October 4, 2024

A N AG E N C Y O F T H E J E W I S H F E D E R AT I O N O F O M A H A

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O C TO B E R 4 , 2 024 | 2 TIS H RE I 578 5 | VO L. 1 05 | NO. 49 | CANDLELIGHTING | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 6: 41 P.M.

WE REMEMBER Omaha Jewish Film Festival: An outstanding opening Page 3

Neomit Dekel-Chen’s home on Kibbutz Nir Oz, as seen after Hamas’ attack on Israel that took place Oct. 7, 2023. Credit: Yiftach

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor ne year ago, Hamas terrorists as well as civilian fighters crossed the Gaza border into Israel and killed the most Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. It came on the heels of 4,300 rockets shot from Gaza into Israel. In addition to the 1,200 people murdered, an additional 250 Israelis were taken hostage. That day Jews in Israel and around the world were supposed to celebrate Simchat Torah. Instead, weeks of funerals and failed hostage negotiations followed, as well as a counterattack

A special evening in Celebration of Beth Israel Page 6

O

A night to remember: Ari Axelrod’s A Place For Us celebrates Jewish Broadway and Legacy Giving Page 9

The emotional impact of anniversary dates

REGULARS Spotlight Voices Synagogues Life cycles

11 12 14 15

TERESA DRELICHARZ Jewish Family Service Executive Director The first anniversary of the attack on Israel is quickly approaching. Oct. 7 marks the date in 2023 that Hamasled militant groups launched coordinated attacks on Israel, killing 1139 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 815 civilians, 38 of whom were children enjoying a music festival with their families. About 250 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken hostage, including 30 children. One of the most significant factors likely to impact the emotional well-being of so many is the fact that the war is still raging, al-

Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra. Credit: Luke Tress

most a year later, and has led to the loss of thousands of innocent lives, as well as rampant antisemitism and hate in many areas across the globe.

THE POWER OF ANNIVERSARY DATES IN GROUP TRAUMA: REFLECTING ON WAR AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY See Emotional impact page 4

into Gaza. The world has not been the same since.

In October of 2023, Jewish Federation of Omaha CEO Bob Goldberg wrote: “The October 7 terror attack against Israeli civilians is incomparable and unprecedented, in all ways. It feels right to come together to mourn those murdered, to pray for refuah shlema, healing for the wounded, and for the release of the hostages, mostly civilians - women, the elderly, and children, literally dragged from their beds.”

“The days ahead will not be any easier, as Israel will take decisive action to protect its citizens. As this war continues – and it will – we must not forget how it started.”

See We remember page 3

Inbari to keynote at symposium there is good reason for that. This LEONARD GREENSPOON This year will mark the 35th an- will be his third Symposium. Inbari nual meeting of the Symposium on is a scholar, writer, and educator Jewish Civilization. It is scheduled whose work has reshaped our unfor Sunday, Nov. 3, and Monday, derstanding of Jewish and Israeli Nov. 4. The title history. He was for this event is born and raised in The Jewish DiasJerusalem. After pora and the Promcompleting his milised Land: Origins, itary service, he enDevelopments, Furolled in the ture Prospects.

Hebrew University We are honored of Jerusalem. to host this fall’s Inbari comkeynote presenter, pleted all of his deDr. Motti Inbari, grees at Hebrew Professor of ReliUniversity. His dissertation analyzed gious Studies, The University of North the religious players Carolina at Pemwho actively proDr. Motti Inbari moted the vision of broke. The title of his presentation is Analyzing Public the Third Temple, pushing toward Opinion: What Do American Jews the End of Time. When he comand Christians Think About Israel? pleted his dissertation, only a small It will take place at 7:30 p.m. on group of people were promoting Nov. 3rd in the Alan J. Levine Per- Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.

Over time, enthusiasm for this forming Arts Theater.

If Motti Inbari is a familiar name, See Dr. Motti Inbari page 2

2 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2024

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DR. JENNIFER GARZA NJHS Director of Collections and Archives It’s football season again, and time for the NJHS archives to show our team spirit! One of our more recent donations came from Israel Scott Kotzen, who generously lent us some items from his grandfather Elmer Greenberg’s football career here in Nebraska. Elmer played for Central High School from 1923-

1926, and for the University of Nebraska Lincoln from 19271930. He was the first Jewish player on the Huskers football team. The Historical Society has his old football, signed by his teammates, his old letter sweater from UNL, and a large scrapbook filled with articles of his football career. We will be displaying them at the Blumkin home, and in the meantime, you can see them in the NJHS office.

Dr. Motti Inbari Continued from page 1 movement grew considerably. In 2023, fifty thousand Jews, mostly religious-Zionist youth, came to visit and pray on the Mount. Inbari’s research was able to foresee this trend and study it deeply when it was still small. His book, Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount, was eventually published in Hebrew and English and won several awards and recognition.

After completing his doctoral dissertation in 2006, Motti, his wife Aliza, and their toddler daughter Shani moved to the United States. At first, he had a visiting position at the University of Florida for one year, where his second daughter, Shir, was born. After Florida, they moved to Brandeis University for two more years. The University of North Carolina at Pembroke then offered Inbari a tenure track position in its Department of Philosophy and Religion. In 2009, the family established their home in North Carolina. On this campus Inbari regularly teaches upper-division classes such as Violence and Religion, Jerusalem in Time, Space, and Imagination, Antisemitism: Ethnicity, Race, Religion, Culture, and Fundamentalisms.

Inbari’s scholarship has evolved over the years, and he has published six books. These include the following titles: Christian Zionism in the Twenty-First Century: American Evangelical Public Opinion on Israel, The Making of Modern Jewish Identity: Ideological Change and Religious Conversion, Jewish Radical Ultra-Orthodoxy Confronts Modernity, and Zionism, and Women’s Equality, and Messianic Religious Zionism Confronts Israeli Territorial Compromises. After writing his second book on Israel’s religious right, he found a treasure of documents, the personal archive of Amram Blau, head of the Neturei Karta movement. Neturei Karta is an ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionist movement that, during the 1950s and 1960s, organized massive protests against the secular state in the streets of Jerusalem. From these documents, he published another fascinating book on the history of Haredi anti-Zionism: Ruth Blau: A Life of Paradox and Purpose.

Inbari has published research articles in prestigious publications, including The Journal of State and Church, Politics and Religion, Israel Studies, Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations, AJS Review, and more. He is often invited to give interviews to the press. Recently, NPR interviewed him. His interviews have also appeared widely in other publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Religious News Service, and The Times of Israel.

In 2017, Inbari began a new research project, carefully measuring religious views of Americans toward Israel. Support for Israel has become one of the most polarizing aspects of American foreign policy in recent decades and reached a peak in 2023-2024 after the brutal assault of Hamas on Israel’s southern border on Oct. 7, 2023, and the Israeli incursion into the Gaza enclave that came afterward.

Whereas the strongest condemnations for Israel came from students and professors on elite university campuses, the strongest support came from houses of worship, specifically churches and synagogues.

In his keynote address, Inbari will present ground breaking results of a survey that features comparative data on the way American Jews are thinking about core Jewish beliefs and their views on Israel. This survey was conducted in May 2023 among 1100 respondents. The views of American Jews were then compared with those of two Christian faith communities: Roman Catholics and Evangelicals. The lecture also addresses the impact of the Oct. 7 events on American Jews and examines the directions this community might take as a result of this trauma.

Inbari is one of thirteen scholars who will make presentations over the two days of the Symposium. These presenters come from as near as Lincoln and as far ranging as Israel and Poland. Each year interested individuals submit an abstract or summary of their proposed presentation. A committee, consisting of three professors—Leonard Greenspoon (Creighton), Ari Kohen (UNL), and Jeannette Gabriel (UNO)—evaluates these proposals and selects the best ones as participants in the annual fall Symposium. In addition to scholarly credentials, committee members also identify individuals who can comfortably address general audiences in addition to other scholars. This is one of the unique features of our Symposium now midway in its fourth decade.

There are two venues for this year’s Symposium: on Sunday at The Staenberg Kooper Fellman Campus of the JCC, where activities begin at 9:30 a.m., and on Monday on the Creighton University campus, where activities begin at 8:30 a.m. On Sunday there are presentations until 5 p.m., with the keynote at 7:30 p.m. On Monday at Creighton’s Skutt Center the presentations continue until noon. Both days also feature lunches that are free and open to the public.

The Annual Symposium on Jewish Civilization is jointly sponsored by three Nebraska universities: Creighton University: The Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization and The Kripke Center for the Study of Religion and Society, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln: The Harris Center for Judaic Studies, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha: The Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies.

Support is also generously provided by these community funds: The Ike and Roz Friedman Foundation, the Riekes Family, the Henry Monsky Lodge of B’nai B’rith, The Dr. Bernard H. and Dr. Bruce S. Bloom Memorial Foundation, and Karen and Gary Javitch.

For comments or questions, contact Professor Leonard Greenspoon at ljgrn@creighton.edu or 402.280.2304. For further information, see the Klutznick Chair website at creighton.edu/ccas/klutznick.

The Jewish Press | October 4, 2024 | 3

News

WE REMEMBER

Continued from page 1 As Jews, we are obligated to remember. We will come together at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 7 in the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater to do just that. We will gather as a unified community to reaffirm our sense of self and create space for belonging.

As Bob Goldberg said in 2023, “Coming together gives strength to each of us, and our presence and voice give strength to our Israeli sisters and brothers in their time of need.”

The evening will begin with a welcome from JFO Board Chair Nancy Schlessinger, as well as volunteer leaders of our congregations and partner organizations. We will hold one minute of silence, followed by a candle lighting ceremony by Idan Zaccai, who lived in Rosh Hanikra at the time of the attacks. The Jewish Federation is working on bringing a survivor to share their experience with the audience. We will hear remarks and personal stories about 10/7/23 from lead clergy, Rabbis Mendel Katzman, Rabbi Ben Sharff, Rabbi Ari Dembitzer, Rabbi Steven Abraham, and Rabbi Alex Felch, as well as from our Community Shlicha Mika Mizrahi and from Lillian Cohen, UNL student and past UNL Hillel President.

We will have songs from Cantor Joanna Alexander and Hazzan Michael Krausman. Esther Katz’ dance troupe, whose members traveled to Israel last year, will perform a special dance.

“We all need resilience and hope,” JFO CEO Bob Goldberg said, “and this commemoration will allow us to come together to mourn those who have lost lives, to pray for the return of the hostages, and to reaffirm our strength as mishpocha, as K’lal Yisrael.”

The event will last approximately one hour, and we ask you to send your RSVP to Jessi Taylor at 402.334.6407 or use the QR code at the end of this article.

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LOCA L | N ATION AL | WORLD

Omaha Jewish Film Festival: An outstanding opening MARK KIRCHHOFF JFO Community Engagement and Education Oct. 27 is rapidly approaching. If you haven’t marked your calendar for the Omaha Jewish Film Festival, this would be an ideal time to mark Oct. 27-30 as the dates for the films. All films are shown at the Staenberg Omaha JCC in the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater at 6:30 p.m. Arrive a little early for your free popcorn and bottled water. A host from the community will be there each evening to welcome you, show you to the snacks, and discuss the film with you afterwards.

