October 13, 2006

Vol. LXXXVI No. 5 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 85 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

21 Tishrei, 5767 October 13, 2006

New Beginning to Show How Changes at Blumkin Home Will Affect Residents

Aim of Men’s Campaign Event Is to “Build Camaraderie and Share Ideas”

by OZZIE NOGG week’s New Next Beginning Celebration for the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home will be just that -- a celebration. “There won’t be a pledge card in sight,” said Howard Kooper. “This is not a solicitation, but rather a time for the community to come together to see what the changes to the Home will look like and to better understand how those changes will affect our seniors in a positive way.” Kooper, who served on the Steering Committee that spent four years determining the design and construction time frame for the building, At a recent information meeting, Shane Kotok, left, Director of Admissions and Community went on to explain, “We’ve Outreach at the Blumkin Home, and Jane Huerter Weekly, right, examine the blueprints for embarked on a $15 million the Home’s New Beginning. ronment--as well as provide dollar project, and because a Special Care Unit for those the need to upgrade the suffering from Alzheimer’s existing Blumkin Home is so and other forms of dementia urgent, we took out a con--is our collective responsistruction loan in order to bility.” start now and avoid The New Beginning Celebration is next Thursday, increased building costs. The loan is covered by $9.5 million in seed money that we already have in hand, Oct. 19, 7 p.m., in the Jewish Community Center audiwhich leaves a future fundraising goal of between $5 and torium and features a computer-generated virtual tour that walks viewers through the new layout of the Home. $6 million. “Reaching this goal will take everyone’s help, and The short program also includes remarks by representawhen the general fundraising campaign is launched early tives of the volunteers, staff, residents and families for in 2007, I’m confident that the entire Omaha Jewish whom the Blumkin Home is a living symbol of multicommunity will be part of this effort. The need to trans- generational involvement. form the Blumkin Home into a totally new living envi- Continued on page 2

by LISA LIEB Federation Communications Director Steve Levinger was born and raised in Yankton, South Dakota, a town with just a handful of Jewish families. Since moving to Omaha, he has participated on a Young Leadership Mission to Israel, served as Chairman of the Jewish Press and Jewish Family Service board of directors; and he frequently enjoys the facilities and programming of the Jewish Community Center. As someone who takes full advantage of the programs and services it funds and knows what it’s like to live in a community without Jewish programming, Levinger is an ideal choice to head the Annual Campaign’s Men’s Division. In fact, the Levingers became Super Sunday Campaign Chairs in Steve Levinger 1997. “I have seen firsthand the incredible services the Federation agencies provide our community,” said Levinger. “Our dollars support this much needed programming.” Steve and Bonnie Levinger moved to Omaha from Detroit 17 years ago, and quickly became involved in the Omaha Jewish community. “This community embraced us from day one, and I’m comfortable asking others to help get the message out and discussing the importance of ‘giving back’,” explained Levinger. “My role as Men’s Campaign Chair is to ensure broad involvement, to further strengthen a community which already has an enviably strong reputation of generosity and commitment.” The Men’s Campaign Event will be held Tuesday, Oct. 17, 6 p.m., at Phil Schrager’s Office/Collection of Contemporary Art. All men who give a minimum of $200 to the 2007 Annual Campaign (or a minimum of $150 for men under the age of 30) are invited to attend. The evening will include cocktails, dinner, and the opportunity to visit the Phillip Schrager Collection of Contemporary Art. Tom Fellman and Howard Kooper are the 2007 Men’s Campaign Event General Chairs. “We are really looking forward to this year’s event,” said Levinger. “One of the evening’s goals is to expose the younger generation to the passionate work that the older generation has done to build this community and our campaign. Our keynote speaker is Tim Schrager. Tim will share his story, as an example of a young man who has stepped up his involvement in his community.” Tim Schrager, son of Phil and the late Lois Jeanne Schrager and Co-Chairman of the Jewish Federation of Atlanta’s Men’s Major Gifts Division, has been involved in various aspects of the campaign for the past several years. He is also on a Tim Schrager Federation Disabilities Special Education Task Force and a Board member of Operation PEACE, an Atlanta inner-city youth program for at-risk kids. Dinner will be catered by New York’s Carnegie Deli and will also include kosher selections. “After dinner and the program, we will be treated to a tour of Phil’s art gallery,” Levinger added. “It should be a fun-filled evening with an opportunity to build camaraderie and share ideas.” Steve Nogg, 2007 Campaign Co-Chairman is very pleased with the Men’s Campaign leadership team. Other members of the team include Jim Farber, Pacesetter Chairman, and Adam Yale, Young Leadership Continued on page 2

“This is not a solicitation, but rather a time for the community to come together...”

Nominee for Top Israeli Post in D.C. Draws Praise from American Jews by RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA)--One of Sallai Meridor’s first acts as chairman-elect of the Jewish Agency for Israel was to deliver relief to a Muslim country, Albania. The delivery of food and medicine to refugees from the Kosovo crisis in April 1999 was a first for the organization best known for rescuing Jews--and was a sign that the scion of one of Israel’s founding families had a perpetual yearning for a wider diplomatic role. A little more than a year after Meridor shocked the Jewish world by quitting the agency before his term ended, telling friends he hankered for a diplomatic role, his wish is about to come true: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni nominated him last week to be Israel’s next ambassador to Washington. The one sentence statement from the Prime Minister’s office simply said Olmert and Livni “decided that Mr. Sallai Meridor will be appointed as Israel’s ambassador to Washington in place of Danny Ayalon, who is completing his four-year term.” Meridor, 51, still faces confirmation by the Cabinet and must be cleared by the Foreign Ministry’s legal team. But with Livni and Olmert in agreement--and they are at odds on just about everything else recently-his appointment is a sure thing. Sources said he is set to start in January. Meridor’s appointment comes at a critical time. The U.S.-Israel relationship has arguably never been stronger, but the path to Israeli-Palestinian peace that both countries had embraced has been crumbling amid

Inside Opinion Page see page 12

Sallai Meridor Credit: Robert A. Cumins chaos among the Palestinians and growing regional threats from Iran and Iraq. It also comes after Olmert’s political fortunes were severely hampered by the damage Israel suffered this summer during its war with Hezbollah on the IsraelLebanon border. The Israeli prime minister is hoping to revive talks with the Palestinians. Traditionally, Israel’s ambassador to Washington goes beyond the role of intermediary between Jerusalem and Washington, with the ambassador often involved in helping to set Israeli policy. Continued on page 2

This Week: The Teens of OTYG: Page 11 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’

Part III: Israeli Fertility Series: Page 4

Coming Next Week: Arts & Entertainment Issue Ricketts Asks, “How Are We Going to Run This Company?”: Page 5

Charitable Organizations to Benefit from Concert: Page 16

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 13, 2006

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14 Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel Shabbat Tunes and Tales, 11:15 a.m. at Beth El AZA Party with the Sweethearts, 5:30 p.m. Simchat Torah Dinner & Ice Cream Social, 8 p.m. at Beth Israel SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15 C L Simchas Torah Celebration, 10 a.m. at Chabad I MONDAY, OCTOBER 16 P

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Hadassah Board Meeting, 1 p.m. Jewish Film Series, 7 p.m. at Beth El Israel in the Middle East, 7 p.m. with Dr. Moshe Gershovich S JFS Board Meeting, 7 p.m. A CJE Class Derech Torah: Judaism 101, 7:30 p.m. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17 Share the Moment, noon at Temple Israel United Way Campaign Kickoff, 2 p.m. at JCC BBYO Night, 6 p.m. Federation Men’s Campaign Event, 6 p.m. Reading the Women of the Bible, 7 p.m. at Beth El BESTT Board Meeting, 7 p.m. at Beth El Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Temple Israel WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18 Visions Mystery Trip, 9 a.m. Abba, Eema and ME, 9:30 a.m. at Beth El Elie Wiesel - His Other Works, 11 a.m.

C L THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19 I Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel P Walk-in Drop-in, 10 a.m.

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Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel & Insights into the Siddur, noon at Beth El

Yiddush Group, 1 p.m. S Kripke Library Book Discussion Group, 1 p.m. A RBJH Groundbreaking & Dedication Ceremony, 7 p.m. V Advanced Parshah Study, 9 p.m. with Rabbi Gross

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S A V E All events held at the JCC unless otherwise indicated. The Jewish Press is not E responsible for the accuracy of events. To keep calendar accurate or for questions, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437. FOR A COMPLETE LISTING, VISIT THE FEDERATION’S WEBSITE: www.JewishOmaha.org (click on calendar)

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Nominee for Top Israeli Post in D.C. Continued from page 1 Meridor had already been seen as a shoo-in because of his decades-old friendship with Olmert. Both men are “princes” of the Likud Party establishment who have moderated their hawkish views. Olmert now leads the centrist Kadima Party, which broke away from the Likud last year. That friendship is probably the critical element explaining Meridor’s appointment, according to Jewish leaders who have known both men for decades. “The most important thing for an ambassador to the United States is to have the confidence of the prime minister, and they go back many years,” said Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League. Meridor also has a reputation for integrity, rolling back the Jewish Agency’s notoriety for patronage during his 1999-2005 term, and cutting its expenses. The Jewish Agency, involved in the rescue and absorption of Jewish immigrants to Israel as well as Jewish education around the world, is the primary overseas recipient of North American federation funds. As head of the agency, he pushed for the accelerated immigration of the Falash Mura community from Ethiopia, and the establishing of MASA--a program to bring thousands of Diaspora youth to Israel for longterm study and visits. He advocated aliyah from Western countries and established a partnership with Nefesh B’Nefesh, which helped boost immigration to Israel from North America and most recently, England. He is well-known---and praised by American Jewish officials of both political and philanthropic organizations. “Sallai has a tremendous intellect and the capacity to multitask at the highest level of detail,” said Jay Sarver, the chairman of the agency’s budget and finance committee. “He has a deep, deep Jewish identity and neshama, and a deep belief in Zionist action.” Stephen Hoffman, the president of the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland and the former president of the United Jewish Communities, worked closely with him during his term at the agency. “He is a good listener and he is articulate in English as well as Hebrew,” Hoffman said. “He thinks strategically and looks at a lot of different angles, is cautious and gathers a lot of opinions before he makes a move.” Friends say that the more recent role at the helm of the Jewish Agency obscures his talents as a diplomat. As an adviser to Moshe Arens, who served as foreign minister and defense minister in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he cultivated a friendship with James Baker. That was exceptional because Baker, the secretary of state to the first President Bush, was not known for friendly relations with Israel. Dennis Ross, the veteran peace negotiator and diplomat, worked for Baker at the time. Meridor knows how to explain Israel’s needs, he knows how to work effectively with American administrations, he knows how to see the big picture,” Ross told JTA. “Israel could not have made a better choice. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby, said they looked forward to working with someone with solid Washington experience. “He is a highly effective advocate, is well-acquainted with the ways of Washington, D.C., and will surely bring his considerable talents to bear in his new post,” said Josh Block, the AIPAC spokesman. Meridor has often straddled two worlds--as a West Bank settler who lives in Kfar Adumim, a settlement near

Jericho likely to be dismantled in the withdrawals that Olmert has advocated. His dual majors at Hebrew University were in the history of Islamic peoples and the history of the Jews. He speaks Arabic. “Sallai has the ability to talk to people, to appeal to people from the right and the left and make people feel comfortable whether he agrees with their opinions or not,” said Morton Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, who admires Meridor despite their disagreements on last year’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. “In this kind of job, that’s an important trait.” Klein noted Meridor’s profound affection for the whole biblical land of Israel, including the West Bank and Gaza. “A number of times, he took me in his car all over Judea and Samaria,” Klein recalled, using the biblical names for the West Bank, “and he knew every inch, he knew the biblical significance of each area. This is someone who understands the holiness of that land, unlike others in government. Klein said Meridor was a “pragmatist” who could support the Gaza withdrawal, while understanding the significance of the region to Jewish history. Speaking last year to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Meridor said his concern for the health of Israel’s democracy trumped his love for the land. “Israel was created to be a state of and for the Jewish people,” he said “And in order to have a Jewish and democratic state, you have to maintain” a “significant, large, Jewish majority.” As the World Zionist Organization settlement chief from 1992-97, and then as Jewish Agency boss, Meridor presided over an end to the long-standing agency policy of not directing funds to West Bank settlements, a practice that earned him reproaches from the Israeli left. However, U.S. Jewish officials say that was more a result of hawkish U.S. funders who were pressing the agency to end the policy, and less Meridor’s personal preference. The settlement legacy will not harm him now, said Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “His politics are seen as moderate, he’s someone who gets along with all sides of the spectrum,” he said. Meridor’s familiarity with Jewish leaders, cultivated over those years, will also serve him well in his new job, Jewish leaders said. Seymour Reich, the president of the Israel Policy Forum, said Meridor didn’t just come asking for money; he wanted input on policy from U.S. Jews. “He was constantly in contact with American Jewish leadership, not just on philanthropic issues, but on social issues as well,” he said. Meridor, who speaks flawless if heavily accented English, is a quick learner, his associates say. Steven Nasatir, the president of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, who is an associate member of JAFI’s board of governors said that Meridor is the right choice for ambassador now — especially given his experience in Washington. “I think it is an inspired choice,” said Nasatir. “He has all the right stuff; he understands America. He is a great advocate for Israel. He has connections to the Jewish community; he is not a neophyte.” JTA correspondent Dina Kraft in Tel Aviv and staff writer Jacob Berkman in New York contributed to this report.

