 America Decides 2008 -Rep. Smith goes to Israel: Page 4

A life of medicine, music and family: Page 12

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 18, 2008

Rhythmic gymnasts go to the mat with approach born in FSU Continued from page 1 1979, was scheduled to perform in the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, her hometown, but she stayed home when the Israeli team boycotted, along with other countries, in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Looking around the gym at the team members she has coached, most of them since they were little girls, Vigdorchick says they’re like family. She says this year’s Olympics Games are “closing a circle.” Vigdorchik says she’s proud that rhythmic gymnastics, a sport brought to Israel by Russian immigrants in the early 1970s, has caught on. “It’s very popular, but we need more government investment and more sponsors,” she says, echoing a common complaint of Israel’s sporting community. For those who grew up in the Soviet system, where cultivating sports and athletes was a top national priority, the contrast in Israel can be jarring. Ela Samotalov, the coach for the team event, came in 1991 from Minsk, where she helped coach the Belarus national team. She says she is still getting accustomed to Israel’s more spartan sports culture. “There is no status to being a coach here in Israel,” she complains. The Soviet-style training, with its strict discipline and demands, can seem off-putting to native-born Israelis, Samotalov says. This is part of what unites the Russianborn gymnasts -- a shared understanding of the dedication needed to excel that comes from growing up in families versed in a more intense approach to sports. “But the sabras are learning well; it will just take time,” Samotalov says of the Israelis. “Sports is not a miracle.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FRIDAY, JULY 18 Visions Luncheon Meeting, noon Temple Israel Shabbat Comes to You, 4 p.m. at Remington Heights C L I P & S A V E

SUNDAY, JULY 20 Fast of the 17th of Tammuz, commemorating the beginning of the three-week seige of Jerusalem against the Jews by the Romans LOVE Game Day, noon Musical Salute to Cantor Bogomolni, 4 p.m.

C L I P & S A V E

MONDAY, JUNE 21 JSS Senior Luncheon, 9:30 a.m. Jewish Book Club Meeting, 2 p.m. TUESDAY, JUNE 22 JSS/RBJH Board Meeting, 11:30 a.m. BBYO Night, 6 p.m. C L I P & S A V E

WEDNESDAY, JULY 23 Day of Dance Lunch, 11:30 a.m. THURSDAY, JULY 24 Institute for Holocaust Education training: Children and the Holocaust, 8:30 a.m. Women of the Torah, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel JCC Camp Overnight, 4 p.m. 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)

This Space For Rent Call Allan Handleman 334-6451

It’s hard work.” Samotalov is encouraged by the homegrown talent of one of her longtime charges, Rivkin, 17, who has improved consistently at competitions this year. “My goal is to do the best I can,” Rivkin says of Beijing. “It’s so special, going out there in front of that huge audience.” Not far away, Risenzon laughs as she recalls her introduction to the sport when she was a little girl living near Kiev. “I was considered sickly, always getting the flu,” she recalls. “So my parents were told that to strengthen my body I should do sports, and the closest gym to our house was for rhythmic gymnastics.” When she was 4, Risenzon’s Olympic career was nearly derailed by coaches who deemed her too pudgy to excel in the sport. Her baby fat long gone, she finished seventh last September in the World Championships. Risenzon talks about the deep concentration she tries to maintain during her routines -- tuning out the clapping crowds, the cameras and the competition. Relief and satisfaction come only after a successful routine is completed. “Then I think about everything,” she says. “In the midst of it all I’m focused on the next move.” “But I love to perform,” Risenzon says, her deep brown eyes shining as she describes her Olympic routines, which include a playful number set to Indian music and another with a samba tune. Despite her immigrant origins, she has no identity dilemmas, she says. “I’ve felt deeply connected here,” Risenzon says, “and when I see the Israeli flag flying I get goose bumps.”

Continued from page 1 According to Tom Lindstrom, construction foreman, work on Main Street and the new kitchen are closely linked. “Right now, crews are pouring footings for the steel structure that will eventually carry the 27-foot high ceiling over Main Street,” Lindstrom explained. “Then we’ll raise the roof over the kitchen in pieces so that each section is open to the elements for no more than three or four days. Next, columns will be dropped through holes in the kitchen floor down into the basement. The columns are 38 ft. in total Construction foreman Tom Lindstrom, left, height from and Mike Aparo, RBJH Director of Food and the basement Environmental Services, stand in what will floor up be the Home’s new kitchen. through the kitchen and from there into the clearstory over Main Street.” Despite some excavation surprises and record-breaking rain, Lindstrom remains upbeat. “Everywhere we dig we seem to run into something we need to move -- electrical or whatever,” he said. “And as

he said. “And, like all of us, the elderly want flavor and variety in their food choices. The dishes they enjoyed as children -- or the memory triggered by an aroma -- can often spark appetites, so we’re constantly adding the resident’s favorite foods to our menus.” Among the additions? Liver and onions, beef tongue (both pickled and

Raising the roof on the Blumkin Home will make room for the expanded kitchen and the new Main Street. smoked), fried salami and eggs, smoked white fish salad and -- perhaps surprisingly -- fajitas, chicken chow mein and tacos -- cheeseless, of course. “When we first served tacos the residents loved them and wanted them on the

C L I P & S A V E

Working inside the Blumkin Home’s new kitchen. We dig it! of now there have been no long stretches of good, dry weather, so we have to cross our fingers and go for it.” When the new Blumkin Home kitchen is up and running, Mike Aparo envisions improvements beyond those in the construction blueprint. “We hope to introduce restaurant style dining with extended hours so residents can come to breakfast and other meals at their leisure,”

The long hallway of the north wing leads to resident rooms, a new dining room, kitchenette and the Home's expanded kitchen. menu,” Aparo said. “Blumkin Home residents aren’t shy about telling us what they want. So of course there are tacos on the menu now.” Aparo, together with Bair, plans to make the RBJH kitchen and its meal programs a model for other nursing facilities around the country. “The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home offers a one-of-a-kind environment,” he said, “and our kitchen will be a gem. We’re making these food and menu changes for our current residents but also for the Baby Boomers coming up. When Boomers start living in a health care setting, it will be a whole new ballgame because they have different expectations and can be more demanding. But the Blumkin Home and its kitchen will be ready.”

July 18, 2008

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

B’nai B’rith honors memory of young leader at upcoming awards luncheon

But for Jacobs, it wasn’t the position by CAROL KATZMAN B’rith Youth Organization director, and Rachel Blum, who held that position for that drew him to serve; it was the camaEditor of the Jewish Press When Adam Jacobs died suddenly on eight years, will be the featured speakers. raderie. Jacobs, who in addition to serving as “Adam had a deep affection for B’nai May 30, the shock went far beyond his family and workplace. A gregarious president of the Henry Monsky Lodge, B’rith and worked tirelessly at making it a young man, he was just as comfortable in also was president of the Mid-America great organization,” recalled Javitch. a court practicing law as he was on a court region and was honored with the Label “Indeed, how could anyone forget the playing basketball. No matter where he A. Katz Young Leadership Award, given Sukkot Sunday mornings at the JCC? was, Jacobs took his leadership roles seri- to outstanding leaders under the age of With his ‘legendary arm,’ Adam helped 40. At the ceremony in 2000, he said, build sukkahs at the Child Development ously -- but never himself. As Gary Javitch, who followed Jacobs as “It’s great to be recognized by my peers Center, the Friedel Academy and the Blumkin Home, by tossing pine boughs president of the Henry and branches to the areas n one else Monsky Lodge, said, “No could reach.” one will ever forget how Jacobs almost never came alone to prohe seemed to take everygrams like these. For the sukkah buildthing in stride. He had ing, he would bring his wife, Christine, this magnificent way and young sons, Seth and Liam. His parabout him to be able to ents, Art and Linda Jacobs, frequently look at any tough situajoined the group, along wit his Uncle tion and provide an Spencer and brother David. insightful perspective.” “When the Lodge held Membership To commemorate Appreciation Nights, it was Adam who Jacobs service and leaderbought the most creative prizes and ship, B’nai B’rith will Cornhusker mementoes,” added Javitch. unveil anew scholarship in “And who could ever overlook his memory of Jacobs and extraordinary work each year at the two other longtime sports banquet doing the seating amidst Lodge leaders -- Eddie the din of everyone clamoring for a seat Rosen and Harold up front! He and he alone took on that Cooperman, at its weekly task, yet with his typical good humor,he Breadbreakers luncheon endured the sarcasm, the jokes, and the on Wednesday, July 23, 11:45 a.m., at Regency Adam Jacobs, shown in this picture with former Husker Coach Tom complaints that ‘you’re seating us out by Lodge. (Donations will Osborne at the May 7 B’nai B’rith Sports Banquet, died suddenly the toilets!’” Jacobs made friends wherever he went. continue to be accepted at on May 30 at the age of 41. B’nai B’rith, c/o JCC at 333 So. 132, in B’nai B’rith and by the people I aspire Whether it was the 1998 B’nai B’rith St., Omaha, NE 68154; specify the hon- to follow in a leadership capacity. In the International Convention to celebrate short time I’ve contributed to B’nai Israel’s 50th anniversary, playing basketoree’s name of your choice.) In addition to honoring B’nai B’rith B’rith, it’s a good feeling to know that ball at the Pinnacle Club, or doubles tennis in his college days at the University of volunteers, Anne Muskin, incoming B’nai people recognize my work.”

Connecticut, Jacobs was a magnet for others. An attorney who had just joined the firm of Stinson Morrison Hecker six months before his death, Jacobs practiced in the areas of Intellectual Property, Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Licensing Agreements, Trade Secrets. He also was a past president of the Barristers Club. Jacobs attended the University of Connecticut and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a BSBA in mathematics; he earned a law degree from Creighton University school of Law. “Adam was always positive, always helpful,”said Steve Riekes, a longtime colleague of Jacobs in B’nai B’rith. “It’s hard to imagine sukkah building without him! He will certainly be missed.” According to his brother, David, “Adam was an organ donor to 66 recipients. Doctors used his heart valves, his ligaments and tendons, his bones for cancer patients, and even his corneas. Much like his life, where he enriched the lives of so many, so he does in his passing.” An announcement of Jacobs’ death was e-mailed to leaders of B’nai B’rith in North America from Moishe Smith (B’nai B’rith International president) and Daniel S. Mariaschin (Executive Director): “We all mourn the loss of this dynamic young leader, a true gentleman and friend, and offer sincere condolences to his family. May the memory of Adam Jacobs be a blessing.” In addition to the new fund, the Henry Monsky Lodge has donated $1000 to the Jacobs’ children’s education fund.

A community sings --

“With A Song In Our Hearts!” -- A Musical Salute to Cantor Gastón Bogomolni

Sunday, July 20 Jewish Community Center 4 p.m. Reception in the Gallery 5 p.m. Program “With A Song In Our Hearts!” Featuring a variety of musical friends & tunes

Refreshments will be served No charge to attend

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY! THANKS TO OUR DONOR FRIENDS! Bob Belgrade Carol & Steve Bloch Joanie & Richard Jacobson Sharon & Howard Kooper Allan Noddle

Patty & Steve Nogg Carol & Alan Parsow Margo & Steve Riekes Anne & Bruce Shackman Joodi & Norm Veitzer

Page 4

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 18, 2008

Third District congressman describes his first trip to Israel, meeting Olmert and discovering threat from Iran AMERICA D ECIDES 2008 by GARY JAVITCH Special to the Jewish Press

His first trip to Israel came amidst turmoil and some chaos. It was on the heels of the hostage exchange discussions and the tragic bulldozer terror attack. Perhaps for that reason, Congressman Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) came away from his visit even more impressed with Israel and its people. “The morning the bulldozer tipped over the cars, my first reaction was to alert my family members that I was okay. But Israelis go through that all the time. I just admire Israelis more and Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) visited more,” the Gering, the ruins of Capernaum, near Nebraska, native Bethsaida, two of the three remarked, “for what ancient cities, where several of they have accomplished Jesus’ apostles lived. and for what they are enduring.” Along with four other Republican congressmen, Rep. Smith (who represents Nebraska’s Third Congressional District) had just completed a six-day informational trip to the Jewish state under the auspices of the Education Foundation of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). He returned to the United States on July 2 and spoke to the Jewish Press in a 30-minute phone interview five days later. “We met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for a good hour. I was impressed with how much time he gave us. The [pending] prisoner exchange took up a dominant part of the conversation,” Smith said, referring to the proposed swap of five Lebanese prisoners and bodies of Hizbollah terrorists for the two Israeli soldiers whose abduction by the terrorists sparked the outbreak of the second Lebanon war in 2006. (On July 9, the UN formally announced the exchange agreement to be carried out in the near future.) “At the meeting, Olmert expressed great concern about the two [presumed] dead [Israeli soldiers Eldad

D E N T A L

Regev and Ehud the fence was in reducing vioGoldwasser] who were to be lence. It is very impressive returned to Israel.” how Israel remains so vibrant In addition, “The prime politically and economically minister also expressed his during all this strife. I saw appreciation of America’s how after 9/11, Americans strong ties with Israel,” Rep. held back. The Israelis did not Smith related. after their being hit by terrorDuring the trip, the group ists. Perhaps it’s because had an opportunity to meet Israelis have been used to it. with three Knesset members, But it is not normal. It is not each from a different polititoo much to ask to live in cal party. “Every official we peace.” met with expressed concern Iran and Oil Independence over Iran and its leader.” Still, with Iran seemingly Smith asked, “If [President the biggest threat to Israel Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad Overlooking Lebanon, Rep. Smith pauses in front of the bor- and, by extension, world wants to wipe out Israel now, der fence on his whirlwind six-day trip to Israel. peace, the legislator did have who will be next?” some thoughts on how to deal with Tehran. This question and the threat to Israel become starker “True negotiations are best when all the tools available in that it preceded Iran’s large-scale military exercise and are on the table. I prefer diplomacy over military action. missile tests on July 9. According to Israel’s We are currently making progress diplomatically. While Haaretz.com online newspaper, “Revolutionary Guard Iran may have crude oil and petroleum resources, they Commanders said that the nine missiles tested were do not have refining capacity. That is where we have medium and long-range weapons including some that leverage. We can keep them from fully enjoying the benare capable of striking Israel.” efits of all the oil. Isolating Iran is a productive and useRep. Smith did not have an opportunity to discuss the ful alternative. The military option should be on the Golan Heights, but his group did have a chance to heli- table, but I am hopeful that we can avoid that.” copter over the area. The possibility of giving back that Representative Smith emphasized that we need to captured territory to Syria has been the subject of con- become energy independent. We have many domestic siderable speculation since the informal peace talks sources of energy, like petroleum, hydrogen, and coal. began between Syria and Israel in Turkey.The congress- We need to tap into these resources. We can responsibly man concluded that Israel should not give up the land drill offshore and this would send a huge message that from a strategic, practical, and political view. If they do, we are not afraid to tap into our domestic sources.” he asked, “What’s next?” He added, “We now have a greater understanding of “I talked to a young Israeli family who left Gaza,” he nuclear power, but I have yet to see any friendly public continued. “They are now enduring rockets launched policy initiatives.” from an elementary school, which the terrorists are no Like all “missions” to Israel, the pace was fast and tirlonger even using as a school. Israelis are still being ing. However, Rep. Smith did get to spend three nights attacked despite the truce,” he asserted, referring to the in Jerusalem and at some holy places. June 19 agreement between Hamas and Israel which was From his Nebraska office, he reflected on the experito halt all attacks by Gaza terrorists into Israel. “Jews ence. “I have a very positive impression of Israel. The have been the most persecuted people over time. The trip was enlightening, inspiring and challenging. I see Holocaust is the most tangible evidence of that persecu- the importance of Israel defending itself in a region not tion. These rocket attacks are an extension of that.” friendly to them or us.” Because it was his first trip to Israel, the Congressman In a question about Israel’s right to exist, he observed remarked, “I learned just how tolerant the people of that “others put pressure on Israel because some want to Israel are. I saw that it is possible to live side-by-side with do whatever it takes for immediate peace. But Israel canpeople of different faiths. Israel has let it be known that not give the opposition everything they want. Israel they can tolerate diversity.” relinquished Gaza. For what? What’s next? Israel must At the same time, he noted, “I also learned how effective have the right to exist.”