The first film of the festival on Sunday, Oct. 27 is Shared Legacies: The African-American Jewish Civil Rights Alliance. Shared Legacies highlights the shared and distinct cultural and ethical values of these two groups. Their collaboration for social justice has changed American history since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s and beyond. Evidence of this collaboration is the recognition that both African Americans and Jewish Americans have experienced (and continue to experience) adversity and discrimination. By acknowledging this reality, each helped and supported

one another. Through this common legacy, they attained a mutual understanding while working to effect social change for all. It was no easy struggle.

They had to fight against racism, ignorance, violence, and even succumbed to death from bombings, shootings, lynchings and assassinations.

Yet in some ways, the relationship has frayed in recent years, as a once mighty bond of support and respect has seem-

ingly faded, been forgotten or ignored.

Through the film, pivotal historic events come alive through a treasure trove of archival materials, narrated by eyewitnesses, activists, Holocaust survivors, and leaders of the movement, including prominent Atlantans such as Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young, Rabbi Alvin Sugarman, Rabbi Peter S. Berg, Oscar-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr., members of the King family, and many others.

The evening is hosted by Marty Shukert. Marty has over 50 years of experience and leadership in planning and urban design. As Omaha’s Planning and Community Development Director in the 1980s, Marty led major downtown and neighborhood development projects, including Omaha’s riverfront redevelopment and downtown housing programs. In both the public and private sector he has worked extensively with neighborhoods in North Omaha. He authored the North Omaha Development Plan for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. He is currently a principal at RDG Planning & Design and leads their Community & Regional Planning market. Coupled with being the President See Jewish Film Festival page 5

October 7th Marking One Year We invite you to attend a special commemoration honoring the victims of the October 7th attacks and the strength and resilience of the Israeli people. Together we will stand in solidarity and look toward a brighter future.

Commemoration Monday, October 7, 2024 7:30 PM Alan J Levine Performing Arts Theater 333 S. 132nd Street • Omaha, NE

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.

Scan QR code or call Jessi Taylor at 402-334-6407.

4 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2024

News

Emotional impact

LOC AL | N AT I O N A L | WO R L D

Sadie Newman’s Hanscom Park Improvement Club

Active political involvement has been a major feature of my life for over 50 years.

State Senator, County Commissioner, candidate for Congress including getting more votes than President Carter (although we both lost) and in the end teaching political science at UNO. This was followed by a Fulbright Fellowship in Ukraine, where I was given an hon- RICHARD FELLMAN orary doctorate, not to mention countless committees, boards and campaigns... I’ve done it all.

It all began in early 1961 during the Omaha election for mayor. I was a young lawyer, single and still living at home. I decided to do whatever I could to help elect James F. Green in his campaign for mayor. I went to his law office to offer, and he graciously accepted and told me to go to his campaign office and speak with the chairman, John Y. McCollister, who years later would himself get elected to the U. S. House of Representatives from the Omaha district.

“But John Y (this is what everyone called him) is a Republican,” I said to Jimmy. “Sure, but he’s a fine man,” he said. “You’ll like him.” I went to meet John Y, and I did like him. He asked me a series of questions about the women in my life because if there are any, John Y said, they won’t let you take the job I have in mind for you since you’ll be gone every night.

“I want you to drive Jimmy around every evening seven days a week and pass out our literature. You’ll have to keep him moving on schedule, but you’ll learn a great deal. Jimmy is a master at what we call “retail politics.” So is every major politician.

“You’ll find that the center of the campaign, where most of the action takes place, is right there where the candidate is shaking hands and talking with and listening to each voter.

Dick, you’ll end up mastering the trick that gets candidates elected. Are you ready?”

I said yes.

The next day John Y called and gave me instructions to take Jimmy to Sadie Newman’s Hanscom Park Improvement Club meeting. After picking Jimmy up at his home, he said, “We’re still early, let’s just sit and visit. I want to know more about you.”

Hanscom Park sits in the middle of Omaha, long and narrow with a deep ravine in its center. The clubhouse had a sign

saying it was built by the Works Progress Administration, the “WPA” of the Depression of the 1930s.

Sadie met us at the door with a big hug for Jimmy, who then introduced Sadie to me. I got a lesser hug. She was not a small woman in either height nor weight.

In appearance Sadie was clearly matronly and at least in her early sixties. Her hair was colored blue over its natural gray. She wore a small hat on the center of her head and a dark dress with a hem inches below her knees. Inside the clubhouse were 15 to 20 women, all dressed much like Sadie and clearly all her friends.

I carefully watched Jimmy as he “worked the crowd,” the essence of “retail politics.”

After the warm exchange with Sadie, he began at one table and visited with each lady, asking each their name, where they lived, and a word or two about their family. I stood behind him and listened. He asked about their hopes and dreams for the development of Hanscom Park and carefully observed each person. Before moving on to the next woman, Jimmy warmly grasped each woman’s hand in his own, looked them straight in their eyes, and said, “It’s wonderful to meet you and listen to you. I’m running for Mayor of Omaha, you know. I hope you’ll vote for me, and ask your relatives and neighbors to also vote for me. Thanks.”

He repeated the greetings, the conversation, and the farewell with each woman, and every one of them gave him a big smile as he moved on.

This was the first half of retail politics. The second half was Jimmy’s short speech assuring all who were there that he would do “everything that is possible” to bring about the “improvements you all want. I’ll work very hard, and I won’t forget this pleasant evening with you at the Hanscom Park Improvement Club.”

“And before I leave, I want to thank you, Sadie, for your friendship and your leadership in this important part of Omaha.”

The first lesson in retail politics was complete. I took Jimmy home.

Every evening in the campaign was to be much the same.

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Continued from page 1 Anniversaries, particularly those marking the onset or conclusion of wars and other traumatic events, carry a profound psychological and emotional weight for individuals and societies. These dates serve as powerful reminders of shared suffering, loss, and survival. Group trauma, such as that experienced in the aftermath of war, can resurface intensely during these periods, shaping collective memory and influencing national and cultural identity.

THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF ANNIVERSARIES Anniversary dates linked to trauma often evoke a strong emotional response, even decades after the initial event. For those who directly experienced war or other collective traumas, these anniversaries can trigger flashbacks, grief, and a resurgence of feelings such as anger, anxiety, or even survivor guilt. The psychological phenomenon of “anniversary reactions” describes the intensification of trauma symptoms as significant dates approach, even in those who have otherwise managed to cope with the trauma.

THE ROLE OF COLLECTIVE MEMORY Anniversary dates help shape what is referred to as “collective memory”—the shared pool of knowledge and recollections held by a group, often passed down across generations. In the case of war, these memories are sometimes formalized through ceremonies, monuments, educational curricula, and media coverage. For instance, anniversaries of major wars like World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War are marked by public commemorations, often serving both as moments of reflection and as opportunities to educate younger generations about the past.

HOW CAN WE COPE WITH RE-TRAUMATIZATION TRIGGERED BY ANNIVERSARIES? • Focus on self-care.

• Talk to friends and loved ones about what you are experiencing.

• Understand that these feelings are normal, and will likely decrease in intensity over time.

• Participate in activities with others, such as rituals of remembrance and healing. Rituals and ceremonies surrounding anniversaries of group trauma can offer powerful opportunities for collective healing. Public memorials, moments of silence, and community-wide commemorations provide a space for people to come together, share their grief, and find solidarity in their experiences. Such rituals help individuals and societies process the trauma and keep the memory of the event alive, ensuring that the lessons learned are not forgotten.

JEWISH PRESS NOTICES The Jewish Press will be closed on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 3 and 4 for Rosh Hashanah, Thursday Oct. 17 for Sukkot. The deadline for the Oct. 11 issue is Tuesday, Oct. 1, 9 a.m.; for the Oct. 25 issue, it is Monday, Oct. 14, 9 a.m.

Questions? Call 402.334.6448.

The Jewish Press | October 4, 2024 | 5

Remembering The Rebbe and insights from Gaza

STANLEY EDELSTEIN On the evening of Aug. 19, a sizable and diverse crowd gathered in the Centris auditorium to pay tribute to “ The Rebbe”, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Z”L), on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his yahrzeit. It was a remarkable event dedicated to the memory of a truly remarkable man who arguably represents the most significant and impactful Jewish leader of the 20th century. Aside from being the epitome of a Tzaddik, a scholar, an advisor to literally thousands of individuals from all walks of life, including many world leaders, The Rebbe was the driving force behind the expansion of the the Chabad organization which now includes 5000 emissary families leading 3500 institutions in over 100 countries worldwide.

Those in attendance had the unique opportunity to watch six different video presentations produced by the Jewish Education Media which included personal accounts of people who met with the Rebbe for a wide variety of reasons and came away with life changing and in some cases miraculous outcomes. The videos were introduced and selected by presen-

ters Sharon Comisar-Langdon, Gary Epstein, Renee Zacharia, Karen Cohen, Mushka Tenenbaum and myself based on published stories about individual encounters with The Rebbe which resonated with each of us. The videos provided unique and fascinating glimpses into an extraordinary man and represented a testament to the enduring impact he had and continues to have on the lives of so many Jews around the world, even today, 30 years after his passing. Following the videos, Rabbi and Shani Katzman and Rabbi and Mushka Tennenbaum shared several of their most treasured personal memories of The Rebbe.

Following the videos, Master Sergeant Henry Ginsburg, an Omaha native currently on leave from deployments with the IDF, shared some of his personal experiences, impressions, and perspectives related to the war in Gaza and responded to a wide range of questions from the audience, The evening was capped off by a beautiful nigun ( wordless Hasidic melody) composed by The Rebbe and played by Omaha violinist, Devra Bram.

All in all, it was an eye-opening, educational, and memorable evening.

Jewish Film Festival Continued from page 3 of Beth El Synagogue, Marty is prepared to relate a Jewish perspective on the national struggles of the 1960’s to the violent turbulence in Omaha and the impact it has had on the city.

Join him in a discussion following the film.

On Monday, Oct. 28 the Film Festival presents Our (Almost Completely True) Love Story, a romantic comedy in English with a run time of 1 hr. 33 min. Real-life couple Mariette Hartley and Jerry Sroka wrote and co-star in this thoroughly enjoyable romantic comedy. Based almost completely on their own story, Hartley plays a tall, famous, aging screen legend who meets a short, outof-work, Jewish voice actor (Sroka) as they navigate the senior date scene in LA. Despite the humiliations that come with being unemployed actors of a certain age and the baggage of ex-spouses and health challenges, they find that it’s never too late for love. Herbert Paine of the Broadway World wrote of the film, “Here’s a film wrapped in moments of genuine hilarity, repartee, oneliners, and situations that shine and resonate with comic brilliance.

Sarah Abrahamson is the host for the evening. Sarah is a 4th generation Nebraskan who taught at Chabad Early Learning Center of the Upper West Side in Manhattan, NY. She has a passion for local history and has spent countless hours studying Omaha architecture. Sarah is an active participant in the JFO’s Dorothy Kaplan Book Group. She volunteers for the Omaha

Public Library’s History & Genealogy Department and is also a member of Westwood Heights Citizen Patrol. She is on Beth Israel Synagogue’s Cemetery Committee and is a newly appointed member to the NJHS Advisory Board. “I’m a true fan of classic cinema,” Sarah said, “and I really enjoyed the witty banter and classic film references. It’s a sweet and fun movie that I think everyone will enjoy.”

Use the QR code in this article to view trailers and purchase passes.

You may also navigate to jewishomaha.org, select the “Our Priorities” drop-down menu and under “Community Engagement,” click on “Film Festival.” Direct questions to Mark Kirchhoff, 402.334.6463 or mkirchhoff@ jewishomaha.org.

