September 22, 2006: Rosh Hashanah Editon

Vol. LXXXVI No. 2 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 85 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

29 Elul, 5766 September 22, 2006 4 Sections

The People of the Book Challenges In and Out of the Classroom

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

The People of the Book Jews have been known throughout history as “The People of the Book.” The Book, of course, refers to the Tanakh--the collection of the Torah (the Five Books of Moses), Nevi’im (the Prophets), and Ketuvim (the Writings) which include the five Megillot, Proverbs, Psalms, Chronicles and more.

The description derives from the fact that the Jewish people have always stressed education. And that means more than book knowledge. Even the Talmud instructs a parent to teach a child a vocational skill in order to be able to earn a living--and how to swim, a reference to staying fit and healthy.

If you’re not sure that we still fit that description, you need only to read the 40+ stories in this issue of the Jewish Press. You’ll find educators from preschool to university professors, from school board members to teachers in religious schools. And they all care about one thing: their students.

Their challenges are many: dysfunctional families, students with “an attitude,” parents who don’t care and administrators who can’t give them the funding they need to run a proper classroom. Teachers deal with a society that seems to value looks more than brains, sports prowess more than the ability to earn a living. And they have to face competition from a fast-paced electronic world that includes video games and DVDs, cell phones and text messaging, e-mail and websites.

Teachers today don’t have it easy, yet they stay on, sometimes spending their own money to buy school supplies for those children who can’t afford it, sometimes staying up past midnight and then getting up at 5 a.m. to prepare

lessons for the day.

They act as counselors, classroom “moms”, mediators, social directors, fundraisers and more, often leaving little time for the real work of educating our future citizens.

And what about our religious school teachers? For nearly all of them, this is a second (or third job) coming after the one that pays the bills. They, too, face kids who don’t want to be in Hebrew School and parents who value soccer games over learning the history of our people.

This is really a remarkable collection of people for whom careers mean more than a paycheck or a way to advance up the social ladder.

Their occupation is a true calling, and one that holds the future of your children in their hands. Our only wish is that we could have profiled more of these passionate educators.

As always, names had to be left on the table-more due to lack of space in these printed pages and lack of time to arrange and write interviews than to any deliberate omission.

To those freelance writers whose stories graces these pages, we offer a big “thank you!” and a sigh of relief! The talents of Diane Axler Baum, Leo Adam Biga, Gary Javitch, Gloria Shukert Jones, Joan K. Marcus, Bert Lewis, Ozzie Nogg, Claudia Sherman, and our newest writer-- summer Editorial Intern Anne Muskin--showcase the community of educators in Nebraska. We hope you enjoy reading their stories as much as they did writing them.

Designing our front cover, most of the ads within these pages, the layout and all of our four-color pages is our multi-talented Managing Editor Richard Busse.

Putting all of this together in a readable format was our Assistant Managing Editor Lori Kooper Schwarz, who started working on the New Year’s issue in June!

Of course, we wouldn’t even be publishing a large issue like this if it were for the persistence of Advertising Manager Allan Handleman and Advertising Executive Terri Greenwood. They followed every lead and then some to ensure that once again, the Jewish Press New Year’s issue would be another winner (last years, by the way, won a second place in the category of special sections at the annual Rockower Awards, sponsored by the American Jewish Press Association.)

Thanks--in advance--go to Barb Kirkpatrick, our bookkeeper, who will be invoicing the more than 300 ads in this issue while you, our loyal reader, get to relax and enjoy perusing it!

And to our loyal office volunteers: Dottie Rosenblum and Suzanne Singer: what would we do without you! You’re both so deserving of the recent recogniztion by the Federation.

To our readers: please support the advertisers whose messages appear in these pages; they want to reach the valuable target market served by the only vehicle to reach every Jewish household in Nebraska and Western Iowa. And to our out-of-town subscribers-thanks for your continued support.

On behalf of the Jewish Press Staff and Committee, we wish you a happy, healthy, prosperous--and most of all, peaceful--5767.

And don’t forget to say “thank you” to the teachers in your lives!

Carol Katzman, Editor Howard K. Marcus, Chairman

Front cover photos, from top left: Teacher Naama Arzi speaks Hebrew only in the TalAm class at the Friedel Jewish Academy; empty seats await college students while a Torah scroll awaits a B’nai Mitzvah student; construction has been completed on the tower at the Jewish Theological semi-

nary, thanks to a donation by Rabbi Myer S. Kripke and his late wife, Dorothy; stocked shelves at the Friedel library; retiree Stuart Muskin tutors an older adult earning her GED; former community teacher Dr. Lionel Wohlberger leads shacharit; Grinnell College student Hannah Wolf shown

here playing for Millard West, is still playing basketball; Beth El religious school teacher Daniel Christensen chats with fellow artist Ophir Palmon.

Credits: istockphoto.com, Jill Belmont, Carol Katzman, JTS, Joan K. Marcus, Phil Wolf,

We wish you this and more.

(Founded in 1920) Howard K. Marcus Chairman 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 Jewish Press Committee Bobbi Leibowitz, Vice-Chairman; Stan Mitchell, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Treasurer; Michael Siegel, Finance Chairman; Joanie Jacobson, Immediate Past-chairman; David Herzog; Susan Lehr; Jamie Meyerson; George Quittner; Melissa Schop; 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 a constitutional committee of the Jewish Federation.

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

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September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

Life Work Has “turned out pretty well!”

by GARY JAVITCH In his 45 years as a professor, legal practitioner and law school dean, Rodney Shkolnick has amassed some very impressive statistics. Since 1961, the Creighton professor has taught more than 10,000 students. Many in that number had the popular instructor for multiple courses.

During his multi-faceted career, he has earned the respect, fondness and appreciation of a great number of local attorneys, especially those former students who remained in Omaha to practice law.

Career Highlights Rod Shkolnick’s life, it seems, has been about the law. He received his undergraduate and his law degrees from the University of Iowa where he graduated with distinction. After a short stint in the army, and in practice in Ottumwa, Iowa, he began what would become a very distinguished career at Creighton University in 1961.

During his tenure, he saw many changes take place in the legal profession.

They “reflected changing social conditions,” he remarked. “For example, the number of women and minorities attending law school increased.” So did courses like “Bioethics and the Law”, “Sports Law” and “Elder Law,” which were not around when he began teaching.

Indeed, Shkolnick also added to the body of legal knowledge when he prepared the Uniform Commercial Code Forms: With Practice Comments (West Publishing Co., 1965, with Winsor C. Moore). The UCC, according to www.Law.com, is a “set of statutes governing the conduct of business, sales, warranties, negotiable instruments, (among other things), which has been

that capacity.

He is quite modest about the experience; nevertheless, it should be noted that while he held that position, the Nebraska State Bar Association presented him with an Award of Special Merit in 1981.

At the conclusion of his term, he returned to his regular teaching of Contracts, Sales and Mortgages.

There were Rodney Shkolnick--professor, dean, attorney--in his law library. other awards, adopted with minor variations by all too. In particular, he received the states (except Louisiana)...”

Outstanding Legal Educator Award from His expertise in the Code earned him a the Nebraska State Bar Foundation in slot with McGrath North. While he was 1999; nonetheless, no award was more teaching at Creighton, he also practiced satisfying than the commendation he law with the firm from 1965-71. received in May of this year from his colHowever, “the growing enrollment at leagues in the Omaha Bar Association at Creighton forced me to make a choice the Annual Law Day luncheon. That was between being a full-time lawyer or full- when they granted “Rodney (Rod) time professor,” he added.

Shkolnick, Dean Emeritus and Professor A highlight of Shkolnick’s incumbency of Law at Creighton Law School the included a 10-year term as Dean of the Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Creighton Law School, from 1977-88 in “It really meant a lot to me to receive

an award like this from my peers,” he said modestly during the interview.

Still, even though Shkolnick has a great love for the law, “the profession is not without problems,” he noted. He then outlined one, as an illustration.

“American society has become too litigious and too costly,” he observed. Then his thoughts turned to Creighton’s work towards resolving that system glitch. He discussed the new Werner Institute, which was set up to teach about “alternate dispute resolutions.” The curriculum includes methods for mediation, arbitration, and negotiation.

Still Active At 74, the former dean will be back again for another year of teaching at the downtown school. He still gives presentations to groups around the city, too. Last spring, for example, he spoke at B’nai B’rith Breadbreakers, demonstrating he hasn’t lost his sense of humor with a speech creatively titled “Evolution or Intelligent Design: The progression of Law Schools.”

It was a view of his 45 years as a teacher, with seven years of law practice along the way. The attendees were enthralled. At the same time, he maintains his affiliation with the McGrath North law firm, where he serves “Of Counsel.”

Looking back, he comments that “I am proud of the fact that I’ve had a (positive) effect on my students, and that’s why I am in teaching. I am happy and pleased I’ve been a teacher and that it has worked out pretty well.”

He also enjoys the families of his two sons and five grandchildren and still misses Lois, his wife of more than 49 years, who passed away two years ago.

The Jewish Federation Foundation gratefully acknowledges and honors The People of the Book and The Benefactors of the Dream to go to college, camp, and Israel.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

A Mother-Daughter Teaching Tale

by LEO ADAM BIGA As mothers-daughters go, Bette and Megan Adams have always enjoyed a close relationship, but a shared passion for teaching has only deepened their bond in recent years. Meg wasn’t supposed to follow Bette into the teaching ranks, but once it happened her career unfolded in a parallel way to her mom’s.

Bette’s taught at the JCC’s child development center for 14 years and before that in a series of public and private schools and CDC centers. At 26 Megan may be a newcomer to the profession, but she’s already racked up three years in the Teach for America program, both as a corps member in the Mississippi Delta and as an advisor/trainer in Houston.

Now a New York City public schools educator, Meg’s less than a year away from completing her master’s degree in educational leadership at Columbia University, putting her on a fast track to a hoped-for career as an administrator. The 2006-2007 school year will find her in a principal internship in a New York City K-8 public school.

While a second generation educator in the family is not unusual, what makes this scenario stand out is that Bette really didn’t want her only child to follow in her footsteps. Bette’s reluctance had nothing to do with how she felt about the education profession. She reveres it. But as a feminist and mother she held strong notions about the large range of opportunities open today to young women like her daughter as opposed to the more limited options life presented 35 years ago.

Indeed, growing up, Meg never really thought about teaching as a vocation.

She entertained other career choices. But then a funny thing happened on the way to adulthood. Meg was a top student at the University of Iowa, where she majored in art history, political science and history. Law school seemed a likely fit but she was still unsure by the time she graduated. Then she heard about Teach for America, a private-public service program that trains new college grads from all disciplines to fill teaching needs in poor urban and rural locales. She applied,

not really thinking she’d be accepted into a program that turns away more applicants than it accepts. To her surprise, she made the cut.

“When I joined Teach for America I did not intend on becoming a career educator. I did it because I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” she said.

Her next surprise came with the assignment given her: Lake Village, Ark., a racially-diverse, blue-collar town of about 3,000 in the southeast corner of the state, mere minutes from the Mississippi River and Louisiana border. It was her first time in the South. The town and its school are located in Chicot County, which she said has one of the highest poverty and adult illiteracy rates in the country.

“My kids would come to school hungry and not have slept in the same bed for three nights. Families would move around to avoid creditors or “because there was no electricity or running water where they lived,” she said. “So those home-life challenges really played out, especially in my first year, when I wasn’t really aware of things like that in my classroom. On average students came to me one-and-a-half to two grade levels behind in reading and math.”

She left convinced the federal No Child Left Behind mandate is needed and doable.

The cycle of despair she found and the lower expectations that go with it took some time for her to digest. “That was a big adjustment,” she said. “It was a complete 180 from what I was used to. As a white teacher I had challenges I didn’t think I was going to face or had not considered.”

The makeup of the school she was at was 40 percent African-American, 40 percent white and 20 percent Latino. Racial tension was a fact of life.

“A lot of race relations that haven’t been resolved the way you’d expect them to be by now. As a white person I realized how I was perceived differently from the population I was serving,” she said, “and I never really considered race in that way prior to moving down here. That was definitely my first glimpse at that.”

As much as we associate the South with

segregation, her experience there taught her the problem is “more prevalent” in the Midwest, “where I didn’t grow up with any children of other races,” said Meg, a Millard North grad. “I didn’t realize how big a problem Omaha had until I went down to the Delta, where it’s out in the open and being talked about at least,” she said, alluding to Omaha’s segregated public schools and the controversy over recent legislation to divide OPS. She also learned what it’s like to be a religious minority in a fundamentalist Baptist culture. “Religion is a really big deal there,” she said. “I was one of the only Jews in the town I lived in. If you’re not one of the (native) religions, it’s much harder to find a place to fit in.”

Luther College.

As a conscientious objector to the war in Vietnam, he received a deferment that let him do alternate service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru. He and Bette, who took to the streets to protest the war, were young activists out to make a difference in the world. Today, he’s a Med Center strategic planner.

Bette, who attended Cal-State Northridge, had doubts about moving so far from her Southern California comfort zone, but then, like the free-spirit she is, she decided to embrace the change. “I approach things as adventures,” she said.

“That’s just how I am. I thought -- I can reinvent myself.”

True enough, she had “lots of funny

Preschool teacher Bette Adams sets up her room in the Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center, when it opened at the Jewish Community Center in 1999.

Obstacles or not, she regards her stay there as “one of the best experiences of my life. I would never change a day of living down there.”

Her experience as an outsider mirrored that of her mother’s decades earlier. In the early 1970s Bette Adams was a new bride from Los Angeles setting up home and teaching for the first time in the small Protestant-Norwegian enclave of Decorah, Iowa, where her husband, John Adams, a non-Jew, was a professor at

experiences being the only Jew” in tiny Decorah. Then the “great adventure” turned “severe culture shock,” she said. It was a lot of little things. “Nothing antiSemitic--just people not knowing anything about Jews. Just ignorance. I was the token Jew. You know what I mean? I was the only Jew to ever go to Luther College. I ended up teaching in a poor rural school where, of course, I was the only Jew.” Continued on page 5

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Mother-Daughter Teaching Tale school is run, I think most specifically in Continued from page 4 Meg drew on Bette’s experience to the quality of teachers you can attract,” cope with her own fish-out-of-water situ- she said, “which is the number one determinant for success in a school in my opination.

“I really borrowed a lot of strength ion.”

She describes Teach for America as part from both of my parents while I was down there,” Meg said. “Many, many of “a movement” for educational reform. stories from my mother’s first year of Corps veterans are encouraged to stay in the classroom or to enter teaching helped pull me other fields, but either way through because it was a to remain committed to huge challenge being affecting change. It’s an down in a very different effort she feels strongly part of the country doing enough about to have a very challenging job.” extended her commitment Unlike Meg, Bette didfrom one to three years. n’t have her mother to “It’s amazing to be conturn to for advice. Bette nected to a movement I feel was 16 when her mother very passionately about,” died. She was close to her she said. “It’s an immense maternal grandmother, responsibility to help new Rachel Goldberg, who corps members go into lived with Bette and her places where you’ve taught.” family, but grandma too Meg Adams Like any convert to a cause, was gone by the time Bette and John settled in Decorah. The isolation Meg’s gone from indifference to true Bette felt actually emboldened her to believer; from teaching having “never embrace her Jewishness and make it a part crossed my mind” to saying today, “I feel like education is my calling.” With her of the educational experience.

“These were farm children and I was first principalship looming on the not so probably the only Jew many of them would distant horizon, she’s redirected her ever meet,” she said. “I would talk to them vision from the classroom to the boardabout Judaism and what it meant to be a room.

“The actual role I take in education is Jew and they’d ask really interesting quesdefinitely evolving over time into differtions. I took that (role) very seriously.”

The more she focused on heritage, the ent opportunities,” she said, adding the more she wished to reconnect with her type of “change I want to have happen faith, something she’d lost touch with as a can’t take place at the classroom level. I young adult. “Living in Decorah really mean, as a teacher I could affect change made me think, What have I put away for one year with my students but I can’t from my life? And it was Judaism. Because make sure the next year they have good when you don’t have it and it’s not there, teaching or a good school to go to. But as a principal I can change a whole school you go, What has happened to me?”

As part of her renewed sense of identity so that my children can continue to have Bette decided to raise Meg Jewishly and quality education.”

Bette appreciates the missionary zeal in this she enlisted the support of John, who doesn’t ascribe to organized religion. her daughter feels for education. It’s how She said he readily agreed, even promis- she feels, too. “This is my calling,” she ing, “‘I will help you,’ and he did. He said. “Children have always been drawn took Meg to Hebrew School and he to me. I’ve always done things working would go to services with me when I with children. I’m very relaxed with chilwanted. He’s a pretty amazing man.” dren. I enjoy the play of children. I enjoy Bette’s rebirth found her studying exten- seeing them grow.”

Until she took the JCC job, Bette sively over the years, so much so, she said, “my friends in L.A. laugh because I’m the taught elementary school, worked as a expert on Judaism now and growing up I school resources coordinator and was the was so not. I really discovered my roots.” home mother to youths in an asthmatic Similarly, Meg had her own epiphany residential center. She wasn’t sure if she when, in her second year in Teach for could “teach little children.” “I had my America, she took her students to the doubts,” she said. Today, she’s a disciple National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, of early childhood education. “I believe Tenn., about a four-hour drive north from zero-to-five-years are the most critical where she taught. The trip came at a time times for children to learn,” she said. when she still wavered between a career in “There’s absolutely everything going on at zero to five.” She feels the work she law and a career in education.

“I had just applied to law school and I does with tots “sets them up to make thought to myself, I don’t want to go to them want to be enthusiastic learners.”

As an early childhood education advolaw school. This is where I need to be--I need to be in education. I need to contin- cate her focus is not just on kids, but on ue to serve my students in the Delta,” she families. “In my job of teaching said. “I’ve always been passionate about preschoolers I teach parents all the time,” social justice, but I didn’t understand how she said. “When they ask--‘How can I to really enact social justice for the popu- help my child at home?--I say, ‘Read to lation I wanted to serve until I realized them. Let them play. Children’s work is their play. They learn through play.’ If I education was the way to do that.”

Teach for America proved a perfect fit teach parents anything it’s that play is “I firmly believe education is the path really good for children.” to freedom and the path to opportunity, She makes her classroom a rich, active and Teach for America also believes environment where kids engage and that,” she said. “They believe every child explore. “I have got lots and lots of should have the opportunity for an excel- things going on in my room,” she said. lent education and that’s what really “It may not look like it is planned, but it attracted me to it--that I was with people is planned. I want children to be excited who also believe in social justice.” about learning. I give them lots of choicEchoing the OPS flap, she said Teach es. I set up probably 15 different (learnfor America espouses the kinds of sys- ing) centers. They have lots of time to temic changes she favors. For example, play. It’s not exactly quiet.” she said current property tax-based fundAs a nod to the teacher who inspired ing structures create resource disparities her own desire to teach, Bette plays music between rich white suburban school dis- for her kids. “I had this wonderful tricts and poor urban black-Latino school kindergarten teacher named Mrs. districts, resulting in education gaps.

Williams,” she said.

“It has a major impact on how well a Continued on page 6

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Pick Your Battles nected,” Finnicum said. He

by ANNE MUSKIN had a learning disability and As her resume would tell was heavy into drugs. After you, Deborah Kalman some serious conversations Finnicum, is a guidance she asked him, “Do you counselor at Millard West High School. She graduated want to die? Because, you’re with a degree in Social committing suicide slowly Welfare, and has her masters with drugs.’” The response in Guidance and Counselcame a week later when with ing, both from Ohio State her support he enrolled in a University. She’s worked at drug treatment program.

Skutt Catholic High School, Now, he is a successful realin the Omaha Public tor and has been sober for 20 Schools, Boys Town, and years. Finnicum recently saw Metro Community College, him in Las Vegas and to her just to name a few. surprise, “He introduced me Has Finnicum had chalto his friend and said, ‘this is In Las Vegas, Deb Finnicum ran into this former student who lenges in and out of the the counselor who saved my overcame his addiction and issues with learning disabilities. classroom? “Of course,” she life.’” says, “but I remember struggling in my high school Pulling social work and counseling together, years and being able to be there for these kids makes it Finnicum’s motto is “I try not to overreact.” Not much all worth while.” surprises her anymore. She has learned that she’s “very Finnicum has always worked with adolescents and good at meeting kids where they are. It’s genuine, and thinks that “kids are under a lot more stress. It’s not they respond to that.” It’s important to know that just enough just to get good grades anymore. You have to because a kid lives in a nice house, it doesn’t mean their have a 4.0, be the best athlete, and the best looking problems are any less traumatic. too!” Kids aren’t allowed to be kids for very long.

Finnicum’s sincerity and emphasis on education can be One of Finnicum’s biggest challenges is, “there are seen through a program she takes four Millard West stualways one or two kids who are so neat; to send them dents to a year, called Unitown, which deals with helphome to something unhealthy and often destructive is ing kids understand diversity. Developed by the National very hard.” She then tilted her head and marveled, “it’s Conference for Community and Justice, it breaks up really amazing what kids develop to survive.” high schools into conference groups. Along with Millard At Millard West, she has a college and scholarship West, students from Benson, Westside, and Central parfocus. “It’s to hard to do it all, so most high schools ticipate in this four-day three-night conference. “To lithave a team of personal/social counselors and college erally watch these kids grow and be effected and underand scholarship counselors.” She said that she misses stand in such a short time... The program is absolutely doing the personal/social side of guidance, but that her amazing.” “skills as a listener and non-judgmental advocate still In addition to being an All-Star counselor, Finnicum come into play.” teaches religious school at Temple Israel, is an ACT test Finnicum came to counseling after 10 years as a social administrator, and has a family of four. worker. During this time she had her most memorable How does Finnicum do it? “You gotta pick your batchallenge. She had a student who was the spitting image tles, because if a kid is going to trust you, and know you of Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil. “We really con- trust them, you have to let them be themselves.”

A Mother-Daughter Teaching Tale Continued from page 5 “She was so kind and caring. She was always sure to tell us, ‘You did a good job.’ She used to play the piano. She always had music going in her classroom. Her room was a very magical place to be. I always have music in my room.

Music is my signature.” Just as Mrs. Williams did, Bette “enlists the children” to do “jobs” in the room, making sure to praise them. As a little girl Bette once taught a boy to skip and Mrs. Williams made an observation that changed the course of her life. “She said, ‘One day you’ll make a very good teacher,’ and that was it. That’s all I ever wanted to be in my life was a teacher like Mrs. Williams,” Bette recalled.

The value of education was stressed by her immigrant grandparents, her parents, uncles and aunts, none of whom went far in school. They viewed education “as a way out,” she said. “It was important to get a good education.”

Reading was also empha- Bette and her grandmother, sized and Bette spent Rachel Goldberg. much time at the public library and at home with books.

“I read a lot and I still read a lot,” she said.

Beyond the enrichment books offered, they “were a comforting thing. It was a way I could go to different places in my imagination. I have a very good imagination.” Her stories and school became her “sanctuary.”

That escape was vital when her mother fell ill and later died. Her father, a MacDonald Douglas aircraft worker, did what he could. Fortunately for Bette she had a rock of strength and gem of wisdom nearby--grandma Rachel. A native of England, Rachel was a seamstress who made a new life for herself, first in Canada, then in Los Angeles, where she became the matriarch of her family and their plumbing-contractor supplies business.

“She was kind of like a Mrs. B,” said Bette, referring to Nebraska Furniture Mart matriarch Rose Blumkin. “She was well known, especially in the Jewish community in Los Angeles. She was a very strong woman...quite a force to be reckoned with. She and my grandfather made their fortune. They worked side by side.”

By the time Bette knew her, an aged Rachel lived with

her, her brother and her parents. Bette and Rachel enjoyed proper tea together, a tradition Bette continued with Meg. Among the things Bette learned from Rachel was tolerance.

“She said we shouldn’t judge by color of skin.” The blessing she gave Bette’s marriage to a non-Jew (John) made all the difference. “My grandmother loved him very much...she kind of paved the way for the rest of my relatives to accept him. My grandmother was a very special person.” With her help Bette was “able to move on and be strong” after her mom’s death. “She told me adversity builds character. I do feel the things I went through made me all the more stronger,” she said. “I learned that from my grandmother. I know she struggled during her life.”

When Bette got to know her, Rachel was already retired--the family business run by Bette’s uncles, who would take her as a little girl to the store. The building burned down during the Watts riots. Even though other interests owned it then, it was still “sad” to see “the store” gone.

All these years later Bette measures herself by the two women who meant so much to her -- her grandma and Mrs. Williams. No wonder then she sees much of each in her daughter Meg. She no doubt sees herself in Meg, who as a small girl used to accompany Bette to school to help mom set up the classroom. Now that Bette’s seen Meg’s own classroom, which she visited in Lake Village, she knows her daughter was meant to be a teacher all along.

“Her room was so engaging, so interesting. Her children were so into what they were doing. I mean, she’s an amazing teacher. I was like, My daughter is a teacher,” said Bette, her voice cracking with emotion.

Meg knows she learned from the best. “I definitely see my mom as a master educator in the classroom, which is something I don’t think I’ll ever achieve because there’s a fine craft to teaching that takes a long time to hone,” she said. “So I really respect her for that.” With so much expertise at her disposal, Meg regularly seeks out “practical advice” from her mother. “At a broader, deeper level I think it’s great we share the same passion and perspective and can flesh out ideas. I’ve been able to share with her--‘Here’s what I want to do. How do I get there? Do you think this is a good idea?’ I really appreciate that.”

For Bette, this mother-daughter tale is “kind of like parallel lives here.” Like their convergent paths were meant to be.

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

Every Child Deserves a Chance

by JOAN K. MARCUS At the start of our interview, Beth Spizman announces she is the adopted daughter of Omahan Dorothy Spizman.

When I questioned her, she said, “My older brother and I were adopted and our mom and dad (the late Phil Spizman) are the biological parents of my two younger brothers.”

She and her older brother never felt any different than the two younger kids. “We were lucky because we were chosen. I was adopted when I was three-days-old, which means I should have two birthdays--one for being born and the other for my adoption.”

Born in Omaha in 1965, Beth claims that despite the fact she was the only girl, she was definitely the most athletic of the family. Since her brothers didn’t share her love for sports, she spent a lot of time playing with the neighbor kids. “My childhood was carefree and happy. My parents didn’t have a lot of money and the family joke was that, if we went to Burger King, we couldn’t get pop. We took our hamburgers home and drank Kool Aid,” she laughs.

“Even though we weren’t wealthy like some of the other kids, our family was happy. My parents did everything they could to make us feel comfortable. We had everything that we needed--except fancy cars and individual bedrooms.”

Beth remembers her Temple Israel confirmation class as being the best part of her religious education. It was a great class with friends from high school, retreats and youth group activities.

Her plans for the future never included being a teacher. “I was fine without kids,” she says. “I never baby-sat like some of

my friends and I didn’t have any idea of what my future would hold. Since I was so undecided, I began college in 1984 with a major in criminal justice. I didn’t want to be a police officer but I thought maybe I could be a probation officer.”

Beth was not a good college student during her first year at UNL. “I was just too young and didn’t understand what I needed to do. I partied all of the time and was on probation,” she admits. “I came home every weekend because I didn’t like college.”

After her first year at college, Spizman came back to Omaha and began working at the Uta Halee Girls Home. She was a supervisor in what was the only locked treatment center in Nebraska at that time.

“The girls got all the services they needed right there--school, therapists and psychologists all in one place. I worked on the floor with the girls. I liked it because the kids were troubled--but interesting. I felt like I could do something to help them,” she recalls.

“These kids were tough. They reminded me of myself because I’m really nice until you mess with me,” she smiles. “I didn’t identify with them, however, because they had seen ’way more than I could ever know--and I had loving parents who took care of me.”

She adds, “I could feel for them, listen to them and maybe help them.

Sometimes they got mad at me, but I still felt empathy.”

Beth was trained to use physical restraints on the girls at Uta Halee.

“You’re right there with the girls when they get mad. When I started there, there were a lot of terrible behaviors: smoking, drinking and runaways. I wasn’t their

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therapist--more like an older sister. I grew confident and made friends with my coworkers,” she says. “Basically, I grew up during this period.”

She began to coach volleyball and softball teams while working with the girls, realizing that she enjoyed coaching. She finished her criminal justice degree, but continued to get a teaching degree in physical education.

Beth Spizman In 1993, she began teaching at Bancroft School where many Latino children were in her classroom. “I learned these kids have the same needs as other children. They want to be loved and oneon-one, they’re great,” she says, adding, “even the big kids who tower over me.”

In 1997, she moved to Glendale, IA, to join friends who owned their own business. While there, she became ill with transverse myelitis, a paralysis of the left side of her body. Symptoms are strokelike and are treated with surgery and then medication and rehabilitation.

After her recovery, Beth returned and joined the staff at Lothrop School at 24th and Pinkney. She describes her work at

the magnet school that specializes in science, Spanish and technology as “very, very challenging. It’s difficult for me because of the emphasis on science and technology, but these kinds of schools are an answer to desegregation. We have children from all areas who chose to come to Lothrop because there are so many options available.” The school is only K4 and Beth teaches physical education.

“I like the challenge. We have many children who are from poor homes, but I feel like they’re ‘real.’ They’re struggling to make their way and unfortunately, I see kids who won’t succeed.

Spizman treats the kids the way she wants to be treated. “I know that there are many who don’t get love at home.

They come to school with their shoes on the wrong feet; hey don’t have electrici ty and their moms don’t wash their clothes. I recognize kids who aren’t loved and I feel so badly because I had so much love while I was growing up.”

Sometimes she might need to yell at them, but she’s been there six years and watched them grow.

“In a strange way, they’re mine! Every child will always have a chance with me-always!” she insists.

When she was 39, Beth gave birth to her son. Max. “As a single woman, I thought very carefully before I decided to have a baby. My family has been so supportive and loving. Having him has been the best because he’s such a good little boy,” she says. “Max, now entering his ‘terrible twos,’ is relaxed, laid back and is a great kid. Being a mom is the best, but if anybody had ever told me I would be a mom, I would have said, ‘Me! I don’t even like kids!’”

Page 8

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

Judaism Embraced, Cherished, Shared

by DIANE AXLER BAUM For Colleen Kennealy, one prerequisite to teaching a subject is to care intensely about it. “I have to feel exuberant about the topic, she said. “Then I see teaching as sharing.”

Hebrew language and anything to do with Judaism meet her criterion. Because Kennealy, even though she grew up in a large Roman Catholic family, found herself at a young age “fascinated by all things Jewish--the culture, the music, the literature, the history.” (For a French Civilization course, she’d explore the Dreyfus affair; for a book report, she’d select a Jewish author.)

Kennealy majored in French language and literature at a small liberal arts college in her native Minnesota. However, it was an English Literature class that changed her life. The course concentrated on works about adolescent development, including novels by Chaim Potok. Two of her favorites were The Chosen and My Name is Asher Lev. After she read The Chosen, “things were never quite the same,” she recalled. “The focus on study...the emphasis on intellectual argument intrigued me,” she explained. “The tradition I grew up with concentrated more on memorization of the right answers, rather than challenging oneself to ask the right questions.”

Once the values portrayed in Potok’s novels had this “major effect” on her, she knew she “needed to find a way to get close to Judaism.”

The recognition of wanting to become Jewish was one thing, but the ways and means, something else. She had no idea “how to get in,” she said, but soon she decided on a step that was available to

her, something she understood because of her experience with French. “I figured you get to know a people through its language, so I started taking conversational Hebrew.”

After Kennealy finished college in 1971, she taught high-school French for three years before setting out on a complete career change. She went into the insurance industry, and later attended the University of Minnesota as a night student, earning her MBA in 1983. Life and work took her to Maine, Florida, and New Jersey. The Jewish issue, however, did not get resolved.

In Minnesota, Maine and Florida she spoke with rabbis about her desire to convert to Judaism, but they encouraged her, instead, to “look within Christianity.” As a result, she said, she “wandered around doing ‘Jewish stuff’,” such as attending lectures at JCCs, taking classes in conversational Hebrew, and making trips to Israel.

Her first was a TWA Get-Away Tour, which offered too-quick glimpses of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Akko, Haifa, Ein Gedi, Masada and other sights. She went back to Israel the following year, to spend more time in Jerusalem and to visit a friend who lived on a moshav in Afula.

She also participated in a tour that drove through Gaza and the Sinai desert and included a few days in Egypt.

In Jacksonville, Florida, Kennealy made the acquaintance of a Reform rabbi who was willing to work with her toward conversion. The process led to her becoming Jewish on May 11, 1989 (6 Iyar 5749, she noted). Later, the Conservative movement accepted her conversion and she took part in a two-year Adult Bat

Colleen Kennealy Mitzvah class at Jacksonville’s Conservative synagogue.

Kennealy has made her home in Omaha since 1995 and has found professional and personal fulfillment here. In 2004 she became Vice President of Finance at the Seldin Company. An active member of Temple Israel, she volunteers as Webmaster and is committed to lifelong Jewish learning and to sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm with students of all ages.

As one of only a few mentors at Temple, she meets one on one with Bar and Bat Mitzvah students for a few months prior to their intense preparation with the Cantor. In addition, this summer she started teaching Temple’s Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class which will continue through May, 2007. In past years she taught Siddur Hebrew on Sunday mornings and served on the faculty of the evening Family School, where her particular focus was teaching sixth graders and their parents.

Kennealy also has a relationship with Beth El Synagogue. She regularly attends daily morning services at Beth El, and she periodically reads Torah. She became a “minyannaire” in 2003, the year her father died. At first she recited Kaddish at daily evening services, but she later began attending in the mornings so that she could read Torah on occasion. One step led to another: “Since the group at Beth El often struggles to have the requisite 10 people, I kept going when I could.”

Busy as Kennealy is with a demanding professional life and numerous volunteer activities, she finds the time to take advanced conversational Hebrew lessons with Maya Wertheimer. Her other pursuits include online classes in digital photography, gardening (lilacs, a favorite), and browsing Sephardi cookbooks (one result, “a really good Persian Pomegranate Eggplant”).

In past summers, Kennealy has attended a summer Kallah that takes place in New Hampshire near the White Mountains. Most of the students there are Reform, but the mix of teachers from both the Reform and Conservative movements makes for a learning experience that she described as “just wonderful.”

Her journey to Judaism required perseverance and determination, and Kennealy is committed to the path she chose.

Today, living Jewishly in Omaha provides her a great deal of personal gratification.

Even so, she would like to see more intercongregational learning. “It’s a loss of resources,” she said, “that we don’t do more together.” In the meantime, she continues to seize a range of opportunities to participate in Jewish prayer, service, learning, teaching and sharing.

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September 22, 2006

History Repeats Itself large number of students from smaller towns, but also

by JOAN K. MARCUS Professor Michael R. Gendler has wonderful memo- many from Omaha. Today, there is a higher enrollment ries of Shabbat dinners with his grandparents, Arthur of non-traditional students and they are older.”

The College of Saint Mary is a four-year college that and Esther Gendler. Orthodox Judaism was always practiced in the home of the elder Gendlers as Arthur was a offers degrees majors such as: business, education, nursschochet (supervisor of kosher meat processing) at ing, paralegal studies, English, communications, biology and chemistry. Classes range around 20 students with Cudahy Meat Packing.

“Although my grandfather wasn’t formally trained as a most classes being smaller. At the present time, all sturabbi, he had his own little prayer group at Beth Israel dents are women.

Gendler is currently Associate Professor of History in Synagogue. He would play games with me by having me read a few words from the siddur and then he would fin- the humanities division. According to him, there is no religion requirement for students, but they are required ish the prayer,” Gendler recalls.

“Because of the seders and Shabbat dinners with my to take theology. There is tremendous flexibility in those parents and grandparents, I have an enormous respect classes.

“One of the most amazing things about my job is that for the traditions of Judaism and the kind of life that one can lead by following the traditions. My grandfather it never feels old,” Gendler says. “After 30 years, I don’t feel like I’m in a rut at all. There are so many creative really lived his religion. It wasn’t just a theory.”

Born on April Fool’s Day in 1948, it’s ironic that angles because of the use of computers. Students expect Michael is so serious. His parents, Faye and Irv Gendler, so much more today in terms of the use of visual aids. expected that their son would go to college; however, I’ve noticed also that students’ background in terms of historical history has there was never any presdeclined. As we get fursure put on him. “As a ther away from World child, my interests were War II, it becomes harder more toward sports,” he and harder for people to says. remember.”

“As a young boy, I Because of a tremenwanted to be a doctor or dous interest in the a biology teacher.

Holocaust, he has begun Although I took public teaching classes like the school very seriously, I History of Nazi Germany wasn’t the best student in and about the World War Hebrew school. As a matII years. He speaks of our ter of fact, I remember nation’s values of individbeing in class when ual liberty, representative Michael Meiches won the democracy and the necesaward for outstanding sity of a powerful military attendance. Then the to protect those values. teacher announced that I “We need to think of got the award for the the Holocaust in terms of worst attendance in the whole school,” he smiles. how we can deal with ter“Although I was rorism today,” he adds. embarrassed by the “So often, we don’t take announcement, I was still the answers when they’re happy that I had chosen right in front of us. The to play football with the same principle applies neighborhood kids. My today in regard to Islamic parents had given me the radicalism. We can so easchoice and I will always ily become blind to the Michael Gendler respect them for not forcfuries that are outside our ing me to go to Hebrew school.” borders.”

Michael attended Rosehill Grade School and then Adding that, “We should never forget the words of Benson for a short time before transferring to Westside George Will.” Gendler reveres his quote, “We should High School. Though he was a good student, he was never let them have control of institutions such as the still confused about his future when he began classes at military, police, courts, Congress or bureaucracy.” the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. It wasn’t until he Michael has learned from his students that there is a took a history class from Ed Homze, a man who he con- tremendous curiosity about Jewish people and Judaism. siders to be “great.”

They have a hard time believing there could be antiGendler says, “I took a Western Civilization Survey Semitism and most hold a positive view of Jews. class and was so moved by the power of the class to He has never had a problem with students because he explain human behavior. The content of the course and is a Jew and is always willing to answer questions when the way that it was taught really turned me on to teach- asked. He laughs when he says that a student asked him, ing. It was over 30 years ago and I still remember some “Is it true that all Jews are rich?” Gendler says that he of the materials that the teacher used.” It was a big turn- answered, “No, but if it were--that would make me ing point for him when he changed his major to history rich!” and education.

Gendler can best be described as a man with a kind In 1970, Gendler graduated with a teaching certificate soul (neshama). Although he has never married, he is that would allow him to teach in high school. “One of completely devoted to his niece and nephew, Jill and my teachers in college told us that we should all drop Daniel Canfield. “I’m almost glad I never had my own out of college and go to work for IBM. That was where kids because I could never love them as much as I love the money was. But money wasn’t the most important those two great kids,” he smiles. Jill and Daniel are the thing to me and I decided to pursue what I wanted. I children of Mike’s sister and brother-in-law, Sandra and knew I would need money,” he says, “but my love of Rick Canfield.

“I’ve never been active in the social scene and I’ve history took precedence.”

After getting a master’s degree at UNL in 1976, always been kind of a loner until the past several years,” Michael went on to pursue a doctorate at the University Gendler admits. “That’s when I met Denise Baccus, my of Massachusetts at Amherst. He was a teaching assistant fiancee. She came into my life when she was a non-traand had finished all of his course work when he was ditional student in one of my classes. She has been part involved in a presentation at a history conference and a of my life for some years and I hope we’ll be together for professor told me about the opening at the College of the rest of our lives.”

Baccus, who is the Information Systems Manager at Saint Mary back home in Omaha. “It was a tough decision to make when I decided to not write my disserta- the Jewish Community Center, is well known to many on the 132nd Street campus--especially when it comes tion and investigate the job,” he admits.

“After applying, I decided that since I did really like to “computer-eeze” and helping others with IT issues.

Gendler adds, “Although she isn’t Jewish, she has Omaha, I would take it,” he says. “My family was here and this job would give me freedom to devise some of many of the major traits of Judaism--the embodiment of loving kindness--‘chesed’ and justice together.” my classes.”

In his spare time, Gendler enjoys sports, sports cars, Very early in his career, he began teaching classes on the history of Nazi Germany. “My curriculum is mine as reading, writing and would like to ride motorcycles. And long as I teach some of the required classes. CSM has a he’s not sorry he didn’t go to work for IBM.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 9

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Community Schools, as an innovative

by GARY JAVITCH The timing was perfect. Tom Baker’s educational system, is to ensure academic kids were getting started in the District excellence and to serve the unique needs 66 elementary schools. So when a neigh- of all learners.”

“That mission is at the heart of everybor asked him what he thought about running for the Westside Community thing that we do. My fellow board memSchool Board of Education, “It was like a bers and I embrace those goals and want light bulb went off in my head,” Tom to ensure that all students receive the very best education we can offer. In recalled.

Baker, an alumnus of the Westside working toward that objective, I am very Community Schools, realized how much proud of our 1:1 computer program at he had benefited from his education. the high school level. Each student is Moreover, he had time available, and provided an Apple computer at no even better, he felt he had the right stuff expense to the family. We believe that this and could make a positive contribution to initiative will help close the technology gap between all students.” the Board and help better the District.

“In a way, I felt that serving on the school board would be as satisfying as when I performed similar activities on behalf of Baker’s Supermarkets,” Tom continued. He had started working at the grocery chain while still a student at Westside High.

During his tenure at Baker’s he worked for community betterment, among his many other responsibilities, in his role as Director of Human Resources, Corporate Communications and Tom Baker, left, and Rosie Zweiback--two of District 66’s school board members, discuss issues with Superintendent Ken Bird.

Consumer Affairs.

Indeed, Tom even played a role in the Before deciding to run, he carefully considered what he could bring to the computer acquisition process when he table if he were to serve on the Board. and others visited Apple’s headquarters in Tom’s thinking went along these lines. California. “Westside is the first public “Although I was not a teacher, I still felt school district in Nebraska to provide that I had some valuable knowledge, computers to all high school students,” skills and abilities that I could offer to he proudly related. He predicts that the enhance the District’s functioning. I did, numbers from test results for this project after all, grow up in the District, and felt will demonstrate that student improvethat would help me to increase commu- ment has increased in a number of areas nity support and involvement for District due to this initiative.

He attends two board meetings a projects and initiatives.”

He liked the fact that the schools were month and does his research between already well-run and very professionally meetings so that he can be a good adviadministered. Since there was only one sor. Among other accomplishments, he is high school campus in the system, it can proud to include the system’s participabe viewed as a “community treasure.” tion in a District-wide evaluation and “Needless to say, however, there were review of its programs. In a very bold always things that could be improved,” move, which Tom supported, school he noted. “Take for example, the high superintendent Ken Bird invited several school stadium. It hadn’t been signifi- top public school educators from around cantly improved in decades. Yet with a the U.S. to perform this voluntary audit.

“This was an important step for the joint effort by the District, the Westside Foundation and many generous private District,” Tom felt, “as it helped us to donors, the entire stadium was renovat- further identify potential areas of ed, including new artificial field turf with improvement in order to reach our goal improved water drainage that would of being a “world class school district.”

“With a world economy that is changreduce weather as a factor in football and soccer games. Construction on Phase II ing rapidly, we want to be sure that our of the sports complex will be started students will have the necessary course soon, including a complete renovation of work and academic foundation to decide on, and excel in, the best individual the baseball field and tennis courts. career paths possible.”

What he wanted to accomplish As a Wharton School graduate from the In running, Tom clearly had certain attributes he wanted to characterize dur- University of Pennsylvania, Tom knows ing his period in office. “Most impor- the importance of turning out students tant,” he said, “I will only make promis- who will be able to compete in today’s es that I can keep. Additionally, I always complex world economy. “Our Board want to be looking for opportunities to and Administration will not be satisfied improve the District, because I don’t until Westside becomes a permanent fixthink we should ever be comfortable with ture in the top tier of our Nation’s the status quo. At the same time, I want schools.” to be passionate in what I do on behalf of Tom fully intends to run again. “I am the District, and always give 100% to my getting a lot out of it, but I also know that role as a school board member.” it takes a number of years to get up to In addition, he pointed out, “I will speed.” He is supported in his efforts by always work hard to be the best ambassa- Amber, his wife of 15 years, and his two dor possible for the District. Overall, my children, Jonathan, 12, and Olivia, 11. role on the Board gives me a great feeling When Tom is not engaged in this partthat I am giving back in a meaningful way time endeavor, he works as an insurance to the community.” executive for the Harry A. Koch He also discussed the mission of the Company, writing commercial insurance school system. According to the District’s for the food, supermarket and other website, “The mission of Westside industries.

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

A Champion of Hands-On Learning Creates Memories

by OZZIE NOGG As she begins her 39th year on the BESTT faculty at Beth El Synagogue, Margo Riekes can point to many success stories. But one tops her list. “I’m really proud of the unit on Jewish marriage that I teach to the fourth graders,” she says. “It’s a creative project that uses multiple senses--sound, visual--to help the kids retain what they’ve learned. During the unit the students watch parts of ‘Fiddler On the Roof’ so they can better understand how things used to be and how wedding customs and rituals can change over time. They study the history and design of ketubot, and then create their own. At the end of the unit we have a mock wedding ceremony in the Sanctuary with their families in attendance--with the rabbi and cantor, the chuppah, the glass breaking, the works.”

She beams when she says, “The photographs of the kids’ faces during their ‘wedding’ say it all. And no matter how silly they are at the rehearsal, they’re always serious and cooperative on our wedding day. Years later, BESTT High School graduates tell me their favorite memory was the mock wedding we held in my fourth grade class. Teaching is not just imparting knowledge and information, but also creating memories that can last a lifetime.”

The mock wedding is just one example of Riekes’ teaching style. “I believe experiential learning is the best way to impart knowledge to children. Children learn by doing and being actively involved in the learning process.

In my classes we do a lot of creative things. After the children study the Sh'ma, they make their own mezuzot.

They also get to write with a quill and ink like a sofer-scribe. The projects I select are ones the students can all do successfully, regardless of their intellectual abilities. I want my students to look forward to coming to class. I want them to know they will succeed and learn.”

Margo’s emphasis on creativity in the classroom comes from her own interests. “I love children and I love teaching, but I really wanted to be a graphic artist. My father convinced me that I’d never make a decent living in the graphics world, that it was a difficult field for women.

My mother was a teacher, and my father wanted me to be a teacher, too. Back in the 60s, you did what your parents suggested.” The suggestion led Margo to her BA from Boston University, with a double major in Psychology and Elementary Education.

For many years, Margo taught a course on Jewish Prayer for fifth graders--what prayer is, why we pray-and before she began working at the Better Business Bureau in 1995, she also taught Wednesday evening classes at Beth El’s High School. Next semester Margo’s BESTT schedule includes a class in Jewish customs, rituals and holidays for fourth grade, and a unit on Israel for sixth grade students. “I’ve developed the curriculum

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for all of the classes I’ve taught,” she explains, “as well as the curriculum for the High School Merit Scholarship program, the ‘Roots’ trip and the new art program for the entire school that began last year. I like the intellectual challenge of writing curriculum with my colleagues, but being in class and getting to teach and know the students is what I enjoy most. They keep me young and challenge me in many ways. I love teaching them over a period of years and watching them grow and mature. In many cases, I’m now teaching the children of my former students. It’s really fun to do that, and the kids love to tell me that their mom or dad also had me for a teacher.”

With a successful career that spans two generations, Margo Riekes is able to draw well-reasoned comparisons between ‘what was’ and ‘what is’ in the world of education.

Margo and Steve Riekes “It’s more difficult today to get parents to own the responsibility for their child’s behavior and learning than it was 20 years ago,” she says. “Problems are often blamed on the teacher or the school. Also, children today are praised too much without having done anything praiseworthy, without earning it. They expect praise and complements just for doing what they should be doing. Going ‘above and beyond’ is rare.”

“The biggest challenge I face today is that many students don’t like to read and they get easily frustrated because they’re not good at it. They’re not good at it because they don’t do it often. Those that like to read are the best students. Furthermore, kids don’t write or spell well because of computers, which feed right into their need for instant gratification and getting everything quickly. So if they don’t succeed, the child is disappointed, the parents are disappointed, but the determination to do better is not as strong as it used to be. Yet, on the other hand, the students seem to like coming to Talmud Torah more today than they did in the past.”

The argument that regular school and ballet lessons and sports cannot coexist with a child’s Jewish education

is not one that Margo buys into. And she’s not shy in expressing what she needs from parents in order for her to do her job adequately.

“In my opinion, it’s not the extra activities that make it difficult to teach. Children can go to Hebrew School and be involved in other activities too. Parents, of course, want their children to get good grades and do well, but too many families don’t value their children’s Jewish education as much as they value their children’s secular education. It’s the attitude of the parents and the importance they place on Jewish learning that counts. If Jewish learning is important to the family, it is almost always reflected in their children. If not, it’s difficult to teach them in an after-school environment regardless of how many other things they’re doing.”

“As a teacher, what I need most is for parents to place more value on Jewish education and be more observant in their homes. It’s difficult to teach things that aren’t familiar or not being modeled at home. If I teach about Shabbat, it would be nice to know that every Jewish family does at least something to mark the Sabbath, but too many do not. There just needs to be more parental reinforcement of what we’re teaching in Hebrew school.”

Margo’s wish-list continues. “If I had a magic wand, I’d see more values-based curriculum and more family education developed and taught. I’d have the children more involved in Tikkun Olam and mitzvah projects that benefit others. I’d see more Jewish children getting a Day School education. In that setting, there’s time to go more deeply into the subject matter. The kids can learn conversational Hebrew. It’s a fantasy to think we can do that in an afternoon Talmud Torah.”

Margo names her husband, Steve, as her most significant educational role model. “Steve’s passion for Jewish learning and his encouragement keeps me motivated to continue doing what I’ve done for so many years. He constantly reminds me that teaching is important, a mitzvah.”

“Over the years, I’ve come to measure success by the attitude, the level of participation and enthusiasm of the students in my class. It’s been a very successful day if the children don’t want to leave when the bell rings. When they choose to stay in my room during their break time to chat, or finish something they’ve been working on.

She concludes with a statement about her students: “They’re also very frank about what they like, what they don’t like, and I think I’ve given them some tools and positive Jewish experiences that stay with them. I’ve been teaching so long, I don’t have to give tests to know what’s been learned and who has learned it.”

She smiles. “And, of course, my students have taught me a thing or two in return. They’ve taught me patience and humor. Best of all, they’ve taught me that children, when given the opportunity, really like to learn.”

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

A Man of Many Talents

by JOAN K. MARCUS In a 1999 article in the Omaha World-Herald, columnist Mike Kelly described Marvin Parilman as, “A oneman ecumenical movement. He taught Hebrew school at Temple Israel Synagogue, works as an administrator at Miller Park Church and sings every year of the Lord God omnipotent!” (Marvin was at the time President of “Voices of Omaha.”) As Marvin explained to Mike Kelly, “It is beautiful music.”

Born in Omaha to Bessie and Irving Parilman. Marvin was the son of a plumber, his mother--a homemaker. He grew up on Izard Street with his older sister, Dorothy (Glazer) and his younger one, Barbara (Widman). Friday nights were always special with a wonderful Shabbat dinner. The family didn’t always attend Shabbat services, but they went to the synagogue frequently and on the special holidays and their home was “super kosher.”

Parilman really enjoyed attending Hebrew school. He has fond memories of his teacher, Judah Wolfson and many of his classmates.“I liked religious school so much that Rabbi Israel Moshowitz from B’nai Israel on 18th and Chicago Streets asked me if I wanted to go away to Yeshiva High School in New York City.”

He recalls, “I was only 14 and it sounded good to me.

I had never been away from my family and they sent me on the train. My parents drove and got there before the train did! Here I was--14 and going 1500 miles away from my parents for high school. I knew I would be coming back to Omaha for summer, but my parents couldn’t afford for me to go back and forth very often.”

Marvin says that he had no intention of becoming a rabbi. He knew that he would be attending a “double” school with regular subjects and one of Hebrew curriculum. Three boys from the synagogue went (in three separate years) and Rabbi Moshowitz chose them because of their Hebrew skills. While attending high school, he also attended the Teachers Institute for Men. In 1951, Parilman graduated from Talmudical Academy high school. Upon returning to New York, he began Yeshiva College located in the Washington Heights area, 187th and Amsterdam Avenue. He graduated in 1955 with a Bachelor of Religious Education

Copenhagen, Stockholm, degree and a BA in sociology and psycholHelsinki and through the ogy, and from the Teachers Institute with Chunnel--the under-the a Hebrew Teacher’s Diploma.

Channel tunnel between “I had begun looking for a teaching England and France. position before I graduated and wrote to When speaking about his Rabbi Myer Kripke. We made arrange15-year experience at ments for him to meet me in Chicago and Temple Israel, Parilman says, I could tell after the interview that he was “I taught fourth, fifth and going to hire me. When I came back to sixth grades and I love the Omaha, I began teaching at Beth El kids. I was also a mentor for Synagogue,” he says. bar and bat mitzvah kids at “The fly in the ointment was that it was both Temple and Beth Israel during the Korean War and I kept getting for 16 years. I estimate that I draft notices. Thanks to letters from Rabbi have mentored 150-200 Kripke, I kept getting deferments. Finally, children.” He still tutors I decided to enlist and get it over with as students privately and enjoys I was liable to be drafted up to the age of helping them with their 35,” he adds.

