October 27, 2006

Vol. LXXXVI No. 7 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 85 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

5 Cheshvan, 5767 October 27, 2006

Some Call for Renewed Occupation as Israeli Patience Wears Thin on Gaza by DAN BARON JERUSALEM (JTA)--Israel’s patience with the growing menace of the Gaza Strip appears to be wearing thin. Government and military officials spoke openly Sunday of the need to move fast to stop Palestinian terrorists from turning the coastal territory into a “second Lebanon” threatening southern Israel. At the heart of the concerns is the socalled Philadelphi route, Gaza’s sevenmile-long southern border, which, since Israel’s withdrawal of soldiers and settlers last year, has seen unbridled arms smuggling from neighboring Egypt. “When we left the Philadelphi route, I said that abandoning it was to open the gates of hell. We might have to find a way to retake it,” Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai said Sunday before the weekly Cabinet meeting. The call was echoed by at least two other ministers. Already, Israeli forces are carrying out pinpoint missions at the border to uncover and destroy underground tunnels which provide the main conduit for Egyptian contraband. There is more at stake than the regular rocket barrages by Palestinian terrorists, or the fate of the Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was abducted to Gaza

IDF units operating along the Philadelphi Route, which separates Egypt from the Gaza Strip, have uncovered at least five weapon smuggling tunnels used to transfer weapons, ammunition and personnel from Egypt into Gaza. The whole area is saturated with terror cells, usually embedded with civilian populations, making it particularly difficult to weed them out without causing harm to civilians. Operating near Rafah last week, the IDF killed two Palestinian terrorists, one of whom was involved in the planning and June 25 abduction of Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Cpl. Shalit is still being held by an unknown Hamas group, four months Copyright: ISRANET after his abduction on the Israel Gaza border.

on June 25 in a cross-border raid. Still recovering from the Lebanon war, Israel wants to stop Hamas and other Palestinian factions from adopting Hezbollah’s methods and turning Gaza into a second front against the Jewish state. “We should prevent Hamas from replicating what happened with Hezbollah in Lebanon. This would have to take place in the coming days or weeks,” said YomTov Samia, a retired Israeli army major general who was called up for emergency reserve duty as deputy chief of military forces around Gaza. He called for Israel to retake Philadelphi and massively expand its buffer zone in order to enable a largescale tunnel hunt. This would almost certainly entail razing Palestinian homes en masse along the frontier. “There is no other way to control Philadelphi,” Samia told Army Radio. “We must simply go in there, and stay there until peace and quiet reign for 25 straight years.” The question remains whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is in a position to order such sweeping moves. Israelis remember Olmert as the most Continued on page 2

Omaha Doctor Performs Much Needed Surgery in Ethiopia

Got Jewish Books?

by CAROL KATZMAN Editor of the Jewish Press Dr. Jerry Ferenstein says he’s not much of a traveller. But last month, he spent close to 30 hours getting to Ethiopia to teach and perform a new type of cataract surgery that he helped to develop. His flight took him from Omaha to Chicago to London and was supposed to fly directly to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. “I looked at the departure board at Heathrow,” Ferenstein said in an interview last week with the Press, “and gulped. It read: ‘Beirut-Addis.” Coming less than a month after Israel’s summer war Dr. Jerry Ferenstein shot this photo in the operating room in Addis Ababa as Ethiopia surwith Hezbollah in Lebanon, geons and staff prepared to perform eye surgery on a patient. the doctor’s reaction was understandable. Of the 200 leagues in the American Academy of Opthamology people on the flight, more than 180 got off the plane in developed a faster, easier and cheaper procedure using Beirut, where soldiers with machine guns sood guard on reusable instruments. Every year since then, Dr. the tarmac. “I have to believe that some of those pas- Ferenstein has been teaching other eye surgeons at the sengers were sympathetic to Hezbollah,” Dr. Ferenstein AAO annual meeting how to perform this newer technique. More than 200 doctors from all over the world said, “so I kept a low profile.” Once in Ethiopia, however, the Omaha native relaxed. have been trained in this method. “You can imagine the difference this makes to a developing country like He was there to do a job--perform a mitzvah really. For more than 20 years, this opthamologist has been Ethiopia,” Dr. Ferenstein added. Called “small incision cataract surgery,” the technique performing cataract surgery, a common surgery in America. Then about 12 years ago, he and some col- Continued on page 2

by CHERYL LERNER Administrative Assistant Center for Jewish Education Libraries are still one of the world’s greatest places to find great reading. Sure, you can go to those super mega-chain bookstores that are filled with piles and piles of stuff; plus the internet brings us the ease of amazon.com, and other online stores. So why, then, should you go to next month’s 33rd annual Jewish Book Month at the Kripke Jewish Federation Library? “It’s a way to celebrate our incredible library and create a stronger awareness of Jewish publications,” said Lena Bogomolni, Kripke Jewish Federation Library Chairperson. But more than supporting a Jewish cause, it’s also an opportunity to shmooze with fellow Jews, to socialize and interact with like-minded persons as well as to have the opportunity to meet some of your favorite authors. “We’ll get close to 2,000 visitors,” said Gary Katz, Library Administrator, considering last year’s record attendance. “And of course some people come more than once.” In addition, the Kripke Library will offer an onsite bookstore showcasing the newest titles published for children and adults, plus carrying a tremendous selection of Jewish games and crafts. This year’s book fair, which runs from Nov. 6 through Dec. 21, has several interesting events for adults and children: • Elisa Albert, author of How This Night is Different, kicks off Jewish Book Month on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m., in the Kripke Library. Elisa Albert’s debut story collection marks the arrival of an extraordinary new voice in fiction. In How This Night Is Different, Albert boldly illuminates the struggles of young, disaffected Jews to find spiritual fulfillContinued on page 6

Inside Opinion Page see page 16

This Week: Monthly Calendar for November, Pages 10 & 11 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’

Sen Ben Nelson Defends His Record: Page 13

Finding a Jewish Book Has Never Been Easier

Coming Next Week: Election Issue, Nov. 3 Part I: Ten Days in October: a Russian Journal: Page 15

A New Beginning for the Blumkin Home: Page 20

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 27, 2006

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Omaha Doctor in Ethiopia Continued from page 1 Ferenstein replied, “It is faster than regular would have to be working cataract surgery--but still with Ethiopian doctors, high quality--and cheaper. meeting new people, and “Sutures cost a lot of having the experience of money,” Dr. Ferenstein helping people. The added. “The surgery in patients were so grateful. Ethiopia is only $50 and Compared to what I’m the government pays for it. used to, performing surUnfortunately, patients gery in Addis was not don’t come in for surgery under the most ideal conuntil they’re literally blind.” ditions.” Dr. Ferenstein learned The doctor added that Drs. Cardona and Ferenstein Dr. Ferenstein teaches the about these surgry mismost of the disease in this sample Ethiopian foods at a newer cataract surgery techsions from Orbis, an interpoor country is preventalocal cafe. nique to Ethiopian doctors. national eye care organization. Ethiopia was one of several countries with special needs chosen specifically for cataract surgery after the country’s eye surgeons made a request. Although Ferenstein has performed this newer technique in Mexico, this was the first time he had travelled so far. Also on the trip was a colleague, Dr. Pasquale Cardona of Turin, Italy, who also taught the technique to Ehtiopian opthamologists and performed surgery alongside them. Since this mission occured right before Dr. Ferenstein and Ethiopian doctors. Rosh Hashanah, Dr. Ferenstein hoped to Dr. Cardona examines a patient. attend services at the Israel Embassy in Addis Ababa. ble. “The cataract patients, for the most part, are healthy “They were very welcoming when I called,” he said, people,” he explained. “Their condition was solved by a “but there were no services. I was invited to a reception simple, inexpensive operation. On the other hand, at the embassy, however, where I met the Israeli Ethiopians face rampant malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS.” Ambassador to Ethiopia--Yaacov Amitai--other Jewish He was fascinated to see many patients with trachoma, businessmen, Israelis and staff from the Joint an eye disease that causes the upper lid to scar the Distribution Committee.” cornea. “It’s treatable with a 10-cent dose of tetracyAmong those at the embassy were the Israeli doctor clin,” Dr. Ferenstein noted. “I’ve never seen a case of who cares for Falash Mura waiting for visas to Israel. The trachoma in my life in the United States.” Jewish Federation of Omaha has made a commitment of While in Addis, Dr. Ferenstein and his colleagues did $600,000 to the United Jewish Communities’ Operation sample the local night life, eating local foods and engagPromise’s goal of $160,000,000. The funds are to be ing in the “coffee ceremony.” He also visited the counused to assist Ethiopians waiting for transit--with medical try’s museum, which houses “Lucy,” the oldest skeleton care, social services, language and cultural skills, as well as on earth. As to future missions, cataract surgery in assist elderly Jews in the former Soviet Union who, for a Tanzania or China may be in this opthamologist’s variety of reasons, cannot make aliyah to Israel. future. (See more photos on the web: www.jewishomAsked what the highlight of his trip was, Dr. aha.org, click on Jewish Press.)

Israeli Patience Wears Thin on Gaza

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Continued from page 1 vocal champion of the Gaza withdrawal, which was masterminded by his predecessor, Ariel Sharon. But since the Lebanon war, Olmert has made no secret of having to redesign his diplomatic vision. With right-wing parties such as Yisrael Beiteinu widely expected to join the coalition government, the prime minister may have an extra incentive to crack down in Gaza. Political sources said Olmert would likely convene his Security Cabinet on this week to decide on A Palestinian arms smuggling tunnel uncovered by the Israeli army the option of a major close to the Philadelphi route on Gaza’s southern border, Oct. 20. Credit: IDF Philadelphi operation. But

few expect Olmert to initiate such an operation befor his trip next month to the United States, which will include both consultations with President Bush and an appearance at the 75th United Jewish Communities’ General Assembly in Los Angeles. Then again, the timing may be hijacked by the Palestinians. “The decision to embark on an operation will be made in Israel an hour after a Kassam kills two small children in Sderot,” Nahum Barnea wrote in Yediot Achronot, referring to an Israeli town just outside Gaza’s border.

Council Bluffs Synagogue Announces Speaker Series by SANDRA KURLAND for B’nai Israel The second Friday of the month is always a special Shabbat at B’nai Israel Synagogue in Council Bluffs as guest speakers discuss a variety of topics during the 7:30 p.m. Shabbat service. The line-up for 2006-07 is as follows: Nov. 10: Melanie Shellberg, Principal of Abraham Lincoln High School, will help us honor members of the school’s Hall of Fame, including Jan Lund, Maynard Telpner, Shirley Goldstein, Leo Meyerson, and Dr. Sol Kutler. In addition, the late Norman A. Cherniss, Eugene Telpner and Jack Edward Brown (a graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School) also will be recognized. Dec. 8: Tuffy Epstein will speak about “What’s This

Klezmer Thing All About.” Jan. 12, 2007: Staff Sgt. Jay Benton will cover his tour of duty in the war in “A Jewish Soldier in Iraq.” Feb. 9: Cheryl Lerner will explore “Music and Movement in Jewish Dance.” March 9: Steve Fischer will speak about his book, “The Fabulous Mob History of Las Vegas.” April 13: Alan Potash will discuss “Current Issues of the ADL and Israel.” May 11: Dr. David Gradwohl, professor emeritus of Iowa State University, will raise the issue of intra-group diversity in American Cemeteries in “The Grandees vs. Our Crowd.” After each Friday night service, the synagogue sponsors an Oneg Shabbat.

October 27, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

Highlights of Men’s and Women’s Campaign Events by LISA LIEB Federation Communications Director According to Annual Campaign Chairmen, Steve and Patty Nogg, the Federation Campaign got off to a tremendous start, thanks to two outstanding community events. The Women’s Campaign Event at Ironwood Country Club earlier this month featured Rebecca Rosen. Jody Malashock and Marcia Pitlor are the Women’s Campaign Co-Chairmen. The Men’s Campaign Event was held five days later at the Phillip Schrager Collection of Contemporary Art, and featured special guest Tim Schrager. Steve Levinger is the Men’s Campaign Chairman, and the Men’s Campaign Event was chaired by Tom Fellman and Howard Kooper. More than 325 people attended the two events, raising more than $428,000. Omaha’s goal for the 2007 Annual Campaign is $3.4 million.

The Annual Campaign meets the needs of Jewish people across the globe by feeding the hungry, rescuing the oppressed and fighting anti-Semitism. Locally, contributions to the Annual Campaign fund programs and services delivered through the Jewish Federation’s five Centers of Excellence: the Center for Jewish Education, the Jewish Community Center, Jewish Family Service, Jewish Senior Services and the Anti-Defamation League/Community Relations Committee. Campaign dollars also help support the Jewish Press, synagogues, Friedel Jewish Academy, Va’ad HaKashrut, Bar/Bat Mitzvah programs, teen trips to Israel, BBYO and more. To donate to the 2007 Annual call 334.6436, visit Campaign, www.jewishomaha.org, or send your donation to the Jewish Federation of Omaha, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154.

Pictures from top row left: guest speaker Tim Schrager, left, Men’s Event Co-chairman Tom Fellman, and John Vann; father and son, Steve and David Pitlor; second row: Jody Malashock, Women’s Campaign Co-chairman, left, and her sister, Edye Krasne; Todd Simon, left, talks about current issues with Joe Meyers and Dan Marburg; third row: Deenie Meyerson, center, chats with Barb Platt, left, and Sharon Kooper; Yaffa Schuller, left, Patty

Nogg, Campaign Co-chairman, and Bev Fellman enjoyed Rebecca Rosen’s presentation; Sally Zipursky, left, Karen Williams-Cohen and Lena Bogomolni attend the Women’s event; while Steve Nogg, Campaign Co-chairman, left, Mike Abramson and Kevee Kirshenbaum; and Tom Vann, left, Bruce Goldberg, Men’s Campaign Chairman Steve Levinger, and Jim Spooner share time together at the Men’s event.

