September 9, 2005

Vol. LXXXIV No. 52 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 84 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

5 Elul, 5765 September 9, 2005

Campaign Co-Chairmen Ask Community to Live Generously by OZZIE NOGG for the Jewish Federation of Omaha The United Jewish Communities’ simtwo-word imperative--Live ple, Generously--is enthusiastically embraced by Bruce and Anne Shackman, General Co-Chairs of Omaha’s 2006 Federation Annual Campaign. “Generosity comes in many forms,” Bruce says, “and the Omaha Jewish community is blessed with people who contribute financially, and with people who also give their time, effort and energies. The success of this campaign depends on all those forms of generosity coming together.” Anne Shackman agrees. “This year’s campaign goal is $3.3 million. In my mind and heart, I feel our job as chairmen is to help everyone in the community search within themselves to find their own level of generosity. To determine what they can give--and then add a little more, please--to insure that Jews in Omaha continue to benefit from Federation agencies, to help the not so fortunate Jews in the former Soviet Union, in Israel and elsewhere, so they might live with dignity and hope. “I believe deeply in this work and I’m thrilled to be sharing this job with my husband.” The Shackmans bring different personal

the opporhistories to tunity to be their Campart of paign roles. something Anne, an important O m a h a -to help native with bring serva longand ices established programs family affilito this ation to Jewish Temple community Israel, says, and to Jews was “I overseas.” taught we Locally, must give monies back to the community Anne and Bruce Shackman are serving as the 2006 Federation r a i s e d through that has General Campaign Co-chairman. provided so much for us. It may be a cliché, Federation’s Annual Campaign support the Community Relations Committee but this work lets me give back.” Bruce came to Omaha from Chicago (CRC), the Jewish Community Center, 20 years ago with what he describes as Jewish Educational and Library Services, “zero ties to this community. I was here Jewish Family Service and Jewish Senior strictly for business. The next thing I Services. Those dollars also help continue knew, someone asked me to join the Beth the work of the Jewish Press, Young El Synagogue Board and help with the Jewish Omaha, the synagogues, Friedel new building drive. It gave me a real Jewish Academy, Va’ad HaKashruth and sense of belonging. various programs for newcomers and “As time went on I began to see how leadership. totally integrated this community is, with “In Omaha, our Federation agencies a level of participation and involvement I cover the daily needs of the Jewish comnever found in Chicago,” he adds. “I munity,” Anne explains. “Meals are delivenjoy this Campaign work. It gives me ered to the hungry, Hanukkah gifts are

As New Orleans Jews Wonder When-and If They’ll Return, Omahans Reach Out by CAROL KATZMAN Editor of the Jewish Press With Katrina devastating New Orleans, LA, Lois Friedman wondered how the daughter of a childhood friend from Sioux City, IA, fared. “Did she leave?” Friedman said she thought to herself about Barbara Herman, a past National Vice-president of the National Council of Jewish Women. “Did she stay? Is her house under water?” Her ‘resource’, Jan Schneiderman, who served as National NCJW President while Herman was a Vicepresident, was out of the country. But a call from a Two blocks from the beach, Biloxi’s Beth Israel Congregation, the only synagogue on the former NCJW National Mississippi coast and the only Conservative synagogue in the state, still stands, though the board member put her mind building suffered heavy damage. The building had not even leaked during Hurricane Camille at ease; all three NCJW lead- in 1969, the previous benchmark for Mississippi hurricanes. Credit: Larry Brooks, Deep South Jewish News ers: Herman, Dana “Thank God for the web!” Oppenheimer said. “Dom Shepherd and Shelley Farber, President of the NO Section, were safe and out of New Orleans. But one past e-mailed back and said Eddy and Bill were holed up in Sulpher Springs, LA, during the hurricane, but were national leader, Eddy Rosen was unaccounted for. A phone call to Anne Oppenheimer of Olympia now in New York City. As for the house, Dom added Fields, IL--another past NCJW National Vice-president that news is scarce, but pictures of the nearby areas show --presented a solution. Oppenheimer remembered that total devastation. They drove with the dog and reached Rosen’s son-in-law, Dominic Picca, worked for a New Dom by Labor Day.” The Rosen’s story is but one of the many tales of narYork City law firm. She ‘googled’ him, found an e-mail address and wrote to him asking if he was, indeeed, the row escapes--and concern about the future. Jack Stiss’ Continued on page 20 Rosen’s son-in-law.

Inside Opinion Page see page 16

This Week: Special Hurricane Coverage: Pages 8-9 & 12-13 Klutznick-Harris Symposium Features 12 Scholars: Page 4

It’s Been a Chai Time for Chabad: Page 11

donated to kids who would otherwise go without. Campaign dollars help the ADL fight bigotry, send our youngsters to Jewish camps, supplement the cost of childcare for those who can’t afford it, pay for transportation so the elderly who need chemotherapy treatments can get to the hospital. These are just a few examples of how our annual campaign touches everyone in the community.” Though the the bulk of campaign dollars stay in Omaha, a portion must go overseas--to support the estimated 230,000 Jewish elderly in the former Soviet Union, the majority of whom live in poverty-- and to Israel, a land particularly close to Anne Shackman’s heart. “Since my first trip in 1991, I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been to Israel-32, 33 times, is my guess. I’ve taken teens on ARTZA trips, led adult missions when I served on the regional and National UJA boards. I took a group on the 50th Anniversary Trip to Israel with a side visit to Poland. “Believe me, not everyone who signs up for a mission does so because they sincerely want to go,” she smiles. “Some take the trip to make a spouse happy or be with friends. I always tell them, ‘When you get to Israel, I don’t know when, where or how it will impact you, but it Continued on page 10

Temple to Discuss Building Plans at Community Conversation by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator “As we begin to image a new building, the congregation is invited to join the community planning process and help shape the new campus,” said Orly Gilat, cochair of Temple’s Long Range Planning Committee. “Together we will articulate a common vision of our future space for worship and assembly.” There will be a community conversation at Temple Israel to discuss the synagogue’s anticipated move to a new building Thursday, Sept. 15, 7 p.m. The entire congregation is invited to attend. Wendy Goldberg, President of Temple’s Board of Trustees, explained, “We are working hard to create a framework for participation and attention to detail that will insure that our new Temple will include meaningful space that conveys the mission and vision of our congregation.” There will be opportunities at the community conversation to ask and also to respond to questions such as, “What makes our life at Temple meaningful and our learning experiences engaging?” Small discussion groups will offer all participants the chance to articulate their thoughts and ideas. Following the discussions, all congregants will be encouraged to help in the multiple tasks associated with the establishment of a new campus for the 21st century. Temple’s Rabbi Aryeh Azriel stated, “As we move forward in building our next spiritual and physical home, we need, all of us, to participate and listen to each other’s visions and dreams. The next Temple will be the sum total of the gifts of our hearts. The evening’s conversation will lead to the building of a stronger and meaningful Judaism for our children in Omaha.” “Please plan to join the meeting, share your dreams, and help develop the common vision for our new home,” Gilat requested.

Coming Sept. 30: New Year’s Issue More of Israel’s Geography Crossword Puzzle: Page 15

Op-eds on Jewish Response to Hurricane Katrina: Pages 16-17

Page 2

DOLLS ETC

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 9, 2005

Adult Learning Opportunities at Beth Israel by MARY BORT for Beth Israel Synagogue Children aren't the only ones who are “back to school” this fall. Beth Israel offers adults a number of valuable and unique learning opportunities that began this month. Offerings include a High Holiday Lecture Series, Lunch and Learns, and a special online lesson at the Orthodox Union website. Rabbi Jonathan Gross has been holding a three-part September Lecture Series about getting prepared for the High Holidays. The first two lectures were held earlier, and the community is invited to attend the third lecture at Beth Israel on Thursday, Sept. 15, 8 p.m. “In order to be well-prepared for High Holiday services, we’re focusing on re-familiariz- Rabbi Jonathan Gross ing people with some of the prayers we say only once a year, as well as adding meaning to those prayers we say regularly,” explained Gross. “We discuss what the prayers mean and we’ll do some practicing. Also, we spend time learning the tunes that our High Holiday Chazzan, Rabbi Ari Dembitzer, will use during services.” Gross emphasized the importance of getting reacquainted with High Holiday prayers and practices. “Even those who are ’expert’ will spend time preparing for the High Holidays,” he said. “You only do these prayers once a year so it’s a good idea to get warmed up and ready. Going in prepared leads to a more meaningful experience.” The lecture is open to all men and women in the community, and people are encouraged to attend even if

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Jewish Senior Services Plans JFS and Temple Israel Offer Grandparents’ Day Celebration Two-Part Course in How to Be by RITA SHELLEY a Love and Logic Parent Jewish Senior Services Publicity Coordinator

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The Jewish Community Center auditorium will host the pancake man, critters from Wildlife Encounters and a magician during the annual Grandparents’ Day celebration on Sunday, Sept 25,12-3 p.m. The afternoon of activities for the entire family is sponsored by Jewish Senior Services and its volunteer auxiliary, League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly (L.O.V.E.). The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home’s activities staff also will provide materials and ideas for craft activities that appeal to all ages, according to Lois Wine, director of volunteer services.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FRIDAY, SEPT. 9 “Ima and Me” Class, 10:30 a.m. at Chabad House BBYO RCC Weekend, 4 p.m. SUNDAY, SEPT. 11 “Living Hebrew” Class with Susie Levin, and Bible Study with Leonard Greenspoon, 10 a.m. at Beth El C WRJ Board Meeting, 10:30 a.m. at Temple Israel L Prayer Class, and Jewish Potpouri, 11 a.m. at Beth El I BESTT Chaverim Activity, 12:30 p.m. P Yachad, 1 p.m. at the Henry Doorly Zoo Beyt Shalom, 3 p.m. & MONDAY, SEPT. 12 S JSS Senior Exercise, 10 a.m. A JSS Senior Luncheon, noon V MIT Admissions, 7:30 p.m. E Jewish Federation Pre-Mission Class, 7 p.m.

C L I P & S A V E

TUESDAY, SEPT. 13 Sisterhood Style Show & Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. at Beth Israel “The Guy & Bob Show”, noon ADL Institute for Holocaust Education, 5:30 p.m. BBYO Chapter Elections, 6 p.m. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 14 PATTER, 10:30 a.m. at Beth El Chabad House 18th Anniversary Celebration at Forté Bereavement Group, 6 p.m. at Beth El C L THURSDAY, SEPT. 15 I Walk-in Drop-in, 10 a.m. P Yiddish Group, 1 p.m. Kripke Library Book Discussion Group, 1 p.m. & Reception for Rochel Ohana, 2:30 p.m. Executive Meeting, 5:30 p.m. at Friedel S JFS Love and Logic Class, 6 p.m. A Jewish Women International Pot Luck Dinner, 6 p.m. V at Corinne Levin’s E “Live from the 92nd Street Y”, 7 p.m. Board of Directors Meeting, 7 p.m. at Friedel All events held at the JCC unless otherwise indicated. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of events. To keep calendar accurate or for questions, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437. FOR A COMPLETE LISTING, VISIT THE FEDERATION’S WEBSITE: www.JewishOmaha.org (click on calendar)

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they weren’t at the earlier ones. In addition to the September Lecture Series, Beth Israel’s monthly Business Ethics Lunch and Learns are underway. Lunch and Learns are held the first Wednesday of the month, except for October. Bagel Bin lunch is provided for $5 per person. The overall theme for each Business Ethics Lunch & Learn pertains to the fourth section of the Shulchan Aruch, which is “chosen mishpat” and deals with monetary law. According to Gross, “This is probably the least studied, yet is as relevant as any section. Each month we study a different topic, ranging from property damage to theft to arbitration, which are all relevant to modern business practices. “We’re very fortunate to have a diverse group of professional men and women attend the Lunch and Learns,” continued Gross. “Lawyers, accountants, and other business leaders participate, contributing their personal experiences to further our discussion.” Business Ethics Lunch and Learns are held at the office of Joe Kirshenbaum, One Pacific Place, 1125 So. 103rd St., Suite 580. The next Lunch and Learn will be Wednesday, Nov. 2, noon-1 p.m. Finally, Rabbi Gross has recorded a shiur, or lesson, as part of the Orthodox Union’s (OU’s) “Take 5 For Torah” program. This provides five minute Torah lessons that are aimed to inspire people to continue with their studies of the Torah. According to the OU web site, Gross’ shiur is a “Halachic discussion whether a Kohain soldier who returns from war, and may have killed, is permitted to perform Birkat Kohanim.” To listen to Gross’ shiur, go to the OU web site, www.ou.org. Scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on the “Take 5 For Torah” bar. Then click on Gross’ shiur. For more information about any educational opportunities at Beth Israel, please call 556.6288.

C L I P & S A V E

Maggie Conti, director of activities at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, John Anthony Conti, Maria Conti and Fannie Chunovic enjoyed getting acquainted with a fox during last year’s Grandparents’ Day. Wildlife Encounters will return again this year. Funding for Grandparents’ Day has been provided by the following endowment funds administered by the Foundation of the Jewish Federation: Sheldon A. and Lorrie Bernstein, Betty A. Studna and Seymour T. Lee, and Chester and Phyllis Lustgarten. “This is always a fun, memorable day for every generation, from great grandparents to young children,” Wine said. “If you don’t have a grandparent to visit, call us and we’ll match you with someone who can ‘adopt’ you for the day.” Volunteers who can help escort Blumkin Home residents also are needed, Wine said. To volunteer, call her at 334.6519.

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Every word you say matters when you’re talking to your teenagers. As they struggle toward independence and autonomy, some dicey issues are likely to emerge. When teenagers are part of the family, parenting takes on a new dimension, according to Karen Gustafson, a licensed therapist at Jewish Family Service (JFS). Long before they’re on their own, today’s teens face life-and-death decisions. Preparing teens for the real world, parents might wonder if they should hover over their kids or continuously drill them so they’ll do the right thing. In cooperation with JFS, Temple Israel will offer “Love and Logic: Parenting Teens for the Real World” on Wednesdays, Sept.14 and 28, 6:30-8 p.m. Gustafson, M.S., N.C.C., L.M.H.P., will lead the “Love and Logic” parent training courses at Temple. She has worked with children and families for more than 20 years. After teaching several different parenting programs, she has become “sold” on the practicality of “Love and Logic” and is passionate about teaching parents based on her education as well as her experiences working with children of all ages including her own two grade-school age youngsters. At the first session of “Love and Logic,” Gustafson will present a fresh look at how kids grow from childhood to adolescence and how to grow with them, the internal and external changes teenagers go through, and parenting “pearls” that deal with everyday struggles. On Sept. 28, parents will learn that love means giving teens opportunities to be responsible and empowering them to make their own decisions while logic means allowing teens to live with the natural consequences of their mistakes. Showing empathy for the pain, disappointment, and frustration they’ll experience is part of the process. Parents will also learn the difference between punishment and consequences, how teens deal with self-esteem, control, decisions, consequences, and how to set up situations so teenagers can learn constructive lessons about responsibility. In January, Gustafson will present a “Love and Logic” course for parents of five to 12-year-olds at Temple. For more information about the “Love and Logic” parenting program, log on to www.loveandlogic.com. Please register for these classes at rzweiback@templeisraelomaha.com or call Temple Program Director Rosie Zweiback at 556.6536. There is no fee for these “Love and Logic” courses which are open to the community.

September 9, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

Lost, Mysterious Disappearance, Found, and Redemption

THE HISTORIAN’S F OOTPRINT by OLIVER B. POLLAK (Editor’s note: Considering what is going on in the Gulf States right now, this is a timely column. What do you grab when you have to evacuate--photos, books, important papers, jewelry? Friends in New Orleans are all safe, but several of them saw pictures on cable and recognized the submerged area as their neighborhood. Their artwork, momentos collected from trips around the world, Judaica, books, linens and china from when they were newlyweds--are now all beyond salvage.) Reader be warned, this is an anxiety story. How organized do you need to be to find inadvertently misplaced items? The more material possessions you have the greater the chance of misplacing them. Perhaps a secretary or valet would help, or a wife. How often have you misplaced something? Where are my car keys? Where did I put them when I came home? What are they lying under? My concern rises as the time approaches to leave the house for an appointment. Where is Thursday’s newspaper with that interesting recipe? Where did I place the clipping about that interesting hotel in Seattle? Where did I place that Hadassah magazine that I was saving to read? Where is that book that I purchased last week or five years ago? What shelf are they on, what are they lying under? It’s spring, the birds are feeding in the backyard, where are the binoculars? I have the camera, but where are the instructions that will assist me to use it more proficiently. Where are my sunglasses? You misplaced your cell phone. You dial it and then remember you put the ringer on vibrator. Where did I leave my watch? Where is my dress watch? Where is my sports watch? Where did I leave my tie? What happened to the fourth stud that goes with the formal shirt? How inebriated was I after the wedding when I took it off?

