Vol. LXXXVII No. 32 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 87 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
13 Nisan, 5768 April 18, 2008 3 Sections
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
Israel@60 This was a “gimme.” The Press staff and board of directors knew years ago that we would salute Israel on her 60th; we just had no idea that so many of our readers would respond! Nebraskans, former Nebraskans around North America, and many former Huskers in Israel answered our request and sent us inspiring and heartwarming stories. More than 60, in fact, sent in articles, poems, and photos; synagogues and local Jewish organizations submitted articles and photos describing their programs in Israel, some of which began before statehood. Other readers schlepped heavy photo albums to the Press office, showing us with great pride, memorabilia of trips taken in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. And some even wrote about preState life -- working the Land, creating kibbutzim, universities and the like, and recalling Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. Of course, an issue like this wouldn’t be complete without reminiscences of Missions undertaken by the Jewish Federation of Omaha, the Jewish Community Center’s ARTZA trips for teens, and local synagogues. We only wish we could have included more photos from the dozens of trips taken throughout the years, but like every large issue we produce, we ran out of room and time (guess there’s always Israel@70, G-d willing, in 2018)! Life hasn’t been easy for the State of Israel. Threatened since infancy by its surrounding neighbors and their fellow travellers, the radical rhetoric denouncing Israel’s right to exist has not subsided. Despite its dangerous neighborhood, Israel has not only survived, but thrived. One only has to look at the list of inventions, Nobel laureates, authors, medical advances, technological/agricultural and business achievements to know that the world would be a poorer place without Israel as it: • is second in the world only to the United States in the number of IPOs (new stock offer-
ings); developed the cell phone; ICQ software (the basis for Instant Messaging); voice mail technology; the Pentium MMX chip; the first ingestible video camera; and the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer. And it was the first country to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully-functional electricity generating plant. Israel has the highest per capita ratio of university graduates, computer owners and book buyers in the world, as well as the largest number of bio-tech start-up companies. Apart from Silicon Valley in the U.S., Israel has the largest number of technology start-ups. It also produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation and has one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed! If those statistics aren’t enough: Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians, with 145 per 10,000, as compared to 85 in the U.S., more than 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. And it was the only country in the world to start the 21st century with more trees than in the prior century! And it keeps chugging along, attracting investors like Omaha’s own Warren Buffett, who not only made his first trip to Israel last September, but followed Eitan Wertheimer, the CEO of Iscar, (purchased by Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in May of 2006) to South Korea for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on a second factory to make the precision tools much in demand (even from countries that have no diplomatic relations with Israel!). What a shame that the terrorists running the show in Gaza, southern Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East can’t envision a world beyond their hatred of Israel and the Jews. But this issue isn’t about politics -- it’s about the strength of the relationship we’ve created in the Heartland of America with our mishpocha (our family) in Israel.
And what better way to observe Passover -the Festival of Freedom -- than by celebrating Israel’s 60th with this special issue! Needless to say, lots of work goes into producing a paper this size. Starting with the large quantity of ads (thanks to Advertising Manager Allan Handleman and our newest Sales Associate Robyn Belgrade) to the man who creates them as well as the layout and gorgeous front cover (Managing Editor Richard Busse), this issue takes hundreds of extra hours in preparation, page production, and placing photos (all by Lori Kooper Schwarz, Assistant Managing Editor), not to mention correct billing (the responsibility of Barbara Kirkpatrick). This issue goes into production while the Press staff still has to publish regular issues on a weekly basis, and we couldn’t do it all without the help of Deborah Platt, who joins Dottie Rosenblum and our team of our loyal volunteers. Our deepest gratitude goes to all these dedicated staff and volunteers, as well as to the fantastic team that comprises our Board of Directors, not only for their hard work on this issue, but on all the behind-the-scenes efforts that make the Jewish Press the award-winning publication it is today. At the end of our Passover seders this Saturday night, we will collectively recite the words Jews have said for centuries: “Next year in Jerusalem!” For those of you who have never experienced the awesome and amazing Land of Israel, isn’t it finally time? And for those of you who’ve been -- but not lately -isn’t it time for a return trip? We hope this issue -- Israel@60 -- inspires all our readers to make plans for a visit there soon. And we wish you a happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful Passover. Howard K. Marcus President of the Jewish Press Carol Katzman Editor of the Jewish Press
Cover photos and credits, starting from the top, from left to right: Row 1: Chasid in Mea Shearim by Melissa Katzman; children playing in the snow in Jerusalem by Brian Hendler for JTA; graffiti in Jerusalem by Melissa Katzman; Ahava Katzin and Maya Saprio-Tain, students at the High School Music Conservatory at Hebrew University, work to give janitors and security guards at their school social rights by Brian Hendler for JTA; Bedoiun woman in Arad by Avi Katzman; Row 2: IDF infantry corps instructor by Edgar Asher for ISRANET; Israeli child at Kibbutz Givat Hashlosha by Edgar Asher for ISRANET; Rabbis Moshe Cohen, left, and Dovid Fleischer in Neve Yaakov by Michal Fleischer; Israeli flag by Melissa Katzman; eating donuts for Hanukkah by Edgar Asher for ISRANET; Row 3: JTA photo of Jerusalem’s Old City at night by Paul James Cowie; Ronit Balaban, former resident of Ganei Tal in Gush Katif, in her new greenhouse funded by Jewish National Fund by Edgar Asher for ISRANET; resident of Sderot in front of bullet-pocked walls by Edgar Asher for ISRANET; Tzippora Rina Fleischer by Shanny Katzman; Israeli children by Jan Goldstein; Row 4: Arad’s central market by Edgar Asher for ISRANET; reflection of Dead Sea hotels by Melissa Katzman; Lior Ben-Shimon, age 5, in hospital in Ashkelon following a kassam rocket attack by Edgar Asher for ISRANET; hippies at Kikar Zion by Avi Katzman; former Israel Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, at Emunah’s Neve Sarah Herzog School for Girls in Bnai Brak by Edgar Asher for ISRANET; Row 5: IDF Batallion 101 paratroop brigade by Edgar Asher for ISRANET; Ethiopian protester at rally for Falash Mura by Edgar Asher for ISRANET; Israel Air Force graduation flyover by Edgar Asher for ISRANET; Lt. Gen. Dan Shomron, 1937-2007, photo courtesy of Israeli’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs; “Am Yisrael Chai” by Melissa Katzman; Row 6: Dr. Howard Cedar, winner of the Wolf Prize in Medicine for cancer research, holds up a slide in his lab at the Hadassah Medical School by Brian Hendler for JTA; Machane Yehuda market by Melissa Katzman; Pvt. Ahikam Amihai, 20, killed while off duty, photo courtesy of JTA; woman in Jaffa by Avi Katzman; young Israelis on Sheinkin Street in Tel Aviv by Avi Katzman.
(Founded in 1920) Howard K. Marcus President Carol Katzman Editor Richard Busse Managing Editor Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Robyn Belgrade Sales Associate Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper Anne Muskin Editorial Intern Jewish Press Board Bobbi Leibowitz, Vice President; Stan Mitchell, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Treasurer; Joanie Jacobson, Immediate Past-chairman; Susan Lehr; Jamie Meyerson; Carin Parcel, George Quittner; Eve Randone, Melissa Schop; Michael Siegel, Michael Sigmond; Jim Simon; Nancy Skid; and Dorothy Spizman. The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service, and Jewish Senior Services, and the Jewish Press. Highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors 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. Editorial The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org. Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1-402-334-5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org.. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be singlespaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions, but should be printed as soon as possible to ensure timeliness. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer, but the name can be withheld at the writer’s request. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For more information, contact Carol Katzman, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly on Friday for $33 per calendar year U.S.; $72 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or e-mail to: jpress@jewishomaha. org.
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Building the future State of Israel An Omahan looks back on the days leading up to Statehood and the war for independence that followed by SOL BLOOM I set out for Palestine in late 1946 aboard the S.S. Marine Carp. It was bound for Haifa, with a stop at Beirut, and its passengers were a strange mix of young spirited Zionists eager to help build the future State, and old Levantines returning to their Middle Eastern origins to complete life after living in the United States for many years. The ship itself had carried troops in the war just recently ended and had not changed its facilities for these post-war civilian voyagers. We slept on sheets of canvas, lashed to metal tubing suggesting the shape of a bed, which in turn were stacked in four or five tiers on metal rods extending the height of the deck. This was my introduction to maritime life. The Marine Carp plodding along at 12 knots took two weeks to reach the eastern recesses of the Mediterranean. The Atlantic was already uneasy in those first days out of New York, but I was always at ease with the rocking, shuddering and vibrating of the ship. Those first days were gray without sun. The clouds light gray, the rain sleet gray, the waves slate gray, the ship a rusty gray, and even the old Army food trays off which we ate in the paint gray mess section had a silvery gray cast. It warmed and cleared as we sailed into the Mediterranean and made for our first port of call -Beirut -- to discharge the old returning Lebanese, and for our group of young American Jewish Zionists to have the first taste of Arab enmity. Beirut then was lovely, twinkling at dusk as we entered its harbor. We were excited at the prospect of going ashore to imbibe our first draught of Levantine life and color, and surely we thought, with our American passports, this would be granted handily. The Lebanese port control officers must have known that on the Marine Carp were these Zionist zealots hell bent to make further trouble for their brothers in Arab Palestine. Our passports, clean of any reference to religious leanings, were scrutinized by name and a Goldstein, Levy, Cohen, were denied the right to go ashore. Since other Americans had their passports stamped to proceed down the gangway to enjoy fabled Beirut, we were incensed at this injustice. We convened a meeting on the aft-deck, our group having grown strong and unified over two weeks of close living, discussions, Hebrew study, of singing and dancing together, and decided that if we could not go ashore then no further Americans could enjoy that right. A natural leader had evolved among us and following
him, we all stormed the two immediate family and about all the Lebanese bureaucrats stamping Blooms who were now in America. other passports, and hustled them I tried to answer the questions, but off the American territory of the naturally I was fascinated by the Marine Carp, pushed them down scenes flashing outside the car. the gangway and saw one of them This was my first time abroad, and brandishing his pistol and cursing while I had been well versed in the us, as we did them, as they drove story of Jewish settlement, I was not off the pier and to Beirut in what I prepared for the Arab world I saw remember was a GI issue Jeep. lining both sides of the road just Then, without Beirut to enjoy outside Haifa. The dress, sounds, but proud of our action to support and smells of the Middle East needinternational law, and with the faded my immediate attention as they ing scent of Turkish tobacco and were completely exotic to anything Araq brought aboard earlier by experienced back home, but Cousin Arab stevedores unloading cargo, Katz kept plying me with questions we danced and sang for hours sendand it was difficult to answer them ing the strange sounds of our hopes while trying to satisfy my curiosity for a future Israel to the puzzled of this completely different culture. ears of Arabs on the pier and Sol Bloom in his United States Army uniform, Finally we turned left, approached July, 1944. beyond to Beirut. the small Jewish towns in the Haifa The next morning we left and made the short jaunt to bay area and arrived in the semi-rural setting of my Haifa. Father had written to our cousin Ephraim Katz of cousin’s home. my expected arrival. I knew that in the perpetual confuThis most famous of all homes of our family, had origsion of youth arriving in a strange new land, I would inally been the only house in the area surrounded by citsomehow meet up with this exalted relative, the proud rus orchards and wheat fields. It still had the aura of the pioneer who had left a comfortable life in Bucharest to pioneer era, with rough-hewn blocks with iron bars plant his family, his wheat and citrus on land just north of securing the small windows of the structure. It exuded Haifa in the early years of the British Mandate in Palestine. solidity and strength to protect the family against those It was the letters of Cousin Katz to Sam Bloom in tenuous times in which it was built. New Jersey that created my calling to agriculture, and By 1946 the kiryiot, or small suburbs of the Bay area this first encounter, the most significant of my young life had encroached upon the original solitude of the area, would not only introduce me to the exemplar of all the and Cousin Katz had also built a few houses opposite his Blooms, but would begin with his blessing my many front yard. Beit Katz had become the center of a small neighborhood, and besides housing his children, there years of study in farm animal nutrition. My passport properly stamped by his Majesty’s official, may have been 20 families in the area. I remember five members of the family. Cousin Katz lost my belongings carried by an eager porter, I came down the gangway of the S.S. Marine Carp into a milling his first wife Sabena to typhus, hence the name of his neighcrowd on the pier. I had no idea where to turn. This borhood. There were his second wife, the youngest daughstate of confusion lasted perhaps three minutes, for I saw ter Mady, a second daughter married to an agent of the this man, strong in bearing with close cropped salt and Czech Skoda company and their children, and a son with pepper hair approach me with supreme confidence, and some shadowy connection with Haganah intelligence. They were pleased to have this idealistic halutz relative without a word, enclose me completely in his strong embrace. He introduced himself, and when I asked how among them; days were filled with talk, exotic meals and he knew whom to embrace he replied that the stamp of feeling so much at home so far away from home. All the affairs of the family and neighborhood centered around our family was on my face. On the way to his home in the Mifratz, the bay area our cousin; the postman delivered the mail for Sabena to north of Haifa, Ephraim Katz was full of questions about him for distribution, and therein is a splendid story. Continued on page 4 my father whom he had not seen since 1914, about my
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April 18, 2008
Building the future State
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dairy husbandry with the old man. Continued from page 3 When Mother came up that weekend Cousin Katz would sit at the table in the courtyard awaiting all those coming she wanted to sue, but Dad put the whole for mail. In those afternoons, I heard incident in humane context. So, the only many languages, for those in the Sabena visible scar on my body, high on the left neighborhood had either escaped the forehead, was my initiation into the proHolocaust, had settled in Palestine for fession that later followed. But back to the Katz family: living at some years, or like me, newly arrived the home was Ephraim’s second wife and from America. No matter the origin of the recipient of three children. Previously mentioned was mail, our cousin managed to converse a married daughter with two children, successfully. To his wife -- Romanian, to and their father, the Skoda agent for the those from Poland in Yiddish, Hebrew to region. He had been in business in veteran settlers, to his married daughter Beirut, but with the escalating tensions in and her children French, for they had just the region, came to stay with family in left the Francophile culture of Beirut Palestine. (The more things change...) The melodious flow of French filled the where her husband had had the Skoda agency, German to those from that air whenever they came over from their adjacent apartment. With their two girls benighted place, and English with me. Had an Arab farm worker entered his under age 10 joining in, there was this courtyard, I’m sure the greetings would have been most appropriate. What pride I had in family and what respect for this pioneer in Israel, this warm, superb cosmopolitan. Events with cousin Katz and family (1946-48) When I arrived at Sabena that fall of 1946 cousin Katz no longer farmed, but still did chores on the field. He asked me to help him and one morning we did, what chalutzim have done relentlessly since their earliest Bloom’s identity card in Palestine, 1946. return to the soil of Israel, remove rocks soprano patina which made their fluid from its fields. words even more engaging. All the We labored together and as the sun Romanian, Yiddish, Hebrew and Italian I rose high, sweat flowed freely and I asked had heard from my father over 22 years if he wanted to rest. “Oh no,” he said, seemed harsh, even uncouth, compared “I’ll have plenty of time to rest when life to this first sweet seamless flow of French is over, so let’s get on with it.” This mastered by this branch of our family. seemed odd to me, for he was so vigorThe grown son, his name no longer ous, sinewy and with a little gray in short remembered, didn’t divulge his occupacropped hair, I could not quite compre- tion, but through innuendo and scraps of hend this statement. conversation around the table underThis work reminded me of my first stood that he had some role in naval agrarian pursuits in the Borscht Belt where intelligence with the Haganah. the family vacationed each summer at the He took me to my first steak dinner in Esther Manor near Monticello, New York. Palestine, at the Zion Hotel in Haifa, and Dad has us pick blueberries which grew in he did speak disparagingly of the disrupthe gully at the back of the hotel, for he tive role the Arabs pursued with Jewish wanted to convert them to brandy. settlement. He, at that time, introduced I know we picked enough for him to me to the term “wog” for “wily oriental make gallon jugs of the brew, corked, then gentleman,” and on occasion would toss sealed with red wax and brought back to his hand over his head in the direction of age in the little cold room in the basement those fitting his definition. But his blonde of our house on Inwood Terrace. Those urbane daughter, Mady, galvanized and jugs I believe were only opened and con- monopolized my attention. This was the sumed at Jack’s Bar Mitzvah. daughter of a halutz in Palestine? Before returning to the Katz family, let My concept of pioneer women in me describe how I was indelibly imprint- Palestine had been plugged into my brain ed to become a dairy nutritionist. At the over the summers I spent at Zionist camps Esther Manor, cows were kept to supply in the Catskills. They had to be robust, milk for the guests and cared for by the thick-torsoed, clear of decadent make-up, father of the owner. I was always there single-minded in desire to work the land, helping to bring in the cows from pasture and, at first meeting, would immediately and to close gates as we passed from begin to converse in Hebrew. No, Mady had all the trappings of meadow to meadow. One morning after milking, this old bourgeois Jewry in the Diaspora, with no Jewish farmer asked me to help him with link, it seemed to me, to the purpose of some posts he had to secure. I held the or the impending struggle for our place wood post and he drove them with a in the sun in Palestine. She was of medium height with the sledgehammer. The next thing I knew was my intimacy with the ground and a blonde hair and pale fine complexion warm sticky feeling of blood on my fore- which has always been linked to Jewish head for that hammer had mistook my women of Romania. She always wore make-up and dressed in fashions a bit head for the post. Moments later I saw the farmer’s 1935 grand for the time, day or occasion. She Dodge sedan alongside and in a moment had grown up the daughter of a private he was rushing me down to the doctor in and capitalist landowner, and had been Monticello. I remember the stitches going educated at the American University of in, the tetanus shot in my bottom, and the Beirut. While I was already Anglophobic, she ice cream cone to assuage my pains. We came back to the hotel, my head swathed would speak sympathetically of the in bandages and Dad very upset -- British role in Palestine and do so, in a Momma was minding the store in West pronounced attempt to speak the King’s New York -- forbade me ever to practice Continued on page 5
April 18, 2008
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Building the future State Continued from page 4 English in context and accent. Even her brother would contest her political leanings. Never once did she mention or show interest in the kibbutz movement, and quite distinctly told me that she had never visited one, though the closest one was within 10 kilometers of Sabena. For all her charms and as much as I wanted to add her to the armory of beautiful women of the Bloom family, I had to hold her aloof from this honor. Somehow she just couldn’t fit in to the scheme of idealistic living I had, with Dad’s help, chosen for myself in Israel. I had been training at Kibbutz Gvat where I had worked in its wheat and cornfields, in its vegetable gardens, harvested plums and apples and mucked out under the poultry house and in the cattle pens. My wedding to Helen, another American, took place, of course, under the chuppah at Cousin Katz’s place. The rabbi was busy with such affairs, and we had already made reservations for our honeymoon at the Lev HaCarmel Hotel which stood on the top of the promontory overlooking Haifa harbor. The rabbi came late and got us joined just with enough time to reach the hotel before curfew. Why curfew? Days and nights in Palestine then were often violent with Jews, Arabs and the governing British giving and receiving punishment. Just a few days before our wedding, Menachem Begin, then the young Irgunist, had blown up the Haifa refinery, so the British had clamped down a sunset curfew on the whole area. With the rabbi late, and the sun declining there wasn’t much time to enjoy this unique family occasion at the Katz home. So the blessings and “mazel tovs” were given in haste, the taxi was waiting and we just made it to Lev HaCarmel before the wailing sirens tore the evening atmosphere. The Blooms at Kibbutz Gvat: newlywed idealists Once married at the Katz home, I took Helen with me to continue my agricultural training at Gvat. Up to that time, I roomed with other young people in small concrete structures erected to handle the
“illegals” from Europe. I remember standing with Helen beneath the palm trees fronting the communal dining hall and discussing couple housing with the “chaver” in charge of this activity. He was one of the original settlers and looking us over, this soft idealistic couple from rich America, he said, “You know, we went through our period of the romantica many years ago, and it is only right that you have this privilege now. Follow me and we’ll get you settled properly.” This we did and he led us down the concrete pathway, where between rooms housing veteran members, he stopped before a large tent and said, “You’ll live here.” I wasn’t quite ready for this for I had had a regular roof over my head to this point, and had not imagined that my bride and I would have canvas over our heads. At least, the tent was fairly roomy, had a concrete base with ceramic tiles and for furnishings a dresser, a small table with lamp, and a bare double metal bedstead with paltry springing and no mattress in sight. “But where is the mattress,” I asked? “No problem,” replied the housing director, “just go over to the warehouse and they’ll get you a mattress.” Once settled in with the exception of that mattress, I went over to the warehouse and explained my need to the man in charge. He comes out with a large double sized mattress cover. “You don’t understand,” was the reply, “this is the mattress. You just go over to the straw storage shed and fill it with straw to your liking.” Now this was a blow for young Americans, for we had always slept on innerspring mattresses. But we were to be treated equally with all the many newcomers, stretching the ability of the kib-
Sincere Good Wishes To You
butz to absorb its quota of “olim”. ing munching straw waiting for us to finWithout telling Helen, I go over to the ish. huge pile of golden wheat straw and start Finish we did. Together we hoisted the stuffing the furthest seam of the mattress mattress onto the cart and steadying this cover. The work went slowly as I punched load, overspreading the confines of the in the brightest straw into the furthest cart, I clucked Nannele into motion. It recesses of that coarse poplin sack. It sure seemed that all of Kibbutz Gvat was takes a lot of straw and you have to try enjoying this spectacle as we made our Left: Sol Bloom on the banks of the Jordan River, way to our tent. and manhandled this monstrosity of a mattress onto the 1947, and below, at Kibbutz G’vat. bare metal bed frame. The straw mattress served the purpose but brought other problems. Both Helen and I had hay fever, so we slept on a vast bed of inoculum with constant sneezing mixed with itching and running noses. Human pressure finally leveled our mattress, and in a few weeks the center was much lower than the sides. So we survived this period of “romantica” and managed enough rest to carry out our daily work, and in a small way through our efforts, contributed to the future realization of the State of Israel. Native Ha-Lamed-Heh (The 35 martyrs on the way to Gush Etzion) This is the story I told my daughter Ruth as the fateful year of 1948 began in Jerusalem. I was then in the Haganah. There was no formal induction, for as an American citizen getting it even. As I was doing this, kib- it was illegal to fight in the armed forces butzniks on their barnyard duties came of a foreign country. To do so could forby, snickering as I stuffed away to fulfill feit my citizenship. But we American stumy potential conjugal aspirations. dents at the Hebrew University were in a Finally, the bag was fully stuffed, but very odd situation. Let me explain: despite my newly acquired skills in mat• President Truman we felt was friendtress-making, I could not get it flat and ly to the aims of the Jewish settlement in even. I was ready for the final step, to sew Palestine. Our opinion was that he would it shut. I go again to the warehouse for a not take action against us, even if we did big needle and coarse thread, and on the enter the “illegal” Jewish armed forces; way think out how to transport my cre• Since the Jewish population, at that ation from the straw pile to our tent. We time in Palestine had not attained statehad two teams of horses and their wagons hood, we would be in armed forces that for transport needs, but they were too big did not represent a recognized nation. So and certainly unclean for my needs. it would have been hard for the United But then I remembered Nannele, the States to establish for whom we fought. jackass which pulled the small cart used for • We students joked, at that time in taking rocks from the fields, carrying sacks Jerusalem, that before going off to train of feed or the milk cans from the dairy. I in the Haganah, we would take our passbrought Nannele and cart to my site of ports to the American counsel in production, and by this time Helen Jerusalem. We would ask the staff to keep brought our Brownie camera to record the our passports in their safe. We then would event. Lost these many years was the pick them up after finishing what had to photo describing my artful sewing be done with the Arabs to establish the motions, Helen urging me on with Jews’ place as a recognized country. resigned good humor, and Nannele stand- Continued on page 6
Happy Passover Wishing the Jewish Community a Peaceful Passover.
Happy Passover!
Mayor Mike Fahey
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
Building the future State Continued from page 5 Only about half of the American students in late 1947 at the Hebrew University had been in the armed forces during the Second World War. The others had no military training nor knowledge as to how to handle and use weapons. But we were all gathered together and sent to a Haganah training base, a small farm settlement outside Jerusalem, settled partially by Jews from Yemen. The seats in the bus had been taken out, and the sides had been reinforced with steel armor plate to protect passengers from Arab gunfire. The hills around Jerusalem were bleak in early winter, and the crude living quarters did not help. Since the British were in active control of Palestine, all training was carried out without the firing of a single weapon. Such firing would have surely alerted the British to our illegal presence. Those of us familiar with rifles, grenades and machine guns, along with the Haganah officers detailed to our group, instructed our innocent companions in the use of these weapons. We sharpened our skills as how to maneuver in the hilly surroundings, how to take proper cover against the enemy, and we went on simulated night patrols. In the dark, we learned how to move in proper military formation, and how to keep from losing contact with each other at night. I really felt sorry for those student recruits with no prior military experience, for this was a hell of a method to inculcate our comrades into the basic skills of being foot soldiers. While there, we received intelligence that an Arab group was planning an action in our vicinity. To counter their move, part of our group would go on
patrol to learn what the Arabs were up to. Since I had been in the U. S. army for almost three years, I was selected to take part in the patrol. We spent anxious hours before the time to move out, and I was worried about this operation’s outcome. About two hours before “zero time” it began to rain heavily and the patrol was canceled. That sound of rain drumming noisily on the metal roofed barracks was the sweetest music I ever heard. From that night onward, I determined never to get angry with rain in my life, no matter how much of a problem or inconvenience. We completed our training, returned to Jerusalem in that same armored bus, and were assigned variously to Haganah units in neighborhoods closely adjacent to Arab enclaves in Jerusalem. We were quartered in regular residential homes, where during daylight hours we remained out of sight, so that the British patrols -attempting to keep peace between Jew and Arab -- would be unaware of our presence. However, at night activity began. We were assigned guard duty on the roofs of the houses to which we were posted. Now, in January-February it is cold in Jerusalem at night and to do guard duty four hours at a stretch was not easy. You’re all alone on the roof; it’s very difficult to stay warm in the damp cold, and your continuous shivering was a combination of weather discomfort and the inherent fear of an action or patrol by our Arab foes just a few rooftops away. During this dismal winter, my then wife Helen was, of course, apart from me. She was staying at our room at Pension HarAviv in Beit Hakarem. She too had to make the best of these troubled times with the companionship of the wives and
was selected in my place to join the 35. I will always remember how formidable -- yes, how heroic -- the “35” appeared in all their battle gear, as they assembled on the edge of Beit Hakarem. They were the Yishuv’s best and seemed invincible. The group went out to David Ben Gurion, center, reads Israel’s Declaration of reach Ramat Rachel, but Independence in Tel Aviv, May 14, 1948. Credit: WZPS never made it through single female students from our group the Judean hills. Twenty-four hours went still trying to attend classes at the by and no word. Then our officers assemUniversity. The fact that I was married bled a further group, I among them, to saved my life in Jerusalem. seek them out. Just before we started, the The settlement Ramat Rachel, slightly officers listened to the news; there was a south of Jerusalem, was being besieged British bulletin stating that the “35” had by the Arab Legion. The Haganah decid- been caught in an Arab ambush and there ed to send a small force of 35 soldiers, were no survivors. This tragedy was a termost from the Palmach’s best veterans, rible blow to the Haganah; the kibbutz plus a few from our group of American fell to the Arab Legion a few days later recruits, to try to lift the terrible threat at and its surviving members were taken Ramat Rachel. prisoner. I was one of the Americans selected to I wrote this story 47 years after its join the “35.” occurrence. Being married to my first During the final determination, I was wife Helen in January of 1948 was my on my bunk listening to the officers of salvation. And what eternal gratitude I our battalion discussing those to be sent. have for that Haganah officer who decidOne said, “Well we can’t send Shlomo ed not to send me because of my marBloom; he’s married.” riage. That sweet soul Moshe became, as The other officer asked; “Why not?” far as I know, one of the first Americans The reply came back, “Well suppose to fall in the war of independence for Shlomo becomes a casualty and doesn’t Israel. His sacrifice has given me a long get back here. Then we have his American eventful life -- baruch haShem. And it was wife sitting, grieving alone in Jerusalem. just that twist of fate that I was luckily There will be too many diplomatic and married at that time. political problems if that happens.” If you should visit Israel, be sure to ask So I was struck from the list and Moshe the location of the “Forest of the ThirtyPearlstein, with whom I had trained but five,” a forest planted to memorialize had no previous U. S. army experience, those “35” hero soldiers of Israel.
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Family memories of Israel span more than six decades by ZVI ASSAF May they enjoy nachas from all the family -- the daugh(Editor’s note: this letter was written to Fran Osoff ters, the sons-in-law, the grandchildren and the greatMilder from her uncle Zvi Assaf, Tel Aviv, Israel, (one grandchildren; and may the family ties between the of her father Hyman Osoff’s brothers. These memories younger generation in America and in Israel be mainexcerpted from letter written March 6, 1967, on the tained and grow ever stronger. occasion of Grandpa Osoff becoming 75-years-old). Rose Ziegman (Grandma Osoff’s youngest sister), Letter was from the family in Israel: Zvi, Ada, Uri, added this note to Sarah Osoff, Fran Milder’s mother, Mira, Arnon and Oren; Sarah, Yoel, Shai, Zippora, Cheryl Cooper’s grandmother ... Nurit and Ayal; Abraham, Rivka, Yehuda and Talia; Dear Sarah: Sarah and David. Over the years, Cheryl Milder Cooper I’ll always be grateful, and never forget what a wonhas maintained a relationship with the Israeli branch derful sister, and substitute mother you were. You of the Osoff/Assaf family.) taught me all the essential values, and eternal and classic ... distance cannot diminish the love and affection old-school traditions at the important stages of my which we feel for Hymie; and not only the members of growing-up years. You always had time to listen to my the closer family but all those who have ever come in problems and counsel me. contact with him. I thank you and love His optimism and conyou and wish you a wonstant friendly smile have derful 100th Birthday! won him many friends all Mazel Tov! his life long. In this he very much resembles our father And from Uri Assaf, of blessed memory -Tel Aviv, Israel (Grandpa Osoff’s nephew -- Uncle whose kindness of heart Zvi and Aunt Ada Assaf’s and devotion to the educason.), June 1, 1995: tion of his children were Dear Cheryl and Ron, absolutely boundless. Many thanks for the The truth is that we invitation to the family have very few memories reunion, but we shall not in common to tell you in be able to take part and I honor of this occasion, for we were all too small Above: Hyman Osoff, center, Cheryl Cooper’s grandfather, meets am very sorry to miss it. when Hymie left home at his nephew, Joshua Assaf, left, and brother, Zvi Assaf, in Tel Aviv in It happens that at the a very early age indeed the summer of 1949. Below: Cheryl and Ron Cooper meet up with same week, on July 6 there will be here in Israel and went to America. cousins Uri and Miri Assaf on the 1990 Federation Mission. a big family event -- the And you must also wedding of Zippa’s son, remember the difficulty Eyal. of communication at the Our son Arnon is in beginning of the 20th the U.S. now, but he has century, when America a busy itinerary required was an unknown quantity by his job which will not composed of mysteries enable him to visit you in and dreams. Omaha. Still, the impression he It’s a pity that so left and the family stories many miles separating us. about Hymie were felt This was determined still and told for many years. in 1920 when the four To begin with we Osofsky brothers and one missed the voice of the sister chose their destinachief family singer of the tion. At that time my dad Sabbath Zemirot (songs), wanted to leave Russia which were an attraction for all the Right: Uri and Assaf, children of the neighbors. Father Miri and your Grandpa Hayim always spoke about his brilliant (Grandpa Osoff’s wanted him to join him in visit capacity for study combined with nephew), the U.S. Finally my dad boyish mischief, and his pride in Fran and Jerry went to study in Germany Hayyim was no less than his pride in Milder and their and then in 1924, folgrandchildren in our brother Simha. lowed the eldest brother, He claimed that if Hayyim had 1995 in Omaha. Simcha, to Israel continued to study he would have gone even further (Palestine at that time). than Simha with his gifts. I particularly mention his Your Grandpa visited phenomenal memory. us in Israel twice. He Here is one little example. Before Hymie left for the wanted to meet everyone U.S. in 1907, he read the Hebrew classic by Peretz from the family and see Smolenskin called Hatoeh Bedarchei Hahayyim (The every place in the country. Wanderer on the Paths of Life), but he had to stop read- I drove him around in Israel to many places which were ing the gripping book in the middle. When he visited us just opened after the conquest of 1967 such as the old city again in 1949 here and the book came into his hand of Jerusalem, (where Hayim insisted to take a long walk), again, he turned the pages over just as though he had and even the center of Gaza where Arafat started his put it down a little while ago, found the page and line Palestinian Authority. Enclosed is a picture of one of the where he had stopped more than 40 years earlier and trips when Josh also joined. I think Hayim was very happy went on from there. visiting here and it was a partial compensation for many Friends and relatives have also told us that during his years of being apart from a big branch of the family. early years in America, Hymie used to steal away and I visited Omaha in October, 1965, and I remember study Gemara whenever he had a spare moment. most of you at that time, but especially those of you Undoubtedly, a past like that has had a great influence whom I met later, like you. I remember also that your on the lives of your parents Hymie and Sarah and all grandpa was driving a car with manual shift, the only your widespread family, may they continue to increase, one which I saw in the U.S., I regret that we couldn’t and upon whom all our family pride themselves. meet more. Nor have we forgotten the help we received from Many people here used to say about Simcha and my Hymie and Sarah after the First World War, when we dad that they were extremely good-natured and they were making our way painfully from Russia by way of were loved and cherished by everybody, even oppoPoland to Eretz Israel, and how much Hymie wanted at nents. I am sure that is true also about Hayim who least one of us to go to the U.S. and be with him. looked the same and had the same character. This aspiration was fulfilled by his two visits to the The saga of the three Assaf brothers and sister (I had country, and the ties established when several of our requested Assaf history) is a long story and I am ready family visited you as well. to tell you all what I know on the next occasion that We congratulate Hymie and wish him length of days we’ll meet and I hope it will be soon. and good health together with our sister-in-law, Sarah. Continued on page 8
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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April 18, 2008
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Family memories of Israel Continued from page 7 And from the Hebrew University “Scopus” in 1949: Rabbi Simha Assaf, Rector of the Hebrew University, is today one of the best-known personalities in Israel today. He is also one of the most versatile, for in addition to being a rabbi, he is also a university professor, a scholar of considerable reputation, the author of several important works in the field of Jewish studies, a Justice of Israel’s Supreme Court since it was formed a year ago, and a prominent Cheryl Cooper’s Aunt Rivka Assaf and Uri Assaf, Cheryl Cooper and Mira Assaf, member of numerous public cousin Nurit Eichorn, Tel Aviv, June, 1991. 1990. bodies. Born 60 years ago in Luban, Russia, Rabbi Assaf was a student of the famous Yeshiva of Telsche. After serving for a time as Rabbi of the Luban and Minsk communities, he was appointed teacher of Talmud at the Odessa Yeshiva Above: Fran Milder reminisces about the Osoff family with (where the Israeli her father’s sister-in-law, on a visit to Israel in 1977. Left: poet Bialik and Jerry Milder visits the Western Wall in 1977. Prof. Joseph Klausner also taught), subsequently becoming head of the institution. An ardent Zionist in his youth, he left for Palestine in 1921. Less than a month after his appointment as Rector of Hebrew University, the Law Faculty was established, following the opening of the Medical School. When Josh Cooper visited Israel in 1988, he visited his uncle Abe Assaf, who told him about Rabbi Simha Assaf. “Simha had never finished high school and he was never a lawyer,” Abe Assaf told him. “Before becoming a Supreme Court justice, he was a teacher and head of Hebrew University.” Assaf continued telling the teenager about the history of the Assaf family in Israel. “My father was a merchant,” Abe told Josh. “When the Kini Polsky, left, and Cheryl Cooper welcome a planeload of communists took over, they took everything away. At this new olim from the former Soviet Union arriving at Ben time I was only 12 and my father told me and my broth- Gurion Airport during a June, 1991 Federation mission. ers to leave Russia.” He escaped and came to Israel, then Palestine, where his older brother Simha was already living. Hyman (Josh’s great-grandfather) had already come to America and lived in Omaha, the father of my mother’s mother. “Abe told me that he remembers carrying ammunition to the area which is now the Cardo in the Old City,” Josh wrote in his 1988 diary. “It had not yet been excavated; it was not even known to exist! It’s not every day that you get to speak with a primary source!” One last note: Josh was surprised that Shimon Peres lived only a few floors above the apartment where his Assaf rela- At HaGalil Chinese restaurant in Kiryat Shmona in 1990 were Federation mistives lived. “I thought he would, like our sion participants: Paul and Sandy Epstein, clockwise from left, Susie and high positioned government officials, live Marvin Cohn, Cheryl and Ron Cooper, an unidentified couple, and Ann and Don Goldstein. in a very fancy house.”
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The “girls” on the 1990 Federation Mission included: Susie Cohn, left, Sandy Epstein, Cheryl Cooper, Ann Goldstein, Susan Silver and Ellie Penner.
Getting off the bus at Kibbutz Hanaton were members of the 1990 Federation Mission: Ellie Penner, left, Cheryl Cooper, Susie Cohn and Don Goldstein.