Men’s Campaign Event

New Beginning

Continued from page 1 Chairman. “I wanted people who are respected,” said Nogg. “These men are hard-working, energetic and able to articulate the importance of living generously.” “So many others before me have worked tirelessly to build our community to what it is today,” responded Levinger. “It’s a privilege to be asked to carry the torch.” For Levinger, the reason to give generously to the Annual Campaign is clear. “I think it's fair to say that we are all regularly touched in some way, shape, or form by Federation agencies. The Annual Campaign serves as the lifeline to sustain this vital programming.” To RSVP for the Men’s Campaign Event, contact Sharon Kirshenbaum at 334.6485 or skirshenbaum@ jewishomaha.org.

Continued from page 1 “We’ll take a loving look back and a proud look forward,” said Joanie Bernstein, program organizer, longtime RBJH volunteer and Past-President of Jewish Senior Services. Participants in the Celebration program include Bob Batt, Ellie Batt, Bob Belgrade, Joanie Bernstein, Joe Kirshenbaum, Howard Kooper, Shane Kotok, Rabbi Myer S. Kripke, Norman Lincoln, Nancy Noddle and Mike Silverman. Along with Bernstein, other committee members organizing the New Beginning event are Carol Bloch, Maxine Kirshenbaum, Nancy Noddle, Ozzie Nogg and Suzanne Singer. Members of the League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly (L.O.V.E.) will serve as hosts and hostesses during the Celebration. Music will be provided by cellist Margaret Lim from the Omaha Symphony Orchestra. The New Beginning Celebration is open to the entire community at no cost. A dessert reception follows. To talk about the many options available to the community in support of the new Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, please call Howard Kooper at 392.1800.

DEADLINE NOTICE Please send all articles, photos and ads to the Press by Thursdays, 9 a.m., for all regular issues. Early deadlines will be announced in advance. Questions? Call 334.6448.

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October 13, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Jewish Scholar to Help UNO to Host Batchelder Biblical Jews and Christians Have Archaeology Conference by STEVE REYNOLDS “Over the years, the Batchelder Conference for Meaningful Dialogue Bethsaida Excavations Project Coordinator Biblical Archaeology has gained the prestige of a high

by BETH KATZ Director, ADL Malashock Project for Interfaith Affairs Director Why is understanding Jesus in his Jewish context essential to fostering healthy relations and meaningful dialogue between Jews and Christians of all denominations? Renowned New Testament scholar and practicing Jew, Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, a member of the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University, will address this pressing question on Thursday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m., at Countryside Community Church, located at 8787 Pacific. Through her community presentation “Jesus the Jew: Dr. Amy-Jill Levine What Jews and Christians Need to Know to Have Meaningful Dialogue,” Dr. Levine will engage Jews and Christians in a provocative and compelling discussion. She will focus on the historical Jesus of Nazareth and why understanding Jesus in his Jewish context is critical to strengthening Jewish-Christian relations, preventing anti-Semitism from slipping into Christian teaching and helping Jews better understand the practice of Judaism during Jesus’ time. This ADL Malashock Project for Interfaith Affairs event is held in partnership with the Center for Faith Studies at Countryside Community Church. This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. To reserve your seat, please contact Cyndi Kugler, Director of the Center for Faith Studies, at 402.391.0350 or e-mail cyndik@countrysideucc. org. For more information on this or other Malashock Project programs, contact me at the ADL office, 402.333.1303, or e-mail bkatz@adl.org.

The Bethsaida Excavations Project at the University of quality international conference that attracts scholars Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) will host the eighth annual and laypeople from around the world,” said Rami Arav, Batchelder Biblical Archaeology Conference and Director of the Bethsaida Excavations Project at UNO. Reunion starting, Thursday, Nov. 9. “It brings to a large audience the most updated discovScholars from all over the eries and thoughts.” world will meet to present Participants are also invittheir research on the 2006 ed to view two exhibitions of dig season at Bethsaida, an antiquities at UNO. Both ancient city located near the are on display in room 343 north coast of the Sea of Arts and Sciences Hall: Galilee in Israel. Bethsaida “Silent Spectators of the was the capital city of the Sacred,” an exhibition of forgotten biblical kingdom first century building stones of Geshur. It is one of the from Herod’s Temple most frequently mentioned Mount in Jerusalem. The towns in the New Testament exhibit is on loan from the and the purported place Israel Antiquities Authority. where Jesus performed sev“Ancient Writing in the eral of his major miracles. Mediterranean World,” a Archeologist Gideon Avni, collection of ancient writing Dr. Gideon Avni, left, and Dr. Ronnie Reich walk through the director of the the implements, coins, Egyptian reconstructed Cardo, the main street of ancient Jerusalem. Excavations and Survey scarabs and figurines, and Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority, will inscriptions in Mesopotamian cuneiform, Aramaic, deliver the opening keynote address Thursday, Nov. 9, Hebrew, Latin, and Coptic, also is on display. The exhib7:30 p.m., at the W.H. Thompson Alumni Center on it was donated by the Museum of Archaeology and Biblical History, Albuquerque, NM. UNO’s main campus. In 1991, the Consortium of the Bethsaida Excavations Dr. Avni is also a lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology at Hebrew University and served as the Project (CBEP) was formed and has been housed at Head Archaeologist of Jerusalem from 1989 until 2000. UNO since its inception. Its mission is to excavate the In that position, he was the coordinator of the Jerusalem ancient city of Bethsaida, research the data discernible Archaeological Park, which includes the largest archaeo- from the remains, and disseminate the conclusions to logical excavations around and within the Old City of both academic an popular audiences. The conference is co-sponsored by International Jerusalem. His keynote address is titled “Between the Temple Mount and the Holy Sepulchre: Recent Studies and Programs at UNO, and the Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford. Archaeological Discoveries in Jerusalem.” To register or for more information and a complete Conference activities will continue at the Alumni Center on Friday, Nov. 10, and conclude Saturday, Nov. schedule of events, contact me at 402.554.3108. For 11. All events, including the keynote presentation, are more information about the Bethsaida Excavations Project, visit www.unomaha.edu/bethsaida/. free and open to the public.

Good News from Washington

An Individual Retirement Account (IRA) transferred after death to family members could potentially be taxed up to 75%.The new Pension Protection Act of 2006 presents a unique chance for you to make a gift to The Jewish Federation of Omaha from your IRA with no adverse tax consequences.

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If you are 70 1/2 or older you can instruct the trustee of your IRA to make a direct distribution of up to $100,000 per year to the Federation or to your synagogue. A direct distribution counts toward your annual IRA distribution requirement.

Do not delay. This charitable IRA rollover opportunity, as it is called, is only available for gifts made this year and next. We encourage you to use these funds to:

Support Israel in its hour of need with a gift to the United Jewish Communities Israel Emergency Campaign.

Make a gift to the Federation Annual Campaign or create an endowment to perpetuate your Annual Campaign gift.

Contribute to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home or Temple Israel capital campaign.

Make a restricted or unrestricted gift to either the endowment or other fund at Beth El Synagogue or Beth Israel Synagogue.

Unlike a cash withdrawal from your IRA, your direct contribution will be excluded from income for federal purposes and not taxed. Your direct contribution cannot be made to donor-advised funds,supporting organizations,charitable remainder trusts or in exchange for gift annuities. Call Marty Ricks at 402/334-6440 for further information. Of course, you are encouraged to seek the advice of your professional advisor before you make a charitable IRA rollover gift.

Jan Goldstein, Executive Director 333 South 132 Street 402/334-6433 jang@jewishomaha.org

Martin C. Ricks, Executive Director 333 South 132 Street 402/334-6440 mricks@jewishomaha.org

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 13, 2006

Part III - Israeli Fertility Series

Prayer Books and Fertility Pamphlets Mingle at Religious Counseling Service by DINA KRAFT JERUSALEM (JTA)--Prayer books and fertility pamphlets are scattered across the coffee table in the waiting room of the Puah Institute, a center that helps couples seeking to undergo fertility treatments in a way that accords with Jewish law. Named for the Hebrew midwife Puah, who defied Pharaoh’s orders to kill Jewish male newborns, the center receives about 150 calls and e-mails a day from childless couples. “The goal is halachic advice and medical advice,” says Rabbi Gideon Weitzman, head of Puah’s English-speaking section. Weitzman is one of 10 rabbis at the institute, all Orthodox, offering services not only in Hebrew and English but also in Spanish, French and Yiddish. “The first mitzvah in the Torah is to have children. That’s always going to be at our forefront -- that we want to have Jewish families,” he said. “There’s a great desire on the part of the religious establishment to feel the pain of couples. The Torah spoke of our foremothers and forefathers as being infertile. That leads to a tremendous amount of being lenient where possible.” Most couples that turn to Puah for its free counseling services are religiously observant. They often come with questions about Judaism’s approach to modern fertility technology, from in-vitro fertilization, or IVF, to egg donation. Many inquire about how the laws of family purity can be coordinated with treatment and how procedures can be supervised according to halachah, or Jewish law. Many of the religious couples’ concerns are no different than those of non-religious couples, who also sometimes turn to Puah for advice, Weitzman said. “A lot of the issues are similar, such as the feelings of hopelessness and the lack of control over one’s life,” said the British-born Weitzman, who comes from a family of scientists. Like the other rabbis on Puah’s staff, he has been trained extensively in the medical aspects of fertility treatment by medical experts. Puah’s counseling often addresses family tensions that can arise from infertility. The pressure to have children can be overwhelming in any society, but is especially intense in the religious community, where large families are the norm and family life is a crucial part of the community. The rabbis also provide practical advice about the nature of available treatments and can suggest which specialists might be the best match for a particular couple. They sometimes even serve as sex therapists. “There is a tremendous amount of stress on the family, and he really helped us in dealing with that stress and

creating a game plan for ourselves,” said one Orthodox woman who was counseled by Weitzman and eventually gave birth to twins. She asked that her name not be used in order to maintain her privacy. The woman and her husband went to Puah to make sure their fertility treatment plans were sanctioned by halachah, but ended up getting much more. “I feel it helped me on every level, medically and with emotional advice and counseling,” she said. According to the institute’s estimates, Puah is involved in about 1,500 births a year--not bad for an organization that started in the living room of its founder, Rabbi Menachem Burstein, in 1990. Burstein had been asked by one of Israel’s chief rabbis at the time to research the issue of fertility treatments and what might be possible under halachah. Puah now has a four-story office in Jerusalem and a staff of about 70 people in Israel, the United States, France and Australia. The organization gets by on donations, mostly from contributors in Israel. Burstein, an outgoing man with a long salt- Rabbi Menachem Burstein, director of the and-pepper Puah Institute in Jerusalem, counsels a relibeard, was gious couple dealing with infertility. The nonborn in profit organization helps mostly religious couU r u g u a y . ples seeking to do fertility treatments accordCredit: Puah Institute His office, ing to Jewish law. like many of the other offices in the center, has photos of babies whose parents used Puah’s services. Burstein is quick to speak of some of his more challenging cases, including a bride-to-be who found out shortly before her wedding day that she did not have a womb. Realizing the engagement might be broken off, the rabbi called a wealthy relative of the young woman the family told him of and asked him to provide enough money to cover the cost of two pregnancies by a surrogate mother. The relative complied and the recently married couple is planning to use a surrogate mother to begin their family. “I’m happy I have been able to find a synthesis between halachah and the practical world,” Burstein said. Aside from counseling, Puah also provides individual halachic supervision of treatments.

