September 15, 2023

The Jewish Press

Eunice DenenbergFELLOWSHIP

DEBBIE DENENBERG

The Denenberg family and friends are proud to establish the Eunice Denenberg (z”l) Fellowship at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. This scholarship will be awarded annually to a local college graduate, covering tuition and living expenses for the Pardes Year Program. Pardes cultivates a life-long love of Jewish learning, the Jewish people and Israel, inspiring students to engage in Jewish life as leaders, educators and active participants. The $500,000 scholarship is 95% funded with the remaining $25,000 intentionally reserved for community members who would like to be included in honoring Eunice Denenberg.

“My mother knew the importance of Jewish education,” said Eunie’s daughter, Debbie. “As a kid, mom attended cheder [Hebrew school] every day after school and had a

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strong grasp of Biblical Hebrew. Her beloved teacher, Judah Wolfson, was her lifelong role model. Since she had no Bat Mitzvah as a teen, she decided — at fifty-eight — to study for an adult Bat Mitzvah at Beth El Synagogue. In her d’var Torah Mom said, ‘Love of learning is a trait of the Jewish character and I believe that the joy one derives from accomplishing or learning something stems from a basic universal need to learn—a hunger almost.’” A few years later, Eunie went to Oxford, England, to study Yiddish, a language she understood from her parents.

Pardes was founded in 1972 to attract English speaking university students to the world of Jewish learning. It combines the spiritual seriousness of the yeshiva with the intellectual openness of the university. Debbie Denenberg attended Pardes in 1979. “My mom came to Israel to See Eunice Denenberg Fellowship page 3

Our ‘newest’ agency Looking ahead

SCOTT LITTKY Institute for Holocaust Education Executive Director

Like many in our community, I used to assume that the Institute for Holocaust Education was already an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha since we have, for many years, received the same benefits as all other agencies. Last year right after the JFO annual meeting, Phil Malcom who was then the interim CEO, said to me, “you aren’t an agency?” As a re-

sult, the door was then opened for IHE to officially become an agency. At the July 2023 JFO Board meeting, it was approved, and now we are honored to announce that the Institute

for Holocaust Education is the newest agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha!

According to Bob Goldberg, Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, “the IHE provides vital educational resources to our community, and it is a key component of our work as a Jewish Federation. I am grateful to the volunteers and professionals who have taken part in the IHE over the years, and I am proud to see the IHE become a See Newest agency page 3

It is my privilege and pleasure to officially announce that the 2024 Annual Campaign season is here. It is a privilege because this time of year motivates dozens of volunteers and our team of professionals to go the extra mile to keep this community healthy and vibrant. It is a pleasure because it means that we have events ahead of us where we will have fun, we will fundraise, and we will connect with each other. We do this to fulfill our purpose to care for one another.

We are excited that the entire Tipp family has agreed to be this year’s Annual Campaign Chairs. And

while you will be hearing from them soon, let me say: thank you, thank you, thank you to Marilyn, Steve, Sonia, Alan, and Amy, for taking on this important responsibility, and doing it with gusto. Watching people step up and lead is inspiring to me, and seeing multiple generations of a family involve themselves in building community is extra special. When I think about the Annual Campaign and all it enables us to achieve, I think about how the generosity of this community has empowered my personal journey. Like so many others, I have benefited See Annual Campaign page 2

Kaplan Book Group meets The Paris Library Page 3

Honey cake Page 7

Beth Israel welcomes Rabbi Mordechai and Ayelet Geiger Page 12

Eunice Denenberg

BOB GOLDBERG Chief Executive Officer, JFO

Heritage Hero Award

Continued from page 1 from the work of those who came before. It is no accident that our slogan for the 2024 Annual Campaign is Generations of Generosity. Because our lives have been made better by those with vision and the drive to build Jewish Omaha into what we celebrate today.

I personally have so much to be grateful for and feel a great need to give back. I know that many of you feel the same and that feeling of gratitude leads to a desire to pay it forward for future generations. So, whether you have sent your children to the Pennie Z. Davis Early Learning Center, grew up at the Staenberg Omaha JCC, visited family members at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, received scholarships or attended events, camps, or classes, if you have built memories here or even if you just got here, I invite you to join us in the feel good mitzvah of being a donor to the Annual Campaign and helping us change lives for the better.

On Oct. 29, the Jewish Federation of Omaha invites you to the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater for the Annual Campaign Community Event featuring actor, comedian, and writer Rachel Dratch, who rose to fame on Saturday Night Live. We will enjoy New York style Kosher deli and come together as a community to celebrate, because Generations of Generosity have brought us here. Let’s keep the good going.

The Nebraska Jewish Historical Society (NJHS) has been recognized by History Nebraska as part of their Heritage Hero Awards program. Dr. Jeannette Gabriel, Board member of NJHS and Director of the Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies at UNO was granted a 2023 Heritage Hero Award to recognize her work in helping to share Nebraska’s Jewish history.

Jamesena (Jamie) Moore, President of the History Nebraska Board of Trustees, presented Dr. Gabriel with the award at the recent NJHS meeting held at the Omaha Jewish Community Center. She cited Dr. Gabriel’s work in providing historical context and materials for the Milton Mendel and Marsha Kleinberg Jewish Heritage Center facilitating community members’ donation of several significant collections to the NJHS archives, including a large collection related to Wolf Brother’s Western Store, an iconic local Jewish-owned western wear

store that was in business for nearly 100 years, Three separate collections with local connections to the Holocaust; and her leadership in the NJHS collaboration with Making Invisible Histories Visible, an Omaha Public Schools program that brought rising ninth graders and OPS teachers to the NJHS archives. Students participating in the Making Invisible Histories Visible project were researching Jewish connections to North Omaha as part of a project documenting a thriving African American and Jewish community that existed prior to racial riots and disinvestment of the 1960s and 70s.

Dr. Gabriel made significant contributions of both her time and professional skills to ensure that local Jewish history is preserved and accessible at the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society.

Dr. Gabriel said that these important projects “were collaborative efforts by the dedicated NJHS Board and she was honored to work with such a dedicated group of community members.” She ex-

pressed her appreciation to History Nebraska for recognizing the importance of community engagement work by dedicated volunteers that sustains local history organizations throughout the state.

History Nebraska was founded in 1878 as the Nebraska State Historical Society by citizens who recognized that Nebraska was going through great changes and they sought to record the stories of both indigenous and immigrant peoples. It’s founding mission was to “encourage historical research and inquiry, spread historical information and to embrace alike aboriginal and modern history.”

The Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, is dedicated to preserving the history of the Jewish community throughout Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa. The NJHS archives contains personal and institutional collections and oral histories documenting the Jewish experience in the Heartland and beyond.

Trade scholarships available for the 202324 academic year

An anonymous donor in our community has created two trade school and/or cosmetology school scholarship opportunities, up to $5,000 each, to go towards the 2023-24 academic year.

Not every student who advances into higher education signs up for a four-year curriculum. Some high school graduates seek job training that lasts a year or two and then places them in the workforce. Such opportunities include, but are not restricted to: Information Technology, Construction, Industrial, Transportation and Horticulture. It is not too late to apply for this upcoming school year!

Qualified students who have unmet needs regarding tuition for either a two-year trade school program or a trade certificate program can contact the Jewish Press at avande kamp@jewishomaha.org or jpress@jewishomaha. org for more information.

BENJAMIN JUSTMAN

Robby Erlich, left, Holly Fineman, Ben Justman, Jeannette Gabriel, Jamie Moore, Beth Staenberg, Kelly Kirk, Joseph Pinson. Not pictured: Seth Schuchman, Jill Belmont, Kate Kirshenbaum, Bob Belgrade, Susan Witowski.

Kaplan Book Group meets The Paris Library

SHIRLY BANNER JFO Library Specialist

On Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. the Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group will gather for their monthly meeting. Group members have the choice of meeting either in person in the Benjamin & Anna Wiesman Reception Room in the Staenberg Jewish Community Center or via Zoom. This month they will be discussing The Paris Library Janet Skeslien Charles. New participants are always welcome.

The Paris Library is based on the true World War II story of several brave librarians who worked for the American Library in Paris. The author worked for two years at the historic American Library in Paris and drew inspiration for the book, both from that experience and from her friendship with a French war bride who lived up the street from her in Conrad, Montana.