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Page 4

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 27, 2006

Rosh Hodesh: It’s A Girl Thing Longtime Volunteer Recognized Focuses on Becoming Adult Jewish Women by Nebraska Foundation for Visually by BROOKE SHRAGO ing women to explore their maturity into Facilitator adult Jewish women,” Rubin said. “It Impaired Children For 10 girls in the Omaha Jewish com- was a special and moving experience for munity, the start of October was more all who attended. Girls were visibly than the first day of the month. It was touched by the candlelighting ceremony. more than the day before Yom Kippur. It Many closed their eyes as silent prayers was more than just any other Sunday. The were said for the coming month.” day brought sixth and seventh grade girls The next meeting for “Rosh Hodesh: together for “Rosh Hodesh: It’s A Girl It’s a Girl Thing” sixth and seventh grade Thing”. group will be Sunday, Nov. 5, 12:30As the trickle of girls entered the Kripke Jewish Federation Library, it was a quiet group of kids, from different schools and different synagogues. For many, this meeting was the first time as a cohesive group. After playing a “getting to know you” game and grabbing some snacks, the group sat down to talk, focusing on making new friends and feeling great about the role of a At the first “It’s a Girl Thing” meeting, each girl created a rituJewish woman. The “It’s A Girl Thing” al candle which will be used at all future meetings. These cancurriculum revolves dle holders reflect the varied personalities of the girls. around the monthly new moon and activ- 1:30 p.m. in the Kripke Library. The ities including holidays, learning about next eighth and ninth grade meeting is “Fabulous Females”, strong women from Tuesday, Nov. 14, 5-6 p.m., also in the Jewish history, and special projects to Library. There is still time to register. For more information, please e-mail bring meaning to the coming Jewish month. At the first meeting, each girl itsagirlthing@jewishomaha.org or call created her own ritual votive candlehold- 334.6461. “Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl er, so that candles can be lit at the begin- Thing” is presented by the Center for Jewish Education and is funded by a ning of all future meetings. Judy Rubin, the group advisor for “It’s grant from the Herbert H. Goldsten a Girl Thing,” attended the first meeting. Trust. The program is supported by Beth “Brooke set the tone for what promises El, Beth Israel, Beyt Shalom, Temple to be a fabulous opportunity for emerg- Israel and Friedel Jewish Academy.

by NORMA JOHNSON change jurisdiction of children with visuTreasurer for Nebraska Foundation al impairments from under the Board of for Visually Impaired Children (NFVIC) Control to the Board of Education. With Nebraska Foundation for Visually a growing number of children to serve Impaired Children honored Bernice and increased costs of technology, Wolfson at their fundraising event earlier Wolfson has encouraged the Board to this month. A founder of the keep its traditions rooted and branch out Foundation, she was recognized for her its efforts to heighten community awarecompassion, dedication and time devoted ness of its goals and to raise funds to to children who are blind, their families serve the children and families. She also and educators for more than 50 years. has been instrumental in securing the Mayor Fahey declared Oct. 12 “Bernice Wolfson Day” and a representative from his office presented a plaque. The event, which Wolfson had been active in planning, drew nearly 300 doctors, community and business leaders to Joslyn for a fundraising dinner and silent auction. Tom Sullivan, blind author, actor, athlete, musician and motivator, shared “Seeing Lessons,” a motivational presentation based on his most recent book. NFVIC will share a portion of the funds Alan Wolfson, seated, and sons, Doug, standing left, Bob raised during the event to assist and Ron surprised Bernice Wolfson, the evening’s honoree. the Univ ersity of Nebraska Medical Center Foundation’s first Executive Director. establish the Low Vision House. The family managed to keep it a surRabbi Myer S. Kripke, who assisted prise that Bernice was being honored and Wolfson in creating the first pre-school that sons Bob Wolfson of New York and for blind children at Beth El, was present Dr. Ron Wolfson of Los Angeles were flyto help honor her, along with Dr. John ing in to join their brother Doug Wolfson Filkens, an original board member. The and their father, Alan Wolfson. Grandson first blind pre-school, named the Omaha Alex Wolfson of New York also attended Sight Center at J.P. Lords’ facility, was and granddaughter Rebecca Wolfson started by this group. sang for her bubbe during the dinner. Wolfson and the Foundation had a The Wolfsons also have three daughtersdirect impact in influencing legislators to in-law and seven grandchildren.

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October 27, 2006

Temple Religious School Teachers Reflect on Partnership Trip to Israel to love us.” Alpert hopes “our children will learn to love by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator them back.” Touring the area, “We saw ancient ruins and the Deb Alpert, a second grade teacher at Temple Israel’s Religious School, wouldn’t pass up a chance to go to Warsaw Ghetto Fighters Museum in Akko and went up Israel. So when Temple’s Director of Education Elyce to Nahariyah,” added Alpert. When the hostilities broke Azriel asked Alpert if she’d like to go visit the Gordon out with Hezbollah after the Nebraskans left Israel, the School in Akko, Temple’s Partnership 2000 sister school teachers knew the places they had visited had been in the Western Galilee, Alpert said, “I didn’t have to attacked. “It’s so awful when you can put faces--children’s faces-- to think about it!” places,” these She had been to Alpert lamented. Israel once previousFollowing their ly 11 years ago. But week in the the two-week trip north, Weinstine last June was “an and Alpert, along excellent opportuniwith Rachel ty to do things I didFlatowicz who n’t do the first time.” was also on a Melany Weinstine, Partnership 2000 who teaches kindertrip, traveled to garten at Temple, Jerusalem. They accompanied Alpert on the trip. It was Deb Alpert (tallest person in the back row) and Melany Weinstine (waving from toured the city Weinstine’s first trip the front row) visited students at Temple Israel's Partnership with Israel sister and shopped on Ben Yehuda to Israel. “Being in school in Akko, Israel, last summer. partnership with Israeli schools, my participation was Street, nicknamed “the Fifth Avenue of Jerusalem,” said from an education standpoint. Elyce asked if I would like Alpert. She described how “well lit, beautiful, and to represent Temple’s Religious School and work with a sparkling clean” the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem is. “It’s school in Akko,” Weinstine explained. “As an educator, like walking into brightness and sunshine.” Alpert had been to Yad Vashem when she went to I was extremely interested in seeing the schools, the Israel the first time. The museum has since been remodschool system, and working with children,” she said. Alpert and Weinstine spent the first week of their trip eled and is “very different from the first time I was in Akko working with the Gordon School staff and tour- there,” she said. “It’s very, very moving. You have to ing the area. “We were hosted by the wonderful people walk through with a pocketful of tissues.” Another “very moving experience” was seeing the who work for the Partnership,” said Weinstine, “and they helped us to see as much of the region as humanly underground completed excavation of the Western Wall. Upon their return to the United States, the teachers possible in such a short amount of time.” Alpert and Weinstine marveled at how hard the chil- learned that the Gordon School was not structurally dren at the Gordon School were working. “They’re damaged during the warfare. “The kids all made it to learning English,” noted Alpert. ‘They tried to make shelters in time,” reported Alpert. “I so enjoyed being part of their day,” added conversation with us spontaneously. They loved to come up to us and say ‘good morning!’ They know who Weinstine, “and I pray for their safety, their families, and Warren Buffet is. They know Americans, and they seem for shalom.”

Beth El Scholar-in-Residence To Explore Jewish Music by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator The entire community is invited to Beth El as Dr. Joshua Jacobson, founder and director of the Zamir Chorale of Boston, will be welcomed as the synagogue’s Scholar-inResidence Friday and Saturday, Oct. 27-28. Dr. Jacobson’s presentations will include “How Jewish is Jewish Music?” Joshua Jacobson during Friday evening Shabbat dinner, “Music, Magic and the Spirit,” during Saturday morning services, and “Jews and Music,”

planned after services during Kiddush luncheon. Cost of the Friday night 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 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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Please send all articles, photos and ads to the Press by Thursdays, 9 a.m., for all regular issues. The deadline for the Nov. 24 issue is Wednesday, Nov. 15, 9 a.m., due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Questions? Call 334.6448.

nity. MasterSingers, directed by Jim Elsberry, is an ensemble of gifted singers from the Omaha area, who are well known for their many annual performances from September through May. Their participation in the Symposium was arranged by Donald Gerber, who noted: “We are especially happy to be able to bring together all of this local talent and have them appear with an individual of Joshua Jacobson’s talent and reputation. It is a unique opportunity.” Following the keynote presentation there will be a dessert reception, with more music. All Symposium events are free and open to the public; a full schedule appears as an insert in this issue.

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Yachad Celebrates Simchat Torah by DUANE J. PIEPER Simchat Torah celebrates the completion of the yearly Torah reading cycle. The operative word is celebrate and that is what Yachad did. After the final portion was read and special prayers were said, Yachad members joined the Beth El community in the circle dances joyfully embracing the Torah scrolls, keeping time to the playful notes of the clarinet. The children were also an integral part of the festivi-

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DEADLINE NOTICE

Klutznick-Harris Symposium Opens This Sunday by DR. LEONARD GREENSPOON Holder of the Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization at Creighton University To paraphrase the Biblical Book of Psalms: “Let Us Sing and Make Music.” That will be possible this Sunday, Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m., as part of the keynote presentation for this year’s Klutznick-Harris Symposium. Keynote presenter Joshua Jacobson, a renowned composer and conductor of Jewish music, will be joined by a chorale of more than 40 voices in a special performance in the Jewish Community Center Theatre. The chorale is made up of The MasterSingers, along with local Cantors and members of the Jewish commu-

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

ties, dancing with their small Torah scrolls and colorful flags. The smiling faces of the Yachad members reflected the essence of the event. This joyful service was followed by an ice cream social. Yachad’s next event will be a change of venue as they travel to Fontenelle Forest to view the “Big Bug” sculptural display by artist Dave Rogers. This will be one last opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors as nature transitions from autumn.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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October 27, 2006

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Literary Supplement Publishes 11.10.06 Ad deadline 10.30.06 Camera ready deadline 11.06.06 Call Allan Handleman at 402/334-6451 or email: ahandleman@jewishomaha.org Call Terri Greenwood at 402/334-6559 or email: terrigreenwood@jewishomaha.org

By Popular Acclaim, Author Foer Gets Top Title in New Book Awards Foundation since 1998, have been “criticized as too by SUE FISHKOFF SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -- The people have spoken, heavy and highbrow,” says newly appointed Jewish Family and Life CEO Amir Cohen. “We’ve brought it and they spake Foer. Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer’s down a notch. It’s still prestigious, but it speaks to a tragi-comic tale of a young American Jew’s journey larger piece of the Jewish book-reading public.” Jewish Family and Life founder Yossi Abramowitz, through Ukraine in search of his grandfather’s roots, is the first winner of JBooks.com’s people’s choice award chair of the awards steering committee, says the new for the decade’s best work of Jewish fiction. The award, Koret awards are actively trying to influence Jewish and a $5,000 check, will be presented Nov. 15 at the book-buying. “Our goal is not only to honor excellence, Koret International Jewish Book Awards ceremony in but to help book clubs in their buying decisions and influence Jewish culture,” San Francisco. says Abramowitz, speaking That doesn’t mean Foer’s from his new home in Israel. novel really is the decade’s Noting that most Jewish best book, not by the usual book clubs are “still overstandards. It just means that whelmingly women, highly the more than 1,500 read- by SUE FISHKOFF SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) Winners of the 2006 educated, meeting informalers who cast their votes in the six-week, online contest Koret International Book Awards Jewish life and liv- ly,” he says the changes were liked it better than the other ing: Dignity Beyond Death, Rochel Berman. Jewish “very much made with these five contenders, a list judges thought: Betraying Spinoza, Rebecca Goldstein. book clubs and these whittled down from 115 Fiction: Her Body Knows, David Grossman. women in mind.” The readers’ suggestions. BabagaNewz children’s literature: Before You Were changes were also made with The credence one gives to Born, Howard Schwartz, illustrated by Kristina younger readers in mind. Along with the five Koret such an award depends on Swarner. whether one prefers a laurel JBooks.Com people’s choice award for the awards, three other groups wreath bestowed by the decade’s best work of Jewish fiction: Everything is are honoring emerging crowd or the critics. Online Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer. Reform Judaism Jewish writers during the voting tends to draw a prize for Jewish fiction: Kafka in Bronteland, Tamar same ceremony. The Koret ceremony has younger crowd, and is sub- Yellin. National Foundation for Jewish Culture’s ject to ballot box-stuffing, Samuel Goldberg and Sons Foundation Prize for been moved from April to organizers admit, although emerging writer of Jewish fiction: The Discontinuity of November, to coincide with they say they weeded out Small Things, Kevin Haworth. Anne and Richard the year’s biggest book-buysuspicious patterns. Cowan writer’s award of the Jewish community ing season. Categories have been tweaked to attract Certainly the contest, endowment fund: Julie Orringer. entries that readers and which ran Sept. 6 to Oct. 16, got lots of folks involved in choosing their favorite book groups are more likely to purchase. “Fiction,” the Jewish book, and that’s what the organizers wanted. mainstay of most book clubs, remains untouched, but “The idea is to give readers access to the awards,” to gone are the categories of “history” and “biography, reward “what people are reading and enjoying and talk- autobiography and literary studies,” which, say Koret organizers, tended to reward books too scholarly or esoing about,” says project manager Jane Hadley. The People’s Choice award is part of current efforts to teric to appeal to lay readers. They were replaced by make Jewish books more accessible--or, rather, to “Jewish life and living,” a more wide-ranging category reward those books that are more accessible, a conscious that drew 127 entries this year, more than any other. The winners, and and many of the finalists were not goal of the newly restyled Koret awards. The Koret awards are being run this year for the first time by Jewish always the obvious choices. In the “Jewish life and livFamily and Life in cooperation with the National ing” category, Rochel Berman’s Dignity Beyond Death, a Foundation for Jewish Culture. gentle, somewhat obscure book about Jewish burial socThe Koret awards, sponsored by the Koret Family Continued on page 7

