November 17, 2006

Vol. LXXXVI No. 10 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 85 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

26 Cheshvan, 5767 November 17, 2006

First in Country:

Temple Israel Considers Building Tri-Faith Campus with Episcopal Diocese and New Muslim Organization

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator A letter sent to congregants of Temple Israel by Wendy Goldberg, President of the Board of Trustees, and Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, informed members of the 135year-old congregation of “preliminary discussion involving Temple Israel and two other congregations, who like us, want to establish themselves in west Omaha.”

The letter, mailed to all Temple members, announced that “The process of creating our new Temple home is moving forward.” The architectural pre-planning or “programming phase” officially began last week as representatives of Finegold Alexander & Associates, the architectural firm selected by Temple in May, came to Omaha from Boston to discuss design concepts.

After careful consideration, with the understanding that the main focus remains on studying, designing, and building a facility to serve its congregation, Temple’s Board of Trustees agreed at its November board meeting to pursue discussions regarding the possibility of co-locating with the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska and the American Institute of Islamic Studies and Culture (AIISC) to create an interfaith campus. Currently, the tri-faith campus is considering building at the 31-acre site donated to Temple Israel at 168th and Western.

In a letter written by Dr. Syed M. Mohiuddin, President of AIISC, to his constituents, he noted that “all of us are

Wendy Goldberg, left, president of Temple Israel’s Board of Trustees; Dr. Syed M. Mohiuddin, president of a new Islamic organization; Rabbi Aryeh Azriel of Temple Israel; Woody Bradford, representing the Episcopal Diocese; and Bob Freeman discussed the possibility of creating a tri-faith campus in Omaha with members of the Temple Board of Trustees. very aware that Islam is poorly understood in the western world. In order to promote a better understanding of Islam, a new non-profit, religious, and educational organization, AIISC, has been established in Omaha.”

Dr. Mohiuddin, director of cardiology at Creighton University, added that AIISC will make “an effort to build facilities to enhance the study of and research in the religion of Islam. It will also provide a place for worship, development of programs and new facilities, and enhance-

ment and support of cultural and social activities for the Muslim population of Omaha and the Midwestern region.

“A new component of AIISC activities is establishing an interfaith dialogue. For this purpose, we have agreed with Temple Israel and the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska to pursue discussions about the possibility of co-locating our respective places of worship to create ‘an interfaith campus.’”

Dr. Mohiuddin, who has been on the faculty of Creighton University since

Japanese Educator Recounts Quest to Unpack Story of ‘Hana’s Suitcase’

by DINA KRAFT did she look like? Did she live or die?

TEL AVIV (JTA)--Fumiko Ishioka carefully opened a “I wanted to know about how happy she was before large, cardboard box the war so that our kids could undermailed to her in Tokyo stand what was really lost. If they from the Auschwitz could really appreciate that one little museum in Poland. life was lost, I hoped they might Among the contents were understand that there were 1.5 million a child’s shoe, a can that other children just like Hana” who once contained Zyklon B were also killed by the Nazis. “So I poison gas and a worn, needed to put a human face on this brown suitcase with white ordinary suitcase.” letters painted on its side Her quest for information on Hana that read: “Hanna Brady, (whose name had been spelled incorborn May 16, 1931.” rectly on the suitcase) led her to Who was this young Terezin where Hana was interned for girl, wondered Ishioka, two years before being deported to who at the time had been Auschwitz at the age of 13. There she was sent to the gas chambers. setting up an exhibit on Ishioka later traveled to Toronto after children and the tracking down Hana’s brother Holocaust at a small George, the only member of the museum called the Tokyo immediate Brady family to survive the Holocaust Center. That war. question grew louder in her mind as the Japanese Japanese teacher and director of the Holocaust Ishioka’s journey to learn more about schoolchildren that came Museum in Tokyo, Fumiko Ishioka, signs a copy of Hana and the story of Hana’s life to see the exhibit pep- the book inspired by her research, Hana’s Suitcase, became the subjects of a children’s pered her with questions: as George Brady, Hana's brother, looks on. Ishioka book entitled Hana’s Suitcase by What happened to the was honored Nov. 6, at a ceremony at Yad Vashem Karen Levine. suitcase’s owner? What in Jerusalem.

Credit: Brian Hendler/JTA Continued on page 2

Inside Opinion Page see page 12

This Week: Thanksgiving Recipes: Pages 7, 10 & 11 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’

Jewish Film Festival Opens with Gloomy Sunday: Page 3

1972, wrote that he hopes “our efforts will result in better understanding of our religion among the people of the United States as well as our knowledge of and respect for other faiths. This opportunity is unprecedented and a moment which may be singular in history.”

In response to questions asked by members of Temple’s Board of Trustees, Dr. Mohiuddin said, a tri-faith campus would be “a symbolic gesture of the three Abrahamic faiths. It would send a signal to the rest of the world that we can work, learn, and progress together.” He attended a portion of the November meeting.

In a letter to the clergy and people of the Diocese of Nebraska, the Right Reverend Joe G. Burnett wrote that “an extraordinary opportunity…involves a conversation which has been taking place in recent months between the Diocese of Nebraska, Temple Israel…and the AIISC, a recently formed community of reformminded Muslims.”

Bishop Burnett added that the Diocese has been invited “to explore…an ongoing shared interfaith relationship and to pursue a pilgrimage of trust that could have many exciting implications. The most far-reaching aspect of this relationship is the future possibility of developing a shared multi-faith campus in west Omaha where each partner might construct its own facility.”

At a meeting last month, the Executive Commission of the Diocese of Nebraska unanimously approved participation in Continued on page 2

Kripke Library to Honor Dorothy Kaplan at Book Month Luncheon

by CHERYL LERNER Administrative Assistant Center for Jewish Education “No, I don’t like books,” says Dorothy Kaplan. “I adore books!”

On Wednesday, Dec. 6, 11:30 a.m., in the JCC Auditorium, the Kripke Jewish Federation Library will honor its resident “Library Diva”, Dorothy Kaplan, for her many years of dedication during the Jewish Book Month luncheon.

“I have loved books ever since I can remember. My Dorothy Kaplan very favorite was ‘Aesop’s Fables.’ Oh, those stories were so marvelous. To this day that book brings back the most wonderful memories. I would hope that every child would be as in love with books as I was.”

To that end, the Library Committee has established a special fund in Kaplan’s honor. Donations to the “Dorothy Diva Fund” will be used for the purchase of children’s books for the library.

Continued on page 2

Coming Next Month: Hanukkah Issue on Dec. 8 Omahan’s Play to be Performed at Beth Israel Page 5

A Jewish Presence at Central’s Hall of Fame Page 16

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

November 17, 2006

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17 Visions Luncheon Meeting, 12:30 p.m. at Westside Community Conference Center Tot Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18 Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel 39 Forever “Sandwich & A Movie,” 7 p.m.

Sisterhood’s Annual Donor, 8 p.m. at Beth Israel

C L I SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19 P Adult Education, 10 a.m.-noon at Beth El

C L I P

Mishpacha University, 10 a.m. at the Chabad House

& BESTT Bring Your Parents to School, 10 a.m. at Beth El S A V E

Nashir Community Jewish Choir, 11 a.m. at Beth El Rehearsal for Hanukkah Concert, 1:30 p.m. at Beth El “Continuation and Promise” Gallery Reception, 2 p.m.

Regional Hanukkah Concert, 4 p.m. at Beth El MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20 Federation Campaign Meetings, 8 a.m.

Jewish Ethical Wills Clas, 11 a.m. at Kripke Library Hadassah Board Meeting, 1 p.m.

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner “Kabbala: A Love Story,” 7p.m.

Israeli Cooking with Zohar’s Mom!, 7 p.m. at the CDC Derech Torah: Judaism 101, 7:30 p.m. at JCC TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21 Federation Campaign Meetings, 8 a.m.

Eye on Israel, noon at Kripke Library Share the Moment with Lee Needelman, noon at Temple Israel BBYO Night, 6 p.m.

BESTT Board Meeting, 7 p.m. at Beth El Women’s Book Group, 7 p.m. at Beth El Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Temple Israel

& S A V E

C L WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22 I Friedel Jewish Academy No School P Federation Campaign Meetings, 8 a.m.

C L I P

Temple Israel Thanksgiving Interfaith Service, 7 p.m. at Dundee Presbyterian Church USY Pre-Kinnus All night Lock In, 8 p.m. at Beth El

&

&

S S THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23 A JCC Closed A V USY KINNUS Thursday-Saturday at the Des Moines Marriott V E Downtown, Des Moines, IA E Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Advanced Parshah Study, 9 p.m. with Rabbi Gross All events held at the JCC unless otherwise indicated. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of events. To keep calendar accurate or for questions, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437.

FOR A COMPLETE LISTING, VISIT THE FEDERATION’S WEBSITE: www.JewishOmaha.org (click on calendar)

This Space For Rent Call Allan Handleman 334-6451

Kripke Library to Honor Kaplan Continued from page 1 What began as almost a “whim” over a quarter century ago has become an enduring relationship with what has become the largest Jewish library in the Midwest. “Back in 1980, I was on the Jewish Federation Library board and saw that there was an opening in the library. Edythe Wolf was the director at the time,” Kaplan recalled. “It sounded interesting. My sons were grown, I had time. I thought it might be fun to do for a couple of years. I can’t believe it’s been 26 years--the time passed so quickly!”

Lydia Linde is the Russian Librarian for the Kripke Library and is responsible for helping manage the library’s sizeable Russian language collection and is perhaps Kaplan’s biggest fan. “Dorothy was one of the first women that I met when we came to this country 15 years ago. I instantly fell in love with her for her intellect and understanding. She has become a friend, a confidant. I love coming to work at the library because I get to see Dorothy.”

Gary Katz, Library Administrator of the Kripke Library agreed. “People come here for the books, yes, but often it’s to see Dorothy. She is the face of the library, the welcoming committee, so to speak. They expect to see her.”

Okay, so over the years she has become somewhat of a fixture in the library. But, a “diva”? That title was bestowed upon her by the former Library Director, Harris Finkelstein. “He declared me diva, made me a name plaque that sits on my desk to this day. I bear the title proudly!”

Dorothy has seen the library evolve over the years.

When she began, the library was located in the area now occupied by the Anti-Defamation League. The

Child Development Center was down the hall. The library was visited frequently by preschoolers and their parents. She was instrumental in developing an annex specifically designed for children’s books and reading activities.

With the move to the present location came the expanded offerings of special collections, such as large print and Russian language books, as well as the expanded section of DVD movies and music on CDs. But the biggest change she has seen over the years has been the growth of technology. “Computers have changed things tremendously!” she said. “I just hope that people never lose the love for real books. To hold a book in your hand, to feel the cover, the delight of turning the pages. There’s just nothing like it!”

“The library has given me as much over the years as I’ve given it. I’m not a shopper, I don’t play games. I love to come here and be surrounded by books. I can’t imagine a place I’d rather be.”

Kaplan can be seen hard at work behind her desk every Monday and Tuesday until 2 pm. A recent patron asked where he might find some materials. When she was unable to locate them, the visitor said, “But your name plaque reads, ‘Library Diva.’”

“Yes.” she quipped with a smile and a wink. “But, you see, that simply entitles me to be temperamental!”

Somehow her friendly manner belied her royal title. But who would dare argue with a “diva”?

To make a donation to the Dorothy Diva Fund or to make a reservation for the Jewish Book Month luncheon, contact the Kripke Library, 334.6462. Cost for the luncheon is $15. The featured speakers at the luncheon are Perry and Sheila Klass, authors of the bestseller Every Mother is a Daughter.

Temple Israel Considers Building Tri-Faith Campus Continued from page 1 this joint venture and exploration. They also endorsed a Memorandum of Mutual Understanding which has come out of several months of dialogue between the three faith groups.

“Such cooperation between a Christian church, a mosque, and a synagogue is a bold undertaking which would have significant implications not only for the Omaha metro area, but also for the nation and even the world,” according to the bishop.

Woody Bradford, chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese, also attended the November Temple Board meeting. He described the possibility of co-locating as “a spiritual journey we’ll take together -- preserving all the differences. We’re willing to take a risk to make a positive statement. Just one positive statement is significant.”

Bob Freeman, one of the architects of the tri-faith discussion, said, “We think everyone will find some positives in this collaboration whether one is attracted to the look and feel of recreating our current campus or to the economic efficiencies that can be achieved, to the opportunity to interact with diverse populations or even drawn to some of the loftier possibilities of such cooperative efforts.”

