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HIST SOCIETV 1500 R ST LINCOLN WE 6S50S-1651
SPECIAL ISSUE ON EDUCATION AND CAMPS VoLLXXvm
No. 16
Omaha, NE
Beth Israel votes to move to West Omaha
15 Tevet, OYOO-T -
. „ J4.1999
Pennie Z. Davis donates $1.5 million for CDC
by Beth Cohen
Twenty-five years after Rabbi Isaac Nadoff s vision and eight months after study, the congregational members of Beth Israel Synagogue voted to move from their present location on 62nd Street to a lot owned by the synagogue at 126th and Pacific. The congregational meeting, held at Beth Israel Synagogue on Dec. 12, was a result of an April congregational meeting where the congregation passed a motion stating that "Beth Israel Synagogue will move west, and that specific information be brought to the congregation..." The Beth Israel Board of Commissioners has worked since that time to develop a plan to present to the congregation. A building committee was established, and sub-committees met to create a wish list of what a new building would include. Architect Marty Shukert took this information and developed a building concept, or an idea of size and specifications for building a new synagogue. Shukert also had the current Beth Israel building evaluated and gathered information of what it would cost to repair and renovate it. At the meeting, Shukert made a detailed presentation of possible building plans, and general information of what our current building would need in the way of renovations if the congregation voted not to move. Past-president Joe Kirshenbaum then gave a financial report, outlining the assets of the synagogue and how money could be raised to fund a building project. A motion was made that "The Board of Commissioners of Beth Israel Synagogue take all necessary action to build a new synagogue on the synagogue's west property at 126th and Pacific Street...'' The motion did include that a new building would not exceed the sum of pledged contributions, designated building funds, and proceeds from the sale of the current building. During discussion, past-president Bob Oberman made' a presentation representing a group of congregants opposed to the move. He outlined the benefits of staying in the current location and presented dollar figures gathered by independent sources on renovation cost. • Oberman expressed a concern about the observant population which lives near the current synagogue and questioned the provisions for these families once the congregation voted to move. Last April, the Board of Commissioners did pass that "...if the congregation decides, to move, Beth Israel will provide a suitable location for its members who reside around the current location." It was clarified at that board meeting that a "suitable location" might be a rented or purchased house or building in the neighborhood. Beth Israel built their current building in 1950 as a merger among several smaller Orthodox congregations. At the time, it was praised for its architectural advances including the span of the sanctuary and social hall, created without any interior posts. Several years later, the two-Btory classroom wing was added for its Talmud Torah. The property in West Omaha was acquired from Dr. Irving Schapiro in the 1970s. The school on that property was later used for the Omaha Day School, which became the Priedel Jewish Academy; Friedel moved into the Gordman Educational Center in 1995. After discussion, the congregation passed the motion. The Building Committee, chaired by Dr. Paul Shykeh and Rick Katzman, will Booh begin a fundraising campaign to be chaired by Joe Kirshenbaum. ' •
Omaha businessman Pennie Z. Davis, right, came out on a snowy Sunday morning to view the progress of the Child Development Center as Linda Novak, CDC Director, assembles furniture. Davis, long-time owner of Greater Omaha Packing Company in South Omaha, . was "so moved by the facility and personnel"
in a visit to the CDC while it was under construction, that he spontaneously gave a $1.5 million gift in one payment to the JCC's Building Campaign. The full story and a photo of the 20,000square-foot facility is on page 16.
O.M. now D.I., but still O.K. by Carol Katzman
competition, O.M. offers five long-term problems to teams of Beven students in four age categories. The students do all the work themselves and seek original solutions to such problems as: creating a balsawood structure; building and designing a vehicle to perform unusual tasks; or writing an original script about a contemporary or historical event in the form of a Shakespearean play. O.M., however, may. have seen its final play. Last summer, several of the non-profit organization's board members sued the founder, Dr. C. Samuel Micklus, and his family, for misappropriating O.M. assets through the family's forprofit business, Creative Competitions. The family countersued and now a second organization, Destination ImagiNation, leapt into the fray. D.I. offers school teams similar problemsolving challenges and more flexibility, so many former "Omer's" switched. The results Sandy Schapiro McCreight has coached as many as seven teams w*11 b e evident this spring as of students from Omaha North High School for 'Odyssey of the first-time "D.I.ers" compete. Mind,' a creative problem solving contest, which has since been (Continued on page 12) replaced by Destination ImagiNation. .....,'.• It sounds like alphabet soup: O.M. and D.I., but to afficiandos of the creative problem solving contests, if s magic. O.M,, which stands for 'Odyssey of the Mind,' was started 20 years ago for students in elementary school through college. A creative problem-solving