September 14, 2007

Vol. LXXXVII No. 1 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 86 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

2 Tishrei, 5767 September 14, 2007

Press, Historical Society, and Federation community development win Community Service Awards April 7, 2006

by LISA LIEB Federation Communications Director The Jewish Federation of Omaha will recognize two programs as winners of the 2006-07 Community Service Awards: “Front Page: 85 Years of Jewish Press History” and “Opportunity Omaha: It’s More than Just a Job” College Internship Program. This award recognizes creative programs that have made a significant impact on the community and will be presented to the Jewish Press, the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Federation’s Community Development department on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 7:30 p.m., during the Volunteer Recognition program at the Jewish Community Center.

In honor of its 85th anniversary, the Jewish Press teamed up with the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society to create the “Front Page: 85 Years of Jewish Press History” gallery exhibit. Debuting in April of 2006 at the JCC, the exhibit featured 120 front pages highlighting milestone events in the local, national and international Jewish communities.

All 72 of the special Passover and Rosh Hashanah covers were also put on display.

“The Historical Society was very pleased to have the opportunity to work with the

Jewish Press on this project,” said Executive Director Renee Corcoran.

“Historically, so many things have happened in the past 85 years -- not just in the world but in our own community, too.”

Together, the Press and the NJHS raised nearly $12,000 to cover the costs to prepare and mount the exhibit.

Funding came from the Goldsten and Goldstein funds, a Special Donor-advised Fund of the Foundation, and a number of individuals, both in Omaha and around the country. More than 30 volunteers participated -- researching back issues of the Press, getting bids for framing, handling arrangements for the opening reception, and more.

The project launched a permanent exhibit that can be easily rotated between various locations. Twelve of the front pages have been moved to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home in order to stimulate the memories of its residents, while eight front pages are currently on display in the Omaha Room at the JCC. According to Press Editor Carol Katzman, “It’s vital to collect, categorize and archive important documents pertaining to our history, to ensure they don’t get lost or destroyed.” Katzman

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Vol. LXXXV No. 14 Omaha, NE

Page 29

Celebrating 84 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

15 Kislev, 5766 December 16, 2005 2 Sections

Harlan Noddle Leaves Legacy of Leadership

Foundation Announces Sokolof Scholarship Applications Available

by JOAN K. MARCUS

by JANET HENTHORN Foundation of the Jewish Federation The much anticipated applications for the Phil and Ruth Sokolof Honor Roll Merit Scholarships are now available. The application forms, which must be submitted by March 1, 2006, can be downloaded from the Center for Jewish Education Scholarships and Grants page on the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s website at www.jewishomaha.org.

The Sokolof Scholarships, which will be administered by the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, may be the largest that have ever been available in the Jewish community, according to Steve Bloch, President of the Foundation.

Phil Sokolof died on April 15, 2004. Terms of his will created the Phil and Ruth Sokolof Honor Roll Fund and the Karen Sokolof Javitch Music Appreciation Fund.

Both Sokolof and his wife Ruth had a deep love for Phil and Ruth Sokolof, 1971. education and a great appreciation for the hard work that made success possible.

This influenced his establishing the criteria for the scholarships that are based on merit and not financial need.

In addition, recipients must be residents of the Omaha metropolitan area.

M e e tin g w it h J e w is h E d u c a to rs , B u s h S tre s s e s V o u c h e r s , C h o ic e

by Matthew E. Berger WASHINGTON(JTA)--President Bush brought his controversial support for school vouchers and charitable choice to a receptive Jewish audience, and expressed support for opportunities to help Jewish day schools.

Hanukkah came early to the White House as President Bush lit the menorah while the West Point Cadet Jewish Credit: Carrie Devorah chorale sang Hanukkah songs.

Bush met Dec. 6 with 13 Jewish educators and dayschool leaders, and focused the talk on his support for school vouchers and other education initiatives. Later in the day he hosted the White House’s annual Hanukkah party, attended by several hundred Jewish leaders. The event was held before the holiday this year because Bush won’t be available later in the month.

Continued on page 15

Inside Opinion Page see page 16

noted that preserving Jewish history is a key responsibility of both the Press and the Historical Society.

“People enjoy looking back and remembering,” Corcoran added. “That’s what makes my job so rewarding.”

Katzman was thrilled with the exhibit.

“What better way to engage every age

Merit scholarships for $10,000 each will be awarded to two graduating Jewish high school seniors for their college or university education. The criteria for these scholarships, as well as those below, are overall good character, scholastic performance, personal achievement, and community service.

Merit scholarships for $10,000 each will be awarded to two Jewish college or university students who are currently enrolled in, or have been admitted to, a course of study leading to a career in the field of health care.

In addition, there will be up to two merit scholarships (amounts yet to be determined) available from the Karen Sokolof Javitch Music Appreciation Fund.

These scholarships will be for Jewish college, university or music conservatory students who are majoring in or pursuing a degree in music performance, composition or music education.

Fifty years ago Phil Sokolof founded Phillips Manufacturing Company. According to his daughter, Karen Sokolof Javitch, her father started the company as a one-man operation. He was the manufacturer, the salesman, the distributor and the billing agent for a steel product used in creating drywall Continued on page 5

Businessman, real estate developer, philanthropist, and community leader Harlan Noddle died Dec. 10 at the age of 69.

Services were held Dec. 13 at Temple Israel with interment at Temple Israel Cemetery.

“It wasn’t just about all the things Harlan built over the years--it was why he built them,” said Jan Goldstein, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. “He always cared about people, about humanity and about making the world a better place--be it here in Omaha, nationally, in Israel or anywhere else in the world where there was need. And he never stopped doing this for all of us.

“He was always there for those who needed him and his spirit will always be celebrated in this Jewish community,” she added.

Although Noddle was seriously ill for several months, he remained active in the Omaha Jewish community, most recently chairing deliberations of the Murray H. and Sharee C. Newman Supporting Foundation. He also made the presentation to Dr. Hal Maurer at Chabad’s 18th Anniversary celebration--not just because Noddle served on the board of the University of Nebraska Medical Center with Chancellor Maurer-but as his friend.

Continued on page 19

Project Dreidel Chronicles

Tomorrow Is a New Day

by SHARON BARGAS for Jewish Family Service The story you are about to read is true and used with permission. The names have been changed to respect the privacy of individuals and their families. Over the next several weeks, you’ll get to know some of the Omahaarea Jews helped by Jewish Family Service (JFS). Each person depicted in these stories has graciously agreed to share their story with the community to increase awareness of the programs and services of JFS that have made such a tremendous difference in their lives.

Through Project Dreidel, JFS provides Hanukkah gifts and Jewish holiday meals to families in our area who cannot afford them. But sometimes, families and individuals have unexpected emergencies that require immediate intervention. JFS is there to provide the financial and emotional support needed to get back to normal, and that support costs money year ’round.

Your donations to JFS allows us to take care of each other, ensuring that every Omaha Jewish community member will have access to professional and compassionate help in a Jewish environment. To find out how you can help make a difference in the lives of others, please contact JFS at 330.2024.

This is the first installment in a three-part series: Had it not been for Jewish Family Service, the woman in this first installment of “Project Dreidel Chronicles” might have fallen into such deep despair that she would-

This Week: Annual Hanukkah Issue starts on Page 21

n’t have been able to get back up again.

Rosa Kaplanksy left the only world she had ever known five years ago to start a new life in hopes of offering her daughter a better life in Omaha.

A native of Russia, Kaplansky struggled to learn English and created a home for her teenage daughter, independently, with no help from a spouse. She has vivid memories of her husband’s excessive drinking and poor health forcing her to choose a life on her own.

Although she was a respected mechanical engineer in Russia, she did not have the opportunity to continue her career in the United States. Instead, she ended up working for minimumwage as a sales representative at a local discount department store. Repeating to herself over and over again, “I’ve never had any regrets,” she remained upbeat over the years.

A little more than a year ago, she was stricken with horrendous pain that forced her to go to a local emergency room. After numerous tests and many visits to various doctors, Kaplansky was forced to endure a surgical procedure where surgeons removed her left ovary.

That is when “getting by” for this Jewish Russian Continued on page 7

Coming Next Month: Tax & Financial Planning on Jan. 13

Eyewitness to the Fall

Where Are They Now?

Inside the New

Behind the Scenes

of the Minsk Ghetto:

Features Dr. Hugh Levin:

Holland Center:

at Opera Omaha:

Page 3

Page 9

Page 13

Page 30

group in the community than by displaying an informative, colorful, exciting exhibit of nearly 200 front pages of our community’s weekly newspaper -- a first for this community,” she said.

For communities facing a declining Jewish population, encouraging students Continued on page 7

Blumkin Home “on a roll” Push is on to make communal service

by OZZIE NOGG The addition of more parking stalls and installation of a new sanitary sewer currently top the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home construction agenda. Both projects will affect traffic flow on the Jewish Community Center campus for the next few months. “In the meantime, we plan to keep disruptions to a minimum for members, guests and visitors,” said Mike Collier, JCC Campus Manager. “Yes, we’re having growing pains, but everyone understands it will be over soon.”

According to Collier, strategies for handling these ‘growing pains’ require an eye to event planning and traffic logistics. Programs will not be scheduled back-to-

Campus Manager Mike Collier surveys the temporary entrance to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. back to avoid overloading the existing parking lots, and two-way, circular traffic through the campus will be maintained.“As is the case with all phases of the Home’s construction,” he said, “we’ll be rigid with our timeline, but flexible with the public.”

Planned improvements on the north side of the Blumkin Home include a 35-stall parking lot and new entrance designed for exclusive use by RBJH full-time staff.

Continued on page 2

Inside Opinion Page see page 16

a rite of passage in U.S. Jewish life it be building homes for

by SUE FISHKOFF Hurricane Katrina surSAN FRANCISCO vivors over spring break (JTA) -- Yuval Asner, a third-year medical stuwith the Union for dent at the University of Reform Judaism or digIndiana, spent a year in ging wells in Africa with New York after college the American Jewish volunteering as a healthWorld Service. care caseworker with Jewish funders are takAvodah: The Jewish ing notice -- in a big way.

Service Corps.

“The Jewish philanAsner, now 26, lived in thropic community has a communal house help‘discovered’ social jusing low-income New tice,” says Shifra Yorkers gain access to Bronznick, the founder of health care, and says the Bronznick & Co., a manexperience profoundly agement firm for compaaffected his approach to nies in transition that medicine. develops programs for the Ilana Seff, 19, a sophonot-for-profit sector. more at the University of “People recognize that Florida, spent 10 days in these programs have the January repairing playpotential to be transforgrounds and delivering mative for individuals, to coal to the homebound in stimulate their interest in Ukraine with a service Ruth Messinger, president of the American Jewish World Service, engaging in Jewish life program run by the holds a Darfuri infant during a recent mission to Chad. and to inspire them to Credit: Ruth Messinger help change the world.”

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

In May, the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the “I always had a strong Jewish identity, but this trip Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation conreally had an impact,” she says. vened a two-day conference in New York of Jewish funAsner and Seff are among the growing number of ders, practitioners and organizations involved in Jewish Jewish young adults who are taking part in short- and service programs. The conference was aimed at coordilong-term Jewish service programs, signing up for a nating efforts, increasing follow-up and, eventually, creweek, a summer or even a year of social action. ating a national movement to make Jewish service a norLast year, 4,600 Jewish high school and college stu- mative part of growing up Jewish in this country. dents joined Jewish term-of-service programs, whether Continued on pages 4-5

This Week: Federation honors volunteers: Pages 6 & 7 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’

Omahan invests in families through JFS program: Page 3

Coming Next Month: Arts & Entertainment on Oct. 12 High school student spends semester in Israel: Page 10

Friedel prepares for ‘One Book, One School’ project: Page 20

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 14, 2007

Blumkin Home “on a roll” Christopher A. Stanosheck, D.D.S. 9202 West Dodge Road Suite 201 Omaha, NE 68114 402.884.1607 www.thesmiledesignstudio.com

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 Friedel Jewish Academy No School: Rosh Hashanah JCC Closed SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m., at Temple Israel C SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 L The Living Torah, 9:30 a.m., at Chabad I Beth El Bible Study Group, 10 a.m., at Beth El P Rick Recht Concert, 10:45 a.m., at Temple Israel

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School BBQ, noon, at Temple Israel & JCC Select Basketball Parents Meeting, 12:30 p.m.

&

Beyt Shalom Religious School, 1:30 p.m.

S USY sKadima kickoff, 1:30 p.m., at Papio Fun Park A V MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 E

Jewish Book Club, 11 a.m.

Hadassah Board Meeting, 1 p.m.

Hebrew Crash Course, 7 p.m., at Beth El

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 WOW Prayer Circle Tehillim and More, 9 a.m. at Chabad Eye on Israel, noon BESTT Board Meeting, 7 p.m., at Beth El MIT Presentation, 7 p.m.

Parshah Roundup, 7 p.m., at Chabad Board Meeting, 7 p.m., at Temple Israel C The Wow of Judaism, 7:30 p.m. at Beth El

S A V E

A campus manager who’s seen it all

L I WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 P Kabbalah Circle, 7 p.m., at Chabad

C L I P

&

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S A V E

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 Kripke Library Book Discussion Group, 1 p.m.

Yiddish Group, 1 p.m.

Women’s Book Group, 2 p.m., at Beth El USY Ultimate Frisbee Lounge Night, 6 p.m., at Beth El ADL Youth Leadership Mission Meeting, 7 p.m.

NCJW Board Meeting, 7 p.m.

All events held at the JCC unless otherwise indicated. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of events. To keep calendar accurate or for questions, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437.

FOR A COMPLETE LISTING, VISIT THE FEDERATION’S WEBSITE: www.JewishOmaha.org (click on calendar)

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turning around easier.

Continued from page 1 Collier considers the new sanitary sewer a much needThe lot will be lighted and video-monitored 24/7 to make sure all Home employees, especially those with ed, significant project. “After all, the Home has 90 fullnight shifts, are safe. The north side will also house a time residents. That’s like managing 90 full-time households. Over the past 20 years, changes and additions to new loading dock.

