May 20, 2005

Vol. LXXXIV No. 37 Omaha, NE

Celebrating 84 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa

11 Iyyar, 5765 May 20, 2005

Omaha Celebrates “Only in Israel” In Capital of European Union, Chabad Wields Great Influence by PHILIP CARMEL (Editor’s note: this is the first of a series of articles about the Jews of Europe and the role of Chabad-Lubavitch.) BRUSSELS (JTA) -- Across the street from the headquarters of the European Commission, in the very heart of the European Union, is the office of the Rabbinical Center of Europe. It looks like a war room: Stretched across one wall is a gigantic map of the European continent, stuck with hundreds of pins from Ireland to Kyrgyzstan. Each pin represents a Chabad rabbi affiliated with the center. This is a map of Chabad-Lubavitch’s sphere of influence in Europe. Sitting beneath it and surrounded by the flags of the E.U.’s 25 member states, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the Rabbinical Center’s secretarygeneral, is proud of what his group has achieved in its four years in Brussels. “We have around 700 rabbis across Europe who look to us for spiritual and technical guidance,” he says. In a sense, there is a battle going on. For Chabad, it is a battle for the souls of lost Jews; its foot soldiers are the thousands of Chabad emissaries sent to spread yiddishkeit across the globe. But for many Jewish organizations in Europe, it looks increasingly like a battle for control over Jewish communities and institutions. Here, in the political capital of Europe, the activities of the Rabbinical Center have ramifications for Jewish

At Yom HaAztmaut--Israel Independence Day--on Sunday, Israeli shaliach Uri Levin, left, leads the crowd in commemorating Yom HaZikaron in remembrance of those who died fight-

ing for Israel. Cantors Gastón Bogomolni, second from left, and Wendy Shermet followed with Oseh Shalom, El Maleh See more on pages 2 and 24. Rachamim, and Hatikvah.

“Best of Beth El” Musical Salute Promises an Evening of Entertainment for the Entire Community

Then-European Commission President Romano Prodi, center, confers with Rabbi Moshe Garelik, director of the Rabbinical Center of Europe, on Feb. 2, 2004, in Vienna. Credit: Chabad.org political and communal interests throughout the continent. At a time when anti-Semitism and Israel’s image in Europe are occupying the international Jewish agenda, the battle for political recognition, influence -- and public funding -- has intensified. “It’s a great sadness that this duplication exists in a Europe of 25 states where for the first time ever Jews are protected under the law and can cast off their shackles,” says Jonathan Joseph, president of the European Council of Jewish Communities. “It’s such a pity that having come this far, we should dissipate our energies with factionalism.” The Chabad enterprise in Europe is coordinated through the Rabbinical Center in Brussels, acting either alone or through its affiliated organizations, most notably the European Jewish Community Center and a student organization, which maintain offices in the same building. Although the struggle is described by others in the European Jewish community as one between themselves and Chabad, Margolin and his associates in Brussels say that the organizations they head are not Chabad institutions, though they are proud Lubavitchers themselves. Continued on page 8

Inside Opinion Page see page 20

by JILL BELMONT will also delight Beth El Publicity everyone in attenCoordinator dance.” Superlatives The evening will galore will be the also be highlighted order of the day on by the much-anticiThursday, June 9, pated unveiling of 7 p.m., at Beth El “Living an Ageless Synagogue, as “The Story,” the synaBest of Beth El,” a gogue’s 75th giant musical salute anniversary quilt to the synagogue’s project. The proj75th anniversary, ect, over a year in will feature the very the making, feabest entertainment tures four magnifithe congregation Testing, 1-2-3: “Best of Beth El” production coordinator Beth Friedman, left, cent quilts: has to offer--and and musical revue director Joanie Jacobson do a last-minute “sound check” “Jacob’s Ladder,” the celebration is before getting their first rehearsal underway at the synagogue. “Joseph’s Coat of free and open to the entire community! Many Colors,” “Miriam and the Women” and The performance promises to put a smile on every face “Jerusalem of Gold”--rendered by five of Beth El’s in the audience, as more than 80 Beth El men, women “best” artisans--Barbara Rennard, Karin Levine, Ozzie and children will sing and dance their way through a Nogg, Susi Levin, and Julie Phillips. Bordered by the high-spirited, lighthearted evening of favorite songs per- names of congregants past and present, the quilts will be formed at Beth El through the decades. Joanie Jacobson displayed in perpetuity in the synagogue’s social hall. is serving as the show’s director, assisted by production A lovely dessert reception chaired by mother-daughter coordinator Beth Friedman. team Bobbie Epstein and Melissa Schop will cap the The evening’s musical accompaniment will be provid- evening, featuring delectable desserts created by a varied by “Tuffy’s Never-to-Be-Forgotten Anniversary ety of famous “guest bakers” from throughout the Band.” “Ozzie Nogg, Nancy Rips, Dacia Jabenis, Mark Omaha Jewish community. Sanford, Eadie Tsabari, Andee Scioli, Cantor Gastón “What a way to begin the summer--singing, rejoicing Bogomolni, and yes, Beth El’s answer to Sonny and and sharing the music that has been a trademark of our Cher, Rabbi and Susi Levin will be among the headlin- synagogue for so many years,” Jacobson said. “It’s so ers with songs that rock, soothe, energize, and of course, rare to find this kind of talent or entertainment packed inspire!” said Jacobson, who also noted that back by into one exciting evening, and we invite all Jewish fampopular demand, “those memorable Jews Brothers, The ilies in the community to come to Beth El and join in Bocher Boys and Beth El’s ‘BESTT Singing Teachers’ the celebration!”

This Week: Senior Living Starts on Page 13 Continuing Coverage of the March of the Living: Pages 5 and 12

Coming Next Month: Father’s Day/Graduation Issue on June 10

Where Are They Now? Features Bennett Greenspan: Page 10

Documentary by Former Omahan Premiers on PBS: Page 11

New Books Tell Story of GI POWs in WWII: Page 19

Page 2

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 20, 2005

Thanks to a Former Omahan, Westside Eighth Graders See Paper Clips

Excellent Quality Construction Residential and Commercial

Dennis A. Turnbull

their collaborators--one says, by CAROL KATZMAN “I’ve never seen six million Editor of the Jewish Press of anything.” In the end, a The large theater at the decision is made to collect AMC Oakview was filled to six million paper clips, capacity last Thursday mornbecause the Swedes wore a ing as more than 500 teens paper clip on their lapels filed off 13 busses from when the Jews were ordered Westside Middle School. to wear a yellow star. The eighth-graders, who The rest of the film covers study World War II and the how the students, their Holocaust as part of the and even their famteachers, social studies and English Melissa Cannon, left, Paul Fallon, Madison Dahl, Marjorie ilies become involved in a curriculum, were nervously Huntley and Jonathan Nichols are eighth-graders at Westside. project so large that it garchatting and laughing as Post and Washington national attention from the ners they entered the multi-screen complex. NBC Nightly News, and even European news media, Though their principal, Eric Weber, asked them to to the friendship of Peter and Dagmar Schroeder, thanks quiet down so he could introduce Bob Wolfson, Executive Director of the Anti-Defamation League, the German reporters who live in Washington, D.C. Eventually, the staff and students Whitwell Middle chatting continued and the applause began. Wolfson School succeed beyond their wildest imaginations; more explained what the students would see and thanks to than 29 million paper clips are received, along with Robert B. Sturm, a former Omahan now living in pieces of mail. They also hosted a group of sur25,000 Denver, CO, these teens were treated to a showing of vivors from Long Island. “There’s not enough paper in Paper Clips: a documentary about Whitwell, a small the whole world to write down what each survivor went town in rural Tennessee where a middle school class-though,” one of them said. just like theirs--created a unique project around the After the film, several students spoke to the Press events of the Holocaust. their impressions. “Six million is a really big numabout As the 78-minute film began, the teens settled back ber, said Jonathan Nichols. “I’m shocked at the sheer into their seats, some of them expecting an opportunity added Paul Fallon. Marjorie Huntley said she numbers,” to nap, others fidgeting, still others continuing to talk. felt “selfish,” adding, “This never affected me before.” The film begins with Whitwell Middle School’s princiMelissa Cannon agreed, “I think this has made me more pal, Linda Hooper, explaining that the two is not very caring. I didn’t realize that it’s not just the six million diverse, “all white, with only five African-American famwho died; their family members and friends who surilies and one Hispanic. No Jews, no Catholics.” But after were really affected by the Holocaust, too.” vived attending a conference on tolerance in Atlanta, GA, Madison Dahl says she Hooper is determined to hopes this “touched a lot of find a way to have her eighth people. Kids our age were grade learn about the motivated to do somereally Holocaust. Sandra Roberts, thing. I’m impressed.” the eighth grade teacher, Though Bob Sturm wasn’t adds that the Holocaust is able to attend the film, he’d “what happens when intolwith probably agree erance reigns and prejudice Hooper, whose closes with, goes unchecked.” “The job of collecting paper When the students have a clips is over; the job of eduhard time comprehending ADL Director Bob Wolfson introduced the film to the entire cating others will never be six million--the number of to funding from Bob Sturm. thanks WMS eighth grade, over.” Jews killed by the Nazis and

CONTRACTOR 402-331-0888 11045 “O” St.

Omaha, NE 68137

Cyndee’s Castle Care exquisite and discreet home and pet care while you travel

cyndee weideman

402-651-1562 lunacee04@aol.com

101 S. 128th Plaza $634,500 Close to the JCC. Walk to Burke and Columbian Schools! Exquisite! Over 6200 Sq.Ft. Featuring Two Story Marble Entry, Plantation Shutters, Fantastic Formal Dining Room w/Built-Ins and Secret Entrance to Wine Cellar/Tasting Room. This Stunning Custom Offers a Chef’s Kitchen w/Butler’s Pantry, Adjoining Garden Room, 2nd Floor Study w/Fireplace and Awesome View, Formal Living and Dining Rooms plus nearly 60 Ft. Lower Level Family Room! A Luxurious Master Suite has Whirlpool and Fabulous Walk-In Closet! Situated in a Gated Community w/Area Pool!

Toni Rosen • 334-7257

CLIP & SAVE

CALENDAR OF EVENTS FRIDAY, MAY 20 RBJH SHARE Program, 9 a.m. Visions Luncheon Meeting, 12:30 p.m. at Venice Inn Tot Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El Confirmation/Graduation Service, 7:30 p.m. at Temple Israel SATURDAY, MAY 21 C L BBG Beau Dance, 8 p.m. at Ironwood Country Club I SUNDAY, MAY 22 P AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington D.C. & Jewish Potpouri, 10 a.m. at Beth El Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, Bible Study Class, and Living Hebrew Class, 11 a.m. at Beth El S Beth El Community Jewish Singles A (Open to the enitre community), 3 p.m. V Annual Congregational Meeting & Dinner, 6 p.m. E at Temple Israel

Book Report Contest Winners Receive Awards C L I P & S A V E

MONDAY, MAY 23 Federation Board Meeting, 7 p.m. TUESDAY, MAY 24 “The Guy and Bob Show”, noon BBYO Night, 6 p.m. Sisterhood Meeting, 7 p.m. at Beth El TLC Growth Through Torah, 7:30 p.m. at private residence WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 “Spice and Spirit of Jewish Cooking Club”, 9 a.m. C at Chabad House L PATTER, 10:30 a.m. at Beth El I NCJW Board Meeting, 7 p.m. P Graduation, 7 p.m. at Friedel Jewish Academy

C L I P

&

&

S A V E

THURSDAY, MAY 26 Walk-in Drop-in, 10 a.m. Adult Education, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Rabbi Levin’s class, noon at Beth El “People of the Bible”, noon Yiddish Group, 1 p.m. L.O.V.E Auxiliary Board Meeting, 7 p.m. All events held at the JCC unless otherwise indicated. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of events. To keep calendar accurate or for questions, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437. FOR A COMPLETE LISTING, VISIT THE FEDERATION’S WEBSITE: www.JewishOmaha.org (click on calendar)

This Space For Rent Call Allan Handleman 334-6451

S A V E

by GARY KATZ Second Grade: Robert Levitan, First Place; Amythest Library Administrator Wertheim, Second Place; Sara Kutler, Third Place; Third The winners of the annual Elinor A. Whitman Book Grade: Ari Juster, First Place; Eva Phillips, Second Place; Appreciation Contest received their prizes at an awards Hannah Budwig, Third Place; Fourth Grade: Lila ceremony and reception Sunday, May 15, 2005 at the Farber, First Place; Samnantha Weiner, Second Place; Kripke Jewish Federation Library. The contest was co- Tal Margalit, Third Place; Fifth Grade: Sophie Cemaj, sponsored by the Kripke Jewish Federation Library and First Place; Ben Lohman, Second Place; Lilly Phillips, the Omaha area religious schools. To enter, a contestant Third Place; Sixth Grade: Samantha Juster, First Place; had to either write a review or design a book jacket for Chloe Heyman, Second Place; Emily Katz, Third Place. a Jewish book. Children Book Report Awards in Kindergarten through Second Grade: Elissa sixth grade were eligible Weiner, First Place; Third to compete. Grade: John Gallager, First The Book Appreciation Place; Fourth Grade: Joe Contest memorializes Hack, First Place; Zachary Elinor Whitman who Bram, Second Place; Fifth served for many years on Grade: Jordan Jenson, First the Library Board. She Place; Jessica Levinger, took a keen interest in Second Place; David promoting Jewish literaGlazer, Third Place; Sixth ture for young readers. Grade: Grace Hack, First Book Jacket Awards Place; Molly Gilinsky, First Grade: Isaac Second Place; Haley First Place; Students receive their awards Sunday during Yom HaAtzmaut Halsted, Third Place. Ferber,

Beth El Team Wins Again in B’nai B’rith Trivia Quiz Coming in first for the second year in a row at the fifth annual B’nai B’rith Jewish Trivia Quiz during Yom HaAtzmaut on Sunday was the team from Beth El, standing: Dick Fellman, left, Harry Weiner and Nate Schwalb, and seated: Ben Shapiro, Marty and Aveva Shukert. The team will donate their prize winnings to BESTT. Second place was: Sara and Sorin Juster, Phil Wolf, Alex Wolf, Debra Kronick and Jeff HaLev; and third place went to the Temple Israel team: Sarah Schondelmeyer, Steve Danon, Doris Alloy, Ellen Long, Colleen Keneally and Nathan Wolf.

May 20, 2005

Beth El Welcomes Rabbi Jack Riemer as He Explores Festival of Shavuot by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Rabbi Jack Riemer calls his career “an adventure.” And a multi-layered adventure it has been: for over 50 years, he has led congregations, shared prolific writing in journals, books and siddurim, lectured worldwide, and touched lives with his inspirational storytelling. Still enthusiastic about traveling because “I learn wherever I go to teach,” Rabbi Riemer will be in town during the weekend of June 3-5 to share his wisdom at Beth El Synagogue during a special scholar-in-residence weekend. This event, generously underwritten by the Ida and Samuel Kaiman Scholar-in-Residence Endowment Fund, is open to the entire community. Recently retired from Congregation Beth Tikvah in Boca Raton, FL, Rabbi Riemer is a renowned speaker, author and essayist who has lectured at universities, healing centers, synagogues and churches around the world. His published pieces have appeared in most major journals of Jewish thought; his poems and prayers appear in prayer books of the Conservative and Reform movements in the United States, Israel and South America. He is also widely known as the editor of such books as the three-volume The World of the High Holy Days; and Jewish Reflections on Death, and Wrestling with the Angel, classic resources which help mourners deal with their grief, and So That Your Values Live On--Ethical Wills and How to Prepare Them, a treasury of ethical wills. The latter compilation contains entries from famous and ordinary Jews, chronicling the writers’ reflections on living honest and fulfilling lives, the importance of performing good deeds and maintaining a good, ethical character. The book offers examples of traditional wills (focusing on the traditional precepts and teachings of Judaism), testaments written by Holocaust martyrs, and more modern, contemporary wills. Rabbi Riemer said his fascination with ethical wills was piqued after pondering “what does a person really leave behind, and what does a life add up to?” He added that “after reading some wonderful ethical wills written by friends and congregants, I started col-

The All-New 2006 BMW 3 Series

bmwusa.com 1-800-344-4BMW

The Ultimate Driving Machine®

lecting them,” and the end result was the poignant and thought-provoking book of testimonials. Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, ethical wills have become even more prevalent, Rabbi Riemer said, noting that “What we learned on 9/11 is that you can be here today and gone today--that’s what stimulated the interest.” American Judaism was also affected by 9/11, he said. “I think that there are fewer Jews but the Jews we do have take it more seriously. This is an exciting time for Judaism and we have reason to be optimistic. Young people are turning to Judaism as never before with questions, and that’s beautiful to watch. It’s hard to labels all the reasons for the increased involvement, but 9/11 is one of the factors which has motivated people to get more connected.” During his upcoming scholar-in-residence weekend at Beth El, Rabbi Riemer will focus on the festival of Shavuot and the characters in the book of Ruth. During Friday 6 p.m. evening services, he said he plans to share “a funny story about the real reason we eat dairy”; at a Shabbat dinner following services, he will begin his discussion about Ruth. “The Ruth story, I claim, is of the first modern woman,” Rabbi Riemer remarked, joking that, “She’s a woman who doesn’t need a husband--men are for dessert!” During his Saturday morning d’var Torah, Rabbi Riemer will present the character of Boaz as “the first middle-aged single,” and will discuss what he calls “the neglect nowadays of middle-aged singles--a growing group in our community,” as well as the challenges confronting this group. To conclude the weekend, the community is invited to a 10 a.m. Sunday breakfast, during which Rabbi Riemer will explore healing and various ways to recover from loss. His presentation will also address the character of Naomi and “what saved her when she was on the bridge of self-destruction.” The Sunday breakfast is free of charge; cost of the June 3 Shabbat dinner is $12.50; reservations may be made by calling the synagogue office at 492.8550.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 3

It’s A Men’s (and Women’s) Night Out at B’nai B’rith Sports Banquet

Pictures from top: Father Val Peter, formerly Director of Boys Town, gives the invocation at the annual B’nai B’rith Sports Banquet last week, the first non-Jewish clergy to do so. Guest speaker Ron Jaworski presents the Male Scholar/Athlete of the Year to Zach Potter of Creighton Prep; the female winner is Kyla Roehrig of Papillion LaVista. Jewish Press Advertising Manager Allan Handleman, left, enjoys a moment with ADL Director Bob Wolfson. A group from Beth Israel Synagogue organized a kosher table this year: Ben Gerber, clockwise from left, Adam Gendelman, Don Gerber, Rabbi Jonathan Gross, Paul Shyken, Ian Jacobs, Leon Shrago, David Shrago and Howard Gendelman. The banquet drew 1100 people.

The All-New 2006 3 Series Is Here! Come Take A Test Drive Today!