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Third Limmud Omaha offers a day of learning

by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Director of Programming & Operations Center for Jewish Education The Center for Jewish Education’s “kick-off” event for its programming year will be “Telling Our Story.” The agency has announced that this third annual “Limmud Omaha: A Day of Learning” will be held on Sunday, Aug. 17, 1-5 p.m., at the Jewish Community Center. Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization at Creighton University, is again serving as chairman for Limmud Omaha. Greenspoon’s experience in developing the annual Klutznick Symposium has been invaluable in the planning process. “For those of us involved in planning Limmud Omaha, it is exciting to realize that the third installment of this annual event is at hand,” said Greenspoon. “Each year we’ve witnessed an increase in the number of those in attendance and in their enthusiasm. This year’s ‘edition’ promises to be every bit as stimulating for everyone involved. After all, what could be more rewarding that listening to the stories of others and having the opportunity to tell our own.”

The keynote speaker will be Joel Lurie Grishaver, a name well known in the field of Jewish education. He is a writer, a teacher, a cartoonist, and a storyteller. Grishaver is co-owner of Torah Aura Productions and the Alef Design Group. He co-edits four weekly publications and has authored or co-authored more than sixty books. Grishaver has degrees from Boston University and the University of Chicago and has pursued graduate studies at the Hebrew Union College and the University of Southern California. His real education comes from working with Jewish day camps, summer camps, children’s museums and youth groups, and from teaching in Hebrew schools, day schools, Hebrew high schools, and graduate schools. “Joel Grishaver has a true passion for education,” said Dr. Guy Matalon, executive director of the CJE. “He is always exploring new ways to open the world of learning to all ages. He will be excellent as the keynote speaker for Limmud and will also be a presenter at each of the afternoon sessions.” Matalon also reports that Joel will lead a teacher training session on Sunday morning for educators from the synagogue religious school, Friedel Jewish Academy, and the Pennie Z. Davis Preschool. “His caring and interest in people makes him an outstanding choice for working with the teachers of our community,” he added. Following the keynote address, the afternoon will feature three breakout sessions with attendees choosing between four presenters during each session. The 45 minute sessions will begin at 2 p.m., 3 p.m., and 4 p.m. A wrap-up session with a final presentation by Grishaver and Greenspoon will conclude the day by 5 p.m. Presenters for the afternoon sessions will include Grishaver, Susan Aizenberg, Beth Seldin Dotan, Dr. Moshe Gershovich, Gary Katz, Dr. Joan Latchaw, Dr. Tracy Leavelle, Rabbi Eric Linder, Rabbi Yitzchak Mizrachi, and Dr. Greenspoon. Each presenter will be giving his or her talk based on the “Telling Our Story” theme. “Bringing so many together from the community for an afternoon of learning is great, noted Bob Goldberg, CJE board president. “The energy created at the yearly Limmud events is incredible. I encourage everyone in the community to mark their calendars now.” Refreshments will be provided throughout the day. Babysitting, with special children’s activities is available by reservation. Limmud Omaha is presented in part with the support of the Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Fund, the Ruth Frisch and Oscar Belzer Endowment Fund, and the Gertrude and Albert Newman Endowment Fund. For additional information, please call 334.6445 or e-mail mgrossman@jewishomaha. org.

July 18, 2008

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 5

Alegent hospitals named top performers

Gallery showcases local, national artists

by MEG SHEA Hard on the heels of being recognized as a national leader in quality of patient care and topping the list of America’s hospital networks in a study conducted by The Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), Alegent Health recently announced that its hospitals have also been named top performers in a “Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services” (CMS) Premier healthcare alliance pay-for-performance (P4P) project. This project rewards hospitals for delivering higher quality care in five key clinical areas. “These two outstanding achievements reflect a commitment to the highest standard of patient care in the industry from everyone at Alegent,” observed Wayne Sensor, CEO of Alegent Health. “Three years ago, we set out to revolutionize patient care by openly reporting our quality scores and costs. We found that by doing that, our quality scores soared and patients were put in the center of all we do. These results tell me, it is clear we are living our commitment.” The CMS Premier healthcare alliance pay-for-performance project rewards individual hospitals for delivering higher quality care in five clinical areas, including acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), pneumonia and hip and knee replacement. Based on third-year results from the Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration (HQID) project, the four Alegent Health hospitals that took part in the study ranked in the top 10 percent for overall quality in the clinical areas of heart failure, pneumonia, and hip and knee replacement and in the top 20 percent in heart attack. All of Alegent Health’s hospitals’ scores were above 94 percent with most scores in the 97 to 99 percent range, including Lakeside Hospital, which is part of the project (but not eligible for monetary awards because it wasn’t open when the project started in 2004). For more information, visit www.alegent.com.

by STACIA A. LUTHER Manager Founded in 1986, the Adam Whitney Gallery has been active in the Omaha art market and beyond for over 20 years. In 2005, a major renovation was completed, which elevated Adam Whitney to the position of one of Omaha’s premier galleries. New artists, new design and innovation are constantly being discovered there. The owner and staff continually search for items that bring diversity to the gallery, making Adam Whitney a onestop shopping experience for all tastes and styles. Adam Whitney Gallery was founded by Carol Copple, interior designer and business woman. She was a dedicated and inspirational owner who paved the way for an outlet for fine art. In September 2007, Copple sold the gallery to Deborah Macdonald. At the time, Macdonald was a Houston resident who had recently retired as President of the Natural Gas Group of Kinder Morgan, a US energy company. While trained as a lawyer and business executive, Macdonald’s life-long passion has been collecting art glass and other works of fine art. Moving back to Omaha fulfilled a dream by opening the avenue of gallery ownership. The Gallery’s spacious 1,420 square foot lower level is an elegant interior that now truly showcases the fine art. Notable fine art artists that have shown work at Adam Whitney Gallery include: Phil Hershberger, Kent Bellows, Paul Otero, Susan Tinker, Mary Kline-Misol, Watie White, and Barbara Kassel. The most recent additions to the Gallery’s fine art repertoire include local artists David M. Weiss, Debra Groesser, and Helen Gloeb, along with regional artists Zack Jones and Julie Hudspeth. Open the door and walk into the Gallery to be welcomed with smiling faces and a warm hello and then immediately met with more delightful, beautiful treasures than you can imagine. Take time to peruse the upper level filled with tantalizing jewelry, the most extraordinary home décor items, and other items that make the perfect gift – for someone else or simply for you!

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 18, 2008

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Beth El, Jewish Federation team up to present ‘Sushi ’n Schmoozing on Shabbat’ by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator A special Shabbat celebration is being planned for Jewish singles in the Omaha area, as Beth El Synagogue’s 20s and 30s group and the Jewish Federation’s Young Jewish Omaha organization present “Sushi ‘n’ Schmoozing on Shabbat” on Friday, July 25, 7 p.m., at Beth El. The sushi dinner --to be prepared at Beth El by a chef from Hiro Sushi -- will take place after 6 p.m. Kabbalat Shabbat services (to which everyone is also invited); all singles from 21 to 35 are welcome to attend. According to Federation Community Development Director Janie Murow, the upcoming dinner is the first in a series the Federation is planning to co-host with each synagogue, in an effort to make connections among Jewish singles. “I’m excited about this because it’s a social

Kaufmann book makes its debut

Above: More than 100 people were on hand last week when local authors Bill Ramsey and Betty Dineen Shrier unveiled their new book: Doorway to Freedom: The Story of David Kaufmann. The project, four years in the making, tells the story of a Grand Island department store owner who rescued hundreds of his fellow Jews from Germany and certain death by Hitler’s war machine. Ben Nachman, above right, brought the idea to Ramsey and Shrier. Sponsored by the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and the Kripke Jewish Federation Library, the event took place as family and friends were sitting shiva for Mary Fellman, co-founder of the NJHS, “and how she would have loved that,” noted NJHS president Midge Bowers, right.

Quick & Kosher by Jamie Geller (Feldheim, $34.99)

READ IT AND EAT Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN

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event that also offers a Shabbat experience,” said Murow, who added that the dinner will provide a great opportunity to visit with longtime friends and meet newcomers to the community. “Many people are being drawn to Omaha for educational or professional reasons, and we’d like them to make a connection with Jewish Omaha, as well,” she remarked. Beth El’s Program Director Margie Gutnik echoed Murow’s thoughts, saying,” We’re always eager to offer creative programs that encourage people to get together. What a great opportunity to enjoy a delicious meal, form some new friendships and have some fun as you relax on Shabbat.” Cost to attend “Sushi ‘n’ Schmoozing” is $10; synagogue affiliation is not required. To make reservations, contact Gutnik at 492.8550, or at programming@ bethel-omaha.org.

Got 10 or 15 minutes to spend making kosher recipes? Come along on this adventure with a bride who didn’t know a spatula from a sauce pan, who invites you to unleash your inner balabusta, and who created this cookbook as an ode to her parents and grandparents. I think you’ll have a fun journey. Sprinkled with Yiddish here and there as she shares her route through setting up your kitchen, her “plan, plan, plan timesaving steps” for being organized say for Shabbos to the thrill of “oooh” and “ahhh” entertaining. There are 160 one-to-a-page recipes with prep and cook times, brief instructions and entertaining chapter and recipe notes. Non-Dairy Recipes for Appetizers, Soups, Salads, Fish, Poultry, Meat, Sides, Desserts and Challah (bonus recipes ‘cause they’re not quickies). Question and Answer sections cover shopping, meat, fish, wine and dairy recipes, holiday menus from Shabbos to Shavuos.

A “handy-dandy” Yiddish/English glossary ... all this and oversize lush photographs illustrate this beautifully designed cookbook from a Puff Pastry Deli Roll (5 minute prep) to the Chocolate Chip Cheesecake. Try the Chocolate Quesadillas, Cran-Apple Crunch Kugel (using a can of pie filling), even five minute Gefilte Fish, and this quick and kosher dish from the array of international flavors. BLACK BEAN AND SALSA SALMON Prep: 1 minute 6 salmon fillets, about 3 pounds 1 (16-ounce) jar prepared hot salsa 1/4 cup canned black beans, drained 1 ripe Hass avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced (optional) Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Rinse salmon and pat dry. Place in prepared pan. Mix salsa and black beans in a bowl and pour over salmon. Bake, uncovered at 350° for 25 minutes. Garnish with sliced avocado, if desired. Yield: 6 servings.

Lois Friedman can be reached at ReadItAndEat@yahoo.com.

July 18, 2008

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

IN THE NEWS Michael A. Kaufman joins CB Richard Ellis|MEGA as a Senior Associate and Legal Consultant. He specializes in commercial real estate and brokerage services, and provides strategic legal counsel on behalf of clients. Prior to joining CB Richard E l l i s | M E G A , Kaufman served as an attorney in the Omaha office of Husch Blackwell Sanders. He is licensed to practice law in the state of Nebraska and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Claire Fredricks recently earned a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Creighton University School of Law. During the last year, Claire served as the Executive Editor of the Creighton Law Review. In addition, she was a law clerk at Croker, Huck, Kasher, DeWitt, Anderson and Gonderinger, LLC, in Omaha. She will become an associate attorney with the firm upon admission to the bar. In May 2006, Claire graduated from Creighton University with a BSBA, summa cum laude. She is the daughter of Sally Fredricks and the late Terry L. Fredricks and is the granddaughter of David and Arlene Fredricks.

Seasoned sales talent Jennifer Rubin Vik has been promoted to National Sales Manager for the seven-station Omaha cluster of KQKQ-FM, KOOO-FM, KOPW-FM, KOZN-AM, KKAR-AM, KOIL-AM and KYDZ-AM. The move is effective immediately. According to AM General Sales Manager Tim Marshall, the role of

National Sale Manager is critical as it accounts for $1M+ in annual revenues for the cluster and requires one of the best talents in the business to maintain and grow national radio revenues. Although the national role will require regular travel, Vik will also maintain her presence in the local sales scene. Marshall stated, “Jennifer will continue to play an important role in developing strategies and sales programs for the cluster’s AM stations. During her tenure here, she has served hundreds of local and regional clients and has been one of the most prominent Senior Sales Executives in the state of Nebraska and we want to maximize her impact both locally and nationally.” Prior to joining NRG Media-Omaha, Vik was an Account Executive at Clear Channel Radio-Omaha for more than four years and spent six years in the marketing and public relations sector before launching her radio career. In the late 1990’s Vik was the Marketing and Production Analyst for NE Methodist Health System and prior to that, she worked as a successful Public Relations and Marketing Associate at Joslyn Art Museum for three years and Ballet Omaha from 1993-95. Six Omaha residents with diverse backgrounds, an arranger and musicians from Argentina have joined to create and release a song, “Waves of Hands.” The music and lyrics are designed to inspire the citizens of the world to help those affected by natural and man made disasters. None of the volunteers who are associated with the song are soliciting, nor expecting any revenue or income. The idea started with Andy Greenberg (a sales and marketing executive), who was asked to write the lyrics by Cantor Gastón Bogomolni, who agreed to write the music and produce the song. “I knew that Andy and his wife Carole

survived the tsunami and could carry the emotions of disaster and recovery in his words for this event and all other floods, typhoons, earthquakes and man made destruction of lives and properties. The words and music would be non-denominational, appealing to all the citizens of this planet,” commented Cantor Bogomolni. He added, “I asked my good friend Jonathan Rathsam, who holds a PhD in Acoustics and a beautiful voice (who has since moved from Omaha) to record with me using the arrangement of the song by composer Norberto Vogel of Argentina. He was joined at the piano and keyboard by fellow Argentinean musicians Oscar Kreimer who played the sax and Hernán Reinaudo on guitar.” Said Greenberg, “We also needed a back-up choir that would add spirit to the chorus and make the melody and words come alive. I found an amateur gospel trio called JRC. They are led by music director Janet Ashley, with Renita Snoddy an account assistant, and Cherrese Washington an education data technician. They immediately agreed to donate their time and beautiful voices to the CD.” “Our plan is to publish it on “Youtube” and send it out to major national broadcasters to be referred to each unfortunate time a disaster occurs,” said the cantor. “Perhaps it could be song at relief concerts, radio stations and used by charitable organizations during fund raising activities; the sheet music will also be available upon a donation,” added Greenberg. “As I am leaving Omaha for a position in Boston, I hope this song will demonstrate and remind us the impact that music can have on all of us; and that it started right here in Omaha,” Cantor Bogomolni concluded For more information, contact

Greenberg at andy.g@cox.net.

