December 13, 2013

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

Jerusalem,

December 13, 2013 10 Tevet 5774 Vol. 94 | No. 13

This Week

May I not forget you

by ELIAD ELIYAHU BEN-SHUSHAN Community Shaliach It is easy not to forget Jerusalem not only because of the rich history, but also because of the everyday current events in the most famous city in the world.

Last July, three weeks before I moved to Omaha, I was privileged to visit the Kotel -- the Western Wall in Jerusalem -- with many other “future shlichim” of the Jewish Agency for Israel. The group represented varied sectors of Israeli society who are now “bringing Israel” to hundreds of Jewish communities in the world.

We arrived at the Kotel on a very special evening of Tisha B’Av, which commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. Everyone who came admitted it was a meaningful experience to see so many people sitting on the ground, singing with tearful voices, holding candles and mourning something that happened 1,946 years ago. I am sure that these people we saw cannot forget Jerusalem.

Questions were raised into the air

Lois Wine retires Page 6

Hanukkah Community Gallery Page 7

During all Jewish history, Jerusalem was always in the center of the Jewish life. People from all sides of the world pray every day facing in the direction of Jerusalem.

Three times a day the observant Jew prays about Jerusalem. At the end of the Passover Seder everyone sings Leshana Haba Ba’ Yerushalaim which means Next year in Jerusalem! And even Matisyahu, the famous reggae, rock and hip hop super star, keeps singing about Jerusalem with millions of viewers on YouTube.

People don’t forget Jerusalem and each one of them for his or her own reasons.

Eye on Israel with Eliad Eliyahu Ben-Shushan Nowadays, for everyone that night by several friends... Why? who lives in Israel or cares about the Why do people still cry in the year of life in Israel, it is also impossible to 2013? Why was Jerusalem so impor- forget Jerusalem, since it is in the tant in the past and still in the pres- headlines most of the time. ent? How many years need to pass Even as I began writing this article, before people stop mourning this two events happened at the same Continued on page 2 historic event?

Get ready for Fiddler Junior Reform biennial hopes to revitalize movement Page 12

Inside Point of view Synagogues In memoriam

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

8 10 11

by RACHEL MARTIN Speak loud and be understood.

These straightforward directions could be given in a number of life’s occasions.

They are simple, yet significant.

Perhaps that is why Fran Sillau, Director of the JCC Musical Theater Community Acting Group, tells the cast to do just that before they perform each show. “I also tell the cast to do the play as if the audience has never seen it before,” he said. “I want them to perform as if it were the first time, every time.”

JCC Cultural Arts Director Esther Katz agreed with Sillau, especially in the case of the upcoming show, Fidder on the Roof Junior. “This is particularly true with Fiddler, since so many audience members are familiar with the story,” Katz said.

Katz mentioned that the audience should keep in mind it is a junior version. “Some parts may be cut out because it’s designed to be interesting for a younger audience,” she said.

“The publishers of the show made these calls; we did not make decisions of what to cut. Even our music

director is sad for some songs that were cut in half or cut out. It tells the complete story while keeping it short enough for a young audience to enjoy the show.”

For this show, much of the set pieces are staying onstage throughout, in order for the background to look filled.

There are piles of furniture and

Sillau also noted that the cast is telling the story their way. “It’s not the movie or the Broadway show,” he said. “It will still be the Fiddler story, just Fiddler our way.”

Improvisations are a necessity in theater, but authenticity will not be sacrificed. “We rented costumes that came with tzitzit already, but they had fringe all the way across the bottom,” Katz said. “So, I’m going to sew it on just the four corners instead.”

The cast is ahead of schedule in terms of practicing onstage with set pieces. Usually, this doesn’t happen until tech week, much closer to the date of the performance. The Fiddler cast began to practice with the set nearly two months before the performance.

props on either side of the stage. “The cast was a little surprised that all the pieces were staying during each scene,” Katz said. “It’s a big difference, even for the more experienced actors, to keep character while moving instead of dropping that persona and just being yourself in black clothing.”

Sillau said the cast ‘effortlessly transitioned’ to putting all of the show’s pieces together. “We’ve now moved from just pieces to the whole puzzle coming together,” he concluded.

Performances will be Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 22 at 4 p.m. Tickets are expected to sell fast. They are on sale now, and may be purchased from Esther Katz, Jessica Reed, or by calling the Registrar, Laura Wine, at 402.334.6419.

Good Shabbos Nebraska

by RABBI JONATHAN GROSS Beth Israel Synagogue This week may be the most controversial episode ever for Good Shabbos Nebraska - America’s Favorite Shabbos Morning Talk Show.

Our guest this week will be the famous blogger and tweeter Rabbi Josh Yuter, author of the Yutopia blog (www.joshyuter.com).

Rabbi Josh Yuter Tablet Magazine refers to Rabbi Yuter as “Rabbi Zuckerberg” because of his dominating presence on Facebook, Twitter, the blogosphere, and every other imaginable form of social media.

He has over 25,000 followers on twitter including writers from mainstream news outlets such as the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News and The New York Daily News who cite Rabbi Yuter’s tweets as authoritative indicators of the pulse of young Jews.

Among other awards, in 2012 Rabbi Yuter was acknowledged as one of the top ten Jewish influencers for creative and strategic use of social media to positively impact the Jewish community.

Rabbi Yuter and I know each other from our undergraduate days at Yeshiva University. We were both computer science majors (I subsequently switched to Math) and he seemed to be just a regular quirky computer geek who happened to know a lot of Torah and had a knack for clever punning (“The importance of Tu Bishvat in Judaism has gradually been reseeding,” and “professional weavers often face looming deadlines”).

Back in 1998, he was already involved in that new “internet” thing (probably just a fad), and he starting journaling and expressing his opinions in a log on the “world wide web,” which some people called a web log - or “blog” for short. I remember thinking to myself, “Who is reading that anyway? It is not as if that many people even have a computer!”

Enter the new information age and twitter and now that quirky Continued on page 2

2 | The Jewish Press | December 13, 2013

Netanyahu visits Pope Francis

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

It’s not too late! Establish your charitable fund or donate to your existing fund at the Foundation by December 31st to maximize your potential tax benefit for 2013.

by JTA NEWS STAFF The Vatican statement said that “aside from indicating the (JTA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Holy Father’s plans for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land,” the Pope Francis in their first face-to-face meeting talked about pope and Netanyahu considered “various questions” regardthe Middle East and plans for a papal trip to Israel, among ing the status of Christians in Israel. other issues.

It said they also disAlso at Monday’s closedcussed lingering financial door, 25-minute audience and other questions that at the Vatican, Netanyahu have stalled full implepresented the pope with a mentation of a formal book about the Spanish bilateral agreement Inquisition written by his between Israel and the father, the late historian Holy See “in the hope that Benzion Netanyahu. The the Agreement which has dedication read, “To the been in preparation for some time may be congreat pastor and guardian of our common heritage.” cluded forthwith.”

The Vatican said in a Following the meeting, Netanyahu held bilateral statement that the talks talks with his Italian counfocused on the “complex terpart, Enrico Letta. political and social situaPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Pope Francis Netanyahu on Sunday tion in the Middle East, with particular reference to the reinstatement of negotia- night lit Hanukkah candles at Rome’s main synagogue, where tions between Israelis and Palestinians, expressing hope that he reiterated warnings about the agreement on Iran’s nuclear a just and lasting solution respecting the rights of both par- program. Netanyahu kindled the menorah with Letta. ties may be reached as soon as possible.”

Speaking at the ceremony, the Israeli leader repeated his During the meeting, Netanyahu reiterated the invitation warnings that the recent deal on Iran’s nuclear program was to the pope to visit Israel that was extended earlier by Israeli an “historic error.”

Letta said he “knew Israel’s positions, doubts and fears.” leaders. Media have reported that the pope may make the trip in late May, but Vatican spokesman Father Federico He said the current economic and social crisis fed “extremism, hate and intolerance,” and he pledged to resist the Lombardi said no date for such a visit had been set.

Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, who also attended the audience, “racism, intolerance and xenophobia” that were growing in reportedly told the pope, “We are expecting you, we can’t wait.” Italy “in a worrying manner.”

Eye on Israel Contact Howard Epstein, Executive Director 402-334-6466 | hepstein@jewishomaha.org | www.jfofoundation.org

Continued from page 1 time. At the Temple Mount (Har HaBayt), Arab Muslims shot fireworks on Israeli policemen who tried to protect Jewish visitors. After that incident, the Temple Mount was closed to everyone who is not Muslim for one day in order to avoid potential problems. A week before that, at the first candle of Hanukkah, a few Jews wanted to enter into the Temple Mount. As they sang Hanukkah songs, a few Arabs started to fight with them telling them to get out. The event ended with police interference and once again the closing of the entrance to non-Muslim visitors.

Since 1967 both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have claimed sovereignty over the site which remains a major focal point of the Arab-Israeli conflict. In an attempt to keep the status quo, the Israeli government enforces a controversial ban on prayer by non-Muslim visitors.

The second event which happened was with the Women of The Wall on Rosh Chodesh Tevet, the first day of the Hebrew month Tevet. This group of Reform women gathered at the Western Wall to pray in the women’s section with talit and tefillin as they do every Rosh Chodesh. A group of Ultra-Orthodox came to demonstrate against them. Then, surprisingly, this month the rabbi of the Kotel, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, asked the ultra-Orthodox not

to demonstrate against the women. Not surprisingly, two different newspapers gave different reasons for doing this.

These two different events in one important place symbolizes the importance of the place for many people in the land of Israel. Is there any connection between these two events except for the fact they happened at the same time?

Why is Jerusalem in the center and why do people decide to express their religious opinions and traditional customs in this holy place? Do you have a firm opinion or do you think you need to have more details and information on this topic in order to have a better “Eye on Israel?”

