October 12, 2012

Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA October 12, 2012 26 Tishrei 5773 Vol. 93 | No. 4

Something important and lasting

This Week

by OZZIE NOGG The 30th Anniversary of the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 14, will recognize the contributions of past volunteers and also celebrate the Grand Opening of the Riekes Museum, newly located inside the main entrance of the Jewish Community Center. The program runs from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the JCC Theater.

Joanie Bernstein, chairman of the anniversary event, said, “Funding for the relocation of the museum was provided by the Henry and Dorothy Riekes Donor Advised Fund at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, and we want to thank the Riekes family for making this move possible. We’re also grateful to the Federation for giving the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society this prime real estate for the Riekes Museum’s new location, and for making it possible to move the Wall of Business exhibit to the main corridor of the JCC. Many members of our community never saw the Riekes Museum or the Wall of Business in their previous locations between the JCC Canteen and the Friedel Jewish Academy in the Dan and Esther Gordman Center.

JFO staff learn about Jewish holidays Page 6

Historic Omaha Torah dedication Page 7

Mike Silverman, Federation CEO, has been most generous and supportive by bringing the Historical Society and the Riekes Museum out of the darkness and into the light.”

In 1994, when the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society asked the late Henry and Dorothy Riekes if they were willing to establish a Jewish museum to preserve memories of our synagogues, they accepted. At the time, Dorothy said, “This gift is our opportunity to give something important and lasting to the Omaha Jewish Community which has given so much to us.” The main feature of the Riekes Museum is an historic representation of the B’nai Jacob – Adas Yeshuron synagogue, also known as the ‘Kapulier Shul.’

One corner of the Museum is dedicated to Sharre Zion, popularly known as the ‘the Riekes Shul’.

Included in the Museum is the original arch, bimah, a menorah, shtenders, the ark curtain and Torah crowns. When speaking of the Museum, Henry Riekes said, “We believe strongly in the outstanding work of the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and feel that this museum will add a great deal to the Continued on page 3

Joslyn Under Pressure We are Still a Nation

by AMY RUMMEL The Joslyn Art Museum presents Under Pressure: Contemporary Prints from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, comprising work by thirty-nine artists spanning the last

Dave Dvorkin has Naches Page 12

Inside Point of view Synagogues In memoriam

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rose to prominence in postwar American art.

Bringing together artists from different time periods who work in an array of media and styles, the exhibition illustrates the print’s infinite versatility and the ways in which it has impacted many artists’ broader practices. The exhibition opened on Oct. 6 and continues through Jan. 6.

Until the 1940s, most American artists viewed prints as an inferior medium, practiced by those who were concerned solely with the technical aspect of making art rather than with the importance of creative expression. Yet over the next two decades, bolstered by the adventurous spirit of experimentation championed by artists such as Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Helen Frankenthaler, printmaking From Roger Shimomura’s lithographic series became one of the most Mistaken Identities. dynamic fields in contemfive decades. Tracing major currents porary art. During the 1950s and in the art world, as well as develop- 1960s independent print workments specific to printmaking, the shops, such ULAE (United Limited exhibition addresses how the print Art Editions) on Long Island and Gemini G.E.L. (Graphic Editions Limited) in Los Angeles, started opening their doors. Staffed with highly-skilled technicians, these studios supplied artists with the equipment, space, and expertise they needed to push the limits of printmaking. Welcoming the opportunity to expand their practices, artists transformed print workshops into laboratories where Continued on page 2

of Immigrants Shirley’s story

by SHIRLEY CEMAJ Civil Rights Committee Member of ADL Plains States Regional Board Growing up as the child of Jewish Syrian immigrants in Mexico, I never could imagine that I, too, would have my own story of immigration. And I never could guess that a March of the Living trip to Poland and Israel in 1998 with members of the Jewish community of Mexico City would be the springboard for my own immigration story.

Our group from Mexico, with my husband Sam and me, arrived in Jerusalem very early in the morning. Our first stop -- and the only one I remember from that day -- was at the Western Wall. After placing rolled papers containing prayers from my family and friends into the Wall, I placed my hands on the Wall, closed my eyes and rested my head on my hands. I asked G-d to make my husband happy at his job as a physician.

Later that day I called my mother-in-law in Mexico to check on our kids. She said that Dr. Catalano from Loma Linda University in California called earlier looking for Sam. I gave Sam the message. Despite my complaints not to disrupt our trip, Sam decided he needed to call Dr. Catalano immediately.

Less than two minutes into the

conversation, Dr. Catalano offered Sam a position as a trauma surgeon at Loma Linda. When Sam gave me the “good” news, I almost killed him. “Did you tell him we have a life in Mexico, that finally our children can play with their

Shirley with her daughter, Sophie, in Tenochtitlan, Mexico in 1994. cousins, that we belong to a nice Jewish community, that I do not want to move, that I have a business to take care of?” I asked him.

What Sam did not know was that earlier that day I asked G-d for help and G-d answered my prayers sooner than I expected. I was just asking for a little push for Sam’s practice in Mexico City, but G-d surprised me with the job offer in the U.S. Two weeks later, Sam was talking to the lawyer Loma Linda Continued on page 2

2 | The Jewish Press | October 12, 2012

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Under Pressure Continued from page 1 media and techniques intertwined and a new visual language emerged.

Jordan Schnitzer’s expansive collection includes prints from the 1960s to the twenty-first century. Exhibition highlights include prints by Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, among the earliest artists to integrate printmaking into their practices. Through printmaking, Rauschenberg united the idea of his “combines” (large, three-dimensional collages suggesting unexpected connections) with appropriated images from popular culture, the world of politics, and his travels abroad. Jasper Johns’ lithograph Between the Clock Harold J. Schnitzer and the Bed (1989) belongs to a series of paintings and prints Johns made during the 1980s that explores a single theme through subtle variations in color, graphic elements, and texture.

In Roger Shimomura’s lithographic series Mistaken Identities, clean, pronounced lines and flattened imagery clearly recall his cartoon-inspired paintings. Sarah Morris’ screen prints adhere to her signature dependence on the line as a key compositional element and speak to her ongoing fascination with architectural spaces.

Former political activist Enrique Chagoya finds inspiration in printmaking’s use for propaganda, information dissemination, and grassroots social movements. Barbara Kruger’s practice calls attention to cultural stereotypes and social inequities through the lens of imagery gathered from

mass media. The series We Will No Longer Be Seen And Not Heard (1985) combines images from advertisements with the words of the title phrase.

Other artists who are included are John Baldessari, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt and Ellen Gallagher. The earliest works featured in the Under Pressure exhibition at Joslyn are mid-1960s prints by Omaha-born Edward Ruscha; the latest, a 2009 print by Hung Liu. All but five of the artists in the exhibition are still living and working.

The selection of work on view in Under Pressure represents a small portion of Jordan Schnitzer’s rich and diverse collection of prints from the 1960s through the present -the largest private print collection in the United States.

Schnitzer has collected many of the artists featured in the exhibition in depth, reflecting his commitment to tracing their ongoing impact in the realm of contemporary prints.

Schnitzer is president of Oregon-based Harsch Investment Properties, a family business founded by his father, Harold J. Schnitzer, who passed away in 2011. His mother, Arlene, founded one of Portland’s first serious commercial galleries, the Fountain Gallery, and is the Portland Art Museum’s most important benefactor of the past two decades. With his mother’s encouragement, Schnitzer purchased the first of many thousands of prints in his collection at the age of fourteen. An active and generous philanthropist, Schnitzer has served prominently on many organization boards. In 2005, the University of Oregon renamed its art museum the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in recognition of his years of leadership there.

There will be several public events during this exhibit, ranging from gallery talks to dance performances. For more information, please call 402-342-3858 or visit www.joslyn.org.

Support for the exhibition and related educational and outreach programs has been made possible by a grant from the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation.

We are Still a Nation of Immigrants

“Tyler loves to visit his Grandpa Sam at Remington Heights!”

– Laurie E. Granddaughter of Sam E., a happy resident of Remington Heights

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Continued from page 1 provided us to help prepare our papers for immigrating to the United States.

I wasn’t prepared to move back to the U.S. We had been in the states for several years in the 1980s while Sam was doing a fellowship in Pittsburgh, a surgical residency in California, and we were building our family. We returned to Mexico in 1991 when our visas couldn’t be renewed. Sam established his private practice and worked in government hospitals, our kids attended a Hebrew day school, and I built a restaurant with my sister and brothers. Mexico was home. I was more than happy to stay there and told Sam, “Well, I will go to California only if we can get a green card.” I knew my request was next to impossible to attain and thought that maybe G-d would reconsider His answer.

I had applied for a green card around 1985 when we were living in Pittsburgh. I had sent my sister, who was living in New York, a check, a birth certificate and my parents’ wedding certificate from Mexico. She filed the application, and I put the papers in a desk drawer. I called the U.S. Embassy in Mexico a year later, and they told me I was on a twenty-year waiting list. The people from the embassy told me they would call when my case would be reviewed. They never called, and we forgot about the dream of living in the United States.

Thirteen years later, our lawyer from Los Angeles found out that my name was on the list for cases to be reviewed that precise year. According to the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services), if we had not reapplied for our green card that same year, our opportunity for getting one would never have come up again.

If I were to tell you all the problems of our green card application process, it would read like a novel. At one time we had three attorneys working on our green card application. During our second trip to the American Consulate in 1998 in the border town of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, I honestly doubted the consul would grant our green cards.

I remember sitting on a shiny, light blue, shell-shaped, fiberglass chair, probably designed in the 1960s, when I closed my eyes, placed my hands on my face and said, “Oh, G-d, if I need to go and live in the U.S., let the green card come through. If it doesn’t work, I understand and will live happily in Mexico.” While I was making deals with G-d, one of our lawyers from Houston was talking to the consul about our case. Well, it is not difficult to guess what happened; but the way in which it happened surprised me.

