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Voice From Israel: One Summer Day Page 4

SHARON BARGAS JFO Community Engagement and Education Associate or nearly a quarter century, one week each fall has belonged to film lovers across Omaha's Jewish community. This October, that tradition continues as the Jewish Federation of Omaha hosts the 24th Annual Omaha Jewish Film Festival, four nights of films running Oct. 18-21, 2026, with each showing beginning at 6 p.m. What sets this festival apart isn't just the films themselves, though this year's selections cover impressive ground. Audiences can look forward to a gripping drama, a documentary that invites reflection, a comedy for lighter moments, and a film that honors the memory of the Holocaust. Together, the four evenings offer a window

Jewish Federation of Omaha Celebrates Substantial Completion of the RBJH Expansion Pages 8 & 9

Temple Israel Welcomes New Executive Director

Recent Additions to the Kripke-Veret Collection Page 16

REGULARS11 Spotlight Voices Synagogues Life Cycles

13 14 15

Temple Israel has named Damien Timms as its new Executive Director, starting in the position in mid-August. Damien

previously served at the reform synagogue, Congregation Beth Torah in Overland Park, Kansas as their Executive Director. Damien comes from a decade long synagogue career with his first E.D. role in 2021, backed by a 26-year career in the Arts, health education, administration, finance and non-profit management. When asked about what appealed to him with the position he answered, “Temple Israel is at an exciting stage where we have an engaged community and so many opportunities on the horizon. I am keen to realize these opportunities and to work to assist and support the success of both the Community and Staff ”. He and his husband Trent arrived in Omaha in early August and even before his formal start date, Damien and Trent were both at Shabbat meeting people and getting the lay of the land. “Trent See Temple Israel page 2

into the range and depth of Jewish storytelling on screen. Just as important is how the films get chosen. Rather than a small committee working behind closed doors, festival organizers have long relied on input from the community itself to help shape the lineup. That same spirit carries into the screenings themselves, where selected community hosts introduce the film and guide a discussion once the credits roll, giving audiences a chance to process what they've just watched together. In addition to the community hosts, this year's Omaha Jewish Film Festival Chair is Jared Berezin. Under his guidance, this year's films have come together with energy, reflecting his commitment to keeping the festival a true community event. It's an evening built for settling in, popcorn and concessions in hand, and letting a good story do the rest. See Jewish Film Festival page 2

Food and Learning BETH COHEN Friedel Jewish Academy Head of School There is a famous saying in Pirkei Avot, 3:17, connecting food and learning, “If there is no flour, there is no Torah; if there is no Torah, there is no flour.” We understand this to mean that our physical health and our intellectual pursuits rely on each other; we cannot focus on learning if we have not first taken care of our physical needs. Friedel Jewish Academy is pleased to introduce the culinary team that is now providing daily breakfast, snack and lunch on school days at Friedel; a hot lunch option at the ELC; and custom catering and bakery orders for the community. Chef Nickie Quartoroli is Friedel’s Food Service Director and Chef, overseeing all opera-

tions of the school’s VAAD-supervised kosher, dairy kitchen. She has over 25 years of experience in food service, earning her Culinary Arts degree from Metropolitan Community College’s Institute for the Culinary Arts in 2012. Chef Nickie has owned and operated a private catering business, Catering2You, since the early the 2000s and worked with her grandfather in the business prior to taking over. Before coming to work at Friedel, Chef See Food and Learning page 2

2 | The Jewish Press | September 18, 2026

News LOC AL | N AT I O N A L | WO R L D

An Israeli Athlete with Omaha Roots During the week of August 25, Israeli athlete Moriyah Feferman competed in the European U15 championships in Kosovo. Moriyah is the daughter of Dan and Whitney (Taxman) Feferman, and the granddaughter of Sherry and Jeff (OBM) Taxman. “Mind you,” Whitney said, “this competition included weightlifting powerhouses like Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, in addition to the EU countries! “We are beyond proud of our Moriyah. After showing promise and talent in the Olympic weightlifting aspects of CrossFit last year, she started training a bit more and last November we moved her to a serious and focused weightlifting club with an olympic coach. For the past nine months she has been training seriously 5-6 days a week. In June she took the Israeli championships of U20, U17 and U15 and broke all the U15 and U17 records.” She surprised everyone by placing 2nd place and taking silver in the snatch lift, and 5th in the clean + jerk, securing a 4th overall, down only 1kg to the bronze medalist. “We are very proud of this girl,” Whitney added, “and impressed with her determination and hard work, and where she's going.” Congratulations to her and all the incredible athletes out there!

Food and Learning Continued from page 1 Nickie worked as a Food Service Manager/Chef for a childcare center where she prepared breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks each day for 100 children and staff. Since she began working at Friedel in December of 2025, she has become a Kosher Certified Chef by the Kosher Institute of America. Chef Nickie’s philosophy around food service for children is centered on creating menus to expose children to new types of food. Friedel’s school lunch menus include heritage foods from around the world. She also works to increase opportunities for the children to experience new foods and emphasizes fresh fruits and vegetables. Chef Nickie strives to share her love of food with all who enjoy her meals, educating everyone on “farm to table” and “scratch cookery.” Chef Aurora Quartoroli is assisting Chef Nickie. Chef Aurora graduated from Metro’s Institute for the Culinary

Arts in 2025 before she graduated from high school. Chef Aurora was nominated for Culinary Student of the Year, being the youngest nominated and the youngest to attend and graduate from the program. She started out baking at 13 as a hobby until someone asked her to make a custom basketball cake for a birthday party. At 14, she baked for her first wedding reception and has continued baking as a side gig. Her first job was at Orsi’s Bakery. At 16, she took a job at 801 Chophouse running their pasty station and then worked at Spencer’s for Steaks and Chops as a pantry and sauté chef. She has recently been hired to work at Yoshitomo in Benson by Chef David Utterback, a multiple-time James Beard Award finalist and the first Nebraska chef to be nominated for Best Chef Midwest. Chef Aurora also has been certified by the Kosher Institute of America and has catered several kosher events with Chef Nickie. Since Friedel’s kosher kitchen opened in January of

Jewish Film Festival

Temple Israel

Continued from page 1 and I were overwhelmed by the level of warm welcome that we experienced. The Temple Israel community is strong and has an emotional investment that bodes well for the future.” The historic nature of the Temple Israel community was also an appeal. Damien is eager to provide tangible recognition of its past and the multi-generational families that have such history with Temple. Senior Rabbi – Rabbi Benjamin Sharff – notes, “We are so excited to welcome Damien to our Team. He brings extensive experience and knowledge to the role of our Executive Director, and I am very much looking forward to partnering with him to help shape both the present and the future of our sacred community.” Temple President – Geoff Silverstein - says, “I thought I couldn't be more excited for Damien to join the team, and then I saw Damien's own excitement. The combination of his depth of experience, incredible insights, and abundant enthusiasm brings phenomenal leadership and partnership to Temple Israel." Two of Damien’s touch points for synagogue life are recognition and engagement. “Recognizing the people

2026, Chef Nickie and Chef Aurora have catered weddings, a 90th birthday celebration weekend, kiddushes at Beth Israel Synagogue, and events with the Jewish Federation of Omaha. New this year, Friedel’s weekday hot lunch menu is available to ELC students and staff, and to staff members who work on the campus of the Jewish Federation. Preorders for lunch are required at https://www.ezsch oolapps.com/. Friedel also offers weekly Thursday Night Take-Out dinners. Menus and ordering can be found at www.frie deljewishacademy.com and then clicking the “Kosher Market” link at the top of the page. In addition, custom orders for bakery items (Tiramisu, anyone? How about strawberry wedding cake?) and catering can be requested by contacting Chef Nickie directly at chefnickie@fjaomaha.com.

we have, and their efforts are paramount to how we continue to keep people connected with both purpose and intent. From volunteering to higher donors, to those who are there every week assisting with Onegs, greeting, programs, and events - we need to ensure that our people feel seen and receive tangible gratitude.” He is also gratified to see that the engagement initiatives of the synagogue are taking such importance. “We are seeing staff being moved into positions that will directly work with our current programs and future programs so that we serve our people with authenticity and relevance. This is the most important thing for modern synagogue life. Whilst we cannot be everything to everyone, we need to strive to ensure that our diverse membership is provided for, whilst we also tackle the task of balancing our sacred and social programs here.”

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Continued from page 1 None of this would be possible without the generosity of the festival's financial supporters. The 2026 Omaha Jewish Film Festival is proudly supported by a Special Donor-Advised Fund of the JFO Foundation, the Foundation Grants Committee, the Foundation IMPACT Grant, the Lois Jeanne Schrager Memorial Fund, the Etta & Harold Epstein Security Fund, the Ruth Frisch & Oscar S. Belzer Endowment Fund, the Klutznick Custodial Fund, the Miller Film Fund established by Lindsey Miller-Lerman in memory of her parents Avy and Roberta Miller, and B'nai B'rith Henry Monsky Lodge. The festival also thanks its corporate sponsor, First National Bank, for their continued support. Whether you attend one night or all four, the 24th Annual Omaha Jewish Film Festival promises an evening well spent. Ticket details will be announced in the coming weeks. Save the dates: Oct. 18 to 21 in the Alan J. Levine Theater at the Staenberg Omaha Jewish Community Center.