Please come on this upcoming Tuesday, Dec. 17, at noon in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library for the next session of “Eye on Israel.” We will discuss the complexity of Jerusalem, the “Women of the Wall” and the “Temple Mount.” will be the platform from which we may begin to understand again how varied sectors in one land face the challenging reality that is Israel.

There is no charge to attend “Eye on Israel” and it is open to the public. It is presented through the Center for Jewish Life, whose mission it is to maximize involvement of Omaha’s Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences. For additional information, please call 402.334.6463.

Good Shabbos, Nebraska

Why is QSI the fastest growing Post Frame Business in Nebraska? www.qualitystructures.com

MORE LUMBER-ENGINEERED-A+ BBB RATING

2013 NFBA Building of the Year Award Winner!

72’ x 120’ x 18’ 1 - 36x18 Split Slider 1 - Solid Walk Door

Delivery & installation on your level site

$73,700.00 (Travel charges may apply)

*Serving you from Grand Island, NE 1-800-374-6988

Continued from page 1 punning computer geek can broadcast his thoughts to the world, and he has amassed an army of 25,000 followers who anxiously stare at their smart phones waiting to read the next witticism or radical idea that Rabbi Yuter can put out in 140 characters or less.

In almost 15 years of blogging, Rabbi Yuter has touched on the most sensitive and provocative issues in modern Jewish life, particularly, but not always, those facing the Orthodox Jewish world. He has written extensively on gender issues, homosexuality, conversion to Judaism, American and Israeli politics, rabbi politics, Jewish denominations, new technology, pop culture and current events.

He never shies away from chiming in on even the most hotly debated topics and you never know which side of a controversial issue he will side with. But you can always be sure that he will have harsh words for one side, the other or both.

I believe that Rabbi Yuter’s popularity stems from his courage to say things that others are afraid to say, and his fairness on any given issue. In today’s world, people tend to flock to blogs that articulate exactly what they are thinking

and the discussions devolve into echo chambers. Rabbi Yuter is a refreshing break from these trends, and he provides a thoughtful and challenging perspective on the issues of the day that forces people to think and consider a point of view that they otherwise would have dismissed outright.

I am very excited to welcome my good friend, Rabbi Yuter, to Omaha and to give the community an opportunity to meet one of the millennial generation’s most provocative and widely disseminated Jewish thinkers.

Rabbi Yuter is very excited to be a guest for episode 10 of Good Shabbos Nebraska. The unique talk show format of GSN is a perfect opportunity for Rabbi Yuter to address a wide variety of topics and let people know exactly what he thinks about them -- in more than 140 characters.

If you have not yet been to Good Shabbos Nebraska, you must check it out and see for yourself why Omaha Jews are raving about and flocking to the most innovative, exciting, and thought provoking synagogue experience anywhere north of Pacific St. and east of 132nd St. It all takes place every Shabbos at 10 a.m. ONLY at Beth Israel Synagogue -- where every Shabbos is a Shabbaton!

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.

December 13, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 3

Improving Hebrew literacy among American Jews

by JULIE WIENER NEW YORK (JTA) -- For the first three-and-a-half weeks of the summer, one group of five-year-olds at Ramah Day Camp in Nyack, N.Y., was “very quiet” as the children went about the typical camp activities, according to Amy Skopp Cooper, the camp’s director.

But in the fourth week, the talking started -- in Israeliaccented Hebrew.

By the end of the summer, evaluations revealed that most of the 20 children -- all of whom had started out as Hebrew novices -- “had gone up multiple levels” in their Hebrew proficiency, Cooper said.

The campers were participants in a pilot Hebrew immersion program at the Jewish day camp 25 miles north of Manhattan. And if leaders of a new group promoting Hebrew literacy have their way, those campers will soon be joined by many others.

The Hebrew Language Council of North America, which held its inaugural conference last month in New Jersey, aims to make Hebrew a more central part of American Jewish culture. Established by a partnership among several organizations including the World Zionist Organization and the Israeli Ministry of Education, the council is launching as growing numbers of Jewish educational programs are rethinking their approach to teaching Hebrew and as signs emerge of low Hebrew literacy among American Jews.

“Judaism is not just a religion, it’s a people,” said Arnee Winshall, CEO of Hebrew at the Center, one of the groups involved in starting the council. “We talk a lot about ‘am Yisrael’ [the people of Israel], and a language is part of what distinguishes a people.”

Many Jewish educators consider Hebrew a core feature of Jewish identity building. But according to the Pew Research Center’s recent study of American Jewry, just 52 percent of American Jews know the Hebrew alphabet and only 10 percent can carry on a conversation in Hebrew. Even among those who attended yeshiva or Jewish day school, the numbers are scarcely better, with only one-third saying they can converse in Hebrew. The number rises to 64 percent for those with 10 years or more of day school education.

Experts variously attribute the low numbers to poor teaching, lack of clarity about why Hebrew language acquisition is important and the few opportunities to speak

Hebrew in American Jewish life.

“We know many, if not most, day schools claim to be interested in [conversational] Hebrew proficiency, but the reality is they face limited time, and unless you’re really committed, it’s not easy,” said Jonathan Woocher, president of the Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah and a longtime CEO of the now-shuttered Jewish Education Service of North America.

Campers at Ramah Day Camp in Nyack, N.Y., participating in a pilot Hebrew immersion program.

Credit: Ramah Day Camp Day school directors face a “dilemma about where to put the emphasis and resources and how to deal with the fact that except for Israelis, there isn’t a community of active Hebrew speakers in America,” Woocher said.

The emergence in the past six years of publicly funded Hebrew charter schools may help change the equation.

There are now 10 such schools in the United States teaching Hebrew language and Jewish culture, but like all public schools they are prohibited from teaching Jewish religion.

The schools are “forcing us to up our game,” said Rabbi Andrew Davids, head of Beit Rabban, a small, nondenominational Jewish day school in Manhattan now revamping its Hebrew curriculum.

Davids said four Beit Rabban families transferred their children to a new Hebrew charter school in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood this year. And while he recognizes

his school can never compete with the free tuition of a charter school, Davids said he wants to make sure his school can offer a Hebrew program as good as the charter school.

“We don’t want Hebrew to be the reason they leave,” Davids said.

The new council joins a number of Hebrew teaching efforts that have been percolating for the past decade.

In addition to Ramah Nyack, several other Jewish camps have experimented with Hebrew immersion. In Chicago, a program called Moadon Kol Chadash (New Voice Lounge) offers Hebrew-immersion Jewish preschool. And seven suburban public high schools, with support from the Jewish nonprofit Shorashim, are offering Hebrew-language courses.

Hebrew at the Center (HATC), a 6-year-old organization that recently partnered with Middlebury College in Vermont to create the Middlebury-HATC Institute for the Advancement of Hebrew Language, has helped train teachers for many of the programs. The Middlebury-HATC Institute is launching master’s and doctoral programs to train Hebrew teachers and support scholarly research.

Until now, Winshall said, most Hebrew teachers in the United States have had little formal training and many Jewish day schools recruit local Israelis with little expertise in teaching language.

The Hebrew Language Council is planning to sponsor an annual three-day Hebrew language and Israeli culture conference; form a professional association for Hebrew teachers in North America; convene an online forum for sharing information about various Hebrew programs; and raise money for Hebrew education initiatives.

“We have to bring under one umbrella all the people who care about Hebrew,” said Simcha Leibovich, the World Zionist Organization representative in North America.

While Winshall knows of no studies showing the impact of Hebrew literacy on Jewish identity, she said there is significant research on how language mastery influences a sense of connection to the culture in which that language is spoken.

“When I spent a year-and-a-half in Israel, I had a different experience than my other American friends there who couldn’t speak Hebrew or could only function at the lowest level,” Winshall said. “I was invited to different things because people said they didn’t want to always worry about speaking English.”

Coming in January

The

Women’s Issue

Publishing Date | 01.31.14 Space Reservation | 01.22.14 Camera Ready Deadline | 01.24.14 Contact your advertising representative to advertise in this very special edition.

Jessie Wees | 402.334.6559 | jwees@jewishomaha.org

4 | The Jewish Press | December 13, 2013

The Reform Biennial

by DAVID GOLBITZ Leadership Development program and for whom this will Temple Israel Staff Writer be the fifth Biennial he has attended.

Held every two years, the Union for Reform Judaism “This year I’m looking forward to attending without necBiennial is where Jews gather to learn, pray, share ideas, essarily any primary focus, just enjoying different learning dance and sing, hear from inspiring guest speakers, reunite sessions,” Meyers said. “There are so many different things with old friends, make new connections, and reimagine to do, you can’t do it all.”

Jewish life. It is a trade show, In addition to the learning with exhibitors selling everysessions and the exhibitors, thing from Jewish art to trips Biennial also features a choir to Israel; it is a convention, made up of members from where thousands of Jews from around the country, in which around the world come Meyers enjoys participating, together to share their stories; and Shabbat worship services it is an educational experiwith 5,000 people in attenence, with more than 120 dance. learning sessions covering “It’s incredibly moving,” Rips such diverse topics as said of the worship service. women’s rights, congregationShe is also looking forward to al choirs, youth engagement, attending lectures by Rabbi The Big Lebowski and Jewish David Saperstein and Omaha Rabbi Rick Jacobs, left, and Rabbi Eric Yoffie. genetic diseases. native Ron Wolfson.

Above all else, Biennial is a place where Jews can simply be The key speaker this year is Israeli Prime Minister Jewish, surrounded by peers and like-minded individuals Benjamin Netanyahu; other speakers are ESPN columnist who all want to better themselves and their communities Rick Reilly; Mark Bittman, Lead Food Writer for The New back home.