“The Home gets more deliveries than any other the campus put the current sanitary sewer system close to agency,” Collier explained, “so the dock is an important overload. When improvements are in place, waste from addition. We’re conscious of how drivers maneuver their bathrooms and kitchen will flow more easily.”

Once the new sanitary sewer system is complete, the trucks through the campus, and we want to provide Blumkin Home’s Special Care Unit -- now in its final them a safe, efficient delivery route.”

Also in the works is a redesign of the JCC front park- building stages -- will be ready for occupancy. The transing lot. Sorin Juster, former Building and Grounds fer of residents to the SCU frees up an entire wing of 25 Committee chairman, used computer simulation to help beds, at which point the next construction phase -- the in the reconfiguration, aimed to improve traffic flow total remodel -- can begin.

“Designing the new building was complex,” Collier said, without losing any stalls. The planned changes go from the main entry at 132nd Street to the outdoor pool.

Renovation will be done in thirds, with two-thirds of the lot always kept open.

Currently, the west section of the parking lot is called ‘the bone yard’ -- a reference to the mound of earth and chopped-up concrete now occupying the space. After those materials are consumed back into the building in late fall, the campus will reclaim 40 parking spots in the west lot.

“During any temporary delays when equipment is off-loading bricks or other supplies, we’ll have a flag man on duty directing traffic,” Collier said. “The safety of staff, students, conThis aeriel image of the JCC campus shows the temporary traffic pattern while the Blumkin struction workers and the Home and ring road are under construction, beginning Monday, Sept. 24. public is our main concern.” “and Mike Silverman, Blumkin director, hit Improvements to the sanithe mark with this concept. Mike relies on my tary system begin Monday, expertise to make sure the building design Sept. 24, weather permitting, with an estimated comworks. Now we need to implement the plan pletion date of Oct. 20.

-- the dream -- without disturbing residents During construction, the or their families.” ring road east of Friedel Collier says he hasn’t seen anyone Jewish Academy will be choose to not come to the Blumkin Home closed at the outdoor pool. because of the construction environment.

Parents bringing children to “People know this is the best facility in the the CDC will enter the camarea, that it offers the best care. The Home pus via the north driveway is basically in good shape. It’s just dated.

- which will become two- The western part of the JCC parking lot is Sometimes it’s hard to take that leap of faith way during the sanitary currently being used as a ‘bone yard,’ an to start over, but now’s our time to close the sewer project -- and then expression used in the construction industry gap between the improvements made in reverse their direction and for the earth and concrete moved during 1991 and what needs to be done in 2007. exit via the same route. construction and for the storage of supplies. It’s time to make things new.”

Non-CDC traffic can also move in and out of the camFor information regarding changes in traffic flow durpus up to the construction dead end and then circle back ing upcoming construction, please call the JCC, to exit. Barriers placed at strategic locations will make 334.8200.

S A V E

by OZZIE NOGG As Jewish Community Center Campus Manager, Mike Collier makes sure the Blumkin Home stays in top condition. “I look at it just like I look at my own home,” he said. “I have to see that the snow is removed, the lights work, the roof doesn’t leak. And the quality of the maintenance must be consisMike Collier, tently high. We can do it Campus Manager right once, but can we do it right every day. That’s the challenge.”

Collier has met the challenge for 20 years, managing all capital improvement projects -- roof replacement, site drainage, the RBJH chiller installation -- along with the usual daily tasks -- troubleshooting RBJH telephones, fire alarms, trash removal, squeaky doors, dripping faucets, heating and air-conditioning.

“Every day is different,” said Collier, a former faculty member in the Iowa Western Community College Engineering Department. “Each day I ask myself, ‘How can I take the resources I have available and make it happen? How can I say, Yes.’” Among the resources in Collier’s tool box are his housekeeping and maintenance staff -- a group of loyal

professionals who form a kind of family.

“Paul Roth, Sr., our Blumkin Home Maintenance Technician, has been here for 24 years,” Collier said.

“Bill Sullivan joined our team 17 years ago. Jim McCrea has been with us for 15 years. Kurt Jacobs for 12. The other members of our staff -- Nick, Jeff, Dan, Steve, Marco, Marchinta, Matthew, Renee -- are part of a great crew that’s grown along with the campus. We have empirical knowledge of everything that goes on here.”

The Campus Management team also has the solid support of the Federation Board of Directors and the Building and Grounds Committee. “We have the same mission. To make the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home the best facility possible and to keep it that way.”

Collier’s management style? Always clean. Consistent quality. Let’s make this work for you.

His motto during construction? Keep disruptions to a minimum for members, guests and visitors.

“When I first came here,” Collier said, “a group of men called the Knights of the Round Table would congregate in the JCC Canteen and play cards. My staff and I took care of their activity needs. When they got older, some became residents of the Blumkin Home, but they remembered us. They had confidence, knowing that the guys who took care of them before were still around.

That’s one reason this job is so rewarding to me. I get self-satisfaction knowing people can call this their Home, and that the facility is held in such high regard.”

September 14, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

One local woman invests in families through JFS

by ANDREA BARTMAN for Jewish Family Service When Judy Vann was looking for a good cause to donate to, she listened first to those closest to her. Her son, Dr. John Vann, an Omaha pediatrician, and his wife Wendy were very passionate about a program their family has been involved with for quite some time now; a program that has shown positive impact on themselves and their children.

This program is the Love and Logic parenting course offered by Jewish Family Service. “This, I think, is the key,” says Judy. “I really do. It makes a lot of sense. It’s all very positive. I don’t see anything negative about it and that’s what I like about this program.”

Vann’s donation developed a Foundation fund called the “Howard and Judy Vann Family Educational Fund”. The money is allowing JFS to provide parenting education to many more individual family participants and to expand the program to larger community education opportunities. Beth El Synagogue will be offering the program this fall, as well as Temple Israel’s incorporation of Love and Logic into its family school.

Vann first became aware of Love and Logic through conversations with her son and daughter-in-law. Wendy Vann attended her first Love and Logic class when her children Jake, 10, and Celia, 8, were still toddlers.

She called up some girlfriends and went to the class for a ladies night out.

They had fun together, enjoyed the class, and took away something else; knowledge, empowerment as parents, and the hope that in today’s busy and temptation-filled world, they could, as parents,

give their kids the tools to succeed and excel.

Wendy came home from that first class hooked, and took her husband back the next time. She’s revisited the course now and again as her children have grown.

Says Wendy, “It’s just a way to empower yourself as a parent.” She describes how the class likens parenting to making a deposit in the bank and how you can’t expect to make a withdrawal in the form of good behavior, manners or healthy decisions if you haven’t made deposits previously. “You have to have some credit with that child to make a withdrawal,” she says.

These “deposits” come in the form of providing opportunities for children to make their own choices and parents rewarding children for positive, healthy choices. According to Judy, when children don’t make the best choices they learn from their own mistakes and will change their behavior accordingly. By allowing children to choose, says Judy, “It simplifies the parent’s role” and puts the power in the child’s mind to remember the consequences of their own actions.

When asked about her own parenting style, Judy responds “I was raised by two very loving, wonderful parents who thought I was intelligent. I think I raised my kids the same way that I was raised and my husband was on the same track, however, I wasn’t as aware of what my kids were doing.”

Judy puts into words what many people are aware of; that is how many more ways today’s youth are put into ‘at-risk’ situations. Parents today see all of the opportunities for kids to take the wrong path and they’re concerned and scared.

granddaughters and four grandsons.

“I like to give to projects that I believe in and I know my husband would have believed in,” she says. “I really feel that mothers and fathers want to be good parents. But maybe, it’s ‘how do I do it’, and this answers that problem.”

She stresses that the program is beneficial to people at every stage of parenting, from the pregnant mother to the parents of teenagers who feel they need to regain some control and remove the frustration.

“This is a very sensible, doable, practical way to raise kids,” says Judy, and according to Wendy, this style of parenting teaches kids to be well-spoken and to think about what they want and why they really want it so that when they’re older they have a level of confidence in their decision making and an ability to stand up and speak for themselves. Judy encourages anyone else who may be looking for a worthy cause to make a donation to, to invest in their community and in the family.

To contact Jewish Family Service about volunteer work or donations, please call 330.2024.

Judy Vann

The Love and Logic program helps parents raise kids who are able to make healthy choices for themselves, even when mom and dad aren’t there to guide them.

According to Judy, her son encourages families through his pediatric practice to become acquainted with Love and Logic. “He suggests this course to the majority of his patients, and many are doing it,” she says.

When she sat down with EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE her son and daughter-in-law The Jewish Press office will be closed for Rosh to discuss a donation they Hashanah, Thursday & Friday, Sept. 13-14; Sukkot, Sept. expressed how much JFS 27-28; and Shemini Azeret/Simchat Torah, Oct. 4-5. could use some support to spread this program to as Deadlines for the following issues are at 9 a.m.: Deadline many people as possible. Issue Tuesday, Sept. 25 Their advice to her -- give to Oct. 5 Tuesday, Oct. 2 Oct. 12 something you love. It’s Questions? obvious how much Judy Call 402.334.6448 for information on submitting artiadores her entire family; cles, photos, ads, and announcements, as well as synathree sons and their own gogue schedules. families, including three

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 14, 2007

Communal service a rite of passage Continued from page 1 “We want to make a term of service a rite of passage for young Jewish adults and make authentic Jewish service a central part of American Jewish life,” says Lisa Eisen, the Schusterman Foundation’s national program director.

The impetus goes beyond young Jews. A task force sponsored by the American Jewish Committee is urging a year of voluntary national service, either civilian or military, for all Americans between 18 and 25.

“Service programs link the rights and privileges of being American with a clear sense of responsibility,” states the report, “Imagining America: Making National Service a National Priority.” The full report can be found at www.ajc.org.

Those who run Jewish service programs say there is a qualitative difference in terms of Jewish identity-building between taking part in a one-day event, and living and breathing Jewish service for a week or longer together with one’s peers.

“Not to take away from the short-term programs, but the long-term programs are much more intensive in terms of learning and contribution,” says Linda Levi, assistant executive vice president of the JDC and founder of its Jewish Service Corps, which Chart for community service. places young volunteers for year-long assignments in needy Jewish communities around the world. “The impact on the participants and the communities served is much greater.”

Most of the programs serve Jews and non-Jews. What makes them Jewish is that the participants are Jewish, and they all involve some aspect of Jewish service learning, whether it be talks from rabbis or studying Jewish texts.

Taking part in term-of-service programs has become the thing to do for young Jews, says David Cutler, director of summer programs for the Orthodox-affiliated National Council of Synagogue Youth, which takes hundreds of teenagers to Israel and Ukraine every year.

It’s also an effective way of engaging young Jews who are not involved in Jewish life -- something communal leaders are quick to seize upon.

“Community service is a very viable expression of

Jewish life and Jewish values,” says Maggi Gaines, executive director of Spark, a Jewish term-of-service organization that merged in February with Jewish Funds for Justice to help both groups grow. “‘Tikkun olam’ speaks to secular Jews, and reclaiming it through a Jewish perspective can be very powerful.”

Eisen is among the activists who say the idea is to put more communal Jewish money behind these programs and make them accessible to more young Jews. In this way the next generation will see that making the world a better place is a real priority supported by the Jewish community.

“When the community prioritizes service and social change not just through its teaching and preaching, but also by mobilizing young people for effective action by actually demonstrating our commitment to these ideals, that sends a message that the Jewish community sees responding to human suffering and working for a just and peaceful world as just as important as coming together around prayer and Torah study,” says David Rosenn, Avodah’s executive director.

More and more groups are getting into the game.

• Over winter break, the Schusterman Foundation spent $1.5 million to fund “Leading Up Credit: JTA Staff North,” bringing 550 Jewish students and young adults to northern Israel to repair damage caused by last summer’s war with Hezbollah. Participants spent 10 days painting 200 bomb shelters, preparing 125 acres of burned forests for replanting, donating 200 gifts of blood and performing other tasks while also studying Jewish texts related to social action.

• In July, Chicago’s Jewish Council on Urban Affairs launched Or Tzedek, two weeklong sessions for high school students to work hands-on in low-income communities and learn about Jewish social justice values.

• In 2004, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee began sending small groups of college students to Argentina, Poland and Ukraine during winter and summer break. That first year, Hillel students from the University of Texas painted a school and helped at a medical distribution center in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Continued on page 5

Profile: Aiding the elderly in Ukraine

by SUE FISHKOFF SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -- Ilana Seff, a sophomore at the University of Florida in Gainesville, grew up with a strong Conservative background. She attended day school until her bat mitzvah and joined a Jewish sorority at college.

Last winter Seff visited Israel for the first time on a birthright israel program. In June she spent 10 days in the western Ukraine on a Jewish service program run by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

Working with Ukrainian Hillel students, Seff and other Hillel students from the University of Florida visited the Jewish elderly, repainted one playground and helped build a second, and even delivered coal to the homebound.

“I visited one 14-yearold boy, a national checkers champion, whose four-year-old twin brothers have liver disease,” Seff, who is 19, recalls.

“Everywhere I was struck by the utter loneliness of the elderly. I cried so many times. After all they’ve given to their country and they get just $60 a month.”

Seff and her fellow University of Florida students have a detailed follow-up plan for the coming semester: They hope Ilana Seff to organize a toy drive on campus, ask local businesses for donations, and speak to synagogues and Jewish Federations about Jewish needs in Ukraine.

And there’s the “adopt a babushka” project, in which they will ask local Jewish day schools and Hebrewschool classes to raise money to support 10 elderly Jewish women in Ukraine. The goal is to raise $7,000 in the first year.

“Each kid can have their own ‘babushka,’ and we’ll give them a picture so they can feel more attached,” she explains.

Seff says that while she always had a strong Jewish identity, this trip really had an impact.

“You learn about the Holocaust in school, but I saw its lasting effect,” she says. “Jews always say ‘never again,’ but there is so much we can do to help those who are still suffering.”

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Profile: Helping out across the world cooperative. She spent the year after graduation in Poland as a Jewish Service Corps fellow, a program run by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, helping teach local Jews the importance of social justice work.

Now a communications specialist at the Jewish Women’s Archive in Brookline, an organization that preserves the stories of Jewish women throughout history, she volunteered for 10 days in northern Israel in January painting bomb shelters and preparing burnt forest land for replanting as part of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation-funded “Leading Up North” program.