Winners of the 2006 Koret International Book Awards

Got Jewish Books? Continued from page 1 ment. With wit and wisdom, she confronts themes -self-deprecation, stressful family relationships, sex, and mortality that have been hallmarks of her literary predecessors. But Albert brings a decidedly fresh, 21st century attitude to the table. (See full article on page 7.) • Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, author of Kabbala: A Love Story, will speak about his newest book on Monday, Nov. 20, 7 p.m., in the JCC Theater. “Sometime, somewhere, someone is searching for answers…in a 13th-century castle…on a train to a concentration camp…in a New York City apartment.” Hidden within the binding of an ancient text that has been passed down through the ages lies the answer to one of the heart’s eternal questions. When the text falls into the hands of Rabbi Kalman Stern, he has no idea that his lonely life of intellectual pursuits is about to change once he opens the book. Soon afterward, he meets astronomer Isabel Benveniste, a woman of science who stirs his soul as no woman has for many years. But Kalman has much to learn before he can unlock his heart and let true love into his life. The key lies in the mysterious document he finds inside the Zohar, the master text of the Kabbala. •Chanu-Kids is Sunday, Dec. 3, 3:30-5:30p.m. in the Kripke Library. It’s Hanukkah! Pre-schoolers through third graders will be entertained by renowned storyteller Joel Ben Izzy, face-painting, and a magician. Parents and grandparents (aunts and uncles, too) will have the opportunity to see the incredible selection of children’s books that will be for sale. •Dr. Ronald Wolfson introduces his newest book, God’s To Do List, to the community on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m., in the Kripke Library. Native Omahan Dr. Wolfson has created a practical guidebook to repairing the world--often in simple everyday ways--by detailing the biblical accounts of what God does, not what God says: God creates, blesses, rests,

calls, comforts, cares, repairs, wrestles, gives and forgives. For each of God’s actions, this provocative resource suggests what might be on God’s To-Do List for you, the many ways you can make small and great differences in the lives of others and find the ultimate source of meaning for your own. An inspiring gift to uplift your spirit and share with others, whatever your faith, you can do God’s To-Do List. • Perri and Sheila Klass relate the joys and struggles of Every Mother is a Daughter on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 11:30 a.m., at the annual Book Fair Luncheon in the JCC Auditorium. Mothers and daughters go through so much--yet when was the last time a mother and daughter sat down together to write a book about it all? Perri Klass and her mother, Sheila Solomon Klass, both gifted professional writers, prove to be ideal collaborators as they examine their decades of motherhood, daughterhood, and the wonderful, if sometimes fraught, ways their lives have overlapped. This is a treasure for any generation. Cost is $15; reservations are required and can be made by calling 334-6462. •The Book Discussion Group will meet on Thursday, Dec. 21, 1 p.m., in the Kripke Library. The Kripke Library Book Discussion Group will be discussing the novel The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman. Lipman offers up sparkling scenes of serious social mischief, explorations of identity, delicious food (though a deadly mushroom lasagna momentarily clouds the picture), and a wedding party or two--not to mention phrases such as shnook, shmendrick, and shmegege--which make The Inn at Lake Devine the perfect, provocative comedy. For more information on Jewish Book Month, contact Gary Katz at 334.6462 or gkatz@jewishomaha.org. Jewish Book Month is sponsored by the Special Donor Advised Fund of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation.

October 27, 2006

Up and Coming Writer Kicks-Off 33rd Annual Jewish Book Month by CHERYL LERNER Administrative Assistant Center for Jewish Education “This spirited collection heralds the arrival of an audacious new voice on the Jewish literary scene.”...The Forward Elisa Albert’s debut story collection, How This Night Is Different, marks the arrival of an Elisa Albert extraordinar y new voice in fiction. Albert boldly illuminates the struggles of young, disaffected Jews to find spiritual fulfillment. Albert will lecture on her new book, How This Night is Different, on Wednesday, Dec.

8, 7p.m. in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library. “I’m very excited to have an author of Elisa’s caliber start our Jewish Book Month,” says Gary Kripke Library Katz, Administrator. With wit and wisdom, she confronts themes; self-deprecation, stressful family relationships, sex, and mortality that have been hallmarks of her literary predecessors. But Albert brings a decidedly fresh, youthful, 21st century attitude to the table. Holidays, gatherings, and rites of passage provide the backdrop for these ten provocative stories. The characters who populate How This Night Is Different are ambivalent, jaded, and in serious want of connection. As they go

through the motions of familial duty and religious observance, they find themselves continually longing for more. “Elisa has such a marvelous way of creating memorable characters and unique stories. I can’t wait for her talk about her last story--an autobiographical fan letter to Philip Roth,” says Katz. Copies will be available for signing. For more information on Jewish Book Month, contact Gary Katz at 334.6462. Jewish Book Month is generously sponsored by the Special Donor Advised Fund of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. The Kripke Jewish Federation Library is part of The Center for Jewish Education.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

IN THE NEWS College-bound students can visit with representatives from nearly 200 state, regional and national colleges and universities during the Omaha Area College Fair this Sunday, Oct. 29, 12:30-4 p.m. at the University of Nebraska-Omaha Sapp Fieldhouse. The College Fair will also feature financial aid presentations conducted by EducationQuest Foundation staff. Before you attend, determine which colleges you want to visit (a list is available in the College Fair article at www.educationquest.org. If you have questions about the Omaha Area College Fair, contact Joan Jurek from EducationQuest at 888.357.6300. EducationQuest Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization with a mission to improve access to higher education in Nebraska. For more information, call 800.303.3745 or visit www.educationquest.org.

Foer Gets Top Title in Book Awards Continued from page 6 ieties, beat out Deborah Lipstadt’s better-known “History on Trial,” the chronicle of her well-publicized legal battle against Holocaust denier David Irving. And while Israeli author David Grossman is well known to American Jewish readers, both for his prize-winning books and his leftist politics, “Her Body Knows,” which took this year’s fiction award, is “sexy, very racy,” says Abramowitz, “an interesting choice.” Is this wrong? That depends on how one understands the role of book awards. Are they meant to reward the most rarefied tastes, or those of most people?

Should they honor literary or academic excellence, or books that readers will want to devour? The market for Jewish books is hot, and book clubs are fast proliferating. If awards want to be relevant, organizers say, they need to be part of the popular dialogue, even as they encourage excellence. The National Jewish Book Awards, administered by the Jewish Book Council, have been edging in that direction for years. Council director Carolyn Hessel, the prime mover behind the fast-multiplying Jewish book fairs that take place every fall during Jewish Book Month, is an unabashed fan of pro-

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moting books that people will want to read. There are 82 Jewish book fairs scheduled this year from late October through February, she says, and the council is sending 150 authors on speaking tours. The combination, she asserts, sells “a hell of a lot of books.” Neither Hessel nor the folks involved with the Koret awards will say their awards compete with each other. “The more the merrier,” Cohen of Jewish Family insists. Both groups actively promote Jewish Book Month, which runs from mid-November through midDecember, and they have flipped their

ceremonies to avoid conflict. The National Jewish Book Awards, which used to be held in December, are scheduled for March 6 in New York. Publishers like that just fine. Larry Yudelson, founder of the year-old Ben Yehuda Press, which publishes Judaica, says that more book awards mean that more books will be brought to the public’s attention. An award “gets people to notice a book, to read beyond the cover.” And if the academic world feels slighted with the new emphasis on accessibility, there’s an easy solution. “Come up with a third award,” he suggests.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 27, 2006

Organizers of Children’s Hanukkah Concert Excited About Event, Looking for Volunteers by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator In anticipation of next month’s Great Plains Hanukkah Concert: Rededication to Our Children, the event’s committee members, Dorothy Spizman, Beth Friedman, Julie Stein and Susie Norton, have been committed to organizing, delegating, dotting ‘I’s’ and crossing ‘T’s – all to assure that this historic concert will be a smashing success. The concert, the first of its kind in this area, will be held on Sunday, Nov. 19, 4 p.m., and will bring together Jewish children from throughout the Midwest to perform joyous holiday music. Sponsored by the entire Omaha Jewish community, local children from Temple Israel, Beth Israel and Beth El synagogues, Beyt Shalom, Friedel Jewish Academy, Chabad House and the JCC’s Child Development Center will participate. Children from Lincoln, Iowa and South Dakota also plan to travel to Omaha to be part of this event, and youngsters from Wyoming and North Dakota are also being sought. Agreeing to work on this event was a no-brainer for Spizman, who cited Temple Israel Cantor Wendy Shermet's enthusiasm as the catalyst behind her decision to join the effort. Calling the cantor’s excitement “very contagious,” she expressed delight at the opportunity to join the planning committee. Shermet, along with Beth El’s Cantor Gastón Bogomolni, conceived of this musical event, and have worked for the past year to make it a reality. “Anytime our community comes together as one, it is an exciting time,” Spizman continued. “Cantors Bogomolni and Shermet had this wonderful vision for this concert, which included not only our own community but many small Jewish communities around us, and they have worked very hard to bring this to fruition. What a beautiful way to celebrate Thanksgiving and Hanukkah!” Friedman echoed Spizman’s enthusiasm, adding, “I love music and children, and this was a great opportunity to bring children together from around the region

in the joy of music, plus raise much needed funds for our local Child Saving Institute and Israel’s Wings: Preparation for Life program.” (CSI provides a variety of services to children and families in the community, including therapy for victims of neglect, physical and sexual abuse, and recruiting foster and adoptive families; Wings, the flagship project of Kivunim: New Directions for Special Needs Youth in Israel, a non-profit organization dedicated to the progress and development of young people with disabilities in the Galilee.) As the concert approaches, the committee is sending out a call for volunteers in several areas, according to Spizman: bakers are needed to prepare sweets for the dessert reception following the concert--baking will take place in the Beth El kitchen during the mornings on Sunday, Nov. 5, Monday, Nov. 6 and Monday, Nov. 13; local families interested in providing home hospitality to out-of-towners are also needed, as well as greeters and volunteers to work the ticket table at the concert. Anyone interested in helping out are encouraged to contact Spizman at 399.9490, or dorothy26 @cox.net. Friedman encouraged the community to purchase their tickets now; they are available at Temple Israel, Beth El, Beth Israel and the Child Saving Institute, and will also be sold the day of the concert. Ticket prices will be $10 for adults ($12 at the door), $5 for students ($7 at the door), $2 for children ages 4-12 ($4 the day of the concert), and free for children under age 4. Families with children participating in the concert will also be given two free children’s tickets. In addition, the following patron ticket packages will be available: two tickets, $50; four tickets, $100; eight tickets, $200. She also noted that free babysitting will be available upon request; contact Beth El at 492.8550, for reservations. This joyous performance will be memorable for performers and audience members alike: be sure to mark Nov. 19 on your calendar and plan to share this unique musical experience with family and friends.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Renowned singer, composer, director, and performance artist Rinde Eckert returns to the Lied Center on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 9-10, 7:30 p.m., with his play Horizon in the Johnny Carson Theater. Horizon had its world premiere at the Lied Center in November 2005. Horizon is the story of Reinhart Poole, a theologian facing a crisis of faith. His teaching methods and provocative Biblical questions have landed him in trouble with the seminary, leading him to question his service. Horizon takes the audience through the night Reinhart prepares his final lecture. As he recalls past conversations, ponders the present, and imagines himself teaching, Reinhart’s story examines philosophical and spiritual issues such as sin and redemption and questioning versus blind faith. Tickets for this performance are $30. University of Nebraska-Lincoln students with a valid I.D., as well as youth age 18 and younger, may purchase tickets for half price. Call the Lied ticket office at 402.472.4747 or 800.432.3231 for ticket availability. Regular ticket office hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays. The Lied Center also presents an evening with renowned screenwriter/ director/film historian Peter Bogdanovich on Friday, Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m. Originally an actor in the 1950s (studying with the famed Stella Adler), Peter Bogdanovich eventually gravitated to writing, working both as a screenwriter

COTTON/DEBRUIN Sarah Cotton and Steve DeBruin Entine, the late O.C. Cotton and Rickey announce their engagement. Cotton. The bride-to-be graduated from the Her fiancé graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.A. in University of Kansas with a B.S. in busihuman biology. She is curness and accounting and rently pursuing a teaching employed in management degree with an emphasis in with U.S. Bank in special education. She is Lawrence, KS. employed by Sasone, a secHe is the son of Hanna tor of the Jewish and Larry DeBruin, and Federation of Greater the grandson of the late Kansas City. Tauba and Joe Szmerlak, She is the daughter of and Belle and Gerald Monte and Sonia Cotton DeBruin of Buffalo, NY. of Overland Park, KS, and the grandAn Aug. 5, 2007 wedding is planned at daughter of the late Ike and Rebecca Temple B’nai Jehudah in Overland Park.

