December 6, 2013

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

Dealing with Iran

December 6, 2013 3 Tevet 5774 Vol. 94 | No. 12

This Week

by RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) -- They want to brandish a new stick against Iran, but hawks in Congress aren’t going to use it -- yet.

For all the disappointment they expressed following the deal on Iran’s nuclear program, skeptics in Congress appear to be willing to give the agreement brokered by the Obama administration, space to breathe -albeit with tough new punitive measures in place should Iran fail to live up to its end of the bargain.

“I will continue working with my colleagues to craft bipartisan legislation that will impose tough new economic sanctions if Iran undermines this interim accord or if the dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure is not underway by the end of this six-month period,” U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), a leader in passing Iran sanctions, said after the deal’s announcement.

That’s a shift from pre-deal statements in which Kirk was leading an effort to push through new sanctions not conditioned on the outcome of talks between the United States and other world powers and Iran.

Proponents of a tougher line against Iran say the sanctions talk

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Interfaith Thanksgiving Page 7

President Obama

Prime Minister Netanyahu

wasn’t an empty threat and helped shape the outcome of the interim deal. Moreover, Congress is not dropping the stick: Kirk and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, are preparing new sanctions legislation to take effect if Iran violates the interim deal.

The two senators “will be working over the Senate recess to craft a bipartisan sanctions bill that establishes a mandatory fail-safe to this interim agreement, ensuring that sanctions come back in spades if Iran

cheats during the next six months or if Iran’s nuclear infrastructure is not being dismantled at the end of the six-month period,” a congressional aide told JTA in an email. “We should expect this legislation to go to the president’s desk for signature before the end of the year.”

But it’s not clear if pro-sanctions lawmakers have backing from the Senate leadership for new sanctions.

“I said when we come back, we’ll take a look at this to see if we need stronger sanctions, “ Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the majority leader, said in

Andy Robinson has your shirt

an NPR interview quoted by Roll Call, a Capitol Hill daily.

Reid said Menendez and Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, will study the issue.

“They will hold hearings if necessary, and if we need more work on this, if we need to do stronger sanctions, I’m sure we will do that,” Reid said.

The majority leader’s emphasis on the role played by Johnson is significant.

Johnson, a moderate Democrat, thus far has resisted efforts to advance through his committee new sanctions passed over the summer by the U.S. House of Representatives. A former Johnson staffer told JTA that the senator, once thought of as a goalong-to-get-along senator, may feel freer to resist pressure from his colleagues and the pro-Israel community because he has decided not to run again next year.

Other pro-Israel Democrats in the Senate -- among them Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Intelligence Committee, and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the chairman of the Armed Services Committee -Continued on page 2

Schrager family honors staff

Brooklyn Jews targeted in ‘knockout’ attacks Page 12

Inside Point of view Synagogues In memoriam

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

8 10 11

Andy Robinson and the “Ugly Christmas Sweater” Hanukkah shirt.

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMPWRIGHT It is impossible to live in the Midwest and not be familiar with the “Ugly Christmas Sweater.” Reindeer, polar bears, green-red-white stitching (with or without gold thread),

candy canes and, if you really want to make a splash, actual bells. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess not many of our readers have ever owned such a creation, and if that makes you feel left out, there’s good news: there’s a Christmas Sweater inspired Hanukkah shirt, and it’s available at Retro Shirtz, located in Westroads Mall.

Owner Andy Robinson was born and raised in Omaha: “I have been a member of the Jewish Community Center for as long as I can remember. I learned to swim there, and met all my friends there.

One of the best experiences I’ve had has been in BBYO. I was able to forge Continued on page 2

From left: Harley Schrager, Holly Hamilton, Christina Rios, Bert Benson, and Mike Silverman.

by OZZIE NOGG Bert and make her their go-to perOn Nov. 18, during a special tea son when they have questions time at the Rose Blumkin Jewish about day-to-day living at the Home, employees Bert Benson, Home. Bert helps with care planHolly Hamilton and Christina Rios ning, financial matters, roommate were recognized for their exem- compatibility issues, referrals to plary professionalism, teamwork medical and other professionals, and attitude on the job. The award, and end of life care. She is a true sponsored by the Jack J. and Sonia professional and a role model for Schrager Endowment Fund, named our other managers.”

Benson as RBJH Manager of the When describing Hamilton, one Year, and Hamilton and Rios as of the Home’s social workers, SilverRBJH Employees of the Year. The man said, “Holly has a wonderful, honor comes with individual gifts sensitive touch with Residents and of $2500. exceptional follow-through skills.

“Bert Benson, our Director of So- She is a perfect fit within the RBJH cial Services, has been with the culture.” The contribution made by Blumkin Home for twenty-eight Rios, the Southwest Neighborhood years,” said Mike Silverman, Jewish Clerk, was described by Silverman Federation of Omaha CEO. “The as, “stellar.” He added that, Residents and their families trust Continued on page 2

2 | The Jewish Press | December 6, 2013

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Continued from page 1 have made clear that they would oppose intensified sanctions kicking in while talks were taking place.

“I am baffled by the insistence of some senators to undermine the P5+1 talks,” Feinstein said in a Nov. 15 statement, referring to the six major powers -- Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany in addition to the United States -involved in the Iran negotiations. “I will continue to support these negotiations and oppose any new sanctions as long as we are making progress toward a genuine solution.”

Iran hawks already are unhappy with the interim deal, which places some restrictions on Iranian uranium enrichment in exchange for some sanctions relief but allows Iran to keep enriching low-level uranium and keeps in place its existing enrichment infrastructure. The hawks are determined to make sure that a final deal incapacitates any weapons-making capability.

The deal must ensure that Iran ends “all nuclear weapons capability -- all the enriched uranium, all the centrifuges,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, at an event for Ohel, a Jewish social services provider.

Schumer told JTA he intends to explore new sanctions after Thanksgiving.

“A fairer agreement would have coupled a reduction in sanctions with a proportionate reduction in Iranian nuclear capability,” Schumer said. “The goal of the administration is to eliminate all of Iran’s nuclear weapons-making capabilities by the end of the final negotiations. It is still my hope they can achieve that goal.”

In addition to keeping up pressure on the Iranians to follow through on their commitments, new sanctions legislation could help shape the outcome of a final-status deal, a source at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or

AIPAC, told JTA on condition of anonymity.

“Our fundamental goal is that in the final agreement, the United States must prevent a nuclear-capable Iran,” said the AIPAC source, who emphasized that such legislation is in the “conceptual” stage and would not be drafted until after the Thanksgiving break. The legislation “essentially will condition the environment for a final deal.”

Joel Rubin, a former Senate staffer, said Congress must tread carefully lest it be accused of scuttling the deal and driving away U.S. allies that have maintained the sanctions regime that helped bring Iran to the negotiating table. Rubin now works for the Ploughshares Fund, an anti-proliferation advocacy group that backs the deal brokered in Geneva on Saturday.

A few days after the initial deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who over the weekend blasted the interim agreement as a “historic mistake,” appeared to be tamping down his rhetoric a notch.

“It is true that the international pressure which we applied was partly successful and has led to a better result than what was originally planned, but this is still a bad deal,” he told the Knesset. “It reduces the pressure on Iran without receiving anything tangible in return, and the Iranians who laughed all the way to the bank are themselves saying that this deal has saved them.”

Netanyahu said he was dispatching his national security adviser, Yossi Cohen, to Washington to consult on the deal.

“That agreement must lead to one result: the dismantling of Iran’s military nuclear capability,” Netanyahu said. “I remind you that even during, during the talks, the leaders of Iran repeated their commitment to destroy the State of Israel, and I reiterate here today my commitment, as prime minister of Israel, to prevent them from achieving the ability to do so.”

Andy Robinson

Continued from page 1 programs is infectious; it’s part of the reason why customer such close connections with other kids there, and I’d recom- service seems to be his strong suit: “I love the personal attenmend it to anyone.” tion we give to customers at the store,” he says. “Because we Andy started his company, Omaha Shirtz, in early 2013. do personalized apparel, we are able to focus on the individThe business was so sucual customer. Whether you cessful that a new location order one shirt or a hunwas needed, and Retro dred, you tell us what you Shirtz opened in need and we make it hapWestroads Mall in early pen exactly the way you November. With seven want it.” graphic designers on staff, So, what’s next? and the capacity to digital“Let’s make it through a ly print the requested fantastic holiday shopping design, Andy can produce season,” Andy says, “and any T-shirt or stretched after that, we’ll be looking canvas a customer could to further expand the possibly want. store. Everybody has a “The name came from need for custom apparel, our nostalgic shirts, which so the sky is the limit!”

Jewish business: Retro Shirtz is located in Westroads Mall are distressed to give them Retro Shirtz is located that ‘retro’ look. We make shirts that people can’t get any- between Journey’s and DSW on the main level- north and more, like Hamm’s Beer.” open Monday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. until In addition, the store sells ‘New Generation’ shirts, with a 8:30 p.m., and on Sunday from 11:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. twist, like the custom designed “Ugly Christmas Sweater” For more information, call 402.614.0888 or visit www.oma Hanukkah shirt, and the “Holiday of light sabers” shirt, hashirtz.com. which features a Hanukkiah with, you guessed it, light sabers instead of candles.

“Most T-shirts have a type of overlay printed on them, which fades with washing,” he explains. “With our printers, the ink is infused into the cotton, which means it doesn’t Continued from page 1 fade. The design stays true, no matter how many times you “Christina’s role is designed to enhance and organize throw it in the washing machine.” communication between Residents, families, physicians Think photographs with high resolution, or patterns you and RBJH staff. Christina goes above and beyond.” design yourself, or your school logo; if you can think it, Harley Schrager presented the awards. “My folks had Andy can make it. The sky is the limit. And he doesn’t stop both been Residents of the Blumkin Home. They always there: as a sponsor of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Retro commented on the care they received and how well they Shirtz produces a canvas printing of any wish granted, and were treated by the staff. Each time I visited them at the presents it as a keepsake to young patients: Home, I saw this for myself and appreciated it so much.