Introducing the new BMW 3 Series. Reinvigorate your driving spirit with the all-new BMW 3 Series. More power, more agility, more intelligent features and more advanced safety features make this the greatest 3 Series yet. The new, 215-hp 325i and 255-hp 330i Sedans deliver more fun per mile than you could possibly imagine. Stop in for a test drive and experience the new benchmark.

33,840

$

As Low As Well equipped.

markel BMW

3 #3383

The New

Special Lease and Finance Rates Available Through BMW Financial Services Largest Exclusive BMW Dealer in NE, IA & SD!

Westroads • 716 N. 102nd 393-9700 • 800-593-6060 www.markelbmw.com

Mon, Tues & Thur: 8:30-9 • Wed, Fri & Sat: 8:30-6

Page 4

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 20, 2005

Omaha Blues: A Memory Loop by Joseph Lelyveld (2005)

BOOK REVIEW Reviewed by OLIVER B. POLLAK This book opens with a quote from Willa Cather’s My Antonia; “My mind plunged away from me, and I suddenly found myself thinking of the places and people of my own infinitesimal past.” Nostalgic reminiscence conjures up a placid smiling past. Readers may envy the idealized pasts of others. “Family” is a complex of emotion, biology, parents, biological and otherwise, in-laws who are grandparents, home life and upbringing. Birth order, siblings, adoption and divorce may tilt and unbalance as individuals age, and new faces and interests enter the equation. Busy lives and mental illness can lead to distance and deception. Joseph Lelyveld has been a reporter and executive at the New York Times for over four decades. He treats his life and that of his family as just another story. Turning your professional skills on your own family may lead to unexpected results. Investigative journalism, fact checking, searches for documents, who knew what and when did they know it, interviews, and on-sight visits, framed in a truthful manner that a publisher thinks is marketable. Some biographies, by agreement with the parties, or just for tact, are not published until the main characters are dead. Lelyveld’s father and mother died in the latter 1990s. Lelyveld’s memory jaunt is baleful, neurotic and honest. Readers may identify with the frank rumination. Arthur J. Lelyveld and Toby Bookholtz married in 1933. Arthur served as Temple Israel’s spiritual leader from 1941-44. Arthur, an ardent Zionist, later headed the Hillel program. A student of Rabbi Stephen Wise, Arthur became a leader in the Reform movement and Rabbi in Cleveland for over thirty years. He achieved national prominence in 1964 when he was viciously attacked in Mississippi by white racists.

Husband’s and wive’s careers collided. Toby was not an ideal rebbetzin, and they divorced after a 30-year marriage that included several periods of estrangement and infidelity. What are children to make of a home life that bounces from Omaha to New York, to summer camps, and living with one parent or another, or grandparents? Omahans will recognize the names Sam Ferer and Henry Monsky. This genre of memory checking and rumination echoes Things My Mother Never Told Me by Blake Morrison (2003) and The Face of the Naked Lady by Michael Rips (2005). While they are idiosyncratic to a particular family, place and time, they reveal the tensions, quirkiness of memory and history surrounding everyone. Lelyveld’s advantage was a reporter’s eye for detail remembered, sometimes at a distance of 60 years, and detail disinterred, a rich paper trail that corroborated, amplified or controverted memory. In particular, during the early 1950s, allegations of communist activity by Rabbi Ben Goldstein a/k/a Ben Lowell during the McCarthy witch-hunt rippled through the Jewish establishment. This story is a model for patient investigation, courageously turning over rocks, utilizing FBI documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act, the internet, and understanding. Lelyveld develops stories within stories as he navigates the traumatization of comfy preconceptions about the stability of family life. More and more acknowledgments are moving from the front of the book to the rear. “Rather than burden a personal narrative with the apparatus of scholarship, I’m sending a full set of” certain material to the American Jewish Historical Society in New York and American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati. I am developing a new pet peeve, fact-based books without an index. Historian and author Oliver B. Pollak can be reached at: OBPOmni@aol.com

Leadership for Federation Board, Agencies Announced by PAM MONSKY Federation Communications Director The following slates of officers for the Jewish Federation of Omaha and its affiliate agencies will be submitted and voted upon at the Federation’s August 2005 Board of Directors meeting. Leadership positions for Jewish Educational and Library Services and Jewish Family Service will be announced at a later date. Anti-Defamation League/ Community Relations Committee (ADL/CRC) David Gilinsky, President; Allan Murow, VicePresident; Bruce Goldberg, Financial Officer; Jan Schneiderman, Nominating/Leadership Development Chair; New board members: Pearl Giventer, Mike Levine, Dan Marburg, Juliana Reno, Kimberly Robinson, Charlie Sullivan, Aaron Weiner and Adam Yale. The Jewish Community Center of Omaha Gary D. Epstein, President; Michael Miller, President- Elect; Jeff Kirshenbaum, Immediate PastPresident; Bob Belgrade, Vice-President; John Glazer, Vice- President; Susie Norton, Vice-President and Kimberly Robinson, Vice-President. Jewish Senior Services Bob Belgrade, President; Harold Mann, Larry Roffman, Jim Farber, Vice-Presidents; Suzanne Singer, Secretary; Mike Abramson, Treasurer; Joanie Bernstein, Past-President. The Jewish Press Committee Joanie Jacobson, Chairman; Howard K. Marcus, Vice-Chairman; Bobbi Leibowitz, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Finance Chairman; Steve Simon, Treasurer, and Fred Tichauer, Immediate Past-chairman. The Jewish Federation of Omaha Zoë Riekes, President; Norm Sheldon, PresidentElect; Bob Lepp, Vice-President and Secretary; Mike Abramson, Treasurer; Jay Gordman, Budget and Allocations Chairman; and Steve Pitlor, Past President. For more information about the slates or the August Federation meeting, call me at: 334.6431.

National Council of Jewish Women Omaha Section

Raffle 1 for $10, 3 for $25 and book of 12 for $100 To be on sale at the J above Member Services May 22 | 9 a.m.to 12 p.m. May 31st | 7 a.m.to 10 a.m.and 4 p.m.to 7 p.m. June 1st | 7 a.m.to 10 a.m.and 4 p.m.to 7 p.m.

Alan Friedman

Dell W3000

Yellow Diamond Pavé Star Necklace

30 inch HD Ready LCD TV

Retail Value $1,500.00

Retail Value $1,599.00

There are 10 other awesome raffle package prizes available to win. Please call Susie Norton for more information 391-7333 Winners to be announced at The Spring Gala June 18th at the Livestock Exchange Building Need not be present to win For over 100 years,NCJW has been at the forefront of social change – championing the needs of women,children and families.Funds raised through the raffle will go toward the support of our local community service projects,such as: • Dictionary Day: NCJW purchases & distributes hard-cover,color picture • dictionaries to 4th graders in some of the lower income elementary schools. • Resources Available for Teens (RAFT): These books are complete listings of • resources and services that are available locally for teens with issues ranging from • drug or alcohol abuse to getting help with homework. • Our newest project,Totes for Tots:NCJW has teamed up with Child Saving Institute • to supply duffle bags for kids that come into the CSI Foster and Emergency Shelter • Programs.

May 20, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 5

For Catholic Educators, March of the Living Deepens Lessons by CHANAN TIGAY WARSAW (JTA)--As an educator at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, Tim Kaiser spends a lot of time thinking about the Nazis’ systematic effort to exterminate European Jewry. As a Catholic, he spends a lot of time wondering how he would have reacted to the German genocide had he lived through World War II. “I’m attracted to the study of the Holocaust through the bystander and through the perpetrator,” Kaiser, 39, said at the Friday night dinner May 9 in Warsaw sponsored by the AntiDefamation League. “The question I ask myself is, ‘Could that have been me?’ I wonder, ‘Am I the bystander?’ “I keep wrestling with this on a basic, fundamental level,” he said. In Poland for the May 5 March of the Living, along with a delegation of 75 American Catholic educators who completed the Bearing Witness Holocausteducation program, Kaiser’s concerns were not unique. The Bearing Witness program, a fiveday professional development workshop, was developed by the ADL in partnership with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Archdiocese of Washington. “The history of Christianity is the history of anti-Semitism,” said Pete Fredlake, 51, who taught high-school students about the Holocaust for 30 years before taking a job recently at the Washington museum. “They kind of happened at the same time. “I talk to a lot of people who won’t admit it,” continued Fredlake, who wore a “zachor” pin on his lapel. Zachor is Hebrew for “remember.”

“They say, ‘Well, that all happened in the past and I had nothing to do with it.’ I don’t think that’s healthy. I think it's good to face history,” he said. In addition to the ADL contingent, another 45 Catholic teachers took part in the annual march, where on Holocaust Remembrance Day participants walk from the concentration camp at Auschwitz to the nearby death camp at Birkenau, which together comprised the Nazis’ largest killing center. In years past, the march mostly was limited to Jewish teenagers, who went to Poland and then on to Israel for the Jewish state’s memorial and independence days. This year, in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi camps, the march was opened to many additional groups, including nonJews, college students, Austrian police officers and young professionals. Among the 18,000 on the March of the Living was an ADL delegation from Omaha, led by Beth Dotan, Director’s of the ADL’s Institute for Holocaust Education, including: hidden child Bea Karp and her daughter Nancy Kutler and her son, Danny Krantz from Chicago, and daughter Jeanie Soshnik from St. Louis, Patty Nogg and her sister Judy Brantz of Boulder, CO, Gloria and Howard Kaslow, Marti Rosen-Atherton, Ilse and Marcel Kahn (who emigrated from Germany in 1938), Paul Smith, a high school teacher from Lincoln, and Carol Katzman, Editor of the Jewish Press. At Friday night’s dinner, the ADL honored two non-Jews, a German and a Pole. Jerzy Kozminski was recognized for risking his life in order to save a Jewish family from the Warsaw Ghetto. Some of that family’s descendants attended the dinner.

the United States. A history “The biggest award for me teacher in the Lincoln Public is that the four generations Schools, Smith was already of the people I had the trying to figure out how he chance to help save are would incorporate what he alive,” Kozminski said in had seen in his short stay in Polish through a translator. Poland into his lessons Gert Weisskirchen, a memabout the Holocaust. ber of Germany’s Parliament “This is really hard,” he and an outspoken opponent admitted. “I keep asking of anti-Semitism, also was ‘Why?’ and of course, there honored. “The Shoah repreis no answer to that. It’s too sented a monstrous rip in civincomprehensible.” ilization and in time, and the Abe Foxman As the Israeli Ambassador to Jews were supposed to disapmade kiddush, pear in it forever,” he said. National Director of ADL Poland “The present generation must be the safe- Howard Kaslow looked around at the multicultural group of more than 230 at the guard of this knowledge time and again.” Abe Foxman, the National Director of Marriott Hotel. “Who would have the ADL, told the group his own person- thought,” he asked, shaking his head, “that al story of being hidden during World 60 years later we’d be here having a War II. Though there were suits and Shabbat dinner in Warsaw?” Therese Collins, a non-Jewish Jewish countersuits over his baptism and return to his family, Foxman insists he will be studies major at New York’s City College--one of several non-Jews in that forever grateful to his nanny. The Omahans sat with a young man department who took part in the marchfrom Lisbon during Shabbat dinner. -said that she saw a universal lesson in the Though raised in a traditional Catholic Jewish Holocaust experience. “The Holocaust starts from the notion home, he embarked on a journey to learn more of the world and wound up work- that one” group of “people are not as ing as a volunteer for the ADL office in good as the rest of the world,” said Brussels. Now a paid intern, he trains Collins, originally from Antigua. “There young volunteers for the ADL’s Peer-to- are always stereotypes about Jews, and Peer program in European high schools. when you hear about what they went “The countries of Europe are no longer through, their persecution as a minority homogenous,” Rudi told the group. group, you realize stereotypes don’t “We’ve had a huge influx of Muslims describe a person. ‘Never again’ not just from North Africa and the Arab states. In the persecution of Jews, but persecution addition, quite a few citizens from former of all innocent people.” Eastern Bloc countries have emigrated Chanan Tigay traveled to Poland as a guest of westward. That’s a disaster waiting to the Anti-Defamation League. Carolyn Slutsky happen if you don’t teach lessons in tol- and Carol Katzman in Poland contributed to erance and understanding.” this report. This was Paul Smith’s first trip outside See more March of the Living photos on page 12.

Affect Israel’s Future Featuring Yossi Klein Halevi

International Syndicated Columnist and Author

2005 AIPAC Nebraska Cocktail Reception Sunday, June 5, 2005 at 5:30 p.m.

AIPAC Annual Event Committee 2005

at the home of Todd Simon

David Gilinsky, AIPAC Council Co-Chair Jan Schneiderman, AIPAC Council Co-Chair Michael Miller, AIPAC Council Vice-Chair Tom Fellman Nancy & Harlan Noddle David Friedland Larry & Sivie Roffman Gary Javitch Todd Simon Murray Newman

9709 Ascot Drive, Omaha, NE 68114 Members and non-members welcome. Please RSVP by May 27th by contacting AIPAC’s Nebraska office at 303864-9464 or yborukhova@aipac.org.

Yossi Klein Halevi is a contributing editor and internationally renowned Israel correspondent of the New Republic. He has been a regular contributor on Israeli affairs to the Los Angeles Times, and a contributor to the New York Times and the Washington Post. His books include "At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden: A Jew's Search for God with Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land" and "Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist", the story of his teenage attraction to Rabbi Meir Kahane and his subsequent break with Jewish militancy. He is currently a senior fellow at the Shalem Center, where he is writing a book about the Israeli paratroopers who reunited Jerusalem in 1967. Born and raised in New York, he moved to Israel in 1982. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Sarah, a geneticist, and their three children.

AIPAC - “the most important organization affecting America’s relationship with Israel.”

-The New York Times

A I PA C

THE AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE America’s Pro-Israel Lobby www.aipac.org

Page 6

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 20, 2005

Betty Crocker Healthy Heart Cookbook by Roger Blumenthal & Juli Hermanson (Wiley, $24.95)

READ IT AND E AT Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN Celebrate being a senior with chocolate and other affairs of the heart in the latest Betty Crocker cookbook...especially if you have a family history of heart disease or are one of over 60 million Americans currently diagnosed with heart disease. Cooking healthy meals could be the best gift you can give your sweetheart. This heart-smart cooking plan was written by “Dr. B”, Roger Blumenthal, cardiologist, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, and from General Mills Bell Institute of Health & Nutrition nutritionist Judi Hermanson. Their notes/ advice accompany each of the 140 plus recipes and covers cooking tips and methods, exercise, stress reduction, negotiating food labels, and other aspects of a healthy lifestyle. “About 80% of the factors that increase your risk are within your power to change...incorporating a few simple healthy habits can help protect you against heart disease.” Geared for a simple life in and out of the kitchen, included is a complete week of menus, Pantry Planner and the first two dozen pages in Eat To Your Heart’s Content...information on staying healthy, how the heart works, helpful tables and sidebars. Read about CHD,

HDL, LDL, BMI, DASH and more. Eight chapters: Starting Your Day with Breakfast, Smart Snacks & Breads, Pleasing-to-Your-Heart Fish, Take Heart with Poultry & Meat, Easy Dinners in 25 Minutes, Great Grains, Beans & Legumes, Simple Salads & Vegetables and Treat Your Heart to Dessert. The recipes are listed on the first page of the chapters and include Prep and Cook Times, numerical instructions, and nutritional data. Additional information from Flax Facts to Vegetable Virtues are delightful reads. Following the recipes are web sites, a Glossary of Heart-Healthy Terms and a thumbnail sketch of heart tests. Follow your heart and make this sweet treat. DOUBLE-CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES Prep: 30 minutes Bake: 8-9 min per sheet two dozen cookies: 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup butter, softened 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 egg white 1 cup all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons baking cocoa 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips Heat oven to 375°. Beat brown sugar and butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, or mix with spoon. Beat in vanilla and egg white. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-9 minutes or until set (do not over bake). Cool one minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Lois Friedman can be reached at: ReadItAndEat@yahoo.com.

Beth El’s BESTT Graduates to be Honored During Shabbat Services by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator The entire community is invited to celebrate Shabbat at Beth El tomorrow, May 21, as Beth El Synagogue Talmud Torah high school seniors and seventh graders are recognized during a special graduation ceremony. Graduating students will help to lead the service and will celebrate afterward with family and friends during a special Kiddush luncheon in their honor.

Seventh graders include: front row, Marlee Skolkin, left, Shir Palmon, Ben Gordon, Seth Fox, Dayna Epstein, Sarah Hoberman, Becca Gordon, Harison Wiesman, Jeffrey Libov, Lev Nachman; back row, teacher Sindie Katskee, Cantor Gastón Bogomolni, Brianna Sadofsky, Nathan Kahn, Dayna Cohen, Jaime Abramson, Colin Belmont, Rachel Meyer, Rabbi Mordechai Levin, Anna Grossman, Jesse Reno, BESTT Director Judy Rubin. Not pictured: Caroline Juster, Rachel Stein. Credit: Ophir Palmon

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Beveridge Magnet School of the Arts & Global Studies presents Anne Frank & Me by Cherie Bennett. Friday, May 20, 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the door; adults are $4; students, $2. The annual Side-by-Side concert with the Omaha

W

H E R E

Area Youth Orchestra and the Omaha Symphony Chamber Orchestra will take place this Sunday, May 22, 7 p.m., at the new Southwest Iowa Arts Center on the campus of Iowa Western Community College. Tickets purchased at the door are $10 for adults and $7 for students.

F U N

H

A P P E N S

The 12th graders are: front row, Rebecca Kahn, left, Shira Kronick, Jodi Levine, Anna Turetsky, Amy Saylan; middle row, Corey Green, Naomi Rennard, Shayna Kurland, Gal Tsabari, BESTT Director Judy Rubin; back row, Rabbi Levin, Jason Rich, Alex Raksin, Nathan Fineman, Cantor Bogomolni. Not pictured: Joshua Sweet. Credit: Ophir Palmon

A fresh new look...

floral designs

402-342-STAR (7827) Toll-free: 1-866-227-STAR www.rivercitystar.com

in rockbrook village 10923 prairie brook road omaha, nebraska 68144

delivery available

991-2300

The Perfect Getaway in the City!

The River City Star docks at The River City Yacht Club – your headquarters for fun on the river. Come enjoy Muddy Mo’s Watering Hole, The Pavillion, 4Wheels4Fun pedal cart rentals, and more! Owned and operated by the Keystone Group.

