June 10, 2011

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Jerusalem Day march

June 10, 2011 8 Sivan 5771 Vol. 90 | No. 40

This Week

The bid for Palestinian statehood by LINDA GRADSTEIN JERUSALEM (JTA) -- While U.S. officials are running a fullcourt diplomatic press against the Palestinian bid for U.N. recognition of statehood this

Summer is here Page 7

Young Israelis walking through the streets of Jerusalem and waving Israeli flags during a 2011 celebration of Jerusalem Day. Credit: Kobi Gideon/Flash90/JTA

Guy cookbooks for the lazy days of summer Page 10

Israel is saving the past for the future Page 16

Inside Point of view Synagogues In memoriam

Next Month Health & Wellness See Front Page stories and more at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press

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by JTA NEWS STAFF JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Some 30,000 Israelis gathered for the annual flag march through eastern Jerusalem in honor of Jerusalem Day, as at least 3,000 police took up patrols throughout the city. The annual march led by the religious Zionist community, in which participants march and dance with flags throughout the city, culminating in dancing at the Western Wall, made its way Wednesday afternoon through the largely Palestinian east-

ern Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Jerusalem Day marks the reunification of the city under Israeli control during the Six Day War 44 years ago. While the parade in previous years took place largely in western Jerusalem, this year the parade was rerouted through the eastern sector in order to avoid the new light rail tracks. “Jerusalem will never be divided,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu said Tuesday night during a speech in the Merkaz Harav yeshiva in honor of Jerusalem Day. “There’s nothing more holy to us than Jerusalem; we’ll protect Jerusalem, its unity, and we’ll build and develop it.” The yeshiva was the site of a terror attack in 2008 in which a Palestinian gunman killed eight students. “Next year in a more built up Jerusalem,” Netanyahu added, a play on the Jewish prayer of ‘Next year in Jerusalem.’

Temple members go to Washington for 50th year of Religious Action Center by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Four members of Temple Israel attended the 50th anniversary celebration of the Religious Action Center (RAC) in May in Washington, D.C. Magda Peck, Matt Ray, Mimi Silverman, and Program Director Wendy Goldberg spent three days at high-level briefings with public policy decision makers and social action leaders of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Union for Reform Judaism and its affiliates. Created in 1961, the RAC burst onto the scene at the apex of the American civil rights movement. “It quickly became integral in the battle

Wendy Goldberg, left, Mimi Silverman, Matt Ray, David Anderson, and his mother Magda Peck in Washington, D.C. for equality and emerged from the 1960s as the gold standard in Jewish political advocacy,” wrote Adam Kredo in the Washington Jewish Week. “Specializing on matters of social justice and civil rights, the RAC has trained a generation of Reform leaders to fight for their liberal values on Capitol Hill and across the nation. “Though religious leaders and politicians alike now hold the RAC in high regard, the group faced early opposition from many within the

Reform movement.” Critics argued that the movement “had no business bringing Judaism onto Capitol Hill.” But the leaders held their ground “confident that the RAC’s dedication to social equality and the Jewish principle of tikkun olam, repairing the world, would ultimately trump internal disagreements. And they were right.” Since then, the RAC has been instrumental in protecting the separation of church and state, defending Continued on page 2

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Credit: ISRANET September and officials at international Jewish organizations are trying to convince foreign leaders to oppose statehood, the Israeli government appears to be taking a different approach: acceptance. On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Knesset committee that there is no way to stop the U.N. General Assembly from recognizing Palestinian statehood. “It would be possible to get a resolution that the world is flat” in the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu said in a jibe at the body, where anti-Israel resolutions have a virtual automatic majority. The Palestinians routinely have relied on the bloc of Arab and Muslim states and their allies in the non-aligned movement of mostly Third World countries to pass anti-Israel resolutions. A senior Israeli official close to the prime minister said Israel is not particularly concerned about a vote for a Palestinian state in the General Assembly. “We have very low expectations of the General Assembly,” he said. “Every year they pass at least 20 anti-Israel resolutions, including one condemning Israel for attacking the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981.” Rather, the Netanyahu administration is relying on the fact that General Assembly resolutions do not have international legal standing and that in the U.N. Security Council, where resolutions do carry the force of law, the United States would veto any such resolution. But Israel remains concerned, the official said, that the Palestinians will use a General Assembly resolution to harden Continued on page 2

2 | The Jewish Press | June 10, 2011

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The bid for Palestinian statehood Continued from page 1 ment with the Palestinians is the same as it always has been. their positions against any compromise with Israel. “The only way to achieve peace is through IsraeliFor now, Israeli officials are focusing on trying to limit the Palestinian negotiations,” Israeli government spokesman diplomatic damage that a General Assembly resolution Mark Regev told JTA in an interview. “There can be no outcould cause. side imposed solution that “The president of the will work. Everything else General Assembly said is at best a mirage, and a that even if a resolution one-sided vote at the U.N. passes, this isn’t statecould well set back the hood,” said a former Israeli peace process decades.” ambassador to the United There is growing concern States, Zalman Shoval, in Israel that violence who accompanied could return to the region Netanyahu on his recent after the Palestinian action trip to Washington. “But at the United Nations in there will be negative September, including a repercussions. Countries third intifada, or uprising. will certainly use it for There have been camanti-Israel propaganda. paigns online calling for a They may even try to take third intifada, including a economic steps against page on Facebook that was Israel, like divestment.” removed by the social Israeli Defense Minister media company. Ehud Barak has gone even Former Shin Bet security further, warning of a chief Yuval Diskin, who “diplomatic tsunami” in retired this month, said he September. Opposition is “very worried” about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brings Vice President leader Tzipi Livni recently what may happen after a Joe Biden, left, and House Speaker John Boehner to their feet durattacked Netanyahu for unilateral Palestinian decing his recent speech to the U.S. Congress. failing to prevent the laration and warned the Credit: Avi Ohayon/GPO/Flash90/JTA situation could quickly expected unilateral declaration of a state, saying he is a weak and inadequate leader. deteriorate. A recent survey by the Israel Democracy “Netanyahu has failed to recruit international support for Institute found that 70 percent of the Jewish public in Israel Israel’s basic principles,” Livni, the head of the Kadima Party, expects a new wave of violence following September. A told the Knesset. “Israel needs a leader, and this government majority, 58 percent, believed that the Palestinian Authority has missed an opportunity.” would encourage the violence. During the previous Israeli government, when Ehud In recent weeks Palestinian groups have been using Olmert was the prime minister and Livni the foreign minis- Facebook and other social media to call on Palestinians livter, she held many meetings with Palestinian Authority ing in countries around Israel to reprise the marches on President Mahmoud Abbas. According to recent statements Israel’s borders that took place on May 15, when Arabs by Olmert and Abbas, they made significant progress on the marked Nakba Day -- the anniversary of the “catastrophe” of issue of the future of borders of a Palestinian state. Israel’s birth. This time, Palestinians are calling for marches Most Israeli analysts say it is unlikely that peace talks will to mark the anniversary of the 1967 Six-Day War, when be renewed before September. Israel captured the West Bank. That war began on June 5, “I think Netanyahu knows that any political initiative for 1967. restarting peace talks is a non-starter and that the Israeli officials, who were caught unprepared when hunPalestinians have no intention of returning to negotiations,” dreds of Arabs from Syria breached the Israel-Syria border said Yossi Alpher, a former Mossad official and the editor of and thousands more marched on the Lebanon-Israel border the joint Israeli-Palestinian website Bitterlemons.org. “His two weeks ago, resulting in Israeli and Lebanese fire that left strategy is to hunker down and not to rock the boat.” some 14 protesters dead, said they will be more prepared Israeli officials say their strategy to achieve a peace agree- this time.

