July 19, 2013

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

“Partnership2Gesher” Educator’s Seminar

July 19, 2013 12 Av 5773 Vol. 93 | No. 44

This Week

Beth El’s Rosh Hodesh Group hits the road Page 6

Temple golf outing Page 7

by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Program Coordinator, The Center for Jewish Life In June, Jeanine Huntoon, Director of the Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center, and Pam Cohn, Principal of Friedel Jewish Academy, participated in “Partnership2Gesher”, an educator’s seminar presented through Partnership2Gether. The program’s goal was to build a stronger bridge – gesher - for educators involved in Partnership’s educational programs. The ten-day program included educators from Indianapolis, San Antonio, Budapest and Israel.

A generous grant from the Phillip and Terri Schrager Supporting Foundation covered travel expenses for the Omaha participants. All other program costs were covered as a part of the Partnership2Gether Central Area Consortium budget, which is funded by allocations from the 12 participating communities.

Jeanine and Pam were each excited to share their thoughts about the experience. Following is what they each related: Jeanine Huntoon I was privileged to be part of the Partnership2Gether Educational Seminar in Israel on June 8-17, 2013.

I traveled from Omaha with Pam Cohn, and we were joined by col-

Pam Cohn with students at the Coast of the Galilee school. leagues from Indianapolis, IN; San Antonio, TX; Budapest, Hungary; and Western Galilee to participate in this fantastic opportunity! Our trip was funded by the Phillip and Terri Schrager Supporting Foundation,

Adopt a Book event at Kripke Library New mother feels tuggings of Jewish past Page 12

by MARK KIRCHHOFF Administrative Assistant, Center for Jewish Life Due to the success of last year’s “Adopt a Book” event, the Kripke Jewish Federation Library is again facilitating the opportunity for community members to add members to

Inside Point of view Synagogues

This Month The Legal Issue See Front Page stories and more at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press

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their “book family.” The “Adopt a Book” event will begin on Sunday, Aug. 4 from 1–5 p.m. in the JCC Auditorium. Books will also be available on Monday through Friday, Aug. 5-9 from 8 a.m.–8 p.m. There is something special that comes with adoption. Childless couples who are

fortunate enough to adopt a child are filled with joy in welcoming a new person into their lives. Animal lovers find it hard to resist the sad faces of puppies and kittens from the Humane Society. While we are not suggesting that books will elicit the same response as babies and critters, there is still a warm feeling associated with one’s own literary collection. And you may be assured that they are neither offended nor traumatized by multiple ownerships – they thrive on being seen as objects of value and are willing to snuggle with anyone. The ink on their pages remains clear and legible year after year after year. You may do yourself and a book a favor by adopting one or more of them.

For your convenience, the adoption process is simple and easy. No background check is required. Your willingness to adopt is sufficient verification for The Center for Jewish Life to accept you as a worthy parent for the adoptee. There is no age requirement to become the parent of a book. In fact, many children’s books are included. All ages are welcome.

Freewill donations are encouraged and accepted. The library will use donation money to acquire new titles for the shelves. It’s a good deal all around.

This is your opportunity to add to your personal library by adopting a Continued on page 2

and I can’t say enough about how grateful I am to have been selected to be part of the Omaha team.

The mission of the Partnership is to promote mutually beneficial endeavors between the people of the

Central Area Consortium and the Western Galilee, and it was clear from our first moments together that the relationships we were building would be long-lasting and would Continued on page 2

Egypt turmoil and the Sinai

Members of the Egyptian military and their supporters guard a bridge near Tahrir Square in Cairo, July 8, 2013. Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

by GIDEON ALLON, SHLOMO Pointing to increasing instability CESANA and ISRAEL HAYOM in the Sinai, Israeli Foreign Affairs (JNS.org) -- Israel should do all it and Defense Committee Chairman can to help the new secular govern- MK Avigdor Lieberman (Likudment in Egypt beat the Muslim Beytenu) warned over the weekend Brotherhood, even if that means that jihadists in the Sinai Peninsula amending the Military Annex of are taking advantage of the current the Camp David peace accords to turmoil in Egypt to stage attacks on allow more Egyptian military assets Israel.

“What is transpiring in Egypt into the Sinai Peninsula, the former director of Israel’s Counter-Terror- should in no doubt be worrying ism Bureau in the Prime Minister’s us,” he said. “This is our largest Office Brig. Gen. (Res.) Nitzan neighboring country, the first one Nuriel said Sunday. we signed a peace agreement with, Speaking to Army Radio, Nuriel and clearly instability over there said a defeat for the Muslim Broth- carries implications for the entire erhood and its supporters in the region. It is in our interest for Egypt Sinai would reverberate across the to be stable and in full control over Middle East, and would be of huge its territory.”

Continued on page 3 strategic importance to Israel.

2 | The Jewish Press | July 19, 2013

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Partnership2Gesher Continued from page 1 have powerful impacts on the children and families with whom we all work. We spent a considerable amount of time learning about each other’s programs and activities, discussing ways in which we might engage in twinning relationships with our partner schools. We had wonderful experiences visiting different schools to see these programs in action, meeting the teachers and seeing the bright eyes of the children light up as they sang songs, played all kinds of instruments, and demonstrated to us firsthand how moving and important this work is.

which the Maayanot students loved.

Other experiences included tours in the old city of Akko, a theatrical performance and meeting an amazing embroidery artist, Eythan Hurwitz. Dr. Janan Falach talked to the group about how women of Jewish, Arabic, and Druze descent are trying to bridge the gap that exists between the different cultures. At the Hesder Yeshiva in Akko, Dr. Boaz Cohen gave a talk, Window into 2,500 Years of Jewish History. Another day included a visit to the Ghetto Fighter’s Museum and a tour of a special school for children with social, emotional and behavioral disorders. Later that same day, we visited Rosh Hanikra and learned the history of the area. Another school we visited serves students with behavioral and learning disabilities. We shared Kabbalat Shabbat with the students and,

Students from the Akko Family and Early Childhood Center performing.

Jeanine Huntoon with teachers, students and Efrat Srebro.

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An unforgettable part of the trip was being able to immerse ourselves in the history and culture of Israel. Our hosts -- Eliad Eliad and Avia Zimran -- had arranged for us to have guided tours to many Jewish heritage sites as well as museums, synagogues, and exhibitions, which allowed us to feel and connect with the rich history of Israel.

I am looking forward to working on my twinning project with Efrat Srebro, the musical kindergarten director, who has traveled the world helping early childhood teachers incorporate music into their programs. We plan to use the Hava NaGila Gan online resource to share ideas and activities and work jointly to produce songs and musical events with our classrooms. It is a really exciting and interactive way for our children to get to know each other and use technology, too. It was a fantastic trip and one that is sure to reap great rewards for all of the educators involved.

Pam Cohn On Monday, June 11, the seminar began in a unique fashion with a 45-minute yoga session, which was both relaxing and exhilarating. The evening was spent getting to know the other participants, hearing from people who would be involved in the program and meeting members from the Jewish Agency and the Israeli Educational Task Force.

In the days that followed, we visited several schools such as The Coast of Galilee elementary school. Student art work is visible at every turn. We were escorted to an outdoor concert space where approximately 75 instrumental students performed for us. A lump formed in my throat as I think about how exciting it was to be in Israel for the first time listening to students play Israeli music on their instruments.

Many of the schools visited were on a kibbutz. One of the many unique aspects of kibbutz schools is each has an animal pen so the students learn how to care for animals. Many of the schools also have community gardens, much like Friedel’s. The students are also very big into recycling. There are creative art projects made out of recyclable items such as worn tires at many schools.

In Akko, we visited the Family and Early Childhood Center where we observed firsthand educational programs for students in kindergarten and pre-school, which were developed

by Efrat Srebro, music director of the Jewish Ministry of Education. Students performed a drum selection as well as use of percussion instruments as they performed the Pink Panther. These young people ages 4-6 were learning to read music through the use of these percussion instruments.

At the Jewish Agency’s Absorption Center in Nahriya, we were treated to a presentation called Museum in a Luggage

by Alamo, an Ethiopian Jew learning about the Ethiopian culture, their struggles and their Exodus to Israel.

A trip highlight for me was visiting Maayanot, Friedel’s Twinning School where I met Edith Fuchs, who coordinates twinning activities between Maayanot and Friedel. I also met the technology teacher, discussing ideas to communicate more effectively and efficiently. After a tour of the school, I taught an ESL lesson in the 5th grade classroom. It was a great time with the students, who were very animated, friendly and eager to share their knowledge of English. I also shared an electronic yearbook made by Friedel students,

later, the principal told our group the students were surprised that we knew the blessings and songs from the service!

A performance by musician Tal Kravitz was another highlight. He works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and travels the globe collecting instruments and folk songs from all over the world. In his performance, he plays those musical instruments and performs songs from the different countries.

On Friday afternoon we traveled to Tzfat, which included a stop where Jewish scribes prepare parchment for tefillin, mezuzot and Torah Scrolls. And because I won a quiz, my prize was a copy of my Hebrew name written on parchment by the scribe. I was ecstatic! After returning from Tzfat, we each went to a host family for Shabbat.

