Vol. LXXXII
No. 27
Omaha, NE
3 Adar 2, 5763
March 7, 2003
CELEBRATING 82 YEARS OF SERVICE TO NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA
“Shop Shalom” Brings Israel to Omaha by PAM MONSKY, Federation Communications Director While the intafada rages on, the tourism industry during the sale as well as provide home hospitality in Israel has been brought to a standstill; many small for the visiting Israeli merchants. businesses, shops and artists’ galleries are on the “Shop Shalom is built on a single premise…if conbrink of collapse. But there is something you can do sumers won’t go to Israel, then the merchants will something to help Israel’s citizens and economy. come to the customers,” said Zacharia. Daughter “Shop Shalom,” a Jamie added, “The four-day Israeli venidea of boosting the dor fair, brings 20-25 Israeli economy withIsraeli merchants out boarding a plane and artists and their is fantastic...this is “made in Israel” mereven better than chandise to Omaha. shopping online “Shop Shalom” is because you can see scheduled for and touch the merThursday, May 1 chandise and make a and Friday, May 2, personal connection 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at with the shop owner the Park Inn or artist.” Regency Lodge, and Kutler and her Sunday, May 4, 12daughter, Traci, said 3:30 p.m., at the they became involved Jewish Community Getting ready to “Shop Shalom” are Traci Kugler, left, with Shop Shalom Center as part of the (holding daughter, Lauren), her mother, Sandy Kutler, because all the profcommunity Yom Terri Zacharia, and her daughter, Jamie Friedland. its go directly to the Ha’Atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) celebra- shop owner or artist. “Since the violence started two tion. years ago, what the Israelis call the ‘matsav’ or situaShoppers will be able to choose from a wide variety tion, the economy has evaporated,” Kutler said. of beautifully unique items including jewelry, t-shirts, Kugler added, “Losses based on the tourism sculpture, tapestry, clothing, glass, paintings, Judaica industry were calculated at $1 billion at the end and much more. All proceeds from the event will ben- of 2002, and there doesn’t appear to be any efit the Israeli shop owners and artists. change for the future. As we contact vendors in Heading up “Shop Shalom” are Traci Kugler and Israel, we’re hearing how individual lives are her mother, Sandy Kutler, and Terri Zacharia, and being affected…how people are just trying to surher daughter, Jamie Friedland. The two mother- vive day by day.” daughter teams are finalizing committees and lookFor more information and volunteer opportuniing for volunteers to help during Shop Shalom. A ties, visit the community website at www.jewnumber of volunteers are needed to work in shifts ishomaha.org, or call me at 334-6431.
Dan Patrick to Headline B’nai B’rith Charity Sports Banquet by LOIS EPSTEIN Emmy-award winning ESPN sports anchor/reporter, Dan Patrick, will be the guest speaker at the B’nai B’rith Charity Sports Banquet. The reception/dinner takes place on Wednesday evening, May 7 at The Holiday Inn Convention Center. In addition, Omaha media personality Otis XII will reprise his popular role as Master of Ceremonies. The Lodge annually honors the Metro area high school male and female student-athletes of the year and will present the premier athletes with their prestigious Bert Render and Earl Siegel Memorial Awards. The banquet represents the 49th annual recognition event that the Henry Monsky Lodge has sponsored. The Jewish service organization, distributes a portion of the proceeds to local charities and their youth programs. “Patrick will bring a unique perspective to our Banquet. He is recognized for his poignant interviews and dry wit,” said Gil Cohen, Banquet Chairman. “Again, the Holiday Inn Convention Center Ballroom will provide us with a great atmosphere for our event.” Patrick is primarily seen on ESPN’s SportsCenter. He also reports from major events such as the
Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals and Final Four, and has called play-by-play for select NCAA basketball telecasts since joining ESPN in March 1989. Patrick writes for ESPN The Magazine. He authors “Outtakes,” the magazine’s most popular page featuring a no-holds-barred, question-and-answer interview with the sports world’s most interesting figures. In May 2000, Patrick released a book entitled Outtakes, based on the magazine column. Patrick served as the primary host of ESPN SportsCentury, the network’s 30-minute, weekly series profiling the 50 greatest North American athletes of the 20th century. Additionally, he serves as host of The Dan Patrick Radio Show weekdays on ESPN Radio, which is carried by more than 600 affiliates nationwide. He also has his own web page linked to ESPN.com (espn.go.com/danpatrick) which serves as a vehicle for his musings on the sports world. (Continued on page 15)
Meat May Be ‘Murder’, but It’s Not a Holocaust, Jewish Groups Fume by JOE BERKOFSKY NEW YORK (JTA)--An emaciated death camp survivor stares blankly alongside a gaunt steer. “During the seven years between 1938 and 1945, 12 million people perished in the Holocaust,” the image declares. “The same number of animals is killed every four hours for food in the U.S. alone.” The poster forms the heart of a new national campaign launched last week by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that compares the Holocaust and the meat industry--and that is ruffling Jewish feathers. Dubbed “Holocaust on Your Plate,” PETA’s campaign and its companion Web site, masskilling.com, insists the Nazi murder of Jews, gays and gypsies mirrors “the modern-day Holocaust” that is the industrialized slaughter of animals for food. Just as the Nazis forced Jews to live in cramped, filthy conditions, tore children from parents and murdered people in “assembly-line fashion,” factory
An image from PETA’s (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) “Holocaust on your Graphic by PETA Plate” campaign. farms cram animals into tiny, waste-filled spaces, treating cows, chicken and lambs as meat-, egg- and milk-producing machines, PETA says. “It’s a direct parallel,” said Matt Prescott, PETA’s youth outreach coordinator. One of the campaign’s creators, Prescott, 21, said that as a Jew whose relatives died in the Holocaust he finds the analogy neither “off the wall” nor “radical,” but entirely apt. Many of his mother’s cousins, aunts and uncles are believed to have been killed in Buchenwald and Dachau, Prescott said, adding that his mother’s sense of social justice led him to become a vegetarian, and then vegan. PETA cites several Jewish figures as spiritual forefathers for its campaign, including Nobel Prizewinning author Isaac Bashevis Singer and the vegetarian Torah scholar, Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendelovitz. Singer was a staunch vegetarian whose fictional characters drew analogies between Nazism and man’s treatment of animals in books such as Enemies, A Love Story. In The Letter Writer from The Seance and Other Stories, Singer’s character Herman delivers a eulogy for a mouse, in which he says that “in relation to” animals, “all people are Nazis: For the animals it is an eternal Treblinka.” That phrase, “Eternal Treblinka,” became the title of a book on the subject by Holocaust educator Charles Patterson, whose Web site links to the PETA campaign. (continued on page 7)
INSIDE: Sen. Chuck Hagel Speaks on the Middle East ............................................................ page 7 Purim Stories, recipes crossword puzzle, and more, starting on ........................... page 10 Teen Age .................................................. page 13
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Pekude It is old hat now to say that the Book of Esther is the only biblical book not found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. There are a number of theories for this. One is that the name of God, so frequently found in Scripture, is not found in this book. Another is that this book is of such late composition that it was not around when the Dead Sea Scrolls were compiled. But it makes no difference. We find the book enjoyable and laugh-provoking. One of the instructions around Purim is that Jews are supposed to drink to excess, so that they can no longer distinguish between Mordechai and Haman. We all know of some identifiable groups who would not need such instructions, so long as the proper liquids were available. I remember an evening when I was a student at the Seminary, where we were supposed to have an evening off from studying. One student was selected to liven things up, like a tummeler in the Catskills. It was true: students with a full week of long days of study behind them actually needed an artificial warm-up to get into a mood for entertainment. The levity of Purim may be the result of the long unhappy Jewish historical experience. This is sometimes cited as the reason for the traditional breaking of the glass at the end of the marriage ceremony. Anthropologists have different explanations. That’s their privilege. Tradition says that even in joy, we remember, we remember... Our Sidra goes on to describe the assembly of the many different parts that made up the Tabernacle, and then to describe the elaborate dedication ceremonies and this, after two Sidrot of description, brings the Book of Exodus to its close. We do not continue narrative until the early part of Numbers, with no narrative to speak of all through Leviticus. The third book of the Bible is somewhat uninteresting to us. But we revel (morally) in its great Holiness Code. We’ll soon be there. Patience!
Church Groups Attend Temple Israel Friendship Tea
FRIDAY, MARCH 7 Visions Board Meeting, 9:30 a.m. Shabbat Across America - Teen Program, 5:30 p.m.
by JEWISH PRESS News Service
SATURDAY, MARCH 8 OCTL Make Your Own Pizza Party for Jewish Singles, 8:30 p.m. at the Bagel Bin. C L I P & S A V E
SUNDAY, MARCH 9 Kids’ Snack and Learn, 11:30 a.m. at Beth El NACS Women’s Day, 3 p.m. Video Presentation for Purim, 8 p.m. at OCTL MONDAY, MARCH 10 YES Program, 10 a.m. Florence Melton Adult Mini School, 11 a.m. & 7 p.m. Talmud Class with Rabbi Kutner, 7 p.m. at Beth Israel
C L I P & S A V E
TUESDAY, MARCH 11 Sisterhood Board Meeting, 10:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Sisterhood Luncheon 12:30 p.m. at Beth Israel BBYO Night, 6 p.m. JFS Couples - Interfaith Group, 7 p.m. NCJW Board Meeting, 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12 Melton Mini-School, 11 a.m. Federation/Synagogue's Presidents & Rabbis Meeting, noon B’nai B’rith Breadbreakers, noon at the Park Inn Regency Lodge C Live from the 92nd Street Y with Joan Rivers, 7 p.m. C L Board of Commissioners Meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel L I P & S A V E
I P & S A V All events held at the JCC unless otherwise indicated.The Jewish Press is not E
THURSDAY, MARCH 13 Walk-in Drop-in Activity, 10 a.m. Yiddish Group Meeting, 1 p.m. JFS Becoming a Love and Logic Parent, 6 p.m. Live from the 92nd Street Y with Bill Clinton, 6 p.m.
responsible for the accuracy of events.To keep calendar accurate or for questions, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437. FOR A COMPLETE LISTING,VISIT THE FEDERATION’S WEBSITE: www.JewishOmaha.org (click on calendar)
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Despite the snow, congregants from more than 20 churches attended Temple Israel’s annual Rabbi Sidney H. and Jane Brooks Friendship Tea in February. Martha Lerner (foreground) has been chairman of the event, sponsored by the Women of Reform JudaismOmaha, for 14 years. After listening to WRJ-O members explain Jewish holidays and life cycle events, the approximately 125 guests (above) convened in the sanctuary to listen and ask questions of Rabbi Aryeh Azriel and Rabbi Craig Marantz.