“Sandy Epstein turned me on to the Make-A-Wish When one’s parents are old and need special attention, it’s Foundation, and it’s a great cause to be a part of,” Andy says. a comfort to know that the Blumkin Home is available to “We also print all their apparel.” them. The Home is a wonderful haven and was very Andy has been married to Lisa since 2009; they have a important to my parents. On behalf of them and the twelve-year-old son, Nicholas Davis. His mother Judy entire Schrager family, I’m happy to recognize Bert, Holly passed away in 2004; Andy’s father, John Robinson, visits the and Christina for their work.” store every day. Andy also has a younger brother, Todd.

The Jack J. and Sonia Schrager Endowment Fund “I wish my grandparents, Norm and Marge Lincoln, were Award was established in November of 2000 as a quarterhere to see the store,” Andy says. ly award with a cash value of $250 to the recipient. “The Norm and Marge moved to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Schrager family recently decided to make this a yearly Home in 2004, and Andy is grateful for the care they honor with a more significant prize,” Silverman said. received: “The Blumkin Home is such an amazing place,” he “Currently, the Jack J. and Sonia Schrager Endowment says, “it’s phenomenal what Mike Silverman has done with it Fund Award is the highest employee honor on Campus.” over the years. As a community, we are incredibly lucky to The award was established at, and is administered by, have such a great facility.” the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation.

Andy’s enthusiasm about the Jewish community and its

Schrager family

December 6, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 3

Lee White considered himself a lucky man

by OZZIE NOGG remember LBJ trekking up the stairs to visit. President In his 2008 memoir, Government for the People, the late Johnson once told me, ‘I’d make that fella a judge if I didn’t Lee White includes this anecdote: “Perhaps a defining inci- need him so much.’’’ dent took place while my mother was pregnant with me.

On the day of Lee’s death, the LBJ Library posted an artiAccording to the legend, she was playing poker with the girls cle titled, The LBJ Library remembers Lee C. White, in which one Sunday evening, and an angel appeared to her and whis- Lyndon Johnson was quoted as saying, “He was a man of pered, “Annie, this is your first, so you get a choice.” My good spirit with a tolerance for the nagging details of every mother said, “You mean a boy or a girl?” “No,” said the angel, problem, as well as very sound judgment about where the “I mean smart or lucky.” My mother quickly said, “Lucky.” When I heard this story at about twelve or thirteen years of age, I teased my mother by saying, “Ma, why didn’t you say, ‘Both?’” She, of course, replied, “It never occurred to me.”

This past Oct. 31, in Bethesda, MD, Lee Calvin White died at the age of 90. Newspaper obituaries chronicled his career in the corridors of political power, and described Lee as “a lowprofile presidential adviser who, in the 1960s, helped the Kennedy and Johnson administrations coordinate their strategies on civil rights during moments of crisis and triumph.” Lee was characterized as a quiet but delibfacts could be found and where the erative presence who did not curry solutions would take us. Lee White favor or rush to judgment; a modest, has served his country and two unimposing man with a fondness for This photo of Lee White appears on the cover Presidents with fidelity both to concigars and a penchant for wry quips, of his memoir, Government for the People. “I science and to pride.” whose reputation for loyalty made chose it,” White said, “because my mother Duty in the West Wing meant long said it made me look ‘thoughtful.’ It was her hours, including Saturdays and even him a trusted troubleshooter.

In spite of his passion for anonymi- favorite picture of me.”

Sundays. “We knew from an early age ty, Lee White earned well-deserved public praise. In the that we had to share our father with the world,” said Lee’s foreword to Government for the People, Bill Moyers, White daughter, Rosalyn White of San Francisco. “He rarely took a House press secretary for Lyndon Johnson, wrote, “No one Saturday off, but he did try to spend time with us on the weekever served this country or its Presidents better than Lee ends. It was often something as simple as taking us to walk on White. Wise as a hedgehog, cagy as a groundhog, witty and the boulder-sized rocks that filled Rock Creek Park. On the utterly selfless, Lee made things happen, large and small, other end of the spectrum were the occasional invitations to earning the admiration of JFK and LBJ and the awe of those have lunch at the White House, in the staff dining room run who served with him.” Moyer’s comments about Lee by the Navy. It was very elegant and quite a treat for us.” appeared in The Washington Post obit: “His small space on Pressures came with Lee’s White House assignment, but so the second floor of the White House was the only one I did perks, first of which was “the simple thrill of being

there.” His position sometimes afforded Lee free seats in the Presidential box at Lincoln Center; a pleasant afternoon on the Presidential yacht, Sequoia, or a week-end at Camp David with his family; rides on Air Force One; state dinners, and a chauffeur-driven car that took him to and from work.

“To be able to relax and read a couple newspapers in comfort and not have to fight traffic was a special luxury,” he said. One personal perk resulted from President Kennedy’s fondness for skinny cigars.

Evelyn Lincoln, JFK’s personal secretary, passed on to Lee the fat ones that had been given to Kennedy.

Patient and generous, Lee tried to make time for everyone. “Lee was wonderful to his many relatives,” said his cousin, Maxine White Polsky who lives in the D.C. area.

“You could be an umpteenth cousin, but when you visited Washington, Lee took you around the White House, let you sit in President Kennedy’s chair if it was available. Fifty years later, people still remember Lee inviting them to the White House and how good he was to them.”

“Through all of his very exalted positions in government he remained humble and hardworking,” Rosalyn continued.

“He often remarked that he was just a poor kid from Omaha who had much good luck. He grew up during the Depression, and for a while his family lived above their mom-and-pop grocery store. As his children, we got a sense of Dad’s humble beginnings and the hard work he put in to make something of his life.”

Acknowledging mazel was one of Lee White’s strong suits.

“My life is a testament to how significant it is to having the Fates smile upon one,” he wrote. “There’s an adage that goes, ‘the harder one works, the luckier he or she becomes.’

However, I believe that luck, being in the right place at the right time, seems to fall more frequently on some than on others. Insofar as my professional life was concerned, I had Continued on page 4

ON THE DAY JOHN F. KENNEDY WAS ASSASSINATED, HIS BROTHER-INLAW, SARGENT SHRIVER, ASSIGNED LEE WHITE THE JOB OF CLEANING OUT KENNEDY’S DESK BEFORE LYNDON JOHNSON RETURNED TO THE WHITE HOUSE AS PRESIDENT. “THAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT AND EMOTIONAL THINGS I EVER HAD TO DO,” LEE SAID.

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4 | The Jewish Press | December 6, 2013

Lee White considered himself a lucky man Continued from page 3 no preset career goal, unlike some of my classmates who knew what they wanted to be. But gentle winds blew me into favorable directions.”

Murray White, Lee’s son, confirmed his father’s attitude.

“If you want to understand how my father saw his life, you need to be aware that he considered himself to be lucky.

Whether luck of that sort really exists -- and whether he really was lucky -- is beside the point. What mattered is that he believed he was genuinely blessed with good luck. That belief made a difference, and he carried it with him wherever he went.”

Even as a young teenager, Lee showed outstanding promise. Shirley White Levy, his younger sister by seven years, said, “Lee attended Miller Park Grade School for just his 8th grade year, but in that short time he was selected Rotary Honor Boy and sent to a statewide convention. Later, at North High, he was chosen Lt. Colonel of their ROTC -- the top position. He served in the army during WWll, was president of the Law Review at Nebraska. We were all so proud of him. Now, picture this. Seven years after Lee graduated from Miller Park Grade School, I’m in the 8th grade and the principal is speaking to the graduating class, telling us, ‘If you apply yourself like Lee White did, you can succeed at anything you do.’ All those years later, and the principal was holding Lee up as a role model.”

In 1941, just before the outbreak of WWll, Gordon Margolin and Lee White were Sigma Alpha Mu pledge brothers at UNL. “From the beginning, Lee was leader of the ‘mob,’” Margolin said. “He was solid, witty, accomplished, and we always looked up to him. In his Junior year, Lee was one of only thirteen students on campus chosen for The Innocents Society, which bases its selection on academic excellence, unparalleled leadership and selfless service to the University and the community. None of us were surprised when Lee was picked for this honor. We expected him to do the right thing and go places.” Margolin was best man at Lee White’s first wedding. Which brings us back to the subject of luck, and the section in Lee’s memoir titled: The Women in My Life.

“When it comes to wives, I was very lucky,” he wrote.

“Dorothy Cohn, my first wife, was my college sweetheart and the mother of my five children. With the many full days in my various jobs, the heavier burden of running the household and raising the children fell on her, and she did an admirable job.” After more than thirty years of marriage, Lee and Dorothy divorced in 1978 but remained on good terms until her death in 1995. In 1981, Lee married Bernice Sherman. Two years later, Bernice died of ovarian cancer.

Lee’s third wife, Cece Zorinsky, was the widow of Nebraska Senator Eddie Zorinsky. “We were married in Omaha in November, 1989,” White said. “The Washington Post quoted Cece’s observation that she was moving up in the alphabet.”

In 1996, Cece also died of ovarian cancer.

“In the great balancing that occurs in a lifetime, luck is not weighed quantifiably,” Lee said. “Obviously luck at the slot machines does not equate to the great good fortune of having five healthy children. When it comes to wives, I was very

lucky but I was struck with catastrophic bad luck with the death of the last two dying of ovarian cancer thirteen years apart. My glass has always been at least half-full, even when two of my wives died of cancer. I focused on the fact that in each case we had had a very good life. It made the grieving process much more manageable. Life is a great deal easier going if you see and stress the positive.”

“Lee’s happy demeanor made him a wonderful person to know,” Maxine Polsky said. “It was almost impossible to spend more than two minutes in his company without laughing. Believe it or not, Lee didn’t talk until he was two years old -- not a word. The family was a bit worried about him, but when he did start talking he used complete, complex sentences. Lee was a great storyteller and always had a joke, even in the direst circumstances, but always in a good way and never at anyone’s expense.”