Temple members go to Washington for 50th year of Religious Action Center Continued from page 1 religious freedom, preserving the environment, and supporting the anti-war protest movement of the late 1960s. Jewish leaders from the Conservative, Orthodox, and Reconstructionist movements have also applauded the RAC’s stands. “The RAC is absolutely unrivaled in terms of the breadth of what it does,” said Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University. “It justified in a lot of ways the idea that it’s legitimate for religious institutions to have representatives in Washington promoting the ideas of their movements.” Speakers at the Consultation on Conscience included former Vice President Al Gore; Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP; Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking; John Prendergast, founder of ENOUGH, the project to end genocide and crimes against humanity; House minority leader and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and dean of the Jewish caucus; and Jack Lew, director of the White House Office on Management and Budget. They discussed topics such as economic justice and poverty matters, LGBT rights, environmental and sustainability concerns, genocide issues, reproductive choice, immigration, health care, Israel, church and state, and first amendment issues. Gore addressed the audience, reminding them that “one of the many foundational gifts to world civilization from Judaism was the theological idea that we are given free will in order to make moral choices, and that the choices we make have moral consequences.” He added that among those consequences, “there will be blessings and curses.” He thanked the RAC for “having the moral courage to

combat a problem of the magnitude [of climate change].” After his keynote, both Peck and Silverman shook Gore’s hand. “In just one day,” said Peck, “I had coffee with emeritus Rabbi (Israel) Dresner, a freedom rider in the ‘60s, who hasn’t lost an ounce of passion in speaking out for what is right; shook Al Gore’s hand following his stirring keynote; and moderated an open mic session with RAC leader Rabbi David Saperstein.” According to Ray, “the RAC did an incredible job celebrating past accomplishments and provided an opportunity to build relationships with others from the Reform movement. I appreciated the opportunity to work in small group settings offered as part of the Consultation on Conscience. It was interesting to hear what other synagogues were doing as part of their social justice movement.” “I really liked the small breakout sessions,” commented Silverman. She felt “good” about Temple Israel’s accomplishments in the area of social justice. “I keep walking out of these conventions thinking that Temple Israel is so forward thinking. We don’t think that we’re ground breaking, but we are.” She noted that Temple Israel’s relationships with Habitat for Humanity and The Stephen Center “go back years. The food collection we sponsor on Yom Kippur is a huge thing. We take doing it for granted, but it’s a huge thing.” “It was exhausting and exciting,” summed up Peck. “The Consultation on Conscience allows the most engaged among us to experience national politics and policy from the inside out. The RAC’s Consultation on Conscience reminded me once again that we all stand on the shoulders of great Jews who have been fighting for generations for what is good and right and that generations to come are counting on each of us to stay the course.”

June 10, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 3

Ahmadinejad and the U.N. press by GEORGE BAUMGARTEN the room -- which was of course open only to U.N.-accredUnited Nations Correspondent ited journalists. When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to The following year (2008), the Iranians decided to run the U.N. again recently, he filled the air with his usual the annual press conference themselves, with their press pompous bluster... asserting on this latest occasion that officer presiding. Once again, no overtly-Jewish media (i.e., “many believe the U.S. itself Israelis and representatives of specifically Jewish organizaresponsible for the September tions) were called upon. 11, 2001 attacks.” But a deepAhmadinejad’s 2009 press conference was scheduled for er and more interesting story Friday, 25 September. On Thursday the 24th, it was sudhas emerged, in the way he denly announced that a second Iranian nuclear reactor had treated the U.N. press: for the been discovered, in the Shiite holy city of Qom (in addition third straight time he canto the known and acknowledged one at Natanz). celed his press conference at Ahmadinejad forthwith cancelled his press conference, the U.N., and rescheduled it and that was where the matter stood... until it was discovacross the street at the ered that it had been merely rescheduled across the street Millennium hotel. In that at the Millennium. venue, the U.N.’s own rules In May, 2010 a special review conference was held, on the (All press conferences are subject of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. While not-- strictopen to all accredited press.) ly speaking-- a United Nations event, this conference had simply do not apply. And Iran as its venue the General Assembly Hall in New York, and Iranian President invites only those of whom it its elected President was Leban Cabactulan, Ambassador Mahmoud Ahmadinejad approves, which does not of the Phillippines. The sole head of state or government Credit: Reuters include representatives of participating was... none other than His Excellency, the Jewish or Israeli media... or certain others, for whom the President of Iran. In an address that surely must rank as a President simply does not care. prime example from never-never land of the theatre of the The story actually begins over three years ago, during absurd, Ahmadinejad harangued the conference on the evils Ahmadinejad’s annual press conference at that year’s General and dangers of nuclear weapons (!). Once again, he schedAssembly. He took a question from one Israeli journalist, and uled a press conference at the U.N. (Now booked in the then responded by simply saying “next question” (He was library’s Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium, while the usual reported to have done this in some previous years as well). space was under renovation), only to cancel it and hold it at Suddenly, the journalist introduced his “colleague,” who the hotel. It was at this time that reports began to circulate turned out to be the spouse of one of the two Israelis held cap- that Jewish media were not the only ones excluded. And the tive by Hizbullah (both of whom were later revealed to have President of the U.N. Correspondents’ Association wrote to been killed a year earlier, in the process of their capture). the Mission of Iran (to no avail). Staring directly at Ahmadinejad, she said, in English, in exactIt should be emphasized here that the Iranian policy was ly these words, “What have you done with my husband?” not aimed specifically against individual Jews. There are any Under the circumstances, Ahmadinejad was relatively number of Jewish journalists who continue to be invited to cool. But the Undersecretary for Public Information, who - and attend -- President Ahmadinejad’s press conferences. was moderating the press conference, took no more ques- Rather, they aim to exclude those (like this reporter) who tions from overtly-Jewish media (He later apologized per- represent North American Jewish media, Israeli media and sonally to this correspondent). It has never been definitively any others who, by policy or by whim, for whatever reason, determined just how the captive’s spouse managed to enter may be excluded.

At the September 2010 “General Debate” (the two-week period when nearly every U.N. member state -- often represented by their head of state or government -- makes an annual statement), Ahmadinejad (as noted above) went so far as to accuse the U.S. of responsibility for the September 11 attacks. Once again, he booked the auditorium for his press conference, only to cancel and rebook it at the Millennium Hotel. What trouble this may have caused to the U.N. and its space-booking offices can only be surmised. As one official of the Department of Public Information told me, “We have to cater to the whims of people like Ahmadinejad.” The under-secretary-general of another department told an even stranger story: since Ahmadinejad speaks in Farsi, which is a “non-standard” language, he brings his own interpreter. When the time for his speech came, the interpreter was nowhere to be found (she was later located, alone, in a room upstairs.). It was decided to have one U.N. employee -- who spoke no Farsi -- simply read the text, from the printed advance version released by the Mission of Iran. It was at this time also that it was clearly revealed that list of the “media non grata” included not only the Jewish media, but the Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Corporation as well. In addition, this reporter learned that two female Lebanese journalists (for French and Arab media) were also denied invitations. As this is written, the Mission of Iran has appointed a new press officer. He assured me that he wishes to establish good relations with the U.N. media community. Or so he says. The reality... remains to be seen.