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BIRTH

Heather and Eric Jagher of Chicago announce the July 3 birth of their son, Levi Benjamin. He has a sister, Zoe Grandparents are Donna and Bob Olesh, and Ellen and Bill Jagher of Ashland, MA.

ANNIVERSARY

Jerry and Pearl Gross celebrated their 70th anniversary on June 12. Their son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Marge Gross, came in for their anniversary with their two daughters; last week, daughter and son-in-law, Andrea and Irv Green, and their children and grandchildren, celebrated with them in Omaha. Pearl Osoff and and Jerry Gross were married by Rabbi David Goldstein on Sunday, June 12, 1938, at the Blackstone Hotel. Pearl was a member of the first class at Creighton University that accepted women as students. Jerry worked for Cessna Aircraft during World War II, a subcontractor for Boeing, and later went to work for Pearl’s father, Hyman Osoff. When his father-in-law retired from the hardware business and sporting goods store, Jerry opened Regal Athletic Supply Company. It later became Regal Awards, which he sold in 1982. The Gross’ established an endowment at the Jewish Federation Foundation for the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society in 2001. Their first project was funding the “Rabbis of Nebraska” exhibit.

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Page 8

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 18, 2008

Jewish genetic screening PEOPLE OF THE

BYTE

by MARK MIETKIEWICZ

There are many times that the Internet is criticized for being a world wide waste of time. And far too often, those criticisms are completely valid. But used properly, the Internet can be a critical tool for joining communities and perhaps even saving lives. Today, a look at Jewish genetic screening. I must emphasize that although you can find a wealth of information out there, the Internet must NOT be considered a substitute for trusted medical or rabbinic experts who are familiar with your particular circumstances. Also, pay close attention to the credentials of the authors of anything you read on the Web. Not every one is a reliable or accurate source of information. “Why is this gene different from all other genes?” That’s the name of a conference that examined scientific, ethical and religious genetic issues facing Jews. Dr. Robert Pollack, a professor of biological sciences, says that advances in decoding the human genome have allowed us to develop new screening tests for genetic diseases found among Ashkenazi Jews. But those advances also open a Pandora’s Box of ethical dilemmas. (Should a couple considering marriage opt for genetic testing? What should they do if they receive heart-breaking results? Can insurance companies require genetic testing results?) The conference was organized by the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists whose website has many thought-provoking articles geared to both scientific and general audiences. [aojs.org] The Association recorded the conference and has made it available online. It is quite accessible to the layperson. Pt. 1: [tinyurl.com/ 5lu9gb], Pt. 2: [tinyurl.com/5f255s] and Pt. 3: [tin yurl.com/5rt7uq]. One of the greatest fears about genetic testing is the stigma that could occur if someone is known to be a carrier of a disease. I recommend a fascinating article in the

Jewish Homemaker magazine that looks at the Brooklyn-based organization, Dor Yeshorim. [tinyurl. com/4cyjrd] Dor Yeshorim tests young men and women before they begin to date. If both are carriers for a certain disorder, they are told their prospective union is “not advisable.” No one is told if he or she is a carrier, only that both people must look for another match. The organization was created by Rabbi Joseph Eckstein who lost four children to Tay-Sachs disease between 1965 and 1983. [tinyurl.com/4d59ve] The Dor Yeshorim method has gained wide acceptance in Brooklyn’s Orthodox community and has been credited in helping to virtually eliminate Tay-Sachs among Jews. [tinyurl.com/3n4lur] But it has also been criticized by Rabbi Moshe Tendler, a Rosh Yeshiva and Professor of Jewish Medical Ethics at New York’s Yeshiva University. [tinyurl.com/ 42un4d] Rabbi Tendler has concerns with mass screening programs since finding a genetic defect “can lead to discrimination by insurance companies, employers, and others looking to be married.” Rabbi Tendler is also quoted in a lengthy and critical article which appeared in the New Atlantis magazine titled, Eugenics: Sacred and Profane. [tinyurl.com/489r3p] There’s another article about Dor Yesharim and genetic screening on the Aish Hatorah website. But what caught my eye was the response to the piece from a woman named Lillian. She explains that after she and her fiancé were tested and found to be carriers for Tay-Sachs, they received permission from their rabbi to go ahead and use contraception during their marriage. Over the years, they went on to adopt seven children -- as well as give birth to an eighth child after an unexpected pregnancy. Lillian says she has no regrets. “It wasn’t an easy path. But nothing good comes easily. Yes, it’s easy to say goodbye [to a fiancé] because having a family might be more difficult than usual. But the rewards are far more reaching.” [tinyurl.com/4m9t75] However, the decision by Lillian and her husband to marry and use contraception in order to prevent pregnancy wasn’t acceptable to the next person to comment at the Aish site. Judith said that by choosing to adopt, a man cannot fulfill his Torah obligation to have children.

“There is only one way to fulfill this mitzvah and that is by having your own, biological children, a minimum of a boy and a girl who go on to have children of their own.” For more on this topic, check out the links at the Chicago Center for Jewish Genetic Disorders. [http://tinyurl.com/53zz79] 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 food pantries feel squeeze

by JACOB BERKMAN NEW YORK (JTA) -- Yad Ezra, which was started 18 years ago to help feed an influx of poor elderly Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union, now has a different clientele. Many are younger, working-age Jews who have lost their jobs or been blindsided by economic hardship. Two years ago, Yad Ezra served 1,000 families a month. Now it serves 1,400. Rising food costs -- 10% in the last few months alone-- are compounding the challenge. A box of groceries that cost $36.50 in January now runs $39. Organizational officials describe the situation as a perfect storm: Food prices have increased by 10-20%, gas prices have soared to more than $4 per gallon, unemployment is rising, growing numbers of Americans are losing their homes to foreclosure, and state and local governments are slashing funding for social services.

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New ‘job’ as Federation president

Continued from page 1 Growing up in Skokie included active participation at a traditional Jewish synagogue. Each Shabbat, the Lepp family would join the other congregants as they walked en masse to the synagogue to pray. Nobody drove, worked, or carried any money. “I remember davening, swaying … the entire service was in Hebrew. It was a very strict, traditional observance.” The Lepps later moved to the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, where Bob remained throughout his high school years with his parents and two sisters. Upon graduation, he left Chicago to attend the University of Iowa, after which he came to Omaha to attend Creighton Law School. It was during his Creighton years that Bob’s Bob Lepp dad came to town to play with Frank Sinatra at the Civic Auditorium. Bob would later learn that his future wife Karen (who he hadn’t yet met) was also at the show. Karen was working as an usher that night, and she has fond memories of Harry’s trombone solo. During his Creighton years, Bob clerked at Warren Zweiback’s law firm in the summer of 1976. It was here he would meet Karen Anderson, who was then working as a receptionist at Zweiback’s firm. Bob graduated from Creighton in 1978. He decided to remain in Omaha and accept the opportunity to clerk for the Honorable Robert Denney, U.S. District Court Judge for Nebraska. Bob and Karen were married in April of 1979. Karen earned a Master’s Degree in Special Education and went to work as a teacher. Knowing that she shared his love for music, Bob took Karen to Chicago after they were married to see The King and I during one of Yul Brynner’s final performances. True to tradition, the couple enjoyed the show with his dad from the orchestra pit. After his clerkship ended in 1980, Bob joined the law firm where he is a partner today. McGill, Gotsdiner, Workman and Lepp focuses on both commercial and business transactions and corporate litigation. The Lepps are members of Temple Israel and have three children, Allison, Dustin and Kelsey. In 1999 the entire family participated in the Federation’s Millennium Mission. Among the trip’s highlights were the moment Bob stood at the Western Wall and prayed with his son, and his visit to Yad Vashem’s Valley of the Communities, where he discovered the hometown of his grandparents etched in stone. Bob looks forward to returning to Israel in November, when he and Karen will attend the 60th Anniversary Mission chaired by Norm and Suzy Sheldon. “The opportunity to be in Israel on the 60th anniversary is very exciting,” he said. “Israel is an amazing country, and I can’t wait to go back.” The Lepps have been married for almost 30 years now and their children are finding their own paths. Allison, 23, is in her third year of Law School at UNL. Dustin, 21, went to Iowa Western on a baseball scholarship, but later injured his arm. He has recently enlisted in the Air Force and will soon be working in the medical field. Kelsey, 19, is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, where she is working towards a double major in child psychology and Spanish. Bob practices commercial litigation specializing in

labor, employment and health care, with an emphasis on nursing homes/assisted living. It was this expertise that led him to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. He was approached by Gene Brandt and Jerry Milder to join the Jewish Senior Services Board of Directors in the late 1980s. He remained on the board for several years, eventually taking on the role of President. Extremely impressed with the quality of care residents receive at the Home, Bob describes his efforts there as a labor of love. He credits the excellence of the staff for its outstanding reputation. “I don’t think there’s any question that the Home is top-notch and well regarded by everybody who’s had any experience with it,” Lepp explained. “It’s a tough industry, and you have to have the right people in place. We’ve been very focused on making sure we have the best staff. They should all be very proud of what they do.” Bob continues to work closely with the professionals and lay leaders of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, and he has been very pleased with the progress of the building renovation. “The renovation of the Home is icing on the cake and has been remarkable to see. This state-of-the-art facility is beyond compare, which will enable us to provide even better care for the elderly members of our community,” he added. After serving as President of JSS, Bob joined the Federation board in the mid 1990s and has been a key member of the executive committee for the past ten years. He views his move to the Federation board as a natural progression in his community involvement. “Being involved in the Federation has given me the ability to see the big picture, and it enables me to give back to the community,” Bob said. He describes the Federation’s process as collaborative. “We want everyone to be a part of the decision making process. I learned from (immediate past-president) Norm Sheldon the importance of getting everyone involved.” He explains that his years of involvement in Jewish Senior Services and the Federation has enabled him to work with many outstanding leaders. “Norm has been a mentor to me, as was Zoë Riekes before him, and I’ve also been fortunate to have worked with Howard Kooper and Forest Krutter. I’ve had a tremendous opportunity to learn from the best.” Like Bob, Karen remains quite active with work and volunteer activities. In keeping with her love of music, she recently served on the committee for the Performing Arts Series sponsored by the Jewish Federation’s Partnership with Israel program. Having left her career behind while raising their children, Karen has now resumed teaching part-time, and because of her background in Special Education, she has enjoyed volunteering for Yachad. The Lepps are big baseball fans (Bob favors the White Sox to the Cubs), and they go to Omaha Royals games as often as they can. They also both enjoy playing golf, though Bob admits he has some catching up to do before he can hold his own with Karen on the golf course. While Bob has fond memories of his Chicago childhood, he describes Omaha as having a much more supportive Jewish community. “The Chicago Jewish community is so spread out, it’s just not as cohesive as the Omaha Jewish community,” he explains. “There’s a real energy here. Everyone supports each other and we all work together to make our community a great place to live.” As always, Bob Lepp stands ready to do his part.

ORGANIZATIONS

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS The new BBYO Director Anne Muskin will be joined by outgoing director Rachel Blum on Wednesday, July 23, 11:45 a.m., at Regency Lodge, when awards will be presented to local volunteers. All men and women in the community are invited to attend. The program is free, an optional buffet lunch is $13 and beverage service only is $3 LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Come to the Yiddish meeting at the JCC on Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. For information, call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638.

YOUNG ENERGETIC SENIORS Join us on Monday at the JCC with musical entertainment by The Terry Edwards Show. Lunch is served at noon for $7 per person and the program will begin at

12:30 p.m. Join us for bingo with Miles Remer at 10 a.m. Call Teresa at 330.4272 for transportation. For information, call Maggie Conti at 334.6521. VISIONS Reminder: Luncheon Meeting is Friday, July 18, 12:30 p.m., at Caniglia’s Venice Inn. The cost of $11 per person includes lunch, beverage, tax and gratuity. Join us for special musical guest Cantor Gaston Bogomolni. Brownville Concert Series presents KT Sullivan and Mark Nadler in “Always: The Love Story of Irving Berlin” on Sunday, Aug. 24. Cost of $25 includes deluxe motor coach, admission, tax and tip. Dinner at Grisanti’s is on your own following the show. Depart from the JCC at noon and return by approximately 7 p.m. Send reservations to Rose Pitlor, 827 Dillon Dr., Omaha, NE 68132. Make check payable to Visions.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 18, 2008