The Jewish Press | September 18, 2026 | 3

Standing on Their Shoulders: S. Elmer Gross (1969–1971)

MARTY RICKS NJHS Advisory Board Member Elmer Gross spent much of his adult life building Omaha. He developed office buildings, apartments, warehouses and homes. But during his years as president of the Jewish Federation, he also helped build something even more lasting: the foundation for the next chapter of Jewish life in Omaha. The move of the Jewish Community Center from 20th and Dodge to west Omaha was still years from completion when Elmer became Federation president in 1969. Yet many of the important decisions that made the move possible were being worked through during his term. In that sense, Elmer was both a builder and a visionary. Stanley Elmer Gross was born in Omaha in 1908, the oldest of four children of Jake and Mollie Muskin Gross. His brothers were Lawrny and Jerry, followed by the youngest child and only girl, Sally. The boys grew up around the family grocery business. Their father owned a store at 24th and E Streets in South Omaha and later went into partnership with relative Reuben Kulakofsky in a larger store at 24th and Ames. The family eventually moved north to 24th and Fort and later 24th and Fowler. When the boys were not in school, they were expected to work in the store. Elmer attended Central High School. From 1926 to 1928, he worked in gold claims in Keystone, South Dakota. He then returned to the grocery business, working for an Omaha wholesale grocer before operating grocery stores in Omaha, Sioux Falls and Shenandoah, Iowa. By 1939, he was operating Advance Bottling Company and serving as president of the Omaha Retail Grocers Association. A contemporary account of Omaha’s 1939 Food Show identifies Elmer as both president of the association and general chairman of the event. Eventually, his business career took him into real estate development, where he built office buildings, apartments, warehouses and homes across Omaha. Elmer married Marian Blumenthal in 1930. They were married for 56 years before Elmer’s death in February 1986. Marian died in January 1996. They had no children. There is a personal connection I have always wondered about. Marian’s father, David Blumenthal, sponsored my father and his sister, my aunt Rose Ricks Gimple, when they came to America from Lithuania in 1922. I never learned whether our family was related to the Blumenthals, but the connection has always stayed with me.

Elmer’s involvement in Jewish communal life began long before he became Federation president. By 1940, he was already serving as a director of Beth El Synagogue. During Robert Kooper’s years as Federation president, a United Jewish Appeal report listed S. Elmer Gross as Omaha’s General Campaign Chairman. By the time he took over the Federation presidency in 1969, Elmer had years of experience in both business and Jewish communal leadership. One of the largest challenges facing Federation was also a problem a builder could understand: location. The Jewish community had been steadily moving west, while the JCC remained at 20th and Dodge. Planning for a new location had begun before Elmer became president. Federation records show that a site near Westroads had been considered but was abandoned after opposition from neighbors who were prepared to fight the move in court. The search continued. By late 1969, 27 families had signed a petition asking Federation to accelerate plans for a new JCC. The former Henry Monsky residence at 625 N. 90th Street was put to use as a temporary west Omaha JCC facility, known as the “Extension.” According to Federation board minutes, teen and youth programming there expanded threefold, and a women’s physical fitness program was added. The arrangement was made possible with help from Wolf Brothers and Joe Kirshenbaum. At the same time, plans for a permanent home continued. A committee had begun searching for a new JCC location in 1967 and ultimately selected property near 132nd Street. The location offered room not only for a new JCC, but for the Jewish community to continue growing. Ground was broken in November 1972, and the new JCC opened in April 1974. Elmer was no longer Federation president when the doors opened. But much of the difficult planning, transition and preparation occurred during the years he was helping lead the community. His presidency was about much more than buildings. At the April 1970 Federation annual meeting, Elmer reported that the Annual and Israel Emergency Campaigns had raised $935,000. Federation had modernized its accounting procedures, established a Jewish Cultural Committee and created an Israel Emergency Committee. There was also a deliberate effort to bring younger people into Federation leadership. Men and women between the ages of 20 and 40 were specifically encouraged to become involved. Young attorneys Howard Kaslow and Steven Riekes were among those already being re-

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cruited for board positions. The connection to Israel was especially important during these years. The Israel Emergency Fund had been created following the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israel faced enormous economic and humanitarian challenges. Omaha’s Jewish community responded not only with money, but with personal involvement. Nick Newman, who succeeded Elmer as Federation president, led the 1970 Philanthropies Campaign. By early June, his team had already raised $832,000. Nick also helped develop an Omaha Christian clergy trip to Israel that included 27 religious leaders. In June 1970, Elmer spent several weeks in Israel himself, with Nick presiding over the Federation in his absence. After his Federation presidency, Elmer remained deeply involved in Jewish Omaha. He served for three years as head of the Israel Bond Drive and continued working on the Federation’s Annual and Israel Emergency Campaigns. He and Marian were longtime members of Beth El Synagogue, and for many years Elmer was responsible for the Beth El Cemetery, including showing and selling plots. Later in life, after he developed Alzheimer’s disease, Elmer became a resident first of the Dr. Philip Sher Home and then the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, where he lived until his death. There is something fitting about that. The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home opened on the 132nd Street campus in 1982. The campus Elmer helped plan has continued to grow and change for more than half a century. The JCC, Federation, Jewish Press, Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, Blumkin Home and other organizations now share a campus that has become the center of Jewish communal life in Omaha. Elmer Gross spent his career building things. Some of those buildings are gone. Others have changed owners or purposes. But the most important thing he helped build may be the one that is still growing. Standing on his shoulders, Jewish Omaha continues to build for the future. Thanks to longtime Omaha World-Herald columnist Michael Kelly for his help with this story. Series Note: We thank the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society for preserving these stories and invite readers to share memories, photos, or family connections that can help us rediscover the lives of those who built our community. Standing on their shoulders, we continue their work. The Jewish Federation of Omaha past presidents series is a collaboration between the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society (NJHS) and the Jewish Press. For questions and/or more information about the NJHS, please contact Executive Director Jane Rips at jrips@jewishomaha.org, or visit nebraskajhs.com.

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4 | The Jewish Press | September 18, 2026

Voice from Israel: One Summer Day

This summer in Israel, even making plans with the chil- rael gives you some funny habits. One of mine is that I dren comes with a question mark. With automatically add eight hours to the clock. Even when I Iran in the background, I keep hearwake up at two in the morning, somewhere in my halfing the same half-joking phrase: asleep brain I know: it’s already ten in Israel. “We just hope Trump will take us That Thursday night, when I woke up and looked into consideration so we can…” at the clock, I thought of Danielle. She must be travel, go out, enjoy a little of there by now. I sent her a quick message wishing the summer. And somehow, in her luck, and went back to sleep. the middle of all that, Animix When I woke up in the morning, my first Festival opened in Tel Aviv. thought was: How did the meeting go? How did Animix is Israel’s largest ineverything go? ternational festival of anima- RACHEL KOLETTE WHEELER I opened WhatsApp and was immediately tion, comics and caricature. swept into the excitement. There were photos of Since 2000, the Tel Aviv Cinimatheque has Danielle with the friends and team members who had hosted the five-day festival every August, with animation come to support her, message after message full of exscreenings, workshops, artist talks, exhibitions and Is- clamation marks, celebration emojis, and genuine joy. rael’s largest comics market. Around 20,000 people from Everyone was thrilled that her business meeting had across the country attend each year, and the festival also gone so well. Somehow, it had stopped feeling like hosts prominent guests from abroad. It has become a Danielle’s success alone. We were all celebrating it as our central gathering place for Israel’s animation, comics own. Real cheerleaders, pom-poms or not. and caricature community, bringing together creators, I wrote: audiences and industry professionals. For me, Animix became personal through Danielle, “Wow, wow, wow, Danielle - and everyone - how one of the women in a Zoom Empowerment workshop exciting!!!! What amazing news. I’m dancing with I facilitate through Lavo B’Tov. Danielle is an intelligent, joy. You’re a champion!!!!! And all of you - how wonderful that you were warm, smiling young woman, a professional artist who there with Danielle. I’m jealous..... is also visually impaired. She has illustrated several A huge hug” books and written one of her own (The Optic Nerve (Hebrew title: Etzev HaRe’iyah), telling the story of some difficult childhood experiences, including being teased Danielle replied: because of her visual impairment. Drawing first became a safe place for her, away from the other children. Over “Yessss!!!! This is so exciting, thank you, dear Rachel!!!! I time, it became much more: an outlet for her creativity, was so excited! It was amazing to see everyone. I a way to express herself, and eventually, a way to connect felt you from afar” with others and find her place in the world. Danielle had her own stand at the festival, where she displayed her comic books, hand-made prints, coloring And yes, apparently Trump did take us into considerbooks and stickers. She was also scheduled for an im- ation after all. portant business meeting. She had told us about both And somehow, from thousands of miles away, this beduring our last workshop session, and almost immedi- came part of my Israeli summer too. ately, it was clear that participants and members of our Notes: All illustrations are published with Daniel team would come to support her. (And, of course, every- Ongo-levis’s permission, and all photographs are pubone smiled and said, “We’ll meet there - if Trump takes lished with the permission of the individuals pictured. us into consideration.”) Link to Danielle’s site: https://www.danielleongo. We started calling them “the cheerleaders” — all they com/ were missing were the skirts and the pom-poms. Book in Hebrew: https://e-vrit.co.il/product/3588, They came as friends and as peers, excited to finally see The Optic Nerve (Hebrew title: Etzev HaRe’iyah) one another in person after meeting on Zoom. They Rachel Kolette Wheeler is the co-founder and distepped out of the little squares on the screen and into rector of Collective Lavo B’tov, working with people the bright, festive summer atmosphere of Animix, sharing with disabilities to build meaningful lives in all life Danielle’s excitement about her stand and the day ahead. areas. She brings over 35 years of experience in The business meeting went very well, and afterward transformational work across individuals, relationwe joked that everyone should have cheerleaders like ships, and organizations. Based in the U.S.(Omaha), these in their corner. she visits Israel frequently and stays closely conLiving in the U.S. while staying closely connected to Is- nected through her daily work online. In her column,