As soon as I stopped praying, I removed my hands from my face, opened my eyes, and there in front of me was the lawyer with our Mexican passports. I did not understand what just had happened. I thought we needed to talk to the consul again, but the lawyer showed me the passport pages with our green cards stamped. Then he took us to the border where we had to cross a bridge in order to activate our

green cards.

There we were, now at the crossing border sitting again in the middle of nowhere, waiting for bureaucracy to take its time. We waited and waited until our green cards were activated, and finally we were able to cross the border.

Five years later, we were able to apply for our citizenship, and we became American citizens. We can say now that our case was quite simple. We were lucky. We had lawyers.

When we moved to the U.S., we did not have to cross rivers, deserts or mountains like others. It just took us nineteen years from the time we first applied for our green cards to become US citizens.

I never understood the significance of my immigration status until I met a student at Creighton University. We were volunteers at Project Homeless Connect Omaha when I asked her if she knew anyone who came to this country as an undocumented child. I was doing some research for a speech and planning to talk about the DREAM Act. I wanted to meet someone who was living in such a situation. The student said, “I am.” Then she looked directly into my eyes and continued, “Please do not tell anyone. I don’t know why I told you. My friends do not know.” I witnessed her fear and my heart saddened. I asked myself, “How is it possible that a girl who is my kids’ age is afraid of me? Why is a girl who is doing all the right things living frightened in my country that promised freedom to all?” I saw her invisible cage.

Ever since she revealed her secret to me, my chest wanted to explode. I wanted to yell and cry at the same time. I felt her pain and the unfairness of life. It wasn’t until then that I realized the importance of my American citizenship. I understood then that the speech I was preparing would become an important “speech” in my life. I had the obligation to use my voice and tone, to breathe deeply, to make eye contact and to tell you that we need to talk.

After I moved to the U.S., I just had to worry about everyday life concerns. At any time I am able to visit my family and friends in Mexico. If I miss a wedding or a Bar Mitzvah, it is because I choose to do so. When my parents were dying, I took a plane and within hours I was in Mexico next to them. I was able to grieve. I felt the pain. I held my siblings’ hands. I received the support of my community.

My parents’ community in Halab, Syria, is gone, but their descendants are here now--thanks to two nations that opened their arms and embraced families who were looking for a better life.

We Are Still a Nation of Immigrants is a project of the Anti-Defamation League – Plains States Region Civil Rights Committee. The series features personal stories from local immigrants, and people who work with Omaha’s immigrant community. Because of its commitment to justice, the Civil Rights Committee of the Plains States Regional Board of the ADL has made the issue of immigration a priority for study, research and education.

October 12, 2012 | The Jewish Press | 3

Temple Israel’s Doris Parker retires

by DAVID GOLBITZ Temple Israel Staff Writer After more than a quarter century teaching Hebrew at Temple Israel, Religious School teacher Doris Parker is retiring.

Doris, who moved to Omaha in 1949 with her husband, Omaha native Milton Parker, taught at Temple Israel for 27 years. And before that, she Doris Parker taught at Beth Israel for 30 years.

Originally from Chicago, Doris attended an orthodox synagogue growing up, and went to a girls-only yeshiva for two years

after she graduated from Hebrew School.

“I had to know Hebrew from an early age,” Doris said. “That’s how the services were done back then, everything was in Hebrew.”

Doris received her teaching degree from Chicago’s Roosevelt University and moved to Omaha with Milton almost immediately after. She taught full time for two years in the Omaha Public School system and was a substitute teacher for District 66.

But being a part of the Jewish community is what Doris truly enjoyed. She started out as a preschool teacher for Beth Israel and was soon returning to the synagogue in the afternoons to teach Hebrew.

When Doris and her family made the transition to Temple Israel, it was only natural she bring her education skills with her.

“When you look at the reasons for the upgrading of the Hebrew language at Temple Israel and in our Religious School,

you will find Doris Parker’s name at the top of that list,” said Rabbi Aryeh Azriel.

“She put in over 27 years of dedication and commitment to the Ivrit education of hundreds of youth and adults in our community,” Rabbi Azriel continued. “When you look around town, you will be able to identify scores of Jews, young and old, who learned their first Alef-Bet from Doris.”

“Some of my students are now grandparents,” Doris said. “And I taught their grandchildren.”

It has always been a great joy for Doris to attend services and watch her students grow up and continue their Hebrew studies.

“I love to see it,” Doris said. “I love to see the kids grow up. I love to go to services to see the kids have their bar mitzvahs.”

Rabbi Azriel praised her commitment to her students’ education.

“Her tenacity in making sure that her stu-

dents acquired a Hebrew foundation that will last is admirable,” he said.

But as time passed, Doris decided it was time to retire when technology began to take over the education process she loved so dear.

“Everyone wants to communicate with their computers,” she said. “No one wants to talk in person or on the phone anymore. I’m no good with computers. If I’m on my computer twice a week, that’s good for me.”

As Doris looks forward to her retirement, education continues to remain a priority for her. She attends Temple Israel’s Thursday morning Adult Study with the Clergy and the Torah Study sessions before Saturday morning services. And there’s enough to do in Omaha that she’s not worried about her retirement becoming boring.

“I belong to the opera, the symphony, the playhouse. I keep busy,” Doris said. “I hope I’ll be able to keep busy.”

exhibit of photographs, documents and other memorabilia from the Carl Frohm Archival Center. A walk-through of the new Riekes Museum, plus tours of the many exhibits presented by NJHS over the past 30 years, displayed in the Gallery, are also on the day’s agenda. A reception in the JCC Auditorium, with Keefer Peterson providing old-time piano music, follows the program.

Working with Bernstein on Anniversary arrangements are Bob Belgrade, Midge Bowers, Renee Corcoran, Don Dandy, Helen Epstein, Norma Fried, Doug Hartman, Lorrie Katleman, Nan Katz, Angie Krieger, Ira Nathan, Oliver Pollak, Dick Rochman, Beth Staenberg, Rocky Stern, Kathy Weiner, and Sue Millward, current NJHS President. Other Nebraska Jewish Historical Society officers are Beth

Staenberg, Vice President; Rocky Stern, Secretary; Don Dandy, Treasurer; and Debbi Josephson, Past President.

Since its incorporation in 1982, the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society has helped preserve local Jewish history through the collection of artifacts and documents that show the impact Jews have had in Nebraska and Eastern Iowa since the 1850s.

The NJHS is privately supported through donations made by families and individuals.

Membership helps the organization plan programs and exhibits and continue the goal of preservation and education, l’dor v’dor -from generation to generation. Information on how you can support the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society is found on the organization’s website at Nebraskajhs.com or by calling the office at 402.334.6441.

Something important and lasting Continued from page 1 richness of our Jewish community.” Those who worked on plans for the new location include Mark Sanford, architect; Doug Hartman, layout and interior design; Renee Corcoran, Nebraska Jewish Historical Society Executive director; and members of the Riekes family. Steve Riekes will speak on behalf of the family when the new Museum doors are opened at the NJHS Anniversary celebration.

The program for the afternoon honors the original Nebraska Jewish Historical Society founders -- Mary Fellman, Dr. Oliver Pollak, Lois (Buck) Friedman, Silvia Roffman and Joie Simon. Roffman and Pollak will present an overview of the organization, from its modest beginnings in Mary Fellman’s kitchen to its current status as a premier repository of local Jewish history. Also slated to be honored is Midge Bowers, a Past President of NJHS, who will receive the Shirley Berman Volunteer Award. “Midge has given years of quiet dedication to the organization, with no expectations of recognition,” Joanie Bernstein said. “She is creative, innovative, and an outstanding advisor to everyone with whom she works.”

A special presentation will recognize the late Dr. Ben Nachman, founder of the NJHS

Oral History Program. “Before his death in 2010, Ben had recorded the life stories of over five hundred individuals,” Corcoran said. “The NJHS is committed to the continuation and expansion of the Oral History program in Ben’s honor. It has been said that a people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots. The stories Ben gathered are the foundation for our collective future, and this anniversary celebration is our chance to honor Ben and his contribution to that future through his respect for the past.” A video tribute to Nachman from some of his many close friends will be part of the celebration program. Ben’s widow, Elaine, and their daughters -- Carole Aronchick, Marilyn Colick and Nancy Silverman -- currently live in Arizona, but will attend the Oct. 14 event, to which the entire community is invited. “We encourage everyone to come celebrate and honor Ben, Midge, and the founders of the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society on Oct. 14,” Bernstein said. “We will also recognize and thank our outgoing President, Debbi Josephson, and introduce the new NJHS Board members.

This occasion is truly special.”

In addition to the volunteer award presentations, the afternoon includes a time-line

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4 | The Jewish Press | October 12, 2012

It’s not just about the cookies

by AMBER PARTIN For many Americans, a mere mention of the Girl Scouts brings to mind the brightly-colored boxes of kosher cookies of which no one can get enough. Thin Mints and Tagalongs have a supernatural power of beguiling even the most miserly of hearts into a committed purchase. The mere mention of the Girl Scouts also brings to mind the smiling, cheerful young ladies who are known for their community outreach projects and other admirable public service initiatives.

However, there is more to the Girl Scouts than just cookies or even their inspiring service to others. Their mission statement reads: “Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.”

Indeed. This organization shines just as brightly from within—if not brighter.

When Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, Georgia, founded the Girl Scouts on March 12, 1912, she had a vision of reaching out to young ladies from every ethnic, religious, and economic background. Low also aspired to reach out to girls with disabilities (Low herself suffered from hearing impairment, the result of poor medical treatment in one ear and an unfortunate accident in the other) and those from under-represented communities in the United States.

