September 19, 1925: Rosh Hashanah Edition

Welcome

The Jewish Press

(Founded in 1920)

David Finkelstein

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Annette van de Kamp-Wright

Editor

Will Fischer

Creative Director

Claire Endelman

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David Finkelstein, President; Margie Gutnik, Ex-Officio; Joseph Abrahams, Marla Cohen, Helen Epstein, Andrea Erlich, Ally Freeman, Dana Gonzales, Mary Sue Grossman, Hailey Krueger, Chuck Lucoff, Sara Rips, Melissa Shrago, Stewart Winograd and Bob Yaffe.

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Happy New Year!

Here we are; another year coming to a close, and no idea what 5786 will bring. The issue in front of you is reminder that some things don’t change: once again, we created a special edition for the High Holidays. This year, we have dedicated it to the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater, our beautifully renovated space, and everything and everyone it touches. The idea came during a conversation with Joanie Jacobson, who I am proud to call my friend, and who has been a fantastic mentor and motivator as long as I’ve been here. Joanie, I owe you lunch.

I can’t remember exactly when it was that Marty Ricks first told me about Alan Levine. We were in his office at the Federation, so it must have been after he left the JFO Foundation in January of 2013, and before he retired-again- in May of 2016. Alan was thinking about leaving a legacy, Marty told me then; he just wasn’t sure yet what that would look like.

Some time later, Alan and I spoke on the phone, and he told me all about growing up in Omaha. We also talked about how he wanted to leave something behind that would enable people to create memories. What better place than our theater to do exactly that? I told them about my own kids and husband, who participated in the JCC musicals, about Friedel’s graduations and Hanukkah plays, about the Jewish Film festival and Annual Meetings. We discussed the talent shows, the dance recitals, and of course the Early Learning Center’s four-yearolds, who have a real grown-up graduation ceremony (and performance!) in our Theater each May.

Creating memories: it’s the backbone of every stage, it’s the reason for building it, and when we do it right, we are simultaneously making opportunities for future generations.

I had nothing to do with the actual renovation-people much smarter than me were responsible for that. I did, however, get to write about it, and before doing so spent a great number of hours on the phone with Alan. Oftentimes those calls were late at night for me (he was in California), oftentimes they were centered around his Omaha memories.

I will forever be sad that Alan died before he could see his dream fully realized. I think of him each time I set foot in there, and imagine him attending just one performance, one film, one community conversation. I hope that, wherever he is, he knows what he did has tremendous meaning. And I hope that, in reading the stories in this issue, you get a small sense of why what he gave us is priceless and magical. I want to first of all thank former Creative Director Richard Busse, for his patience and dedication all these years, and handing over much of his knowledge to his successor, Will Fischer. And Will, you did it! Your first Holiday issue; mazal tov! Thank you, Lori Kooper-Schwarz, for being you. You know I adore you and you are not allowed to retire before me-so don’t even think about it. Thank you, Claire Endelman, for never giving up and fighting for those ads-and smiling while you do it. You have a few weeks before we start on Hanukkah, so take a break. Thank you to Sam Kricsfeld for the technical and emotional support-always.

Thank you to Bob Goldberg and Phil Malcom, as well as the JFO Board of Directors, for keeping us on the straight and narrow. Thank you to all our colleagues in this building and at the synagogues and Chabad and beyond, because we are nowhere without the stories you tell; thank you to our Jewish Press advisory board under the expert guidance of Chair David Finkelstein. Thank you to our tireless volunteer proofreaders: Pam Friedlander, Les Kay, Margaret Kirkeby, Marcee Levine and Ann Rosenblatt. Any remaining mistakes land squarely on the editor’s shoulders.

Finally, you, the reader-because we would not exist without you, and we would not have these amazing jobs. We love the Jewish Press, and are so grateful you do, too.

Shanah tovah u’metuka,

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor

Rosh Hashanah

Mural, Mural on the Wall…

A sit-down with designer Marty Shukert

JOANIE JACOBSON

JCC Theater Remodel Chairperson

WWhat do you do with a big, black space on the back wall of a theater — 14’ x 65’ and 12’ above the seats — acoustically treated to absorb sound, with vertical slats for visual interest — and your job is to add texture, color and design?! You turn it into a big, beautiful work of art — like a mural with a message!

“I hoped this space could convey a message that was both Jewish and universal,” explains designer Marty Shukert.

“The theater is in a Jewish Community Center but also welcomes the public. The wall became a canvas, an opportunity to create something meaningful and visually pleasing to all people — and hopefully, subtle.

“I wanted the piece to reflect the performing arts,” Marty continues — dance, vocal and instrumental music, acting — with all kinds of perform-

“I love the aesthetics of the Hebrew alphabet and the meaning in our biblical texts. But could Hebrew letters, text and technology work together to create a message that people would find meaningful and remind them of the relevance of Jewish sources, still today?

“While engaged in the creative process, it’s always a good idea to ask questions along the way, especially hard questions, to make sure your concept works. On the other hand, it can also reveal your biggest creative challenge!

Creative thoughts after creative thoughts flip through your brain. You don’t always know what they mean or where they’ll take you, but you hang in there because you trust the process. Eventually, you find the one thought that stops the flipping, and you run with it.

ers on stage. But I know my limitations. I don’t draw people very well. Then I thought, ‘Okay, go with what you know!’

“The biggest challenge was that it was big! How do you fill a space that big and with a window right in the middle? The sound booth had been moved to the main floor among the back row of seats, but the lighting booth remained upstairs and required a window right in the middle of what was now going to be a mural. What to do with that?!”

Some questions take longer to answer than others. But, again, if your concept is strong and you trust the creative process, the answer will reveal itself and See Mural, Mural page A5

A “Beautiful, Creative Soup”

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor

When Alan J. Levine dreamed about leaving his mark on the Omaha Jewish community, he often spoke about memories. He wanted to create something that would facilitate the same warm memories he had of Omaha; he just wasn’t sure how. He knew that the right place, the right conditions, the right people together can create something lasting. And if that “something” involves multiple generations, even better.

If only he could spend half an hour with Dani Howellshe’d tell him that the thing he wished for is exactly what is happening: the Alan J. Levine Theater is a place where memories are made.

In addition to dance and graduations and the occasional talent show, there is acting.

ages 18 and up, Dirt, a play by Mandy Conner, set in the Texas Panhandle during the dustbowl. In the spring, everyone comes together for a full-scale musical for all ages.

Dani is there for all of it. She and her husband Bryan are the parents of daughters Katie and Emmy, and son Jamie. She grew up in New York, “sur-

and no one in their right mind would want to see me on stage. And for 20 years I tried to ignore how much I missed expressing my creativity in a way that can only be experienced as a member of the cast and crew of a theatrical production.”

From acting workshops to musical theater performances, the theater has options that suit all walks of life and are open to both members and non-members. The JCC cultivates a community of actors who support each other’s personal and creative growth. During the Fall of 2025, the JCC is producing SpongeBob: the Musical just for students ages 8–18 years old, as well as a fall play exclusively for

rounded by, and obsessed with, theater,” she said. “When I was three years old, I started dancing. When I was nine, I started performing in school and community theater. When I was 15, I stopped performing, convinced that I wasn’t talented enough or pretty enough

One day, she spotted a small ad in the Jewish Press. The Musical Theater Community Acting Group would be holding auditions for Fiddler on the Roof, it said it was for ages 8-108, the rehearsals would be on Sunday afternoon only. While Dani had tried a number of different hobbies and interests (cake making among them), she hadn’t yet found a place where she could really find herself.

“At the time, I was a kindergarten teacher,” she said, “with two young children and a husband whose job requires frequent travel. We have loved Omaha from the moment we came here, it was the happy little accident we didn’t know we needed, but I was looking for something more. Although I had been trying to satiate my love of theater by seeing as many touring and community theater shows as possible, I realized what I truly missed See Dani Howell page A6

All in a Day’s Work

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor

Scott Shinbara is one of those people without whom a performing arts department cannot function, always somehow in the background, yet present every step of the way. If you’ve ever attended an event in our theater, visited our black box, or someone was holding a microphone, it means Scott was there to make it happen.

He is the JCC Director of Theater, Special Events and Rentals, and loves new experiences, of all kinds. Rather than collecting “stuff,” as he calls it, he prefers immersing himself in new situations.

“I love creating, I love going to restaurants,” he said, “and, I love good coffee. I am known as the biggest coffee snob around here.” A military kid, he was born in California, grew up in Oklahoma, and ended up in Nebraska where he received his Bachelor’s degree from UNO. He then attended the University of Arizona and obtained his Master’s and Doctoral degree in Music.

For new experiences, he chose the right place. Just before he started in 2021, the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater had undergone a full transformation, and we added the Nelson and Linda Gordman Black Box Theater. In his official role, he oversees all technical needs and rentals, and engages often with outside organizations and groups who may not be familiar with our community. He is also the dedicated alcohol manager and holds the license for our organization, so not a single glass gets poured without his involvement. Most of all, he sees himself as an ambassador.

“When people rent our space, oftentimes it’s their first experience, their first visit to our campus,” he said. “If this is their entry into what the JCC has to offer, I want to make sure we make the best impression possible.”

His goal is to grow the rentals, and develop our theater into a legitimate player in the metro region: “It should be among the best, if not THE best destination for performing arts in Omaha,” he said.

Of course, he works at the Staenberg Omaha JCC-which means there are wild varieties in what he does each day.

See Scott Shinbara page A7

Mural, Mural

Continued from page A3 you move on. Time to choose a message.

Marty explains: “In a project like this with a Jewish component, I like to use a text that adds a layer of meaning, like a significant teaching or ethical principle. I thought of the introduction of Bezalel in the Book of Exodus.

Bezalel was the consummate artist and artisan inspired by G-d ‘with wisdom, understanding and knowledge of all types of work’ to design and construct the artistic elements and sacred objects of the Tabernacle.

“Given the variety of the arts in the theater, I knew the quote — ‘with wisdom, understanding and knowledge of all types of work’ — was relevant and appropriate, but for some reason, it didn’t feel quite right.

“When I ran it by the Theater Committee, my feeling was confirmed. We were on our way to finding a new message when Joanie said, ‘What about Heenay ma tov uma nayim, shevet achim gam yachad — How good and how pleasant it is to gather together as one’?

“That was it —a message for the people in the theater, not about the performers on stage, and a familiar song that kids sing in camp and everyone knows. The fact that the text was the beginning of Psalm 133 added to its meaning and universality. Those who couldn’t read Hebrew would get the message from the English translation and everyone would feel welcomed!”

Now, Marty had the text, a big black wall with vertical slats, forms to consider and colors to choose. Where to begin?

“I wanted to make something that was quiet and subtle, that would work graphically at first sight, but would also invite discovery — a hidden text that would emerge as you looked at the wall.

“I got interested in graphic design during the 1970’s and developed a real fondness for geometric graphics and its clean, hard edges. Related to that, I was a huge fan of Yaacov Agam. His art was all about color, shape and edges — but also about hidden meaning and transformation. When you walk by one of his works, the colors, shapes, forms, and composition change and move with you. Also, I have a strong interest and a fairly extensive collection of books on the Hebrew alphabet and calligraphy. I found a font that I could adapt designed by Reuben Leaf and included in his book Hebrew Alphabets 400 B.C.E. to Our Days.”

Color is incredibly important. It significantly influences our perceptions, emotions, and even our behaviors. Color can draw us in or keep us out.

“Graphics from the 70’s and many of Agam’s wonderful works used very saturated colors,” Marty noted. “But they wouldn’t be right for the mural. Reds, greens, blues and yellows would say, ‘Look at me!’ and could distract from whatever is happening on stage. This

mural was intended to be an egoless piece, with closely grouped shades of the midnight blue color used throughout the theater. The mural is there to be discovered, not to assert itself. When you first look at it, it creates a subtle graphic pattern.

“But when you stare at it and discover the shapes are hidden Hebrew letters, the quotation will slowly emerge.”

The mural in the Levine Theater is not a painting on canvas or a drawing on textured paper or a fresco on plaster. When it was time to construct it, and given the givens, Marty decided to partner with 21st century technology.

“I developed the entire mural in Adobe InDesign and provided the fabricator with the digital document. The application allowed me to experiment with different shade combinations to produce the right effect.

The mural was then screen-printed in sections on acoustical panels used to keep sound waves from bouncing around the space. Each panel fit between two neighboring slats.

The creative process is fluid and almost always unpredictable. Just when you think you’ve thought of everything, covered all your bases, you can always be surprised!

The completed piece met my expectations.

The movement and change as you walk along the aisle worked, and was actually helped by the vertical slats. The biggest surprise was how the colors changed with the uplights that were installed. When the houselights are low, the cool, midnight blue shades of the actual mural dominate. But when the lights are up, the colors change and become warmer, almost glowing with the yellow tones of the lighting.”

Marty Shukert has been involved in design projects for Beth El Synagogue, Beth Israel Synagogue, the Gordman Center for Jewish Learning, and the chapel at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. A principal and Urban Planner with RDG Planning and Design, his work has earned the kudos and respect of individuals and organizations across the country.

Marty was the perfect person to design a mural for the Alan J. Levine Theater at the J. His talent, caring, sensitivity and Jewish heart are unmatched and we can all be incredibly proud to have this beautiful, meaningful work of art in our community.

Some final thoughts…

“A good, contemporary theater should provide a comfortable and attractive venue for the performing arts, but the show is on the stage. The Alan J. Levine Theater does an excellent job of accomplishing that goal.

That said, I hope that within that environment, the mural takes an ordinary, functional wall, becomes art, and communicates something about the spirit of the place and the magic that can happen within.”

— Marty Shukert

Before there was a Theater

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press editor

In the Jewish Press during October and November of 1924, there were announcements for something called “Thorpeian Carnival” on Sunday (all day) November 16.

It included meals, served until midnight; there was dancing, vaudeville and amusements. The carnival, held at the City Audito-

rium, was free for children, but adults had to buy a $0.25 ticket. It didn’t deter anyone: according to a follow-up story in the November 20 edition, more than 3,000 people attended.

Our favorite lines from that story:

The repeated call, “Get a baby,” came from the doll booth, and “Get your girl a box of candy” came from the candy booths.

Also, the Girls popularity contest was the general talk of the evening.

A “Beautiful, Creative Soup”

Continued from page A4 was being a part of it. I thought to myself: once-a-week rehearsals? Even my family’s crazy schedules can accommodate that! I signed up, tried (and failed lol) to quell my audition nerves, and it was very much a homecoming. I joined a community theater group that very quickly became so much more to me. What I found was a family.”

Like all families, ‘home’ needed a renovation. Coincidentally, our theater closed its doors for the renovation at the exact moment the rest of the world shut down because of the pandemic. And while the JCC was closed to the public, a lot was happening behind the scenes. Giant boxes arrived daily, there was dust and noise and for the few of us who did come to the building to work in-person, it was a surreal experience.

“When we first came back,” Dani remembered, “we were still wearing masks, and we walked into this incredible new space. I went backstage, walked onto the stage, looked up at the lights and thought to myself: this place is brand-new, and yet I am home. Alan J. Levine left us a very special gift, and we are blessed and grateful. It is truly a beautiful and lasting legacy.”

Over the years, Dani has participated in 23 MTCAG’s productions, from Beauty and the Beast to Willy Wonka to Matilda to Seussical, the list is robust.

grow together. It’s uniquely suited for a special sort of family time. The friends they have made, they are always there for each other. They soak up everything the program has to offer, this entire beautiful creative soup. And all the people our kids and I have worked with throughout the years are still very much a part of our lives.”

She’s not exaggerating: co-MTCAG enthusiast Stephanie Olson, who has probably been in as many shows as Dani, brought her laptop to rehearsal one day. When she was working on it during downtime, Dani asked her what she was doing.

“I’ve been trusted and challenged to perform roles that self-conscious, 15-year-old girl never dreamed she would have the privilege to play. My experiences at the J have given me the confidence to once again pursue theater as a passion in my life, and that confidence has led me to other extraordinary artistic experiences, including being cast in a touring company, working as a professional (paid) actor, participating in staged readings and premieres, and teaching theater and playwriting classes. Being a part of the creative process of bringing words on a page to life with dialogue and music and movement enriches me like nothing else in my life, and the JCC has given me that opportunity, while maintaining a schedule that works for my family,” she said.

Speaking of family: that acting bug has also infected daughter Katie and Emmy. They, like Dani herself, have forged friendships through acting and performing, with actors of all ages. “There are many families with multiple generations participating,” Dani said, “and I think it is a natural progression, because the theater is such an amazing place to learn and

About that quote…

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press Editor

Most of us know the song referenced on the theater’s mural; we’ve sung it at Hebrew school, during services, maybe we learned it from a family member. Hineh Ma Tov’s lyrics are from the first verse of Psalm 133, translated as "How good and how pleasant it is that brothers dwell together.”

Hineh Ma Tov continues to be popular for Israeli folk dances and is often sung by Jewish and Israeli scouting groups. It has been recorded by the Miami Boys Choir, Harry Belafonte recorded a version on his 1960 album, Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall, and the 1960s rock band Spirit recorded an original adaptation for their second studio album.

Stephanie explained she was starting The Set Me Free Project, an organization that fights human trafficking.

“We talked about it, she offered me a job, I accepted it; that was almost ten years ago,” Dani said. Without us meeting, working together, and bonding in the theater, that would not have happened.”

But it all comes back to the J, she insists. Beyond the creative experiences she has enjoyed, JCC MTCAG has gifted her with incredible, life-long friendships that have become more like a family, and with the awareness that she is a talented, creative, and important piece of this beautiful theatrical puzzle. “And for that,” she said, “I -and my 15-year-old self- are forever grateful!”

“I’ve always felt that the wide use of this verse may also be a reminder that goodness in coming together is not necessarily a default state,” Cantor Yuval Porat wrote in a 2015 article.