May 20, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

Great Gift Specials Going On Now At Lakeside Dental

ORGANIZATIONS

•Supreme Crest Whitestrips WALK-IN, DROP-IN For those members going to the Ameristar Casino on Thursday, please meet at the JCC at 8:45 a.m. For transportation call Maggie Conti at 334.6521. LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Come to the Yiddish meeting at the JCC on Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. Call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638. VISIONS Join us for a Cooking Demonstration at That's Amoré in Bellevue on June 7, 1 p.m. The cost is $10 per person. Meet at the JCC at 12:15 for carpooling. The group will leave at 12:30 p.m. for That’s Amoré. Send check with reservations to Sandy and Fred Bromley, 13419 Marinda St., Omaha, NE 68144 by June 1. Make check payable to Visions. Branson Show Extravaganza is Sept. 19-23. The cost is $454 per person. For information call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638. B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Jon Bruning will be the guest speaker at B’nai B’rith Breadbreakers on Wednesday, May 25, noon, at the Park Inn Regency, according to Gary Javitch, chairman. Bruning, who recently returned from a trip to Israel, is the Attorney General for the State of Nebraska. Cost is $11 for a full lunch and $2 for beverage service only. JEWISH SENIOR SERVICES JSS presents two free concerts; vocalist Billie James will perform on Thursday, June 16, 1 p.m. in the JCC auditorium. During her 40-year career in Australia, she worked with a large number of jazz groups and was honored as the “Night Club/Cabaret Entertainer of the Year” in 1978. The Iowa Western Community Band

will present a Summer Welcome Concert with Swing Time Favorites on Tuesday, June 21, 7 p.m. in the JCC auditorium. The band has performed in the Omaha and Council Bluffs area for 25 years. Iowa Western Community College and the City of Council Bluffs sponsor this concert. Call Maggie Conti at 334.6521 for reservations. JEWISH WOMEN INTERNATIONAL JWI will host its annual Donor Luncheon on Thursday, June 2, noon, at the Jewish Community Center. John Keenan is the feature speaker. A reviewer of restaurants, movies and theater, Keenen will speak about “Being a Critic.” Lunch is $7.50 per person and reservations may be made with Rosalie Greenspan, 391.1954; Frieda Krizelman, 391.0661; or Esther Wax, 393.4442. TORAH LEARNING CENTER All classes are taught by Rabbi Tuvia Hoffman. Please call him at 981.0569 for more information. Mondays, 7:30 p.m.: “The Siddur: The best selling book of Kaballah” in the Omaha Room of the JCC. Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m.: “Growth Through Torah” at a private residence. Thursdays, 1 p.m.: “Meaning of Life & Other Business” based on The Way of G-d by Rabbi Chaim Luzatto, also in the Omaha Room of the JCC. NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN Beth Friedman will conduct the official installation of the 2005-06 Omaha Section Board of Directors as part of our regularly scheduled board meeting on Wednesday, May 25, 7 p.m., at the home of current President Kate Kirshenbaum, 12033 Farnam. Outgoing board members will be recognized. To RSVP, call Kate at: 334.8541.

Whitens at least 88% better than in store items 14% Hydrogen Peroxide $50 after mail in rebate and Buy 1 get the other 1/2 off

•Adult Braun Oral-B 3D Excel Professional Model $Just

69 Professional Model includes: 2 handles, 2 Flexisoft brushheads, 4-brush storage tower and travel case 2 interspace brushheads [designed for braces] •Oral-B Advance Power Kids Electric Toothbrush

2505 South 174th Plaza Omaha, NE 68130 697-3838 Fax: 697-3888

One minute EZtimer desined to help children brush longer and better Available in Disney Characters

•New Patient Specials

$

Just

$

32

Just

1

Nite White Excel 3 Bleaching Kit 75 Upper and Lower mouth trays, 6 filled whitening gel syringes 1 sodium flouride toothpaste, 1 travel case

Artistically Designed… Skillfully Crafted

• Our framing abilities are only limited by our imagination • Opening June 2005

Since

Frederick Plaza

Galleria Collection

( 3 blocks south of 84th & W.Center Rd)

( South side of 145th & W.Center Rd)

8495 Frederick St - Omaha, NE 68124

14477 W.Center Rd - Omaha, NE 68144

402-391-6440

402-334-5889

GAUCHER DISEASE

JELS Offers Summer Classes in Conversational Hebrew by MARY SUE GROSSMAN JELS Administrator Again this summer, Jewish Educational and Library Services is pleased to offer Conversational Hebrew classes, taught by Maya Wertheimer. An accomplished linguist and experienced language teacher, she will teach both Level I and Level II classes. Classes will focus on speaking ability rather than grammar and translations. Level I is open to those who are able to read Hebrew comfortably and are ready to take the next step and begin to learn the basics of the conversational side of the language. By the end of the class, participants should have the ability to follow a conversation and give basic responses. Level II is for those who have the ability to follow a conversation comfortably and need to improve their speaking skills. The goal for Level II participants is to become better readers and be more fluent in oral communication. “Maya is an excellent and experienced language teacher,” states Steve Riekes,

who participated in last summer’s class. “To be able to converse in a foreign language as an adult, takes time and intensity,” he added. “That is why the JELS summer Conversational Hebrew program is so rewarding. Maya has the ability to make it fun as well.” The eight-week course will meet Tuesday and Thursday evenings, beginning June 7. Level I students will meet each week at 7 p.m. and Level II students at 8 p.m. The course dates will be June 7, 9, 16, 21, 23, 28, 30, July 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 21, 26 and 28. (No class will be held on Tuesday, June 14, due to Shavuot.) All classes will be held in the JELS classroom at the Jewish Community Center. The cost of the class is $60, not including the cost of materials. For more information and to register, please call me at 334.6445 or via e-mail: mgrossman@jewishomaha.org. Information is also available on the JELS pages of the Jewish Federation website at www.jewishomaha.org.

Approximately 1 out of every 450 within the Ashkenazi Jewish population has Gaucher disease

The symptoms may become apparent at any age and they include:

EASY BRUISING AND BLEEDING BONE PAIN ●

Beth Israel Sponsors NCSY Mini-Golf & Pizza Event by MARY BORT Beth Israel Synagogue Beth Israel’s National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) will gather on Sunday, May 22, 2 p.m., for an afternoon of miniature golf and pizza. This free event is open to everyone in fifth-12th grade, regardless of synagogue affiliation. “This is our last local NCSY event of the school year,” explained Beth Israel’s NCSY Advisor, Joey Shyken. “It’s a great chance for the group to get together to do something really fun before summer begins. “We’ll all meet at Beth Israel at 2 p.m.

and then drive over to Boulder Creek to play mini-golf. After our ‘round of 18 holes,’ we’ll head back to the synagogue at around 3:30 or 4 p.m. for pizza and pop,” he added. Shyken emphasized that while the event is free, RSVPs are required for planning purposes. “We need to know how many people will attend in order to make appropriate ride arrangements, as well as for making sure we have enough pizza for everyone,” he said. To RSVP, please call the Beth Israel office, 556.6288, or e-mail Shyken at NCSY@OrthodoxOmaha.

FATIGUE EASILY FRACTURED BONES ●

DELAYED GROWTH ENLARGED SPLEEN AND LIVE R ●

The consequences of this disorder can be debilitating. For more information on Gaucher disease, treatment, and testing, contact your doctor or please call and ask for Information Packet 9. RGD/US/P145/01/04

1-800-745-4447 www.genzyme.com

Page 8

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 20, 2005

Chabad Wields Influence in Europe

ENGAGEMENT COPLAND/LERNER Gary and Cheryl Lerner announce the engagement of their son, Michael Todd Lerner, to Jennifer Lynne Copland, daughter of Faye and Michael Copland of Houston, TX. Michael is also the son of the late Doreen Joy Lerner. The bride-to-be is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Corporate Communications with a Business Foundation Certificate. She is currently employed as a Sales Coordinator for Food & Wine Magazine. She is the granddaughter of Ruth and

David Hoff of Midland, TX, and the late Lester and Anne Copland of Houston. Her fiancé is the grandson of Ethel and Jerome Lerner of St. Louis, MO, and the late Pearl and Herman Figler. He is a graduate of the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Business Administration in MIS. He will complete a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Chicago in March 2006 and is currently employed by the University’s Executive Education Department. The couple will be married in the spring of 2006 in Houston.

IN THE NEWS The Arthritis Foundation, Nebraska Chapter has named long time volunteer Deenie Meyerson as its 2005 Woman of the Year. Meyerson will be honored at the 32nd Annual Woman of the Year Gala on Sept. 13 at the Hilton Omaha. A lifelong Omahan, Meyerson has been a volunteer with the Arthritis Foundation since 1978. She has served on the Nebraska Chapter’s Board of Directors, the National Arthritis Foundation’s Board of Trustees, and was chairman of the Woman of the Year Gala in 1978. She has received the National Arthritis Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award and the Nebraska Chapter’s Founder’s Award. A dedicated community volunteer, Meyerson has served on the boards of CHAD, Greater Omaha Council on Youth Leadership, Lutheran Health Service Foundation, Children’s Hospital and the Hidden Heroes of the Holocaust.

Additionally, she has chaired events for the Nebraska AIDS Project, Joslyn Art Museum, Richard Young Hospital, Jewish Federation of Omaha, Ike Friedman Community Health Plaza and the Bemis Center for Performing Arts. Meyerson is married to Larry Meyerson. They have four children and eight grandchildren. For more information, call Suzanne Rogert at the Arthritis Foundation, Nebraska Chapter, 330.6130. Dr. Brent J. Passer has recently accepted a faculty position at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. He will teach and do research in the Department of Oral Medicine, Immunity and Infectious Diseases. Previously, Dr. Passer was with the National Institute of Health, Cancer Center, in Washington, D.C. More recently, he was with the cancer center in Paris, France. Brent is married to Elsa Levy of Paris, France, and they have a one-year-old daughter, Eva Rose. Brent is the son of Allen and Maxine Passer.

Continued from page 1 The words “Chabad” or “Lubavitch” do not appear on any doors in the building, nor are they used on the letterhead of the Rabbinical Center or the community center. In early 2004, the word “Chabad” was removed from the masthead of the center’s Web site. “I want to make it clear that the RCE is not a Chabad institution,” says the center’s director, Rabbi Moshe Garelik. “Chabad helped us at the beginning with things like the Web site, but some of our supporters would not feel comfortable with the RCE as a Chabad organization.” It is clear, however, that both the Rabbinical Center and the European Jewish Community Center were created as Chabad institutions and are still so considered by Chabad headquarters in Brooklyn. The official Web site of Chabad-Lubavitch lists the Rabbinical Center as one of the movement’s institutions in Brussels. And Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, the New York-based development director for Chabad’s international emissary network, says Garelik was placed in Brussels by his organization. Some Jewish organizations in Europe criticize the center’s use of the acronym RCE, the same three letters, albeit in a different order, as those used by the continent’s pre-existing Orthodox rabbinical group, the Conference of European Rabbis. However, Margolin says that his group’s choice of name reflects its pluralist approach. “In order to make sure there is no mistake about our willingness to help any and all we decided to indicate that in our name,” he explained in an email. Other Jewish leaders feel there’s more behind it, suggesting that Chabad wants to present themselves as the primary representative of the Jewish people. “I’d want them to say that they are really Chabad in order not to mix up terms,” says Rabbi Avraham Guigui, chief rabbi of Belgium’s Consistoire, an umbrella organization.

In what looks like a further effort to distance itself from its Chabad connection, the European Jewish Community Center does not use its last initial in its logo, referring to itself as the “EJC.” These are the same initials used by the European Jewish Congress, the longestablished umbrella body representing 38 national Jewish communities across Europe. “We will certainly be confronting Chabad about this issue,” says Cobi Benatoff, president of the European Jewish Congress. “This way of misleading people is not the Jewish way.” Currently, the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, works on a political level only with the European Jewish Congress and the Conference of European Rabbis. Some Jewish leaders fear that the Rabbinical Center and the Chabad rabbis it represents are trying to change that, and to present themselves as the officially recognized Jewish community of Europe. It’s not just Jewish communal leaders who are concerned. Last year Ricardo Levi, then-director of the Group of Policy Advisers to the president of the European Commission and the staffer who personally handled Jewish-related issues for the commission, suggested that the Conference of European Rabbis open a Brussels office in order to counteract the Rabbinical Center’s influence among European legislators and officials. Levi’s initiative came amid concern in the European Commission over the close ties between the Rabbinical Center and Russian President Vladimir Putin. E.U. officials have also said they are uncomfortable with the idea of European Jewish communities being represented in Brussels solely by a fervently Orthodox group. WHAT ARE THEY DOING IN BRUSSELS? Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, the Brooklynbased administrative head of the international Chabad-Lubavitch movement, says that Garelik’s principal role “was and is to Continued on page 9

Congratulate Your Graduate! The annual Graduation/Father’s Day Issue publishes June 10. Senior photos will run in that issue and we know you’ll want to highlight the achievements of your high school graduate! Congratulatory ads are available in two sizes.

Mazal Tov, Naomi! We are so proud of your achievements– membership in NHS, varsity letter in tennis and a Merit Award from the Band.

A 2x3 $65

Limit of 25 words. Add a photo for just $5 extra! (baby photo, awards night, prom or family photo)

2 column by 3 inches ere Photo h

B 3x4 $100

Mazal Tov, Alex!

3 column by 4 inches

Love, Mom, Dad, brothers, sisters and grandparents

ere Photo h

Great idea! _________ _________ _________ _________ _________

_________ _________ _________ _________

_________ _________ _________ _________

_________ _________ _________ _________

_________ _________ _________ _________

_________ _________ _________ _________

Name __________________________________________ Phone ______________________ Address ____________________________________ City, State and Zip _________________ Ad A ❏ Ad B ❏ Photo enclosed ❏ Check enclosed for $ _________ Send check and photo to The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 by May 27.

We are so proud of your achievements– membership in NHS, varsity letter in tennis and a Merit Award from B.E.S.T.T. Love, Mom, Dad, brothers, sisters and grandparents

May 20, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 9

Chabad Wields Influence in Europe Continued from page 8 Margolin insists the Rabbinical Center doesn’t want to coordinate all the rabbis who are emissaries in West and ruffle feathers. “There are a number of rabbinic and Eastern Europe and bring them together in one coordi- communal organizations on the European continent,” nated group for all necessary rabbinic functions.” he says. “We strive to cooperate and maintain good relaBecause Garelik is in Brussels, however, Krinsky tions with all of them.” added, “he’s also the liaison between the emissaries and FROM EAST TO WEST the E.U. countries.” One of those organizations the Rabbinical Council Margolin confirms that these are the two main func- strives to cooperate with is the Federation of Jewish tions of the Rabbinical Center, which he and Garelik Communities of the Commonwealth of Independent direct. States, a Moscow-centered umbrella group founded in In an e-mail statement to the JTA, Margolin says the 1988 under the leadership of Chabad’s chief rabbi for Rabbinical Center is in Brussels “in order to serve Russia, Berel Lazar. European Jewry’s needs and to facilitate the numerous The federation is by far the dominant Jewish religious requests of rabbis and communities continent-wide.” He force in the former Soviet Union, recognized as the offiadded that the group tries to “work closely with cial voice of local Jewry by the heads of most countries European Union institutions on problem-solving and var- in which it is active--most notably by Putin. And some ious aspects of advocacy.” To that end, the rabbinic group states it is involved in such activities as training and dispatching new rabbis; providing cantors, shochets and mohels to local communities; providing a Beit Din and rendering decisions on halacha, or Jewish law; and assisting with funerals, mikvaot, and other ritual needs. The Rabbinical Center’s energetic on the appearance European scene comes at a time when the worldwide Chabad movement is going through its own During a 2002 event at the European Parliament in Brussels, European officials look at a internal turmoil. The Rabbinical Center of Europe map showing European cities that have public menorah displays. Credit: Chabad.org checks and balances that the late Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel senior European Jewish leaders fear Chabad is trying to Schneerson, personally exerted over his emissaries have do the same thing in Western Europe. largely dissipated in the decade since his death, leaving Early last year in Vienna, the Rabbinical Center honthe playing field wide open to those emissaries who have ored former European Commission President Romano the skills and drive to assert their own agendas. Prodi with a humanitarian award. The award came just A whole new cadre of young, savvy Chabad emissaries weeks after the European Jewish Congress and its New has come of age, men like Garelik and Rabbi Levi York-based parent body, the World Jewish Congress, Matusof, director of the European Jewish Community accused Prodi in London’s Financial Times of not being tough enough on anti-Semitism. Center, who move easily in political circles. Chabad rabbis from across Europe attended Prodi’s Matusof, still in his twenties and fluent in English and French, spends much of his time lobbying European award ceremony, and were presented by the Rabbinical lawmakers and commissioners for political recognition, Center as the senior Jewish religious heads in their though he says that his principal duty is to serve the reli- respective countries--countries which, in some cases, had gious needs of the Jewish staffers at the European other, officially recognized chief rabbis. The Rabbinical Center tries to boost the status of Commission. The son of the Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in Cannes Chabad rabbis in various countries by bestowing honors in the south of France, Matusof works closely with on those countries’ political leaders, but the opposite is Garelik, himself the son of a prominent Chabad rabbi in also true: The center pays back political leaders who support Chabad. Milan, Italy. One of the first examples of this occurred prior to a This generational change has led to a discrepancy between the largely cordial relationships that the older, key E.U-Russia summit in Brussels in 2002, where Lazar established Chabad rabbis maintained with the more praised Putin’s relations with the Russian Jewish commainstream and established European Jewish Congress munity at a meeting the Rabbinical Center arranged and the Conference of European Rabbis, and the readi- with Prodi at the European Commission. Similarly, in December 2004, just days before the ness of some of the younger, newer rabbis to rock the European Union prepared to debate possible candidacy communal boat. Such is the case in Austria, where Chabad Rabbi Jacob status for Turkey, the Rabbinical Center held a key Biderman is trying to secure government recognition of meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayiip his own Jewish community alongside the pre-existing Erdogan in Brussels where they called for speeded-up official Jewish community. If he succeeds, it will be the candidacy for Turkish membership in the European first time in Austrian history that two official Jewish Union. LOOKING AHEAD communities exist. Last December in Strasbourg, the European Jewish Biderman maintains close ties with Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, in contrast to the Community Center held its Chanukah candle-lighting stormy relationship between Schuessel and Ariel ceremony in the European Parliament. As dozens of European lawmakers and their assistants Muzicant, leader of Austria’s official Jewish community. Many feel the latter animosity is fueled by Muzicant’s gathered in front of the menorah, Rabbi Shmuel persistent demands for increased security for Jewish Samama, director of Strasbourg’s Chabad House, was introduced to the legislators by Matusof as “rabbi of the communal institutions. Biderman has a more nuanced approach to the ques- Strasbourg Jewish community.” No mention was made of the dozen or so other rabbis tion of anti-Semitism in Europe--as do many Chabad rabbis. This has contributed to their popularity with working today in Strasbourg, including the official chief some European political leaders, who are not fond of rabbi of Bas Rhin, the French region in which Jews who always remind them of the Holocaust, who Strasbourg is situated. Watching alongside was the event’s co-organizer and push anti-Semitism in their faces. Chabad, on the other hand, appears to work smoothly with them, invites them Samama’s son, Rabbi Menachem Samama. He noted to parties, hands out prizes, and seems to have a bot- that today, much of the on-the-ground work with European political leaders is being done by young tomless supply of overseas funding. These battles between the Rabbinical Center and Chabad rabbis like himself. “We’re young and we have the time and the energy,” mainstream Jewish organizations in Europe have become particularly acute during the past year. Most Samama said. “When you’re young like us, you want to specifically, the center has a troubled relationship with change the world.’’ Next week: Chabad’s history in Europe. the Conference of European Rabbis.