Hebrew skills.

Upon returning to Omaha, Marvin In a Jewish Press article in went to work at Henningsen Foods, Inc. 2001, young Eli Bloom, son He worked there for 13 years as a cost Marvin Parilman in Scandinavia. accountant, warehouse manager and editor of the of Rebecca and Brent Bloom, told us, “The Jewish expemonthly company newspaper. Later, he moved to a job rience that is most important to me is having Marvin at Omaha Bedding Company, where he was their cost Parilman mentor me for the preparation of my bar mitzaccountant, buyer of all raw materials and managed vah. Every week, I look forward to meeting with him and working on my Torah studies and the everyday inventory control. He remained there for 23 years.

In 1995, Marvin decided he was too young to retire prayers...I am filled with knowledge until I can’t fit anyand answered an advertisement for an administrator at more in. Then, I am sent home to study and empty that the Miller Park Presbyterian Church. The job responsi- knowledge into my long term memory slot!”

Parilman is well respected in the vocal musical combilities include financial reports, taking care of all funds, munity. He sang in the Nebraska Choral Arts Society for and the upkeep of the church.

One might ask, “What’s a nice Jewish man doing in a 10 years and was a board member for much of that time.

Presbyterian Church?” The answer is that the congrega- He sang with the Voices of Omaha for 14 years and was tion depends on him to manage affairs and see to the president of the organization for 11 years. He continues smooth running of the church. Often he is asked to use to sing with the prestigious Omaha Symphonic Chorus his beautiful tenor voice. They tell him, “We can always and was president of that group as well. Marvin was also a member of the Beth Israel Choir for 15 years and subhear tunes sung in English. Sing for us in Hebrew!”

In addition to his musical talent, Marvin writes poetry stituted as cantor for services and weddings. He has also and has had much of his work published in The sung in the Temple Israel choir.

Parilman prefers to work with the children he teaches International Library of Poetry. His other interests include boating, dancing and world traveling. He has on a one-on-one basis. “It has been a very important been to London, Hong Kong, Paris, Israel, Italy, part of my life and I have loved every minute of it.”

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September 22, 2006

Teaching is Her Passion

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN “It was phenomenal!” she emphasized. “Teachers “I don’t remember ever not wanting to be a teacher, were in awe of their students’ growth.” said Washington School Principal Cathy Christensen.

Christensen was then appointed assistant principal at An Omaha native, Cathy grew up attending schools in Saratoga and Waconda Schools at the same time for one the city starting at Western Hills. She also attended year. She also served as an assistant principal for one year at Oakdale, Arbor Heights, Rockbrook, Valley View, and Field Club. In 2000, she took over as principal at Westside High School after her parents, Dr. Earl and Lee Hartman. The previous principal had died, and the Wigodsky moved to 108th and Pine from 68th and “school needed the team building support. It was great. I Western. While still in public school, Christensen joined loved the people--the kids, a good community, and the Future Teachers of America, worked with special educa- teachers were masters,” she said. Being a principal, accordtion students, and volunteered at Temple Israel in the ing to Christensen, was simply “the next stage” for her. religious school.

In 2003, another school needed her team building She went on to earn her bachelor’s degree at the expertise, leading Christensen to be named principal of University of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL) in 1971. She Washington School. “They were using the old Druid Hill finished her master’s degree at the University of building on 30th and Spaulding,” when she started, “and Nebraska-Omaha (UNO) and completed her doctorate moved to 55th and Mayberry.” She worked with an the in education at UNL in 1993. architect and a builder her first year at the school and Her first teaching position was as a third grade teacher then “packed up and moved in January 2004.” in Papillion. “I hated it,” she Christensen’s eyes widened, and she said. But the abhorrence smiled as she talked about Washington’s soon ended when she was role as “a deaf and hard-of-hearing center offered a chance to teach for the Omaha area. We have most of the sixth grade. “I loved it! The profoundly deaf children and those with little kids didn’t get my Cochlear implants at our school,” she said. humor. I could talk to sixth About 15 percent of the children at graders. I could help them Washington are hearing impaired. get ready for junior high and “National Council of Jewish Women has I loved the curriculum.” given us two grants which we used for wall While still in college, pilots which change the FM frequency on Cathy married a fellow eduhearing aids so children can hear the teacher cator, Bill Christensen. He in whichever classroom they’re in. The took a job with ENGAS, Glazer Foundation of the Jewish Federation which was a petroleum comFoundation donated special hearing aids to pany in Lincoln, and Cathy go with the wall pilots,” she said. “Our taught at “a country school” teachers work very well together. Almost in Hickman, 15 miles south everybody at the school, including of Lincoln.

Christensen, the non-hearing impaired stu“There were a thousand dents and the secretary, signs Signing kids in the school. I loved it, Exact English. because I could really teach As she looks forward to her 36th year as in a way they could have fun an educator, Christensen remarked that and learn,” she said. She was “kids don’t change. They need boundaries, there for seven years before ground rules, and knowing that you care.” she and Bill, along with their However, today’s technology has given kids two children, David born in a global outlook, she added. Teachers today 1975 and Jesica in 1978, are “much more educated than in the sixmoved to Estes Park, Principal Cathy Christensen is proud of her ties through the eighties, but 60 percent of Colorado, where Cathy put OPS students at Washington School. them will retire within five years. We need her career on hold for a couple of years to stay home to train more teachers.” with the kids.

She mentioned four programs that can help meet that In 1980, the Christensens moved back to Omaha. objective, including the CADRE and Cohort programs “There were no Jews in Estes Park,” she said. Cathy which train teachers in critical needs areas, Green to worked part-time as co-director of Temple Israel’s Gold developed by the military to train soldiers to Religious School with her friend, another teacher, become teachers after they leave the service, and the Sharon Cipperley (Friedlander), for about three years.

Teacher Academy Project which enrolls people who Christensen’s career with Omaha Public Schools want to change to teaching careers. began in 1985 when she returned to her specialty, teachChristensen, who is grateful to her husband for his ing sixth grade at Spring Lake School at 20th and F “amazing support” of her teaching career, said that the Streets. “I wouldn’t take anything else (other than sixth education community “needs parents to be positively grade),” she admitted. supportive in front of their children. We want to raise Spring Lake Principal Cindi Hardeman encouraged kids who feel empowered instead of entitled,” said the Cathy to apply for the CADRE program at UNO. mother of a U. S. Army soldier stationed at Fort Riley, Hardeman wanted Cathy, now an Ed.D. (doctor of edu- Kansas, with his wife Tiffany, and family: Connor, nine, cation) “to explore more options.” Seven metro school Alex, two, and Dawson, six months. Cathy’s and Bill’s districts participate in the CADRE program which teams daughter lives in Chicago and is a second-year resident master teachers with newer ones who have just earned at the University of Illinois Chicago Medical School. their teaching certificates. The three-pronged program, Cathy believes students here compare well to those in Cathy explained, qualifies new teachers for their master’s other countries, “because of critical thinking. Tests are degrees at the completion of the program. The master skewed to test rote learning by kids on the college track, teachers are instructors at UNO during their two years not the whole population.” Acknowledging that she is as CADRE associates and develop programs and work- “prejudiced,” Christensen said, “OPS does a wonderful shops for their respective school districts. job with ESL (English as a second language) students, “It’s an outstanding project that brings all the districts kids from lower income families, and special needs stutogether,” according to Christensen. “Teachers are dents. We have that ‘Midwest work ethic,’ and kids have mentored and trained well in the beginning of their their priorities straight. Kids get a fabulous background careers.” in Nebraska.”

At the same time she was a CADRE associate, She’s not supportive of the Nebraska legislature’s plan Christensen participated in POETS (Professional to split OPS into three districts. “They circumvented the Organizational Enhancement Trainers), an OPS team of law. It’s like going through a red light to go talk to a 36 teachers and administrators who worked in schools judge. I don’t understand how (the new plan) will be with teachers, administrators, para-professionals, secre- better--it won’t save money. There has to be a way to taries, and custodians on team building, communica- achieve equitable finances. It’s gotten so out of hand tion, and decision-making skills. Christensen concen- that we’ve forgotten the bottom line” which in trated on team building.

Christensen’s opinion is obvious: “the kids.”

Her team building background expanded when she Don Kolterman, Christensen’s high school English was selected as one of 48 teachers in the world to meet teacher, showed her “that learning could be fun and you in Budapest, Hungary, for a month and learn about need to have a passion for it,” she recalled. She still conreading and writing for critical thinking. The teachers siders passion to be important for anyone starting a career used their enhanced skills in post-Communist country in education, adding that “I’ll give them all the support schools. Christensen traveled four times, for two weeks they want, and I always have chocolate out for them.” each time, to Kazakhstan.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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The Accidental Teacher

by OZZIE NOGG come to the campus straight from high school, and Teachers are often asked to express a teaching philos- many transfer to four year institutions and go on to get ophy--the personal mission statement that articulates advanced degrees. their vision and goals. During this assignment, teachers When she taught, her favorite student was the young ask themselves various questions, one of which might woman, single or married, with or without family, who be, “Does the background of your students affect the wanted to improve her life and work situation. She was way you teach?” usually in her late twenties Estelle Faier answered this or early thirties, with a high way. “One of my favorite school diploma, and came books is ‘Catcher in the from an environment that Rye.’ In it, the protagonist, did not treasure education.

Holden Caulfield, observes Still, she was motivated, and that no one is a 100% loser. in order to prove herself she Caulfield--and I’m paraworked hard. phrasing here--says he once “I found the teaching very knew a guy who had nothrewarding. The classes were ing going for him, but was a mix of different races, skill the very best whistler he ever levels, socio-economic backheard. In my interpretation, grounds--and teaching such that means each person has a diverse group was a chalat least one redeeming lenge I welcomed. I felt my attribute. I think this was my work had a purpose, and I teaching philosophy during was really making a contrimy years as an accounting bution to the welfare and instructor on the faculty at future of others.

Metro Community Unfortunately for some of College.” those students, the newShe explains further, found self esteem that came “Many of my students came Above: Estelle Faier vacations at the Broadmoor in Colorado with a degree often changed from backgrounds lacking in Springs; below: as a delegate with Gloria Wagner in 1962 to the family dynamics, and verbal and quantitative skills. the Brandeis Women’s Convention. several of those young Many of them were the first in their family to even gradwomen ended uate from high school. I always treated my students up divorced respectfully, encouraging them and motivating them to because of their succeed. I understood that each was unique.” life style Estelle Sokol Faier is unique, too. changes.”

“I never wanted to be a teacher,” she says. “As a child, As school growing up in New York City, math was my favorite subnames and stuject. After high school, I decided not to major in math dent demobecause all I could see in my future was a career teachgraphics evolve, ing it. So I switched to chemistry, graduated from so do teaching Brooklyn College with a Bachelor of Science, and then methods. “New earned a Masters in Chemistry from Columbia ideas have been University. Even though my mother suggested I go to added to the typical classroom format,” Estelle says.

Columbia’s Teachers College while pursuing my “Last year I challenged myself by teaching several advanced chemistry degree, I resisted.” At Columbia, courses in Accounting Principles over the Internet. I one of Estelle’s classmates was Bob Faier. The couple believe many students who register for those courses graduated together, married, and moved to Omaha. don’t recognize the challenge in doing so. When you “When we came here, I intended to get my Ph.D. in study on-line, self motivation and self discipline become chemistry,” Estelle recounts. “But Bob was in med even more necessary qualities.” school. I had a baby and when I realized a doctorate She notes that “teaching on-line was an interesting meant commuting to Lincoln, I gave up that idea.” experience, but I missed the personal interaction with the Instead, and in spite of her earlier indifference to the students. It’s difficult to really get to know students idea of a career in the classroom, Estelle took on some through faceless e-mails and postings. I enjoyed the classadjunct teaching at Creighton University and UNO. “I room more, where I was up in front doing my thing.” taught a special chemistry course for Registered Nurses Though Estelle Faier may credit Holden Caulfield with who needed chemistry to get their undergraduate her teaching philosophy, she saves her big kudos for the degrees. They were older than the typical college stu- woman who originally suggested she consider teaching. dent and quite fearful of the subject matter.” Though “My role model was my mother. She came to this she didn’t know it then, teaching more mature students country when she was eight, got pulled out of school at was to become Estelle’s long suit.

12, and always regretted her lack of formal education.

In her 40s, Estelle the teacher became a ‘more mature However, as an adult she took classes and got a GED. I student’ herself. “I took accounting courses at UNO, used to motivate my students by telling them her story passed the CPA exam on my first try, and was into a new and telling them that I was expected to go to college. In career. I was also naive. Accounting, at that time, was my family it was expected, like eating or breathing.” very age discriminatory, and finding a job in a public In his book, The Skillful Teacher, Stephen Brookfield accounting firm proved difficult,” she recalls. “So I examines the teaching philosophy question and says, accepted a post teaching accounting in the business divi- “Teaching is about making some kind of dent in the sion at Metropolitan Technical Community College. I world so that the world is different than it was before intended to teach temporarily while continuing my job you practiced your craft. Knowing clearly what kind of hunt, but I stayed at Metro for 17 years. As it turned dent you want to make in the world means that you out, I liked the classwork and looked forward to it. And must continually ask yourself the most fundamental evalsince teaching at a community college meant I didn’t uative questions of all--What effect am I having on stuhave to publish or worry about tenure, I had time to dents and on their learning?”

Making a dent? interact with my students on a somewhat personal level.

Faier answers this way. “The other day at the grocery They’d come to see me after class, ask my advice. It was clear my students had needs other than learning the sub- store a young woman came over to me and said, ‘Mrs. Faier, how are you? I was in your accounting class, ject matter, and I wanted to listen to them.”

During her Metro years, Estelle saw the name of the remember? You look great. You were one of my favorite school change from Metropolitan Technical Community professors.’”

She pauses and says, “Yes, I remembered her and was College to Metro Community College, a subtle differproud to hear she was planning to get a masters degree ence that better reflects the student population.

“When I started, in the 1980s, the word ‘technical’ in leadership studies. Did I make a difference in her life? described the school’s student body. Most came from I guess so. That same week I was at the Farmers Market, blue collar backgrounds. They knew nothing about talking to a young woman about cucumbers, when she business, but they knew they wanted to better them- said, ‘You’re Mrs. Faier, aren’t you?’ Turned out she was selves. I usually dealt with older students whose main one of my former students, now working in the accountgoal was to develop a skill, get a two year associate ing field and just helping a friend at one of the vegetable degree, and then find a career--maybe as an accounting stands. Apparently I’d taught her something about accounting. But between you and me, she didn’t know clerk--that was a step up from where they started.”

Today, she says, students are more traditional. They much about cukes.”

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 15

Coffee Talk

by ANNE MUSKIN Jewish Press Editorial Intern “Good things come in small packages,” or in other words, allow me to introduce… Marti Harris. Teacher by day and mom by night, Harris is the resident “super hero” at J. Sterling Morton Elementary School in the Millard School District.

After graduating from the University of NebraskaOmaha with a degree in Elementary Education and endorsements in Early Childhood, Harris set out to become a fourth grade teacher.

Fast-forward 21 years later.

I met Harris for an early morning “cup a joe,” where I learned she is still teaching fourth grade with as much enthusiasm and creativity as ever. With a sip of her coffee, Harris said, “It’s a great age. The kids still want to learn and they want to be your friend. They’re little observers.” She claims that it doesn’t get old, because the kids and the curriculum change and, “I do teach every subject!”

Harris believes her recipe for success has been structure mixed with fun. She wants kids to walk away knowing they have learned a lot, but had fun doing it too. For instance, the fourth grade economics unit allows kids to have and run their own small business. They make and sell products and have their own money system. She said the kids like this unit the best!

Though a lot of Harris’s job is ensuring that her students walk away understanding the curriculum, it’s not all excitement all the time. Some of the challenges Harris faces can be pretty frustrating. “We have to teach social

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She pointed to a bigger problem, as she continued; “It’s hard to find the time to give the average kids the attention they deserve.” Harris said that there are higher learning classes for those that are above average, and the behavior kids take the attention in the classroom. But, she attempts to remedy this by making her classroom interactive.

“I try to be more positive with discipline. If a kid is acting out I give them jobs to do and errands to run.” For Harris, this helps cut down on the distractions, while making school more engaging for her students.

In addition to teaching fourth grade, Harris is the student counsel advisor--Harris’ most loveable monster. Harris has raised the bar very high and has the kids of Morton Elementary doing incredible things.

“Morton has raised over $1,000 for camp Co-HoLo,” a camp for kids with cancer and blood disorders, and “around $900 for the JDRF,” the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Harris related. She plans spirit days, for instance with the JDRF campaign they had pj day, dark glasses day, radical hair day, and funky footwear day. “The kids get so excited!” Harris commented, but her enthusiasm is just as electric.

I asked Harris what her most unusual experience has

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been, and her face lit up.

“This has never happened to me in 21 years of teaching,” she prefaced, “last year I had a kid swallow a three- inch pencil. I was sitting on the floor doing a social studies lesson, and he raises his hand and says ‘Mrs. Harris, I swallowed a pencil.’ I looked at him and said ‘yeah right!’ and he said, ‘no, I did,’ and the girl next to him chimes in ‘Mrs. Harris he did!’”

She explained to me that it was actually kind of Marti Harris dangerous because they had to get the lead out of his body before he began to break it down. The student went to the emergency room and called Harris progressively throughout the day and into the night. “The next day, he brought the pencil in for show and tell! It was definitely unusual!”

“Teaching is not just a nine-month job,” Harris said.

“I usually work until 1 a.m. and get up at 5:30 a.m., but I love what I do.” Katharine Graham, past publisher of the Washington Post, said, “To love what you do and feel that it matters--how could anything be more fun,” and Marti Harris, fourth grade teacher at Morton Elementary, agrees.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

Drawn to the Spirit

by JOAN K. MARCUS After graduation from high school in 1967, Shari went When Shari L. Hess was little, there was always a huge to Simpson College in Indianola, IA. It was a small, intiemphasis on education in her home. It relates back to mate campus. She wanted to continue the tradition of when her father, Jacob Hess, was a young man; he was attending a school where everyone looked different, offered a scholarship to attend the University of Illinois. where she would meet people from all over the world.

“The family was so impoverished they couldn’t afford Since Abraham Lincoln’s words, “All men are created the transportation for him to attend,” she explains. “So equal,” were always followed at the Hess home, Shari at he wasn’t able to use the scholarship.” first thought that she wanted to be a social worker. “My She adds, “It became the goal of my parents, Ida and parents always stressed those words. Those are the Jacob Hess, for my sister, Elaine, and me to each have a words that I’ve based my life on and I think that it’s a good education. School was Jewish thing,” she says. always very important while “I was always taught to we grew up.” be a volunteer and to However, when Shari was share my life,” Hess adds, in kindergarten, her attitude “They taught me that it toward education was less wasn’t so much what you than acceptable. It seems were giving--but more in that the little girl used to terms of what you learned run out the back door of the about people and yourschool, run home, and hide self. Some people do volin the garage! Finally, the unteer work and they school called Jacob Hess; he don’t realize they will came home from work to benefit because it’s the accompany his little daughright thing to do. ter back to school.

Jewishly, we’re taught Shari’s view of education that this is what we’re changed when she began supposed to do. first grade.

“Besides,” she smiles, “When I reluctantly “you get this wonderful walked into the classroom, sense of people and what there was a young, sparkling they’re like.” teacher. I’m sure that she Shari graduated from had heard about my reputacollege in 1979 with a tion and made it her mission Bachelor of Science to make me love school. I’ve degree in education. always thought I could repay Since she had been a secShari L. Hess her for the gift that she gave retary during a summer at me by being a mentor to my students,” she says.

Lothrop School in North Omaha, she requested to be “I can still see my first grade teacher, Miss Lang. Now placed there. “The community embraced me--the prinwhen I teach children to write descriptive stories, I cipal, kids and everyone just welcomed me,” she recalls. always write about her. She wore angora sweaters, “There was such spirit emanating from the children and straight skirts and three-inch high heels. She would walk their families; I was so drawn to them.” up and down the aisle and put her hand on the shoulder Hess says she never goes anywhere that she doesn’t of each child,” Hess recalls. “She taught me how to meet someone who was in one of her classes. During a read. The rest of my education just kind of melted recent tragedy here in Omaha--when 12-year-old together after the first grade. She made me feel com- Amber Harris was found murdered--Shari visited the fortable and content and she touched me.” family. She was sitting with them in the backyard when Even though the rest of her school years went many of the visitors recognized her as their former smoothly, Hess still credits Miss Lang and the first grade teacher. as being the turning point in her life. Although she “They were so glad to see me,” she adds. “People talk admits that she didn’t always know that she was going about North Omaha in a negative way, but after all these to be a teacher, other career choices didn’t “ring a bell” years, they were still there to support their friend.” for her.

She went on to say, “I was at a banquet one evening

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when a man came over to my table with his son. He introduced me to him as ‘the teacher I always told you about.’ What a gift that was to me.”

She cites another example--one of her former students who is a hairdresser and cuts her hair. “I asked her one day if I was a good teacher and she answered, ‘You weren’t really a good teacher, but we always knew that you cared about us!’”

Hess admits that she liked teaching, but “it took me about 10 years to know what I was doing. In those days, we weren’t really trained very well and we went by the seat of our pants,” she laughs.

“I taught first grade for 24 years. I always cared about the kids, and I think that I was blessed to have a natural connection with children.”

During her first years as a teacher, she visited children’s homes, took them places, and tried to get as involved with the community as she possibly could. “It gave me a huge connection. I was a Jewish girl who came from a white, middle class family and I didn’t really understand the new culture,” she notes. “Our principal. Warren Taylor, taught me a lot about being a good teacher.”

After teaching at Lothrop School for 31 years, Hess says that even now, when she teaches writing at Castelar School, she is strict. Hess has huge expectations of her students. However, her students have changed her life because of the life lessons that they have given her.

During her long, productive career at Lothrop, she ran a special program. The CADRE program, a mentoring program for new teachers, is designed for third grade; Hess became the instructional facilitator, a support person for teachers. She also ran an after-school parent involvement program. She left Lothrop in 2002 to teach at Castelar, where she remains as a part-time writing instructor who teaches children how to write “on demand.”

In 1999, Hess was the recipient of the Alice Buffett Award for excellence in teaching. The prestigious award recognizes 15 teachers in the Omaha Public School system and is named for the aunt of the world’s second richest man--Warren Buffett. He funds the award, which grants $10,000 to each winner and is presented at an annual banquet. Hess considers that award to have been one of the greatest joys of her life.

“In order to be successful in the classroom, the children have to make a family. We, as teachers, have to support that family--just like we support our families at home,” Hess says.

“If kids go to school and come home feeling good about themselves, that’s really what we’re in the business of doing,” Shari adds. “What greater gift is there than to be able to teach and touch people’s lives?”

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September 22, 2006

Desire to Serve Inspires Her Board Efforts

by GARY JAVITCH unique attributes to the position. For one Rosie Zwieback’s father served as her thing, the Princeton University political model. Her dad, Dr. Eugene “Speedy” science graduate was a former teacher.

Zweiback, a retired surgeon, “gave a lot to In the recent past, only the late Liz the community with his demonstrated Karnes was a board member with teachskills, care and devotion to his patients,” ing experience. And Liz had encouraged Rosie related. And while her work on the her to run for the board position.

Board of Education would be strictly volAnother qualification of note was her untary, “the dedication I saw my father diverse educational experience. While display toward his patients inspired a desire working on her masters in education at in me to give back to the community.” the University of California at San Diego, “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to Rosie taught government and U.S. serve on the Westside School Board. And History--in Spanish--to inner city middle being on the Board would be a great way school students, most of whom were to serve the general community, too. from Mexico. She also had written a curRosie is now riculum.

And serving her back in New second term Jersey, she taught on the Westat the high side Communschool level. ity Schools Even better, her Board of previous experiEducation. She ence included filled out the supervising stulast two years of dent teachers and Stu Dornan’s a year in administerm after he tration. She had left to become also supervised District Attorteacher training ney for the City and staff developof Omaha. ment.

She has a lot Now that she is that she wants on the board, she to accomplish. will have the When all is said opportunity to and done, “I work toward her want to be able goals. At the same to look back time, she during my observed, “I do tenure and Joe, left, Rosie, Grace, Mace, back, and Abby, in front, have to respond know that I relax outside the Old City of Jerusalem, looking east. to what comes have been my way.” One responsive to community significant detour concerns,” she said. was the fight over That means taking the the “One city, time to be accessible. “Our One school” procommunity members,” she posal. continued, “need to feel that “That occupied they have had their day in a great deal of court.” In addition, she felt my time. And that the role of a good board now the current member was to provide issues center stewardship. around the “That means hiring visionimplementation Rosie rests, atop Masada. ary leadership,” noting that of the new LB the professionals on staff spend upwards 1024 legislation, mandating operations of 60 hours a week on their duties. “Then within a ‘learning community.’ This is we need to support them.” completely uncharted territory. Westside Rosie has a big picture commitment to will need to find a niche in the 11-district the important values that make a school consortium of schools created by the new system work effectively. This includes the law. need to strive for excellence. At the same “The opportunities are many: We can time, there is a strong need for individu- create a specialty school, focusing on spealization within the system. “Every kid is cial academies of excellence like science, unique,” she emphasized, “and we can- theater, or the arts that would give a certain not overlook that. theme or focus to the school and would be “Beyond that, I want to be a vehicle for open to anyone living in the area.” folks in the community and to help the “However, it is too soon to say what system work for them, even though when will develop,” she observed. Meetings there is a problem, they can’t win every will begin in September and that area is time.” not one in which she will be directly As noble as her desire to serve was, she involved. found the path to public service on the Meanwhile, Rosie has other priorities, board was not as easy to follow as she first too. She holds the position of Program imagined. “Campaigning for the job was Director at Temple Israel. And she has far more involved and much harder than family responsibilities as well. She is marI expected,” she noted. ried to Mace Hack, the newly appointed Still, she was more than equal to the state director of the Nebraska Wildlife task. “I knew lots of people and I had Conservancy. The couple has three chilkept in contact with many former teach- dren: Abby, seven, Joe, 11, and Grace, ers who were encouraging. I campaigned 13, who just celebrated her Bat Mitzvah in front of community clubs and door-to- three weeks ago at Temple Israel. door. It was fun, but the hours were long.

Sometimes my dad went along with me.

EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE It did take quite a bit of time.”

The Jewish Press office is closed Monday, Rosie’s motivation was strong. She had Oct. 1, for Yom Kippur; the deadline for the grown up in the Westside schools and, Oct. 6 issue is Wednesday, Sept. 27, 9 most of all, she felt she could bring some a.m. Questions? Call 334.6448.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 17

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

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Director’s Blueprint Keeps Agency on Course

by DIANE AXLER BAUM been living in Los Angeles since age 11, and was already Building connections of one kind or another is part of a college junior, when he took some Jewish studies Guy Matalon’s daily work. The connections often courses at the University of California, Northridge. require the performance of an administrator, the train“I was offered an independent reading course with ing of a serious scholar, and the heart and mind of a one of the faculty members to read Medieval Jewish committed Jew. philosophical texts,” he As Director of the recalled. “The texts were Federation’s Center for interesting to me, and I kept Jewish Education, Dr. reading them, and I am still Matalon oversees the proreading texts from this era.” viding of meaningful educaHis scholarship led him to tional opportunities to all do graduate work at New ages, and levels, of Jewish York University, where he learners. As a faculty memalso served as an instructor. ber in the Department of During this time in his life, Philosophy and Religion at he began to understand, the University of Nebraska“The only way to continue Omaha, he develops courses, learning and be able to make teaches, and conducts schola living was by becoming a Dr. Guy Matalon meets with Ann Goldstein, President of his teacher.” arly research.

“I have a sense of what’s agency, the Center for Jewish Education.

He did not commit himhappening throughout the Jewish community, educa- self to college teaching, however, until he’d done a stint tionally, that I think not everybody has,” Matalon said. as a swim instructor and another as a professional musiTo maintain this advantage, he keeps in contact with a cian. His specialty was Middle Eastern music, which he range of individuals and group representatives, including played on the bazouki. These days, he added, the musirabbis, school directors, teachers, parents and teenagers cianship and the bazouki still provide him and his famiin addition to the board of lay leaders of the CJE. Ann ly much personal pleasure.

When asked about his “favorite subject,” Matalon Goldstein is the board’s current president.

The CJE regularly sponsors a wide variety of lectures, responded: “Reading texts…reading texts with people films, courses, seminars, and holiday celebrations for the and showing them different ways to interpret a text.” In entire Omaha Jewish community. Many events take addition to his favorites, Medieval Hebrew or Arabic place in the Dorothy and Myer Kripke Jewish Federation texts, he especially enjoys Kabbalah. “The way these Library, located in the Jewish Community Center and texts interpret the Bible and reality,” he noted, “chaloperated under the agency’s auspices. The library’s col- lenges our societal standards.”

Matalon believes that teaching adult students how to lections are an important resource for area scholars and for the entire Jewish community, both adults and chil- “hyper-read” is one of the most important skills he can dren, Matalon said. He is committed to maintaining its impart. “Reading is not passive,” he exclaimed. excellence, as are agency administrator Mary Sue Therefore, he feels justified in “forcing his students to Grossman, library administrator Gary Katz, and library read carefully.” To do so, he instructs them on how to notice literary devices, like the use of particular words assistant Dorothy Kaplan.

Sometimes the offerings of the CJE take place at and the repetition of words. Also, he instructs them in Omaha’s synagogues or at UNO. And what a range of developing their sensitivity to details, those that are pressubjects they cover! Matalon is asked how he comes up ent, and those that are omitted. Ultimately, as he with such exciting course titles. Sometimes, he imparts to students “an ability to become better readanswered, there’s a particular hot topic (such as “sin” or ers,” he helps them connect to “a deeper knowledge of “redemption”) or there might be a particular Biblical the variety and depth of the Jewish literary tradition.”

The stringent requirements Matalon imposes on many figure (and his or her behaviors), which educators across the U.S. decide to explore. When this occurs, Omaha adult students do not carry over to other adults, or to children. Sometimes, he said, the most important thing may mirror the trend.

Matalon mentioned several specific programs. In July, he can do is to be a positive Jewish role model.

Indeed, when he and his wife, Elinor, came to Omaha the agency launched “Eye on Israel,” an informal series of information and insight scheduled on Tuesdays in in 1999, their foremost goal was to help strengthen alternative months, at the Kripke Library. “Eye on Jewish education and identity and to serve as positive Israel,” he explained, replaces the tremendously popular Jewish role models. They both became involved in a “Guy and Bob Show” now that recent ADL Director variety of teaching throughout the community. Elinor, a sabra like her husband--and, of course, fully fluent in Bob Wolfson has relocated to ADL in New York City.

Earlier this month, the agency promoted an explo- Hebrew--made a special impact as a teacher of immerration of “The Texts and Textures of Judaism” by spon- sion Hebrew at the Friedel Jewish Academy.

Then, in April, 2004, the young couple became the soring “Limmud Omaha: A Day of Learning.” In October Matalon will start another “Derech Torah: parents of twins. And, according to Matalon, “It was Judaism 101 course,” aimed especially at men and time to walk the talk.” To this end, they maintain a trawomen considering conversion or already in the conver- ditional Jewish household filled with holidays and ritual.

In fact, he smiled, Shabbat observance usually begins sion process with an individual rabbi.

Next spring the agency will tackle “The Afterlife” in with morning preparations, because daughter Talya and two four-session courses, the first to be held at Temple son Aden wake up ready to get started. Moreover, Israel on Wednesday evenings in February and the sec- because the Matalons want the children to become totally connected to their heritage language, only ond at Beth El on Wednesday evenings in March.

What, Matalon is asked, is his ultimate aim as head of Hebrew is spoken in their home.

Don’t the children hear English on TV? Not an issue the agency? Nothing less, he answered, than “to get all the pieces to fit together better.” Moreover, he specified for this family. Aden and Talya Matalon do not watch one particular goal: to determine “how we can effect the television, ever. Instead, the parents spend a great deal of time reading to the twins from a large collection of chilstrengthening of Jewish identity across all ideologies.”

One of Matalon’s many challenges is to connect work dren’s books, all in Hebrew.

The parents hardly watch TV, either. Television, of the Jewish Federation with that of UNO. For example, he helped forge the ongoing partnership of the Matalon believes, has little purpose beyond that it “kills Jewish Federation and UNO’s School of Business with time.” During rare moments of leisure, he turns to the business faculty at the Western Galilee College in books. Recently, among others he read some pieces by Israel. This work resulted last spring in Matalon’s escort- I.B. Singer and a novel by popular Israeli novelist Amos ing a group of key UNO faculty members to Israel to Oz. His ongoing favorites are The Zohar, the Guide to the conference with faculty members at the sister institution. Perplexed by Maimonides and The Tanakh. He keeps a Matalon, who earned his PhD in 2005, is a specialist copy of The Tanakh by his bedside, reading and re-readin Judaic Studies and Islamic Studies. Not surprising ing portions of it “just in case,” he said. In case of what? that his personal interests and strengths sometimes influ- Seems it’s a connection thing: He never knows when he ence the courses he teaches for the agency. Among oth- might need to recall a particular verse, either at the CJE ers, he has concentrated in recent years on the Zohar or at UNO As an educational administrator, and a college faculty and on the works of Maimonides.

While he was born in Israel with Hebrew as his first member, Matalon said he has found here in Omaha the language, Matalon became involved “fairly late,” he closest thing he can imagine to “an ideal position.” It’s said, in studying Judaic topics of real depth. He had not complicated, he noted, “I love what I do.”

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 19

Connecting the Dots

by JOAN K. MARCUS Steve Danon, teacher at Temple Israel, was born in Southern California in 1955.

His father, Ike Danon, and his family had escaped from the Holocaust to a relocation camp in Yugoslavia. From there, they went to Italy where they lived for two years before coming to the United States.

Ike met Steve’s mother, Ethel, in New York where they were married. “Our name, Danon, is actually Sephardic. The family left Spain during the Inquisition and went to Yugoslavia. They remained there until the Holocaust.”

The family attended a Conservative synagogue and he remembers that they celebrated holidays but didn’t attend services regularly. He and his two brothers had bar mitzvahs but didn’t go to services after that. “My parents had Jewish souls,” he says, “but there wasn’t much nurturing done. I hated religious school because it was too boring.”

His father worked in and later owned a hardware store. School was easy for him; he didn’t study a lot and, didn’t get really good grades.

In view of this, Steve’s desire to become a doctor or a veterinarian was shattered.

“I went to a regular high school not far from Malibu Beach. Since high school was boring, I was sort of a ‘beach bum’ for most of my senior year. My parents were working a lot and I was a behavioral challenge,” he grins. “I guess I was an obnoxious student.”

As an adult, he recognized very quickly, the inability of those who teach to connect with an audience. That’s probably one of his greatest criticisms of teachers.

“That’s why I love to teach and connect with my audiences and students.”

In 1971, Steve graduated from Agura Steve said, “I came to Omaha in 1990 High School, near Malibu Beach. He had to train people at the plant for what they hoped to go into business or law enforce- would do in the event of an emergency. I ment, which wasn’t an option if you wore worked there for three years and fell in glasses. “I always knew I wanted to do love with Omaha. We knew nobody and something that would help people. we began taking the ‘Jewish Press.’

Because of that, I was never satisfied with Somebody from Temple called us and we business so, I became a volunteer with began what we called ‘a religious awakenthe American Red Cross.” ing.’ he recalls. “We were totally inspired He was put in charge of volunteers dur- by Cantor Karen Webber-Gilat.” ing major Although flooding and Steve had brush fires. “I always taken was effective college coursin this work es, it wasn’t and I had until he came time because to Omaha I was working that he made for my father, it a goal to too, and I graduate had flexibility. from Bellevue This eventuCollege, with ally led to a a degree in job with the Management City of San and Human Fernando Resources.

Steve Danon doing emerCurrently, gency management.”

Steve works as director of risk control The primary thrust of his job was earth- services at Marcotte Insurance. He works quake preparedness; he transferred to the with businesses to help control losses due County of San Diego doing emergency to lack of employee safety, customer safepreparedness. Another part of his job was ty and food safety. His job is to train planning for terrorists and nuclear emer- employers to change the culture of their gencies. While still working in San Diego, organizations and how they think about Omaha Public Power District recruited the prevention of loss. He also is part of a him to come to Omaha to work at the national homeland security program for nuclear power plant. anti-terrorist training, and he plans huge In 1974, Steve met Veronica Fadke, a disaster exercises in case of terrorist co-worker, and they later married. Their attacks. children are Jessie, born in 1989 and Because he knows that he can effectiveJosh, born in 1992. The couple later ly teach and train, he decided he would divorced. teach at Temple Israel’s religious school.

“I was inspired by Temple and I love it. so I began substitute teaching in 1991,” he says, “and then, Ann Kibel-Schwartz asked me to teach regularly.”

He likes teaching little kids, and has “moved with the same group through first and second grades. “I intensely connected with these kids and they remember me. I made jokes to try to keep the classes interesting because I had been so bored when I was young,” he says.

“My greatest pleasure is that some of the kids I had in first and second grade are now teachers themselves! Now, I teach ninth grade and it makes me feel good that kids want to come to my class.

Two years ago, I began teaching with Rabbi Craig Marantz and we inspired one another,” he adds. “The depth of his knowledge and his ability to conceptualize things and apply them to everyday life was amazing. It was inspirational.”

Last year, Steve taught 10th grade when Rabbi Aryeh Azriel was on sabbatical. “The kids are fun. They’re a little bit rambunctious, but it was challenging because I had known those kids in second grade. I had to do research every night, but it was a tremendous amount of fun. I could use my ability to allow them to think and discuss,” he says.

Talk about challenging: One of the questions he likes to ask kids is, “Do animals have souls?”

“The most exciting thing to me is to throw out something that is very, very abstract and watch the kids process it through verbalization and then see the lights come on. It’s just super-cool!” he smiles. “And what that does is make the learning experience meaningful, lasting and enjoyable.”

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

Love of Art Combines with Teaching Career

by GLORIA SHUKERT JONES At first glance, tall and attractive Barb Giller reminds you more of a fashion model than a preschool teacher. But in a way, she is a model--a role model for the youngsters she teaches at the Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center.

At the time of my interview with her in March, around the Purim holiday, Giller’s pre-kindergarten students ranged in age from three to five. In the latter part of May, she sent me a notice that she was going to be promoted from assistant in Julie Shelburne’s class, to lead teacher of her own class when the new school year begins in August. She reported the students in her class will remain the same, although some will be in the four-to-five pre-K age group by then.

As lead teacher, she is happy to welcome Diane Malashock as her assistant.

She and Malashock are now the third members of the three pre-kindergarten teams at CDC. At the same time she sent me the additional information, Giller said she was also busy preparing her new classroom for summer camp. “I may have some of the kids from this camp class in my preschool class, and the others will be split between the other two classes. Julie and I are the only camp teachers for the four-to-fiveyear-old preschoolers.” The third teacher will return in the fall for regular preschool, Giller explained.

Giller indicates she has been at CDC in a full-time position for seven years, during which she has greatly enjoyed working with the children, the staff, and singing the praises of the facility. “This center is phenomenal,” she states, “We do a lot of things here: we have music, swimming, and gymnastics, just to name a few. It’s more than just a preschool. I call it an educational facility that centers on Jewish preschool subjects.”

At the time of the interview, Giller said, “Presently, we’re working on Bible stories and the study of Purim, which includes making Hamantaschen, noisemakers and talking about the megillah. All the other classes do the same. We’re a ‘hands-on’ facility.” She further stated, “We have art projects. Carole Greenberg, our Assistant

Director, conducts extra art classes for which parents can sign up their kids. The educational opportunities here offer so much more than the average preschool.”

She also indicated CDC has non-Jewish children who attend, and their parents know the focus will be on Jewish education, but they love sending their kids to this facility anyway.

Giller and I agreed that children have so many more opportunities to learn now than they did when our generations were

example of CDC’s progressive learning agenda, coupled with Giller’s artistic soul. A dynamic combination!

Just when I thought I had heard everything, Giller surprised me by telling about her class’s study of multi-lingual Dr. Seuss’s rhymes. Dr. Seuss, with whom most parents are familiar, writes nonsense books for kids like Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat. The rhymes are silly enough in English, but try reciting them in French, Spanish, Swedish,

Barb Giller “relaxes” in her classroom at the Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center. growing up. “All we had were nursery Russian and Hebrew! Keep in mind, schools, but they didn’t have what CDC some of these kids, such as the three-yearoffers now. We’re like family,” Giller olds, have barely become conversant in observed. “We watch the kids grow and English. But Giller confirms, “They are work with them. My hours are 8 a.m. to favorite reads for me and the children.”

As far as her own personal reading 3 p.m., but some of the kids are here until 6 o’clock when we close. For some, it’s choices, Giller says, “I really don’t have a lot of time to read, but of course I love an all-day venture.”

Art is Giller’s favorite subject to teach. anything that’s written about art.” My She has a background in art and design guess is, she probably has an extensive and is a very creative person by nature. collection of reading material on that “Before I began teaching, that was anoth- subject.

When asked what the parents, staff and er love of mine,” she noted. “The wheels are always turning in my head, like what community could do to enhance her kind of art project can we do today? I’ve work, or make things easier, Giller stated, done Picasso with the kids, and that was “The parents have been wonderful. We have a lot of parents who donate items to a month-long project.”

Picasso? One doesn’t normally associate us. We’ve received computers, and anoththe work of a famous artist with er donor gave us a CD burner. Since we preschoolers, let alone incorporate it into have graduations, we prepare slide-show their study. However, that’s just another presentations, where I transfer all my pic-

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tures from the computer onto the burner.

The attitude of the parents is: ‘What can I do for you?’ They are so willing to assist, and so is the administration-Corey, Carole--always wanting to do things for us. ‘What can we do?’ ‘How can we help?’ We have such a wonderful rapport.”

Asked to compare educational standards in the United States with those in other countries, Giller responded, “From my own perspective, being an American in Omaha is definitely an advantage we have over people in other countries, as for how we compare with them on an educational basis. Additionally, we have a greater support system, and the necessary funds available to provide educational tools, books, and other things we need.”

According to Giller, the biggest change she’s experienced during her seven-year tenure at CDC is location. Formerly, classes were held at the JCC in the area where Jewish Family Service is now located. “Now we have our own separate building in the complex, where we can spread out and offer our students more in the way of activities,” Giller observed.

The bright and spacious CDC building with its colorful, child-friendly environment, not only provides more space, but also has led to increased enrollment. The new facility opened in 1999.

The biggest challenge Giller faces in the classroom is keeping the youngsters interested in various projects, coming up with new ideas, and making sure they get the most out of their preschool education.

Giller explains further, “I try to meet the individual needs of each student, and also that of the class as a whole. I recognize that each child has his or her own distinct personality and interests. Some may need a little more attention, and others are more independent; some are quiet and others are more outgoing. I think you have to be able to assess on a day-today basis, what’s going to work and plan the curriculum accordingly. Those are the challenges I face--and to keep doing the best I can for these kids, because they deserve the best.”

As for discipline in the classroom, she Continued on page 21

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September 22, 2006

Never Too Old to Teach

by ANNE MUSKIN Muskin said, “We have people that have been told they Jewish Press Editorial Intern are dumb, so, they think they are dumb. A lot of the What do Bill Cosby, Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas, time, though, they aren’t dumb at all. They just need gymnast Mary Lou Retton, Waylon Jennings, and someone to make an effort and show they believe in Michael J. Fox all have in common? them. A little encouragement goes a long way.”

They are all graduates of the GED program The program Muskin works with is through Omaha Stuart Muskin is a dashing 85-year-old retired business Public Schools and meets at the South Omaha Public owner. He has been a GED teacher for 19 years. He Library. He says the program has changed a lot. The graduated from University of Nebraska-Lincoln and majority of his students in the past were adults coming served in the army. He has a million stories, like when he back to education after having to drop out to help supwas wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, or the time he port their families, or adults with some learning disabilserved in General Patton’s army. He has stories about his ities that weren’t offered educational options in their career, too, as the former owner of Youngtown, selling youth. “Now,” Muskin says, “a lot of our students are juvenile furniture and kids, who dropped kids’ clothing in stores out of school and are catering to young on probation, being families forced to come by the For this special issue court. They just on Jewish educators, aren’t as interested, however, he shared because they are there the stories he’s makbecause they have to ing here in Omaha, as be.” a teacher and friend to He wishes for his GED participants. students to come “One student I had, wanting to learn and was a prize fighter, not to be afraid to ask but his brain was questions. As for the mashed. He would community, Muskin remember things for says, “keep it going. five minutes, and then When there’s probforget it all over lems and funds are again.” It takes a lot low, they think about of patience, Muskin Stuart Muskin, left, patiently works with high school drop-outs now looking cutting us, but I still said, to work with to earn their diplomas. have students that such a wide range of students. have long since moved on, calling me. We aren’t just “It’s an eye opener to see how many adults are illiter- teachers, we are mentors, role models, and friends.” ate, can’t add... basic things.” Muskin said, shaking his Muskin still claims, that even though he has had many head. He went on to say, “some are never going to grad- challenges in his life, the biggest has been raising his uate, but they stay with it, and if they feel good about three boys, Alan, Bruce, and Michael Muskin. going to school and improving, it’s worth it.”

“I worry about them, and I want them to be successInitially Muskin had some doubts, “I had a life of busi- ful, and good kids.” He says that the main thing in his ness and thought I couldn’t help them.” He realized, life will always be his family. However, it sounds like he that one doesn’t need a teaching certificate to care about has definitely incorporated some “extended family” people, and to help them have confidence in themselves. along the way.

Love of Art Combines with Teaching

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Continued from page 20 adds, “We try to get them to work things out for themselves, and teach them to resolve their own problems.

It’s really hard at this age, but if they’re given the skills, they can handle situations themselves. Teaching social skills are the eventual goal as far as discipline. For example, when I want them to ask a question politely, I’ll remind them, ‘How do you ask me to tie your shoe?’

Or, ‘Do you use your outdoor voice, or your indoor voice when talking to your friends?’ In other words, when are shouting and whispering appropriate? By asking instead of telling, somehow kids get the idea faster, makes them think, and to them it seems like they came up with the correct solutions themselves. The idea is to give them feelings of self-worth and pride, which in turn generates proper social behavior.”

Giller was born in Omaha. Her parents are Al and Doris Abramson. Her father is a native Omahan, and her mother is originally from Chicago. Giller attended Westside High School and the University of Missouri in Columbia, where she received her degree in education.

Then she returned to Omaha, where she met her husband, and has been here ever since. She likes Omaha because it has small-town friendliness, but is not really a small town. On the other hand, it is not a huge metropolis where one can get lost in the crowd. Here in Omaha, Giller claims she can maintain her identity, and still feel a part of the mainstream.

In visiting this charming young teacher whom I met for the first time, I discovered she and I share a link to the past.

The name Giller had struck a responsive chord in me.

I asked Giller if she was a relative of Hymie Giller, a man my mother had mentioned dating before she met my father. “Oh, yes,” she acknowledged, “he was my husband’s uncle, who lived in California before he passed away.”

Many years ago, in a strange twist of fate, Hymie Giller and his wife, Becky, and their baby daughter, Tillene, ended up living in the same neighborhood as my parents, when I was a small child. Giller spoke at length about the family, and I found out she and Tillene keep in close contact. In fact, Tillene and her family plan to be in Omaha next year for Giller’s daughter Abbey’s bat

mitzvah. Giller and I both agreed it is a small world after all, and mused over the possibility that if things had gone in a different direction, we might have been related through marriage. I questioned Giller about a possible age disparity between her and Tillene, who actually has to be closer to my age, and she explained that her husband being the youngest cousin in the Giller family, enjoys the distinction of having relatives that are all considerably older than he.

Giller’s husband, Stu, is a seventh-grade science teacher at Gretna Middle School. They have two daughters, Emily, 16, a junior at Millard North High School, and Abbey, 12, a seventh grader at Peter Kiewit Middle School. Emily is president of Ediar BBG, and Sweetheart of AZA #1. She went to Israel with the ARTZA group this summer. Abbey has made a few commercials on TV and is preparing for her bat mitzvah in June of 2007.

Giller belongs to both Beth El and Temple Israel, mainly because her daughters’ various classes and activities are at both synagogues. She is also a member of NCJW, and participated last spring in the Decathlon in the Pictionary competition, a type of illustrative charades where impromptu drawings are used to describe various actions for the opposing team to guess -- a natural for an artist!

Giller eagerly looks forward to her new duties as lead teacher and having Malashock as her assistant. “The parents know the other two lead teachers’ style, but are not quite as familiar with mine. This is Diane’s and my ‘rookie’ year, but I feel confident that next year at this time, we’ll actually have established our own inherent style.”

According to Giller, her secret of successful teaching consists of having enthusiasm and an extremely optimistic attitude every day; enjoying what you do, and most important of all, loving kids. She definitely meets these criteria, along with the added plus of having artistic talent and being creative. “My first thought when I get up in the morning is--wow--what shall we do today?”

“I love my job, and I love teaching here,” she concludes emphatically. “That’s how it works for me.”

Page 21

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by OZZIE NOGG Jewish educator led Christensen to participate this past For the past month, Daniel Christensen has been June in the ‘Take STOC’ program, sponsored by the observing his personal High Holiday ritual. “Every Summer Institute at the University of Judaism in Los year, before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I reread Angeles.

‘The Days of Awe’ edited by S. Y. Agnon. The book is “One presenter claimed that preserving the Jewishness a compilation of Jewish fables, Torah readings, of our students in today’s Western liberal society is ‘a Talmudic text, commentary and Kabbala. Each time I difficult idealistic mission which in most cases is beyond read it, I seem to gain strength in my own quest for its capacity’. But Dr. Saul spirituality because the book’s message really resonates Wachs, a professor from with me. It’s a reminder that growth takes patience, Gratz College, disagreed self-discovery takes time, and if we don’t finish the jourand expressed his view ney this year, we can--with the proper intention--with that we are in the kavanah--try again next year.”

‘Golden Age of Jewish This message also informs Daniel Christensen’s education in America’. approach to teaching. He understands that his young He said he preferred students at Beth El Synagogue are on a journey of their Dr. Wachs’ take on own, and he’s not about to rush them. After all, things, and the sessions Christensen was 40-years old before he claimed his he led were real eye-openers. “He showed us ways to Jewish identity and roots. make the classroom a safe place--how to establish a com“My story is so convoluted and my background so fort zone--so students could let their hair down and mixed. My great-grandfather was a Portuguese Jew from were okay being frank, open and honest with one anothDenmark who pulled the name ‘Christensen’ out of the er and with their teachers. Every day, Dr. Wachs began air when he came to the United States. There were the class by drawing on the board a circle that wasn’t Jewish relatives on both sides of my family, but no closed. After a few sessions I caught on--‘A-HA’--I Jewish observance. When my father died 13 years ago, I don’t have to have all the answers for my students. Part was looking for something to help me get through the of my job is to help them find answers. Dr. Wachs also loss. I’d grown up exposed to many different religious gave us insights on how to teach kids to be comfortable beliefs, but Judaism’s monotheism had always appealed with gray areas, to understand that some questions have to me. Circumstances led me to Rabbi Paul Drazen, no answers. I need to apply that in my own life, too, and who was then the spiritual leader at Beth El, and after a accept the fact that I don’t have all the answers.” year and a half of study I ritually converted to Judaism.”

When asked to discuss current challenges in the classAt the time, he was expressing his Judaism in his art-- room, Christensen answers, “Teaching children whose through the ancient Jewish craft of papercutting--and world is so visually oriented, so filled with movement the next thing he knew, Scott Littky, Beth El’s former and sound from computers and video games. It’s not Education Director, asked him to teach art to the easy to keep them stimulated and engaged. My standing Talmud Torah High School students. up there, lecturing, just doesn’t work with high school “I’ve been part of Beth El students. They have to own and the BESTT faculty ever the class. So I turn some of since. I’m the designated Art the leadership over to them.

Specialist, supervise the Make them teachers. They Saturday morning K’Tantan discover that knowledge program, and act as coach comes from their own for the annual B’nai B’rith efforts, not mine. I just Bible Quiz. I’ve taught direct the traffic.”

Hebrew, Jewish History, Discipline, or the lack Holocaust, and Torah studthereof, is another of ies, and this year I’ll present Christensen’s concerns.