DEATHS SHIRLEY GORELICK Shirley Gorelick died at the age of 77. Services were held March 2 at BHH Fisher Farm Cemetery. She is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Bennett Fishbain of Las Vegas, NV; nieces, Edie Singer of Los Angeles, Sue Levin of Las Vegas, and Barbara Chandler of Phoenix, AZ; nephews, Bobby Singer of Los Angeles and Ken Fishbain of Highland Park, IL. Memorials to Beth Israel Synagogue or favorite charity. BASYA BECKERMAN Basya Beckerman died at the age of 87. Services were held March 3 at Golden Hill Cemetery. She was preceded in death by her husband, Moses Beckerman, and her son, Leonid, a brother, Israel Teif, and sister, Yentle Goldberg. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Sophia and Edward Pesetsky; son and daughter-inlaw, Gene and Maya Beckerman; grandchildren, Inna, Vamid, Tanya, and Alla; and five great-grandchildren.
Rain, Snow Fill Israelis Rivers by JEWISH PRESS News Service
The usually tranquil Jordan River turned into a torrent, overflowing its banks and filling the depleted Galilee. For the first time in years, sluice gates were opened to stop flooding and allow some of the water to flow into Photo by ISRANET. the Dead Sea.
Beth El Community-wide Second Seder Plans Underway by OZZIE NOGG As in years past, Beth El Synagogue will provide a community-wide Second Passover Seder on Thursday evening, April 17, 7 p.m. In keeping with the words of the Haggadah, the seder theme is “Let All Who Are Hungry Come and Eat.” Totally traditional and kosher for Passover, this special seder will appeal to everyone, especially members of the Omaha Jewish community who might not otherwise have access to a second seder. The seder meal is priced at $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, $15 for children, ages five through 12, and $5 for children under five years of age. Three percent of the seder costs are earmarked for Mazon, the Jewish response to hunger. Carole Lainof is chairman of the event. Her committee includes Kathy Weiner and Larry Hasslinger. “In past years, we've had excellent response from the community and very large turnouts for the second seder,” Lainof said. “We invite everyone to be part of this festive meal and encourage you to make your reservations by April 8.” For more information, please call the synagogue office at 492-8550.
Jewish Singles “Make Your Own Pizza” at Bagel Bin by SHARI BLUM In an effort to bolster the Jewish singles scene, the Omaha Center for Torah Learning will sponsor a “Make-Your-Own-Pizza” Party at the Bagel Bin, Saturday March 8, 8:30 p.m. Gather ’round a pie, design your own pizza, and meet other Jewish singles, drinks included. And, the evening is free! Says Rabbi Aryeh Blum, “It’s going to be lots of fun. We’re going to give a prize at the end of the night for the most creative pizza. I’m not sure this kind of event has been tried in Omaha yet.” This will be the second Jewish singles event spon-
sored by the OCTL; the first event was a Singles Sukkah party. “We’ve gotten a lot of feedback from the Jewish singles that they find it a challenge to locate other Jewish singles and would be interested in more programs geared to meeting other Jews,” Rabbi Blum added. “For our part, we are trying to respond to that need in the Jewish community.” All Jewish singles between the ages of 20-40 are invited for a great time! Call 320-8055 for more information.
March 7, 2003
SYNAGOGUES
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 3
Candlelighting Friday, March 7 .................................................. 6:03 p.m.
TEMPLE ISRAEL
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
BETH EL SYNAGOGUE
Member of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations
Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism
7023 Cass Street, Omaha, NE 68132-2651 556-6536 templeisrael-ne.org
Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
1502 No. 52 St., Omaha, NE. 68104 -5013 556-6288 BethIsrael@novia.net
14506 California Omaha, NE 68154-1980 492-8550 WEB--www.bethel-omaha.org
FRIDAY: Men’s Club, 11:45 a.m. All male members of Temple Israel are invited to a weekly informal get together at Spirit World, 7517 Pacific St. Join us for some relaxation and great conversation; Tot Shabbat, 7 p.m. A short service of song and prayer with Rabbi Marantz, followed by cookies and juice. Toddlers through children in the primary grades are encouraged to bring their families. Shabbat Evening Service, 7:30 p.m., Cantor Wendy Shermet will officiate and give the D’var Torah. The Oneg Shabbat will be sponsored by the Women of Reform Judaism. SATURDAY: Bagels and Sacred Books, 9:30 a.m., in the Milder Center. Please join us as we continue study of Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries: The Amidah; Morning service, 10:30 a.m. SITTER SERVICE Sitter Service is available each Friday evening at the 7:30 service, Saturday mornings when there is a bar or bat mitzvah, as well as Sunday mornings when there is religious school. Charge is $2 per family. Please make reservations with the office. ADULT EDUCATION WEDNESDAY, March 12: “A Guide to the Perplexed: Reading the Writings of Maimonides” 8:30 a.m., Rabbi Azriel will teach using The Maimonides Reader; The Jews of Spain: History and Culture, 6:45-8:15 p.m. with Prof. Guy Matalon. Noted historian Dr. Paul Hauben, formerly of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA, will present a lecture entitled “The Spanish Inquisition & The Jews: Origins, History and Myth.” Comparison of Jewish Biomedical Ethics with other Philosophies of Religious and Secular Biomedical Ethics, 7-8:30 p.m. Dr. Howard Needelman will lead this Jewish Journey Group on an exploration of biomedical ethics. Class discussions will deepen your appreciation for Temple’s May Scholar-in-Residence, Rabbi Elliot Dorff. THURSDAY, March 13: Beyond Basic Hebrew, 9:15-10 a.m.; Adult Study with Rabbi Azriel, 1011:30 a.m., Dr. Paul Hauben will lead discussion on “The Rise and Decline of Imperial Spain.” OUTREACH PROGRAM Sunday, March 16: “Mazel Tov! Part I: Birth to B’nai Mitzvah for Your Family”, 10 a.m. Led by Temple’s clergy, this Jewish “reality show” features interfaith couples relating their real life experiences to these life cycle events. This program is sponsored by Temple Israel Outreach and is open to the community. PURIM BOX DINNER AND MEGILLAH READING Monday, March 17: Box dinner (bring your own dinner, drinks provided) and create your own masks, 6 p.m.; Purim spiel, costume parade, Megillah reading, 7 p.m. Make your reservations for dinner with the Temple office.
Office hours: Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Howard Kutner. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6:05 p.m.; The West Minyan is at the JCC, at 6:05 p.m. Shabbat Across America is at the JCC for all NCSY youth and families, and welcomes guest speaker Rabbi Yonaton Gross. SATURDAY: Morning Services, 8:45 a.m. Free babysitting begins at 10 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 10:30 a.m., Kiddush is sponsored by Sisterhood. Mincha, 6 p.m., followed by Shalosh Suedot and Ma’ariv; Havdalah, 7:05 p.m. SUNDAY: Services, 9 a.m. and 6:10 p.m. WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m. and 6:30 p.m MONDAY: Rabbi Kutner’s Talmud Class, 7 p.m. TUESDAY: Sisterhood Board Meeting, 10:30 a.m. Sisterhood Luncheon and Style Show, 12:30 p.m.; Unmasking the Mask of Purim class with Rabbi Kutner, 7:30 p.m. at the home of Donald and Maggie Gerber, on “The Megillah Controversy: Can a Woman Read the Megillah?” WEDNESDAY: Board of Commissioners Meeting, 7:30 p.m. A weekly e-mail update is now being sent out, listing synagogue events. Please e-mail the office to be on the list.
Office hours are: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Shabbat Services are conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin, Cantor Emil Berkovits and Ritual Director Gastón Bogomolni. FRIDAY: Come join a joyous, musical Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning services, 9:30 a.m., Kiddush is sponsored by Beth El. Rabbi Levin’s Torah Class, 5:40 p.m. informal discussion and snack, followed by services at 6:10 p.m. SUNDAY: Men’s Club Breakfast, 10 a.m., featuring Norm Kurtz, national board member of Federation of Jewish Men’s clubs; at 11:15 a.m., BESTT third graders will participate in a special consecration ceremony. A reception will follow. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sunday, 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.; weekdays at 6:55 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. A THOUGHT FOR SHABBAT To receive Rabbi Levin’s weekly “Thought For Shabbat” e-mail message, please send your e-mail address to Exec@bethel-omaha.org.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE
An Affiliate of the Worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch Movement
SOUTH STREET TEMPLE
SATURDAY: 9 a.m., services conducted by Beyt Shalom Reconstructionist Synagogue. All services are open to the community.
CHABAD HOUSE SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway, Offutt AFB, NE 68113 294-6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m., follow “Shabbat Across America” potluck Shabbat dinner, 6 p.m.
TIFERETH ISRAEL Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 tiferethisraellincoln.org
423-8569
Services conducted by Rabbi Stanley M. Rosenbaum. Minyan, Monday & Thursday, 7:15 a.m. FRIDAY: Services, 8 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush. Artrageous Evening of Art, 7:30 p.m., Art auction, hors d’oevres and desserts, $5 in advance; $7 at the door. SUNDAY: Take a second look at the remaining artwork, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. MEN’S GROUP Meets at The Knolls every Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.
B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURAN
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME
618 Mynster St., Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 Phone: 322-4705 e-mail: doc jeb @aol.com
Member of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations
2061 S. 20th St., Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 435-8004 jewishnebraska.org
FRIDAY: Evening Service, 7:30 p.m. Oneg will follow.
FRIDAY: Shabbat service, 7:45 p.m., Jeri Kohn will become a Bat Mitzvah. Oneg to follow. SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m., Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. David Williss will lead services. SUNDAY: Hebrew School, 9 a.m.; Religious School, 10 a.m.; Megillah rehearsal, 12:30 p.m.; Gan Simcha at Tifereth Israel, 10 a.m.-noon. MONDAY: Hebrew, 7 p.m. at Temple TUESDAY: Mishna with Rabbi Milder, 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Hamentaschen baking at the Temple, 6:30 p.m. THURSDAY: B’nai Mitzvah class, 5 p.m. SUNDAY, March 16: Don’t miss the “Megillah According to Stage and Screen”, 7 p.m.
BEYT SHALOM
An Affiliate of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
3012 S. 119th St., P.O. Box 241130 Omaha, NE 68124-5130 592-4082 http://welcome.to/beytshalom/ FRIDAY: Shabbat in the Home. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. at the Rose Blumkin Home Herbert Goldstein Chapel. SUNDAY: Religious Hebrew School, 3:30 p.m. at the JCC. Theme: Purim decoration, Beads and Jewelry. TUESDAY: Religious Hebrew School, 4 p.m. at the JCC.
1866 So. 120th St., Omaha, NE 68144-1646 Phone: 330-1800 E-MAIL--chabad@aol.com WEBSITE: www.nebraskajudaism.com Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Monday-Friday, services at 7 a.m. SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m., followed by a Kiddush luncheon. SUNDAY: Morning Service, 8:30 a.m. ADULT EDUCATION MONDAY: Unmasking the Purim Mystery: The third of a three-part series exploring the text of the Megillah, 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Lunch included. RSVP by March 9. Cost is $18. TUESDAY: Parsha HaShavuah (weekly Torah portion), 7-8:30 p.m., led by rabbinic student Mendel Hecht. To register for any class, please call Jennifer at 330-1800, or e-mail chabadoffice@aol.com.
