Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA
Eadie Tsabari to receive Sokolof Outstanding Jewish Teacher Award
May 13, 2011 9 Iyar 5771 Vol. 90 | No. 36
This Week
Intro to Temple Religious School Page 6
At a Jewish time of reflection, thoughts on a pope and Catholicism Page 7
How should Jews respond to bin Laden’s death? Page 12
Inside Point of view Synagogues In memoriam
This Month Senior Living See Front Page stories and more at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press
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by MARY BORT Heritage Immersion Jewish Federation of Omaha Program,” stated Tsabari. “We Foundation speak only in Hebrew during Eadie Tsabari has been classes. The program is such a selected to receive the 6th joy; it really is amazing. It’s annual Phil and Ruth Sokolof very meaningful to me and I Outstanding Jewish Teacher think the students find it Award. The late Phil Sokolof meaningful, too.” created this $10,000 award to According to Denise recognize an Omaha metro Bennett, a teacher at Friedel, area educator, preferably K“Our students have greatly 12, who has made an outbenefited from Eadie’s unique standing contribution as a and creative educational style, teacher and mentor to his or and we staff members have her students. benefited from her positive Tsabari teaches Jewish outlook, her flexibility and Studies and Hebrew to 3rd – her willingness to do whatev6th graders at Friedel Jewish er is in the best interests of the Academy. “I give Eadie school and the students.” Eadie Tsabari at Friedel Jewish Academy with her third graders. From left to right: Yael Tsabari my highest recom“From the day she entered Schuller, Destiny Howard, Harper Gordman, Eadie, Zoe Berman, and Doron Margalit. mendation as an outstanding the school she inspired stuJewish educator,” stated Ronald excellence and inspires Friedel stu- dren, under her guidance, know dents to dream more, learn more, do Giller, Friedel Principal. “Eadie dents to actively and creatively par- they will achieve great things.” more and become more -- a true Since she teaches more than one educational leader,” said Cookie teaches children a lifelong apprecia- ticipate in their Jewish studies. “We tion of Jewish culture, traditions, believe that Eadie Tsabari is exem- grade, Tsabari must prepare differ- Katskee, former principal of Friedel. language and the State of Israel. She plary in her dedication and talent in ent curriculums. But the extra effort Born in Omaha, Tsabari’s parents incorporates music, dance, art, sto- the classroom,” they said. “Her devo- is worthwhile. “Eadie’s students have were Joe and Helen Fishel, who rytelling and prayer into all of her tion to the education of our children reached high levels of understand- owned the Herman Nut Company. deserves the highest recognition, for ing of the Hebrew language, both “My parents were Holocaust surdaily teaching activities.” Karen and Michael Cohen she is nurturing a spark to ignite a reading and writing,” noted Giller. vivors who came to Omaha, raised “Friedel has a fantastic Hebrew Continued on page 2 explained that Tsabari demands lifelong love of learning. Our chil-
Scout Executive Lloyd Beth El welcomes Roitstein retires after 40 years Rabbi Steven Abraham
by KATIE GODBOUT the Mid-America Council. Public Relations Director, “As I look back at the accomplishBoy Scouts of America ments of the Boy Scouts of America, After 40 years as a professional Mid-America Council, I am honScouter, Lloyd Roitstein will retire ored. I have countless wonderful memories of on June 30, 2011. Scouting, dating Roitstein smiles back to when I was when he says, just a youth. As the “Now I can be a years rolled by, I volunteer again.” have always lived Roitstein is an Eagle Scout. He and breathed graduated from Scouting. I am the University of “once an Eagle, Nebraska at always an Eagle” Omaha in 1971, and am proud of and then he began the impact Scouting has made his career with the on my life and the Boy Scouts of thousands of youth America. Before that I’ve seen sucbecoming the Lloyd Roitstein ceed over the last Scout Executive of the Mid-America Council based in 40 years of my professional Scouting Omaha, Roitstein served as Area career,” said Roitstein. “Our council wouldn’t be ranked Director for the North-Central Region, Scout Executive for Okaw #1 and I wouldn’t have dedicated my Valley Council in Belleville, Illinois life to Scouting if it wasn’t for one and Director of Field Service, Field important thing, the volunteers. You Director and District Executive for are the reason that I wake up each day and feel blessed. You are the reason that I have dedicated 40 years of my life to the movement. You are the reason that thousands of youth are making a difference in our community,” he said. Roitstein is responsible for the leadership to 58 counties of Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. He is also responsible for operational goals to expand Scouting, Continued on page 3
by JILL BELMONT in steering him toward his liveliBeth El Publicity Coordinator hood, the rabbi said. The Board of Trustees of Beth El “I grew up in a wonderful family Synagogue is pleased to announce that, while not religious, was very that Rabbi Steven committed to our Abraham will synagogue,” he join the congrerecalled. “I got gation as its assisinvolved in USY tant rabbi, beginas a teen, because ning late this my mother consummer. A native vinced me to of Columbia, attend a convenMaryland, Rabbi tion. Judaism had Abraham is finspoken to my ishing his final grandparents, to year of rabbinical my parents but it school at the was not until I J e w i s h got involved in Theological USY that Judaism Seminary, where spoke to me.” Rabbi Steven Abraham he also received a That connection Masters of Arts in Jewish became a guiding light for Rabbi Education last year. Prior to attend- Abraham during his college years. ing JTS, the rabbi graduated from “I remember early in college the University of Baltimore with a thinking about what I wanted to degree in Business Management. do with my life,” he said. “I was While in rabbinical school, passionate about my faith and I Rabbi Abraham served as an intern loved working with people, and so at Congregation Beth Shalom in becoming a rabbi seemed like the Chicago, as well as at Congregation perfect intersection. What could Habonim in New York. For years, be better than being able to be a he has been actively involved with part of people’s lives, to be a voice United Synagogue Youth, from his of reason or an ear to listen, in time as a participant in high both the best of times as well as the school, to his service as a group worst of times? leader for numerous summer pro“I have wanted to be a rabbi for a grams, and in his current position long time and I feel blessed to get as director of USY on Wheels. the opportunity to start my career As a teenager, the Conservative at Beth El.” youth group proved to be a catalyst Continued on page 2
2 | The Jewish Press | May 13, 2011
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Local and national funds support “Round #2: Jewish genetic testing� by JOANIE JACOBSON “Genetic testing is very expensive,� explained Jean Duitch, co-chairman of the Greater Omaha Committee for Jewish Genetic Testing. “If insurance doesn’t cover it, an individual could expect to pay over $1,200 to test for these nine diseases, but thanks to a variety of funding sources on both a local and national level, we can offer testing free of charge!� Duitch was referring to “Round #2: Jewish Genetic Testing,� a project of the Committee, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and the Jewish Federation of Omaha scheduled for Sunday, May 22, and Wednesday, May 25, at the Jewish Community Center. Testing is available to the first 100 men and women, 18 or older, who register. “Round #2 needed to attract on a number of levels,� Duitch continued. “It had to effectively educate the public about Jewish genetic diseases and their impact on families, convey the importance of being tested, and offer testing free of charge. Without total funding, the project would fail. “Endowment funds were key to our success; the Milton and Corrine Livingston Foundation, Norman and Frances Batt Family Fund, Herbert Goldsten Trust, Carl Frohm Foundation, The Jewish Federation, David Keiser and Lillian Keiser Stoms Foundation, Noddle Family Fund, Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Donor-Advised Fund, and the Murray and Sharee Newman Supporting Foundation. Some of our most spirited supporters were the Beth El, Temple Israel, and Beth Israel Sisterhoods; B’nai B’rith; Beth El Men’s Club; and Hadassah. These organizations under-
stood exactly what was at stake and were quick to respond generously from their already tight budgets. We felt very fortunate to receive funds from such a broad base of the community’s resources. “Of course, I could never forget the National Canavan Foundation. They believe so strongly in testing and backed it up with a donation of $5,000. Unfortunately, I’ve had an ongoing relationship with their Board. I say ‘unfortunately’ because my grandson, Gershon -- my motivation and inspiration -- was diagnosed with Canavan Disease when he was just a baby... over 16 years ago. “Perhaps the most heartwarming supporters were individuals who wanted to support Jewish genetic testing on their own,� noted Duitch. “The combined donations from Eunice Denenberg, Keith and Judy Josephson, David and Susan Duitch, Sandee Friedman, Marvin and Sandy Kohll, Gary Javitch, Marty Ricks, Toba Cohen-Dunning, Marilyn Berman, and Lourdes Secola added over $5,000 toward our goal of $45,000. “We hear it all the time -- ‘Omaha is an outstanding Jewish community, and a very generous one’. So true, so true,� Duitch concluded. “Since we first tested in 2004, people are better informed. People want to know. They want to be tested. They have come to truly believe that ‘knowledge is power,’ and they’re taking control over their future and the future of their families. This is a good thing.� To register to be tested, or for more information, contact Jean Duitch, 402.393.1141 or JDUITCH@aol.com.
