December 16, 2011

Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA December 16, 2011 20 Kislev 5772 Vol. 92 | No. 14

Tri-Faith Initiative moves forward

This Week

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMPTrustees.

WRIGHT “We’ve found that there are three Editor of the Jewish Press basic reactions to Temple’s active There are moments in every involvement,” Freeman says. organization’s existence that mat“There are those who don’t care, ter. These moments will someday which is normal. There are many go down in history with the label: who for a variety of reasons think “remember when?” The building it’s great, but there are some who of Temple Israel’s new synagogue, think it’s a bad idea. The good in a historic location, is such a news is that our religious teachmoment. However, the new buildings, our Temple leadership, and ing is not the only story here. especially our actual experiences Temple’s future neighbors will cerstrongly support participation. tainly share the limelight.

Over the long run, we think most “Representatives of Temple congregants will be strongly supIsrael, the Episcopal Diocese of portive, because the personal expeNebraska, the American Institute riences will be positive.” of Islamic Studies and Culture Lehr agrees: “Unanimity remains (AIISC) and the Tri-Faith Initiative elusive. As Jews, however, we seem (TFI) of Omaha announced that pretty united about the fact that we each entity has purchased land at Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Rev. Tim Anderson and Dr. Syed Mohiuddin at the end of the couldn’t have much better neighthe Sterling Ridge Development Dinner in Abraham’s Tent Friday, March 27, 2009. bors than a brand new, master located at 132nd and Pacific Streets planned, faith-based community yet another outreach opportunity congregants an opportunity to meet in west Omaha,” a Dec. 13 press for our congregants, our planning and interact with our future neigh- built by peaceful Americans who release from TFI read. “The four and tactics have been about what’s bors.” desire better relations and closer parcels, approximately 35 acres in best for Temple. In fact, TFI is a sepAlthough the congregation in gen- connections with those of other all, will be the future site of the Tri- arate entity with its own board, its eral is enthusiastic about the new faiths, including ours.”

Faith neighborhood.”

Bob Freeman adds: “Judaism own funding, and its own staff.” building, these same congregants It is important, according to Bob Freeman, Past President of may show a variety of responses to teaches outreach to and respect for Temple’s President John Lehr, to sep- Temple Israel, represents Temple on the Tri-Faith Initiative. Both Bob neighbors; so do our basic arate the two stories: “Temple’s pri- the TFI Board, and currently serves Freeman and John Lehr are aware of Midwestern values, which are reinority remains our present congre- as its Chair. “There will be periodic this, and during the past five years, forced in an open and collaborative gants,” Lehr says. “While we’ve interfaith programs put on by TFI participation in the initiative has community like Omaha. Temple’s always been active in the general and the three separate groups,” he been examined and re-examined long history of community outreach community, and view Tri-Faith as says. “Each of those will offer our thoroughly by Temple’s Board of Continued on page 2

We’re off to see the Wizard Page 6

Ellie Greenspoon’s Visual Dialogues Page 7

Jewish hip-hop artist headed to the Heartland

by SHERRIE SAAG Communications Specialist, The Jewish Federation of Omaha Matt Bar didn’t set out to be a Jewish educator. In fact, the 32 yearold will happily tell you all the ways in which he tried to avoid Hebrew

Le Tour de Jerusalem Page 12

Omaha Jewish teens registered for the community-wide teen retreat Feb. 10-12 in Nebraska City will not only get to enjoy the hip hop artist perform, they will immerse themselves in stories from the Torah and Tanakh as they produce their own

NCJW donates gift to Blumkin Home in memory of David J. Meyers

by OZZIE NOGG When David J. Meyers passed away in August of 2010, his widow, Sue, requested that memorials be made to the National Council of

raised thousands of dollars through its projects and Tribute Cards and used those funds to purchase medical equipment and vans for the Home. We don’t ordinarily

Inside Point of view Synagogues In memoriam

8 10 11

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

Matt Bar and Ori Salzberg school growing up in Iowa City, Iowa. But his meteoric rise to Jewish hip hop artist is much more interesting.

rap music during Bar’s unique interactive student workshops. It just may be the coolest thing to come to Eastern Nebraska this winter.

Bar’s Bible Raps Project (www.bibleraps.com) “marries” Torah with hip-hop. In doing so, he found a way to engage teens in Judaism. Several CD’s and hundreds of concert dates prove he’s got what it takes to resonate with teens.

Bar’s obsession with rap began when he first heard Tupac Shakur’s Brenda’s Got a Baby. “It was amazing. I just had this fascination with Continued on page 2

Sue Meyers and Mike Aparo Jewish Women, Omaha Section.

Today, those loving contributions are represented by a 2-burner mobile induction cart, donated to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home in David Meyers’ memory by NCJW along with David’s friends and family -- Sue, and his children Jon and Denise, Joe and Tina, Bill and Beth.

Lois (Buck) Friedman said of the gift, “Over the years, Council has

give gifts in honor of individuals, but it was decided that the donations made to Council in David’s memory should be kept in a special fund. So our Section Treasurer, Iris Ricks, set aside the monies given in his name (we called it ‘David’s Fund’) and we waited until the right thing came along.”

Mike Silverman, Omaha Jewish Federation CEO, and Mike Aparo, Continued on page 2

2 | The Jewish Press | December 16, 2011

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Continued from page 1 and involvement strongly speaks to this. Every time I open our prayer book, I’m astounded at how many passages encourage this.”

The aforementioned Tri-Faith press release states: “This unique project, the first of its kind in the world, deliberately co-locates a synagogue, a church, and a mosque, each with a distinct faith, but a common desire to foster mutual understanding, respect, and friendship.”

What that means, according to Lehr, is not forcing anything on anybody, but instead creating opportunities for those who are interested in building person-to-person connections. “The third tenet of Temple’s mission is Gemilut Chasadim,” he says, “which means improving our and our neighbors’ communities through Tikkun Olam. Better built connections will inevitably lead to fewer needed repairs.”

Dr. Syed M. Mohiuddin, president of the AIISC, underscored the urgency of developing strong inter-faith relation-

ships. “In a time,” he says, “when the world is engaged in building walls, this is a celebration of building bridges.”

The Reverend Tim Anderson, Canon for Episcopal TriFaith Ministries, adds: “ In the Episcopal Church we promise to love our neighbor as our self, to respect the dignity of every human being, and to strive for justice and peace among all people. We will now have a very unique opportunity to live out those promises with our new Jewish and Muslim neighbors.”

The Temple building is expected to be finished sometime in 2013; if all goes according to plan, Temple will be the first building completed.

“We will have superior infrastructure, as well as beautiful surroundings, from where we will continue to spiritually and religiously nurture the lives of our congregants,” Lehr says. “We’re moving, but we’re not changing. We will stay focused on the Jewish lives of our congregants, both within and outside our walls.”

Jewish hip-hop artist headed to the Heartland Continued from page 1 ing text study relevant, creative and fun for Jewish youth,” said the words and the culture,” he said. He counts Eminem and Jerry Silverman, President of the Jewish Federations of North Rashi among his most powerful influences. After graduating America. with a degree in philosophy from Washington University in “I look at Rap as some look at a haiku or iambic pentameSt. Louis he moved to New York to pursue his dream of ter -- it’s a mode of organizing language that, if done well, breaking into the music can turn sentences into scene. To support himself, he Sample of Bar’s Lyrics: spells. Today’s hip-hop taught Sunday school at I go to work, I teach about Cain and Abel, artists and rap stars may be Temple Sholom in some say it really happened some say its just a fable. crude, rude and nihilistic, Greenwich, CT. There, he It doesn’t matter to me, there’s something sadder to see, but they are genius in their discovered his music was a kicked out the garden, no pardon, yeah use of language,” Bar said. big motivator; the kids lis- Cain and Abel are startin’, to live in the real world Bar finds that even those tened to him if he promised Giving gifts to the Lord, poor who find the music genre to rap at the end of class. Cain’s is rejected but he don’t know what for, distasteful grudgingly admit Inspired, Bar began writing mad at the Lord, he takes it out on Abel, to respecting its use of lanraps about Jewish texts and with that murder, murder Mo murder- Cain is willing and able. guage. the Torah.

“This approach is in line The blood started flowing till it wetted up the ground, In 2007, he brought his the ground started moaning so the Lord came round. with our educational philosomusic, lyrics and the beginphy and school mission and ning of an idea to the PresenTense Institute for Creative we see this as an extraordinary opportunity for Omaha teens Zionism in Jerusalem, which helps innovative young entre- to integrate religious text, music and community in a way preneurs turn their ideas into businesses. He met his busi- that is meaningful and relevant. We expect the teens will ness partner, Ori Salzberg, an Orthodox musician and pro- return from Nebraska City with a new affirmation to their ducer and began a tour to synagogues and summer camps heritage and community,” said Dr. Bonnie Bloch, president of throughout the United States. the Center for Jewish Education and chairman of the Bar explains his curriculum in this way, “Ori plays guitar Curriculum Committee for the Omaha Jewish Chai School. and beatboxes, and I rap and beatbox and bust out my Matt’s music has been featured on MTV’s The Real World mouth trumpet from time to time. We hand out lyric sheets and NBC’s Hip Hop Nation Notes from the Underground. He showing where the raps draw from Tanakh.” has opened for Grammy winning group Outkast as well as “We really try to make our shows not only fun and ‘Jewish’ Jurassic 5 and Matisyahu. but meaningful. Before each song we bust a little Torah Ori is the founder of a music studio in Jerusalem which about the song, and then we use the lyrics as a platform for produces and records Hip Hop and Indie artists. He perdiscussions about Jewish identity and Jewish issues. We also forms around the world as a guitarist, percussionist, vocalist do a session where the participants study some text, then and DJ. write and perform their own Torah raps. It’s golden. We have For more information on the Community Teen Retreat, hundreds of students rapping in conversation with the texts, please contact the Center for Jewish Education at asserting their voices into the tradition,” he finished.

402.334.6443.

“Matt and Ori are rock stars pioneering new ways to eduSources: myjewishlearning.org, Jewish Exponent, cate our children. They have mastered the difficult art of mak- Forward.com

NCJW donates gift to Blumkin Home Continued from page 1 RBJH Director of Food and Environmental Services, helped Sue Meyers find the ‘right thing’ for the Blumkin Home.