Group & Corporate Rates

Newly Renovated ®

❖ Free Local Calls ❖ Exercise Room in Hotel ❖ FREE Deluxe ❖ Continental Breakfast ❖ 7 Days • 6-10 a.m.

❖ FREE HBO, CNN, ESPN, WGN ❖ and TNT ❖ In-Room Movies Available ❖ Beautiful Guest Rooms for Bat/ ❖ Bat Mitzvah & Wedding Guests

Hampton Inn 9720 West Center Road • Westroads • 391-5300

Galaxy

Entertainment Great Music & More for:

Weddings • Anniversaries • School Events & Dances B’nai Mitzvahs • Private Parties • Corporate Functions 8610 Brentwood Drive • Omaha, NE 68128 glxyent@aol.com 402.884.0806 www.galaxydjs.com

MOVING? Please give us the following information: Name ________________________________________________ Old Address __________________________________________ City, State, Zip _________________________________________ (Or attach your mailing label)

Name ________________________________________________ New Address __________________________________________ City, State, Zip _________________________________________ New Phone ___________________________________________ Effective Date _________________________________________ If moving out of town, please check one: ❏ Discontinue Press ❏ Bill Me ❏ Full-time College Student ❏ “Snowbird” date of return _____________ Mail this coupon 3 weeks in advance to:

The Jewish Press 333 South 132nd Street Omaha, NE 68154 or see page 20 for email address and Fax number

Financial Success Starts With A Sound Financial Plan “Let’s Get Your Planning Started Today.”

Photo (optional)

Joseph M John, CLU, ChFC Name Financial FinancialPlanner Planner CA State Insurance Agent License # Pruco Securities 1234 Main Street Registered Representative Anytown, State 00000 440 Regency (000) 000-0000Pkwy., Suite 150 Omaha, NE 68114 402/926-2850

A Plan To Get You Where You Want To Go For: ncial Plan Personal Fina Jane Doe

Prepared by: John ph M me Jose Na

l Financia

Planner

Your comprehensive financial plan comes with a complete analysis of your situation, insights to improve your progress toward your financial goals and recommended steps to guide you toward those goals.

We’ll zero in on your goals. With rigorous financial analysis, we can get a clear picture of your situation and help make an accurate assessment of your needs.

We’ll craft a sound strategy focused on clear financial goals. After our consultations, you’ll have a thoughtful, thorough financial plan for a reasonable fee which outlines steps to help you: • • • • • •

Determine your net worth Finance your children’s education Fund your retirement Develop a tax-deferral strategy Determine appropriate investment vehicles Minimize excess estate taxes

We’ll work together to make adjustments along the way. Whenever your needs change, I’ll be ready to help you make the right adjustments.

Call me today for an initial planning consultation.

Financial planning and investment advisory services offered through Prudential Financial Planning Services (PFPS), a division of Pruco Securities Corporation, 751 Broad Street, Newark, NJ 07102, a Prudential Financial company. Prudential Financial, its affiliates, and their financial professionals do not render tax or legal advice. Be sure to consult with your own tax and legal advisors about your personal circumstances. IFS-A045256 Ed. 7/2003

Page 10

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 20, 2005

Creating a New Career from a 30-year Passion, Former Omahan Now Assists Thousands of Global Genealogists and, after a flurry of emails, tried to link them to his research using conventional methods (paper documents, archival records), which proved unsuccessful and frustrating. After reading about the Cohanim Project (a DNA study on descendants of Moses’s brother Aaron) and its coauthor Dr. Michael Hammer of the University of Arizona, Bennett persuaded Hammer to test samples from a group of people, including a known cousin in California and a possibly-related Buenos Aires man – they matched. How does this work? To make a long story very short, all males have a Y-chromosome, receiving the Y and their surname from their father, who received them from his father and so on, back through time, meaning that males make great genetic reconstruction candidates; women don’t have Y-chromosomes and thus cannot take a Y-DNA test. In April 2000, Bennett formed Family Tree DNA (www.familytreedna.com) to provide the same help for other genealogists. It was the first commercial venture to handle genetic genealogy, or as Bennett terms it, anthrogenealogy. Hammer’s Tucson lab performs testing under stringent confidentiality protocols. In the beginning, only a few test kits were mailed each day; today, some 50 go out around the world. In 2003, 8,500 kits went out; in 2004, 13,000. The kit includes a scraper to gather cells from the inside of the cheek, to be popped into a tube and mailed back. Each kit includes two scrapers and two tubes for a single test; one is a backup. FTDNA doesn’t do medical or paternity testing or look for criminals. What genetic genealogy does is to help researchers find out if they are related--or not--to others sharing the same name, or even completely different names. It isn’t magic, however, and if you’re hoping to pull your complete family tree back to Adam and Eve, neatly entered on a handy-dandy ready-for-framing chart from a test-tube, like a rabbit from a magician’s hat, you’ll be disappointed. Bennett’s innovation, however, does mean that researchers can certainly add to their knowledge. Scientists around the world share data and make rapid advances possible, and his company, as the pioneer, is at the cutting edge of technology, providing enhancements and refinements that keeps the others on their collective toes. How useful is anthrogenealogy? A good analogy is the advent of personal computers and the Internet. Who among us really thought these new inventions would amount to much when we first learned about them? Yet, today, we can barely function without them. In the future, researchers may begin with a DNA test before setting off on a traditional quest. His company, says Greenspan, has the largest Jewish comparative database in the world, with records for Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Levites and Kohanim--a boon for Jewish genealogists who obviously want to compare results with other Jewish participants. However, it also includes Native Americans and other groups. The ability to make comparisons, to make connections among individuals has resulted in an increase in Surname Projects, sometimes called One Name Studies. Some 1,600 such projects, 10,000 unique surnames and 30,000 Y-DNA records are now databased, growing almost daily. Surname Projects are formed to confirm or dispel vari-

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? by SCHELLY TALALAY DARDASHTI Houston resident and genealogy enthusiast Bennett Greenspan is the product of old-time Omaha families. His parents, Bud and Rosalie (Garrup) Greenspan, were born to families who arrived in the 1890s (Bud’s) and 1911 (Rosalie’s). “Why the families went straight to Omaha as a first stop right off the boat and train, no one knows,� says Bennett, adding that “several relatives were beef cutters, and Omaha had quite an industry then.� “I had a grandmother who lived in Omaha, and a great-aunt, Berta Stern, who was from Hungary, who loved to relate stories of growing up in Europe,� he adds. The Greenspans are longtime members of Temple Israel, where Bennett became a bar mitzvah in 1965. As befits a future genealogist, his favorite school classes were history and geography at Harrison and Dr. Bennett Greenspan Swanson Grade Schools and Arbor Heights Junior High School. Graduating from Westside HS ’70, where Bill Nelson mentored him in history and political science, he went on to major in political science at the University of Texas ’74. AZA played a big part in his life, and most of his high school friends were members of Chaim Weizmann Chapter #1510, where Bennett served as vice president and president, as well as Cornbelt regional vice president. “Although I only get back to Omaha every few years,� he says, “I try to see old friends Howard Epstein, Jim Bresel, Gary Rifkin and Bob Wolfson.� Bennett and his wife Robin met in Los Angeles when he was on a non-working hiatus and researching his family genealogy. They have two children, Elliott, a University of Vermont freshman, and Houston junior Brianna. Bennett says he was always the kid who had a family history prepared before a public school or Hebrew school teacher asked the class to do a family project. In 1979, he researched in the Mormon Family History Center in Salt Lake City, and the Federal records center in Bayonne, NJ. That same year, he says, “My ‘genealogy summer’ took me on an extended search for family remnants and villages in Europe.� For most genealogists, success breeds excitement and failure breeds frustration, boredom, or worse. And, like most researchers, he had stopped and resumed his search several times. Holes and dead ends still decorated his charts, but the search would soon take a turn for the better, and not only for his family. By summer 1999, he had been an armchair genealogist for nearly three decades. During that year, Bennett was updating his mother’s father’s line (Nitz); she hadn’t seen most of her cousins for 60 years, as they had moved to California during the Depression. He’d completed this part of his project, and then went to the JewishGen Family Finder (www.jewishgen.org) to see if any other researchers were looking for the unusual name of NITZ. He did find someone in Argentina

ous theories, to verify traditional research, to obtain clues to places of origin. In mid-April, the National Geographic Society announced a global gene project, headed by American geneticist and anthropologist Spencer Wells, to trace human migration in a five-year endeavor partnered with IBM. It will collect 100,000 samples from global indigenous communities, as well as encourage the general public to participate. The partnership selected Family Tree DNA as the testing company for public participation, which will fill in the “blank spaces on the map of mankind,â€? according to Bennett. Both indigenous and public samples will create the world’s largest gene bank. For information on how you can join in, go to: www5.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/faqs.html. Missing identity and hidden children cases are high on Bennett’s personal interest list. Among the cases his company has been involved with are converso/anusim groups. In December 2004, the Los Angeles Times wrote about Rev. William Sanchez in New Mexico, who sent for a testing kit after watching a TV genealogy program. He returned the kit, and was surprised to hear from Bennett, who told him he carried a Semitic fingerprint closely associated with the Cohanim. Sanchez, with a history of “oddâ€? family customs (no pork, an origin in Spain, special slaughtering of animals, hidden menorahs, not working on Saturdays and spinning tops at Christmas) began testing relatives and church congregants in Albuquerque. A group of French Canadians includes non-Jews with Sephardic Jewish names looking for their suspected roots. In 2001, Bennett found that a non-Jew of Russian Orthodox background was a perfect match for his first cousin; one was named Levin, the other LaVine. A “hiddenâ€? Polish man, who learned of his background only recently, has been searching for his birth family. Test results revealed matches with individuals in Israeli databases, research is ongoing. A Holocaust survivor who lost his entire family was reconnected to an American branch, and other families have reconnected after almost a century. None of this should surprise those who remember the Cheddar Man discovery several years ago in the UK. A 9,000-year-old skeleton’s DNA matched a young school teacher some 300 generations down the line. While DNA testing is not a replacement for old fashioned nitty-gritty research, genetic testing is a new tool to aid the modern genealogist. Although some experts say DNA results may be better than paper--because human beings make mistakes when writing--others are wary of DNA for family research and worry about what might happen to samples. Nothing replaces the paper trail, of course, for serious researchers, but DNA testing helps when papers are missing, when a generation’s links are lost or when a unique and rare name pops up in places around the world, raising the question as to whether they are all related ‌ or not. And we owe it all to Bennett Greenspan from Omaha. For more information on genetic genealogy, or anthrogenealogy, go to www.familytreedna.com. Schelly Dardashti is a freelance writer based in Israel. She specializes in Jewish genealogy and can be reached at: dardasht@013.net.

A Presenter of Note in Our Community for 114 Years.

Season tickets on sale now 4 concerts $9500 before May 31, 2005 &RXQW RQ DIIRUGDEOH FDUHHU RSWLRQV IURP 0HWUR &RPPXQLW\ &ROOHJH

5HJLVWHU QRZ IRU FODVVHV

Anna Christy Soprano

Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005 • 7:30PM Witherspoon Concert Hall, Joslyn Art Museum 2200 Dodge St.

Alexandra Troussova & Kirill Troussov Piano & Violin

Tuesday, April 4, 2006 • 7:30PM Holland Performing Arts Center 13th & Douglas

Awadagin Pratt Eugenia Zukerman & Zuill Bailey Flute

Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005 • 7:30PM Holland Performing Arts Center 13th & Douglas

Piano & Cello

Tuesday Musical P.O. Box 6132 Omaha, NE 68106-0132

Tuesday, April 25, 2006 • 7:30PM For additional information, please call Holland Performing Arts Center 13th & Douglas

402-551-2234

‡ 2YHU RXWVWDQGLQJ GHJUHHV DQG VKRUW WHUP WUDLQLQJ RSWLRQV ‡ &UHGLWV WUDQVIHU WR RWKHU FROOHJHV DQG XQLYHUVLWLHV ‡ )LYH FRQYHQLHQW ORFDWLRQV PHWUR ZLGH ‡ )LQDQFLDO DLG DQG VFKRODUVKLSV DYDLODEOH ‡ )OH[LEOH GD\ HYHQLQJ DQG RQOLQH FODVVHV ‡ $QG DIIRUGDEOH WXLWLRQ PDNHV 0HWUR D *5($7 YDOXH &DOO FOLFN RU FRPH LQ WRGD\ &ODVVHV EHJLQ -XQH WK

May 20, 2005

Omaha Native Filmmaker Takes on James Dean in Her New PBS Documentary by LEO ADAM BIGA Like other pop culture icons whose lives were cut short, acting legend James Dean is a transcendent figure. On the strength of only three starring films, he indelibly stamped himself as the epitome of cool and the embodiment of youthful angst. Emblematic of his most famous film, Rebel Without a Cause, and of his own broken childhood, he is the perpetual outsider of our imagination. A restless soul. Androgynous. Seductive. Always running, yearning, racing. Forever young and free. His death at age 24 in a Sept. 30, 1955 car crash on California Route 466 while en route to an auto race cemented his enduring image as the enigmatic wanderer. Omaha native Gail Levin, a New York-based, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, takes a fresh approach to his oft-told story in her new documentary, James Dean: Sense Memories, which premiered May 11 on PBS in the American Masters series. Levin’s uses on-camera comments by Dean intimates, rare stills and movie excerpts to examine how close the three starring roles he played--in East of Eden, Rebel and Giant--were to his real self. Her focus on the art imitating life aspects of Dean and his dedication to craft reveal a deeper understanding of the artist and man. “There’s been a ton of stuff that’s been done, and a lot of it is very tawdry,” she said, “which is really never where I wanted to go with this film. I really wanted the point for this film to be that his art and life were so close. Because he was so raw, it allowed him to inhabit these characters and to live those feelings and yet to have that one degree of separation that maybe made it less painful somehow. Although I think he lived that pain in his life, too. And then there was his exceptional collaboration with three directors of enormous stature and his truly good work for them. I think that is...often overlooked in telling the Dean story.” Dean is among many noted artists Levin’s profiled in her 30-plus-year career. With Sense Memories, the Central High graduate’s made an impressionistic film evocative of what made Dean the Beat poet among his acting generation and a style setter over the years. Director Mark Rydell (On Golden Pond), once a struggling young actor with Dean in New York, says in the film, “It was so clear that he was a special person. Every moment that you spent with him you knew you were with an original. Strange and peculiar and arresting -you couldn’t take your eyes off him.” Sense Memories is fixed in that time and place when Dean emerged, like Elvis, as a new breed. Actor Martin Landau, a crony of Dean’s in the ‘50s, describes how Dean personified the existential modern man--“a different kind of animal...that represented unrest and dissatisfaction with the status quo.” In sketching his life to a John Faddis jazz score and a black and white visual motif, Levin’s crafted a mood piece eloquent of an age of anxiety and possibility and devoid of cliche and gossip. The title, Sense Memories, refers to the enigmatic portrait painted of Dean by his friends’ recollections and to the Method Acting technique he presumably employed to elicit his extraordinary range of emotions on screen. “It’s Rashomon. It’s just people’s memories, and some of them jive with each other and some of them don’t,” she said. “It’s meant to be interpretive. It’s not meant to be in any way a chronology. It’s not meant to be a biography. It’s just meant to evoke him from the experiences and memories of people who really knew him.” As Levin’s film reveals, Dean embraced life the way a method actor tackles a role, living in the moment and shaping the rhythm of his external self to the driving riffs

CAFE

BAR

LUNCH: MONDAY-FRIDAY 11:00-2:00

DINNER: MONDAY-FRIDAY 4:30 -ON

OUTDOOR DINING PRIVATE PARTY ROOM CATERING AVAILABLE

inside him. Entertainer Eartha Kitt recalls she and Dean hanging out: “We’d sit on the street benches on Hollywood and Vine and watch the night people. ‘That’s where we get our characters,’ he said.” That close observation and deep curiosity is what great artists have in common. It’s what allowed Dean to submerge himself in character and to imbue himself so fully in it that his work rung authentic and fresh, as if happening for the first time. A student of human behavior, he applied research and technique to his process and then let his instincts take over. “He was becoming one of America’s greatest actors,” Kitt says. “He instinctively knew what to do with a character because his spirit was free. It was quite interesting the way he went about it-methodically and then unmethodically.” Perhaps the dichotomy of Dean is best articulated by actress Lois Smith, who played opposite him in Eden and recalls “a sweet rustic person, but on the other hand there was this suspicious, taut, guarded young man-and both of them seemed always present and, of course, that’s a thrilling tension.” Separated from his mother at age nine, when she died of cancer, and spurned by his father, Dean acted out the demons of his loss and neglect in the parts he played. In East of Eden, Cal Trask’s sense of parental abandonment mirrors Dean’s. In Rebel, Jim Stark craves a strong father figure in the same way Dean craved one, too. In Giant, Jett Rink is the quintessential wildcatter in the same way said Dean brandished “a completely independent attitude” toward work and life. Ultimately, what makes Dean still fascinating is what Levin calls a “timeless” quality. “You look at him in those films and in every shot he looks totally modern. With his shabby yet seductive good looks, you might as well be looking at Brad Pitt or Colin Farrell. That great Times Square picture where he walks in the rain, cigarette in mouth, and coat collar turned up--my God, it just doesn’t get any better than that. It’s a perfect picture to me. It’s everything black and white photography should do. It’s full of atmosphere and contrast, lights and darks and varying shades of gray, and then there’s THIS guy. It’s informed the look of my films.” The maker of that image, Magnum shooter Dennis Stock, planted the seed for the Dean film when he told her: “‘It’s going to be the 50th anniversary, and we should do something.’ So, in a sense,” Levin said, “this project has completed a circle.” Levin, who studied filmmaking back east, has “the good fortune” to helm “hugely impassioned projects” on diverse subjects. All require research. Some entail travel. For The Tall Ship Lindo (1980), she and her crew accompanied a group of young mariners on a trans-Atlantic voyage aboard a vintage schooner. For Harvard: A Video Portrait, she went behind-the-scenes at the hallowed institution. For Making the Misfits, her 2002 take on the remarkable confluence of talents and egos (Monroe, Miller, Huston, Gable, Clift) that came together to shoot the 1961 classic film, The Misfits, Levin and her DP, Dewald Aukema, filmed at its Nevada locales. For Sense Memories, she went to Marfa, TX, where Giant was shot, and to that barren California spot where Dean’s flaming life ended and golden-hued legend began. Her film opens quietly there, with a gentle pan across the desert highway, lingering at the two-pump filling station that was his last stop. Desert and traffic noises rise. An engine revs. Some jazz licks come in. It’s a haunting, muted elegy for a bright spirit dimmed too soon, but still holding us entranced in a warm after-glow. “I loved making this film,” she said. “It felt very true to me to make this one.”