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4 | The Jewish Press | June 10, 2011

In helping Palestinians, IDF paramedics defy stereotypes

A Love and Logic tribute to Judy Vann

by LINDA GRADSTEIN I did an EKG and saw that it was impossible to revive them. CARMEI TZUR, West Bank (JTA) -- Yana Kisluk tosses It was so difficult. I have all of this training and I couldn’t do her long ponytail over one shoulder and adjusts her M-16 anything.� over the other. The paramedics spend 14 months in an intensive course The pretty 21-year-old, who wears diamond stud earrings and then must agree to serve for at least two more years in and perfect eye makeup, looks like any other young Israeli the army. For Kisluk, that means serving one year longer doing her compulsory military service. than most women. But she sees it as good preparation for a As a paramedic in the Israel Defense Forces, however, future career in medicine. Kisluk belongs to a small group of Israeli soldiers whose job “Sometimes I laugh when I think that people my age in is to provide care for Palestinians rather than simply defend the U.S. are almost done with college and I haven’t even against them. started,� she says. “But that’s On a recent morning, just the way it is in Israel. I do Kisluk’s team of two parafeel that I’m doing something medics and a driver get a call meaningful here.� about a newly arrested The paramedics, whose priPalestinian prisoner who says mary purpose is to care for he is diabetic and needs a Israeli soldiers, cooperate check of his glucose level. with local Israeli and Kisluk and her colleague, Palestinian rescue services. Hagai Hayat, climb into the For security reasons they are ambulance and set off to the not allowed to enter Arab nearby military jail. towns or villages. Medical The prisoner, Adnan Abu services are provided there by Tabeineh, a lecturer in history the Red Crescent, which is at the Open University in affiliated with the Red Cross. Hebron, is brought in, his legs In the parts of the West Bank shackled. that are either under sole “I feel very dizzy,� he tells Israeli control or joint Israelithe paramedics in broken Palestinian control, the paraHebrew. medics will not enter Arab “Did you take your medi- Helping Palestinians deal with medical emergencies is a sig- villages but often treat victims nificant part of the job of IDF paramedics in the West Bank. of car accidents on the main cine today?� Kisluk asks. Credit: Linda Gradstein roads. Palestinians will even “No,� Tabeineh answers. “I have one medicine with me that the soldiers took away and bring family members who need immediate medical attenanother that I left at home.� tion to the gates of army bases, and the paramedics will Kisluk pricks his finger and measures his sugar level. It is come out to treat them. 310, well above normal. Betty Ben Zaken, 21, who is responsible for the 11 para“He needs to take his medicine now,� she tells the Israeli medics in the West Bank, says they treated 115 Palestinians soldiers at the jail. “You need to make sure he gets his other in 2010. medicine from home.� She says the Israeli soldiers take precautions to ensure that “Just take your pill and you’ll be fine,� she reassures potential patients are not terrorists. Tabeineh. “We wear helmets and flak jackets to protect ourselves,� There is no talk about why he has been detained; the sol- Ben Zaken says. “But we also took an oath to treat anyone diers decline to answer a reporter’s questions. who needs it, and that comes first.� Twenty minutes later, Kisluk and Hagai are back on the Last month, an Israeli paramedic helped a Palestinian ambulance, heading for their base and lunch. woman give birth at an Israeli checkpoint. Human rights Kisluk, who immigrated with her family to Israel as an groups have charged that Palestinian women often are infant, says she keeps her political opinions and her army delayed at checkpoints and forced to give birth there. Israeli service separate. officials say they do everything possible to speed their pas“Sometimes we don’t even know if someone is Arab or sage through, but ambulances, which in the past have been Jewish,� she says. “We just treat whoever needs it the most.� used to smuggle weapons, must be checked. Hagai, a gentle soldier with dark hair and dark eyes, Ben Zaken says they help with at least one Palestinian remembers a recent drive-by shooting attack in the West birth per month. Earlier this month, she says, family memBank that left four Israelis dead. bers brought an elderly man having a heart attack to the “As soon as we got the call, we started speeding there, put- army base and the paramedics were able to save his life. ting on flak jackets and helmets,� he says. “We were the sec“I think it helps to show Palestinians that some Israeli solond team to arrive and the casualties were lying on the diers just want to help,� she says. “I hope that it influences ground. I went over to each of them but they had no pulse. how they think of us.�

by JIM FAY Love and Logic Institute I learned about Judy Vann from Karen Gustafson, a facilitator of a Love and Logic curriculum in Omaha. She sang the praises of this wonderful lady while driving me to our seminar in Elkhorn. Here is what Karen shared with me: “Our collaboration began several years ago after Judy’s son, a pediatrician, and his wife, attended one of our classes. They have been sold on the Love and Logic approach ever since. Judy, our donor, saw how her grandchildren were being parented and LOVED it. She approached me, since I am the Director of Jewish Family Service, and together we decided to set up a $10,000 donation as a matching grant program for schools and agencies who wished to have the class brought to them. In addition, Judy’s fund, the “Howard and Judy Vann Family Education Fund,� allows us to offer a sliding fee for ANYONE in the Omaha community who wishes to take the class. “Judy received a report from me at the end of our budget year informing her of the location where her grant was utilized and the remaining dollar amount in her fund. She was thrilled with its use and donated a second $10,000.� For the past nine years, the “Howard and Judy Vann Family Education Fund� has allowed Jewish Family Service to teach two classes every year, one in the spring and one in the fall. For the past four years, the fund has sponsored classes at the following Omaha Public Schools: Liberty Elementary School, Northwest High School, Columbian Elementary School, Hartman Elementary School, and Kellom Elementary School. In addition, the fund sponsored classes at St. Bernadette Catholic School, Presbyterian Church of the Master, Friedel Jewish Academy, Beth El Synagogue, Temple Israel Synagogue, Beth Israel Synagogue, and Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center. Judy Vann, I hope you are reading this special “tip of the hat� from all of us at Love and Logic Institute, Inc. You have changed a lot of lives through your generosity. Š2011 Love and Logic Institute, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Birth Lesley and John “Ashley� Buchanan of Rogers, AR, announce the May 10 birth of their daughter, McKinley Paige. She has a sister, Bentley. Grandparents are Karen and Gary Plotkin, and Patti and James Buchanan of Mt. Pleasant, TX.

To order a gift subscription to the Press... Send a check for $25, made out to the Jewish Press and prorated for the year, to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. For more information on how to connect your outof-town relatives and friends, call 402.334.6448.

That’s what Brownell-Talbot students do. And colleges like what they see. The Class of 2011 has received – to date – more than $2.2 million in scholarships. Graduates of The Class of 2011 have been accepted to: American University, Washington, D.C. Boston College, MA Campbell University, NC Clark University, MA Clemson University, SC Columbia University, NY Cornell College, IA Creighton University, NE DePaul University, IL Drake University, IA Elmhurst College, IL

Emerson College, MA Emory University, GA Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Harvard University, MA Hillsdale College, MI Indiana University – Bloomington Loyola Marymount University, CA Loyola University Chicago, IL Loyola University New Orleans, LA

Marquette University, WI Methodist University, NC Mississippi State University Morningside College, IA Northern Arizona University Norwich University, NC Pennsylvania State University Purdue University, IN Royal Holloway, University of London, England Saint Louis University, MO Santa Clara University, CA

Southern Methodist University, TX Southwestern University, TX Stanford University, CA Texas Christian University (2) Tufts University, MA Tulane University, LA The University of Chicago, IL University of Denver, CO University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Iowa University of Kansas

University of Michigan University of Nebraska at Kearney University of Nebraska-Lincoln (4) University of Nebraska at Omaha (7) University of San Diego, CA University of St Andrews, Scotland University of Texas at Austin University of Tulsa, OK University of Washington – Seattle Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MA Xavier University, OH BOLD = Schools grads will attend ( ) = Number of grads attending

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June 10, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 5