“It is a challenging and urgent task to foster and build interfaith trust, respect, and understanding in the current climate of fear,” pointed out Goldberg and Rabbi Azriel in the letter to Temple members. “Co-locating a church, a mosque, and a synagogue within a campuslike atmosphere is an innovative approach nurturing interfaith dialogue, learning, and collaboration.”

At the Temple Board meeting, Rabbi Azriel stated, “The one thing we definitely share is courage.”

Japanese Educator Recounts Quest Continued from page 1 On Nov. 6, Ishioka and George Brady were in Jerusalem to attend a Yad Vashem ceremony in which the book won a prize for Children’s Holocaust Literature. The prize was one of several given by Yad Vashem in the field of Holocaust education.

The book, published in 33 languages, has chapters recounting Hana’s childhood in the Czechoslovakian town of Nove Mesto in Moravia, where she was an avid cross-country skier and skater and her eventual deportation along with her older brother, George, alongside chapters describing Ishioka’s quest to uncover Hana's identity.

Ishioka, who says that Holocaust education in Japan is a new concept--decided to travel to Auschwitz soon after beginning work for the Holocaust museum in Tokyo.

It was during that visit in 1999 that she requested artifacts related to children from the Auschwitz museum for the exhibit she was putting together. The suitcase and other items arrived about a year later.

When Ishioka, now 36, found out that Hana had been to Terezin, she traveled there and found her first trace of Hana at a museum in Prague: several drawings she had done in art classes there. She then poured over stack of typed deportation lists until she found Hana's name and deportation date of Oct. 23, 1944.

She also noticed another Brady on the list. A box was drawn by the name to signify that George Brady had survived.

She eventually tracked Brady down in Toronto, where he’d moved soon after the war. There he had become a successful businessman, parlaying the trade of plumbing he learned in Terezin into a large mechanical contract-

ing business in Canada.

“I had to continue the search, I really wanted to see her face,” Ishioka said.

For Brady, 78, the contact with Ishioka was a life-altering encounter. Both of his parents were killed by the Nazis and he had always felt haunted by guilt for not having been able to save his younger sister.

“I felt responsible for her. I wanted to bring her home and I could not do anything,” he said. The connection with Ishioka and the subsequent book has led to a strong bond between the two as well as speaking tours for both of them in North America, Japan and Europe.

Most recently, they worked together on a documentary for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Speaking of his sister, whom he remembers as vivacious and athletic, he said, “She wanted to be a teacher in a small town and she ended up being a teacher to the world. We get letters and e-mails from all over the world.”

Ishioka now visits about 200 schools a year in Japan and tells the story of Hana’s suitcase. To date, she has reached about 60,000 school children.

“The kids got so excited that this is Hana. We could finally put a face to a name written in white paint on a suitcase,” she said.

Ishioka said the example of a tower of photographs at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, depicting the lives of Jews before the death camps, had resonated with her when she was designing th exhibit in Japan.

“I thought this type of exhibit was more powerful than pictures of dead bodies. I wanted to make this suitcase a symbol of life, not just an unknown child,” she said.

November 17, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

Jewish Omaha Film Festival Premieres Award Winning Movies

by GARY KATZ Kripke Jewish Library Administrator This is your chance to see the films everyone in the Jewish world is talking about. The Fifth Annual Jewish Omaha Film Festival premieres four award winning films shown in Omaha on the big screen for the first time. The Jewish Film Festival runs from Nov. 26-Dec. 2, at the Jewish Community Center Theater.

Sunday, Nov. 26, 7 p.m.: Gloomy Sunday (Germany, 2003, 1 hr 54 minutes.) “It’s a stirring and provocative affirmation on the power and resilience of love.” Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News A hit song the during 1930s, recorded most famously by Billie Holiday, the evocative Gloomy Sunday was notorious for allegedly driving people to suicide.

Now it’s the inspiration for this marvelous film, a love story with a twist.

Gloomy Sunday flashes back from the 1990s to the early 1930s in the lush and romantic city of Budapest, where three people are caught in a love triangle.

Gloomy Sunday won German awards for cinematography and direction, and it is easy to see why. The film is accomplished entertainment, well-acted and tastefully decorated. Based on a true story, Gloomy Sunday is a potent mix of drama and humor that has become a film festival favorite around the country.

Wednesday, Nov. 29, 7 p.m.: Fateless (Drama, 2006, Sweden, 2 hr 14 min.)

“Lajos Koltai’s film ranks among the best non-documentary cinematic treatments of the Holocaust yet produced.” A.O. Scott, New York Times.

Based on the 2002 Nobel Prize winner

Imre Kertesz’ moving novel, Fateless tells the story of a Hungarian Jewish boy’s experiences in WWII and his attempts to reconcile himself to those experiences after the war.

Cinematically, Fateless distinguishes itself from other Holocaust films by its disinterest in the shock-value of life in the concentration camps. Instead, it focuses more on the internal struggle to fight for the soul’s survival in the midst of horrific circumstances. Using Kertesz’s own screenplay, director Lajos Koltai has created a film whose harrowing narrative is punctuated by moments of surprising beauty.

Thursday, Nov. 30, 7p.m.: 51 Birch Street (Documentary, USA, 2006, 90 min.)“A triumph of true-life storytelling… with every bit the emotional punch of the more sensationalist doc fare.” Eddie Cockrell, Variety.

Documentarian Doug Block delves into his parents’ past after his recently widowed, octogenarian father announces he’s marrying his former secreBoth tary. unexpectedly funny and heartbreaking, 51 Birch Street is the first-person account of Block’s unpredictable journey through a whirlwind of dramatic life-changing events: the death of his mother, the uncovering of decades of family secrets, and the ensu-

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ing reconciliation with his father. What begins as an intimate, autobiographical story soon evolves into a broader meditation on the universal themes of love, marriage, fidelity and the mystery of family.

Saturday, Dec. 2, 6 p.m. Dinner in the JCC Auditorium with kosher chicken kabobs. At 7 p.m., watch Live and Become (Drama, France, 2006 103 min.)

“This film cannot fail to move anyone who dares to experience it.” Bruce Kirkland, The Toronto Sun. In a Sudanese refugee camp sheltering Ethiopians displaced by civil war and famine in 1984, the Israeli secret has service begun Operation Moses, airlifting thousands of Falashas, or Ethiopian

Jews, to Israel. Ethiopia is in chaos and times are precarious for its small but ancient Jewish community. A Jewish woman offers to take an Ethiopian Christian boy with her after her son dies.

The Christian mother, knowing that she likely will never see her son again, admonishes him to “go, live and become.”

After the Jewish woman dies after arriving in Israel, the boy, now known as “Shlomo,” is alone in a strange land. He realizes that he must conceal his identity as a Christian and make a transformation into Israeli society.

Tickets are $6 each for single films and dinner before the movie Live and Become costs $10 (RSVP for dinner by Thursday, Nov. 30 by calling 334.6462). Advance tickets and reservations for dinner are available by calling the Kripke Jewish Library at 334.6462. The Jewish Film Festival is sponsored by the Center for Jewish Education, and funded in part by the Avy L. and Roberta L. Miller Foundation by Lindsey Miller-Lerman.

“Continuation and Promise” Exhibit at the JCC

by RACHEL BLUM JCC Program Director An exhibition featuring digital photographs by Barbara Simcoe, associate professor of art at UNO, runs through dec.

28 in the JCC Gallery. In the summer of 2005, she produced a series of five pieces for the Yitzhak Gathering in Akko, Israel, sponsored by Partnership with Israel.

For the “Continuation and Promise” exhibit, Simcoe has continued the theme in Genesis to include the Jacob stories. She has taken a metaphorical narrative approach in developing her large scale digital prints using a collage method to construct the compositions. Most of the imagery is from photographs she took during a Fulbright

scholarship trip in Lithuania, Poland and Croatia. Prominent in both series are the women of these Genesis stories, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.

The community is invited to a reception on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2-4 p.m. at the JCC. For more information, contact me at 334.6404.

Page 4

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

November 17, 2006

Blood Pressure Machine a Benefit to Blumkin Home

by ANDREA BARTMAN of continuing to provide residents with for JSS/RBJH top-notch service and care in a state of the Shelly Spencer, a nurse for the Rose art facility.

Blumkin Jewish Home, works faster and Says Mike Silverman, Executive Director more efficiently these days thanks to the of RBJH, “It truly amazes me how comnew blood pressure machine recently mitted this community is in providing all donated to the Home by the National of the necessary tools so we can be an outCouncil of Jewish Women, Omaha standing, skilled nursing home. NCJW has Section. According to Lois Friedman, purchased equipment and vehicles and has Honorary Vice-president of NCJW, the provided funding over the years for essendonation was made in honor of Sue and tial items that have enhanced the quality of David Meyers’ 50th Anniversary. life for our residents. Our relationship Sue Meyers is a past Omaha Section President and mentor and co-chairman of the group’s tribute fund for the Home. David Meyers has served previously on the Home’s board of directors.

After the Meyers, their friends and family directed the efforts to the Home, the residents and staff expressed gratitude for the gift.

Shelley Cash, Director of Nursing for RBJH, says of the new Welch Allyn Spot Vital Signs unit, “It’s so simplified. It really does cut down on time. You’ve Norm Lincoln, a Blumkin Home resident for three got everything you need all there years, has his blood pressure checked in his room by in one place.� According to Cash, nurse Shelly Spencer, with the new mobile Vital Signs all residents receive monthly vital machine. sign checks and about 20 of them need with NCJW has always been and will condaily checks. This automated machine can tinue to be rock solid.� check temperature, pulse, blood pressure According to Friedman, NCJW and oxygen saturation all from one approached the Home at the Meyers’ portable machine on a rolling stand, request and asked what equipment or where previously all of these vitals had to items were most wanted. She says, “It was be checked manually with separate pieces their (Sue and David Meyers’) choice for of equipment. their anniversary, to do something for the Since groundbreaking has begun on the home in lieu of anniversary gifts. This gift new Home, this machine will be especial- was funded by their friends and family and ly beneficial in fulfilling the Home’s goal by the Meyers themselves.�

Leaving Shoes, Clothes--and Friends Behind

BERT’S EYE VIEW

by BERT LEWIS It’s that time again...the air is chilly, the leaves have fallen, the holidays are mostly behind us and the calendar says pack up and go southwest.

After five months away, we were darn glad to be here. Lots of nice things happened after we got home, and a few notso-nice, but we don’t dwell on the negatives.The good stuff included visits from each of our kids and even a couple of grandkids. Plus, and that’s a big plus, the two great-grandkids brought their folks to see us, too! Nicer gifts don’t exist.

So now we do the things we do before we take off: visits to various doctors, checking out the car, making sure all is well in the house. The house, like people, has a birthday every year. While nobody celebrates, everything is a year older.

Mechanical things wear out and break and you can be sure when one appliance stops working, it’s contagious. Something else will also go on strike.

So, in between getting x-rayed and scanned and checked out, we wait for the service people to come. Nobody can come when you want them, so the appointment offered is the one accepted. And you can bet the guy wants to come when neither of us can be here. In saner moments, we hope to never have worse problems, but being human, we complain.

Part of the preparations include arrangements for our mail to make it to the winter address. Sounds easy? If you say yes, you’ve never gone 10 rounds

with the postal people trying to find out where your mail has gone, because it hasn’t gone to where it was allegedly sent.

Those are some of the things we expect to deal with, but being a female, I have another category: deciding which clothes go with me and which stay here.

Taking too much and not taking enough.

And trying to avoid hearing my roommate ask, “Why are you taking all those shoes?� Lord, I hate that question!

Obviously, I’m taking them because I need them, but I don’t say that; I don’t want to hear how few pairs he needs.

When all is finally ready, when everything has been attended to, when there can’t possibly be anything else to check on, somebody suddenly asks, “Did you remember to call so-and-so?� Oy. “No, did you?�

The really hard part is leaving behind dear friends...people who are really missed. Of course we’re very fortunate to have friends on the other side, but let’s face it, people can’t be replaced! We also have connections between “here and there�...people who let us know when something happens we need to know.

And while the phone keeps us in touch, I wouldn’t give up my electronic lifelines for anything!

We’ll miss you and hope you have a good winter and all stay well; we always hope your weather won’t be too terrible.

Since we started to winter away, it isn’t so bitter as when we were here for the season. So we always feel that’s our little going away present to you. Or as Zayde said, zie gezunt.

