The Jewish Press
Help shape the 2025 Omaha Jewish Film Festival
MARK
JFO Community Engagement & Education
Love movies? Passionate about Jewish culture, storytelling, and film? The Omaha Jewish Film Festival is looking for enthusiastic community members to assist with the film selections for the 2025 season to be held Nov. 9-12.
We’re seeking 10–15 volunteers to help us preview the trailers of approximately 25 films, helping narrow them down to the four final selections that will light up the big screen at the festival.
What’s involved?
On Thursday, July 17, at noon, we will gather as a group to view the film trailers. The committee members will receive a rating sheet, which will include a synopsis of each film up for consideration. Then, with popcorn in hand, we will rate each film and make comments as desired. The entire process will take between 60-90 minutes. If committee members wish to review trailers and syn-
JLT Fund Names 2025 Summer Intern
AMY BERNSTEIN SHIVVERS
JFO Foundation Executive Director
The Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation is proud to announce that Juliette Boehm-Smith has been chosen to be the first summer intern of the Jacobson Leadership Tomorrow (JLT) Fund program. Juliette graduated from Westside and will begin her freshman year at the University of Nebraska at Omaha this fall, where she plans to study art.
Through this unique program, endowed by Joanie and Richard Jacobson, young Jewish adults like Juliette will be given the opportunity to explore and experience first-hand the workings of Jewish communal life. They will learn leadership skills, expand their knowledge, work alongside Jewish professionals at the Jewish Federation of Omaha, and strengthen their connection to the Jewish community, wherever that community turns out to be.
Already an active participant in Jewish community life, Juliette has See JLT summer intern page 2
opses before the group gathering, we can make that happen. One way or the other, we’d like to hear your thoughts on what’s compelling, relevant, thought-provoking, or just plain entertaining. You don’t have to be a film buff to love Jewish storytelling and movies. Your voice matters. Why join?
• Be part of the creative process behind a beloved community event
• Help bring diverse and meaningful Jewish perspectives to Omaha audiences
• Connect with others who share a passion for culture and film
This is a short-term, flexible commitment that makes a big impact — and it's a lot of fun!
Interested? Want to learn more? Want to join?
Contact Mark Kirchhoff at mkirchhoff@jewishomaha. org or 402.334.6463.
Help us curate something truly special. Join the 2025 Film Festival Selection Committee.
Having a Dinner Party is no picnic for the Kaplan Book Group
SHIRLY BANNER
JFO Library Specialist
The Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group meets on the third Thursday of every month at 1 p.m. New members are always welcome.
In this month’s book selection, Sylvia Gold is beside herself when she finds out that her youngest daughter, Becca, (studying to be a doctor like her father), is bringing her new boyfriend, Henry, and his parents, Edmond and Ursella, to the family Seder this year. After all, they are Rothschilds. Sylvia is sparing no expense to impress the Rothschild family, including repainting in the house, redoing the bathroom, buying new linens, splurging on Opus One - a very expensive Rothschild produced wine - and hiring a gourmet chef to cook the seder meal. Since Becca and Henry have only been dating for three months, Alan, Sylvia’s patient and understanding husband, questions the need to impress Henry’s parents. Nevertheless, Alan steps back and allows Sylvia to do whatever she wants. Also invited to the family seder is See Kaplan Book Group page 3
KIRCHHOFF
News
JLT Summer Intern
Continued from page 1 been involved in a number of programs that have helped shape her identity and values:
• Serving as Secretary and then Vice President on the Executive Board of her BBYO chapter for the past two years, Juliette planned dozens of programs and attended a variety of regional and national conventions, as well as the Chapter Leadership Training Conference (CLTC).
• Taking a leadership role in the Federation’s “Tzedek Teens” program starting in 2023, Juliette along with other Jewish teens engaged in and helped plan meaningful volunteer projects for local nonprofits. Projects included a donation drive for the Nebraska Humane Society, cleaning up and beautifying a local city park, packing care packages for Access Period, cleaning and organizing for the Town and Country Animal Rescue, and cooking a meal for cancer patients at the Hope Lodge.
• Participating in the Tzedek Teens tzedakah program, Juliette was able to establish a donor-advised fund through the JFO Foundation and learn about charitable giving — donating money, time and energy to causes that are important to her. Juliette’s leadership experience and passion for service made her an excellent choice for the JLT internship. She shared, “Judaism is a huge part of my life. This is how I connect and look up to so many others who are strong leaders in our community, and we have many!”
Juliette’s connection to the Jewish community began early. She attended preschool at the Pennie Z. Davis Early Learning Center at the Staenberg Omaha Jewish Community Center and attended Temple Israel Religious School. Today, her family is closely connected to the Omaha Jewish community. Her stepmother, Naomi Fox is the Director of Engagement and Education at the Federation; her grandmother, Shelly Fox, is the Director of Community Outreach for Jewish Family Service. Her great-grandparents are residents at the Rose Blumkin
Jewish Home, making the JCC campus a true family hub.
Her father, Andrew Boehm, is a proud and active community member and supporter of Juliette’s involvement. He has always encouraged her to pursue opportunities in college that align with her values and passions like art, graphic design, marketing and religious studies. Andrew loves seeing her take on leadership roles and give back to the community that has played such a meaningful part in their family's life.
This summer, Juliette will be assisting with a variety of projects under the guidance of agency directors. Based on her career aspirations and interests, she will be spending her internship across the following teams: Jewish Family Service, Institute for Holocaust Education, Marketing and the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society. Her passion, energy, and insight will no doubt make a meaningful difference. Her goal?
“To strengthen the Jewish community in the best way I can today.” For Juliette, this summer will be more than just an internship. She'll be taking a deep dive into the world of Jewish communal service and all that it has to offer. We are thrilled to have her with us and can’t wait to see how she grows as a leader through this experience. Who knows? Maybe she'll consider making it a career. Welcome, Juliette!
The Jacobson Leadership Tomorrow Internship is administered by the Jewish Federation Omaha Foundation. For more information, please contact Brad Abramson, 402.334.6458
ORGANIZATIONS
B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS
The award-winning B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS speaker program currently meets Wednesdays via Zoom from noon to 1 p.m. Please watch our email for specific information concerning its thought-provoking, informative list of speakers. To be placed on the email list, contact Breadbreakers chair at gary.javitch@gmail.com
Strengthening Our Jewish Future: Join Life & Legacy
We believe in sustaining the Omaha Jewish community for the future."
LLOYD & DEBBIE ROITSTEIN For Lloyd and Debbie Roitstein, early supporters and advocates for Life & Legacy, ensuring the longterm strength of the Omaha Jewish community is a responsibility they embrace wholeheartedly. Their commitment to Life & Legacy reflects a deep appreciation for the institutions, traditions, and values that
have shaped their lives — and their desire to preserve them for generations to come.