April 18, 2008
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 9
A witness to Israel’s history by JUDY BISMAN RUBIN the American I read Exodus by Leon S t u d e n t Uris when I was in the Program of the eighth grade and my life A m e r i c a n changed. Until that Friends of the point, my impression of H e b r e w Israel was that of a dusty University volBiblical land that my unteered either Hebrew school teachers on kibbutzim, talked about but had no filling sandbags personal relevance to me. or working in However, Exodus detailed the Post Office. a vibrant, struggling No one chose young country that Left: In 1966, Judy Rubin traveled to Israel ships in favor of container shipping. Right: to return home. became my mission to by ship: the SS Shalom of the Zim Lines. Someone edited the sign following the Six We felt that if visit and explore, especial- Israel has since discontinued its passenger Day War, on the road to East Jerusalem. we left Israel in ly after viewing the film version at least her time of need, we could never return four times. with a clear conscience. I was sorting mail Between my junior and senior years of in the Central Post Office in Jerusalem on high school, I traveled to Israel with 17 the morning of June 5, 1967, when the other teens on the first high school pilsirens sounded and everyone went into grimage to Israel from Beth Shalom the bomb shelter. Congregation in Kansas City, Missouri. At this time of crisis, my typical caution We spent seven unbelievable weeks was abandoned. I looked around to see if exploring Israel from all the directions I knew anyone else in the shelter and possible at that time. found two other American students from Besides creating life-long bonds with my program. each other, that trip to Israel became a We determined we needed to get back seminal moment that directed my life’s to the university and be with our friends future course. Some participants, like me, and our stock of emergency supplies that became Jewish educators. Others became Every tour to Israel includes a tree planting we had prepared in advance of the war. very religiously observant and currently exercise. In 1967, Judy Rubin speculated We hitched a ride with an army officer live on the West Bank in Israel. Others that this was in the same forest as she had that took us half way back to the Givat have become leaders of the Jewish com- visited on her teen pilgrimage. Ram campus of the Hebrew University. remove its peacekeeping forces from the He let us off in what seemed like the no munities where they are living. After that initial trip, I was determined Gaza Strip. Israel looked at this move as man’s land but actually it was an unpopto return to Israel for a longer period of an act of aggression and began to prepare ulated area near the former Central Bus time and spent my Junior Year Abroad at for war. In the two weeks that followed, Station at the entrance to Jerusalem. the Hebrew University in Jerusalem dur- the Israeli students at the Hebrew We heard explosions, there was shrapUniversity and the professors who were in nel on the ground and we saw anti-airing the 1966-67 school year. Following Yom Ha’Atzmaut in May, miluim (army reserves) were all called up craft flashes in the sky. What were we to 1967, Egypt’s President, Gamal Abdul for active duty. The University closed. do except to start walking? However, a Those of us who were participating on cab came along and while the driver Nasser, requested the United Nations to
charged us three times what a normal ride would have been, we safely returned to our friends at Hebrew U. The war in Jerusalem was over in three days while the fighting continued for another three days on the other fronts. In the blackened shelter at night, the radio played constant news reports of the war’s progress. We were also inspired by the singing of Shuli Natan’s crystal clear soprano, singing “Yerushalyim Shel Zahav” by Naomi Shemer, which became the anthem of the war. What euphoria followed the Six Day War! What hopes for peace! Everyone was sure that the Arabs would have to make peace with Israel at that time. We are still waiting for those dreams to be fulfilled. In the years from 1948-1967, the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, the original campus, remained in Israeli hands although it was located in hostile Jordanian territory. Israel sent a monthly army convoy to safeguard the University on Mount Scopus. After the Six Day War, the students on our program volunteered to clean debris from the amphitheater. Needless to say, the neglected buildings and grounds were unrecognizable from the flourishing modernized campus and gardens I found when I attended a Jewish educators conference held on Mount Scopus some 20 years later. After the war, the university re-opened; we all took final exams and returned to our respective universities. The Ministry of Posts sent all of us who volunteered in the Post Office, a set of first day issue stamps commemorating the Six Day War. Continued on page 10
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
A witness to Israel’s history Continued from page 9 After graduation from the University of Wisconsin, I returned to Israel, with my clothes, books and records with the intention of making aliyah. I lived in Jerusalem for three more years. I worked at The Jerusalem Post where I edited letters to the editor. I married there and my eldest son was born there. Even though I have chosen to return to live in the United States, Israel is my second home. I have returned to visit six more times. Each visit was remarkable, as I saw radical differences in economic progress and a higher standard of living from previous visits. I was very fortunate to have participated in the Omaha Jewish Educators Mission in the summer of 2007. Israel is much more built up, developed and modern from that first time I visited as a teen. The “pioneering” spirit is not as readily evident. However, the thrill of seeing Israel for the first time returned as many participants on the Educators Mission were first time visitors. I was able to recount my own earlier emotions through the excitement of their experiences.
Oh, those Israeli soldiers ...
In 1959, Rosalyn and Jerry Zeffren (parents of Omahan Shane Kotok) visited Israel with B’nai B’rith. “My mom just couldn’t resist taking a photo with all those great looking soldiers!” Kotok said about the photo taken by her father.
In Israel, three years after the Six Day War
Photos from top: Judy Rubin visits an army encampment, located in a valley near the Givat Ram campus of Hebrew University, in preparation for Israel’s 19th anniversary, After the war, Israel did away with the houses that crowded the area in front of the Kotel. The mechitza (separation between men and women) had not yet been established, and rubble had not been removed. A truckload of Israeli soldiers return from the front following the Six Day War.
Caryl Greenberg wanted to go to Israel, but her husband Barton “Bucky” did not -- until Paul Veret (“then head of the Federation, the JCC, and everything related to those institutions”) told him, “You really should go and here’s the trip you should take.” They signed up for an American Jewish Congress tour of London, Paris, Rome and 10 days in Israel. “That was only three years after the Six Day War, and Israel was in a very upbeat mood,” Caryl Greenberg recalls. “We smelled oranges when we left the plane. We went to places visitors had not seen between ‘48 and ‘67, such as Hadassah Hospital, the Western Wall, synagogues that had been desecrated by the Jordanians and were being reconstructed, in fact anything that was in East Jerusalem.” She added, “In Tel Aviv, we met relatives in Israel for many years. We went to the Golan and Eilat, Beersheva and Haifa; we fell in love with Tzfat. We stayed at Kibbutz Lavi for a day.” The Greenbergs brought all the medications they were urged to take, “but who needed any more medicine other than being in Israel for the first time!” she said. “Our last trip, a Federation mission about 18 months ago, was a thrill to be with some of our young leaders who were on their first trip. We relived the excitement and know they also will be making more trips to that fabulous country.” Photos from top left: Caryl tastes felafel in the Carmel market; Bucky introduces himself to Israeli kids on the beach at Ashdod; and “rides” an Israeli tank.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
A Nebraskan in Israel by HARRY ALLEN Zionism and the creation and defense of Israel have always been high on our personal agenda. I remember well the first date Annie (nee Arbitman) and I had as we sat in the Piano Bar in Omaha. Among the many things we discussed that evening over a couple of beers was our mutual passion for Zionism. That was April 1944, a few short months before going overseas with the 15th Air Force, returning after flying 51 missions to get married. Now sitting in our apartment in Jerusalem, seeing the beauty of Jerusalem restored, we reflect on these 60 years of Israel’s existence and recall in particular the emotional events surrounding its creation. The year 1946 saw us living in Reno, Nevada, where I took my first job as head of a government research organization after completing graduate studies. The Jewish community was small and the active Zionist community virtually nonexistent.
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Annie Allen represents Hadassah in Israel at Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, in 1992.
The Allens prepare for Pesach seder in Jerusalem, for their extended family. So Annie and I set about creating a Nevada branch of the Zionist Emergency Council (the forerunner of AIPAC). I think we managed to recruit a dozen people, plus a branch of the American Christian Palestine Committee. It had more members than our branch of the emergency council. On the day that the newly created United Nations was to vote on the partition resolution, our emotions -- our hopes as well as our fears of failure -- were all-consuming. We listened intently as the roll call slowly proceeded, and when the two thirds required majority was reached, we were genuinely overcome. That day, we received a telegram from Harry Shapiro, national executive director of the Zionist Emergency Council -a telegram which we still display on the walls among our pantheon of memorabilia. The telegram began, “Victory at last. United Nations has just approved plan for establishing separate Jewish and Arab states in Palestine. But we do not believe for a moment that our struggles and hardships are over. There may be very
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Harry and Annie visit the “Good Fence” between Lebanon and Israel, 1998. trying days ahead for the Jewish state.” Mr. Shapiro was prophetic; there certainly have been. After passage of the resolution, and as violence mounted in Palestine, the American delegate to the United Nations introduced a resolution delaying the plan and asking that a UN trusteeship be created. This proposal was advanced without the knowledge or approval of President Harry S. Truman, and after intense lobbying by the American Zionist community was withdrawn. Perhaps the most emotional moment for us was the day David Ben Gurion proclaimed the state and the British began their withdrawal. We were driving to San Francisco that morning and as we started to climb the Donner summit, over the radio came Walter Winchell’s hysterical broadcast asserting that with five Arab armies poised to attack, the Jews would be slaughtered once again. We believed differently. The next day at a UNESCO conference, a San Francisco school teacher commented that now that the Jewish state was created she thought her Jewish students stood a bit more proudly. So did we all, and so we do now. Kof Tet b’November -- Nov. 29, 1946 -- thus became a realization of our personal dreams and we felt a great sense of thanks that in our own very very small and insignificant way we were a part of the lobbying process that helped bring that about. Former Lincolnites Annie and Harry Allen made aliyah to Israel and live in Jerusalem.
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April 18, 2008
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by JAN GOLDSTEIN Executive Director Jewish Federation of Omaha When the Jewish Press announced that the Passover edition theme would be “Israel at 60”, I realized that it’s an ideal opportunity to reflect upon my many mission trips to Israel over the past two decades. Yes, the fact that I’ve had the privilege to travel to Eretz Yisrael year after year since my first mission in 1992 is overwhelming -even to me. I’m often asked, “Don’t you get tired of going to Israel? Seeing the same things time after time?” The answer, unequivocally, is no. To state it simply, I love Israel. Each trip has been unique and special -- and I’ve truly cherished them all. It’s true that some sites -like Yad Vashem and Masada -- are must-stops on every Israel trip. I’ve been to these sites dozens of times. Yet each time I gain new insight. And sometimes we find completely new ways to experience these traditional sites, such as when we discovered Holocaust survivor Eliezer Ayalon. This incredible man, who served as a consultant for Schindler’s
America since Jews first arrived in 1654. So what does the identification and spiritual link to a tiny piece of land mean to us as a Jewish community here in Omaha? A trip to Israel gives us an opportunity to walk the footsteps of our Jewish history. From the most secular to the very observant Jew, visiting Israel can be a life-changing journey. It is in Israel that we can witness first-hand the values and ethics that have shaped us as a people. It’s impossible to visit Israel and not take pride in how much we value social service, as witnessed in the Absorption Centers, Youth Aliyah
Left: Tom Fellman carries an Ethiopian boy just a month after he arrived at Kibbutz Ayelet HaShachar in Israel in 1991. Below: The first Young Leadership mission 1995 drew more than 40 under 40 from the Jewish community.
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Left: On the Women’s Mission 1995: Jan Goldstein, left, Ruth Erman, Harriet Fishel, Carol Bloch, Anne Cohen. Right: On a Solidarity Mission in 1999 were Bob Kully, and Joe Kirshenbaum, standing back row left, and Goldstein, seated List, guides us through Yad Vashem in such a powerful way -- sharing his personal memories of what it was like to be a young boy during the Holocaust. In addition to Israel’s traditional stops, each mission provides the opportunity to add new places to see and people to visit. This tiny country, labeled “the gas station of the Middle East”, is where some of the world’s greatest cultures and civilizations have lived and flourished: Phoenicians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans, all of whom eventually disappeared. But Jews intersected into the rich, colorful and very complicated land, formerly known as Palestine, and today called Israel. Over the years our Jewish Federation has offered many opportunities for people of all ages to visit Israel: the general Community, Leadership groups, and Partnership missions, Campaign, Fact Finding, Outreach, Family, Teen, Solidarity, Women’s and Men’s Missions, Educators … you name it, we’ve done it. We will continue to create meaningful mission experiences for our community -- and here’s the reason why: We, as Jews in the Diaspora, are stronger today because we have this tiny country which represents us and will be always be there for us. Over the years, Israel has shown its critical importance to us as Jews. The concept of Israel has been central to our heritage. Our connection to the Holy Land, a homeland for Jews, has been vital to the formal and informal teachings of every generation of Jews in
left, meeting with olim, Israelis and community leaders from North America, after visiting the former Soviet Union. Below: A three-day 1994 Solidarity Mission included Bobbie Epstein, left, Goldstein, Barb Platt, Sharon Kooper, Ann Shackman. villages and group homes for children at risk. A visit to places like Yad Lakashish -- Lifeline for the Old -- shows how much we respect and treasure our elderly. Time spent at the Kotel and wandering through the streets and tunnels of the Old City creates a historical and spiritual linkage that is simply impossible to replicate anywhere else. Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and the Ghetto Fighters Holocaust Museum in our Western Galilee Partnership Region reveal the deepest lessons of all -- lessons of moral and social justice, courage, religious conviction and our people’s ability to survive man’s inhumanity to man. Anybody visiting Israel cannot help but have profound respect for the optimism of the Israeli people to build a better future despite the constant challenges and threats which surround them. How amazing to witness the achievements in the high tech industries of software, internet, and telecommunications which have exploded in just a few short years. It quickly becomes apparent that this is a culture with the energy to take great risks to fight for new ideas, as we -- as a people -- have always done. Continued on page 13
April 18, 2008
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 13
On a mission Continued from page 12 If you’ve never been to Israel, how can I convey the wonder of traveling the southern Negev region to witness a world class, leading agricultural industry? It’s an amazing accomplishment in a place that began only with barren desert and the pioneering spirit of the kibbutz system. When we visit Israel, we connect with a spiritual sense of self. We identify with the dreams of our ancestors, our great-great-grandparents who always dreamed of one day ‘returning to the land of Israel.’ Today, we are privileged to have the opportunity to make our Passover prayer, “Next Year in Jerusalem,”
they return better able to speak up to anti-Israel rhetoric and propaganda. It’s critical for teens and young adults to make the journey to Israel, because young people are constantly seeking relevancy, meaning and spirituality. Recent surveys of those attending Birthright and high school trips show much stronger connections -- with both Israel and the Jewish people -- compared to those who have not gone. Clearly, we must get our teens and young adults to Israel in order to ensure our Jewish future. There are many reasons and benefits for every Jew to visit Israel, but the bottom line is this: a trip to Israel
to take more and more Omaha Jews to Israel each year. We in Omaha are very fortunate because our Federation, Foundation and synagogue leaders have long recognized the importance and value of establishing and building upon our Israel connection. Together, we have invested significant financial and human resources to send more than 10% of our Omaha community on these trips. I’d like to share a story about an experience I had more than ten years ago, which has made such an impact on my motivation to take people to Israel. I was helping staff a national mission when an 89- yearold man called, explaining that he had never been to
Photos from left: During the 1996 Homecoming Mission, Harlan Noddle, left, Nancy Noddle, Mary and Tom Bernstein, Beverly and Hal Maurer, and Connie and Bob Kully donned togas for a Roman-syle dinner in the Cardo; a group shot of
the 1996 Homecoming Mission; and in 2003 at the United Jewish Communities’ General Assembly in Israel, Jan Goldstein, front row left, Julee Katzman, Susie Shyken, Howard Goldstein; back row: Guy Matalon, Rabbi Mendel
Katzman, Rabbi Craig Marantz, Paul Shyken, Iris and Marty Ricks, Steve Riekes assemble for a two-mile Solidarity Walk: Below left: the 2006 Community Mission; Patty Nogg meets Israeli school children on the 2007 Campaign Mission.
provides a tremendous spark of Jewish identity. And for Israelis, our presence there reassures them that they are not alone. What a mission to Israel does not do is to replace Jewish education, observance and worship. But it does inspire us to learn more about our Jewish history and the Jewish people. With each visit to Israel, we return energized, motivated and recommitted to our Jewish community. Yes, I love Israel, and my passion will always guide me
Israel. He asked if I thought he would be able to handle the trip. After making sure he was in good health, I said he should come and we would help him to keep up with the group. On the very last day of the mission, he approached me, grabbed my hand and said, “All my life I’ve wanted to visit my Jewish Homeland. I never had the opportunity before and I wasn’t sure if I could do it. But you encouraged me to go, and it has been one of the most important things I have ever done. I know that I will never be able to return to Israel, but this was something I knew I needed to do. I’ll always be grateful for this incredible experience.” As Israel turns 60, now is the time to engage her. Don’t wait -- there’s never been a better time to go than now. Do it for the Jewish people, do it for the community, but most of all, do it for you.
come true. What a powerful feeling to stand on Mt. Scopus, viewing the land of the Bible -- the roots of our wanderings for 4,000 years. Israel brings us together in our own community and links us to Jews throughout the world. Going to Israel helps educate us about our relationships and global Jewish challenges. Each year our community members generously donate their resources, time and money to maintain and enhance this wonderful Jewish community for our children and our children’s children. Participating in a mission is an ideal opportunity to better understand the needs and purpose for giving, which generates increased giving for our own community as well as the money going to Israel and overseas. Those who visit on a mission return with a better understanding of the complex political issues and challenges;
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April 18, 2008
A first timer in Israel: Ramah Pilgrimage 1977 by ALAN POTASH the city. In 1977, my cousin Andy Wasserman, Israel, being a young country then, did my sister Julie Potash, and I joined 25 not have much variety in the way of food. other Nebraskans on the Ramah One of Israel’s “hi-tech” inventions at Pilgrimage to Israel. For me, and I think that time was chocolate spread -- for a few of the others, this was a life chang- many of us the chocolate sandwich for ing experience which still resonates over breakfast was more appealing than the 30 years later. Last summer I attended a Jewish Agency meeting in Israel and realized I had been traveling to Israel for more than 30 years, half of Israel’s existence -- what a difference 30 years can make in a country’s life and in a person’s life. Teen trips traveling through Israel in the 70s were not the luxury experiences one has today. We traveled in rugged trucks with benches -- some with padding, but most Group photo of Nebraskans on the 1977 Ramah Pilgrimage to seats were just wood Israel at Kennedy Memorial. planks -- not comfortable and most likely, traditional cucumbers, tomatoes and hard not safe. boiled eggs We were picked up at the airport in After settling into our Jerusalem resithese rugged trucks and drove up to dence, we had a security briefing by an Jerusalem stopping along the way to official representative of the army. The learn about the Burma Road. As we made briefing included an introduction to “susour way up to Jerusalem, we stopped at a picious objects.” This was our first exporidge and looked out over an awesome sure to the dangers of innocent little panoramic view. It was at night and look- packages like shoe boxes, cigarette packing at the lights of the city was hypnotic. ages and soda cans -- these items were Our residence in Jerusalem, the easy to make into bombs and we should Goldstein Youth Village, would not pass never pick them up or step on them. We any tourist standards today. It didn’t mat- also received a cultural introduction to ter; it was our home in Jerusalem and we the country. didn’t know any better and it was only a Jerusalem, one of the most amazing block from the #4 bus -- our gateway to cities in the world, was and is a paradise
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for teens connecting to their Jewish roots. Ben Yehuda Street was a street, not a pedestrian mall then (it went through a transformation after it became an easy target for car bombs). The falafel stands and cafés were numerous and you could even find a slice of pizza.
very sad when I went back to Israel in the 90s and Richie’s was gone -- down the street an internet café had opened. Our madrachim (guides/counselors) were the best: Eric Sokoloff and Amy Eilberg, the Americans, and Rachel Cohen and Yoshua the Israelis. When Rachel was in the army, she worked in one of the command units and was on staff during the raid on Entebee. Amy became the first Conservative woman rabbi. Eric, who made aliyah, was entering the army after our trip. In 1984, I was in Israel again; it was Friday night and I was walking from the Kotel and this guy next to me asks, “Weren’t you on the trip I staffed in 1977?” I turned and it was Eric! Joe Greenberg plants a tree during the Ramah trip of 1977. He invited me to his Photos courtesy of Joe Greenberg house for Shabbat dinner In the 70s and most of the 80s, there -- he had just gotten married the week was a famous pizza place called Richie’s before. I was their first Shabbat guest. That is Israel. To this day, I still run in New York style pizza (you could even buy a slice at the youth village). But Richie’s to Eric (now Yitzach), in Israel and the was more than a pizza place; it was the States. He is a strong Zionist and advocate for Israel. “Facebook” of the day. The touring and hiking we did in 1977 If you were traveling in Israel and you wanted your friends to know you were in was the highlight, and this was Yoshua’s Israel, you would post a note on the bul- area. It appeared to us that Yosh knew letin board with your contact information ever inch of the land. Soft spoken, tall -- the bulletin board at Richie’s was the and thin, one arm damaged from the most popular place on Saturday night; Yom Kippur war, he was in front and in everyone would check to see who was in charge. You never challenged him -- even Israel, or if you were lucky, who was look- with one arm he could take you down in ing for you. With Richie’s around, you a second! didn’t need a cellphone or email. I was Continued on page 15
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Ramah Pilgrimage 1977 Continued from page 14 Our first Shabbat in Jerusalem was transformative, the dress code for Shabbat was white -- not my style. But, being at the Kotel for Kabbalat Shabbat, (remember that 10 years earlier, it was not possible to even visit the Kotel!) was amazing. After we had our time at the Kotel we were to meet up at the palm tree. This lone palm tree was famous -- it was the only plant in the area and it stood out like a monument. It was a gathering place for groups to meet -- but the palm tree is gone now and every time I go to the Kotel, I think of how many people gathered by it after having a moment at the Wall.
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Wishing You a Happy Passover
every part of the country, it allowed us with plenty of time to wander around and explore on our own. Maybe that could not happen today, but back then we could go individually and as groups to explore such places as the old city.” He added, “When a person spends six weeks in a country, they begin to appreciate the society and way of life there. I did not always agree with everything I saw, but nevertheless learned an appreciation of and respect for another country.” Shkolnick recalled very strong emphasis on making aliyah or emigrating to Israel. “For me, I was not interested, but was open to hearing the message. My thought
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Left: Note the palm tree in the lower middle of the photo; youth groups touring Israel gathered there after visiting the Kotel. Right: Relaxing in the youth village that was the home base for the 1977 Ramah Pilgrimage to Israel were Stuart
Shkolnick, left, Amy Eilberg (one of the madrichim who later became the first woman to be ordained as a Conservative Rabbi), Julie Potash, an unidentified young woman, and Photo credits: Alan Potash. Michelle Kaiman (Bucher).
There is a saying in Israel, “If you want people to come back to Israel a second time, they have to have a first time.” This is a simple but important saying. “Israel Sally Jo and Elyza Richmon relax on a boat. Credit: Joe Greenberg changes a person,” a quote from a person I interviewed once; she made alyiah after graduating from college. Israel changed me. I have stayed connected since the first day I landed. Many of the other participants on the trip have also remained engaged in Israel. Stuart Shkolnick, a commercial claims consultant for an insurance company in Des Moines, expressed his gratitude to Beth El Synagogue for their support (including financial support) for the 1977 Ramah trip. “Truly a six-week visit is a once in a lifetime event,” Shkolnick e-mailed me. “It not only allowed us to see
at the time, and now, remains that my support of Israel will be from here and most likely financial,” he wrote. “It was also interesting to be with In 1989, Gloria Kaslow meets Alan for cof- groups from fee at the Cheesecake Cafe in Jerusalem. other parts of the country,” he added. “The group of Omaha teens was a good group and, for the most part, consisted of a lot of the kids involved in BBYO or the synagogue youth groups. I think the Omaha group came across well to others.” Several made aliyah, like Jonathan Duitch, who today is a tour guide and lives in Rehavia with his wife and three children. Many have spent significant time there and have sent their children on trips. I even lived in Israel from 1986-1990, (but that is another story, maybe for the Jewish Press issue in a decade, celebrating Israel’s 70th!).
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In 1984, two years before Alan Potash moved to Israel, his parents, Ruthie and Merle Potash, and aunt and uncle, Phyllis and Jerry Wasserman, made a trip there. From top left: Phyllis Wasserman and Ruth Potash visit Jerico; Phyllis and her brother, Merle, discover a bookshelf in an AMIT library that their mother, Ida Potash, donated in honor of her son, Larry, and husband, David; Phyllis and Ruth meet new olim from Ethiopia; the two couples enjoy a wine tasting at the Carmel Winery; Phyllis plants a tree in a Jewish National Fund forest.
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April 18, 2008
Israel again and again
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grime of thousands of years. We cried at by ELYZA RICHMON HALEV the Kotel and hiked through Wadi Kelt’s Where do I begin? While my Israel trip in 1977 was the first dry riverbed, Steve Parsow, Bobby Kahn time that I landed in Eretz HaKodesh, the and me in the front. I remember not being terribly impressed Holyland, it was not the first time that I by the food, and living that intended to go. I’ll never summer off of whole tomaforget my feelings and toes and cucumbers, hardsubsequent actions immeboiled eggs and halva. We diately after Israel was covered so much of the attacked on Yom Kippur country and the memories in 1973. are still so vivid. Our I was 13-years-old and I madrichim, counselors, was finding out about airwere also an amazing fare prices to Israel group. I can see their faces: because they needed my help, if only to collect the In 1985, Elyza Richmon Halev, Eric, Raheli, Yehoshua and eggs or milk the cows right, visited her friend Jacque, Amy (Eilberg) who went on while everyone else went near Tzfat, the closest friend from a few years later to become off to fight the war. For the 1979 kibbutz year still living the first female to be ordained as rabbi by the many obvious reasons, I in Israel. was unable to go to Israel that autumn but Conservative movement. But this would be only the beginning of it was a prescient moment of my connecmy eight trips to Israel, so far, two of tion to Israel. I was raised on a mix of chicken soup which were for a year. In early 1979, I returned to Israel, a and stories of my grandma Jennie Segal Richman’s baby brother Shlomo, who had high school graduate seeking to experigone to Palestine in 1924 as a young lad. ence the “real” Israel (I have a poster from Shlomo became a proud pioneer and then that says “Israel IsReal”) as in those builder of the state, eventually a days it was still a questionable fact. I went to Israel to live in a kibbutz, moshavnik chicken and fruit farmer. understand socialism from the children’s perspective (there were still children’s houses then), and study Hebrew in ulpan. I stayed on as a volunteer, in charge of their Olympic pool for the summer and in the children’s house the rest of the year. I returned a different person, having grown in ways that leave their mark still. I worked diligently on my Hebrew; I was intentionally singing Joni Mitchell In 2003, Avishai rides on Benyamin’s tractor at Moshav Kfar and James Taylor with an Vitkin, while Shoshana and Davida await their turns. Israeli accent just to get it (Omahans Sam and Jenny Richman bought the tractor for right. In those days, it still Uncle Shlomo in the early 60s; it’s still chugging along.) felt like we were building the There were always stories and discussions about Israel on our Sunday visits to grandma and grandpa’s house: stories of Golda Meir sitting in Sam and Jennie’s living room when she’d come to Omaha in the early years to raise money for the fledgling state. In 1967, I was seven-yearsold, and I vividly remember when my young, handsome Back row standing: Beni and Elyza Richmon Halev; seated: cousin, Benyamin, (Shlomo’s Davida, 7, Beni’s daughters: Carmit (Ph.D. from Stanford, son) came to visit after having teaches in Barcelona), Shahaf (student at Tel Aviv finished his army service and University), his wife, Rahel, and youngest, Noa, (just graduthe Six Day War. This was real- ated from Haifa University Medical School); Beni’s son Sagiv ly the beginning of my person- and his family missing from this photo from 2005. al connection to the state, a child with a country together. Kibbutz Hatzor Ashdod was founded by crush on her 21-year-old cousin, Beni, son of my Israeli pioneering uncle, someone a group of young, idealistic socialists from the HaShomer Hatzair Movement in the whom I still speak to every month or so. My first real opportunity to visit was the early 40s, primarily by American and teen trip in 1977, the summer following Bulgarian Jews. An amazing group they my junior year in high school. I remem- were, but the Americans had been there ber cheering as we landed. I think I more than 40 years and still spoke Hebrew remember singing “Hatikva” and I know I like Americans. I was determined to sound kissed the ground as I stepped off that like their children, my peers, and by the time I returned I had forgotten a lot of my longest of plane trips. This was the first time that I really fell in English, but had gained a good working love with the land, the brusque sabra peo- knowledge of Hebrew that I’ve mainple, the dream and the reality as I experi- tained to this day, and a decent accent. enced it. I’d found a land that embodied During 1979, the Shah of Iran fell; the holy, to me as a Jew, and obviously to Israel’s Menahem Begin signed the peace all the Abrahamic peoples. What did that accord with Anwar Sadat as president of mean though? The sense of history was Egypt; the former Soviet Union invaded visible and palpable everywhere we Afghanistan; Saddam Hussein became the stepped; someone’s ancestor lived there or president of Iraq, and Israel won the had traversed that very spot. Eurovision song contest with “Hallelujah” I recall marveling at the Old City -- its (sounds minor, but in Israel, this was huge!) smells and markets, brilliantly colored tex- -- it was an exciting time to be there. tiles against the Jerusalem stone and the Continued on page 17
April 18, 2008
Israel again and again Continued from page 16 At the end of the year though, I returned to Omaha to travel across western America with a close friend from Israel then finally entering university, ready to earn a degree. I’ve been halfway around the world and back since then, but I still think the Sinai is the most stunning place on earth. Subsequently I returned to Israel many times 1985, ’93, ’95, ’98, 2003-04, and 2005. The highlight of these trips for me was the academic year, 200304 that I spent there with my husband, Jeff, and our three children, Avishai Samuel, then seven, Davida Segal, then five, and Shoshana Sivan, then just two. We lived on French Hill Davida, Elyza, Shoshana, and in Jerusalem and integrat- Jeff visit the Galil in 2003. ed like immigrants into the life, the schools, the shul, the markets, etc. We traveled extensively and got to know the country and the people. The children really got to know their seven first cousins and multiple others, including Beni, his sister Miriam and their families. Together we experienced the joys and pressures of living in Israel first hand, navigating as newcomers like most Israelis before us, and became fluent in Hebrew. As Israel shaped me as a young woman, this experience gave our family new form and new understanding of our place in the world. Just last month, one of my Hebrew students through the Federation here in Durham/Chapel Hill told of how she is working on her Hebrew in preparation for her first trip to Israel with her two teenage children. She grew up Classical Reform from a family of German Jews that have been in America since the 1880s. They were opposed to the state of Israel, and though proud Jews, never had any Zionist connection in their experience. I marveled as my experience, so antithetical to hers, had brought us together, with her on the threshold of experiencing Israel for the first time. She has low expectations for her trip, for finding the magic and connection that I so feel for the strained, intense, beautiful, fraughtfilled place we call the Holyland. And part of me aches inside to know that so many of us here in America don’t have that kesher/connection, neither to the people, the place, or the idea. But me, I’m due. I need a fix of this place that is a part of me, like my kischkas, my blood flows through the land and it flows through me. Elyza Richmon HaLev grew up in Omaha, lived in Lincoln and resides now in North Carolina.
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Reflections on Israel by STEVE RIEKES Throughout all of Jewish history commencing with the first Hebrew, Abraham, the promised land, Israel, has been central to Jewish identity. This is true even for the millions of Jews living in the Diaspora, who were not allowed or never had the opportunity to be there. How fortunate am I, then, as a committed Jew, that circumstances have allowed me to visit our homeland on a number of occasions. I cherish the memories of each of them. The experiences have been many and varied, religious, emotional, intellectual, cultural, and often just plain fun. Margo and I took our children, Suzanne, then 14, and Ari, 10, on a family mission. We attended the opening ceremony of the Maccabbiah Games in a stadium outside Tel Aviv. The kids wanted to know if there were more Jews at the games than in Omaha, and we replied there were about 10 times as many.
safe, but bewildered by a modern civilization so different than from where they came. I remember being at Ben Gurion Airport in the middle of the night and watching newly arrived Jews from the former Soviet Union kiss the ground of freedom. I love to be in Jerusalem at Kabbalat Shabbat and watch the young men from the yeshivas joyfully sing and dance. Boys from Asia, from Africa, from North America -- boys of every hue and color -- everyone joyously welcoming the Sabbath, in Hebrew, a language that is thousand of years old, and in the very place where it all began. I remember standing before the Kotel, the Western Wall, and thinking: What would my grandparents and generations of my ancestors before them have given to be where I was standing? Why me? Why now? What of tomorrow? Go, see, and feel for yourself.
The boisterous crowd cheered on the athletes who marched behind many flags while Israeli jets thundered across the sky above. And there they were, Jews from Argentina to Australia, from Ireland to Italy, from Sweden to Singapore. At that moment, I thought of the prophet, Isaiah, living 2,500 years ago, who proclaimed: “I will bring your folk from the East, Will gather you out of the West; I will say to the North, ‘Give back!’ And to the South, ‘Do not withhold! Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the end of the earth.” If Judaism offers purpose, if history has meaning, were we not witness to it? I saw newly arrived Jews from Ethiopia, happy to be
Left: Steve and Margo Riekes and their son Ari in Tel Aviv, 1981; above: Steve with Ari and Suzanne overlooking Jerusalem; below: Steve returns in 2003 with Susie and Paul Shyken and Jan Goldstein to attend the UJC General Assembly.
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April 18, 2008
Having children and grandchildren and now great-grandchildren -- in Israel by ANNETTE FETTMAN We are very proud of our children, Rachel and her husband, Chaim Heifetz, who chose to make their home and life in Jerusalem. They made aliyah two months after their June wedding, arriving in Israel on Sept. 5, 1981. Chaim was completing his dental degree at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, when he met Rachel in New York City. She was a computer programmer for Dun and Bradstreet. He was offered a partnership in Cleveland, but declined, opting for a life in Israel with his bride. They settled in the Matasdorf neighborhood of Jerusalem and began to build a clientele for Chaim’s dental practice. They also began to build a wonderful family, and Yosef Heifetz was born on Sept. 11, 1982. Now here is the story as we heard it. The Jewish Agency will donate a baby crib to any couple who parents a child during their first year of aliyah. Rachel
gave birth a year and five days after their Sept. 5th arrival! A friend encouraged the new father to go to the Agency and plead his case, and he did. “True, we are five days past the date of our aliyah, but my wife does everything late!” Chaim said to the Agency official. And yes, the new parents received a crib for Yosef. The crib was also used for more Heifetz children: Chavie, Bracha Fraydel, and Nisson Dovid.
Cantor Leo Fettman enjoys his grandson Nisson Dovid Heifetz in 1991.
Chaim also served the required six months in the Israel Army and continues in the Reserves as a dentist. Rachel and Chaim are now the proud grandparents of Nosson Tzvi and Shumel, sons of Chavie and Yonatan Myers of Neve Yaakov, a suburb of Jerusalem. Nosson will be two-years-old in May and Shmuel was born Jan. 17, 2008. By the way, Chaim’s The Heifetz family, Rachel, front left, Nissy, and Chaim; parents, Mordy and Judy Heifetz, live in Tzfat. back row: Chavie, Bracha Fraydel, and Yosef.
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Our home: Israel by RABBI YONATAN MYERS Omaha is home to Omahans; Israel is home to the Jews. As a Jew who has lived most of my life in Israel, I can really feel that no other place in the world, or, as a matter of fact, no place in the entire cosmos, presents the correct dwelling for our Jewish nation. And so it has been for as long as history takes us. Abraham, who taught the Rabbi Myers stands at the right at the bris of his son, Nosson world about monotheism, Tzvi Myers, in 2006. Now let us fast-forward a few hours; received the Divine promise: “For all the what’s left of the food? How did that aid land that you see I will give to you and to in the development of one’s character? your offspring to eternity.” (Genesis On the other hand, if one was to help a 13:15) Today, too, the majority of Jews see needy woman carry her heavy shopping Israel as that one special place which may bags -that would bring out aspects in bear that solemn title, “Home of all Jews.” one’s personality that would carry on The countryside in Israel is not as vast with the rest of life. as the Grand Canyon, nor as picturesque In this fashion, is the wondrous life in as Yellowstone Park. The bridges here are Israel. In London, I could hop in a cab not as marvelous an engineering feat as with a polite driver and reach my destinathe Golden Gate bridge, but Jews find tion. In Israel, my cabdriver may not be beauty in this small country. as polite, yet I would still have a meanWhat obscure logic could possibly be ingful and deep discussion with him. standing behind this marvelous enigma? Life here for many Jews is about learnBeneath every rock in the Israeli couning, progressing, enhancing our souls and tryside there is history and meaning. We living a real, and meaningful life. can all imagine a good feast, with a scent Rabbi Myers, grandson-in-law of of sizzling lamb chops or juicy steak, and Cantor Leo and Annette Fettman, is a tall chilled glass of soda with a slice of to Chavie Heifetz, daughter married lemon, ice cubes and a straw bent to the of Rachel and Chaim Heifetz. exact level of one’s lips.
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New fund to bring Israel programs to Omaha by LISA LIEB events I’ve ever attended.” Federation Communications Director As the years passed, Israel remained a freBorn the same year that Israel was established, Zoë quent topic of conversation in Zoë’s home. Riekes has been connected to the homeland right from And immediately following the 1967 war, the start. Zoë’s parents took the family on This connection has her first of many Israel trips. It was much to do with her paran experience she describes as ents, who often talked amazing and powerful, seeing the about taking the family to country so soon after the war. Israel and did so in 1967. “When we saw the Golan Heights, It was a trip that has it was almost as if we could still see remained embedded in the smoke. We saw those same bunkers you see today -- and we her mind. And when her saw them right after history had father recently passed been made.” away (following the death Riekes has served in numerous of her mother in 1996), leadership roles with the Jewish Zoë Riekes, standing front row right, attends a 1999 meeting of the Zoë and Carl Riekes Federation of Omaha, and is the Partnership with Israel staff and volunteer leaders. Debbi Zweiback, chose to honor their immediate past President of the kneeling at right, attended as the ADL/CRC assistant director. memory by establishing board. She has traveled to Israel a number of from the partnership region of the Western Galilee to the Edith and Nathan times for Federation business, but Edith and Omaha. Examples include guest speakers, cultural Meltzer Memorial Nathan were never able to return. “My par- opportunities such as the recent performing arts series Endowment Fund. ents were in awe that I had this incredible and educational opportunities such as educator conferThinking about her Nathan and Edith Meltzer many memories and conopportunity, and they would always ask me ences. She sees the fund as an ideal way to honor her parents nections to Israel, Zoë remembers the year she turned to tell them about Israel. They really enjoyed seeing and their love for Israel. “It’s important to find new 13 -- a momentous time for both her and the homeland. Israel through my eyes,” she explained. Riekes is currently the Chairman of the Central Area ways to bring Israel to Omaha,” she said. “Israel has “I was in a big parade in Long Beach, California, celebrating Israel and my Bat Mitzvah,” she recalls. “It was Consortium of the Jewish Federation’s Partnership with always been a special part of my life, and I want the a very joyous occasion with lots of banners and flags, and Israel program. The Edith and Nathan Meltzer entire community to see first-hand how special our it stands out as one of the most special community Memorial Fund will help bring people and programs homeland is.”
Celebrating 10 years of the Partnership with Israel in 2007 are its first chairman, Bobbie Epstein, left, and its current chairman, Zoë Riekes. Originally called Partnership 2000 (or P2K), the name was changed when the successful program celebrated its fifth year.
Above: Riekes and Jan Goldstein hold a flag with the names and images of three missing Israeli soldiers, in March, 2007. Below: Riekes shows the boats created in a project between Friedel and the Gordon School in the Western Galilee.
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April 18, 2008
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by STEPHANIE SELDIN HOWARD I’ve had the good fortune to make three trips to Israel -- each at a different stage of my life, and each at a unique time in Israel’s history. My first trip to Israel in 1975 was a combined OmahaKansas City Pilgrimage. This was only two years after the Yom Kippur War and really not that long after the 1967 War. The trip was a life-changing experience: very introspective and very emotional. Of course, some of those emotions were probably the result of everyday teenage angst. But I still think of that trip as a watershed moment that made me a passionate Zionist. The tissue-thin airmail letters I wrote to my family during that month-long trip were filled with detailed descriptions of places I had learned about in religious school at Temple Israel. I was thrilled to be in Jerusalem, walking on roads that had been there for generations. The Western Wall felt cool in the morning and warm in the late afternoon. The Arab shuk was exciting and foreign: the sights and smells were unlike anything I’d ever experienced in Omaha -or anywhere else for that matter. I loved the warm, blue water of the Red Sea. I trekked through the heat of the Negev. I stayed on a moshav for a few days and tilled a much-neglected flower garden (no one had worked on it since the previous summer when the last group of American teens had visited).