Out

Dining

DELI

True Italian Food 402.391.2585 Rockbrook Village 108th and West Center Road 101027 Prairie Brook Road Omaha, NE 68144 www.PastaAmore.net

When you patronize these fine establishments, tell them you saw their ad in the Jewish Press.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

LUNCH SPECIALS R O Mexican Food SEÑ S •Serving Fajitas • Tacos A • Enchiladas • Tamales î T A M Full American Menu 90th & Arbor 391-0191

Fax: 391-1086 Mon-Sat 11am-1am Sun 4pm-9pm Locally Owned & Operated

• Sea Food • Steaks •Prime Rib • BBQ Ribs • Chicken Childrens Menu Available Party Room Available

Trovato’s Steaks and Italian Cuisine Finest Homemade Italian Cooking Open 7 days a week

5013 Underwood (6 Blocks North of 50th & Dodge)

556-9505

AT YOUR SERVICE C AT E R I N G F O R A L L Y O U R N E E D S formerly Siegler’s Catering Service, Inc.

Paul Pleskach is the new owner and native Omahan Graduate of New England Culinary Institute Worked with Chef Bill Telepan at Judson Grill in New York Worked at The Four Seasons, the number one hotel in the United States Call us. We are eager to help you with all your catering decisions. 10737 MOCKINGBIRD DRIVE OMAHA, NE 68127 • 402/339-1410

MEDITERRANEAN Bndistroine Bar a W Casual Dining in a Bistro Atmosphere Dine-In,Take-Out & Catering Bar & Bat Mitzvah Parties

OPEN SUNDAYS LUNCH: Mon-Fri,11-2:30 DINNER:Tue-Sun,Open at 5 p.m.

Reservations Accepted

1712 North 120th St. 493-3080

• Hand Stretched • NY Style • Pizza • Most Bountiful • Toppings Dine-In or We Deliver Downtown

Catch The Best Pizza

• 7834 W. Dodge Road • 13463 W. Center Road • 1213 Howard St. (Old Market)

344-2222

Dine-In, Carry-Out, 1/2 Baked Pies Available

Page 12

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 20, 2005

Impressions of Poland, 60 Years Later

Photos from top left: The Rama Synagogue in Krakow, so named for the Rama--Rabbi Moshe Isserles, buried in the cemetery next to it, where 500-year-old graves are located; shoes of Jews killed at Majdanek, outside Lublin, are stored in wire bins in one of the

barracks, where the concentration camp is preserved 60 years after the war. Beth Seldin Dotan reads exerpts of a newly found diary from the Warsaw Ghetto to Judy Brantz, Marti Rosen-Atherton and Gloria Kaslow; Oskar Schindler’s factory in Krakow;

March of the Living groups recited kaddish at a memorial at Majdanek which contains the ashes of tens of thousands of Jews killed there; Howard and Gloria Kaslow visited Old Town in Warsaw, where 16 years after the fall of communism a building boom is under-

way; the Soviet-era monument to victims killed at Placzow, outside Krakow; a memorial in the Warsaw Ghetto commemorates educator Janucz Korczak, who calmly accompanied his students to the gas chamPhotos by Gloria & Howard Kaslow. bers.

May 20, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 13

Senior Life A

Jewish Press Special

Complete coverage for your financial future. There are times in life when you could really use expert financial advice. For more than 145 years, Northwestern Mutual and its products have quietly earned a most enviable reputation. Today, only Northwestern Mutual Financial Network representatives can offer access to its life insurance products, plus the technical know-how of specialists in an array of financial services areas. Isn’t it time you had a Quiet Conversation™ with Rob A. Randels? Call today for a free, no-obligation consultation.

Our Alzheimer’s care begins with what’s been forgotten. Each senior has a history that makes them a unique individual. At Brighton Gardens, our approach to Alzheimer’s care begins with understanding the stories and details of a senior’s life. Knowing our residents better means we can help them attain what we call “pleasant days” by finding activities they can enjoy and be successful at. We do this in specially designed surroundings that are both safe and nurturing, where who they are is never forgotten. Visit or call Brighton Gardens of Omaha, a Sunrise Senior Living community, for more information about how we care for seniors with memory impairment.

Rob A. Randels MBA, ChFC, CFP® Investment Specialist Northwestern Mutual Financial Network of Nebraska Embassy Tower, Suite 500 9300 Underwood Avenue Omaha, NE 68114 • (402) 390-8271 rob.randels@nmfn.com www.nmfn.com/robrandels 05-2057 © 2004 Northwestern Mutual. Agent, The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, WI. Securities offered through Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (NMIS), member NASD and SIPC. NMIS is an affiliate of Northwestern Mutual. Northwestern Mutual Financial Network is the marketing name for the sales and distribution arm of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates, including Northwestern Mutual Financial Network of Nebraska. Northwestern Mutual and Northwestern Mutual Financial Network of Nebraska are not registered investment advisors or registered broker-dealers. 4044-157

Call Molly or Jennifer today, for a personal tour or to find out more about our upcoming events.

Brighton Gardens of Omaha • 9220 Western Avenue • Omaha

402-393-7313 Assisted Living

•

Alzheimer’s Care

•

Nursing & Rehabilitative Care

www.sunriseseniorliving.com

Page 14

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 20, 2005

FREE 30 MINUTE TELEPHONE COACHING SESSION “Barbara’s coaching will help you reach your goals in 2005; her enthusiasm is contagious.”

• Career • Money • Organization • Relationships

• Health • Retirement • Life Balance • Self Confidence

Barbara Pocras Kenyon, M.Ed. Business and Personal Coach CALL TODAY TO SCHEDULE YOUR FREE SESSION

402-423-2678 Kenyon Coaching Service Barbara@KenyonCoaching.com www.kenyoncoaching.com Member of the International Coach Federation

Hearing Test Set for Omaha

Free hearing tests are being offered in Omaha on Monday, May 23 through Friday, May 27. Factory trained Beltone Hearing Aid Specialists (licensed by the State of Nebraska) will perform the free tests. The tests will be given at the Beltone Audiology & Hearing Aid Centers listed below. Walk-ins are welcome, appointments are preferred and can be made by calling the office of your choice. Everyone who has trouble hearing is welcome to have a test using the latest electronic equipment to determine if they have a correctable hearing loss. Everyone should have a hearing test at least once a year if there is any trouble at all hearing clearly. Most hearing problems gradually get worse. An annual test will help keep track of a progressive loss. No hearing problem of any consequence should ever be ignored. We will also be giving service on all makes and models of hearing aids. Call for an appointment to avoid waiting. The benefits of hearing aids vary by type and degree of hearing loss, noise environment, accuracy of hearing evaluation, and proper fit.

OMAHA WEST 8313 Cass St. 391-0811

OMAHA CENTRAL 5026 Grover St. 346-1131

Better Hearing Through Professional Care

Special Offer from Lifeline by JOYCE BUSH For the remainder of this month and all of June, Immanuel Health Systems is offering free installation on Lifeline, a service that enables seniors to live independently and confidently in their own homes. The offer, which represents a savings of $45, ends June 30. With Lifeline, elderly residents can remain in their own homes with: • help at the touch of a button (waterproof, too); • 24-hour professional and friendly monitering personnel; • installation performed within 24-48 hours of your call; • peace of mind for caregivers and family; • optional reminder service available; • two-way voice communication; • remote answering capability, which allows a resident at home to answer phone calls merely by pressing his or her help button on Lifeline; • no limit on the number of signals, allowing the resident more social contact. This offer will make a perfect gift for Father’s Day, too. Call 402.829.3277 or 800.676.9449 and take advantage of this opportunity to save as well as ensure your elderly family members can continue to stay in their own homes--safely. Why wait? Lifeline is a service of Immanuel Health Systems.

Jewish Press Notice The Press office will be closed Monday, May 30, for Memorial Day, and Monday and Tuesday, June 13-14, for the holiday of Shavuot. Deadlines are at noon as follows: Issue Deadline Wednesday, May 25 June 3 Wednesday, June 8 June 17

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a Bubbe by LAURIE APPLEBAUM on the occasion of the 90th birthday of her grandmother, Frieda Krizelman When I grow up, though I’m almost there, I want to be a Bubbe with silver white hair. We have Nanas, Grandmas and Nannys galore, But where are all the Bubbes, those women of valor? I remember those horsey rides with Bubbe on all fours; Giddy-up, we’d holler, don’t stop; we want more! She taught us the nut game on the basement stairs And she bought us our first playdough; she had no cares. Bubbe’s basement of treasures entertained us through the tears; we all loved the piano and bar, and those couches with the steers. Passover around the ping-pong table was always a treat; Bubbe’s farfel cupcakes and sponge cakes couldn’t be beat. Then we moved away to Houston and said goodbye to her sad face But she visited us often, bringing steaks in her suitcase! At 90, my Bubbe is still a mover and shaker; She’s as friedly as can be, no matter where I take her. Bubbe is a true of definition what a Bubbe should be... And when I grow up, though I’m almost there, I can’t wait to be like my Bubbe-but I think I’ll keep my red Frieda Krizelman and her granddaughter hair!

Laurie Applebaum

Ways to Make a Senior’s Life More Enjoyable part of the family; by MOLLY VANMOORLEGHEM • five scheduled activities per day including exercise and At Brighton Gardens we offer Assisted Living, Alzheimer’s care and Skilled Nursing care. Our mission is “to champion the social gatherings; quality of life for all seniors”. Our resident-centered approach to • Wellness visits with residents once a month by a nurse; senior living along with more choices is the foundation of a rich• Bistro that contains snacks and beverages. er, fulfilling life for our residents including: Our innovative approach to dementia and Alzheimer’s Care • Beautifully landscaped courtyards and gardens begins with understanding the stories and details of a senior’s • Fine cuisine life so we can help them attain what we call “pleasant days”. • Engaging activities, various social and educational pro- This means finding ways to involve residents in everyday activigrams, outings ties they enjoy and can feel successful at, in specially designed • Housekeeping service, including personal laundry surroundings that are both safe and nurturing. • Scheduled transportation and more! Our skilled nursing care promotes the emotional health and In our Assisted Living, we focus on wellness and keeping res- physical well being of seniors recovering from an illness, hospiidents as independent as possible by providing a tailored plan talization or even changes in medications. Our goal is to restore of assistance and care. each senior to his or her highest level of confidence, ability and We have an abundance of ways to make a senior’s life more independence. enjoyable along with many unique factors that sets us apart The decision you make about senior living is an important from other Assisted Living communities: one for the entire family. At Brighton Gardens, our commitment • Compassionate staff selected especially for their dedica- to seniors helps them live life with dignity and on their terms. tion to serving seniors; For more information, please contact Jennifer or me at • Pet friendly environment where resident dogs and cats are 402.393.7313 or visit us at www.sunriseseniorliving.com. PAID ADVERTISEMENTS

!" #$% &

' *

( ! +

" )

( #

!

"

May 20, 2005

Couple’s Book Speaks to Growing Up Jewish in Omaha by ANDREA GROSS began, Mother Pearl and Jerry Gross would put my sister and me recently hosted a celebrainto our old tory book-signing for Studebaker their privately-produced touring car and memoir, Two Lives, One Love. “It was quite an we’d head down experience looking back to Fontenelle Boulevard and over 88 years,” says Jerry. Lake Street. Much of the 200-plus page book contains vivid Pearl and Jerry Gross are surrounded by There was a descriptions of growing younger family members as they sign copies woman down up Jewish during the of their memoir, Two Lives, One Love; Jamie there who kept 1920s and ‘30s. Jerry Rice, left, Pearl Gross, Kyle Rice, Dana Rice, a cow in her writes that religion wasn’t Zach Spooner, and Jerry Gross. backyard so a separate part of life like it often is today. we’d take along a big bucket with a cover Instead, “it was part of who we were and and wait while the woman milked the what we did. Our parents didn’t know cow into that bucket. I don’t know what any other way to live.” it was about that cow that made his milk “Every Saturday after sundown we approved for Pesach!” went down to the Jewish neighborhood The 200-plus page book provided suraround 24th and Charles, where Grandpa prising bits of information for the couMushkin had his kosher meat market. ple’s children and grandchildren. I We’d go into the backroom where he had thought I knew my parents. But when I a big, oval copper washtub and a double actually sat down to interview them, I gas burner, and he’d be standing there found there was a lot I didn’t know, espeboiling briskets with seasoning to make cially about the Jewish traditions in their corned beef. Boy, that smelled so good! childhood homes. We’d go in there and he’d take his old The experience of hearing my parents’ fork, pull out a brisket and cut us off a tales inspired this professional journalist, great big hot hunk. It tasted good! to change her career. After spending 10 “Passover was a big deal for our family. years with Ladies’ Home Journal and About a month before Pesach, the matza writing for many other major publicaman would come ‘round to our house tions including Time magazine and the He’d sit down at the kitchen table with Washington Post, my husband and I startmother and take her order. How many ed a Denver-based business, Legacy boxes of matza did she need? How much Prose. We now work full time helping matza meal for matza ball soup and people in all parts of the United States baked goods? Then a couple of weeks create Word Portraits, a combination life later he’d bring it around. story and family history, like the one we “Finally, the day or so before Passover did for the senior Grosses.

One Bedroom/Two Bedroom Units Available 402-390-9991

Call us for a tour today!

Bloomfield Forum

9804 Nicholas St. Omaha, NE 68114

A Partner with University of Nebraska Medical Center

Omaha’s Independent Senior Living Specialists email: BFMarketing@Bloom.omhcox.mail.com

Discount Meds of Canada Save 30% to 60% off the price of the brand name medications you depend on every day NO MEMBERSHIP FEES NO HIDDEN COSTS 100% RELIABLE SERVICE AND FOLLOW-UP CONTACT US DAY OR NIGHT JAY BINDER or ED SHERMAN 1-888-862-2111 (Toll Free Phone) 1-888-295-0990 (Toll Free Fax)

SHIPPED DIRECTLY TO YOU IN SAFETY SEALED PACKAGING

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 15

Personal Stories Sought for New Book: Wisdom of the Bubbes and Zaydes by DIANA DREW The blessing of a long life usually confers wisdom on a person. Now Jewish educator Debra W. Smith is compiling a book of poignant, humorous, insightful and touching stories by people ages 55 to 120. Titles Wisdom of the Bubbes and Zaydes: Pirkei Avot for the 21st Century, the book will incorporate short essays, as well as poems. Smith, Director of the Jewish education Association’s Hirschhorn Senior Adult Education Program of Metro West in New Jersey, also leads a special “Sacred Aging” program for older Jewish adults. Part of the Union of Reform Judaism’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns, Sacred Aging will culminate in participants writing their own spiritual autobiographies.

As the adult lay religious leader at the Lester Senior Housing Community in Whippany, NJ, Smith noted that many seniors have gained wisdom as a result of surviving and drawing lessons from such lifechaning events as the Great Depression, World War II, the Holocaust, and the loss of people dear to them. No entry for the book is too short, but the maximum word count is 500 words. In order to be consider, submissions should be sent to Smith via e-mail at: bubbesandzaydes@yahoo.com. Include your name, street or mailing addres, telelphone number and e-mail address, plus a three-sentence description about your profession, family information, etc. For more information, call Smith at: 908.850.8037.

It’s Never Too Late to be What You Might Have Been by BARBARA KENYON So you think the speed of light is fast. How about the speed of life? It's like the blink of an eye. Is it too late to be what you might have been? Life Coaches say no, absolutely not. A retired stock broker took up piano at the age of 78. A 65 year old school teacher lost 40 pounds. She feels and looks great. An 80-yearold business man has a new wife and a new life. Take a moment now and do some pretending. In your imagination think of one unfulfilled dream that you once had. Think of something you wanted to be or do and for some reason your life took a different direction. Now in your imagination pretend that your dream is fulfilled; it is yours. What do you see? What do you hear? How do you feel? What small step can you now take to move toward what you really want? Can you make it happen? Of course you

can. Just think about your personal and business strengths. You have many positive things going for you. At any age we only use a small fraction of our potential. Remember the old saying, “Life begins at 40? Life also begins at 50, 60, 70, and 80. Life begins whenever you choose to reinvent yourself and live the life of your dreams. It really is never too late to be what you might have been. Life Coaches work with success-minded people who want to achieve their personal and professional goals faster than going it alone. A Life Coach will partner with you, help you believe you can succeed, help you create a strategy to make it happen, and encourage you every step of the way. Kenyon Coaching Service is committed to helping people develop a passionate sense of what is possible. Visit the website at www.KenyonCoaching.com.

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

Page 16

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 20, 2005

New Van and SUV Give JSS More Options for Seniors by RITA SHELLEY for Jewish Senior Services In a given year, Jewish Senior Services drivers Dale Layton and Gary Larson log the equivalent of three trips each to Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. They drive 18,000 miles a year, yet they rarely leave Omaha. As drivers for Jewish Senior Services, Dale and Gary are responsible for vital links between seniors and such essentials as medical appointhomements, delivered kosher meals, and community activities. Now, thanks to the continuing generosity of the National Council of Jewish Women Omaha Section and the League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly (L.O.V.E.), Jewish Senior Services can offer even better service. L.O.V.E. and NCJW are funding a major upgrade of the JSS transportation fleet. According to JSS transportation coordinator Eileen Schellhardt, these purchases will greatly increase options for meeting the transportation requirements of current programs and services. • L.O.V.E is purchasing a new sport utility vehicle for JSS that will answer a pressing need--allowing Gary to safely deliver kosher meals during bad weather. • A new mini-van being purchased by

NCJW will be easier to maneuver in hospital and office parking lots, more fuel efficient, and a more appropriate size for its primary use: driving one or two people at a time to doctor appointments. • NCJW also is paying for changes in the 14-passenger bus that the organization purchased for $45,000 in the late 90s. When the bus was purchased, spaces for two wheelchairs were adequate but now space for a many as four wheelchairs at a time are needed and will be available. In 1989, NCJW also donated nearly $34,000 toward the purchase of two vans. “The focus of Jewish Senior Services is, and always has been, quality of life. We are committed to meeting the needs of Omaha’s Jewish seniors, whether they live indep e n d e n t l y, stay at the Home for a short time, or need round-the-clock nursing care for extended periods of time,” said Mike Silverman, Executive Director of JSS and the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. “Having safe, appropriate and comfortable transportion available is vital, and we would not be able to do this without the incredible generosity and support of L.O.V.E. and NCJW.”