Bert Lewis can be reached at Bertlewis39@aol.com.

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November 17, 2006

Original Play to be Performed at Beth Israel

by MARY BORT would face. Shelly’s play goes into family issues.” for Beth Israel Synagogue The rabbi continued, “The central character is Harry’s Many writers draw from current events or their own son, Solomon, who will be played by our new Associate lives for inspiration. One such writer, Sheldon “Shelly” Rabbi Seth Nadel. If Pollard had a son, here are some of Coren, drew from both sources when he wrote the play the issues he might grapple with. In addition to Bon Voyage Solomon Lief.

Solomon’s struggle with his father, Harry, being in Inspired by the story of incarcerated Israeli spy prison, also deals with how Harry is vilified by others.

Jonathan Pollard, as well as Coren’s views about Solomon asks himself, ‘Did my father do the right thing?

Judaism, his play will be brought to the stage when Or did he do the wrong thing?’ Solomon’s religious “Bon Voyage Solomon Lief” is performed Sunday, Nov. journey is also addressed in the play.”

26, 3 p.m., at Beth Israel Synagogue. A dessert recepGross also noted, “Jeff Taxman is playing the role of tion will follow the performthe grandfather, Chaim. Jeff ance. is not only the best actor in Coren wrote the play a the state, he is the best in the number of years ago and has region. While the play is a written other plays, as well as drama, Jeff’s character prochildren’s poetry. Bon Voyage vides important comic relief.

Solomon Lief is the first of his Jeff really brings that out, plays to be performed. along with the dramatic eleAs to what led him to ments of his character.” write a play that was inspired “The grandfather is a pivby Pollard, Coren said he otal role for the show’s sucwas interested in Pollard’s cess,” concurred Fiedler. story. “I thought I’d write “It’s not the biggest part, something since he is but it’s essential, and Jeff is Jewish,” he explained. “The able to truly bring the charplay has a Jewish theme and Jeff Taxman, left, Rabbi Seth Nadel, Donald Gerber and acter to life.” the play includes Jewish Miles Ehrenkranz, both sitting in the background, rehearse The play will be performed materials and prayers. Maybe Coren’s original play. Meeting for the first time since the in the style of a reader’s thesomeone might be moved to grandson was an infant, the grandfather, played by Taxman, atre. The actors will sit in a be more religious after see- shows his grandson (Rabbi Nadel), some karate moves. semi-circle, with scripts. ing the play.”

There will be chairs and a table, and actors will come for“Shelly has wanted to stage a production of his play,” ward to perform when it’s their scene. said Rabbi Jonathan Gross. “A group of his friends and Added Fiedler, “There is some sense of action and they Beth Israel congregants got together and decided to do are performing. I would call it a reader’s theatre ‘plus.’ the play. The time seemed right, so we got organized The end product will be something that Shelly will be and are rehearsing it. proud of.”

The director is Don Fiedler. “He is phenomenal; a Coren has been attending rehearsals and looks forward master,” stated Gross. “Don is so skilled at directing to the performance. “Everyone involved is so dedicateveryone. He brings out the best in each actor.” ed,” he said. “I’m glad it’s going to happen.”

Fiedler, who has been performing in plays for 30 years “It’s a privilege to be a part of the play,” said Gross. and is a self-described ‘actor’s director,’ is pleased to be “This is meaningful because Shelly is such an esteemed involved. “I got a call from Dinah Abrahamson who told member of the community. Everyone involved in his me about the project. After looking at the play I knew I play is doing a wonderful job. It’s going to be a great wanted to participate. I appreciate it every time I read it. show.”

There is also the emotional attachment--that you do The cast includes: Rabbi Gross as the Narrator, Rabbi things because you need to do them. This is an homage Nadel as Solomon, Donald Gerber as Harry, Miles B. to Shelly, who is so deeply respected in the community. Ehrenkranz as Dr. Fisher, Taxman as Chaim, Jerry For everyone involved, it’s a labor of love.”

Venger as a Guard, Dick Fellman as Rabbi Schwartzman, Fiedler added, “The issues that Shelly talks about in and Marvin Parilman as the Janitor. the play are serious. It’s about being Jewish and living in Coincidentally, visiting Rabbi Daniel Friedman, who America, and the division of being an American but lov- will be at Beth Israel for a Rabbinic Exchange Shabbat ing Israel. Almost all of the characters have a story arc on Nov. 18, also has an interest in Jonathan Pollard. He where that identification takes place.” recently visited Pollard and will speak about his experiAccording to Gross, “One of the main characters is ence during Seudat Shlishit. “This will be a good opporHarry Lief, who experiences events and circumstances tunity to learn more about Pollard, prior to seeing similar to Jonathan Pollard. He is confronted with the Shelly’s play,” noted Gross. same challenges as Pollard. The play takes the idea of The performance is free and the community is invited. personal challenges that someone in those circumstances For more information, please call the office at 556.6288.

BESTT Plans Third Annual “Bring Your Parents to School Day” at Beth El

Temple to Participate with Churches in Thanksgiving Interfaith Service

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Jewish education will be a family affair at Beth El this Sunday, 10 a.m.-noon, as the synagogue’s Talmud Torah (BESTT) sponsors its third annual “Bring Your Parents to School” day. All families with students in pre-kindergarten through seventh grade are invited to participate in this special open house, which offers parents the opportunity to become familiarized with their children’s Sunday school classes and participate in a funfilled morning of learning alongside their children.

The morning will begin with an open assembly in the chapel, where Education Director Judy Rubin, Rabbi Mordechai Levin and BESTT school board chairman Gloria Kaslow will discuss goals for the year. During the rest of the morning, parents may attend their children’s classes and enjoy refreshments in the West Court, courtesy of Beth El Men’s Club.

A directory of classrooms and teachers’ names will be posted in the canteen area, Rubin said, adding that parents are welcome to stay for either the entire open house, or just a portion of the morning. She also noted that in addition to the interactive open house, parents are always welcome to visit mid-week religious school classes and may set a date and time by contacting her at 498.0904, or eddir@bethel-omaha.org.

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator On Thanksgiving Eve, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 7 p.m., Temple Israel will join five area churches to participate in their annual Thanksgiving Interfaith Service. Hosted this year by Dundee Presbyterian Church, 5312 Underwood Ave., the concert will feature “Jubilate” and “Benedictus” by Craig Curry, “O Lord How Majestic is Your Name” by Lloyd Larson, and “Ruach Elohim,” said Paul Koenig, minister of music at Dundee Presbyterian. Koenig sings with Temple’s choir, Kol Rina, during the High Holy Days.

Kol Rina will be one of the choirs singing selections from each of the faiths represented at the concert, emphasizing their shared traditions. Churches participating, in addition to Dundee Presbyterian, are First Christian Church, First United Methodist Church, St. Margaret Mary’s Church, and Underwood Hills Presbyterian Church.

Guest trumpet player will be Mike Thompson.

Temple’s Aaron Passer will blow the shofar during the service. A collection of food and money will be taken for Together Inc. Sponsored by all the congregations, a dessert reception will follow the concert. Those interested in baking can call Sandy Passer at 330.4289.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 5

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November 17, 2006

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Sun, Sun, Sun, Here We Come 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 â&#x20AC;&#x153;oldâ&#x20AC;? 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 70¢! Please call us at 402.334.6448 or email us at jpress@jewishomaha.org.

Beth El Youth Groups Offer Omaha Teens Camaraderie, Fun, Travel

by JILL BELMONT has led to his current leadership role. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I realized how much BILU needed in leadership and Beth El Publicity Coordinator Camaraderie, social events, education, travel -- Beth support,â&#x20AC;? he said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;so last May, I decided to run for Elâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s United Synagogue Youth (USY) chapter offers a executive vice president. My job is to plan programs and smorgasbord of great activities for Omahaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jewish to advocate for Israel, which Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m doing by going on a teens. Throw in a comfortable, newly-remodeled youth six-week-long USY Pilgrimage program this summer. lounge and an enthusiastic youth director, and you have This year we have lots of programs planned, and we are also encouraging everyone to be active regional memthe perfect recipe for a teenage paradise!

USY is the national high school youth group affiliated bers by attending regional conventions.â&#x20AC;?

Participation in regional conventions offers Omahaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, offering members exciting social and educational pro- teens many opportunities to meet Jewish youth from gramming, plus numerous summer travel opportunities. across the Midwest. The much-anticipated regional Omahaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s BILU chapter belongs to the Emtza Region, Kinnus convention, held this year in Des Moines, is made up of over 700 members coming from10 scheduled for Nov. 23-26, and will draw USY members Midwestern states, as well as two Canadian provinces. from cities including Denver, Kansas City, Minneapolis â&#x20AC;&#x153;Besides just offering a fun and St. Louis, according to time to hang out with their Mosenkis.

Jewish friends without havThe evening prior to the ing to worry about their convention, Beth Elâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s membusy high school lives, USY bers â&#x20AC;&#x153;will get pumped up for offers members a great the weekendâ&#x20AC;? during an opportunity to grow in their overnight â&#x20AC;&#x153;lock-inâ&#x20AC;? at the Jewish identity and find out synagogue, Mosenkis said. what being Jewish means to â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I was in USY I went them,â&#x20AC;? says Beth Elâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Youth to Kinnus all four years Director Robert Mosenkis, because it was so great to who speaks from firsthand Gathered for their weekly meeting are USY board members, spend Shabbat with my experience: in high school, front row: Anna Grossman, Communications vice president, friends both from Omaha he was an active member of left; Brianna Sadofsky, Social Action/Tikkun Olam vice pres- and around the Midwest and the group who also served as ident; and Effie Tsabari, Membership/Kadima co-vice presi- just â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;be Jewishâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; with other Social Action/Tikkun Olam dent; back row: Lydia Stern, Membership/Kadima co-vice high-school-aged Jews. I president; Liatte Dotan, president; Lev Nachman, Religious canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait to share that expevice president.

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s activities were Education vice president; Natan Lailari, freshman represen- rience with our USYers!â&#x20AC;? kicked off in September dur- tative; and Ygal Schuller, executive vice president. Not pic- Millard West freshman ing the first annual BILU tured: Seth Rich, special activities coordinator.

Dayna Cohen expressed USY Candidate Membership Training Shabbaton, held excitement about attending her first Kinnus. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be at Camp Eagle in Cedar Bluff, NE. During the weekend, neat to go out of town for a convention, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m excitfreshmen were officially welcomed as USY members; ed to see everyone Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve met through Kadima,â&#x20AC;? she comactivities included high and low ropes courses, a variety mented. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love USY because of the people. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re of fun games, discussions about Israel and the war in amazing--they come up with great programs, which is Lebanon, plus a bonfire following Havdalah. another reason why Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m involved. Everyone in USY is Through its popular, themed Thursday Lounge fun to be around and is always welcoming.â&#x20AC;?

Nights, special programming and out-of-town convenSteven Meyer echoed that enthusiasm, saying, â&#x20AC;&#x153;USY tions, USY serves as a lively hub for its members to in Omaha is amazing. I love the programs, holidays, and meet, schmooze, and connect with the Jewish commu- every other event, but getting together with EMTZA nity. During a recent Thursday get-together themed Region USY is a completely different experience â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I met â&#x20AC;&#x153;Social Action and Homework Night,â&#x20AC;? participants dis- my best USY friend through EMTZA, and the feeling of cussed the crisis in Darfur, and were given the opportu- getting to a convention and instantly knowing all 500 nity to voice their concerns by sending postcards to Jewish kids is incredible. elected officials. Last nightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lounge night, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shorts â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have never missed a convention, and never will.â&#x20AC;?

Night,â&#x20AC;? gave attendees a chance to view and discuss sev- Meyer, a junior at Millard North, describes USY as his eral award-winning short films carrying Jewish content. home away from home. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To me, USY is a family.

Next up: a USY/Kadima Scavenger Hunt on Dec. 7, 6- Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a bad day, a bad week or even a bad 8 p.m. month, when I get to USY, everything is better.â&#x20AC;?

The youth organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest event of the year is He added that â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love USY and I will not forget the its annual Purim carnival, which draws dozens of USYers principles Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been taught, the lessons Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve learned and and Kadimaniks to set up and clean up the event, plus the friends Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve made through these short, yet amazing spend hours running games for smaller children. This four years.â&#x20AC;? yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chairmen are Yonatan Dotan, Kadimaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Purim Membership in USY is open to all Jewish teens in the Carnival chair, Brianna Sadofsky, Social Action/Tikkun community; for information, contact Mosenkis at Olam Vice President, and Seth Rich, special activities 492.8550, or youthdir@bethel-omaha.org. coordinator.