On Sunday, we went to Tel Aviv, visiting Beit Hatfutsot The Museum of the Jewish People. In the entrance there is art work done by families under the direction of Hanoch Piven, the artist who visited Friedel last November. Next, we went to Jaffa after which we traveled to Jerusalem.

As the van traveled to the Old City, I got a bit emotional as the pictures that I have seen all my life suddenly came to life and were real. During our evening visit to the Wall, I inserted prayers and wishes written by Friedel students.

Touring of Jerusalem continued the following day and then, all too soon, our time together was over. After a week together, it was time to say goodbye to our colleagues who have now become our friends. The networking that has occurred during the seminar made the bonds of the Partnership so much stronger. I am extremely appreciative of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live in and experience Israel. It makes my work more relevant and meaningful.

Partnership2Gether, a program of the Jewish Agency for Israel and coordinated by the Center for Jewish Life promotes people-to-people relationships between Israel and communities throughout the world. Omaha is one of 12 cities in the U.S. partnering with the city of Akko and the Matte Asher region in northern Israel, sharing cultural, social, medical, educational and economic programs. For more information on Partnership, please call the Center for Jewish Life at 402.334.6445.

Adopt a Book Continued from page 1 book. Every effort is being made to help you with your adoption and to ensure that would-be parents are able to locate the perfectly - motivated adoptees. Remember, the size of your family doesn’t matter. The more the merrier when it comes to being book parents. Bring a bag, a box, a two-wheel cart and a truck if you’d like. We want book and parent to leave together. There is no desire to have orphans left after 8 p.m. on Aug. 9.

Adopt a book – give it a loving home. Shop early and shop often! The Adopt a Book event is offered through the Center for Jewish Life (CJL), an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. The mission of CJL is to maximize involvement of Omaha’s Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences. For questions, contact Shirly Banner, sbanner@jewish omaha.org or 402.334.6462.

July 19, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 3

How a man named Macabi helped bring 21 new countries to Maccabiah Games

by HILLEL KUTTLER BALTIMORE (JTA) -- The first arrows Roxana and Rafael Gonzalez launch at the upcoming 19th Maccabiah Games will take flight from their fingertips, but also from Jeffrey Sudikoff ’s imagination.

next week, 21 nations will be participating for the first time.

The man who helped bring them there is an Israeli with a name out of central casting. Macabi Carasso, 61, visited 18 countries between June 2011 and January of this year, some multiple times, in an effort to recruit Jewish athletes to participate in the games. He paid for his visits to the former Yugoslavia, Latin America and the Caribbean, among other places, from his own pocket.

“What we’re looking for in these communities is not a super-athlete but to create a link between these communities and the Jewish world,” Carasso said by phone last week from his home at Moshav B’nai Tzion, near Raanana.

“We want to adopt them back into the Jewish world. I don’t think these communities are lost, but if we don’t do something soon, they will be.”

Cuba’s 46-member delegation includes 11 folk dancers set to perform at the opening ceremony, then at a dance festival in the northern town of Carmiel. Besides the Gonzalez siblings, the delegation includes a men’s softball team and athletes in karate, table tennis and futsol (indoor soccer).

The “whole Jewish community in Cuba … is very excited” to be represented at the games, Rafael Gonzalez said Sunday from Kfar Hamaccabiah, the training center near Tel Aviv where he and his sister are based.

“I go to a university where the Jewish community is me,” said Gonzalez, an industrial engineering student. “Here there are many Jews. You’re more at home because the customs are the same.”

On the night of July 18, Sudikoff added, “I’ll be in the stands at the opening ceremony very proud of seeing this executed.”

Egypt turmoil Cuban softball player Alberto Tacher, left, and coach Roberto Saria Popowsky, both living in Israel, welcome archery siblings and fellow Cuba natives Rafael, second from right, and Roxana Gonzalez upon their arrival at Ben Gurion Airport to participate in the Maccabiah Games, July Credit: Facebook 3, 2013.

Roxana, 25, and Rafael, 24, are part of the first Cuban delegation to participate in the Maccabiah. The siblings arrived July 3 in Israel from their native Cianfuaneos to continue their archery training in advance of the games, which open July 18.

They and hundreds more athletes might never have reached Israel had Sudikoff not been at Ramat Gan Stadium for the opening ceremony at the 18th Maccabiah four years ago.

Sudikoff was struck then by the realization that Jews live in lands he didn’t expect. His “aha moment” came upon seeing Azerbaijan’s flag, which got him wondering which countries with Jewish populations did not send delegations to the games.

Sudikoff, a venture capitalist in Los Angeles, approached the Maccabi World Union with a proposal to bring countries into the fold that had never participated. The result is the Small and Lost Communities project being funded by Sudikoff.

Of the 78 delegations and 9,000 athletes marching into Jerusalem’s Teddy Kollek Stadium to open the Maccabiah

Continued from page 1 A Salafi terror group took responsibility for rocket fire on Eilat last Thursday. The Sunni extremist group Jamaat Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis stated in a message from its Sinai base that the group would continue to target Israel.

“Jews, enemies of Allah, are those who are responsible for what is happening in Egypt and their long arm is to blame for the current situation,” the statement said. “We bombed them to scare them and let them know that Allah is with us.”

In addition, a new Islamist terrorist group in the Sinai calling itself Ansar al-Shariah announced its formation amid the chaos. The group, in a statement posted on an online forum for terrorists, said it would gather arms and start training its members, Reuters reported. The group blamed the turmoil in Egypt on secularists, Egyptian Coptic Christians, state security forces and army commanders.

Ansar al-Shariah denounced democracy and said it would instead champion Islamic law (sharia), acquire weapons, and train Muslims to “deter the attackers, preserve the religion and empower the sharia.”

An Israeli defense official told Israel Radio on Saturday that the global jihad call to fight the Egyptian army over the weekend will “lead the army to take further action against Islamist

ROSH HaShanah Greetings This year you can send your greetings through these very special ads that will run in our annual Rosh Hashanah issue. Each ad can be personalized with your name, the names of your children or your grandchildren.

elements and make a determined effort to restore order.”

Last week, Egypt sealed numerous tunnels to prevent arms smuggling from Sinai into Egypt that may destabilize the mainland. The Israeli defense official told Israel Radio that while events in Egypt were a blow to Hamas, the terror group would continue to maintain its cease-fire with Israel because it is in Hamas’s own interests to do so.

Meanwhile, Egyptian security officials say suspected Islamic terrorists have bombed a natural gas pipeline to Jordan south of the city of el-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula.

In addition to starting fires that were quickly put out, the attacks early Sunday on two points on the pipeline disrupted the flow of natural gas, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

In January, suspected Islamic terrorists attacked a police patrol along a Sinai pipeline, wounding seven policemen.

Though it had come under attack more than a dozen times in the previous two years, Sunday was the first attack on Egypt’s natural gas pipelines in Sinai in more than a year.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the pipeline and checkpoint attacks, or if they were in reaction to the Egyptian army’s overthrow of Morsi on July 3.

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4 | The Jewish Press | July 19, 2013

Western Galilee Hospital treats young victim of Syrian fighting

by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Program Coordinator, The Center for Jewish Life Provided by Amir Yarchi, CEO of the Western Galilee Hospital, the following is a story of a young victim of the fighting in Syria who is receiving treatment at the hospital which is located in Omaha’s Partnership2Gether region.

Western Galilee Hospital

The youngest victim of Syrian violence to be transferred to Israel for treatment was moved directly to Western Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya with serious injuries to her face and limbs. To date, nearly 20 casualties of Syrian fighting have been treated in the Western Galilee Medical Center.

Last month, IDF medical teams moved the young girl into Israel for treatment, bringing her to the shock room of the Western Galilee Medical Center. Her condition has been defined as moderate to severe as she suffered various injuries.

Immediately upon arrival, the extent and nature of her internal injuries were assessed.

Dr. Michael Weiss, director of trauma at the medical center, referred to her state: “The girl arrived with open leg fracture and damage to blood vessels, which requires a complex surgery. In addition, a penetration wound has caused damage to the eye area and cheek; and there is damage to the left hand as a result of shrapnel, requiring sur-

gery and rehabilitation.”

Since the beginning of the fighting in Syria, the Western Galilee Medical Center has treated 20 casualties from Syria in the departments of neurosurgery, ophthalmology, oral and maxillofacial, ENT, surgery and orthopedics. Located on the northern front of the State of Israel, the medical center is constantly prepared for emergency and conflict. It provides complex care in a variety of crisis situations. War and mass casualty events affect the civilian population of some 600,000 people, as well as the IDF forces who serve along the northern border. The staff and administration have continued to provide quality care to all victims of violence transferred by the IDF, expressing their strong desire to save lives regardless of the diplomatic tensions between Israel and Syria at this time.

Zoë Riekes is co-chair of the American Friends of the Western Galilee Hospital. The mission of the group is to promote and support the hospital by broadening its capability to provide the highest quality of medical care and other services to over 600,000 people – Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze living along Israel’s northern border. Toward this end, the American Friends of Western Galilee Hospital will engage individuals and organizations through fundraising, advocacy and volunteer opportunities.