Beth El’s “Open Arms Initiative” focus of community-wide gathering by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator A new publication geared to interfaith families and offered by Beth El Synagogue, will be the subject of a community-wide gathering on Thursday, June 16, 7 p.m., at the synagogue. The publication, Beth El Synagogue Welcomes You... With Open Arms, is a resource of the “Open Arms Initiative,” a grassroots effort led by members of the congregation to grow the role of interfaith couples and families in the Jewish way of life. The initiative’s goals include creating familiarity and a sense of belonging to the Jewish community; educating interfaith couples/families about Jewish traditions, customs and ceremonies; facilitating the observance of Jewish holidays in the home; and offering communal support to interfaith couples/families and their extended family members. This get-together will be led by longtime Beth El faculty member Margo Riekes, who, along with Joanie Jacobson, spearheaded the initiative. “Joanie and I both have children in interfaith marriages and we want people in the Omaha community to know that Beth El is a welcoming place for interfaith couples/families,” Riekes explained. “We also want people to know how they can participate in holidays and life-cycle events even if they are not Jewish. Even Jews do not always know the questions to ask. Therefore, we wrote “With Open Arms” as a tool to begin open dialogues with those who have questions or want more information.” The 21-page, illustrated booklet offers a basic guide to the major Jewish holidays, including explanations of holidays and their accompanying rituals, plus pronunciations of Hebrew words; in addition, it explains life-cycle events such as Brit Milah (circumcision), Bar/Bat Mitzvah, weddings and funerals. The user-friendly text also details opportunities for non-Jewish family members to participate in religious observances/celebrations. Rabbi Mordechai Levin applauded the new publication, saying, “I would like to thank Joanie and Margo, and our program director, Margie Gutnik, who have spent many months on this project. “For years, many intermarried families have found a warm and welcoming home at our synagogue, attending religious services and participating in cultural and social programs. Many of the opportunities for partic-

ipation cited in this booklet have existed for years at our synagogue and some were added more recently. In the past, this information was given to those who needed it. Now, for the first time, we have all the information in one booklet for everyone to read. We say to interfaith couples what we say to all couples: ‘There is a warm and welcoming place for you within our synagogue family. We invite you to share in the joy that is Beth El.’” Riekes and Jacobson expressed special appreciation to free-lance artist Kim Goldberg, who donated her time and talent to assemble the text, graphics and photographs into the attractive, color publication, which was recently mailed to the entire Beth El congregation. Goldberg “took the design and layout of the booklet to a whole new level and made it look great,” Jacobson said. The upcoming meeting will be a great opportunity, not only for non-Jewish community members, but Jews as well, who might have questions about Jewish observances, but aren’t comfortable asking others for the answers, Riekes said. “We encourage people to attend to find out more about the Open Arms Initiative and to take advantage of an opportunity to learn from me, a congregant and a teacher,” she said, adding, “I have taught about holidays and life-cycle events for 40 years, but even I did not know about all the opportunities for participation at Beth El. This session is open to the entire Omaha community – both Jews and non-Jews who wish to become better informed about how they can bring Jewish customs into their lives and their homes.” Future “Open Arms” programs will include several cooking classes for the High Holidays, led by Howard Shandell, and a panel discussion in December for extended family members of interfaith couples. Attendees at the June 16 get-together are asked to bring their booklets with them (extra publications will be available at the meeting); they will also be encouraged to ask questions and share their own personal stories. Reservations to attend are needed by June 13 and may be made by contacting Program Director Margie Gutnik at 402.492.8550, or at programming@bethel-omaha.org. “‘Open Arms’ means our arms are open to anyone in the community living this story,” Riekes said. “We’re excited about this innovative and invigorated effort to reach out to interfaith couples and share the joy of being Jewish.”

Police car firebombed during outpost demolition by JTA NEWS STAFF JERUSALEM (JTA) -- An Israeli police officer’s car was firebombed during the dismantling of illegal structures at a West Bank outpost. Six people were arrested Thursday in the attack on the car earlier in the morning, according to reports. Some 200 Israeli soldiers and police arrived at the Alei Ain outpost near the Shiloh settlement in the northern West

Bank at 3 a.m. Thursday to demolish the illegal structures. At least 11 people were wounded in skirmishes between the two sides during the operation. Alei Ain residents had prepared for the evacuation by blocking roads to the outpost with rocks and nails. They claim that they passively resisted the evacuation but police used excessive force, beat them and used stun grenades unnecessarily.

Organizations B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Leonard Greespoon will be discussing amazing facts about Jews in the Civil War on Wednesday, June 15, noon at the Blumkin Home. An optional buffet lunch costs $10; beverage service is $3. For more information or to be placed on the e-mail list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha. org.

LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Yiddish teaches an optimistic vision that allows us to view the world with joy and hope. Come join us at the Blumkin Home, every Thursday in the board room, at 1 p.m., to reap “The Joys of Yiddish!” For information call Anne Skolkin at 402.343.1638.

Round #2: Jewish Genetic Testing successfully screened 101 individuals free of charge in 2011

THANKS TO OUR DONORS National Canavan Foundation Milton S. & Corrine N. Livingston Foundation, Inc. Herbert Goldsten Trust Norman and Frances Batt Family Fund Carl Frohm Foundation Jean Duitch Jewish Federation of Omaha David Keiser & Lillian Keiser Stoms Foundation Eunie and Norman Denenberg Beth El Synagogue Sisterhood Temple Israel Sisterhood National Council of Jewish Women - Omaha Section Noddle Family Charitable Fund Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Fund Murray H. & Sharee C. Newman Supporting Foundation Keith and Judy Josephson B’nai B’rith - Henry Monsky Lodge David and Susan Duitch Howard and Sandee Friedman Marvin and Sandra Kohll Beth El Synagogue Men’s Club Gary Javitch Marty Ricks Eric Dunning and Toba-Cohen Dunning Marilyn Berman Hadassah - Omaha Chapter Beth Israel Synagogue Sisterhood Lourdes Secola Gilda Pieck

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6 | The Jewish Press | June 10, 2011

Temple Israel announces summer Shabbat speakers

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by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator From the new CEO of the Jewish Federation of Omaha to the second-term president of Omaha Temple Youth Group (OTYG), this summer’s Shabbat speakers at Temple Israel will continue a popular series that started in 2006. “There are so many ways to create a harmonious community. I know of no better way than to be seriously engaged in listening to members’ narratives and life journeys,” said Rabbi Aryeh Azriel. “This summer, on Friday nights at Temple Israel, we will have the opportunity to pray and meet a line of wonderful, exciting individuals.” Jonathan Rockman and Matt Ferer will lead off the series on Friday, June 17, in the garden of Bob and Connie Kully’s home, 431 South 89th Street. “We’ll be addressing the need for living organ donations,” explained Ferer. “Jonathan generously donated a kidney to me on Nov. 11, 2010. If more people responded as he has, lives would not be lost while waiting for this gift for life.” Rockman will address what influenced him to make this life saving donation and his own journey before and after the transplant. “As for me, I’m just the lucky guy who has an amazing friend,” Ferer declared. Debbi Josephson grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which was home to about 80 to 100 Jewish families at the time. On Friday, July 1, she’ll talk about “growing up in a small Jewish community which meant that I needed to be the person who taught my non-Jewish schoolmates and teachers a little bit about being Jewish especially around the High Holidays and Hanukkah,” she said. “But then living in Omaha, I realized that I really knew so little about Judaism that I took advantage of all the adult Jewish education opportunities. And now I just really enjoy the learning.” On Friday, July 8, Miles Remer will present his topic, “Al Shlosha D’Varim,” or translated: his “three supported foundations.” Paraphrasing from the prayer that accompanies the Torah service, Remer’s “connection to Temple is taking part in the choir, chanting Haftorah and Torah, and of course, the wonderful relationship that both [my wife] Eileen and I have enjoyed with the clergy and the congregation since we joined Temple almost two years ago,” he said. On the following Shabbat, Friday, July 15, Gary Javitch will describe how he came to be involved in pro-Israel activities such as AIPAC, the Anti-Defamation League, and B’nai B’rith which he has served as local president for 12 years. He will retire from that position June 30. He is currently serving on the Board of Governors of B’nai B’rith International and was the Midwest regional president. He’s been involved

in AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, since the 1970s, serving as Nebraska co-chair with his son Mark since 2010 and on AIPAC’s National Council. He’s been a member of the ADL Board for approximately 11 years. Javitch will be followed by Michael Silverman on Friday, July 22. The new chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation plans to talk about his “Jewish experience in New York, Connecticut, and ultimately, Nebraska.” That will lead into “how and why I opted to get into long term care and, in particular, Jewish long term care.” He’ll conclude “with my new responsibilities and the future of our community.” Temple Israel’s Religious School Coordinator Lori Bennett will talk about “the journey that almost didn’t happen. It began on my first day working at Temple and eventually brought me to my conversion to Judaism.” Bennett will speak at the Friday, July 29 worship service. Marty Ricks, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, grew up in a small Iowa town that had only one other Jewish family in addition to his own. After moving to California in 1969, he was unaffiliated with a synagogue. “Not an unusual situation for Californians,” he commented. When his oldest child was five, Ricks started “temple shopping” but promised himself “that I would be completely unknown to the congregation.” Eight years later, he became president of the Reform congregation. He and his wife Iris, members of Temple Israel, also continue to retain their membership with the California congregation. He’ll talk about his journey on Friday, August 5. Jordan Jensen, president of OTYG last year and for the upcoming new year, has been a member of Temple Israel since she was in kindergarten. The senior-to-be at Westside High School will speak at Temple Israel at the Friday, Aug. 12 worship service which will be led by OTYG. Jensen was the winner of the Wendy Blickstein Memorial D’var Torah Competition at the NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth) National Convention in February. The Most Reverend George Lucas will conclude the summer Shabbat speakers series on Friday, Aug. 19. He came to Omaha after serving nearly ten years in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois where he was ordained a bishop in 1999. Named the tenth Archbishop of Omaha, the Most Reverend Lucas was installed in July 2009. All Shabbat worship services begin at 6 p.m. at Temple Israel, except for the June 17 service at the Kully home, and are followed by an oneg. All members of the community are welcome to attend.

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Lauren Brown and Kelson Jorgensen announce their engagement. The bride-to-be earned her Bachelors degree in Human Development and Family Life from the University of Kansas and her Masters in Human Services and Masters in Clinical Counseling from Bellevue University. She is a Mental Health Therapist at ABH-Addiction and Behavioral Health Services. She is the daughter of Debbi and Speedy Zweiback and Jonathan Brown of Boulder, CO. She is the granddaugther of the late Leo Levin of Miami Beach, FL., the late Edith Levin Kline and the late Milton Kline of Miami Beach, FL, the late Maurice Brown of Kansas City, MO, and Gigi and Syd Osten of Scottsdale, AZ. Her fiancé earned his Bachelors degree in business from Bellevue University. He is the owner of Kelson Construction and Painting. He has been in business for 3 years and is a registered contractor in the state of Nebraska. He is the son of Lori and Kelly Jorgensen. He is the grandson of Willy and Louis Pickett of South Jordan, UT, and Betty and Ray Jorgensen of Taylorsville, UT. A wedding is planned for Sept. 24 in Omaha, NE.

Kelly Muenzenberger and Randy Newman announce their engagement. The bride-to-be graduated from the University of Wisconsin and is currently attending graduate school at the University of Minnesota Dental School. She is the daugther of Lynn and Jim Muenzenberger of Hartland, WI and the granddaughter of Ruth and Chuck Bradley of Kenosha, WI. Her fiancé graduated from the University of Wisconsin and recently earned his Juris Doctorate from St. Thomas University Law School. He is currently studying for the bar examination. He is the son of Roberta “Bobbi” and Larry Newman of Plymouth, MN and the grandson of Josie Shrago of Omaha and Steve Newman of Aventura, FL. A wedding is planned in Wisconsin in the near future.

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In a ceremony on June 5, Mandy Frost Becker received the 2011 Spirit of Survivorship award from the American Cancer Society Omaha Chapter. Ms. Becker, an eleven year cancer survivor, was recognized for her outstanding courage fighting the disease and it's after-effects, as well as her work for raising funds for Relay for Life.

Shavuot speech by JTA NEWS STAFF (JTA) -- The valedictorian at a northern California high school will deliver her graduation address via a pre-recorded message in order to observe Shavuot. Carolyn Fine worked out the arrangement with Vacaville High School officials. “They really took good care of me,” Fine told the local paper, regarding her school’s administrators. “They’ve been very understanding.” She decided to have her address recorded so as not to have to use a microphone. Fine intends to walk to the June 9 ceremony to avoid riding on the holiday. Fine, who says she has gradually become more religiously observant, plans to attend Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women in New York in the fall and study math.

June 10, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 7

Summer is here

A new beginning

From our intern EMILY GILLER

If you visit the JCC pool these days, you’ll find something new: free towels. David Struble and Max Kinney, above, are among the lifeguards who will be offering poolside assistance this summer. No more schlepping all those towels every time you go swimming... how nice is that?

Marriage JUDSON/FRIEDMAN Heidi Marie Judson and Jeremy Isaac Friedman were married on May 29 at Beth El. Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Beth Schlossberg officiated at the ceremony, which was followed by a reception at the Happy Hollow Club. Mary and William Judson are parents of the bride. The bridegroom is the son of Gail and Steven Friedman. Danielle Zulfur of San Clemente, CA served as Maid of Honor. Ben Friedman served as Best Man for his brother. Following a wedding trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the couple will make their home in Omaha, where Jeremy will continue in partnership with his father as a Financial Advisor at Wells Fargo Advisors. Heidi will continue her career as an adjustor at Progressive Insurance and a free lance artist.

It’s been a whole year since I’ve sat behind my desk, cached in the back room of the Jewish Press. Last year I was hired as an intern for the Press mainly to cover and write about a little event some people might remember as the JCC Maccabi Games. Working with the Maccabi Games was a crazy, fun and unforgettable experience. I left my internship last year thinking that nothing could live up to that type of excitement. Then I was hired as the Press’ intern for a second summer and imagine my surprise when I arrived home from school expecting everything to be back to normal after the Games, and then learning that all sorts of changes have been made to the Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Federation of Omaha! So what is my job now? The Maccabi Games are over and like I mentioned, I’ve been gone the past several months at school so what do I know about the happenings taking place here? Well, this internship is giving me the opportunity to explore the changes taking place around the JCC grounds. Over the next couple months I will be conducting interviews with the different departments on the JCC campus in order to better understand how the JCC and the Federation function. After all, how many people belong to the JCC, con-

U.S. won’t participate in Durban III, State Dept. says by JTA NEWS STAFF WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The United States will not participate in the United Nations-sponsored Durban III conference this September, the State Department said. In a letter to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Joseph Macmanus, acting assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, confirmed that the United States would not attend the conference, which in its previous iterations has been a forum for anti-Semitism and anti-Israel rhetoric. JTA obtained a copy of the letter. In November, the United States voted against a U.N. resolution to establish the conference. The following month, Gillibrand led a coalition of 18 senators in signing a letter to the American ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, urging the U.S. not to participate in the conference, scheduled for Sept. 21 in New York. The Durban III conference is meant to mark the 10-year anniversary of the U.N.’s World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, during which the delegations from the United States and Israel walked out in protest as the