Agriprocessors takes aim at government, gets boost as group drops boycott

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by BEN HARRIS charged two owners and three supervisors at a ragNEW YORK (JTA) -- An Orthodox social justice exporting company in Houston with conspiracy to hargroup dropped its boycott of the embattled kosher meat bor illegal immigrants, inducing them to come into the producer Agriprocessors, saying the company is “begin- country and engage in illegal hiring practices. ning to take significant steps” to address claims of workThose arrests follow the June 25 roundup of 166 illeer mistreatment at its plant in Postville, Iowa. gal workers at the company, Action Rags USA. Uri L’tzedek launched the action in mid-June to The Houston case bears other striking resemblances to protest reports that Agriprocessors had employed under- what unfolded in Postville: Both featured months-long age workers, tolerated an atmosphere of sexual harass- undercover investigations involving government informment and paid workers below the minimum wage. ants posing as illegal workers in an effort to gain employIn calling off the boycott, the ment. New York-based group said it Like Agriprocessors, Action Rags is was encouraged by reforms instifacing claims that it employed undertuted by a former federal proseage workers and that working condicutor hired recently as the comtions were substandard. Representapany’s compliance officer. tives of the Houston company have “In light of these early signs of denied all wrongdoing. reform, Uri L’Tzedek is no Agriprocessors also has denied the longer calling for the communicharges leveled against the firm while ty to abstain from purchasing struggling to repair its damaged pubAgriprocessors’ products,” the lic image. The company has hired the group said in a letter on July 8. high-profile public relations firm “Time will show what kind of 5WPR, and last week ran advertiseresults these reforms will yield ments in major Jewish newspapers. for the workers at The ad states that “Agriprocessors Agriprocessors.” was never faced with a government The move by Uri L’tzedek imposed recall” for food contaminarepresents the first bit of good tion. But according to a spokesman news in a while for Agriprocesfor the U.S. Department of sors, which has been reeling Agriculture’s Food Safety and since federal authorities carried Inspection Service, there is no such out the largest workplace immithing as a government-imposed gration raid in American history Aaron Rubashkin, outside his Brooklyn butcher recall. All recalls are voluntary; shop on June 3, 2008, says his Agriprocessors Agriprocessors had two last year. in Postville on May 12. More than one-third of the firm “don’t do no injustice to nobody, not to a In July 2007, the company recalled Credit: Ben Harris about 35,000 pounds of frozen beef company’s workforce was cat.” detained in the raid, including 18 juveniles. Some 300 and chicken products because the label failed to indicate employees have pleaded guilty to various forms of iden- the foods may contain a known allergen. In January that tity fraud and are facing deportation. year, the company recalled about 2,700 pounds of hot Since the raid, workers have unleashed a flood of alle- dogs due to possible underprocessing. gations against their former employer, saying they were The ad further claims that rabbinical supervisors are mistreated, sexually harassed and made to work lengthy present “in all parts of the plant, with no exception.” overnight shifts. The raid also severely impaired the That claim contradicts an account by Rabbi Seth company’s production capacity, sparking fears of a Mandel, the head of meat supervision for the Orthodox kosher meat shortage in the United States. Union, one of the supervising agencies certifying In response, Agriprocessors announced it would Agriprocessors as kosher. replace Sholom Rubashkin -- the son of the company’s According to a May 26 e-mail obtained by JTA, founder and owner -- as head of the Postville plant and Mandel wrote, “I go all over the plant when I visit, and hired James Martin, the former federal prosecutor, as its the mashgichim that work for the OU also do, but only compliance officer. into areas where meat is processed. We do not visit the According to the Uri L’tzedek letter, Martin’s reforms water treatment plant, nor the sheds where some mateinclude the creation of an anonymous tip line for rials are stored, nor houses where gentile workers live.” employees, establishing a safety department and develIn an interview with JTA shortly after the raid, Rabbi oping new safety training initiatives. Menachem Weissmandl, the head kosher supervisor, said The Uri L’tzedek announcement comes just days after his rabbinical staff supervised “every inch of that place,” the arrest of two plant supervisors on charges of aiding including non-production areas where non-Jewish workand abetting the use of fraudulent identification. Juan ers eat and change their clothes. Carlos Guerrero Espinoza and Martin De la Rosa Loera An Agriprocessors spokesman, Juda Engelmayer, said are the first supervisory workers to be charged. he believed Mandel was mistaken. A third warrant was issued for another supervisor, Hosam Amara, a 43-year-old said to be of Palestinian origin who was rumored to have fled Postville the week after the raid. To date, no charges have been brought against Agriprocessors’ owner, a Chabad-Lubavitcher from Brooklyn, or any other members of the company’s upper management. But Nathan Lewin, a prominent attorney representing the company, is accusing the U.S. government of “selective prosecution” in its targeting of the company. “The government should be asked why it picked on Agri, a relatively small meat-packing plant, to make its point about illegal immigrants working at such plants,” Lewin wrote in a statement to JTA. “This is a great injustice in light of the fact that Agri has made a major contribution to Jewish religious life in the U.S. by providing high-quality packaged kosher meats now available in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Maxine Fassberg, vice supermarkets across the country. president and general manager of Intel Israel, opened “The Orthodox Jewish community should call the Intel’s new $3.5 billion micro processing plant at the government to account for the damage it is doing by this Kiryat Gat Industrial Park earlier this month. The first selective prosecution of Agri.” Intel development plant in Israel was set up in Haifa in Under the Bush administration, federal authorities 1974, just five years after Intel was founded. Since then have escalated their crackdown on illegal workers. Israel has become a major player in Intel’s success havAccording to the Houston Chronicle, 1,755 individuing developed the company’s Centrino product and Core als were detained in May alone by U.S. Immigration and 2 Duo processor. Future production of chips at Kiryat Gat Customs Enforcement, including 389 Agriprocessors is expected to account for about 2% of Israel’s GDP. The employees. Slightly more than 3,700 illegal immigrants huge Kiryat Gat facility, known as Fab 28, will add anothhave been arrested in dozens of sweeps since last er 200 people to the current workforce of 1,800. The October, according to the federal government. California-based company now employs 6,100 people at In a rare example of company owners facing charges Credit: ISRANET all of its five Israeli facilities. related to illegal workers, federal authorities last week

Intel opens fifth plant in Israel

July 18, 2008

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

Kosher cooking school steps up to the plate in Brooklyn

by SUE FISHKOFF NEW YORK (JTA) -- On the first day of class at a new kosher cooking school in Brooklyn, 22-year-old Erica Zimmerman carefully slices raw potatoes into a stainless steel bowl. Zimmerman, a student at New York University, says she’s always been interested in cooking, but as an observant Jew only wanted a kosher school. Why learn to cook food she’d never be able to eat? That limited her options. “The only kosher cooking school is in Israel, and I can’t take off a year to go,” she says. “Then I heard about this new school on Facebook, and I jumped at the opportunity.” On Monday, the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts opened in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Flatbush. The six-week, $4,500 intensive course, run in cooperation with the continuing education department of Kingsborough Community College, is the only professional kosher cooking school in North America. According to director Jesse Blondel and founder Elka Pinson, it is the only one in the world besides the Jerusalem Culinary Institute, a 5-year-old school in Israel. Given the numbers of Jews who keep kosher and the growing popularity of upscale kosher restaurants, perhaps it’s surprising there aren’t more. It’s a tough business, says Rabbi Chaim Fogelman, a rabbinic coordinator at the OK kosher certification agency in Crown Heights. “I’ve seen many people try to get a kosher cooking school going, but this is the only one that’s gotten off the starting plate,” he says. Pinson, whose husband runs a house-

wares store on Coney Island Avenue, the D’Alessandro looks at her balefully. main shopping street in the neighbor“That’s the second time my heart has hood, has been dreaming of establishing been broken,” he says to muffled laughter. such a school for years. Last year she took All of the students keep kosher to one over the top floor of the shop and adver- degree or another. The class is about eventised for a chef/teacher on craigslist. ly split by gender, and range from a 16Blondel, a 26-year-old Brooklyn native, year-old boy to a grandmother in her 60s. responded. The kitchen manager at the Avi Roth runs a learning center for chilCulinary Center of New York, he was dren with ADD and ADHD, and enterseeking a new tains often for his position. students’ parents. Organizing His center is and directing closed in the a new cooking summer, so Roth school seemed decided to hone just the ticket. his cooking skills. “I realized “Who knows there isn’t any where it will other kosher lead,” he says. c o o k i n g Sarah Belman, a school, I’m recent graduate Jewish, and I of the University grew up not A student at the new Center for Kosher Culinary Arts in of California, far from New York City slices potatoes on the first day of classes, Santa Cruz, Credit: Sue Fishkoff dreams of openhere,” he says. July 7, 2008. Pinson and Blondel opened negotia- ing a kosher bakery in the San Francisco tions with Kingsborough, and ironed out Bay area. the details in May. That left little more “I was thinking of going to the than a month to set up the room, build Culinary Institute of America or the the curriculum and advertise for students. Cordon Bleu, but there are a lot of Thirteen people showed up this week halachic problems,” she says. for class. On the first day, they sit around Glancing furtively at D’Alessandro, a large steel table intently watching chef who has moved on to parsley, she admits, Mark D’Alessandro, the school’s main “I’m a terrible cook, but my baking teacher, demonstrate the finer techniques seems to come out OK.” of chopping vegetables. Itka Dalfen is arguably the most motiHolding up half an onion, vated student. She commutes by bus from D’Alessandro shows how to place it on her home in Toronto every week, leaving the cutting board and dice it finely by behind her seven children and husband. making several horizontal slices before “It’s only for six weeks,” she says with a chopping vertically with his chef’s knife. shrug. “There’s no machine that can do that Dalfen just took a job teaching kosher for you?” one student asks anxiously. cooking at her local JCC, and although

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she “knows how to cook,” she wants “more precision, more skills.” These are the people the school is targeting, Blondel and Pinson say. Some are looking for jobs as restaurant chefs, while others are considering food production, becoming personal chefs or just taking the course for personal enrichment. “The school is technique driven, not recipe driven,” Blondel says. Over the course of the six weeks, the students will learn basic French culinary skills, from making sauces and soup stocks to cooking the perfect omelet. They also will learn about applying kosher laws in a commercial kitchen, mainly through lectures by rabbis from the OK. And unlike other cooking schools, they’ll be able to taste everything they prepare. That’s the real advantage, Pinson says. If you keep kosher, she says, you might shell out $40,000 or more to attend the Culinary Institute of America or one of the other prestigious cooking schools, and never be able to taste what you’re learning to cook. “Then you go home, buy the ingredients, and cook and taste it there, double the work,” she says. Pinson says that’s the experience of many, if not most, of the chefs working in kosher restaurants in this country. The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts is the first step in changing that, she says, by providing professional training for the kosher cooking crowd. The center’s six-week course can only cover the basics, but it’s a start. “We’re on the crest of this new interest,” Pinson says. “Guaranteed in six months somebody else will do it, too. Good luck! It’s a lot of work.”

Page 12

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 18, 2008

A life of medicine, music, and family

tion of children pre- and post-cochlear implant surgery. by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Other research data came from deaf children and singers Medicine or music? That’s been the question for being treated in the voice clinic. Other pathologies Tamara (Tami) Field since she was a youngster growing included patients with tremors or nodules on their vocal up on an acreage in Lincoln. She loved to be involved in chords. While working at Boys Town Hospital 15 hours caring for the horses, dogs, cows and other animals on a week, Field also worked one shift a week at Midlands the property. Hospital. In addition, “Many of In 1995, Field also my family members were began working 30 hours a in the medical field. That week at the University of fascinated me.” Nebraska at Omaha as an She’s always loved assistant professor of music, too, and started music teaching voice, singing when she was vocal literature, and dicthree years old, according tion as well as private to her mother, and voice lessons. And she enjoyed singing in school loved it. performances. It was actually love Fulfilling both of her that drew her back to dreams, Field graduated Omaha in 1994. In the from Union College in late 1980s. she was Lincoln in 1984 with a involved in some court double major in voice and Tami Field and Larry Gendler enjoyed some family time with their cases from work and met nursing. From there, she sons, Nate and Max, last summer in Yosemite National Park. Larry Gendler, a juvenile accepted a position as a graduate assistant at the court judge in Sarpy County. After a long distance relaUniversity of Nebraska at Lincoln and earned a master’s tionship, they were married in October 1994 in their degree in voice in 1986. While studying at UNL, she home in Papillion. worked in home nursing. When Max, 11, and Nate, nine, were born, Field’s Unlike today, it was hard to find a job in nursing in the flexible work hours allowed her to stay home with the late 1980s so Field came to Omaha where there was boys and still practice nursing two shifts a week. “The more opportunity and accepted a position at Midlands boys both have really good pitch and like to sing,” Field Hospital. “The nurse at Midlands who hired me in crit- said, “until you ask them to!” They also play guitar. ical care became my mentor,” Field said. “I cared for adult intensive care patients,” with critical heart conditions, neurological injuries, and patients on ventilators. Field’s mentor “is one of the most compassionate leaders I’ve ever had. Her utmost concern was how the care affects the patients. They always came first.” Through the years, Field worked in the emergency department, as a nursing supervisor, and is currently manager of Midlands’ critical care department, the position formally held by her newly-retired mentor. But “music was my ultimate goal,” Field acknowledged. “Singing and nursing worked well together” for Field who returned to school in 1991 at the University of Colorado. She worked in the emergency department at Boulder Community Hospital and earned her doctorate in vocal performance and pedagogy. While an assistant to one of the voice scientists at Denver’s Center for Performing Arts, Field completed a dissertation project With best wishes, gratitude and great affection, friends of on Vocal Fold Adduction, differentiating between Beth El Cantor Gastón Bogomolni prepare to pay tribute to breathy and pressed phonation. him during “With a Song in Our Hearts: A Musical Salute to In 1994, Field returned to Omaha to work at Boys Cantor Gastón,” planned for Sunday, July 20 at the JCC. Town National Research Hospital with a voice The entire community is invited to attend the event, free of researcher concentrating primarily on measuring phona-

Field, whose favorite genres are classical and classical jazz, opera, and chamber music, sings for weddings and funerals and teaches private voice lessons in her home. She is a member of the Soli Deo Gloria Cantorum which presents professional choral performances, and she also substitutes as a cantorial soloist for Cantor Wendy Shermet and sings in Temple Israel’s choir, Kol Rina. Upon first attending worship services with Gendler, “I was perfectly comfortable at Temple,” Field recalled. “I sang with the cantor -- the first one was Erik Contzius. I loved being at Temple, but I didn’t feel like I needed to do anything formally until we decided to have a family. Then I decided to convert for myself and my family.” Field and Gendler took Derek Torah classes together in 1993. She studied with Rabbi Debbie Stiel at Temple, and when Field was eight months pregnant with Max, she went to the mikvah, the Jewish ritual bath. “It was a very moving experience.” Also an author, Field wrote The MSPI Guidebook Cookbook, which was published in 2001. Both Max and Nate suffered from milk soy protein intolerance when they were born. “There was nothing available,” Field remarked so she wrote the book and has sold more than 3,000 copies. She emphasized the importance of taking caring of oneself. “Your body is God’s gift. Take care of it, and keep life well balanced between body, mind and soul.” “I have the best of all three worlds -- family, career, and fulfillment of my dreams,” Field explained. “Family is first” followed by “knowing that I’ve meant something to someone; that I made a difference in someone’s life.”

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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July 18, 2008

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Four Israeli women on a NeuroQuest

give drug developers the feedback they need for advancby KARIN KLOOSTERMAN Ramat Gan, Israel (ISRAEL21c) -- Israeli women are ing the development of safer, more effective drugs. And the need is pressing. In America alone, there are shining as biotech entrepreneurs. A fine example of this is the new diagnostics company NeuroQuest, run by four more than 500,000 people with Parkinson’s disease women. Their mission is to detect neurodegenerative (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke 2004), while Alzheimer’s has been diagnosed in over 2.3 diseases such as Alzheimer’s using a simple blood test. Eti Yoles, the company’s co-founder and managing million people. The burden on the healthcare system is significant -director, says the fact they turned out to be an allwomen team is just a coincidence. Yoles was previously about $100 billion a year in the US, as is the trauma of the VP of R&D at Proneuron, an Israeli company devel- such diseases on individuals and loved ones. Accelerating drug development oping a treatment against spinal cord injury. NeuroQuest’s simple blood test is based on a decade Based on the research of Prof. Michal Schwartz from of Prof. Schwartz’s research. the Weizmann Institute of She’s discovered that aspects of Science (co-founder and the immune system (necessary scientific advisor at for staving off neurodegeneraNeuroQuest), “The scientive diseases), are not working tific basis of the company as they should, and eventually is a unique approach,” lead to disease. Yoles tells ISRAEL21c. The immune system leaves “We are characterizing traces of its health in the form the immune system and of biomarkers, which hold seeing changes over information about how the time,” she says. immune system is functioning. Based on biomarkers, It is possible to detect such NeuroQuest’s early diagmarkers in the blood. nostics tool could be ready in as early as four On a mission to introduce early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s: Esti Having found a way to “read” what the immune system is sayyears, and could become Adan (left), and Eti Yoles of NeuroQuest. an attractive tool for pharmaceutical developers. ing, NeuroQuest plans to create a profile of the immune Working on drugs against Alzheimer’s and other neu- system to be used for diagnostic purposes, and for recrodegenerative diseases, developers could determine ommending the best possible therapy. Until that happens, there will be a few milestones to quickly if their drug candidate may have an effect over time or not, and how it might work on people with early pass, including clinical studies to validate selected biomarkers in Alzheimer’s patients. The first study is stage neurodegenerative diseases. planned for this month. Market needs early diagnostic test Residing inside the Misgav Venture Accelerator, Currently there are no objective tests for early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, NeuroQuest also received seed money from Israel’s Parkinson’s and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) on the mar- Office of the Chief Scientist. Today the women are lookket. A patient is only diagnosed by clinical symptoms ing for an investor. They plan on raising $500,000 to pass when they’ve reached an advanced stage of the disease. over milestones quickly. “Hopefully a woman investor,” Early diagnostic tools such as NeuroQuest’s could give adds Esti Adan, the VP of business development. doctors an opportunity to intervene with new therapies, Karin Kloosterman is the Associate Editorial and at the very least allow a patient to prepare for the Director of ISRAEL21c, a media organization focusing future. Furthermore, an early diagnosis, says Yoles, could on 21st century Israel.