Eadie Tsabari to receive Sokolof Outstanding Jewish Teacher Award Continued from page 1 children and built a business,� said Tsabari. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Tsabari made aliyah and became an Israeli citizen. During her nine years in Israel, she learned to speak Hebrew fluently. She also met and married her husband, Eitan. They have four children: Ron, Onie, Gal and Effie. After returning to Omaha, Tsabari began teaching at Beth El Synagogue’s Talmud Torah (BESTT), something she has done for nearly 20 years. She taught Beth El’s Kindergarten class for many years, taught in the high school program, works with the Junior Congregation and teaches Hebrew classes to 3rd - 6th graders. Tsabari also ran a successful event planning and gift basket business from home. “I specialized in Bar and Bat Mitzvahs,� explained Tsabari. When the full-time position at Friedel became available, she made the decision to
downsize her business and focus on teaching. “I’ve been so fortunate to have a successful career change. Teaching at Friedel is a wonderful experience.� Tsabari is in her 5th year at Friedel. “What I like the most about teaching at Friedel is how curious and smart my students are,� she continued. “They offer such insight. And I enjoy getting to know each of them. Friedel is like ‘The Pearl of Omaha’ -- something rare and beautiful.� In addition to teaching, Tsabari enjoys participating in a book club and performing with MasterSingers. Tsabari will be honored along with the winners of the Sokolof Merit Scholarships and the Sokolof Javitch Merit Music Scholarships on Tuesday, May 24, 7 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, prior to “An Evening with Marti Epstein – Composer and Pianist� concert. The community is invited to attend this free event.
Beth El welcomes Rabbi Steven Abraham Continued from page 1 Upon their first visit to Beth El in early April, the rabbi said he and his wife, Shira, “were overwhelmed with how warm and welcoming the synagogue was to the two of us! As a rabbi you want to work at a place where people care, and it was evident how much the members of Beth El care about their synagogue and the overall Jewish community. We were also struck by how well the Omaha Jewish community works together and it was inspiring to see all of the different organizations and programs that take place at the JCC, all under one roof. Omaha seems like a wonderful place, and Shira and I cannot wait to start the next chapter of our lives there.� This new chapter in their lives includes more changes than just a new job and new city: most importantly, the couple is also expecting their first child next month; and, on a lighter note, the move to Nebraska will also allow the rabbi -- already an avowed baseball and hockey enthusiast -- to become a Cornhusker football fan, something he said he looks forward to. Among his various responsibilities at Beth El, Rabbi Abraham’s main focus will be working and engaging with young families and the congregation’s children and teens. “My hope is to be involved in as many aspects of the synagogue as possible, whether it be working with the youth, presiding over life cycle events or teaching on Shabbat,� he said. “Regardless of the specifics, it is my sincere hope to be able to meet and build a relationship with as many Beth El members as possible.� He added that, “I am thrilled to be joining such a great team! It was a pleasure getting to know Rabbi Levin and Cantor Schlossberg while visiting Omaha and I look forward to working closely with them and the professional staff at Beth El in the years to come. In addition, the ability to join a team where
I can both learn as well as contribute is incredibly exciting.� Janie Murow, who serves on the synagogue’s executive board and led the assistant rabbi search committee, sang praises for Rabbi Abraham, citing “his enthusiasm, talent, engaging personality and love of Conservative Judaism�; she also applauded the connection he made with the congregation’s children during his recent visit to Omaha. “The feedback from the entire congregation was extremely positive,� she said. “Steven will be a great assistant rabbi!� On behalf of the synagogue’s board of trustees, President Beverly Fellman offered her welcome to the new young rabbi, saying, “It is with delight that we await Rabbi Steven and Shira Abraham’s arrival at Beth El; I know we will all give them an Omahaimish welcome. Rabbi Abraham is outgoing, energetic and ready to embrace a leadership role in many areas of the synagogue. He is eager to share new ideas, meet our congregants, and establish relationships. I believe this will be a marking point in our congregation and one we will all look to with pride.� Rabbi Mordechai Levin also welcomed the new assistant rabbi, saying, “We are excited to have Rabbi Abraham join our synagogue and our dedicated professional staff. Having an assistant rabbi will help us better serve the religious, educational, and pastoral needs of our members, particularly our youth and young families. We welcome the opportunity to strengthen our active congregation with the addition of Rabbi Abraham to our team.�
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May 13, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 3
Barenboim to conduct Free concert featuring composer/pianist Marti Epstein and Sokolof awards orchestra in Gaza by JTA NEWS STAFF JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Renowned Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim will present a “peace concert” in the Gaza Strip. Barenboim, a Palestinian activist, will direct an organization of 25 European musicians on Tuesday, the French news agency AFP reported. The so-called Orchestra for Gaza was announced Monday by the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process. It marks the first time that Barenboim, who was granted honorary Palestinian citizenship, will visit Gaza. He and the musicians are set to enter Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, according to AFP. Barenboim has played for Palestinians in the West Bank on several occasions. He was refused entry to Gaza through Israel on several occasions; it is illegal for Israelis to enter Gaza. Barenboim lives in Berlin and, in addition to being a citizen of Israel, also is a citizen of Argentina and Spain. “The concert is to try and bring something to the people of Gaza,” he told APF. “It is not a political event in any sense.”
Scout Executive Lloyd Roitstein retires after 40 years Continued from page 1 strategic planning, endowment development, funding and more. An event celebrating his dedication to Scouting will take place on Friday, June 17 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Happy Hollow Country Club, 1701 South 105 Street, Omaha. Please RSVP to Cassie Lange at cassie.lange@scouting.org.
JEWISH PRESS NOTICE The Jewish Press office is closed Monday, May 30, for Memorial Day. Questions? Call 402.334.6448.
by MARY BORT Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation The community is invited to “An Evening with Marti Epstein – Composer and Pianist” on Tuesday, May 24, 7 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center Theater. This free concert is sponsored by the Karen Sokolof Javitch Music Fund of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. A prolific composer with numerous international commissions, Epstein’s music has been performed by the San Francisco Symphony, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, Ensemble Modern, and members of the Boston Symphony. Marti Epstein Epstein grew up in Omaha and is the daughter of Helen and Arnold “Tuffy” Epstein. Their love of music provided her with opportunities to develop her musical talents and interests. In a recent Cerise Press article, Epstein spoke of listening to her parents’ recordings of the Beethoven symphonies. “This was my first inkling of the power and complexity and incredible emotional content of classical music,” she said. “This was also my first awareness of my desire to possibly be a musician of some type.” From an early age, Epstein played piano, and also played clarinet and sang. Additionally, she studied and played harp, viola and classical guitar. When she was 17, it became clear to Epstein that she would become a composer. She was influenced by the music of Stravinsky, Cage, Sibelius and many others. “I was meant to be a composer,” noted Epstein on her website. “I think of each piece as a work of art that exists as a whole in time and space, just as a painting would.” Epstein composes music for the piano, but is not limited to that particular instrument. “I love writing chamber music
because it is intimate and flexible,” she explained. “I also love writing orchestral music, but it’s difficult to get orchestral music performed. I have written three pieces for the English horn player in the Boston Symphony. I love the harp and have written a great deal of harp music.” Epstein primarily composes music that is commissioned and is currently working on a solo cello piece. Upcoming projects include composing a piano 4-hands piece for two performers and a piece for an avant-garde music ensemble in Boston. The Ludovico Ensemble will make a 2-CD recording of her music this fall. Additionally, Epstein will be honored by being included in the next edition of the Grover Dictionary of American Music. Epstein is a Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music, located in Boston. She also teaches musical composition at Boston Conservatory. She earned a Bachelor of Music from University of Colorado, and Master’s and Doctoral degrees from Boston University. The program on May 24 will feature Epstein performing a number of piano etudes she composed, including American Etude #4: crossing hands (2004), American Etude #5: minimalism (1995), American Etude #9: sostenuto pedal (2005), American Etude #10: tremolos (2005) and American Etude #12: polyrhythms (2005). According to Epstein, “…many of them are etudes on various contemporary techniques found in American contemporary music.” She will also perform Haven (2006), another of her piano compositions. William Wolcott, violin; Jesse Griggs, viola; and Christina Allred, cello will perform Epstein’s Barcarolle: in memory of Earl Kim (2000). Robert Jenkins, English horn, will join them to perform her work entitled Quartet (2007). Program notes describing each musical composition, including the inspiration for the pieces, will be provided at the concert. Prior to the performance, the 6th Annual Sokolof Awards will be presented. A dessert reception honoring Epstein and the award recipients will follow the concert.
