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MA R C H 5 , 2 02 1 | 2 1 A DA R 578 1 | VO L. 1 01 | NO. 2 0 | CANDLELIGHTING | FRIDAY, MARCH 5 , 6: 02 P.M.
In memoriam: Bruce Simon
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BECKY NIIYA Director, Public Relations and Corporate Communications Omaha Steaks Bruce Simon passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 17 of natural causes at the age of 63. He was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Omaha Steaks. A service was held Sunday, Feb. 21. Born on March 23, 1957, Bruce was one of the fifth-generation family owners destined for the Omaha Steaks life. He attended Westside High School in Omaha, Neb., and graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. For more than three decades, Bruce worked side-by-side with his cousin, Todd Simon, their fathers Alan and Fred, and their uncle Stephen, to grow Omaha Steaks from its beginnings in 1917 as a custom butcher shop into a world-famous purveyor of grain-fed beef and gourmet food. Today, the company employs more than 1,500 associates, has 3 million active customers and operates 48 retail stores in 20 states. “It is with profound sadness that I announce the passing of my dear cousin and See Bruce Simon page 7
Bruce Simon
SAVE THE DATE! Refugee Shabbat
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SPONSORED BY THE BENJAMIN AND ANNA E. WIESMAN FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND
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SUSAN FELLMAN WITKOWSKI In coordination with HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Beth El Synagogue will be a proud participant in HIAS’ Refugee Shabbat, during which Jews in the United States and around the world will take action for refugees and asylum seekers. We will dedicate sacred time and space to refugees and asylum seekers during services, and after the conclusion of shabbat with havdalah, we will examine the refugee crisis more in depth by screening the film A Home Called Nebraska and a discussion panel afterwards, via Zoom and Facebook Live. The panel will include members of the Omaha refugee com-
munity as well as representatives from organizations working to sponsor refugee families in Nebraska, and the filmmakers. In 2016, Beth El Synagogue began to sponsor and welcome refugee families to Omaha in coordination with the Refugee Resettlement program at Omaha’s Lutheran Family Services. That year, Nebraska resettled more refugees per capita than any other See Refugee Shabbat page 2
CASSANDRA WEISENBURGER Temple Israel Director of Communications Join Temple Israel for a fun, interactive Community Seder on Sunday, March 28 at 5:30 p.m.! Together, we will tell the Passover story, tracing the Israelites’ journey from slavery to freedom through LEGO! Congregants can take part in telling the story by illustrating a section of it with the ultimate construction material – LEGO blocks! During our Seder, we will ask our community members to share their LEGO creations, piecing together the story that we all know and love!
Alongside our creative storytelling techniques will be all of your Seder favorites – we’ll hear the Four Questions and sing Dayenu together, we’ll eat the Hillel sandwich and search for the Afikomen and more! All of the materials your family will need to participate will be provided in our Seder Kits. If you would like to help tell the story of Passover with LEGO, sign up on our Passover form! Visit our website, https://www. templeisraelomaha.com/passo ver.html, to order your Seder Kits, sign up to help tell the Passover See Let my people LEGO! page 2