Through Life & Legacy, donors like the Roitsteins are helping to sustain education, cultural programs, social services, and places of worship, ensuring that the Jewish community continues to thrive well into the future.
Now is the time to make your impact. By committing to leave a legacy gift, you can help preserve and grow the programs and services that define Jewish Omaha and beyond.
To complete a Letter of Intent or learn more about how you can participate in our after-lifetime initiative, contact Brad Abramson, Life & Legacy Coordinator, at babram son@jewishomaha.org or 402.334.6485.
The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home (RBJH) is a crown jewel of our campus and it belongs to all of us. By updating our existing facility and transitioning to all private rooms, we can ensure that the RBJH remains the facility of choice for the Jewish community and that its financial viability is preserved. The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home is our safety net. Let’s take care of it together.
Time! This match is available now until July 31, 2025!
Thanks to two amazing community champions, Tom Fellman and Howard Kooper, for this dollar-for-dollar matching gift opportunity!
Rabbi Geiger’s Weekly Torah Expedition
PARSHAT BEHALOSCHA
Well before he became Rabbi, a teenage Pesach Krohn was visiting with the great Rabbi Shwab. The Rabbi knew that Mr. Krohn (Pesach’s father) was very ill. So he asked Pesach, how is your father? He answered, “He is very ill, but he will be ok; I trust in G-d.“ Rabbi Shwab pulled the young man aside and told him something that truly disturbed him. He said, “Young man, trust in G-d does not mean that we get what we want; it does not mean that your father is certain to get better.“
RABBI
MORDECHAI
GEIGER
Beth Israel
It means that whatever happens, we trust that it is for the absolute best. Needless to say, this was not at all what he wanted to hear from the great Rabbi. Unfortunately, it was exactly
Kaplan Book Group
Continued from page 1
their middle child Sarah and her live-in boyfriend Joe, along with his mother, Valentina Russo. Sarah and Joe grew up together and Sylvia has never liked him as a serious partner for Sarah - especially since he’s not Jewish. Absent from the seder is Joe’s dad, Dominic, who is currently in jail but will be video chatting with everyone. Eldest son Gideon is a doctor like his father and will not be attending since he is working in Sri Lanka for “Doctors Without Borders.”
Of course, the “perfect” Seder is far from being perfect by the time Chad Gadya is sung and concludes the Seder. The Golds learn that not only is Henry younger than Becca, but he has absolutely no ambition and sits around his parents’ house doing nothing all day. Like the biblical Elijah, Gideon shows up at the Gold’s door during the Seder bringing with Malika, a fiancée no one knew existed who is Black - but at least she’s Jewish! Sarah and Joe finally reveal the secret they been hiding from her parents that they are actually married and not “living in sin”.
After Passover, the Gold, Rothschild, and Russo families experience a series of life-changing events. The bank Edmund’s family has been running since the 1880’s collapses
Writing Workshop
‘Write With Us,’ our small and intimate writing workshop (no need to be nervous) continues in the Fall. Upcoming workshops are scheduled for Thursdays June 26, July 24,
what he needed to hear, for Mr. Krohn passed away shortly afterwards. And Pesach understood that it was not because of a lack of faith, but because the creator decided it was the best time for his father to return to Him.
This week's parsha tells us that the Jewish people would camp and travel based on the word of Hashem (9:18). With absolute faith, they would leave their camp because G-d had said they should. And sometimes the new place did not seem nearly as good as the last. But when I take away my 3-year-old daughter's 5th cookie, she cries about it on my shoulder. The very person who made her sad in the first place! She does not hold it against me because she can feel that I did it out of my unconditional love for her. So when tough times come, we can turn to cry on G-d's shoulder, for we know that all he does comes from His infinite love for us.
Shabbat Shalom.
and Edmund is under investigation. Edmund and Ursella are then forced to take a hard look at their extravagant lifestyle. Sylvia remains upset and is not talking to Sarah about not sharing her secret marriage. It is especially disconcerting since Joe’s parents were aware of it. Becca decides not to take the prestigious medical summer internship and opts for spending the summer on the beach in the Hamptons. Still up in the air is whether she’ll decide to return to medical school in the Fall. Malika has not only left the “Doctors Without Borders” program and Sri Lanka but Joe as well. Dominic has been released from prison and is back home with his family. Henry finally grows, gets his life in order, starts community college, and begins to make plans for the future.
What more could happen to these crazy families? Just wait until Rosh Hashanah rolls around and the same people gather for another dinner party.
The group receives administrative support from the Community Engagement & Education arm of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. For information about the group and to join in the discussion, contact Shirly Banner at 402.334.6462 or sbanner@jewishomaha.org
Aug. 28, Oct. 30, Nov. 13 and Dec. 11 from 5-7 p.m. in the Noshery at the Staenberg Omaha JCC. Register by contacting Jessi at jtaylor@jewishomaha.org or Annette at avande kamp@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 prompt.
ROOFING SIDING GUTTERS
Northern Ireland’s lone, beleaguered synagogue aims to stave off decline by engaging Christian neighbors
ROSARIO DEL VALLE
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND | JTA
On Saturdays, the Jewish day of rest, there is barely a quorum of 10 for prayers at the old synagogue in Northern Ireland’s capital city. But every other Wednesday, the place is hopping. A gaggle of seniors gathers for lectures, conversation, lunch and socializing. Only some of them are Jewish.
“I come here mostly for company. I see my friends, and I enjoy the talks. It gets me out once a fortnight,” said Norma Simon, 94, one of the members of the synagogue, on a recent Wednesday.
Her Catholic companion, Eleanor Minahan, said she appreciated the company she finds at the Belfast Hebrew Congregation.
“Most of the people that I meet here, I don’t meet in any other circumstances,” she said.
The neighborly vibes offer a contrast to tensions swirling outside and around the synagogue, the only Jewish house of worship in Northern Ireland.
Protestants and Catholics between the late 1960s and 1998.
“That was our future generation — gone,” said Ivonne Danker, an active member of the Belfast Jewish Community. Today, the synagogue serves only 54 active members, mostly retired people with no children. Services are held weekly on Saturday and on major holidays. Over the years, the synagogue was renovated so that there is less room for worship and more space for meetings and social activities.
“When everybody left, we condensed it, we built this wall, and we turned this into a functions room,” Danker said, ges-
There, as in the Republic of Ireland to the south, pro-Palestinian sentiment is strong — as exemplified by the Belfast band Kneecap, which projected the phrase “F–k Israel. Free Palestine” at the Coachella festival last month. Jewish leaders say antisemitism is on the rise.
Earlier this month, an object was thrown through the window of the synagogue, which is located in a mixed but predominantly Catholic neighborhood in North Belfast. Two girls were cautioned by the police, according to Michael Black, the congregation’s deputy chairman, and the damage caused will total over £600.