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Where is the Philips screwdriver, the Allen wrench, aka hex key, the spare batteries for the garage door opener, the smoke detector, the thermostat, the defibrillator? The power goes out, where are the flashlights, the candles. What is the longest time something was lost and then found? My personal frustration record is three years before a book reappeared, and in the interim I had replaced it. The saddest situations are the losses and breakage of gifts. You say thank you for the gift and when that person visits you want to show off what they gave you. But if you broke it or lost it what do you do. Go to google, find the artist, and order a reasonable facsimile. Nothing is an exact copy, but perhaps the donor will not notice the difference. Putting something back together that you dismantled is challenging. Reconnecting wiring correctly poses risks. Where is my bicycle tire pump? Where did I put last year’s taxes? At what restaurant did I leave my hat? Big things go missing as well. Where did I leave the car in the parking lot, especially after returning to the airport five days later. A case filed under Sharon rather than David. File number 03720 is transposed to 03270. I have temporarily misplaced my grade book more often than I would like to admit, or recall. So much time is spent, or lost, in searching. Where is the list of things I am supposed to do today? Where is the disk holding this story? As a lover of books the most testing situation is loaning or borrowing a book, and forgetting to whom, or to return it. I misplaced a gorgeous book on pattern paper, found it on the web for $302, but fortunately found it in my basement before purchasing a replacement copy. I irretrievably lost a miniature black bound, less than pinkie finger nail sized bible in a rain storm on a blacktop parking lot, but, can replace it by sending $28 to the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz. All is not lost. In the olden days you could board a plane even if you forgot your wallet. A couple of years ago, visiting the St. Louis Arches, Karen’s wallet fell out of her purse onto the gravel parking lot as she was getting out of the car. Two hours later the cell phone rang and a visitor to the arches from Illinois reported finding the wallet that Karen did not even know she no longer had.

As I finished this story flying on America West from Omaha to Phoenix in Seat 5A we are about to land. I clear my things and my wife dips her hand into the seat pocket in front of me. Voila, a Canadian passport and tickets. Some Edmontonian en route to Mexico will be relieved. The most ironic item to go missing was 60K “Memory Stick” for this laptop, fortunately before it had anything on it. What does this all mean? In this neurotic rumination, absent-mindedness battles with the retrievable, recognizing the painful inevitability of loss. Karen’s cousin, Bruce Sarbit of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, observed after reading a draft of the above: You will be heartened to learn that your article rings true. I left underwear and socks (perhaps two of each) in the drawer of our hotel room, and was forced to wear the same stuff two days in a row as we travelled. Needless to say, I kept social contact to a minimum. Good thing that we were on the road. Did you know that you can pay for gas with a credit card so that you don’t need to go inside? A portion of the article was dedicated to lost things coming back. Now, I don’t care to see the lost socks and underwear again. Redemption occurred when I found a particularly good deal on socks and underwear at Target. But, here’s a story of a similar sort. Our neighbor delivered a package of pictures, great pictures of our vacation from well over a year before. He had received them from a lady whom he vaguely knows, but good neighbor that he is, did as she asked, brought them to us. Apparently, we dropped our film on the way to have it processed, the lady (who lives several blocks away) picked it up from the snow encrusted ground, and, then, mixing it up with her own, had it developed. She, then, managed to track us down by walking by the area where she picked up the pictures, then, when she saw me, matching my face to one in the pictures. The world sure works in mysterious ways. We hadn’t missed the pictures, but were thrilled to have them back. They say that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone. In this case: you don’t know what you’re missing ’til it’s back. Attorney, historian and author Oliver B. Pollak can be reached at: OBPOMNI@aol.com.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 9, 2005

Twelve Scholars Share Thoughts on Love in Jewish Tradition at Klutznick-Harris Symposium by DR. LEONARD GREENSPOON From A-Z--or, to be more precise, from B (Brayford) --Z (Zohar)--the presenters at this year’s Klutznick-Harris Symposium display an astonishing array of backgrounds and experiences. All of this serves to enrich and enliven the more than a dozen presentations on “Love— Ideal and Real--in the Jewish Tradition” that will take place on Sunday and Susan Brayford Monday, Sept.1819. Susan Brayford (“What’s Love Got to Do With It?”) spent more than a decade in the computer business before going back to school to earn her Ph.D. in Oliver Leaman biblical interpretation. Now a professor at Centenary College in Shreveport, LA, she knows she has “a lot more love to give the second time around.” Yudit Greenberg (“Constructing a Jewish Philosophy of Love”) directs the Jewish Studies Program at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. “Love,” in Judaism and from a broader cross-cultural perspective, often shows up in the titles of her many publications.

Joel Hecker (“Kissing Kabbalists”) is a professor of Jewish Mysticism at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, PA. Growing up in the Reform movement, receiving Orthodox

for their “bark mitzvah.” Gail Labovitz (“Is Rav’s Wife a ‘Dish’?”) teaches at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, where she loves being able to serve as both a rabbi and a

Yudit Greenberg

Joel Hecker

Charles D. Isbell

Gail Labovitz

Karen R. McGinity

Phillip Munoa

Alisha Pomazon

Panthea Reid

rabbinic ordination, and teaching at JTS in addition to the RCC, he “enjoys a pluralistic discourse” on love, among other topics. Charles D. Isbell (“Love in the Palace”) directs Jewish Studies at Louisiana State University. His special brand of “love” is evident in his work as a rescuer and trainer of large dogs. He considers canines as “sentient and loving creatures who are gifts from God”; since he is Jewish, all of his dogs are studying

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professor training future rabbis. In addition to her academic presentations, she is an award-winning amateur creative writer. Daniel Lasker (“Can Jewish Philosophers Love God?”) is Norbert Blechner Professor of Jewish Values at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beer Sheva. His “love for Israel” led him to make aliyah almost three decades ago. While in Nebraska, Lasker will also make presentations at UNL, under the sponsorship of the Harris Center, and at UNO, as a guest of the Department of Philosophy and Religion. Oliver Leaman (“The Sacred and the Erotic in Jewish Treatments of Love”) teaches both philosophy and Jewish Studies at the University of Kentucky. His current interest in the links between religion and art have led him to study the biblical Song of Songs, an “extended love poem that has often been represented visually.” Karen R. McGinity (“Were Women Who Intermarried Still Jewish?”) is a visiting professor of history at Brown University, where she received her Ph.D. in May of this year. It may also be said that “love” led McGinity to Judaism; she is now active in the Boston Jewish community. Phillip Munoa (“Love at First Sight”) teaches at Hope College in Michigan and has a special interest in ancient Jewish literature. A self-described “Jewish freak” in the early 70s, he was at one time unsure whether to be a street preacher or to go to college; choosing the latter course, he fell in love with and married the daughter of the college’s president. Alisha Pomazon (“Love of the Neighbor”) is a doctoral student in the Department of Religious Studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She speaks of Western religious thought and

the philosophy of language as among her academic “loves.” Panthea Reid (“From Osipovichi to Omaha”) is Professor of English Emerita at LSU. Currently living in Princeton, NJ, she is now working almost full-time on her biography of Omaha-born writer Tillie Olsen. Among her “loves” is travelthroughout ing Nebraska to investigate sites associated with the Lerner famiDaniel Lasker ly. Zion Zohar (“Peace and Love (Sexuality in the Book of the Zohar”) chairs the President Navon Program for the Study of Sephardic and Oriental Jewry at Zion Zohar Florida International University in Miami. A specialist in Jewish Mysticism and Philosophy, he is especially involved with the notion of peace, which can be tied into mystical concepts of sexuality and love. These 12 scholars will speak at the Jewish Community Center on Sunday, Sept. 18, 12:30-5 p.m. and at Creighton University on Monday, Sept. 19, 8:45 a.m.-2 p.m. They will be joined by keynote speaker, Lawrence H. Schiffman of New York University, who will speak in the JCC Theater, Sunday evening, Sept. 18, 7:30 p.m., on “Commandment or Emotion? Love of God, Family, and Humanity in Classical Judaism.” Schiffman’s presentation will be followed by a dessert reception, which, like other Symposium events, is free and open to the public. During the entire time of the Symposium, books by visiting scholars as well as others will be on display and sale courtesy of Omaha’s Soul Desires Bookstore. This fall’s event is the 18th annual Klutznick-Harris Symposium. It is a joint effort of the Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization at Creighton University and the Norman and Bernice Harris Center for Judaic Studies at UNL, with the Kripke Center for the Study or Religion and Society at Creighton University, the Jewish Federation of Omaha, and other supporters. A full program of events, including times and locations, will appear in next week’s issue of the Jewish Press. For more information, please contact Fran Minear, Creighton University, at fminear@creighton.edu or 280.2303. Copies of the program, abstracts of the papers, and other related information can be viewed at: http://puffin.creighton.edu/ klutznick/.

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Get Ready for the High Holidays with a Hebrew Reading Crash Course

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by MARY SUE GROSSMAN JELS Aministrator Do you want to sharpen your Hebrew reading skills before the High Holidays? Jewish Educational & Library Services has just the class for you--the Hebrew Reading Crash Course! The one day review is sponsored by the National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP) and will be offered at the JCC on Sunday, Oct. 2, 10 a.m to 4 p.m. Elinor Matalon, a native Israeli and experienced Hebrew teacher will be the

instructor. This program is designed for community members who may know some Hebrew, but want to improve their reading skills. Knowledge of the aleph-bet is suggested for this course. The cost for the one-day course is $30, which includes all materials and a kosher sack lunch. To register or for more information, please contact the JELS office at 334.6445 or e-mail mgrossman@jewishomaha.org. Registration is needed by Wednesday, Sept. 28.

September 9, 2005

Former Omahan Combines Interest in Art with Love of Judaism the other purposes a synagogue serves.” by CAROL KATZMAN As a teenager in Memphis, TN, Rosenberg assumed Editor of the Jewish Press Though Prof. Marty Rosenberg and his family lived in he’d become either a doctor, like his older brother, or a Omaha only 13 years--from 1985-98, he had a big scientist, like his sister. In fact, he was a chemistry major impact on this community. An active participant in at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But a Jewish life, he and his wife, Ellen, helped found a chance enrollment in a required humanities class Reconstructionist congregation here, which later changed his career path and lead him to minor in art hisbecame Beyt Shalom. They were active in its religious tory--making him the first MIT graduate to later receive school and Marty’s photographs of synagogue activities a PhD in art history. Science is a solitary occupation he realized while in were a source of pride for him and his congregation. Prof. Rosenberg was also active in Omaha’s arts com- college and Rosenberg is, as he says, “an extrovert.” So munity, chairing the Dept. of Art and Art History at the he combined this new love of art and art history with an organized, logical mind and worked University of Nebraska at Omaha, cotoward a career that has provided him founding the Center for Innovation in with more than just the experience of Arts Education, chairing an artwork classroom teaching. Because of his selection committee for the new fine arts building at UNO, and co-chairing leadership abilities, Dr. Rosenberg has a similar one at the University of also held administrative positions--at UNO, Southwest Missouri State Nebraska Medical Center. University, and now at Rutgers, where He even taught the very first course he chairs the Department of Fine Arts. combining his two loves: Judaism and Because he was a student during the art history--in a class for the College 1960s and ’70s, he looked at the field of Jewish Learning, a part of the forwith an analytical mind and saw what mer Jewish Cultural Arts Council was missing--a feminist point of view. offerings. Today there are hundreds of courses “One of the first people I met in about women artists and women and Omaha was Ann Kibel Schwartz,” he the arts. All the courses Rosenberg recalled, “who was, at the time, teaches today are related to that topic, Director of Cultural Arts at the Jewish Dr. Martin Rosenberg including gender in art education. Community Center.” Both Schwartz “Art is what it means to be human,” Dr. Rosenberg and Rosenberg grew up in Memphis; both children of Holocaust survivors; both first-generation Americans insisted. “We make art about what really matters to us.” That’s why he’s hopeful that the architectural renaisand both from Orthodox homes. “And we both wound up combining the arts and sance that has occurred in Omaha recently will continJudaism,” he laughed. ue. Starting with the Fine Arts building at UNO with These two loves have lead Rosenberg off on a little which he was involved, the additions to the Creighton tangent that will bring him back to Omaha Sept. 23- University campus and the Joslyn Art Museum, the new 25. Serving as a scholar-in-residence for Temple Israel, Federal Building, and now the Qwest Center, Rosenberg will take the congregation on a journey Rosenberg is excited about the architectural designs that through synagogue architecture, from its original use as have been built in Jewish Omaha as well. “Beth El had already moved out West when we left in a place in which G-d would dwell to contemporary uses since the 18th century. With the congregation’s con- 1998,” Dr. Rosenberg said, “but I’m anxious to see the templated move out west and proposed multi-million expansion of its social hall and addition of the school dollar new building, a conversation with Rosenberg will wing, as well as the new Beth Israel building which just opened last year.” be more than just an intellectual exercise. Because several leaders at Temple Israel were aware of “I’ve never been involved with the actual building of a synagogue,” Rosenberg admitted, “but talking nuts and Rosenberg’s expertise in architectural history, he hopes bolts with members of the building committee will, I his talks here will heighten the congregation’s interest in hope, get them to see what other communities have designing a new building and generate excitement in the project. “This is a major event in the life of a congregadone.” Rosenberg, who holds both a masters and PhD in art tion,” he added. “It touches on many of my professionhistory from the University of Pennsylvania, will use his al and personal interests and I’m really looking forward extensive experience as an art historian to illustrate “how to my visit to Omaha because of it.” malleable” the synagogue “concept has been and how many forms it has taken”--from the wooden shuls in EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE Poland to the renaissance and baroque structures of Due to the closing of the Jewish Press office for the Jewish Italy to the Amsterdam synagogue which has served as a holidays in October, the deadlines are at noon as follows, for model for nearly every Sephardic synagogue since. articles, photos, ads and synagogue schedules: “There’s lots in the Torah about the Temple,” Dr. Deadline Issue Rosenberg explained, “at least about its physical require30 New Year’s issue (no regular news) Sept. ments. But its function has changed. ‘Make Me a house Oct. 7 Wednesday, Sept. 28 and I will dwell in it’ is about as specific as the Torah Oct. 14 Thursday, Oct. 6 gets. All you really need for that purpose is a Torah, an Monday, Oct. 10 Oct. 21 ark, a reading table and prayer books. Oct. 28 Monday, Oct. 17 “Today,” he added, “we need to think in terms of all

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September 9, 2005

IN THE NEWS David B. Mellen graduated from the EMS Paramedic Program at Creighton University in July. He is the son of Betty and Jeffrey Mellen of Lincoln, and the grandson of Miriam and Julius Misle also of Lincoln. Rob A. Randals, CFP, MBA, ChFC, has been invited to attend the 2005 “Most Valuable Producers Conference�, Sept. 12-14, in Lake Las Vegas, NV. Sponsored by Northwestern Mutual Investment Products and Services, the three-day conference recognizes the top producing financial representatives and investment specialists from across the network. Randels is affiliated with the Nebraska Network in Omaha. Last month, the Theatre Arts Guild honored Elaine Jabenis with the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in performance. The presentation was made by Barbara Ross; the two women met during the production of the Cemetery Club for ‘Theatre at the J’. Jabenis also received a similar award in 2003 from the Omaha Community Playouse. Fred Simon, Executive Vice-president of Omaha Steaks, will tell “The Story of Omaha Steaks, an Omaha First Company,� on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2 p.m. In addition to speaking, Simon will be presented an “Omaha First� award, in recognition for his company’s contributions to the community during Omaha’s first 150 years. The talk is part of the Historical Society’s “Second Sunday Talks� and is free and open to the public. Tours of the Crook House are $5 for adults; $4 for students and $3 for children, ages six-11. The events will take place at the Douglas County Historical Society’s museum, the General Crook House, located at Fort Omaha, 30th and Fort Sts. The Ak-Sar-Ben Coronation Ball Committee has announced that Jack Bennet Goldstein, son of Joe and Jill Goldstein, and Max Barron Slosburg, son of David and Martha Slosburg, have been named pages of the royal court. The Ak-Sar-Ben ball is Oct. 15 at the Qwest Center. Dr. Alan Kricsfeld, a physician at Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluff, IA, will be attending the Fifth Annual Emergency Response Group Course, Western Galilee Hospital Nahariya, Israel this week, Sept. 15-23. Dr. Kricsfeld has been practicing Internal Medicine for three years. He and his wife Debbie have two children, Samuel, 5, and Rachel, 2.