The novel begins in 1939 with Odile Souchet having recently accepted her ideal position in the American Library. At the library which serves both foreigners and Parisians, Odile is beginning to make a strike for independence from her parents’ wishes for her future as a wife and mother. As the impending World War II begins to solidify with the rise of the Nazi occupation of France and surrounding countries, Odile becomes more and more aware of the changes and restrictions happening in her beloved library. As Odile and her fellow librarians quietly work to provide much needed reading materials to the soldiers in hospitals and prisoner of war camps nearby, they eventually become a part of the ALP’s Resistance work. They take on the task of providing books to the banned British and Jewish patrons who are no longer allowed access to the American Library in Paris. Odile is especially worried about her twin brother Rémy who is a soldier and engaged to Bitsi, her best friend and fel-

low librarian. Although Rémy has been wounded and captured by the Germans, Odile is able to maintain contact with him and send books and care packages to him. Odile eventually comes to realize that several of her fellow workers in the American Library and patrons are not always who they appear to be. The escalating war changes much of the American Library’s group dynamics.

Odile’s past life is contrasted with teenager Lily Jacobsen living in rural Froid, Montana in the 1980’s. As Lily and her neighbor Odile become friends, we learn more about the subsequent circumstances that lead Odile to abandon her beloved Paris for America as a war bride and eventually a widow and near recluse in their small town.

I found it humorous the way Odile’s obsession with the Dewey Decimal System is used to reference many situations and people throughout the novel. “Maman took pride in her 648 (housekeeping). Papa wouldn’t admit it, but he really did enjoy 785 (chamber music). My twin brother was more of a 636.8 person, while I preferred 636.7 (Cats and dogs, respectively.)” Another example is Odile’s description of a prospective suitor lunch set up by her father as “841. A Season in Hell”. Maybe it’s just the librarian in me that understood these insider puns.

Please feel free to join us on Sept. 21 in person or via Zoom. The Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group meets on the third Thursday of every month at 1 p.m. New members are always welcome.

The group receives administrative support from the Community Engagement & Education arm of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. For information about the group and to join in the discussion, contact Shirly Banner at 402.334.6462 or sbanner@jewishomaha.org

Eunice Denenberg Fellowship

Continued from page 1 meet my friends and teachers and to see Pardes in action. She supported the school ever since. Pardes was instrumental in my decision to focus my volunteer time and resources on the Jewish community and to send my children to Friedel Jewish Academy. It also gave me the tools to keep learning. I’m as passionate about Pardes today as I was when I studied there.”

Leon Morris, President of Pardes, comments from Jerusalem, “It is inspiring to again be reminded that Jewish learning knows no boundaries, that any community in the world can play an integral role in shaping the Jewish future. The new scholarship opportunity in Omaha is a testament to this. The Pardes Institute in Jerusalem and the Omaha Jewish community may be oceans apart, but we are side-byside in our commitment to develop future community leaders, learned in our rich texts and traditions.”

Beth El Synagogue’s Rabbi Steven Abraham concurs, “The opportunity to study Torah anywhere is a true gift, yet the ability to do so in Jerusalem is unlike any other experience. To be surrounded by world class faculty, classmates who want to learn, all within the holy city of Jerusalem is an experience that no one will ever forget. The Omaha Jewish community will be the biggest beneficiary of this scholarship, when passionate, Jewishly educated youth come home to fill leadership positions here.”

“When I put my business cap on,” Debbie continued, “I view

Newest agency

Continued from page 1

full JFO agency.” When asked about what it means for IHE to now be an agency, Gloria Kaslow, Chair of the IHE Governance Council said, “we have valued the support and collaboration IHE has received from the Federation for more than 20 years and are excited to become an official agency of the Federation family. In the past year, IHE provided Holocaust education and teacher training to over 10,000 students and community members from Western Iowa to Western Nebraska and, as an agency of the Federation, we look forward to expanding our reach and forming alliances with other educational entities in Nebraska and Iowa.”

When visiting with students, teachers, and the general public, we have had the opportunity not only to expand their knowledge of the Holocaust but also introduce them to the

Pardes as an incredibly worthy place to make this investment. Over the last fifty years, Pardes has responded to the needs of the Jewish community in a global and entrepreneurial way. When they saw the need for Jewish teachers, they launched the Pardes Educators Program that now produces more Jewish day school teachers than any program in the world. They created North American learning programs, exporting their finest teachers for weekend retreats and visits to major cities. Right now, Omahans can tune into a host of podcasts from Elmad, Pardes’ recording studio. We are so excited to honor Mom’s memory by sending an Omaha youth to Pardes every year.”

“The Denenbergs would like to give a special shout out to Alan Parsow and his family. Not only are the Parsows anchors of the Omaha Jewish community, but Alan’s good counsel and hard work were absolutely instrumental in establishing this scholarship. We are so grateful.”

“Everyone loved my mom for her joyful, positive outlook on life,” Debbie said. “Pardes infuses its students with that upbeat feeling about their heritage. One student said she always carried her Jewishness around like a heavy backpack of rocks. At Pardes, she looked inside the backpack and discovered diamonds.”

For more information on how to be part of the Eunice Denenberg Fellowship at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, please contact Debbie Denenberg at debbie@denenberg. com or 917.951.0801.

work of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Like the JFO, IHE is dedicated to Tikkun Olam and that through our programs and educational opportunities, together we can and will teach empathy and understanding of the importance of assuring that we all learn from the lessons of the Holocaust.

As IHE moves forward, the Jewish Federation of Omaha will assist with our Governance Council’s development and growth and within time our chair will be represented on the JFO board.

In terms of the leadership structure of the professional staff of the JFO, it has been my honor to be part of an amazing team. I have learned from each person on the team and have appreciated the dedication and hard work we all have done in moving forward with the strategic plan. Now that we are an agency, I cannot wait to see what the next 23 years bring to our organization.

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Goldstein Lecture

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor

Coming Oct. 5, The University of Nebraska-Omaha religious studies department presents the 2023 Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Lecture on Human Rights: Technology and its Impact on Human Rights

After introductory remarks by Chancellor Li at 7 p.m., Betsy Popken, J.D., L.L.M., will present the lecture at 7:15 p.m. in the Thompson Center’s Bootstrapper Hall.

How do different technologies positively and negatively impact human rights, and what can be done to minimize risk of harm? This lecture will focus on certain rights, such as freedom of expression and right to privacy; specific technologies like generative AI, the metaverse and social media. Popken will also address how to responsibly innovate with human rights at the fore.

Betsy Popken serves as the Executive Director of the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley School of Law. Previously she co-founded and co-led the Business & Human Rights practice at the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, and helped launch the firm’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practice. While Popken’s practice as Sustainability & Human Rights Counsel at Orrick spanned sectors, she had a particular passion for helping clients tackle human rights issues raised by emerging technologies.

She served on the World Economic Forum’s Steering Committee for the Responsible Use of Technology and published articles such as Human Rights By Design Approach Can Guide Companies Developing Digital Contact Tracing Technology in Corporate Counsel and Tech and Black Lives–Firms Can Mitigate Discrimination in Tech in Bloomberg Law. Betsy worked on United Nations-mediated peace and ceasefire negotiations in Darfur, Syria, and Yemen through the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG). She led PILPG’s work with the Syrian opposition negotiation team, funded by the U.S. State Department, U.K. Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and Global Affairs Canada. Betsy also founded and led PILPG’s Istanbul office from 2015-2016, and worked during this time

How important is it for you to live in a country whose New Year is Rosh Hashanah rather than January 1? I believe that this question sheds light on a troubling phenomenon here: leftleaning Israelis threatening to leave the country because of the “judicial reform.” This phenomenon is so widespread that Deputy Haaretz Editor Noa Landau titled her Aug. 18 op-ed: Why I’m not (yet?) fleeing the country Interestingly (and troublingly), not one of Ms. Landau’s explanations in her relatively long piece concerns the Jewish people. In other words, even though Ms. Landau is electing to stay in Israel (for now!), the fact that this is the only country in the world that is gearing up for its New Year means little to her. If anything, the influence that Jews have in Israel has led Ms. Landau to “the mother of antiliberalism, namely the occupation,” which she associates with a “fascist” government.

What a difference a generation can make! Ms. Landau’s father, David, editor-in-chief of Haaretz between 1997-2008 (first for the paper’s English edition and then over the whole newspaper), made aliyah from England in 1970 at the age of 23. Clearly, Mr. Landau appreciated the incredible self-validation and self-affirmation a Jew gets from living in a country where their family’s holidays are also their country’s holidays. This is an appreciation unique to someone born and raised in the diaspora. For a Jew to make aliyah not out of persecution or financial distress, something incredible has to occur: they need to sense that “home” is not where they were born and raised but that home is Israel. And this can only occur to the extent that a person is attached to the Jewish people and feels that while my immediate family’s home is England or France or the U.S.A., my people’s home is the State of Israel.