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The Omaha Symphony invites children of all ages to a fun-filled afternoon of tricks and treats when they present Philhar-Monsters as part of its Family Series at Holland Performing Arts Center on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2 p.m. Under the direction of Resident Conductor Ernest Richardson, the orchestra will perform frightfully delightful music including John Williams’ “Duel of the Fates” from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Lalo Schifrin’s Mission: Impossible Theme. Magician Keith West will perform along with the orchestra--adding a dimension of hocus-pocus to the afternoon concert. Attendees are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes and arrive early for pre-concert lobby activities. Tickets for children are $7 and adults, $12, and are available at 342.3560, 345.0606 or www.omahasymphony. org.

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and also producing articles for such magazines as Esquire. Screenwriting then led to Bogdanovich directing several of his own scripts, including the criticallyacclaimed film The Last Picture Show. His other directorial efforts include, among others, What’s Up Doc, Mask, and Paper Moon. Tickets for this lecture are $45. UNL students with a valid I.D., as well as youth age 18 and younger, may purchase tickets for half price. Call the Lied ticket office at 402.472.4747 or 800.432.3231 for ticket availability.

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October 27, 2006

Dancing with the Torah at FJA

Temple Families Celebrate Sukkot and Simchat Torah by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 9

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Left: Isabella Wright, five, her dad, Jeremy Wright, and brother, Mendel, joined other Temple Israel families for a potluck dinner and some Sukkot arts and crafts prior to worship services on Oct. 6. Right: Shawn and Sarah Schroeder and their 10-month-old daughter Sadie posed under the sukkah, decorated by Gretchen Radler and Stacy Simon.

by EADIE TSABARI Jewish Studies Teacher at FJA Friedel Jewish Academy students celebrated an early Simchat Torah with family and friends. Photos from top: Naomi Teetzel, daughter of Erik and Sarah Teetzel, holds the Torah; grandfather Dick Fellman, celebrates with his daughter (and day school graduate as well) Susan Fellman, her daughter, Gabrielle Witkowski and baby brother, Julian; Ruthie Potash, center, visits her grandson, Eitan Potash, son of Julie Potash.

Chabad Hosts Blood Drive by JOAN K. MARCUS The American Red Cross will brings its bloodmobile to Chabad House this Sunday, Oct. 29, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Regular blood donors and those who have never donated are welcome. The number of people donating blood is down at this time of year, according to a spokesman for the Red Cross, who added that “there is normally a 17-day supply of O-negative; the Red Cross only has a 16-hour supply on had right now.” Donors need a blood donor card or driver’s license to check in and must be at least 17-years-old and weigh more than 110 pounds. Appointments are still available by calling Chabad at 330.1800 or me at at: 333.5995 or via e-mail at: hmarcom@juno.com.

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On the following Shabbat, 19 children posed for their official consecration picture before services. Surrounding the children, from lower left to right, are kindergarten teachers Ann Noodell and Melany Weinstine; Yaniv Azriel, madrich (teaching assistant); Cantor Wendy Shermet, Rabbi Eric Linder, Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, and Elyce Azriel, director of education. The children and their parents are: Jacob, Spencer, and Zachary Arnold, Brenda and Barton Arnold; Charles Cohen, Marla and Bob Cohen; Alec Folsom, Jill and Jim Folsom; Gabriel, Lilly, and Simon Gilinsky, Patty and Kevin Gilinsky; Caleb Horner, Angela and Paul Horner; Leslie “Howie” Kroll, Angie and David Kroll; Elijah Marburg, Deb and Dan Marburg; Aaron and Leo Norton, Susie and Mike Norton; Robert Osborne, Ann and Don Osborne; Nina Pfrenger, Bonnie and Jochen Pfrenger; Jack Rubin, Erica and Barry Rubin; Isabella Seina, Tanya and Craig Seina; Leah Simpson, Debbie Meiches-Simpson and Jim Simpson; Lana Singer, Heidi and Mark Singer; Brooke Wilczewski, Allyson and Chris Wilczewski; Destiny Wiseman, Sarah Wiseman; and Sydney Yudelson, Stephanie and David Yudelson.

‘Learning as a Sisterhood’ Goal of New Beth El Women’s Book Club by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator There’s nothing like a good book, and good reads galore will take center stage during Beth El’s new women’s book club, beginning Tuesday, Nov. 7, 7 p.m. Facilitated by longtime educator Susan Paley, the club will meet weekly at the synagogue; discussions will revolve around contemporary Jewish women authors, their works, ideas and issues. Each week’s discussion will be self-contained, Paley noted, so participants who are unable to attend every week needn’t worry about falling behind. Paley’s passion for teaching is both genuine and infectious. “I have several parts to my whole Jewish self, but all are expressed through the medium of my Jewishness as a woman,” she said. “I have been privileged for many years to be involved in adult Jewish learning experiences with women, for women and about Jewish women. Exploring the universal, timeless values and emotions we share as Jewish women is deeply spiritual, and for me, learning together as a sisterhood is incredibly affirming and empowering. We give strength and support, caring, kindness and love to each other in ways to which only women can relate.” Calling this new group a “learning book club” which will focus on forging deep Jewish connections rather than just sharing opinions, Paley said she’s hoping that “what we can accomplish together is to discover, through the lens of Jewish tradition, the wisdom of our foremothers, both ancient and modern, and take

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strength from them.” She also sees the club as a haven for participants, a retreat from daily routines. “We’re all too busy, too stressed, too networked; we’re overwhelmed and under nurtured. Between staring into a faceless computer screen and making cell phone calls while driving, drinking coffee and eating lunch, it’s so easy to forget that we are human, much less women and Jewish. We are searching for inner peace but finding that we’re too strung out to look for it. “As Jewish women, the place for us to take strength, find courage, solace and spirituality is in our own backyard. The lives of our female forebearers offer us a blueprint for living in any age, and discovering our strengths together is a great comfort, definitely peaceful, and really nurturing.” While choices are fluid, books being considered at this time include Reading Women of the Bible, Sarah Laughed: Modern Lessons from the Wisdom and Stories of Biblical Women; Jewish Women and Their Salons: The Power of Conversation; Fraulein Rabbiner Jonas, the First Woman Rabbi; and The House of Memory: Stories by Jewish Women Writers of Latin America. Successive books will be chosen based on the interests of the group, Paley noted. All women in the Jewish community are welcome and may join the club at any time. For more information, contact Paley at 330.6583 or susanpaley@cox.net; to register, contact Beth El Program Director Margie Gutnik, 492.8550 or programming@bethelomaha.org.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 27, 2006

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All events held at the Jewish Community Center unless otherwise noted. This calendar does not include all community events. For a complete listing, visit the Federation’s website: www.jewishomaha.org (click on calendar). To keep calendar accurate, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of the below events.

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28 Rabbi David Forman, 9 a.m. at Temple Israel Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel Dr. Joshua Jacobson, 9:30 a.m. at Beth El Out of Sight Saturday Night, 6:30 p.m. at JCC WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1 ADL Educator Training on Religious Diversity, 7:30 a.m. Abba, Eema and ME, 9:30 a.m. at Beth El What’s Jewish on the Web?, 7 p.m. at Temple Israel THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2 ADL Prejudice Elimination Workshop, 7:30 a.m. at Westside Community Conference Center ADL Educator Training on Religious Diversity, 9 a.m. Visions tour of Boys and Girls Town, 9:15 a.m. Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Temple Israel Torah on Wheels, noon at Spirit World Insights into the Siddur, noon at Beth El Yiddush Group, 1 p.m. USY/Kadima Letter Writing/Lounge Night, 6 p.m. at Beth El The Art of Jewish Paper Cutting, 7 p.m. at Beth El LOVE Meeting, 7 p.m. Advanced Parshah Study, 9 p.m. with Rabbi Gross

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3 Tot Shabbat Service and Dinner, 6 p.m. at Temple Israel SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4 Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel Shabbat Tunes and Tales, 11:15 a.m. at Beth El AZA #1 Sweetheart Dance, 7:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5 BESTT 6th Grade Family Program, 10 a.m. at Beth El Adult Education, 10 a.m.-noon at Beth El Men’s Club “Hearing Men’s Voices,” 10 at Beth El 4B’s with Rabbi Azriel, 10:30 a.m. at Temple Israel Yachad Music Workshop, 11a.m. Nashir Community Jewish Choir, 11 a.m. at Beth El BBYO New Members Convention Meeting, noon Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing, 12:30 p.m. at Kripke Library Kohll’s Flu Vaccination Clinic, 1 p.m. Training Session, 2:30 p.m. at Beth Israel for Current Chevra Kadisha Members by Rabbi Elchonon Zohn Community Lecture, 7:30 at Beth Israel with Rabbi Elchonon Zohn MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6 JSS Senior Luncheon, noon Jewish Ethical Wills Class, 11 a.m. at Kripke Library Kohll’s Flu Vaccination Clinic, 3 p.m. at JCC JFO Annual Campaign Calls & Dinner, 6:30 p.m. Jewish Film Series, 7 p.m. at Beth El CJE Class Derech Torah: Judaism 101, 7:30 p.m. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7 General Elections, 7 a.m. at JCC Eye on Israel, noon at Kripke Library BBYO Night, 6 p.m. Women’s Book Group, 7 p.m. at Beth El Big Love Class, 7 p.m. at Temple Israel The Mothers’ Circle Class, 7p.m. at Beth El BBYO Advisory Board Meeting, 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8 Rabbis & Presidents Meeting, 11:30 a.m. JFO Annual Campaign Calls & Dinner, 6:30 p.m. Jewish Book Month Event, 7 p.m. at Kripke Library What’s Jewish on the Web?, 7 p.m. at Temple Israel NCJW Meeting, 7 p.m. Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9 Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Insights into the Siddur, noon at Beth El Center for Jewish Education Board Meeting, noon Yiddush Group, 1 p.m. Pennie Z. Davis Parent Teacher Conferences, 4 p.m. The Art of Jewish Paper Cutting, 7 p.m. at Beth El Advanced Parshah Study, 9 p.m. with Rabbi Gross FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10 CDC Parent Teacher Conferences, 9 a.m. BBYO New Member Weekend, 4 p.m. at JCC Junior Congregation Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El Scholar-in-Residence, Dr. Richard A. Freund, 7:30 p.m. at Temple Israel SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11 BBYO New Member Weekend, 9 a.m. at JCC Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel Hazak Lunch ‘n’ Learn, noon with Paul Cohen at Beth El Out of Sight Saturday Night, 6:30 at JCC SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12 ADL Bearing Witness Conference, 8 a.m. at Catholic Retreat BBYO New Member Weekend, 8:45 a.m. at JCC Adult Education, 10 a.m.-noon at Beth El Mishpacha University, 10 a.m. at the Chabad House Nashir Community Jewish Choir, 11 a.m. at Beth El BESTT Chaverim Trip to SAC Museum, 12:30 p.m. NCJW Fundraiser “Mavrik Jewelry Show,” 6 p.m. at Patty Nogg’s MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13 ADL Bearing Witness Conference, 8 a.m. at JCC JSS Senior Luncheon, noon Jewish Ethical Wills Class, 11 a.m. at Kripke Library NCJW Book Club, 7 p.m. JCC Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m. Derech Torah: Judaism 101, 7:30 p.m. at JCC

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14 ADL Bearing Witness Conference, 8 a.m. at Creighton University ADL/CRC Executive Committee Meeting, noon at JCC Eye on Israel, noon at Kripke Library Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing, 5 p.m. at Kripke Library Executive Board Meeting, 5:30 p.m. at Friedel BBYO Night, 6 p.m. JFO Annual Campaign Calls & Dinner, 6:30 p.m. Board of Directors Meeting, 7 p.m. at Friedel Women’s Book Group, 7 p.m. at Beth El Big Love Class, 7 p.m. at Temple Israel WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15 Abba, Eema and ME, 9:30 a.m. at Beth El Nebraska Jewish Historical Society Meeting, 4:30 p.m. What’s Jewish on the Web?, 7 p.m. at Temple Israel NCJW Membership event, 7 p.m. Gil Hoffman Community Lecture, 7 p.m. at JCC THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16 Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Walk-in Drop-in, 10 a.m. Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Insights into the Siddur, noon at Beth El Yiddush Group, 1 p.m. Library Book Discussion Group, 1 p.m. at Kripke Library Shiputznick Dinner, 4:30 p.m. Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Family Night, 5:30 p.m. USY “Shorts” Night, 6 p.m. at Beth El JFO Annual Campaign Calls & Dinner, 6:30 p.m. NCJW Board Meeting, 7 p.m. The Art of Jewish Paper Cutting, 7 p.m. at Beth El JFO Annual Campaign Calls, 7 p.m. Advanced Parshah Study, 9 p.m. with Rabbi Gross

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21 Federation Campaign Meetings, 8 a.m. Eye on Israel, noon at Kripke Library Share the Moment with Lee Needelman, noon at Temple Israel BBYO Night, 6 p.m. BESTT Board Meeting, 7 p.m. at Beth El Women’s Book Group, 7 p.m. at Beth El Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Temple Israel

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23 JCC Closed USY KINNUS Thursday-Saturday at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown, Des Moines, IA Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Advanced Parshah Study, 9 p.m. with Rabbi Gross

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17 Visions Luncheon Meeting, 12:30 p.m. at Westside Community Conference Center Tot Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24 CDC closed for Thanksgiving Federation Campaign Meetings, 8 a.m.