“My original thought was that this was inevitable,” Black said. He added, “In my lifetime, I don’t remember so much open antisemitism.”
Black said the synagogue has received hateful emails and phone calls. He said it has been experiencing “more verbal abuse than physical fear,” and he does not currently believe there is a lethal threat to his community.
“There’s an awful lot of virtue signaling and a lot of useful idiots who swallow the propaganda coming. That’s all. It’s getting worse,” he said. But he added that he worried that verbal abuse could morph into something more dangerous, as happened in the Holocaust.
“It all started like this. It all starts with words. Then you get the blame,” he said, adding, “It’s worrying that there are signs that it could happen again.”
Yet the community’s safety concerns are only one of several pressing challenges imperiling the congregation’s future. It must also contend with a dwindling Jewish population, a deteriorating building, and a struggle to recruit a new spiritual leader.
David Kale, who has led Belfast Hebrew Congregation for six years, is leaving his role. Black and other community leaders are aiming to install a rabbi who is outgoing and “receptive to other groups of Jews” by next month — but they haven’t yet landed the ideal candidate. They are looking for someone who can lead prayers and teach classes as well as help the chevra kadisha, a volunteer group that helps prepare the dead for a Jewish burial. Additionally, the community hopes to reach out to Jewish students at Queen’s University Belfast with the hope that they will use the space for meetings and Shabbat dinners on Fridays.
It’s a tall order for a community that is, by all accounts, a shell of its former self. Belfast was the pulpit of Isaac Herzog, a chief rabbi of Israel and the grandfather of the current Israeli president of the same name, from 1916 to 1919 before he moved to Dublin and became the chief rabbi of Ireland. The community swelled before, during, and immediately after World War II, thanks to the arrival of Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe, reaching a peak in the 1950s of more than 1,500 members.
The local Jewish population was already in decline when the Belfast Hebrew Congregation was built in 1964 as a house of worship with a capacity of 1,500. The exodus accelerated with the onset of the Troubles, the period of violent conflict between
turing around the space.
There is little possibility of a rebound. Only 439 people identified as Jewish in the latest Northern Ireland census, taken in 2021, out of a total population of nearly 2 million. The neighboring Republic of Ireland has more than 2,000 Jews among a population of around 5.3 million.
Those small numbers leave neighbors as the best option for keeping the building in use. While many in Northern Ireland are sympathetic to the Palestinians, the local sectarian history has led others to staunchly support Israel, as well. The evangelical Christian community and other churches have also expressed solidarity with the members of the Belfast Hebrew Congregation, including after the recent vandalism.
About 30 seniors, in their 70s, 80s and 90s, join the biweekly meetings of what is called “Wednesday Club.” Common activities include lectures on a wide range of topics such as Irish history, playing trivia games, listening to music and sharing a meal. By talking about topics that are common to adherents of any faith, the community tries to find common ground with its non-Jewish neighbors.
“[The meetings] are informative, entertaining, sometimes boring,” said Hilary Shields, who attends an Anglican church. “They make us feel very welcome, and it’s nice to be with friends.”
The Belfast Jewish Community & Hebrew Congregation started the meetings in 2009 to encourage people to spend more time together and connect with those outside of the Jewish community.
The goal was “to stop just being inward-looking, to be more outward-looking,” said Jane Danker, the organizer (who is not closely related to Ivonne Danker). “And as you can see, we all mix and match.”
In addition to the Wednesday Club program for seniors, the synagogue gets visitors from Northern Ireland and abroad who are interested in learning about Judaism. On a recent spring day, Black gave a tour to a group of 21 American students visiting from Middlebury College in Vermont. He showed them the sanctuary, which faces Jerusalem, and the Holy Ark, which contains the Torah scrolls.
The visit of the group, composed of students and professors from the class “Conflict: Transformation in Northern Ireland,” ended at the Yahrzeit Wall, where the names of the deceased are commemorated by the community. There, Black explained that on the anniversary of a loved one’s passing, a memorial light is lit in their memory.
Soon, he understands, the entire congregation could go the way of those it remembers. Black imagines the synagogue could become a cultural center, a museum and an educational center — though because it is deemed a historic site, it requires government permission for alterations.
“I think it’s only a matter of time before we disappear as an Orthodox community,” said Black. “I would like to leave a legacy.”
Jews and non-Jews sit together in Belfast Hebrew Congregation in Northern Ireland, March 2025.
Credit: Rosario Del Valle
New Polish president
JTA STAFF
Karol Nawrocki, a right-wing historian involved in Poland’s recent efforts to revise Holocaust history to minimize the role of local collaborators, has been elected president of Poland. Nawrocki eked out a narrow victory over Rafał Trzaskowski, Warsaw’s liberal-centrist mayor, in a runoff election on Sunday. His election marks a return to power for the Law and Justice Party, which led Poland from 2015 until 2023 and endorsed Nawrocki, who was relatively unknown before entering the race late last year. It will stymie efforts by the country’s centrist prime minister to make reforms.
Karol Nawrocki Credit: Marek Antoni Iwaczuk/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The election carried steep stakes for how Poland memorializes the Holocaust, when 3 million Polish Jews were murdered in a Nazi campaign supported by Polish collaborators. Law and Justice promoted historical narratives about Polish victimhood and resistance to the Nazis, while delegitimizing research on Polish antisemitism or Poles who killed Jews. In 2018, the country passed a law that outlawed accusing Poland or the Polish people of complicity in Nazi crimes. Although the infraction was downgraded from a crime punishable with three years in prison to a civil offense, critics say it had a chilling effect on historical research.
Nawrocki heads the Institute of National Remembrance, which gained a reputation for advancing nationalist narratives about the Holocaust under the Law and Justice government. He centered that version of history in his campaign.
As Nawrocki rose in the polls and forced a runoff, he curried the support of backers of the fourth-place finisher in the general election, Grzegorz Braun, who ran an antisemitic campaign. Nawrocki told Braun that he would fight “all the disgusting attacks” on Poland by Holocaust scholars. He previously promised to end the tradition of lighting Hanukkah candles in the presidential palace, which Braun shocked the Polish parliament in 2023 by disrupting.
Florida board blocks hiring of U of Michigan president criticized over encampment response
PHILISSA CRAMER
JTA
Florida officials have rejected the University of Florida board’s choice to helm the university, citing his record at the University of Michigan where his tenure included fierce proPalestinian protests.
Santa Ono drew criticism from both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel camps in Michigan over his handling of the protests. Pro-Palestinian activists accused him of being heavy-handed when he ordered their encampment cleared and students arrested in the spring of 2024. Pro-Israel voices, meanwhile, said he had been too lenient in allowing the encampment to last as long as it did.
“This is the right decision for UF,” Florida Sen. Rick Scott said on X after the 10-6 vote Tuesday by the Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s public university system, to reject Ono’s candidacy.
“UF’s students, faculty and staff deserve a president who will stand for Florida values and against antisemitism.”