“Rather, Psalm 133:1 asks us to bring mindfulness and attention into the experience of being a community.”

He followed it up with this gem:

“Throughout the year, when we sing “Hineh Ma Tov,” we’re provided with the opportunity to reflect on ahavat chinam, a love that exists purely and without ulterior motives – and its presence in the relationships we have with people in our immediate and larger communities.”

In the 1977 television film Raid on Entebbe, Yonathan Netanyahu and Sammy Berg lead the Israeli commandos in singing the refrain while the commandos' plane is on its way to rescue the hostages. It is also played during the closing credits. The song also features in the 1990 film Europa Europa where the lyrics are translated as "How sweet it is to be sitting, surrounded by all of your brothers."

When I learned it from my mother when I was young, she didn’t mention “brothers,” she simply told me it meant it was nice to be together. I used to sing it for my kids when they were babies and wouldn’t sleep. Only when nobody else was listening, of course. I can do many things; singing in tune isn’t among them.

Why does this song have such staying power?

I like that, because relationships hold our community together. I like to think of it as a web: many different strings going between us because we go to shul together, or because our kids attend the same school, or because your mother once upon a time worked with his cousin, or because we were and are neighbors.

We all have multiple bonds, with multiple people, some small, some thick and life-long. Many of those threads cross through our Staenberg Omaha Jewish Community Center.

The next time you visit the theater (the Omaha Jewish Film Festival is coming!!), take a moment to look at that mural Marty Shukert so beautifully designed. Read the story Joanie wrote, and remember the words: Hineh mah tov umah na'im shevet achim gam yachad. They represent the best of what this community has to offer.

Hineh Ma Tov-themed drawings from Camp Rama

Scott Shinbara

Continued from page A4

“I’m all over this building,” he said, “from the Goldstein Aquatic Center to the Wiesman Room; we do so many different things here! Nothing is ever routine. For instance, this Sunday we have the Pancake Man, I am running sound for presentations, we’re running a Pool bar and then a second bar elsewhere in the building and we have live music. Yet, it is a somewhat normal day.”

Much of what he does, even if it doesn’t seem like it, is still somehow related to his actual job duties, like helping out with Team Shalom, building a box to hold rocks to be decorated at a JFO booth during an outside event, or helping kids cook during summer camp. New experiences, indeed.

So what is Scott’s favorite thing to see on stage?

“I love it when people go the distance,” he said. “When they push themselves to the absolute edge of their capacity, their talents, whether it is a professional musician or someone in amateur theater, watching people give it their all, finding their true potential, it’s inspiring.”

He certainly knows what “giving it your all” looks like- because he does it every day. Someone should bring him a really good cup of coffee.

Did you know...

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press editor

Once upon a time, our JCC had its own orchestra. From the Nov. 16, 1928 edition of the Jewish Press:

A year’s membership in the Jewish Community Center is the grand prize in the membership campaign contest being conducted by the JCC orchestra. Miss Rose Lazarus was appointed manager of the campaign. Each member promised to bring at least one new member for the next rehearsal.

The orchestra, which is under the direction of Mr. Rudolf Seidl, will continue its campaign until Dec. 11. One of the first activities of the orchestra will be participation in the general rally to be held at the center early in December.

The organization is open to all Jewish boys and girls in Omaha.

Happy RoshHashanah fromBoysTown!

The Yiddish Theater: From Purim Spiel to Shakespeare

OZZIE NOGG

So, bubbehleh. You wanna know fun vanet kumt der eydisher teater? Where does the Yiddish theater come from?

Here’s the geshikhte.

Some believe it began with the badkhn. The professional entertainer who showed up at Jewish festivities in 16th century Eastern Europe, particularly at chasenehs (that means weddings, sveetheart). Taken from the Aramaic word bedaḥ (be happy), the badkhnim were usually poor, harddrinking jesters, wise fools in ragtag kaftans. Merrymakers. Freilikh-makhers in Yiddish, which has much more tahm, don’t you agree?

More likely, Yiddish theater was born from the Purim spiel which was also a staple in medieval times. The rabbonim back then said feh to the whole idea because men crossdressed as women (oi, a shandeh far di shkheynim) and the language was often vulgar. But actors in these Yiddish-language folk plays, based on Megilat Es-

ther, were mostly poor yeshivah bochers who ignored the rabbi’s rebuke. Instead, they donned masks and costumes and acted out meshuggeneh narratives either outdoors in synagogue courtyards or privately in the homes of reich menschen. For their trouble, the actors would get maybe a boiled chicken foot and a złoty.

Now, ketseleh, to give you the entire history of the Yiddish theater in one sitting would be like feeding you an entire kettle of cholent at one meal. Too much to digest, right? So consider what follows a forshpeiz.

Abraham Goldfaden is generally considered the Papa of the first professional Yiddish theatre troupe, which he founded in Jassy, Romania in 1876. A report from that time reads: “Friday and Saturday night are when the weary Jewish tailor, shirtmaker and shopkeeper (in their quest for peace, relaxation and forgetfulness after the grinding tasks of the week and their humdrum lives) turn to the theater. Their wives and daughters, the tired, silent drudges of the kitchen and the tenements, accompany them. The Jewish workman and his mate love to have their little cry. They get it See Yiddish Theater page A9

The Yiddish King Lear

THE PRELUDE

JOANIE JACOBSON

JCC Theater Remodel Chairperson

Truth be told, the remodel of the JCC theater actually began more than 25 years ago, Yep, it took that long to get the job done. But “Better to get it right than to get it fast, yes? I’ll explain…

Howard Kooper (of blessed memory) was a good and dear friend of mine, and we always had these spirited conversations about every facet of Jewish communal life in Omaha, Nebraska. Howard was an extremely involved, caring and majormajor pillar in the Jewish and general communities. I, on the other hand, had a BFA with a major in Directing from the Goodman Theater School of Drama in Chicago and established myself in the Omaha Jewish community as a volunteer writer/director and event planner.

Somewhere in our spirited conversations, I began talking to Mr. Kooper (his pet name) about how desperately the theater at the J needed a major renovation. “It isn’t just that it’s unattractive,” I told him. “The stage, lights, sound system, audio visual equipment, the rigging — it all needs to be replaced. The J theater is broken.”

There was no response.

never happened.” At one point, there was even talk about gutting the theater and using the space for something else! No response. No sale. No remodel.

I let it go.

Until one day…

I was working in the basement taking clothes out of the dryer and the phone rang…

JJ: Hello?

HK: Joanie, it’s Howard.

JJ: Oh, hi, Howard! How are you?

HK: I’m fine. Let’s do it!

Over the years, I’d bring it up now and then, adding that there was no reason our theater had to be dark (unused) and not profitable. “Do the math,” I’d say. “We’re the single West Omaha theater location surrounded by zip codes with expendable income — and stress-free parking! People have to drive across town to go to the Playhouse, Symphony, Holland Center, Slowdown— wouldn’t they prefer to go closer to home?”

Again, there was no response.

There had been a couple attempts within the community to raise funds for a remodel but they fell far short of the money needed to do it right. Then there were the naysayers who insisted, “Don’t count on any revenue from rentals — that’s

JJ: Let’s do what, Mr. Kooper?!

HK: The theater — let’s do the theater! I could not believe what I was hearing. He wasn’t kidding. Mr. Kooper never kidded like that. To this day, I have no idea what inspired him and I didn’t care. The Broadmoor boys, Howard Kooper and Tom Fellman, put $1.5 million on the table to start the ball rolling. Omaha native and principal donor Alan J. Levine sealed the deal and we were well on our way to building a brand new, state-of-the-art theater that would take its place in the Omaha arts community as a viable, desirable, attractive theater space in which to perform, have workshops or hold business meetings.

From start to finish, it was a three-and-a half-year endeavor, but worth every day we spent making it right. A shout out to the Theater Committee — Mark Martin, Phil Malcom, Esther Katz, and Alan Potash (of blessed memory). A second shout out to RDG Planning and Design professionals Marty Shukert, Designer, and Alysia Radicia, Interior Designer for their talent, vision and innovation.

We did it.

It feels great. And now…

It’s Our Turn to Shine!

L’Shana Tova!

directions, call Patty Lee Nogg, 402/578-7461

Manager Steve O’Neill, 712/328-1579

Year’s Greetings from the Board of Directors: Patty Nogg, President; Bob Kully,V.P.; Gail Krasne Kenkel, Secretary; Doug Krasne,Treasurer; Beth Seldin Dotan, Mark Eveloff, Elyse Gallner, Michael Gallner, Larry Goldstrom, Jay Katelman, Joshua Katelman, Rick Katelman, Marti Nerenstone, Sissy Silber, and Marty Ricks

Campaign Cabaret in 1987

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press editor

“Campaign Cabaret Thrills 900 with Musical revue,” the front page of the April 3, 1987 Jewish Press announced. It’s one more example of the fact that our community loves the stage, and being on that stage. It was also the inspiration for the 2015 Campaign Cabaret, which you can read about elsewhere in this issue.

The article was written by Morris Maline, the Press editor at the time. and included the following disclaimer: “This article includes opinion.” I’ll second that, Morris. It’s kind of impossible to write about this stuff without getting drawn in.

Words alone are not enough. You would have to have been there to appreciate Campaign Cabaret. And almost 900 were there-offering a standing ovation and screams of delight in tribute to the homespun talent of the Jewish community.

Scores of singers and dancers joined in a musical revue that included a wide range of numbers performed by children and adults of all ages.

Written and directed by Joanie Jacobson, performers included Eunie and Steve Denenberg, who sang Momma, Momma, Momma, followed by Eunie solo-ing God Bless the Child. Of course, Jeff Taxman participated, as did Karen Javitch (she even performed with her father, Phil Sokolof). So did Patty Nogg, Danny Cohn, and Andee Scioli when she was still Andee Friedlander. Her brother, Jimmy, was there too, and Dan Fellman.

Even Sandy Friedman is on the list-he sang Mi Yamalel, together with Howard Borden, Bob Hurwitz, Mark Trustin and Stan Widman. Does anyone have a recording? I didn’t even know Sandy could sing- but somehow I am not surprised. Phil Sokolof sang It Was a Very Good Year, and I couldn’t help myself; I had to look that one upon Youtube. Turns out, it’s one of those Sinatra songs I totally know, I just couldn’t remember it when I saw the title.

Here’s another one: Tears Are Not Enough, performed by an ensemble, The Older Adult Choir (Young Energetic Seniors) and unfortunately no names of individual members. Apparently the song was originally performed for charity in 1985 to raise money for Ethiopian famine victims. While in Europe, we were all focused on Live Aid, I think I kind of missed this one.

Morris continued: Originally scheduled for last Saturday night, the dinner and show had to be postponed until Monday night because of the unseasonal blizzard.

Imagine all that work, and then having to pivot at the last moment. That might be a less pleasant detail for participants to remember.

Yiddish Theater

Continued from page A7 watching the sufferings of the beauty in distress, the orphan maltreated. Now and then the comedian furnishes some amusement and the Jewish workman laughs heartily, perhaps the first time in a week.” By 1906, professional and amateur companies performed in more than 400 cities and towns in Romania. These early theatrics came with nonsensical plots; a mish-mash of comedy, tragedy, and melodrama; bawdy jokes and music-hall numbers thrown in willy-nilly. Through the tumult, raucous audiences ate and drank during performances, accompanied by children of unsuitable ages along with conspicuous representatives of the Jewish underworld and the slumming Jewish intelligentsia. This form of entertainment was affectionately, if dismissively, known by the delicious Yiddish putdown, shund — trash.

You still listening, ziskyte? Have a glezel tei while I continue. So. The Yiddish theater arrived in New York in 1882, give or take, and within ten years Manhattan’s Second Avenue became the undisputed world capital of the Yiddish stage, supported by the ballooning Yiddish-speaking immigrant population. During its Golden Age in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Yiddish theater in New York’s Lower East Side was a major cultural hub, with over fifty theaters serving as centers for immigrant life, education, and social acculturation. More than that, the Yiddish theatre being played at the time outshone what was being played in English. Yiddish New York theatre goers were familiar with the plays of Ibsen, Tolstoy and Shaw long before those works hit Broadway. No cheap shund, for sure. Okay, mamaleh. So now I could tell you that the first Yiddish play to be translated and staged on Broadway was Jacob Gordin’s Di Kreytser Sonata (The Kreutzer Sonata), about a Jewish woman forced into a loveless marriage, her non-Jewish lover and two murders (oy, gevalt). Or we could discuss the Yiddish shocker, The Dybbuk (p’tui, p’tui), or name all the American actors who got their start in Yiddish theater: Paul Muni (Meshulim Meyer Vayznfraynt), John Garfield (Jacob Julius Garfinkle), Walter Matthau (Walter Matuschanskayasky), Edward G. Robinson (Emanuel Goldenberg), Zero Mostel (Samuel Joel Mostel) and Kirk Douglas (Issur Danielovitch). Douglas, who spoke fluent Yiddish growing up, was rejected by a Yiddish theater troupe in his youth for not looking Jewish enough. “They told me they’d call if they needed someone to play a Nazi soldier.”

But hert zikh tsu, lemeleh. Besides those tidbits, you should know that by the early 1890s, America's Yiddish actors were wild about Shakespeare. Farvahs? Ikh veys nisht.

But this I can tell you. Yiddish translations of Shakespeare’s plays were labeled fartaytsht un farbesert (translated and improved). Meaning, made more palatable to Yiddish theatergoing audiences, who wanted melodramatic, salacious entertainment, not serious arthouse drama.

For instance. In the Yiddish ‘improved’ translation of Hamlet, called Der Yeshiva Bokher (The Yeshiva Student) a wicked uncle smears a rabbinic candidate’s reputation and the young man dies of a broken heart. (Zeyer troyerik.) The Yiddish translation of King Lear (Der Yidisher Konig Lir) was a total reworking of the original with a Jewish spin that transplants Lear’s predicament into another culture and another time. Lear becomes a prosperous Lithuanian merchant, Reb Dovidl Moysheles. The grasping Goneril and Regan become Etele and Gitele. Modest Cordelia turns into truth-telling daughter Taybele. Dovidl divides his wealth among his three daughters and moves to Palestine. The family

tzoris in Shakespeare’s play remains in the Yiddish version, but by the last act, the Moysheles mishpacha are reunited in love. Before the curtain falls, the Yiddish King Lear declaims, “I forgive you children. You should all live well, and only unity and peace should be by you. Let us all say Amen.” And thus, the audience got its zisse meisele — happy ending. Yiddish productions of The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Romeo and Juliet were popping up all over Second Avenue to rave reviews. The process created a newly enriched kind of Shakespeare, oozing with pathos, melodrama and unabashed theatricality. (Some described it as Italian opera without the singing.) Romeo and Juliet, not surprisingly, hit a chord with young Jewish women looking for freedom in di goldeneh medineh — the golden country. So, mayn lebn, imagine this: In a tenement on the Lower East Side we find Fraydeh (she’s seventeen). In the same tenement lives nineteen-year old Manny. Both are sheyne yidisheh kinder. Fraydeh is madly in love with Manny (she calls him meyn bashert) but her momma and poppa do not approve. They want to make a shidach between Fraydeh and Hirsch. Fraydeh thinks Hirsch is a shmendrik. Now. Whenever Fraydeh sees that Romeo and Juliet is playing at a Yiddish theater near her, she scrapes together twentyfive cents and buys a ticket. Standing room only. Even from her high perch, Fraydeh can see Juliet on the balcony. She can hear Juliet cry, "O, Romeo, Romeo, vu iz der, Romeo? Verleugne deinen tateh und verwirf deinen namen. Oder aoyb ir vet nisht, zay geshvorn mayn libe und Ikh vel mer nisht zayn a Kapulet.” This defiant speech gives Fraydeh courage. She will fight for her Manny. Her Montague. But she will, of course, not do anything as narish as take poison. (Fraydeh has, after all, a yiddisher kop.) She and Manny, free of old-world constraints, live happily ever after. Ah, you think this is a bubbeh mayse, yes? Well, this next story is the emes.

In 1887, in Baltimore, 14-year-old Bessie Baumfeld-Kaufman was given a ticket to a performance by the Thomashefsky Company. The Thomashefskys were important Yiddish theater impresarios, and the most celebrated, having staged Jewish versions of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Goethe’s Faust. During this particular production, young Bessie was enchanted by the female star’s performance. "Her hair was piled high with ringlets," Bessie recalled, "and she had all this sparkling jewelry. She was the center of attention and flirting and all the men were watching her." Bessie made her way backstage to meet this sheyne meydele, who turned out not to be a meydele at all but Boris Thomashefsky, who became one of the biggest stars in Yiddish theater. Not long after, Bessie ran away from home, joined the company and, at nineteen, married Boris. “I took over the female roles Boris had been playing,” Bessie said. “I learned everything I knew about coquettishness from watching Boris.”

So, tzatzkeleh. You wanna maybe go into show business? Gey gezunterheit

SIDEBAR: By 1918, New York City’s Yiddish theater attracted two million patrons to over a thousand performances in a single year. Jews of all classes — the sweatshop woman with her baby, the day laborer, the small Hester Street shopkeeper, the Russian Jewish anarchist and socialist, the Rabbi and scholar, the poet, the journalist. The poor and ignorant are in the great majority, but the learned, the intellectual, and the progressive are also represented. Yiddish theater was one of the few forms of cultural expression they could bring with them on boats besides their recipes and religion.