I told Americans for years afterwards that I felt safer in Jerusalem than in most big cities in the United States. My second trip to Israel was in 2004 as an adult. I was working on a documentary, interviewing activists and refuseniks from the former Soviet Union. Besides getting to meet some of the heroes of the Soviet Jewry movement, I got a taste of what it would be like to live in Israel. Our production company rented a three-bedroom apartment in the Rehovet neighborhood of Jerusalem. Most of our interviews took place in our subjects’ homes. They treated us as honored guests -- despite the fact that we rearranged their furniture to set up the best “shot” and turned off their air conditioning (in nearly 100º heat) to avoid ambient sound in the microphones. Like all Jewish mothers (and fathers), these Russian Jews insisted we eat from a spread of delicacies that “appeared” before every interview in every apartment from Haifa to Jerusalem. Our Israeli production manager “made a party” every evening, making sure we ate only at restaurants frequented by Israelis, and not tourists. But every restaurant (and all public places, for that matter) had its own security guard “armed” with a metal detection wand. It became routine to stand at entrances with arms spread as the wands were waved front, back and head to toe in an effort to confirm we weren’t another group of suicide bombers.
Left: Stephanie Seldin Howard meets mishpacha -- her brother-in-law Amnon Dotan’s parents -- at their home on Kibbutz
Ayelet HaShachar in the Galil; and right: with her sons, Adam and Alex, visits the Jewish Quarter of the Old City.
There wasn’t much space on the light blue par avion stationary, so I wrote in tiny letters, often all around the edges of the paper that folded into its own envelope. At that time, Jews were allowed on top of the Temple Mount. We were able to go inside the Dome of the Rock and the Mosque of Omar. I remember the vast interior of the Dome of the Rock, every inch of the floor covered with intricately-woven rugs for the Muslim faithful to kneel on during their prayers. At the muchsmaller Mosque of Omar we saw the chamber that had been used for burnt offerings. I didn’t care for it at all - it smelled terrible! We lived and traveled like Israeli students. We stayed in dormitories. We camped outside: one night on the grounds of Ben Gurion’s home in the Negev, another on the beach in Eilat. There were only two or three hotels in Eilat at the time. So we laid in our sleeping bags on the beach, listening to the sloshing of waves from the Red Sea and trying to stay awake as long as possible to watch a meteor shower. I woke up to the sound of tinkling bells. They came from decorated blankets on a camel! And looking down at me with jet-black eyes was a Bedouin woman swathed from head to toe in seemingly endless scarves that covered everything except those black eyes and her sandaled feet. A few days later, we trekked up from the Galil to the top of the Golan Heights. This was territory captured just two years earlier during the Yom Kippur War. We crouched in small, hand-built bunkers constructed by the Syrians to attack the farms of the Galil. The vantage point from the Golan was so close to the Hulla Valley, we could see the kibbutzim in great detail even without binoculars! This is where the Syrian army had launched hundreds of rockets, forcing kibbutzniks to build their own bunkers -- for protection against a persistent enemy. For me, this was truly a “teachable moment.” To this day I can argue with certainty why Israel can never retreat from the Golan Heights. There were very few restrictions on where we went and how we got there. It seems so remarkable now that I was allowed to stand on the Lebanese border. I traveled to Hebron to visit the resting place of the Patriarchs. I frequently rode the public busses in Jerusalem. Despite the constant presence of IDF soldiers, we never thought our lives or well-being was in danger.
That trip lasted only a week and was a grueling schedule of television interviews in multiple locations each day. Yet I still felt a connection to Eretz Yisrael that reminded me of the emotional visit I made at age 17. For example, just minutes after passing through customs at Ben Gurion airport I was driving with our production manager up into the hills of Jerusalem. I stared out the passenger window, afraid I would cry in front of this complete stranger. Then my new colleague, Eitan, quietly said, “It’s like coming home, isn’t it?” It was. I made my third and most recent trip to Israel just a year and a half ago in 2006. I was with my family on tour with our congregation from Northridge, California -Temple Ahavat Shalom -- and Rabbi Barry Lutz (who is from Denver and a former MoFTY regional officer). It was strange traveling through Israel in the comfort of an air conditioned tour bus. In 1975, we suffered in the heat of a truck modified with wooden benches, suitable only for teenagers or soldiers hitchhiking home for Shabbat. Now, more than 30 years later, I was in a luxury bus with reclining seats and an on-board refrigerator filled with bottles of Israeli mayim. I realized during the first week of our trip how much Israel had changed -- and yet stayed the same. Of course the cobblestone streets and ancient gates of the Old City weren’t any different. But now, where there had been archeological digs near the Western Wall, there was a visitor center and a newly-restored section of the Temple Mount foundation. The heartbreaking exhibits at Yad VaShem were now high-tech, visual experiences that made the realities of the shoah even more distressing and personal. The Knesset was closed to tourists for security reasons. Our bus couldn’t go into the Palestinian territories, so we didn’t get to see Bethlehem or Hebron. But thanks to a new treaty with Jordan, our group could cross the border and see the ancient city of Petra. Most of all, I was seeing Israel through the eyes of my children, Alex and Adam, and that of my husband, Rodger. This was their first trip to Israel; I knew they would take home perceptions and memories that were very different from the ones I had in 1975. My experience would be different, too. Now I was adult, seeing Israel in yet another, more realistic context. Continued on page 21
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Israel: life changing Continued from page 20 economy, and there were very few One of our many day trips was a visit to Americans or Europeans willing to make the historic army installation of Latrun, a trip there during the violence of the made famous as a key location on the Intifada. Even during my business trip in road to Jerusalem during the War of 2004 the restaurants in Jerusalem were Independence. Latrun is now a sort of an almost empty. But in 2006 there were tourists seemIsraeli tank museum and is still a training ingly everywhere! I heard more English center for Israel’s armored divisions. The day we were there happened to be than Hebrew in the Jewish market. We the graduation day for a group of soldiers just completing their officer training. We watched as they drilled in formation, practicing for that evening’s celebration with friends and family. Here were young men and women, each only a few years out of high school, looking forward to the next step in their military careers. We would think about these fresh officers a lot in the days to come. Eilat was so different from what it had been in 1975, my kids didn’t believe my stories about sleeping on the beach and the Alex and Adam Howard visit the Western Wall (note Bedouin woman! Eilat is now a Adam’s Nebraska t-shirt!). huge resort city with hotels, spas and often had trouble distinguishing our tour elaborate swimming pools. I’d often told bus from so many others parked side by my boys about snorkeling in the Red Sea side at the most popular sites (at one when I visited as a teenager, so we lugged point I climbed onto a bus for South our snorkel gear all the way from Los African students by mistake). We joined hundreds of American Jews Angeles to “recreate” the experience. But all the building and all the tourists making a modern-day pilgrimage to have had great impact on the snorkeling Israel that summer. IDF soldier Gilad experience of the Red Sea. In 1975, I Shalit was kidnapped just two weeks swam with thousands of neon-colored before our departure from L.A., but even tropical fish. By 2006 my kids were snor- that horrible incident didn’t keep us from keling with much smaller and fewer making the trip of a lifetime. Then, during the second week of our schools. It wasn’t exactly the “real life” version of Finding Nemo I had promised. tour, two more IDF soldiers were capI was thrilled however, that there were tured -- this time at the Lebanese border. so many tourists on vacation in Israel. It was the flash point of a new Israeli war The travel industry is vital to the Israeli and this time the enemy was the
Hezbollah. Ketusha rockets were being fired further and further into Israel, and our little group from Los Angeles seemed to be only one step ahead of the attacks. Our first full day in the North started with a beautiful morning visit to the ancient city of Akko. But just an hour or so later, we saw smoke rising above a Jewish National Fund forest as we were
on the waterfront in Tiberias. I asked a young waitress how she felt about the attacks from Lebanon. She told me she was afraid for some of her friends in the army, but she was certain Tiberias was out of range of the Hezbollah rockets. Much later that evening, after rockets had fallen into the harbor at Haifa, we were evacuated from our hotel there to one much further south in Tel Aviv. Akko, Tsfat, Tiberias and even Haifa were attacked only days after we left the North. The disruption of our tour was trivial in light of the suffering of our Israeli brothers and sisters and the staggering price they pay for living in Israel. We thought a lot about the young officers in Latrun. Were they now commanding units at the Lebanese border? We couldn’t help but wonder if those proud, young men and women would survive this latest war in a long history of Stephanie Seldin and Rodger Howard stroll on the defending Israel’s right to exist. beach in Tel Aviv. This time, as I left Israel with driving up the last hill to Tsfat. An ambu- my family, I felt both sad and relieved. On lance and a TV news vehicle raced around my previous trips I had been heartbroken us and then, just as we were about to park to leave the land that felt “like home.” the bus near the entrance of Tsfat, police But this time my children were with me officers frantically waved us off. and I instinctively wanted to protect Our driver made a quick turn down the them. As we flew over Israel and on to other side of the hill just as we looked up America, I thought about all the Israeli and saw a house on fire. It had been hit mothers and fathers who were fighting for by the first attack on Tsfat since the War their children and for those of us living in for Independence. The smoke we saw the relative safety of the Diaspora. above the forest was also from a Katuysha The bravery of those Israelis and their -- one of many that would destroy thou- children is a shining light for all Jewish sands of full grown trees planted as people. That will never change. seedlings by the JNF. Former Omahan Stephanie Seldin Later that evening, sticking to our itin- Howard lives in Valencia, CA, with her erary, our tour group went on a sunset husband Rodger Howard and their sons, cruise on Lake Kinneret and had dinner Adam and Alex.
A mighty hand and
an outstretched arm
Each Passover we express appreciation for the gifts we received during the Exodus from Egypt. The haggadah text reminds us to notice and be grateful for the abundance with which we are blessed every day. This Passover we recognize the generosity bestowed by our community on the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home in the past year. For those gifts, and for blessings still to come, we thank you. With a mighty hand and an outstretched arm we move toward our goal.
Jewish Senior Services THE ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
Israel’s happiest olah by LEWIS GRONER the ensuing My mother -- Rebbetzin 45 years! Frances Groner -- loved livEventing in Omaha. It’s where ually, after four of her seven children my father were born (including me, died, Mom her youngest), and where moved to she and my father -- Rabbi Israel in Benjamin Groner -- served 1995 at the the community for 15 years ripe age of through their leadership 79. roles at Beth Israel While Synagogue in the 1950s and most peo1960s. ple at that But as much as Mom age think loved living in this charming a b o u t city, moving to Jerusalem slowing late in life began a whole down and new love affair. taking it Actually, it was during her easy, not Omaha years that she first her. Upon experienced Israel up close Israel’s happiest olah (immigrant) and former moving to Omaha resident, Rebbetzin Frances Groner, is Israel, she and personal. In 1962, she joined my welcomed by then mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud b e c a m e father on a Beth Israel mis- Olmert, as a new citizen in 1995. rejuvenatsion for their maiden visit to the country. ed and thrived as never before, leading a Upon returning to Omaha, they hosted a life full of vigor, energy and enthusiasm in briefing for the community, because in her new surroundings. those early years of statehood, a visit to She loved every moment in the Israel was a special privilege and returning Holyland. For the 12 years that she lived visitors were sought after for news. there until her passing in early 2007, she In her ever creative fashion, Mom gave had the time of her life. Breathing the air, her briefing by writing a lengthy poem walking the streets, traveling the land, extolling the virtues of the fledgling state, touring the sites and meeting the people especially the beauty of the land and its -- it all thrilled her immensely. hard-working citizens. Ironically, one Whether it was attending lectures, converse read, “They (Israelis) never heard of certs, festivals or other cultural events Omaha way out West, but our Rabbi throughout Jerusalem, she thrived on it plugged it on their map with zest.” all. It was almost as if it was all one long, How times have changed thanks to exciting holiday. everything the organized Omaha Jewish What did she love so much about it? community has accomplished for Israel in Simply being together with the Jewish
people, living in our Homeland and experiencing its daily routine. As a lifelong Zionist, living in Israel was simply a dream come true for her. While residing in Omaha and other cities for many years, she had actively supported numerous organizations that improved the quality of life in Israel, including Hadassah Hospital, Amit, the Jewish National Fund and others. As an Israeli citizen, however, she had the special privilege of rolling up her sleeves and volunteering for these organizations and others on home turf, right where the action took place. She reveled in that opportunity and so enjoyed seeing firsthand the benefits that the citizens of Israel derived from these and other fine institutions. Shortly after arriving in Israel, she acquired a new title: ”Israel’s Happiest Olah” -- of which she was quite proud. She even had business cards printed with it! One recipient of her “Israel’s Happiest Olah” cards was Ehud Olmert, the current prime minister. Shortly after Mom moved there in 1995, he welcomed her as then mayor of Jerusalem in a private meeting in his office, and she of course gave him her card. He got such a big kick out of it! Mom always tried hard to “be like the natives.” If Israelis wore leather sandals, then she had to buy a pair of leather sandals and wear them too. If Israelis ate hummus and tehina at many of their meals, then she had to serve it at her meals as well. And if Israelis often traveled by bus, then she needed to do likewise. We got such a chuckle watching her mimic the habits and customs of the locals!
One of Mom’s greatest delights was welcoming visitors, especially longtime dear friends from Omaha, to her home on Tchernichovsky Street in central Jerusalem, with its beautiful views of the Israel Museum and hilly neighborhoods. While visitors marveled at the view and delighted in her gracious hospitality, she infused them with her love of Israel and encouraged them to return often and consider living in Israel. For numerous Omahans -- as well as many Americans studying in Israel for a year who became regulars at Mom’s home -- it was one of the highlights of their stay in the country. A special treat was going to one of the many tasty restaurants in Jerusalem. Whether it was Benny’s Fish Grill, or Olive Restaurant or one of the delightful hotel restaurants throughout the city, Mom loved eating out kosher food. It was such a joy, because for many years living in Omaha and New Orleans (where she resided for 28 years after Omaha), her choices of kosher restaurants were very limited or did not even exist at one time. Not so in Israel! Living in Israel was a wonderful, fulfilling, and rewarding experience for my mom. We in the family were all so proud of the fact that she moved there at 79 years old and flourished there for the last 12 years of her life. And now that she is gone, we are comforted knowing that her final resting place is in Israel, in the land she loved so dearly. Former Omahan Lewis Groner is director of marketing and communications at the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles. He can be reached at lgroner@jewishfoundationla.org.
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Israel: part of our lives and our children’s FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT by NORMAN H. SHELDON, President of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Sixty years ago, a dream of the Jewish people was realized with the birth of the modernday state of Israel. It was an exciting time for us all, particularly in the aftermath of the horrors of the Holocaust. Yet as important as Israel was in 1948, it’s become even more important today. Globally, Israel has impacted the lives of Jews in countless locations, including the Former Soviet Union, Morocco, Iran and Ethiopia. When times got tough, these Jews found that they could come home to Israel. In the United States, Israel has become a focal point of Jewish education. It’s had a widespread impact on our political beliefs, and in fact, much of our Jewish identity rests in our relationship and bond with Israel. Here in Omaha, we’ve been fortunate to experience a very special Israel connection. Over the years, our Federation through our Agencies, has developed a longstanding and vibrant relationship with Israel. You see evidence of this throughout the year, as we celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut, learn from our community shlicha, keep up with current events during discussions like Eye on Israel, and send more and more Omahans to Israel
each year through our dynamic missions program. Our Partnership with Israel has grown tremendously over the last decade to become the center of our Israel programming. This has enabled us to bond with Israel on multiple levels. The variety of Partnership programs is far-reaching, extending from culture (such as the recent performing arts series), medical (through the emergency response group and medical exchanges), educational (through educator missions, school twinning, educator visits) and more. We’ve ensured that Israel is part of our children’s lives in many different ways. We bring Israeli teens to join our JCC Maccabi Game teams, send our teens to Israel through ARTZA and Teen Israel Experience Grants, send our children to Israel on Family Missions, bring in summer shlichim to spend time with our kids at day camp, and sponsor school twinning programs to forge a bond between Omaha and Israeli children. A partnership that began with us helping our fellow Jews in Israel has grown into a vibrant two-way relationship. We help each other, strengthening Jewish identity both here and in the homeland. As Federation President, I want to thank the many people, both here and in Israel, who work so hard to ensure that we continue to have new opportunities to connect with and learn from each other. It’s been quite a journey, and I can’t wait to see what new opportunities the future holds for Omaha’s partnership with the State of Israel. Happy Passover!
On a Mission ...
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Happy Passover from Left: Andi Kavich, left, Anne Cohen and Joanie Jacobson are on the beach near Haifa with Roman aquaducts in the background. Above: Norm Sheldon took his daughter Wendy on the Leadership Mission in 2005; below: In 1991, Anne Shackman, left, and Cheryl Cooper meet Israeli leader Shimon Peres in a Jerusalem apartment building where Anne was looking for Mies Giep, the rescuer of Anne Frank and her family.
Below: Howard Kooper, left, visits Yad Vashem on the 1991 Federation Mission; right,
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Kimberly Robinson and her daughter, Brenna, were on the 2007 Family Mission.
Right: David Gilinsky, right, meets an Israeli soldier on the recent Campaign Leadership Mission in February; below from left: Amy Nachman, left, and Ellie Batt meet new olim during that same Mission; Murray Newman, right, introduces Rabbi Uri Regev, director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, to the participants of the 1999-2000 Family Millennium Mission.
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April 18, 2008
Best Wishes for a Happy & Kosher Passover!
Mazal BILU USY
Tov
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The Board and Staff of
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offers a variety of activities for Juniors (grades 5-8) and Seniors (grades 9-12): • Local and Regional Shabbatonim • Monthly “Latte & Learning” programs • Holiday programs, such as the Annual • Sukkah Hop, Shavuot Learn-a-thon, • and Purim Party • Social events like going to see UNO • Mav’s Hockey, getting lost in a corn • maze, going ice skating, playing Putt• Putt golf and movie night With these great opportunities, it’s no wonder the 99% of NCSY graduates* Marry Jewish Stay Jewish Live Jewish *Lilly Endowment Statistical Survey #930661
NCSY of Beth Israel Synagogue National Conference of Synagogue Youth For more information or to be added to the NCSY mailing list, contact the synagogue office at 556-6288 or <ncsy@orthodoxomaha.org> Teens from all synagogues are invited to attend NCSY events. Synagogue affiliation is not required.
congratulate the State of Israel on its 60th Anniversary. To keep former Omahans, your out-of-town friends and family, or prospective newcomers “in the loop”, send them a gift subscription today!
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Great Local Programming • Travel to Regional & National Conventions! • Join Summer Programs in Israel and Europe! • Be part of USY on Wheels! • Get involved in Tikkun Olam Social Action Programs! • Enroll in USY High in Israel! For information, call Robert Mosenkis
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More than three decades of breathing the air of Israel accompany my grandmother with her blue box through by ALAN POTASH In my 48 years, I have spent the last 42 driven by my the neighborhood raising funds and awareness for the Jewish identity, my connection to the Jewish people and new Jewish state. In addition, we were both inspired by the films on Israel we used to watch in Hebrew school. to Israel. In one of my many Sunday afternoon conversations (Who says Hebrew school doesn’t work?) In 1973, taking a break from Yom Kippur services, I with my grandmother, Ida Potash, she told me of her love for Israel even before it became a country. I learned found my self and others listening to the radio as Israel from her that in her younger days, seven years after mov- was coming under attack again from its Arab neighbors. ing to America from Kupel, she would go door to door All I could do was think I needed to be there helping -raising money to buy land for the future Jewish country. if only I had paid attention to Mr. Feidman in Hebrew (It took 35 years for that investment to pay off and it did class I could have. (Feidman, while visiting Israel, once introduced me to a friend of his as his “best” student.) in 1948) Shortly after the Yom Kippur War, she had an oppor- Days later, I learned the Israeli army wouldn’t take a 13 tunity to visit Israel and see what all of that change she year-old kid from Omaha who couldn’t speak Hebrew. In the four years it took me to make it to Israel, Israel collected in her blue box bought. In addition to seeing the country she met with Golda Meir and other impor- experienced Ma’alot -- the killing of 22 students on a tant leaders. Upon her return to Omaha she vowed to school outing, the hijacking of the Air France jet that ended in Entebbe and many other terrorist attacks. And send all of her grandchildren to Israel. For three of her grandchildren that vow became reali- my mother still let us go in 1977 -- I am glad she did ty in 1977, my cousin Andy Wasserman, my sister Julie because it changed my life. In 1984, I went on my second trip, this time as a Potash and I joined 25 other Nebraskans on the Ramah young Jewish profesPilgrimage to Israel. sional. A three week (Read my story on this leadership experience trip in Section One in - I left that trip conthis special edition.) vinced Israel was Israel is 60 years going to be my home young as a country. I someday. And then in am not sure if anyone 1986, I made that is writing articles comdecision. paring Israel to other Shortly after arriving countries when those in 1986 I tracked countries were 60 years down several of my old. I bet there isn’t Omaha connections, another country that Sharon Brodkey, Beth has grown and prosSeldin and Jonathan pered under such cirDuitch, who always cumstances as Israel. made my visits to What was happening Jerusalem meaningful. in America 60 years I later tracked down after it became a dozens of other nation? It took America nearly 150 Usually tourists ask Israeli soldiers to pose for a photo with them. This Omahans and shared years to finally allow time, in 2000, the soldiers wanted to take a picture with Ezra and Adeev their stories in the women to vote. Israel Potash -- all because the twins were dressed like they were in the army - pages of the Jewish Press. shares many common - no mean feat for a couple of six-and-a-half-year olds! I also met many Omahans traveling through Israel: values with America. Author Michael Oren points out many in his recent book, Power, Faith, and Fantasy: Mike and Carol Katzman, the Shukerts, the Goldsteins, America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present. But one the Coopers, Joyce Cohen, and Bob Yaffe to name a few. that stands above all is both countries believe in taking I led an Omaha ARTZA trip, too. in refugees and trying to improve the lives of others. During the next four years, I married Amy, and we After traveling to Israel twice, I wanted to make it my made our first home as a married couple in Jerusalem. home. So, in 1986, I tried to be one of those refugees. We started a business on a Moshav, Jerusalem I took a ship from Europe and arrived in the port of PaperWorks. Due to unforeseen events we ended up Haifa and headed to a kibbutz to work the land. leaving Israel in the fall of 1990. Coincidently, a week after I arrived, Israel took in one of It took me seven years before I could make it back to the 20th century’s most important refugees and one of Israel. It was 1997-- the middle of the Oslo Peace my inspirations, Natan Sharansky. And shortly after his Accords -- and Israel was booming, although there was arrival, Israel took on the most challenging refugee proj- the occasional bus bombing. ect in world history -- Operation Moses: the rescue of While working for Hillel, I had the opportunity to be thousands of Ethiopian Jews. on the ground floor of birthright israel and took more America has passively received its refugees but Israel than 500 college students on their first trip to Israel. It actively takes in its refugees, those where “no one else is was an honor to see Israel through the eyes of these stuwilling to save the Jews,” one Jewish Agency leader once dents -- so many powerful stories from these experitold me. “This is why Israel exists.” ences. In the meantime, the Jews have created a country that In the year 2000, Amy and I decided to rent an aparthas contributed to the world like no other country this ment in Jerusalem and show Israel to our boys. They young has. It is a miracle and sometimes it works. were six-and-a-half and they thought Israel was a big As I write my reflections on Israel, Israel has just playground; they had a blast. They had this cute thing entered into battle with Hamas. To end the seven-year going on; they were into the Israeli soldier theme and reign of rockets Hamas has been firing at Jews in the nearly everyday they dressed like proud Israeli soldiers. Wherever we went, they drew a crowd, and often solsouth and in the Western Negev. Rockets being fired at Jews should not come as a sur- diers wanted to have their pictures taken with the boys. It was a great summer with one exception -- the talk prise to anyone. Northern Israel was under attack constantly until Israel went into southern Lebanon; after on the street was not good -- something was looming. Sure enough, the second intifada broke out a month Israel withdrew, the rockets came again. It doesn’t matter how many times Israel tries to make after we left. About a year after the second intifada started, tourists peace with its neighbors. There will always be someone out there who wants to wipe it off the map. Israelis have stopped going to Israel; birthright was still bringing 18come to accept it and still go on everyday sending their 26-year-olds to Israel, but the numbers were down. So I children to school, going to work, and above all taking decided to make a movie to show to people how safe in refugees -- and lately not only Jewish ones. And the and normal Israel is as a country. I took three students world still cries foul when Israel tries to protect its citi- with me and we traveled the country interviewing people about life in Israel. I am not sure if it worked but zens. Enough of this ranting; I want to share my four plus tourism did pick up after we started showing the film. Israel is 60 years young. It is a vibrant place and many decades of Israel experiences. Jonathan Duitch and I share a story of why two kids people want to see it disappear -- let’s not let it happen. from Omaha have such a strong connection to Israel. If you haven’t been, take a trip; go and see what all the Jonathan’s grandmother, Ethel Levinson Edgar, used to fuss is about.
April 18, 2008
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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A couple of ‘miracles’ by DOTTIE ROSENBLUM
Photos from top: Dottie Rosenblum, center, Justin Kohll, Reva Ruderman, and Allan Chandler visit the Wohl Archeological Museum; the sign for the dormitory funded by the Omaha Jewish community is unveiled; right: Bobbi Leibowitz, left, Reva Ruderman, Willis Ann Ross at Neurim; and below: Solomon’s Pillars in Timna Park in the Negev.
kibbutz Ye’elim, as green as can be mid a rocky, wind swept desert sea agricultural ‘miracles’ happened there you see! with hundreds of hands and hearts working together the rocks were defied, then the water and weather to maintain these green places in the desert ... forever! then an evening sojourn on a boat thru the Gulf called Akiba by some and by others, Eilat but the hope of people, the message we got, it would soon be called PEACE in that gulf, in that spot! with twinkling lights on the shores we could see one side Jordan, the other Israeli and a wedding on board, and the Rabbi’s guitar and fireworks for a finale does anyone here believe where they are? now we wait back at home for the news from afar that another ‘miracle’ has happened there and that magical gulf will be renamed PEACE! -and all those green places will be in that desert.... forever! Dottie Rosenblum participated in a Federation Mission in October, 1994 and wrote the poem upon her return.
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April 18, 2008
This ... is Israel by MARTIN AND MARILYN WARREN 10 days. This amazing counMarty and I had always wanted to visit Israel. try, now 60-years-old, has Everyone else in our family had been to Israel at least accomplished so much once -- even some of our luggage had been to Israel -- through the ingenuity and but something always came up or the timing just was not tenacity of its people. right. For 60 years we have seen We had hoped to go with a group from Omaha -- peo- pictures and movies and ple we knew. But the opportunity never arose. Then, in heard stories or read books 2005, our rabbi at Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. about the many accomplishLouis announced the formation of an inter-generational ments and heroics of the family trip. We decided to join the group! We were Israeli people to build the acquainted with several people, but those we knew were Jewish state. But experienctraveling with their families. So, basically, we were trav- ing first-hand the archeologeling with a group of 42 strangers! ical excavations, seeing the On July 31, 2005, our group, ranging in age from eight to 80, assembled at the Continental Airlines gate at Lambert International to begin the journey to Israel. For some, it was the first trip; for others, it was the second or fifth or even the seventh. Virtual strangers on July 31, we became a family by Aug. 10. When we first planned to go to Israel, and as the time for us to leave grew closer, many people asked if we were nervous. It had never Above: The Israeli flag at the Lebanese border. Marty crossed our minds that we Warren, center, prays at the Western Wall, during a trip to would be in any danger. Israel in July, 2005. Right: the group arrives at Mt. Scopus, Even as we walked the overlooking Jerusalem, to recite the Shehecheeyanu prayer streets of Israel at night, of thanksgiving; Marilyn is seated in the center. there was no time we felt unsafe -- except, perhaps try- new against the old, taking in the many trees and plants ing to cross a street! so lush on land that was desert not so long ago, praying Israel in August is not the most ideal weather -- actu- at the Wall, being in an underground cave and seeing the ally, it wasn’t too different from St. Louis or Omaha on guns used by the Hagganah, being in the kibbutz baka humid summer day! However, in Omaha or St. Louis, ery and laundry under which the Hagganah built a bulwe are not out of doors for hours on end! Our guide let manufacturing factory right under the noses of the stressed that we should “... drink copious amounts of British, seeing teenagers in uniform with guns slung water.” I prayed that the air conditioner on the bus over their shoulders -- this is Israel -- this is what gave us would keep working. The heat made me feel as if I were goose bumps and made us feel so proud to be Jews. melting, and the copious amounts of water made me feel We spent Shabbat in our guide’s Reform Temple. as if I would float away. How strange to hear not one word of English -- but to I can’t imagine a better bus driver or a better guide recognize the prayers and songs that are so familiar in than those we had. Our driver got us where we were our service at home. going, and our guide, a transplanted New Yorker who Making our trip more memorable were several lifehas lived in Israel for more than 20 years, explained with cycle events. We celebrated as one of our young couples great passion why it was that we were going wherever it became engaged in Tiberius, as a young woman who was! was choosing Judaism was blessed in the Sea of Galilee, Israel is a tiny nation -- but too big to see it all in just and as a teenager became a Bat Mitzvah on Masada.
(And how thrilled we were several months after our return when we received an e-mail from another of our young couples announcing “our prayers at the Wall have been answered -- we are expecting our first child in May!”) One of the highlights of our trip was visiting St. Louis’ Sister Cities of Yokana’am-Meggido. Each family unit in our group was invited to dinner with a resident family. Marty and I were guests of a young couple and their three children. The parents spoke fluent English while the children spoke only Hebrew -- they will learn English in school. We thought we were going to visit a typical high-rise apartment, but to our surprise, we found our “family” living in a subur-
ban neighborhood, in a fairly new and very modern split-level house with a large back yard. Our hosts spoke very freely about politics and Israeli living in general, giving us insight we would not have had without this visit. As we were returning to our hotel, Marty realized that he had left the family a souvenir -- he had forgotten to take his “Go Big Red” Nebraska cap he had been wearing during the trip! After two and one-half years, we are reminded of our trip and the wonderful time we spent in Israel. And, as we end our Passover Seder by saying “Next year in Jerusalem,” we are thinking that since we have fulfilled this wish, we should say “Next year in Jerusalem -again” for we cannot wait to go back and see all that we missed and all that has changed! Former Omahans Marilyn and Marty Warren live in St. Louis, MO.
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Scary saga ends sweetly
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Happy 60th Israel! Have a happy and healthy passover.
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Then, down to Sde Boker (which is about 45 kilometers from Be’er Sheva), where we toured Sarah’s campus, the lab and saw the birds she was using in her research. We went to the grocery store to restock her apartment. That was fun! Then we went to Eilat for the weekend. The Red Sea is the most beautiful color of blue. I did the ‘touristy’ thing and had my picture taken with some soldiers. We went down to see the sea life and plants, sat out in the sun and relaxed. Jessica said that “nothing could have been more beautiful than that day, with my family, in that place.” Sarah had classes on Sunday and Monday she could not miss, so we dropped her off on the way to Masada. We met Saar there. What a magnificent sight. Trying to imagine how the soldiers lived and defended that mountain. And, sadly, how they died. The next day, we went with Saar to Yad Vashem. I was glad there was a synagogue there, because I was drawn to it when I left the museum. It is always so moving to see more about this horror in our history. Then, lunch and shopping on Ben Yehuda Street. We had fun haggling over prices and felt good getting “a deal.” Then our appointment to tour the tunnels by the Wall. What history. It is hard to picture how those walls supported the Above: Sarah Hasslinger takes her mother M’Lee on a tour of temple, THE Temple, the lab at Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva. Below: Larry THE TEMPLE! Hasslinger takes a moment at the Western Wall. There is a place in the tunnel where it is said to be the closest place to the Rock. Oil was burning, maybe for light. There were just a few older ladies praying there. I was able to touch the Wall again. It was secluded, peaceful, hidden from the weather and I could stand there undistracted. Jessica and Larry walked on deeper into the tunnel ... Larry said that all he friend to see if he would be available in February. The girls had been lucky to travel to Israel before, but this would be a first for Larry and me. Sarah was there for the March of the Living and then, again for the reunion trip two years ago. Jessica was there for six weeks on the USY Pilgrimage. Both girls asked for no other place on earth for this fam- Sarah, left, and Jessica Hasslinger play in the Mediterranean Sea on the last day of the Hasslinger’s family trip to Israel. ily trip. “ISRAEL!” they demanded. had read and all the pictures he had seen, On Feb. 12, we left. Sarah, and our never did Israel justice. guide Saar, met us at the airport. What a Sarah took the train to Tel Aviv that reunion! We couldn’t hug her tight evening to rejoin us. That next day was enough! That day we spent hours touring our last. We walked on the beach of the the Old City. Seeing the Wall for the first Mediterranean Sea. It was fun and the time with our family was so moving. The picture in my mind is that of our family magnificence of the Wall -- I burst into together in Israel -- our healthy daughtears when I touched it. Sarah said how ters on that beach. What a true joy. It glad she was to be with us, to share the wasn’t just a family vacation; it was our first time her parents had that experience. celebration. by M’LEE HASSLINGER Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2007: Sarah is diagnosed with lymphoma. Wednesday, Aug. 15: Sarah goes through surgery to remove lymph nodes and tonsils. Tuesday, Aug. 21: We are told Sarah never had cancer. Wednesday, Aug. 27: Sarah receives her acceptance for graduate school at BenGurion University, the Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, in Beer Sheva, Israel. Wednesday, Oct. 10: Sarah leaves for graduate school. And so it went. After the dust settled, we set about planning the family trip we had talked about before that fateful August day. We talked with friends and relatives who had been to Israel. Sarah and Jessica added their opinions too. Sarah contacted a guide,who was a
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
BRIAN W. ZUERLEIN D.D.S. P.C. Westroads Office Park 2 10110 Nicholas St. Suite #101 Omaha, NE 68114
A Yachad view of Israel by GLORIA SHUKERT JONES Jeffrey Steinberg, the son of Georgia Ann Steinberg, is no stranger to Israel, having been there on three separate occasions; 1992, 1995 and 1998 through the sponsorship of the Yachad program. These Yachad Summer Tours are affiliated with the NCSY high schoolers, called Yad b’Yad, who travel with Yachad members. Jeff toured various cities and points of interest on all three trips. In 1992, he took part in an archeological dig at Tel Mareska, and reported that he came back with “bits and pieces,” presumably parts of the cavern he and the group toured.
Jewish History. Jeff was very enthusiastic about all three trips, and remarked that he “loved the Israeli orange pop, kini and special moon and heart cookies. He went on to explain the Hebrew word for heart is “layv”. The heart-shaped cookies were based on a quote from Pirke Avot, the “Sayings of the Fathers”. He was also impressed by garments worn by the Kohanim. He indicates he is a Kohen, and learned to “dukhen” (give priestly blessings). He said this made him feel “very special and proud.” At the Museum of the Diaspora in
Left: In 1995, Jeffrey Steinberg visited the Jewish Quarter, the Cardo and above, the Rabbinic Tunnel on a tour of Israel with In 1995, he stayed at the Kibbutz Ein Zurim, leased from the Jewish National Fund, where everyone there was considered an equal -- all had chores assigned such as kitchen, dining room or field duties. While at the kibbutz, he helped cut “peah” (wheat), but to his consternation, “A goat ate my peah.” Also on this trip he traveled to the Old City Jewish Quarter, and traversed the tunnels under the Kotel Israel Museum. Some of the cities visited were Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Eilat. He took nature walks in Nahad Ein Gev, and a mule train ride to Zippori. He visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and Masada, and planted trees in JNF Forest, in both the 1995 and 1998 trips. Another travel highlight was Jeff’s visit to the Knesset, where the Israeli government meets in the building across the street from the Great Menorah. This was given to Israel by Great Britain, and features small sculpted figures depicting different periods of
Yachad, a program of the Orthodox Union. Right: Dressed in the clothing a camel driver would wear, Jeff visits a Bedouin tent. Ramat Aviv, on the campus of Tel Aviv University, Jeff learned the origin of his name, “Steinberg”, which means Stone Mountain, in the German language. He is well-versed in Hebrew and takes part in Shabbat services here in Omaha at Beth El Synagogue. He has also stood before the congregation there and told of his Israeli experiences. While Jeff has mental and physical challenges, he hasn’t let this slow him down. He is an active participant in Yachad, and other community projects and events. The Israeli trips have given him a new perspective of his Jewishness, and he indicates they have helped in his development. He is living proof that if a person has a disability, he or she can still get a lot of enjoyment out of life. Jeff is seldom without a big smile on his face, but also has a serious side. According to various sources, when Jeff addressed Beth El congregation in the past, or participated in a Shabbaton, he “reaches the innermost depths of everyone’s heart.”
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Jeff Steinberg took this photo of the Zion Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem when he was there in 1992.
April 18, 2008
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 31
Welcome to TaZaHal order by the special criteria by ZOHAR WINER JCC Community Shlicha that it has set for years now. But this day, however overWhenever an Israeli whelming it may be, is nothmeets another Israeli anying compared to the day that where around the world, you are actually enlist in the it is only a matter of time IDF. until they ask each other My parents dropped me off “So, where did you in Tiberius, where I was serve?” called up, and I was lucky The terminology of the enough to enlist with a good army is a special one and friend from my kibbutz. it entails slang, terms, Both of us didn’t really codes and so much more. understand what we were It is quite amazing to see about to face. how your Hebrew transAs the bus reached the mai forms in the army; it’s like you talk a whole new lan- One of the rare pictures Zohar Winer, center, has in uniform, classification base near Tel with the girls that were here family during her army time -- Aviv, I saw a couple of other guage. friends who had already Growing up in Israel, it Maya, Meital, Zohar, Ephrat, and Liron. is a given that you will go to the army. You grow up with gone through the process -- wearing uniforms and that thought in the back of your mind. Your brother, sis- working in the kitchen. Then I started to realize. As we started our drafting process, we went through ter, dad, friends, everyone around you were, still are, or two photo booths. They took our finger prints; gave us will be in the army. My first encounter with the army was Tzav Rishon (lit- two shots (which became the most painful shots I’ve erally “first order”), where the army screens you for the even gotten in my life!). Put us in uniforms and showed first time: your physical abilities, mental abilities, all in us how to put on our kumta (beret), and gave us anoth-
er huge bag with stuff we won’t ever use. At the very end of this process, which lasted around six hours, someone screamed at me “Soldier!” and I was looking around to find to whom he was talking. It took me time to figure out he was talking to me. Approximately 10 minutes later, we boarded a bus that took us to our pre-training base in the south of Israel. We got there around 10 p.m., and it was dark and cold and all we could see were tents. We got to “bed” around midnight, just to be woken up at 4:30 a.m. It was raining and the tent didn’t do the best job of keeping us protected. That morning, we got our “best buddy” for the next month, a weapon, which we started cleaning, and marched around the base, learning what it’s like to be a soldier. Twenty-four hours after boarding the first bus in Tiberius, I looked back at the past day, and could not believe how much had changed around me in such a short time. My time in the IDF will determine who I will be in the future; it will change my view on life, politics, Israel, family, and anything that mattered to me. The IDF took an 18-year-old girl and created a whole different person within three years. So now when I’m asked “where did you serve?” I can say “I did intelligence. Sorry, can’t talk about that!”