“I encounter people who have done multiple programs,” Namerow says.

“But I don’t like to think of it as something you do on vacation. Service needs to be integrated organically into our lives. Long-term service programs are an important part of the process, but they’re only a start.”

Doing social justice work within a Jewish context is very important to her, Jordan Namerow in Israel clears burnt land for and it was that connection she tried to replanting this past January as part of the convey in Poland, acting as a “gentle “Living up North” leadership program. change agent” for the needy Jews she Namerow, 24, spent a spring break worked with every day. during college in Nicaragua on an “It’s important to how we look at the American Jewish World Service program world as Jews,” Namerow says, “and working with a women’s construction how we look at ourselves as Jews.”

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Rather than looking at Jewish service as something a teenager does and discards, Rosenn posits a continuum in which young Jews might begin with a mitzvah day, then a spring break program, then a summer program and finally an ongoing commitment to engage in social action throughout their lives.

“You have your bar or bat mitzvah, you go to Israel, you do your Jewish service,” she suggests. “We envision a time when two people meet and upon discovering that they are both Jewish immediately ask, ‘Oh, where did you do your term of service?’ ” Follow-up to such programs is crucial. Most have alumni groups or other ways of ensuring that interest doesn’t end when participants fly home.

The students who participated in “Leading Up North” in January were asked to donate $180 to charities working in the North. A total of $82,980 was raised.

Returnees from the JDC short-term programs are expected to Students from the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in continue advocating for Rockville, Md. clean a sector of Washington's Anacostia River their causes back on camcoastline as part of their community service on June 5. pus. Levi says the 190 Credit: Melissa Apter former participants, all federations and provider organizations to college students, have completed 78 artiinduce 10 federations a year for the next cles or speaking engagements, and raised three years to offer scholarships or pro- $36,000 for their projects. gram grants and create endowments for The 32 high school students who took Jewish service programs. part in the Or Tzedek project this sumThese are only a handful of what is fast mer are expected to find a project to work becoming an explosion of funding interest. on this fall in their home communities.

“We have been thrilled by the incrediThere is little hard data concerning the ble growth of the field from a handful of long-term effect such programs have in projects that engage young Jews in serv- strengthening Jewish identity or bringing ice and provide a Jewish lens through young people into the Jewish community. which to understand this work to today’s David Rosenn says that 90 percent of landscape -- dozens of such programs, Avodah alumni end up working either for with opportunities to work for a week, a the Jewish community or in the field of summer, a year, in the U.S., Israel and social and political change. But this is a rarmany other countries,” says Rabbi Jennie efied group of college graduates who have Rosenn, program director at the chosen an intensive yearlong service proCummings Foundation and co-organizer gram; their example is hardly the norm. of the May conference.

Continued on page 19 Continued from page 4 The following year, 10 students from the University of Florida Hillel joined their Polish and Israeli peers to restore a neglected Jewish cemetery in Poland, and 15 students from the University of Michigan painted apartments and repaired a Jewish community center in Ukraine. Nearly 200 American Jewish students took part in the first six projects, with four more projects scheduled for this year.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 14, 2007

Federation honors volunteers for 2006-07

by FEDERATION STAFF Eight special men and women have been named 2006 Volunteers of the Year.

On Tuesday, Sept. 25, 7:30 p.m., at the Jewish Community Center, the Jewish Federation of Omaha will honor them at a Volunteer Recognition reception.

In addition, the annual Community Service award will presented to the Jewish Press and Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, for its exhibit: “Front Page: 85 Years of Jewish Press History,” and to the Jewish Federation’s Opportunity Omaha internship program (see related article on page 7).

For more than 20 years Mel Clancy has been involved with the A n t i Defamation League and its anti-bias programs, which are designed to create youth ambassadors and leaders.

He has traveled with Omaha area youth delegates to Washington D.C. for the past eight years as a leader on the five-day Robert B. Sturm Youth Leadership Mission.

One of the original facilitators for the ADL’s Prejudice Elimination Workshop, Clancy has also stepped in as keynote speaker for this event, which serves over 250 students per year.

Clancy leads by example, and thousands of Omaha-area youth have benefited from his dedication and passion. He is a true role model.

As Chairman of the Partnership with Israel Arts Taskforce, Kim Goldberg plays a pivotal role in the Federation’s Par tnership program. She was chosen as the Volunteer of the Year by the Jewish Federation.

She was the visionary behind the

Partnership’s Sea of Dreams project, in which children from Friedel Jewish Academy wrote poems and decorated wooden boats. Goldberg and participants in October’s Community Mission brought the boats to Israel, where they painted a sail with some of Omaha’s Israeli partners.

In June, Goldberg participated in Partnership’s new Artist-in-Residence Program, creating beautiful artwork with residents of the Western Galilee.

Through her creativity, passion and dedication, Goldberg has helped bring Partnership to life, both in Israel and in the Omaha Jewish community.

Ann Goldstein is the immediate past president of the Center for Jewish Education, and has been instrumental in putting together a board of directors dedicated to education and learning for people of all ages. With Goldstein at the helm, the agency has initiated several new projects such as Limmud Omaha, the Educators’ Mission to Israel and the Teacher Recognition Dinner. She has also played an active role with the Jewish Omaha Film Festival and Jewish Book Month programs.

Goldstein is passionate in her dedication to Jewish life and learning. She epitomizes the spirit of volunteerism, and the CJE is grateful for her contributions.

Stan Mitchell and George Quittner have been named Volunteers of the Year for the Jewish Press.

Mitchell serves as secretary, and the two men have both served on a number of administrative committees to update announcement policies, by-laws, and other impor-

Jewish Federation of Omaha 2007 Annual Report Allocations to our Centers of Excellence ADL/CRC ............................................................................................................... $165,773 Jewish Community Center ........................................................................................ $37,512 Center for Jewish Education ................................................................................... $219,923 Kripke Federation Library ....................................................................................... $118,427 Jewish Family Service ............................................................................................. $156,168 Jewish Senior Services ............................................................................................. $48,815 Jewish Press ............................................................................................................ $44,822 Community Services and Programs Va’ad HaKashrut ........................................................................................................ $1,468 Community Development ......................................................................................... $59,702 Children’s Needs Scholarships ................................................................................. $55,000 Child Care Financial Assistance ................................................................................ $45,500 Friedel Jewish Academy ........................................................................................... $49,000 Heritage Fund .......................................................................................................... $49,500 Israel-UJC ........................................................................................................... $1,247,400 Israel Teen Trips ....................................................................................................... $10,000 National Agencies ...................................................................................................... $4,400 Bar/Bat Mitzvah Grants ........................................................................................... $16,000 Needy Funeral Fund ................................................................................................... $7,000 Birthright Israel ........................................................................................................ $10,000 Federation programs, services, missions, campaign ............................................... $608,490 Central Services ..................................................................................................... $435,100 Campus Capital Funds ............................................................................................. $25,000 Campus Maintenance Fund ..................................................................................... $35,000 Campus Asset Replacement Fund ............................................................................ $85,000 Campaign Shrinkage ................................................................................................ $40,000 Contingency Fund ...................................................................................................... $5,000 Total Dollars Allocated .......................................................................... $3,580,000

tant documents, which help committee members govern the Press.

Several suggestions for special issues made by George Quittner have been selected by the Jewish Press, including last week’s New Year’s issue: “Making a Difference in an Indifferent World.”

Mitchell has scoured other Jewish newspapers for marketing ideas. His most recent contribution was the website quiz which awarded grandparents’ memberships to the Omaha Children’s Museum to those who correctly answered questions about the weekly issue.

Both Mitchell and Quittner are known for their ability to get to the heart of the matter, and have been instrumental in helping to simplify various policy and administrative issues. Their open, nonjudgmental style helps the Press reach consensus on a variety of issues.

Having participated in arts festivals around the country, Gady Tene was the driving force behind the 2007 Jewish Arts Festival, undertaken by the Jewish Community C e n t e r.

Hosting a festival at the JCC has been a vision of his for many years. As Coordinator for the festival, which took place at the Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration, Tene personally reached out to over 100 vendors. He assisted with everything from booth set-up to sales, marketing, volunteer recruitment, and bringing in fantastic food and entertainment.

Many people helped make this event happen, but the Festival would simply not have been possible without his outstanding efforts, according to Jeff Aizenberg, JCC, executive director.

Jewish Senior Services recognizes Miles Remer for his outstanding volunteer efforts. Remer and his wife Eileen have been three-term Co-Presidents of the League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly (LOVE), an auxiliary organization of the Rose Bl u m k i n Jewish Home.

He volunteers each year at the Blumkin Home’s Switch Day, a program that allows the staff of the Home to spend Christmas with their families.

Remer is also a Shabbat Service Leader for Blumkin Home residents, and a bingo caller for the Young Energetic Seniors (YES) group. A gracious volunteer and an extremely valuable asset to JSS, Remer is most deserving, noted Mike Silverman, JSS/RBJH executive director.

Because of the wonderful care his wife received as a resident of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, Charles Slutzky wanted to give something back after she passed away. Slutzky volunteers at the reception desk twice a week, performing duties with great efficiency and his very special warmth. He also assists with bingo and pokeno programs and when the activities are over, he often stays to distribute refreshments and visit with residents.

A hard-working, dependable and dedicated volunteer with a warm personality that makes everybody feel good, the Blumkin Home is proud to honor Charles Slutzky as a 2007 Volunteer of the Year.

Maggie Conti, Carol Katzman, Guy Matalon, Alan Potash, Lisa Shkolnick and Lois Wine contributed to this article.

Honoring our volunteers: a great start to the New Year

FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

by NORMAN H. SHELDON, President of the Jewish Federation of Omaha For me this time of year is always special -- not just because of the holiday season, but because this is when we take the time to say thank you to our hardworking volunteers.

The 2006 Volunteers of the Year are Mel Clancy, Kim Goldberg, Ann Goldstein, Stan Mitchell, George Quittner, Miles Remer, Charles Slutzky and Gady Tene.

As you look through the articles about these volunteers, you’ll discover a very diverse group of people who have contributed in many unique ways. Their work serves as outstanding examples of how many different ways there are to help.

No matter which path they’ve taken, whether utilizing their special talent to lead a community event, serving as a role model to the next generation, easing an agency’s administrative burden, educat-

ing the community or giving generously of their time to our special seniors, each has made a tremendous impact.

I hope you’ll be on hand Sept. 25 to say thank you to this extraordinary group.

Of course, the eight men and women who have been named Volunteers of the Year represent just the tip of the iceberg.

In this day and age, many communities across the country are faced with having fewer and fewer volunteers. We in Omaha continue to have many people who are passionate about our Jewish community and always ready to lend a hand.

And whether you volunteer with the Federation and its Agencies, your synagogue, or any of the Jewish organizations that provide such high-caliber programs and services, you are the reason why the Omaha Jewish community is second to none.

Todah Rabah to everybody who volunteers their time in the Omaha Jewish community. Please know that your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Shana Tova!

September 14, 2007

Community Service Awards noted Murow, indicating they would be Continued from page 1 to come home after college graduation is willing to participate in future a vital concern. In the summer of 2006, Opportunity Omaha programs. “In fact, the Jewish Federation of Omaha several employers lamented the fact that launched an innovative program to help they couldn’t hire the interns right Omaha’s young adults discover every- away!” she added. thing our community has to offer.

“The challenge in evaluating the suc“Opportunity Omaha: It’s More than cess of a program like this is that it will be Just a Job” introduced young people to several years before we learn whether Omaha’s business, cultural and Jewish these students choose to make Omaha communities. Each student was matched their home,” Murow pointed out. “But with a professional internship sponsored when I look at the great feedback from by a local business or organization. both the students and employers, it’s The interns also took part in specially designed Judaic, social and cultural programs including: attendance at cultural events, informal education about Omaha and the Jewish community, career development workshops and social action projects.

Funding was provided by the Murray H. and Sharee C. Newman and the Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Supporting Foundations, as well as the Esther K. Newman Memorial Fund.

Under the leadership of Chairman Margo Riekes and Interns attend a film shorts session with Dr. Guy Matalon, the Federation’s Commun- executive director of the Center for Jewish Education, during ity Development Director the summer of 2006, the first year of Opportunity Omaha.

Janie Murow, Opportunity Omaha clear that this experience was rewarding emjoyed a successful first year. Students for all who took part.” and employers completed evaluations and Participant Leah Margolis summed up without exception, each student found her Opportunity Omaha experience. “My the Opportunity Omaha program to be a summer internship gave me the education, positive experience. experience and opportunity I cannot get In addition, employers were pleased in a classroom -- and I had the support of with the performance of their interns, the Jewish community behind me.”

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Opportunity Omaha doubles internships for its second summer

by LISA LIEB Federation Communications Director Sponsored by the Community Development Department of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, Opportunity Omaha matched 12 college students with local internships, twice as many placements as last summer.

A number of Omaha organizations were more than willing to participate in this year’s program, allowing the students an opportunity to explore careers in a variety of fields: the Anti-Defamation League, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Campfire USA, Children’s Hospital, Creighton University Medical Center, Girls and Boys Town, Grubb and Ellis/Pacific Realty Group, Jewish Federation of Omaha, Mid-America Council Boy Scouts of America, OneWorld Community Health Center, the Nebraska Medical Center Department of Psychology, and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

“These organizations really stepped up to the plate with some terrific opportunities,” said Janie Murow, Community Development Director. “In some cases, the students were able to ‘job shadow’ professionals in their fields of interest.

This really helped them determine if the career they’ve been thinking about is something they would like to pursue.”

In addition to the internship component of Opportunity Omaha, the Federation hosted a variety of social, cultural and educational programs. And nearly all of them included a free meal.

These programs were made available to

all college students who were in town for the summer, not just for those with Opportunity Omaha internships.

Participants attended sessions with career development and business etiquette professionals, and a joint program with the Chamber of Commerce student interns at Gallup’s Omaha headquarters.

The students met with Jewish community professionals to discuss Israel advocacy, how the Federation and Foundation work in Omaha and how to confront anti-Semitism on the college campus.