York Times; and Anat Hoffman, Executive Director of the Temple Israel member Jane Rips, has been attending Israel Religious Action Center and Chairwoman of Women Biennial since 1993 and always finds it to be “an incredible of the Wall, who will also be visiting Temple Israel in experience.”

February as a Scholar-in-Residence.

“The idea of 5,000 Jews coming together to study, to worThis will be the first Biennial for Andie Gordman, who is ship, to sing, to dance, to schmooze, it’s like the best congre- in the Leadership Development program, and she is looking gational oneg ever, and it goes all week,” Rips said. “And it’s forward to all the learning opportunities that await her in a chance to hear different music, to observe different styles San Diego. of worship, a chance to see what the rest of the country is “I’m interested to know what’s going on with the movedoing, other congregations, other boards, other rabbis, and ment across the country, and to bring new ideas to Temple,” that’s what makes it really fun, the chance to do something Gordman said. “I think there are some really interesting sesdifferent. I’m always so excited to learn about other people sions for engaging young adults.” and other congregations.”

In addition to meeting new people from around the counBiennial is being held this year in San Diego from Dec. try, Gordman is also looking forward to getting to know 11-15, and many Temple Israel congregants are planning to some of her fellow Temple Israel congregants better as well. attend, including Jon Meyers, co-chair of Temple Israel’s “We have a really big group going, and some of those are

Nelson Mandela dies at 95

by JTA NEWS STAFF WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Nelson Mandela, the revolutionary South African leader who forged close ties with his country’s Jews in his fight to dismantle the apartheid regime, died late last week.

Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, was 95. The current president, Jacob Zuma, announced his death on Thursday.

Throughout his struggle against apartheid, including his 27 years imprisonment, Mandela found allies among that country’s Jewish community. “I have found Jews to be more broad-minded than most whites on issues of race and politics, perhaps because they themselves have historically been victims of prejudice,” Mandela once wrote.

There were tensions between Mandela and the Jewish establishment over his African National Congress’ alliance with the Palestine Liberation Organization.

After his election in 1994, however, Mandela sought out Jewish leaders and embraced them, making clear he saw a

thriving Jewish community as essential to his country’s well-being.

Mandela visited Israel and the Palestinian areas in 1999.

In both cases, he confronted and complimented his hosts, telling Israelis he sympathized with Palestinian aspirations for statehood, and Palestinians that he understood the fears of Israelis, considering years of Arab rhetoric that countenanced the elimination of Israel.

Jewish groups mourned his passing, with statements from the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish World Service and B’nai B’rith International coming in the minutes after the announcement of his death.

“Nelson Mandela was a modern-day prophet for human dignity whose voice was heard around the world, and he inspired me and millions of other Jews with his message of equality for all,” Ruth Messinger, the AJWS president, said in a statement. “May his memory be a blessing.”

people I don’t know that well, so getting to know people from our own community will be fun,” she said.

During Biennial, the URJ considers resolutions to take a public stand on many political, social, economic and humanitarian issues. Since its inception in 1873, the URJ has not hesitated to speak out on issues of the widest scope and significance, always seeking to elucidate current problems according to its interpretation of the voice of prophetic Judaism. The resolutions that will be considered this year include a Resolution in Support of Paid Sick Days, which would call upon employers to “provide reasonable paid sick leave to employees to attend to their own health and the health of their families”; a Resolution on First Nations, which would support greater self-determination for Canada’s native community; a Resolution on Hydraulic Fracturing, which would support investment in conservation and renewable energy, and urge the United States and Canadian governments and natural gas and oil companies to conduct further research into the groundwater contamination and health implications of fracking; and a Resolution on the US-Cuba Embargo, which would urge the United States to lift the Cuban embargo and renew relations between the two countries.

This year’s resolutions can be read in full at the URJ Biennial website.

The Leadership Development program is paying for registration for current and past participants through the Jon Meyers Leadership Fund. Those unable to attend will be able to follow the convention online at www.urj.com/biennial13.

Engagements SHALLER/HERSCH Donna and Alan Hersch of Lincoln announce the engagement of their son, Daniel Alexander Hersch to Samantha Lynn Shaller, daughter of Michelle and Steven Shaller of Sunfish Lake, MN. The bride-to-be graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Apparel Merchandising. She is an Associate Buyer for JCPenney.

She is the granddaughter of Rossy and the late Richard Shaller of Mendota Heights, MN, and Shirley and the late Saul Held of Minneapolis.

Her fiancé earned his BS in Business Management and Marketing from Washburn University in Topeka, KS. He played on the University golf team. He works for EMSI in Medical device sales.

He is the grandson of the late Lillian and William Ratner of Boca Raton, FL, and the late Shirlee and Jack Hersch of Sunrise, FL. A wedding is planned for Oct. 25, 2014, in Minneapolis.

Organizations B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Fr. Steven Boes, the CEO of Boys Town, will talk about their new buildings and how they will be helping adults, too, for the first time since opening in 1917, on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 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.

Enjoy the Ride. Be Ready.

Pre-arrangement services make it easy.

Omaha

402-391-1664

Your sanctuary to meet, relax, connect, awaken...

Bellevue/Sarpy County Funerals

■

Cremation

■

Pre-Planning

402-293-0999

JohnAGentleman.com

Day retreats | Business meetings Overnight lodging | Women’s weekends

402-455-0950 Deb@whitedeerretreat.com 14048 White Deer Lane | Omaha, Ne 68112

December 13, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 5

Beth El Men’s Club readies for annual Chinese buffet

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Everything in town may be closed on Dec. 25, but Beth El will be open for business at 6 p.m., as the synagogue presents its annual Chinese buffet dinner, sponsored by Men’s Club. Everyone in the Jewish community is invited to gather for a casual evening with great food and friends.

“To the Jewish people, the year is 5774; to the Chinese people, the year is 4711. The 1,063 years without Chinese food is known as the Dark Ages,” joked Men’s Club President David Finkelstein. “We invite everyone to celebrate the anniversary of the Dark Ages coming to an end by enjoying some fine dining during our Chinese buffet on Wednesday, Dec. 25.

“Our holiday dinner is an opportunity to go somewhere when there is nowhere to go, and share good food prepared by the skilled hands of our Men’s Club volunteers,” he added.

“The tasty treats will fill you up on a cold winter night, and the opportunity to spend some time with your Beth El family will warm your spirits.”

Following dinner, the members of Sisterhood will lead a variety of games and activities for the children of all ages.

Special early-bird pricing, available for reservations made by Dec 18, follows: for

Beth El members, adults, $10, children age seven and up, $6, free for children six and younger, and the maximum charge per family is $36; for non-members, cost is $12.50 for adults, $7 for children age seven and older, and the maximum charge is $45 per

SEWING CENTERS 10144 Maple (Maple Village)

402-572-1212

Out

Dining

Mon & Thur: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. • Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

When you patronize these fine establishments, tell them you saw their ad in the Jewish Press.

H IR O WE ST

H IR O 8 8

WEST OMAHA

OLD MARKET

3655 N 129th St.

1308 Jackson St.

402.933.0091

402.933.5168

M-Th 11:30a-2p | 5p-10p F-Sa 11:30a-2p | 5p-12a Su 12p-9p

M-Th 11a-12a F-Sa 11a-1a Su 11a-9p

S U S H I | J A PA N E S E | C H I N E S E

family. After Dec. 18, cost for synagogue members is $12.50 for adults; $7 for children age seven and older; and $45 maximum charge for families; for non-members, $15 for adults, $8 for children seven and older, and maximum charge is $50. RSVP and pay online at www.bethel-omaha.org; for more information, contact the synagogue office, 402.492.8550, or programming@bethel-omaha.org.

Professionals on and off stage

by RACHEL MARTIN The JCC Dance Training Company offers more than just an opportunity to dance and perform. “It’s great exercise,” said 16-yearold Theresa Bracht. “It’s also great to be with friends all of the time.”

Kathryn Fuxa, 16, said she enjoys spending time with the girls in the Company. “The girls are amazing to be with,” she said. “I also like that I can do dances even if I don’t take that specific class. For example, I did a modern piece and I don’t take modern dance.”

The Company performed two shows at the Nov. 17 UNO Fall Showcase.

JCC Cultural Arts Director Esther Katz said the Company “represented the JCC Dance Department beautifully” at the Showcase. “Not only did they perform like professionals, but they acted like professionals everywhere they went,” Katz added.

The dancers enjoyed seeing other dance companies’ performances. “I liked getting to see other groups in Omaha,” Bracht said. “We don’t always get to see other people perform.”

Audience members and other UNO performers complimented Katz on the artistic

Snowbirds and technical ability of the JCC girls, as well as their friendliness and maturity. “I am a very proud director,” Katz said. “We should be a very proud community.”

Next Week The RBJH Superheroes

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.

6 | The Jewish Press | December 13, 2013

Lois Wine’s big impact

HUSKER'S BOWL TOUR UR R Join the excitement on a Husker Bowl Tour!

Choose from Fly-in, Land-only or Motorcoach.

View ALL the details as they unfold at AlliedTT.com or email Allied@AlliedTT.com

"ESCAPE THE COLD" TOURS! TEXAS GULF COAST WINTER ESCAPE Feb. 4-14 Incls. 2 Nights each in Corpus Christi & Galveston

PALM SPRINGS & SAN DIEGO Feb. 23-28 Featuring Tribute to USO Shows, M*A*S*H* 4077 Night, & Salute to The Rat Pack!

SUNNY SOUTHWEST ADVENTURES Feb. 19-Mar. 3 GULF COAST DISCOVERY Mar. 22-31 4-Night "Stay On Incls. N.Mex., Ariz. & Colo.

The Beach" Accommodations SANIBEL ISLAND WINTER ESCAPE Feb. 22-27 Offices in 5-Night Stay on the Beach Norfolk, Lincoln, & Omaha

FLORIDA EAST COAST ADVENTURES Feb. 22-Mar. 3 Featuring St. Augustine, Jacksonville, & Amelia Island

Since 1962

See it at www.AlliedTT.com or Call 1-800-672-1009 How is this publication thinking about the future?