League’s Never is Now summit in New York City in March, where the pro-Israel podcaster Dan Senor said his administration “seems to have gotten things under control.” But the Florida officials were not convinced.
“The public record completely contradicted what the nom-
Ono also faced scrutiny over his approach to campus diversity. Under his leadership, Michigan had a robust Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program — a bugbear for Republicans — until announcing in March that it would be dismantled.
In recent months, Ono sought to distance himself from the controversies of his tenure. He spoke at the Anti-Defamation
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inee was telling us,” Paul Renner, a former speaker of the Florida House and vociferous DEI critic who voted against Ono on the Board of Governors, told
The New York Times.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators adjust a photo of the University of Michigan President Santa Ono as people gather for a mock trial against the University of Michigan's Board of Regents on the university's campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on April 21, 2025. Credit: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images
The Untested Cookbook
CRANBERRY CHICKEN
Genevieve Bornstein
Ingredients: 10 Chicken pieces Pepper, garlic powder, to taste 2 boxes fast-cooking long grain and wild Rice, uncooked
1 10-oz. can of whole cranberry sauce
1 cup water
3 tbsp. margarine
4 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. lemon juice
½ cup almonds, sliced and toasted
Directions:
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. EXPERIENCE ANTISEMITISM?
If you see something, say something.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Season chicken with pepper and garlic powder. Place rice and seasonings in the bottom of a 9” by 13” glass baking dish. Add chicken on top. Put cranberry sauce, water, lemon juice, margarine and soy sauce in a saucepan. Cook over low heat until cranberry sauce melts. Pour over chicken and cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 15 minutes longer to brown chicken. Garnish with
APPLE CAKE (PARVE)
Susie Shyken
Ingredients:
4 apples, pared and sliced Lemon juice
2 cups sugar 1 cup oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
½ C. orange juice ½ tsp. salt 4 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
4 Eggs
Directions:
EGGPLANT & PORTOBELLO PARMIGIANA
Jan Goldstein
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 ½ tbsp. hot pepper sauce (divided)
1 large eggplant
4 portabello mushrooms (sliced)
12 oz. pkg. shredded mozzarella cheese (3 cups)
½ sprig parsley, coarsely chopped ½ cup grated parmesan cheese 26 oz. jar marinara or spaghetti sauce
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine oil with 1 Tbsp. hot sauce in a small bowl. Cut eggplant into 15 pieces and arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer. Brush slices with oil mixture. Broil 3-4 inches from the heating element for 2-3 minutes. Do the same with slices of Portabello mushrooms. Broil longer until brown. Remove from the broiler. Combine sauce and remaining ½ tsp. hot sauce in a medium bowl. In another bowl mix mozzarella and parmesan cheese with parsley. Arrange a single layer of eggplant on the bottom of a lightly greased 2 quart casserole. Spread with ⅓ sauce mixture and cheese. Repeat layers including Portabellos. Bake for 15 min. until hot and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9" tube pan. Add lemon juice to sliced apples. Mix together
4 tsp. sugar and cinnamon. Beat eggs. Gradually beat in 2 cups sugar and oil. Combine flour with baking powder and salt. Add to beaten egg mixture in small amounts alternately with orange juice. Pour about ¼ batter into the prepared pan. Arrange ⅓ apple slices and sprinkle ⅓ sugar and cinnamon mixture. Repeat, using about ¼ batter and half remaining apple slices and sugar and cinnamon mixture each time. Top layer should be batter. Bake for 1 hour. For a 9" by 13" pan: grease and flour the pan. Spread ½ batter and then all the apple slices and the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Then pour the other ½ batter for the top layer.
“Miracles do occur, but they rarely provide food.”
TRIFAITH
The Elyce Azriel Memorial Garden was officialldedicated at the TriFaith Garden.
BETH EL
Pack the Beit Midrash, Acharon celebration, Cantor’s concert… What…a…day! Our teens even did some amazing Kamp Kef planning in between. Thank you Beth El community for a great year of BESTT!
SP O TLIGHT
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
CHABAD
Chabad’s Shani Katzman led a phenomenal Beit Midrash at the J for community members and staff
FRIEDEL
Friedel students made kadorei shokolad (chocolate balls), a popular Israeli dessert, to celebrate their time with Mika Mizrachi, Omaha’s community shlicha.
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 Board
David Finkelstein, President; Margie Gutnik, Ex-Officio; Helen Epstein, Andrea Erlich, Ally Freeman, Dana Gonzales, Mary Sue Grossman, Hailey Krueger, Chuck Lucoff, Larry Ring, Melissa Shrago, Suzy Sheldon and Stewart Winograd.
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
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.
Finding Our “Why”: Rebuilding American Jewish Life
This year, I hosted my first seder. It was an emotional, somewhat daunting and hopeful experience—especially in this fraught and complex moment for Jews around the world. In preparation for it, I found myself returning to the words of author and podcast host Dan Senor, whose work has recently struck a deep chord. A segment from his Call Me Back podcast, The Paradox of Passover 2025—featuring guest Rachel Goldberg Polin, mother of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin—became part of my seder experience. It helped set the tone for a night not just of storytelling, but of soul-searching, historical perspective and purpose.
Senor is a foreign policy expert, bestselling author (Start-Up Nation, The Genius of Israel), and the host of the Call Me Back podcast. This week, he delivered the 45th annual State of World Jewry address at the 92NY in Manhattan, where he offered a powerful call to action for American Jews—especially in light of current global challenges, including the war in Israel, the continued captivity of hostages in Gaza, and record-high incidents of antisemitism in the U.S.
In his remarks, Senor struck a balance between hard truths and enduring optimism. “Israel is going to be fine,” he said. “In part because of Israeli
strength and resilience, backed up by the Diaspora’s continued commitment.” But he did not sugarcoat the challenges we face closer to home: “The future of American Jewish life hangs in the balance.”
One of the most sobering takeaways was this: among the 33 Jewish individuals on the Forbes 400 list with publicly reported charitable giving, only 11% or fewer of their gifts go toward Jewish causes. Senor made it clear: “It is time for a recalibration in favor of our community’s needs.”
And what are those needs? Jewish day schools, summer camps, and gap years in Israel—Senor called these institutions some of the strongest contributors to Jewish identity formation. They are not luxuries; they are essential tools for building resilience and meaning in the next generation.
“The question is: Do we have the sense of purpose — the why — to match?” Senor asked. It was a question echoed in the voice of released hostages who recalled that in the tunnels of Gaza, Hersh Goldberg-Polin would quote Viktor Frankl: “He who has a why can endure any how.”
That idea stayed with me as I gathered friends and family around my seder table for the first time. It’s why I included a reflection from Senor’s podcast in our reading. In a year when we could easily feel broken, there is a deeper call to be whole—and to help make our people whole. To give more intentionally. To show up for our community. To make meaning together.