The festival is generously sponsored by the following Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation Funds: Ruth Frisch & Oscar S. Belzer Endowment Fund; the Kenneth Ray Tretiak Memorial Fund; the Foundation IMPACT Grant; the Special Donor Advised Fund of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation; the Miller Film Fund by Lindsey MillerLerman in memory of her parents Avy and Roberta Miller, and the Klutznick Creighton Custodial Fund. Additional support by the B’nai B’rith Henry Monsky Lodge.

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A special evening in Celebration of Beth Israel

Fettman and Annette Fettman, who was also in attendance.

MARY SUE GROSSMAN On Sunday, Sept. 15, Beth Israel Synagogue was alive with Jack talked about the pride and love his father had for Beth Ispeople, smiles, laughter, and memories as the synagogue’s rael and his dedication to its success. Tehilla Bracha Fettman, 75th anniversary was celeAnnette’s granddaughter, also brated in wonderful fashion. spoke briefly, sharing the imMilestones – A Celebration of portance and impact of her Beth Israel was a look back at grandparents on her life. Anover seven decades of the nette’s daughter, Aviva Schwab shul’s strong presence in and grandsons, Amihai Omaha. In addition to videos Schwab and Yoni Schwab were and presentations, a “history also present. room” featured displays of Yitzchak Mizrachi, grandson memorabilia, newspaper artiof Rabbi Nadoff, represented cles, and photos. Honorary the Nadoff family. Yitzchak is chairs for the event were Joe well known by many in and Maxine Kirshenbaum, Omaha, as he served as the Paul and Susie Shyken, Donald synagogue’s assistant rabbi for Gerber, and David and Janet several years. He spoke about Kohll. Howard Kutler, Bruce the passion his grandfather Potash, Helene Shrago, Bette had in assuring a strong Jewish Kozlen, Ron Giller, Nancy Wolf, future for Beth Israel and the Sarah Abrahamson, Karen entire Omaha Jewish commuCohen, Rabbi Mordechai nity. He also shared messages Geiger, and Mary Sue Grossfrom his mother, Sharon man were the members of the Mizrachi and his aunt, Julie Milestones Committee.

Ginsberger, both of whom live Following dinner, the in Israel, plus a message from evening’s program producer his uncle, David Nadoff, who and emcee, Deborah Denenlives in Chicago. David and his berg, gave the welcome. Rewife, Jenny, were unable to be minding everyone to continue at the dinner as they were atto remember the situation in tending the bris of a grandson.

Israel, a prayer for the hostages The final video of the evening was titled A Look Forward. Inwas read by Rabbi Mordechai terviewees Dasha Stein, David Geiger and Rabbi Ari DembKohll, Jack Cohen, Joseph itzer spoke briefly.

Abrahamson, Joe KirshenNext it was a musical treat baum, and Rabbi Ari, focused with a duet by Donald Gerber on building on Beth Israel’s and Scott Goodman singing Beth Israel Broadway, featuring Top: Jack Kozlen, left, Yitzchak Mizrachi, and Rabbi Ari; above: rich past and looking toward the well-known tune with cus- Jack Fettman; and below: Annette Fettman, back row: Anihai the future. The evening contom lyrics originally penned by Schwab, left, Aviva Schwab, and Yoni Schwab. Credit Mark cluded with the singing of Hatikva.

Bette Kozlen and Elaine Feld- Kirchhoff “It was truly an evening to reman, z”l, for Rabbi Nadoff ’s member,” shared Toba CohenChai Year celebration in 1983.

Dunning. “My father, Jack Following the musical presCohen, of blessed memory, entation, the first video of the would be kvelling to know we evening, called A Look Back, incelebrated 75 years of this cluded a remembrance of Beth beautiful synagogue and with Israel’s early years, shown so many wonderful people. As through photos and interviews I look at the Beth Israel Tree of with Joe Kirshenbaum, Rabbi Life and see the leaves marking Mendel Katzman, Paul Shyken, special occasions by so many and Rabbi Ari Dembitzer. people, I know this synagogue Nancy Mattly, the synawill continue to be strong and gogue’s caterer for over 30 vibrant far into the future. We years, was then honored with are truly blessed.”

Beth Israel’s Lifetime AchieveYosef Seigel, Beth Israel’s presment Award. Nancy shared her ident, concluded saying “On memories commenting on the behalf of the Board of Direcpatience of Rabbi Nadoff and tors and staff of Beth Israel, we specifically that of Cantor extend our deep thanks for the Fettman in teaching her the support of the community for rules of kashruth. Nancy concluded saying she treasures the friendships she has made this milestone event. May Beth Israel and Jewish Omaha grow throughout the years and that she would not have changed a from strength to strength for generations. Todah Rabba.”

Photos from the dinner plus a video of the entire evening thing.

The highlight of the evening was the dedication of the Beth are available on the synagogue website at orthodoxomaha.

Israel Chapel/Beit Midrash in memory of Rabbi Isaac Nadoff org. A link can also be found on the synagogue’s weekly email. and Cantor Leo Fettman, both of blessed memory. Speaking To receive the weekly email or for information on any Beth Isfor the Fettman family was Jack Fettman, son of Cantor rael happenings, please check the website or call 402.556.6288.

Reflecting on the last year RABBI RONY S. KELLER Elul asks us to physically engage in the daily act of listening to the sound of the shofar.

“The shofar call begins with a tekiah, a long, unbroken blast; progresses to sh’varim, three wailing blasts; and finally reaches the staccato t’ru’ah. But the shofar always returns to the tekiah.

That is the growth of a spirit: first holiness; then brokenness, shattering; and finally, a new, stronger wholeness.” (Rabbi David Wolpe – Floating Takes Faith) As we reflect on the last year, it’s obvious that the Jewish world has changed forever. Recalling Rabbi Wolpe’s words, I believe we are still shattered or--at best--simply broken. The events of Oct. 7th and the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel avalanche

onto Am Yisrael that has ensued has created a PTSD-like effect for us all. Let’s not pretend that we are ok, because we are not.

Personally, and individually, we’ve felt a sever, a rift. Further, it seems as if we’ve also encountered a rift within the Jewish community. These past months of war have divided us as an am, a people…creating dichotomies asking us to choose between eradicating Hamas and rescuing hostages.

Elul is the deliverer of Tishrei, marking new beginnings. And so, we must use this month to heal our rifts and remember what the shofar teaches, that the blasts begin in wholeness and end in wholeness. Let us fill Elul with listening intensely to the wholeness of the shofar blasts and pray for all rifts to be mended.

The Jewish Press | October 4, 2024 | 7

Author event

Former Omahan Brian Joseph’s recent book, Vegas Concierge (see Hal Senal’s article in our September 13 edition) moves from the luxury hotel rooms on the Las Vegas Strip to the inner offices of the Las Vegas police and some of Nevada’s biggest news organizations.

Using public and private records as well as exclusive, firstperson accounts from primary sources, this book shows how prostitutes and pimps ply their trade, how law enforcement agencies trip up and their investigations become compromised, and how self-interest corrupts news organizations and the corridors of power. More than anything, this book examines the disregard American society has toward sex trafficking victims.

This October, interested readers will have a chance to meet the author in person. Brian will be presenting his work at the Bookworm, Tuesday Oct. 22 at 6 p.m., and at The Next Chapter, Thursday, Oct. 24, also at 6 p.m.

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

News LOCA L | N ATION AL | WORLD

Of Biblical Proportions Dancing with characteristic frenzy, my favorite comic strip dog, Snoopy, announces an impending disaster “of biblical proportions.” As is so often the case, beloved cartoonist Charles Schulz got it just right: Almost all current references to actions “of biblical proportions” refer to natural disasters or other equally unsettling events. Love or goodness or happy events never seem to achieve LEONARD biblical proportions in popular culture. GREENSPOON Not surprisingly, floods (think Noah) top the list of Bible-sized disasters. According to Slate Magazine, a town in Wyoming, “was almost entirely flushed away in a flood of biblical proportions, leaving, in what only can be seen as an act of God, four churches and a bar.” A flood in Ontario, Canada, “wasn’t exactly of Biblical proportions,” the Stratford Beacon Herald reported, “but it was an awful lot of water for a parking lot.” And finally, citing the specific biblical reference writers have in mind when they speak of serious flooding: “The amount of rainfall of late has reached biblical proportions. Nearly 40 days of rain in six weeks in Palm Beach County inevitably recalls the age of Noah.”

Floods are not the only natural occurrences to reach biblical proportions. So, for example, “Winds threaten to whip more blazes into fires of biblical proportions” in southern California; and “scorched by fire and drought, pummeled by avalanches and thrashed by a hurricane, Canada has endured weather of biblical proportions.” The recurrent invasion of 17-year cicadas also conjures up biblical imagery: Ugly Bug Ball of Biblical Proportions, read one headline; another declared, Insects’ Coming

of Age: A Spectacle of Biblical Proportions. Perhaps the writers were recalling a more famous biblical plague of locusts.

Once removed from the world of nature, references to “biblical proportions” are often dispatched to public disputes— some biblically based, some not. According to the Edmonton Sun, a local school system “risked sparking a crisis of biblical proportions by hiking the teachers’ work week.” And “at the bottom of a three-year dispute” over rezoning near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, “lurks a feud of biblical proportions between neighboring farm families.”

Here is another example of the numerous battles of biblical proposals that the Bible has inspired: “A debate of biblical proportions brewed at a work session of the Casper [Wyoming] City Council as council members parted like the Red Sea over whether to keep a Ten Commandments monument in City Park.”

Many readers will find it reassuring that a closer connection to the Bible does sometimes engender a more positive tone to the reference. The headline Biblical Proportions aptly characterizes the handiwork of Akatawara Valley, New Zealand, book-repair specialist Bill Tito, who is fixing up a “3000-page Bible [that] weighed about 4.5 kg and was about 130 years old.”

The last story in this column has a special place in my columnist’s heart. Pub Brawl of Biblical Proportions describes opposition by “a sub-committee of ministers” in Sydney, Australia, to the proposed expansion of a pub from 90 to 130 patrons. This addition of space for another 40 drinkers may compare unfavorably to fairly frequent biblical references to this period of time, but that, along with any other issues of “proportion,” biblical or otherwise, I leave up to my always astute readers.

See full digital issues: omahajewishpress.com/eedition

8 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2024

News LOC AL | N AT I O N A L | WO R L D

The Sacred Mitzvah of Chesed: A final act of kindness for Mr. Harrold Siporin BEN KARMEL One of the greatest mitzvot, acts of kindness, in Jewish tradition is chesed shel emet—the true kindness of burying someone, especially when they have no family to do so. It is considered one of the most selfless acts because it can never be repaid. Recently, Chabad took part in just such a mitzvah, coordinating Kaddish and services in memory of Mr. Harrold Siporin, a beloved member of the community who passed away without immediate family.

Mr. Siporin had been a quiet but cherished presence in Omaha’s Jewish community. Harrold was one of many who found his Mishpocha at Chabad. He really felt at home. Known for his kind heart and gentle spirit, he became a familiar face at Chabad events, where he built many deep connections. One such connection was with Howard Kutler, who grew close to Harrold over the years, forming a friendship that embodied the essence of community and kindness.

After Mr. Siporin’s passing, Chabad helped arrange a special minyan the day following the funeral to recite Kaddish, ensuring Harrold’s memory was honored in accordance with Jewish tradition. The minyan was particularly poignant, with Howard Kutler leading the mourners, surrounded by many others who

came to pay their respects. The turnout was a moving testament to Harrold’s beautiful personality and the relationships he cultivated during his life.