“We’d been looking for a cooking system that would free us up to prepare some exciting dishes for the Residents, right in the dining rooms,” Aparo explained, “but open flames anywhere in the Blumkin Home are against fire code regulations. The induction unit cooks like gas -- but without the flame -- which makes the entire operation very safe. The special steel core pans heat up immediately and as soon as you take them off the heating element they’re cool to the touch.

The new induction cart is the perfect solution, technically. It’s also very good-looking and contemporary. The top simulates black granite and the cherry wood cabinetry matches the woodwork in the Home. It’s a fabulous gift and I personally thank the Meyers family and Council for giving it to us.”

The gift is concrete evidence of the deep connection between Council and David Meyers. He was the first male life member of the Omaha Section and the recipient, in 2008, of The Hannah G. Solomon Award. The award is presented by NCJW to an individual whose leadership efforts and service have improved the quality of life for women, children, and families while motivating others to fight for change, progress and enlightenment in the community.

“Council was such a big part of our lives,” Sue Meyers said, “and David participated along with me and our daughtersin-law. He spent time with Radio Talking Books, Seven Can

Help and Labels Unlimited. David didn’t like meetings, but he loved people and wanted to help them, one on one.”

David Meyers’ most significant volunteer job involved working with older homeowners who struggled with high property taxes. The financial advice he offered them through the Douglas County Assessor’s Office Nebraska Homestead Exemption Act helped many elderly people identify deductions that kept more cash in their pockets.

“Sometimes, those folks would thank David by sending him a few dollars,” Lois Friedman said, “and he would always turn that money over to Council for us to use in whatever way we saw fit. After he died, many of those same people gave unsolicited gifts to Council in his memory. David was a really nice guy who truly loved helping others.”

The new induction cart will be center stage at the Star Deli Special Hanukkah Brisket Dinner scheduled for Tuesday night, Dec. 27, when desserts of Festive Fruit Blintzes -- each one made-to-order, right before your eyes -- will be created on the Home’s new cooking unit. The Hanukkah Brisket Dinner runs from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the RBJH Auditorium and the entire community is invited to attend.

“David was a very fine cook and I think this induction cart is such a fitting object to donate to the Home in his memory,” Sue Meyers said. “The cart is fabulous. I love it, and David would have loved it, too. He loved to ‘preside’ over the grill. He enjoyed entertaining -- we both did -- and I can just picture David cooking on it for a crowd and enjoying every minute of it.”

December 16, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 3

Adam Ross looks forward to weekend at Beth El

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Theater is not a lecture; it’s a conversation, says Jewish theater artist Jonathan Adam Ross. But for many actors, the only interaction they have with their audience “is an autograph at the stage door,” he said. “That’s not enough for me.”

Luckily for Ross (and his audience), the colorful, charismatic actor and storyJonathan Adam Ross teller will have a weekend’s worth of opportunities to mingle with the Jewish community when he spends Dec 16-18 at Beth El as the synagogue’s Leon Fellman Scholar-in-Residence.

The 31-year-old Memphis native’s theatrical talents will be woven into the synagogue’s Friday, 6 p.m. and Saturday 9:30 a.m. Shabbat services, as well as during an entertaining “biblical tea party” during a special Kiddush luncheon. As a special treat on Sunday at 4 p.m., Ross will perform his original one-man play, God of Our Fathers, a funny and poignant story which examines the role religion plays in our lives, through the voices of a fictional American Jewish family as they experience a generation of assimilation (Note: this presentation is not appropriate for children younger than 14.)

Ross sees God of Our Fathers as a vehicle to encourage discussions, both between his audience and himself, and among audience members after they’ve left the performance.

“Theater can be a tool for starting conversations, especially conversations that people

aren’t necessarily comfortable in having,” he said. “There’s a permission that you get in theater that you don’t get in real life; there’s a suspension of disbelief and a lowering of the barrier of conversation, especially with some of the issues that come up in this play that are very intense, sophisticated issues that people don’t like to talk about. This play is an opportunity for people to lower their guard so we can have those conversations.”

Acting has been a passion of Ross’s since he was a young boy; his first gig was at age six, when he performed in the Memphis Jewish Community Center’s annual Hanukkah play.

“I forgot my line, and a girl made fun of me – and I liked that girl,” he joked, “so the next year I did the same Hanukkah play again, just to make sure I could get my line right.” Although that girl wasn’t there to witness his success, it didn’t matter: he was hooked on theater.

Years later, after graduating from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Ross decided that creating and performing his own work would be more rewarding than performing others’ work. He also knew that he had to be on stage.

“I knew I didn’t want to wait tables -- I don’t have the hand-eye coordination to wait tables,” he joked, “and I didn’t want to audition all day, every day, and have to wait for someone to see me and want me in their work. Rather, I needed to be on stage, so I decided to make my own luck and create my own work. And if I was going to create my own work, I was going to create it from my own experiences, and my experiences were growing up in the Jewish community.”

While much of his work deals with Jewish themes, Ross said that his creations are not targeted to a Jewish audience; rather, “the theater that I make is for any audience; it

happens to be about the Jewish experience, but my goal is to create great theater – not Jewish theater.”

Among his body of work, his first solo show, Walking in Memphis: The Life of a Southern Jew, was performed Off-Broadway and around the world. He is a founding company member of both Storahtelling, an international group which uses dramatized interpretations, traditional chanting, original music and live interaction to bring Bible stories to life; and the Northwoods Ramah Theater Company. In addition to acting, he also serves as Camp Ramah’s Director of the Performing Arts, and has served as faculty for the Cornerstone Fellowship and the Spielberg Fellowship in Jewish Theater Education.

Coming to Beth El is a real treat for Ross, who said that being able to engage with the Jewish community and share his work for an

entire weekend “is a real bonus. I’m going to get to know the Omaha community and this shul for several days before I perform for them, so it’s going to give me a special intimacy with the audience, leading up to Sunday. You don’t get that in professional community theater, so this is a real privilege.

“I’m always traveling a lot,” he added, “so the opportunity to come to Omaha, spend Shabbat there, go to services, share and learn from the community and meet all these great people – that’s a bonus that a lot of actors never have.”

There is no charge to attend this special scholar-in-residence weekend, and the entire Jewish community is invited to attend. For more information, contact Beth El Program Director Margie Gutnik in the office, 402.492.8550, or at programming@ bethel-omaha.org.

Executive Directors meet in Baltimore

by STEPHEN STEINER Orthodox Union Director of Public Relations Forty Executive Directors, including Beth Cohen of Omaha, attended the Fourth Annual OU Executive Directors Conference, presented by the OU’s Karasick Synagogue Services Department http://www.ou.org/synagogue_services.

The event, with the theme Communication: Strengthening Communities, Strengthening Shuls, was held in Baltimore last month at Suburban Orthodox Congregation Toras Chaim, and Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion Congregation. The plenary sessions during the intensive three days indicated the range of responsibilities that executive directors are called on to handle

and how wide their array of skills must be.

Gary Simms of Kemp Mill Synagogue, Silver Spring, who addressed his constituents on Navigating the Transitions of Lay and Professional Leadership; Debby Posner of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck, NJ; and Beth Cohen of Beth Israel Synagogue in Omaha, who presented on Providing Tools for Safe-Guarding Your Synagogue.

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4 | The Jewish Press | December 16, 2011

Jewish Family Service speaks out on child sexual abuse

by OZZIE NOGG The allegations of child sexual abuse at Penn State and Syracuse University have many of us asking, “If I knew someone who was sexually molesting a child, what would I do?” Local law gives a clear answer: In the state of Nebraska, every adult is a ‘mandatory reporter’ of child abuse. Every adult, nineteen or older, who has reason to suspect that a child is being harmed must report to the Child Abuse Hotline or to law enforcement. Period.

Karen Gustafson, Director of Jewish Family Service, said, “JFS is the mental health agency on the Omaha Jewish Federation campus, and we need to make sure the right information gets out to the community. In a word, each of us has a duty to report child abuse. We can’t expect youngsters to defend themselves against sexual predators. All of us -- not just licensed therapists -- need to step up as adults to protect kids. We don’t have a choice.”

According to a recent Omaha World Herald article, the sexual abuse of children is a mammoth crisis, and the impact is felt everywhere. Last year, Omaha’s Project Harmony Child Protection Center provided services to

2,300 children, and an astounding sixty percent -- nearly 1,400 -- were for sexual abuse. Sally Kaplan, a therapist at Jewish Family Service, also works at Project Harmony where she serves as a part-time licensed forensic interviewer, specially trained to interview children for investigations into child abuse or neglect. “JFS staff has made information available to several Jewish organizations about the prevention of sexual abuse, ways to handle allegations, and the need to report any and all suspicions of abuse to the appropriate authorities,” Kaplan said.

Karen Gustafson added, “We want to emphasize that Project Harmony screens abuse cases for court. They do not do their own therapy, but refer victims and their families to therapists who are trained in TF-CBT -- Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy -- specifically designed to treat young child abuse victims. It is important for the community to know that Project Harmony provides ongoing education to therapists, including those at Jewish Family Service. Teresa Drelicharz, our Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner and Registered Play Therapist combines these credentials with her further

education in TF-CBT. We’re fortunate to have Teresa on the JFS staff.”

Nebraska's mandatory reporting law provides the legal foundation for action. All reports of child abuse are confidential, and the Nebraska statutes protect the reporter from any liability. “The law doesn’t require us to have proof that abuse occurred,” Kaplan continued. “If we have reasonable cause to believe a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect, we must report it to the authorities. As we are so tragically learning from the Penn State situation, just reporting to a supervisor isn’t enough. Each of us must make sure that child abuse is reported to the Child Abuse Hotline or to law enforcement, and if that means going above the boss’s head than that’s what should happen. Only adults can protect children from those who are harming them, and every one of us has that responsibility.”

To speak to the proper authorities, call Law Enforcement at 911; The Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800.652.1999 in Nebraska; or 1.800.362.2178 in Iowa. Additional community resources are available through Jewish Family Service at 402.330.2024.

Organizations

Do Jewish – Be happy

A Guy’s view GUY MATALON, Jewish Federation of Omaha Scholar in Residence In my last column I ended with the commitment to explain why living an active Jewish life makes one happy.