My son Elie always raises the question why right-wingers

throughout the Middle East and at the Palace of Nations in Geneva. She currently serves as a Senior Peace Fellow for PILPG and previously taught negotiations at Stanford Law School, drawing from her experience in these real-world negotiations. She is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and previously worked for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Pacific Council on International Policy.

Shirley and Leonard Goldstein devoted over 40 years to the cause of human rights around the world. Their interest in human rights began with the strong belief that ‘it is simply wrong for governments to prevent people from worshipping as they wish’ and the awareness that Soviet Jews were prevented from practicing their religion. In the 1970s, Shirley Goldstein made several trips to the Soviet Union where she met with dissidents and witnessed first-hand the oppression of Soviet Jews. In 1973, Shirley Goldstein and her friend, Miriam Simon, founded the Omaha Committee for Soviet Jewry, which sponsored the program, Freedom for Soviet Jews. Together with her husband Leonard, Shirley worked tirelessly for the resettlement of over 100 Jewish families in Nebraska. Their experiences in the Soviet Union spurred them to become involved in the cause of human rights.

In 1996, Shirley Goldstein was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from UNO for her many contributions to the cause of human rights. Leonard was named Humanitarian of the Year by the Jewish Federation of Omaha in 2011.

Leonard and Shirley Goldstein decided to expand their efforts on behalf of human rights in 1997 by establishing an annual lecture on the UNO campus. The Goldstein Lecture on Human Rights is designed to focus attention on the plight of people around the world who suffer from abuse. The Lecture today keeps UNO and the Omaha community as a whole informed about human rights issues and activities. The 2017 lecture featured an exhibit from humanitarian photographer Lisa Kristine entitled ‘ENSLAVED: An Exhibition of ModernDay Slavery’ and supplementary events examining issues from history as well as current tragedies.

With the help of their children, the Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Center for Human Rights was established in December 2017. In conjunction with the creation of the Goldstein Family Community Chair in Human Rights, it will extend Shirley’s fervor for human rights to future generations. For more information about the 2023 Goldstein Lecture, please email Staci Geis at sgeis@unomaha.edu

never threaten to leave the country. And the answer he gives is that in general most right-wingers are religious whereas most left-wingers are secular. It follows that while it is extremely important for religious Israelis that Rosh Hashanah is their country’s New Year, it is much less so for secular Israelis. All this would have been surprising to Israel’s founders, almost all of whom were secular, but who also were Jews who had deep experience with life amidst nonJews. Native-born secular Israelis like Ms. Landau may take Israel’s Jewishness for granted.

Thankfully, though, Israel over the past 75 years has become a real country, and unless there are true cataclysms, “real” countries do not empty out of their citizens. If anything worries Ms. Landau, it is that Jewish liberal secular Israelis will accommodate themselves to “their increasingly closed secular-liberal bubble.” On this precise point, however, I absolutely know that there is no reason to worry. All across the planet, wherever there are Jews they are always overly represented in their country’s social-justice battles. There is no chance that Israel’s liberal secular community will stop fighting for their values.

The first of the Bible’s scrolls to be read in the New Year is always Ecclesiastes (on Succot), with its famous saying that there is “A season set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven.” (3.1). Israel may be undergoing a period of turmoil, but as Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935) reminds us: “Our path in national life and its march towards the general human attitude is very long. Long are our lives and long are, therefore, our paths. Great are we and great are our faults and therefore great are our troubles, and great are our consolations.” May our paths in 5784 be wonderful. Shana Tova.

Teddy Weinberger, Ph.D., made aliyah with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Jane Ross, and their five children, Nathan, Rebecca, Ruthie, Ezra, and Elie, all of whom are veterans of the Israeli Defense Forces; Weinberger can be reached at weinross@gmail.com

TEDDY WEINBERGER

Betsy Popken

Join our team

TERESA DRELICHARZ, MS, NCC, LIMHP, RPT

Jewish Family Service is once again hosting a team for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s (AFSP) Out of the Darkness Walk on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. To register and join our team, please go to: https://supporting. afsp. org/team/317460

This event is FREE to attend; however, when registering you do have the option of donating to AFSP.

Over the years, Jewish Family Service (JFS) has been dedicated to several important causes, one being suicide prevention and education. Partnering with the Kim Foundation for over nine years, JFS has been able to receive up-to-date information, including local and national statistics, and education related to suicide prevention that we bring back to the Omaha Jewish community.

Suicide is a real issue. Although it may not have touched your family directly, we do have community members who have been impacted by a suicide in their family. Please join us, as we work to continue to bring attention to this important issue. Our goal is to prevent even one more family from having to go through this heartbreak.

Once you are registered on our team, we invite you to stop by Jewish Family Service to pick up a special gift for the day of the walk and to thank you for your participation.

JEWISH PRESS NOTICES

The Jewish Press will be closed on Monday, Sept. 25 for Yom Kippur. The deadline for the Sept. 29 issue is Monday, Sept. 18, 9 a.m. Questions? Call 402.334.6448.

JBL Hall of Fame inducting Jeffrey P. Gold, MD

JAY KATELMAN

JFO Director of Community Development

Jewish Business Leaders Bagels & Breakfast will end 2023 with a bang! We celebrate by inducting UNMC’s Dr. Jeffrey Gold into the Jewish Business Leaders’ Hall of Fame at Happy Hollow Club, 1701 S 105th St, Omaha, NE 68124 in the Grand Ballroom. We will meet Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. This will be a wonderful event, and a great way to end 2023. We are so honored to have Dr. Gold come speak to our group.

Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, is a nationally recognized leader and tireless advocate for transforming higher education, academic medicine and healthcare delivery. He became the eighth chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Vice President of the University of Nebraska System and Chair of the board of UNMC’s principal clinical care academic health system partner, Nebraska Medicine, in early 2014. He has been repeatedly recognized as a Top 50 Healthcare Executive and as a Top 100 Physician Executive, as well as many

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national awards for service leading numerous community volunteer programs, philanthropic campaigns and programs. He has been married for more than 45 years to a physician and has two adult children.

Breakfast will be buffet style provided by Happy Hollow. We will have Kosher options from Star Catering, and as always, Stories will be on site to provide coffee for all. For more information, please contact Jay Katelman at jkatelman@jewish omaha.org, or call 402.334.6461. Please register for the event using the link: http://tinyurl.com/JBLUNMC

The award-winning B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS speaker program currently meets Wednesdays via Zoom from noon to 1 p.m. Please watch our email for specific information concerning its thought-provoking, informative list of speakers. To be placed on the email list, contact Breadbreakers chair at gary.javitch@gmail.com

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS

SP O TLIGHT

PHOTOS FROM RECENT JEWISH COMMUNITY EVENTS

SUBMIT A PHOTO: Have a photo of a recent Jewish Community event you would like to submit? Email the image and a suggested caption to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org

GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY

Right: At the Jewish Federation of Omaha, it can be difficult to get work done. Jessi Taylor suffers the antics of Jason Epsenhart, left, and Jay Katelman.

Bottom right: IHE Executive Director Scott Littky provides background on the Kiddush. Staff of the IHE, The Foundation, JCRC, JFS and Jewish Press connected during a learning session on Shabbat. Yes, we had food, too.

Below: In the Tri-Faith garden, you can find lots of cicada shells!!

Above: The Jewish Federation of Omaha hosted Rabbis Ben Sharff and Mordechai Geiger for a ‘Welcome to Omaha’

Above: Ari Wilson reading a PJ Library book. Ari is the granddaughter of Pam and Henry Monsky.

Above, below and bottom: The Residents of the SW neighborhood at RBJH raised caterpillars that turned into Painted Lady butterflies and were then set free. Thank you, Amy Anderson, for leading this incredible nature project for Residents to enjoy.

Left and above: Catching up with friends at the last JCC Backyard concert of the season.

Below left: You’re never too young to learn about Tzedaka—or to carry the pushka around.

Above right: Justin Norton gets ready for Temple Israel’s Young Learners program. Justin will be teaching in the Teva classroom this year.

Above and right: Friedel Jewish Academy’s seventhgraders playing ukulele in music class with Omaha Conservatory Of Music.