‘Real Life Ethical Issues’ and “Too often children aren’t help students create an origtaught to treat people--parinal rendition of the Purim ents, teachers, clergy, elders story to perform during the in general--with dignity and Megillah reading. I’m so in respect. Good manners and a love with teaching about respectful demeanor seem to Judaism, our traditions and have fallen by the wayside. In history. I see it as my way to my opinion, it’s not the chilgive back to Beth El and to dren’s fault. Bad behavior is the Conservative Moveallowed by the very adults ment.” who decry it. The attitudes If you’re looking for a children bring to class are prime example of the People instilled by authority figures Daniel Christensen of the Book, Daniel in their lives. I just refuse to Christensen certainly fits the profile. His apartment is put the onus completely on the child.” crammed with Biblical literature, historical fiction, work He continues, “When I was a child, one of my grandby Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac-- anyone from the Beat fathers said, ‘If ever there was a wall, Daniel has to know Generation--biographies of the kings and queens of what’s on the other side.’ All kids want to know what’s England, political essays, books on architecture, art, on the other side. A teacher must know how far to take dance and theater. Christensen has a Masters in his students, and not push them over that wall if they’re European History from UC, Berkeley, and possesses not intellectually or emotionally ready. I never want to what he calls “a zeal for knowledge about what got us go too far. There’s so much mature, adult content in here--any history of just about anything.”

Biblical and Holocaust materials. The kids are so bright, He brings this zeal to the classroom. “The kids don’t even the very young ones ask such deep questions. If I always see the deeper meaning in Jewish history. They feel they’re not prepared to deal with the answers on the know about the Hanukkah candles, but they don’t nec- other side of the wall, I stop and tell the children to talk essarily know what the Maccabees were fighting for. to their parents.”

Together, we find the historical piece of the story.”

Many of the kids Christensen sees in the BESTT High “My mother taught me to read when I was two,” School have been his students since they were in first Christensen continued. “The first adult book I remem- and second grade. ber reading on my own was Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A “These young people are marvelous sponges.

Mockingbird.’ I was in fourth grade and the overriding Sometimes I’ll be in a class with juniors and seniors and theme of justice made such an impact on me. This con- realize they still remember things they learned from me cept of being nice to people--of doing right--even down back then. Talk about naches. I always say that sharing to treating Boo Radley as a man and not as a monster knowledge is pure joy. Keeping it to yourself is just plain really hit me.” miserly.”

He explained more: “I try to bring that focus to the Christensen went on to quote some lyrics from a classroom, try to get the kids to understand that Rabbi Whitney Houston song. “I believe the children are our Hillel’s words--‘What is hateful to you, do not do unto future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show others’--are the true meaning of tzedakah--of justice. them all the beauty they possess inside. Give them a It’s not only about the coins they put in the tzedakah sense of pride...” box. It’s about acts of righteousness and fairness. For The rest of the lyrics are also worth mentioning: me, that’s the essence of Judaism.”

“Everybody searching for a hero. People need someone His desire to grow and learn additional skills as a to look up to.” For many students at Beth El

“When I leave a class that went particularly well, I say to myself, “Okay, Daniel. Remember what you did.”

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 23

Teaching Is Not Foreign to This Educator

by JOAN K. MARCUS A young woman who has taught around the world, Shoshanna Schecter Shaffin is the programming director for Lincoln’s combined religious school. The young wife of Rabbi Royi Shaffin, rabbi of Tifereth Israel, is happy with her position in the community and her new home.

Born into the Orthodox Jewish community of Silver Spring, Maryland, in 1980, Shoshanna’s father, an Orthodox rabbi, runs a kashrut meat business: the Metro K. He provides kosher supervision to 12 caterers, two bakeries, a fish company and a coffee company in the Washington-Baltimore area.

“The area where I grew up was Modern Orthodox,” Shaffin says. “ At school, we were required to wear long skirts but at home, my mother didn’t wear a wig and we weren’t required to wear skirts. My father also was a lawyer and worked in government. That’s how we got to Washington in the first place.”

Shoshanna attended a Jewish day school and was always part of a household that was definitely “education-oriented.” Her mother, a special education teacher in the public school system, teaches children with disabilities--including those with severe needs. Her brother, who has a learning disability himself, will soon receive a Ph.D. in education of children with severe and profound needs.

Since Shoshanna grew up in a contained community, she says, “Everyone around you is the same so I didn’t know any non-Jewish kids until I went to college. You go to school, spend Shabbat and holidays with the same kids. I

thought that everyone in the world was Jewish!” she laughs. Some of the more orthodox families looked down upon dating but, basically, the teens all hung out together. There were three synagogues, all within walking distance of each other.

And, there were two day schools.

“It wasn’t until I went to college at the University of Maryland in College Park that I realized there were people who weren’t Jewish,” she laughs again, “and television wasn’t the only place where I saw non-Jews!”

When she began college, her major was anthropology. Since there was a foreign language requirement, she went to find out what level of Hebrew she should study. When she questioned the head of the Jewish studies department to determine her level of competency, the answer was, “If you’re going to take Hebrew anyway, you may as well add a major in Jewish Studies since you’ll have all the requirements anyway.”

Shoshanna spent her junior year studying at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

“It’s ironic because my meal ticket has always been working in the Jewish world of teaching. I graduated with a combined degree in Anthropology and Jewish Studies, yet I hoped to work in Jewish education.”

She considers herself to be “a professional Jew” who is thrilled to be able to be paid for something that she loves to do. As a teenager, she had been a camp counselor and after graduating college in 2000, she became the assistant director of the New Jersey region for Young Judaea.

Later, she applied for the Jewish Service Corp, run by the Joint Distribution

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Committee. She became a volunteer and was sent abroad to work as a Jewish educator in Rumania for a year.

“Obviously, I was working with a postHolocaust and post-Communist population in a place like Rumania,” she recalls.

“So, we did all kinds of Jewish formal and informal programming. I worked in one of my specialties--Jewish women’s programming, creating seminars for women of all ages to talk about women’s issues: guilt, career, family and women in the Bible.”

Shoshanna Schecter Shaffin After coming back to the United States, Shoshanna began classes at the Jewish Theological Seminary’s Graduate School in New York City. She was seeking a master’s degree in Jewish Women’s Studies.

She also applied and was accepted to rabbinical school. However, after completing two years, she decided to leave. “It’s a

very long and expensive program,” she admits. “I had met my husband, Royi Shaffin, and we were married in August of 2004.”

Rabbi Shaffin, originally from California, was ordained in 2005. Prior to his ordination, he occupied a student pulpit in the Bronx for six years.

After a rabbi finishes all of his requirements, his or her name can be submitted for possible job interviews. There are many more congregations than there are rabbis and the Shaffins received a huge pile of applications. “We read applications for days!” she laughs.

“It was hard to narrow them down, but there was something about the application from Lincoln that told us they had thought about what they really wanted in a rabbi,” Shoshanna says seriously.

“When we came to visit for an interview, we found the community to be warm and welcoming and we liked the policies of the synagogue.”

Shoshanna, now expecting their first child any day now, reflects happily on coming to Lincoln.

“It’s very different from New York, but in a way, it’s like Rumania. I enjoy working with a smaller Jewish population,” she insists. “Although this is my first experience working with a conservative synagogue, in Rumania, Bulgaria and Hungary, schools are pluralistic and so it’s easy for me here. The idea of the different ‘movements’ never really made it to Eastern Europe and that’s the way our joint school is here in Lincoln.”

This young woman sums it up: “Jews are just Jews!” And that’s the way it should be!

Page 24

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

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offers a variety of activities for Juniors (grades 5-7) and Seniors (grades 8-12): • Local and Regional Shabbatonism • Monthly “Latte & Learning: programs • Holiday programs and Chesed activities, • such as the Annual Sukkah Hop, • Shavuot Learn-a-thon, Honey Cake • Delivery and Homentashen baking • Social events like going to a Mavericks • game, getting lost in a corn maze and • going on a teen trip to New York With these great opportunities, it’s no wonder that 99% of NCSY graduates* Marry Jewish Stay Jewish Live Jewish *Lilly Endowment Statistical Survey #930661

NCSY of Beth Israel Synagogue National Confernece of Synagogue Youth For more information or to be added to the NCSY mailing list, contact Rabbi Gross at 556-6288 or BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org Teens from all synagogues are invited to attend NCSY events.

Synagogue affiliation is not required.

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 25

Talking to Jewish Children about the War in Israel JEWISH P ARENTING

by SHARON DUKE ESTROFF One of our greatest parenting challenges is getting our kids to listen to us.

But what happens when we don’t know what to say? This is the dilemma currently facing millions of American Jewish parents as we struggle with the question of how to talk to our children about the spiraling crisis in the Middle East.

As I began to do research for this column, I found bountiful generalized information on talking about war with kids.

There were developmental timetables detailing when children can cognitively process the concept of war (around first grade); tips on easing their anxiety over disturbing images in the media (reassure them that the fighting is far away); and hints on discussing evil figures in the news (say the army is going to get the bad guys so everyone can be safe and free).

These guidelines are certainly relevant in relation to the Iraqi War--a concern for every American child. But when it came to my topic at hand--talking to American Jewish children about Israel’s war--the standard parenting protocol seemed to come up painfully short.

After all, our kids were barely out of diapers before they were waving blue and white flags in celebration of Israeli Independence Day. They had yet to lose their first tooth before they were reciting the motzi in Israel’s native tongue. They could peg “HaTikvah” in five notes on “Name that Tune.”

Israel is not just a faceless country half

a world away to our children; it is part of their fabric. (Besides, even if Israel is a half a world away, the tragedy in Seattle and visibly heightened security at local synagogues, day schools and Jewish community centers, quickly communicate to our kids that the threat is not.)

With my research efforts coming up dry, and this issue lying largely outside my realm of expertise, I consulted with Dr. Sara Boucchechter, an Israeli-turnedAtlanta clinical psychologist and mother of three, who specializes in crisis intervention, and Rabbi Loren Sykes, Director of Camp Ramah Darom and winner of the prestigious Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. The following suggestions are drawn from their insight.

Let your child guide your conversation. Keeping kids in the loop about the crisis in Israel doesn’t entail sharing every detail. To ensure age-appropriate dialogue, start out by asking your child what he/she already knows about the war, and building your discussion from there.

Limit and monitor media exposure.

While experts agree that grade schoolers should have some access to news coverage, sensationalism makes this a slippery slope. Newspapers are a good starting point for exposing kids to media reports since you can monitor the content in advance. And as for TV, stay close and ready to field questions…with your remote control handy.

Give the good with the bad. There’s a fine line between letting kids know what’s going on in Israel and portraying it as a sad and dangerous place, says

Rabbi Sykes. Rather tell kids that, yes, there is violence in Israel right now. But there are also people swimming, hiking, laughing and playing.

A few rotten apples don’t ruin the whole barrel. While we should be honest with our kids that there are bad people in the world, says Dr. Boucchechter, we should also stress that the vast majority are kind, caring and accepting.

Israeli reserve soldiers exit Lebanon on Aug. Credit: Dan Bronfeld/IDF 14, 2006.

Reassure them that adults will protect them. All children (even tweens and teens who tend to sum up their parents as embarrassing and uncool) crave the knowledge that the grown-ups in their lives are doing everything in their power to ensure their safety in these uncertain times.

Keep living. “In Israel, bad things happen and then, life goes on,” says Sykes.

“If you don’t snap back you’ll be living a paralyzed life.” Similarly, while we should take reasonable precautions here in the United States, we must show our children

that fear will not stop us from living.

Provide historical perspective. By recounting to our children the many times the Jewish people and Israel have overcome powerful enemies, says Boucchechter, we give them hope--and proof--that ultimately good, not evil, prevails.

Pray. Even simple spiritual acts like lighting a candle and reciting a special Shabbat prayer for Israel, renews our family’s hope and faith that God will once again pull the Jewish people through.

Build Jewish Pride. “We must tell our children never to be afraid or embarrassed of being Jewish,” says Bouccechter.

“That’s how we should live, proud and unified as a Jewish community.”

Turn Anger into Action. We have two choices, says Sykes: “Sit back and think about how terrible the situation is and all the things we can’t do. Or do everything we can do in a happy way. Writing letters to the President; sending candy and cards to Israeli soldiers; or raising money for the Israel Emergency Campaign (www.ujc.org) are all ways to get kids doing.

Communicate Strength. It seems so simple, but if we consistently tell our children that they are strong, says Bouccechter, they will be strong.

“Everywhere in Israel,” she adds, “there are billboards and people handing out leaflets with a simple two word message: ‘Yisrael Chazakah.’ Israel--the Jewish People--are strong.”

Sharon Duke Estroff is an internationally-syndicated Jewish parenting columnist, award-winning Jewish educator and mother of four. Her Jewish parenting book will be published by Broadway Books, a division of Random House in 2007.

It’s going to take much more than honey to sweeten Israel’s new year.

Kiryat Shmona was a thriving Israeli community, beautiful and green. But it’s located a mile from the Lebanese border, which made it a target for hundreds of Hezbollah rockets. Its residents lived in bomb shelters for weeks, and some lost their lives.

The Israel Emergency Campaign will raise hundreds of millions of dollars needed to rebuild services, infrastructure - and lives.

As we begin the new year here at home, let’s remember those in Israel whose homes - and lives - have been blown apart.

www.jewishomaha.org

The Board and Staff of the Jewish Federation of Omaha wish you, your loved ones, and our brothers and sisters in the homeland a very sweet, peaceful New Year.

Page 26

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

You’re Never Too Young to Teach always active in sports.

by JOAN K. MARCUS Later, as a student at In 1985, Linda and Harry Gates adopted a son they Westside High School, named Jeff. The couple haphe was active in basepily adopted their daughter, ball and basketball, too, Jen; another son, Jon, is wrestling, and a little their “miracle/surprise!” bit of soccer and footAccording to Gates, ball. He remembers “Being adopted makes you playing baseball in the feel even more blessed and park until the street special. However, when I am lights came on.

21, I will find out about my Jeff has almost always birth parents. I was only two worked at some kind days old when I was adoptof a job. During high ed, and I have always felt school, he worked at extra lucky because of the the JCC at “Kids Inn,” family I got.” an after school proJeff, at age 20, is far too gram. Since he had mature and wise for his years. been part of the proHe speaks of a happy Jewish gram as a child, he home and the celebration of enjoyed working with holidays and Shabbat. “The children who needed a family spent five years in place to stay before Indianapolis and then moved and after school. to Omaha 18 years ago. I “I didn’t grow up in a don’t remember living anybig house but I didn’t where else. We came at the do without,” Gates same time Rabbi Aryeh says. “Even though my Azriel and his family arrived family moved several Jeff Gates so he is really my rabbi.” times, I always felt that Gates, now a psychology student at the University of Temple Israel was my real home. That’s why I feel a litNebraska-Omaha, doesn’t know what his future holds. tle funny about the idea of having a new Temple out He just knows that he wants to help people. He wants west.” to learn about people--how they work and what they Gates considers some of his happiest childhood memthink. “When I look at other people spending 40 hours ories to be when he was sitting at Temple with his fama week working, it would make them so much happier if ily. “There were times when I’d look over at my dad and they enjoy what they do,” he observes. he’s be looking at us, and then he’d put his arm around “It doesn’t matter if I don’t drive the biggest cars, one of us. It was a great childhood.” have the biggest house or the fanciest clothes,” he says.

It was taken for granted that Jeff would go to college.

“I’m willing to make some sacrifices if I can do my part “I assumed I was going to high school to play sports. to repair the world.”

And, although I knew that I was eventually going to colHe has memories of the big moving van that brought lege, I didn’t know why,” he says. “When I graduated their things to Omaha. Shortly after that, he began from Westside in 2004, I talked it over with my parents, attending preschool at the Jewish Community Center. and we came to the conclusion I should work construc“My mother has never converted to Judaism, but that is tion for a semester.” the only thing that isn’t Jewish about her,” he says. “She Gates explains, “They gave me a shovel, and they told hasn’t taken the leap yet, but she definitely raised us in a me to dig for the entire day. Or, move bricks for a whole Jewish home.” day. I saw what life would be like if I didn’t go to colGates adds, “The only exception to the ‘Jewish rule’ lege so, I decided to enroll for second semester. I did was that we went to visit my grandparents for Christmas. really well because I was trying. That shovel taught me a I guess that was a compromise. My mother has always lesson. College is also good for my brain because I had been a ‘Jewish mother’ in every sense of the word.” begun to feel like I wasn’t learning or growing!”

Gates grew up in the Millard School system and was While still in high school and a student in Temple

Israel Religious School, Jeff would find himself frustrated by other students who didn’t want to learn. As a result, he decided that when he was older, he would like to try to change some of the things about the school.

After talking to Elyce Azriel, Director of Temple’s Religious School, Jeff decided he would like to help.

Since he was taking a class about the Holocaust, he and Elyce determined that he would help Rita Paskowitz in her eighth grade classroom. “I’ve learned so much from Rita and how she teaches and gets control of the class. I also learn from the kids because middle school kids are so different. Everybody is afraid of these kids because they are at an awkward age,” he says.

“However, I feel that I can connect with them and that they are easy to talk with and I think that they feel comfortable with me. I get the satisfaction of knowing that I can make a difference,” Gates adds. “I am learning what concepts the kids understand and what they aren’t getting. The range of their comprehension is tremendous and that’s also interesting to me.”

Another one of Jeff’s teaching experiences has been a teacher/friend relationship with Avi Wolfson, a teenager with developmental disabilities, and son of Doug and Sara Wolfson.

“I got the opportunity to work with him one-on-one,” Gates says. “Avi doesn’t have the opportunity to work with other teachers and I didn’t feel that was fair.” From Avi, Gates has learned how to be patient “with myself and how to accept things that I can’t change,” he says.

“I take simple pleasure in the fact that he can complete a puzzle by himself. I try to teach him Jewish topics, and I just do my best to help. Sometimes, it’s the two of us drawing or me reading a book. I can see that it makes a difference to him that he’s there. He sits there with his yarmuike on, and I can tell that he knows where he is and that he is happy.”

Gates continues, “Avi greets people and I have learned so much from him. Although sometimes he is challenging, sometimes I feel so rewarded when he picks up on one thing. Even if I just make him laugh, I have learned to appreciate the little things. Sometimes, I fail and fail and then I am successful with one thing. I have to focus on those successes.”

Jeff’s plans for the future include finishing college and probably going on for an advanced degree. He hopes to have a family with a little bit more of a slant toward traditional Judaism in his home.

As far as his career is concerned...who knows? The sky is the limit for this young man who might be considered by teenage girls to be “a hunk!”

Maybe a psychologist? A teacher? Or, how about following in the footsteps of his teacher and mentor--Rabbi Azriel?

May you have peace and prosperity in this New Year.

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

The Hoberman Family Michael & Tiffany Sarah, Jacob & Gabrielle

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September 22, 2006

A Natural-born Teacher

by GLORIA SHUKERT JONES Parker’s late husband, Milt, who While most kids may not be ready to owned Parker Heating and Cooling, died plan for their futures until they’re much in 2003. Their grown children are older, Doris Parker knew for certain, at a Garret, a practicing Omaha physician, very early age, that she wanted to teach. and Monica Nemani, who lives with her She would gather her young neighbor- husband, Ben, and 17-year-old daughter, hood friends together and play school, Aryn, in Toronto, Ontario. Aryn will be where she would always assume the role of graduating high school next year. Monica teacher. She also carried lots of books is a full-time pre-school teacher. around, much to the amusement of her According to Parker, “Although there parents who regarded her early obsession have been many changes at the Temple “a childhood fantasy” religious school that she would evensince I began teachtually outgrow. That ing there, the most never happened. important one I’ve Today, Parker has noticed, is more of a spent her entire adult focus on Hebrew life as a teacher, and learning now than if she had it to do all when I first started.” over again, her career She indicates choice would essenher secret of success tially remain the is to “Concentrate same. Teaching has on what you’re always been Parker’s doing in the classmain objective. room, forgetting all Originally from outside distractions, Chicago, Parker also and really love what had another great you’re doing.” love--Judaism. AlParker also though she was states she derives her raised in an greatest satisfaction Orthodox home, she Doris Parker gives her rendition of a “rhymed from watching chilwanted to delve even biography” at her nephew’s wedding. dren progress from deeper into the subject. So after she graduated from Hebrew School, she enrolled in the women’s division of an Orthodox yeshiva. She also graduated from Roosevelt University in Chicago, earning a B.A. in education, with a minor in early childhood education, thus combining both teaching and Hebrew into her future agenda.

Of her studies at the seminary, she named Hebrew as her favorite subject, and noted a scarcity of young women in her classes, both at the seminary and at her religious school, which is hardly the situation at the present time. “But back then, there were a lot fewer girls interested in learning Hebrew. My parents were pleased and proud of me when they found out I liked it so much,” Parker said.

She came to Omaha as a newlywed, the bride of Milton Parker, and began her teaching career at Monmouth Park School, where she taught second grade for two years. The school has since ceased operation.

She next conducted the Beth Israel preschool for close to 30 years and also taught Sunday School there. For the next two years, she taught Hebrew at the United Talmud Torahs, a combined Beth Israel and Beth El afternoon school.

Presently, she teaches Hebrew classes two days a week at Temple Israel’s religious school, where she has been for the past 19 years. It is plain to see that Parker’s “childhood fantasy” has materialized into the reality of a life-long teaching career.

Doris Parker is certainly no stranger to me. While we are not actually related, we nevertheless share family ties on both sides of our respective families. On my paternal side, she and my aunt, Doris Shukert, are first cousins. Their mothers were sisters. Doris Parker and Doris Shukert are good friends, as well as cousins and have been very close over the years. Their mothers named them after their grandmother, which explains why they have the same first name.

Parker and Elaine Glochowsky, the wife of my maternal cousin, Leo, in Chicago, are also first cousins. I wasn’t aware of this until Parker told me about it, as I have had no contact with Leo since childhood, and in fact, have never met Elaine.

Life is full of surprises, so you could say that Parker and I are what is commonly referred to as “shirt-tail” relatives.

knowing little or nothing about Hebrew when first entering her classroom, to being able to recite the Hebrew alphabet, read Hebrew and say some Hebrew prayers when they leave her class. “That makes teaching a subject worth the effort,” she concludes.

Parker is known to her students as “Morah” Doris. Morah is Hebrew for woman teacher.

Occasionally, “Morah” Doris’ class of third-graders will make a field trip to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home to entertain the residents. On one Friday night during the year, they conduct the entire Shabbat service at Temple.

In her spare time, Parker goes to plays and the Omaha Symphony concerts. She is also an avid reader, and belongs to the book club at the Kripke Library. She is a member of “39 Forever” and “Visions”-both social clubs, and also a life member of Hadassah. She enjoys playing mah jongg and bridge with her friends. She also takes an occasional night class at Temple and attends a Saturday morning Torah class there.

Parker has a hidden talent. Whenever there is a large social gathering of family or friends, such as a wedding, anniversary celebration, or bar mitzvah, she gets in front of a microphone and recites poetic biographies she has composed, earmarked for the celebrants and/or guests, based on their life’s experiences from the time they were first born to the present.

In that respect, she is like a kindred spirit, since I love to do that myself--at least the poetic biographical part.

One of her more recent performances was last year at a nephew’s wedding, when she dedicated rhymed biographies to him and his new bride.

Parker joins the ranks of the other dedicated religious school educators featured in this edition of the Press, by her statement that she loves her work. She’s had an ongoing “calling” as a teacher, and a strong desire to help children learn Hebrew and appreciate being Jewish.

And what a fantastic job she’s done!

“Morah” Doris is not only a teacher with an extensive background and versatile experience in the field of religious education, but also a lady of warmth, sincerity and compassion who always wears an engaging smile--definitely someone you’d be privileged to have as a friend.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 27

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Page 28

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

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Lincoln Teacher Focuses on the Whole Person

by JOAN K. MARCUS parents were secure in who we were as kids and our Dr. Ellin B. Siegel is convinced that Lincoln, upbringing; they were never threatened by my curiosity.

Nebraska, is the best place to live. When she had breast They suggested that we go and find out.” cancer and had to have chemotherapy, all the members The idea of helping others was something always of B’nai Jeshurun, the South Street Temple made sure emphasized in her home. During summers, she volunthat she and her daughter, Clarissa Siegel-Causey, now teered at a camp for children with severe disabilities. She 15, had what they needed. It didn’t matter that the recalls being impressed with the children--even though mother and daughter were newcomers. the children had severe medical and physical needs.

Cantor Michael Weisser, then the rabbi of the small But still, Ellin wasn’t sure what she wanted for her Reform congregation, took the recently divorced major when she entered California State University at teacher and her daughter under his wing and helped Fullerton in 1970. “I knew from the beginning that I them through a difficult time. Now, Dr. Siegel, happily would go to college. And, as an excellent student, I folremarried to John Mosow since 2003, recalls her life and lowed my brother’s lead and became a philosophy her dedication to teaching people with disabilities. major. By the end of the second year, I changed to Siegel was born in 1952 in Boston; the family later speech pathology and got an undergraduate degree in moved to southern California. Her parents, Claire and speech, language and hearing.”

Ralph Siegel, belonged to a Temple that wasn’t close to During her junior and senior years, she began going where they lived. Therefore, their Judaism was observed out to clinics and working with children. “What I didn’t in their home. “Our home was very Jewish in terms of like is that my work just focused on one aspect of the the way that we were raised and how we talked about person,” she says. “I began taking other classes.” Instead things. We always observed holidays at home and we of getting graduate degrees in speech and language, she went to the Temple mostly on the High Holy days.” went into special education.

After her children started school, Claire Siegel went “I wanted more to focus on the whole person and help back to school and became one of the first Head Start in a bigger sense--more than just helping kids learn to teachers in Los Angeles. She taught children who were talk. I learned to be a special education teacher and from very low income families with diverse, multicultur- became certified in many areas,” she says, “I don’t al settings. remember having a lot of money, but I worked my way Perhaps she provided the stimuli for her daughter to through college by working as a waitress and other jobs. begin caring about people who are less fortunate.

When I finished, in 1976, I had four teaching certificates “Sometimes my mother would take us to her school so and a master’s degree.” that we could ‘hang out’ with the kids she taught,” Ellin Every time Ellin worked with another age group, she recalls. “So, my brother and sister and I were exposed to decided that she wanted to teach that group. “The more young kids who were deprived. Her school was in a very I worked with kids with mental and physical disabilities, diverse area from where we grew up. I knew that the the more I loved it,” she says. “I was raised to believe area where I was growing up wasn’t the real world.” that I had talent and could get the knowledge I needed She adds, “Our mother was a warm, kind and affec- to help kids. I’ve never been frustrated by their needs; tionate person who was always doing things for others. however, I did realize when I got to college, that there If she thought that someone in our neighborhood was were many other bright people.” being persecuted, she’d be out there fighting for them.”

Her first teaching job was in San Diego at a school for Much of the Siegel family’s life revolved around the children with physical needs. “Each of the teachers Jewish Community Center. “We often attended day picked some of their students with the most severe camps there and, durneeds. Those were ing the summer, went the kids who made up there to swim.” my class,” she recalls.

In 1970 Ellin grad“It was hard, but I uated from high loved it. Many of my school. She was active students couldn’t talk in a variety of things at all, and I had been during high school; trained to teach stuhowever, her student dents who could offices and many articulate. I decided school activities hadthat if what I was n’t left her with any doing didn’t work, I ideas about her future needed to try somecareer. “My life was thing else!” kind of disconnected Ellin became an because I knew I was expert in the new Jewish. However, very field of augmentative few of my friends communication. “I were,” she says, “and loved teaching but I my only connection Clarissa Causey-Siegel and her mother, Dr. Ellin Siegel, a member of the knew that I wanted to Jewish people was faculty at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. to learn more about at the JCC and at kids with severe dishome.” abilities,” she adds. “Many of the kids I wanted to work When she was a child, Ellin remembers that her par- with were still in institutions. I knew I had to study more ents taught her to know who she was. “Our parents to work with these children.” always encouraged us to find out about other religions In 1977, she married a Ph.D. student in biology. They by going to church with our friends. They made sure moved to Arizona where she taught children who were that we were grounded, but they were really very open.” deaf and blind. With the encouragement of a professor, She says, “They were politically active and they advo- Ellin went to the University of Kansas at Lawrence, cated for people who were different. It was during the where she earned a Ph.D. in special education with an years that I was growing up that people were prejudiced emphasis on severe disabilities. She then taught at KU. against people of color. When blacks moved into our “In 1993, I got a call from the Barclay Center at the neighborhood, my parents went over and became University of Nebraska. They were looking for someone friendly with them. Some became lifelong friends.” to work in the area of severe disabilities. I was one of a Ellin remembers being in some of the political protests small group, so there weren’t many of us,” she explains. during the 1960s. Each night during their dinner, each “They asked if I would interview and I hesitated because of the Siegel children had to tell something about their I loved what I was doing. But I realized the position was day. “It could be anything and you weren’t off the hook a good match for me. They offered me a job doing what because you were young,” Ellin laughs. “So, we ended I love--teaching others to teach kids with severe needs.” up talking about all kinds of things. You could discuss Ellin continues, “When you work with people with anything, and we were encouraged to form our own disabilities, you don’t make a long list of what they can’t views. We were taught to be articulate and not just do. Instead, you need to look at strengths and how to ignore things.” build on them. I try to teach my students they should She says that in high school, she couldn’t understand always strive for what should be. I teach my students to why everyone didn’t have her same views about people. use their teaching skills. If a student can’t see that, they During the time of the emergence of the Hari Krishna need to figure out other skills. sect, she admits to being influenced by the group. “Our “Sometimes you just have to look a little harder!”

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 29

Every Child Is Gifted

by OZZIE NOGG when the kids rolled their eyes at that If you ask classroom teachers to name idea, we switched to rap music, which the the challenges they often face--and then kids could easily identify with. They must overcome--the answers range from wound up writing their own rap songs the-dog-ate-my-homework excuse to dis- and then performed them in class. They respectful student behavior, bullying and worked hard and their performances were down-and-dirty physical fights. great, so in the end it was a successful Ask veteran teacher Pam Friedlander to experience. That episode taught me the name her challenges and she answers, importance of tailoring an assignment, “Trying to find enough creative, complex when possible, to the individual abilities material to keep my students busy and and interests of the students. We call it motivated.” ‘differentiation’--a curriculum designed The response is logical, given to give children academic lessons approFriedlander’s position as Gifted priate to where they are in their learning.”

Facilitator at Picotte Elementary, where Today Pam concentrates on teaching she has taught a diverse group of high reading, writing and math, and though ability learners since the school opened, she has always been a part-time teacher, 14 years ago. By definition, high ability her schedule is full. learners are students dif“I meet with third “My mother was a fering markedly from and fourth graders their peers in abilities, wonderful educational role once a week, fifth interests, and psychologiand sixth grade stumodel for me. She always cal maturity. The High dents twice a week, Ability Learner gives evi- stressed education, and she’s and this year I’ll dence of high perform- so proud of her kids, grandkids, work four days ance capability in areas of and great-grandkids.” instead of three in intellectual capacity and/ order to meet with or specific academic disciplines. kindergarten through second grade stu“As a rule, these children are very fast dents. I try not to make the class work workers,” Friedlander continues, “so I repetitious, because when children underneed lots of extra challenging ‘stuff’ to stand a concept, they don’t need to do keep them from getting bored.” thirty more of the same kinds of probWith an MS in Elementary Education lems. Instead, I let them explore a new from UNO, and 23 years of teaching concept, or a harder concept, to see if they under her belt, Pam Friedlander knows can use logic and reasoning to get it--dishow to light a fire under her students and cover it--on their own.” tailor lesson plans to meet their needs.

During her hours at Picotte But this wasn’t always the case.

Elementary, Pam gives her students more “On one of my first jobs, back in the than reading, writing and ‘rithmatic. “In 1980s, I had to teach music to a group of class, we always talk about ‘Habits of 6th grade students at a school with a large Mind’, the principles developed by minority population,” Pam says. “I Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick. The planned to expose the class to opera, but list of principles includes thinking flexibly,

taking responsible the biggest change in the risks, managing impulclassroom since she started sivity, striving for teaching. accuracy, imagining, “Children are so busy listening with empanow,” she says. “Most have thy, and responding schedules that you need a with wonderment and Palm Pilot to track. A lot of awe.” them have activities every She added that day after school, and I think “Drawing on these they feel more stressed. principles gives stuWhen I started teaching, dents the strategies children played a lot more they need as they and had less structure in their develop through life. lives. At conferences, I tell It teaches them how parents to let their kids be to behave intelligently kids. Give them down time when faced with probto play with friends and lems to which they neighbors. This stage in their Pam Friedlander don’t have answers. It lives is so important. And means not only having information, but when parents ask what else they can do to also knowing how to act on it. help their kids succeed, my answer usualDepending on the lesson, I try to incor- ly is, ‘If you want them to develop good porate these habits into my teaching. I language and writing skills, be sure they also like the ‘Habit of Mind’ that encour- read.’” Currently, Pam’s department is ages students to remaining open to con- having a reading competition and she’s tinuous learning. Basically, that’s what I enjoying one of the assigned books. want to give them--a love of learning.”

“One way I can stay a step ahead of my Before settling down at Picotte, ‘Mrs. children is to read some of the books Friedlander’ saw kids in other OPS they’re reading. So right now I’m into schools. “I’ve been at Catlin, Central ‘Hatchet’, Gary Paulsen’s adventure Park, Columbian, Edison, Gilder, book for kids. It’s about a boy who surHartman, Jefferson, Masters, Minne vives a plane crash, alone, in the wilderLusa, Mount View, Pinewood, and ness. It’s an excellent book about a young Springville. I’ve taught in hallways, on the person who makes mistakes, has setbacks, stage, in portable classrooms and in cub- undergoes countless emotional and physbies. I was at those other schools for no ical changes, and eventually triumphs. more than a year or two, so I never really Using this book as a teaching tool is got to observe how the students devel- another example of differentiation. The oped over the long term. It’s different at children can identify with the message.”

Picotte. In my 14 years here, I’ve gotten Friedlander is naturally upbeat, and to know whole families and all their kids.” only after much prodding does she menKnowing the kids on a personal basis tion the less appealing aspects of her jobgives Pam insight into what she considers Continued on page 30

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

Middle School Teacher Seeks that “Ah-Hah!” Moment

by GARY JAVITCH Josh Gonsher could easily be called the “perfect teacher.” And that’s not a boast!

All the attributes fit. That’s because from the time he was little, he knew that he always wanted to teach. In addition, he loves his subject matter and he loves kids.

And best of all, he enjoys teaching them.

Not only that, he is dedicated and doesn’t mind working long hours.

And with all that going for him, the eighth-grade English instructor at the Parsons School for the Performing Arts in New York City also possesses one other attribute that further enhances his teaching abilities: his patience. That characteristic is revealed when you learn more about the young man who graduated from Omaha Central High School, followed that up with year-long studies in

Israel, and then finished up with a bachelor’s degree in English, earning his sheepskin from Queens College in 2001. His minor was in secondary education.

You can see “patience” defined in his approach to teaching the “other” students. Those are not the “regular” eighth graders from the New York public schools, where he has taught for nearly five years. These particular pupils come from Or Chadash--an independent yeshiva school for “at-risk” Jewish students.

These kids may have a number of problems, but, according to Josh, “They are the kids who don’t ‘fit in.’” The difficulties the children face could include learning disabilities, a lack of religious upbringing, drug problems or family issues.

With all his students, but especially

Every Child Is Gifted Thanks to their posiContinued from page 29 tive attitude and genthe paperwork, grading “The sandhill cranes erosity in sharing ideas homework, lesson plans, migrate south. with me, I’ve learned a staff meetings, and sched- The whooping cranes join. lot. I’ve learned from uling conflicts that come my students, too. with the territory. “I The cranes eat fish with their mouth.

She noted that would like to see smaller “Because some of classes, too,” she says. “It They move in a flock.” them are impatient, I really makes a difference in teaching. And even though my school had to learn to be patient with them. I had and PTA are supportive of my needs--the to learn how to think before I respond to Picotte parents are very generous--every their questions, so that my answers make teacher I know ends up spending his or sense and the kids understand me. And her own money to buy enrichment mate- every day I’m reminded to respect each child for his or her unique qualities, and to rial. It’s a given.”

When it comes to listing the rewards accept each child for who he or she is.

She adds, “When you get down to it, she gets from teaching, Pam isn’t shy.

“I’ve had such pleasure working with my every child is gifted in some way. I love my supervisors and the other teachers in the work at Picotte. I’m so lucky to be teachGifted and Talented Department at OPS. ing bright children who want to learn.”

Have a Happy & Healthy New Year realpeople | realstyle

Eva and Josh Gonsher these youngsters, Josh deeply feels, “I want to make a difference. And I feel I can. I would like to do it in a way so years from now, when two of my former students are talking about old times, maybe one of the kids will respond, ‘You remember that cool, Jewish, English teacher who taught us about poems?’

“It might be an ego thing, but I want a kid to be able to say I influenced him. I want to be remembered. I feel I can do this by combining my love for kids and by showing and sharing with them my love for writing and reading,” he explained.

“Take, for example, the book ‘Holes’

by Louis Sachar. It’s ‘Young Adult Fiction.’ A mystery, it’s a story within a story within another story,” Josh related.

“Basically, Stanley Yelnats is a kid who is framed for stealing sneakers. He didn’t do it, but he happens to be in the proverbial wrong place at the wrong time. So a judge offers him a choice: ‘Go to jail or go to summer camp.’” Stanley chooses camp, arrives there and is forced to dig

holes in a dried out lake bed. It is hoped that the experience will change his life.

“Well, I found that you cannot force kids to change. You sometimes have to coax them along and maybe be a guide on the side,” Josh observed.

Since Josh relates to kids so well, he feels that he has just that ability to “help them along.” He can do that through teaching. He can teach them about expressing themselves through poetry or other writing, or by his demonstrating that you can be cool and a nice guy, too.

“If you show them something positive and different, then you can, for example, lure them away from the Siren song of video games,” he stated.

And here’s the patience angle. “With these kids, sometimes your success comes in small chunks,” Josh explained. “Your success might only be in keeping a student out of jail for two weeks. You’re not getting the kid to ask ‘How far do I have to go,’ but rather you’re getting him to say, ‘See how far I have come.’ It is when they have that ‘ah-hah! moment’ that it makes all that hard work bear fruit. It feels great,” he concluded, “even if it comes at the end of the school year.”

On a personal note, among his favorite authors, he likes Bernard Malamud, Ray Bradbury, Ernest Hemingway and Jack Kerouac. The energetic young man, not content to have an easy schedule, is also working on a master’s degree in Education. His focus is TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

His ability to speak Hebrew and German will no doubt be helpful in that endeavor.

Josh, 29, and his wife, Eva, reside in Flushing, NY. He is the son of former Omahans Allan and Rini Gonsher, now of Kansas City.

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September 22, 2006

A Satisfying Career

by JOAN K. MARCUS attend what is now Claremont Graduate University, Dr. Donald Baum is the second generation in his fam- about 30 miles east of Los Angeles. He was on a full felily to become a professor of economics. He follows his lowship during the year and worked as a research assisfather, Dr. Milton Baum, who taught at Sacramento tant during the summers. “This University was State College. Donald’s mother, Helen, was a legal sec- California’s attempt at Oxford or Cambridge. I was in retary turned homemaker who was very active in the the economics department of the graduate program and League of Women Voters.

I went straight through their Baum was recently promotPh.D. program.” ed and now is the head of In 1978, he finished his the Economics Department dissertation that tested at the University of hypothesis about the behavNebraska-Omaha. ior of local governments in Baum was born in 1948 in school districts. “While I was Whittier, California. His writing my dissertation, one family was a typical 1950s of my professors got a job in suburban family. His grandConcordia University in father hadn’t graduated Montreal, Canada. They had from high school, but it was an opening for a visiting assumed that everyone in his professor and I had finished family would attend college all of my exams and course and beyond. As a young work. So, I spent two years child, Don remembers that there teaching and finishing his grandfather drilled him my dissertation.” on his multiplication tables, His next job change took adding, “This is a skill that him to Rutgers University in has paid off!”

Camden, New Jersey. It was While in fourth grade, while he was there that he Baum remembers being told lived in Philadelphia and his that prices were high during life took a sharp change. the California Gold Rush On Nov. 11, 1978, Baum Dr. Donald Baum because of the law of supply was outside raking leaves and demand. He recalls, “I thought about it and figured and visiting with his neighbors. there weren’t a lot of goods there, but there were a lot “I lived in a little townhouse on a narrow street with of people who needed them. I was working on it even as just room to drive a car down the street. It was a renaisa little kid.” sance neighborhood and I was outside when this attracIn 1954, the family moved from Whittier to tive woman walked by with a little boy about two-yearsSacramento. Even as a small child, Donald was acquaint- old.” It was the first time that Diane and Michael ed with the world of academia. His family attended a Sigmond had gone out without Mike’s stroller. The litReform synagogue and Donald remembers that his Bar tle boy was adorable and they struck up a conversation.

Mitzvah was one of the first at his synagogue.

“Diane, a young divorcee, and I began to talk and “I was a reasonably good high school student. I did then, without warning, Michael sank to the ground and what I needed to get into the University of California said, ‘I’m just too tired and I can’t walk anymore.’ Being but I wasn’t excited by high school. I was a little bit the gentleman that I am, I told her that I would walk bored and I recognized that there was something miss- them home and carry him,” he recalls. That was the ing from my education,” he recalls. I think some of beginning of a wonderful courtship that ended in marthose missing items were challenges and critical think- riage. Michael suggested that it was time for Donald and ing. Maybe there was too much memorization and my Diane to have more children. His brother, Jeffrey, was curiosity wasn’t satisfied.” born in 1982.

Baum says, “I was the kid who would raid the Michael is now the consumer affairs reporter for teacher’s library, but wouldn’t do extra credit. I didn’t KETV, Channel 7 in Omaha. His wife, Stephanie realize until later that a lot of the things we were doing Sigmond, is a dental hygienist. Jeffrey recently graduatwere boring, repetitious and uninteresting. I wasn’t the ed from George Washington University with a degree in kid who did extra credit, but B’s were good enough and economics and is a photographer/videographer.

I knew how to get them.”

Diane Axler Baum, a contributing writer to the Jewish In 1966, after graduation from high school, Donald Press, says, “I think that Donald fell in love with Michael went to the University of California at Davis. “We were and I just came along with the deal. He invited me over the last of the ‘traditional’ high school classes. People talk the next day for dinner and that was it! It just clicked about the sixties but, in 1960, some of the things and from the very beginning.”

Donald moved from Rutgers to Temple University changes that were happening didn’t really hit the mainstream culture until later, maybe 1966-67. Then, it was where he taught until 1987. It was that year that he received an inquiry from the University of Nebraskamore like seeing some of the old institutions crumble.”

When Baum arrived at UC-Davis, women had to be in Omaha. “Donald was looking for a new position,” at 10 p.m. on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends. If Diane recalls, “and when they contacted him from women weren’t back in their rooms by that time, they UNO, I said, ‘You wouldn’t take it...would you?’”

Since Donald was pleasantly impressed with his interwere ‘locked out.’ Men could come and go as they pleased and women weren’t allowed in the men’s dorm. view in Omaha, he accepted the job and they moved “About the middle of my first year, that all crumbled,” here. “Friends in Philadelphia said, ‘You’re going he smiles. “Housemothers became so angry they quit. where?’ When I got here, I liked the people and was Prohibitions were removed very quickly and the whole challenged with my research. Actually I have more resources and people here have been more cooperative world changed.”

By the end of his freshman year, it was clear that than other places.”

Baum adds, “Sometimes, there are students who don’t Donald would be an economics major. He found his classes interesting and the professors smart. “There was know why they are in college and what they want. something worth learning and there wasn’t a lot of busy Often, they go away and come back and they turn out work. Although there were papers and tests, I felt ener- to be some of our best students. The character of UNO gized by the learning. I became a much better student,” has changed; when I first came, many students came in he says, “especially in the subjects I cared about. I even the evening only. During the last five years, our students had one 4.0 semester. I became interested in mathemat- have become much younger and more traditional. And, ics as a tool. And, once I saw its utility, I became a much we’re attracting many more high quality students.”

Both Diane and Donald describe the Omaha Jewish better student.”

Although it wasn’t the case at all of the California community as being very embracing. “If you are willing campuses, students at Davis had to put in a lot of time to participate, everyone seems happy to have you and studying. It was a very serious place and Donald quick- even put you to work.”

As the chairman of the Economics and Real Estate ly became a very serious student. But he hadn’t yet Department at UNO, Baum will teach less, but he will decided he wanted to be a teacher.

“I was going to a school that was competitive and teach upper division, graduate and executive MBA stugrades weren’t just passing,” he says. “I came to be dents.

“Teaching economics is exciting and rewarding respected as a good student--especially in economics. I became interested, excited and motivated because these because you’re really teaching people about an aspect of teachers expected me to do things that were interesting.” reality that they don’t know about,” he says.

In 1970, he graduated from Davis and went on to “Economics can make a difference in people’s lives.”

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 31

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by ANNE MUSKIN the curriculum doesn’t match up with the Jewish Press Editorial Intern tests they are supposed to administer. She I walk through the doors and I’m 12 also believes that parents’ and students’ again. AHHHHH! Who would want to attitudes have been left out, and family work here, and who would want the support isn’t taken into consideration headache of all these insecure, loud, when it needs to be. rowdy junior high kids? Enter Janie Other challenges for Kulakofsky are Kulakofsky. Lean, mean, social studies emotional health of her students and machine. Her students call her Mrs. K, ADHD issues. “Kids have so many more and no interview would be complete issues. In my day they didn’t bother with without them. all that.”

Mrs. K, as I fondly called her once, is a It’s becoming more apparent though, substitute teacher. However, the students she says and thinks roughly 20-25% of don’t even dream of running her.

“Mrs. K doesn’t drag on. She’s outspoken and she tells you exactly what she expects,” said Rollinda Butler, an eighth grader at Beveridge Magnet School.

Another eighth grader spoke up, “I’m gonna have my kids go to Beveridge, all 15 of them!” To that, Kulakofsky laughed, and said, “I love this age group. Every day is different. They just don’t know how funny they are!”

Kulakofsky said, “I firmly believe in them, and really genuinely want them to succeed.”

This was quite evi- Janie Kulakofsky, who relieved a degree in Elementary Education from dent while after UNO and substitute certification from the State of Nebraska, is picthat comment she tured with students Vicente Alsidez and Rollinda Butler. began checking over a student’s project her students have some sort of medical and refused to keep grading it. “It’s not issue, whether emotional or physical. done,” she said to him. “We are not just Mrs. K teaches eighth grade social studgetting by here! You’re smarter than ies right now, and when asked about that.” He didn’t complain, but went back working at a Magnet School, she got a to his desk and finished it correctly. sparkle in her eye. “The drama producAs far as the ‘sub world’ goes, Mrs. K tions here are just marvelous. The kids said she only substitutes at Beveridge, are excited about being able to pick a and has been for 10-12 years. She thinks major, and we have the tools to help this allows her more control and trust them enhance their interests.” from the students, because they know her Vicente Alsidez is an eighth grader and and she isn’t just stepping in for a day. one of Mrs. K’s students. He thinks that She said “to be a sub, you have to be the focus on different majors is really absolutely organized.” Kulakofsky checks cool. “I know more about politics than all her lesson plans before coming in, so if my friends from other schools, and I’m she needs to catch up on something, she really interested in current events.” is prepared.

Pushing 5’2”, Kulakofsky casually said, When asked about some of the chal- “most unusual? Oh, I’ve been hit a coulenges she faces, Kulakofsky replied with ple of times.” That hasn’t stopped her many. In a community arena, she from caring about her students however. acknowledged that Omaha offers a lot of “If they can get one good grade, maybe support, but the kids don’t always take it will spark them.” She said that her advantage of it. She thinks that parents biggest challenge with the students is getare the biggest challenge to the success of ting them to realize that they need to her students, parents and “No Child Left know everything at least generally.

Behind”.

“They need to know what’s going on.

“Parents are the biggest challenge, eas- And, they need to read more, Lord ily. We need their support and they need knows.” One can sense the sincerity in to transfer that to their child,” she says. her tone and the tone of her students.

As far as “No Child Left Behind” goes, Her never ending energy has allowed Mrs. K believes that it puts unneeded Mrs. K to handle junior high society. With strain on staff, administration, and stu- a flick of her pen and a flash of her smile, dents. She thinks it doesn’t work and that the bell rings, and class is in session.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 33

Gaining Trust on a Difficult Turf

by OZZIE NOGG If Hollywood ever decides to remake the 1955 movie, Blackboard Jungle--the story of a teacher assigned to a tough inner-city school--they might want to cast Lauren Paley Topek in the role originally played by Glenn Ford.

“My kids will become the statistical eighth grade dropouts,” Lauren explains. “The kids who are left to be the adults at home become gang members to survive. I need to teach them that staying in school, studying, getting passing grades and ignoring peer pressure is the only way to be productive and successful. They have to learn that getting an education is the only way to get the material things they want--a car, a home--not just a two-bedroom apartment where 12 family members live. I have to teach them that their minds are their best weapons.”

How’s that for a challenge?

Topek’s turf is the Houston Independent School District (ISD), one of the largest urban districts in the country. The 26-year-old daughter of Susan and Dennis Paley arrived in Texas two years ago after a five-year teaching stint in New York City and the Boston suburbs.

She has a BS in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from New York University, a Masters of Education from Harvard University, and has taught general education classes to grades K-9, as well as to special ed students. She was recently named Elementary Science Content Area Specialist in charge of science programs for 12 Houston ISD elementary schools.

“My goal is to start my own all girls’ public grade school for gifted and talented kids,” Lauren says. Chances are, with her energy and smarts, she’ll do just that. But for now, Lauren concentrates on the work at hand.

“In the Houston ISD, I taught fifth grade Science to all the classes in my school--bilingual, ESL, and English.

Along with the subject matter, I try to teach my kids that in order to be responsible citizens they must learn all they can--learn to advocate for themselves and ask questions. They’ve got to see that an education, the ability to truly think, will take them all the way to college. My job is to convince them that their job is to be a student.”

This passionate need to have her “kids” succeed can be frustrating, and the road blocks are many. “At the start of the school year, one-third of my 90 kids spoke only Spanish, and I’m not bilingual. How can I be expected to get them ready to pass the reading and math tests, so they can be promoted to sixth grade, when they’re at a second or third grade level?” she asks.

Some children are pushed through the system and out of elementary school before they’re ready. Nine-year old kids are lumped in the same classroom, in the same grade level, with 13-year olds. And what about the influx of kids from Hurricane Katrina who came to an already overpopulated classroom?

“It was tough, trying to have them racially blend with

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my existing class while trying to help them all learn to be teacher who notices when they’re tired, who really cares tolerant of people who don’t look like them, regardless about why they missed class, or why they didn’t eat of what they have been taught at home. How can I get lunch with their so-called friends, or why they don’t like the kids to trust me when they’ve learned that no mat- school but love soccer. They deserve a teacher who cares ter how you do in school, you’ll be promoted?” about what makes them tick.”

When it comes to questions of trust, of faith, Lauren To cynics, Lauren may sound like an idealistic, headfinds answers in her Jewish practice--a practice that influ- in-the-clouds teacher on her first day in class. But this ences her teaching style. “When the Jews stood at Mt. young woman has no illusions about the way things Sinai, they didn’t know what God’s plan for them was. work in the real world. “Teaching is a profession in But they still said, ‘na-ah-se ve neishma’--we will do and which the student is your product,” she says. “It’s not then we will understand,” she explains. “They trusted always roses and rainbows and rewarding. It’s hard, that God knew what was best. My kids have to trust me sometimes painful, and exhausting.” and take a leap of faith with me before they know my Adding that teaching is a 24- hour job, Topek notes, “It plan for them. They have to understand that what I do, doesn’t end at 3 p.m. dismissal. You think about your kids, I do for their benefit. In my classroom, both reason and wonder what could have gone better in a lesson. You plan choice are core values, so my kids always have a choice. the most wonderful activities in your head, and wake up at To actively learn and succeed in school. To make better 2 a.m. hoping your students did their homework and life choices than their parents and siblings made. We’re in remember to bring it in the next day. Teaching can be a a partnership together.” thankless job with no recogIt is said that teachers often nition for that brilliant explalearn from their students, nation or that beautiful buland in Lauren’s case the lesletin board or the extra time sons reflect life on the street. you gave to your students on “I’ve learned the names, your lunch break. Teaching signs and symbols of all the may not always be reciprocal, major gangs in Latin America but it is worthwhile. It’s that are also in Houston. I’ve patient. It’s kind. Teaching is learned that my boys need a gift you give your students.” someone to teach them how Sometimes the gift comes to avoid being persuaded to from books Lauren read join a gang, why drugs truly when she was a kid herself. are bad and what they do to “When we were little, my your body. Someone needs mom loved to read us to teach them the proper way Maurice Sendak’s ‘Where the to treat a girl they like. I’ve Wild Things Are.’ Now I read learned that my girls need it to my students as an examsomeone to teach them that Former Omahan Lauren Paley Topek prepares for an out- ple of the ‘wild and crazy’ their bodies are not the way door science education camp with two of her students. behavior that I won’t allow.” to get what they want, that they can be pretty and smart, Even this early in her career, Lauren can identify what that they can be somebody without a boyfriend. All the she sees as the problems in today’s classroom. And while kids need to know they can succeed. And for that, they she doesn’t claim to have answers, she does have sugneed a positive adult role model.” gestions. “My ideal, fantasy school is a place where the If Topek is particularly sensitive to the educational and administration is truly supportive, active and visible, and personal needs of her students, it could be because pos- doesn’t just sit behind a desk. It’s a place where teachers itive role models have always been there for her. collaborate on curriculum and don’t accept the status “My parents and all of my grandparents taught me the quo. A place where kids are taught to critically think, value of education, of working hard and having it pay analyze and problem-solve, not just how to answer the off. They taught me to stand up for who I am and what questions on a standardized test. I envision a place I believe, to be a strong woman and reach for what I where teachers take the time to get to know and love want, to appreciate the arts and to enjoy every minute of each of their students, and not toss the difficult or ‘bad’ life. They taught me the importance of connecting to ones away so the class will run smoother. I see a place loved ones. I became a teacher because I feel passionate- where children question, wonder, and experience life.” ly that all kids, poor or wealthy, deserve a quality educaOne day, when Lauren Topek builds her girls’ school, tion with a well-trained teacher who loves them. A odds are it will be just such a place.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

Omaha Ph.D. Chooses Children Over College Students

by ANNE MUSKIN Jewish Press Editorial Intern It’s time to play, “name that Omahan!!”