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The main concern some rabbis initially had about treatments such as IVF was whether a mistake might happen in the lab in which sperm and eggs were misplaced or embryos switched or tampered with. Aside from the personal ramifications, this would call into question the child’s future status for marriage or inheritance. Among the rabbis who opposed IVF for that reason was the late Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Schneerson later changed his mind because of Puah’s effectiveness in reducing error. To prevent the chance of human error, Puah has trained about 50 women in Israel and others who work in overseas fertility clinics to oversee the lab work. In the case of an IVF procedure, the women lock the petri dish containing the embryo into a specially constructed sterilized stainless steel box that can be locked and then put in an incubator. Later, if embryos are frozen, Puah has created a locked crypto-preservation vat. A sealed canister is put into the vat which, in turn, can also be locked. The special devices are on display in Puah’s offices, along with magnified photos of the conception process. Supervision costs are subsidized by the institute, so that supervision costs only about $80 for IVF treatments. Supervision also is conducted in Puah’s locations in the United States, France and Australia. On the top floor of the institute, Rabbi Aryeh Noyek, who directs Puah’s supervision department, is fielding calls at a desk piled high with folders. He said doctors are pleased to have Puah supervisors in the lab because it helps put their patients at ease--which can translate into higher success rates for the treatment. Egg donation is not currently allowed in Israel, so patients who decide on that procedure must travel abroad, usually to Eastern Europe. Puah offers supervision there and also arranges visas, hotels, flights and kosher food for their clients, some of whom have never left Israel before. Since egg donation isn’t covered by Israeli health funds, clients must pay for the procedure themselves. Still, the $6,000 to $7,000 that egg donation costs in Eastern Europe is far less than the $25,000 or so it can cost in the United States. For those who balk at the idea of rabbis delving into issues of fertility, Weitzman points out the Torah acknowledges infertility among both women and men. The Talmud, he says, even deals with semen analysis. In the tractate Tevamot it describes how in some particular cases, men’s ability to ejaculate was tested. “It is very modern--light years ahead of any theology or philosophy of 2,000 years ago,” he said. “The Torah is very advanced in its thinking.”

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“Jewish Music: What is That?” Followed by a dessert reception Sunday, 10/29, 10:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., all sessions at the Omaha Jewish Community Center Monday, 10/30, 8:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., all sessions at Creighton University Student Center

All events are free and open to the public For more information, call the Fran Minear at 280-2303 or fminear@creighton.edu

Initiative 423 threatens public safety. Firefighters, local law enforcement and state troopers have all come out against 423. Paid for by Nebraskans Against 423, Sheri Jablonski, Treasurer. 605 S. 14 St., Suite 200, Lincoln, NE 68508.

October 13, 2006

Ricketts Asks, “How Are We Going to Run This Company?” worked with me. We knew that Ben Nelson would make an issue of the layoffs that we had. We had to make those decisions to keep the company in business and these employees wanted to get involved. Those people were not compensated by anyone; they were my volunby JOAN K. MARCUS teers.” Another B’nai B’rith member asked Ricketts to comment on his possible solution to the immigration probPete Ricketts, Republican challenger for one of Nebraska’s Senate seats, spent time lem, “Do you want them to build fences or hire more with B’nai B’rith Breadbreakers at a question and National Guard?” Ricketts answered, “We need to secure the border. I answer session last month. Ricketts is seeking to unseat don’t believe building a wall that’s 1900 miles long Democratic incumbent, Ben Nelson. Ricketts is a fourth generation Nebraskan born in from California to Texas is a solution. The Great Wall of Nebraska City who now lives in Omaha with his wife, China didn’t save the Chinese!” Ricketts added that technology would be a better Susanne, and their three children. He has a degree in biology and an MBA in marketing and finance from the solution. “I do think that there are places where a physical barrier can be helpful--like San Diego. We’re going University of Chicago. Ricketts resigned from his position as chief operating to need to have more border patrol agents properly officer of his family’s business, Ameritrade, in August of equipped with helicopters, night vision goggles and 2005 to campaign for the Senate seat. He joined the radios. And, we need to remember that this is not just business in 1993 when it had just 150 employees; it now about Mexico. It is also about Canada.” The fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan posed another employs more than 1500 people. “I’ve put in about 45 thousand miles on the road dur- question. “It gets back to the fact that we need to help ing the course of the last year--criss-crossing back and (the Iraqis) defend and govern themselves by making forth. And, one of the questions that I am frequently sure that our troops have the tools and the right equipment. We need to let them manage that more and not asked is, ‘Why I am doing this?’” micromanage it from half a Noting that he has visitworld away in Washington, ed all 93 counties in D.C.,” he responded. Nebraska, Ricketts added, “Remember that we have “A couple of years ago, I seen some progress in Iraq got involved with an antiin particular. They have gambling campaign. That had three free elections opened up my eyes to a and, in the last one, Sunnis couple of things. First, bad participated; they had a things can happen if you 70% turnout. Does that don’t get involved. And, mean that we can take our two, if you do get troops home? No! They involved, you can make a still need our help for logistremendous difference.” tical and air support to help (He is a member of them get back on their feet. “Gambling With the Good They’ll let us know when Life.”) we can begin withdrawing Ricketts’ concern about our troops.” the longevity of Social Security is another reason Pete Ricketts, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, When asked about the relationship between the he has chosen to run. “It is speaks to a group at the weekly Breadbreakers’ meeting. a wonderful program when you look at poverty in the United States government and Israel, Ricketts replied, 1930s versus today. It’s also just math--in 2017 we’re “I think Israel is one of our most important relationgoing to start paying out more benefits than we’re ships in the Middle East. Besides the help that we’re givreceiving in taxes. Right now, we have the opportunity ing some other countries, it has the only true democrato make changes in the program that will strengthen and cy. Israel is one of our strongest allies in the world-much less the Middle East. We need to support democpreserve it.” He added that “the longer that we wait, the harder it’s racy around the world--especially in the Middle East.” When Ricketts was questioned about the amount of going to be. Wonderfully blessed by the tremendous opportunities that this great state and nation has had to money that he has spent on his campaign, he answered, offer, I want those same things for my children and “As an unknown challenger, my obligation is to get my other peoples’ children and grandchildren. It isn’t going message out so that voters can make an informed decito happen by accident, and it’s only going to happen if sion on Nov. 7. And, that’s expensive!” he smiled. “It’s an important race because it may determine who will we work at it.” He told the group they need to control spending so control the United States Senate.” A question to Ricketts about stem cell research they don’t burden the next generation. “We need to have tax relief for our families. We need to control our brought forth the following answer, “As far as adult spending. We need to win the War on Terror and stem cell research--I’m all in favor of it. We have treataddress immigration so that we can secure ourselves-- ments that have derived from it. But I believe that life both at home and abroad. And, we need an agricultural begins at conception and I don’t believe that we ought policy that creates safety nets for the producers in our to be pursuing destructive embryonic stem cell research. That’s not something that the government should be state.” These are some of the things people have been talking funding. To me, those are people you’re destroying to Ricketts about as he’s been going across Nebraska. when you take an embryo and fertilize it. I think it’s “If you think that Washington is broken; if you think always going to be a balance between your own beliefs that we cannot continue to allow ‘business as usual,’ you and those of your constituents.” Attorney Steve Riekes asked Ricketts, “You have an cannot keep sending the same old career politicians back to Washington and expect there to be a change,” he advertisement that says, ‘I’m not a career politician and said. “I represent that change! I’m not a career politi- I’m not a lawyer! Isn’t anyone running for office (even cian and I’m not going there because this has been a dog catcher?) a politician? And, is there something lifelong ambition. I’m going to Washington because wrong with being a lawyer?” Ricketts answered, “I’m not a career politician we’ve got very serious problems that we need to because I haven’t been involved in politics all my life. address. Ricketts said that part of the problem today is there This has not been a lifelong ambition. And, I think that are too many career politicians more worried about their part of the problem we’ve got in Washington--even “next re-election than the next generation. I promise though Republicans are in charge--is that we’ve got too you that I will work to solve these problems.” He prom- many career politicians. It’s not a Democrat or a ised that if “six years from now, if you don’t think I’m Republican issue. It’s a problem that we’ve got regarding spending.” doing a good job, you can boot me out!” He added, “With regard to your question about At that point, Ricketts opened up the floor for questions from the group. Omaha accountant Buddy lawyers. We’ve got 58 members of the United States Goodman asked, “You’ve been running television Senate who are lawyers. However, only 30 have business advertisements with Ameritrade employees testifying on experience. We need to have a more diversified or broader group in the Senate when it comes to ‘How are your behalf. Were they compensated and by whom?” Ricketts responded, “No! Those were people who we going to run this company?’”

AMERICA DECIDES 2006

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 13, 2006

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by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator A weekend filled with an in-depth exploration of Jewish music is on tap for Omaha’s Jewish community, as Beth El Synagogue welcomes Dr. Joshua Jacobson, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Northeastern University in Boston, as its scholar-in-residence on Friday, Oct. 27 and Saturday, Oct. 28. The esteemed professor’s appearance at Beth El coincides with his participation as keynote speaker of the annual Klutznick Symposium on Oct. 29 and 30, hosted by Creighton University’s Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization and Center for the Study of Religion and Society. Dr. Jacobson, who served nine years as Northeastern University’s Music Department Chairman and six years as the Bernard Stotsky Professor of Jewish Cultural Studies, is currently a visiting professor of Jewish music at Hebrew College; he is also the renowned founder and director of the Zamir Chorale of Boston, a world-renowned ensemble which specializes in Hebrew music. The community will have several opportunities to hear Dr. Jacobson during the weekend, beginning with a special Shabbat dinner following 6 p.m. Kabbalat Shabbat services on Friday, where he will address “How Jewish is Jewish Music?” During the discussion, he explained, “We will examine the music we hear in modern American synagogues, and attempt to determine where this music came from. We will also discuss the function of music in the synagogue, including the important symbolic role of certain melodies.” He added that, “We will attempt to answer the ques-

tions: Is there an authentic Jewish music? What was our music like in ancient times? Has the music of the synagogue been influenced by non-Jewish sources?” During Shabbat services on Saturday morning, Dr. Jacobson will speak about “Music, Magic and the Spirit,” examining the power of music to elevate the spirit,” he said. “We will hear Biblical accounts of music’s ability to alter moods and topple walls, ancient theories of the music created by of the heavenly spheres, rabbinic opinions on the divine sources of music, modern studies on the use of music to relieve pain and even promote the growth of plants, and Hassidic practices of elevating the soul through a particular type of music.” Finally, following services during the synagogue’s Kiddush luncheon, Dr. Jacobson will explore the subject of “Jews and Music.” “There has always been a close connection between Jews and music,” he commented. “How do we explain this phenomenon? Why do Jews comprise such a large percentage of performers and composers? Why is music such an essential component in Jewish worship, holiday celebrations and life-cycle events? Why is it that Jews have always turned to song, even in the depths of the Holocaust?” Dr. Jacobson’s presentations are open to the entire community. Saturday’s Kiddush luncheon is free of charge; cost of the Friday Shabbat dinner is $12.50 for adults; $8.50 for children ages 6-12; there is no charge for children five and younger. Reservations may be made by contacting the synagogue’s Program Director Margie Gutnik at 492.8550, or programming@bethel-omaha. org. This special scholar-in-residence weekend was made possible by a generous donation from the Dorothy and Henry Riekes Endowment Fund.

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LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Come to the Yiddish meeting at the JCC on Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. Call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638.

Arthur M. Greene, a flight surgeon in the Army Air Corp by Deborah Greene, Silvia and Larry Roffman and grandchildren.

VISIONS Reminder: Magical Mystery Tour is on Wednesday, Oct. 18. Depart from the JCC at 9:30 a.m. (be at the JCC by 9:15) and return by 3:15 p.m. Join us for a tour of the historic village of Girls and Boys Town on Thursday, Nov. 2, 9:15 a.m. at the JCC. Cost is $7 per person. Send reservations by Oct. 25 to Rosalie Meiches, 5036 Parker, Omaha, NE 68104. Visions’ “Senior Conditioning” will be held at the JCC community room on Wednesday, Dec. 13, noon. Learn what you can easily do to keep your body healthy. Lunch will be served at 12:30 p.m., and at 1:15 p.m. the Dancing Grannies will perform. The cost is $10 per person. Deadline is Dec. 7. Make all checks payable to Visions.

BREADBREAKERS Dean Patrick Borchers will speak at Breadbreakers on Wednesday, Oct. 18, noon, at Regency Lodge, according to Gary Javitch, chairman. Borchers is Dean of Creighton University Law School. All men and women in the community are invited to attend Breadbreakers. Cost is $11 for lunch and $3 for beverage service only.

JEWISH SENIOR SERVICES The Avi8ors will perform for an early Veteran’s Day Celebration at the JCC auditorium on Thursday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m. There is no admissions fee and is open to the public. This performance is supported in memory of Dr.