A little bit of Israel in Omaha by CHARLOTTE ZIPURSKY 1971-1986: a little bit of old history in Israel’s ancient history ... In those 15 years, three Jewish women tried to put forth the face of Israel in Omaha. They thought they could do so by showcasing the beauty, vitality, creativity and spirit of Israel and its people. They had a hope and vision to present that land to a mid American city that knew Israel best by the wars it fought. They acted on their vision and they named it Gilah. Memories now: Buying trips to Eretz Yisrael. Handson, personal visits with artists and manufacturers and artisans and charlatans. Jewelry, paintings, purses, tallitot and mezzuzot; glass fused, molten, mouth blown and hand etched. Bronze sculpture, Arab pottery, ancient coins, ceramic figures and bowls and vases; weavings and carnelians and caftans and candy. Only the beginnings of the offerings from Israel. Close personal relationships with the people. Oh! The people. Leona from Johannesburg at the Export Authority who encouraged us; Eitan and Yasha from Poland, who guided us along the way; Chasia, the dance expert and
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13th generation of her family from Hebron; and Rivka become a wood turner and who kept us awake all night from Russia, who traveled to Jericho with a pistol in her to talk. There were three Hannahs: Hannah the glass maker, Hanna the weaver, and purse. Hannah the jewelry designer. There was also: Ezra And finally: elegant Adi, whose and Avraham, brother delicate ceramics were a reflecpoets and painters and tion of her French background; Stern Gang members; lovely Lika of the lithographs Aliza the painter whose that reminded her of her native husband became Prime Holland; manufacturer Bryan Minister; and the jeweler with his British accent; Schlomo Leon, who named his first from Syria and Sari from Yemen, daughter Gilah because who used copper as their mediwe brought him good um; and Aharon, who was luck. We met David, our inspired by the Bible for his agent who was usually sculpture. called up to the service These are some of the people when we needed him who made our vision a reality. most, who took us to his mother’s house on Friday An interior shot of Gilah, a Judaica store in Omaha owned These are some of the people who are etched in our memories to feed us fresh burekas -- by Sylvia Jess, Ruth Katzman and Charlotte Zipursky. These are some of the people who mean “Israel” to us. and Shaul, high up in the police force who kept a watchRuth Katzman, Sylvia Jess and I will forever be ful eye on us. And of course, who could forget Danny, a enriched by our love of Israel and of its people and for Jerusalemite, who lost a leg in the Sinai, retired to the opportunity to be among them.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
Faith of a Nation by ESTIE KATZMAN Sderot, Hevron, Yet every day they continue to live. To how loss feels. It’s hard for the average Mitzpeh Yericho, sow and harvest. To learn and teach. To “The miracle is that we’re still here,” American to fathom terKiryat Shmona and work and play. To believe, and joyously said Rabbi Danny Cohen of Hevron to ror. many other cities are so. our group when we visited their neighLiving on a quiet street under perpetual On my most recent trip to Israel in borhood. “They can perfectly aim a misin a friendly neighborthreat of being blown February 2008, I had the humbling sile into every single window in our area,” hood, sending kids off to up. Even during peri- honor of visiting and observing this faith he said of the Arabs on the hills surfine schools, shopping in ods of relative quiet first-hand. You’d never guess it when you rounding Hevron. supermarkets down the and peace, there is a saw them, but the folks we visited are livHe would know. Cohen spent several road, having a good car constant underlying ing amongst enemies. Their children play years in the IDF and did his share of to drive to a comfortable fear of these enemies’ in a bird’s eye view of hateful neighbors. uprooting terrorists on those hills. From workplace, and even impulsive attacks. Their youth laugh within earshot of those very hills, the 10-month-old escaping to a lake house There’s Lebanon to those who wish to wipe them out. The Shalhevet Pass was shot and killed at the for the weekend, it’s hard the north, Syria and residents of Haifa, Ashkelon, Kfar Vradim playground in his mother’s arms in 2003. to understand hate. Jordan to the east, and Tel Aviv have lost mothers, fathers, I am lucky enough to have been Jews in Israel know Egypt to the south, sons and daughters, yet they bear no touched by the perseverance, love of life, hate. Not hate towards Estie Katzman meets Rabbi Leibel and dozens of pock- grudges. They experience pain that is and sincere appreciation shown by the their fellow man, but hate Baumgarten of East Hampton, NY, at ets of Palestinians dis- incomprehensible to us in our sheltered Jews of Israel for the land and the blessfrom the strong border- Rosh Hanikra, just over the hill from persed near major lives. Hundreds of holy young women ings that G-d has given them. They do ing nations whose top Lebanon. Jewish settlements and men who serve in the Israeli Defense not remain focused on the difficulties or priority is to wipe them off the face of the perpetrators of their suffering. this earth. They continuously focus on makJews in Israel know fear. The six-secing their lives more joyous and ond warning to take cover before a rich, and full of meaning. They Kassam rocket hits the town, hopefully look forward to each day, to each not the spot you’re standing on, is terriopportunity, and to each fying. moment. Jews in Israel know neglect. Being I ask G-d to help me implement repeatedly abandoned by fellow Jews in the attitude of the Jews of positions of power, criticized by mainHevron, Gush Etzion, Sasa, Akko stream media, and looked down upon as and Jerusalem into my own life extremists while holding on to our preand to project their ever-faithful cious gift from G-d. values. Jews in Israel know faith. A faith I realize that we are all surimpenetrable by defilement, disengagerounded by enemies. No Jew is ment, even death. A faith in G-d’s plan safe from those who wish to cause and purpose, in G-d’s eternal love for the us harm wherever she or he may Jewish people and His ever-resting eye Left: Estie and her friends visit the Jewish section of friends Sheina and Muki visit the Golan Heights, be. .Let us be strong, let us be Chevron (Hebron). Right: Estie, center, and her overlooking the Kinneret and the city of Tiberius. faithful, let us unite. on the land of Israel. Living a mere stone’s throw from peo- around the country. None of these neigh- Forces have lost their precious lives keepFor “The Eyes of G-d are on the Land.” ple whose goal is to kill them, Jews in bors love Israel. None at all. ing residents safe. Jews in Israel know (Deuteronomy)
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April 18, 2008
Some of the best things in life are ‌ in Israel! up in her wedding gown, accompanied by her photographer, to take pictures there before her wedding. A group of Israelis who were there at the time all wished her a warm, enthusiastic ‘Mazal tov!’ A bunch of American tourists watched the whole scene with amusement. You could tell by the looks on their faces how strange this seemed to them -- but to those of us who live here there was the feeling that we were nothing less than an extension of the bride’s joy. Of course we wished her mazal tov, as we would to any member of our family who was about to get married!â€? Speaking of the Kotel ‌ last Shabbat, my daughter Mazal decided to take a walk with a friend, from our neighborhood in northern Jerusalem to the Old City, to daven at the Kotel on Shabbat afternoon -- that’s something you can do nowhere else in the world. The weather was lovely and they found the two-hour walk invigorating. When they got there they davened mincha, and then they went to the area of the tunnel entrance to the Kotel plaza, where free food was being offered so that the many people who had walked to the Old City from afar could eat shalosh seudos. It was a simple meal of rolls, a variety of salads, and some cookies for dessert. The men, who sat at their own tables, sang zemirot -- special songs for Shabbat -and the atmosphere was warm, friendly and inspiring. Since they had walked there on Shabbat, the girls did not carry money with them for their return trip home, but that posed no problem at all -Jerusalem accommodates people who keep Shabbat! Those first buses that run out of the Old City after Shabbat run on the honor system -- the Egged bus company doesn’t expect anyone The Mizrahi family picture from the recent wedding of Yitzhak and Talia, standing center, to carry money when includes Sharon and her husband Moshe, seated center, their children, children-in-law and they go to the Old City grandchildren, and Sharon’s sister Julie Nadoff Amrani, peeking out at the far right. The bride on Shabbat. and groom will be making their home in Omaha this summer, when Rabbi Mizrahi takes the Bus drivers will let position of Assistant Rabbi at Beth Israel Synagogue. you on without paying; Just what is it that’s special about our little country? you can pay some other time. But that bus from the Old What draws them and what holds them -- and us -- here? City doesn’t run all the way to our neighborhood. The I’ve discussed that question with a broad range of peo- girls had to transfer to a second bus from the center of ple, and a variety of answers came my way, some rather town to get home. Was that a problem? “Not at all,â€? says Mazal. “We just heavy, some intensely spiritual and some humorous; many of them expressed my own feelings so eloquently. told the driver that we had walked to the Kotel on When Jewish Press Editor Carol Katzman asked me to Shabbat and that we’d pay him tomorrow. He said share some thoughts and experiences that have to do ‘Fine’ and let us on.â€? with life in Israel, I realized this was a rare opportunity Of course he trusted them -- we’re all family, you to present my rather disjointed potpourri of impressions. know. I have recorded what I’ve learned without exaggeraFamily ‌ Sarah said, “Everywhere you go you feel at tion. Be aware, though, that this is only a small sampling home. If you’re lost, you can ask anyone on the street. of endless possible responses, which could be as numer- You’re never scared.â€? ous and varied as the citizenry of Israel. Chava remembers her very first visit to the country: Our friend Adam was quick to declare: “Israel is not a “My father brought me on a trip to Israel when I was country; Israel is a family!â€? I’ve heard that sentiment eight years old. I was amazed, even at that age, at how expressed in countless ways. connected I felt to everyone here -- a feeling I had never Adam tells of the time he walked into the wrong hall experienced back home in America.â€? and ended up at the wrong wedding. “More than half an Eventually, Chava made her home here. hour passed before I realized that I was in the wrong “I feel it’s a tremendous privilege to walk the streets place,â€? Adam says. “Everyone made me feel so welcome. and climb the hills of the land to which millions of Jews I even saw people I knew there. But I looked again and prayed to return throughout the past two millennia. I again over at the head table to find my friend whose feel that sense of awe daily; I try hard never to take it for wedding it was supposed to be. ‘Where is he?’ I kept granted that we are in the land where our ancestors thinking. Eventually I found my way to the hall where I yearned to be. I have chosen to live in a place where belonged. But in the meantime I hadn’t felt the least bit truth-seeking is the norm, where spiritual striving and uncomfortable about being in the wrong place.â€? spiritual growth is the goal. People live and breathe it,â€? Rachel had other thoughts about attending a wedding she explained. to which she hadn’t been invited -- she’d go there inten“There is so much to say about the power of being tionally! “I love the fact that you can walk into anyone’s with one’s own people, and celebrating the amazing wedding here,â€? she says enthusiastically. “You can just variety of Jews who have gathered from literally every show up at the chuppah and bless the kallah with all the corner of the planet. It is remarkable to hear so many brachos you can think of and she’ll thank you with all her different languages spoken, and to see so many beautiful heart and bless you in return. She won’t look at you Jewish faces!â€? strangely -- in fact, she’ll be thrilled that you’re part of her “I love to live in Israel because of the people,â€? Yonina simcha! Can you think of a better way to lift your spirits?â€? tells me. “There are so many warm hearts beating out “That’s true,â€? Adam agrees. “I remember once when there. If someone’s in need, everyone -- even total I was at the Kotel (the Western Wall) and a bride showed Continued on page 34 by SHARON NADOFF MIZRAHI It’s been almost 16 years now since our family made aliyah. We left a simple but comfortable American lifestyle -- Israelis can hardly believe it when they hear that we lived in a four-story house with central heating and air-conditioning, flowers growing in the front yard, vegetables in the backyard, a sandbox, a swing set, a two-car garage ‌ I’m sure you can picture it; nothing out of the ordinary. Unless, that is, you’d compare it to the simple Jerusalem apartment we live in today. Israelis sometimes ask us what we actually gained when we made aliyah. This is a topic that has long interested me, because I live and work among so many people who have left countries like the United States, England, South Africa, France and Switzerland, to make their homes in Israel. In almost every case people live much more modestly in Israel than they did in their countries of origin, and once they make it through the initial period of adjustment to a new country, culture, language and lifestyle, they rarely complain.
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 33
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
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Continued from page 33 strangers -- will stop and lend a hand. Once when I lost my wallet, the owner of the bookstore where I was shopping gave me money to take a bus home! She added, “Then there’s the Land itself. Every place oozes with history. This is the land where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob walked, where the Prophets taught and the Judges led wars for G-d. The thing that actually piqued my interest in coming here so many years ago was an ad for Pan Am Airlines, showing an elderly man traipsing through the narrow stone archways of the Old City with the caption, ‘Walk the streets your ancestors walked.’ Here you feel history -- both ancient and modern -- like nowhere else.” It’s the varied universal experiences that inspire Debbie. “I love walking through the different neighborhoods. Each one is a true ethnic experience. In the Bucharian neighborhood, for example, I hear the haunting sound of the Bucharian Jews chanting mincha in unison. Passing the synagogue complex I see elderly women, some with white embroidered pants peeping out from under their voluminous flower-printed dresses, standing outside, waiting for the opportunity to answer amen. Tiny tables, piled with anything from holy books to audio discs to toys to kitchenware, are set up along the side of the street outside the shul, making walking along the narrow, cobblestoned street almost impossible,” she tells me. “I continue up the street and pass the tiny ‘aish-tanur’ (an Arabic flat bread) bakery -- a tiny hole in the wall, just big enough to hold a large, sturdy wooden table and an ancient stone oven. The circular flat breads are baked on the sides of the oven, just as described in the Mishna. The bakery hasn’t changed since I arrived in Jerusalem, close to 37 years ago. The smell is tantalizing, and I quicken my step to avoid temptation,” she adds. “But the owner stops me. ‘Rebbetzin,’ he calls out [here in Jerusalem, people call almost every woman “Rebbetzin”], ‘I have a mitzvah for you. Please say the brachah on the mitzvah of ‘taking challah’ for me.’ I make a brachah, separate a small piece of challah and toss it into the furnace underneath the oven -- and, yes, I also buy a half-dozen of his fresh-baked breads. How can I resist?” And finally, she says, “Although sitting on crowded buses has never been, and will never be, one of my favorite pastimes, I love how, when someone gets on a crowded bus through the back door, it is common courtesy for the other people on the bus to pass that person’s fare up to the driver and then return the change. The money passes through perhaps a dozen hands, yet no one would consider pocketing it! Could you imagine trying that on a crowded New York subway?” Miriam especially tunes in to the atmosphere: “Life in Israel is unpredictable, exciting, moving and alive. There’s a certain zing in the air and always something going on! I love the mix of nationalities living side by side in each neighborhood. The people are special, warm and helpful. I’ll never forget the taxi-driver who noticed me looking frazzled before my daughter’s wedding. He gave me a string of hearty brachos and a lesson in faith. Then there’s the shopkeeper who doesn’t wear a yar-
mulke, but he reminds me to say ‘be’ezrat Hashem [with God’s help].’ And where else would one board a bus and hear chassidic music blaring from the driver’s radio?” Naomi works the night shift at her job. “Where else in the world,” she asks, “can a woman alone ride the last bus at night without worrying about being mugged?” She also appreciates the child-friendly attitude of the Israeli public, and the beautiful natural surroundings, which vary from the stark, wild desert in the south to the green, lush north, all within such a small country. Nachman is a vibrant, “colorful” character. “The way I see it,” he says, “life in Israel is in color, and life anywhere else is black-and-white.” Nachman directs a high-profile choir. He says one thing he loves about Israel is that “when my wife was about to give birth, the midwife in the delivery room recognized me from the concert she attended at the Ramada on Sukkos -- we’re all one big happy family!” Nachman is also one of the most powerful storytellers I’ve met. “Every person in Israel is a walking story,” he insists. “Everyone here has seen God’s Hand directly touching his or her life in amazing ways. Whether it had to do with army experiences, work, family, children or whatever, they’ll all come up with something exceptional to tell you. Everyone says they see God’s direct involvement in their lives more clearly here.” “My husband was in the bank at closing time,” Dvora recalls, “and they organized a minyan for mincha right there, with the manager, assistant managers, tellers and clients together!” She also mentions that everyone on the bus or in the street will tell you what you’re doing wrong -- “take off the kid’s hat … cover his ears … give him a pacifier … don’t give him a pacifier … your political philosophy is all wrong … why are you eating that, it’s so unhealthy …” but, she knows, “it’s because they really care.” Yocheved loves seeing things like store signs and road signs written in Hebrew letters. “It makes us feel connected to the country,” she says. But most of all, “We feel closer to the ge’ulah and Mashiach, as if we moved forward toward this when we moved to this country!” Judy finds everything in Israel just so significant. She even finds herself talking with her friends about more serious topics than she used to. “And the view! It changes practically every few feet! Anything you’ll find anywhere in the world, you’ll find in some form in Israel,” she insists. But no matter what it is that a person finds special about this extraordinary country, no one can overlook the spiritual energy that’s so compellingly evident. As Miri put it, “Holiness is so palpable here; it compels you to seek growth and character development. The opportunities to grow are everywhere, like gold and silver scattered on the streets.” I would add my own observation that one of the loveliest things about living in Israel is meeting up with so many old friends wherever we go. Sooner or later just about everyone ends up in Israel, at least for a visit, and I’m looking forward to meeting every reader of this article at some point in the not-too-distant future!
April 18, 2008
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 35
An interfaith trip brings a Jew to Israel who both were a part of this region’s by BETH KATZ Director of Project Interfaith Bearing Witness Conference in 2005, My first and recent trip to Israel this were chosen and participated in this past July differed from that of most year’s program. I was allowed to join this American Jews. I did not go as part of birthright israel, or to study for a semester, or with a mission organized by the Jewish Federation. I accompanied a group of 26 Catholic school educators from across the United States. This group was traveling to Israel, most for the first time, with a rabbi and a Catholic priest on a program called Bearing Witness Advanced Summer Institute for Catholic Left: During a morning at Yad Vashem, Omaha Advanced School Educators. The program, organ- Bearing Witness participants Carol Sheridan, left, Beth Katz, ized by the national Anti- second from right, and Donna Walter, right, briefly met up with Defamation League Omahans Beth Seldin Dotan, second from left, and Jennifer (ADL) in partnership with the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, selects Catholic school educators who have taken part in the three-day Bearing Witness Conferences administered by regional ADL offices on a ten-day trip to Baltimore, Maryland (for three days of study) and then on to Israel (for six days of touring). The program is designed to build on participants’ knowledge of historical and contemporary anti-Semitism, the history of the Holocaust, the history and evolution of Jewish-Christian relations, and the meaning of Israel to the Jewish People. Donna Walter and Carol Sheridan, two Beth Katz visits Old Jaffa; the skyline of Tel Catholic school educators from Omaha Aviv is behind her.
group because of my relationship with the ADL Plains States office, my familiarity with the Bearing Witness program, and my desire to explore the possibility of
Jews have to Israel, it is nonetheless sacred and must be respected. Likewise, I believe that many of the educators gained a more profound appreciation for the connections Jews have to this land after visiting the Western Wall, Yad Vashem, Masada, and Tzfat. Israel proved to be for many of the educators the first time that they had experienced being a religious “minority.” Hopefully, the experience of being in the minority (though a positive one) will help sensitize them to the challenges that we Jews and other minority groups face here in the United States. Stastny, center, who were attending a conference on Holocaust At the same time that education there. Right: Tour guide Reuven Solomon, right, the educators were grapexplains the significance of the ruins at Capernaum to partici- pling with being in the pants. minority, I was fascinated putting together an interfaith trip to by the fact that, for the first time in my Israel for Omaha residents. life, I was in a country where Jews were in Traveling through Israel with a group the majority and I tried to understand the of Catholic school educators epitomized privileges, opportunities, and challenges for me the joys and trials of working on that such a situation brings. interfaith relations. I am extremely grateful for the rare I delighted in touring many sites that opportunity of being able to experience are holy to Christians such as the Church Israel with a group of Christians commitof the Annunciation in Nazareth; the Mt. ted to improving relations between our of Beatitudes and Capernaum on the Sea communities. It was a privilege to witness of Galilee, and walking the Stations of the the deeply spiritual connections that they Cross in Jerusalem. Visiting these sites have to Israel and to be a participant in gave me a deeper understanding of the the on-going effort for our communities sacred connection that Christians have to to understand and respect each other. places in Israel. My participation was made possible in Though this connection is in many ways part by support from the C.M. “Nick” very different from the connections that Newman Fund and Gary Nachman.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
Going to Israel when everyone else thinks you’re crazy! by KAREN LEPP The Millennium was approaching; threats of Y2K were everywhere. The world as we know it, run by computer systems, was about to shut down. People were storing supplies in their basements, staying close to home and keeping families close because no one really knew what would happen when the clock struck midnight. Most people did not want to even leave their basements, yet our family, with the advice of our rabbi, didn’t just leave the basement; we traveled 7000 miles to ring in the new year. Family and friends thought we were crazy but Rabbi Aryeh Azriel insisted that Israel was the place to be. He couldn’t have been more right.
celebrating friendship, Jewish friendship. As friends stayed close to home in Nebraska, we felt we were home, our Jewish home. Rabbi Azriel was right, it was the place to be. That trip to Israel will always be with us. Besides the wonderful memories, our children have used thoughts and items for reports in school, writing papers and even in their Bat/Bar Mitzvah personal prayers. We have small purchases everywhere in our home. Brightly colored mezzuzahs on the bedroom doors, framed pictures, art work and beautiful meaningful items from Yad LaKashish (Lifeline for the Elderly, a sheltered workshop in Jerusalem).
Left: the Lepp family on the 1999-2000 Millennium Mission: Karen, Bob, and their children: Dustin, Kelsey and Allie Spending 10 days in Israel was spectacular! We laughed, we cried, we made new friends. We bonded as a family, and we became better Jews. Everything about the trip was wonderful. Seeing our children float in the Dead Sea, climbing Masada, lighting candles for the victims of the Holocaust, crying together at the museums, laughing hysterically while bouncing in a Jeep across the desert, seeing a camel eye to eye, eating new foods like pop rock chocolate, finding our family name etched in stone, praying at the Western Wall, drinking tea from the Jordan River and planting a family tree are just a few of the many experiences we had. On of the fondest memories was the approaching of the Millennium. We were saying goodbye and starting anew. We were having so much fun just being together we kind of forgot about the threats of this forbidden hour. Midnight came and midnight went; we were busy
(Allison). Right: Kelsey and one of the madrichim (counselors) relax after climbing Masada. Our youngest has a scrapbook with letters and pictures from one of the guides with whom she bonded. We purchased religious jewelry for ourselves and jewelry we have given away as gifts. All purchases were handmade with pride, not simply just manufactured. That trip left us with much more than just a sunburn and silly souvenirs. It has left us with a bond that no one truly understands until they actually experience it. It has been eight years but seems like only yesterday that we were adventurers on this beautiful land. The idea of traveling to Israel has entered our home once again. My husband Bob came home with “It’s Israel’s 60th anniversary; the General Assembly is meeting and I think we should go.” Of course, my reaction was, “We have three kids in college. Who will teach my students? Two weeks is too long. Who will watch the dog?” Then reality set in ... it is the place to be!
Federation Missions
Photos from top: During the 2003 General Assembly in Jerusalem, mission participants visited a family affected by terrorist attacks: Joe Kirshenbaum, left, Margo Riekes, Margie Alperson, Steve Riekes, Paul Shyken, Maxine Kirshenbaum, Susie Shyken, Julee Katzman and Rabbi Mendel Katzman; Lindsey Itkin and David Pitlor ride a camel on the 1994 Family Mission; and Omaha’s favorite guide, Alex Fleischer, takes Michael and Josh Parsow, and Karen Javitch around Israel’s many archaeological sites on the 1997 Family Mission.
Congratulations, Israel at 60!
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First time visitors to Israel can’t wait to return ple we’ve met and know we will see these people again. by STACEY ROCKMAN We visited the dedicated people of Garin Ometz. Just two months ago, 22 Omaha leaders, mostly firsttime visitors to the Western Galilee, weren’t prepared for These 50 religious families have relocated to Akko to the three days and nights they would experience in improve the lives of the Jewish residents and to make northern Israel. The friendships, site Akko more Jewish. They visits and beautiful Mediterranean prepare over 300 packSea were all more than they expected. ages for the needy every Our trip began with a visit to Shabbat. Sachnut, where we were greeted by a We spent an hour helptall, striking, Ethiopian born woman ing them prepare Shabbat in her 20s who spends her days transpackages, sorting potalating Amharic for new Ethiopian toes and pomellas into immigrants. She shared her story bags for each family. with us. Many of us had a difficult We could all picture this 10-yeartime -- the potatoes were old child, traveling with her family, rotten and slimy -- but we walking at night, sleeping during the felt better afterwards day; happy with any food they found knowing we have helped and the relief they felt when they even in a small way. Rabbi Stacey Rockman, left, and Amy Nachman visited finally arrived in the Sudan. She Jonathan Gross has a long Israel in February on the 2008 Federation Campaign would live in a refugee camp under and treasured relationship Leadership Mission. questionable circumstances until they with the families of Garin
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 37
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Left: Mission participants prepare Shabbat packages for participated in Partnership's Artist-in-Residence program needy families in Akko. Right: Bob Goldberg points to a piece last summer. The art hangs in the Western Galilee Hospital of art that his wife Kim created with some children when she in Nahariya in Omaha’s Partnership with Israel region. were rescued by the Ometz, and we could see Jewish Agency and began how much they mean to their journey to religious one another. freedom in Israel. Next we visited the Her youth made her Arab village of Sheich transition to their new life Danun. Omaha has a easy, unlike the older genlong-standing relationship eration that struggles with this village and we with the language, have built the only playtremendous changes in ground the residents culture, and the challenge enjoy. We spoke with of transferring their old Ahmad, the delightful agricultural life into a man who runs the commodern working one. munity center, about the We visited a beautiful relationship between building with a walk-up Israeli Arabs and Jews. We ramp, and were greeted all wish there was a simple by many smiling faces -- John Lehr poses with two Israeli soldiers in February. solution. some blind, some in wheelchairs and many hunched A group of children sang and played their violins for us. over and walking with crutches. The unusual thing Two of the kids are his daughters, and they are beautiful about this visit is that all of these 19-24 year old resi- and happy. We were also entertained by a group of teens dents are learning to be self-sufficient. These kids were that danced for us. Afterwards they attempted to teach us unbelievable! They take care of one another, and -- most how to Depka (Arabic line dance). The teens are beautisurprising to us -- spend their days doing community ful and graceful, and it was surprising for us to see some service. of the boys and girls hold hands and dance together. That night we had dinner with the Israeli leadership One resident had spent a good part of a year interviewing seniors about how they met their spouse and group at the spectacular Yehiam castle. We learned that what their married lives had been like. Each resident had there are three Crusader castles in the Western Galilee. prepared a notebook about their experiences. A young When the crusaders were traveling to Jerusalem they needed a safe place to stay with their horses every blind man played the drums for us. This young man is so talented and he even jumps out evening, and they would ride from castle to castle. The Israeli leadership group is terrific. We soon found of airplanes. We were blown away by the fact that many of these kids are thinking about their futures and about that we have many things in common -- our communientrepreneurial projects. They are making and selling ties are similar and we have some of the same concerns and challenges. The food was perfect. t-shirts, and selling stock in their businesses. Afterwards, one of the Omaha leaders told me that she Our dollars pay for this incredible place. During the Second Lebanon War these young adults had no safe had been reluctant to come and that the evening had room to go to, and we all felt the fear that they experi- turned out to be amazing. She had met someone who enced. Our own community helped pay for their new she couldn’t wait to see again, hopefully in Omaha. The flutists that came to Omaha in January for the safe room, which they so proudly showed us. We divided up into groups of three and four and went Performing Arts Series also joined us for dinner. They to dinners fit for a king or a queen. We were all treated told us that they really enjoyed their time in Omaha, and like honored guests and had a wonderful evening. And that it was a life changing experience for them. We all left the Western Galilee grateful for the time we though we were scheduled to be back at the hotel by 10 o’clock, few returned at that hour. One group didn’t were able to spend with our partners, and looking forreturn until midnight. We all enjoyed the wonderful peo- ward to seeing them again soon.
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April 18, 2008
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by YOSEF KATZMAN There’s a passion -- a deep ambition for excellence. We have all heard about the unbelievable advances in medicine by Israelis, about the great discoveries in modern agriculture, and the endless drive to find the most powerful tools in technology, all right in our own Jewish homeland. We witness the passion for constant improvement and excellence in the Israeli military, for beauty and skill in the Above: Yosef and Shanny Katzman visit the Kotel with their arts, and for perpetuating daughters, Kochava Meira and Rena Bracha. Below: Yosef the land’s historical rich- Katzman visits with Rabbi Moshe Lazarus, his rabbi at Ohr ness. It’s seems to even be Samayach, while visiting Israel last summer. in the air -- the gorgeous scenery, the beautiful weather scream out the desire for its people to excel in every area. It’s an intense place. But it doesn’t end there. Deep in the heart of Israel, tucked away modestly behind the scenes, is another kind of passion. It’s a passion for excellence, for perfection. It’s a passion that has existed for thousands of years. But you won’t necessarily find it in the beautiful scenery. You may not find it in the medical research buildings. Israel really is an intense place. But if It can be found inside a small apartment in a Jerusalem neighborhood, or we want to find that deep passion to behind a desk in a cheder, a children’s become great people, the desire to conyeshiva, in a small village in the Galil. It stantly improve one’s character, to take can be found in the line of people follow- every moment of life and use it as an ing that elderly sage as he shuffles back to opportunity to build an eternal relationhis humble home, anxiously awaiting ship with G-d, we’ll have to visit that answers to their inquiries. Or in the soft, woman’s pleasant home, or hear the rich gentle words of a loving mother to her words of Torah in that man’s yeshiva, or
Left: Yosef and Shanny Katzman and their daughters receive a bracha from HaRav children as she energetically prepares a lavish Shabbos meal for dozens. It’s a passion to live life to its fullest. To become great people. To become holy people. Many of us have visited Israel. We’ve seen the historical landmarks, experienced the culture, and learned about the Israeli advances in the sciences. But one hasn’t truly experienced Israel without having visited a home for a Shabbos meal, where one can enjoy the delicacies while feeling awed at the warm and beautiful interaction of the host family. Or without having visited a yeshiva, where men study words of Torah intently day and night, as living examples of our unbroken chain of tradition from Mount Sinai itself. Or without having received an inspiring bracha, a blessing, from a talmid chacham, the Torah sage, or from his rebbetzin.
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Pinchas. Right: The Katzmans meet Rebbetzin Pinchas. see the tears of joy trickle down those elderly faces as they give that inspiring blessing to their grandchildren. That desire to be alive, in its fullest sense, is right there, in our homeland, stronger than anywhere else in the world. It’s there for us to take part in, if only we desire it as well. After learning at Ohr Samayach Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Yosef Katzman continued his studies at Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore, MD, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is a rabbi with the Columbus (OH) Community Kollel; his wife, Shanny, who also spent two years in Israel at Neve Yerusalayim Seminary in Jerusalem, teaches kindergarten at the Columbus Torah academy. They are the parents of two girls: Rena Bracha and Kochava Meira.
April 18, 2008
Federation Missions
Photos from top: welcoming new olim from the former Soviet Union in the middle of the night at Ben Gurion Airport in 1991 are Lisa Lewis, left, Jan Schneiderman, Howard Kooper, Cheryl Cooper and Glen Fineman; the 1995 Women’s Mission visits Petra, Mt. Nebo and Roman ruins in Jordan; Tommy Fellman and his daughter, Louri Sullivan rest after climbing Masada on the 2007 Family Mission.
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Chag Sameyach! clean up for Pesach, I didn’t do so badly “cleaning up” by EVAN SALTZMAN After I graduated from high school in 1995, I spent myself. As a kohane amongst the Jewish people, I have a spetwo school years in Israel studying in a yeshiva and touring the Holy Land thanks to my very supportive par- cial and unique responsibility to be able to bless my felents. The most memorable experiences of those two low Jews during the major holidays throughout the year. years, for me, were having the opportunity to prepare One of the most unique events that takes place in for and celebrate the holidays of Sukkot and Pesach in Israel during both Chol Hamoed Sukkos and Pesach is Israel. the special Birkat Kohanim (Blessing of the Priests). Immediately after Yom Kippur ends, the sounds of ham- Hundreds of other kohanim gather at the Wall, the holimers against nails and wood permeates through the air. Everyone starts to build their sukkahs. Many of us know that building a sukkah can be a very laborious and back-breaking task. But in Israel, everyone is doing it and it is almost like one big country-wide block party. Music is playing, everyone is out doing the same thing and you can’t help get caught up in the action and anticipation of the start of the holiday. Buying a lulav and etrog is an amazing experience as well. Hundreds upon thousands of lulavim and etrogim to choose from. Hundreds upon thousands of people all doing the same thing! What amazed me about Israeli architecture is that the apartment buildings are built in a way to accommodate each apartment being able to have a sukkah with no obstruction directly above. Thousands of kohanim, Evan Saltzman among them, gather at the Wall Only in Israel! I’m sure Israelis dread the preparation and during Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuot, to recite Birkat Kohanim. cleaning for Pesach just est place in the world, like we do in America, and deliver the special but I had a completely priestly blessing to thoudifferent experience. sands of fellow Jews. It is Yeshiva goes on a an awesome feeling to be spring break for the entire able to take part in this month of Nisan. Two event and to know that weeks prior to Pesach my ancestors said the very marks the unofficial same words during their beginning of Pesach service in the Temple cleaning. Similar to the hundreds of year ago. preparation of Sukkot, My blessing to everyeveryone is getting one is that you should all, involved. Everyone is one day, have the opporcleaning for Pesach. tunity to experience the I was helping some Left: Evan Saltzman, who spent 1995-97 in Israel, chooses the holidays of Sukkot and friends clean their house largest, most beautiful etrog he can find for Sukkot. Right: Pesach in Eretz Yisroel. and neighbors were bor- Purchasing a lulav in Israel is quite an experience. Only in Israel can these rowing vacuum cleaners, extension cords and electrical experiences bring special meaning to the respective holoutlets. Everyone was helping everyone else. It just idays and stay with you for a lifetime. made the cleaning and preparation for Pesach that much Former Omahan Evan Saltzman is Manager of Client more exciting. It was so exciting for me that I spent a Support and Business Continuity Coordinator for the week working for a local Pesach cleaning company, Rockefeller Group in New York City, where he lives with Chometz Busters. Not only was I able to help others his wife, Rebekah, and their one-year-old son, Nathan.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
The power of Israel by YELENA MASHINSON spiritual and mystical Kabballah texts in There are many beautithe vicinity of the splendid lake and the ful places around the lavish emerald colored peaks. For world, places whose Christians, Bethsaida is the birthplace of scenery, history and culthe apostles Peter, Andrew and Philip ture capture the visitors’ and a site of Jesus’s miracles. attention and imagination. During the Judeo-Roman war, or the And yet, none of these Last Revolt, the Bethsaida region was places have that unique the site of the opening battles. The city power Israel possesses. served as a focal point in the weapons, The miraculous power provisions and information channel that that differentiates it, separan through the Galilee. As the Romans rates it from the rest of the wrought defeat upon the Jews and world and makes it a truly moved across the land, destroying it acre special place. by acre, they came to the rebellious city The bus picked up the to take the final revenge against it. They pace as it left the city demolished the structures, murdered the zone, and rocked by the Dr. Rami Arav, right, director of the Bethsaida Excavation project inhabitants and set fire to the city. smooth ride, I dozed off. for UNO, instructs students and volunteers at the dig. Bethsaida burned for days in a giant Three hours later, I was awakened by one Bethsaida, the ancient Israeli city we came fire. It burned until nothing but ashes of the professors, announcing that we to excavate. were left of it. Israel suffered the same Bethsaida was founded in the 10th cen- fate. Joseph Flavius observed the once were about to arrive at our destination. As I slowly opened my eyes, a view so tury BCE. The city was the capital of the delightful lake, abundant with fish and breathtakingly beautiful appeared before Kingdom of Geshur, whose royal family plentiful with fresh water, turn red from me, that the fatigue and drowsiness dis- was related to the Davidic dynasty the blood of the warriors, for whom the appeared at once. Majestic mountains, through a marriage between King David calm waters of the Kinneret became the covered with lush green forest, surround- and the Geshurite Princess Ma’acha. The final resting place. The thriving Bethsaida ed a gigantic blue lake whose waters were panoramic Bethsaida, spread on the hills was reduced to patches of burned soil. sparkling in the sunlight. As the road overlooking the Sea of Galilee, was The Kingdom of Judea became no more descended toward the shore, colorful beloved by King Herod, who granted it and its people turned into defenseless, fields, palm trees and gorgeous flowers the status of a city and choose to be homeless wanderers. sprang up everywhere. The whole area buried there. The Bethsaida I walked into turned out Due to its proximity to the lake, to be a collection of ruins ... shattered remwas covered in bright sunlight, shining Bethsaida was a center of the fishing nants of indistinguishable structures, potlike a humongous diamond. Our group of student volunteers industry. The major North African, Asian tery shards, rocks and dirt. As I listed to arrived at Ginosar, the picturesque kib- and European roads led through Professor Rami Arav give an overview of butz on the shore of Lake Kinneret. In Bethsaida, thus making it an important Bethsaida’s glorious history, I found myself the evening, we enjoyed a delicious din- trading location. The city holds religious unable to reconcile the stories of the forner, had a quick introduction and went to significance for both Jews and Christians. mer grandeur with the images of utter sleep. The next day an early start awaited The great rabbis came from the holy city destruction that appeared before my eyes. us. We were to rise at seven and travel to of Tzfat to Bethsaida to work on the We began excavating around six in the
morning and spent the next six hours digging, removing stones and rocks, brushing the layers of the floor, carrying and sifting buckets. We then would soak the pottery shards and artifacts, found in the debris, in water for 24 hours, wash them with soap and carefully examine them in order to determine which ones to keep and which to discard. Sometimes the shards could be reconstructed back into the objects they once were. Broken pieces, buried deep underground for 2,000 years, were connected and again made into vases, plates, lamps, bowls, jugs and jewelry they used to be. As I was staring in amazement at a delicate ancient vase, I was hit with a revelation. I could see these artifacts, the city the whole country for what it truly was: a symbol and a statement. They are the symbols of survival. They are the oral statement that the Romans did not succeed in destroying Israel. The shattered pieces of what was once Israel, burned and buried under the layers of dirt and stones, emerged from the centuries of oblivion, formed back into one and came back to life. Bethsaida was no longer a pile of ruins. I began to see. To be able to distinguish the chambers and houses where my ancestors lived, the pavement on the streets they walked on, the gates that defined the contours of the city. And most important of all, I began to see and recognize that special power that Israel has. The power that no other place on the face of the earth holds. That power is the power of resurrection. The power to bring back to life, to unite and to revive.