Incredibly Lucky

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press Editor

Esther Katz, Director of Performing Arts at the Staenberg Omaha Jewish Community Center, moved from Philadelphia to Omaha in 2003. She has been a familiar presence at the J for many years. Yes, she teaches dance, but she also supervises, she plans, she budgets, and she has created a family. And the members of that family are in the musical theater, some tap dance, others take piano lessons. Sometimes dancers go to Israel and experience an entirely different world. Some come to become better singers, or because they used to dance when they were younger and they want to move better. Of all the staff, Esther probably finds herself most inside the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater-it was her home long before the recent renovation. When Alan visited Omaha, he was impressed with her work-he’d often bring up the importance of people like Esther, and how the cultural arts department was close to his heart. And thanks to Alan’s gift, the theater now has a dance floor that is much easier on dancers’ feet, better lighting for performers, and more comfortable seats for the audience. Having said that, before the show goes on, there is a large amount of teaching and learning that happens. It’s not all fun and games: there is hard work to be done.

steps. “Students may come primarily to learn dance or acting or music,” she says, “and they certainly learn those skills, but in the background much more is going on. As a teacher, you get to know the student as a person; not just a dancer, or an actor. They learn things like humility, and poise, and how to

She calls it “informal education,” and considers it one of the most overlooked areas in education. It’s what happens in addition to learning the craft, learning your lines, or those dance

terested in learning to play. Today, we have more than 100 music students, because it just kept growing. Of course, there is a lot of cross-over in the performing arts.” That cross-over also happens intergenerationally, with parents and grandparents participating as well as kids as young as pre-school. We can regularly see tiny dancers walking over from the Early Learning Center to practice their moves. But then, there are also adult classes, both in dance and in theater.

Esther is an empathetic educator, she says. “I care about the dancers as people before anything else. We are raising good humans first, and then we raise good dancers. With that comes the etiquette of how to behave in class, how to treat others, classmates as well as teachers and other adults. I do act silly sometimes, which keeps the kids engaged. I also emphasize it’s ok to make mistakes.”

manage their time. How to motivate yourself to practice every day, knowing you will likely never be a professional. That discipline and self-determination carries over into other areas.”

The cultural arts department offers piano, guitar, and voice lessons. “We started piano lessons about 7,8 years ago,” Esther says, “because some of our musical theater students were in-

When Alan made his gift, he wished for others to create memories. The venue makes it possible, but it’s people like Esther who make that venue come to life, who turn on the stage lights, so to speak.

“This work is how I can give back to the community,” she says. “I gained so much from growing up in dance, and now it is my turn to pass that on. I have been incredibly lucky with countless students, adults and parents; I get to watch people go from three years old to adulthood. I can’t go anywhere without running into someone who remembers me, because I have been a part of their life in some way.”

Did you Know?

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press editor

In 2023, writer Leah Kadosh called Rosh Hashana “the classic Jewish holiday.” Why? It has all the elements: food, remorse, prayer and lots of thinking.

The name ‘Rosh Hashanah’ is not mentioned anywhere in the Torah. It is actually referred to as Yom Teruah, which means ‘Day of sounding the Shofar.’

On September 14, 2025, Temple Israel’s Rabbi Sharff blew the shofar for exactly 39 seconds.

The Guinness Book of World Records has it at 1 minute and 55 seconds, by a Chabad rabbi in Kfar Habad, Israel during Yom Kippur in 2017. The records for the largest ensemble lives in Whippany, New Jersey: 1,034 participants blew the shofar simultaneously in 2014.

The first morning of our new year can never fall on Sunday, Wednesday or Friday.

Rosh Hashanah challah is round, because the shape symbolizes the cycle of life and the crown with which we coronate G-d every year.

We are all very fond of our Shabbat nap, but on Rosh Hashanah, we are not supposed to sleep. That’s because everything we do during the holiday sets the tone for the entire year, and if we sleep, our good fortune also sleeps. The same goes for bickering (no fighting on Rosh Hashanah!) or you’ll spend the rest of the year doing exactly that.

Campaign Cabaret 2015

OZZIE NOGG

This is a partial reprint from the October 2, 2015 edition of the Jewish Press

Once you’re seduced by the smell of the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd, it’s hard to turn your back on showbiz-as some members of the 1987 Campaign Cabaret cast will tell you. They’ll be putting on costumes and make-up for an encore-and this time at Joslyn’s Witherspoon Concert Hall.

Patty Nogg, who joins this year’s Cabaret cast as a narrator, sang in the ensemble of the original Campaign Cabaret along with her twin sons Brian and Jeff.

“In 1987, we were part of the closing number, Tears Are Not Enough,” Jeff said, “and this time I’ll be singing that same song with the entire cast including my daughter, Riley, who is eight years old-the same age I was during the first Campaign Cabaret. I remember the energy and enthusiasm that my cousin, Joanie Jacobson, put into the show. It was contagious, and this year’s cast is just as upbeat.”

Brian Nogg remembers what fun it was to stay up late on the night of the performance. “There was a big party afterwards in the Peony Park Ballroom, and a few years later we had my Bar Mitzvah party in the same location. Cabaret is full of family memories.”

HAL SENAL

Of all the things happening in our Alan J. Levine Preforming Arts Theater, one deserves an extra spotlight: the Annual Jewish Film Festival. A few movies, a few nights; it’s over before you know it, and yet it draws people in year after year. While before the renovation, we sometimes had a few minor issues (it’s difficult to enjoy a film when the sound isn’t perfect, or the chairs aren’t super comfortable) we now have the perfect venue to enjoy movies we might not be able to see anywhere else.

Much like the golem serves as a vessel to protect the Jewish people, film has long been a vessel for storytelling—a canvas upon which the complexities of culture, faith, and history are rendered vivid.

Yet in today's world, one might wonder: Who goes to the movies anymore?

No one cares anymore, it seems.

Why pay top dollar at a theater when you can watch the same movie at home, with the PAUSE button reigning supreme?

In a semi-post-COVID, post-everything era, the streaming dilemma is real. Yet among the many festivals illuminating the cinematic landscape, the Omaha Jewish Film Festival stands apart—not only for its dedication to Jewish narratives, but also for fostering community dialogue, celebrating diversity, and strengthening cultural ties in Nebraska. Across its history, the festival emerges as testament to the power of film to unite, inspire, and sometimes transform.

Still, there’s the thought of driving to the theater, paying for concessions, and sitting through endless trailers. And then— say WHAT?!—having to sit another half hour for a post-credits sequence. Fifteen or twenty years ago, the closest thing to streaming was the advice to not cross streams because “it would be bad.”

Now, the “Stream Machine” is inescapable. But for film enthusiasts, an annual tradition appeared, giving Jews and curious film lovers a truly Jewish cinematic experience.

The Omaha Jewish Film Festival is unique for its commitment to stories that highlight Jewish perspectives, and its location—the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Center, a 317-seat venue with ultramodern technology—creates an immersive experience for guests.

But again, the streaming dilemma persists. Why go out when home offers unlimited snack and bathroom breaks?

Even Mark Kirchhoff, the festival’s (self-titled) Program Assistant, balked at the idea of being a cinephile.

“I wouldn't call myself a film buff at all,” said the lively, goodhumored Kirchhoff. “I rarely go to the movies. I stream a lot of stuff, but I don't go to movies much anymore. But with my role, I'm pretty much the coordinator for putting things together. For example, we get approximately 100 films that we kind of pick from, throughout the year. [We go] through the trailers that various distributors send to us.”

Some submissions make the cut—others, not so much. Many might expect the festival to focus on heavy topics like the Holocaust or the daily struggles facing Jews worldwide. You’d be forgiven for guessing, but as Kirchhoff outlined, you’d also be wrong.

kinds of things.”

In its inaugural year, the festival showcased a handful of films in intimate venues, drawing attendees from Omaha and beyond. Early programming featured classics of Jewish cinema alongside fresh contemporary works, weaving together tradition and innovation. Enthusiastic audiences led to steady growth, with partnerships formed among local theaters, universities, and organizations enabling broader outreach and more ambitious programming. The selection committee curated films representing a wide spectrum of Jewish life.

Over the years, acclaimed films and filmmakers have graced the Omaha Jewish Film Festival. Works that might have struggled to find a U.S. audience found a welcoming platform, offering perspectives from distant communities and diverse backgrounds.

“So, we take a look at those [films] and then kind of filter out some of them,” explained Kirchhoff. “For example, we don't show strong Holocaust-themed films. A reference to the Holocaust might be in the films we select, but certainly, that's not going to be the focus of the film; same thing with October 7th. We have other areas of the Federation that are better equipped to do those kinds of things than we are.”

If not the big-ticket issues, what then? With so much doom and gloom in the world, what does the festival offer?

“Well, they’re more of an escape, entertaining, with a bit of education,” specified Kirchhoff. “Maybe a bit of documentarytype stuff. Primarily, what we want to do is have people come, go out, have a pleasant evening, maybe [enjoy something] thought provoking, but sometimes just a good laugh. So, we try to put in a pretty good mix, so that we're covering all those

For Omaha’s Jewish community, the festival is a point of pride—a public affirmation of culture, faith, and history. Its influence, however, extends beyond any one group. The festival serves as a bridge, connecting Jewish and non-Jewish audiences, fostering friendships, and encouraging empathy. Through film, viewers glimpse worlds and experiences different from their own, deepening understanding of both the Jewish people and the broader human story.

In retrospect, the Omaha Jewish Film Festival is more than an annual event. It is a living archive, a gathering place, and a testament to the enduring power of storytelling. Stay tuned for this year’s line-up!

Since the reopening, an impressive variety of performances have taken place in the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater. Here is just a small sample of everything that happens here!

Courtney and Fran

SCOTT SHINBARA

Among the proudest achievements since the renovation and naming of the Alan J Levine Performing Arts Theater is the JCC’s ongoing partnership with the Circle Theater. Circle is not new; it was established in 1983 when a group of UNO students (12 friends) put together ambitious plays and musicals including playwrights like David Mamet in the hopes of continuing to work together after graduation. In 2016, Fran Sillau became the artistic director and he brought his passion to make a theater that was accessible to people of all ages, gender, and abilities at every level both onstage and backstage. This is the mission that still drives it today.

gether. Our missions have deepened and grown stronger. I believe they will continue to.

Fran and Courtney Stein came together in 2010 when both were working for the Omaha JCC. Fran was helping to set up the theater program in our very own performing arts department where Courtney was hired to teach dance. A partnership was born. Fran is boisterous, loud, warm to all, and steadfast as a director while Courtney moves as a dancer with intention, planning, and supreme patience for everyone she knows. They create a truly admirable environment where all individuals are treated equally and addressed for all their strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps their greatest strength is their ability to remove their own egos and impressive work history to create for others.

Speaking of their notable history, Fran just finished directing the play Just Ask! for which he also has the writing credit (a play adapted by the book of Justice Sonia Sotomayor) for the Coterie theater in Kansas City. Courtney also served as the choreographer and Fran’s husband Mark Kurtz was the music director and composer/lyricist of the work. Courtney also served as the Associate Choreographer for Jeanine Tesori’s opera Grounded that opened the 2024 Met season. In addition to these personal accolades, the Circle Theater was given the award for Inclusion in the Arts by Nebraskans for the Arts and the Nebraska Arts Council.

In July, the Staenberg JCC and Circle theater partnered to do the first annual theater intensive that has the goal of blending half JCC campers with half Circle ones. It was fully funded for all who participated.

Fran, the Circle and the JCC have now had a partnership for almost 3 years, and we are proud that the Levine theater is your performance home for at least two shows a year. What do you remember from the start of the partnership? What attracted you to making/keeping this partnership we have now done for six shows and two more upcoming?

The Omaha Jewish community has always been very welcoming to me. I first walked into the theater at the J in 2007. From that first moment, I could tell that this was a very special place. I was grateful when Beth Seldin Dotan who was then the founding Executive Director of the Institute for Holocaust Education gave me the opportunity to stage a production for families called Hanna's Suitcase. That really sent my professional life in so many wonderful directions.

When I was appointed artistic director of Circle Theater in 2016. I knew I wanted to find a way to partner with the Jewish Community Center. Theater, because it was such a welcoming space for me and I knew it would be a welcoming space for all the people and organizations I wanted to get into the theater-making sphere.

As far as remembering the beginning of that partnership, I remember working with the institute for Holocaust Education and staging a production with Circle Theater called When We Go Away, which was a piece the IHE commissioned. I had worked with them several times, but this was the first time I had worked with Scott Shinbara and his team at the newly renovated theater. I remember how fun and joyous it was to create theater with Scott and his team. Even though the topic of the play was very emotional, there was a joy in getting to tell these stories. I remember saying to my husband who was also composing original music for the show, how collaborative?

The experience for When We Go Away...was how I wanted more experiences like that. I am a firm believer in putting out into the universe what it is that you wish. What I wished for was an opportunity to create theater with like-minded people in a proscenium theater space. I personally believe if someone continues to do good work that those wishes will come back to you in some form. When Scott asked me if the Circle Theater would like to have some sort of partnership, I immediately jumped at the chance. Having Circle Theater as part of the theater family at the J has widened it. I want to keep this collaboration going because I believe that a true collaboration happens when both parties benefit equally from it. From where I sit, our organizations gain so much by working to-

I look forward to many more years of collaboration. Fran and Courtney: Since you both met at the JCC Theater, tell me a bit about what that was like. Was there an immediate spark? Courtney: Fran has a superpower to make anyone he meets immediately feel like family, and that familial relationship and friendship was truly cultivated at the JCC. I can't remember a time when we weren't joined at the hip! Those early days at the J solidified our tag-team directing style, as we learned how to collaborate in unconventional rehearsal settings while building a theater program from the ground up. Beyond artistic vision, Fran and I share a deep passion for education, and our backgrounds in teaching artistry meant we were able to quickly think on our feet, adapt to needs in the room, and bounce ideas off each other.

Fran: I must thank Esther Katz for giving me the gift of working with Courtney. Yes, we began our collaboration as the first director and choreographer for the JCC Community Musical Theater Acting Group. Esther saw my work with and wanted to start a community theater group. She had mentioned this wonderful dancer and choreographer who I just had to meet. If my memory was correct. I think Courtney was hired first. If I wanted the job, I was going to work with Courtney. In the first five minutes of us working together. I said to myself, I want this person to be a part of my life forever. I approach my work in a very collaborative way; I want to talk with somebody and create a shared vision around something. From there I want to create a shared trust and understanding about what we're striving for. This is a tall order to ask of anyone... and Courtney is one of those collaborators for me.

I also firmly believe that theater is multilayered and does more than just entertain, Courtney also believes this, which is why Circle Theater has grown beyond my wildest dreams. We have drawn the circle wider than I could ever have imagined, largely due to Courtney's belief that everyone belongs. My hope is to continue to work with her for as long as she will allow.

For Fran: What was the catalyst for you taking over in 2016? Obviously, theater for all abilities was a major passion of yours, was that the direction the theater was going or something you brought to it?

I had been working as a freelance director and teaching artist all over the country. Many people thought that was my ultimate goal.

My secret passion or next career goal was to be artistic director. To lead a company of my own.

I had started a few small companies. The real dream was to take over an existing company and move it forward. I felt that what I was lacking was a terminal degree. So with the blessing and support of my family I enrolled in a master of fine arts program to give myself the credibility that I needed to take this next step. Even before I finished the program, the founders of Circle Theater, Doug and Laura Marsh took me to

lunch and asked me to consider taking over the theater. I had been an actor there since the 1990s, and Doug was always a pseudo-mentor to me. He was the first person I knew with a disability who also was making a living in the field that I so desperately wanted to make my career in. I told both Doug and Laura that I would love to talk about this, but that I was not sure that I could run the theater and do the same exact programming that they were currently doing. They told me that I should run it the way that I wanted to run it and collaborate with the folks that I wanted to collaborate with. I immediately realized that we could still do many of the things at the Circle Theater had been known for.

At the time, there was no theater that was fully committed to doing accessibility and inclusion work. This was something that had been part of the Circle Theater’s mission, but they'd never taken it on full time. With the blessing of Doug and Laura, I began the process of creating a fully inclusive theater in Omaha. We are not perfect, but we strive for it. We strive for the best inclusion possible every day.

For Courtney: After collaborating with Fran in the Circle Theater,

what made you want to make the jump to Co-Artistic director?

Courtney: I must credit the late and great Carolyn Owen Anderson for my taking the leap to artistic director. She and Fran were running Circle Theater when I came back from living in London, and Fran was getting ready to venture off to another theater in Arkansas. I was hired to "hold down the fort" in Omaha.

Carolyn was both Fran's and my mentor, colleague, and cherished friend. She helped to grow the infrastructure of Circle Theater, and without her dedication to accessibility and tenacity, it would not be what it is today. I was a lifelong freelancer until Carolyn pushed me to see myself in a more administrative role, and I am forever grateful for her encouragement.

Fran: Last year one of the actor’s was having a very See Fran and Courtney page A15

Courtney performs as Miss Hannigan in a JCC production of Annie

Fran Sillau

Courtney and Fran

Continued from page A14“ “theater” moment and wanted to quit the show (the day or two before the performance). You did something that almost never happens in the performing arts world (especially in music where I come from). You simply accepted the actor’s complaint, let them know you would support them, and told them you loved them. I haven’t stopped thinking about that sense. Where does that emotional maturity and empathy come from and are you aware that you approach people that way?

Fran: You are so kind to say these things. I remember this discussion. I won't share this actor’s story because that is their story.

I have had great mentors in my life-too many to mention, but all of them had one thing in common. They all taught me the importance of being a member of the ensemble. We would always start every one of my acting classes (at age 5) in a circle; they would always impart upon us that we are special individuals. What made theater special was the ability to be part of an ensemble with the idea that "no one person in this circle is more important than anyone else." I believe that everyone has a role to play in the theater, but sometimes people go inside of themselves and get scared and freeze or have a moment. People need to be reassured that the show is a big thing, but they themselves are also important, they make the show. They must know it is safe to take a leap. I had people who have done that for me in my life, and I knew how it made me feel in the moment, so I do that for others.