Clearly, the first heartbeat of the Girl Scouts was for diversity and social acceptance. Low’s organization for young women was radical for its time; her idea of inclusion was birthed in a world where women had not yet been given the right to vote, where African Americans still suffered segregation. She raised eyebrows for sure, but she also inspired a nation of young ladies to embrace each other’s differences and, ultimately, forge a union of equality, respect and friendship, which obviously required “courage, confidence, and

character.”

Juliette Gordon Low was famously cited for placing a telephone call to a friend and proclaiming, “I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we’re going to start it tonight!” Either she was just incredibly optimistic, or she had a touch of soothsayer in her blood. Perhaps both. Since its inception in 1912, the Girl Scouts have blossomed from a humble gathering of 18 young ladies in Savannah, Georgia, to an awe-inspiring 3.2 million active members and 59 million alumnae, according to the Girl Scout Research Institute. Girl Scouts of all backgrounds from all states have gone on to become great leaders in their community as well as successful businesswomen.

In 1926, Omaha, Nebraska saw its first Girl Scout Troops. In the years to follow, troops sprang up westward across the state and on May 1, 2008, these five Nebraska councils came together to create the Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska. This merge created a solid network of resources and opportunities to better serve girls in an ever-changing, complex world. The Spirit of Nebraska Council currently consists of over 18,000 girls and 6,000 adults in 92 Nebraska counties, including Carter Lake, Iowa!

A solid, proud example of Girl Scout diversity shining

A Jewish View of the New Testament

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator For those who have always wondered what the differences are between the Hebrew and Christian bibles, Beth El will present “A Jewish View of the New Testament,” a thoughtprovoking class on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 11 a.m.

According to Rabbi Mordechai Levin, who will lead the class, participants will explore a variety of questions pertaining to the text, including the following: Are the Gospels historic books or reli- Rabbi Mordechai Levin gious interpretations? When and where were the books of the New Testament written? Why were many other books of

that time left out of the New Testament? How reliable are the English translations? Is the New Testament anti-Jewish?

“As Jews who live in a Christian-majority country, it is helpful for us to have some basic information about the New Testament,” Rabbi Levin said. “As Jews, we have a historical – not a confessional - perspective toward the book that was written within particular historical circumstances.”

And Dr. Michael J. Cook, professor of Intertestamental and Early Christian Literatures at Hebrew Union College, has stated that, “The New Testament has been the greatest single external determinant of Jewish history, and a deleterious one to say the least.”

All adults in the Jewish community are welcome to participate, at no charge. For planning purposes, registration is required. To register, visit Beth El’s website, www.bethelomaha.org, or contact Program Director Margie Gutnik in the synagogue office, or at programming@bethel-omaha. org.

TheElectionEdition

through was the formation of Omaha’s Brownie Troop 944.

Led by Eadie Tsabari and Roxanne Kahn, Troop 944 emphasized both Jewish values and the core principles of the Girl Scouts and how they related to the community. For example, the troop had Havdallah services and installations one month, while in a following month, the troop integrated lessons about tradition while participating in the city-wide project, “Keep Omaha Beautiful.” Add a visit to Girl Scout Camp Maha, and you had a fun, educational atmosphere for the young scouts and their leaders. If it hadn’t been for Juliette Gordon Low’s open mind and heart, Troop 944 and similar troops may never have been able to incorporate their beliefs into Girl Scouting. A little-observed fact about Low’s first troop is that a few of those members were Jewish and attended the third-oldest synagogue in the United States, Mickve Israel in Savannah, Georgia. Leonora Amram and Mildred Guckenheimer eventually served on the first Girl Scout Council and became its secretary, respectively. Imagine the pride of those young ladies who were not only making history for their involvement with Low’s organization, but also representing Jewish girls everywhere.

So, next time you purchase some delectable Do-si-dos, remember that every dollar you spend supports not only what the Girl Scouts do for their community on the outside, but also supports who they are on the inside, and who they will become. Now, that’s truly delicious!

If you would like to learn more information about the Girl Scouts of Nebraska, or if there’s a special girl in your life who would like to become a Girl Scout, visit: www.girlscoutsnebraska.org. Feel free to check out their fabulous Facebook page and Twitter, @girlscoutsNE! Omaha’s Great Plains Council office may be reached by calling 402.558.8189.

Organizations B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS The Executive Director of Ted E. Bear Hollow, Nancy Hemesath will discuss their organizations’ successful technique in caring for distraught children on Wednesday, Oct. 17, noon at the Blumkin Home. An optional buffet lunch costs $11; beverage service only is $3. For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha. org.

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Skype offers RBJH residents a front row seat

by OZZIE NOGG Obviously, the younger generation is all a-twitter over technology. But Facebook, YouTube, and Skype are now also embraced by older adults, as evidenced by a recent session at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home where residents videoconferenced with their peers at Stone Gardens Assisted Living, a Division of Menorah Park Center for Senior Living in Beachwood, Ohio. “There were about nine or ten of us sitting in the Pennie Z. Davis Learning Center on Mainstreet,” said RBJH resident Betty Goldstrom, “and suddenly we could see and talk to people in Ohio through Skype. It was very emotional. I don’t understand how an airplane flies in the air, let alone this. I’ve been in Skype conversations before, and it’s always awesome. And baffling.”

The Internet connection between Stone Gardens and the Blumkin Home was part Blumkin Home resident of the Gam Yachad initiative, Betty Goldstrom thinks the a Skyping program designed ability to Skype with out-ofby staff and volunteers of the town family and friends is Ohio facility. The Hebrew “awesome” term Gam Yachad refers to people joining as one, and allows residents of Jewish aged care facilities around the world to use the Internet to create a new social network through “face to face” meetings, where they share Jewish religious traditions, customs past and present, experiences and exciting events in their lives. Sarah Taub, Director of Activities at Stone Gardens Assisted Living on the Menorah Park campus, explained how the RBJH became part of the program.

“I was in Omaha for a weekend about three years ago to speak to the Jewish community as a representative of Yachad/The National Jewish Council for Disabilities. After my arrival, I was taken on a tour of the Blumkin Home and was quite impressed. When we opened the Gam Yachad program to reach out to nursing home residents in the fifty states, I chose Nebraska because I had the good fortune to have visited your Home.”

For some Blumkin Home residents who participated in the Skype session, this good fortune translated into a serendipitous reconnection to their past. “During our conversation with Menorah,” Betty Goldstrom explained, “Noah Budin, the Assistant Director of Activities for Stone Gardens, mentioned a man in Cleveland named Don Neuberger. Well, I knew Don from our days at Bellefaire Jewish Orphanage in Cleveland back in 1929. You see, my father died when he was only forty-nine, leaving my mother unable to care for me and my younger siblings. I went to Bellefaire when I was nine years old and stayed until I was sixteen. Those years in the orphanage were wonderful.

Everything I am today I owe to the orphanage and the love I received there. The Skype session brought back those experiences and let me share the memories. I was very moved.”

Norm Zevitz, another Blumkin Home resident, also participated in the Skype session and enjoyed his own personal

connection. “When someone in Ohio mentioned Bellefaire, it rang a bell, because my late wife, Dorothy Schwartz Zevitz, lived at the orphanage until she was nine years old. Paul Veret, the Executive Director of the old JCC on 20th and Dodge, placed Dorothy there because her family in Omaha was going through some tough times. In the Skype session I found out things about Dorothy and Bellefaire that I’d never known before. We also learned that Rabbi Howard Kutner, who used to be at Beth Israel Synagogue, is now an associate rabbi at Menorah Park. It sure is a small world, and with Skype we can revisit old times and visit new places without even leaving this building.”

The Menorah Park Gam Yachad program continues to blaze a technological trail by connecting residents of senior facilities to other nations, cultures and people of all ages.

According to Ross Wilkoff, the Director of Assisted Living Services at Menorah Park, the impact of Skype is both “awesome and meaningful.” During the past 12 months, Menorah Park Campus residents have engaged in Skyping sessions with Jews in England, South Africa, France, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Morocco, India, China, Argentina and Israel. “This is a first in a lifetime experience for most of our seniors who were not even familiar with the Skype concept before this program,” Wilkoff said. “Seniors are spared the expense and inconvenience of travel, they make new friends and realize they are not isolated, secluded or forgotten. Gam Yachad is special because it demonstrates to our seniors that they have valuable input and are part of a larger picture.”

According to Shelly Fox, MSW, CSW of Jewish Senior Services, “With Skype, RBJH resident Dave Dvorkin was able to ‘participate’ in the 2010 Bat Mitzvah of his greatgranddaughter, Rebecca Poscover, and the 2011 Bar Mitzvah of his great-grandson Jacob Poscover -- both of Chesterfield, MO -- from the comfort of his room. And just this past September, Sarah (Babe) Nogg, a RBJH Rehab resident, watched her great-granddaughter Madison Kiper’s Bat Mitzvah in Pacific Palisades, CA, via webcam.” Josh Gurock, RBJH Facilities Coordinator, added, “Our ability to Skype for weddings and Bar Mitzvahs gives our residents a front row seat at family simchas, even from a distance. Through Skype we have also visited Israel, Los Angeles and St. Louis, and now have a wall map mural that pinpoints the locations of our visits. We plan to expand our reach very soon.”

Ninety-two year old Betty Goldstrom uses Skype to talk, face to face, with family in Colorado and Illinois. “My Omaha sons, Mark and Larry, visit me all the time -- we even have a reserved table at the Friday Star Deli -- so being able to see and hear my son Jerry, in Ft. Collins, on Skype, gives me such joy. I Skype with my granddaughter Stephi in Highland Park, and when my grandson got married in Omaha, the ceremony was Skyped so his bride’s family in El Salvador could celebrate with them. I get chilled all over, just thinking about it.” Goldstrom has been a Blumkin Home resident for the past five years. “It’s all about love,” she said.