Ygal Schuller, a sophomore at Millard North, serves as USYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s executive vice president and is an enthusiastic EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE cheerleader touting the organization. Schullerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s youth Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the Jewish Press office group involvement began with Beth Elâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kadima group, the middle-school branch of USY. After attending severwill be closed Thursday, Nov. 23; the deadline for the Friday, al programs, he said that â&#x20AC;&#x153;I kept going and eventually Dec. 1 issue is Tuesday, Nov. 21, 9 a.m., for all articles, phojoined USY through a process of having lots of fun and tos and ads. making a lot of friends.â&#x20AC;?

Questions? Call 334.6448.

Schullerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s involvement in and commitment to USY

Lincoln USYers Prepare for Kinnus

by JENNIFER ROSENBLATT Even though the Lincoln Public Schools were on fall break, the Lincoln Kadima and USY chapters stayed busy. Lori Feldman, youth director for Congregation Tifereth Israel, held a â&#x20AC;&#x153;lockinâ&#x20AC;? at the synagogue Thursday night. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was awesome!â&#x20AC;? exclaimed D.D. Krout, a seventh grade Kadimanik.

Twelve youth ranging from sixth through 12th grades were in attendance. They had fun hanging out with their

friends, watching movies, playing games, and, of course, eating junk food. A week ago, Kadima and USY sponsored â&#x20AC;&#x153;A Night at the Movies with Rabbi Shaffin.â&#x20AC;? The group went to see One Night with the King, the epic adventure of Queen Esther. One USYer in attendance, Zach Knecht, remarked, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The movie wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exactly like the Purim story, but it is fun to go see a movie with your rabbi!â&#x20AC;? The movie provided thoughtful discussion and renewed interest in biblical literature.

November 17, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

Final Rehearsals Underway JFS Teams Up with Jewish Community Members for Great Plains Hanukkah to Benefit Jews in All Zip Codes gogue receives a percentage of the total sale every time

by SHARON BARGAS Concert on Sunday JFS Program Coordinator the certificates are purchased through JFS and congreby CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator There are only two days left to buy tickets to the Great Plains Hanukkah Concert: Rededication to Our Children. They’ve been practicing for weeks for the concert this Sunday, 4 p.m., at Beth El along with children from Beth Israel, the Child Development Center of the Jewish Community Center, Friedel Jewish Academy, Chabad House, B’nai Jeshurun and Tifereth Israel in Lincoln, Temple B‘nai Jeshurun in Des Moines, IA, and Congregation Beth Shalom in Sioux City, IA.

Generosity can be contagious. The act of giving brings joy to the recipient, but gratification is felt by the contributor as well. Over the years, Jewish Family Service (JFS) has been the beneficiary of numerous generous acts --sometimes money and sometimes time--from individuals and community members. Now, the agency is giving a unique gift that will benefit the Jewish community by teaming up with Beth El and Bag ‘N Save.

JFS currently gives out $500 a month in food certificates to up to 15 families and individuals. In years past, JFS purchased the food certificates directly from the grocery store, but now, as a result of the partnership, the agency is buying the certificates directly from Beth El. “It’s truly great to be able to help our Jewish community in yet another way,” says Jenny Meyerson, Financial Assistance Coordinator. “We are excited about being able to partner with two Jewish resources in our community on behalf of our clients.”

The food certificate program at Beth El is the simplest and most direct method of effortlessly raising needed funds. The certificates can then be used at any Bag ‘N Save like cash when shopping for groceries. The syna-

gation members.

As a result of this collaboration, a chain of giving has been formed benefiting members of the Jewish community who are at-risk, as well as programs and services offered at Beth El. JFS is also helping the synagogue’s congregants understand the value of donating, according to Larry DeBruin, Beth El Executive Director.

Helping the hungry is deeply rooted in Judaism. The JFS Food Certificate Program preserves the recipient’s self-esteem and dignity. JFS is a human service agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha whose purpose is to strengthen and preserve life in the Jewish community and the community at large through every stage of the life cycle. This program is part of the bigger Emergency Financial Assistance Program available at JFS for Jewish families and individuals confronted with tragedy or sudden difficulties.

“Having JFS connect with our synagogue and congregation is a win-win for both of us,” says DeBruin. “The favorable response from everyone as a result of this relationship encourages us to believe that the potential for future partnerships is limitless.”

Talk Turkey to Me by Renee Ferguson (Wishbone Press, $19.95)

Jeff Taxman rehearses with children performing for the Hanukkah Concert this Sunday.

Tickets are being sold at Temple Israel, Beth El and Beth Israel for $10 per adult, $5 per student, and $2 for children, four-12. Tickets will also be sold at Beth El on the day of the concert for $12, $7, and $4. Children under four can attend free. Patron packages are: $50 (two tickets), $100 (four tickets), and $200 (eight tickets). Patron tickets can be any combination of adult, student, and child tickets. Families with children singing in the concert will be given two free children’s tickets.

Cantors Wendy Shermet and Gaston Bogomolni emphasized that proceeds from the concert are going exclusively to Child Saving Institute, and Wings, a nonprofit organization in Israel that assists young adults who have disabilities.

Both cantors expressed their gratitude for grants from the Myron (Mike) Milder II Memorial Fund, the Esther K. Newman Memorial Fund, and the Joanie Jacobson Donor-Advised Fund, all administered by the Jewish Federation Foundation, and one anonymous donor.

Additional sponsors are still welcome.

READ IT AND E AT Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN It’s time to celebrate Thanksgiving and pick one of the 20 different methods of cooking a turkey that are described...to oil or not to oil, in a bag (but not a recycled brown-paper-bag because chemicals have been incorporated into the paper), a roaster, grill, deep fryer or you could even cook it frozen. Brine. Dry rub. Breast up or down. To “dress” or to “stuff”.

Demystify the contents of that little bag found inside the turkey and food safety suggestions, too.

Call on old family traditions or establish your own even if you have to pack it all up and travel through the woods to grandmother’s with Talk Turkey to Me. Short of recruiting the help of a relative working for one of the three dozen hotline/websites listed, the six parts cover the details of the feast from whet the appetite and kickoff the meal with an appetizer buffet to desserts or what to make before everyone that couldn’t possibly eat another morsel before they nod off, (a no rolling out pie

open house

crust for Easy Pecan Pie or Grandma’s Down-Home Carrot Cake), to what to do with leftovers.

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ALL-AMERICAN POTATO SALAD 8 red potatoes, skins scrubbed 8 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced 1/4 cup finely chopped onion 2 stalks celery, chopped 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1⁄2 cup chopped dill pickle 3/4 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons yellow mustard 2 tablespoons vinegar salt and pepper Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Drain and cool, then slice and place in a large bowl. Gently mix in the eggs, onion, celery, bell pepper, and dill pickle.

In a separate bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, and vinegar until smooth. Pour this over the potato mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Stir carefully until thoroughly incorporated.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours; serves 8 to 10 at Lois Friedman can be reached ReadItAndEat@yahoo.com.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

November 17, 2006

Temple Kids in the Mood for Dancing, Hanging Out and Summer Camp

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Eighth-grader Haley Burns, below, gives Sarah Lohrman a hug at a Homecoming dance complete with a DJ and desserts.

Temple Israel’s seventh, eighth, and ninth graders shared an evening talking and rocking with residents of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home earlier this month.

“It was a fun evening,” said Lois Wine, director of volunteer services at the Blumkin Home. “The residents liked the attention from the youngsters and seeing them dance, and they all liked the music.”

While the middle schoolers danced the

night away, 10th, 11th and 12th graders hung out in the youth lounge at the Jewish Community Center with members of Yachad, a social group for Jewish adults with developmental disabilities. They played ping pong and other games,

watched a movie, and munched on snacks together. Among the participants were Ben Friedman, left, and David Glazer who played checkers together.

Back at Temple Israel the following Sunday, camp songs echoed through the hallways and rooms, and the aroma of s’mores floated from the Milder Center encircling youngsters dancing in the Friedman Social Hall. From the music and the whiffs of marshmallows melting on chocolate, you would have thought you were at camp in Wisconsin or Colorado.

Actually, it was Summer in Winter Day at Temple. Amid the singing, dancing, and licking s’mores off their fingers, like Sara Cohen, left, and Leah Miller, second through sixth graders watched a video from Olin-SangRuby Union Institute, a Union for Reform Judaism camp, and decorated sun visors and water bottles.

Mary Sue Grossman, administrator with the Jewish Federation’s Center for Jewish Education, talked to parents about confidential scholarships available through CJE. Now is the time to register. Sessions fill up quickly. In addition, the Jewish Federation offers $500 to youngsters who attend Jewish camps the summer before or the summer after their B’nai Mitzvah.

Some camps offer financial assistance. In addition, all Temple youth are eligible for a $1000 Eisenberg campership for their first Jewish camp experience.

BIRTHS Lyndi and Eric Munro of Overland Park, KS, announce the Oct. 22 birth of their son, Daniel Richard, named after his great uncle, Dennis Passer, and greatgrandfather, Richard Gummers.

Daniel has a brother, Nathan, 3.

Grandparents are Claire and Pierre Flatowicz, Jeff and Sandy Passer, and Roland and Ileta Munro of Overland Park, KS. Ruth and Randy Greenberg of Los Angeles, CA announce the Oct. 13 birth of their son, Arthur (Avrum) Jameson

Briggs Greenberg, named for his grandfathers, Arthur Briggs and Avrum Greenberg.

Grandparents are Arthur and Margo Briggs of Redondo Beach, CA, the late Avrum Greenberg, the late Shirley Greenberg Maersch of Houston, TX and Phillip Maersch of Houston, TX. Shoshanna Schechter-Shaffin and Rabbi Royi Shaffin of Lincoln announce the Oct. 16 birth of their daughter, Netanya Sarah.

ORGANIZATIONS B’NAI BIRTH BREADBREAKERS Mackiel will speak at John Breadbreakers on Wednesday, Nov. 22, noon, at the Regency Lodge, according Javitch, chairman. to Gary Superintendent of Omaha Public Schools, John Mackiel will update us on the school situation. All men and women in the community are invited to attend Breadbreakers. Cost is $11 for a complete lunch and $3 for beverage service only.

NEBRASKA JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY NJHS is sponsoring a special musical tribute to former Omahan and renowned songwriter, lyricist and musical director of films, the late Ann (Rosenblatt) Ronell, on Sunday, Dec. 3, 3:30 p.m. in the JCC Auditorium.

Ronell, born in 1905 into the Rosenblatt family, and a Central High

graduate, is best known for her hits “Willow,” “Weep for Me” and “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” The program will feature many of her songs presented by Tuffy Epstein and Ozzie Nogg.

This event is underwritten by the Ruth Frisch & Oscar S. Belzer Endowment Fund, the Samuel & Bess Rothenberg Memorial Fund and the Ann Woskoff Schulman Memorial Fund. A dessert reception will follow the program, open to the community.

VISIONS Visions “Senior Conditioning” will be held at the JCC on Wednesday, Dec. 13, noon. Lunch will be served at 12:30 p.m. and at 1:15 p.m., the Dancing Grannies perform. The cost is $10. Make check payable to Visions by Dec. 7. Send reservations to Jim Wax, 118 So. 88 St., Omaha, NE 68114.

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November 17, 2006

Storyteller to Share “Buried Treasures” at Temple Israel

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator “As a storyteller, I see life as a journey with each of us always somewhere on our own journey individually, in communities, and as part of a larger journey of humanity,” said Joel Ben Izzy, a professional storyteller who will be a scholar-in-residence at Temple Israel, Dec. 1-3. His residency is supported by the Hermene Zweiback Center for Lifelong Jewish Learning and is open to everyone in the community.

Ben Izzy admits that he has felt “a little embarrassed Joel Ben Izzy among storytellers,” because he had no credentials like “a Hassidic maggid who could trace his lineage back to Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav, the great 18th century mystic teller of tales. I had grown up in the least magical place on earth, the suburbs to the east of Los Angeles. Where my family lived there were no movie stars, no beaches-- no water of any sort, for that matter. In fact, there was no geography at all, as far as we could tell; though we were told of purple mountains to the north, we could not see them through the smog,” he wrote in his book, The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness.

In San Gabriel Valley, where Ben Izzy lived, the world “was flat and square, with relentlessly straight streets leading to freeways in every direction. Those freeways led to other freeways which led to still more freeways. As far as I knew, this was the world.

