August 1, 2003

Page 1

Vol. LXXXII

No. 48

Omaha, NE

3 Av, 5763

August 1, 2003

SERVING NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA FOR 82 YEARS

Mideast Conflict and Kindness: Themes of Tisha B’Av Double Feature by RABBI TUVIA HOFFMAN for the Omaha Center for Torah Learning On Thursday, Omaha will get its first glimpse of two powerful new films: Shaping a World of Kindness produced by the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation, and Relentless: The Struggle For Peace In Israel, a one-hour documentary using primary source video clips to examine the history of the Mideast conflict and how the Oslo Accords unraveled in a surge of violence. This double feature on Aug. 7, 6 p.m., at the Jewish Community Center Theatre, is sponsored jointly by HonestReporting.com, the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation and the Omaha Center for Torah Learning. This Thursday, in 650 locations across the globe, more than 50,000 people will join together to learn Torah at the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation’s annual WorldWide Tisha B’Av Event. Together, they will be delving into the topics that play the central role in this uniquely somber day of the Jewish calendar--Sinat Chinam (baseless hatred) and Ahavat Yisrael (love of other people). The Sages of the Talmud state that sinat chinam among Jews caused G-d to withdraw the Divine presence from the Temple, allowing its destruction. The Chofetz Chaim added that ahavat Yisrael can correct this flaw and set the stage for the return of the Divine presence and its protection.

This year’s moving presentation by Rabbi Yissocher Frand, lecturer at Yeshiva Ner Yisrael, Baltimore, (and a guest speaker several years ago at Beth Israel Synagogue) explores the depths of the concept of chesed (kindness). Kind deeds, great and small, constitute a counterforce to sinat chinam; they are the living expression of ahavat Yisrael. Through this presentation, tens of thousands of Jews around the world will absorb new insights and discover new motivation to increase the quantity and quality of chesed in their daily lives. Viewers will leave this year’s event with a new vision of the central role kindness plays in every Jew’s life. Relentless will follow Rabbi Frand’s presentation at 7:30 pm. The documentary uses film from Palestinian TV, religious sermons and political rallies to reveal a behind-thescenes look at Palestinian politics and culture. Loaded with footage rarely seen by Western audiences, Relentless uncovers the hidden agenda that is behind the collapse of the peace process and the continued struggle between two peoples. The film is recommended for ages 18 and over, due to graphic footage.

Six Iraqi Jews Arrive in Israel by JEWISH PRESS News Service

New Charitable Group to Raise Funds for Security Items and Bulletproof Ambulance by LESLI SHRAGO for AFAM Omaha is the home of a new organization created to support the needs of two Israeli yishuvim (communities). American Friends of Ateret and Maon was founded in Omaha in conjunction with Israeli Effi (Ephraim) de Haas, who lives in Ateret, located in the Benyamin Region of the Shomron (Samaria) north and west of Jerusalem. Ateret, and Maon, a moshav (communal farm), located in the southern Hevron Hills in Judea, south of Jerusalem, have numerous financial needs. Among the foremost are a bulletproof mobile intensive care unit ambulance, a bulletproof security jeep, firefighting equipment, surveillance camera systems for the perimeter fences (to guard against intruders), two-way radio systems, pager systems and equipment for the men on the firstresponse teams. The yishuvim also need to fund social activities for their residents, which help to alleviate the dayto-day stress of life in Israel today. Ateret, for example, would love to have small pets for their community’s children to care for--in a sense--pet therapy. There are families whose lives and earning potential have been permanently affected because of injuries one or both parents have suffered in shooting attacks on area highways.

The Israeli communities of Ateret and Maon need armored ambulances like this one. Photo, courtesy of Magen David Adom.

Ephraim de Haas, a medic, ambulance driver and head of the ambulance squad based in Ateret, a community of approximately 70 families, will be visiting Omaha Aug. 26 and 27, for the kickoff fundraisers for American Friends of Ateret and Maon. His crew responds to terrorist attacks, car accidents and other emergencies; they transport the injured, the ill and laboring mothers-to-be to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem and are often exposed to the threat of danger themselves while transporting patients. In his other official capacity, de Haas also supervises of all of the first responders in the entire Benyamin Region. On Tuesday, Aug. 26, 7:30 p.m., there will be a parlor meeting at the home of Drs. Howard Gendelman and Bonnie Bloch, tailored to anyone in the medical, psychological, counseling and other affiliated health professions. De Haas will explain in detail the nature of emergency rescue and trauma work in Israel and how it affects the medics, many of whom are volunteers and are not paid for their ambulance work. (Continued on page 3)

Ezra Levy, one of six new immigrants the Jewish Agency brought from Iraq last Friday, blows a shofar at the end of his first visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, a few days after his arrival. Levy, 82, said he had dreamt of visiting the Wall all his life. A specially chartered plane departed Iraq last Friday evening, carrying the six elderly Iraqis and Rachel Zelon, a Vice-president of the Hebrew

Immigrant Aid Society, which is leading the operation with the Jewish Agency for Israel. Zelon traveled to Baghdad earlier this summer to assess the community's situation in person. A Jewish Agency spokesperson said it was the duty of the agency and the State of Israel to bring over Jews in distress whenever possible. Photo by Sasson Tiram/JTA.

INSIDE: Elderhood ................................................. page 9 Memorial Held for Argentine Bombing .................................................. page 10 Kohll Family Establishes Endowment for Friedel ............................................... page 12


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