NE HIST SOCIETY 1500 R ST LINCOLN NE 6 8 5 0 8 - 1 6 5 1
Celebrating More Than 75 Years Vol. LXXIV
No. 53
10 Elul, 5757
Omaha, NE
Federation Annual Campaign going for "three million plus9
Triple bomb blast rocks crowded Jerusalem site
Paul Epstein and Steve Simon to chain998 Campaign
JERUSALEM- A triple bomb blast rocked the Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall in downtown Jerusalem on Thursday, killing five, plus the three suicide bombers and wounding more than 170. The dead include: Smadar Elchanan, 14, and Sivan Zarka, 14, classmates at an Israeli girls' high school; California-born Yael Botwin, 12, who made aliyah with her family, Rami Kuzeshvili, 20, who . emigrated from the former Soviet Union; and Eliahu Markowitz, 40, who was lunching with his 11-year-old son. • At least one American from Los Angeles, an 18year-old student at Reishit Yeshiva in the Old City, is among the injured, according to news reports. Israel immediately resealed the West Bank and Gaza Strip as the Palestinian Authority denounced the bombing, for which Hamas reportedly claimed responsibility. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crack down against Palestinian militants after last week's bombing if Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat failed to do so. "We cannot continue in this way," he told reporters at a Jerusalem hospital. President Clinton, who condemned the attack, announced that U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would arrive in the Middle East this week. Senior Israeli officials called on her to go ahead with the visit, but only to discuss security concerns. • : Last week, Israel partMly-Jifted the closure it iinposed on theI West Bank and ;Gaza after. HJaly"" 30 double suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed 15 Israelis. Netanyahu spokesman David Bar Ulan linked the partial easing of the closure with the latest attack. Naomi Segal ofJTA contributed to this article.
Satellite links Omaha to continent-wide Talmud-study completion Madison Square Garden has already sold out 25,600 seats and the Nassau Coliseum, with another 18,000 seats, is filling fast, but Jews in Omaha will be linked to both on Sunday, Sept. 28, for the 10th SiyitrriflaShas, Completion of the Talmud.. Through the efforts of Prof. Richard Freund and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Rabbi Howard Kuther of Beth Israel Synagoguewas able to.arrange a satellite link to the live events from New York where thousands of Jewish men and .women will celebrate s,even-and-a-half years of Daf Yomi, a page of Talmud study a day. Omaha joins 30 other cities across the North American continent, Sunday, Sept; 28, 5 p.m. at UNO's Arts and Science Hall, Room 288, located at 60th and Dodge Streets. The first Siyum HaShas was organized, in 1923 in Vienna. There, Rabbi Meir Shapiro, the Lubliner Bav, shared a dream: a page a day Talmud study program that would intensify Torah study and spiritually unite Jews around the world. The last Siyum HaShas brought together 20,000 Jews at Madison Square Garden. ' • Daf Yomi students include seasoned Torah scholars as well as educated laymen from every walk of life. All set aside some time each day to study one page of Talmud, each studying the same page on the same day. It takes 2,711 days to complete the cycle. During the Holocaust, Daf Yomi .groups met in the camps and in 1946, a handful of survivors completed the program's third cycle. .Participation in Daf Yomi ii not a requirement for joining the Sept. 28 celebration. The event is iree and open to everyone in the Jewish community, regardless of affiliation. For more information, call Rabbi Kutnor at the synagogue, 656-6288.