REGISTER NOW! Round #2: Jewish Genetic Testing A community screening for 9 Jewish genetic diseases
FREE OF CHARGE to the first 100 men and women to register! (Must be 18 years of age or older to participate)
Sunday, May 22 | 9 a.m. - Noon Wednesday, May 25 | 3 p.m. - 8 p.m. To register or for more information, contact Jean Duitch 402-393-1141 or JDUITCH@aol.com In partnership with The Greater Omaha Committee for Jewish Genetic Testing The University of Nebraska Medical Center | The Jewish Federation of Omaha
4 | The Jewish Press | May 13, 2011
J Street up close and personal
Journal entry from Israel TEDDY WEINBERGER Logan Bayroff heads the University of Pennsylvania’s affiliate group of J Street U, the student-led campus movement of J Street. Logan, a 20-year-old sophomore and history major, grew up in Roslyn, Long Island and received an excellent Jewish education, including 13 years of schooling at a Conservative Jewish day school. Logan is the son of my high school buddy and college roommate Adam Bayroff, and I was curious as to Logan’s activism, since as I recall, social activism was far from our minds when we went to college in the early Logan Bayroff 1980’s. What follows are some of my email exchanges with Logan. TW: You could be doing a lot of different things with your free time. Why are you so interested in working with J Street? LB: I was raised and educated to love Israel and to view it as extremely important. When I see the Jewish state facing problems that the mainstream American Jewish establishment seems unable or unwilling to address, it concerns me, and I feel motivated to do something about it. J Street U works primarily to mobilize those Jewish students who had previously found themselves alienated by a one-note Jewish approach to Israel that left no room for criticism, dissent, or reaching out to the “other side”--those supportive of the Palestinian cause. J Street U rejects the “pro-Israel/proPalestinian” dichotomy that has become so prevalent on many campuses in recent years. Through J Street, I am empowered to have my voice heard and to actually work for the better and safer Israel that I know is possible. Like American Jews since 1948, we see a country that we love deeply in very big trouble--it faces threats to its entire existence. Yet where in my parents’ and grandparents’ generation that threat came from Arab armies poised on all sides to strike, today, although dangerous enemies persist, one of the biggest threats is internal--it comes from the very internal contradictions of the state, the struggle to be both Jewish and democratic, to defend the Jewish people while upholding the belief in tolerance, equality, human rights, and freedom that have come to define the Jews in our millenia-old struggle. TW: Does the fact that you have no real experience with enemies ever give you pause--especially in light of the fact
that America’s history of respecting its enemies’ (or supposed enemies’) basic human rights is not quite stellar? LB: First, let me say that I do not set America up as some kind of model for Israel. Far from it. I deeply love my country and I believe that it is one of the greatest in the world. But like Israel it has many flaws. As you correctly pointed out, we have our own vast history of human rights abuses in the name of security or patriotism. America has been lucky to live much of its history largely free of hate. Israel has not. What I want for my Israeli brothers and sisters is to know the security that I have known. To not have to live a life defined in relation to the dangerous and treacherous “other.” To not have to view whole minorities as “enemies.” To not have to always see in an individual his dangerous connection to the larger “enemy” group. I argue that no enemy is more dangerous than this attitude in itself. It is one that does not fit in any way with the values of Judaism and a good Jewish life. And it is one that does not lend itself to maintaining or building a secure, peaceful, and democratic state-at least not for very long. TW: I have to say that I seem to find myself in the situation of your average Israeli: I’m willing for a Palestinian State to come into existence tomorrow, but I just cannot get all that worked up about this issue. It will happen when our elected leaders think that the time is right. LB: You assume that as time moves on, events make peace more likely, or at least as likely as it is now. Yet it is just as likely, and I’d argue more so, that events, actions, and in particular rhetoric and attitudes will move Israel further away from peace. What J Street is saying is that peace will not just come. It is more likely to slip away than just appear. We have to push for it, we have to advocate strongly for it, we have to get both sides to recognize that they not only desire it but need it, that the chances get worse every day they delay, and that creativity and active leadership in pursuit of peace can bring results. It is crucial to recognize that in the absence of active pursuit of peace, the opposite fills the vacuum: advocacy of more war and even more repressive measures in order to achieve some kind of “total” victory. This is why I advocate specifically for actions and words that embrace negotiating a peace and two states for two peoples while it is still possible to attain these things and before we are past the point of no return. There are people on both the left and right who believe we are beyond that point already. I refuse to accept that. But I do believe that we will reach it sometime soon if nothing changes. And that would be another terrible tragedy in the history of the Jewish people, and even worse, it would be possibly the first one that we actually had the ability to prevent. Teddy Weinberger made aliyah in 1997 with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children. Their oldest two, Nathan and Rebecca, recently completed mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces; their daughter Ruthie is still serving in the IDF. Weinberger can be reached at weinross@net vision.net.il.
Engagements STENDER – ISROFF Donna and Ronald Isroff of Pepper Pike, OH, announce the engagement of their son Michael to Alexandra Stender, daughter of Donna and Joel Stender of Chicago. The bride-to-be graduated from the University of Wisconsin and Chicago-Kent College of Law. She is a public defender for Lake County, Ill. She is the granddaughter of Glorida Stender of Flossmore, Ill., and the late Raymond Stender and the late Anne and the late Leroy Canfield. Her fiancé graduated from the University of Kansas and DePaul University College of Law. He is a commercial real estate consultant with MSI Real Estate Consultants in Chicago. He is the grandson of the late Helaine and Harold Isroff and Shirley and Sidney Lehman. A September wedding is planned.
EPSTEIN/SCHACKMAN Harriet (Wald) and Ronald Epstein of Omaha are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Brittany Dawn, to Michael Brandon Schackman, son of Susan (Walsh) and Sandy Schackman of Plano, TX. The bride-to-be graduated magna cum laude from Indiana University in Bloomington. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, with a minor in Business. Her Master’s as a Physician Assistant was received from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Brittany is a Physician Assistant in Internal Medicine with the Medical Clinic of North Texas in Plano, TX. She is the granddaughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Nathan N. Wald of Houston, TX, the late Mr. and Mrs. Willis Epstein of Omaha, and Mrs. Audrey Epstein. Her fiancé received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance, with a minor in Management Information Systems from the University of Texas at Austin. He was affiliated with Pi Lambda Phi/Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. Michael is an asset manager for ORIX Capital Markets, a commercial real estate firm in Dallas. He is the grandson of Mr. Elton Schackman of Dallas and the late Ms. Evelyn Night Schackman of Houston and Mr. and Mrs. George T. Walsh of San Antonio. An October 2011 wedding in Omaha is planned.
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May 13, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 5
Temple Israel to Confirm Religious School High School Graduates by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Eight high school seniors will mark the completion of their formal Jewish education in Religious School on Friday, May 20, at the 6 p.m. Shabbat worship service at Temple Israel. The seniors will lead the Confirmation/Graduation service.
Molly Gilinsky
garten, got involved in OTYG her freshman year of high school as well as in BBYO. “I served as vice president of Ner Tamid for two terms.” She was the recipient of the Outstanding Freshman Award at the BBYO regional convention “which was a great honor,” remarked Chloe, who is graduating from Westside High School this spring.
