Vol. LXXXIII No. 5 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 82 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
Mario Cuomo Appears Live from the 92nd Street Y by RACHEL BLUM JCC Program Director The next Live from the 92nd Street Y broadcast features Mario Cuomo, as he addresses the future of America in the current political climate. The broadcast, titled, “Quo Vadis, America?” will be shown in the Jewish Community Center Theater on Sunday, Oct. 12, 7 p.m. A Democrat, Mario Cuomo was elected New York State’s 52nd Governor in 1982. He set records for popularity in both his 1986 and 1990 bids for re-election, gathering the highest percentage votes and highest victory margins of any candidate for second and third four-year gubernaFormer New York Governor Mario Cuomo torial terms in state history. During his 12-year term, he created awarded Governor Cuomo its “Medal for more than a half-million jobs for New Spoken Language” in 1999 which made Yorkers and led the state through two him the first lawyer or politician to be so honored by the Academy. national recessions. The program will be broadcast live via In addition to his current law practice, Cuomo serves as Chairman Emeritus of satellite from the 92nd Street Y in New the Partnership for a Drug Free America York City and projected onto the movie and is the author of many books, includ- theater size screen at the JCC. Tickets for ing Reason to Believe, More than Words, the broadcast are $5 for JCC members The New York Idea, and Lincoln on and students and $8 for non-members, Democracy. An eloquent statesman, the and can be purchased in advance by American Academy of Arts and Letters calling JCC Member Services at 334-6426.
7 Tishrei, 5764 October 3, 2003
Dean-Lieberman Dustup Reflects Focus of Israel as Political Issue
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) spoke to the Council on Foreign Relations on Feb. 26, about the need for greater administration planning for rebuilding Iraq in the aftermath of war. Photo, courtesy Office of Sen. Lieberman. WASHINGTON (JTA)--Political bloodletting in the lead-up to the Democratic presidential primaries was inevitable with so many candidates vying for attention. And the Middle East--a minefield of sensitivity and scrutiny--was a likely forum for it to start. The Howard Dean-Joseph Lieberman dustup may have died down since last month, but expect more of the same, say veteran Democrats and political analysts. “You’re seeing the beginnings of the gloves coming off on the Democratic side--nine people are vying for a majority of 4,600 delegates,” said Mark Wrighton, an expert on Democratic Party politics at the University of New Hampshire. “They will be competing on the edges for those delegates and will have to dis-
Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean spoke March 30 at the Consultation on Conscience conference held by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Photo by Yaakov M. Hammer
tinguish each other on a number of topics--the Mideast is one.” Lieberman seized his opportunity when a reporter overheard Dean’s comment to a supporter at a Santa Fe, N.M. rally. “I don’t find it convenient to blame people. Nobody should have violence, ever. But they do, and it’s not our place to take sides,” Dean said. Lieberman was soon chiding Dean at a debate. “Howard Dean’s statements break a 50-year record in which presidents, Republican and Democratic, members of Congress of both parties, have supported our relationship with Israel, based on shared values,” he said. Attacking Dean on Israel made sense for Lieberman, Wrighton said, because Continued on page 11
Offutt Chaplain Deployed to Middle East by CAROL KATZMAN Editor It’s a long way from Offutt Air Force Base to the Middle East--a trip of more than 12,000 miles that Chaplain Kalman Dubov took “sometime” last month. It’s a trip he felt was worth taking, so that Jewish servicemen and women stationed there will have someone to train lay leaders for High Holiday services. But Chaplain Dubov, who’s also a major in the Air Force and a licensed counselor, has taken another much longer journey--from Lubavitch World Headquarters in Crown Heights to his latest residence in Bellevue, NE. Dubov, who has a fourth title--Rabbi Dubov--obtained smicha (rabbinic ordination) from Chabad’s Central Yeshiva Seminary in 1975. According to the JWB Chaplains’ Council in New York City, Rabbi Dubov isn’t the only chaplain who came from a Chabad background-there’s one in the army and one in the National Guard. The son of fourth and fifth generation “Chabadniks”, Rabbi Dubov has 12 siblings, but hasn’t spoken to most of them for more than 20 years. His father forbade radio, television and secular books, but Dubov read in secret.
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“I couldn’t boxes that hold a copy of share this the Shema, when a secuwith anyone,” lar Jewish women spoke he recalled, to Dubov. showing a “She talked about the p u b l i c idealistic positions in life Chabad face from the soul’s point of to the world, view,” Rabbi Dubov while devourrecalled. “And she quoting mysteries, ed from a poem.” novels, biogDubov was so taken raphies and with this unlikely convermore from sation with a women, the local pubthat when she offered her lic library. hand, he immediately His secret stuck his out in return. world was his yeshiva friends stared exposed, in shock. “I knew I however, on couldn’t keep my two one of the worlds separate any M i t z v a h longer,” he admitted. Mobile cam“Mentally, I had made the paigns estableap.” lished by “the Chaplain Kalman Dubov was outfitted with this Dubov tried to move out Rebbe” Rabbi desert camouflage gear in preparation for his of his parents’ home, then M e n a c h e m deployment to the Middle East. a conversation with a guidMendel Schneerson. ance counselor at Long Island University’s Dubov and his friends from the yeshi- Brooklyn campus recommended Dubov va were in Flatbush, a section of get a student loan to first attend night classBrooklyn, trying to persuade Jewish men es. “When I arrived home late at night after to put on tefillin, the leather straps and class, my father asked me where I had
This Week: Monthly Calendar, pages 8-9 Staying in Touch: a new column by Ozzie Nogg page 5
Jennifer Sherman Reviews Visiting Mr. Green page 10
been,” Dubov said. “I knew it was the end of the game.” The next few years were very difficult for the young rabbi. Though he was still living at home, he was working towards a masters in family counseling. In February of 1976, Dubov’s father asked if he was going to continue. When Dubov replied affirmatively, his father turned around and walked away. That was the last time they spoke for 15 years until the two met at a cousin’s wedding when now Chaplain Dubov was stationed at RAF Mildenhall in England in 1991. Stating “it was too cultlike”, Rabbi Dubov left his family’s Chabad world altogether in 1978 after earning a masters and joined the Navy as a chaplain, where he “could focus on the larger aspect of need,” he explained. “All that movement ‘stuff’ pales for the Jewish serviceman--and woman--who are a minority in a larger military sea.” Armed with rabbinic ordination and a second masters in sociology, Chaplain Dubov served in Subic Bay in the Phillipines and then at Bethesda Naval Hospital. After completing his active duty service, Dubov remained in the Navy Reserves for nine years. Continued on page 4
Coming Nov. 7: Salute to Education and Camping Opinions and Editorials now located on pages 12-13
Synagogue Schedules now located on page 14