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20 Federation Campaign Meetings, 8 a.m. Jewish Ethical Wills Clas, 11 a.m. at Kripke Library Hadassah Board Meeting, 1 p.m. Rabbi Lawrence Kushner “Kabbala: A Love Story,” 7p.m. Israeli Cooking with Zohar’s Mom!, 7 p.m. at the CDC Derech Torah: Judaism 101, 7:30 p.m. at JCC

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22 Friedel Jewish Academy No School Federation Campaign Meetings, 8 a.m. Temple Israel Thanksgiving Interfaith Service, 7 p.m. at Dundee Presbyterian Church USY Pre-Kinnus All night Lock In, 8 p.m. at Beth El

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 27, 2006

NCJW’s Dictionary Day a Success

ORGANIZATIONS CENTER FOR JEWISH EDUCATION “Eye on Israel”, a lively discussion on contemporary issues concerning Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish world, will meet each Tuesday in Nov. in the Kripke Library. Dr. Guy Matalon and guests will talk about what’s happening in Israel and beyond. Mark your calendar for Nov. 7, 14, 21, and 28, noon-1 p.m.; bring lunch, and bring a friend. For information, call 334.6445. LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Come to the Yiddish meeting at the JCC ion Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. Call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638. VISIONS Reminders: For those members going on the tour of Girls and Boys Town, please meet at the JCC main entrance between 9-9:10 a.m. We will depart at 9:15 a.m. The Visions Board meeting is Friday, Nov. 3, 9:30 a.m., in the Blumkin Home conference room. Visions will meet at Westside Community Conference Center (3534 So. 108 St.) on Friday, Nov. 17, 12:30 p.m. The cost is $10 per person. Our guest speakers will be reporters from the

KETV-7 News Team. Mike Sigmond and Ben Gray will bring us up-to-date on recent political developments and events. Send reservations and full payment to Tootie Simon, 8725 Izard St. Omaha, NE 68114 by Nov. 10. As a joint project with Jewish Family Service, please bring a donation for Jewish Family Service’s Project Dreidel to the luncheon or send a check to: Betty Kolnick, 1031 Hillcrest Dr., Omaha, NE 68132. Make check payable to JFS. special events “Senior Visions Conditioning” will be held at the JCC community room on Wednesday, Dec. 13, noon. 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 Rachel Blum and Zohar Winer will speak at Breadbreakers on Wednesday, Nov. 1, noon at Regency Lodge. Blum, BBYO Director and Winer, the new Israeli shlicha will tell us about program plans for our youth. All men and women in the community are invited to attend Breadbreakers. Cost is $11 for a complete lunch and $3 for beverage service only.

BIRTH Shannon and Mitch Sherman announce the Oct. 11 birth of their daughter, Allyson Hannah, for her greatgrandfather, the late Arthur Sherman. She is the granddaughter of Marc and

Claudia Sherman, and Roger and Rhonda Heffelfinger of Grand Island. Great-grandfathers are Irvin Harris of La Mesa, CA, and Jim Schlegel of Lincoln.

VOTE JAY STODDARD N e b ra s k a S e c re t a r y o f S t a t e

Ann Goldstein, Dorothy Spizman, by SHARON BARGAS NCJW Co-Vice-President of Public Relations Molline Cassman, Sally Malashock, Dictionary Day celebrated its 10th Marcia Cohen, Joan Lehr, Nancy Rips, Anniversary as volunteers from the Carol Katzman, Geraldine Trachtenbarg, National Council of Jewish Women- Dottie Rosenblum, Cynthia Schneider, Omaha Section delivered 1,500 diction- Andi Willensky, Susie Blumkin, Gail aries to every fourth-grader attending the Veitzer, Carole Greenberg, Shelly Pichik 24 Academy Omaha Public Schools earli- and Mike Collier and his crew at the JCC. Additionally, Barnes and Noble provider this month. Volunteers also delivered ed NCJW with the 10 bags of clothing dictionaries at a disto Liberty School, counted price and along with a check withheld standard for more than $900 shipping charges to buy basic items of allowing NCJW to clothing as part of the reach out to as first “Back To Basics” many children as clothing drive. possible. The goal of Dictionary Day is to Tuffy Epstein, Nikki Kirshenbaum and Kate Epstein and other volunteers relied on offer students a learn- Kirshenbaum “loadi up” at the JCC. donations this year ing tool for homefrom the Sherwood work and for classFound-ation, Diana room use. According and Denny Walker, to chairman Sandy Ike and Roz Epstein, the dictionFriedman Foundaries provide an ation, Carl Frohm opportunity for chilFoundation, dren to actually own Murray H. and a dictionary. Sharee C. Newman “We hope that the donation will help A class of excited fourth graders at Sherman S u p p o r t i n g Foundation, Shirley students develop his Elementary School shows off their books. or her reading, writing, and creative and Leonard Goldstein Supporting thinking abilities,” says Epstein. “A Foundation, Herbert Goldsten Trust and strong vocabulary is an essential tool for the Special Donor Advised Fund of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. gaining knowledge.” In addition to each student receiving a NCJW volunteers were: Kim Noddle, Deb Marburg, Helen Epstein, Tuffy dictionary, teachers were presented with a Epstein, Susan Rothholz, Carol Parsow, dictionary. “It always amazes me to receive so Michael Parsow, Arielle Levine, Nikki Kirshenbaum, Kate Kirshenbaum, Terri much support from NCJW members and Zacharia, Susie Norton, Sally Zipursky, individuals within our own community in Gary Kudym, Suzanne Singer, Lisa order to make Dictionary Day a success,” Epstein, Denise Meyers, Sandy Epstein, says Epstein.

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October 27, 2006

Nelson Runs for Second Senate Term country where the country doesn’t want to go. If the Republicans and Democrats each had a militia in Washington, think about how that would work. Or, what if you didn’t have a military that was beholden to the government. You just can’t have a functioning by JOAN K. MARCUS democracy under those circumstances.” Sen. Nelson says the same thing is true with Hamas. (Editor’s note: this is the last in a It can’t be a functioning part of the government and series covering candidates appearing at B’nai B’rith have its own militia. He is calling for the disarming of Breadbreakers, all of which are posted at our website-- those militias in the area. “I’ve supported Israel because www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press.’ In next I think it is right and it is in our own national interest week’s election issue, all candidates have been asked to sub- to do it. It is the one functioning democracy where we mit short statements; the Jewish Press will publish state- have a relationship that we need to continue and we ments received by the deadline.) need to continue to reasonably support them in every United States Senator Ben Nelson addressed B’nai way that we can.” B’rith Breadbreakers at a meeting. Al Abramson, retired Other countries--Iran, Iraq, Afganistan, Syria are director of the Department of Motor Vehicles, intro- challenges, Nelson said. “We are going to have to work duced his former boss by saying, “Senator Nelson has our way through. It’s going to take a complex effort been an advocate of Jewish programs, human rights and because each one of those countries is different from public policy. He has come to speak about Americans of the other. We are going to have to involve some unique all stripes. He was elected as governor of Nebraska in diplomatic levels to resolve some of those differences.” 1990 and he served two terms,” he said. “In 2000, he Nelson then introduced former Omahan Max was elected to the Senate and, today he is here to ask for Richtman, the Executive Vice President of the National our support as he faces Republican Pete Ricketts in his Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. bid for a second term.” Richtman endorsed Nelson in his bid for reelection and Sen. Nelson serves on the added that Nelson’s Armed Forces, Agricultural opponent is in favor of and Veterans’ Affairs privatizing the money Committees. “During the paid out in Social five-and-a-half years I was Security benefits. able to work with him in Said Richtman, state government, I learned “Because of the election, to appreciate his public servthere isn’t much being ice and witnessed his intellitalked about it right now. gence, integrity and his abilHowever, this issue isn’t ity to solve complex probdead; it is at the top of lems by using common President Bush’s domessense and his great code of tic agenda. The day after ethics,” Abramson added. the last election, we were Nelson began his talk by in our conference room saying that he isn’t happy in Washington and he with the tone of his present Senator Ben Nelson, left, greets Irv Epstein and Rabbi Jonathan came out of a press concampaign. “I would think Gross at the recent Breadbreakers. ference and said, ‘I’ve that being in Nebraska, the last thing that my opponent earned a lot of political capital in this election and I’m would want to do would be to attack me as a hunter! going to use it to privatize Social Security.’” My taxes have all been paid and to get verification, just Richtman said that after the election. Bush went on a call the Sarpy County Treasurers office.” tour of 60 towns in 60 days to try to privatize Social He added that “I wish we could have a ‘civil’ cam- Security. The tour failed, Richtman believes, because paign. One of the reasons I thought about not running there was strong opposition from Senator Nelson and was because I knew that the campaign would consist of his colleagues. “People understood Bush was really mismy opponent attacking me... attacking me... attacking leading people into believing some of the myths about me.” Nelson noted that he had to decide whether or Social Security,” Richtman added. not to engage in that type of campaign. “Social Security is not broke. This program, without “I couldn’t just run on an all-positive track and not any changes, will be able to pay everyone until the year get attacked. If you go back and think about it, two 2041. After that, we can pay 74% for another 30 years.” days after the primary, on May 11th, the Democratic Richtman continued, “Then the president made a big Party started to run positive ads about me. However, mistake in trying to reframe what Social Security really my opponent was so tuckered out from the primary is. It’s an insurance program and 38% of Social Security that he went on a European vacation,” Nelson said. benefits go to non-retired workers. This is about insur“When he came back, he did some polling and found ance for families. The debate shouldn’t be about what out I had surged and he had slipped since May. Then, we put in as opposed to what we take out. I think that he threw Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton at me. I President Bush wants this to be part of his legacy. He’s responded to that by showing what President Bush had committed to it and Senator Nelson is committed to said about me--that I was somebody who could put par- stopping him.” tisanship aside for the best interest of the country.” Nelson returned to the podium and pledged his comNelson added, “My responses each time my opponent mitment to help President Bush with the solvency of hits me on another point is telling the people of Social Security and make the investment accounts an Nebraska what my opponent has said and what he has addition to the program. “We can continue to expand supported.” with 401Ks and other accounts. We need to allow peoThe issues today are significant. The two men differ ple to invest and still have a guaranteed benefit. They on everything from social security to national security as are both different and there’s a need for them both,” he it relates to border security. said. Nelson continued, “When it comes down to national The senator was asked about the taxing of Social security, there’s nothing more important than protect- Security benefits and the inability to deduct medical ing our homeland and our hometowns. That’s why it’s expenses because of the 7% limitation. “I’m concerned important we continue to have port security. about both of those things. Because of the high cost of Commercial airline security is probably inadequate medical care and reduced income because of retirebecause the cargo is not inspected. The luggage is all ment, there ought to be some kind of adjustment. And, inspected and you know how you’re inspected,” he it’s something that I’d like to do but it’s going to be smiled. “Walking through the magnetometer is good kind of difficult because of the growing deficit.” but making everybody get rid of makeup and stuff like Senator Nelson added, “And, I’d like to see Social that may be overly zealous. I understand that they want Security not taxed, but that money went into the us to feel secure but we all want to be secure and there’s Medicare Part A trust fund. That fund was going to go a difference between the two.” broke, but now it has an extension until 2017; it is The Senator went on to talk about today’s challenge benefiting some of the people who are concerned about in the Middle East. “We want to seek peace in a way the tax.” that we are sure that it will last. I think that we should Nelson touched briefly on the subject of a national insist on the demilitarization of Hezbollah. We’ve just sales tax and said, “I have 11 quotes from my opponent got to take away those weapons!” he said. “You can’t where he has proposed or flirted with the idea of a 30% have a militia like that and still have a functioning tax. He says that it is fair because, ‘If you don’t want to democracy.” pay it, don’t buy anything.’ Not milk, medicine, family Sen. Nelson added that “the militia will drive the car or a home?”

AMERICA DECIDES 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 13

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 27, 2006

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Learn the Art of Jewish Immigration Policy Paper Cutting During Subject of ADL Briefing ALAN POTASH New Beth El Mini-Course byRegional Director for Anti-Defamation League Plains Region by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Local artist and longtime Beth El teacher Daniel Christensen will lead a new Beth El minicourse entitled “The Art of Jewish Paper Cutting: Creating Lasting a Tr easur e,” beginning next Thursday, Nov. 2, 7 p.m., running every Thursday night (with the exception of Thanksgiving) during Teacher Daniel Christensen looks through the month. In addition some of the written materials he’ll use during to learning his upcoming mini-course at Beth El. about the history of paper cutting in Jewish culture, participants will practice basic paper-cutting technique and have the opportunity to create a personalized mizrach plaque, suitable for framing, Christensen said. Cost is $18 (includes all supplies). For more information, contact Christensen at 719.4714; to register, contact Program Director Margie Gutnik at 492.8550 or programming@bethel-omaha.org.

The Civil Rights Committee of the ADL Plains States Region invites the community to a briefing on immigration at the Jewish Community Center on Nov. 1, 7 p.m. Civil rights lawyer, Daniel Elbaum, the ADL’s Midwest Civil Rights Counsel, will be in Omaha to discuss the ADL’s understanding and position on immigration. The ADL has a great interest in immigration policy. “As a community that has suffered the consequences of a restrictive immigration policy, we are committed to ensuring that America’s immigration policy is fair, humane, and serves our nation’s interests,” said Barbara B. Balser, ADL National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. Dan Elbaum has served as Anti-Defamation League Midwest Civil Rights Counsel since December of 2003. His primary responsibilities include advising Regional Directors on various legal issues and overseeing ADL’s legal and civil rights agenda in the fourteen state region. Dan has testified before several state legislatures and has conducted law enforcement training to police departments regarding hate crime investigation and prosecution. He has lectured widely about the separation of church and state, Jewish institutional security, global anti-Semitism and many other issues. Prior to coming to ADL, Elbaum served for four years as a prosecutor at the Cook County Attorney’s Office in Chicago. He worked in the Narcotics Prosecutions Bureau, Domestic Violence Unit and the Criminal Appeals Division. A Chicago native, Elbaum received his B.A. and Law degree from the University of Illinois in UrbanaChampaign. RSVPs are appreciated. For more information or to RSVP, please call the ADL office at 333.1303.