Clue # 1: She moved to Omaha in 1993 for an 18-month curatorial internship with Joslyn Art Museum.

Clue #2: She is originally from Maryland, did her undergrad at the University of Delaware, and received a Ph.D. in Art History from Rutgers University in 1997.

Clue #3: She is married with two kids and she and her husband DO NOT share the same last name.

Clue #4: She is not only a member of Beyt Shalom, but also the new president of the congregation!

Well by now, it’s clear the answer is Jenni Schlossman, currently serving in her second year as the religious school direcJenni Schlossman tor of Beyt Shalom. She is very passionate about teaching and about her synagogue.

“I love to teach,” Schlossman said.

From 1993 to 1999, she was an adjunct professor of art history at University of Nebraska-Omaha, and also taught for two semesters at College of Saint Mary’s.

Lately, she teaches religious school and continues to substitute if needed.

“When I came to Omaha, I was active immediately,” she said. Within the same year, she joined B’nai Israel in Council Bluffs, started her curatorial internship,

and began many different levels of teaching at Hebrew. And they have UNO. their work cut out for A couple them; the congregation years later will have four B’nai Schlossman Mitzvah in 2007-08, and and her famithere’s one-eight-year old ly made the in the school, too. switch to One solution that Beyt Shalom Schlossman has devised is Reconstr ucseparating the students t i o n i s t out. She teaches some Congregation and Robin Hellwig and and have Jeff Ferber teach some. taken a very “These kids have been strong role in in religious school the education together since they were of the synathree. We as parents and gogue’s chilstaff know where they’re dren. at and where they still “Religious need to go,” she said. school is a Two of the five, are Lila very imporand Isaac Ferber, tant part of Jenni Schlossman, seated center, and Linda Sadofsky, left, assist Robin Hellwig with a Jewish Schlossman’s kids. I asked Beyt Shalom. arts project in the kindergarten-first grade Beyt Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation class- her about teaching her The parents room in this 1998 photo. own, and she said, “It’s teach, so there is a vested interest. That realize that what they have to say is valu- not harder to teach my own children, feeling of importance is conveyed to the able. “If you respect the students, they’ll because I know where they are and I can students,” she said. Schlossman believes respect you,” she said. integrate them.” She remarked that the I was curious as to why Schlossman has kids want to learn and they are comfortthat parent participation sets a good example for the students in any teaching a Ph.D., but no full time position. She able with each other. “I like teaching my didn’t back away from my question, but own kids.” arena.

“Art is very subjective, and differing rather embraced it.

In addition to her responsibilities at “I like being part of the synagogue. I Beyt Shalom, Schlossman said she volunopinions aren’t right or wrong.”

Schlossman said when questioned about wanted to stay home and take care of my teers at her children’s school around six incorporating her art background into kids. And, I love using my education to times a year. She teaches art and leads educate my kids.” her teaching techniques. filed trips to the Joslyn Art Museum.

Regardless of experience, Schlossman She thinks this philosophy translates Amidst all the educating she is well into her goals with the religious says that every teacher faces at least a cou- immersed in, her motto stays simple and school. “I try to validate the students ple challenges. Beyt Shalom’s religious to the point, “The most important thing whenever possible.” She believes in school only has one class, and she says it’s about teaching is to have the students encouraging them and helping them to difficult to be one teacher teaching so think for themselves.”

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Making Learning Hebrew Fun

by GLORIA SHUKERT JONES Shrago’s favorite book is titled, She’s Come Undone, Whenever you see Brooke Shrago, a familiar sight which she claims she has read 25 times. She also sheeparound Beth Israel Synagogue, she is usually in the com- ishly admits she’s obsessed with Harry Potter. pany of children or young people. That’s because she’s “I call myself a ‘pot head’,” she quips. She indicates not only the synagogue’s Youth Director and a Chapter she also loves books by Maeve Binchy, and claims to Advisor for NCSY, but also teaches hour-long, one-on- have three of them on her bedside table, and one in her one Hebrew lessons to students as Beth Israel’s Hebrew purse. “They take place in rural Ireland. They’re all School teacher. Prior to December of 2005 she was a about family, love interests and tragedies. You get to full-time, stay-at-home mom, caring for her three-year- know the characters,” Shrago says, adding that she loves big thick novels that take her a week to read. She also old daughter, Taliah.

Shrago, originally from Chicago, has had extensive likes to write.

“I once read this book about a working mom, but it training in special education. She attended the Anne Blitzstein Teachers Institute, which is the women’s divi- made me sad, because there was no time for children. It sion of Hebrew Theological College, majoring in Judaic inspired me to start writing a book called, ‘I Could Studies, as well as Special Education. She has also had Never Do That’, about a stay-at-home mom. I excitedlots of teaching experience, having taught at a Jewish ly wrote about 25 pages, and that’s as far as it went, “ Day School for profound and special needs children, as she stated, laughing.

Some of her other hobbies are painting, pottery and well as therapeutic teaching at Jewish Children’s Bureau in Chicago. Here in Omaha, she has taught at the JCC’s shoes. “I’m always searching for the perfect pair of black Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center and Etz shoes, and a purse to match,” Shrago states. She also confesses to being a “foodChayim preschool. ie”.

Shrago says she teaches “I love cooking and food. one hour a week at Beth In fact, a rabbi once told me Israel, and her students that when I speak of food, range in age from third to my eyes light up,” she eighth grade. “I teach them laughs. “I love talking about whatever they want to food, and even ingredients learn,” she stated, indicating that I would never use,” there is no particular cur“I love this job,” Shrago riculum. “For example, I reported. “I appreciate the have one girl who wants to flexible hours. I can leave learn the Hebrew alphabet. I whenever I’m done with my have another student who work. Beth Cohen, Rabbi wants to read and underGross, and Shami Jacobs are stand the parasha on a deepwonderful,” she says about er level, and another boy Beth Israel’s staff and presiwho is concentrating on dent. “They never question prayer service as we go me about the supplies I through the Siddur,” she need, and let me order anyexplained. “There is a lot of thing I want for my teachflexibility. We also learn ing.” In Shrago’s opinion, about holidays and Jewish she is satisfied and indicates laws. That’s what parents there is nothing further anywant me to do.”

Brooke Shrago one could do to make her She also takes pride in the good relationships she has established with her students, job more satisfying than it already is.

“For NCSY, I do have to travel more than I like,” she saying, “We have a lot of fun. We play games, we laugh, and we have cookies. After a whole day of regular added, “but I do enjoy the Jewish overnight camping school, kids can get tired and bored easily, so I try to trips. I grew up with NCSY. Most of my friends are make the experience something they look forward to. In NCSY advisors. In fact, I met my best friend at one of fact, I have one student who tells his mom, ‘I want to the Jewish overnight camping trips and I talk to her every day, even though she lives in another city. NCSY is stay two hours with Brooke!’”

Shrago feels that Hebrew school preparation for Bar a lifeline to the Jewish community.”

She adds, “Omaha is a great Jewish community, but or Bat Mitzvah should not merely be a means to the end, and that it should not stop at the conclusion of we’re kind of in a vacuum here. Except for the Bagel these rites of passage, as they are just the beginning. She Bin, I have to travel out of town to find kosher food, believes that Hebrew school should continue to prepare particularly chimichanga my friends tease me about. I load up on them on NCSY shabbatonim.” students to be exemplary Jewish adults.

It’s plain to see that this energetic young woman “I want kids to be excited and even brag about being Jewish. Through continuous study of the Torah, I teach indeed loves what she’s doing. You can see it in the radichildren to become good Jewish people, and to be ance of her smile.

Shrago’s methods of teaching as a fun as well as a proud of their Jewish heritage,” she stated.

Certainly her own enthusiasm rubs off on her stu- learning experience have proved successful for her and dents. “They look forward to coming to my classes,” she the students to whom she imparts knowledge. Some of notes. Shrago has established a rapport with the children these children may have a more difficult time compreand their parents, and takes satisfaction in knowing they hending, but with patience and dedication, Shrago’s consider Hebrew School a fun learning adventure, and eventual goal of seeing them become Jewish men and women of worth, will be the ultimate reward for her not just something they have to do.

Shrago says her favorite teaching subjects are portions efforts.

She says: “The Center for Jewish Education hired me of the Torah, particularly Exodus. “That has action and excitement,” she says, “whereas in comparison, Leviticus to facilitate a new group class called ‘Rosh Chodesh: It’s can be rather dry. However, when we come across a A Girl Thing’. I will be leading a group once a month Torah portion that pertains to a Jewish law, we recog- around Rosh Chodesh for girls six to eight years of age, and another for girls in the eighth to ninth grades. I nize the origin of it, and that’s exciting.”

Discipline and lack of concentration are never prob- went to Philly this month for a training session with lems in a one-on-one situation, Shrago reports. “When other facilitators of this group from around the counI see they’re bored, I just stop whatever I’m doing, try.”

The goal is to help girls form a positive self image, and change to a different subject. They get every ounce of my attention, with no distractions. When I taught in a develop into proud Jewish women. She will be working classroom situation and a student would get bored, I closely with Guy Matalon, Director of the CJE, and also with Judy Rubin from Beth El. would toss out a candy bar.”

“All the synagogues sent the directors of their Hebrew At first this may sound like a “non sequitir,” something a traditional school teacher would never dream of schools to interview possible candidates,” she says doing. But Shrago explains, “I want them to see me not proudly, “and I was chosen to lead the group. I’m realjust as a teacher, but as a friend. I always want them to ly excited to have this role. I know this is such a crucial have a positive association with Hebrew learning, so I time in the lives of these girls, and I’m honored to have been chosen.” try to make it fun.”

With her dedication and background in working with It’s agreed that sometimes in order to be a truly effective teacher, one has to relate to a child’s emotional young people, Shrago will prove very successful in this level, summon the child within one’s self, and Shrago venture. What a great opportunity for her. has demonstrated her ability to do this.

Page 35

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

A Woman Who Fits All the Definitions of Teacher

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by BERT LEWIS Instructor, schoolmaster, preceptor, tutor, educationalist, professor, pedagogue, educator, schoolmistress.

All of these words are listed as synonyms for the word teacher, in the biggest dictionary I own. If you want to speak to somebody who has spent her adult life teaching, I suspect Marlen Frost wouldn’t mind which definition you chose. That was the reason I was taken somewhat aback when I opened a phone call with “So tell me what you’re up to these days?” and she replied “Well, I just retired last Friday!”

I replied,“Okay, from what exactly did you retire?” That’s when it began to get interesting.

She had just left the post of Director of the Before-and-After School Program in the Omaha Elementary Schools, a job she took in 1990. At that time, it was being run by the Supervisor of the Omaha School Foundation, in its second year and had grown enough to need a real director. The program was active in seven schools. On the day Frost retired, there were 40 schools offering the service to students.

She had always been involved in teaching in one way or another. Knowing she was not a native Omahan, I asked about her beginnings. Frost, from Detroit originally, moved as a young married woman with her late husband, Murray Frost, to Los Angeles where he had been offered a

Top photo: A Frost family Bar Mitzvah in 2005--back row: Mike Frost, Marlen Frost, Don Becker, middle row: Joseph Kreisman, Mark Ratner, Marcy Frost, Mandy Becker, front: Thomas Kreisman, Shelley Sperry and Mari Frost; left: as Preschool Director, in 1989, Frost was not averse to playing on the floor with her kids at the JCC preschool.

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whose parents obviously worked and were unable to make their hours mesh with those of the school day, thus leaving youngsters alone and on their own until mom or dad came home from work.

Sometimes there was a grandma available or a neighbor, but if it came to a paid “sitter,” grade school children often balked at the stigma. There was clearly a need

job. They remained for four years, until Murray’s profession took them to Santa Barbara.

It was around that time when Marlen began teaching Sunday School, and also decided it was time to go back to school herself. She studied at University of California at Santa Barbara and earned a degree in Combined Social Services. She had also become principal in the religious school where she worked. She had a husband, three children and a household to manage in addition to her school activities, at a time when most moms just stayed home and didn’t try to have an outside career.

All was going along nicely when Murray came home one day and announced, “We’re moving to Omaha.”

They left beautiful Santa Barbara in 1974 and brought all their worldly possessions, plus Murray’s new Ph.D., to a position for him at the University of Omaha. It didn’t take long for Marlen to discover the Jewish Community Center and all it had to offer. She became involved in the Cultural Arts Department and was soon teaching a class in Cake Decorating. It must have been quite a stretch from her area of training, but that was her beginning at the JCC. That eventually led to a teaching job in the JCC Children’s Department, which covered ages five to 12.

As things changed in that area of the Center, so did her place and she went in the next step of her career to the newly formed preschool in 1977. She became Director in ’79 and stayed until 1990. Marlen says, casually at that point, “of course, I had been teaching at Temple Israel since ’74.”

That brings us to Marlen Frost in 1990, when she applied for a job working with the young Before-and After School Program. This was a relatively new program, underwritten by the Omaha School Foundation (an adjunct of OPS) which provided grants, scholarships and other needs that weren’t covered in the budget.

This project was meant for children whose parents had to get them to school early, before school started, and/or children whose parents weren’t at home after school was dismissed. The kids who were often called “latchkey kids” because of the house key usually hanging from a string around the neck. These were children

for a safe and dependable venue for such children--children who would otherwise be without adult supervision for unreasonable periods of time. From this need was born the idea of providing a place at school where kids could be “dropped off” by a parent on the way to work, or where they could stay after hours until that same parent was home.

In addition, the breakfast that was provided in the early hours was sometimes more than might have been available at home. Marlen found the program challenging and realized she was working to fill a real need. She says when she applied for this job she was looking for something different to do and soon knew she had found it. She speaks with great enthusiasm about this special endeavor and takes obvious pride in it. She says, “Just look at this: a safe and secure environment in individual schools, and no transportation arrangements needed.

We now serve about 3000 children a day.”

Through this program, many learn skills that aren’t part of the regular school-day curriculum, such as social skills and how to get along with others. Like every teacher, Marlen notes more time is spent at school than at home, and “we provide stability to kids and parents too.” The program is constantly growing and speaks of how gratifying it is to have an impact and to be responsible for creating what is called Kids Club.

The name is deliberately chosen to avoid sounding like childcare. So successful has this program been, those who make such things happen are wondering if middle schools might profit from access to Kids Club. Perhaps a future plan for kids a little older?

Marlen at one point tells me nonchalantly, “Oh yes, I also teach a class at Offut for parents and children on the base.” What kind of class? “It’s to prepare kids who will have to learn to stay home alone. And to teach parents how to train their kids to be safe while alone in the house.”

They address subjects such as locked doors and when (or if) to open them, the appearance of a strange car in the street, use of a first aid kit, safety of the house key, In general, a thorough and important series of lessons to teach families how to do all they can so children are safe when alone. And, Marlen calls attention to the fact that in an Army personnel neighborhood, such as at the base, there could be an absence of certain problems found elsewhere in the city. Still, the need for training children to take care of themselves is necessary.

No detail is too small--there’s too much at stake.

Continued on page 38

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 37

A Special Teacher for Special Kids

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Katskee’s students died. Over the years, many others died due to life-threatening illnesses or shortened life spans due to severe multiple handicaps. One of those students was Rhonda Parr.

“Sindie had a liking for Rhonda and wanted to help her,” explained Rhonda’s mother, Arlene. “Sindie seemed to understand Rhonda, who used her eyes to communicate, and got a communication device to help Rhonda express herself,” Arlene said. Katskee remained in touch with the Parr family and grieved with them when Rhonda died at age 40 in 2005.

The program at J. P. Lord School changed from a self-contained setting to a mainstreamed program, and the orthopedically impaired children were moved to Hartman School. Katskee moved to Hartman, too, where she taught third through seventh graders. All were ortho-

pedically handicapped students who needed occupational and physical therapy on a regular basis.

Brian Slobotski, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, was one of Katskee’s students at Hartman. Prior to Katskee’s work with Brian, said his mother, Sandy Day, he was in a regular classroom and was clearly having difficulty understanding assignments. Because he had a physical disability, many teachers didn’t focus on his learning problems. They thought that he was just acting up, Day said.

“Both Brian and I began to distrust that teachers in the classroom could really help him. Katskee changed that.” Brian began to trust that Katskee believed he could at least learn some strategies to help him deal with his learning problems.

“Mostly, she taught him that teachers do care and will help him,” Day explained.

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Special ed teacher Sindie Katskee shares a moment with student athlete Jamia at the 1996 Special Olympics.

42nd

cation students,” she said. While she was a student at the University of Missouri, she volunteered at a mental health center to help children with autism and schizophrenia and at a preschool for children with cerebral palsy.

An American speech therapist in Germany, who along with her husband was one of the young Jewish adults Katskee’s parents “adopted” while stationed there, talked to Sindie about the opportunities available in special education. “She shared her love of working with children who have special needs,” Katskee recalled.

Between her sophomore and senior years in college, when she spent the summers in Omaha, Katskee worked at a sheltered workshop and at the Dr. J. P. Lord School as a paraprofessional. A traineeship scholarship that paid for her senior year, provided Katskee with a student teaching experience at a residential school for trainable mentally handicapped children and paid for her senior year. The traineeship led to Katskee specializing in teaching orthopedically handicapped students.

Upon graduation from college in 1972 with a bachelor of science in the areas of educable mentally handicapped, trainable mentally handicapped, and physically handicapped, Katskee settled in Omaha to be near her mother who was stricken with terminal cancer that year. Katskee was hired by OPS as a teacher for the physically handicapped at the Dr. J. P. Lord School. She also quickly became involved in Special Olympics at that time and remained active in the athletic competition throughout her teaching years.

Katskee stayed at J. P. Lord teaching children with multiple handicaps until 1984. She also completed her master’s degree in reading in 1976 at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

During her first year of teaching, one of

132nd

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN After 34 years as a special education teacher, Sindie Katskee retired in June from the Omaha Public School (OPS) District.

“There are little things” that she remembers, as she looks back over more than three decades, as the most meaningful and significant in her career. She remembers “a child who, at one point, couldn’t walk without someone right beside him to compete in Special Olympics and (then being able to) compete on his own using crutches.” She remembers “seeing a kid who was totally dependent on someone pushing his wheelchair get an electric wheelchair. And then he ran away from us and got in trouble! He had to experience that!” she smiled.

And then there was “a child who had no way to communicate open up a world of expressing herself, telling her needs by using her eyes to indicate her needs.

Today that’s facilitated by a computer.”

For the little girl with the long dark braids who started school at P.S. 225 in New York City, Sindie enjoys hearing about how her students have fared since leaving her classroom. A native Omahan who never attended school here, Sindie is one of three daughters of retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Irv Harris and his wife, the late Martha Zusman Harris. Sindie’s kindergarten through high school education is a worldwide travelogue that includes Novato, CA; Chateauroux, France; Belleville, IL, and Kaiserslautern, Germany, where she graduated from high school.

It was as a senior in high school that she thought about becoming a high school math teacher. However, after volunteering to tutor some special education students, she decided to major in special education in college.

“I fell in love” with the two special edu-

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Page 38

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

A Special Teacher for Special Kids

The Definition of Teacher

Continued from page 37 to pursue a 30-year love of oil painting. She would like “Sindie is incredibly patient and understanding with to tutor and has signed up to substitute at OPS and parents who are navigating a special education system Friedel Jewish Academy. that sometimes does not appear to be helping parents In the past, she taught at Temple Israel Religious who want to help their children,” added Day. School and at United Talmud Torah of Omaha. Most While at Hartman, Katskee worked with the Student recently, she’s been teaching third and fourth grade Council for about ten years. One of her handicapped chil- Bible classes at Beth El Synagogue, where she and her dren served on the Student Council each year. Like all husband Jerry Katskee, an attorney, have belonged and other students, Katskee’s had to run for office and give a been active members since they were married in 1976. speech which required some accommodations if the stuSpecial Olympics has been a big part of her life since dent had a communication device. The students held fund 1972. She currently is the head of the delegation of sturaisers, participated in community service projects, and dents that attends Dr. J. P. Lord School and all the made morning announceorthopedically impaired stuments on the intercom. dents in OPS who are interKatskee was also the ested in participating in Spelling Bee coordinator for Special Olympics. Out of about ten years at Hartman. approximately 30 athletes Two of her orthopedically with whom she has worked, impaired students qualified one of her wheelchair athfor the Spelling Bee team letes went on to compete in and one even made it to the the summer Special district competition.

Olympics in Atlanta, OPS established a second Georgia. As a retiree, she site for elementary school plans to continue her work children which was eventualwith Special Olympics. ly set up at Jefferson School.

Mother of three daughters: From 2002-03, she covered Rachel, 26, Naomi, 23, and both Jefferson and Hartman Aliya, 20, Sindie has seen her alternating mornings and Sindie Katskee has loved teaching her kids--Marianna, a fifth students progress from typeafternoons. By the fall of grader, and Kody, a sixth-grader, at Oakdale Elementary in 2005. writers to computers.

2004, she was based out of Jefferson School and became Instead of using head pointers to express themselves, her the case manager for orthopedically handicapped stu- students can just look at a computer to transmit their dents from kindergarten through twelfth grade for all thoughts. schools south of Dodge Street. That amounted to nine “These children may need assistance to go through a schools during the 2005-06 school year. doorway or to get to a bathroom. Doors are a big barShe coordinated occupational, speech, and physical rier and so are lunch lines. How do you a carry a tray if therapy; resource and classroom teachers; and adminis- you’re physically handicapped? Things we take for granttrators to meet her students’ needs. She was instrumen- ed can be a barrier for these students. It’s important that tal in concrete being poured so students in wheelchairs others don’t walk away from them,” she said. These stucould get to the playground. She advocated for handi- dents have proven they can be successful. Some have capped accessible doors at South High School and gone on to college and graduated. arranged for transportation for handicapped children.

In memory of Katskee’s mother and sister, Lori Harris She provided modified assignments, equipment to help Sweet, who died in 1994, a fund to award college scholwith accommodations, tutoring, and individualized test- arships to students with developmental disabilities and ing when appropriate so her students could learn in reg- to aspiring special education teachers was established ular classroom settings. Communicating with parents on with the Jewish Federation Foundation. a regular basis was also part of Katskee’s job.

“Teaching is not for those who want to earn a lot of Although she liked being in her classroom and work- money,” Katskee advised. “My reward is my students’ ing one-on-one with students the most, as a coordinator success and that’s what has kept me going.” She considshe taught teachers how to work with handicapped stu- ers it a unique opportunity to have seen some of them dents and “basically transitioned my position out of exis- go from kindergarten all the way through high school. tence,” she said.

For new teachers just beginning their careers, she As she contemplates retirement, she knows she’ll miss emphasized, “You have to love what you do as a teaching. But she’s got “a brand new easel” and hopes teacher.”

Continued from page 36 Marlen suddenly says, “Oh, yes,, I also am qualified to teach CPR and First Aid for the Red Cross.” She had to learn the skills when she first went to work on the Kids Club program and now and then, teaches one or the

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Is that Marlen Frost in back dressed up for the JCC preschool Purim parade? other. Then she muses, “I might do some of this for the schools, now that I’m retired.” Not a surprise, coming from this woman.

Give her enough time, and Marlen will come up with something she’s done that she forgot to mention: such as serving from 1992 to 2000 on the Governors Child Care and Early Childhood Education Coordinating Committee. Eventually she served as Chairman of Childcare and Education part of this group. She talks about the excellent work of this committee, which included advising the legislature and governor about issues pertaining to child care, forming policies to raise standards for incomes of those working in this area.

Marlen remarks this was a non-profit group formed by then Governor Ben Nelson, which unfortunately dissolved when Nelson left office.

With a twinkle in her eye, Frost tells me her greatest teaching success includes “my kids.”

She refers to her own grown children: Michael, who lives in the Washington, D.C., area with his wife and little girl and works as the manager of online content for a non-profit organization; daughter, Mandy, who lives here in Omaha and is a technical writer. And Marcy, an attorney in Minneapolis and mom to two boys, which causes Marlen to beam when she says, “I have three grandchildren, all of whom are too far away.”

At that point, I reminded her that when we first spoke she told me she had just retired, so I asked how she planned to use her free time. She said she’d love to do some traveling, she hoped to see more of her kids and grandkids and maybe do some volunteer work. Maybe something at a children’s library.

However she chooses to spend her well earned retirement years, I’m certain it will have something to do with children and teaching.

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Love of Children Leads Into Teaching

by JOAN K. MARCUS When Dora Gerber Goldstrom was a teenage girl, she loved to go to the synagogue so much that her father suggested she get a bed so that she could sleep there. He never realized that his daughter’s love of Judaism and children would lead her to becoming a teacher.

Dora was born in 1944 in Salt Lake City, Utah, where her father, Edward Gerber, was stationed during World War II. Edward owned Consolidated Auto Parts Company, a business that had belonged to his father. Later, he closed the business and went to work at Jacobson Fish Company, a business owned by Dora’s mother, Anne’s family.

Dora Goldstrom The Gerber family belonged to Beth Israel Synagogue and Dora remembers living close enough so she could always walk to the synagogue. “We went to religious school twice a week and again on Sunday mornings. Then, we went to services on Saturday morning,” she recalls. “I became a teaching assistant when I was 11 or 12. When I was 17, I got my own kindergarten class.” Even then she loved working with children.

“My mother always lit candles on Shabbat, changed dishes for Passover and kept kosher when I was young,” she adds. Dora was president of the youth group, Synagogue Youth Organization, and also went to Camp Moshava in Wisconsin. “My mother didn’t drive so if we weren’t at school or at the synagogue, we just played in the neighborhood with kids who were mostly Jewish. Later, some of the families moved farther out west to the ‘bagel’ district.”

Dora attended Central High School, where she loved the diversity of the students. It was the first time that she was exposed to different ethnic groups. “I was in journalism and I was the club editor of ‘The Register,’ the school newspaper. After school, we all went across the street to the Jewish Community Center.

That’s when Dik Weiner came to be the youth activities director at the ‘J’.”

During high school, Dora hadn’t yet thought about being a teacher, so, she joined the Future Nurses Club. After graduation from Central in 1962, she enrolled at the University of Iowa at Iowa City to begin her nursing education. She was inspired by reading the novel, Cherry Ames: Student Nurse.

“When a friend of mine needed an emergency appendectomy, I walked across campus to the hospital to see him,” she recalls. “When I saw all the sick people, I changed my mind about nursing and changed my major to elementary education.”

She returned to Omaha University and decided that she wanted to teach small children. “Even then, I loved babies and

little kids. I married in 1965 and kept going to college--one class at a time. I began college in 1962 and I graduated with a teaching degree in 1972. In the interim, I had two children and I worked at J.L. Brandeis in the toy department so that I could be near little kids,” she laughs.

Dora’s two adult children are: Stephanie Edheimer and her husband, Roger, who live in Highland Park, IL. Their children are Emily, 11, Allison, 9 and Michael, 4. Dora’s son, Brad and his partner, Ysinia, live in Omaha and they have two sons, Jacob, 5, and Harrison, 1.

In 1972, Dora began teaching kindergarten at Franklin Elementary School. “It was like a dream come true,” she says, “I loved it. I taught kindergarten for one year and then for the next nine years, first grade. Then, I took a year sabbatical and got a master’s degree from UNO in guidance and counseling.”

In 1980, she began working as a counselor at Nutrasystems counseling behavior modification for people who had lost or were losing weight. Then she began working as a counselor at Girls, Inc., for girls with problems. “Counseling is a lot like teaching and part of the program included pregnancy prevention instruction. Also, we talked about feelings and emotions and I felt I was making a difference by helping the girls,” she says.

“I taught conflict resolution or how to settle a fight or an argument in the correct way. The girls were ages six to 18 and they were from all kinds of homes. At the same time,” she adds, “I was teaching General Education Degree (GED) classes for Metropolitan Community College.”

Six months ago, Dora left Girls, Inc., and went to work at Metropolitan Community College in the office of Adult Basic Education. It encompasses GED and English as a second language.

She also ventures out into the community four times a year for orientation workshops for the GED program.

In the early eighties, Dora began teaching religious school at Temple Israel, too.

“I’ve taught kindergarten, first, second and fourth grades,” Dora adds. “Except for three years when I was president of Women of Reform Judaism, I have taught at Temple’s religious school for more than 30 years.”

She says that part of her misses classroom teaching, but “Little kids take a lot of energy and I couldn’t do it full time.

However, in my other job, I only deal with adults and I would miss the youngsters,” she notes.

“I’ll never give up teaching at Temple.

I love being there just like I loved being at the synagogue when I was a kid. I just get a good, warm feeling when I’m around the people, the kids and the rabbi. I just love doing Jewish things.”

Dora’s plans for the future include more of the same. She says she is doing just exactly what she wants to do.

“When I teach, I’m working at a job that I love and can’t wait until religious school starts in the fall at Temple,” Dora adds. “I wish that they had school all year around because I miss the kids and the teachers. I’ll never retire because I love working and teaching.”

They’ll have to carry Dora Goldstrom out of Temple!

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 39

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A Lifelong Passion for Learning Makes a Master Student and Teacher

by LEO ADAM BIGA ter) was a very positive, strong influence in our lives,” Sophie Katz Schulman didn’t teach a long time, but Sophie said. “He kind of felt a responsibility to look out she loved the decade or so she taught early grades in the for us kids after my father’s demise. He was a wonderful Talmud Torah school at the old Beth Israel Synagogue man. He had 10 children of his own and he would always in Omaha. She started there at the end of the 1960s- include us in their family outings into the country.” beginning of the 1970s and by then she’d already Uncle Abe was the model of the immigrant-madeworked several jobs over the years, utilizing the steno- good-story. The entrepreneur owned and operated “a bookkeeping skills she learned in commercial (business) grocery store, but he also specialized in produce,” courses at South High. She went to Hebrew school as a Sophie said, adding that he managed to combine busichild but years working and raising a family left little ness with pleasure. “My uncle was very friendly with a time for exploring Judaism. She’d begun a deeper explo- lot of farmers because he traded with them in chickens ration of her faith by the time she answered Rabbi Isaac and eggs. He had trucks and he’d put these boxes-crates Nadoff’s request to be an instructor at Beth Israel. in the back of the truck and that’s what we kids sat on Imparting lessons to youths helped fulfill a lifelong when we’d go out to these farms. It was a wonderful dream to teach, one she wishes she could have realized experience for us city kids.” as a career educator.

On Abe’s advice Fannie invested what little she had in “I probably would have property, renting out a couloved to have been a ple residences and operating teacher,” she said. their spacious south Omaha Teaching would have been home as a rooming house. A a practical field for her to two-story, wood structure, enter as a young woman. It the rooming house catered was a time when females had to men in the booming livefew career choices. At age 95 stock-packing trade. Fannie she marvels at the unlimited kept a meticulous place for options open to women boarders used to dirt and today and she aches to think grime. “I imagine they were what professional endeavors glad to find a clean, quiet she might have tried had she room,” Sophie said. “My been born a few generations mother always changed the later. bedding on Saturday. My “The opportunities for brother Yale was the one women have changed drasti- Sophie Katz, seated second row, second from left, attended who really helped her” keep cally,” in her lifetime, she South Central School as a youngster. Her widowed mother’s up the place. said. “When I graduated story about her “high achieving children” was written up in the Looking back, Sophie’s from high school the only Omaha World-Herald in 1926. filled with admiration over things available to women were secretarial, nursing and the way her mother raised and supported four children teaching jobs, and now women can be anything they on her own after the death of their father. want to be. As a man maybe you don’t appreciate how “It seems to me she was so defenseless, so uneducattremendous that must be because it’s always been a ed. She didn’t speak English very well. But she was man’s world. We won’t go into that,” she said, smiling strong,” she said. “Having raised a family of my own, I to a male visitor at the apartment she and her husband know how hard it must have been when we were all very Harry Schulman share. close together in age. My mother was pretty tremenAn imaginative child, Sophie loved to “emote” in dous. I don’t know how my mother did it.” homemade theatricals she and her playmates devised. “I Like Morris, Fannie was an immigrant, too, only from loved to pretend,” she said. She caught the latest come- Poland. This woman with a meager formal education dies and serials at neighborhood movie theaters; the instilled in her children a love for reading and an Ritz, when her family lived in north Omaha; and the appetite for learning. She couldn’t read much when Roseland or Tivoli when her family moved to ‘South O’. Sophie was a girl. But, as Sophie said, Fannie somehow An inveterate reader, she would act out scenes for her still raised a family of outstanding students who valued own amusement. She went with her mother to Yiddish education above all. “It really came from my mother theater productions featuring touring companies of because she wanted to be educated so much she put actors. Her mother served as her interpreter. These forth the effort herself” as an adult. “My mother tried Yiddish shows were sponsored by The Workmen’s very hard to read. She succeeded, too. She could read a Circle/Arbeter Ring, a secular Jewish cultural organiza- little, laboriously, but she could read.” tion, at venues like the former Paramount, now The Sophie’s saved an Omaha World Herald story from Rose Theatre.

1926 that singled out Fannie for doing such a good job “I would have been an actress if I had been born sev- with her fatherless tribe of high achievers. The human eral years later,” she said. “I would have liked to have interest item reported that “Mrs. Halperin’s children been an actress. I really would. In my time, you didn’t received the highest grades in their respective classes at South Central School. Most of the results were As. aspire to the stage or something like that.”

The world of make-believe was a safe place to retreat None received a mark below B...The scholastic record to after the tragic suicide of her father, Morris Louis established by the children is regarded with pride by Halperin. Just shy of 7 when it happened, Sophie was Mrs. Halperin, whose efforts have made their education the eldest child. Her Russian immigrant father had been possible.”

The article described how Fannie used “the proceeds a storekeeper and peddler. She recalls him as “a nice man” who walked her and her siblings to school. For from rental” collected at her rooming house to send extra money during Prohibition he did what many oth- “her children to school and provide a comfortable home ers did to get by--he made bootleg liquor. Sophie’s for them.” The article also mentioned the industriousunsure, but speculates he got in trouble with the law ness of Sophie, who at age 12 kept books after school over his bootlegging and couldn’t face the prospect of and on weekends for a plumbing company that occupied doing jail time with a wife and four young kids to sup- the house’s lower floor with the Halperins.

Fannie’s model of dedication led her children to great port. Whatever his state of mind, he took his own life.

“He shot himself in the house, in the living room...” heights. Sophie made herself “a good student,” adding, she said, her voice shaking. “It was a terrible thing. I “I was known as the smartest kid in the class. I loved really remember that morning too well. I’ve never for- school. I really loved it.” Sophie’s baby brother, the late gotten it. For years I couldn’t talk about it. I and my sib- Max Halperin, was a prodigy who practically lived at the lings were very traumatized by my father’s suicide. More public library. The two shared a love of reading. “We read a lot.” than we knew, I think.”

Max graduated high school at age 15 and went on to The family called it “an accident.” A small life insurance payout and some savings provided a safety net for earn a Ph.D. on his way to becoming one of America’s the widowed Fannie and her four children, but other- leading statistical mathematicians. Her eldest brother, wise they were on their own. “We didn’t get any (finan- Yale Halperin, found success as a small business owner cial) help. There was no Aid to Dependent Children and as an insurance agent. Her sister Ethel Halperin then. Why, that would have been such a boost for my Cohen, with husband Daniel Cohen, owned and opermom,” Sophie said. Fannie and the kids did benefit from ated a popular midtown restaurant called The Fireside.

“She was very proud of us,” Sophie said. an angel in their lives.

“My uncle Abraham Lipsman (married to Fannie’s sis- Continued on page 41

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 41

A Lifelong Passion for Learning Continued from page 40 Fannie eventually remarried, wedding Harold Cooperman, in 1940.

Sophie tied the knot for the first time in 1938 when she wed Marshall Katz, a native of tiny St. Croix, Wis., where he helped run his family’s wholesale produce business. When she moved with Marshall to his hometown up north, it was tough at first for the city girl to adjust to small town life.

“Yes, it was, and whatever you did the whole town knew about it,” she said. “That was something I couldn’t get used to. But after I’d been there awhile I really had such good friends.”

As the years went by she came to almost prefer the simple delights of St. Croix, where three of her four children were born. “I often think I became a different person going there to live rather than living in Omaha,” she said.

“I would have had entirely different interests” in Omaha. “Socially, I belonged to the women’s club and a bowling team, which was a lot of fun.

We young couples got together a lot.”

To heed her love of the arts she made regular trips to Minneapolis to partake of its “more sophisticated pleasures.”

Seeing plays at the famous Guthrie Theatre “was a big thing. Oh, yes, they gave wonderful plays.” She and Marshall were active in a havurah (Jewish social-cultural club) devoted to music. The Katz’s moved back to Omaha with their growing family. Their youngest child, Richard was born here.

With the work ethic she learned from her mother, Sophie held down any number of office jobs through the years.

Among the few times she experienced

anti-Semitism was when she worked at the JC Penney store in downtown Omaha, where founder James Cash

Sophie and Harry Schulman Penney sometimes visited. As Sophie recalled, “A woman came in to make application for her son or nephew and said, ‘The thing I like about the JC Penney Co. is they don’t hire any Jews.’

She really made me angry. I didn’t tell her I was Jewish, but I said, ‘But they do hire

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She said while Penney’s “didn’t hire many Jews,” they were more interested in your personality than your religious affiliation. “They hired people because of their smile and Penney’s gained the reputation of being the store with a smile,” she said.

On one of Mr. Penney’s visits, which sent staff into an anxious frenzy, Sophie steeled herself for The Great Man’s inquisition. As she tells it, Old JC was something of a self-made evangelist “known for approaching an employee and asking if they were Christian. I was really nervous. I thought, If he comes up and asks me, what do I say? But he didn’t.”

Life’s never been just about work for Sophie. She likes to play. A career on the stage or in academia was not hers, but that didn’t stop her from satisfying her intense curiosity about life and her avid appreciation for culture. From single working girl to middle-aged housewife and mother to retiree, she’s indulged her love of theater, travel, books and films.

She once again became a frequent concertgoer and playgoer in her hometown.

Once, she sat in awe of the great Helen Hayes, who appeared on stage at the Paramount in her signature role of Victoria Regina. Other times she saw such great operatic stars as Richard Tucker and Beverly Sills.

She traveled for her doses of culture, too. She saw a young Katherine Hepburn in a production of As You Like It in Minneapolis and, years later, saw a 70something Hepburn in Westside Waltz in San Francisco. She thrilled to the masterful acting of Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy in The Gin Game in Washington

D.C. “That was such a dream. They were such consummate performers,” she said.

Sophie sought out great theater “every chance I got. Once you see a great performance you never forget it.”

Her travels also took her to such places as New York, England and Israel. Some trips she made with Marshall, others with Harry and still others with her dear friend Regina “Reggie” Miller. “She loved the same things I did and so we had a grand time,” Sophie said. “I loved those trips.”

She’s remained an avid reader. “I still love Jane Austen, Jonathan Swift. I love mysteries. I have a favorite Jewish writer, Rochelle Krich, who came to Omaha,” she said. She made reading an outlet for her and her kids.

“I read to my kids every night. I really think that’s a big gift you can give your kids -- love of reading. That gave me a great chance to emote. We had a lot of fun,” she said. Ever the teacher, she made sure they used proper English grammar.

In fine family tradition, they became scholars. All graduated college. Her grandchildren are now earning college scholarships. Just as Fannie took pride in the success of her children and grandchildren, Sophie’s enjoying the accomplishments of her kids and grandkids.

By her late 50s, Sophie was an emptynester eager to satisfy her hunger for knowledge. Her kids were grown and she was doing temp office work for Kelly Services when she took a position as a benefits specialist in the University of Nebraska at Omaha human resources department. She took advantage of her employee privileges to enroll in free courses there, concentrating on English.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

A Lifelong Passion for Learning refreshing and enriching the Hebrew and surpass others’ expectations.

Old Testament studies of her youth.

Sophie applied her dramatic sensibilities “I really wanted to learn more because to her Sunday School lessons, where she my children were asking me questions,” learned the importance of “being a showshe said, adding that as a result of her man” in the classroom. efforts “I can read and write Hebrew.”

“I mean by that you have to really presFor her, the tenets of Judaism provide ent what you want students to learn in a “a way of ethical living.” First, she shared way that will engage their interest and her passion for Hebrew with her own chil- curiosity and enjoyment, too,” she said. dren and then, when she taught Sunday “I know the kids really were reluctant to school, she shared it with her students.

“I enjoy the language.

I enjoy the way the letters are formed,” she said. “They’re very beautiful, I think. I did introduce the children to the Hebrew alphabet and taught them how to read at a very elementary level, which was Sophie Halperin Katz Schulman, center, and her children: Richard Katz, fun for them. I left, Miriam Katz, Helen Katz and David Katz. remember using colored strips of paper leave my class. I spent all of Saturday and dots and letting the children form night planning what I was going to be their own symbols. And I would give plays doing the next morning. I did enjoy it where every child would be one of the let- very much.” ters and they would have lines to say. I The way she saw it, if all the world’s a liked to present plays with kids. I didn’t stage, then why not a school? “I was one really have any training of how to present to give plays. I really loved to give them,” that kind of material, so I just did it.” she said, “and kids liked to be in them, To her surprise, her pupils “caught on” too.” and were able to read some Hebrew. It “She was my third-grade Hebrew was yet another reminder to her that teacher at Beth Israel Synagogue,” Eadie then, as now, people’s capabilities often Tsabari said. “She was Mrs. Katz at the

Continued from page 41 Just as old standards confined women to a small range of professional prospects, Sophie longed for higher education as a young woman in an era when society discouraged women’s college ambitions. It was decades before she went. After waiting so long, her studies hardly seemed a burden, but more like a blessing. Nor did she mind the fact she was so much older than her fellow students.

“Oh, I enjoyed being around young people,” she said. “It never sort of seemed to matter at all” that she was mature enough to be their mother or grandmother.

At UNO she fell under the spell of Ralph Wardle, the distinguished former head of the university’s English department. He made the language come alive.

“Dr. Wardle was a magnificent professor,” she said. “I loved the Shakespeare course he taught. At the conclusion of our Shakespeare class he gave a lecture. I tried to take notes but he was talking so fast I quit and just sat back and listened.

And then when he finished the class broke out in spontaneous applause.”

She said Wardle’s animated delivery exemplified the enthusiasm and panache she feels all good educators share in common and that make learning a joy.

Her arrival on campus in the late 1960s coincided with the counter culture, antiwar, women’s and black power movements, all of which were in evidence there. It was also the time when the former Omaha University’s merger with the University of Nebraska system “opened” UNO to more possibilities.

Besides English, she also immersed herself in language and religious studies,

time. I don’t know whether it had any influence on me particularly, but I’ve been a Hebrew School teacher for a long time (at Beth El). I remember her very fondly. I couldn’t tell you who my fifth grade teacher was or my eighth grade teacher was, but she was so nice and she was so understanding of children. She believed in the material she was teaching so much that she must have somehow gotten that across to us. It was her love of the language, love of the children. Always a smile, always positive...just a lovely lady.”

“I did enjoy working with youngsters,” Sophie said. “I enjoyed my own kids, too.”

Eadie and Sophie still see each other on occasion. Having a student remember her all these years later makes Sophie “feel very flattered.”

These days, Sophie doesn’t get around as much as she used to. In 1985, she lost her mate of nearly 50 years when Marshall died. A few years later she married an old friend, Harry Schulman, who’d lost his wife, and they’ve been a couple ever since.

“It was a good thing that happened to us,” Sophie said of her and Harry. “We’re together all the time. It’s been very nice.”

All her siblings are gone. “I’m the only one--the sole survivor,” she said. “It can be a lonely feeling.”

But she has family, friends, memories and health. “It’s nice to be given the gift of long life and the ability to enjoy it as well,” she said. “We are very grateful for that.” She suggests a key to her long and healthy life may be that “conforming to change--and I’ve been through a lot of changes--has not been difficult for me.”

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September 22, 2006

Stories Heal the World worked too long and too hard to get on stage and I

by JOAN K. MARCUS When I made the appointment to visit with Rita won’t waste my time doing anything but my best.”

She went on to say that although she has had many, Paskowitz, I thought to myself, “This lady is an actress, a teacher, a storyteller. How will I know if she’s telling many “day” jobs, her toe has always been in theatre. In the truth? How will I know if she’s acting or just telling October of 1994, she moved back to Omaha. “I wasn’t a story?” Well, the story is inspiring and I know that it’s sure what I wanted to do; I wanted to make a decision about my life. So I ended up staying.” all true!

Paskowitz is part of the Artist in Residency program in Rita runs her hands through her dark, kinky hair as she tells of being born in Omaha in 1948 to Lucille and schools and communities around the state, through the Harry (she calls him “Wild Horse” Harry) from New Nebraska Arts Council. Another program--Arts are York and Birmingham, AL. The Paskowitz family, Basic--is aesthetic education for children. She works as including Rita and her brother, lived very simply. Harry an artist and teacher for the program, which also told his daughter it was always important to have a good includes workshops for grief and the arts training expesense of humor. And Rita soon discovered that, being rience for therapists, social workers and all people who funny was a good way to dodge pain. “I guess the pain work with grief. In order to do this, she journals and for me came from not being accepted by either the uses, music, visual arts, poetry and movement. This project grew as a result of Rita’s own on-going battle Jewish or non-Jewish kids.” with depression.

She remembers always “My friend Nancy looking down because Duncan was a storyshe was very shy. “I teller,” Rita explains. thought that, if I didn’t “And, when I came back have eye contact with here, she lured me into people, they couldn’t see her workshop for actors me. I didn’t want to and storytelling. It was blend in with the wallpamy 45th birthday and I per, I wanted to be behind was suicidal and the wallpaper.” depressed. I decided I Rita always had a lot of was going to get into my friends because she was car and crash it into a funny, adding, “If you’re funny, you can make jabs bridge. But, instead I at yourself before others went to a friend who get the chance. It’s not reminded me who I was.” always the healthiest As a result of that thing but it makes life less workshop, a group called painful. I have spent all of “The Five Bright Chicks” my life suffering from evolved. “We did some depression, but I was amazing work and I was grown before I received so happy to work in comtreatment for it.” munity. When you are She says that she “grew creative, you need to up a neighborhood work in community with Rita Paskowitz behind.” When her family people whom you admire moved into a neighborand who are honest with hood, the Jews were leaving to go further west. “I did- you.” The group included another local storyteller and n’t have many Jewish friends because when we moved writer, Ozzie Nogg. into the Rose Hill School district, the Jewish kids had “Storytelling changed by life because it took all the moved west and they were going to Western Hills.” parts of my creativity and brought them together. I am Then, when she went to Monroe Junior High, the kids able to using acting, writing, creative and improvisationwere moving further west and going to Lewis and Clark. al skills. When I was a kid and I had a presentation to Since she was shy, Rita admits to staying back and make, I always memorized it. If I weren’t concentrating, avoiding other children. She learned the power of words I would lose my place on the page. Now, I don’t ever in school when kids taunted her and called her deroga- need the words,” she says. tory names like kike, heb and yid.

“Storytelling isn’t memorizing and telling it word for “I learned to curse because that was a way to express word. It is learning a story, whether it belongs to you or myself, too,” she notes. “I couldn’t tell the kids that I someone else, and then telling what you remember. It’s hated them because they were Methodists, because I the biggest, fattest tikkun olam”--repair of the world, don’t hate Methodists. That’s when I learned that call- she says. ing people by names reduced their humanity. In other “I had a hard time growing up--feeling that I didn’t fit words, that’s all they are. When I cursed, I could say in and suffering from depression. So, the stories I tell, those words to anyone. That is when I learned the tell the triumph of the small guy. We just have to believe power of words.” and understand what we can do. When I tell a story, I Although the family attended Beth Israel Synagogue feel that I’m helping to fix the world by telling about and the home was kosher, Rita chose to abandon someone who did better.”

Judaism after her Bat Mitzvah. She labeled Judaism as When Rita came back to Omaha, she took a part time being more a source of pain than security for her. job as an assistant to Anne Kibel Schwartz, education While she was in high school, the family had a fire that director at Temple Israel at the time. She tells the story destroyed all of Rita’s artwork--including a prize-win- of going into Rabbi Aryeh Azriel’s office and announcning painting. While attending Central High School, ing, “Rabbi, I’m a storyteller and I want to be telling she participated some in drama and, according to her, “a Jewish stories!” little teeny, itty bitty moment of debate.” She was a He asked, “So, what’s the problem?” good student who always did her homework and would She answered him, “But, Rabbi, I don’t believe in never think of talking back to a teacher. She graduated God!” in 1967 and then attended the University of NebraskaHe came back and said, “So, you think I care?”

Omaha as an art major.

Finally, she told him, “But I do believe in good--if you Her major eventually changed and she graduated in put an extra ‘o’ in it! I live my life trying to do good speech and drama and a minor in English. “I was in the every day!” first show at the Firehouse Dinner Theatre and I did all And Rabbi answered, “What’s not Jewish about that?” of the acting that you can do in Omaha. I’m known for Rita ended by saying, “There are two words in being funny, but it’s the serious roles that I do well. Judaism, ‘chet’, the word for sin which is missing the Many of us who are funny have a very deep, serious mark. The word for sin should be something that you side,” she explains. can work on--not something that you’re born with. So, When she had done all she could in Nebraska, Rita every day during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, you moved to Los Angeles and joined a comedy group. need to say, ‘I’m sorry for all the mistakes I made. My From there, she lived in Minneapolis and worked at a intentions weren’t evil but I just didn’t hit the bulls eye! wonderful place called Duddly Wiggs Great New Next year, I’m going to try to hit the center of the tarWorkshop, a comedy improvisational review theatre. get!’” she says.

There, she could work in a community and create --as “The other thing is ‘tikkun olam.’ And, storytelling is she calls it, “my own words. It’s very different,” she ‘tikkun olam’ because it makes the world a better place,” explains, “and I learned that people want to hear things Rita concludes. “Since I’ve been given the talents and that are off color. I won’t do that because women have gifts, how can I not use it in positive ways?”

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 43

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by JOAN K. MARCUS was traumatic. Some students reported that one student When she was a young girl, Gilda Pieck always thought had a knife. Looking for help, I ran into one of the three her career would be secondary to her first choice--that of male teachers in the building, the youngest and being a mother. Since her mother worked six days a week strongest looking one, and told him. He offered no help in the family business, she, too, expected to work but, in and continued on his way.â&#x20AC;? her youth, women were taught that they needed to have No knife was ever found and the student continued to a good education--just in case! be mildly uncooperative the rest of the year, but she Gildaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father had immigrated from near Kiev in Russia went home and cried that night, not the last time Gilda and her mother, from Lithuania. They met at a Zionist cried after a frustrating day at school. picnic in Boston and were married in 1926, maintaining She taught five/three (there were five fifth grade classthroughout their lifetimes a very strong connection to es) for two years and became fully certified to teach in Judaism and support for the state of Israel.

New York City public schools. She then was given the The newlyweds opened up what used to be known as five/one class, where the brightest fifth graders were a â&#x20AC;&#x153;dime store.â&#x20AC;? Soon, a large chain store appeared in the grouped. same square and took away most of their customers.

In New York, Gildaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classes studied American history Having little choice, Gildaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parents decided to leave her and took a trip to New York harbor when replicas of motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family in Boston and move to North Carolina. Columbusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pinta, Nina, and Santa Maria were Gilda was born in Roanoke Rapids, a small mill town anchored in the harbor. They also took the city bus--she of about 8000 people near the Virginia border. She had and this class of 35 children--across Central Park to the an older brother and two younger sisters. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There were Metropolitan Museum when the new area for children five Jewish families in our town and only five Jewish chil- was opened. dren in our schools, the four of us and one of our â&#x20AC;&#x153;We did a lot of writing and put on plays,â&#x20AC;? she recalls. cousins,â&#x20AC;? she recalls. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One child in the class was a gifted artist, and I decoratâ&#x20AC;&#x153;Because of the small number of Jewish families in the ed the dreary green halls near our room with his paintsurrounding towns, we all got together for High ings done with tempera on square sheets of paper.â&#x20AC;?