“The work done in the hospital is quite remarkable,” states Riekes. “The story above is just one story that depicts the far reach of the hospital in serving the diverse population in the region, both inside and outside of the borders.” Riekes explained the hospital is perhaps the world’s most elaborately equipped medical center. It is prepared to withstand not only traditional attacks such as rockets and bombs, but can also be sealed against chemical and biological attacks.

Riekes also serves as co-chair of the

Partnership2Gether of Omaha Central Area Consortium, of which Omaha is a part.

“Partnership is deeply involved in the hospital,” explains Riekes. “The financial support provided through our Partnership Consortium has been instrumental in recent enhancements to the facility, including the new underground emergency room and the establishment of the Friendly Room for victims of physical and sexual abuse.”

Riekes added that two representatives from the hospital, Dr. Arie Eisenman and Aya Kipershlak will be attending the Partnership Steering Committee Meeting in Omaha, July 21-23.

Engagement TENE/PHILLIPS Mindy and Gady Tene announce the engagement of their daughter Shiri Devorah Tene to David Aryeh Phillips, son of Dr. Eric and Julie Phillps.

The bride-to-be received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from the University of NebraskaOmaha. She works at Project Harmony.

She is the granddaughter of Aliza Tene and the late Yaakov Tene of Ramat Gan, Israel, and the late Dr. Eugene

2013

and Marilyn Fingerhut of Pasadena, CA. Her fiancé graduated from George Washington University with a B.A. in International Affairs.

He is the board president of Young Jewish Omaha and the International Sales and Communications Manager at Elliot Equipment Company.

He is the grandson of Anne and Paul Forch, and Marcia and Jim Liska of Lincoln, NE. A wedding is planned for Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013.

Organizations B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Liz Feldstern, the new Executive Director of the Institute for Holocaust Education will speak on Wednesday, July 24, noon, at the Blumkin Home. An optional buffet lunch costs $11; beverage service only is $3. For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@ jewishomaha.org.

LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Yiddish has been called the Robin Hood of languages. The vocabulary of Yiddish is drawn from German (mostly), Hebrew,

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For information on Western Galilee Hospital and Friends of the WGH, please visit www.wgh.org.il. For additional information on Partnership2Gether, please call the Center for Jewish Life at 402.334.6445.

Partnership2Gether, a program of the Jewish Agency for Israel and coordinated by the Center for Jewish Life, promotes people-to-people relationships between Israel and communities throughout the world.

Omaha is one of 12 cities in the U.S. partnering with the city of Akko and the Matte Asher region in northern Israel, sharing cultural, social, medical, educational and economic programs.

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July 19, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 5

Temple moving day comes closer

TORN BETWEEN HER HEART AND HER FAMILY

by DAVID GOLBITZ facilities. He expressed great admiration for the local people Temple Israel Staf Writer involved in the construction project.

As members of the Temple Israel Building Council toured “The process has been terrific,” Finegold said. “We’ve had the new building at Sterling Ridge there was a palpable sense a great relationship with the committee, with the construcof excitement, nervous energy and pride. The Aug. 25 mov- tion managers, the contractor. It’s been a great group effort ing day is less than six weeks away, and with much of the con- all around. Everybody is working toward the same common struction nearing completion, the end of the journey is final- goal, doing a really terrific building. The concept is being ly in sight for Temple Israel members who have been there well executed. The detailing is excellent.” from the very beginning.

Finegold, who also designed “It’s incredible,” said the current Beth El Council member Harley Synagogue more than 20 Schrager. “It’s been a long years ago, was particularly journey, obviously. To think proud that he and his firm we started on this project were invited back to Omaha three years ago, raising the to design another synagogue. money, and to be so close to “It was extraordinarily the finish line, it’s very gratirewarding,” he said. fying and very exciting.”

Finegold also expressed “It’s been really exciting to great joy in seeing the buildbe involved in the process ing nearing completion, but Architect Maurice Finegold, middle, toured the new Temple from the beginning,” Todd also a twinge of melancholy.

Israel with Building Council members Bruce Simon, left, Simon said, “to see the build“It’s very exciting to see [the Todd Simon and Harley Schrager. ing take shape, to see the building] come to conclusion thought processes of the architects, the builders, and the and the ideas in built form,” Finegold said. “But there is other building council members come together.” always a sadness in letting go with one of your works, The administration wing and the Religious School are because it’s not ours anymore, it belongs to the congrega“nearing completion,” according to Project Manager John tion. That handoff is always, for me, very emotional. We’ve Taylor, with the community courtyard and social hall all worked together and now it’s yours. We’ve built a house expected to “wrap up in the next two weeks.” of worship, but now it’s time for the congregation to make it Bruce Simon said he was nervous, but “I’m always nervous their spiritual home. That transition is always exciting, but until it’s done.” sad to know that it’s over.”

The stained glass windows are being cleaned and refurIn addition to touring the building, Finegold and the bished and the stairway down to the Religious School will be Building Council members pored over designs for some of installed this week. the artwork in the new building, including the donor Each member of the Building Council expressed enthusi- plaque, sanctuary ark covering and clerestory windows. asm about the building and is “looking forward to the con“Integrating the liturgical art with various artists has been gregation walking through the doors of their new religious a great experience along the way,” Finegold said. “And in this home and, hopefully, being overwhelmed by how beautiful instance, I think it reaches a pinnacle with the Bemis Center it is,” Schrager said. “And I hope the majority of members having helped and brought new artists into the fold.” will see it as beautiful. The Building Counsel has been intiFinegold was also very pleased with how sunlight will facmately involved in the project, have poured their hearts and tor into the building. souls into it and have tried to create a temple that is every“The committee asked for a building that related to nature,” thing the congregation could hope for.” he said. “They wanted a building with more light than the With the new building being so much larger than the one current building had... with the opportunity to look out on on Cass Street, Temple Israel staff is considering contracting the beautiful landscape, and it will eventually be a beautiful with an outside custodial company to augment the staff cus- landscape again. You want to take advantage of that. todial crew in maintaining the building.

“Celebrating light,” Finegold added, “which according to Boston-area architect Maurice Finegold was in town for the text was created early on, it’s sort of an appropriate idea the meeting and joined the Building Council on a tour of the for a synagogue, don’t you think?”

Mainstreeters at the ballgame

by OZZIE NOGG ticipants enjoyed two-buck beer and food selections from The Iowa Cubs beat the home team Omaha Storm Chasers vendors including Omaha Steaks, La Mesa, Famous Dave’s on June 27, but a happy group of Mainstreeters still enjoyed and an Omaha original -- The Reuben Sandwich. “They the ballgame at Werner Park. make the Reuben fresh, right “The weather was perfect and in front of your eyes,” Alloy the evening was great fun, said. “Delicious.” even though we didn’t win,” Mainstreeters welcomes all said Harry Alloy, chairman of Jewish residents of the Omaha this yearly summertime outarea age 60 plus. The group ing. Alloy complimented offers a mixed-bag of social Maggie Conti, Director of events and learning opportunities that give participants the Activities and Outreach chance to meet new people, Programs at the Rose exercise their brains, take part Blumkin Jewish Home, who in new activities and continue chauffeured the Mainstreeters enjoying life to the fullest. sports fans to and from the Joe and Bev Frank enjoy the Mainstreeters’ yearly baseball “Mainstreeters are happy to ballpark in the Jewish Social outing at Werner Park. offer diverse programs,” Conti Services van. “We really appreciate the way Maggie takes care of us,” Alloy said. Along said, “and we look forward to seeing many community memwith the game and general camaraderie, Mainstreeters par- bers join in the activities.”

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The Hermit Kingdom, Part 3

by RICH JURO that never happened, either.

Every North Korean business, from the largest power Our guides would discuss social customs. Like most North plant to the smallest food kiosk, from the smallest farm to Korean men, Mr. Lee and our driver loved to smoke, but no the largest firm, is owned by the state. Every abode, from the women did. Both sexes like candy and alcohol, and although smallest mud and straw hovel to the largest apartments in both Su Yung and Mr. Lee would take drinks if offered, we the city, is owned by the government (they are all rent-free, were pleased that our driver never indulged, at least while on but where you get to live the job. Marriages used to depends on who you know be arranged by the parents, more than what you but Su Yung said that now know). Each business is most young people choose called a company, so when their life partners by you meet someone who falling in love. We jokingly says they work for a suggested to Su Yung that restaurant, a store, or even Mr. Lee might be a wona tourism concern, they derful husband, but she are actually employed by said romance between the government. Mr. Lee them would be impossible stated: “My goal is to work because he was two years in a foreign country, but younger than she. When under the auspices of the we asked our guides Democratic People’s whether women had equal Republic of Korea.” With opportunity to become his superior pedigree, his North Korea: The view from the DMZ senior managers, Mr. Lee university education, and his excellent language skills, Mr. said “yes,” but Su Yung quietly told us “no.”