Learn How to Write a Jewish Ethical Will

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by CHERYL LERNER Center for Jewish Education Wills connote a legal document dealing with belongings and property to ensure that wealth passes from one generation to the next. Since biblical times, Jews left behind another type of document--an ethical will. Unlike traditional wills that transfer worldly possessions, an ethical will bequeaths values, ideas, and personal reflections to family members and other loved ones. Dr. Guy Matalon, Executive Director of the Center for Jewish Education, will present a four-week course on “Jewish Ethical Wills”, beginning Monday, Nov. 6, at the JCC. Ethical wills have been characterized as windows into the souls of those who write them, making these wills cherished by family members from generation to generation. Stacey Rockman, who serves as a CJE vice-president, recommended the class. As someone who has lost a parent, she acknowledges ethical wills as an important legacy to leave ones descendents. “I wish my mother had left us something enduring and tangible like this. My sister and I are taking the class. I think of it as a beautiful gift I can leave for my family.” Dr. Matalon explained, “Ethical wills have gained broad popularity in recent years though the roots stem from early Biblical times. The earliest ethical wills were

most likely passed on orally, while those of later generations were recorded on paper. Actual wills dating from the Medieval and Renaissance periods have even been preserved to modern times.” The course will look at ethical wills from Talmudic figures, Maimonides, Nachmanides and many other important thinkers in Jewish history. Ethical wills from the Holocaust will also be examined and the last session will involve writing an ethical will. Monday, Nov 6: Biblical and Talmudic Examples of Ethical Wills; Monday, Nov 13: Ethical Wills of Rishonim: Maimonides, Nachmanides and Others; Monday, Nov 20: Ethical Wills from the Holocaust; and Monday, Nov 27: American Ethical Wills and workshop. “If you’re thinking to yourself, “Well, I don’t really have anything all that important to write about,” think again. You are unique!” said Dr. Matalon. “You have lived and learned in your own special way, and you have important thoughts, experiences and feelings to pass on to those around you.” Classes will meet at 11 a.m.-noon, in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library. Cost is $38 for non-Jewish Federation donors and is discounted to $30 for Federation donors. To register for the class, contact me at 334.6462.

Lincoln’s South Street Temple Tops Food Drive Record

Y.E.S. Club Organizes Flu Shot Clinic

by SARAH KELEN for Congregation B’nai Jeshurun On Yom Kippur as we are fasting, our minds sometimes wander to thoughts of meals to come. At the South Street Temple in Lincoln (Congregation B’nai Jeshurun), congregants mark the High Holy Days by thinking about food for others, not just for themselves. For the past few years, the Temple’s Social Action Committee has organized a food drive. In addition to raising funds for Mazon, the committee asks members to donate food or money to the Food Bank of Lincoln. In 2004, members donated over 300 pounds; in 2005, the amount increased to over 400. This year the the goal was 500 pounds. When the collection period ended, the donation barrels stood overflowing. The congregation’s total donations were 526 pounds of food and $363 cash; the food items plus the cash added up to a total worth 2,704 pounds of food for individuals and families in Southeast Nebraska.

Milton Marcus, 77, receives his flu shot at a clinic organized by Jewish Senior Services and the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home earlier this month. Volunteers for the Visiting Nurses Association administered the shots as part of the Blumkin Home’s Y.E.S. Club (Young, Energetic Seniors) programs. The shots were available to anyone and were free to those with their Medicare B card. For more information on Y.E.S. Club activities, contact Maggie Conti, Director of Activities for RBJH at 330.4272. Photo by Andrea Bartman for JSS/RBJH

October 27, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 15

Part I

Ten Days in October: A Russian Journal by GARY JAVITCH Special to the Jewish Press I really didn’t think too much of it when my twin brother first e-mailed me that the U.S. State Department had invited him to give a lecture in Moscow. David really had few details. Besides, as an associate professor in the Schools of Public Health at both Harvard and Boston University, he had given lectures abroad before, most recently at universities in Bosnia and Poland. As he started to get more trip details, however, his journey began to arouse my interest: An organizational psychologist, he would give presentations in St. Petersburg and Moscow on management and leadership to the Edmund S. Muskie Fellows, a group of Russians who had studied at various universities around the United States on a Department of State program. This follow-up presentation sponsored by the U.S. Embassy would be at a specially organized retreat outside Moscow. And because the trip would take place during Yom Kippur, he would be able to attend a synagogue service in St Petersburg. He would also have time to do a lot of sightseeing. Then unexpectedly, he asked if I wanted to join him. As an incentive, he told me the State Department had given him an allowance for hotels and meals and he would be glad to share the stipend. Wow! It was really the chance of a lifetime, and an opportunity to visit the former “evil empire.” He tantalized my sense of adventure. And--even better--it would be Russia at a discount! I accepted. Once in Russia, I had three major goals to accomplish. I wanted to try to meet Russian Jews and get a picture of Jewish life. The next objective was typical: see some of the major sights. Lastly, I wanted to get the feel of what it was like to live in Russia. Meeting Jews We arrived in St. Petersburg and as Erev Yom Kippur was fast approaching, the first goal would be easy to achieve. The service was to begin at 7 pm. We made arrangements to get to the synagogue early. We found a helpful hotel concierge to get us a cab and explain to the driver how to get there. We allowed thirty minutes for a trip that was supposed to take only half that time. We ran into problems almost from the beginning. The driver who spoke no English, got us to the right area, but couldn’t find the street. Finally, after circling the block a couple times, we came to a plaza where no cars were permitted. The driver dropped us on the corner and pointed the way. We were going to be late! We walked hurriedly down the sidewalk toward our destination. The number on the building we needed was

36; the corner began with the number 44. Quickening were in St. Petersburg, Russia, with about 40 or so felour pace, we passed number 34, then 32, then doubled low Jews who welcomed us. We felt right at home. And it felt good. Very good! back. There was no sign of the synagogue. The service began. Except for the Russian, the prayer Now I began to worry that after traveling over 5000 miles, we were not even going to find the synagogue. book had the traditional Hebrew prayers with which we Worse, if we didn’t make contact with anyone, we didn’t were both familiar. So, too, were the songs. Adding to the service, the rabbi, playing the role of Cantor, too, have a Plan B: Returning to the hotel. Backtracking again, we went into a couple of stores strumming traditional songs on his guitar. Though the along the way and asked the proprietors if they could rabbi conducted the service entirely in Russian, we manspeak English or knew where the address was. Very few aged to follow along. Still, the whole experience seemed a little surreal spoke English, but all tried to be helpful. We went down an alleyway. No luck. I began searching when, for example, the congregation recited the familiar for lights on the second or third floors of the buildings “Avinu Malkenu” passages in the service in Hebrew, and within the address range, thinking that perhaps the syna- then completed the responsive reading segments in, of course, Russian. gogue was not that big or The rabbi was quite impressive to us. A relmaybe it only occupied a atively new rabbinical graduate, the Londonsingle floor. No luck. born and raised rabbi has been the spiritual Feeling very frustrated, leader of the St. Petersburg Reform congrewe were ready to give up, gation for the last two years, his assignment when I saw a gated area of choice. At the conclusion of the service, on a patio about 20 steps we introduced ourselves. He, in turn, introabove the street, adjacent duced us to a few people, including the presto Sbarro pizza, which ident of the synagogue. She was a slim, attracwas at ground level. We tive 28-year-old Russian woman who spoke rang the doorbell. A male nearly perfect English (Danish, German, and voice answered and we David Javitch, left, and Gary Javitch, right, of course, Russian). She was kind enough to asked if he spoke English. were guests of U.S. Ambassador to Russia, drive us home and return us to the synagogue He replied, “Little.” William Burns at the U.S. Embassy. the next morning. (Since she knew the right Undaunted, we plunged ahead, telling him we were looking for 34 Line Ave. He way to go, the trip took only about 12 minutes.) Small World gave us an indication in halting English that he didn’t The next day at services, more Americans arrived. know where that was. We prepared to walk away, when in desperation, I Adding to our enjoyment of the day, the rabbi led the blurted the word “synagogue.” There was a pause, and service in both Russian and English. At sundown, the services concluded and we had the the voice said, “Wait....” A security guard appeared a few moments later, opportunity to meet the English-speaking worshippers. unlocked the gate and led us down some stairs through Included in that group were a young American couple an alley to an unmarked door and walked away. We working for the Joint Distribution Committee (the knocked and no one answered. We rang the bell and no “Joint”) to do outreach to Jews wanting to learn more about Judaism and Israel. There were also some one appeared. Were we even in the right place? I peeked inside the window through a space between American businessman doing work in Moscow. Of particular interest to me, it turned out, was a the blinds and the framework, and I recognized the familiar stripes of a talit (prayer shawl). I began to Brown University medical student who was about to spend the next year of her life in St. Petersburg on a breathe a little easier. What seemed like many minutes later, but was perhaps research project studying the HIV/AIDS virus which only 30 seconds, we heard two sets of locks being runs in epidemic proportions throughout the country. When I told her I was from Omaha, she told me she opened. A man swung the door open and ushered us into a small room filled with worshippers. A woman had a girlfriend from Lincoln who used to date a boy handed us some Russian-Hebrew prayer books and from Omaha. She mentioned the unique college program he was in and I recognized him immediately. invited us to sit. PART II of this story will appear in next week’s issueIt was 7:20 p.m. The group was just about to sing “Kol Nidre.” Thousands of miles from Omaha and -along with Carol Gendler’s piece on Spending Yom Boston, we knew not a soul in the room, but there we Kippur in Beijing.

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Page 16

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 27, 2006

The Blumkin Home at 25: a New Beginning By now, readers should recognize this phrase as the tagline for the total remodeling and expansion of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. It’s also the title of our Passover issue for this spring. Publishing the Friday prior to the first seder--March 30, 2007 (the first seder is Monday evening, April 2), this issue--our second largest of the year after our New Year’s issue--will feature personal stories of residents, staff and volunteers. To many outsiders, residents of any nursing home appear to be doddering elders. That’s an unfair and unflattering description. Many of our elders are still the bright, capable adults they were in younger years; they just need a little more assistance in their daily lives. As young adults, many of the male residents fought in World War II or in Korea; they have stories to tell that will curl the hair on the back of your neck! They’ve also led productive lives--founding businesses, leading moneymaking companies, following successful careers, and serving on charitable boards or performing valuable volunteer work. And of course, the same goes for the women residents of the Home. We shouldn’t be quick to dismiss them or tune them out. They can tell us what life was like during the Great Depression or the war years. Some of them even survived the Holocaust--and in another decade or so, those precious memories will be relegated to videotapes and books. This could be our last chance to hear from the “Greatest Generation,” as former NBC anchor and author Tom Brokaw describes this group. And what about the staff at the Blumkin Home? To hear residents and family members describe them, the RBJH staff is the best in

the region! They, too, have lives outside the Blumkin Home. Some of them volunteer for the Chevra Kadishe, the holy society that prepares Jewish bodies for burial; others volunteer for local organizations, from the National Council of Jewish Women to their local public school. As Shane Kotok so poignantly stated at last week’s New Beginning groundbreaking ceremony for the Home, “This is more than a job...we love coming to work each day. The residents are like family to us.” And then there are the volunteers...men and women who organize Grandparents’ Day, Family Day, and fundraising events. They volunteer to accompany residents to doctors appointments and trips to the supermarket. And many of them do not even have family members in the Home! They do it because they respect our elders. What a mitzvah! We’d like your help in putting together this issue, too. If you have photos of a member of your family who resided in the Blumkin Home during the past 25 years, please send it to us at: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; or e-mail it as an attached .tif or .jpg file to: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org. We’ll treat your precious photos gently by scanning them

and returning them to you when the issue publishes. We’re moving full steam ahead on this and will be meeting with the top staff and leadership of Jewish Senior Services next week. If you have any suggestions on how to make this unique Passover issue even better, don’t hesitate to let us know. Once again, the Jewish community of Omaha has set a goal to enhance the lives of its elders. Like the first Blumkin Home for which ground was broken in 1981, and the addition six years later, this New Beginning for the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home demonstrates the dedication of this community, its generosity in both dollars and spirit, and its commitment to achieving the best. A Mazal Tov to us all!