B’NAI MITZVAH Drew William Lyneis and Jamie Elizabeth Lyneis, children of Dale and Tom Lyneis, celebrated their B’nai Mitzvah on March 1 at Congregation Emanuel in Denver, CO. Drew and Jamie have a sister, Emily. Grandparents are Ruth and Sam Goodman of Denver, CO, the late Harold (Sonny) Garber, Bill and Ardis Lyneis of Hot Springs Village, AK. Daniel Charles Canfield, son of Rick and Sandy Canfield, will become a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, March 15, at Beth El Synagogue. A seventh grader at Beveridge Magnet School, Daniel enjoys golf, football, basketball, computers and being with friends. He also enjoys doing voice work for radio and video. For Daniel’s Mitzvah Project, he is making a donation to the Ronald McDonald House. Daniel has a sister, Jill, 17. Grandparents are Faye Gendler, the late Irving Gendler, and LeRoy and the late Anne Canfield.
Page 4
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
March 7, 2003
EDITORIAL Something for “The Grown-ups” For years, a common complaint among adults in the Jewish community has been, “I don’t use the Fitness Center; I’m not into Jewish education-there’s nothing for me.” While we disagree with those who have insisted that our community’s Jewish institutions have not provided social opportunities (to wit--look at the synagogue and organization pages for just this week’s highlights of Jewish programming), we do welcome the Jewish Community Center’s new program--Live from the 92nd Street Y. Starting last fall with a satellite broadcast of Tom Friedman from New York City’s premier JCC--the 92nd St. Y--the series has attracted Jews (and non-Jews alike) who haven’t stepped foot into this building since its expansion and remodeling. The individual
programs are only $5 for JCC members and $8 for non-members--cheaper than an evening movie! The variety of people featured has ranged from entertainers to U.S. Presidents. (In fact, you can see both: Joan Rivers on March 12 and former U.S. President Bill Clinton on March 13, both at 7 p.m. in the JCC theater.) And there’s more to come: On March 20, this newspaper will co-sponsor a panel discussion on “Biased or Balanced? Israel and the Media.” There’s more in April and May (for a complete schedule, check out the Federation’s website: www.jewishomaha.org.) No excuses now--you don’t have to do any heavy lifting to enjoy an inexpensive evening out with friends and family. And the popcorn’s free!
BEHIND THE HEADLINES
Palestinian Aspirations by DANIEL PIPES Why are Palestinians so angry at Israel? There are two possible reasons: • Political: they accept the existence of a Jewish state but are angry with this or that Israeli policy. • Rejectionist: They abominate the very existence of Israel and want to destroy it. Which of these explanations is correct has many implications. If Palestinians only want changes in what Israel is doing (such as building towns on the West Bank), then it is reasonable to ask Israel to alter those actions--and the main burden of resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict falls on Israel. But if Israel’s existence remains at issue, then it follows that the conflict will end only when the Palestinians finally and irrevocably accept the Jewish state. Seen this way, the main burden falls on the Palestinians. Also, if it’s a routine political dispute, diplomacy and compromise are the way to make progress. But if the Palestinians reject Israel’s very existence, diplomacy is useless, even counterproductive, and Israel needs to convince the Palestinians to give up on their aggressive intentions; more bluntly, Israel would then need to defeat the Palestinians. Which interpretation is correct? In a spring 2002 poll of residents in the West Bank and Gaza conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, a Palestinian organization, 43% of respondents called for a Palestinian state only in the West Bank and Gaza and 51% insisted on the state in “all of historic Palestine,” a code-word for the destruction of Israel. Thus, Palestinian rejectionism flourishes. But the outside world averts its collective eyes from this fact. Those
institutions and individuals with a megaphone--in both Israel and the United States, not to speak of the United Nations, the left, and in diplomatic, journalistic, artistic, and academic circles worldwide--generally assert that Palestinian acceptance of Israel has occurred and focus instead on Israel’s need to “take risks for peace.” In contrast, only by a small number of conservatives in Israel and the United States point out the continued power of Palestinian rejectionism. Given this backdrop of mostly wishful thinking, it is remarkable to see how realistically the Israeli and American electorate view Palestinian intentions. The Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at Tel Aviv University found in fall 2002 that 18% of Israeli Jews believe the Palestinians have accepted Israel’s existence and 71% think the opposite. To learn American views on this issue, the Middle East Forum recently sponsored a poll asking a national cross-section of 1000 likely voters, “Do you believe that the goal of Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority is to have a small state living in peace alongside Israel, or is its goal the eventual destruction of Israel?” The response was clear: 19% percent of respondents said Arafat seeks a small state living in peace alongside Israel; 61% said he seeks the eventual destruction of Israel. This insight has great potential significance for U.S. policy, signaling to the Bush administration to heed its own electorate and recognize that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict persists because Israel is, not what it does. The sooner Palestinians, leaders and public alike, come to terms with the unalterable reality of Israel’s existence, the better it will be for all concerned.
LETTER FROM ISRAEL Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop by HARRY ALLEN Berthold Brecht’s play, Waiting for Godot, is having a reprise here i Israel, and no doubt, in America as well. We are all waiting. Yet as we wait, the daily rhythm of life continues. People come and go; traffic is still an abomination. The coffee shops are still filled with those whose greatest joy is to linger over an espresso while discussing the latest in coalitions negotiations or likely as not, the latest in neighborhood gossip. But make no mistake. Overhanging all of this “normality” is the inevitable tension of “waiting for Godot” or, in this case, for George W. Last week was the nationwide defense drill in the public schools and the lead images on all Israeli television stations were of the school kids donning gas masks and protective suits. But soon enough, the drill was over and the kids happily went on their ways playing or studying or perhaps, playing at studying. The wedding halls are booked solid as people continue to celebrate their smichot, and we are no exception. Happily, one of our Israeli grand-
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daughters was married last week in a lovely and overly large ceremony at Kibbutz Anat. For us, it was a very special event, since all of our children in America came here, along with other grandchildren and spouses. The marriage is an interesting one. Our granddaughter was born and grew up on a secular kibbutz. Religion did not play a major part in her life. She married a young man, a captain in the Israeli Defense Forces-Sephardic and observant. A fascinating merger between two very opposite Israeli communities--Ashkenazi and Sephardic, religious and secular, kibbutz and town--but it is not an uncommon one. She we had a marvelous simcha, large family gatherings on Shabbat, much conversation and, thankfully, little time or inclination to discuss the state of the world or who Sharon eventually included in his coalition. While we waited, along with everyone else, we went about our business like everyone else--not unmindful of the possible future difficulties--but neither are we traumatized by those possibilities.
JEWISH PRESS COMMITTEE Joanie Jacobson, Vice-Chairman; Penny Endelman, Secretary; Steve Simon, Treasurer; Elyce Azriel; Jill Belmont; Jean Duitch; Kip Gordman; Bobbi Leibowitz; Howard K. Marcus; Scott Meyerson; Linda Saltzman; Joey Shyken; Melanie Weinstein; Amee Zetzman; George Schapiro (Honorary Committee Member). Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Committee, the Jewish Federation of Omaha or the Omaha Jewish Community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.
March 7, 2003
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BEHIND THE HEADLINES Jewish Agency Restores Funding for Religious Streams by JOE BERKOFSKY NEW YORK (JTA)--The push for Jewish pluralism in Israel took one step forward and one step backward last week. In the wake of protests by the liberal religious movements, the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Board of Governors voted to restore a total of $305,000 for the Conservative and Reform movements in Israel that the agency’s Budget and Finance Committee cut last November. Yet a day earlier, the newly emerging Likud government coalition--with the secular Shinui Party and National Religious Party among its partners-signaled it would not be making any major changes on such key issues as allowing civil marriages or public transportation on the Sabbath. Still, Conservative and Reform leaders hailed the Jewish Agency decision to restore to its worldwide $320 million budget for fiscal 2003-2004 about 18 percent of the $4.26 million the liberal streams split in allocations. At the same time, the Jewish Agency’s leadership pledged to help federations in North America, via their United Jewish Communities umbrella system, to raise an additional $197,000 over the next year for the liberal movements’ educational and religious activities in Israel. This goes beyond what the agency’s Finance Committee sought last November. Those budget moves came only after months of protests by North American liberal religious leaders to revive the so-called “affirmative action” funding of their Israeli programs. For nearly two decades the agency has allocated about $5 million for Israeli religious institutions, with the liberal movements getting 40 percent each and the Orthodox 20 percent. That formula was designed to make up for the Israeli Orthodox establishment’s refusal to aid liberal religious programs there. Funding of the liberal movements “is a very serious thing to tamper with,” Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, Executive Director of the Reform movement’s ARZA/World Union, said in a phone interview from Israel last week. That money “is the glue that solidifies the unity of American Jewry in its relationship to the federations and its relationship with the state of Israel.” Rabbi Jerome Epstein, Executive Vice-president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the movement’s congregational arm, said the agency move reflects “the realization of the importance the streams play in North America and of pluralism in Israel.” Stephen Hoffman, UJC’s Chief Executive Officer and President, promised in a February meeting with the liberal leaders to ensure that the agency would “revisit” the affirmative action funding, and “this is the revisiting,” the agency’s spokesman in Jerusalem, Yehuda Weinraub, said. Hoffman agreed, calling the vote to return the $305,000 to the liberal movements a “satisfactory”
solution, while praising the pledge to find the remainder of the money through fund raising. “It’s a compromise to advocate on behalf of the streams to make it up,” he said. Not everyone greeted the agency decision warmly. Rabbi Avi Shafran, Director of Public Affairs for the fervently Orthodox movement’s Agudath Israel of America, maintained that support for the liberal streams “weakens us as a people.” “From our perspective, the impact of Americanstyle Jewish religious pluralism in Israel is not, in the end, going to be a healthy thing for the Jewish state,” Shafran said. The American Jewish experience has been marked by intermarriage and assimilation, he said, “and we feel this is due in large part to the lowering in standards that seems to be part and parcel of the Reform and Conservative movements here.” Even as the Jewish Agency boosted the liberal movements in Israel, the nascent governing coalition seemed unlikely to make any radical changes in the pluralism front. The new Likud coalition with Shinui and the NRP said it would at some point change the law exempting yeshiva students from serving in the army, but it also said it would not change the Orthodox ban on civil marriages or on public transportation on the Sabbath. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the Reform movement’s synagogue arm, said he was not surprised. Yoffie said his chief concern focused on the NRP’s aim to increase Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, something the Reform movement opposes, but he did not expect any major shift in issues relating to the separation of synagogue and state. Yoffie said he met with Shinui leader Yosef “Tommy” Lapid recently, and Lapid told him that Shinui was unlikely to make significant changes in Israel’s religious laws if it shares power with the NRP. “The notion that the NRP and Shinui would agree on a revolution is ridiculous,” he said. Still, Shinui can make an impact, he added. With Shinui ministers now heading the Interior Ministry, they can ease restrictions preventing nonOrthodox Jewish immigrants registering as citizens. “The question is, will they stay on message and promote change where they can,” he said. Hirsch also said it remained too early for liberal Jews to write the coalition off the pluralism front, since the government’s makeup could change in the next few years. Meanwhile, Hirsch said Shinui’s very presence in the coalition will change the “rhetoric, culture and tone” of the pluralism debate, at least. Shinui’s arrival “is going to have a significant influence on the progress of religious pluralism in Israel,” he said.
