November 8, 2019

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thejewishpress AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA

this week

Family Hanukkah Extravaganza Page 2

UNO hosts Annual batchelder Conference

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Dr. Rami Arav

Cantor Alexander installation weekend Page 6

inside Spotlight Viewpoint Synagogues Life cycles

Dr. Eric Cline

DR. PAUl A. WilliAMS Chair, Religious Studies Asst. Director, Goldstein Center for Human Rights College of Arts and Sciences, University of Nebraska at Omaha he 21st Annual Batchelder Conference for Archaeology and Biblical Studies will take place Nov. 14–16 at the UNO Thompson Center, located at 6705 Dodge St. in Omaha. Beginning with a plenary talk on Thursday, Nov. 14, 7:30 8:50 p.m. and ending on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 5 p.m., the

Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group Page 5

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SPONSORED by ThE bENJAMiN AND ANNA E. WiESMAN FAMily ENDOWMENT FUND

Dr. Shimon Gibson

Dr. Menahem Mor

conference offers two full days of scholarly presentations on archaeology, art history, biblical studies, geography, holocaust research and textual analysis. The program this year includes 17 speakers from 11 different universities, including speakers from Haifa University, University of North Carolina and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. This year we are fortunate enough to have Dr. Shimon Gibson as our first keynote speaker. His presentation is entitled: Recent Archaeological Discoveries on Mount Zion, See batchelder Conference page 3

Not just another love story Help JCC Girl Scouts collect donations for JFS AMANDA RyAN 2019 Omaha Jewish Film Festival committee member We have all heard the classic story of Romeo and Juliet. Two young lovers are torn apart due to familial discord, all to end tragically. Leona is not that story. This film, directed by Isaac Cherem and starring Mexican actress Naian González Norvind depicts the coming of age love story of Leona, a young Jewish woman living in Mexico City. Unlike Romeo and Juliet, Leona must navigate the waters of exploring her sexuality while maintaining the marriage customs of her Syrian Jewish family. As friends and family

continue down traditional paths, Leona is challenged when she meets and falls in love with a non-Jewish young man. This type of story is all too familiar to many young Jews. How does one continue to hold the minhagim (customs) of their community, while flirting with the world around them? The World Jewish Congress estimates that Mexico is home to around 40,000 to 50,000 Jews making it the fourteenth largest Jewish community in the world. While those numbers seem decent, dating in such a small pool, is quite challenging. Further, many of those communities are very traditional, as is represented in Leona by her observant Jewish family. Leona must explain kashrut and Shabbat to her new lover and friends. She fields shidduch calls (matchmaking calls) while exploring different parts of Mexico City outside of her affluent neighborhood. Leona is torn between the world of her See Leona page 3

GAbby blAiR Staff Writer, Jewish Press Five years ago, two Friedel Jewish Academy mothers, Stephanie Beneda and Lauren Tam, took the initiative to begin the JCC Girl Scout Troop #42729 in order to provide the experience for their daughters while balancing a kosher and shomer lifestyle. Under their guidance, what began as a tiny group of only five girls has now grown to 22 girls ranging from

Kindergarten to 10th grade. While Tam recently moved away, the JCC Troop is staying active and busy under Beneda’s care, although she is humble and quick to share credit. “I feel really blessed to have had four dedicated moms of troop members step up to be co-leaders with me this year: Amy Shapiro, Ana Cruz-Backman, Sarah Abrahamson and Phyllis Coverdell. It is a lot of work and a time commitment, See JCC Girl Scouts page 2


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