Senor closed with a piercing challenge that feels especially urgent:
“Have we achieved prominence only to find ourselves stunningly weak? Or have we proven ourselves — and our children — Jewish and strong?”
These are not rhetorical questions. They are the foundation of what comes next. And each of us— whether we’re hosting our first seder, sending a child to camp, or opening a Donor-Advised Fund— has a role to play in answering them. Let this be the year we rediscover and recommit to our why. As we often say, if Jews don’t support Jews, no one will.
For this I became a Jew? Yes, for exactly this I became a Jew.
MEG KEENE JTA
In keeping with Jewish tradition that makes no differentiation between those who are born Jews and those who become them, I rarely talk about being a convert. But in light of the antisemitic attacks in America over the last two weeks, and as we celebrated Shavuot, a holiday honoring a convert, I wanted to break that silence.
My beit din — the rabbinic court that signed off on my conversion — was exactly 16 years minus a month ago. I completed my conversion after four years of study — because I’m nothing if not both thoughtful and stubborn. Back in 2005 when I started the process, and in 2009 when I formally converted, the level of antisemitism we’re currently seeing was unimaginable in the modern world. We were at the end of what we now know was a golden age for Jews, and we thought that after the Holocaust, society knew better.
We were, of course, wrong.
But my conversion advisor was wise. He understood that as Jews, our primary law is pikuach nefesh — the protection of life. And when we accept a convert, we put their life and the lives of any of their decedents at risk. To do so is a serious thing, and can only be done if the convert has a Jewish soul, and hence there is no other option.
(The teaching is that all Jewish souls were present at Sinai, where we received Torah, which is what we celebrate on Shavuot. Most souls were born into Jewish families, but some of us were born into non-Jewish families, and part of our soul’s task was to find its way home.)
My conversion advisor was serious about me understanding the risk on a bone-deep level. He knew I wanted kids, and because of that, he wouldn’t consider my conversion until I had had nightmares about my future children and the Holocaust.
Every clergy member I’ve told this to since my conversion has said that was “over the top” and “too much.” But looking around the world today, I think
it was exactly right. I don’t know a single Jewish mother that doesn’t have Holocaust nightmares about their children, particularly now. It’s rooted in our DNA. We gave birth to them, and we know the risk at a cellular level.
At my beit din, before announcing the decision, my conversion advisor said to me, “If we fill out this certificate, it will be on file. And if the Nazis come back, your name will forever be on record as a Jew. Are you sure you want to do this?” I said yes, because it was my soul’s only option.
But on that day, July 3, 2009, in San Francisco, that reality seemed far off, if not impossible. I told my husband’s family what had transpired at brunch after, and they laughed. “A dramatic question,” they said, “but not a real risk.”
ence, every day since the Tree of Life Shooting in 2018, I’ve spoken out about rising antisemitism, tried to win the hearts and minds of non-Jews. And I’ve been in the best company, Jews who have de-
But it turns out, the risk was all too real. Last month, when a young couple was killed after leaving an event at a Jewish museum, my 9-year-old daughter asked, “Why is tonight different than every other night they kill Jews?” She didn’t realize she was mirroring the Passover question. And the answer, of course, is that it wasn’t. All nights they kill Jews are like Shabbat Shachor, that Black Shabbat of Oct. 7. Yom Shachor. Laila Shachor. Black day. Black night.
After the attack in Boulder, my 12-year-old son just asked in a flat voice: “How many Jews were killed?” (The answer is none, but not for lack of trying, and the damage is severe.) But it horrifies me that at 12, this is the reality he lives in, the question he knows to ask.
As someone with a significant social media pres-
voted much of their lives to the cause. But it has only gotten worse. Those of us who have been outspoken have been treated as Cassandras, disbelieved and mocked until it was too late. People’s careers have been damaged, lives put at risk. And yet the horrors only grow. It feels late in the day now. I have very little hope that we’ll convince nonJews to care.
But when my friends say they’re hopeless, I note that there is hope if we look within. I have nothing but hope and faith in the Jewish people. We have each other, all of us: conservative and liberal, secular and religious, Israeli and in the Diaspora. And we love each other more than they can ever hate us.
Sixteen years ago I made the only choice available to me. I honored my Jewish soul. Even as we’ve walked into the fire, I’ve never regretted it. We are, in fact, the very best, and I love us more than anything. I’m lucky to be here.
Credit: Apple Podcasts
Immersion in a ritual bath is required for conversion to Judaism under Jewish law. Credit: Getty Images
AMY BERNSTEIN SHIVVERS Executive Director, JFO Foundation
We Jews know what hate looks like.
IOLA KOSTRZEWSKI
JTA
I am Black. I am Jewish. I work in the field of hate crimes not only as a professional who responds to incidents, builds coalitions and educates others but as someone who has lived their reality. I carry it in my skin. In my breath. In my children’s safety plans. I don’t need a white paper to define what I already feel in my blood and bones. I know what hate looks like.
When Black people are murdered in Buffalo while grocery shopping, we do not sit in circles wondering whether we can really call it racism. We do not write op-eds asking for nuance. We do not entertain long think-pieces parsing whether it might have been just a tragedy or mental health-related. No. We say: This was a racist, anti-Black hate crime. Because it was. But as a Jew, I have learned that our community doesn’t always offer that same clarity or solidarity when the hate targets us.
In Washington, D.C., two people who attended a Jewish event, working for peace, were executed outside a Jewish building. It is clear to me and to so many others: This was a hate crime. A Jew-hating hate crime. Call it what it is: antisemitism.
Then on Sunday, as Jews around the world prepared to receive Torah once again on Shavuot, I began receiving messages from friends in Boulder: Molotov cocktails were thrown at people standing in peaceful protest rallying for the return of hostages in Gaza. Every Sunday, in the rain, in the cold, in the fatigue of
waiting, these people have shown up. Most of them are Jewish. They are showing up as Jews. Not to make a political statement. To bring our people home. To bring all hostages home. Some are not even Jewish. But their gathering is marked, labeled, targeted as a Jewish event.
The attacker? He didn’t run. He didn’t try to escape. He told police he had been planning this for over a year. The only reason he used a Molotov cocktail instead of a gun? He couldn’t legally get one. But don’t miss this: He stayed. He told us why he did it.
And still within our Jewish community I hear the same questions: Was it really antisemitism?
Should we say that out loud? Will it alienate people? Is it too complicated?
Let me be clear: it was antisemitism. Full stop.
aren’t out there. They are in here with us.
I am tired of watching us question our right to name our own pain.
I am tired of watching us defer, debate, dilute or delay calling out antisemitism because we are afraid it will make us look too aligned
when your people are being hunted in synagogues, at schools, in kosher supermarkets, outside community centers or at a park.