“Giving love and getting love. I remember the past, appreciate the present and look forward to more years. Living at the Blumkin Home is a privilege. I have everything right here, and the people I don’t have right here I can see and talk to, through Skype.”

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Grades 3-6 will ‘Experience Shabbat’

by DAVID GOLBITZ Temple Israel Staff Writer Now in its second year, Temple Israel’s “Experience Shabbat” program, the goal of which is to make its children more comfortable with the Shabbat morning service, is fast approaching.

“We tend to have a lower attendance, particularly in young families, when it comes to Saturday morning services,” said Religious School Principal Ariella Lowensohn. “And so this gives the children an opportunity to feel comfortable with the Shabbat morning service before they’re up there on the bimah for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah.”

On two Saturday mornings this year, Oct. 13 and Nov. 17, and two in the spring, students in Grades 3-6 will attend a class taught by Lowensohn and Rabbi Josh Brown, followed by a special, educational Shabbat service, separate from the main congregation.

“First we’re going to do a little bit of teaching and then we’re going to do a service, but it’s a teaching service, so it will be in parallel with the regular service,” Lowensohn said.

The classes will begin at 9:30 a.m. each of the Saturday mornings, with the teaching service to follow. Bagels and juice will be served and parents are welcome to attend with their children.

“It’s going to be kind of an unusual service,” Lowensohn said, “which is why we’re doing it separately. There will be the opportunity to ask questions, which you normally don’t have during services. It will demystify the process a little bit

and hopefully allow the kids to understand and feel like they’re part of the service as opposed to being just passive viewers. The real goal is for kids to ‘experience’ shabbat and feel like they’re a part of it.

“We normally gear our services for an older age group than eight to 12 [year olds],” Lowensohn added. “This gives us an opportunity to gear it toward this age group. We’ll be able to explain things, we’ll be able to emphasize certain things that wouldn’t necessarily be emphasized in a regular service.”

Attendance at the two “Experience Shabbat” sessions count as part of Religious School and as such, there will be no classes for Grades 3-6 on the following Sundays, Oct. 14 and Nov. 18. The other grades, kindergarten through second, will have class as usual.

Birth Rachel and Joey Shyken announce the July 28 birth of their son, Akiva Yitzchok Reuven who is named for his paternal grandfather, maternal great-grandfather and paternal cousin.

Grandparents are Jodi and Bruce Kanner of Gaithersburg, MD Great-grandparents are Norma Solomon of East Rockaway, NY and Gold and Morty Kanner of East Meadow, NY.

6 | The Jewish Press | October 12, 2012

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by JILL BELMONT Tipp said. “This is a great way Beth El Publicity Coordinator to get outside and participate Vala’s Pumpkin Patch in in fun fall activities. There are over 40 attractions and severGretna will be the place to be al shows to enjoy. The campon Sunday, Oct. 21, as Beth fire is always a hit with the El’s Young Adult Committee kids and the s’mores are a sponsors a Fall Fun Day for messy, fun, and sweet way to all 20 - and 30-somethings end the evening.” (single and married) and The first 30 to register/pay families in the Jewish comby Oct. 15 will save $3 per munity.

An afternoon/ evening of pumpkin-picking, person on admission ($10 per a picnic, hayrack ride and person vs. the regular price of campfire has been planned by $13.29). There is no charge organizers Sonia Tipp and for children two and younger.

At last year’s Beth El sponsored get-together at Vala’s, Register and pay online at Laurie Epstein.

“Everyone is welcome to pumpkin-picking was among the many fun-filled activities for www.bethel-omaha.org. For enjoy all of the fun attractions attendees of all ages. more information, contact at Vala’s, and then at 4 p.m., we will meet for a hayrack ride, Tipp at stipp0811@yahoo.com or 402.968.5519; or Epstein, then head to campfire site #11 for a bonfire and dinner,” at laurieepstein@hotmail.com or 702.884.4153.

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by BETH COHEN “A Crash Course in Jewish Executive Director, Holidays,” was a one-hour the Center for Jewish Life session giving an overview of The mission of the Jewish the basic meaning and obserFederation of Omaha and its vances of Rosh Hashanah, agencies is rooted in Jewish Yom Kippur, Sukkot and law and principles. The Simchat Torah. Another Center for Jewish Life is now “Crash Course” will be offering Jewish Education offered in the spring on classes to staff to give them Purim, Passover, and Shavuot.

Thank you to Joel Alperson an opportunity to be versed in Jewish history, holidays, Judy Rosenfeld led the class for JFO staff. Sitting next to and Daphna Pollak for supporting this new initiative. and customs. The first class, Judy is Barb Kirkpatrick, Federation Bookkeeper.

Omaha youth group hosts regional chavurah

by DAVID GOLBITZ Temple Israel Staff Writer Every fall each region of the North American Federation of Temple Youth holds a chavurah, or conclave, and this year the Missouri Valley regional chavurah is being held in Omaha beginning on Friday, Nov. 2.

Temple Israel and the Omaha Temple Youth Group will host high schoolers from around the region for a “fun, social weekend with religious, cultural and social action components,” according to Youth Group Advisor Amy Katz.

Including OTYG, approximately 120 teens from Jewish youth groups in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Wyoming are expected to attend.

The study theme of this year’s chavurah is “Am I My Brother’s Keeper?” and as such the teens will participate in a community service project.

“We’re for social action,” said OTYG Fall Conclave CoChair Morissa Miller. “We’re going to different shelters.

We’re going to food banks. We’re doing a bunch of different things that have to do with homelessness.”

On Saturday, the teens will split up into six groups, each one visiting a different social justice organization for a hands-on experience: Food Bank for the Heartland; Habitat for Humanity; HELP Omaha; Open Door Mission; Together; and the Youth Emergency Shelter.

With the presidential election the Tuesday following the chavurah, and with some NFTY members eligible to vote for the first time, the teens will also hold a debate of each presidential candidate’s position on social issues, without knowing which positions belong to which candidate, followed by a mock election between Candidate A and Candidate B. “This way they’re voting on the issues instead of the candidates,” Katz said.

There will also be a social Saturday night, titled “A Social of Olympic Proportions,” in honor of the Olympics, during which the kids will have time to socialize as they participate in various physical activities.

The chavurah begins Friday evening, Nov. 2 and runs through Sunday, Nov. 4. To register for the chavurah, teens can go to www.nfty.org/mv. When prompted, the username is “NFTYMV” and the password is “victor.”

Early registration runs through Oct. 16 and costs $140.

Regular registration ends on Oct. 23 and is $160. Late registration is available after the 23rd for $180. The chavurah is open to all Omaha-area Jewish high schoolers, but they must be members of OTYG in order to attend. Teens are urged to contact Amy Katz for information on how to join.

Beber Scholarships are available no later than two weeks

prior to an event by contacting Center for Jewish Life Associate Executive Director Mary Sue Grossman at 402.334.6445 or visit www.jewishomaha.org. Families can also contact Amy Katz at amykatz9120@hotmail.com for confidential assistance or with questions.

With the influx of NFTY teenagers for chavurah, host families are needed to house them all. Please contact Program Director Wendy Goldberg at wgoldberg@ templeisraelomaha.com if you’re interested.

Sukkot in Lincoln

by SARAH KELEN for South Street Temple On Sept. 30, Erev Sukkot, about thirty members of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, Lincoln’s South Street Temple, gathered to share in the mitzvah of building and dwelling in a sukkah. Congregants Ellin Siegel and John Mosow welcomed Temple friends to their home to put the finishing touches on the sukkah before Rabbi Lewis led the community in worship.

When guests arrived, the frame of the sukkah was built, but the roof still needed its schach, and the sukkah needed to be decorated. Adults and children set to work, and soon the sukkah’s walls and roof were bright with branches, vines, flowers, multicolored corn, gourds, and Liam Mullin concentrates to hand-colored cardboard get his sukkah decorations leaves. just right as adults and chilToward the end of the dren work together on art service, Rabbi Lewis projects in the background. reminded the group that Sukkot is a time of welcoming and hospitality, and he encouraged everyone to hold hands with a neighbor and bring that person into the sukkah as a guest. Assembled together in the sukkah, participants shared some challah, leading into a festive potluck with congregational chefs showing off their own harvest bounty, from green tomato pie to homemade applesauce. With Nebraska’s fall weather cooperating and good food shared among friends, it truly was z’man simchateinu!

October 12, 2012 | The Jewish Press | 7

Cantor Shermet to present a history of Judaism in Greece

by DAVID GOLBITZ Temple Israel Staff Writer In January 2012 Temple Israel Cantor Wendy Shermet traveled to Greece to research the history of its Jewish population.

“I was chasing down the Jewish life that had been there,” Cantor Shermet said. “Jews used to be an extremely important part of Greece until World War I.” Jewish people have lived in Greece since before the Common Era and, as Cantor Shermet points out, Greek culture had a huge influence on the creation of Israel. Greeks were also the first people to translate the Torah into a different language: Greek, obviously.

But during World War II, Greek Jews were nearly eradicated.

“Greece was hit harder than any other European country, per capita, in terms of the Jews who were killed,” Cantor Shermet said.

“In Thessaloniki, for example, they used to have 30 synagogues and 90,000 Jews. Now there are 1,500 Jews left and one synagogue, or maybe two sometimes,” the cantor continued. “There are 5,000 Jews in all of Greece because they were devastated after the war.”

In fact, the city of Thessaloniki, also known as Salonica, was once called “the Mother of Israel,” because of its vibrancy of learning and culture. The city was home to the oldest population of Jews, mostly Sephardic, in mainland Europe.

Cantor Shermet traveled all across Greece, from Athens and the Peloponnesian Peninsula in the south to Ioannina, near the Albanian border in the northwest, and as far east as Thessaloniki, which lies across the Aegean Sea from Turkey.