For nearly two decades the agency has allocated about $5 million for Israeli religious institutions, with the liberal movements getting 40 percent each and the Orthodox 20 percent.
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March 7, 2003
of Omaha
Western Galilee Hospital Saves Palestinian Infant
idents and myself have addressed issues involving our mikvah (the ritual bath), policies and practices of our community’s Jewish cemeteries, teen trips to Israel, availability of kosher food in our community, Jewish education in Omaha and a host of other relevant topics. The issues are sometimes tough and the discussions are quite candid, however, a common thread always prevails amongst all the participants, namely the quality of and commitment to Jewish life both in our community and abroad. It’s been said that politics and religion make strange bedfellows. Our Federation and synagogues of course have their share of both religious and political issues to deal with and sometimes it’s difficult to remain objective. However, it is refreshing to know that when we come together with a common cause at stake, the dialogue that continues to take place serves as a shining example of what our community has always been about. I salute our pulpit Rabbis Aryeh Azriel, Howard Kutner and Mordechai Levin and appreciate their wisdom as well as their commitment to this community. In addition to our monthly meetings with the pulpit rabbis, I am also proud of the dialogue that continues to exist between the Federation and our other community Rabbis Aryeh Blum, Mendel Katzman and Craig Marantz. Should you ever have a community issue that you feel would be a good topic for discussion or resolution for our monthly meeting, please do no hesitate to contact any of us. Although we never find ourselves short of topics, we would be happy to address your concerns.
by JUDITH JOCHNOWITZ The life of a Palestinian infant, born prematurely in the seventh month of pregnancy in Aliah Hospital in Hebron and suffering from severe respiratory distress, was saved by the Department of Neonatology in the Western Galilee Hospital of Nahariya, Israel. It began with an unexpected phone call to Dr. Zalman Weintraub, the Head of Western Galilee Hospital’s Neonatology Department. On the other end of the line was Dr. Sa’id Abbas from the government hospital of the Palestinian Authority in Hebron. The Palestinian physician asked his Israeli colleague to accept the premature infant, only a few hours old, for hospitalization in Nahariya. The infant was in severe respiratory distress and that if she did not receive the appropriate care, her life was at risk. In spite of the already full occupancy in the exceptionally busy department, the answer to this extraordinary request was a positive one. The hospital immediately sent an ambulance specially outfitted with an incubator and an infant respirator to the hospital in Hebron. Simultaneously Dr. Moshe Daniel, Deputy Director of the Western Galilee Hospital coordinated travel logistics with the army. Throughout the trip the infant girl was closely monitored and received treatment from the medical team sent to accompany her. The neonatology staff that received the preemie discovered that she was in respiratory failure and began treatment with specialized medical equipment in an effort to supply her with oxygen and expand her constricted lungs. Dr. Weintraub said, “This is truly a humanitarian deed. The infant’s general condition is improving and she is expected to be released in a few days.” The Western Galilee Hospital is located in omaha’s Partnership 2000 Region in northeastern Israel, bordering Lebanon, Syria and the Mediterranean.
FROM THE DESK OF OUR PRESIDENT by STEVE PITLOR, President of the Jewish Federation In last month’s column I reminded our community of the wonderful resources that are available to all of us through the agencies of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. For 100 years now, the dedicated and wonderful people of our community have passionately worked to build our Jewish community to a level that is known and respected everywhere. It’s rare to go anywhere on this planet and not meet someone who knows something about our Jewish community or someone who has lived there. While the services of the agencies of the Jewish Federation remain in the forefront, there is much that happens behind the scenes that even further contribute to the quality of our life in Omaha. Take, for example, an important monthly happening that people may not be aware of, but continues to be vitally important and effective. I’m referring to our monthly Federation President/Pulpit Rabbis and President’s meeting. Every month a meeting is held between the Federation president, synagogue presidents and pulpit rabbis to discuss relevant issues that our community faces as well as ideas that would contribute to the betterment of Omaha’s Jewish community. You probably have heard the story about the “three” Jews who were sitting in a room in deep discussion and out of this came “four” opinions. Well, it’s not surprising to find multiple opinions expressed at our monthly meetings. Discussions can become emotional, thought provoking, but most always productive. We are fortunate to have such a high caliber of professional and lay leadership at our synagogues. Their commitments to making this monthly forum a truly effective means of communication between them and our Federation have benefited our entire community. In recent months the rabbis, congregational pres-
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March 7, 2003
Jewish Groups Fume (Continued from page 1) PETA’s tactics are raising the hackles of several Jewish groups and splitting the Jewish animal-rights community. Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, called the Holocaust comparison “ridiculous.” “No responsible Jewish leader will have anything against a campaign that seeks to limit the abuse and torture of animals,” Hier said. “But putting on a Web site the images of the death camps, and comparing it to chickens cooped up in a pen, it denigrates the memory of the Holocaust.” The Anti-Defamation League’s National Director, Abraham Foxman, called the campaign likening animal abuse to Nazism “outrageous” and “abhorrent.” “Rather than deepen our revulsion against what the Nazis did to the Jews, the project will undermine the struggle to understand the Holocaust and to find ways to make sure such catastrophes never happen again,” he said. Ironically, the PETA project first came to the ADL’s attention when the animal-rights activists sought ADL approval for their effort. “It’s chutzpah enough to compare” the Holocaust and the meat industry, Foxman said, “but to go to the Jewish community is double chutzpah!” PETA remains adamant that the “similarities” between the Holocaust and factory farming are worth exploring, Prescott said. “We’re trying to widen the circle of compassion, and sometimes a person has to be shocked before they can begin to accept their own role in an act of injustice,” he said.
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Nebraska Senator on the World Stage by JOAN K. MARCUS “It’s difficult to know where to begin when discussing world affairs,” U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel said at a recent B’nai B’rith Breadbreakers meeting. The senior senator from Nebraska commented on the world situation today and the challenges facing America. “We are consumed with a daily, hourly, minute to minute (details) of great challenges. Today we’ll do a little of the Israeli-Palestinian problem; next week, we’ll deal with Iraq. And next month--North Korea,” he asserted. Sen. Hagel, who sits on the Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs, and Select Committee on Intelligence, chairs the Senate’s International Economic Policy Export and Trade Promotions Subcommittee of the Foreign Relations Committee. He also serves as co-chairman of the Congressional Executive Commission on China. Hagel insisted that our world is an interconnected one, where the dynamics affect all of the citizens of the world in real ways. “That spills over into every area of our lives,” he added. “When Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, was asked how we ignite economic activity in our country, he answered, ‘Markets, economics and societies respond to confidence and stability.’ “When there is a lack of confidence and instability in the world, surely it will spill over into the economy; events of our time affect every aspect of our lives.” Soon, the United States, along with Great Britain, will introduce a resolution to the United Nations Security Council regarding the use of force to disarm Saddam Hussein. “This is in the final process (before being introduced), but there are (still) 17 UN resolutions that Saddam has violated since 1991.” Three weeks ago, in the Foreign Relations Committee, there were two full hearings--one on the status of Afghanistan, a challenge to world security and prospects for peace in the Middle East. “We are a long way from being where we will need to be in Afghanistan,” Sen. Hagel admitted. “However, I think we have done right there in as much as we have coalition-partnered.”
It is easy to dismiss other nations who don’t agree with us on immediate issues. “For example, whether or not Hussein can be rehabilitated has never been the question,” Hagel asserted. “It has never been a matter of whether or not we allow him to go on and on. Or that the inspection process was somehow indefinite.” There’s never been any question what the U.S. is dealing with in Saddam, according to Sen. Hagel. He has been bottled up for 12 years. “We know where he is and what he has so the question is how we do it and with what force. And, what’s the time frame?” A bill, written by Senator Hagel, created the first real framework for Afghanistan and “put $3.3 billion in to the appropriations process to begin building an infrastructure over the next five years. “We do this with partners,” Hagel continued, “with coalitions of common interest--if we want to keep peace in the world.” The senator referred to the history and events of the 20th century, noting that “the first half-through World War II--was pretty bloody. In the second half we made significant progress. We dealt with wars, great human suffering, and misery, however, the leaders of the world--Truman, Marshall, Churchill and others--understood the force of what had happened. So they built multi-national structures like the united Nations and NATO. “The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is not a unique threat to the U.S.,” he added. “We just happened to be the last country visited by terrorists. France, Germany, Israel--they’ve all had to deal with terrorism. The threats are (directed) to all civilized nations--all mankind.” Hagel insisted that America needs friends and coalitions. A war on terrorism is not going to be won through great military power. Military power has limits too. “The way we will win our war on terrorism is through seamless networks and intelligence sharing with allies, friends and law enforcement,” according to Hagel, adding that we can level countries, but that won’t make the world any safer. “We must stay very steady, wise and thoughtful as we approach these great challenges. And remember, we will help make, as we have for the last 55 years, a more stable world for mankind,” Hagel insisted. “That’s what this is about. We need to stay focused on the long-term objectives. It’s not easy when the President of the United States and his officials are charged with the immediacy of a threat. They don’t have the luxury to go into great philosophical debates about where we want to be in 10 years.”
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March 7, 2003
ORGANIZATIONS NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN Omaha Section (NCJW) will hold its monthly Board meeting on Tuesday, March 11, 7 p.m., in at the JCC. NCJW members are welcome to attend. Delegates will have just returned from the Leadership Conference in Chicago and will give reports. OMAHA CENTER FOR TORAH LEARNING Rabbi Aryeh Blum leads a parasha shiur at the OCTL House, 1313 No. 58 St., March 8, 4:45 p.m. Torah Tots is Monday, March 10, 10 a.m. with Shari Blum (parents can learn with Rabbi Blum at the same time); Time for Talmud with Rabbi Blum is at 7 p.m.; learn at the Beis Midrash, March 11, 7:30 p.m. The Wednesday Women’s Class is March 12, 7:30 p.m., all at the OCTL house. Join OCTL for the weekly discussion of the Torah portion at Lunch ’n Learn, Wednesday, March 12, noon, at the Kripke Jewish Federation Library; the Wednesday Teen Class meets at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Brooke Shrago, 805 So. 120 Ave. For more information about OCTL or to schedule one-on-one or small group learning, call Rabbi Blum at 3208055. 39-FOREVER Sunday, March 16, 3:30 p.m., 39Forever will visit the IMAX Theater at Henry Doorly Zoo. Dinner at Caniglia’s follows at 5 p.m. For more information, call Doris Parker, 553-3249.
