November 15, 2013

Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA

Kerry and Netanyahu

November 15, 2013 12 Kislev 5774 Vol. 94 | No. 09

This Week

The great Pew debate: Next week’s issue

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by RON KAMPEAS (JTA) Benjamin Netanyahu and John Kerry met recently in Jerusalem, in the suite in the prime minister’s office named for Yitzhak Rabin. Tensions appeared to be lurking beneath the surface of the meeting.

The Israeli prime minister managed to make clear -- without directly calling Kerry out -- his concerns about American policies on Iran.

First this: We just marked the event 34 years ago when the American Embassy was seized and we heard the chants, “Death to America.”

We heard that two days ago again in Tehran, and this is, I believe, the true face of this regime or the person who controls this regime, the so-called Supreme Leader.

Translation: You’ve spoken with Hassan Rouhani and praised his moderation. But Ali Khameini is in

John Kerry and Benjamin Netanyahu charge, and nothing’s changed.

Next this: We’ve spoken about it many times, and I believe that as long as they continue their goal to enrich uranium to get nuclear weapons, the pressure should be maintained and even increased because they’re increasing enrichment.

Piece of cake

Translation: You and your deputies have said plainly you want to maintain existing pressures on Iran, through sanctions and a U.S. military presence in the Gulf, but not increase it. I’m not playing along.

Netanyahu also had some complaints regarding the state of IsraeliPalestinian peace talks. Amid

charges that Israel’s settlement policies and negotiating stance are hampering talks, Netanyahu seemed eager to shift the blame for any lack of progress to the Palestinians: I want peace with the Palestinians; Israel wants peace with the Palestinians. We agreed three months ago on certain terms. We stand by those terms. We abide scrupulously by the terms of the agreement and the understanding on which we launched the negotiations. I’m concerned about their progress because I see the Palestinians continuing with incitement, continuing to create artificial crises, continuing to avoid, run away from the historic decisions that are needed to make a genuine peace. I hope that your visit will help steer them back to a place where we could achieve the historical peace that we seek and that our people deserve.

Continued on page 2

Profile Wingman

It’s not easy being a crime novelist in Israel Page 12

Inside Point of view Synagogues In memoriam

This Month Celebrating Hanukkah See Front Page stories and more at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press

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Marcia Kapustin and Nanci Kavich

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMPbest present themselves online.

WRIGHT In the post-matchmaker era, datJewish Press Editor ing is a minefield. Online dating, It’s time to find that special per- though for different reasons, can be son. Maybe you’re divorced, or equally intimidating, especially never jumped the broom at all, and once one goes online and faces that decided to wait until you finished scary white space. You know, the college and had a career. But the part where you have to write about dating landscape has changed; yourself, your likes, and so forth. you’re older and wiser, and meeting You want to come up with somesome random guy or girl at a bar thing a little more inspired than just doesn’t cut it. It’s not your style, “loves long walks on the beach.” and it doesn’t work. So when your Even if, in reality, you really do love best friend suggests a dating site, them. Cue Nanci and Marcia. you think, why not? What could Nanci (originally from St. Louis, possibly go wrong? but an Omahan since 1991) and “Plenty,” say Nanci Kavich and Marcia (moved to Omaha three Marcia Kapustin. They know, be- years ago for work) met at a Young cause together, Nanci and Marcia Jewish Omaha event. They were inoperate Profile Wingman, a com- troduced by Bob Goldberg, who at pany that consults clients on how to Continued on page 2

2 | The Jewish Press | November 15, 2013

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ing the summer. All I can tell you is that seeing America’s heartland in “full bloom” is beautiful with (literally) thousands and thousands of acres of corn and soybeans growing all around you. I can only imagine how much gets harvested each year. Plus, while there, we enjoyed the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, two hours away -- who knew pigs could grow to be so large and goats get groomed for showing?

Omaha is one of the most exceptional Jewish communities in all of North America. Jews first arrived there in the mid-1850s and were instrumental in the development of the city. Aaron Cahn and Meyer Hellman were the first Jews to arrive in Nebraska, crossing the river on September 7, 1856. With Omaha serving as the last point on the Oregon Trail for travelers headed across the plains, Cahn and Hellman opened a very successful clothing business.

Between 1901 and 1913, over 2,000 Jews arrived with the help of the Jewish Agricultural Industrial Aid Society and the Jewish Colonization Office. During the first quarter of the 20th century, community activism led to the establishment of a number of organizations, including some of the first chapters of the National Council of Jewish Women, Hadassah, B’nai B’rith and Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA), the national Jewish teen youth group for boys.

Mother Chapter AZA #1 still convenes to this day at their Jewish Community Center.

In 1903, the Association Charities was formed, one of the first three in the United States. This organization was later named The Jewish Welfare Fund and eventually became the Jewish Federation of Omaha.

Today, there are some 6,000 Jews who live in Omaha and the surrounding area. It is a phenomenal community with great leadership and a large philanthropic heart. In addition, one of the community’s hallmarks is its centralized organizational focus where the whole Jewish communal system works collaboratively.

It always amazes me what the organized Jewish community can make happen. Whether in a Jewish community the size of Omaha (6,000) or Portland (45,000), we should take great pride in all that we have built and accomplished. As the small sign in my office says – Success is knowing you make a difference each and every day.

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by SHERRIE SAAG Communications, Jewish Federation of Omaha The Jewish Federated system counts among its members more than 150 communities across the country. Jewish communal professionals who run these community federations meet on occasion to share best practices, whether in person or through electronic technology.

Relationships are important to the communal professional. Sharing ideas, tactics and strategies bring Jewish communities, spread thousands of miles apart just a little closer together. Sometimes these relationships are not just mutually beneficial, they are also ones of mutual admiration.

One such case is that of Marc Blattner the professional and personal friendship between our Chief Development Officer, Marty Ricks, and Marc Blattner, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Portland, Oregon. Blattner and his wife, Sarah, met at Jewish summer camp. He has a long and distinguished career in Jewish communal service, having worked at Federations in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Atlanta and, currently, Portland. Sarah’s parents, Harold and Maneva Edelman, live on a farm outside Treynor, Iowa, that brings the Blattners to the Heartland.

Ricks has children in Portland and, during his visits, meets with Blattner and attends community events when possible.

It’s no secret Blattner is a big fan of the Omaha Jewish community. Shortly after an August, 2013 visit here, he returned to Portland and shared with his community and donors exactly what he thinks of the Jews in Omaha.

We think it’s pretty special and are grateful to Blattner for sharing Jewish Omaha with Portland.

Earlier this week I returned from a family vacation to Iowa.

Yes, my wife’s parents and brother moved 18+ years ago to a small town some 30 miles from Omaha across the river in Iowa. It was the first time in many years that we visited dur-

Continued from page 1 the time was in charge of YJO. Marcia switched jobs later; but since her work requires her to travel, she decided to keep Omaha as her home base. The two hit it off and became close.

“One night, we were hanging out with a friend,” Nanci says, “and he asked for help with his online profile. He is an intelligent guy, with a great job; however, that doesn’t necessarily qualify you for writing a good online profile. You want to sound appealing without bragging, and that is a skill. In the process of helping him, we realized there was a need for this. If you want to join the online dating pool, there really isn’t much help that is available. And so we decided to provide that resource.”

“It’s almost like a cross between helping people date and being a part-time counselor,” Marcia says. “Some people really need a pep talk.”

Nanci adds: “We explain how to bring out the best in yourself while keeping your voice honest. That honesty is very important. Also, you don’t want to write a list. Don’t tell; show.

We are here to help you show yourself in the best possible light. It’s not about making yourself more exciting, or more dazzling, but as you really are. It’s almost a little like a job interview, except most people have no good protocol in place.”

While online dating used to carry somewhat a stigma, that is no longer the case, according to Nanci: “I remember, about seven years ago, I still knew people who wouldn’t admit they met online, even though they were in a successful relationship because of it. Nowadays, it’s much more accepted.”

She’s right: “Online dating has become the #2 form of matchmaking in the U.S., scientists at the University of Rochester now report. The scientists reviewed over 400 psychology studies and public interest surveys. In one study, they found that in a single month in 2011, nearly 25 million unique users around the world were online dating,” Huffington Post reported in 2012.

“Society has become more practical; you can vet people online and get an idea of who they are before meeting them,” Nanci continues. “You can choose to email for a while, maybe talk on the phone and experience their personality before meeting face to face.” However, she adds that the emailing shouldn’t go on forever: “The ultimate goal is to get offline, meet an actual person, and allow the chemistry to happen.

Email is a great way to start, but it is not the end goal.”

“We initially expected to get mostly male clients,” Marcia says, “but it has turned out to be fairly even. The majority are between 30 and 55, with some outliers, and we’re finding that people are really looking for a long-term relationship.”

In addition to profile-help, the two women also operate a very useful website, www.profilewingman.com, which includes advice columns written by Nanci. It includes such gems as Slow Down, Cowboy, and First Date Do’s and Don’ts.

The Summer Hook-up Guide even went viral.

In conclusion, some free advice from Nanci and Marcia on the worst profile mistakes people make: “Don’t interject humor that doesn’t translate, and don’t use obscure references. It shows you are trying too hard to be funny. Get some professional help with your picture, and finally, ask yourself: what is your goal? What are you looking for in a partner? The information in your profile should be relevant to that goal.”

