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JANUARY 9, 2026 | 2 0 TE V E T | VO L. 1 06 | NO. 1 2 | CANDLELIGHTING | FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 4:55 P.M.
Standing on Their Shoulders: Rediscovering Federation Presidents A lasting gift for generations to come: Join Life & Legacy Page 4
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Henry Monsky Federation President 1941 to 1943 MARTY RICKS NJHS Advisory Board Member ny story of Henry Monsky begins with B'nai B'rith, the organization that shaped so much of his life and leadership. Henry joined the Omaha lodge at 18, long before anyone imagined he would one day guide the entire movement through some of the most difficult years in Jewish history. B'nai B'rith, whose name means Children of the Covenant, was founded in 1843 on the Lower East Side of New York by 12 German Jewish immigrants who sought to unite Jews in service, support widows, and orphans, and help new immigrants adjust to life in America. Over the next century it grew into the world’s oldest Jewish service organization, known for advocating for Jewish people, promoting human rights, and fostering Jewish identity and continuity around the globe. As the American Jewish population aged, B'nai B'rith added service to seniors as a major focus and opened its first senior residence in 1971. Today it operates a network of thirty-seven senior housing communities in twenty-eight cities, housing over five thousand residents across the United States
Why So Many Jewish Boxers? SETH SCHUCHMAN NJHS Board Chair This article is the next installment in an ongoing series exploring Jewish participation in American sports and what those stories reveal about identity, opportunity, and belonging.
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Hanukkah Extravaganza shines brightly Pages 7
Kindergarten Roundup at Friedel Page 12
and is the largest Jewish-sponsored senior housing provider in the country. Omaha embraced the B’nai B’rith service and community mission early, establishing the Nebraska Lodge in 1884 and McKinley Lodge in 1901, the first chartered in the country for members under age 21. These lodges merged in 1917 to form the Omaha Lodge, which was later renamed for Monsky in 1947. Henry Monsky was born in Omaha on February 4, 1890. He graduated from Omaha Central High School in 1907 and from Creighton University School of Law in 1912, first in his class. He entered private practice and eventually headed the firm of Monsky Grodinsky Marer and Cohen. His father, a Russian born cantor, had hoped Henry would become a rabbi, but Henry knew from a young age that the law was his calling. That sense of purpose, shaped by See Federation Presidents page 3
Annual Jane H. & Rabbi Sidney H. Brooks Conversations for Change
REGULARS Spotlight Voices Synagogues Life Cycles
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MANDY TRUE Inclusive Communities is proud to announce the featured guest for the fourth Annual Jane H. & Rabbi Sidney H. Brooks Conversations for Change. Gaby Natale, a triple Daytime Emmy® Award–winning journalist, bestselling author, entrepreneur, and leadership speaker, will take the stage at the Holland Performing Arts Center in downtown Omaha on March
17, 2026, from 10:30–11:30 a.m. The event is free and open to the public and will explore what it means to be a pioneer and embrace individuality in an ever-changing world. Reserve your spot on Jan. 5 via TicketOmaha.com and be part of something bigger. A transformative voice in leadership and reinvention, Natale made history as the first Latina to win three consecutive Daytime Emmys® and the first Hispanic author published by HarperCollins Leadership. A dynamic bilingual keynote speaker and master emcee, she has been trusted by global brands including P&G, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Walmart, Google, PepsiCo, Century 21, and Estée Lauder, and has hosted and moderated conversations at iconic venues such as the Kennedy Center, the
Gaby Natale United Nations, and the Emmys. A breast cancer survivor and Susan G. Komen ambassador, Natale is also the founder of Menopausia.com, the first bilingual femtech platform supporting women navigating midlife transitions. She has been named one See Conversations page 2
My introduction to boxing came at a family gathering in the early 1980s, when I was a little kid and Grandpa Max introduced us to Bruce “The Mouse” Strauss, then spent the evening talking football with him. Strauss was a professional boxer from Omaha, but what struck me was not toughness or bravado. He had bright eyes, an easy smile, and a relentlessly selfdeprecating way of talking. He did not perform toughness. He simply talked football and made the people around him comfortable. That memory stayed with me. Years later, it helped me recognize that Jewish boxing was not entirely about fighting. Bruce “The Mouse” Strauss became known well beyond Omaha not for championships, but for persistence, personality, and a deep commitment to the sport. He fought often and remained devoted to boxing over many years, traveling regularly to compete wherever opportunities arose. He stayed connected to the sport long after boxing had stopped being about advancement or recognition. His life later inspired the independent film The Mouse, a dramatized portrayal that emphasized warmth, resilience, and genuine affection for the ring rather than titles or triumph. The film did not present Strauss as a caricature or a cautionary tale, but as someone who clearly loved the sport and felt at home in it. What came through most strongly was not a pursuit of glory, but a sense of belonging within boxing itself. That distinction matters. By the time Mouse Strauss was fighting, Jews were no longer entering boxing because other doors were closed. He boxed because he loved the sport. His story represents a See Jewish Stories in Sports page 2
2 | The Jewish Press | January 9, 2026
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Continued from page 1 later chapter in Jewish boxing, one in which identity no longer required defense and participation no longer carried communal urgency. Earlier in the twentieth century, the story looked very different. Jewish names filled boxing cards across the United States. There were so many that historians still debate exact numbers, but most agree on the scale. During the 1920s and 1930s, Jews made up as much as one third of professional boxers in the country, while accounting for roughly fifteen to twenty percent of world champions. For a small and often marginalized community, those numbers demand explanation. The answer lies in access rather than aggression. Boxing required no invitation, no pedigree, and no connections. At a time when universities imposed quotas and professions quietly excluded Jews, the ring offered a place where preparation, intelligence, and discipline mattered as much as strength. Boxing rewarded what it famously calls the sweet science. There was also pride attached to Jewish boxing in this period, and it is worth naming why. From the late nineteenth century through the interwar years of the 1920s and 1930s, Jews were routinely portrayed as physically weak and incapable of courage under pressure. These were not casual stereotypes. They shaped exclusion from professions, universities, clubs, and civic life, and they hardened into ideology with serious consequences. When Jewish boxers succeeded publicly during these decades, they did more than win fights. They disrupted assumptions. Not through bravado or spectacle, but through visible competence in a place where excuses were irrelevant. The pride was not about violence. It was about contradiction. That broader pattern is anchored in Omaha, a city that produced two very different Jewish boxers whose stories illuminate the arc of Jewish boxing in America. Maximilian Adelbert Baer, born in Omaha in 1909, rose to the absolute pinnacle of the sport. Charismatic, powerful, and theatrical, Baer became World Heavyweight Champion in 1934 after defeating Primo Carnera in one of the most punishing title fights of the era. He was not religiously observant, but he did not hide his Jewish heritage, an important distinction at a time when many public figures did exactly that. One year before winning the heavyweight crown, Baer fought a bout that would give his career lasting historical meaning. On June 8, 1933, he faced Max Schmeling, a former heavyweight champion from Germany. Schmeling himself was not a committed Nazi, but he had been embraced by Nazi propaganda as a symbol of Aryan athletic superiority. The timing was unavoidable. Hitler had taken power only months earlier, and Jewish persecution in Germany was intensifying. Baer dominated Schmeling and won by technical knockout when the referee stopped the fight in the tenth round. Nazi newspapers condemned Schmeling for fighting a man of Jewish heritage, calling the bout a disgrace. Jewish audiences understood the moment differently. In a world growing darker by the month, a Jewish-identified heavyweight defeating a fighter promoted by a racist regime carried unmistakable meaning. Baer wore trunks bearing a Star of David. Whether he intended a political statement or not, the symbolism attached itself. In 1933, it did not require explanation. From Mouse Strauss to Max Baer standing victorious under the lights, Omaha frames the Jewish boxing story from love of sport to a moment when sport carried weight far beyond itself. Baer was not an anomaly. He was part of a broader surge that produced an extraordinary roster of Jewish champions whose influence shaped the sport for decades. Benny Leonard, lightweight champion from 1917 to 1925, is still considered by many historians to be the greatest lightweight of all time. Leonard fought with patience, balance, and tactical intelligence, relying on defense, timing, and ring awareness rather than brute force. In an era when Jewish physicality was openly questioned, Leonard’s dominance offered a powerful counterexample. He did not overwhelm opponents. He outthought them. Barney Ross, a three-division world champion, grew up in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood after his rabbi father was murdered in a robbery. Boxing offered Ross an escape from poverty and gang life. After his championship career, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps during World War II and earned the Silver Star for heroism under fire. His later struggles with addiction underscore a recurring truth of boxing history. The sport could open doors, but it rarely spared its fighters. Abe Attell, featherweight champion for six years beginning in 1906, was one of boxing’s earliest Jewish stars. Known for his defensive brilliance and ring craft. Attell helped establish