Rachel brings forward voices and real stories from Israel.She can be reached at rachel@ lavo-btov.org.

Danielle at the festival by her stand

The Jewish Press | September 18, 2026 | 5

Notes From a Wandering Jew: Israel

CANTOR JOANNA ALEXANDER Temple Israel Twenty-three years ago I spent a year living in Jerusalem, as I began my studies at Hebrew Union College to become a Cantor. It was the 2003-04 school year, the second intifada was still going, the separation barrier was controversially being finished, and buses were still exploding leaving them unsafe to travel on. I remember one of my rabbinic classmates regularly volunteered for Rabbis for Human Rights, he traveled to the West bank to be a protective presence during Olive harvest. Many of my classmates considered this to be anti-Zionist behavior. He firmly believed it was his Zionism that led him to protect Palestinians and their trees. While the Oslo accords had failed to reach a two-state solution, there was still hope that if the terrorism could stop, such a dream might be reached. As I left Israel in the spring of 2004, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was starting to build support for the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza (which would be enacted in 2005). The Israel I visited this summer for my sabbatical has shifted in many profound ways. While I have returned to Israel as a tourist, this was the first time I took a public bus, or boarded the train from the airport to Jerusalem (a train that didn’t exist in 2003). There has also been a shift in the political sentiment. The sentiment my classmates had regarding the one or two students who volunteered with Rabbis for Human

Rights, would be the opposite today. During an alumni shabbat and a seminar remembering Rabbi David Elenson z’l ( former President of HUC) supporting liberal causes including: Palestinian rights, Israeli Arab rights, and women’s rights, were on full display. Many professors of the college volunteer with Rabbis for Human Rights, or other “left” organizations. There was near unanimity that the government does not represent the vision of Israel that HUC dreams of. The eight days I spent at Shalom Hartman’s Rabbinic Torah Seminar were amazing, exhausting, and equally interesting from a political perspective. Hartman is a pluralist institution; they welcome all views and teach people from all perspectives. Rabbi Hartman spoke of his students who are followers of Ben Gvir, while teaching us about “Ruach Tzahal,” the “Spirit of the IDF,” which was written by the Hartman Institute and adopted by the Israeli government in the 1990s. The students and the teacher share tremendous respect for each other (an amazing thing to watch and be a part of), while having diametrically opposed outcome desires. Ruach Tzahal is currently being called into question, and Hartman is being blamed by some for restraining soldier actions leading to their injury or death. Ruach Tzahal is a text which tries to create a moral army and asks how to use power morally as a Jewish state. (If you haven’t looked at this document I strongly recommend

you read it for yourself and see if this code is up to your standard for taking up arms https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ruach-tzahal-idf-code-of-ethics). The theme of Hartman was “Being Human.” We studied Torah and Rabbinic texts on: B’tzelem Elohim (being created in God’s image), anger and compassion as tools and pitfalls, dehumanization, its stages and how it happens within Judaism, how anxiety affects humanity, liberalism and the “fulfillment” of B’tzelem Elohim-inspired human rights. Each teacher, more amazing than the next, inspired so much learning still to be unpacked and rediscovered. And this topic, “Being Human” invited us to be thinking about the politics of the time. A time of war where humanity is diminished for those being targeted by bombs, and also for the soldiers who must prioritize their fellow soldiers’ lives over the lives of the enemy. A time of deep political divide; for four years the Israeli public has protested this government, first for judicial reform bills, then for the hostages, and now for the final push for legislation before the election. On the coalition side, there have been pro-judicial reform protests, haredi anti-draft protests, and others. The police have been accused of having different rules for different protests. They have been accused of underpolicing and over-policing Arab communities. Arab citizens of Israel regularly feel targeted or censored for See A Wandering Jew page 7

Unapologetically Jewish

Omaha content creator Hailey Ronen has been named one of eight national finalists in the 2026 Unapologetically Jewish social media contest, presented by Philadelphia Jewish Film + Media (PJFM), a program of The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History. She is the only Nebraskan among this year’s finalists. Now in its third year, Unapologetically Jewish is a national contest highlighting unabashed Jewish positivity on social media. A steering committee selected the finalists from a record field of nearly 30 applications from Jewish creators across the country. This year’s finalists work in music, comedy, burlesque, journalism and educational content, and represent Jewish life from rural Nebraska to Israel. Ronen creates under the handle @heartlandhailey, where she takes her audience along on local adventures and inside Omaha’s small but deeply rooted Jewish community. A Nebraska transplant who met her Israeli husband at a Shabbat dinner in Omaha, she is known for warm, unvarnished storytelling at the intersection of faith, lifestyle and Midwest living. She is also the founder of

THE FINALISTS ARE: • Hailey Ronen (@heartlandhailey) — Omaha, Neb.• • Kosha Dillz (@koshadillz) — New York, N.Y . • Goldi Fox (@goldistayinggolden) — Philadelphia, Pa. • Larry Kreger (@jewityourselfdiy) — Boca Raton, Fla. • Hadas Kuznits (@hadasonair) — Israel and suburban Philadelphia • Raye Schiller (@rayeschiller) — Los Angeles, Calif. • Hughie and Avery Stone Fish (@hughiestonefish) — Syracuse, N.Y . • Sam Slate, aka Diva Nigun (@diva_nigun) — Jewish electronic dance music producer Heartland Content Co., where she provides social media management, videography, and drone flight services. “There may be more cows than people in Nebraska, but there is real, joyful Jewish life here,” Ronen said. “My goal has always been to show Jews around the world the good life in the Midwest, and to give my non-Jewish neighbors a window into Jewish life and traditions.” The eight finalists have been sharing content throughout the summer. The competition culminates in The Mazel Tov Moment, an awards ceremony and celebra-

tion on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m. ET at The Weitzman, Philadelphia. The evening is hosted by Chef Tova Sterling and is open to the public; general admission is $15. Unapologetically Jewish is generously sponsored by Elaine Lindy. Heartland Content Co. is an Omaha-based content creation studio founded by Hailey Ronen, serving small businesses and nonprofits across the Omaha metro with social media management, influencing, videography, and drone flights. Learn more at heartlandcont entco.com. Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media, a program of The Weitzman, creates connection and community through Jewish cinema and digital storytelling. PJFM welcomes everyone to engage with Jewish culture and values through its educational and entertaining year-round programs. Learn more at phillyjfm.org.

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.

