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yKA, IOWA Vol. LXII No. 37
Omaha, Nob., Fit, May 11, 1984
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dinner dance
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Among those participating in the ceremony commemorating the founding of AZA in Omaha were from left, Brad Miller, AZA International Board; Jacqui Miller, BBG International Board; Andrea Gordman, regional N'siah; Dr. Max Baer, first international secretary; Alan Widman, president of AZA 1; and Dr. James Wax, chairman of the 60th anniversary committee. See photos on Page 8.
to the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine at By Morris Maline Editor-in-Chief a time when much of the American Jewish community was How did it happen that the international Jewish youth doubtful or even scornful of the idea. organization Aleph Zadek Aleph (AZA) started in Omaha? He pointed out also that the organization of Jewish FedThis is the question that Dj. Max Baer, first interna- eration services here in 1903 was a "pioneering" effort that tional director of the B'nai B'rith youth organization, an- is now the norm for American Jewry. swered last Saturday night. Dr; Baer said that AZA was founded when a group of He spoke to more than 100 who attended the AZA foun- Jewish boys decided to organize a club and find an advisor. ders' day dinner at the JCC. A monument marking the Nathan Mnookin, their first advisor, was employed by founding of AZA in Omaha was dedicated at the entrance Cudahy Packing Co. and was responsible for the developto the JCC during the program. "Omaha was the right community, it had the right people ment of a new type of synthetic rubber, derivatives of which at the right time, and it had the right idea", Dr. Baer ex- were later used to fuel rockets headed for the moon. When he was transferred to Kansas City, the boys looked plained. • • He pointed out that while all other Jewish organizations for a new advisor. began in the heavily populated centers on the East Coast, "All of their early contacts were too busy and this was AZA began its growth in the grass roots of American life. fortuitous," explained Dr. Baer. DrrBaer quoted Dr. Samuel Blumenfield, former presiThey came upon 22-year-old Sam Beber, vice president dent of the National Conference of Jewish Educators, in of O&aha's B'nai B'rith Lodge who agreed to be their adsaying:',' A Jewish community like Omaha is a far better visor providing they agreed to certain conditions. index to the Jewish life of the future than the major met* "It seems that Mr. Beber had some ideas of his own for ropolitan communities." _ • . ' His own experience in this community, Dr. Baer said, led • a national Jewish youth group and the start of the local him to describe early Omaha as a tightly knit settlement- . group coincided with his own thoughts. ' The boys agreed to look upon themselves as the nucleus • of traditional Eastern European Jews who were committed
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of a national group and agreed to infuse their club with Jewish values. The new Jewish youth group, Dr. Baer explained, found that the world outside Omaha was ripe for creation of a new Jewish youth group. "And the fact that they had Sam Beber — perhaps the greatest graduate of Creighton University law school ever — gave them a potential for great achievement." Mr. Beber, according to Dr. Baer, had a driving ambition to expand AZA beyond United States boundaries and he had a knack of recruiting extraordinary talent. * The stature of the men recruited to guide AZA was outstanding, Dr. Baer asserted. They included Harry Lapidus, the then president of Omaha Fixture and Supply Co., who was a member of the Iowa-Nebraska Boundary Commission and a civic minded. individual who campaigned against a corrupt Omaha City government only to be assassinated. Another recruit was. Judge Irving Stalmaster, the youngest judge to sit on the Nebraska Supreme Court and Harry Trustin, a city commissioner. Then, Henry Monsky, "a giant" who more than any other individual propelled AZA into the forefront. • , (continued on page 2)