Jewish fighters as fixtures rather than curiosities in the sport. His later association with gambling scandals complicated his legacy, but his influence on early boxing technique remains significant. Battling Levinsky, the son of a rabbi, became light heavyweight champion while openly Jewish in name and identity. At a time when many athletes softened or obscured their backgrounds, Levinsky’s visibility mattered, particularly in heavier divisions where stereotypes of Jewish weakness were harder to ignore. Maxie Rosenbloom, light heavyweight champion from 1933 to 1934, was as well known for his personality as for his fighting. Rosenbloom later transitioned into acting, often playing comic or tough-guy roles in film. His career illustrates how some Jewish boxers navigated public identity beyond the ring, carrying their athletic reputations into American popular culture. Jackie Fields, a two-time welterweight champion, lost part of his vision due to injuries sustained in the ring. After boxing, he rebuilt his life as a successful businessman. His story reflects both the opportunity boxing provided and the physical cost it often exacted. There were many more, far too many to list fully. But the pattern is clear. Boxing rewarded preparation, adaptability, and ring intelligence. Jews did not excel in boxing because they were Jewish. They excelled because the sport valued what many had been forced to cultivate. Jewish boxers did not defeat antisemitism. They boxed within it. They endured slurs from crowds, hostile press, and caricatured portrayals even in victory. In Europe, Jewish boxing clubs were later dismantled by the Nazis. In the United States, antisemitism was less lethal but deeply embedded. The ring did not erase prejudice, but it disrupted assumptions. Outcomes were public. Excuses were irrelevant. Jewish prominence in boxing eventually faded, not because Jews lost toughness, but because they gained options. Education expanded. Professions opened. The ring was no longer one of the few places where talent alone could overcome barriers. That decline reflects success, not loss. Still, Jewish boxers did not disappear entirely. In more recent decades, fighters such as Dmitry Salita, an openly Orthodox boxer who refused to fight on Shabbat, brought Jewish identity explicitly into the ring. Salita’s career was shaped as much by his commitments as by his record, and his choices highlighted how participation had shifted from necessity to expression. Another example is Yuri Foreman, a former world champion who was also ordained as a rabbi. Foreman’s presence in boxing did not signal a return to an earlier era, but it did demonstrate continuity. Jewish boxers no longer fought to disprove stereotypes or force open closed doors. They fought because boxing remained meaningful to them. What remains are stories, some symbolic, some personal, some simply human. Jewish boxers did not fight ideology into submission. But at moments when dignity was denied, they challenged its assumptions. And sometimes, for a kid watching his grandfather talk football all night with a boxer named Mouse Strauss, that was enough to open a door into a much larger Jewish story. We thank the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society for preserving the stories that allow us to explore Jewish life across generations and experiences. Readers are invited to share memories, photographs, or family connections that can help deepen our collective understanding of the people who shaped Jewish history in Omaha and beyond. This series on Jewish participation in American sports is a collaboration between the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Press. For questions or additional information, please contact NJHS Executive Director Jane Rips at jrips@jewishomaha.org or visit nebraskajhs.com.
Conversations Continued from page 1 of People’s 25 Most Powerful Latinas and a Woman of Influence by SUCCESS Magazine, with features in Forbes, CNN, NBC News, BuzzFeed, and Univision. Jane H. and Rabbi Sidney H. Brooks were beloved humanitarian leaders and pioneers in Omaha, known for their advocacy for mental health awareness, fair housing, education, employment, and civil rights. Their daughter, Miriam Brooks, generous gift helped launch Conversations for Change to honor their legacy through courageous dialogue and community impact. “When we learned about Gaby’s trailblazing achievements over her career and her focus on representation for the Latino community not only in journalism, but also as an entrepreneur, we knew she was the perfect choice,” said Cammy Watkins, Executive Director of Inclusive Communities. “Her approach to inclusion and equity focused on meeting people where they are is so in alignment with how Inclusive Communities enacts our mission, and I can’t wait to sit down and have a conversation with her.”
The Jewish Press | January 9, 2026 | 3
Federation Presidents
Continued from page 1 both family and faith, guided his work and helped define the leadership path he would follow. Even as he built a demanding legal career, he remained active in B'nai B'rith in Omaha, throughout the region, and eventually across the country. In 1915 Henry married Sadie Lesser. They had three children named Joy, Hubert, and Barbara. The marriage ended in 1937. Henry later married Daisy Hirsh Rosenfeld, a widow he met through B’nai B’rith, with one daughter, Babette. Their marriage is remembered as warm and devoted. In 1948 Daisy collaborated with Maurice Bisgyer, national secretary of B'nai B'rith, to publish Henry Monsky the Man and His Work. Daisy wrote about Henry the person, and Bisgyer wrote about his leadership. Bisgyer, who served B'nai B'rith for 45 years and eventually became its Executive Vice President, offered one of the clearest portraits of Henry. He wrote: “The secrets of his success were that he won others to him. When you met him, you sensed he was interested in you. His soft well-modulated voice alone did not speak to you. Those deep brown eyes of his looked down into your very soul. Their magnetism held you. They spoke to you of a concern of a grief that he felt for his wandering people. Yet at times in the heat of debate those soft eyes flashed with a determination and fire that brought audiences to their feet with resounding bravos. It was not strange that at the time of the greatest crisis in Jewish history B'nai B'rith claimed him as its president.” Henry rose quickly within B'nai B'rith. At age 31 he became president of District Grand Lodge Number six. The district included Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and it was the largest of the seven B'nai B'rith districts. The position placed him on the national executive committee. During his time as regional president, and with his support, Aleph Zadik Aleph was founded in Omaha as the teenage affiliate of B'nai B'rith. It later grew into a national movement for Jewish teens. In May 1938 Henry was unanimously elected National Pres-
ident of B'nai B'rith. At the convention he received a standing ovation. He approached the dais and said, “I pledge you only this, that you shall have from me the very best I have to give no matter what the sacrifice may be. I shall leave nothing undone to meet the crisis of the coming three years.” He kept his word. He was reelected in 1941 and remained in office until his passing on May 2, 1947, at age 57. Before his presidency, the national headquarters of B'nai B'rith moved from city to city according to where the president lived. Under Henry’s leadership a permanent national headquarters was established in Washington DC. At the time of his death, total membership including adult men, the women’s auxiliary, and Aleph Zadik Aleph was estimated at about 350,000. He strengthened the AntiDefamation League, Hillel, and Aleph Zadik Aleph as central institutions of Jewish life. As the crisis in Europe deepened he directed B'nai B'rith into an active program of relief and response that matched the urgency of the moment. Under his leadership the organization held mass protest meetings, submitted rescue proposals, expanded European aid, reestablished B'nai B'rith lodges abroad, and shipped food and clothing through the Joint Distribution Committee. It also created the Adopt-a-Family program, which received recognition from the Dutch government. B'nai B'rith was further commended by the United States Navy and by General Dwight D. Eisenhower for its wartime service. Henry Monsky placed Omaha on the Jewish map in a way few others had achieved. His leadership shaped not only B'nai B'rith but the broader Jewish world during a moment of profound crisis and responsibility. In Part II we will turn from his national impact to his influence at home. We will look at his service to the Jewish Federation, his contributions to Omaha’s civic and charitable life, and the legacy he left for the generations that followed. His story reminds us that communities are built through steady acts of responsibility and that each generation stands on the efforts of those who came before.