By becoming part of the past.

This publication is available from ProQuest Information and Learning in one or more of the following ways: • Online, via the ProQuest® information service • Microform • CD-ROM • Via database licensing

Electronic Databases

Microform & Print

Chadwyck-Healey

For more information, call

1-800-521-0600, ext. 2888 (US) or 01-734-761-4700 (International)

by OZZIE NOGG had. We worked together turning L.O.V.E. into an auxiliary Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Residents, staff, volunteers, to raise funds for the Home. Lois is a wonderful friend to all friends and family gathered in the Silverman Auditorium on who know her.”

November 26 to honor Lois Wine, Director of Volunteer RBJH Director of Facility Services, Josh Gurock, said, “In Services, at her retirement party. The event was hosted by her role as our Director of Volunteer Services, it’s incredible the Home to mark Wine’s long career with the Federation to think about how much Lois has been able to accomplish. and the RBJH. In just the past couple of years “I appreciate all the support she produced the new extended to me by Michael Shabbat and High Holiday Silverman, Josh Gurock, the prayer books for the Home; L.O.V.E. Board of Directors, helped develop education fellow staff members and ‘my’ classes for Residents; volunteers during my tenure,” arranged Friday night dinners Wine said. “I’ve given my and coordinated grandparheart and soul to this Campus ents’ day events; supervised for thirty-one years, and natThe Gift Shop and worked urally I’m sad about retiring. with L.O.V.E. to secure donaBut I do look forward to tions to fund the Home’s spending more time with my courtyard awnings as well as husband Norm, our sons, and medication laptops for the our grandchildren.” nursing staff. And that’s just Wine was presented with a the tip of the iceberg. print by Mordechai Working with Lois has been a Rosenstein, internationally pleasure, and I’ve learned a known Judaica artist and lot from her. We all wish her Hebrew calligrapher. The good luck in the future.” work is titled, From Kudos also came Wine’s way Generation to Generation: from her friend and fellow L'dor v'dor. “The print is very volunteer Judy Brookstein, meaningful to me,” Wine said, L.O.V.E. past president, board “and I will treasure it forever.” member and advisor. “Lois is Wine has also been active a big message that comes in a in off-campus volunteer small package,” Brookstein work. She sat on the Friend’s said. “She has blessed those Lois Wine Board of Children's Hospital around her far more than she from 1975 to 1977, and served as President of the National knows. Many of the simple things she has done affected all of Board of Associates of Jewish Homes and Services for the us more than she realizes – her love of her work, her willingAging from 2005 to 2008. Wine’s experience with senior vol- ness to listen generously and her warm smile. She has unteer management at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home led strengthened the lives around her through her friendship, to her 2002 appointment by Nebraska Governor Mike kindness and compassion. She has always been, and will conJohanns to the ServeNebraska Commission. In 2008, she tinue to be, passionate about the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home was reappointed by Governor Dave Heineman. Currently, and those who call it their home.” To underscore Brookstein’s Wine is Vice Chair of the Commission and chairs the words, Jim Wax, current L.O.V.E President said, “Lois has Advisory Fund Sustainability and Infrastructure been our auxiliary’s right-hand lady. We will not lose her, so Committee. The ServeNebraska Facebook page carries this we elected her to the L.O.V.E. Board as Gift Shop Co-chair.” post: ServeNebraska Commissioner Lois Wine's simple, In a past issue of the Omaha Jewish Press, Wine described direct advice for getting involved in your community, the depth of dedication shown by Jewish Senior Services and “Think about the cause that interests you and then make a Rose Blumkin Jewish Home volunteers in these words of phone call to volunteer.” thanks to the group: “Countless hours are spent by our volColleagues praised Wine for her up-beat nature and pro- unteers for the benefit of our Residents and staff. Staff can fessionalism. Jewish Federation of Omaha CEO Mike come and leave; family and friends come to visit. Staff is Silverman said: paid; family is duty bound. But the volunteer’s role is very “Lois has been a mainstay at the Rose Blumkin Jewish different, in that they bring the special gift of self and time.

Home and across our Campus for many years. She will truly Volunteers come because they want to, and this is what be missed by Residents, family, staff and our Omaha Jewish makes volunteering unique. I personally want to thank all of community. Lois is always filled with energy, fun, and a will- you for what you do, for the joy you bring. May God grant ingness to do anything to help the Home. We wish her the you the strength to continue your service to the Rose very best in her retirement.”

Blumkin Jewish Home and Jewish Social Services.”

Joanie Bernstein, who served as MC at the retirement Lois Wine may be retired, but she’ll remain a presence. “After party added, “Lois is a dedicated, caring member of our spending the winter in Florida with Norm, I look forward to community and the only Volunteer Director RBJH has ever returning to the Blumkin Home as a volunteer,” she said.

www.il.proquest.com From

Changing your address?

Please give us the following information: Your name, old address and new address and when you want the address change to go into effect.

The Jewish Press Call 402.334.6448 or email us at jpress.jewishomaha.org

Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital near financial collapse

by JTA NEWS STAFF anniversary celebrations, JERUSALEM (JTA) -the group dedicated a stateHadassah Medical Center in of-the-art hospital tower Jerusalem is on the brink of fully funded by the organifinancial collapse, the zation through a national Forward reported. campaign. The tower is not The hospital is facing a yet fully operational, howev$300 million deficit, includer, requiring another $45 ing $80 million accrued in million to reach that level. the last year, according to The four Israeli members of the newspaper. the Hadassah hospital board Efforts by Hadassah, the resigned in October after Women’s Zionist Organizathey were excluded from tion of America to save the negotiations with the Israeli medical center have resulted government over governin a break with the hospital ment funding of the hospital.

Hadassah University Hospital leadership in Israel. The American representatives of organization has not been able to increase its funding for the organization comprise 51 percent of the hospital board daily operations of the hospital, the Forward reported, and and can control its decisions, according to the Forward. cash-flow problems caused hospital employees to receive The American Hadassah organization has faced finanonly a partial salary in November. cial difficulties resulting from the world economic downLast year, during the Hadassah organization’s 100th turn and fallout from the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme.

Visit us at www.jewishomaha.org

h a k k u n a H Community

December 13, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 7

G A L L E R Y

Left, from top: Annette Fettman with the Hanukkiah her grandson sent from Israel; Hazzan Michael Krausman, lighting the menorah during the congregational Hanukkah dinner on Dec. 4; Friedel students Eva Cohen, Leora McNamara and Julian Witkowski; Max Ruback with the Shirley Kirshenbaum Memorial Menorah at the CDC; Middle, from top: Ethel Grossman; Matt, Cadee and Alex Scheer; Right, from top: Hamorah Sarah Ben Shushan surrounded by Friedel students; Temple Israel’s Lindsay Osborne at Remington Heights; Zoe Berman and Naama Artzi; Front row: Sabrina Schwarz, left, Annika Gaca, Courtney Schwarz, Back row: Joshua Shapiro, left, Jonah Katz, Isaac Jensen, Tyler Epstein and Joonas Savolainen.

Nobbies New Year’s Party Kits

50% OFF

25% OFF One Regular Priced Item Coupon must be presented at time of purchase.

Not valid with any other offers, discount, services, edibles, sale, or clearance items.

Expires 12/31/2013.

JPNY

OMAHA 2500 S. 120th St. 402-333-6300

BELLEVUE 42nd & Hwy. 370 402-292-1700

CLIVE, IA 100 & University 515-457-7100

For great savings and special offers, sign up for your Nobbies Rewards Card today! nobbiesparties.com

8 | The Jewish Press | December 13, 2013

Point of view

American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

The cost of Jewish education

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press On Thursday, Dec. 5, I attended the annual Friedel Jewish Academy Hanukkah play. For the first time, my daughter wasn’t in it (she graduated in May of this year); my son, who is in third grade, represented the family. The show was phenomenal; the kids did great, and the JCC Theater was packed. And that’s as it should be.

There is something special about that Hanukkah play, and it goes beyond the obvious effort the teachers and students put into it. It’s an annual reminder that in this community, we can have a day school that welcomes Jewish kids from all walks of life, regardless of synagogue affiliation or family background. Here they mix, and it sets a precedent for life.

There have been quite a few stories on the newswire lately about day schools across the country considering the same approach: allowing orthodox, conservative and reform students to mix, to open the doors to converts, and even to children of patrilineal descent. Partially this is in answer to decreasing attendance; partially, it is a sign of changing times. We need to stick together, even if “we” means many different things; after all, no matter our background, our Jewish identity is more important than our differences.

To me, it is inconceivable that many schools still have the narrow approach. To be honest, if Friedel only allowed students from one denomination, I wouldn’t have signed my kids up in the first place. It is exactly that exposure to other Jews from different ways of life I find so valuable. It is an education within an education; I believe it enriches their Jewishness tremendously. I don’t want my children to grow up in an echo chamber.

The biggest reason the Jewish day school landscape is changing is cost, and that continues to be something that’s difficult for many to talk about. Let’s face it: private school is expensive. Had anyone suggested 15 years ago that I would

end up sending my children through seven years of private school, I would have scoffed. Like many others, I would have asked: “Are you crazy? When public school is perfectly acceptable, and free? How on earth would I afford that?”

The truth is, many parents can’t. Even with extremely generous scholarships, even when Friedel’s tuition is low compared to most other day schools in other communities (and many people work hard to keep it that way), the tuition payments are difficult. It also means having to say no to certain things, like a new car or a trip to see family.