6 | The Jewish Press | September 18, 2026

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A Wandering Jew

Continued from page 5 expressing sympathy for their relatives, opposition to the government, while simultaneously a large amount of organized crime has taken over Arab towns leaving unsolved murder and other crimes at an all-time high. Protest is not a diminishment of humanity, but the language being used, the sentiment being expressed, the continued demonization of the “other” side, this is dehumanizing behavior. Some of it is done in the name of democracy, or against tyranny. Some of it is being done in the name of Judaism, and the promise God gave to our ancestors. As I wandered, as I learned, as I met with people doing the work of shared society on the ground, as I met with the thinkers and researchers of what is driving different ideas and ideologies, and as I reconnected with my alma mater, something became very clear: there is a divide between the Israeli conversation and the diasporic conversation. Learning about, and writing about oppression experienced by Palestinians in the West bank leads Americans to say: see, Zion is evil, how can you support this terrible state? But learning about, writing about and working with Israelis on the ground they say: my government doesn’t represent me, I fight for a Zion that follows my values. Over the last three years, as I listened to Israeli news nearly every day, as I learned with Shalom Hartman, with Haviv Reteg Gur, with Israelis who I agreed with and learned from before October 7, I found

myself moving more to the right in my thoughts. It was very important to me, not to be more left than the Israeli community I feel I aligned with, the community I feel I can represent. But being in Israel, returning to HUC, reconnecting with the Spirit of Galilee, seeing the many NGOs working for a more equitable Jerusalem; I see these voices of shared society, these voices that dare to use the word peace, these voices who know there is no divorce from neighbors; their voices (small population that they might be) are being diminished and even silenced. Peace may be a far-off dream, and the trauma Israeli society has experienced may be too much to even broach the subject, but for those who have continued to connect, for those who believe multiple narratives must exist, for those who know no one is moving anywhere: for these brave but not naïve Israelis learning to share is the only future worth dreaming of. It is the only future that does not condemn their children and grandchildren to generations of war and existential threats. They cannot wish it into existence, but they helped remind me that they exist: Zionists, who believe in a liberal, Jewish state, a state which follows the intention of the Declaration of Independence. It will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion,

conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions… My wandering reminded me that the Israel I have always supported and love continues to exist. Like so many countries in the Western world, it is experiencing extremism and divisions, and if we in America wish to support her, we would do well to support the people, the diversity of people, the people who envision the future Zion we dream of. You might find yourself to my right or to my left in your views of Israel, but I encourage you to support the Israelis on the ground working for the Israel of your dreams. , In February of 2024 I was blessed to bring three members of the Spirit of

Galilee to Omaha: Rabbi Or Zohar, Priest Father Saba Haj and Muslim Peace activist Ghadir Hana. During my Sabbatical I was able to reconnect. Father Saba took me on a tour of his holy land, including Churches in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Ghadir gifted me a copy of her book “Women Write Peace,” dedicated to slain Peace activist Vivian Silver. These insights into the real work, the diversity of experiences and opinions, witnessing land and spaces I have not visited before; this fractured, fragile and changed Israel is one I feel grateful to have experienced. Thank you to all my teachers, to all the brave souls working for a better future, to all attempting to live, fully live, in this holy and complicated space.

P2G Presents the Story of Doron Almog Calling for Seder Plates

On Oct. 18, the P2G Book/Film Club will feature a special program: From Oct. 6 to Oct. 7: Doron Almog – The Story of a General. Spanning from the Yom Kippur War to the horrors of October 7, Major General Doron Almog’s life reflects some of Israel’s most defining and painful moments. Almog was drafted into the IDF in 1969. He volunteered as a paratrooper in the Paratroopers Brigade, and fought as a soldier and squad leader during the War of Attrition. In 1971 he became an infantry officer after completing Officer Candidate School. Almog fought in the Yom Kippur War as a company commander at the 202 paratrooper battalion on the Sinai front. Later on he commanded the 35th Paratroopers Brigade's Reconnaissance company. Almog led a force of officers and soldiers from the company in Operation Entebbe, and was the first soldier to land on the runway at Entebbe, marking and securing it for incoming Israeli airplanes, then leading the capture of the airfield's control tower in the rescue operation. In the 1982 Lebanon War, he led the 35th paratroopers Brigade's reconnaissance battalion during heavy fighting against PLO operatives and the Syrian Army.

Surrounded by five decades of personal loss and national tragedy, this Israel Prize laureate refuses to surrender to despair. The film offers a powerful portrait of a leader who transforms profound grief into resilience, hope, and a lasting legacy. Registered participants will receive the link to view the film in advance of the event. Click here to view the film trailer. The event will begin with a short Oct. 7 commemoration ceremony on Sunday, Oct. 18, noon CT, 1 p.m. ET.

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor We know; it’s really, really early to be thinking about seder tables, but at the Press, we’re working ahead. For Passover 2027, we’d like to see your seder plates. We all have them, made of glass, metal or ceramic. Some are old and passed down, some we brought back from a trip to Israel. Some were created by our children or grandchildren at the Pennie Z. Davis Early Learning Center, or at Hebrew school. According to an article in the Boulder Jewish News, “The origins of the Seder plate can be traced back to ancient Jewish communities in the Middle East. The earliest plates were likely simple, functional dishes made of clay or stone, holding the essential ritual foods.” During the middle ages, especially in Europe, seder plates began to mirror local crafts; those metal engraved ones originate in Poland and Germany. Spanish and Italian Jews created beautiful plates in ceramic or porcelain. Moroccan geometric patterns, Turkish silver, and Sephardic floral motifs were followed by mass production in the 19th century. Nowadays, they even make plas-

tic ones. And who hasn’t see the greentarnished brass from 1970s touristy visits to Israel? (Confession: I have one we use every year). Which do you use? Where did it come from? Why do you love it? What does it look like? We want to know-and we want to see pictures. If you think your plate isn’t all that special, consider reaching out to us anywaybecause every plate comes with a story, and it is that story we are truly interested in. Just like a seder plate is the vehicle that holds meaningful foods, our question is meant to draw out your story. If you are willing to share, please contact us as soon as possible by emailing avandekamp@jewishomaha.org. It’s never too early for a good story.

8 | The Jewish Press | September 18, 2026

The Jewish Press | September 18, 2026 | 9

Jewish Federation of Omaha Celebrates Substantial Completion of the RBJH Expansion

“We couldn’t have done this without the support of everyone involved in the Enhancing Quality of Life campaign and project. To our community members, our lay leaders, our staff, and our volunteers who made this happen - thank you.” — Chris Ulven, Executive Director of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home

Over 225 community members celebrated the substantial completion of the new 28,000 sq. ft expansion of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home on Sunday, August 30. Guests enjoyed light refreshments and self-guided tours of the new facility. Bob Goldberg, Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, delivered brief remarks before the ceremonial hanging of four mezuzahs. The mezuzahs were hung by Rabbi Benjamin Sharff, Senior Rabbi at Temple Israel, Rabbi Mendel Katzman, Executive Director of Chabad of Nebraska, Norm Sheldon, Chair of the RBJH Advisory Board, and Ron Feldman, Chair of the JFO Board of Directors. Rabbi Katzman also marked the new beginning by blowing the shofar.

“At the heart of this project is a commitment to preserving the privacy, dignity, comfort, and independence of both current and future residents. This expansion represents an investment in our community and its future. It enables the Jewish Federation of Omaha to better meet evolving community needs while positioning the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home to continue providing compassionate, high-quality skilled nursing care for generations to come. Thanks to the generous support of our community, we have made this vision a reality.”

— Bob Goldberg, Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Federation of Omaha

The new wing adds 32 rooms to the existing Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. The additional space will allow RBJH to transition to nearly all single-occupancy resident rooms – enhancing the comfort, privacy, and quality of life for all of their residents. The expansion also introduces the new Alan J. Levine Rehabilitation Center, an area dedicated exclusively to short-term support, recovery and care. These state-of-theart facilities are a part of the broader experience families trust RBJH to provide; an environment where residents are not only cared for, but truly known, celebrated, and given opportunities to continue living meaningful and fulfilling lives.

10 | The Jewish Press | September 18, 2026

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A Full Circle of Generosity for Congregation B'nai Jeshurun/South Street Temple

AMY BERNSTEIN SHIVVERS Executive Director, JFO Foundation For Susan Friend Adland, philanthropy is more than a financial decision — it is a family tradition, a responsibility, and a privilege passed down through generations. At age 75, Susan is thoughtfully planning for the future. Her goal, she says with a smile, is to live to 90, and she is taking steps today to ensure she can continue making charitable decisions for many years to come. At the same time, she is creating a lasting legacy through the establishment of the Susan Friend Adland B'nai Jeshurun/South Street Temple Future Endowment Fund at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. This future endowment will fulfill her Life & Legacy commitment and provide lasting support for the congregation that has been intertwined with her family for more than a century. “My father and mother always enjoyed donating to worthy causes,” Susan reflects. “They believed in helping others and supporting the institutions that mattered to them.” That spirit of generosity runs deep in the Friend family. Susan's great-grandfather, Morris Friend, built a successful business in Humboldt, Nebraska, through Meadow Gold Dairy and Beatrice Foods and was among the founders of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, now known as South Street Temple, in Lincoln. “Our family lived in Washington, D.C., comfortably but modestly,” Susan recalls. “We belonged to a large Reform congregation, and my siblings and I were active in youth group all the way through Confirmation. My mother proudly served as president of the Sisterhood twice, following in her own mother's footsteps, Sylvia Friend, at South Street Temple.” Susan credits her parents and grandparents with instilling the values that guide her philanthropy today. “We were fortunate to have resources that could be invested, which eventually became the foundation of my charitable giving,” she says. “I've always felt it is both a gift and an honor to be able to make a difference.” The family's commitment to Jewish life extends across generations. Before

