by Pam Monsky, Federation Communications Director
Bobbie Epstein
Beatrice Karp
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Gerri Phillips Lester Waxman Talia Eisenberg Brittney Eshelman Renata Yurikov The Jewish Federation of Omaha and its Centers board member and serving as chairman of the to learn new tasks even in the midst of a busy of Excellence have selected 11 individuals to hon- Bureau's Special Needs Committee. school schedule. ored as Volunteers of the Year at the Federation's Mark Sanford has been selected as the JewishThe Jewish Press has selected Lloyd Roitstein annual meeting June 24, 7:30 pjn., at the Jewish CommunityCenter^s JVplunteecof theTe'ar,foi.his „ , for. his service on the Press board, and for his work Community Center. foresight in-planning the 'JCC 'Campus Facility organizing the community reception for Editor Bobbie Epstein has been named as the Plan to move the JCC into the 21st century, as Emeritus, Morris Maline. Federation's Volunteer of the Year for her work on well as his service on the board of directors as JCC Lester Waxman is the Volunteer of Year for Partnership 2000 in Israel and her. many years" President Elect and Vice President Jewish Senior Services for his many years of serserving on the Federation board of directors execuGloria Kaslow has been named as Jewish vice to the Jewish community, most recently as tive committee. . . . Family Service's Volunteer of the Year for her ded- President of Young Energetic Seniors (YES). ADL/CRC has named Beatrice Karp for speak- ication and leadership as agency President. Gerri Phillips has been named by the Rose ing to audiences about her personal story of surThe Jewish Federation Library has, selected Blumkin Home/LOVE committee for volunteering vival during the Holocaust. . three young women, Talia Eisenberg, Brittney her time over the last eight years to give maniPam DePorte is the Volunteer of the Year for Eshelman and Renata Yurikov, as their volun- cures to the residents, in a dedicated, reliable and the Bureau of Jewish Education for her service as a teers because of their cheerfulness and willingness conscientious way.
Reform, Orthodox groups unite in effort to free Jonathan Pollard by Debra Nussbaum Cohen
NEW YORK(JTA)-- It's not everyday that the heads of the Reform and Orthodox movements create shared letterhead so that they can issue a joint letter. They have taken the unusual step, though, in an effort to free Jonathan Pollard. Rabbis Eric Yoffie and Raphael Butler, the1 heads, respectively, of the Reform movement's Union of American Hebrew Congregations and of .the Orthodox Union, wrote to President Bill Clinton, asking him "in the noblest spirit of biblical teaching" to "show mercy to Jonathan Pollard and commute his prison sentence." The president has decided twice against freeing Pollard, who is serving a life sentence in prison for delivering classified U.S. information to Israel. Life , sentences have been meted out to other spies only when they were involved in espionage on behalf of one of America's enemies. Never before has someone spying on behalf of a friendly power been given, such a stiff sentence. "• Pollard Spent the first several years of his incarceration in solitary confinement, but is now living as part of the general population in the medium- to maximum-security prison in Buttner, N.C. "We realize that you are familiar with his case and have considered such appeals before," Butler and Yoffie wrote to Clinton in their April 18 letter. 'Yet we, the representatives of the broadest spec- • trum of the American Jewish community, come together in the spirit of unity and out of a clear sense of fellowship and brotherhood as fellow Jews to raiso Jonathan's plight with you once again."
The rabbis have not yet received a response from Clinton. The letter's timing, insisted Butler, was purely coincidental. He had been working with Yoffie on it long before an otherwise little-known fervently Orthodox rabbinical group declared last month that the liberal movements were "not Judaism." The declaration illuminated deep differences between the movements and set off a firestorm of controversy.' The letter was not intended to be a show of Jewish unity, said both rabbis, but it is having that effect. "We are Jews united in sustaining other Jews," Butler said in an interview. "When you have a Jew in captivity you expend all efforts" to help him. While Pollard's wife, Esther, said she was pleased that the two rabbis had issued the joint letter, she was sharply critical of the organized Jewish community's efforts to free her husband. The letter was not likely to be effective, she said, unless serious political pressure is also brought to bear on the president. Both Butler and Yoffie said they sympathized with Esther Pollard's feelingB, but both said they feel that the Jewish community has acted responsibly on her husband's behalf. Jonathan Pollard also has a petition pending before Israel's high court asking the government there to accept full legal responsibility for his work spying for them, which then would compel them to moro vigorously seek his freedom, said his wife.
Protesters gather at UNO as Moshe Katsavreceives honorary doctorate by Carol Katzman, assisted by Morris Maline
About 40 people demonstrated quietly as more than 200 Omahans gathered inside the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Alumni Center Tuesday night. Upset by the invitation to a member of the Prime. Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the protesters gave out flyers but did not disrupt the ceremony. Inside, UNL President Dennis Smith conferred an honorary doctorate upon Minister of Tourism Moshe Katsav for his role in' creating a joint campaign for tourism with the Jordanian government the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Egypt. , A showing of The Lost City ofBethsaido. followed the ceremony. The film, a one-hour documentary produced by UNO Television, will premiere on.Nebraska ETV Network on Sunday, June 22, at 5 pan. Introduced by Tom Gouttierre, Dean of International Studies at UNO, Israeli Minister of Tourism Moshe Katsav spoke to the press before receiving his honorary doctorate. Gouittierre noted that the Minister "can carry on good diplomacy with his neighbors to the East," as the two spoke in Persian and in Arabic. Katsav added, "The peace process is irreversible; the trend is positive and the marketing campaign is an indication of growing Mideast cooperation... "These archeological sites (like Bethsaida) belong to all of humankind; we cannot put borders between them and those who want to learn."