This is my attempt to make the case for this. A good friend of mine gave me a book which I read several times and recommended it to many others already. The book, by Dennis Prager, entitled Happiness is a Serious Problem helps explain why being happy is not so easy and it also points to ways in which we can be happy.

Happiness is not dependent upon the amount of money a person has or many other factors that one would think would make someone happy. One requirement for a happy life is living with a sense of meaning and purpose. As Prager explains, meaningful life has two aspects or beliefs: firstly, that my life has meaning and that life itself has meaning. Many of us believe that our own life has meaning because of our career, family, relationships and causes that we support. However, just because my life has meaning, it does not mean that life itself has meaning.

A secular world contends that our existence and the world itself has no purpose and meaning. There is no ultimate meaning to life in a godless world. Some secularists

argue that human beings made up meaning so as not to despair. To quote Prager, “It is quite difficult to be happy if we stare into the mirror each morning and see only the random product of meaningless forces, stellar dust that happens to be self-aware.”

Judaism does not only provide a meaning to our own individual life but also supplies meaning to the existence of the universe. Living a life with meaning cannot imply that all meanings are equal. Although we can find significance in many things, what I am arguing for is much bigger than that. There are individuals who find meaning in the arts, music, or sports, but these examples supply meaning for individual lives but not for all life. The type of meaning that helps produce a happy life is one that has depth, provides wisdom and clarity, and makes us good or better and brings significance to life itself. Judaism delivers all those things.

Judaism teaches us the importance of our life not just for ourselves, but for our family, community, our people, and the world. Our time on this Earth is not just an accident and meaningless and hence hopeless. It is just the opposite.

Each one of us exists on Earth because God wanted it as such and we all have talents and skills that are needed in the world. Now go live a meaningful Jewish life and be happy.

Guy Matalon is the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s Scholar in residence, and as such aims to educate and inform the community about matters pertaining to Judaism and Israeli politics. A Guy’s view can also be found online at www.jewishomaha.org.

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Nancy Rips, author of Hanukkah Stories, will be the featured speaker Wednesday, Dec. 21, noon at the Blumkin Home. An optional buffet lunch costs $10; 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 To know Yiddish is to become an artist with words and a master at describing the foibles, the quirks, and the strengths of human character. Yiddish is the best way to understand the soul of the Jewish people. We meet every Thursday, from 1-3 p.m., at the Rose Blumkin Home Board Room. Come join us and enjoy meeting your soul mates.

For information call Anne Skolkin at 402.343.1638.

Beth El’s Hanukkah celebration The date listed for the Beth El Hanukkah dinner and celebration in last week’s Jewish Press was incorrect. It will take place on Sunday, Dec. 25, at 6 p.m., sponsored by the synagogue’s Men’s Club. For more information, please call the synagogue office, 402.492.8550, or email programming@bethel-omaha.org.

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December 16, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 5

Beth El Women celebrate friendship

by JILL BELMONT participated in the Rosh Hodesh Group’s “Year of the Beth El Publicity Coordinator Mitzvah” programs. These get-togethers served to enrich “You’ve Got a Friend” will be the theme as Beth El’s the emotional and spiritual lives of all involved, and bring Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group welcomes the month of Tevet together women from throughout the Jewish community to with a celebration of friendship, on Tuesday, Dec. 27, at the help others in a variety of ways. synagogue. The 7 p.m. get“I was touched that what we have tried to achieve over this together will mark the last year -- a sense of acceptance, night of Hanukkah, and along fellowship and friendship -with the miracle of the lights, has, in fact occurred,” she the miracle of friendship will said, adding, “It is my hope be highlighted.

“All the women in the comthat each of the attendees at munity are invited to bring the Dec. 27 event will bring, their menorahs as we will along with their menorahs, light them together on a table their own stories of friendin the Community Court ship and what it has meant to after sundown,” said Julianne them. And it is further my hope that, when each leaves, Dunn Herzog, the evening’s she carries with her the cerhost and organizer of the past At last year’s Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group Hanukkah celetain knowledge that at Beth El year’s Rosh Hodesh Group bration, attendees shared the holiday by lighting menorahs, Synagogue, you’ve got a events. “Last year it was just singing and sharing stories. This year’s get-together is friend.” lovely to see all the lights planned for Dec. 27, at Beth El. All women in the Jewish from the candles reflecting up on the serene and happy faces of the women of our group. community are invited (synagogue membership is not Just for a few moments, we set aside our day-to-day con- required), and are encouraged to bring along a friend with whom to share the celebration. To RSVP or for more inforcerns and inhabited a peaceful world.”

During the past year, Dunn Herzog said, she has been mation about the evening, contact Dunn Herzog at pleased with and grateful to all those women who led and 402.392.2309, or jmdherzog@aol.com.

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The Natan and Hannah Schwalb Center Board

by CAROLINE GILLAN The Natan and Hannah Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies is happy to announce the formation of a community board.

The board has been established to provide advice and guidance to the director of the Natan and Hannah Schwalb Center at the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO), Dr. Guy Matalon, as well as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. David Boocker.

The Center has a key role in reaching the youth of both the Jewish community and non-Jewish community to improve their understanding and knowledge of Israel and Jewish studies. The Center is honored and privileged to have diverse, distinguished and accomplished members on its board, giving generously of their time, expertise, and enthusiasm to improve the capacity of the center, and plan for its long term success and growth.

Current board members include: Chairperson Stacey Rockman, vice-president of the Jewish Federation of Omaha and chair of their Budget and Finance Committee, she chaired Partnership with Israel and AIPAC, served on Temple Israel, the Center for Jewish Education, Planned Parenthood and the Omaha Children’s Museum boards.

Laura Alley, a professional specializing in marketing and administration at Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture, served on the Board of Directors of an international human rights organization for seven years.

David Bailis, serves on the Standard Register’s board, and is the retired Senior Executive Vice President of First Data Corporation and President of First Data Financial Institution Services.

Ellie Batt, a Nebraska bar member and part-time ESL teacher in the ILUNO (Intensive English) program at UNO, serves on the board of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

William Blizek, Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is editor of The Continuum Companion to Religion and Film, The Humanities and Public Life, co-editor of Justice and

Punishment and a founding editor of the Journal of Religion & Film.

Kim Goldberg, a freelance artist and designer, serves as the Chair of the U.S. Central Area Consortium of Partnership2Gether Arts Task Force connecting people in the U.S. to Western Galilee.

Rabbi Jonathan Gross, Chief Rabbi at Beth Israel Synagogue since 2004 and an adjunct visiting professor of Judaism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Gary Javitch, is a volunteer for B’nai B’rith International, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the AntiDefamation League, and the American Red Cross.

Mark Javitch, specializes in globally sourcing imaging supplies and technology services, is co-chair of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, President of Young Jewish Omaha, youth group advisor for the B’nai Brith Youth Organization, and board member of Film Streams.

Steven Riekes, partner with the law firm Marks Clare & Richards, L.L.C, founded the Jewish Cultural Arts Committee – now the Center for Jewish Education.

Zoe Riekes, is co-chair of the Omaha Annual Campaign for the Jewish Federation of Omaha, regional chair of the Western Galilee/Central Area Consortium Partnership, American chair of the Budapest Connection and American President of the Board of Friends of the Western Galilee Hospital (Nahariya, Israel).

The board also consists of Sandra Friedman, Eadie Tsabari, and Honorary Members, the founders of the Center, Natan and Hannah Schwalb, and Charles Mikhail.

Natan and Hannah Schwalb’s primary goal, in establishing the Center, was to expand knowledge and educate the region, both on the university campus and in the broader Omaha community, about Israel and Judaism. The board works closely with Mary Bernier, Development Director at the University of Nebraska Foundation.

To find out more about the The Natan and Hannah Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies, visit our website: http://www.unomaha.edu/israelcenter/

Israel marks Human Rights Day

by EDGAR ASHER International Human Rights Day was marked for the first time in Israel, when several thousand people participated in a human rights march that began in Rabin square in Tel Aviv and concluded with a rally in front of the Tel Aviv Museum.

Participants included organizations supporting Arab rights, gay and lesbian activists, migrant workers, environmentalists and feminists; all under the slogan ‘No Way’. At the conclusion of the march, the president of the Israel Association for Civil Rights, author Sami Michael, awarded the human rights medal to the founders of the human rights organization “Yesh Din,” and to the family of Nir Katz, who was murdered in the gay center Participants in the International Human Rights Day Rally. shooting in Tel Aviv this past August.

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6 | The Jewish Press | December 16, 2011

We’re off to see the Wizard

On Dec. 8 and 10, the cast of the JCC Musical Theater Community Acting Group performed The Wizard of Oz in front of an enthusiastic community audience. The MTCAG program is made possible by a generous contribution from the Sokolof Javitch Music Fund. For more information or to sign up for future MTCAG programs, contact Esther Katz at ekatz@jccomaha.org or call 402.334.6406

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Temple combats childhood hunger this Hanukkah

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Communications Coordinator Hanukkah at Temple Israel is more than lighting the chanukiah, remembering and rejoicing at the worship service for the Maccabees’ victory to worship as they believed, and sizzling latkes. It’s also a tradition at Temple Israel to donate in the spirit of improving our community through tikun olam (repairing the world). This year, the Social Justice Committee has selected the Completely Kids’ weekend food program which combats childhood hunger in our community by providing food to elementary school children who have little or no food on the weekend.

Susan Rothholz, a member of the committee who is organizing the project at Temple Israel, said, “Completely Kids helps kids and families who need them the most, so we elected to support their efforts by adding our volunteers and funds. This is a chance for Temple members to be a part of meaningful and helpful service to others.”

Nearly 400 children at four Completely Kids programs have been identified as being in need of food on weekends. These children are eligible to receive weekend food because of their involvement in Completely Kids’ after school programs. But there’s a waiting list of children who need the program.

According to Completely Kids, the majority of children who are provided with food come from families whose incomes are 200 percent below the poverty level. Children

who come to school hungry have a difficult time concentrating on their work and consequently cannot perform well.