Susan's mother, Marilyn Friend, passed away, her four children established the Friend Family Fund for Youth at South Street Temple in honor of the Friend family. The fund helps support youth programming and participation opportunities, reflecting the family's belief that strong Jewish identities are built through meaningful engagement with young people. Over the decades, the Friend family's connection to the Lincoln congregation has remained strong. Their history can still be seen throughout the synagogue — from a dedicated family pew in the sanctuary to a Torah cover donated by the family. Prior to the temple's renovation, the Friends also funded the installation of a chairlift, making the building more accessible for congregants moving between the social hall and sanctuary. Susan's commitment to the congregation remains as strong today as ever. Recently, she returned to Lincoln for Congregation B'nai Jeshurun's 125th anniversary celebration. “It was wonderful to go back,” she recalls. “I visited the cemetery where multiple generations of friends are buried. Seeing those connections and celebrating the congregation's history was incredibly meaningful.” Establishing a future endowment through her inherited IRA felt like a natural extension of that lifelong relationship. “I feel so fortunate and honored to be at a place where I can make a differ-

ence in the world, especially for my family's beloved temple in Lincoln,” Susan says. Her legacy planning is not only about honoring the past but also investing in the future. She hopes her gift will help en-

in the Omaha-Lincoln area,” Susan says. “I know he'll enjoy his time in Omaha and look forward to connecting with the strong Jewish community.” Through her future endowment, Susan is preserving more than a family legacy.

sure that Congregation B'nai Jeshurun continues to serve future generations just as it has served her family for more than 100 years. In a fitting full-circle moment, the Friend family's connection to Nebraska is growing once again. Susan's nephew, Elliott, will soon move to Omaha to begin his medical residency in radiology. “I'm delighted to know that we once again have a member of the Friend family living

She is helping ensure that future generations will continue to find community, connection, and Jewish life in Nebraska — just as her family has for more than a century. Everyone has family values, traditions, and a story of gratitude worth preserving. The Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation is honored to help individuals and families create lasting legacies that reflect what matters most.

PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS ADVERTISE IN THE JEWISH PRESS Reach the Jewish communities in Omaha, Lincoln, Council Bluffs, and surrounding areas. Contact Claire Endelman | 402.334.6559 | cendelman@jewishomaha.org

The Jewish Press | September 18, 2026 | 11

RBJH

Happy 90th Birthday, Rabbi Maximo Shechet

The best kind of getaway is on two wheels!

Residents of RBJH would like to thank League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly (LOVE) for their generosity, thoughtfulness, and for providing such a wonderful Labor Day treat. We truly appreciate you thinking of our Residents and helping make the holiday extra special!

SP O TLIGHT

GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY

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. Former Omahans Beth Crandell, Bobbie Feinberg, and Randi Friedel Jablin were in Omaha recently to celebrate Westside’s 50year high school reunion.

JCRC Handing out free bagels and cream cheese for Spread Cream Cheese Not Hate is always a good time and an amazing way to break down barriers and start meaningful conversations! JCRC was grateful for the opportunity to connect with students at University of Nebraska at Omaha. We also appreciated having Christians United for Israel (CUFI) stand alongside us in support.

12 | The Jewish Press | September 18, 2026

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Hollywood’s Jews take sides ANDREW LAPIN JTA Some 170 notable Jewish personalities have released an open letter defending actor and producer Mark Ruffalo, who has been accused of antisemitism for his comments on Paramount Skydance’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Entertainers, rabbis and a physician who is featured in a new documentary about doctors treating Palestinians in Gaza signed the letter released Wednesday Sept. 9, which called the attacks against Ruffalo a “false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism.” George Clooney also defended Ruffalo on Thursday. Signatories of the pro-Ruffalo petition include “Broad City” creators Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer; celebrated filmmakers Joel Coen, Jonathan Glazer and Todd Haynes; Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner; and actors including Hannah Einbinder, Joaquin Phoenix and Debra Winger. In late August, Ruffalo, the actor and progressive activist, went on social media to link Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, the chief driver of the looming Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, to tech giant Oracle, which Ruffalo claimed is responsible for “an apartheid system of oppression” in Gaza. Oracle is owned by Ellison’s father, Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest men; both Ellisons are Jewish and prominent Israel supporters. Oracle also owns a stake in the social media network TikTok’s U.S. operations, and has long been a target of progressives who point to the company’s links to, and public support for, Israel. “Larry Ellison will own most of ‘Para Bros,’” Ruffalo wrote in the post, which is no longer available, according to a screenshot reproduced by the Hollywood Reporter. The Marvel star also called Larry Ellison a “classic oligarch” who is “crushing workers and consolidating the wealth of the world for their own power and concentrated dominance.” The $110 billion merger is under adjudication in federal court in California following an antitrust lawsuit

filed by 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America. As backlash to the merger has steadily grown across Hollywood and in political and media spaces, Paramount at least since June has been pushing the idea that opposition to the merger has had an antisemitic element.

Mark Ruffalo attends the European Gala Screening for Amazon's Crime 101 at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on Jan. 28, 2026 in London, England. Credit: Kate Green/Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment

The company seized on Ruffalo’s comments, immediately releasing a lengthy statement to media after his controversial social media post that accused the actor of invoking “antisemitic tropes,” adding, “This simply exposes the true motivation of some who have advocated opposition to this transaction.” Several leading Jewish groups have also said his post stepped beyond legitimate criticism of the merger and into classic antisemitic rhetoric about Jewish wealth and power. In an August statement, the head of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles said the actor’s comments “combined Jewish wealth, media control, secret technology and sinister global power,” drawing on “recognizable antisemitic tropes with a long and dangerous history.”

Other LA-based Jewish activist groups, including Creative Community For Peace and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, have also condemned his comments. Speaking amid the unfolding controversy about Ruffalo and his use of the word genocide to describe Israel’s campaign in Gaza, Fauda co-creator Avi Isaacharoff called him “a rare combination” of “ignorant” and “stupid.” Ruffalo has found support from several progressive Jewish figures beyond the entertainment industry, including IfNotNow co-founder Simone Zimmerman, Israeli Holocaust historian Raz Segal and Jewish Currents editor Peter Beinart. In their open letter defending Ruffalo, the progressive Jewish cohort argued the actor was right to draw links between Israel’s behavior and the merger. Other entertainment figures have tried to thread a more careful needle. Oscar-winning filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan, who has directed Ruffalo in two movies and was at one point developing an American remake of the hit Israeli TV series “Shtisel,” defended the actor from antisemitism charges this week while also noting, “I disagree profoundly with many of his positions on the Middle East, Israel, Gaza, and Iran’s constellation of fanatical Islamist fundamentalist proxies.” Ruffalo is soon scheduled to attend the Toronto International Film Festival for the Sept. 10 premiere of the biopic “Being Heumann,” about Jewish-American disability rights activist Judy Heumann, in which he costars. Opposition to David Ellison’s bid to combine two historic media giants, each having recently weathered smaller mergers of their own, has grown considerably in recent months. Those objections have come both from Hollywood rank-and-file concerned about further industry consolidation, as well as from political and media figures voicing objections to Ellison’s close ties to President Donald Trump and his intentions with Warner’s flagship news property, CNN. This article was edited for length. Read more at www.omahajewishpress.com.

This American childhood was brought to you by Jewish toymakers ANDREW SILOW CARROLL JTA On Saturday mornings in the 1960s and ’70s, instead of going to synagogue, I watched cartoons. Like millions of other American kids, I binged on “Fat Albert,” “The Pink Panther Show” and “H.R. Pufnstuf,” while absorbing endless commercial breaks for games, action figures, model kits and other marvels that might, if I played my cards right, be mine on Hanukkah. But even if my family didn’t spend Saturdays in shul, kids’ television immersed me in an unspoken Jewish culture, as Michael Kimmel explains in his new book “Playmakers: The Jewish Entrepreneurs Who Created the Toy Industry in America.” It’s a study of the mostly first-generation American Jews who led the toy industry in the 20th century, as well as the Jewish child psychologists, children’s book authors and comic book creators who, he asserts convincingly, invented the American idea of childhood. “They created the childhood that they themselves never had,” Kimmel told me in a recent public conversation, part of “250 Years of American Jewish Life in America,” an online project of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History and 70 Faces Media, JTA’s parent company. The founders of iconic brands such as Ideal, Mattel, Marx, Hasbro, Kenner, Wham-O and Madame Alexander dolls shared roots in Yiddish-speaking Europe, and childhoods as the sons and daughters of immigrants. “They were born in poverty on the Lower East Side, and you have all these stories of the scraps that they picked up off the street that they made into things,” said

Kimmel. “They had these ideas that children were basically curious and creative, and that they should be nurtured.”

