Vol. LXXXV No. 2 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 84 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
19 Elul, 5765 September 23, 2005
Harold Cooperman Temple Israel Reaches Out to Hurricane Survivors Via Jacob’s Ladder Dead at 87 by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Volunteers at Temple Israel are joining in an effort dubbed “Jacob’s Ladder: A Relief Prject of the Union for Reform Judaism” (URJ) which involves people across North America who are collecting food and supplies and shipping them to the Union’s Henry S. Jacobs Camp in Utica, Mississippi. The camp was designated by FEMA as a distribution center for supplies donated to Hurricane Katrina survivors. URJ is working in partnership with the town of Utica and the camp to operate a staging and distribution center for relief supplies from a warehouse provided by the city. Approximately 250 to 300 evacuees from the Gulf Coast area have passed through Jacob’s Camp since Katrina ravaged the cities of New Orleans, Biloxi, and Gulf Port and surrounding areas, according to Abram Orlansky, Assistant Director. Most evacuees have traveled on to other parts of the country although about 25 remain along with relief workers who use the Len Burrell, in the truck, helps volunteers Kate Kirshenbaum, left, and camp as a stopover on their way to the devas- Joanne Freeman load cases of paper goods at Temple Israel for victims of Photo by Joan K. Marcus tated areas. Volunteers from out of town who the hurricane. eral schools and faith organihave been helping unload Only sheets, towels, blankets, pillows, diapers, adult diapers trucks, most recently from (Depends), feminine hygiene products, tissues, and toilet paper zations who have offered to Champaign and Chicago, IL, will be accepted for shipping to Jacobs Camp. Gordman’s is collect goods. Please consider at the warehouse in Utica, a offering a 20% discount on sheets, pillows, blankets, and tow- adding your support to the town of 900, are provided els purchased at their stores. Coupons are available at Temple ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ project so board and room at the camp. or the JCC’s member services desk or on line at www.tem- together we can directly The camp’s fulltime staff of pleisrael-ne.org. Cash will also be accepted with 100% of the impact the lives of Katrina survivors.” seven are also helping. money used to purchase the designated goods. Large quantities of the “Our campus is a very busy place,” said Orlansky who mentioned how the same item should be packed in cases. To donate an camp staff is trying to make the residents, which cur- entire pallet of a particular item, please make an appointrently includes about 20 volunteers, comfortable while ment with Mimi Silverman who is chairing the project running the camp’s normal activities. He expects dozens for Temple. She can be reached at mimitaffet@cox.net. more volunteers in the coming days. He also expects Anyone in the community interested in volunteering to about 40 trucks from across the country to arrive at the help with this project can e-mail Kate Kirshenbaum at or Cindy Goldberg at warehouse where volunteers unload and sort donations katekirsh@cox.net before distributing them through a number of local and cgoldberg5@cox.net. Donations are being accepted at Temple Israel on regional ministries and relief centers that serve the greater Jackson community which has doubled in popu- Sundays, Mondays, and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Temple high school students will accept donations on lation with displaced families since the storm. Wendy Goldberg, President of Temple Israel, said, “This Wednesdays, 4-8 p.m. through Oct. 12, the final day project has presented an opportunity to partner with sev- of collections before the truck leaves for Utica.
by JOAN K. MARCUS Omaha groceryman, Harold Cooperman died Tuesday at the age of 87. Funeral services were held yesterday at Beth El Cemetery, where he was buried next to his wife, Merriam, who died in 1999. Cooperman was best known for his no nonsense approach to business and for his gentlemanly approach to real estate deals. P.J. Morgan, former mayor of Omaha, said, “I would rather have had a gentleman’s agreement with Harold Cooperman than a written agreement with most people!” He was born in Poland in 1918 and arrived in Omaha in 1923. His mother, father and two sisters came with him and he became the breadwinner for the family when his father lost a job as a laborer at National Biscuit Company. His mother died when he was 12 and left his father with Harold, 12, and his sisters, ages six and 15. Cooperman went to work delivering the Omaha World-Herald in the mornings and working three nights a week at a filling station. He earned a total of $20 per week and that was enough to support the family. After graduating from Central High in 1933, he went to work for his uncle, Al Wohlner, at California Grocery at 33rd and California. He said that the times were tough, but he learned the grocery business by working six day, 73-hour weeks for $10 per week. In 1938, he borrowed $2,000 from relatives and put in his life savings of $185 to open his own small grocery store at 16th and Fort. By 1941, he had tripled the size of the store, but World War II interrupted his career. He served in the United State Navy from 1943-46 and ran the meat department of a base kitchen on the Pacific Island of Guam. After returning to Omaha in 1947, he bought a store in Ralston. Another store in Ashland and one in Pickstown, South Dakota, rounded out the chain until 1955,when he opened Harold’s Market at 21st and East Locust in Omaha. He ran that Continued on page 15
ZAKA Rescues Damaged Torahs
Men’s Co-Chairmen: “Campaign Contributions Bring Great Return on Investment” by OZZIE NOGG ing. We hope to train and Mike Abramson and Bob inspire our workers, and Belgrade bring a unique educate them and the genercombination of volunteer al community about the experience and marketing agencies of the Federation savvy to their role as Men’s and the work they do.” Division Co-Chairs in the To further the education 2006 Federation Campaign. process, both men encourAccording to Mike, “The age onsite learning. “Just question I’m asked most walk the halls of the JCC,” often is, ‘What am I giving Bob says. “Walk through the to?’ Bob and I realize that Blumkin Home, visit the part of our responsibility as Child Development Center, Men’s Division Cothe Kripke Library, Jewish Mike Abramson and Bob Belgrade Chairmen is to help potenFamily Services. See the tial donors better understand where their contributions activity with your own eyes. See exactly where your congo and how the money is used in our local agencies and tribution goes. overseas.” “When you can identify with the cause--put a face on Bob Belgrade believes that, “Donors need to know it--you understand why all of us must continue to supwhat they’re buying. When you ask people to spend port the professional staff and the agencies. You’ll feel money, to contribute to the Campaign, you have to good about doing your part.” show them the benefits, explain what their dollar is buy- Continued on page 2
Inside Opinion Page see page 12
This Week: Monthly Calendar: Pages 8-9 From Shtetl to Swing Broadcasts on NET1: Page 2
Isaac Leider, a volunteer from ZAKA, carries a Torah out of the flooded Beit Israel shul in New Orleans on Sept. 13. A group of volunteers aided by National Guard soldiers rescued seven scrolls, though many may not be salvageable. The recovery effort was partially funded by Agudath More Op-eds on page 12-13. Israel of America. Credit: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
Coming Next Week: New Year’s Issue: “The Path to Judaism”
Shimon Peres Reaches College Students Through MTV: Page 3
Registration Opens for 20th Annual Bible Quiz: Page 7
Chabad Gala Draws Crowd From Across Community: PAge 16