She visited various synagogues and museums, searching for information about the vast history of the Jewish life that had once made up more than half the population of Greece.

“Every tiny town has a museum,” Cantor Shermet said. “The tiniest of towns has a museum of their own artifacts because there’s so much history. You don’t have to go to Athens to go to a museum. Archeological finds are everywhere.”

Cantor Shermet will be discussing her research as part of Temple Israel’s Adult Study with the Clergy program. The classes go from 10-11:30 a.m. each Thursday from Oct. 11 through Dec. 20. Classes are open to all in the community and cost $45 for Temple Israel members and $55 for non-members.

The classes will begin with the history of Greece itself before moving on to what Jewish life in Greece was like throughout the ages.

Cantor Shermet has a great love for the topic and is eager to share her findings with the Omaha Jewish community.

“I find history fascinating and not everybody does,” Cantor Shermet said. “But I just happen to find history really fascinating.”

HEY MOM, SOUND FAMILIAR? You can’t remember the last time you had a date night with your husband.

Weekend traveling/vacations are luxuries from the past.

You’re exhausted because of your kids and never ending chores.

Historic Omaha Torah dedication

by RABBI LEIBEL BAUMGARTEN daughter, Amee. “It was most appropriate that this selfless for Chabad Center act was honored in the first of thousands of blessings to be How do I even begin to tell you about the Unity Torah recited over the Unity Torah,” said Rabbi Mendel Katzman.

Celebration? Close to 500 people from across the spectrum The unity theme permeated the crowd in the sea of purof the Omaha community gathered Thursday, Sept. 20, to ple--hundreds wearing Unity Torah t-shirts bearing the dedicate the Unity Torah, the first Torah to be started and slogan, “Many Souls, One Scroll.” “Every soul is representcompleted in Omaha. ed by a letter in the Torah,” It began at the JCC where explained Estie Baumgarten, the final letters of the Torah “Each one is vital.” were inscribed and continResidents of the Rose ued with a grand parade Blumkin Jewish home were which escorted the Torah to delighted as hundreds its new home at the Chabad paraded through their halls Center. The diverse crowd led by assistant administrawelcomed the scroll with tor Michael Schop, carrying song and dance and capped the Unity Torah under a the evening with a buffet “chupah.” dinner. “It was a joy to be The Chabad Center was part of such a monumental abuzz as the synagogue’s milestone for the entire Torah scrolls were brought community,” said Iris Ricks. out to greet their new “sibThat doesn’t truly capture ling,” the Unity Torah. the scene. Let me try someJubilant circles of dancing Rabbi Mendel Katzman, right, congratulates Milton thing else. Rush hour traffic children and grownups Kleinberg, left, who crowned the Unity Torah in honor of his on 132nd, Pacific and 120th formed as live music filled mother. Torah is being held by Dr. Eric Philips.

Streets paused as a new the room.

Credit: Shevi Katzman Torah was escorted by a Mike Kelly, in his Sep 22 mile-long motorcade. Motorists watched an extraordinary column in the Omaha World Herald said: “There was display of Jewish pride with a parade featuring Jewish humor attached to the Thursday completion of a hand-letthemed floats, festive Jewish music and “Ollie the Trolley” tered Torah... Three middle-age guys sang Let’s Go to carrying dozens of happy, singing, flag waving Jewish kids. Chabad, a parody to the tune of Let’s Go to the Hop.” "The kids had a blast on the trolley ride," said Sonia Tipp, “It was an honor to be a part of it,” said Gary Nachman, a chaperone. "They couldn't believe all of the stopped cars who sang together with Steve Denenberg and Jim Fried. had stopped for US! They were full of excitement and Andy Greenberg said it proved again “the Katzmans and pride about the Unity Torah, it was an unforgettable expe- Chabad really know how to party!” rience!"

No single angle can properly encapsulate the togetherAn eight foot iPhone along with an iPad and laptop com- ness, import and pride of the day. The Celebration brought puter stunned Unity Torah Celebrants. They were all part the community together in an unprecedented manner. of a float built by teenage students designed to depict From priests to rabbis and everyone in between, we were Torah’s relevance in modern life and carried the banner, all there. “It was wonderful to see such a crowd, such “from Sinai to wifi: Torah connects.” unity,” said Joanie Jacobson, an event host. “But what was Omaha has a new Torah. It is the very same - letter for truly remarkable was that we were all there to celebrate the letter - as the one Moses gave the Jewish people. “Ever Torah.” since my Bar Mitzvah, I’ve been fascinated that the Torah “Chabad doesn’t just arrange for a new Torah; they teach could be passed down over millennia absolutely and show us by example what’s inside,” said Steve unchanged. No errors.” said Steve Denenberg in his wel- Denenberg. A display taught how a Torah is made; chilcoming address to Celebration. “Really, it’s beyond incred- dren wrote their Jewish names on parchment with quills; ible. You don’t see that accuracy in any other arena. Even everyone was able to buy their own letter in the Torah; we the programs that took the astronauts to the moon and witnessed a scribe write real letters in a real Torah. back had errors.”

Rabbi Simcha Morgenstern, who made the drive from It was an emotional scene as Larry Kavich recited Kansas City along with his young children said, “Who “hagomel,” a thanksgiving blessing to G-d after his recov- knows if they’ll get to see something like this again?” ery from a recent transplant of a kidney donated by his Said Andy Greenberg, “All of us there felt something.”

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Point of view

American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

We are still a nation of immigrants

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press We Are Still a Nation of Immigrants is a project of the Anti-Defamation League – Plains States Region Civil Rights Committee. The series features personal stories from local immigrants, and people who work with Omaha’s immigrant community. Because of its commitment to justice, the Civil Rights Committee of the Plains States Regional Board of the ADL has made the issue of immigration a priority for study, research and education.

It’s difficult to say anything useful about immigrants without resorting to generalizations. I am just one person, and can’t speak for anybody else. Being an immigrant is an intimate issue, a choice each person makes for him - or herself, with implications that are highly personal and emotional.

However, it is an important enough issue that we should nonetheless try.

I came to this country at the age of 24, after I met my husband in the international studies department at the University of Utrecht (Google it; it’s a very cool city, and you should all go visit). I never planned to live in America, but I fell in love. First with my husband, and eventually with Omaha. And to be honest, that second crush took quite a while to develop.

When you move to a different country as an adult, you have to commit. And I did not feel that commitment during the first ten years I was here. I’d tell myself it was temporary, and clung to my own culture as if it were a life vest. My identity was Dutch, all the way, and nobody was going to take that away from me. And so in spite of the fact that I’ve always worked hard at any job I’ve held, what I didn’t work at was fitting in. I was an accidental immigrant, trading my British accent for American English kicking and screaming, perpetually plotting my homecoming. Back to Holland, my beautiful country, where my family and friends were, where the

food was better, the politics made more sense, and I could much more eloquently express myself in my native tongue. I had a chip on my shoulder the size of a windmill.

In the meantime, life happened, and there always seemed

to be another reason to stay. And before I knew it, I found myself on holiday back home, and realized that ‘home’ was slowly changing. No longer could I fit in seamlessly after coming off the plane. They introduced that blasted Euro.

They built strange gates at the train station that never used to be there. Entire neighborhoods disappeared, favorite stores closed and new ones opened. My grandparents’ old house was torn down, my parents moved; I lost touch with many of my friends. None of these things are necessarily bad, it’s just: I wasn’t there to see it happen. My country moved on without me, and it wasn’t anyone’s fault but my own.

In 2001, my job sent us to New Orleans, where our daughter was born. I was homesick, but the funny thing was: the place I

missed the most was not Holland. I found myself checking the home listings for Omaha, missing snow, and craving --of all things--Runza sandwiches. Suddenly, that lack of American roots I was so proud of turned out to be a big fat lie. I had roots, all right, and they were Husker red. Who knew?

We came back to Nebraska, and haven’t looked back since. Because while I was busy missing my country, I forgot that you can’t live somewhere else for that long without changing. The Holland I missed so much doesn’t exist anymore (maybe it never did, as there’s a fair amount of romanticizing for anyone who leaves home) and neither does the person I was at 24.

It’s that emotional and personal component of immigration that is most often overlooked in the public debate. We hear politicians talk about jobs, crime, and legal issues. They talk about real or imaginary reasons why we come here, why we’ve been coming here for hundreds of years. We all want to live the American Dream, and there is a conflicted discourse surrounding the question of whether certain immigrants deserve to make their home here. It’s always been that way, for every immigrant, regardless of his or her country of origin. But what we forget is that every immigrant is an individual with an individual story. If we want to continue to make this country better, we must once and for all acknowledge the fact that the vast majority of American citizens originate from elsewhere. Maybe it was your grandmother, maybe it was your great-great-grandfather, and maybe it is you who made that emotional transition. Circumstances brought us here, not for nefarious reasons, but because we somehow found a home here. And maybe that is the real American Dream: to completely redefine what ‘home’ actually means.

I am no longer really Dutch, and that still hurts. I am not completely American, and that sometimes hurts, too. I am, like so many immigrants, something in between. But I do know where ‘home’ is, and that is worth everything.

Islamic leaders must call out hatemongers

Focus on issues ABRAHAM H. FOXMAN, National Director of ADL NEW YORK (JTA) -- In 1935, a trial was held in Bern, Switzerland, in which two individuals were being prosecuted for distributing the notorious anti-Semitic document The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. At the trial, witness after witness came forward testifying to the fraudulent nature of The Protocols.

Then one of the accused took the stand and was asked what he thought in light of these testimonies. He said that none of it had impact on him, and that he knows The Protocols are true because every day around him he sees how Jews conspire to control the world.

That story comes to mind as we watch the sad tales unfold of the anti-Islamic film that led to riots in the Arab world.