Writing workshop ‘Write With Us,’ our small and intimate writing workshop (no need to be nervous) continues in the winter and early spring. Upcoming workshops are scheduled for the following Thursdays: Jan. 29, Feb. 26, March 26 and April 30 from 5-7 p.m. in the Noshery at the Staenberg Omaha JCC. Register by contacting Jessi at jtaylor@jewishomaha.org or Annette at avandekamp@jewishomaha.org. There is no cost to attend, although donations are always welcome. If you have wanted to write your family’s story, that great American novel, or you have always wanted to try your hand at poetry, join us! Maybe you are already an accomplished writer, but you would benefit from being in a room with other writers. Perhaps you have convinced yourself you can’t write at all, but would love to try. Everyone, from absolute beginner to professional, is welcome to attend. We will provide the kosher snacks and the writing prompts.
ROOFING
SIDING
GUTTERS
Lo Ta’amod and the refusal to disappear
SETH SCHUCHMAN Lo Ta’amod appears in the Torah as a prohibition against standing idly by in the face of harm. Jewish tradition has long understood it as a warning about silence and delay, not only overt wrongdoing. Antisemitism has taken shape in laws, institutions, and in the everyday decisions that allow harm to endure. Jewish history also records moments when Jews and allies alike recognized what was at stake and chose to act, not because success was assured, but because remaining silent was not acceptable. This article is part of an ongoing series examining those moments. Edward Rosewater arrived in Omaha already shaped by public responsibility. Born Edward Rosenwasser in Bohemia in 1841, he immigrated to the United States as a teenager and came of age during the Civil War. He worked as a telegraph operator in the U.S. Military Telegraph Corps, a role that placed him close to the machinery of government and national power. Before coming to Nebraska, he was already engaged in journalism and public affairs, developing both technical skill and political awareness. When Rosewater moved to Omaha in the early 1860s, the city itself was still forming. He quickly became a central civic figure, founding the Omaha Bee and building it almost from scratch. Through relentless reporting, aggressive editorial positioning, and a willingness to challenge political and business leaders, he expanded the paper’s reach and influence. Under his leadership, the Bee grew from a struggling publication into one of the most widely read and politically influential newspapers in the region. By the end of the nineteenth century, the Bee was not simply reporting on civic life. It was shaping it. Rosewater used the paper to drive reform efforts, influence elections, and frame public debate. His voice carried weight precisely because he had built an institution that others could not ignore. His influence extended beyond journalism into elected office. Rosewater was elected to the Nebraska state legislature early in his career, where he sponsored legislation creating Omaha’s first unified school district and an elected board of education. At a time when public education remained contested, he argued that strong civic institutions were essential to the city’s future. The Bee itself helped rally public support for the measure. Years later, a public school in Omaha was named in his honor, recognizing his role in organizing the city’s school system. Rosewater was not a cautious figure. He was partisan, confrontational, and deeply involved in Republican politics. He pursued his own version of events and showed little patience for restraint. His editorials could be personal and unyielding. His leadership style made enemies easily, and his legacy, like that of many public figures, is complicated. But opposition to Rosewater was not limited to disagreement with his politics or temperament. Antisemitism was a recurring and explicit feature of the attacks he faced. Contemporary Jewish sources, including the Jewish Encyclopedia published during his lifetime, noted that he was subjected to personal attacks that were antisemitic in nature. Critics invoked his Jewish identity and foreign birth to question his loyalty and fitness for leadership, portraying him as an outsider whose interests were suspect and whose place in civic life was conditional. Jewishness was treated, not as a fact of biography, but as evidence against him. See Lo Ta’amod page 5
4 | The Jewish Press | January 9, 2026
The Louis and Harry Kutler story
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ARNOLD GARSON It was late 1919, a time of growing comfort in the U.S. with a post-war economy that was beginning to yield rewards for many. World War I had ended a year earlier. In Russia, multiple regional wars continued to rage. For hundreds of thousands of displaced refugees, these wars carried the horror of poverty and the terror of death; if not from starvation, then at the hands of Russian radicals who had seized power and run rampant with violence as they fought for supremacy, while also targeting Jews in resentment of earlier decades in which many Jews had built and operated highly successful businesses. Louis Kutler had been one of the lucky ones. In his early 20s and ripe for conscription in Russia, which was, in effect, a death sentence for Jews, he had fled to America. He settled in Council Bluffs and became the operator of a second-hand clothing store known as The Bargain Center on West Broadway, near the heart of the city’s downtown. Seven years after he had left his family in Russia, Louis received a cablegram from his mother informing him that the family had run out of both money and food. He made up his mind almost immediately: He would return to his family’s home region of Kiev, then the dangerous center of the radical Bolshevik operations. “If they are alive, I will bring them to America if I can. But if the immigration authorities bar them from this country, I do not intend to return without them. Love or money cannot separate us again,” he told the The Omaha Daily News shortly before he left. Louis departed in January 1920. He made a brief stop in New York to touch base with a young woman he had known in Russia. He arrived in Amsterdam and made his way through Paris and Warsaw, heading to Kiev, where his family was based. He soon found himself facing the Bolshevik lines and needed to cross through. Almost immediately, he was captured by five horsemen and brought before the commander, who thrust a gun barrel under his nose and threatened to kill him if he did not answer questions truthfully. First, he was accused of being an American spy. Then, he was stripped of his clothing and robbed of all his money, which had been sewn into the lining of his clothes and intended for family necessities and travel. The amount of money he was carrying was unclear in news accounts. Reports varied from about $1,000 to $10,000. Given that $1,000 in 1920 was the equivalent of more than $15,000 today, it seems likely that he had something closer to $1,000 than $10,000. Eventually, he was allowed to put on his underwear-union suit as he described it-but nothing else, not even shoes or socks. He was then locked in an old barn the tribe of radicals was using as a jail. “After spending two weeks in this rat-infested, unsanitary barn-jail,” where his life was threatened, Louis said he was taken to Kiev, “where I was held in jail for six days” with about 200 other prisoners. “Then, they decided to send me to Moscow.” Louis and other prisoners were forced into a boxcar on a train bound for Moscow and presumably a trial that could not end well for him. He bided his time until the train was into open country, likely traveling at around 30 miles an hour. He and about 15 of the other prisoners then bolted through an unlocked door and began darting between the railcars before either of the two guards realized what was happening. Next, he made his way to the home of an old friend, where he remained until he was able to sneak his way through the Bolshevik lines back into Kiev.