Community service projects enabled participants to work with people directly and participate in a hands-on project to beautify the community. An afternoon with Jewish Family Service’s Yachad group gave the students an opportunity to interact, and share activities at an indoor game center. The second program involved cleaning and maintaining the gardens at City Sprouts.

Students who attended the most programs were awarded tickets to the Matisyahu concert in early July. This was made possible with the help of Chabad, which provided free concert tickets.

Opportunity Omaha Chairman Margo Riekes was pleased with the outcome of this year’s program. “It’s vital that we bring the next generation back home to Omaha after college,” Riekes said. “It’s such a great way for the students to learn more about what makes our community so special! After seeing the positive evaluations from both the students and employers, it’s evident that we are clearly moving in a great direction.”

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment Before starting to improve the world. — Anne Frank

Mazel Tov to the 2006 Volunteers of the Year

Mel Clancy Kim Goldberg Ann Goldstein Stan Mitchell

Page 7

George Quittner Miles Remer Charles Slutzky Gady Tene

Thank you all for improving our world.

Jewish Federation of Omaha • Volunteer Recognition Reception • Tuesday, September 25, 7:30pm • JCC

Page 8

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 14, 2007

Temple adults to learn about themselves and their neighbors

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator “These days, we encounter a more eclectic range of Jewish practice from which we can learn and enrich our relationship with Judaism,” said Gary Marshall, chairperson of Temple Israel’s Adult Education Committee, as he introduced the 2007-08 Hermene Zweiback Center for Lifelong Learning Center’s array of classes, speakers, and special events. This year’s theme, selected by members of last year’s adult education committee, is “Know Thyself, Know Thy Neighbor.”

“Knowing thy neighbor suggests not only the dynamic between Jews and non-Jews but with Israel and with other Jewish communities,” Marshall pointed out. “The ways in which other faith communities engage in worship, sustain specific social practices, and think about spirituality can make the stranger seem less of an ‘other’ and help us shape our political views and energize us to find common ground,” he noted.

Starting with Dr. Reuven Firestone, director of the Institute for the Study and Enhancement of Muslim-Jewish Interrelations at the University of Southern California, the adult education theme begins to unfold as Dr. Firestone describes the history and relationships among the ideologies and followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He’ll be a scholar-in-residence at Temple from Friday-Sunday, Nov. 16-18.

On Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008, Rabbi Aryeh Azriel will take a look at Judaism’s streams of practice and the faiths of our neighbors as he examines the tensions and observances amid the beliefs of diverse faiths and everyday secular life in America.

In terms of knowing thyself and raising Jewish literacy, Dr. Gary Zola, an expert on the history of Reform Judaism in America and director of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, will bring history to life as he explores “Who Are We?” in lectures on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 13-14, at Temple Israel. His visit here is sponsored by the Howard and Judy Vann Temple Israel Family School Educational Grant.

Also, this winter, Rabbi Eric Linder and Cantor

Wendy Shermet will explain why we rise, sit, then rise again during Shabbat worship services, how the order of a service and what it includes is determined, and rituals involved in the service. The three-part class, “Know Thy Service: A Guided Tour,” will meet on Sundays, beginning Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008, and lead up to a learners’ Shabbat worship service on February 22.

Rabbi Linder, Cantor Shermet, and Stephanie Grossman will take a class on a journey through the haggadah when they present a Passover Mini-University on Wednesday, Feb. 27.

Dr. Guy Matalon, executive director of the Center for Jewish Education, will take a look at “Jewish Mysticism: Lurianic Kabbalah and Hasidism” on Fridays, beginning March 7-28.

Also in the spring, Ford a Mommaerts-Browne, genealogist, will teach “From Generation to Generation: A Guide to Jewish Genealogy” from April 29 through June 10, in the interest of pursuing a greater knowledge and appreciation of one’s personal familial heritage.

Temple’s fall classes, including a Book Club Open House on Sunday, Sept. 30, a four-part Hebrew “Roots” of Prayer course taught by Naama Artzi in October, a Scrapbooking class with Elyce Azriel in October, and Theology Café led by Rabbi Azriel in November, were described in the Aug. 17 issue of the Jewish Press.

Yearlong classes and study groups include Saturday morning’s Sparks Beneath the Surface from 9:15-10:15 a.m., followed by worship services and Adult Study with the Clergy on Thursdays, 10-11:30 a.m., beginning Oct. 11. Rabbi Azriel, Rabbi Linder, and Cantor Shermet take turns leading this long-running learning opportunity. Each presents a different study topic. “Torah Therapy: Jewish Ethics at Work” is a lunchtime discussion series that meets Oct. 25, Dec. 6, 2007, Feb. 7, and April 3, 2008, at offices of various Temple members.

To register for any of Temple Israel’s classes, which are open to the community, send an e-mail to Program Director Rosie Zweiback at rzweiback@templeisraelomaha.com or call her at 556.6536.

May You Be Inscribed and Sealed As we approach the New Year, heeding the call of the shofar and striving to be inscribed in the Book of Life, together let us do everything in our power to repair the world. May this be the year Hadassah doctors and nurses save the life of a child who goes on to find a cure for cancer. May this be the year we will educate a child who one day will lead Israel, at last, to peace.

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Myths and facts about Zionism subject of CJE course

by CHERYL LERNER Administrative Assistant Center for Jewish Education One hundred and ten years after its beginning as a political movement, and nearly six decades after the formation of the State of Israel, Zionism remains a fascinating ideology, revered by some and vilified by others.

It is one of the most successful liberation movements of the 20th century, but it has also been labeled as racist and imperialistic by its opponents. At the start of the 21st century, the relevance of Zionism has been questioned and its true meaning misunderstood.

The Center for Jewish Education will present a course, “Zionism Then and Now: Meanings and Relevance,” which will seek to shed new light on the Zionist idea and to place it within its proper historical Dr. Moshe Gershovich context.

Taught by Dr. Moshe recently presented “1948 Gershovich, Associate Pro- Reconsidered” at Limmud fessor of History at Omaha; he will expand on University of Nebraska- issues raised in that session.

Omaha, the six-session class will start Monday, Oct. 1, 7-8 p.m., in the CJE classroom. The class continues on Oct. 8, (no class Oct. 15), 22, 29, and Nov. 5, and 12.

“The course is designed for Jews who wish to enhance their collective identity and familiarize themselves with the debates surrounding it,” said Dr. Gershovich.

“Given the myths and misconceptions associated with Zionism, it is essential for all of us to become better acquainted with the facts and to reach a better understanding of the nature of our mutual bond with Israel.”

The class will explore the roots and historical origins of Zionism with an emphasis on Jewish History and 19th century European intellectual currents, and investigate the varieties of Zionism with the writings of selected thinkers. Israeli Zionism from 1948 to the present will be explored, with an emphasis on the continuing discourse about the future shape of the Jewish State.

The class will discuss hostile views about Zionism and ways to debunk them, discussion about the contemporary meanings of Zionism for Jews throughout the world, specifically in America.

Tuition is $36, discounted to $28 for donors to the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s annual campaign. Preregistration is required by calling 334.6445 or e-mailing mgrossman@jewishomaha.org by Sept. 24.

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Cooper named new chairman of CJE Financial Aid Committee providing financial assistance to those in need is remarkable. The decision making is a difficult task, requiring the consideration of many issues.”

With the exception of one merit scholarship for graduating high school seniors, all awards given by the committee are need-based. By reviewing a family’s financial information, the committee first determines a need ranking. Other factors affecting a family’s financial resources are then reviewed followed by a look at the overall requests and the funds available.

Funds often have other requirements the committee must also consider and determining awards is an intricate process.

“I am so impressed with the committee members, who represent a true cross-section of the Omaha community,” said Cooper. “I wish I could recognize each and every one but confidentiality -- both of the committee members and the applicants -- is an absolute key to the integrity of the process and to the success of the committee.”

She went on to say, “Without the generosity of the Jewish community, the committee would not be in existence. The dedication of those who have established scholarship funds over the years is humbling. Due to their foresight, educational opportunities have become a reality for so many families in need.”

Marty Ricks, executive Aveva Shukert, outgoing Financial Aid committee chairman, director of the Jewish left, congratulates incoming chairman Cheryl Cooper.

Federation of Omaha The committee meets several times a Foundation, added, “I view the work of year to consider a wide variety of schol- the Financial Aid Committee as an arship applications. Funding is available extension of the work of the Foundation. for undergraduate, graduate, profession- The committee takes its fiduciary al, and yeshiva studies, Jewish summer responsibilities very seriously in assuring camp experiences, Israel programs, the the guidelines established by the many Child Development Center preschool, generous donors are followed in providFriedel Jewish Academy, and youth ing the much-needed assistance to so group activities. many in our community. The committee The committee’s mission statement is has our sincere appreciation for the work “to administer the allocation and distri- that they do.” bution of scholarship funds entrusted to The Financial Assistance Guide is disit for the benefit of Omaha’s Jewish tributed each December as an insert in youth. This duty includes the guarantee the Jewish Press. The guide provides of confidentiality to the applicants and descriptions of the various funds, applicatheir families in conjunction with the dili- tion deadlines, and other information.

The guide also provides information on gent stewardship of community funds.”

“This committee represents a group of the non-need based grant programs of true ‘unsung heroes’ in our community,” the Jewish Federation of Omaha. noted Dr. Guy Matalon, CJE executive Applications can be obtained from the director. “With the exception of the agency page on the Jewish Federation chairperson, the names of the remaining website at www.jewishomaha.org by committee members remain confidential. calling 334.6445, or e-mailing scholarThe dedication these individuals have in ships@jewishaomaha.org.

by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Administrator, Center for Jewish Education Bob Goldberg, president of the Center for Jewish Education, has announced that Cheryl Cooper will replace retiring chairman Aveva Shukert as head of the CJE Financial Aid Committee.

“Cheryl has an outstanding reputation in the Omaha Jewish community and I am very confident that she will provide strong leadership,” said Goldberg.

“On behalf of the agency board and the entire community, I also want to express a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to Aveva for serving as chairman,” he added. “She has worked untold hours, 12 months a year, for eight years, to direct the committee in its efforts to help so many in our community. The community is so fortunate to have been the recipient of Aveva’s dedication.”

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 9

Beth El teacher puts the ‘wow’ in Judaism for his students

by JILL BELMONT ple pray they live longer, that eating Beth El Publicity Coordinator kosher is healthy, that observing the Learning unusual or enlightening Sabbath helps promote family life, that information often evokes responses along learning and study counteracts the lines of, ‘Wow -- I didn’t know that!’ Alzheimer’s, and that learning Hebrew at With exactly that desired reaction in an early age helps other language skills,” mind, Beth El congregant Andy he explained.

Greenberg has planned his new adult“During my class, we’ll question this education mini-course at the synagogue, data by exploring whether it is all coinciand has aptly named the class, “The dence or by design.”

WOW of Judaism.”

The instructor of a class For Greenberg, this touting the ‘aha moments’ course is a continuation of of being Jewish can’t be other adult-ed classes he’s effective without his own led at Beth El during the powerful ‘WOW’ experipast several years. “During ences -- and Greenberg’s the past classes -- one on had many; his list includes prayer and the other on presenting his first D’Var Torah -- we focused on the Torah on the 40th anniverhidden meanings and how sary of his Bar Mitzvah; the they relate to today's world. realization that his past Following that same direcTalmud and yeshiva studies tion, we will learn that being (“that I hated then,” he Andy Greenberg Jewish has many advanadmits), taught him how to tages,” he said, noting that class think, reason and be creative -- the enerresources will include research which has gy he feels from attending daily minyan. concluded that a meaningful spiritual and “What is the WOW for me?” he asked. religious life is beneficial in everyday life. “I am grateful to have been born Jewish “There is a fine balance between doing and have the opportunity to adhere to something you are told to do and doing many laws and many times learn, uncovsomething because you know it will ben- er and/or understand the benefit of efit you,” Greenberg observed. “Strict each. For me, this is a process that is adherence to Jewish laws, without look- ongoing and always eye opening.”

‘The WOW of Judaism’ will be held on ing at its benefits, is the way many rabbis and scholars insist is the right way. This Tuesdays, Sept. 18, 25, Oct. 2 and 9, is true -- yet this method is losing many 7:30-8:30 p.m., at Beth El; the entire community is welcome to attend. Cost is Jewish people.

“Without altering the observance of $18. For more information, contact laws or trying to influence a person’s Program Director Margie Gutnik at level of observance, my class will be 492.8550 or programming@bethelshown data which shows that when peo- omaha.org.

Out

Dining

Page 10

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 14, 2007

Omaha teen spends semester in Israel

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by SARAH BLEICHER (Editor’s note: Sarah Bleicher participated in the Reform movement’s Eisendrath International Exchange program in Israel during second semester of high school. As part of her responsibility to the Center for Jewish Education for funding her trip, she was required to submit an article to the Press. A senior at BrownellTalbot, she is the daughter of Joel and Sandy Bleicher.)

As I boarded the airplane last January, I was scared to leave my friends, family, and life here in the Midwest for a new, exciting experience for four and a half months in Israel on EIE (Eisendrath International Exchange).

Of course, at first it all seemed so overwhelming. I went without knowing anybody, but quickly made 88 new friends. The staff and counselors immediately made us feel welcome and at home at Kibbutz Tzuba, located in the Judean Hills outside of Jerusalem.

The program has a few major aspects.

First, and most importantly, we went to school.

Along with all of the courses I was enrolled in through my high school at home, I had 90 minutes of Hebrew every day. Although it was a huge struggle at first, being surrounded by Hebrew everywhere, my skills quickly improved.

EIE is based around our Jewish history class. We usually had this class for about three hours each day. If we weren’t in the classroom, we were on tiyulim, or trips, to the places and sites we were learning about; that makes the program so cool. It made the content much more understandable and it actually made sense.

Some days we would take short trips for just a few hours to a nearby museum or hiking site. Other times, we went for day trips, to Tel Aviv, for example, to learn about the founding of the state of Israel, or up North to learn about the beginning of Zionism and the kibbutz movement.

Our large trips were definitely the highlight of the program. Our first big trip was to the South. After climbing Masada for the sunrise and floating in the Dead Sea, we went to Gadna -- a week of army training at the base at Tse Boker. We learned what it was like to be in Tzahal, the Israeli Defense Force, by learning about the army’s military techniques. We even got to shoot with M-16 rifles! After happily finishing Gadna, we spent three days in the Negev, and hiked all over the beautiful mountainous desert. We celebrated Purim in Eilat.