“I can’t say that I grew up in a home filled with stories, either,” he continued. “The truth is, stories take time, and my parents’ time was spent trying to keep our world from crumbling, as they struggled against poverty and my father’s failing health.

“It was the absence of magic that sent me looking for it, and I remember the day I found it. I must have been about five. I was in the supermarket with my mother. I could see she was miserable. I wanted some way to make

her happy, and I found it in the produce section.

‘Mommy, Look over there! That eggplant--it looks like Nixon!’” His mother’s face lit up with laughter.

Ben Izzy realized that he could pull his parents out of misery, if only for a moment. He became a performer for his parents. “I had no idea that I had found my life’s work. But I did know that I loved telling stories. I told of a world far beyond the one we knew, a land with smogless skies, where poor people became rich and sick people became healthy. With each story that world became more real to me. And I knew it was the world to which I would someday escape.”

Ben Izzy will share that world on Friday night, Dec. 1, 6 p.m., when he tells his story of “Buried Treasures-Lost and Found,” at the Shabbat worship service at Temple Israel. “The story tells the tale of a tailor from Krakow, Poland, who goes off in search of buried treasure,” Ben Izzy explained. “Whenever I tell stories geared to children,” he added, “I make sure they’re relevant for adults too. This particular story of “Buried Treasures,” an old Yiddish folktale, works on many levels.”

On Saturday morning, Dec. 2, 9-10:15 a.m., at “Sparks Beneath the Surface,” a study session which precedes the 10:30 Shabbat worship service, Ben Izzy will talk about “Of Ladders and Angels: Tales Inspired by Jacob’s Journey,” which, “of course, mirrors that of the Jewish people in so many ways. I’ll be sharing some of the stories it inspires.”

On Sunday morning, Dec. 3, 10:30 a.m., Ben Izzy will lead a workshop, “Turning Curses into Blessings,” on finding and telling our own stories. He will refer to his own journey including the loss of his voice and “the lessons that followed and the gifts they gave me which I hope to pass on through the stories I tell.”

And at 3:30 on Sunday, Ben Izzy will be at the Jewish Community Center for the Kripke Jewish Federation Library’s annual “Chanu-Kids” party. He’ll entertain children with Hanukkah stories during the two-hour annual celebration of magic and face painting and book sale. Call the Kripke Library at 334.6462 for more information.

Beth Israel to Host Scholar-in-Residence through Rabbinic Exchange Program

by MARY BORT for Beth Israel Synagogue When Rabbi Daniel Friedman grew up in Australia, he probably never thought he’d end up making a trip from Canada to Omaha. But that’s exactly what he’ll do when he visits Beth Israel this week as part of a Rabbinic Exchange Program. After attending the Nebras-Kallah Rabbinic Conference, the rabbi will continue his stay through tomorrow as a scholar-in-residence. Friedman is the rabbi of Beth Israel in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. to Rabbi According Jonathan Gross, “The very idea is great! We’re a part of a group of Orthodox syna- Rabbi Daniel Friedman gogues in North America who are involved in the program. The program is ongoing and Beth Israel will do this every year, where I’ll exchange with a different rabbi. I’ll be going to Edmonton in March to visit Rabbi Friedman’s shul.”

“The point of a rabbinic exchange is that it’s nice to get a new perspective,” explained Gross. “There are all kinds of great rabbis out there. They are talented in different ways and each has different strengths. These exchanges allow us to see a sample of what’s out there and benefit from their strengths.”

Friedman expressed enthusiasm for the Rabbinic Exchange Program. “I think it’s a wonderful program that enables small community rabbis to share with one another and with their communities,” he said.

When a rabbi visits a synagogue, he has the responsibility to serve as ambassador for his own shul. “From the perspective of the rabbis who visit other shuls, we want to do a great job representing our shuls,” stated Gross.

“We’re proud of our own congregations and want to represent them in a positive way. When I go to Canada in March, I want the Jewish community to know about all the great stuff going on in Omaha. If I give a stirring presentation or sermon, then Beth Israel and Omaha benefit. The Omaha community has a lot we can teach other communities.”

Another positive point is that the synagogues aren’t having ‘strangers’ come to visit. “The rabbis paired up

for the exchanges are friends,” explained Gross. “They aren’t strangers. So you are visiting the shul of a rabbi who is close to you or who has influenced you. This is true of the exchange between Rabbi Friedman and me.

He is a very close friend of mine. I draw upon him as a resource. It will be interesting for the Beth Israel community to see the differences and similarities between us.”

Gross has a great appreciation for Friedman. “He really is a rising star in the international Jewish world.

Besides his scholarship which is amazing, as a rabbi I’ve learned more from him about the value of dependability and integrity.”

Friedman has been serving his community of 240 families in Edmonton since September 2002. He was previously the rabbi of the Newtown Synagogue in Sydney, Australia. Friedman earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of New South Wales and went on to receive his Yadin Yadin from HaRav Gedalia Dov Schwartz and a Master’s in Jewish History from Touro College.

An active member of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), Friedman has been serving on the Small Communities Planning Committee for the RCA’s annual convention. He also played an important role in designing and shaping RCA’s Continuing Rabbinic Education Program. Friedman is married to Batya Yochoeved and they have two daughters, Millie (Miriam Leah) and Joey (Sarah Joar).

In addition to leading a morning class and evening lecture earlier, Friedman will participate in “Rabbinic Exchange Shabbat” tomorrow. Friedman will give the sermon, “I’m An Agnostic; Why Should I Care?”

Friedman is also an advocate for the release of Israeli spy, Jonathan Pollard. During Seudat Shlishit on Nov. 18, 4:45 p.m., he’ll speak about “Left Out in the Cold; My Top Secret Meeting with Israel Spy, Jonathan Pollard.”

“I visited him in North Carolina a few months ago,” explained Friedman. “I’ll share that experience.”

Expressing that he looked forward to serving as scholar-in-residence, Friedman also pointed out the obvious “Beth Israel--Beth Israel” connection. “It will be interesting to see the Omaha Beth Israel,” he said.

For more information, please contact the synagogue office at 556.6288.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 9

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

November 17, 2006

I Can’t Believe I Can’t Use Butter!

Cooking Kosher on Thanksgiving

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by LINDA MOREL NEW YORK (JTA) -- The problem with Thanksgiving is the food. Although it’s a lovely family holiday, most traditional Thanksgiving recipes -- the mashed and sweet potatoes, chestnut stuffings, cornbread dressings, whipped parsnips, pastries and pies -- call for butter.

Riddled with fat and cholesterol, butter also poses a challenge to people who keep kosher. Jewish dietary laws prohibit the mixing of dairy with meat. On Thanksgiving, it means the autumn foods Americans love must be tweaked to share a sideboard with turkey.

Most kashrut observers simply substitute margarine for butter and move Jewish Cooking for All on. It’s the way Jewish Seasons: Fresh, Flavorful cooks have operated for Kosher Recipes for Holidays decades. But what happens and Every Day by Laura to flavor in the process? “I Frankel.

Credit: Wiley Publishing never use margarine,” says chef Laura Frankel, co-owner of Shallots, a Chicago-area restaurant renowned not only for fabulous dining, but for being among the top kosher restaurants in America.

“You can’t take a recipe calling for butter and shove margarine into it instead.” Butter melts at body temperature, while margarine melts at higher than 98.6, explains Frankel, the author of Jewish Cooking for All Seasons: Fresh, Flavorful Kosher Recipes for Holidays and Every Day (Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2006).

“Because margarine doesn’t melt while you’re eating it, the stuff ends up coating your teeth. With margarine, there’s no clean wash away in the mouth.”

Some brands of margarine also contain trans fats, the result of adding hydrogen to vegetable oils. “The product was created in a chem lab,” Frankel says. “It has nothing to do with real food.”

The American Heart Association warns that trans fats and the saturated fats found in dairy products are the main dietary culprits in raising blood cholesterol. But when a little indulgence is called for, Frankel prefers butter to margarine, because of its superior taste and performance.

High quality butter contains between 78 percent and 82 percent fat, as compared to margarine with 69 percent to 79 percent fat, depending on the manufacturer.

The rest of the product is water. “In cakes made with margarine, the fat sinks to the bottom. The water rises and evaporates. The end result--a cake which is dry on

top and gooey at the bottom.”

Furthermore, margarine doesn’t brown like butter.

Therefore, it can’t impart butter’s rich flavor into sauteed foods, such as vegetables and other Thanksgiving side dishes. “Why would anyone take autumn squash and drown it in chemicals in a frying pan?” Frankel asks.

Before substituting a non-dairy ingredient for butter, she considers--what was butter’s purpose in the recipe?

Moisture? Rich flavor? Thickening? Once you realize what you’re looking to duplicate, it’s easier to find something that plays the same role, ideally imparting great taste in the most natural way. Sometimes beef stock will mirror butter’s deep flavor. If it’s simply moisture you’re after, oil will do the trick.

Frankel favors canola and olive oils, both monounsaturated fats. During the fall, when nuts are harvested, pumpkin seed and walnut oils, polyunsaturated fats, impart toasty earthy taste. These four healthy oils are ideal for sauteing.

On Thanksgiving, Frankel opens Shallots, roasting between 30 and 40 turkeys for her customers. Then she goes home to prepare venison for her family’s celebration. “It’s important to acknowledge this holiday because it’s all-inclusive, which is good for the Jews,” she says. “Thanksgiving foods, essentially meat and produce, are welcoming to kashrut.”

But what does Frankel serve to family and friends on this all-American holiday? This year, she’s going to start with Roasted Pumpkin-Chestnut Soup, a recipe that she’s never published anywhere until now. Visually appealing, this wholesome bisque is quintessential harvest fare. Frankel suggests serving soup the way she does --passed around in cups to milling guests, while she’s putting the finishing touches on Thanksgiving dinner.

Her Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes are a deep orange puree, deriving sweetness from maple syrup and crunch from pecans. Use high-quality maple syrup, rather than pancake syrup, and no one will miss the shortening.

Pan-Fried Smashed Potatoes taste similar to hash browns, but are much easier to prepare. They’re far tastier than their competition, mashed potatoes whipped with butter and milk.

Frankel suggests using extra-virgin olive oil and the season’s best bliss or new potatoes. On cool autumn days, Braised Chestnuts, Fennel, Leeks and Golden Raisins are as comfy as a cashmere sweater. While the chestnuts take some time to prepare, the rest of the recipe is so easy, it’s well worth making. The taste is divine, and the brunette color so gorgeous, Frankel wishes she could duplicate it in her hair.

Continued on page 11

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Cooking Kosher on Thanksgiving Continued from page 10 She feels it’s time for kosher cuisine to come into its own. “Look where the rest of the country is going.

Everywhere else, I see uncomplicated, no-fuss food.”

People are into farmer’s markets, organic produce and Whole Foods, the ubiquitous chain purveying fresh vegetables and fruit. “Somehow kosher food got off on a different path,” Frankel says. Instead of oil, people still rub turkey skin with margarine, which clumps and then, in the oven, runs off like water.

They’re still opening overly salted flavor packets and tossing them on meat and other foods. “Too many kosher recipes call for processed ingredients. Why are we eating chemicals? Why are kosher recipes not going natural? To comply with kashrut, somehow we got into the habit of substituting and adjusting with things that taste bad and are bad for us.”

Frankel believes in honest food, freshly prepared.

Because she made the decision to become kosher as an adult, she’s sensitive to the taste differential between the two worlds. That’s why she’s driven to infuse delectable flavor into kosher cooking. She explains that the Mediterranean diet is the one to which nutritionists keep returning because it’s the best way to eat. It’s a healthy diet, revolving around olive oil and vegetables, roasted meat and fish, and a wide variety of fresh fruit.

Jews originally came from the Mediterranean, she says.

“Why can’t kosher cooking go back to the clear, light foods of our roots?” In a country blessed with pumpkins and apples, pears, potatoes and a farmer’s market worth of possibilities, this Thanksgiving--forget flavor packets and margarine. Think fragrant, fresh and natural.

These recipes are by Laura Frankel. Pumpkin Chestnut Soup is a debut recipe created for JTA readers. The side dishes are from Jewish Cooking for All Seasons.