Kerry and Netanyahu Continued from page 1 Kerry wasn’t buying. Later the same day, meeting in Bethlehem with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the secretary of state effusively praised Abbas, and included a shot at Netanyahu’s settlement policies: Let me state unequivocally that President Abbas is 100 percent committed to these talks. He has committed that the Palestinians will not go to the United Nations during the period of time of these talks in exchange for the prisoners that are being released by Israel. That was the agreement. Let me emphasize at this point the position of the United States of America on the settlements is that we consider now and have always considered the settlements to be illegitimate. And I want to make it extremely clear that at no time did the Palestinians in any way agree, as a matter of going back to the talks, that they somehow condone or accept the settlements.

I am convinced that President Abbas is serious about these talks. I’m convinced that he wants to find peace and that he understands that we require compromise by all the parties.

November 15, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 3

Steve Riekes talks Omaha Jewish Reunion

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Omaha has reinvented itself, according to Steve Riekes. He says ours is “a special Jewish community, a model. We aspire to excellence.”

Riekes, a community advocate since he was a law school graduate, wants to show off Omaha and showcas e Jewish Omaha by welcoming back all Jews who have ever Steve Riekes lived here at any time. He has thought about this reunion concept “for a long time. I’m concerned about our community. I think we have a wonderful, marvelous, unique Jewish community. What makes Omaha special should be known and celebrated.

“I knew a lot of people from Sioux City, and they had several reunions in the 1980s,” he continued. “I thought it was an interesting idea, a wonderful idea. Probably at the beginning of the 1990s and again in early 2000, at meetings of leaders in the Jewish community, I brought up the idea of an Omaha Jewish reunion. They took the idea under consideration. But time went by, and I still had this idea.”

Riekes knew it was going to take money to subsidize a reunion and dozens of volunteers to work on it. He talked to his brother Carl and they decided to fund the reunion, “to get it off the ground.” They met again to present the idea to leaders including the rabbis of the Jewish community. This time, Steve Riekes said, “The overwhelming majority were enthusiastic.”

A partner with Marks Clare & Richards

law firm, which he joined in 1965, Riekes noted that his “whole family has been involved in the Jewish community historically.” He became an AZA 100 advisor when he returned to Omaha after completing law school. That was just the start. He’s also served as president of the Cornhusker Lodge of B’nai B’rith and of Friedel Jewish Academy. He’s been a board member of Beth El Synagogue, attends worship services regularly, and participates in Jewish life. A former Jewish Federation of Omaha Board member, Riekes has also volunteered for B’nai B’rith on a national level “to an extent,” he said. Currently, he’s a director and was president of the Housing and Development Law Institute, a nationwide nonprofit membership organization that serves as a legal resource for stakeholders in the affordable and public housing industry.

Concerned with the future of Jewish Omaha, he hopes a reunion will “attract more Jewish people to Omaha. We need growth. Friedel is an excellent school, the Jewish Community Center programs are wonderful and so is the campus. Along with the Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center, the Kripke Federation Library, and the cooperation between community agencies, synagogues, and organizations, this is a great place.” He wants to show off “our three synagogues, the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society that’s one of the largest and best of its kind, and the tri-faith concept. We have a nursing home that’s first class; young, dynamic clergy; vibrant organizations; a wonderfully unique Jewish Press. This community is absolutely marvelous! We have a story to tell and we want to tell it.”

“Look at Central High School today,” he

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Snowbirds

Please let the Jewish Press know in advance when you are leaving and when you are returning. Sometimes several papers are sent to your “old” address before we are notified by the Post Office. Every time they return a paper to us, you miss the Jewish Press and we are charged! Please call us at 402.334.6448 or email us at jpress@ jewish omaha.org.

continued. “We have an outstanding medical center with 1,200 new jobs in Omaha at the new Buffet Cancer Center and hopefully, some will be Jews. We have a world-class zoo, botanical gardens, a magnificent riverfront that celebrates art and nature. It all says something about Omaha. Everything used to be mediocre -- the architecture, city planning. It has blossomed enormously. There are malls, statues, fountains, theater. You can go downtown on a summer evening and there are musicians on the street, people walking and talking. It has a vibrant feel to it. We have a city to show off that we can be proud of.

“I’m concerned about our future and attracting more Jews to live and participate in the Omaha Jewish community.

We’re sending a message, “Hey - this is a good place to live, to work, to raise children.

It’s fun, it’s interesting, it’s diverse.’” As for the reunion planned for next September, “We have the capacity to do it if we want to.” He has confidence in Mary Bernstein of Events, Inc. who, as general chair of the reunion, has already enlisted some 100 volunteers. “We want to get the word out about Omaha and attract some newcomers.” Bernstein can be contacted at maryb@eventsinc.com or call 402.391.0708 for more information or to submit out-of-towners’ names.

Riekes wants people to feel that the reunion isn’t just for people returning to town from some vacation-climate place. It’s also for the Jews in Omaha to welcome old friends and to be hospitable. “Sometimes, living here, you don’t appreciate what you have. And we have a lot to appreciate here in Omaha. I want to tell our community to spread the word, get involved, and celebrate what we have.”

Rosh Chodesh Rocks the House

by ROCHI KATZMAN Chabad Center What do Oreo cookies, tissue paper, dried twigs and square tablecloths have in common? They were all team players in an educational unit presented by Chabad on the topic of Rosh Chodesh and the Jewish Calendar.

A jam-packed vivacious program brimming with creativity and fun was offered to the children of the Lincoln Jewish Community School on Sunday, Nov. 3.

“Sunday’s program was wonderful-- educational and entertaining,” wrote Andrea Halpern, director of the school. “It was lovely to have you all here in Lincoln-Todah”.

4 | The Jewish Press | November 15, 2013

Marriage

Haaretz journalist to appear on Good Shabbos Nebraska

by RABBI JONATHAN GROSS Beth Israel Synagogue This week, Nov. 16, Good Shabbos Nebraska - America’s favorite Shabbos morning talk show - will feature special guest Avital Chizhik, a columnist for Haaretz, Israel’s most widely read daily newspaper.

Avital, 22, gained recognition as a serious journalist for a story on the intriguing and mysterious case of the library of Rabbi Yitzchak Shneerson, the 6th Lubvaitcher Rebbe. The library was seized almost 100 years ago by the Bolsheviks and eventually landed in the archives of Moscow’s national Lenin Library. Since then, the 15,000 rare volumes have been Avital Chizhik the subject of a bitter property dispute that has been a source of tension between the U.S. and Russian governments. Because of the dispute, for the last two years Russians have refused to loan any artwork to American museums, fearing that once the pieces enter the U.S they will be seized and used as leverage to ransom the Shneerson Library.

Avital is an Orthodox Jewish woman, the daughter of Russian immigrants, and she speaks fluent Russian. Her background and language skills uniquely positioned her to do research on the case both here and in Russia. Her piece was published by Tablet Magazine in September of 2013 and has subsequently appeared in many other publications.

For Haaretz, Avital writes pieces of human interest that

GELMAN/LERNER

give her readers a glimpse into the lives of interesting, famous, and, sometimes, not-so-famous, Jewish personalities, as well as a perspective from foreign and exotic communities and cultures. Among those exotic cultures that Avital writes about is the world of the young Orthodox Jewish woman. It is widely believed that there is a divide in Israel between secular and religious Israelis and that the two sides have little exposure to one another. Avital has established herself as an articulate, sophisticated, and, at times, sassy voice for Orthodox Jewish women in a newspaper that caters to a mostly secular audience.

She gained international attention with a piece that she wrote earlier this year responding to a comment by Israeli author and cultural icon Amos Oz. When talking in an interview about his latest work he referred to Orthodox Jewish tradition as a “fossil,” and suggested that those who identify as Orthodox are incapable of intellectual curiosity or rational thinking. Oz was, and remains, Avital’s greatest literary influence and the subject of her undergraduate thesis paper. Nevertheless, Avital responded to Oz in a dignified and respectful piece that beautifully articulates the vibrancy of contemporary Orthodox Jewish thought.

Avital is thrilled to be a guest on Good Shabbos Nebraska and hopes to write an article for Haaretz about our talk show Shabbos format and our community.

For those who don’t know, Good Shabbos Nebraska is our weekly Shabbos morning talk show that features Torah, Jewish news, and exciting guests. The show is not broadcast in any way and the only way to experience it is by coming to shul at 10 a.m. every Shabbos at Beth Israel synagogue – where every Shabbos is a Shabbaton!

Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group reads The Forgotten

by MARK KIRCHHOFF Center for Jewish Life The Nov. 21 meeting of the Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group will focus its attention on The Forgotten, a novel in a continuing series by Faye Kellerman. The discussion will begin at 1 p.m. in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library.

Kellerman was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in Sherman Oaks, California.

In 1986 she published The Ritual Bath which introduced readers to Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus.

People Magazine offered a review that stated “Hands down, the most refreshing mystery couple around.” Decker and Lazarus have been the central Faye Kellerman figures of the series.

Currently, there are well over twenty million copies of Faye Kellerman’s novels in print.

The Forgotten is the eleventh in the Decker/Rina series.

The novel illustrates the tremendous and needless pressure that face today’s teenagers. When a synagogue is desecrated, Decker takes more than a personal interest. It is his house of worship. The perpetrator is soon caught, but Decker is never completely satisfied with the confession. The novel also explores Decker’s relationship with his stepsons, particularly Jacob. The Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group has chosen a number of Kellerman’s novels for discussion in the

past, and this selection will undoubtedly capture the interest of group members.

This November marks the 34th year of the book discussion group. In 1979 a team of dedicated women, including late “Library Diva” Dorothy Kaplan, were intent on beginning a book club at the library. Their goal was to select books with Jewish content and/or authors they hoped would appeal to women of different ages and tastes. With the diversity of topics - everything from poetry and mysteries to science fiction and biographies – the group has expanded its appeal while maintaining the principle of selecting works of Jewish content or

by Jewish authors. The group is open to anyone – women and men – in the community. There is no cost and there is always an insightful exchange of observations. To obtain a book for your participation in this group, contact Shirly Banner at 402.334.6462 or sbanner@jew ishomaha.org.

The Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group is supported by the Center for Jewish Life whose mission it is to maximize involvement of Omaha’s Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences.

Michelle Gelman and Brad Lerner of Chicago were married on Aug. 25 at Sofitel in Chicago. The ceremony was performed by the groom’s cousin, Rabbi Micah Peltz.

The bride earned her Masters of Nursing degree and works as a nurse.

She is the daughter of Dr. Eric and Mira Gelman of Highland Park, Il. The groom works as an Industrial Engineer.

He is the son of Martha and Dick Lerner.

Following a wedding trip to Maui, the couple returned to their home in Chicago.

Engagement WILLENSKY/SCHWARTZ Andi Willensky of Omaha and David Willensky of Palm Springs, CA are thrilled to announce the engagement of their daughter, Allie Willensky to Brian Schwartz, son of Judy and Ronnie Schwartz of Irvine, CA, formerly of West Bloomfield, MI. The bride-to-be graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Psychology. She is a film publicist at ID Public Relations in Los Angeles.

She is the granddaughter of Lenore Ross of Los Angeles.

Her fiancé graduated from Indiana University with a B.A in Political Science and Economics. He earned his Masters of Finance from the London School of Economics. He is the Head of Consumer Production and Retail for the Americas and Australia at DreamWorks Animation.

A wedding is planned for October 2014 at Temple Israel, in Omaha.

Herb Berkowitz at 100

Former Omahan Herb Berkowitz turned 100. Helping him celebrate were his cousins Murray and Bob Newman, Jim Newman of San Fransisco, and Jack Cohen.

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Send a check for $45 for the rest of the year and all of 2014, made out to the Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154.

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November 15, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 5

Foundation seminar educates over seventy professionals

by MARY B. BORT McDermott Will & Emery LLP, California, covered commuEndowment Assistant/Staff Writer, nity property issues for non-community property lawyers.

Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation Donald Jansen is Senior Tax Counsel for the University of More than 70 professional advisors attended the 2013 Yale Texas System Office of General Counsel, and he talked Richards Professional Education Seminar on Oct. 24 at the about charitable lead trusts, including the transfer of underBoys Town National Headquarters Conference Center. The used family wealth and income tax techniques for the charseminar – co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Omaha itably inclined. Law Professor Christopher M. Hoyt, from Foundation (JFO Foundation), Union Bank, and Boys Town University of Missouri-Kansas City, led two sessions. First, – attracted attorneys, accountants, insurance professionals, he explained about the 3.8% health care surtax for higher financial advisors, trust offimodified adjusted gross cers and charitable giving proincome (MAGI), including fessionals from across eastern exemptions and techniques to Nebraska. reduce an individual’s MAGI, “The seminar was excelsuch as utilizing charitable lent,” commented Jeff Sharp, a trusts. In his second session, Principal in Qualified Plan Hoyt focused on planning for Investments and Private retirement assets in an estate, Client Services with including the best ways to Silverstone Group. “I have make charitable uses of retireattended professional educament assets. tion seminars across the An added benefit to the daycountry, and this year’s Yale long seminar was that attorRichards Seminar ranks with neys, accountants, and life the best of them. It was an all- Richard Zacharia of Frankel Zacharia, LLC, left, and JFO and health insurance professtar line-up of speakers with Foundation Board member Paul Epstein. sionals who attended had the all-star results.” opportunity to earn Nebraska Yale Richards, who passed Continuing Education away in 2003, was a promiCredits. nent Omaha attorney and “I was impressed with the senior partner with the firm quality and content of the preof Marks Clare & Richards, sentations, and I applaud the LLC. He made a concerted Jewish Federation of Omaha effort to educate his clients to Foundation for coordinating include gifts to charity in this event,” stated CPA their wills, trusts and estate Richard Zacharia of Frankel planning. “Yale would be so Zacharia, LLC. “I gained pleased to know that this some valuable information large group came together for which will benefit my clients this seminar. He not only as I consult with them on tax Frank Goldberg of Frankel Zacharia, LLC; left, one of the encouraged his clients, but he planning and estate matters. I seminar speakers, Donald Jansen, Senior Tax Counsel of the also encouraged his profeswill continue to encourage University of Texas System Office of General Counsel; Peter sional colleagues, to make them to make charitable givZandbergen from Union Bank. charitable gifting a part of ing part of their estate plan.” every estate plan,” said Bob Kully, a financial advisor who Zacharia also noted, “Several of my clients have estabalso chairs the Milton S. and Corrine N. Livingston lished funds at the Foundation, and I have full confidence in Foundation Fund Committee. The Livingston Foundation the Foundation to be great stewards of those charitable gift Fund is a component fund of JFO Foundation. dollars.”

“Yale Richards served as Executive Director of the Howard N. Epstein, executive director of the JFO Livingston Foundation for 28 years,” continued Kully. Foundation, said, “We are gratified that the Foundation was “When he announced his retirement in 1998, the Livingston able to offer such a top quality continuing education seminar.

Foundation Board honored him by establishing the Yale The Yale Richards Professional Education Endowment Fund, Richards Professional Education Endowment Fund at the together with the generosity of Union Bank and Boys Town, Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. The purpose of made this possible. We have already begun planning for the the fund is to provide financial support for periodic semi- next Yale Richards Professional Education Seminar and we nars for professional advisors and interested donors.” will likely partner with Union Bank and Boys Town again.”

There were four presenters at this year’s seminar.

If you would like to be added to the contact list for future Lawrence Brody is a Partner of Bryan Cave LLP, St. Louis, Yale Richards Professional Education Seminars, please conand he spoke about the uses of life insurance in charitable tact Howard Epstein at 402.334.6466 or hepstein@jewish planning. M. Read Moore, a partner in the law firm of omaha.org.

Roses among thorns

by ROCHI KATZMAN Chabad Center What could have been an ordinarily bleary, blustery Friday evening, turned out to be delightfully inspiring and educational for more than 35 women of many ages of our community. While the wind howled outside, we gathered around the Shabbat table, warmed with flickering candles and the glow that each woman brought to the gathering on Nov. 1.

This annual, much-anticipated, evening allows women their very own healthy dose of Shabbat. Cheryl Lerner, a regular attendee, said “Shabbat is a time for family and I usually like to spend it at home. It is up to us, though, to make Shabbat special in our own homes and set the tone for those whom we influence”. She continued to explain how meaningful this evening is to her. “This special women’s Shabbat gives us the opportunity to be nurtured and empowered with Shabbat so we can then pass it on.”

Shani Katzman introduced the theme of the evening, ‘A

Rose Among Thorns,’ which sparked discussion about how we are this proverbial Rose, and how the thorns contribute to our growth. Bobbi Liebowitz shared her sentiments about the evening and the conversation: “I so enjoyed that Shabbat meal. It was a celebration because you made it so. It was enjoyable, educational and over all, delicious!! Thank you for including me. You made me feel very welcome, as you always do.”

I was happy to share some of my personal feelings on twinhood - a quality that I was born into. In connection to the Parsha, which speaks of the relationship of the famous biblical twins, Jacob and Esau, there was a lot to explore. It was fun to exchange ideas and perspectives, as well as delve into some pretty deep Kabbalistic ideas.

Lisa Epstein said, “Thanks for Shabbos dinner. It was wonderful and delicious. I really enjoyed it!” Many women were so excited about the dinner, the recurring question seemed to be: “Ladies! When are we meeting next?”

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Netanyahu at G.A. continues ‘bad deal’ mantra on Iran...

by JTA NEWS STAFF arrangements” in order to be confident that a peace with the JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Palestinians will last, and referred to Jerusalem as Israel’s Netanyahu stressed his hard line against Iran’s nuclear pro- “undivided capital.” The Palestinians claim the eastern half gram in an address to the Jewish Federations of North of the city as their capital and have slammed recent Israel America General Assembly in Jerusalem. announcements of building in the West Bank and eastern Speaking Sunday on the Jerusalem, as have the United opening night of the G.A., States and others.

Netanyahu also repeated his “The minimum thing we can demand that in order for Israel demand is that the official to reach a peace deal with the position of the Palestinian Palestinians, Palestinian leadleadership recognizes the ership must recognize Israel as Jewish state,” Netanyahu said. a Jewish state.

“This will be a long process He finished by calling for a but it must begin with that.” continued strong bond At the end of the speech, between Israel and the North Netanyahu praised the strong American Jewish community. relationship between Israel On Iran, Netanyahu critiand the U.S. and Canadian cized the compromise proJewish communities. He noted posed in recent multilateral his government’s efforts to negotiations over its nuclear reach a compromise between program, calling it a “bad feuding factions at the Western deal” multiple times.

Wall, long a high priority of “What is being proposed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressing the GA in American Jewish leaders.

Credit: ASHERNET now is a deal in which Iran Jerusalem.

“The Kotel is in Israel, but retains all of that capacity” to build a nuclear weapon, the Kotel belongs to all the Jewish people,” Netanyahu said, Netanyahu told the representatives of Jewish communities using the Hebrew term for the wall. “We have to consult across the United States and Canada. “Not one centrifuge is together and reach a solution together.” dismantled; not one. Iran gets to keep tons of low enriched Netanyahu appeared relaxed during the speech, cracking uranium.” jokes, leaning on the podium and calling out audience memWestern powers and Iran failed to reach agreement in nego- bers by name. And conference delegates speaking before tiations last week on easing sanctions against Iran in return for Netanyahu echoed his speech’s main points, especially on Iran. the Islamic Republic freezing its nuclear program for six Speaking at a reception for the Ruderman Family months. The sides are expected to meet again in 10 days.