One year after Cece passed away, her daughter, Susie, and Susie’s friend Nancy Kutler, conspired to introduce Nancy’s twice-widowed mother, Bea Karp, to Lee White. From Lee’s perspective, the “conspiracy” was a superb idea. “Bea and I hit it off immediately, and we continue to cavort like elderly teenagers.” An Omaha friend of Bea’s recalls the day when the two of them were together and Bea’s cell phone rang. It was Lee, calling from Washington.

“I tried not to eavesdrop,” the friend said, “but I could hear Lee’s voice through the phone singing You Are My Sunshine.

It was a tender moment and showed how this man, so acclaimed, could express love.” Bea considers her relationship with Lee “very special. We thought alike. We were simpatico. Lee was so optimistic and content. Every day he’d ask himself, ‘Okay. Do I have anything to complain about today?’ His answer was invariably, ‘No.’” “My dad was always positive,” said Lee’s son Bruce of Irvine, CA., “but every time I called my dad I could tell if Bea was in D.C. because he sounded even happier.” To which Rosalyn added, “They spent many years together as sweethearts. I was very happy my dad had found someone who brought such comfort and joy to him in his last years.”

Because Lee’s September 1st birthday fell close to Rosh Hashanah this year, family and friends celebrated his 90th birthday early. Not once, but twice. On Aug. 23, his law firm, Spiegel & McDiarmid, threw Lee a party. Guests included cohorts from his career with the TVA (his first job after law school), people from the Federal Power Commission (which Lee chaired from 1966 to 1969) along with lawyers from the firm. For entertainment, each guest gave one word to describe Lee White. The choices ranged from charismatic, charming, humorous and brilliant, to old and corny. Carol Gloss, Executive Director of Spiegel & McDiarmid, said, “The party was for Lee’s 90th birthday, but he was fifty at heart. His spirit, his smile, his excitement for life. Every day, when he’d come to the office we’d ask, ‘So how are you today, Lee?’ And his answer was, ‘Couldn’t be better.’ Lee was honest and forthright. He was in politics but didn’t play politics and would never do anything that went against his core. He treated everybody the same, from the partners to the staff in the copy center. Lee White was an exceptional person.”

“ON REFLECTION, HOW A LITTLE JEWISH KID FROM OMAHA, NEBRASKA, THE SON OF IMMIGRANT PARENTS, WOUND UP IN THE KENNEDY AND JOHNSON WHITE HOUSE STAFFS IS JUST ONE MORE ILLUSTRATION OF THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT EXIST IN THIS COUNTRY -- ESPECIALLY IF ONE HAPPENS TO BE BORN ‘LUCKY.’”

Two days later, on August 25th, the birthday boy was feted at the home of his cousin, Bonnie Schwartz and her husband, Gil. “The guests were all family and friends,” Shirley Levy said. Murray wrote a takeoff on a Passover Seder, describing Lee’s journey to Washington, D.C. (his ‘promised land’) and explained the untraditional symbols on the Seder plate: a cigar (which required no explanation); a miniature gin bottle in honor of Lee’s beloved martinis; an electrical plug (denoting the TVA); a piece of coal (a symbol for the Federal Power Commission); plastic flowers (a nod to Lee’s enlightened, pioneer work on behalf of the environment) and a tiny boxing glove to represent the important political battles in which Lee took part. “Dad wore a crown and a smile and received an outpouring of love from people who appreciated him for the person he was,” Murray said. “The parties were a great coda for his life.”

Then, on September 24th, Lee fell in his townhouse and broke his shoulder. The injury required hospitalization, followed by admission to a rehabilitation center. “The doctors, nurses and physical therapists loved him and got such a kick out of his personality,” Murray said. “The staff commented that patients in their 90s are usually so quiet, but Dad was articulate, joked and bantered even in his last weeks. He never lost his sharp penetrating intellect or his interest in life.”

Lee never lost his strong ties to Nebraska, either. “On the Saturday before he died,” Bruce said, “my dad and I watched Nebraska get pushed around by Minnesota. When the game was over, Dad said, ‘Pelini needs to do something about that defense.’” For Carol Gloss, Lee’s connection to the Cornhuskers held a bittersweet irony. “The Saturday after Lee died, Nebraska beat Northwestern with a Hail Mary pass. That play made me think of Lee. He always went for big things and made the most of the moment. Lee always felt he was in the right place at the right time. Lucky.”

The dust cover of historian Robert Dallek’s recently published book, Camelot’s Court: Inside the Kennedy White House, shows a picture taken in 1963 of President Kennedy with his most trusted advisors, including Appointments Secretary Kenneth O’Donnell, Press Secretary Pierre Salinger, Congressional Liaison Lawrence O’Brien, Special Counsel Ted Sorensen, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, and Assistant Special Counsel Lee White.

A friend of Lee’s had the author sign the book. The inscription reads, “To Lee White, the last man standing.” Less than two weeks later, Lee died from pneumonia.

In Murray White’s eulogy to his father, he spoke of the ancient Jewish mystical view that the way one lives one’s life determines how “awesome” a level one is entitled to reach in heaven. “The reason I bring this up,” Murray said, “is because through his deeds on Earth, my father has acquired for himself an extremely awesome location in the heavens.

And the really good news is that he will remain at that superintense level of brightness for the rest of time.”

By all reports, Lee’s idea of a perfect day was simple. He’d sit in the sun on his backyard patio with a view of the Potomac, smoke a cigar, drink a martini and read The Washington Post. With Lee’s luck, he’s now sitting high up in the heavens, playing poker with the angels, smoking a stogie and toasting a life well-lived with no regrets.

Lee White was born in Omaha on September 1, 1923, to Ann Ruth Ackerman White and Henry White, Russian Jewish immigrants. In his 2008 memoir, Government for the People, White said his most important role in advancing the cause of Civil Rights was helping to push the antidiscriminatory Voting Rights Act of 1965 through Congress.

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December 6, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 5

Mainstreeters in December

Basic computer skills made easy!

by OZZIE NOGG December’s Mainstreeters calendar features a delightful movie and music with the Concertmaster. Be sure to enjoy these two programs.

Join us at the Movies on Friday, Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. in the JCC Theater for Parental Guidance, starring Billy Crystal, Bette Midler and Marisa Tomei. No charge for the film or for unlimited bags of fresh, warm popcorn. No reservations necessary. Invite a friend.

In Parental Guidance, Billy Crystal and Bette Midler star as Artie and Diane, an old-school grandfather and his eager-toplease wife, who agree to babysit their three decidedly 21st century grandchildren while the kids’ type-A helicopter parents (played by Marisa Tomei and Tom Everett Scott) are away for work. When Artie and Diane’s old-fashioned methods and tough-love rules collide with the kids’ (and their parents’) cutting-edge, multitasking ways, this modern family learns that love, understanding, learning to bend (and not holding your ground), along with an openness to trying new things, will keep a family together.

The movie runs for one hour and 44 minutes. If you’d like to have lunch at the Star Deli before the movie, call Maggie Conti at 402.334.6521 to reserve a table. Lunch is on your own. The Star Deli starts serving at 11:30 a.m.

Music and lunch on Monday, Dec. 16 at 12:30 p.m. in the Silverman Auditorium at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, featuring Omaha Symphony Concertmaster, Susanna Perry Gilmore. Who joined the Omaha Symphony in 2011 as Concertmaster, a position she previously held for fifteen years with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to her orchestral role, Ms. Gilmore enjoys a Susanna Perry Gilmore multifaceted career as a solo artist and chamber musician in performances across the nation. Hailed as a player who is both “thrilling and sensitive” by the Memphis Commercial Appeal and who performs with “a heartbreakingly mellow tone” by the Omaha World-

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How to feel Jewish during Christmas

by DAVID GOLBITZ Temple Israel Staff Writer The holiday season can be a stressful time, especially for couples who come from different faith backgrounds.

Temple Israel is offering a class designed to alleviate some of that stress.

“Sometimes we get caught up in the wrong questions and unintentionally lose our respect for the diversity of religions in our families,” Rabbi Josh Brown said.

On Dec. 8, Rabbi Brown will lead a discussion entitled, A Kosher Christmas, the title of which is taken from a book by Joshua Eli Plaut, A Kosher Christmas: ‘Tis the Season to Be Jewish, which “portrays how Jews are shaping the public and private character of Christmas by transforming December into a joyous holiday season belonging to all Americans.”

The purpose of the class is to help Jews feel comfortable during a season dominated by Christmas cheer. “[The class] is for anybody who’s interested in how to feel Jewish during Christmas, especially this year, with Hanukkah not falling anywhere near Christmas,” Rabbi Brown said.

Rabbi Brown will also discuss “how to adapt your family’s traditions to be respectful both of Jewish tradition while also respecting members of your family who observe other traditions.”

A Kosher Christmas, open to all, will take place on Sunday, Dec. 8 from 10-11 a.m. at Temple Israel.

JEWISH PRESS NOTICES The Jewish Press office is closed Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 24 and 25; the deadline for the Dec. 27 issue is Tuesday, Dec. 17, noon. Questions? Call 402.334.6448.

There will be no Jewish Press on Jan. 3, 2014, due to staff vacations and a need to upgrade computer equipment. Questions? Call 402.334.6448.

Herald, Gilmore has frequently been heard on National Public Radio in chamber ensembles on shows such as Performance Today, A Prairie Home Companion, and America’s Music Festivals. Her presentation at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home will be a treat. The special luncheon menu includes cream of broccoli soup, a scoop of egg salad and tuna salad, latkes with apple sauce and sour cream, challah roll, yellow cake with chocolate icing and your choice of beverage. The cost is $11.50 per plate. Checks should be made payable to Jewish Social Services and sent to: Mainstreeters c/o Maggie Conti, 323 So. 132nd Street, Omaha, NE, 68154. Reservations are appreciated by Monday, Dec. 9.