JEWISH WOMEN INTERNATIONAL The Mah Jongg tournament will be on Sunday, Oct. 22 at the JCC. Registration will start at noon, and play will be from 12:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. The entrance fee will be $18 and there will be tournament prizes and door prizes. Refreshments will be served. To register, send check payable to Jewish Women International by Tuesday, Oct. 17 to Rosalie Greenspan, 8108 Howard St., 68114; or Esther Wax, 118 S. 88 St., 68114; Your check is your reservation. If you are able to provide a Mah Jongg set, contact Rosalie Greenspan at 391.1954 or Esther Wax at 393.4442

Israel Will Take Center Stage During BESTT Shabbaton

Tifereth Israel Welcomes New Members to Lincoln

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator An understanding and appreciation for Israel will be the focus of an exciting Shabbaton being planned for Beth El Synagogue Talmud Torah’s (BESTT) third through fifth graders, from Saturday, Oct. 21 to Sunday, Oct. 22. According to the synagogue’s youth director Robert Mosenkis, programming will be centered on the importance of Israel to the Jewish people: discussions will include the exploration of God’s covenant with Abraham and his promise to the Jewish people of Israel, plus the concept of peace, how it is defined and why it is a core value to Jews. In addition, students will be treated to learning a variety of fun Israeli games that their peers in Israel enjoy, and Saturday night will feature a trip to The Amazing Pizza Machine for mini golf, bowling and more funfilled games. Shabbaton begins on Saturday at 10 a.m. and ends Sunday at 9:45 a.m. Cost is $40 and RSVPs are being taken by Judy Rubin at 498.0904 or eddir@bethelomaha.org, or Robert Mosenkis, 492.8550 or youthdir@bethel-omaha.org.

by DONNA HERSCH Tifereth Israel Communications Coordinator Congregation Tifereth Israel recently hosted a Shabbat dinner for new members, attended by more then 80 congregants. Rabbi Royi Shaffin led the congregation in a short, lively Kabbalat Shabbat service, followed by dinner in the newly painted social room, with its new tiled floor. Vickie Prochaska, recently hired as TI’s new cook, was assisted by several volunteers. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of our new members: Lisa Levine; Jennifer Rosenblatt and her husband, Kurt Knecht, and their children Avi and Zachariah; Stacy and Lorin Hochstein; Alex Nieditch; Elana Fedor; Julie and Larry Widman and their children, Sophie and Bennett; Guy and Sarah Trainin, and their son, Itai. Ken Bloom and Sarah Kelen are also new members and the proud new parents of a daughter Eva Margit. Please join the congregation for any of the many new programs, adult education, Friday evening Shabbat Services (with twice-a-month Shabbat dinners) and Saturday morning Shabbat Services with a light nosh/lunch. E-mail Synagogue Administrator Kim Earl at: kimsearl@hotmail.com , to get on the synagogue email list for updates and valuable information.

October 13, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

IN THE NEWS The research of Henry Lynch, M.D., director of the Creighton University Hereditary Cancer Center, is the focus of an editorial and three separate studies reported in the Sept. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The editorial and studies are linked to Lynch’s groundbreaking work in the field of hereditary cancers and his discovery of the Lynch syndrome, a rare disorder named after him and also known as hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer syndrome. The Lynch syndrome is caused by a gene mutation that places individuals at high risk for developing cancers of the colon, endometrium, ovaries, stomach, small bowel, pancreas, urologic track and brain. His identification of Lynch syndrome in colon cancer now makes it possible to predict with nearly 90 percent accuracy the risk of the disease in patients with the gene mutation. With early detection, Lynch syndrome and other colon cancers are curable in 90 percent of patients. An estimated 3-4 percent of all colon cancer cases can be attributed to Lynch syndrome. Patients with this syndrome tend to get colorectal cancer at a much younger age, around 45 years, as compared to an average age of onset of 62-65 years in the general population. For patients at high risk of hereditary cancer, genetic counseling is critical, particularly if genetic testing is being considered, Lynch says. Preparing a comprehensive family medical history is vital for physicians to properly screen and manage high-risk patients. Lynch has worked extensively with the Jewish community, helping Jews of Ashkenazi descent, who seem to have a

higher than average risk of developing colon cancer. For more information about Lynch syndrome and other genetic-related cancers, including hereditary forms of breast and ovarian cancer, contact Creighton’s Hereditary Cancer Center at 800.648.8133 or htlynch@creighton.edu or visit http://medicine.creighton.edu/HCI. University Library at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) will host an exhibition of Neil Shaver’s private presswork Oct. 11-Dec. 15. on the UNO campus. Since 1978, Shaver has printed more than 30 titles, all of which will be on display. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Shaver’s connection to UNO started in 1978 when he took his first printing class led by Harry Duncan. Shaver also produced his first book, Metanoia, during that time. In 1983, Shaver met wood engraver John DePol, and they began a collaboration that lasted until DePol’s death in 2004. The Yellow Barn Press, originally based in rural Iowa near Council Bluffs, is significant not only for the high-quality craftsmanship exhibited in the printing, but also for the attention given to printing books about books and printing. “Neil’s craftsmanship makes paper and print a thrilling tactile and visual experience, and that is even before you get to the quality of the content,” said Oliver Pollak, a professor of history at UNO. “He shows that the book arts preserve a half-millennium-old way of communication that is still vital in the age of rapidly developing electronic print technology.” For more information about the exhibition, contact Maring at 402.554.2992 or mmaring@mail. unomaha.edu.

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The heart of a university is its library. The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) celebrated the expansion and renovation of its library this week with a variety of events, including a rededication and naming program. Ground was broken Aug. 8, 2005, on the three-story Dr. Guinter Kahn Addition on the library’s north side. The facility expanded by 31,000 square feet and renovation work has included improved lighting, technology support, group studies, a student lounge, improved instructional spaces, consolidated services and updated furnishings. The work was largely completed at the start of the current semester. The library even has a café now, and it has already become a popular meeting and break spot. The total cost of the expansion is $6.9 million. The Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Foundation and Dr. Guinter Kahn, a 1954 graduate of UNO, have made lead gifts to the University of Nebraska Foundation to benefit the project. Born in Trier, Germany, Dr. Kahn and his family immigrated to the United States in the late 1930s due to economic hardships and antiSemitic persecution. He graduated from Central High School and enrolled at Omaha University, graduating in three years. Dr. Kahn was then accepted at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Medicine and graduated with honors in 1958. Dr. Kahn taught at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where he became aware that patients in an experimental study were growing unwanted hair as a side affect of the drug minoxidil. He reasoned that a topical solution might have the same effect and produce a cure for

baldness. The results led to his 1974 patent and development of the product known as Rogaine. For more than 30 years, Dr. Kahn has practiced dermatology in Miami. As a committed philanthropist, he also has traveled extensively throughout the world, lecturing on the horrors of the Holocaust and advocating tolerance and justice. In 2004, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his graduation from the University of Omaha by making an extraordinary gift of support to the UNO library expansion project. “The library project gave me the opportunity to support my alma mater and recognize the outstanding education I received as I began pursuing a career in medicine,” he said. “It also allowed me to invest in the advancement of knowledge and the library as an information center. I have the highest regard for scholarship and hope the outcomes realized through the expansion of the UNO library help encourage a similar appreciation among today’s students.” Brodkey’s Jewelers was named Retailer of the Year last month by the Nebraska Retail Federation. Winners are based on contributions to the retail industry, and for outstanding customer service, leadership involvement in the business sector and community, and how customers, employees and colleagues regard the business. Brodkey Brothers, Inc., profiled in the Jewish Press several times, including the 2005 Simchas issue, was founded in 1880, and celebrated its 125th anniversary last year. According to father-and-son owners, Sherman and Marc Brodkey, representing the third and fourth generation of the jewelry family, Brodkey’s has 11 locations in shopping malls across Nebraska and Iowa.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 13, 2006

Jessie Rasmussen to Address Ballot Issue at Temple Men’s Club Meeting by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator If proposed Amendment 5 passes on the November ballot, it’s expected to shine a positive spotlight on Nebraska. The amendment calls for the state to match a 20 million dollar private donation with 40 million dollars to create an Early Childhood Endowment that would fund early childhood education programs. The proposal gives Nebraska an opportunity to be a model in this area for other states in the nation. Jessie Rasmussen, early childhood policy director of Nebraska Children and Families Foundation (NCFF), will speak to Temple Israel Men’s Club on Sunday, Oct. 22, 10:30 a.m., about the proposed amendment. The program is open to the community. “This is really an interesting issue that could save Nebraskans millions of dollars in the future,” according to others supporting the measure. “We spend a disproportionately huge amount of money trying to educate young children today and provide for their medical needs caused by neglect when they were infants,” they point out. “If present trends continue, we, as Nebraskans, will spend our entire state budget dollars today just on Medicaid to care for our infant and elderly population within 15 to 20 years. Our tax collections will seem meager today compared with what we are facing.” Rasmussen is the senior level representative for NCFF on state and national task forces, advisory committees, and coalitions. She leads various research and education efforts and works with legislators on shaping effective state policy based on best practices. With more than 20 years of experience as a policy leader, advocate and consultant in early childhood education, Rasmussen has worked as an advocate, a statewide trainer for early childhood professionals, and as a Head Start preschool teacher. A former Nebraska State Senator, director of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, and more recently, director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, Rasmussen has also worked in the fields of early care and education, child welfare, behavioral health, developmental disabilities, and economic assistance for children and families in poverty. Many members of the Jewish community remember her as the first director of the Child Development Center. Sister of former Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey, Rasmussen was director for the Nebraska Governor’s Office of Children and Families where she led and developed community-based prevention efforts to serve children and families leading to the creation of NCFF.

Friedel Class Brightens the Blumkin Home

by ANDREA BARTMAN for JSS/RBJH Left: Zachary Stein and Sarah Potash waited patiently for their turn to climb the ladder and adorn the Sukkah at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home last week. With apples, grapes and autumn leaves in hand, Elissa Weiner, right, and members of the fourth, fifth and sixth grade class of Friedel Jewish Academy, shared their joyful smiles with RBJH residents. Decorating the sukkah is a yearly undertaking for

these older Friedel students, said their teacher Denise Bennett. Residents of the Home appreciate the festivity very much and sometime enjoy tea under the sukkah when weather permits, according to Lois Wine, Director of Volunteer Services for RBJH, who organizes the annual effort. The Home provides Sukkot and Simchat Torah services to all residents and members of the community. For more information on these services, please contact RBJH at 402.330.4272.

It’s Sukkot Time in Lincoln Children and adults of B’nai Jeshurun gather in the sukkah to celebrate: Rabbi Ilan Emanuel, left, Elaine Monier, Melissa Bornstein, Ty Chapelle, Lillian Bornstein, Alicia Chapelle, Rachel Merliss, Miriam Merliss, Christie Emler; Mira Emanuel, in front. Below: Eva Kelen--too small to shake the lulav and etrog--at her first Sukkot.

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October 13, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Temple Scholar to Reflect on American-Israeli Relationship by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Israel as seen through the eyes of American Jews brings into focus a symbiotic relationship, according to Rabbi David Forman, an American who made aliyah nearly 35 years ago. The relationship between Israel and the Diaspora is an example of how two “dissimilar but closely bound organisms” exist together, explained Rabbi Forman. “How should the two Jewish communities intersect? How can each community strengthen the other? What are the obligations of each community to each other? Can Israel enhance Diaspora Jewish identity?” he asks. As Temple Israel’s first scholar-in-residence this year, presented by the Hermene Zweiback Center for Lifelong Jewish Learning, Rabbi Forman will explore the topic of how American Jews see Israel. On Friday, Oct. 27, 7:30 p.m., Rabbi Forman will discuss “Four Major Concerns of the Jewish State” at the Shabbat worship service. These concerns can be divided into four categories, he explains. “The first is ‘Jew versus Jew’ which touches upon the conflict between those Jews in Israel who embrace a messianic Judaism that envisions Israel as a Jewish state based on the principles of Torah Judaism and those Jews who cherish prophetic streams in Judaism whereby democracy and equality are the guiding forces for Israel. “Second is the struggle between Jews and the Moslem world, particularly as played out in the recent war in Lebanon. Third is the relationship between Jews and the Christian community, (and last) is the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora.” On Saturday, Oct. 28, Rabbi Forman will make a presentation at 9 a.m. preceding Shabbat worship services at 10:30 a.m. He will explore “From Noah to Abraham: Universalism versus Particularism.” That evening, there will be an Israel Lovers Dinner

and Havdallah with Rabbi Forman at 7 p.m. at Mediterranean Bistro, 1712 No. 120 St. Dinner is $18. Please make reservations by calling the Temple Israel office at 556.6536. A veteran of the Lebanon War of 1982, Rabbi Forman will reflect on the recent war in Lebanon at a bagel brunch on Sunday morning, Oct. 29, 10 a.m., in the Milder Center. Writing for The Jewish Week, which serves the Jewish community of greater New York, Rabbi Forman reported that he is not “an armchair analyst.” Having fought in Lebanon, he saw: “arsenals of weapons, rocket launchers and explosive belts placed in mosques, schools, medical clinics, and apartment buildings; land mines in the middle of villages; bunkers under hospitals and command posts in local groceries. When the Israeli Army tells us that the streets and alleyways of…Lebanese villages in southern Lebanon are awash with missile launchers, I know it to be true.” Rabbi Forman added, “Faced with the practical and ideological commitment of Hizbollah, Hamas, and Iran to rid the world of a Jewish state, we ask our liberal Jewish brothers and sisters in America to recognize that Jewish survival is no less a moral value than is the protection of a Lebanese civilian population held hostage by our enemy.” Rabbi Forman was the founder of Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel, the director of the Israel Office of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism), chairperson of Interns for Peace, founding chairperson of both the Jerusalem Council for Soviet Jewry and the Cincinnati Council for Soviet Jewry, vice-chairperson of Seminarians for Peace, and a member of Clergy and Laity against the War in Vietnam. All of Rabbi Forman’s discussions are open to the community.