Lee is destined to be as successful as one can be in the NK We set out early one morning to visit the infamous system. However, his rise will depend on how much he Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea that learns about the outside world without questioning the was set as the border in 1953 at the conclusion of the Korean legitimacy and wisdom of the whole Communist govern- War. The highway from Pyongyang to the DMZ, as it is ment. This can be perilous. For example, one day he said known, is 7 to 10 lanes wide with no median. There is good that the socialist system was the best. We told him that when pavement, which is a result of no traffic. The only vehicles farmers are given the chance to sell part of their crop them- we saw were a few old inter-city busses, army vehicles, and selves, production immediately skyrockets. The farmer is an occasional small tourist van. We saw no private vehicles . incentivized to raise more than the state requires so that he There were numerous checkpoints that we had to stop at. can sell the excess and buy other things for his family. Then North Koreans must carry ID and are not allowed to travel we told Mr. Lee that former socialist economies like China, from city to city without permission. However, the soldiers Vietnam, and in Eastern Europe were now market-based at most barriers, seeing the insignia of the Korean National even if still run by the Communist Party. These countries Tourist Company on our van, just waved us through. Wisely, are now much more successful, with their people better-fed we refrained from taking pictures of the soldiers at the and happier. Mr. Lee’s only answer: “The socialist economy checkpoints. is best because it gives people an ideological reason to work Arriving at the buildings just outside the Demilitarized harder,” but we perceived that later he might be re-thinking Zone, we waited with an assortment of other foreign tourists the discussion. while our guides submitted our documents for inspection.

There have been a few news articles lately saying that the It’s amazing how friendly one can get in a short time with new leader, Kim Jung Un, may allow farmers to have small people from around the world who you meet in a unique personal gardens to feed themselves better and sell some on setting. There are very few tourists in North Korea. The the open market. Time will tell whether this is just talk to majority are from China, followed by Japan, with a smatterimpress China, their big neighbor and benefactor, or ing from Europe, Southeast Asia, and a very few from the whether it really happens.

USA and Canada. I was sitting in front of an official DMZ How do people get food to eat and cook at home? First, Su souvenir store when the North Korean border guard sternly Yung said, “They just go to the food store,” but she wouldn’t indicated that I had to get up and move further away from point out any such place. Later she admitted that everyone is the entry gate. Noticing the large brace I was wearing on my given ration tickets that are taken to a food distribution cen- ankle, a few of the Chinese tourists empathized with me and ter where you exchange them for eggs, pasta, veggies, etc. As smilingly tried to help me rise. And when I showed them the daughter of a prominent physicist, her family received that my metal cane changes into a 1-legged seat, they plenty of tickets, we think. Fran told Su Yung that we were laughed and approved, especially a couple of the older folks in the grocery business and would love to see where she who were a little envious. We then spoke pleasantries in broshopped, but she never would take us there. Similarly, John ken English, exchanged home cities, and soon clambered and Bucky, our two fellow tourists, both worked for Amtrak onto the same big bus to enter the DMZ together. and expressed a keen desire to visit the big train station, but To be continued...

S U S H I | J A PA N E S E | C H I N E S E

Beth El’s Rosh Hodesh Group hits the road

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Beth El’s Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group has hit the road this summer, taking in the sights at the Strategic Air and Space Museum in June, and learning about the good works of Project Harmony this past week. Above: Artist Matthew Placzek shares the story of his exhibit, “Searching for Humanity: Veterans, Victims, and Survivors of World War II,” on display at the SAC Museum; Diane Malashock, development specialist with Project Harmony, leads tours of the facility, and right: Malashock and Shira Abraham show off the fleece blankets made by the evening’s participants for the children in Project Harmony’s care. The next get-together, planned for noon on Friday, Aug. 2, will be a lunch at the Blumkin Home’s Star Deli, hosted by Sherry

Taxman. For more information or to RSVP, contact her at taxman@cox.net.

July 19, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 7

The KC Kosher BBQ

by MENDEL SEGAL Readers might wonder why foodie author and celebrity Simon Majumdar would come all the way to Kansas City to judge a kosher BBQ competition. For starters, he did tell Food Network audiences on The Best Thing I Ever Ate that KC’s own Stroud’s fried chicken beat all the others, hands down. And Majumdar is not only a frequent judge on Iron Chef, he was a regular on the judging panel for The Next Iron Chef in its last two seasons.

But kosher?

Well, why not?

Low-and-slow (Kansas City style) smoked brisket is juicy and mouth-watering. And Majumdar will be tasting the brisket, chicken and ribs of some of the 20+ teams who enter the KC Kosher BBQ competition on Sunday, Aug. 18 in Overland Park, KS. Hosted by the Vaad HaKashruth, the kosher supervising agency of the Greater Kansas City Jewish community, the BBQ hopes to beat its opening attendance of 3000 in 2012.

And though the Vaad’s focus is raising funds to help more area residents purchase kosher food, it’s being held on the grounds of The Temple: Congregation B’nai Jehudah. After this year, the KCKosher BBQ hopes to continue to be on the circuit for the KC BBQ Society, the international group that oversees The American Royal and BBQ competitions over almost all the world.

So an Indian-British celebrity judge meets kosher BBQ at a Reform Temple. Go figure.

For contact information: Mendel Segal, Executive Director of the Vaad HaKashruth: msegal@vaadkc.org (who, btw, is Pitmaster of his team: RaBBi-Q, and won third place for his chicken, and for his brisket and 6th place for ribs at last month’s kosher BBQ competition on Long Island. Seriously? Long Island?).

Hope to see some Omahans in KC next month!

Temple golf outing

by DAVID GOLBITZ beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the club.

Temple Israel Staf Writer The cost for dinner only is $30, Temple Israel’s Golf Outing is with a cash bar. right around the corner and it’s As this is a fundraiser for Temple time to reserve your spot on the Israel, non-golfers who would like links. The annual event will be to contribute their support can be a hole sponsor. Individual hole held this year on Monday, Aug. sponsors’ names are also printed 19, at Shadow Ridge Country in the program. Please contact the Club, 188th and Pacific Streets.

Temple office for more informa“We hope to see a lot of particition about sponsoring a hole or if pants on the course this year,” said Golf Outing Co-Chair Jeff you have an item to donate for a Smedlund. “It’s always a fun event flag prize or the raffle. and a great fundraiser for Temple Temple Israel’s annual golf outing is always one of “We’re going to have some fantasthe highlights of the year.

Israel and our education fund.” tic raffle prizes this year,” Smedlund The outing begins with grilled burgers and brats for lunch said. “Our sponsors have always been very generous.” at noon, followed by the shotgun start at 1 p.m. A foursome In addition to the great flag and raffle prizes, there will can register for $540 or singles can participate for $135 and also be a hole-in-one contest, an annual tradition. Last year, will be paired with another single. Participants will have use one of the golfers hit a hole-in-one and collected $20,000 of a golf cart and driving range privileges. Dinner is also cash. This year’s hole-in-one prize is a new car. included in the cost.

To register for this fun event, call Temple Israel at Golfers are encouraged to invite spouses and friends, who 402.556.6536 or send an email to templeisrael@temple may not enjoy swinging a club, to cocktails and dinner, israelomaha.com.

JCC Art Camp

by COURTNEY BIERMAN Intern, Jewish Press JCC summer camp is in full swing. The art camps are no exception. Academy of the Arts, run by Carole Greenberg, is for kids in kindergarten up to third grade. This summer features nine week-long sessions. Each session’s campers spend the three-hour-long days working on one big project instead of multiple small projects. This way, campers won’t have to be overwhelmed by being assigned a different project of a different genre every day.

The project is pre-determined months in advance with the kids’ enjoyment in mind. Planning ahead is necessary in order to obtain the supplies needed for the projects.

“Mini” art camp is also available for kids aged two through five years old. This less overwhelming version of art camp is only one hour long and allows younger kids to get the same

JOIN

camp experience as the older kids without giving them material that is too difficult to work with.

Art campers do not interact much with the day campers, but they do see each other at the flagpole in the morning.

The JCC did not have a summer art camp until fairly recently, and thanks go to Greenberg for that. “[Art camp] is important because it builds confidence, stimulates the imagination, gives them an outlook, and even if you aren’t considered artistic, you will always have fun,” Greenberg said. “The best part about art is that there’s no right and no wrong.”

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8 | The Jewish Press | July 19, 2013

Point of view

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Egypt, Hamas, and those tunnels

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor On July 11, Ha’aretz repeated a story by London based Arab daily Al-Hayat: 32 Hamas members were allegedly killed during a Sinai raid by the Egyptian army. It was a clear sign of the worsening animosity between those currently in power in Egypt, and the Gaza based terrorist organization.

The Egyptian official who originally leaked the story (anonymously, of course) claimed “Egyptian military forces have observed Hamas activists operating in Sinai in cooperation with local jihadists. The army is barely in control, he reported; they enter Sinai through the tunnels to carry out attacks and return through the tunnels.” (timesofisrael.com) Ah, yes, those tunnels. Problematic, aren’t they? But Israeli, Egyptian and Palestinian sources were quick to deny the report.

Hamas also immediately denied any and all involvement with the situation in Egypt, while simultaneously, well, sort of confirming it. Yes, I am confused too.

“The intervention of Gazans in the Egyptian issue is nothing more than popular solidarity with the deposed president Mohamed Morsi, in whose time the situation improved on all levels,” read an article on Hamas news site Al-Resalah.”

As if any Gazans would undertake such “popular solidarity” without Hamas’ approval.

The relationship between Morsi and Hamas has been scrutinized ever since he came to power, and it certainly didn’t help his position in the months leading up to his removal.