ORGANIZATIONS MAIMONIDES SOCIETY Alan Wells, Ph.D., University of Nevada and Patricia Heberer, Ph.D., Historian with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will present “A Dialogue on the Shoah and the Implications for Health Care Professionals of Today� on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m., in the Kripke Library. This will be an opportunity for Maimonides Society members to engage in discussion on medical ethics in light of the Holocaust. Continuing Medical Education will be available free of charge for those qualified participants. Please RSVP no later than Sept. 14 to mgerber@jewishomaha.org or by calling 334.6462. For additional information about the event or the Maimonides Society, please visit the Jewish Federation website at www.jewishomaha.org and click on Maimonides Society. The Maimonides Society, an affinity group of the Jewish Federation, is an honor society for Jewish health care professionals who seek to strengthen the bond among themselves, Israel, and the Jewish community through educational, social action, and philanthropic activities. THE YOUNG ENERGETIC SENIORS Join us on Monday for Ballroom Dancing at the JCC auditorium. Lunch begins at noon at $6 per person. Try your luck with bingo with Eileen Remer at 10 a.m. Exercise will begin at 10:30 a.m. and the discussion group at 11 a.m. in the Social Hall. Call Dee Dee for transportation at 330.4272. Call Maggie for reservations to the casino on Sept. 22 at 334.6521. JEWISH SENIOR SERVICES An Israeli Pop Concert by UNO Heartland Philharmonic is Tuesday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m., in the JCC auditorium. No admission fee. Call Maggie Cont at 334.6521. LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Come to the Yiddish meeting at the JCC on Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. Call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638. VISIONS Reminder: Luncheon Meeting is Friday, Sept. 16, 12:30 p.m., at the Venice Inn. Michael Millea, President of the Nebraska Chapter of AARP, will speak. The Fonda-McGuire Series presents The Graduate at the Omaha Community Playhouse on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2 p.m. The cost is $22 for the show. Dinner on your

own will follow at the Olive Garden (7505 Dodge). Send reservations to Ethel Goldston, 1108 No. 92 Plaza #101, Omaha, NE 68114 by Sept. 14. For information call Jean Elkon at 551-6656. Make check payable to Visions. The Lion King is on stage at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines on Thursday, April 6, 2006. The cost of $94 includes transportation, theatre tickets, dinner, tax and gratuities. Let your imagination run wild at the Tony Award-winning Broadway sensation. Depart from the JCC at 9:30 a.m. and return by approximately 9 p.m. For reservations, send with full payment to Ethel Goldston by Oct. 10. For information call Jean Elkon. BREADBREAKERS On Wednesday, Sept. 14, 11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m., B’nai B’rith Breadbreakers and AIPAC will have a joint meeting at the Ironwood Country Club. The guest speaker is Renee Rothstein, National Director of Communications who will speak on “After Disengagement: Is Israel Stronger?� Cost is $20. Reservations are required by Sept. 12 and can be made by calling Lois Epstein at 334.6443 or e-mail lepstein@jewishomaha.org. BOY SCOUTS As part of its “Race Into Scouting� recruitment promotion, the Mid-America Council, Boy Scouts of America, is offering a free Pinewood Derby race car kit and NASCAR-themed lunchbox to any boy who registers for Scouting before Sept. 30, according to Lloyd E. Roitstein, Scout Executive/President. More than two million Pinewood Derby kits are sold in the U.S. each year, which indicates the popularity of the event, Roitstein said. “Since Pinewood Derbies started in Southern California in the mid-1950s, more than 100 million racers have been built, and the event has even inspired a movie. Scouting programs build boys mentally, physically, socially and spiritually. The skills they learn in Scouting help them overcome obstacles and challenges with courage and character throughout their lives.� Information on sign-up events is available on the Council’s web site at www.mac-bsa.org under the “Join Scouting� link. Inquiries can also be made to Jeff Barnhart, Assistant Director of Field Services, at: jbarnhart@mac-bsa.org.

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September 9, 2005

Experiencing Judaism Class Begins at Temple Israel by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Build a sukkah, bake a challah, light Shabbat candles on Friday nights. Judaism can be described as a “hands-on� religion. To observe Jewish customs and rituals gives meaning and rhythm to the year. The ideas that emanate from the mind and the compassion of the heart can draw you closer to God and to learning Torah, but the work of the hands creates a Jewish home. “Experiencing Judaism: Holy Days, Holidays and Challah,� a class designed to enrich understanding of the Jewish calendar and the enduring traditions it observes, will be taught by Stephanie Grossman at Temple Israel beginning Tuesday, Sept. 20. The class will study text and ritual but will also experience Jewish life together. Each session is connected to a Jewish holiday or ritual including the High Holy Days, Sukkot, Chanukah, Purim, Passover, and Shabbat. Members of the class will have the option of purchasing The Jewish Home by Daniel Syme which is available in the Temple office. In addition, everyone in the class will have the opportunity to share a Shabbat dinner and create a potluck Passover Seder.

Grossman taught Temple’s Basic Judaism class for four years and is a Hebrew Union College trained and certified Outreach Fellow which prepared her to assist with conversion and outreach programs. She’s looking forward to teaching the new class, “because it lets me continue to teach about a topic that is very important and fun to my family and me,� Grossman remarked. “It’s different from Basic Judaism in that Experiencing Judaism focuses on the holidays. I’m excited to provide a support system and some practical and fun ideas,� she said. In addition to Sept. 20, the class will meet on Tuesdays, Sept. 27, Oct. 18 (in Grossman’s sukkah), Dec. 13, Jan. 10, March 7, 28, and April 18 from 6:30-8 p.m. On Friday, Jan. 29, 6 p.m. and on Saturday, Feb. 11, 10:30 a.m., the class will attend Shabbat worship services together. Class fee is $75 per individual, $100 per couple for members. Non-members of Temple are also welcome to enroll at $100 per individual and $125 per couple. Please register with Temple’s Program Director Rosie Zweiback at rzweiback@templeisraelomaha.com or call her at 556.6536. The class is offered by Temple Israel’s Hermene Zweiback Center for Lifelong Jewish Learning.

Dreaming of a New York Deli? Beth Israel to Hold Make Reservations at Temple Basement Sale by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Once a year for about the past 15 years, Temple Israel’s Friedman Social Hall is transformed into a New York style deli. It’ll happen again on Sunday, Sept. 18, 5-7 p.m. With corned beef, pastrami, tongue, chopped liver, kreplach, matzah ball soup, and cheesecake--all homemade--you can at least imagine yourself on Seventh Avenue in New York at the Carnegie or the Stage Deli. Dennis DePorte, Executive Director of Temple, has played a vital role in providing deli night since the beginning of the fund raising event. “Your usual fun and sassy Temple members will be working as the wait staff,� DePorte promised. Open to the community, Deli Night attracts 400 -500 diners. DePorte urged people to make reservations. Carryout service will be available for those who call ahead with their orders. Make your reservation with the office at mkube@templeisraelomaha.com or 556.6536.

by Mary Bort for Beth Israel Synagogue If you ever have dreamed of owning your very own pew, here’s your chance! And even if you aren‘t in the market for a pew, you still can find many other interesting and useful items at Beth Israel’s Basement Sale that will be held on Sunday, Sept. 11, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. “We still have items in our basement that were brought over when we moved from the 52nd Street building,� said Executive Director Beth Cohen. “There are stained glass windows, all of the pews from the old building, books and framed posters.� The collection of books includes religious texts, educational books, biographies and fiction. Whether you’re a serious collector of old books or someone who simply enjoys reading novels, there will be many books from which to choose. Visitors will also find many framed pictures and posters in a number of different styles. According to Mary Sue Grossman, Basement Sale CoChairman, “Everyone in the community is welcome to come and look around at all the items available to purchase. If you see something you’d like, we’ll gladly accept a donation for it.� Beth Israel is located at 12604 Pacific St. Come to the main entrance; there will be signs directing you to the basement. If you have questions, please call 556.6288.

Prayerbooks Available for Visually Impaired by Jewish Press News Service The Jewish Heritage for the Blind is pleased to announce the availability of the High Holiday Machzor in large print and in Braille free of charge for all those who need them. Due to the high expense involved a doctor’s note stating necessity is required. The JHB has striv-

en to help the visually impaired community stay connected with their heritage by producing special publications in braille and in large print all at no cost to their recipients. To receive a complimentary Machzor contact our office at 718.338.4999 fax 718.338.0653 or e-mail to Jewishheritage@gmail.com.

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Solution to More Israel Geography Crossword Puzzle on page 11

David Tutera will bring his passion for designing spectacular events to the Omaha Symphony Guild’s Table Art 2005, a day-long event, Monday, Sept. 12 at the Joslyn Art Museum. Table Art 2005 begins with a Coffee and Table Viewing of Omaha designers’ table visions, 9 10:15 a.m. Atrium; David Tutera will speak and give a demonstration, 10-11:30 a.m., Witherspoon Concert Hall; and attend a Patron Luncheon, 12:15-1 p.m., Storz Fountain Court. General Admission Table Viewing is 1-4 p.m. A “Pink Martini� Party will be held that evening, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Atrium, to kick off the Symphony Pops’ season and the upcoming weekend’s concerts by Pink Martini, the Portland, OR group returning to perform with the Omaha Symphony, Sept. 23-25. Susan McGillick, and Robyn Freeman are Table Art 2005 Co-Chairmen. To obtain tickets and information, visit www.omahasymphonyguild.org. Single tickets to the Opera Omaha performances of Paul Bunyan, Madama Butterfly and The Abduction from the Seraglio are now on sale. Ticket prices range from $11 to $91 and can be purchased by calling the Opera Omaha box office at 402.346.7372 or online at: www.operaomaha.org. Paul Bunyan will be performed on Oct. 5 and 7, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 9, 2 p.m.

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September 9, 2005

Special Coverage: Rabbi’s Grassroots Shelter Burgeons by MATT SAMUELS Houston Jewish Herald-Voice (Editor’s note: Rabbi Barry Weinstein was the assistant rabbi at Temple Israel in Omaha from 1971-83. To reach him or to make a donation, see page 20.) BATON ROUGE, LA--Pardon Baton Rouge Rabbi Barry Weinstein if he looks like he hasn’t slept in a couple days. The truth is, he hasn’t had time for rest because he is too busy making sure others are given that opportunity. Rabbi Weinstein and his congregation at B’nai Israel Synagogue started a grass-roots shelter operation for evacuees fleeing the New Orleans area during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. With designated Red Cross shelters reaching capacity all around Louisiana, Rabbi Weinstein has opened his arms and his doors to anyone that needs a place to stay or food in their mouth. “As a student of the Holocaust, I know full well how Jews and others were abandoned so often during the war years and so many people were bystanders and couldn’t find a way to help,” Rabbi Weinstein said. “This whole episode reminds me of the sufferings. It really is a parallel--a storm, a threat, poor, underprivileged people. What some of these kids went through we can’t even imagine.” More than 100 people are passing through the synagogue each day, while up to 70 are spending the night every evening. Congregation members are answering the call with donations and food, while others are volunteering their time around the clock. Sleeping bags and cots fill rooms where religious school would normally be taught. Diapers and baby clothes line the area where they have oneg Shabbats. And a conference room has been converted into a makeshift hospital room. A neurologist in the Jewish community is treating those who need medical attention. A local man spent time cooking large pots of chicken soup. Another man drove his school bus down to New Orleans to pick up those in need. Dorothy Marshall, a schoolteacher from Williamsburg, VA, decided to come to the area because she felt her

help was needed. When she couldn’t get all “My biggest fear was that the way down to New Orleans, she wound up we were stuck in this rural at B’nai Israel. “Everybody back home town on the outskirts,” thought I was crazy for coming all the way Nancy Krinsky said. “It was here,” Marshall said. “They said I would be nighttime with no lights and bitten by alligators.” we are driving under electric “It’s fantastic,” Rabbi Weinstein said. “The wires. The first night the fact that we are all from different backmen of the town went out grounds. People of all colors, Christians, with their chainsaws to make Jews, Muslims all working together to lift the a path to the interstate.” hearts and souls to handle this catastrophe.” The Krinskys, along with Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Rabbi their 20-month old daughWeinstein’s magic is how he has worked with ter Amanda, were welcomed other synagogues and Jewish organizations to the synagogue while they around the country to help many of the peodecided what to do next. ple get back on their feet. He has arranged “The rabbi’s been wonderfor several families - both Jews and non-Jews ful,” Nancy Krinsky said. - to be flown out using the charity group “He’s been moving mounAngel Flight to bring them to destinations tains.” like Miami where they will be housed, fed American Second Harvest New Orleans residents who did not leave and employed for a full year. has also been housed at the ahead of Hurricane Katrina, line up to And believe it or not, it all started when synagogue, helping coorditake shelter in the Superdome on Aug. 28. Weinstein went out to walk one of his dogs. nate some of the larger food Credit: Marty Bahamonde/FEMA Since power was out at his own house, Rabbi distribution in the area. “We Weinstein had his three dogs staying at the synagogue are trying to get as much as we possibly can to the with him. During a trip to deliver some soup and chal- upstanding agencies that are running and they can get it lah to an ailing congregation member, he stopped to out as fast as they can to the people who are coming in and walk one of the dogs. At a nearby gas station he spot- out of the area,” said Joycelyn White of American Second ted a van that was seemingly broken down with a family Harvest. standing nearby. Rabbi Weinstein walked over to see if With countless New Orleans Jewish evacuees joining he could help, and as he puts it, the rest is history. the Baton Rouge community, it is expected that the con“That family was on the rafters above flood waters gregation at B’nai Israel--one of only two synagogues in filled with sharks on Wednesday and then Saturday they the city--will grow. are on a plane to Miami and are now in an apartment One congregation member came to the temple with everything cared for,” Rabbi Weinstein said. [Small Monday looking to purchase a mezuzah to give to a sharks had indeed, swum into some of the waters.] New Orleans Jew for a temporary apartment. With the Another family, Larry and Nancy Krinsky found their temple store closed because of everything else going on, way to the B’nai Israel after evacuating their home in the Sisterhood simply gave the man a mezuzah as a Slidell, LA. They were staying in Picayune, Miss., with token of good faith. That was only a small gift considersome friends, but were almost trapped in the woods ing what Rabbi Weinstein and B’nai Israel have already from all the destruction. contributed to the community.

Israeli Institutions Offer Assistance to Government, Victims, Students by CAROL KATZMAN Editor of the Jewish Press In a strange twist of fate, it is the Israeli government and its institutions announcing offers of aid to America, following the aftermath of a disaster. In this case, Israeli experts in diving and recovering bodies are now in the Gulf Coast states aiding the U.S. Coast Guard and National Guard. Volunteers from ZAKA, lead by Isaac Leider, ZAKA’s coordinator in New york CIty, arrived Sunday in New Orleans to help in the removal of bodies now decomposing in the hot, humid streets. Escorted by the National Guard, ZAKA will coordinate its search with Louisiana’s Chief of Police, Col. Henry Witthorn. ZAKA’s volunteers--unfortunately-have tremendous experience in this area. Its volunteers have undertaken rigorous training and arrive on the scene minutes after a terrorist attack anywhere in Israel. Yehuda Meshi Zahav, head of ZAKA in Israel, has contacted the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Dan Kurtzer, regarding the possibility of sending additional aid from Israel should the need arise. According to Arieh O’Sullivan, writing for the Jerusalem Post, Israeli volunteer divers are also in New Orleans to help look for bodies in flooded homes. The divers are expected to sift through the murky waters with powerful underwater flashlights. US officials believe there may be hundreds or even thousands of dead bodies still trapped in houses. There is fear that the remains will also be found in the streets as the waters recede. They are part of a private delegation of

Israeli volunteers who have extensive experience in rescues and complex emergencies garnered from work “It is very dangerous, we know that,” Gal Lousky, the head of the delegation, told the Jerusalem Post. “We ZAKA volunteers await to be flown from Baton Rouge airport to New Orleans on will be Sunday, Sept. 5, by an army helicopter. Credit: ZAKA Archives. helping in three areas: post trauma, evacuation of Moshav Tzipori. “I am sure we won’t be bodies underwater and medical treat- lone cowboys wandering around looking for bodies. We’ll be given tasks. We are ment.” Now that most of the stranded people willing to help whoever needs it.” The IsraAID delegation helped in reshave been rescued, the focus is shifting to the grisly task of collecting the bodies. cue operations after the Southeast Asian Officials also fear disease could spread tsunami, as well as in Turkey, Georgia and because of floodwaters befouled by toxic Romania. The members will wear vests chemicals, human waste, garbage and with their symbol, a Star of David with decomposing corpses. The delegation is wings, said Lousky, the founder of being coordinated by IsraAID (the Israel IsraAID. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon offered Forum for International Aid), a non-governmental group funded by donations condolences to the American people and to people struck by such a severe disaster. mainly from American Jews. “The U.S. has been caught up in one of “I was offered the opportunity to help and am always a sucker for a chance to its worst disasters ever,” he wrote. “Last help,” said Michael Yinhar, 51, a black- week, I sent a letter to U.S. President smith, volunteer diver and medic from George Bush in order to verify what aid

for the U.S. victims could be readied within a short time. The U.S. has stood by us during difficult times and it is our duty to assist it in the areas in which we can help,” he concluded. In addition to rescue and recovery efforts, Israeli universities have also extended a helping hand to the thousands of college and medical school students closed out of classes due to flooded school buildings, labs and dorms. Thousands of students including 2,000 Jewish students from the disaster stricken New Orleans area will be able to continue their studies in Israel as part of an initiative of the Jewish Agency for them to study in English in programs for overseas students offered by Israeli universities. In co-operation with Hillel-The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life and the United Jewish Communities (UJC), the Federations of North America, the Jewish Agency has approached all the Jewish communities in America with the goal of locating students at Tulane University to offer them the alternative opportunity of studying in Israel. Tulane University has been flooded and courses are cancelled. The offer to come study in Israel has been extended to all denominations. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Haifa University. Bar Ilan University, and Ben Gurion University responded positively to the request of the Jewish Agency to expedite the registration of students from New Orleans wishing to study in Israel. Courses are taught in English and Hebrew Language Learning courses (Ulpan) will also be made available.