Honey cake

ASHTON KAY

Jewish Press intern

If you’ve been on the Jewish Press’s website recently, I’m sure you’ve noticed an influx of recipes being posted. As the Jewish Press intern, I’ve been tasked with digitizing some of these community recipes. At first, I started with a cookbook by Ron Lugasy, one of the former Israeli emissaries. There were a lot of good-looking recipes, and it featured ‘Taste of Memories,’ which shared favorite dishes of fallen Israeli soldiers. More recently I’ve been digitizing an older cookbook, with recipes from the 80’s or 90’s. Some of the recipes have been a little

HONEY CAKE

Ingredients:

1 scant cup sugar

2 Tbsp. Crisco or oil

2 eggs

1 cup honey

1 cup strong coffee (cooled)

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 heaping tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Mix the first 4 ingredients. Add dry ingredients alternately with coffee. Batter will be thin. Bake in a greased pan, at 325-350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

ASHTON’S VERSION

Use Crisco rather than oil and add:

Vanilla- about a Tbsp.

Nutmeg- a little less than a tsp.

Cloves- a little less than a tsp.

Directions:

Grease and flour the baking pan before pouring in batter. I ended up baking it at 330 for more like 50 minutes. For the frosting start with butter and powdered sugar, hand mix or mix in a mixing bowl, add a splash of heavy cream and a splash of vanilla. Finally, add honey. Taste-test the frosting as you mix in the honey, you don’t want to add too much and make it taste too much like honey.

bizarre, such as a mock pizza that calls for American cheese. Most of them, however, look delightful. Recipes for various Rosh Hashanah-appropriate foods from this book can be found on the Jewish Press’ website. Some of these include apple strudel, apple dumplings, and applesauce cookies. Because the book I’m pulling from is a community cookbook, some people submitted different recipes for the same dish. The one dish with by far the most recipes was honey cake with a total of 13 different versions. The titles range from ‘Honey Sponge Cake’ to ‘Honey Fruit Cake’. Many of them shared common ingredients like coffee, and others included new spins like orange juice or whisky. When I showed this to Annette, my boss and the editor of the Jewish Press, she told me about the Jewish love of honey cake. She suggested we have a little honey cake competition. We decided that we would both make the same recipe and each do our own variation on it. I picked a very standard looking recipe with no extra ingredients and we both made our honey cakes.

ANNETTE’S VERSION

I did go for oil because, to be honest, I’m not quite sure what Crisco is and I don’t think I’ve ever bought it! I added extra cinnamon, something called ‘speculaas kruiden’ which I bring back from Holland—I don’t know how to translate that but it’s in the same neighborhood as allspice. I also added dried cherries and raisins- altogether it became a fairly moist, rich cake that was difficult to cut and serve. Plus, all the cherries and raisins sank to the bottom, but: it tasted amazing-if I say so myself.

For my honey cake, I added vanilla, nutmeg, and cloves as well as a simple homemade frosting with a little bit of honey in it. I had never even had honey cake before making one, so I wasn’t exactly sure what it was supposed to taste like. The first time I made the frosting, my dog stood up on the counter and stole it right in front of me. His favorite thing to steal is butter, one of the main ingredients in the frosting, so I’m sure he enjoyed it. The cake took 10 minutes longer to bake than the recipe called for, but nothing else went catastrophically wrong.

My cake ended up tasting almost like a sweetbread, and the frosting was definitely a nice addition. Annette’s honey cake featured fruit, and ended up being slightly more moist than mine. It was a pleasantly different take on the honey cake. I don’t think there’s an unbiased way for either of us to pick a favorite. But for as little as was changed about the recipe, the cakes turned out quite differently.

Overall, I think both cakes were a success and I can finally say that I’ve had, and made honey cake.

One synagogue with one Jew

RICH JURO

“When the Spanish Jews were expelled in 1492, they went all over: Palestine, Istanbul, Iraq, India, even Yemen,” so told us Sami Cohen, the only Jew left in Eritrea. “Most of the Eritrean Jews came from Aden in Yemen, and were businessmen and traders. The Eritrean Jews numbered about 500 at their peak in the 1950’s. But most of them emigrated to Israel or Europe because of the Eritrean war and tough political climate. Although I have kids and sisters in Israel and Italy, I am the only Jew left here,” said Mr. Cohen.

Earlier we had visited the lovely synagogue. It was built about 1900. There were no police guarding it, unlike many places in the world. Asmara [the capital of Eritrea] is a very safe city and there’s never been any anti-Semitism. Some of

the windows are colored, almost like stained glass, with Stars of David built into the wooden frame.

Later, we went to Sami Cohen’s residence, a lovely white stone house with a garden surrounded by a solid white wall and tall thick vegetation. Sami is in his 60’s [at the time], still takes care of the synagogue, his house, and his import/ export business. He visits his kids and sisters in Israel and Europe. He’s also full of stories about the Jews that were here in his country.

Finally, we asked Sami what happens to the Asmara synagogue after him. He looked at us, raised his hands palms up, and said, “It’s up to God.”

For our full memoir and photos, see FranAndRichsTrav els.com

Asmara, Eritrea. Credit: Charles Fred, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Voices

The Jewish Press

(Founded in 1920)

Margie Gutnik

President

Annette van de Kamp-Wright

Editor Richard Busse

Creative Director

Howard Kutler

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Lori Kooper-Schwarz

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Gabby Blair

Staff Writer

Sam Kricsfeld

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Mary Bachteler

Accounting

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Margie Gutnik, President; Abigail Kutler, Ex-Officio; Helen Epstein; Seth Feldman; David Finkelstein; Ally Freeman; Mary Sue Grossman; Chuck Lucoff; Patricia Newman; Joseph Pinson and Larry Ring.

The mission of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish Community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world. Agencies of the JFO are: Institute for Holocaust Education, Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Social Services, Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Press Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www.jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

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Catalyst

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press Editor

Here’s a headline: “Elon Musk threatens to sue ADL for billions of dollars, blaming Jewish group for lost revenue.” It’s from an article by Ben Sales for the JTA, in which he writes:

“The legal threat of indeterminate seriousness came after he joined a white supremacist’s antiADL campaign on X, the platform he owns and renamed from Twitter. Over the last several days, Musk posted at least 25 times about the ADL or related topics. Several times, he blamed the Jewish anti-bigotry group for a 60% drop in advertising revenue on the platform and said he would seek redress in court. Last fall, shortly after Musk bought the platform for $44 billion, the ADL called for a temporary boycott due to reports of spiking bigotry on the site. The ADL has continued to protest Musk’s approach to hate speech but has itself resumed buying ads on X.”

We probably don’t need to talk about Elon Musk. What is there left to say? But: being called out for questionable decisions, and then blaming the one who calls you out that’s a problem we see too often. In this, Musk joins an ever-growing group of people who use the freedom of speech argument only when it benefits them.

For most of us, confronting hate of any kind is difficult. When it’s online, or when we notice it in popular culture, we are not always sure where to start. When it’s in person, it can be even harder. It’s scary to tell someone to their face their words are hurtful. It’s much, much easier to let it go, gloss over

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 pain, swallow our pride and move on.

For all its real and perceived faults (I am not saying the Anti-Defamation League as an organization is always perfect), the ADL does what most of us can’t: publicly stand up to hate. I have to say it: the push to delegitimize the ADL and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement vibe the same. It’s a familiar feeling: if you call me out on hateful speech or actions, I’m going to say it’s your fault for being overly sensitive. I’m going to punish you for holding me accountable, so next time, you will think twice.

It’s a great distraction; while the spotlight is on the ADL’s actions, who is watching the online trolls? NeoNazis continue to have free reign in not only X, but on a multitude of platforms. The question remains: how to respond?

“In the Charlton Heston version of the story,” Bari Weiss wrote for the New York Times in 2019, “all the Jews follow Moses out of bondage. But in the Jewish tradition, facing the terrifying unknown of life as a free people, a majority of the Israelite slaves chose to remain in Egypt. The stakes are different, but the same fundamental choice in the face of precariousness remains the same: Does safety come from contorting ourselves to look more like everyone else? Or does it come from drilling down into the wellspring of what made us special to begin with?”

She goes on to say: “But the Jews did not sustain

Aliens, archives and Americans

SAM KRICSFELD

Kansas City Chronicle Editor

I’ve never felt more like a spy than when I was handed two folders of alien case files at the National Archives in Kansas City.

I am trying to obtain as much information as I can about my family history in order to piece together and preserve our story. During my research, I found my great-grandfather’s sister’s names on a list of immigrants among the alien case files at the National Archives in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, just 20 minutes from my apartment.

getting my photo taken.