Our next big trip was to Poland, a bit more serious as we visited places like Warsaw, Krakow, Lublin, and other sites. We visited the location of former shtetls and ghettos, as well as two concentration camps -- Majdanek and Auschwitz. Although this was difficult, we all learned more than can be taught in a classroom.

As soon as we returned from Poland, we celebrated Passover. My uncle and aunt live in Jerusalem, so I joined members of the Bleicher family for a huge seder!

It was fun to see the differences and similarities between this Israeli seder and mine at home.

After this two-day Photos from top left: Sarah Bleicher poses in front of the “ahava” (love) sculpture at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. After a fiveday hike, Bleicher relaxes with friends -- and then enjoyed a dip in the Mediterranean Sea.

break we were off again -- this time for Yam L’Yam, our sea-to-sea hike for five days. We slept under the stars, cooked our own meals, and hiked from the Kinneret to the Mediterranean. If it were a year earlier, we wouldn’t have been allowed to go near this area because of the Summer War of 2006 with Hezbollah in Lebanon, although while hiking we could see spots where katyusha rockets had hit.

After we had finished school, we went on our final trip to the Golan. Here, we did more learning along with hiking, rafting, and biking.

After all the trips, learning, and fun, no one wanted to go home. But sadly we said goodbye to one other, to our counselors, Kibbutz Tzuba and Israel. We boarded an airplane, once again a little scared to leave, headed home to share everything we did and learned in hopes of sharing our love for EIE, Israel and Judaism.

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Temple Israel, Beth El softball teams score a lot of fun and runs

Sun, Sun, Sun, Here We Come Snowbirds Please let the Jewish Press know in advance when you are leaving and when you are returning.

Sometimes several papers are sent to your “old” address before we are notified by the Post Office.

Every time they return a paper to us, you miss the Jewish Press and we are charged 70¢! Please call us at 402.334.6448 or email us at jpress@jewishomaha.org.

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator There were several catches-on-the-run, close calls as runners slid into base, and numerous home runs when Temple Israel’s and Beth El Synagogue’s Men’s Clubs met for a high-scoring softball game last month at the Jewish Community Center. “I think everybody had fun and did their best,” said Adam Kirshenbaum, Temple’s Men’s Club.

Scott Simon, from Beth El, agreed, “It was a fun time with a lot of runs scored!” Left photo: Beth El’s team members

were, front row: Matt Shapiro, left, Mark Kelln, Gabe Meyer, Scott Simon, Brian Eades; back row: Marty Shukert, Andy Raffel, Kevin Clark, and Alan Tipp. Jon Jabenis also played. Right: Players from Temple’s winning team were, front row: Aron Boumstein, Matt Kirshenbaum, John Glazer, Dave Noodell, Adam Kirshenbaum, Zane Fletcher, Rabbi Eric Linder; back row: Jeff Slutzky, Len Burrell, Mike Silverman, Don Denkinger, John Fletcher, and Tom Kirshenbaum. More games are planned for the end of September and perhaps in October.

September 14, 2007

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

Page 12

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 14, 2007

Esther K. Newman/Carolyn Kully Newman Fund awards grants to youth programs

by PJ WIESNER Foundation Communications Coordinator The Esther K. Newman/Carolyn Kully Newman Funds Grants Committee met last spring to approve requests for funding for programs that strengthen Jewish identity and values through educational, religious, cultural, social, or recreational activity. The Esther K. Newman Fund supports programs designed for Jewish youth between preschool and college age and for young adults under the age of 23 who are not attending a college or university. The Carolyn Kully Newman Fund awards grants for programs and activities for Jewish children under the age of six.

Five programs will receive funding from the Esther K. Newman Fund and three will benefit from the Carolyn Kully Newman Fund, for a total of $12,600.

The Institute of Holocaust Education (IHE) will curate an exhibit of artist Allan Drummond’s drawings from The Journey That Saved Curious George at the Jewish Community Center this fall. The 2005 book tells the true story of how the Jewish creators of the Curious George series, Margaret and H.A. Rey, fled Paris by bicycle during the Nazi infiltration into France during World War II. The IHE will bring Drummond and the book’s author, Louise Borden, to Omaha for the opening of the exhibit and educational events for Omaha students in grades five through eight in the days following.

Lincoln Jewish Community School received a grant for prayer-based Hebrew materials. In 2005, Congregations B’nai Jeshurun and Tifereth Israel initiated a combined religious school for students in grades K-7 covering Judaica and Hebrew. While the Hebrew curriculum was initiated as a conversationally-based program, the incorporation of prayer-based Hebrew instruction will better prepare students for their B’nai Mitzvah.

As part of the on-going Partnership with Israel Program, the Western Galilee Performing Arts Series is coming to Omaha this November and next January,

February, and March. The fund awarded a grant to the Jewish Federation of Omaha and the Center for Jewish Education for children, teen, and young adult workshops to augment the public performances. These workshops will give students interested in dance, music, and theater the opportunity to learn from professional performers while allowing them to discover the richness of Israeli culture through the arts.

Families with children in second grade and younger can participate in an overnight Shabbat retreat hosted by Beth El at the Lied Lodge in Nebraska City in March 2008. A full Shabbat experience will be provided, including child-appropriate Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat services, Shabbat morning services, Havdalah services, and Shabbat meals.

By creating an environment where parents can celebrate the joys of Shabbat with their children and other families, Beth El hopes that these young families will feel more comfortable about incorporating Jewish traditions and rituals into their lives.

Jewish continuity is the goal of Mishpacha Mornings, an educational program for parents and their children (up to age six) at the Chabad House. There will be 30 sessions between August 2007 and May 2008 on Sunday mornings, each starting with a communal breakfast and informal discussion and ending with group study.

Children will learn about Jewish values and ethics in an age-appropriate and developmentally sound manner, while their parents study the same material in an adult group. At the end of each session, parents will receive handouts with pointers for reinforcing the day’s lessons at home.

The Jewish Federation’s Shalom Baby program will continue gifting babies born in the Jewish community with Judaic books, CDs, and toys. Since June 2006, 27 babies were born in the Omaha Jewish community, and each of them received a gift bag. For families who have already received a gift bag for their first child and are now welcoming their second, Shalom Baby will enroll

them in the Child Development Center’s PJ Library program, which provides families the opportunity to build a Jewish library in their homes by sending books with Jewish content to those with children ages five and younger.

Children who attend storytime at the Kripke Jewish Federation Library will soon also enjoy the entertainment of puppets and props. A puppet theater, hand and finger puppets, and props will be used to enhance the on-going storytime program, offered twice a month, and to promote the use of the library to children and their families. All children will have access to the puppets and props in the children’s section of the library during regular hours.

Present at the committee meeting were Suzanne Singer, Stacey Atlas, Bonnie Bloch, Bob Goldberg, Jay Gordman, Gary Javitch, and Ariel Levine.

BIRTHS Karen and Rustin Ross of Deerfield, IL, announce the Aug. 5 birth of their son, Jeremy Jonas (Ariel Matan).

Jeremy has a brother, Jordan.

Grandparents are Natan and Hannah Schwalb, and Alan and Susie Ross of Highland Park, IL. Great-grandparents are Jerry and Millie Menger of Palm Beach, FL. Richard Katskee and Rachel Toker of Bethesda, MD, announce the Aug. 7 birth of their son, Alexander Philip.

Grandparents are Judy and Milton Katskee, and Karen and Cyril Toker of Jacsonville, FL. Great-grandmother is Nedra Harkavy of Potomac, MD.

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September 14, 2007

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 13

Temple Youth Group enjoys a summer day at Worlds of Fun

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator “It was completely amazing!” emphasized Aaron Bleicher, 16, who was one of about 30 Omaha Temple Youth Group members to go to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City in August.

Aaron has been involved in OTYG for four or five years following in his sister Sarah’s footsteps. At Worlds of Fun, he enjoyed spending time with the OTYG Board members and getting to know the incoming ninth graders, Aaron insisted his favorite moment of the trip was “watching the rabbi and the other chaperones screaming their heads off on the roller coasters!”

Sarah Bleicher is president of OTYG this year. “I think everybody had a lot of fun,” she said. The only thing she worried about was rain which fell in torrents just as the

Omaha group boarded the bus to go back home.

Max Halstead, 16, has been a member of OTYG since he was a freshman. “It was a lot of fun to meet the new people and fun to go on the rides with my friends” at Worlds of Fun, he said. His favorite ride? It has to be “the roller coaster,” he admitted.

“It was really fun; it was great!” agreed Rachel Saferstein, 14. A ninth grader, Rachel said she and the other youth groupers “went on all the big rides.” Her favorite was rip-cording.

Chaperones were Rabbi Eric Linder, Patrick and Lynne Jensen, Amy Cotton, PJ Wiesner, and Jordan Feinstein. Next up for OTYG will be preparing for the Yom Kippur Family Service. Sarah reminded members that the next practice is on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 6:30 p.m., at Temple.

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Molly Goldberg, left, Rachel Saferstein, and Sarah Bleicher were among the OTYG members who went to Worlds of Fun.

Enjoying a little repast on the day-long trip were Ariel Kohll, left, Mady Jensen, and Sophie Goldberg.

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Blumkin Home welcomes new staff members

by ANDREA BARTMAN for Jewish Senior Services/Rose Blumkin Jewish Home The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home has added two new staff members -- Maggie Zipperlen and Sarah Russell -as Activity Directors. With this addition, Cathy CarrollMoriarty has moved positions to become a Social Services Associate.

Russell’s professional and educational background is in occupational therapy. Prior to joining the Blumkin Home, she worked in case management at a local women and children’s shelter. Maggie Zipperlen and Sarah Russell She’s also worked are the new Activity Directors at the as an Activity Blumkin Home.

Assistant previously. She received her doctoral degree from Creighton University in December of 2003.

Zipperlen and her family moved here from Sydney, NE, in June of 2003. Prior to their move, she spent nineteen years working as the Area Director for the Regional Office of Human Development in Sydney, assisting adults with developmental disabilities. There, she also developed programs for adult day services. “I want to spend the rest of my career working with the elderly,” she says. “They’re due so much respect and honor.”

Moriarty recently completed a certificate in gerontology and earned a Masters in Social Work. She’s been with the RBJH since September of 1998, working as an Activity Director while completing her education.

“I realized I wanted to do more here and so I went back to school,” she says. When this position opened, she was more than ready. “One of my career goals has been to continue working with older adults and this helps me continue that goal in a new way here while utilizing the skills I’ve gained through my education.

ENGAGEMENT LAVES/WIESMAN Anna and Ben Wiesman announce the engagement of their son, William Andrew, to Marilyn Lisa Laves, daughter of Debbie and Michael Laves of Teaneck, NJ. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, the bride-to-be has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Hunter College in New York City. She is employed by the Women-to-Women agency in New York City.

Her fiancé, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania/Wharton School of Business, has been associated for several years with the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.

A mid-October wedding is planned in New Jersey.

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READ IT AND E AT Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN Make someone happy! This cookbook is a kitchen journal, a collection of Dorie Greenspan’s favorite recipes from a lifetime of baking.

Greenspan, who also wrote Baking With Julia, is an award-winning author who rarely misses a day of baking and loves the process ... the smells and turning grouches into grinners nibbling on her baked goodies.

Mini extravaganzas, quintessential kid stuff, intensely chocolately, scrumptious cake, easily dress-upable, elegantly low and seductively lush are some of the descriptions found in delightful headnotes. More than 300 recipes are from her baking journals and include detailed instructions with Getting Ready, To Make, with Playing Around (substitutions and variations), and Storing. The chapters are: Breakfast Sweets, A Cache of Cookies, Cakes of All Kinds, Pies & Tarts -- Warm & Cold, Fruity & Nutty, Creamy & Crunchy, Spoon Desserts -Puddings, Custards, Crisps & Ice Cream, and Indispensables -- Base Recipes.

Mouthwatering color photographs fill the book. Fall baking includes Double Apple Bundt Cake, All-InOne Holiday Bundt Cake, Cranberry Upside-Downer, Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake, Depths-of-Fall Butternut Squash Pie, and My Favorite Pecan Pie. Break out the canisters and pour this sauce over your honey cake or around an apple tart.

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE SAUCE 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup whole milk 1/2 cup water 6 tablespoons sugar 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped Put all of the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, put the saucepan over medium-low heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally to blend. Lower the heat and let the sauce simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is thick enough to coat a metal spoon: if you run your finger down the back of the spoon the sauce should not run into the track you’ve created.

If you want to use the sauce in its pourable state, let it cool for about 10 minutes. If you want to save it for later, cool it, pack it into an airtight container and refrigerate it until needed. Makes about 11/2 cups.

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

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Page 14

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 14, 2007

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IN THE NEWS

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Nearly 150 adults and children celebrated the life and spirit of Princess Diana last month at a luncheon in her honor at the Ironwood Country Club. Karen Sokolof Javitch, left, local composer who cowrote Princess Diana, The Musical, with E l a i n e Jabenis, sponthe sored event, coemceed with Jody Vinci.

Several hundred toys were donated to Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital and $6000 was raised for Nebraska Foundation for Visually Impaired Children (NFVIC).

Princess Diana, the Musical, will begin a five-month European tour in Germany and Austria in December.

Javitch attended the London concert in memory of Diana and visited Kensington Palace, where she met her brother, Earl Charles Spencer. For more information on the musical, go to www.princessdianathemusical.com.

Anne Joseph, Director of Activities at the Life Care Center of Elkhorn, was presented with the Associate of the Year â&#x20AC;&#x153;Team Spiritâ&#x20AC;? award last month. She was recognized by the Plains Region of Life Care Centers of America at a banquet in Kansas City.

All aboard Yachad: a trip back in time

by DUANE J. PIEPER Last month, the Yachad members visited the Durham Western Heritage Museum, the former Union Station dating back to 1931, and took a trip back in time. The members always enjoy getting out into the community, discovering new things about their environment, meeting new people and developing a deeper understanding of their heritage.