Foundation before Netanyahu’s speech, former Netanyahu Netanyahu said he would continue to criticize such an adviser Dore Gold called for the Jewish people “to unite on agreement and called on his audience to join him in advo- this issue of Iran.” cating against it. Later he suggested that Iran has plans to And introducing the prime minister, Jewish Federations attack the United States.

Chairman Michael Siegal said the international community “When it comes to Jewish survival and the survival of the must oppose the Iranian nuclear program.

Jewish state, I will not be silenced, ever,” he said to loud “A nuclear Iran is an unacceptable position,” he said. “It is cheers from the crowd. “We are the Jewish state. We are unacceptable to Israel, it is unacceptable to the U.S., it is charged with defending ourselves and speaking up. All of us, unacceptable to the world.” all of us, have to stand up and speak up.”

On Sunday morning, at the start of the Cabinet meeting, Regarding ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, Netanyahu called the deal on the table between the world Netanyahu repeated his long-held conviction that the root of powers and Iran “bad and dangerous.” the conflict is Palestinian refusal to recognize a Jewish state.

“It is dangerous not just for us, it is also dangerous for He also said that Israel must have “robust security them [the world powers],” he said.

...But Peres and Shapiro sound conciliatory note

by JTA NEWS STAFF JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli President Shimon Peres and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro told North American Jewish leaders that they have confidence in U.S. determination to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

On Monday, addressing a plenary session at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly in Jerusalem, Shapiro stressed the commitment of President Obama and the United States to Israel’s security, calling the alliance between the two countries “as close as it has ever been.”

Shapiro said both countries share the goal of stopping Iran’s nuclear program.

“There is no greater priority for the United States and Israel than preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” he said. “On this issue the United States and Israel share an identical objective. [Obama] will not permit Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, period.”

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Peres downplayed reports of divisions between the United States and Israel regarding recent negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program, and expressed confidence in the U.S. handling of the issue.

“The United States is our best friend, and the friendship of the United States to us is deep and meaningful,” Peres said. “[Obama] committed himself not to permit the Iranians to become a nuclear power, not just for the sake of Israel but for the sake of humanity.”

The comments by Peres and Shapiro contrast with recent speeches by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he called a proposal by the U.S. and other Western powers regarding Iran’s nuclear program “a bad deal.”

“What is being proposed now is a deal in which Iran retains all of that capacity” to build a nuclear weapon, Netanyahu told the G.A. on Sunday. “Not one centrifuge is dismantled; not one. Iran gets to keep tons of low-enriched uranium.”

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In our 11-8-13 edition, we published an article by Howard Epstein with a chart that showed the advantages of donating stock (rather than cash) to the JFO Foundation.

Through no fault of Howard, incorrect figures were published. The correct figures are above; the Jewish Press sincerely regrets the error.

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Dr. Moshe Gershovich, UNO History professor, and Middle East expert will discuss the Arab Spring and the Arab Winter: Are they one and the same? on Wednesday, Nov. 20, noon, at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. An optional buffet lunch costs $11; beverage service only is $3.

For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org.

LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Yiddish is now presented in transliterated form using the Roman alphabet; everyone can become a maven instantly.

One word in Yiddish has more meaning than a dozen words in any other language. So be a mentsh and zog a por verter, (say a few words). We meet every Thursday from 1-3 p.m., in the boardroom of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. For information, please call Anne Skolkin at 402.343.1638.

November 15, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 7

New offerings at the Kripke Jewish Federation Library

by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Program Coordinator, The Center for Jewish Life A great many new books has been added to the collection at the Kripke Jewish Federation Library during the past month. The library, an integral program of the Center for Jewish Life, provides community members with a wealth of materials for leisure, learning and more. Sony e-readers are also available to check-out allowing you to carry nearly 40 books in just one hand.

The library, located by the main entrance of the Jewish Federation of Omaha campus, is open 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Friday. The library’s online catalog is available 24/7 on the Kripke Library page of the Jewish Federation website at www.jewishomaha.org.

The following are just a few of the recent new arrivals.

Fiction A Guide for the Perplexed: A Novel

by Dara Horn Software prodigy Josie Ashkenazi has invented an application that records everything its users do. When an Egyptian library invites her to visit as a consultant, her jealous sister Judith persuades her to go. The story becomes an engrossing adventure that intertwines the betrayal of a sister, the Book of Genesis, the medieval philosophy of Moses Maimonides, and the modern digital frontier in which nothing is ever forgotten. A Guide for the Perplexed is a novel of profound inner meaning and astonishing imagination.

The Beast

by Faye Kellerman In this latest installment of the Decker/Lazarus series, the professional and the personal intersect in treacherous ways.

Hobart Penny is found dead in his apartment and the cops think that his pet cat -- an adult female tiger -- attacked the reclusive elderly billionaire. But it soon becomes clear that the beast that killed the eccentric inventor is all too human. Digging into the victim’s life, Decker and his colleagues discover Penny was an exceptionally peculiar man with exotic tastes. To break open a case involving the two most primal instincts -- sex and murder -Decker wrestles with a difficult choice. Should he turn to a man with expert knowledge of both, Chris Donatti, the dangerous man who also happens to be the father of Decker’s foster son, Gabriel Whitman, a boy not without his own problems?

The Inbetween People

by Emma McEvoy Avi Goldberg, the son of a Jewish pioneer, sits at a desk in a dark cell in a military prison in the Negev desert. He fills the long nights writing about his friend Saleem, an Israeli Arab he befriended on a beach one scorching July day and the story of Saleem’s family, whose loss of their ancestral home in 1948 cast a long shadow over their lives. Then comes the Intifada in September 2000, which rips apart their people and they both learn that war devours everything, that even seemingly insignificant, utterly mundane things get lost in war; and that, sometimes, if you do not speak of these things, they are lost forever.

Non-Fiction An American Bride in Kabul

by Phyllis Chesler In 1961, 20 years old and in love, Phyllis Chesler, a JewishAmerican girl from Brooklyn arrived in Kabul with her Afghan bridegroom. Authorities promptly took away her American passport and she found herself the property of her husband’s family with no rights of citizenship. Back in Afghanistan, her husband, a wealthy, westernized foreign college student with dreams of reforming his country, reverted to traditional and tribal customs. Chesler found herself trapped in a posh polygamous family, with no chance

of escape. She fought against her seclusion and lack of freedom, her Afghan family’s attempts to convert her from Judaism to Islam, and her husband’s wish to permanently tie her to the country through childbirth. Chesler recounts her

ordeal, the nature of gender apartheid -- and her longing to explore this beautiful, ancient, and exotic country and culture. Chesler nearly died there; but she managed to get out, returned to her studies in America, and became an author and an ardent activist for women’s rights throughout the world.

The New York Nobody Knows: Walking 6,000 Miles in the City

by William Helmreich As a kid growing up in Manhattan, the author played a game with his father they called “Last Stop.” They would pick a subway line and ride it to its final destination, and explore the neighborhood there. Decades later, Helmreich teaches university courses about New York, and his love for exploring the city is as strong as ever. Putting his feet to the test, he decided that the only way to truly understand New York was to walk virtually every block of all five boroughs-an astonishing 6,000 miles. His epic journey lasted four years during which he spoke with hundreds of New Yorkers from every part of the globe and from every walk of life, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former mayors Rudolph Giuliani, David Dinkins, and Edward Koch.

Jews and Booze: Becoming American in the Age of Prohibition

by Marni Davis At the turn of the 20th century, American Jews and prohibitionists viewed one another with growing suspicion. Jews believed that all Americans had the right to sell and consume alcohol, while prohibitionists insisted that alcohol commerce and consumption posed a threat to the nation’s

morality and security. Jews and Booze examines American Jews’ long and complicated relationship to alcohol during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Davis offers a novel perspective on a previously unstudied area of American Jewish economic activity -- the making and selling of liquor, wine, and beer -and reveals that alcohol commerce played a crucial role in Jewish immigrant acculturation and the growth of Jewish communities in the United States.

Children and Young Readers Oy, Feh, So?

by Cary Fagan and Gary Clement For ages 4-8. Every Sunday Aunt Essy, Aunt Chanah, and Uncle Sam drive up in the old Lincoln for the afternoon. They plop themselves down in the living room; and no matter what anyone says, their response is always the same -- “Oy,” “Feh,” “So?” One afternoon the three children try to provoke a different reaction but their aunts and uncle remain unimpressed. Cary Fagan’s characteristically dry humor and Gary Clement’s witty illustrations perfectly depict a family with loveable quirks in this story that is sure to become a favorite.

Greenhorn

by Anna Olswager For grades 5-8 – In 1946, a young Holocaust survivor arrives at a New York yeshiva where he will study and live. His only possession is a small box that he never lets out of his sight.

Daniel, the young survivor, rarely talks; but the narrator, a stutterer who bears the taunts of the other boys, comes to consider Daniel his friend. The mystery of what’s in the box propels this short work, but it’s the complex relationships of the schoolboys that reveal the larger human story.

Room for One More

by Sheryl Prenzlau and illustrated by Adi Katz For ages 6-10. Chaim and Yenta are at their wits’ end - with ten children and a one-room house, they decide it’s high time to get the rabbi’s advice. In this humorous retelling of the well-known tale, the characters and their dilemma come alive through colorful rhymes and animated illustrations. Room for One More is guaranteed to make parents chuckle and children laugh out loud while offering a profound life lesson.