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Beth El Synagogue was teeming with over 80 enthusiastic children and parents during last month’s Tot Shabbat celebration. Above, left, service leader Esther Katz captivated the little ones during the lively Torah procession; at right, Karen and Michael Cohen, holding their children Lillian and Jack, hosted the festive, kid-friendly dinner following the service. All Tot Shabbat programs are open to every family in the Jewish community; the next service will be

held Friday, Oct. 20, 6 p.m., followed by a dinner hosted by Lori Kooper-Schwarz, her husband Wayne Schwarz, and their daughter Melanie. Cost of the dinner is $5 for adults, free for children ages six and younger. For more information or to make reservations, contact Program Director Margie Gutnik at 492.8550, or programming@bethelomaha.org.

JCC to Offer Kohll’s Flu and Pneumonia Vaccines by LESLEY GENDELMAN JCC Community Services Director As a convenience to the Omaha Jewish community and members of the Jewish Community Center, the JCC will serve as a host site for Kohll’s Pharmacy to provide flu and pneumonia vaccinations Sunday, Nov. 5, 1-5 p.m., and Monday, Nov. 6, 3-7 p.m. in the JCC Auditorium. Cost is $27 for the flu shot; the pneumonia shot will be $44. There is no charge for Medicare recipients. Last year was the first year the JCC ran the clinic and nearly 200 people were vaccinated. Pharmacist David Kohll says it is important for people to get the flu shot. “People should get the flu shot starting from Oct. 15 through the end of November,” he said. “The later in the season you get the shot, the less likely you are to get the flu.”

Reservations are required in order to ensure the correct amount of vaccine will be available for each day. A reservation is not an appointment however. Reservations can be made by stopping by the JCC Member Services desk or the JCC Front Desk, or by calling 334.8200. The Center for Disease Control recommends vaccinations for everyone, but strongly recommends vaccinations for children ages six-23 months and adults 65 years of age or older. Vaccinations are also suggested for school children and those with chronic medical conditions and their caregivers. For more information please visit www.jccomaha.org and click on “Flu Vaccines.” There is information on the vaccines as well as the required forms that can be printed. Please contact me at 334.6418 for more information.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 13, 2006

Kerri Strug: Olympic Gold and Jewish Journey Ten years after winning gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Kerri Strug embarks on her own Jewish journey

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by SUZANNE KURTZ If you watched the U.S. women’s gymnastics team during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, you remember Kerri Strug. Or you remember the vault. Despite a badly injured ankle, Strug nailed her crucial final vault on one leg, clinching the first team gold medal in women’s gymnastics for the Americans. Her coach, the legendary Bela Karolyi, carried Strug to the podium to join her teammates, crowned the Magnificent Seven, to collect her medal. Kerri Strug But while the famous one-footed vault earned Strug, now 28, a place in American sports history, she holds another, lesser known honor - National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductee. “People can’t believe I’m Jewish,” she says over coffee near the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency in Washington, D.C. Strug joined the Department of Justice as a special advisor to the administrator in March 2005. “I get the same question over and over ‘You’re Jewish?’” she says. Growing up in Tucson, in a self-described, culturally Jewish home, Strug attended High Holy Day services with her parents, older sister and older brother. However, she acknowledges an elite gymnast’s path towards Olympic gold was not always compatible with participatory Jewish life. “By the time I was seven, I was winning competitions and I had to make a choice. Go to Hebrew school or go to the gym,” explains the two-time Olympian, who also won a team bronze for women’s gymnastics at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. “Maybe it was a poor decision, but my parents said our daughter has this talent, let’s embrace it.” One month shy of her 13th birthday, Strug moved to Houston to train with Karolyi and lived with a host family. But when her parents came to visit at Chanuka time,

they brought a menorah for her to light. “My parents taught me to be a good person and to value education,” she says. “And that to me is very Jewish.” Strug enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles shortly after the 1996 Olympics. Two years later she transferred to Stanford University earning undergraduate and graduate degrees. At Stanford, Strug lived in a sorority house, spent a semester at sea and learned to put gymnastics behind her. She taught nursery school in northern California before moving to Washington, D.C., in 2003. Ten years after winning gold in Atlanta, Strug only vaguely resembles the girl who, along with her teammates, once adorned a Wheaties cereal box. Today, she travels the country visiting prevention and intervention programs for at-risk youth, speaking to them about the importance of making right choices in life. She is petite and pretty with straight blonde hair, long and pulled back behind her ears. Her tailored business suit befits her role as a political appointee. “Sometimes it feels like Atlanta was yesterday and other times it feels like it was another life,” says Strug. “My days are so different and my focus is different.” Giving a speech recently at the University of Florida, Strug shared with the predominately Jewish audience that “thinking about Judaism is something that did not come to me until college.” She credits her then boyfriend for questioning her apathy and bringing her home to celebrate Shabbat, Sukkot and Passover with his traditional Conservative family. Strug even traveled to Israel to light the torch during the Maccabiah Games. “That’s when I made a decision this is important to me,” she recalls. “When I was training with Bela, if I wanted to take Saturdays off [to celebrate Shabbat], I could forget about it,” she says with a smile. “Now when I get married and have a wedding, there will be a rabbi and a chuppah. We’ll break the glass and dance the hora.” And no one will question if Kerri Strug is Jewish. Suzanne Kurtz, is Editor of Hillel Campus Report, a monthly e-newsletter on Jewish campus life at www.hillel.org.

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by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator BESTT Chaverim, Beth El Synagogue’s youth group for fourththrough-sixth graders, will spend a crisp fall afternoon at Fontenelle Forest on Sunday, Oct. 29, and all children in the Jewish community are welcome to join in the fun! Following religious-school classes, participants will enjoy lunch at the synagogue, and then will carpool to

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Fontenelle Forest. During the afternoon, participants will hike, observe and learn about nature and be treated to the traveling exhibit of gigantic, carved wooden bugs on display. Cost is $6 for members; $8 for nonmembers. Reservations are needed by Oct. 26; to RSVP or for membership information, contact Robert Mosenkis at 492.8550, or youthdir@bethelomaha.org.

BIRTH Dana and Scott Wisnia announce the Oct. 4 birth of their son, Preston Scott. Grandparents are Shelley and Abe Wisnia, and Mary and Doug Current. Great-grandparents are Bernice Adler and the late Morrie Adler, Mary and John Martica, and Sara Wisnia and the late Berek Wisnia.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

Underwritten by A GENEROUS DONATION FROM THE MORTON A RICHARDS YOUTH FUND Editor’s note: This month’s Teen Age features the teens of the Omaha Temple Youth Group. Special thanks to Rabbi Aryeh Azriel and the staff at Temple Israel for collecting the material.

OTYG Goes to World of Fun by SARAH BLEICHER OTYGers and JYGers alike all took the fun trip to Worlds of Fun on Aug. 20. We met at Temple in the early morning and then we were off to Kansas City via coach bus. Everybody had a great time together, made new friends, got a chance to meet Rabbi Eric Linder, and ride roller coasters! Everybody loved trying out all the rides at Worlds of Fun-from the ferris wheel and bumper cars to the brand new roller coaster, The Patriot. It was so much fun! We hope to make this a tradition...so everyone better come with us next year. Sarah Bleicher is a junior at Brownell-Talbot.

Romemu

SAVE THE DATE! I had a little meatball, OTYG’s Annual Spaghetti Dinner this year is on December 3rd! Make your reservations now! Schedule of Upcoming Teen Age pages in the Jewish Press Issue Date Nov. 3: USY of Tifereth Israel, Lincoln

Deadline date Oct. 23

Dec. 1: Teens of Beyt Shalom

Nov. 20

Jan. 5: USY of Beth El

Dec. 26

Feb. 2: NCSY

Jan. 22

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Feb. 19

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March 26

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April 23

Youth group advisors: for more information about deadlines or what to submit, contact Lori KooperSchwarz, Editor of Teen Age, at 334.6558 or jpress@jewishomaha. org.

by JOE GOLDBERG Romemu adonai elohainu God long ago gave us Torah to learn, Exalt the Lord our God Elohainu, Each lesson we hear as the seasons turn. This prayer begins as the Torah goes round, Generations hear the tradition’s past, The prayers meaning to our hearts is bound, Tune humming in my head is there to last. Leaders as children become young adults, Read from the Torah now part of the link, Parents pass lessons on and see results, Without them completing the chain we sink. By Torah, worshipping, and loving deeds, We learn, we teach, we plant the many seeds. Joe Goldberg is a junior at Westside High School

Friedel Response Turns Accident into Meaningful Learning for All by DIANE AXLER BAUM beginning of school, also expressed grati- deeds of charity and lovingkindness.” for Friedel Jewish Academy While Zeman recovered, the Friedel tude. And approval. Putting Jewish values into practice Aviva Segall’s reaction is representative: faculty and staff, parents and students all turned a recent misfortune at Friedel From the first day of school, Segall said, cooperated to meet her many medical Jewish Academy into an unprecedented her daughter had been delighted with and personal needs. For example, one everything about the school. Then, “The group volunteered to pack up Zeman’s learning experience. house in preparation for her previously It was very early in the new scheduled move; others unpacked her term when kindergarten teacher belongings in her new home. Friedel Diana Zeman fell on the stairs in moms took turns preparing and delivher house, breaking her left leg ering breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. and injuring her right ankle. The Others drove her to and from doctors injury led to infection and a appointments. blood clot, and Zeman became Now that Zeman has returned to the temporarily incapacitated, just at classroom, her kindergartners remain the point when her students were sensitive and solicitous. First she bonding with her as a cherished taught from a wheelchair, and now she figure in their lives. walks very slowly with the aid of two “Trust is a key for kindergarten special boots. students in the first weeks of “Children of such a young age ususchool, even more than it is for ally still see life as being all about older students, so we were espethemselves,” said the Friedel principal, cially concerned when Diana was “How wonderful that our kindergartforced out of the classroom,” said Friedel principal Cookie Katskee. Diane Zeman, Friedel’s kindergarten teachers introduces ners are having a real-life opportunity to help someone else!” Happily for the kindergarten herself to new students. For Zeman, the response of the class, an ideal substitute teacher “came to way Friedel handled what could have been the rescue.” Sindie Katskee, a cousin by a crisis served as absolute proof” to Segall “Friedel Family” was a lifesaver. Before marriage to the principal’s husband, had and her husband that they had made the returning to the classroom, she sent a retired last spring as a teacher of special right choice in sending Ilana to Friedel. note that included these thoughts: “I elementary education in OPS. “Sindie’s “Sindie was terrific,” Segall noted, “And it want to thank everyone for their love and commitment to serve as a long-term sub was great that every student and teacher tender care because it is the only thing provided the Academy’s kindergartners in the school were helpful and encourag- currently keeping me going. I appreciate having all of you in my life, and I miss complete continuity, educationally and ing to the kindergartners.” Segall also was “amazed by the out- everyone greatly and wish to get back to emotionally,” said the principal. Her pouring of caring and support” to Friedel as soon as I can. Your actions tone expressed her gratitude. Several parents of kindergartners, thor- Zeman. “Their response,” she said, “truly demonstrate what this community is all oughly positive about Friedel from the exemplified the mitzvah of performing about.”