Prosecutors in Egypt announced their plans to investigate whether Morsi (who is being held at an undisclosed location) was, in fact, assisted by Hamas during his escape from the Wadi el-Natroun prison during Hosni Mubarak’s down-

fall. This, too, was denied by Hamas, but if you believe them, I have a bridge I’d like to sell you.

The changing political landscape in Egypt is hurting Hamas, that’s for sure. The Egyptian army is cracking down on the smuggling along the border with Gaza, effectively cutting off cheap fuel for Gazans in the process. Some Palestinian officials believe the recent isolation of Hamas could lead to an uprising against their rule in Gaza. In recent

weeks, Fatah has already called on Palestinians to overthrow Hamas, so far without consequence—although that could change between me writing this and you reading it. And that there’s no love lost between Fatah and Hamas is nothing new.

So what’s next? Will there be an open conflict between Hamas and Egypt’s new leadership? It certainly seems possi-

ble. That will have a big impact on Israel, particularly since that conflict will most likely be fought in the Sinai.

According to the 1979 Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel, Egypt needs permission from Israel before starting any widespread military operation in the Sinai. That they are reportedly seeking that permission is perhaps a positive sign. Perhaps, because these days nothing is certain.

An unnamed Israeli army source (here we go again, with those exasperating anonymous sources) told the Times of London: “We consider securing Sinai a top priority and have no wish to tie the hands of the Egyptian army against clearing the area of dangerous terrorists.”

No, because those “dangerous terrorists” are as inconvenient for Israel as for Egypt. A less porous Sinai would certainly benefit both countries. Officially a demilitarized zone, the area has been plagued by terror attacks, has seen multiple murders of Israelis and Egyptians, and been used as a launching pad for rockets aimed at Eilat. So, in the current quagmire, there’s at least one thing Egypt and Israel can agree on: Hamas is a pain in the neck. Until, of course, there’s another regime change in Egypt, in which case everything changes again.

It’s enough to give us all whiplash. However, if we care as much about Israel’s safety as we say we do, it is our obligation to keep a close eye on what’s happening in the Middle East, especially when things get even more complicated than they already are. We have to stay informed, and that’s not easy. And what makes it worse: we’re sometimes going to get it wrong, because we don’t live there; we live here. I think that’s okay—as long as we are aware that we don’t always know everything, and we are able to admit it’s painfully difficult to keep track of what happens in the Middle East; and as long as we keep trying.

The map question was scarier. Scarier for me, I mean.

Most of the teens who participated in the poll didn’t even attempt to locate Syria on the map; when they were asked to, they chuckled uncomfortably and shook their heads. Out of the few who tried to find it, no one knew with certainty where it was; most pointed to somewhere in the Middle East. Relieving. A few even got within a country or two of its actual location. But, there were also those who hesitated, index finger hovering in mid-air, turned to me and asked “It’s in South America, right?” I didn’t make an effort to hide my grimace. “No.” I would respond. One particularly clueless kid proceeded to ask me if it was in Europe.

As for the second question, there wasn’t really an incorrect answer. However, I would have liked to have seen a little more appreciation for newspapers and NPR. Thirty of the kids polled said that television news was their main source of current events. Not surprising. Cell phones tied for second place with four claiming them as their primary news source. Internet was a close third with three, followed by newspapers with two, and one person who said that they did not follow the news. What concerns me about these responses is the lack of confidence with which I was answered. No one seemed like they truly kept up to date with current goings-on in the world.

Why is this bad? Globalization. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines the term as (deep breath): Process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation technologies and services, mass migration and the movement of peoples, a level of economic activity that has outgrown national markets through industrial combinations and commercial groupings that cross national frontiers,

and international agreements that reduce the cost of doing business in foreign countries. Globalization offers huge potential profits to companies and nations but has been complicated by widely differing expectations, standards of living, cultures and values, and legal systems as well as unexpected global cause-and-effect linkages.

In other words, globalization is the name given to the fact that major news stories (like the one about Syria) now can involve the entire world. Inventions like the internet and television make communications across thousands of miles possible with just the push of a button, so the scope of events is increasingly global. Alliances and feuds which Country X may have with other countries can cause it to be pulled into conflicts from which it is seemingly separated.

So, the results of my poll are concerning because the conflict in Syria does not just involve Syria; it’s an issue that affects a large portion of the globe, including the United States. In fact, the U.S. is more deeply involved in the war in Syria, than most other politically influential countries, because our government recently decided to provide weapons to the Free Syrian Army.

Now, the average American teen is not affected by foreign conflicts such as this one. If a civil war is happening thousands of miles away, the teen’s life goes on as usual. Life is complicated enough without knowledge of a brutal civil war raging halfway around the world.

During this internship, I want to do stories that show that modern teens aren’t mindless masses of puberty. My poll data makes doing so difficult. But, I promise that we are so much more than what we may seem to be. Let’s be honest though; to the adults reading this, how many of you could have answered my questions correctly? Really. A few of the kids I polled were with their parents, and sometimes those Continued on page 9

ha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’

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Syria-sly?

From our intern COURTNEY BIERMAN I am disappointed.

Last weekend, I fought my way through traffic to get downtown. I left work, dealt with stop-and-go traffic on Dodge all the way to Midtown, parked in a garage, and finally boarded the free shuttle to the Old Market. Once there, I stood outside of the baseball stadium and asked teenagers who walked by three questions: Question one: What do you know about the conflict in Syria?

Question two: If any, what is your primary source of news?

Question three: Can you find Syria on the map? (I held up a map of the world before asking this question.)

Before I go any further, there are some disclaimers. First of all, all poll data mentioned in this piece was gathered on the same night in the same area of the Old Market. Second, most of the kids who responded to the poll were white males.

Third, all responders were between the ages of 12 and 19.

Very few kids had the answers I was looking for. Out of the forty kids I interviewed, only seven had any idea what I was talking about when I said “conflict in Syria.” I got a lot of blank stares after asking my first question, and “nothing” was the most common response I got. Those who were able to tell me something only knew the watered-down overview of the country’s civil war. One boy threw out keywords such as “rebel” and “government,” but his was pretty much the best answer I got.

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July 19, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 9

How the U.S. gains from Israel alliance

Focus on issues DAVID POLLOCK and MICHAEL EISENSTADT WASHINGTON (JTA) -- When two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in April, doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital found themselves well prepared for the aftermath.

Two years earlier, Israeli medical experts had helped update the hospital’s disaster response plan to deal with mass-casualty incidents. Drawing from expertise honed over decades of treating victims of terrorist attacks, Israeli doctors and nurses shared best practices with their American counterparts, including how to distribute the wounded to hospitals and methods to locate fragments deep in wounds.

On the day of the bombing, Alastair Conn, Mass.

General’s chief of emergency services, acknowledged the value of that exchange, telling reporters, “We asked the Israelis to come across, and they helped us set up our disaster team so that we could respond in this kind of manner.”

Israel’s training of Boston first responders spotlights one of the many ways the United States has benefited from bilateral cooperation with the Jewish state. The U.S.-Israeli alliance contributes more than ever to American security.

The strategic logic that first brought the two countries together to fight Soviet influence and counter radical Arab nationalism during the Cold War endures amid the current challenges of political Islam and violent extremism.

The U.S.-Israel relationship isn’t symmetrical, as the U.S. provides Israel with indispensable economic and military support -- to the tune of more than $115 billion since 1949.

But it is a two-way street.

Israel has contributed to American “hard security” through counterterrorism cooperation, intelligence sharing and the development of such innovations as unmanned aerial vehicles and missile defense. And Israel also has contributed to America’s “soft security”: Advances in the high-

tech, medical and sustainability sectors have helped maintain American economic competitiveness and promoted sustainable development.

With a high-tech community second only to Silicon Valley, Israel’s cooperation with U.S. companies on information technology has been crucial to their success. As Bill Gates observed in 2006, the “innovation going on in Israel is critical to the future of the technology business.”

Unsurprisingly, dozens of leading U.S. companies including Intel, IBM and Google have set up major research and development centers in the country. Intel has a particularly strong presence, relying on Israeli engineers for the design of many of the company’s most successful microprocessors.

Greg Slater, senior counsel and director of trade and competition policy for Intel, told a recent Washington Institute forum that “Israeli engineers saved the company” by pioneering energy-efficient technology that enabled increased capacity on each microchip.

Israel’s mushrooming start-up population has particular appeal for U.S. companies looking to expand or consolidate their technical edge, as evidenced by Google’s recent acquisition of the Israeli traffic navigation start-up Waze for a reported $1 billion. Israeli innovators also have arrived at novel solutions to water and food security challenges, pioneering widely used techniques of conserving or purifying water, including drip irrigation and reverse osmosis desalination. According to the 2012 Cleantech Global Innovation Index, Israel leads the world in creating cleantech companies.

Israel’s success in producing clean technologies -- born out of necessity from living in a hot, dry and oil-free environment -- also has made important contributions to American water, food and energy security. Netafim, an Israeli manufacturer of drip-irrigation products, has a production facility in California and has captured half of the global market share in this key tool against the risk of climate change. Also in California, BrightSource Industries is building a solar power plant using Israeli technology that

will double the amount of solar thermal electricity produced in America.