Maggie Conti, Director of Activities and Outreach Programs at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, remarked, “With Hanukkah so close to Thanksgiving this year, we wanted to make sure you could enjoy some latkes this month even if the menorahs have already been put away.” If you have any questions, call Conti at 402.334.6521.

Mainstreeters welcomes all Jewish residents of the Omaha area age 60 plus. The group offers a mixed-bag of learning opportunities and social and cultural events.

“There are no membership dues,” Conti said, “but we very much appreciate everyone who helps us offset Mainstreeters’ communication costs for printing, postage and mailing.” This year’s Communication Fee -- $5 per person or $10 per couple -- is good from Jan. 2014 to Dec. 2014.

Please make your check payable to Jewish Social Services and mail to Mainstreeters c/o Dr. Jim Wax, 1103 No. 93rd Street, #350, Omaha, NE, 68114.

Mainstreeters programs are supported in part by grants from the United Way of the Midlands and the Jewish Federation of Omaha.

Marriages EPSTEIN/SOLLS Marissa Dayle Epstein and Robert Michael Solls were married on June 2 at 5 p.m., at Beth El. The double-ring ceremony was officiated by Rabbi Paul Drazen of New York, Rabbi Steven Abraham, and Rabbi Stephan Weinberg of Dallas.

The bride is the daughter of Harriet and Ronald Epstein.

She is the granddaughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Nathan N. Wald of Houston, TX, the late Mr. and Mrs. Willis Epstein, and Mrs. Audrey Epstein of Austin.

The bride graduated cum laude from The University of Texas at Austin. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Corporate Communications, with a minor in Business. She was an active member of Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority, Communications Council, and the Distinguished Speakers Bureau. Marissa is a regional sales representative for KidKraft, Inc., in Dallas.

Her matron of honor was her sister, Brittany Epstein Schackman of Plano, and her bridesmaids were sisters of the groom, Michelle Solls and Jessica Solls of Dallas, Erin Dula Busch of Houston, Samantha Finkelstein, Stephanie Perkins, Lauren Robbins, and Sara Scher, all of Dallas and Jenna Morris of Denver. Flower girls were Hannah and Charlotte Hoffner of Dallas, cousins of the groom.

The groom is the son of Nancy and Mark Solls of Dallas.

He is the grandson of the late Myrna and Robert Stadtman of Dallas, the late Joan and Joseph Solls of Peoria, IL and Mrs. Georgia Solls of Peoria, IL. The groom received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics with a minor in Business from the University of Texas at Austin. He was affiliated with Zeta Beta Tau fraternity and The University of Texas Silver Spurs. Robert is Director of Leasing at Leon Capital Group in Dallas.

The groom was escorted to the chuppah by his parents and was joined by his best man, Matthew Abel of Dallas.

Groomsmen were Scott Bagan and Jason Feldgreber of Chicago; Andrew Gardner, Richard Girson, Justin Glass, Daniel Greenberg, Zachary Horn, and Alex Prescott, all of Dallas. Ushers were Jonathan Birnbrey of Atlanta; Jonathan Gerber of Houston; Michael Schackman, brother-in-law of the bride, and Kyle Siegel both of Dallas. Ring bearers were Zachary and Jesse Spain of Palo Alto, CA, cousins of the bride.

After a wedding trip to Hawaii, the couple will reside in Dallas.

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6 | The Jewish Press | December 6, 2013

Judaism as a component of Moroccan identity

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Jewish Cemetery in Casablanca

by DR. MOSHE GERSHOVICH As we were about to exit the Jewish Museum, we stopped in front of a plaque in Arabic and French, containing the preamble to the newly revised Moroccan Constitution of 2011, which reads as follows: “A sovereign Muslim State, attached to its national unity and to its territorial integrity, the Kingdom of Morocco intends to preserve, in its plentitude and its diversity, its one and indivisible national identity. Its unity is forged by the convergence of its Arab-Islamist, Berber [amazighe] and Saharan components, nourished and enriched by its African, Andalusian, Hebraic and Mediterranean influences.”

The official inclusion of both Berber and Jewish (“Hebraic”) identities as components of Morocco’s national identity is a very mean-

ingful act, which recognizes the contribution of both Berbers and Jews to Morocco’s history and culture. Thus, even though very few Jews continue to reside in Morocco today, those living in other countries (notably Israel, but also in Europe and North America) are still regarded as belonging to the Moroccan nation and are encouraged to visit it and invest in its future. While the physical presence of Jews in Morocco may have nearly ended, their impact on its character continues to be felt nearly everywhere you go.

This concludes Dr. Gershovich’ travelog about his recent trip to Morocco. Moshe Gershovich is Professor of History at UNO, specializing in Middle East History.

He also serves as the Director of the Natan and Hannah Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies at UNO.

Beth El’s Family Shabbat Service

Snowbirds

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

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity It’s a service for everyone, young and young-at-heart alike. It’s called a ‘shhhhfree service’ by the rabbi, who wants even the smallest children to feel comfortable at the synagogue. It’s Beth El’s new Family Shabbat Service, embraced by the congregation as an inviting, engaging multi-generational celebration.

Held monthly in lieu of the traditional Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat service, the 45-minute interactive service is geared to families with young children, but is open to the entire congregation. Songs, creative movement and Shabbat rituals are the centerpieces of the engaging service, which is followed by a congregational dinner.

Rabbi Steven Abraham emphasizes the ‘shhhh-free’ aspect of the service, saying, “Children are the lifeblood of our synagogue, and they should be free to be themselves, celebrating and enjoying Shabbat as they always have at Tot Shabbat. Their smiling faces, their singing and their laughter provide us with some of our greatest moments as a synagogue.”

Hazzan Michael Krausman likes the fact that the family service “promotes a feeling of closeness and family in the community as families and individuals have the opportunity to interact and pray together. People of all ages can find something to which they can connect and hold on to at the family service.

“It provides a forum for our students to showcase not only the skills they have acquired but their genuine joy and love for the prayers,” he added. “The smaller children are nurtured and guided by their older friends who serve as excellent role models and perpetuate the wonderful atmosphere of the family service.”

Several congregants shared their

thoughts about the multigenerational Shabbat celebration.

“The Family Service was wonderful, conducted in a light, friendly manner so that the entire family could enjoy and participate regardless of their level of Jewish education. It was an excellent way to include the entire family in Shabbat services,” said Bill Dreyfus.

Marcel Kahn commented that, “It was great seeing so many young children at the Friday Shabbat services,” and his wife Ilse added, “The future of Judaism lies with our young people and we should continue to get them involved in synagogue life.”

For Uriel Sandkovsky and his family, “Shabbat was very nice, relaxed and family-oriented and encouraged participation of all families. It was set up in such a balanced way where everyone, regardless of age, could enjoy the service.”

Jim Wax said that he and his wife Esther, enjoyed the service, adding, “We see children and their parents as the future of the synagogue. They need to be in the service (and not with a babysitter) to learn what the service is all about. The service was well organized and the children were fairly well behaved and listened to what was happening.”

The next Family Shabbat Service is planned for Friday, Dec. 13; reservations are being accepted now for that evening’s dinner. Dinner cost for Beth El members is $10 for adults, and $5 for children ages 7-12; for non-members, cost is $12.50 for adults and $7.50 for children ages 7-12. There is no charge for children six and younger.

Register and pay online at www.bethelomaha.org, and call the synagogue office, 402.492.8550, for more information.

Future Family Shabbat services are scheduled for Jan. 10, Feb. 21, March 28, and May 16.

December 6, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 7

Newman Supporting Foundation awards grants

by MARY BORT Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation The Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation (JFO) announced that the Murray H. and Sharee C. Newman Supporting Foundation Board of Trustees awarded ten grants to non-profit programs in the community. “The Newman Supporting Foundation accepts applications from Federation agencies as well as other charitable organizations whose programs are consistent with the mission of the Federation,� said Howard Epstein, JFO Foundation Executive Director.

A grant was given to the Anti-Defamation League/ Community Relations Committee for the 28th Annual Prejudice Elimination Workshop, scheduled for November 2014. Approximately 300 high school juniors from over 40 schools are invited to attend. School counselors, teachers and staff receive educator training. Participants learn to take responsibility for fighting discrimination and prejudice and become change agents in their schools and elsewhere.

Funding was allocated to support the Center for Jewish Life’s 2014-15 Community Shaliach Program. In August, Eliad Eliyahu Ben Shushan began working for two years as Omaha’s Shaliach. The shaliach serves as an Israeli resource and collaborates with JFO agencies, synagogues and other Jewish organizations in the community to provide programs and education about Israel.

A grant went to Inclusive Communities to support the 2014 Summer Residential program, IncluCity, a human relations and leadership program. Sixty high school delegates will meet for five days to confront bigotry and discrimination through workshops, exercises, discussions and more.

The students learn new skills and develop a plan to make positive changes at school and in the community.

The Institute for Holocaust Education was awarded a grant for the Community Yom HaShoah Commemoration on April 30, 2014. The event will include a youth program, a speech by a Holocaust survivor, readings and liturgy, and a candle lighting ceremony.

A grant was awarded to the Jewish Community Center (JCC) for staffing the Integrated Special Needs Summer Camp program that provides high functioning special needs children the opportunity to participate in the 2014 JCC Summer Camp. The grant will help ensure that these children have the same camping experience that is enjoyed by other children.

The JCC also received a grant for the May 2014 Yom Ha’Atzmaut Celebration to celebrate Israel’s Independence Day. The event will include a Yom HaZikaron

Commemoration, a carnival that includes Israeli food and dancing, a concert and a dessert/wine reception.

Jewish Family Service (JFS) was awarded a grant to support the agency’s 2014-15 Tzedakah Project. The project feeds the hungry, offers celebratory food for holidays and reaches out to Jewish community members in need.

Volunteers deliver gifts, visit with recipients and let them know they are remembered during the holidays.