ROASTED PUMPKIN-CHESTNUT SOUP tablespoons olive oil tablespoons carrot, small diced tablespoons onion, small diced tablespoons celery, small diced teaspoon minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon chopped ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme Pinch nutmeg and Pinch ground cloves 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, fresh or canned 1/2 cup canned chestnuts 3-4 cups chicken stock or water if using cream 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional) Salt, pepper and honey Garnish: chervil, chives, tarragon and parsley In a 1-quart saucepan, heat olive oil until smoking.

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Brown the carrots, onions and celery. When they are browned, add the garlic and the ginger. Cook for another 2 minutes.

Add the cinnamon, coriander, thyme, nutmeg and ground cloves. Cook the mixture for another minute.

Stir in the pumpkin and chestnuts, and cover with chicken stock or water, about 2 inches above the vegetables.

Cook until all the vegetables are soft, keeping the liquid at the same level.

Puree the mixture in a blender until smooth, strain through a fine strainer and return to a 1-quart saucepan.

Add the cream and season the soup with salt, pepper and honey.

Thin the soup with water, if necessary.

To serve: Garnish the bowl with a mixture of chervil, chives, tarragon and parsley. Soup can be stored covered in the refrigerator for up to three days.Yield: 4 servings.

MAPLE MASHED SWEET POTATOES 2-3 large sweet potatoes (about 3 pounds), peeled and cut into large dice, (yields about 4 cups) 1/2 to 1 cup warm chicken stock or water reserved from cooking sweet potatoes Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup pure maple syrup 1/4 cup toasted pecans, optional Cover sweet potatoes with lightly salted water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.

Cook the potatoes until tender, about 20 minutes.

Drain the potatoes, reserving a cup of cooking liquid, if desired.

Mash them in a large bowl or put them through a ricer.

Add 1/2 cup warm stock or potato water, salt and pepper.

Stir until smooth and creamy. If potatoes are too thick, stir in more liquid, a spoonful at a time, until they reach desired consistency.

Stir in maple syrup and pecans, if using. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Yield: 4 servings.

PAN-FRIED SMASHED POTATOES 1 1/2 pounds new potatoes, scrubbed well Olive oil Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Preheat the oven to 350º.

Roast the potatoes on a baking sheet for 1 hour, or until they are easily pierced with a thin knife.

Cover your hand with a kitchen towel and gently smash each potato to flatten it.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and generously coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil.

Pan-fry the potatoes until they are crispy and golden brown, about 5 minutes on each side.

Transfer the potatoes to paper towels to drain and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Yield: 4 servings.

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COMMITMENT CEREMONY COHN/MILLER Rabbi Aryeh Azriel will perform a commitment ceremony uniting former Omahan Daniel Louis Cohn and Andrew Faust Miller on Nov. 18 at Temple Israel.

The best men are Michael Cohn of Chicago, Daniel’s brother, and Justin Miller of Vail, CO, Andrew’s brother. The chuppah holders are Jarred Klapper of Chicago, Becca Mishkin of New York, Alex Locke of Bloomington, MN, and Beth Shyken, also of Chicago.

Danny graduated from the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas with a BA in Journalism. He is a Creative Director at Edelman Chicago.

He is the son of Pam and Jeff Cohn and the grandson of Rose Cohn Perelman, and the late Lyman Cohn, and Julie and Norman Anon of Denver, CO. Andrew graduated from Indiana University with a BS in Telecommunications. He is a buyer for DPI Midwest.

He is the son of Patti Pathman of Mill Valley, CA, and Steven Miller of Denver, CO, and the grandson of Alice and Robert Davidson of Highland Park, IL, Dr. Gerald Miller of Palm Springs, CA, and the late Carol Miller.

After a trip to Cabo San Lucas, the couple will return to Chicago.

IN THE NEWS Rob A. Randels, CFP, MBA, ChFC, a network representative with the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network’s Nebraska Network Office of Omaha, attended the 2006 “Most Valuable Producers Conference,” held in Phoenix, AZ. Sponsored by Northwestern Mutual Investment Products & Services, the three-day conference recognizes the top producing network representatives and Investment Specialists from across the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network for the year ending May 31, 2006.

Randels joined the company in 1992 and has been the recipient of several company awards for outstanding service including Midlands Business Journal “40 Under 40” and Honorary Membership during his tenure. His invitation to the MVP Conference marks the third year that he has been invited to the annual event, which is celebrating its 10th consecutive year as a conference.

Randels is also active in several civic and charitable organizations throughout the Omaha area, including Keep Omaha Beautiful and the Metro Community College Foundation Board.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

November 17, 2006

Giving Thanks Americans view Thanksgiving as a once-a-year opportunity to give thanks for the things that matter: family, friends, love, health. But Jews are supposed to give thanks every day, in fact, three times a day in the morning, afternoon and evening prayers. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to do it again on Thanksgiving, so here’s our list from the Jewish Press...

• Thanks to our advertisers whose loyalty to the Press enables us to continue as the smallest Jewish community in North America still publishing a weekly paper.

• Thanks to our readers--who patronize those advertisers (and please tell them you saw their ads in the Jewish Press!).

• Thanks to our out-of-town readers whose additional financial support enables the Press to pay freelance writers for stories in our New Years’ and Passover issues, our special issues and our continuing features such as “Where Are They Now?” and “Next Generation in Business.”

• And thanks to the Lincoln Jewish community which pays the Press for a gift subscription for each of its members and whose financial support enables us to publish columnists such as Lois Friedman’s “Read It & Eat,” Oliver Pollak’s “Historian’s Footprint,” Bert Lewis’ “Bert’s Eye View,” as well as opinion pieces on our op-ed pages.

• A big thanks to the Jewish Federation of Omaha, whose annual subvention takes care of paying for our heat, lights, housekeeping and “rent” of these facilities, as well as additional funds that pay for subscriptions for everyone in the Greater Omaha area. Of course that subvention also helps pay the monthly bill to the United States Postal Service and to our printer, Suburban Newspapers, Inc. • Speaking of the USPS, thanks go to both our downtown bulk mail office which (most of the time) is looking out for our best interests,

and to the area’s postal carriers, who, for the most part, now deliver your Press on Thursdays! As for you out-of-town readers, get your friends and family members in your zip code to subscribe and the Press will get to you faster if there are more of you.

• Thanks to those readers in Omaha and around the country who pay for gift subscriptions for their children, brothers, sisters, parents and others. How ’bout the rest of you? At $31 a year (and it’s going up to $33 on Jan. 1), it’s a bargain for 52 issues annually--including the large New Year’s, Passover and Hanukkah issues--and a great present, to boot.

• Thanks to our colleagues on the campus of the Jewish Community Center, for their cooperation and professionalism. They submit articles and photos, purchase ads, meet deadlines and support the Press.

• And thanks to the synagogues-especially the publicity coordinators, who are responsible for all the p.r. for their institutions. They’re prompt, professional and courteous...you couldn’t ask for a nicer group of people with whom to work!

• Thanks to all the other Jewish organizations out there, both locally and nationally, who keep the Press supplied with news of their programs, projects and events.

• And thanks to the national--and international--news agencies, freelance writers, and photographers with whom the Press continues to work. This creative group is growing--with fresh ideas on what could be “same old/same old” subjects from Jewish holidays to life cycle events, from political and religious

news to election cycles and wars, and more.

• Thanks to the Jewish Press Committee, whose out-of-the-box thinking has led to exciting achievements in the last decade. And thanks, of course, to all our volunteers, who proofread, raise funds, assist with exhibits and receptions and everything it takes to make the Press a more responsive community paper.

• And finally, thanks to the great staff at the Jewish Press who never use up all their vacation days, come in early and stay late, answer calls of all kinds (you wouldn’t believe!) and make it fun to work here every day.

Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

by LEAH AHARONOV President of the International Council of Jewish Women The landmark meeting of the first Global Rabbinic Task Force on Agunot, scheduled to be held in Jerusalem last week, was the culmination of a decades-long struggle by the International Council of Jewish Women (ICJW) to facilitate such a rabbinical summit.

Its last-minute cancellation by Israel’s Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar has disappointed all of us, but is most devastating for the world’s agunot-those women who remain trapped in broken Jewish marriages because their husbands refuse to give them the necessary halachic divorce document (a get).

Since the 1950s, ICJW has pursued the plight of agunot as part of its international campaign for women’s rights, never wavering from its original mandate to encourage and support the rabbis in their efforts to resolve the issues facing agunot and mesuravot get “within the framework of the halachah (Jewish law).”

Although ICJW encompasses Jewish women of all religious and non-religious affiliations, the organizational leadership is attuned to the fact that, in order to sustain the unity of the Jewish people, a solution must be found that is accepted by all sectors. The issue of universality was also seen to be crucial, as the ability for rabbis to decide on acceptable plans of action in tandem would be an important element in achieving general consensus.

Over the years, ICJW has kept up the pressure by means of several international petitions and meetings with various Israeli Chief

...Jewish women are suffering, and those who believe in the justice and righteousness of the Jewish religion cannot reconcile these beliefs with the present situation.

I venture to say that there was even hope of a possible breakthrough, of a breach in the logjam. Rabbi Amar was on the threshold of becoming a hero.

Perhaps the dearth of heroes is a sign of our times. Rabbi Amar caved in to a barrage of considerable pressure from ultra-orthodox circles; they campaigned incessantly in many Jewish communities to intimidate the rabbis and delegitimize the conference. Since the mandate was and continues to be solutions within the framework of halachah, I can only

Jewish Press Committee Bobbi Leibowitz, Vice-Chairman; Stan Mitchell, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Treasurer; Michael Siegel, Finance Chairman; Joanie Jacobson, Immediate Past-chairman; David Herzog; Susan Lehr; Jamie Meyerson; George Quittner; Melissa Schop; Michael Sigmond; Jim Simon; Nancy Skid; and Dorothy Spizman.

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Looking for Rabbinic Heroes Rabbis. We believed that the authority of the Israeli Rabbinical Courts was key if there were to be any practical application of proposed solutions worldwide. For the last two years, Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar cooperated actively with ICJW in working toward this goal.

We were convinced of his sincerity and admired his courage in going forward with the idea of a conference, to the point of his issuing invitations--jointly with ICJW--to leading rabbis and rabbinical court judges from all over the world, and drawing up a program that highlighted all the relevant topics. ICJW enlisted the help of its affiliates to encourage the participation of the rabbis who had been invited from their communities. There was a general feeling of cooperation, of all sides working together “for the greater good.”

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

conclude that there were ulterior motives in these attempts to have it cancelled.

Among them I would number a fear of losing one of the last bastions of patriarchal hegemony, of attempting to silence the voices of women, of denying the social changes in the Jewish world that have resulted in much higher divorce rates than at any time in Jewish history, and of being oblivious to the needs and future of the Jewish people beyond certain neighborhoods in Jerusalem and B’nei Brak.

Despite our extreme disappointment at the cancellation of the conference, I sense that this will be a hollow victory. The underlying problems are not about to disappear. The forces that are demanding solutions are strong and widespread. The pressure will not abate. In the meantime, Jewish women are suffering, and those who believe in the justice and righteousness of the Jewish religion cannot reconcile these beliefs with the present situation.

The plight of agunot, their children, and the extended families who suffer with them should not be seen as “just a women's issue.” The collective welfare and future of the Jewish people must take precedence over vested interests.

The suffering is too great, and the stakes are too high. Therefore, the pressure for viable Halakhic solutions must continue.

The rabbis who were invited to speak at the conference prepared in-depth presentations for the meeting. Now that it will not take place in Jerusalem, they must regroup and find alternate high-profile platforms to present their ideas. The original intent of the meeting must be preserved. The international collaboration that characterized the conference preparations must spill over into alternative avenues of cooperation.

The interchange that should have begun in Jerusalem must find another venue.

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November 17, 2006

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 13

New Leadership in the House Could Breathe Life into Jewish Domestic Concerns

AMERICA DECIDES 2006

by MATTHEW E. BERGER WASHINGTON (JTA) --New faces in the congressional leadership may mean new opportunities for American Jewish groups seeking legislative solutions to many of its own concerns and those of the broader community.

Democrats garnered control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994, winning 30 seats, 15 beyond what was needed to wrest control from the Republicans. The fate of the Senate was decided when Democrats captured Senate races in Virginia and Montana, gave them a two-seat majority.

It is too early to tell whether a Democratic Congress, swept into power over discontent with the Bush White House, will have the ability to effect much change on the legislative front, especially with such a divided Senate.