Naysayers suggest the alliance with Israel has not been cost-free for the United States, particularly in the Muslim and Arab world. But measured in empirical terms, Arab ties with the United States, at both the official and popular levels, have boomed in the past decade. Arabs are coming as students or visitors in record numbers; anti-American street protests have fallen dramatically since the start of the Iraq war in 2003; and defense cooperation with most Arab countries is closer than ever.

Sales of iconic American consumer brands also have soared during this period, despite occasional talk of boycotts, and overall U.S. exports to the Middle East increased to an all-time high of $56 billion in 2011. Conversely, oil exports to the United States from most Arab countries rose or remained steady since 2000, regardless of any political tensions.

Just as important, public opinion in every Arab or predominantly Muslim country polled has turned sharply against al-Qaida, notwithstanding the tight U.S.-Israel connection. Finally, Israel has been at most a very marginal factor in all the recent Arab uprisings. Even the new Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt is maintaining the peace treaty with Israel and decent working relations with Washington.

As Israeli researchers, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, doctors and others continue to help the United States promote nation-building at home and security and sustainability abroad, Washington can rest assured it will continue to benefit greatly from its alliance with the Jewish state. By helping to ensure the United States maintains its global edge, Israel will continue to contribute to Americans’ lives and livelihoods, and to restoring the global economic competitiveness of the United States.

Michael Eisenstadt and David Pollock, senior fellows at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, are the authors of Asset Test: How the United States Benefits from Its Alliance with Israel.

Rebuffing critics, Claims Conference reelects chairman and looks ahead

Behind the headlines URIEL HEILMAN NEW YORK (JTA) – After two months of Jewish communal squabbling following the disclosure of a flubbed opportunity to detect a massive fraud scheme at the Claims Conference years before it was stopped, the Claims Conference appears to be moving on.

At its annual meeting this week, the organization’s board of directors debated for more than six hours the circumstances surrounding an anonymous letter sent to the conference in 2001 alleging that multiple false claims had been approved for restitution payments. Despite two investigations that year into the letter’s allegations, fraud was not detected. Claims Conference employee Semen Domnitser, who was implicated in the letter, was able to continue running his scheme until 2009, racking up more than $57 million in fraudulent payouts over 16 years. He was convicted at trial two months ago.

Faced with a public outcry following the revelation of this missed opportunity, a specially appointed Claims Conference committee commissioned an investigation into the 2001 episode. But the committee’s final report on the issue, sent to the board just before this week’s meeting in New York, proved highly controversial. It was disavowed by two of its four members and rebutted in a 21-page missive by the chief executive of the Claims Conference, Greg Schneider.

So after the lengthy debate, the board had a choice on Wednesday: Investigate further and possibly purge the organization of the remaining Claims Conference leaders associated with the failure, or move on.

The board chose to move on, albeit with added measures of caution.

It voted unanimously to endorse the Claims Conference slate of officers -- including chairman Julius Berman, who as pro bono counsel oversaw one of the botched 2001 probes into the anonymous letter, and Schneider, who discovered the fraud four months after becoming chief executive in 2009.

The board also voted unanimously to endorse the special committee’s recommendations to form a new committee to review the administration, management and governance structure of the Claims Conference. But the board stopped short of endorsing the special committee’s controversial report or the ombudsman’s disputed findings, and it did not agree to any additional outside oversight, as some critics have demanded.

Though outsiders will be included on the new committee

that is to review organizational governance, the committee will not have any power other than to issue a report and make recommendations to the board.

Essentially, the board reaffirmed a central tenet of how it operates the Claims Conference: Outside critics may complain and demand more of a say in how the billions of dollars in restitution money from Germany are handled and distributed, but ultimately the board will do what it wants.

As one critic of the process told JTA on condition of anonymity, it’s business as usual at the Claims Conference.

To some outside critics, this is unconscionable. In their view, heads should roll for the conference’s failure to detect a $57 million fraud. They point to the disputed ombudsman’s report, which found a “litany of lack of diligence, competence and judgment” among senior Claims Conference leaders for their handling of the 2001 episode. They complain that the organizations that comprise the board, formed in 1951 and little changed since, is unrepresentative of the current Jewish world, insufficiently transparent and uninterested in outside input. In their view there could not be a clearer need for change.

But Claims Conference leaders say that misses the point.

Yes, they say, there were significant failures in 2001 -- yet even the ombudsman’s report does not lay the blame on any one person and said there is no evidence that anyone tried to cover up the 2001 episode. It was the Claims Conference that discovered the fraud in 2009 and brought it to the authorities. All 31 people who perpetrated the fraud were arrested and convicted of their crimes.

And since 2009, new systems and controls were put into place to prevent recurrence of fraud, including two outside auditing firms -- one of which reports to the Germans.

The staffers responsible for the failures in 2001 are gone from the Claims Conference – dead or retired. Though Berman played a role overseeing one of the failed 2001

probes and many outsiders called for his resignation, the board appears to endorse the view that Berman is not to blame and is better off at the board’s helm than off it.

(Berman also is a member of the JTA board.)

“The plain truth is that there is one person to blame: the convicted criminal,” Schneider wrote in his letter to the board. “All the main players ... missed it. And, I am sure that each regrets it. But, people are fallible.”

Perhaps most notably, in the years since the fraud was discovered, Claims Conference officials say, they have been able to maintain the confidence of the German government, which bore the full cost of the $57 million fraud. That confidence is evident in the successes Claims Conference negotiators have had with Germany since 2009, including getting more classes of survivors eligible for pensions and restitution payments, and dramatic increases in funding for home care for infirm survivors. Even though the number of survivors drawing restitution payments has dwindled as they have died, the total amount of restitution Germany provides actually has increased since 2009, Claims Conference officials note.

It’s unlikely that this will be enough to placate critics. If anything, the board’s decisions this week may amplify their calls for reform. But there’s little the critics can do about it.

The committee created by the board this week may recommend additional changes to how the Claims Conference operates, and it’s possible that some changes eventually will be adopted.

Ultimately, however, that will be up the board of the Claims Conference. And as long as the Germans keep treating the Claims Conference as the sole representative of the Jewish people on restitution matters, those who have a problem with the way the organization operates – whether it’s the Israeli prime minister or a survivor living in Florida -- won’t be able to do much more than kvetch.

Syria-sly?

Continued from page 8 parents tried to answer the questions with their children.

They didn’t do much better, despite being much older and, supposedly, more up-to-date with the happenings of the world.

My poll data doesn’t mean teenagers are stupid.

Awareness of news stories isn’t an accurate measure of intelligence. Not knowing about the conflict in Syria does not mean that they are not capable of understanding it or having opinions about it. Redemption is possible. If

schools would start offering more media and current events classes, kids could in turn be encouraged to stay updated on their own. States (Nebraska especially) seriously need to lay off of the American Exceptionalism and teach more about the rest of the world because, believe it or not, we’re not all that’s out there. Potential is there; it will be fulfilled.

Disappointment aside, I did learn something from this experience; I hate the College World Series. It makes parking impossible.

10 | The Jewish Press | July 19, 2013

Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 | 712.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com For information on our historic synagogue – dates and times for Friday night services, call 712.323.8885.

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

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Services, 9:30 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:45 p.m.

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

SUNDAY: Torah Study Group, 10 a.m.

TUESDAY: Board of Trustees Meeting, 7:15 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Choir Rehearsal, 7:30 p.m. in the chapel.

THURSDAY: Lucky Bucket Brewery Tour, 6:15 p.m., Beth El’s YAC group heads to Lucky Bucket Brewery, 11941 Centennial Road, LaVista. Cost: $3 per person; includes tour and a beer. Babysitting available at Beth El from 5:45 p.m. – 9 p.m., by reservation only. Cost: $5 per child; dinner will be provided. Babysitting reservations required by noon, Wednesday, July 24. RSVP to hosts Heidi and Jeremy Friedman at Jeremy.friedman@gmail.com.

Lunch at Nebraska AIDS Project, Friday, July 26, 11:30 a.m. Join us to prepare and serve lunch at the center. For more information or to volunteer and/or provide baked goods for dessert, contact Joan at hmarcom@juno.com.

Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group, Friday, Aug. 2, 11:30 a.m.

We will meet at the Blumkin Home’s Star Deli. For more information or to RSVP, contact Sherry Taxman, tax man@cox.net, or 402.397.5816.

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

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

FRIDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 7:15 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Children’s Classes begin with Torah Parade, 9:45 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:25 p.m. followed

by Seuda Shlishit; Havdalah, 9:53 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

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

FRIDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

Bar Mitzvah Jared Murray, son of Alisa and Tommy Murray, will become a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, July 27, at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Lincoln.

Jared is an eighth-grade Honors student at Lux Middle School.

His interests include baseball, snowboarding, golf, swimming, and cross country. He will be playing baseball in the Junior Maccabi Games in Orange County, CA in August.

He has a sister, Alexandra.

Grandparents are Judy Aleman and Stephen Bloom of Atlanta, Rochelle Bloom of Atlanta, and the late Larry and the late Nancy Murray.

Great-grandmother is Estelle Bloom of Atlanta and the late David Bloom.