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TIME OUT by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

It’s 10 p.m.; dinner is long over; the mess is cleaned up and all the disheare done. My husband and I are watching the late news. We do our usual complaining about the weather forecast (is it ever not too hot or too cold in Nebraska?) and discuss the day’s events. Although I am not knitting and my husband does not smoke a pipe, we present a picture of domestic bliss. With one exception: he’s still here. Have you ever heard the expression about Fish and Visitors only staying pleasant for three days? It’s also true for children who refuse to go to bed. Now, my daughter usually goes to bed at a decent hour. She might go and visit the bathroom three or four times after she’s supposed to have gone to sleep. Sometimes she’ll come out, claim that she’s “absolutely starving” and request a three-course meal. When this happens, we are, of course, sympathetic but firm. We calmly and sweetly explain that this is not possible (“No! Go to bed!”), after which she stomps back to her room and eventually falls asleep. Voila: mission accomplished. With our son, things are not that simple. To him, sleep is a hateful thing, much worse than potty training or, say, a bris. After he takes a bath, a healthy screaming fit ensues. He doesn’t want to come out of the tub. We are bigger and stronger, plus there’s two of us, so it only takes us 10 minutes to chase and capture the wet and

screeching little goblin and bring him into his bedroom. After all this running he’s been air-dried, which is pretty handy. We then dress him and make “story-time”. This has nothing to do with actually reading a book. It means lying on his bed (without touching his red pillow, the red pillow is off-limits), and giving in to his demands to be tickled senseless. We get tired of that pretty quickly and wish him goodnight. You guessed it, he yells at us a bit, then follows us downstairs. He takes out all the toys I’ve meticulously cleaned up, jumps on the couch some, and tries to strangle one of us. He wants to eat weird combinations of food which he takes out of the fridge himself (Lox with applesauce, anyone? It’s better rubbed in the carpet!), after which he eventually falls asleep on the couch. If we try to move him too soon, he’ll wake up again, and we can start over. The other day, my husband said: “I wonder what he would do if we just left him there.” I told him that he’d eventually fall off the couch and hit his head against the coffee table. “So what you’re saying is we should move the coffee table and put down some pillows?” Well, that’s one option we might be tempted to try some day. It wouldn’t be convenient, though: he would have to climb the stairs in semi-darkness, whereas if we put him in his bed, he can just walk the three steps down the hall in order to climb into bed with us. Because that, you guessed it, is where he wants to sleep.

Annette Van de Kamp-Wright is a freelance writer and a new member of AJPA. She can be reached at: avandekamp@tconl.com.

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July 18, 2008

Feeling exhausted lately?

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BERT’S EYE VIEW by BERT LEWIS It occurs to me this might provide some differences of opinion, depending on the age of the people discussing. For example, a very young person might say, “How come we have to talk about this?” but a more mature person might say “Let me tell you about my recent close call!” See what I mean? Having reached an age where I count one of my greatest achievements the ability to call myself an octogenarian without stammering, you know where I stand. While I don’t appreciate all the jokes, I don’t find a lot of comedy material in the business of staying well and healthy. Or of keeping my room mate in that same category. But it’s a necessary job we all have, like it or not. And depending on personality, it can be far from the most fun to practice. An example? Let me introduce the word exercise to this discussion. In my experience, there are only a few types of people who take that word seriously. One, is the health nut who reads and believes every word on the subject and two, the one who says, “I really should, but maybe later.” Then there’s another kind, a bit more obscure. A dear friend of mine was urged by her doctor to begin an exercise program. Her idea was to search diligently for somebody she might hire, to do her exercises for her. A surrogate, so to speak. Up to now she hasn’t been successful, but you have to admit, it’s a great idea. Staying well is something we all do without paying a lot of attention, like breathing. Good sense plus constant hocking from the nutrition police, tells us lots of fresh vegetables and fruit are better than deep fried naughty stuff, right? And when we lost that 20 pounds, we learned substituting a little fish or chicken for the steak was smart, yes? So it isn’t like we don’t know what we’re supposed to do -- it’s just not always easy to do the right thing. And it isn’t always fun either. That’s especially true if, like me, you were raised to know you were lucky to have plenty and to “eat everything on your plate.” Some of us may remember being told about starving children in places we never heard of, but nobody explained the correlation of that. You probably remember suggesting to your parents that you mail the food there. Wait, what about enough rest every night? Did the expert on sleep have cable tv? Surely a person couldn’t be expected to go to bed early enough for an eight hour night if Casablanca was coming on at 11 p.m. That doesn’t compute, unless of course, the old movie fan is

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equipped with all the modern marvels that allow viewing whenever most convenient. I can find an argument there however, because it seems to me, most who might be interested in a 50-year-old movie would likely be senior citizens, and lots of them/us don’t know beans about those “modern marvels.” So if we know all this stuff about what we should do or not do, how come so many are spending most of their retirement days running (make that just “going”) to the doctor? And how come you see so many walking with canes? And could anyone begin to count how many say “no, I can’t eat sweets”? Or could you count the ones who have turned into vegetarians altogether after being told to stop eating this or that? If we are so well indoctrinated in the best direction to good health and wellness, how come so many of us are less than perfect physical specimens? Is it that we drive when we should walk, or that we say “yes, I’ll have just one more” when we should say “no thanks.” Or maybe it’s because we make a joke of exercising .. like the woman who says, “Everyone nags me about joining a health club. Ok, I did. Now they want me to go!” Maybe it’s our air, which is less than pristine in many places these days. Where the air was formerly recommended for people with lung problems, often now there are warning to “stay indoors” on bad air days. No, I’m not a tree hugger, but I do think we’ve fouled up what formerly was clean and free. Health and wellness. Hmmmm. That’s where we started isn’t it? Reminds me that some time ago, in this space, I said that our mothers kept us healthy children with only three things: Mercurochrome, cod liver oil and milk. Of course I was talking about a time before Band-Aids for crying-out-loud, and I wasn’t entirely serious. At one time I think it was easier to live a healthier lifestyle. When we hadn’t yet been inundated with so much junk food and drink, we walked those 10 or more blocks, rather than drove; we played harder and worked harder, so we got more rest because we needed it. So here we are in 2008, living a pretty darn good life, even if the ice cream we eat is “sugar free and reduced fat” (and tam). Look around at how many people celebrate birthdays of 100 years and more. That’s hardly even a surprise anymore. We must be doing something at least partly right. Personally, I’m due to see my doctor soon, and I’m hopeful she’ll think I’ve been behaving. Of course, under that starched white coat is a size six perfect figure, so what does she know? Yeah, she no doubt does know -- otherwise would she even be a size six? I just have a couple of last words on the subject. I was taught by my dad when I was a little girl, to say goodbye or good night to my grandparents with a kiss and the words zie gezunt. I guess that still works, so let me give you the same suggestion. Zie gezunt. Bert Lewis can be reached at BertLewis39@aol.com.

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Health and wellness: a hot topic

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 18, 2008

NIH renews grant of nearly $11 million for UNMC biomedical researcher

by LISA SPELLMAN UNMC Public Affairs A researcher at the University of Nebraska Medical Center recently received renewal of a $10.9 million Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant is one of the largest UNMC has received. The grant is a reflection of the success of seven junior investigators at UNMC who, through the support of the CoBRE grant, have obtained their own RO1 grants from the NIH, said Peggy Wheelock, Ph.D., principal investigator of the grant. “The CoBRE grant we received in 2003 has helped us strengthen biomedical research infrastructure in Nebraska, as well as establish a multi-disci- Peggy Wheelock, Ph.D. plinary thematic center that enhances the research of the investigators involved as evidenced by the success of these seven junior investigators,” Dr. Wheelock said. When you’re a new investigator, having just one person to ask for suggestions about the complicated world of grant writing is helpful. Having two high profile researchers as your mentors for five years is unheard of. But that is exactly the winning formula Dr. Wheelock, Ph.D., said helped those seven junior investigators obtain their own funding. "Teaching one how to be a successful, productive scientist

is not a trivial task,” said Paula Turpen, Ph.D., director of research resources at UNMC. “The fact that three of the CoBRE mentors (Robert Lewis, Ph.D., Peggy Wheelock, Ph.D., and Keith Johnson, Ph.D.) have been recognized as UNMC Distinguished Scientists in the past two years only confirms the quality of the Center for Cell Signaling mentors. There is no doubt that the seven new NIHSteve Caplan, Ph.D. funded junior faculty will continue to benefit from the guidance they received while participating in the CoBRE program.” Dr. Wheelock, who is a professor of oral biology, UNMC College of Dentistry, is the director of the Nebraska Center for Cellular Signaling, which was established in 2003 with the initial CoBRE funding. The center focuses on the study of cell signaling and involves multidisciplinary collaboration between researchers. Researchers from UNMC, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Creighton University Medical Center, lead five research projects within the grant. Each project involves the study of cellular signaling with a focus on its role in producing tumors. “The grant has allowed us to bring together outstanding junior and senior faculty with similar interests, which greatly enhances the science knowledge and opportunities for collaboration,” Dr. Wheelock said.

One objective of the renewed funding will be pilot projects to further encourage and support collaborative, multi-disciplinary projects, she said. Steve Caplan, Ph.D., assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, is one of seven researchers who is now working with his own funding because of the support he received through the CoBRE grant. Dr. Caplan joined the grant in 2004 when Dr. Wheelock selected him for a pilot project. He was later asked to become a project leader and was paired with two mentors. Dr. Caplan’s area of study is in protein trafficking, how it gets from place to place in the cell. While it is basic research, he is collaborating with other researchers who are studying specific protein receptors and want to better understand how proteins move around. “Hopefully this helps them better understand their research,” Dr. Caplan said. Dr. Caplan said he continues to maintain a connection to Dr. Wheelock and the CoBRE grant, even though he no longer qualifies as a CoBRE project leader since obtaining his own funding. “I try to help out as much as I can with the new investigators coming in, because I believe in what Dr. Wheelock is doing. She is an incredible role model, who puts in a huge amount of time on this, and still maintains her own lab, all the while worrying about what everyone else who is involved with the grant is doing,” he added. “She is amazing.” UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $80 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,400 highly skilled jobs in the state. For more information, visit: www.unmc.edu.

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Services, Living Options, Senior Services, and This edition, covering 2008-2010, will be Government, Financial and Legal. It also available Aug. 1. It can be purchased at Care includes an index of services and companies Consultants for the Aging, 7701 Pacific St., for easier use. Omaha, NE 68114 for $6 or by sending a check The handbook is updated every two years or money order for $9 to have one mailed to and available for both the Omaha and Lincoln you. areas. It is donated to area social workers, The fifth edition of the Lincoln ElderCare medical professionals, pastors, human Resource Handbook for 2007-09 is also offered resource professionals, police officers, and at this time. Both are currently available online facilities as well as sold to the general public at at www.careconsultants.com by clicking on an affordable rate. the “Resource Handbook” tab. PAID ADVERTISEMENTS

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An Israeli scorpion set to improve spinal implant surgery

by KARIN KLOOSTERMAN “dynamic� and “fusion� implants, will be particularly The mere mention of a scorpion sends shivers up the attractive to patients suffering from scoliosis, a congenispine -- but an Israeli company, Scorpion Surgical tal defect which results in curvature of the spine and Technologies, has created a new device that could give which can lead to pain and extreme deformity if not scorpions some good PR for a change. treated. The company has developed a bone attachment system Normally more common in women, scoliosis can also that circumvents the previous limitations of today’s develop as a secondary symptom to cerebral palsy or spinal implant operations, giving patients improved spinal muscular atrophy. spinal motion and surgeries that could last a lifetime. With a prototype now being tested in Europe, Addressing the spinal implant surgeries market, esti- Scorpion expects its technology to start clinical trials by mated at $5 billion a year Q1 next year. They plan globally, Scorpion has for their technology to be developed a new available to orthopedic orthopaedic and spinal surgeons within 2 years. anchoring implant. Its Company co-founders implant and method is include entrepreneurs Dr. expected to produce better Asaf Ben-Arye from the results for the 300,000 Technion-Israel Institute spinal fusion procedures of Technology, Yuval performed each year in the Shezifi, also from the US to treat degenerative Technion; Ilan Grunberg, disk disease or scoliosis. It a biomedical specialist who could open up new possihas worked for companies bilities for “dynamic fixasuch as GE Medical tion� surgeries as well. Systems; and Dr. Nissim Doctors normally treat Ohana, head of the Spine patients with spinal Unit at the Rabin Medical injuries and congenital Center in Tel Aviv. defects by fusing verteAs for the company’s brate with devices and name -- of course it was springs held down with inspired by scorpions -straight screws. This says Arnon Epstein, the method limits motion and company’s chief engineer, the screws are prone to a graduate from Tel Aviv coming loose over time. University. Epstein says Sometimes these straight the technology - which screws even fall out, doesn’t yet have an official explains Steve Rhodes, the name - resembles the CEO of the Misgav shape of a scorpion. Venture Accelerator, an Some 300,000 spinal fusion procedures are performed every Not only does it offer a Israeli incubator investing year in the US. superior solution to the in Scorpion’s technology, who spoke to ISRAEL21c at current problems with today’s implants, he adds, it could Israel’s annual Biomed convention in Tel Aviv. prove to be a less invasive solution as well. “Generally This is especially true in “dynamic fixation� spinal speaking it might be less invasive,� he says cautiously, operations that intend to preserve spinal motion, he says. typical of scientists in the biotechnology field. But for “We’ve developed a curved implant that is implanted treating scoliosis, this could very well be true, he surmiswith a curved drill,� says Rhodes. “The result is an es. implant that pulls together vertebrate in a triangular shape which is “strong and resistant to vibration and Karin Kloosterman is the Associate Editorial loosening.� Director of ISRAEL21c, a media organization focusing Scorpion’s new technology, which can attach both on 21st century Israel.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Oral piercings can lead to tooth loss

by ISRAEL21C STAFF A pierced tongue may be the height of cool in some teen circles, but a new study by Israeli researchers suggests that skin piercings in the mouth may lead to an increased risk of oral health problems and even tooth loss. The researchers from the School of Dental Medicine at Tel Aviv University (TAU), found that about 15-20 percent of teens with oral piercings are at high risk of both tooth fractures and gum disease. The resulting tooth fractures, combined with periodontal problems can lead to anterior (front) tooth loss later in Piercings cause repeated trauma to the teeth warns life. High rates of fractures due Dr. Liran Levin, of Tel Aviv to piercings are not found in University. other age groups, and cases of severe periodontal damage in teens without oral piercings are also rare, says Dr. Liran Levin, a dentist from TAU’s Department of Oral Rehabilitation, who conducted the study with partners Israeli army dentists Dr. Yehuda Zadik and Dr. Tal Becker. Today, 10 percent of all New York teenagers have some kind of oral piercings, compared to about 20 percent in Israel and 3.4 percent in Finland. Dr. Liran and his team carried out their initial study on 400 young adults aged 18-19. A review by Drs. Levin and Zadik published in the American Dental Journal late last year is the first and largest of its kind to document the risks and complications of oral piercings,

drawing on research from multiple centers in America and across the world. “There are short-term complications to piercings in low percentages of teens, and in rare cases a piercing to the oral cavity can cause death,� Dr. Levin says. “Swelling and inflammation of the area can cause edema, which disturbs the respiratory tract.� He also warns that the most common concerns tooth fracture and periodontal complications - are long-term, and can even lead in rare cases to death. “There is a repeated trauma to the area of the gum,� says Dr. Levin. “You can see these young men and women playing with the piercing on their tongue or lip. This act prolongs the trauma to the mouth and in many cases is a precursor to anterior tooth loss.� The study was based in Israel, and researchers questioned teens with piercings and without, asking them about their oral health, knowledge of risk factors associated with piercings, and about their piercing history, before conducting the clinical oral exams. Ironically, Dr. Levin notes, the youngsters who opted for oral piercing were very concerned about body image, but seemed to be unaware of the future risks such piercings can cause. According to Dr. Zadik the best advice a parent can give a teen who wants a mouth piercing is to tell them to avoid it altogether. If your teen is insistent, however, then he warns that it is essential that piercing tools are disposable, and that all other equipment is cleaned in an on-site autoclave to help reduce infection. After the procedure, he says the area should be rinsed regularly with a chloroxidine-based mouthwash for two weeks. And don’t play with the piercing, he warns. It should be cleaned regularly, and dental check-ups performed regularly.