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tribute to the Federation’s annual campaign and can honestly say they understand everything the JCC and Federation does and has to offer? Probably not many. This is why the Press has allotted me a weekly column, which I will use to relay what I learn about the Federation and the JCC. For instance, it’s probably a good idea to learn what the Federation does, which is why my first interview was with Jan Goldstein, the chief development officer for the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Goldstein explained that the duties of the Federation often fly under the radar. However, thattdoesn’t stop the Federation from raising money for the Omaha community as well as Israel and also sponsoring young groups, such as Young Jewish Omaha and the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization. According to Goldstein it is important to stay involved to help secure a future for Omaha’s Jewish community. “It’s the commitment of the community and the commitment of the staff to come together and ensure a future community,” Goldstein said. Goldstein also mentioned that the word “Federation” can be a little off-putting to some people, and that for our purposes here in Omaha, it would probably be more appropriate to replace the word “Federation” with the word “community.” So here’s a challenge: next time there’s a program, next time there’s a campaign, or even a change, and you hear the word “Federation,” replace that word with “community.” Use that word and remember that Omaha has a tight-knit Jewish community all working toward the same goal: securing a future for our Jewish community and a future for Jewish communities in Israel and elsewhere.

tenor turned increasingly anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. “The United States will not participate in the Durban Commemoration,” Macmanus wrote in the letter. “In December, we voted against the resolution establishing this event because the Durban process included ugly displays of intolerance and anti-Semitism, and we did not want to see that commemorated.” Gillibrand applauded the decision in a statement. “I commend the Obama Administration decision to withdraw from this event,” Gillibrand said. “We all witnessed how extreme anti-Semitic and anti-American voices took over Durban I and Durban II, and we should expect the same thing to happen with Durban III.” The U.S. and Israel, along with seven other countries, boycotted Durban II in 2009, during which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a keynote speech assailing Zionism. In November, Canada was the first country to announce it would not participate in Durban III. Israel announced the following month that it would boycott the conference.

8 | The Jewish Press | June 10, 2011

Salutes... the Class of 2011 Ariel David Brodkey

Haley Burns

Samuel Shermet Burrell

Josh Danon

Eve Poser DiMagno

Yonatan Dotan

Sayde Evnen

Jonathan Feingold

Emma Michelle Feldman

Jenna Renee Gerber

Cameron Gilinsky

Molly Gilinsky

Haley Michelle Gordman

Grace Zweiback Hack

Haley Halsted

Thomas “Tommy” Handleman

Chloe Heyman

Benjamin Adam Holmberg

Samantha Juster

Marissa Nicole Kahn

Emily Anne Katz

Ryan Kirshenbaum

Laura Diane Klein

Alexandra Lee Kohler

Molly Kudym

Noam Margalit

Miriam “Mimi” Merliss

Sam Monsky

ARIEL DAVID BRODKEY Sharon Brodkey

Central Nativ College Leadership Program in Israel & American Jewish University in Fall 2012

EMMA MICHELLE FELDMAN Lincoln East Lori and Howard Feldman University of Nebraska-Lincoln JENNA RENEE GERBER JoEll Gerber and Todd Gerber

HALEY BURNS Helen and John Burns

Central George Washington University

JOSH DANON

CAMERON GILINSKY

EVE POSER DIMAGNO Susan Posner and Stephen DiMagno

Burke University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Lincoln Swarthmore College

MARISSA NICOLE KAHN

EMILY ANNE KATZ Amy and Richard Katz

MOLLY GILINSKY Katherine Finnegan and David Gilinsky

Westside University of Michigan

RYAN KIRSHENBAUM Marcy Noodell and Corey Kirshenbaum

Millard West

Veronica Fadke and Steve Danon Wayne State

Sara Juster and Sorin Juster

Becki and Tom Kahn Jeannie and Rick Gilinsky

SAMUEL SHERMET BURRELL Elkhorn Wendy Shermet and Hobart and WIlliam Smith Leonard Burrell Colleges

Millard North University of Nebraska-Omaha

SAMANTHA JUSTER

HALEY MICHELLE GORDMAN Skutt Catholic Bridget and Kip Gordman Texas Christian University

LAURA DIANE KLEIN Janet and Harry Klein

GRACE ZWEIBACK HACK

Beth and Amnon Dotan

Westside Kivunim: New Directions in Israel & University of Wisconsin in Fall 2012

HALEY HALSTED Mendy and Mike Halsted

Westside University of Texas-Austin

Susan Evnen Dinsmore and Richard Evnen

Lincoln Southeast University of Wisconsin

Westside Loyola University-Chicago Millard North University of Central Florida

Burke University of Nebraska-Lincoln

ALEXANDRA LEE KOHLER

MOLLY KUDYM

Millard North Northwest Missouri State Univ Millard North

Robbi Kolnick and Gary Kudym University of Nebraska-Lincoln

TOMMY HANDLEMAN

Ralston

Allan and Maureen Handleman University of Nebraska-Lincoln

SAYDE EVNEN

Millard North University of Nebraska-Omaha

Westside

Rosie Zweiback and Mace Hack Princeton University

Diane and Steve Kohler

YONATAN DOTAN

Westside Youth for Understanding in France and college undecided

NOAM MARGALIT Ruth and Eyal Margalit

CHLOE HEYMAN

Central University of Chicago

Westside

Betsy Baker and Richard Heyman University of Southern California

MIRIAM “MIMI” MERLISS

Lincoln

Lori Raphael and Andrew Merliss Elon University

JONATHAN FEINGOLD Ellen and David Feingold

Lincoln East Pomona College

BENJAMIN ADAM HOLMBERG Millard North Helene Cohn and Mark Holmberg University of Nebraska-Omaha

SAM MONSKY Pam and Henry Monsky

Millard South Metro Community College

June 10, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 9

Sam Noddle

Mitchell Raznick

Aaron Priluck

Rachel Scheet

Rachel Saferstein

Daniel Issac Schlessinger

Salutes... the Class of 2011 Louis Rueben Schreiber

SAM NODDLE Kim and Jay Noddle

AARON PRILUCK Sheila and Ira Priluck

MITCHELL RAZNICK Jeanne Katelman and Jerry Raznick

RACHEL SAFERSTEIN Stephanie Siedschlag and Mark Saferstein

RACHEL SCHEET

Alison Elizabeth Slosburg

Matthew Waldbaum

LOUIS REUBEN SCHREIBER

Westside College of Charleston

Michelle Schreiber and Allen Schreiber

Burke University of Michigan Millard North University of Kansas-Lawrence

Lincoln North Star Southeast Community College

Mazal Tov, Haley!

ALISON ELIZABETH SLOSBURG Westside Martha and David Slosburg University of Pennsylvania MATTHEW WALDBAUM Natha and John Waldbaum

Central Loyola University-New Orleans

Papillion-La Vista

Lisa Scheet and Gordon Scheet University of Wyoming

DANIEL ISAAC SCHLESSINGER Millard North Nancy and Joel Schlessinger Northwestern University

We are so proud of all your accomplishments. Hook ’em Horns!

Millard North Miami of Ohio

The Jewish Press regrets it if some graduating seniors are not included. If parents would like to submit an announcement for ‘In the News’, we will run it when space is available. Please send via e-mail (with photo of at least 100K, attached as a .jpg) to jpress@jewishomaha.org, or to the office at: Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. Include: name of graduating senior, name(s) of parent(s), high school from which student graduated, and college which the student will attend.