In Playmakers, Michael Kimmel writes about the mostly ﬁrst-generation American Jews who led the toy industry in the 20th century, and in many ways invented the American idea of childhood. Credit: W.W. Norton

And commodified. Shut out of establishment industries and professions, Jewish entrepreneurs thrived in niches of their own making, capitalizing on and helping propel the consumer culture that exploded after World War I. German Jews ran some of the largest department stores, including Macy’s, Abraham & Straus and Gimbels, and Eastern European newcomers became the manufacturers, distributors and sales force that stocked their shelves with dolls, games, and gadgets. The list of classic toys and Jews who developed them is almost comically long: Barbie (Ruth Handler), Lionel

trains (Lionel Cowan), Mr. Potato Head (George Lerner), Yakity-Yak chattering teeth (Eddy Goldfarb), the pogo stick (George Hansburg), the Hula Hoop (Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr), G.I. Joe (Larry Reiner) and Play-Doh and the Easy-Bake Oven (the Steiner brothers: Albert, Philip and Joseph). Kimmel, a sociologist and retired professor at Stony Brook University, began the project as a family story. His great-great-uncle Morris Michtom, an immigrant from what is now Belarus, founded what would become the Ideal Toy Corporation with his wife, Rose. Michtom had studied to become a rabbi before fleeing conscription in the Russian army. In Brooklyn, he and Rose opened a candy store and, after spotting a newspaper cartoon of Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot a bear, began making plush bear cubs. They called it “Teddy’s bear,” and it became a sensation. That story, Kimmel says, led him down a rabbit hole. What he found was startling: Virtually every major American toy company at the turn of the 20th century, with a few exceptions, had been founded by first-generation Jews. Kimmel ends his book with “Sesame Street,” which he sees as a kind of culmination. The groundbreaking children’s show was developed by Joan Ganz Cooney, whose father was Jewish, with the assistance of Gerald Lesser, a developmental psychologist born to Jewish immigrant parents. This article was edited for length. Read more at www.omahajewishpress.com.

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; Toby Dresdner, Andrea Erlich, Dana Gonzales, Mary Sue Grossman, Hailey Krueger, Avery Lubin, Sara Rips, Seth Schuchman, 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 (IHE), Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), Nebraska Jewish Historical Society (NJHS), Jewish Press, Rose Blumkin Jewish Home (RBJH), Jewish Family Service (JFS), Staenberg Omaha Jewish Community Center (JCC). 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.’ The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment. Editorial E-mail editorial material and photos to: jpress@jewishomaha.org and avandekamp@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in TIF or PDF format) to: wfischer@jewishomaha.org. Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes signed 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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The Jewish Press | September 18, 2026 | 13

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Advisory Board, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole.

Down the Rabbit Hole ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor During the September 6 election in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) received 43.8% of the vote. In Madrid on September 3, dozens of farright activists raised their arms in Nazi-style salutes and sang a Spanish fascist anthem amid protests against the government’s handling of migration. Several Portuguese artists dropped out of a comedy festival in Lisbon headlined by Jerry Seinfeld, citing their support for Palestinians and implying opposition to Seinfeld’s support for Israel. A Belgian union threatened to strike against Brussels Airlines for compelling staff to work on flights to Israel, saying that anyone with “safety or conscientious objections” should be able to refuse. And the Dutch public broadcaster Avrotros pulled out of the next Eurovision Song Contest, saying that Israel’s participation undermines the event’s neutrality. Meanwhile at home, Vice-President J.D. Vance’s refusal to disavow Tucker Carslon makes me want to break my rule to not write about the current administration, so as not to be divisive. I don’t want to come off as if I’m telling you what to think, that’s not what this page is for. However, we all know what Tucker Carlson thinks about us. It’s funny, how so much of the world’s focus is on performative anti-Israel behavior, or straightforward antisemitism, while many countries have plenty of trouble to clean up at

what keeps me strong is home. Although it what has kept us going for tracks: when things thousands of years. Where go badly, it’s always an will all these so-called prooption to distract testers go from here? What one’s self by blaming does it do to your psyche, to others. Look over hate so much? Friendship, there! We can have it bonds, relationships built bad; someone else alon shared hatred is exways has it worse. There may be unem- Núcleo Nacional demonstrators raise their tremely destructive. You ployment, housing arms during a rally in Barcelona, Spain, Sep- cannot convince me that someone who marches in shortages, hunger or tember 2, 2026. (Albert Llop/NurPhoto) excessive crime, but you know, at least it’s not the streets of Madrid raising their right arm in genocide. When you repeat something often a Nazi salute goes home happy. For many years, the Lubavitcher Rebbe enough, it becomes a kind of truth. Or, it bewould tell his followers to “think good, and it comes someone’s truth. I cannot escape the feeling that since Octo- will be good.” It’s easy to scoff at—as if by sheer ber 7, things have been building towards a willpower we can change the outcome during grand finale nobody wants to see. It’s like difficult times. “It sounds like the naive content you’d find watching a movie, realizing halfway in you’re not going to like the ending. At the same time, in a supermarket self-help book,” Mendel Kalmenson wrote, “or an amateur new-age it’s impossible to look away. Can we do anything to stop the momentum? podcast peddling feel-good platitudes and Or are we doomed to watch history repeat it- banal soundbites.” True; but even if we don’t self ? I honestly don’t know the answer to that. follow the Rebbe’s thinking, if we didn’t put our It kind of depends on the day, I think. Some trust in G-d, and ultimately, deep down, bedays, I’m optimistic, we’re still here, we’ll al- lieve that to be Jewish is “thinking good,” why ways be here. The holidays are here. G-d will- would we still embrace our Judaism? Why do ing, nothing bad will happen. I wish my friends even secular Jews who never see the inside of and family a sweet new year. Other days, I feel a synagogue, never say a single prayer, double down on their Jewish identity? like a sitting duck. I don’t know. I have more questions than anIn the end, though, I always bounce back. For one, I refuse to feel depressed all day every swers. But that, too, is part of being Jewish in day for any reason, let alone the hate. Second, 2026. Maybe it always has been.

Ratko Mladic is Why I Reject the Genocide Charge Against Israel MENACHEM Z. ROSENSAFT JTA In keeping with Jewish tradition and the directive of Proverbs 24:17, I do not rejoice at the death of Ratko Mladić. I do, however, take profound satisfaction in the fact that the survivors of his crimes and the families of his victims have seen him spend the past 15 years in a prison cell. Mladić, the Bosnian Serb general who died September 3 in a prison hospital at The Hague, was convicted of the crime of genocide in November 2017 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Over the years, in my prior capacity as general counsel and associate executive vice president of the World Jewish Congress, I stood numerous times at the Srebrenica cemetery in eastern Bosnia together with survivors of the genocide he perpetrated there. As a law professor at Cornell and Columbia, and in direct appeals to the Jewish community at large, I have long held up Mladić as epitomizing the legal definition of genocide. Reminding ourselves collectively why this is the case is especially important at a time when people who should know better indiscriminately and irresponsibly hurl the charge of genocide against the State of Israel. Simply put, I believe that as a matter of prevailing international law, while Mladić perpetrated a genocide at Srebrenica, Israel did not do so in its two-year war against Hamas in Gaza. To understand why Mladić was a genocidaire par excellence, as it were, one must understand the context in which he committed genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), one of six republics that made up the artificial Balkan na-

tion of Yugoslavia, carved together out of parts of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires after World War I, was, and is, multi-ethnic in character. In 1992, when BIH seceded from Yugoslavia, 43% percent of its population was Muslim, 35% Orthodox Serb and 18% Roman Catholic Croat. From 1992 until 1996, Mladić, who had previously been a career military officer in the Yugoslav People’s Army, was the commander of the paramilitary forces of the breakaway Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, more commonly known as Republika Srpska. During these years, together with Republika Srpska President Radovan Karadžić, he orchestrated the brutal ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims and Croats from territories they and other Serbian ultra-nationalists wished to integrate into a de facto “Greater Serbia.” Mladić also directed the shelling of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995, spreading terror throughout the Bosnian capital’s civilian population. He took UN personnel hostage in violation of the laws and customs of war, and, most relevant here, was personally responsible for the slaughter of thousands of Bosniaks — that is, Bosnian Muslims — in Srebrenica, located within a heavily Serb part of BIH. In 1993, in response to largescale atrocities committed by Republika Srpska forces against Bosniak civilians, the United Nations Security Council designated “Srebrenica and its surroundings as a safe area which should be free from any armed attack or any other hostile act.” Tens of thousands of Bosniaks were misled into seeking refuge there. In early July of 1995, when Republika Srpska troops under Mladić’s command took control

of Srebrenica, the Dutch UN peacekeeping battalion known as Dutchbat abandoned the enclave’s Bosniaks in an act of mindboggling cowardice. On July 11, Mladić was filmed at Srebrenica declaring that “We give this town to the Serb people as a gift,” and, derogatorily referring to Bosniaks as “Turks,” that “The time has come to take revenge on the Turks in this region.” Over the course of the next several days, acting on Mladić’s orders, the general’s thugs callously and systematically murdered more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys, raped Bosniak women and forcibly expelled around 25,000 Bosniak women, children and elderly men from Srebrenica. Memo to Mamdani, El-Sayed and others of their ilk: What happened at Srebrenica in July 1995 was far more analogous to Hamas’ butchery of Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, than to anything Israel did in Gaza in the subsequent two years. Under Article II of the 1948 Genocide Convention, the crime of genocide is defined as one or more of certain specified acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” That is the fundamental, irrefutable difference between Srebrenica and Gaza. On Oct. 8, 2023, some two million Palestinians were living in Gaza. Throughout the Israel-Hamas war, the anticipation of Israel’s government was that when the fighting eventually stopped, some two million Palestinians would still be living there. Thus, Israel’s specific intent was not to destroy the Palestinian presence in Gaza but to remove that terrorist organization as an existential threat. This motivation and the accompanying circumstances effectively negate the requisite genocidal intent on Israel’s part.