While Harrold did not have biological family to arrange these sacred rites, the community truly became his extended family, stepping in to ensure he was laid to rest with dignity. Chabad also arranged for Kaddish to be recited for the customary 11 month mourning period for Harrold.The funeral and minyan were a reflection of the deep commitment to the mitzvah of chesed shel emet—to care for those in need, even after they’ve left this world.

A special thanks goes out to everyone who participated in this heartfelt mitzvah. The numerous attendees highlighted the impact Harrold had on those around him.

Additionally, heartfelt gratitude is extended to the devoted staff at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, who provided Harrold with compassionate care during the final stage of his life, especially the nursing and kitchen staff. Specifically Shelly Fox and Shelly Cash who went above and beyond the call, to care for our beloved Harrold.

May Harrold Siporin’s memory continue to be a blessing, and may the kindness shown to him inspire us all to embrace the mitzvah of chesed with renewed dedication.

Children’s book recommendation: Tali and the Toucan

Tali wants to jump, tumble and play like other kids, but she’s too afraid to try. She worries that if she does, everything will shatter into pieces. It’s common for children to have big fears, but how can we help them talk about their troubles.

And how can we help other kids help their friends and empathize?

In her new children’s book, Tali and the Toucan, author Mira Amiras encourages young readers to join Tali on her empowering adventure through anxiety, and healing dreams.

Tali’s fear of the world is inspired by the Jewish teaching that the world is broken, and our job is Tikkun Olam, putting it back together starting with ourselves. Tali and the Toucan helps children talk about their fears and encourage empathy among peers.

Author Mira Z. Amiras is an anthropologist, author and award-winning filmmaker. The book is beautifully lllustrated

by Chantelle and Burgen Thorne.

The JCRC wants to hear from YOU! A lot has changed since the JCRC 2022 Community Survey!

We'd like to know how these changes have impacted your opinions about current issues, civil rights, and social justice.

The survey is closing soon, so don’t delay!

• The survey will only take 5-7 minutes to complete.

• Responses are anonymous and data will be collected, an-

alyzed and summarized by New Sky Consultants.

• Preliminary results will be presented to the community in mid-October.

• Full report projected to be completed and published before Dec. 31, 2024.

Scan the QR code to take the survey. The survey closes Oct

11, so don’t miss this chance to have your voice heard!

HANUKKAH

Publishing date | 12.13.24 Space reservation | 11.12.24 Contact our advertising executive to promote your business in this very special edition.

Claire Endelman | cendelman@jewishomaha.org

The Jewish Press | October 4, 2024 | 9

A night to remember: Ari Axelrod’s A Place For Us celebrates Jewish Broadway and Legacy Giving AMY BERNSTEIN SHIVVERS JFO Foundation Executive Director Last night, the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater at the Staenberg Omaha JCC came alive with music, storytelling, and an inspiring celebration of Jewish culture and philanthropy. Internationally acclaimed performer Ari Axelrod brought his remarkable show, A Place For Us: A Celebration of Jewish Broadway, to Omaha for a special performance that left the audience captivated.

From the first note, Axelrod’s powerful voice and heartfelt stories transported guests on a journey through Jewish Broadway, blending timeless classics with personal reflections on Jewish identity and community. His performance was more than just entertainment—it was a celebration of the rich cultural her-

Susie Silverman

itage that has shaped Jewish Broadway and, by extension, our own community.

The evening also served as a milestone celebration of the Life & Legacy initiative, marking 10 years of ensuring the future of Jewish organizations in Omaha. Through compelling stories and cherished memories, Ari’s performance reminded us of the lasting impact of legacy giving and why it is so vital to the future of our community.

A POWERFUL OPPORTUNITY TO LEAVE A LEGACY Through Life & Legacy, everyone, regardless of their means, can make a meaningful impact. While only a select few may have the capacity to name a building, every individual has the power to leave a lasting bequest. By making a commitment to Life & Legacy, whether during or after one’s lifetime, donors’ express gratitude, pay it forward, and ensure Jewish tomorrows for generations to come.

In honor of this 10th anniversary, we are aiming to secure 10 new Life & Legacy commitments. The program is here for all of Jewish Omaha, and we invite everyone

Ari Axelrod and Amy Bernstein Shivvers

REFLECTIONS FROM THE COMMUNITY The performance resonated deeply with attendees, sparking enthusiasm for the Life & Legacy initiative. Howard Epstein shared, “Congratulations on last night’s terrific program to celebrate Life & Legacy’s 10th anniversary. A program like this should energize more people to be part of Life & Legacy.” Jay and Sharon Nova added, “We loved it. A great success. Not only is he a great singer, but a great storyteller too.”

The evening concluded with a dessert reception, where attendees had the opportunity to reflect on the show and connect with one another. Many left feeling inspired to further support Jewish organizations in Omaha, not only for today but for future generations.

Susie Silverman summarized the evening as, “Fantastic, unbelievable, magnificent evening!”

As we celebrate this milestone anniversary, we are reminded that by investing in Life & Legacy, we ensure that the organizations and values we cherish continue to thrive long after we are gone. Last night’s event was a beautiful tribute to our community’s past, present, and future, and we look forward to the continued impact of after lifetime giving.

Ari’s voice and storytelling gave many in the audience goosebumps. “Ari’s performance and the evening were one of my favorites!” shared Margo Riekes, expressing a sentiment echoed by many in attendance.

Jan Goldstein reflected on the night, saying, “Kol HaKavod for last night’s event!

It was so wonderful. And Life & Legacy—what a success for our community!”

“The performance touched the depths of my heart and soul. Bringing together the history of Broadway with a Jewish eye gave me even more reason to love what I do here at the JCC with our Musical Theater program,” shared Esther Katz.

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JEWISH PRESS READERS If you do business with any of our advertisers, please tell them you saw their ad in the Jewish Press.

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10 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2024

You’re invited to Raising a Mensch: Empowering parents to nurture values

ROOFING

SIDING

GUTTERS

Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation 1. Publication Title: Jewish Press. 2. Publication No. 275-620. 3. Filing Date: 09-30-24. 4. Issue Frequency: Weekly, since 1920. 5. No. of Issues Published Annually: 50. 6. Annual Subscription Rate: $40.00 US, $72.00 foreign. 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 333 South 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198, 402-334-6448; Contact Person: Annette van de Kamp-Wright. 402.334.6450. 8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher: 333 South 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198. 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor and Creative Director: Publisher--Jewish Federation of Omaha, 333 South 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198; Editor--Annette van de Kamp-Wright, 333 South 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198; Creative Director--Richard Busse, 333 South 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198. 10. Owner: Jewish Federation of Omaha, Inc., 333 South 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198. 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgages and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages or Other Securities: None. 12. For completion by nonprofit organizations authorized to mail at special rates. The purpose, function and non-profit status of this organization and the exempt for federal income tax purpose: Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months. 13. Publication Title: Jewish Press. 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: 10-4-24. 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation: Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months--a. Total No. Copies (Net Press Run): 2,600. b. Paid and/or requested Circulation: 2361 (1) Paid/Requested Outside-County Mail Subscription (Include Advertiser’s Proof and exchange copies) 350 (2) Paid In-County Subscriptions (Include advertiser’s proof and exchange copies) 2011. (3) Sales through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales and Other Non-USPS Paid Distribution--0 (4) Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS--15. c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3) and (4)--2376 d. Free Distribution by Mail: (Samples, Complimentary and Other Free)-0. (1) Outside-County as Stated on Form--3541-0. (2) In-County as Stated on Form 3541-0. (3) Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS--0 e. Free Distribution Outside the Mail (Carriers or Other Means)--13. f. Total Free Distribution (Sum of 15 d and 15e)--13. g. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15f)--2389. h. Copies Not Distributed--211 i. Total: (Sum of 15g and h)--2600 j. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation (15c divided by 15g times 100)--99.4%. No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date--2,600. a. Total No. Copies (Net Press Run): 2,600 b. Paid and/or requested Circulation:2,360 (1) Paid/Requested OutsideCounty Mail Subscriptions (Include Advertiser’s Proof and exchange copies) - 349. (2) Paid In-County Subscriptions (Include advertiser’s proof and exchange copies)-2011. (3) Sales through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales and Other Non-USPS Paid Distribution--0. (4) Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS-0 c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3) and (4)--2370. d. Free Distribution by Mail: (Samples, Complimentary and Other Free-10. (1) Outside-County as Stated on Form 3541-0. (2) In-County as Stated on Form 3541-0. (3) Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS--0 e. Free Distribution Outside the Mail (Carriers or Other Means)--10. f. Total Free Distribution (Sum of 15 d and 15e)--10. g. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15f)--2,380 h. Copies Not Distributed--220i.

Total: (Sum of 15g and h)--2600. j. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation (15c divided by 15g times 100)--99.6% 16. Statement of Ownership will be printed in the October 4, 2024 issue of this publication. 17. Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager or Owner. Annette van de Kamp, Editor, 10-4-2024.

I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including multiple damages and civil penalties).

ANNIE RIFKIN AND MUSHKA TENENBAUM Jewish Family Service and Chabad are thrilled to announce the launch of Raising a Mensch, a dynamic three-part parenting series designed for parents, teachers, and caregivers. These events will equip you with the tools to guide your children towards becoming kind, empathetic, and socially responsible individuals. Taking place on Nov. 3, Nov. 17, and Dec. 1, from 2–4 p.m. at Chabad, this series is a wonderful opportunity for you to connect with other parents, engage with expert panelists, and enjoy quality time with your family.

WHAT TO EXPECT AT “RAISING A MENSCH” At each session, you’ll be treated to an ice cream social before delving into discussions with a handpicked panel of community professionals who work with children and families. After the social, children will join camp counselors for supervised fun, allowing parents to focus on the presentations and discussions. Our goal is to provide you with practical advice and thoughtful insights that will help you support your children’s social and emotional development.

The themes we’ll explore are all about empowerment. From teaching values to navigating emotions, the series will leave you feeling better equipped to support your child’s growth. By the end of the series, you’ll walk away with strategies to cultivate the values that matter most in your family.

BOOKS, GIVEAWAYS, AND MORE A key feature of the Raising a Mensch series is the focus on meaningful children’s literature, with each session highlighting a different book. We believe that stories are powerful tools to reinforce the values we teach our children. We’ve selected three impactful books to guide our discussions: 1. Listen with Your Heart by Raizy Metzger This book teaches children the importance of empathy and active listening. Through engaging stories, children learn how to listen to others with compassion, making it easier for them to connect emotionally and offer support to their friends and family.

2. Sarah the Bucket Filler by Rivka Fishman Based on the idea of “filling buckets” with kind words and actions, this book shows children how their positive behavior can lift others up. It’s a heartwarming tale that teaches the

value of kindness in everyday interactions, a vital lesson in helping kids understand the impact of their actions.

3. We Can Find a Way by Dina Rosenfeld `This story offers solutions to everyday conflicts and challenges, helping children navigate difficult emotions and situations. It emphasizes problem solving, resilience, and the importance of working together to find peaceful solutions.

Each of these books will be available for purchase, and we’ll also be giving away copies during the series!

A COMMUNITY OF SUPPORT The Raising a Mensch series is more than just a lecture series — it’s a chance to build connections within a supportive community of parents, teachers, and caregivers.