The excursion began on the upper level by mingling with the sculptured passengers frozen in time on their way to a relaxing session listening to the stories of the conductor in the comfort of a 1949 Pullman Car. The first railroad stop and point of departure took the group into the buffalo speckled Nebraska prairies of the early 1800s. Passing through an Indian mud hut and tepee village they arrived at the exhibit depicting the early 19th century development of Omaha.

Along the way they recognized names such as Brandeis, Blumkin and many more. This was not only the history of Omaha, but the history of the early Jewish immigrants in Nebraska, to which the Yachad members could personally relate. The final stop of the day was at the Buffett grocery store where the products were not very fresh but the prices were unbeatable. This exhibit features a replica store front of the original Buffett Grocery Store that opened in 1915.

Yachadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next stop was at the Arbor Day Farm last Sunday. Please call JFS at 334.6491 for information about upcoming programs.

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The Omaha Jaycees are accepting nominations for the 75th Annual Ten Outstanding Young Omahans (TOYO) Award. For 75 years, the Jaycees have honored the most remarkable individuals in Omaha by presenting the TOYO Awards. These Omahans, between the ages of 21 and 40, must exemplify excellence in both the professional and personal arenas, while taking an active role in giving back to the community. To nominate a member of the Omaha community for this honor, visit www.omahajaycees.org to complete the nomination form before Oct. 1. The Ten Outstanding Young Omahans will be announced and honored at a 75th Annual banquet to be held in January, 2008.

The 75th TOYO Committee is searching for contact information for all past recipients. If you are a past recipient and would like to be invited, contact Heather Gust at 402.669.4430 or heathergust@yahoo.com.

Julia Paige Raffel got her wish -- and so did some lucky recipient -- when she cut her hair for Locks of Love last month. Julia, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only seven-yearsold, has been growing out her hair since kindergarten, where she first learned about Locks of Love from her teacher. After her hair was cut, Julia said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now some other little child gets to have my hair; I have this good feeling in my tummy!â&#x20AC;?

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s planning on growing out her hair so she can donate another 10â&#x20AC;? to Locks of Love. Julia is the daughter of Amy and Andy Raffel.

Yachad members Elaine Marcus, left, Jill Salomon, Josh Parsow, Ron Giventer, Alan Friedman Lisa Salomon and Avi Wolfson board train at former Union Station, now site of the Durham Western Heritage Museum.

ORGANIZATIONS Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;NAI Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;RITH BREADBREAKERS Suzanne Wise will speak at Breadbreakers on Wednesday, Sept. 19, noon, at Regency Lodge, according to Gary Javitch, chairman. Wise, executive director of the Nebraska Arts Council, will talk about upcoming events. All men and women in the community are invited to attend. Cost is $12 for a complete lunch and $3 for beverage service only.

WALK-IN, DROP-IN For those members going on the day trip to the Ameristar Casino, please arrive at the JCC by 8:45 a.m.

For information call Maggie Conti at 334-6521.

LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Come to the Yiddish meeting at the JCC on Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. If you have any Yiddish books to donate, please call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT MARRIAGE BELLUCK/BAUM Dr. Michael and Sara Baum of Columbia, MD, announce the marriage of their son, Aaron, to Tracy Belluck, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Belluck of Springfield, VA. The Sept. 9 wedding took place at the Arbor Ballroom in Washington, D.C. The bride graduated from Marshall University with a degree in communications. She is a manager for Nordstrom department stores.

The groom earned a degree in criminal justice from the University of Maryland. He is a human resources associate for Northern Virginia Family Services.

His grandparents are Malwina Moses and the late Salomon Moses, and the late Irene and Anthony Baum.

After a honeymoon in India, the couple will make their home in Alexandria, VA.

Every object in our world has a story of how it is made. How People Make Things, a new exhibit opening at Omaha Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Museum on Sept. 29, tells that story by linking familiar childhood objects to a process of manufacturing. â&#x20AC;&#x153;How People Make Things,â&#x20AC;? inspired by the factory tour segments from the Mister Rogersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Neighborhood television series, offers hands-on activities using real factory tools and machines to create objects with four manufacturing processes -- molding, cutting, forming and assembly. Everyday products featured in in the exhibit include 10,000 Crayola crayons in 90 colors, 10,000 plastic pellets, 300 ice cream cups, stop lights, cooking pans, sneakers, baseball bats, baseball mitts, matchbox cars and an â&#x20AC;&#x153;explodedâ&#x20AC;? bicycle display that shows many of the parts of a bicycle suspended in mid-air.

For more information, including hours of operation, call 324.6164 or visit: www.ocm.org.

September 14, 2007

Temple’s golf outing “tradition” draws from near and far

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 15

Big Band Festival brings back memories

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator About 100 golfers poured on to the course at Ironwood Country Club last month to raise funds for Temple Israel’s Religious School, youth groups, adult education, and worship services. As one of the golfers pointed out, “It’s become a tradition.”

Jeff Smedlund, who chaired this year’s Golf Outing with Dan Marburg, said, “I was pleased with the turnout and very pleased with how generous people are,” adding that “Ironwood does a great job.”

Lloyd Gladden from Iowa City, who probably came the longest distance to compete in the outing, won the putting contest. He took home a Movado watch provided by Brodkey’s Jewelers.

by ANDREA BARTMAN for JSS/RBJH The residents and staff of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home weren’t the only ones to enjoy the “Salute to Big Bands” festival. A large crowd gathered last month at the Jewish Community Center to see “The Classics” (a vocal ensemble of Blumkin Home residents) and the Nebraska Wind Symphony Swingtones perform in a final concert for the

festival, left. Music in the style of Duke Ellington and Tommy Dorsey was featured. Right: The community also joined in a performance by the Lyn Eby Swing Band and a 1940s-style soda jerk party to celebrate this three-day event. Marvin and Jean Negley of the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society of Clarinda, Iowa, provided a large display of artifacts and were present at the final concert to answer questions and provide information.

Kids create at Beth Israel workshops Above: Tom Vann, left, Rick Fox, and John Waldbaum came for a buffet lunch at Ironwood prior to the shotgun start. Left: Scott Meyerson maneuvers his golf cart to the course.

Among the golfers was Father Steve Boes, director of Boys Town, who, according to Jeff Smedlund, “won a couple of raffle prizes.”

by MARY BORT Beth Israel Synagogue Give a child a paintbrush and some paint, and just see what he or she can create! Children will have a fun opportunity to express their artistic talents at the next Kids’ Creations event that will be held Sunday, Sept.

23, 10 a.m. After a light breakfast, children will participate in a craft project, lead by Andreea Shnayder.

Shnayder has a background in early childhood education. Each child will create a special canvas self-portrait of themselves in a sukkah. The Kids’ Creations activity is being held in conjunction with Beth Israel’s annual “Help Put Up the Synagogue’s Sukkah” event.

“We want the whole family to come out and enjoy

getting ready for Sukkot,” explained Executive Director Beth Cohen. “Everyone can enjoy breakfast and then build the sukkah or work on the craft project.

The kids’ craft project is a terrific way for the children to get into the spirit of Sukkot.”

Older brothers and sisters are encouraged to help their parents build the sukkah and participate in the craft project. “We want older kids to participate. This is designed to include everyone in the family,” explained Cohen.

Children should be accompanied by an adult during the Kids’ Creations activity. There is no charge, but reservations are required for planning purposes. Please call the office at 556.6288 to RSVP.

COMING OCTOBER

Arts+Entertainment The Omaha Arts Scene Publishing Date » 10.12.07 | Space Reservation » 09.23.07 | Camera Ready Deadline » 09.27.07

COMING NOVEMBER

Literary Supplement What’s New in Jewish Literary Circles Publishing Date » 11.09.07 | Space Reservation » 10.28.07 | Camera Ready Deadline » 11.01.07

COMING NOVEMBER

Hanukkah

A Gift Guide+New and Old Traditions Publishing Date » 11.23.07 | Space Reservation » 11.04.07 | Camera Ready Deadline » 11.08.07

Contact your advertising representative to advertise in any of these special editions.

Call Allan Handleman at 402.334.6451 or email: ahandleman@jewishomaha.org

Call Terri Greenwood at 402.334.6559 or email: terrigreenwood@jewishomaha.org

Page 16

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 14, 2007

Al cheits ... from the Press With apologies -- and thanks -- to the Dallas Jewish Week, which first ran a form of this editorial on Oct. 2, 2003, the staff of the Jewish Press asks for forgiveness. Al cheit shechatanu: • for the sin of omitting your name from an article, or neglecting to publish the press release at all; • for the sin of misspelling your name (your child’s, your parent’s, your organization’s); • for the sin of neglecting to change your address in our subscription list in a timely manner; • and for the sin of making an incorrect change and having to do it all over again!

Forgive us, pardon us, atone for us.

• For the sin of failing to deliver the Press on time (through the US Post Office) and for then delivering two at once; • for the sin of incorrect identification of your photo or for omitting it altogether; • for the sin of having to delay publication of your organization’s announcement (even though we received it after our deadline); • and for the sin of then not being able to publish it before your event.

Forgive us, pardon us, atone for us.

• For the sin of publishing an editorial with which you don’t agree; • for the sin of publishing columnists whose writing you don’t enjoy; • for the sin of publishing a cartoon which offends you; • and for the sin of publishing stories you deem too long.

Forgive us, pardon us, atone for us.

• for the sin of a pro-Israel slant (hey, this IS a Jewish publication!); • for the sin of publishing a newspaper that is actively pro-Jewish community (well, the Press IS owned by the Jewish Federation of Omaha!);

• and for the sin of promoting Jewish Omaha (that’s a sin?); Forgive us, pardon us, atone for us.

• For the sin of not interviewing you; • and for the sin of requesting too many times to interview you for a special issue; • for the sin of publishing an ad from a competitor or making a mistake in yours; • and for the sin of not answering the phone promptly or neglecting to return your call in a timely manner.

Forgive us, pardon us, atone for us.

• For the sin of publishing too many national and international news stories and not enough local news; • and for the sin of publishing too many local ones and not enough national news; • for the sin of writing too much about “those other” synagogues and organizations; • and for the sin of not writing enough about your synagogue, agency or organization.

For all these sins -- of forgetfulness and carelessness, of omission and commission, neglectfulness and lack of timeliness, and for anything else we may have done to offend you in the year 5767, we ask your forgiveness.

Omaha’s Jewish community is the only one its size to still publish a weekly newspaper and it’s done in an

efficient manner with a staff of only four fulltime and two part-timers. The Jewish Press not only wins awards on the state and national level, but as readers will note on page one, we win awards from the community for projects outside the normal scope of publishing weekly.

Though we’re not perfect, we’re proud of the Press, of our staff, freelance writers and columnists, and especially of our board and volunteers. And though we make mistakes from time-to-time, we readily admit them (readers will note corrections from past issues on page 19). We want to correct our errors; we want to grow and learn and publish an even better Jewish Press each year.

So in the spirit of repentance, we wish you a successful year, a productive one -- filled with wonder and awe, of peace and promise, of good health and happiness. G’mar hatima tova -- may you be sealed for a good year!

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

by RABBI ERIC YOFFIE A recent split in the American Jewish community found the Anti-Defamation League under pressure from fellow Jews as well as the Armenian-American community over its reticence to use of the term “genocide” to describe the violence against the Armenians in 1915-17. We praise the ADL’s decision this week to join the global consensus in using the term genocide. But we are disappointed that the ADL affirmed its opposition to a congressional resolution commemorating the Armenian genocide.

One would think such a bill would sail through. That the 1915-17 slaughter and displacement of Armenians by Ottoman Turkey was the first genocide of the 20th century (long before the word “genocide” was coined) and an instance of the ethnic cleansing that so blotted the remainder of the century -- all this has long been accepted by most historians.

And one would surely be safe to suppose that the American Jewish community would be among the most vocal supporters of such a resolution. Yet instead, it has been nearly silent on the matter; many of the organizations most identified with advocating our communal agenda have either been silent or announced their abstention.

Why should this be so? Do Jews read the troubling history differently? Hardly. Much as the Turkish government and its lobbyists would like others to believe the historical foundation just isn’t there, the silence of the Jewish organizations has almost nothing to do with history. It is not what Jews know about

Jewish Press Board Bobbi Leibowitz, Vice President Stan Mitchell, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Treasurer; Joanie Jacobson, Immediate Past-chairman; David Herzog; Susan Lehr; Jamie Meyerson; George Quittner; Eve Randone, Melissa Schop; Michael Siegel, Michael Sigmond; Jim Simon; Nancy Skid; and Dorothy Spizman.

The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Centers of Excellence of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service, and Jewish Senior Services.

The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation.

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole.

The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content.

The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

History is long ago, but never far away Ottoman Turkey but what they feel about modern Turkey now that shapes their response.

The Jewish community is deeply appreciative of Turkey on two counts: First, Turkey has long been a voice of Muslim moderation, tolerance and pluralism, a vital bridge between the West and the Muslim world. Second, Turkey has been the Muslim country closest to Israel, with economic, political and military cooperation that Israel and its supporters hope will be a model for other Muslim nations. The last thing that the U.S., Israel, or the Jewish community desires is to offend Turkey at this critical moment.

Those are very real considerations. But the silence of America’s Jews, intended as an act of friendship and appreciation, serves neither the Turks nor the Jews. In the real world, that silence is heard as avoidance and evasion; it offers a stamp of approval to those who deny the claims of history -- and that is something the Jewish community cannot, must not, allow.

For more than 30 years, the American Jewish community has appropriately done everything within its power to bring knowledge of the Holocaust into public consciousness. We have argued that to ignore or deny the Holocaust is to rob the Jewish people of their history and to dishonor the memory of the victims. How can the very groups that have led the effort to ensure that our genocide will never be forgotten now turn their backs on the genocidal tragedies of others?

In 1989, at the biennial convention of the Union for Reform Judaism, thousands of Reform Jewish leaders debated this issue and overwhelmingly endorsed the congressional resolution that establishing April 24 as the Day of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide.

The historical record and the role played by one of the first great Jewish diplomats, Henry

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

Morgenthau Sr., in bringing these genocidal actions to the attention of the American government and to the world weighed heavily in their deliberations.