B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Susan Jacques will speak at Wednesday, March 12, noon, at the Park Inn Regency, according to Gary Javitch, Chairman. President of Borsheims, Jacques will discuss “making it as a woman in the highly competitive world of gems and jewelry.” Cost is $9 for lunch and $2 for beverage service only. WALK-IN, DROP-IN Exercise and bingo begins at 10 a.m. at the JCC. Bring a dairy sack lunch or order a bagel sandwich from the Bagel Bin at 11:15 a.m. At noon, join us for the movie, Sweet Home, Alabama. For transportation call Maggie Conti at 334-6521. LOMIR REDN YIDDISH The Yiddish Conversation Group will meet on Thursday from 1-3 p.m. at the JCC. Call Anne Skolkin for information at 343-1638. BETH ISRAEL SISTERHOOD After a winter recess, Sisterhood will resume its monthly luncheon meeting on Tuesday, March 11, 12:30 p.m., with a spring style show. Members will model the latest fashions from Mainstream Fashions and Accessories, located in Bel Air Plaza. Program chairman is Bett Kozlen. Cost is $5 for lunch, catered by Nancy Mattly of Culinary Creations. RSVP to your caller or Bernice Cohen, 558-3423.
Y.E.S. Members will meet Monday at the JCC. Play bingo at 10 a.m. with Eileen Remer or exercise with Stacey Paskert at 10:30 a.m. Bring articles to share for “YES Talk” at 11 a.m. Following lunch at noon, John Fullerton, Executive Director of Radio Talking Book, will speak about the services offered by this organization. For transportation call Dee Dee at 330-4272. Call Maggie Conti for reservations at 334-6521; deadline for movie and lunch on March 13 is March 10; deadline for Purim Party on March 17 is March 10; deadline for “Remember When” and lunch on March 20 is March 13; and deadline for Bluffs Run Casino on March 27 is March 20.
VISIONS Visions luncheon meeting is Friday, March 21, 12:30 p.m., at the Venice Inn. Cost is $9 and entertainment is by the Feeling Good Duo. Send reservations to Mickey and Tootie Simon, 8725 Izard, Omaha, NE 68114. Deadline is March 14. Please bring a donation for our mitzvah project with JFS or send a check to: Milton and Doris Parker, 120 So. 70 St., Omaha, NE 68132. (Make check payable to JFS.) See a performance of the Singing Waiters on Sunday, June 22, noon, in Brownsville. Cost is $36. Depart from the JCC at noon and return at 7 p.m. Send reservations to Jean Elkon, 1005 No. 63 St., Omaha 68132.
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Masquerade Mystery Revealed on Purim at Temple Israel
Book Discussion Group Focuses on Woody Allen by HARRIS FINKELSTEIN, Director The Kripke Library Book Discussion group will meet on Thursday, March 20, 1 p.m., to discuss a selection of works by Woody Allen. This selection includes many of Allen’s famous writings: Hassidic Tales, The Scrolls, The Schmeed Memoirs, The Kugelmass Episode, No Kaddish for Weinstein, and Death Knocks (a play). Throughout this unique selection of works, Allen grapples in his wildly inventive way with the targets that obsess him: death, religion, women (or lack of women),Intellectuals, the arts, and rabbis. In The Scrolls, a satire of Dead Sea Scroll scholarly interpretation and criticism, Allen writes, “The authenticity of the scrolls is currently in great doubt, particularly since the word ‘Oldsmobile’ appears several times in the text.” Allen displays versatility and virtuosity with the written word-and his special brand of Jewish humor. The leader of the book discussion will be Assistant Librarian Gary Katz, a former professor of World Literature at Creighton University. Handouts are available to purchase for $3. Everyone is welcome to attend the discussion. For more information call me at 334-6461.
OCTL Hosts Pre-Purim and Purim Programs by RABBI ARYEH BLUM The Omaha Center for Torah Learning (OCTL) will present a video presentation titled, “Plug into the Power of Adar--Utilizing the Power of Simcha (happiness)”, simultaneously viewed by hundreds of Jewish communities around the world, Sunday, March 9, 8 p.m. The speakers will include Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski and Rabbi Jonathan Rietti. Rabbi Dr. Rabbi Twerski is the founder Abraham of Gateway Rehabilitation Twerski Center, a world renowned lecturer, and author of numerous books on Jewish thought, growth, and self-help. Rabbi Rietti is a senior lecturer at Gateway Seminars, a prominent Jewish outreach organization. The event will take place at the OCTL House 1313 No. 58th St. Though the event is free, reservations are requested and made by calling 320-8055. Don’t forget to sign up for the OCTL Purim Dinner, Monday, March 18, 5 p.m. Reservations are on a first come, first served basis. Cost is $12 for adults and $5 for children. Send your check, made out to OCTL, to: Purim Dinner, OCTL, PO Box 24-?883, Omaha, NE 68124.
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by CLAUDIA SHERMAN, Temple Israel Communications Coordinator What rock ‘n’ roll idols, movie stars, or tuary. Children (of all animated characters will it be this ages) who wear costumes year? Last year on Purim, the sanctuto the dinner and ary at Temple Israel was transformed Megillah reading will into Shushan, a town on the banks of receive prizes. Following the Platte River. King Ahausuarus, the service, the Women Vashti, Mordecai, beautiful Esther, and of Reform Judaismevil Haman, all of them decked out in Omaha (WRJ-O) will western duds, were all there along with sponsor an Oneg. saloon girls and horse-mules. Celebrating Purim conCantor Wendy Shermet and tinues on Sunday, Stephanie Grossman, director of March 23, noon-2 p.m., youth and informal education at when Omaha Temple Temple, promise an equally outra- Just what do these two script writ- Youth Group, Junior geous original script for the reading of ers have in mind for Purim at Youth Group, and WRJ-O the Megillah on Erev Purim, Temple Israel this year? will sponsor Temple Monday, March 17, at Temple Israel. Israel’s annual Purim Carnival. As in the past, Prior to this year’s wacky version of the Purim there will be events such as the Giant Caterpillar, saga, there will be a dinner (please bring your face painting, a cake walk, a coke toss, a clown, and own) and an opportunity to create your own balloon animals. masks starting at 6 p.m. in the Milder Center. Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children are Beverages will be provided by Temple. invited to a sneak preview of the carnival from Reservations are requested by calling the Temple 11:30 a.m. to noon. At noon, the entire community is office at 556-6536 by Tuesday, March 11. welcome to attend this family event. Youth group At 7 p.m., the Purim Spiel, costume parade, and members will sell lunch, popcorn, cotton candy, and the reading of the Megillah will begin in the sanc- other treats.
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IN THE NEWS Metropolitan Community College has been certified in its financial planning program. A CFP certification can now be obtained while completing a certificate of achievement in personal financial planning. For more information, call Lori Lothringer at 537-3830. The Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) will host the sixth annual Art & Soup fundraising event on Sunday, March 9, 5:30 p.m., at the Durham Western Heritage Museum. Proceeds will enable the VNA to continue providing public health nursing services to homeless men, women and children, living in local shelters. Tickets are $35 and can be ordered by calling 930-4224. The Strategic Air & Space Museum, located off I-80 in Ashland, NE, opens the “Lindbergh” exhibit March 8, 2 p.m., featuring Scott Berg, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Lindbergh. Activities continue through the spring and include a full-scale replica of Lindbergh’s plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, and hundreds of items representing his life. For more information, call 1-402-827-3100.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT “ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre”, the longest running drama series on television, will premiere George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda on PBS on Sunday, March 30 and Monday, March 31, 8 p.m. (check local listings). Daniel Deronda is about love, fulfillment, and identity. It’s also a reflection on the antiSemitic society that author George Eliot fought against in her lifetime. The companion Web site (www.pbs.org/masterpiece) will launch March 17. The Omaha Symphony presents Victor’s Russia on Friday, March 21, and Saturday, March 22, 8 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre. The Omaha Symphony and Music Director Victor Yampolsky present a night of piano pyrotechnics and riveting Russian repertoire. Victor’s Russia is an annual MasterWorks concert event highlighting music from the Maestro’s homeland. Guest artist Yakov Kasman will perform Tchaikovsky’s popular Piano Concerto. Please call the Symphony Box Office at 342-3560 for ticket information or visit www.omahasymphony.org.