As you share experiences and learn from each other, you’ll find comfort in knowing that many parents are facing similar challenges. Together, we’ll explore strategies to help children grow emotionally, mentally, and socially, with a focus on instilling the values that matter most to our families.

The event is being hosted in partnership with Jewish Family Services, The Friendship Circle, and Camp Gan Israel, ensuring a rich and diverse range of perspectives and expertise.

Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, teacher, or anyone in a caregiving role, you’ll benefit from the shared wisdom and community spirit at Raising a Mensch.

Save the Date and Join Us The cost for all three sessions is $54, with scholarships available to ensure that everyone who wants to participate can attend. The events will be held at Chabad and will feature an ice cream social at 2pm followed by engaging panel discussions. You’ll leave feeling empowered and inspired to guide your children’s emotional and social development.

Join us at Raising a Mensch to grow together as a community and nurture the next generation of kind, responsible, and caring individuals. To register, contact shalom@ochabad. com today.

Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to connect, learn, and grow!

This incredible program is sponsored in part by the Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Family Foundation and Anything Grant at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation

Get to know Jewish Family Service ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT For more than a century, Jewish Family Service, located right here on our Staenberg Kooper Fellman campus, has provided crucial aid and support to our community.

The Jewish Welfare Federation was a relief-giving agency who first offered services in 1911. The agency provided assistance to families, to the unemployed, and to transients. As the Jewish community changed, so did the agency’s responsibilities. In 1927, the agency professionals recognized that social work needed to address more community issues, such as foster home care, care for juvenile delinquents, and care for psychiatric patients confined in the state’s institutions.

As poverty became less of an issue, more attention was paid to other social problems. In 1931, the Jewish Welfare Federation, the Jewish Community Center and Jewish Philanthropies merged to form the basis of our present Federation.

In 1951, the structure of Jewish Family Service became what it is today.

Today, in the 21st Century, JFS continues in its mission- “To serve the Jewish community and the community at large...” with some of the highest quality staff and services available in the Omaha Metropolitan area.

But what exactly does that mean? What kind of aid is available, and who exactly is it for? Sometimes we assume certain services are for ‘others,’ and we fail to realize we can access

and use help ourselves.

This week, we’d like to introduce you to Mike Morris, who is the JFS driver. JFS’ Mission as a human service agency is to

strengthen and preserve life in the Jewish community and the community at large through every stage of the life cycle. That includes JFS transit! Mike takes community members to medical appointments and delivers Meals on Wheels. But he also helps people with grocery runs and other appointments.

To find out more, and see if you or your loved ones qualify, please contact us at 402.330.2024.

The JFS office is open Monday-Thursday: 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Friday: 9 a.m.–1p.m., and is closed Saturday and Sunday.

TO SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154.

Readers can also submit announcements -- births, b’nai mitzvahs, engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at www.omahajewish press.com/site/forms/. Deadlines are normally nine days prior to publication, on Wednesdays, 9 a.m. Please check the Jewish Press, for notices of early deadlines.

The Jewish Press | October 4, 2024 | 11

Above and below: The USAF Band recently performed a beautiful concert for our RBJH Residents in the Goldstein Venue.

Top, above, below and bottom: The HETRA Mini Horse Program (Heartland Equine Therapeutic Riding Academy) visited RBJH, and we met the two sweet horses, Blue and Stormy! This program spreads joy and comfort to many care facilities and schools throughout the metro Omaha area. HETRA started with one participant, one horse, and three volunteers. Their mission is to improve the quality of life, both physically and emotionally, of adults and children of all ability levels through equineassisted activities. Thank you to the HETRA staff, Cassidy, and Julie, for the lovely program, and the weather was perfect for this unique program.

Above and left: The 20-something group regularly comes together at the home of Mushka and Rabbi Eli Tenenbaum to celebrate Shabbat.

Below: Temple Israel Rabbi Ben Sharff blows the shofar.

SP O TLIGHT

GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY

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

Left: Levi Benton, son of Adrianna and Jay Benton, with puppy Boaz.

Below left: Rabbi Alex Felch and IDF Commander Doron Lev visiting the JCC. Below right: Teddy and Sarah Weinberger’s daughter, Ruthie, gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Mazal tov!

12 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2024

Voices

The Jewish Press (Founded in 1920)

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‘Not a Good Story’

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor In writing about the recent Senate hearing on hate crimes, JTA’s Ron Kampeas quoted one senator as saying: “This committee should act not just in general, but specifically about what it’s like to be Jewish in America in 2024, and it is not a good story.”

The official topic of the hearing was ‘Threat to Justice Everywhere: Stemming the Tide of Hate Crimes in America.’ Some senators disputed the discussion being that broad; instead, they wanted to narrow the focus and talk specifically about Antisemitism.

Talking about what it’s like to be Jewish in America today is a valid topic for discussion. It’s a conversation many of us are having, often within our own echo chambers, with our friends, family, with our children. But here’s the thing: while we struggle with everything from social media to college campuses to mainstream journalists who don’t seem to get us, as Jews, we cannot think of our lives as “not a good story.”

It’s a tough story, sure. It’s sometimes sad, tragic, painful. Being Jewish can be an uphill battle, something that takes gumption and chutzpah. Nobody ever said this would be easy.

But it’s also a beautiful story, full of love and pride. It’s a story about overcoming obstacles, about fighting and saving lives, about making it another day, another decade, another century. It’s a story about community and about incredible dedication. Most of all, ours is a story about life.

There is a reason we read the entire five books every year, and there is a reason we celebrate when we end the Torah and start anew. Those days when we go to shul, unroll the whole thing with a large

Credit: Lehava Tiberya, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.

group of people, from end to beginning, we celebrate our story. If you don’t think that is one of the most exciting holidays, go celebrate it at Friedel sometime.

Are there parts of the story that are painful? Are there moments of tragedy and hurt and bad human behavior in the Torah? Yes, there are. That doesn’t

negate the entirety of the Torah as valuable, beautiful, worthy of praise.

I like to think of our Torah as a living text. We might not scribble in the margins (we wouldn’t dream of it), but we do continue the story. It doesn’t end when we read to the physical end of the scroll.

As Jews, it is our very responsibility to continue our story and to do so with hope. Always hope.

Before I overthink this and start to sound like I’m delivering a d’var Torah, let me climb out of my personal rabbit hole.

Recently, our community came together to celebrate our Annual Campaign Kickoff, and it was a beautiful night. I have amazing colleagues who do amazing things. As Jewish Press editor, I often find myself drinking in all the connections and conversations and hugs, because I spend an unreasonable time sitting behind my computer in my office by myself. Nights like these, I get to actually talk to many of you, see your faces and exchange lots of hugs and smiles. It’s such a marvelous reminder of why we all do the work we do.

Coming together: I like to think of it as the real payoff. And since the pandemic, I remain extra grateful for that.

That story we tell, we write and live it together.

It is never a story others get to write for us. And while we have a Higher Power who ultimately decides where the story goes, we have an active role.

So you better believe that, in spite of Hamas rockets, Hezbollah, drones and protesters and neverending Antisemitism, this is still very much a good story.

Hamas murdered our daughter. This is what she’d tell American Jews ORNA AND ELDAD ADAR The parents of Gili Adar, who was killed on Oct. 7, write of the joy she brought into the world, and the acts of goodness she inspired. | JTA Eleven months ago, Hamas murdered our daughter while she was dancing and celebrating life at a music festival in Re’im, Israel.

At 6:50 a.m. on Oct. 7, Gili messaged us that something was going on. She told us not to worry. More texts. Gunshots. She was hiding, warning friends to stay away from the area. At 9:14, she wrote: “Until now I wasn’t afraid. Now I’m scared.” By 9:35, we later learned, the terrorists found her. Within five minutes, they murdered Gili and nearly 30 other young people at point-blank range — a fraction of the 364 people who were killed at the festival.

The brutality with which Hamas murdered our Good Life Gili, our radiant, wonderful girl, at just 24 years old, echoes the evil of the recent execution of hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Alexander Lobanov, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi and Almog Sarusi. Five of these six beautiful souls were at the Nova music festival, like Gili. All of their families are processing the worst news of their lives.

It’s the news we received three days after Gili’s last message, after we frantically headed south to find her, after we pleaded on Facebook for more information — “OUR GILI IS STILL MISSING” — after each passing hour drained the possibility that she would stumble through the front door and into our arms.

We spoke at Gili’s eulogy, like the hostages’ families did at theirs. And yet there were no words.

There are no words. When we now watch videos of Gili, sometimes we laugh and sometimes we cry and most times our joy and our grief are not oil and water, they do not separate, but blend into a new, strange taste of life.

As Gili would say: “Why one or the other when you can have both?”

Gili, for whom 24 hours in a day was never enough, took so many roles. An adventurer, she worked three jobs to save money for the dream trip she took to South America. A listener, Gili sat for hours at a time with each of the lone soldiers — those without family in Israel — which whom she worked in the Israeli army.

After Gili’s death, we found new roles ourselves.

We are gardeners, tending to the flowers on her knew her there told us that Gili was always the first to grave and watering the seeds of her memory. get up and dance. Her confidence helped others overWe are archivists, collecting thousands of photos come that initial, collective moment of awkwardness. and videos of our daughter; compiling hundreds, This dance session reflected two of the things Gili often unsolicited testimonials about the ways she cared most about: close relationships between shaped people’s lives.

We are messengers, talking about Gili with whomever will listen: Gili, with a conquering smile and an infectious laugh, “Guppy” to her campers, who took the coffee kit in her backpack to the mountains, the desert, the sea, who gave her heart to everyone from children with special needs to the store cashier.

More than anything, we miss Gili.

The faint thrum of our constant grief can balloon in pitch and intensity when we least expect it. Waiting at a “Today, as some young American Jews drift away from Israel, we ask traffic light. Or at the supermarket, them to remember that Israel is also Gili.” Credit: Orna and Eldad Adar where our tears condense like the dew on the car- American and Israeli Jews, and the joy of life. ton of milk we just removed from the refrigerator.

When she was 17, Gili first came to the U.S. in 2017 When we’re awake or asleep, in every activity and to share Israeli culture with American Jews at Camp every moment, we miss our girl. There is no life Ben Frankel, an overnight summer camp in Illinois. after Gili. Our only path into the future is with Gili. If she messed up in English, one of her friends told And so we share Gili with others. They share her us, she’d laugh and say: “You know guys, I’m really with us. We find her in unexpected places — the smart and funny in Hebrew.” Gili channeled that group of girls who got a common tattoo in her same passion for cross-cultural connection working honor; the memories of a stranger she met on a with American lone soldiers back in Israel.

Colombian beach. And we make pilgrimages to the Gili’s warmth melted barriers of language and displaces she loved the most, which brought us 6,000 tance until young campers felt part of one commumiles over the ocean this summer to the United nity. Gili never believed in a blank-check relationship States to visit summer two camps, Tel Yehudah and with Israel, the kind that says always support and Ben Frankel, that Gili called home. never question. She did, however, see the bonds beAs we walked through Camp Tel Yehudah, a tween American and Israeli Jews as inviolable and Young Judaea teen leadership summer camp in fragile: ties that cannot be denied yet must be nurBarryville, New York, where she worked in 2019 and tured with joy, music, dance, food and more.