Another grant was awarded to JFS to provide general financial assistance to individuals and families in need, as identified by JFS. The Jewish Press received a grant to hire a college or high school student, who is an active member of Omaha’s Jewish community, to serve on staff as a summer intern from May – July 2014, and continue to provide occasional stories through June 2015. The intern will provide a voice that is representative of young people in the community.

A grant went to Jewish Senior Outreach (JSO) for the Meals on Wheels (MOW) program which delivers kosher meals to home-bound members of Omaha’s Jewish community. This program enables MOW recipients to continue living independently and provides opportunities for JSO employees to stay in touch and offer assistance when needed. “Many of these organizations would not be in a position to offer the community these terrific programs without the grants they receive from the Newman Supporting Foundation and other funds of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation,� noted Epstein. “We are grateful to the Newman Supporting Foundation for their generosity to our community.�

The Newman Supporting Foundation of the JFO Foundation was established in 1987 with an initial gift of $100,000 from Sharee and Murray Newman. Since then, the Newman Supporting Foundation has awarded approximately $360,000 in grants. The Board of Trustees includes Board President Jeff Kirshenbaum, Sharee Newman, Lisa Lewis, Jamie Friedland, Jay Lerner, Murray Newman and Danielle Gordman.

A supporting foundation is a separate legal entity with its own board that is created by a donor or family and enters into a relationship with the JFO Foundation. “We manage and invest the supporting foundation’s funds, administer operations and make disbursements as directed by the supporting foundation board,� explained Epstein. “The board focuses on reviewing annual grant applications and selecting the programs that will receive grants, and we take care of the rest.�

To learn more about establishing a supporting foundation with the JFO Foundation, please contact Howard Epstein at 402.334.6466.

Organizations B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Speaker to be announced for Wednesday, Dec. 11, noon, at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. An optional buffet lunch costs $11; beverage service only is $3. For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@ jewishomaha.org.

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

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

Interfaith Thanksgiving

Top: The combined choir rehearsing before the Interfaith Thanksgiving service. Bottom: Temple Israel Board member Dan Gilbert led a tour of church goers after the Interfaith Thanksgiving service.

by DAVID GOLBITZ Temple Israel Staff Writer Approximately 500 people from six Omaha-area congregations came together to enjoy the annual Interfaith Thanksgiving service, hosted this year by Temple Israel.

Featuring music like Thanks Be to Thee, by George Frideric Handel, and handbells performed by First United Methodist Church members, the service also included clergy from the various congregations reading portions of the Torah, the Bible and the Koran.

The service, which has been a tradition since its inception in 1995, also featured a 100-person choir made up of members of all the congregations who sang from the bimah. “The Thanksgiving Interfaith service was beautiful and a wonderful way to start the week,� said Temple Israel Board member Andie Gordman. “I was struck by the similarities in the readings and messages from all of the clergy who participated.�

A representative from Together, a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing homelessness and assisting those in need, was also on hand to collect food and monetary donations.

In addition to Temple Israel, the participating congregations included the American Institute of Islamic Studies and Culture, First Christian Church, First United Methodist Church, Hanscom Park United Methodist Church, St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church and Underwood Hills Presbyterian Church.

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8 | The Jewish Press | December 6, 2013

Point of view

American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

Do you love me?

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press On Dec. 21 and 22, Fiddler on the Roof will make its appearance at the Jewish Community Center. Cast and crew of the JCC Musical Theater Community Acting Group have been working their tails off for months, and if you’ve been in the building on a random Sunday afternoon, you may have heard them. They sound pretty good, so you probably shouldn’t miss it.

Except to maybe the youngest among us, Fiddler is as comfortable as a well-worn sweater. The story Sholem Aleichem published (originally titled Tevye and his Daughters) in 1894 has been popular for a reason: with survival as its main theme, Tevye’s struggles continue to resonate. But it is also a story of displacement and transformation. Life is changing all around the shtetl, and the shtetl has to follow—quite literally, as Tevye packs up and leaves all he has known behind.

“Do you love me?” He asks, and while the question is meant for his wife, he is also addressing us, the audience. Do we love Tevye? Do we love what he represents? Do we love our past, our history, or do we discard it, and only pay attention to the here and now?

Just like Tevye, we are faced with a changing landscape.

We may not live under the same circumstances (in fact, compared to him, we have it pretty good) but the Cossacks have been replaced with other, less violent threats. We, too, are losing certain traditions and perhaps replacing them with new ones. We are teetering precariously on that roof, wondering whether we’ll fall or keep our balance.

We could respond to Tevye’s question like Golde: “Do we what?” Just like her, we’ve been hard at work all these years.

We have built Synagogues, we sent our kids to day school and summer camp and religious school and we celebrated

the holidays. We decorated our Sukkahs and fasted on Yom Kippur and rooted for the Jewish candidates during Oscar night. We learned the Hanukkah song by heart, gave Tzedakah, and monitored anti-Semitism and voted for

politicians who meshed with our Jewish beliefs. We ate Matzah ball soup and kreplach and pastrami sandwiches and gefillte fish; we’ve proudly worn the Star of David around our neck, we traveled to Israel and we even used a Yiddish word now and then. In other words, we’ve raised

Tevye’s children and done his laundry. If all that isn’t love, what is?

Golde isn’t merely trying to be witty. It’s a valid question.

What is love? What does it mean to truly love our Judaism?

Do we focus on the things we do, or on what we feel? How about both?

How we keep our Judaism alive has been a front-and-center issue ever since that Pew poll came out, and it’s a discussion we will be having for quite a while. We watch Tevye, again and again, because we know full well that his concerns are our concerns. What Tevye can teach us is that we won’t know where we are going unless we know where we’ve been.

If not physically, then at least spiritually. And that also means that what we face now, today, will someday become our children and grandchildren’s history. How we treat our Judaism, and how we treat each other, how we answer questions and address our challenges, will become another chapter in a very long story.

The important thing is that, just like Tevye, we write that chapter. It is a little scary, asking your wife of 25 years, whether she loves you. What if she says ‘no?’ It is equally scary to ask ourselves whether we truly love our Judaism, and really attempt to answer that question seriously. But asking the question is necessary; if we want to know where we are going, and how we will get there, we have to know the why.

Fiddler on the Roof Junior will be performed live on the JCC stage on Saturday Dec. 21 at 7 p.m., and on Sunday Dec. 22 at 4 p.m. For tickets and more information, please contact Director of Cultural Arts Esther Katz at ekatz@jccomaha.org or call 402.334.6406. This program is generously sponsored by the Karen Sokolof Javitch Music Fund and NEArts Council.

Follow Israel’s lead on ending animal cruelty

Focus on issues JEFFREY COHAN (JTA) -- Diaspora Jews often find themselves exasperated with the Israeli rabbinate. But on one significant issue, an Israeli rabbinic authority is looking far more enlightened and merciful than his peers in the United States.

Recently elected Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau surprised more than a few people last week when he reportedly threatened to terminate the kosher certification of a slaughterhouse belonging to Soglowek, one of Israel’s largest meat producers.

Lau issued the warning after an undercover investigation produced video footage showing routine and egregious abuses of chickens and turkeys at a Soglowek slaughterhouse in northern Israel. The graphic video, aired on national television in Israel, showed chickens packed in filthy cages without food or water, writhing turkeys tossed into metal boxes with their throats cut, and several other forms of cruelty.

“As a human being and as a Jew, I was shocked by the footage, by the brutal behavior of those employees toward helpless animals,” said Lau, according to Israel’s Ynet website.

“Such things shouldn’t happen. The Torah forbids us to act in this way and obliges us to be extra vigilant with regard to animal welfare. We cannot remain silent in the face of such things. We will act firmly and sternly against this factory.”

Lau summoned Soglowek officials to a meeting and urged all slaughterhouses nationwide to take additional steps to avoid abuses. The Soglowek slaughterhouse was shut down temporarily by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The chief rabbi’s reaction to the conditions at the

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Soglowek facility is remarkable, and encouraging, in two ways. First, he said the treatment of animals prior to slaughter actually matters. The rabbi specifically invoked “tzar baalei chaim,” the Jewish prohibition on inflicting unnecessary suffering on animals.

In essence, Lau shattered the widely believed fiction that the laws of kashrut by themselves assure the humane treatment of animals. He acknowledged the reality that the laws of kosher slaughter only apply to the last seconds of an animal’s life. What happens in the modern factory farm and during transport to the slaughterhouse typically involves multiple forms of cruelty, but is not governed by kosher standards.

Second, Lau’s response to the Soglowek scandal stands out in vivid contrast to how America’s kashrut establishment has reacted to similar situations in U.S. slaughterhouses. The most obvious example is the infamous Agriprocessors case, in which undercover investigators documented shocking cruelty at what was then the country’s largest kosher slaughterhouse. In response, the Orthodox Union, the country’s largest kosher-certification agency and one of the plant’s kosher supervisors, told concerned consumers that disturbing footage shot at the plant was not an indication of animal suffering.

Granted, the Soglowek and Agriprocessors are not identical. The footage at the Soglowek slaughterhouse focused mainly on the pre-slaughter processing of chickens and turkeys, while the most incendiary footage from Agriprocessors focused on cows after slaughter. The common denominator is evidence of the harsh realities of the industrial meat business.

Jewish Vegetarians of North America calls on the O.U. and other kosher-certification agencies to follow Lau’s lead and

get serious about animal cruelty. The treatment of animals in factory farms, transport vehicles and slaughterhouses should concern the rabbinate -- and should concern anyone who views compassion as a virtue rather than as an inconvenience or an expense.

Kosher-certification standards should be reviewed and a humane-certification process should be created to take into account the treatment of the animals at every stage of their shortened lives. The operators of farms and slaughterhouses alike should be regularly inspected and the results made public.

Isn’t that the government’s job? Sadly, the only federal law governing the treatment of farm animals, the Humane Slaughter Act, entirely exempts birds. In other words, 98.5 percent of slaughtered animals are completely unprotected.