Chloe Heyman
Celebrating their achievement will be Haley Burns, daughter of Helen and John Burns; Samuel Burrell, son of Cantor Wendy Shermet and Leonard Burrell; Molly Gilinsky, daughter of Katherine Finnegan and David Gilinsky; Grace Hack, daughter of Rosie Zweiback and Mace Hack; Haley Halsted, daughter of Mendy and Michael Halsted; Chloe Heyman, daughter of Betsy Baker and Richard Heyman; Emily Katz, daughter of Amy Filler-Katz and Richard Katz; and Rachel Scheet, daughter of Lisa Scheet and Gordon Scheet. Also during worship services that night, next year’s Omaha Temple Youth Group Board will be installed. Officers for next year are Jordan Jensen, president; Sophia Miller, programming vice president; Hannah Perry, religious and cultural vice president; Hannah Radler, social action vice president; Morissa Miller and Maddie Jensen, membership and Junior Youth Group liaison vice presidents; Hannah Budwig, communications and visuals vice president; and Sophie Goldberg, special projects coordinator. Many of the high school graduates began attending Religious School at Temple Israel in kindergarten. “I began Religious School at Temple in pre-kindergarten,” said Rachel Scheet. She’s been involved with Omaha Temple Youth Group and served as membership vice president the past year. “Events put on by OTYG were my favorite to go to!” she insisted. Also graduating from Papillion La Vista High School, Rachel is planning to continue “my studies in dance at the University of Wyoming.” She also plans to continue her Jewish involvement next year “by getting in touch with the Hillel and the Jewish student body.” Chloe Heyman, who started attending Temple Israel Religious School in kinder-
Chloe participated on the ARTZA program to Israel two summers ago. “It was an amazing experience, and one I will always cherish.” She hopes to return to Israel in the years ahead. “I definitely plan on continuing my Jewish involvement in college be it in a sorority or through Hillel” as she pursues a double major in fine arts and communication at the University of Southern California. “Choosing a university with a Jewish community is very important to me,” Chloe explained. Molly Gilinsky also traveled to Israel on an ARTZA trip. She returned to Israel the following year as a March of the Living participant which also took her to the concentration camps of World War II. “ARTZA was a light-hearted, good experience, learning about Jewish culture and history as she made “good friends” on her travels across Israel. “March of the Living was more intense. We went to many concentration camps and ghettos and then to Israel for Yom HaShoah and Yom Ha’atzmaut.” At Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, the Westside High graduate-to-be is thinking of joining a Jewish sorority. “I’ll go to services…and always remain involved Jewishly,” she indicated. “Michigan had the whole entire package,” according to Molly. “I feel more comfortable going there, because there are a lot of Jewish students including friends from March of the Living.” As her class heads off to the next chapter in their young lives, Molly spoke the convictions that her Religious School educators hope they imparted to her over the past 13 years: “I do think it’s very important to stay active in the Jewish community. There are many ways to do that through Jewish study, raising a Jewish family, learning and remaining part of the culture and community.”
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In the news Jonathan Feingold from Lincoln East High School was awarded a scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). After graduating this month, he will head to Idaho Springs, CO, and work as a counselor at Schwayder Camp, which is operated by Denver’s Congregation Emanuel. In the Fall, he will attend Pomona College in Claremont, CA. He is the son of Ellen and David Feingold, and a member of Congregation B’nai
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Arts+Entertainment The musical Wicked returns to Omaha’s Orpheum Theater for a limited engagement from May 25 through June 12. Tickets start at $39 and are on sale now.
SEWING CENTERS
Jeshurun. Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. announced that they agreed to acquire American Metal Group (AMG) and some of its affiliates. AMG is owned and operated by Howard N. Misle, who was born and raised in Lincoln. Misle has several other companies in Southern California and will continue in those operations, as well as internet and entertainment companies.
We will be publishing our annual High School Graduation Class pages on June 10, 2011. To be included, we need your graduation photo and the information below. You can also email the information and photo to: jpress@jewishomaha.org. High School Senior Information Name ________________________________________________________________________ Parent(s)’ Name(s) _______________________________________________________________ Current High School ______________________________________________________________ College you plan to attend __________________________________________________________ Send by May 20 to: The Jewish Press | 333 So. 132 St. | Omaha, NE 68154
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6 | The Jewish Press | May 13, 2011
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by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Left photo: Brady Meyerson, left, and Elizabeth Matz, right, hosted Randi Van Dyne, reading coordinator at Oakdale Elementary School, at Temple Israel’s Educators Shabbat last month. Students were able to give their public and private school teachers a tour of the Religious School and share a Shabbat dinner with them after worship services.
The sanctuary was brimming with families of kindergartners through sixth graders and their teachers, principals, and district administrators. Right photo: Also in April, Temple Israel Religious School kindergarten teacher Melany Fullenkamp read a story to her current students and to next year’s aspiring Religious School class at Kindergarten Round-Up.
Organizations B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Speaker yet to be announced for Wednesday, May 18, noon at the Blumkin Home. An optional buffet lunch costs $10; beverage service is $3. For more information or to be placed on the e-mail list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@ jewishomaha.org. LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Yiddish teaches an optimistic vision that allows us to view the world with joy and hope. Come join us at the Blumkin Home, every Thursday in the board room, at 1 p.m., to reap “The Joys of Yiddish!” For information call Anne Skolkin at 402.343.1638
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MAINSTREETERS Balance Class on Mondays, June 6, 13, 20 and 27 at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home (Simon Chapel) with instructor Sharon Rowe from 9:30-10:15 a.m. is designed to help reduce the risk of falls. Sharon is a certified exercise leader and Pilates coach and has been teaching a variety of exercise, wellness and health classes for thirty years in her business Body by Rowe. The cost is $20 per series which includes four 45 minute sessions. Send reservation form with check to Mainstreeters, c/o Maggie Conti, 323 S. 132 Street, Omaha, NE 68154. Make check payable to Jewish Social
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Services. For information call Maggie Conti at 334-6521. EXCEL Computer Training on Wednesdays, June 15, 22 and 29 from 1-2:30 p.m. in the Pennie Z. Davis Learning Center at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home with instructor Phyllis Gentry, Jewish Social Services Executive Assistant. Our “hands-on” beginning EXCEL training shows you the fundamentals of EXCEL like entering data, formatting, copying and pasting, basic formula construction, auto summing and more. The cost is $10 per series which includes three 11/2 hour classes. Send reservation form to Mainstreeters, c/o Maggie Conti, 323 S. 132 Street, Omaha, NE 68154. Make check payable to Jewish Social Services. For information call Maggie Conti at 402.334.6521. Lunch and Movie on Monday, June 20 at the Jewish Community Center. Come for lunch at 12:30 p.m. in the auditorium – you can bring your own lunch or order a box lunch through Star Catering. At 1 p.m. the Oscar winning movie The King’s Speech will be shown in the JCC Theater and popcorn will be served warm and delicious (no charge for movie and popcorn). Call Maggie Conti at 402.334.6521 for reservations. For those that want to order a box lunch send reservation form with payment to Mainstreeters, c/o Maggie Conti, 323 S. 132 Street, Omaha, NE 68154. Make check payable to Jewish Social Services.
May 13, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 7
At a Jewish time of reflection, thoughts on a pope and Catholicism by RUTH ELLEN GRUBER ROME (JTA) -- Passover is over and Shavuot is weeks away. It’s a season when Jews traditionally take time for contemplation and reflection. This year, I’ve been reflecting on Catholicism. Rather on the complicated interfaith nexuses between Catholics and Jews. In large part, of course, this is because of the beatification May 1 of Pope John Paul II. Critics have questioned the decision by Pope Benedict XVI to waive the usual five-year waiting period and fasttrack John Paul’s road to sainthood. And JP2 had his faults -- his handling of the priest sex abuse scandals has come under particular recent scrutiny. But the Polish-born pontiff was the best pope the Jewish world ever had. “There have been few times in the 2,000 years of Christian Jewish relations when Jews have shed genuine tears at the death of a Pope,” the eminent Holocaust scholar Michael Berenbaum wrote in a recent column. “When Pope John Paul II died, I -- and many other Jews -- cried.” I don’t recall actually shedding tears when John Paul died on April 2, 2005 at the age of 84. In fact, I was in the midst of celebrating my nephew’s bar mitzvah. But I did feel deeply touched by his passing -- I had reported on John Paul during most of his nearly 27-year papacy. In a deliberate and demonstrative way, he had made bettering Catholic-Jewish relations and confronting the Holocaust and its legacy a hallmark of his reign, and I had chronicled milestone after milestone in this process. There had been frictions and setbacks, to be sure. Key among them was the pope’s support for the canonization of his controversial World War II predecessor, Pius XII, and his refusal to open secret Vatican archives to clarify Pius’ role during the Holocaust. He also hurt Jews by welcoming Austrian President Kurt Waldheim to the Vatican after Waldheim’s World War II links to the Nazis had come to light. And he upset Jews with his meetings at the Vatican with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. These episodes, however, were far outweighed by positive steps. Some of them were truly groundbreaking measures that jettisoned -- or at least shook up -- centuries of ingrained Catholic teaching and changed Catholic dogma to reflect respect for Jews and the Jewish religion and apologize for the persecution of Jews by Catholics. They ranged from his visit to Rome’s main synagogue in 1986, to his frequent meetings with rabbis, Holocaust survivors and Jewish lay leaders, to his repeated condemnation of anti-Semitism, to the establishment of relations between the Vatican and Israel, to John Paul’s own pilgrimage to the Jewish state in 2000, when he prayed at the Western Wall. It was evident throughout that he was deeply influenced by his own personal history of having grown up with Jewish friends in pre-World War II Poland and then witnessing the destruction during the Shoah.
