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MA R C H 1 3 , 2 02 0 | 1 7 A DA R 578 0 | VO L. 1 00 | NO. 2 2 | 2 SECTIONS | CANDLELIGHTING | FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 7:11 P.M.
Week of Understanding Havdalah Soirée with Tish Page A5
Magda Brown
Central African Republic: Hunting with the pygmies, Gorilla love, and other stories Page B1
George Elbaum
Sarah Kutler
SCOTT LITTKY Executive Director, IHE etween March 23rd and 27th, the IHE has arranged more than 20 speaking engagements that will reach some 7,000 Nebraska students. Some of these engagements will take place with local Holocaust survivors, such as Dr. Fred Kader and Kitty Williams, along with second generation speakers Hazzan Michael Krausman and Dr. Steve Wees. To learn more about these and other local survivors, you can check out the “Survivor Stories” section on the IHE website, or tour the Pennie Z. Davis Gallery on the JCC Campus. We are also honored to welcome Holocaust survivors who have agreed to travel to Omaha especially for the Week of Understanding program. The guests who will be joining us in 2020 are profiled below. The public is invited to share in these moving testimonies, through three evening engagements. March 23 at 7 p.m., Shireen Jardo Alhanto, Yazidi sur-
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Peter Metzelaar
Agnes Schwartz
vivor and Holocaust survivor Kitty Williams will present Why We Can’t Forget at Beth El Synagogue. This program is moderated by Lacey Studnicka, Senior Director-Community Engagement and Outreach, Lutheran Family Services Holocaust Survivor Agnes Schwartz will present A Roll of the Dice on March 24 at 7 p.m. at Countryside Community Church. This event is presented by the Center for Faith Studies March 25 at 6:30 p.m., Holocaust Survivor George Elbaum will present Remember These Words at the Durham Museum, Truhlsen Hall. Please send your reservations to 402.444.5071 or reservations@durhammuseum.org. Meet our guests: MAGDA BROWN Magda is from Miskolc, Hungary. She grew up in a safe, loving home and enjoyed a normal childhood. After German troops occupied Budapest, Magda and her family were sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland. After arriving, Magda was separated from her mother, See Week of Understanding page A3
JTA readers’ stories of their own political evolution Page B7
Seven Blessings
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Spotlight Voices Synagogues Life cycles
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KRIPKE JEWISH FEDERATION LIBRARY STAFF On March 19 the Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group continues the year with a discussion of Ruchama King’s first novel, Seven Blessings. If you are not at all familiar with the world of Jewish matchmaking, this is definitely the book to read. Seven Blessings examines the world of non-professional matchmakers in contemporary Israel and focuses on the lives of two well-meaning matchmakers, Tsippi
and Judith, “aging” but hopelessly wanting to be a bride, Beth, and two hopeful but flawed potential matches, Binyamin and Akiva. Throughout King’s novel, she confronts the reader with the trials of each of the characters’ hopes, desires and crises of faith and self-worth. For the reader not familiar with many of the customs and rituals practiced by Orthodox Jews, this novel certainly serves as an introduction to many of them. The title Seven Blessings stems from the seven blessings that are recited during a Jewish marriage ceremony under the chuppah (wedding canopy). These blessings are repeated for seven days after each of the meals attended and given in honor of the newlywed couple. Throughout the novel, each of the five main characters is confronted by various crises: a crisis of faith, a crisis of marriage, a personal crisis of See Seven Blessings page A4
Fútbol comes to Omaha: Union Omaha Soccer Club GABBY BLAIR Staff Writer, Jewish Press Football has long been a proud Nebraska tradition. While we take our Huskers seriously, there is a new game in town ready to pull a fan base... soccer! Given that soccer has a worldwide following, and that so many youth participate in this high-action sport across our metro, Union Omaha should have no problem scoring their goal of finding fan support. A May 2019 press release by Cheri Duryea of Canary & Coal LLC, announced the arrival of Nebraska’s first professional soccer club, Union Omaha. “The United Soccer League (USL) announced today it had awarded a USL League One fran-
chise to Alliance Omaha Soccer Holdings, making Omaha, Nebraska the first new market to join League One for the 2020 season. The club will be the only professional soccer club currently operating in the state of Nebraska and will be coached by former University of Nebraska Omaha Head Coach Jay Mims.” Indeed, soccer fever is spreading with many in our community excited about the upcoming inaugural season, which begins on April 25. Community member Jonathan Rich shared that he and wife Sheila’s teenaged twin boys, Alex and Zach, are looking forward to working as Union Omaha ball boys this season. See Fútbol in Omaha page A2