Temple Israel is asking all who attend the 6 p.m. Shabbat worship service, during which the Kol Rina Choir will sing, and the Hanukkah dinner on Friday, Dec. 23, to bring the following items to donate to Completely Kids: Campbell’s chicken noodle soup (pull tab cans), Hormel/Chef Boyardee dinner cups (pull tab), vegetable beef soup (pull tab), individual sized Easy Mac, Del Monte salt-free corn (pull tab), any brand of granola bars, juice boxes, fresh apples, any brand of pudding snacks, any brand of individually sized cereal boxes, Jell-o snacks, and sliced fruit or applesauce (pull tab).

Members of Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) are planning a coloring activity for the children that night to coordinate with the Social Justice hunger project. Jennifer Goodman, who is chairing the dinner for WRJ, said the women will also be setting tables, arranging centerpieces, and helping prepare the meal.

A traditional Hanukkah dinner of brisket, vegetables, potato latkes, and dessert will be served in the Friedman Social Hall after worship services. Congregants are invited to bring menorahs to set on the holiday tables.

The meal will cost $9 for adults; $5 for children in sixth grade or younger; free for second graders and younger kids. Reservations are due by Monday, Dec 19. Call the Temple office at 402.556.6536 or email rsvp@tem pleisraelomaha.com.

In the news Nancy Rips has announced the Celebrity Readers for the Hanukkah Stories Book Signing at The Bookworm, 87th and Pacific, Sun. Dec. 18, 2 p.m. Readers will include: Mayor Jim Suttle and his wife Deb, Gary Sadlemyer, Dave Wingert, Carol Wang, Mary Williams, Gary Wasdin, C.T. Thongklin, Joanie Jacobson, Ozzie Nogg, Laura Lee Needelman, Marilyn Tipp, Rabbi

Maximo Shechet, Cheryl Cooper, Donald Gerber, Beth Brown-Gershovitch, Aiden Meyerson, and Janet and Leo Kohll.

There will be books to purchase and have signed, a Latke Eating Contest to see how many latkes you can eat in one minute, and Art the Balloon Man will appear.

Everyone is invited.

December 16, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 7

A new perspective on Israel

by BETH DOTAN countless others to settle the land.

Director, Institute for Holocaust Education Our visit continued in the Northern Galilee where the Recently, the Institute for Holocaust Education hosted a African migratory birds seemed to be following us as we trip to Israel for board members, educators, and friends of traveled down to the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. On the IHE. IsraelExperts assisted in planning the itinerary. The the way to Jerusalem, we stopped at Kibbutz Nir David, one focus of the expedition was to understand Israeli society in a post-Holocaust world.

We began in Tel Aviv visiting the Diaspora Museum where we attended a workshop designed to help the group better appreciate the thriving European Jewish Community prior to World War II. We commenced the tour with a quote by writer and Holocaust survivor, Abba Kovner: “This is the story of a people which was scattered over all the world and yet remained a single family: a nation which time and time again was doomed to destruction and yet out of ruins rose to new life.� Our journey truly reflected these words as we traveled modern Israel, learning about the passion of the people and their past.

Our visit to Kibbutz Sdot Yam, where the young Hungarian Hannah Senesh had settled in the early Sami Jalilov gives his testimony. His grandson, Djamshed Samiev 1930s, leaving her family behind to help build a Jewish translates for the group. homeland proved to be very informative. Her life as a young Jewish idealist was not easy. While World War II was of the border stockade sites that also helped the group raging, Senesh joined a special British paratrooper unit but appreciate the struggle in settling the Jewish nation. This was captured in a mission over Hungary. Ultimately she was community had been developed in the 1930s on rocky and tortured and killed for not revealing information. We stood desolate ground on the edge of the Jordan valley. Groups of at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea, in a beautifully devel- young Jewish people would come to place a tower and stockoped community trying to imagine the sacrifice and fate of ade walls as protection for a new community. In this way, so many young people. dozens of Jewish settlements began and the young people Continuing up the coast toward Western Galilee we were began to claim the right to the land and a place of refuge for guests at the home of a Druze family and visited the Bahai those who were able to flee the growing anti-Semitic sentigardens in Haifa. Making the trip with us was Mr. Sami ment in Europe at the turn of the last century.

Jalilov and his grandson, Djamshed. Sami is from Tajikistan In Jerusalem, one of our most significant days was spent at and is Muslim. He was 19 years-old in the Russian Red Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Army when he was wounded and sent to Auschwitz in a cat- Remembrance Authority. This visit was the pinnacle for tle train. He spent several months in Auschwitz until the beginning of 1945 when he was sent on a death march which ended with the Allied Liberation in Northern Italy in May 1945. Sami’s grandson lives in Omaha, and in 2007, the IHE was asked to assist in researching which American Army

by LEONARD GREENSPOON had liberated Sami. By coincidence, the unit most likely to What do you get when you layer, tear, paint, burn, and have been in Northern Italy at that time was the 34th add wax to photographic prints? When you are an artist, Infantry made up of troops from Council Bluffs and Des like Ellie Greenspoon, you use these techMoines. Following two visits by Mr. Jalilov to Omaha, niques and others to create works of art Djamshed set off to escort his grandfather and join the that are inspired and inspiring. group in Israel. We found a beautiful spot in the Haifa garA selection of Ms. Greenspoon’s newest dens and asked Sami to tell his story. We jelled as a group images will be on display at the Fred that day and had a newly found appreciation of this 87 year Simon Gallery from Dec. 16, 2011-Jan. old man’s experiences.

27, 2012. An opening reception will take Visiting the Western Galilee, the partnership region for place on Friday evening, Dec. 16, from the Jewish Federation of Omaha, we spent time at the 5-7 p.m., at the Gallery, which is located Ghetto Fighers’ Museum and Sulam Tsur High School. The in the offices of the Nebraska Arts museum, which is located on a kibbutz bearing the same Council, 1004 Farnam Street (lower level name, provided a deeply moving reflection of the experiof the Burlington Building). ences of children during the war. We were guided by Tali Ms. Greenspoon was born in what is Shner, a child of survivors who were founders of the kibbutz. now the Czech Republic to parents who Tali focused specifically on individuals and the special artiwere Holocaust survivors. She moved with facts that tell the amazing stories of those who live at the her family to Israel when she was one year Ghetto Fighters’ Kibbutz. Later, we met with educators at old and lived there for almost six years. Before moving to Sulam Tsur School, who, like the teachers from our group, Omaha in 1997, Ms. Greenspoon lived in Connecticut, teach Holocaust units to their students. They presented Virginia, Massachussets, California, and South Carolina. She wonderful materials and both groups shared successes in earned a B.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University their work. That evening, in a different community, we and an M.F.A. from Clemson University. While in heard testimony from survivor Ruth Usrad, born in Greenville, SC, she taught photography for fourteen years at Germany, who fled to France, worked in the underground the Fine Arts Center, a magnet high school for the performand upon her arrival in what was then Palestine, joined

most of us, but especially for Sami following a long process to secure his visit and visa through the generous assistance of Ambassador Hillel Newman in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. We arranged for a special tour in Russian for Sami with Dr. Aharon Shneyer, specialist in Russian POW experiences during WWII. Following the tour of the main museum, we were overwhelmed when the Commemoration and Public Relations Division staff, Rachel Barkai and Shoshie Rozin, brought us into the Hall of Remembrance where a ceremony was held to honor Mr. Jalilov. Acknowledgement to Sami’s service in this Hall, where Presidents and Popes lay wreaths to the victims of the Holocaust, was completely unexpected.

We were all extremely moved that such an event took place in Sami’s honor. We would not have been witness to such a moment without the assistance of the amazing individuals at Yad Vashem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Israel Embassy in Washington and our colleagues at IsraelExperts. We will never forget the pride in Mr. Jalilov’s eyes.

Our trip to Israel was not short on visiting historical sites as well, blending archaeology, the Dead Sea, holy sites and the modern state with the influences of the Holocaust on present day Israeli society.

Donna Walter, an educator at St. Pius/St. Leo School and Nebraska Holocaust Education Consortium member commented on the trip: “I returned from the trips with a new perspective on the development of the state of Israel. The passion, sacrifice, and zeal of the early settlers became evident when we visited Kibbutz Sdot Yam and Kibbutz Nir David. I was very impressed with the educational programs at the Ghetto Fighers’ Museum and Yad Vashem. Of course, the most emotional experience was Sami’s recognition at Yad Vashem. There were no dry eyes. In answer to the repeated question from nearly everyone who knew I was going to Israel, I felt perfectly safe. Israel is an easy country to love.

What a privilege to be a part of such a wonderful trip.�

Ellie Greenspoon presents Visual Dialogues ing and visual arts. Students in her class regularly won top honors in national competitions.

Ms. Greenspoon speaks of her work as “photo-based, but you would not know it by just looking at it.� Realizing the torn element as “a vital component in combination with a variety of mixed media,� she often creates images without any pre-determined concept of a final piece.

Her show at the Fred Simon Gallery exemplifies what Ms. Greenspoon terms a “visual dialogue.� As part of this process, she assembles recognizable silhouettes of people who serve as actors in her commentary about various concerns such as war, the human condition, and the environment.

Three large panels, which take a central place in this dialogue, address women’s issues. One of these, Esther’s Preparation for the King, depicts Esther’s preparation to make the ultimate sacrifice to save her people: trees and birds in a gilded cage surround layers of nude females.

Ms. Greenspoon has a studio in the Hot Shoppes at 13th and Nicholas Streets. Her work can also be viewed on her website eliska-mg.com.

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8 | The Jewish Press | December 16, 2011

Point of view

American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

Sentimental drivel

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press Often when I’m searching for a topic for this page, I read the daily briefs, diligently sent to me by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. I read and read, until something strikes my fancy, something about which I think I might have a thing or two to say. I find some additional sources, I make sure I find a contrasting opinion, a different voice, and off we go. Most weeks that works pretty well. I usually make it in time with at least five minutes to spare.

Then there are times when most of the available news is utterly depressing with zero room for optimism; those are the weeks when I don’t feel like writing at all. I regret to say, this was such a week.

In recent days, we heard that former Israeli President Moshe Katsav (who, by the way, still claims to be innocent) began his seven-year prison term for rape. Richard M. Green, who is reportedly Jewish, emerged as the suspect in the vandalism of several Jewish-owned businesses in New Jersey. Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish successfully pressured the organizers of a writers’ conference in Marseille to kick Israeli author Moshe Sakal off the panel. Bah, bah, and bah.