2022, there was Gili in her old room with the world Today, as some young American Jews drift away map and desk she brought. There was Gili on the from Israel, we ask them to remember that Israel is roof that she watched the sunset from, even though also Gili. It is Gili dancing at the Nova music festival, it was (technically) forbidden. But more than any- living a normal life in her early 20s, trying to figure thing, we felt Gili’s presence in the young people at out what career path she’ll pursue. Young American camp, who captured the message she’d want to Jews should remember that they don’t have to send to American Jews right now. choose between loving Israel and criticizing it: they On one Saturday night, we saw 400 young Jewish can have a complex relationship that includes both.

American campers dancing on the grass to Israeli Those kids dancing on the grass that Saturday songs. They jumped. They sang along. Those who See Hamas murdered page 13

The Jewish Press | October 4, 2024 | 13

Why writer Etgar Keret wants to get back to Israel as soon as he can ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL The author of prize-winning short fiction says the daily reality of a country at war has kept his darkest thoughts at bay.

JTA When I spoke to the Israeli writer Etgar Keret, who was in New York as part of a two-week speaking tour, he described himself as “somewhere between depression and a slight nervous breakdown.” He was eager to book a ticket home, worried that flights would be grounded as Israel braced for retaliation from a Hezbollah leadership humiliated by the week’s deadly pager attacks against its operatives.

Another Israeli might have enjoyed a short break from a country that has been at war for 11 months, but Keret, a household name in Israel for his deceptively whimsical shortshort stories, as well as films, children’s books and political commentary, said he misses the “small tasks” that have kept him occupied since Oct. 7. In his case, they have included reading to off-duty soldiers or victims at a kibbutz, comforting burned-out social workers, or collaborating on a story with a severely wounded soldier.

In the United States, meanwhile, the distance only made him more introspective — and more despairing of the war and of a government that he thinks is flouting the will of its people.

“So it’s really like you’re in a forest fire, and you know you can save a deer or a porcupine, or put down a little flame, and you’re constantly hyperventilating on all kinds of things,” Keret, 57, said of his days since Oct. 7. “It actually helps you keep your sanity, because you feel that you’re useful.”

In our conversation, we spoke about the responsibilities of an Israeli artist in a time of war, why everything feels speeded up and the lesson in resilience he learned from his late father, a Holocaust survivor.

Our interview was edited for length and clarity.

How are you?

The metaphor I use is that you’re watching a split-screen TV. On one side you see everything moving in fast-forward speed.

On one side is the seventh of October massacre, the destruction of half of Gaza, the entire north of Israel evacuated, the pagers blowing up in people’s pockets. It’s like plagues from the Bible. I’ve been through many wars in my life, seen the suffering from both sides, the destruction. So you think, if something moves on the screen, there will be some kind of reaction.

But on the other side of the screen, you see a prime minister who fired his minister of defense [Yoav Gallant] 14 months ago, the same guy who has been running the war for us for a year, and Netanyahu is still threatening to fire him. He wants to fire the chief of staff, fire the secret service, replace all the Supreme Court judges. It’s kind of a hostile takeover by democratic means. And every week, you see hundreds of thousands of people in the street saying, “We want a deal to end the war. We want to see the prisoners back. We want a new election.” But nothing happens, and there’s no response to the will of the people.

It sounds like you’re saying it is the difference between warp speed and the status quo.

Yes. Another good metaphor for the disconnect between the government and the people is that Netanyahu wants to hold an anniversary ceremony while people are still being held hostage. It’s like doing Holocaust Memorial Day in 1944 when people are burning in Auschwitz. And many of the families don’t want the government to be involved, because they say, “We see you as responsible.” So the government insisted on doing this ceremony, which is boycotted by almost all the artists and almost all the families, and they decided the ceremony will be held without an audience, because they’re afraid that the audience will protest, so it will be pre-recorded.

And that’s the metaphor: We are not in the audience, and the government is totally in a universe of their own.

And personally: What kind of toll has the year taken on you, or perhaps the opposite — what have you learned or felt inspired by?

I got to the U.S. two weeks ago, and now I am somewhere between depression and a slight nervous breakdown. The reason for that is that for the past year, I found myself myself reading to soldiers in the front, or reading to victims at a kibbutz, or meeting social workers burnt out after six months of listening to all [of the trauma], or playing with children, or writing a story with an amputated soldier, or going to demonstrations.

On a daily basis, I get a dozen people that I don’t know writing to me, asking me for something. It could be that the brother died, and they want me to talk to the publishing house that will maybe publish his book. Someone whose ex-wife is depressed since the war because she lost people close to her said, “Sunday is her birthday,” and would I be willing to hide in the bushes and surprise her, because I’m her favorite author.

I have all these tiny tasks — I am not saying it is foolproof, but I’m dealing with one fragment at a time.

Meanwhile, I am sitting in my hotel in Miami, waiting for my event, and for the first time I have some kind of a bird’seye view of how we’re stuck and not going anywhere. It’s like almost seeing a picture of yourself, or seeing yourself in the mirror, instead of basically just acting your role.

So it’s really like you’re in a forest fire, and you know you can save a deer or a porcupine, or put down a little flame, and you’re constantly hyperventilating on all kinds of things. It actually helps you keep your sanity, because you feel that you’re useful.

So instead of a burden, you see these requests as a blessing?

I saw them as a blessing, because if you see a person who is suffering and you can ease their suffering, it makes me feel good. But at the same time, I think the kind of thing that resonates in your own scope is really meaningless for a government that is kind of an Olympus that is totally disconnected from reality and doesn’t listen to what anyone wants and just keeps going the wrong way.

Etgar Keret and his wife Shira Geffen speak about their work in Ness Ziona, Israel, Aug. 28, 2024. Credit: Facebook

In this country, the criticism and ostracism of Israel has extended even to the Israeli left, and among far-left critics there is seldom a distinction made between the Netanyahu government and what we used to call “liberal Zionists” and critics of his government. Have you had dialogue with people in the States on the left with whom you really, really disagree, or perhaps by whom you feel betrayed?

Social media and media in general are widely amplifying things that exist, but at the bottom most of the people that I met, regardless of their political views, I think they want to listen. But the big challenge is the people who don’t even know where Israel is on the map. There’s something very narcissistic about activism today, and it’s really played out in the street. In general, I meet people who are left-wing, and say, “It’s very difficult to identify with the actions of Israel these days.” Now, what is Israel? Imagine that you’re American, and you meet someone in France, and they say, “You’re from the country where you don’t let the women have an abortion.” “No,” you say, “actually, I am demonstrating for abortion. Actually, most of the people I know want women to have the right to an abortion.” Somehow, we have a minority that doesn’t have the power to differentiate between Israel and the government of Israel. So you are against Israel. Are you against hundreds of thousands of people who are going out to the street regularly because they want to end the war? Are you against them?

Your latest book, Autocorrect, has been published in Israel and is scheduled to come out in the United States next year. Do any of the stories deal with Oct. 7 and the war?

When you write a short story collection, the point where you say you have a book is very arbitrary. On the eighth of October, I was supposed to deliver the manuscript. And what happened was that I read the book on Oct. 6, and I said to my wife, “I have a problem with the book,” because I wrote it just after my mother’s death, and I wrote it through the judicial reform, and I wrote it through COVID, and I said, “There is something so dark in it that I don’t think readers really deserve it.” And she told me, “You’re a drama queen. How about you put the book aside, and see if tomorrow you still find it too dark.” So I went to sleep.

I woke up on Oct. 7 to read my book, but when I woke up — it was really crazy. People that I know, they were shooting at their houses. I teach in Beer Sheva, and in the first few days my students left to the hospital to see if they could find the body of their loved ones — actually wishing to find a body, because it would mean that they were not taken.

And then it was maybe late November or December, when I said, “Oh, my God, I have a book,” and when I sat down and read it, my wife said, “Is it too dark?” And I said, “Oh, no. It’s just right.”

Is there an example of a story in the book that, even inadvertently, speaks to the present moment?

Four years ago, for example, I wrote a story about two parents who divorced when the kid was only three months old, and then the child dies and the couple, because they can’t agree on anything, ask a writer to write the eulogy to capture the child in all their beauty. It’s a story about how I feel incompetent and how I feel people want me to do things that I’m not able to do. And now, the most famous writers in Israel are being asked to write eulogies.

Another story, set in the future, is about two people living in Israel when the entire country is destroyed, and they are giving guided tours to aliens of what used to be Israel. I wrote this story three years ago, and this is how we feel now. When we see things, we say, “We used to care. We used to come here to laugh. We used to do this.” People say I’m prophetic. No. I was depressed.

I heard you speak in western Massachusetts this summer at an event for Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute for Religion, and you told a story about hope — or at least something like it. It was something your father, a Holocaust survivor who died in 2012, said when you asked him if the Holocaust was the worst time of his life. Can you remind me of his answer?

I asked him that when I was a kid, and he would always answer me honestly, no matter how young I was. He said, “I don’t split life by good periods and bad periods. There are easy periods and difficult periods.” And then he said: “It’s the difficult periods when you learn about yourself the most.”

This is definitely something that I take and understand. I was much more rigid when the war started.

If before [Oct. 7] someone had said to me, “Let’s write a story together. I’m sending you a paragraph,” I would have said no.

But when an amputated soldier asked me, I said yes, and even if the story doesn’t look like any of my stories, I am in dialogue with the guy, and it’s making somebody, a boy really, smile.

Before the war I was in my own little cube. Now I get a call from somebody who is driving to the border with Gaza to bring boxes of books to soldiers, because the soldiers can’t use their cell phones, so they read books all the time. He asks, “Would you want to come with me? Maybe you can read to them.” Of course. If he called me two years ago, I would have said, “Call my agent, speak to my assistant.”

There is something about a disaster that breaks a lot of the thick barriers between you and the world.

Andrew Silow-Carroll is editor at large of the New York Jewish Week and managing editor for Ideas for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Hamas murdered radiated joy. At her funeral, we made a promise to Gili and to ourselves: “We will not surrender to sadness, we will sanctify joy. This is your will, Gili, our beloved.”

Many times, forward is a bog, and we sink with each small step. Every day when we visit Gili’s grave, we see our charismatic girl inscribed across a headstone, a juxtaposition that feels like a contradiction. What does our daughter, always so full of life, have to do with a grave?

We try to take care of her, even though she was the one who often took care of us — staying awake until 3 a.m. when we were out late to make sure we were okay. We replace her memorial candle. We gather leaves that have fallen. We search for buds, signs of life, on the trees we planted in her honor.

We search for life ourselves. We go to the theater and sports events. Months after an unimaginable rupture, we remain enveloped in an endless stream of love. Gili’s friends come to light the eighth candle of Hanukkah. Kids at Ben Frankel approach and ask if they can hug us.

There will never, ever, be an end to the grief. But there is, there must be, a continuity to the joy.

Five years ago, Gili and her friends built a giant Star of David out of wooden planks as a parting gift to Camp Tel Yehudah. To the right, in one photo, stands Gili, sporting denim shorts, a black long sleeve, sunglasses, and as usual, a smile. Pummeled by rain and snow, the structure was expected to remain intact for less than a year. Half a decade later, the Star of David stands tall.

Who would have thought Gili would be gone instead?

The two of us take a photo in front of the Star of David during our visit to Tel Yehudah. We try to smile. We grasp onto its wooden planks as if we are touching our daughter, and in a way we are, because in her 24 years Gili created so much that outlasted her. And she continues to be the catalyst of so much good: A new research center in Gili’s name at Israel’s Geha Mental Health Center will aim to prevent suicide and save lives. A new trail in the town of Lapid, full of trees and flowers, is being built in her name. At her old high school, a new garden with benches and tables will provide spaces for kids to sit and talk, reflecting Gili’s love of nature and willingness to listen.