Both food and clothing were almost non-existent at this time and place in Russia. People used old sacks and scraps of cloth for clothing. A teenage girl would carry a sack of flour on her shoulder thirty miles to the next town to exchange for matches, soap, and other necessities, taking advantage of the fact that there would be different commodities available and different products in short supply in each town. Louis said there was no work being done in this part of Russia, except on farms. All factories were closed. Jobs were nonexistent. Girls and women were constantly under attack, Louis said. It was not uncommon for a band of outlaws to force their way into a home and attack all the girls and women present. Louis said one of his family members, a teenage cousin, Sam Wolfowitz (or something close to that surname), once was lined up with about 50 men against a wall by members of a warring tribe preparing to shoot all of them. The boy intentionally fell to the ground when the firing began. He quickly covered his face with the blood of the man next to him, and was passed over as dead by the attackers. Finally, Louis was able to connect with his mother, Kunci, 48, his sisters, Sara, 16, Mary, 13, and Leah, 11, and brother, Sam, 14. He also connected with his Wolfowitz cousins, Sam, 16, and Jennie, 18. The Wolfowitz children had watched in horror as several Bolsheviks invaded their home in Kiev and murdered their mother and father by gunshot without provocation. It took months to arrange the paperwork needed for travel to the U.S., but the entire Kutler group arrived in Council Bluffs on Aug. 21, 1920. Oh, but wait. The group had arrived in New York on Aug. 11 and spent a few days there before boarding their train to Council Bluffs. Louis Kutler used the time in New York productively in terms of the years that lay ahead. He married the woman he had visited on the way to Russia, months earlier. Eva Schiff, it turned out, was an old flame. The flame was lit anew in the U.S. and would burn until Louis’s death from heart disease in San Antonio, Texas, in 1973. In March 1921, not quite a year after Louis returned with his family to Council Bluffs, Louis’s uncle, Harry Kutler, who also operated a second-hand clothing store in Council Bluffs, made his own trip back to Russia to find still more Kutler family members who had become trapped in poverty and war. Harry disappeared soon after his arrival in Europe and was not heard from until the following January. By then he had found, and made travel arrangements for, his mother and sister from Kiev to Council Bluffs. His mother, Anna Kutler, 65, and sister, Lilly, 19, arrived in Council Bluffs in early January 1922. Lilly described horrendous conditions in Kiev as civilians were forced to witness murders virtually every day. At night, the streets were filled with the sounds of gunfire and screams of the wounded who lay dying, she said. Old men, women, and children would quietly edge along the walls that lined the streets at night in search of food and amid the dead who lay unburied. Disease and infection took an enormous toll among those who survived the shootings. When Harry arrived in Kiev, he discovered that the family home had been demolished. It took him another four months to find his mother and a sister-in-law. He finally returned to home in April 1922, having found a total of eight family members who also ended up in Council Bluffs. After surveying her new surroundings, Lilly was in awe. In contrast to the horrors of Kiev, she described the city as a fairy town created from someone’s imagination. Readers can subscribe to Arnold Garson's Substack columns and find past columns at arnoldgarson.substack.com.
A lasting gift for generations to come: Join Life & Legacy AMY BERNSTEIN SHIVVERS JFO Foundation Executive Director "I made a Life & Legacy gift because having the special opportunity to support the Omaha Jewish community now and forever is a privilege and a responsibility taught by my parents that I feel for my sons and to our cherished Omaha Jewish community." — MARGO PARSOW Margo Parsow’s commitment to Life & Legacy is a powerful reflection of the values she learned from her parents— values that emphasize the importance of giving back to the community. For Margo, this gift is about ensuring that future generations, including her own sons, will continue to benefit from the vibrant Jewish community that has enriched her life. By making a Life & Legacy gift, you can also leave a lasting
impact on the Omaha Jewish community, supporting everything from education and cultural programs to social services and senior care—all while ensuring that your gift doesn’t impact your finances today. The first step is simple: complete a Letter of Intent, which expresses your commitment to the future of Jewish Omaha. And, because life circumstances change, you can update your Letter of Intent at any time. Join Margo in making a meaningful, lasting impact. Together, we can help preserve and strengthen our Jewish community for generations to come. To learn more or to complete your Letter of Intent, contact Amy Bernstein Shivvers at ashivvers@jewishomaha.org
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The Jewish Press | January 9, 2026 | 5
IHE January third Thursday lunch & learn
SCOTT LITTKY IHE Executive Director The next Institute for Holocaust Education Third Thursday Lunch & Learn will be held on Jan. 15 at 11:30 a.m. on Zoom. Our speaker will be Steve Goldberg. Mr. Goldberg’s presentation is titled: My Friend Abe. Currently Steve is taking a break from his 20+ year career as a high school history teacher to share the story of Abe Piasek, a Holocaust survivor from Poland. Mr. Goldberg met Abe in November of 2018 when he came and spoke at the school where he was teaching in Durham, North Carolina. The two became friends. Abe passed away in 2020 at the age of 91. Three days before he died, Abe asked Steve to “keep telling my story.” To date, Steve
How is this publication thinking about the future?
By becoming part of the past. This publication is available from ProQuest Information and Learning in one or more of the following ways:
has shared Abe’s story over 150 times to close to 9,000 people. IHE is honored to have Steve share the story of Abe Piasek on Jan. 15 at 11:30 a.m. on Zoom. To receive the Zoom link, contact, Scott Littky at slit tky@ihene.org.
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Continued from page 3 Disagreement itself was not the issue. Jewish tradition has long treated argument as a form of engagement, not disloyalty. Rosewater welcomed criticism of his politics, his methods, and even his temperament. What he rejected was the claim that identity, rather than ideas, determined legitimacy. When Jewishness itself became grounds for exclusion, debate gave way to antisemitism. That line became unmistakable as Rosewater sought broader public authority. Although he had already been elected to office and entrusted with building Omaha’s civic institutions, including its public schools, opposition hardened when he pursued higher office. During his campaigns for the United States Senate, critics openly emphasized his Jewish identity and foreign birth as reasons he was unfit to represent Nebraska at the national level. Rosewater himself later attributed these political defeats, at least in part, to antisemitism in Omaha. At that moment, retreat would have been understandable. Many Jews of the era chose discretion as a form of protection. Silence would have reduced risk. Withdrawal would have preserved standing. Rosewater chose neither. He did not obscure his identity or step aside from public life. He continued to write, to campaign, and to insist that Jewishness was not incompatible with democratic leadership. Naming antisemitism publicly, rather than minimizing it as mere politics, was itself an act of resistance at a time when denial or accommodation often felt safer. The risks were real. He endured sustained hostility and economic pressure directed at his newspaper, and he bore those costs largely on his own. Late in his life, Rosewater helped channel these experiences into a broader institutional response. Shortly before his death in 1906, he was involved in early efforts that led to the founding of the American Jewish Committee. The AJC emerged
from a growing recognition that antisemitism could not be addressed solely through personal stature or individual resilience. It required organized public advocacy, legal defense, and political engagement. Rosewater did not live to see the organization fully take shape, but his trajectory helps explain why it was necessary. Faced with antisemitism, Edward Rosewater chose to remain present in public life rather than withdraw from it. He continued to build institutions, participate in civic debate, and live openly as a Jew, even when doing so carried risk. Jewish history contains many figures whose legacies are complex, and Rosewater is no exception. That complexity does not weaken his story. It deepens it. His experience reminds us that antisemitism has often worked not only through violence, but through pressure to step back, lower one’s profile, or accept conditional belonging. This series is shaped not only by well-known names, but by the many individuals whose choices were made quietly and whose stories remain incomplete. We invite readers to share memories, family histories, and overlooked examples of Jews and allies who refused to stand aside when presence carried consequence. Preserving those stories ensures that memory and responsibility are carried forward together. This article draws on multiple historical sources, including: • Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), entry on Edward Rosewater • Jewish Virtual Library, “Edward Rosewater” • Nebraska State Historical Society, Rosewater Family Papers Nebraska Jewish Historical Society (nebraskajhs.com) archival materials • Historical accounts of the Omaha Bee and late 19th-century American antisemitism • Scholarship on the founding of the American Jewish Committee
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EXPERIENCE ANTISEMITISM? If you experience antisemitism, there are ways to report an incident or hate crime: IF THIS IS AN EMERGENCY, MOVE TO A SAFE AREA AND DIAL 9-1-1 CALL the JFO’s Safety and Security Team 402-334-6446 EMAIL JCRCreporting@jewishomaha.org SCAN the QR code below to fill out the Incident Reporting Form
We work directly with law enforcement, Secure Communities Network, and the Anti-Defamation League.