It’s uncomfortable to think about, and even more uncomfortable to discuss. So why do we do it? Why is it, that Jewish parents across the nation, from different backgrounds and denominations, willingly make that sacrifice? Is Friedel really that good, that we would choose to bypass public school, just so we can spend thousands of dollars we really can’t miss?

Yes. Yes, it is, and I would make this same choice again, in a heartbeat. And in that, too, I am not alone. Because here’s the other thing: we may struggle with these payments, but we still have a roof over our heads, warm clothes, and enough to eat.

Those cars may be old, but they do the job.

Would my children be better off if we had more money, and no Friedel? I don’t think so, and what’s more important: my children don’t think so. What they learn and have learned at Friedel goes way beyond the classroom and will stay with them the rest of their lives. I look at my 12-year-old, and I see someone who navigates between being a Madricha at Temple Israel to attending classes at Chabad and everything in between. She is simply comfortable and

feels at home everywhere. That comfort level has very little to do with role modeling and parenting; Friedel gets all the credit.

The other day, my son’s class visited Beth Israel. When I asked him where he went, he gave a very simple answer: “We went to the synagogue,” he said. The synagogue. Not: the orthodox synagogue, or the other synagogue, or Beth Israel.

Simply “the synagogue.” To him, every shul is equal. As adults, we hear that, and think, well. We complicate things.

But if a nine-year-old can start there, feel that way now, I think it says something about what’s possible in this community. And you cannot put a price on that.

A serious disclaimer: I am by no means suggesting everybody ought to send his or her kids to Friedel. Where and how to educate your children is, and should be, a very personal decision.

Naomi Shemer classic “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav,” despite its right-wing connotations, expressed the conviction that Jerusalem would always be in our hearts as well as on our lips. And years later there was “Abanibi,” an exercise in pure fun based on jumbled Hebrew sentences.

It was all rather easy. The songs flowed into each other.

Everything was in A minor or D minor, depending on where you put the capo on the neck of the guitar.

In those days there was an unbroken link between Israeli popular culture and American Jewish youth culture. Our song leaders listened to Israeli rock music and almost instantly imported it into camps and youth programs.

And today? Based on largely anecdotal evidence, most of the songs sung at Jewish summer camps are written by contemporary American Jewish composers. By and large, our American Jewish youth are not singing the songs of Zion.

The proliferation of American Jewish popular songs at summer camps is quite understandable. First, the golden age of Israeli popular music in our camps coincided with the post-Six-Day War American Jewish infatuation with Israel - an infatuation that has deepened into a more mature love, but one in which the bloom is clearly off the rose.

Second, our ways of teaching and presenting music has changed over the years. Kids are less likely to have song sheets in their hands, making the singing of complex modern Hebrew lyrics much more unwieldy.

Third, in the early 1970s there were essentially no American Jewish composers writing for a youth market. It was the BDF era -- Before Debbie Friedman. We were dependent on Israeli imports and, to a lesser degree, on the music of Shlomo Carlebach. In some ways, the absence of Israeli popular music from our summer camps demonstrates

that American Jewish culture has come of age. But with that cultural declaration of independence, what do we lose?

The Zionist thinker Ahad Ha-am hoped that the reborn state would become the cultural center of the Jewish world, with a new kind of Torah coming forth from Zion. Without Israeli songs on our lips, we lose a connection between American Jewish youth and Israeli culture. A pop culture connection represents the opportunity to see an Israel that goes beyond the crisis narrative, an Israel that is rich, vibrant, cool, sophisticated. And in fact, as I have learned from Yossi Klein Halevi, a meticulous observer and fan of this music, the music is better than ever, with much to say and teach.

Let’s work on restoring the link. It is easy, painless and technologically feasible. Let’s teach the songs and their significance -- to contemporary Israelis, and to us as American Jews.

“Sing us the songs of Zion,” says the Psalmist. This was how the Babylonians taunted our hopeless and hapless ancestors who despaired of ever having songs to sing again.

The Temple musicians, deprived of their sacred venue, hung their harps on the willows.The midrash says they even broke their fingers in protest.

It’s time for us to walk with history and to sing the songs of Zion. And here is the good news. Einstein’s “Ani v’atta” is still being sung at Jewish summer camps. It is Arik’s musical kaddish.

Wherever he is, Arik is surely smiling. And come next summer, he will surely sing along.

Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Am in Bayonne, N.J., and the author of numerous books on spirituality and Jewish identity published by Jewish Lights Publishing and the Jewish Publication Society.

ha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

and space restrictions. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer, but the name can be withheld at the writer’s request. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf.

Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the

Sing us the songs of Zion

Focus on issues JEFFREY SALKIN BAYONNE, N.J. (JTA) -- Arik Einstein, who died last week at the age of 74, basically invented Israeli popular music. He was a unique Israeli combination of Sinatra, Dylan and the Beatles, embodying the spirit and the struggles of a younger, more optimistic Israel.

His death brought tributes from the top leaders of Israeli society. Shy, almost reclusive, he died in the same Tel Aviv house in which he had been born. Find another rock star who has never changed addresses.

But Einstein’s death has broader cultural implications. At a time when the U.S.-Israel relationship appears particularly fragile, and with the state of American Jewry’s ties to Israel again under discussion, the death of Arik Einstein presents us with the opportunity to ask if, musically, American Jews and Israelis are on the same page?

I’m grateful to my friend and colleague Rabbi Morley Feinstein of the University Synagogue in Los Angeles for posing the question. Feinstein noted that Einstein’s classic “Ani v’Atta” (“You and I”) had been sung in Reform movement summer camps, youth groups and creative services, helping to forge an important link between American Jewish youth and Israel.

Back in the early 1970s, Israeli pop songs were a mainstay of American Jewish camping. The playlist I remember includes “Bashana ha ba-ah,” an optimistic song that in the heady days between the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War proclaimed the hope that next year will be better. We were full participants in the post-1967 Israel euphoria. The

(Founded in 1920) Andrew Ruback President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Jessie Wees Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper

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

The mission of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish Community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world.

Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations Committee, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish LIfe, Jewish Social Services, and the Jewish Press.

Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www jewishoma

Editorial The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha.

Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial

material and photos to: avandekamp @jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jew ishomaha.org.

Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1.402.334.5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jew ishomaha.org.

Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events.

News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.”

The Editor may edit letters for content

professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de KampWright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450.

Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $40 per calendar year U.S.; $80 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422.

Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or email to: jpress@jewishomaha.org.

December 13, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 9

Conversion shouldn’t be the only path to joining the Jewish people

Focus on issues STEVEN M. COHEN and KERRY OLITZKY NEW YORK (JTA) -- Right now, there is just one way for someone who is not Jewish to become Jewish in a publicly recognized and officially authorized fashion: undergo religious conversion under the auspices of a rabbi.

Whether the path to Jewish identification follows Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist or other auspices, conversion is explicitly and entirely religious in nature. These movements and their rabbis vary both in the preparation they demand and the religious commitments they seek of potential converts. But all require a significant measure of religious education, practice and expressed commitment to a Jewish way of life.

In the United States, interest in becoming Jewish has grown, owing in part to intermarriage, intergroup friendship and more positive feelings about Jews and Judaism. As a result of Judaism entering the marketplace of ideas, Jewish thought and ideas resonate with many people. And with the melting of hard social boundaries separating Jews from others, many have entered into marriages, friendships and close working relationships with Jews.

Yet, notwithstanding the thousands of non-Jews who maintain familial, friendship and collegial ties to Jews, many with some interest in joining the Jewish people may be disinclined to do so for any of a variety of reasons. In the Jewish Community Study of New York: 2011, seven percent of adults who identified as Jewish reported that neither of their parents were Jewish. Of the seven percent, two percent said they formally converted and five percent said they became Jewish by personal choice and not by way of religious conversion. How can we explain the popularity of people assuming a Jewish identity without undergoing religious conversion?

We believe that some prospective converts to Judaism feel that religious conversion demands what for them would be an insincere affirmation of religious faith. Perhaps they are agnos-

tic or atheist or secular or even committed to another faith tradition. Others may be wary of adopting Judaism as an exclusive religion so as not to offend their parents or other family members or because conversion requires abandonment of religiously grounded customs and holidays like Christmas.

Even though significant numbers of Jews are secular, atheist or celebrate Christmas as a seasonal holiday, holding such positions and observing such practices present prospective converts with insurmountable barriers to conversion.

As a result, many would-be members of the Jewish people have no possibility of engaging in a course of study and socialization that would lead to public recognition of their having joined the Jewish people and they have limited access to enriching their familiarity with “lived Judaism” -- the actual culture and ethos of Jewish life as lived in families and communities. And we know that most people live out their Judaism more in the informal context of family and friends than in the more formal context of religious institutions.

In theory at least, broader access to Judaism beyond that already offered by rabbis, congregations, and religious movements could result in more non-Jews in Jewish families and friendship circles building Jewish homes.

To provide a viable alternative to a religious route to becoming a Jew, we propose a second explicitly cultural pathway to join the Jewish people. This pathway, which we call Jewish Cultural Affirmation, would be clearly distinguished from Jewish religious conversion. Religious conversion would remain a rabbinic prerogative, and Jewish Cultural Affirmation would not assume an anti-religious ethos. Nor are we suggesting that Jewish Cultural Affirmation undermine or obviate the traditional path to conversion.

Rather, by offering an additional vehicle to acquiring a Jewish social identity, Jewish Cultural Affirmation would allow prospective Jews to acquire a measure of familiarity with being Jewish and to undergo a non-religious pathway toward membership in the Jewish people.

Candidates for Jewish Cultural Affirmation would undertake a course of self-guided study and experiences, outlined

in a web-based curriculum to be developed by a panel of scholars, communal professionals and others. The curriculum would consist not only of reading, but of experiences of lived Jewishness.