The non-Jewish news isn’t much better: Syria is gearing up for a bloodbath; Iran is waving that captured drone around as if it’s a gold medal, and the U.S. economy...well. Let’s not go there. My kingdom for a positive story; I can’t write about bad news every week, can I? The thing is, many times we don’t consider news ‘news’ unless it’s bad. The graver the images, the more we take notice. Who can fill an hour of airtime by talking about a college football coach who hasn’t done anything unspeakable with young children? How many columns does your newspaper dedicate to accidents that didn’t happen? How often does

the weatherman break into your favorite show to remind you that the weather is just fine? Of course, most good news happens when the absence of bad news occurs. And when the evening broadcast takes a few minutes to discuss a rescued puppy, we call it fluff. “It must be a slow news day,” we joke, in spite of the fact that there’s nothing to laugh at.

What does it say about us when we only truly pay attention when we see stories about death, pain, and political strife? Why do we slap a Hallmark label on anything positive, why do we use language like ‘filler,’ ‘feel-good,’ and, perhaps the worst offender: ‘sentimental drivel?’

Don’t get me wrong; I am not advocating we collectively start ignoring all the tough news. That may work for my seven-year-old, but for adults, that’s not necessarily an option. We have to live in this world, and we should know it. In all honesty, when we cynically do away with all the positive stories, we may eventually convince ourselves that those positive stories don’t really exist. Which, in a way, makes us just as short sighted as if we would ignore all the pain and suffering. As is so often the case, a healthy balance is essential.

How then do we get this healthy balance? I am not sure. I’ve rubbernecked my entire life, and I would guess I’m not alone. I think it

comes with being more grateful about positive things in general. Noticing the good, whether someone else points it out or not. Counting our blessings is important, even when we are secretly convinced we don’t have that many, and even if they come without an accompanying bold headline.

Here’s a thought: this year, when we celebrate the festival of lights, let’s take a moment to consider all that is good in our lives. Yes, I’m getting preachy, but I can’t help it: there’s just something about those candles every night that makes me grateful to be right here, right now. It reminds me there’s light in the middle of the darkness. Sentimental? Sure, but I think I’m allowed. Actually, I think we all are.

Climate change: enough already with what’s good for the Jews

Focus on issues JOELLE NOVEY We are twenty Jewish folks who joined over a thousand others in getting ourselves arrested in front of the White House this past summer protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline. Some of us are rabbis; many of us wore kippot that day; all of us did what we did because it felt, among other things, like a mitzvah.

Before the project was delayed last month, the pipeline would have carried crude oil from the Canadian tar sands across 1700 miles and six states. The extraction of tar sands oil generates more heat-trapping climate pollution than other oil. Climate scientist James Hansen has said that fully exploiting the tar sands would essentially spell "game over" for our climate.

It would have been nice for us to know—as our Catholic, Methodist, Quaker, United Church of Christ, and Unitarian Universalist sisters and brothers knew—that our larger religious community supported our stand. But on the Keystone XL Pipeline, the major Jewish organizations were mostly silent.

Only the American Jewish Committee spoke out—in support of the pipeline, as “a crucial step in strengthening U.S. energy security.”

In other words: this pipeline would be good for the Jews.

Even the world’s dirtiest oil, if it came from Canada, would theoretically displace oil from the Middle East. So a tar sands pipeline seems good for Israel and the US. And what serves the immediate interests of Israel and America, must be good for the Jews.

We dispute the AJC’s argument outright, because the pipeline’s oil was destined for export anyway; because put-

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ting this expensive tar sands oil on the market would not reduce the flow of profits to Middle Eastern oil producers; because tar sands oil only deepens the US’ addiction to oil, the vast majority of which will continue to come from elsewhere; and because tapping Canadian oil with a particularly harsh carbon footprint that drives more extreme climate change will, in a generation or two, actually create greater insecurity for both the US and for Israel.

But we have a bigger question: is climate change the sort of issue where the best, first concern our people can raise is whether it’s good for the Jews?

The heat-trapping greenhouse gases released by our burning of fossil fuels has already raised the global average temperature 1.4 degrees over the past 150 years, causing stronger storms, devastating droughts, and outbreaks of disease all over the world. And the temperature is going up faster and faster. Scientists are clear that the concentrations of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere cannot stay long above 350 parts per million for life on Earth to proceed as we have known it; we're already up near 400, and rising.

Every single Jewish soul is a human being who lives on Earth, and who depends for sustenance on rains in the right season and the continued bounty of the land. The Torah itself and our Jewish calendar are rooted in Middle Eastern agricultural seasons which would be permanently disrupted by climate change. The modern State of Israel is located on Earth, where its people continue to depend on a stable and life-giving climate — and where projections suggest longer droughts, and more regional insecurity, in the near future.

Jewish people, like all people, hope for our children and grandchildren to live on Earth, in a world that is not more characterized by flooding, hunger, or suffering than the one we inherited from our parents.

We are people who affirm that anyone who saves a single life saves a whole world, and already, the World Health Organization estimates that 300,000 people around the world are dying from effects of climate change every year, most of them in developing countries.

And what of the one-third of all species of plants and animals that may not adapt fast enough to a warming climate?

What kind of Shabbat could our people celebrate in commemoration of God's creation of the world, if our weeks are spent witnessing the extinction of huge swaths of that Creation?

We are heartened that our protest, joining a chorus of many caring people, succeeded in scuttling the Keystone XL pipeline — for now. But the struggle — to stop this project, to halt tar sands development, and above all, to address the climate crisis — continues.

In this critical moment, confronting irreparable damage to the only Earth any of us have ever known, it’s high time for Jewish leaders to stop wondering which climate-polluting projects may be in some short-term Jewish interest.

Climate change hurts everyone human, today and in the future. Who are we, if we are not able to say, in one voice, that that couldn't possibly be good for the Jews?

Joelle Novey, along with Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Rabbi David Shneyer, Phil Aroneanu, Laura Bellows, Lisa Jo Finstrom, Rob Friedman, Elizabeth Gaines, Johanna Galat, Richard Graves, Glenn Hurowitz, Joshua Kahn Russell, Lawrence MacDonald, Jeff Mann, Geri Maskell, Karen Menichelli, Sam Novey, Marie Parham, Lore Rosenthal, Harriet Shugarman, and Joe Solomon, were among 1,253 people arrested at the White House in August and September protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline.

This piece first appeared in the Huffington Post and was reprinted with permission.

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December 16, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 9

Fred Karger for president: A gay Jewish Republican’s White House run

Behind the headlines JONAH LOWENFELD LOS ANGELES (Jewish Journal) - In the course of an election campaign, most presidential candidates talk about what they’ll do if - or, if they’re particularly bullish, when - they’re elected.

But Fred Karger isn’t like other Republicans running for president, and not just because he’s openly gay and Jewish.

Karger is also pro-choice, in favor of marriage equality and a self-described “flaming moderate” running against a pack of candidates who appear to be perpetually vying for the title of “most conservative.”

Yet what most sets Karger apart when he talks about his campaign is his focus on what might seem like a more achievable goal than reaching the White House.

“I will be in a debate,” Karger said on a recent trip back to Los Angeles from his part-time home in Manchester, N.H. “The field may have to narrow, but I will be on that stage. I’m not going anywhere.”

Getting on the podium with the Republican challengers to President Obama is no small task, and Karger, 61, hasn’t succeeded yet - not surprising for someone who has never run for office. Better-known candidates, like Buddy Roemer, a former congressman and Louisiana governor, also are having difficulty getting attention.

But Karger, who isn’t a stranger to the political arena, presumably knew what he’d be up against. He worked for years as a political consultant to Republican candidates, including running campaigns for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

After he retired, at 53, Karger waged a campaign in 2006 to save the Boom Boom Room, a gay bar in Laguna Beach, Calif. - a fight that also brought him out, for the first time, as an openly gay man. He later went on to join the unsuccessful fight to defeat the anti-gay marriage Proposition 8.

His involvement in the cause of gay rights led to his deci-

sion to run for president. Karger’s run for the White House at times also can seem close to the “It Gets Better” campaign launched by gay writer and activist Dan Savage, that aims to bolster the spirits of embattled gay youth.

“I want to send a message to the LGBT youth that there are no restrictions like I thought I had for so many years,” Karger told a reporter for The Jerusalem Post when he visited Israel in May. His presidential campaign also has its fair share of jokiness. “Fred Who?” is the slogan on Karger’s promotional Frisbees and other materials. The Karger campaign also produced a couple of chuckle-worthy YouTube videos, splicing the candidate into footage of debates from which he’s been barred entry.

But as Karger sees it, his presidential bid is equally a campaign against what the Republican Party has become. Born into a family of Jewish Republicans in a suburb north of Chicago, he once worked in one of Nelson Rockefeller’s presidential campaigns. He says the GOP needs to look back to Reagan as a model for engaging moderate voters.

“You’re seeing right now, the country - California, Iowa voters leaving the two [major]parties,” Karger said. “Most of new registrants are registering in record numbers as independents and undeclared. The Michael Bloombergs of the world resonate with them. Hopefully the Fred Kargers will.”

Brad Hertz, Karger’s director of Jewish outreach, said he believes that’s happening, despite the unconventional character of Karger’s campaign.

“He is having fun, but taking it seriously, and, I think, inspiring people,” Hertz said. “And also probably making some people uncomfortable.”

Among those standing in the way of the Karger campaign are some organizers of debates and forums with Republican presidential candidates - which comes back to Karger’s singular goal.

The closest he came to making it onto the stage for a debate was in August, when he scored 2 percent on a Harris Interactive Poll - the same as Jon Huntsman and more than

Rick Santorum, who came in at 1 percent in that survey.

Karger said it should have qualified him for the Fox News Aug. 11 debate in Iowa. Yet he wasn’t invited and has since filed a formal legal complaint against the network’s parent corporation, News Corp.

Karger couldn’t even snag an invitation to the Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Candidates Forum on Dec. 7, where seven candidates - including Huntsman and Santorum - were set to appear.

“Once they send out an invitation that says ‘Presidential Candidates Forum,’ then the light goes off,” Karger said.

“They have to invite me.”