A story circulated that the maker of the film, Innocence of Muslims, was an Israeli-American Jew by the name of Sam Bacile who claimed that he had produced the film and was backed by 100 Jewish donors. It quickly emerged, however, that the story was a lie. In fact, there was absolutely no Jewish angle here at all. The film’s producer was a Christian Copt living on the West Coast who received assistance from a right-wing, anti-Muslim Christian.

The revelation of these facts was important in many

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places, but in those places where anti-Semitic conspiracy theories have become a way of life, the truth had no impact, much as in the case of the distribution of The Protocols back in 1935. Rather the “evidence” that the anti-Muslim film was produced by a Jew merely confirmed what they already “know” -- that Jews are behind the siege against the Muslim world, that Jews are the secret power in the world.

It is therefore hardly a surprise that a surge of anti-Semitic sentiment appeared since the story broke with the violence against U.S. missions in Egypt and Libya.

Cartoons in papers across the Arab world and in Iran depict evil Jews as behind the film and anti-Muslim sentiment. In one Iranian cartoon, the Jew is the devil and the director of the anti-Muslim film. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad chimed in as usual, calling the film an Israeli plot “to divide [Muslims] and spark sectarian conflict.” Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the American-made movie is tied to “Islamophobic policies of arrogant powers and Zionists.”

What should not be missed here is not that this is an example of the usual suspects merely exploiting a situation to serve their anti-Jewish purposes. It is rather far deeper and more sinister.

It is a way of thinking that is dominant in certain circles, is truly believed and just awaits repeated confirmations to set off anti-Semitic explosions of one kind or another.

Therefore, although important, it is simply not enough to react against and expose these manifestations of hatred.

Rather there has to be a sustained long-term process of standing up and speaking out against this kind of thinking,

so the point can be reached where these conspiratorial viewpoints are isolated and truly marginal.

To a large extent, this has happened in recent years in the West because of the impact and lessons of the Holocaust, because of the changes in the Catholic Church’s views on Jews and, significantly, because of leaders and nongovernmental organizations in democratic societies willing to take a stand for the truth.

Sadly, in the Islamic world, there is no systematic effort to combat anti-Semitic conspiracy thinking. To the contrary, as we see in Iran and in many government-sponsored newspapers in a number of Arab countries, officials often aid, abet and even lead the way in their anti-Semitism.

Ultimately, as in the West, true change will come only when influentials in the Islamic world recognize how destructive these views are to their own societies. We, unfortunately, are far away from that day.

But for now it is vital that Western countries and others like Russia, China and non-aligned nations find opportunities to call out their Muslim country counterparts.

If it is legitimate for Muslims to express anger at antiMuslim sentiment in the West, even if it comes only from an individual with no government connection, it is surely right to call out Muslim officials who remain silent in the face of or even work to cultivate and exploit anti-Jewish sentiment in their own societies.

Abraham H. Foxman is national director of the AntiDefamation League and author most recently of Jews and Money: The Story of a Stereotype.

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October 12, 2012 | The Jewish Press | 9

School of choice

Focus on issues RABBI JONATHAN GROSS As a teenager, I once asked my mother, “What would you do if I decided that I did not want to be Jewish anymore?”

Without missing a beat she said to me, “I wouldn’t do anything.”

“Really?” I asked in disbelief.

“Really.” She said. “But you would have to pay me and your father back every dime that we spent on Jewish education.”

That was enough to keep me in the faith.

Study after study has shown that statistically, the best proven way to ensure that your children will choose to continue your family’s Jewish heritage is to send them to Jewish day school.

But the families that make that choice also make a tremendous financial sacrifice. Nationwide, the average day school tuition is approaching $20,000 a year. At those prices, sending four

children to Jewish day school through high school will cost almost a million dollars! And tuition is only going up.

For many, the rising cost of Jewish day school represents the most immediate crisis facing the North American Jewish community.

In the Jewish community where I grew up, most families, like my parents, choose to send their children to Jewish day school rather than the public schools. Those parents, understandably, feel that the government should offer more freedom to people to choose for themselves how to educate their children by providing assistance, in some form, to families that for whatever reason are not comfortable with the public schools.

As someone who went to Jewish schools and intends to one day send my own children to Jewish schools, I am also in favor of school choice. On this issue I have discovered a great deal of commonality with people of other religions.

Surprisingly, I have found that among Jews the issue of school choice is controversial. There are many who feel that the state has no business giving support to those who decide that the public schools are not for their children. Families have the freedom to choose whatever school they want, but they must pay for it themselves.

Over the last decade the Orthodox Union has become a leading voice in Washington on behalf of those Jews, and nonJews, who believe in school choice. On Oct. 16, Beth Israel Synagogue, a member of the OU, will be visited by Maury Litwak from the OU’s IPA. The IPA is the public policy arm of the nation’s largest representative Orthodox Jewish organization, representing nearly 1,000 congregations nationwide (http://www.ou .org/synagogue_services). The OU’s Institute for Public Affairs works to promote Jewish values and protect Jewish interests in the public square.

Mr. Litwak will be speaking at Beth Israel at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 16 about Government Support for Jewish Education - the National Trends & Arguments pro and con.

During his presentation he will talk about his work in Washington, the support and partnership that the OU has with other faiths, and the opposition that it faces.

This is a very relevant topic for us in Nebraska as our own Friedel Jewish academy tuition continues to rise every year.

I sincerely hope that those in the community with strong opinions on either side of this important issue will come to join in the conversation and share their views.

What's on Eighth? An Israeli Simchat Torah Primer

Journal entry from Israel TEDDY WEINBERGER Growing up in America, I always knew about the concept of “yom tov sheni shel galuyot.” According to this tradition, for each holy day of a festival, two are celebrated by those Jews living outside of Israel. I always wondered, however, about the Simchat Torah holiday. On the other festival holy days (the first day of Succot, the first and last days of Passover, and the Shavuot holiday) it was clear to me that the second day outside of Israel was basically a duplication of the first. But after the seven-day holiday of Succot (one holy day plus 6 days of festival in Israel, 2 holy days plus 5 days of festival outside of Israel), we Jews in the Diaspora celebrated Shmini Atzeret (“the eighth day of assembly”) and Simchat Torah (on the eighth and ninth days, respectively). Unlike the other “second days,” here seemed to be an example not of mere duplication but of a separate “second day” holiday-Simchat Torah. What then, I wondered, went on in Israel? If Israelis did not have two holy days at the end of Succot, when did they celebrate both Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah?

Since I will be celebrating my sixteenth Simchat Torah in Israel this year, I think I have finally grasped what goes on

here during this holiday (believe it or not, the process took me a few years). For the ritually curious, all of the rites that are celebrated in the Diaspora over two days are packed into one day: the special prayer for rain, the Yizkor memorial prayer and the hakafot (“circuits”) with the Torahs, etc. all occur on the one day of Simchat Torah in Israel. Yes, for all intents and purposes there is no Shmini Atzeret in Israel, there is only Simchat Torah. It’s true that the liturgy speaks not of “Simchat Torah” but of the “holiday of the eighth day of assembly,” but the central rite of the holiday, the completion of the Torah cycle with the reading of the end of Deuteronomy and the renewal of the cycle with the reading of the beginning of Genesis, carries the spirit of the day.

An interesting aspect of Simchat Torah is that it provides the only case where Israel alone repeats a major holiday rite.

I am talking here about “hakafot shniyot,” a second night of dancing with the Torah, that has come into vogue throughout Israel. Hakafot shniyot take place this year on Monday Oct. 8, the evening after Simchat Torah in Israel, a time that is technically weekday here. Because of this, the hakafot are accompanied by live music. The custom is helped by the fact that children do not have school the next day (and thus many people take off from work). In Givat Ze’ev, the music is provided by a local professional key-board player accompanied by a number of other musicians (a number that is dependent both on the financial situation of the municipality and whether or not a mayoral election is approaching).

I have no idea exactly what percentage of Israeli Jews cel-

ebrate Simchat Torah. I do know that as a religious person, it’s nice to live in a country where my local town government sponsors hakafot shniyot. Yet, as usual, I will be bothered by the fact that practically all of the people who will be celebrating hakafot shniyot will be religious. There are both religious and cultural reasons to dance with a Torah, and indeed, in the State’s early decades, secular and religious Israelis danced together at hakafot shniyot. I look forward to a return to this tradition. Happy Holiday.

Teddy Weinberger made aliyah in 1997 with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children. Their oldest three, Nathan, Rebecca and Ruthie, are veterans of the Israel Defense Forces; Weinberger can be reached at weinross@net vision.net.il.

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Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 | 402.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com For information on our historic synagogue – dates and times for Friday night services, please call 712.323.8885.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California | Omaha, NE 68154-1980 | 402.492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org Services conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin, Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

FRIDAY: Let’s Do Lunch, noon, join Rabbi Levin for lunch at the Star Deli. RSVP by Thursday, Oct. 11, to rabbi levin@bethel-omaha.org; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6 p.m.; Tot Shabbat & Oh Say Shalom to Shabbat, 6 p.m. Dinner follows at 6:30 p.m. Dinner cost: Beth El members, $5; nonmembers, $7.50. No charge for children six and younger.

RSVP online at www.bethel-omaha.org, or contact the office at 402.492.8550, or programming@bethel-omaha.org.

SATURDAY: Morning Services, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation (3-7), 10 a.m.; We celebrate the Bat Mitzvah of Cali Epstein, daughter of Jeffrey and Laurie Epstein, and Eleanor and Alexander Fields; Kiddush sponsored by Bobbie and Bob Epstein, in honor of their granddaughter, Cali; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 6:35 p.m.

WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.

