Jewish Press
SPECIAL PRE-HOUDAY FOOD AND RECIPE ISSUE Vol. LXXIX
22 Elul, 5760
No. 54 Omaha, NE
September 22 ,2000
Radio's first woman news anchor, Susan Stamberg, inspires Women's Campaign event by Pam Monsky, Federation Communications Director
Inspiring women will be the topic of the 2001 Women's Division Event on Oct. 25. The keynote speaker, Susan Stamberg, is the first woman to anchor a nightly news broadcast on the radio. Stamberg went on to host National Public Radio's hugely popular AW Things Considered for 14 years. "While I'm in Omaha, I plan to talk about women I've interviewed who are tremendously inspiringsome Jewish, some not," said Stamberg. Being Jewish is one part of what affects her interviews. "Everything that we are goes into the work we do. I am a woman, a parent, a wife, a Jew and a New Yorker. It's all of those things, and I can't select any one," she added. Stamberg has just finished interviewing Margaret Salinger, daughter of author J.D. Salinger, who is part Jewish. "Her book is called Bream Catcher, and it isn't "Daddy Dearest" [referring to the book, Mommy Dearest, the unflattering and bitter book about Joan Crawford by her daughter], but more like "Daddy, Why?" because he was so very emotionally abusive, so aloof, so demanding and so judgmental. He has to be the most reclusive man in the world and he hasn't given an interview since 1963. He also hasn't published anything since 1965." Meip Gies, the woman who found and saved the diary of Anne Frank, was another incredible interview that Stamberg savored.
"I interviewed her in Amsterdam and we talked about her life and her memoir which begins, 'I am not a hero.' "When I had the chance to ask her about that statement, she said anyone would have done what she did. She lives in a tiny little apartment surrounded by Anne—a big portrait of her in the living room, photographs of the two of them and furniture that belonged to the Frank family. She's 93 years old now and has suffered two strokes which affect her communication," said Stamberg. "I've also interviewed Rosa Parks about that day on the bus. Rosa was more prepared for that day than we have been led to believe; she was primed. She had been the NAACP Chapter secretary for some years and was married to a civil
Susan Stamberg
rights activist. He held planning and resistance meetings in their home with guns and rifles on the dining room table. Parks would sit out front at night as the lookout. Parks was more groomed for this than Meip w a s / Stamberg said. Co-chairs for the Women's Event are Sheryn Joffe and her daughters, Suzanne Pocras and Andrea Siegel. The event will begin at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 25. at Beth El Synagogue. Cos! is $18 for a light luncheoii. with a minimum 2001. Campaign pledge of $136. A cookbook with recipes? from the community called The Untested Cookbook is being compiled and will be available to women who attend the event. To submit a recipe, or for any questions, please contact Kathy McGauvran, Women's Campaign Director, 334-6427.
Federation recruits for two missions
Israel will hold most world's Jews by 2080, according to projections
by Pam Monsky, Federation Communications Director
by Gayle Horwitz
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Mission co-chairmen Maxine Women Kirshenbaum, left, and Eunie Denenberg are eager to explore Prague and Israel this spring. An extraordinary opportunity awaits Omaha's Jewish women. The Jewish Federation is organizing an exclusive trip to Prague and Israel for women from April 28-May 9, 2001, led by Eunie Denenberg and Maxine Kirshenbaum. An informational meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 4, 10 a.m., at the Kirshenbaum home, 1742 Crawford Road. Alex Fleischer, an Israeli guide who has led more than a dozen Omaha missions, will be at that meeting. To reserve for the Mission Meeting, call Lana Reichardt, 334-6430, by Thursday, Sept. 28. A second meeting will be held Nov. 9, 7 p.m., also at the Kirshenbaum home. The Women's Mission will first visit Prague and see the vibrant Jewish life in Central Europe that flourished during the Renaissance through World War II. Prague's Jewish Quarter was the most famous in Central Europe," said Denenberg. "We will see the (Women's Mission story and a story about the upcoming Men's Mission on page 18)
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Migration to Israel is expected to almost double the country's Jewish population to 10 million by 2080. Meanwhile, the number of Jews living in the United States is expected to drop by a third - to just 3.8 million. Worldwide, the number of Jews is estimated to rise slightly during the next 80 years - eventually hitting 15 million. These projections are at the core of a new demographic study of world Jewish, population trends that was published this week in the American Jewish Yearbook 2000, produced by the American Jewish Committee. The article, "Prospecting the Jewish Future: Population Projections, 2000-2080," predicts future Jewish population trends in the United States and Israel, as well as in the former Soviet Union, Europe, Latin America and other Jewish population centers throughout the world. Based on existing data from studies commissioned independently by world Jewish communities, the report was authored by a trio of leading demographers from Hebrew University in Jerusalem: Sergio DellaPergola, Uzi Rebhun and Mark Tolts. The study portrays change over the next 80 years, as the composition of world Jewry surges in Israel and dwindles elsewhere in the world. As early as 2010, Israel and the United States—which currently is home to the largest number of Jewsare expected to be equal. By the middle of the century, Israel will be home to the majority of the world's Jews, particularly Jewish youth. An estimated 77 to 86 percent of all Jews under the age of 15 will live in Israel by the year 2080. Meanwhile, the percentage of elderly Jews in the Diaspora will continue to increase, especially as baby boomers hit 65 during the next 20 years. By
2080, more than 40 percent of all Diaspora Jews will be 65 and over. This trend, coupled with low fertility rates, will likely extinct communities such as those the former Soviet Union. The study's findings, which carry with them enormous political implications for the United States and Israel, may surprise the American Jewish community in particular. "It's going to be a wake-up call," said Lawrence Grossman, Editor of the American Jewish Year Book. "American Jews are in a Golden Age. We've never had it so good. But there is a cloud on the horizon." According to the study, the decline in numbers of Jews in North America is expected to accelerate after the 2030s. North America Jewry will make up an even larger share of the Diaspora Jewish population than it does today, as Jewish populations around the world outside of Israel will decrease. Longer life expectancy, low fertility rates and diminished Jewish identification will likely be the chief causes of the plunge. (Continued on page 20)
Inside Mark Bloom sings........................... Recipes for the Holidays....
.........page 6
Jews and the Olympics................... More recipes Cookbook review
page 2
page 12
starting on page 13 ......... .......page 15
Panel discussion on DOMA.
page 16
Pacesetter golf outing.
page 19