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Malashock Award for Professional Excellence loyalty, qualities that can inspire others in ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT their career journeys.” Jewish Press Editor With a background in accounting and busihe Jody and Neal Malashock Award for Professional Excel- ness administration, Richard has demonlence is presented annually to a strated strong financial stewardship, professional in the Omaha Jew- overseeing all accounting and finance for the ish community who has shown Federation. His leadership in the non-profit sector emphasizes susexemplary performance tainability, navigating in advancing the mission the complexities of fundof their organization. ing programs through The Jewish Federation of donations. Omaha Board of DirecRichard said he feels tors is pleased to an“Fantastic, but also very nounce Richard nervous,” about receivGoedeken, JFO Senior ing the award. Director of Finance, as “It’s nice to get posithis year’s award recipitive recognition. I feel ent. The community is nervous, because there invited to the JFO are a lot of employees Awards Night & Annual working hard and Meeting on Monday, doing great things at June 3 at 6:30 p.m. in the Federation who the Alan J. Levine Peralso deserve recogniforming Arts Theater at tion. However, I appreour Staenberg Omahaciate the award and am JCC. Richard Goedeken not giving it back once “Richard serves as a it is received!” role model for other communal professionHe’s a reader: the most recent book he finals in the Jewish community,” JFO COO Phil Malcom said. “It shows in various aspects of ished is Fifty Inventions That Shaped the his professional conduct and leadership. His Modern Economy by Tim Harford. He knows long-standing commitment to the JFO since where to buy the best chocolate (Sam’s Club 1996 showcases a sense of dedication and See Malashock Award page 3
Tapestry: The fork in the road Page 4
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You and Me and Us at the next Kaplan Book Group Page 6
J-Serve 2024: Jewish teens serving their community Page 12
2024 Sokolof Merit Scholarships
REGULARS7
Spotlight Voices Synagogues
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SPONSORED BY THE BENJAMIN AND ANNA E. WIESMAN FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND
DIANE WALKER JFO Foundation Fund and Scholarship Adminstrator Please join us on Thursday, May 16 at 7 p.m. in the Shirley & Leonard Goldstein Community Engagement Venue at the Staenberg Omaha JCC to honor some of our community’s best and brightest – the 2024 Sokolof award winners! In 2004, the late Phil Sokolof left a bequest creating the Phil & Ruth Sokolof Honor Roll Fund and the Karen Sokolof Javitch Music Appreciation Fund. These funds provide for the Phil & Ruth Sokolof Honor Roll Merit Scholarships and the Karen Sokolof Javitch Music Fund Scholarships to honor exceptional students and teachers. Re-
Rachel Dowd
Ava Stoller
Julia Brodkey
Joey Kirshenbaum
Ainsley Meyerson
Diana Williams
cipients of these awards epitomize the scholarship criteria of achievement, scholastic performance, community service, and overall good character. Each year, the applicants are stellar.
It is with great pleasure that the Sokolof Committee announces the 2024 Sokolof Scholarship Awards. Graduating high school seniors for See Sokolof Scholarships page 2
Community Service Award GABBY BLAIR Jewish Press Staff Writer Since 1979, The Jewish Federation of Omaha Community Service Award has annually recognized a creative program that has made a locally significant impact. We are honored to announce that this year’s Community Service Award goes to Concert of Lights and Maestro Francesco Lotoro whose performances touched and educated our community on May 3 and 4, 2023 at Temple Israel.
Susie Cohn with Maestro Francesco Lotoro at Concert of Lights
Concert of Lights was spearheaded by community member, Susie Cohen, and was sponsored by and presented in collaboration with The Jewish Federation of Omaha, The Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, Temple Israel, The Omaha Symphony and The Foundation Institute of Concentrationary Musical Literature (ILMC) in Barletta, Italy. Join us in recognizing this meaningful and impactful program at The Jewish Federation of Omaha’s Awards Night & Annual Meeting on June 3 at 6:30 p.m. in the Alan J. Levine Theater on the Staenberg Kooper Fellman Campus. A native of Barletta, Italy, Francesco Lotoro is a pianist, composer, conductor and piano professor at the Niccolò Piccinni Music Conservatory of Bari. Over the past 30 years, Maestro Lotoro has recovered over 8,000 scores and 12,500 documents of musical production from concentration camps (microfilms, diaries, musical notebooks, phonographic recordings, interviews with survivor musicians) and 3,000 university publications, concentrationary music essays and musical essays produced during the Holocaust. He has created a unique archive unlike any other in the world and has spent many years traveling the world to meet the authors and holders of these precious testimonies of art imbued with humanity. See Community Service page 3