September 12,1997
by Pam Monsky, Federation Communications Director
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The Jewish Federation | millennium, we need to of Omaha has announced . break through and go to that Paul Epstein and the next level financially, Steve Simon will lead which is three million the 1998 Federation dollars plus. Annual Campaign for a "Our needs in the next second year. century will be greater in The Campaign supevery facet of our organiports the programs and zations—in new technoloservices of the Federagy alone! On top of that, tion and its Centers of the needs in Israel are Paul Epstein Excellence: The Jewish continuing due to the Community Center, Jewish Family Service, Jewish cost of peace and resettlement," he added. Education and Library Services, Jewish Senior Steve Simon, General Campaign Co-chairman, Services and the ADL/CRC, as well as the Jewish said, "Our community's future depends on this Press and the Foundation. In addition, Campaign Campaign year after year and Omaha responds funds support the needs of Jews.in Israel and 60 generously. Our goal is to raise the level of our givcountries world wide. ing capacity to reach $3 million-plus. There are General Campaign Co-chairman, Paul Epstein, Jews in need here in Omaha and around the world, said, "I am thrilled to be back to continue the work even though we may not see them on a daily basis. : we started last year. As we get closer to the next We won't let them down." Foundation Featurette
Teens co-edit special Jewish Press edition by Claudia Sherman Foundation Public Relations Coordinator
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"The Jewish community of Omaha has given me a lot of opportunities," noted Danny Cohn, a junior at the.University of Kansas in Lawrence. "I wanted to giveT^acka/little something." " 'V i ~ V u ; ; l Cohn and Beth Shyken are student co-editors of the New Year's edition of the Jewish Press which is written by and about teenagers in the Omaha, Lincoln and Council Bluffs Jewish communities. Joanie Jacobson, managing editor of the New Year's edition, asked. Cohn and Shyken to be coeditors because "it's important to have teenage input in a teen issue. It would have been a big mistake not to,have teenagers involved 'at the top' in the decision making," explained Jacobson. "They were an integral part? of putting this 84page issue together, she added, Cohn, son of Jeff and Pam Cohn, had worked for the Jewish Press previous' to being co-editor of the Rosh Hashanah teen issue. Eager to get his voice out to the Jewish community,, he said working on the teen issue has been "a learning experience. I've had to develop patience and people skills," he admitted. ' In Lawrence, Kansas, he has been involved in public relations efforts on.behalf of the university women's basketball team writing brochures and -doing media bites on television and radio. This summer, he has learned about print journalism. "I've already applied for public relations internships for next summer in Chicago, Austin, Denver, and New York," Cohn said. Working on the teen issue will provide him with writing samples to ' build his resume.
Shyken, daughter of Paul and Susann Shyken, spent most of her summer in Israel on an archeological dig. A sophomore at the University of Michigan, she worked on the teen issue before she left for. Israel; and upon her return. The work . involved editing, layout and writing.' After two years on the staff of Westside High School's Lance, Shyken plans to write for The Michigan Daily, this year. Although she enjoys writing whether it's for a newspaper or for an English class, she is thinking of teaching elementary education and eventually going to medical school. . "I think this issue of the Jewish Press is a way to link teens and adults in the community," Shyken explained. She also believes it will be a way for teens to relate to each other. . Carol Katzman, Editor of the Jewish Press said, "We would love to have endowment funds with the Jewish Federation Foundation, like those of the Library and Jewish Family Service, that would generate the income we pay a summer intern. We are very fortunate to have a lot of,tpl. ented writers of high school and college age* anil it would be beneficial not just to us to have an extra pair of hands but to provide a professional experience to journalism students." Cohn said being co-editor was a "very positive experience. It'll be a good paper," he added. According to Jacobson, the teen issue is just "the tip' of the iceberg"7 of what the Jewish community can offer to teenagers. "They are a reservoir of untapped resources," she said. "There are dozens of creative opportunities that our Jewish community '(\ can offer our teens."
Teens bring home medals from Maccabi games by Fran Coren
Twenty Omaha youths recently represented our Jewish community at the 1997 JCC Maccabi Youth Games in Kansas City. From the opening ceremonies at the Kemper Arena to the closing and victory party, the Kansas City Jewish community organized and hosted an outstanding week of activities and sports competitions. The Omaha delegation brought back medals in tennis, golf and basketball. Julie Coren, a sophomore at Burke High School, competed in girls' 16-16 tennis. She had won a silver medal in last year's Maccabi Youth Games in St. Louis in the 13-14 age category. This year, she won four singles matches, defeating players from ; (Continued on poge 8)
Julie Coren won two gold medals in tennis at the 1997 Maccabi Youth Games in Kansas City. She is the daughter of Meyer and Fran Coren. More photos and a.feature story by Robbie Epstein will be published in the Sept. 20 New Year's issue of the Jewish Prcao.