EJEWISH Vol. LXXX
No. 40
Omaha, NE
PRESS 7 AV, 5761
July 27,2001
SERVING NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA FOR 80 YEARS
Beth El Names New With Fireworks and X-Ray Scans, Education Director Maccabiah Games Close
by OZZiE NOGG
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Anna Gologorsky, Beth El Synagogue's new Education Director, comes to Omaha via a very circuitous route. Born in 1974 in the former Soviet Union, Anna, together with her parents and brother, emigrated to the United States in 1980. As a very young child, Anna studied at a Brooklyn yeshiva. She then went to public school and Hebrew high school in Livingston, NJ, and eventually enrolled at Rutgers University. It was at Rutgers, while attending her Jewish Films Class, that Anna saw a job advertisement for a Youth Director at a Temple in Somerville, NJ. She applied for the job, got it, and was also offered a teaching position. For three years, Anna taught students from first through ninth grade. According to Anna, she learned a lot during those years, too. "I developed my teaching skills and I also learned how much I loved working with kids and how much I really enjoyed teaching," she said. (Continued on page 10)
JESSICA STEINBERG
JERUSALEM (JTA) - The 16th Maeeabiafa Games ended with a lot of fanfare, flaming batons aadfireworks—anda sigh of reMef from the organizers that the muds-anticipated event had ended safely and without mishap. There were hundreds of police officers and soldiers surrounding the outdoor Jerusalem space where the event was held, la addition, X-ray scanners and metal detectors checked bags and bodies, making the attendees feel secure. More titan one delegation, head said he would breathe more easily once his athletes were home safe and sound -- but lie was glad they had attended this year's Games. It didn't seem as if the athletes were ready to leave after Monday night's closing ceremony. They " (Contiaaed on page 2) Omahaa Ben Jaeobson, left, was the leading scorer for the USA Maecabi Basketball Team, winning the gold medal match against the Israeli team, The youngest player at age 19, and a sophomore at. Lamar University, Jacobson was one of only two players in the seven-man rotation not currently playing pro hall. The team was coached by Herb Brown, Assistant Head Coach, of the Philadelphia 76ers. J a c o b s o n is t h e SOB of David and Nancy Jfaeobson, who flew to Israel with the rest of their family to watch the Games.
Photoby ISBANBT.
A. A. Yossem Left Legacy of Generosity and Strong Ethics at Creighton by CLAUDIA SHERMAN, Foundation Public Relations Coordinator -
"You come into this world with nothing and you go out with nothing," believed A.A. Yossem. That was part of the philosophy handed down to him from his father, said Steven Scholer, Director of Estate and Trust Services at Creighton University, and that7s the principle Yossem lived by. Scholer got to know Yossem in 1988 when he made a telephone call to Creighton. Yossem had read about the university's activities and reputation in the newspaper and knew that a chair had been established by Philip M. and Ethel Riekes Klutznick to teach Jewish civilization at Creighton. The phone call was directed to Scholer, who went to visit Yossem and his wife, Ethel, at Remington Heights Retirement Center in Omaha. "You're a nice young man," Yossem told Scholer. "Come back again." Scholer continued to visit the Yossems and they became friends. "He was a sharp guy," mentioned Scholer, who described Yossem as "insightful" as well as someone who "could be cynical." Scholer added that Yossem was known for his honesty and integrity. Bom in 1901 in Russia and raised in Lincoln, Yossem was in the grocery business in north Omaha. He liked to take credit for starting the Wednesday grocery flyer, said Scholer. Yossem and his wife, Ethel Namen Yossem, originally from Council Bluffs, lived above the store before they moved to a house near 52nd and Dodge Streets. They had one son, Stanford, who predeceased them. Later, Yossem became a health inspector. Then he became interested in land, explained Scholer, buying property from 90th and Fort to 90th and . Old Military. I t was just a pasture when he bought it," Scholer recalled, and was called "Yossem's Paradise Valley." Eventually, the land was purchased from Yossem by the U.S. Post Office, ShopKo, McDonald's, and other businesses. Part of the area was developed
A.A. Yossem into a residential neighborhood. "A.A. was a one-man development company," Scholer said, "and he was proud of that." Yossem invested the revenue he made from the sale of his property and "he became wealthy," reported Scholer. Yossem set up annuities with Creighton University in the late 1980s. In 1988, he and his wife established the A.A. and Ethel Yossem Endowed Chair in Legal Ethics, dedicated in memory of his parents and son. The chair is currently held by Richard Coffin Magrum, J. D. In addition, several scholarships were set up by the Yossems. "He wanted more people of the Jewish faith to go to Creighton in any school as undergraduates or graduate students," Scholer said. Last year, some $90,000 was awarded to 21 students, according to Scholer,
"Obviously," said Marty Ricks, Jewish Federation Foundation Executive Director, "we like to see those of the Jewish faith in Omaha and surrounding areas establish their endowments with the Foundation, of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. However, some people, for various reasons, become closely associated with other charities, some Jewish and some not. In the Yossems' situation, although not established with the Federation Foundation, their endowments have benefited both the Jewish and secular students at Greighton. "The Jewish community and Creighton have always worked closely together," added Ricks. "We are grateful to Creigoton for having accepted Jewish students years ago when they were excluded by many colleges and universities around the country." Larry Raful, Dean of the Creighton Law School from 1988 to 1999, mentioned that Yossem knew that "some well-known Jews had gone to Creighton." Raful, who is now a Professor of legal ethics at Creighton, remembers Yossem as someone who "cared a lot about ethics and was very fond of his father." Jenna Taub, who has just completed her first year of law school at Creighton, is from Seattle, WA. One of the Yossem scholarship recipients, Taub considers it "a. great honor to receive the scholarship" which is helping her achieve her "educational goals." Alexander Shleifman, from Toronto, Canada, is another recipient of a Yossem scholarship. (Continued on page 10)
INSSDE: Where Are They Now?
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•Jewish Singles and the Internet.......page 11 Omahan* Visit Israel..
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