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6 | The Jewish Press | January 9, 2026
TEMPLE ISRAEL
ELC Hanukkah celebration at our Pennie Z Davis Early Learning Center
Ilana and Julee at Temple Israel’s Hanukkah party
SP O TLIGHT
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PHOTOS FROM RECENT JEWISH COMMUNITY EVENTS SUBMIT A PHOTO: Have a photo of a recent Jewish Community event you would like to submit? Email the image and a suggested caption to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org.
RBJH Peeling potatoes for the latkes is best learned as young as possible.
RBJH welcomed storyteller Rita Paskowitz to emcee a heartwarming, joy-filled Hanukkah program for Residents and Friedel students.
The Jewish Press | January 9, 2026 | 7
Hanukkah Extravaganza shines brightly NAOMI FOX, RACHEL RING, AND HEIDI HEILBRUNN-NEEDLEMAN JFO Staff The glow of Hanukkah filled the Omaha Children’s Museum as 250 people came together to mark the final night of Hanukkah on Sunday, Dec. 21. Hanukkah Extravaganza Shines Brightly, organized by the Jewish Federation of Omaha, reflected both the joy of the
That spirit was evident throughout the evening, from shared meals to hands-on activities that encouraged curiosity and connection with old and new friends alike. Families enjoyed a Kosher pasta bar, fresh vegetables and dips, and a visit from Chabad’s popular Latke Truck before exploring the museum’s many interactive spaces. Children and adults engaged together in hands-on science,
Chabad’s Oil Press demonstration also taught how olive oil was produced in biblical times, helping to bring the Hanukkah story to life.
Omaha Foundation funds that supported this year’s Hanukkah Extravaganza Shines Brightly event: the Foundation Impact Grant, Esther
The Klein, Gunnels, and Sanford families celebrate the last night of Hanukkah together!
holiday and the values at its core, welcoming children, parents, grandparents and friends. While Hanukkah is often called the Festival of Lights, the word itself means rededication. At its heart, the holiday speaks to perseverance, identity, and the continuity of the Jewish people. Celebrating the final night together offered a chance to reflect on how small acts, when shared, can create something lasting.
technology, engineering, mathematics, and arts exhibits, making the museum a fitting setting for a holiday that values learning across generations. In addition to the museum’s regular exhibits, the event featured Hanukkah-themed activity stations, including sufganiyot decorating, LEGO dreidel building, tzedakah box making, temporary tattoos, and coloring activities.
Dayton Abramson helps Rabbi Eli Tenenbaum reenact the production of oil using the oil press, as done in biblical times.
The final night of Hanukkah reflected more than celebration alone. It was a reminder that the holiday’s enduring power lies not only in miracles of the past, but in the ways people continue to gather, learn, and share traditions with the next generation. We are grateful to the Jewish Federation of
K. Newman Memorial Fund, Etta and Harold Epstein Security Fund, The Chesed Fund, and the Ann Goldstein Education Programming Endowment Fund. The event was also supported by corporate sponsors, First National Bank of Omaha and Oriental Trading.
8 | The Jewish Press | January 9, 2026
News LOC AL | N ATI O N A L | WO R L D
JFS to Send Adult Day Program Survey
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE-JEWISH SENIOR OUTREACH STAFF During the month of January, Jewish Family Service, an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, will send out a survey to assess the community’s need for an Adult Day Program. An Adult Day Program through JFS would be designed to support Jewish community seniors, and cognitively impaired and/or developmentally disabled individuals, ages 19 and over. Programming would provide participants with safe, engaging activities and social opportunities while also allowing much needed respite time for their caregivers/and or families. Teresa Drelicharz, Executive Director of Jewish Family Service, encourages those most involved with potential attendees to complete the survey as information collected will help determine the scope of future programming. “This survey will help us clearly identifying the needs of our community. We especially want to hear from the families, friends, and caregivers of potential Adult Day Program participants,” Drelicharz said. “We think there are several families within the community who would like to see this service offered but the only way we will know for certain is through their feedback.” Starting in January, Jewish Family Service will distribute the survey through a mass email. A limited number of postcards with a QR code link to the survey will also be sent through the US Postal service. “We will provide a variety of methods for people to complete the survey,” Drelicharz said. “In addition to the online survey, we will have paper copies available at our office. We want to make sure those with limited access to technology or a low level of comfort using technology are able to participate.” All surveys must be completed by Feb. 28, 2026. For more information on the Adult Day Program survey, please email Teresa Drelicharz at tdrelicharz@jfsomaha.com or call 402.330.6591.
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Raise Your Voice: Fiddler on the Roof singalong brings generations together
STACIE METZ Beth El Engagement Coordinator From Tevye to Toddlers: A Singalong for All Ages Get ready for an afternoon filled with music, laughter, and community connection. Beth El invites the entire community to a Fiddler on the Roof Singalong on Sunday, Jan. 11, at 1 p.m. for an interactive event designed to bring people of all ages together through the power of song. Inspired by the unforgettable music of Fiddler on the Roof, this singalong promises microphones, song sheets, snacks, and a room full of voices. Whether you sing beautifully, enthusiastically, or somewhere in between, everyone is encouraged to join in and become part of the experience. “This gives all of us the chance to sing the songs that we love together with our full voices and without feeling shy — to sing ‘If I Were a Rich Man,’ ‘Sabbath Prayer,’ ‘Wonder of Wonders,’ and all the others, and become a true part of the show,” said Marty Shukert, President of Beth El. This event is perfect for grandparents and grandchildren, families, teens, tweens, toddlers, and friends, offering a rare opportunity to share beloved music across generations in a welcoming, inclusive setting. The singalong is co-chaired by Beth and Jeff Dworkin, Lisa and Howard K. Marcus, Gary Nachman, and Caryn Scheer, who are excited to help create an afternoon that celebrates tradition, connection, and community. Bring your family. Bring your friends. Bring your neighbors. The more voices in the room, the more memorable the afternoon will be. This is one event you won’t want to miss.
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An exciting new project by the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and The Jewish Press We are looking for your handwritten family recipes. Please contact Jane or Annette if you are willing to share: jrips@jewishomaha.org avandekamp@jewishomaha.org
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The Jewish Press | January 9, 2026 | 9
Voices The Jewish Press (Founded in 1920) David Finkelstein President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Will Fischer Creative Director Claire Endelman Sales Director Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Sam Kricsfeld Digital support Mary Bachteler Accounting Jewish Press Advisory Board David Finkelstein, President; Margie Gutnik, Ex-Officio; Joseph Abrahams, Helen Epstein, Andrea Erlich, Ally Freeman, Dana Gonzales, Mary Sue Grossman, Hailey Krueger, Chuck Lucoff, Sara Rips, Stewart Winograd and Bob Yaffe. The mission of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish Community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world. Agencies of the JFO are: Institute for Holocaust Education, Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Social Services, Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Press. Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www.jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment. Editorial The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in TIF or PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org. Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1.402.334.5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de Kamp-Wright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $40 per calendar year U.S.; $80 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or email to: jpress@jewishomaha.org.