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July 18, 2008

A coup for Hebrew U.: Gates to accept award

by JACOB BERKMAN from a Jewish or Israeli NEW YORK (JTA) -organization. Usually a “mazel tov” would “We have been talking for go to the person being hona long time about creating ored, but this week the the award and giving the American Friends of the award,” Willner said. “But Hebrew University is acceptwe recognized that if we ing congratulations for congave the award, it would be vincing one of the world's given infrequently because it richest men to accept an has to go to an individual award. that has not only changed Microsoft founder Bill the world in terms of what Gates will receive the inauthey have done in changing gural Einstein Award, the their own industry, but in American fund-raising arm changing humanity.” of the Hebrew University in Only Gates was considered Jerusalem announced last to be the first recipient of week. the award, which has been in The award, which will be the works for six years, presented to Gates in Willner told JTA. December at a gala dinner in American Friends, which New York, is named for raises about $60 million Albert Einstein, who helped annually for Hebrew found the university. It will University, was in discusbe given only rarely to those sions with Gates for about a who have made a significant year and a half before he impact on humanity, accordaccepted the award. ing to the organization’s Ultimately, according to executive director, Peter Willner, Gates decided to Willner. attach his name to the uniAmerican Friends officials Bill Gates has decided to accept the inaugural Einstein versity because of its vast say this is the first time that Award from Hebrew University because of its research in sus- work and research in sustainGates is accepting an award tainable agriculture. Credit: Lori Tingey/Creative Commons able agriculture.

Whereas the Rockefeller Foundation was perhaps the most influential charitable foundation in the 20th century, many observers of the philanthropic scene these days are pointing to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Since its launch in 1994, the foundation has given away more than $16 billion. And its efforts appear only likely to increase, with Warren Buffet announcing in 2006 that he would donate some $30 billion of his wealth to the foundation. Gates stepped down last month from his job at Microsoft to work full time at the foundation. The vast majority of the foundation’s money has gone to health and humanitarian projects in the developing world. In January, the foundation gave $875,242 over three years to Hebrew University to develop novel methods for controlling mosquito vectors of malaria and other diseases, according to a database of grants on the foundation website, www.gatesfoundation.org/. Proceeds from the dinner will help fund cutting-edge plant and animal science research at the Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences in Israel. “We are honored that The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the American Friends of the Hebrew University have chosen Bill Gates as the recipient of the first-ever Einstein Award,” the Gates Foundation told JTA in an e-mail statement. “Both Bill and Melinda believe deeply that all lives have equal value and began their foundation to help ensure that inequities are reduced in the United States and throughout the world.”

Canadian doctors excited by new stem cell therapy

by JANICE ARNOLD Canadian Jewish News TORONTO -- A “big step forward” in the potential treatment of incurable disease by genetically modifying the patient’s own stem cells was announced by doctors at the Jewish General Hospital (JGH) last month. Hematologist Dr. Jacques Galipeau and cardiologist Dr. David Langleben reported what Langleben termed “absolutely fabulous” results after the experimental treatment on two Quebec volunteers with the rare, progressive lung disease, pulmonary hypertension. The clinical study, sponsored by the Canadian Stem Cell Network and involving St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, was described as unique in the world, both for its manipulation of the stem cells and for the large number of cells administered to the patients, with no ill effects. The primary focus of the trial at this stage was to establish the procedure’s safety, said Langleben, director of the JGH’s Centre for Pulmonary Vascular Disease. The

positive effect that was observed in both patients’ health was a bonus that astonished the scientific team. The doctors are not claiming a cure, but Langleben said the treatment appears to have halted the progress of the disease. Doctors observed an almost immediate drop in the pressure in the tiny arteries in the patients’ lungs by 10 to 15 per cent, “which is not insignificant,” he said. Moreover, the flow of the blood through the arteries did not increase, which is sometimes an undesirable reaction when resistance is reduced. “Yes, this is still at the very, very early stage, but we have nothing else to offer patients," Langleben said. “But to see something work so quickly and effectively is incredibly encouraging.” The first patient treated, Lucie Moison, now 45, has had the disease for 13 years and was on the waiting list for a lung transplant before she underwent the stem cell procedure a year ago. She said she felt no ill effects from the treatment, an injection of seven million stem cells, and almost immediately felt much better than she had in

years. She even played a game of tennis. That initial burst of health lasted only a couple of weeks, but the mother of two continues to enjoy an improvement over her previous condition. The doctors describe her condition as stable, a major victory in a disease that is progressive and debilitating. Three months ago, Yvan Depatis, 72, received 23 million stem cells and reported that he also felt a sudden sense of well-being upon treatment, which levelled off, but he is still in much better condition than he was. “If I walked 100 metres, I was done in,” he said. Despatis, an engineer, was working in Ethiopia when he started feeling unwell, his main complaint being shortness of breath. Throughout the stem cell experiment, the patients continue to receive conventional therapy, which primarily alleviates symptoms. Moison and Despatis wear portable devices that automatically deliver their medication via catheter to the heart. Continued on page 19

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July 18, 2008

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

New stem cell therapy

Jews and Arabs lead the turnaround

Continued from page 18 The JGH team, led by Galipeau, built upon the work of Dr. Duncan Stewart, CEO of the Ottawa Health Research Institute. He invented a technique for genetically modifying the stem cells of rats, which he was able to cure of pulmonary hypertension. Trials involving two human patients in Toronto were also conducted, but using lower stem cell doses, said Galipeau, a leading researcher with the Stem Cell Network. The JGH team collected the stem cells from the patients’ white blood cells, Galipeau explained. The cells were processed in a special sealed laboratory in the JGH’s Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, where staff could be observed cloaked from head to toe in outfits resembling space suits to ensure sterility. The shape of the cells was first changed by adding protein hormones. Then synthetic DNA was introduced into them. They were electrically shocked which had the effect of re-programming the cells to produce nitric oxide, something that they do not do naturally. The modified cells were then put into a syringe and gradually administered over three days to the patients through the neck, in ever-larger doses, under very close monitoring. The cells lodged in the lung releasing the nitric oxide, which relaxes the arteries, thereby lowering the pressure, and may also stimulate the repair and regeneration of the blood vessels there, Galipeau said. Galipeau said there are a thousand studies going on around the world on the therapeutic potential of stem cells, but “genetically engineering the cells is unique [to this study].” Elsewhere, “they are just cleaned up, so to speak, not manipulated, before being injected.” The ultimate goal, of course, Langleben said, is to find a treatment that will reverse the disease, or even cure it. This may be at least five years away. It will take time because of the rigorous standards set by Health Canada and the availability of funding, he said. The team has now submitted a funding proposal to the federal authorities to treat people who have had heart attacks with a similar procedure. “This is the tip of the iceberg,” Galipeau said of the treatment’s potential.

by GAIL LICHTMAN (IPS) -- Six years ago, if someone had told Shoshana Bhodana, a shy mother of two from Tel Aviv’s disadvantaged Florentine neighborhood, that she would one day be a community activist who would successfully take on City Hall, she would have laughed out loud. Yet this is exactly what Bhodana has become thanks to a JewishArab organization called Mahapach-Taghir. Mahapach-Taghir, whose name means a 180º turnaround in both Hebrew and Arabic, was founded in 1997 as a non-profit organization. Working for a just Israeli society with equal socio-economic and educational opportunities for all sectors, Mahapach-Taghir has developed a Jewish-Arab youth leadership model working to minimize educational and social gaps, develop local leadership and encourage social awareness, involvement and personal responsibility.

JEWISH PRESS EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE The Jewish Press office will be closed Monday, Sept. 1, for Labor Day. The deadline for all ads, articles and photos for the Sept. 5 issue is Wednesday, Aug. 27, 9 a.m. All board lists for the New Year’s issue are due by Monday, Aug. 25. Lists of births, deaths, marriages and B’nai Mitzvahs are due by Friday, Aug 29; and all synagogue schedules for Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah services for the week of Sept. 26 are due no later than Sept. 2.

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Arab women from the village of Tamra in the Western Galilee meet as part of the Mahapach-Taghir program to discuss health issues of concern to the community. Credit: IPS This is being achieved by working with local residents, particularly with children, youth and women, in seven communities throughout Israel, among them the Arab towns of Tamra and Yaffia. Here, Arab and Jewish students are involved in the communal work, run programs and often even live in the communities themselves. “The heart of each and every Mahapach-Taghir community is the Learning Community,” explains Mahapach’s acting co-director Liron Azulai. “This program provides children and youth with free pedagogical tutoring and social activities. In return and as part of our goal to advance social involvement and personal responsibility, we require the communal involvement of the children and their parents.” About 600 children and their families and some 200 students are involved. The program also runs a reading project for teaching literacy skills to children and adults, a community gardens project, groups for youth and women, projects to develop economic independence, community action days, and steering committees and action committees

Page 19

involving local residents. Two student seminars are organized each year where Jewish and Arab students acquire tools that support their pedagogical work and encourage their community involvement. “These national seminars are very important,” says Amani Diab, a student at the University of Haifa and a Mahapach-Taghir coordinator in Tamra, an Arab town in Western Galilee, Omaha’s Partnership with Israel region. “Throughout the year, we each work in our own individual communities. We learn a lot from one another. Students from other communities, for example, have encountered some of the same problems I am facing in Tamra. I see how they deal with these situations and this helps me to relate to them in new and different ways.” But it is the people in the community and the change the program has brought about in their thinking and actions that sets the organization apart. No one illustrates this change better than Shoshana Bhodana. Bhodana remembers the day a Mahapach-Taghir student coordinator came to her home and asked if she would like to send her eight-year-old daughter to a program of free, after school tutoring and social activities. “I was a little suspicious,” Bhodana recalls. “I was brought up to believe that there is no such thing as a free lunch. I asked what I had to do in return. The coordinator said I had to volunteer in the community for two hours a month.I had no idea what volunteering was, so I said I’d bring cookies!” After a few weeks, Bhodana noticed a positive change in her daughter -- she seemed happier and more socially involved with other children. She was also doing better in school. Bhodana decided to go to the MahapachTaghir center to see what was going on. “I only meant to stay a few minutes but I ended up staying the entire afternoon,” she says. “I found myself teaching the Jewish and Arab children drawing techniques and I went back the next week.” After a while the coordinator asked Bhodana if she would like to attend a group he was setting up of neighborhood women. “At first I felt awkward. I had lived in the neighborhood for some 20 years but had kept pretty much to myself. I didn’t even know most of the neighbors in my building,” she responded. Nevertheless, Bhodana went. She wanted to go back the next week but her husband objected. “I decided not to go, but I felt miserable. The next week I decided to go no matter what. My husband was in shock. It was the first time I had ever stood up for myself.” After a year and a half, Bhodana joined MahapachTaghir’s national board and then became its chair. “Mahapach-Taghir changed my life. I was someone who felt she was nothing. Today, I know that I am worth something and my opinions count. I am not afraid of the authorities. The organization taught me to stand up for my rights and for the rights of the Jews and Arabs.”

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 18, 2008

Let the Games begin! The Olympics, that is. It’s just too hot this week, so we’re taking a break from political games and instead concentrating on something fun for a change. We begin this week with a JTA story about how athletes from the former Soviet Union are changing the sports scene in Israel. While this isn’t new (many readers can recall the pairs skaters from the FSU who made it to the finals at the Winter Olympics two years ago), the fact is that nearly 20 years after the the failure of the communist country, the arrival of nearly a million Jews in Israel is still having an affect on life. JTA will follow up with more stories about both Israeli athletes and Jewish athletes participating in the Olympic Games, which open Aug. 8 in Beijing. But even “fun” comes with a price. Immediately following the Olympic swimming trials right here in Omaha, reader Ann Moshman forwarded an article that appeared in the Kansas City Star daily newspaper. In the opening paragraph, Jason Whitlock, writes, “A white Jewish mother 12 days older than I is the star of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, and the American media are treating her like she’s Barry Bonds.” Huh? While most of us didn’t even know Torres was Jewish, why is that germane to her abilities as a swimmer? (Her father was Jewish; she underwent a conversion in order to marry her second husband, Dr. Iza Shashash, whom she later divorced.) The website article was “corrected” to read:

“A middle-aged mother ...” after Whitlock’s opening line was pointed out to the paper as offensive. But Whitlock didn’t stop there; he continues with: “How does a 41-year-old mother of a toddler return from a six-year retirement, recover from back and knee surgery and swim faster than she ever did as a teenager or twentysomething? “Oh, and why is she sucking down asthma medication, which can help build lung capacity?” To be fair, Whitlock later reveals that it is fan (and media) cynicism that revels in Torres’ victories, while at the same time making jokes about steroid use and the possibility that having a baby in her late 30s “threw her body out of whack in a good way.” Yeah right. He redeems himself by noting that “The whole thing is sad. All of our superheroes (sic) are fictional characters now. Even the real ones ... we sully their reputations with lies and exaggerations.” And yes, we understand that Whitlock’s piece is opinion and it’s about sports, but his opening line still feels like a punch in the gut. As one reader comment noted on the KC Star website, “what does White and Jewish have to do with the problem of doping or not? Mother, OK, age OK, Question doping in this day and age, OK, but why White and

Jewish? I have never seen your columns start Black, Christian.” Maybe white Jewish women should take this description as a compliment. Multi-tasking working moms who serve in high-level volunteer positions while managing an orderly, efficient household. So either they’re on steroids -- or, Mr. Whitlock, they’re just extremely competent. Superheros, anyone?