SUNDAY: Torah Study Group, 10 a.m.; Hebrew Crash Course, 11 a.m. New eight-session, adult-education class for adults who want to learn to read Hebrew, led by Susi Frydman-Levin. Cost to attend: $36 for Beth El members, $45 for non-members; there is also a $20 fee for class materials. Register and pay online at www.bethel-omaha.org, or contact Margie Gutnik at programming@bethel-omaha. org; USY/Kadima Apple Picking, 12:30 p.m.; Blessing of the Animals to coincide with Parshat Noah, we will hold a special blessing of the animals at 11:30 a.m., in the synagogue parking lot. All congregants are invited to bring their pets (see full story on page 11.); Daddy & Me, Sunday Oct. 14, 45 p.m., join Rabbi Abraham and Naama for a special afternoon for the six-and-younger crowd, at Standing Bear Lake, 6404 N 132nd St. Snacks will be served. In case of inclement weather, check Beth El’s website, www.bethel-omaha.org, for alternative plans.

MONDAY: Wrestling with Rabbis of the Talmud, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham; Tai Chi Class Free demo class taught by certified Tai Chi instructor Beth Staenberg, on Monday, Oct. 15, 6 p.m., at the synagogue.

TUESDAY: Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group meets at the JCC at 7 p.m., for the broadcast of Live from the 92nd Street ‘Y.’ Guest speakers will be Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States; and novelist and law professor Thane Rosenbaum. Free of charge for JCC members and Jewish Federation Campaign donors; admission for all others is $5.

Tai Chi Classes classes begin Monday, Oct. 22, 6 p.m., and run the following five weeks. Cost is $18 for Beth El members,

$25 for non-members. Register online at www.bethel-omaha. org. For more information, contact Margie in the office.

THURSDAY: USY Lounge Night, 7-8:30 p.m.

Dinner and Drash on Friday Oct. 19, 7 p.m., following Shabbat services. Cost: $12.50. RSVP online at www.bethelomaha.org, or contact the synagogue office.

BESTT Synagogue Mystery Tour for grades 1 and 2, on Sunday, Oct. 21. For more information, contact Eadie Tsabari at 402.498.0904, or etsabari@bethel-omaha.org.

A Jewish view of the new testament adult-education class on Sunday, Oct. 21, 11 a.m. led by Rabbi Levin (see full story on page 4.)

Vala’s Pumpkin Patch on Sunday, Oct. 21, 4 p.m. (see full story on page 6.)

All classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street | Omaha, NE. 68154 | 402.556.6288 www.BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fri., 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross and Rabbi Yitzchak Mizrahi.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6:41 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Free babysitting service begins at 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes begin with Torah Parade, 9:45 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by Alan & Debbie Kricsfeld in honor of Samuel’s Bar Mitzvah; The Laws of Shabbat, 4:15 p.m.; Advanced Parshah Study for Boys (ages 10 and up), 5:15 p.m.; Rabbi Gross’s Twitter Topic class, 5:15 p.m.; Mincha, 6:15 p.m., followed by Seuda Shlishit; Havdalah, 7:28 p.m.

SUNDAY: Gemara class, 8 a.m., learning tractate Kiddushin; Shacharit, 9 a.m. followed by breakfast.

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

TUESDAY: Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:45 p.m.

THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Gross; Weekly Med Center Class, 1 p.m.; Scholars Club for fourth-sixth graders, 3:30 p.m. with Rabbi Mizrahi.

CHABAD CENTER An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street | Omaha, NE 68144-1646 | 402.330.1800 www.OChabad.com | email: chabad@aol.com Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

SATURDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush luncheon follows the service.

SUNDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 8:30 a.m. followed by Breakfast Bonanza.

WEEKDAYS: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

WEDNESDAY: A Taste of Yeshiva-Chevruta style Beit Midrash study, 6:30 p.m.

All programs are open to the entire community.

B’nai Mitzvahs Calista Beth Epstein, daughter of Jeff and Laurie Epstein, and Ellie and Alexander Fields, will become a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 13, at Beth El. Samantha is an eighth-grade student at Westside Middle School.

Her interests include sailing, hiking, gymnastics and cheerleading.

She has two sisters, Sophie and Lexi and three brothers, Alec, Spencer and Charlie.

Grandparents are Bobbie and Bob Epstein, and Penny and Dennis Dix. Step-grandparents are Rachael and Bill Brown, Barbara Fields, and Fred Fields.

Great-grandparents are Charlotte Adler and Latifa Cohen.

Ethan Herschel Shrago, son of Lesli Shrago and Michael Shrago, will become a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 20, at Beth Israel.

Ethan is a seventh-grade student at Kiewit Middle School. He is a first degree black belt in Taekwondo.

His interests include football and video games.

He has a brother, Noah.

Grandparents are Helene and Jack Shrago, and Sam Kocherov.

Candlelighting Friday, October 12, 6:30 p.m.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN South Street Temple | Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street | Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 | 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org Services conducted by Rabbi Craig Lewis.

FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. with oneg following hosted by Eleanor and Jeff Kirkland.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Bereshit; Jewish Movie Night, “Reversal of Fortune” showing with havdalah service and potluck dessert, 7 p.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Grades 11 & 12 Confirmation Class, noon-1:30 p.m. at Tifereth Israel; Board of Trustees Meeting, 2 p.m.

TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at Dino’s, 2901 S. 84th St. WEDNESDAY: Religion, Rights and Politics at Lied Center for Preforming Arts with South African Theologian Charles Villa-Vicencio, Violence, Religion, Financial Muscle and Liberation: Can Africa heal itself?; Hebrew classes (grades 37), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

ADULT EDUCATION THURSDAYS, Beginning Hebrew, 6 p.m.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway | Offutt AFB, NE 68113 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Chef ’s Demo, 1:30 p.m. led by Temple Israel; Shabbat Singing, 6 p.m. with Nancy Rips and Lisa Lieb.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Steve Riekes.

Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend.

TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street | Omaha, NE 68132-2651 | 402.556.6536 www.templeisrael-ne.org FRIDAY: Shabbat comes to you at Remington Heights, 4 p.m. led by Rabbi Azriel; Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Brown and Cantor Shermet; We will honor those celebrating a birthday or anniversary in October with a special blessing.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.; OTYG Haunted Havdalah, 5 p.m.

SUNDAY: Teachers Meeting, 9:30 a.m.; Grades K-2, 10 a.m.; Prayer Assembly, 10 a.m.; OTYG Conclave planning meeting, noon; Club 56 Scavenger Hunt, noon TUESDAY: Board of Trustees Meeting, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 4-6 p.m.; School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Family School, 6-8 p.m.; Grades 7-8, 6-8 p.m.; The Modern Middle East, 6:30 p.m. with Moshe Gershovich.

THURSDAY: The History of Judaism in Greece with Cantor Shermet, 10 a.m.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Samantha Sullivan, daughter of Louri and Charlie Sullivan, will become a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 20, at Temple Israel.

Samantha is an eighth-grade student at Westside Middle School. She participated in the Duke University Talent Identification Program and received the President’s Education Award in recognition of Outstanding Academic Excellence.

Her interests include Nebraska Dance Performance Troupe, music and friends For her mitzvah project, Samantha volunteered at the Lydia House, serving lunch and dinners, sorting clothes in the Timberlake Outreach Center and working with children so their mothers could attend special classes.

She has a sister, Rachel and two brothers, Josh and Tommy.

Grandparents are Darlynn and Tom Fellman, and the late Colleen and William Sullivan.

Great-grandparents are the late Helen and Leo Meyerson, and the late Frances and Dr. Leon Fellman.

Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard | Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 | 402.423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning service, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush lunch.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Grades 11 & 12 Confirmation Class, noon-1:30 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at Dino’s, 2901 S. 84th St.; Board Meeting, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Hebrew classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

To Submit B’nai Mitzvah Announcements Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewish omaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154.

Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, by e-mailing the editor at: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org or online at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press.’

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October 12, 2012 | The Jewish Press | 11

Torah is forever

Don’t miss Beth El’s ‘Blessing of the Animals’

Sparks from the word RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parsha B’reishit Most of us, or perhaps all of us, have experienced what happens when we are taken in by a fellow from one of those traveling carnivals.

For a dollar or a quarter, we get three shots at moving targets. After our three shots have been wasted, we ask for another. But the carnival man says: “No more, unless you want to buy another three.”

Life is not like that. You have already wasted three chances doing stupid or unimportant things. You ask for another, and another is given. Immediately!

That is why we have come to the first chapters of the Torah. When last week we read the final chapter, without delay we began reading again in the first chapters. That is to say, when we have finished Deuteronomy, we read at once from Genesis.

If you haven’t studied Torah before, and have perhaps wasted more than three chances, you are now given another chance, another opportunity. That is why we start from the very beginning.

When the Kodesh Baruch Hu created heaven and earth, earth was all confusion and pointlessness, all mixed up without meaning, and everything was covered in darkness.

It was then, in a meaningless universe, that the KBH said: “Let there be light.”

And there was light.

And the Torah is optimistic: where there is darkness, light follows. Thus, for one who has tried and failed, there is the implication that he must try again, for after darkness there is light, and after failure comes success. If you have tried to study, and failed, read again. Thus we begin the first Sidrah of Genesis, because Torah is forever.

NCJW sponsors program to explain Affordable Care Act

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator The Torah portion of Noah took on an added dimension last year at Beth El, as the synagogue invited the community bring their pets to participate in a special “Blessing of the Animals.” Adults and children, from the very young to the young-at-heart, congregated on the west side of Beth El’s parking lot to enjoy a fun-filled pet parade, followed by a special blessing offered by Rabbi Steven Abraham.

Bullhorn in hand, Rabbi Steven Abraham led an enthusiastic crowd (and their four-legged friends) during Beth El’s 2011 “Blessing of the Animals.” This year’s event is planned for Sunday, Oct. 14.

Back by popular demand, all four-legged, furry friends and their owners are once again invited to take part in this year’s special “Blessing of the Animals” gathering, on Sunday, Oct. 14, at 11:30 a.m., and once again, Rabbi Abraham will lead the festivities.