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Fear and perseverance ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor With so much going on in the news, we can’t forget about the old-fashioned neo-Nazis who still do their thing. Take the Goyim Defense League; while they regularly made headlines before October 7, they have been pushed aside a little bit by college encampments, outright terror attacks and online gaslighting. “A Jewish community center in Nashville,” Asaf Elia-Shalev wrote, “has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the neo-Nazi group Goyim Defense League and several of its leaders and affiliates, accusing them of orchestrating a campaign of antisemitic intimidation, harassment and trespass aimed at terrorizing the city’s Jewish community. (…) At the center of the case is a January 2025 incident in which Travis Garland, a Tennessee man affiliated with the Goyim Defense League, allegedly disguised himself as an Orthodox Jewish man and infiltrated the Jewish center’s secured campus. According to the lawsuit, Garland livestreamed the intrusion, mocked Jewish customs and the Holocaust, and refused repeated requests to leave before being forcibly escorted off the property by a security guard.” (JTA) It’s tempting to mock the GDL and not take them seriously, especially since we dealt with other attacks that actually left people dead. That, however, would be a mistake. Imagine someone who hates us infiltrating our JCC, or our synagogues, and how it would make us feel. Then ask: what is the objective here? Elia-
Shalev also wrote: “The group’s online reach appears to have diminished more recently,” which seems like good news but isn’t. It just means they have more competition online. People like these (or the protesters, or the keyboard warriors) have one goal: they want us to be afraid. They want us quiet, disconnected, friendless, alone. And at times, they have succeeded. In recent years, many of us have experienced moments of desperation. Everyone seems to hate us;enter the hand-wringing. Honestly, it’s perfectly okay to despair from time to time, wallow in grief, own the pain and just feel overwhelming sadness. This antisemitism, this vitriol; it’s real. We would be doing ourselves a disservice if we listened to the voices who tell us we’re too sensitive. It’s real; it’s here. But. There is always a but. There is also so much good in our Jewish world. Call me Pollyanna all you want — I still wouldn’t trade places with anyone. You know those people you encounter, who have no clue what happened on Oct. 7, and every day since? I would not willingly take their place. Being part of the Jewish people; it’s the coolest thing ever. I’m reading Rabbi Angela Buchdahl’s Heart of a Stranger at the moment; if you haven’t picked it up yet, I highly recommend it. Much of what she writes is about belonging, where home is, and what it means. It’s a memoir, interspersed with portions from her sermons, and the story she tells is both deeply personal and Jewishly universal. How does a woman of Jewish and Korean descent become
one of the most inspiring rabbis in the US? “I never gave up,” she writes, “because my ancestors’ spiritual imperative and my parents’ example taught me that the goal in life is not to be affirmed, settled, and comfortable. Rather, it’s to find a purpose and pursue it. Almost always, this requires
leaving what is most familiar and secure to wander into what is risky and uncertain. We hit barricades, get lost or diverted; but by persevering, we can become who we are called to be.” Sometimes that purpose, those barricades, find us instead. We did not go looking for them, but here we are. Do we take a step back, grow quiet, or do we stand proud and become stronger Jews? I think it’s the latter. And I think, ultimately, we’ve lived the same story throughout history so many times, we know exactly how to respond to antisemitism. Whether it’s flag-waving protesters, calls for intifada by people who have zero idea what that means, terror attacks or one silly man infiltrating a JCC in Nashville; throughout all of that, we persevere. Are we sometimes afraid? Absolutely. But that does not change who we are; it only makes us stronger.
Why Jewish girls are missing in the discourse around Israel ILANA M. HORWITZ JTA When a Jewish girl in 12th grade stands up to discuss Israeli politics, she speaks with the same confidence level as a boy in 7th grade. What’s more, two-thirds of boys in Jewish day schools feel confident discussing Israeli politics and history, compared with only half of girls. The gap is especially pronounced for current events in Israel, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the geography of the land of Israel. In each domain, girls are approximately 15 percentage points less confident than boys. This is what emerged from my analysis of data from 3,703 students across 96 North American Jewish day schools, collected in 2012-13. As a sociologist who studies how gender shapes educational outcomes, this gender confidence gap reveals a systemic failure. Let me put this in perspective: girls at the cusp of graduating high school are about as confident — and in some cases less confident — discussing Israeli politics and history as boys who recently became bar mitzvah. We’re sending young women to college with the political confidence of middle school boys. Yet these same girls demonstrate stronger emotional connections to Israel than their male peers. They know just as much about Israeli history — recognizing leaders like Herzl, Ben-Gurion, and Golda Meir at identical rates as boys. Interestingly, when it comes to Israeli culture and daily life in Israel, both genders feel equally non-confident. It’s probably not coincidental that the areas where confidence is equal are unrelated to politics and history. The message is clear: We’ve created an environment where political and historical discourse feels like male territory. This confidence gap appears in four out of every five Jewish schools, from Orthodox to Reform, from seventh grade through senior year. It’s not a single school’s problem, but a systemic pattern across Jewish education. To be clear, the goal isn’t replicating boys’ overconfidence. Boys in non-Orthodox schools display the highest confidence, often bravado over knowledge. Orthodox boys show more humility. Still, even these more humble boys remain more confident than their female peers. We need to address chronic underconfidence that prevents girls from participating in critical Israel conversations.
For decades, Israel education in Jewish day schools has been “work of the heart.” Teachers focus on affective goals: How will students feel about Israel? Educators prioritize fostering emotional bonds over building capacity to articulate these connections. But is this enough if students lack confidence to engage in discourse?
Credit: Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images
This data was collected well before Oct. 7, and captured only binary gender categories. While I cannot examine how gender non-conforming students — an important and growing population in Jewish communities — experience these confidence gaps, the patterns I found likely affect all students socialized as girls. Despite being dated, I have no reason to believe the gender gap has improved. If anything, the intensity of recent events likely makes all students, especially those already prone to self-silencing, even more hesitant to engage. The fundamental patterns of how we socialize children around political discussion based on perceived gender remain unchanged. The implications reach far beyond the classroom. When these students arrive on college campuses, we’ve equipped our daughters with deep love for Israel but not the confidence to discuss it. Meanwhile, their male peers, often feeling less connected, stride confidently into debates. As a college professor, I see this firsthand. In a recent op-ed, I described how my Jewish Studies students are avoiding Israel discussions altogether, paralyzed by fear of “saying the wrong thing.” But I’ve noticed girls appear even more reticent than boys to engage. Today’s cancel culture makes students hyper-nervous about expressing any view that might be deemed “wrong,” and girls, already socialized to be more risk-averse in political discussions, retreat even further into silence. We’re losing
brilliant female voices precisely when campus discourse needs diverse perspectives. This pattern extends beyond Israel. Girls showed significantly less confidence than boys when discussing U.S. current events and American history, with particularly stark gaps in historical discussions. Yet girls aren’t less confident about all topics. When discussing Jewish law (halacha), religious movements or the Holocaust, girls match boys. When discussing Jewish religious customs or culture (the more domestic realms that tend to be female-centric) girls actually exceed boys. The pattern is clear: Girls are specifically less confident about historical and political issues, whether about Israel, America, or anywhere else. These early disparities create long-term consequences visible in our institutions. According to research by Leading Edge, while 70% of the Jewish nonprofit workforce identifies as women, women represent only 30% of CEOs — and the gap is even starker at larger organizations with bigger budgets. Even Jewish organizations without an overt Israel focus — federations, JCCs, social service agencies — need leaders who can confidently navigate Israel-related discussions with donors, boards and communities, especially during times of crisis. Women in Jewish organizations face wage gaps comparable to or worse than national averages. When girls internalize that political discourse “isn’t for them,” we lose half our potential leaders. More Israel programming isn’t necessarily the answer. My research found confidence uncorrelated with school Israel activities, and schools with full-time coordinators showed the same gaps as those with minimal programming. Generic “girls’ empowerment” messaging doesn’t help either. Telling girls they’re “strong” and “capable” without addressing the specific barriers to political discourse — the fear of being wrong, the socialization that politics is masculine, the lack of female role models in this space— amounts to empty cheerleading. We need targeted interventions that address how political and historical confidence develops, not just feel-good slogans. So what can we do? First, representation matters profoundly, and not just symbolically. Female field See Why Jewish girls are missing page 11
Synagogues
10 | The Jewish Press | January 9, 2026
B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
618 Mynster Street Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 712.322.4705 www.cblhs.org
BETH EL SYNAGOGUE
Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Street Omaha, NE 68154-1980 402.492.8550 bethel-omaha.org
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street Omaha, NE. 68154 402.556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org
CHABAD HOUSE
An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street Omaha, NE 68144-1646 402.330.1800 OChabad.com email: chabad@aol.com
LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE
Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road Offutt AFB, NE 68123 402.294.6244 email: oafbjsll@icloud.com
B’NAI ISRAEL Monthly Speaker Series Service, Friday, Jan. 9, 7:30 p.m. with our guest speaker, Cpt. Jessica L. Wagner. Our service leader is Larry Blass. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel! For information about our historic synagogue, please visit our website at www.cblhs.org or contact any of our other board members: David Alloy, Renee Corcoran, Rick Katelman, Gail Kenkel, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Ann Moshman, Mary-Beth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.