Then America’s ambassador to Turkey, Morgenthau famously sent a cable to the State Department on July 10, 1915: “Persecution of Armenians assuming unprecedented proportions ... systematic attempt to uproot peaceful Armenian population and through arbitrary arrests, terrible tortures, whole-sale expulsions, and deportations from one end of the Empire to the other accompanied by frequent instances of rape, pillage and murder, turning into massacre, to bring destruction and destitution on them. These measures are ... directed from Constantinople....” On Aug. 11, his cable described the Turkish actions as “an effort to exterminate a race.”

Modern Turkey is hardly the only nation with a sordid chapter in its past: South Africa had apartheid; Germany had the Holocaust; England had the slave trade; the U.S. had slavery, segregation and the mistreatment of Native Americans. And, more recently, Cambodia and Rwanda. Yet in each of these, there’s been an effort at cleansing -- cleansing not by erasing the past but by confronting it. Such confrontation is a sign of a nation’s strength, not its weakness; it begets respect, not disdain.

The Armenian genocide was long ago, but as long as Turkey denies it, it will never be far away. No one doubts that Turkey, since Ataturk, is very different from what it was in late Ottoman times. Its many friends wish it well and pray that it will at long last have the fortitude to look unblinkingly at its yesterday, thereby immeasurably enriching its tomorrow.

Rabbi Yoffie is president of the Union for Reform Judaism; Rabbi David Saperstein, head of the URJ’s Washington office, also contributed. This originally appeared in The Forward, and was sent to the Press courtesy of Rabbi Aryeh Azriel.

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Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org.

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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.”

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September 14, 2007

Who shall live and who shall die

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

by DANIEL R. ALLEN “Who by fire, and who by water?” -Unetana Tokef, High Holiday Liturgy In Israel, one should add, “who by car accident and who by terrorist attack, who

by Qassam and who by Katyusha.”

We in the United States learned on 9/11 that anyone anywhere can experience terrorism. Our brothers and sisters in Israel unfortunately are life long learners when it comes to the subject of terrorism.

The “cease fire” between Israel and Hamas means that “only” six to seven Qassam rockets land in southern Israel daily. On the northern border, Hezbollah is rearmed and this time, according to all the latest information, they have chemical and biological weapons as well as conventional missiles.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran continues his rants of denying the Holocaust and promises to wipe Israel off the map.

Even while Israel remains willing to discuss peace, perhaps it is time to acknowledge what our tradition tells us, “ Shalom Shalom V’ayn Shalom.” It is a bracha, a prayer, a hope, but not a reality.

All that Israel, and those of us who love her deeply, can do is be prepared and hope that Israel can manage the situation since no solution -- either to strife and war, or traffic, is on the horizon.

Within our culture, as both Americans and Jewish Americans, we have a strong tradition of volunteering, giving tzedakah and working for the betterment of all humankind -- for Tikkun Olam. At the same time, there is a perception that these same values and traditions do not seem to exist in Israel.

I know of 12,000 examples of why that

perception is wrong.

In Israel, 12,000 volunteers personally know what the Unetana Tokef means first hand. Our volunteers are witnesses to life and death; by fire, by water, at the scene of domestic violence and car accidents, and in ambulances where new life comes forth.

12,000 volunteers are the backbone of Israel’s heroic medical first responders, Magen David Adom, and they are saving lives in Israel every day.

Those 12,000 MDA volunteers are the cutting edge of Jewish tikkun olam in Israel. Who are these volunteers? Half are high school juniors and seniors and half are busy Israelis -- Jews and Arabs, mothers and fathers, living their lives. Each spends a minimum of eight hours a week standing at the ready. All are trained as first responders and many as advanced paramedics. Some carry their emergency gear in their cars and some keep the gear in their offices. All of them know that 24/7 they are God’s partner in answering the Unetana Tokef.

We pray that in the year ahead, these 12,000 wonderful volunteers, as well as the brave men and women who work professionally for MDA, making it one of the world’s foremost and most renowned emergency medical first responders, will have less to do. We pray for peace, for a cessation of attacks from Gaza and an end to terrorism. We hope that Ahmadinejad’s threats remain nothing more than words and that the northern border stays quiet.

But we also know that whatever happens, MDA’s volunteers and staff will answer the call, just as they have done throughout Israel’s history. Just as they do today in Sderot, Jerusalem, Kiryat Shmona and throughout the Land.

Former Lincolnite Daniel Allen is the Executive Vice President of American Friends of Magen David Adom.

Ending hunger at the High Holidays

FOCUS ON ISSUES

by RABBI ARNOLD RACHLIS I have always found the period at the start of the High Holidays to be a particularly challenging and, simultaneously rewarding time to be a congregational rabbi.

Challenging, in light of the many stresses that accompany logistical planning for some of the holiest (and busiest) days on the Jewish calendar, and rewarding, because Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, with their themes of rebirth, repentance and resolve, present us with a critical opportunity to awaken ourselves to our ability to effect positive change in our lives and communities during the coming year.

This year, I will be certain to share with my congregants the lessons I have learned as Chairman of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, an organization with over 1,000 partner synagogues, from all movements, committed to finding comprehensive solutions to the hunger crisis in this country and around the world.

At each board meeting, I begin by asking: What have we done, since the last time we met, to lessen hunger?

The answers are always animated, committed, compassionate and varied. For some, it’s fundraising, for others speaking, for still others organizing and, for most of us, it is all of the above.

MAZON’s work is both heartbreaking and heartfelt. The problem with hunger in our world today ranges from food insecurity to starvation, from American cities to Darfur, from emergencies like Katrina to sustainable and equitable food distribution in Israel.

In the face of so much suffering and pain, I am grateful for the privilege of making a difference. When I speak on the High Holy Days this year, I will lay bare the contradiction of a country, such as ours, in which people pay lip service to being upset by hunger, but then blithely continue with their everyday lives.

As in so many other crucial political and economic issues, people have opinions, but they need an incentive to act and a pathway to create change. I will explain to my congregants that this is our role -- theirs and mine -- as partners in ending hunger.

We need to serve as the single blast of tekia -- the shofar’s call -- waking people up to the shanda of a completely solvable problem.

We need to be the three cries of shevarim that says “oy, oy, oy,” how can we live our lives and not try to repair this broken world? Finally, we need to convey the multiple staccato terua -- tears of empathy -that leads back to a final tekia gedola that declares “enough is enough.”

In this New Year, we can make our teshuva/repentance real by bringing tikkun/healing to our lives and to the world by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, rescuing the captive and listening to what the Prophet Isaiah continues to tell us on Yom Kippur.

In this New Year, I wish all of us the blessing of another message from Isaiah: “They shall run and not grow weary. They shall march and not grow faint.” Let us challenge ourselves, and each other, with our traditional prescription for change: Work hard, give generously and never tire until we realize our prophetic vision.

Rabbi Rachlis is the spiritual leader of University Synagogue in Irvine, CA.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 17

It’s time to end Mideast illusions, stop pushing for Israeli concessions

FOCUS ON ISSUES

by MOSHE YA’ALON JERUSALEM (JTA) -- After a few years of benign neglect, Israel is back on the itineraries of well-meaning foreign emissaries. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited the country in July in his new role as special envoy of the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers. In August, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived.

Each visit concluded with a news conference at which promises of progress were made. But before any lasting onthe-ground movement toward peace can be achieved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, foreign emissaries, as well as some Israelis, will have to shake off some longdisproved tenets of the conventional wisdom about the dispute.

Diplomats bring to Israel four main misconceptions. Primary among them is the idea that solving the IsraeliPalestinian conflict is a prerequisite for stability in the Middle East.

The region is riven by clashes that have nothing to do with Israel. For instance, the Jewish state plays no role in the conflict between Shi'ites and Sunnis, between Persians and Arabs or between Arab nationalists and Arab Islamists.

The second misconception is that Israeli territorial concessions are the key to progress. The reality is that an ascendant jihadist Islam believes that it is leading the battle against Israel and the rest of the West. Given this dynamic, Israeli territorial or other concessions simply fill the jihadists' sails, reinforcing their belief that Israel and the West are weak and can be militarily defeated.

True, a majority of Israelis supported Israel's unilateral withdrawals from Lebanon in 2000 and from the Gaza Strip in 2005 in the belief that meeting Hezbollah and Palestinian territorial demands would nullify the cause of conflict between them. We now know the results: The Hezbollah and Palestinian reactions -- concerted terror wars, kidnapped Israeli soldiers, rockets fired at Israeli cities -- made clear that the Mideast's central conflict is not territorial but ideological. And ideology cannot be defeated by concessions.

Emissaries also still believe that “the Occupation” blocks agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. In the West, the term usually means the territories Israel conquered in the Six-Day War in 1967. If the problem between Israelis and Palestinians were just the 1967 territories, and the solution were dividing those lands between the two sides -- as proposed most recently in 2000 by thenIsraeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak -- the conflict would have ended long ago.

Instead, the heart of the problem is that many Palestinians -- Fatah and Hamas, in particular -- and even some Israeli Arabs use “occupation” to refer to all Israel.

They do not recognize the Jewish people’s right to an independent state, a right affirmed again and again in the international arena.

Finally, the well-intentioned visiting diplomats believe that the Palestinians want -- and have the ability -- to establish a state that will live in peace alongside Israel. But they are not being clear-eyed.

The late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat established a thugocracy that never improved the basic living conditions of his people.

Indeed, Palestinian unemployment and

poverty are worse today than they were before Arafat and his cronies assumed power in 1994.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas did not take responsibility for the welfare of Gazans, which in part led to Hamas’ electoral victory in 2006. Now confined to the West Bank after Hamas kicked his Fatah organization out of Gaza, Abbas has not moved to create a governmental structure.

A corollary of this fourth misconception is the belief that economic development can neutralize extreme nationalism and religious fanaticism, thus clearing the way toward peace and security. David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, had a term for such believers: “naive Zionists.” Those who fit this description should demand that the Palestinians explain what they did with the $7 billion in international aid they received over the years.

Seven billion reasons for economic progress -- so why did Palestinian mobs destroy the Erez industrial zone, where Palestinians worked and ran businesses for decades, on the Gaza border? Why do they attack safe roads linking Gaza and the West Bank? Why is the Palestinian economy in shambles?

Shorn of these mistaken assumptions, the picture in the Middle East is disturbing indeed. No wonder emissaries hold on to them. So what to do?

For starters, Western governments and their emissaries must refrain from pressuring Israel for territorial or security concessions, which at best produces only short-term gains and emboldens the Islamist terror groups.

Instead they should try to persuade the Palestinian leaders to commit to a longterm strategy premised on educational, political and economic reforms that would lead to the establishment of a civil society that cherishes life, not death; values human rights and freedom; and develops a middle class, not a corrupt, rich elite.

At the same time, these governments should set up an international fund that would offer Palestinian refugee families aid -- say $100,000 to $200,000 per family -- for their resettlement on the condition that their acceptance of the money would signify resolution of their refugee status.

Under no circumstances should emissaries attempt to open a dialogue with Hamas. For the sake of Palestinian society, Hamas and its ideology must be defeated. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the most significant today; it's the battle between jihadist Islam and the West, of which Israel is merely one theater.

To defeat jihadist Islam, the West must overcome the regimes, organizations and ideologies that support and feed it.

Hamas is foremost among them.

The emissaries who travel to Israel must draw on their rich diplomatic experiences, free themselves from misconceptions about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the petty politics that flows from them -- especially the binds of political correctness -- to lead us all toward freedom, security and peace. Anything else is mere meddling.

Moshe Ya’alon is a fellow at the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center. He served as the 17th chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

This article first appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

Page 18

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 14, 2007

Candlelighting Friday, September 14, 7:18p.m.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Allan Handleman, 334.6451, or Terri Greenwood, 334.6559.

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Shabbat services, 7:30 p.m.; oneg follows.

Saturday, Sept. 22, 5:30 p.m., Yom Kippur concluding service and Break-the-fast potluck. Please call 323.8885 to RSVP.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Services conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Gastón Bogomolni.

FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m.; Rabbi Jules Harlow and his wife, Navah, will present “Survivors of the Inquisition: Faith and Perserverance”; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 7:25 p.m.

SUNDAY: BESTT program for seveth-graders and their parents, 10 a.m.; BESTT Pre-K class, 10 a.m., led by Patty Nogg; Kadima youth group program for seventh and eighth-graders, 1:30-4 p.m.

Meet at Beth El for bus trip to Papio Fun Park. Cost is $10; call Robert Mosenkis in the office.

ADULT EDUCATION Bible Study SUNDAY, Discussion Group, 10 a.m.

MONDAY: Hebrew Crash course, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY: “The WOW of Judaism,” 7:30 p.m.

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

OPERATION ISAIAH Kol Nidre, Sept. 21: Bring donations of non-perishable food items and gently-worn clothing for the Omaha Food Bank; bins will be in the community court.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fri., 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross.

FRIDAY: Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.

free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes, 9:45 a.m. with Torah Parade; Kiddush sponsored

by Jordana Kurtzman in honor of Aaron’s 12th birthday. Mincha, 7 p.m. followed by Suedat Shlishit and Gemara class, sponsored by Dani and Leon Shrago in memory of their parents; Havdalah, 8:15 p.m.

SUNDAY: Fast of Gedalia begins at 5:43 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Reading the Rambam with Rabbi Brett Oxman, 9:45 a.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m.

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 6:45 a.m.; Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m.

THURSDAY: Women of the Torah Class, 9:30 a.m.; Tashlich at Trendwood Park, 7 p.m.; Rabbi’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m.

BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Shabbat in the home.

SATURDAY: Shabbat at the Blumkin Home, 9 a.m.

SUNDAY: Religious School, 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the JCC.

To submit obituaries: E-mail to the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; fax to 402.334.5422, or mail to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154, or online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements.

Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel.

FRIDAY, Shabbat Shuva Service, 7:45 p.m., oneg provided

by Nancy Myers.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel; Game night, 6 p.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS grades threeseven at TI, 9:30-noon; Gan Simcha, K,1-2 at South Street, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.; Hallah High at TI, 10 a.m.-noon; Rick Recht in concert at Tifereth Israel, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Lincoln, 4:30 p.m.

TUESDAY, Ladies’ Lunch, at the Lone Star, noon. Call Stephanie Dohner at 435.0140.