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Pope John Paull II at the Western Wall in 2000. Credit: polishgreatness.blogspot.com As Berenbaum put it, John Paul II was “directly touched by the Holocaust” and “assumed responsibility for its memory.” The program director of a Catholic-run interfaith and dialogue center near the Auschwitz death camp agreed. “Auschwitz was not an abstract tragedy but it formed part of his life,” the Rev. Manfred Deselaers told the Catholic news agency Zenit.org. “Auschwitz was the school of holiness of John Paul II.” Given this background, it seemed fitting that the Vatican chose to beatify John Paul on May 1 -- the eve of this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom Hashoah. The coincidence, though, was not intentional. In the Catholic calendar, May 1 this year marked the Sunday after Easter, a feast called Divine Mercy Sunday. And John Paul II had died on the very eve of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2005. Still, the timing sent out a powerful message. And it made me reflect on how very, very radically relations between Catholics and Jews have changed, even in just the past few decades. Relations between Catholics and Jews are not perfect, of course, and they never will be. There are still anti-Semitic elements in the Church, and John Paul II’s teachings have not trickled down to all the world’s more than 1 billion Catholics. But we do live in a different world. For centuries, the popes and the Vatican “worked hard to keep Jews in their subservient place -- barring them from owning property, from practicing professions, from attending university, from traveling freely,” Brown University historian David Kertzer wrote in his 2001 book The Popes Against the Jews. “And they did all this according to canon law and the centuries-old belief that in doing so they were upholding the most basic tenets of Christianity.” Here in Rome, the papal rulers kept Jews confined to a crowded ghetto until 1870. In many places Jews would stay indoors at Easter for fear of being caught up in a blood libel accusation or be accused of desecrating the Host. Less dramatically, I still remember from childhood how Catholic kids in my suburban Philadelphia neighborhood were forbidden to enter synagogue to attend their friends’
bar mitzvah services. Formal dialogue began only in 1965, with the Vatican’s Nostra Aetate declaration that repudiated the charge that Jews were collectively responsible for killing Jesus, stressed the religious bond between Jews and Catholics, and called for interfaith contacts. Two decades later, in 1986, when John Paul became the first pope to visit a synagogue, he embraced Rome’s chief rabbi, Elio Toaff, and declared that Jews were Christianity’s “dearly beloved” and “elder brothers.” Toaff met frequently with John Paul, and the two established a warm rapport. In fact, Toaff and the pope’s longtime secretary were the only two individuals named in John Paul’s will. The rabbi called that inclusion “a significant and profound gesture for Jews” as well as “an indication to the Catholic world.” Long retired now, Toaff celebrated his 96th birthday on April 30 -- the day before John Paul’s beatification. The memory of John Paul “remains indelibly impressed in the collective memory of the Jewish people,” Toaff said in a statement published after the beatification in the Vatican’s official newspaper. “In the afflicted history of relations between the popes of Rome and the Jewish people, in the shadow of the ghetto in which they were closed for over three centuries in humiliating and depressing conditions, the figure of John Paul II emerges luminous in all of its exceptionality.” Ruth Ellen Gruber’s books include National Geographic Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to Eastern Europe and Virtually Jewish: Reinventing Jewish Culture in Europe. She blogs on Jewish heritage issues at http://jewish-heritage-travel.blogspot.com. She is currently a scholar in residence at the Hadassah Brandeis Institute.
Friedel’s graduating class
As Friedel Jewish Academy nears the end of the school year, the sixth graders prepare to say goodbye. From left to right: Josh Polack, Eliana Schuller, and Sam Kricsfeld.
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The Center for Jewish Education is seeking a dynamic individual to develop library programming and oversee the collection of the Kripke Jewish Federation Library. The library, with the Midwest’s largest collection of Judaica, will be expanding its role as a hub for the Jewish Federation of Omaha campus. Responsibilities will include development of programming to serve all ages and establishing the library as a“must be”location on campus. Additional duties will include selection and purchasing of materials, cataloging and providing all facets of library service. Applicants must have programming experience, a strong Jewish background, and excellent oral and written communication skills, be well organized and be comfortable working with volunteers. Proficiency in Microsoft Office required. Degree in English, literature, Jewish Studies or a related field highly desired. Library experience strongly preferred. Please submit resume to Tina Story, Human Resources Specialist, 333 S. 132 Street, Omaha NE 68154-2198. Resumes may also be faxed to 402-334-6484 or emailed to tstory@jewishomaha.org. Equal Opportunity Employer; background check required.
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8 | The Jewish Press | May 13, 2011
Point of view
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Party on
by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press It was almost surreal, when the news of Osama Bin Laden’s demise broke late on that Sunday night. Watching the crowds gather in front of the White House and at Ground Zero, chanting ‘USA’ and ‘yes, we can,’ one would be tempted to think that our only response was celebratory. That we rejoice in the death of another human being, no matter how evil we consider him to be, is not really what we as a nation want to be about, and yet, there was pure elation in the air. “We” finally got him. As one woman on the evening news put it, “we were dancing on his grave.” But things are rarely that simple. Humans are complex beings with complex emotions. Saying that we are “happy” doesn’t appropriately express how this news made us feel. Happiness is a combination of relief, satisfaction with a job well done, pride in our military, feeling justified, gratified, and having our hope and control somewhat restored. And yes, some elation mixed in. Should we be surprised? When emotion takes over, regardless of what that emotion looks like, we seek each other’s company. Sometimes, when we get overwhelmed, we simply must be with other people. When we feel so many things at once, we have to share in order to process; we cannot stay home and remain isolated. Are there some who genuinely believe the world is a better place without Bin Laden? Absolutely. I am one of them, and I am not alone. How would I feel, I wonder, if this news had broken, and I had no one to share it with? When the Twin Towers fell, and then some, there was a strong emotional reaction from both Americans and from the rest of the world. For one brief moment in time, we were
incredibly together, and the only way to express those feelings we had was by sharing them. And so we flew the same flags, wore the red white and blue proudly, and we talked about it. We watched the images, again and again, and we shared our pain and fear. For that same reason we sit Shiva with family and friends at our side, and it’s why we don’t celebrate holidays by ourselves. We are human, and we were not created to be alone. I think many of us have imagined him for years, sitting in a cave somewhere, laughing hysterically at our pain. It caused frustration and heartbreak, to know that he got away with it. It’s like being bullied on the playground, and having all the teachers look the other way. Knowing that this bully has all the power, and can hurt you whenever he wants to, and not being able to do a single thing about it. Now that the mastermind behind those attacks has paid the ultimate price, we, as a nation, are finally able to release some of the emotion that has been festering within us. Because we finally got him, and even though it doesn’t restore a single life lost, it makes us feel better. So no, we should not rejoice in a human being’s death. But I think we have to give ourselves a break, and remember that this is not exactly a party with balloons and cake. It is much more than that: it
is a reminder that we live here together, and that no matter our background, color, religion, what-have-you, we are ultimately on the same side: the human side. And that the joy we feel is not because of one man’s death, but because of a nation’s life. And maybe we can move on, and start addressing the real questions that have plagued us since 9/11. Questions about how we treat those who are different, and how we can suppress the irrational fear that so often guides our actions. Osama Bin Laden showed us how to hate. He would like nothing better than to leave us resentful of anything Muslim. It is our job to not give him that posthumous victory.
Reform’s nomination of Jacobs means a victory for J Street
Behind the headlines CAROL GREENWALD CHEVY CHASE, Md. (JTA) -- The nomination of Rabbi Richard Jacobs to head the Union for Reform Judaism is the latest coup for J Street. Less than three years after its founding, a member of J Street’s rabbinic cabinet is being appointed to head the largest branch of American Judaism. With the nominee to head the Reform movement supporting the goals and visions of J Street, it will be impossible for mainstream American Jewry to continue to marginalize J Street and its profoundly anti-Israel positions. In choosing Rabbi Jacobs, the Union for Reform Judaism was strangely silent about his activities vis-a-vis Israel. It was as if Israel did not matter. The URJ announcement focused on Rabbi Jacobs’ creativity, on his skills as a congregational rabbi and on his leadership in calling for changes in the administration of the URJ itself. Even Rabbi Jacobs omitted from his resume that he is a member of the rabbinic cabinet of J Street and that he signed a J Street letter for the 2010 High Holy Days that concluded, “we encourage others to join us in backing J Street and its efforts to achieve peace and security for the state of Israel and her neighbors.” J Street’s efforts include opposing stronger sanctions against Iran and opposing the U.S. veto of a recent U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s settlements policy, to name just two of its efforts to disparage and delegitimize Israel. To show just how far Rabbi Jacobs’ appointment moves Reform Judaism from its traditional support of Israel, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the current president of the URJ and its president for the past 16 years, called J Street’s position on the Gaza offensive “morally deficient, profoundly out of touch
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with Jewish sentiment and also appallingly naive.” Rabbi Jacobs aggressively embraces J Street’s push for a twostate solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. His ideas on this are expressed in his hostility toward the “settlers,” the people who in a different age were called chalutzim, or pioneers. Last summer Jacobs took part in one of the weekly Friday demonstrations in Jerusalem orchestrated by the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement, a group that describes its own actions as victories against the “cowardly Zionists’ perpetrating an ‘apartheid state’ and ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem.” Rabbi Jacobs, of course, does not subscribe to their hateful venom. So why did he participate in the demonstration? He told the New York Jewish Week, “I take issue with residents of east Jerusalem [being] taken out of their homes to make room for Jewish settlers.” Rabbi Jacobs said he disagreed with 99 percent of what the Sheikh Jarrah movement stood for, but he was willing to stand there with demonstrators screaming at a Jewish family preparing for the Sabbath. Was Rabbi Jacobs aware that the Israeli Supreme Court had issued an eviction notice for these “residents of east Jerusalem” because they refused to pay rent to their Sephardic Jewish landlord who has owned the property since the 1920s? What was the 1 percent with which he agreed that was so important that it overrode his judgment on the other 99 percent? Rabbi Jacobs says he does not support the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, but thinks that selective BDS campaigns against the settlements are different. Again, his thinking is a profound change from the current Reform movement’s position articulated by Rabbi Yoffie, who in criticizing the boycott of Ariel, which is over the Green Line, said, “But please, no boycotts. Israel’s enemies don’t need any help.”