September 9, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 9

Hurricane Katrina Amid Grim News from Katrina, a Jewish Couple’s Infant Survives by CHANAN TIGAY NEW YORK (JTA) -As Hurricane Katrina threatened to destroy their homes and towns, thousands fled the Gulf Coast in search of higher ground, leaving behind a host of valuables-from cars to clothes to albums of sentimental family photographs. But for Tad and Lani Breaux, a Jewish couple from New Orleans, evacua- Adam Bronstone, the direction meant leaving behind tor of the New Orleans Community something far more pre- Jewish cious: their four-day-old Relations Council and the head of communications for child. Zachary Breaux was in the the Jewish Federation of neonatal intensive-care unit Greater New Orleans, in a at a New Orleans hospital 2004 photo. Credit: Miriam H. Bent when his parents were forced to run for their lives, thinking that as in past hurricanes, their evacuation would last only several days. They ended up in Houston, safe but uncertain about their young son’s fate. Desperate for information, they turned to Adam Bronstone, the director of the New Orleans Jewish Community Relations Council and the head of communications for the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans. Bronstone, in turn, contacted several potential sources of information, including U.S. Army officials, in a frantic attempt to track down baby Zachary. They found him in the late afternoon on Sept. 1, Bronstone said. Zachary, it turned out, had himself been shuttled out of New Orleans as the storm powered its way toward the Gulf. He had been put on a plane along with 60 adults and three children and shuttled to Cook Hospital in Fort Worth, TX. Later that evening, Tad and Lani Breaux were reunited with their missing child. They were flown to Fort Worth aboard a plane provided by Angel Flight--a nonprofit organization of pilots and other volunteers that arranges free transportation on private aircraft in response to medical and other compelling human needs. Amid scenes of growing chaos and despair, the reunion was a welcome bit of good news. Mostly though, developments in the region were disheartening. The official death toll is less than a hundred but is predicted to climb into the thousands in Katrina’s devastating aftermath. Last week, reports of looting, violence and general lawlessness saturated newspapers and television news programs. Hunger and fear of disease in affected areas engendered anger and disbelief as the federal government’s handling of the crisis garnered sharp criticism. President Bush toured the battered region last Friday, calling relief efforts thus far “not acceptable.” Meanwhile, Houston was quickly becoming a haven for victims of the destructive storm who have been left, for the moment at least, without homes. Some 15,000 Louisiana evacuees were being housed in the Astrodome, the city’s well-known covered sports stadium, after conditions in the New Orleans Superdome grew unbearable. Houston is hosting tens of thousands of evacuees. The Jewish Federation of Greater Houston has sprung into action to aid the beleaguered evacuees, Jew and non-Jew alike. The organization has joined an interfaith coalition taking responsibility for feeding the Astrodome influx for the next 30 days, a service that the federal government is not providing, the federation’s CEO, Lee Wunsch, told JTA. The effort will require 700 to 800 volunteers each day and is expected to cost between $7 million and $8 million. “We’re trying to raise the money to make a sizable contribution to that,” he said. Between Sept. 1 and 2 alone, the Federation had raised about $75,000 in online donations. More money was coming in from other sources as well, Wunsch said. “This is what we’re all about,” he said. “This is why I

started working in the Jewish community 35 years ago-to do what we’re doing right now.” The Federation is also working feverishly to meet Jewish evacuees’ housing, schooling, health-care and religious needs. A number of New Orleans families are now living with families in Houston, Wunsch said, and local day schools are allowing students from New Orleans to enroll for free. The Maimonides Society, a group for local Jewish doctors, has been mobilized to help those evacuees with medical concerns, and several local rabbis are coordinating an effort to ensure that their Jewish religious needs are met. Synagogues in the Houston area are providing free Shabbat meals and are expected to open their doors to evacuee families both in the immediate future and during the High Holidays. At Congregation Beth Yeshuran in Houston, members are making room in their homes for those with no place to go and have prepared welcome packages of toiletries, snacks and beverages. The synagogue was also arranging kosher meals for those who want them, and it is planning to send more than 250 volunteers to the Astrodome this week. The community response has been swift and overwhelming, say those involved in coordinating area relief efforts. “I’m 150 e-mails behind,” said Bronstone, who fled New Orleans on Aug. 27 and has since been working at the Houston Federation office and living with a friend. “There’s one guy here answering four phones at a time.” The situation, Bronstone said, is “crazy, it’s surreal, it’s loving, its warm. It’s the worst of time-but it’s also the best of times.” Hurricane damage in the region was staggering. As of last Friday, however, it remained unclear how sites of Jewish concern fared in the storm. Those with knowledge of New Orleans geography said that, based on news reports about damage to particular neighborhoods, they suspected that some buildings, including a Jewish museum, were badly damaged or destroyed. The New Orleans Federation was coordinating with several volunteers planning a return to the area early this week and was expecting to receive word on the condition of Jewish buildings from them. After a grueling 12-hour trip in a three-car convoy, Rabbi Mendel Rivkin, the program director at Chabad Lubavitch of Louisiana, arrived in Houston. “Just in the Chabad House-Tulane area, though the flooding was not that bad (when we left), the downed trees and power lines and the debris completely cover the streets,” he wrote in a posting on the Chabad of New Orleans’ Web site. “Chimneys fell. Pieces of roofs are off. Siding and gutters litter the yards. Gates are down. My car’s back window was smashed by a piece of debris that fell off a roof on Broadway.”

Chabad Rabbis Mendel, center left, and Zelig Rivkin meet with Red Cross officials in the Astrodome on Sept. 1, to discuss plans for handling Jewish evacuees arriving in Houston after Hurricane Katrina. Credit: Chabad.org Other postings listed New Orleans families who had been heard from or were known to be safe. In addition to the 5,000 or so Jews thought to have landed in Houston, Jews also ended up in Birmingham, Ala.; Nashville; Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Dallas; cities in Florida; and elsewhere. Many also fled to Memphis, including NCSY National President Jordan Katz who emailed her friends from last summer’s JOLT trip: “Have me and my family in your thoughts and tefillos, and if you can spare a moment, maybe say some tehillim.”

Jewish Tradition Says “Go on” by MICHAEL C. DUKE Houston Jewish Herald-Voice HOUSTON--The invitations were mailed. The gown had been fitted. The rings, engraved with each other’s Hebrew names, were ready for exchange. Then, an uninvited guest arrived. Jennifer Pollack and Andrew Friedberg would have been married this past weekend at New Orleans’ Temple Gates of Prayer had Hurricane Katrina not turned their city into an Atlantean wreck. It took the couple 12 hours to evacuate the Crescent City on Aug. 28, and they now are living with Andrew’ parents, Dr. Michael and Linda Friedberg, in Houston. They chose to drop anchor in Houston and move forward with their wedding plans. The challenge would be to have everything ready in five days time. “There are several different reasons why we decided not to postpone our wedding,” explained Jennifer last Friday afternoon. “It’s a mitzvah to be married, and by still having our wedding we will be doing something good for our families, and something particularly special for the entire New Orleans Jewish community. We believe that this might be a source of hope for the many who are feeling hopeless. Jewish tradition says to go on.” Jennifer and Andrew both attended The University of Texas at Austin. After graduation, in 2002, they moved to Boston, where Jennifer wrote for the Milford Daily News company and Andrew enrolled in law school. In May 2005, the couple relocated to New Orleans, Jennifer’s hometown. As Jennifer worked hard planning their September wedding, Andrew clerked for Fifth Circuit Judge Jacques L. Wiener, Jr. and studied for the Louisiana State Bar. He fears his results might be lost in the flood.

Disoriented survivors survey the scene in New Orleans after Katrina made landfall. Credit: Chabad.org. Jennifer’s father, Jack, called the couple on Saturday morning, advising them to evacuate the city. Jennifer and Andrew made a trip to Lowe’s, where they bought plywood. “And, of course, this turned out to be a complete waste of time and energy,” Andrew lamented. “These were precious hours that we could have used to pack our things. But we thought that we’d only be gone for two or three days, so we essentially left everything behind.” Everything would include Jennifer’s wedding gown (and accessories), Andrew’s tuxedo, their wedding rings, ketubah and wedding gifts. “I’m just glad we made it here safely,” Andrew said. “This whole experience puts life into perspective. We lost more in one day than most people will lose in a lifetime. Yet, we made it out with each other, and that’s all that matters. ‘Stuff’ can always be replaced.” Stating her marital vows to Andrew two days later, Jennifer would say that they “lost everything…yet lost nothing at all….” In a beautiful show of community cooperation, Beth Yeshurun’s Senior Rabbi David Rosen agreed to co-officiate the service alongside Rabbi Robert Loewy of Gates of Prayer. Though it took Jennifer more than a month to choose her wedding gown, she found a replacement in three hours. Her new dress is fairly close to the first one, she said. “Of course, it’s not the dress that counts,” Andrew told his future wife. “It’s the bride inside.” Having given tzedakah their entire lives, Jennifer and Andrew said that they are uneasy with being on the receiving end for the first time. “We helped out with the recent tsunami relief effort in Southeast Asia, and I remember thinking, wow, that could be us--and now it is,” Andrew pointed out. Though the future is certainly unclear, the newlyweds at least know they will have each other-”through health and high water.” By special request of the bride and groom, anyone interested in sending a gift should instead make a donation to the relief effort. More stories and photos on pages 12-13

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 9, 2005

Campaign Worker Training Session Asks Live Generously Contiued from page 8 will impact you.’ Then they meet Russian immigrants “What Will our Community Look Like in 2055?” and Ethiopians; they see the programs for the elderly

history in a positive way. Remind them that their participaby OZZIE NOGG tion in Campaign will show they take pride in this commufor the Jewish Federation of Omaha Fred Zimmerman, President of the Nashville, nity and want to be partners in its continuity.” Turning to the situation for Jews overseas, Tennessee, Jewish Federation and National Campaign Vice-Chair of United Jewish Communities, met recent- Zimmerman said, “You’re not getting all the news on ly with Omaha’s campaign leadership and effectively CNN. This is really an optimistic time in Israel. combined role-playing with pep-rally enthusiasm to fire Biotechnology breakthroughs are happening every day, tourism is up, the economy up the crowd. in general is making a come“Being with you to discuss back. But the gap between your part as campaign volthe rich and poor in Israel is unteers is a spiritual experigetting wider, and the counence for me and a deep try still needs our financial expression of Judaism,” support. Also, the plight of Zimmerman said. “This is Jews in the former Soviet my religion right here.” Union is especially critical In an exercise designed to right now, when so many make workers identify their reasons for getting involved with the Living Generously 2006 Campaign, Zimmerman asked them to project ahead to the year 2055. Top: Nancy and Joel Schlessinger, left, met with national “Pretend someone is writUJC trainer Fred Zimmerman, as did Brian Nogg and Patty ing a history of the Omaha Nogg. Right: Participating in Campaign workers training last Jewish community 50 years month are: Mark Goldstrom and Bruce Meyers. from now. Ask yourself, what will that community look like? Will the Blumkin elderly Jews are alone and hungry, deciding between Home still be our crown jewel? What agencies will be in rent and medicine. The portion of Omaha dollars alloplace and what new services will have been added? Most cated to them will do a world of good. Again, it’s a case importantly, ask what that history will say about you and of living generously.” “Think of it this way,” Zimmerman continued. “In your contribution to your fellow Jews.” The group took the assignment seriously, and when the old days, the men would get together and ask, what the answers came, they reflected careful thought. “He do we need to keep the shtetl going? Well, now the quietly helped others.” “She led by example.” “I loved shtetl is the whole world. Whether I take care of a needy woman in Florida, whether I take care of her in Moscow, my community.” “We helped insure the future.” Zimmerman suggested workers use this same exercise whether I take care of her here in Omaha, she’s still my when soliciting funds. “Ask the people you call on to con- responsibility. The people you solicit need to hear that sider their part in Omaha’s future. Everyone in this Jewish message, preferably face to face. Campaign work is the community, each person you solicit, wants to be part of that one of the biggest mitzvahs you can do.”

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and for children at risk. They understand that Federation Campaign dollars help provide a safe haven in this crazy world. And invariably, even the most reluctant visitor tells me that they’re glad they came, the journey was incredible. “That’s my greatest thrill, why we do what we do, helping people find a sense of Jewish pride. There’s nothing like it.” Bruce Shackman admits that “before marrying Anne, I had no desire or need to go to Israel. I felt no connection. But five years ago my son, Bill, and his fiancé, Emily, were living and studying in Israel and so Anne and I went to visit. Call it multitasking on my part-doing two things at once--I’ll see the kids and Israel. I felt an instant connection. “Two years later, Emily was shopping for Shabbat in Jerusalem when a bomb went off close to where she was shopping,” he recalls. “Emily wasn’t hurt, but many people were, and right then I asked, ‘What can I do to help these people?’ Clearly, my Campaign participation is one answer.” “How can we, as a community, involve the young people who are coming back home to live in Omaha?” is a question Anne Shackman asks. “I’m very aware that young couples and singles who’ve lived in New York, in Los Angeles and other metropolitan areas are moving back to Omaha,” she explains. “They realize our community offers so much of what they want, and when they have children they want to raise them here. And even if their parents weren’t particularly active, these young people want to be involved in the CDC, the JCC, the synagogues. “Now we need to instill the feeling of generosity, a sense of tzedakah, in them,” she adds. “That feeling came naturally to their parents and grandparents, because they had more reasons to help support one another. By comparison, our kids have led relatively easy Continued on page 11

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September 9, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Live Generously

It’s Been a Chai Time for Chabad

Continued from page 10 lives. There’s no sense of urgency or fear that the right to live as Jews might be taken away from them. We’re lucky to have been able to give them this sense of security, but now it presents a challenge. “Today, young couples have so many outside interests. They are more involved in the larger community. We have a wonderful group of young, new leaders working on this campaign, and one of our goals is to convince more young Omahans that they, too, are needed here at the Federation. They are a natural resource we need to tap for the future of our community.” “Omaha Jews are incredibly generous,” Bruce says. “We invest in our children, care for our elderly, contribute to Jewish causes around the world at a rate unmatched by any other city our size. ‘Live Generously’ is a blanket invitation to participate. I used to think that asking for money was hard, it made me uncomfortable. Today, I would be remiss if I didn’t give people the opportunity to feel good about themselves by using their dollars to help other Jews.” Again, Anne agrees. “It’s our job to get the wheels going, to get people thinking and then get them to give a bit more. Some one has to ask, because most of us are not motivated to give on our own accord. When we all participate, when we all live generously, our community is stronger and our future is more secure. We have to ask. So I do.” For more information about the Jewish Federation of Omaha and its 2006 Live Generously Campaign, call the office at 402.334.6485.

by EUNIE DENENBERG for Chabad of Nebraska Chabad of Nebraska celebrates 18 years of education and social services with a dinner gala Wednesday, Sept. 14, at the new Forté Convention Center, 15th and

followed by dinner and a brief awards ceremony at 7 p.m. The Maurers will receive the Chai Leadership Award. Beverly Maurer, a dedicated community volunteer is a member of the Joslyn Board of

Joe and Maxine Kirshenbaum and Debbie Denenberg Cuming. Leonard and Shirley Goldstein and Chancellor Harold M. and Beverly Maurer will be honored for their commitment to the Chabad ideals of improving lives both physically and spiritually. Joe and Maxine Kirshenbaum and Tom and Darlynn Fellman are honorary chairpersons; Debbie Denenberg is the evening’s chairman. Volunteers include: Ann Goldstein and Tippi Denenberg, dinner; Julie Phillips, decorations; Elaine Urban, development; Nancy Wolf and Gary Javitch, program book; Bob Belgrade, photography; and this writer, publicity. The gala commences with a silent auction and cocktails at 6 p.m., chaired by Danielle Gordman and Betsy Marantz,

Governors and is a founder of Nebraskans for Research, a statewide organization supporting Nebraska-based medical and health research. Chancellor Maurer is helping build the University of Nebraska Medical Center into one of the nation’s foremost university medical research centers. Before moving to Omaha, which she says “I love--such a positive Jewish community”, Bev Maurer was the principal of a Jewish day school in Richmond, VA. “We had a strong relationship with the Chabad group there, and we support so many of their fine activities here; I’m proud to be a supporter.” The ‘My Brother’s Keeper Award’ will be presented to the Goldsteins for their life-

Page 11

long work in the global struggle for human rights. Thy were among the first to recognize the desperate condition of Soviet refuseniks. Their efforts helped hundreds of families escape Communist persecution and start new lives elsewhere. At UNO,

Tom and Darlynn Fellman they established a Human Rights Lecture Series, which brings international leaders to the Omaha campus here. Shirley Goldstein feels that “Chabad reaches people no one else does”. She says, “I told Buddy, if we believe in Chabad, let’s let the world know, so we can enourage others to continue after us. “In 1992, Buddy and I saw two Chabad rabbis in an airport in Russia,” Shirley recalled. “They were already involved back then. And I’m really gratified by how Rabbi and Shani embrace and offer hospitality to our local Russian community.’’ For more information and to make reservations for the Chabad Dinner Gala, please call 330.1800 or e-mail chabad@aol.com.