BETH EL Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman. IN-PERSON AND ZOOM MINYAN SCHEDULE: Mornings on Sundays, 9:30 a.m.; Mondays and Thursdays, 7 a.m.; Evenings on Sunday-Thursday, 5:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream. SATURDAY: Simcha Shabbat, 10 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Jr. Congregation (Grades K-12), 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 5:55 p.m. Zoom Only. SUNDAY: BESTT (Grades K-7), 9:30 a.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah, 9:30 a.m. with Hazzan Krausman; Torah Tots (Ages 3-PreK), 10:30 a.m.; Fiddler on the Roof Sing-Along, 1 p.m. TUESDAY: Mishneh Deot & Sefer HaMiddot, 10:30 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham. WEDNESDAY: Strudel School with Pam Friedlander & Hanna DeBruin, 10 a.m.; BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 6 p.m.; USY Lounge Night, 7:30 p.m. THURSDAY: Strudel School with Hanna DeBruin, 6 p.m.; Gesher Lounge Night (Grades 6-8), 6 p.m. FRIDAY-Jan. 16: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream. SATURDAY-Jan. 17: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Jr. Congregation (Grades K-12), 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 6 p.m. Zoom Only. Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.
BETH ISRAEL
THURSDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5 p.m.; Smichat Chaver Men’s Class, 7:30 p.m. FRIDAY-Jan. 16: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 5:03 p.m. SATURDAY-Jan. 17: Shabbos Café, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Mincha, 4:50 p.m.; Kids Activity/ Laws of Shabbos, 5:20 p.m.; Havdalah, 6:08 p.m. Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.
CHABAD HOUSE Join classes via Zoom. Go to ochabad.com/academy. For more information or to request help, please visit www.ochabad.com or call the office at 402.330.1800. FRIDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Lechayim, 4:15 p.m., go to ochabad.com/lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 4:55 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 5:59 p.m. SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps, 9 a.m. MONDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Personal Parsha, 9:30 a.m. with Shani; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 6 p.m. with David Cohen; Translating Words of Prayer, 7 p.m. with David Cohen. TUESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Aramaic Grammar, 10 a.m. with David Cohen; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 6 p.m. with David Cohen; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 7 p.m. with David Cohen. WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 11:30 a.m. with David Cohen. THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Young Professionals’ Kosher Food Crawl NYC, contact Mushka at mushka @ochabad.com for more info; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 11 a.m. with David Cohen; Talmud Study, noon; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 6 p.m. with David Cohen; Code of Jewish Law Class, 7 p.m. FRIDAY-Jan. 16: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Encounter Shabbaton, go to cypshabbat.nyc for more info; Lechayim, 4:15 p.m., go to ochabad.com/lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 5:03 p.m. SATURDAY-Jan. 17: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 6:07 p.m.
led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parashat Shemot via Zoom; Havdalah, 6:03 p.m. SUNDAY: LJCS Classes, 9:30 a.m.; Men’s Bike/Coffee Group, 10:30 a.m. at Rock 'N' Joe Coffee, 5025 Lindberg St, Lincoln. For more information or questions please email Al Weiss at albertw801@gmail. com. WEDNESDAY: LJCS Hebrew School, 4:30-6 p.m. FRIDAY-Jan. 16: Shabbat Candlelighting, 5:07 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30-7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST. SATURDAY-Jan. 17: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parashat Va'era via Zoom; Family Potluck and Game Night, 6 p.m. at SST. Bring a dish to share for the potluck beginning at 6 p.m. Games are available to play, but feel free to bring one of your favorites! Games begin at 7 p.m.; Havdalah, 6:11 p.m.
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FRIDAYS: Virtual Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month at Capehart Chapel. Contact TSgt Jason Rife at OAFBJSLL@icloud.com for more information.
TEMPLE ISRAEL
In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Benjamin Sharff, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin, and Cantor Joanna Alexander. FRIDAY: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 5:45 p.m. In-Person; Classic Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom. SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Grades 5 & 6 Lunch and Learn, 11:30 a.m. In-Person; Strike Up a Little Fun, 2:30 p.m. In-Person. RSVP Required. SUNDAY: 2nd Sunday Breakfast, 9 a.m. at Stephen Center; Grades PreK-7, 9:30 a.m. In-Person; Coffee and Conversations with Board Members, 10 a.m. InPerson; Book Club, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom. TUESDAY: Mah Jongg Made Easy, 1:30 p.m. In-Person; Discover the Flavors of Georgian Cuisine with Rosh Chodesh, 7 p.m. RSVP Required. WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m. In-Person; Grades 36, 4:30 p.m. In-Person; Hebrew CHAI: Grades 8-12, 6 p.m. In-Person. THURSDAY: The Zohar: Thursday Morning Class, 11 a.m. with Rabbi Sharff — In-Person & Zoom. FRIDAY-Jan. 16: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9 a.m.; Shabbat B’yachad Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom. SATURDAY-Dec. 17: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Shabbat Morning Service and Bat Mitzvah of Ilana Linthicum, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom. Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.
TEMPLE ISRAEL
FRIDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 4:56 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbos Café, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Mincha, 4:40 p.m.; Kids Activity/Laws of Shabbos, 5:10 p.m.; Havdalah, 6 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5 p.m. MONDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Monday Mind Builders, 4 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5 p.m. TUESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5 p.m.
LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: TIFERETH ISRAEL
Israel suspends operations of multiple humanitarian organizations in Gaza
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GRACE GILSON JTA The Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs is halting the operations of more than three dozen humanitarian groups in Gaza, including Doctors Without Borders. The ministry announced on Dec. 30 that the affected organizations failed to meet its new requirements for non-governmental organizations providing humanitarian aid in Gaza, which were posted online in November. The requirements included providing a full list of its Palestinian employees. “We emphasize that the registration process is intended to prevent the exploitation of aid by Hamas, which in the past operated under the cover of certain international aid organizations, knowingly or unknowingly,” wrote the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which oversees aid in Gaza, in a post on X. The ministry said that 38 of the NGOs working in Gaza did not have their permits renewed for the coming year, according to the Associated Press. Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, posted a link to a Ynet article about the suspensions on X on Dec. 30, writing, “An ongoing scandal ignored by UN & European enablers shows why Israel has to decertify some of the NGOs who have terrorists on their payroll.” The suspensions, which will begin on Jan. 1, 2026
LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch. All services offered in-person with live-stream or teleconferencing options. FRIDAY: Shabbat Candlelighting, 4:59 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30-7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.
come as President Donald Trump has put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to usher the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel into its second phase, which would include the reconstruction of Gaza.