Documentary on Coexistence Work May Inspire Others, Filmmakers Hope

BEHIND THE HEADLINES by SUE FISHKOFF SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) After years of intifada, the election of Hamas to run the Palestinian Authority and this summer’s war with Hezbollah, there’s little trust left between Israelis and Palestinians. Ronit Avni wants to change that. The 29-year-old Canadian-Israeli film director/producer is part of the team behind Encounter Point, a quiet but powerful new documentary about Israelis and Palestinians who have suffered terrible personal losses but are pushing past their pain to move their communities in the direction of peace. Avni’s partners include Brazilian co-director and writer/editor Julia Bacha and producers Joline Makhlouf, the first Palestinian woman pilot, and American-born Nahanni Rous. The four young women hope their film will move others to push for peace as well. Encounter Point was shot in Israel and the Palestinian territories over a 16-month period. It follows eight narratives, including the story of Robi Damelin, an Israeli woman whose soldier son was killed by a Palestinian sniper; Tzvika Shahak, who lost his 15-year-old daughter in a Tel Aviv suicide bombing; and Ali Abu Awaad, who served time in an Israeli jail and whose brother was killed by Israeli soldiers. All are active in the Bereaved Families Forum, a group that fosters dialogue among Israelis and Palestinians who have lost family members. Others in the film are involved with similar peace-building initiatives. These people disagree politically, though they all come together on one point: If they don’t talk to each other, the cycle of violence will continue. Admitting she’s “sometimes angry” with

herself for not protecting her son, Damelin asks what one can do with such pain beside working for peace. “Do you take it and look for revenge and keep the whole cycle of violence going, or do you choose another path to prevent further death and further pain to other parents?” she asked. Encounter Point can be appreciated on its merits. But Avni and her partners hope people will see the film, have their assumptions shaken and be moved to visit the website for Just Visions at www.justvisions.org, a nonprofit organization they set up as a resource for dialogue and community-building.

worked for Witness, a human rights organization, training Third World groups to use video for grassroots mobilizing and as court evidence. “We wanted to give people an outlet to get involved, to get more in-depth material than a film can provide.” Avni is sitting in a coffeehouse in Berkeley, CA, pecking away furiously on her laptop with one hand while trying to shovel breakfast into her mouth with the other. She and her fellow filmmakers are making the rounds of art houses and film festivals: Avni is in Oakland, CA, for two days, then off to Vancouver, Canada; Rous is handling a screening in Keene, NH; Bacha is at a film festival in Rio de Janeiro. Last year, Avni and Makhlouf spoke about their work on “Oprah.” Despite that publicity and the film’s early critical success, however, it still has no distributor. It’s easy to see why the film would do well in leftwing cities such as San Francisco, where it took the audience award at this May’s international film festival, or across the bay in Oakland, where it was shown in a theater that posts anti-Bush slogans on its marquee. But the real point, Avni says, is to show it closer to the conflict. This summer there were screenings in Jenin, Gaza, Haifa and Jerusalem on both the western and eastern sides of The team behind the documentary Encounter Point includes, the city. Those audiences were a lot from left, Julia Bacha, Nahanni Rous, Ronit Avni and Joline tougher than in California. Makhlouf. Credit: Frank Micelotta /Getty Images In July, Palestinian journalists-inIn addition to information about the film, training watched the film in Gaza City as the interactive site contains interviews with Israeli guns pounded outside in retaliation for more than 180 Israelis and Palestinians work- the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit. “That was ing for a nonviolent solution to the Middle a hard screening,” Avni admits. “They wanted East conflict. their immediate experience to be reflected in “The film in isolation can’t do the work it’s the film.” meant to do,” explains Avni, who once Continued on page 17

(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 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. 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 27, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 17

For Congressman and Others, Debt to Wallenberg Still Remains Unpaid

BEHIND THE HEADLINES by REP. TOM LANTOS WASHINGTON (JTA)--As a new congressman 25 years ago, the first legislation I introduced was a bill to pay a debt from my adolescence. My wife, Annette, felt a similar obligation. We owed our lives to Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who had saved us during the Holocaust. At that time, Wallenberg was thought by many to be alive in the Soviet gulag, but nobody was sure. His fate remains unknown to this day. The international community, especially the U.S. government, must redouble efforts to establish the facts of what happened to Raoul Wallenberg. Additional pressure must be brought to bear on Russia to open all archives related to Wallenberg’s case, even if it means exposing embarrassing secrets from the Soviet era or more recent secrets, and not just Russian ones. Anyone who knows Wallenberg’s story is aware that it is not just a few individuals, but all of humanity that owes him a debt. When so many others were less courageous or even complicit in the evil of their time, Wallenberg chose to risk his privileged life to help strangers. Wallenberg went to Budapest in 1944 trying to preserve the remaining Jewish population. The Nazis had deported more than 400,000 Hungarian Jewish men, women and children to Auschwitz and other extermination camps; only some 230,000 Jews were left in the capital. Wallenberg set out to save them through courage, ingenuity, diligence and chutzpah. One of his most clever actions was to produce documents “Schutzpaesse” or protective passports conferring Swedish citizenship on anyone who carried them.

Wallenberg spared tens of thousands from deportation and death marches while Nazi power was at its peak, and many more from an allout massacre as the desperate Germans withdrew at the war’s end. Soviet military authorities arrested Wallenberg in January 1945 in violation of international law. Three months later, U.S. Secretary of State Edward Stettinus instructed the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, Averell Harriman, to offer help on Wallenberg’s behalf to Sweden’s ambassador, who reportedly rebuffed the offer. This response was enough to signal to the United States that little could be done to help Wallenberg, even though it was known at the highest level of the State Department that Wallenberg’s life could be in danger. Long before I was elected to Congress, Annette and I had tried to raise awareness of this injustice. Compounding it was Wallenberg’s initial commission to Budapest: The scion of a prominent Swedish family, he had been sought out by the U.S. War Refugee Board in Stockholm for the dangerous task of rescuing Jews in German-occupied Hungary. At age 32, Wallenberg was appointed a secretary in the Swedish legation, and his efforts were financed by the United States under the supervision of the U.S. secretary of state. Our country, which had asked Raoul Wallenberg to risk everything during the Nazi death-grip on Hungary, could not in good conscience abandon him under Hungary’s next occupiers. Members of the U.S. Congress had tried to press Wallenberg’s case. In 1947, Arthur Vandenberg, the prominent chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, appealed directly to Acting Secretary of State Dean Acheson to intervene, but Acheson refused. The State

Department’s official position appears to have remained unchanged for decades. In 1973, 28 years after Wallenberg was taken into Soviet custody, his ailing mother wrote to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger pleading with him to seek information about her son from the Kremlin. The State Department’s European Bureau strongly supported her request, but for reasons that have never been adequately explained, Kissinger did not act. During those years, Annette worked through schools, social service groups and publications to call attention to Wallenberg’s plight. She established the first International Wallenberg Committee, the legacy of which remains today. It was a natural step for me as a freshman Congressman to use whatever influence I had to assist in drawing sustained attention to Raoul Wallenberg. Our hope was that we could save him by using a tactic similar to the one Wallenberg himself had so creatively applied during the war to save us and so many others: We would create an American citizenship document to give the United States an opportunity and reason to work for his protection. At the time, only one other person had been made an honorary U.S. citizen: Sir Winston Churchill. The legislation sped through Congress and was signed into law Oct. 5, 1981. Some of us in Congress continued to press the Soviets through the years, using the vehicle of Wallenberg’s honorary citizenship. Unfortunately, our progress in solving this mystery has been minimal. Today we know next to nothing about the postwar years of perhaps one of the Holocaust era’s greatest heroes. Indeed, with the release of a detailed Swedish Foreign Office study not long ago, thenPrime Minister Goran Persson concluded “there is no evidence of what happened” to Wallenberg. The report noted that the Swedish government had failed to take opportunities,

particularly in the late 1940s, to obtain Wallenberg’s release. In March 2003, a top-level Swedish investigatory body, the Eliasson Commission, added little to Persson’s remarks but was even sharper in chastising the Swedish Foreign Ministry for its initial “palpable lack of interest” in the Wallenberg case. Also criticized was the U.S. failure at the beginning to take “a high degree of responsibility” in providing for Wallenberg’s security. The Kremlin may insist today that Wallenberg died in the Lubyanka prison in July 1947, but it has offered no real proof, no documentation and no evidence to validate that claim. As early as fall 1991, when Soviet-era records were being made public, Russia’s top archivist bitterly and publicly complained that the KGB had deliberately classified various documents of the Wallenberg case as “operational intelligence” and, therewith, closed them to public scrutiny. Many honors have been given, and will continue to be given, to preserve the memory of Raoul Wallenberg’s achievements. A bust of him stands in the U.S. Capitol. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is located at 100 Wallenberg Place in Washington. And three years ago, he was made an honorary citizen of Budapest. Such honors are helpful in educating the world about Wallenberg’s selfless and courageous work, but that’s not enough: The United States must pressure Russia to open all its Wallenberg archives so the fate of this remarkable honorary citizen, who worked closely with this country in a time of international crisis but was evidently left stranded when he needed help most, can finally be known. Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA.) is the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives’ International Relations Committee and founding cochairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.

Documentary on Coexistence By the Price of a Gallon of Gasoline Continued from page 16 Audiences were sparse when the film was shown at the Haifa Cinematheque, Avni says: Residents were just returning to their homes after a month of Hezbollah rocket attacks. More than 100 viewers in Jenin, on the other hand, sat through the entire movie and clapped at the end. But the hall emptied quickly as young men began text-messaging each other that the Israeli army had shown up outside. The organizer of the Gaza screening was surprised that the Palestinians watching the film had never before “seen empathetic representations of Israelis,” Avni says, since they were “only accustomed to Israelis as soldiers and settlers.” The organizer felt it was important “to expose journalists-in-training to a variety of perspectives and representations,” and plans to organize more screenings, Avni says. Hebrew and Arabic are being added to the English captions in preparation for wider distribution in the Middle East. Some 40 high school principals in northern Israel watched the film, Avni reports, and some want to show it in their classrooms. The Just Visions team also is developing a related curriculum on civic leadership, nonviolence and peace building for American high school and college courses. This isn’t a feel-good movie, though it holds out hope that despite the protestations of many Israelis and Palestinians there are people to talk to on the other side. Those people include Abu Awwad, who points out in one scene, while driving through the pouring rain to yet another dialogue group, that he easily could sit back and enjoy the status due him as a former prisoner in Israel and brother of a “shahid,” or martyr, as Palestinians call those who die fighting Israel. Instead, Abu Awwad spends his time dragging other Palestinians to meet Israelis, an enterprise that garners him few friends. But he’s doing it with his eyes open. While he’ll never forgive the soldier who killed his brother, he says, “I don’t have to love Israelis to make peace with them.”

pockets,” said Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House. Historically, American voters are less likely to shake up the political make-up of Washington if they can fill their by RABBI SHEA HECHT cars’ gas tanks cheaply. Hastert said the improving economy gave voters reaThere are moments in everyone’s life that are simply son to return Republican lawmakers to Congress, rather telling. They are usually defining moments. Moments than defecting to opposition Democrats, whom many that if we would take the time to contemplate their political observers believe are poised to take control of implications, they would lead us to an honest reflection the House of Representatives. Whether the falling gas of who we are. I think this prices is a political ploy or past Sept. 27 was one of ...many experts believe that the recent those occasions. rebound enjoyed by President Bush in the polls not I think this is one of those moments that reflect I’m not sure how many who we are. Americans people noticed one of the is a result of the new emphasis by the federal believe that they are moved headlines that day. It read, government on security, others say it is mostly “Falling U.S. gas prices about the new lower gas prices. and affected by many important issues. boost Bush poll numbers.” People believe in saving the world, saving the trees, When I read those headlines the thought that crossed my mind was that this is one of those occasions that saving the whales etc. They also strive to help the undershould be a cause for us to pause and reflect. privileged and orphans and the neglected. There were The thrust of that story was that many people say that demonstrations for the war in Iraq and against it. There the falling prices at the gas pump have lifted President was even national outrage when the personal saga of Bush’s sagging poll numbers. Terry Schiavo played itself out. Americans like to believe “It pumps up presidential popularity,” said Larry that they have strong conviction and they care. Sabato, a political analyst at the University of Virginia. Yet the Sept. 27th article seems to imply, that the botAnd while many experts believe that the recent tom line is that it’s our own pocket book that creates the rebound enjoyed by President Bush in the polls is a most impact. result of the new emphasis by the federal government on I think it is incumbent upon us to use this revealing security, others say it is mostly about the new lower gas moment as a springboard and ask ourselves, “Is this realprices. ly how we want to define ourselves? By the price of a gal“I see a near-perfect correlation between Bush’s rise in lon of gasoline?” the polls and the decline in gas prices,” Sabato said. Rabbi Shea Hecht serves as chairman of the Board at “I think for most people it’s a lot more important than the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish the global war on terror,” he said. “People tank up twice Education, where he has continued the tradition of a week. They feel it in their pocket book.” social services management and outreach that began It does seem clear that U.S. consumers are in a more with his father, the late Rabbi Jacob J. Hecht. He is upbeat mood as gas prices continue to decline. Dean of Hadar Hatorah School for College Youth and “The economy continues to grow to record levels, and a lecturer at the Ivy League Torah Study Program. He the American people are more convinced now as they is a co-founder of the Ari Program, a school for at-risk feel relief at the pump and have more money in their kids and can be reached at: rabbishea@aol.com.

FOCUS ON ISSUES

Page 18

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 27, 2006

Candlelighting Friday, October 27, 6:07 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

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

If you’re looking at this space, so are others! YOUR AD CAN GO HERE...

to reserve space, call

Allan Handleman, 334.6451, or Terri Greenwood, 334.6559.