Page 12

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 9, 2005

Special Coverage: An Uncertain Exodus Fresh Memories of a Robust New Orleans Jewish Life sors a large interfaith seder, and many church groups by GAIL CHALEW learn more about Israel by viewing the room-sized land Special to the Baltimore Jewish Times BALTIMORE--Unfortunately, the more I write about map of the Jewish state that is owned by the federation. Over the past decade the Jewish community has itself the New Orleans Jewish community, the more it seems like a eulogy. I find myself writing in the past tense and become more committed to Jewish observance and study. then must go back and change every “was” to “is.” Reflecting national trends, the New Orleans Reform Certainly, the community will never be the same. Just as certainly, members of the Jewish community are now temples have incorporated more Hebrew and rituals into in galut (exile), scattered in a Diaspora that stretches their worship services, and every synagogue has a full program of adult Jewish education. The Federation across the country. As with New Orleans, in which Creoles and Cajuns sponsors the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School, as mix together to create a rich culture of music and food, well as a savings program for Israel trips for teens. In another convergence of the Jewish community and the Jewish community is a gumbo, in which many different flavors blend together to create a much enriched New Orleans culture, Mardi Gras is not just for Catholics anymore. stew. Few people outside New Orleans know about the Yet, in many ways the intertwining of Mardi Gras with high society. Jewish community is an Debutantes serve as the queens of the parades, subdebs anomaly in New Orleans, serve as their maids, and 10-year-old boys bedecked in even apart from the obvitights and wigs are pages. ous religious differences. So, although the first King of Carnival in the 1870s New Orleans is a was Jewish, until recently Mardi Gras krewes, which Catholic community stage each parade, were closed to Jews. The old-line through and through. Its krewes still exclude Jews. However, many Jewish profeselites are not WASPs but sionals and business people have joined the new SuperCatholics. Mardi Gras has Krewes, which stage mega-parades with floats that its roots in Catholicism, stretch several city blocks. parochial schools educate There is now even a Jewish krewe. a very large proportion of The vast majority of New Flaunting refined sensitivities of Jew and non-Jew students, every restaurant Orleans’ Jewish community serves fish on Friday and evacuated before the hurricane alike, the Krewe de Jieux now marches or rather horahs even the mall food courts hit. Some 9000 are thought to through the French Quarter to kick off the Mardi Gras have Lenten specials be in Houston, TX. season. Its hand-decorated float drawn by a mule, its Credit: Chabad of Louisiana throws (beads, cups and glittered bagels) and the before Easter. The differences go deeper. marchers’ costumes proudly proclaim the Krewe’s Where New Orleans sometimes seems more like a Jewishness and skewer Jewish and Mardi Gras stereoCaribbean island--focused more on partying than on types at the same time. work and certainly not a slave to efficiency--the Jewish Instead of the traditional king and queen, the Krewe community is quite well-organized. For a community of de Jieux has a Big Macher and Jewish American Princess. its size--about 12,000 people--there are a plethora of Debs or subdebs or pages are nowhere in sight. organizations. The Krewe has marched as the House Along the religious spectrum are four of Jieuxs, costuming as the Blues I fear for the future Reform temples, one Conservative synaBrothers. It has sashayed as the Beverly gogue, two Orthodox synagogues and not only of the Krewe Hill Jieuxbillies; hillbillies marched two Chabad Centers. There is a Jewish de Jieux, the clearest alongside the Rich Doctor (dressed as an Federation that raises close to $3 million African witch doctor). This past January annually; a Jewish Endowment expression of New its theme was “What Would Cheesus Foundation, under whose auspices more Do?” Parma John the Baptist in a monk’s Orleans joie de vivre. than 30 post-b’nai mitzvah teens have robe horahed next to cows complete with established their own endowment funds; I fear for the future of udders oozing Cheez Whiz. a Jewish Family Service; a Hillel; and a The Krewe has a more serious side as JCC with two campuses. Three kosher the organized Jewish well. Many of its members, who are a bit restaurants, one that serves kosher jam- community as well. quirky and offbeat, are not affiliated with balaya, etoufee (a local stew) and gumbo, the Jewish community, and the Krewe thrive. serves as their only avenue into the community. It sponThere are a Jewish hospital and a Jewish nursing home sors a Purim parade, a Passover Krewe-Seder and with independent and assisted living facilities as well. Shabbat dinners throughout the year. I fear for the Yet, in many ways the Jewish community is infused future not only of the Krewe de Jieux, the clearest with the ambience and culture of New Orleans. expression of New Orleans joie de vivre. Like a gumbo, its diverse ingredients of Jews ranging I fear for the future of the organized Jewish commufrom Chabad to the unaffiliated mix well. My family, nity as well. along with many members of the Reform and Even before Hurricane Katrina, the Jewish population Conservative communities, were invited to the recent has been declining, primarily because of the poor New wedding of the daughter of the Chabad rabbi. Orleans economy that provided few high-tech or corpoChabadniks sit on the Federation board. The Reform rate opportunities. In recent years, many young people and Orthodox rabbis work closely together on commu- have moved to Atlanta or Houston in search of good nity programs. jobs. In New Orleans, church and state are not separated all Now the exodus will be accelerated. that clearly, which of course creates some problems-Nearly every member of the Jewish community has prayers to Jesus said at the start of government meetings sustained some damage to their homes, and countless and statues of Jesus on the firehouse at Christmas come people have lost them completely; a Jewish neighborto mind. hood was located close to the breach in the levee. But this mixing of church and state has positive effects Certainly, everyone has been scarred by the evacuation as well. experience and seeing the shocking images of their city. New Orleanians value religion and religious expression In e-mail after e-mail, people are questioning whether and are quick to give respect to all those for whom reli- they wish to return. gion is important. After asking what Jewish church I Because many members of the Jewish community are went to, my neighbors and acquaintances would display professionals--lawyers and doctors are quite over-reprea genuine interest and concern for my Judaism. When sented--they have the opportunity to practice their skills my son, the only Jewish member of his club soccer team, anywhere. Many will be taking that opportunity. became a bar mitzvah two years ago, the entire team My family may join the exodus as well. attended the service, giving up a tournament to do so. The Jewish and Christian faith communities work Gail Chalew is a New Orleans free-lance writer now closely on many civic issues, Loyola University co-spon- based in Baltimore, MD.

Mississippi Communities Pick up the Pieces by Larry Brook Deep South Jewish Voice BIRMINGHAM, AL--Along the Mississippi Gulf coast, hurricanes were always measured in comparison with Camille, which struck in 1969. During that horrific storm, Biloxi’s Beth Israel Congregation didn’t even leak. The situation now is vastly different, as Katrina rewrote the book on hurricanes. The 70-family congregation, with the only synagogue on the Mississippi coast, has a rebuilding job to do, both with the synagogue itself and with many members’ homes. Beth Israel still stands, though much of the brick Notes posted at the Jefferson exterior was peeled away. Convention Complex in Some upstairs windows Birmingham, AL, even ask for were blown out, but the housing for Shabbat. roof over the sanctuary Credit: Larry Brooks, Deep looked intact from the South Jewish News outside. The Torahs had been removed before the storm and were safe. The synagogue is located two blocks from the beach, which saw a 25-foot storm surge. A casino located on the water near the synagogue was lifted across the highway, and was deposited on the other side. Miles of U.S. 90 along the beachfront show complete devastation. On Aug. 28, with the storm bearing down on the coast, Dan Romm, a doctor, evacuated to the Biloxi VA Medical Center. As the storm hit, everyone moved into the hallways and rooms without windows. The windows had not been tested for 150 m.p.h. winds. “The Biloxi VA shelter turned out to be the best place to be,” Romm said. The Gulfport VA campus, located closer to the beach, was wiped out. With a generator, food and water, “we were in relative paradise,” though he also knew that his home had 22 feet of water in it. “Imagine all your furniture placed in a gigantic washing machine and stop the machine after the rinse cycle. Don’t forget to throw in the mud and debris,” he said. While the house is intact, he figures it will be a total loss because of mold. He is now in the Atlanta area, weighing his options. Further inland, Hattiesburg’s B’nai Israel had a large proportion of its shingles ripped from the roof, but a large tree that was toppled missed the building. Rabbi Celso Cukierkorn was in Spain when the storm hit, and is now trying to make his way back from Kansas City, where he is staying with relatives. Located an hour north of the coast, Hattiesburg is one of the last places that received assistance. Cukierkorn said congregants have indicated that everyone in the Jewish community “is fine.” In Jackson, a city which is seeing its population double, there are about 75 Jewish evacuees currently in town, with more expected. Bert Rubinsky came back from a Bar Mitzvah in Chicago before the storm hit to find 19 relatives who had fled the approaching storm. His wife’s grandmother died in Lafayette, LA, en route to Houston after being evacuated from a New Orleans hospital. Birmingham is also expecting more evacuees. The Birmingham Jewish Federation has set a goal of $1 million in relief aid through the Federation and other venues from the city’s 5300 Jews. Resettlement services are already up and running, and a counseling group for New Orleans evacuees is set to start meeting. Katrina flooded downtown Mobile, but the city’s two synagogues are further inland. The Jackson-based Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life has set up a fund and will serve as a hub of activity for the region. The ISJL serves small Jewish communities in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, and is uniquely situated to help. Jackson’s Beth Israel Congregation opened its doors on Sept. 1, after several days without power. There was a Bar Mitzvah scheduled for Sept. 3, for the grandson of the state’s only Holocaust survivor. Despite the situation, office manager Ellen Alexander said “we’re going to celebrate and do what we can do.”

September 9, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Hurricane Katrina ‘Thank God for Community’ Jewish New Orleanians Search for Stability as They Face Life in Houston by MICHAEL C. DUKE Houston Jewish Herald-Voice HOUSTON--Jodi and Raúl Zighelboim arrived in Houston late Saturday evening, Aug. 27, with their two children, Selah and Gabriel, and little more than a change of clothes for each member of the family. The Zighelboims have evacuated their Uptown New Orleans home five times in recent years under threat of hurricanes. Each time they have come to Houston and stayed a few days with Jodi’s mother and great aunt, and then returned home without any major problems. They thought this time would be no different. After waking up Tuesday morning, ready to make the crawl back home on I10 East, the Zighelboims instead learned that more than 80% of their city had been swallowed up overnight by Hurricane Katrina’s floodwaters, breeching levees at Industrial Canal, Treme and Lakeview. Physically and emotionally, neither Jodi nor Raúl were prepared for this news. Their two-story home is located near Palmer and Claiborne, an area that was heavily submerged, according to aerial photographs splashed across the nightly news. With their entire lives now under several feet of water, the Zighelboims felt as if they themselves had drowned. “The overwhelming sense of uncertainty--with everything--has been the most difficult aspect to deal with,” explained Jodi, who was pensively turning pages in an organizer she had open at her mother’s dining room table. This was the Zighelboims’ sixth day in Houston. All four have been sleeping in a single room and living out of a half-empty suitcase. As Jodi spoke, Raúl was pacing in the next room, and their third-grader, Gabriel, was playing with Sunny, the dog at his father’s feet. Jodi glanced at her husband and then said with desperation: “We simply have no idea what lies ahead of us. We thought we’d be gone only a couple of days, so we brought nothing. The last time we made this trip, we packed as much as we could and brought it with us. But we left this time in such a hurry. I wish I had our pictures--oh God, I hope we haven’t lost them all….” It would be another two and a half hours before the Zighelboims, overwrought with fear and anxiety, would see anyone from their New Orleans community. “So far, we haven’t been able to make contact with hardly anybody. Our cell phones don’t work and our work emails are down. I feel so disoriented, there’s so much disorder. But thank God we made it here safely, and as a family. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to cope.” Jodi is a professor of health sciences at New Orleans’ Tulane University and also relies on the school’s e-mail system, which is currently down, as well. “Having a cell phone that works would provide some much-needed stability,” Jodi continued, “which is what we are so desperate for right now. I just want somebody to know that we are here…” Before she could finish her next words, the doorbell rang. A bouquet of flowers arrived for Jodi, sent by a friend who apparently was able to track her down. Raúl joined his wife at the table. He was wearing a ball cap that read: “Hard Luck Café.” “What I’d like is to have our city back,” Raúl announced. “But how and

when can we return? What if our employers and these major corporations don’t come back? What are we to do then? This is a great fear of mine. We need jobs so that we can feed and clothe our families….” Originally from Lima, Peru, Raúl works as director of technology for a New Orleans computer-networking firm, which he believes may not return to the Crescent City. Together, he and Jodi own a home, for which they still have 11 years left on their mortgage; they also own two vehicles, one of which was left behind.

campus in Houston last year for its MBA program, now has its headquarters at the Marriot Hotel (just north of the Galleria), and is working hard to contact its professors and students. A temporary website has been established and features up-to-date information regarding faculty paychecks, health insurance and muchneeded answers to questions that people like Jodi have been asking. In the meantime, however, Jodi said she shares her husband’s concerns: “What are we going to do here for the next six months if we can’t find jobs? We’re going

A Prayer for Guidance and Understanding by RICHARD S. MOLINE and RABBI ELYSE R. WINICK United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism

God of Compassion: Above the voice of vast waters; The breakers of the sea; Awesome is our God. In the path of Katrina’s destruction, let the good in humanity rise to the top of the flood. Give us strength to console those who have lost family, friends and neighbors. Give us the courage to provide hope to those who despair. Provide us with the guidance to heal those who ail, both in body and in spirit. Save us, O God; for the waters have come into our souls. Open our hearts so that we may support recovery efforts to the best of our abilities Enable us to endure and to be steadfast in the weeks and months ahead, in the face of a tragedy whose scope is beyond our understanding. We mourn for those whose lives have been lost. We pray for those whose lives have been shattered. From the depths we call to you, O God; Hear our cry, heed our plea.