Courtney, A truly special part of the Circle Theater is the feeling of family and the strong relationships everyone has. During our camp in July we were trying to get you on stage after the performance for a picture and we had to wait as actors and families all wanted to talk to you. No matter what happens, you always bring positivity and light to the situation and have a truly magnetic pull to others. What experiences/work have allowed you to work in this way in a notoriously stressful and anxiety filled environment?

Courtney: Thank you for those kind words! I have always believed that theater and its creation should be fun-otherwise, why do it? Personally, I never feel more "myself" than when I am performing on a stage. To me, theater is about taking off the masks we wear in society and becoming whoever we want to be at that moment. It's equal parts empowering and exhilarating. That indescribable feeling has given me so much joy

in my life, and now I find that same joy in creating opportunities for others to experience it-especially for the very first time. One of my favorite sayings is: It's called a "play" for a reason. At its core, theater is about playing pretend. No performance is perfect, nor should it be. The beauty of live performance is that it is gone in an instant-you must live in the moment, without dwelling on the past.

Fran and Courtney: What are your dreams/goals for Circle in the future?

Fran: I really would like Circle Theater to continue to grow its reputation in the community. We are re-starting a fellowship program for people with disabilities to learn the art and business of theater. I also want to find a way to create a touring company across the state or national touring company.

The sky's the limit.

Courtney: We have so many dreams-an all-abilities dance company, a regional touring company, playwriting programthe sky really is the limit! But mostly, I hope the model we've created at Circle Theater inspires other theaters in Omaha to reevaluate their inclusive practices and make space for everyone in the community. Theater-making shouldn't be an exclusive activity, nor is it this precious concept that can't change for fear of extinction. We are so lucky to be able to partner with the JCC, as its accessibility surpasses most theater venues in Omaha. Fran and I both dream that this model for inclusive theater can grow beyond Omaha and extend further west into the state, bringing access to communities that may want programming like Circle Theater but don't know where or how to begin.

Circle Theater Shows at the Levine 25/26 Season: Mometaro the Peach Boy of Japan, Nov. 22-23 and Disney 's Decedents, March 28-29

More information for the Circle Theater can be found at circletheateromaha.org and tickets to upcoming shows can be purchased through the QR code (right).

Children’s Books

PENNY SCHWARTZ

JTA

A laugh-out-loud Sukkot story that reimagines the classic tale of the three little pigs; an inspiring work of historical fiction story about a Jewish family in Vienna fleeing Nazi persecution and becoming refugees in Shanghai; and a heartwarming Rosh Hashanah story about two quarreling sisters who promise to be better as the Jewish new year begins.

These are among the titles in the new crop of kids books for the High Holidays that echo the themes of the holidays — a time for celebration and reflection, starting anew and welcoming guests.

Here’s a look at some of the notable reads for kids of all ages.

“My Shofar: A Rosh Hashanah Board Book”

Ann Diament Koffsky

Apples & Honey Press; ages baby-age 2

A playful young elephant with a pink bow tries hard to blow a very loud blast from her shofar.

“Anyada Buena, Shanah Tovah”

Sarah Aroeste; illustrations by Maria Mola Kar-Ben publishing; ages 2-5

A young Sephardic girl and her family welcome Rosh Hashanah.

“Kayla and Kugel’s Super Sweet Rosh Hashanah”

Ann Diament Koffsky

Apples & Honey Press; ages 2-5

Kayla and Kugel are tasked with getting supplies for Rosh Hashanah.

“Lily’s Hong Kong Honey Cake”

Erica Lyons; illustrated by Bonnie Pang Apples & Honey Press; ages 4-8

As Nazi-rule refugees in Shanghai, Lily’s family opens a bakery where they bake honey cake to welcome in a sweet new year.

“Slow Down, Shoshi!: It’s Shabbat in Uganda” Shoshana Nambi; illustrated by Moran Yogev Kalaniot Books; ages 5-7

Shoshi, whose family is part of the Jewish Ugandan community — the Abayudaya — is a girl-on-the-go, always excited and in a hurry.

Wishing the Omaha community Shana Tova

Rosh Hashanah

Shared Purpose

As the High Holidays approach, we are reminded once again of the beauty and depth of our Jewish tradition. Rosh Hashanah marks not only the beginning of a new year on the Jewish calendar, but also an opportunity for reflection, renewal, and reconnection. It is a season when we pause to consider the past year with gratitude and humility and look ahead with hope and intention.

Here in Omaha, our Jewish community i blessed with something very special: a sense of closeness and shared purpose that is rare to find. Whether gathered in our synagogues, celebrating around family tables, or joining together at community events, we experience firsthand what it means to belong to a

strong, vibrant, and caring Jewish community. This year, Pam and I look forward to spending the holidays in Boulder, Colorado, with my daughter’s family. It is a joy to watch our grandchildren grow in their Jewish faith and celebrate with them in their synagogue. We will be returning to Boulder in April for another Bat Mitzvah.

One of the greatest strengths of Jewish Omaha is the generosity and dedication of our volunteers and donors. Time and again, you step forward—whether through leadership, financial support, or acts of kindness— to ensure that our synagogues, agencies, schools, and programs continue to thrive. Your contributions sustain not only the Federation, but every corner of Jewish life in our See Ron Feldman page B3

Shana Tova: a season of fresh starts

MUSHKA TENENBAUM

Chabad of Nebraska

To my fellow Jewish Nebraskans, Shana Tova Umetukah — a good and sweet new year to you and your loved ones!

There’s something about this season that always makes me think of fresh beginnings. Maybe it’s the crisp air hinting at autumn, or maybe it’s the rows of shiny new school supplies in the store — blank notebooks, unsharpened pencils, and folders just waiting to be filled. There’s a quiet excitement in the air, a sense that the pages of the year ahead are still waiting for our story.

This summer, I had the incredible privilege of staffing the Sinai Scholars retreat in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Jewish Retreat organized by the Jewish Learning Institute. Together, 150 Jewish college students from across the country experienced an immersive, inspiring week of learning, connection, and pride. These students returned to their campuses with renewed knowledge of Torah and a deeper pride in their Jewish identity.

The Retreat is a ‘by invitation only’ event for students who have successfully completed the THINK JEWISH course from the Sinai Scholars Society, an eight week course taught locally in the fall semester. The feedback from the students and their families has been nothing short of amazing — stories of Shabbat dinners springing up in dorm rooms, friends discussing big Jewish ideas over coffee, and students proudly explaining a mitzvah to someone who’s never heard of it.

As we begin this new year, we welcome the second cohort of Sinai Scholars students right here in Nebraska. The energy See Fresh Starts page B4

RON FELDMAN

JFO Chair of the Board

Performance as prayer

The Stage is Set

Rosh Hashana is one of the most important dates on the Jewish calendar. It sets the tone for the entire year, like how the brain or the head is responsible for all human function.

Everything we think, do, or say on Rosh Hashana has repercussions and effects the entire year. That’s why we call it the “Head of the Year” not the “Beginning”.

In deference to this issue’s theme, let’s talk about Rosh Hashana as the opening night of a wonderful theater show. The curtains go up, the lights dim, and the stage is set for something special — the coronation of G-d as King of the universe.

The shofar is our trumpet fanfare. Our prayers are the script. Our mitzvahs are the actions that move the story forward. And here’s the twist: unlike most theater, this isn’t fiction. But it often feels like it is, because G-d has written the ultimate drama — one where the plot is masked by a thousand distractions: news headlines, to-do lists, business deadlines, even our own personal ups and downs.

Whether it's laughter, tears, awe, or discomfort, a great performance stirs the audience and creates a lasting impact. The costumes, scenery, and props are all there to draw you in. You know they’re not “real,” but you still feel every scene. Why? Because the story makes you see yourself in it. It makes you feel, question, and grow. On Rosh Hashana, we are stirred by the sounds of the Shofar to reach deep inside ourselves.

The world around us — with all its noise and clutter — is the set. It may hide the deeper truth, but it can also be the very thing that pulls us into the story if we look closely.

Our job on Rosh Hashana is to see past the facade without discarding it. The scenery is part of the point — G-d placed it there for us to use, to elevate, to turn into a stage where His presence is recognized and celebrated.

This Rosh Hashana, I’m asking our community members to “rise like a lion”. This idea is quoted in Jewish law. It means no sleeping in. Be decisive. Strong. Motivated. Do Jewish things. Live Jewish life with joy—no matter what people think or say.

Rosh Hashanah urges us to wake up.

We hear it in the blasts of the shofar. In the liturgy we say, “Wake up, you sleepers, from your sleep!”

See Rabbi Katzman page B3

What We Want to Leave Behind

Reflections for the High Holidays

There is a curious phrase in the Unetaneh Tokef prayer that we chant each year during the High Holidays: "Who shall live and who shall die, who shall be at peace and who shall be troubled, who shall be humbled and who shall be exalted." The prayer confronts us with the stark realities of mortality, fate, and divine judgment. But it also invites a different kind of question—one not about what will happen to us, but about who we choose to be. What parts of ourselves are no longer serving us? What habits, grudges, defenses, or fears are weighing us down? What do we want to leave behind?

This season is not merely about repentance in the sense of

apologizing for moral failures. It is about teshuvah—returning. Returning to our truest selves. Returning to God. Returning to the values we proclaim but sometimes forget to live. Teshuvah asks us not only to confess but to clarify. To examine what has attached itself to our souls over the past year and to consider what no longer belongs there.

One of the remarkable features of Jewish time is its insistence on both memory and movement. We remember in order to move forward. We hold on so that we can release more intentionally. The High Holidays are the ultimate paradox of sacred time: a season of inward stillness and outward urgency. The shofar cries out, jolting us to awareness. The liturgy presses us to examine ourselves. The calendar reminds us that the gates do not stay open forever.

But this is not only a time for private reckoning. It is a com-

See Rabbi Abraham page B3

Traditional Values

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In August I held my first Cantors Concert called “Cantors Sing Broadway: and a little Jewish too!” In choosing the songs, we didn’t restrict it to Jewish composers or Jewish themes, we narrowed in on the topic of from darkness to light. This world is so broken, whether through personal adversity with disease, communal plagues, environmental challenges, politics, war, destruction; we can hardly interact with the world without finding challenges and darkness. Yet a goal of community is to help people through the darkness and find light. Sometimes music that connects you with the depth of your despair is exactly what you need; sometimes music that lifts you out of that darkness and brings you back into light, into hope, reminds you of the possibility of healing, sometimes this is exactly what you need. The concert took our community on a journey of all of this.

After the concert, one of the guests said to me, “The program was like a prayer book.” It was a simple program, with the lyrics to all the songs, and the English translations to the Hebrew songs. It was a simple statement; for this man, a concert had transformed itself into a prayer experience. This is a powerful act of performance, of music and of communal gathering.

As we enter the Holiday season we will be gathering, reflecting, and joining together in prayers and melodies as old as our tradition. As a Cantor I pray that my prayers, and the musical choices I’ve made will guide our community, enabling them to connect across time, with God, community and what they may need in that moment. Each of these holiday services are their very own drama, filled with the full range of darkness, light, fear, awe, and hope; but perhaps we need the secular words of Broadway, or opera, or a play to remind us of the connections inherent in our sacred books and sacred days.

So often as I was choosing a song for the concert, I would try to categorize it, is it in the dark category, or light, or somewhere along the way? And so often a song that started in deep despair would grow over the course of its lyrics, and musical style into a song of hope. The music would turn from one voice to many, the beat from slow to fast, gathering color, and dynamics, and instrumentation, a song that starts utterly alone and hopeless ends in a chorus of “you are not alone” (from Dear Evan Hanson) and as the voices join together, the community feels they are not alone either, we feel joined in the harmony, joined in the energy, joined in the rhythm, immersed and connected. This is the power of performance, of music, and when it works well this too is the power of communal prayer.

Shana Tova

RABBI STEVEN ABRAHAM Beth El

CANTOR JOANNA ALEXANDER Temple Israel

RABBI MENDEL KATZMAN Chabad Nebraska

Leave the judging up to God

Ron Feldman

HAZZAN MICHAEL KRAUSMAN Beth El

Rosh Hashanah is a festival that goes by several different names, each of which describes an aspect of this holy day. Of course, while we all know it as the first day of the New Year, Rosh Hashanah is also referred to as Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembering, and, as Yom Hadin, the day of judgment. To many of us, Rosh Hashanah evokes the familiar image of God judging us as a shepherd who evaluates each individual sheep that passes before them. Unfortunately, for so many of us, rather than leaving the judgment to the Blessed Holy One, we fall into the trap of radically judging one another. Ironically, we learn in our tradition that the way in which we judge our fellow human beings may well influence how we are judged by God on Rosh Hashanah. In the Talmud, it states, (Shabbat 127b) “One who judges another favorably is himself judged favorably.” Similarly, The Midrash emphasizes compassion over condemnation, (Midrash Vayikra Rabbah 4:6) “Judge every person to the side of merit, for you know not the weight of his burdens.” In other words, our great sages hold that the way in which we choose to interpret others’ actions can shape the way Heaven interprets ours.

One of the many heartbreaking realities that have afflicted us since the horrors of October 7th is the corrosive polarization of the Jewish community. Too often we are quick to judge

A holy space

One of my great areas of interest is the roles Jewish communities have played in influencing American culture in the 20th and 21st centuries. Often these openings came out of invention rather than opportunity. One example was the comic book. Many young Jewish writers and artists in the 30s and 40s could not find employment in the worlds of advertising and book. As a result, they basically created a whole new industry whose impact is still felt to this very day.

RABBI BENJAMIN A. SHARFF

Temple Israel

Another example is the musical comedy. Born out of the limited opportunities in classical entertainment like opera and orchestra, and inspired by the works of Yiddish Theater, meant to entertain fellow immigrants cheaply, Jewish writers, directors and performers helped transform a burgeoning art form into a cultural powerhouse.

Then there are the origins of Hollywood. Most of the major studios were either created or run by a group of Jews who were all born within a few hundred miles of each other in the Pale of Settlement. Their story too, is well documented, but often

Rabbi Abraham

Continued from page B2

munal act of spiritual inventory. And in that spirit, we asked members of our congregation to reflect on this question: “What do you want to leave behind this year?”

The responses were honest, moving, and often raw:

“I want to leave behind the belief that everything is up to me. I’ve worn myself down trying to fix things I can’t control.”

“I’m trying to let go of resentment. It’s easier to carry than grief, but it’s also heavier in the long run.”

“This year, I want to leave behind the habit of avoiding hard conversations. With my kids, my spouse, my aging parents. Avoidance is not kindness.”

“Fear. I’m tired of making decisions from fear. It’s not who I want to be anymore.”

These are not casual resolutions. They are sacred acts of self-accounting. In the language of Mussar, they are cheshbon hanefesh—an accounting of the soul. And they remind us that true change is rarely loud or dramatic. More often, it is quiet, deliberate, and often invisible to others. It begins in the heart, then shapes the hand.

To leave something behind is an act of courage. It is also an act of faith—faith that we can grow, faith that we are more than our worst moments, faith that God believes in our capacity to return. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once said, “Faith is not clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart.”

As we enter this season of return, may we each take the time to ask not only what we hope for, but what we are willing to release. May we trust that letting go of what no longer serves us makes room for something holier to enter. And may the process of release itself be part of the blessing.

others who do not share our point of view. We don't see a person for their many different traits; we only see them as an opinion, a point of view, or a political stance.

Pirkei Avot , the teachings of our sages (Avot 2:4), speaks to this in an ancient message that still rings clear: “Do not judge your fellow until you have stood in his place.” This is an urgent reminder that we can never fully see another person’s challenges, history, or inner world. Rather than rushing to judgment based on a statement or point of view, can we be inspired by the High Holiday season to take the time to understand an individual as a sum of all of their parts?

While New Year's resolutions are usually reserved for January 1st, perhaps this year we can make a New Year's resolution for the High Holidays. Let's resolve to leave the judging up to God. Our tradition holds that on every year on Rosh Hashanah, the world is created from scratch. May we be blessed with the courage to recreate our approach to those in our community, or even our own circles, whose opinions differ from ours, no matter how profoundly. May we be motivated by the call of the shofar to attain the spiritual maturity to choose compassion over criticism. May we take inspiration from the former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, Rabbi Lord Immanuel Jakobovits Z’L, who once said, “God’s judgment is perfect because it knows the heart; ours is flawed because it sees only the surface.”

Shannah Tovah U’Mitukah, U’M’Vorehet– best wishes to all of the Omaha Community and their dear ones for a year of goodness, sweetness and blessing.

misapplied, especially through certain antisemitic tropes. We may have founded Hollywood, but we are also the ones who helped make it as American as apple pie (which actually isn’t American, but that is another story). Instead, we used our limited opportunities to create a new vision that ultimately became the American Dream.

This is all a round-about way of saying that theater and the larger world of entertainment are a core part of the Jewish journey here in the United States. It is one that we have sadly forgotten about along the way. Too many of our stories have been borrowed or co-opted or even used against us.

I would argue, it behooves us to learn more about the way our ancestors helped to shape the cultural world in which we now live. Judaism is a core part of the zeitgeist, and we should be proud of all the achievements of those who came before us. For they brought us Superman and Porgy and Bess. From them we get to celebrate the bagel and stand-up comedy, and so much more.

By entering or returning to the theater, we are returning to a space that so many of our forefathers and foremothers helped to create and shape. And that can be a space made and remade into a holy space through Jewish creativity.

G-d does not make mistakes

What if we have misunderstood the High Holy Days all our lives?