We Can Do Mitzvos from Aleph to Tav

by Yael Zolan and illustrated by Shira Allen For ages 4-7 - Step into the world of Alef Bais and mitzvos, with this clever, colorful kids’ book. Each letter introduces a different mitzvah - from alef to tav, giving children a taste for a wide range of mitzvos as they absorb the letters of the Alef Bais. With bright, endearing illustrations, this book is a great learning tool and lots of fun.

Know of a new book you would love to have added to the collection? Just give us a call! Is your favorite Jewish author publishing a new book soon? Did a friend in another city tell you about a great book on a Jewish subject or with Jewish content? Perhaps you heard an interview on the radio with a title that sounds intriguing. Just call the library at 402.334.6462 and give us your wish list.

The Kripke Jewish Federation Library is a program of the Center for Jewish Life as part of its mission to maximize involvement of Omaha’s Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences. For additional information, please call 402.334.6462.

EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE & OFFICE CLOSING The Jewish Press office is closed Thursday, Nov. 28, for Thanksgiving; the deadline for the Dec. 6 issue is Tuesday, Nov. 26, noon. Questions? Call 402.334.6448.

Considering changing your Medicare plan?

Please contact us before you make any changes.

We are here to answer your questions.

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8 | The Jewish Press | November 15, 2013

Point of view

American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

Birthright

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor That American Jews under 25 don’t feel as much of a connection to Israel (see Estella Fox’ article on page 9) should not come as a surprise. We don’t need a Pew poll to tell us that. However, we may not often hear it expressed in such clear language, which is why we have to listen to each other much more. We kind of tend to assume we know, because of figures and statistics, but we don’t necessarily think of it in a very real context.

The same is true for that poll we can’t stop talking about: numbers on a page, in the end, don’t really tell us what we need to know. Talk to that interfaith family, your secular, Reform, Conservative or Orthodox neighbors directly and you may get a much more honest picture. That is, as long as we are not afraid of the answer.

Some of you might read Estella’s article and scoff.

What does she know? But that would be a grave mistake. Being Jewish isn’t about taking things for granted, simply repeating what others have told you; it’s about asking tough questions and digging until you come up with an answer you can live with.

It’s about thinking critically, and wrestling with the facts before you. It’s having the courage to address the elephant in the room.

So let’s wrestle: why should the average 16-yearold care about Israel?

It depends; which Israel are we talking about? The land of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; of Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel? The land of the tombs at Hevron, the remnants of the Temple and an archeological dig on every corner? Or the land that was fought for and won in 1948, when a bunch of ragtag refugees who had nothing to lose traded the ravages of the Holocaust for a new home? What about the modernday Israel, with all its political quagmires, technological advances, and entire generations of Jews born and raised as Sabras? What about Palestinians? Druze? Israeli Christians, Copts, Ethiopian Jews, Sudanese refugees? Chinese immi-

grant workers? Refugees from the former Soviet Union?

How about all of the above?

To think that we can simply talk to our children about as complex a place as Israel, and expect them to feel a deep and emotional connection is naive. It’s also not working. We have to show, rather than tell. That is where Birthright comes in;

Rabbi Azriel mentioned it last week during the Pew panel discussion, and it deserves a closer look.

“Since its inception in December 1999, Taglit-Birthright Israel has sent over 350,000 Jewish young adults to Israel.

They come from 64 countries, all 50 U.S. States and Canadian provinces, and from nearly 1,000 North American colleges and universities,” it says on www.birthrigh tisrael.com. It continues: “Taglit” means “discovery” in Hebrew. And that, in a word, is the goal of the trip – a discovery of Israel and its people, discovery of one’s own personal connection to Jewish values and tradition, and discovery of the ways in which one can be a part of the larger

Jewish community.”

Participants must be between the age of 18 and 26, and have graduated high school. Round trip airfare (from designated cities), hotel accommodations, transportation, at least two meals per day and other associated costs (such as admission to sites) are all free. Not included: tips, personal purchases, and travel - and medical insurance. There is a deposit, which is fully refunded after the trip is completed. Applicants must also have at least one Jewish birth parent, or have completed Jewish conversion through a recognized Jewish denomination, and identify as Jewish while not actively practicing another religion.

Once our young people visit Israel and experience it for themselves, they will have a much better chance of understanding what we are trying to tell them. Israel is important, but we cannot expect them to just take our word for it.

Should we expect our kids to care more about Israel than about the rest of the world around them?

Perhaps it is something we wish for, but the world is a changing place. More and more we hear about how the younger generation of American Jews cares as much about making the world a better place, they just don’t exclusively donate to Jewish causes.

I think we can choose to view that as a problem, or we can choose to see the glass half full. As parents and grandparents, we tend to worry about our kids. It’s what we do, no matter what the circumstances. But when we really should be concerned, is when there is radio silence. As long as young Jewish Americans keep wrestling with complicated issues, keep asking what it means to be Jewish, and keep talking, I think we’ll be okay. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not sure. But I’m optimistic.

We’re raising kids who can think for themselves, and that is a great thing. It comes with a price, because kids who think will unavoidably think things we don’t agree with. But the alternative, a generation that doesn’t care one iota about being Jewish, is much, much worse.

A major impediment to peace

Focus on issues ABRAHAM KATSMAN (JNS.org) The subject of incitement as an impediment to Israeli-Palestinian peace may finally be getting the attention it deserves. But even now, discussion of the issue glosses over a deeper problem.

Israel has been complaining for years about Palestinian Authority incitement against Israel and against Jews, arguing that it merely inflames old anger, stirs up violence and terror, and foments new hatred in each new generation. Most depressingly, it prevents the population from coming to terms with the idea of peacefully coexisting with Jewish Israel.

The problem is important enough that an AmericanIsraeli-Palestinian committee monitoring incitement was established in 1998. And it is intractable enough that the committee disbanded after a year of bickering, unable to reconvene since.

Israel has recently given the issue a higher profile, including the publication in The New York Times of a column by International Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz entitled How Palestinian Hate Prevents Peace. Steinitz makes a strong case that constant Palestinian dehumanization of “Zionists” as “barbaric monkeys” or “fork-tailed devils,” glorification of terrorists (including Hitler), and denial of Jewish history are internalized by the Palestinian population -- particularly children -- and make it impossible for any culture of peace

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Jewish Press Board Eric Dunning, Caryn Scheer, Bobbi Leibowitz, Past President; Scott Farkas; Sandy Friedman; Noah Priluck; Paul Rabinowitz; Mark Senal; Nancy Wolf; David Kotok, Sarah Grossman-Lopez.

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to take root.

That column apparently drew diplomatic blood. The PA felt compelled to react, choosing statements by Likud Beiteinu’s Avigdor Lieberman as their target. Recently, Lieberman said that PA President Mahmoud Abbas is no partner for peace. He stated that the current atmosphere is not conducive to any final status agreement due to the radicalized atmosphere cultivated by incitement in Palestinian textbooks and media.

That was tough talk by Lieberman, but hardly inflammatory. Still, PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat, the PA foreign ministry, and the PA’s official news agency all went over the top condemning the comments, calling Lieberman’s statements “dangerous incitement” and “state terror.” For good measure, they called Lieberman a “gangster” and a “fascist.”

The mutual allegations of incitement fly. But there is an imbalance in the type, nature, and source of the incitement by the respective sides. When Israel’s open democracy clashes with the PA’s undemocratic political culture, even verbal confrontations are asymmetrical. Sure, there are incendiary comments made by individual Israelis here and there, including some by politicians. But the incitement coming from the Palestinians is pervasive, and it comes from official PA channels.

At an institutional level, as Steinitz pointed out, the PA is constantly hammering messages that no Jewish state is legitimate, as there is no Jewish people and no Jewish history in Israel; that Jews and/or Zionists are corrupt creatures who

corrupt those around them; that the Palestinian struggle will continue until Israel is uprooted and replaced with a Palestinian Arab state; and that all forms of resistance -- terror included -- are honorable and valid, subject only to the political expedience of particular tactics.

Furthermore, while Israeli media uncovers, reports, and condemns incidents of Israeli incitement, the Palestinian media is used as a vehicle to kindle and stoke incitement against Israel.

Schools provide another contrast. Israeli textbooks have extensive discussions of the Palestinian refugees created by the 1948 war and their plight in various countries; Palestinian textbooks, by contrast, have no maps of Israel, do not mention the Holocaust or the 800,000 Jewish refugees from Arab lands resettled in Israel, and pay no attention to any legal or historical claims the Jewish people have to the disputed land. Terrorists are lionized; Jews are demonized.

The incitement serves to remind Israelis just how far the Palestinians are from accepting the existence of a Jewish state. But among Palestinians, it only perpetuates the rejectionism of Israel that has been at the core of the dispute since long before 1967. With Palestinian hearts hardened, it is impossible for even well-intended Palestinian leaders to take anything but maximalist, rejectionist negotiating positions.

Yet focusing on incitement misses a more subtle -- but more fundamental -- part of the equation: the absence of contrary, counter-incitement by Arab and Palestinian voices.

Continued on page 9

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November 15, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 9

The importance of Israel

Focus on issues ESTELLA FOX I distinctly remember Friday night services with my Rabbi Meltzer from Or Shalom Synagogue in San Diego. The importance of Israel was hammered into my head for hours as I nodded and silently agreed. In my 2nd grade class, we made Tzedakah boxes, colored markers streaking our fingers, and we were expected to bring in money every week to help those less fortunate in Israel.

Israel: the place where every Jew is welcome. The place where we, even as Americans, can find our homeland. The place we all care about, even if our only ties with this country almost 7,000 miles away is through our religion. As a targeted philanthropist, and stereotypical adolescent, I am forced to question my relationship with Israel.

I am expected to feel a strong connection with Israel. Such a strong connection, in fact, that it is insisted I donate money and actively worry about a place I have never seen.