The payoff was worth it, though. The browned manila file folders, each stamped with case numbers, dates and seals, contained far more information (and photographs) than I ever expected to see.

Most of the files were indicative of the time they

their magnificent civilization because they were anti-antisemites. Our tradition was always renewed by people who made the choice in the face of tragedy that theirs would not be the end of the Jewish story, but the catalyst for writing a new chapter.”

Alien case files, of course, relate to immigrants who were not yet naturalized citizens of the United States (not little green extraterrestrials). The files were “created by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) beginning in April 1944… [and] contain all records of any active case of an alien not yet naturalized as they passed through the United States immigration and inspection process,” according to the National Archives.

The Kricsfelds immigrated to the U.S. in the 1910s and 1920s from what is now Edinet, Moldova, and ended up in Omaha, NE. Two of my great-grandfather’s sisters immigrated and did not become naturalized citizens until the 1950s; the alien case files I found were about them and hadn’t been viewed in nearly seven decades.

To reach the point where I was shown the files, I had to go through the process of completing an online course ensuring I knew how to handle old documents and archival material; scheduling a time to go to the research room (so they had time to bring the files in from offsite); having my I.D. scanned and

were processed — right in the middle of the McCarthy era and the Red Scare. Although you might think that two middle-aged Jewish women, both married and shorter than 5 feet and 4 inches tall, are unlikely to be communists plotting to overthrow the government during a decade of economic prosperity, the government didn’t.

What is today Edinet, Moldova, had previously been part of Romania and, at the end of World War II, ended up within the borders of the Soviet Union. The reshuffling of borders resulted in my great-greataunts’ files saying they came from Russia, which likely made the naturalization process more difficult.

Both had to swear they were not communists by signing documents multiple times throughout the course of their naturalization process. There were even FBI files in the folders, both with stamps from the FBI essentially saying that it could not find any dirt on my family.

In addition to its obsession with potential communists, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was incredibly strict. One aunt failed to report her address within an allotted time slot in January of 1954 (despite having done so for the previous three years), resulting in an interrogation (of which there is a written transcript).

An INS worker must’ve looked my great-great-

Antisemitism as a ‘catalyst for writing a new chapter’ is a concept born in hope, optimism, a focus on life. It means lifting ourselves up, rather than allowing others to drag us down. It also reminds me that hate is an external force, but light, mitzvot and life are internal strengths. Will we ever come up with a decisive strategy to fight antisemitism? I don’t believe we will. But we can’t let that stop us from living a full, rich Jewish life. Let’s all be that catalyst, and let’s all write that new chapter.

aunt, then 58 years old, in the eye when he said, “Failure [to report your address within the allotted time] makes you liable to prosecution — prosecution and possible deportation. The acceptance [of the address information] does not relieve you from any liability under the law. Do you understand?”

She signed the document, saying that she understood. Prosecution was waived by an attorney a few days later. Eventually, both took the oath of allegiance and were naturalized, ending what must have been an incredibly stressful few years.

I learned all this in the span of 45 minutes on a Wednesday afternoon. I was alone in the research room (the entire building seemed almost deserted) and had been given permission to photograph every document — they are no longer classified, and my great-great-aunts are long deceased.

The National Archives and its staff are amazing, and I am incredibly grateful that I had access to this information and their help. The fact that millions of historical files are stored intact and (with a little hoop-jumping) accessible to everyone is, to me, mind-blowing.

I implore you to visit the National Archives in Kansas City’s website (archives.gov/kansas-city) and look around; if you see they have a file about your family, take a little time to schlep to Kansas City and see it. It’s a special resource that we are fortunate to have access to.

Sam Kricsfeld is an Omaha native, a Friedel Jewish Academy graduate, the former JP Murray H. and Sharee C. Newman Intern and the current editor of the Kansas City Chronicle.

A folder containing Alien Case Files at the National Archives in Kansas City.

A statement on a file with a stamped statement confirming that the alien swore they were not a communist.

One Palestinian, one Jew, and two different impressions of Golda

MIRA SUCHAROV JTA

Like many other Diaspora Jews, I was curious to see the film Golda, which dramatizes Israel’s first female prime minister’s handling of what for Israel was the nearly disastrous Yom Kippur War of 1973. But I wanted to know what it would be like to see it with a Palestinian American.

So I called up my friend and colleague, Omar Dajani, professor of law at the University of the Pacific and a legal adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team in peace talks with Israel from 1999-2003. We agreed to see the film the same night in our respective cities (he in San Francisco and me in Ottawa) and compare notes the next morning.

On the film’s artistic aspects — for instance, the excellent casting of Helen Mirren as Golda Meir and Liev Schreiber as U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger; the less successful portrait of Moshe Dayan by Rami Heuberger, who missed the boat on the defense minister’s well-known charisma — our agreement was deep and broad. (And I succeeded in getting Omar on board with my favorite Israeli actor, Lior Ashkenazi, who plays David “Dado” Elazar, the IDF’s chief of staff.)

But finding common ground on the framing of the Yom Kippur War, the focus of the film’s narrative proved much harder.

Most of the Israeli criticism of its country’s handling of events in October 1973 has focused on the Israeli intelligence failure in the lead-up to Egypt and Syria’s surprise attack. Israeli analysts refer to this blindspot as the “conceptzia.”

Talking to Omar, I soon realized that I, too, had been caught up in a conceptzia, albeit of a different sort.

I was only a baby when the Yom Kippur War broke out. But so much of my life was indirectly shaped by those three weeks in 1973. My first boyfriend had come to Winnipeg with his Israeli parents in part because of that war. Same with my seventh-grade crush, in Vancouver. Born two days apart, both were exactly a year old when the war changed things for so many Israelis. My husband had the reverse family story; he moved with his parents and sister to Israel a few months before the war broke out before they returned to Canada 18 months later. And my kibbutz “dad” (some youth movementraised young adults, like I was, are gifted an “adoptive” family on kibbutz to connect with as they spend time in the country) served on the front lines in 1973. Just two months ago, we talked about his battle memories — still raw and unfiltered — until the wee hours of the night.

All these personal connections have meant that when I think

Annual dose of Judaism

ANDY

GREENBERG

Did you ever realize that summer camp and the High Holidays have so much in common?

I remember years ago, a non-Jewish person approached me and sincerely asked “is it a law for Jewish families to send their children to summer camp?” Like a typical Jewish person, I answered a question with a question “why do you ask?” She replied, “every Jewish person I know sends their children to summer camp, therefore, it must be a law!” I simply replied “we send them to get the Jewish experience.”

For many young families the Jewish High Holidays are exactly the same. An overwhelming number participate religiously in the High Holiday experience, connect with their Judaism, heritage and family traditions and when the Shofar blows at the end of Nehila, it’s over till next year.

Yet, years ago, when I was living in Omaha, Rabbi Steven Abraham in a D’var Torah said, “when the child comes home and wants to recreate the summer Jewish experience by lighting candles or leading kiddush, or attending the occasional service, some parents reply “those are not customs we do at home.” Perhaps families are disinterested or do not want to make time. Rabbi Abraham argued that camp gives our children an inoculation of Judaism (knowledge and experience) that their parents never got.

In both instances, the Annual Dose of Judaism is accomplished.

During the holidays however, we reflect on three extremely important aspects, not necessarily in order: family, values, and faith.

As a Jewish educator for 25 years, I often ask students ranging from 3rd grade through high school what they like about being Jewish. Once we get past Hanukkah, the number one answer is “I like to be with my family.”

To many young parents this might be a surprise, yet the secular world, in many different studies, proved that the more time a child spends with their family the more developed they are to tackle the world as an adult. The experience of having

about the Yom Kippur War, I feel instinctively protective. Protective of Israelis who were forced to endure the insult of being attacked on their holiest day of the year (for Jewish Israelis at least) even if that holiness extends, for many, to simply bike riding on empty streets. Protective of the memory of the 11 boys who were killed on my aunt and uncle’s kibbutz for whom a stunning tune to the Yom Kippur Prayer “Unetaneh Tokef” was written, and which I’ve led at my synagogue on High Holidays past. Though I’m ashamed to admit it — given her comments denying the existence of the Palestinian people — I was also protective even of Golda’s legacy as a Jewish stateswoman.

But talking to Omar I was forced to consider another perspective. “As a film about the 1973 war,” Omar told me, “I found it infuriating. The film did almost nothing to set up the fact that the Egyptian offensive against Israel was taking place to a great extent on Egyptian territory.” Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was trying to get back the Sinai, after all.