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Page 10
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
March 7, 2003
Mother-daughter Team Rises up to Bake a Bunch of Hamantashen by LINDA MOREL NEW YORK, (JTA)--Because my mother hated baking, she cluttered our kitchen cabinets with store-bought cookies. We never had fewer than two dozen boxes of them on hand: chocolate chips, gingersnaps and Oreos. Although mallomars were my favorite, they were a sorry substitute for hamantashen when Purim came around. When I grew up during the 1950s and 1960s, hamantashen were consumed only at Purim, and we waited all year for them. Back then, you had to make them yourself, which my mother was not about to do, or buy them at bakeries in Jewish neighborhoods. Because the suburb where we lived was not very Jewish, I’d get a taste of hamantashen only if my father carried them home from his office in Manhattan, or if friends arrived with square boxes of them tied tightly with string. Inside I’d find triangular confections filled with poppy seeds or prunes. Maybe I was unsophisticated, but I loved their inky black fillings, as mysterious as the spiral turrets of Eastern Europe from where this pastry came. It was this void from Purims past, a feeling that the cardboard cookies my mother palmed off on us had left me incomplete, that spurred me in the 1980s to suggest to my daughter that we bake hamantashen. At 14, Allissa was game, but suggested we bypass the fillings of my youth in favor of trendier alternatives: marmalade, blueberry and red raspberry preserves. By then hamantashen centers, like Xerox copies, came in a spectrum of colors. Within minutes, fine flour fogged our kitchen, and we were elbow deep in a mixture of wet and dry ingredients. When I went to roll the dough, it didn't cooperate. It was sticky and clung in clumps to the counter and rolling pin. My fantasy of overcoming the disappointing Purims of my childhood by baking with my daughter had failed. “Let’s just dump this mess in the trash,” I said, shoving the rolling pin toward the mixing bowl. “Can I try?” Allissa asked, picking up the rolling pin. “Good luck,” I said, washing gooey white paste off my hands. Because Allissa was adept at taming clay for sculpting and ceramics, she also had a knack with dough. Moving the rolling pin back and forth, she coaxed it into a thin circle. “Why don’t I roll the hamantashen and you fill them," she suggested with a patch of flour on her cheek. I was thrilled since I didn’t want to waste the four jars of preserves I’d opened for this bake off. We worked this way for half an hour until we became proficient enough to change roles. I took the rolling pin--and after Allissa coached me, I learned how to finagle dough and cut perfect circles. She
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spooned jam on top and pinched circles into triangles. We spent several peaceful hours and made eight dozen hamantashen that afternoon, which we gave to friends. The incident remains a lovely memory, but sadly we’ve never had the opportunity to bake hamantashen together again. Since the jelly-filled days of the 1980s, hamantashen have continued evolving, and a new generation of teenagers is on the scene. Raised on chocolate centers, they came of age since hamantashen went mainstream. They are unfazed by pre-packaged triangular cookies sold year round on supermarket shelves next to the Snackwells and the Chips Ahoy. To kids living in cyberspace and carrying cell phones, poppy seeds and prunes are as relevant as the last millennium. While I am not opposed to cross-cultural influences (without them we wouldn’t have salmon gefilte fish or sweet potato latkes), I also think it’s a shame to forget the heritage of hamantashen in pursuit of cutting edge innovations. The word hamantashen derives from the German and Yiddish mohn, meaning poppy seeds and taschen, pockets. It’s been speculated that the pastry’s first five letters “Haman,” represent the wicked vizier who planned to annihilate the Jews of Persia. The Purim story is set in ancient Persia in the court of King Ahasuerus, who held Haman in high esteem. Getting wind of the vizier’s plot against his people, Mordechai, a respected member of the Jewish community, heard that the king was holding a contest to select a wife. Mordechai convinced his niece Esther to enter, and unwittingly Ahasuerus snapped up the exotic Jewish beauty. Marrying the king, Esther not only became Queen but waited for the right moment to reveal her religion and expose Haman’s murderous plans against her people. The king turned against his vizier. Ironically Ahasuerus arranged for Haman to be hung on the pole he had erected to kill the Jews. Grateful to be saved from disaster, Mordechai and Esther organized a celebration that evolved into modern-day Purim. Although hamantashen took their shape from the three-sided hats Haman purportedly wore, there is no proof that his hats were triangular. Centuries after his demise, Jews on another continent, also
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inspired by a German confection, began baking miniature three-cornered cakes filled with poppy seeds. Hamantashen spread like wild fire throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the hub of the Ashkenazi world. Originally made with yeast, the dough, similar to modern-day Danish, was as soft as a cushion. In the Old Country, women not only filled hamantashen with poppy seeds but also lekvar, a lusciously thick spread made of fruit, usually prunes or apricots, simmered in sugar. In 20th-century America though, cookie-style dough beat out yeast hamantashen, which are more complex and time consuming to prepare. Continually evolving, hamantashen have changed inside and out, and in their latest incarnation are deep chocolate dough wrapped around rich almond paste. Like bagels, hamantashen have infiltrated the American culinary scene and are available year round in bakeries, delis and supermarkets. In many cases, their ubiquitous presence has resulted in a downturn in quality. Although it’s gratifying that this little cookie has spread like a mighty empire, mass production has robbed its Purim identity. Some people are unaware that the triangular treats they consume with gusto are more Jewish than Levy’s rye bread. They are satisfied with crust chunkier than Play-Doh. Worse yet, there are fewer and fewer people who remember when hamantashen, like strudel, were as fine as Viennese pastry and spun like magic from Hungarian bakers’ hands. BASIC HAMANTASHEN DOUGH 1 egg 1/2 cup margarine 1 Tbsp. orange juice 1 tsp. vanilla 2 tsp. lemon juice 11/2 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar 11/4 tsp. baking powder 1/8 tsp. cinnamon Install metal blade in a food processor. Into its bowl, place wet ingredients and process until well blended. Mixture resembles orange cottage cheese. Sift dry ingredients and add to wet ones. Blend well until mixture clumps and forms a ball. Wrap dough in foil and refrigerate for 2-12 hours. (Recipes for fillings and directions for assembling hamantashen are below.) Yield: Four dozen. To make enough hamantashen to sample all four fillings, double the recipe. (Continued on next page)
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COMMUNITY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The Jewish community of Sioux City, Iowa is seeking a Community Executive Director for its population of 375 Jewish people. Duties will include administration of all but the pulpit and education. A strong social service and business background would be important. We seek a person capable of serving as a Federation Director and Synagogue Administrator. The position is open May, 2003. Annual compensation package is $40’s plus, depending upon experience and qualifications. Send resumes to A. Frank Baron, P.O. Box 717, Sioux City, Iowa 51102. Direct questions to A. Frank Baron at 712/277-1015.
March 7, 2003
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 11
Purim around the World
PEOPLE OF THE BYTE by MARK MIETKIEWICZ “King Achashverosh was Finnish with his disobedient wife Vashti. ‘You Congo now!’ he ordered her. After she had Ghana way, the king’s messengers went Roman the land to find a new queen. And India end, the beautiful Esther won the crown...” Think you know everything about Purim? Think again. As Judaism’s happiest day of the year, we are familiar with the groggers, the masquerades and the hamantashen. But how about the holiday snowmen, the human-shaped cakes and the 90 other Purims? These are just some of the Purim traditions you can visit on the World Wide Web. (Don’t worry. We’ll even get to that worldly retelling of the Purim story that led off this column.) The best place to start for some global Purim traditions is at the Jewish Agency Education Department --www.jajz-ed.org.il/festivls/purim /pugnen07.html. In Germany on Purim eve, torches containing gun-
powder would be ignited. During the Megillah reading, the gunpowder exploded with a deafening noise. In Italy, youngsters would divide into two camps and throw nuts at each other. While in wintry Bukhara, a large “snow-Haman” was built near the synagogue. After the meal, a bonfire was built and everyone gathered to sing while “Haman” melted. And how about that Salonikan tradition. “Haman-shaped” cakes were baked and placed on the window ledges until the festive Purim meal. During the meal, the cakes were sliced and eaten. The Virtual Jerusalem Purim site has also done a great job rounding up some traditions--http://207.168.91.4/vjholidays/purim/worldcus.htm. In Cairo revelers would take to the streets in costumes riding donkeys who were dyed in stripes and patterns. Lithuania would see Yeshiva students get the opportunity to dress up as rabbis, deliver outrageous speeches and gently mock their teachers.
Bake a Bunch of Hamantashen (Continued from page 10) LEKVAR 12-ounce pkg. pitted prunes or apricots 1/2 cup sugar 1 cup water 1/4 tsp. cinnamon Place ingredients in a 6- to 8-cup pot and cover. On high flame, bring to a boil and let it bubble for 10 minutes, until fruit swells and liquid turns syrupy. Stir almost continuously to avoid burning. Cool to room temperature. Place in a food processor and blend with metal blade for 1-2 minutes, or until mixture becomes like paste. Fill hamantaschen immediately or cover and refrigerate lekvar. Return to room temperature before using. POPPY SEED 2/3 cup (two 21/2-ounce jars) 1/3 cup water 3 Tbsp. honey 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped very fine zest of 1/3 lemon 2 Tbsp. sugar Place 2 Tbsp. honey and the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan. Mix with a spoon. On medium flame, simmer until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining honey. Cool to room temperature. DEEP CHOCOLATE 1 cup cocoa 1 cup sugar 1 cup coffee or cream 1-3 Tbsp. amaretto Mix cocoa, sugar and coffee in a medium sized bowl until well blended. If mixture is dry, add amaretto one tablespoon at a time, until it becomes looser than fudge but thicker than frosting. NO-FUSS FILLING Fill hamantashen with seedless preserves in a variety of colors and flavors. Avoid using jelly, which turns watery. DIRECTIONS FOR ASSEMBLING AND FILLING HAMANTASHEN Place racks in center of oven. Preheat to 350º. Coat two cookie sheets with no-stick spray. Dust counter and rolling pin with flour. With a serrated knife, cut dough ball into quarters. Wrap three of them in foil and return to refrigerator. With your hands, form first dough quarter into a ball and flatten with palms. Using rolling pin, roll dough to 8 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. An amoeba-shaped circle
will form. Using a 21/2 inch cookie cutter, cut several circles and move to the side. Pick up remaining dough, form another ball, and roll into a smaller circle. Repeat one or two more times, until only scraps remain. Place 1/2 tsp. of filling inside each circle. With fingertips pick up rim of dough and pinch in three places to form a triangular cookie with a filled center. Place on cookie sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Open oven and move upper tray to lower rack and vice versa. Bake more minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for 2 minutes. With metal spatula, move cookies to platters to cool completely. Follow the same procedure for remaining dough in refrigerator. Store baked Hamantashen in airtight containers or freeze and defrost. CHOCOLATE HAMANTASHEN WITH ALMONDS 1 stick margarine, plus 1 tsp. 3/4 cup sugar 11/4 cups flour, plus extra for dusting 1 jumbo egg 1/2 cup cocoa 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. vanilla Cream margarine and sugar for 1-2 minutes, until fluffy and light. Slowly add flour, incorporating well. Add egg and beat. Add cocoa, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat well. Dough will be thick. With a spatula, roll dough into a ball and wrap in aluminum foil. Refrigerate for 2-12 hours. See directions for filling and assembling above. Fill with almond paste (see recipe below). Yield: 40-48 cookies. ALMOND PASTE 8-ounce pkg. blanched almonds 1/3 cup sugar 1 egg, beaten 1/8 tsp. almond extract Place almonds in food processor. With metal blade, beat for 4-6 minutes, scraping bowl several times until almonds look and feel like wet sand. Add sugar and beat about one minute, until well incorporated. Add egg and beat again. Mixture will ball up, become pasty and appear buttery. Cover almond paste with plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out. Fill hamantashen immediately or refrigerate and return to room temperature before using.
And what about where it all started? In Persia, one of the wealthy men would host a huge Purim feast in his home for the whole community. During the meal, all would march out to watch an effigy of Haman being burned, while shouting, “May the memory of Amalek be erased!” As the fire went out, the children took turns jumping over the coals, just as they did during celebrations in Talmudic times. One of the most fascinating holiday customs is creating “Special Purims.” According to the Jewish Agency’s Jewish Education and Culture page, “Purim serves not only as remembrance of the salvation of Israel in the days of Mordechai and Esther, but is also a symbol of like cases throughout Jewish history in the Diaspora, when the Jews were saved from the ‘Hamans’ of their generation.”-www.jajz-ed.org.il/festivls/purim/ pugnen06.html. Ninety special Purims have been created such as the “Winz Purim” celebrated by the community of Frankfort-on-Main. In the 17th century, Winz Fettmilch whipped up a pogrom against the Jewish community. Miraculously, the Jews were saved from complete destruction, Winz was punished, and the Jews celebrated their deliverance from their local Haman--www.us-israel.org/jsource /vjw/frankfurt.html. How many ways can you think of to let Haman have it? Kids can find out what they did to him in Afghanistan (stomped on Haman cutouts), Yemen (dragged a Haman scarecrow through the streets) and Tunisia (set afire
Haman dummies) at the TorahTots site--www.torahtots.com/holidays/purim/purwrld.htm. Where can you find a gathering of a quarter million Israelis--and the only thing they demonstrating is their joy? The “Adloyada” is a traditional Purim carnival which has regained popularity in Israel. The name comes from the phrase “...and you should drink until you don’t know (ad lo yada) the difference between 'Cursed is Haman, Blessed is Mordechai.’”-http://207.168.91.4/vjholidays/puri m/carnival.htm. And then there is “The World Famous Story of Purim.” Rather than try to explain this, I’ll leave it to you to wade through it. Here’s how the story ends... as if you didn’t know. (Best to read it aloud.)-www.purim.com/jokes.shtml. “Haman and his 10 sons were hanged and went immediately to the Netherlands. And to Sweden the deal, the Jews were allowed to Polish off the rest of their foes as well. “You lost your enemies and Uganda friend,” the king smiled. “And that is why the Purim story Israeli a miracle. God decided to China light on His chosen people. So now, let's celebrate! Forget all your Syria’s business and just be happy! Serb up some wine and Taiwan on!” Happy Purim! Mark Mietkiewicz is a Torontobased Web site producer who writes, lectures and teaches about the Jewish Internet. He can be reached at: highway@rogers.com.