RABBI MORDECHAI GEIGER

Beth Israel

After eight months of sleeping one hour at a time, my wife Ayelet and I felt it was time to help Dassi sleep through the night. I remember leaving her room while she was still crying. I sat outside her room, thinking my heart might break. I wanted nothing more than to run back in, but I knew that was not good for her. I watched the seconds tick by on my watch, waiting to burst in and reassure her that I was there and loved her. But she did not know that. Dassi had no way to know or understand that I was there all along. In that moment I realized, this was G-d and me in my moments of pain. I did this out of love for my daughter, but I’m human. Maybe I did the wrong thing. G-d does not make mistakes, and His love for us is literally infinite. What if in the challenging times, G-d wants nothing more than to comfort us, but that would not be good for us. Have you ever thought about that on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?

Continued from page B1

city. Because of you, we are able to care for our seniors, provide meaningful experiences for our children, and respond to the needs of Jews locally and around the world. As we enter 5786, may this be a year of health, peace, and blessings for all. May we continue to strengthen one another, honor our traditions, and build on the incredible legacy of Jewish life in Omaha. May I join all of you in praying for a quick end to the war in Israel, a release of all hostages and lasting peace in the region.

Shanah Tovah U’Metukah—wishing you and your families a sweet, joyful, and meaningful New Year.

Rabbi Katzman

Continued from page B2

When we blow the shofar, we observe a biblical commandment. We are also transmitting a clear, unmissable signal: “We know Who the King is, and we’re ready to serve.”

As the curtains open on 5786, let’s step into our roles with intention. Let’s use the beautiful (and sometimes messy) stage of life to make the story- His story. Let’s use the strength and grace of our inner lion to include G-d into our every day in a strong, heartfelt, and intentional manner.

Let each Mitzvah we do become a bid for the special relationship we hope to garner with G-d for a sweet, happy, and healthy year.

Let these Mitzvahs multiply and drown the world with goodness and light. May we show up with kindness and caring for everyone around us.

May the King see His people playing their part so well that He writes the happiest ending imaginable for the year ahead.

Shana Tova Umetukah.

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Make this Year the Most Important One Yet

B"H

Dear Friends,

Shana Tova! A good and sweet new year to you and your loved ones. May 5786 be filled with health, happiness, nachas, and plenty of reasons to smile.

Now, you know I love history. Jews, after all, have thousands of years’ worth of it — and we tell our stories so well that even our holidays are basically “They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat.” History is important. It teaches us who we are, where we’ve been, and which mistakes not to repeat (and yes, that includes overcooking the kugel).

As much as I treasure our past, especially the 175 years of Jewish history in Nebraska, I want to share something I’ve been thinking about: the most important time in history is now.

Think about it. Moses had his Red Sea moment, King David had his Goliath, the Maccabees had their oil. What’s our moment? It’s today — right now — and it’s the choices we make in our lives, our community, and our world.

It’s easy to get sentimental about “the good old days,” but Gd didn’t put you here to be a spectator in someone else’s story. He put you here because this chapter of history needs you. Every mitzvah you do — lighting Shabbat candles, putting on tefillin, giving tzedakah, visiting someone who’s lonely — is not just “a

nice thing.” It’s an act that changes the world’s spiritual balance. And let’s be honest: unity is not always our strong suit. If Jews were coffee orders, we’d have 37 variations of “just a latte.”

But here’s the thing: G-d loves variety. He didn’t create us to be identical; He created us to be indispensable to one another. Unity isn’t pretending we’re all the same — it’s working together because we know we’re not.

Helping others is where unity really comes to life. Maybe it’s bringing a meal to a family in need, giving a ride to someone who can’t get to shul, or just listening when a friend needs to vent. These little acts create big ripples. When we step out of our own bubble and notice someone else’s needs, we’re not just being “nice,” we’re being G-d’s hands in the world.

And mitzvos? They’re not just ancient rituals from dusty books. They’re spiritual Wi-Fi — invisible, powerful, and connecting us to something much bigger than ourselves. Plus, they’re user-friendly: you don’t need to understand every detail to get a full signal. You just need to do them.

So here’s my Rosh Hashanah challenge: live this year as if it’s the most important one in Jewish history — because it is. The past is a guide, the future is a mystery, but the present is where we can actually do something.

From our family to yours, may this year be overflowing with blessings, laughter, opportunities to help others, mitzvah moments, and delicious food that doesn’t require a holiday to justify.

Shana Tova Umetukah — a good and sweet new year!

The Odd potato (or How I learned to love theater)

HAL SENAL

The setting of the following events is what would later become the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater. The article is set in the early 1990s, the names of the people will remain a mystery. Only the time and experience of a young boy will remain...

“Don’t forget the pepper...don’t forget the spice! That’s what makes potato latkes oh-so nice!”

“You’re a screw-up!"

The above are the only things I memorized, from my time getting ready for the [mumble, grumbles year inaudibly] production of The Odd Potato. The first line is from the musical. The second, sadly, came from the director of the musical.

If I'm being honest, I do not remember much of The Odd Potato – something about a family grieving over the recent loss of their wife/mom and finding solace in... wait for it! ...an odd-shaped potato, during Hanukkah – but I do remember that this was a challenging time for me. I was overweight and physically disabled and constantly bullied by a few of the younger cast members. The adults “on-hand” were kind of in their own heads, and clearly cranky about sacrificing their “LA Law” time for a musical that their kids may have expressed a passing interest about, on the way to Chuck E. Cheese, one night.

To be fair, if you’ve ever been a part of any kind of production, be it a musical, play, or any kind of live or taped production, there are a lot of moving parts, and occasionally, certain things get swept under the rug to keep the production moving along. Sometimes, to get things moving along (especially with children, I imagine), adults must be their worst selves. At 44, I’ve learned that adults tend to feel about as powerless, if not more so, as the children they’re supposed to oversee. The truth is, and I may not have known it then, but that mo-

Fresh Starts

Continued from page B1 is contagious, and the commitment of these young men and women is inspiring.

Here’s the takeaway: if our students can return to campus with such renewed passion for their Jewish soul, then so can we. Rosh Hashanah is our “new semester,” our chance to sharpen our spiritual pencils and open a fresh notebook in our connection to G-d, Torah, and each other.

May this year be filled with opportunities to learn, to grow, and to live with pride in the gift of our Jewish soul. And may every blank page ahead be filled with blessings, mitzvos, and joy.

Shana Tova!

ment with the director, and her widely inappropriate words (I was nine or ten – max!), would go on to haunt me for most of my life. And surprisingly, it ended up being a blessing in disguise. Whenever I work (my trade being writing, as you may have already figured out!), I tend to do so furiously and with reckless abandon. Maybe it’s a curse. I don't know. I overwrite, occasionally (so says my father, anyway. But you know what they say: Everyone’s a critic). But, getting back to that rehearsal; that night, on the stage, out of some sort of self-defense mechanism, my five senses were in startlingly good working order –especially my olfactory glands! The beautiful sets were well underway to being completely built and the paint was still fresh and hadn’t had quite enough time to dry. It was like that intoxicating scent of pulp and print, as when you enter a library or a bookstore. You know what I’m talking about: once you’re under its sweet spell, you don’t want to leave.

Those sights and sounds helped me reconstruct such a painful moment in my life, and turn it into something I could use, even as far off as a decade-and-change later.

In 2001, after a great deal of hand-wringing over what I wanted to major or minor in, I went to the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and declared Theater as my second area of concentration.

My love for theater was born under the warm bright lights of the JCC Theater. And under those bright lights, and after inhaling those sweet smells of wood, paint and sweat, there it has stayed. And yes: for the record, I do still constantly incorporate that first line of dialogue all the time, into my everyday life.

So, please, for the love of all things holy...don’t forget the pepper and don’t forget the spice.

You’ve been warned.

RABBI ELI TENENBAUM Chabad of Nebraska

A Legacy Illuminated

HAL SENAL

What today is named the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater stands as a living testament to our community’s enduring commitment to the arts. For one hundred years, Our Omaha Staenberg Jewish Community Center has cultivated a space where creativity, culture, and community converge, nurturing the dreams of countless performers while captivating audiences with unforgettable experiences.

In the gilded optimism of the postwar era, Omaha was a city on the cusp of cultural renaissance. It was here, in the early 1920s, that the community envisioned a place for theater that would inspire both artists and audiences alike. Early community leaders marshaled the resources, and inaugurated the first Omaha JCC, a venue intended to be a welcoming home for all. In it, there was room for the stage, and everything that came with it.

Set in a stately brick building marked by art deco flourishes and grand, sweeping steps, the JCC’s theater department drew sold-out crowds, with a stirring production of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” setting the tone for decades of artistic boldness and emotional resonance.

The theater’s commitment to diversity was evident long before it became a widespread rallying cry in the arts. Pioneering productions spotlighted stories seldom told on Nebraska’s stages—from Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun to collaborations with the Omaha Indian community, which brought indigenous music and dance into the cultural mainstream. The ethos was simple yet profound: the stage belongs

their passion for performance here, working with seasoned professionals in master classes that focused as much on collaboration and empathy as on technical prowess.

Through the 1960s and 1970s, the JCC Theater distinguished itself as much for its adventurous programming as for its role as a crucible of local talent. Community theater groups, touring ballet companies, and nationally renowned jazz musicians all found a home on its celebrated stage. The annual “Omaha Playwrights Festival,” inaugurated in 1967, quickly gained recognition and remains a cornerstone event, providing a platform for emerging voices while drawing theater lovers from across the Midwest.

The summer Youth Conservatory remains one of the theater’s most beloved programs, pairing aspiring teenage actors with directors and designers to stage original works. Many of Omaha’s celebrated artists—some of whom have gone on to Broadway or Hollywood—attribute their first transformative encounters with the arts to the nurturing environment at the J. Like any enduring institution, the JCC Theater has weathered its share of challenges: economic downturns, shifting tastes, and the march of technology. Yet, each challenge was met with adaptability and vision. The 2020s saw a major renovation— historic architectural details were lovingly preserved while state-of-the-art lighting, sound, and seating were installed. The addition of a black box studio allowed for more experimental productions and community events, ensuring the theater’s relevance for new generations.

These photos were found in the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society’s archives, but we have no captions for them. If anyone can shed light on any of the people in these images, please email Jane Rips at jrips@jewishomaha.org.

to everyone, and every story deserves a spotlight.

The JCC Theater has never confined its influence to the footlights and curtain calls. From its founding, the theater embraced an educational mission, offering workshops, acting classes, and behind-the-scenes tours to young people throughout Omaha. Generations of students have discovered

Notably, the theater’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was a study in resilience. Virtual performances, outdoor concerts, and innovative digital workshops kept Omaha’s cultural flame alive during uncertain times, reinforcing the institution’s role as a community anchor.

Today, the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater is more than space in our building—it is a living archive of Omaha’s artistic aspirations and achievements. Every season adds fresh chapters to its storied legacy. Its walls echo with both the debutant’s nervous whispers and the thunderous applause for a job well done.

It’s pronounced Pickin’ — not Pecan.

OZZIE NOGG

One evening in 1904 Philadelphia, Clara Ostrovsky Picon took her five-year old daughter, Molly, by the hand and boarded a trolley car headed for the Bijou Theater’s amateur night.

Little Molly was wearing a brilliant red dress (the skirt a series of overwhelming accordion pleats), plus a genuine imitation Persian lamb coat topped with a genuine imitation ermine bonnet and muff — all sewn by Clara, a dressmaker for the actresses at Kessler’s Yiddish Theater. Molly’s outfit knocked the eyes out of everyone on the trolley.

One man in particular kept staring at Molly. “Where you going, fancy pants?”

Momma Clara replied, “In case it's any of your business, my daughter is on her way to perform in a talent contest. You don't believe me? Show him, Molly Dolly. Sing. Dance, even.”

Which Molly proceeded to do, in the trolley’s aisle, to great effect.

“That’s some kid you got there,” the man said. Then, snatching the hat from Molly’s head, he staggered through the crowded trolley car, collected pennies from every passenger and dumped the change on Clara’s lap. At the contest, Molly added the Amateur Night’s first prize of a five dollar gold piece to the coins her first legitimate audience had spontaneously tossed onstage. By the end of the evening, little Molly and her family were $10.00 richer.

“In one night this child makes $10.00?” said Molly’s astonished Bubbeh. “So for what does she need the theater? There are plenty more trolley cars in Philadelphia.” By 1930, when Molly was performing her vaudeville act in theaters across the country, she earned $3500.00 a week. “And for this she still has to work nights?” Molly’s Bubbeh sighed.

Molly’s mother had left Ukraine in 1890, traveling to America with her parents and eleven siblings. According to Molly, “My Bubbeh brought only her featherbed and a samovar. As long as she could sleep soundly and drink tea, no problem was really insoluble.”

Louis Picon, Molly’s father, was born in Poland and briefly studied for the Rabbinate in Warsaw. Records show he married a woman there whom he neglected to divorce before emigrating to America. He eventually married Clara Ostrovsky, worked on and off at odd jobs, but considered himself too educated for menial labor. By all accounts, Louis (who, for some odd reason could speak Greek) was an odd duck.

“Basically, he was anti-capitalist, anti-reli-

gion, anti-labor and anti-girls,” Molly explained. “When I was born in 1898, and my sister Helen arrived a few years later, he took off. I think he was disappointed we weren’t

boys. Perhaps if I’d been Louis Picon's son, I would have had a classical education and been a scholar. Instead, as the wardrobe mistress's daughter, I got a love of the stage because there I could make believe I was all the things I could never be in real life.” By age six, Picon was performing song and dance routines in theaters all over Philadelphia. She continued to play child parts until she joined Michael Thomashefsky’s Yiddish repertory troupe. At fifteen, Molly appeared there as Topsy in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. At sixteen she dropped out of High School, joined a traveling vaudeville group (that included a trained seal), and arrived in Boston smack dab during the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic. Bad timing. But mazeldik, as you’ll see. Molly needs a job to earn money for a ticket back to Philadelphia. The only theatre open in Boston during the epidemic is the Grand Opera House where Yonkel (Jacob) Kalich — actor, director and producer — is running a Yiddish Theatre season. Kalich puts an ad in the newspaper. Looking for lively ingenue. Molly sees the ad. She auditions. Yonkel hears her sweet voice, sees this not-even-five-feet-tall young woman with enormous dark eyes, and is smitten. He assures Molly she will one day be a great Yiddish star. He gives her a two year contract. She plays every imaginable part from young urchins to aging balabustahs. Within a year, Yonkel pops the question. Molly says nope. Yonkel continues proposing, in five different

See Molly Picon page B7

Molly Picon. The girl who gets older every year and younger every day. Her storytelling was fun and joyous.

Molly Picoon

Continued from page B6 languages (all fluent) and broken English. Molly says okay. In 1919, Molly and Yonkel marry. She wears a wedding dress sewn by Momma Clara from a theater curtain. Molly thinks she’s ready to knock ‘em dead in New York. Yonkel thinks otherwise. Instead of New York, he takes Molly from Boston to Europe.

“Even though I grew up in a Yiddish speaking home, the Yiddish I spoke was completely bastardized,” Molly wrote in her 1962 autobiography, So, Laugh A Little. “Our plan was for me to learn correct Yiddish and to give this American-born maidel a sense of authenticity.” She performed across the continent in original acts Kalich wrote for her that showcased her comedic chops, her expressive face and endearing neshama. European audiences swooned watching Molly play the adorable waif, often a motherless boy, who (with naive chutzpah, a charming display of tears and laughter plus a Yiddisheh kop) managed to go from rags to riches.

Molly’s favorite role was Yankele, in which she portrayed an impish 13-year old boy, a Yiddish Peter Pan, to standing room only crowds “The relationship I formed with those audiences and my new understanding and appreciation of Yiddish culture laid the foundation for the rest of my career.” In 1938 Poland, when life was terrible for Jews and about to get unimaginably worse, Molly starred in the Yiddish musical comedy/drama film, Mamele, giving a poignant portrayal of Jewish family life and culture. Set in Lodz, this was the last Yiddish film made in Poland before the Nazis invaded.

When Yonkel and Molly returned to America, she arrived with an international reputation, having played in the most famous Yiddish theaters in Europe. Her metamorphosis took three years. Her position as the preeminent actress of the Yiddish theater in the United States lasted until her death on April 5, 1992, at the age of ninety-four.

Molly Picon's career was decidedly unique. With her pixieish blend of Yiddish sensibility and American show business style, she connected with immigrant Jews and their assimilated children, appealing to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences. Her career path, from the Yiddish stage to success on Broadway (Milk and Honey), Hollywood films (Yente, in Fiddler on the Roof), TV roles (Gomer Pyle; Car 54, Where Are You?) made her a one-of-a-kind figure in the cultural landscape of 20th-century America.

But Picon and Kalich deserve recognition for more than their contributions to Yiddish theater and showbiz in general. The couple remain examples of gemilut chasadim, the Jewish concept of showing loving kindness and compassion towards others, not just through charity, but also through acts of personal service without expecting anything in return.

During World War II, Molly visited refugee camps in Canada and army bases in the U.S. to entertain the troops, and her ap-

pearances clearly touched the Jewish soldiers. An excerpt from one G.I’s letter reads, “Above all the shows we’ve had, you were the tops. Above all the movie stars and everyone else who has performed before us, we’ve chosen you as the best of them all. We would also like you to know that you’ve been selected the number one pin-up of our Squadron.” Molly collected the names and addresses of the Jewish soldiers she’d met and wrote their families. One mother responded, “Dear Mollie, I am such a great admirer of yours. Thank you so much for being so nice to my boys, they told me you ate with them and all about you. I don’t know how to express my gratitude for bringing a little bit of home to all those lonely boys.”

When World War ll ended, Picon and Kalich immediately sailed on a barebones ship to Europe, to lift the troyerik hartsn in displaced person camps. As frequent performers in prewar Europe, they felt personally connected to what was left of European Jewry and recognized the deep need of survivors for yiddishkeit, joy and little personal pleasures. "Everyone laughed at the idea, saying that all the displaced persons needed was food and medicine,” Molly said. “But I felt that if I were a woman deprived for seven years of a lipstick or a nice piece of glitter, those would be the things I longed for, and so we packed them. All were new, no leftovers, and we wrapped them in gay, colorful paper." Molly’s reason for these visits? “So that the survivors might feel like men and women again.” Traveling at considerable risk to their own lives, Picon and Kalich were the first entertainers to tour D.P. camps after the war.