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 13, 2006

Fallout in the Secular World? What Does It Teach Us? Both the criminal investigations of HewlettPackard top staff and board and the revelations of former Congressman Mark Foley-coming during the High Holidays--have something to offer the Jewish world, and especially Jewish non-profits. The first, most obvious lesson here is: don’t do anything wrong! The second, may be not as apparent, but sometimes with more far-reaching and damaging consequences is: once you do something wrong, don’t attempt to cover it up. In the Jewish world, we have even more to lose. When authorities discovered a kosher butcher in Monsey, NY, selling non-kosher chicken, the reaction was critical even beyond the offender--to the Orthodox establishment, to the kashrut supervising organization, and even to Judaism. Surely we don’t want to turn people away from their religion because of the misconduct of a few! So what can we--as Jews--and as supporters (or in some cases, employees or lay leaders) of Jewish charitable organizations learn? • The actions of boards and employees of Jewish non-profits should be transparent-more than just the reputation of a single organization is at stake. By that, we mean that all financial information should be available to all board members-otherwise they’re making policy decisions in the dark, based on incomplete information. If an organization is lucky enough to have assets outside its operations budget--such as endowment funds or unrestricted investments--that list (including the policies regarding how the funds may be used) should be distributed to board members, along with bylaws and all other policies and procedures governing the organization’s operations, personnel, programs and projects. • What happens when something does go wrong? In the case of Rep. Mark Foley, blaming his current actions on a supposed history of sexu-

al abuse and alcoholism is, frankly, a little farfetched. How convenient for him that these excuses were available; taking responsibility for his actions would have been far better. As Jews, we just spent a day in synagogue, beating our chests with Al Cheits--asking for forgiveness for our sins against G-d and against one another. One of the reasons the rabbis give for the recitation of this list is a well known psychological course of action: admitting the wrongful deed out loud is the first step on the road to recovery. After months of denial and finger wagging, even former President Clinton finally admitted he did “have sexual relations with that woman,” though he skirted (pardon the pun) around the issue. Whether Foley did or did not have actual physical contact with a page is irrelevant. He was right to resign (for his stupidity, frankly-his constituents deserve better), but now it’s time for the country to stop focusing on the juicy scandal and go back to the serious business of running the country. Trying to hide or blame others is not productive. While the Democrats are blaming Rep. Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader of the House, and Republicans rehash past Democratic scandals, North Korea is testing nuclear missiles and Iran is pursuing their development. Hugo Chavez is making mischief in South America

and school shootings are on the rise. There’s enough misconduct in both parties to turn off voters. Is that what we want? • When an organization is perceived to have committed an aggregious act--whether it’s withholding information from its board or actual malfeasance, the first step must be coming clean. While the Press is not accusing any organization here in Nebraska of wrongdoing, we must behave better than our counterparts in the business world. Witch hunts--like the sort that apparently occurred at HP, cooking the books at companies like Enron, or knowingly harboring a sexual predator as it seems certain members of Congress have done on more than one occasion--is unacceptable behavior, wherever it occurs. In the end, all we have--as individuals, and as representatives of non-profit organizations--is our good name. Jewish organizations--and the people who run them and work for them-should be held to a higher standard (certainly higher than the Congress).

FOCUS ON ISSUES by RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA)--Jewish civil liberties groups are looking forward to a relatively quiet U.S. Supreme Court session in 2006-07, with none of the major church-state issues that have roiled the community in recent years. The court abjured arguments on the first Monday in October, when it traditionally opens, so its two Jewish justices could observe Yom Kippur. The seven non-Jewish justices met to release the court’s docket. The type of church-state cases that dominated Jewish interest in recent years, such as the display of religious artifacts in courts and public places, were absent. Instead, Jewish groups are focused on two cases about issues that don’t directly affect Judaism as a religion, but that traditionally have held the attention of Jewish civil libertarians: abortion and segregation. The court will hear two cases Nov. 8 in which federal courts struck down parts of the ban on partial-birth abortion, which President Bush signed into law in 2003. In Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, pro-choice groups argue that the legislation does not have adequate health exceptions for women at risk, and bans such abortions as early as 13 weeks into gestation. Jewish groups opposed to the ban and filing friend-of-the-court briefs include the AntiDefamation League, the American Jewish Congress and the National Council of Jewish

Judge Samuel Alito with President Bush in October 2005 before his confirmation. Credit: Paul Morse/White House ductive rights that indicated they would not look kindly to precedent,” she said. “This is going to be the test. You never want to be proved right; there’s no great satisfaction when it comes to saying ‘I told you so’ when it comes to women’s lives and health,” she

Jewish Press Committee Bobbi Leibowitz, Vice-Chairman; Stan Mitchell, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Treasurer; Michael Siegel, Finance Chairman; Joanie Jacobson, Immediate Past-chairman; David Herzog; Susan Lehr; Jamie Meyerson; George Quittner; Melissa Schop; Michael Sigmond; Jim Simon; Nancy Skid; and Dorothy Spizman. The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Centers of Excellence of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service, and Jewish Senior Services. The Jewish Press is a constitutional committee of the Jewish Federation. Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Jewish the Committee, Federation of Omaha or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

Groups Look to Cases on Abortion, Segregation in Quiet Court Season Women. As recently as 2000, the court established that health exceptions are necessary in such laws, and the civil liberties groups are concerned that a court that now has a deeper conservative bench wants to revisit that precedent. Sammie Moshenberg, who directs NCJW’s Washington office, said she was afraid her group would be saying “I told you so” about its opposition last year to the nomination of John Roberts as chief justice and Samuel Alito as justice. “We worked hard against the confirmation of Chief Justice Roberts and Samuel Alito because their records showed they had a particular point of view when it came to repro-

(Founded in 1920) Howard K. Marcus Chairman Carol Katzman Editor Richard Busse Managing Editor Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Terri Greenwood Advertising Executive Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper Anne Muskin Editorial Intern

added. Agudath Israel of America, a group representing the fervently Orthodox, said it planned to support the government’s case in the partial-birth abortion matter. The other case capturing Jewish interest involves attempts to desegregate districts in Seattle and Lexington, KY. Groups filing friend-of-the-court briefs include the ADL, the American Jewish Committee and the NCJW. The Jewish groups favor the municipalities. In both instances, the municipalities are introducing desegregation measures because natural demographic trends have rolled back desegregation efforts from the 1970s. In some cases, schools have become more than 85 percent minority. Jewish interest was piqued because the Bush administration is backing parental groups that oppose the desegregation measures in the cases, Parents Involved v. Seattle and Meredith v. Jefferson County. The cases, which have been combined, will be heard in late November or early December. The groups are concerned that the Bush administration will argue that the municipalities are backing affirmative action--something Jewish civil libertarians traditionally oppose as reverse discrimination--instead of understanding the initiatives as rolling back discrimination. “These cases are not about the allocation of government benefits of power by race or the use of race in place of relevant personal characteristics in selecting persons in an application process,” said Deborah Lauter, ADL’s national civil rights director. “They’re rather about continuing desegregation root and branch.”

Editorial The Jewish Press is a Constitutional Committee of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org. Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1-402-334-5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org.. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be singlespaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions, but should be printed as soon as possible to ensure timeliness. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer, but the name can be withheld at the writer’s request. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For more information, contact Carol Katzman, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly on Friday for $31 per calendar year U.S.; $36 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or e-mail to: jpress@jewishomaha. org.

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October 13, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 13

Libertarians, Pro-Lifers and Jews Jewish Roots of Leaders Less Important than the Divide at the Heart of the GOP

BEHIND THE HEADLINES by JONATHAN S. TOBIN The late liberal activist Allard Lowenstein was fond of recalling the time that he bucked a boycott of French President Georges Pompidou’s address to a joint session of Congress in March 1970. Before his murder in 1980 at the hands of a former aide, I heard Lowenstein speak of the incident when pro-Israel members of Congress stayed away from Pompidou’s appearance to protest France’s sale of warplanes to countries pledged to Israel’s destruction. But Lowenstein, a left-wing gadfly serving in his only two-year term as a member of the House of Representatives from New York and far from uncritical of Israel, decided to show up. Entering the chamber filling up with members of the Senate and House, he found himself next to his ideological opposite number: Sen. Barry Goldwater, the conservative icon and one-time Republican presidential candidate from Arizona. “Well, Barry,” Lowenstein said, “looks like we’re going to be the only Jews in here today.” The two shared a laugh over that, if nothing else. The Latest Secret Jew I was reminded of Goldwater’s status as the grandson of a Jew (his father converted and married a non-Jew, and the future senator was raised as a Christian) by the latest discovery of a Jewish skeleton in the closet of a leading Washington figure. In this case, the new crypto-Jew was Sen. George Allen of Virginia, heretofore better known for being the son of a famous football coach, whose service as governor of Virginia and then a member of the U.S. Senate had made him a contender for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2008. In the course of a faltering battle for reelection to the Senate, Allen’s outsized ambitions have come a cropper due to a an epithet he slung at a Democratic campaign worker, and talk of his alleged fond-

ness for Confederate flags and use of racial slurs. Wedged in among those setbacks was a more bizarre revelation: The conservative politician’s mother turns out to be Jewish. First uncovered by the Forward, the fact that Mrs. Allen is a Jewish immigrant from Tunisia whose father was interned in a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust got on the national press’ radar when a media panelist asked the senator about his mother’s identity during a campaign debate. A l l e n ’ s umbrage at the question, whether justified or not, struck many observers as odd. Like the explanations of former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright -who claimed to know nothing of the fact that her parents were born Jewish--Allen’s story of a parent eager to disassociate herself from the embattled existence of her people may not sit well with many Jews. But those of us who were raised to take fierce pride in our heritage have to accept that some of those who suffered abuse at the hands of anti-Semites were overcome by their fears and embraced not just assimilation but tried to erase their backgrounds altogether. It is a free country, and anyone, even the son of a North African Jew, can masquerade as a son of the old Confederacy (as Allen did in a cameo in a recent awful Hollywood film about the Civil War called “Gods and Generals”), if they so choose. Yet Goldwater, whose peddler grandfather had founded a department store in Phoenix and lived to see his descendants fade into the Christian world of Arizona, had no problems talking about his Jewish forefathers. In Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater, a new HBO documentary film about the senator created by his granddaughter C.C., journalist Robert MacNeil spoke of his attitude toward his status as a

...some of those who suffered abuse at the hands of antiSemites were overcome by their fears and embraced not just assimilation but tried to erase their backgrounds altogether.

• Israeli police gave the state attorney information on the investigation into President Moshe Katsav. The data, given Monday to Eran Shendar, did not offer a recommendation as to whether to indict

was something of a catechism for a generation of American conservatives--was there anything about gays or even abortion. In fact, in his later years in the Senate, Goldwater profanely lambasted religious crusaders like the Rev. Jerry Falwell. Nevertheless, without the religious right, there would have been no Ronald Reagan presidency, 1994 GOP sweep of Congress or President George W. Bush. Though the alliance between the libertarian wing of the party and the religious conservatives still holds, it is fraying. Though such odd coalitions are par for the course in American politics (it was, after all, a coalition of northern liberals and southern bigots that elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt and other Democrats), the cries for a renewed culturkampf coming from both ends of the spectrum these days would have cut no ice with Goldwater. Goldwater’s own misguided failure to support the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 (on what he said was constitutional grounds not prejudice) and the status of his opponent Lyndon Johnson as the heir of the slain John Kennedy doomed his presidential run. He was also labeled a crazy warmonger. Many supporters of Johnson came to regret that aspersion after their candidate became the man who escalated the Vietnam war. But rather than beating the drums to rouse their supporters to the polls to fight against abortion or even more popular causes, such as opposition to gay marriage and immigration, maybe the ideological heirs of Goldwater, such as George Allen, might try channeling the Arizonan’s hard-edged libertarian approach. That and renewed faith in the justice of America’s fight against the Islamo-fascists who have replaced Communists as the chief threat to our freedom might also win them some more of the Jewish votes that they covet. Maybe after all these years since 1964, Republicans should consider that it was 20th-century American politics original “half-Jew” who had the right formula for electoral success after all. Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia. He can be contacted via e-mail at: jtobin@jewishexponent.com.

The Jewish Federation of Omaha invites you to join us for the Men’s Event, a fundraising and outreach evening for Omaha’s Jewish men featuring:

JTA NEWS BRIEFS • A group that monitors the United Nations for anti-Israel bias called on the likely next secretary-general to emphasize human rights. Ban Ki-Moon’s priorities “must include taking a firm stand against the continued atrocities in Darfur and other areas,” U.N. Watch said in a statement Monday. The Security Council has endorsed Ban, South Korea’s foreign minister, as the next secretary-general, virtually guaranteeing his election by the General Assembly. U.N. Watch has sharply criticized the U.N. Human Rights Council and its predecessor, the U.N. Human Rights Commission, for focusing obsessively on Israel while ignoring human rights violations elsewhere. U.N. Watch calle on Ban to continue efforts by Kofi Annan, the current secretary-general, to confront the human rights bodies for picking on Israel.