“We had a great turnout last year and a number of people who missed the event, but heard about it, asked if we would make it an annual event,” the rabbi said. “For so many, animals are part of the family, and this gives us an opportunity to bring our four-legged family members to shul!”

No reservations are necessary, and everyone in the Jewish community is welcome to participate.

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by LISA LEWIS Co-Vice President of Public Affairs for NCJW One of the most controversial, and least understood, pieces of Legislation passed by the United States Congress and affirmed by the Supreme Court should be better understood by the community following a panel discussion scheduled for Oct. 17.

Myth and Reality: Explaining the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will be held from 7-9 p.m. and the Jewish Community Center, 333 South 132nd Street. The panel discussion on the ACA, frequently called Obamacare, (a moniker now embraced by President Obama), will feature Nebraska State Senator Jeremy Nordquist, Becky Gould of Nebraska Appleseed, and Kyle Carlson with Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. The panel will be moderated by Becki Brenner of ACLU Nebraska.

Myth and Reality, sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) Omaha Section, is free and open to the public, however RSVPs are requested to Cathy Christensen at bill.christensen60@gmail.com by Oct. 15.

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CORRECTION In the Oct. 5 article about the Omaha mikvah, we gave Rabbi Weiss the job title “Chaplain.” His correct job title is “RBJH Pastoral Coordinator.” In addition, we neglected to mention that a fee is required for use of the Mikvah. This fee can be paid at the front desk of the Blumkin Home, where the key to the mikvah is also available. The Jewish Press regrets these errors.

Voice Vote Right

October is National Long-Term Care Resident’s Rights Month for 2012

There are more than 1.6 million individuals living in 16,000 nursing homes’ and 1 million individuals living in 50,000 board and care/assisted living facilities in the U.S. The Federal Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987 guarantees residents their individual rights in order to promote and maintain their dignity and autonomy. All residents should be aware of their rights so they may be empowered to live with dignity and self-determination. Please honor and celebrate these citizens, recognize their individuality, reaffirm their right to vote and participate politically, including their right to have a say in their care.

Individuals and groups across the country will be celebrating Resident’s Rights Month with the theme -” M y Vo i c e , M y Vo t e , M y R i g h t ” - to emphasize the importance of affirming these rights through facility practices, public policy, and resident-centered decision-making.

FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY inside major retailer. Call for details: 866-622-4591. Or email: franchiseopportunity@hotmail.com 1 REINKE Electrogator II, Model 65, 1997, 7,434 hours, 1,251’ length, galvanized pipe, RAMS panel, 14.9x24 tires, rotator sprinklers, regulators, poly drops, booster pump. 701742-3223.

FOUNDATION/BASEMENT repair. Bulging walls, broken footings, water proofing, drain tile. Call Landmark Construction. 402-432-4517. CC accepted. Affordable. Insured.

References. Member BBB. www.lincolnlandmark.com.

SELL YOUR classic car, truck or motorcycle online. Call this newspaper or call 1-800369-2850 to place your ad on the national Midwest Classic Cars web site for only $25.00. Your ad with photos runs until your vehicle is sold!

WALK-IN DOOR bathtubs starting at $2,500.00. 30 year established plumbing company offering several models and styles. Complete installation. References available. Buy American. Jiffy Jet Plumbing, 402-896-2966.

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CHRYSLER CERTIFIED technician needed for Chadron Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, Chadron, Nebraska. $30.00/hour. Relocation plan, benefits, training, 5-day work week, great work environment. Jeremy: 308-432-9004; jkennedy@hotmail.com HASTINGS FORD: Great opportunity to work for a company who cares about their employees, looking for service techs. Up to $4,000 sign-on bonus. E-mail scott@hastingsford.net.

ATTEND COLLEGE online from home. Medical, Business, Criminal Justice, Hospitality. Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial aid if qualified.

SCHEV authorized. Call 800-487-0378, www.CenturaOnline.com.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Valmont Coatings — West Point Galvanizing is hiring for material handlers. Our team needs you if you are a dedicated hard worker, self motivated and dependable. If you are serious about joining our team and want to learn more about galvanizing, apply in person at: 4PVUI #FFNFS 4USFFU t 8FTU 1PJOU /&

AIRLINES ARE hiring. Train for hands on Aviation Career. FAA approved program.

Financial aid if qualified. Job placement assistance. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance, 888-896-8006.

If you would like to be a volunteer for a worthwhile program and be an advocate for residents and their rights, please contact the Ombudsman/ Advocate Coordinator, Rita Sparr at the Northeast Nebraska Area Agency On Aging, 800-672-8368, or e-mail - rita.sparr@nebraska.gov

CRANE OPERATOR wanted. Up to 70 ton crane. Competitive wages and benefits.

Contact Buckley Steel, Ainsworth, NE, 800-310-0347. Email:kim@buckleysteel.com.

Questions regarding this position may be directed to the e-mail address: rschinstock@valmont.com.

Come Join Our Team!

EOE M/F/D/V

Other services available, but not limited to, through the Northeast Nebraska Area Agency On Aging include: Care management, Age and Disabled Medicaid Waiver, congregate and home-delivered meals, Senior Health Insurance Information Program, legal assistance, in-home services, and Senior Medicare Patrol.

YOU GOT the drive, we have the direction. OTR Drivers, APU equipped pre-pass EZ-pass passenger policy. Newer equipment. 100% No Touch. 1-800-528-7825.

STAINED GLASS: Beautiful original creations, restorations and repair work. Call GlassArt by Fuzz. Norvin “Fuzz” Hansen, Pender, NE 402-385-3578 or email: glassart@huntel.net

12 | The Jewish Press | October 12, 2012

Dave Dvorkin has Naches ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press When reading the paper or searching online, we often focus on hard-hitting, breaking news stories. Tales of faltering presidents and struggling governments, natural disasters and civil unrest make us turn the page and click that link. A happy home doesn’t make the evening news unless it is leveled by an F5 tornado, and there’s nothing we deem remarkable about someone who gets up in the morning, kisses his family, and leaves for work.

And yet, these other stories, stories about everyday life, are what cement our community. Babies are born and grow up; people fall in and out of love, get married and divorced, change jobs, celebrate holidays and build memories together. Without those stories, there would be no breaking news banners flashing on your television screen.

They are the mortar of our society, the part of the story that too often remains untold.

Dave Dvorkin never ran for president, started a war, or flew to the moon. But his story is worth telling, because it allows us to learn about our community, about what happens behind the big headlines.

He was born in Sioux City, and met his wife Jeanne on a blind date arranged by her sister. After that first date, he called his cousin, and told him he’d just met the woman he was going to marry. Dave’s cousin said: “Call her then! You can use my phone.”

So he did, and proposed, right there over the phone, and she said yes.

“She had no interest in living in Sioux City, so I ended up in Omaha,” Dave says.

“We were married for 68 wonderful years, until she passed away six years ago.”

Dave worked as a baker, initially for Forbes Bakery, and later for Interstate Bakery. Eventually, Dave went into the gro-

cery business, starting Dave’s Food Store on 60th and Williams. After five years, he went to work for a friend at Bristol Market; he would stay there for 35 years.

“My favorite part of the grocery business was the people,” Dave remembers. “We were

have two sons: Marc and Mitchell. Lois married Mel, and they added three girls to the family: Randi, Robyn, and Rikki.

“They are all independent, all very successful, and they make me so proud,” Dave says. “They all keep in touch with me, all the

Dave Dvorkin with daughter Marilyn Warren in a mixed neighborhood, and things were good while they lasted. We raised our daughters Marilyn and Lois, and we never worried about them. We didn’t need to be concerned about who they dated, or anything like that; it’s hard to explain. There may be better daughters in this world, but I don’t think so.

I just can’t find the words to explain how much they have always meant to me.”

And now, Dave has grandchildren and great-grandchildren to be equally proud of.

Marilyn married Marty, and together they

time, and explaining what they mean to me is so hard.” The feeling is mutual: the Tallis Dave received from his mother-in-law in 1937 has done Bar- and Bat Mitzvah duty for several of his great-grandchildren.

He has a constant reminder of those family ties with him in the form of a quilt, printed with family photos: “For our 60th wedding anniversary, Jeanne and I requested no presents, so the kids and grandkids gave us this instead. Marilyn had matching pillowcases made, so I always have my family near.”

A few months before Jeanne’s passing, the Dvorkins moved into the Rose Blumkin Home.

“Shelley Fox and Shane Kotok reached out to us, but Jenne didn’t want to go without me.

So of course I went with her, and there we were. It was a different experience, but the staff is great. I still miss her very much.”

Daughter Marilyn calls her father every day, checking whether there’s anything he needs. And once a year, on Dave’s birthday, Oct. 12, the entire family descends on Omaha to celebrate with him. They come from Nyack and New York City, from St. Louis, and from Denver, and ‘Grampy’ can’t wait.

“Most of all, I want them all to know how much I love them,” Dave says, “and how much I respect every single one of them. It’s important to have both, you can’t have one without the other.”

But there’s more Dave is grateful for: he has a loyal following at the Pennie Z. Davies Childhood Development Center.

“After I had been at the Home for a few months, the Activities Director asked me if I would read to the kids. They brought me 18 of them who needed reading to. There was another resident who was interested, so we each took nine. Now, every Thursday at 10 in the morning they come, they bring their own book, and I read to them. After I finish, I bring out the dumdums--so sometimes I have to wonder what they like most, the reading or the candy.”

Dave has experienced his share of sorrow.

After he lost Jeanne, their daughter Lois passed away in 2009. But talking to him, one mostly gets an overwhelming feeling of grace, of someone who is unbelievably appreciative of everything he’s been given. Dave Dvorkin’s glass is definitely half full, and that’s why we can’t hear enough stories like his. We could all use a little Dave in our life.