Why does Israel hold such a high precedence in our hearts?

It is presumed, that as Jews, we have a relationship with

our homeland. However, as a Reform Jew, I would be looked down upon by people in Israel who follow the Jewish faith more traditionally. By some Israelis, I would not even be considered Jewish. Donating money to a country that does not fully accept me as a representative of the Jewish faith seems hypocritical. Why should I be responsible for partially funding Israel when I won’t be accepted by all if I choose to travel there? I was born in America. I am an American teenager with Jewish faith, and that provides very little reason as to why I should care about Israel more than other countries who are in a worse position, not only in regards to their economy, but in their stance on human rights.

The financial situation in Israel shows that there is no dire need for donations. Israel has a GDP per capita of over $31,000 and a GDP growth of 3.1%, which is higher than the United States’ and the United Kingdom’s GDP growth. In America, over 47 million people are living in poverty; however, the Jewish youth is expected to worry about Israel. As a privileged Jew, I see no need to throw money at a country that is suffering marginally less than others. Rather, I feel compelled to donate money to those who need it most. Noting Israel’s economy, Ethiopia has a GDP per capita of around $470. When I

Turning to poetry, 75 years after Kristallnacht

Behind the headlines JANET R. KIRCHHEIMER Let us remember... that in the end we go to poetry for one reason, so that we might more fully inhabit our lives and the world in which we live them, and that if we more fully inhabit these things, we might be less apt to destroy both.

— Christian Wiman NEW YORK (JTA) — It was evening and it was morning, Nov. 9 and 10, 1938. Those days that became known as Kristallnacht, with its deceptively beautiful and poetic sounding name, “Night of Crystal,” -- or, more commonly, “The Night of Broken Glass.”

Kristallnacht was a two-day pogrom unleashed by Nazi party officials and carried out by stormtroops and the Hitler Youth. About 100 Jews were killed, almost 270 synagogues destroyed, and 7,500 Jewish-owned establishments looted.

Tens of thousands of Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps. My father was one of them.

After hiding for the night in the family basement in Niederstetten, a small village in southern Germany, my father was ordered to report to the town hall on the morning of Nov. 10. When he asked what he had done wrong, he was told if he wanted to go home, they would arrest his father instead. The police had a quota of 10 men to arrest. So along with nine others, my father was loaded onto a truck and taken to Dachau. He was 16 years old.

It has been 75 years since that day. My father and I have talked many times about his experiences in Dachau. He told me how he stood in line to be photographed, fingerprinted and have his head shaved, how he stood naked before SS guards who aimed fire hoses at prisoners and then gave them a striped cotton uniform. “If you were lucky,” he said, “you got a hat.”

My father passed away two years ago. Other survivors of the Shoah are dying every day. How will we remember when the last survivors are gone? And what form will that remembrance take?

As the child of two survivors, I have given much thought to what will happen after the survivors are gone and the next generation assumes responsibility for sharing the Holocaust narrative. There have been many efforts to ensure Holocaust remembrance, including academic study, recorded survivor

A Reform leader at the Rebbe’s farbrengen

by DANIEL TREIMAN As my colleague Ben Harris recently reported, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, attended the recent gathering of Chabad emissaries from around the world.

However, as the post reported, Rabbi Alexander Schindler -- who led the URJ’s predecessor organization, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, from 1973 to 1996 -- also had some notable contact with Chabad. It turns out, Schindler had once attended the Lubavitcher’s Rebbe’s farbrengen in Crown Heights.

In his installation sermon from 2012, Jacobs said that Reform Jews could “learn important lessons from Chabad about creating non-judgmental opportunities to experience Jewish practice and build sacred relationships.” He also vowed that his movement would no longer permit Chabad to operate on campus without competition.

testimonies, memorial services, museums and Holocaust education. While all of these are invaluable, the disappearance of first-hand witnesses will require new ways to transmit the moral lessons and wisdom that can be gained through remembering.

“After the death of the last witnesses, the remembrance of the Holocaust must not be entrusted to historians alone,” observed the novelist Aharon Appelfeld. “Now comes the hour of artistic creation.”

In 2007, I published a book of poetry about the Holocaust and my family, How to Spot One of Us. Working with director Richard Kroehling, I am now producing BE•HOLD, a performance film that explores Holocaust poetry from the rise of Nazism to the present day. Highlighting poems by well-known and lesser-known poets, we are creating a deep well of voices responding to evil and its aftermath.

Poetry, like all great art, provokes us. And poetry about the Holocaust in particular can provoke us not only to remember, but to live more fully and with more meaning.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti called poetry “the shortest distance between two humans.” Though nothing can take the place of the survivors themselves, the poetry left by victims and survivors can shorten the distance between survivors and succeeding generations, helping to ensure that the Shoah is remembered. It can also help us internalize the Shoah and use its moral lessons for our personal lives.

Toward the end of his life, my father was concerned that everyone in our family knew the stories of his family members who were murdered in Auschwitz. I told him I will always remember their stories and pass them down.

There are many ways to remember. I choose to remember through poetry.

Janet R. Kirchheimer is the author of How to Spot One of Us and producer of BE•HOLD. She is a teaching fellow at Clal -- The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.

Impediment to peace Continued from page 8 The rambunctious Israeli press, politicians, and public cover the political spectrum, and no one is shy about disagreeing with government positions regarding the peace process. An alphabet-soup of Jewish and Israeli organizations regularly protests government policy.

By contrast, where is the Palestinian dissenting opinion? Where are the Arabic opinion columns arguing that Jews aren’t treacherous devils? That Jews have a deep and ancient connection to the land? That blowing up Israeli cafes and buses is inherently wrong? That real peace with a Jewish Israel isn’t an entirely bad idea? That peace may require that not all of the millions of descendants of 1948 refugees be able to settle in Israel?

Where is the Palestinian Peace Now? The Arab Voice for Peace? P-Street? The Palestinian movement to boycott and divest from Palestinian entities until terror and violence against Israelis is ended?

Curbing Palestinian incitement would go a long way toward peaceful coexistence. But incitement is only a symptom; the uniformly anti-Israel monopoly on Arab and Palestinian opinion is the bigger problem.

Abraham Katsman is an American attorney and political commentator living in Israel. More of his work is available at abekatsman.com.

was scrounging up change to put in the Tzedakah box for Israel, our class raised around $50. This would, effectively, be over 10% of Ethiopia’s GDP per capita today.

Although my class’s mere $50 would not have impacted Ethiopia’s economy, the justification for providing money to affluent countries must be questioned. There is no telling whether or not I will care more about Israel in the future.

Though, odds are, I will be more concerned with women’s rights in China than I will with fiscally-stable Israel. Of course, Israel is important to Jews for spiritual purposes. We cannot forget our past and the reason Israel was created.

However, with so many perils throughout the world, it is our responsibility to choose which ones are truly urgent.

Innovator, entrepreneur, hilarious, intelligent. These are a few of the things my mother says as she tucks me in at night. Not only am I a managing editor of my high school’s newspaper The Lance, but I’ve also ‘managed’ to keep up with this season of the intellectually stimulating Grey’s Anatomy. My awards include a participation award in a horse show, and my sophomore English teacher once called me “painfully average.” I am Estella Fox, a junior at Westside High School, and I approve this message.

Letters TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor, I am researching the life of Ella Fleishman Auerbach (1893-1972). She wrote Jewish Settlement in Nebraska (1927), History of Medicine in Nebraska (1928), and was an Omaha World-Herald reporter. I invite people who have memories of this remarkable Omaha Jewish woman to contact me by phone, 402.659.2455 or by email, obpomni@ aol.com.

Thank you, Oliver B. Pollak Dear Editor, I attended the community-wide meeting at Temple Israel on Tuesday Nov. 5, the purpose of which was to discuss the Pew study on the current state of Judaism. Included in the discussion panel were the following, all male: the rabbis of Temple Israel, Beth El, Beth Israel and Chabad, and the director of the Federation, all of which was moderated by a member of an Omaha synagogue.

Neither Hazzan Krausman nor I were invited to give our experienced opinions based on years of hands-on contact with Jews of all ages. Further, as the only current female ordained clergy in Omaha, and who has been here 12 ½ years, my non-invitation was vexing at best. Women have been rabbis and cantors in Reform Judaism for the past 40 years and the same in Conservative Judaism for 30. Women overwhelmingly are the principals of our schools, teach our children, volunteer to chant Torah and Haftarah, organize community projects, attend services and otherwise stay engaged in Jewish life. Is there any doubt that we have opinions regarding Judaism in America and around the world?

Is there any doubt that we are spiritual, political and learned?

One of the rabbis posited that we all should return to the times of no denominations, that we should all embrace Orthodoxy, observing Shabbat and the mitzvot. I certainly have no problem with keeping Shabbat the way I understand it as a Reform Jew; likewise for the mitzvot. It is arrogant to assume that because one is a liberal Jew, one does NOT do mitzvot. Temple Israel is a leader not just in Omaha but in the country in our work towards healing the world.

Positioning one branch of Judaism against another is unhelpful and divisive, and ironic to say the least when discussing concerns over Jewish demographics.

Last, there are the issues of tzniut, the rabbinic modesty opinions found in the Talmud which include kol isha.

Neither I nor any of my female colleagues have any intention of ever again letting any male mute us, as it is God who gave us our voices with which to speak and sing. It is not immodest to pray, to speak out against injustice, and to help solve the issues that face us today. It is astonishing that this must be addressed in the Omaha community of which we are so proud, and abhorrent that Israeli women have a much harder time expressing themselves religiously. If one is truly concerned about the future of Judaism, pay attention to Jewish women and girls.