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10 | The Jewish Press | June 10, 2011 PRINTING, COPYING and DIGITAL NETWORK

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Barbecue for 45 minutes in a covered grill, turning potatoes once or twice, until they are browned on both sides and forktender. Remove from pan and keep warm until ready to serve. Serves 4-6.

Read it and eat Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN

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The Big Summer Cookbook By Jeff Cox (Wiley, $24.95) Enjoy the outdoors, the freshest produce from the farmers’ markets, and the beauty of the season. Cox offers 300 recipes for breakfast and brunch through desserts and suppers with Make Ahead, No Cook and Quick & Easy icons, menu suggestions, and this recipe to punch up the flavor of just about everything: PERSILLADE 1/2 cup finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley 1/2 cup finely minced garlic Mash both ingredients together in a small bowl. Stores in the fridge for 10 days and in the freezer for 6 months. Variations: Persillade augmented with lemon zest becomes gremolata, the traditional garnish for braised lamb shanks. With added olive oil and grated Parmesan, it becomes similar to pistou, a fine topping for pasta or garnish for summer soups. Makes 1 cup. Grilling For All Seasons By Rick Brown (Sellers, $18.95) This PBS host shares over 95 “damn good” recipes, how to get out of the kitchen, enjoy grilling outdoors and the magic of barbecue. Organized seasonally with two menus and some å la carte suggestions. BARBECUED FRIED POTATOES 1 tsp dry mustard 1/4 tsp chili powder 1/4 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp dried sage 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper 6 large potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices cooking spray Heat barbecue grill (or oven) to 425 degrees F for grilling over direct heat. In a large bowl, mix the mustard, chili powder, cumin, salt, sage, and black pepper. Stir well. Spray both sides of the potato slices with nonstick cooking spray, then sprinkle both sides with the mixed spices and arrange them in a single layer on a large baking sheet.

BBQ 25 By Adam Lang (Harper Collins, $19.99) Go for the primal, hands-on and cook a chunk of meat over flames. Lang has “pimped-up” his top 25 streamlined recipes. Great graphics, photographs and a terrific finger-thumb test for doneness.

STEAK MARINADE 8 9-10 oz chuck steaks or leaner-cut steaks 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp red wine vinegar 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper 2 tbsp grated or finely chopped sweet white onion 2 tbsp grated or finely chopped garlic 2 tbsp garlic salt 1 bunch fresh thyme 1 cup cold water 2 tbsp pure chili powder (optional) Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl or sealable plastic bag. Mix and crush all the ingredients with your hands, directly or through the bag, squeezing them to release the maximum flavor. Put steaks in the marinade and let them absorb the flavors for at least 1 hour, and up to 24 hours. If marinating for longer than 3 hours, refrigerate the steaks. Serves 8. Lois Friedman can be reached at ReadItAndEat@ yahoo.com.

A Wicked love affair

Theater review ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT, Editor of the Jewish Press Between May 25 and June 12, Omaha was once again treated to several performances of the musical “Wicked”. With story by Winnie Holzman and compositions of Stephen Schwartz, it’s is one of the most successful musicals to ever hit the stage. Even though the original cast took its last bows in 2004, successive casts continue to wow audiences everywhere. This month alone, performances are scheduled in New York, Calgary, Vancouver, Washington D.C. and London, in addition to the ones that took place here in town. We’re all familiar with Dorothy, the Wizard, the Tin Man, and that yellow brick road. Who hasn’t grown up with those wonderful stories by Frank Baum, not to mention the movie version? But Wicked reminds us that, in this storied landscape that seems so overly familiar, there are characters we know little about. Such is the case with Elphaba, that green Wicked Witch of the West, who in the past was not much more than a one-

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dimensional character. She was surrounded by scary flying monkeys, and dead by the last page so the world of Oz could live happily ever after. A speed bump for all the good characters, if you will. Of course, things are rarely that simple, especially for Elphaba herself. “Wicked” does a magnificent job of walking in Elphaba’s shoes; from difficult origins to feeling left out, the witch has become much more than simply the ‘bad guy.’ The musical also gives audiences an interesting account of the events that occurred before Dorothy ever landed in Munchkin land. We get to know Glinda, who channels a Legally Blonde type of wit; we get to watch witches fall in and out of love, and are reminded that the color of your skin should not dictate your feelings. The cast members of the Omaha engagement of “Wicked” were Jackie Burns as Elphaba, Chandra Lee Schwartz as Glinda, Randy Danson as Madame Morrible, and Mark Jacoby as The Wizard. They deliver a stellar performance that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. Add to that the sets and the flying (not just by the monkeys!), and this is a treat that should be repeated as often as possible.

Arts+Entertainment The Bemis Center announces the return of the $100 Art Sale Fundraiser to support the Bemis Underground, Friday, June 10 from 7-9 p.m. and will continue Saturday, June 11 during regular gallery hours 11 a.m.-5 p.m. It will feature over 100 works of art all available for $100 each. For more information, please contact www.bemiscenter.org. On Sunday, June 19, the Omaha Chamber Music Society will present Amy Sims, former concertmaster of the Omaha

Symphony, with four members of the Symphony: Louis DeMartino, clarinet; Ann Beebe, violin; Amy PetersonStout, viola; and Paul Ledwon, cello. They will be performing Dvorak’s American String Quartet and Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet at 3 p.m., at Saint Margaret Mary Church, 6116 Dodge St. There will be a pre-concert talk at 2:30 p.m. Admission: $18; students, $5; four-ticket package, $40. For more information, please call 402-960-6943 or visit www.omahachambermusic.org.

June 10, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 11

L.A. Dodgers to sponsor Maccabiah baseball by JTA NEWS STAFF LOS ANGELES (JTA) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers again will underwrite the baseball tournament at the Maccabiah Games in Israel, the Maccabiah Organizing Committee announced. “Our sponsorship hugely enhanced the baseball experience at the 18th Maccabiah Games in 2009, and the Dodgers are proud to continue our close association with the Jewish Olympics,” said Dodgers’ owner Frank McCourt, who is battling his Jewish wife, Jamie, for control of the club in a bitter divorce case, said in a statement. “We are delighted to participate in spreading the baseball message internationally and eagerly look forward with all Jewish and Israeli fans to seeing great ball games at the 2013 Maccabiah.” On the Israeli side, Amir Peled, chair of the organizing committee, thanked McCourt and added, “In light of the current upheavals in our region, the official pledge announced by Prime Minister Netanyahu in 2010 of substantial Israeli government support for the Maccabiah in 2013 assumes even greater importance.” In Los Angeles, a committee of 36 wealthy residents is again swinging into action after raising $1.8 million for the 2009 Maccabiah. The money went mainly to subsidize the participation of athletes from smaller Jewish communities around the world. Steve Soboroff, who organized the Los Angeles efforts, said that as in previous years, local supporters have pledged $50,000 each to serve as “consultants” for the 2013 event. In addition, former Mayor Richard Riordan again will sponsor the Maccabiah chess competition, and the Jewish Life Television network will broadcast highlights of the games. Some 8,000 athletes, among them junior and senior competitors, participated in the 2009 Maccabiah, setting a new attendance record, said Maccabiah executive director Eyal Tiberger during a recent visit to Los Angeles. The participants came from 52 countries, and organizers hope to add Cuba, Morocco, Burma and Singapore to the 2013 list.