ARZA, the Zionist arm of the Reform movement, has started a campaign to educate Reform Jews about the BDS movement’s attempt to delegitimize and brand Israel an apartheid state. Will Rabbi Jacobs be able to support ARZA’s program, or will he portray the Jewish state as divided between good Jews and bad Jews, with the latter depicted as obstacles to peace and, therefore, as appropriate targets for castigation and exclusion. Last Yom Kippur, Rabbi Jacobs presented a sermon titled “Standing together for Israel” in which he called J Street “pro-Israel, pro-peace” and quoted approvingly Peter Beinart’s critique that young people don’t support Israel because it is becoming theocratic and anti-democratic, and does not see Arabs as human beings. Should a man who believes these things really be given the responsibility to lead a major branch of American Jewry? Is this just another example of the elite Jewish leadership being profoundly out of touch with the feelings of its mainstream constituency? The Reform movement has always leaned toward the political left, but Rabbi Jacobs’ appointment has the potential to drive Zionist Jews out of the movement and to create a schism with mainstream Jewry, much as J Street has set itself in opposition to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Jewish organization long recognized in the U.S. Jewish community as representing its pro-Israel views to the Congress. Has Reform Judaism reverted to the anti-Zionist stance it held in the first half of the 20th century, or has J Street staged a coup? In either case, where are the rank-and-file members who understand Israel’s fight for survival and its extraordinary efforts to achieve peace to speak out against such a disastrous course? Carol Greenwald, a Washington-area Zionist activist, is the chairman of Jews Against Divisive Leadership.
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May 13, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 9
Jacobs’ path provides hope for Israel lovers
Focus on issues DONNIEL HARTMAN JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Our community is nervous. The delegitimization campaign against Israel has traveled beyond the borders of Arab states and the Third World to Western European societies, and it’s even finding a beachhead in North America. Even within the Jewish community there are increasing numbers whose discomfort with Israel’s policies has morphed into alienation. When a community feels threatened, its response can take two different paths. The first attempts to circle the wagons and set up defensible lines. This process involves shoring up any or all perceivable weak points and positioning one’s resources in the most appropriate way to defend the line. In the modern “battlefield,” public relations is as potent as bullets and opinions as significant as armor. Accordingly, those of good intentions are attempting to determine the line for what is acceptable and not acceptable speech and policy when it comes to Israel, and who is with “us” and who is against “us.” While this is understandable, however, as is the case in asymmetrical warfare, the lines are not always clear, and one needs to exercise great wisdom and sensitivity, lest one find oneself setting the line in an indefensible location or robbing us of some of our most helpful and significant allies. As an American Jew who has made aliyah and chosen to raise my children and grandchildren in Israel; who believes that Israel as a Jewish and democratic state is essential to the future of Jewish life; who has fought for Israel, whose children are fighting for Israel, and whose family has lost some of its members in defense of the country, I look with bewilderment at the campaign being waged by friends of Israel
against the appointment of Rabbi Rick Jacobs as president of the Union for Reform Judaism. These individuals undoubtedly mean well and surely find themselves at odds with some of the positions held by Rabbi Jacobs. What is tragic, however, is that their nervousness has blinded them to the individual in question. I have known Rabbi Jacobs intimately and personally for more than 15 years, and if he is not a friend and lover of Israel, then these categories have no meaning. My colleague, Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, has analyzed the predicament of the relationship between North American Jewry and Israel by saying that when America does something wrong, Jews get angry, but when Israel is at fault, they become ashamed. This experience of shame is the foundation for alienation and the primary source of danger for the future of the relationship. Rabbi Jacobs is a lover of Israel because he is never ashamed. He is a loyal, trustworthy and dependable friend who not only supports Israel in words but in deeds. He has made Israel and living here an integral part of his Jewish life. When he disagrees, as we all invariably find ourselves doing at one time or another, he does not allow himself the luxury of self-righteous indignation, but rather shows his love by getting angry and his commitment by working to change what he feels is wrong. For Rabbi Jacobs, Israel’s faults are never Israel’s but his and the Jewish people’s. He shoulders equally that responsibility and never wavers in his love. In that sense, he is more like an Israeli than a Diaspora Jew. Rabbi Jacobs personifies the second option for dealing with the danger. Instead of circling the wagons, he is a proactive leader who recognizes that effective public relations, at the end of the day, requires defensible policies. He has committed his life to helping build that policy.
Jerusalem and the separation of powers
Focus on issues RON KAMPEAS I miss seeing the New York Sun on stands when I get off at Penn Station. In its brief print presence, it was a signal of that city’s essential tension, its war with itself, and its comity too. It scrapped with the New York Times, conservative v. liberal, to be sure. Yet it also held the Times and its readers in a tight embrace, adopting the more ancient paper’s staid look, its measured upper middle class 4/4 beat, a sweet little contrary Gray Miss skipping alongside the Gray Lady. It persists online, like the ghostly girl in the upper brownstone window in an early 20th century urban legend. Today, its editorial page writer -- Seth Lipsky, I believe -considers the Supreme Court’s decision to take up the case of Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky, the nine year old who wants his birthplace to read “Jerusalem, Israel” on his passport. The writer appears to favor Zivotofsky and, by extension, Congress, which passed the law mandating such a designation should the holder wish it. He tries mightily -- and honorably -- to reconcile his distaste with the signing statement overriding the 2002 law, as signed by George W. Bush and evidently upheld by Barack Obama, with his support for strong presidential foreign policy prerogatives during the Reagan administration. His argument appears to be that this law is small potatoes, and so its okay to defer to Congress, whereas on the big stuff, the president should decide:
‘The notion that the president is supreme in foreign affairs had a particular allure during the years when the Soviet Union was on the march, President Reagan was in the White House, and Congress was trying to limit the president’s war powers. We’ve been prepared to support a strong president, even when he’s a Democrat. But the clause about faithfully executing the law is no small matter either. And when Congress has acted as unambiguously as it has in respect of the rights of an American born at Jerusalem, it strikes us that the Supreme Court has the opportunity here use the plea of a child to remind us that we are a nation of laws not of men.” I think the writer’s effort to reconcile his conflicting, even partisan impulses when it comes to presidential powers is honorable -- but not an honorable success. Congress’ power to make laws when it comes to foreign policy is not determined by a constitutional fuse box: It has either “enough” power or none at all. White Houses have two routes when it comes to shaping laws affecting foreign policy: They can influence the scope, specificity and ambiguity of a law before it is passed, or they can ignore it once it is passed. ( The last Bush administration favored more of the former strategy in its first term and more of the latter in its second. The Obama administration appears, so far, to favor the latter strategy of negotiating ambiguity (although this case is a notable exception). When it comes to a law written as closely as the Jerusalem passport law, if we are, as the writer says, a nation of laws, the Obama administration would have little choice but to abide by this one.
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In a world in which Jews are walking away from Israel, the path personified by Rabbi Jacobs and others is our greatest hope. It offers troubled Jews the opportunity to shift their alienation to involvement and to find new and more complex ways to be lovers of Israel. We, the lovers of Israel, must unite and accept that we may disagree on certain policies -- and at times may even adopt different positions and strategies. We must accept that love can never necessitate complete agreement, but that true love at times may require criticism. It requires that we unite and move from the indefensible lines of loyalty that we are erecting to a proactive, unified force which helps Jews of all stripes find ways to become a part of Israel and its future. Rabbi Jacobs is a critical force for good in this battle. Let’s make sure that our “good intentions” don’t undermine this force but rather use it for the betterment and well-being of our people. Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman is president of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and director of its Engaging Israel project.