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6 p.m.; Dr. Joshua Jacobson is scholar-in-residence, speaking during Shabbat dinner about “What’s Jewish About Jewish Music?” Cost is $12.50 for adults; $8.50 for children ages six-12; no charge for children five and younger. RSVP with Margie Gutnik at Beth El or programmingbethelomaha.org. SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m.; During services, Dr. Jacobson will address “Music, Magic and the Spirit”; Junior Congregation (3-7), 10 a.m.; K’tantan (K-2), 10:45 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by Beth El featuring Dr. Jacobson speaking about “Jews and Music”; Ma’ariv and Havdalah, 6:10 p.m. Sitter Service is available during Friday night and Saturday morning services, on a drop-in basis, at no charge. SUNDAY: Bible Discussion Group, 10 a.m.; Living Hebrew, 10 a.m., with Susi-Frydman-Levin; “The Weekly Parasha: It’s All About Me?!,” 10 a.m., led by Andy Greenberg; “Jewish Pot Pourri,” 11 a.m., led by FrydmanLevin. For information, contact Margie Gutnik in the office or at programming@bethelomaha.org. BESTT CHAVERIM: goes to Fontenelle Forest Sunday. Lunch following religious school; afterward carpools will take students, returning at 3 p.m. Cost is $6 for members, $8 for non-members. For information, contact Robert Mosenkis at 492.8550 or youthdir@bethel-omaha.org. READING WOMEN OF THE BIBLE: Susan Paley leads a discussion, Tuesdays. Oct. 31, 7 p.m. Cost is $18. For information, call Margie Gutnik. ABBA, EEMA & ME: For children from birth to three, and their parents on Wednesday, 9:30-11 a.m. Rabbi Levin leads “How to Help Your Child Develop a Jewish Identity.” For information, call Holly Weill, 493.5126, or Margie Gutnik. THURSDAYS, noon: Rabbi Levin leads “Getting More Out of Prayer: Insights Into the Siddur.” To register, contact Margie

Gutnik. HEARING MEN’S VOICES: A special forum, free of charge, sponsored by Men’s Club, on Sunday, Nov. 5, 10 a.m., following minyan. Breakfast will be served. Join us for this get together, in a spiritual context, to discuss critical issues unique to men. Open to all Jewish men in the community; membership in Men’s Club is not required. MOTHERS CIRCLE: New monthly class for non-Jewish mothers raising Jewish children, beginning Tuesday, Nov. 7, 7-8:30 p.m. Class topic: “Getting Acquainted/Introduction to the Jewish Community.” Open to community free of charge, with a nominal fee for books. Free babysitting available. For information, contact Judy Rubin, 498.0904 or eddir@bethel-omaha.org.

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: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m. Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes, 10 a.m. (call the office for schedule); Kiddush is sponsored by Donald Gerber in honor of visiting scholar, Dr. Marsha Bryan Edelman, who will speak at 12:30 p.m. following Kiddush; Suedat Shlishit, 4:45 p.m. with Gemara class; Havdalah, 5:42 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m. THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m.; Advanced Parsha Study, 9 p.m.

BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Shabbat in the 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. SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9 a.m.; Service, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush luncheon follows the service. SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.; Torah Studies-Journeys, the book of Genesis, 10-11:30 a.m.; Chabad House/American Red Cross Blood Drive, 9 a.m.-1 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 330.1800 or visit 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: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m., all led by Rabbi Emanuel. SUNDAY: No LJCS Classes. WEDNESDAY: No Hebrew classes. ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY, Oct., 29, 7 p.m.: Talmud for Beginners, led by Rabbi Emanuel. TEMPLE YOUTH GROUP Sunday, Oct. 29, TYG hosts Halloween at Champions for post-b’nai mitzvah-aged members. Meet at Randi Emanuel’s house (3700 So. 35 St.) at 2 p.m then go to Champions until 5 p.m. Parents are welcome. Cost is $14.95 if kids want for three activities and $18.95 for four. RSVP to Randi at 805.4275.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m., led by Rabbi Maximo Shechet.

TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat Services, 7:30 p.m. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, and Cantor Wendy Shermet will lead the service; Rabbi David Forman, chairman of Interns for Peace and founder of Rabbis for Human Rights, speaks on “Four Major Concerns of the Jewish State”; followed by an Oneg Shabbat. SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9-10:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. features Rabbi Forman, “From Noah to Abraham:

Universalism to Particularism”; 7:45 p.m., JYG/OTYG Haunted Havdalah. Meet at Temple and head out to area haunted houses; $5 for OTYG members; $10 for JYG and non-members. SITTER SERVICE: Available each Friday for the 7:30 p.m. service, Saturday mornings when there is a bar or bat mitzvah, and Sunday mornings during Religious School. Reservations and $5 donation are appreciated. No facilities for infants. SUNDAY: Teacher Learning Coffee, 9 a.m.; Religious School (K6), 10 a.m.-noon.; Rabbi Forman focuses on “A Veteran of the First War in Lebanon Reflects on the Second,” at a bagel brunch, 10 a.m. WEDNESDAY: No Afternoon Religious and Family School; No dinner available; Grades 7-9: Blumkin “Homecoming,” 6:30 p.m. with residents; Grades 10-12 with Yachad at V.S.P., 6:30 p.m. LIFELONG LEARNING TUESDAY: Adult B’nai Mitzvah, 6:30–8 p.m.; “Big Love: The Troubling Family Triangle of Sarai, Avram and Hagar,” 7 p.m. with Rabbi Azriel. Contact Program Director Rosie Zweiback to register. WEDNESDAY: Kol Rina Rehearsal, 6:30 p.m.; What’s Jewish on the web, 7 p.m. with Wendy Goldberg, President. Call Rosie Zweiback to register. THURSDAY, Nov. 2: Adult Study with the Clergy with Rabbi Azriel, 10-11:30 a.m.; Torah on Wheels, noon with Rabbi Linder at Spirit World, 76th & Pacific. Contact Temple office to make a reservation. Cost is $6.

NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN FRIDAY: Minyan, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Rabbi Royi Shaffin. Minyan, MONDAY and THURSDAY, 9 a.m. FRIDAY: 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. SUNDAY: No LJCS Classes. WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Call Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066; No Hebrew classes.

B’NAI MITZVAH Sophia Nicole Miller, daughter of Jennifer and Paul Miller, will become Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Nov. 4, at Temple Israel. Sophia is a seventh-grade Honor Roll student at Peter Keiwit Middle School. Her interests include soccer, singing, helping when and where it is needed, and being with friends.

For her mitzvah project, Sophia traveled to Kansas City to help with the Fourth Annual Abby’s Run for the Heart. They support research in childhood heart disease. She also went to Ezra Millard Elementary School every week to help third-graders with homework in the study center. She has two sisters, Morissa and Madelin, and a brother, Brett. Grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Sandford J Miller, and Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Henry, and Robert Harper.

Great-grandparents are the late Mr. and Mrs. Morris Avirom, and the late Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Henry. Elizabeth Ann Salkin, daughter of Cindy and Rich Salkin, will become Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Nov. 4 during the Havdalah service at Beth El. Elizabeth is a seventh-grade Superior Honor Roll student

at Russell Middle School. She received the Principal’s Award and was selected to be Russell Middle School Ambassador Her interests include tennis, reading, and shopping with friends. She has a sister, Rebecca. Grandparents are Emily and Don Pritchard, and Janette Salkin and the late Arthur Salkin.

Pulverente MONUMENT CO.

October 27, 2006

Noah and the Nuke

SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Noah Noah was a no-nonsense guy. Even his name uses up only two letters in the Hebrew alphabet. You can’t go much better than that. His problem was precisely the opposite of ours. He faced a world where humanity had been wiped out. We face a world in which Americans alone are worried what to do about 300 million people--quite aside from the few dozens that may be in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and who knows where else. But I have flown over Nebraska and driven over it, not from east to west, but from west to east and, with the permission of those who own the land and use it for ranching purposes, we could handle most of it right here. Dreaming aside, how is Noah to go about the business of peopling the world? He does not explain where he found a wife and where his three sons found wives. But,

he managed. He had the three sons and they also managed. The names of their wives are not important. Indeed the Hebrew Scriptures are not particular about women generally, if truth is to be told. So Noah and his three sons managed to people the earth. Our problem is precisely the opposite. But at least we have a device that they did not have. Lo! We have the nuke! And all problems are solved with it. Given the nuke in the hands of fools and rascals it is conceiveable, though the thought is horrendous, that the world may be uninhabitable for decades, if not longer. We have the fools and we have the nuke. If only we could have kept them apart. We know now that Iran has the fools and rascals on the one hand, but it also has the nuke or access to it on the other. Our world has probably never faced a more destructive situation since the time of Noah. Will diplomacy help? Will we be able to buy off, should we buy off those who threaten mass destruction? We may be at the battle of Tours once again; it may be that terrible confrontation of East against West, radical Islam against Christianity (which includes Judaism), for the future of the world. Stick around. The next few decades will probably be interesting!

DEATHS RUTH MALINE Ruth Ginsberg Maline, wife of Morris Maline, former editor of the Jewish Press, died of cancer Oct. 15 in the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. She was 69. Services and burial took place at the Department of Veterans Affairs Quantico National Cemetery, Triangle, VA, with Rabbi Edward Maline, of Boca Raton, Fl, and Hazzan Elisheva Dienstfrey of Agudas Achim Congregation, Alexandria, VA, officiating. Born in Brooklyn, NY, she earned a bachelor’s degree at SUNY Cortland, NY, and taught elementary school in Albany and in Bridgeport, CT. She also worked as a teacher’s aide at Loveland Elementary School in Omaha for seven years. In addition to her husband, she is survived by sons and daughters-in-law, Robert and Karen of Alexandria, VA; Alan and Mindi of Fairfax, VA; four grandchildren, Robin, Jeremy, Charlie and Miles; a sister and brotherin-law, Lois and Jay Miller of Denver; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Rabbi Edward and Marilyn Maline; and sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Susan and Sandy Kasten of Atlanta. Contributions may be made to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home or to the American Cancer Society. SHELDON PERELMAN Former Omahan Sheldon Perelman, died suddenly on Oct. 18 at the age of 60. Graveside services were held Oct. 20 at Beth El Cemetery. He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Rabbi Baruch and Ariela Halevi, Swampscott, MA; daughter and son-in-law, Rebecca and Brian Rosen, Denver, CO, and son, Zachary Perelman, Aspen, CO; wife, Paula Perelman, Birmingham, MI; stepchildren, Brandon, Blain and Britney Reinkensmeyer; grandchildren, Yehuda and Maya Halevi, and Jakob Rosen; sister, Pam Greenberg, Omaha; and brother, Dell Perelman, Potomac, MD. Memorials to Shirat HaYam Synagogue, 55 Atlantic Ave., Swampscott, MA, 01907.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

60 Years Experience With Jewish Lettering and Memorials

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1439 So. 13th 341-2452

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NEW PAY PACKAGE! ALICE MASHBEIN Alice Mashbein died at age 82 after a long illness. Graveside services were held Oct 23 at Oak Hill Cemetery in Council Bluffs. She grew up in Council Bluffs and lived there until 1977 when she and her husband of 59 years, Victor Mashbein, moved to Omaha. She was active in Hadassah, including having been a long-term treasurer, as well as in the Beth Israel Sisterhood. She also is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Robbin Mashbein and Steve Lipton; and grandson, Zach Lipton. Memorials to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. NANCY BABETTE ROBINSON Nancy Babette Robinson died in Jacksonville, FL, at the age of 51. Graveside services will be held Thursday, Nov. 2, 11 a.m., at Temple Israel Cemetery, with Rabbi Eric Linder officiating. She carried a name--Babette--down from her greatgreat-great grandmother. She is survived by her mother and stepfather, former Omahans Carol and Harvey Roffman, now of Tucson, AZ. Memorials to the Jewish Federation of Jacksonville.

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To Submit an Obituary Notice: Send full name, age, date of death, location of service and burial site, as well as other pertinent information to the Jewish Press via e-mail: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; fax, 402.334.5422; or mail, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68114. Obituaries--as well as engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies, and births--also can be submitted at the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s website. Just go to: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press and click on “Submit Announcements.” Guidelines are located on the Jewish Press home page; click on the box at the lower right.

Sukkot at Chabad

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Chabad’s 20th annual Sukkot Festival attracted enthusiastic families who enjoyed crafts, games, dancing, bubbles topped off by a delectable feast in the Sukkah organized by Andreea Shnayder and Kelly Kirk. Left photo: Doron Margalit and her

mother, Ruti, construct an edible Sukkah. Right: Children prepare for the “Four Kinds Hunt” with a little prepping from Estie Katzman.

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Page 20

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 27, 2006

With New Beginning at the Blumkin Home, the Future Is Here

More than 300 well-wishers celebrated the New Beginning of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home last Thursday night at the JCC as Jewish Senior Services Board President Bob Belgrade, photo at top left, JSS Executive Director Mike Silverman, and Ellie Batt, representing the family of Rose Blumkin, use the original shovel from the 1981 ground-

breaking; Rabbi Myer Kripke waits to give the invocation; Blumkin resident Debbie Greene gets a hug from great-grandson Eitan Rosenquist; the crowd greets the computer-animation of the new Home with enthusiasm; Howard Epstein assists his father, Sam, a current rehab resident; four generations of the Greene, Roffman, Norton and

Rosenquist families pass the candle from generation to generation; Bob Belgrade takes the crowd through the new features of the Home; JSS Executive Assistant Phyllis Gentry, Mike Silverman and Steering Committee member Howard Kooper laugh at Bob Batt’s assertion that he was educated at“Mrs. B. U”; Steering Committee member

Joe Kirshenbaum reminisces about the first Home with Federation President Norman H. Sheldon; emcee Joanie Bernstein chats with Ellie Batt; others representing the Blumkin family include Louis Blumkin, Margaret Kirkeby Batt, Ellie Batt, Janice and Bob Batt; Norm Lincoln and JSS staff Shane Kotok and Shelly Fox listen attentively.

It’s Time for a Change! ! Memories, Ruach, and Friendships for a Lifetime . . .

DENA

KOWAL for DOUGLAS

COUNTY ASSESSOR

Dena has 30 years experience! She has established her leadership skills in the following ways: l Office Manager of the Assessor’s Office since 1997 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” Please address questions or mail campaign contributions to: KOWAL for Douglas County Assessor, 137 S. 93rd AV, Omaha, NE 68114 www.kowalfordcassessor.com

For more information about Herzl Camp, please come to the home of Marcy Noodell and Corey Kirshenbaum. Monday November 6th at 7:00pm Please call 402-697-1262 for directions ŹQ&A ŹGiveaways ŹRegistration Information ŹSee the Camp Video BRING A FRIEND! NEW & OLD CAMPERS AND PARENTS WELCOME!

Contact us for more information phone: 952-927-4002 ~ email: info@herzlcamp.org website: www.herzlcamp.org