“half Jew.” “He often told the story about being born of a Jewish father and an Episcopalian mother,” MacNeil relates in the film. “He would say things like, ‘I went to a golf club where they wouldn’t let Jews play, and I said, ‘I’m only halfJewish. Can I play nine holes?’” That sort of comfort with the contradictions of American life--in which a quintessential Western conservative was unashamed to also be branded a “Jew”-is what is lacking in the reactions of Allen and Albright. While incidents such as Sen. Hillary Clinton’s discovery of a Jewish stepgrandfather her during run for the Senate in New York (Clinton also appears in the HBO film, speaking of her days as a “Goldwater Girl” conservative campaign worker during high school) are more silly than anything else, the awkward scrambles of Allen and Albright seem to reveal the dark underside of fear that once dominated relations between Jews and non-Jews even in this country. In an era when an even an observant Jew like Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) was a major party nominee for vice president and Jews seem to have reached the top of virtually every profession in this country except the Catholic priesthood, who knew that there were still some Marranos lurking in the backgrounds of would-be presidents? Conservative Crackup But the mention of Goldwater ought to lead us to ask an even more pertinent question raised by his granddaughter’s documentary: How did American conservatism--a movement whose leadership Allen aspired to--whose founder was the epitome of crusty libertarianism, become synonymous with a religious right that at times seems obsessed with abortion and homosexuality, as well as, in another great irony, with support for Israel? Nowhere in Goldwater’s book The Conscience of a Conservative--a tract that

Katsav. The police probe included allegations of sexual misconduct by Katsav against former employees, irregularities in granting pardons and wiretapping. The president has denied the charges. • The remains of more than 50 people, many of them children, were discovered in a mass grave in Germany, authorities say. Experts suspect the dead in the city of Menden were victims of the Nazis’ socalled euthanasia program, in which disabled people were murdered. Two more sites are being searched for remains. The discovery was made by workers from an agency that cares for wartime graves. Some skulls showed signs that the victims had Down syndrome or other handicaps. The search for the mass grave followed eyewitness reports that bodies had been transported to the site from a nearby hospital run by Hitler’s doctor, Karl Brandt, who was in charge of carrying out the euthanasia program. It’s estimated that at least 100,000 handicapped people were murdered between the fall of 1939 and summer of 1941.

Tim Schrager

and Jonathan Rockman, Israel Emergency Campaign Chair

When:

Where:

Tuesday, October 17, 2006 6:00—6:30 p.m. Cocktails 6:30—7:30 p.m. Dinner and Program (dietary laws observed) 7:30—8:00 p.m. Visit Phillip Schrager Collection of Contemporary Art

Phil Schrager’s Office/Phillip Schrager Collection of Contemporary Art 4405 South 96 Street

Dinner Cost: No cost to attend. (Complimentary dinner and drinks)

Annual Gift: $200 minimum individual gift to the Federations’s 2007 Annual Campaign (Men under age 30 the minimum gift is $150)

For more information and to RSVP: Sharon Kirshenbaum, 334-6485 or skirshenbaum@jewishomaha.org

Page 14

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 13, 2006

Candlelighting Friday, October 13, 6:27 p.m. Saturday, October 14, no earlier than 7:19 p.m.

Synagogue Listings B’nai Israel Synagogue 618 Mynster St. Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com

Beth El Synagogue Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Omaha, NE 68154-1980 492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m. Representatives from Iowa Public Broadcasting System (IPBS) television will film our service, as part of a documentary on small Iowa towns and places of worship. Even though B’nai Israel will be a tiny part of the documentary, the staff have taken an interest in our history and current status. The Ladies from Offutt will sponsor the Oneg. Please call with the number of people attending, 323.8885.

Beth Israel Synagogue Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific St. Omaha, NE. 68154 556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org

Beyt Shalom An Affiliate of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation 3012 S. 119 St. P.O. Box 390352 Omaha, NE 68139 660.2395 www.beytshalomomaha.org

Chabad House An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 S. 120th St. Omaha, NE 68144-1646 330.1800 nebraskajudaism.com email: chabad@aol.com

Congregation B’nai Jeshurun South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 S. 20th St. Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 435.8004 southstreettemple.org

Offutt Air Force Base SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway Offutt AFB, NE 68113 294.6244

Rose Blumkin Jewish Home 333 S. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154

Temple Israel Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street Omaha, NE 68132-2651 556.6536 templeisrael-ne.org

The Neighborhood Minyan 1317 No. 57 St. Omaha, NE 68132 551.6609

Tifereth Israel Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 423.8569 www.tiferethlincoln.org

PERSONAL I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation for all the support and prayers from my friends and family. Thank you for your cards and contributions. With all your help I know that I shall get well. Ethel Goldston

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat and Shemini Atzeret service, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m. with Yizkor and dedication of memorial plaques; Junior Congregation (3-7), 10 a.m.; K’tantan (K-2), 10:45 a.m.; Shabbat Tunes and Tales, 11:1511:45 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by Beth El; Simhat Torah Mincha, 6:10 pm.; Maariv, 6:30 p.m., hakafot, singing and dancing with the Torah scrolls. Torah readers will be recognized, as well as others who have served the congregation. Ice cream social will follow. SUNDAY: Simhat Torah, 9:30 a.m. congregants Sol Schwartz and Steve Riekes will be honored. BESTT: Classes on Sunday, 10 to noon. Kindergartners will be recognized during Simhat Torah services, to mark the beginning of their religious education. Each will receive a gift from the school. ABBA, EEMA & ME: Learning play group for children from birth to three, and their parents on Wednesday, 9:30 a.m-11 a.m. Alan Parsow will speak to the group on financial planning for young families. For information, call Holly Weill at 493.5126, or Margie Gutnik at 492.8550. THURSDAYS, noon: Rabbi Levin leads Getting More Out of Prayer: Insights Into the Siddur. Cost is $36; to register, contact Margie Gutnik. READING WOMEN OF THE BIBLE: Susan Paley leads a discussion, Tuesdays: Oct. 17, 24 and 31, 7 p.m. Cost is $18. For information, call Margie Gutnik. TOT SHABBAT: Friday, Oct. 20, 6 p.m., followed by dinner; $5 for adults, free for children six

and younger. For information, call Margie Gutnik in the office. BESTT THIRD-FIFTH GRADE SHABBATON: Saturday, Oct. 21, 10 a.m. to Sunday, Oct. 22, 9:45 a.m. Cost is $40. To RSVP, contact Judy Rubin, 498.0904 or eddir@bethel-omaha.org, or Robert Mosenkis, 492.8550 or youthdir@bethel-omaha.org. WOMEN’S ROSH HODESH MEETING: Monday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m., at the home of Sylvia Wagner, 1349 So. 101 St., #106, focuses on the election process. To RSVP, contact Wagner at 392.0600 or sy@lady8.com. SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE WEEKEND: Joshua Jacobson will lecture Friday, Oct. 27, during Shabbat dinner, and Saturday, Oct. 28, during services and Kiddush luncheon. (See full article on page 6.)

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 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. FRIDAY-Erve Yom Tov: Shacharit, 6:30 a.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 6:40 p.m.; One should not make kiddush in a sukkah before 7:20 p.m. SATURDAY-Shemini Atzeret: Shacharit, 9 a.m. Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes, 10 a.m. (call the office for schedule); Yizkor, 10:30 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by Zena and Bennett Fishbain; Mincha, 6:40 p.m. Ma’ariv and Simchat Torah Hakafot, 7:20 p.m., followed by dairy dinner. SUNDAY-Simchat Torah: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush in the sukkah is sponsored by the Novak family in honor of Kim Novak’s birthday; Mincha, 6:40 p.m.; Havdalah, 7:25 p.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m. THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m.; Senior NCSY Latte & Learning, 7 p.m. at Scooter’s, 120th & Blondo; Advanced Parsha Study, 9 p.m.

BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Shabbat in the Home. SATURDAY: Simchat Torah, 1:30 p.m., at the Blumkin Home.

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Service, 7 a.m.; Evening Services, 6:30 p.m. followed by Kiddush & Hafakot. SATURDAY: Service, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush luncheon follows the service; Mincha/Maariv, 6:30 p.m. followed by Kiddush & Hakafot. SUNDAY: Services, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation (ages 3-11), 10:15 a.m.; Family Simchas Torah Celebration, 10:30 a.m.; Mincha/Maariv, 6:30 p.m.; Havdallah, 7:25 p.m. WEEKDAYS: Minyan, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Halacha, 7 p.m. TUESDAY: Women of Worth Prayer Circle, 9 a.m. WEDNESDAY: Kabbalah Circle, 7 p.m. THURSDAY: Jewish Thought, 12:45 p.m. All events and programs are open to the community. For information or to register, call or visit 330.1800 www. Ochabad.com.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m., led by Rabbi Emanuel. SATURDAY: The Better Living Conference, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at Unitarian Church, 6300 A Street; Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m., all led by Rabbi Emanuel; LJCS Simchat Torah: Traditional adult service, 6:30 p.m.; Children’s service, 7-8 p.m., including dancing with the Torah and dessert. SUNDAY: No Religious School classes. WEDNESDAY: Hebrew class (grades 2-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. SUNDAYS, Oct, 22 & 27, 7 p.m.: Talmud for Beginners, led by Rabbi Emanuel.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Shemini Atzeret Services, 9 a.m., with Yizkor led

by Rabbi Maximo Shechet. SUNDAY: Simchat Torah Celebration, 1:30 p.m., led by Marti Nerenstone and Beyt Shalom.

TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY-Erev Simchat Torah: Consecration of Kindergartners and other students, 7 p.m. Rejoice with Torah, the Fabrangen Fiddlers, Israeli dancing, singing, hakafot and an ice cream Oneg. S AT U R D AY - S I M C H AT TORAH: Sparks Beneath the Surface, a.m.; 9:15-10:15 Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. Haley Burns, daughter of Helen and John Burns, will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah. SUNDAY: Teacher Learning Coffee, 9 a.m.; Religious School (K-6), 10 a.m.-noon. TUESDAY: Executive Committe Meeting, 6 p.m.; Board of Trustees Meeting, 7:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY: No Religious and Family School; No Middle/ High School. LIFELONG LEARNING THURSDAY, Oct. 19: Adult Study with the Clergy with Rabbi Azriel, 10-11:30 a.m.; Torah on Wheels is rescheduled at noon. Enjoy “Jewish Food for Thought” with Rabbi Linder. Lunch is on the “house” at Kutak Rock, 1620 Farnam. For reservations, call Maureen at 556.6536.

NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN No services will be held Sept. 22-Oct. 20.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Rabbi Royi Shaffin. Minyan, MONDAY, & THURSDAY, 9 a.m. FRIDAY: F R I D A Y : Services, 6:30 p.m. with a Shabbat dinner following. SATURDAY: Weekly Parashat class, 8:30 a.m.; Morning service, 9:30 a.m. followed by Shabbat lunch and Talmud class; Ma’ariv, 6:30 p.m.; LJCS Simchat Torah Service and hakafot, 7 p.m. followed by dessert. SUNDAY: No Religious School classes. WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Call Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066; Hebrew class (grades 27), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

B’NAI MITZVAH Samuel Shermet Burrell, son of Wendy Shermet and Len Burrell, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah, on Saturday, Oct. 21, at Temple Israel. Samuel is an eighth-grade student at Elkhorn Middle School. He is a H.A.L.E. student and madrich at at Te m p l e ’ s religious school. His interests include piano, trumpet (jazz and concert

band), baseball, and golf. For his mitzvah project, Samuel volunteered at Allwine Prairie, run through UNO. Grandparents are Jo and Paul Burman of Bethesda, MD and Mary Burrell of Eatonton, GA. Ezra and Adeev Potash, sons of Amy Nachman and Alan Potash, will celebrate their B’nai Mitzvah, on Saturday, Oct. 21, at Camp Herzl in Webster, WI. Ezra and Adeev are seventhgraders at Westside Middle School. Their interests include playing

their intruments, reading comic books, and their summers at Camp Herzl.

For their mitzvah project, Ezra and Adeev combined their love for comic books and Judaism raised over $2000 to donate Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-win-

ning comic-strip and saga of the Holocaust, Maus 1 Maus 2, to public libraries throughout the state of Texas. To raise the money they performed several mitzvot to include delivering “Meals-onWheels,” visiting nursing homes with the “Therapy Pet Pals” program, implementing the “No Place For Hate” program at their school, and donating their hair to the “Locks-for-Love” program. Grandparents are Ruth and Merle Potash, and Mimi and Len Nachman of Burnsville, MN. Continued on page 15

Pulverente MONUMENT CO.