Cantor Wendy Shermet Editor’s note: the story about the Nov. 5 Rabbis’ panel will be published in our Nov. 22 edition.

Visit us at jewishomaha.org

10 | The Jewish Press | November 15, 2013

Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 | 712.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com For information on our historic synagogue – dates and times for Friday night services, call 712.323.8885.

FRIDAY, Dec 13: Services, 7:30 p.m. followed by an oneg with guest speaker, Joan Cooper, Foster Care Advocate on A Jewish Journey to Foster Care. The community is invited.

Miles Remer will officiate at all of the Speaker Series Services.

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

FRIDAY: Beth El Chef ’s Demo, 1 pm. at the Blumkin Home; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat services, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation (3-7), 10 a.m.; Mini Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m.; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 4:45 p.m.

Family Shabbaton, Nov. 15-17, Lied Lodge in Nebraska City.

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

SUNDAY: No BESTT Classes; No Torah Study Group this week; Cemetery Discussion Class, 10 a.m. Rabbi Abraham will discuss the three papers approved by the Conservative Movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards.

Everyone is welcome.

TUESDAY: Wrestling with the Rabbis of the Talmud, 10 a.m. weekly adult-education class led by Rabbi Abraham.

No charge to attend; everyone is welcome.

WEDNESDAY: BESTT Classes, 4:15 p.m.; USY Board Meeting, 5:45 p.m.; Sisterhood Hanukkah Gift Wrapping, 4–6 p.m. Shop at the Beth El Judaica Shop or bring gifts in and Sisterhood members will do your gift wrapping for you. For more information or to volunteer, contact Cheryl Lerner, cldancer@aol.com; Masters in Judaism, Adult-education series last session, 6:45 p.m.–8:30 p.m. Session led by Dr. Anat Gilboa and Andy Greenberg; Choir Rehearsal, 7:30 p.m. in the chapel.

THURSDAY: Dames ‘n’ Drinks, 7 p.m. Hosts are Beth Friedman and Lisa Lieb.

Lunch at Nebraska AIDS Project, Friday, Nov. 22, 11:30 a.m. Help serve or bake desserts. Email Joan Marcus for details at hmarcom@juno.com.

Our Shabbat Tables, Friday, Nov. 22, at participating congregants’ homes. To join, contact Caryn Scheer at caryn scheer@yahoo.com.

YAC evening at Village Pointe on Saturday, Nov. 23. First stop, Brix wine bar at 7:30 p.m.; next to Funny Bone for Kevin Nealon’s 9:30 p.m. show. Everyone will purchase their show tickets in advance through the club and are asked to RSVP to hosts Jeremy and Heidi Friedman at Jeremy.fried man@gmail.com. Ticket cost is $25 if purchased with cash at the club, or $28 online.

Sisterhood Hanukkah Gift Wrapping, Sunday, Nov. 24, 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Shop at the Beth El Judaica Shop or bring gifts in and Sisterhood members will do your gift wrapping for you. For more information or to volunteer, contact Cheryl Lerner, cldancer@aol.com.

USY Kinnus Lock-In Overnight on Nov. 27, 8 p.m., followed

by Kinnus Convention, Nov. 28–Dec. 1, in Kansas City.

Hanukkah Candle-lighting at Blumkin Home, Friday, Nov. 29, 2:30 p.m.

Artist-in-Residence: Mordechai Rosenstein, Dec. 4-8. The entire Jewish community is invited to attend. For details and registration information, visit www.bethel-omaha.org.

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

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street | Omaha, NE. 68154 | 402.556.6288 www.BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross.

FRIDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 4:46 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Good Shabbos Nebraska: Haaretz Daily Journalist, Avital Chizhik, 10 a.m.; Mincha, 4:30 p.m.; Havdalah, 5:49 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

MONDAY: Daf Yomi: Week in Review with Rabbi Gross, 7:45 a.m.

TUESDAY: Women’s Study Group, 6:30 p.m. at the home of Kathy Weiner.

WEDNESDAY: Coffee and Your Jewish News, 7:45 a.m.; Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:45 p.m.

THURSDAY: Sacred Grounds: Great Torah and Great Coffee, 9:30 a.m.

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

FRIDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

SATURDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 9:30 a.m. followed

by Kiddush lunch.

SUNDAY: Minyan, 8:30 a.m.; Breakfast Bonanza, 9:30 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

TUESDAY: Dynamic Discovery with Shani Katzman, 10:15 a.m. A class for women based on traditional texts with practical insights and application. RSVP by calling the office.

WEDNESDAY: Personal Parsha class, 10 a.m. with Rochi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office; The Development of the Oral Tradition, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office. In memory of Forrest Krutter -- Efrayim Menachem Ben Avraham Yitzchak.

THURSDAY: Women’s Study at UNMC with Shani Katzman, noon. RSVP by emailing Marlene Cohen at mzcohen@unmc.edu.

All programs are open to the entire community.

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

FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. with oneg following hosted by the Youth Group.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Vayishlach; Game Night/ Potluck, 6 p.m. All ages are welcome.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Global Day of Jewish Learning, 10 a.m.-noon sponsored by South Street Temple, Tifereth Israel and the Jewish Federation of Lincoln, facilitated by Nancy Coren, Rabbi Craig Lewis and guest speaker, Charley Friedman on Creativity at Tifereth Israel. Coffee and Bagels will be served; LYTG lunch and rehearse Hanukkah Service, 12:15-1:30 p.m.

TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at Olive Garden.

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

THURSDAY: Honorary Gala prior to the Friday opening of “Anne and Emmett” at The Haymarket Theatre, 6 p.m. The event includes keynote address by author Janet Langhart Cohen, as well as cocktails and appetizers. Tickets are available at http://www.haymarkettheatre.org/ at a cost of $60 per person or $100 per couple.

ADULT EDUCATION TUESDAY, 6:30-8 p.m. Intro to Judaism, Session, led by Rabbi Lewis.

Hanukkah Potluck Dinner and Friday Night Live Shabbat Service, Friday, Nov. 22, 6 p.m. For more information and to RSVP contact the Temple office by Nov. 20.

Tot Shabbat with Ms. Jennifer, Friday, Nov. 29, 5 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road | Offutt AFB, NE 68123 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month.

Candlelighting Friday, November 15, 4:46 p.m.

Service, 10:30 a.m. Haftarah Reader: Miles Remer; OTYG Lock-In, 6 p.m. drop off and pick-up at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning. Come join OTYG as the first youth groupers to stay overnight in our new building. The lock-in includes Midnight Laser Tag, a scavenger hunt, box city, movies and more. Bring a sleeping bag, pajamas and dress warm. Cost is $30 which includes dinner, breakfast, snacks, tickets for laser tag, transportation and more! Please RSVP to Nikki Flatowicz, nflatowicz@templeisraelomaha.com.

SUNDAY: Grades K-6, 10 a.m.; Bakers needed for First Friday and Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, 10 a.m. Please contact Program Director Wendy Goldberg if you can help or if you have any questions; Temple TED Talk, 11 a.m.; Bible Quiz Study Session, noon.

TUESDAY: Adult B’nai Mitzvah: Hebrew Study, 6:30 p.m. with Na’ama; Board of Trustees Meeting, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 4 p.m.; School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Family School, 6 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6 p.m.; Tools to engage in a conversation about Israel as an American Jew, 6:30 p.m. with Director of Lifelong Learning, Debbie Massarano.

THURSDAY: Dilemmas of Faith: God and Spirituality in the Modern World, 10-11:30 a.m. with Rabbi Azriel. Class Fee: $45 for members, and $55 for non-members.

Experience Shabbat For Grades 3-6, Saturday, Nov. 23, 4 p.m. For more information, contact Director of Lifelong Learning Debbie Massarano, dmassarano@templeisrael omaha.com.

JYG Ugly Sweater Party, Saturday, Nov. 23, 6:30 p.m.

Youth will make or wear their ugliest Hanukkah sweater, participate in a white elephant gift exchange (up to $10 value), make gifts for residents of Remington Heights.

Dinner will be provided and the cost is $5 plus their white elephant gift. Please RSVP by Nov. 17.

Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, Sunday, Nov. 24, 5 p.m., Temple Israel. Monetary donations and non-perishable food will be collected for Together, a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing homelessness and assisting those in need.

Hanukkah Service, Dinner and Game Night, Friday, Nov. 29, 6 p.m. Please bring non-food items for Jewish Family Services. The cost of the meal is $9 for adults; $5 for children in sixth grade or younger; and no charge for second graders and younger kids. Please RSVP to rsvp@templeisraelomaha.com by Nov. 26.

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

FRIDAY: Shabbat Services, 6:30 p.m.

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

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Global Day of Jewish Learning, 10 a.m.-noon sponsored by South Street Temple, Tifereth Israel and the Jewish Federation of Lincoln, facilitated by Nancy Coren, Rabbi Craig Lewis and guest speaker, Charley Friedman on Rest as a Creative Act -- How are we all connected with the process of Creation at Tifereth Israel; LYTG lunch and rehearse Hanukkah Service, 12:15-1:30 p.m.

TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at Olive Garden on O Street. For questions please contact Stephanie Dohner.

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

Tot Shabbat with Ms. Jennifer, Friday, Nov. 29, 5 p.m.

Annual Hanukkah Latke Party and Talent Show, Sunday, Dec. 1, 12:15 p.m. If you would like to have an act in the talent show please contact Cindi Kornbluh at cdkornbluh@ gmail.com. All ages welcome to participate.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Chef ’s Demo, 1 p.m. with Beth El. SATURDAY: Shabbat Services, 9 a.m. led by Alan Shulewitz.

