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HIST SOCIETY 1500 R ST LINCOLN WE 68503-1651
SERVING NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA FOR NEARLY 80 YEARS Vol. LXXVK No. 23 Omaha, NE
SAdar, 5760
February 11,2000
JFS presents Joe Scruggs in benefit concert by Nancy Rampey-Biniamow
Award-winning children's recording artist Joe Scruggs will appear at a concert sponsored by Jewish Family Service at the Omaha Theater Company for Young People on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2 p.m., at "The Rose," at 20th & Farnam. Scruggs received a Cable ACE award for his song, "Bahamas Pajamas" in the Best Original Song category; the award was won the previous year by Barbra Streisand. ~ ., Scruggs, who was heavily influenced by the folk singers of the '60s, made-a commitment to producing children's high quality music in 1983. Calling on longtime friend and marketing whiz Pete Markham, the two formed a partnership and produced his first recording, Late Last Night. Targeting both the educational and family entertainment realms, Scruggs and Markham have built up a following of children, parents and
Schrager Foundation allocates funds to five programs
Joe Scruggs
Holocaust denial in the Syrian media
JERUSALEM (MEMRI)--The editor of the Syrian Regime's daily Tishrin, Muhammad Kheir AlWadi, wrote an article (Jan. 31, 2000) in which he Since 1984, the Phillip G. Schrager and Terri L. denies the Holocaust and accuses Zionism of being Schrager Foundation has been helping support worse than Nazism. The article, titled "The Plague dozens of charitable, educational and religious of the Third Millennium," was published in the •activities of the Jewish Federation and other phil- backdrop of the trial of Holocaust denier David anthropic organizations in the Omaha area. At Irving in •England-and th& international conference their most recent meeting, members of the on the Holocaust that was recently held in Foundation. Board considered nine requests for Stockholm. "The Nazi war-machine annihilated more than 50 funds. Allocations were awarded to the following million lives, including Russians, Poles, French, five programs: . . "Chaver to Chaver," which means friend to Italians, and people of other nationalities. friend, is sponsored by Yachad, an organization for However, Zionism erased the blood of all those vicmembers of the Jewish community who have devel- tims from the human [collective] memory and opmental disabilities. The 'Chaver to Chaver" pro- focused on the suffering of the Jews during the gram, which starts March 31, will include a war. This, despite the fact that there is sound historiShabbat dinner, religious services and an Oneg cal proof that Zionist leaders collaborated with the Shabbat that evening. Nazis in order to escalate the Jewish Problem. Omaha Yachad members will share the experiFurthermore, some of them did not hesitate to ence with members from Chicago, Kansas City and commit and direct terror attacks [against Denver. Linda .Novak, Omaha's Yachad advisor, Jews] inmurders to encourage Jewish immigration to said the invitation will also be extended to Des Palestine.order of course, in full cooperation with Moines, which does not have a Yachad chapter. the GermanThis, Nazi leaders..." Omaha's chapter involves members who range in "Zionism hides the dark chapters of its black hisage from 15 to 65. stories regarding the Nazi 'Chaver to Chaver' will provide an opportunity tory. It invents in which the Jews suffered and inflates for participants "to experience their Jewishness at Holocaust to astronomic proportions..." their own level of ability," explained Novak, by them "The problem is not in the Zionist ambition to learning Shabbat blessings, singing Shabbat songs, forge history, but rather in the Zionist organizalearning socialization skills and making friends. tions' ambitions to revive their distorted version of Funds were also allocated to the B'nai B'rith Youth and use it to deceive international public Organization (BBYO) for a speaker at the Regional history win its empathy, and blackmail it..." Winter Convention, held last December in Omaha. opinion, "Israel and the Zionist organizations strive for Scott Fried, a 36-year-old Jewish man who is goals: first, to be granted more funds from infected with the HIV virus, discussed how being a two Germany and European states and institutions; Jew has had a profound effect on him as he faces second, want to use the legend of the the everyday challenges of living with the virus. He Holocaustthey as a sword hanging over the necks of all • also talked about dating, drug and alcohol use, eat- . those who oppose Zionism who are accused of antiing disorders, gender issues, and being Jewish, as (Al-Hayat (London-Beirut), Feb.l, the 200 high school students at the convention lis- Semitism..." 2000) tened intently. "The countries of the world, that fiercely con'" Julie Kushner, BBYO regional director, said the demned the crimes of Nazism, [should] adamantly objectives of the program were to provide an environment to discuss contemporary, issues, discuss oppose the new Nazi Plague that breeds in Israel tolerance of lifestyles different from the teenagers' and whose poisons and dangers are being spread own lives, and to teach the students about the risks wherever it reaches..." "This is a kind of ideological and physical terrorof having unsafe sex, and dispel myths about HIV ism that was known even in the darkest centuries and those who are living with it. • : in Europe. While history turned the page on the Thirdly, the Schrager Foundation allotted fund- Nazi acts, the Zionist terrorist acts reached their ing for "ARTSPAN: Art to Bridge the Generations, peak. They committed massacres against innocent "an intergenerational and multi-cultural program people and led a policy of aggression and expan(Continued on page 9) ' (Continued on page 9) by Claudia Sherman Foundation Public Relations Coordinator
educators across the nation. He regularly performs for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the International Reading Association and various other teachers' organizations throughout the country. Scruggs has earned four prestigious Parent's Choice Awards. His two videos are also both award winners and his newest video, Joe Scruggs in Concert, was chosen as a winner of a 1993 Notable Children's Video Award from the American Library Association. Tickets for the performance are $10 each; tickets for children under two (who sit on a parent's lap) are $5; patron tickets, which include patron seating and a reception and photo opportunity with Joe Scruggs, are $35 each. Tickets are available at JFS by calling 3302024.
Temple Israel welcomes Rabbi David Ellenson as scholar-in-resldence by Iris Ricks
'Jewish History: The Crucial Moments That •! Have Shaped Our J Jewish People" is < the theme for a i scholar-in-residence weekend, March 3-5, at Temple Israel.' Rabbi Dr. David Ellenson, the I.H. and Anna Grancell Professor of Jewish Religious Thought at Hebrew Union College-'J e w i s h Rabbi David Ellenson Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, will' guide participants through five lectures on the critical events which shaped the character of the Jewish people. He will also reflect on the role of Jews today, as individuals and as a community, in shaping the future of Judaism. The lectures begin on Friday, March 3, 8 pan., when Dr. Ellenson will speak on "Exile and Return in Jewish History: The Recurring Pattern." On Saturday, March 4, he continues with Torah study at 9:30 a.m. during Bagels and Bible, followed by a lecture on "The Destruction of the Temples and Our People's Responses," during Shabbat morning services at 10:30 a.m. Prior to Havdallah, Ellenson will speak on "The Shoah and the Rise of the State of Israel," at 4:30 p.m." On Sunday, March 5, the weekend concludes with "Judaism and Freedom: Emancipation and the American Experience," at 10 ajn^ following a bagel brunch. All events are open to the community and sponsored by the Hermene Zweiback Center for Lifelong Jewish Learning. Dr. Ellenson holds a PhD from Columbia University and was ordained at HUC-JIR in New York. This past summer, he was a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem where he taught and pursued his own research. Prior to Dr. Ellenson's visit, Rabbi Aryeh Azriel will lead two short discussions of Dr. Ellenson's books and writings as an introduction to the topics of the scholar-in-residence weekend. The discussion groups will be on Saturday, Feb. 19, at 9&0 a.m., or Sunday, Feb. 20, at 9 a.m. For more information, call the Temple office at 556-6536.