WE HIST SOCIETY 1500 R ST LINCOLN KE 6 8 5 0 8 - 1 6 5 1
Serving Nebraska and Eastern Iowa for more than 75 Years VoLLXXVI
No. 6
Omaha, NE
350 women leam and laugh
3 Cheshvan, 5759
October 23,1998
Clinton refuses to accept summit failure by Gil Sedan
by Pam Monsky. Federation Communications Director
Failure at this week's U.S.-sponsored Middle Bast peace talks was not an option for President Clinton. Senior U.S. officials said as much after Clinton had invested more than 50 hours of his time, and canceled two crucial Democratic party fundraising trips, to try to convince Israel and the Palestinians to end 19 months of stalemate and get their 5-year-old peace process back on track. Just what kind of success Clinton could claim, if any, remained in doubt late Tuesday as negotiators continued working toward an accord. .'. '<• Presidential summits usually have preordained outcomes. But this session had many hurdles for the parties to clear before Clinton could declare success. In his efforts to secure a deal, Clinton had pulled out all the1 stops. ' ;, .'Xziyj-r • i^;-^' ;' " He stationed his Secretary of State at the Wye Plantation in Maryland, the site cf the talks that opened Oct. 15. Clinton also brought Vice-president Al Gore to the meetings, and he encouraged Jordan's King Hussein to literally get off his sick bed in Minnesota, where he has been' receiving chemotherapy for cancer, and join the talks. :;.: '• For the White House, the overriding concern is (Continued on page 12)
Rabbi Weiss speaks about Jewish healing Rabbi Eric Weiss^ Reform rabbi and "maven" on Luncheon was energizing, informative and so much fun! We are overwhelmed with the ' Jewish spirituality and its effect on healing spoke to the Jewish Press recently about his upcoming response of the women in our community!" visit to Omaha, his background, and future plans. (More photos in next week's issue of the Jewish press) What in your background -' education - training personal experience - led you to this position and this use of your rabbinic training? ; . ., ,. My formal background includes ordaination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute. pJT Religion, formal training in Jewish education, clinical chaplaincy and spiritual direction. •... •: i i;;-.. What draws me to this work is from my own life experience...it is where I have found I am most effective and helpful as a Jew and as a rabbi. For me, it is the place that has the most spiritual richness. What can Jews do, as individuals as Well as communally, to help others going through stressful periods due to life changes? All of us are fully able to respond to others in Preschoolers from Bettie Adam's afternoon need on many different'levels. We can study what • class at theJCC Child Development Center our tradition tells us about Bikkur Cholim, visiting made decorations for their succah. the sick. We can volunteer our time to do friendly visits to people; we can be available for the times of mourning. . : : And most importantly we can simply let others More than 30 students and staff members from the Beyt Shalom religious school braved know we are present for them. We need to reach the wind and rain to help decorate the succah. out to others in need rather than waiting for them . at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. Students to come to us. It is also important to talk about life stress. It later entertained the residents. can vary for many of us. If we have a communal conversation about life changes, it becomes part of the common vocabulary of the community; it raises awareness-and. makes us more sensitive to the lives of those around us. On the property of Dr. Mark Pilley, . What is it in our tradition that promotes healing Scoutmaster of Pack and Troop 218, stands a and spirituality - and what's missing? . succah constructed entirely by hand by the In addition to the above,' our tradition promotes 30-some members and supporters of the pack wholeness which functions on many levels. American and troop. The group re-convened for a Jewish life has tended to focus our Jewish identity on Sukkot campout following Havdallah, when other aspects of Judaism as ways to speak to our the scouts and their families shared dinner inner spiritual needs. Social Action, for example, is a ' and a campfire. A lulav and.etrog were vital part of being Jewish. And so is attending.to our passed around as Steve Chesen led the blessinner spiritual yearnings. None of this is missing in ings. Joey Kahn, left, Zach Spooner, Danny Judaism, but we are in a place of adjusting some of Pachman, Ales Terry and Zach Helm prethe ways we have used our tradition to fully complepared decorations for the scout succah. For Succah decorating party at Beth El, from left: ment our Jewish wholeness. ' . more information, call Allison Latenser at Melissa DeBruin, Jessica Hasslinger, Jacob . (Continued on page 2) 553-8853, or Nancy Wolf at 330-6736. Friedman, Alec Lerner and Lydia Stern. . , _ , , _ _ Campaign Co-chairs Maxiue kifshenbaum, middle, and Jan Schneiderman (with Dr. Ruth), said, "The
Sukkot around the Heartland