Still Jewish lobbyists in Washington expressed some optimism that they would be able to advance issues as diverse as raising the minimum wage, reforming immigration policy and finding a solution to the crisis in Darfur. They also expressed confidence in the relations they have established with many of the incoming House Democratic leaders, especially the next Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

Jewish groups have also established strong ties with Rep. Steny Hoyer (DMD), the frontrunner for majority leader (though Pelosi announced her backing of Rep. John Murtha for the post), and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), a Jewish lawmaker who led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and is now considered a shoo-in for a leadership position.

Hoyer makes it a point to educate freshmen lawmakers about Israel issues and he has led delegations to the Jewish state multiple times. He prides himself on making Israel a bipartisan issue, vetting proposed legislation with his GOP counterpart, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri.

There are, however, some likely incom-

ing committee chairmen who spark concern on certain issues, primarily because of their opposition to Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s settlements policy. At the same time, these lawmakers often see eye-to-eye with the Jewish communal agenda on domestic issues.

example--Jews, who largely disagreed with the GOP on domestic issues, were still able to garner robust support for common-ground issues, mainly Israel.

On the domestic front, some Jewish organizational leaders expressed optimism about focusing on longtime domestic priorities. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of the first pieces I expect them to bring up is a clean

package to how much Israel spent on settlement expansion. But insiders say he is likely to concede a lot of leeway to his subcommittee chairs. â&#x20AC;˘ Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), a Jewish lawmaker and a strong supporter of aid to Israel, will likely be one of those chairs, heading the foreign operations subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. â&#x20AC;˘ Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), a Jewish member who is a strong supporter of Israel, is likely to seek the chairmanship of the House International Relations Committee. Lantos, who has also been an advocate for a stronger stance against Egypt and Iran as the committeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top Democrat, may be challenged by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), another Jewish lawmaker. â&#x20AC;˘ Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), a Jewish member who will likely chair the Middle East subcommittee of International Relations Committee. â&#x20AC;˘ Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the most senior member of the unofficial House Jewish caucus, who would likely chair the House Government Reform Committee. Waxmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s committee could take on a lot of environmental issues the Jewish community has been touting. â&#x20AC;˘ Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), the likely leader of the House Ways and Means Committee, which focuses on how money is raised, including tax policies. â&#x20AC;˘ Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the likely incoming chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Daroff, a former Republican operative, said he believes a lot of the issues the Jewish community will be touting will be ones in which both parties can come together. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aging and social services can bring people together to find solutions to issues that are going to be intractable,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be a great deal of pressure on all of the parties to show that they are able to effectively legislate in the new environment.â&#x20AC;?

The Senate is considered a more deliberative body, with lawmakers more likely to work in a bipartisan matter and to cross party lines. Indeed, 60 votes are needed to bring most initiatives to the floor.

Matthew E. Berger is a reporter for Congressional Quarterly.

List of Jews in the 110th Congress WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The following is a list of Jewish lawmakers who will serve in the 110th Congress. The number of Jews in the Senate will rise to 13 from 11, with two new members.

Both Joseph Lieberman and Bernie Sanders won as independent candidates, but are expected to caucus with the Democrats. The number in the House of Representatives will rise to 30 from 26, with six new faces. One race, involving Gary Trauner (D-WY.), has not been decided.

U.S. Senate: Barbara Boxer (D-CA); Ben Cardin (D-MD); Norm Coleman (R-MN); Russell Feingold (D-WI); Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); Herb Kohl (D-WI); Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ); Carl Levin (D-MI.); Joseph Lieberman (I-CT); Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Charles Schumer (D-NY); Arlen Specter (R-PA); and Ron Wyden (D-OR) House of Representatives: Gary Ackerman (D-NY); Shelley Berkley (D-NV); Howard Berman (D-CA); Eric Cantor (R-VA); Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.); Susan Davis (D-Calif.); Rahm Emanuel (D-IL); Eliot Engel (D-NY); Bob Filner (D-CA); Barney Frank (D-MA); Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ); Jane Harman (D-CA); Paul Hodes (D-NH); Steve Israel (D-NY); Steve Kagen (D-WI); Ron Klein (D-FL); Tom Lantos (D-CA); Sander Levin (D-MI); Nita Lowey (D-NY); Jerry Nadler (D-NY); Steve Rothman (D-NJ); Jan Schakowsky (D-IL); Adam Schiff (D-CA); Allyson Schwartz (D-PA); Brad Sherman (D-CA); Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL); Henry Waxman (D-CA); Anthony Weiner (D-NY); Robert Wexler (D-FL); and John Yarmuth (D-KY) These include Rep. John Conyers (DMI), the likely new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. David Obey, the likely incoming chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

In general, said Richard Foltin, legislative director of the American Jewish Committee, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Among the new leaders, there will be people we have a longstanding relationship with and others we will have to build it with.â&#x20AC;?

William Daroff, Vice President for public policy at United Jewish Communities, the umbrella of the North American federation system, said of Conyers: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always had an open ear to the concerns of the Jewish community, particularly as it relates to its domestic agenda.â&#x20AC;?

Conyers, who is black, earned Jewish plaudits last month when he phoned former President Carter to castigate him for describing Israeli settlement policies as â&#x20AC;&#x153;apartheidâ&#x20AC;? in his new book, a term Conyers said was inappropriate to use in any Jewish context.

The Jewish leaders point to the Republican control of Congress as a key

KIDS! Color A Cover!

increase of the minimum wage,â&#x20AC;? said Hadar Susskind, Washington director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. By clean, he meant the bill would not be lumped in with other Republican-sponsored, tax-cut initiatives.

The initiative would be led by Conyers.

Conyersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; committee is also expected to play a large role in the continuing debate over immigration. Jewish groups and their allies have had a hard time pushing comprehensive immigration reform in recent years, due to strong opposition from House Republican leaders.

Susskind said he believes an immigration deal could be worked through the Senate if it passes the House. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re now in a situation where the House will be putting forward a more comprehensive approach, and the Senate has to work with that,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a whole different situation.â&#x20AC;?

Other likely key committee chairs include: â&#x20AC;˘ Rep. David Obey (D-WI), the likely incoming chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Obey once proposed linking Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foreign aid

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333 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE | 68154-2198 | Fax 402/334-5422

This drawing by Julia Edelstein won her a gift certificate last year.

2006 Hanukkah Gift Guide Cover Coloring Contest Name __________________________________________________________________ Age ______ Parentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Names _____________________________________________________________________ Address __________________________________________ Phone Number ___________________

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

November 17, 2006

Candlelighting Friday, November 17, 4:44 p.m.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you’re looking at this space, so are others!

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

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6 p.m.; Tot Shabbat, 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30. Children ages six and under can come free, all others, $5. Host family is Melissa and Michael Schop and their children, Sarah and Noah. For dinner reservations, contact Margie Gutnik, programming@bethelomaha.org or call the office.

SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation (3-7), 10 a.m.; K’tantan (K-2), 10:45 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored

by Eyal and Ruth Margalit in honor of their daughter Noam becoming a Bat Mitzvah; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:50 p.m.

Sitter Service is available during Friday night and Saturday morning services, on a drop-in basis, at no charge.

SUNDAY: Bible Discussion Group, 10 a.m.; Living Hebrew, 10 a.m., with Susi FrydmanLevin; “The Weekly Parasha: It’s All About Me?!,” 10 a.m., led by Andy Greenberg; “Jewish Pot Pourri,” 11 a.m., led by Frydman-Levin; Great Plains Hanukkah Concert, 4 p.m.

THURSDAYS, noon: Rabbi Levin leads “Getting More Out of Prayer: Insights Into the Siddur.”

Open to the community.

WOMEN’S BOOK GROUP: Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m., at the synagogue; all women in the Jewish community are welcome and may join at any time.

MOTHERS CIRCLE: Monthly class for non-Jewish mothers raising Jewish children, continues Tuesday, Dec. 5, 78:30 p.m. and is open to the community, free of charge, For information, contact Judy Rubin, 498.0904 or eddir@bethelomaha.org.

THE ART OF JEWISH PAPER CUTTING: Thursday, Nov. 16, 7 p.m.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fri., 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 4:44 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.

Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.;

Children’s Classes, 10 a.m. (call the office for schedule); Rabbi Dan Friedman will speak during services as part of the Rabbinic Exchange Program, “I’m an Agnostic; Why Should I Care?”; Kiddush is sponsored by Joey Shyken in honor of Paysie, Susie, Gary, Liat, Shemuel Aaron, Aviva Chana and Bat Sheva Tovah Shyken; Mincha, 12:34 p.m.; Suedat Shlishit, 4:45 p.m.; Rabbi Friedman will speak on “Left Out in the Cold: My Top Secret Meeting with Israel Spy Jonathan Pollard”; Havdalah, 5:48 p.m.; Sisterhood Donor, 8 p.m. (gift shop will open at 7:30 p.m.).

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m.

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m.

TUESDAY: Sr. NCSY Latte & Learning, 7 p.m. at Scooter’s, 120th & Blondo, “Witch Craft?

Which Craft? Witch Craft in the Torah.”

Wednesday-Friday: The office is closed for Thanksgiving.

THURSDAY: Annual touch football game follows 9 a.m. minyan and breakfast.

BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Shabbat in the Home.

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Service, 7 a.m.; Chabad Women of Worth Auxiliary Celebrates Shabbat, 4:40 p.m. Join us for an evening of joy, camaraderie and a Shabbat feast.

SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9 a.m.; Service, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush luncheon follows the service.

SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.; Mishpacha University presents Mishpacha Mornings, 10 a.m.noon. Family breakfast and learning experience for parents and children up to age five. For information contact 391.7640 or email TippiM@aol.com.

WEEKDAYS: Minyan, 7 a.m.

TUESDAY: Women of Worth Prayer Circle-Tehillim & More, 9 a.m.

Kabbalah WEDNESDAY: Circle, 7 p.m.

THURSDAY: Jewish Thought, 12:45 p.m.

All events and programs are open to the community. For information or to register, call 330.1800 or visit www.

Ochabad.com.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel.

FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel, with oneg provided by Dave Rosenbaum.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. all led by Rabbi Emanuel; Game Night/Potluck, 6 p.m. If you have any questions or if you need a ride, call Deborah Swearingen at 476.7528.

SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 2-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; K-1, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. and Hallah High, 10 a.m.noon at South Street Temple; LJCS Board, 1 p.m. at Tifereth Israel; Great Plains Hanukkah Concert, 4 p.m. Contact Tracy Gordon or Shoshanna Shaffin for more information.

WEDNESDAY: LJCS Hebrew class (grades 2-8), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

will have the Kripke Library Book Sale in main corridor; Join the Pancake Man from 9–10 a.m., in the Friedman Social Hall. Cost is $4 per person, children three years and younger are free.

Teacher Learning Coffee, 9 a.m.; WRJ-O Meeting, 10 a.m. in the library; Religious School (K-6), 10 Plains a.m.-noon.; Great Hanukkah Concert Grades K-6, 2 p.m. at Beth El. Final dress rehearsal for all students followed by the community concert at 4 p.m. Purchase tickets at Temple Israel, Beth El and Beth Israel.

LIFELONG LEARNING TUESDAY: Share the Moment, noon with Lee Needelman.

WEDNESDAY: No Religious or Family School; No Middle/ High School; Thanksgiving Community Interfaith Service, 7 p.m. at Dundee Presbyterian Church 5312 Underwood Ave.

NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN FRIDAY: Minyan, 5 p.m.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m., led by Miles Remer.

TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY, 4 p.m.: Shabbat Comes to You: Cantor Wendy Shermet will lead a Shabbat Service at Remington Heights; Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, and Cantor Shermet will lead the service along with the Middle/High School Klezmer Band.

SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9-10:15 a.m. Four week study on The Life of David

by Robert Pinsky; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.

David Glazer, son of Jordana and Jim Glazer, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah.

SITTER SERVICE: Available each Friday evening for the 7:30 p.m. service, Saturday mornings when there is a bar or bat mitzvah, and Sunday mornings when there is Religious School.

Advance reservations and a $5 donation are appreciated. Sorry, there are no facilities for infants.

SUNDAY: In honor of Jewish Book Month, 9 a.m.-noon, we

Services conducted by Rabbi Royi Shaffin.

Minyan, MONDAY and THURSDAY, 9 a.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m. with a Shabbat dinner following with Lela Shanks and Ann Gradwohl, who will speak about a piece of artwork that will be on display and their story of racial equality. Make reservations now.

SATURDAY: Weekly Parashah class, 8:30 a.m.; Morning service, 9:30 a.m. followed by Shabbat lunch and Talmud class; Junior Congregation.

SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 2-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; K-1, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. and Hallah High, 10 a.m.noon at South Street Temple.