The couple saw the Warsaw Ghetto, the prison camps and gas chambers. “We had expected the worst and we had seen it,” Molly said, “but we had no time to cry. Yonkel and I put our emotions aside and gave thanks for the sweet balm of music.”

In Paris, the French Jews turned up in droves for Molly’s performance. “Although it took us twenty minutes to do it, we made these tragic Jews laugh and our hearts expanded with joy at the sound.”

"Everywhere we went, we shared something pure and joyful after all the pain. Once, at a concert for grownups, a woman brought a small, undernourished child and it started to cry. Yonkel went over to her and asked her why she had brought such a young child to the concert. The mother answered, ‘My baby is three years old and she has never heard the sound of laughter. I don't want her to grow up without hearing people laugh.”

Laughter. Throughout her career (she performed into her eighties) Molly Picon followed her beloved Yonkel's mantra: ”Molly, that's our job. Make them laugh.”

And when you can’t laugh? "No matter what ails you, a small glass of schnapps will take care of it at once,” Molly advised. “This particular remedy was so good, my Zeydeh would frequently take the cure even before there was anything wrong with him.”

Holidays in Council Bluffs

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press Editor

Monday Sept. 22 is erev Rosh Hashanah, and the featured speaker at B’nai Israel Living History Synagogue will be Jenn Tompkins. As the executive director of Vita Nova Maternity, she recently addressed a full room during B’nai B’rith Bread breakers. If you missed that session, this is your chance! Founded in 2023, Vita Nova Maternity Community welcomes pregnant women in need of support and, through safe housing, compassionate care and strong community partnerships, empowers them to build lives of healing, hope, independence and lasting strength for themselves and their children. The organization addresses critical gaps in maternity care by offering a holistic approach to housing and education across Nebraska, eastern Iowa and the surrounding region. Jenn’s leadership at Vita Nova focuses on strengthening community collaborations, expanding donor support and ensuring long-term sustainability for programs that offer real solutions to maternity care deserts and generational poverty.

During the morning of Rosh Hashana, Sept. 23, Helene Weber will speak about her journey from Egypt to Omaha. Then, on erev Yom Kippur, Wednesday Oct. 1, it is Jim Fried’s turn; he will speak on the meaning of atonement. The title of his talk: “Who’s sorry now?”

On Thursday Oct. 2, Harmon Maples, Anti-Defamation League Community Engagement Manager for the Omaha metro area, will address the state of the world. Since March 2024, B’nai Israel has been an ADL partner-synagogue. This collaboration begun in the hope of better connecting the past and the present. “B’nai Israel is the oldest continuous synagogue in the metropolitan area,” Maples said, “and ADL has been fighting anti-Semitism for over 110 years. Our collective history overlaps on many different levels.” Everyone is welcome at B’nai Israel. For more information, please visit www.cblhs.org

Helene Weber, left, and Janie Kulakofsky

The Gordman Black Box Theater …

JOANIE JACOBSON

JCC Theater Remodel Committee Chairperson

Inspired by the work that started in 2018, Nelson and Linda Gordman decided to lend their support to the remodeling of Omaha’s Jewish Community Center. In 2019, the Gordmans made a generous contribution to the overall project. At least, that’s what they thought they did.

But when former Development Director Steve Levinger showed them the options for naming rights, one, in particular, got their attention. Their contribution would make possible a Black Box Theater within The Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater. It was a first. And a surprise.”

“We were thrilled to be able to bring something new and different to the J,” said Linda, “and the fact it would be enjoyed year after year by the whole community…was a real perk!”

“Linda and I have always appreciated imagination and creativity,” Nelson added. “The Black Box theater is an ideal setting for both, and we are delighted to have contributed to this very special venue.”

A black box theater is a simple, flexible, rectangular performance space with bare black walls and a flat, black floor. Unlike traditional theaters with fixed stages and seating, the blank canvas nature of a Black Box provides creative freedom for directors and artists to experiment with different stagings and audience arrangements. This allows the audience and stage to interact in a variety of ways.

temporary stage at various points, and because of our audio network, we can move the speakers where needed. The space gives a more experimental feel that is appealing to those doing something different than conventional theater or music. For us, we program it to be more like a club space.”

From folk music, to jazz, Americana Blues or bop — the Linda K. and Nelson Gordman Black Box Theater showcases all kinds of music and musicians. Last year, it partnered with J Brunch and featured a number of local acoustic musicians for entertainment. In the last few years, there have been comedy shows featuring local stand-ups and a variety of shows featuring local rock bands.

Scott Shinbara, the J’s Theater Director explained how the Gordman Black Box is set up. Our stage floor is flat and always black. We make the stage a Black Box by dropping the main (traveler) and downstage curtains to create the fourth wall. Ours is actually a modification of the theater; most are freestanding buildings.

“We utilize the Black Box as a space for smaller theatrical and musical events that might seat under 100 people and require a more intimate setting,” he continued. “We can set a

“We are extremely proud of the technical abilities of the theater,” Scott noted.

“We can set lighting to the entire space with relative ease as well as have musicians play anywhere on stage or off!

“We are always striving to keep up with artistic trends and technology. We will become the only theater in Nebraska (and many other places) that will have immersive audio with over 50 speakers installed! This allows sound designers to create special moods (like thunder, ocean waves or the sounds of the city) all around the audience. Technical flexibility is our greatest strength as a small professional theater.”

So if you’re looking for something new and different — like an on-stage, audience experience, theatrical or musical, with easy access to the theater and plenty of free parking — you just found it!

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

Our (old) New Year Message

From the Sept. 29, 1930 Jewish Press comes this New Year’s greeting, most likely written by editor Frank Ackerman.

Once more we pause in the midst of our workaday life to observe the holiness of another Jewish New Year. On this most solemn and sanctified occasion all Israel-regardless of country or clime, regardless of philosophical dogma, regardless of whether Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform-all Israel are united in paying homage to their Master. This is a time for self-examination and reflection; for contemplation and meditation. This is a time for Israel to search its heart to present its account for the year gone by. All sides of our accounts and judgments are recounted as we solemnly determine that the coming year shall see us better Jews and citizens.

We must bear in mind the future rests on the shoulders of the past. There can be no true progress unless we realize our shortcomings and errors of yesterday and make an earnest effort to rectify them. We must further consecrate ourselves to our priceless heritage and rededicate ourselves to the ideas of Judaism.

May the New Year bring G-d’s choicest blessings to those who are near and those who are far. May it witness Peace and Prosperity together with a greater feeling of good will between Israel and Christianity and among the nations of the world.

The tone of what was published in the Press at the time was very different. Here is a portion from Temple Israel’s Rabbi Frederick Cohn, from that same edition: Israel is anchored in faith in G-d. It has been sorely tried throughout the centuries, but its faith in G-d has never faltered. That faith we must reassert today. If it has weakened, we must learn to revive it. Let each Jew do his part. It is one of the glories of these “Holy Days” that they revive faith in the breast of the Jew in that ever-faithful One, the Divine Keeper of Israel, who “sleepeth not and slumbereth not.” If we have been asleep we must awake! If we have slumbered we must rouse ourselves, particularly from spiritual slumber, religious and moral torpor!

If we combine faithfulness with our faith in G-d, and let us back up our faith, yea doubly validate it, by complete faithfulness in all the relations of life to our self-to our fellow man, to our religion, to our G-d. Then, despite all signs to the contrary, will our New Year be bound to be a “happy” one, with the happiness resting upon the securest basis of all happiness-a consciousness of life’s highest meaning grasped,-a conscience rendered sweet and wholesome by the knowledge of life’s duties earnestly attempted, and life’s obligations nobly fulfilled.

Nelson and Linda Gordman

The Untested Cookbook

RUTH GOLDSTEIN’S FRESH APPLE CAKE

Judi Goldstein

Writing Workshop

Ingredients:

2 cups apples, peeled & chopped

1 egg, well beaten

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla 1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped 1/2 cup raisins (plumped in hot water)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together apples, egg, sugar & cinnamon. Stir in oil and vanilla. Sift flour and soda and add to the apple mixture. Add nuts and raisins and mix all ingredients. Bake in a 9" by 9" pan for 40 minutes or until done. Serve with Cool Whip. Parve: Great for Rosh Hashanah.

‘Write With Us,’ our small and intimate writing workshop (no need to be nervous) continues in the Fall. Upcoming workshops are scheduled for 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 avandekamp@jewishomaha.org. There is no cost to attend, although donations are always welcome.

If you have wanted to write your family’s story, that great American novel, or you have always wanted to try your hand at poetry, join us! Maybe you are already an accomplished writer, but you would benefit from being in a room with other writers. Perhaps you have convinced yourself you can’t write at all, but would love to try. Everyone, from absolute beginner to professional, is welcome to attend. We will provide the kosher snacks and the writing prompts.

President Coolidge sends Rosh Hashana greetings

AUG. 20, 1923

Through the medium of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. President Calvin Coolidge today sent Rosh Hashona greetings to American Jewry. The President, in his message, accompanied by a covering note from Geo. B. Christian, Secretary to the President, declares that the occasion is a reminder of the debt which the modern world owes to the Jewish people and their national wonderful culture.

The President’s message in full follows:

“The recurrence of Rosh-Hashona, the Jewish New Year, which this year falls on September 11th, is always a reminder of the debt which the modern world owes to the Jewish people and their wonderful national culture. The occasion is one of significance not merely to the people of the Jewish faith and race, but to all who have been the inheritors of some part in the splendid estate of leadership spirituality, and the service which they have given to the world for the common advantage.

(signed) Calvin Coolidge”. NOTE: It is suggested that the Jewish weeklies print this message in their issues of September 7, 1923.

AUG. 7, 1927

In response to the request of the Jewish Welfare Board the Secretary of War has issued instructions to the Army, and the

Acting Chief of the Bureau of Navigation has issued instructions to the Navy, to the effect that Jewish men in the service be granted furloughs wherever possible to enable them to observe Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur.

The U.S. War Veterans’ Bureau will also issue a circular letter, granting leave to those men whose physical condition permits, to go home. For men who will not be able to leave their posts the board has made arrangements for hospitality including meals and lodging in communities adjacent to the camps

Shanah Tovah!

In Memoriam: Jan Schneiderman

PEOPLE WHO READ NEWSPAPERS ARE

STUDENTS WITH BETTER GRADES

MIKE KELLY WITH FAMILY CONTRIBUTIONS

As a girl in a small town 25 miles north of Omaha, she never dreamed of becoming president of one of America’s largest volunteer organizations for Jewish women, let alone sitting at a White House dinner honoring the prime minister of Israel. But that became reality for Janice Ricks Schneiderman.

A longtime stalwart of Jewish life in Omaha and a staunch advocate of the Jewish State, Jan was also widely known as a secular-community volunteer and as a businesswoman at the side of her husband. Since her death on August 4, 2024, at 86, her family has missed her gentle touch.

“Mom’s life was truly extraordinary,” said daughter Debbie Trenton of Mission Hills, Kansas. “And we could always come to her with anything we wanted to talk about. She was nonjudgmental, never criticized our choices and always gave sage advice.”

“In my mind,” said daughter Robin Baer of Lee, Massachusetts, “our beautiful mother was super-human. I was always amazed by how much energy mom had. She managed to do so many things, working in the family business, volunteering, and caring for our family. You could see how much she genuinely loved being involved. She was my inspiration, and someone I always looked up to.”

Said son Scott Schneiderman of Omaha: “Our mom was humble and brilliant, and she treated everyone with kindness and respect. She ran a tight ship – in the best way – and made sure things got done right, whether at home, in business or out in the world. She was constantly encouraging. We cherished the times we spent with her.”

Jan Ricks grew up in Missouri Valley, Iowa, where her parents – as one of three Jewish families in the town of 3,500 – operated the Ricks Grocery. Her father, Morris, was from Lithuania, and her mother Sally was born in New York shortly after her parents immigrated from Minsk (in today’s Belarus). Both families escaped pogroms in Eastern Europe.

Jan’s brother, Marty Ricks, five years younger, said she taught him to ride a bike and later how to drive a car. When he endured antisemitism after his middle-school graduation, he said, “Jan stepped up and lobbied hard that we should move to Omaha so I could have Jewish friends and a Jewish social life while attending Omaha Central High.”

Leonard “Les” Schneiderman, a Central High and Creighton University graduate, and in 1959 they married – the start of a 57-year adventure that included much world travel.

Les had worked for his uncles, the Kesselman brothers, Abraham “Abe” and Nathan, who originated the K-B business in the 1940s in a South Omaha storefront, selling ice cream and other items—known at the time as K-B Ice Cream.

The energetic nephew helped expand the company into an institutional wholesale grocer, K-B Foods, distributing food to restaurants, hotels, hospitals, schools, and nursing homes. The company at times employed more than 100 people, operating out of headquarters at 80th and Cass Streets, then at 102nd and I Streets.

This was the Schneiderman family business.

Serving a 200-mile radius of Omaha, the company in 1990 opened a new distribution center near Eppley Airfield, and Jan stood in the middle of it, the company vice president and spokesperson to the news media. For 35 years, she also ran the company’s annual Food Show, where “restaurant owners, school administrators and hospital cooks browsed through booths” that showed products.

Jan Schneiderman’s volunteer leadership on local Jewish committees began in 1971 and she headed the Omaha section of the National Council of Jewish Women from 1976 to 1980. At the same time, her leadership expanded across the region. She rose from Area 15 chairwoman in 1978, to vice president of the Central District in 1980, and president in 1982.

She attended district and national conventions throughout the country. And in 1987, she made her first of more than 30 trips to Israel.

She served on various regional and national boards, including for the Anti-Defamation League’s Great Plains Regional and National Board.

Her national leadership began in 1990, when she joined the NCJW national board. From 1995 to 1999, she served two consecutive terms as national vice president. In 1999 came a remarkable milestone—Jan was named national president of NCJW, still the only Nebraskan ever to hold that office.

Years earlier, in 1991, she was invited with special permission to observe Operation Solomon, a covert Israeli mission that airlifted more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in just 36 hours. The experience left a deep impression and reflected her lifelong commitment to Israel and the global Jewish community.

She also served on the Council of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, then chaired by Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder.

A former colleague and dear friend, Anne Oppenheimer of Chicago, recalls two major initiatives during Schneiderman’s presidency. “Mothers in the Workplace” advocated in Congress for workplace equality for women and mothers. “Open-

ing a New Window on Childcare” was a published compilation of research by experts on best practices.

The family did so in 1957, and Jan influenced Marty in other ways, leading to his career serving Jewish communities in California and upon his return to Omaha. He retired as executive director of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. “

My sis, with her deep involvement in the Jewish and secular nonprofit world, set an example for me to follow in her footsteps as a professional,” Marty said. “She was a force nationally and even internationally.” Their bond remained close—a quiet thread of love, hard work, advocacy, and shared purpose.

In 1955, Jan had enrolled at the University of Missouri, which she attended for two years. In 1957, she met U.S. Army veteran

Jan fiercely believed in a woman’s right to choose. In an October 1999 NCJW press release opposing the “Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act,” she reaffirmed her conviction that reproductive decisions belong with women—not on the floor of Congress. Her advocacy reflected a lifelong commitment to dignity, justice, and the autonomy of all women.

To this day, Jan’s influence lives on in the work of NCJW. It was her fierce determination to protect women, children, and families that helped launch the BenchMark campaign—an enduring effort to ensure our nation’s courts are filled with fair, independent, and qualified judges. More than two decades later, her vision echoes in the lives of countless people. The judges confirmed since then—hundreds of them—stand as a See In Memoriam page B11

Jan as NCJW president with her husband, Les, and three children, Robin, Debbie, and Scott

In Memoriam

Continued from page B10

quiet, powerful legacy of the values she held dear and the future she helped shape.

As NCJW president, she was invited to a state dinner in July 1999 by another president, Bill Clinton. In an air-conditioned tent on the South Lawn of the White House, the event honored Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Jan’s dinner companions included U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen, U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, D–New Jersey, and Retired General Colin Powell. In her national role, she met many other prominent leaders, and once presented the council’s Faith and Humanity Award to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The Omahan was working on finding the council’s next CEO when terrorists struck Manhattan on 9/11. From the NCJW office at 44th Street and 2nd Avenue, near the East River, she watched in disbelief as the second hijacked plane struck the South Tower. Phones were down, and it took hours for the family to reach her.

The many honors Jan received reflect the remarkable woman she was. Among them was the Hannah G. Solomon Award— the highest honor given by the local chapter of National Council of Jewish Women—presented on May 7, 1985, in recognition of her unwavering dedication to the organization.

In 2010, at NCJW’s Israel Luncheon in New York City, Jan, then honorary president, was honored by Sharon Gustafson, then president of the International Council of Jewish Women, for her leadership and advocacy on behalf of Jewish women around the world. In 2014, she received the Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award from the Jewish Federations of North America, recognizing her lifelong service as a community volunteer. And with every honor, she was surrounded by family and dear friends. In the Omaha community, over the years, her volunteerism included serving on the allocation committee for United Way of the Midlands and on the board of Planned Parenthood of Omaha.

As president of Temple Israel, she was an early supporter of the plan for a tri-faith campus that came to fruition – a synagogue, a mosque, and a church, plus a fourth interfaith structure, intentionally built close together on a plot of land south of 132nd and Pacific Streets.