Candidates would be encouraged to sample a variety of areas of Jewish civilization – such as politics, literature, music, comedy, social action, learning, organized community, Israel, chesed, and sacred and secular texts -- and to achieve a level of familiarity with and competence in participating in American Jewish life.

Candidates would meet with mentors (in person and virtually), and gather from time to time in small group sessions, perhaps at private homes, restaurants, cafes or other convenient venues that are not explicitly Jewish in association.

For those who may come to desire official recognition, we propose a public ceremony that would need to be designed, and also a certificate of membership in the Jewish people, whose specific substance and formulation would need to be addressed.

Accomplished Jewish cultural experts -- professors, writers, artists, educators, communal leaders, and others -would constitute boards that would oversee the program and would attest to the validity of the affirmation.

Jewish Cultural Affirmation would not preclude eventual conversion by rabbis, should they seek more traditional religious recognition of their Jewish status by religious authorities. Indeed, acquiring an identification with the Jewish people is a crucial segment in all approaches to religious conversion, implying that Jewish Cultural Affirmation can be seen by religious authorities as comprising a significant step on the path to religious conversion.

We welcome those who would like to support this endeavor to join us in the conversation so that this proposition might be brought to reality.

Steven M. Cohen is research professor of Jewish social policy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky is executive director of Big Tent Judaism/Jewish Outreach Institute.

Herring is not religion: ‘Cultural’ alternative to conversion is a bad idea

Focus on issues HAROLD BERMAN EFRAT, West Bank (JTA) -- The reputable car dealer’s advertisement in the local paper screams “Brand New Mercedes -- Only $500!”

You get excited but think it sounds too good to be true.

Upon closer inspection, it is: The car dealer is offering only the hubcaps of the Mercedes for $500. If you want the whole car, it will cost the standard price. Suddenly the car dealer doesn’t sound so reputable.

You would never find such an ad because no car dealer in his right mind would make such an offer. Yet hubcaps masquerading as the car is exactly what Steven M. Cohen and Rabbi Kerry Olitzky offer in their recent JTA Op-Ed titled Conversion shouldn’t be the only path to joining the Jewish people.

Cohen and Olitzky bemoan that as of now, there’s only one way for a non-Jew to become Jewish -- i.e. conversion -- and offer an alternative they call “Jewish Cultural Affirmation.”

Under this scheme, those who are not interested in Judaism as a religion, and even those who follow a different religion, could choose the Jewish Cultural Affirmation path.

To achieve this lofty status, they suggest that the candidate undertake a web-based self-study course along with undefined “experiences of lived Jewishness.” Candidates could sample Jewish topics ranging from politics to comedy to social action and text study. They then would be eligible to receive a “certificate of membership in the Jewish people,” much like my certificate from the American Legion.

As someone who is married to a convert, who has spent the better part of his professional life as a Jewish communal leader and counseled a wide range of sincere people in intermarriages who seek entry into the Jewish people, I find such a proposal shallow, impractical and offensive.

To reduce membership in the Jewish people to a shallow “cultural affirmation” completely misses the point of being Jewish. To put it bluntly, herring is not a religion.

We are a people who, despite our small size, have for 3,500 years had a critical mission in the world. As Christian scholar Paul Johnson wrote in his seminal “History of the Jews,” “The Jews stand at the center of the perennial attempt to give human life the dignity of a purpose.”

Judaism addresses the most pressing life-and-death issues, teaches us how to infuse the sacred into all of existence and presses us to strive to become a “light to the nations.” To reduce all of that to a mere cultural affirmation is to say that the most profound elements of Judaism are unimportant.

The proposal is impractical. People who wish to convert

can and will do so. The myriad approaches to American Jewish life offer a range of conversion options, from traditional conversions that require years of preparation and a commitment to all of the mitzvahs, to conversions that can be completed in a matter of months with minimal lifestyle changes. If someone is uninterested in following even a minimal conversion route, why would they be interested in “affirming” a Jewish identity at all?

And just what would such an affirmation accomplish?

There already are a number of non-Jews in intermarriages who are attempting to raise Jewish children, who serve on synagogue boards, and who observe some Jewish holidays with their Jewish spouses even as they celebrate Christmas and go to church. Jewish educational opportunities are readily available to them. Rabbis and other Jewish leaders often praise their efforts.

All this has happened without an affirmation process or completion certificate. Creating a new process is superfluous; it would do nothing to change the reality on the ground.

Finally, Cohen and Olitzky’s proposal is offensive. In my experience, Jewish leaders who propose novel conversion procedures almost never consult with the end users -- converts themselves, who could tell them from deep personal experience what is and isn’t needed.

The responses of converts with whom I shared Cohen and

Olitzky’s proposal ranged from befuddled to offended. Most of all, they just didn’t get why something like this is needed.

Neither do I. A “Jewish Cultural Affirmation” track would undermine the hard work of sincere converts who have chosen to transform their lives and souls in joining the Jewish people. To offer Jewish Cultural Affirmation as an equally viable alternative to traditional conversion is to cheapen the process of conversion itself. And if cultural affirmation is offered merely as a second-class track, then it will do nothing except sow confusion.

Given the current tenuous state of American Jewry, socalled Jewish leaders and funders no doubt will gravitate toward new schemes dressed up as “solutions” to the challenges of Jewish demography. But as the recent Pew Research Center’s survey of U.S. Jews shows, the race to water down Jewish life has only weakened it. Rather than throwing more good money after bad, we should focus instead on what makes a Jewish life worth living.

Harold Berman, the co-author of Doublelife: One Family, Two Faiths and a Journey of Hope, is the former executive director of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts. He and his wife, Gayle, are the founders of J-Journey.org, a support system for intermarried families who seek to become observant Jews.

When Nelson Mandela went to shul

by DANIEL TREIMAN One of the first things that Nelson Mandela did after being elected president of South Africa was visit a synagogue. In May 1994, Mandela dropped by Cape Town’s Green and Sea Point Hebrew Congregation on the Shabbat after his election.

Here is an excerpt from JTA’s 1994 report: The congregants heard Mandela make an appeal from the pulpit for Jewish expatriates to return to South Africa.

Pointedly excluding aliyah by saying he understands the Jewish community’s commitment to Israel, Mandela said: “We want those who left (for other countries) because of insecurity to come back and to help us to build our country.”

He added that those who do not return should contribute their money and skills to South Africa.

Mandela thanked the Jewish community for its contribution toward the development of South Africa and assured Jews they have nothing to fear from a government of national unity.

He said he felt an affinity with the Jewish community, since

it was a Jewish firm that gave him an apprenticeship in the early days of his law career, when discrimination was rife.

He also said that he had befriended his Jewish defense counsel during the treason trial which led to his imprisonment in the 1950s and that he was still in contact with the lawyer.

He stated that he recognizes the right to existence of the State of Israel, along with the right of Palestinians to live in their own homeland.

He noted that he considered it significant that Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat last week signed an agreement in Cairo implementing Palestinian self rule — the same week that South Africa elected its new leadership.

At the reception following the service, some of the younger members of the congregation raised clenched fists in solidarity with the ANC, while the shul choir led in the singing of the country’s new national anthem, “Nkosi Sikelel’ IAfrika.”

The national chairman of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies called the visit “a peak in Jewry’s relationship with the new South Africa.”

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

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

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

FRIDAY: Family Shabbat Service, 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.

SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m.; Our Shabbat Tables, Shabbat lunch will be held at participants’ homes (start time to be determined by hosts). For more information, contact Caryn Scheer, carynscheer@yahoo.com.; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 4:30 p.m.

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

SUNDAY: BESTT Classes, 9:45 a.m.; Torah Study Group, 10 a.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah class with Hazzan Krausman, 11 a.m.

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. (No rehearsal on Dec. 25.)

Mini-Minyannaires, Saturday, Dec. 21, 10:45 a.m.

Next week, Saturday, Dec. 21, following Shabbat services, Joan Marcus will sponsor a special Kiddush lunch, in honor of the 40th anniversary of her son Howard’s Bar Mitzvah.

Annual Matzoh Ball/Chinese Food and Movie Night, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 8 p.m., at the Phoenix Bar, 12015 Blondo St., co-sponsored by Beth El’s Young Adult Committee, Young Jewish Omaha, Temple Israel and Beth Israel.

Men’s Club Chinese Buffet Dinner, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 6 p.m. Make reservations and pay online at www.bethelomaha.org. (see full story on page 5.)

Nebraska AIDS Project Lunch, Help prepare and serve lunch on Friday, Dec. 27, contact Joan Marcus for more information, hmarcom@juno.com.

The Secrets of the Jews, monthly, adult-education class led

by Andy Greenberg, Sunday, Jan. 5, 10 a.m. Cost is $36 for members, $45 for non-members. Register online at www.bethel-omaha.org.

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

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

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

SATURDAY: Shacharit (Barchu), 9 a.m.; Good Shabbos Nebraska: Josh Yuter, Award Winning Blogger, 10 a.m.; Mincha, 4:20 p.m.; Havdalah, 5:42 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

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

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

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

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

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

FRIDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

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

by Kiddush lunch.

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

WEEKDAYS: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

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

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

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

All programs are open to the entire community.

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

FRIDAY: Tot Dinner and Shabbat with Ms. Jennifer, 5:45 p.m. at Tifereth Israel; Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. with oneg following hosted by Leslie DelSerone and Peter Mullin SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Veyechi; Jewish Movie Night, 7 p.m. Join us for Havdalah, Potluck Dessert and the showing of Marjorie Morningstar.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; LJCS Board, 10 a.m. at Tifereth Israel; LJCS Family Education for Grades 3-4 families, 11 a.m. led by Rabbi Lewis and Nancy Coren at Tifereth Israel; Rescheduled to: 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.

TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at Wilderness Ridge, 1800 Wilderness Woods Place.