TUESDAY: The Ladies’ Lunch Bunch will meet at Wilderness Ridge, noon. Call Elaine Evnen if you need a ride.

WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Call Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066; LJCS Hebrew class (grades 2-8), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

Prof. Jean Cahan will teach an adult education class on “Maimonides’ 13 Principles (of Faith)” Sunday, Nov. 19 and 26, 3-4 p.m. in the synagogue lounge.

Lincoln Youth to Join Omaha Kids at This Sunday’s Hanukkah Concert

YOUR AD CAN GO HERE...

to reserve space, call

Allan Handleman, 334.6451, or Terri Greenwood, 334.6559.

Left photo: Lincoln youth stretch during a break, singing “A-toody-ta, A-toody-ta, A-toody-ta-ta;” music teacher Kurt Knecht plays “Bim

Bom/Hanerot Halalu” upside down and backwards; Knecht leads rehearsal with Grant Gordon, left, Aaron Hoagland, Kurt Knecht, Zach

Knecht, Avi Knecht, Melissa Bornstein, Sarah Hoagland and Ben Schreiber. The concert is this Sunday, 4 p.m., at Beth El Synagogue.

November 17, 2006

The Value of Life

SPARKS FROM THE WORD

by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Haye Sarah The stories of this Sidra introduce us to the famous Cave of Makhpelah, the burial place of the Patriarchs.

The Sacred Text carries us through the Middle Eastern haggling over a price for the famous cave. The Hittities pretend to offer it for free, but are persuaded finally to name the price they had in mind. Abraham pays it without hesitation. He must have a place to bury his wife and the high price of the place does not deter him.

There is further the story of Abraham’s sending a mission back to Mesopotamia to find a wife for Isaac and we are eventually introduced to Rebecca.

One would have suspected that the Bible would have wanted to find reason to think of our ancestors as having come from the Land of Israel. But it unhesitatingly finds the Patriarchs to be Mesopotamians. It would have

DEATHS MAXINE TULA SLOAN Former Omahan Maxine Sloan died Oct. 30 in Austin, TX, at the age of 85. Services were held Nov. 5 at the Colonial Chapel, Cook-Walden Funeral Home.

Widowed at age 42 after the unexpected death of her husband, Lee George Sloan, she was an accomplished singer, dancer and actor at the Omaha Community Playhouse. She later owned and operated Maxine’s, a dress shop, before becoming a successful realtor. After moving to Austin, she attained Life Master status in bridge and ran a small bookkeeping business until she was 82.

She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, Steven and Michi Sloan of Mill Valley, CA, and Dr. Stewart and Diane Sloan; son, Jon Sloan of Los Angeles; daughter and son-in-law, Judith Sloan-Price and Paul L. Price of Austin; and grandchildren, Brody, Carrie, Tova, Dana and Eric.

Memorials to Hospice Austin’s Christopher House, 2820 E. Martin Luther King Blvd., Austin, TX 78702.

GARY A. LEBOWICH Gary Lebowich, 60 a native of Sioux City, IA, most recently of Bear, Delaware, died Nov. 2. Services were held in Sioux City on Nov. 7, with Rabbi Guy Greene of Congregation Beth Shalom officiating.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Roxann.

He is survived by his wife, Bobi, of Bear, DE; his parents Grace and Ben Lebowich; son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Jenna Lebowich; and granddaughter, Marina of White Plains, NY; and step-children.

Memorials to Beth El Scholarship Fund, or Muscular Dystrophy Association.

been easy for the Narrator to find reason for the Patriarchs and their wives to be native Israelites. But their traditions go back to Mesopotamia, and their narratives, therefore, do not alter their memories. Their memories were sacred.

In all of this, note the way Sarah’s life is counted out as 100 years and 20 years and five years. At the end of the Sidra, likewise, Abraham’s life is counted out as 100 years and 70 years and five years. It is as though the Bible refuses to give a total sum of years for the lives of Sarah and Abraham. Each arithmetical portion is named separately, as though we are to join to the text caressing each portion of the life of Sarah and each portion of the life of Abraham.

On contemplation, one gets the impression that the Bible cannot let any portion pass by without recognizing its importance. And the total impression then is that life itself is so sacred that one extols and cherishes every portion of it. It is not that life is not meant to be enjoyed. It is only that the enjoyment of life must include appreciation of the fact that life itself is miraculous and that life must be approached not only with joy and happiness, but also with sobriety and seriousness.

It’s a Dog’s Life

Elisha Albert, left, signs a copy of her debut novel, How Is This Night Different, for Debbi Josephson, as Library Director Gary Katz accepts payments from attendees at the opening Jewish Book Month event last week. Rabbi Lawrence Kushner speaks Monday, 7 p.m., at the library.

PEOPLE WHO READ NEWSPAPERS ARE

Page 15

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“NatureWorks LLC” is offering an approximately 30% moisture gypsum available for pickup at its Blair, Nebr., facility.

This gypsum is offered free of charge.

If interested, contact Paul Foley at (402) 533-1407 or paul_foley@natureworksllc.com.

We will need to coordinate a pickup schedule to ensure we have adequate gypsum and minimize the waiting lines.

A volunteer helps a newly arrived puppy rescued from northern Israel during this summer’s conflict with Hezbollah, earlier this month at JFK International Airport in New York. Forty abandoned puppies were flown from Israel to the United States in search of adoptive homes.

The animal welfare group Hakol Chai has been taking care of the animals since it rescued them, sometimes under fire. Despite attempts to find homes for them in Israel, 40 still need families. Concern for Helping Animals in Israel, the American sister charity of Hakol Chai, funded the flight and is working to find adoptive homes. The puppies will be boarded at shelters throughout the Washington, Virginia and Maryland area. Jewish communities there will hold adoption days.

Credit: David Karp

To Submit an Obituary Notice: Send to the Jewish Press via e-mail: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; fax: 402.334.5422; or mail, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; or log on to www.jewishomaha.org and click on ‘Jewish Press’, and then Submit announcements. Callthe Press office at 402.334.6448 for more information.

Young Author Opens Jewish Book Month at Kripke Library

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Book Exchange to Highlight Next Beth El Rosh Hodesh Meeting

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator For the women of Beth El, burying their noses in a good book will be even easier after they attend the synagogue’s Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group meeting, which will focus on upcoming Jewish Federation Book Month activities and book offerings.

Scheduled Monday, Nov. 27, 7 p.m., at the home of Donna Olesh, 1810 So. 109 St., the evening will be cohosted by Emily Meyer. According to Olesh, the meeting will include a presentation about Jewish Book Month programs taking place in November and December, plus a used-book exchange (give away or loan). Attendees will be given the opportunity to give a brief synopsis of their book and why they liked it.

“Check out your basement, clean out your closets and look through your book shelves, because after this usedbook exchange, everyone will be able to go home with some new books to keep them company during the long winter nights ahead,” Olesh said, adding that any leftover books will be donated.

Reservations are needed and may be made by contacting her at 334.1462 or deolesh@cox.net.

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ALL STEEL! Rigid frame or pole building. Excellent value and service. Free quote and erection estimates! Sentinel Building Systems. 800-327-0790 ext. 26. www.sentinelbuildings.com.

AG LENDING Officer at growing community bank. Prefer 5+ years experience. Crop insurance helpful. Send resume to HR, POB 79, Gothenburg, NE 69138, or tsfranzen@1stStateBank.com.

AIRLINES ARE hiring. Train for high paying Aviation Maintenance Career. FAA approved program. Financial aid if qualified. Job placement assistance. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance, 888-349-5387.

SERVICE MANAGER position open. For more information, contact Friesen Chevrolet, 402-773-5538.

COMPANY DRIVERS & O/Ops: Pay, choices, benefits, Grand Island offers the best: Competitive pay, outstanding benefits. Late model equipment. CDL-A/Clean MVR required. 6 months experience. 866-472-6347, www.giexpress.com.

F.C.C. NEEDS company drivers and owner operators for van and flatbed. Medical benefits after 1st month. Call about our premium flatbed pay! 1-800-228-9842 ext. 137. www.fcc-inc.com. CDL Class A required.

Page 16

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

November 17, 2006

A Jewish Presence at Central’s Hall of Fame Event Harlan J. Noddle was part of the 1954 class. His Stuart Muskin, who shared stories about Leonard

by ANNE MUSKIN award was accepted by his wife, Nancy Noddle. She playing high school football, and on the Nebraska Jewish Press Intern Central High School was founded in 1859. Since told of her late husband’s many achievements in the team that faced Stanford in the 1941 Rose Bowl. He September, 1999, there have been 89 people inducted business world. He earned a degree in economics from also spoke of Leonard’s time in the service during into its Hall of Fame. Among them are football legend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1958. He was a WWII, and how he won two Navy Crosses in two days.

Muskin founded Interco Builders in Southern Gayle Sayers, builder Peter Kiewit, and actor Henry first lieutenant in the Army, and then joined the California and his company has built more than Fonda.

5,000 residential and commercial properties.

Last month, 11 more former Central students Central recognized his great lifetime achievewere honored with this prestigious award. And ments and sought to highlight that at 87, five are outstanding members of the Jewish Muskin remains active in the building industry community: Martin (Marty) Shukert, Leonard and goes to the office every day.

Muskin, Marc Kraft, Howard Rosenberg, and Marc Kraft is a former Omaha councilman, the late Harlan J. Noddle, serving eight years on the Omaha City Council, The evening started with a dinner in Central’s where with his support, the Roberts Skate Park courtyard. The doorways were flanked with was created, public library funding was Central spirit items, and tables were decorated improved, and smoking restrictions were passed. with memorabilia. There were yearbook photos Kraft graduated in 1966, and has been very from 1945, lists of faculty from 1932--all active in the Omaha community. He owns Kraft focused on the honorees’ graduation years, and DC Furniture and More, in downtown for more the times that they spent at Central. than 30 years. He has been involved in many After a brief word from the new principal organizations in Omaha including: Downtown Greg Emmel, a brass band struck up a tune and Omaha Inc., the Cosmopolitan Club, the BSA, led the honorees, their families, and friends to the Leavenworth Business Association, the Old the auditorium for the ceremony. The Hall of Market Business Association, the Sister City Famers were called to the stage one by one and given a plaque by Dr. Jack Lewis, Central’s team CHS Hall of Famers include: Marc Kraft, left, Stuart Muskin and Nancy Noddle, Association, and the Public Art Commission. physician for 35 years. They were then asked to accepting awards on behalf of Leonard Muskin and the late Harlan Noddle, Journalist Howard Rosenberg graduated from Central in 1969 ande graduated with honors speak about their time at Central and achieve- Howard Rosenberg, and Marty Shukert.

American Community Stores Corporation, a regional from George Washington University. After college, ments since then.

Marty Shukert is a city planner, and graduated CHS supermarket chain. He later went on to form the Rosenberg served in the U.S. Navy. Among his many in 1967. He is a graduate of Yale University, where he Noddle Development Company, which has purchased achievements is winning the Writers Guild Award for earned a degree in city planning in 1971, and went on and developed more than 85 shopping centers and five Best Teleplay. He has worked for the CBS Evening News and was a producer for 60 Minutes. Rosenberg’s to earn a Master of Architecture from the University of office buildings in 16 states.

California at Berkeley.

Noddle was not just a successful business man, but articles have been featured in numerous national pubHe was honored for his work here in Omaha includ- also was Chairman of the Board of Nebraska Health lications. He is currently a producer for ABC’s Prime ing the development of the Conagra campus and Systems (now Nebraska Medical Center) and the Time Live and is based in Washington D.C. The Central Hall of Fame dinner and ceremony Heartland of America Park, the new Riverfront area, University of Nebraska Foundation. He served on the several North Omaha housing initiatives, and Omaha’s boards of the Omaha Airport Authority, the Omaha proved to be a sincere and special evening, as honorees recreational trails system. Central acknowledged Symphony and the National Conference for stayed late and were congratulated by their peers and Shukert as a 2004 Fellow of the American Institute of Community and Justice. His most recent volunteer families. Most of the speakers specifically thanked Certified Planners, among other career achievements. work was on behalf of the “New Beginning” for the Central for preparing them for the world, and acknowledged the diversity and emphasis on education He and his wife, Aveva, have two daughters, Rachel Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

Leonard Muskin was a member of the 1936 gradu- that Central instilled, as important tenants in their who graduated from Central in ’98, and Ariel, in ating class; his award was accepted by his brother, lives.

2002.