You do not wait for the perfect words that will make everyone else comfortable while your children are crying in fear.
violence" by a man wielding incendiary devices. Credit: Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post
To my Jewish community: I write this as one of you. I write this as someone who brings their whole self Black, Jewish, queer, mother, community protector to this moment.
I am tired. Not because the work is hard (it is). But because some of the hardest parts
The antisemitic attacks are painful.
RABBI ASHER WRIGHT
JTA
My family has lived in Colorado for generations. I was in touch with my mother and cousins following the firebombing attack on people marching to call attention to the hostages held in Gaza. Some of my cousin’s children attend school in Boulder. This was not far away. In my mind, I can visualize exactly where it happened.
In just the last 50 days: arson at the Pennsylvania governor’s residence; assaults on Jews in the streets; vandalism of schools, synagogues and businesses; two murdered outside a Jewish event in Washington, D.C., and a firebomb attack on a peaceful gathering in Boulder that injured 15, including a Holocaust survivor.
In several of these cases, attackers shouted, “Free Palestine.” Or they said it when they were caught. Or the graffiti they wrote said it. These are not political statements. These are acts of antisemitic terror.
But something else makes this moment even more painful.
The silence.
I serve as the senior rabbi of Temple Beth El, the largest synagogue in the Carolinas. For years, our clergy and community have shown up. We have marched for racial justice, stood for LGBTQ+ rights, defended reproductive freedom, and worked alongside churches, faith communities of every kind and community partners to build a more just Charlotte. We have worked steadfastly with public schools and stood arm in arm at vigils and rallies. We showed up, again and again, because our faith commands us to. And now, as Jews are being attacked in the streets, harassed on campuses and set on fire, the silence from many of our trusted partners is devastating.
We have not heard from many of the clergy or political leaders who regularly speak out for compassion, equity, and peace.
We have not heard from those who have insisted repeatedly that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism.
When Jews are targeted, burned, and killed under banners of “Free Palestine,” those voices have now fallen all too silent. That silence sends a deafening message: that Jewish safety is negotiable. That Jewish
lives are less urgent. That the grief of Jews burned alive is not worthy of their compassion or outrage. It leaves us feeling alone. It forces us to wonder if our pain is visible. If our safety matters.
This is not a time to stay quiet. It is time to be brave. A time to speak with the same moral clarity we have offered to others.
To our friends, our partners in justice, our fellow clergy, our neighbors in the work of healing the world: Where are you?
If you believe in peace, now is the time to say that violence is never acceptable.
If you believe in justice, now is the time to reject hatred in all its forms.
If you believe that all people are created in the image of God (the text you cite is Jewish, by the way), now is the time to say that Jewish people are also created in the image of God.
You can oppose war and still condemn terror.
You can grieve for Gaza and innocent life and still say that burning Jews alive is wrong. You can challenge Israeli policy and still know that Jews everywhere are not responsible for it.
If you care about justice, say something. Stand for what is right. Do not let hate go unanswered.
Why? Because there is no liberation in setting people on fire. There is no justice in chasing Jews from public spaces. There is no righteousness in staying silent. And you should know that hatred that is allowed to grow never stays contained. It always spreads. It always finds new victims and the people peddling in it will always create new grievances to justify more violence. Say something. Silence is not love. Silence feels like abandonment. And silence will certainly not protect us. We need you to speak up. We have marched beside you. We have prayed with you. We have stood together for justice. Please do not disappear. We are still here. We need to know that you are too.
Rabbi Asher Wright is the senior rabbi of Temple Beth El in Charlotte, North Carolina. He grew up in Denver. 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.
with the “wrong people.”
I am tired of watching us abandon the moral clarity we say we had during the civil rights movement, clarity we claim as legacy but fail to live.
Because if we had learned anything from the Black community we so often say we stood beside, we would have learned this: You do not let others define your trauma, your liberation or your language.
You do not water down your truth just because it is inconvenient for others to swallow.
You do not debate whether it’s “really” hate
Let me say this plainly: When people target Jews for being Jewish, it is antisemitism. You do not need to know how they feel about Zionism. You do not need to ask what their politics were. You do not need to confirm their interfaith relationships. You need to listen to your gut, your history, your ancestors and name the thing that is happening to us.
We say never again.
But I fear some of us think that means never offending others in the process of protecting ourselves.
To that, I say: We must love ourselves more than we fear backlash.
So I ask you, my community: will you say it with me?
This was antisemitism. And it is enough.
Stop debating it. Start naming it.
Iola Kostrzewski is a mother, homesteader and community activist in Minneapolis. She is the Minnesota community engagement manager for the AntiDefamation League. Her views are her own and not that of her employer.
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.
Isaac Dechtman of Denver and his parents Evan and Jennifer comfort each other at the Boulder County Courthouse on Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado, on June 3, 2025, two days after 12 people marching to raise awareness for Israeli hostages in Gaza were injured in a "targeted act of
Synagogues
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
TEMPLE ISRAEL
Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive Omaha, NE 68144-1206
402.556.6536 templeisraelomaha.com
LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY:
TIFERETH ISRAEL
Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 402.423.8569 tiferethisraellincoln.org
Monthly Speaker Series Service, Friday, June 13, 7:30 p.m. with our guest speaker. Our service leader is Jim Fried. 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: Renee Corcoran, Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Ann Moshman, MaryBeth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.
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 Services 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.
SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream
SUNDAY: Morning Minyan, 9 a.m. Zoom Only.
TUESDAY: Journey Through Grief, 6:15 p.m. with Wendy Hill.
FRIDAY-June 20: Kabbalat Shabbat Services, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.
SATURDAY-June 21: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream
Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.
FRIDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m.; Candlelighting, 8:42 p.m.
SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Soulful Torah, 7:45 p.m.; Mincha, 8:30 p.m.; Kids Activity/Laws of Shabbos 9 p.m.; Havdalah, 9:50 p.m.
SUNDAY: Shacharit 9 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 8:40 p.m.
MONDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Camp JYE BI, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 8:40 p.m.
TUESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Camp JYE BI, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:40 p.m.
WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Camp JYE BI, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:40 p.m.
THURSDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Camp JYE BI, 9 a.m.; Character Development, 9:30 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:40 p.m.
FRIDAY-June 20: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Camp JYE BI, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m.; Candlelighting, 8:43 p.m.
SATURDAY-June 21: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class 10:45 a.m.; Soulful Torah, 7:45 p.m.; Mincha 8:30 p.m.; Kids Activity/Laws of Shabbos 9 p.m.;
Havdalah, 9:53 p.m.
Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.
All services are in-person. All classes are being offered in-person and via Zoom (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, 5:30 p.m., go to ochabad.com/lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 8:40 p.m.
SATURDAY: Shacharit 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 9:50 p.m.
SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps, 9 a.m.
MONDAY: Shacharit, 10 a.m.; Personal Parsha, 9:30 a.m. with Shani Katzman; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Translating Words of Prayer, 7 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen.
TUESDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Aramaic Grammar, 10 a.m. with David Cohen; Translating Words of Prayer, 11 a.m. with David Cohen; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 7 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen
WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Mystical Thinking (Tanya) 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Katzman; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen.
THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 10 a.m.; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study, noon-1 p.m.; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 6 p.m.; Code of Jewish Law Class, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY-June 20: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Lechayim, 5:30 p.m., go to ochabad.com/lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 8:42 p.m.
SATURDAY-June 21: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 9:52 p.m.
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: Lincoln Jewish Community will join Star City Pride Pride at the Park 2025, 5-10 p.m. at Woods Park (near 33rd St. and O St) This is a free, familyfriendly and sober-friendly event with vendors, food trucks, and a wide variety of entertainment and performers; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 8:41 p.m.
SATURDAY: Shabbat Service, 9:30-11 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parashat Behaalotecha via Zoom; Havdalah, 9:50 p.m.
SUNDAY: Men’s Bike/Coffee Group, 10:30 a.m. at
The Mill on the Innovation Campus. For more information or questions please email Al Weiss at albertw801@gmail.com; We can do this - Feed the Children, 11:30 a.m.-1:15 p.m. at Belmont Community Center; Jewish Book Club Meeting, 1:30 p.m. on Zoom and will discuss Lilith by Nikki Mamery. For more information, please contact Deborah Swearingen at: devra60@gmail.com.
MONDAY: SST Board Meeting, 7–8 p.m.
FRIDAY-June 20: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 8:43 p.m.
SATURDAY-June 21: Shabbat Service , 9:30-11 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study noon on Parashat Shelach via Zoom; Potluck Dinner and Family Game Night, 6 p.m. at SST. Adults and kids of all ages are welcome. Please bring a dish to share; Havdalah, 9:53 p.m.
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.
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. In-Person; Village Walking Group, 10 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Shira 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; Temple Israel Tot Family Fun Day, 3 p.m. at Temple Israel Playground — In-Person.
WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m. In-Person; Open Coffee and Conversations with Clergy, 2 p.m. In-Person.
FRIDAY-June 20: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9 a.m. InPerson; Village Walking Group, 10 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat B’yachad Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom
SATURDAY-June 21: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. InPerson & Zoom.
Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.
OBITUARY CHANGES
As of January 1, 2025, the Jewish Press will charge $180 for the inclusion of standard obituaries, up to 400 words. Photos may be included if the family so wishes. For many years, we have held off on making this decision. However, it is no longer financially responsible for us to include obituaries at no charge.
For questions, please email avandekamp@ jewishomaha.org. Obituaries in the Jewish Press are included in our print edition as well as our website at www.omahajewishpress.com
Man charged with hate crime in Boulder firebombing
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the man accused of firebombing people marching to raise awareness of Israeli hostages in Gaza, had planned the attack for over a year, local and federal authorities said on Monday as they charged him with attempted murder and a hate crime.
Soliman, 45, allegedly fired two Molotov cocktails into a crowd assembled for the weekly Run for Their Lives in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday. Local authorities said on Monday that the number of people injured had risen to 12, with two people remaining hospitalized.
Soliman, an Egyptian national who entered the United States on a tourist visa in 2022, yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack, said he wanted to “kill all Zionist people” and did not regret his actions, according to affidavits from the FBI and Boulder District Attorney’s Office.
Soliman told detectives that he had learned about the event online, which is also where he learned to construct the homemade incendiary devices after being denied a gun permit because of his immigration status.
He said he had purchased supplies at Target and Home Depot and had dressed as a gardener carry-
ing flowers, with a backpack containing sprayable gasoline, to gain proximity to the demonstrators. He was armed with 18 Molotov cocktails but threw just two before growing scared, according to a detective who interviewed him.
“Mohamed said he wanted them to all die and that was the plan, he said he would go back and do it again and had no regret doing what he did. Mohamed said anyone who supports the existance of Israel on ‘our land’ is Zionist. Mohamed clarified ‘our Land’ was Palestine,” the detective swore in an affidavit filed with the attorney general’s office.
“Mohamed said it was revenge as the Zionist group did not care about thousands of hostages from Palestine. He said they care about their benefit, money, and power,” the document said. “Mohamed said this had nothing to do with the Jewish community and was specific in the Zionist group supporting the killings of people on his land (Palestine).”
Soliman said he had planned the attack for over a year but had held off until his daughter, one of five children he was raising with his wife in Colorado Springs, graduated from high school. The family lived in Kuwait for 14 or 15 years after leaving Egypt, according to an affidavit for his arrest warrant and a profile of his daughter that appeared
in the local newspaper in April, which said they were active members of a local mosque.
For many American Jews, the attack adds to unease amid a string of attacks on Jewish targets because of their perceived support for Israel during its war with Hamas in Gaza. Last month, a man yelled “Free Palestine” after shooting two Israeli embassy staffers to death outside a Jewish event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. In April, a man was charged with firebombing the residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to protest what he said was Shapiro’s stance on the Palestinians. Run for Their Lives groups in some cities said they had suspended plans for future marches following the attack in Boulder.
The U.S. Justice Department characterized the incident as an “antisemitic terror attack.”
Some, including President Donald Trump, said the incident offered new justification for the Trump administration’s immigration policies, which include efforts to add border security and eject people who are in the country illegally. Soliman had applied for asylum, which would allow him to remain in the United States while his case was being considered; federal officials reportedly did not answer questions on Monday about the status of his application.
B’NAI ISRAEL
BETH EL
BETH ISRAEL
CHABAD HOUSE
JTA STAFF
PHILISSA CRAMER
JTA
Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old Democratic Socialist mounting a strong campaign in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, has consistently declined to say he would visit Israel if elected, setting the stage for a 75-year-old tradition to potentially come to an end.
On June 8 in the evening at a mayoral forum organized by an array of progressive Jewish groups held at an Upper West Side synagogue, Mamdani added a new detail to his demurrals.
Responding to a question about whether he would visit Israel, he said he thought his past support for boycotting Israel would render him inadmissible. The Israeli parliament approved a travel ban on non-citizens who support the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement in 2017 and strengthened that ban in February, subsequently barring elected officials from France and the European Parliament under the statute.
“I’m not even sure if I would be allowed to enter into Israel, because I think that there’s legislation that prohibits the entry of anyone who supports that legislation,” Mamdani said. “So it is both a question for me, but also were the answer to be different, I think the result would be the same.”
Mamdani has previously called for boycotting Israel but has been evasive on the campaign trail when asked whether he would seek to have the city join the boycott. During the forum Sunday, he explained his past support for BDS but did not clearly answer a direct question about whether he would continue to support the boycott if he were elected mayor.