A volunteer shares a moment with an evacuee in the Astrodome in Houston Sept. 4. Students from Hillel at New York University are among the volunteers who traveled to Houston to help in the hurricane’s aftermath. Credit: Max W. Orenstein The Zighelboims said they are fortunate enough to always have been able to provide for their family, as well as give tzedakah. Presently, they are very worried about what they will be left with--and without--in Katrina’s aftermath. Evident by his facial expressions at the table, Raúl is now struggling with the reality that he and his family are in need of assistance. “I need a job. I need a job,” repeated Raúl, blanching. Jodi, across the table, said that she hopes the catastrophic flood has not jeopardized her teaching position, for this would certainly put the Zighelboims under even greater hardship. Tulane University, which established a satellite

to go crazy.” “I’m sure we’ll do what we’ve been doing since Tuesday morning,” Raúl added: “And that’s to cry a lot.” More than finding work in Houston, the Zighelboims said they are very concerned about their children, the affect that this experience will have on their lives. “Our greatest fear is that Gabriel and Selah will begin to have nightmares-when they are confronted with the reality that they might never see many of their friends again,” Raúl said. Yet, one area in which the Zighelboims have found some comfort is with their children’s educational needs. “Getting our kids into school has been a blessing,”

Jodi explained. Before Hurricane Katrina, both Zighelboim children attended the New Orleans Jewish Day School, which shares a building with the Jewish Community Center in Metairie. Selah and Gabriel now are enrolled at Houston’s Beth Yeshurun Day School and were scheduled to start classes the day after Labor Day. “This is one of the few things that we’ve been able to accomplish right away. And I have Mindy Rosenthal [at Beth Yeshurun Day School] to thank for this. She was so incredibly wonderful to us, so welcoming and compassionate. And the kids seem to be comfortable there, which is what they need right now more than anything--to feel safe and secure.” “The simple act of taking our kids to school each morning will give us a little order and stability, as well,” Raúl added. “It’s so difficult for us to not have a routine right now.” Jodi said that she and her husband had already paid the entire year’s tuition for both Selah and Gabriel at the New Orleans Jewish Day School and, therefore, would be unable to pay tuition all over again for a new school in Houston. When she met with Rosenthal on Sept. 1, Jodi learned that her children would be allowed to enroll free of charge because of their circumstances. (Other Jewish day schools in Houston also have accepted students from the Greater New Orleans area under similar conditions.) Jodi brought Selah and Gabriel with her to meet Rosenthal. After much thought, Selah said she thinks she will like her new school, and hopes that her parents don’t worry too much. Gabriel returned to the table wearing an itchy new shirt and clutching a blueprint he drew of his grandmother’s house--highlighting every hiding place and “secret passage.” He said he likes Houston because people can cross the street here without fear of being hit by a car. Science is his favorite subject and he is looking forward to his new classes. “The kids are still in shock,” whispered Jodi, as she and Raúl began to unfold a map of Houston between them. “Gabriel still acts like we’re having a weekend sleep-over.” Later that evening, the Zighelboims were reunited with many of their friends from the New Orleans Jewish community. Like many synagogues across Greater Houston, Congregation Beth Yeshurun hosted a special erev Shabbat service and oneg for those families displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Besides dinner, new clothing was also offered for all those in need. Though still encompassed by despair and pain, Jodi, in particular, had the appearance of a different person after spotting the first familiar face from home. “Thank God we have each other,” she repeated, her face radiating. “Thank God for community.” As Omaha awaits official word on the potential arrival of FEMA-designated Hurricane Katrina evacuees, many in the Omaha-Council Bluffs-Bellevue metropolitan area want to know how they can help. Anyone who would like to be added to a volunteer response database, or to offer any kind of help to the hurricane survivors, the phone number to call is “2-1-1.”

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September 9, 2005

Friedel Teachers Pass on What They Learn by JORDANA L. KURTZMAN Rather than simply relaxing all summer, several of Friedel Jewish Academy’s teachers took it upon themselves to participate in educational courses and workshops – which they have immediately begun implementing into their curriculum. Omaha Public Schools received a science grant from the Nebraska Department of Education, from which all schools in the Omaha area benefited. This training, which is part of the new science curriculum in Omaha, is scheduled to continue next summer as well. Because these programs benefit the students of Friedel as well as the teachers, the school encourages its staff to participate in these seminars to further their own academic careers. Teachers Barbara Sather and Denise Bennett attended workshops at the University of Nebraska at Omaha to learn about various scientific methods used in teaching, including inquiry-based science that prompts students to engage in scientific conversation about each project without moving towards a predetermined outcome. The teachers in the workshop used the “I notice/I wonder” format to encourage students to ask questions and discuss possible responses. Questions were then categorized as ones that could be explored through observation or experimentation, ones that could be answered by going to a source of knowledge such as a reference book or an expert in the subject, and questions which need to be revised or narrowed down before further exploration. Sather, who teaches second and third grades at Friedel, participated in the Earth Science workshop, and by the second day of school this year, she had already deployed the first segment of this methodology in her classroom by having her class make physical observations about

worms, such as their size and color. The students then Judaic studies teacher Na’ama Arzi participated in furprogressed to the next step by speculating whether the thering her academic enrichment this summer as well. worm would like a wet or dry habitat. They followed In working towards her Masters of Educational (M.Ed.) through on their supposiadministration and supervitions by placing worms in sion degree, Arzi moved to various environments to see Chicago for most of the which they preferred. summer to attend classes. There, she participated in In the Earth Science workshop at UNO that she classes through Jewish Leadership attended, Sather and her Education class took a field trip to Institute (JELI) which works Schram Park to learn more in conjunction with Loyola about the physical geograUniversity to prepare people phy of Nebraska. She discovwhose goal it is to find adminered that the state was once istrative leadership positions in covered by an inland sea, its the Jewish Day School network. Arzi took four classes shorelines in current day towards this dual curriculum Iowa and Wyoming. Sather degree, and she found the said that she and her classentire process wholly invigormates found dozens of fos- Denise Bennett, Barb Sather, and Na’ama Arzi. sils. “I found shells and fossils of aquatic plants, but one ating, even though all of the classes were taught in her second language--English. person even found two shark’s teeth!” “I had the privilege to learn with Dr. Marla Israel, who Denise Bennett also took a workshop at UNO, but hers focused on the area of Life Science. Her science professors is a worldwide educational administration researcher and taught most of her class at the Henry Doorly Zoo, where other wonderful professors from the Chicago academic they observed jungle, desert, and aquarium life forms. community. It was a very meaningful summer, and I am This workshop focused on how to set up observations and looking forward to returning next year,” said Arzi. Principal Cookie Katskee is incredibly proud of all of experiments with seeds, plants, and animals. Educational experts from the zoo provided a presentation of all educa- her teachers. “The development of teachers’ knowledge tional opportunities available to schools. Bennett said that is the strength behind an excellent school. These opporthis experience “has really inspired us to add a school field tunities for staff growth are a gift for the Friedel staff.” For information about Friedel, call Katskee or trip to the zoo during our unit on oceans in January,” explaining that the zoo offers a Discover Oceans presenta- Administrative Assistant Mary Jane Tweedy at 334.0517. tion for school children.

Beth Katz Joins ADL Staff by SHARON BRODKEY ADL Special Projects Manager Omaha native Beth Katz has joined the ADL Plains States regional office as director of Interfaith Affairs and Community Education. Katz returned to Omaha after completing concurrent master degrees in social work and public policy at the University of Michigan. In her new part-time position, Katz will work with Omaha’s various religious communities and organizations to promote a shared sense of community, mutual respect and inclusion through education, dialogue and outreach. She also will deliver anti-bias training and workshops to schools and community groups. Bob Wolfson, Executive Director of the ADL Plains States regional office, welcomes the enthusiasm and experience that the newest addition to his staff brings and sees the potential for the position becoming fulltime, “Beth is making contributions to our work particularly in the vital area of interfaith affairs. We hope the position will grow to reflect the many opportunities we have in this arena.” Katz plans to focus on three core relationships during her first year, though there are many interfaith issues that Katz would like to address. “First, I look forward to being involved in the Jewish community and the opportunity to assist in educating the larger community about our faith, our culture and our community,” said Katz. “Second, given that more than 50% of Omaha’s residents are Catholic and understanding the unique con-

by nection shared Judaism and Catholicism, it is important to enhance the healthy relationship between the Jewish and Catholic communities. Third, I am interested in identifying opportunities for greater interaction and education between the Muslim and Jewish communities.” Katz intends to support existing area interfaith efforts while developing Beth Katz new programs that will consist of a variety of activities to appeal to different ages and backgrounds. “I hope that by varying the activities we will engage a larger swath of the public on these issues and various Omaha organizations that are supportive of interfaith work.” Katz brings more than eight years of experience developing interfaith programming and organizing ethnically and religiously diverse communities around issues of common concern. She looks forward to drawing in lay leadership and community volunteers to help with the interfaith and outreach efforts. If you are interested in becoming involved, Katz may be reached at the ADL office, 402.333.1303, or at bkatz@adl.org.

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Temple’s Social Action Group Hosts Panel on OTOC Issues by ALLISON LATENSER The 2005 OTOC Delegates Congress will be hosted this year by Temple Israel on Sunday, Sept. 11, 3 p.m. In commemoration of Patriot’s Day, representatives from all of OTOC’s member congregations will convene to celebrate the hard-won rights enjoyed in this country and to reflect upon the challenge posed by our various faith traditions: that we be responsible for our neighbors and the communities in which we live. The meeting will start with a review of the latest developments on several OTOC issues including: • Public School Finance (How can an effective education be provided to every child--regardless of racial, economic, or ethnic background?); • Rising Healthcare Costs (What can be done to rein in costs and make healthcare more accessible to all?); • Municipal Issues (What capital expenditures would Omahans like to see on the next municipal bond issue?). A citywide house meeting campaign will be kicked off then so that citizens of Omaha can discuss these issues, offer input, develop research strategies and possible action steps. The OTOC core team at Temple Israel will be organizing a series of house meetings or small group discussions among congregants that will take place from Sept. 11 through October or early November. This program is open to the community. If you’d like to come share your perspective, please contact Ellen Platt, at 397.0551, or me, at: 553.8853.

September 9, 2005

Beth El Says ‘Welcome Aboard’ As Gutnik, Skog Join Staff by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator The board of trustees at Beth El Synagogue has announced the appointment of Margie Gutnik as the synagogue’s new program director and Jamie Skog as its youth director. Gutnik, a familiar face in the Jewish community will take the programming reins in October. A longtime Beth El member, former religious-school teacher and community volunteer, she expressed enthusiasm about Margie Gutnik her new position and plans for the congregation. “Our synagogue has just completed an amazing 75th anniversary celebration year, and many members of our congregation were touched in a positive way by participating in the special services, events and programs that were part of the celebration,” she noted. “Becoming program director allows me a unique opportunity to continue the excitement and build memories for the future. I am lucky that this position enables me to combine my experience in marketing and programming with my passion for Judaism.” Gutnik, who hails from St. Louis and has lived in Omaha for 28 years, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in education from the University of Missouri, as well as a Masters in Media Design and Production from the University of North Carolina. She has taught in the Omaha Public Schools, as well as schools in Columbia, Missouri and Cincinnati; her marketing experience has included work with Cox Communications, DiscoverOmaha.com and Lovelyskin.com. According to Gutnik, her overall priority as synagogue program director is “to help our membership find their unique niche at Beth El. I want to discover what is meaningful and important to the different segments of our membership and then offer those programs that draw people in and offer them ways to become more involved. “It is my plan to expand the opportunities for study, celebration and participation

by offering a variety of imaginative and creative programming. I want to increase the outreach, communication and connection among the membership so as to build community and strengthen the ties within our congregational family.” Omaha native Skog is a June graduate from the University of Denver, where she studied vocal performance and Judaic studies. An active member of Hillel, she served as that organization’s president from 2003-2004. Working with Jewish youth is a priority to Skog, who, as a teen was an active participant Jamie Skog in both Omaha Temple Youth Group and B’nai B’rith Youth Organization. “I was attracted to this position because it gives me an opportunity to give back to the community that I grew up in,” she said. “Making sure that Jewish youth stay active throughout high school is important because this is where the next generation of young leaders will come from. They are the future, and it is important that they have guidance and positive reinforcement during their youth group experience.” Skog will be responsible for Beth El’s informal youth programming, overseeing youth groups Kadima and USY; she will also work with Education Director Judy Rubin and Cantor Gastón Bogomolni in planning Shabbatonim for the children. “My goal is to get the youth excited about coming to the synagogue, whether that be for services or for a youth-group overnight,” she said. “If you develop a love for Judaism at a young age, that love will stay with you for the rest of your life. By instilling a sense of Judaism in the youth we are ensuring that Judaism will continue into the future with strong leaders.” She added that, “the community at Beth El has been wonderful and welcoming. I am looking forward to working with and developing a connection with the children and everyone else who is part of the community.”

100 Enjoy “Perfect” Day for Golf and Dinner at Temple Outing by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Top photo: Lloyd Gladden, left, and Jeff Smedlund have played in the same foursome for four years at Temple Israel’s Annual Golf Outing. Gladden, a former Temple member, doesn’t even live in Omaha anymore but never misses the Temple fund raising effort which was at Ironwood Golf & Country Club this year. Bottom: Among the 100 golfers who enjoyed lunch at Ironwood prior to taking off in their golf carts on the bright, cloudless day were Larry Josephson, left, Tom Friedman, and Todd Manvitz.“It was a wonderful success,” said Michael Miller who chaired the Golf Outing with John Glazer. “Everyone had a fantastic time. The dinner (in the evening after the golf) was perfect,” Miller said. He thanked the staff at Ironwood and Temple’s Golf Committee for their hard work.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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48. “_ ___ my letter with this conclusion” 49. TABOR, HERMON, OTHERS 51. “Brother, can you spare _ ____?” 56. Slangy contraction 57. Windmill part 58. Walls ____ with ivy and clematis 59. Short for king of Camelot 60. “_ ___ it! Fun-ny!” 61. Relationship prefix 62. Opposite of NNNW 63. Endings for fla, as in vanilla, cherry 64. “Go down the corridor and knock on ____ _” (first you come to) DOWN 1. Journal for physicians and scientists 2. Sil starter yields scoop or strainer 3. “____ even think of it!” 4. Gaelic tongue 5. HARBOR SOUTH OF 41 DOWN 6. HEIGHT OF ELIJAH AND TECHNION 7. “We ___ on the terrace. Both food and view were phenomenal!” 8. “What's on the ____ today? asked the diner 9. “The felafel choices _____ __ good today as the eggplant,” the waiter confided 10. Fad, wild surging 11. “Let’s ___ __,” said Dad, not

wanting to dine out again 12. Got up 13. Horse control component 22. LANDMARK FEATURE NEAR JAFFA GATE 24. Mini or moving 26. Florists delivery network, with first option 27. Uncouth fellow, cad 28. Days of ____, time long past 29. A son of Shem (Gen. 11:22) 30. Meadow 32. SEA OF WHICH GULF OF EILAT IS AN ARM 33. California city 34. WHERE ADAM MET HIS MATE 35. Prefix for Wheaties, Corn Flakes 36. Oodles, lots of it 38. Spanish “to be” 41. ISRAEL’S FIRST NEW CITY 42. Gvarim, in English 44. Does clock timing or alarm again 45. Evenings, in Quebec 46. Does as Nimrod did 47. THE WESTERN WALL IS __ ___ OLD CITY 48. “You need to be in touch with your _____ self” 49. Dutch name for the Meuse River 50. Othello’s adversary 52. Flintstones’ pet 53. Opposite of out of 54. Schaum or kat starter 55. My flock, in Hebrew

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 9, 2005

Plenty of Blame to Go Around...Now Let’s Get to Work The hurricane is long gone, blown out to sea after leaving thousands dead, hundreds of thousands homeless and without food, water, power, phones or jobs--and the fingerpointing has begun. Yes, there’s plenty of blame to go around. Should Mayor Ray Nagin have established communications procedures (like ensuring that he, his police and fire chiefs and other top officials carry satellite phones) and made arrangements to transport his city’s poorest residents out of harm’s way? Of course (and by the way--what about our city officials in Omaha and Lincoln? Do they have satellite phones--and a crisis plan?). Should Gov. Kathleen Blanco have called out the National Guard immediately? Should she have refused the federal government’s offer to impose martial law and bring in troops early last week. No doubt she regrets that now. As to Michael Brown and FEMA, did he not read his own report, issued after 9-11, insisting on establishing proper channels of communications? His own regional and local directors apparently had no information from the top and no way to make decisions. And, speaking of the top: that’s where leadership starts. People in need don’t want to hear that countries like Honduras and the Dominican Republic are offering help to the richest nation on earth. But when little Sri Lanka, a country ravaged by the tsunami only a year ago, offered $25,000--that was the “eye rolling moment.” How embarrassing for us as Americans that we couldn’t help our own. But if you think we as individuals are off the

hook, think again. We demand clean air and low gas prices while we continue to drive our big SUVs and gas guzzlers. As citizens, we have refused to allow drilling in our own country in what we know to be large oil fields and we haven’t allowed a new refinery to be built here for 29 years, never mind a new nuclear power plant. If you’re looking for people to blame, we can blame ourselves, too. We’ve become too lazy to walk, too self-righteous about protecting what’s “ours” (like the “right” to live on the fragile coastline and in a city lower than sea level), and too complacent to think about the poor and lower middle class who didn’t have the means to evacuate out of Katrina’s deadly path. So, now that we’ve blamed everyone, let’s get to work. First: Make sure your family and friends in the Gulf Coast are okay. If they need a place to stay, a job, funds, whatever-obviously they come first. Second: write a check. The folks in need don’t want to pick through your discarded clothes. The social service agencies need cash and they need it now. Send it to any reputable charity (there’s a list on the back page of

this issue of Jewish organizations that will funnel your gift to anyone--regardless of religion, race or creed). By the way, ZAKA has sent its staff from Israel to help with the collection and identification of bodies--a skill in which, unfortunately, they have much practice. Third: let this be a lesson. Do you have a disaster plan? Does your business? And what about our own Jewish institutions? What would it take to get them up and running if a major storm blew through here with dozens of tornadoes, knocking out power, communications, and the means to sustain life--as it did last week? Are you ready? Are we as a community ready? Forget blame. Let’s put our heads and hearts and funds together and help.