After the Schneidermans sold their food business in 2001 and Jan’s NCJW presidency ended in 2002, the couple had even more time for personal travel, and for Les’s unusual collection hobby – scales. He neatly arranged various kinds of scales on shelves in an Omaha warehouse, whose location he never publicly disclosed, and spent his days repairing and polishing them – as featured in a 2013 Omaha World-Herald article with photos.

When Les died in 2016, Jan said: “We had a great life. As much as I miss him, I have absolutely no regrets and I know he is in a better place.”

Her love for Les was quiet, constant, and unmistakable—always in the stories she told and the life they built together.

In her later years, Jan likewise told her family that she’d been fortunate and had no regrets. Daughter Robin said a common theme among those who knew their mother was that “she was a mentor and role model, a force in NCJW and a true leader who everybody adored.” Added daughter Debbie: “She was the kind of leader who did not need praise for herself, but only wanted to do the best job she could.”

Said son Scott: “She was a proud and passionate businesswoman, and I had the privilege of running our family business alongside her and my dad. She led with focus, heart and a sharp sense of what mattered most. “

She was also deeply committed to giving back. Volunteering was a true passion of hers – from local efforts in Omaha to causes around the world. She gave her time, energy and heart to help others. She traveled the world, always curious, always learning, always connecting with people from every walk of life. Despite all she accomplished, she never looked for attention.”

Her greatest joy—what she loved most—was being a mother, a grandmother, and, near the end of her life, a greatgrandmother. As each grandchild reached the age of bar, bat, or b’nai mitzvah, she took them on a memorable trip, thoughtfully tailored to each one. Those trips—though just moments among countless memories—shimmered with meaning. It was a time when she shared her love of the world—reflected in their eyes, echoed in their wonder. Her grandchildren admired her—for her love, her warmth, and her fierce spirit. She

was their “Gram.”

Said grandson Tyler Schneiderman: “We’ll forever cherish how she admired the youthful spirit in all of us.” In an admiring essay, Emily Sarah Trenton wrote of her grandma: “She made loving look so easy.”

Jan was preceded in death by her husband, Les Schneiderman, and parents Sally Stein Ricks and Morris Ricks. She leaves behind her adoring family, Robin Schneiderman (Kenneth) Baer of Lee, Massachusetts; Debbie Schneiderman (Steven) Trenton of Kansas City; and Scott (Heidi) Schneiderman of Omaha; grandchildren: Lauren Baer (Mike Doniloski) of Montclair, NJ; Adam Baer (Dani Sloane) of Philadelphia, PA Andrew Trenton of Denver, CO; Emily Trenton of London, England; Brooke Schneiderman (Noah) Morris of Chicago, IL; Tyler Schneiderman of Chicago, IL; and Spencer Schneiderman of Chicago, IL; great-grandchildren: Leo Baer and Ryder Doniloski; her brother and sister-in-law, Marty and Iris Ricks of Omaha; her sister-in-law, Shirley Schneiderman Morris of Dallas, Texas; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Holiday Greetings

JACKIE HAJDENBERG

JTA

Postcards are among the sources New York’s Tenement Museum is sharing this month as part of a limited series of walking tours on High Holidays past. The tours explore how Jewish families observed Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur back when the Lower East Side teemed with Jewish immigrants.

Jan and Les Schneiderman. Portrait by Mervin Reese

B’NAI ISRAEL

Board Members: David Alloy, Renee Corcoran, Rick Katelman, Gail Kenkel, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Ann Moshman, Mary-Beth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE

President, Marty Shukert; Vice President, Howard K. Marcus; Treasurer, Miriam Gottlieb; Secretary, Margie Gutnik; Past President, Linda Saltzman; Religious Life Chair, Ari Kohen; BESTT Chair, Caryn Scheer; Board Members: Lillia Cherkasskiy, Shane Cohn, Sam Dubrow, Jason Epstein, Jay Gordman, Sandy Passer, Brandon Rich, Caryn Rifkin, Wayne Schwarz and Susan Witkowski; BILU Youth Group

Board: President, Joshua Shapiro; Vice President, Tyler Epstein; Membership and Kadima, Asher Finkelstein; Communications, Cadee Scheer; Religious Education, Judah Cohen; Israel Affairs, Liat Frey; and Social Action Tikun Olam, Colin Kelln.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

President, Yosef Seigel; Administrative VicePresident, Helene Shrago; Financial Vice-President and Treasurer, Howard Kutler; Membership Vice-President, Bruce Potash; Secretary, Toba Cohen-Dunning; Board Members: Shirly Banner, Shane Donnelly, Howard Gendelman, Ron Giller, Jeff Kirshenbaum, Nancy Rampey-Biniamow, Debra Roitstein, Michael Shrago, Susie Shyken, Dasha Stein and Harry Weiner.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN/ THE SOUTH STREET TEMPLE

President, Sarah Kelen; Vice President, Rick Kohn; Treasurer, Dan Senft; Secretary, Julie Moore; Members at Large: Bob Bleicher, Maria Cadwallader, Trey Coley Lusk, Barb Straus and Art Zygielbaum.

CHABAD OF NEBRASKA

President, Anthony Scioli; Board Members: David Cohen, Karen Cohen, Tippi Denenberg, Stan Edelstein, Gary Epstein, Joanie Jacobson, Gary Javitch, Lloyd Roitstein, Nancy Schlessinger, Asher Stoller, Annette van de KampWright and Bob Yaffe.

TEMPLE ISRAEL

President, Justin Cooper; Presidential Ap-

JEWISH PRESS NOTICES

pointees: Joseph Pinson and Emily Wares; President Elect, Geoff Silverstein; Vice Presidents: Tamara Draeger and Cindy Goldberg; Secretary, Larry Gendler; Treasurer, Jeff Laudin; Past President, Troy Meyerson; Board Members: Berta Ackerson, Gil Dysico, Katherine Finnegan, Shelly Fox, Robert Friedman, Tom Friedman, Dan Gilbert, Margaret GurewitzSmith, Lester Katz, Susie Norton, Beth Spizman, Meagan Spomer and Jennifer Vik.

TIFERETH ISRAEL

President, Guy Trainin; Vice President, Haleigh Carlson; Treasurer, Howard Feldman; Secretary, Ken Bloom; Immediate Past President, Dan Friedman; Foundation, David Brockman; Trustees: Charlie Friedman and Marlon Weiss; Members at Large: Bob Evnen, Nanci Hamicksburg, Eve Hoffman, Brenda Ingraham, Cindi Weiss and Noah Weiss.

JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS

B’NAI B’RITH HENRY MONSKY LODGE

President, Gary Javitch; President Emeritus, Ari Riekes; Board Members: Mike Abramson, Howard Kutler, Marty Ricks, Howard Shandel, Adam Trubnikov; Trustee, Steve Riekes.

FRIEDEL JEWISH ACADEMY

President, Ari Kohen; Vice-President, Lisa Marcus; Treasurer, Ron Giller; Secretary, Anna Priluck; Officers, Shiri Phillips and Brandon Rich; Immediate Past President, Jeff Zacharia; Board Members: Rabbi Steven Abraham, Cantor Joanna Alexander, Joel Alperson, Rabbi Deanna Berezin, Pam Cohn, Rabbi Ari Dembitzer, Helen Epstein, Jon Gates, Rabbi Mordechai Geiger, Susan Long, Linda Neumann-Potash, Lloyd Roitstein, Rabbi Benjamin Sharff, Ben Shapiro and Helene Shrago.

LEAGUE OF VOLUNTEERS FOR THE ELDERLY (L.O.V.E.)

Co-presidents, Jay Durmaskin and M’Lee Hasslinger; Immediate Past Co-Presidents, Larry DeBruin and Gretchen Radler; Treasurer, Matthew Frey; Board Members: Renee Corcoran, Stephanie Shapiro-Cohen, Tiffany Franklin, Gary Lerner, Lisa Marcus, Ricki Skog, Marilyn Tipp, Steve Tipp, Lois Wine; RBJH Liaison, Sabine Strong.

JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA

Chair, Ron Feldman; Past Board Chair, Nancy Schlessinger; Secretary, Margie Gutnik; Treasurer, Michael Miller; Board Members: Mike Abramson, Toba Cohen-Dunning, Shane Cohn, Laurie Epstein, David Finkelstein, Joe Fischer, Ally Freeman, Jill Idelman, Kelly Kirk, Sharon Kirshenbaum, Lisa Lucoff, Bruce Meyers, Stacey Erman Rockman, Seth Schuchman, Yosef Seigel, Norm Sheldon, Justin Spooner, Jeff Zacharia and Steve Zalkin.

JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL

Chair, Toba Cohen-Dunning, Sharon Brodkey, Dusty Friedman, Ron Giller, Dana Gonzales, Danielle Gordman, Tori Haussler, Janie Kulakofsky, Amy Nachman, David Pitlor, Erin Porterfield, Zoë Riekes, Sara Rips, Ben Shapiro and Ryan Welner.

INSTITUTE FOR HOLOCAUST EDUCATION

Chair, Kelly Kirk; Board Members: Lindsay Behne, Toba Cohen-Dunning, JohnCarl Denkovich, Howard Epstein, Laurie Epstein, Fr. James Gilg, Jill Idelman, Gloria Kaslow, Howard Kaslow, Paula Lenz, Alena Simon, Sonia Tipp and Donna Walter.

JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA FOUNDATION

President, Stacey Erman Rockman; Vice-President, Susie Norton; Immediate Past-President, Bob Belgrade; Secretary, Donald Goldstein; Treasurer, Jay Gordman; Board Members: Beth S. Dotan, Jason Epstein, Paul Epstein, Ted Friedland, David Gilinsky, Kip Gordman, Myron J. Kaplan, Jeff Kirshenbaum, Steve Levinger, Troy Meyerson, Eric Phillips M.D., Carl Riekes, Louri Sullivan; Emeritus Council: Steven Bloch, Jody Malashock, Murray H. Newman, Steve Nogg and Martin Ricks; Of

Did you know?

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press editor

The theme of the 2000 Jewish Press Rosh Hashanah issue was its 80th anniversary. “The Jewish Press has never missed a Friday publication,” wrote editor Carol Katzman at the time. I guess we ruined that record. That, however, was because of the pandemic. We only missed one issue, though, so we’re not embarrassed.

The 1975 edition had Richard Pearl as its editor. The theme combined “two areas of in-

Blessed Memory, Howard Kooper.

JEWISH PRESS

Chair, David Finkelstein; Joseph Abrahamson, Marla Cohen, Helen Epstein, Andrea Erlich, Dana Gonzales, Mary Sue Grossman, Margie Gutnik, Hailey Krueger, Chuck Lucoff, Sara Rips, Melissa Shrago, Stewart Winograd and Bob Yaffe.

JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE

Board Chair, Bruce Meyers; Alan Kricsfeld, Kate Kirshenbaum, Gloria Kaslow, Susie Norton, Dana Kaufman, Amy Dworin, Jonathan Rockman, Marti Rosen-Atherton, Francisco Guzman-Jimenez, Marti Finkel Poulos, Rabbi Mordechai Geiger, Sara Slatkin and Bruce Gutnik.

NEBRASKA JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Chair, Seth Schuchman; Board of Directors: Sarah Abrahamson, Lori Feldman, Herb Friedman, Jeannette Gabriel, Nora James, Ben Justman, Kate Kirshenbaum, Kelly Kirk, Mary Beth Muskin, Joseph Pinson, Marty Ricks, Marty Shukert and Beth Staenberg.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME

Chair, Norm Sheldon; Jim Farber, Jacob Godwin, Darlene Golbitz, Jan Goldstein, Carlos Gomez, Myron Kaplan, Susan Norton, Gretchen Radler, Ari Riekes, Yosef Seigel, Eric Shapiro, Nancy Skid, Mark Sweet and Benjamin Taxman.

STAENBERG OMAHA JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER

Chair, Steve Zalkin; Board Members: Amanda Blumkin, Leah Brookstein, Marty Cohen, Shane Cohn, Carrie Epstein, Laurie Epstein, Candice Friedman, Jason Goossen, Jim Ludeman, Mike Norton, Linda Saltzman and Josh Sullivan.

terest: those native-born Jewish men and women who have left our community to make their homes and marks elsewhere, and those who came to this community as stranger but have been to us as though nativeborn.

The 1955 New Year’s issue asked: “Human Rights. Where do we stand?” The editor was Harry Halpert, and he wrote:

“There are signs that some greater peace can be achieved with Israel’s neighbors than has been obtained over the past seven years.”

The Jewish Press will be closed on Tuesday, Sept. 23 and Wednesday, Sept. 24 for Rosh Hashanah and Thursday Oct. 2 for Yom Kippur and Tuesday, Oct 7 for Sukkot. The deadline for the Oct. 3 issue it is Friday, Sept. 19, 9 a.m.; for the Oct. 10 issue it is Tuesday, Sept. 30, 9 a.m.; for the Oct. 17 issue it is Monday, Oct. 6, noon. Questions? Call 402.334.6448. Visit us at omahajewishpress.com

Marty and Iris Ricks

Wishing our community a sweet new year!

From the Staff and Advisory Board of the Institute for Holocaust Education

BIRTHS

BOARDS | LIFE CYCLES

B’NAI MITZVAHS

Elianna Jayne, daughter of Adrianna and Jay Benton; Piper Leigh. daughter of Erin and Jacob Bearman; Harrison Rubin, son Shelby and Ben Epstein;Marilyn Eugenie, daughter of Talia Simon Goldman and Tyler Goldman; Lainey Joy, daughter of Becca and Andy Goldenberg;Bronson Vernon, son Taylor and Mercer Gunnels; Avery Anne Alloy Hand, daughter of Sarah Anne Alloy Hand and Ryan Hand; Beckett Carter, son of Abby and Josh Haber; Lauren Danielle, daughter of Samantha and Daniel Hersch; Remi Wilder and Sadie Wade, children of Jaime and Mike Mason; Zelda Liora, daughter of Anna and Josh Priluck; Zev Reuben, son of Allison Willensky and Brian Schwartz; Violet Alea, daughter of Samantha Jo and Noah Weiss.

IN MEMORIAM

Lynda Amanda Abbott; Marvin Abramson; Kenneth Alexander; Harry Alloy; Huldah Ball; John Berlowitz; Wendy C. Berenson; Marilyn Ruth Lee (Freed) Berman; Peter James Brodkey; Gene Broscow; Darren Budd; Jim Cockrell; Philip Nast Cofman; Jane Cohen; Pamela Cohn; Meyer (Mickey) Coren; Kenneth Cowan; Marc B. Delman; Annette Fettman; Beverly Finnegan; Sharon Finkelstein; Marshall C. Fried; Nancy Blotcky Friedland; Charles Geffen; Carol Joan (Zempsky) Gendler; Sue Rabinowitz Givot; Howard Goldstein; Robert Lynn Goodman; Prof. Leonard Greenspoon; George Edward Idelman; Sylvia Jacobs; Benjamin J. Jesser; Steven Justman; Sarah (Brona) Kader; Jerome Kaiman; Paul R. Kaiman; Judith Kaplan; Russell Lee Kaplan; John S. Katelman; Janet Katz; Ronald Knapp; Howard M. Kooper; Marc G. Kraft; Bunny Krout; Gregory Kulik; Barbara Jean (Ruback) Kushner; Marcia Ruth (Tepperman) Kushner; Donna Lappe; Nancy Pamela (Lewis) Lazer; Anita Levy; Rochelle K. "Rocky" Lewis; Mark Libov; Michael Linder; Rena Locke; Stanley Allen Mandler, Ret LtCol USAF; Agnes Mendelssohn; Gail Miller; C. Raymond Millimet; Lynda J. Mirvish; Helen First Misle; Randi (Rosandra) Turkel Nanfito; Donald Irwin Nogg; Roxanne Rose (Nanfito) Nolan; Yelena Novikov; Nathan Patrick Nutt; Yuval Palmon; Alan Edward Potash; Steven Raduziner; Harlan Lewis Rips; Elaine Roberts; Judith Ileane Ferdinand Roffman; Mimi (Mary) Rogers-Farkas; Altan Lewis Ruback; Mark Joel Sadofsky; Stan Schrier; Susan Erin Shackman; Michael Robert Sherman; Igor Shnayder; Steven N. Shneider; David Shulman; Stephen Skog; Howard Snitzer; Noga Shalom Snyder; Devra “Dede” Spiegal; Dorothy Stoner; Ralph Stump; Donald Lawrence Sturm; Scott Thompson; Bernard Michael Tompkins; Svetlana Tronyak; Avner Tsabari; Dr. Evan Paul Varkony; Barry Veret; Mark Wallick; Dr. James Wax; Carol Weiss; Davida J. Wintroub.

MARRIAGES

Avery Lubin and Toby Dresdner; Jodi and Gary Epstein; Melissa Epstein and Brian Lipson; Ozlyn Samuels and Hal Senal

Jerome L., son of Jacob Bleicher; Sam, son of Jennifer and James Bryan; Alexander Daniel, son of Allison Boehm-Campos and Daniel Campos; Solomon, son of Tippi and Steve Denenberg; Poppy, daughter of Amy and Steven Dishman; Stockton David, son of Tamara and Jared Draeger; Leah, daughter of Kathleen and Samuel Dubrow; Molly Danielle, daughter of Laurie and Jason Epstein; Ezra Joseph, son of Jessie and Jamie Feinstein; Oren, son of Stacy and Seth Feldman; Lila Alyse, daughter of Lindsay and Michael Fineman; Yael, daughter of Sarah and Matthew Frey; Max, son of Leslie and Marc Gordon; Elliott, son of Lynda and David Greenberg; Jaclyn, daughter of Lynda and David Greenberg; Mia Brynn, daughter of Megan and Michael Kricsfeld; Hattie, daughter of Heather and Zachary Lake; Kori, daughter of Lisa and Chuck Lucoff; Charles Frederick, son of Robyn Kooper; Rafali "Raffi", son of Courtney and David Masinter; Taylor Andrew, son of Jaime and Brian Nogg; Samantha, daughter of Emily and Nick Ray; Yehoshua Lev, son of Jessica and Adam Rich; Chloe Isabel, daughter of Teresa KramerRuback and Andrew Ruback; Cael, son of Michala and Adam Silverman; Caden David, son of Jessica and Cliff Smolinsky; Joseph, son of Dasha and Jeffrey Stein; Miles, son of Rebecca and Rory Sudbeck; Tori and Halle, daughters of Kari and Brandon Tauber; Eliana Volshonok, daughter of Alena Kaplun and Vlad Volshonok; Isaac, son of Jenny and David Weisser; Hannah, daughter of Michelle and Chad Whyte.