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Israel: a different view by ANNELISE OCANTO to understand how to be a part of the solution rather So, what could be a better plan than taking a few days than the problem. off from graduate school to explore a new part of the She was a very positive young lady, who felt very sure beautiful country of Israel while meeting new people at that’s what she wants to do with her life. It was really the same time? wonderful to see that a I am studying at the Conservative young Palestinian had Yeshiva/JTS’s Cantorial Israel prosuch enthusiasm and spirgram, and was looking for a differit in her heart to help. ent environment that I hadn’t been Marisa and I particuexposed to in Jerusalem. larly took a liking to Thankfully, a fellow JTS student Claire, the mother. She had sent out an e-mail telling me was in her early 40s, and about a wonderful program called had so many things to Encounter, “an educational organishare with us. We talked zation dedicated to providing about how her family has Jewish Diaspora leaders from across had to undergo constant the religious and political spectrum shootings that surroundwith exposure to ed their house, how the Palestinian life.” Above: Annelisse Ocanto in Bethlehem with Marisa, both students IDF (Israel Defense The goal of the trip was at the JTS cantorial program. Below: Annelisse meets up with fel- Force) has tried pushing to gather Jews and invite low Omahan Sarah Hasslinger, who is studying at Ben Gurion them out of their land on them to take a step back University in Beer Sheva. several occasions, and from their own lives, and how her and her brothsee the other side of the er’s businesses have been conflict, while engaging seriously dwindling due with Palestinians face-toto the wall, or “boundface and witness realities ary” that divides Israel first hand. from the West Bank, With the majority of which consumes three of Jewish educators and the four sides of her clergy students learning home. more about the world in One of the many eye and around Israel, I was openers on the trip was fortunate enough to go when we reached border to the West Bank, specificontrol and how cally Bethlehem. For two wretched I felt to be an days, I had my life turned American at that upside down, and I am so moment. Here was this happy I took a chance to tourist group, coming learn something comthrough Bethlehem, with pletely different. our cameras and our gawking eyes on one side, waiting When we arrived in Bethlehem, only 20 minutes or so to get back into their country, and on the other side from Jerusalem, we arrived at Hope Flowers School, a were these Palestinian men being extremely patient waitmarvelous K-12 school, started in 1984, promoting “a ing to go home. safe and supportive environment where children can What I just couldn’t understand was that the people in grow and develop into future citizens of a peaceful and my group were taking pictures of the Palestinians as they democratic Palestine.” were waiting for the clearance and walking solemnly past In 2003, the school had up to 250 students in every us to get home. I felt so embarrassed. These people grade, but due to the Intifada of 2000, many families weren’t on display. This was their daily routine, waiting were unable to send their children to the school. on average for one to four hours to get past checkpoints Fortunately for us, we were able to meet with the stu- each day, and it all depended on how friendly the guard dents who were very charming and polite, and above all, was feeling. It made me realize how easily one takes life’s were so happy to see us. simple pleasures for granted. Soon after, we traveled into the city where we were I’d like to share with you a journal entry I wrote after greeted by Leila Sansour, Chief Executive Officer for coming home from a very draining first day, where I Open Bethlehem, an “international relations campaign reflected on my view of being an American Jew who has set up to address the state of emergency in Bethlehem. been told for many years one side to a much needed It was launched in November 2005 in response to the two-sided story. tightening closure of Bethlehem imposed by the Israeli“We, as a people, Am Yisrael, of ALL people, should built wall which takes most of the city’s agricultural land, feel the need for compassion, empathy, learning, comconfiscates many landmarks, and imposes a prison-like promise, and nurturing towards our fellow men and environment on Bethlehem’s inhabitants. Its aim is to women. The way we live as a people should and has bring world attention to this crisis by reaching out to the always been to take in your neighbor and welcome him decision-makers, church leaders, and the media.” or her into your home, AND to never forget the oppresSansour gave us a tour around the city and gave us sion we have struggled with for so many years. personal accounts of her childhood: having picnics with “So, when does it become okay for us to turn our her family and neighborhood, playing outside with her backs on people who face the same types of hardships? brothers, and helping her mother. As we were told her Israel has the power to change not just physical boundstory, we see beyond us Israeli settlements (a total of 27 aries, but an overall mental outlook towards their neighon Palestinian land) that cover much of Bethlehem, a bors. I know it’s difficult for many of us to understand city primarily made up of Christian and Greek Orthodox what is going on, and I still feel sadness and at times residents. extreme dislike towards certain Palestinians who take After a thought-provoking morning, we went to the inappropriate actions towards their brothers and sisters Bethlehem Hotel, where we listened to three Palestinian and Israelis, but we have to remember not to generalize conflict solution/activist speakers, and later played the entire Palestinian population.” games and had discussions with Palestinian teenagers. Being on this trip has made me realize that now more Towards the end of the night, we had the option to than ever, you need to hear two sides of every story. I either stay at the lovely Bethlehem Hotel or to stay with have been given a great opportunity to learn all that I a host family in Bethlehem, where we could share stories can in Israel, and I would be doing myself a great injusand each other’s company. tice if I didn’t hear all the facts. My heart aches and soul Thankfully, after having to seriously think about what cries out to all the families and communities who live in I was getting into, I realized more than ever that I want- sadness, hatred, misfortune, destruction, and anguish ed to really take in all of the experience that I could and every day in Israel/Palestine. stay with a host family. And I can’t express enough how (All quotes were taken from the following websites: happy I feel about the decision I made to stay with www.hope-flowers.org, www.openthelehem.org, and Johnny and Claire Anastas. Yes, I know, you’re probably www.encounterprograms.org. I encourage you to take thinking, “What are their names?” a look at these wonderful, insightful websites.) My friend and classmate, Marisa, and I stayed with a lovely Palestinian Christian family with three sons and a Omahan Annelisse Ocanto is currently a cantorial teenage daughter, a senior in high school who wants to student at the Jewish Theological Seminary, spending study international business and Palestinian/Israeli law her first year of the program in Israel.
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April 18, 2008
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by ALICIA YAFFE But eventually, I My aliyah experience became an Israeli citizen. started about a year and a To further my absorption half prior to my graduainto Israeli society, I tion from the University attended free government of Kansas (KU). As a ulpan (intensive language member of one of the course) in the mornings, and to pay my bills, I first Partnership 2000 maintained my position as programs, I spent the an English teacher in the summer as a volunteer in evenings. Kiryat Gat, spending my Once I felt more condays teaching English and fident with my Hebrew living with a Moroccan and with the Israeli syshost family. tem of life, I found a The summer afforded wonderful job working me the opportunity to for Target Conferences. I travel throughout Israel. I inevitably and conse- Above Former Omahan Alicia Yaffe and Yoni Cohen take a Jeep began to plan, organize quently fell in love with Tour in Eilat. Below: Yoni and Alicia at the Israel versus England and implement conferences and events not only everything I saw and national soccer game. in Israel, but in such everyone I met. The moment I returned to the States, diverse locations as my sole focus and driving desire was to graduate from Cyprus and Vancouver, KU and embark upon my new life in Eretz Y’srael. British Columbia. Within three weeks of my graduation from KU, my For the first time since journey began. Like so many other immigrants before I landed in Israel, I felt a me, I set off with a one way ticket and two suitcases in part of the working Israeli tow. The first stop on my expedition was the southern society. Quickly, I came desert town of Arad, where I was a participant in the to realize working with 2001 Makzor of the World Union Jewish Studies Israelis is quite different (WUJS). than Americans. Israelis WUJS is a seven-month program which packed my are incredibly direct with days with a combination of Hebrew classes, history their word choices. They courses and hands-on learning which included travel as well as destination and outdoor experience learning do not sugar coat anything. I think they learn this behavior in the army. adventures. On the other hand, the lines between professional and During my time at WUJS, I resided in the Arad absorption center, a mosaic of immigrants from around personal life is blurred. The working environment is not the globe. All WUJS participants spent free time as vol- simply the professional environment common to unteers in Arad. Once a week I taught a class of Americans. Employees in Israel tend to be close and perEthiopian immigrants English. This was a truly enrich- sonal with each other which was demonstrated to me at ing experience. There was no common language, yet Target Conferences. As every holiday approached, co-workers would somehow, we learned from each other. Beyond my class work, volunteer work, and travel, I always inquire as to where everyone would be to assure also offered my services as a volunteer for the Israeli that no employee was ever alone on a holiday. Everyone Defense Force (IDF). I spent a month on an army base always had a place to go. To be blunt, establishing a new life in Israel is difficult. near Ashkelon. The experience brought out a new sense Not only did I face the challenge of looking for work of pride unlike any I had experienced before. Each morning, I dressed in full army uniform -- right and establishing a life, which most college graduates down to the shoes and socks! Beyond the thrill of don- face, at the same time I had to adjust to a new language, ning the uniform, I actually worked on the tanks which new mentality, new foods, obtain new friends, learn a were housed on the base. I, a new immigrant, painted foreign culture, and of course do it without a nearby the tanks’ interiors, as well as performed weights and family structure. At times I became very lonely and hard measure tests on the fire extinguishers to determine times were frustrating. However, I adjusted. I am now accustomed to shopping at the shuk for fresh their usability and reliability in the battlefields. I remember calling home and telling my mother with fruits and vegetables and I have learned that clothes drysuch fervor and excitement about the freshly painted ers are irrelevant; I hang my wet laundry to dry outside tank headed out to patrol my borders with a viable fire like everyone else in Tel Aviv. Beyond all, I cherish the extinguisher inside, all in a day’s work! Some of my days friendships which now have become my Israeli family. When I first moved to Israel during the beginning of with the IDF were a bit more low key. There were some days I just would replace old uniforms for soldiers and the intifada, the Israelis frequently thanked me for coming, yet seemed to have a look of curiosity in their eyes. issue new ones. WUJS graduation seemed to come upon everyone so I was aware of the intifada, yet by living in Tel Aviv I felt quickly and resulted in a vast dispersement of all the par- a sense of security not shared by many other cities in ticipants. For me, there was only one choice; my next Israel. I would watch the news reports about bombings at stop was to be the vibrant, metropolitan, secular city of Tel Aviv. The strong work force and vivacious night life coffee shops and restaurants, yet it was something closer to home that brought the intifada to my front door. drew me to the city. This is really where I feel my “life” in Israel began. I Like a contagious virus, the bus I took to work everyday, moved to an apartment in the center of Tel Aviv which my favorite coffee shop on Allenby St, and my regular I shared with two Israeli roommates and subsequently watering hole Mike’s Place, all fell victims to Palestinian began teaching English in a private school. It was dur- homicide bombers. Instantly I was thrown into the one aspect of Israeli ing this time I met Yoni Cohen, and we have been together since. I now had a job, a residence, friends, and lifestyle that I had, until now, only watched on televia companion; I knew it was time to become an Israeli sion. I knew what it felt like to have those painful chills run down my spine. I knew the gut ache telling me I citizen. The majority of immigrants make aliyah with assis- could have been there. I, too, was now in the throws of tance from one of several designated organizations. frantically making phone calls to see if my Israeli family Needless to say, I chose to do it the hard way, on my of friends and co-workers were safe. During the recent war in Lebanon, I watched as the own. As a result, it became common to see me standing in IDF called up reserve troops. The result was an eerie lines at five o’clock in the morning simply to put my feeling throughout Tel Aviv. The women outnumbered name on a list in order to get a number, just so I can men on the streets in great numbers and I knew each return three hours later and stand in yet another line. one of them had husbands, brothers, cousins, These trials rather quickly taught me all about Israeli boyfriends, and friends on reserve duty. In these moments the love I held for Israel was bureaucracy. In Israel, government offices are generally closed more enhanced tenfold and I felt my Israeli identity strengthhours than they are open. Tasks which I once deemed ened. These are the moments that I realized how imporsimple such as an errand at the post office or bank can tant this country truly is and why Americans should take hours. It is not uncommon to spend hours standing never take it for granted. These are the moments that I knew I was an Israeli. in line simply waiting for someone to return from a Continued on page 43 break or to conclude a personal phone call.
April 18, 2008
A driving desire to make aliyah Continued from page 42 Of course living in Israel is not about bombings or terrorism. My most precious memories involve simple life events such as having brunch with my friends on the beach or sitting outside at coffee shops year round. The holidays are wonderful times to be in Israel. Yom Ha’atzmaut is one of my favorites. The radio stations play the fun classics; there are enormous barbecues in Park Hayarkon and Israeli flags are prominently hung from every street corner. Israel is also the only place in the world where every Friday afternoon you are reminded that you are Jewish. You are reminded it is time to prepare for Shabbat just as the entire country is preparing for the Shabbat. This solidarity lets you know you are home. Israel has a spirit in the air that strengthens feelings to which my words can barely do justice. There is no need to explain the Jewish lifestyle to neighbors or unknowing co-workers. There is the security of the IDF which will defend our country and our way of life. Israel is a special place and every Jew should visit and experience what Israel has to offer. Israel is our country. During this calendar year, Yoni and I now reside in Austin, Texas, where Yoni is working as the shaliach for the University of Texas. I am temporarily working at Dell Computers in the Event Marketing Department and have become active in our new community. We will be returning to Israel at the end of the summer as Yoni finishes his shaliach service and my job has concluded. Since our return to the States, not a day has passed that I do not think about Israel. I think about the life that I left behind and the new chapter to begin again on our return. Alicia Yaffe grew up in Omaha and moved with her family to Ohio before attending college and making aliyah to Israel. Yoni and Alicia at the Kinneret in Tiberius.
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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O Jerusalem induce anxiety and arguments in the fresh pita stalls. by MELISSA KATZMAN Not wanting to waste a minute, we ate overstuffed We were greeted by a slightly frazzled man with a full beard, large glasses and kippah, dressed in a red robe, hamburgers just off of Ben Yehuda, had massages in Ein and trailed by a cat. The faint smell of bread and spices Bokek, visited the Kotel and the Old City, strolled wafted from the warm kitchen behind him. It was 6 am through Yemin Moshe and Rechavia and Mea She’arim, in Jerusalem -- the morning mist had lifted and the city took in the breathtaking Yad Vashem Memorial, enjoyed was springing to life; just another January day in the sushi and beach time in Tel Aviv, and sipped Tuborg beer at a cafe in the holiest of cities. Russian Compound. At Noah hadn’t expected night we drank tea, surfed us this early, hence the the web, and slept like robed attire, but happily babies in our loft. showed me and my sisters Shabbat was spent to our loft-like rental devouring our own home apartment on the fifth cooked meals of spiced floor. Unit #6, replete shnitzel, fresh salatim and with kitchenette and dishMarzipan rugelach in the es, shower squeegee, and little apartment, and pristine view of the catching up with friends Knesset via balcony, from home over lunch in would be our temporary Nachla’ot. home for the next six Delightfully at ease in days. a swirling sea of Hebrew Having spent much and history, it felt, at least time visiting and living in temporarily, as if Avi, Israel, and not wanting the overpriced tourist The Knesset and beyond can be seen from the west-facing window Rachel and I were just another family living in experience of staying in a in a Bed and Breakfast in Jerusalem. hotel, we opted for the independence of a B&B for our this special Middle Eastern city. After growing attached to the little apartment on vacation. In actuality, nowhere in the literature about Beit Narkiss, the week came to an end. We packed our bags, Noach did it promise any semblance of breakfast. But tidied up the kitchen, enjoyed one last gaze from the that was fine with us. There was plenty of Turkish coffee balcony and with heavy hearts, returned our key to and fresh baked goods to be had within a 10 block Noah (who waved goodbye in civilian clothing). That’s the thing about Israel. Whatever you do, exhilradius of Rechov Narkiss. My sisters, Avi and Rachel, and I spent our week in arating or mundane, it just feels like home. (For your own non-touristy Jerusalem experience, Jerusalem just, well, being us. Avi was on a Young Judaea year-long program, Shalem, but gave up many nights of check out www.bnb.co.il.) After working as an event planner and graphic dorm life to hang in our homey Narkiss Street pad. Our close proximity to the shuk meant we could avoid designer for non-profit organizations in New York the early Friday afternoon mob scene, instead picking up City, former Omahan Melissa Katzman went back to our Shabbat groceries in the morning, a time when the school full-time and will begin a Physician Assistant shuk is still teeming with energy, but not so much as to Program there this summer.
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April 18, 2008
Making a difference in Israel by RACHEL KATZMAN my bookshelf at home collectThe year after I graduated ing dust. Without hesitation, from Westside High School, I told Batsheva I could have at I spent in Israel on the least 100 books for her by the Young Judaea Year Course’s end of the month, as my Shalem program. Not only mom was coming to visit me did I want to learn about in Israel. This was my opporIsrael, but I wanted to get tunity to really make a change involved in communities and to help this school in a around the Jewish State. I way that the idea of giving spent the first three months tzedakah (charity) gave it a in Arad, a small desert city in whole new meaning. the Negev, south of A month later, the school had 100 young adult English Jerusalem. books on its shelves in the I started my days in Arad library. The students and facworking in a religious all ulty members were, without girls’ boarding school on the opposite end of town. I sat Rachel Katzman visits Ulpenat “Neot Avraham” in Arad in a doubt, very grateful to in on classes and helped January 2007, where she worked as a volunteer during have new resources for their students. For me, it was a teach the girls English on a Young Judaea Year Course Shalem Program in 2003. one-on-one basis and in small groups. After seeing these way to take a part of my childhood and of my education students every day, I became very attached and I felt like growing up with these books and donate them to the I was making a difference in helping along their English school so they can be used in the growth of these young women looking to improve their English skills. education. After working at the school for three months, it was But one day, while on my way to one of the English classes, a light bulb went off in my head. I was having a bittersweet having to leave. I knew that the books would conversation with Batsheva, the head of the English be put to good use but it wasn’t easy for me to return department. She told me that the school was in desper- when I wanted to see the impact this had on the school ate need of young adult English books and they don’t and the students. Throughout the rest of my experience have enough money in their budget to buy books like in Israel that year and then when I returned to America those in the Goosebumps and Baby Sitters’ Club series. in June of 2004, I tried to keep in contact with Batsheva Immediately, I thought of the numerous books laying in and Chaim Prins, the principal, at least once a year. I
knew that one day I would go back to visit and see the library full with the books I donated, along with more resources. In January 2007, I was lucky enough to travel to Israel during my winter break. I was only in Israel for seven days, yet I knew that going to Arad was to be a must. I traveled with a Chicago friend (Matti Shicker -- who happens to be the grandson of former Beth Israel Rabbi Benjamin Groner!) on the two hour bus ride from Jerusalem to Arad through Be’er Sheva. Our first stop was to visit the school. Unfortunately, Batsheva was on her day off, but I went to visit Chaim. He showed me the library and my books still on the shelf as they had been three years earlier. The name tags I put in every book were also intact and the English posters were still hanging on the windows. It was a moment I will never forget. To me, bringing the school 100 of these books I grew up reading over and over again, was more than just a small gift to the school. It was an opportunity that gave every student the chance to improve their English and learn. Not only was it a chance for the school and the students to grow, but it was a chance for my growth in my year in Israel. The school is still in need of young adult literature (especially the last two Harry Potter books!). If you would like to donate books, you can contact principal Chaim Prins at ularad@zahav.net.il and arrange to have books shipped book rate through the U.S. Post Office. Former Omahan Rachel Katzman lives in Chicago, where she recently graduated from Loyola University and works at the World Jewish Digest as Coordinator of Circulation and Production.
Chai means 18 trips to Israel by RUTH AND IRWIN GOLDENBERG We have had the privilege of going to Israel for the past 17 years; this will be our 18th since we retired from our health food store, the “Golden Carrot” in Lincoln. Israel is an amazing little country surrounded by hostile nations, trying to survive, endeavoring to live a fruitful life and struggling to live in peace. Every moment brings a crisis, a hair-raising experience, or a heartwarming meeting with people from all walks of life with different political views and philosophies and varied religious persuasions from the ultra-Orthodox to the secular. Our base is in Jerusalem and as we walk down the street we see people of all colors and hear languages spoken from all over the world. We discovered the Israel Center, an Orthodox center that sponsors many fine speakers on all subjects, arranges trips headed by many renowned rabbis and is a gathering place for the young and old alike. Irwin also lectures there to many groups on the subject of health.
One of our greatest joys is meeting with 22 women of whom I have written about in my book 20th Century of Women Valor, short biographies of Israeli women whose lives are dedicated to doing a multitude of varied mitzvot to Batsheva and Meir Tzadok, friends of the help Israel Goldenbergs, own the juice stand on Ben exist. We visit Yehuda St. in Jerusalem.
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those blessed women and their families and help them support their wonderful work both financially and emotionally. We have made a great number of friends and especially enjoy attending their Shabbat dinners and lunches where they serve an average of 20 different courses. On those occasions we learn, feel a strong part of our heritage and help in their projects and strivings. We visit the Western Wall often and pray for our sick and troubled friends at home. We bus to Ein Bokek at the Dead Sea and walk the length of the little city viewing and visiting the many beautiful hotels. Our month spent in Israel each year is filled with exciting times, provoking experiences, and sharing loving moments with the land and its people. Israel is our home away from home, and we fervently pray that this “Land of Milk and Honey” will someday soon be flowing with PEACE instead of being torn into PIECES! Baruch Hashem.
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Living in Israel is like a dream survival. It is the flame of Jewish triumph. The fiery blaze of Shalhevet includes the love all Jews share for one another and their precious Land. Shalhevet’s fire stirred my soul and stoked my flames. What am I doing to fan the flames of Jewish continuity and growth?” Next, as I approached the doorway of Mearat Hamachpela (the cave of Machpela) in Chevron, my heart skipped a beat. I realized that I was about to enter the cave where my Patriarchs and Matriarchs are interred: Adam, Chava (Eve), Avrahom, Sarah, Yizchok, Rivka (Rebecca), Yaakov and Leah are all there. All my Torah studies are brought to life here. As a daughter schooled in the teachings of Chabad, Chevron is all the more meaningful to me. It was to this city that the Rebbes of Chabad, most notably Rabbi Dov Ber Schneerson, the second Chabad Rebbe sent funds and much moral support. Rabbi Dov Ber invested much of his valuable time and efforts to support and redevelop this ancient city. He sent many of his disciples there in the 1800s on a misMushka Weiss, left, Estie and Mushka Katzman visit the bur- sion to settle and populate ial place of Rachel our Matriarch. Her resting place can only this sacred, historical area. be reached by Jews by walking through a long, concrete tunHis daughter, Menucha nel, for she is buried in the town of Beit Lechem, now run by Rochel, strongly desired to the Palestinian Authority. move to Chevron dismissed Consider that this is the land where our the option due to her ill state of health. forefather Yitzchak (Isaac) was offered up Rabbi Dov Ber blessed her with long life on an altar by his father as per G-d’s and said that even the rain wouldn’t fall request and was soon exchanged for a on her. Legend has it that she would walk ram. This is the place where Yaakov between the raindrops during the rainfall; (Jacob) dreamt of the ladder and the thereby her father’s blessing was fulfilled. Chevron has yet a deeper personal conangels ascending and descending to pronection to me. Several years back my tect him. This is the soil where the two Batei cousin, Menucha Rochel (of blessed Mikdash (Holy Temples) stood for (a memory) who was named for the rightcombined) 830 years. This is the home of eous Menucha Rochel mentioned above, the Jewish people promised by G-d to a passed away at a very young age after a people who committed to be faithful to painful illness. In their daughter’s memory, my uncle Him. This is the place where the last remaining wall of the sacred, historic sec- and aunt donated a Sefer Torah (Torah scroll) to the Chabad Shul in Chevron ond Beit Hamikdash stands. The Land of Israel is saturated with adjacent to the resting place of Menucha purity. The stones, the trees, and the air Rochel Schneerson. This week when I visited Chevron was the first time this special exude holiness. This past month, I had a reality check as Torah scroll was read in the shul. It was a my (our) Patriarchs and Matriarchs helped very joyous and emotional occasion in me refocus my life. Several stops on our which I felt privileged to be a part. And so, I hope for the day and truly tour made me focus inward and question whether I am living up to G-d’s expecta- anticipate the coming of Moshiach, for as tions of Mushka. It is almost too trivial to tradition has it, Moshiach’s arrival will group together these few experiences. usher in an era when all hearts will be healed, peace will reign, and those who are Each truly deserves volumes of its own. One afternoon I paid a visit to the first no longer with us physically will return. I await the ultimate joy I will experipiece of purchased real estate by a Jewish person in the world; I went to the city of ence when reunited with my dear cousin, Chevron (Hebron), to see the property Menucha Rochel, Chevron’s ultimate Avraham bought for 400 shekels as a bur- supporter Rabbi Dov Ber Schneerson, our Patriarchs and Matriarchs, Adam and ial place for his wife, Sarah. While strolling through a neighbor- Chava, Avrohom and Sara, Yizchok and hood in Chevron, we came upon a Rivka, Yaakov and Leah, and all of our memorial by the playground. With the loved ones at the revelation of Moshiach, onset of Intifada, (roughly five years ago) may it be speedily in our days. L’Shana Habah B’Yerushalaim! a tragic episode occurred in that spot involving a baby girl named Shalhevet who was lovingly cared for by her mother who was holding her in this very same spot. The 10-monthold baby was shot by a terrorist and instantly died. Shalhevet means a flame. The tragedy of Shalhevet inspired many Jews to keep her flame burning, to continue her mission of living in our holy land and supporting the people here. “Wow,” I thought to On a 1991 Federation Mission, Joodi Veitzer meets myself, “Shalhevet’s flame is Yehudit, who was selling her jewelry on Ben Yehuda the blazing flame of Jewish Street; today she owns Turquoise, with her partner Itzik. by MUSHKA KATZMAN Climbing Masada at five a.m. is a thrill. Floating on the Dead Sea is both an adventure and a sight to behold. Touring Yad Vashem -- the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem -- is emotionally moving. Watching the sunrise over the mountains outside my bedroom window in Tzfat is simply breathtaking. Living in Israel is like a dream. While studying in Israel this year, I can’t help but have a wonderful time. Israel is just awesome! Israel is not merely a most enjoyable place to be, but as I’ve learned, it is also holy territory.
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Of holy daveners, mis-translations, found money, falafel machines and more of shoppers, attempting to remember which alleyway by RABBI BINYOMIN GONSHER I don’t know if I will ever win the lottery, but I felt as leads us to the clean vegetable corner … In any event, the question of “how many challahs do if I had done just that in the summer of 2006. We were living in Miami, not necessarily by choice, we need,” although usually pretty simple, threw Leah but by default, when our dear friends called my wife, out of her element. Yes, it was erev Shabbos and we were Aviva. They had just purchased an apartment in probably rushed, we had no idea how many guests were Nachla’ot, Jerusalem, a quaint neighborhood near the coming or even for what meals, so without thinking, shuk, and wondered if we might know someone in Israel Leah turns to the baker and asks for “three,” then pauswho would assist them in finalizing the details. es, and adds, “of the sweet kind.” Sure the world has become smaller, and they could Now, in Hebrew, that should have come out as have instructed the interior decorator and contractor “shalosh matoke.” However, for whatever reason, what through e-mails and phone calls, but they much pre- went forth from her mouth was “shalom, matoke,” ferred to have someone on the ground there who they which literally means “hello there, sweetie!” could trust, calling the shots and making sure things Now, and this point is still up for debate and is conwent smoothly. stantly being scrutinized in the replay cam (as I am sure Knowing how I would feel, Aviva unilaterally volun- it will be forever!), but it could have been that the baker teered our family. We would gladly relocate halfway himself wouldn’t have noticed the slip, and life would around the globe for a year, she offered. To make a long have gone about as normal. story short, that Sukkos But I could not have we drove a Ryder truck let that Freudian slip packed with our entire slide right by! I started life, all the way from the cracking up, winking, Gulf of Mexico to my and raising my eyeparents’ home in Kansas brows at the baker, callCity. Some other time, I ing him handsome, easy can describe how that on the eyes, a sure catch journey went (seven days … yada yada yada! Well, of diesel driving with a we got our three chaltwo-year-old in a car lahs, that is for sure, and seat!), but right now, I’d he may have even given just like to talk about them to Leah for free, Israel. had I not stepped in and The decision really wasdemanded the joke to n’t a hard one to make. I be over, forcing him to had just finished my mastake our shekels! ters degree in business and received smicha (rab- Above: former Omahan Rabbi Binyomin Gonsher, his wife Aviva, and daughter Shira Rivka spent binic ordination). Aviva 10 months in Israel in 2006-07. Below: Rabbi Gonsher and his daughter light the Hanukkiyah. had only one online course left before completing her course work for a masters in occupational therapy. We were ready anyway for a career change. We both knew that if we were going to get one more year of inspiration and real living, if we wanted one last chance to walk the soil of the Holy Land and raise our daughter amongst her people, this was going to be the year to make it happen. Yes, we emptied our bank accounts, but I know the credits earned, in our family, life goals and even in the next world, offset whatever dollar amount it might have consumed. While we were there, we kept a diary. Here are a few of the entries we particularly enjoy reliving: Today, at morning minyan, I smelled cholent. Now, that doesn’t usually surprise me in this country, … Aviva went shopping today with our daughter, a but what did, was the fact that all the old men kept on, rolling cart and a mission. Pressed for time, extra hands “joking” about “kigel” (that is apparently how they refer and sanity, she accidentally dropped two bills out of her to casserole). pocket. No biggie, right? Wrong; 400 shekel (roughly I certainly didn’t believe any of them (anyone who has 100 dollars last year.) I get a frantic call, “Help! Help! I left the house with contact with senior regulars at a minyan knows that they are rarely to be taken seriously) but after minyan, sure the money and now it’s gone! What are we going to do?” enough, the dishes came out! On a Monday morning in Well, what can we do? Worry about it? Get angry? January, they were making a celebratory party for the Fugetaboutit! It’s gone, and that is that. So I calm Aviva completion of their learning on all of Mishnayos, in addi- down, and she goes back to the store, this time with a tion to all the Gemorahs in the order of Moed. credit card, and just happens to ask, almost jokingly, In the decade I have dedicated to intense Torah study, “No one returned a huge sum of money they found, did I have not scratched at an accomplishment of that size. they?” One day, with the help of Hashem, I would like to The clerk smiles, and hands her an envelope, with our accomplish a similar goal. But you can bet that if and cash inside! What a remarkable country. You can bet when I do, I’ll rent a hall, hire a band and make sure the your bottom shekel that in America, that kesef would Jewish Press is there for coverage. have been as good as gone! But here, the shopping aisles But these guys? “Kigel,” canned pickles and stale themselves sing G-d’s praises. rugelach. And early in the morning, in a hole in the wall minyan. These guys know how to party -- they just live … My parents (former Omahans Rini and Allan Gonsher) just left after spending 10 days with us. on a different plane of spirituality. Through the eyes of a son, it was truly unique -- my par… On Friday, Leah, a friend of my wife’s, and I went ents reminded us of just how lucky we are and how to buy sweet challahs from our baker in the shuk. (Don’t proud of ourselves we should be for doing what we are buy from the cinnamon rugelach guy -- his challahs have doing. bees circling them, and if you are really [un]lucky, you I must have dragged my dad to the five or six different may receive a bonus one caught in the plastic wrap minyanim that I “frequent” and at each one, he immesomehow!) diately pointed out how he could see why I loved them. Anyway, the opportunity was not ripe for serious Mom could not believe how well Aviva could throw mathematical computations; we were in the shuk, together Shabbos -- attending all the classes she does restraining Shira Rivka from running back to the halvah and arguing with as many contractors (in Hebrew!) that guy or from slipping on dropped fish entrails, trying to she does -- and with a single electric burner! keep our stroller from getting washed away by the waves Continued on page 47
April 18, 2008
Of holy daveners and more Continued from page 46 I have heard many times from my Rosh HaYeshiva that the ultimate function of a parent is to instill in the child independence by building his skills and his self esteem -- I hope I can do that for my daughter in the way my parents have done that for me. They come and give us encouragement, their delight and their respect --Aviva and I have never been so motivated to keep on doing what we are doing, fueled by their admiration. Everyone should have and be the Mom and Ab we have.
tainly wasn’t going to take advantage of his chivalry, but Rav Kroiser wasn’t going to budge otherwise! End of story -- I kicked the guy thru! Anyway, we walked behind his entourage and peered into the door where they entered. He lives in a two room “hut,” with a couch and a table,
… As Abba and I were walking home on Shabbos, we passed a group of 15 yeshiva students who walked into the area simply to escort one of the learned scholars Rabbi Binyomin and Aviva Gonsher shop at Machaneh Yehuda, the shuk near their apartment. around here to his home. His name is Rav Kroiser and he proba- and bookshelves that covered all four bly doesn’t show up on the radar in walls, from floor to ceiling. There was America. Yet he is a talmid chacham, who probably a kitchen and a bedroom happens to have written volumes on through a small door, but that was it! The roof looked like it was made from TRACTATE OF THE EVERY GEMORAH, and is probably one of the Reynolds Wrap and the walls from pottery shards. Nothing else. Abba and I most humble men on the planet. If two people are merely discussing don’t even know where everyone sat, or torah near him, he rises out of his seat to how they could have even fit in. Let me add a bit more before wrapping show them respect. Even if they are lil’ up -- there are at least three other guys pishers like me. And once, I saw this Rav, with 70 years like this in this one minyan -- Rav of learning behind him and with a group Rabinowitz, Rav Cooperstein and Rav I of followers waiting for him to begin Forget. But they are also very down to walking, hold the door open for one of earth, very modest people, who have my friends to walk through first. It was more erudition in their pinkies then do actually comical, because my friend cer- others in their whole beings. And they all
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Federation Missions live in humble abodes, with no honor, no spotlight and no desire for them. I guess this was my point -- being around people like that helps me remember that there is more to life than accumulations and possessions. I don’t think I could live on the level they do, but at least it keeps me and my needs in check -- we have to remember that what we think we need to stay comfortable and what we actually do need are worlds apart. And not to get blinded by all the rest that is out there … … Every night my folks were here, we met a new falafel man. It was a riot, seeing who made the best falafel, pizza or burgers. Not so good for the waist line or the digestive system, but lots of fun! Did you know that there is actually a falafel making machine? You throw in the goo, and then it forms them into little balls and plop -- drops them into a vat of oil. It’s as cool as the bagel-making machines at Bagel Bin, for anyone who has been lucky to see those devices. I kept thinking how cool it would be to have a falafel making machine of my own, and wonder what electronic store around here sells them? And can you put things other than falafel goo inside, like chocolate or ground eggplant? Oh, and do they come with a car adapter so you can make them on the move? So many questions! Time for a trip back to Israel for more answers. Rabbi Binyomin Gonsher is the director of the Kansas City Community Kollel. He lives in Overland Park with his wife, Aviva, and their three-and-a-
Top: On the border between Lebanon and Israel, 1996 Homecoming Mission; below: Pam Friedlander meets an Israeli soldier on the 2008 Campaign Leadership Mission in February.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
JEWISH WAR VETERANS of AMERICA
Best Wishes From
Epstein Morgan Post 260 Department of Iowa & Nebraska
Hatikavah Chapter Women
Best wishes for a happy, healthy and peaceful Passover.
B’nai Israel Synagogue Council Bluffs, Iowa National Register of Historic Places A Century of Tradition 618 Mynster Street, Council Bluffs
FREE membership to all active-duty personnel Contact: Jay Benton, Commander 250-6133 We welcome any and all new members
323-8885 formerly American Mizrachi Women
You’re always welcome at B’nai Israel!
The Congregation of Temple Israel
Beth El Sisterhood
wishes its friends in the Jewish community A Passover filled with good health,happiness and peace.
Best Wishes for a Happy Passover
Henry Monsky Lodge
from
Best Wishes for a Happy Passover
B’nai B’rith
League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly
334-6443
(Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Auxiliary)
May Passover bring special joy to you and your family.
Best Wishes for a Kosher and Happy Passover
Omaha Chapter of
HADASSAH
The Rabbi, Staff and Volunteers
Chabad House
HA DAS SAH
Peace and Happiness on Passover 333 South 132nd Street Omaha, NE 68154 334-6441 or 334-6442 njhs@jewishomaha.org
With Your Help We’ll Have A Great Past Ahead Of Us
As we celebrate the Exodus and the return to the land of Israel this Passover, Beth El Synagogue invites you to celebrate Israel’s 60th with us with these special events: x
Our Community Second Seder on Sunday, April 20
x
A Special Shabbat service focused on Israel@60 on Saturday, May 10
x
A program and dinner celebrating our congregation’s special connections to Israel to be held on Erev Shavuot, Sunday, June 8
A Happy and Healthy
Passover to the Community
National Council of Jewish Women Omaha Section
NCJW extends its warmest wishes to the Jewish community for a Joyous Passover.