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

TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive | Omaha, NE 68144-1206 | 402.556.6536 http://templeisraelomaha.com FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Brown and Cantor Shermet.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning

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

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

Submit other announcements -- births engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Federation website: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press,’ scroll down to ‘Submit Announcements, complete form and click on “submit.”

Pulverent e

November 15, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 11

A perennial religious problem

Sparks from the word RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parsha Vayishlah When Jacob returns to Canaan after 20 years, he is immediately confronted with the problem of how to meet his brother Esau.

Jacob had reason to fear the confrontation, particularly when his own advance men tell him that Esau is coming to meet him with 400 armed men.

The Midrash suggests that Jacob prayed that God not permit Esau to accomplish what he thought to do. And the Midrash details Esau’s thought as a plan to kill both Isaac, his father, and Jacob, his brother.

The Midrash then goes on to say that there were two others like Esau, who thought to do evil, but whose plans were frustrated by the Lord Himself, namely, Haman and Jeroboam.

The Midrash toys here with a perennial religious problem.

To what extent may we say that it is true that the Lord frustrates the designs of evil people? For example, why did the Midrash not include Pharaoh?

I remember hearing a prominent American Jewish theologian rejoicing over the fall of Hitler and going on to say that the Lord would not permit Hitler’s plans of murdering all Jews to succeed.

But I remember sitting and listening, and wondering: What took You so long?

And as soon as that question is raised, the whole theory is attacked, the theory that religion advances, that there is a divine plan to which history inevitably responds.

Despite its lack of theological sophistication, the Midrash may have the best answer. It suggests, on the basis of the text itself, that Jacob responded to danger in a many-sided plan: He sent gifts on ahead to win Esau over; he prayed to God for help, and he prepared to do battle. What the Midrash is really saying here -- is that we pray as if everything depended on God, but we must act as if everything depended on ourselves.

In a world of human beings, good and evil, time and chance, we may not rely on the divine frustration of the plans of evil minds or the ravages of nature.

Barbra Streisand performs on NET Television

by LARRY L. KUBERT LINCOLN, Neb. -- Legendary singer Barbra Streisand is joined by trumpeter Chris Botti, Il Volo, and her son Jason Gould for an evening of entertaining hits, including nine songs she has never performed on a concert stage, when Barbra Streisand: Back to Brooklyn airs Friday, Nov. 29, at 8 p.m. CT on NET1.

Throughout the concert, she sings selections from every stage of her career, including Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered (which she sang during her memorable appearance on The Judy Garland Show in 1963); Enough is Enough (No More Tears) (her disco hit with the late Donna Summer); My Funny Valentine (from her 1967 album Simply Streisand); and The Way We Were (in loving tribute to Marvin Hamlisch who unexpectedly passed away in Aug. 2012).

Guess who opposes the West Bank boycott

by JTA NEWS STAFF BERLIN (JTA) — German trade union leader Michael Sommer vowed to stand up to unionists who want to boycott goods made in West Bank Jewish settlements. “As long as I am head of this organization, there will never be a resolution that says ‘Don’t buy from Jews,’� said Sommer, 61, chair of the Federation of German Trade Unions.

The federation, which was founded in Munich in 1949, is an umbrella organization for eight German trade unions, in total representing more than 6 million people.

The pro-Israel event, which drew a crowd of more than 1,500 to a congress center in the former East Berlin, took place on the 75th anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom.

Dieter Graumann, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said he wished there was no need for such a major pro-Israel event in Germany. But with “Israeli bashing in fashion� these days, he said the congress convinced him that “we friends of Israel are not so alone as we sometimes feel.�

In his remarks, Sommer said some unions are especially critical of Israel’s settlement policy, which is the target of the boycott movement. He tells them “that an honest peace means that no one should be threatened. And as long as Israel is threatened, I stay on the side of Israel.�

Beth El youth groups enjoy fun around and about town

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Beth El’s youth groups have been taking their fun on the road lately. BESTT Chaverim, the synagogue’s group for

a busy fall, taking a field trip to Ditmar’s Orchard for some apple-picking, as well as a visit to Vala’s Pumpkin Patch.

USYers are preparing for another great Kinnus Convention over Thanksgiving weekend, in Kansas City. For more

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12 | The Jewish Press | November 15, 2013

It’s not easy being a crime novelist in Israel

by LIAD SHOHAM TEL AVIV (JTA) – “You and I, we need to have a little talk about sex,” my editor said in a deep voice.

I was in the midst of writing my first thriller about a geeky lawyer suspected of murder, and I was waiting for my editor’s verdict about what I had put to paper up to that point.

As a full-time commercial lawyer, the idea that one day I would become an author of thrillers seemed far-fetched to me.

Amnon, my editor, looks the way a thriller writer should: tall, muscular, thick voice and a secret past in the Mossad. Basically he’s everything I’m not. I’m a bespectacled, bookish nerd not heavy on the muscles.

“The key for creating good sex scenes,” he said, looking straight at me, “is while you’re writing them, get your mother out of your head.”

“My mother?” I didn’t understand.

“Don’t think about her,” he said and raised a finger in warning. “Don’t imagine what she’ll think when she reads it.”

Writing a love scene is embarrassing enough -- surely people think it’s about my own intimate experiences -- but it’s even worse when one is an Israeli writer who has to deal with the implications: Is this going to embarrass my mom when she’s at the grocery store? What will Aunt Leah say at the Passover seder?

And that’s the least of it. The truth is, it’s not easy to write suspense novels in Israel.

Let’s start with the fact that Israel is a very small place. An American writer can take his hero from New York and lead him all the

way to California, where he can create a new identity for himself. Where can I take mine?

To Afula? That’s less than 30 miles from Tel

Aviv. And let’s say I take him to Eilat, the furthest place in Israel, so what? He’d still be discovered.

That’s because Israelis love to play a game where they ask one another “Where are you from?” and then start with the “Do you know so and so?” My poor protagonist, who thought he would be incognito, would be exposed in five minutes -- not by sophisticated and seasoned police detectives but by the third-floor neighbors.

Speaking of police, they’re nothing to write home about. There is no CSI Israel because people would die laughing. They read the newspapers about the police force’s success, or rather their lack thereof, and know exactly how the police force works.

One of the most famous jokes in Israel is, “Why are policemen always in pairs? There needs to be one who can read and another that can write.” Just try selling them glorious police detectives.

And what about serial killers? Impossible!

During the 65 years of Israel’s existence, we have yet to be “graced” with the presence of one. Even more important, the Israeli public would never believe that a serial killer could emerge from within. “Moishele?

Shoshana’s son? A serial killer?

Oh, come on. His father served with my cousin in the army.

What a bunch of nonsense!”

I am filled with envy every time I read books in which the author did not dedicate whole chapters to what the main characters’ families think. In Israel, the family has such an important role that it is difficult to see how credible characters can be created without getting into the details and about all their relatives.

Recently I saw an Israeli film in which one of the main characters tortured a guy. In the midst of it all, the mother of the torturer called -- so he stopped beating up the guy.

She started badgering him about why he wasn’t married and how it could be that he didn’t have children yet? The aggressor apologized to his mother and explained that he “still hadn’t found the right one” before resuming his nefarious activities. I looked at the other viewers: This wasn’t an unreasonable scene to them.

Construction is also a problem -- not of novels, but apartment buildings and city planning. In Israel, there are no basements or attics. And even if there were, I doubt a body could be placed there. Ten minutes later, the building committee would arrive complaining about the misappropriate use of common property.

And what if I want to write about the mafia

(yes, we do have organized crime in Israel)?

We Israeli writers have an advantage because no one really knows a lot about the criminal organizations. But honestly, in a country where so many things are a chaotic “balagan” and so many things are done on the fly, what are the chances that a criminal organization would be run in an orderly fashion?

I will say this: Despite everything, and maybe as a result of everything (as always seems to be the case with the Jewish people), crime literature in Israel has been blooming in recent years. I think it provides escapism for living in the region and an outlet for a tense people.

Besides, if you write about what you know and understand, the more believable, accurate and interesting it becomes. That’s why I set my work locally and write about current topics rather than mimic the conventions of the American genre.

For example, my book Lineup (just published in English in the United States) is torn from the real-life headlines of a Tel Aviv rape that went unsolved. I also investigate different subcultures of Israel, from African asylumseekers to corruption in the local authorities as well as the inner politics on a moshav.

And sometimes I still have to write sex scenes.

After writing my third book, I asked my mother how she was dealing with the licentiousness.

“I don’t read it and just skip forward,” she said.

“How do you know how much to skip?” I pressed on.

She replied, “What do think your father is for?”

Liad Shoham’s six legal thrillers are bestsellers. The English translation of his latest book, Asylum City, will be published in August. He lives in Tel Aviv.

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Jewish Community Center of Omaha WITH PRESENTATIONS BY: Dr. Curtis Hutt, Dr. Joan Latchow, Dr. Gerald Steinacher, Dr. Anat Gilboa, Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, Dr. Moshe Gershovich, Mikal Brotnov Eckstrom, Dr. Rami Arav, Dr. Ari Kohen, Dr. Halla Kim & Dr. Sidnie White Crawford Questions? Contact The Center for Jewish Life at (402) 334-6463. More information at www.jewishomaha.org.

The Global Day of Jewish Learning is a project of The Aleph Society & Rabbi Steinsaltz. Sponsored by the Klutznick Chair of Jewish Civilization at Creighton University.

Publishing Date | 12.20.13 Space Reservation | 12.09.13 Camera Ready Deadline | 12.11.13 Contact your advertising representative to advertise in this very special edition.

Jessie Wees | 402.334.6559 | jwees@jewishomaha.org