Jewish
Serving Nebraska and Western Iowa for more than 75 years VoLLXXVJ
10 Adar, 5759
No. 24 Omaha, NE
February 26,1999
A/lore than a vacation: theRafuls in Israel
Women's Symposium to address current issues
by Dinah Raful
The first Women's Symposium will be held Sunday, April 18, at the UNO Alumni Center, cochaired by Carol Bloch and Gloria Kaslow The purpose of the Symposium is to bring together women of all ages for a day of learning and discussion while exploring the issues and challenges facing Jewish women today. The Symposium is sponsored by Jewish Family Service (JFS) in conjunction with many other Jewish organizations and foundations. "The Symposium will allow us to look at the' issues that are important to all of us," said Kaslow, who is president of JFS. "The workshops will focus on the things that we are challenged with not only as women, but as Jewish women." Bloch added, "The Women's Symposium will be stimulating, inspiring and fun. Every woman should take some quality time for herself, and this Symposium affords the perfect opportunity." The Symposium will feature three sessions of concurrent workshops along with keynote luncheon speaker Esther Perel. Perel is a senior faculty
by Pam Monsky, Federation Communications Director
Touring the Old City of Jerusalem are Leah. Dinah and Sarah Raful, waiting to descend the steps near the Kotel, the Western Wall. (Editor's note: Sarah Raful is spending her junior year abroad at Hebrew University; her mother, Dinah, and her sister, Leah, are living in Jerusalem for six months during Sarah's second semester. What follows are excerpts • from Dinah's journal) I After a long but uneventful flight (thank goodi ness!) we arrived in Tel Aviv. It was dark and rainy \ on our way into Jerusalem but we didn't care.. .it > just felt great to be on land. • Sarah, who's studying at Hebrew University for 1 the year, met uswith a big smile and tears! We waited to fill up a sherut, a large van, with other people before the driver would take off for our new :. .home.. .we are finding out that patience is a key. We are living in an excellent location right in the '.' center of. Jerusalem. The apartment is quite "modern for Israel. Leah has her own room with a trunV die-bed. Adequate closets, 2 1/2 baths, a combination kitchen/dining/living room area. Appliances and utensils are more than enough. Sarah had stocked the refrigerator and brought beautiful tulips to welcome us. We had our first ..;' Israeli dinner with hummus, eggplant dip, fresh pita, rugalach, strudel. . .(I'm not sure about dieting during this adventure). We managed to stay awake till midnight talking, but our immediate thoughts were ones of being overwhelmed with what we were about to undertake. . .and that we really wanted Larry (Dean of Creighton Law School), and Anna, (a freshman at Emerson College in Boston), to be with us to share. Our immediate priority on our first day was to find the Anglican Internationalr.School for Leah. It is the only English-speaking high school in : Jerusalem comprised of students from all over the world whose parents are here for short periods. With Sarah's bus instructions, we caught the #9 bus about three blocks from our apartment to meet with the school's registrar. Leah had an interview with the high school coordinator. Her schedule is similar to hers at Central High School: English, biology and chemistry, math, Hebrew, drama, physical education, computer, music and religious education. It is a British Christian school but the religious
part is minimal, Leah is the only Jewish student in her grade, not unlike Central, but with several Jewish faculty. Now after two full weeks, Leah goes , off in the mornings by herself and enjoys the independence of the youth. She stops on the way home to grab a sandwich at Nathan's or a bagel from Bonkers Bagel or a sweet from one of,many of the indescribable bakeries. My goal was to find an English as a Second Language position teaching for children or adults. With Leah in school, I began to go to job contacts, from e-mails and faxes from last summer. I took my trusty map, and walked and walked all over.. It was a wonderful way to learn about the city. The weather was beautiful and it was very invigorating. The Association for Americans and Canadians have been very helpful in assisting me in my search. But after two weeks of interviews, my days will be filled with volunteering instead. Being here only four and a half months is just not quite long enough for a complete assignment. I visited the Evangeline de Rothchild School, a Jewish day school, a 10-minute walk from the apartment, and the principal was thrilled to have me offer my ESL services three mornings a week to their Israeli and native-English speakers whose • families have made aliyah. It felt great to be in a school again with beautiful little children, including many Ethiopians. Part-time volunteering will allow me to take classes also. I attended a Talmud class at the Conservative shul and really enjoyed it. We have become part of Sarah's life again and her many Hebrew University Rothberg international Program friends. We jumped on the bus up to campus to see her sparse dormroom and kitchen facilities and attended a production of Les Mis. Her friends are made up of college juniors primarily focused on having an international experience and many looking towards Jewish communal work for careers. We enjoyed our first Shabbat,' walking to the Koiel, the Wall, with eight of her friends. It was Leah's first experience and as with many, quite overwhelming. We had our little notes to slip into (Continued on page 12)
Carol Bloch and Gloria Kaslow,.Women's -Symposium Co-chairs. member of the couples program at the 92nd Street Y in New York and a clinical instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at New York University Medical School. (Continued on page 2)
JCC, Federation promote two, hire new BBYO Director by Carol Katzman
When Women's Division Director Cindy Kaufman announced her family's move to Chicago this summer, it created a cascade effect among job openings at the Jewish Federation and the Jewish Community Center. Kathy McGauvran, current Member Service Director at the JCC, will assume Kaufman's position in July, when she returns from maternity leave (she is expecting her first child in April) and Lisa Shkolnick will take over McGauvran's position. That promotion left an opening for a new BBYO Director, which Shkolnick has held since Alon Mor returned to Israel in November of 1996. Julie Corbin, who had recently agreed to become an adviser for one of the girls' BBYO chapters, will now become the BBYO Director. McGauvran, a native Omahan and daughter of, Linda and Harold Mann, started at the JCC as a "temp" filling in for another employee. "I came for two weeks," McGauvran said with a smiler"and stayed for ten years!" During her tenure, McGauvran overhauled the operation of the JCC's "basket room* into a centralized Member Service,Department, where all registrations for classes and programs are overseen. ' "I wanted to stay in Jewish,communal service," she added, "the opening for a Women's Campaign (Continued on page 12)