March 1, 2024 by Jewish Press

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Jazz at the J

Week of Understanding From Generation to Generation

The Super Bowl: ELC Version Page 3

Jim Berk

American Jewish University completes deal to sell Los Angeles campus to nearby Jewish school Page 6

Rochelle Brown

SCOTT LITTKY IHE Executive Director ach year a highlight of the Institute for Holocaust Education calendar is our annual Week of Understanding. Between March 18 and 22, the IHE has arranged more than 20 speaking engagements that will reach some 7,000 Nebraska students. Some of these events will take place with local Holocaust survivor Dr. Fred Kader along with second generation speakers, Dana Knox, Hazzan Michael Krausman, and Dr. Steve Wees. This year we will also be joined by a new member of our second generation speaker community, Eadie Tsabari, who will share her father’s unique story of survival. To learn more about these and other local survivors, you can check out the “Survivor Stories” section on the IHE website or view their presentations on the Jewish Federation of Omaha YouTube page.

Welcoming the stranger Page 5

Sarah Kutler

We are also honored to welcome second and third generation Holocaust survivors who have agreed to travel to Omaha especially for the Week of Understanding program. The guests who will be joining us in 2024 are profiled below. The public is invited to hear second generation speaker, Rose Viny as she recounts her father’s story of survival at the Durham Museum on Wednesday, March 20 at 6:30 p.m. To register for this presentation, please visit the Durham Museum’s website at www.durhammuseum.org. Presented by the Durham Museum and the Institute for Holocaust Education Meet our guests: JIM BERK Jim will be sharing the testimony and story of his mother, Ilona Dorenter Berk who was a remarkable woman. Tough. Smart. See Week of Understanding page 3

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The story of Sandor L. Bernstein (July 21, 1933–Jan. 28, 2024) and Florene E. Cohen Bernstein (March 2, 1934–Jan. 31, 2024) as told through their beautiful loving obituaries written by their children: SANDY Sandor Lee Bernstein was born July 21, 1933, in Omaha, Nebraska. He lost his mother when he was seven and his father when he was 13. He then lived with a loving aunt and uncle, but the early loss of his parents shaped him into a husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who more than anything else wanted to provide Sandy and Florene Bernstein

for his family. By his own admission, Sandy — the only people who used his full given name were strangers — did not particularly distinguish himself in high school. But at the urging of the man he worked for as a teenager, he enrolled in what was then Omaha University (now University of Nebraska-Omaha). He graduated from

GABBY BLAIR Jewish Press Staff Writer Love jazz? Then mark your calendars for April 18 as the conclusion of the third season of Jazz at the J presents Jazz, Blues & American Roots: Songs That Shaped Our Nation by nationally renowned pianist, vocalist and composer, Gary Negbaur!

Rose Viny

In loving memory of Omaha natives Sandy and Florene Bernstein

Spotlight Voices Synagogues Life cycles

SPONSORED BY THE BENJAMIN AND ANNA E. WIESMAN FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND

OU in 1955 with a degree in art and a wife — he wed Florene Cohen, the greatest love of his life, on Oct. 4, 1953. After a variety of entry-level jobs, Sandy went to work for a label company in Omaha and became involved in sales. While Sandy never thought himself a natural salesman, he succeeded through a combination of his sense of humor, persistence, and hard work, and became first a regional sales manager, and then a vice president of sales. His positions required him to take his growing family, which ultimately included four children, across the country — from Omaha to Los Angeles, back to Omaha, then to Atlanta, New Hampshire, and finally to the Washington, D.C, area. Once the oldest three children were living on their own, Sandy felt he could take the risk to start his own company, and he started Nova Label Co. in the early 1980s. Nova Label became successful beyond his dreams and when Sandy retired, he passed its leadership onto his son-in-law Alan See Sandy Bernstein page 11

Gary Negbaur

A New York-based artist, Negbaur combines innovative arrangements of Jazz, Blues and American Roots standards with soulful originals. He has grooved at the Superdome and at the French Quarter Fest in New Orleans, knocked them out at Birdland in NYC and raised the roof at South by Southwest in Austin. He brought the audience to its feet at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival and tours as a soloist and with the Gary Negbaur Group. When asked how he came to select our Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater for this performance, he shared that this would infact be his first visit to Omaha and that he hopes to make connections with our community. “I had toured my show Jazz, Blues & American Roots: Songs That Shaped Our Nation for a number of years to Performing Arts Centers and theaters. Because Jewish songwriters have had such an impact on the repertoire of American songs, I thought that JCC audiences would be a great match for the show. Now, I’m able to tour the country, sharing this great music at theaters as well as JCCs.” In addition to his Omaha show, Negbaur will also be returning to perform in Kansas City, where his family has roots. A graduate of Harvard University and the Berklee College of Music, Negbaur has traveled the country and world sharing his music. Favorite international venues include spots in Denmark, Canada, Australia and Israel, where he performed across the country in 2019. “I performed at the Mizpe Ramon Jazz Club, Mike’s Place in Tel Aviv and Mike’s Place in Jerusalem. All of the shows were solo piano/vocal performances. The Mizpe Ramon club is a great nexus of jazz in the Negev desert. It’s an unlikely spot, See Jazz at the J page 2