But Karger, who was invited to speak to an RJC leadership event earlier this year, hasn’t been invited. Representatives from the RJC declined to comment for this story, nor did they disclose to the Karger campaign the criteria they used to decide which candidates to invite and to exclude.

“For candidates who spend significant time, money and effort on their campaigns, it’s important for them to be made aware of those criteria,” said Cary Davidson, an election lawyer who is Karger’s campaign treasurer. “Otherwise, how do the candidates know if the sponsors of the debates are following the applicable law?”

So Karger will have to be patient. Meanwhile, he plans to keep running his idiosyncratic campaign - he hires a bagpiper to walk precincts, which he says reliably gets voters to come to their doors - on its shoestring budget for as long as it takes, even until the Republican Party’s convention in August. Karger estimates that he’s spent $400,000 on the campaign, most of it his own.

“My campaign is going to close in New Hampshire, and it’s going to be the theme of ‘Fed Up With the Republican Party?

Vote for Fred,’ “ Karger said.

“As kind of a protest vote.”

But, really, he just wants a chance to stand on that stage, for one reason or another.

“All I want to get is one debate,” Karger said. “Just give me that one shot.”

Love, marriage, and the Chief Rabbinate

Focus on issues ELLI FISCHER (Jewish Ideas Daily) -- The organization Tzohar has just resumed performing its popular “alternative” weddings in Israel, ending a dispute with the Ministry of Religious Services that was resolved only after a media war and a highlevel Knesset meeting. Tzohar won -- but has not won much.

After Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s 1996 assassination, Tzohar (in Hebrew, “window”) was founded by a group of idealistic religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis to bridge the growing divide between Israel’s religious and secular populations. Soon afterward, Tzohar began the Wedding Project.

Because Israeli law does not recognize -- or “register” -- civil marriages performed within the country, the only recognized marriages between Jews that can take place in Israel are marriages approved by the Chief Rabbinate. But Israeli law does recognize civil marriages performed abroad; so, Israeli couples were getting married in civil ceremonies on Cyprus.

Tzohar saw the trend as a sign of alienation from the rabbinic bureaucracy. The Wedding Project addressed this alienation by setting out four operating guidelines. A Tzohar rabbi would not accept payment for performing a wedding. He would meet with the bride and groom beforehand. He would schedule just one wedding per day—and arrive on time.

With these few rules, the Wedding Project became Tzohar’s popular calling card. The rabbinate did not interfere with it - at first. Things began to change in 2003, however, with the achievement of ultra-Orthodox control of the Chief Rabbinate. Since then, the rabbinate has sought to enforce increasingly strict standards of Jewish law and keep non-official rabbis from providing religious services (and threatening the rabbinate’s patronage). Tzohar has criticized the rabbinate for insisting on ultra-Orthodox standards, bureaucratizing religion, and driving people away from Judaism.

These tensions came to a head a few weeks ago. Under a loophole, a Tzohar-affiliated official municipal rabbi was deputizing other Tzohar rabbis to perform and register weddings. The rabbinate, through the Ministry of Religious Services, closed the loophole. Tzohar shut down the Wedding Project and launched a media blitz, prophesying that thousands more Israelis would marry abroad in civil ceremonies, assimilate, and be lost to the Jewish people.

Why the doom-saying? The reason lies in Tzohar’s view of the Chief Rabbinate. Tzohar’s religious Zionist rabbis see themselves as spiritual heirs of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Israel’s first Chief Rabbi. He envisioned a rabbinate that would transcend politics, reach out to all Jews living in thenPalestine, and create a renaissance both spiritual and national.

Kook exhorted rabbis to “look for the positive in each faction” so as to “expand the spiritual influence” of the rabbinate over the “exhilarating national renaissance taking place in our day.”

Kook’s successors continued to believe in an independent, apolitical rabbinate but were subject to the politics of the governing Labor Zionist coalition, including the NationalReligious party. In 1960 Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik declined to be a candidate for Chief Rabbi, writing, “The Chief Rabbinate “is really a government agency, so it is childish and naïve to think that the chief rabbi would be able to act independently.”

Today, with Israel’s demographic challenges and the intense pressures to end the Orthodox monopoly of matters of personal status, Kook’s vision seems even less realistic. But Tzohar’s rabbis, acknowledged even by their critics to be sincere (having once been a Tzohar fundraiser for three months, I concur), continue to believe in the rabbinate. Tzohar views the period before ultra-Orthodox control as a heyday in which the institution was beloved and apolitical and chief rabbis were giants of Torah, sensitive to popular needs.

Ironically, the ultra-Orthodox have historically held the rabbinate in contempt and ascribed no religious significance to it. Now they control it -- and continue to view it as the

spoils of coalition politics, a place fit for political hacks. In behaving this way, they do grave harm to Judaism. But Tzohar watches helplessly, unwilling to advocate abolishing or privatizing the rabbinate or offering alternatives to it.

Tzohar rabbis believe that if its rabbis were in power, they would be able to resist the temptations associated with controlling huge government budgets. They think the problem lies with the people currently in power in the rabbinate, not the institution of the rabbinate itself.

For many Israelis, Tzohar is the spoonful of sugar that makes the bitter pill of dealing with the official rabbinate palatable. And increasing numbers of them would prefer never to have to deal with it in the first place: They want the oppressive, despised rabbinate to be removed altogether. Yet Tzohar’s rabbis, clinging to an imagined ideal of what the rabbinate might have been, refuse to address the sad reality of what it is. This group has the talent and stature to articulate a vision of what the Jewish state could be without an official rabbinate. Instead, Tzohar continues to enable its opponents, so that it can maintain its pipe dream.

This article was first published by Jewish Ideas Daily (www.jewishideasdaily.com) and is reprinted with permission.

Obama’s Iran sanctions

by ADAM KREDO Jewish groups are urging their supporters to inundate the telephone lines of two key Democrats in a bid to stop the lawmakers from weakening an Iran sanctions bill currently being considered by Congress.

The Republican Jewish Coalition and NORPAC, a non-partisan pro-Israel outfit based in New Jersey, have both independently urged their supporters to call the offices of Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) in a bid to prevent them from helping the Obama administration water down the provision.

As I first reported, the Obama administration has been working behind the scenes to weaken the Kirk-Menendez Iran sanctions amendment. The measure would impose crippling sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran by forcing foreign companies and countries to choose between doing

business with Iran and doing business with America.

The administration opposes the amendment as written because it believes the measure would send oil prices soaring, thereby bolstering the Iranian regime.

As the RJC put it in an e-mail blast this mornining: Levin and Smith are “carrying the administration’s agenda in the conference.”

NORPAC told its supporters: “The Obama Administration has asked two Democrats in the Committee to make the legislation weaker: Senator Carl Levin from Michigan, the Chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee, and Representative Adam Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. They have both been specifically working on weaker sanctions.”

I asked both lawmakers to comment on the sanctions and Jewish efforts to persuade them against helping the administration.

Levin’s office declines to comment, stating that the senator doesn’t comment on discussion taking place in conference committee (where the House and Senate are trying to agree on the amendment’s final language).

Smith’s office did not respond at all.

10 | The Jewish Press | December 16, 2011

Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 | 402.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m.

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 Mordechai Levin, Rabbi Steven Abraham and Cantor Beth Schlossberg.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. Leon Fellman Scholar-in-Residence, Jonathan Adam Ross will share the story of Shlomo ha-Levi Alkatetz, author of Lecha Dodi during services.

SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m.; Scholar-inResidence, Jonathan Adam Ross will present a theatrical portrayal of the week’s Torah portion during services, following which everyone is invited to join Ross during a biblical tea party; Shabbat’s Cool (PreK-7), 10 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:40 p.m.

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

SUNDAY: Torah Study Discussion Group, 10 a.m.; Jewish Values in Today’s world, 11 a.m. led by Rabbi Levin; Scholarin-Residence, Jonathan Adam Ross will perform “God of Our Fathers,” his comical examination of modern religious life in America, 4 p.m. (Note: this presentation is not appropriate for children younger than 14.) A dessert reception will follow the performance. There is no charge to attend this special weekend. For more information, contact Margie Gutnik in the office, or at programming@bethelomaha.org.

BESTT: Winter break, Dec, 18 – Jan. 4.

MONDAY: New monthly Israeli Cooking class begins at 7 p.m., led by the JCC’s Schlicha, Na’ama Keren, who will demonstrate traditional Israeli Hanukkah delicacies, including latkes and sufganiyot. Cost: $10 per session, $40 for all sessions.

TUESDAY: YAC Playgroup, 10:30 a.m., participants will celebrate Hanukkah at the home of Melissa Shapiro.

WEDNESDAY: YAC Playgroup, 10:30 a.m., the group will take cookies to the Blumkin Home. For more information about playgroup, contact Caryn Scheer at carynscheer@ yahoo.com.

THURSDAY: Final session of Life After Death mini course, led by Dr. Guy Matalon, at 7 p.m.

YAC PARTY: Beth El’s Young Adult Committee, along with the Jewish Federation’s Young Jewish Omaha group, will host a Matzo Ball Bash, on Saturday, Dec. 24, at 8:30 p.m., at The Phoenix, 120th and Blondo. For more information, contact Caryn Scheer at carynscheer@yahoo.com; Sarah Edelstein, sarah.edelstein@gmail.com, or Rebecca Ruetsch-Finkelstein, finkelruetsch@cox.net.

CONGREGATIONAL HANUKKAH DINNER: A special Hanukkah dinner is planned for Sunday, Dec. 25, at 6 p.m. Sponsored by Men’s Club, the evening will feature latkes and holiday fare, plus games and activities for children.

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: Mon.-Thurs., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fri., 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross and Rabbi Yitzchak Mizrahi.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 4:39 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Free babysitting service begins at 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes begin with Torah Parade, 9:45 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored in honor of December Simchas; The Laws of Shabbat, 2:30 p.m.; Advanced Parshah Study for Kids (ages 10 and up), 3:30 p.m.; Rabbi Gross’s Twitter Topic Class, is canceled this week; Mincha, 4:30 p.m., followed by Seuda Shlishit; Veshinantam, a family learning program, 5 p.m.; Havdalah, 5:44 p.m.