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

Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast on Friday, Jan. 17, 2014, 7 a.m. at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 1040 P Street. Keynote speaker is Dr. Marilyn Johnson-Farr, professor at Doane College. For more information, call Nancy Knapp at 402.472.1663. To attend please RSVP by Dec. 18.

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

THURSDAYS, Beginning Hebrew, 6 p.m.

Candlelighting Friday, December 13, 4:37 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 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 SATURDAY: Shabbat Services, 9 a.m. led by Alan Shulewitz.

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

TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive | Omaha, NE 68144-1206 | 402.556.6536 http://templeisraelomaha.com FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to You at Remington Heights, 4 p.m. led by Cantor Shermet; Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Cantor Shermet.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.; Torah and Haftarah Reader: Miles Remer.

SUNDAY: Grades K-6, 10 a.m.; Grade 4 Family Education Day, 10 a.m.

TUESDAY: No Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 4-6 p.m.; School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Family School, 6 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6 p.m.; Judaism and Religious Literacy, 6:30 p.m. with Rabbi Azriel.

THURSDAY: Hiddur Mitzvah: The Art of Beautifying Judaism, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Brown; Remington Visit to the New Building, 1:30 p.m.

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: Tot Shabbat and Wacky Mac Dinner with Ms. Jennifer, 5:45 p.m. at Tifereth Israel; Services, 6:30 p.m.

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

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; LJCS Board, 10 a.m. at Tifereth Israel; LJCS Family Education for Grades 3-4 families, 11 a.m. led by Rabbi Lewis and Nancy Coren at Tifereth Israel; Rescheduled to: 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.

TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at Wilderness Ridge, 1800 Wilderness Woods Place. If you have any questions please contact Stephanie Dohner.

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

Lunch and Learn, Saturday, Dec. 21 after services.

Join Si Kominsky to celebrate his 90th Birthday, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2-4 p.m. at The Ferguson House, 700 S. 16th in Lincoln.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast on Friday, Jan. 17, 2014, 7 a.m. at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 1040 P Street. Keynote speaker is Dr. Marilyn Johnson-Farr, professor at Doane College. For more information, call Nancy Knapp at 402.472.1663. To attend please RSVP by Dec. 18.

‘Cold peace’ with Palestinians necessitates Israeli security force

by JTA NEWS STAFF WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the case for a continued Israeli security presence in the West Bank even if his country reaches an accord with the Palestinians.

“Any peace we have is likely to be initially a cold peace,” Netanyahu said in an address delivered via satellite to the Saban Forum, an annual gathering in Washington of Israel and U.S. persons of influence.

A deal coming out of the current talks between Israel and the Palestinians must allow “Israel to defend itself by itself,” he said. “Those security arrangements must be based on Israel’s own forces.”

Netanyahu’s statement comported with a retreat in U.S.

expectations of a final status agreement next year, made clear at the same forum over the weekend, where President Obama and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry each said that Israeli security concerns necessitated a continued Israeli presence in the West Bank during a transitional phase.

Palestinian negotiators have said that a continued Israeli security presence is a deal breaker, although they are open to an international security force.

Netanyahu pushed back again against claims by Obama, Kerry and others that new Iran sanctions would derail talks between the major powers and Iran aimed at ending Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program.

Netanyahu said a failure to neutralize Iran’s nuclear capa-

bility would upend not only the Israeli-Palestinian talks but also could unsettle Israel’s peace deals with Egypt and Jordan.

Netanyahu’s appearance was to have been in the form of an interview with the journalist Charlie Rose; instead he decided to give a short speech.

Netanyahu, as Obama did, affirmed that the two leaders have a strong and positive relationship.

“Sometimes we differ because we have these different perspectives, but we always share our views honestly sincerely and respectfully,” the Israeli leader said. “I don’t know if there are any other two leaders of the world today who speak more openly and more frequently on such matters.”

Pulverent e

December 13, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 11

The immortality doctrine

In memoriam REBA MAGID KUKLIN

Sparks from the word RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parsha Vayehi When speaking about the Bible, particularly to Christians, one finds oneself regularly pointing out that in Judaism the doctrine of eternal life is not Biblical but rabbinic. Christians especially, but Jews too, are at first taken aback by this. For most Christians the doctrine is axiomatic and is central to their faith. They see it as the very motivation for a decent life: How else do you get to Heaven?

But Jews too take it for granted. Is not the insistence that “God keeps faith with those who sleep in the dust” a regular affirmation in the Siddur? Of course it is. But unless a Jew is knowledgeable, he has not distinguished between Biblical and rabbinic beliefs and doctrine.

This discussion arises from the Midrashic treatment of the account in our Sidrah of the death of Jacob. The Midrash permits itself observation on death, quoting from Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and I Kings.

Their remarks are neither profound nor morbid not triumphant. They remark simply that we cannot hope to avoid death. Nor can we have any control over it, just as we cannot control the wind nor contain it.

Noting that both Jacob and Joseph had asked to be buried in Israel, the rabbis suggest that there is an advantage to a burial in the Holy Land. When the Messiah arrives, they said, the dead in Israel will rise immediately.

Using their method of Midrash, the rabbis found it possible to find references to immortality in a number of Biblical passages. But it is clear that the idea of another-life-afterdeath is denied, consciously denied Biblically.

“Wait,” people say, “How about the 23rd Psalm, Surely goodness and steadfast love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever?”

It is painful, but the truth must be said: what this verse means is that the worshiper hopes that he may live long, and be permitted continuously to worship in the Temple.

Belief in an afterlife came in early enough to be considered and denied by Koheleth and Job. When it blossoms in Judaism, it is already the Pharisaic or proto-rabbinic period.

It is the rabbis who were responsible for this belief in Judaism and Christianity.

Canadian Protestant church launches settlement boycott campaign

by JTA NEWS STAFF TORONTO (JTA) -- Canada’s largest Protestant church launched a campaign to boycott goods made in the West Bank.

The United Church of Canada campaign, dubbed “Unsettling Goods: Choose Peace in Palestine and Israel,” encourages “economic action” against three Israeli companies: Keter Plastic Ltd., SodaStream and Ahava, which all have factories in the West Bank.

“With these efforts, we join with many others striving to bring peace with justice to the Holy Land,” the church’s moderator, Gary Paterson, wrote in a November letter to church members announcing the launch of the campaign.

Churchgoers are also urged to avoid retailers carrying the products, such as Canadian Tire, The Bay, Home Depot and Walmart.

The church effort is “nothing less than an assault on the Jewish people,” said a statement from the Toronto-based Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center.

“The echoes of the past history of Church-sanctioned anti-Semitism continue to grow stronger,” said Avi Benlolo, president of the center, who accused the church of giving “tacit support for the hatred and terror” against Israel.

Frank Dimant, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, noted that SodaStream, which makes products to carbonate tap water, employs close to 1,000 Palestinians at its Ma’ale Adumim manufacturing facility alone.

“If individuals and groups, such as the United Church, who promote boycotts of Israeli products would only take the time to examine the facts, they would realize who they really are hurting,” he said.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, which runs BUYcott Israel, an initiative to encourage Canadians to buy Israeli products, called the church initiative “an abysmal failure.”

Reba Magid Kuklin passed away on Nov. 22 at age 99.

She was preceded in death by husband Harry Kuklin, and grandson, Teddy Horwich.

Survived by sons and daughters-in-law, Bailey (Chip) and Susan Kuklin of New York City, Victor and Sue Kuklin of Buena Vista, CO; daughter, Bonnie Horwich; grandchildren: Doug Horwich, Stacy and Mike Newland, and David Kuklin; and great-grandsons, Garrick and Seth Newland.

Memorials may be made to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, 323 S 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68154, or the organization of your choice.

MONUMENT CO.

Frank L. Ciciulla Jr.

60 Years Experience With Jewish Lettering and Memorials

1439 So. 13th

402-341-2452

Save A Life!

Our life stories are precious... they need to be captured, shared and passed down from generation to generation.

Let us create a personal, professional video recording of the highlights of your life... a unique production that your loved ones will treasure for years to come.

Family Treasures...

Connecting Loved Ones Through the Years Sandra Martin sandramartinproductions.com sandramartinproductions@gmail.com

402-630-7262

DR. IRA A. PRILUCK Dr. Ira A. Priluck passed away on Nov. 14.

He was preceded in death by Rae and Harry Priluck and brother Howard Priluck.

He is survived by wife Sheila Priluck; and children Joshua, Noah, Jacob and Shira, Rebekah and Aaron Priluck; and granddaughter, Batsheva Priluck.

He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather.

Memorials may be made to Beth Israel Synagogue, Indiana University, or the organization of your choice.

PEOPLE WHO READ NEWSPAPERS ARE

STUDENTS WITH BETTER GRADES It all starts with Newspapers

Final status expectations

by JTA NEWS STAFF WASHINGTON (JTA) -- President Obama and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry tamped down expectations of a final status Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, saying any agreement would have a transition stage.

The remarks to the Saban Forum on Saturday are the first sign that the Obama administration is muting expectations of a final status agreement to come out of renewed IsraeliPalestinian talks. Speaking a day after Kerry’s eighth visit to the region, Obama said, “Ultimately, the Palestinians have to recognize that there is going to be a transition period where the Israeli people cannot expect a replica of Gaza in the West Bank. That is unacceptable.”

He was referring to Israel’s unilateral 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which was followed by years of rocket attacks by Hamas, the terrorist group that unseated the Palestinian Authority in the strip after the Israeli pullout.

The remarks at the annual forum -- a gathering of top Israeli and U.S. figures of influence convened by the Saban Center, the Middle East-focused arm of the Brookings Institution -- are a concession to the Israeli government. Its ministers have called a final status result by mid-2014 -Kerry’s stated goal when he reconvened the talks over the summer -- is unrealistic.

