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A PR I L 1 4 , 2 023 | 2 3 NISA N 578 3 | VO L. 1 03 | NO. 26 | CANDLELIGHTING | FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 7:44 P.M.
Yom Ha’atzmaut Carnival Concerts of Lights at Temple Israel Page 3
The Kaplan Book Group recognizes the Shoah Page 6
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor ark your calendar for the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s Yom Ha’atzmaut Carnival, which will be held Wednesday, April 26, from 5:30-7 p.m. in the Staenberg Omaha JCC gymnasium. Admission to this event is free for the entire community and there will be something for all ages. Kosher food from Star
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Catering is available for purchase: $2 for a pizza slice, $4 for falafel, and $1 for popcorn or a cookie. In addition to nosh, we have commemorative T-shirts for sale, as well as sturdy canvas tote bags—each is only $12. We will also have a visit from IDF soldiers, and will have the opportunity to ask questions. Avi Michaeli is 45 years old, Married and father of four children aged 7-17. See Yom Ha’Atzmaut Carnival page 2
They are at it again: The Meyers Family Legacy of Laughter Page 12
The ELC is Kosher for Passover
REGULARS Spotlight Voices Synagogues Life cycles
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The liberation of our people
LISA COOPER Pennie Z. Davis Early Learning Center Director Students at the ELC had the opportunity to participate in the ritual of Bedikat Chametz, searching and destroying the last bit of chametz before Passover begins. Each child was given a holiday-related search kit containing a feather, a spoon, and a flashlight (generously donated by Oriental Trading Company) to complete the task. Chametz was hidden throughout the school and children explored Passover through sensory, gross motor, and creative activities. They also dug for artifacts in Ancient Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, decorated Seder placemats and slam-dunked matzah balls into soup bowls. In the weeks leading up to Passover, our students explored the Exodus story, the concept of freedom and the process of preparing for Passover. This capstone event was the culmination of weeks of study and our students See Kosher for Passover page 2
RABBI ALEX FELCH In Jewish tradition, Passover is called also z’man heruteinu which means “the time of our freedom”. Moses our teacher - the central character and leader of the people of Israel in the Torah - goes unmentioned in the Passover Haggadah. Instead, we emphasize God as the Liberator of our people from all their deep struggles, enabling them
to leave behind the Egyptian oppressor and to start life in freedom, living according to the values of the Torah in the Promised Land. It would take 40 years for the children of Israel to put their painful Egyptian memories and countless enemies behind them in their journey through the Sinai desert to the land of milk and honey. A new generation See Liberate our people page 4