Personal For all of your good wishes kind words, notes, cards, calls, gifts and contributions. In honor of my recovery I thank you so very much. I am very grateful and so appreciate of your friendship. Lucky me thanks again!.

Vicki Chesen

SATURDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush lunch is sponsored in honor of Shabbat Nachamu, 11:30 a.m.

SUNDAY: Minyan, 8:30 a.m.; Breakfast Bonanza, 9:30 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

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

WEDNESDAY: Personal Parsha class, 10 a.m. with Rochi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office; The Development of the Oral Tradition, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office.

THURSDAY: Women’s Study at UNMC with Shani Katzman, noon. Contact Marlene Cohen at mzcohen@ unmc.edu to receive updates.

All programs are open to the entire community.

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

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

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parsahat Va’ etchanan; Game Night/ Potluck, 6 p.m. All ages welcome.

SUNDAY: Jewish Book Club, 1 p.m. hosted by Linda Glaser and Vicki Edwards at South Street Temple Social Hall, and will discuss Clouds Across the Sun by Ellen Brazer.

TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at Shen Café, 3520 Village Drive; Be Present with the Prez, 6:30-8 p.m. Sessions are 15-20 minutes at a time and first come, first served.

THURSDAY: High Holiday Day Choir Rehearsal, 7:30-9 p.m.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway | Offutt AFB, NE 68113 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.

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

Candlelighting Friday, July 19, 8:35 p.m.

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

THURSDAY: LOVE Board of Directors Meeting, 7 p.m.

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

TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street | Omaha, NE 68132-2651 | 402.556.6536 www.templeisrael-ne.org FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Azriel and Cantor Shermet; Summer Speaker: Janey Dann “There are no coincidences.”

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. Torah Reader: Joe Hack and Haftarah Reader: Miles Remer.

SUNDAY: Tots Day Out in the Park, 10 a.m. at Elmwood Park playground.

TUESDAY: Executive Meeting, 5:45 p.m.; Board of Trustees Meeting, 7 p.m.

Summer Speaker, Friday, July 26, 6 p.m.: Aaron Sasson “While I was Sleeping...”

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

FRIDAY: Shabbat Services, 7:45 p.m. followed by a discussion of timely news topics pertaining to the Jewish world.

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

SUNDAY: Jewish Book Club, 1 p.m. hosted by Linda Glaser and Vicki Edwards at South Street Temple Social Hall, and will discuss Clouds Across the Sun by Ellen Brazer.

For any questions please contact Stephanie Donher.

TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at Shen Café, 3520 Village Drive. Please contach Stephanie Donher with any questions.

WEDNESDAY: Torah Trope Class, 7:15 p.m.

Lunch and Learn, Saturday, July 27 following morning services. Led by Robert Hutkins titled “From Eve’s apple to grandma’s tzimmes: reflections on Jewish food, cuisine and culture.” The kiddush lunch will also be prepared and sponsored by Charla and Robert Hutkins.

For extreme kosher couponers, it’s about the money and the thrill

by YAFFA KLUGERMAN SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (JTA) -- Anita Batt’s weekly grocery shopping goes something like this: First, she checks several online coupon blogs, which offer guidance about the best sales and coupon combinations in stores such as CVS, Kroger and Target.

Next, Batt prints the several dozen coupons she will use and places them in her organizer sorted by store. Then she visits about six stores, sometimes performing multiple transactions at the same location to maximize savings.

Her purchases are stored in her basement, where stacks of toilet paper and paper towels are piled to the ceiling.

About 20 shelves hold items like 34 bottles of barbecue sauce, 18 boxes of coffee packets, 20 bottles of shampoo, 16 bottles of salad dressing and about every type of cleaning supply imaginable.

“It looks like I don’t need all that stuff,” acknowledged Batt, 43, who works full-time and keeps kosher. “But I get it when it’s on sale, so I never have to buy something that’s not on sale.”

“There used to be a certain stigma within some circles of Jewish people who would not coupon because there’s a feeling that we shouldn’t have to do that,” said Lesley Zwick, 36, a self-described shopaholic who lives in Huntington Woods, Mich., and created her own couponing and bargains blog about a year ago, ShoppingWith Les.com. “But I don’t see that so much anymore. Now people think differently about couponing.”

Mara Strom says interest in couponing in the Jewish community is growing. Her blog, KosherOnABudget. com, receives more than 125,000 hits per month, she says.

“While we may not get coupons for our kosher meat and cheese, we can save a fortune on the rest of the items in our grocery cart,” said Strom, who lives in Kansas City, Mo. Jodi Samuels, co-creater of the New York-based JDeal.com, also has seen the appeal of coupons throughout the Jewish community -- and not just among those who keep kosher. The site has a database of 85,000 names

and offers more than 30 deals a month on products and activities, most of which have Jewish themes.

Meanwhile, Orthodox coupon bloggers are helping to dispel the notion that keeping kosher and clipping coupons are mutually exclusive.

“I hear a lot of incorrect assumptions that there aren’t coupons for the kosher products people use,” said Miriam W., the 23-year-old founder of a Philadelphia-based blog, TheKosherCouponLady.com, which launched in May and gets about 2,500 views each month. “People just need to know where to look. Even with the biggest food restrictions, you can always focus on saving money on non-food products like toiletries and paper goods.”

Serious couponers say the savings can add up to a lot more than a few pennies. Miriam recalls with pride the time coupons whittled her $255.88 bill to a mere 11 cents.

Batt, who buys only items that are on sale and have coupons, says she typically pays 70 percent to 80 percent less for each item-- and that’s if she pays for them at all.

“I never pay for toothpaste and dental floss,” she said.

Combining coupons and store sales often can yield free merchandise -- or even a profit.

Batt spends about $100 a week on groceries for her four family members living at home. Before she started clipping coupons, her typical weekly groceries cost three to four times as much. She said the savings have allowed her to dramatically reduce debt and save toward a family trip to Israel.

The impact of serious couponing can go beyond one’s own household. Batt’s stockpile, for example, has benefited many members of the Detroit Jewish community: When a young couple gets married, she invites them to take what they need from her supplies.

“I let them take four to five shopping bags full of medicine, toothbrushes, sunscreen or whatever they need to help them start their life,” she said. “That’s my favorite part about doing this.”

Pulverente MONUMENT CO.

July 19, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 11

What kind of world?

Sparks from the word RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parsha Vaethanan The opening word of our Sidrah is full of pathos. Moses has learned he is not to enter the Promised Land, that he is to die on the eastern shore of the Jordan River.

What must have gone through the mind of Moses is the burden of those 40 years of leadership, the struggle with the pharaoh, the constant bickering of the people, the miserable journey punctuated by hunger, thirst and scorpions, the hostile attacks, etc., etc.

“And after all this I am not to be permitted into the land?

What kind of God is this whom I have been following and representing?”

The Midrashic comments are interesting. Rabbi Johanan names ten different terms for prayer, and then emphasizes that Moses, greatest of the prophets, had no special influence and had to plead with the Lord. He goes on to conclude that since we are only God’s creatures, we have no established rights with Him, and can only plead and entreat.

It is a melancholy conclusion.

Our Haftarah, for which this Sabbath is called Shabbat Nahamu (comfort), suggests our yearning for a more sympathetic God. Deutero-Isaiah, in a rhapsodic and ecstatic poem-address, promises his beloved kinsmen in exile that the time of punishment is past and the hour of redemption and God’s love is at hand.

To be sure, he overdoes it. The reality fell far short of the promise. But the poet-prophet must be excused for his enthusiasm and appreciated for his view of a loving God. I prefer the exuberant sentimentality of Deutero-Isaiah over the sober mentality of Rabbi Johanan, whether it is realistic or not.

Trayvon Martin: ADL reacts

by JOE WINKLER (JTA)--The ADL has released a statement in the wake of the non-guilty verdict for George Zimmerman that accepts the legality of the verdict while questioning the wisdom of the stand-your-ground laws that allowed Zimmerman to use deadly force in self-defense. The statement also raises the need to explore many unresolved issues of race in the country: We have great faith in America’s jury system and do not question the verdict in the Zimmerman case.

However, this case raises serious questions about the wisdom of stand-your-ground laws and the easy access to concealed weapons permits in states like Florida, where more than one million permits have been issued since 1987 when the state’s concealed weapons law went into effect. Had neither been in place, this tragedy may never have occurred.

There are serious, unresolved issues of race in our country, and this trial underscored the need to explore these issues more fully. Hopefully, the debate concerning the justice of the verdict in the Zimmerman case will inspire a continued much-needed discussion about the lingering impact of racism in society.

Bagels and Finance

by RUSS KAPLAN Russ Kaplan Investments The Stock Market can be a ponderous mystery to most of us. Yet, it does not have to be that way. Would you like to find out what is happening in the financial world, without having to pay for the advice? Do you enjoy discussing the happenings in the world of investing? This can be done when you stop by Russ Kaplan Investments, Inc. Bagels and Finance, held monthly on Friday, at the Bagel Bin, at 3:30 pm. Enjoy your late Friday afternoon, kibitzing, enjoying a delicious bagel, being with like-minded individuals, and keep up-todate on the Stock Market. I am an independent financial adviser with thirty years of experience in the field. We always have current and interesting topics to discuss. We are happy to answer any of your financial questions. Bagels and Finance is an open discussion group to the public. Be sure to check the dates on the Russ Kaplan Investments Facebook Page or call Russ at 402.614.1321. We hope to see you there.