Young Seniors with Vision An organization of Jewish Senior Services
Wishes everyone a peaceful and fulfilling Passover
April 18, 2008
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 49
Top nine reasons to go on ARTZA ’09
Left: group shots of the 1993 ARTZA trip; and right: the 1996 ARTZA group. Below: teens on the 2006 Artza trip sample Israeli favorites, like pita, olives, hummus, za’atar and more. act with the Omaha JCC will be working in con2. All past by LISA SHKOLNICK JCC Associate Executive Director Israeli teens, junction with the JCC Association’s Artza particiThe Omaha Jewish Community Center pants will tell plus Artza Maccabi Israel Experience to plan and has announced the next community teen you -- no interacts with implement its third consecutive trip with trip to Israel, known as ARTZA, is hap- doubt -- it’s other Teen the JCC Association. The Israel Experience is comprised of a To u r i n g pening once again in the summer of the best trip Groups from balanced, exciting, challenging and exhil2009. To be eligible for Artza ’09, Jewish out there; the U.S. that arating agenda to cover all aspects of the 3. Artza teens must be entering the 10th, 11th, or are also in Israel experience, including but not limitwill take place 12th grades in the fall of 2009. ed to the following activities: hiking, Israel; the All eligible Artza participants will during 7. Artza snorkeling, rappelling, shopping on Ben receive a $2,000 subsidy toward the cost 2009 Israel includes fun Yehuda Street, camel rides, hiking of the Artza trip, which includes the M a c c a b i a h , and educa- Masada, and visiting holy, spiritual, and $1,000 Israel Experience Grant, plus an and Omaha tional pre and educational sites such as the Western additional $1,000 Federation subsidy for will be there; post trip prac- Wall, Yad Vashem, Yitzhak Rabin’s 4. Artza all participants whose families are memMemorial, Hall of Independence, and bers in good standing of the Jewish will be led by Corey Kirshenbaum, Artza tical seminars with the entire group; 8. Artza makes safety and security our other museums and historical sites. Cities Director. Additional chaperones include Federation of Omaha. and experiences on the tour include the This four-week Israel Experience is our community shaliach and a profession- highest priorities; resort town of Eilat, Jerusalem, the lime9. Artza is a fun, yet affordable trip. truly like no other, and here are the top al Israeli tour guide; Estimated price per participant is light of Tel Aviv, our partnership city of nine reasons to participate in ARTZA 5. This trip includes all domestic and ’09: international airfare, all air-conditioned $2,980 (the actual fee will be set in the Akko, and Haifa, just to name a few. For more information or to let us know 1. This trip is an opportunity for buses and rooms, three kosher meals a winter of 2008). Since the past two Artza trips, Artza you are interested in going on Artza ’09 Omaha teens, regardless of synagogue or day, and all activity fees paid; youth group affiliation, to experience 6. Artza provides a unique “mifgashim” ’99 and ’06, much has been developed in contact Corey Kirshenbaum at 334.6415 Israel together; experience where Omaha teens will inter- the Teen Trip to Israel Experience, and or email ckirshenbaum@jccomaha.org.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
Our 30th, Israel’s 60th by SINDIE AND JERRY KATSKEE It was Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 2007, and Chicago’s airport was closed because of snow and ice. I e-mailed Cantor Emil Berkovits, formerly of Beth El Synagogue in Omaha and now of Congregation Shirat Hayam in Swampscott, MA, of our flight changes for our arrival into Boston’s Logan International Airport. We would arrive in plenty of time for our international flight to Israel. Jerry and I wore our Nebraska baseball caps for our first meeting with the rest of our group. We were 17 in all, including Cantor Berkovits and his wife Lili. Once seated on our Swiss Airline flight to Zurich, we were informed that freezing rain was going to close the runway at Logan. The stewardesses served us drinks and Swiss chocolate candy. Finally, clearance was given and we took off three hours late. Once in Zurich, we boarded our flight to Israel our final destination. We landed in Tel Aviv at Ben-Gurion International Airport and had our passports stamped. We stopped on the side of the road just before we entered Jerusalem. The cantor led us in singing “Shehecheyanu,” we had grape juice, and said “Motzi” before breaking challah for the first time in Israel. In the morning, we got our first view of the Old City as we left Jerusalem on our journey to the Judean Wilderness past Jericho and the shores of the Dead Sea in route to the fortress of Masada. Along the way, we saw sheep, goats, donkeys, several Bedouin dwellings, and lots of palm trees cared for by the nearby kibbutz. We drove past Ein Gedi, where David hid when he ran away from King Saul. The Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found was another landmark on this drive. We returned to Jerusalem in time to stop at the Kotel before Shabbat. Once back at the hotel we got ready for a Shabbat dinner that was an unbelievable experience. Cantor Emil led us in singing. It was an amazing experience with every table celebrating Shabbat. The next morning we entered the Old City through the security checkpoint at Dung Gate and went directly to the Western Wall Tunnel. This was relatively new to the public. What was once open to the sky is now underground. The excavations are a continuation of the Western Wall around the Holy Temple dating back to the Hasmonean period. At the beginning of our walk, we saw the largest block of stone used in the original construction of the wall. Today women worship here. One is closer to the actual Holy Temple site, so I left my personal prayers there. Next, we visited the Tower of David,
now a museum of the history of Jerusalem. We then walked through the narrow streets of the Jewish Quarter where many families live. The Cardo, the Old City’s submerged pedestrian shopping mall, has gone through many changes with the Romans, Crusaders, the Muslims, and finally rebuilt from rubble after the 1967 Six Day War. It was here that Jerry and I acquired our beautiful Jaffa’s Gate tapestry. We left the Old City through Zion Gate. We could see the bullet holes in the stone wall left from Israel’s War of Independence in 1948. Dinner that evening was at Chez Gita, a small European tea room. The owner of this kosher dairy restaurant is Gita Ostrovitz from Swampscott, who made aliyah to Israel years ago. The dinner was a very emotional reunion for several members of our group and Gita had prepared a lovely menu of delicious foods for us. We were ready to see the sights of the Judean Hills west of Jerusalem. Our first stop was in Ein Kerem, to visit the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center. We viewed the famous stained glass Chagall Windows representing each of the 12 Tribes of Israel. One window has a bullet hole left in it from the Six Day War in 1967. Our next stop was at the newly remodeled Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum. This museum is an archive, research center, and monument to the memory of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. The Children’s Pavilion was dedicated in memory of one family’s four-year old son who died during the Holocaust. This pitch-black room has a mirror in the center that reflects the yahrzeit candles lit in memory of those children who died during the Holocaust. A continuous recording calling out their names, ages, and hometowns makes this very emotional. Once back on our bus we drove to the Israel Museum. The most famous exhibit here is the Shrine of the Book, which displays the Dead Sea Scrolls. Recently moved to the Israel Museum is the white limestone miniature Model of the Second Temple. This extraordinary replica of Jerusalem shows how the city looked some 2000 years ago. Now a museum and restaurant, the home of Jerusalem’s landscape artist Anna Ticho and her husband Avraham, was the site of our last dinner in Jerusalem. The house displays her paintings, original furnishings, and Hanukkah menorahs. We departed Jerusalem by way of the Jordan Valley. Our bus headed north on the highway that runs parallel to the Jordan River. This agricultural area is brimming with fruits and vegetables, and
huge bunches of dates and bananas. We visited the ancient tel of Beit She’an, a Roman city once controlled by the Philistines that collapsed in an earthquake in the eighth century. Excavations have preserved the Roman amphitheater, a huge bathhouse, a colonnaded street, mosaic floors, remains of a Roman temple, and so much more of this beautiful city. We were able to explore these remarkable excavations up close. Then we drove to the Golan Heights Winery in Katzrin. We enjoyed a tasting party of some of the Yarden, Gamla, and Golan wines. This winery opened in 1984 and its wines are recognized as Israel’s first world-class wines. We traveled further north to Gadot, which sits high in the Golan Heights. We stopped and sat under a tree to visit a
birds were flying in a line just high enough over the water not to touch it, as the shoreline of Tiberius grew closer and closer. The next day, we traveled west enjoying the beautiful green fields filled with olive groves, avocado trees, mangos, melons, apples, and oranges. Ahead of us was the Mediterranean seaport of Akko. Our own Beth El shares a sister school relationship with Akko’s schools. This city was a key seaport for the Crusader Kingdom, where they successfully defeated Napoleon Bonaparte. We walked through the incredibly beautiful Crusader’s subterranean city. When the Muslims came, they threw rubble over the Crusader’s ruins and built a citadel used as an arsenal and barracks; later during the British Mandate, it was a
Former Omahans Cantor Emil and Lili Berkovits (who live in Swampscott, MA) led a tour of Israel, where they met Western Galilee Hospital guide Toby Marks Krivitsky, formerly of Swampscott, MA. Among the group also were former Omahan Shirley Schwartz of Scottsdale, AZ, and Omahans Sindie and Jerry Katskee. memorial built in memory of the soldiers who fought and died during the Six Day War. As you look out at the beautiful landscape, you could see Lebanon and Syria. Helicopters were flying overhead keeping watch as political problems continue to plague this region. It was time to head back south to Ein Gev located on the Sea of Galilee. Our guide made sure to point out the archaeological site of Bethsaida where Joanna Kay participated in a dig with Rabbi Dr. Richard Freund and Prof. Rami Arav, sponsored by the University of NebraskaOmaha. Once we reached Ein Gev, we boarded a small boat for a cruise across the Sea of Galilee. We sang “America” and “Hatikva,” and then danced the “Hora.” The view and our spirits were incredibly high. As we crossed the Kinneret, the
prison for the incarceration and execution of Jewish underground fighters. The city overlooks the Mediterranean Sea, and its ancient stone piers still attract occasional fishermen. We headed north going past Kibbutz Lohamei Ha’geta’ot where Omahan Beth Seldin Dotan worked at the Children’s Holocaust Museum when her family lived in Israel. Our destination was Nahariya to visit the Western Galilee Hospital that sits only five miles from the Lebanon border. During the summer of 2006, only two weeks into the 34-day war against the Hezbollah in Lebanon, a Katyusha rocket hit the ophthalmology unit. Fortunately, the staff and patients had already moved to their underground hospital that sits prepared for such emergencies. Continued on page 52
April 18, 2008
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
Our 30th, Israel’s 60th
Always there for the people of Israel. Jewish National Fund
Israelis are being attacked in their schools and homes, while trying to lead their daily lives. JNF doesn’t just respond to headlines – we have partnered with the people of Israel from the beginning.
We are there! JNF builds security bypass roads to protect residents living on dangerous borders, providing parents and their children safe means of traveling to work and school.
We are there! When 9,000 Gaza evacuees were left homeless, JNF cleared ground for greenhouses and fields, funded temporary homes for families in need and broke ground on two new communities in the Negev.
We are there! JNF helps alleviate the trauma experienced by Israeli children living in areas under attack by bringing them to recreational camps in JNF forests. JNF has created youth leadership programs for Sderot and other communities in need.
We are there! JNF has improved the quality of life for residents of Sderot and the western Negev region by constructing two security roads, three Central Parks, playgrounds, recreational facilities and four reservoirs. JNF is providing fire trucks. It’s building new communities like Be’er Milka, which are improving the region’s economy.
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Continued from page 50 work being done manufacturing the bulToby Marks Krivitsky, formally from lets. During its three years of operation, Swampscott, escorted us through the hos- they produced over two million nine-milpital. We viewed the bombed out unit and limeter bullets. the amazing underground hospital that We descended a winding staircase under once again sits ready for emergency use. the bakery to visit the reconstructed factoOne has to admire the foresight of the ry. For the workers, the ongoing work Israelis for their preparedness. We then caused health deficiencies and they needed drove up into the mountains passing olive special diets and time each day under one groves and vineyards. We arrived in the of the first sun lamps to restore the vitaancient town of Tzfat. Here we visited one mins that the lack of sunlight deprived of the medieval synagogues and walked them of. This also helped give them a tan through the streets browsing at the shops and disguised their pale skin. of several artists. They cleaned the gunpowder and bullet We departed Tiberius the next day on shavings from their clothes and hair at the our way to Haifa, passing orchards filled end of each day, and before heading back with almond trees in blossom. It was obvi- upstairs, the workers had mud put on their ous as we began to see the skyline in the shoes, clothes, and bodies to make it look distance that Haifa is Israel’s third-largest as though they had been working in the city and an active port city. Then we began fields. our ascent up Mount Carmel. The beautiWe left this kibbutz with an overwhelmful Baha’i Temple and Persian Gardens ing feeling of pride for the resourcefulness dominates Mount Carmel’s hillside. We and accomplishments of the Israelis outenjoyed the incredible panoramic view of smarting the British and in their part in Haifa Bay and the Mediterranean Sea founding this young country. stretching to the horizon. The ancient port city of Jaffa was our Our journey continued south along the next stop. We shopped at Nachlaot hills of the Lower Galilee and the Binyamin Pedestrian Mall, a street market Mediterranean Sea. This land is known for its citrus groves, towering cypress, and eucalyptus trees. One of the greatest Roman colonies stood here on the Mediterranean Sea. We sat in the restored Roman Amphitheater that once witnessed mass executions in Roman times. Today it hosts popular summer concerts with the Mediterranean Sea in the background. The Roman master-builder Herod the Great founded Above: Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariyah is located in Caesarea. While living here in Omaha’s Partnership with Israel Region. The hospital luxury, King Herod held his recently broke ground for a new emergency room. Below: own Olympics in his Olympic WGH guide Toby Marks Krivitsky, formerly of Swampscott, sized Hippodrome. MA, showed the group the damage caused by Hezbollah’s It was finally time to head Katyusha rockets during the summer of 2006. for Tel Aviv. As we traveled south, a city of high-rise office towers, apartments, hotels, shopping, restaurants, nightclubs, parks and bustling traffic defined an enterprising and inspiring modern city. We began our visit in Tel Aviv at the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora on the Tel Aviv University campus. Everyone was excited to go to Kibbutzim Hill in Rehovot to visit the Ayalon Institute. This site uncovers the story of an underground secret factory that manufactured ammunition during the years of 1946 to 1948 and helped win Israel’s Independence. The Haganah, the largest Jewish underground movement during the British open on Tuesdays and Fridays. Since it was Mandate, built this secret factory in less Friday, the arts and crafts traders had than a month with materials that they pur- brought their wares to sell. chased in Poland and smuggled into Eretz We continued to Carmel Market, the Israel over a period of four years. It was biggest and most well-known market located just down the hill from a British place. It was very crowded with shoppers army station and railroad stop. and hagglers. Here we could buy tons of Disguised as a kibbutz that actually fruits, vegetables, herbs, breads, fish, deli functioned as a laundromat and bakery, it foods, candy, as well as crockery, clothing was worked by kibbutzniks who knew and toys at bargain prices. nothing about what was going on underShabbat was only a couple hours away so neath them. Bread they made here was we got ready for dinner. Cantor Emil led sold to the British soldiers, and the laun- us in singing once again. A lovely Shabbat dromat washed their uniforms. in Tel Aviv came to an end. It was time to When the British soldiers were in the pack to return to the states. area, or an emergency occurred requiring The weather forecasts were not looking the assistance of the kibbutzniks, a light good for Boston or the Midwest. As it would go on in the factory to warn the turned out, Jerry and I were able to spend workers to stop production and another if an extra day in Swampscott with Emil, Lili, it was necessary for them to join everyone and some of our new friends while waiting above ground. to return home. Thanks to Emil, our expeThere were two openings to get to the rience in Israel was one with many wonsecret factory, one was under the large derful memories and new acquaintances. washing machine and the other was under This incredible trip was definitely the most the huge oven. The noise and exhaust remarkable way to celebrate our 30th from these machines would conceal the wedding anniversary.
April 18, 2008
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 53
Young Omahan takes “a big step” with Young Judaea’s Year Course in Israel by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator For more than 50 years, Young Judaea’s Year Course in Israel has been shaping and training 18- to 19-year-old Americans through volunteer work, study, and travel. Year Course offers participants the opportunity to give as well as receive educational and spiritual sustenance. Speaking Hebrew on the streets of Israel and at work,
break of war in Lebanon. “I felt like a piece was missing from my life, and I needed to finish what I started” which impelled him to return to Israel. Year Course is divided into three trimesters including community volunteering, Jerusalem studies, and Israeli experience. During his first trimester, Brandon lived in an apartment in Holon near Tel Aviv. He described Holon as “a poor, very diverse immigrant community” where he
I met with him for dinner in Tel Aviv.” Brandon’s father also visited him in London in November. Besides England, Brandon has traveled to five other countries including France, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Morocco and in April, Ethiopia, each for a week, as an added part of Year Course. “I’ve learned firsthand about the Jewish community in the country and its history,” he said.
Omahan Brandon Thomas meets Temple Israel Rabbi Aryeh Azriel for dinner in Tel Aviv.
Brandon and his Young Judaea group hike in Ein Gedi during Sukkot.
Brandon cooks Shabbat dinner in his apartment in Holon. YJ participants made their own meals for most of the year.
interacting with new immigrants and multiple-generation Israelis, and traveling up and down the country, Jewish youth form binding relationships with the language, people, and geography of Israel. Brandon Thomas, 18, who graduated from Millard North High School in 2007, said, “I needed a break from school and to figure out who I really was and what I wanted to do in life. I knew going abroad for a year was going to be a big step.” So while many of his peers were heading off to college, Brandon decided to enroll in Young Judaea’s Year Course. “No one really influenced my decision. It was all me, but when I told my parents, they gave me their full support in my decision.” Since he started his adventure on Aug. 26 last year, Brandon, who didn’t know anyone who had previously participated in Year Course, has found a mixture of everyone from different backgrounds.” Additionally, he finds the staff to be “extremely well organized and (they) always help me with my problems and questions.” Young Judaea requires only that Year Course enrollees have a high school diploma and be Jewish. “If you wish to receive credit for the program,” Brandon explained, “you have to have a minimum 2.0 GPA” and can receive up to a full year. Brandon had been to Israel on one prior trip, the 2006 ARTZA trip which had to be curtailed due to the out-
was an English teacher at an elementary school. He also studied in an intensive Hebrew Ulpan language course which led to Brandon’s “greatly improved” Hebrew skills. “I can now get around on my own and almost hold a steady conversation.” His second trimester was spent in Jerusalem living in the Young Judaea youth hostel which is “essentially a college dorm,” said Brandon. He studies Sunday through Thursday, taking classes in Zionism, Ulpan, Jewish medical ethics, and Shemot, the story of Exodus, “which is my favorite class.” Year Course participants are offered opportunities to live and volunteer in a variety of settings across Israel in the Israeli Experience trimester. Participants can choose from a number of options and locations. Brandon has chosen to be a volunteer firefighter in Rishon L’Tzion. While in Israel, Brandon’s mother, Andie Gordman and her fiancé Dan Fitzgerald, his sister Lindsey Thomas, and his grandparents, Bob and Elly Gordman, visited him for 10 days. “It was nice to see them after not seeing them for a long time,” he remarked. “They were surprised how normal and safe life in Israel is. Most people get the impression Israel is full of soldiers and security, and you always need to be watching your back here. But once you have lived here, you realize it’s not, and you’re always safe. When Rabbi Aryeh Azriel came to Israel, my family and
As for Israel, “It’s a beautiful country, and you don’t really know so until you visit it,” he pointed out. “What you are shown in school and the news, which gives people a very twisted perspective, does not give it justice. Being here also has helped me realize how important Israel is.” Brandon has enjoyed meeting new people and “forming everlasting friendships. Seeing how other people and communities live and being able to help them and teach them about me and America” has been a meaningful experience for him. He believes he has gained “an understanding of how important education is for everybody in this world and how lucky I am to have lived in America and have the education I do. Also, I’ve learned the importance of tzedakah and how we should think less about ourselves and give to those who are truly in need.” He’ll return to Omaha in June and plans to attend culinary school at Metro Community College with a dream of someday opening his own restaurant. “Extremely satisfied” with his choice to spend nearly a year in Israel, Brandon is grateful for the friends he’s made all over the world, having been to seven different countries, and “realizing what the important things in life really are.” His months away from home have brought him a new appreciation of “what an amazing Jewish community is in Omaha and how great Temple Israel is. I have learned that you don’t realize how good you have it until you leave it.”
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Page 54
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
Above: In Hebron, December 2006, Rabbi Moshe Levinger, left, (pioneer of Jewish settlement in Hebron after 1967), greets Hebron residents David and Jessica Zalkin, son and daughter-in-law of former Omahan Mark Zalkin and his wife Susan, who live in Denver, CO. The Zalkin family in Jerusalem, December 2006: Mara, left, Mark, David, Jessica and Susan Zalkin.
Above: President Yitzhak Navon greets Rabbi Mordechai Levin in 1983 at Beit Hanasi, the official residence of Israeli presidents in Jerusalem.
Above: The 2006 ARTZA group enjoy the waterfall at Ein Gedi; Jody Malashock meets new olim on the 2005 Leadership Mission; Orly and Scott Kotzen and baby Arel with a view of the Old CIty from David's Tower. Right: Shane and David Kotok recall the inspiring narratives by Karin Levin, left, on this 1998 Federation Mission for Israel’s 50th.
Above: Orly Day Kotzen and son Arel in the Arab market, Jerusalem; former Omahan Scott Kotzen brings son, Arel Zohar to the “mini Kotel” in the Arab Quarter, while in Jerusalem in 2007.
Steve Achelpohl Chair
Matt Connealy Executive Director
April 18, 2008
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 55
Recapturing memories by LISA LIEB “Who am I? Where was I born? What happened to me during the war? Did any of my family members survive?” So began the quest of Chaim Shterenbach, a Holocaust survivor in search Left: Chaim Shterenbach stands in front of his display at Yad in Israel during the 2006 Family Mission. Below: Danielle of his identity. LaYeled, Israel’s Children’s Holocaust Museum, located in and Jeff Gordman, Miriam Shterenbach, Arlene Richman, As a young the Western Galilee, Omaha’s Partnership with Israel region. Sammy Lieb, Chen Shterenbach, Harry Richman, Harper child from Right: Sammy Lieb meets Miriam and Chaim Shterenbach and Zev Gordman gather at a family reunion in Omaha. Poland, Chaim’s father was shot by the Shterenbach family in Nazis. His mother managed to get them 1953, Chaim was 15 years out of the ghetto and obtain false identi- old, without any knowledge ty cards, giving him a new name and mak- of who he was. For the next several years, ing him repeat it over and over until eventually, Chaim had no memory of his Chaim would write letters and send articles to newspaprevious name. With his mother captured and tortured pers, searching everywhere for her work for the underground, the for news of his past. Six years woman hiding Chaim became afraid of later the answers came. His being caught and evicted him from her mother’s brother had been home. Amazingly, young Chaim was found -- living in Israel no found wandering in the street and sent to more than 15 minutes from a convent, where he would remain safely Chaim’s home! At last Chaim would be hidden for three years until the end of the able to fill in the missing war. His family long gone, Chaim was pieces of his life, including brought out of the convent by members information about his parents, that his Holocaust Museum, located in the of the Coordinatsia, a group established given name was Stefan Bleiberg, and that Western Galilee, Omaha’s Partnership with Israel region. This incredible musein Poland after the war to bring children he was born on March 18, 1938. Chaim’s story is one of several featured um introduces the children of today to who had been hidden in convents and by Christian families to Israel. Adopted by at Yad LaYeled, Israel’s Children’s the children of the Holocaust, in a very
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sensitive and age-appropriate way. I first had the opportunity to visit Yad LaYeled in November of 2007. Moved by the experience, I wrote about the museum in an article about the Community Mission. Though I didn’t read Chaim’s story during that trip to the museum, I would soon learn all about Chaim -- and rediscover a family connection. One day an e-mail arrived from Israel. “My name is Moolie Shterenbach and I am your cousin. I have been reading your article ‘Northern Israel -- A Partnership Mission Extension.’ One of the children at Yad LaYeled is my father.” A dialogue began, and Moolie sent me a picture of Chaim at the museum along with his story. I was fascinated by the tale, and delighted to be in touch with the cousins I had met when I first went to Israel at the age of 13. Last June, my son and I went on the Federation’s Family Mission. Anybody who has ever taken their children to the homeland will tell you how incredible it is to see Israel through their eyes. For Sammy and me, this amazing journey was made even more special as we first went to Yad LaYeled and found Chaim’s picture and story, and then spent time with Chaim and his family in Tel Aviv. Our relationship with the Shterenbachs continues to grow. We stay connected through e-mail, exchange pictures, and Chaim’s wife and son visited us in Omaha last fall. Each year on March 18th as we celebrate Sammy's birthday, I know that my thoughts will inevitably turn to Chaim Shterenbach -- my cousin who survived the Holocaust, rediscovered his roots, and shares a birthday with my son.
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Hooping it up in Israel by DANI EISENSTOCK in the family business was It is a Thursday night. Hundreds of to bring the business to people are coming together to watch the them. championship basketball game between This process began two local high schools. The sounds of with a telephone call to bongo drums, horns and a Shofar echo Liza Eisenstock, Milton’s loudly through the basketball gym. granddaughter in Israel. Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, the Chief Rabbi He presented an offer to of Efrat, has just finished giving over a few Liza and me, to come to words of Torah before the beginning of Omaha for a year and learn the game. Hatikva is sung by all who are the business. After a year present and a moment of silence is taken of training, the idea was for Israel’s fallen soldiers. A large Israeli for us to expand the insurflag is flying over midcourt with a sign ance business to Israel. behind it that reads “The SMS Basketball It was not an easy League.” decision, but eventually This special basketball league was we decided to go for it founded by Cindy Levy, daughter of and moved to Nebraska Milton Kleinberg, CEO and founder of to face the elements. We Liza, Noam Elishav and Dani Eisenstock. Senior Market Sales, Inc. in Omaha. came to Omaha in This basketball league is more than just an ordinary October 2006 and both began working in different league; it began as a dream. The dream was to allow stu- positions within the Senior Market Sales business. dents from Gush Etzion and Hebron the opportunity to Though we primarily came to Omaha to train in the come together and play sports. Children growing up in business, we wondered about the Jewish community in these areas are often faced with challenges and hardships Omaha and didn’t know what to expect. We were surthat many other children and adults have never faced. prised to learn that the Jewish community in Omaha is a Growing up in these areas, children often deal with ter- thriving community with a great love for the land of Israel. rorism and loss from a very young age. Spending a year in Omaha was a very special opportu-
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The Israel-based SMS Basketball League was founded by Cindy Levy, daughter of Milton and Marsha Kleinberg of
Senior Market Sales in Omaha. Two of the teams are pictured above.
Levy turned to her father with the idea of starting a league in the city of Efrat. Kleinberg, a Holocaust survivor who came to America at the age of 14, knows what it’s like to miss out on childhood experiences. The league’s name, The SMS Basketball League, stands for Senior Market Sales, the company name for the thriving business Milton and his wife Marsha established completely on their own. The business started in a small basement with two employees and slowly grew into one of the leading insurance marketing companies in the United States. Sponsoring this league has been a great source of pride for the Kleinbergs. As he often says, the chances of him surviving the Holocaust were one in six million. Similarly, the chances of there ever being a Jewish State were slim to none. This basketball league is the fruits of his personal survival as well as the survival of the Jewish nation as a whole. The fact that a league was established in a Jewish state, the state of Israel, by a Holocaust survivor, is proof of the continuing endurance of the People of Israel. The state of Israel fills a very special and significant place in Milton’s heart. Cindy and Hershel, his two children, often speak of the strong values of Zionism and Jewish pride that their parents instilled in them throughout their childhood. In 1989, Cindy, her husband Michael and their three children, made aliyah to Israel bringing with them the values upon which she was raised. They now have six children and live in Efrat. Milton has always dreamed of making his business a family business. His son Hershel joined the company a decade ago and Milton’s grandchildren occasionally come to work in Omaha during the summer. However, he soon came to realize that his family in Israel wasn’t planning to move back to the states any time soon. This meant that the only way to involve them
nity for us to be exposed to a Jewish community in America. We were both impressed by the love for Israel as well as the support and strong connections Omaha Jews have for the land and people of Israel. Working for a year at Senior Market Sales and specializing in travel insurance, I developed a business plan. My observation of the strong ties the Omaha Jewish community has with Israel gave Milt the idea to offer travel insurance to people traveling between the United States and Israel. My plan allows for the business to expand in Israel as well as encourage tourism to strengthen the connection between Israel and Jewish communities in America. Having lived in Israel most of our lives, we noticed that the best support Israel can receive is from people that visit, or better yet, come to live in Israel. We left Omaha with more than just a business plan and returned to Israel with our first born son, Noam Elishav, who is the also the youngest Nebraskan to ever make Aliyah at the age of four weeks. He went home to Israel geared with plenty of Husker outfits and a birth certificate stamped from Omaha, NE. Noam attended his first SMS Basketball League game when he was just a few months old! More than 60 years ago, Milt Kleinberg left Europe and arrived in America. Back then, if you would have told him that he would someday own a business in Israel, he would have laughed at the thought that there would even be a country called Israel. Today he works in his office in Omaha and sees what the family business has achieved. The business has given him the opportunity to create laughter in the Judean hills as the words of the prophets ring true today, “Once again it will be heard in the hills of Judea and in the outskirts of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness, the sounds of groom and bride, the sounds of thanks to God.”
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April 18, 2008
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Families together in Israel by ANN GOLDSTEIN and CHERYL COOPER In 1988, two families packed their bags during winter break for a trip to Israel: Cheryl, Ron, Josh and Alex Cooper and Ann, Donald, Becca and Deb Goldstein. It was the first trip for the teens and the best of several for the parents! It was what Alex wanted to do instead of a Bar Mitzvah party. For all of us, it was a connection to the place we always wanted to go and we weren’t going to wait any longer! Twenty years later, we look back at our pictures and diaries with fondness and laughter, and realize the significance of our adventure. When we asked our kids what they remembered about the trip taken in 1988, this is what they answered: • A sense of belonging. • Jerusalem, from the impact of seeeing the Western Wall to walking through the Old City and visiting the home of a friend, Luba Bar Menachem. • Lake Kinneret with the boat ride, fish with the head still on and their moms dancing the Chicken Dance and embarrassing all of them. • The Golan Heights and the tour guide’s emphasis on why it will always be an important strategic point for Israel. • Meeting family who live in Israel, seeing their homes, eating Shabbat meals with them and learning about their daily lives. • Masada and floating in the Dead Sea. • Feeling safe, feeling comfortable, feeling “grown up” because they were allowed to explore on their own along Ben Yehuda Street after Shabbat. The trip inspired the kids to go back again during high school years. Becca
went back numerous times in the next few years because of her involvement in BBYO internationally and through March of the Living. Deb also returned through March of the Living trips and BBYO. Josh and Alex participated in BBYO trips. Ron, Cheryl, Donald and Ann have also returned to Israel through multiple Federation missions. For both of our families, going to Israel was the beginning of a lifetime journey and commitment to Israel.
The Red Sea, a lost wallet and kindness
by JOSH COOPER When I was 16-years-old, I joined a group of BBYO teenagers from across the U.S. for a six-week trip to Israel. While visiting Eilat, I had the opportunity to snorkel in the Red Sea. It was very enjoyable, but the experience was tainted somewhat after I realized that my wallet was in my swimsuit at the time. Unfortunately, it lay somewhere on the floor of the Red Sea, never again to be seen ... After losing my wallet, I had to make an inconvenient trip with one of our chaperones to reclaim the Travelers Cheques that I had lost. Of course, I also had some shekels, picAbove: Don Goldstein, left, with daughters Becca and Deb, wife Ann; and Ron tures, and a Cooper with his wife, Cheryl and their sons Alex and Josh in Israel in 1988. d r i v e r ’ s Below: Becca, Deb, Josh and Alex at Kibbutz Kfar Charu in the Golan. license in my wallet. Upon returning home from Israel, I turned 17 years old, which was exactly 17 years ago. (Now, that makes me feel old!) At the dinner table back in Omaha, my mother handed me a small box that she told me was a birthday present. Much to my surprise, upon opening the box, I found my wallet with all of my personal items inside, including pictures, my driver’s license, shekels, and Traveler’s Cheques.
Along with the wallet was a letter from a young Israeli soldier who had discovered my wallet while scuba diving in the Red Sea. He told me how he had been scuba diving while on vacation, and also mentioned that he played trombone in the Israeli Army band. Along with a thank you letter, I mailed him back all the shekels that were in my wallet. That young Israeli soldier and I have lost touch over the years, but I will never forget his kindness and how thoughtful he had been. Whenever I go swimming, I always double-check my swimsuit pockets because I may not be lucky enough to find myself swimming in the Red Sea for many years to come. Former Omahan Dr. Josh Cooper is completing his residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Indiana University, where he lives with his wife, Dr. Emily Cooper, an internist, and their sons, Ben, age three, and one-year-old Elliott. They will be moving to Seattle this summer.
A young Josh Cooper opens his birthday present containing an important item he thought he had lost in Israel.
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April 18, 2008
Temple Israel families to spend Hanukkah in Israel by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Celebrate Hanukkah in Israel this year! Temple Israel families, accompanied by Rabbi Aryeh and Elyce Azriel, are planning a trip to Israel, Dec. 21-31. As Israel observes its 60th anniversary, parents, children, grandparents -- the whole mishpocha -- can rejoice during this historic year and create memories to last a lifetime. “We selected Hanukkah, because it will be wonderful to witness the story of the Maccabees and be able to light a Hanukkah candle every night in Israel,” said Rabbi Azriel. “The story can be understood better there where modern-day Maccabees are the young men and women serving in the Israeli Army. From Omaha, Nebraska, how can you get the clear, objective view that you can get there? To check the reality on the ground and be engaged in conversation with both Jews and Arabs will bring a different perspective on the struggle there,” he added. Highlights of the trip start with a welcome dinner in Caesarea as Hanukkah begins, a tour of the old city of Akko, one of the oldest cities in the world, visits to Rosh Hanikra at the northernmost point on the Mediterranean shore, and Bat Yaar Ranch where families can enjoy rope challenge games, horse trail rides, and forest bowling; and wandering the streets of Tzfat, Israel’s highest city known for its beauty and spiritual allure.
Left: Temple Israel’s Rabbi Aryeh and Elyce Azriel staffed the Federation’s Outreach Mission in 1997; right: Rabbi Azriel Then it’s on to Eretz Bereshit for a camel ride in the land of Genesis. It’ll be a “Shehecheyanu” moment after a drive to Mt. Scopus reveals a spectacular view of the Old and New Cities of Jerusalem. Once arriving in Jerusalem, the families can visit the Kotel, share Shabbat dinner together, tour the Biblical Zoo or the Israel Museum after morning Shabbat services, take a walking tour of the Old City and the Citadel Museum, and then visit the Kotel Tunnels at night. An early breakfast will precede a morning ascent to
served as a resource for the Federation’s Anniversary Mission, 1998, celebrating Israel’s 50th.
A man has dedicated 50 years of his life to creating the different mosaic pictures throughout this synagogue building in Credit: Deborah Kronick Akko.
Left: Two soldiers take in the breathtaking view of Jerusalem from Yad Vashem after a few hours of Holocaust history. As part of their training, soldiers of Israel take the time to view A jeep tour will explore the Golan Heights where an IMAX movie explains the importance of this region. Then the families will visit Gamla in the lower Golan and Hamat Gader, home of Roman Byzantine ruins, an ancient synagogue, and hot springs where spa treatments can be reserved in advance. From there, the journey continues to Beit She'an, where archaeological excavations began in the 1920s.
the new Holocaust Museum. Right: Along the waterfront in Jaffa, people get on boats for tours. Photos courtesy of Deborah Kronick Masada, the desert “resort” palace of King Herod, an ancient fortress, and national symbol of Israel. While there, breathtaking views will give way to the story of Jewish zealots who ended their lives on the mountaintop rather than surrender to the Romans. What trip to Israel would be complete without floating in the Dead Sea, the saltiest body of water on earth? Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, known for its caves, springs,
and rich diversity of flora and fauna, exotic birds and wildlife is also on the itinerary. A visit to the Jewish Quarter will be followed by a tour of Yad Vashem, led by Holocaust survivor Eliezer Ayalon, author of A Cup of Honey, his story of the Holocaust. (Children must be at least 10- years-old to tour Yad Vashem.) Before departure, a farewell dinner at 2see restaurant, atop the Azrieli Tower, overlooking Tel Aviv, is one of the highest vantage points in the Middle East. The trip includes eight nights in hotels, all breakfasts, six dinners and six lunches. Pricing is based on the number of travelers. For more information, contact Temple’s Program Director Rosie Zweiback at 556.6536 or at: rzweiback@templeisraelomaha.com.
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April 18, 2008
Omaha’s connection to NFTY-EIE High School in Israel by LAURENCE H. JACOBS Coordinator NFTY Travel Programs Union for Reform Judaism The NFTY-EIE High School in Israel, the elite academic, living and learning experience for outstanding Reform teens, provides high school sophomores, juniors and seniors the unique experience of studying abroad in Israel for one complete semester. Since its inception in 1961, EIE has sent thousands of students to live, study, and travel in Israel. Several, in fact, have been Nebraskans: Josh and Sarah Bleicher from Omaha, and several students from Lincoln. EIE is offered for the fall or spring semesters and is based on Kibbutz Tzuba which is nestled in the picturesque Judean Hills only a short ride from Jerusalem. Students from across North America create a vibrant, warm and welcoming Reform Jewish community on our campus at Kibbutz Tzuba.
field trips throughout Israel. These extensive field experiences ensure that the history of Israel and the Jewish people truly come alive as actual historical sites are explored. Participants also take part in a Modern Hebrew language Ulpan course. EIE gives students the chance to experience the rich culture of Israel and the Progressive movement in Israel. The EIE community celebrates Shabbat, participates in daily tefillah and all of the Jewish holidays together often at different Progressive congregations throughout Israel. In addition to seeing Israel, EIE students take a week-long pilgrimage to Poland that includes visits to Krakow, Warsaw, Lublin, Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau which is incorporated with their Jewish history curriculum. The students also participate in Gadna, a five day simulated army training experi-
Sarah Bleicher poses in front of the ahava (love in Hebrew) sculpture in the Billy Rose Garden at the Israel Museum.
Happy to have a day off, Sarah enjoys the Mediterranean Sea.
EIE offers a blend of Jewish learning and the general studies courses students need to fulfill the academic requirements of home high schools. The NFTY-EIE High School in Israel is a fully accredited American high school and is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. All general studies courses can be taught at EIE including AP and Honors Sarah was part of a group of high school students who spent a semester in Israel on the NFTY-EIE program. courses. Students also have the option to take ence providing insight into both the sigstandardized tests while attending EIE nificance of the IDF and to better undersuch as AP, SAT, PSAT and ACT exams. stand what Israeli teens encounter. All students have the opportunity to parStudents participate in the Yam L’Yam ticipate in an excellent 30 hour (sea to sea) hike and spend days hiking SAT/ACT and PSAT prep course. The from sea to sea across northern Israel “Israel: Land, People and Cultures� while camping and sleeping out under Jewish History core curriculum is inten- the stars. Students also enjoy a four day sive and challenging and includes many Negev desert living adventure including snorkeling, a Bedouin experience, camel riding and meeting with Reform Jewish pioneers who have settled at Reform kibbutzim Yahel and Lotan. This summer for the first time, NFTYEIE offered a six- week long summer session. This is an amazing opportunity for students who want the incredible EIE experience, but are not able to spend a full school semester in Israel. This extraordinary summer program includes the Jewish History and Hebrew Ulpan component of the EIE experience that makes it so meaningful. This is an opportunity for a high school teen looking for an unbelievable summer of challenging and rewarding learning and living, extensive touring, great fun and friendship and high school academic credit. The “disk of the month� while Omaha’s For more information, please visit our Jewish educators were in Israel in 2007, website at www.nftyeie.org or contact was Omaha’s own band, Bright Eyes. Just Stacy Chassen, Director of Admissions by one more connection to Israel, noted email at schassen@urj.org or by phone Judy Rubin, Beth El Education Director. at 202.232.0823.