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Page 12
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
March 7, 2003
ENGAGEMENT
BERT’S EYE VIEW by BERT LEWIS I was at lunch the other day with a group of ladies, all determined to exchange news on every subject from world peace to the latest findings in medicine. The topics were as varied as our lunch choices, and, as it happened, gave me a subject to present to you. My friend across the table was served a wonderful looking lunch, which turned out to be what the menu called a “tuna stack.” Well, stack was the operative word--it was tall, but also perfectly round. I asked, “Is that on pita bread?” And she told me, “No.” It was focaccia. (I’m not certain of the spelling, since Italian is not my ethnic background.) For some reason, I asked, “Remember when there was just bread?” She laughed and agreed, and even added that she remembered when bread was either challah or whatever. She also suggested that I should “do a column” on the subject of bread--as we know it today. The light bulb went off over my head and I made a quick mental note. I thought about how many choices we have today on that very subject. The particular restaurant where the above happened offers quite a variety when they take an order and ask, “What kind of bread do you want?” The answer to “What are my choices?” includes biscuits, garlic bread, pita, focaccia, muffins and something else that I can’t remember now. Matzas, maybe, since that’s about the only thing left. I thought of Mona’s remark about remembering when bread was either challah or not and had to laugh. Talk about simpler times. I certainly recall the wonderful fresh challah for Shabbos--who could forget that? I also remember either light rye or dark, with or without seeds, and pumpernickel, too. After that, my memory stops. Who knew from focaccia? Maybe our Italian friends, but nobody saw it at our table! There were biscuits now and then, but not as regu-
lar substitutes for bread. I think they made an appearance when my mom observed the biscuit mix on the shelves at the grocery. She didn’t buy it (who knew if it was treif?), but it recalled something from her childhood and darned, if she didn’t go home and mix up something like it. I don’t remember how good they were or even if I liked them. She also made muffins on occasion, but again, they weren’t substitutes for bread. The fact is, nothing took the place of bread. And why should it? It was such wonderful bread, back then when I a person didn’t have to give a second thought to a quarter inch of butter on a fresh slice. I know I’ve written about dunking a thickly buttered slice of challah into coffee (with plenty of cream, of course); I loved that on a Saturday morning for breakfast. Oh, yes, when bread was just bread, and only different according to ethnicity, it wasn’t all that bad. I mean, I like lots of those different additions to a bread basket in a restaurant because I love bread...period. But they really aren’t necessary. Good rye (with or without seeds), pumpernickel or challah is still the best. Who needs more choices than that?
EPSTEIN/BENOWITZ Jennifer Beth Epstein, daughter of Howard and Sharon Epstein, and Jonathan Samuel Benowitz, son of Steve and Jane Benowitz of Minneapolis, MN, have announced their engagement. The bride-to-be earned a B.S. in journalism from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, where she was a member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority. She is currently attending William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, MN. Her grandparents are Ben and Marian Miller and Sam and Rosaline Epstein, all of Omaha. Her fiancé is also a graduate of the University of Kansas, where he was a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. He earned a B.S. in journalism and is employed by Churchill Capital in Minneapolis. His grandparents are Stanley and Beatrice Cowle and Irv and Sandy Benowitz, all of Minneapolis, and the late Phyllis Benowitz. A July 6 wedding is planned in Omaha.
Beth El Announces Purim Plans
by OZZIE NOGG According to the rabbis, the arrival of Adar-- the month in which Purim falls--brings increased joy. In keeping with this time honored tradition, Beth El Synagogue has announced the following funfilled Purim celebration schedule: Monday, March 17, 7 p.m., The Magnificent Megillah Reading & Incredible Ice Cream Social. This Erev Purim service in the Sanctuary includes a Purim Story Slide Show produced by Beth El’s kindergarten through eighth grade kids. A full Megillah reading follows at 8:15 p.m. in the Chapel.
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Tuesday, March 18, 6:15 a.m., Shaharit and the whole Megillah for early birds. Sunday, March 23, 11:15 a.m., The Totally Crazy Purim Carnival sponsored by BILU USY. The festivities runs until 2 p.m. and will feature plenty of food, fun and prizes, plus The Razzle-Dazzle Raffle. Meal, game and raffle tickets--including specially priced Combo Packs and Family Meal Packs--may be ordered before Carnival Day by calling the Beth El office, 492-8550.
March 7, 2003
TeenAge
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 13
Nominations Due for Jewish High School Athlete of the Year Award by Lisa Shkolnick, JCC Assistant Director
Class of 2003
High School Seniors!!!
We need your graduation photo and the following information for our annual Graduation Teen Age to be published on June 6:
Name: Parent(s)’ Name(s) Current High School Plans after graduation Send by May 1 to: The Jewish Press 333 So. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154
The Jewish Community Center Athletic Department is now taking applications for the Jewish High School Athlete of the Year. This award recognizes the achievements of Omaha’s elite Jewish Athletes in high school. All participants who meet the following criteria will be honored: • Must be Jewish • Must be a senior in highschool • Must have lettered in a sport at the varsity level The recipient is not required to be a current member of the Jewish Community Center. Past winners of the Jewish High School Athlete of the Year include: Ben Jacobson, Matt Kutler, Brittany Epstein, Aaron Aizenberg, Dusty Friedman, Adam
Nichols, David Pitlor, who were winners in 2000; Matthew Lerner, Adam Freeman, Cory Epstein, Anne Muskin, Joe Ruback, Ally Freeman, Eddie Kenkel, and Jamie Hamburg in 2001. Last year's winners were Sierra Gendelman, Rachel Javitch, Josh Levine, Leah Raful, and Joseph Wees. Recipients will be honored with a plaque at the final board meeting in June. Also, athletes will be recognized in the Jewish Press and the JCC Centerpiece. Applications for this award may be picked up at the Member Services Desk, or from Bob Franzese, JCC Athletic Director, and are due May 1. For more information about this award, please contact Bob Franzese at 334-6424.
Mardi Gras themed Sweetheart Dance a Hit The Chaim Weizmann AZA #1510 Sweetheart Dance was held at the Omaha Community Playhouse this past Saturday, March 1. Dance Chairman were Eugene Ayol, Jon Gates, Philip Hirshman and Alex Katz. Shayna Kurland, pictured far left, is the new sweetheart. Keith Graul escorts last year’s sweetheart, Alana Kinarsky, down the staircase.
UPCOMING YOUTH GROUP EVENTS: OTYG
NCSY
March 14-16: Inter-City Weekend 15: Progressive Dinner and Havdalah 17: Purim Box Dinner 23: Purim Carnival 28: Relay for Life 29: Movie Night 30: Board Meeting, 1 p.m.
March 13-16: Midwinter Conclave in Miami Beach, FL May 1-4: Jr. NCSY Final Shabbaton of the Year at Camp Chi, WI May 22-26: Sr. NCSY Final Shabbaton of the Year at Camp Chi, WI
April 4-6: Spring Conclave, STL May 17: Elections and Installations For more information: Temple Israel Youth Director Stephanie Grossman, 556-6536
USY
For more information: NCSY Advisor Bonnie Bloch, 330-4029 Co-Presidents Rachel Katzman, 689-9693 Ben Gerber, 333-2920
Contact contact Jeff Shyken at 492-8550, ext. 153 for information.
Jewish Experience Grant Applications Bar/Bat Mitzvah grants for Jewish residential summer camps are due in the office of
Jewish Educational & Library Services
no later than April 1, 2003. Need a form? Have questions? Call Kathy Hirshman 334-6445.
Page 14
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
March 7, 2003
This Year, of All Years, a Purim Relevant to our World by JANE ULMAN ENCINO, CA (JTA)--On the morning of March 18, my son Jeremy, 13, will slather a handful of extra-hold gel on his unnaturally red-streaked hair and sculpt it into porcupine spines. He’ll wear shorts two sizes too large, securing them low on his hips with a black leather belt embedded with 116 pyramid studs. His plaid boxers will be exposed. He’ll layer a short-sleeved T-shirt over a long-sleeved one, with silver, black and red flames racing up his arms. This is Purim 5763 and Jeremy is costumed as...himself. Jeremy won't be joining a parade of kids masquerading as Queen Esther, Mordechai, Vashti, King Ahasuerus or SpongeBob SquarePants. And he'll have to wait until afternoon to hang out at the Purim Carnival’s bean bag toss, hoping to accumulate enough winning tickets to bag his own goldfish. No, this is Purim 5763 and Jeremy will be spending the morning at the Los Angeles County Courthouse working on art projects with kids who have been identified as abused or “at risk” and who face long hours anxiously awaiting court appearances. In fact, the entire middle school at Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School in Northridge, Calif., will spend the morning engaged in one of 17 community service projects, ranging from delivering meals to people with AIDS to sorting and packing food for people living in poverty to assisting at a local elementary school. “Unfair,” Jeremy and his friends protest, especially when they see their friends and siblings preparing for a full day of festivities. “Right on,” I counter, exposing my age as well as my antipathy toward Purim. “Purim, what’s that to celebrate?” my grandfather, William Snyder, used to say. “A nice Jewish girl marries a gentile king, and afterward everyone gets drunk.”