“I think we believe that we can arrive at that point where Israel was confident about that,” Obama said, referring to a time when Israel would relinquish security controls in the West Bank. “But we’re going to have to see whether the Israelis agree and whether [P.A.] President [Mahmoud] Abbas, then, is willing to understand that this transition period requires some restraint on the part of the Palestinians.

“They don’t get everything that they want on day one.

And that creates some political problems for President Abbas, as well.”

Instead of referring to a final status agreement, Obama described “a framework that does not address every single detail but gets us to a point where everybody recognizes better to move forward than move backwards.”

Kerry, speaking to the same group later in the day, said Israeli security was a focus of the recent talks -- an apparent pushback against Palestinian negotiators who have said the talks overly emphasize Israeli security and do not sufficiently address Israeli settlement expansion.

“On this visit, I spent most of the time focused on Israel’s security concerns because for years and years and years, it has been clear to me from every prime minister that unless a prime minister can look the people of Israel in the eye and make it clear to them that he has spoken for Israel’s security to a certainty, you cannot make peace,” Kerry said.

“It is a prerequisite,” he said. “And for anyone who feels somehow there might be an unfairness in that, all you have to do is look at the history and understand why that’s a fundamental reality. And I mean all of the history.”

Kerry, too, anticipated a transition period that would maintain an Israeli role in West Bank affairs.

“We anticipate that the United States will continue to play a leading role in building -- helping to build Palestinian capacity, helping to build their capabilities to maintain law and order; to cooperate in an effective judicial system; to counter terrorism and smuggling; and manage border security, customs, immigration,” Kerry said. “Needless to say, for a period of time this will obviously involve Israeli participation. It has to.”

Nebraska STATEWIDE CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING in over 170 newspapers. Reach thousands of readers for $225/25 word ad. Contact the Jewish Press at 402-334-6449 or call 1-800-369-2850.

BANKRUPTCY: FREE initial consultation. Fast relief from creditors. Low rates.

Statewide filing. No office appointment necessary. Call Steffens Law Office, 308-8728327. steffensbankruptcylaw.com. We are a debt relief agency, which helps people file bankruptcy under the bankruptcy code.

AFFORDABLE PRESS Release service. Send your message to 175 newspapers across Nebraska for one low price! Call 1-800-369-2850 or www.nebpress.com for more details.

LOOKING FOR the classic car, truck or motorcycle of your dreams? It’s your Midwest connection to classic vehicles for sale. Need to sell a classic vehicle? For only $25, your ad with photos will run until sold! Call this newspaper today for more information or call 800-369-2850.

WALK IN TUBS Lowest price guaranteed. 100’s sold in Nebraska. For more information, call 402-896-2966. www.showersplumbing.com.

SEVERAL AGRICULTURAL Research Technician I positions available at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE. Opportunities in cattle, swine & farm.

Competitive salary. Excellent benefits: health/life/dental/vision insurance, retirement, 12 holidays, tuition remission, more. To apply visit https://employment.unl.edu (search keywords ‘Clay Center’) or call UNL Personnel at 402-762-4150.

EARN $500 a day. Insurance Agents needed; leads, no cold calls; commissions paid daily; lifetime renewals; complete training; health & dental insurance; life license required. 1-888-713-6020.

CORRECTIONS OFFICER, Tecumseh State Correctional Institution, $14.81/hr. + benefits! Apply at: www.corrections.nebraska.gov or call 402-335-5998. ADA Accommodations call 402-432-5182. Must complete online NE State application.

EOE/Vet STATIONARY ENGINEER Senior #04661014, $14.45/hr. + benefits! Tecumseh, NE. Apply online at: www.corrections.nebraska.gov, or call 402-335-5998. ADA Accommodations call 402-432-5182. Must complete an application by December 20, 2013. EOE/Vet HELP WANTED: Class A OTR/CDL driver. Two (2) years minimum experience required. Caudy Trucking Inc., 402-768-6134.

OWNER OPERATORS: ITL Tanklines need owner operators to pull tank trailers throughout Nebraska & surrounding states. $200,000 average. Call Brian, Monday to Friday, 8-5, 800-728-2675.

“PARTNERS IN Excellence” OTR Drivers APU equipped Pre-Pass EZ-pass passenger policy. 2012 & newer equipment. 100% No touch. Butler Transport, 1-800-528-7825, www.butlertransport.com.

MAKE TOP pay driving flatbed. We pay for Experience! Big CPM, 10,000 miles/month average. All late-model equipment. CDL-A, 1-Year OTR required. 888-476-4860, www.chiefcarriers.com.

RUN THE Midwest to West Coast, late model equipment, scheduled home time, excellent miles, competitive pay. Call Chuck or Tim, 800-645-3748.

12 | The Jewish Press | December 13, 2013

Reform biennial opening to outsiders in bid to revitalize movement

by URIEL HEILMAN tion from the leadership of Rabbi Eric Yoffie, Jacobs’ predeNEW YORK (JTA) -- First there was the Conservative cessor. movement’s October biennial conference, billed as “The This year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is conversation of the century” and opened up to presenters slated to address the conference -- a first for a sitting Israeli from outside the movement. prime minister, though he’ll probably deliver Then came the November the address via video rather than in person.

General Assembly of the Other presenters include New York Times Jewish Federations of North food writer Mark Bittman; Donniel America, which featured a Hartman, an Orthodox rabbi who heads the “Global Jewish shuk: a marShalom Hartman Institute; Ron Wolfson, a ketplace of dialogue and star of the Conservative movement and a debate” led by young Israelis professor at the American Jewish University; and Americans from outside Israeli Knesset member Ruth Calderon; and the federation world.

Sharon Brous, a Conservative-ordained Now comes the biennial rabbi who leads the popular IKAR commuconference of the Union for nity in Los Angeles.

Reform Judaism, which will For the Reform movement, the question be distinguished from past isn’t so much whether the four-day conferyears by -- you guessed it -- The last Reform biennial, held near ence is a success but whether Reform Washington in December 2011, marked the Judaism can tackle the growing disaffiliation opening up to outsiders.

For the first time, the con- passing of the torch to Rabbi Rick Jacobs, and disengagement in its ranks.

Credit: URJ ference, which will be held left, from Rabbi Eric Yoffie.

The recent Pew Research Center survey of Dec. 11-15 in San Diego, Calif.,will be open to participants U.S. Jews found that while Reform remains the largest who are not members of Reform congregations. Learning American Jewish denomination, with 35 percent of sessions, which in past years were run almost exclusively by American Jews, it ranks lowest of the three major moveReform staff, will be led in many cases by presenters from ments on some key metrics of Jewish engagement. outside the movement. The Friday night prayer service will Reform Jews are the most likely of the denominations to be open to all, not just conference registrants. And the night leave the Jewish fold. According to Pew, 28 percent of Jews before the service, performers from the conference -- from born Reform no longer consider themselves Jewish by relimusicians to comedians -- will go out to venues in the sur- gion, compared to 17 percent of Conservative and 11 perrounding neighborhood to share Reform Judaism’s good cent of Orthodox. Half of married Reform Jews have a noncheer with greater San Diego.

Jewish spouse. Just 43 percent of Reform Jews say being Reform leaders say they’re not trying to be trendy; they Jewish is very important to them, and only 16 percent say want to bring the conference in line with the movement’s religion is very important in their lives. philosophy.

At 1.7 children per couple, the birth rate of Reform Jews is “We have opened the biennial as a symbol of where we are the lowest of the three major U.S. Jewish denominations and as the Reform movement,” Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the union’s well below the replacement rate. Fewer than half of those president, told JTA in an interview in his New York office. children are enrolled in any kind of formal Jewish education“Openness is our practice. It is not just a technique, a thing al or youth program. The median age of Reform Jews is 54. to do. It is who we are. It is theology. It is commitment.”

It is in this context, Jacobs said, that he was brought on a For Jacobs, the biennial will be the first he is running. The year-and-a-half ago as president to re-examine everything last one, featuring President Obama as a speaker, was the the movement does. He has articulated three strategic priormovement’s largest conference ever and marked the transi- ities for the movement: catalyze congregational change,

engage young Jews and expand the movement’s reach beyond synagogue walls. Some programmatic changes along those lines are underway.

Next summer, the movement will open two new summer camps. The 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy, a science and technology camp outside of Boston, will be its 14th overnight camp; the movement’s first summer day camp, Camp Harlam, will open near Philadelphia.

Since May 2012, a pilot group of more than a dozen synagogues has been working to overhaul the movement’s approach to bar mitzvahs as part of a program called the B’nei Mitzvah Revolution. The effort, the movement says, is intended “to reduce the staggering rates of post-b’nai mitzvah dropout.”

On the table is everything from how to make bar mitzvah preparation more engaging to making the celebrations themselves more traditional and meaningful. Dozens more synagogues are in the process of joining the program and adopting some of the more successful efforts.

Like its counterpart in the Conservative movement, the Union for Reform Judaism also is under pressure to demonstrate to its 871 member congregations that they are getting their money’s worth for the dues they pay.

The union now has a resource desk and hosts an online forum for congregational leaders to share ideas and resources. Consultants are available to provide congregations with strategic expertise. Congregational “network teams” work with synagogue leaders to figure out ways the union can be more helpful.

An initiative called Communities of Practice brings together like-minded congregations to work on strategies for programming for young adults, engaging young families, improving early childhood offerings and figuring out how to stabilize synagogue finances.

For Reform Judaism to thrive, Jacobs says, everything needs to be reconsidered.

“When I was hired, that was the job description: Challenge everything, question everything, and make us stronger, make us more effective, make us more filled with the core meaning of the Jewish tradition,” Jacobs said.

“It’s not enough just to keep doing the same things with more vigor. You have to say: Is it effective? That’s exactly what is needed in every part of Jewish life. This is not a business-as-usual kind of moment.”

Coming in January

Food The

Guide

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