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Netanyahu: ‘I won’t wait until it’s too late’ on Iran

by JTA NEWS STAFF JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Iran will not be allowed to cross the red line set by Israel with regard to its nuclear capability, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Face the Nation.

“They’re not there yet. They’re getting closer,” Netanyahu told Bob Schieffer, the host of the CBS News program.

“They should be -- they should understand that they are not going to be allowed to cross it.”

“I won’t wait until it’s too late” to act, the Israeli leader said, adding, “We have our eyes fixed on Iran. They have to know that we’re serious.”

Netanyahu said he and President Obama have spoken “many times” about the need to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

But, Netanyahu qualified, “our clocks are ticking in a different pace. We’re closer than the United States. We’re more vulnerable. And therefore we’ll have to address this question of how to stop Iran, perhaps before the United States does. But as the prime minister of Israel, I’m determined to do whatever is necessary to defend my country, the one and only Jewish state, from a regime that threatens us with renewed annihilation.”

Netanyahu called the U.S. discussion of cutting off military aid to Egypt while it is under an interim military government “an internal American decision.”

‘We’ve been concerned with one thing: That is the maintenance of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty,” he said. “It’s been -- it’s been the cornerstone of peace between us and our neighbors, and it’s also been the cornerstone of stability in the Middle East.”

Netanyahu said the Israeli government has maintained “formal contacts” with the Egyptian government throughout the last two years, “and including now.”

Asked about reports circulating Sunday that Israel was responsible for an attack earlier this month on a Syrian missile warehouse, Netanyahu responded, “Every time something happens in the Middle East, Israel is accused.”

He added, “I’m not in the habit of saying what we did or we didn’t do. I’ll tell you what my policy is. My policy is to prevent the transfer of dangerous weapons to Hezbollah and other terror groups, Hezbollah in Lebanon and other terror groups as well. And we stand by that policy.”

Thousands rally in Tel Aviv for social justice

by JTA NEWS STAFF JERUSALEM (JTA) -- More than 3,000 Israelis marked the two-year anniversary of the social justice protest movement and demonstrated against current government economic policy at a rally in Tel Aviv.

The protest on Saturday night against the high cost of living, government budget cuts and the failure to initiate social reform blocked the major Ayalon Highway. Protesters marched in downtown Tel Aviv as well as south Tel Aviv.

The rally also commemorated the one-year anniversary of the death of social activist Moshe Sliman, who set himself on fire at a demonstration in Tel Aviv last summer. A letter written by Sliman shortly before his self-immolation was read at the main demonstration and protesters observed a moment of silence in his memory.

Many of the leaders of the 2011 social justice protests, including Daphni Leef, organized the protest.

The protesters decried Finance Minister Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid party, which was born out of the social justice protests, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Rabbi Josh Brown, right, had fun in the sun at OSRUI with his wife Carrie, their children Hannah and Noah, and the Gilbert family, Sarah, Dan, Noemi and Micah.

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12 | The Jewish Press | July 19, 2013

New mother, leading a secular life, feels tuggings of her Jewish past

by JUDY BATALION “We aren’t kosher,” he said. “Besides, NEW YORK (JTA) -- Ba’shana haba’a you’ve spent your whole life running away neshev, I clapped giddily along as I crooned from your family’s 12 sets of plates and fishthe Hebrew song about hope, wishing that burger-only rules.” my husband and one-year-old daughter How could I argue? He was right. Plus, he would join in. They were enjoying the band hadn’t signed up for kashrut. on Israeli Independence Day at a Sure, marriage meant growing with each Conservative synagogue, but of course nei- other, but Jon hadn’t rubber-stamped the ther uttered a lyric. My daughter’s usual ketubah envisioning a doctrinaire life disManhattan sing-alongs turbing his 40-year-old chanted about bath time meal habits. I decided to and taxis; Jon sang tunes table the kosher talk until from his own indie rock Zelda was off formula. band.

The food debate was But I belted out the minor compared to our tune, wildly waving a disagreement about plastic Star of David flag, school, which is why we denying the reality: My were sitting in the New daughter is unlikely to York shul that day, me know Hebrew.

Or showing Jon how “fun” Yiddish. She probably will synagogue was. This one never know this song. had baby classes and even Jon is Jewish, but a a preschool. Though I’d British Jew, from a differalways wished I’d attendent edge of the tribe. His ed an all-girls academy family includes generawith uniforms, athletics tions of knighted lawyers. and an English curricuHe attended Christian lum not centered on Elie public school. On our Upon the arrival of her daughter, Wiesel, I now yearned to first trip to Israel togeth- Judy Batalion says “values I didn’t send Zelda to Jewish er, he gave me a tour of even know I held festered up like my school. It was not about maelstrom of hormones.”

Jerusalem churches. religion but culture: songs Credit: Judy Batalion for Hanukkah, Tu b’Shvat I, on the other hand, am the daughter of immigrant-poor, -- the chorus of her roots, the passionate kosher-keeping Holocaust survivors. I stud- pieces that would endow her with history, ied at a Zionist socialist school in Montreal, belonging. where we learned Yiddish grammar and Jon, however, feared religious education, 1960’s Israeli poetry about army medics.

Britishly saw it as indoctrination and worDespite our differences, we meshed. Like ried our daughter would believe in a God me, he was neither self-hating nor God- that we didn’t. Even on the way over, he fearing. We enjoyed Jewish things, but not expressed his usual refrain: “You spent 30 exclusively. We married at an Orthodox syn- years running away from your provincial agogue for the architectural details (Queen community, trying to be global. All you’ve Anne benches!), but sans kosher caterer. We done your whole life is rebel.” were “lobster Jews” who attended services “Exactly,” I snapped. “I could.” I had a firm on Yom Kippur - and only Kol Nidre. We cultural identity which, though suffocating, hosted Passover seders because I love the was something to rebel against. Negotiating Haggadah’s celebration of our five senses, this identity drove my ambitions, my explonot to mention any excuse to sing ma-l’cha rations. That’s what I wanted for Zelda. ha’yam in both soprano and tenor.

Now, in the pews, I witnessed toddlers Jon and I were a unified, secular Jewish scurrying around, wondering who was couple -- until the birth of Zelda. Upon the already registered. At least Jon agreed to arrival of my daughter, whom we named for come, learn, listen, I thought as I waved the my Warsaw-escaping bubbe -- values I didn’t flag in Zelda’s face. She ignored it. Its coreven know I held festered up like my mael- ners, I noticed, drooped down, sullen, strom of hormones. I wanted my daughter to cheap. have a Jewish life, to be defined by her roots.

“Daddy, out!” Zelda commanded. Jon Jon wanted her to have a worldly existence, dutifully took her to the bimah and chased to be celebrated for her broadness. her as she chased boys twice her age (It starts It began with lullabies. When she was just early). I watched, wondering if my genetic days old, I rocked my minuscule Zelda to offspring would ever learn these tunes, love sleep, instinctively singing melodies my them, feel connection to the grandmother bubbe had sung to me, melodies I hadn’t who had so firmly shaped me. Would my heard in decades. Teary, I serenaded her in own daughter be assimilated and partially Yiddish about being lost at sea, about bon- lost, like my husband, whose most nervous fires, and repeated Oifn Pripechik (In the moment was being called up to the Torah?

Hearth), about a rabbi teaching children the Should I force Jon to give up his tariff? And aleph-bet. what would that do to our relationship?

Soon, Jon wanted in on bedtime. Together Zelda, with her chubby cheeks and veiny we swaddled our girl, laying her on her back forehead, was a mix of both of us. She would in the oversized crib, and I launched into an have so many influences on her over which old Bundist ballad. Jon stood, silent. This I’d have no control. My daughter will not be was not a good “family” activity, I realized.

Jewish like me, just like she won’t be shy like “Frogs on a log?” he suggested. Gradually, me. It’s hard to imagine that the things that musical tales of Poland were replaced with so define us might not define our children. farmyard chants.

The band played Al Kol Eileh, Naomi Then, at 6 months, Zelda was ready for Shemer’s song about appreciating the bitterreal, if pulverized, food. Our babysitter sweet. I could teach Jon this tune, I reamashed sweet potatoes, peas, chicken. soned, so he could play it on guitar while I “Where’d you get that?” I panicked when I sang. There was always compromise. Then I saw her spooning the mash. “We’re kosher!” got up to join them at the altar, wondering We weren’t. how it could be that I was smack in the midThat night, I turned to Jon nervously. dle of New York City and still had no idea “How do you feel about keeping a kosher how to be a Jewish mother. home?” I asked.

Judy Batalion, www.judybatalion.com, a He looked at me quizzically, especially writer based in New York, is working on a because as at that moment we were eating memoir about motherhood, daughterhood chicken and cheese burritos. and the mess in between.

Thank you to our community partners for contributing to the Weekend Food Program!

Find out how you can help feed hungry children at completelykids.org or call (402) 397-5809.

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