Vol. LXXXIX No. 15 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 89 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
Women defy court order at Kotel About 200 members of Women of the Wall, including Anat Hoffman, right, arrived at the Kotel (Western Wall) Friday to take part in the Rosh Hodesh (new Jewish month) prayers, and to protest the previous arrest of their fellow member at the site. Ultra-Orthodox worshipers shouted abusive slogans at the women when they were seen putting on tephilin (phylacteries) and tallitot (prayer shawls) and carrying Torah scrolls. Women of the Wall said the group’s actions were not intended as a provocation. Credit: ISRANET
8 Tevet 5770
December 25, 2009
Residents’ handpainted tiles add beauty to Blumkin Home by OZZIE NOGG Art history uses the word graffiti to describe creative work produced by scratching designs into a surface with a sharp object, chalk or coal. Think prehistoric cave paintings and pictographs, the figure drawings found on walls of ancient ruins, or the late-Roman period artisan who scribbled joyous graffiti from Isaiah on the Kotel in Jerusalem.
Still working, award-winning senior couple represents family values by JOAN K. MARCUS At the time of her public Even though Sally and Dr. high school graduation, Maryland schools only had Paul Fine have reached what 11 grades. And, since Sally’s most of us call “the golden parents wanted her to get years,” they still gaze into one more year of high each other’s eyes like a couschool before applying for ple of teenagers. Their comcollege, she finished another mitment to their careers and year at the Bryn Mawr High to each other is evident. School in Baltimore. They traveled from different She went to Bryn Mawr parts of the country to finalCollege, for women only, ly settle in Omaha and fall in outside of Philadelphia. She love. majored in psychology with a They’re winners of prestiminor in sociology. She clasgious awards from the sifies herself as “an average National Association of student” who didn’t know Social Workers, Nebraska what she wanted to do with Chapter, and they’re still the rest of her life. working! Sally was born an Sally and Dr. Paul Fine are winners of prestigious awards “When I was in college, I Episcopalian in Baltimore, from the National Association of Social Workers, Nebraska had done summer work on the playgrounds in Frederick Maryland, in 1932. Her Chapter, and they’re still working! father was a physician and her mother was a nurse. Sally, working with kids. I was fairly good at it,” she explained. an only child, and her parents later moved to Frederick, “I graduated in 1949; it was the time of women having MD, where her father established himself as a general lots of children and staying at home. Bryn Mawr women surgeon and her mother stayed at home. She remembers who were highly motivated went on to academic careers, a childhood filled with extended family members and professions in medicine or something related.” Continued on page 10 neighborhood friends.
Isidore Tretiak dies at 98 by JOAN K. MARCUS Services were held Dec. 20 at Temple Israel Cemetery for Isidore Tretiak, a legendary Omaha businessman and a past Federation president. He came to the United States from a shtetl in Ukraine when he was 10-years-old. When his son, Kenneth, was diagnosed with a terminal illness in 1978, Is stepped down from the presidency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, paving the way for Mary Fellman to become Omaha’s first woman Federation president in 1979. Tretiak’s father, Samuel, left Is, his sister, Ann Gitnick Hahn, and their mother to come to this country to earn enough money to bring the rest of his fam-
Inside Opinion Page see page 20
ily. After coming to Omaha, Is worked delivering The Omaha Bee newspaper and then as a delivery boy for Robinson’s Drugstore. However, he always had the dream of owning his own business. In order to learn about retailing and merchandising, he worked for many years at Omaha Jobbing Company before earning Continued on page 23
This Week: Senior Living begins on Page 12 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press’
Monthly calendar for January 2010: Pages: 10-11
Blumkin Home resident Marge Lincoln shows off her newly painted tile, now hanging as part of a display in the Home. Enter Bonnie Cohen, a ceramic artist from Akron, OH, whose colorful wall installations featuring incised Judaic symbols, biblical scenes and Hebrew lettering follow the mark-making tradition and adorn synagogues and communal facilities around the country. Cohen recently visited the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home to guide the residents and staff through the process of making tiles that soon will become part of the Home’s decor. Along with tubes of colored glazes, rubber stamps, sponges, stencils and special marking pencils, she also brought her considerable people skills to the workshops. “Bonnie related to the residents exceptionally well,” said Maggie Conti, RBJH activities director. “She was so kind and patient while showing them the process. Many residents insisted they weren’t artistic, but Bonnie’s encouragement and positive attitude empowered the residents to do their best.” The residents were surprised, and pleased, at how well their tiles came out, added Conti. “The project gave them a feeling of pride, both as individuals and as a group, because they created objects of beauty that help make the Home a real home.” For Cohen, the principal of hiddur mitzvah -- the sacred obligation to make ritual objects and special places beautiful -- is central to her work. “Many of the themes and images I use in my artwork are inspired by Torah texts,” she explained. “My very favorite portions describe the building of the mishkan -- the portable tabernacle. I love to read about the colors and design details. The most amazing part of the mishkan story is that the Jews were not trained artisans, but somehow they found the spirit within themselves to create the beautiful structure according to God’s commandments.” She added, “I believe that if we take the time and effort to make our environments beautiful, they become more meaningful. The Blumkin Home residents, by adding their individual tiles to this project, participated in the commandment of hiddur mitzvah.” Continued on page 12
Coming Next Month: Women’s Health Issue on Jan. 15 A not-so-average Joe tells his Holocaust survival story: Page 13
No Jewish Press next week on Jan. 1; next issue is Jan. 8.