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Temple Israel’s Annual Super Bowl Party Pages 3
Make a Super impact this Super Bowl Sunday Page 5
JA N UA RY 24 , 2 020 | 27 TE V E T 578 0 | VO L. 1 00 | NO. 1 5 | CANDLELIGHTING | FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 5:12 P.M.
Mainstreeters offers February programs you’ll love MAGGIE CONTI Director of Activities and Volunteer Services, RBJH atinee with Lisa Senal accompanied by pianist Anna Mosenkis a free Community Concert: Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 1:45 p.m. in the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Auditorium. Live Music at its Finest! Long-time Omaha resident, Lisa Senal was born in Flint, Michigan, where she discovered her lifelong love of music. She received her degree from Oakland University. After moving to Detroit, she performed with the Michigan Opera Theater and Detroit Lyric Opera Company. Though her first love is opera, she has performed on stage in such productions as The Importance of Being Earnest and Fiddler on the Roof as
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Owning “Hate” Incitement director tries to get inside the head of Yitzhak Rabin’s killer Page 12
REGULARS Spotlight Voices Synagogues Life cycles
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GARY NACHMAN AND MURPHY SCOTT WULFGAR This is an unprecedented time in American history. Yes, we have lived through dark times before, and born witness to terrible chapters in our national consciousness but we have always collectively lurched forward. Inch by inch. Step by step. What we face now is a violent and concerted backslide meant to reverse the gains we have made and an attempt to return our society into the clutches of fear and oppression. From AfricanAmericans in Charleston, Muslims in Christchurch, Latinos in El Paso and Jews in Monsey and Jersey City, we are all under attack and many of us are looking for a way to help and feeling overwhelmed and lost.
Lisa Senal
well as her own cabaret show. Since moving to Omaha, Lisa has performed with Opera Omaha. Don’t miss this intimate afternoon of beloved melodies from opera to musical theater and more. Ice Cream Sundaes will be served following the show. There is no admission fee, and all are welcome. The Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha with conductor Mark Benson will perform on Sunday, Feb. 16, at 1:30 p.m. JCC Community Engagement Venue. The orchestra combines the talents of two diverse generations of musicians to create beautiful music — with a special guest performance from the Heartland Conservatory of See Mainstreeters page 2
Cheerleader
Why is this happening? Why is it happening now? Many highly intelligent people have posited many justifiably sound theories, but what if we boil it down to the root? The word it-
self: hate. Hate has morphed in our modern, mainstream vocabulary as a word of little importance. It has systematically lost its potency and exponentially, its impact on us. It is commonplace in daily conversation to encounter people “hating” all kinds of things: memes, food, clothes, school, work, ideas, people... a group of people. At ADL we view hate through the prism of anti-Semitism. It guides our understanding and allows us, in a sense, to walk a mile in the shoes of others. It is assuredly singular in its focus (enough so that it bears its own categorical name,) and has been with us for thousands of years. Without recounting the legacy of horrific, historical atrocities Jews have endured, it is truly amazing that there are Jews remaining in the world. Anti-Jewish behavior carries the burden of See Owning “Hate” page 2
Bev Fellman and Pegi Georgeson
RICHARD FELLMAN On a cold and dreary Nebraska winter morning with a totally overcast sky full of low-hanging clouds and a forecast that evening commuters could expect snow and ice
on the roads, which couldn’t be more different than last night, when the dark heavens held the glow of a full, shining and pure white moon, my phone rang. See Cheerleader page 3