Long-Term Care Planning Preserves Freedom of Choice Tomorrow by ROB A. RANDELS, CFP®, MBA, ChFC Senior Investment Specialist Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Living into your early 70s used to be common; now, increasingly more people are living into their 80’s and 90’s. Improved medical care combined with better nutrition and a more active lifestyle tend to result in longer and healthier lives. While it is encouraging, an extended life brings with it the increased likelihood of experiencing a long-term illness. To effectively preserve our dignity and freedom of choice tomorrow means carefully considering our options today. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, actor Michael J. Fox and boxing legend Muhammad Ali remind us that life altering events can occur at any age. In the end, how well you protect your assets could have much to do with the future happiness and material security of your family. Long-term care refers to a broad range of services available to individuals who have lost some level of independence and need help with daily activities that most healthy people take for granted. This necessary assistance is often the result of a chronic illness–one in which modern medical science has developed treatments but no cures. Arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease are two common chronic illnesses. It’s important to know that rehabilitative medical care due to acute conditions is different from long-term care. When medical care is the result of an acute, or short-term, medical condition (e.g., hip replacements, strokes, or cancer), a hospital stay is often necessary to help stabilize the condition. If patients have not made a full recovery, they are normally discharged to the care of a nursing facility, or to the supervision of professional home care. With these types of conditions, Medicare (for qualifying individuals) or private-pay health insurance will usually pay for rehabilitative

care. There is no single way to identify when or if someone will need long-term care. Every case is different due to the type of illness or injury, who can provide the necessary care, and the financial resources available. However, understanding the types of illnesses and injuries that create the need for longterm care is important. A chronically ill individual generally has either a physical or a cognitive impairment: Physical impairment Activities of daily living (ADLs) are the most common measurement for physical ability. Most of us take these activities for granted. When assistance is needed with ADLs, some individuals may simply require that a health care practitioner remain within arm’s reach to ensure that the activity is completed safely. This is referred to as standby assistance. As the care recipient’s needs increase, someone may be needed to physically assist with completing the required activity. Cognitive impairment When a cognitive impairment exists, individuals are frequently able to complete the physical activities but may not remember how or when to complete them. Common examples of a cognitive impairment are Alzheimer’s disease, senility, or dementia. Today’s long-term care insurance policies offer freedom of choice when it’s needed most and at a fraction of the cost compared with paying out-of-pocket. Randalls is a Financial Representative with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. He is licensed and appointed to sell long-term care insurance for Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Co., Milwaukee, WI, a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual. He can be reached at: 402.390.8271. PAID ADVERTISEMENT

Thank you, L.O.V.E! For Your Purchase of a New Utility Vehicle for our use One of the many things you do, year after year, for Omaha’s Jewish Seniors

• •

•

Thank you, NCJW!

For the new van For upgrade of the bus you purchased for us in 1998, and For your donations toward purchase of two vans in 1989

You Get Us Where We Need to Go

May 20, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 17

Memoirs of My Mom by GLORIA SHUKERT-JONES My mother, Miriam Glochowsky Shukert, was born in 1913 in a tiny village in Ukraine, pronounced, “Zvenigarovka”. This is a phonetic spelling of a community so small it isn’t even on the map. She was the youngest of eight children born to Harry and Goldie Glochowsky. The family was originally aristocratic and well-to-do, receiving immunity from Czarist oppression of Jews in exchange for my grandfather’s background in military strategics. In actuality, his loyalties were with counter-revolutionists, planning to overthrow Czar Nicolai, so the story goes. I can’t attest to its authenticity, as there is no formal documentation, only folklore. But knowing the integrity of this family, I can only suspect that if duplicity was required of my maternal grandfather, it must certainly have gone against his principles. However, in those turbulent times, people did whatever was necessary for survival.

My mom’s other great love was cooking. She could turn a simple meal into a gourmet feast. Nobody could make chicken soup, apple pie or chocolate-chip cookies like my mother. She specialized in Jewish dishes like borscht, kugel, kreplach, chopped liver, gefilte fish, and potato latkes. She never followed a recipe, but had a “feel” for measurements and ingredients. Often times she would make up her own dishes, so popular among her family and friends, they became her trademarks. Friends would actually invite themselves to dinner. Mother was a petite lady with fair skin, blue eyes and fine features. Her hair, originally brunette, gradually turned to silvery-white. Her personality was generally upbeat, but she was outspoken, and at times, feisty. There were occasions when I felt she could see right through me. She was a no-nonsense type, and you didn’t dare try any shenanigans. My mother’s life for the most part, was beset by tragedies. She had lost all her siblings, her parents and

my father by the time I was grown, and she suffered a number of health problems in later life. After my father died, mom worked at GoldsteinChapman’s downtown. She liked to get together with friends, bowl and play bingo. She did yard work and maintenance around the apartment building my parents owned, and carried sacks of groceries home from a neighborhood store several blocks away, as she never learned to drive. Mom lived to be 84, and I consider myself fortunate to have had her that long. Ten years have passed since she died, and still I catch myself going to the phone to share important news with her. It’s difficult to forget the person who has known me the longest--even before I was born. I always loved my mother, but I can’t remember actually telling her in so many words. It would have made her happy. Even though it’s too late to speak to her in person, I like to think that somehow she knows.

YOU DO HAVE ACHOICE! WE HOPE YOU CHOOSE WISELY.

Mary Shukert dances with her son, Michael at a 1969 wedPhoto courtesy of Gloria Shukert Jones ding reception. The Glochowskys were eventually driven out by the Bolsheviks, all their worldly possessions stolen or destroyed, and they were relegated to living in poverty under the constant threat of the pogroms. The scenario was quite similar to that of Fiddler on the Roof, where occupants of Anetevka were forced to flee their homes. My mother’s father and brothers obtained visas to the United States, one brother emigrated to Cuba, and my father and another brother settled in Omaha. My maternal grandfather established a small grocery store next to the house in which he lived, on 31st and ‘R’ St. Meanwhile, my grandmother and her three daughters, Bertha, Mollie and Miriam, escaped from their village in a horse-drawn cart, first to Bremen, Germany, and then to Southhampton, England, and from there, sailed the Atlantic in steerage, to join the family in Omaha. Mother spent her first few days in this country on Ellis Island, undergoing clearance procedures. My mother was ten years old when she came here, and spoke only Russian and Yiddish. She started kindergarten at that age, quickly learned English, and eventually graduated from the eighth grade. She became a naturalized citizen through her father. Although she had a limited education, she was very bright and intuitive. Her friends helped her become more Americanized, and she was known as “Mary” from then on. She worked in the office at Paxton and Gallagher prior to marrying my father. My earliest recollection of my mother was her beautiful soprano voice. She serenaded me when I was a small child. She sang while doing housework, often accompanying the radio. In the days when milk was delivered to the back porch, one morning the milkman happened to overhear mother’s rendition of “God Bless America”. He stood entranced for several minutes outside the screen door, until mom looked up and saw him. Flustered, she stopped on a high note. “That was very nice,” the milkman said. “Kate Smith herself could never have sung that song as well. Do continue.” But mom, not one to seek an audience, was too self-conscious to finish. Because of mother’s love of vocal music, my brother and I grew up in a contagiously tuneful environment. Before we knew it, we were singing along with her. If she didn’t know all the lyrics, she would make them up, or simply hum. Those were happy times.

T

he best choice for the finest home care is St. Joseph Villa Homecare & Hospice ... a name you can trust. St. Joseph Villa’s superior professional and supportive services are brought to you in the comfort of your home by a compassionate, concerned staff. Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Rehabilitation Specialists and Social Workers create our multi-disciplinary team. Choose your home care wisely... choose St. Joseph Villa Homecare & Hospice.

❏ I want to make a wise choice. Please send more information.

JP

Name _________________________________________ Address _______________________________________ City ______________________ State _____ Zip _______ Phone (

) ___________________________________ Please complete and return to St. Joseph Villa Homecare & Hospice 3035 S. 72nd St., Omaha, NE 68124

St. Joseph Villa Homecare & Hospice • 3035 S. 72nd St., Omaha, NE 38124 • 926-4444

• Skilled Nursing Care • Patient Care Coordination • Home Health Aide Services • Medical Social Work • Physical, Occupational & Speech Therapies • Hospice • Home Infusion Services • Dimensia/Alzheimer’s Care • Cardiopulmonary Care • Mental Health Services • Nutritional Services • Wound Care • HomMed© Home Health Monitoring System • Health Watch Personal Response System • & Mediacation Administration System

Page 18

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 20, 2005

Care Consultants for the Aging ® Since 1991

Home Care at its Best A Registry Providing Companions, Home Health Aides, Nurses Aides and Nurses Affordable rates with no minimum hours Omaha 398-1848

Lincoln 488-3771

7701 Pacific, Suite 100

6211 “O”, Suite “B”

EYE ESSENTIALS We make a difference in the way you view the world. • 8111 Dodge Medical Center • Suite 140 • 354-8195 • 8111 Dodge Medical Center • Suite 331 • 354-8175 (Contact Lens Dept.)

Hearing Loss: the Invisible Problem

A Handshake Leads to Help for the Disabled

by MARSHA JOHNS for Boys Town National Research Hospital Did you know that over 14 million Americans, have some type of hearing loss? More people are affected by hearing loss than heart disease, cancer, and kidney disease combined. Because HL is invisible, often gradual, and many associate it with aging, it is one of the least admitted problems. That is unfortunate because help is available to assist individuals with hearing loss to hear and understand better with greater comfort. To meet the needs of adults and children with hearing loss, Boys Town National Research Hospital (BTNRH) opened the Hearing Aid Technology Center, a hearing instrument dispensing service. The Center is staffed by Audiologists with extensive experience in hearing evaluation and the fitting of amplification devices. BTNRH is known for its research in hearing loss and hearing aids. The Center’s utilizes the most current research and the latest technology. Do you suspect you or a family member might have a hearing problem? Do you • have trouble understanding in noisy places or groups? • feel that people mumble? • frequently misunderstand in conversation? • need to ask people to repeat? • turn up the radio or TV louder? Most people with hearing loss can be helped with hearing aids. Hearing aids available today have increasingly sophisticated features and capabilities including: • Digital signal processing to provide clear, undistorted sound • Directional microphones to improve hearing and understanding in background noise • Noise reduction circuits to improve comfort in high noise situations • Feedback controls to reduce or eliminate hearing aid whistling • A wide variety of styles and costs If you or family members have a hearing problem, see your audiologist to identify the degree and type of loss and discuss options available for each person’s unique needs.

by STACEY NORTON Administrative Assistant, Mobility Motoring After having two parents that were dependent upon a wheelchair, Mark Zach knew first hand the issues facing people in need of adaptive equipment. He felt that a person with a disability should receive some type of “evaluation” before purchasing a vehicle, ensuring it will meet their needs, saving a lot of disappointment later. This is how the Mobility Motoring Department started in 1991 with a handshake between Jeff Schrier and Mark Zach. Jeff Schrier Ford Mobility Motoring can show you a full line of vehicles already equipped to help the driver with a disability. We assist our customers from beginning to end--from financing to service--long after the sale; there is even a wheelchair accessible van available to rent. Our lenders offer 10-year financing or special finance rates to help keep payments low, and we work closely with many organizations such as the Veterans Administration, Vocational Rehabilitation and Insurance Companies for funding assistance. Following are important questions addressed with our free evaluation: To Drive, Ask Yourself These Questions: • Can I handle the stress of driving? • Will I need special modifications to operate a vehicle? • Will I be able to transfer from my scooter or wheelchair to a driver seat? To Be A Passenger, Ask Yourself These Questions: • Will I be able to transfer to a car or van seat, or will I have to remain in my wheelchair? • Will I be able to have good visibility if I remain in my wheelchair? • How will someone put my wheelchair or scooter in the vehicle for me? Do I Want A Car, Minivan, Or Full Size Van? Too often, people go to the local auto dealership and buy what they think will fit their needs or what a salesperson recommends. Suggestions from a driver evaluator or adaptive equipment specialist could save you a lot of headaches, time and money. A word to the wise: Try before you buy! Before purchasing, check out two things: • Financial Assistance, and • Cost of the Vehicle. For more information, call 402.896.6000 or 1.800.367.3880 or visit our website: www.mobilitymotoring.com.

• 16120 West Dodge Road • Health West • 354-0670

The Blues are good for you!

PAID ADVERTISEMENTS

• 4242 Farnam St. • Dr.’s Building Suite 141 • 558-8961

www.bcbsne.com

Discover the Sounds Around You Does this sound familiar?

• “I can’t hear my grandchildren.” • “I miss things at services.” • “I hear, but I don’t understand.”

There are many options when choosing hearing aids. The Hearing Aid Center at Boys Town National Research Hospital offers a large selection of hearing aids from all major manufacturers. Let our highly trained audiologists help you make the right choice.

Boys Town National Research Hospital

A not-for-profit mutual insurance company and an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Hearing Aid Center

555 North 30th Street • Omaha, Nebraska • 498-6520

All of this...without leaving home! ■ Whirlpool/Spa ■ 150-seat Theatre ■ Computer Room ■ Serenity Massage ■ Luxurious Dining ■ City Bank & Trust ■ Studio in the Pines Salon ■ Via Van Bloom Travel Agency ■ Stockwell Gift Shop/Pharmacy

Meet some of our residents Leo Hill, Charlotte Orloff & Dr. Sam Lipkin

■ State-of-the-Art Fitness Center

lcome e W Retirement Living at its Best e to... m o H ✓ No Buy-Ins ✓ No Entrance Fee ✓ Month to Month Rental

Dwelling units include features for persons with disabilities

at WILLIAMSBURG VILLAGE 3900 Pine Lake Road • Lincoln, NE • 402/420-9900 www.savannahpines.net

May 20, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 19

New Books Tell Story of G.I.s Held as German POWs in WWII by JOANNE PALMER NEW YORK (JTA)--Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1944 and taken prisoner in Germany soon before the end of World War II, Norman Fellman didn’t know much about the way the Nazis were treating Jews. He had heard that “there had been discrimination, and I might have heard of Kristallnacht, but we had no idea” of the extent of the murderous rage directed at the Jews, Fellman, who is Jewish, told JTA in a recent interview. But “certainly we felt that as American prisoners, we would not be treated the way they were.” He was soon to learn that though the Germans treated no one well, they didn’t share Fellman’s belief that his American identity trumped his Jewishness. Fellman, who was 20 when he was drafted, was one of 350 American G.I.s-- Jews, non-Jews the Germans thought were Jewish, troublemakers and even some random prisoners taken to fill the barracks-who were sent to Berga, a concentration camp about 60 miles from Buchenwald. Their story is told in two new books, Soldiers and Slaves by Roger Cohen and Given Up for Dead by Flint Whitlock, (both available in the Kripke Library). Fellman was sent to Europe in December 1944, Europe’s “coldest winter in memory.” Defending a hill near the Rhine River, his company lost contact with its battalion. After six days of fighting, five days after running out of food and about to run out of ammunition, members of the company destroyed their weapons and surrendered. The prisoners were herded onto a boxcar originally designed to hold 40 men or eight horses. “These cars had been used to move cat-

tle, and hadn’t been cleaned,” he said. “These were the same cars that were used to take Jews to death camps.” Each car was packed with 60 or 70 men and the doors were closed, not to be reopened for four or five days. The low-ranking prisoners, including Fellman, were taken to a camp called Stalag 9B in the town of Bad Ohr, later said to be one of the harshest of the prison camps. A few weeks after their arrival, the prisoners were herded into the center of the camp, and any Jews among them were asked to step forward. Some Jews had thrown away their dogtags, which were marked with a telltale “H” for Hebrew, and American prisoners assigned to do the paperwork when prisoners entered the camp “logged everyone in as Protestant,” Fellman said. But Fellman didn’t want to hide who he was. “I don’t know if it was more pride than brains or whatever, but I had determined to step forward,” Fellman said. Also, he said, there had been “a couple of signs of anti-Semitism in my own company. I didn’t want anyone to get so hungry or so desperate that he would turn me in.” In February 1945, the men, including 80 Jews, were packed onto another cattle car and sent to Berga. They had to walk past a camp that housed civilian prisoners from Buchenwald. “These guys in striped pajamas were the skinniest human beings I’d ever seen in my life,” Fellman said. “They didn’t make a sound. It was deathly quiet. They just stared at us. The guys were just watching us. It haunts me still.” In Berga, the prisoners had to dynamite a hole through a mountain for an underground manufacturing facility. “You went in before the dust settled.

Leaving nothing to chance I live life on my terms Following my interests Enjoying each day Living with dignity In the home that I love Now more than ever Embracing life

Fellman was lucky. He was at the top of The Germans had masks but you had nothing,” Fellman said. “If you didn’t the heap. Another soldier died with his work fast enough, you got hit. If you head in Fellman’s lap. And then, “one morning we looked looked at one of them cross-eyed, you got hit. If the guy guarding you,” an SS man, around and there were no guards. And then I looked over the crest of the road “didn’t feel good, you got hit.” Rubble was loaded onto open-sided and there was an American tank with some G.I.s,” he said. “They were the best-lookgondolas and dumped into the river. The American prisoners “couldn’t fight ing ugly guys I ever saw.” Sent to an overcrowded Paris hospital, anymore, but we sure as hell could mess up,” Fellman said. “We found that if you Fellman was put in the hall. “People would look at me and I’d see put the lighter pieces of rock on the opposite side of the gondola, when you flipped horror in their eyes,” he said. “I hadn’t the switch the cart would go into the river. realized how bad I looked until I saw it in When that happened the Germans would their eyes.” He survived, he said, because he had go absolutely nuts. “Then everybody in the place got beat,” been in prime physical condition when he he recalled. “But you got beaten anyway, was taken prisoner. He had gone to Germany weighing 178 so it didn’t seem to matter. pounds but was down to 86 We didn’t want them to be pounds when he was liberathappy.” ed. “We worked 12-hour shifts. Fellman has gone on to We didn’t talk,” Fellman conhave a good life. He retired tinued. “Guys were dying. after many years in the shoe We lost 40 or so men in the business and, with his wife, tunnels.” Ruth, bought a farm in New In April, as the war in Jersey’s horse country. Europe ended, the men were His life is filled with their sent out of the camp on a grandchildren, children, death march. “One morning when I got Norman Fellman in his army family, friends, Arabian horsup I found that my leg had uniform. When Fellman was es, dogs and love. But he blown up and swollen to the drafted in 1944, he had no started telling his story just point that it burst my boot,” idea that he could end up in a 10 years ago, and he still Fellman said. His lice bites German concentration camp. finds it hard to retain his had become infected, and he Courtesy of Norman Fellman composure as he talks. Though Fellman is not fond of organwas in the first stage of gangrene. Unlike civilians, who were shot when ized religion, he is deeply Jewish. “A refrain used to go through my head,” they could not keep up, POWs were heaped onto a cart that could safely hold he said. “It’s from the camps. I’m a Jew nine or 10 people. The Germans would born and a Jew bred, and when I die, I’ll throw on 25 to 30, and “invariably any- be a Jew dead.’’ body on the bottom would suffocate.”

g i n y o j En ard w e r e h t . e i m t e f i l a of

Remington Heights Retirement Community exclusively offers: Beautiful Environment... includes library, activities center, beauty and barber shop, exercise room and much more.