Synagogues

14 | The Jewish Press | September 18, 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

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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

B’NAI ISRAEL Erev Yom Kippur, Sunday, Sept. 18, 7:30 p.m. with our guest speaker, Harmon Maples of the ADL. Yom Kippur, Monday, Sept. 21, 10:30 a.m. with our guest speaker, Council Bluffs Fire Chief Robert Schoening; Yom Kippur Neilah, 5:30 p.m. Our high holiday service leader is Bob Yaffe. 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 board members: David Alloy, Renee Corcoran, Rick Katelman, Gail Kenkel, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Ann Moshman, Mary-Beth Muskin, Debbie Salomon, Sissy Silber and Jenn Tompkins. Handicap Accessible.

BETH EL Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Cantor Gil Ezring. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El and Live Stream. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services—Suicide Prevention Shabbat, 10 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Kiddush sponsored by the Jennifer Kay Mental Health Fund following services; Jr. Congregation (Grades K-12), 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 8 p.m. Zoom Only. SUNDAY: Sukkah Build, 8 a.m.; Morning Minyan, 9 a.m. Zoom Only; Kol Nidre, 6:45 p.m. MONDAY: Yom Kippur Family Service, 9 a.m.; Yom Kippur Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Yom Kippur Youth Services & Programming (Grades K-12), 10 a.m.; Yom Kippur Study Sessions, 3:45 p.m. and 4:45 p.m.; Mincha/Ne'ila, 5:45 p.m.; Community Break Fast, 8 p.m. TUESDAY: Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. at Beth El and Live Stream. WEDNESDAY: BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 6 p.m. THURSDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m. at Beth El and Zoom; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. at Beth El and Zoom. FRIDAY-Sept. 25: Erev Sukkot Services, 5:30 p.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Tot Shabbat, 6 p.m.; Our Shabbat Table — Welcoming the Ezrings Husker Style at Beth El following services. SATURDAY-Sept. 20: Sukkot Day 1/Simcha Shabbat Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Jr. Congregation (Grades K-12), 10 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. Beth El & Live Stream. Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.

BETH ISRAEL FRIDAY: Torah from Omaha, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Calm in an Uncertain World, 7:35 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m.; Candlelighting, 7:11 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.; Soulful Torah, 6:15 p.m.; Mincha, 7 p.m.; Kids Activity/Laws of Shabbos, 7:30 p.m.; Havdalah, 8:09 p.m. SUNDAY (Erev Yom Kippur): Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Calm in an Uncertain World, 9:35 a.m.; Mincha, 5:15 a.m.; Neilah Class, 5:15 p.m.; Fast Begins/Kol Nidre/Ma’ariv, 7:07 p.m.; Candlelighting, 7:07 p.m. MONDAY (Yom Kippur): Office Closed; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:30 a.m.; Yizkor, 10:45 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Musaf, 11 a.m.; Neilah Class, 5:15 p.m.; Mincha, 5:45 p.m.; Neilah, 6:45 p.m.; Havdalah, 8:05 p.m. TUESDAY: Torah from Omaha, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Smichat Chaver Men's Class, 6:20 p.m.; Board of Directors Meeting, 6 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:10

p.m. WEDNESDAY: Torah from Omaha, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Character Development, 1:30 p.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 7:20 p.m. THURSDAY: Torah from Omaha, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Calm in an Uncertain World, 7:45 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:10 p.m. FRIDAY-Sept. 25 (Erev Sukkot): Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 6:59 p.m. SATURDAY-Sept. 26 (Sukkot): Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Lunch in the Sukkah, 11:30 a.m.; Sukkah Hop, 12:15 p.m.; Mincha, 6:30 p.m.; Kids Activity, 7:20 p.m.; Havdalah, 7:57 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, 5:30 p.m. go to ochabad.com/lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 7:10 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 8:07 p.m. SUNDAY: Kol Nidrew, 7:30 p.m., ochabad.com/ hh26. MONDAY: Yom Kippur Morning Service, 9:30 a.m., ochabad.com/hh26; Yom Kippur One-Hour, 11 a.m., ochabad.com/hh26; Mincha and Neilah, 6 p.m. followed by break fast, ochabad.com/hh26. 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.; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10 a.m. with David Cohen; 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-Sept. 25: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Lechayim, 5:30 p.m. go to ochabad.com/lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 6:58 p.m. SATURDAY-Sept. 26: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Candlelighting after, 7:55 p.m.

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL Services led by Rabbi Benjamin Sendrow. All services offered in-person with live-stream or teleconferencing options. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30-7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Sendrow at SST followed by an Oneg; Shabbat Candlelighting, 7:12 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. at TI followed by a Kiddush Lunch; Torah Study, 12:15 p.m. on Parashat Ha’azinu led by Rabbi Sendrow at TI; 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, 8:10 p.m. SUNDAY: No LJCS Classes this week; Men's Bike and Coffee Club, 10:45 a.m. The Mill Coffee & Bistro at Nebraska Innovation Campus, 2021 Transformation Dr #1350, Lincoln. For more information or questions

please email Al Weiss at albertw801@gmail.com; We can do this - Feed the Children, 11 a.m.-1:15 p.m. at Belmont Community Center. Questions? Susie at 402.570.4922 or Aimee Hyten (SST Lead) 240.475.0747; Kol Nidrew, 7 p.m. at TI. MONDAY: Children’s Morning Service, 9 a.m. at TI; Yom Kippur Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. led by Rabbi Sendrow with babysitting available at TI ; Yom Kippur Morning Service, 10 a.m. lay-led at SST; Yom Kippur Afternoon Service, 3 p.m. at SST; Yizkor, 4 p.m. at SST; Neilah, 5 p.m. followed by Havdalah and Break the Fast Potluck at SST; Yom Kippur Mincha/Neilah/ Ma’ariv and Havdalah, 6-7:30 p.m. with babysitting available followed by Havdalah and Break-the-Fast at TI. TUESDAY: All hands on deck to build the Community Sukkah, 4-6 p.m. at TI. If you can help please email Howard at hfeldman1000@gmail.com; SCKC Rehearsal, 7–8:30 p.m. at SST. WEDNESDAY: ALL School Sukkah Building/Crafts, 4:30–6 p.m. THURSDAY: HHD Choir Rehersal, 6:45–8:30 p.m. at SST; Tifereth Israel Board Meeting, 7–9 p.m. at TI. FRIDAY-Sept. 25: Sukkot Shabbat Service, 6:30 p.m. followed by Shabbat Dinner in the Sukkah, 7:30 p.m. at TI; Shabbat Candlelighting, 7 p.m. SATURDAY-Sept. 26: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. at TI followed by a Kiddush Lunch; Torah Study, 12:15 p.m. led by Rabbi Sendrow at TI; Havdalah, 7:57 p.m.

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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. In-Person; Village Walking Group, 9 a.m.; Shabbat Shuva Service and Tashlich, 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. SUNDAY: No Youth Learning this week; Kol Nidre Service, 7:30 p.m. In-Person & Zoom. MONDAY: Tot Yom Kippur Service, 9:30 a.m. InPerson & Zoom; Sitter Service for children, 10 a.m.; Yom Kippur Morning Service with Torah Reading, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Youth Programming, 10:30 a.m. In-Person; Feeding the Hungry: Food Packing, 12:15 p.m. In-Person; Ask Rabbi Sharff, 1:45 p.m. In-Person & Zoom; Yom Kippur Afternoon Service, 3 p.m. In-Person & Zoom; Yizor, 4:15 p.m. In-Person & Zoom; N’ilah, 5 p.m. In-Person & Zoom; Break-the-Fast, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom. TUESDAY: Temple Israel Office Closed. WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m. In-Person; Grades 36, 4:30 p.m.; Mah Jongg Made Easy, 5:45 p.m. InPerson; Hebrew CHAI: Grades 8-12, 6 p.m. FRIDAY-Sept. 25: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9 a.m. InPerson; Village Walking Group, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat in the Sukkah, 5:45 p.m. In-Person; Shabbat B’yachad Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom; Oneg in the Sukkah, 7 p.m. SATURDAY-Sept. 26: Temple Israel Office Closed; Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Sukkot Service, 10:30 a.m.; ATID Event: Sushi in the Sukkah, 6:30 p.m. In-Person. Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.