Jewish Press Board Michael Sigmond, Vice President; Stan Mitchell, Secretary; Michael Siegel, Treasurer; Howard K. Marcus, Immediate Past-chairman; Andie Gordman; Michael Kaufman; Bette Kozlen; Susan Lehr; Jamie Meyerson; George Quittner; Andy Ruback; 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. Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service/Jewish Senior Services, and the Jewish Press . Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, 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.

The missing ethic

FOCUS ON ISSUES by RABBI AVI SHAFRAN A reader asks why I haven’t seen fit to address ethical concerns raised by news reports about a kosher slaughterhouse/meatpacking concern in Postville, Iowa that was the subject of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in May, during which hundreds of illegal immigrant workers were arrested. He is right to chide me, especially since one ethical concern -- perhaps the most important one -- has been all but ignored by press and pundits. The company, Agriprocessors, has been in the news before. In 2005, an animal rights group secretly recorded scenes of unusual post-slaughter procedures that appeared inconsistent with animal welfare and asked the local District Attorney to open an investigation. He declined to do so. Nonetheless, Agriprocessors immediately changed its methods. Subsequently, renowned animal expert Dr. Temple Grandin declared her satisfaction with the changes, and the plant received excellent grades in five independent audits. Then there were other charges over several years by local authorities of violations of environmental and safety laws. Fines were levied and the plant made the necessary changes. What has seized the public’s attention, however, was the recent raid on the facility, said to be the largest such ICE action ever. Some of the illegal immigrants arrested, moreover, subsequently accused their erstwhile employer and supervisors of a host of crimes, including exploitation, abuse and illegal drug production. Jewish reaction came fast and furious. The Conservative movement urged kosher consumers to consider forgoing meat produced by Agriprocessors; a Reform leader called for investigations of all kosher slaughterhouses; a liberal Orthodox group circulated a boycott petition aimed at the concern; well-known

activists like Ruth Messinger, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin and Rabbi Avi Weiss signed it; and Jewish newspapers and blogs buzzed with outrage at Agriprocessors and its owners. The ethical offense I see here is a different one. It violates something not only rooted in Judaism but part and parcel of American jurisprudence and respectable journalism as well. It is called the presumption of innocence. I don’t know if the violations of regulatory laws on Agriprocessors’ record are unusual for plants of its type and size. But whether they are or are not, the firm corrected whatever needed correcting.

But unless and until some wrongdoing is actually proven, not merely suspected or charged, no human being ... has any right to assume guilt, much less voice condemnation or seek to levy punishment. Which brings us to the recent raid, about which we know three things: 1) Illegal aliens presented forged documents to obtain employment at Agriprocessors, 2) Some of those workers subsequently leveled complaints against the company and 3) The company has stated that it had no reason to doubt the workers’ documentation and has vehemently denied all the workers’ charges. Yet, the petition-circulating Orthodox group has judged Agriprocessors guilty of “knowingly exploiting undocumented workers,” and deemed the situation a “desecration of G-d’s name.” A self-described “leading progressive Zionist movement” has called on Jewish organizations to “avoid serving Agriprocessors products at their kosher functions’ and expressed shock at how “a company devoted to selling… kosher meat can be so inhumane to the people working for it.” A well-read Jewish blog has demanded that the company “make legal all those people whom they’ve brought in illegally, since they deliberately sought out illegal workers so that they could be treated with less care.” A

(Founded in 1920) Bobbi Leibowitz President Carol Katzman Editor Richard Busse Managing Editor Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Robyn Belgrade Sales Associate Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper

Conservative cantor sermonized about how wrong it would be to “dismiss the events in Postville.” A Reform rabbi demanded to know “what it mean[s] to label something as ‘fit and proper’ that hurts people, exploits people or was produced cruelly.” Neither I nor Agudath Israel of America has any connection to Agriprocessors. And for all we know, it may yet be shown that the firm indeed knowingly hired illegal aliens. Or that it mistreated them, or that it was a front for a drug operation, a neo-Nazi group or a babycannibalizing cult. All under the eyes of the federal inspectors present at the plant at all times. But unless and until some wrongdoing is actually proven, not merely suspected or charged, no human being -- certainly no Jew, bound as we are by the Torah’s clear admonition in such matters -- has any right to assume guilt, much less voice condemnation or seek to levy punishment. To be sure, a Jewish business operating in bad faith, violating the law of the land or mistreating its employees deserves tochacha, halachically appropriate criticism. Its actions violate the Torah and carry great potential for “chilul Hashem,” or desecration of G-d’s name. But, as the Rabbinical Council of America rightly noted in a statement about Agriprocessors, “in the absence of hard facts,” no one may “rush to premature judgments… or impute guilt…” It’s not at all clear why so many Jewish groups, clergy, papers and pundits are so energetically railing against Agriprocessors in the wake of the recent government raid. The righteous indignation has the smell of adolescent excitement at the discovery of a new “noble” cause. Whatever the motivation, though, until the facts are actually in, the armchair ethicists would do well to give some thought to the Jewish ethic they somehow managed to miss. Rabbi Shafran is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America and can be reached at Shafran@agudathisrael.org. This column is courtesy of Am Echad Resources.

Editorial The Jewish Press is an agency 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.; $72 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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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 21

Israelis debate response to threat from Arab attackers within

BEHIND THE HEADLINES by ROY EITAN

JERUSALEM (JTA) – The July 2nd deadly tractor rampage in Jerusalem has prompted a furious public debate in Israel about what steps the government can and should take to protect Jerusalemites against wouldbe Arab terrorists. The attack, in which a Palestinian from eastern Jerusalem used a tractor to kill three people and injure dozens on Jaffa Road, drew furious and sometimes confused responses from the Olmert government. Several ministers called for the terrorist’s home, in an Arab village on Jerusalem’s outskirts, to be razed. Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon reiterated his proposal for that village, Sur Baher, and other outlying Arab neighborhoods to be cut out of Jerusalem. Their residents would become West Bank Palestinians, ineligible for the rights afforded to Jerusalem’s Palestinians. “These are Palestinian villages that were never part of Jerusalem,” Ramon told Army Radio. “They were annexed to it in 1967.” The debate about how Israel should react to the threat from Arabs within its borders reflects the dilemma of a Jewish state proud of its ethnically mixed democracy, but also mindful of the pull of pro-Palestinian sympathies among the country’s large Muslim minority. Husam Duwayat, the driver of the tractor, was one of

... most Arabs are loath to give up their rights in Israel, with its democratic freedoms and welfare stipends.

some 200,000 Arabs in Jerusalem who identify as Palestinian but live within Israel’s borders. Hailing from territory Israel captured during the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed to Jerusalem shortly thereafter, these Arabs are considered by Israeli law to be resident aliens. They bear Israeli identity cards and have all the rights of Israeli Arabs except the right to vote in national elections. That makes it difficult for the state to crack down on them without either appearing prejudiced or, in effect, declaring limits on its national sovereignty. Some Israeli officials’ calls for demolishing Duwayat’s home were met with ambivalence. “The order to demolish the homes of families of terrorists, residents of an Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem, is something I do not understand at all,” wrote Yaron London, a Yediot Achronot commentator. “Do we not believe that Israel is ‘Jewish and democratic’ and that the same law applies to Tel Aviv as to Sur Baher?” Demolishing the homes of Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank or Gaza Strip was a longtime Israeli practice until recently, when domestic and international criticism prompted the Israel Defense Forces to discontinue it. Nevertheless, it was in keeping with martial law instituted by the former British rulers of Palestine. Used against an Arab in Israel, the tactic would raise accusations of double standards, since the state never considered such a response to the occasional act of Jewish terrorism. Privately, Israeli security officials say the quandary about what to do in Duwayat’s case is compounded by questions about what motivated his murderous spree. Authorities have been unable to establish any firm link to Palestinian terrorist groups, and they are considering the possibility that the 30-year-old father of two simply may have taken leave of his senses. Duwayat had previous romantic ties to a Jewish

woman and a history of drug offenses. A “lone attacker” theory also was suggested in the attack by an eastern Jerusalem Arab last March that killed eight students at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva. In that case, however, the target and the weapon pointed more obviously to a political motivation. Despite the pain and anger surrounding the attack, many Israelis recognize that eastern Jerusalem Arabs, like Israeli Arabs as a whole, are relatively unlikely to take up arms on behalf of the Palestinian cause, though they may pay lip service to anti-Zionism. Opinion polls show that most Arabs are loath to give up their rights in Israel, with its democratic freedoms and welfare stipends. That means that any ethnic-specific security measures run the risk of straining the already frayed fabric of Jewish-Arab ties in Israel while doing little to thwart terrorists acting on their own. Thus, Israeli officials predict, security precautions will remain tactical rather than institutional. Police officers and private guards at public venues and targets such as Israel’s airports will continue to subject Arabs to more intensive scrutiny than Jews. The Shin Bet will continue to monitor Israeli Arab communities for pro-Palestinian sedition, just as its secretive Jewish division monitors farright settler groups for violence. But there cannot be sweeping legislation that undermines the collective rights of 20 percent of Israel’s population. The exception is in cases in which an Arab openly sides with a foreign enemy of the Jewish state. That’s why Israel moved quickly to revoke the resident rights of Jerusalem Arabs serving in Hamas after the Islamist group swept Palestinian Authority elections in 2006. By pure coincidence, Duwayat’s rampage was followed by the ratification of a bill banning an Israeli Arab who visits an enemy state from serving in the Knesset.

graphing it for the NJHS before it closed. Growing up, I never knew this synagogue existed. Occasionally I would attend mincha and maariv services at Beth El, and Mary was usually there, one time she said, (without asking me or anyone else), “Alan will lead mincha and maariv.” Not having done it before I was a little hesitant but got up there and did it. In her fashion, she critiqued my davening; only to make it better (being tone deaf it never really got better.) One last story that symbolizes Mary: When I decided to move to Israel in 1986, she was very excited for me and told me she wanted to host a going away party for me. It was a great party with lots of people from all walks of my life. The most memorable part of the party -- she had posted a shirt on the wall and people had to pin a dollar to the shirt. The dollars were not for me, but for tzedakah, to guard my journey to Israel and for me to deliver tzedakah to those in need in Israel. This was Mary. Alan Potash, Regional Director Anti- Defamation League Plains Region To the editor: The Omaha Jewish community was blessed to have had a Mary Fellman. She was a very special lady with ideas, dreams and vision which she not only dared to pursue but was able to fulfill. My personal relationship began with the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, when she said, “I have a great project for you.” As I have said before, no one ever said “no” to Mary. She gave of herself unstintingly to every Jewish organization bringing knowledge, caring, efficiency and perseverance to fulfill her many challenges. We who had the privilege to work with her and become her good friend, may never see the likes of her again. May her memory serve as a beacon for the Omaha community for many years to come. You did it all, Mary, and we thank God for your life. Lois Friedman

To the Editor: In response to the unprecedented water crisis in Israel, Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (JNFKKL) is building five new reservoirs across the State. To date, JNF-KKL has funded and built 200 reservoirs and dams throughout Israel, adding over 66 billion gallons of treated water and flood water to Israel’s national water economy, or 10% of the total water supply. This water irrigates about 112 thousand acres of orchards and field crops that would otherwise use up scarce freshwater. JNF reservoirs meet about 40% of Israel’s agricultural water needs, thereby alleviating the pressure of supplying drinking water to the population. At a special news conference in Tel Aviv, Uri Shani, director of the Israel Water Authority, laid bare the facts: “This is the worst crisis since records started being kept 80 years ago,” he said. “Like most countries, Israel is dependent on rainfall and the amount of rainfall is decreasing.” To alleviate the crisis, the Water Authority has started to pump water from tributaries that empty into the Sea of Galilee -- water that was not expected to reach the sea or be used until 2010. Though desalinized water will play a vital role in closing the gap, it is more expensive than recycled water and can also be recycled, thereby making efforts that focus on recycling water all the more valuable. Thankfully, JNF foresaw the significance of the water issue and began allocating resources to build reservoirs in the late 1980s. Currently, nearly 90 billion gallons of waste water in Israel is not getting recycled. JNF has committed to building another 20 reservoirs over the next two years. Reservoirs that do not store recycled water capture rainwater and flood runoff, which would otherwise be lost to the sea, for irrigation and to enrich underground aquifers. Jodi Bodner JNF Director of Communications

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor: The recent death of Mary Fellman has opened up a window of memories for me. Growing up in Beth El Synagogue, I new Mary as a force, a force to stay away from. Her reputation was one of firmness and seriousness not to be crossed. As an adult returning to Omaha after college I got to know her in a very different way. It started in early 1983 with her husband Morris. I had recently started a position at the Jewish Community Center and Morris stopped by my office to say hello and welcome me back to Omaha. He wished me good luck and complemented me on choosing to work in the Jewish profession, commenting that it was a noble profession in need of good young Jewish professionals. I was very touched that he would take the time to visit me. I am glad he did because he died several weeks after his visit. I am not sure if I would have attended his funeral if he had not stopped by to see me. But he did. I wanted to repay his kindness to me. The first morning I attended the shiva minyan was the first time I had put on tefilin in several years; it was also the first time I understood the meaning of community when people flow into to someone’s home at seven in the morning. This was my introduction to Mary. Several days past and Mary stopped into my office and asked if I would be interested in helping put together an exhibit for the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society. As one knows, Mary only takes “yes” for an answer. This one “yes” turned into three years of projects, conversations, meetings, minyanim, Shabbat dinners, and friendship. The projects led me to learn about Nebraska’s long Jewish history and to discover hidden and not so hidden Jewish landmarks throughout our state. One of my favorites turned out to be the sukkah in the Kapulier shul (as well as the shul itself). I had the pleasure of attending Shabbat morning services in the basement on several occasions and photo-

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Page 22

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 18, 2008

Candlelighting Friday, July 18, 8:34 p.m

Synagogue Listings B’nai Israel Synagogue 618 Mynster St. Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com

Beth El Synagogue Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Omaha, NE 68154-1980 492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org

Beth Israel Synagogue Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific St. Omaha, NE. 68154 556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org

Beyt Shalom An Affiliate of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation 3012 S. 119 St. P.O. Box 390352 Omaha, NE 68139 660.2395 www.beytshalomomaha.org

Chabad House An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 S. 120th St. Omaha, NE 68144-1646 330.1800 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 323 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

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

to reserve space, call

Allan Handleman, 402.334.6451 or Robyn Belgrade 402.334.6559

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. D’var Torah given by Andy Greenberg; Kiddush sponsored by Hollie and Glen Fineman, in honor of their 30th anniversary; Minha/ Ma’ariv, 8:45 p.m. Sitter Service is available during Friday night and Saturday morning services, on a drop-in basis, at no charge. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. SUNDAY, July 20: Bible Study Discussion Group, 10 a.m. SINGLES, SUSHI & SHABBAT: On Friday, July 25, all Jewish singles from ages 21 to 35 are invited to a sushi Shabbat dinner following 6 p.m. Kabbalat Shabbat services. Dinner will begin at 7 p.m. Cost: $10. To RSVP, contact the synagogue office or programming@bethelomaha.org. BBQ FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS: Beth El will sponsor a special get-together for Jewish college students on Thursday, July 31, 6:30-8 p.m. at Zorinsky Lake (Shelter #2). A casual, relaxing evening is planned; there is no charge to attend. For more information, contact Robert Mosenkis in the office, or at youthdir@bethel-omaha.org. HAZAK INSTALLATION: Friday, Aug. 1, 6 p.m., during Shabbat services. At 5:30 p.m.,

the organization will sponsor a reception to honor incoming and outgoing officers. WOMEN’S ROSH HODESH GROUP: Monday, Aug. 4, 7 p.m., at the home of Helen Epstein, 17017 Western Ave. The evening’s theme is “Examining Our Jewish Identity.” To RSVP, contact Epstein at 391.9187 or aepstein1@cox.net; or co-host Ruthie Potash at 571.5006, or rsvp55@cox.net.

