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Hareh.2,2001
Separated 47 Years, Brother and Sister Reunited When Art Exhibit Comes to Omaha by CAROL KATZMAN, Editor
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Leah Kosinovsky and her husband, Joseph, have been members of the Jewish community since 1980, when they followed Leah's cousin, Samuel Haykin, to Omaha, NE, a place not wellknown in the Soviet Union. For a moment, when Kosinovsky filled out the immigration forms for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, she thought about her step-brother, Abram Rabkin. Eleven years older, married and already working in Leningrad, Rabkin and his "little sister" haven't seen one another since 1954. "We were living in Bobruisk, about 60 miles from Minsk," she recalled. "Abram had already moved to Leningrad and I was about to start my university studies when my father died. I stayed In contact with my two aunts (one of whom is Haykin's mother) and my Uncle David, but the family just drifted apart. I lost contact with my stepmother and Abram." She did run into him once on Nevsky Prospect in Leningrad, He was with Ms wife, a painter in her own right, Maria Dobrin. Leah was a struggling student; it was a typical Russian winter day—bitter cold—and she had no gloves. "Maria insisted that I take her good wool gloves, handmade in Estonia," Kosinovsky said. "I always remembered how kind she was to me." Brother and sister promised to call each other, but they never did. All that will change on March 19, when the world-renowned artist and writer arrives here for a gala exhibit at the Bemis School of Art and the Jewish Community Center. Another former Soviet who arrived in the last wave of immigration from the PSU, Polina Karaeva, had heard from her sister, Tamara, in the former Soviet Union about a book about their hometown, Bobruisk. Not only had Rabkin written the book, but Tamara offered to track him down. (Continued on page 13)
Many of Abram Kabkln's paintings, similar to this one, will be on sale starting -with the opening on March 31 at the Bemis, and April 1 at the JCC. Rabkin's paintings have been exhibited in museozns in Russia and Belarus and in private collections in the U.S., Britain, France, Australia and IsraeL This photo is from Ms book on Bobruisk, funded by the Joint Distribution Committee.
Super Sunday 2001: An Odyssey in Jewish Generosity
Powell's Mideast Visit Appears t o Herald Shift
by PAM MONSKY, Federation Communications Director—-———— "What do you get when you bring together 20 vol- Bag N'Save Supermarkets, Bagel Bin, Baker's unteer callers, local businesses and more than Supermarkets, Bergman Jewelers, Brodkey 1,200 donors to the Jewish Federation of Omaha's Jewelers, Garbo's Salons, Get Mugged, Gordman's, Herman's Nut House, Hollywood Video, Ideal Pure Annual Campaign? Water, the Jewish The answer is one terrific Super Sunday. Super Sunday is the largest, single-day fundrais- Community Center, '" " ' er for the Jewish Federation of Omaha. This year, Julio's, Krispy Kreme . -' as in the past, volunteers from the Jewish commu- Donuts, Malibu Gal/ -"'-•-. nity gathered at Omaha Steaks' telemarketing leries, Mid-Continent • faculty and phoned more than 1,200 people, raising Bottlers, Montage, No Frills Supermarkets, . •••• some $40,0Q0 in the process! ' , Bob Kully, Co-chairman of the 2001 Annual Nobbies, Omaha ComCampaign, was amazed by the energy in the room pound, Omaha E-Gifts, Omaha World-Herald, as the callers began phoning donors. Praxair, Inc., River "It was an incredible sight," Kully said. "For City Star, Spirit many people, Super Sunday is their only person-toWorld, Nancy Rips, person contact with the Jewish Federation and and Zio's Pizza. these volunteer callers are so enthusiastic. . .they make a great impression on the people with whom they speak." Jan Perelman, Federation Executive Director, credits the hard work of the Super Sunday Committee for the event's success. "The leadership of Kim and Mark Schwartz as chairpeople of Super Sunday was key to this exciting and extraordinary day. Together with their committee, they energized our volunteers and made the entire day fun. Td also like to commend Omaha Steaks and the Simon family for donating their state-of-the-art telemarketing facility. Omaha Steaks' employees and beautiful surroundings make Super Sunday a real pleasure," said Perelman. The Jewish Federation of Omaha also credits the members of the 2001 Super Sunday Committee: Top photo: Gil Cohen laughs on t h e phone Kim and Mark Schwartz, Chairs, Gil Cohen, Victor with a donor at the 2001 Super Sunday held Epstein, Patty and Stephen Goldstein arid Deb and at Omaha Steaks. Bottom photo: Campaign Co-chair Bob Kully thanks volunteer callers Dan Marburg for their success. before they hit the phones for the Jewish Local businesses that donated goods or services Federation's largest, single-day fundraiser. to Super Sunday included: Alamar Uniform Co.,
by NAOMI SEGAL
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JERUSALEM fJTA)-If U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell made anything clear during his visit this week to the Israel and the Palestinian-controlled city of Ramallah, it was that things have changed since President Clinton left office. First, there was the duration of his visit—one day—with Powell's meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders wedged in between-stop-offs in Egypt and Jordan. Second, there was the absence of U.S. proposals— a hallmark of the Clinton era—aimed at ending the more than five months of Israeli-Palestinian violence and forging a final peace accord. While Powell called on both sides to end the violence and return to negotiations—and pointedly told Israel to lift the economic sanctions it has imposed on the Palestinian Authority-he had little else to suggest to the two sides in his public comments other than that it is up to them to make the "hard decisions" that will enable them to return to the road of peace. Since President Bush took office in late January, U.S. officials have said that while they will continue to pursue Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, it is but one facet of their overall Middle East policy. Indeed, Powell's trip to the Middle East—his first since becoming the top U.S. diplomat-appeared to be less about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than getting Arab support for U.S. policies aimed at (Continued on page 16)
INSIDE: National Jewish Book Awards.
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