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 59
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April 18, 2008
Before there was a State, there was still Eretz Yisrael BERT’S EYE VIEW by BERT LEWIS When I think back to earliest childhood, I have to recognize the fact that much of my earliest religious influence came from my grandparents. On both sides of the family, there were clear signs and examples of close attention to the customs and traditions of Jewish family life. Remember please, I speak of the days preceding the formation of the Jewish State of Israel. Of the days when respectful reference might be made to Eretz Yisrael by any of my four grandparents. Too young to really understand, it seemed such a place must be like a garden of Eden -- perfect in every way and where ordinary folks could only dream of some day visiting. When an occasional piece of mail from some corner of the Holy Land would appear, it was cause for some degree of both excitement and reverence. Bringing my memories closer to the present, I thought about such things when my roommate and I traveled to modern Israel on our first visit some years ago. I certainly recall thinking I was living a dream my paternal zayde spoke of often -- I was actually in Eretz Yisrael! I should say he wasn’t the only one of the grandparents to dream of this far off land, but he was the one whose words are somehow fixed most firmly in my head. Even though it’s been a long time since either of our two visits, I was always aware of my zayde’s “impossible dream” when my feet were actually on that ground. So here we are, three generations later, and one of my zayde’s great-great-grandchildren is truly living Zayde’s dream. Let me give you the parts of the story which add
up to an amazing tale. Go back to Zayde, and of course, his wife, my bubbe. They had four sons and number five child was the only daughter. The firstborn son grew up to become my father; the number five child grew up to be the beloved little sister to her four brothers. Everybody in between grew to handsome manhood and respected members of their communities, but if we’re to be absolutely truthful, we have to realize the little sister always enjoyed a special place in the family lineup. Okay? Are you with me? Let the record show that in 1948 Israel became a reality, a state. a blessed place for which Jews all over the world gave thanks. It became, in time, a safe haven for multitudes who were otherwise without a homeland. We all know the history; we’ve lived it. We’ve wept over it’s wars and problems; we’ve listened attentively to the predictions of annihilation by it’s enemies. We’ve cheered its victories and felt great pride in this incredible tiny country. This beautiful, little country has shown the world what can be done when the best and most willing Jews care enough to roll up their sleeves and carve beauty out of the desert. Eretz Yisrael ... my zayde’s dream! May we bring the record up to now, the present time. The 21st century, the year 2008, or, if we’re being historically accurate, 5768. One of my zayde’s great-great grandchildren is finishing his studies in Israel, preparing to become a rabbi. This same young man has recently become a father when he and his wife welcomed a beautiful little girl to their family. This young man, (the new dad and almost rabbi), is the grandson of my zayde’s youngest child -- the daughter who followed four sons. Stay with me now -- this isn’t complicated. The new baby, called Esther Leah, will be known as Estee to her close friends, and to her great-
grandparents -- I can only imagine they will consider her to be the most precious gift to ever come out of Israel. Estee and her parents, who will be completing their studies in the next months, subsequently will return to the United States. The (almost) rabbi will await smicha (rabbinic ordination) and the little family will settle down to the job of living happily ever after. Admit it now -- you never heard a more heartwarming Jewish family story than that one, did you? So what was the point of this entire family megillah you might ask? I’m not sure there really was a specific point, except to share the warm and joyful tale with you. To ask you to imagine what my sweet little zayde (he was maybe five feet tall) would have thought of such a wondrous happening, in his family. Imagine! That which had always been a dream had actually become a chapter in his family history. It’s almost too much to believe could truly have happened. Everybody loves to hear a story with a warm and happy ending, and if the details of the story should prove to be true, well, doesn’t that make it even better? So if we were looking for a point to all of this, maybe that’s the point. This is a real story. Kvell with me. May you and yours be blessed with beautiful stories like this ... the kind with happy endings. Bert Lewis can be reached at BertLewis39@aol.com.
Omahan Joel Alperson, United Jewish Communities’ National 2007 Campaign Chairman, is shown here in a March 3, 2006, photo of a Leadership Mission to Ethiopia and Israel he chaired. Alperson also serves on UJC’s Prime Minister’s Council of the national board.
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by JOSEF HERZ Volunteers for Israel Volunteers for Israel (VFI) is reporting an urgent call for volunteers to work on special projects in northern and southern Israel, supporting the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). This involves working alongside Israeli soldiers doing such non-combat jobs as building fortifications and fences, and assisting with logistical tasks. These special projects continue through 2008; however, all IDF bases have plenty of vital work this spring. More volunteers are needed immediately. For 25 years, VFI volunteers from around the world have provided muchneeded manpower on IDF VFI Volunteers work on a construction army and service project in northern Israel. Credit: Associated Photo bases. Volunteers sign-on for one to three weeks, and the program provides free lodging, kosher meals, and work clothes on the bases. The VFI program is a meaningful, life-changing event that directly supports and benefits Israel, and it enriches the lives of participants, who are welcome regardless of their religion. Volunteers make new friends and contribute to Israel in a deeply satisfying, personal and direct way. For more information, contact 866.514.1948, 212.643.4848, e-mail info@vfiusa.org, or visit www.vfi-usa.org.
April 18, 2008
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Glorious Jerusalem by MAXINE HEDQUIST JCC Receptionist I feel this is a privilege to write this article, since I am not Jewish. I went on a Christian Pilgrimage to Israel and was in Israel for 10 glorious days in February. There are no words to express the way I feel about the trip and all the wonders I saw. I have always been taught to pray for the peace of Israel and her people to have peace The Jewish Community Center’s front desk receptionist, (Psalms 122: 6 and 7), so Maxine Hedquist, seated right, enjoys lunch in the Golan. tion still functions today. that it will be prosperous. • The Western Wall, which was very But this has taken on a new meaning meaningful for me as the people of all from my heart is now how it comes. We faiths have called on God there. had a biblical meal with a lesson on the I have been told by many people that meaning of the food and the reason for once you’ve been in Jerusalem you aren’t the Passover, which I have always known, the same when you come back and you but it also took on a new meaning. feel you have left something there; you’re This time there was everything and not complete until you go back again to more than I expected; I have been Jerusalem. changed and am amazed at ... People have asked me what had the • How the people of Israel have built most significance -- it was driving into the land and made it produce, the prodJerusalem. It was so emotional -- the ucts with all the stones, and so little good golden glorious beauty of God’s Holy soil, with desert land and so little water. City. It was hard to say goodbye to Israel, It’s not like here in the States. so now I am planning when I can go • The occupations by other nations, again, for it has taken my heart. and the destruction and terrorist acts and God said in Zechariah 8:7-9: “He will how the people still go on and have surnot rest until his people are at home”, so vived from the acts of war also amaze me. I am praying for that time to come soon. • The engineering and technology used dating back over 2000 years and Though I have been born a gentile, I am seeing how the buildings and construc- Jewish in my heart.
A World of Fashion
Above: Omahans Art Jacobson, back row center, and Ronnie, second row left, their daughter Debbie Glotter and her family from Minneapolis, visited Israel in February to see David Glotter, right, the Jacobson’s grandson, who made aliyah and is currently serving in the IDF.
In 1984, Omahans Anna and Ben Wiesman visited Israel, “from Ein Gedi to the Good Fence separating Israel from Lebanon” on a tour led by Cantor Emil Berkovits, then cantor at Beth El, and his wife Lili. “Probably the most moving experience was visiting the Wall,” Ben Wiesman noted,
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“and Masada, where we are standing in front of a plaque that says ‘synagogue’ in Hebrew.” The Wiesmans have toured Israel numerous times and visited one of their sons, who worked there for a few years. “We have also encouraged our children to make the trip to Israel,” he added.
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April 18, 2008
Coming home by DEBORAH KRONICK Such a joy to walk the same streets of Jerusalem where could almost imagine the ancient waters crashing and Every time I visit Israel, I get that same feeling: I’m my grandparents, Rabbi and Gittle Rabinowitz, of rushing to make the long and deep gorges far below. home! blessed memory, lived within walking distance of the Eilat was filled with many surprises, a 15-minute sandWhen I am walking among my people in between the Great Synagogue, the Conservative movement’s com- storm, lunch on the beach by the Sea of Reeds basking in ancient and the modern, I feel very proud. As I mingle pound, the shuk, Ben Yehudah Street, where Shira was the warm sunshine, the scenery of the red hills surroundwith Israelis walking on the Jerusalem stone pavement, I living, and Montefiore Park. ing us, eating roasted corn on the cob where the proprifeel the strength of the Israeli people, their confidence to This time I was walking with my daughter, who was etor asked what you had eaten for dinner so that he could keep Israel alive, modern and in the forefront of tech- living, studying and davening in the same places as her put a pareve or dairy topping on your corn -- and artists nology and medicine. great-grandparents had lived, studied and davened, and vendors selling their merchandise along the beach. You see the young men and women walking in their before her. I could feel that they were definitely beamSuch a contrast and so very different from life in uniforms with their rifles slung over their shoulders and ing with pride and joy, their cup runneth over, yet again. Jerusalem or Omaha which I could easily share with my can’t help but feel proud, safe and sad all in the same Then for a special treat, we traveled to Eilat for some students. When we flew back to Tel Aviv, I was sad that instant. These are some of the stark contrasts you find warmth, as it had been warmer in Omaha that winter of my trip was over and I would leave Israel and Shira, but where ever you go throughout Israel. January 2006, than in Jerusalem or Eilat! the proud feelings of Israel would always stay with me. I like the feeling of being connected to a much larger What a wonderful Jewish community Omaha is; only group, one who so impacts our world. Being in the six months later I was fortunate enough to return to majority is a very nice feeling and for me it happens so Israel and join other teachers from Omaha for a trip to seldom. Akko, to visit and plan programs with Omaha’s sister Only when I attended Esther K. Newman, Herzl schools in our Partnership with Israel region. Camp and USY events did I feel safe enough to be The Shavuot holiday greeted Judy Rubin and me as we proud of my Jewishness. Recently, I’ve been lucky arrived and had time to enjoy the celebration before enough to have found that feeling here in Omaha, espejoining the other teachers. I was able to spend time again cially when I am teaching at the Penny Z. Davis Child with Shira and her Nativ group for the holiday of Development Center at the Jewish Community Center Shavuot in Jerusalem. or at BESTT (Beth El Synagogue Talmud Torah.) Another unique experience was being at Ha’Kotel Since moving to Omaha four-and-half-years ago, I during the chag (holiday). I joined Shira’s group which have been fortunate to visit Israel three times, adding to included 75 of her Nativ friends from all over the United my previous visit with my husband, Larry. States, for dinner, services and an all night study session Of the last three visits, my first was to visit our at different facilities, including the Great Synagogue. youngest child, Shira, who was spending her freshman A man has dedicated 50 years of his life to creating the difThen under the cover of darkness, we joined the year in Israel through USY’s Nativ program. In my many ferent mosaic pictures throughout this synagogue in Akko throngs of people who filled the streets as we all walked years working with youth, I recommended spending seen during the 2007 Educators’ Mission to Israel. to Ha’Kotel. The young American teens gathered for Credit: Deborah and Shira Kronick one last chag (holiday) together and davened among the freshman year in Israel, the programs are life changing and a marvelous learning experience. ruins below, separate from the multitudes above. When What a thrill it was to see the dediwe went up to the main area cated staff diligently working, meeting of Ha’Kotel, we saw that the Shira’s friends and spend a very restful women and children were nine days in Jerusalem. Shira didn’t dressed in their best, dressed want to leave the peacefulness and like they were going to a beauty of Jerusalem; she wanted to wedding. share the many sites and sounds that Jerusalem has a flavor all its she had been enjoying the previous own. I stayed in a flat on Ben four months especially since the stuYehudah, which was busy all dents would soon be leaving for night long with people everyBeersheva for their volunteering duties. where, eating, talking and The experience of spending the week before and during Shabbat in Jerusalem Friend Jenna and Shira Kronick get dirty on a three- A couple of friends and Kronick pose outside their new laughing as they were celeday hike in the Negev. home in the first few weeks of Nativ, 2005-06. brating a rare three-day holiwas one that changed me. It was awesome to see that by Wednesday, people start Flying over the Negev desert is something most day, since Shavuot came on Thursday that year and rolled preparing and looking forward to celebrating Shabbat. tourists don’t get to do. I watched out the window of right into Shabbat. It is a rarity for the people of Israel to When we did our Shabbat shopping for dinner for eight, the plane as we moved over the Negev, the sands receive a three-day weekend, something we enjoy many we started at the shuk and ended our purchases at a florist, changed colors from a light beige to the deeper reds; the times throughout the year. who stayed open until the streets were empty, he told us. hills and valleys were awesome from the skies above. You Continued on page 63 w wwww.plantationgeraniums.com w. p l a n t a t i o n g e r a n i u m s . c o m Visit images of ofthe the2004 2008 varieties! varieties! Visitour our website website for for full-color full-color images
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April 18, 2008
Coming home Continued from page 62 one family even announced their simcha, a future birth. When Judy and I met up again in Akko, we spent our The building was overflowing with families, standing time with elementary and middle students. The elemen- room only and at the conclusion of the service we foltary school was a School of the Arts and they greeted us lowed the throngs of people outside to an oneg. On our with trumpets, music and dance, similar to the public way home we walked back through the park, the same school at which I had worked before moving to Omaha. park that my grandparents had walked through everyday. The children were delightful, full of personality and talI was on the top looking across at the wall King David ented entertainers. Physically most things were similar to built to protect his beloved city of Jerusalem. When my schools here including the student’s interest and studies. grandparents retired and left Sioux City in 1959, they One of the many highlights for me was to see the chil- moved to an apartment on Keren Ha’Yesod in dren learning English using the same songs I use to Jerusalem, which at that time was as close to the ancient teach Hebrew to preschoolers, songs like the “Hokey city of Jerusalem as they could physically get. Pokey” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It!” They, too, were able to stand in this same place that I Meeting with the Israeli students and teachers was was, in Moses Montefiore Park and their eyes gazed at the another exceptional expeancient stones that had rience filled with many caught my eyes. They new stories to share with wanted to wake up and see my students. the Old City of Jerusalem My most recent trip to from their home, which Israel was last summer was in Arab hands at the with 20 other educators time of their move. from around the area, Fortunately they lived in which was a very different Jerusalem long after the trip from the previous victory of the Six Day War teachers’ trip. Being relaand were able to walk, tively new to the Omaha pray, and feel the ancient area, I did not know stones of Ha’Kotel. many of the people on One evening later in the tour. The unique our trip, we were able to aspects of this trip to be in the same area and Israel were not only the Above: As the Educators’ Mission was leaving Jerusalem and driv- saw King David’s wall all tour of Israeli sites but ing down Keren Hayesod, a bus passed us loaded with passengers. lit up at night with a the connection with Below: The group of Jewish educators from Omaha look out over parade of young adults on members of the Omaha the valley next to Tzfat. The ark inside one of Tzfat’s many color- a birthright israel trip, ful and historic synagogues; and a doorway in Old Jaffa. Jewish community. marching through the
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 63
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With memories that will last a lifetime, one specific memory stands out. When our bus arrived in Jerusalem it took us to an area overlooking the city. We gathered and stood at the top of Mount Scopus for an opening service, led by members of our group. There I stood overlooking both the modern and ancient city of Jerusalem, the same place where my beloved grandparents, of blessed memory, studied and visited many times and in the footsteps of where my daughter, Shira had just spent her freshman year at Hebrew University. I am part of the sandwich generation, and that is how I felt. I could feel my family’s presence all around me, enveloping me with joyous song. I could feel the generations of the Vogel-Rabinowitz family who came before me, standing and rejoicing with me. Never had I expected to feel such emotion well up inside of me as I stood on top of Mount Scopus that day. On Shabbat morning, I joined other Omaha educators for a unique Shabbat experience. We walked to a modern Orthodox service where women helped to lead the entire service. Their Torah service celebrated intergenerational families who came up together for an aliyah and
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Above: The 2007 USY Spain/Israel Pilgrimage participants from Omaha included Alec Lerner, left, Effie Tsabari, Joey Kahn, Ygal Schuller and Salo Cemaj. Below: Meeting up in Jerusalem for a casual get-together last summer were, seated: Abby Ginsburg, left, former Omaha JCC Shaliach Uri Levin, Gal Tsabari, Effie Tsabari; standing: Salo Cemaj, Robert Mosenkis, Ygal Schuller, Alec Lerner and Joey Kahn. engaging programs to facilitate those relationships. Beth El’s R a b b i Mordechai Levin emphasized the importance of those connections, saying, “Conservative Judaism was and is committed to the land of Israel, the State of Israel, the Hebrew language and the sovereignty of the Jewish people throughout its land, and to strengthening ties between Israel and the Diaspora, through mutual enrichment and Jewish education. There are many Conservative Judaism programs in Israel for Jews of all backgrounds who want to experience life in Israel during its 60-year anniversary.” At the center of these efforts is the Shirley and Jacob Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, a landmark institution dedicated to linking North American Conservative Jews with the people and state of Israel. An Embassy for United Synagogue Israel Experience Programs, the center serves as USCJ’s Israel headquarters, and is the base for congregational visits to Israel; USY/Nativ and KOACH campus activities; visits by Solomon Schechter Day Schools; and the United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva. The center also offers expanded outreach to those from Conservative congregations who have made aliyah, and serves as a liaison with numerous Conservative/Masorti institutions. USCJ Travel for Teens Every year, United Synagogue Youth (USY), the high school branch of USCJ, offers an exciting variety of trips to Israel, including a Spain/Israel Pilgrimage, the Israel Adventure; Eastern Europe/Israel Pilgrimage, Israel Pilgrimage/Poland
one week exploring the country’s vast Jewish heritage, including philosophers, writers and poets. The teens then traveled to Israel, where they spent five weeks learning about the land, the country’s history, plus contemporary Judaism and Israeli society. The group traveled with peers around the country, staying in hotels, youth hostels and kibbutzim, and enjoyed the opportunity to swim in Lake Kinneret, climb Masada, and spend three weeks immersed in life in Jerusalem. “This trip was by far the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life,” said Lerner, who expressed a strengthened connection with Judaism. Schuller also discussed the significance of the trip, saying, “Any trip to Israel will enhance your Jewishness just by forging a stronger bond to the Holy Land. USY does an exceptional job of this by offering activities, observing kashrut and keeping the Sabbath. “We studied the Talmud and how it relates to modern times, and we also prayed three times a day, including tefillin. This helped me learn prayers and tunes that I had never learned, and also Jewish songs and melodies that I had never heard before.” For more information about USY and its programs, visit www.usy.org/programs/escape/ Continued on page 65
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Community connections with Israel Continued from page 64 Conservative College Connection Israel travel and learning opportunities for college students abound in the Conservative Movement. USCJ offers a college outreach project, KOACH, which serves as a trip organizer of the Taglitbirthright israel program, a philanthropic Jewish outreach program geared toward Jewish young adults; its mission is to present lifelong Jewish values to Jewish young adults worldwide through a first educational peer-group trip to Israel. Another exciting educational opportunity can be found in Nativ, USY’s College Leadership Program in Israel. Nativ, which means ‘path’ in Hebrew, provides the unique opportunity for students -following their high school graduation -to experience a unique journey as they become Jewish adults. From September to June, Nativ participants are engaged in the rich and diverse society of Israel, exploring the land and enjoying a fulfilling Conservative Jewish lifestyle. Nativ students spend one semester at either the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center (www.uscj.org.il/index.php) or at the Hebrew University (www.huji.ac.il/huji/eng/), and the other semester in a kibbutz or doing another social action project. Marty Nachman, a Beth El teen who participated in Nativ from September 2006 to May 2007, gave the experience a resounding thumbs-up. “The program was special because it gave me the opportunity to live with a great degree of independence in Israel,” said Nachman, now a student at Washington University in St. Louis. “I was able to study Hebrew, explore Jerusalem, and travel around Israel with friends or on my own, taking public
transportation. The participants were diverse, and each of us now carries the experience we had together on Nativ.” During his nine months in Israel, Nachman also became interested in learning Arabic, and taught himself to read and write the language from a web site he found. Because he was able to pursue that interest, he said, “I plan to major in the language here at school and study it over the summer.” Nativ gave him “a perspective into the world like never before,” he remarked. “Being able to live in Israel and learn about a completely different cul- Marty Nachman spent last ture than my year in Israel on NATIV. own continues to influence my perceptions of this country. Working on a kibbutz with no worries for a few months gave me time to think and explore my world and myself. Furthermore, each participant (there were around 80) broke from the traditional sequence in America-high school then college,” he added, “Keeping in touch with one another is important, for we feel like not many people can completely understand what we have done.” For more information about this program, visit www.nativ.org. Conservative Yeshiva Programs The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem is also known for its outstanding summer program, offering college students the
opportunity for intensive study of the classic texts of Judaism, including Rabbinic literature, Bible and philosophy. This program is geared to students of all levels, backgrounds and interests, and includes Hebrew speaking and reading skills. Courses are built on the traditional model of chevruta, or learning one-onone with a partner; and shiur, seminarstyle classes. The Yeshiva also recently announced the establishment of its Legacy Heritage Communal Scholarships, available to Jewish communal professionals including community educators and youth advisors; Jewish community center, Federation, and Hillel personnel; plus synagogue administrators, educators and officers. According to the yeshiva’s web site, these scholarships offer a unique opportunity for leadership development: for example, study in Jerusalem enables participants to use Hebrew daily and gives context to the study of Jewish texts; participants gain personal learning enrichment and have opportunities to reflect on engaging and strengthening their home communities; special sessions for scholarship recipients enhance participants’ Israel experience, focus on Israel advocacy, and facilitate further leadership development. The Legacy Heritage Communal Scholarships cover tuition and provide up to $2,000 toward flight, housing and expenses. For more information about the Yeshiva, contact Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb or Rabbi Gail Diamond at USCJ, at: yeshiva@uscj.org, or visit www.uscj.org.il/yeshiva/summer.php. Ramah Israel Camp Ramah is a familiar name to many in the Jewish community, and its
Ramah Israel branch offers a myriad of exciting study opportunities in Israel for teens. For example, Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim, or Jerusalem High School, offers a 16-week program each spring for 10th and 11th grade students from North America. In addition to its highly touted academic offerings, the program also treats students to extensive outings throughout Israel, special Shabbat and holiday programming, plus an international campus, which houses students from countries such as Ethiopia, France and Yugoslavia. Another innovative educational program can be found in USY High, an eight-week course for sophomores and juniors which combines intensive Israel and Judaic studies, as well as hands-on learning experiences made possible by traveling around the country. A fully accredited academic program, students are able to receive full high school credits in social studies and English, and may also receive up to six college credits. New to Ramah’s Israel line-up is Lilmod UleLamed, a year-long program geared to adults ages 21 to 30, and divided into three sessions: fall semester includes intensive study at the Conservative Yeshiva; during the spring semester, participants work as residential educators for middle-and-high school students; in the summer, participants work at a Ramah camp. Only six participants will be accepted to Lilmod UleLamed; for more information about this program and other Ramah Israel experiences, contact: Ramah Programs in Israel, 3080 Broadway, NY, NY, 10027; e-mail ramahisrael@jtsa.edu; or visit www.ramah.org.il/programs/about.html.
Wishing Your assover P is illed F withHealth and Happiness.
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At a glance: NCJW in Israel children in Israel; protection of Agunot; by EMILY SNYDER Senior Manager of Donor Relations, promotion of equal access to opportuniNCJW National Office ties for all Israelis, and the implementaFor more than a century, the National tion of the recently passed law impleCouncil of Jewish Women (NCJW) has menting UN Security Council Resolution been at the forefront of social change -- 1325, a resolution that calls for women to championing the needs of women, chil- be involved in “all decision-making levels dren and families -- while courageously for the prevention, management, and restaking a progressive stance on such issues olution of conflict.” If you do not already receive NCJW as child welfare, women’s rights, and reproductive freedom. And that pioneering spirit continues to this day. Informed by Jewish values, the National Council of Jewish Women is nothing less than the voice of women from across society who come together to make the world at large and their communities a better place. NCJW’s work in Israel directly mirrors our work to create social change in Left: Omahan Jan Schneiderman, left, (Honorary NCJW the United States. Our National President) and Adrienne Lurie, right, (NCJW Israel pioneering programs in Granting Program Chairman) visit Dr. Adrianna Kemp (faculty Israel foster and support liaison for the Hotline for the Support for the Victims of Sexual education, promote Harassment on Tel Aviv University Campus) on a recent NCJW empowerment of women, and bridge the action alerts, please go to our website at: gaps in society for Israel’s vulnerable www.ncjw.org to sign up for the NCJW Action Center to advocate on behalf of women, children and families. In July 2005, NCJW welcomed a part- our Israel and nership with US/Israel Women to d o m e s t i c Women (W2W), an organization dedicat- agendas. NCJW’s ed to supporting grassroots programs and Israel advocacy efforts for women in Israel. Granting This partnership continues to create Programs meaningful opportunities to build on a NCJW secshared legacy of courageous, compassionand ate work to improve the lives of women, tions donors have children and families in Israel. the unique Advocacy and Coalition Work Through coalition work in Israel, oppor tunity partner NCJW is actively involved in social action to our and advocacy issues in the areas of pover- with ty and food insecurity; tolerance, co-exis- I s r a e l tence and promotion of equal citizenship G r a n t i n g for Israeli minorities; children’s and Program projects each year by underwritwomen’s empowerment (including the ing a grant with a gift of $2500 and rights of Agunot -- women who are above. Last year, one of NCJW’s grants refused a “get,” or Jewish divorce by in Israel was to the NCJW Israel Studies their husbands), trafficking, and the equal Forum at Tel Aviv University (TAU) to participation and representation of Israeli support the Hotline for the Support of women in all national conflict resolution Victims of Sexual Harassment on TAU processes. NCJW is committed to Campus. Jan Schneiderman, Honorary advancing women’s status and rights in NCJW National President, along with a Israel by helping them develop a stronger group of her friends, chose to partner voice on all levels of Israeli society, as well with this grant, in honor of her special as supporting at-risk populations, with a birthday. special emphasis on children. NCJW’s Israel Granting Programs NCJW’s Action Center broadcasts include: emails with breaking news and informaYad B’Yad: NCJW’s Initiative to tion on advocacy initiatives, enabling par- Nurture Knowledge is a grant program ticipants to easily send instant action supporting grassroots organizations serving at-risk children and families in Israel. emails to policy-makers. Some of our recent action alerts related Launched in 1998, the Yad B’Yad proto our Israel agenda include calls for: gram has funded hundreds of grants to support by the Knesset of legislation to foster positive and innovative learning provide nutritious meals for all school environments for individuals of all back-
grounds, and has supported programs that have empowered women, children and their families in Israel. NCJW will continue to provide grants to at-risk families and children in Israel through Yad B’Yad and will be launching a new funding stream, Women to Women: NCJW’s Empowerment Initiative, in the 2008 fiscal year. This grant program will support grassroots
In support of the development of educational programs in Israel to bridge societal gaps, in 1969 NCJW created the NCJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education (RIFIE) at Hebrew University, where researchers develop and facilitate innovative methods of education to meet the needs or immigrant and disadvantaged children and their families, promoting their integration into Israeli society. RIFIE’s Home Instruction Program for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) won such acclaim by the Israeli government that it was implemented nationally in 1975, and has since been expanded to 167 international sites, including the U.S. NCJW continues to fund programs at RIFIE through the RIFIE endowment. Mission to Israel. Right: NCJW organizes annual missions to In the 2007 fiscal year, Israel; this group, including Jan Schneiderman, traveled there the RIFIE programs supin 2007. Below: Schneiderman, right, and Honorary National ported by NCJW includVice President Anne Oppenheimer of Chicago observe fifth ed: “Gateway to the graders mentoring younger children, during this 1996 Mission. University”, an educaorganizations and programs designed to tional program for talented high school students from Israel’s lowest socio-ecoempower women in Israel. The NCJW Women & Gender nomic segments, which provides special Studies Pro- classes and activities to enable these stugram at Tel dents to advance to and succeed in Israeli Aviv Univer- universities, and “The Teen Girl’s sity, estab- Project: Preparation of Girls for lished in Service in the IDF”, in partnership with 2001 with a the Yuval School -- The Hebrew $1 million University Apprenticeship Program. This e n d o w m e n t program identifies teenage girls who had by NCJW, been rejected from IDF army service, but educates and still wish to experience IDF service and nurtures stu- trains them for such service and indedents to see pendent adulthood. the world NCJW also invests in the future of through a Israeli society by providing scholarships gender lens for study at the Hebrew University High and become School through the Drabkin Scholarship agents of social change in Israel. Fund. This groundbreaking program -- the NCJW Missions to Israel first bachelor degree-granting program of NCJW missions to Israel offer the its kind in the Middle East -- provides an opportunity for participants to put their interdisciplinary approach to teaching commitment to progressive social change and research through over one hundred into action as they experience the tremencourses from the faculties of Law, dous impact of the NCJW Israel Humanities, Art and the Social Sciences. Programs on a personal level. If you would like more information or In the fiscal year 2007, NCJW completed its funding of this innovative pro- are interested in supporting NCJW’s gram and continues to award scholarships Israel programs, please contact me at to students in need for studies in the pro- 212.463.6015 or esynder@ncjw.org. To send a tribute card for the NCJW in gram. The NCJW Women Studies Forum at Israel Fund, call Sue Meyers at 391.7370 Tel Aviv University convenes a group of or e-mail her at suemeyers@cox.net. For academics who are dedicated to femi- information about joining NCJWnism, women’s empowerment, and shap- Omaha Section, call 334.6565, or e-mail ing the next generation of scholars. ncjwomaha@jewishomaha.org, or visit NCJW continues to support the NCJW www.ncjwomaha.org; for Life Women Studies Forum with grants made Membership payment plans, call Lois through the Women to Women granting Friedman at 398.1119 or Fefe Passer at program. 398.1021.
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COMING 05.02.08 Hadassah – on the move
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by GLORIA SHUKERT JONES transplanting them by injection into the Hadassah was founded in 1912 by spinal fluid, whereby each patient serves as Henrietta Szold, noted scholar, author, his or her own donor. The treatment, journalist, social worker and Zionist, at a which is still in the research stages, is being meeting in a New York synagogue. She tested on 25 patients suffering from mulsaw a need for health care for the people tiple sclerosis and ALS. All have reported in what was then called Palestine, and an improvement in their condition. convinced the women’s group, the For the first time in Israel, physicians Daughters of Zion, to join her in those from the Hadassah Medical Center Heart efforts. Because this meeting was held Institute successfully performed a catheraround Purim that year, the ladies decid- ization to enlarge a heart valve in an ed to call themselves Hadassah, which is eight-year-old girl who was having diffithe Hebrew name for Queen Esther. culty breathing due to rheumatoid arthriHadassah is also the term tis. The procedure was for myrtle, a tree with successful, and changed a Biblical significance. little girl’s life. One year later, two Ten-year-old Hiam a American nurses went to little girl from the West Jerusalem to open a welBank city of Jenin, who fare station. They arrived suffered from severe scoto find tragic human sufliosis, can now stand fering, an overwhelming straight and tall, thanks need for medical and to the delicate spinal sursocial relief, and an gery performed at absolute absence of Hadassah. health care standards, Hiam’s back had been practices or systems. By so painfully twisted in a Henrietta Szold the time the State of 100º turn that it pressed Founder of Hadassah Israel was established in against her lungs and 1948, Hadassah’s work had created a viable infrastructure for the burgeoning country, and created a complex network of health facilities, not only clinics and hospitals, but national programs for nutrition, health for school children, and preventive care. Hadassah Hospital became Israel’s first university hospital. From its humble beginnings, Hadassah is now the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, a volunteer Omaha Chapter Board members at a meetsociety, whose members are motivated ing: Gloria Jones, left, Maxine Noodell, and inspired to strengthen their partner- Georgia Ann Steinberg and Harriet Klopper. ship with Israel, ensure Jewish continuity, made breathing difficult for her. and realize their potential as a dynamic “Only one doctor in the country could force in American society. handle such surgery,” reports Professor It still retains the passion and timeless Meir Liebergall, head of Hadassah’s values of Szold, whose dedication to Orthopedics Department. “That’s our Judaism, Zionism and the American ideal back expert, Dr. Leon Kaplan.” is noteworthy. Committed to Israel, These are just a few of the thousands of based on the renaissance of the Jewish medical miracles that have been perpeople in its historic homeland, Hadassah formed at Hadassah Medical Center. promotes their unity. In Israel, the goal is Hadassah’s research laboratories are an initiating and supporting health care, inseparable part of its clinical departeducation, youth institutions and land ments, and in keeping with its long-term development to meet the changing needs advocacy in stem cell research, great of the country. advances in medical care can be expected Here in the United States, Hadassah in the prevention, management and cure enhances the quality of American and of such ailments as cardiovascular disease, Jewish life through it’s educational and diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and Zionist youth programs, health awareness lupus, to name just a few. The Hadassah promotion, and provides personal enrich- women’s organization is one of many ment and growth for its members. Hadassah is a world leader in medical research. The Israeli Hadassah Medical Organization’s perspective embraces a broad view of the needs of the country and the field of medicine. Their conviction is that research is the essence of medicine, and Hadassah is committed to advancing and developing medicine in Israel by translating research Charlotte Jacobson, National President of Hadassah at the insights into prolonging time of the Six Day War, receives the keys to Hadassah Mt. and enhancing the quality Scopus from Israel Defense Forces Commander, Menachem Credit: Dr. K. Meyerowitz of life. Hadassah has set Scharfman, on June 21, 1967. excellence in research as one of its highest sources providing much needed funds for goals, and to encourage physicians to par- the various research and clinical trials. ticipate in research and incorporate them The HMO encompasses two hospitals into both Israeli and international worlds in Jerusalem; five schools, out-patient of research. clinics, research facilities and community One of the most recent research devel- health centers. Over a million patients are opments in central nervous system and treated annually, and health care profesother neurological disorders, involves a sionals receive education without regard method of removing mesenchymal to race, religion or national origin. (mature) stem cells from a patient and Continued on page 69
April 18, 2008
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Hadassah – on the move Continued from page 68 a successful future. Young immigrants and “at risk” The current inpatient facilnative Israeli’s receive counseling and supportive servicity is 50-years-old and es in Youth Aliyah day centers, kibbutzim and youth vilunable to meet current or lages future requirements, the Young Judaea, founded in 1909, is the oldest Zionist occupancy rate exceeding youth movement in the United States. Its purpose is to bed capacity. The lack of build Jewish identity and Zionist commitment in space does not meet the American Jewish youth and young people -- the future requirements of the new of Hadassah. paradigm of patient care, Programs are available to educate, inform and expand including adaptable function their horizons through Hebrew Studies (Ivrit la rooms, increased family Hadassah), Jewish family education, Young Judaea suminvolvement and patient Above: Carol Rosenthal is President of the Upper mer camps, year-long studies in Israel, empowerment. In order to Midwest Region of Hadassah. Below: architect’s and on-going regional conferences and maintain their standards of sketch of the Sarah Davidson Wetsman Tower at events. International young women, excellence, the need is great Hadassah Hospital. aged 18-35 can get involved in Young for a high tech environment Hadassah International, where they that will feature the latest in support HMO as well as train future technological advances, such Hadassah leaders. as bringing scientific knowlAnd in case you may think Hadassah edge directly from the labs involves only women, think again. to the patients’ bedsides, Hadassah Associates are men who recand to meet the medical, ognize the noble and life-affirming patient care and research goals of Hadassah. They support needs of the next 50 years. Hadassah, the Jewish people and the The new Sarah Wetsman State of Israel by expanding relationDavidson Tower at Ein ships and identifying new sources of Kerem, Jerusalem, will profunds. Their strategy is to support vide these needs. The Hadassah fundraising activities with Tower, scheduled to be specific emphasis on identifying and completed in 2012, will celtapping into new sources of funds from ebrate Israel’s centennial, individuals and corporations through and envisions serving the innovative activities and events people of Israel for the next There are Hadassah chapters all over hundred years. It will begin the United States, and many opportuniwith a 14-story structure ties to reunite with old friends and make with 500 beds, 20 operating rooms, and a 50-bed inten- new ones through periodic National and Regional consive care unit. ventions held at various times throughout the year. The Sarah Wetsman Davidson was born in Iowa in 1890. highlight of these events is for the purpose of self enrichHer parents, Bessie and Joseph, arrived in America with ment and education, and feature seminars and keynote little more than the hope for the future. They were speakers on topics of interest to women. They center on devoted to Zionism, a passion deeply shared by daugh- legislative issues, health awareness, advocacy, Zionism, ter, Sarah. and observance of Judaic traditions, to name a few, in an In 2007, William Davidson, of the third generation, atmosphere of friendship and camaraderie. and his wife, Karen, announced the donation of a $75 On the local level, the Omaha Chapter holds monthly million gift, among the largest commitments ever made board meetings, where members meet to discuss new busito a Jewish organization, to support Hadassah’s new ness and plan activities throughout the year. Members volinpatient tower. Hadassah gave the Tower its name in unteer to help with mailings and other projects. recognition of this donation, and to honor the memory The Omaha group is an avid supporter of both Youth of William Davidson’s mother, Sarah Wetsman Aliyah and the Hadassah Medical Organization, and the Davidson. funds collected on behalf of those groups often exceed Hadassah is not just about hospitals. The Youth Aliyah expectations. The chapter holds annual fund-raising and program, which is supported by Hadassah, is designed membership drives, where members are invited to either for Israel’s disadvantaged children, to help them achieve a dinner or luncheon with entertainment, and are
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encouraged to bring guests. Funds collected are used for charitable projects and chapter expenses for the year. An annual Hanukkah party, complete with musical entertainment, is also offered. Attendees bring toys, gifts or monetary donations for distribution by Jewish Family Services to underprivileged families in the area. Hadassah also has occasional informal get-togethers, such as game night, where guests bring their favorite board games, playing cards or mah jongg sets. Omaha Chapter is part of the Upper Midwest Region of Hadassah, which also includes local chapters in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and the Dakotas. The Region’s president, Carol Rosenthal, said, “I am thrilled that the ‘Jewish Press’ will be including Hadassah in its Passover issue.” She went on to mention some of the recent highlights of the past year, such as the induction of Henrietta Szold in the National Women’s Hall of Fame in October of 2007, Israel’s 60th birthday, and “the many miracles we make happen every day.” Both Rosenthal and Gloria Murman, Communications Coordinator of the Region, were extremely helpful in providing current reference sources for this article. The Region publishes a quarterly newsletter, “Spotlight”, which as its name implies, focuses on the latest happenings in the regional chapters, as reported by its members. Membership in Hadassah comes with many perks. Members receive the monthly Hadassah magazine which contains stories and articles of interest. In this magazine I have found opportunities for an insurance plan, discounts on prescription drugs, tree planting in Israel in memory of departed loved ones, guided tours to Israel at discounted rates, educational opportunities, estate planning, and for a nominal fee, a perpetual yahrzeit observance for a loved one, when family members themselves have passed on, and there’s no one left to remember this person. As you can see, Hadassah is a multi-faceted organization with far-reaching boundaries. In the words of Henrietta Szold, “When you dream, dream big.” If our founder were around today, she would be amazed at the dreams that have already materialized, and the ones yet to come, especially the monumental project of the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Inpatient Tower at Hadassah Ein Kerem. Hadassah joins Israel in the celebration of a birthday. It’s our organization’s 96th this year -- almost a century of progress. We will strive to make the next hundred years even more memorable and spectacular! For further information, visit www.Hadassah.org) (Note: To join Hadassah or make a donation, please contact Esther Wax at 393.4442 or Sandy Kohll at 391.5603. You may also call the Upper Midwest Hadassah at 1.888.924.4999 or e-mail lrosenwasser@ Hadassah.org for more information.)
5768.ThisPassoverwecelebratefreedom andIsrael’s 60th birthday.