SUNDAY: Gemara class, 8 a.m., learning tractate Kiddushin; Shacharit, 9 a.m. followed by breakfast;

Personal The family of Dr. Ben Nachman wishes to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to Renee Corcoran and Bob Belgrade for finalizing the completion of Ben’s last project, The Mom and Pop Grocery Stores.

Elaine Nachman and Family

Children’s Hanukkah Activity with Dr. Patricia Newman, 10:15 a.m.; Non-Extreme Couponing: How Normal People Save Money with Susie Sharf, 10:30 a.m. ($10 materials fee; pre-registration required).

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

MONDAY: Weekly Teleconference Mishnah Class, 10:30 a.m. with Rabbi Gross. Contact the office for information on how to call-in to the conference call.

TUESDAY: Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Scholars Club for fourth-sixth graders, with Rabbi Mizrahi is on winter break; Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m.

THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Gross.

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: Services, 7 a.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Minyan, 10 a.m.; Youth Minyan, 10:30 a.m.; Mini Mensch title will be awarded. Kiddush luncheon will follow. Join Rabbi Katzman, noon-1 p.m.

SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m. followed by breakfast at 9:30 a.m. New feature: Living Torah viewing.

WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m.

TUESDAY: First Hanukkah candle lit tonight. Please call Chabad for your Hanukkah guide and free menorah kit.

Shabbat Hanukkah Family Dinner, Friday, Dec. 23, 5:30 p.m. featuring a festive meal, interactive games, donuts and latkes. Reserve by calling 402.330.1800 or email, chanukah @chabad.com.

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 Shabbat with Ms. Jennifer, 6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel preceded by dinner at 5:45 p.m.; Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. with oneg following hosted by Alan Frank.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9 a.m. with participation by the B’nai Mitzvah class; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Vayeshev; Game Night/Potluck, 6 p.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel, Hanukkah Wrap to benefit the Friendship Home; Hallah High, 10 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Joint Pre-Hanukkah bash at Tifereth Israel. Beginning at 11 a.m. adults will gather in the social hall for a short learning session about Making Meaning Around your Menorah. The session will end at 11:30 a.m. and be followed by entertainment presented by the members of the LJCS. Lunch will be served at 12:15 p.m. Please be sure your reservation payment is received in the Temple office by noon on Dec. 16; Board of Trustees, 1:30 p.m.

TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at the Red Lobster.

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

Hanukkah Celebration on Friday, Dec. 23 at South Street Temple. Dinner and Latkes at 6:30 p.m., Family Shabbat Service, 7:15 p.m. and Oneg and Games at 8 p.m. Bring your own Hanukkiah with candles to light so we can proclaim the Hanukkah miracle together as a congregation. Music will be provided by Elaine Monnier and Jeff and Eleanor Kirkland.

Each child under 18 will receive a gift from the Temple to help light up our Hanukkah night. Reservations must be received by Wednesday, Dec. 21. Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 6-12 and free for children 5 and under. We need four more people to help cook and four more peple to help set up. Call the Temple office at 402.435.8004 or email to stemple@neb.rr.com.

Candlelighting Friday, December 16, 4:39 p.m.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway | Offutt AFB, NE 68113 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.

NEIGHBORHOOD PRAYER GROUP 1317 North 57 Street | Omaha, NE 68132 | 402.551.6609 FRIDAY: Minyan, 4:39 p.m.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Chef ’s Demo, 1 p.m. led by Beth El Members.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Miles Remer.

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

TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street | Omaha, NE 68132-2651 | 402.556.6536 www.templeisrael-ne.org FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Cantor Shermet; Tot Shabbat - Hanukkah, 6 p.m. Cost of dinner is $5 for adults and no charge for children. Please contact the Temple Israel office, 402.556.6536, to make a dinner reservation.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.

SUNDAY: Teacher Meeting, 9 a.m.; Grades PreK-6, 10 a.m.; WRJ Meeting, 10 a.m.; OTYG/JYG Remington Hanukkah Party, 12:15 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: No Religious School, Family School or Grades 7&8.

THURSDAY: Adult Study with the Clergy with Cantor Shermet, 10-11:30 a.m. Newcomes are always welcome. To register, contact Program Director Wendy Goldberg, wgoldberg@templeisraelomaha.com or 402.556.6536.

Latkes, Dreidels, Singing and Justice!, Friday, Dec. 23, 6 p.m. Shabbat Worship Service followed by dinner and dessert. Please bring your menorahs to set on the holiday tables. Cost is $9 for adults; $5 for children in sixth grade or younger; free for second graders and younger kids. Contact the Temple Israel office, rsvp@templeisraelomaha.com or 402.556.6536, by Monday, Dec. 19, to make your reservation.

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, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

FRIDAY: Tot Shabbat with Ms. Jennifer, 6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel preceded by dinner at 5:45 p.m.; Shabbat Services, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Study Session on Pirkei Avot, 9:30 a.m.; Morning service, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush lunch in honor of Seth and Karen Harris’ anniversary sponsored by the Harris family.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel, Hanukkah Wrap to benefit the Friendship Home; Hallah High, 10 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple.

TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at the Red Lobster on O Street. Please contact Stephanie Dohner with questions.

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

THURSDAY: Board Meeting, 7 p.m.

Tifereth Israel and Congregation B'nai Jeshurun are holding a Joint Pre-Hanukkah bash on Sunday, Dec. 18, at Tifereth Israel. Beginning at 11 a.m. adults will gather in the social hall for a short learning session based on the book, A Different Light. The session will end at 11:30 a.m. and be followed by entertainment presented by the members of the LJCS. Please call the office to RSVP by Dec. 11.

Obama lights White House menorah at reception

by JTA NEWS STAFF (JTA) -- President Obama hosted 550 people at the White House Hanukkah reception. The annual event, held was attended by the president and vice-president and their wives and attracted a mix of Jewish dignitaries. The president reiterated his “unshakable support” for Israel and noted that the festivities were being celebrated a week early.

“We’re jumping the gun just a little bit,” said Obama.

“The way I see it, we’re just extending the holiday spirit.”

The West Point Jewish Chapel Choir performed at the event, while the menorah used was made in a displaced persons camp after World War II and donated by the Jewish Museum in New York.

“Let’s extend a hand to those who are in need, and allow the value of tikkun olam to guide our work this holiday season,” Obama said. “This is also a time to be grateful for our friendships, both with each other and between our nations."

Pulverent e

December 16, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 11

From Prisoner to Viceroy

In memoriam MAURITZ CEDER

Sparks from the word RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parsha Vayeishev Our narrative tells us that Jacob settled down to live in the very land where Isaac had settled, in the land of Canaan. In the very next sentence, the Sacred Text jumps from Jacob to Joseph, who is a 17-year-old lad at this point.

Now Jacob, who loved all his children, loved Joseph the most. He gave him that famous coat of many colors.

The brothers were jealous of Joseph; he also angered them by telling them about his dreams, which suggested they would one day bow down to him.

They decided, therefore, to get rid of him. They threw him into a deep depression in the land from which there was no escape. At first, they thought they would let him die there.

They thought better of it when a band of merchants from Mesopotamia chanced to come through the very place.

The brothers recognized their opportunity; they could prevent any feeling they had murdered Joseph. They sold Joseph as a slave. The merchants in turn sold Joseph to Pharaoh’s Chief Executive, Potiphar. During his time as a slave, Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s Chief butler and baker; his interpretations quickly became fact.

Thus, when Pharaoh had dreams, it reminded him of this Hebrew lad in prison, who could interpret dreams.

They hastily prepared Joseph to meet with Pharaoh, and, once cleaned up, he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams: seven years of plentiful crops were on the way.

But then, Joseph told Pharaoh, there would be seven years of drought, when the fields would yield nothing.

Therefore, Joseph said, it is important to lay out the food of the favorable years, so the stores could be used during the years of drought, and the people of Egypt could be saved.

The people of the world (that is, of course, the Mediterranean Basin, which they thought of as the world) all were starving, except for the people in Egypt. Pharaoh appointed Joseph Viceroy, because his interpretations had made the saving of Egyptian lives possible.

In Canaan, Jacob heard the rumor about food in Egypt.

He sent his sons to Egypt to buy food. Joseph recognized his brothers at once, but they saw before them only an Egyptian noble.

Joseph ordered his servants to fill the sacks of the brothers with as much grain as they could hold, but also to put the money back in. And then his magic silver cup, which he asked his servants to place in the sack of Benjamin.

The brothers were on their way back to Canaan, when they were pursued and overtaken by Egyptian horsemen and soldiers. They were brought back to Joseph, who accused them of stealing his cup. The brothers protested: “We came only to buy food, and this we have done.”

But Joseph had his servants search, and they found the cup in Benjamin’s sack. The brothers, crestfallen, were hoping to avoid execution, and told Joseph they would all become slaves to the Egyptian administration. Judah appointed himself spokesman, and told Joseph he was Benjamin’s guarantor. Joseph replied that he would retain only Benjamin, and the others could return safely to Canaan.

Joseph sent all his Egyptian servants away, and announced tearfully that no harm would come to Benjamin: “And indeed, I tell you now, I am Joseph. Joseph, your brother.”

He continued: “You meant it all for evil. But the Good Lord turned it all about for good, saving many people’s lives.”

The brothers could hardly believe this magnificently dressed Egyptian noble was their brother. They had thought him long since dead. The Midrash goes so far as to say Joseph pushed his clothing aside to prove he was circumcised (unlike the Egyptians).

Joseph invited the brothers to dine with him, and told them he had prepared Egypt’s best vehicles to take them back to Canaan, so they could tell Jacob Joseph was alive. He told them to tell their father to get his entire household, and come to Egypt.

Once told, Jacob collected everything in his household and set off for Egypt, where Joseph prepared places to live and pastures for their livestock.

Thus, a long story has been happily completed.

CORRECTION In our Dec. 2 issue, the email address for information about the Searching for Humanity exhibit at the SAC museum was misspelled. The correct address is: info@ihene. org. The Press regrets these errors.

Mauritz Ceder died Dec. 8 at the age of 95 in Vanersborg, Sweden. Burial was at the New Jewish Cemetery in Stockholm, Sweden.

He was preceeded in death by his wife, Miriam.