“I am someone for whom at the core of my politics is the belief in non-violence, and having seen the efficacy of non-violent movements in creating compliance with international law, specifically with South Africa, that’s what brought me to support BDS,” he said.
The candidate Mamdani is trailing, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, issued an executive order in 2016 barring New York state agencies and departments from investing in organizations that boycott Israel.
Every mayor elected since Israel’s founding in 1948 has visited, in a nod to New York’s major Jewish community, the largest outside of Israel. The current mayor, Eric Adams, visited shortly before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and met with both government officials and anti-government protesters. Adams is running for reelection as an independent.
Other candidates at the Sunday night forum, organized by
the New York Jewish Agenda and held at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, said they would aim to visit Israel if they are elected.
Mamdani said, as he has before, that he does not believe visiting Israel is crucial to being able to represent the roughly 1 million Jews who would be his constituents if he is elected. His positions on Israel have earned him vociferous opposition from some in the Jewish community, even as his progressive policy platform has also generated support from other Jewish New Yorkers.
“And what I’ve said is that one need not visit Israel to stand up for Jewish New Yorkers,” Mamdani said. “I believe that to stand up for Jewish New Yorkers means that you actually meet Jewish New Yorkers wherever they may be, be it at their synagogues and temples or their homes or on the subway platform or at a park, wherever it may be.”
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor,
It appears to me that very little attention has been paid by the news media in general to the result of the recent election in Poland on June 3, 2025 (see JTA story on page 5). Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) has dutifully noted this event, but unfortunately there has been scant other coverage. The election of Karol Nawrocki, a Polish revisionist historian, as President is deeply disturbing and rather unfortunate, returning the Law and Justice party to power in place of the current more centrist government. His election was aided by openly antisemitic candidates.
The Law and Justice party has been at the forefront of Polish historical revisionism, particularly denying and delegitimizing the existence of longstanding Polish antisemitism and the complicity of segments of the Polish population involved in murdering Jews throughout history and indeed surrounding WWII. For years the Polish government has engaged in a concerted, multi-faceted, well-funded effort to revise the true historical narrative of Jews living in Poland.
On our trip to Poland in November 2023, I witnessed this first hand when visiting the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews and the Pilecki Institute in Warsaw, and which I wrote an editorial published in our local Jewish Press on (I cannot remember the date it appeared in The Press in January 2025). A branch of the Pilecki Institute has recently opened in Manhattan to further the efforts of the Polish government to deny and revise the historical truths which Poland refuses to acknowledge.
It is impossible for any nation or society to effectively deal with ongoing antisemitism without coming to grips with the true historical past.
STEVEN WEES
NEBRASKA
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Montreal dance studio joins Israel boycott
GRACE GILSON
JTA
An Israeli designer who moved to Canada a decade ago, Ita Skoblinski was sympathetic to efforts to add pressure against the Israeli government over its war in Gaza and occupation of the West Bank. But she was also increasingly uncomfortable with how opposition to the war was manifesting itself where she lived.
“I find myself in a very weird and confused situation in which something that I worked a big chunk of my life towards, awareness to the Palestinian people and their plight, is now happening,” Skoblinski said in an interview. “But it’s also coming at this unexpected price of hatred … hatred towards Jews, and a lot of misunderstanding and lack of context.”
So Skoblinski took to social media, inviting her Facebook followers to weigh in on her reaction to the announcement by Studio 303 that it would boycott Israel and drop Gaga dance classes, which she had enjoyed.
“As someone who stands against the routine killing of children, the starvation of civilians, and public declarations of ethnic cleansing…As someone who left Israel, in part, because of its moral collapse…As someone who stands in full solidarity with the civilians of Gaza, I still feel, as a person and as a dancer...that this boycott might be missing the mark,” she wrote. “I’m open to being convinced otherwise.”
The response was stark. In comments, some accused the studio of “virtue signaling” while another called the boycott a “principled decision.”
Soon, the conversation had ricocheted out of Skoblinski’s circle to include pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian voices beyond Montreal — and to highlight how an escalation of anti-Israel sentiment in the dance world is pitting pro-Palestinian voices against some of Israel’s most vociferous internal critics.
Studio 303 announced on May 21 that it was joining the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Is-
rael. It said it was no longer programming classes such as Gaga Movement that are associated with the “Brand Israel” strategy.
The PACBI and its affiliates have long protested touring by Batsheva Dance Company, a prominent Israeli company that draws some funding from the Israeli government. In February, with Batsheva on another U.S. tour, one of the affiliates, Dancers for Palestine, ramped up its campaign against the company. It also drew attention in an essay to Batsheva’s ties with Gaga Movement, a dance form created by Batsheva’s house choreographer Ohad Naharin.
“Many in the dance field are instinctively against boycotting any movement form,” Dancers for Palestine wrote in a Feb. essay. “But the BDS boycott only targets official Gaga classes — which are financially connected to Gaga Movement Ltd. — not any aesthetic principles dancers might associate with the form.”
to help reduce the suffering of people in our region or to reduce anger and frustration of the people in Ireland over the wrongdoing of the Israeli government and army in the Gaza Strip.”
The Dancers for Palestine essay acknowledged Naharin’s politics, saying that his dismissal of the boycott’s effectiveness undercut any solidarity he might have expressed.
Both Batsheva and Naharin are left-wing and have advocated against the war and in favor of the Palestinian cause. Last year, Israel’s right-wing culture minister asked for a review of Batsheva’s government funding after the company included a Palestinian flag on stage; it had also recently called for a ceasefire in the Gaza war. And Naharin has said he supports the goals of the Israel boycott.
“If the act of cancellation would have helped the Palestinians’ cause I would boycott my own show,” he said after an Irish company canceled a performance of one of his works last year. He added, “It is obvious that this cancellation does nothing
Studio 303 said it had not seen Skoblinski’s Facebook post but would “take the time necessary to address any questions from participants of Studio 303 if addressed to us.”
For her part, Skoblinski said she was glad she had written the post in the first place. “It feels like a very small thing to write about, it’s a dance studio while people are dying and being bombed,” she said. “And the reason I decided to write it anyway is because … it really touches my life and my friends and community life.”
But she said the firestorm she ignited had not left her with a clearer perspective. She said she had not been won over by either Studio 303’s critics, or its defenders. “Both sides I disagree with,” she said.
“Many people said they’re antisemitic,” she said about Studio 303. “I don’t think that’s the case. I think it’s complex. And I wanted to start this conversation and hear what people had to say about it.”
Ultimately, Skoblinski said, she had drawn one firm conclusion — that the debate spilled far beyond her Montreal dance studio. “The conversation,” she said, “is more interesting than the actual case.”
Editors Note: This story was edited for length
A dancer performs on stage during a rehearsal of the "2019" ballet by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin at the Opera Berlioz le corum in Montpellier, France, on June 23, 2022. Credit: Pascal GUYOT / AFP via Getty Images