This week in Jewish history ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor Friday Sept. 18 corresponds to 7 Tishrei on the Hebrew calendar. It’s the day Zebulun, the son of Jacob and Leah, tenth of the Twelve Tribes, was born. In 2020, we lost Supreme Court Justice Ruth Baden Ginsburg; that year, the date coincided with erev Rosh Hashana. On Sept. 23, one hundred years ago, the Jewish Press published a story by Louis Popkin, titled “The Mid-Western Jew Speaks.” “Henry Monsky,” the article begins, “declares

that Jew of smaller community is in closer contact with the problems and activities of his people than his metropolitan brother.” The author stated, “it often happens that the New York point of view is accepted as the Jewish viewpoint of America.” Here is (part of ) Monsky’s answer: “In communities in the Middle West and in the West you will find the major part of the Jewish population actively interested in one of more Jewish activities. I do not think it is so much a matter of difference in point of view. It is more the result of an intimate contact with

Jewish problems and activities enjoyed by the smaller community Jew.The Jew in the larger center of population does not have this contact.” Also in that issue: a joke about a barbershop mix-up, a reminder that Dr. James Goetz had a birthday and spent it “not playing poker,” a note about a terrible loss by the JCC basketball team, and an announcement that soft rugs (“beautiful to gaze upon’) had been placed in the JCC: “No more will the clicking of leather heels resound through the lobby of the Jewish Community Center.”

Life Cycles IN MEMORIAM KAREN WEINER Karen Weiner (nee Kricsfeld) of San Francisco passed peacefully on Sept. 3, 2026, surrounded by her loving children after enduring a protracted illness. She was preceded in death by her husband in 2022. She is survived by her brother, Dr. Barry (Barb) Kricsfeld, her son, Rabbi Daniel (Cynthia) Weiner; daughters, Ellen (Randall) Stross, and Elizabeth (Josh) Engel; and six grandchildren: Julia (Jake) Callizo, Benjamin Weiner, Jacob Winnick, Alexandra Stross, Jordan Engel and Harrison Engel. She was born in Denver, CO, and raised in Omaha, NE. She was the daughter of Joseph and Florence Kricsfeld and sister of Dr. Barry Kricsfeld. She was a proud Midwesterner, graduating from Omaha's Central High School, attending the University of Michigan, and graduating from the University of California at Berkeley. She met Rabbi Martin S. Weiner as undergraduates and they married, sharing an enduring bond that spanned 63 years. She was a devoted partner in building community with Martin, supporting him with her presence at myriad events. Karen earned a master's degree in social work, taught

Middle School, and worked as a Real Estate Broker. She was a proud, determined, independent woman with a sharp wit, keen sense of humor and a penchant for candor. Memorials may be made in Karen's memory to the Rabbi Martin S. Weiner Education Fund of Congregation Sherith Israel.

BIRTH HOLLIS BECKETT GORDON Brooke and Ben Gordon of Omaha, announce the Aug. 13, 2026 birth of their son, Hollis Beckett. He has three siblings, Laney, Conley and Freya. Grandparents are Sandy and Bruce Gordon, Katharine Taylor, and Deb and Erik Chaussee, all of Omaha.

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The Jewish Press | September 18, 2026 | 15

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KKL-JNF Chairman Eyal Ostrinsky, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and CEO of Jewish National Fund-USA Russell F. Robinson at the 25th 9/11 Anniversary memorial ceremony. (Credit: Diego Mitelberg)

STEFAN OBERMAN JTA Marking 25 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Jewish National Fund-USA, KKL-JNF and the Embassy of the United States of America in Israel held their annual memorial ceremony on Wednesday September 9 at the 9/11 Living Memorial in Jerusalem to honor the nearly 3,000 victims. Video of the event can be found at https://www.youtube.com/live/CK-BZfck49o. The 9/11 Living Memorial is the only memorial outside the United States to bear the names of every victim of the attacks. Overlooking the Jerusalem Hills, it stands as a powerful symbol of the bond between the United States and Israel and their shared commitment to confronting terrorism. The ceremony was attended by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, actor Patricia Heaton, Jewish National Fund-USA Chief Executive Officer Russell F. Robinson, President Deb Lust Zaluda, Chief Israel Officer Tali Tzour Avner, former NYPD Chief of Intelligence and Counterterrorism Thomas Galati, KKL-JNF Chairman Eyal Ostrinsky, Israel Fire and Rescue Authority Commissioner Eyal Caspi, U.S. Military Attaché Colonel Philip Messer and other distinguished guests. Agam Berger, who survived being taken hostage by Hamas, also participated. Representatives from participating organizations and agencies laid wreaths in memory of the victims, accompanied by U.S. Marines and Israeli firefighters.

“Jewish National Fund-USA’s 9/11 Living Memorial stands as a bridge between two nations bound by shared values and a common destiny,” said Zaluda. “We remember the lives stolen, the families forever changed and the heroes who ran toward danger. Remembrance must also summon resolve to confront evil and build a better future.” Established in 2009 by Jewish National Fund-USA and KKL-JNF through a major gift from philanthropist Edward Blank, the 30-foot bronze memorial incorporates a metal shard recovered from the ruins of the Twin Towers into its base.

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The 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza in The Arazim Valley outside Jerusalem is the only memorial outside of the United States that lists the names of every victim from the Sept. 11 attacks. (Credit: U.S. Embassy)

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Recent Additions to the Kripke-Veret Collection

SHIRLY BANNER JFO Library Specialist Young Adult: Rally Caps by Stephen J. Cutler and Jodi Michelle Cutler Rally Caps is a fun, heartfelt baseball and summer camp story. Ten-year-old Jordan’s dream of making the travel team is cut short by a scary accident that leaves him shaken and unsure he’ll ever play again. At summer camp, Jordan struggles with fear and self-doubt — until he meets Luca, a deaf Italian camper with a cochlear implant and an unstoppable belief that anything is possible. Inspired by Luca’s courage and his hero, Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., Jordan begins to rediscover his confidence and love of the game. As the final inning approaches, rally caps are raised, and Jordan must decide if he’s ready to step back up to the plate in the biggest moment of his life. Rally Caps was adapted into a feature film starring Judd Hirsch, Amy Smart, Carson Minniear, and James Lowe AKA Coach Ballgame. Adult: Heaven Help Us by John Kasich There will be a presentation by Kasich on Oct. 13, 26 at noon at the CHI Health Center during the Tri-Faith Legacy Luncheon where Bob Freeman is being honored. Bob wrote chapter five of Kasich’s book. Discover the antidote to cynicism and despair in this dynamic, revelatory, hope-inducing exploration of the extraordinary work and extraordinary people who are transforming communities around the country — motivated by faith. The mother of a man with autism manages a network of group homes through her local Greek Orthodox congregation. The director of an Islamic cultural center hosts a national interfaith conference to foster better relationships with the Jewish community. A student counselor starts a free immigration services program through her church. Sometimes we forget that good is not only happening in America, it is flourishing--in the fertile soil of our churches, synagogues, and mosques. Few people are better poised to speak to the value of

religious institutions in civic life than former Ohio governor and presidential candidate John Kasich, who is both a public servant and a man of faith. In Heaven Help Us, Kasich reminds us through gripping stories that faith communities are vital to healthy communities and our nation. Heaven Help Us offers: • Unforgettable stories of people making an extraordinary difference because of their faith communities • Insights into what sets faith institutions that transform their neighborhoods apart from those that don't

• Practical ideas for making positive changes in our own communities • Hope to dream about what is possible in our country instead of what is impossible • Encouragement that religion can bring us together rather than break us apart As Kasich shows us, faith institutions can magnify the power of an individual in ways that almost always exceed the expectations of the person who jump-started the initiative in the first place. More than a collection of “feel-good” stories, Heaven Help Us reminds us of the resourcefulness and ingenuity of our fellow congregants and religious leaders that make it possible to turn our good intentions into even better outcomes. Good is happening in our country. Join in. When We Were Born We Forget Everything by Alicia Jo Rabins From the creator of the internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter project Girls in Trouble, a memoir following her journey from a secular Jewish childhood to becoming a modern queer woman owning ancient teachings and finding her own meanings in them, refracted through feminist interpretations of the lives of Biblical women. As a self-described ‘90s suburban high school weirdo, Alicia Jo Rabins spent her time practicing violin and smoking cigarettes behind the mall while secretly dreaming of setting out on a spiritual quest no one around her seemed to understand. She often found herself drawn to the more ritualistic and rigorous Judaism that her parents had abandoned to assimilate and “become American.” In college, a chance meeting led her on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to study rabbinical texts (and play bluegrass fiddle on the street for cash). But that two years of immersing herself in traditional observance was only the start of a journey full of twists and turns. When We’re Born We Forget Everything follows Alicia’s relentless, often embarrassing, sometimes enlightening search for the sacred in everyday life as she tours America playing with a klezmer-punk band, falls in and out of love, scrapes through the initiations of motherhood, and witnesses the beauty—and danger—of mysticism. Rabins braids this personal narrative with the hidden stories of biblical women, uncovering a path of queer identity, feminist awakening, and spiritual self-invention. This lyrical, searching memoir is a meditation on longing, lineage, and what it takes to find meaning in a fractured world.

Planning on Moving? Please give us the following information: Your name, old address, new address and when you want the address change to go into effect. Call 402.334.6558 or email us at jpress@jewishomaha.org