Holiday services in three rooms above a store in The principal asked Gilda to pilot a new program in Weldon, a small town individualized reading with about five miles from us. this class. Rather than tradiOften we had a visiting tional group reading, sturabbi and once he stayed dents selected the books at our house. Unfortunthey wanted to read and did ately, all that I remember an oral or written report on about him is that he swalit. When tested at the end of lowed a raw egg for the year, all students scored breakfast,â&#x20AC;? she laughs. well above grade level in â&#x20AC;&#x153;As we grew older, my reading. They did well in all parents, who missed the areas, but then they were a vibrant Jewish life of select group.

Boston, wanted for their â&#x20AC;&#x153;When June finally came, children (and themselves) it was sad to say goodbye to a more Jewish environthese beautiful young people ment.â&#x20AC;? She was 15 when with whom I had had so they moved to much fun,â&#x20AC;? Gilda says, notRichmond, Virginia, a Daughters: Gabrielle Girau, left, and Catherine Pieck-Hoffman, ing that she was pregnant city with a Jewish com- and Gilda Pieck and daughter Elizabeth Gallagher. and moving to Omaha. munity much like Omahaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when she and her â&#x20AC;&#x153;The prior teacher in Omaha had a terrible time because brother and sisters began religious school. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Two years of one mentally ill child in the class who made it almost later at 17, I was confirmed and began teaching in the impossible to teach,â&#x20AC;? she recalls. The school could not Sunday School of Beth El Synagogue of Richmond,â&#x20AC;? get him placed in a mental health facility and the teacher she recalls, â&#x20AC;&#x153;my first teaching job!â&#x20AC;? ended up resigning.

In 1950, Gilda graduated from Thomas Jefferson â&#x20AC;&#x153;After three days with this group at the beginning of High School in Richmond, and four years later from the year, I went to the principal and told her I would Barnard College in New York, with a major in history not be able to teach the class with such a disturbed child and a minor in education. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When the time came to in it,â&#x20AC;? she adds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;After having lost one teacher, I think teach, I was placed at a very exclusive and excellent pri- she didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to lose another one.â&#x20AC;? vate school, the Dalton School in New York City. I was The principalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solution was to assign this child to the permitted to observe classes there once a week and I teacher of five/five class, who was very experienced and taught one lesson to the students each semester. It was tough and had taught grades k-12. She assigned two of a totally delightful experience to be in a fifth grade class her largest boys to literally hold him down for the rest of with excellent teachers, good students, and the most the year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am eternally grateful to that most creative interesting curriculum I had encountered,â&#x20AC;? she says. teacher for her willingness to accept this burden, for it â&#x20AC;&#x153;Needless to say, I was totally unprepared for my first gave me the opportunity to do wonderful things with an teaching assignment, which was at an elementary school exceptional group of students,â&#x20AC;? Gilda adds. with many at-risk students. It was a sixth grade class of It was 1958. Gilda began a 16-year â&#x20AC;&#x153;semiâ&#x20AC;? sabbatical about 35 to 40 students, most of whom paid no atten- from teaching while she had three daughters, Elizabeth, tion to anything I was saying, requesting, or demand- Catherine and Caroline (Gabrielle). With some exceping,â&#x20AC;? she adds. To no oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surprise, she lasted six weeks tions, she returned to teaching for short periods of time. before she resigned, admitting that she was no match for In 1976, she received a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in Special Education that class. The principal was quite generous and invited from Creighton University. She was hired to teach speher to come back when she was ready. cial ed at Horace Mann Ninth Grade Center and spent â&#x20AC;&#x153;After a couple months of typing lab reports at Mt. 12 years there. After it was closed as a ninth grade cenSinai Hospital, I called my former principal to see if any- ter, she went to Bryan for another eight years before thing was available,â&#x20AC;? she continues. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was a Sight retiring in 1996.

Conservation class where students spent half of their â&#x20AC;&#x153;Being a special education teacher was tremendously school day working in books with large print. The num- challenging, but also very gratifying,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had bers were small, the ages varied. I actually enjoyed teach- many wonderful experiences with my students, the best ing and was encouraged to continue. That was my first of which were when I was able to help them understand contact with special education. something they had not been able to comprehend.

At the end of that school year, 1955, Gilda married and When I saw the light of understanding in their eyes, or went on an extended trip to Holland, her husbandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s boy- when they said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;thank you,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and I knew they meant it, hood home. When she returned to New York toward the it made it all worthwhile.â&#x20AC;? end of October, there was a fifth grade class available at a After retiring, Gilda continued to teach on a part time school just seven blocks from the newlywedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s apartment basis. She taught first and fifth grades at Temple Israel in Manhattan. It was a very old building with mice and religious school and spent one year assisting students at no playground, jammed into an area crowded with apart- Freidel Jewish Academy in addition to subbing in city ment buildings. There was a high percentage of children elementary schools and being a â&#x20AC;&#x153;raterâ&#x20AC;? for the Statewide of recent immigrants in the school. and Millard Writing Assessments. One year ago, for â&#x20AC;&#x153;The classes were ability grouped, a big no-no today,â&#x20AC;? health reasons, she stopped teaching completely. she adds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t remember any severe behavior probâ&#x20AC;&#x153;I really miss being around children in the classroom, lems like I encountered in Omaha when I returned to but my two grandsons in Omaha keep me very busy,â&#x20AC;? teaching 18 years later. However, my third day at school she smiles. Not a bad way to end a teaching career!

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 45

Jewish Mom Teaches Classes on Shabbat and Jewish Holidays

by GLORIA SHUKERT JONES Debbie Kricsfeld has the best of both worlds. During the week, she’s busy raising her two children, and attending to household chores. But on Saturdays, she teaches a Shabbat class at Beth Israel Synagogue to a group of youngsters ranging in age from 18 months to four years. The class participates in storytelling, songs, reciting the kiddush and motzi (the blessings over grape juice and bread).

Kricsfeld is a firm believer in children developing their Jewish identity at an early age. So during the time the adults are attending Saturday morning services, she teaches her class all about the meaning of Shabbat and the customs and origins of Jewish holidays, including the High Holy Days, with instruction geared to their tender ages.

“We learned about Purim, the story and its characters, and at Rosh Hashanah, we learned about the significance of apples and honey, and imitated the shofar.

The children learn various blessings, such as motzi. I will ask what it signifies, for example, and they will shout, ‘Challah, challah!’” she laughs.

I asked if it was difficult maintaining order in a class with such young children.

“It used to be,” she said, “but now they seem to be used to the routine. They get very attentive and excited. I pretend to act forgetful and the children delight in correcting me.”

Kricsfeld maintains she has no formal training as a teacher, and that her only credentials consist of being a mom--particularly, a Jewish mom. She taught her own kids, and now teaches “my friends at the shul,” says her three-year-old daugh-

ter, Rachel, who participates in her Mommy’s class.

About 10 years ago, at the old Beth Israel Synagogue, Kricsfeld was an assistant NCSY advisor, and the committee asked her to do a class for kids of all ages.

Then she got married after graduating from Bellevue University, and had her own children, whose Jewish education was at the forefront. She taught them at home when they were still toddlers, and was again asked to resume the Shabbat class at the new synagogue.

So despite the lack of a teaching certificate, she does have a lot of experience with children to her credit, and a devotion to them. “I really enjoy what I’m doing,” she said, “and it’s a lot of fun.”

Kricsfeld has a background in art history, having majored in the subject. Prior to doing any teaching, she was involved in promotional work, but now states, “Being a mom is my full-time job.”

I asked how things have changed since she first started her classes. “I really enjoy it much more than I used to since I have my own kids. That’s made a big difference because I can relate to children better than when I first started,” she said.

“The community has been great. I not only enjoy the kids, but the parents have been wonderful. Some of them have said that at times, the only way they can get their kids out of the house, is to remind them of my class. The most rewarding thing is when I see my students at other events, outside of teaching, and they recognize me and come up and give me a big hug. That means so much to me,” she observed.

Kricsfeld says she doesn’t have much time for her own reading, other than chil-

Happy New Year

Debbie Kricsfeld and her daughter, Rachel. dren’s books.

I asked how long she plans to do this.

“As long as they want me. It’s only one hour a week, so I’m not tied to a full-time job per se, like regular school teachers, but I really look forward to Saturdays, when I can get out and do something I know is beneficial to the kids” This devoted Jewish mom has been married for eight years to Dr. Alan Kricsfeld, an internal medicine physician, who is in private practice in Council Bluffs. He is affiliated with Jennie Edmundson and Mercy Hospital, in Council Bluffs, and Methodist Hospital and Nebraska Health Systems in Omaha.

Their children are Sam, age six, and Rachel, three. When their children progressed beyond what they could be taught at home, they were ready for more

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advanced learning situations. Sam now attends Friedel, and Rachel is enrolled in CDC. In visiting with Kricsfeld, I discovered I had gone to Central High at about the same time as her husband’s aunt, Karen Kricsfeld Weiner, now a native of San Francisco.

“I enjoy working with everybody’s children, seeing things through their eyes, and having their parents giving feedback, such as the kids talking about the class during the week, and singing the songs they’ve learned,” Kricsfeld said.

To sum it all up, this young mother maintains that she appreciates the time she can spend at home, but still looks forward to her Saturday class. “It’s not like a job per se,” she said, “but I guess you could call it a labor of love.”

Young children are in their formative years. Whatever they learn during this period, they tend to retain the rest of their lives. Parents are aware of this, and so are teachers like Kricsfeld, who exemplifies this belief. Even back in Biblical times, it was recognized that proper upbringing and early education was vital to a child’s development.

In the wise words of Solomon, the son of David, King of Israel: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he shall not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

Page 46

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

The Most Familiar Face at the JCC

by BERT LEWIS What mental picture comes up on your screen when you hear the word teacher? I think most of us get an image of a classroom, perhaps the teacher stands either behind or in front of her desk and looks out at a room full of children. The teacher you think of might be a match for one you had, back in your days of elementary school.

However, you must remember that teachers come in all sizes, shapes and gender and also practice their craft for children of all ages, up to and including university level. If you reverse, and go to the very beginning of the school experience for many kids, you need to go all the way back to pre-school. Or, to go to an even earlier place, let’s say child care.

An argument against including that earliest care might be infants and small children simply need basic needs cared for and it isn’t fair to count caretakers as teachers.

Maybe, but let’s be fair. Naturally, a six-month-old baby isn’t being taught how to count, but when the caregiver is feeding or changing the infant, she’s talking to baby; she’s playing a little peek-a-boo; she’s smiling and making sounds for the baby’s amusement. Experts tell us this is very important to the growth and development of healthy children.

We’re told horror stories of countries where babies are left alone, in cribs all day with no stimulation. Without fail, these are children who are fortunate to catch up to their age level if and when they’re lucky enough to get away from such inhumane treatment. So let’s go back to the argument for categorizing the infant caretaker as “teacher”.

Maybe it’s only fair to say that any and all trained adults who are in charge of imparting knowledge and training children to live in a civilized society, from diapers to diplomas, are teachers. After all, these people to whom we send our kids usually spend more hours every day with them than we, their parents do. The average household has two working parents and by the time everyone is home from work and school/daycare, there’s little time left for much beyond dinner, bath and bed. Oh yes, the school environment is where the bulk of the day is spent.

So, the debater says, what’s your point? If our object here is to talk about teachers in general, and one in particular, it’s necessary to begin at the very beginning.

That’s where I’d like to start telling about Phyllis Wasserman.

As Phyllis Potash, she graduated from Omaha University with a degree in teaching. She taught briefly at the Nebraska School for the Deaf, which she says she loved. Marriage to Jerry Wasserman and starting a family interfered with her career, as was often the case in

those days. However, when the beautiful new Jewish Phyllis was largely responsible for organizing what Community Center opened in 1974, an opportunity would become a busy and popular preschool. came for her to go back to something she loved. She She supervised the childcare program until 1991, remained in the classroom from 1974-86. when Dinah Raful was hired to head up the JCC She speaks fondly and somewhat wistfully of those Preschool. At that time, Phyllis became Administrative teaching days…she begins by simply saying, “I loved it. Assistant, and as such was still where she loved most to I loved the kids and loved everything about it.” She be--near the kids. recalls how different children were 30-some years ago, Phyllis recalls that she also did some of her teaching at from the way they are today. She remembers kids who Beth El Synagogue to preschool and older children. She were eager about everything, including their attitude taught Sunday School there and says, “I loved sharing about courtesy to adults and respect for authority. my heritage with these little children. It was fun and I She says “they’re like little sponges--they’re ready to really enjoyed those years in the early nineties.” absorb everything and they’re interested in everything.” Continued on page 47 Phyllis remember her teaching days with pleasure and often laughs about little incidents. Standing on tiptoes she probably is just fivefeet tall, and she says little kids often equate size with age. She laughed recalling how kids must have felt she was one of them.

Ask her what she learned from the children and she becomes thoughtfully quiet.

“Patience. Compassion and understanding. How to work with parents and achieve a good rapport.”

If you ask her for a recipe for success as a teacher, she quickly answers “Love the work, be flexible, be helpful and be willing to do more Top: Phyllis Wasserman, center, with her husband Jerry and their four children: Andy, left, than just the job.”

Phyllis speaks of how Steve, Michael and Helene. Below: Phyllis says goodbye to Maddie Brodsky on the last day much more of the world of preschool at the JCC’s Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center. children are exposed to today, than years ago…how smart they are and how much they comprehend. She sees differences in attitude and feelings about school, and comments also about some of the children she sees who come from foreign countries.

“They appear to be well trained and very polite and it seems they are gently disciplined,” she adds. An interesting remark from one who has spent more than three decades observing the younger generation.

In the years when she was a teacher at the JCC’s preschool, there was a sitter service program offered in which she was involved. It was so successful, it was soon apparent that full-service childcare could be a valuable addition to the JCC. Since she was already in place,

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Page 47

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ally superb place for their kids. As she recalls, it was a program that didn’t come into being without a fight, because as was generally thought, “Who needs this?

Mothers are home with their kids!”

That was the idea in 1974, except it was wrong. All mothers weren’t home with their kids--many were starting to work outside the home and desperately needed good, dependable childcare. And what was more natural than turning to the JCC when they were ready to provide this necessary service?

Everyone who has ever used these services, particularly in the past years since the new facility opened in 2000, must bless the memory of Pennie Z. Davis, who funded this beautiful facility and who, in addition, provided funds for the building and for teacher training.

The facility itself is worth a sightseeing trip when people are touring the JCC. Visitors from other cities larger than Omaha have viewed this place as the finest in the country.

Phyllis and Jerry Wasserman’s grandchildren: Talya, Hannah, That may be hyperbole, Max, Leighton, Emma, Lacie, David, and MooShu, the dog. but go see for yourself nary preschool activities. Parents obvious- before you make such a determination. ly appreciate these special classes because, She and Jerry are parents of: Helene, a as Phyllis says, “They cost extra and par- speech pathologist who makes her home ents willingly pay for them anyway.” in Chicago, and Michael, who with his Phyllis no longer teaches, but is still a wife Lisa lives in Philadelphia and has familiar face, there every day. When asked three daughters. Michael is a financial her title, she shrugs and says, “I don’t advisor and Lisa has a dance studio. Then know--I’m so familiar with everything I there’s Andrew and his wife, Christine, do whatever I’m called on to do-- who have a son and a daughter and live whether it’s bookkeeping or filing or near Fremont, and Steve, with wife, Tessa computer work. You know--office stuff.” who live in St. Louis. They have two boys; Okay, we’ll call it “Office Stuff,” but Tessa was a teacher and Steve is a lawyer. that includes advising that the preschool Just ask Phyllis Wasserman about the this year has an enrollment of 150 chil- JCC and the history of its preschool prodren, ranging in age from six weeks to gram. She can tell you all about it, from a five years. She also adds, with pride, personal view that is completely sincere “We’re now getting the children of those and totally unbiased! who were students themselves…second Who better than one who has, in addigeneration!” She can be excused if that tion to giving all her time and energy for sounds like bragging. more than three decades to the children Thirty-two years of devoted service to of this community, raised a beautiful famwhat started out as a little program for ily of four children, and has seven grandpeople who needed a safe and education- children, to boot!

Continued from page 46 There are no limits to the pride this dedicated teacher has in the present CDC system. From the facility itself, which is rightly called “state of the art” to the young and capable Corey Kirshenbaum who serves as Director, she has only praise.

Phyllis will talk about everything available to these little kids, such as science classes, art classes, acting and music.

These are extra experiences available to the children--experiences that broaden their outlook and go well beyond ordi-

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Teaching Is a Family Affair working at Baton Metal Products. Shortly afterwards, he

by JOAN K. MARCUS This is a story about parents and children all engaged signed a contract to teach in Thayer Nebraska (York in a most noble profession: education. Say what you County) at the high school. There were only 13 stuwant about “nurture versus nature,” the Noodell family dents. “I taught biology, math, bookkeeping and was has carried on the tradition of teaching, without fanfare. the boys’ basketball coach. We only had five boys so you They believe in it; they live it every day--whether it’s sci- couldn’t have a football team,” he smiles. “I made ence and business classes in public school, using a back- $2900 for the year. In Omaha, they were only paying ground in languages to teach kindergartners, or speech $2700. That was a lot of money back then.”

While working in Thayer, Jack lived in a rooming pathology resources for young patients.

The tradition starts with the parents, of course. Like house with a German family and paid a dollar a day for many of their generation, Jack Noodell’s parents came his rent and meals. Each day, he drove four blocks to the from “the old country” and stressed the value of educa- high school in his 1948 Studebaker automobile. “There tion in their children’s lives. Perhaps it was the shtetl’s were no discipline problems in those days,” he says.

However, “I was 21-years-old and knew I didn’t want to influence Dr. Noodell reminisces about his own parents, Molly stay there for the rest of my life.”

Jack’s interest in politics and social justice began while and Hyman Noodell. “My mother went to school only through the second grade. She came to this country he was still in Thayer. To teach his students about lobfrom the Ukraine in 1921 and my father came about the bying politicians and the civic duty of citizens, he same time. He was never able to go to school because he planned to take some of the kids to the county supervisor to complain about some of the potholes. “The had to work,” he explains.

“I was born in 1930 and always knew that education townspeople didn’t think that was a good idea,” he says.

After one year, he returned to Omaha and began was important because my parents told me, ‘it opened working in the office at Goodyear Tire doors.’”

Company. “I worked there for five Jack’s father had come months and a job opened up at from a small shtetl, also in Westside High School. The business Ukraine. There were other Noodell relatives teacher was pregnant and had to quit.” from the same small Jack was hired to teach business edutowns, in Omaha. The cation and social studies. He also couple married in 1925, coached the eighth grade boys’ basketjust a few years after comball team. ing to the United States.

“I was always taking classes because The family spoke Yiddish I wanted to better myself and I and they certainly weren’t thought I needed to get a masters wealthy people. They degree,” Jack continues. “My mother attended the small synakept encouraging me to get more edugogue on 25th and cation because she still insisted that it Seward where Jack had was the key” to getting ahead. his Bar Mitzvah.

After earning a masters in elementary The Noodell Family education, Jack continued his educaJack Noodell lived on 26th and tion. In 1958, he met Maxine Pred Emmett and Jack and his through a blind date. “I older sister, Pat (Zebker), went on a trip with the went to Lothrop School. high school students to “The house was a shack,” the Orange Bowl in Jack recalls, “and they Miami, FL, and brought sort of rebuilt it after the Maxine back a coconut Trans-Mississippi Expohead as a present,” he sition.” explains. “I guess she Hyman Noodell ran a liked it because we were restaurant (or greasy married in June of 1959.” spoon, according to Jack) As Westside High at 113 So. 14th St. Jack School grew, Jack became remembers his dad going the head of the departto work early in the ment. “If I improved morning and then his myself and got another mother would trade, to degree, I would get more relieve him so he could money. So, I took sumgo home to rest. The mer school classes and I elder Noodell’s health finally earned a doctorate was not good and he in 1968.” needed more rest.

In later years, he During the Depression, worked for the education “WPA workers ate there,” association and worked Jack adds. The Work part time for Westside Jack and Maxine Noodell Projects Administration Schools. As a representawas a government project that created jobs to out-of- tive for the education association, he planned meetings, work tradesmen, artists, and even former professionals negotiated for teachers and helped with individual grievwho had all lost their jobs during the worldwide down- ances. turn in the economy in the 1930s.

“I think the stress of teaching was the hardest thing I When Jack graduated from Central High School in ever did. With 30 kids in the classroom for six or seven 1948, he had no idea what he wanted to do for his life’s hours a day, it was difficult. By working in the business work. However, one thing was a given; he would go to end of education, I had more time for my family. If I had college--his parents insisted upon it. “I started working to do it over again, I’d do exactly the same thing.” at the J.L. Brandeis department store when I was 14. I According to Jack, “Teachers in those days were ran around with a whole bunch of kids who were like authoritarian. It’s all different today and I don’t think I me, good students. We were all of the same background could do it again.” and we were all headed for college,” he recalls.

He actually quit teaching in 1970 but didn’t retire “We all belonged to AZA #1 and we all had jobs,” he from Westside High School until 1996. Now he spends adds, referring to his old friends, Marcel Kahn and Dave his time lecturing for AARP, lobbying for the rights of Belzer. “None of us had time for cars and most of us had teachers and counseling on Part D of Medicare. He maybe a couple of dates a year.” works as a volunteer for the elderly, helping them figure Jack attended the Municipal University of Omaha out their income tax returns and also is active in the while still working at Brandeis. “I didn’t have much Democratic Party. In his “spare” time, he joins fellow money, so I needed to work and still go to school. I took Yiddish enthusiasts on Thursday afternoons at the courses in retailing because I didn’t know what else I Jewish Community Center, to speak in the language he wanted to do. My last two years, I was a business major first heard at home as a child. with education courses thrown in,” he says.

And then there are the children--the next generation But his sister was a teacher so Jack decided to be one, of Noodells and their spouses, who carry on the traditoo. tion of education.

In June of 1952, Jack graduated college and began Continued on page 51

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 51

A Family Affair Continued from page 50 David Noodell David Noodell, 45, remembers that his father always encouraged him to study hard and become a teacher.

Jack and Maxine Noodell always stressed the importance of teachers and that education should be high on his list of priorities.

“I grew up in a home with parents who were just like Ozzie and Harriet. All my friends seemed to care about school. My parents would drop me off at school and say, ‘Be good for your teachers!’”

He loved school because he enjoyed the challenge of learning. Although he wasn’t at the top of the class, he always strived to be there. “It was important to me to get good grades because my parents always stressed that I needed to do the best I could,” he recalls.

Noodell liked the sciences better than other subjects; he tried an accounting class but that didn’t interest him. “I wasn’t like my dad with numbers,” he smiles.

Like his father, David had to work while going to high school. His first job was as a cook and a waiter. “When I went to work in a restaurant, I learned there was another side of life. Everyone didn’t come from loving homes with Ozzie and Harriet,” he recalls. “Many had values that were different than mine.

It was an eye-opener for me.”

After graduation from Westside High School in 1979, David received a scholarship to Kearney State College.

His major was science education and he knew from the beginning he would carry on the family teaching tradition. In 1983, he received a BS in secondary education with a chemistry and physical science endorsement.

He student-taught at Millard North High School, and in 1983, he began teaching there full-time. There were only two people in Nebraska who graduated with the same degree that year, so David wasn’t surprised when he received a job offer before he had even finished. “I had 17 days between graduation and my first class,” he notes, adding that today, he is head of his department.

While still in college, he met Ann Gerard, a student from North Platte. Her background was in liberal arts with emphasis on French and German. After Ann’s conversion to Judaism, they were married at Temple Israel

Ann and David Noodell in 1984. Their children are Molly, 15 and Benjamin, 11.

Noodell continued his education even after he began teaching and received a Masters in Secondary Education from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 1987.

“There’s more expected of kids than there used to be.

There is high expectation from parents and there’s more competition,” David says. “Doing their best doesn’t seem good enough today. Behavior isn’t a problem for me because if you respect kids--and have quality to offer in the classroom--you don’t have a discipline problem.

The problems come when the kids get bored.”

Ann Gerard Noodell Ann was raised by parents who were very much like the Noodells. Her father was an attorney and her mother was a homemaker. “My parents probably didn’t stress education as much as Jack and Maxine did, but it was important to me. I set high standards for myself.”

She set goals to earn spots on the honor roll and mem-

bership in the National Honor Society. Ann graduated from high school in 1980 and went on to Kearney State College, too. Her initial desire was to study veterinary medicine. However, soon discovered that it would require a lot of math and science. “I wasn’t good at that,” she says. “I was good at English and foreign languages. Since I had the scholarships, I decided to study languages. I didn’t really want to be a teacher.”

She graduated with majors in French and German. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but I knew that there would be opportunities available to me when I married and moved to Omaha.”

Ann used her foreign language skills at Westin Hotels where she worked for 15 years. After the Westin office closed, she worked in childcare for five years. Then one day, Joan Cooper asked Ann to teach kindergarten at Temple Israel.

Ann admits that at first, she didn’t think she would make a good teacher. However, she decided to give it a try. “I do love it because, at that age, children can learn so easily,” she says now. “I know enough Hebrew to teach the little kids the alphabet and, I throw in some Yiddish for fun. Children that age are hungry to learn new things. The problem with older kids is they aren’t always there because they want to be. The little kids love being in school and learning.”

Ann adds, “For the most part, I get a lot of cooperation from families and I enjoy the diversity of the children. Some come from interfaith families and, in some cases, there’s just one parent involved.”

She has more of a knack for teaching than she thought she would years ago. “I’ve made a complete turn-around when it comes to my opinion of teaching.”

David and Ann agree that the value of educators has changed a lot. “From our point of view, families are different now. When I was a kid, my dad could take care of our family and my mom was able to stay at home,” David adds. “Now, we can’t make ends meet without Ann working. We both work more than one job just to make ends meet. We are providing for our kids what our parents did for us. However, we can’t always afford the extras they were able to.”

Continued on page 52

Page 52

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

A Family Affair Continued from page 51 Marcy Noodell Marcy Noodell was determined that she wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going to be a teacher like her father and brother. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My parents taught me that teachers were always right. If you got in trouble at school, it was your fault and you were in trouble at home!â&#x20AC;? she laughs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They said our education was important and we had to work hard at school. When David and I came home and with a 98 in a test, our parents wanted to know why we hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t gotten 100%.â&#x20AC;?

Marcy was always a good student at Westside. When she was just 14, she met Corey Kirshenbaum. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He was taking his time getting through school and I wanted to hurry up. I thought he was fun to be around and we were good friends before we began to date. But I warned him I would never marry him unless he finished college!â&#x20AC;?

She attended the University of Kansas at Lawrence and didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pick a major until the end of her junior year--speech pathologist. No education courses for her!

Marcy wanted to work in hospitals with stroke patients. In order to accomplish her goal, she earned a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s at UNL. A stint at a private company was followed by seven years at Methodist Hospital. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Then, a job opened up at Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital and I began working with children with special needs. Some of them had swallowing problems and others were medically fragile,â&#x20AC;? she recalls. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There were a lot of acute medical conditions where I used my training as a speech pathologist. Later, I realized a job in the public schools would better fit our lifestyle. It was scary when I quit my job to go back to school. Of course, my dad thought it was a wonderful idea! Now, I

am a speech pathologist with a teaching certificate.â&#x20AC;?

Marcy describes herself as a resource teacher. She identifies children with special needs in a classroom setting, working with kids who use English as a second language. Corey and Marcy both feel like they are helping people.

Corey Kirshenbaum People say that girls marry men exactly like their fathers or the opposite. In this case, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the latter; Marcy Noodell married Corey Kirshenbaum and his personality is not like that of his father-in-law, Jack Noodell.

Corey was born in Omaha in 1962. His father, Max Kirshenbaum, was an x-ray technician and his mother was a stay-athome mom. Although education was always important to his parents, Corey admits he wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always the best of students. As the youngest of four children, he explains,â&#x20AC;? I goofed off and my grades didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get better until I went to college.â&#x20AC;?

But, he was actively involved in United Synagogue Youth at Beth El Synagogue and being Jewish was important. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My parents thought I could do better-that I just didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t put forth the effort to get good grades. But when I had teachers I enjoyed, I did well,â&#x20AC;? he says. So thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why he went into education because, he adds, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wanted to help kids like myself.â&#x20AC;?

When he was only 16 and at a USY function, he met Marcy, then only 14.

They were destined to have an eight-year courtship that culminated with their marriage in 1987. They have two children, Ryan, 12, and Kylie, 10. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wanted to be one of those teachers who would be a good role model and one from whom kids would learn,â&#x20AC;? Corey says of his college goals. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wanted to be

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Corey Kirshenbaum and Marcy Noodell creative and not follow specific guidelines. I knew I had to find the excitement for the kids,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Although I was a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;class clown,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; I felt kids with the bad grades were getting a bad rap and that all they needed was motivation. When people would tell me a child was difficult, I could always find good qualities,â&#x20AC;? he says.

After graduation from Burke High School in 1980, Corey attended the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He chose elementary education with a specialization in early childhood development. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is important to catch children at the very youngest ages to keep them excited and motivated about school,â&#x20AC;? he insists.

He graduated in 1987--it took longer because he worked full time--and began substituting in the schools. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That summer, the Jewish Community Center hired me as a camp counselor. In the summer of 1988, I came back as the youth direc-

tor and ran all kinds of camps,â&#x20AC;? he recalls. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was really open to explore the creative side of both myself and the kids.

Many of those campers are in college now and they remember me because they learned I was a little bit of a kid with the maturity and tools to help them, too.â&#x20AC;?

In 1991, another promotion made Corey Assistant Director of the JCC for 11 years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I knew when I took the job that I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be around kids, but I would still be supervising some of the programs. Since I am a hands-on kind of guy, I missed that part of my job,â&#x20AC;? he explains. And so when the Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center needed a new director, Corey filled in and then requested permanent placement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That was 2002 and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been here ever since!â&#x20AC;? he smiles, looking around at the beautiful facility filled with energetic children and highly-qualified staff.

The CDC employs about 30 people and Corey is actively involved. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The kids are guaranteed a big smile and welcome and I think that makes a big difference. I read stories to the children and am involved in what theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing. â&#x20AC;&#x153; Corey says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I remind teachers all the time that we have to continually find the good in kids and work on it. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what will motivate them to be better down the road. Quite often, the kids have made me laugh and that keeps me motivated. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never been in it for the money. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve just wanted to help kids,â&#x20AC;? he insists. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A high school counselor told me I shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t plan on going to college because he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see potential in me. I was furious and that made me even more determined,â&#x20AC;? says Corey. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It just irritates us to think there are people out there who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t look for the potential in children.â&#x20AC;?

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 53

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by BERT LEWIS for teachers, and always pressure to keep up with the What do you want to be when you grow up? Adults newest innovations. “People are so busy today, just tryaften ask that question of little children, and usually get ing to earn enough to keep families together, even amusing answers. When Bunny Shafer (a.k.a. Barbara, though they care,” she adds, “they don’t have a lot of but known to the world as Bunny) was asked, her answer time for the school and so even more is expected of us.” was “I’m gonna be a lawyer.” Or, sometimes in a differOn the subject of comparing American students with ent mood, “I’ll be a psychologist.” She always opted for those of other countries she says, “I don’t think our kids something that sounded worldly and important. But are so far behind. Yes, there are those countries where that was the choice of a child and as she grew up, Bunny math and science get special attention, but I think our came to the realization that teaching was in her future. kids are more well rounded. Maybe because there isn’t “I always loved being around little kids, but it wasn’t that sharp focus on specific subjects, we better prepare until college that I began to think seriously about teach- them for the world.” She believes the teacher should ing. A wonderful teacher saw something in me that have high expectations of her students. If a teacher made her shift my focus to the rewarding career I love.” demonstrates confidence in a child, the child will To that end, Bunny graduated from the University of respond. “If the teacher believes, the kids believe.”

Nebraska with a degree in Elementary and Special Bunny’s teaching talents are apparent when she says Education in 1978.

“We have to teach skills of independence. I can show This completed the first leg of her training and it was- them how to do something, but are they able to do it on n’t long before she wanted to add a Masters to her C.V. their own when they need to?” And she says “as teachers Thus began a busy time in her life, because it included we need to be careful...we want to be a child’s friend but marriage to Steve Rothenberg in 1982, as well as pick- first we’re the teacher, the guide. We don’t give them the ing up a Masters in Learning Disabilities. By that time answer, but show them how to find it themselves.” she was working at her first job, which she proudly says Bunny demonstrates that the tables are turned when “was with OPS,” meaning the Omaha Public School dis- she says she learns from the students. It’s not always trict. She served as a Resource Teacher in Special about what a teacher deserves or needs. The children are Education for children who were learning disabled or the first priority, without exception. mildly retarded, and by the time she quit to have her first “Elementary teachers adore kids,” she notes--a simple baby, she had been there for statement which seems to seven years. speak volumes. “My learnBunny stayed home with ing is never done. Kids have baby Alexis and filled the such strength, it’s amazing. three years with volunteer They’re so resiliant, no matwork before the arrival of ter what happens, they keep twin sons. Apparently little coming back.” She mentions Ian and Max didn’t keep experiences with abused her busy enough so in 1990, children and the importance in connection with a Junior of making them know their League project, she took a time in school is safe time. job with the Western This past summer, Heritage Museum. She Rothenberg took on yet developed and taught classes another role, this time Site for pre-schoolers for the Facilitator for the Summer next four years, gradually Program at her school. Her adding older children. She principal had written a prowent on to train teachers to posal for a special grant to Bunny Rothenberg follow in her footsteps at the fund a six-week program. museum.

The Millard Education Foundation provided the needed By 1994, Rothenberg decided it was time to go back funds for children who had completed kindergarten, first, to her first love--teaching and working with those chil- second and third grade. An academic program, it was dren in the Millard school where she had previously intended to help kids retain what they had already taught. Since there was the added responsibility of three learned, to make sure summer vacation didn’t “erase” the children at home, she went back on a part-time basis. work of the previous school year.

Again, she was the Resource Teacher, and stayed in this These are the things a dedicated teacher does...the position for four years. extras she takes on, willingly, knowing that her efforts An unexpected opportunity to become the Executive will benefit the children. She enjoys seeing these tiny Director of a private school in a nearby community was new students, the ones who can barely lisp, “Hi Mrs. tempting, and she left Millard to find out if that suited Rothenberg,” and knows that by the time they conclude her. As it happened, there were many reasons why it was- kindergarten they will be able to write a sentence. Bunny n’t a good fit, and she returned to “her own Millard,” says, “If only parents could make school a priority at where she is to this day. She hastens to explain she is no home, rather than sports or other activities, and show longer a special ed teacher, but now has a “double title: how important learning is by being a good example-Remedial Reading Teacher and the Instructional that would make teachers’ jobs easier.”

Facilitator.” She also is the facilitator for the gifted child Having said that, Bunny Rothenberg smiles and adds, program. This is one busy young woman.

“I’m so glad I found something I love to do!” When a “I do all the Special Projects, Reports, things like that teacher is heard speaking those words, how fortunate are --whatever my Principal needs me to do,” Rothenberg the children in her care. explained. She praised her principal, adding, “We get Among the children on whose lives she has had a great along wonderfully. She’s a former Special Ed teacher and impact are her own. She and husband Steve Rothenberg we really understand each other.” Listening to the are the proud parents of Alexis, a senior at the University description of her duties, even a lay person can see she of Nebraska-Omaha. Alexis has high hopes for her covers a lot of territory. future, which include Law School at Creighton This is all background; engage her in conversation on University. The “Boys”, as Bunny refers to twins Ian and the topic of school and today’s children, and be pre- Max, follow their sister to UNO as freshmen. Since they pared to listen to an articulate, thoughtful teacher, a per- are just entering college, I didn’t think it was fair to ask son who cares deeply about youngsters and what hap- what they hoped for their future career choices, but with pens to them in school. education being such a high priority in their house, it’s When asked how things have changed since she first a sure thing they’ll all make their parents very proud. began teaching, she immediately remarked, “There’s a When I last spoke to Bunny I asked how she was going lot more pressure on kids today. They need to know so to spend the rest of her vacation time, since her summer much more by the time they leave kindergarten now.” program was coming to a close. She told me she wasn’t Everyone expects more, and she adds “there’s less par- certain, but she might agree to supervise what was called enting and more expected from the teachers.” (A com- a “Jump Start” program for incoming kindergarten chilment heard from many teachers is that children spend dren. This project is to prepare the little ones for entermore time with them in the classroom then they do with ing school...to show them where they’d be every day, parents at home and teachers often fill some of the par- explain what they’d be doing, introduce them as much ents’ roles.) as possible to the new and strange experiences they While speaking of higher expectations, Bunny would have. remarked about the many special programs which cover If, in fact, Rothenberg does decide to take charge of the spectrum from the neediest child to the most gifted, this project, she will have filled her summer “free time” or as she said “from the lowest to the highest.” There is with a great deal--all for the benefit of children. always research regarding good instructional strategies Lucky kids.

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 55

An Advocate for Teachers

by ANNE MUSKIN You may remember her from hit cable access shows like “Balancing your checkbook” or “Grocery shopping”, but this local television star has been quite busy since her debut as an ESL teacher in the 1980s.

Mary-Beth Muskin has been a teacher and/or counselor for 32 years. Her experience ranges from first grade to graduate school and everything in between. She graduated from University of NebraskaLincoln, did her student teaching through University of Pennsylvania, has her masters from Johns Hopkins University, and achieved her doctorate through Stanford University and UNL. “Women of my time were either teachers, secretaries, or nurses. I’m a bad typist and blood is disgusting, so I became a teacher.” She clarified that if she could go back now she would still become a teacher. “I’ve always liked teaching,” Dr. Muskin said. “It’s so much fun for me.”

Her first teaching job was in the Baltimore Public Schools. She taught 36 second graders. She was 21years-old at the time and recalls the most challenging, memorable, and unusual teaching moments came out of that year. “My classroom was on the first floor and I was just teaching in the afternoon, working on spelling or something, and out of nowhere, in broad daylight, a drunk man starts climbing through the classroom window with all the kids just sitting in their desks! How’s that for random?!”

She says there isn’t much that surprises her anymore. There are still things that are tragic, and difficult to handle, but not much is shocking. Muskin told me one of her most memorable, but unfortunate

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stories that was also from the same year.

“One of my students died of leukemia. I didn’t find out from the school or the parents, but from my students,” she recalls.

“A friend of mine with whom I went to Penn asked me ‘why would such a smart and clever person go into education?

And you know what I told him? ‘If you hadn’t had good teachers you wouldn’t be here.’”

“We made cards, but the students kept trying to think of something more they could do. At recess, they pooled all their money together, $2.83, and asked me to buy a plant for her family. Of course, I got home and bought the biggest bouquet I could find and took it over with the cards.”

She says that it’s experiences like this that keep her in teaching. “My students keep me young--fresh and energized.

They really keep me grounded.”

Muskin believes that listening has been the most important tool for getting through to kids. “It’s hard to know what they need if you don’t listen to them--and their parents for that matter.”

“So do you listen to us?” I asked her.

“I don’t always like what I hear, but I surely do listen!” she said in her best mother voice. Muskin’s own mother, Betsy Davidson agrees.

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Dr. Mary-Beth Muskin “She is persistent. She believes every child can learn in one way or another and she keeps trying until she finds that way.”

One of Muskin’s biggest challenges however, is not the kids; it’s program maintenance. “I love developing new programs and revamping things, but the details are a challenge. If it’s not fun, I tend to move on.” Davidson has dubbed her daughter “a whirling dervish.”

“I love a variety--in people, stages, ages and types. I have no preference between children or adults; I just stay at a position ’til I feel it’s time for a change. I haven’t done much with geriatrics, however, I suppose I’m just waiting to be one,” Muskin joked.

Another major challenge, not just for her, but also for her profession, is community resources. Muskin explains, “Abuse cases are always frustrating. There aren’t enough resources to help the kids, and you

never feel like you’ve done enough. If you can’t lead them to the resources they need, it renders you powerless.”

She added that we need more safe houses and that counselors need to be able to remove kids to a secure environment when they need it, not when it’s too late. As of now, there is a process which counselors have to follow in child abuse cases.

“It’s quite lengthy, and in some cases the process works better than in others,” Muskin said. However, she made it clear that despite the struggle for resources and support, “I enjoy being an advocate for the kids. I try to help guide them in a positive way. There were times when I could have left education and gone into the corporate world, but I chose not to. I like being at the ground level of things.

It’s so exciting.”

She also discussed being a professor and teaching the teachers. From 1999 to 2006, Muskin has been director of counselor education at Creighton University.

With her doctorate emphasizing Adult and Continuing Education, she said the crossover was fairly seamless.

“As teacher and counselor educators, we have an obligation to serve as a role model and maintain high ethical standards. We are the gatekeepers to the profession and it’s important to stay current and constantly renovate our philosophies to provide the best education for them that we can,” Muskin said.

She expressed the importance of getting back into the classroom and creating a balance for oneself. Lately, that is exactly what Muskin is doing. She accepted a job as Parrish Alternative School’s counselor in late February of this year.

Continued on page 59

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Page 56

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

A Cousin Serves as Inspiration to This Educator

by JOAN K. MARCUS When Pamela Martin was a little girl, she always played with her cousin Greg who faced mental challenges. “The other kids in the family were off playing and I played with him because I thought maybe I could teach him something,” Pam recalls.

“He lived on a farm and is about four or five years older than I am. I tried to play games with him and teach him how to write his name. He actually went to school for a couple of years, but that was before special education was mandated. After that didn’t work, he stayed at home and learned to do things on the farm.”

Pam really doesn’t know how much she helped Greg because she was a kid, too. But, she always felt she would be the one to help him of all the cousins.

“I always loved it when he understood and did some of the things I was trying to show him,” Pam adds.

She went to a very small public school in Dalton, in the panhandle of Nebraska. There were 28 in her class in a school district that has now consolidated with another small town and only 36 in her high school. She laughs and says, “Everybody does everything in a small town.

So I played volleyball, was in the band, sang in the chorus and played the piano. It was fun growing up there.”

Pam was bom in 1954. Her father owned a store and her mother taught in a one-room schoolhouse. “Later, she got a two-year teaching certificate and moved to Dalton,” Pam says of her mother. “When I started college, she went back to school and got a degree in elementary education. She taught many different grades before she finally retired. I was very proud of her.”

After graduation from high school, Pam went on to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “I took a couple of special education classes and I liked it. And, I had an advisor who suggested that I declare a major in special education so it would be easier for me to get a job.”

At UNL, Pam declared a double major of elementary and special ed. While she was an undergraduate, she met Dennis DePorte, also a student and a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. Her sorority sister was dating Dennis’ fraternity brother and someone fixed the two up on a blind date.

Pam says, “There were three or four girls from my sorority and some guys from the Sammie house and we’d all just go out for pizza. We didn’t really date but I liked Dennis because he was fun.”

Dennis and Pam dated for three years before they married in 1975. Although Dennis put no pressure on her to convert, Pam decided she would investigate Judaism.

At her first meeting with Rabbi Sidney Brooks, she told him, “I don’t know if I want to convert or not but I want to learn more. I don’t want to convert just because I’m married to a Jewish man. How can I want to convert if I don’t know anything about it?”

After studying and researching Judaism, Pam convert-

ed in 1976. Pam had just graduated with a BS in ele- using special materials and resources. mentary and special ed and began her career by substiIn 1989, Pam went back to school to get a masters tute teaching for District 66. She remembers working in degree in learning disabilities at UNO. Later, she earned all types of special education rooms--children with yet another masters in educational administration. Since severe learning disabilities and, what was then called the diagnostic center had closed, she was now travelling “trainable and educable mentally handicapped.” to schools to do testing.

Then her daughter, Stephanie, was born. Stephanie In 1990, she began working in early childhood develnow lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Rabbi David opment as a resource consultant. She worked in the early Eshel. She has followed in the footsteps of her mother intervention pilot program, when it was mandated and grandmother and is religious school principal at through legislation that children with disabilities from Temple Judaea in Tarzana, CA. birth to age five receive education. “The goal was to give Later, the birth of Stephanie’s brother, Alan, further the babies a head start. And, research shows that the earpostponed Pam’s career. Alan lier we can begin working and his wife, Kara, live in with these children, the Omaha. Alan is employed at more progress they will Worldwide Express. make,” Pam says.

During the late 70s, Dennis After five years, Pam became ill and couldn’t work advanced to a job as a supermuch. So, when Stephanie visor of special education for was five and in kindergarten grades kindergarten through and Alan was four, Pam 12, a job that supported resumed what was to later teachers. Later, the position become a fascinating career. for supervisor of special eduShe took a position as a develcation for early childhood opmental resource teacher. became available--the posiPam took children (with tion she currently holds. learning disabilities and “I supervise special educabehavior disabilities), who tion for kids up to age five in were having problems in the all of the Omaha Public classroom, for special help.

Schools. I currently have nine Pamela Martin DePorte The children had all kinds of Individualized Family Service disabilities and Pam found her job to be “challenging.” Plan (IFSP) teams and seven services coordinators,” she Pam explains, “At that time, there was a move to put explains. The coordinators have backgrounds in social kids with disabilities into self contained classrooms. For work and they are the first contact for the family who has some of them, we did a good job of teaching them how a child with a disability. to read and do math. The goal was for them to be intePam sums up her life as a teacher. “It’s a very satisfygrated back into the classroom. All the children had ing job that also can be very difficult--especially when I music, art, recess and physical education in the regular meet with families who have this perfect little infant with classroom. At that time, I thought that it was good. But a disability or a syndrome. We can help. Many times, a some kids need to be in the regular classroom.” parent will call and say their child has a speech and lanThe biggest part of her job was convincing the class- guage problem and we find that it’s much more,” she room teachers to take the kids with disabilities into their explains. classroom. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to do that-“We also have a metro interagency coordinating counbut they were afraid. Now, many are in regular class- cil composed of representatives from all the districts. We rooms with support. “It’s good for the non-disabled send newsletters to physicians because we need referrals kids because they learn empathy,” Pam says. as early as possible. It has gotten a lot better but we have “The Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) is so a way to go. I make presentations so we can identify important for each child because some students might these babies. Many times, doctors have children they learn better in their own classroom. On the other hand, want to refer but they don’t know how to talk to the there are kids who really benefit from being around reg- parents. I can help with that, too.” ular developing children.”

Pam understands that she can talk to parents and tell After leaving Florence School, Pam went to a diagnos- them that there is no magic wand she can wave to make tic center for students with learning and behavior disor- their babies normal. “We do the best we can, but we ders. She worked with individual students so they could can’t perform miracles. Usually,” she says with a smile, enter a self-contained classroom. Plans were written “there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

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September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 57

Dedicated Biochemist Doesn’t Stop Teaching

by JOAN K. MARCUS Dr. Arthur Fishkin was born in New York City on May 27, 1930, the midst of the Great Depression. His father, Sidney, was an attorney and his mother, Ruth, was a homemaker who had been a legal secretary. His youth was spent many years away from his current position as an associate professor at Creighton University School of Medicine.

“Our neighborhood was within walking distance to the City College of New York. Later, we moved to an apartment across the street from my grade school.

Public School 192,” he recalls. “I started in a class with a lot of very sharp kids and we stayed in that class until the sixth grade. Most of them were refugees-some Jewish kids. Then, shortly after Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, our group went to junior high, Manhattanville

Dr. Art Fishkin Junior High School, on the grounds of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum. I think that the kids in our group all had very good reading skills and we did well.”

Fishkin knew he would be college bound. He was admitted to the prestigious Bronx High School of Science, noting, “I entered that school in January of 1945 and I graduated in January of 1948. The major problem was that I graduated in winter and most schools opened their admission in September.”

So he applied to Indiana University and was admitted. He eventually ended up with a zoology major and earned his undergraduate degree there. “They had a deal where you could get a master’s in one year. I did all of the course work and then transferred to the University of Iowa at Iowa City,” he adds.

At Iowa, he had a research assistantship on a human fertility project. He took his master’s exam and then because he needed some extra credit, he ended up in a biochemistry class. “It was very rigorous; I was cleaning the laboratory and trying to decide what I was going to do next when my professor walked in and asked me to transfer to biochemistry. That was the turning point for me.”

In 1957, Arthur received his Ph.D. in biochemistry, with minors in zoology and physiology and a “half-minor” in organic chemistry.

Another turning point in his life was on July 4, 1956, when he went to the student center to cool off. “I had seen this girl laughing and smiling with her friends once or twice. Even as a mature grandmother, there’s still something about her that’s very fetching,” he smiles. “I tried to figure out a way to get introduced to her, but I wasn’t doing very well. I couldn’t figure out how to meet her.”

Fishkin lived in an apartment that wasn’t air conditioned so he kept going back to the the student center. And, there was that

girl again! He didn’t have much time left at Iowa. “So, I went over to her and said, ‘Pardon me! I’m a Ph.D. candidate in biochemistry. Would you like to come downstairs and have a cup of coffee with me?’”

He smiles again and adds, “The only reason that she agreed to have coffee with me is that she has a stuttering problem and it was easier for her to say ‘yes’ than ‘no.’ I found out her name was Jane Paul and she was all the way from Bangor, Maine, studying speech pathology.”

Jane and Arthur were married in Maine in 1956. After Arthur received his degree in 1957, they spent a year in San Antonio, TX, at Southwest Research Foundation. From there, they went to New Orleans, LA, where he taught medicine and biochemistry, from 1958-64, while conducting research on glycoproteins. While they lived in San Antonio their four sons: Paul, Charles, James and Joel were born. In 1964, they moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where Arthur accepted a job in the chemistry department at New Mexico State University.

Paul, 48, is a hematologistoncologist in Peoria, IL. He and his wife, LaDona, have two children.

Charles, 46, is a managing director of the office of risk assessment at the United States Security and Exchange Commission. He lives in Wellesley, MA, with his wife, Suzanne Tinley, and their two children. James, 45, is an attorney with the Dechert Law Firm in Washington, D.C. And Joel is assistant director of the telecommunications division of the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission.

He lives in Lafayette, Indiana with his wife, Dr. Luella Bangura, and their daughter.

Finally, in 1968, they made their way to Omaha and Creighton University School of Medicine where Arthur was engaged in teaching and research, and served as division head in the Department of Biochemistry. He has remained at Creighton in various positions--including director of animal research from 1984 to 2002.

Among his current classes is biochemistry taught to doctors, nurses, pharmacy and nutrition students. Plans for his academic future include “more of the same with no retirement in sight!”

Dr. Fishkin has learned how to deal with students with all kinds of personalities. “I’ve also learned how to try to motivate students from different backgrounds,” he says. “I try to figure out a way to make them interested and teach my students ‘learning’ tricks. I’m still fascinated with teaching and I think I’ve done some good.”

He adds, “Because I’ve been around a long time, I’ve been fortunate to keep in touch with some of my students and have even helped them get residencies.”

As a family, the Fishkins have been active at Beth Israel Synagogue. Arthur served on the board of directors and was chairman of the Talmud Torah committee for six years. Although they continue to mourn the death of their friend, Rabbi Isaac Nadoff, they are still active and interested members.

Dr. Fishkin says, they lived within walking distance of the synagogue at their home on 50th and Hamilton, until the shul moved west, adding “We have a beautiful congregation and lovely leadership.” The couple will celebrate their 50th anniversary by sponsoring a kiddush at Beth Israel following Shabbat services on Sept. 30.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

The Second Time Around-A Teaching Career Revisited

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by GLORIA SHUKERT JONES ‘Go back to school--Go back to school’, especially Sandy Ask Linda Patton how dictionaries led to the resurgence who knows me best. Also, the ELL endorsement will lead of her teaching career and the answer may surprise you. to a Masters, so I will still be going to school this year.”

In the past, it was not uncommon for educators to be Her story is substantially different from the norm, around long enough to teach the children, and in some seemingly with extraordinary educational stepping cases, the grandchildren of their students. In fact, it was stones and challenges. “That’s me,” Patton agreed, “I often the rule rather than the exception. There are prob- enjoy the challenge of learning new things and experiably still such stalwart, multigenerational educators encing new adventures.” around today. However, a majority of contemporary When asked about any changes that have occurred teachers are more experimental in finding schools where since she first began teaching, Patton replied, “I think they want to teach and how long they want to stay. the discipline has changed. You have to be careful what Sometimes their careers are interrupted by the you say to the kids and how you say it. In other words, demands of raising a family, furthering their own educa- you have to be ‘politically correct’. The kids themselves, tion, and other personal concerns. This best describes have changed. They seem much bolder and say things Patton, who has had a “stop and go” teaching experi- my kids would never have dreamed of saying. I don’t ence. Despite the sporadic nature of her career, she has think this indicates disrespect necessarily, but they are never lost sight of the eventual goal of the “perfect-for- freer in their expression. Of course in my situation, the her” situation. parents don’t get so much involved due to the language Patton, a graduate of Central High School, is the barrier. They don’t feel comfortable coming into the daughter of Mel and school when they can’t Genevieve Bornstein. She communicate well.” is a lifelong resident of As for her biggest Omaha who attended the classroom challenge, University of Missouri, Patton again mentioned working towards a degree the language barrier. in secondary education.

