ewish Presi
SERVING NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA FOR MORE THAN 75 YEARS Vol. LXXVI
LINCOLN WE A3308-1&51
No. 41 Omaha, NE
Blumkin Home hosts the'Eden'tour
vuijr A, J&99
Community reception planned forEdythe Wolf
New center for neglected children provides Jewish refuge in Moscow
Twenty-six years ago this month, Edythe Wolf and her husband, by Lev Krichevsky Martin, came tot MOSCOW, June 21 (JTA) -Small and painfully Omaha from Sagi-, thin, Dima looks younger than his six years. In a bold, exciting move, the leadership of the iiaw, MI--Edie asf In the past few years, Dima's mother abandoned Rose Blumkin Jewish Home is introducing the the first profession-f his family, his father, suffering from health and finanEden Alternative to its residents, staff and the al librarian of the Jewish Community cial problems, could not take proper care of him. community. This fresh approach to the care of frail Center's Library at This month, Dima joined 27 other Jewish boys elders adopts principles which bring decision-mak- the old ' J ' on 20th and girls between the ages of two and 15 who are ing in line with the needs of residents, rather than and Dodge, and being raised at the Passin-Waxman Center, a new bureaucratic priorities. Marty as Vice-presiJewish children's home in the center of Moscow. The appearance of companion animals, indoor dent and Academic The home, which held its dedication ceremony plants, gardens and children within the walls of Dean of Iowa Westlast week, was established with a $250,000 grant the Blumkin Home also adds a "humanizing" ele- ern Community Colfrom Anita Waxman, a successful Broadway proment, according to Dr. William H. Thomas, founder lege in Council ducer. Believed to be the first such center to open of the Eden Alternative. Bluffs. Edythe Wolf in Russia in 65 years, the home is also supported Dr. Thomas, his wife, Judy, their five children by the United Jewish Israel Appeal of Great Dr. Wolf retired in 1966, and on Tuesday, July and Dr. Thomas' Britain and a number of local donors. 13, at 4:30 p.m., the community will celebrate „ parents will be in All but four of the children here have a living __ Omaha as part of Mrs. Wolfs retirement at a special reception in the parent who cannot care for them because of chronic a 25-city, 10,000- JCC Gallery. A native of Philadelphia, Wolf attended Temple . social, financial and health problems - including mile tour, to speak at a forum University and received her degree in library sci- alcoholism. While most of the children hail from Moscow, at the Jewish ences from Columbia University in New York. She worked as a librarian at Michigan State University several have been brought here from Russia's trouCommunity Center, Sunday, and Temple B'nai Israel Synagogue Library in bled North Caucasus region near the breakaway republic of Chechnya, and three come from famiJuly 11, from Saginaw before moving to Omaha in 1976. During her tenure here, Wolf supervised the cat- lies affected by the 1986 nuclear accident in 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sponsored by aloging of the original JCC library's 15,000 vol- Chernobyl, Ukraine. "For about a year, we've been looking for Jewish . the RBJH, in umes and supervised the move into the library's kids in trouble," says Rafiel Ben-Yosef, the sturdy, current space on the 132nd Street campus. Today, , William H. Thomas, ere- coop eration with that-collection has grown to more than 35,000 vol- bearded man with a smiling face who runs the home. ator of the Eden Alternative. t n e American. umes and is considered to be one of the finest Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, Judaic collections between Chicago and the West the forum will explore the future of aging and Coast. elderhood. This is Dr. Thomas' only stop in Next year, the library will move into expanded Nebraska. quarters at the entrance to the JCC, dedicated to In addition to Dr. Thomas" and his family, a niece Rabbi Myer S. and Dorothy Kripke. - who signs for the hearing impaired, nurses for the The reception is being chaired by former Library two Thomas daughters, and "Bud", the bus driver, Board presidents Joyce Cohen and Gloria Kaslow, will accompany the tour. and current president Frances Gottlieb. It is open (Continued on page 10) to the entire community. by Carol Katzman "Life is more than just dying." -William H. Thomas, M.D., founder of the Eden Alternative
JCC and Friedel Academy receive grants from Newman funds by Claudia Sherman Foundation Public Relations Coordinator
More than $9,000 was allocated to two children's programs and to scholarships for needy families by members of the Esther K. Newman/Carolyn Kully Newman Funds Grants Committee at their meeting in May. J i n the absence of Chairman Barbara Epstein, Rosalie Saltzman conducted the meeting. Other members of the committee who attended included Dani Shrago, Mary Rich, Roxanne Kahn, Robert Kully, Debbie Salomon, Sherri Green and David Pitlor. Foundation Endowment Director Marty Ricks .and Cyrila Kotyza, Foundation Administrative Assistant, also attended the meeting. A g'rant awarded to the Jewish Community Center (JCC) is to be used to hire an Israeli language specialist for the Child Development Center's summer camp this year. The specialist is in charge of planning and implementing summer activities for children two to four years old. Israeli sports and games will be integrated into daily summer camp activities, according to Corey Kirshenbaum, JCC Assistant Director. The purpose of the program is to enhance the Jewish content of the summer camp program, promote the importance of exercise and encourage incorporating exercise into children's daily routines. The program will also help develop the children's knowledge of Hebrew.'
A young girl rollerblades through the courtFriedel Jewish Academy (FJA) requested funds yards of t h e old ghetto area in Vilnius, for a program entitled 'Building the Foundation for Lithuania, one stop on the recent Women's Pre-Kindergarten Jewish Learning.' FJA will Campaign Mission. Complete story and more develop a curriculum for a pre-kindergarten class photos on page 9. for children who arefiveyears old but not ready to He and his wife, Svetlana, live at the center and begin a formal kindergarten program. Funds will be used to purchase materials for the call themselves the children's parents. "We thought it would be difficult to find kids for a pre-kindergarten curriculum in reading, math, science, social studies and social skills. FJA plans to Jewish children's home," Svetlana said. I t turned out criwork in cooperation with the Child Development to be easy, especially now, during the economic : Center to identify children who would benefiTfrW .vSiB^sha-addsj. referring* to.the.financial chao# that. the program, which is scheduled to begin in the fall has gripped Russia since last August As poverty has spread, family problems have of 1999. multiplied and Russia's social support networks Michael Linn, Director of FJA, reported that there are already a number of families interested . have deteriorated. Russia is facing the worst disaster since World War II, when hundreds of thouin the program. In addition, committee members granted funds to sands of children were left without parental care. The situation of Jewish children is usually slightprovide scholarships for needy families. Esther K. Newman Fund allocations are intended ly better, but the economic turmoil has left its to subsidize educational, religious, cultural, social scars on many Jewish families as well. "When a Tfiddishe mama' turns her kid over" to a _ and recreational projects that provide program1 ming for children and young adults through the age home, then "something in the family went terribly wrong," Rafiel Ben-Yosef says. of 23 who are not attending college. Programs for Without the center, most of the children would families whose children are kindergarten age or younger are the recipients of grants from the have probably never ended up in an institution because of the appalling conditions of Russian Carolyn Kully Newman Fund. state-run homes for children, where kids are Both funds are administered by the Foundation exposed to shocking levels of cruelty and neglect of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. (Continued on page 10)