They are at our mercy.

And they desperately need our mercy. Even at the betterrun factory farms, as many as 50,000 chickens are crammed into long, low-slung buildings, genetically manipulated to grow unnaturally fast, denied meaningful access to the outdoors, separated from their mothers and trucked to the slaughterhouse before they even reach adulthood. Nearly all of their natural behaviors are thwarted, in direct contravention of how the Torah tells us to treat animals.

For everyone wishing to align their food choices with their own deeply felt sense of compassion, we advocate vegetarianism as an expression of Jewish ideals.

But for people who continue eating meat, we ask our nation’s Orthodox rabbinate to be at least as caring as their counterparts in Israel.

Jeffrey Cohan is the executive director of Jewish Vegetarians of North America.

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December 6, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 9

In its time of need, repaying a debt to the Philippines

Behind the headlines ALAN H. GILL NEW YORK (JTA) -- As the extent of the catastrophic damage and tragic death toll continues to grow in the Philippines, a particularly heroic piece of history should be recalled by the global Jewish community, which owes a debt to the island nation.

Seven decades ago, a Philippine president, a globetrotting Jewish family named Frieder and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, my organization, helped save the lives of more than 1,000 Jews who otherwise would have almost certainly died in the Holocaust.

Thanks to their initiative, these refugees were issued rare travel certificates to the Asian country to work as skilled laborers in the Frieders’ cigar factories in Manila -- though in reality, few of them had any experience in the industry whatsoever. The audacious operation, seemingly extraordinary today, is the subject of the recently released documentary Rescue in the Philippines.

At the time that Manuel Quezon admitted Jews to his country, the Filipino president made what seems today like a remarkably prescient statement.

“The people of the Philippines will have in the future every reason to be glad that when the time of need came, their country was willing to extend a welcome hand,” he was quoted as saying.

We recalled this moment in history when we read reports and watched coverage of the super typhoon Haiyan -- the

strongest storm in recorded history -- as it barreled toward the Philippines. In anticipation of the impact, JDC’s disaster relief and development staff assembled a contingency plan that went into full effect once news emerged of the death and destruction wrought by Haiyan.

As part of our ongoing response to the typhoon, JDC shipped critically important food, shelter, and hygiene and medical supplies -- as well as ensure the provision of water and sanitation items and shelter support -- through its partners, the Afya Foundation and Catholic Relief Services.

JDC’s team of disaster relief and development experts headed to the Philippines to assess damage and needs while consulting with our local/international partners and the Filipino Jewish community to ensure maximum impact for storm survivors.

About 30 percent of funds raised will be dedicated to immediate relief for food, water, shelter, medical supplies and care, unless the emergency phase lasts longer because of expanding, critical needs among survivors. The rest will be invested in sustainable local projects that will emerge in the long, slow process of rehabilitation that is sure to come.

It’s a formula JDC, which is celebrating its centennial this year, has developed over decades of efforts in the field, from helping Ukrainians starved by the Bolsheviks in the 1920s to rehabilitating survivors of genocide in Rwanda. And on behalf of the North American Jewish community and with its support, we have over the past decade delivered tens of millions of dollars in aid to victims of natural and manmade disasters in Southeast Asia, Haiti and Japan.

These efforts now come full circle, especially for one

Be Jewish and multiply? Perhaps not

Focus on issues PIPER HOFFMAN

NEW YORK (JTA) -- On a flight from New York to visit my parents in Chicago, I sat beside my husband, his hand on top of mine. We gazed into each other’s eyes and laughed about how much we were going to miss our cats. A flight attendant came over and offered us a free bottle of champagne.

“Enjoy your honeymoon,” she said.

We had been married for 13 years.

Five years later we are more in love than ever. Our secret: We don’t have children.

As a Conservative Jew raised in the Midwest, I always assumed I’d have kids. While still in elementary school, I wrote down names I liked, and when I was upset I added to a running list called “Outrageous Things My Parents Did to Me That I Will Never Do to My Children.” In my mind, being a grown-up meant having children.

Every week at Sabbath services, children were showcased, called up to the bimah to bless the candles and plastic cups of grape juice while the adults grinned from the pews. I understood that we, the children, were the Jewish community’s crowning achievement.

I identified as a member of that community even when, as a teenager, I lost my faith in God and concluded that Judaism was sexist. Still, when I started college at Brown University in 1990, I agreed to my mother’s request that I visit the Hillel House, the Jewish student union. I became a fixture there.

The day before classes started my sophomore year, I climbed upstairs to the social area for a welcome-back visit.

In the middle of the vast room, bathed in the sunlight from a wall of windows, stood a New Guy: jovial, dark-eyed, and boasting a thick, curly, black ponytail. My stomach lurched.

I sidled up to join his conversation with another student.

His name was Aviv. He was back from a year off college, which he spent playing in a band in Boulder. He had been educated at an Orthodox yeshiva, but I assumed the ponytail and sojourn in Colorado signaled a move away from all that.

Eventually we started dating. Three years later, when Microsoft hired him, we moved together to Seattle and talked marriage. I didn’t yearn for kids but they seemed the thing to do, so we debated how religiously to raise them.

Aviv wanted to observe the Sabbath. We decided that Aviv would remain observant and I would join in only as I chose, despite the inevitable question from our future children, “Why doesn’t Mommy go to synagogue with us?”

It occurred to me that our potential problems would vanish if we just skipped parenthood, but I didn’t dwell because it seemed a ridiculous notion.

One day during our first year of marriage, we were talking about my plan to fight gender discrimination as a lawyer.

Aviv, who had moved into a new position at work, said, “I don’t want to stay home. I want a career, too.”

“Wait. Don’t you want to raise the kids?” I asked. That was what we had originally planned.

“No. I don’t think so.”

What were we going to do with kids neither of us wanted to raise, but both of us wanted raised in a particular way?

“Maybe we shouldn’t have children at all,” I said. I felt a weight lifting.

I also felt like a failure. What happy, successful, Jewish woman wouldn’t want children? What would people think of me, of us? I had never encountered anyone who chose not to parent. Was I crazy?

Meanwhile, Aviv was losing his religion. Three years into our marriage he left it behind entirely. That erased our major differences over raising kids, but by then reproducing was the farthest thing from my mind. Entering my third year of law school, I was consumed with classes and post-graduation employment prospects. After that I started practicing law and slogging up a steep learning curve.

I discovered once I had time to breathe, the option of skipping parenthood had sunk roots in my mind. Aviv and I had been married for six years when I found myself searching the web for “people without children.” I discovered childfree websites -- other people like me existed! They, too, understood that children were a life-changing responsibility, that having them should be a careful decision and shouldn’t just happen.

They, too, lacked the drive to make and raise babies, and were they ever happy. They described enticing benefits, one of which particularly stood out for me: having their beloved to themselves and cultivating a devoted, satisfying relationship.

I asked Aviv to look at some of the websites, hoping he would come to the conclusion I was finding alluring, though hard to accept: Life would be better without kids.

He scrolled through the online conversations, laughing at jokes about sleep-deprived parents and children misbehaving in public.

One day a cousin asked when we were having kids. “We aren’t!” we said together. Somehow we had grown certain.

We were childfree.

We have never regretted that choice, which is more common now than it was when we made it, but we feel bad about disappointing our mothers. Mine repeatedly warned that I would regret my decision and miss out on great happiness.

Contemplating an extended trip to Israel, she sighed pointedly, “I might as well go. It’s not like anyone here needs me.”

Knowing I let her down hurts, but not as much as it would to live a life I don’t want.

Aviv’s mother, the daughter of Holocaust survivors whose grandparents were murdered before she was born, prizes a large, close family above all. As he grew up she told him, “If you don’t raise Jewish children, you’re letting Hitler win.”

There is no coming back from aiding Hitler, so we all avoid the topic.

If it weren’t for Judaism I never would have met Aviv, struggled with our religious differences and, as a result, entertained the heretical notion of skipping parenthood to escape the conflict. Ironically, if it weren’t for Judaism -- a faith and heritage that enshrines family -- it may never have occurred to me not to have children at all.

Piper Hoffman is a writer and lawyer in Brooklyn, where she blogs at ChoosingChildfree.com and Piper Hoffman. com. She is writing a book about choosing not to have kids.

member of our team who went to the Philippines, Danny Pins. In addition to being one of our development and employment experts, Pins’ mother and grandparents were among the German Jews who fled to the Philippines to seek safe haven in 1938. His posting, in many ways a homecoming despite previous trips to the country, is highly symbolic.

Today, in the wake of one of the worst storms in history, with thousands dead and hundreds of thousands homeless, we are fully committed to fulfilling President Quezon’s prophecy and returning the favor to the Filipino people. Not just because we are Jews, the heirs to this nation’s life-saving actions, but because we firmly believe in mutual responsibility and the idea that each individual life is valuable beyond measure.

Alan H. Gill is the CEO of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

Redress plights of Jewish and Palestinian refugees

Behind the headlines RONALD S. LAUDER NEW YORK (JTA) -- Whenever the issue of the Middle East conflict is raised, people invariably refer to the Palestinian refugees. They almost never refer to Jewish refugees from Arab countries.

The world has long recognized the Palestinian refugee problem without recognizing the other side of the story -the 850,000 Jewish refugees of Arab countries. Yet for any Middle East peace process to be credible and enduring, it must ensure that all bona fide refugees receive equal rights and treatment under international law.

World Jewry hopes and expects this principle will inform American diplomacy as it facilitates the current IsraeliPalestinian negotiations and works for peace and justice at the United Nations.

The Jewish refugees of Arab countries were expelled or fled in waves, starting in 1948 and continuing until after the 1967 war. They were even more numerous than the Arab refugees from Palestine; their losses of property and institutions were in fact far greater.

Jews lived in what came to be known as the Arab world for 2,500 years. They were part of the social fabric of the multinational empires of the region and contributed much to the culture. They were sometimes persecuted but mostly tolerated.