Humanitarian aid for Gaza sourced by Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) and the World Health Organization are stored at Egyptian Red Crescent warehouses in the Egyptian border town of El-Arish, April 8, 2025. Credit: Benoit Tessier/POOL/AFP
Speaking beside Netanyahu at a press conference on Dec. 29, Trump said that he believed reconstruction efforts in the enclave were “going to begin pretty soon,” adding that work to improve sanitary conditions had already begun. But aid groups in Gaza have said that Israel has
continued to block aid from entering the enclave as storms and flooding have battered the region’s residents in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Doctors Without Borders warned in a blog post that Israel’s new registration guidelines “risk leaving hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza without lifesaving healthcare in 2026.” The United Nations’ Humanitarian Country Team also lambasted the requirements, writing that aid groups had warned they were “vague, politicised and impossible to meet without breaching humanitarian principles.” But COGAT minimized the impact of the suspensions in its post, writing that “the implementation of the government decision will not result in any future harm to the volume of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip.” It said that the combined contributions of the groups affected amounted to 1% of the total aid volume in Gaza. In June 2024, Israel accused Doctors Without Borders, which is also known by its French acronym MSF, of employing a Hamas operative. In response, MSF said it was “deeply concerned by these allegations and is taking them very seriously.” “MSF chose not to cooperate with the registration process and refused to provide Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs with a list of its employees, as required by a government decision,” the post continued.
Life Cycles IN MEMORIAM BERT LEWIS Bert Lewis passed away on Dec. 23, 2025. A private funeral was held, and her family is planning a celebration of their beloved mother’s long and wonderful life in the new year. Details will be forthcoming.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Leonard Lewis. She is survived by her children: Stephen, Joel, Shelley and Lisa Lewis; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Memorials may be made in Bert’s memory to the Jewish Federation of Omaha.
The Jewish Press | January 9, 2026 | 11
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Eva Schloss, Holocaust survivor and stepsister of Anne Frank, dies at 96 caust experience until after Otto Frank’s death in 1980. But SHIRA LI BARTOV then, having seen the impact of Otto’s efforts to share his JTA Eva Schloss, a Holocaust survivor who launched a foun- daughter’s story, she embraced the work of Holocaust edudation to advance the legacy of her childhood friend and cation, traveling England and beyond to tell her story. In stepfather’s daughter Anne Frank, has died at 96. 1990, she cofounded the Anne Frank Trust UK, and in 2012 Schloss’ family said she died Saturday in London, where was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, one she settled after the Holocaust and became a prominent of England’s top honors, by Queen Elizabeth for her work. voice among survivors. In 1990, she founded the Anne Frank “Eva was a beacon of hope and resilience,” Dan Green, the Trust UK, which promotes Holocaust education in Britain. trust’s executive director, said in a statement. “Her unwaver“My wife and I are greatly ing commitment to challenging saddened to hear of the death prejudice through Holocaust of Eva Schloss,” King Charles III education has left an indelible said in a statement posted to mark on countless lives.” social media. “The horrors that Schloss’ death comes as the she endured as a young last Holocaust survivors old woman are impossible to comenough to be able to share their prehend and yet she devoted personal memories of the the rest of her life to overcomgenocide are all in their ing hatred and prejudice, pronineties, posing a fresh chalmoting kindness, courage, lenge for Holocaust education. understanding and resilience Several prominent survivors through her tireless work for have died in recent months. the Anne Frank Trust UK and Schloss at times weighed in for Holocaust education across Eva Schloss MBE, step-sister of Anne Frank and Honorary on contemporary politics, writthe world. We are both privi- President of the Anne Frank Trust UK and Camilla, then ing in 2016 that she believed leged and proud to have Duchess of Cornwall, meet during a reception to mark Donald Trump, then running known her and we admired Holocaust Memorial Day, Jan. 20, 2022, in London. Credit: for U.S. president, was “acting her deeply. May her memory Chris Jackson - Pool/Getty Images like another Hitler by inciting be a blessing to us all.” racism.” She also likened the failure of countries to accept Schloss was born in Austria in 1929 and fled with her fam- more refugees from Syria to the conditions faced by Jewish ily in 1938 after it was incorporated into Nazi Germany. They refugees from the Nazis. settled in Belgium and later in the Netherlands, where In 2021, Schloss reclaimed her Austrian citizenship, saying Schloss befriended Anne Frank in Amsterdam. Their fami- that it was time for her to reconcile with her native country. lies lived on the same block, and she and Anne were only a “The Austrians are sorry about what has happened. We can’t month apart in age. carry on the hatred and discrimination any more. The Nazis Like the Franks, the Schloss family went into hiding in Am- are not with us,” she said at a ceremony where the Austrian sterdam but were later betrayed and arrested by the Nazis government honored her. in 1944. Schloss and her mother survived Auschwitz, where At the time, she reflected on her legacy in an interview her father and brother were killed. with the BBC. “I feel that perhaps I have achieved something Returning to Amsterdam, the mother and daughter recon- in my life, to contribute a little bit to change people’s attinected with Otto Frank, Anne Frank’s father and the family’s tudes,” she said. sole survivor. Her mother Fritzi and Otto Frank married in 1953. But she added that she was unsatisfied with her impact, Schloss moved to London where she married and raised saying, “Obviously, I’ve not done enough as I’m very worried three children. She did not speak publicly about her Holo- about the way the world is going now.”
Why Jewish girls are missing Continued from page 9 observers stationed near Gaza reported suspicious Hamas activity for months before Oct. 7. Their warnings were largely dismissed by male superiors, a failure many attribute to systemic gender bias in military decision-making. This tragic example underscores what we lose when we devalue women’s voices in security and political discourse. Yet beyond Golda Meir, what female Israeli leaders do we teach about? In my study, only onequarter of students recognized Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah, one of the largest Jewish organizations in American history and a force here and in Israel. Almost no women in current Israeli leadership make it into international news. We rarely discuss female military leaders, politicians or intellectuals who shaped Israel. Young women can’t be what they can’t see. Second, examine our biases about who “naturally” excels at political discussion. Teachers must call on girls equally, give them thinking time and validate their observations. Small changes matter: waiting longer before accepting answers, using random selection rather than raised hands. When we expect boys to dominate, it becomes self-fulfilling. Consider starting Israel discussions with silent writing before anyone speaks (research shows girls are more likely to participate after processing their thoughts privately). Parents play a crucial role. Do we direct political questions
more to sons at dinner? Research shows parents unconsciously steer political conversations toward boys while discussing emotions with girls. Break this pattern: Invite daughters into political discussions, validate their opinions and model that political engagement isn’t gendered. When watching news or discussing current events, explicitly ask daughters for their analysis before sons jump in. Normalize uncertainty by sharing when you’re unsure about complex issues—showing that not knowing everything doesn’t disqualify you from participating in important conversations. The Jewish community stands at a crossroads. Our daughters deserve better than loving Israel from the sidelines. They deserve to stand at the center of the conversation, not just connected to Israel, but confident advocates for their perspectives on its future. Ilana M. Horwitz is assistant professor of Jewish Studies and Sociology and Fields-Rayant chair in Contemporary Jewish Life at Tulane University. Her book God, Grades, and Graduation: Religion’s Surprising Impact on Academic Success (2022) won the ASA Sociology of Religion Distinguished Book Award. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.
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Kindergarten Roundup at Friedel
SARA KOHEN FJA Director of Advancement Children entering kindergarten in fall 2026 are invited to Kindergarten Roundup at Friedel Jewish Academy on Thursday, Jan. 22, from 10:30–11:30 a.m. This is a chance for children to visit the kindergarten classroom, meet teachers, and enjoy fun activities. Space is limited, and early registration is encouraged. To sign up, email Sara Kohen, Director of Advancement, at skoh
en@fjaomaha.com. Families should notify both Friedel and the ELC if they would like to be brought to and from the ELC for Roundup. Registration for the 2025–2026 school year is now open. Conveniently located on the JCC campus, Friedel Jewish Academy serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Friedel offers a 10:1 student to classroom teacher ratio, strong academics, and unique programs including immersion language instruction, arts, engineering and robotics classes,
swimming, and more. Friedel students come from families across the entire range of Jewish practice and affiliation, as well as non-Jewish students who attended the ELC. Friedel works to build respect and community among all students and their families. Applications are available at www.FriedelJewishAca demy.com, where families can also request a tour.