October 13, 2006

DEATHS BERNICE GARELICK MILLER Bernice Miller died Sept. 23 in Dallas, TX, after battling cancer. She was 86. Services were held Sept. 26, at the Louis Memorial Chapel, in Overland Park, KS, followed by burial at Kehilath Israel Blue Ridge Cemetery. An Omaha native, she came to Kansas City in 1941, when she married Daniel Miller. They were married for 44 years, until his death in 1986, during which time he operated Miller Tire Service. She was also preceded in death by her son, Marshall Miller who died in childhood in 1953. She is survived by her sons, Kenneth Miller, New Haven, CT; Gordon Miller, Washington, D.C.; daughter and son-in-law, Michelle and Ricky Rickoff, Plano, TX; sister and brother-in-law, Etta and Harold Epstein, and four grandsons: Adam Miller, Benjamin Miller, Zachary Rickoff and Neil Rickoff. Memorials to Kehilath Israel Synagogue, Overland Park, KS or a charity of choice. ESTHER SHUMAN Esther Shuman died at the age of 98. A graveside service was held Oct. 9 at Beth El Cemetery. Born in Philadelphia, she and her late husband, Carl, operated a dry cleaning business in Norfolk, NE. At retirement, they moved to Omaha in the 1970s. Memorials may be made to the Rose Blumkin Home. ESTHER FRIEDMAN Esther Friedman died on Oct. 6. Graveside services were held Oct. 9 at BHH/Fisher Farm Cemetery. She was preceeded in death by her husband, Albert Friedman. She is survived by son and daughter-in-law, Sidney and Barbara Friedman; daughter and son-in-law, Renie and Dr. Steven Lauter; son and daughter-in-law, Murray and Patricia Friedman; seven grandchildren: Jay Friedman,

B’NAI MITZVAH

Lori Friedman, Marc Wielansky, Jill Wielansky, Katie Wielansky, Cindy Friedman, Michele Friedman, Aaron Lauter and Robert Lauter; two great-grandchildren; sisters-in-law, Dora Kaiman and Gloria Friedman. Memorials to Jewish Family and Children’s Service, 10950 Schuetz Rd., St. Louis, MO 63416, the Rose Blumkin Home, or the American Diabetes Association. JEAN PEPPER HOREN Former Omahan Jean Pepper Horen died Oct. 9 in Columbia, SC, at the age of 88 after a long illness. Private burial will be in Little Rock. She left Omaha in 1941 when she married Lou Horen of St. Louis, MO, who preceded her in death. She later moved to Little Rock, AR, to live near her daughter Judy Van Patter. They moved to Columbia last year. Other survivors include her sister, Billie Trachtenbarg of Stillwater, OK; nieces, Linda Priesman Smith and Mike Smith of Sun City, AZ; Cheryl and Glen Gebhart of Stillwater; nephews, Steve and Marion Priesman; Charles and Pat Trachtenbarg of Mission Viejo, CA. AUDREY SOPHIR Audrey Sophir, 92, died Oct. 8, and was buried in Temple Israel Cemetery on Oct.10. She was preceded in death by her husband, Al. She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, Martin Sophir of Edwards, Colorado, Jim and Penny Sophir, Richard and Claudia Sophir of Leawood, KS; grandchildren, Mike Sophir of Denver, CO, Marcie and Mike Klein of Woodland Hills, CA, John Sophir and Susanne Spence of Littleton, CO, Jessica Sophir and Jeff Graunke, Lindsey Sophir, and Ava Sophir of Leawood, KS; four great-grandchildren; and sister and brother-inlaw, Etta and Malcolm Mehlinger of Encino, CA. Memorials to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home or Temple Israel.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

60 Years Experience With Jewish Lettering and Memorials

Page 15

1439 So. 13th 341-2452

Frank L. Ciciulla, Jr.

PEOPLE WHO READ NEWSPAPERS ARE

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Theological Endurance Contest Statewide Classified

Continued from page 14 Yehuda Weinstein, son of Mindy and Barry Weinstein, became Bar Mitzvah, on Sept. 30 at Yeshiva of Far Rockaway, NY. Yehuda is an eighth-grader at Yeshiva Ketana of Long Island, NY. His interests include karate, fishing and camping. He has received his green belt in karate. For his mitzvah project, Yehuda completed learning Mishnayos Moed (portion of Talmud). He has a brother, Aharon, 16, and a sister, Shoshanna, age 7. Grandparents are Ina and Dik Weiner, and Rhoda and the late Joe Weinstein of Valley Stream, NY. Great-grandparents are Tillie and Ed Weiner of Olam Ha’Emes, NY, and the late Dr. Milton and Ann Margolin. Zoe Bridget Tobin, daughter of Dr. Robert Tobin and Martha Link, will become Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 21, at Tifereth Israel Synagogue in Lincoln. Zoe is an eighth-grade 4.0 Honor Roll student at Park Middle School in Lincoln. She has been recognized by the American Mathematical Association as an outstanding young mathematician. She plays the French horn, participates in soccer, produces video documentaries, and works parttime as a server/hostess at a local teahouse. She has two sisters, Katie, 23, and Molly, 18. Grandparents are Dale R. Link of Ravenna, IL, and Margaret O. Tobin, of Oswego, IL.

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SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Shemini Azeret/Simchat Torah The Midrash has a fetching interpretation of the addition of the eighth day--a “closing festival” (Shemini Azeret) to the end of Sukkot. It suggests that the proliferation of sacrifices offered in the Temple on the seven days of Sukkot was meant not only for Israel, but for all nations of the world. You may recall that the confessions on Yom Kippur were not only for Jewish, but indeed for human, that is, for all people’s--sins. So, too, the sacrifices of Sukkot. All mankind is involved. But this left God somewhat unsatisfied, the Midrash goes on to say. He was perfectly satisfied that the House of Israel should pray for everyone, not only for itself. But then the Holy Days had lost their intimacy, since everyone everywhere was included. And then God thought of a way out. Just as a child at a birthday party may ask a special friend to stay a bit after everyone else has left, God asked Israel to have another day, Shemini Azeret, just for Him and Israel alone! There may be some Jews who think the Holy Day period is too long, but not the Kadosh Barukh Hu! But that didn’t end the matter. The House of Israel took up the challenge and carried it even further. You want an eighth day? Well, how about a ninth? And (outside of Israel) Jews began to give special character to the extra day they had imposed on themselves for living away from the Holy Land...and Simchat Torah was born. This is the day when the last words of Torah are read in the annual cycle, followed immediately by the first words, as the cycle begins anew. Study of Torah never ends.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 13, 2006

Local, Israeli Organizations to Benefit from Upcoming Children’s Hanukkah Concert tzedakah boxes, this concert offers them first program of its kind in Israel, Wings by JILL BELMONT great opportunity to participate in a dif- focuses on these young people’s capabiliBeth El Publicity Coordinator As Cantor Wendy Shermet and Cantor ferent type of giving. By singing in this ties and strengths, and helps them to learn Gastón Bogomolni began to plan the event, they will know that the money to live independently as they enter adultupcoming Great Plains Hanukkah raised through their efforts will be given hood. According to director Susan LandyConcert: Rededication to Our Children, to very worthwhile organizations, and Nirens, money from the Great Plains Hanukkah Concert will be used to build a the concept of tzedakah -- specifically the they will always remember that!” security room in one of the group’s idea of children helping chilapartments in Nahariya. The room, dren--was always in the foreshe said, “has become necessary front. So both cantors took after the summer, considering great pleasure in recently there are no handicap-accessible announcing that all proceeds public shelters in Nahariya.” from this unprecedented The concert will bring together event, planned for Sunday, Jewish children from throughout Nov. 19, 4 p.m., at Beth El the Midwest, to perform joyous Synagogue, will benefit holiday music. Sponsored by the Omaha’s Child Saving entire Omaha Jewish community, Institute, as well as Wings: local children from Temple Israel, Preparation for Life, a proBeth Israel and Beth El synagram helping disabled postgogues, Beyt Shalom, Friedel high-school-age young Jewish Academy, Chabad House adults, based in Israel. Emphasizing the impor- During a recent rehearsal for next month's Great Plains Hanukkah and the JCC’s Child Development tance of giving to others, Concert, Cantor Wendy Shermet of Temple Israel, and Beth El's Cantor Center will participate. Temple Israel’s Cantor Gastón Bogomolni, shared their enthusiasm and musical talents with Children from Lincoln, Iowa Shermet said, “The earlier the children at the JCC's Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center. and South Dakota will travel to Child Saving Institute provides a variety Omaha to be part of this event, Shermet children learn to give to their community, both local and international, the bet- of services to children and families in the noted, adding that youngsters from ter. Repairing the world is of course community, including therapy for victims Wyoming and North Dakota are also emphasized in all our teachings to our of neglect, physical and sexual abuse, and being sought. Ticket prices will be $10 for adults ($12 children. In this venue they are doing a recruiting foster and adoptive families. wonderful mitzvah while learning Jewish According to Cantor Bogomolni, CSI has at the door), $5 for students ($7 at the music and meeting other children at the embraced the upcoming event “with door), $2 for children ages four-12 ($4 the day of the concert), and free for chilsame time. This is a winning situation for open arms.” Wings: Preparation for Life, is the flag- dren under age four. In addition, the foleveryone.” Cantor Bogomolni agreed, saying, “It is ship project of Kivunim: New Directions lowing patron ticket packages will be very important to show that we can help for Special Needs Youth in Israel, a non- available: two tickets, $50; four tickets, other kids who are in need. We’re always profit organization dedicated to the $100; six tickets, $200. Tickets may be telling our children to give tzedakah and progress and development of young peo- purchased at Beth El, Beth Israel and while they usually donate coins to ple with disabilities in the Galilee. The Temple Israel.

OMAHA PERFORMING ARTS PRESENTS

for DOUGLAS

COUNTY ASSESSOR

Dena has 30 years experience! She has established her leadership skills in the following ways:

A Q U I L A T H E AT R E COMPANY IN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO AND JULIET

MEDIA PARTNERS: NRG MEDIA

It’s Time for a Change! !

KOWAL

SPECIAL PERFORMANCES

SUPPORTED IN PART BY MID-AMERICA ARTS ALLIANCE AND THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS

Hot air balloon enthusiast, Moran Bercovitch, lives in Lehavim, north of Beersheva. To the east, the northern reaches of the Tsin Desert meld into the southern part of the Judean Desert. This large tract of almost completely flat landscape, together with the clear desert air makes it ideal to fly hot air balloons. To the furthest east of this gently undulating landscape is the city of Arad, gateway to the Dead Sea. Bercovitch is testing to see if it might be viable to offer commercial flights. The balloon is an ideal form of transport to see and appreciate the Israeli desert, because apart from the occasional sound of the propane burners heating the air inside the canopy, its silence, slow speed and relatively low altitude makes it ideal for appreciating and understanding the desert landscape and ecology. Copyright: ISRANET

DENA

PHOTO: LOIS GREENFIELD

T H U R S D AY, O C T O B E R 1 9 , 2 0 0 6 7:30 PM SLOSBURG HALL O R P H E U M T H E AT E R

Up, Up and Away!

l Office Manager of the Assessor’s Office since 1997 POPULAR ENTERTAINERS SERIES

AN EVENING WITH MICHAEL FEINSTEIN AND LINDA EDER T H U R S D AY, O C T O B E R 1 9 , 2 0 0 6 7:30 PM KIEWIT CONCERT HALL HOLLAND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER SPONSORED BY ROBERT H. STORZ FOUNDATION MEDIA PARTNERS: NRG MEDIA, CITY WEEKLY AND METRO MAGAZINE

l Tax Control Administrator in the County Clerk’s Office

prior to 1997 l Experience in preparing and working with established budgets l Dena coordinated the conversion of data and provided training to employees in regards to the Assessor’s computerassisted mass appraisal software l Dena has working knowledge of the office and its relationship to other government offices. She knows what changes should be made to run a more efficient, taxpayer friendly office

“I WILL WORK FOR YOU” - “NO PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT” TICKETS | 13TH AND DOUGLAS STREETS W W W. T I C K E T O M A H A . O R G | 4 0 2 . 3 4 5 . 0 6 0 6

Please address questions or mail campaign contributions to: KOWAL for Douglas County Assessor, 137 S. 93rd AV, Omaha, NE 68114 www.kowalfordcassessor.com