But the rise of Arab nationalism and the conflict in Palestine changed all that. The new Arab regimes orchestrated a campaign of massive violations of the human and civil rights of their Jewish citizens. These states expropriated the property of the native Jewish populations and stripped them of their citizenship. Jews were murdered, arbitrarily arrested, tortured or expelled by government agents or by marauders who operated as governments turned a blind eye.

Under international law, the legal rights of Jews displaced from Arab countries are no less legitimate than those of other Middle East refugees. As Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz explained at the United Nations last year, the rights of Jewish refugees of Arab countries are in fact enshrined in Security Council Resolution 242, which refers to the rights of “refugees” in the Arab-Israel conflict without specifying their nationality. Notwithstanding, few international leaders have had the courage to speak out on behalf of the rights of Jews displaced from Arab countries.

Two American presidents have. Bill Clinton, after Camp David II in 2000, said there would have to be an “international fund set up for the refugees ... on both sides,” including “Jewish people who lived in predominantly Arab countries who came to Israel because they were made refugees in their own land.” And even Jimmy Carter said in 1977 that the Middle East’s Jewish refugees “have the same rights as others do.”

In April 2008, the U.S. Congress unanimously adopted a historic resolution that granted first-time recognition to Jewish refugees from Arab countries. It declared that no comprehensive Middle East peace can be reached without recognition of, and redress for, the legitimate rights of Jewish refugees from Arab countries. Further, Congress said that all bilateral and multilateral discussions and documents should refer to the multiple Middle East refugee populations that arose from the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Now is the time to set the historical, diplomatic and legal record straight. Lasting peace can only be built on historical facts. Both the issues of the Jewish refugees and the Palestinian refugees must be addressed.

Ronald S. Lauder is the president of the World Jewish Congress.

10 | The Jewish Press | December 6, 2013

Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 | 402.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com For information on our historic synagogue – dates and times for Friday night services, please call 712.323.8885.

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

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

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

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

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

WEDNESDAY: Shacharit-Rosh Chodesh, 6:45 a.m.; Coffee and Your Jewish News, 7:45 a.m.; Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:45 p.m.

THURSDAY: Sacred Grounds, 9:30 a.m.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE

CHABAD HOUSE

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

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. During the service, artist-in-residence Mordechai Rosenstein will speak about My Journey as an Artist. A light reception will follow.

SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m.; Mordechai Rosenstein will present the D’var Torah, The Bible Through Art Comes Alive. A Kiddush lunch follows services; Shabbat’s Cool, 9:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 4:30 p.m.; At 7 p.m., a wine and art reception honoring Rosenstein will be held at the home of Patty and Steve Nogg. The entire community is welcome, at no charge. Rosenstein’s artwork will be available for purchase. RSPV to the Noggs at noggster2@aol.com.

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

SUNDAY: Torah Study Group, 10 a.m.; The Secrets of the Jews, monthly, adult-education class led by Andy Greenberg, 10 a.m. Cost is $36 for members, $45 for non-members.

Register online at www.bethel-omaha.org; Torah Tots, 10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Tots meet with Mordechai Rosenstein for an art project.

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

No charge to attend; everyone is welcome.

WEDNESDAY: BESTT Classes, 4:15 p.m.; Choir Rehearsal, 7:30 p.m.

Family Shabbat Service, Friday, Dec. 13, 6 p.m. Dinner follows: cost for Beth El members is $10 for adults, and $5 for children ages 7-12; for non-members, cost is $12.50 for adults and $7.50 for children ages 7-12. There is no charge for children six and younger. Register and pay online at www.bethel-omaha.org, and call the synagogue office, 402.492.8550, for more information.

Our Shabbat Tables, Saturday, Dec. 14. Shabbat lunch will be held at participants’ homes. For more information, contact Caryn Scheer, carynscheer@yahoo.com.

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

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

FRIDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

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

by Kiddush lunch.

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

WEEKDAYS: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

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

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

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

All programs are open to the entire community.

Candlelighting Friday, December 6, 4:37 p.m.

ADULT EDUCATION THURSDAYS, Beginning Hebrew, 6 p.m.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME

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

FRIDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 4:37 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit (Barchu), 9 a.m.; Good Shabbos Nebraska: Sabrina Thomas, Director of Christian Outreach AIPAC, 10 a.m.; Mincha, 4:20 p.m.; Havdalah, 5:41 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.

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

FRIDAY: Family Dinner and Early Family Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. hosted by Jayne Draper and Julie Moore; Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. with oneg following hosted by Karen and Ray Coulter; Anne and Emmett (one act play), 7:30 p.m. at The Haymarket Theatre. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors and are available at http://www.haymarkettheatre.org.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Lincoln Temple Youth Group meet to deliver Meals on Wheels, 10 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Vayigash; Anne and Emmett (one act play), 7:30 p.m. at The Haymarket Theatre. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors and are available at http://www.haymarkettheatre.org.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Kindergarten, 9:30 a.m.noon at Tifereth Israel; Grade 1 though Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; LJCS Board, 10 a.m. at Tifereth Israel; LTYG Board, 12:45 p.m. at Tifereth Israel; Board of Trustees, 1 p.m.; Jewish Book Club Meeting, 1 p.m. at Marcia Kushner’s home, 1632 Old Farm Road and will discuss The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Please RSVP to Marcia at 402.423.5959.

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

National hate crime stats flawed, says ADL

by JTA NEWS STAFF WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The 2012 edition of the FBI’s national Hate Crime Statistics Act report is flawed due to underreporting and a lack of participation, the AntiDefamation League said.

The ADL in a statement Monday “expressed profound disappointment” that more than 25 percent of the nation’s law enforcement agencies did not provide the FBI with their hate crime numbers, calling it “a significant setback in the progress our nation has made in hate crime data collection over the past decade.”

The 5,796 hate crimes documented in the report represented a 7 percent decrease from 2011 and the lowest number of reported hate crimes since the program started in 1991.

However, ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said “this comparison is misleading because of extreme underreporting by law enforcement agencies.”

Foxman called for governmental officials, police departments and civil rights leaders to work to obtain the miss-

ing data.

“We will also urge Congress, the Justice Department, and the FBI to explore new steps that could be taken to ensure more accurate, helpful statistics,” he said.

“When an agency does not participate in the HCSA program, it inevitably raises questions about whether that agency is truly ready and willing to respond to hate violence effectively.”

Some 674 anti-Semitic incidents were reported in the 2012 report, nearly two-thirds of the attacks against religious groups. Hate Crime Statistics Act reporting has been voluntary since 1991. Some 13,022 law enforcement agencies out of approximately 18,000 provided data to the FBI in 2012. By comparison, approximately 14,500 agencies reported in 2011.

The ADL poll “American Attitudes Toward Jews in America,” which was conducted in 2013 after a two-year hiatus, found that 12 percent of Americans hold very antiSemitic attitudes, down from 15 percent in 2011.

323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Shabbat Singing, 6 p.m. with Nancy Rips and Lisa Lieb.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Services, 9 a.m. led by Andy Greenberg.

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

TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive | Omaha, NE 68144-1206 | 402.556.6536 http://templeisraelomaha.com FRIDAY: First Friday Shabbat Service: Candle lighting, 5:30 p.m., Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Azriel, Rabbi Brown and Cantor Shermet along with Grade 4 followed by dinner.

Please RSVP by contacting Temple Israel, 402.556.6536 or RSVP@templeisraelomaha.com. Adults are invited to stay after for Shabbat Lounge featuring live music.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. Brooke Wilczewski, daughter of Allyson and Chris Wilczewski, will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah.

SUNDAY: Temple Israel Annual Blood Drive, 9 a.m.; Second Sundays and Prayer Assembly, 9:30 a.m.; Grades K-6, 10 a.m.; Navigating the Holidays, 10 a.m.; Grade 5 Parent Meeting, 11 a.m.; Bible Quiz Study Session, noon; Social Justice Meeting, 12:30 p.m.

TUESDAY: Adult B’nai Mitzvah: Hebrew Study with Na’ama, 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 4-6 p.m.; School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Grades 7-12 Bible Quiz, 7 p.m.

THURSDAY: Hiddur Mitzvah: The Art of Beautifying Judaism, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Brown.

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

FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m.

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

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Kindergarten, 9:30 a.m.noon at Tifereth Israel; Grade 1 though Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; LJCS Board, 10 a.m. at Tifereth Israel; LTYG Board, 12:45 p.m. at Tifereth Israel; Jewish Book Club Meeting, 1 p.m. at Marcia Kushner’s home and will discuss The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.

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

Tot Shabbat and Wacky Mac Dinner with Ms. Jennifer, Friday, Dec. 13, 5:45 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

Israeli film wins best documentary at International Emmys

by JTA NEWS STAFF (JTA) -- An Israeli film directed by a Palestinian and an Israeli was named best documentary at the 41st annual International Emmy Awards.

5 Broken Cameras, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2012, was directed by Palestinian Emad Burnat and Israeli Guy Davidi. Burnat said he was the first Palestinian to win an International Emmy, according to Haaretz.

The award was bestowed Monday night in New York City at the International Academy of Arts and Sciences’ annual International Emmy Awards gala.

5 Broken Cameras documents the first years of life for Burnat’s baby against the backdrop of the West Bank village of Bil’in’s battle against the Israeli security fence. Burnat said five of his cameras were smashed by the Israeli army as he documented friends and family members being shot and injured by Israeli troops.

Pulverente MONUMENT CO.

December 6, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 11

Israel and the Diaspora

In memoriam LEONORE MARX PAASCH

Sparks from the word RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parsha Vayigash If we were to look for some historical source of information on the relations between the land of Israel and the Jews of the Diaspora, we would not generally look at the Bible.

Yet there is something of primary interest in our Sidrah: it is here that Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, and it is here that Jacob comes down to Egypt.

Isaac had been commanded: “Go not down into Egypt,� even though there was famine in the land, and he might have followed Abraham, who went down to Egypt during a time of famine.