Omar also stressed that Meir refused to entertain various opportunities for Israel-Egyptian peace in the years leading up to the war, a point made in a recent Jewish Telegraphic Agency article about the film. Sadat “was dying for a peace opening,” Omar said to me. “The film claims that Israeli-Egyptian peace in 1979 was a result of what Meir did, while I would argue that the peace agreement was in spite of what she did.”

I challenged Omar on the idea of the war being started on “Egyptian territory” given that the Sinai was (legally) occupied by Israel following the Six-Day War of 1967; he countered with a view of that war as having resulted from an offensive attack by Israel. I drew on the idea that Egypt’s closure of the Straits of Tiran and expulsion of United Nations peacekeepers may have justified Israel’s pre-emptive strike; he referenced Article 51 and Article 2 of the United Nations Charter regarding acceptable uses of force.

After 90 minutes of back-and-forth, I carefully strode across the proverbial debate stage and asked the question most often considered taboo in academic circles.

“Do you think,” I asked gingerly, “that our respective debating positions are a function of our ethnic allegiances?”

“Yes and no,” he offered. “On one hand, opposing Israel taking others’ land and holding it indefinitely whenever it feels it will serve its security purposes is not about being Palestinian; it is about believing in the international rule of law, and I’m

an international law scholar.

“On the other hand,” he continued, “I’ve lived in Egypt and so I certainly recognize that my sympathies affect my tendency to see some acts that are unlawful as being justified. And so while I see how some people defend Israeli acts as justified even if they are unlawful, the same goes for me and Egypt. For instance, Sadat violated the ceasefire in the first place.”

Where does all this leave me? I suppose it served as a healthy reminder that we — analysts, scholars, writers, and

Rosh Hashanah meals can be repeated every Friday night when Shabbat candles are lit and a family sings together in unison. Children are blessed and feel loved and the spouse is honored by a special prayer.

During the holidays, focus is on being a good person, who is valuable to society, family and friends. We learn the difference between right and wrong. It’s truly amazing that the whole concept of Jewish education and texts focuses on these five areas; how to get along with each others, ourselves, planet earth, the history of the world and God.

I am often reminded of the story of Kol Nidre evening as the congregants are entering the synagogue. The Rabbi, after welcoming each family, asks if they believe in God. For those that do, the Rabbi wishes them a good holiday and easy fast. When someone says no, the question is asked “why are you here?” The answer is “just in case.”

The High Holidays are about faith. We pray for a good year and forgiveness for our sins having the annual faith that someone is listening and might see things our way.

When it’s over, our belief system sets in. For many, if the existence of God cannot be factually proven then we believe that God does not exist.

Anybody who tries to rationally and intellectually confirm the immortal existence of the omnipresent is frankly doomed to fail. It is strictly based on emotion devoid of any facts, rationalization or reasoning similar to when someone is asked to intellectually explain what love is.

This holiday season, as we contemplate who we were, who we want to be and how we are going to get there based on family, values and faith, we should all continue to reflect that our annual dose of Judaism can be extended to a lifetime.

What is really the harm of having a family who respects, loves and actually yearns to spend time with each other without any outside world distractions? What is wrong with having values that are consistently reinforced that result in a better relationship with everybody who knows you and who

human beings — have a set of complex commitments that stem from our understanding of how things are and how they ought to be. While we hope that those commitments are free of tribal ties, sometimes that’s just not possible.

At least Omar and I both agree that the most pressing contemporary humanitarian issue in Israel-Palestine is that of the grinding occupation and the human rights abuses that flow from it. We also both see Israel’s current judicial crisis as in part a reflection of those circumstances. And ultimately we agree that to be human is to care deeply about both one’s own and about the other, whoever they are. I suppose that’s a start.

Mira Sucharov is Professor of Political Science & University Chair of Teaching Innovation at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. She is co-editor (with Aaron J. Hahn Tapper) of Social Justice and Israel/Palestine: Foundational & Contemporary Debates (University of Toronto Press, 2019).

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

you know? What is wrong with having faith in a God that millenniums ago, for millennials, Gen X, Gen Y gave us all this information and whom we visit in many cases once a year.

Let’s share the values learned this High Holiday, listen to what our children want with open arms and with a full heart of faith, share our daily dose of Judaism.

Andy Greenberg is a Jewish educator, lay service leader, speaker, former TV talk show host and producer, author and radio personality. speakingodandygreenberg@com cast.net

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor,

After a distinguished career as the head of Boys Town, a significant institution, Father Steven Boes will retire. This letter relates to the commencement of his tenure.

At Kol Nidre services, at Beth El Synagogue, a neighbor of the Boys Town campus, Rabbi Paul Drazen, welcomed Father Boes. He said that Boes requested to briefly speak to the congregation. Boes, a tall, muscular man with a ruddy complexion, took the pulpit. Among his welcoming remarks, Boes related this story.

Before Boys Town, he had been the principal of a Catholic high school in Norfolk, Nebraska. An antisemitic incident occurred there. So Boes called the Jewish Federation in Omaha for help. They sent Cantor Leo Fettman from Beth Israel Synagogue and a Holocaust survivor. He went to the high school and helped Boes resolve the situation.

Afterwards, Boes related that Fettman actively sought the friendship of Boes. He invited him to dinner and many other gettogethers.

STEVE J. RIEKES

Credit: U.S. News & World Report collection at the Library of Congress/JTA illustration by Mollie Suss

Fr. Steven Boes

Synagogues

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

618 Mynster Street

Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766

712.322.4705

email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE

Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism

14506 California Street Omaha, NE 68154-1980

402.492.8550 bethel-omaha.org

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America

12604 Pacific Street Omaha, NE. 68154

402.556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org

CHABAD HOUSE

An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch

1866 South 120 Street Omaha, NE 68144-1646

402.330.1800 OChabad.com email: chabad@aol.com

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN

South Street Temple

Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE

Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road Offutt AFB, NE 68123

402.294.6244

email: oafbjsll@icloud.com

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME

323 South 132 Street Omaha, NE 68154

TEMPLE ISRAEL

Union for Reform Judaism (URJ)

13111 Sterling Ridge Drive Omaha, NE 68144-1206

402.556.6536 templeisraelomaha.com

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: TIFERETH ISRAEL

Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

3219 Sheridan Boulevard

Lincoln, NE 68502-5236

402.423.8569 tiferethisraellincoln.org

B’NAI ISRAEL

We will not have services Sept. 8. Everyone is welcome for Erev Rosh Hashanah Evening Service, Friday, Sept. 15, 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker, Jason Epsenhart, JFO Director of Facilities and Rosh Hashanah Morning Service Saturday, Sept. 16, 10:30 a.m. with guest speaker, Harmon Maples, Director Midwest Regional Office of the ADL/NE Community Engagement Manager. Services led by Jeff Taxman. For information about our historic synagogue, please contact Howard Kutler at hkutler@hotmail. com or any of our other board members: Renee Corcoran, Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Ann Moshman, Mary-Beth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.

a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 7:20 p.m.; Parsha Class 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY-Sept. 22: Selichot, 6:40 a.m.; Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 7:04 p.m.

SATURDAY-Sept. 23: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Shtiegers, 5 p.m. at the Geigers; ehillim Youth Class, 5:15 p.m. with Rabbi Tal; Soulful Torah: Unpacking the Or HaChayim’s Teachings, 6 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:50 p.m.; Laws of Shabbos/ Kids Activity 7:20 p.m.; Havdalah, 8:02 p.m. Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.

CHABAD HOUSE

ership at TI; Rosh Hashanah Morning Service 10 a.m. with Rabbi Alex at SST; Yom Tov Candlelighting , 8:15 p.m.

SUNDAY: No LJCS Classes; Rosh Hashanah Morning Day Two Service, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex at TI; Men’s Bike/Coffee Group meet, 10:45 a.m. at The Mill on the Innovation Campus. We sit outside, facing east. For more information or questions please email Al Weiss at albertw801@gmail.com; Jewish Book Club, 1:30 p.m. via Zoom; Pickleball, 3-5 p.m. at TI. Anyone interested in playing or learning how to play can text Miriam at 402.470.2393; Tashlich Service, 4 p.m. at Antelope Park; Havdalah, 8:13 p.m.

MONDAY: Fast Begins, 5:48 a.m.; Fast Ends, 8:04 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: LJCS Classes (Grades 3-6), 4:30-6 p.m.; JTTJF Movie Night, 6:30 p.m. at SST.

Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

IN-PERSON AND ZOOM MINYAN SCHEDULE: Mornings on Sundays, 9:30 a.m.; Mondays and Thursdays, 7 a.m.; Evenings on Sunday-Thursday, 5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Festival Evening Service, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Rosh Hashanah Family Service 9 a.m.; Rosh Hashanah Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Rosh Hashanah Youth Service/Programming 10 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 5:30 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.

SUNDAY: Rosh Hashanah Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Rosh Hashanah Youth Service/Programming 10 a.m.; Rosh Hashanah Lunch, 12:45 p.m.; Taslich, 2 p.m. Meet at Beth El and then walk to lake behind First National Bank.

MONDAY: Morning Minyan, 7 a.m.

WEDNESDAY: BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4:15 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 6 p.m.

FRIDAY-Sept. 22: Nebraska AIDS Project Lunch, 11:30 a.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat 6 p.m.

SATURDAY-Sept. 23: Shabbat Morning Service, 10 a.m.; Junior Congregation (Grades K-12), 10 a.m.; Havdalah 7:55 p.m. Zoom Only.

Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.

BETH EL BETH ISRAEL

FRIDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 7:16 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Torah Reading, 10 a.m.; Tot Shabbat/Kids Davening 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class 10:45 a.m.; Musaf 11 a.m.; Kiddush noon; Shtiegers, 5:13 p.m. at the Geigers; Tehillim Youth Class, 5:27 p.m. with Rabbi Tal; Soulful Torah: Unpacking the Or HaChayim’s Teachings, 6:12 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7 p.m.; Laws of Shabbos/Kids Activity, 7:30 p.m.; Candlelighting, 8:14 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Torah Reading, 10 a.m.; Kids Davening 10:45 a.m.; Shofar/Musaf 11 a.m.; Kiddush noon; 2nd Shofar 12:45 p.m.; Tashlich 1:30 p.m. at Temple Israel Creek; Kids Learning, 6 p.m.; 3rd Shofar 7 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 7:15p.m. ; Havdalah 8:12

p.m.

MONDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m.; Nach Yomi, 6:45

a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:20 p.m.

TUESDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m.; Nach Yomi, 6:45

a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Board of Directors Meeting, 6:30 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:20 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m.; Nach Yomi, 6:45

a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:20 p.m.

THURSDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m.; Nach Yomi, 6:45

a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Character Development, 9:30

Ron’s Kitchen: Babka

RON LUGASY

In 2020, Shlicha Ron Lugasy collected some of her favorite recipes for the Omaha Jewish community to enjoy, long after she returned to Israel. You can find more of her recipes at www.omahajewishpress.com.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 lbs flour

2 Tbsp. dry yeast

1 cup of sugar

1 1/4 cup of oil

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

2 cups of warm water

All services are in-person. All classes are being offered in-person and via Zoom (ochabad.com/academy). For more information or to request help, please visit www.ochabad.com or call the office at 402.330.1800.

FRIDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Taste of Tradition Pickup, 3-6 p.m. at the JCC; Inspirational Lechayim, 5:45 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ochabad.com/Lechayim; Candlelighting, 7:15 p.m.; Evening Service, 7 p.m. To RSVP for dinner or have it delivered, please email: Office@ochabad.com.

SATURDAY: Services, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush Lunch; Holiday Candlelighting after, 8:13 p.m.

SUNDAY: Services, 9:30 a.m., One-Hour High Holiday Service, 11 a.m. followed by Kiddush Lunch; Tashlich, 7 p.m. followed by farbrengen Take the holidays with you! at the Katzman Home.

MONDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Personal Parsha, 9:30 a.m.; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Introduction to Writing Hebrew Script and Vocabulary Practice, 5 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen.

TUESDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 7 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen.

WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Mystical Thinking (Tanya), 9:30 a.m.; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen.

THURSDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Parsha Reading, 10 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study (Sanhedrin 34), noon; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) Class, 7 p.m.

FRIDAY-Sept. 22: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Inspirational Lechayim, 5:45 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ocha bad.com/Lechayim; Candlelighting, 7:03 p.m.

SATURDAY-Sept. 23: Services, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush Lunch; Shabbat Ends, 8 p.m.

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL

Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch. All services offered in-person with live-stream or teleconferencing options.

FRIDAY: Choir Call, 6:15 p.m. at TI; Community Erev Rosh Hashanah Service with Rabbi Alex and music by Nathaniel and Steve Kaup, 7:30 p.m. at TI; Oneg Host: TBD; Yom Tov Candlelighting, 7:18 p.m.

SATURDAY: Rosh Hashanah Children’s Services, 9 a.m. at SST; Choir Call, 9:30 a.m. at SST; Rosh Hashanah Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with lay lead-

Filling:

Melted butter or oil

1 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of cocoa

1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients to a smooth flexible dough.

Let it rise until it doubles its size.

Split to 4 balls.

Flatten the first ball to a very thin square.

Brush it with butter.

Spread a generous amount of filling, fold, and place in an english cake pan. Repeat with all 4 balls.

Let it rise for half an hour.

Bake at 360 degrees for 45 minutes.

Once the cakes are ready, brush them with sugar

THURSDAY: High Holy Days Choir Rehearsal, 7 p.m. at SST. If you are interested in choir, please contact our music director, Steven Kaup, via email at: Mus icDirector@southstreettemple.org

FRIDAY-Sept. 22: Kabbatlat Shabbat Service with Rabbi Alex and music by Nathaniel and Steve Kaup, 6:30 p.m. at SST; Oneg Host: TBD; Shabbat Candlelighting, 7:06 p.m.

SATURDAY-Sept. 23: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE

on Parashat Ha’azinu; Havdalah, 8:03 p.m.

FRIDAYS: Virtual Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month at Capehart Chapel. Contact TSgt Jason Rife at OAFBJSLL@icloud.com for

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME

more information.

The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home’s service is cur-

TEMPLE ISRAEL

rently closed to visitors.

In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Benjamin Sharff, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin, and Cantor Joanna Alexander

FRIDAY: Drop in Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m. In-Person; Erev Rosh Hashanah Service, 7:30 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.

SATURDAY: Tot Rosh Hashanah Service, 9:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Sitter Service for Children Ages 04 10 a.m. RSVP Required; Rosh Hashanah Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Youth Programming, 10:30 a.m. In-Person.

SUNDAY: Temple Israel Office Closed

WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m. In-Person.; Grades 36, 4:30 p.m.; Grades 8-12 Teen Beit Midrash, 6 p.m.

THURSDAY: Thursday Morning Class, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Azriel via Zoom

FRIDAY-Sept. 22: Drop in Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m. InPerson; Bring Your Own Picnic, 5 p.m. at Gene Leahy Mall In-Person; Shabbat Shuva Service and Tashlich, 6 p.m. at Gene Leahy Mall In-Person.

SATURDAY-Sept. 23: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person & Zoom.

Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.

MEMORIAL SERVICES

Sunday, Sept. 17

Temple Israel Cemetery, 6412 N. 42nd St., 1 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 24

Oak Hills/Bikhor Cholim, Council Bluffs, 11 a.m.

Credit: bakingamoment.com

water. (The filling can be anything you like, from nutella, to cheese, nuts and so on.)

Life cycles

BIRTH

YEHUDA LEIB MARCOVITZ

Max (Mordechai) and Tziporah Marcovitz of Beitar Illit, Israel, announce the Aug. 31, 2023 birth of their son, Yehuda Leib.

He has six siblings.

Grandparents are Mimi Rogers and Scott Farkas of Lavon, TX.

Great-grandparents are Ronald and Elaine Marcovitz of Del Ray Beach, Gerald Farkas of Boyton Beach, FL, the late Franklin and Wilma Rogers of Omaha and the late Bunny Farkas of Boyton Beach, FL.

SUBMIT OBITUARIES TO THE JEWISH PRESS:

Email the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; mail to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; or online at online at www.omahajewishpress.com/site/forms/

IN MEMORIAM

ROBERTA RAY NEWFELD

Roberta Ray Newfeld passed away on Aug. 23, 2023. Services were held on Aug. 25, 2023 at Beth Israel Cemetery in Woodbridge, NJ.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Henry L. Newfeld.

She is survived by daughters and sons-in-law, Allison Newfeld and Brad Dust, Alayne and Daryl Zaremba; daughers, Lisa Meshulam, Deborah Meshulam; sons and daughters-in-law, Adam and Gail Newfeld and Seth and Stacy Newfeld; grandchildren: Danny, Danielle and Scott, Cassie and Ben, Jennifer and Brian, Abbi, Hana, Aiden, Lucas and Tyler; great-grandchildren; Zander, Carson, Oakley, Avery, Logan, Oliver and Elliot; beloved best friend, Judah Macc.