“These kids don’t have She returned to Omaha the same background and and graduated from cultural advantages that UNO with an additional other kids have. That degree in Spanish and makes it not only harder French. She taught these to communicate, but also languages at Thomas it’s tough assigning Jefferson High School in homework, especially Council Bluffs for five since the parents can’t be years, then married and of much help. In all fairhad her first child, but ness, the parents are very continued to teach for appreciative of what we’re another year. doing, for example, when As her family increased we send supplies home by three more children, with the kids, such as she decided to be a stay- Linda Patton, center, and her children: Michelle, 29, clockwise paper and pens.” at-home mom. She occa- from front left, Steven, 20, Jenny, 26, and David, 23, celebrate in When I asked if her sionally did substitute Geneva, Switzerland, on a family trip. knowledge of Spanish teaching. Then when her youngest child entered kinder- offsets some of the communication problems, Patton garten, she subbed in the Millard and District 66 said, “Yes, it does. However, the kids are encouraged to schools, mostly at Westside High--“long term”, in her use English. I was in a bi-lingual class and I do like the words--from 1991 until 1998. Then she left subbing in dual language program, even though it is a more diffi1998 to manage a fitness center until 2004. cult way to teach. Two teachers must communicate at all Substitute teaching had kept her skills sharp, but it times, but it allows the students to learn English while wasn’t quite the same as teaching full-time. However, keeping their native language, and this makes them very something happened to create a major change in her marketable in the work force. It might not work for career potential. every student, especially those who struggle with Her close friend, Sandy Epstein, and fellow member of English. Additionally, English-speaking children can be the National Council of Jewish Women, Omaha Section, in these classes as well, starting in kindergarten, and it is was in charge of “Dictionary Day”, on which dictionar- a wonderful opportunity for them to learn Spanish.” ies are distributed to 1500 fourth-graders in 24 Omaha Her most rewarding experiences come when the child Public School elementary schools. Epstein and Patton who doesn’t speak or understand much English indihad been close friends since junior high, and when her cates that Patton has “gotten through” to him or her. good friend asked Patton if she would like to deliver “It’s very rewarding when this happens--that sign of some dictionaries, she agreed--with the stipulation that recognition that the child actually “gets” what you’re she could choose her own school. trying to teach,” she said.

“I chose Castelar School on 18th and Martha because The books Patton has read this year, have been mainly I knew the principal. When I got there, he gave me a children’s books. “I had to read 60 of them for a class tour of the school,” Patton reported. “The school is 85 assignment this year,” she reported, “so I guess you would percent Hispanic and those kids just grabbed my heart” say the books I read are pretty much school-related.”

And she knew at that point, that’s where she wanted Patton’s secret of success mirrors that of the other to be. “That also necessitated my going back to school,” teachers interviewed for this issue. “You have to love she went on, “because although I had a degree in sec- what you’re doing and love kids,” she stated. ondary education, I needed one in elementary ed. The “I was brought up in Dundee and my kids went to principal told me if I would come back as a para-profes- Westside. But when I saw what was happening in the sional, they would finance the studies.” Para-profession- South Omaha schools, it was a rude awakening,” she als assist the classroom teacher or work in small groups added, “but a good one. Other teachers might not with kids. choose this particular type of school. And I want to “This made it hard on me,--going to school and teach- emphasize that the school is not at fault. There’s an ing at the same time, because I took an accelerated degree excellent curriculum, and the administration at Castelar and went sometimes two, sometimes four nights a week, is wonderful. They’ve not only helped me up the career from 4:30 to 10:30 p.m.,” she stated, “But it was worth ladder, but they do all they can for the kids.” it, because I finished in a year. I took the same amount of Patton finds that the administration at OPS is also for hours as anyone else. So this fall, I’ll be student teaching the student body. “They are very accessible. It’s the kids at Castelar, and hopefully they’ll keep me on.” who have special needs and OPS is very ELL oriented.

Patton reported while she was completing the degree, We have a huge ELL population, not only Hispanic, but she also started another degree in English as a Second other ethnic groups as well, and they are very sensitive Language, which she feels will assist her in teaching the to their needs. It is an outstanding program, and their kids English in the correct manner. “I started the ELL desire to educate all they teachers they can in this area is (English Language Learning) endorsement program, amazing.” which means I can teach English as a second language, Patton added that the social justice committee of which is ultimately what I plan to do,” she indicated. Temple Israel and Rabbi Aryeh Azriel are interested in “When I saw how these little kids struggle with English, helping children, and have been very involved. that’s when I knew I had to do this. And everyone said, Continued on page 59

September 22, 2006

A Teaching Career Revisited Jenny, 26, teaches fifth grade in Chicago.

David, 23, works at a financial institution in New York, and her youngest son, Steven, attends Drake University as a music major, but is presently in Costa Rica, helping orphaned children.

“My parents were big on social justice,” Patton explains. And it’s obvious that she and her children have followed in those footsteps. “All my children like to help,” she added. “Michelle worked in the Dominican Republic with orphans, Steven is now working with them. Jen is looking to do it next summer and David visits my classroom often to play with my kids. They all have a sense of doing for others.”

By now you have figured out the connection between dictionaries and Linda Patton’s finally finding her niche in the Linda Patton’s Castelar School students and third grade teacher educational field. For all Karen Quintana take a field trip to see a play at “The Rose.” her hard work, study and would be possible. Temple and its mem- ambition, she certainly deserves continubers do everything they can--individually ing success in the new venture. She will and as a congregation.” be doing what she loves, and no one can What Patton hopes to impart to her stu- ask for better than that. Of course there dents is what she emphatically states as a were other factors aside from the diction“Love of learning... I don’t think anyone aries, not the least of which was the should ever stop learning, no matter how encouragement of Sandy Epstein, and young or old you are,” she concluded. lots of other people, “who were my In addition to membership in NCJW, cheerleaders in this.”

Patton likes to work-out in her “spare Getting back to the mundane dictiontime.” Her very favorite pastime, however, ary, albeit an essential part of our lanis spending time with her children, who guage--it clearly illustrates how an everyare now “scattered all over the globe.” day object can often have far-reaching Michelle, 29, lives in London. She has significance greater than its original puran MSW and does social work. Daughter pose--even Webster himself might agree!

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 59

Despite Violent Summer, School Opens in Israel

Continued from page 58 “Shari Hess, a writing teacher at Castelar and a member of Temple, originally introduced our situation. Donations of clothing for youngsters at Castelar who have no coats, hats or gloves in winter have been very generous,” she explained. “Without the funding from Roz Friedman and her Family Foundation, however, none of this

This year a record number of 1,755,262 Israeli school children started the new academic year. As expected, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Education Minister Yuli Tamir went to a school in the Upper Galilee--Moshav Meona, located 11 km. south of the Lebanese border. Meona had added significance for the Prime Minister as it was the school where abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit studied as a child. The Lebanese problem was never too far from Olmert's itinerary, because there were small demonstrations by the Movement for Quality Government outside each school he visited; protesters demanded a state comCopyright: ISRANET mission of inquiry into the failures of the Lebanese war.

An Advocate for Teachers Continued from page 55 She is also taking on quite a side project. Muskin has joined forces with Allan Gonsher at Kids’ Inc. to pursue yet another twist in counseling.

“It’s good to have a balance. That’s part of why I’m joining his Omaha practice. I want to continue working with a variety of people and offer myself a variety of challenges.”

If variety is the spice of life, Muskin can safely be deemed a spice rack.

She is inspired by finding the nooks and crannies of her profession, and rejuvenated by the kids she works so tirelessly to encourage. She said she will always be an advocate for teachers, students, and the education community.

“A friend of mine with whom I went to Penn asked me ‘Why would such a smart and clever person go into education?’

And you know what I told him?...‘If you hadn’t had good teachers, you wouldn’t be here.’”

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Page 60

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

Two Different Worlds Come Together

by JOAN K. MARCUS Dr. Michael Makoid looks at his wife, Dr. Bette Evans, and says, “Whatever I do, wherever I go, when I make any decision about my career or anything else--I always think, ‘How will this affect my bride? What will she think about it?’”

Although the two grew up miles from each other-- each of them observing different religions--they think of themselves as one. It is uplifting to visit with the two professors at Creighton University and hear their stories.

Bette Novit was born into a Conservative Jewish family in 1942 in Stephenville, Texas. Her father was a merchant in the small town of 7000 people. “When our family originally came from Russia, they came through Galveston, and settled as peddlers,” she recalls. “Eventually, they established small stores. They managed to finish high school and my father went to college for a year. Education, however, was always important to our family and even though my father didn’t go to college, he had a fabulous vocabulary and was a voracious reader.”

There were always books in the house-novels and history books and her parents were always reading. It was always important that she and her younger sister, Shirley, did well in school and there was no question about going to college.

“I think his interest in words had a lot to do with my interest and the way that I think,” Bette adds. “The community was almost completely Protestant and I was always conscious of my role as an outsider.” When she was 13, the family moved to Dallas because her parents also thought that it would be better for the

girls to have an urban education.

Bette admits to disliking Dallas because, “It’s really hard for a country kid to make that cultural change. Back then, girls didn’t think about what they were going to do when they grew up.

They would get married, have a family and live happily ever after. Girls went to college so they would have something to fall back on.”

She did go to college--Newcomb, the women’s college of Tulane University, and graduated with a major in political science, a degree that was, in those days, unusual for women. “I did it for two reasons,” she says. “It was the period of the civil rights movement and I was passionate about that. And, I had faith that with politics and law, justice would be created in the world.”

Her other reason for that major was in that department, you could meet boys.

“However, my first thought about a possible career was the law,” she says.

“However, family members told me that girls couldn’t be lawyers and I believed them.”

Bette decided she would become a college professor. She really never gave her career choice much thought; her hope was she could have an effect on equality, justice and racism.

“I had gotten interested in public affairs by the time I was 15 and had been a high school debater. Without having planned it, I graduated a year early,” she recalls. “ Newcomb had a program where I could get a master’s degree my fourth year. One of my professors told me to go to the University of Virginia for a doctoral program. When I got there, they were just beginning to admit women to their

Dr. Bette Novit Evans doctoral program and, to my shame, I stayed one year.”

She dropped out to marry Steve Evans, a graduate student at the University of Colorado in 1966. She didn’t get her Ph.D. Not then, anyway.

Two years later, she entered the doctoral program at the University of Pittsburgh. Her political science dissertation was about Cuban politics. Bette and Steve have two children, Micah, born in 1972 and Jeremy, born in 1978.

In 1975, when the now Dr. Evans interviewed for a job teaching political science, she admits she didn’t know where Nebraska was located. “Texans think Texas is the center of the universe and there is a little coast on the edges,”

Bette smiles. “I had no idea where Omaha was and I came for my interview on a beautiful fall day when the sun was shining and the leaves were golden.

People told me that it was always that way and I believed them.

She moved here at the exact same time as the blizzard of 1975--followed by the tornado of 1975.

Dr. Evans teaches mostly juniors and seniors and most of her teaching is legalrelated: political philosophy and constitutional law. “Teaching at Creighton has taught me much more about being Jewish. If you’re around everyone who is like yourself, you don’t have to think about it. When there are differences, you become aware of them.”

She’s obviously very comfortable at the Catholic university. “Creighton has been extremely welcoming and sensitive to non-Catholics. I have a huge respect for the Jesuits and for their philosophy; it has been a wonderful place for a Jewish woman to teach.”

Dr. Evans says she would not have been a good lawyer; she likes all her students and, particularly the ones that are a little ‘offbeat.’”

In the early 1980s, Bette and Steve joined Temple Israel. “I’m so proud of being a progressive Jew. I love the philosophy and particularly the way Rabbi Aryeh Azriel lives that philosophy. He puts his life where his philosophy is by advocating for justice.”

Although Bette and Steve Evans divorced in 1987, they remain good friends. Steve, his wife, Diedre and Bette and her husband, Michael Makoid, socialize regularly and they celebrate birthdays and anniversaries together.

September 22, 2006

Renaissance Pharmacy Professor

by JOAN MARCUS pharmacy connections. Today, many don’t and it’s a litDr. Michael Makoid, professor of pharmacy, was look- tle more difficult to teach them professionalism and ing for a judo student. When he found her, he married what a pharmacist does and thinks.” her. The student--Dr. Bette Novit Evans--tried judo It’s a fun challenge, according to Makoid. “There are with Mike as her teacher. “It definitely wasn’t love at easily 200 types of pharmacy they could practice. first sight.”

There’s the pharmacist at the local drug store, specialists Makoid, born in Norristown, PA, in 1945, to a strict- in clinical pharmacy, and those who specialize in a parly Roman-Catholic family, planned to use his Catholic ticular type of problem or disease. There are also jobs education to become a priest. His father was a profes- that by federal law, have to be filled by a pharmacist.” sional photographer and known as “The Kodak Man.” Dr. Makoid teaches the mathematics of absorption dis“By the time I was six, I had lived in all 48 states, tribution. “In other words, it is pharmacy math,” he Canada and Mexico,” Mike recalls about his childhood. explains. “If you take a medication, I am the one who “Dad was a specialist who would come to town and tell trains the physicians how to formulate a correct dose. people how to make their pictures better. Ultimately, he Virtually all drugs are poisons and, the trick is to get the had his own gallery.” right concentration in your Mike’s mother was a cosbody so that it is therapeutic metologist who worked for and not toxic. Every drug Madame Rubenstein as a has an effect that you don’t specialist. She always told want so my role is I teach the story about when pharmacy students how to Charlie Revson (the founder get the right amount into of Revlon) decided everyone peoples bodies,” he adds. should paint their fingernails “Generally, there aren’t red. She was invited to join very many new diseases but Revson in his now worldthere are lots of new drugs famous company, and to treat old diseases. And, became one of his “Revlon what was new and cutting Girls.” edge last year is generic and After attending Catholic at considerably reduced school, Mike went to a semprices this year.” inary, noting, “That’s why I According to Makoid, the am still very rule bound. If problem is directed conDr. Bette Novit Evans and Dr. Michael Makoid there is a rule, I have to folsumer advertising. “You low it. Bette looks for ways to bend and ignore rules. I can’t turn on the television without seeing advertisealways tell her that we can’t change halacha (Jewish ments for new drugs. One third of the patients who walk law)--we have to follow it. Bette asks, ‘Why not?’” in the door tell their doctors to write those prescripAfter graduating as valedictorian and first in his high tions.” school class, Mike found college easy at the University of Makoid is considered by other experts to be an expert Wisconsin at Madison. “I had been under such restraints in drug delivery system design. He has traveled internafor so many years, I had a ball the first year of college. tionally to lecture, is widely published and is a nationalThen I decided to take 20 hours so I wouldn’t have time ly recognized teaching specialist. to party.”

He holds a black belt in martial arts and also runs a He finished undergraduate school with honors and a company that manages pharmacy benefits. “If you work degree in pharmacy. “Actually, I wanted to be a math for a company that offers teacher,” he says, “but all those I knew were poor and I pharmacy benefits, my didn’t want that so I decided that I would stick with company is in-between pharmacy.” your company and the Dr. Makoid did just about everything a pharmacy grad pharmacist. We negotiate could do; he worked in a pharmacy, owned one and for you to get the best managed a chain store. Then, he says, “I came home prices.” from work one night and threw myself on the couch. I Bette and Mike have opened a can of beer and realized that I had gathered up recently celebrated their all of this education and after just two years, I was turnfifth wedding anniversary ing into a couch potato.” although they “kept comSo he called he the professor whom he hated in school pany” for 17 years before because he pushed him and told him he was bored; he marrying. wanted to come back to school. The professor called the Makoid would like to spend “After studying with next day and told him that he had a desk for him and more time relaxing with the Rabbi Aryeh Azriel for was going to teach. Makoid returned the call; got rid of couple’s pets. many years, I converted his pharmacy and went to graduate school. to Judaism before Bette and I married,” he adds. “Every “Normal people do a masters in two years and then a time I had a question, Rabbi Azriel had a book for me doctorate in another two,” he explains. “I think it took to read. He didn’t push and I wasn’t in a hurry. We defme seven or eight years. I just enjoyed being a graduate initely had a Jewish home and my concern was that if student.” He liked studying, loved teaching and learn- Bette had a tradition, I wouldn’t be the one to make her ing. There was no reason to leave. lose it.”

“Ultimately, they kicked me out in 1976 with a Ph.D. They honestly agree that they enjoy each other’s comin pharmaceutics,” he laughed. “I got fellowships and pany. “I love being around Bette because she’s fun and scholarships designed for teachers. When I graduated, I she keeps me interested and active,” he says. But, “in her was offered six jobs and took the one at the University past life, she must have been a German general because of Nebraska at Lincoln.” Later, the pharmacy school she is a slave driver. She doesn’t know how to rest and moved to Omaha. Makoid joined Creighton University she thinks I need to be working, too!” in January of 1980.

Plans for the future include “possible partial retireIn 1972, Makoid married his first wife, Trudy, also a ment” so they can travel around the world to visit places pharmacist. They adopted two children--Elizabeth in and people. Although they both love to teach and don’t 1978 and Andrew in 1980. Trudy and Mike later seem to be able to stop, they agree they need to take divorced. time to enjoy other activities. Included in their agenda is “I absolutely love teaching pharmacists,” he says with spending time with their three dogs, two cats, two tura smile. “Many of the students of my generation had tles and “a bunch of fish.”

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Students Give as Much as They Gain

by ANNE MUSKIN time researching his subjects and it is Jewish Press Editorial Intern much appreciated. His classes are lively In conjunction with this issue, we and thought provoking and usually spark wanted to ensure that we cover both conversation with family and friends.â&#x20AC;? sides of education. In this effort, we have Marcia Pitlor said of Beth Elâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classes, gathered the fairest and most promising â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m made to feel welcome and constantteachers from all the land--okay, mostly ly encouraged to study and participate at just the homeland--but one thing has not whatever level and degree I choose.â&#x20AC;? yet been addressed. What is that compo- Pitlor came to adult education when her nent, you ask? Ahh, but of course, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so youngest child, Kym, left for college. simpleâ&#x20AC;Ś the students. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was able to return to my interest and One cannot have successful teachers if desire for Jewish learning that was always one does not recognize and locate dedi- there,â&#x20AC;? she added. cated pupils. This article is for the stuA veteran adult education member, dents, who have just as much to gain as Debbi Josephson said her biggest inspirato give, and who help facilitate this cycle tion has been her father, Harold Becker. that proudly produces the ultimate in end â&#x20AC;&#x153;He has been a shining example. He is results--knowl84-years-old and continues to study edge. about Judaism,â&#x20AC;? she said proudly.

Adult learners Adult education classes are prompting in our commuinterest outside the classroom, too. nity met my Josephson said that in addition to the questions with classes, she also enjoys reading current enthusiasm and novels by Jewish authors, often obtained energy.

Jeff at the Kripke Jewish Federation Schweid is the Library...which, by the way, boasts the chairman of largest collection of books, videos and adult education CDs and at Temple Israel. other materiâ&#x20AC;&#x153;I have al, compared learned about to other Jeff Schweid Jewish architecJewish comture, sacred spaces, Jewish clothing, munities our death, medical ethicsâ&#x20AC;Ś how to think size.

Jewishly about issues in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s society,â&#x20AC;?

Schweid he told the Press. He believes that his further comTorah study group has evolved into a m e n t e d , community. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rabbi Azriel is a wonderful â&#x20AC;&#x153;Since I have and inspiring teacher,â&#x20AC;? Schweid been chairremarked. man of adult Joan K Marcus, another Temple learn- education at Debbi Josephson er, stated, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I marvel at Rabbi Azrielâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Temple, I intellect.â&#x20AC;? have learned more about the process of Marcus came to Adult Jewish planning Adult Jewish education.â&#x20AC;?

Education by Through this position, he has been able way of her son. to spend additional time with speakers â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I was Temple brings in through the Hermene 59-years-old, a Zweiback Center for Lifelong Jewish letter came from Learning at Temple. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In all, chairing the Temple telling committee has been an enriching and about an adult enjoyable position,â&#x20AC;? Schweid asserted.

Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;nai Mitzvah Temple Israel hosts Torah Study on class,â&#x20AC;? she said.

Saturday mornings at 9:15 a.m. and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Late one adult education classes on Tuesdays and night, after I Thursdays. Beth El offers multiple classhad thought es on Sundays (except on Oct. 8 and 15) about it for a and Beth Israel sponsors a womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s class long time, I on Thursday mornings and other classes Joan K. Marcus asked my grown from time-to-time. At Chabad, classes son Howard what he thought about me are offered nearly every day of the week. joining the class. Howard didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss a And though Beyt Shalom doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sponbeat, and he answered, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;If you do it, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll sor adult education on its own, the conhelp you with your Hebrew. And, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll gregation does offer informal learning even pay the fee for the class!â&#x20AC;&#x2122; within its weekly services.

Joan added, â&#x20AC;&#x153;When he said that, I In Lincoln, adult learners can find classknew that I must be missing something.â&#x20AC;? es at both synagogues. And the Center In her distinct story telling fashion, for Jewish Learning recently hosted Marcus painted the picture of her at age â&#x20AC;&#x153;Limmud Omaha,â&#x20AC;? an afternoon of adult 59 with very little Jewish education education opportunities with all of the deciding to be a Bat Mitzvah. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That class Omaha rabbis and professors from local was the hardest thing Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ever done,â&#x20AC;? universities. Classes on Hebrew language, she said, but reflected, â&#x20AC;&#x153;it was the best â&#x20AC;&#x153;Eye on Israelâ&#x20AC;?, and the occasional aca60th birthday present that I could possi- demic speaker are all part of the CJEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bly have given myself!â&#x20AC;? educational offerings.

It has been eight years For a complete listing of since Marcus took her giant classes, call the synagogues leap, and she continues to directly; check the synaattend Saturday morning gogue page of the Jewish study sessions and Thursday Press each week or the night adult education classes Jewish Federationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s calendar at Temple. online at www.jewishomaOmaha synagogues boast ha.org.

So, readers, what have adult education classes with we learned? After some intrigue, excitement, and a 4,000 years, Judaism still welcoming atmosphere. delivers. It offers a lot to disBette Kozlen, a member of cuss, a lot to learn, and of Beth Israel Synagogue, said, Betty Kozlen course, a lot to argue about! â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rabbi Gross spends a lot of

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 63

Teachers Make Things Happen BERT’S EYE VIEW

by BERT LEWIS By the time you get to this column, you know those of us who put together the paper were tuned to the same subject: teachers. How much do you remember about the teachers who taught you? I suppose the names and abilities to hold interest largely depend on your age. I’ll tell you about my memories, going all the way back to kindergarten.

I recall very easily the name of my very first teacher-the lady who guided me through kindergarten. I don’t remember a darn thing we did, but I can still see the miniature chairs and if I close my eyes, I can see Mrs. Butler. She was the epitome of the old fashioned school marm, at least in appearance.

For reasons which escape me, she always wore an apron over her too long dress, her hair was pulled back into a “bun” and she was kindly and quick with a smile.

To my five-year-old self, she was very, very old. I now can only guess she was probably in her 40s and since it was 1930 when I started school, I assume she has gone to that big classroom in the sky!

I remember vaguely something about letters and numbers, but unlike today’s children, I’m sure I wasn’t able to read a simple sentence by the time I finished kindergarten. It wasn’t taught; nor did anyone think it should be. I think in those days kindergarten was just an introduction to school; from first grade on, we got down to the business of learning.

Do you remember your first-grade teacher? Mine was a very likable person whose hair was stylishly “bobbed” and her name was Mrs. Anderson. I think she was probably the teacher who introduced flash cards--those little cards with simple addition examples. I’m stretching to recall even this much, and truthfully I think the name and a mental picture are all I can bring up on my screen.

I know I liked her a lot and felt like a big girl in her classroom. Do I remember anything like sitting quietly while she read to the class? Honestly? No, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t. You know, we’re talking a really long time ago.

Some time after that, maybe third grade, maybe fourth, I remember Mrs. Gersky, a woman who terrorized me--maybe because her name is synonymous with fractions, and arithmetic was already becoming if not my mortal enemy, at least an unfriendly topic. Also, her German sounding name elicited cold comments in my Jewish home. (That’s another story for another time.)

I have to skip a few years because the teachers’ names

escape me, but I can bring us up to the seventh grade.

That was the year I first changed a teacher into an idol.

Her name was Miss Egan--Harriet Egan, and she was young and very much in tune with the times. She really opened my eyes to the world around me, which included history in the making when the king of England abdicated the throne for “the woman I love.” When I think back now, I wonder if she wasn’t smitten with the romantic aspect of the whole thing, as much as with the historical importance of the whole affair. (Affair being the definitive word.)

I remember also the great importance Miss Egan placed on books and reading for pleasure, and probably have to credit her with instilling my life-long love of reading. In addition, I think she also made me realize how much I liked expressing myself in the written word.

She too must be long gone now, but I wish I could thank her for all she did for me. Although I didn’t know it at the time, she gave me a sense of self-esteem and made me feel less like the skinny kid who never excelled at anything athletic.

To top it off, she noted my August birthday when school wasn’t in session, and for some years after I left her class, she sent me a birthday card. I don’t think I had anything at the time I treasured as much as her cards on my birthday. Clearly, she left a deep impression, because here I am, umteen years later, sharing my memories.

My high school years added many teachers to my list, but except for a few, none really stand out. Except the teacher who first directed me to the Library at Central high school--he or she has been silently blessed many, many times. I’ve forgotten much about classes and school in general, but I’ll always remember my utter joy at discovering all those books!

And if today’s kids think they invented holding open a text book to hide a work of fiction from a teacher, well, think again kids. Some of us were doing stuff like that many moons ago, particularly those of us who couldn’t ever “get enough” of reading for pleasure.

School is so important for a thousand reasons, but just as important is the caliber of teachers who make things happen within those classrooms. In my opinion, having been a student and having seen to the education of four youngsters, I believe a teacher who doesn’t really love teaching and who does only that which is expected, is a disgrace to the profession.

If he/she can’t trigger a real desire to learn, I think that person can often dampen interest enough to leave the pupil anxious to complete the class and leave. With or without a teaching certificate, we all know that’s not how a pupil should finish. Sad to say, in the classroom of a teacher who is marking time, pupils often want to “escape” not leave. We should be grateful that most teachers are in place because they love their work.

I can think of only one person who is likely to read this column who attended the same grade school I did. If her memory is better than mine, she might be able to fill in the names of those teachers I’ve forgotten. (Gerry, if you can fill in the blanks, let’s hear from you as I usually do when I refer to the old days on Webster Street!)

And lastly, although I’ve told the story before, I cannot close without again telling about my dear little Zayda, who understood the importance of books and learning. One Shabbos, he came home from shul and after lunch and a nap, said to his only daughter, “Kim.” She was maybe eight or nine at the time and adored her Dad and was happy to go for what looked like a walk. It was, and they walked and walked from their house at 28th and Webster, to the library at 19th and Harney. They went inside and the little girl was astonished to see more books then she thought existed-books, books, books, everywhere. Her beloved Dad told her they were there for the use of people like her, and it didn’t cost a thing.

She selected several, shyly took them to “the lady” and then learned she must first have a library card. “Okay, then let’s get one.” That’s when they learned somebody had to write a name and probably an address and that’s when my very observant Zada said, “It’s Shabbos.”

Nobody in that family wrote on Shabbos, so the books had to be left behind.

The disappointed little girl (my aunt) was taken back later, and finally got the coveted library card. She was an avid reader all her life, an interested student and even a teacher in the guise of a counselor until age-related eye problems took away her books. I know that to this day, the inability to enjoy books makes her sad, but I’d guess those she’s read would stretch from Los Angeles, where she lives, right down to the old library on 19th and Harney.

And the dear man who took his little girl to the library, not knowing about the need to write, was a pious Jew who “studied” when he was home from work and time was his to use as he pleased. Out would come the Chumash and the reading glasses; he’d go to the dining room table where the large, revered book could open fully, and would read his favorite literature.

Yes, I suppose the term “People of the Book” is apt, no matter of whom you speak when it comes to Jews.

Our reputation for respect of education and knowledge is, of course, directly connected to our teachers.

We send our children to school and should always maintain lines of communication with the teachers who are charged with the responsibility of making them enlightened citizens.

May each and every teacher perform at the top of his/her game. So much depends on the kind of job they do.

Bert Lewis can be reached at Bert Lewis39@aol.com.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

Decoding the Jewish Calendar PEOPLE OF THE

BYTE

by MARK MIETKIEWICZ When’s Rosh Hashanah this year?

That simple question can be answered by checking your fridge calendar. But to really understand how the dates of Jewish holidays are set and how the Jewish calendar came about is a story that stretches back thousands of years and combines faith with a profound understanding of astronomy. You can begin to unravel the mystery of the Jewish calendar thanks to the great sites on the world wide web.

Determining Rosh Hashanah wasn’t always as easy as picking up a calendar.

Originally, Jews figured their calendar-the month, the year, and the festivals--by the testimony of witnesses who had observed the new moon. Later, astronomic calculation was instituted in connection with the calendar, but the Jews were not certain of its exactness and witnesses were still called on. For a very good introduction about the evolution of the Jewish calendar, see the entry at Wikipedia. [http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Hebrew_calendar] Actually, the date of Rosh Hashanah and all the other Jewish Holidays are directly related to the date of Passover.

The Torah commands us to observe Pesach in the month of “Aviv” (spring).

But with a strictly lunar calendar, the observance of Passover would slip a few days every solar year so that we might find ourselves eating matza and marror in the winter, fall or anytime at all.

[http://tinyurl.com/- take a look at Remy Landau’s Hebrew mnvkj] Calendar Science. Landau is a master of So to keep the seasons in the Jewish calendar who answers quesline, Hillel II established in tions you never knew you had. For examthe fourth century a fixed ple, this site tells you how often the calendar based on mathe- Jewish calendar cycle perfectly repeats matical and astronomical itself (no, not every 19 years but every calculations. Hillel’s calen- 689,472 years.) dar, still in use, standardized the length of Landau has even calculated how often months and the addition of months over the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on a the course of a 19-year cycle, so that the Saturday--as it does this year (28.6%). lunar calendar realigns with the solar Two more Rosh Hashannah facts: nowayears. You can find a more detailed expla- days, the holiday cannot occur any earlier nation at the Jewfaq website. [www.jew- than Sept. 5 nor later than Oct. 5. [www. faq.org/calendar.htm] geocities.com/Athens/1584/].

(I was fascinated to come across a website for the Karaites, the sect that follows the written Torah but rejects Jewish Oral Law and Jewish texts such as the Mishna and Gemara.

Karaites still adhere to the tradition of actually witnessing the Jews start the festive Rosh Hashanah meal by reciting a blessing over apples Credit: ISRANET appearance of and honey. the new moon over Jerusalem and now The calculations can get quite arcane file their reports via the Internet. and extremely complicated. As I browsed through Dr. Irv Bromberg’s massive site [http://tinyurl.com/nsr-23]) If you really want to get down to the on the Jewish calendar, I was introduced nitty gritty of Jewish calendars with all its to terms like “mean synodic month,” oddities and exceptions, then you must “Metonic cycle” and “Tekufat Adda,”

and quickly found myself more than a bit lost. [http://tinyurl.com/qrtkd] Then I was really put to shame when I read that Maimonides wrote that “the method of the fixed calendar is one which an average school child can master in three or four days.” [www.jewfaq.org/calendr-2.htm] I wonder what they were teaching those schoolchildren in the 12th century!

But the Jewish calendar is far more than just calculations and computations. It governs how we act and think of ourselves as Jews. Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh explains that time is so fundamental to Jewish life and that “both the written and the oral Torah open with a distinct awareness of the significance of time.

The written Torah begins with the words, “In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth.” The oral Torah begins with the words, “From what time on may one recite the evening Shema?” [www.inner.org/times/calendar.htm] As the weeks approach toward Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Ginsburgh explains the sanctity of time and how we make use of it. To be a Jew means “to assess life and make decisions from a Jewish point of view, beginning with how one schedules his affairs in his personal appointment book. Then, and only then, can one know ‘where’ he is in life, and how he can succeed in bringing himself and his portion of the world to their proper and ultimate fulfilment.”

Mark Mietkiewicz is a Toronto-based Internet producer who writes, lectures and teaches about the Jewish Internet. He can be reached via e-mail at: highway@rogers.com.

Wishing the Entire Jewish Community a Happy and Healthy New Year

Caring for America’s Girls and Boys

September 22, 2006

A Family of Teachers sive, and that most of the time, those are not factors that

by ANNE MUSKIN Jewish Press Editorial Intern indicate a high quality program.

They’re funny, they’re fabulous, they’re insightful, “This became much more evident to me when I had they’re fresh, they’re Randy and Tracy Gordon. kids. It wasn’t until I actually had to put my own kids into Recently, I had the opportunity to interview the busy a program that...” Gordon paused for a minute. “Your duo on life, work, and of course, play. child’s life is in the hands of someone you don’t know. The The Gordons are a family of teachers. Randy’s parents more a parent knows, the better they feel about it.” are teachers and educators, and Tracy’s mom, Linda As far as the money situation goes, it costs a lot of Muskin, was a teacher in Millard for many years. money to train well, and she noted that funding is very The road to working with kids seemed a natural one. “I difficult. “Unless you have a private/public partnership, was in journalism school for two years, but I thought of it operates on what the parents pay them. There’s only the impact teachers have had so much the parents can on my life, and my dad sugafford to pay!” Tracy said. gested I give elementary eduAfter a decision between cation a shot.” Randy continmilk and juice with the ued, “It was a good fit, once Gordon’s four-year-old son I made that decision.”

Calvin, their patient and Tracy took a different route. even nature propelled us to “Being in sociology, I had the lessons teaching has no idea what I wanted to do, given them. “I’ve had so other than work with peomuch experience with other ple. I happened to get a job people’s kids, and I will with a large for profit child never forget bringing Grant care program,” and as they home. No matter how much say, the rest is history. experience we had... it’s so After his graduation from overwhelming.”

Randy University of Nebraska interjected, “It’s like we Lincoln with a degree in elecame home from the hospital mentary education, Randy and we had a roommate, that went on to do some graducried, and he smelled bad!” ate work at the University of Randy transitioned, “It has Colorado. He has been given us a good perspective teaching primary school for on what happens in the class18 years. room and how that translates Tracy also graduated from to each kid. It allows us to UNL, and with her socioloreally support the school.” gy degree she moved up He emphasized school as a within the newborn to five training ground for later in years old range of childcare. life. “If you intervene, as a After serving as a director, a parent, at any stage and program coordinator, and a interrupt that learning, Randy and Tracy Gordon of Lincoln and their three sons: staff development coordinayou’ve short changed them.”

Grant, Calvin, and Josh. tor, for different childcare Tracy agreed; she said havprograms in the Lincoln area, she is now working with ing two teachers in the family has taught them to help the Nebraska Association for the Education of Young their kids own up and take responsibility in and out of Children as its project coordinator. the classroom. She giggled, “It’s like we thought--everyTracy said she came to the educating side of things thing we’ve taught other people, let’s try it out and see because she realized, “the most important thing was the if it really works!” teachers. If the teaching staff was educated, enjoyed it, Aside from her job as a project coordinator, Tracy also and knew what they were doing, it made the whole serves as the administrative coordinator for the South experience so much better for the kids.” So, what exact- Street Temple in Lincoln. She said her experience as a ly does Tracy do? “I do training for early childhood teacher played only a small part in her decision to be teachers. They call me and say ‘Hey, we need a training involved in the religious school. on biting’… so I’ll do a training on biting! Biting and “They are different ages and I was in unsure waters.” discipline are the most popular,” she said.

However, she added, “I wanted the kids to have Jewish The Gordons aren’t without challenges, and neither is friends, be part of a Jewish community, and figure out teaching, no matter what age group. “George Bush is for themselves what it means for them to be Jewish. It the biggest challenge I face right now,” Randy revealed. didn’t seem right for the religious school to give all of “I mean, you can say that, it’s true. I commit far more that without some input from me.” Insert Randy’s “oy time in the classroom to assessing kids over and over vey” here! With Tracy’s involvement in the synagogue, I again. We’re assessing kids, just to assess kids.” inquired as to where Randy, being non-Jewish, fits in.

Bob Chase, the former president of the National They weren’t stumped, rather, they once again Education Association used to say; “The pig doesn’t get responded with eloquence and humor to what some any fatter if you weigh it more often.” families may feel as very challenging. “Randy is just as Randy thinks this a fitting analogy for the current test- Jewish as the rest of us are,” Tracy commented, “It’s just ing situation brought on by No Child Left Behind. not official!” She continued, “It’s a Jewish home, and “The district wants this, the state needs this, we end up Randy has to approve and support that if it’s going to giving a couple hundred tests in 180 days.” Randy said mean anything.” Randy offered, “If I was distant, it there are parental challenges and societal challenges that would send a contradictory message.” don’t make things any easier, but the new way of assessHe told me the boys go to some church functions too, ing students has teachers very frustrated. and know that at Grandma and Grandpa’s, “that’s what In Tracy’s world, she said the challenges that she faces they do.” He explained they have been very lucky to are: lack of information, parents, and the ever popular, have their kids at such a diverse school as well. “They are funding. “Programs typically do not see the importance a minority being white and blonde, let alone Jewish.” of high quality trained teachers.” She said a lot of times, They both feel this has helped their kids realize that the people are hired because, “People seem like they’re good world’s a big place, filled with all kinds of people who with kids, or you know, they’re just breathing!” she joked. believe a variety of different things.

One of her biggest challenges is “helping programs to Pretty soon, the whole family will have another teachunderstand the importance of quality training for teach- ing job on there hands. The Gordons are expecting the ers which will then increase the overall quality of their arrival of a baby girl in December. The air is filled with program.” In terms of parents, Gordon said that most the excitement of new challenges and maybe, just choose a childcare based on location, or the least expen- maybe, the creation of Nebraska’s next great teacher.

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September 22, 2006

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Hillel Activists Gear up for Israel Debate this Fall image takes the morality out of the issue,” Firestone

by RACHEL POMERANCE ATLANTA (JTA--Ezra Billinkoff has an easy way said. Through that lens, even Israel’s vulnerability in the about him, with his cropped red hair, funky glasses, wide conflict is read as the “bully got what’s coming to grin and a T-shirt that boasts, “Everyone loves a Jewish them.”

Quaker.”

However, Israel supporters But the 21-year-old presican influence opinion by dent of Hillel: The humanizing the conflict and Foundation for Campus appealing to emotions--cirJewish Life at the University culating, for example, a carof Pennsylvania becomes toon that depicts an Israeli serious when asked about his soldier shielding a baby carimpending return to camriage, opposite a Hezbollah pus. fighter who is using a baby “We have a huge chalcarriage as his own shield. lenge,” Billinkoff told JTA Anti-Israel activists are at Hillel’s Charles expected to argue that Schusterman International “Israel is occupying Student Leaders Assembly, a Lebanon just like it occupied five-day retreat for activists Gaza,” Firestone said. But last month at Camp Ramah the conflict with Hezbollah Darom in Georgia. provides pro-Israel activists Billinkoff is speaking with a clear enemy. about the heated and con“We may have the best flicted emotions some opportunity to show Jewish students have regardHezbollah as thugs, to show Ezra Billinkoff, 21, President of Hillel at the University of ing Israel’s war this past Iran as a global threat Pennsylvania, attends Hillel’s Charles Schusterman summer with Hezbollah. because these guys are International Student Leaders Assembly in Clayton, GA, in Like the four children in the unabashed about who they Credit: Hillel August.

Passover story, students are,” he said. “They can’t returning to campus will bring a range of perspectives, put a shiny veneer on this.”

Billinkoff said--including that of the proverbial child The Israel on Campus Coalition has provided students who doesn’t even know how to ask the relevant ques- with a 130-page resource guide offering programming tions. ideas from member organizations, which run the politiBillinkoff said he will work on campus to create “a cal gamut. forum for people to be able to express whatever they The coalition also has various national programs in the want.” works, including a national petition supporting Israel As Jewish activists return to college, they anticipate and a briefing for the coalition by senior White House widespread debate over this summer's month-long war. staff. But it’s up to each student to determine his or her But the debate also is taking place within Jewish groups, own response.

Pro-Israel Advocacy Conference Set for High School Students

by MARK B. TOUBIN AIPAC Southwest Regional Director AIPAC is searching for 200 extraordinary high school students to attend a groundbreaking seminar in Washington, D.C. on pro-Israel political advocacy and Israel education: AIPAC and PANIM's High School Israel Summit. This event is also being co-sponsored with BBYO and the American Jewish Committee.

The advocacy track of the Summit, run primarily by AIPAC is a more advanced learning opportunity, and will be the centerpiece of AIPAC’s program to engage high school students in the pro-Israel political

movement. We are specifically looking to involve and train politically-oriented students who recognize the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

The education track, run primarily by PANIM with significant AIPAC input, will provide an excellent introduction to Israel and is intended to engage enthusiastic high school students with less of a background in political affairs.

The current application deadline is Oct. 20. The dates of the Summit are Sunday-Tuesday, Dec. 3-5.

Please contact me with any questions at mtoubin@aipac.org or 713 871-1891.

as the students determine the best course of action to support Israel.

Billinkoff urged one student activist to scale down plans for a pro-Israel event at Penn, arguing that a major, one-sided affair “could really alienate people, Jews included, who do not necessarily feel 100 percent Israel is right.”

American universities have seen vigorous debate over the years surrounding Israel’s conflicts with its neighbors. In 2000, the outbreak of the Palestinian intifada led to a swell of anti-Israel activism. In response, Jewish groups formed the Israel on Campus Coalition, which today comprises some 30 organizations with a campus presence, to coordinate Israel advocacy.

In recent years Jewish groups could claim they had “taken back the campus”: Petitions on several campuses to divest from Israel were trumped by counter-petitions, and Jewish groups had trained armies of pro-Israel student activists.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee even has begun training non-Jewish pro-Israel activists at historically black colleges and Christian universities.

Meanwhile, Israel gained sympathy with its unilateral withdrawal in 2005 from Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.

Now, a fresh group of students means re-educating the campus. This time around, the war has changed--and so have some of the activists’ tactics.

“We have been overly focused on proving that Israel is correct legally and logically, and we have not spent enough time” on the “moral and emotional aspects of the images people are seeing,” said Wayne Firestone, Hillel’ President-elect. “I think we’ve failed to make the case that Israel is a moral place.”

The use by anti-Israel activists of the “David-Goliath

For some of Hillel’s Grinspoon interns--students who serve as paid pro-Israel programmers--the best approach is a nuanced one.

“You also have to look at Israel’s faults,” said Talia Komorov, 21, an Israeli who is a senior at Florida Atlantic University. “When you advocate, you don’t want to seem like an extremist.”

But advocating for Israel doesn’t necessarily appeal to all Jewish students, even activists on a Hillel retreat.

“I try not to expose myself around it too much just because it’s not good, it’s not happy news,” says Jeff Diamond, 19, a University of Maryland sophomore.

“If I think about it, it’s not going to make a difference,” he said. “It’s not going to stop the war.”

His friend Josh Greenfeld, also a 19-year-old Maryland sophomore, disagrees.

Since “national and international affairs dictate what is acceptable,” he said, “you have to advocate for your country.”

Both Greenfeld and Diamond are Hillel “campus entrepreneurs,” working to create Jewish outlets for students uninvolved with Hillel.

The Israeli students at the retreat had plenty of criticism for the war--but unlike the Americans, whose discomfort centered on Lebanese casualties, the Israelis blasted military and political officials who delayed the ground invasion and left soldiers short of supplies.

Perhaps most of all, they were dismayed that Israel had entered a war they didn’t feel could be won.

In Israel, there’s a popular joke to that effect, said Idan Binyamin, 21, a political science student at Hebrew University. “At the war’s start, the battle cry was: ‘Let Israel win!’ Then, a tie would have been enough,” he said. “And now? ‘What’s important is not whether Israel won or lost, but that it played the game.’”

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 67

Israeli Children Take Violent Summer Back to School with Them This Year

by DINA KRAFT KIRYAT YAM, Israel (JTA)--The children of Hamiflasim Elementary School cheered as they released hundreds of white balloons into a blue sky Sunday, ushering in their first day of school from the sam blacktop where a katyusha rocket had crashed three weeks ago.

The rocket toppled a basketball hoop and sent chunks of debris into the nearby science lab.

The balloons were soon swallowed up by the sky and the children turned their attention to the ground under a wall that had been riddled with holes from the flying shrapnel. They scooped up handfuls of ball bearings and metal shards, trading some of the war souvenirs and deciding how much they needed to keep for themselves.

“We feel like we know what war is after hearing all the sirens going off but now we know it could hit anywhere,” said Yulia, 11, as she scooped up about a dozen ball bearings the size of small metal beads.

Yulia, a sixth-grader with a long, lightbrown ponytail, has a bleak view of the future. “The Holocaust is returning,” she said matter-of-factly. “They are trying to kill us with katyushas, missiles, war.”

Assessing what kind of psychological effect living through the war has taken on children is a top priority for educators in northern Israel, who are dealing with an unprecedented number of students exposed to the trauma of living under attack.

Children across the country, however, were affected by the war. Most children watched war footage on television, and many had siblings or relatives in the army.

“It reached children because they are children,” said Chava Friedman, chief psychologist for the Ministry of

Education. Friedman said the ministry is trying to reach out to all Israeli schoolchildren, explaining that children observe and absorb everything around them.

Hamiflasim Elementary School is located in Kiryat Yam, a suburb of Haifa.

About 40 Hezbollah rockets fell in the city during the war. The Katyusha that hit the school fell the day before a U.N. brokered cease-fire cam into effect.

Many of the school’s pupils stayed at home for most of the month-long war, often with no parent or babysitter. They spent the time moving between bomb shelters and their homes while their parents, most of them immigrants afraid to lose their jobs, continued to go to work.

Teachers at the school worked with a team of psychologists and counselors to both decompress themselves from the stress they endured and also to learn how to deal with and identify pupils who might be suffering fro emotional distress or post-traumatic symptoms.

In the classroom, the children were encouraged to discuss their summer vacations--from stories of vacations to what it felt like to be in a bomb shelter.

The government is spending about $1.4 million to repair schools like Hamiflasim that suffered physical damage from rocket attacks and to bolster psychological counseling.

Extra school psychologists were hired for the year by the Education Ministry but the Arab school system might suffer because they lack enough Arabic-speaking psychologists and counselors, Friedman said.

School employees were encouraged to boost children’s resilience by radiating a message of both compassion and strength. “Our school was hit but our

spirit has not been broken,” said Vered Fisher, the principal of Hamiflasim, during a back-to-school assembly. The

the place they most associate with safety-their own home--became dangerous places to be during the war.

He said the best approach for dealing with trauma is a community approach, one that involves not just teachers and students, but parents as well. “If it is not a joint effort, then the schools will do what they can do but it is not going to be enough,” Tatar said.

Although all the schools in the North--including the 30 that suffered physical damage from rocket fire-started classes as scheduled, parents kept about 14,000 home from school First graders are welcomed to school on their first day at the on Sept. 3-4 in the Sderot Hamiflasim Elementary School in Kiryat Yam, Israel, Sept. 3, region of southern Israel.

Credit: Dina Kraft/JTA 2006.

They said the schools school’s 200 pupils are mostly immi- had not yet been fortified to withstand grants or children of immigrants from the rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. Some former Soviet Union or Ethiopia. parents in the Bedouin community, citing The first-graders were welcomed into safety problems and a lack of classrooms the school as they paraded under a wel- in their local schools, are also keeping come banner. Older pupils spoke about their children home. the difficulties of summer but were excitInside Israel, many of the children most ed to begin the new school year and a affected by the war were from economiroutine of classes an activities. cally struggling families that did not have As part of the city’s efforts to prepare chil- the means to seek refuge in other parts of dren for school and a return to normalcy, the country. The Jewish Agency for officials organized a week of leisure activities Israel, together with Office Depot, gave for the kids during the last week of summer allowances to some 15,000 such children vacation, including field trips and excur- to buy school supplies. Also, the sions to amusement parks and pools. Moshe International Fellowship of Christians Tatar, head of school counseling at Hebrew and Jews donated some $2 million to University’s Department of Education, said assist in the purchase of school clothes, one of the most bewildering things for both books and supplies for about 40,000 children and their parents is that suddenly needy children in the North.

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September 22, 2006

Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year

Shana Tovah!

From the Board Members and Staff of the Center for Jewish Education

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Wishing all our friends a “Shana Tova U’metuka.” May G-d grant us all our most fervent wish - A glorious year in which we will merit the coming of Moshiach.

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September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 69

May It Be a Year of Peace!

by BERNARD MANN Legacy Crosswords, © 2006 ACROSS 1. Italian basic fare 6. “I’m _ ___ of the Astros!”

10. _ ___, a skip, and a jump 14. Egg-shaped 15. World’s longest river, at 3,690 miles 16. Horn or Hatteras 17. North _____, of the Axis of Evil 18. “_ ___ it!” (Now I understand!)

19. A wheel needs it 20. __ ___ and a leg 21. RAM’S HORN, preceded by definite article 23. Stag 25. SIMKHAT _____, WHEN THE READINGS BEGIN AGAIN 26. ROSH _______ 30. After he crossed the plate, the Babe tipped his ___ 31. Sierra Club or The Nature Conservancy (two-part brief term for such an entity) 32. Not a worry in the world 37. Spread substance on the press again 38. Choose 39. Dominican Republic’s neighbor 40. AVINU ________, Hebrew hymn of praise to the Lord 42. “I ______ the test, Mom, Dad!” 43. Dir. from 11 Down to Acco (Acre) 44. Players when they're up at the plate 45. _____ all (spilled the beans) 48. Brave men and women of the Yishuv who spied for the British in WWI 49. Describing someone with a tall forehead 51. Big-time U.S. processed cheese maker

56.

57.

58.

59.

60.

61.

62.

63.

64.

____-phy (a wasting away) Seine tributary Windmill parts Trotsky Capac. to hold facts, or water--abbr.

Film star Ekberg Anglo-Saxon domestic slave Pique Cross-country walker

DOWN 1. ____-Yoke, Japanese “mistakeproofing” quality control routine 2. Shakespeare’s home river 3. Small, short-billed American rail 4. Level in stadium or opera seating 5. “____ ________ to the Lord”-Eve’s husband listened up 6. Edvard Grieg’s dancer 7. What you do in the ring 8. Away from windward 9. Another two-word term for “hoops great” 10. Portman or Wallach 11. CITY BADLY HIT BY ROCKETS MAY IT RECOVER SWIFTLY 12. Winfrey 13. An equal to, or of the same class 22. ISRAEL’S NATIONAL ANTHEM, preceded by the root word in English 24. ___ Lee, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s filmmaker 26. Thoroughly sealed, as a chamber--abbr.

27. It’s rare to ___ _ hole on any golf course 28. Loam or sandy clay 29. What geese or drivers do 30. Jaguar or civet 32. Brains of a computer 33. WHAT ONE SHOULD DO ON

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT 34. WHAT THE CONGREGATION MUST DO WHEN THE ARK IS OPENED 35. “Lovely Rita, m____ maid” 36. ___ ul-Fitr, using the English plural 38. Unit 41. Inside 42. “O.K., ___, what’s in it for me?”

Bogart-like line 44. Two-toothed, abbr.

45. Uses one or another--see 44 Across 46. Gershon _____, Jerusalem Post

Together, we can make it home again

founder and Jerusalem mayor 47. French river 48. Ornithologists’ way of inventorying (first of several egg niches)?

49. ____ and hearty 50. Demeanor, bearing 52. Hindu queen or reigning princess 53. First national domestic satellite, 1972 (Canada: Inuit word for “little brother”) 54. Do honor, hold a banquet 55. Peter or Ivan Answers on page 84

As they return home to the north, Israelis are facing serious challenges.

You can help by sending your donation to Operation Northern Renewal.

• Thousands of acres of forest land have been destroyed by fire. JNF fought the fires and will be there to replant and rebuild. Help JNF purchase emergency response vehicles/fire trucks, vests, and helmets for firefighters and emergency response personnel.

• Your support helped thousands of kids escape danger in the north and visit JNF summer camps. Now, help children return to their normal lives through JNF’s Israeli Youth Leadership Group - Chugei Sayarut.

• JNF built the security roads in northern Israel that allow families to travel safely to work and school. Now, help us build security roads by the Gaza border.