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 Jordana Kurtzman in honor of Donald Gerber and Leon Shrago for their efforts in preparing Aaron for his Bar Mitzvah; “Guard Your Tongue” and “Advanced Analysis of Midrash Rabbah”, 7:45 p.m.; Mincha, 8:45 p.m.; Havdalah, 9:42 p.m. SUNDAY: Fast of the 17th of Tammuz begins, 4:57 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; “Reading the Rambam” with Rabbi Oxman is off for the summer; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m.; Fast Ends at 9:41 p.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m. THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m.; Rabbi’s weekly class is on break for the month of July.

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: Services, 7 a.m. SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9 a.m.; Service, 9:30 a.m.; Youth Minyan, 10:30 a.m.; Kiddush luncheon follows. SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.; “Heading Somewhere” studying the book of Numbers, 9:30 a.m.; Parsha study, 10 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Kabbalistic Insights for Women, 12:15 p.m.; Halacha, 7 p.m. TUESDAY: W.O.W. Prayer, Prophets, and Prayer, 9 a.m. WEDNESDAY: Kabbalah Circle, 7 p.m. THURSDAY: Jewish Thought, 12:45 p.m.; Parsha for Kids, 3:15 p.m. All events and programs are open to the community.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Barb Straus, with oneg following hosted by Susan Poser. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. led by Stephanie Dohner; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. led by Larry Rosenfield; Game Night/Potluck, 6 p.m. For information or a ride, call Deborah Swearingen THURSDAY: Choir Rehersal, 7:30 p.m. led by Holly Heffelbower.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Steve Riekes.

TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to You at Remington Heights, 4 p.m., led by Rabbi Eric Linder; Shabbat Service, 6 p.m., led by Rabbi Eric Linder; D’var Torah: Jim Farber - “My Journey.” SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Service, 10:30 a.m. SITTER SERVICE: Available Wednesday evenings during Family School hours, Friday evenings service except when there is a Tot Shabbat, Saturday mornings when there is a B’nai mitzvah, and Sunday mornings during Religious School. Advance reservations and a $5 donation appreciated. Young children, including infants, are welcome.

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

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Nancy Coren, Lay Leader. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. MONDAY and THURSDAY: Minyan, 9 a.m. Contact the office to arrange for a minyan. FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush lunch and Talmud study. WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group meets at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Call Yale Gotsdiner, 423.7066.

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

Destruction of Tajik synagogue leaves community in limbo by GRANT SLATER M O S C O W (JTA) -- Tajikistan’s only synagogue has been reduced to a pile of rubble, leaving the small cluster of Bukharan Jews in the Central Asian nation in bureaucratic limbo. After four years of threats from officials and Tajikistan’s only synagogue was partially demolished by counter-proposals the government in February 2006. The demolition was from the commu- completed in June 2008. Credit: International Sephardic Leadership Council nity, the city government of Dushanbe, the Abdurakhmov said the communination’s capital, finished demolish- ty has been given no guarantee of ing the one-story shul last month a new plot of land and no promise to make way for a new presidential of compensation. But Lev Levayev, president of palace and national park. “Right now, the community has the Federation of Jewish Compractically no place at all,” Chief munities and head of the World Rabbi Mikhail Abdurakhmov told Congress of Bukharan Jews, told JTA. “Everyone is praying in their the Interfax news agency that a own home,” he said of the com- new plot of land has been set aside munity, estimated at about 350, for the shul. He said that conwith 200 actively participating in struction would begin soon with funding by the Chabad-ledfederaJewish life. There are conflicting reports tion, the Bukharan congress and over whether new land has been private donors. Levayev, who visited the city as designated for a new synagogue.

the final wall of the 100-year-old synagogue fell, spoke with Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov about the synagogue. “The removal of a synagogue is a very subtle and delicate question that we will discuss with the president at the end of September,” Levayev said. A spokesman for the Moscow center for Bukharan Jews said he could not elaborate on the continuing discussions between the Tajik government and Levayev. Despite Levayev’s promises that “there will be no problems with funding,” local leaders -- distressed by the years-long battle with the city administration -- are more circumspect about the future. Levayev’s itinerary did not include a visit with Abdurakhmov, who said he first heard about the plans for a new synagogue through a local newspaper that he doesn’t trust. The Tajik media is tightly controlled by the government, with few independent sources of information. Abdurakhmov said he hasn’t been able to confirm the existence of the new plot and hasn’t spoken with anyone from the federation

about a new synagogue. The federation, an umbrella group that has built most of the new synagogues in the former Soviet Union, including those in Central Asia, normally does not undertake such projects for communities with fewer than 1,000 members. The nearest Chabad rabbi is based in neighboring Uzbekistan. The community is mostly descended from Persian-speaking Bukharan Jews who have lived in Central Asia for centuries, Abdurakhmov said. The eviction and demolition has halted not only prayer services but also a food aid program to feed infirm and poor Jews. In 2004, city authorities rejected a proposal to overhaul the synagogue and make it part of the park complex. After negotiations, the city offered a plot of land in a remote area to build a new complex; local leaders said the location was impractical for the aging and dwindling community. The first wave of demolition came in February 2006, when city authorities leveled a mikveh, or ritual bath, a classroom and kosher butchery.

Pulverente MONUMENT CO.

July 18, 2008

Women’s lib

SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Pinhas Never mind about Pinhas ... we are much more interested in the daughters of Tzelofhad. (A better reading of his name -- Tsel Pahad -- yields “under the protection of the Lord.”) Mind you! The girls are all named (Mahla, Noa, Hogla, Milca, and Tirza). They are not a herd; they are individuals. Further, they insist on being heard. And they make their point. It becomes established as a regular practice: when a

man dies without sons, the estate passes not to the nearest male relative, but to his daughters. All these centuries later, we take this for granted. But women’s lib begins here. The daughters made demands. And they made sense. And so, females inherited where there were no male children. That was advanced thinking for those long-ago times. We assume today that daughters are children, as well as sons. But it is here that the process of women’s rights begins. And you, dear reader, thought it began in our own times?! Now, just to be just, take the trouble to read the names of these young women, who stood up for themselves. Open your Bible to our Sidra and see the start of women’s rights.

DEATHS MAX FALK Max Falk died at at the age of 89. A graveside service was held July 13 at Mt. Sinai Cemetery. Born and raised in the Quad Cities, he moved to Omaha in his teens. He served in the U.S. Army from 1942-45 and then became the proprietor of the Bedford Market in North Omaha for 40 years. He was also the co-owner of the Cubby’s convenience store chain, Louie’s Market, and Phil’s Foodway at 30th and Ames, and a longtime member of the Omaha Meat Dealer’s Association. He was preceded in death by wife of 60 years, Betty Geifman Falk, and son, Stephen Falk. He is survived by daughter and son-in-law, Jeri Falk and Peter Fitz of Baltimore, MD; grandchildren, Samuel Fitz of Washington, D.C., and Rachel Fitz of St. Louis, MO; sister, Beatrice Swink of San Francisco, CA; sisterin-law and brother-in-law, Harriett and Jack Root of Los

Angeles, CA. Memorials to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home or to the Visiting Nurses Association. SARA HARDING Sara Tuchman Harding died July 14 at the age of 93. Services were held July 16 at Temple Israel Cemetery. She was preceded in death by her husband of 45 years, Al Harding; three sisters, Dorothy Shiff, Minn Shiff and Helen Tuchman; and a grandson, Mark Epstein. She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Frankie and Sandy Kasin and Nancy and Gary Epstein; grandchildren, Robyn and Jim Belgrade, Maureen and Jeff Skall of Seattle, WA, and Dan and Tracy Kasin of San Franciso; sister and brother-in-law, Rosalie and Milt Saylan; and four-great-grandchildren. Memorials to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home or charity of choice.

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Ever since it was relocated from the Holyland Hotel to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem in June 2006, the 1:50 scale model of the city of Jerusalem as it was in first century CE, attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year. In its original setting in the grounds of the former Holyland Hotel in Beit Vegan, the 2000 square meter model was built between 1964 and 1967. At the end of 2004, the owner of the Holyland Hotel, Hillel Cherni, decided to redevelop the site and move the model to another location. Cherni offered the model to the Israel Museum, which accepted the opportunity. The museum located the model next door to the Shrine of the Book which houses the 'Dead Sea Scrolls'. In the beginning of 2005, work started to transfer the intricate model piece-by-piece. As its center piece, it held an outstanding reproduction of the Second Temple. Above: Visitors can walk around the model from a high vantage point and see the magnificence of the city just before it was destroyed by the Romans in 70CE. As more information becomes available as to the archaeological record of the city, the model in updated accordingly. Below: a close-up of the representation of the ‘Holy of Holies.’ Credit: ISRANET

PERSONAL Thank you for the kind words and gestures on the occasion of receiving a Doctorate of Divinity. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel

JEWISH PRESS EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE The Jewish Press office will be closed Monday, Sept. 1, for Labor Day. The deadline for all ads, articles and photos for the Sept. 5 issue is Wednesday, Aug. 27, 9 a.m. All board lists for the New Year’s issue are due by Monday, Aug. 25. Lists of births, deaths, marriages and B’nai Mitzvahs are due by Friday, Aug 29; and all synagogue schedules for Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah services for the week of Sept. 26 are due no later than Sept. 2. Questions can be directed to the Press office at 402.334.6448.

To Submit Announcements to the Jewish Press: 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 (with photos we will scan and return). Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org. Readers 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. Deadlines are normally eight days prior to publication, on Thursdays, 9 a.m. Check the Jewish Press, however, for notices of early deadlines prior to secular and Jewish holidays.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

July 18, 2008

With power shortages looming, Israeli firms invest in clean tech

by DINA KRAFT including seaweed and sewage water. TEL AVIV (JTA) -- At a lab in Entrepreneurs say Israeli solutions can Rehovot, the man who developed the help not only Israel but the world. Arrow missile is consumed with his next “Israel has the minds, the R&D, the mission: making Israel energy independ- technology and the entrepreneurship, but ent by using cheap solar power. we are lagging behind in terms of actual “The issue of energy is the greatest dan- deployment,” said David Schwartz, the ger to Israel because in 30 years there will chairman of MyPlanet, an Israeli consorbe no energy means, no oil and no gas, tium of companies involved in energy and and the use of coal will be prohibited,” security issues. “This is impeding reachsaid Dov Raviv, now the CEO of MST, an Israeli renewable energy company. “Without energy Israel cannot survive, and we must find a substitute and find it fast. That is what I am trying to do.” Raviv’s company is working to reduce the high price of solar power, which is not yet competitive with the price of conventional energy sources like oil, by more efficiently harnessing solar energy Parabolic reflectors like this one are used to collect solar energy at through a method of the Solel Solar Thermal Energy Plant in Beit Shemesh. Credit: Brian Hendler concentrating sunlight on a matrix of single solar cells. ing our full potential as a source of alterMST is one of dozens of alternative native energy for the world.” energy start-ups across Israel seeking Israel’s leadership in the development solutions to the global energy crisis. of alternative energy also can have securiAmong the innovations under develop- ty benefits. If the world is weaned from its ment are a gear system that dramatically overwhelming dependence on oil, the oilboosts the efficiency of wind turbines, a rich autocratic regimes that surround the device that would reduce gas emissions Jewish state, including Iran, will have less from trucks, the generation of bio-fuels oil revenue to pay for their anti-Israel from desert plants; and various techniques activities -- whether the development of to generate energy from unlikely sources, nuclear weapons or the funding of funda-

mentalist terrorist groups. During his visit to Israel to accept the $1 million Dan David Award for promoting environmental awareness, Al Gore asked a question many Israelis have been pondering themselves: “How is it here, in the land of the sun, there is no widespread use of solar energy?” Alternative energy is “good for the Jews,” Gore told a conference at Tel Aviv University. Industry observers say more aggressive government policies, such as underwriting renewable energy initiatives and granting more land for power plants, are needed to bolster the development of alternative energy. “Europe and the U.S. have made incredible strides,” Schwartz said. “Israel has not.” Meanwhile, Israel has an energy shortage looming. Israel’s supply capacity is 10,600 megawatts per day, and the country has come dangerously close to exceeding that demand on especially hot and cold days. With limited energy reserves to accommodate for surges, and as the country’s population and energy use grows, the problem is becoming more acute. Amnon Shpira, the head of Israel’s public utility authority, told JTA that plans are under way to launch deliberate rolling brownouts this summer among certain industries at peak times to deal with the problem. Other short-term strategies include encouraging Israelis to scale back their electricity use, limiting the use of large appliances on certain days and setting their air conditioner thermostats at higher temperatures. The head of the Israel Energy Forum, Yael Cohen-Paran, says some relatively simple measures could significantly

reduce the load on the energy grid: cash rebates for those who purchase energyefficient air conditioning and heating units, and government encouragement of energy-saving building practices. The long-term solution, however, may require more of a shift. At the Tel Aviv energy conference, Israel’s infrastructure minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, responded by announcing a commitment to increase the share of such energies to 15-20 percent of Israel’s total energy use by 2020, double that of previous targets. He also pledged to adopt a plan to build one new solar station per year for the next 20 years and introduce a bill to make the Negev Desert and southern Israel a “national preference region” for renewable energies. Tax breaks and other incentives would be part of the package. Turning Israel into a center for clean technology could build new bridges between Israel and Diaspora Jews, says Jonathan Shapira, a recent American law school graduate living in Tel Aviv who organizes monthly meetings for entrepreneurs interested in clean tech and writes a blog on the subject. As an example, Shapira cited the business park for renewable energy firms being built in the Arava with funding from Toronto’s Jewish community. “Rather than just making a charitable donation, people are helping create the infrastructure for economic growth and a cleaner environment in Israel,” Shapira said. The Israeli founder of an algae fuel company called GreenFuel, Isaac Berzin, who was named by Time magazine as one of its Top 100 people in the world for 2008, says Israel is too small of a country to keep such technology to itself.