A few months ago, Gili’s friends created a sticker of her.

They asked to bring our Gili, whom they described not as a ray of light but as the sun itself, to nature sites in Israel, to guest houses in South America and East Asia, to inscribe her on their guitar cases, to carry her to all the places she might have visited.

Like us, Gili’s friends want to share her light with others.

We humbly ask, for our daughter, that you search for a sliver of joy wherever you can find it right now and share it with whoever you can.

Orna and Eldad Adar are the parents of two girls, Adi Adar and Gili Adar z”l. They live in Lapid, Israel.

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

Synagogues

14 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2024

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

618 Mynster Street Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 712.322.4705 www.cblhs.org

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE

Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Street Omaha, NE 68154-1980 402.492.8550 bethel-omaha.org

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street Omaha, NE. 68154 402.556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org

CHABAD HOUSE

An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street Omaha, NE 68144-1646 402.330.1800 OChabad.com email: chabad@aol.com

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE

Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road Offutt AFB, NE 68123 402.294.6244 email: oafbjsll@icloud.com

TEMPLE ISRAEL

Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive Omaha, NE 68144-1206 402.556.6536 templeisraelomaha.com

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: TIFERETH ISRAEL Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 402.423.8569 tiferethisraellincoln.org

B’NAI ISRAEL Kol Nidre Service, Friday, Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker, Gail Krasne Kenkel, speaking about life growing up in Council Bluffs and at B’nai Israel; Yom Kippur Morning Service, Saturday, Oct. 12, 10:30 a.m. with guest speaker, Stephanie Olson, discussing her project on human trafficking, Set Me Free Project.

Services led by Jeff Taxman. Everyone is welcome.

Monthly Speaker Series Service, Friday, Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m. with our guest speaker. Our service leader is Larry Blass. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel!

For information about our historic synagogue, please visit our website at www.cblhs.org or contact any of our other board members: Renee Corcoran, Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Ann Moshman, MaryBeth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber.

Handicap Accessible.

BETH EL Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

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

FRIDAY: Rosh Hashanah Day Two Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Rosh Hashanah Lunch, 12:45 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Havdalah, 7:30 p.m. Zoom Only.

SUNDAY: Sukkah Build, 8:30 a.m.; Morning Minyan, 9 a.m. Zoom Only.

FRIDAY-Oct. 11: Kol Nidre, 6:15 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.

SATURDAY-Oct. 12: Yom Kippur Family Service, 9 a.m.; Yom Kippur Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Yom Kippur Study Session One, 3:30 p.m. with Sharon Brodkey;Yom Kippur Study Session Two, 4:30 p.m. with Rabbi Steven Abraham; Mincha/Ne’ila, 5:30 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Community Break Fast, 7:30 p.m.

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

BETH ISRAEL FRIDAY: Beth Israel Office Closed; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Second Shofar, 12:45 p.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 6:42 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Tehillim, 5:25 p.m. at the Zivs; Soulful Torah, 5:45 p.m. with Rabbi Geiger; Mincha, 6:30 p.m.; Laws of Shabbos/Kids Activity, 7 p.m.; Havdalah, 7:40 p.m.

SUNDAY: Tzom Gedalia; Fast Begins, 6:05 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Kinyan, 10 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:30 p.m.

MONDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m.; Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:40 p.m.; Fast Ends, 7:31 p.m.

TUESDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m.; Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Kinyan, 6:05 p.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 6:40 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m.; Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 6:40 p.m.

THURSDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m.; Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Character Development, 9:30 a.m.; Kinyan, 6:05 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:40 p.m.; Parsha Class, 7 p.m.

FRIDAY-Oct. 11: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7

a.m.; Mincha, 5 p.m.; Nidre/Ma’ariv/Fast Begins, 6:30 p.m.; Candlelighting, 6:31 p.m.

SATURDAY-Oct. 12: Yom Kippur; Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Neilah Class, 5 p.m.; Soulful Torah, 4:45 p.m. with Rabbi Geiger; Tehillim, 5:15 p.m. at the Zivs; Mincha, 5:30 p.m.; Neilah, 6:30 p.m.; Fast Ends, 7:28 p.m.; Havdalah, 7:29 p.m.

Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.

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

FRIDAY: Morning Services, 9:30 a.m.; Rosh Hashanah in One Hour and Shofar Sounding, 11 a.m. followed by Kiddush Lunch: Light Candles after, 6:42 p.m. (Say Blessings 4).

SATURDAY: Morning Services, 10 a.m.; Kiddush Lunch, noon; Shabbat Ends, 7:39 p.m.

SUNDAY: Fast Begins, 6:01 a.m., Sunday Morning Wraps (no food), 9 a.m.; Women’s Event, 7 p.m.

MONDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Personal Parsha, 9:30 a.m.; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Translating Words of Prayer, 7 p.m. with David Cohen.

TUESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Translating Words of Prayer, 11 a.m. with David Cohen; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 7 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen.

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

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

FRIDAY-Oct. 11: Morning Services, 8 a.m.; Fast & Candlelighting, 6:31 p.m.; Kol Nidrei, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY-Oct. 12: Morning Services, 9:30 a.m.; Yizkor Memorial Service, 11 a.m.; Afternoon Services, 5:30 p.m.; Neilah Closing Service, 6:30 p.m.; Shabbat/Holiday/Fast Ends, 7:28 p.m.

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch.

All services offered in-person with live-stream or teleconferencing options.

FRIDAY: Synagogue Offices Closed; Rosh Hashana Jr. Congregation, 9-10:30 a.m. at SST; Rosh Hashana Morning Day 2 Service, 9:30-10:30 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST; Kabbalat Shabbat Service with Rabbi Alex, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 6:44 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service with Rabbi Alex, 9:30-11 a.m. at TI; Torah Study, noon via Zoom; Havdalah, 7:42 p.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS Classes, 9:30-11:30 a.m. at SST; Men’s Bike/Coffee Group, 10:30 a.m. at The Mill on the Innovation Campus. For more information or

questions please email Al Weiss at albertw801@ gmail.com; Pickleball, 3-5 p.m. at TI. Anyone interested in playing or learning how to play can text Miriam at 402.470.2393. If there are enough interested people; we’ll play in the Social Hall.

WEDNESDAY: LJCS Hebrew School (Grades 3-7), 4:30-6 p.m. at SST. THURSDAY: High Holidays Choir Rehearsal, 7-8:30 p.m..

FRIDAY-Oct. 11: Kol Nidre Joint Service, 6:30-8:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Shabbat Candlelighting, 6:33 p.m.

SATURDAY-Oct. 12: Yom Kippur Jr Congregation, 9 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI;Yom Kippur Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Yom Kippur Morning, 10 a.m. led by Sarah Kelen at SST; Torah Study, noon via Zoom; Yom Kippur Afternoon Service, 3 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST; Yizkor, 4 p.m. led

by Rabbi Alex at SST; N'ilah, 5 p.m. led by Rick Kohn at SST; Yom Kippur Afternoon/Mincha, 5 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Yom Kippur N'ilah, 5:30 p.m. at TI; Congregational Potluck Break the Fast, 6 p.m. at SST; Yom Kippur Maariv, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Yom Kippur Havdalah, 6:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Congregational Catered Break the Fast, 7 p.m. at TI; Havdalah, 7:31 p.m.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE

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

TEMPLE ISRAEL

In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Benjamin Sharff, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin, and Cantor Joanna Alexander FRIDAY: Drop in Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m. In-Person; Village Walking Group, 10 a.m. In-Person; Bring Your Own Picnic, 5 p.m. In-Person; Shabbat Shuva Service and Tashlich, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom.

SUNDAY: Grades PreK-7, 9:30 a.m. In-Person; Kol Rina Rehearsal, noon In-Person.

TUESDAY: Kol Rina Rehearsal, 6 p.m. In-Person.

WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m.; Grades 3-6, 4:30 p.m. In-Person; Hebrew High: Grades 8-12, 6 p.m. InPerson.

FRIDAY-Oct. 11: Drop in Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m. InPerson; Village Walking Group, 10 a.m. In-Person; Kol Nidre, 7:30 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.

SATURDAY-Oct. 12: Tot Yom Kippur Service, 9:30 a.m. In-Person; Sitter Service for Children age 0-4, 10 a.m. In-Person; Yom Kippur Morning Service with Torah Reading, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Youth Programming, 10:30 a.m. In-Person; Feeding the Hungry: Food Packing, 12:15 p.m. In-Person; Ask Rabbi Sharff, 1:45 p.m. In-Person & Zoom; A Service of Healing, 3 p.m. In-Person & Zoom; Yizkor, 4:15 p.m.

In-Person & Zoom; N’ilah, 5 p.m. In-Person & Zoom; Break the Fast, 6 p.m. In-Person Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.

MEMORIAL SERVICES Sunday, Oct. 6 Oak Hills/Bikhor Cholim, Council Bluffs, 11 a.m.

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

World’s ‘oldest Jewish book’ ASAF ELIA-SHALEV JTA In a new exhibit opening October 1, the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. has unveiled what it says is the oldest Jewish book ever discovered.

According to the museum’s dramatic claim, the tiny book is a relic of an 8th-century civilization on the ancient trading route known as the Silk Road, created

by Jews living as a minority among Buddhists who ruled the Bamiyan Valley in modern-day Afghanistan.

Measuring five inches by five inches, the book combines a variety of texts written by different hands, including prayers, poems, and what the museum says is the oldest known version of the Haggadah, the central text of the Passover seder.

The museum’s claims regarding the book are

based on years of work by a team of researchers, but the exhibit is opening before those scholars have been able to publish their findings. The research is slated for release by Brill, a prominent Dutch academic publisher, in the form of 10 essays in April.

The exhibit’s co-curator Sharon Mintz acknowledged that until the scholarship comes out, it will be difficult for those working in the wider field of Jewish manuscripts to fully accept the museum’s story. But she projected confidence.

“The Brill book will lay all doubts to rest,” Mintz told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Anchoring the scholarly discussion surrounding the book is a 2019 laboratory test that used carbon dating to estimate the book’s age at 1,300 years, astonishing researchers at the museum. Far more ancient written

Hebrew texts had been discovered, but only on scrolls, most famously the roughly 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls that are displayed prominently in Israel. The carbon dating indicated that this was the earliest intact Hebrew codex by more than a century.

Prior to the drama of the lab’s result, the book had garnered little interest in the decades since it was first found in Afghanistan.

A member of the country’s Hazara ethnic minority discovered the manuscript in 1997 in a cave near one of the giant Bamiyan Buddhas that were carved into a mountain in ancient times and deliberately destroyed in an explosion by the Taliban in 2001, according to an article in the Free Press.

Editor’s note: read the full story at www.oma hajewishpress.com.

Life cycles IN MEMORIAM MARVIN ABRAMSON Marvin Abramson passed away on Sept 22, 2024, at age 86 in Henderson, NV, after a lengthy bout with Parkinsons Disease.

Services were held on Sept. 25, 2024, at King David Cemetery in Las Vegas, NV, and were officiated by Rabbi Bradley Tecktiel of Midbar Kodesh Temple.

He was preceded in death by his parents Louis and Rebecca; wife, Gail; and older brothers Harold and Bill.

He is survived by daughter Michelle (Tuianna), son Neal, and many nieces and nephews, cousins, and great nieces and nephews.