Jewish National Fund is on the ground with action, not words. We are continuing to respond to the needs of the people of Israel.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

Rosh Hashanah Messages from our Rabbis Opening the Gates

by RABBI MORDECHAI LEVIN Beth El Synagogue We are now in the Hebrew month of Elul, a time of spiritual preparation for the High Holy Days, which gives us the chance to take the time to reflect on our lives.

During our lifetime, we open and close doors. Jewish sources refer to several different doors. In the Torah, Jacob mentions “The Gate of Heaven” (Genesis 28:17). Shaken, he says, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.”

The Temple of Jerusalem’s gates are described as gates of righteousness. (Psalm 118:19): “Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will enter into them, I will give thanks unto the Lord.” We will recite this phrase in Hallel during the upcoming holiday of Sukkot and on festivals throughout the year.

In the blessing after Barchu in the prayer for Shabbat eve, God is said to open the gates of day, so the sun may rise.

Gate is used allegorically in various rabbinical texts -gates of repentance, gates of tears, and gates of prayer, which are said to be open, meaning that repentance or prayer is accepted. An allegorical gate is also found in the

petition in the Neilah service: “Open for us the gates even as they are closing.”

There are also community doors and personal doors.

Between the community doors, Beth El’s doors to Jewish life are open to everyone: to those who want to worship and study, those seeking comfort, those celebrating the cycles of life, those wanting to learn more about their Jewish identity, those who want to become part of our community. We welcome those who are single, recently married, families with young or teen-aged children, college students, empty nesters, Jews-bychoice or intermarried couple exploring Jewish choices--anyone looking for a meaningful place to celebrate Jewish life and values.

And there are personal doors. Throughout the High Holy Days we see a spiritual gate, an opportunity to change, to start again. As we begin a new year, we do so with endless possibilities for new beginnings. The opportunity is ours to shape anew our life environment.

How do we plan to make our life spiritually richer and more meaningful this coming year?

Let us continue to move forward through this year and years to come, opening diverse new doors and moving together towards the gates of righteousness, blessing and peace, kindness and compassion, toward the gates of support for the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

My best wishes for a year of life, health, fulfillment, justice and peace. Shana Tovah!

Examining Relationships

by RABBI ERIC LINDER Associate Rabbi, Temple Israel I found myself crying five years ago as I recited the words of the Unatanetokef prayer: “On Rosh Hashanah it is written, on Yom Kippur it is sealed: How many shall pass on, how many shall come to be.” The tragic events of 9-11 occurred just days earlier, and it was difficult to maintain belief in a Book of Life.

This prayer has been theologically problematic ever since, with its clear explication of who shall live and who shall die, and by what means. Several times, the prayer consoles us, however, reminding that “Prayer, Repentance and Mitzvot can temper judgment’s cruel decree.” This line might be the essence of the High Holidays.

We come to Temple to pray, as we beseech God for inclusion in the Sefer HaChayim, the Book of Life. We engage in teshuvah, forgiving others for wrongdoing and being forgiven in turn. Each of us examines the relationships in our lives; the relationships between our-

selves and friends and family, between ourselves and God, and lastly, between the person we are and the person we can be.

A midrash: Soon after God sealed the Book of Life after Yom Kippur, God asked the Angel of Death to take Miriam the hairdresser.

Unfortunately, as in a game of ‘telephone,’ the angel mistook God’s orders. He took Miriam the baker, rather than Miriam the hairdresser. An innocent was killed because of the misunderstanding. As irony of course has it, Miriam the baker was a devout Jew, continually observing Mitzvot, being kind to others, engaging in tikkun olam, etc.

The point is that Miriam the baker was not able to Continued on page 71

Each of Us Hears God in a Different Way

by RABBI ARYEH AZRIEL Senior Rabbi, Temple Israel As the Torah text concludes the description of the giving of the Ten Commandments, we are told of the people, “V’chol ha-am ro-im et ha-kolot v’et ha-lapidim” [“All the people witnessed the thunder and the lightning.”] The word Kolot, a plural noun, is understood by context to refer to thunder. But the use of a plural form to describe the thunder is somewhat troubling.

The rabbis recognized the difficulty in the text and seized upon it as an opportunity for profound comment. Thus, this word literally translated as “sounds” or “voices,” becomes the justification for a Midrash which states that each of those present at Sinai that day heard the voice of God, but each heard a different voice. That means that God spoke one message in 600,000 [2 million with women and children] different ways in a single moment.

There is more to this statement than the idea that God was the first MIDI [musical instrument digital interface] devise, capable of producing a massive quantity of varying simultaneous sounds.

The rabbis are indicating their embrace of the reality that each of us--every human being - hears God in different ways. We experience God each in a way profoundly our own - be it tender, threatening, comforting, encouraging, exhorting, or wondering. This means that each of us needs to respond to the Voice in a manner uniquely our own as well.

Of course, if this thesis were taken to too great an extreme, there would need to be one individual house of worship for every living being on the planet. The creation of an organized religious community is an attempt to bring together a group who hear similar core messages and tonal nuances in the Voice of God as it comes to their ears.

For some, the implication of this image is frightening.

It does open us up to a certain potential for anarchy and non-exclusivity. Many of us want to be able to say, “My way....” or “Our way is the true path, the true Voice of God and the true response of humanity.” There is a personal validation in the ability to make such a claim and Continued on page 71

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God Can Produce Miracles

by RABBI JONATHAN GROSS Beth Israel Synagogue Imagine for a minute that you are an Ethiopian Jew living in 1980. Life is vastly different from everything that you know in the 21st century. Objects like pens, tin cans, and toilets, are science fiction, and things like commuters or cars are not even within the realm of the imagination. To make matters worse, you live under an oppressive government.

Hunger is rampant. Life is harsh. In fact, life would be unbearable....if not for Shabbat.

Just like all Jewish people throughout history, the celebration of Shabbat sustains you even amidst poverty and depression.

Every week you and your community sing songs of joy and hope. The Rabbi sermonizes that one day we will be lifted on the wings of Eagles and brought to the holy city of Jerusalem.

Fast forward four years. The famine that has devastated the Sudan has reached its apex. Death from starvation has become a terrifying reality. And worse, you now have to flee hundreds of kilometers on foot to a refugee camp. You trek in the wilderness to an unknown ominous future. The situation appears utterly grim and hopeless.

Suddenly, you feel a powerful wind. A thunderous roar fills the earth, drowning out the sound of everything else. You lift up your head and make out the shape of an impossible image, a monstrous bird,

larger than any animal you have every seen. Blinded by the sun’s reflection off of the creatures shiny body, you quickly look away. In a smoky cloud of sand the bird touches the earth.

Men with pale faces and green clothes emerge from its belly. Frantically they motion to you with their hands as if to say, “Get in!” In a combination of shock and a lack of alternatives you venture to follow these strangers and enter the bird.

A minute later you are flying through the air, an experience you thought could never be achieved by any human being.

The bird settles into flight, the initial shock has worn off. Through a translator you approach one of these strange men.

“Where are we going?” You ask. The man looks at you and says, “To Jerusalem.

You’re going home.”

This miraculous event was Operation Moses. From the perspective of our Ethiopian brothers and sisters, salvation came in a manner as miraculous as the plagues of Egypt. All the years of suffering ended in an instant in a way they could never have imagined.

The State of Israel, and the entire world is currently in a very bleak state. We pray to God every day that He will end all the suffering and bring peace to the world, but in the back of our minds we think that there is no end in sight.

If the story of the Jewish Ethiopians taught us anything it is that God can produce miracles that we couldn’t imagine in our wildest dreams. We have no idea how God will eventually bring about an end to this seemingly hopeless crisis.

Our job is to do what is right and just and to never lose hope that one day we will reach an end to world suffering and see the dawn of a better world.

Examining Relationships Continued from page 70 temper judgment’s cruel decree.

Despite living a good and holy life, she was not inscribed in the Book of Life.

Commenting on this story, a rabbi of mine in Israel commented that perhaps Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, should instead be named “Yom Ulai,” the Day of ‘Maybe.’ Regardless of how hard we pray during these High Holidays, there are unfortunately no guarantees; maybe we will be inscribed in the Book of Life and maybe we will not.

This may sound depressing, but for me, it is quite the opposite. Faith in God is meaningful only when we are unsure as to consequences of our actions. We must praise God during times of suffering as well as times of prosperity and happiness.

Perhaps our prayers during this time can help us to re-focus our own spiritual compass, so that we might find blessing even in pain and suffering.

The Torah commands us to “Choose life.” It is not in God’s hands, but in our own. Given the realities of our broken world, it is sometimes difficult to follow

this imperative. Its observance, however, is a hallmark of a Jewish life. Living your life with love, forgiveness and hope when reality makes it easy to do otherwise is exactly what doing tshuvah is about.

The choice is ours. The burning bushes are there if we choose to see them. We can choose to walk through the Red Sea with our eyes lifted up toward the heavens, or we can choose to walk through Egypt, unaware of the miracles around us. This is how the High Holidays challenge us.

With this in mind, when I pray at Rosh Hashanah services this year, I will pray that God gives me the courage to continually ‘choose life.’ I will pray that God gives me the courage to continue to pray, to observe mitzvot and to do tshuvah, regardless of life circumstance.

Let us all pray that we are inscribed in this Sefer HaChaiim, and may we go from strength to strength, as we continue to travel the path between the people that we are to the people that we might yet become.

L’shana Tovah.

Each of Us Hears God Continued from page 70 for alternatives. But the rabbis of old were not willing to make things that easy.

And so, on these High Holy Days, I hope that we will take the opportunity to listen to the Voice as it speaks in our lives.

As Jews, we are communally attuned to the values and the nuances as we experience them through Torah. These nuances

are demanding, but also reassuring.

They tell each of us that we have not done as well as we could, but that we truly possess the power to do better, if we but believe and strive.

May it be a year of good health, growth, and fulfillment for all of us. May it be a year of peace.

Shana tovah u’metukah.

EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE Please send all articles, photos and ads to the Press by Thursdays, 9 a.m., for all regular issues (early deadlines for special issues and to accommodate office closings for holidays will be announced in advance). The Jewish Press office is closed Monday, Oct. 2, for Yom Kippur; the deadline for the Oct. 6 issue is Wednesday, Sept. 27, 9 a.m. Questions? Call 334.6448.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Rosh Hashanah Messages from our Rabbis Dad Is Waiting…Go Home

by RABBI MENDEL KATZMAN Chabad of Nebraska Deep in the recesses of the mind is a sacred, unique place reserved for the memories of home. When one allows oneself to visit, at any and all ages, this cherished place offers the greatest comfort and pleasure. The familiar fragrances of times long past perk up our senses.

The comforting feel of textures, the sounds, the ambience, even the temperature of this place can be recalled and brought into focus.

What if one has no memories of one’s past? What if there are no recollections of a loving mother, a dedicated father, a warm embracing Bubby and a Zeidy gentle and wise with experience? Could one’s past be recreated in the future? Would one recognize it? Could one come “home” to that home? Would it feel like home?

Home will always be home. Whether we are conscious or cognizant of the experience, home feels right. Home is comfortable. If home were to be recreated in the future it would become a secure haven - a beloved spot.

“Teshuvah”, often translated as “Repentance” actually means “Return”. It means going back where you came from, going home. Teshuvah is called for during the

High Holidays to reactivate the Jew’s relationship with G-d which may have undergone strain in the past year.

Similar to an exaggerated argument with mom or dad that escalated into a huge gap, our relationship with Dad in Heaven can sometimes be turbulent. The love is always there. The mutual devotion never goes away.

Pettiness just may get in the way...

How does one go back? How do you walk back into a relationship that’s been messed up or weakened? First of all, show up. We all do that. We all make the High Holidays prominent in our lives.

Secondly, experience the joys of home. Savor the relationship. That is done by doing more mizvot. When we commit to strengthening what we’ve been doing already and then add a bit, we feel more at home with our inner selves and our Jewishness.

Anyone who has added more mitzvot to their life will tell you it feels good. It feels right. Some might argue, “Well, it’s not me. I’ve never done this before.” I’m here to tell you that Torah study and performance of mitzvot are totally you.

So, let’s make the most of this High Holiday opportunity. Pick a favorite mitzvah and do it. Tefillin.

Mezuzahs. Kashrut. Mikvah. Tzedakah. Shabbat candles.

Best wishes for a sweet, happy, and healthy new year with all the blessings of success and true peace. May we merit the coming of Moshiach now.

And remember. There’s no place like home.

The Spirituality of Study

by RABBI ILAN EMANUEL B’nai Jeshurun--South Street Temple, Lincoln Since the dawn of time, people have thirsted for meaning, and for much of that time religion and faith have been the primary means by which that thirst has been quenched. Today that yearning for meaning, both within organized religions and outside, has been expressed by one word--spirituality. But particularly in a Jewish context, this word can sometimes confuse more than clarify. Generally spirituality is understood in a religious context as seeking a connection to the divine, to something greater than oneself.

When most people think of spirituality, they think in emotional terms (“I feel a connection to G-d.”) and they have images of meditation, ecstatic dancing, and soulful prayer. What people don’t generally think of is study. But, in fact, study is one of the most powerful spiritual experiences Judaism has to offer.

In Jewish tradition the deepest spirituality is of this world and not separate from it. In Judaism, where community is essential, meaning is found in relationships with others; for Jews, connecting to G-d involves reaching out with our whole being--body, mind and soul.

This is the model of Jewish spirituality. Jewish study is one of the highest expressions of this ideal. Our ancient texts are a record of our ancestors‚ encounters with the divine. In those texts, we engage with those ancient experiences and learn from the wisdom and insight of

our forefathers and foremothers. For many (myself included) actively engaging with Jewish texts and ideas is a deeply spiritual experience. In Jewish study, we make the spiritual connections that help us find the meaning we yearn for--connection with the collected wisdom of the rabbis and great Jewish thinkers, connection with G-d, and connection with our fellow learners.

Jewish learning is an essential base for authentic Jewish spirituality of all kinds. Of course, one can make spiritual connections and find meaning without learning and study. But for a spiritual practice to be truly authentic, it is vital to understand the sources, history and traditional purposes of the customs and mitzvot through which we seek spiritual meaning.

One may, for instance, appreciate the spiritual beauty of the Passover Seder without knowing or appreciating the story of the Exodus; clearly, however, the experience will be deeper when we understand the historical and textual background of the ceremony and its vital place in Jewish history, practice and thought.

And while the blowing of the Shofar may be spiritually uplifting, it is all the more evocative once one understands how the rabbis connect it to the story of the Binding of Isaac and consider it to be a wake-up-call for us to recall and repent for our sins.

The traditional blessing for Torah study does not refer to our duty to simply study, learn or know. Rather, we are commanded to engage in the words of Torah.

May this coming year be one in which we, as individuals and as a community, renew our commitment to Jewish learning for all ages. And may our study lead us to greater wisdom and deeper connection to G-d and to our Jewish community.

Receiving and Possessing “the Book”

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by RABBI ROYI SHAFFIN Tifereth Israel, Lincoln This year’s theme for the new year is “People of the Book: Challenges In and Out of the Classroom.” This seems to me to be an excellent theme because the term “People of the Book” was originally coined by Islam to refer to Jews and Christians. Given our strained relationship with this religion, who, through its terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, struggles against us for control over the Land of Israel, this theme may have particular significance this year.

According to Sharia (Islamic Law), we were considered second-class citizens, practicing and archaic form of the “true religion”, Islam. Interestingly, however, the very name, “People of the Book” gives credence to the idea that we Jews received and possess “the Book.” It concedes that without the Jews and our history of carrying “the Book” from generation to generation, there would be no Islam.

Our Book tells us about our past, present, and future and about our everlasting covenant with God. In exploring this book, many have tried to define what kind of

book it is. Is it a theological doctrine, a book of laws, or a history book?

The famous medieval commentator, Rashi, addresses this question in his first commentary on the Torah, commenting on the word Bereshit (in the beginning).

He explains that while the Torah is a book of laws, it begins with the creation of the world in order to teach us that all of creation was created by God and is owned by God. God gives the Land of Israel to whomever He wishes to give it to, in accordance with the monotheistic ethical behavior of a particular nation, or lack thereof.

God chose to give the Land of Israel to the Jewish people. According to Rashi, it is this Divine right to the land that should be emphasized whenever there is a conflicting claim.

Continued on page 76

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 73

Omaha and Council Bluffs Synagogues CHABAD HOUSE Advisory Board: Debbie Denenberg, Irving Epstein, Tom Fellman, Sandee Friedman, Bruce Goldberg, Bob Goldberg, Frank Goldberg, Shirley Goldstein, Joseph Kirshenbaum, Marsha Kleinberg, Marvin Kohll, Denny Lewis, Eric Phillips, Jim Polack, Dan Schuller, Jim Skinner, Phillip Wolf, Nancy Wolf, and Tom Urban.

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE President, Allen Kurland; Vice-President, Jim Turpen; Secretary, Ruth Edelman; Treasurer, Karen Turpen; trustees: Mark Eveloff, Barry Kricsfeld, Sandra Kurland.

BEYT SHALOM RECONSTRUCTIONIST President, Jenni Schlossman; Treasurer, Jean Goldfein; Ritual Director, Marti Nerenstone; Religious School Director, Jeff Ferber; Trustees: Deana Liddy, Alice Weiss, Helene Lohman; Rabbinic Advisor, Rabbi Myer Kripke.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE President: Shami Jacobs; Vice Presidents: Toba Cohen, Sharon Kirshenbaum, Alan Kricsfeld; Treasurer: Mary Sue Grossman; Secretary: Josh Gurock; commissioners: Jake Besser, Lesley Gendelman, Julee Katzman, Jonathan Kipnis, Bette Kozlen, Ann Moskovits, Bruce Potash, Ira Priluck, Lynne Saltzman, Dani Shrago, Michael Shrago, Gary Shyken, Susie Shyken, Tobye Swichkow, Dik Weiner and Norm Zevitz. All past presidents who are in good standing are members of the board.

Sisterhood Cabinet President: Toba Cohen-Dunning; Fundraising Vice President: Debbie Kricsfeld; Membership Vice President : Amanda Gurock; Programming Vice President: Andreea Shnayder; Vice President in charge of the Kitchen: Julee Katzman; Recording Secretary: Kelly Kirk; Corresponding Secretary: Kim Novak; Financial Secretary: Shirley Goodman; Treasurer: Susie Shyken. All past Sisterhood presidents are members of the Board.

NCSY Omaha Chapter President: Daniel Grossman.

B’nai Mitzvah Aaron Priluck, son of Dr. Ira and Sheila Priluck; David Potash, son of Bruce and Linda Potash.

TEMPLE ISRAEL Board of Trustees: President, Wendy Goldberg; President-Elect, Jon Meyers; Vice Presidents, Jan Schneiderman, Sally Kaplan; Secretary, Amee Zetzman; Treasurer, John Lehr; Past President, Gary Kaplan; Board Members: Katherine Finnegan, Robert Freeman, Sam Fried, Edward Friedland, John Glazer, Cindy Goldberg, Danielle Gordman, Jill Idelman, Joan Marcus, Gary Marshall, Lois Milder, Jackie Neesman, Murray Newman, Michael Norton, Magda Peck, Vicki Perlmeter, Jane Rips, Stacey Rockman, Stacy Simon, Dorothy Spizman, and John Waldbaum Omaha Temple Youth Group President, Jackie Neesman; Programming Vice President, Sarah Bleicher; Social Action Vice President, Joe Goldberg; Religious & Cultural Vice President, Adam Goldberg; Membership Vice Presidents, Jaclyn Adelson and LaShanna Bernstein; Secretary, Anne Rips; Junior Youth Group Liaison, Sarah Spooner; Special Projects Coordinator, Ashley Bernstein.

Women of Reform Judaism-Omaha President, Cindy Goldberg; President-Elect, Danielle Gordman; Past President, Nancy Nogg; Vice Presidents of Membership, Danielle Gordman and Linda Saltzman; Vice Presidents of Development, Marta Fox and Bonnie Pfrenger; Vice President of Religious Action, Ruth Sklarsky; Vice Presidents of Programming, Jennifer Miller and Rosie Zweiback; Vice President of Finance, Susan Lehr; Vice Presidents of Public Relations, Patty Gilinsky and Cat Rawlings; Vice President of Young Family Programs, Jamie Friedland; Vice Presidents of Religious Living, Dora Goldstrom, Susan Rothholz and Dorothy Spizman; and Recording Secretary, Jennifer Cohen Men’s Club President, John Glazer; Treasurer, Alan Fredricks; Community Service/Social, Patrick Jensen and Dan Marburg; Competition/Athletics, John Glazer; and Education/Speakers, Larry Gendler.

B’nai Mitzvah Haley Burns, daughter of Helen and John Burns; Sam Burrell, son of Cantor Wendy Shermet and Leonard Burrell; Joshua Danon, son of Veronica Danon and Steve Danon; Laura and Molly Gilinsky, daughters of Katherine Finnegan and David Gilinsky; Grace Hack, daughter of Rosie Zweiback and Mace Hack; Haley Gordman, daughter of Bridget and Kip Gordman; Haley Halsted, daughter of Mendy and Michael Halsted; Chloe Heyman, daughter of Betsy Baker and Richard Heyman; Ben Holmberg, son of Helene Cohn and Mark Holmberg; Emily Katz, daughter of Amy and Richard Katz; Jordan Kohll, son of Ivy Kohll and the late Louis Kohll; Samuel Monsky, son of Pam and Henry Monsky; Joshua Moran, son of Miriam and Don Moran; Samuel Noddle, son of Kim and Jay Noddle; Rachel Saferstein, daughter of Stephanie Siedschlag and Mark Saferstein; Rachel Scheet, daughter of Lisa Scheet and Gordon Scheet; Alison Slosburg, daughter of Martha and D. David Slosburg; Matthew Waldbaum, son of Natha and John Waldbaum; Alexander Wolpa, son of Vicki and Steve Wolpa; Ethan Workman, son of Keri and Tom Workman.

Continued on page 74

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Page 74

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

Omaha Synagogues Continued from page 73 BETH EL SYNAGOGUE President, Sally Zipursky; Vice-Presidents, Steve Pitlor, Allan Noddle, Michael Hoberman; Treasurer, Gary Rifkin; Secretary, Diane Malashock; Past President, Hyman Sukiennik; board members: Sharon Brodkey, Liatte Dotan, Cary Grossman, Jon Jabenis, Gloria Kaslow, Shane Kotok, Jane Kulakofsky, Michael Levine, Stanley Mitchell, Caryn Rifkin, Ed Schneider, Toby Schonfeld, Melissa Shapiro, Alan Shulewitz, James Wax, Holly Weill, Harry Weiner, Audrey Wiener, Harold Zabin.

Sisterhood President, Caryn Rifkin; Vice-president, Program, Carole Lainof; Vice-president, Membership, Carol Nathan; Secretary, Debbie Roitstein; Treasurer, Jorie Kravitz; Past President, M’Lee Hasslinger.

Men’s Club President, Cary Grossman; Vice-president, Ben Shapiro; Vice-president, Scott Simon; Vice-president, Jim Zipursky; Secretary, David Adler; Treasurer, Les Kay; Past president, Harry Weiner; Board members: Fred Kader, Lloyd Roitstein, Daniel Levitan, Michael Shrago, and Glen Fineman.

Hazak President, Jim Wax; Advisor, Alan Goodman; Secretary, Harriet Marcus; Treasurers, Ilse and Marcel Kahn; Program chair, Gloria Goodman and Natalie Rubin; Membership, Tootie Simon; Publicity, Frances Gottlieb; Members-at-large: Phyllis Schwartz, Audrey Epstein, Harriet Kutler, Rita Novak, Helen Chorney, Diane Baum, and Sally Masnek.

United Synagogue Youth President, Liatte Dotan; Executive Vice President, Ygal Schuller; Religious Edcuation Vice President, Lev

Lifecycle Events 5766 Nachman; Membership/Kadimah Vice Presidents, Effie Tsabari and Lydia Stern; Social Action/Tikun Olam Vice President, Brianna Sadofsky; Communications Vice President, Anna Grossman; Freshman representative, Natan Lailari; Special activities coordinator, Seth Rich.

B’nai Mitzvah Jenna Gerber, daughter of Todd and Joellen Gerber; Harison Wiesman, son of David and Cynthia Wiesman; Laura Klein, daughter of Harry and Janet Klein; Amie Fox, daughter of Jeffrey and Audrey Fox; Yonatan Dotan, son of Amnon and Beth Dotan; Molly Kudym, daughter of Gary and Robbi Kudym; Cameron Gilinsky, son of Rick and Jeannie Gilinsky; Samantha Juster, daughter of Sara Juster and Sorin Juster; Marissa Kahn, daughter of Becki Goldberg-Kahn and Tom Kahn; Alex Kirshenbaum, son of Marcy Noodell and Corey Kirshenbaum; Ryan Kirshenbaum, son of Scott and Barbara Kirshenbaum; Bradley Kutler, son of David and Debi Kutler; Mitchell Raznick, son of Jeanne Raznick and Jerry Raznick; Cameron Stern, son of John and Cynthia Stern.

Lincoln Synagogues TIFERTH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE President, Julie Brockman; Vice President, Richard Evnen; Secretary, Debra Evnen; Treasurer, Howard Feldman; Ritual, Charlie Coren; Membership, Jeffrey Payne; Community/Public Relations, Donna Hersch; Youth Advisor, Lori Feldman; Programming, Nancy Coren; TI Women Liaison, Cindi Weiss; Fundraising, Dan Friedman; Members at Large, Marcia and Sheldon Kushner, Betty and Hyman Polsky; Immediate Past President, Robert Evnen; Trustees, David Brockman, Donald Earl, and Rifka Keilson.

TI Women’s Group Co-chairmen, Gerry Schuchman and Cindi Weiss.

USY President, Carly Feldman; and Vice President, Samantha Payne.

B’not Mitzvah Mimi Merliss, daughter of of Lori Merliss and Andrew Merliss; Sadye Evnen, daughter of Susan Evnen and Richard Evnen.

B’NAI JESHURUN/SOUTH STREET President, Barb Straus; Vice President, Sarah Kelen; Treasurer, Dave Rosenbaum; Immediate Past President, Barbara Barron; Trustees: David Feingold, Tracy Gordon, Margaret Gurewitz, Lori Merliss, John Mosow, Amy Zlotsky; Youth Coordinator, Randi Emanuel.

B’nai Mitzvah Miriam Rose Merliss, daughter of Lori Merliss and Andrew Merliss; Louis Reuben Schreiber, son of Michelle Schreiber and Allen Schreiber.

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BIRTHS Ephraim Nuta, son of Aviva and Yosi Applebaum; Noah Henry, son of Stacey and Brett Atlas; Lorenzo Elijah, son of Valerie and Aaron Batt; Kayla Sirel, daughter of Robin and Brandon Becker; Sarah Esther, daughter of Anna and Michael Besser; Eva Margit, duaghter of Sarah Kelen and Ken Bloom; Emma Catherine, daughter of Paula and Matt Boggust; Charles Rocco, son of Antoinette and Aron Boumstein; Emily Pearl, daughter of Avvy Mar and Michael Budwig; Nathaniel Blair, son of Meghan and Lt. Benjamin J. Cipperly; Andrew Jacob, son of Robyn and Brian Crone; Leah Anne, daughter of Rachel and Gilbert Dysico; Simon Alexander, son of Christi and Kevin Finkel; Benjamin Jon, son of Laura and Jonathan Fischer; Kaia Jayden and Kayley Danelle, twins of Kimber and Steve Givner; Sarah Michelle, daughter of Zarina Kosinovsky and Elie Gorbatov; Preston Michael, son of Allison and Jay Gordman; Robert Daniel, son of Dawn and Bill Havens; Liam Apollo Matthew, son of Julie and Peter Jazayeri; Benjamin Daniel, son of Dana and Michael Kaufman; Trenton Joel, son of Shirley and Joel Kaufman; Kochava Meira, daughter of Shanny and Jeffrey Katzman; Brayden James, son of Amy Frankel and Evan Kleeberg; Elena Carolyn, daughter of Maritza Rivera and Dan Kully; Dylan Matthew, son of Kimberly and Mike Levitan; Adia, daughter of Stacy and Curtis Marti; Madeline Marie, daughter of Stephanie and Matt McCammon; Shalom Dov Ber, son of Sarah Ita (Kohll) and Nosson Meir Meretsky; Nassan Tzvi, son of Chavi and Yoni Meyers; Kenneth Louis, son of Andrea and Richard Nevitt; Jordan Evan, son of Jaime and Brian Nogg; Harper Jacklyn, daughter of Cori and Sam Passer; Zev Dodi Marty, son of Erika and Noah Pollak; Elice Priesman, daughter of Kristin and Corey Priesman; Chana, daughter of Shani and Yosef Richtman; Ella Frances, daughter of Paula and Mark Robinson; Nathaniel Joseph, son of Jessica and Jerry Rosenblum; Joel Benjamin, son of Lise and Aaron Sasson; Benjamin Scott, son of Andrea and Scott Saylan; Louis Jed, son of Nicole and Todd Schachtman; Sarit Rina and Ezra Yair, twins of Jessica Rezak Schwab and Yoni Schwab; Samuel Chai, son of Esther Reed and Mordechai Schwartz; Charles Benjamin, son of Jennifer and Kevin Seeger; Kayla Simone, daughter of Michael and Andreea Shnayder; Aaron Jordan, son of Jessica and Andrew Shefsky; Lilian Ansley, daughter of Kimberly and Justin Shur; Nicole Heather, daughter of Bridget and Craig Solomon; Samantha Asuenta, daughter of Kim and David Stern; Adria Rose, daughter of Sonia and Alan Tipp; Itai, son of Sarah and Guy Trainin; Ella Margaret, daughter of Didi and Jeffrey Turkel; Gedalya Yehezkel Ephraim and Talia Chana Devora, twins of Rivka and Chaim Wax; Jonah Max, son of Robyn and Will Wolper; and Charles Mogens, son of Sarah and Adam Yale.

Wishing You a Happy and Healthy New Year

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 75

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Jewish Federation of Omaha and Agencies JFO BOARD Norman H. Sheldon, President; Bob Lepp, Vice President/President-Elect; Mike Abramson, Treasurer; Jody Malashock, Secretary; Zoë Riekes, Immediate Past President; board members: Joel Alperson, Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Bob Belgrade, Steve Bloch, Toba Cohen-Dunning, David Gilinsky, David Goldberg, Ann Goldstein, Jay Gordman, Rabbi Jonathan Gross, Richard Jacobson, Myron Kaplan, Joe Kirshenbaum, Rabbi Mordechai Levin, Neal (Buzz) Malashock, Todd Manvitz, Howard Marcus, Michael Miller, Patty Nogg, Steve Nogg, Stacey Rockman, Yaffa Podbilewicz-Schuller, Jan Schneiderman, Adam Yale; Executive Director, Jan Goldstein.

JEWISH FEDERATION FOUNDATION Steven Bloch, President; Jay Noddle, Vice President; Donald Goldstein, Secretary; Andrew Robinson, Treasurer; Board Members: Henry Davis, Michael M. Erman, David L. Friedland, Joseph Kirshenbaum, Murray H. Newman, Larry E. Roffman, Harley D. Schrager, Ted M. Seldin, Frederick J. Simon, Suzanne Singer, and Norman Veitzer; Ex-Officio: Blaine Y. Roffman, and Norman H. Sheldon; Executive Director, Marty Ricks.

ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE/ COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMITTEE President, David Gilinsky; VP, Allan Murow; Past Pres., Sara Juster; Member at Large: Irv Yaffe; Katherine Finnegan; Bruce Goldberg; Jan Schneiderman; Board Members: Ellie Batt, Carol Bloch, Joe Erman, Richard Evnen, Jim Fried, Herb Friedman, Pearl Giventer, Danielle Gordman, Yale Gotsdiner, Gary Javitch, Rich Juro, Michael Levine, Chuck Lontor, Jan Lund, Dan Marburg, Gary Nachman, Bob Nefsky, Sharee Newman, Alan Parsow, Juliana Reno, Kimberly Robinson, Susan Rothholz, Sue Schreiber, Charlie Sullivan, Sylvia Wagner, Mimi Waldbaum, Aaron Weiner, Adam Yale, and Bucky Greenberg; Executive Director, Alan Potash.

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER Michael Miller, President; Gary D. Epstein, Immediate Past President; Bob Belgrade, John Glazer, Susie Norton and Kimberly Robinson, Vice Presidents; board members: Harry Alloy, Jason Epstein, Jill Folsom, Jamie Friedland, Tom Friedman, Sheldon Gallner, Bob Goldberg, Cindy Goldberg, Jeff Hansen, Marti Harris, Judy Itkin, Judy Josephson, Don Klein, Jody Malashock, Todd Manvitz, Dan Marburg, Bruce Muskin, Marcia Pitlor, Jeff Platt, Natalie Rubin, Fred Tichauer, Eitan Tsabari; Executive Director, Jeff Aizenberg.

THE CENTER FOR JEWISH EDUCATION Ann Goldstein, President; Stacey Rockman,

Vice President; Bob Goldberg, Treasurer; Board Members: Harry Berman, Lena Bogomolni, Toba Cohen, Katherine Finnegan, Debbi Josephson, and Aveva Shukert; Executive Director, Dr. Guy Matalon.

KRIPKE LIBRARY Lena Bogomolni, Chairman; Karen Cohen, Helen Epstein, Shirley Goldstein, Emily Meyer, Silvia Roffman, Aviva Segall, Eunice Denenberg, Jeff Ferber, Diane Graul, Nancy Rips, Susan Rothholz, and Suzanne Singer; Library Director, Gary Katz.

JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE David Goldberg, President; Carol Parsow, Vice President; Jake Slosburg, Treasurer; Board Members: Elyce Azriel, Justin Cooper, Lewis W. Eirinberg, Sandy Epstein, Daniel R. Marburg, Marti Nerenstone, Bunny Rothenberg, Anthony D. Scioli, Stacie Spies-Matz; Executive Director, Karen Gustafson.

JEWISH PRESS Howard K. Marcus, Chairman; Bobbi Leibowitz, Vice-Chairman; Stan Mitchell, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Treasurer; Michael Siegel, Finance Chairman; Joanie Jacobson, Immediate Past-chairman; David Herzog, Susan Lehr, Jamie Meyerson, George Quittner, Melissa Schop, Michael Sigmond, Jim Simon, Nancy Skid, Dorothy Spizman; Editor, Carol Katzman.

JEWISH SENIOR SERVICES Bob Belgrade, President; Joan Bernstein, PastPresident; Jim Farber, Harold Mann, Larry Roffman, Vice Presidents; Suzanne Singer, Secretary; Howard Epstein,Treasurer; board members: Mike Abramson, Carol Bloch, Jerry Dann, Paul Epstein, Phyllis Glazer, Jeff Itkin, Jeff Kirshenbaum, Joe Kirshenbaum, Angie Krieger, John Lehr, Nancy Noddle, Steve Nogg, Mike Platt, Eileen Remer, Stan Silverman, Harriet Singer, Norman Smeerin, Norman Veitzer, Rabbis Aryeh Azriel, Jonathan Gross, and Mordechai Levin; Executive Director, Mike Silverman.

Possessing “the Book” Continued from page 72 Under the influence of the “age of reason” and the secularization of the world, we Jews are in the habit of presenting secular arguments for the right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel. We speak about history, archeology, perpetual Jewish populations in the land, development of the land, etc… It is time to come to terms with the reality that the “age of reason” is over. We no longer have faith that science and reason will answer all of the questions and problems of human civilization.

Therefore, the world is becoming ever more religious.

This can be thought of as a bad thing or it can be capitalized on. We can feel left out of a world of “born again” Christian and fundamentalist Islamic dialogue, or we can make our religious voice heard as well.

Christians and Muslims pray to the same God that we pray to, albeit with some significant variations. They recognize God as the Creator and Owner of the universe.

They, too, can appreciate the messages of Rosh Hashanah: the birth of the world, God as Sovereign of the universe, the merit of the ancestors, judgment, and repentance. When it comes down to it, the majority of the people of the world are monotheists who regard us as “People of the Book.”

So, let us refer to that Book when laying claim to our homeland. No believing Christian can deny God’s

promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. No believing Muslim can deny that the Koran speaks of Isra’il as a prophetic people who once dwelt in the Land.

I understand the theme “People of the Book: Challenges In and Out of the Classroom” as an invitation to think “outside of the box” when it comes to Jewish and/or Zionist thought and education. Many have tried to bring peace by means of border negotiations, promises of foreign aid, “land for peace” and other programs and “road maps.”

What we fail to understand is that we are speaking two different languages and that Islamic clerics will not be convinced to end the violence by any of these secular means. The promise of peace comes from our shared language of religion and from the shared ideas which constitute the message of Rosh Hashanah. Islamic clerics will give up the fight and be ready to compromise only when they have been convinced through the Bible and the Koran that it is the will of Allah (Elohim in Hebrew).

This Rosh Hashanah, may we not hesitate to commemorate the birth of the world and humanity by going back to the “classroom drawing board” and revisiting who we are, what we are doing here, what it means to be Jewish, what Israel means to us, and how we can convince others that Israel truly is the “People of the Book” and “of the Land.” L’Shanah Tovah.

Lifecycle Events 5766 MARRIAGES Rachel Shukert and Benjamin Abramowitz Rebecca Coren and Ben Lasser Daphne Pollack and Joel Alperson Lisa Fried and Eric Machem Sarah Kelen and Ken Bloom Dede Hurwitz and Richard Minowitz Nikki Cottle and Joel Brookstein Sara Beth Friedkin and Lance Bradley Polikov Leslie Baer and Bert Cohen Marriana Shtromberg and Aaron Pollak Valerie Lyn Jackson and Alex David Cooper Marcy Roslyn Frost and Mark Allen Ratner Laurie Brown and Jeff Epstein Julie Ann Coren and Daniel Paul Reyhle Whitney Taxman and Dan Feferman Sarah Richstone and Scott Saltzman Terri Porter and Joshua Finkel Rebecca Demb and Brandon Schneider Venus Simon and Michael French Amy Perlmeter and Brian Thomas Shelli Silver and Cory Ginsburg Shohreh Ma and Tom Vann Lara Sparks and Zachary Gonsher Dana Cohn and David Wear Robyn Frank and Jason Jensen Kori Racine and Josh Wees Alyssa Elliott and Brent Zacharia Cally Kucera and Matt Kutler

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 77

Dip Tinking about H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N FOCUS ON ISSUES

by RABBI AVI SHAFRAN My 13-year-old son Menachem is my valued chavruta, or study-partner; he has a keen and creative mind and I hope he will one day become a true talmid chochom, or religious scholar. We study Talmud together every evening and Sabbath; Menachem’s mornings at yeshiva are also filled with the study of religious texts.

But he knows how to recreate too. Our family chooses not to own the ubiquitous appliance that a renowned if blunt-speaking rabbi once likened to having an open and flowing sewer pipe in one’s living room.

And so Menachem reads.

Most of the standard fare of contemporary “teen lit” is as unwelcome in our home as are televisions. Many books, though, nonfiction and novels alike, have emerged from Orthodox publishing houses in recent years; the boy reads his share of those. With his well-developed sense of humor (and special appreciation of the imaginative and absurd), he has also consumed his share of Rowling and Handler (a.k.a.

Snicket).

Not long ago, though, I found him engrossed in an old book that had somehow survived many years and several interstate moves intact. Four decades earlier, it had made me laugh out loud and, amazingly, it was having precisely the same effect on my son. More amazing still, the book

was already decades old when I had read it as a boy.

The tome was The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N, penned in the 1930s by Leo Rosten (under the nom de plume Leonard Q. Ross) for The New Yorker and then published as a book (followed by a sequel, The Return of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N).

For the unfortunate uninitiated, the Kaplan books are wonderfully droll accounts of the experiences of what we would today call an “English as a Second Language” instructor, as he strives to introduce new immigrants--Kaplan hails from Kiev--to the vagaries of American speech, grammar and idioms. The humor derives largely from the garbled yield of Kaplan’s accent and his, shall we say, “alternative logic.”

He is a student who proudly announces the principal parts of “to die” as “die, dead, funeral” and who, after submitting the word “door” as an example of a noun and asked to provide another example, responds “another door.” He bemoans his wife’s “high blood pleasure” and, in a business letter, pens the memorable sentence “If your eye falls on a bargain please pick it up.” Not much in the way of plot, but the dialogue is priceless.

It’s always heartening for parents, especially those of middle-age (or, as some of their children undoubtedly think, of the Middle Ages) to witness their young relating to ideas, books or activities they themselves enjoyed when in their own formative years. But, for goodness’ sake, The

Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N was written in 1937 and a youngster is audibly chuckling over it close to a decade into the Common Era’s second millennium?

What gives?

Sure, Rosten is funny, but so are Mark Twain and P.G. Wodehouse (himself, incidentally, a fan of the Hyman Kaplan books); you don’t see many kids cracking up over them these days. And sure, anyone who appreciates the intriguing elements of language (as a toddler, on hearing a new word, Menachem would repeat it softly to himself several times, rolling it around on his tongue like a piece of candy) is easily captivated by the sort of things that ensue when Mr. Kaplan and his classmates engage in mouth-to-ear combat with that strangeness called English.

But I think there may be another, more subtle reason both my son and I connected so well with the books. It has to do with Kaplan himself.

For all his comical blunders and swollen self-regard (the asterisks--actually, green stars--are part of his flamboyant signature for a reason), Kaplan is endearing – and for a very Jewish reason: He is preternaturally determined, and undeterred by even his most spectacular failures.

He’s in the class, in other words, to learn, and learn he will, come hell or high vowels. He is committed to using his mind--to what he calls “dip tinking.” Although the Hyman Kaplan books are almost devoid of religious references, their protagonist hews unmistakably to a principle stated by the rabbis of the Mishna (Avot, 2:6): “The bashful person cannot learn.”

Continued on page 80

...if only Hyman Kaplan had studied Torah, he could have been a talmid chochom.

Lifecycle Events 5766 Arthur Adler, Ida Arkin, Martin Barron, Frances Blumkin Batt, Kenneth W. Below, Judy Berck, Gladys Bercutt, Gerald I. “Jerry” Berman, Rose Berkus, Eve C. Bernstein, Lois Bernstien, Lillian H. Betts, Arthur Bidner, John Blair, Rachel F. Bleicher, Judith Bohm, Donald Bramar, Ada Braw, Esther Stein Canar, Robert Cipinko, Donald Cohen, Edith Jacobson Cohen, Rose Lee Cohen, Isadore Diamond, Marvin Dienstfrey, Gary Doty, Bernice Dulberg, Arthur Benjamin Dutky, Jeanne Glazer Dvorkin, Harvey Martin Egherman, Cecelia Eirinberg, Saul Ender, Abraham Faier, Betty Geifman Falk, Sue Ferer, Bessie Fleischer, Eugene Fingerhut, Joseph H. Fraidenraich, Joe Frank, Shirley Diamond Frank, Ida Frenkel, Stuart E. Fried, Leonard Gelbman, Pauline Gendler, Anne Eisenstatt German, Spencer B. Gilbert, Lawrence Gimple, Rose Lee Ginsburg, Mary Lou Goodman, Gary R. Gerelick, Zoe Goldstein, Malcom G. Gordon, Barbara Gorelick, Joshua Greenbaum, Joe Greenbaum, Shirley Fogel Greenberg, Frances Guss, Lois Hightower, Pauline

DEATHS Hoberman, John Hoffman, Adele Hornstein, Christopher Michael Jensen, Patricia F. Jensen, Ellen C. Joseph, Raymond Melvin Kalman, Goldy Katelman, Sheff Katskee, Maurice Katzman, Ben Kaufman, Ellen Sue Kaufman, Hannah Keller, Ruth Keller, Paula Kennedy, Patricia Adair Kipperman, Charlotte Kitner, Theonne Klotz, Louis H. Kohll, Harriet Kohn, Sheilah Rae Isgur Kocherov, Gertrude Korney, Alec Kosofsky, Leah Krasne, Manfred “Manny” Kreitstein, George Kukawka, Helen Kulakofsky, Molly Kurtz, Nancy Laub, Norma Jean Leff, Sara Levenson, Helen Levine, Karin R. Levine, Jane Rice Levy, Melvin Linsman, Dorothy Kropman Lipp, Lillian Lipsey, Robert Livingstone, Etel Lizinsky, Ben H. Magzamin, Phillip Malkin, Gabriel Martinez-Matos, Miriam Novak Mayer, William Mazvinsky, Bertram Meister, Morris Miller, Isadore Milstein, Carole Jean Murphy, Joseph Needelman, Marilyn Nelson, Brenda Katzman Newman, Harlan J. Noddle, Isidore Olesh, Charlotte Hill Orloff, Sondra (Sandy) Ostrow, Sylvia Parilman,

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

Jewish Organizations NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN OMAHA SECTION President, Deb Marburg; Honorary Vice President, Lois Friedman; Executive Vice Presidents, Tina Meyers and Shelly Pichik; Vice Presidents of Community Service, Pam Friedlander and Andee Scioli; Vice Presidents of Public Affairs & Education, Nancy Nogg and Susan Rothholz; Vice Presidents of Membership, Leslie Eades and Nikki Kirshenbaum; Vice-President of Fundraising, Dana Kaufman; Vice Presidents of Public Relations, Sharon Bargas and Lisa Gordman Lieb; Treasurer, Iris Ricks; Financial Secretary, Lori Kooper-Schwarz; Corresponding Secretary, Traci Kugler; Recording Secretary, Jill Folsom; Parliamentarian, Nominating Committee Chairwoman & Immediate Past President, Roxanne Kahn; Directors: Bettie Adams, Stacey Atlas, Jamie Nogg, Patty Nogg, Mimi Silverman and Julie Stein; Awards Committee Chairwoman, Diane Malashock; State Public Affairs Chairwoman, Susie Norton; Finance Chairwoman, Beth Friedman; Honorary National President, Jan Schneiderman; National Commissioners, Beth Friedman and Roxanne Kahn.

VISIONS Executive Chairman, Sandy Bromley; Executive Associate, Fred Bromley; Advisor, Jim Wax; Luncheon Co-Chairmen, Tootie Simon and Jim Wax; Cultural, Doris Alloy, Rosalie Meiches, and Sissy Silber; Historian, Peggy Chasen; Recording Secretary, Phyllis Aron; Mitzvah Committee, Betty Kolnick; Publicity, Howard Silber; Membership, Bev Gilinsky; Social Programming Co-Chairmen, Ethel Goldston, and Rose Pitlor; Trips and Travel, Anne Skolkin; Treasurer, Jack Noodell; Maggie Conti, JSS Older Adult Program Director.

L.O.V.E. (LEAGUE OFFERING VOLUNTEER SERVICES TO THE ELDERLY) Co-Presidents, Eileen and Miles Remer; Co-Vice Presidents of Fundraising, Judy Brookstein and Judi Yoo; Vice President of Membership, Wendy Manvitz; Recording Secretary, Kathy Weiner; Treasurer, Esther Wax;

Directors: Dora Goldstrom, Gloria Goodman, David Herzog, Renee Kazor, Jim Pollock, Merilee Rimmerman, Iris Ricks, Julie Rosenquist, Anthony Scioli, and Lorrie Stein; Judy Katskee, Robert Mosenkis, and Sheila Tomps; Doris Alloy, Harry Alloy, Jane Doman, Judy Josephson, Ilse Kahn, and Sheila Rosen; Lois Wine, JSS Volunteer Coordinator.

NEBRASKA JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY President, Midge Bowers; Secretary, Rocky Stern; Treasurer, Ira Nathan; Membership Chairman, Kevee Kirshenbaum; Past President, Helen Epstein; CoFounder, Mary Fellman; Co-Founder, Oliver Pollak; board members: Harold Abrahamson, Ron Brodkey, Robert Evnen, Stu Giller Caryl Greenberg, Gary Javitch, Debbi Josephson, Joan Kaiman, Nan Katz, Janie Kulakofsky, Sheldon Kushner, Ed Malashock, Ira Nathan, Max Neiden, Ozzie Nogg, Vicki Perlmeter, Caryn Rifkin, Larry Roffman, Susan Rothholz; Ex officio: Louise Abrahamson, Bob Belgrade Joanie Bernstein, Lois Friedman, Helen Rifkin Chorney; Board Advisory on Oral Histories: Ben Nachman, Board Advisory on Archives and Exhibits: Doug Hartman; Legal Counselor: Hugh Abrahamson; Renee Corcoran, Executive Director.

FRIEDEL JEWISH ACADEMY Bonnie Bloch, President; Lloyd Roitstein, Past President; Jerry Gordman, Treasurer; Yaffa PodbilewiczSchuller, Public Relations and Recruitment; Don Gerber, Fundraising; Susan Fellman Witkowski, Administration and Alumni; and Saundra Clarke, Secretary; Board of Directors: Shirley Banner, Debbie Denenberg, Pam DePorte, Bob Eisenberg, Rhonda Hayward, Ian Shami Jacobs, Esther Katz, Joe Kirshenbaum, Alan Kricsfeld, Ruti Margalit, Eric Phillips, Margo Riekes, Ben Shapiro, and Kathy Weiner; Ex officio: Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Rabbi Mordechai Levin, and Rabbi Jonathan Gross; Cookie Katskee, Principal.

HENRY MONSKY LODGE B’NAI B’RITH Gary Javitch, President; Al Abramson, Treasurer; Mike Abramson, Banquet Finances; Gil Cohen, Banquet

Chairman; Adam Jacobs, Past President, Board Members; Richard Diamond, Rich Juro, Gerald Meyer, Marty Ricks, Steve Riekes, Trustee; Aaron Weiner; Lois Epstein, Administrator.

HADASSAH President, Georgia Ann Steinberg; Treasurer, Esther Wax; Secretary, Phyllis Fried; Publicity, Gloria Shukert Jones; Newsletter, Harriet Klopper; board members: Beth Gaynes Ginsburg, Charlotte Kaplan, Madeline Katzman, Sandy Kohll, Bette Kozlen, Carole Lainof, Maxine Noodell, Faye Ruback, Lesli Shrago, Doris Shukert, and Julie Stein AMIT President, Charlotte Kaplan, Vice-President of Programming, Annette Fettman; Mother-in-Israel, Sarah Landsman; Contributions, Ida Banner; Treasurer, Georgia Ann Steinberg; Advisor, Jeanette Nadoff.

JEWISH WOMEN INTERNATIONAL BOARD President, Frieda Krizelman; Fundraising, Rosalie Greenspan, Esther Wax and Beth Friedman; Membership, Lila Jacoby; Treasurer, Esther Wax; Financial Secretary, Dora Goldstrom; Recording Secretary, Shirley Brody; Corresponding Secretary, Corinne Levin; Historian, Maxine Noodell; Donor Luncheon, Rosalie Greenspan and Esther Wax; Telephone Committee, Anne Skolkin; Bulletin Editor, Corinne Levin; Courtesy Card, Elaine Tepperman; Children’s Home, Esther Wax; Dolls for Democracy, Allison Latenser Pachman; Donor, Rosalie Greenspan and Esther Wax; Rainbow House, Lila Jacoby; Direct Solicitation, Esther Wax; Blumkin Home Sweetheart Day, Rose Rosenberg; Mah Jongg Tournament, Rosalie Greenspan, Esther Wax, Corinne Levin.

EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE The Jewish Press office is closed Monday, Oct. 2, for Yom Kippur; the deadline for the Oct. 6 issue is Wednesday, Sept. 27, 9 a.m. Questions? Call 334.6448.

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September 22, 2006

Lose Weight over the High Holidays?

Not Likely, but at Least Try Not to Gain

by LINDA MOREL NEW YORK (JTA) -- While Rosh Hashanah is one of Judaism’s most joyous holidays, it’s also the start of a series of celebrations and sumptuous meals, and a challenge for people trying to maintain their weight.

This is especially true for observant Jews who, by the end of Sukkot’s eight days, might consume 20 holiday meals, if you include the Shabbat dinners and lunches, which often don’t overlap with this string of fall holidays. Because Jewish mothers love to feed their families, these joyous meals come with Azriela Jaffe several courses, including dishes that rekindle our best memories of home.

“This is prime eating season,” says Azriela Jaffe, author of “After the Diet: Delicious kosher recipes with less fat, calories and carbohydrates” (Hakoras Hatov Publishing, 2005).

“By the time the holidays are over, you can gain 10 pounds without even thinking.”

She knows this from experience--every Rosh Hashanah, it used to happen to her and her husband Stephen.

“So much of Jewish celebrations centers on food,” says Jaffe, who came from a secular background and has become increasingly more observant over the past 13 years. She and Stephen have moved several times so their children could attend schools offering Jewish education. “Each new community was more observant but also more expensive. Our houses have become smaller while our waistlines have expanded.”

The mother of three children, Jaffe hosts Rosh Hashanah and other autumn holidays, inviting friends and extended family. “When you start celebrating every holiday, there’s multiple excuses for eating and overeating.”

Disturbed by their accumulating pounds, she and Stephen tried several trendy weight loss programs. On weekdays, they’d virtuously adhere to whatever diet they were following. But starting on Shabbat eve, they took a break, not watching their weight until Monday morning. Every weekend, they undermined whatever progress they’d achieved during the week.