THURSDAY: Choir rehearsal, 7 p.m.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN Services conducted by Rabbi JEWISH HOME

CHABAD HOUSE

Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Youth/tot minyan, 11 a.m.; Kiddush luncheon follows.

SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.; Living Torah, 9:30 a.m., 20minute video broadcast. Fast of Gedalia ends at 8:01 p.m.

WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m.

MONDAY: Maamar Kabbalistic Insights for Women, 12:15 p.m.; Halacha, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY: W.O.W. Tehillim & More, 9 a.m.; Parshah Roundup: Weekly Torah Portion, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Kabbalah Circle, 7 p.m.; A Peek Through the Lens of Kabbalah, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY: Jewish Thought, 12:45 p.m.

Beth Israel’s rabbi opens home to youth

by MARY BORT Beth Israel Synagogue Rabbi Jonathan Gross invites all fifth through 12th graders to his home for two holiday events on Sept. 14 and Sept. 30. The first event will be an evening with Rabbi Gross and High Holiday Chazzan Ari Dembitzer.

On Friday, Sept. 14, 9-10 p.m., youth are invited to come to Gross’ home for dessert. “This event is being held during Rosh Hashanah,” explained Gross.

“After our youth have enjoyed Shabbat dinners with their families, we want them to join us for dessert and more. Ari is a won-

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN

derful chazzan, who has a special way with people, young and old.

He’ll lead us in song and generate lots of enthusiasm.”

During Sukkot, Rabbi Gross will again open his home for “Pizza in the Hut.” The event will be held Sunday, Sept. 30, 6-7:30 p.m. “We’ll enjoy dinner in my sukkah. We did this last year, and the kids had a blast.”

Rabbi Gross’ address is 12314 Westover; there is no charge for either event. Parents or other adults interested in chaperoning should contact Rabbi Gross. For information or for directions, call him at Beth Israel at 556.6288.

MEMORIAL SERVICES SUNDAY, SEPT. 16 Beth El Cemetery, 10:30 a.m.

Council Bluffs Cemetery, 11 a.m.

Temple Israel Cemetery, 2 p.m.

Wyuka Cemetery, Lincoln, 3 p.m. (rescheduled from last week)

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Marti Nerenstone and Beyt Shalom Congregation.

TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat Shuva Service, 6 p.m., Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Rabbi Eric Linder and Cantor Wendy Shermet will lead services.

SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.; Tashlich service at Elmwood Park immediately after services.

SUNDAY: Teacher Learning coffee, 9 a.m.; First Day of Religious School, 10 a.m., prayer assembly, concert with Rick Recht and madrichim meeting, 10:45 a.m., bbq at noon, sponsored by the golf committee; Kol Rina rehearsal, 1 p.m.

TUESDAY: Grade Seven orientation and registration for T.A.G, 6:30 p.m.; Executive Board meeting, 6 p.m.; Board of Trustees, 7 p.m.; Kol Rina rehearsal, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, OTYG Yom Kippur rehearsal, 5-6 p.m.; All school family dinner, 6 p.m.

NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN No services during the Yom Tovim; services resume Oct. 12.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Nancy Coren, Lay Leader. Office hours: Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Shuva service, 9:30 a.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS grades threeseven at TI, 9:30-noon; Gan Simcha, K, 1-2 at South Street, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.; Hallah High at TI, 10 a.m.-noon; Rick Recht in concert, sponsored by the Lincoln Federation, 4:30 p.m.

MONDAY and THURSDAY: Minyan, 9 a.m. Contact the office to arrange for a minyan.

TREE OF LIFE CENTER Services and activities led by Rabbi Michael Weisser. Offsite classes at First Plymouth Church, 20th & South Sts; no registration required; onsite classes: 2925 Prairie Rd. SATURDAY, 6:30-7:30 p.m.: Drumming Meditation and Jewish Mystical Chanting,, followed by a meal and Havdalah.

MONDAY, 6:30 P.M.: Insight Meditation.

TUESDAY: Torah, prophets and writings: “A Journey through the Literature of the Hebrew Scripture,” 9:30-11 a.m. and 7-8:30 p.m.; Comparative Religion, noon.

WEDNESDAY, 6:30 p.m.: Adv. Mindfulness Meditation.

THURSDAY, 7 p.m.: Int. Mindfulness Meditation.

Haunted Tales: class explores the ghost stories of I. B. Singer

by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Administrator Center for Jewish Education Gary Katz, MA, Administrator of the Kripke Jewish Federation Library, will present a four-week class starting Wednesday, Oct. 3, 11 a.m.-noon, entitled “Ghosts and Dybbuks: The Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer.”

Singer was one of the most prolific and best-loved chroniclers of Jewish experience in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, where he was born. The course will explore the supernatural themes of Jewish folk tales. Singer displays a passion for mysticism and the supernatural in his writing, especially his short stories.

Twice a winner of the National Book Award, Isaac Bashevis Singer was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978.

According to The Class of Nonviolence, prepared by Colman McCarthy of the Center for Teaching Peace, Singer’s enor-

mous popularity and stature in the United States is the more astonishing since his first language-the language in which he thinks and creates is Yiddish. He once joked that his writing must be 150 percent better than it appears “because you lose 50 percent in the translation.”

Added McCarthy, even though Singer spoke German and Polish and has a good command of English, he preferred to write in Yiddish because “it has vitamins that other languages haven’t got.”

Consequently, he is the first writer to have received a Nobel Prize who writes in a language for which there is no country.

Classes will continue on Oct. 10, 17 and 24, in the Kripke Library.

Tuition is $23, discounted to $18 for donors to the Jewish Federation’s annual campaign.

Pre-registration is required. To register or for more information, please contact me at 334.6445 or mgrossman@jewishomaha.org.

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September 14, 2007

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SPARKS FROM THE WORD

by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Rosh Hashanah One theme of the fall Holy Days is tefilla, teshuva, and tzedaka. And one of my colleagues suggested that this has to do with how we view the world. Prof. Mordechai Kaplan used to say that we have to view Judaism fully and see it whole. And this colleague said that the theme we just mentioned has to do with the way we see things.

Tefilla means prayer, but it also suggests the theme of introspection, of viewing ourselves and making a judgment. So tefilla is, as one of my colleagues suggested, training our eyes on high, as it were, an upward look.

And teshuva, which means repentance or penitence, suggests a penetrating look inside, at ourselves and see where it is that we can do better. Not necessarily that we are evil, to be sure, but that always, that if we are honest with ourselves, we can improve.

The third in this theme is tzedaka, which we usually translate as charity, but which really means “righteousness.” And this is a view not upward nor inward, but outward to the world, to mankind, to all of humanity, of which we are a part.

This, then, is how we must approach these fall Holy Days. We are to recognize that there is more to life than

Communal service a rite of passage Continued from page 5 This fall, the UJC will begin researching the longterm impact of Jewish term-of-service programs, says Andrea Fram Plotkin, an associate director at UJC and lead staffer on the project.

Also this fall, Bronznick is spearheading a study commissioned by the Nathan Cummings Foundation to identify strategies for engaging more young Jews and Jewish organizations in social justice work.

“It’s important to have a light touch,” she warns.

Nothing turns young people off faster, Bronznick says, than the feeling they are being manipulated by programs designed to “appeal” to them that don’t offer the chance to do meaningful work.

“It’s wonderful that people want to engage young Jews," she says, “but it’s important to give the next generation space to create their own engagement.”

Profile: Health care for the poor

by SUE FISHKOFF SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -- Yuval Asner of South Bend, Ind., spent the year between college and medical school with Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps as a health advocacy fellow with the Medicare Rights Center in New York.

Asner, a self-identified secular Jew, majored in Jewish studies as an undergraduate and wanted to take a year off to do service with a Jewish component.

He spent the 2003-04 academic year living in a communal house with other Avodah volunteers, helping low-income New Yorkers Yuval Asner gain access to health care, sometimes representing them in court.

“It was very high level work for someone just out of college,” says Asner, 26, now a third-year medical student at Indiana University in Indianapolis. “It was immensely rewarding and related to what I wanted to do.”

The year he devoted to this Jewish service program “definitely” affected his future plans.

“It gave me a realistic view of what it’s like to have difficulty accessing health care in the United States,” he says.

Asner is now pursuing a master’s degree in public health and policy studies along with his medical degree, and plans to work with the underserved throughout his career.

human beings. We are part of something much greater than we, much more pervading, much more permanent.

So this is where prayer enters our lives, with a look to the unknowable, to all that is above us.

Perhaps more important is a look inward, where we study ourselves as though we could see ourselves from a viewpoint far above us and more penetrating. It is from this viewpoint, as though we see ourselves as others see us, that we can see all the things, large and small, in which we have been less than we should be. If words like penitence and repentance do not move us, then all we should be about is a willingness to examine ourselves honestly and to realize that we have not always been our best selves.

Most important of all in this theme of Rosh Hashanah is a look outward to the world of mankind, of humanity as a whole. It is here that we have opportunity to make a difference, a small difference perhaps, but still something that leaves an impression on the world immediately around us.

It is the world of mitzva. May I borrow your lawn mower to cut the grass in your yard? May I do your grocery shopping for you? Where is your list? Or, may I set the table for you to bring in the meal I have prepared for you and your family?

None of these things resound around the world or shake the stars in the heavens. But in a small way they are profound. they show that we love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

G’mar hatima tova!

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Page 19

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A group of Hillel students from the University of NebraskaLincoln helped out at the South Street Temple “clean-up day” to get the grounds ready for the High Holy Days, including: Brittany Benavidez, left, Douglas Meyers, Karen Philabaun, and Kyle Newfeld.

CORRECTIONS In the Aug. 24 front page story about Jessica Gall, a local teacher who attended a conference at Yad Vashem, it was mistakenly reported that Holocaust survivor and resistance fighter Vladka Meed was deceased; it was her husband Ben who died last year.

In the Aug. 31 issue, several names were misspelled in the Belluck/Baum engagement announcement; the correct marriage announcement is on page 14.

In last week’s New Year’s issue, the names of Press volunteers Dottie Rosenblum and Deborah Platt were misspelled on page 2; the births of Liora Gafna, daughter of Ben Shapiro and Amy Reynolds, and Nora Evelyn, daughter of Lauren and Seth Topek, were inadvertently omitted, and Shaina Rose, daughter of Aaron and Marianna Pollak, was misspelled. The Press regrets these errors.

To Submit Announcements: Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing the Editor at: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org. You can also submit other announcements--births engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org.

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Page 20

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 14, 2007

Friedel prepares for ‘One Book, One School’

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT One of the best things parents can do is show their involvement in their children’s education. This involvement can take many different forms; parents can take an active role in the PTO, assist with homework, or visit the classroom. Building a relationship with teachers and other parents is not always easy, and it is time consuming; however, there are helpful programs catered to parents and students’ needs.

Recently, Friedel Jewish Academy was chosen to participate in such a community program, called ‘One Book, One School’.

This program was developed by RAVSAK, the Jewish Community Day School network in collaboration with Nextbook, an organization that markets Jewish literature. It is being piloted by only 15 Jewish day schools in the country.

Friedel Principal Cookie Katskee is impressed with Nextbook and with what the company has to offer. “The people at Nextbook are very passionate about literature, and about keeping Jewish minds active,” she said. The program is funded by the Keren Keshet Foundation.

The goal is to have a group of parents, teachers, faculty and board members read the same book, and discuss its contents.

Friedel parent Bob Goldberg was quick to volunteer his time and feels strongly about the program. “I am a huge fan of learning through cultural means, whether it is literature, art, music, or theater,” he said. “When Cookie Katskee asked if I wanted to be the facilitator for this program, I immediately said yes.”

During the month of August, Goldberg

spent two days in Fort Lauderdale to attend a training offered by RAVSAK and Nextbook. Volunteers from other schools joined him, as well as Dr. Marc Kramer and Robin Feldman of RAVSAK, and Nextbook’s Julie Sandorf.

“The training started with learning

perspectives that I may otherwise not have known. It is important to me that our children see us always making efforts to continue to learn ourselves,” he noted.

“Also, I think that we are very fortunate to have a growing day school and I think that a strong Jewish day school can

Left: Lily Goldberg and her dad, Bob, who is chairing Friedel’s ‘One Book, One School’

project. Right: FJA Principal Cookie Katskee discovered the project through Nextbook.

about RAVSAK and Nextbook and the overall goals of the program,” Goldberg said. “That moved into using the book club as a means to build community. It started with identifying the core values of our own communities, setting reasonable goals for the program, focusing on a target audience, choosing a text, promoting the program, and then running with it.”

Goldberg is enthusiastic about being part of the program because he loves books, and loves learning in a group environment. “It gives me the chance to see through someone else’s eyes and learn

and should be the cornerstone of a vibrant and involved Jewish community. I know this involvement can only continue if we take an active role in growing, strengthening, and building our community.”

He added, “On a personal level, I want that for my daughter; I also wish it for the city of Omaha.”

The program will focus on two books to be read by participating adults. The first choice is Jonathan Wilson’s new biography on Marc Chagall. While the program was initially developed for adult

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participation only, Friedel wouldn’t be Friedel if the children weren’t directly involved.

Art Instructor Julie Phillips will incorporate the study of Chagall and his works in her students’ curriculum. The students will not only learn about Chagall, but will be inspired to create their own art work, which will be exhibited at a special show during the last week of October. Parents will be able to view the students’ work during parent-teacher conferences.

Goldberg expects the children to benefit greatly from parents’ active involvement. “I am convinced that children learn more from the behavior they see their parents exhibit rather than what they are told to learn. I think we all want our children to be well educated, knowledgeable about whom they are as a people, and good citizens in the community.

The ‘One School, One Book’ program offers parents a chance to put that into action,” he explained.

“The children have such a wonderful sense of family and belonging at school; this program gives the parents and teachers a chance to establish that same kind of connectedness,”Goldberg added.

An additional text is planned for the spring session. While the program is currently only open for parents of Friedel students and to those directly involved with the school, Katskee hopes it can be expanded in the near future. “If our first piloting of the One School, One Book program is successful, and I am confident it will be. Our involvement will certainly continue,” she added.

It is one of the many ways parents and children can connect and make Friedel the best school it can be.