Marvin was born Dec. 1937, in Omaha and was known to many as a hard worker, generous with his time and energy, loving to his family and friends, and a wry sense of humor. After graduating from Central HS, he served in the Army Reserves, and then was called to full active duty during the Cuban missile crisis when President JFK called him up. He spent most of his life in Omaha, working for 40 years at Western Electric (which became AT&T Technologies, then Lucent), with many years of perfect attendance. His work ethic was passed down to his daughter Michelle and son Neal. If you wanted a “Dad” joke, he was always ready to share those, and his infectious laugh will always be remembered. Our family were long time members of Beth El Synagogue.

After retiring, he and his wife Gail relocated to Henderson, NV where he made many new friends, especially those at Midbar Kodesh synagogue. A former membership secretary for Bnai Brith Men in Omaha (25+ years), and then president of Hazak at Midbar Kodesh, he was appreciated for his positive outlook and ability to help others in need whenever possible. He enjoyed singing in the choir, attending services, and volunteering with the “onegs” after services. He maintained contact with many friends who still live in Omaha. He loved to cook and bake, keeping many of Gail’s wonderful recipes alive before and after she passed.

Marv is the last of his generation of our family. His daughter, Michelle became his primary caregiver for the past several years and showed all the love we feel for Marvin. She was his rock. We also want to thank our friend Herb for his help the past few years.

He is loved and will be sorely missed. He is now at rest, with his love, Gail.

Memorials may be made to Midbar Kodesh, or the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

JEROME KAIMAN Jerome Kaiman passed away on Sept. 16, 2024 in Omaha.

Services were held Sept. 17, 2024 at Fischer Farm Cemetery.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Bernice Kaiman; and his beloved wife, Sylvia.

He is survived by daughters, Sherry Kaiman and Beth Kaiman; and his brother, Harold Kaiman.

He was a loving husband and devoted father, Jerry was a proud son of Glenwood, Iowa, where as a third-generation grocer, he was always grateful for the support and friendship of that community and the surrounding area.

Memorials may be made to Glenwood Library Foundation for books for children and young adults, or to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

DONALD LAWRENCE STURM Donald Lawrence Sturm passed away peacefully on Aug. 17,

2024, after a rich 92 years of life. There will be a private funeral and memorial service.

He was preceded in death by his two sisters, Helen Coel and Fern Haberman.

He is survived by Susan Sturm, his beloved wife of 36 years, his four children, Robert Sturm, Melanie Sturm (Marc Zachary), Stephen Sturm (Sydney Hodgson Sturm) and Emily Sturm Ehrens (Ben Ehrens), his grandson Zane Zachary, and an extended family whose lives he enriched through his kindness and belief in the meaningfulness of strong family bonds.

Donald was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1932 to Mark and Sophie Sturm (of blessed memory). Don attended City College of New York before being drafted into the army. Upon discharge, he moved to Denver, Colorado, to get his Juris Doctorate at the University of Denver before getting his Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University. Don served as a trial attorney for the IRS before joining Peter Kiewit Sons’ Co. in Omaha, Nebraska.

Over his 28 years at Kiewit, he would rise to the role of Vice Chairman, leading the 1984 acquisition of multi-national conglomerate Continental Group, Inc., developing mines across Wyoming, and negotiating to build China’s first modern coal mine as it began its industrial development. In 1987, he met and married his wife Susan Sturm (nee Morgan).

Upon leaving Kiewit in 1991, Don and Sue moved to Denver and Don became an entrepreneur, real estate developer and serial investor, acquiring multiple banks in Colorado, Wyoming, and Kansas, which today form ANB Bank. He and his partners developed the 4,000-acre Meadows at Historic Castle Rock, a community that today houses over 20,000 people, and he kicked off the redevelopment boom in Cherry Creek with the redevelopment of the old Tattered Cover building and the creation of Fillmore Plaza.

He was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame in 2022.

Don was always grateful for the opportunity his immigrant parents had to make new lives for themselves and their family in the United States, and never wavered in his steadfast belief that a committed individual could change the world for the better.

His philanthropy shaped countless institutions across Denver and Colorado, including Judaism Your Way, the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, Arapahoe Community College, the Jewish Community Center of Denver and many more. He leaves behind a legacy of high-impact philanthropy and a substantial Foundation focused on improving lives across Colorado.

Don was known professionally for his sharp wit and sharper mind, his ability to think strategically and tactically, his negotiating skills and his personal ethics. As a person, he was a devoted husband, a loving father and a steadfast friend. He made the world brighter through his presence and he will be forever missed.

Memorials may be made in honor of his life and in memory of his work may be made to Judaism Your Way, 950 South Cherry Street, Suite 310, Glendale, CO 80246-2699. To leave a tribute in honor of Don, please send to 3033 E. First Ave, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80206.

CORRECTION In the Sept. 20, 2024 edition of the Jewish Press, the Jewish Family Service Thank You ad erroneously identified Jodi and Gary Epstein. The ad should have read “Lisa and Gary Epstein.”

JFS sincerely regrets the error.

Netanyahu vows in UN speech to fight on RON KAMPEAS JTA Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to keep fighting in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon until his war objectives were reached and warned that “there is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach.”

Netanyahu’s speech September 27 at the United Nations General Assembly opening came as Israel hit a key Hezbollah target in Beirut. It also comes as the Biden administration is showing frustration with its failure to tamp down escalating tensions it fears will explode into all-out war.

Biden officials are now suggesting Netanyahu acted in bad faith for privately agreeing to a ceasefire deal on the Israel Lebanon border and then publicly walking it back. John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, said the United States would not have made the proposal had it not received reassurances Israel was ready to accept it.

Netanyahu’s speech was unusually blunt, even for a prime minister who has rained fire and brimstone on the body since his first term in office in the late 1990s.

He called the United Nations a “swamp of antisemitic bile,” and his argument appeared bolstered by many of the speeches before his, which excoriated Israel for the devastation of the war without mentioning that Hamas and Hezbollah launched the current round of fighting.

Netanyahu also made his most explicit plea to date for peace with Saudi Arabia, but he began with a militant message of warning to Iran and its allies in the region.

“The curse of Oct. 7 began when Hamas invaded Israel from Gaza,” he said. “But it didn’t end there. Israel was soon forced to defend itself on six more war fronts organized by Iran.” He listed attacks by Hezbollah, missiles launched from Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthi militia and the hundreds of missiles Iran aimed at Israel in April.

“I have a message for the tyrants of Tehran,” he said. “If you strike us, we will strike you. There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach. And that’s true of the entire Middle East.”

It was perhaps the closest Netanyahu has come to acknowledging that Israel has assassinated targets in Iran, most recently a top Hamas official attending a funeral.

Netanyahu was equally blunt in his warnings to Hezbollah.

“We took out senior military commanders who not only shed Israeli blood, but American and French blood as well,” he said, just as Israel hit Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut. “And then we took out their replacements, and then the replacements of their replacements, and we’ll continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are gained.”

Of Gaza, where the Biden administration has long sought a ceasefire and the release of hostages still held by Hamas, Netanyahu said that unless Hamas surrenders, “We will fight until we achieve total victory.”

In his U.N. speech, Netanyahu also made his most direct plea for peace with Saudi Arabia, which has backed away from tentative normalization talks as war has raged.

Read more at www.omahajewishpress.com.

The Jewish Press | October 4, 2024 | 15

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News LOC AL | N AT I O N A L | WO R L D

Harris Center presents Holocaust education in-service DEANN GAYMAN UNL Communications and Marketing Nearly two dozen teachers, curriculum specialists and aspiring educators came to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Sept. 19 for an evening of learning and fellowship during the Holocaust Education in-service, held in the Nebraska Union.

Beth Dotan, research assistant professor in the Harris Center for Judaic Studies, led the in-service, along with staff from Teaching with Primary Sources, Midwest Division, a program of the United States Library of Congress. The Harris Center received funding to hold teacher in-services from the Teaching with Primary Resources Midwest Program. A full day of in-service was also held June 3 at the Samuel Bak Museum, a learning center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the Col- Items from Beate Stern (Bea Karp) are lege of Saint Mary. shown in this photo. Karp carried them Teachers were pro- in a bundle throughout the war. Her vided a stipend and story, and these items, now archived travel expenses for digitally, are shared on Nebraska Stories of Humanity. attending.

The in-services are an important outreach initiative for the Harris Center and align with the Nebraska Department of Education’s upcoming mandate for Holocaust education in the state’s social studies curriculum standards. The Nebraska Legislature passed the law in 2022 requiring Holocaust and genocide education in high school social studies, and the new standards are expected to be in place by fall 2025.

In total, 22 educators and pre-service teachers attended the in-service. Dotan said seven of the fall participants had also attended the summer in-service, which drew about 70 educators.

Dotan began the event by inviting the educators to explore her digital humanities project, Nebraska Stories of Humanity: Holocaust Survivors and World War II Veterans. The project has digitized and annotated primary resources, such as letters, photographs, interviews and personal effects from Nebraskans who have a direct connection to the Holocaust and US Servicemen who liberated Nazi war camps. Dotan, with assistance from the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, conceived of, built and published the web portal and educational tool — which also includes curriculum ideas for educators — as a doctoral student at Nebraska.

"What this (Teaching with Primary Resources) grant has allowed is for the Nebraska Stories in Humanity project to blossom in other ways," Dotan said in an interview ahead of the in-service.

"Individuals attending are going to learn new methods for teaching with primary resources. And they’ll take those tools into their classrooms, so learners can analyze primary sources, analyze information, be exposed to all different narratives, while making inferences about what has happened in history and what is happening in the world now, and that is a lifelong skill."

Hanna Martin, an educator who teaches world history for high school sophomores in Bennington, Nebraska, said having the access to primary sources and stories of Nebraskans connected to the Holocaust is impactful for students.

"I think students often think, 'Oh, that happened somewhere else,' but then to see that there are stories from your community, it makes it so much more real," Martin said during a group discussion.

Martin attended both the summer in-service and the fall inservice. She felt it was imperative to learn new approaches to teaching the Holocaust in meaningful ways, and said she came away from both in-services with very valuable informa-

tion. She has already incorporated some of what she’s learned into her classroom. One example is a timeline project where students build a timeline of significant events related to the Holocaust and then add to the timeline with information from someone’s personal story.

"They found primary sources from people who lived through the Holocaust and incorporated those stories into the timeline," she said in a later interview. "I noticed that as students discovered these stories, it changed the way they looked at the events they already had on their timeline. Suddenly those events weren’t just something that happened, but something that happened to someone.

"Projects like these help the students learn the surface-level content, which is valuable, but more importantly they learn about empathy and the real significance of what occurred."

In-service presenters Judy Bee and Joseph Skotzke, facilitators and directors of the Teaching with Primary Sources Midwest Program run out of Illinois State University, led a session focused on the many collections available online through the Library of Congress. Through the hour-long session, teachers gained insights into how they can use the collections in their classrooms and facilitated discussions sparked new ideas for generating conversations about history, specifically the Holocaust, in their classrooms.

The evening closed with a kosher dinner — provided by University Dining's kosher kitchen in the Gaughan Multicultural Center — and an interactive panel discussion with Dotan and fellow panelists from Teaching with Primary Sources, the Institute for Holocaust Education, Nebraska Department of Education, Samuel Bak Museum, and Blixt Arts Lab, which produced a play based on Clarence Williams’ letters. Williams was a World War II veteran and concentration camp liberator who settled in Nebraska after the war. His story is featured in the Nebraska Stories of Humanity. The play, Not Too Far Distant, is currently traveling the state.