When Jaffe learned that Stephen had high blood pressure and dangerous cholesterol levels, she started rethinking their approach to food and holiday entertaining. She was a competent cook who’d already published 13 books, including, “What do you mean, you can’t eat in my home? A guide to how newly observant Jews and their less observant relatives can still get along.”

Then and there, she decided: “I don’t believe in diets.” For the most part, they’re effective only in the short run. Soon people feel denied, go overboard, and regain whatever weight they lost -- and more.

She then spent 18 months creating “After the Diet,” which features 165 tasty kosher recipes lower in everything that’s bad for your health. Her recipes are lighter than their counterparts, but not so dietetic that they’ve lost all flavor.

While Jaffe worked on her cookbook, her family was in heaven. “I would give my husband nine variations of chocolate mousse to sample.” She spent a fortune on groceries experimenting, testing and retesting recipes. “I didn’t want any of my recipes to bomb.”

Her concept is to eat reasonable amounts of great tasting foods. Visit her Web site www.azriela.com to see the wide range of recipes her cookbook offers.

The end result: She and Stephen each lost 10 pounds, and his cholesterol and blood pressure are now within normal range. She feels their new approach to food is setting a good example for their children.

At Rosh Hashanah, people who watch their weight often feel helpless against the onslaught of meals they’ll soon be facing. But Jaffe’s recipes provide healthier ways to prepare the strudels and kugels associated with the upcoming holidays without sacrificing their allure.

If you’ve ever tasted a classic beef stroganoff with its creamy sauce, one bite of Jaffe’s rendition will make you

swear you’re eating it again. Her secret ingredient is parve sour cream, which infuses flavor rich enough for a Romanov.

Sweet Red Cabbage comes from Jaffe’s German Jewish family, who ate this traditional dish every Rosh Hashanah. Because the original recipe was swimming in sugar, Jaffe achieved its sweet and sour punch with lemon juice and Splenda.

The problem with most kugels is that they are high in sugar and refined flour and low on nutrients. Jaffe’s recipe, which calls for whole wheat noodles, cauliflower and onions, is so delicious your Rosh Hashanah guests will beg for the recipe.

Believe it or not, Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake is a nondairy recipe. “This dessert is an excellent example of my cookbook’s theme,” Jaffe says. “This is not a lowcalorie cake. My book is not about deprivation, but transforming recipes into something healthier and less fattening.” She achieves this by using canola oil insteadof butter, as well as Egg Beaters and Splenda.

Best of all, the cake is easy to make!

“At Rosh Hashanah, you don’t want to feel like you’re on a diet,” says Jaffe. “Who wants to eat raw carrots and low-fat cottage cheese?”

Instead she intends to partake in apples and honey, challah, and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake. Her new goal is for her scale. It shouldn’t budge until the end of Sukkot, when life and eating patterns return to normal.

“You’re not supposed to be deprived on Yom Tov,” or the holiday, says Jaffe, who feels that Jewish holidays are not a time to count calories. “That’s not my cookbook’s philosophy.”

(Recipes from After the Diet by Azriela Jaffe.)

BEEF STROGANOFF 1/3 cup flour (white or 50/50 white and wheat) 1 tsp. salt 2 lbs. pepper steak, cut into 2-inch strips 1 Tbsp. margarine 1 large onion, chopped 2 cups canned beef broth 2 cups mushrooms, sliced 2/3 package of wheat egg noodles 6 ounces non-dairy sour cream Combine flour, salt, and beef in a large zip-top plastic bag. Shake to coat beef with flour mixture.

Start boiling water for the noodles.

Melt margarine in a skillet.Add onion to skillet. Saute 2 minutes or until tender. Add beef and flour mixture to skillet. Saute until beef is browned, turning every once in awhile. This step will more quickly in a cast-iron skillet.

Gradually add broth, scraping skillet to loosen browned bits.Add mushrooms.

Cover and cook on low-medium heat, simmering, 10-30 minutes, until meat and mushrooms are tender. Why the wide range in time? Because depending on the cut of meat, times can vary to achieve the ends you want -- tender meat!

Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to package directions. Remove skillet from heat. Gradually stir in sour cream. Cook, uncovered, with residual heat for 1 minute, or until heated through.

IMPORTANT--DO NOT BOIL. Serve over cooked egg noodles. Yield: 6 servings SWEET RED CABBAGE 1 small red cabbage, about 2 cups when shredded 1 firm apple 1 lemon 1/2 cup Splenda Slice cabbage. Dice apple.

Place cabbage and apple in a Dutch oven. Squeeze entire lemon over them, straining out the pits. Add Splenda and stir ingredients. Cover and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is tender, about 30-45 minutes.

Serve warm. Yield: 4-6 servings NOODLE KUGEL WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS & CAULIFLOWER 2-3 large onions, chopped Salt 1/2 cup olive oil Pepper to taste 12 ounces whole wheat noodles 1 medium sized head of cauliflower, cored and cut into florets, and washed well 1/2 cup Egg Beaters 1/2 cup chicken consomme Continued on page 80

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 79

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

Lose Weight over the High Holidays?

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Continued from page 79 Preheat oven to 350º.

Cook onions and 1/2 tsp. salt in 1-2 Tbsp. of olive oil on medium-high heat, until onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until they are golden brown and sweet, about 25 minutes.

Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, follow package directions and cook noodles in a large pot until al dente.

In a second pot, steam cauliflower until mostly tender but still slightly crunchy inside.

Drain noodles and cauliflower.

In a greased 8x8 inch baking dish, combine the onions with remaining olive oil, noodles, cauliflower, Egg Beaters, and chicken consomme. Add salt and pepper.

Cover dish tightly with a layer of parchment and foil. Bake 20 minutes in center of oven. Remove parchment and foil.

Continue baking until surface noodles are golden and center is hot, about 20 minutes longer. Serve warm, 5-10 minutes out of

the oven. Freezes well. Yield: 8 servings CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE 11/2 cups self-rising flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1/2 cup canola oil 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup Splenda 1 tsp. instant coffee microwaved in 3/4 cup water for one minute 1 egg 1/4 cup Egg Beaters 3/4 cup chocolate chips 1/2 cup wheat flour 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 cup cocoa 1/2 cup applesauce Preheat oven to 350º.

Place all ingredients in a large mix ing bowl. Mix until thoroughly blended.

Spray a bundt pan with oil. Pour batter into pan.

Bake about 40 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Yield: 16 servings (for people maintaining their weight)

H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N Continued from page 77 Of course, the rabbis were referring not to study of the sort that goes on at the “American Night Preparatory School for Adults.” They were talking about the quintessential Jewish study, that of Torah.

But Kaplan’s enthusiasm and devotion are familiar to anyone who has ever entered a yeshiva classroom or study-hall.

That the Talmud compares Torah to bread and water is not insignificant. The study of Jewish law and lore is meant to be the staple of the Jewish life of the mind.

Single-minded focus on the pedagogic goal, no matter what obstacles or failures may interject themselves, is arguably the essence of Jewish learning--and teaching.

The Talmud speaks of the great merit of one Rabbi Preida whose pupil could not understand a lesson unless it was repeated 400 times. Both teacher and student had every reason to become frustrated, indeed to abandon the task. But neither did; the goal was too important. And they were in it together.

Kaplan’s instructor, Mr. Parkhill (or “Pockheel,” as Kaplan calls him), while regularly at wits’ end over his student’s pronouncements and advocacies, also shows great patience, even signs of appreciation. After the rest of the class excitedly attacks a condemned building of words and illogic erected by their tenacious classmate, and Parkhill joins in with a withering demolition of the Kaplanesque structure, something surprising happens: “Even as he chastised his most

intractable pupil, Mr. Parkhill felt nourishing juices course through his veins.

For the priceless spark of life, the very heart of learning, had been revived in what, but half an hour ago, had been a dull and listless congregation.”

Hyman Kaplan’s creator was not a notably religious man, but Kaplan the character and his goal-focused monomania readily evidence Rosten’s recognition--perhaps instilled by his parents, and certainly present in his genes--of a truly Jewish ideal: Learning matters, above all.

The story is told of two Jews in the 1930s discussing the renowned Lithuanian Talmudic genius Rabbi Yoseif Rosen, popularly known as “the Rogatchover.”

“Why,” mused the first fellow, “if only he had studied physics, he could have been an Einstein!”

“You’ve got it wrong,” says the other.

“If only Einstein had studied Talmud, he could have been a Rogatchover!”

And so what occurs is that part of what so resonated in me and my son about Leo Rosten’s memorable creation--aside from the laughter and amusement he brought us--may have been our realization, conscious or not, that, if only Hyman Kaplan had studied Torah, he could have been a talmid chochom.

Rabbi Shafran is Director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America.

This Am Echad article, originally appeared in The Forward and is reprinted here with permission.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 81

Highlights of Jewish news: 5766

by TALIA S. COUTIN JTA Intern SEPTEMBER 2005 JERUSALEM--Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians hold rallies calling for a return to peace talks and an end to violence in Jerusalem and Ramallah. Some 10,000 people attend the Ramallah rally and 7,000 assemble in Jerusalem.

VIENNA--Simon Wiesenthal, a survivor of Nazi death camps who went on to found an eponymous human rights center dedicated to tracking and prosecuting Nazi war criminals and to promoting justice and tolerance, dies at 96.

WASHINGTON--President Bush awards the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highest military honor to Tibor Rubin, a Holocaust survivor who served with U.S. forces in Korea and was a prisoner of war. Rubin singlehandedly held off attackers on several occasions, and after his capture he helped as many as 40 U.S. POWs survive by smuggling food and medicine to them.

AMSTERDAM--The head of Dutch Railways apologizes for the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role in deporting Jews during World War II at the launch of an anti-racism campaign, a collaboration between Dutch Railways and the Central Jewish Organization for External Relations.

JERUSALEM--Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population rises by nearly 1.8 percent in 2004 to more than 6.8 million. Some 5.2 million Israelis are Jewish, with 1.3 million Arabs and 300,000 others, according to figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The growth rate among Muslims was 3.3 percent, more than double the rate among Jews.

NEW YORK--Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s president, Pervez Musharraf, addresses representatives of the Jewish and PakistaniAmerican communities at a meeting convened by the American Jewish Congress.

OCTOBER 2005 NEW YORK--Iranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s president calls for Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s destruction. Addressing a Tehran conference titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;The World Without Zionism,â&#x20AC;? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad voices hope that Palestinian terrorism â&#x20AC;&#x153;will wipe off this stigma from the face of the Islamic world,â&#x20AC;? a reference to Israel. In response to Ahmadinejadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s comments, Israel calls for Iran to be ousted from the United Nations.

JERUSALEM--The Jewish Agency for Israel compensates Israeli Arab terror victims for the first time. Four families who lost relatives in a gun attack by an extremist Jew in the Arab town of Shfaram last August are each given a check for $5,000.

KRAKOW--The city of Krakow, Poland, gets its first full-time rabbi since World War II from the Israel-based Shavei Israel organization following a request from Polandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich. Rabbi Avraham Flaks will serve 200 community members, descendants of mixed marriages and those who covered up their

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Credit: Museum of the History of Polish Jews JERUSALEM--Robert Aumann of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics along with Thomas Schelling of the University of Maryland for contributions to game theory, the science of strategy.

JERUSALEM--Israel offers aid to Pakistan after a 7.6magnitude earthquake kills nearly 40,000 and leaves millions homeless. Pakistan, which has no formal ties to Israel, accepts the aid on the condition that it be channeled through a third party.

NOVEMBER 2005 JERUSALEM--Shimon Peres is ousted as leader of the Labor Party by union leader Amir Peretz.

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Supreme Court lets stand a $116 million judgment against the PLO and Palestinian Authority. The high court chooses not to block the judgment in favor of the family of an American citizen and his Israeli wife who were killed in a 1996 terrorist attack in the West Bank.

NEW YORK--The U.N. General Assembly passes a Holocaust commemoration resolution with more than 100 co-sponsors, establishing a Holocaust memorial day at the United Nations and calling on member states to incorporate Holocaust education into their missions.

NEW YORK--UNESCO, world leaders and Israelis mark the 10th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death.

BERLIN--German Reform Jews will receive federal funding after the Central Council of Jews in Germany votes to admit liberal Jewish associations.

JERUSALEM--Prime Minister Ariel Sharon quits the Likud, paving the way to form a new centrist party, Kadima, a few weeks later.

DECEMBER 2005 JERUSALEM--Shimon Peres quits Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Labor Party, his political home for decades, to join Kadima and help Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pursue peace with the Palestinians.

KIEV, Ukraine--Vladmir Matveyev, JTAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s correspondent in Ukraine, suffers head injuries and a broken clavicle when unidentified men attack him in the entrance of

his apartment building and take valuables, press cards and some of his recent JTA articles. The attack happens days after the translation of Matveyevâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s JTA story on the anti-Semitic activities of a university in Kiev was widely circulated in Ukraine.

JERUSALEM -The number of Israelis taking charity increase from 11 percent last year to 17 percent, according to a survey by the Latet lobby. One in two Israelis cites poverty as the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s No. 1 problem, ahead of education and terrorism.

JERUSALEM--Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is admitted to the trauma ward of Hadassah-Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem after suffering a light stroke.

NEW YORK--With concern growing over Saudi influence on American education, Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud donates $40 million to finance Islamic studies at Georgetown and Harvard universities.

NEW YORK--Seventy percent of American Jews disapprove of the war in Iraq and the way the United States is handling the campaign against terrorism, according to the American Jewish Committeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion.

JANUARY 2006 NEW YORK--Iran says it would resume research and development on its â&#x20AC;&#x153;peacefulâ&#x20AC;? nuclear energy program that was suspended in late 2004, drawing international criticism.

JERUSALEM--Abbas Al-Sayed, mastermind of the 2002 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Passover massacreâ&#x20AC;? bombing at Netanyaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Park Hotel, receives 35 life sentences for his role in the bombing, which killed 30 people.

NEW YORK--Playwright Wendy Wasserstein, known for her wry portrayal of strong, conflicted women, dies of lymphoma at 55.

PRAGUE--The Jewish community of Poland dedicates its first community offices in Lublin since World War II on the premises of the Yeshiva Hachmei Lublin, the most famous yeshiva in Europe before the Holocaust.

JERUSALEM--Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffers a second, massive stroke that leaves him in a coma. Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Ehud Olmert becomes acting prime minister.

Continued on page 82 Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director of Hadassahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem, updates the foreign media on the condition of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon outside Hadassah Hospital where Sharon is being treated for a masCredit: Brian Hendler/JTA sive stroke, Jan. 5.

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Page 82

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

Highlights of Jewish news: 5766 Continued from page 81 NEW YORK--A new study produced by the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa finds that 40 percent of Ashkenazi Jews are descended from just four women who lived somewhere in Europe during the last 2,000 years, but not necessarily in the same place or the same country. The four women left a genetic signature that is detectable in some 3.5 million Ashkenazi Jews today.

NEW YORK--An Austrian court orders the return of Gustav Klimt paintings seized by Nazis when Germany annexed Austria in 1938 to the heir of their original Jewish owner. Maria Altmann, 89, the niece of CzechJewish sugar industrialist Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, wins the return of paintings after a seven-year battle.

JERUSALEM--Hamas wins a resounding victory in Palestinian Authority parliamentary elections, taking 76 seats in the 132-seat Palestinian Legislative Council.

Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says there will be no negotiations with a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.

NEW YORK--Philanthropist Andrea Bronfman, co-chair of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies and major supporter of birthright israel, dies at 60.

FEBRUARY 2006 JERUSALEM--Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Andrea Bronfman Israel would have to unilatCredit: Andrea and Charles erally withdraw from much Bronfman Philanthropies Inc. of the West Bank, the clearest indication yet of his plans since taking over after Ariel Sharon went into a coma.

JERUSALEM--Hamas chooses Ismail Haniyeh as Palestinian Authority prime minister.

JERUSALEM--Israel will release tax revenues to the Palestinians amounting to $55 million in monthly customs duties that had been frozen after Hamas won Palestinian elections.

NEW YORK--Betty Friedan, whose book The Feminine Mystique launched the feminist revolution in the United States, dies at age 85.

JERUSALEM--Scores of Israelis are injured as settlers scuffle with police trying to dismantle the illegal West Bank outpost of Amona.

AMSTERDAM--The Dutch Culture Ministry announces that 202 of 267 paintings claimed by the survivors of Jacques Goudstikker, a Dutch Jewish art dealer whose paintings were looted by the Nazis, would be handed over after a decades-long reclamation battle.

Many of the paintings mentioned in the suit were hanging in 17 museums throughout the Netherlands.

PARIS--At least 1,200 people demonstrate to show their anger at the murder of 23-year-old French Jew Ilan Halimi, who was kidnapped by French and other Muslims and tortured to death.

The French government initially says anti-Semitism played no role in the murder, but later says it was indeed motivated by hate.

JERUSALEM--An Israeli lesIlan Halimi bian couple wins state recognition Credit: European as joint parents of their children.

Jewish Press In a ruling hailed by gay-rights activists, Israel’s Family Affairs Court allows Tal and Avital Yaros-Hakak to legally adopt three boys they had borne after being artificially inseminated.

MARCH 2006 JERUSALEM--Ehud Olmert’s centrist Kadima Party wins Israeli elections, garnering 28 seats in the 17th Knesset. Center-right Likud, which dominated the 16th Knesset with 40 seats, falls to 11, and center-left Labor wins 20.

NEW YORK--The Association of Reform Zionists of America wins elections for the American slate to the 35th Zionist Congress, with just more than 38 percent of 75,686 votes cast. This gives ARZA 55 delegates to the June congress in Israel.

NEW YORK--The World Bank approves $42 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority. This decision comes shortly after the European Union announced it would release $143 million in emergency funding for the Palestinian Authority, despite the victory of Hamas, a

terrorist group, in P.A. elections.

NEW YORK--More than 150 rabbis representing the Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Reconstructionist movements gather outside United Nations headquarters to urge international action in the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

NEW YORK--Harold Ostroff, who helped launch the Russian and English editions of the Forward newspaper and saved the Yiddish paper from extinction, dies March 2 at age 82.

APRIL 2006 WASHINGTON--The Bush administration bans U.S. officials from contacting Palestinian Authority officials associated in any way with Hamas.

WASHINGTON--Anti-Semitism on college campuses is a “serious problem” that merits a campaign to inform Jewish students of their rights, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights says.

WASHINGTON--Israel and the Palestinian Authority had poor human rights records in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2005, the U.S. State Department says.

PRAGUE--The Czech Republic announces that it completed its compensation of individual Czech victims of the Holocaust, disbursing $4.23 million over the past five years to 516 people who requested compensation.

WASHINGTON--Germany agrees to drop its resistance to the opening of one of the world’s largest Holocaust archives from the International Tracing Service, the arm of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

NEW YORK--Fewer than one-fifth of non-Jews who marry Jews convert to Judaism, according to a study by the American Jewish Committee.

NEW YORK--The number of ex-Nazis convicted of war crimes more than tripled in the past year, the Simon Wiesenthal Center says.

WASHINGTON--Tens of thousands rally in Washington to advocate action on the humanitarian situation in Darfur, Sudan. The event is organized by the Save Darfur Coalition, a collection of 150 faith-based advocacy and humanitarian aid organizations initiated by two Jewish agencies. Similar rallies occur across the country, including one in Omaha.

Continued on page 83

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Highlights of 5766 Continued from page 82 MAY 2006 JERUSALEM--Israel’s new coalition government led

by Kadima and joined by the Labor Party, Shas and the pensioners’ party Gil is sworn in.

JERUSALEM--Israel’s top court upholds a controversial law that prevents Palestinians who marry Israeli Arabs from gaining automatic Israeli citizenship.

WASHINGTON--Resolutions introduced in the U.S. Congress call for any reference to Palestinian refugees to be matched by similar references to Jewish refugees.

NEW YORK--Sweden breaks with E.U. policy by granting a visa to a Palestinian Authority Cabinet minister from Hamas.

JERUSALEM--Millions of dollars in foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority were used to buy weapons, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency says.

JERUSALEM--Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Cabinet decides to free $11 million in tax and customs levies that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority but had frozen since Hamas won elections in January.

WASHINGTON--Reform Jews lead a lobbying effort for Darfur, with more than 300 people meeting with U.S. senators from more than 30 states.

JERUSALEM--Israel’s population tops 7 million.

Seventy-six percent of the population is Jewish, 20 percent is Christian or Muslim Arab, and the remainder is made up of immigrants or foreign workers without religious classification.

OMAHA--Investment guru Warren Buffett invests $4 billion in an Israeli manufacturing firm. In what Israeli media hails as the “deal of the decade,” Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway corporation buys an 80 percent interest in Iscar, an international metalworks consortium based in Tefen, Israel.

TORONTO--The Canadian Union of Public Employees, a large public-sector union, votes to back a boycott against Israel until it “recognizes the Palestinian right to self-determination.”

NEW YORK--JDate, the world’s largest Jewish dating Web site, takes top prize in the 10th annual Webby Award competition for outstanding social/networking site, beating out MySpace.com.

JUNE 2006 WASHINGTON--The diplomatic “Quartet” overseeing the Mideast peace process approves a program to funnel emergency assistance to the Palestinians, bypassing the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.

WASHINGTON--The U.S. government declassifies more than 8 million pages of files related to Nazi war crimes, including documents relating to the CIA’s employment of suspected Nazi war criminals after World War II. WASHINGTON--The U.S. House of Representatives approves $2.34 billion in military aid and $120 million in economic assistance to Israel, with another $40 million approved for the absorption of former refugees.

BIRMINGHAM, AL--The Presbyterian Church declares suicide bombing and terrorism as crimes against humanity during their General Assembly, during which the Church also replaces a call for divestment from Israel with a policy of peaceful investment in Israel, the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

NEW YORK--Israel’s emergency services agency is formally admitted into the International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, ending 58 years of exclusion of Magen David Adom.

NEW YORK--The birthright israel program celebrates the arrival in Israel of its 100,000th participant.

NEW YORK--A Holocaust-era looted painting is auctioned to cosmetics magnate and philanthropist Ronald Lauder for a reported $135 million, the highest sum ever paid for a painting. The 1907 portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimt had been returned recently to Bloch-Bauer’s niece, Maria Altmann. It is to be displayed at the Neue Galerie, a New York museum of German and Austrian art that Lauder owns.

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approves legislation that would end direct aid and contact with the Hamas-run Palestinian Authority. The Anti-Terrorism Act allows humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people but not to the Palestinian Authority until Hamas renounces violence, recognizes Israel’s right to exist and abides by previous diplomatic agreements.

NEW YORK--Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, declares a boycott of Israeli President Moshe Katsav over his refusal to refer to Reform rabbis as “rabbis.”

Continued on page 84

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 83

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Page 84

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

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Continued from page 83 JERUSALEM--Gunmen from Hamas and other terrorist groups attack a military post inside Israel, killing two soldiers and taking captive Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

JERUSALEM--Palestinian terrorists abduct and kill West Bank settler Eliyahu Asheri, 18. Kidnapped Israeli solJULY 2006 dier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

NEW YORK--The United Credit: Israeli Foreign Nationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; new Human Rights Ministry Council passes an anti-Israel resolution, the only countryspecific resolution passed at the councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inaugural meeting. The resolution makes Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s alleged human rights violations and the â&#x20AC;&#x153;occupationâ&#x20AC;? of Palestinian and other Arab territories a talking point in all future meetings, a disappointment to reformers who hoped the council would avoid the obsession with Israel that discredited its predecessor, the Human Rights Commission.

NEW YORK--Israelis mark the 30th anniversary of the Entebbe operation to free more than 100 Jewish hostages held by pro-Palestinian plane hijackers in Uganda.

JERUSALEM--The womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s section at Jerusalemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Western Wall is to be expanded to make it equal in size to the menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s section.

NEW YORK--The first woman in Israel to be ordained a rabbi also became the first to head a Conservative seminary when Einat Ramon, 47, a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rabbinical school, is appointed dean of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Israel.

WASHINGTON--The speaker of Iraqâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Parliament blames Jews for violence in his country. Mahmoud alMashhadani, a member of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front, said Jews were driven by a desire to see their â&#x20AC;&#x153;agentsâ&#x20AC;? assume leadership positions.

PARIS--France marks the 100th anniversary of the rehabilitation of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus in a ceremony led

by President Jacques Chirac at the Ecole Militaire, the site where Dreyfus was stripped of his military honors in 1895. Dreyfus was falsely convicted of treason in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War on anti-Semitic pretenses.

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Left: Kidnapped Israeli soldier Eldad Regev, 26, in this undated family photo taken at their home in Kiryat Motzkin.

Credit: BP Images/JTA Right: Udi Goldwasser, 31, of Nahariya, also was kidnapped. Photo courtesy of his family JERUSALEM--Hezbollah guerrillas stage a crossborder raid into Israel, killing eight soldiers and kidnapping two, setting off a war that would last for 34 days.

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September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 85

Highlights of Jewish News: 5766 Continued from page 84 SEATTLE--A Muslim gunman attacks the NEW YORK--Red Seattle Jewish Federation, killing one woman Buttons, the Catskills cutup and injuring five people. who earned an Oscar for his AUGUST 2006 NEW YORK--The U.N. Security Council performance as a lovelorn says it will sanction Iran if it does not suspend serviceman in the 1957 film uranium enrichment by Aug. 31.

Sayonara, dies at age 87.

JERUSALEM--At least 12 Israeli reserve Born Aaron Chwatt in New York, Buttons stood out soldiers are killed in a Hezbollah rocket with his bright red hair and attack on Kibbutz Kfar Giladi in the Upper diminutive stature.

Galilee, the most deadly barrage on Israel J E R U S A L E M - - A mourner weeps during the packed funer- since the war with Hezbollah began in midJerusalemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gay pride parade al for Pam Waechter, killed during an July. is canceled due to insuffi- attack on Seattle's Jewish Federation, at NEW YORK--Reuters admits it altered a cient police protection. Temple B'nai Torah in Bellevue, WA, on photograph of an Israeli airstrike on Beirut, Credit: Thomas James Hurst making the bombardment appear more Police informed organizers July 31.

The Seattle Times intense. of the WorldPride 2006 parade that security could not be provided due to the NEW YORK--More than 50 Holocaust scholars send war with Hezbollah. a letter to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez conJERUSALEM--U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan demning his statements comparing Israel to the Nazis. accuses Israel of deliberately targeting U.N. forces after BERLIN--German Nobel Prize-winning author four peacekeepers are killed in Lebanon by an Israeli Gunther Grass admits he was a member of the Waffen SS airstrike. Hezbollah had been firing rockets into Israel during World War II. from near the U.N. position.

NEW YORK--The U.N. Security Council approves a NEW YORK--U.S. museums still may contain many resolution calling for an Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire. The Nazi-plundered artworks, a report from the Claims resolution authorizes an increase in the U.N. peacekeeping force in Conference finds.

WASHINGTON--Germany, Israel and the United Lebabon to States sign an agreement that would open millions of 15,000 and Holocaust-era files, raising to eight the number of councalls on the tries who have signed the April pact devised by the force to assist International Tracing Service, the arm of the the Lebanese International Committee of the Red Cross. army in keepBUENOS AIRES--Interpol issues arrest warrants for ing the South Hezbollah members believed to be in South America in free of connection with the 1994 bombing of an Argentine Hezbollah Jewish community center, which killed 85 people and gunmen and hurt more than 300. In March, the Argentine govern- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan p r e v e n t i n g ment admitted that it was at fault for not preventing the tours southern Lebanon near the Israeli bor- arms smugCredit: Mark Garten/UN gling bombing and for botching the investigation of it after- der, Aug. 29. into ward.

Lebanon.

JERUSALEM--Israel agrees to suspend its airstrikes in JERUSALEM--A rocket fired by Palestinians in the southern Lebanon for 48 hours after an Israeli airstrike Gaza Strip reaches deeper than ever into Israel, hitting kills at least 28 civilians in the Lebanese town of Kana. the marina of Ashkelon, 15 miles from northern Gaza.

JERUSALEM--Three planeloads carrying 800 immigrants from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom arrive in Israel on the same day in flights sponsored by Nefesh Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Nefesh and the Jewish Agency for Israel.

NEW YORK--Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s government freezes plans to pull out from parts of the West Bank because of the war with Hezbollah.

JERUSALEM--Sixty-three percent of Israelis want Ehud Olmert to resign because of his handling of Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s war with Hezbollah, according to a Yediot Achronot poll.

SEPTEMBER JERUSALEM--Thousands pf army reservists and civilians protest the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s handling of the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

BERLIN-For the first time in the postwar era, three rabbis received their ordination One hundred and twenty cut-out soldiers, Sept. 14 from each bearing a name plaque with places the Abraham where soldiers died in Lebanon and north- Geiger College ern Israel lie in the Rose Garden opposite for the TrainPrime Minister Ehud Olmertâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office in ing of Rabbis Jerusalem, Sept. 5. for Europe.

Credit: Brian Hendler/JTA NEW YORK-In a follow-up to last springâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Save Darfur rally, a Sept.

17 rally in New York Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Central Park featured former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright; Larry Cox, director of Amnesty International USA; and musical performances by Big & Rich and O.A.R., among others.

The rally coincides with the opening session of the United Nations and is aimed at getting the U.N. to deploy an international peacekeeping force to Darfur.

NEW YORK--Iranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the United Nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s General Assembly on Sept. 18. Ahmadinejad has called for the elimination of the State of Israel and has said the Holocaust was a myth.

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Page 86

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

Candlelighting Friday, Sept. 22: 7:03 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 23: no earlier than: 7:53 p.m.

Synagogue Listings Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;nai Israel Synagogue 618 Mynster St. Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com

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

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

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

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

Congregation Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;nai Jeshurun South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 S. 20th St. Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 435.8004 jewishnebraska.org

Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

ROSH HASHANAH FRIDAY: Shabbat Services, 7:30 p.m., Marty Shukert to speak.

SATURDAY:, Services, 10:30 a.m., David Kotok to speak.

FRIDAY, Sept. 29: Family Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m.

All services led by Spiritual Leader, Jeffrey Taxman.

MEMORIAL SERVICE SUNDAY, Oct. 1: Service at Council Bluffs Cemetery, 11 a.m.

BREAK-THE-FAST Monday, Oct. 2, 5:30 p.m., following Yom Kippur services, a Break-the-Fast Potluck will be held at the synagogue. If you are planning to attend, please call 323.8885 to let us know what you will bring.

Office Hours: MondayThursday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 a.m-2 p.m..

ROSH HASHANAH FRIDAY: Shacharit, 6:30 a.m.

The synagogue office will close at noon; Mincha/Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ariv, 6:45 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Free Babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Reading, 10 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 10:30 a.m.; Sermon, 10:30 a.m.; Mincha, 6:30 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Free Babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Reading, 10 a.m.; Junior 10:30 a.m.; Congregation, Sermon, 10:30 a.m., followed by Shofar service; Mincha, 6:30 p.m.

MONDAY â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fast of Gedaliah: Fast Begins, 6:02 a.m.; Selichot, 6:40 a.m., followed by Shacharit; Fast Ends, 7:59 p.m.; Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ariv, 8:30 p.m.

TUESDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m. followed by Shacharit; Lunch and Learn with Rabbi Gross, noon.

This monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s topic is â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Rambamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hilchot Teshuvah: How to Say Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m Sorry.â&#x20AC;? Make your lunch reservation with the office; Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ariv, 8:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m. followed by Shacharit; Picnic and Tashlich, 6 p.m. at Elmwood Park Pavilion; Tashlich Service, 7 p.m.; Mincha/Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ariv, 7:30 p.m. at the Park; Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ariv, 8:30 p.m. at Beth Israel.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

ROSH HASHANAH FRIDAY: Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ariv, 8:15 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9 a.m.; Alternative Service, 9:45 a.m.; Minha-Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ariv, 7:10 p.m.

SUNDAY: Morning Service, 9 a.m.; Tashlikh Service, 6 p.m.; Minha-Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ariv, 7:10 p.m.

MEMORIAL SERVICE SUNDAY, Oct. 1: Service at Beth El Cemetery, 10 a.m.

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

BAT MITZVAH Alex Goldman, daughter of Julie and Max Goldman, will become Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Sept. 30, at Beth Torah in Overland Park, KS. Alex is an seventh-grade Principleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Honor Roll student at Overland Trail Middle School in Overland Park, KS and she received a President Standard of Excellence honor.

Her interests include soccer, tennis, swimming, windsurfing, skiing, reading, and creative writing.

She has a sister, Emily and a brother, Jake.

Grandparents are Linda and Nelson Gordman, and Rosa-Ray Gousmar of Kansas City, MO, and the late Meyer Goldman.

She is the great-granddaughter of the late Ruth and Lazier Kavich, and the late Esther and Dan Gordman.

THURSDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m. followed by Shacharit; Women of the Torah, 9:30 a.m.

Babysitting is provided at no charge; Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ariv, 8:30 p.m.; Advanced Parsha Study, 9 p.m.

BEYT SHALOM ROSH HASHANAH FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m.; Taschlich, 5 p.m. at Zorinsky Lake. All services at the synagogue, unless otherwise indicated.

SATURDAY, Sept.

30: Shabbat Tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Shuvah, 9 a.m. at the Blumkin Home.

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman.

ROSH HASHANAH FRIDAY: Mincha/Maariv, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Maariv, 7:15 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Shofar Service, 10:30 a.m.; Tashlich Service, 5 p.m.; Mincha/ Maariv, 7:15 p.m.; Havdallah, 8 p.m.

CONGREGATION Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel.

ROSH HASHANAH FRIDAY: Evening Service, 8 p.m. Babysitting will be available; Oneg following hosted by the Board of Trustees.

SATURDAY: Morning Service, 10 a.m. Babysitting will be available; Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Service, 11 a.m. led by youth (concurrent with sermon); Tashlich Service, 2:30 p.m. at Wilderness Park.

WEDNESDAY: Hebrew class (grades 2-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

THURSDAY: Choir Rehearsal, 7 p.m.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME ROSH HASHANAH FRIDAY: Evening Service, 7

p.m., led by Andrew Greenberg.

SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9 a.m., led by Andrew Greenberg.

SUNDAY: Morning service, 9 a.m., led by Phyllis Hoffman.

Services will be held at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Herbert Goldsten Chapel. All services are open to the community.

TEMPLE ISRAEL ROSH HASHANAH FRIDAY: Evening Service, 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Service, 9 a.m. (suitable for ages K-4) led by clergy; Tot High Holy Holiday Day Service, 9 a.m. (for ages five and under) led by clergy; Morning Service, 10:15 a.m.

SUNDAY: No Religious School.

MEMORIAL SERVICE SUNDAY, Sept. 24: Service at Temple Israel Cemetery, 1 p.m.

LIFELONG LEARNING TUESDAY, Sept. 26: Share the Moment, Noon with Lee Needleman; Adult Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;nai Mitzvah, 6:30â&#x20AC;&#x201C;8 p.m.

KOL RINA: Rehearsal is Tuesday, Sept. 26, 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 46 p.m.; Family School, 6-8 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6-8 p.m.

Religioius THURSDAY: School Steering Committee, noon in the Temple Library.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN No services will be held Sept.

22-Oct. 20.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Rabbi Royi Shaffin.

Minyan, MONDAY, AND THURSDAY, 9 a.m.

ROSH HASHANAH FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Mincha/Maariv, 7:30 p.m.

SUNDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.

WEDNESDAY: Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Call Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066; Hebrew class (grades 27), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

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

If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking at this space, so are others!

YOUR AD CAN GO HERE...

to reserve space, call

Allan Handleman, 334.6451, or Terri Greenwood, 334.6559.

Annual Fall Product & Office Supply Show

Nebraska Junk JauntÂŽ Antique Market is located at Fonner Park Grand Island, NE

9 - 5, Sat. Sept. 23 10 -4, Sun. Sept. 24 75 Dealers inside & outside

Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Door Prizes Light Appetizers Beverages

35252'(2 6800(5 ),1$/( 52'(2 6(37 (9(176 6(37 2&7

$2 admission good both days

7LFNHWV DV ORZ DV

Call 308-234-4354 forinfo www.casantiquemarket.com

6HSW 'LDPRQG 5LR %LJ 5LFK 6HSW 6XJDUODQG ZZZ ULYHUFLW\URXQGXS RUJ RU FDOO

â&#x20AC;˘ Furniture Systems, Desks, Chairs â&#x20AC;˘ Multi-Function Machinesâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;see the latest technology in networked and telephone systems â&#x20AC;˘ Attend â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ergonomic, Space Planning and Get Organizedâ&#x20AC;? training sessions â&#x20AC;˘ Free Product Samples & Promo Items â&#x20AC;˘ Factory representatives on hand to answer any questions you have

648 N. Broad St. â&#x20AC;˘ Fremont, NE â&#x20AC;˘ 721-6436

September 22, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 87

Index of Advertisers Advertiser Page AAA Rents ................................................................. 46 Abacus Consulting .................................................... 42 Abraham Catering .................................................... 79 Abrahams, Kaslow & Cassmann LLP ....................... 44 Absolutely Fresh Seafood Company .......................... 79 Acura of Omaha ....................................................... 32 Advantage Mortgage Service, Inc. ............................. 11 Agel ........................................................................... 72 AIPAC ........................................................................ 74 Alegent ..................................................................... 83 Alkar Billiards ............................................................ 19 All Makes Office Equipment Co. ................................ 83 All Seasons Home Improvement Co. ........................ 21 Allens ........................................................................ 54 American Family Insurance-Todd C. Johnson ........... 50 American Tile and Marble Co. ................................... 21 AMIT Women ............................................................ 68 AmSan ..................................................................... 65 Arboretum ................................................................. 41 Arnold Weitz & Co. .................................................... 47 Ashford, Brad for Legislature ..................................... 28 Associated Counseling Professionals ......................... 16 Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;nai Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;rith Henry Monsky Lodge ............................. 68 Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;nai Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;rith Youth Organization .................................. 24 Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;nai Israel Synagogue ............................................. 68 Badger Body/Isuzu Truck ......................................... 63 Bag â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;N Save ........................................................ 57, 71 Bagel Bin .................................................................. 58 Belgrade Company ................................................... 43 Bell, Angela Massage Therapist ................................ 32 Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts ......................... 11 Bergman Incentives/Bergman Jewelers ................... 18 Bernina Sewing Centers ............................................ 20 Beth El Synagogue .................................................... 68 Beth Israel Sisterhood ............................................... 68 Beth Israel Synagogue .............................................. 68 Beyt Shalom ............................................................. 57 BILU USY .................................................................. 24 Bistro 121 ................................................................. 13 Bloomfield Forum ....................................................... 7 Blooms ..................................................................... 75 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska .......................... 43 Blue Williâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ................................................................ 53 Blumenthal Cady & Associates ................................. 71 Body Basics .............................................................. 75 Borsheimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ............................................................... 53 Bresel Family .............................................................. 9 Broadmoor ............................................................... 62 Brodkeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s .................................................................. 38 Brownell Talbot ......................................................... 84 Canfieldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sporting Goods ........................................ 35 Canvas Boutique ....................................................... 76 Care Consultants for the Aging .................................. 35 CB Richard Ellis/MEGA ............................................ 54 CBS/Home-Toni Rosen ............................................ 44 CBS/Home-Fred Tichauer ........................................ 66 Center for Jewish Education ..................................... 68 Chabad .................................................................... 68 Charlestonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s .............................................................. 58 China Road ............................................................... 37 Christelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ..................................................................... 6 City Glass Co. ........................................................... 83 Clark, Mindy-Ring for Sale ......................................... 77 Cohen Family ........................................................... 40 Congregation Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Nai Jeshurun ................................... 77 Congregation Tifereth Israel ....................................... 77 Country Inn & Suites ................................................. 12 Countryside Village ................................................... 15 Creighton University .................................................. 23 Crown Pointe Retirement Community ....................... 10 Crowne Plaza ............................................................ 46 Dance Shoppe .......................................................... 15 David Morton Food Marketing ................................... 40 Direct Digital ............................................................. 61 Dornan, Stu for Douglas County Attorney ................. 59 Durham Western Heritage Museum ......................... 73 Elk Ridge Village Senior Living ................................... 33 Emanuel Contracting, Inc. ........................................ 12 Enterprise Bank ........................................................ 41 Eye Essentials ........................................................... 26 Factory Eyeglass Outlet ............................................... 7 Fahey, Mayor Mike ...................................................... 5 Family Enrichment, Inc. .............................................. 6 Family Fun Center ..................................................... 61 Fifth Third Bank ........................................................ 78 First National Bank ................................................... 45 Franchise Net ........................................................... 65 Frankel, Zacharia, Arnold, Nissen, Stamp & Reinsch, LLC ................................................... 31

Page Advertiser Fraser Stryker ............................................................ 84 Friedel Jewish Academy ............................................ 34 Gallner & Pattermann ................................................. 5 Garboâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Salons & Spa ............................................... 53 Genzyme .................................................................. 42 Girls & Boys Town ..................................................... 64 Goldberg & Shrier ..................................................... 62 Gordmans ................................................................ 88 Grace/Mayer Insurance ............................................ 56 Gratz College ............................................................ 55 Grubb & Ellis/Pacific Realty ...................................... 59 Hadassah ................................................................. 68 Hadassah Upper Midwest Region ............................. 62 Hagel, Senator Chuck and Lilibet .............................. 14 Harris Center for Judaic Studies at UNL ................... 20 Harry A. Koch Co. ..................................................... 52 Hiro Sushi/Imperial Palace ....................................... 58 Hoberman Family ..................................................... 26 Hockenbergs ............................................................ 39 Home PC Advisor ..................................................... 50 Horizon Dental Center .............................................. 30 Hour Glass Studio ..................................................... 80 Hy-Vee ................................................................ 48, 67 I-Go Van & Storage .................................................... 50 Ideal Water ................................................................ 28 Itex ............................................................................ 11 Jackson Hewitt Tax Service ....................................... 70 Jacobson Fish Co., Inc. ............................................. 31 Jams ......................................................................... 37 Jewish Community Center ........................................ 61 JCC Child Development Center ................................. 66 Jewish Family Service ............................................... 12 Jewish Federation of Lincoln ..................................... 41 Jewish Federation of Omaha .................................... 25 Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation .................... 3 Jewish National Fund ................................................ 69 Jewish Press ......................................................... 2, 24 Jewish Senior Services .............................................. 49 Jewish War Veterans ................................................. 68 Jewish Women International ..................................... 68 John A. Gentleman Mortuaries ................................. 10 Julioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ....................................................................... 79 Katelman Company Antiques ................................... 21 KHue Designs ............................................................. 4 King Fong Cafe ......................................................... 36 KM Landscaping, Inc. ............................................... 31 Kohllâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pharmacy & Homecare ................................. 47 KPTM/KXVO ............................................................... 4 Kutak Rock ................................................................ 10 Lakeside Dentistry .................................................... 32 Lakeside Hills Apartments ........................................ 63 League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly ................. 68 Lerner Company ....................................................... 39 Liâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l Prince & Princess ................................................ 15 Lindley Clothing ........................................................ 61 Lionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Automotive Upholstery .................................... 18 Louie Mâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Burger Lust ............................................... 36 Louis Liquor Grill & Bar ............................................. 13 Lynn Roberts International ........................................ 34 Malashock Jewelry ................................................... 22 Malbar Vision Centers ............................................... 56 Marathon Realty Corporation .................................... 32 Mark Sanford Group ................................................. 31 Marks Clare & Richards ............................................ 40 Marriott Regency Hotel ............................................. 55 McGill, Gotsdiner, Workman & Lepp, P.C., L.L.O. .... 27 McGrath, North, Mullin & Kratz, PC LLO .................... 8 MDK & Associates ...................................................... 9 Mediterranean Bistro ................................................ 58 Meehan Drywall .......................................................... 6 Mid-City Jewelry & Loan ............................................ 55 Mid Con Systems Inc. ............................................... 14 Midwest Box Co. ....................................................... 30 Midwest Ear, Nose, & Throat, P.C. ............................. 10 Midwest Woodworkers ................................................ 9 Milder Family ............................................................ 38 Montemarano Landscapes, Inc. ............................... 21 Mulhallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ................................................................... 22 N. Pitlor & Son, Inc. .................................................. 39 Nan C. ...................................................................... 72 National Council of Jewish Women ........................... 68 NCSY of Beth Israel Synagogue ................................. 24 Nebraska Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Home Society ........................... 16 Nebraska Democratic Party ...................................... 62 Nebraska Furniture Mart ........................................... 26 Nebraska Jewish Historical Society ........................... 68 Nebraska Press Statewide Classifieds ....................... 87 Nebraska Warehouse & Cannonball Express ............ 20 Nebraska Wine & Spirits, Inc. .................................... 32 Nelson, Senator Ben and Diane ................................ 80

Advertiser Page New Cassel Retirement Center ................................. 80 No Frills ..................................................................... 27 Nobbies .................................................................... 61 Noddle Companies ..................................................... 7 Normâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Door Service ................................................. 54 Northwestern Mutual-Robert Randels ....................... 34 Nova String Quartet ................................................... 21 Omaha Compound Company .................................... 5 Omaha Paper Stock Co. ........................................... 29 Omaha Steaks .......................................................... 84 Omaha Surgical Center ............................................ 54 Omaha Temple Youth Group ..................................... 24 Omaha Temporary Services ..................................... 33 Omaha Trans Video .................................................. 40 One Drake Place ....................................................... 30 Parsowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ................................................................... 53 Pasta Amore ............................................................. 75 Pearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gourmet Coffee .............................................. 14 Peterson Brothers Realty Co. ..................................... 77 Pharmacy Express .................................................... 35 Phones Plus ............................................................. 70 Picture Man .............................................................. 63 Pilates Advantage ..................................................... 44 Pirsch, Pete for Legislature ........................................ 76 Pollak & Hicks, P.C. ................................................... 16 Premier Countertops ................................................ 38 Prudential Ambassador Real EstateBlackman Team ............................................. 71 Pulverente Monument Co. ........................................ 66 Quality Dental Care L.L.C. ........................................ 50 Randyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pharmacy ...................................................... 4 RDG .......................................................................... 57 Re/Max-Jennifer Kully ............................................... 22 Regency Court .......................................................... 53 Regency Lodge ......................................................... 32 Remington Heights ................................................... 82 Republic Beverage Company .................................... 44 Residential Mortgage Services, Inc. .......................... 35 Roberts Dairy ............................................................ 19 Rockbrook Floors ...................................................... 27 Rockbrook Village ...................................................... 75 Rossi ......................................................................... 75 Rotellaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Italian Bakery .............................................. 43 Russellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s .................................................................... 15 Ryco Packaging Corp. ............................................... 22 Sarahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ..................................................................... 15 Schwalb Realty .......................................................... 14 Security Equipment, Inc. ........................................... 59 Security National Bank ............................................. 75 Security Trust Company-Mary Lueth ......................... 28 Seim Johnson Sestak & Quist, LLP ........................... 66 Senor Matias ............................................................ 37 Shariâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Solutions ....................................................... 72 Sir Speedy ................................................................ 35 Smile Design Studio ................................................. 44 Sodexho Senior Services ........................................... 74 Solâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jewelry & Loan ................................................... 9 Sonny Gerber Auto Sales ............................................ 6 Soul Desires .............................................................. 46 Sparks Computerized Car Care ................................. 18 Spirit World ............................................................... 13 St. Joseph Villa .......................................................... 47 Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP .................................... 81 Stoddard Family ....................................................... 70 Suburban Newspapers Inc. ........................................ 9 Sunridge Village ........................................................ 18 Superior Pools, Spas, Etc. ......................................... 21 Swartzbaugh Farber .................................................. 33 Sweet & Associates ................................................... 19 Temple Israel ............................................................ 68 Terry, Congressman Lee ........................................... 52 TLC Tree Care ........................................................... 61 UBS Financial Services, Inc. ..................................... 65 University of Nebraska Medical Center ...................... 85 University of Nebraska-Omaha Athletics .................... 76 V. Mertz .................................................................... 36 Valentinoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ................................................................ 13 Vann Realty ............................................................... 28 Visions ...................................................................... 68 Wells Blue Bunny ...................................................... 60 White Crane Gallery .................................................. 80 Wiesman Development ............................................. 72 Winery ...................................................................... 36 Wolf Bros. Western Store ........................................... 16 Wolfson Used Cars ................................................... 43 Wyndham Street Ltd. ................................................ 71 Zioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pizzeria ............................................................. 37 Zongkers ................................................................... 51 Zuerlein Dentistry ...................................................... 17

Statewide Classified ATTENTION ADVERTISERS! For $195/25 word classified you can advertise in over 170 Nebraska newspapers. For more information contact the Jewish Press at 402-3346451 or call 1-800-369-2850.

BANKRUPTCY: FAST relief from creditors. Statewide filing. Affordable rates. Call Steffens Law Office, 308-872-8327. www.steffenslaw.com. We are a debt relief agency, which helps people file bankruptcy under the bankruptcy code.

SELL YOUR classic car, truck or motorcycle online. Call this newspaper to place your ad on the national www.midwestclassiccars.com web site for only $25.00 Your ad runs until your vehicle is sold! $10,000!! GUITAR collector will pay $10,000 for a 1950â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gibson Les Paul or Fender Telecaster! Other guitars considered. Toll-free, 1-866-237-8116.

ALL CASH candy route. Do you earn $800 in a day? Your own local candy route.

Includes 30 machines and candy all for $9,995. 1-888-755-1356.

BETTER TV. Better picture. Better Prices. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be stupid not to switch to Dish Network for only $19.99 a month! Call us now for details. 800-843-4742.

HOT TUBS, end of season sale, 35 new tubs and 15 trade ins must be sold by Sept.

30, $995-$4,995. Call 1-800-869-0406, for full information package, goodlifespa.com.

A1 SACRIFICE - Undelivered orders! Harvest free home/farm electricity.

Manufacturerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Windmill systems over 50% off wholesale: $1.50-$3.00/watt. Solar discounts. www.emarkelectric.com. 1-800-973-WATT (9288). Dealers welcome.

ALL STEEL! Rigid frame or pole building. Excellent value and service. Free quote and erection estimates! Sentinel Building Systems. 800-327-0790 ext. 26. www.sentinelbuildings.com.

A COOL travel job. Now hiring (18-24 positions). Guys/gals to work and travel entire USA. Paid training, transportation, lodging furnished. Call today, start today. 1-877-6465050.

MUSEUM DIRECTOR: The board of Nebraska Prairie Museum in Holdrege, NE, seeks an executive director for up to 30 hours a week. Applicant should have financial, managerial, oganizational and technical skills. For more information, see job description at www.nebraskaprairie.org. Submit resumes to Nebraska Prairie Museum, Attn: Susan Perry, Box 164, Holdrege, NE 68949.

POLICE OFFICERS: Earn up to $20,000 bonus. Train to protect your fellow soldiers and be a leader in the Army National Guard. 1-800-GO-GUARD.com/police.

SEEKING DYNAMIC, results oriented leader to double our Ag/Ag Business market share. If you have a strong knowledge of financial matters and are passionate about helping Ag and Business customers reach their dreams, you will enjoy this work. We would be pleased to train the right candidate. If you want the opportunity to prosper by helping others reach their dreams, send your resume with an example of your best accomplishment to: Don Nolan, President, First State Bank, PO Box 111, Hawarden, IA 51023.

SERVICE MANAGER position open. For more information, contact Friesen Chevrolet, 402-773-5538.

SERVICE TECHNICIAN wanted. Farm equipment, Hilder Implement, Inc., Central City, Nebraska. Good location, modern facility, immediate training available. 308-9463886 or 308-940-0259.

THE NEBRASKA State Patrol is accepting applications for the position of Trooper until 11/15/2006. Salary up to $36,296.00. Application - www.nps.ne.us or 1-866-JOINNSP. Equal Opportunity Employer.

DRIVER - CDL training: $0 down, financing by Central Refrigerated. Drive for Central and earn up to $40K+ first year. 800-727-5865 x 1110, centraldrivingjobs.net.

DRIVERS: WE are looking for you. High mileage pay. Full benefits, practical route miles pay. Class A-CDL/1 year OTR experience required. Grand Island Contract Carriers. 877367-4422. www.gicc.chiefind.com.

EXPERIENCED OVER the road carhaulers wanted. United Road has openings in Omaha, NE. Competitive wages, outstanding benefits, excellent home time. Experienced drivers call John, 800-221-5127, Ext. 186.

TIRED OF smoke and mirror pay packages? Ours is simple, F.C.C. is hiring company drivers and owner operators, van or flatbed. $1,000 sign on bonus, XM radio, real hometime, real earnings. 1-800-228-9842 ext. 137, or on line at www.fcc-inc.com. CDL Class A required.

GOT TERMITES? Call Bear Termite Co. 29 years in business. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve earned the B.B.B. Excellence Award the last 6 years. Phone 800-241-7179.

Fee Req. $99.50

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Page 88

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

September 22, 2006

BEST BEST WISHES for a happy, happy, healthy healthy & prosperous prosperous & NEW YEAR! YEAR! NEW