ilewish Press
SERVING NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA FOR NEARLY 80 YEARS Vol. LXXIX
No. 49
Omaha, NE
17 Av, 5760
August 18, 2000
Mideast political expert to visit Omaha by Pam Monsky, Federation Communications Director
Dr. Reuven Hazan, a political scientist and professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem will be in Omaha Tuesday, Aug. 29, to speak to the community at a breakfast at 7:30 a.m. in the Social Hall at the Jewish Community Center. The breakfast, titled "Beyond Camp David," is free (a $2 donation to cover the breakfast cost is appreciated) and open to the entire Jewish community. Hazan is also a journalist and political analyst for the Israel Defense Forces. This past December, members of the Millennium Family Mission to Israel attended a briefing by Hazan. Murray and Sharee Newman, two of the 80 Omaha participants on the mission, heard Hazan speak and enthusiastically encourage community members to come and hear his expert and riveting political analysis. "Dr. Hazan has the great ability of taking a complex and emotionally charged situation and making it understandable to everyone," said Sharee. "With so much happening in the Peace Process, things change daily, even hourly. This will be a very worthwhile way to deepen our understanding of the issues that affect the road to peace," Murray added. A ninth generation Israeli, Hazan worked on the
Foreign Affairs and Defense committee of the Knesset with its then chairman, Abba Eban. He was a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, and also worked with the Israeli Foreign Office as the academic officer of the Consulate General of Israel in New York. Hazan's current research focuses on the dramatic political reforms in Israel, which have transformed the entire political system. As a result of his research, he is frequently asked to provide political analysis for the media including ABC, BBC and NPR. His commentaries have appeared in The Houston Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times, New York Newsday, The Sun, The Boston Globe, and other major newspapers.
Dr. Reuven Hazan
In addition to "Beyond Camp David," Dr. Hazan will speak to JOLT (Jewish Omaha Leadership Training) on Aug. 28, and will also be the keynote speaker for the Women's Federation Campaign Kickoff on Aug. 29. Reservations for the Aug. 29 Community Breakfast with Dr. Reuven Hazan, are recommended and can be made by calling or leaving a voice mail mesage with Kathy Hirshman, JELS Administrator, at 334-6445. The reservation deadline is Aug. 24. "Beyond Camp David with Dr. Reuven Hazan," is sponsored by Jewish Educational and Library Services (JELS), and the Jewish Federation of Omaha.
Omaha organizations join together to celebrate Kurt Weill's 100th birthday
Grandparents Day slated for Sept 10
by Carol Katzman
by Joanie Bernstein
German composer Kurt general admission and Weill, who fled to Paris $5 students and seniors; in 1933 to escape the free to members of the emerging Nazi regime, JCC and Nebraska would have celebrated Jewish Historical his 100th birthday this Society. For ticket inforyear. To pay tribute to mation, call, 1-402-34this European composer OPERA who eventually made his On Saturday, Oct. 7, home in America, Opera 7:30 p.m. "Speak Low," Omaha has spearheaded selected letters of Weill two months of celebratoand Lenya, will be prery events in conjunction sented by Opera Omaha, with several other orgathe Blue Barn Theater, nizations. and the NJHS at the JCC. Admission is free. The tribute opens on Sept. 13 with a photo A cantor's son, Weill and oral history project was born in 1900 in of Our Story, a project of Dessau, Germany, and the Omaha Section of the displayed his musical National Council of talent early in life. By Jewish Women, at the the time he was 12, he Opera Omaha Lobby, was composing and 1625 Farnam. The exhibmounting concerts in his it, on loan from the Composer Kurt Weill family's home. Nebraska Jewish Photo courtesy of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music As an adult, Weill was Historical Society, will be featured at a private immersed in the cafe society of Berlin, between the reception for sponsors and invited guests that two world wars. He often collaborated with the poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht, whose political satire night, 5-7 p.m. Opera Omaha has also partnered with Creighton outraged the Nazis. Riots broke out at several perforUniversity to highlight the Klutznick Symposium, mances and by 1933 Weill left for Paris. There, he Sept. 17-18 at the Jewish Community Center and was commissioned to compose The Seven Deadly Sins, Creighton University. For more information, call Act I of which Opera Opera will present on Saturday, Oct. 14, 8 pan. and Sunday, Oct. 15, 3 p.m. along Leonard Greenspoon, 280-2303. with Songs of Kurt Weill's America at the Brownville Other events on the schedule include the original Concert Hall. Call 402-825-3331 for tickets. 1931 film, Die Dreigoschenoper (The Threepenny In 1935, Weill moved to the United States, where Opera), at the Blue Barn Theater, 614 So. 11 St., on Sunday, Sept. 24, 1 p.m. The film stars Lotte he established himself as an original voice in the Lenya, Weill's wife. Call 346-4398, ext. I l l , for mainstream of American music. Weill turned to Broadway and collaborated with such luminaries as ticket information. Opera Omaha's major events include From Maxwell Anderson, Ira Gershwin, Moss Hart, Ogden Dessau to Times Square, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 7:30 Nash, and Alan Jay Lerner. During the war years, he p.m. at the Jewish Community Center. The concert was very active in artistic initiatives to foster morale features Tuffy Epstein's Klezmorim, soprano Anne and boost war efforts. DeVries and pianist Peter Clogg. Tickets are $10 (Continued on page 12)
Celebrate...honor...join in the fun. Sunday, Sept. 10, 1:30 p.m. is Grandparents Day. L.O.V.E. (the League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly) will once again sponsor an event at the Jewish Community Center, chaired by Patti Nogg. Stan Widman will provide the entertainment and one special bubbe will be honored, the late LeeJane Parsow, one of the founders of L.O.V.E. An exhibit at the JCC is being assembled by volunteers to showcase interviews with grandparents, written by their grandchildren. The stories should be submitted with an 8x10" photo of the child to me or Lois Wine at the Blumkin Home. For information on how to participate in the exhibit or to join L.O.V.E., call Lois at 330-4272. Join us in taking care of those who took care of us.
i
v Blumkin Home resident Fannie Chunovic celebrated Grandparents Day last year.