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob each experienced famine in Canaan. Abraham and Jacob, but not Isaac, came down to Egypt.

The people of Israel became a people in terms of multiplying in number, not in Canaan, but in Egypt. Further, they became a people spiritually with the acceptance of the Ten Commandments in the Sinai wilderness. The Bible itself makes clear that some of the books of scripture (e.g. Ezekiel) were written outside of Canaan.

The Babylonian Talmud was produced outside of Israel.

The great productions of Spanish Jewry, the great medieval Bible commentaries and and the great medieval philosophical works: outside Israel. It is apparent that creativity lies in the Jewish people, and loyalty to Judaism is the soil from which it springs.

Let no one infer that this is meant in any sense to denigrate Zionism and the grand achievement of the sovereignty of Israel. I believe firmly that Judaism cannot continue without a central independent concentration of Jews. The continuously astonishing creativity of the Jews of Israel amply illustrates what Jewish minds can do in their own land. The world is richly rewarded -- in science, medicine, music, literature, agriculture and a host of other fields -- for the release of the Jewish spirit in the land of Israel.

But the Diaspora, despite the staggering problems of survival which we face, can still be spiritually creative. And part of the paradox of life in the Diaspora is this: that if indeed we are spiritually creative, a substantial part of our best young people will regularly opt to live in Israel. And we congratulate ouselves when it happens.

Leonore Marx Paasch passed away on Nov. 29 in Seattle.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Leon and Betty Marx and her son, Douglas Norman Paasch.

She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Norman Paasch, daughter and son-in-law, Lisa and Mark Holmberg; grandchildren, Max and Zach Holmberg; her sister and brother-in-law, Joanie and Terry Bernstein.

Lee, as she was known, directed plays all over Seattle for many years, and had played many roles in Imagination Theater on the radio since its inception. She will be missed by all who knew her and loved her.

Memorials may be made to the organization of your choice.

Olmert to Netanyahu: Stop slamming U.S. Iran policy

by JTA NEWS STAFF JERUSALEM (JTA) — Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert accused his successor, Benjamin Netanyahu, of declaring war on the United States in its policy on Iran. “We’ve declared war on the American government. You can’t deny this,� Olmert said at panel discussion during a conference at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv on the recent agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, according to Israeli media.

Olmert said Israel should not be leading the international effort against Iran’s nuclear program and that that role should be left to the United States. “Israel should be a partner in this fight but cannot and should not lead the international fight,� Olmert said. �This was the Sharon government’s position and the position of my government as well.�

Netanyahu has publicly called the agreement arrived at in Geneva last month between Iran and the world powers a “bad deal� and a “historic mistake.� The deal provides some sanctions’ relief for Iran in exchange for rollbacks in its nuclear program. “I hope this will not be perceived as an attack on the prime minister,� Olmert said, “but the State of Israel should cease to criticize the policy of the U.S. and the policymakers of the United States.�

Netanyahu, in Rome for an audience with Pope Francis, responded to Olmert’s barbs. According to the Jerusalem Post, he said, “When I see that our vital interests are at stake, I will not shut up.�

Finishing touches

60 Years Experience With Jewish Lettering and Memorials

1439 So. 13th 402-341-2452

Frank L. Ciciulla, Jr.

Mizel Jewish Community Day School seeks full-time director Position Available July 1, 2014

TULSA, OKLAHOMA DAY SCHOOL SEEKS DIRECTOR Additional information: www.mizelschool.org Resumes: mizelsearch@gmail.com

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish!

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100129

Nebraska STATEWIDE CLASSIFIEDS

by DAVID GOLBITZ Temple Israel Staff Writer Last spring the Women of Reform Judaism launched its annual donor campaign to put the finishing touches on the kitchen in the new Temple Israel. The women’s group raised $6,500 and the WRJ leadership agreed to match those funds.

The WRJ Kitchen Committee, chaired by Nancy Noddle, used the money to purchase all new serving pieces, made of white ceramic, including serving trays, water pitchers, mixmasters, Cuisinarts and more. The new serving pieces

allow Temple Israel to host family style dinners with 40 tables and buffet luncheons for lifecycle events.

In the few short months since moving into the new Temple Israel, the building has already held multiple events that make use of the facilities. The flexibility of the social hall allows various events to take place at the same time, and caterers and volunteer bakers have found the new kitchen to allow for far greater collaboration and productivity.

Funds from the capital campaign were also used to purchase new place settings, flatware and glassware, enough for 400 people.

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Carefully selected items include furniture pieces that mimic the iconic Mid-Century Modern masters, the fine line of Alessi accessories (jewelry for the home), gorgeous and timeless jewelry from Israel and many other great gifts and stocking stuffers that would elate anyone this holiday season.

Located in the west end of Rockbrook Village, please come and check out Magpie. Here, the store motto is: “If money can’t buy you happiness, you don’t know where to shop!�

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For more information, don’t hesitate to contact the store 402.321.8300. Happy Holidays and Happy Shopping from Rose and Lucy!

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Experience in ag equipment industry preferred. Must have good people skills to work well with employees as well as customers. Base pay plus aggressive commission, health, life, WDI, matched SIRA. Send resume to keith@genevaimplement.com or mail to PO Box 152, Geneva, NE 68361.

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12 | The Jewish Press | December 6, 2013

Sucker punch: Brooklyn Jews targeted in ‘knockout’ attacks

by JULIE WIENER about attacking innocents walking NEW YORK (JTA) -down the street,” he wrote in a column Chava, a student at a Chabad for the Huffington Post. “This is not a seminary, has lived in the ‘game’; it is inhumane behavior that has Crown Heights section of no place in our country or the world.”

Brooklyn for six years, but it’s Zaki Tamir, chairman of the Crown only in the past few days that Heights Jewish Community Council, she started carrying pepper said black and Jewish community leadspray in her handbag. ers have enjoyed good relations in recent Her younger brother gave years, and the neighborhood has become her the deterrent after news safer over the past decade, in part due to hit of a string of recent attacks gentrification. He acknowledged that the against Orthodox Jews, seven latest attacks are shattering the sense of of them in Crown Heights. security that had been built up.

The assaults, believed to be “Suddenly, this is reminiscent of old part of a national wave of sotimes and it makes everyone feel very called “knockout game” vulnerable,” Tamir said. attacks in which black teens Civilian patrols working in conjuncpunch random white strangers Above left: Crown Heights resident Pinchas Woolstone says the neighborhood is “light years away” from the era of tion with the police have been stepped for sport, are unnerving Jews the riots. Above right: A community patrol car is parked outside the Jewish Children's Museum in the Crown up to help escort children home from Credit: Julie Wiener the train at night, as well as women and in the racially mixed neigh- Heights section of Brooklyn.

Kingston Avenue, a bustling commercial street with bakeries, those considered easier targets, according to Tamir. borhood still haunted by the days of rioting there in 1991.

The latest attack came when a 72-year-old Russian-speak- groceries and Judaica stores, and home to the world headquarThe community is “more organized than ever before in ing Jewish woman was punched in the East New York neigh- ters of Chabad-Lubavitch and the Jewish Children’s Museum. terms of preventing crime and keeping streets nonviolent,” Inside the museum, Michael Harel, the manager of he said. “People realize Crown Heights is not a haven for borhood, according to the Daily News.

“I’ve definitely been more cautious since [the attacks] Chocolate and an Israeli who has lived in Crown Heights for 13 hoodlums anymore.” started,” Chava told JTA as she waited to pick up a hot drink years, said there is plenty of tension between blacks and Jews in At a press conference Monday at the Crown Heights Youth at Chocolate, a kosher cafe inside the Jewish Children’s the neighborhood, some of it attributable to class resentment. Collective, several Brooklyn elected officials, including Eric “Back in the days there were a lot of problems here,” he Adams, the incoming borough president, condemned the Museum. “I’ve been hearing about it, and I saw the footage.

I’m looking around. I’m always aware of my surroundings.” said. “Looks like it’s coming back.” attacks, and Tamir's group offered a $1,500 reward for inforBut Pinchas Woolstone, a cafe patron, said Crown Heights mation leading to the arrest of perpetrators.

In other American cities, knockout victims have been nonJewish whites. In New York, the victims of all nine punching is “light years away” from the era of the riots. Although he Nathan, a Chocolate cafe employee who did not want to attacks reported so far appear to be Jewish, and the New York has lived in Crown Heights for only six years, Woolstone give his last name, said news of the attacks prompted him to said he used to visit the neighborhood in the 1970s, when it stop allowing his three children, the oldest of whom is 8, to Police Department’s Hate Crimes Unit is investigating.

It is unclear whether the attacks, none of which have resembled “a war zone.” play unattended outside the lobby of his apartment building.

“No black person or Jewish person would speak to each involved robberies, are linked. A police spokesman interOn Saturday, Brooklyn resident Amrit Marajh was viewed last Friday declined to share details about the inci- other; they hardly looked at each other,” recalled the arraigned for an attack from the previous day in Borough dents but said that eight of the Brooklyn attacks fall into the Australia native, who works for a commercial cleaning com- Park. Police initially said Marajh was being charged with a pany. “The latest little flareup is not good, but we shouldn’t hate crime but later told The New York Times he had been hate crimes category.

For the time being, the NYPD has deployed more police contemplate it’s anything like it used to be.” charged with assault, harassment and menacing.

The Rev. Al Sharpton publicly condemned the knockout officers to Crown Heights. On Monday, several police vans, a Marajh, who apparently has a Jewish girlfriend and has mobile command center, police cars and two officers on horse- attacks. never been arrested, denied the charges and was released on “There is nothing funny or even remotely entertaining $750 bail. back were stationed near the corner of Eastern Parkway and

Coming in January

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Publishing Date | 01.24.14 Space Reservation | 01.15.14 Camera Ready Deadline | 01.17.14 Contact your advertising representative to advertise in this very special edition.

Jessie Wees | 402.334.6559 | jwees@jewishomaha.org