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press the Jewish Committee, Federation of Omaha or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

What God Wants Us to Learn From Katrina

BEHIND THE HEADLINES by RABBI CHAIM STEINMETZ The images of suffering are overwhelming. Watching TV coverage of Hurricane Katrina, you can feel the anguish of the victims of this awful disaster. An unpredictable confluence of circumstances brought about a “perfect storm” that killed thousands and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Katrina is a true human catastrophe. As unpredictable as this hurricane may have been, the human reactions to it are all too predictable. Immediately, there is finger pointing. On the political front, President Bush is blamed for a variety of failures ranging from a slow response to the disaster to having caused the global warming which lead to the hurricane. Religious authorities with agendas of their own come to speak in God’s name and blame the catastrophe on their opponents. A group called Repentance America said it was God’s retribution for New Orleans being a “sin city”. Repentance America did not issue any explanation why somehow, the hurricane managed to miss Las Vegas. On the Internet, a popular Israeli rabbi is sure that this catastrophe is retribution for American support for the disengagement from Gaza. I found this opinion curious; the sobbing woman I watched on CNN who lost her daughter and was searching for her missing sons didn’t strike me as a supporter of the disengagement. An of course, radical Islam couldn’t miss this opportunity to dump on America either. A high-ranking Kuwaiti official, Muhammad Yousef Al-Mlaifi, said: “It is almost certain that this is a wind of torment and evil that Allah has sent to this American empire.” This confident explanation was issued a day after hundreds of Muslims were stampeded to death in Iraq. These finger pointing explanations are not only deeply flawed, they are also deeply insen-

sitive. The Talmud says that anyone who gives a grieving person an explanation that the victim’s sins caused his own suffering has violated the prohibition of verbal abuse. Many Jewish philosophers wrestle with the question “Why bad things happen to good people?” Some explanations do consider man’s culpability. However, what is misunderstood is that their explorations are meant to defend God’s goodness, not to torment victims of suffering by blaming them for the crime. In fact, even the entire project of defending God’s goodness is suspect. First of all, God does not need a defense attorney; He can make a case for himself. And God continues to make a case for himself in every sunrise, every leaf, every breath we take. Furthermore, any explanation we can offer will seem meaningless to sufferers. Those who are suffering feel their pain on a personal level, and abstract explanations will in no way alleviate their pain.

...every person, whether they live in Indonesia or New Orleans, Kuwait or Israel, should learn how to join hands in rebuilding the world rather than point fingers. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik offers a very different view of a Jewish response to suffering. He says the question, why bad things happen to good people, is unfathomable. Even worse, any answer offered will imply that we should passively accept our fate and assume that God did everything for the best. Soloveitchik points out that on the contrary, Judaism actually refuses to make peace with death and tragedy. When someone dies, Jewish law requires that we mourn bitterly and tear our clothes. This is because Judaism demands that we be enraged by tragedy. To Rav Solovietchik, the real question that has to be asked is: How do I respond to tragedy? Our obligation in the face of a catastrophe is to act: to comfort and aid those who

(Founded in 1920) Joanie Jacobson Chairman Carol Katzman Editor Richard Busse Managing Editor Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper Amanda Marcuccio Sales & Marketing Intern Jewish Press Committee Howard K. Marcus, Vice-Chairman; Bobbi Leibowitz, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Finance Chairman; Steve Simon, Treasurer; Fred Tichauer, Immediate Past-chairman; David Herzog; Jamie Meyerson; Stanley Mitchell; George Quittner; Linda Saltzman; Joe Shyken; Michael Siegal; Nancy Skid; Dorothy Spizman; and Melany Weinstine. The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Centers of Excellence of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Educational and Library Services, Jewish Family Service, and Jewish Senior Services. The Jewish Press is a constitutional committee of the Jewish Federation.

have suffered, and to use human creativity to prevent future catastrophes. The only Jewish response to tragedy is to restore human dignity and rebuild the world. The response to this tragedy is to join hands in rebuilding the world, rather than point fingers. The most important lesson of any large scale disaster is the commonality of all human beings; we have all have the same vulnerabilities and the same aspirations. Most importantly, we are all created in the same image of God. It is up to us to learn how to live together as brothers and sisters, and help each other with their burdens. I am hopeful that besides the noisy finger pointers, most people will respond properly to this catastrophe. In the past, I have witnessed how disasters have the unique ability to unite anyone, even antagonists, in a common cause. Last January, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists gathered together in my Montreal synagogue for a service on behalf of the victims of the Asian tsunami. Representatives of the warring Sinhalese and Tamil communities both attended, and a representative of the largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia, thanked the Jewish community for their efforts on behalf of the disaster victims. People who normally do not talk to each other joined together in common cause. And just today, students at Montreal’s Hebrew Academy, moved by the news reports they have heard, have began mobilizing fundraising and letter writing campaigns for people they have never met--the victims of Katrina. I am too uncomfortable to issue prophetic statements. But if I have to guess what God wants in the wake of Katrina, it is a recognition that every human being shares God’s image, and that every person, whether they live in Indonesia or New Orleans or Kuwait or Israel, should learn how to join hands in rebuilding the world rather than point fingers. Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz is the spiritual leader of Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem in Montreal, Quebec, and is a member of Edah’s editorial board.

Editorial The Jewish Press is a Constitutional Committee of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, noon, eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org. Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1-402-334-5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org.. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be singlespaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions, but should be printed as soon as possible to ensure timeliness. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer, but the name can be withheld at the writer’s request. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For more information, contact Carol Katzman, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly on Friday for $31 per calendar year U.S.; $35 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or e-mail to: jpress@jewishomaha. org.

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September 9, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 17

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the Editor: The gut-wrenching scenes of human suffering witnessed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are not only the result of the levee failures at Lake Pontchartrain, but also the failure of a nation numbed to the growing division between “haves� and “have-nots� in our society. What is appearing on television sets across America is the inevitable impact of decades of ignoring a stark difference in economic realities. While wealthy, predominantly white Gulf residents were able to escape to higher ground, it was poorer, largely black, elderly and sick Americans who were left behind to fend for themselves. In the case of New Orleans, high poverty rates already existed before the storm: over 30% of the population lived below the federal poverty line. These are the bodies of the victims we see floating in the Mississippi River and dying for lack of basic necessities at the New Orleans Convention Center. If you couldn’t tell what you were looking at from half-submerged landmarks in the French Quarter, you could swear footage from New Orleans and beyond came right from Haiti or some other Third World country. Further stressing the economic fault lines exposed by this horrible tragedy, it is ironic that just this week the U.S. Census Bureau released staggering new poverty data. The numbers show that 1.1 million more Americans slipped below the poverty line in 2004, bringing the total number to 37 million. Hunger rates in this country closely track the poverty index, and both numbers have seen steady increases for four years running. The Census Bureau also reported that income inequality is at an alltime high, with 50% of income going to the top 20% of households. So when natural disaster strikes, it is all too easy to predict who will bear the brunt of the devastation. It won’t be the high-flying corporate raiders and image-

obsessed celebrities that occupy the typical front-page real estate. It will be the person who fixes your car, or who serves you lunch, or who takes care of your friend’s mother at the nursing home. These will be the people we read about, our new “celebrities,� fellow citizens who hold down multiple minimum wage jobs and are still unable to make ends meet. As these divisions become more evident from the images we have been waking up to, growing numbers of Americans are asking hard questions. They are moved by the realization that we are witnessing the coming out of a national underclass, one that has long existed and will no longer be confined to the margins. The recovery is already underway, and efforts to rebuild will be years in the making. But as we repair the cracks in the levees and begin the difficult work of restoring people’s lives, we will be remiss if we do not seize the opportunity to heal the fractures running deep through our society. We have a chance now to fashion a society that addresses inequality and values the contributions of every individual. We ignore that chance at our own peril. H. Eric Schockman, Ph.D. President, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger To the Editor: I know you have all been as touched as I have by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to the communities of the Gulf Coast. As Omaha Federation’s Executive Director, I have been privileged to work with our sister intermediate-size communities in providing support for many humanitarian efforts throughout the world. However, the disaster that has hit the Gulf Coast, including one of our own intermediate-size communities, New Orleans, has been unimaginable. The New Orleans Jewish Community is so similar to Omaha’s and many of us

have strong connections to the people there. I am always proud of our own Jewish community and how we continue to step up to help. The phone calls and offers of help have been heart warming and typical of this community’s generosity. I wanted to share with you this letter from Lee Wunsch, the Executive Director of the Houston Federation. As you may know, they are currently housing the New Orleans Federation and its staff. I know all of us pray for the swift rebuilding and healing of these communities that we have an opportunity to help. Jan Goldstein Executive Director Jewish Federation of Omaha To the Editor: I cannot express to you my appreciation for all of your calls and e-mails in response to the devastation that has taken place as a result of Hurricane Katrina. As a result of the massive inflow of refugees from New Orleans, Houston has emerged as a secondary disaster relief site. In addition to the thousands of Jews from New Orleans that have come to Houston, thousands more are being brought here to stay in refugee shelters, including some 25,000 that will be housed in the Astrodome and the surrounding complex. Those that have called and e-mailed have asked what you can do to help. The honest answer is: money. Our local volunteers are mobilizing to work with New Orleans Jewish families, as well as the thousands of other refugees being served by the Red Cross and other social service agencies. We are working closely with Eric Stillman, the Executive Director of the New Orleans Federation, who has been officing in our building, along with his staff. We are simply not in a position to

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accept donations of clothing, food, etc., nor are families expected to find temporary housing in locations outside of the immediate region. Most families are finding housing in Houston, Dallas, Memphis, Atlanta, and other locales, in about a 300-mile radius of New Orleans. We need money. Your contributions to the UJC Disaster Relief Fund are critical. I have already informed Howard Rieger, the Executive Vice-President of United Jewish Communities, of our need for an immediate one million dollars to assist with the interfaith feeding program here and that’s just for 30 days. More will be needed in the weeks ahead, not only in Houston but in the cities directly impacted by the storm. So, let’s do what we do best--let’s mobilize the financial resources that are required. Thank you again for your support and caring. The encounters I have had with New Orleans residents have touched my heart and I know they would touch yours Lee Wunsch as well. Chief Executive Officer Jewish Federation of Greater Houston Editor’s note: Faith-based communities in Houston, TX, were each asked to take one day this month to feed the evacuees in the Atrodome and convention spaces adjacent to it. That means three meals that day for 16,000+ victims that the Houston Jewish community has to provide--and that means volunteers and funding to carry that out. Even at just $10 a person (assuming some of the food is donated), that’s at least $160,000. This effort will no doubt continuing for more months to come. Please, please send your check today to: The Jewish Federation of Omaha, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154, or make a donation online at: www.jewishomaha.org.

The Jewish Federation of Omaha encourages you to LIVE GENEROUSLY™ through your donation to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Join our Jewish community by contributing to this urgent request through United Jewish Communities. UJC is working through local communities, the Red Cross, FEMA and other national agencies to provide relief and meet emergency needs for food, supplies, medicine, financial aid and health care. 100% of your contribution will go to the people in need.

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You may donate by sending your check to: Jewish Federation of Omaha c/o Hurricane Relief 333 South 132nd Street Omaha, NE 68154 Or, donate online at www. ujc.org

We at the Jewish Federation are doing what we do best — helping those in need. /ˆVÂŽiĂŒĂƒ\ fĂ“x ­ ÂœÂ?` ÂˆĂ€VÂ?iÂŽ] fÂŁn°xä] fÂŁ{°xä E f£Ó°xä /ˆVÂŽiĂŒĂƒ >Ă›>ˆÂ?>LÂ?i >ĂŒ ĂŒÂ…i +ĂœiĂƒĂŒ iÂ˜ĂŒiĂ€ LÂœĂ? ÂœvwVi] ÂœĂ•ĂŒÂ?iĂŒĂƒ] VÂ…>Ă€}i LĂž ÂŤÂ…ÂœÂ˜i {äӇ{ÓӇ£Ó£Ó ÂœĂ€ œ˜Â?ˆ˜i >ĂŒ ĂŒÂˆVÂŽiĂŒÂ“>ĂƒĂŒiÀ°Vœ“°

>Ă€i i>Ă€Ăƒ/ ^Óääx /Â…ÂœĂƒi Â…>Ă€>VĂŒiĂ€Ăƒ Ă€ÂœÂ“ Â?iĂ›iÂ?>˜`] ˜V° 1Ăƒi` Ă•Â˜`iĂ€ Â?ˆViÂ˜Ăƒi LĂž 6 ÂœĂ€ÂŤÂœĂ€>ĂŒÂˆÂœÂ˜Â° Ă“Ă¤Ă¤Ă“ĂˆĂ˘ ™Éäx

ZoĂŤ Riekes, President Jan Goldstein, Executive Director Federation of Omaha Board of Directors and Staff

Steven Bloch, Chairman Marty Ricks, Executive Director Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation Board of Trustees and Staff

Page 18

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 9, 2005

Candlelighting Friday, September 9, 7:25 p.m.

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

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

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

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

Chabad House An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 S. 120th St. Omaha, NE 68144-1646 330.1800 nebraskajudaism.com email: chabad@aol.com

Congregation B’nai Jeshurun South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 S. 20th St. Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 435.8004 jewishnebraska.org

Offutt Air Force Base SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway Offutt AFB, NE 68113 294.6244

Rose Blumkin Jewish Home 333 S. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154

Temple Israel Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street Omaha, NE 68132-2651 556.6536 templeisrael-ne.org

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

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

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

to reserve space, call Allan Handleman, 334.6451.

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Shabbat Services, 7:30 p.m.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation (3-7), 10 a.m.; K’tantan (K-2), 10:45 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by Sharon Brodkey, in honor of her son, Ariel becoming a Bar Mitzvah; Evening Service, 7:35 p.m. Sitter Service is available during Friday night and Saturday morning services, on a drop-in basis, at no charge. SUNDAY: Bible Study Class with Leonard Greenspoon, 10 a.m.; “Living Hebrew,” with Susi Frydman-Levin, 10 a.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah class with Cantor Bogomolni, 10 a.m.; Jewish Pot Pourri Class, 11 a.m.; “From Your Heart to God’s Ears” will begin, led by Andy Greenberg, 11 a.m. To register, contact Harriet Einziger in the office. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sunday, 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.; Weekdays, 6:55 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. PATTER: Wednesdays, 10:45 a.m.-noon. for children ages 18 months to three years old, led by Helen Epstein, and is open to all families in the Jewish community. SISTERHOOD HONEY SALE: Orders are being taken through Sept. 2. Forms are in the synagogue’s mid-month mailing and in the office. COMFORT AND CONVERSATION: Established to provide support for individuals mourning the recent loss of a loved one, this group will meet on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 6 p.m. (See full article on page 15.) TOT SHABBAT: Our next service will be Friday, Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. Open to the community. MEN’S CLUB: Will meet up with Temple’s Men’s Club on Sunday, Sept. 11, 5 p.m., for another softball game. All males ages 13 and up are welcome to participate, as are spectators. SISTERHOOD: On Sundays, Sept. 11, 18, 25, Sisterhood will be filling honey bottles, applying labels and packing them for preRosh Hashanah deliveries. To help out, please e-mail Amy Reynolds at a.d.reynolds@cox. net. On Sunday, Sept. 25, 1-3 p.m., get some great tips about

traditional holiday meals during a Sisterhood-sponsored cooking class. No charge to attend; for reservations, contact Caryn Rifkin at 334.7216 or crgr6175@ aol.com; or Carole Lainof, 293.0321 or thelaiofs@ cox.net.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: MondayThursday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Free Babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 10:30 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by Jordana Kurtzman in honor of Aaron’s 10th birthday; Mincha, 7 p.m.; Havdalah, 8:26 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Basement Sale, 10 a.m-1 p.m.; Contact the office for Mincha/ Ma’ariv time. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Contact the synagogue office for Mincha/Ma’ariv time. TUESDAY: Sisterhood Donor Event-Social Hour and Silent Auction begins at 11:30 a.m. Lunch will be served at 12:15 p.m., followed by the Style Show. Reservations are required.

BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Shabbat in the Home.

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Minyan, 7 a.m.; Ima & Me, 10:30–11:45 a.m. SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9 a.m.; Services, 9:30 a.m., followed by a Kiddush luncheon. SUNDAY: Services, 8:30 a.m. Midwest Region Blood Drive, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; Mishne class, 9:30 a.m.; Chabad Cheder and Aleph Champions, 10 a.m.-noon. WEEKDAYS: Minyan, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Halacha, 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY: “Chai! The Gift of Life” 18th Anniversary Dinner Gala, 6 p.m. at the Forté Banquet and Convention Center, 15th & Cuming St. Guests of Honor are Leonard and Shirley Goldstein and Chancellor Harold and Beverly Maurer. (See full article on page 9.) THURSDAY: Jewish Thought class, 12:45 p.m. Programs are open to the com-

BAT MITZVAH Sarah Hoberman daughter of Tiffany and Michael Hoberman, will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Sept. 17, at Beth El Synagogue. Sarah is a eighth-grade honor roll student at Peter Kiewit Middle School. Her interests include traveling, camping, art, music, family and friends. For her mitzvah project, Sarah has volunteered at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. Sarah has two brothers, Joel and Jacob, and a sister, Gabrielle. Grandparents are Nancy and Donald Hoberman, and Karol and Joseph Dubinsky. Great-grandparents are the late Irving and Margaret Hoberman.

munity. For information, to make reservations for the Chabad Gala on Sept. 14, or to register, call the office or visit: www.nebraskajudaism.com.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m., led by Rabbi Emanuel, with oneg following provided by Mary and Bob Nefsky. SATURDAY: Bar Mitzvah of Johathan Feingold, son of Ellen and David Fingold, 10:30 a.m., a Kiddush will follow. SUNDAY: Lincoln Jewish Community School, 9:30 a.m.noon (Gan Simcha, grades K, and 4-7) at Tifereth Israel; Lincoln Jewish Community School, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. (grades 1-3, and Hallah High) at B’nai Jeshurun. ADULT EDUCATION Tuesday, 7-9 p.m. for a new series led by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. WEDNESDAY: Hebrew class (grades 2-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. THURSDAY: Choir Rehearsal, 7 p.m.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME

SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:30-10:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. Jordan Aaron Kohll, son of Louis and Ivy Kohll, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah. Sitter Service will resume tonight for the 7:30 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service, and tomorrow, Sept. 10, for the 10:30 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service. Advance reservations and a $5 donation are appreciated. ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY, Sept. 11, 10:30 a.m.-noon: with Mensches Wrenches. Len Burrell will demonstrate how to make repairs around the house without calling a repairman. WEDNESDAY, Sept. 14, 6:30-8 p.m.: Love and Logic: Parenting Teens for the Real World, lead by Karen Gustafson. (See full story on page 2.) OUTREACH & SYNAGOGUE COMMUNITY Vegetarian Food for the Gay and Lesbian Jewish Brood Sunday, Sept. 11, 6 p.m. Gay and lesbian Jews and their families are invited to a vegetarian potluck supper at the home of Catherine Rawlings. To RSVP and get directions, call her at 554.4846. For more information, contact Hollis Glaser at 554.4846 or hollis_glaser@unomaha.edu.

NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN

SATURDAY: Shabbat Services, 9 a.m. led by Alan Schulewitz.

FRIDAY: Kabbalas Shabbos, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharis, 9 a.m.

TEMPLE ISRAEL

TIFERETH ISRAEL

FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to You: Join Temple’s clergy for a Shabbat Service, 4 p.m. at Remington Heights. Shabbat Evening Service, 7:30 p.m. “From Organ to Guitar: The Journey of Reform Prayer.” Welcome our newest members of the congregation and salute Temple’s history. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Rabbi Craig Marantz and Cantor Wendy Shermet will officiate.

Services conducted by Rabbi Royi Shaffin. Minyan, MONDAY & THURSDAY, 9 a.m. FRIDAY: Services, 8 p.m. with an Oneg following. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m. WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Contact Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066.

Beth Israel to Participate in OU Conference by STEPHEN STEINER OU Director of Public Relations Beth Israel Synagogue’s President Bonnie Bloch will be participating in the Orthodox Union Conference on Synagogue Leadership in Milwaukee, Sept. 11-12. She will participate in a panel discussion on Chevra Kadishe--the ritual urial society--led by Rabbi Zohn. Smaller Jewish communities present unique qualities--and challenges. Meeting these challenges and capitalizing on these values will be the theme of a twoday Conference on Synagogue Leadership, in which the emphasis will be on these smaller centers of Jewish life. The host congregation will be Milwaukee’s Lake Park Synagogue, which is led by former Omahan Rabbi

Shlomo Levin, and Lorraine L. Hoffmann, President and Chair of the Board. Under OU President Stephen J. Savitsky the OU has emphasized strengthening Orthodox life in smaller communities. As an example, the summer issue of Jewish Action, the OU’s magazine, has as its cover story “Jews in Small-Town America.” Taking into consideration these differences, the topics in Milwaukee will include: Halachic (Jewish legal) considerations for more isolated communities; Increasing membership; Fundraising; Capitalizing on existing programs for synagogues; for youth; Programming Conducting a rabbinic search/ Establishing an evaluation process; and Political action through the synagogue.

Pulverente MONUMENT CO.

September 9, 2005

Parashat ‘Katrina’

SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE The description of the destruction need not be repeated. An unprecedentent hurricane has left America severely wounded and bleeding. I am not a meteorologist and cannot explain how all of this happened. I hang on the words of experts who do know. But since it is done, what difference does it make to explain why it happened? There is one point I do wish to make. We are faced with a problem--as religious people--of identifying the role of God in all of this. There is no role. God’s role is in a different dimension entirely. Who then? What then? The blind force of Nature is the culprit. A gentle breeze on a warm summer evening is pleasing. But the hurricane wind blast horrifies us. As the quip has it, everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it! It is beyond our control. Unpleasant as it is, we must recognize Nature does not care about human life. It is as plain as that. Nature is amoral. It is not malevolent. But it is not benevolent. It

responds to “natural” causes. It has no understanding of morality, not does it bow to it, nor does it consider at all. Human beings, knowing that we cannot appeal to nature, have assured ourselves there is God and we may appeal to Him/Her/It. We prefer to call God, “Him”; in the Bible and similar works we assure ourselves that we can address Him and that He answers. We even have conversations with Him, from Abraham on. And now we have an answer to destruction: it is the wrath of God, aimed at sinful man. It is the immorality of Sodom that brought on its destruction, not a quirk of nature. But that helps us not a whit with New Orleans or other areas of the Gulf. Do we dare to suggest that New Orleans deserved destruction more than Chicago or Philadelphia or Las Vegas or Squeedunk? I’m afriad that we are left with the unhappy picture of Man, limited by morality, but nature’s beneficense or fury limited by nothing--except Chance. How do we live with all this? Fortunately, human beings recognize that they can control themselves and they can live by standards they can ascribe to God--that is, to the best that the human soul and the human mind can imagine. We mourn the loss of thousands of lives and the blood and treasure of hundreds of thousands. Sodom cannot be rebuilt, but New Orleans and the Gulf communities can--and will.

Support Group Handles Issues During Grief by RITA SHELLEY Jewish Senior Services Publicity Coordinator Employers typically allow three days’ leave to attend the funeral of a close family member. A well-meaning friend might respond to your grief by asking “aren’t you over that yet?” We sit Shiva for seven days and say kaddish for a year. Three days, a week, three months, a year. Anyone who has experienced a significant loss knows that recovery doesn’t happen according to a predetermined time frame. But those grieving the death of a loved one also know that life must go on. To help with the grieving process, a series of four weekly grief-support sessions at Beth El Synagogue has been designed for individuals who have experienced a loss. Shane Kotok and Shelly Fox, staff of Jewish Senior Services, will facilitate the sessions. An introductory, organizational meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 14, 6 p.m. The support group sessions will meet again on Wednesdays, beginning in

November. According to Kotok, the four-week schedule incorporates input she and Fox received while leading “Comfort and Conversation” at Beth El during the past year. “In the course of leading ‘Comfort and Conversation,’ we learned that there is a definite need in the community for a support group that takes place in a Jewish setting. While no two situations are the same, many people find that it really helps them to talk about their loss in the presence of others who are experiencing many of the same feelings,” Kotok said. “We want to continue to meet this need.” During the Sept. 14 meeting, participants will have additional opportunity to provide input to help Kotok and Fox tailor the group to specific needs. The group is open to anyone in the Jewish community. To register, please call Kotok at 334.6529, or Fox at 334.6532.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 19

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DEATHS SEYMOUR ZOOB Businessman Seymour Zoob died Sept. 1 at the age of 87. Services were held Sept. 5 at Temple Israel Cemetery. Zoob came to Omaha in 1950 as a millinery buyer for J.L. Brandies, but went out on his own in 1956 to start Zoob’s Around the Clock Fashions. After moving the store in 1969 to 69th and Cass and shortening its name to just Zoob’s, he opened four more and named them the Daisy. After retiring in 1981, Zoob assisted other business owners through the Small Business Administration’s SCORE volunteer program. He is survived by his wife, Roslyn; sons and daughters in law, Barry and Nora Zoob and Mike and Ann Zoob, Lake Forest, CA; daughter and son-in-law, Barbara and Greg Wadleigh of Madison, WI; grandchildren, Laurie and Jim Hyman of Kentfield, CA, Amy and Scott Gordon of Rockville, MD, Jonathan Zoob of San Francisco, CA, Jason and Lindsay Wadleigh of Madison, WI, Valerie Wadleigh of Scottsdale, AZ, and Andrew Zoob of Lake Forest, CA; four great-grandchildren; and a brother, Leo Zoob of Forest Hills, NY. Memorials to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 2679 Farnam, Omaha, NE 68131, 402.330.6164, or the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

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DOROTHY KROPMAN LIPP Dorothy K. Lipp died Sept. 1 at the age of 97. Services were held Sept. 6 at Temple Israel. She was one of five sisters and was precexded in death by three of them and her husband of 64 years, Louis E. Lipp. She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law Susan and David Kentoff and Myra and Mickey Sanderman; grandchildren Michael and Maureen Kentoff, Eric and Ria Kentoff, Steven and Sara Sanderman and Stacy and Josh Sanderman Spielman; six great-grandchildren; and one sister, Babe Davis of Minneapolis, MN. Memorials to Temple Israel.

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To Submit an Obituary Notice: Send full name, age, date of death, location of service and burial site, as well as other pertinent information to the Jewish Press via e-mail: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; fax, 402.4.5422; or mail, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68114. Obituaries--as well as engagements, marriages and commitment ceremonies--also can be submitted at the Jewish Federation’s website. Just go to: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press and click on “Submit Announcements.”

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 9, 2005

As New Orleans Jews Wonder, Omahans Reach Out Continued from page 1 cousin, former Omahan, Hugo Kahn, was supposed to attend a wedding in Denmark last week. “He tried to get out early by plane,� Stiss told the Press, “but wasn’t fast enough. He wound up leaving his home and moving in with a friend--on the 20th floor of an apartment building opposite the Hyatt Hotel. Since then, he’s been evacuated to Mt. Pleasant, SC.� As luck would have, Eadie Tsabari’s sister, former Omahan Renee Zack, had scheduled a vacation in Chicago, when the hurricane slammed into the Gulf Coast; she’s in Omaha now.. David Marshall drove all the way to New Orleans to rescue his aunt, Jean Marshall’s sister, who will live at Remington Heights. The news is still sketchy about people and Jewish institutions, but the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans has set up a temporary home at the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, and plans to become an e-mail clearinghouse and set up a bulletin board on its website. Anyone with information on evacuees from New Orleans--or who are evacuees themselves--may e-mail information to Adam Bronstone, New Orleans Community Relations Committee Director, at adam@jewishnola.com. According to Nathan Guttman, a correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, “ The Jewish Community Center in Metairie, a New Orleans suburb, is intact. Next to it, Shir Hadash synagogue was not as lucky. Visitors to the Conservative synagogue are now welcomed by puddles on the floor, soaked carpeting and bad odors. “The synagogues inside New Orleans were hit harder. Members of the Federation have not yet been allowed to inspect the damage to them because the area was considered too dangerous. Once the shooting ceased, a quick glance showed that both will need massive repairs.� Natasha Rosenstock, Associate Director of the American Jewish Press Association, spoke to the former editor of the New Orleans Jewish News, Gail Chalew. “She is safe with her son in Baltimore,� Rosenstock emailed colleagues. “Her husband, Stuart will be returning to Baton Rouge to work for the reconstituted LSU Medical School there.�

Rabbis Zelig, foreground, and Mendel Rivkin of New Orleans counsel sisters who are Arabs residents of Jerusalem at Credit: Chabad.org Houston’s Astrodome.

Where to Send Contributions for Victims of Hurricane Katrina • United Jewish Communities, Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief, P.O. Box 30, Old Chelsea Station, New York, NY 10113, or online at www.jewishomaha.org or www.ujc.org; • B’nai B’rith International, 2020 K St., NW, Seventh Floor, Washington, D.C., 20006; or online at: www.bnaibrith.org; • URJ’s Disaster Relief Fund’s online site is located at: www.urj.org/relief; • Chabad-Lubavitch online at www.chabadneworleans.com; and • United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism online at www.uscj.org/Hurricane_Relief, or by mail at USCJ Hurricane Disaster Relief Fund, 121 Congressional Lane, Suite 210, Rockville, MD, 20852; • Orthodox Union, www.ou.org, or by check, payable to the Orthodox Union and to Orthodox Union, 11 Broadway, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10004. “Hurricane Katrina Relief Fundâ€? should be written on both the check and the envelope.

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According to Larry Brooks, Editor of the Deep South Jewish Voice in Birmingham, AL, “Despite being two blocks from the beach, Biloxi’s Beth Israel is still standing, though heavily damaged. The building’s exterior brick, a later addition, has been largely peeled away. The front, with its Ten Commandments artwork, is intact. The roof over the sanctuary seems intact, but other parts were not visible, nor were we able to get inside the building to assess the interior’s condition.� Lori Beth Susman, a past president of the congregation who rode out the storm in Destin, FL, told Brooks, “The congregation faces the task of rebuilding, but many congregants are now unemployed as well as homeless. Susman also told him that “because school will likely not start again for a long time, families with children are looking to reside elsewhere, either short-term or long-term.� Congregation Beth Israel in Jackson, MS., is back up and functioning, according to office manager Ellen Alexander. Many congregants have relatives from harder-hit areas staying with them. Plans will be made for a much larger crowd at High Holy Day services, like last year when Hurricane Ivan threatened the coast on Rosh Hashanah. Temple B’nai Israel in Baton Rouge has opened its doors to assist hundreds of people who are homeless. They especially need clothing and baby items. Packages or funds can be sent to: Rabbi Barry Weinstein, (Assistant Rabbi at Temple Israel from 1971-83), 3354 Kleinart Ave., Baton Rouge, LA 70806, or call him at: 225.343.0111. One bit of luck emerged from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina--Tulane freshman Jason Rich, now back in Omaha for a semester at UNO--will be coming on board the Jewish Press staff as a Sales and Marketing Intern. Among those who evacuated from New Orleans were Brian Bain and Susan Levitas, the filmakers who made the documentary, Shalom Y’All, according to YNet News. The 2003 release showcased the history of Jews in the Deep South and may now be the last recording on film of many Jewish places and sites which are likely to have been badly damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

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