HEWISH PRESS Vol. LXXXl
No. 3
Omaha, NE
11 Tisftrei, 5762
SeptetnUer :<
SERVING NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA FOR 80 YEARS
NYTimes Columnist to Speak Oct. 25
Friedman Calls Terror Attacks "World War H by PAM MONSKY, Federation Communications Director
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have shocked us all. As Americans, we are all waiting to see what will happen as a result of those attacks. As Jews, many of us wonder what this'means in terms of the Israeli-Palestiniaii conflict. Thomas Friedman, syndicated columnist for the New York Times and foreign affairs writer, wonders the same thing. Friedman will be in Omaha Oct. 2 5 , 8 p.m. as the keynote speaker for the Jewish Federation's 2002 Campaign event. Those who increase their 2002 gift will be welcome at the program. As Communications Director for the Federation, an exciting part of my job is to contact and interview well-known people who we bring to Omaha's Jewish community. I was looking forward to interviewing Thomas Friedman for this week's issue of the Press when the attacks occurred. The day after the attacks, I received this message via e-mail: "Dear Pam, I am sorry, but I am running around the Middle East right now and am not able to - respond in any coherent way. I would be happy to speak to you later next week. Ml the best, Tom Friedman" I am still hoping to speak to Mr. Friedman before he comes to Omaha, but with a deadline looming and no chance to interview him this week, it seemed appropriate to pass along an excerpt from
his NY Times column, written from the Middle East right after the terrorist attacks. He calls the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., the beginning of "World War III." Friedman writes that as he was watching the events unfold on CNN from his hotel room in Jerusalem, he latched onto a statement by Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta about the elimination of curbside check-ins at airports due to the attacks. He writes that he , §:^, : ^ # : ;;; f%p. * ^ « . &JJ r ^ ^ M ft "suddenly imagined a group of terrorists some* ^ S S£& M • ;H2i%'--Mi' iffS •186 iu'.-. v where here in the Middle East, sipping eofifee, also watching CNN, and laughing hysterically: *Hey boss, did you hear that? We j u s t blew up Wall Street and the Pentagon and their response is no more curbside check-in?"" Friedman's point, of course, is that we must not underestimate the enemy in this war. He asks us to learn from Israel's experience with Palestinian suicide bombers for our next step. For a small sample of what Friedman will bring to Omaha, read the following from Ms Sept 14 NY Times column: "It pits us—the world's only superpower and quintessential symbol of liberal, free market, Western values—against all the super-empowered angry men and women who hail from failing states in the Muslim and third world...What makes them super- One of many posters showing portraits of empowered is their genius at using the networked Israelis wfao have died as a result of terror (Continued o n page 16) attacks in the past 12 months. Photo by ISRANET.
Truman & Rosemary Clare Exemplify 'Righteous Gentiles' of Omaha by CLAUDiA SHERMAN, Foundation Public Relations Coordinator
When Truman Clare, a partner in the law firm of Marks, Clare and Richards, was growing up in Lincoln" during the Great Depression of the 1930s, he observed anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic activity first hand. An Irish Catholic, originally from Cortland, NE, Clare was frightened by Ku Klux Klan cross burnings. He couldn't understand why he and others, Jews included, were ridiculed. Growing up in north Lincoln, a depressed area at that time, "was no bargain," Clare mentioned. "But the neighborhood got along even though it was a diverse group, a hodgepodge of nationalities and religions, and my parents set a good example." Rosemary Minton, who wouldveventually become Truman's wife, also grew Lincoln. Her father was a conductor for the railroad which "gave our family a financial edge," she said. Her parents also set an example of acceptance, she noted, "and we were very friendly with some Jewish families." When Truman Clare was about 10-years-old, he recalls hearing about Wendell Willkie, a lawyer who had a successful business career including serving as President of Commonwealth and Southern Electric Utilities Company. "He was quite wealthy," Clare smiled as he recalled his childhood thoughts, "and he ran for president of the United States." That's when'Clare decided he wanted to be an attorney when he grew up. Majoring in accounting, Clare went to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln (UNL). He was a member of the Nebraska National Guard from 1938 to 1941. After that, he returned to UNL and joined ROTC. Truman, and Rosemary were married on Jan. 4, 1944, a t St. John's Church, t h e campus at Creighton University. After graduating from UNL, Truman was on active duty and went to Europe, serving in France and Germany with the 70th Infantry Division from
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Truman and Rosemary Clare December 1944 to May of 1946. By the end of World War II, he had been promoted to captain. After the war, he and Rosemary lived in Chicago while Truman earned an MBA at Northwestern University. From there, they returned to Omaha where he attended Creighton Law School, graduating in 1951. After graduating from St. John's High School on the Creighton campus, Rosemary had worked for the United States Army Seventh Service Command as a civil service employee in the machine division, where she was a keypunch operator. Truman's law career began when he joined the late Ephraim Marks, a well-known attorney for more than 50 years and "& champion of public causes," according, to his former colleagues. Later,
Marks and Clare formed a partnership and merged their firm with the law firm that included Yale Richards, Steven Riekes, Harold Zabin and Myron Kaplan in 1994. Truman practiced business, taxation, corporation, real estate law. In the last few years, it has been mostly estate planning. He credits working part-time at the Nebraska Furniture Mart while he was in law school with giving him "a post graduate education in business." He considered Rose Blumkin, founder of the legendary store, to be "a good friend. She and her family were wonderful to our family," he added. The Clare family includes daughters Jeanne, who now lives near San Francisco, Marianne and Denise, both of Omaha, and son, John, who makes his home in Florida. The Clares also have two grandsons. Over the years, Truman Clare has been active in the Knights of Columbus, Creighton University and the Jewish Community Center (JCC) which he and Rosemary joined in 1960. Truman was a member of the Health Club Committee, the JCC Building Committee, h a s been active in t h e Jewish Federation Campaign and Israel Bonds. The couple traveled to Israel with the Israel Bonds Committee and visited the ;set where they saw former Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Truman explained that in addition to the discontinued on page 7)
inside: Monthly Calendar.
Essay Contest Winners. Omaha