Professional Services... providing weekly housekeeping and laundry, dietician and nutrition services, activities, transportation and more.

Assisted Living Service... assistance with activities of daily living provided on site.

Affordable Retirement... all services included in one low monthly rental.

A Service of Immanuel Health Systems 6801 N. 67th Plaza Omaha, NE 68152 (402)829-3277 (800)676-9449

Peace of Mind...

12606 West Dodge Road Omaha,NE 68154

(402) 493-5807

Remington Height’s 24-hour staff emergency call system means assistance is just seconds away.

Page 20

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 20, 2005

Happy Birthday, Israel In celebrating Israel’s 57th anniversary Sunday, the Jewish community of Omaha first commemorated the lives lost in securing statehood with a Yom HaZikaron ceremony, a remembrance of the lives lost in all the wars and terrorism Israel has faced since 1948. We wish we could state categorically that peace is now at hand since the death of Palestinian Authoriity Chairman Yasser Arafat and the election of Mahmoud Abbas as his successor. But just last Friday, here’s what Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris, a paid employee of the PA, said: “With the establishment of the state of Israel, the entire Islamic nation was lost, because Israel is a cancer spreading through the body of the Islamic nation, and because the Jews are a virus resembling AIDS, from which the entire world suffers. “You will find that the Jews were behind all the civil strife in this world. The Jews are behind the suffering of the nations...The Jews will not enjoy a life of tranquility under our rule, because they are treacherous by nature, as they have been throughout history. “The day will come when everything will be relieved of the Jews--even the stones and trees which were harmed by them. Listen to the Prophet Muhammad, who tells you about the evil end that awaits Jews. The stones and trees will want the Muslims to finish off every Jew.” Where is Abbas’ condemnation of this perfidy? Where is the outrage of the world about these anti-Semitic statements? Has nothing changed since World War II and the Holocaust? Apparently not. Just like 60 years ago, the world stands idly by, nations ignore eye-witness testimony, and the Jews, once again, are stereotyped as money-grubbing carriers of disease, the cause of all the world’s ills. Having just returned from the March of the Living in Poland, Gloria Kaslow remarked, “I keep coming back to the shoes in Majdanek,

(Founded in 1920)

the seemingly endless bin after bin, but especially the comment our guide made, ‘All over the world there have been children without shoes, but in Majdanek there were shoes without children.’” Dov Greenberg, writes in www.meaningfullife.com, “Elie Wiesel was once asked whether the world learned anything from the Holocaust. Wiesel, a man who lost most of his family in Auschwitz, responded, ‘Yes, that you can get away with it.’ “If Wiesel is right--and the international fury released against the Jewish state in recent years seems to confirm his words--then for us Jews the lesson must be the exact opposite: Never again will anybody get away with it! And that means first and foremost that Israel must be strong.” For us in Omaha, that means we must continue our support of Israel. And we can do that in a variety of ways: • Give to the Federation’s Annual campaign, where about one-third of your donation will go directly to social service agencies in Israel and in places like the former Soviet Union to help Jews in need; • Subscribe to Israeli periodicals like the Jerusalem Report and the Jerusalem Post to get the ‘real’ news about what’s happening in the Jewish state, not the CNN version; • Keep abreast of bias in the media by subscribing to HonestReporting.com, a nonprofit service that publicizes errors in news stories and bias in editorials in print, on tv

and radio and on websites, MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) and IMRA (Independent Media Review and Analysis), which translate the Arab press; • Send a gift subscription to this newspaperfor your children--or parents--as the Jewish Press may be the only source of Jewish news they would receive (see details at right on how to subscribe); • Plan a trip to Israel--either on your own, through Jewish National Fund or any of the other certified tour groups or by joining one of many missions sponsored every month by United Jewish Communities (go to ujc.org or jewishomaha.org and click on missions); • Support the Great Plains Region of the Anti-Defamation League, which not only tracks acts of anti-Semitism, but educates Jews and non-Jews alike about the Holocaust, Israel and diversity--and which boasts a remarkable educational outreach vehicle in its Institute for Holocaust Education. Happy birthday, Israel--may you and we all be around to celebrate your 58th, 59th, 60th...!

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Committee, the Jewish Federation of Omaha 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 a Constitutional Committee of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, noon, 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.

Business as Usual in the Palestinian Authority

BEHIND THE H EADLINES by DANIEL PIPES Yasser Arafat’s demise in November excited great hopes among those who saw his malign personality as the main reason for Palestinian intransigence. But those of us who saw the problem as larger than Arafat--as resulting, rather, from the deep radicalization of the Palestinian body politic--expected little change. Indeed, I wrote at the time of Mahmoud Abbas’ election to head the Palestinian Authority (PA) that, “he is potentially a far more formidable enemy to Israel” than was Arafat. How do things look a half year after Arafat’s death? About as awful as anyone might have expected. Specifically, Abbas is unambiguously leading the Palestinians to war after the Israeli retreat from Gaza in August 2005. Consider some recent developments. • Hiring terrorists as soldiers: Rather than arrest terrorists, as required by the informal February 2005 cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians, Abbas has instituted a unique employment program for them, incorporating them into his security forces. The Associated Press explains the charming point system to determine who gets what rank: “A high school diploma…is worth eight points, while a year in an Israeli prison or on the run counts for two points each. Gunmen don’t get credit for time served in Palestinian lockups, but they win extra points if they were wounded by Israeli army fire or had their homes demolished.” The Israeli authorities have accepted that even

convicted Palestinian killers carry weapons. • Arming terrorists: The Palestinian military intelligence agency facilitates terrorist groups smuggling SA-7 Strela shoulder-fired missiles into Gaza to use against Israeli aircraft. • Inciting the population: As Palestinian Media Watch, the Center for Special Studies, and Michael Widlanski have exhaustively detailed, the political speeches, media content, mosque sermons, school textbooks, and wall posters remain as rabidly antiIsrael and antisemitic as during the worst days of Arafat’s rule. For example, Ahmad Qureia, the PA’s so-called prime minister, has threatened “an explosion” over Israel’s handling of Al-Aqsa Mosque. • Pretend arrests of terrorists: As under Arafat, the PA plays the charade of arresting terrorists with fanfare and then allowing them quietly to “escape” from prison. Two examples of these revolving-door arrests: two perpetrators who assisted a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in February 2005 left jail in April; and the Palestinian police arrested their first Hamas terrorist on May 2 but promptly released him one day later. As a result of these steps, Palestinian terrorism, especially coming out of Gaza, has dramatically increased since April. Things have reached such a low point that one analyst, Leslie Susser, finds that the February ceasefire “may be on the verge of collapse.” It is hard to argue with Caroline Glick’s conclusion that the Sharon government and the Bush administration were both “horribly wrong” in betting on Abbas. And yet, neither of them concedes this error because, having stressed Abbas’s good intentions, both now

Joanie Jacobson Chairman Carol Katzman Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper Jewish Press Committee Howard K. Marcus, Vice-Chairman; Bobbi Leibowitz, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Finance Chairman; Steve Simon, Treasurer; Fred Tichauer, Immediate Past-chairman; Jean Duitch; Penny Endelman; Kip Gordman; Stanley Mitchell; George Quittner; Linda Saltzman; Joey Shyken; Michael Siegal; Nancy Skid; and Melany Weinstine. The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Centers of Excellence of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Educational and Library Services, Jewish Family Service, and Jewish Senior Services. The Jewish Press is a constitutional committees of the Jewish Federation.

find themselves deeply invested in the success of his political career. The planned Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in August is likely to precipitate new rounds of violence. One could come in July, as the Israel Defense Forces engages in a massive sweep of Gaza to ensure that the forthcoming retreat takes place not under Palestinian fire. More violence will likely follow in September, as the Palestinians, Gaza now under their belt, begin a new assault on Israel. That round presumably will feature the substantial rocket arsenal that Hamas has been amassing. Israel’s chief of staff, Moshe Ya’alon is on record predicting, “Immediately after the disengagement we can expect a burst of terrorism.” Thus has Ariel Sharon neatly arraigned all the elements for a massive train wreck. Ironically, the one thing that might prevent this scenario from playing out would be a Hamas victory in the Palestinian council elections scheduled for mid-July. Increasing numbers of Israeli voices are calling for the Gaza withdrawal to be postponed or even annulled should Hamas do well, as seems likely. For example, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has said if Hamas wins the elections, it would be “unreasonable” to implement the disengagement plan and allow Hamas to create a “Hamas-stan” in Gaza. So, there are many possibilities in the next four months. Their common element is that by September, the Arab-Israeli theater will be in yet worse shape than it is today. Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum. This article derives from a longer analysis in the current issue of the Middle East Quarterly and can be found at: www.meforum.org/article/702. Pipes can

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 $31 per calendar year U.S.; $35 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. 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or e-mail to: jpress@jewishomaha. org.

Nebraska Press Association

National Newspaper Association

May 20, 2005

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 21

One Family’s Service to Israel

JOURNAL ENTRY FROM ISRAEL by TEDDY WEINBERGER Avraham Levy is one of the earlymorning regulars at Givat Ze’ev’s pool. He makes friends easily, learns your name quickly, and gets newcomers to feel welcome. This is the story of Avraham Levy’s family’s service to the State of Israel. The story begins in 1927 with the difficult, illegal immigration of Avraham’s parents Eliyahu and Sarah (along with their one-year-old child Shabtai) from Amidea, Iraq, through Syria to Jerusalem. Eliyahu worked as a painter and then (with a partner) opened his own moving business. Sarah had her hands full at home. In all, she was to have thirteen pregnancies that yielded 10 children, eight of whom survived childhood. Avraham Levy was born in 1935. In 1948, his brother Shabtai was killed, fighting in Israel’s War of Independence. One year to the day after Shabtai’s death, Sarah gave birth to another son. His name: Shabtai. Avraham was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces in 1953. A few months into his service he was shot in his right leg when a bullet accidentally escaped from a comrade’s gun. It was a serious injury and Avraham almost lost his leg. Half a year later, when he was released from the military convalescent home, he resumed his army service, completing active duty in 1956. Avraham was in the reserves for the next 30 years as part of the Canon Corps. He fought in the 1956 Sinai War, in the 1967 Six Day War, and in the 1973 Yom Kippur War he was mobilized for almost half a year. Avraham looks back on his reserve duty with much fondness: “You’re with your buddies. No work to worry about, no family responsibilities, just your buddies.” For his living, Avraham worked for Osem, Israel’s food giant. He began in Osem in 1950 at the age of 15, and after his active military service went back to Osem in 1956, first as a driver, and then, beginning in 1962

and until his retirement in 2000, as a salesman. Avraham originally met his wife Zilpa through his sister Carmela (interesting aside: Carmela was also named after a sibling, in this case one of Eliyahu and Sarah’s babies who died in infancy). Zilpa and Avraham were married in 1962, and in a departure from their own respective Orthodox parents, they established for themselves a “traditional” home (in practical terms, the equivalent of an American Conservative family). In 1964, Zilpa gave birth to Eyal, now an economist working in the high-tech field, married and father of two. Eyal’s active military duty coincided with the Lebanon War. His job was to deliver ammunition to other tanks. It was dangerous duty, as any hit on Eyal’s

As we commemorated Israel’s fallen on Israel’s Memorial Day and celebrated Israel’s independence, the following words from one Israeli named Avraham Levy can serve as good as any: “I believe tthere is a God in Heaven. I believe that there is Divine Providence. I believe that the Jewish people is forever. You have to pay for everything. Everything has a price...” own tank would have exploded everything. Eyal received a citation for his bravery. Eyal at 41 still does reserve duty (sometimes Avraham jokes with him: “tell your commanders that they’ve forgotten to call me up.”). Yaniv, Avraham and Zilpa’s second child, was born in 1971. As a result of a “friend’s” childhood Purim prank, Yaniv was severely burned. He was hospitalized for more than six months, underwent repeated skin grafts and had permanent scars on his legs and walked with a limp. With a 42% disability designation, Yaniv could have been released from all military duties, but he was adamant about serving. He ended up in one of the armys’ most elite units and was part of its vast support team (Yaniv’s field was electronics). On July 6, 1992, Yaniv was killed in a gun accident.

Postal Service Releases Stamps Honoring Jewish Scientist, Lyricist

BEHIND THE HEADLINES by TOM TUGEND LOS ANGELES (JTA)--The U.S. Postal Service is issuing commemorative stamps this month honoring a brilliant 20th-century Jewish scientist, physicist Richard Feynman, and a stellar Jewish lyricist, E.Y. “Yip” Harburg. Feynman, a free-spirited scientist, musician, linguist and bon vivant, shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to quantum electrodynamics. A native of Far Rockaway, NY, Feynman helped develop the atomic bomb during World War II while still in his 20s. For nearly 30 years, he was a professor at the California Institute of Technology --known as Caltech--where he was equally famed for his path-breaking research and his spellbinding classroom lectures. Barry Barish, a colleague and co-worker, said, “After Einstein, Dick Feynman was perhaps the smartest man of the 20th century.” Feynman, a larger-than-life figure, died in 1988 at 69. He was the subject of the movie Infinity and the play QED. He was slated to be honored in his birthplace on Wednesday. The Far

Rockaway post office will release the stamp bearing his image in a ceremony featuring drumming--one of his favorite pastimes -and readings from his popular works. Caltech will celebrate the stamp issue on May 20 by screening a documentary featuring Feynman and a display of his memorabilia and books, including his popular “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman.” The four-stamp set in the postal American Scientist series also includes mathematician John von Neumann, who was born Jewish but converted to Catholicism, geneticist Barbara McClintock and thermodynamicist Josiah Willard Gibbs. Harburg is being honored in a separate series of stamps for “writing the lyrics to more than 600 songs distinguished by their intelligence, humanity and inventiveness,” according to the citation. Born on New York City’s Lower East Side to Russian Jewish immigrant parents, Harburg is best known for his lyrics to “Cabin in the Sky”, “Bloomer Girl”, “The Wizard of Oz” and “Finian’s Rainbow.” Among his most memorable songs are “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”, “April in Paris” and “It’s Only a Paper Moon.” Each of the 37-cent stamps features a portrait of the honoree and drawings illustrating his or her major contributions.

He is buried in the Mount Herzl military cemetery-about 100 meters from his Uncle Shabtai and 50 meters from his first cousin Elie (Carmela’s son, who was killed fighting on the Golan Heights). Avraham and Zilpa continue to visit Yaniv’s grave several times a month. Avraham and Zilpa’s third child, Liat, was born in 1976. During her army service she was a communications specialist for a fighting unit. After her two years of active duty, Liat signed up for two additional years in the standing army. She recently received her bachelor’s degree in economics and is soon to be married. In the spring of 1974 Avraham and Zilpa flew to New York to celebrate Passover with David, Zilpa’s brother who is a successful jewelry-store owner in Manhattan. During the course of the month-long visit, David made Avraham an offer. He was prepared to stake Avraham with $200,000 in order for Avraham to be able to open his own jewelry store. “If you succeed,” David told Avraham, “you’ll pay me back; if you don’t, it’s my loss.” I asked Avraham if he ever regretted not taking his brother-in-law up on his offer. “Not for a moment,” says Avraham. “I look at it from a Jewish perspective. The Holy Land, the Land of Israel connects me to God. For me, God is in Israel, watching over us. True, God is alive everywhere, but this is God’s home. God is here more than He is in any other place. God rips us apart sometimes, but God knows what He’s doing. It’s true that it hurts when someone gets killed, but if they are killed they are killed for something holy.” As we commemorated Israel’s fallen on Israel’s Memorial Day and celebrated Israel’s independence, the following words from one Israeli named Avraham Levy can serve as good as any: “I believe there is a God in Heaven. I believe that there is Divine Providence. I believe that the Jewish people is forever. You have to pay for everything. Everything has a price. We have to pay so that we will have a better, more secure future. Life is not just about you as an individual. You need to look at things from the perspective of your people.” Teddy Weinberger and his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children made aliyah to Israel and live in Givat Ze’ev. He can be reached at: weinross@netvision.net.il.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the Editor: The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, the umbrella organization for survivors in North America, is asking survivors and their descendants to please contact them by e-mail so that they can be added to the Ben and Vladka Meed registry at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and to the organization’s email list. The organization promises not to sell any lists or to spam people. Contact AmGathTogether@aol.com. Jeanette Friedman To the Editor: A short time ago my nephew decided to look into our family tree. In so doing,

he discovered that my father had a half brother who had a son who became internationally famous. I recall my father mentioning that family’s name--but, of course, we were unaware because my father passed away long before his half brother’s son became so famous. I urge everybody to look into his or her family tree! Who knows what you might encounter. I understand that the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society offers such a service. For more information on how to do your family tree contact the NJHS at 334.6442 or call Harold Abrahamson at 393.1907. Art Jacobson

Page 22

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 20, 2005

Candlelighting Friday, May 20, 8:23 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 nebraskajudaism.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 jewishnebraska.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 Torah Learning Center 1313 No. 58 St. Omaha, NE 68132 553.5397

Tifereth Israel Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 423.8569 www.tiferethlincoln.org

If you’re looking at this space, so are others! YOUR AD CAN GO HERE...

to reserve space, call Allan Handleman, 334.6451.

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m. There will be no services on May 27 or June 3.

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.; Tot Shabbat, 6 p.m. all Jewish families in the community are welcome to participate in the service, featuring kid-friendly stories, music and prayers and an Oneg Shabbat with juice and cookies. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by parents of the seventh and 12th-grade graduating classes; Bat Mitzvah of Rachel Preston, daughter of Sherri and Michael Preston; Evening Service, 8:35 p.m. Sitter Service is available during Friday night and Saturday morning services, on a drop-in basis, at no charge. SUNDAY: Jewish Pot Pourri Class, 10 a.m. Bible Study Class, 11 a.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah class with Cantor Bogomolni, 11 a.m.; “Living Hebrew,” a new, Hebrew intermediate-level course, 11:10 a.m. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sunday, 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.; Weekdays, 6:55 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. WEDNESDAYS: PATTER (Parents & Toddlers, Torah, Exercise, Recreation) with Helen Epstein, 10:45 a.m. THURSDAY, noon: The Most Important People and Ideas of the Hebrew Bible, with Rabbi Levin. COMMUNITY JEWISH SINGLES: All single Jewish adults (ages 45-65) are invited to Beth El on Sunday, May 22, 3:30 p.m. to enjoy “Keeping the Faith.” Call the synagogue for reservations or information. BESTT CHAVERIM PICNIC Our end-of-the-year family picnic for our youth group (grades 46), will be held at Zorinsky Lake on Sunday, May 22, 12:30-2:30 p.m. Join us for lunch and outdoor fun. Call the BESTT office, 498.0904, for more information. RABBI JACK RIEMER, SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE, JUNE 3-5: See complete article on page 3. “BEST OF BETH EL”: As part of the synagogue’s 75th anniversary, the community is invited to this giant musical salute on Thursday, June 9, 7 p.m. See complete article on page 1.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 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: Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Free Babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 10:30 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by the Cohen family, in commemoration of the yahrzeit of Jack E. Cohen; Mincha, 8:30 p.m.; Havdalah, 9:31 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; for NCSY miniature golf and pizza, meet at Beth Israel, 2 p.m.; Contact the synagogue office for Mincha/ Ma’ariv service time. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Contact the synagogue office for Mincha/Ma’ariv service time. TUESDAY: Sisterhood open board meeting and brunch, 11 a.m. No charge for brunch, but reservations are requested to the synagogue office so we can plan accordingly.

BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: All School Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m.

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. FRIDAY: Services, 7 a.m. SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9 a.m.; Services, 9:30 a.m. followed by a Kiddush luncheon. SUNDAY: Services, 8:30 a.m. Mishneh class, 9:30 a.m.; Aleph Champion and Little Scholars Programs, 10 a.m.-noon. WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Halacha, 7 p.m. TUESDAY: Torah for Teens, 4:15 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Kabbalah: Passover: A New Freedom Within, 7 p.m. Programs are open to the community. For information or to register, call the office or visit: www.nebraskajudaism.com.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Rabbi Debbie Stiel will be in Lincoln two weekends a month. Please call her at 402.416.2321 or e-mail: dstiel@everestkc.net to set up appointments. FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Debbie Stiel, with oneg provided by Maria and Dean Cadwallader. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. led by Rabbi Stiel; Game Night/Pot Luck, 6 p.m. This month, we will have an Israeli flair. Bring an Israeli dish to share (American fare is fine, too) and join us for some Israeli dancing led by Stefani Singer. The youth group will participate. SUNDAY: Hebrew School - Last Day of Classes, 9 a.m.-noon.; youth group will take a Mystery Trip immediately following Religious School. Contact Stefani Singer at 890.0262, if you plan to go.

PERSONALS You are invited to celebrate Mollie and Sam Kohn’s 70th wedding anniversary at a dessert reception on Sunday, June 5, 2-4 p.m., at Walnut Grove Adult Living, 4901 So. 153 St. (South of 153rd and Q). Please--the only gifts that Mollie and Sam want are your love and friendship.

Two-Part Safety Course: First Aid, June 7; and CPR, June 14 at 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Social Hall.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Shabbat Services, 9 a.m. led by Andy Greenberg.

TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:30 p.m. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Rabbi Craig Marantz and Cantor Wendy Shermet will officiate. Temple Israel will confirm and graduate six seniors: Jacob Bleicher, Jeremiah Bleicher, Naomi Fox, Meagan Katelman, Joel Passer and Adam Trubnikov. Parents are: Ellie and Jon Bleicher; Stacie and Bob Bleicher; Shelly and Rick Fox; Lorrie and Gary Katelman; Sandy and Jeff Passer; and Maya Wertheimer and Alexander Trubnikov. Join graduates, their families and friends, in this special service conducted by the Grade 12 class. A special Oneg Shabbat showcasing the mitzvah projects of the this year’s B’nai Mitzvah class will be sponsored by the families and friends of the Grade 12 class and the Women of Reform JudaismOmaha. SATURDAY: Bagels and Sacred Books, 9:30-10:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. Benjamin Osius Prescott, son of Karen Schliefert and Michael Prescott, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah. SITTER SERVICE: Available at each Friday evening service, Saturday mornings when there is a bar or bat mitzvah, as well as Sunday mornings when there is Religious School. Please make a reservation through the Temple office. Cost is $2 per family. Sorry, there are no facilities for infants. ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY, May 22, 10:15 a.m.: Continuing Hebrew with Colleen Kennealy. THURSDAY, May 26: “Adult Study with the Clergy” with Rabbi Marantz, 10-11:30 a.m.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN AT TLC FRIDAY: Kabbalas Shabbos, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharis, 9 a.m., followed by a kiddush luncheon; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:10 p.m.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Rabbi Stanley M. Rosenbaum. Minyan, MONDAY & THURSDAY, 9 a.m. FRIDAY: Services, 8 p.m. with a Special Oneg in honor of Rabbi Stanley M. Rosenbaum. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m. SUNDAY: Religious School Picnic, 10:30 a.m - 1:30 p.m. at Antelope Park. There will be food, games, and prizes. Come hang out and celebrate the accomplishments of the year. WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Contact Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066. Two-Part Safety Course: First Aid, June 7 and CPR, June 14 at 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Social Hall at South Street Temple. ADULT EDUCATION MONDAYS: Introduction to Judaism with Rabbi Rosenbaum, 7:30-9 p.m. SUNDAYS: (during Hebrew School days): Jewish Law through the Ages with Rabbi Rosenbaum, 10-11:45 a.m. NJHS NEEDS MEMORABILIA The Nebraska Jewish Historical Society is gathering synagogue memorabilia from Lincoln and out-state. Contact Renee Corcoran at 402.334.6442 or njhs@jewishomaha.org.

JEWISH PRESS NOTICE College students: let us know when you’ll be home for the summer, so we can stop delivery of the Press to your dorm. Just e-mail us at: jpress@jewishomaha.org.

BAR MITZVAH Nathaniel Jacob Kahn son of Kimberly and Marc L. Kahn, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on Friday and Saturday, May 27-28, at Beth El Synagogue. Nathaniel is a seventh-grade honor roll student at Morton Middle School and is the recipient of a Literature Achievement Award. He is a member of the seventhgrade swim team and is ranked fifth in All-city backstroke. A Star Scout, he is a member of Boy Scout Troop #558. His interests include biking, scouting, and playing with his dog

Casey; he loves swimming. For his mitzvah project, Nathaniel collected books for children and young adults to be donated to homeless family centers and the YWCA Women’s Shelter. Nathaniel has a younger brother, Zachary. His grandparents are Esther and Allen Kahn, and Nancy L. Kagan of Englewood, CO, and Dr. and Mrs. James Kagan of La Porte, CO. His great-grandparents are Pearl and Eli Jabenis, and Toby Kagan of Fort Collins, CO.

May 20, 2005

The Use of Land

SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Behar Our Sidra is devoted to the use of land. Without saying so, the Text is concerned with the possibility of a proletariat having neither land nor income and becoming only a metropolitan slum dwellers. In our own day, and I have no knowledge of agricultural matters, the land is protected from depletion of this or that element, by crop rotation. In our Sidra, describing efforts to prevent depletion of this or that, the land was to lie fallow every seventh year, as it were a “Shabbat” for the land. In that year, the farmer was to eat what the land produced by itself. Then there is a 49th year followed by the 50th year, a Jubilee year. In that year, the people were to proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all its inhabitants. At that point, the land is to be returned to original owners. You may remember that the American Liberty Bell has this inscription upon it, taken from our Text, “Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.” Our Sidra without saying so, intends to say that land is not to be sold at all, but leased for the number of years till the next Jubilee. “The land is not to be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine. You are only strangers and residents with Me. “The Israelites, further, must not make a slave of a fellow Israelite: “They are My servants,” says the Lord. Note that the Bible permits slavery from among other peoples. Later, the rabbis surrounded slavery with so many protections for the slave that it was remarked: One who bought a slave really bought himself a master! And again, the Text reminds the Israelites, “It is to Me that the Israelites are servants. They are My servants whom I freed from the land of Egypt. I, the Lord, your God.” The Sidra ends: “Keep My Sabbaths and venerate My Sanctuary. Mine, the Lord’s.” Our Sidra nears the end of the Book of Leviticus. The Book has tried to describe an ideal life of the Israelite in the land of promise. It was to be ethical and forward looking. Not only was his neighbor to be loved, but the land itself itself was to be cherished and protected. He was to give full attention to the right of the land itself. He was not to abuse it. The land was holy.

Chabad Cooking Club Prepares for Shavuot by CAROL HUTCHISON for Chabad of Nebraska Nearly 3317 years ago, G-d came down to Mt. Sinai and handed His Torah to Moses to forward to us. Amidst great fanfare, we accepted it. Thus the holiday of Shavuot came into being. Each year, the scene is reenacted with all night Torah study, the Reading of the Ten Commandments, and the feasting on scrumptious holiday foods. Shavuot, a glorious spring holiday, is as rich with delicious foods and desserts as it is with meaning and traditions. Well, almost. Chabad’s Spice and Spirit Cooking Club will explore and savor the meanings and taste the rich foods on Wednesday, May 25, 9 a.m. “Whether you enjoy rich creamy cheesecake or its substitute soy counterpart, traditional cheese blintzes or contemporary orange yogurt crepes and strawberry mesculin salad, we’ve got something exciting for you,” said Shani Katzman who will facilitate the class. and invites women to “enjoy a variety of salad ideas incorporating seasonal fruits and vegetables.” For those women who have never been brave enough to make blintzes from scratch, this is the chance of a lifetime. For veteran blintzes chefs, this is an opportunity to hone one’s blintz making skills. The event will provide the opportunity for women to learn to create stunning fruit presentations and simple ideas to enhance your table and home with fresh flowers and greenery. The program is open to all the women in our community. Cost for the event which includes brunch and handouts with recipes and holiday explanations is $10. Babysitting is available by registration for $3 per child. Children will be in the upstairs area to enable both moms and children not to be distracted. To reserve call me at 330.1800 or visit www.nebraskajudaism.com.

DEATH GENE TELPNER Former Omahan and Council Bluffs resident Gene Telpner died May 9 at the age of 84 in Winnepeg, Canada. Services were held May 12 at Shaarey Zedek Synagogue. A feature writer for the Omaha World-Herald, Telpner served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. He flew numerous combat missions over Nazioccupied Europe and was shot down over Brunswick, Germany. Forced to jump from his burning plane, he was seriously injured and held as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft One for 13 months. After the war, he returned to Omaha, married Fritzi Shuckett and moved to Winnepeg, where Telpner joined the Winnepeg Free Press, followed by a 13-year stint at the Winnepeg Tribune; he then joined the Winnepeg Sun as Associate Editor. His distinguished journalism career spanned 60 years, during which he received a National Newspaper Association Award for a series on corneal transplants and was inducted into the Variety Club and Abraham Lincoln High School Halls of Fame. In addition to his wife of 59 years, he is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Ron and Patsy Telpner of Toronto; daughters and sons-in-law, Terri Lee and John Farber of Winnepeg and Wendy and Harry Stryer of Vancouver; sister and brother-in-law, Audrey and Morrie Shapiro; brothers and sisters-in-law, Maynard and Sally Telpner of Ashland, OR, and Zeph and Flora Telpner of Council Bluffs, IA; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Esther and Manuel Lecker, Morley and Sally Shuckett and Bert Shukett; and grandchildren, Jordan Farber, Michael and Carly Telpner, Meghan Telpner, Lauren and Cara Jane Stryer. Memorials to the Variety Club of Manitoba or charity of choice.

Yachad Celebrates Yom HaAtzmaut by DUANE J. PIEPER Not only did the Yachad members, like Avi Wolfson, left, participate in and enjoy the various activities and music of Yom HaAtzmaut, each of them volunteered to serve in the lunch line. Beyond the privelege of offering their services to the community, they enjoyed the opportunity of working together as a team. With a bit of encouragement and support they all did well. There was the added benefit and joy of meeting and serving extended family members and friends who came to the enjoy the Yom HaAtzmaut lunch. The upcoming June events will include the well known production, Beauty and the Beast, being performed at the Rose Theater and also a miniature golf outing with pizza later in the month. Call 334.6491 for further details.

‘Mazel tovs’ All Around

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 23

Pulverent e

PEOPLE WHO READ NEWSPAPERS ARE

MONUMENT CO.

Frank L. Ciciulla Jr.

STUDENTS WITH BETTER GRADES

60 Years Experience With Jewish Lettering and Memorials

1439 So. 13th

341-2452

It all starts with Newspapers.

PRINTING, COPYING and DIGITAL NETWORK

3706 South 132nd Street • 402/330-5050

Letterhead • Brochures • Newsletters Business Cards • Mailers • Postcards

Lynne M. Popp Educational Therapy, Inc. Board Certified Educational Therapist, B.C.E.T. 10152 • Educational Assessments • Workshop Presenter • Dyslexia • Teacher Trainer • Educational Therapy

4405 North 156th Ave. Circle Phone: 402/498-8708 FAX: 445-0433

MEMBER

E-mail: slpopp1@cox.net

INDUSTRIAL PACKAGING CORPORATION “Service First—Quality Always”

PRODUCTS • Corrugated, S.U.S. & S.B.S. Boxes • Packaging tapes & glues • Stretch film, shrink film & lidding film • Poly & steel strapping • Printed zipper bags, poly bags • polypropylene & styrofoam trays

MACHINERY (Auto & Semi) • Stretch film machines • Tape Machines • Strapping machines • Conveyor systems • Case erectors • A full line of new and used machinery

709 N 108th St.

963-9111

www.industrialpack.com Fax: 963-9303 E-mail: sales@industrialpack.com

Classifieds

Have some things you no longer use? Need a ride to Kansas City? Want to sell your ‘gently used’ baby furniture?

Reach your buyer through jBay– the new classified ad section for individuals in the Jewish Press! What a deal--36 words for just $18 (30¢ for each additional word). Call the Press, 402.334.6448 for more info.

Here’s my ad for jBay: Name ________________________________________

Teacher Margo Riekes sends bride Kylie Kirshenbaum and groom Aaron Zipursky down the aisle for the recessional following the Beth El Synagogue Talmud Torah mock fourthgrade wedding last Sunday. Friends and family witnessed the joyful nuptials held under the chuppah, as Rabbi Mordechai Levin pronounced the bride and groom “friends ’til the end of the wedding ceremony.” Each child played a different role in the ceremony, and helped to explain Jewish wedding rituals to the audience. The annual mock wedding was developed by Riekes 16 years ago, and has become an always-anticipated, beloved tradition of the synagogue’s religious school.

Address _______________________________________ City, State and Zip _______________________________ Phone _______________ Check enclosed for $ _________ Mail to jBay, The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 The Jewish Press jBay classifieds are only for use by individuals–businesses should contact the Advertising Department– Allan Handleman, 334.6451 for display ads.

Page 24

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 20, 2005

Essays Winners Announced for Profiles in Jewish Courage

Omahans Celebrate “Only in Israel”

by GARY KATZ Library Administrator Winners of the first “Lieutenant Irving Cohen Profiles in Jewish Courage” essay contest were honored during the Yom HaAtzmaut celebration. The contest is in memory of Lt. Cohen, a Council Bluffs native who became a B-17 bomber pilot Lt. Irving Cohen during World War II. He was killed in 1944, when his plane was shot down during a mission over Mersberg, Germany. The essays were to describe a Jewish person who exhibited great acts or courage, identifying ordinary people who became extraordinary and underscoring the importance of commitment to Jewish values. In the 10th-12th grade division first place winner of $200 is Shayna Kurland; second place--$100, Marty Nachman; third place--$50, Adam Gendelman. In the seventh-ninth grade, $100 first place is Ben Nachman; second place-$50, Caroline Juster; third place--$25, Daniel Grossman. Patty Nogg, niece of Lt. Cohen, spoke movingly of her uncle and displayed his medals. The essay contest was sponsored by the Lt. Irving Cohen Memorial Endowment Fund, the Kripke Jewish Federation Library and Jewish Education and Library Services.

Photos from top left: At Yom HaAztmaut on Sunday at the JCC, Caroline Juster climbs “Masada”--the rock wall; Jeff Gordman and his daughter, Harper, enjoy an Israeli lunch; Israeli teens from the Western Galilee entertain in the JCC auditorium; Samantha Sullivan proudly displays her artwork;

Winners are Daniel Grossman, left, Adam Gendelman, Marty Nachman, Shayna Kurland, Patty Nogg (Lt. Cohen’s niece), Ben Nachman and Caroline Juster.

Stop Dreaming. Start Driving.

2004 BMW 325Ci

2004 BMW 330Ci $

33,900

#I5417A. 13k miles, Auto, Leather, Sunroof, Loaded. Very Sharp!

2004 BMW X-5 3.0 $

37,900

#I6693B. 17k miles, Sport Package, 18" Alloys. Many Additional Options.

$

43,900

#P4470. 18k miles, Cold Weather Package, Rear Climate. All Options Including Park Distance Control.

Why?

2004 BMW X-3 2.5

6 Years or 100,000 Miles.

2003 BMW Z-4 2.5 $

2003 BMW 530I $

American and a nationwide network of BMW carriers.

33,900

$

34,900

#I5743. 10k miles, Leather, Panoramic Sunroof, Dual Climate. Save Big Over New!

#P4461. 42k miles, Cold Weather Package, Xenon Headlights. Rare Manual Transmission!

2003 BMW 325I

2003 BMW 330I

33,900

#P4501. 13k miles, Sport Package, Power Top, Auto. Summer Special!

$

29,990

#P4738. 14k miles, Leather, Sunroof, Cold Weather Package. Very Nice Car!

$

6833 Telluride Drive Lincoln, Ne 27th Street & I-80 Intersect.

800-204-0846 PER MONTH

*

#I5825A. 31k miles, Cold Weather Package, Xenon Headlights. Very Sharp!

2002 BMW 530I $ 639

PER MONTH

ner ry a o L E FRE p & Deilve s k-U And Picervice Vehicleastern of S where in E ny A ka m o r F Nebras

31,900

#I6559A. 27k miles, Cold Weather Package, Xenon Headlights, Premium Sound System.

BMWof Lincoln 2002 BMW 525I $ 549

G.S. “Jerry” Chesen Cell 402-672-0766

in accordance with a comprehensive inspection check list.

✓ Come with BMW Roadside Assistance. ✓ Are supported by BMW of North

BMW of Lincoln 402-479-7600 1-888-427-4234

Why BMW Certified Pre-Owned? ✓ Are Certified by BMW-Trained Technicians ✓ Have available lease financing. ✓ Are backed by a Protection Plan. Up to

Boy Scout Troop #218 parades the colors for the opening ceremony; Ruti Margalit examines one of the many booths selling items from Israel--this one, Gadi Tene’s ShirTal jewelry; Mike Abramson, Federation Treasurer, presents the 2005 Teen Leadership Awards to Alex Raksin and Gal Tsabari.

*

#L4424. 33k miles, Premium Package, Park Distance Control. Extremely Nice!

*36 Month Lease, 10k Miles Per Year, $2,500 Down (Cash or Trade) Plus 1st Payment and Security Deposit W.A.C. 3.9% On Select Vehicles. All Vehicles Locally Owned.

6701 Telluride Dr. Lincoln, NE 68521

ONLY 22 M The Gretnianutes From , NE Exit!