Happy New year to Bees

AMERICAN TECHNION SOCIETY

This Rosh HaShanah, as you dip apples in honey, know that Technion science is helping Israel’s — and the world’s — dwindling bee populations thrive. From AI-monitored hives to robotic honeybees, Israel’s brightest minds are ensuring that Jewish tradition and nature’s sweetness endure for generations. If you check out Technion’s account on YouTube, you’ll discover how innovation is keeping our honey—and hope—alive.

At Boaz Kanot Apiary in southern Israel, ag-tech company BeeHero monitors the wellbeing of hardworking honeybees in 200,000 hives on five continents. “Our mission is to future-proof the global food supply by saving bees,” says Eytan Schwartz, VP Global Strategy for BeeHero. BeeHero’s IoT sensors inside beehives collect essential data on temperature, humidity, acoustics and other parameters. The hive data is then correlated with outside data, such as weather conditions, and analyzed in the cloud by advanced algorithms and AI.

B’NAI ISRAEL

SYNAGOGUE

Synagogues

B’NAI ISRAEL

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

MONDAY, Sept. 22: Erev Rosh Hashanah Evening Service, 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker, Jen Tompkins from Vita Nova.

TUESDAY, Sept. 23: Rosh Hashanah Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. with guest speaker, L.N. Weber. Monthly Speaker Series Service, Friday, Oct. 10, 7:30 p.m. with our guest speaker. Our service leader is Larry Blass. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel! For information about our historic synagogue, please visit our website at www.cblhs.org or contact any of our other board members: David Alloy, Renee Corcoran, Rick Katelman, Gail Kenkel, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Ann Moshman, Mary-Beth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.

EL

Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

IN-PERSON AND ZOOM MINYAN SCHEDULE: Mornings on Sundays, 9:30 a.m.; Mondays and Thursdays 7 a.m.; Evenings on Sunday-Thursday 5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Jr Congregation (Grades K7), 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 8 p.m. Zoom Only.

SUNDAY: BESST (Grades 3-7) 9:30 a.m.

MONDAY: Erev Rosh Hashanah Evening Service, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.

TUESDAY: Rosh Hashanah Family Service, 9 a.m.; Rosh Hashanah Day One Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Rosh Hashanah Day Youth Services & Programming, 10 a.m.; Tashlich, 4 p.m. Meet at Beth El

WEDNESDAY: Rosh Hashanah Day Two Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Rosh Hashanah Day Youth Services & Programming, 10 a.m.; Rosh Hashanah Lunch, 12:45 p.m.

FRIDAY-Sept. 26: Nebraska AIDS Project Lunch, 11:30 a.m.: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.

SATURDAY-Sept 27: Simcha Shabbat, 10 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Havdalah, 7:45 p.m. Zoom Only.

Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.

BETH ISRAEL

FRIDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m.; Candlelighting, 7:09 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, 6:15 p.m.; Mincha, 7 p.m.; Kids Activity/Laws of Shabbos, 7:30 p.m.; Havdalah, 8:07 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:10 p.m.

MONDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Candlelighting, 7:04 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:10 p.m.

TUESDAY: Office Closed; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Torah Reading, 10:30 a.m.; Kids Davening, 10:45 a.m.; Musaf/Shofar, 11 a.m.; Kiddush, 12:30 p.m.; Tashlich, 1:30 p.m. at Temple Israel Creek; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7 p.m.; Candlelighting, 8:02 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Office Closed; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Torah Reading, 10:30 a.m.; Kids Davening, 10:45 a.m.; Musaf/Shofar, 11 a.m.; Kiddush, 12:30 p.m.; Second Shofar, 12:45 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7 p.m.; Havdalah, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY: Fast of Gedalia — Selichot, 6:40 a.m.;

Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 7:10 p.m.

FRIDAY-Sept. 26: Selichot, 6:40 a.m.; Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 6:57 p.m.

SATURDAY-Sept 27: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Soulful Torah, 5:55 p.m. with Rabbi Geiger; Mincha 6:40 p.m.; Kids Activity/Laws of Shabbos, 7:10 p.m.; Havdalah, 7:55 p.m. Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.

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, 7:08 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 8:05 p.m.

SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps, 9 a.m.

MONDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Personal Parsha, 9:30 a.m. with Shani Katzman; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with David Cohen; Rosh Hashanah Community Dinner, 6:30 p.m.; Candlelighting, 7:02 p.m.

TUESDAY: Morning Services 9 a.m.; Shofar in the Park, 4 p.m.; Candlelighting after, 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Morning Services 9 a.m.; Rosh Hashanah in One Hour and Shofar Sounding, 11 a.m.; Holiday Ends, 7:58 p.m.

THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 11 a.m. with David Cohen; Talmud Study, noon-1 p.m.; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 6 p.m. with David Cohen; Code of Jewish Law Class, 7 p.m.

FRIDAY-Sept. 26: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Lechayim, 5:30 p.m., go to ochabad.com/lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 6:56 p.m.

SATURDAY-Sept 27: Shacharit 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 7:53 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: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30-7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 7:10 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Service , 9:30-11 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parashat Nitzavim; Potluck Dinner and Family Game Night, 6 p.m at SST. Please bring a dish to. share for Potluck. Games are available to play, but feel free to bring one of your favorites; Havdalah, 8:07 p.m.

SUNDAY: SST Gardening, 8:30–10 a.m.; LJCS Classes, 9:30 a.m. at TI; Men’s Bike/Coffee Group, 10:30 a.m. at The Mill Coffee & Bistro, 2021 Transformation Dr #1350, Lincoln. For more information or questions please email Al Weiss at albertw801@ gmail.com; LJCS Family Education, 11 a.m.; We can do this - Feed the Children, 11:30 a.m.-1:15 p.m. at Belmont Community Center

MONDAY: Rosh Hashanah Evening Service, 6:30 p.m. at TI.

TUESDAY: Synagogue Offices Closed; TI Morning Rosh Hashana Day 1 Service, 9:30 a.m.-noon led by Lay Leader at TI; Rosh Hashanah Morning Childrens'

Children’s Rosh Hashanah To-Do List

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press editor

Oftentimes, holidays become more meaningful to young children when they feel they have a specific task. No matter how minimal (especially when you do it with them), feeling “in charge” of something can really bring a holiday to life. Just like the questions at the seder table, there are things during Rosh Hashanah that the little ones can be included in.

Lighting candles. Yes, we want to be careful and have an adult help out, but it is a commandment to light candles on the evening of Rosh Hashanah, and say the special blessing. Say Happy New Year. Young children can be

tasked with wishing every guest a Shana Tova. It’s easy, and: repetition is a great tool!

Eat sweet things. That one needs no explanation. Don’t forget the honey!

Hear the shofar. This one is a little tricky, as for some kids (and adults) the sound of the shofar can be jarring. If your child has auditory sensory issues, hearing the shofar may simply not be possible. They can still see it and touch it, and learn about how, when the shofar is blown, G-d opens the book. You could even watch a video with the sound off, and explain what is happening and why. Some kids are able to hear it, as long as the sound is somewhat muffled, for instance through headphones. For kids who don’t have a problem with the

Service, 9:30-10 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST; SST Rosh Hashanah Morning Day Service, 10-11 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST; Tashlish, 3-5 p.m. at Antelope Park in Lincoln.

WEDNESDAY: Synagogue Offices Closed; Rosh Hashanah Morning Day 2 Service, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at TI; No LJCS Hebrew School this week.

FRIDAY-Sept. 26: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:307:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 6:59 p.m.

SATURDAY-Sept 27: Shabbat Service , 9:30-11 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study noon on Parashat Vayelech; Havdalah, 7:55 p.m.

FRIDAYS: Virtual Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m. every

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE

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

TEMPLE ISRAEL

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; Tot Shabbat, 5:45 p.m. In-Person; Shabbat B’yachad 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.

SUNDAY: Kol Rina Rehearsal, 12:30 p.m.

MONDAY: Erev Rosh Hashanah Service, 7:30 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.

TUESDAY: Tot Rosh Hashanah Service, 9 a.m. InPerson & Zoom; Sitter Service, 10 a.m. In-Person; Rosh Hashanah Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Youth Programming, 10:30 a.m. In-Person.

WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m. In-Person; Grades 36, 4:30 p.m.; Hebrew Chai: Grades 8-12, 6 p.m.

THURSDAY: The Zohar: Thursday Morning Class, 11 a.m. with Rabbi Sharff — In-Person & Zoom

FRIDAY-Sept. 26: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9 a.m. InPerson; Village Walking Group, 10 a.m. In-Person; Bring Your Own Picnic, 5 p.m. at Gene Leahy Mall — In-Person; Shabbat Shuva Service and Tashlich, 6 p.m. at Gene Leahy Mall — In-Person

SATURDAY-Sept 27: 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.

MEMORIAL SERVICES

Sunday, Sept. 21

Golden Hill Cemetery, 5025 N. 42nd St., 11 a.m.

Beth Israel/Crown Point, 78th & Crown Point, noon BHH/Fisher Farms, 8900 S. 42nd St., 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28

Temple Israel Cemetery, 6412 N. 42nd St., 1 p.m. Oak Hills/Bikhor Cholim, Council Bluffs, 11 a.m.

UPDATED OBITUARY CHANGES

As of July 1, 2025, Obituaries in the Jewish Press are free of 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

sound, let them try to blow on it themselves. It’s hard!

Throw your sins in the water. The word ‘sins’ might be a little hefty for small children, but to teach them about Tashlich, you can ask them to think of what they’d like to let go of. Maybe they bickered with a sibling, or didn’t brush their teeth. Perhaps they broke a toy, or refused to finish their breakfast last week.

Moving on from not-ideal behavior is beneficial, no matter your age. Besides, who doesn’t love going to a river, pond or lake and feeding the fish?

If you feel like your schedule is pretty full, Tashlich can be completed before the last day of Sukkot, which comes Oct. 14, so there’s time!

BETH

CHABAD HOUSE

Fun Apple Facts

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press editor

It’s the time of year when we find ourselves eating lots of apples (dipped in honey, what else), but did you know: Apples make up half of the world’s deciduous fruit tree population. Countries that produce the most of these trees are China, America, Poland, Italy and Turkey.

Over 2,500 varieties of apples are grown in the United States.

The crab apple is the only variety that is actually native to the U.S.

Apples contain something called “malic acid.” It’s something the human body actually also produces, and can help treat various conditions, including gallstones.

Apple pie is not American at all. Sorry; this one goes to England. The earliest recipe came from our neighbors across the pond a few centuries ago.

Ever wondered why apples float in water? They are actually 25% air. Which makes them so good for bobbing.

Apple trees take 4-5 years to produce their first fruit. A standard-size apple tree starts bearing fruit 8-10 years after it is planted. A dwarf tree starts bearing fruit in 3-5 years.

Apples will ripen six to ten times faster at room temperature than if they were refrigerated.

It takes about 36 apples to create one gallon of apple cider. The majority of apple picking is still done by hand. Apples are a member of the rose family.

Apple trees can live to about 100 years.

The fear of apples is known as Malusdomesticaphobia. This phobia gets its name from the scientific name of apples, which is Malus Domestica.

And finally, your word of the day:”Pomology.” It’s the science of apple growing.

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From the Archives, 1966

JTA

This article was originally published by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Sept. 14, 1966

Jews in Israel made last minute preparations today for observance of the Jewish New Year — which starts tomorrow night — in an atmosphere marred slightly by the country’s economic squeeze which is affecting most families.

Less luxury products are being bought this year and more and more hotels have announced last minute cancellations for the holiday period. Even synagogue services, normally booked long in advance, this year still have seats available. Most of such seats are for special services in hotels priced at seven to $12 each.

Seats also are available for Reform congregational services which are being held for the first time in the huge B’nai B’rith hall in Tel Aviv, as well as in Jerusalem, Haifa, Nahariya, the upper Nazareth and the Tel Aviv vicinity.

Despite the new economic situation, the annual mass movement of Israelis from one corner of Israel to another is expected. Bus companies have mobilized a special fleet of almost 2, 000 vehicles to carry the human tide. Special trains also are being scheduled for last minute departures. Police officials have made special arrangements to handle High Holy

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day crowds. These include special police units in the Negev to handle traffic and to provide first aid when necessary.

Lydda Airport was ready for a last minute rush of overseas visitors. Planes will be landing every few minutes. At Haifa, the S/S Shalom, with 450 American tourists, is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, along with other tourist ships. Among those arriving for the holidays is West German Ambassador Rolf Pauls, who is due tomorrow from West Germany where he has been on home leave for the past three weeks.

Although shops reported selling less imported liquor and far fewer luxury items than in previous years, the post offices were flooded with New Year cards and presents, which increasingly have become a tradition in Israel.

Special arrangements also have been made for the armed forces. In camps and bases services will be held and festive meals provided. Israel will in effect suspend operations for three days because Rosh Hashana this year falls on Thursday and Friday.

For many Israelis, the event offers an opportunity for three days of rest before the country again tackles its problems, principally the economic one.

News

Sam Sussman’s novel

ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL

JTA

Sam Sussman’s debut novel, Boy from the North Country, revolves around a mystery: Was Bob Dylan, the singer and Nobel laureate, the narrator’s father?

Sussman could have written this tale as a memoir, an expansion perhaps of the 2021 essay he wrote for Harper’s Magazine: The Silent Type: On (Possibly) Being Bob Dylan’s Son. His mother Fran, a former actress and art student, spoke occasionally and usually sparingly about her romantic involvement with Dylan when she was in her twenties. She told him, in a story confirmed by his aunt, that she and Dylan met once again nine months before he was born in 1991.

It’s a backstory worthy of a paternity suit, or perhaps a “Serial”-type podcast that tries to get to the truth of the matter.

Instead, Sussman chose to continue the story as fiction, writing of a mother who came of age in the gritty New York art world of the 1970s, and a son, named Evan in the novel, sorting through questions of identity, grief and Jewishness.

Sussman, 34, insists that the novel is less about DNA than about something both more intimate and more elusive: how we turn life into art, and how we honor the people who shape us.

“A memoir is about the writer,” Sussman told me in a recent conversation. “A novel is about the writing.” For him, fiction is the medium not for proving lineage but for capturing what he calls “the wisdom and resilience” of his late mother. She died eight years ago, but her voice, philosophy and Jewish sensibility animate nearly every page.

In real life and the novel, mother and son lived in a farmhouse near upstate Goshen, New York. His mother and the civil rights lawyer he’d grown up thinking was his father divorced when Sussman was 2. In the book, Evan describes his mother’s complicated romantic life, and the various men who

entered their lives through his childhood and adolescence, some staying longer than others.

Dylan is a vivid presence. Through Evan’s mother’s recollections, we glimpse the singer in his early 30s, taking art lessons with the painter Norman Raeben and wrestling with the songs that became the Dylan album Blood on the Tracks. For Dyla-

nologists, it’s catnip. For Sussman, it’s also a chance to situate Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman, in a Jewish artistic milieu — bohemian, postwar, steeped in the theater world of Stella Adler, the acting coach and daughter of a legendary Yiddish theater family, and in the artistic milieu of the rabbinic Raeben, whose father was the Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem.

If Dylan offered the author one kind of inheritance, biological or artistic, Judaism offered another. Growing up in Goshen, Sussman was often the only Jewish kid in the classroom — and sometimes the target of antisemitism. (It didn’t help that his classmates aped their parents’ prejudices about the Hasidic Jews who lived in nearby Kiryas Yoel.)

His mother, a holistic health practitioner untethered from institutions but steeped in Jewish texts and values, modeled

a spiritual practice that was at once idiosyncratic and deeply rooted. She often told him, “We’re here to take the pieces of the universe we’ve been given, burnish them with love, and return them in better condition.” It’s a credo that echoes the kabbalistic idea of “shevirat ha-qelim,” which posits that it is the human project to repair the “broken shards” of God’s creation and restore them to their pure, unbroken state.

“She wasn’t affiliated with a synagogue,” said Sussman, a cofounder of Extend, an NGO that introduced Birthright Israel participants to Palestinian human rights activists. “But she had a profound relationship to Jewish spiritual and ethical traditions, and she gave that to me.”

The Dylan question — was he or wasn’t he? — hums like background music in the book. Strangers and teachers tell Evan that he resembles Dylan (as does Sussman, who lately sports a Dylan-esque Jewfro). The narrator’s mother describes Dylan’s visits to her walk-up in Manhattan’s East 70s, at a time when he was still married to his first wife, Sara. Mother and son attend a Dylan concert in Bethel Woods, on the site of the original Woodstock festival, where she insists that they try not to contact the singer.

Even as she lies dying of cancer, Evan’s mother keeps silent about whether Dylan was or could have been his father.

“I looked at my reflection and understood that my mother’s refusal to discuss him was one prolonged act of protection, not against the answer but the question,” writes Sussman. “Her desire had always been for me to become my own person in my own way.”

Sussman is content not to supply or even pursue the answer readers might crave. To do so, he says, would betray the emotional resolution of the story, which is about moving past fixation with celebrity toward a deeper appreciation of the woman who raised him.

Have a Happy New Year

Credit: Penguin Random House; author photo by Ben Kaplan