He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Susie and Jake Besser, son and daughter-in-law, Jacob and Gunilla Ceder of Vanersborg, Sweden; grandchildren Michael and Anna Besser of Chicago, Ill, Debbie and Alan Kricsfeld, Miriam and Tobias Netshagen, Hannah and Eric Werner and David Ceder all of Sweden; seven great-grandchildren.

Born in Lodz, Poland, on October 10, 1916, he was a holocaust survivor liberated from Auschwitz in 1945.

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JUANITA R. FINEMAN Juanita R Fineman passed away on Dec. 4 in Chicago, where ervices were held on Dec. 5 by Rabbi Schlomo Levine.

She was preceded in death by husband, Sidney Fineman; and son, Mark Fineman.

She is survived by son and daughter-in-law, Glen and Hollie Fineman; daughter-in-law Michelle Prosser; sister, Florence Nemkov; cousin, Ramona Choos; grandchildren: Michael and Lindsay Fineman, and Nathan Fineman and other relatives.

She was a past Governor of the North Central Region of the Ninety Nines Womens' Pilot Organization, (member for 50 years) Memorials may be made to the Beth El Synagogue Scholarship Fund.

MARILYN GINSBERG Marilyn Ginsberg passed away on Dec. 5. Services were held Dec. 8 at Fischer Farms.

She was preceded in death by husband Edward Ginsberg.

She is survived by daughters and sons-in-law, Bernice and Ron Hodge, and Debra and Mike Pelech; and son and daughter in-law Bennett and Julie Ginsberg; sisters and brothers-in-law, Renee and Moe Handleman, and Natalie and Gene Giventer.

She was born on August 22, 1933 in Omaha, NE. Memorials may be made to Nebraska Midlands Chapter at the Alzheimer's Association.

Berkeley Hillel leaders urge students to reconsider J Street rejection (JTA) -- Hillel leaders at the University of California, Berkeley, are urging the Jewish Student Union on campus to reconsider its rejection of J Street’s campus affiliate.

The Jewish Student Union, an umbrella body for UC Berkeley Jewish student groups, voted last month to deny membership to the school’s J Street U chapter.

"We respect the right of the Jewish Student Union, an organization sponsored by UC Berkeley student government, to make its own decisions, but we encourage JSU to reconsider its vote and include J Street U as a member," wrote Berkeley Hillel’s board president, Barbara Davis, and its executive director, Rabbi Adam Naftalin-Kelman, in a letter sent to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and to j. weekly, the San Francisco Bay Area’s Jewish newspaper.

They also wrote that the J Street U chapter will receive support from Berkeley Hillel, explaining that the dovish student group adheres to Hillel International’s Israel guidelines.

The Jewish Student Union’s Nov. 16 vote to exclude J Street garnered media attention and spurred commentary around the world. There were 10 votes against admitting J Street U, nine in favor and two abstentions; admission requires a two-thirds majority, according to j. weekly.

“J Street is not pro-Israel but an anti-Israel organization that, as part of the mainstream Jewish community, I could not support,” Jacob Lewis, co-president of the campus Israel activist group Tikvah, told j. weekly, explaining his opposition to admitting J Street U. In an Op-Ed in the Forward newspaper, four leaders of UC Berkeley’s J Street U chapter wrote that the exclusion was “emblematic of a larger trend.”

“Even as pillars of the American Jewish establishment recognize the need to include J Street U and others like us in the broadening tent of pro-Israel advocacy, those on the right double their efforts to shut us out,” the four students wrote.

JEWISH PRESS NOTICE There will be no Jewish Press on Dec. 30 due to staff vacations and a need to upgrade computer equipment.

Questions? Call 402.334.6448.

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12 | The Jewish Press | December 16, 2011

In tiny Gibraltar, an outsized Jewish infrastructure

by ALEX WEISLER GIBRALTAR (JTA) -- Four synagogues, a mikvah, a kosher coffeehouse and separate boys and girls religious high schools.

Combined, they suggest a community far larger than just 750 Jews. But Gibraltar -- the tiny British overseas territory of 30,000 that sits at the foot of Spain and at the gateway to North Africa and the Mediterranean -- has spent centuries cultivating its individuality.

“We’ve got an infrastructure that could cope with a community of 2,000, and we’ve only got 700,” said Mark Benady, a native Gibraltarian and vice president of the territory’s Jewish community.

Gibraltar’s largely Orthodox and Sephardic Jewish community has grown substantially in the past decade, increasing its rolls by 25 percent in just the last three years. The Jewish primary school now has a record 140 pupils and recently added a floor of modern classroom space with the help of government funding. Along the way, the community has become more religiously observant and, many say, more insular.

About 500 Israelis also live in Gibraltar, but they are largely unaffiliated with the official organs of the territory’s Jewish community.

Fueling the growth in part are soft loans of 10,000 pounds ($15,500) repayable over 15 years that were issued by the community to attract newcomers, who arrive mainly from England and Spain. Many, like Jo Jacobs Abergel, who moved here from Leicester, England, are married to native Gibraltarians. Now a mother of three, Abergel says she’s somewhat of an anomaly among Gibraltar’s Jewish women.

“I’m kind of a heathen because I wear trousers and I don’t cover my hair,” she said, laughing.

Jews have lived in Gibraltar since at least 1356. For more than 200 years, beginning with the expulsion of Jews from the Iberian peninsula in 1492, there was no Jewish life here.

That changed in 1713 when Britain took control of the territory affectionately dubbed “Gib” or “the rock.”

In the centuries since, Jews have occupied major political positions. In 2008-09, the largely ceremonial post of mayor was occupied by Solomon Levy. Still, some say the walls between Jew and non-Jew in Gibraltar have grown taller.

“There’s Jews here that have absolutely no contact with non-Jews,” Abergel said. “They won’t send them to anything -- swimming lessons, ballet, judo, etc., -- if it’s not organized by the Jewish community.”

That wasn’t always the case. As a student, Benady attended a non-Jewish comprehensive school and had many nonJewish friends -- that’s less common for young Jewish Gibraltarians today. But Benady says he appreciates the warmth and closeness brought by a sense of shared purpose.

“When it comes to chagim [holidays], it’s really lovely,” said Benady, who left to work in Manchester, England, for about a decade but returned because he preferred Gibraltar.

“It’s very much a single community where we feel like one family, where we all join together for smachot [joyous occasions] and we all join together, unfortunately, for sad occasions as well.”

Gibraltar’s Jews, like the territory itself, straddle two worlds. The territory’s border with Spain was closed in 1967 by dictator Francisco Franco following a referendum indicating that Gibraltarians overwhelmingly wished to remain

British. The border, which is marked by Gibraltar’s airport runway, didn’t reopen fully until 1985, on the eve of Spain’s accession to the European Economic Community.

Members of Gibraltar’s largely Sephardic, largely Orthodox community pick up children from the community’s primary school, which is seeing record enrollment.

Credit: Alex Weisler Today the territory -- its skyline dominated by the famous Upper Rock and its resident Barbary macaque monkeys -- is a destination for bargain hunters, who take advantage of its tax-haven status to purchase inexpensive cigarettes and perfumes, among other goods. As a British territory, English is the official language, the queen is head of state and the Gibraltar pound -- pegged to its British equivalent -- is the official currency. But the Spanish influence remains strong.

Many Spaniards cross the runway each day to work, and native Gibraltarians speak their own language, Llanito, a blend of English and Spanish with a sprinkling of Hebrew.

Idan Greenberg, an Israeli who moved to Gibraltar with his

wife 3 1/2 years ago, runs the Verdi Verdi kosher coffeehouse on Casemates Square, an open-air plaza dotted with boutiques, cafes and pubs at the entrance to Main Street. Two of the thoroughfare’s biggest outlets -- the S.M. Seruya perfume store and Cohen and Massias jewelers -- are Jewish-owned.

With its chic brown-and-gold suede seating and vibrant orange chairs, Verdi Verdi wouldn’t be out of place on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. On a recent Friday afternoon, an American Jewish woman studying abroad in Spain popped in to grab a soup and was shocked to discover a Jew running a kosher establishment, despite the mezuzah on the door.

“Kvetching about the price of soup?” Greenberg asked her.

“How do you know that word?” she responded in surprise.

Greenberg says he wants his restaurant to appeal broadly to Gibraltarians, but like Abergel he laments the insularity he associates with the community’s increasing piety. And according to Benady, the isolation is a concern even beyond the confines of the community.

“There is a bit of a concern amongst the non-Jewish population that we are isolating ourselves a little,” Benady said.

“But it’s very difficult to decide where to draw the line.”

That sort of closeness yields little room for those Jews who don’t observe in the Orthodox fashion, some say. There are no non-Orthodox synagogues in Gibraltar, and the community observes the religious dicta published by the relatively strict Orthodox religious court in London.

“The social life very much revolves around Shabbat,” Abergel said. “It’s very different from my life in England, completely. In the UK, you could be Jewish culturally. There were dances, there were fundraising events, there was loads of stuff you could get involved in whatever level you were at.”

But for Benady, there’s a careful line that must be drawn between assimilation and isolation.

“I think,” he said, “we’ve managed to draw the line in a comfortable place.”

Le Tour de Jerusalem

by EDGAR ASHER cycling in Israel there will be a benefit to several charity Three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador organizations. The visit is being carried out in cooperation spoke of his excitement of being in Israel and of his hopes with the Israeli philanthropist Raya Strauss.

In the evening the Saxo for 2012. His team Saxo Bank team took a break Bank, owned by former from its training proTour de France winner gram in the north of Bjarne Riis, began its Israel and came to annual team building Jerusalem for a ten-lap 28 boot camp in the western km race through the Galilee. roads and alleys of The Saxo Bank team Jerusalem’s Old City. will be staying in Israel Afterwards there was a until Dec. 11. The aim of festive reception at the the stay is to begin prepaJaffa Gate by Jerusalem rations of the team for Mayor Nir Barkat. next year’s major European cycle road The Saxo Bank team races and build a strong Albert Contador, right, cycling through the Old City of Jerusalem. was hosted by President Credit: ISRANET Shimon Peres who team spirit by participating in several bike rides in Israel as well as several charity thanked them for choosing Israel to start their training for initiatives. It is also hoped that apart from promoting the upcoming 2012 road racing cycling season.

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