Ask Mike MIKE SILVERMAN, CEO, Jewish Federation of Omaha Shalom Mike, My name is Gary Vidor and I am emailing you from Sydney, Australia. I, like yourself, am very involved in the Jewish community. I’m writing to you in my capacity as a board member and Director of JNF (Jewish National Fund ) Australia and seek your assistance. During November this year JNF Australia shall be holding its major annual Gala fundraising function to raise funds for our various projects in the Negev Region in Israel. This year we wish to invite Mr. Warren Buffet… a strong advocate and supporter of Israel and renowned international philanthropist to Australia as our guest speaker. We would appreciate your assistance and advice in how to contact Mr. Buffet. Hoping you can assist us Kind Regards Gary Vidor Mr. Vidor, I do not have direct contact to Mr. Buffet (I wish I did). There are hundreds of people that will read the Jewish Press and if any of them can provide the contact information and wish to be involved, I would ask them to forward information to the Editor of the Jewish Press and we will forward it on to you. Best of luck in your endeavor. Mr. Silverman, Where are you originally from? Avrum Ashery Visual Communications Advisor to the U.S. Congress Dear Avrum, I am originally form Oceanside, NY and lived there for about 30 years. I then moved to Connecticut where I lived for about 6 years before moving to Omaha in 2002.
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10 | The Jewish Press | May 13, 2011
Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 | 402.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m.
MONDAY: JLI class, Oasis in Time, 7 p.m. Register at www.myjli.com or call 402.330.1800. To request you first class free or have questions contact JLI@OChabad.com or call 402.330.1800. All programs are open to the entire community.
South Street Temple | Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street | Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 | 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel, with oneg following hosted by Burns Davis, Jayne Draper and Julie Moore. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. all led by Rabbi Emanuel. SUNDAY: Third Annual LJCS Rummage Sale, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at South Street Temple; LJCS Grades 3-7, 9:30 a.m.noon at Tifereth Israel; Gan Simcha-Grade 2, 9:45 a.m.12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.noon at Tifereth Israel; Board of Trustees, 1 p.m. TUESDAY: Women’s Lunch Group, noon at Ruby Tuesday’s, 56th Street and Highway 2. WEDNESDAY: Hebrew classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.
Na’ama Artzi, and Temple Israel’s Clergy since last fall to become B‘nai Mitzvah, will help lead the service. All members of the congregation are invited to attend the congregational dinner. Reservations were required; Clergy Unplugged: “Who is a Jew?” and Congregational Shabbat Dinner, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. SUNDAY: Teachers Meeting, 9 a.m.; Religious School (PreK-6), 10 a.m.; Prayer Assembly, 10 a.m.; What will it take to build a new building for Temple Israel? It takes you!, 11 a.m. Join us on to find out why and how. WEDNESDAY: Religious School Steering Committee Meeting, 7 p.m. THURSDAY: Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. Grade 12 Graduation/Confirmation Service, Friday, May 20, 6 p.m. (see full story on page 5.) Temple Israel Volunteers to Help Build another house for Habitat for Humanity on Sunday, May 22, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Meet at Temple Israel at 10 a.m. Volunteers must be at least 16 years of age and be in good physical health. No construction experience is necessary. Most Habitat homes are located in neighborhoods east of 42nd Street. No-Host Picnic on Sunday, May 22 in observance of Lag BaOmer. All Temple Israel members are welcome. Watch the eTidings for more details.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE
TIFERETH ISRAEL
SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway | Offutt AFB, NE 68113 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.
Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard | Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 | 402.423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. FRIDAY: Shabbat service, 6:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Learners Minyan, 9:30 a.m.; Morning Service, 10 a.m. followed by a Kiddush luncheon. SUNDAY: Third Annual LJCS Rummage Sale, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at South Street Temple; LJCS Grades 3-7, 9:30 a.m.noon at Tifereth Israel; Gan Simcha-Grade 2, 9:45 a.m.12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.noon at Tifereth Israel. TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at Ruby Tuesday’s, 56th Street and Highway 2. Please contact Stephanie Dohner at dohners@windstream.net with any questions. WEDNESDAY: Hebrew classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. LJCS and the Lincoln Jewish Federation Annual Sunday School picnic extravaganza and Campaign Kick-off on Sunday, May 22, 11 a.m. at Tifereth Israel. Book Club, Sunday, May 22, 4 p.m. at Dotty Shapiro’s home and will discuss The Man in the Whit Sharkskin Suit by Lagnado.
BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California | Omaha, NE 68154-1980 | 402.492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org Services conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Beth Schlossberg. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m.; Emilie Stein, daughter of Susan and Mark Stein, will become a Bat Mitzvah; Final Junior Congregation (3-7) of the school year, 10 a.m.; Evening Services, 8:30 p.m. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. SUNDAY: Torah Study Discussion Group, 10 a.m.; Jewish Images on the Big Screen, 10:30 a.m. with Susi FrydmanLevin; Annual Mock Wedding, featuring BESTT third and fourth graders, 11:15 a.m.; Parsha & Pizza, noon to 1 p.m., join Cantor Schlossberg for a slice (or two) of pizza and a discussion about the week's Torah portion at Bagel Bin. SIMCHAT SHABBAT: Contemporary alternative Shabbat experience will take place on Saturday, May 21, 10:30 a.m., in the chapel. The program, led by Eadie Tsabari, will feature music, poetry, a parasha play and participation by adults and children from the congregation. Café Schmooze follows, featuring an Israeli buffet. Open to everyone in the Jewish community; no charge. BESTT CHAVERIM: Youth group for fourth–sixth graders will enjoy an afternoon decorating ceramic pieces at That Pottery Place on Sunday, May 22, 1:30-3 p.m. No charge to attend; drop-off and pick-up at the venue. To RSVP, contact Shiri Tene in the synagogue office, or at youthdir@bethel-omaha.org. All Beth El classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street | Omaha, NE. 68154 | 402.556.6288 www.BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fri., 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross and Rabbi Yitzchak Mizrahi. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Understanding the Prayer Book class, 9 a.m. with Rabbi Mizrahi; Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes begin with Torah Parade, 9:45 a.m.; Navigating the Transliterated Siddur class, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Mizrahi; Kiddush is sponsored by Sisterhood; The Laws of Shabbat, 6:15 p.m.; Advanced Parshah Study for Kids (ages 10 and up), 7:15 p.m.; Mincha, 8:15 p.m. followed by Seuda Shlishit; Havdalah, 9:23 p.m. SUNDAY: Gemara class, 8 a.m., learning tractate Kiddushin; Shacharit, 9 a.m. followed by breakfast. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Weekly Teleconference Mishnah Class, 10:30 a.m. Contact the office to get the dial-in number and access code; Monday Night Lecture Series with Rabbi Gross, 7:30 p.m. TUESDAY: Scholars Club for fourth-sixth graders, 3:45 p.m. at the Blumkin Home; Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m.; Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Special Seminar on End-of-Life issues with guest Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt, 7 p.m. Rabbi Rosenblatt’s visit to Omaha is made possible through a grant from the Federation’s Special Donor-Advised Funds; Advanced Halchic Kollel, 9 p.m. THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class with Rabbi Gross, 9:30 a.m.
CHABAD HOUSE An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street | Omaha, NE 68144-1646 | 402.330.1800 www.OChabad.com | email: chabad@aol.com Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Service, 7 a.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Minyan, 10 a.m.; Youth Minyan, 10:30 a.m.; Mini Mensch title will be awarded. Kiddush luncheon follows. Join Rabbi Katzman, noon-1 p.m.; W.O.W. Parsha, Prophets and Prayer, 12:45 p.m. SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m.
Candlelighting Friday, May 13, 8:17 p.m.
CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN
NEIGHBORHOOD PRAYER GROUP 1317 North 57 Street | Omaha, NE 68132 | 402.551.6609 FRIDAY: Minyan, 7:39 p.m. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Shabbat Songs, 6 p.m. led by Nancy Rips. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Andy Greenberg. Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend Services.
TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street | Omaha, NE 68132-2651 | 402.556.6536 www.templeisrael-ne.org FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to You at Remington Heights, 4 p.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah Ceremony at Shabbat Worship Service, 6 p.m. Debbie Chasen, Jessica Cohn, Michael Halsted and Todd Hutton, who have been studying with
Community Yom HaShoah commemoration by HILLARY FLETCHER tionally powerful short film Marketing Assistant, Institute for about his relationship with Holocaust Education the U.S. soldier who liberatApproximately 350 people ed him, Leon Bass. This lecattended the 2011 Omaha ture was made possible by community Holocaust Comthe Jewish Federation, the memoration which took place Durham Western Heritage on Wednesday, May 4 at Beth Museum and the Marsha Israel Synagogue. Sixteen local and Milton Kleinberg Fund. Mr. Waisman also spoke to survivors were present to light the junior and senior stucandles in memory of the six dents of English teacher, million Jews who lost their Jennifer Stastny, at Central lives during the Holocaust. High School the following Also in attendance was guest Robbie Waisman speaks to the community day. A copy of the video will speaker and survivor of the be available at the Kripke Buchenwald concentration camp, Robbie Waisman. Library after May 27. Mr. Waisman’s address was Omaha Hebrew Chai his second of three speaking School students had a engagements while in Omaha. unique opportunity to share Earlier on Wednesday, he protime with survivors during a vided his testimony to 250 deli-dinner which preceded the commemoration cerestudents, educators and parmony. Students sat with surents at the Durham Western vivors in a roundtable setHeritage Museum, speaking ting, listened to testimony of his time in the camp, his liberation and his life afterand asked questions of their ward. The movie, The Boys of guests. Temple Israel students read during the commemoration Buchenwald, preceded Mr. The commemoration activWaisman’s talk at the Durham. The Boys of Buchenwald ities were presented by the Institute for Holocaust tells the story of several child survivors of the Buchenwald Education in conjunction with the Jewish Federation of camp. In addition, Mr. Waisman also showed an excep- Omaha, Beth Israel, Beth El and Temple Israel synagogues.
Pulverent e
May 13, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 11
Proclaim Liberty!
In memoriam HARRY WOLFSON
Sparks from the word RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parsha Behar It always astonishes me that the end of Exodus and all of Leviticus leaves us still at Mount Sinai. For the beginning of our Sidrah is still at Mount Sinai. But all of that pales into insignificance at the liberating, invigorating, enlightening call to justice and freedom for everyone. There is no mention of race or country of origin or color of skin; only of freedom, justice, and liberty for all. We frequently call attention to the fact that American values are similar to the values that are expressed in the bible. Nowhere is that more sharply emphasized than in our Sidrah, for it demands justice and liberty for everyone. “Everyone” carefully omits any reference, as I have said, to country of origin, skin color, or race. “Proclaim liberty to all the inhabitants of the land.” The wonderful 14th Amendment to the constitution of the Unites States is a “grandchild” of this proclamation. “Proclaim Liberty!”
A Brooklyn wedding
The wedding of Sarah Abrahamson and Yosef Seigel took place Sunday April 3 at Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn, NY. The bride was escorted by her mother Dinah Abrahamson and the groom was accompanied by long time Abrahamson family friend Omaha Congressman Lee Terry and the brother of the bride Yosef Abrahamson. Former Omaha Beth Israel Synagogue Rabbi Howard Kutner was one of several former and current Omahans who attended the wedding and was honored at the chuppah with reading the ketubah. The newlyweds live in New York where the bride is an early childhood educator at the upper westside Chabad, and the groom a sociologist at the Bronx Family Court.
Attention World War II and Korean War Veterans If you have a personal Al Jolson story to tell, the International Al Jolson Society would like to share it with the world. Please contact Marvin Freeman at mmfcreate@aol.com or Kirk Estee at esteek@cox.net Visit the IAJS website www.jolson.org and enter Marv Freeman Radio to hear a special Jolson tribute to the troops Jolson Lives Again.
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Harry Wolfson passed away May 6 at age 92. Services were held on May 8. He was preceded in death by his wife, Cleo. He is survived by daughter, Linda Cordell, and daughter and son-in-law, Paula and Rod Kessler; and special friend, Aileen Nystrom. He was the founder and owner of Wolfson Used Cars. Harry was in the business for over 63 years. Memorial contributions may be made to Beth Israel Synagogue.
Clinton sends Israel Independence Day greetings by JTA NEWS STAFF JERUSALEM (JTA) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sent best wishes to Israel for its Independence Day on behalf of President Obama and the U.S. people. In the statement issued Sunday, Clinton called Israel, on its 63rd birthday, "a young nation, but a rich history that holds deep meaning for so many." "Your achievements are a testament to your hardworking citizens, innovative economy, and commitment to democratic institutions. Israel has been a beacon of hope and freedom for so many around the world," Clinton's statement continued. "Our two countries are united by a deep, unshakable friendship and bond. We are bound together by our shared values and history pursuing freedom, equality and democracy. And this relationship is deepening every day," Clinton said. Clinton also called Israel's security "a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy" and said that the United States "will continue to strive for a comprehensive peace between Israel and all of its neighbors." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet Obama at the White House on May 20. The effort to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process reportedly will be the main item on the agenda.
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12 | The Jewish Press | May 13, 2011
How should Jews respond to bin Laden’s death? by SUE FISHKOFF SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -- When the news of Osama bin Laden’s death at U.S. hands hit the airwaves Sunday, America breathed a collective sigh of relief. Spontaneous celebrations broke out in front of the White House, as crowds gathered to wave the Stars and Stripes and chant their delight. But how should Jews respond when an evil-doer meets his end? There is no easy answer, leading rabbis say. Even asking the question is very Jewish, writes Rabbi Tzvi Freeman on Chabad.org. “It’s so typically Jewish to feel guilty about rejoicing,” he opined. A number of prominent rabbis spoke to JTA on the subject, sharing their conflicted reactions borne of a tension within Jewish teaching itself. “As the president said, justice was done,” said Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism. “Bin Laden was an evil man. He preyed on the weak. He killed in the name of God.” “But,” the rabbi continued, “I was not comfortable with the celebrations. Thoughtful discussion and thoughtful remembrance of recent events are to be preferred to dancing in the streets.” There are examples within Jewish tradition of celebrating an enemy’s death, of asking God for their destruction. Consider the Purim story, where the Jews feasted after slaying those who were, admittedly, arming to slay them. Or God’s command to King Saul to obliterate the entire house of Amalek for its wicked ways: “Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” (I Sam. 15: 2-3). Conversely, one of the best-known rituals
of the Passover seder is spilling 10 drops of wine when mentioning the Ten Plagues to symbolize a lessening of our own joy in the face of Egyptian suffering. In Sanhedrin 39b, God admonishes the angels for rejoicing
inspired response and the reality of human nature. “Sept. 11 was a day of tremendous trauma,” she said, and the raucous street celebrations can be viewed as a kind of catharsis.
New Yorkers gather near Ground Zero to celebrate the news that Osama bin Laden has been Credit: Richard via Creative Commons killed. when the Egyptian soldiers drown in the Red Sea, saying “The work of My hands is drowning in the sea, and you want to sing?” “I don’t think we ‘celebrate’ a death,” explained Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, the professional association of Conservative clergy. In the case of bin Laden there is, she said, “a sense of relief, an affirmation of God’s justice has been carried out.” Such an event, however, “is a time for sobriety, not celebration.” Nevertheless, Schonfeld added, one needs to distinguish between an ideal, religiously
“What we’re seeing is a reminder of how personally people were affected. It’s an understandable human response that we as Jews are blessed to elevate to a Jewish response.” Rabbi Basil Herring, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America, the professional association for Orthodox clergy, also distinguished between the ideal and the real. “In an ideal world, we serve God because we want to do His will, not because he rewards us or we fear punishment,” he said. “But we’re human, we’re not angels. We live in a world where people need reinforce-
ment, need a sense that it’s all worth it in the end.” The Jewish way is not to gloat, Herring said. It is appropriate to rejoice when evil doers get their just reward, but the rejoicing should be because we are witnessing God’s power and justice. It shouldn’t come, he said, from “a self-satisfied smug sense of ‘Yes, I’ve been proven right.’ “It’s an affirmation that God is not just an abstract idea, a Creator, but part of our lives,” Herring continued. “God cares. God loves us. That’s an essential article of our faith, that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. We rejoice because our faith is borne out.” Rabbi Arthur Waskow, a Jewish Renewal rabbi and director of Philadelphia’s Shalom Center, said he would have preferred that the Navy SEALS had brought bin Laden back to the United States to stand trial. Just as Israeli agents didn’t kill Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann when they found him in Argentina a half-century ago, but tried him in Jerusalem to expose the true horror of the Holocaust and give its victims a chance to speak their truth, so would putting bin Laden on trial have been an opportunity to uncover the real face of al-Qaida, he said. “That would have been an extraordinary act in support of upholding the values we claim make us different,” Waskow said. Pointing to the story of Moses, Waskow quotes the Midrash as saying that one reason Moses was not permitted to cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land was because in his youth he killed an Egyptian overseer, taking justice into his own hands without bringing him to trial. Trying bin Laden “would have been messy,” Waskow acknowledged, “but in the long run I’m sure it would have been better.”