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5769.Maywecelebrateourcontinuedfreedom… and peace…next year in Jerusalem. Join the Hadassah community—300,000 women strong— and help build a better, healthier, more peaceful world. Become a member: www.hadassah.org or 800.664.JOIN To learn about Hadassah Medical Organization, 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and the extraordinary work of Hadassah in the U.S., Israel and worldwide, visit www.hadassah.org, or call 866.229.2395 or locally: 952.924.4999 UMRegion@hadassah.org www.uppermidwest.hadassah.org
© 2008 Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc. Hadassah is a registered trademark of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc.
Page 70
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
On a Mission ...
Above left: 1998 YJO Mission; Nava Ein Mor, director of Yad LaKashish, second from left, greets Stacey Rockman, left, Jan Schneiderman, and Jan Goldstein during a 2007 Mission. Below left: Joe Kirshenbaum meets some young Ethiopian kids in 2005 on a Mission that was preceded by a trip to Kiev; below: The “Sheriff of the North” Mike Ginsburg shows a 1991 Mission group how close Kibbutz Misgav Am is to the Lebanese border.
Above left: Nancy Noddle and Joanie Kaiman meet a spokeswoman for the Ethiopian olim on a 1999 Mission; Howard Kooper was on the 1991 Mission, along with Darlynn Fellman, when they greeted Ethiopian olim; below: Harriet Singer, middle, and Stuart and Sandy Kutler visit the Kotel on a 1998 Mission; Janet and Mort Glass visit Moscow and Israel on a ’98 Major Gifts Mission.
Below: Kym Pitlor meets Israeli soldiers on the 1994 Family Mission; while other preteens enjoy the waterfalls at Ein Gedi.
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On a Mission ...
Above: Norm Sheldon meets students at the Gordon School on a 2005 Mission to the Ukriane and Omaha’s Partnership with Israel region, the Western Galilee
Above: Rabbi Baruch HaLevi, left, leads a group climbing up Masada on the 1999-2000 Millennium Mission; above right: kids enjoy a jeep ride in the Golan on the 2007 Family Mission; right: Sharee and Murray Newman listen to Israeli politicians on the Millennium Mission; below: some of the participants on the 1997 Family Mission take a break after climbing Masada. Above: Chris and Allison Wilczewski on the 1998 YJO Mission; right: Kim Goldberg views her art project while on a 2007 Mission; below: the 1994 Shalom Mission.
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Israel: both realities by DANNY SIEGEL masseuses to give free massages to survivors of terror I don’t recall being a morning person when I was in attacks. They mend broken and breaking hearts and ease college back in the early ’60s. If there was an exam or a the minds of those who falter and lose their way. paper due, I could “pull an all-nighter” with the best of All of them care with such vigor and human and them. Jewish creativity -- it is at once awe-inspiring and emiThings changed radically sometime on one of my early nently accessible. For every heartache, dissonance, and trips to Israel. I’ve been back almost 50 times, ever since broken spirit, they will find a solution. my rabbi took me with him in 1959. I was 14-years-old, I am “hooked.” I need to find them, be with them, do and the country was only 11. at least something with them. Sometime during those early days -- I cannot rememThey are the visionaries who remind us that there is a ber exactly when -- I discovered dawn in Jerusalem. In Heavenly Jerusalem, as well as the Jerusalem of schwarlate June, the first glimmers of light can be seen around ma stands, shoe stores, and garages. And what applies to 4 a.m., and I was hooked. I began walking by 4:45 a.m. Jerusalem Above and Below, extends beyond the city’s for two hours. Most of the time I had no route planned. limits to the very ends of the earth. Just read the last 26 I just opened the door and headed in whichever direc- chapters of Isaiah. Theirs is the same “unrealistic” vision tion my feet (the Almighty?) took me. as that of the Biblical prophets from centuries ago. I still do it on many mornings, and always on Shabbat. Unrealistic? Spend time with the Mitzvah Heroes and Groups of tourists, or a friend or two would go with me, it may seem less fantasy than possibility. with a guarantee that they would be back in plenty of Am I living in a disconnect with reality? To the contime to get to any synagogue that caught their fancy. trary, the reality of Israel as I see it is reality and fantasy, They could pray with the Turks in Yemin Moshe, vision, and prophecy inextricably mixed together. chazzan and choir at the Great Synagogue, or the neighAm I living with my head in the clouds? borhood shul. I always take with me Rehovot For sure. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Yerushalayim, that marvelous paperback that explains Now, so you can get to know a couple of them, here the origin of all the street names in the city. That way I are descriptions of two Mitzvah heroes I have I have can turn left and reach back in my mind three centuries, known for more than three decades. or walk straight ahead to the A more complete undernext corner and find myself standing of their nature and in the heyday of the Talmud. personalities may be found Call me a romantic. at http://ziv.org/annualSince I am a poet, that’s a reports. compliment And that’s The Rabbanit Bracha exactly the point. This is not Kapach to say that I am not glued to The evening before I left the radio every time the Israel last February, at the news comes on if I am visitend of our Hero Israel tour ing friends or in transit in a for educators, I had an hour taxi. Of course I am. I listen alone with the Rabbanit. It to the news, watch the news, was just like “The Old read the news in the Hebrew Days”. papers. But that is never The Old Days began in enough. Side by side with Clara Hammer received an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva 1975, even before the Ziv the terror, hatred, interna- University President Richard Joel during the university's sec- Tzedakah Fund was foundtional condemnation for ond colloquium in Israel. Hammer founded her ‘Chicken ed, and friends and relatives whatever Israel does, I have Fund’, which provides some 200 underprivileged and hungry had given me tzedakah to keep the magic, holiness, families with food, basic necessities and medical assistance. money to distribute to the the miraculous, and the lyri- Known as the 'Chicken Lady', she has been funded by Danny Good People in Israel. cism of the Land and the Siegel’s Ziv Tzedakah Fund, honored by Emunah and the How fortunate I was, wayPeople in my mind, heart, Jerusalem municipality for her selfless work, and now by back-when, in the very Credit: ISRANET beginning, to have met the Yeshiva University. and soul. Always. Sometime in the mid-1980s I wrote: Rabbanit, the Ultimate Mitzvah Woman. What a won“I think (now that I look back) I’d rather drive a taxi derful hour we spent alone together, just the two of us, in Jerusalem than be the King of all of South Dakota.” at her home in Jerusalem; what memories of 32 years of Am I naïve, oblivious to the real lives of the People? knowing each other, I, still her talmid, her student in Not so. One day, while I was having a leisurely cup of mitzvahs. coffee on Ben Yehuda Street, I wrote: The Rabbanit has touched thousands of lives over the The downtown triangle of streets is seething with Jews years -- thousands upon thousands of lives. Her list of Loud chattering geniuses, drivers, merchants, and kids, main mitzvahs is long, some of which include the legPharmacists from Germany, scholars, endary weddings she prepares for brides and grooms Kibbutzniks on a spree, saints, who start life together with very little; the food, money, Men shaking in yarmulkas over a Coke, and, over the years, hundreds of basic necessities for The round and the blind, the muscle-bulging people in great need; teaching Torah classes to eager stuOf our people, foaming beggars, dents, speaking in schools throughout the Jerusalem And open-shirted name-brand macho Sabra men. area and inspiring students to do for others; holding a I see them, hear them, listen to them, talk to them and wonderful summer camp for neighborhood kids, and, of argue with them, buy my newspapers from them. They course, her well-known Passover Ma’ot Chittin food are in my consciousness morning, noon, and night. A package project for 5,000 families. few even pass by me as dawn breaks, and I am out and For more than four decades she has performed this allabout on my morning stroll. important mitzvah, often going into debt for months But there is still more to the human side of Israel. For afterwards. She would not have it any other way. People more than 30 years I have sought out Israel’s tzaddikim, must have a decent Passover. the ‘Good People.’ These are the individuals, young, And yet: this still doesn’t describe the essence of the old, men, women, and children, religious, so-so, and Rabbanit -- if, indeed, one could discern the “essence”. secular -- you name it -- who are doing the ‘Good Closer to what her life is all about is the way that she has Things’ for others. worked with thousands of individuals, couples, and famI call these individuals “Mitzvah heroes”, and they are ilies in personal crisis to whom she has given not only easy to find because they are everywhere. On the sur- physical sustenance, but also hope and the ever-present face, some of them even appear to be “drivers, mer- awareness that no matter how difficult life is, that chants, and kids, and open-shirted name-brand macho “Other Person” is a person-of-dignity. In doubt, despair, Sabra men.” or enormous sadness, they come away from the Mitzvah heroes are the ones who spend their days Rabbanit restored to their own well being. organizing masses of volunteers to retrieve perfectly Typical of the Rabbanit’s way is the origin of the good leftover food from hotels and wedding halls to camp. Years back, going by the school to pick up one of feed hungry people. her children, she saw another child sobbing. She asked if Mitzvah heroes say, “I have to do something” and others had picked on him, and when he said “No,” she wind up sending packages of “goodies” to thousands of asked, “Then why are you crying?” soldiers. These paradigms of Yiddishkeit and humanity When the child said that all his friends had a place to bring refuge and relief for victims of domestic violence, go during the summer to have fun, and he had nowhere extend loans with zero interest for people living on the to go, the Rabbanit said, “Next summer you will have a economic edge, and provide opportunities for individu- camp!” More than 40 years later, that child-of-yesterday als with every conceivable kind of disability. now sends his grandchildren to her camp. Giants of tikkun olam, they find masseurs and Continued on page 73
April 18, 2008
Ten years of Aliyah JOURNAL ENTRY FROM ISRAEL by TEDDY WEINBERGER Our aliyah hit the decade mark last summer. To celebrate, Sarah and I and our five teenagers (ouch!) went out to eat. Sarah had arranged for a festive meal at a wonderful restaurant. And though we were the only diners (I guess the restaurant’s location in the hotel at the Hadassah hospital in Ein Karem is not a big draw), everyone was in a great mood. We took our dessert in a separate room, where we watched videos from when the kids were little in America. Sometimes it’s good to take stock and look backwards, and those videos from 1996 and 1997 helped us see how far we have come. I am happy to report that the general consensus was that aliyah has been good for us -- good enough so that a short piece that I wrote a few months after making the move here still resonates deeply for me and my family. With some editing, here it is: Aliyah begins with at-one-ment, a sense of wholeness and completion that a Jew finds only in Israel. Sarah and I had this feeling when we were in Israel in May of 1982. Sarah was completing her junior year abroad at Hebrew University and I was visiting, having spent a significant period of time in Israel a few years earlier. We were both just short of turning 21; we were not yet married and we did not quite know what to expect from adult life in the United States. So we put aside that emotional pull towards Israel, and for the next 12 years neither of us even visited. Then, in the summer of 1994, my university sent me to Israel for 10 days to present a paper at a conference, and my feelings for Israel powerfully returned. This time, I was 33 and could see that whatever else life in America could give me, it could not give me the sense of at-homeness that I got in Israel. When Sarah picked me up at the Miami airport on July 4, 1994, I told her that I wanted to make aliyah. She told me to get into the car and we would discuss it. Three years later, Sarah and I made aliyah -- on July 29, 1997 with our five children: Nathan (then 9), Rebecca (8), Ruthie (almost 7), Ezra (5), and Elie (almost 3). We moved right to Givat Ze’ev, to the house where we still live.
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Israel: two realities Continued from page 72 Finally, lest the readers of this report think the Rabbanit is some remote, otherworldly kind of human being -- it is not so. She has traveled the world, and enjoys her dip in the waters at a Dead Sea resort the same as any other “regular” person would. She is now in her mid-80s. A few months ago she had knee replacement surgery followed by great bouts of pain. Now that this is past, she is closer to 100%, her old self, a classic tzadeket, Righteous Woman of our generation. Hadassah Levi She was one of the first Mitzvah heroes I met. My ini-
Hadassah Levi with Kalman Samuels, co-founder of Shalva, an amazing organization providing wide-ranging services to hundreds of Jerusalem’s children with mental and physical limitations.
tial encounter with this extraordinary woman was in 1975 when I first set out to meet ‘The Good People’ and to offer support with whatever tzedakah money friends had given me to distribute. Here is her story, adapted from last year’s description: Hadassah was the founder of Ma’on LaTinok, a warm, happy home where more than 40 infants with Down Syndrome, abandoned by their families, came to live. (The youngest was actually two hours old when she came under Hadassah’s care.) In those days, many “retarded” children were given up and left to be raised by the state. She knew these babies because she, herself, had been in the hospital for months, and as she began to regain her strength, she would wander the hospital to visit children. It was at that point that she just knew she had to do something, and when Hadassah was well enough to go home, she knew what it was that she had to do. She gathered them and raised them. It was in Ma’on LaTinok that Hadassah provided them with love, with everything that children need to flourish and grow. Testament to the love and care which she provided is the fact that many of Hadassah’s “kids” are now adults and, as we have shared in past reports, many are employed in regular jobs ranging from work in local cafés, gardening, and even various jobs in the Knesset! Poet, author and ‘tzedakah guru’ Danny Siegel, who visited Omaha last year, founded the ZIV Tzedakah Fund, which to date has given away more than $12 million. The fund will close at the end of this year.
is pleased to announce our Kosher Passover Milk. Sold at your local Bag ’N Save. Available through April 30 or while supplies last.
Former Omahan Sarah Ross and her husband Teddy Weinberger made aliyah in 1997 with their children: Ezra, Nathan, Rebecca, Ruthie, and Elie. They’re pictured here 10 years later, celebrating their decade as Israelis. Givat Ze’ev is a suburb of Jerusalem, though technically it’s in the “territories.” We did not specifically choose to live beyond the Green Line; what was most important to us was to have a place to live where our five very active kids could roam free and not be cooped up inside of an apartment. When people ask me why I made aliyah, I answer them with one word: Zionism. I am here because I strongly feel the truth of your basic Zionist ideology: Jews belong to the Jewish nation, the Jewish nation requires a physical home like all other nations, and this home is Israel. Thus, if you are Jewish it makes sense to live in Israel. It certainly is not the case, however, that after you make aliyah you wake up every morning whistling a happy tune. Once, when I was with my friend Joel Katz, who made aliyah five years before me, a visitor from the States asked him: “You must love it here, right?” Joel thought for a moment and said: “Well, I do find my life here to be meaningful.” Contined on page 75
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
Candlelighting Friday, April 18, 7:49 p.m. Saturday, April 19, 8:52 p.m. Sunday, April 20, no earlier than 8:53 p.m
Synagogue Listings B’nai Israel Synagogue 618 Mynster St. Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com
Beth El Synagogue Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Omaha, NE 68154-1980 492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org
Beth Israel Synagogue Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific St. Omaha, NE. 68154 556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org
Beyt Shalom An Affiliate of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation 3012 S. 119 St. P.O. Box 390352 Omaha, NE 68139 660.2395 www.beytshalomomaha.org
Chabad House An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 S. 120th St. Omaha, NE 68144-1646 330.1800 www.OChabad.com email: chabad@aol.com
Congregation B’nai Jeshurun South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 S. 20th St. Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 435.8004 southstreettemple.org
Offutt Air Force Base SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway Offutt AFB, NE 68113 294.6244
Rose Blumkin Jewish Home 333 S. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154
Temple Israel Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street Omaha, NE 68132-2651 556.6536 templeisrael-ne.org
The Neighborhood Minyan 1317 No. 57 St. Omaha, NE 68132 551.6609
Tifereth Israel Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org
If you’re looking at this space, so are others! YOUR AD CAN GO HERE...
to reserve space, call
Allan Handleman, 402.334.6451 or Robyn Belgrade 402.334.6559
B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m.
Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross. FRIDAY: Pesach-To-Go available for pick-up, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; Chametz to be burned no later than 12:15 p.m.; Burning of chametz, 11:30 a.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m. SATURDAY/Erev Yom Tov: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by Zoë and Carl Riekes in honor of Zoë’s 60th birthday. Recite Kol Chamira (nullification of chametz) by 11:10 a.m.; Mincha, 8 p.m. SUNDAY/First Day of Pesach: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Pesach Kiddush sponsored by Sisterhood; Mincha, 8 p.m.; Synagogue Seder, immediately following Mincha. MONDAY/Second Day of Pesach: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Kiddush sponsored by Sisterhood; Mincha, 8 p.m.; Havdalah, 8:54 p.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 6:45 a.m. during Pesach; Ma’ariv, 8:30 p.m.
BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush sponsored by Beth El; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 1 p.m. followed by Pesach music around the world. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. Sitter Service is available during Friday night and Saturday morning services, on a drop-in basis, at no charge. COMMUNITY SEDER Sunday, April 20, 6 p.m. For information or to reserve, contact Margie Gutnik at 492.8550, or programming@bethel-oma ha.org. BESTT: Spring break April 521 for all classes and activities. PASSOVER SATURDAY: Shaharit, 9:30 a.m.; Music Session with Cantor, 12:30 p.m. (Pesach Music around the world); Minha, 1 p.m. SUNDAY, First Day: Shaharit, 9:30 a.m.; Minha/ Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m.; Community Seder, 6 p.m. at Beth El. MONDAY, Second Day: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m.; Minha/ Ma’ariv, 8 p.m. TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, Hol Hamo’ed: Shacharit, 6:45 a.m.; Minha/ Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. SHABBAT MORNING LIVE Saturday, April 26, 10:30 a.m. Israel Independence Day program, led by Esther Katz for 4-8 year olds and their favorite adult(s). No charge, but RSVP to the synagogue.
MONDAY: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush Luncheon, noon; Yom Tov ends at 8:54 p.m. TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m. TUESDAY: Parsha, Prophets and Prayer, 9 a.m. WEDNESDAY: Parsha class, 3:45 p.m.; Kabbalah Circle, 7 p.m. THURSDAY: Jewish Thought Class, 12:45 p.m. Programs are open to the community. For information or to register, call 330.1800 or visit: www.ochabad.com.
CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel, with oneg following. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. all led by Rabbi Emanuel. SUNDAY: Community Passover Second Seder, 5 p.m. Social Hall. WEDNESDAY: No LJCS class.
BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Shabbat in the Home SATURDAY: First Seder, 5 p.m. at the synagogue. SUNDAY: No Religious School
CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. FRIDAY: Services, 7 a.m.; Burn Chametz until 12:15 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush, 10:30 a.m.; Chametz may be eaten until, 11:07 a.m.; get rid of chametz until 12:14 p.m.; Seder, 7:45 p.m. at Chabad House; Mincha/ Maariv, 8:30 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush Luncheon, noon; Mincha/ Maariv, 8:30 p.m.
TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:30 p.m. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel and Cantor Wendy Shermet will officiate. SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15-10:30 a.m.; Shabbat Service, 10:30 a.m. SUNDAY: No Religious School. SITTER SERVICE: Available Wednesday evenings during Family School hours during adult education, Friday evenings except when there is a Tot Shabbat, Saturday mornings when there is a b’nai mitzvah, and Sunday mornings during Religious School. Advance reservations and a $5 donation are appreciated. Young children, including infants, are welcome. SUNDAY: No Religious School; Pesach Breakfast, 10 a.m. Matzo brie and fruit will be served before the service; Passover Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.; Congregational Seder, 6 p.m. TUESDAY: Hebrew Lunch & Learn, 12:15 p.m. WEDNESDAY: No Family, Religious or Middle/High School. THURSDAY: Religious School Steering Committe Mtg, noon.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.
NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN FRIDAY: Minyan, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. There will be no serices held during Passover.
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Andy Greenberg. PASSOVER SATURDAY, April 19: First Seder, 6 p.m., led by Andy and Carole Greenberg. SUNDAY, April 20: Services, 9 a.m. led by Rabbi Maximo Shechet; Second Seder, 6 p.m., led by Eileen and Miles Remer. MONDAY, April 21: Services, 9 a.m. led by Rabbi Shechet.
TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Nancy Coren, Lay Leader. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m., followed by kiddush lunch and Talmud study. SUNDAY/MONDAY, April 20-21: Services, 9 a.m. WEDNESDAY, April 23: No LJCS classes.
Astronaut in space for Passover remembers a fallen Israeli hero by IRENE KLOTZ Reisman CAPE CANAVERAL, did spend Fla. (JTA) -- As Jews time planning how to honor around the world preIsrael’s first pare for Passover, the fesastronaut, Ilan tival of freedom, one Ramon, who adventurous soul is expedied in the riencing emancipation in 2003 shuttle a most literal fashion. Columbia disIn his new abode aster. aboard the International Following Space Station, NASA astronaut Garrett the tragedy, Reisman has slipped the Reisman was bonds of gravity and Garrett Reisman, center, is flanked by fellow astronauts given the won’t return to Earth’s Mike Foreman, left, and Robert Behnken in the choice of shackles for approxi- International Space Station during docking of the space helping the shuttle Endeavour. Credit: NASA investigation mately two months. Reisman, 40, a mechanical engineer from or providing emotional support to Ramon’s Parsippany, N.J., is the first Jewish astronaut family. Reisman chose the latter. “It was so to live on the orbital outpost, a multinational incredibly tragic,” he told The Jerusalem Post complex that has been under construction for during a visit to Israel. “Ilan had a great sense 10 years. For this Passover, living in weight- of humor and worked very hard to represent lessness will require adaptation on his part. not only Israel but every Jew in the world.” When he was tapped for a space mission of For example, matza is out -- the crumbs his own, Reisman asked Ramon’s widow, would be uncontainable. Shortly before Reisman launched aboard Rona, if there was anything she would like the shuttle Endeavour March 11 from the him to take into space. “Ilan flew a copy of the Israeli Declaration John F. Kennedy Space Center, he was asked of Independence,” Reisman told JTA in a about spending Passover in space. “I haven’t really thought that much about preflight interview. “It was a scroll and he kind of played with it in orbit, and they have that,” he said.
video of that. She gave me another copy so I can kind of have the same experience with it up in orbit, and then I intend to return it to her when I get back.” Reisman also is flying a cloth with the symbol of the State of Israel signed by President Shimon Peres, as well as a necklace blessed by a Buddhist priest and a set of rosary beads. “I pretty much have all my major religions covered,” he joked. Reisman’s Passover in space will be spent getting to know two new crewmates, Russians Sergey Volkov and Oleg Kononenko. The cosmonauts will replace space station commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko, who depart on April 19, the first night of Passover. Fortunately for Reisman, his Russian is stronger than his Hebrew -- he made it through cosmonaut training without a translator and took his exams in Russian as well. But his Jewish heritage comes through, too. When one of his shuttle Endeavour colleagues asked about the camera view during a spacewalk last month, Reisman quipped, “The camera work is great. We’re going to have you shoot my cousin’s bar mitzvah!” Soon the space station will have a more permanent mark of Jewish contributions to space exploration: Reisman’s replacement, Jewish astronaut Gregory Chamitoff, is bringing two mezuzot.
April 18, 2008
Index of Advertisers Advertiser Page AAA Rents .................................................................... 33 Abacus Consulting ...................................................... 29 Abrahams, Kaslow & Cassmann LLP .......................... 29 Acura of Omaha .......................................................... 11 Alegent Health ............................................................. 19 All Makes Office Equipment Co. .................................. 13 All Seasons Home Improvement Co. ........................... 28 Allens .......................................................................... 41 Allstate Insurance-Tim Wortman .................................. 67 American Friends of Magen David Adom ..................... 49 American National Bank .............................................. 64 American Tile & Marble Company ............................... 56 AMIT Women ............................................................... 48 AmSan Nogg Paper & Chemical .................................. 63 Anderson O’Brien Gallery ............................................. 51 Anti-Defamation League .............................................. 48 Associated Counseling Professionals ........................... 46 B’nai B’rith Henry Monsky Lodge ................................ 48 B’nai B’rith Youth Organization .................................... 24 B’nai Israel Synagogue ................................................ 48 B’nai Jeshurun Synagogue .......................................... 31 Badger Body & Truck Equipment Co. ............................ 7 Bag ‘N Save ................................................................. 16 Bailey, Jane A., M.D. ...................................................... 7 Belgrade Family ........................................................... 10 Bell, Angela Massage Therapist ................................... 11 Bergman Incentives/Bergman Jewelers ...................... 23 Bernina Sewing Centers .............................................. 11 Beth El BILU USY ......................................................... 24 Beth El Sisterhood ....................................................... 48 Beth El Synagogue ...................................................... 48 Beth Israel NCSY ......................................................... 24 Beth Israel Sisterhood .................................................. 48 Beth Israel Synagogue ................................................. 48 Billings Photography .................................................... 20 Bloomfield Forum ........................................................ 47 Boulevard Gardens ...................................................... 31 Boys Town ..................................................................... 6 Branching Out ............................................................. 20 Broadmoor Development Company ............................ 54 Brodkey’s ..................................................................... 41 Brownell Talbot .............................................................. 3 Canfield’s Sporting Goods ........................................... 15 Care Consultants for the Aging .................................... 42 CB Richard Ellis/MEGA ................................................. 4 Chabad ....................................................................... 48 Charleston’s ................................................................ 63 Christel’s ..................................................................... 26 Clearview Mobile Imaging, LLC ................................... 45 Cohen Family .............................................................. 36 Countryside Village ...................................................... 51 Crowne Plaza .............................................................. 10 Culligan ....................................................................... 18 Dance Shoppe ............................................................ 51 Dave & Busters ............................................................ 67 David Morton Food Marketing ..................................... 42 Ehrhart Griffin & Associates ......................................... 58 Emanuel Contracting, Inc. ........................................... 45 Enterprise Bank ........................................................... 40 Expressions ................................................................. 73 Eye Essentials .............................................................. 46 Fahey, Mayor Mike ......................................................... 5 Family Enrichment, Inc. ............................................... 26 Fifth Third Bank ........................................................... 13 Frankel, Zacharia ................................................................. 8 Fraser Stryker Law Firm ............................................... 60 Friedel Jewish Academy ................................................. 7 Garden Café ................................................................ 67 Genzyme ..................................................................... 43
Advertiser Page Advertiser Page Gordmans ................................................................... 76 No Frills ....................................................................... 40 Grace/Mayer Insurance .............................................. 28 Nobbies ....................................................................... 13 Greek Islands ............................................................... 37 Noddle Companies ...................................................... 11 Grubb & Ellis/Pacific Realty ......................................... 59 Noodles & Company ................................................... 57 Hadassah .................................................................... 48 Northwestern Mutual-Robert Randels ............................ 4 Hadassah Upper Midwest Region ......................... 22, 69 Omaha Compound Company ..................................... 38 Hap Abraham Catering ................................................ 12 Omaha Paper Stock Co. .............................................. 35 Harris Center for Judaic Studies at UNL ...................... 33 Omaha Steaks ............................................................. 27 Harry A. Koch Company-Thomas Baker ........................ 9 Omaha Surgical Center ............................................... 36 Hawkins Construction Company ................................. 71 Omaha Symphony ...................................................... 60 Hiller Electric ............................................................... 53 Omaha Temple Youth Group ........................................ 24 Hockenbergs ............................................................... 66 Omaha Trans Video ..................................................... 39 Honeyman Rent-All ...................................................... 10 One Drake Place .......................................................... 18 Horizon Dental Center ................................................. 28 Parsow’s ...................................................................... 61 Hy-Vee ......................................................................... 25 Pasta Amore ................................................................ 67 I-Go Van & Storage ....................................................... 49 Pear’s Gourmet Coffee ................................................ 26 Ideal Construction Inc. ................................................ 62 Peterson Brothers Realty Co. ....................................... 46 Ideal Water .................................................................. 23 Pollak & Hicks, P.C. ..................................................... 15 Industrial Packaging Corporation ................................. 32 Pulverente Monument Co. ........................................... 53 Interim Homestyle Services ........................................... 9 Pura Vida Blue ............................................................. 61 Jacobson Fish Co., Inc. ............................................... 15 Purdy & Slack .............................................................. 55 Jet Linx ........................................................................ 50 Raimondo, Tony for U.S. Senate .................................. 59 Jewish Community Center ............................................. 4 Regency Court ............................................................. 61 Jewish Family Service .................................................. 47 Regency Lodge ............................................................ 27 Jewish Federation of Lincoln ........................................ 16 Remington Heights ...................................................... 65 Jewish Federation of Omaha ....................................... 39 Republic National Distributing Company ..................... 56 Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation .................... 71 Residential Mortgage Services, Inc. ............................. 42 Jewish National Fund .................................................. 52 Right At Home ............................................................. 34 Jewish Press ...................................................... 2, 24, 68 Roberts Dairy ............................................................... 73 Jewish Senior Services ................................................ 21 Rockbrook Floors ......................................................... 29 Jewish War Veterans .................................................... 48 Rockbrook Village ........................................................ 67 John A. Gentleman Mortuaries .................................... 59 Rossi ........................................................................... 67 Julio’s .......................................................................... 63 Rotella’s Italian Bakery ................................................. 34 Katelman Company Antiques ...................................... 17 Russell’s ...................................................................... 51 Kidwell ........................................................................... 8 St. Joseph Villa ............................................................ 38 Kohll’s Pharmacy & Homecare ...................................... 7 Sanctuary Day Spa ...................................................... 27 KPTM/KXVO ............................................................... 29 Sarah’s ........................................................................ 51 Lakeside Dentistry ....................................................... 11 Schwalb Realty ........................................................... 20 League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly ................... 48 Scott Conference Center .............................................. 64 Leisure Life Sports ....................................................... 17 Security Equipment, Inc. ............................................. 70 Lerner Company ......................................................... 32 Security National Bank ................................................ 51 Lion’s Automotive Upholstery ......................................... 8 Seim Johnson Sestak & Quist LLP .............................. 45 Louie M’s Burger Lust ................................................. 63 Senior Market Sales, Inc. ............................................. 36 Lynn Roberts International ........................................... 33 Sol’s Jewelry & Loan .................................................... 26 Malashock Jewelry ........................................................ 8 Sonny Gerber Auto Sales ............................................. 32 Malbar Vision Centers ................................................. 15 Sound Environment ..................................................... 67 Marathon Realty Corporation ....................................... 31 Spirit World .................................................................. 37 Mark Sanford Group .................................................... 46 Stoddard Family, Jay ...................................................... 7 Market Basket ............................................................. 51 String of Purls .............................................................. 51 Marks Clare & Richards ............................................... 42 Suburban Newspapers Inc. ......................................... 41 Marriott Regency Hotel .................................................. 5 Superior Pools, Spas, Etc. ........................................... 56 McGill, Gotsdiner, Workman & Lepp, P.C., L.L.O. ......... 38 Swartzbaugh Farber .................................................... 39 McGrath, North, Mullin & Kratz, PC LLO ..................... 70 Taxi’s ........................................................................... 12 MDK & Associates ....................................................... 33 Temple Israel ............................................................... 48 Micklin Lumber ........................................................... 64 Terry, Congressman Lee .............................................. 70 Mid Con Systems Inc. .................................................. 13 Tier One Bank ................................................................ 3 Mid-City Jewelry & Loan ............................................... 16 Trocadéro .................................................................... 66 Midwest Ear, Nose, & Throat, P.C. ............................... 64 University of Nebraska Medical Center ......................... 14 Midwest Woodworkers ................................................. 23 V. Mertz ....................................................................... 37 Mulhall’s ...................................................................... 53 Valentino’s ................................................................... 12 N. Pitlor & Son, Inc. ..................................................... 47 Visions ......................................................................... 48 Nan C .......................................................................... 23 Visiting Nurse Association ............................................ 40 National Council of Jewish Women .............................. 48 Wells Blue Bunny ......................................................... 17 Nebraska Children’s Home Society ............................. 44 Wiesman Development ............................................... 46 Nebraska Democratic Party ......................................... 54 Winery ......................................................................... 12 204983A01 Nebraska Furniture Mart ............................................. 34 Wolfson Used Cars ...................................................... 34 Nebraska Jewish Historical Society .............................. 48 Zio’s Pizzeria ................................................................ 63 Nebraska Press Statewide Classifieds .......................... 75 Zongkers ...................................................................... 54 Nelson, Senator Ben and Diane .................................. 22 Zuerlein Dentistry ........................................................ 30
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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STUDENTS WITH BETTER GRADES It all starts with Newspapers To Submit Announcements to the Jewish Press: Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 (with photos we will scan and return). Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org. Readers can also submit other announcements -- births engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements. Deadlines are normally eight days prior to publication, on Thursdays, 9 a.m. Check the Jewish Press, however, for notices of early deadlines prior to secular and Jewish holidays.
Statewide Classified ADOPTION: CARING married couple wish to adopt a baby. We offer love, security, bright future. Call Joanne & Angelo, 888-288-0031. ADOPTION: WE will give your baby the best life has to offer: a loving home, great education, financial security. Expenses paid. Lisa & Richard, 1-888-714-0380. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING works! Place your 25 word ad into thousands of Nebraska homes for $195. Contact the Jewish Press at 402-334-6451 or call 1-800369-2850. GUN SHOW. Buy, sell, trade. All kinds of firearms. April 19 and 20. 9 a.m. both days. Buffalo County Fairgrounds, Kearney. 250 tables, everyone welcome. LOOKING FOR the classic car, truck or motorcycle of your dreams? Go to www.midwestclassiccars.com. It’s your midwest connection to classic vehicles for sale. Need to sell a classic vehicle? For only $25, your ad with photos will run until sold! Call this newspaper today for more information, or call 1-800-369-2850. BANKRUPTCY: FREE initial consultation. Fast relief from creditors. Low rates. Statewide filing. No office appointments necessary. Call Steffens Law Office, 308-8728327. www.steffenslaw.com. We are a debt relief agency, which helps people file bankruptcy under the bankruptcy code. HOT TUBS, walk in bathtubs, infrared saunas, factory direct pricing, call 1-800-8690406 for price list and pictures. We deliver. Town Center Showcase, Lincoln, NE.
Ten years of Aliyah
get history buff.
PIANOS HEADING your direction! Clean, (affordable) used pianos by Kawai, Baldwin, Yamaha, Steinway & more. Don’t miss out! Please call 1-800-950-3774 for details. www.piano4u.com.
Contined from page 73 RESTAURANT EQUIPMENT Outlet; new & used restaurant equipment. See There are happy days in Israel and there are more trywww.Chillmasters.biz for more info; Sioux City, IA, 1-800-526-7105. ing ones; throughout it all, if your aliyah is based upon ALL CASH candy route. Do you earn $800 in a day? Your own local candy route. an existential sense that Israel is home, then your life Includes 30 machines and candy all for $9,995. 1-888-755-1356. here will be meaningful. AIRLINES ARE hiring. Train for high paying aviation maintenance career. FAA approved In Miami, we were very close with Mark and Alicia program. Financial aid if qualified. Job placement assistance. Aviation Institute of Maintenance, 888-349-5387. Zelek, religious Catholics. Mark grew up in Massachusetts and he remembered his days there as CHASE COUNTY Community Hospital, Imperial, NE, has opening for a full time Certified Physical Therapist Assistant. Signing bonus, competitive wages/benefits. mostly gray and dreary. Mark told us that sometimes It’s fun to know history. www.chasecountyhospital.com. when he wakes up to yet another dazzling sunny day in COORDINATOR FOR Exchange Students part-time. Recruit hosts, provide support and Miami, he simply is overcome by a keen sense of joy and activities. Make friends around the world! Commissioned $600-$800 per student. appreciation for having ended up in South Florida. Inquire online: www.aspectfoundation.org. Sarah and I did not feel this way about living in Miami HELP WANTED: Full or part time help. Row crop/cow-calf operation in Arnold, NE. -- and we knew we couldn’t anywhere in the Diaspora. PRESS NOTICE Allen Conner, 402-699-9111, or Justin Conner, 308-520-1506 (leave message). But Sarah and I wanted to feel deeply connected to the The Jewish Press is closed for the second day of Passover, IMMEDIATE OPENING for farm store manager. Detail oriented, previous sales expeNOTE TO PUB: DO NOT PRINT INFO BELOW, FOR ID ONLY. NO ALTERING OF AD COUNCIL PSAs. people and the land where we lived. rience, proficiency in Excel, and ability to lift 50 lbs. Degree preferred, ag background Monday, April 21. The deadline for the May 2 Mother’s Library of Congress - Newspaper - B&W - LOCYR3-N-02059-C “Get History Buff” 4 1/4 x 3 1/2 85 line screen required. Contact Arrow Seed in Broken Bow, 800-622-4727. So that’s why we live in Israel. at Schawk: (212) 689-8585 Ref#:204983 April 24, 9 a m., for all ads, artiDay issue is film Thursday, Teddy Weinberger, his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children, made aliyah to Israel in 1997. Three of their children are serving in the Israel Defense Force. In addition to his freelance work as a columnist for North American Jewish newspapers, Weinberger works in the Department of Education for the Jewish Agency for Israel and can be reached at weinross@netvision.net.il.
cles, photos and schedules. All photos and memorabilia used in the Passover issue may be picked up in the Press office during regular business hours. Graduating high school seniors: don’t forget to submit your photo, name, parent(s) name(s), high school from which you are graduating and college you will be attending for the Salute to Seniors on June 6; deadline is May 9! Questions? Call 402.334.6448.
ELECTRICIANS NEEDED
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Muth Electric, Inc. is currently accepting applications for Apprentice and Journeyworker Electricians. We provide competitive wages, training programs, comprehensive benefit plans including 401k retirement plan with match, insurance benefits, vacation, sick leave and much more. To apply please complete an application by April 30, 2008.
Muth Electric, Inc.
Human Resources, 1000 S. Saddlecreek Rd, Omaha, NE 68106
888-MUTHELECTRIC hr@muthelectric.com • www.muthelectric.com • EOE
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LOOMIX FEED supplements is seeking Dealers. Motivated individuals with cattle knowledge and community ties. Contact Allison @ 800-870-0356/ aingram@loomix.com to find out if there is a Dealership opportunity in your area. OGALLALA ELKS Lodge seeking club manager. Work week 35-45 hours. Salary plus tips. Send resume to: Ogallala Elks Lodge, P.O. Box 208, Ogallala, NE 69153. LEARN TO drive a truck in just four weeks! Classes starting monthly. Many companies hiring. Sponsorships available. Central Community College, 877-222-0780 or 402-4612550. TRUCK, COMBINE, grain cart operators. Harvest May-November. Will train qualified individuals for CDL. $2,100.00/month, room & board plus bonus. 785-275-1782 or 1783. DRIVER: OTR regional & casual positions available. Home time that’s right for you. Call recruiting, 888-562-7783. 4 months OTR/CDL-A required. www.knighttrans.com. DRIVERS-STUDENTS: Drive a big rig! Sponsored training/tuition reimbursement available! Possible $40k 1st year! Experienced drivers ask about our $5,000 sign-on! www.ffeinc.co, 800-569-9232. DRIVERS: ACT now. Sign-on bonus, 35-42 cpm, earn over $1,000 weekly, excellent benefits. Need CDL-A and 3 months recent OTR. 800-635-8669. MAKE A New Year’s resolution you won’t regret! OTR drivers wanted. Prepass EZpass. Every 60K miles raises. 2006 newer equipment. Passenger/pet policy. 100% no touch. Butler Transport, 1-800-528-7825. OTR DRIVER that wants miles, $1,000-$1,200 weekly, South and West, 2 years experience, stable employment record, good driving record. Lanny, 800-810-5432, Gretna, NE.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 18, 2008
Best Wishes for a happy Passover and a celebration of freedom with family and friends.