Memorials may be made to Beth El Synagogue, 14506 California Street, Omaha, NE 68154 or the organization of your choice.

Racial Stamina cohort at Temple Israel

ELLEN PLATT

Three years ago, co-chair of Temple Israel’s Racial Justice Initiative Sara Cowan wrote, “The United States is in the midst of a racial reckoning. As Jews, we must recognize that the work of antiracism is difficult, necessary, and ours to do.” That statement is as true today as it was then; perhaps even more so. To become an anti-racist is no easy feat. It requires courage, commitment, and conviction. It requires sitting with our discomfort. And yet, it is what is demanded of us as Jews in the world today.

As a community, we have come together to do this work in a variety of ways. One of the most powerful opportunities to delve deep into the work of anti-racism is through a transformational program being offered at Temple Israel: Building Racial Stamina in Jewish Community, founded by Deitra Reiser, Ph.D. The program is an interactive eight-week curriculum designed to raise awareness, encourage personal transformation, and ultimately, grow an anti-racist community.

In the past 18 months, Temple Israel has brought together two different groups who have found this work to be deeply impactful and meaningful. During the first cohort, Dr. Reiser trained facilitators so that Temple can continue providing

this opportunity to the community.

We are delighted to invite you to participate in our third cohort, led by Cat King, Berta Ackerson, and Ellen Platt. If you are interested in participating in this sacred work and learning more about intersectional identity, systems of oppression, privilege, and how and why these conversations must take place in our Jewish community, we welcome you to be part of our next cohort.

Meetings will take place from 6:30-8 p.m. on the following Thursday evenings: Oct. 5, 19 and 26, Nov. 2, 9, 16 and 30, and Dec. 14.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Mindi Marburg at mmarburg@templeisraelomaha.com or 402.556.6536.

We are excited to continue this sacred work. The work of building racial stamina continues to challenge us to look inward and make measurable change for ourselves and our community, ensuring that we lead with the values of justice, inclusivity and community at the forefront of everything that we do. Dr. Reiser believes that in order to live our Jewish values, “we must understand how race and racism impact us and our society. The work is imperative and beautiful.”

Letter-writing campaign to Evan Gershkovich

JACKIE HAJDENBERG

JTA

Since he was arrested by Russian authorities in March, one of Evan Gershkovich’s few connections to the outside world has been a stream of letters from his friends and family. But soon, his circle of correspondents is due to expand. In the days surrounding Rosh Hashanah, people from around the world will be sending Gershkovich letters, all wishing him a happy new year.

Gershkovich, 31, a Wall Street Journal reporter and son of Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union, has been detained since March on charges of espionage. He has yet to stand trial.

In the months since his arrest, Jews have repeatedly employed religious rituals to call for his freedom. Now, ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year that begins on the evening of Friday, Sept. 15, the Jewish Federations of North

America has launched a letter-writing campaign to send Gershkovich cards wishing him a “Shana tova,” or happy new year. A Jewish Federations spokesperson said that the group expects a “substantial” number of letters to come in. But to reach Gershkovich, the spokesperson said, Russian policy dictates that all letters must first be translated into Russian and vetted. To abbreviate that process, Federations staff will collate excerpts from the letters into one “collective” letter that reflects the themes of the greeting cards, and notes the number of people who sent them, while condensing their total length. The “collective” letter will be sent to Gershkovich via his lawyers. The full texts of the letters themselves will be sent to Gershkovich’s parents, who live in New Jersey and are aware of the campaign. Letters can be submitted until Sept. 15. Read more at www.omahajewishpress.com

ANNOUNCEMENT

ADVERTISE STATEWIDE for $225/25 word classified ad. Over 140 newspapers with circulation of more than 237,000. Contact The Jewish Press or call 1-800-369-2850.

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GUN SHOW

GUN SHOW: September 22-24 Westfair, Council Bluffs, IA Fri 38pm, Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 9am-3pm. $10 for all weekend (under 14 FREE). More info: 563-608-4401 www.marvkrauspromotions.net.

HOME SERVICES

DOES YOUR basement or crawl space need some attention? Call Thrasher Foundation Repair! A permanent solution for waterproofing, failing foundations, sinking concrete and nasty crawl spaces. FREE Inspection & Same Day Estimate. $250 off ANY project with code GET250. Call 1-844-958-3431.

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SAFE STEP. North America s #1 Walk-In Tub. Comprehensive lifetime warranty. Top-of-the-line installation and service. Now featuring our FREE shower package and $1600 Off for a limited time! Call today! Financing available. Call Safe Step 1-877-9330188.

or visit dorranceinfo.com/Nebraska.

Beth Israel welcomes Rabbi Mordechai and Ayelet Geiger

MARY SUE GROSSMAN

With the welcoming of the New Year, Beth Israel Synagogue is delighted to also welcome Rabbi Mordechai and Ayelet Geiger and their daughter, Hadassah. Rabbi Mordechai is the shul’s new Assistant Rabbi and the couple are already an integral part of the Beth Israel team.

Rabbi Mordechai and Ayelet were in Phoenix for the past two years, where he was with the Phoenix Community Kollel and Ayelet taught part time at Shearim Torah High School. (Coming from Phoenix’s record-breaking summer heat including many days of 115 degrees or more, having a morning temperature in the 60’s their first morning in Omaha was a most welcome change.) As part of the Kollel, Rabbi Mordechai led multiple beginner and advanced Gemara and Jewish philosophy classes, organized and ran events and programs for teens and adults respectively. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Behavioral Science from Bellevue University and attended Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Sh’or Yoshuv in New York, and Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Maryland. Ayelet attended Meohr Seminary. The rabbi is originally from Los Angeles and Ayelet is from Detroit.

“Ayelet and I strongly believe in building relationships within a community, especially with young families,” shares Rabbi Mordechai. “We are looking forward to creating strong relationships and creating a sense of community and fostering a supportive environment where families can thrive and grow together.”

Rabbi Ari Dembitzer reports that Rabbi Mordechai has hit the ground running and is already making his mark. “From the first interview, I knew that Rabbi Mordechai would be a great fit for Beth Israel and the Omaha Jewish community. When he and Ayelet visited, it was easy to tell they would quickly make an impact on the congregation.” Rabbi Ari shares. “My goals for Rabbi Mordechai are to expand the educational offerings for all ages and find ways to be involved with the entire con-

gregation. We are so fortunate to have supportive, involved members and he will find it is a pleasure to make connections.”

Jeff Kirshenbaum, Beth Israel president, concurs with Rabbi Ari, adding, “During the interview process, it was easy to tell that Rabbi Mordechai and Ayelet would ‘get’ Beth Israel and would also be a part of the Omaha Jewish community,” commented Jeff. “The committee members agreed the synagogue needed someone who wanted to be involved from day one,

particularly with youth, and we are quite sure that both of the Geigers will fit the bill.”

Rabbi Geiger is leading a new class each Shabbat, 45 minutes before Mincha, entitled Soulful Torah: Unpacking the Or HaChayim’s Teachings in addition to a Shabbat morning Pirke Avot class. He is also part of the teaching team for Monday Mind Builders, Beth Israel’s weekly youth program with offerings for kindergarten through 9th grade students. After the High Holidays, he will teach a monthly Interactive Sundays session at the JCC, studying Duties of the Heart and every other Tuesday, he will lead a medical ethics class at UNMC from noon-1 p.m. Rabbi Geiger will also be handling kashruth work, having several years as a kashrut supervisor/mashgiach.

“I am passionate about fostering a love of Yiddishkeit and Israel,” says Rabbi Mordechai, “and I am looking forward to continuing that work in our new home.” Ayelet adds, “We feel privileged to join such a warm and welcoming community! Although we’ve only been here a short time, it already feels like home. We want to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year. Shana Tova!”

For information on Beth Israel, please visit the website at orthodoxomaha.org or call 402.556.6288. Keep current on the latest happenings with the synagogue’s weekly email. To be added to the list, email your request to bethisrael@ortho doxomaha.org or call the office.

INFORMATION

ANTISEMITIC/HATE INCIDENTS

If you encounter an antisemitic or other hate incident, you are not alone. Your first call should be to the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) in Omaha at 402.334.6572, or email JCRCreporting@ jewishomaha.org. If you perceive an imminent threat, call 911, and text Safety & Security Manager James Donahue at 402.213.1658.

The Geigers

Rabbi Mordechai, Ayelet and Hadassah