Rabbi Ferdinand Isserman, senior rabbi at Temple Israel in St. Louis from 1929 to 1963, took his opposition to Purim a step further; he made the holiday practically nonexistent. While his sermon on “The Right to Abolish Purim” is, unfortunately, lost, the temple’s historian, Joseph Losos, recalls that Rabbi Isserman disapproved of Purim “because he felt it was a nationalistic, chauvinistic and xenophobic holiday and because God’s name is never mentioned in the Megillah.” Yes, Purim is problematic. Not only is God’s name absent, but also the holiday lacks sacred rituals as well as an authenticated historical basis. Perhaps that's why the Book of Esther barely made it into the Bible, the last book to be accepted. An entire tractate of the Talmud, in fact, devotes itself to arguments for and against its canonization. So I’m pleased that Jeremy and Danny, 11, are working to improve the world. They and their schoolmates are even carrying out one of the holiday’s mitzvot--the directive (Megillah 9:22) to send gifts to the poor. Usually these consist of money or food, but the students are contributing something equally valuable, their time and enthusiasm. As the Megillah (9:1) says, “V’nahapoch nu.” “The world has turned topsy-turvy.” We have teenagers never mind that their normal street apparel renders them indistinguishable from court jesters, palace guards and even royal concubines-foregoing a morning of frivolity for community service. But this year Purim is more than a melodramatic tale of premarital sex and intermarriage, misogyny, murder, intemperance and vindictiveness. It is more than an opportunity for committees to fill the coffers of synagogues, day schools and other Jewish organizations by hosting lavish carnivals and masquerade balls. And it is more than an excuse, as the Code of
tally attacked the Israelites from the rear, where the women, children and infirm walked. But this year, we don’t have to remember Amalek; we are living in constant fear of him. Or them. We have Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and millions of fundamentalist Muslims who would like to see Jews, women and children obliterated from the earth. Purim, despite its silliness and political incorrectness, gives us a welcome respite from this nightmare. And, by celebrating as a community, it also gives us strength and solidarity. Together we hear the Megillah read, trying, paradoxically and No, this is not actually THE Moses; it’s Jane impossibly, as the Torah Ulman’s grandfather, William Snyder, dressed (Deuteronomy 25:19) for Purim festivities circa 1922. commands us, to Photo by Jane Ulman. remember Amalek and Jewish Law tells us, for men and blot out his memory. Together we women to wear each other’s clothes. observe, as the Megillah (9:22) comThis year, in this topsy-turvy world, mands us, a day “of feasting and gladPurim is a serious holiday. For just as ness” and send baskets of food Esther, Mordechai and the rest of the (mishloach manot) to one another. Jews of Persia lived in imminent danPerhaps we always needed this oneger, so do we. day reprieve. On the Shabbat of Remembrance, It is important, as my sons and their preceding Purim, we read about schoolmates are doing, to make the Amalek, the quintessential enemy of world a better place. It is equally the Jews. Deuteronomy 25:17-18 important to build a strong, caring states: “Remember what Amalek did and proud Jewish community. to you on your journey, after you left Because this Purim we know that Egypt--how, undeterred by fear of it's going to take some difficult and God, he surprised you on the march, dangerous work to triumph over our when you were famished and wary, oppressors. And in today’s topsy-turvy and cut down all the stragglers in world, we have no assurance that we your rear.” can succeed. Amalek, the embodiment of evil and Jane Ulman is a freelance writer inhumanity and the supposed ances- in Encino, CA. She is the mother of tor of Haman, gratuitously and bru- four sons.
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Nominations Due for “JCC Wall of Fame” by LISA SHKOLNICK, JCC Assistant Director Applications are now being accepted for nominations for the “JCC Wall of Fame.” This award recognizes the achievement of Omaha’s Jewish athletes who participated in JCC sports programs in their youth and went on to make significant contributions to the Jewish community, the general community and/or the Jewish Community Center. Criteria includes: • Candidate must be Jewish; • Musy have participated in at least one JCC sponsored youth sports program; • Must have lettered and excelled in a varsity sport for a high school or university; • Must have devoted at least three to five years of service towards the betterment of the community. (This service is to be contributed to the JCC and/or the Jewish community as an active committee member, a volunteer leader through a program, a chairman of a committee, or through the promotion of programs.) Applications for this award will be approved and judged by the JCC Health and Fitness Committee. A plaque will be added to the “Wall of Fame” at the Jewish Community Center and the recipients will receive a certificate of recognition at the final JCC Board Meeting in June, and will also be recognized in the Jewish Press and the JCC Centerpiece. Applications for nominations for the “Wall of Fame” may be picked up at Member Services and must be returned by May 1 to me at the Jewish Community Center, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154, faxed to me at: 1-402-334-6466; or e-mailed to: lshkolnick@jewishomaha.org. For more information, call me at 334-6425.
Charity Sports Banquet (Continued from page 1) In January 2000, Patrick was named the National Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA), making him just the second cable commentator to receive the honor. Patrick transcended the sports world when he served as guest host of ABC’s Good Morning America, Dec. 30-31, 1996, and Jan. 1, 1997. In 1998 he received a Sports Emmy Award in the Studio Host category. He received a CableACE Award in 1997 for his work on SportsCenter. Some of Patrick’s finer moments have been presented on “SportsCenter’s Sunday Conversation,” ESPN’s in-depth interview segment, where he has brought out the best in many of sports’ premier personalities, including Michael Jordan, Mark McGwire, Barry Sanders, Wayne Gretzky, Larry Bird and Reggie Jackson. Prior to working with ESPN, Patrick was a sports anchor/reporter for CNN (1983-89), where his assignments included the World Series, NBA Finals and Winter Olympics. In 1997, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Dayton in Ohio, where Patrick, 45, earned a degree in broadcasting. Previous speakers included Howard Cosell, Lou Holtz, John Madden, Joe Paterno, Barry Switzer, David Stern, Mike Ditka, Bob Devaney, Keith Jackson, Bobby Knight, Bill Walsh, Dick Vitale, Bobby Bowden, Joe Theismann, Lee Corso, Terry Bradshaw, Dr. Tom Osborne, Roy Firestone, Dick Schaap, Steve Spurrier, and last year Greg Gumbel. The cocktail hour begins at 5:45 p.m. with the dinner following an hour later, according to Cohen. Tickets are $95. and are available by calling the B’nai B’rith Office at 334-6443. Special VIP reception/dinner tickets are $150.
Purim’s Particulars
Page 15
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by R. BERNARD MANN, Legacy Crosswords, © 2003 ACROSS 1. La _____, Milan opera house 6. Painting, sculpture, etc. 10. Oolong packet, for short 14. THAT REALLY BAD GUY (wanted to kill Mordecai and all the Jews) 15. Profound 16. Shred or bit 17. “I have half _ ____ to tell the boss!” 18. Camino ____ 19. Threesome 20. Where, in Spanish 21. JEWS PINED FOR THE CEDARS __ _______, IN BABYLONIAN EXILE 23. Etats-_____ 25. Sea eagles 26. Aversion or dislike (abbrev.) 30. Unit 31. ADJECTIVE REFERRING TO A FRUIT OF AHASUEROS LANDS 32. Unfinished, as wood before painting 37. Petroleum ship 38. Southern Pacific and Union Pacif. 39. Indian, Arkansas-OklahomaTexas 40. SECLUDED AREAS, AS THOSE WHERE JEWS LIVED IN BABYLONIA 42. QUEEN WHO SAVED ALL 43. Work at knotted lace 44. Passing, in Paris 45. BEASTS OF BURDEN THEN 48. Malt kiln 49. RESIDENT OF AHASUEROS’ CITY (preceded by indefinite article) 51. Spews words, loudly 56. Wing-tip or loafer 57. Commuter might catch it, in Cordova 58. Perfect exemplar 59. Leader, manager 60. Insufficient (abbrev.)
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Page 16
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
March 7, 2003
As Recent Spate of Films Shows, Focus on Holocaust Still Thrives by TOM TUGEND LOS ANGELES (JTA)--With the liberation of the Nazi death camps and the fall of Berlin, the Holocaust and Hitler’s reign came to an end almost 58 years ago. Yet the fascination of filmmakers in Hollywood and Europe with the horrors and moral complexities of this tragic era has only intensified with the passage of time. A case in point was the Los Angeles opening on the same night last week of three films dealing in different ways with the history and legacy of the period. The Costa-Gavras film Amen indicts the silence of the Vatican as six million Jews were murdered. Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary is a 90minute documentary, in which Traudl Junge, the fuhrer’s private secretary from 1942 to his suicide in 1945, recalls the daily, often banal, routine of the man who terrified the world. The French import, God Is Great, I’m Not by Pascale Bailly is set in the present and tracks the ups and downs of an interfaith romance. Even here, though, much can be understood about the male protagonist by knowing that he is the son of Holocaust survivors. The simultaneous opening of the three films is largely coincidental, but they extend the seemingly endless production of movies, television specials, plays, novels and scholarly works using Holocaust as their dramatic focus. One explanation for this attraction
Live
from the
comes from C o s t a Gavras, the creator of such political thrillers as Z, Stage of Siege, Missing and Music Box. “Every year we discover new elements about that period,” he said recently by phone from Paris. “Every Adrien Brody, in the scene from Roman Polanski’s The writer and Pianist, has been nominated for an Academy Award for Photo by Focus Features director in best actor. every generation will revisit it and try Costa-Gavras said. “They were to understand how a cultured country trained to help people and used this was able to create officially an industry knowledge to destroy them.” The Pianist by Roman Polanski, for killing other people. nominated this year for seven Oscars, “Other countries under Nazi occupadramatizes one man’s survival in tion were a party to this crime, so we Warsaw and its ghetto during their explore it again and again. We try to destruction by the German army. understand how 40,000 people, men To the film’s producer, Robert and women, for four years got up Benmussa, “The Holocaust was the every morning and then spent the day most important moment of the 20th killing Jews.” century, maybe in all of history. When A central character in Amen is an SS officer known only as “The Doctor,” you make a movie about it, it’s not just modeled on Dr. Josef Mengele, known a film but a testimony for the next in Auschwitz as “The Angel of Death.” generation.” The passage of time lends perspecHe is the only completely evil person tive, noted filmmaker Claude in the movie, because “the most cyniLanzmann. “The farther we move cal people of all were the doctors,”
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away from the Holocaust, the better we can measure its scope and magnitude,” he said. “I could not have made Shoah after only 20 years had passed,” referring to his nine-hour documentary about the Holocaust. However many movies are produced about the Holocaust, the stories and complexities appear inexhaustible. Even for Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, who has devoted his life to writing about the Holocaust he experienced himself, there are unanswered questions. “Something is still missing,” he said. “We have answered many of the historical questions, but I still need to know more about human behavior, about the working of mass psychosis.” Another attraction to moviemakers is the dramatic tension inherent in the confrontation between good, or at least innocent victimhood, and evil. “In an age of moral relativism, the Holocaust is the absolute standard, the personification of absolute evil,” according to Michael Berenbaum, a professor at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. He agrees with critics who charge that Hollywood’s treatment has sometimes trivialized the great tragedy, but maintains that the effort “has been mostly for the good.” There is widespread agreement that the spate of Holocaust-themed movies, though occasionally descending into “Holokitsch,” has familiarized millions of people with the “Final Solution,” who would never crack a book on the subject.
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President Bill Clinton will speak on his view of the world today as seen through the very special eyes that only a former leader of the free world can have.
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