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Happy Father’s Day

Bert’s eye view BERT LEWIS I’ve written many words about the man my children called dad, but since it’s nearly Father’s Day, I find I still have a few things to say about him. I should have probably asked my kids to write this, but I’m fairly confident I can guess what they would say. First of all, I know they considered him a good dad, which may sound like an understatement. He wasn’t the kind of dad you’d see roughhousing with the boys and a football, but he made sure there were always tickets to games, and those were family tickets. The kids knew their way around the stadium in Lincoln from a very early age. Both genders. Plus College world Series, etc., etc. Any and all such stuff was of great interest to their dad. I remember a year when Olympic ice skating tryouts were held here in Omaha. The kids were young, but dad bought tickets and we all enjoyed the excitement of that event. Although there wasn’t a lot of outdoors kid/dad activity, it was dad who was there when it was time to learn how to ride a bike. Every time somebody got big enough to reach the pedals, dad was holding the back of the seat and running down the street, yelling: “pedal, pedal, pedal!” Indoors, I’m reminded of table talk in our dining room. The kids learned early to question the meaning or the spelling of a word. Words and their proper usage could provide enough conversation to take an entire dinner time. Some of it was fun, all of it was educational. They learned early if they asked how to spell a word, the answer was “look it up.” If you knew my children’s father, you can probably pic-

ture all of this. He was a very articulate man, with an excellent command of the English language. One of the standing jokes in the house was on him...the former high school debater. He loved to talk, and I admit I often said of him, “if you ask him the time, he’ll tell you how to make a clock.” I don’t remember the ages when our kids got wise to the triggers which might spark a longer answer than had been expected, but eventually, they learned. Just as they learned that his sometime dour expression didn’t necessarily mean trouble. More likely it meant “dad is worried about something - watch it!” They learned he had his serious moments, but they also knew that in time they could jolly him out of such moods. The youngest, after some study on her part, decided that a certain sweater he wore indicated his mood. If she noticed he had on an old, gray sweater, she took it as a storm warning. We didn’t think that was valid, but somehow...well, maybe. When they were older, there could be heard mutterings and the word curmudgeon, but nobody really believed it. He wasn’t the kind of dad who helped with homework, but if pressed for an answer about something, could always seem to respond instantly. They knew if they said the word Hamlet, he would recite a flawless soliloquy on the spot. One that he had learned many years before. His memory was prodigous... My children were fortunate enough to have their dad until they made him a grandfather and even a great-grandfather, It was long enough for them to understand the man he really was, and the legacy he left them. His good name, the integrity with which he conducted both business and his private life, the sharp mind, and yes, at times the sharp tongue, the humor he so enjoyed. He was, as my children could testify, a good dad. Happy Father’s Day to all you dads. Bert Lewis can be reached at BertLewis39@aol.com.

Palin sports Star of David during N.Y. visit by JTA NEWS STAFF (JTA) -- Sarah Palin visited New York tourist spots sporting a large Star of David around her neck. Palin, who visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island with her daughter Piper, told WNBC-TV that she was wearing the Star of David in honor of Jerusalem Day, which marks the city’s reunification under Israeli sovereignty during the Six-Day War in June 1967. Observers have suggested that she wore the necklace in order to drum up support among

Sarah Palin

Jewish New Yorkers for a possible 2012 bid for president. Palin, who ran unsuccessfully for vice president as John McCain’s running mate in 2008, visited Washington, Maryland, and Pennsylvania this week before arriving in New York. The former Alaska governor caused a stir in March when she wore a Star of David around her neck during a brief visit to Israel, including to the Western Wall and a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

12 | The Jewish Press | June 10, 2011

Point of view

American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

An intolerant proposal by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press This November, the voters in San Francisco will be faced with an interesting proposal on their ballots: they will be deciding whether male circumcision should be made illegal. The main force behind the push is MGM Bill (the letters stand for male genital mutilation), founded by Matthew Hess in 2003.* Although MGM has drafted similar proposals for 46 other states, only Santa Monica was briefly on the list to join San Francisco. I have several issues with this bill. Sure, the arguments sound so very rational. They focus on potential health issues that show up later in life, diminished sensitivity, and freedom of choice for the children. Circumcision is portrayed as painful, unnecessary, and cruel; all in all, we’re not doing anyone any favors by subjecting newborn boys to the knife. They’re just standing up for those who don’t have a voice, or so Hess claims. The fact that proponents of the MGM bill position themselves as defenders of the innocent puts us in an awkward position. We, in turn, become defensive; we don’t have many rational counterarguments, because circumcision is not a rational matter. It is, instead, a matter of tradition, faith, belonging; a highly emotional time for everybody involved, an important ceremony that seals a covenant created generations before us, and one that will be here long after we are gone. Feeling defensive when it comes to religious choices is not what we want to be. This is a country that has freedom of religion in the constitution for a reason; how come suddenly it needs to be defended? Haven’t we had this discussion? “Freedom of religion stops at another person’s body,” Hess told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency recently. I disagree. Why? Because Hess is not talking about “another person’s body.” Phrasing it that way creates too vague a context. Instead, he and his colleagues are not just defending the body; they are specifically targeting circumcision, and

therefore specifically targeting Jews and Muslims. This is, unfortunately, part of a larger trend. There’s the headscarf ban in France, and the push by one small political party in Holland to ban kosher slaughter. Many other places in Europe have banned overtly religious symbols, including kippot and large crosses. There are a number of public schools in America where the decision has been made to not allow anything religious into the building. These days, it seems that freedom of religion is more like freedom from religion. We’re so afraid to leave someone out; at the end of the day, we’re leaving everybody out. However, the worst part of this proposal is the implication that we, as committed Jews who circumcise our sons, are bad parents. Nobody likes to hear that. The Bris is part of a tradition that goes back thousands of years, and yet it is a highly personal matter to any parent. As such, it is not a decision any parent wants to put in the hands of a few fanatics who mistake intolerance for human rights. I imagine Muslim parents feel the same. You don’t want to circumcise your children? Good for you. But you don’t get to decide for everybody else. Besides, when you propose a bill that lands the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Orthodox Union on

the same side, you should probably think a little harder about what you’re doing. Fortunately, people like Hess often ruin things for themselves, while trying to ruin it for others. This case is no exception. Putting a bill on the ballot wasn’t enough; Hess added the publication of an anti-circumcision comic book (no, it’s not a joke)about a tall and blond superhero named ‘foreskin man’ who battles evil Mohels. It figures; Hess’ methods may be slightly different, but the anti-Semitic message stays the same. *The actual sponsor of the San Francisco ballot measure is one Lloyd Schofield of the informal Committee Opposing Forced Male Circumcision, according to www.reason.com

Heed the lonely voice of reason of Canada’s prime minister

Behind the headlines MARVIN HIER and ABRAHAM COOPER LOS ANGELES (JTA) -- Pundits already are busy deciphering the performance of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his new foreign policy team at the just completed Group of Eight Summit in France. The G-8 meeting was convened amid pivotal crises ranging from global debt to human rights to nuclear energy safety, and how to nurture the complex Arab Spring impacting on 400 million people in the Middle East. Canada is no injury-time substitute in this game. It has paid in blood and treasure in Afghanistan, is involved in the NATO campaign in Libya against Moammar Gadhafi and is a respected international aid donor. So this time, what Harper had to say surely got a serious hearing from his peers, including President Obama, as nations as diverse as Russia, England and Japan strove for consensus. They found some. The official communique discussed the role of the Internet, nuclear safety and support for development of the sub-Sahara region in Africa. G-8 leaders also apparently agreed that Gadhafi and Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, must go. On Syria, however, the leaders could agree only that they were “appalled” by the regime’s actions and demanded an end to the killings of protesters. Most significant, the leaders sent a powerful signal of continued support for the Arab Spring by announcing $20 billion in assistance for the democratic transformations in

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Egypt and Tunisia. And then the G-8 leaders added, “We are convinced that the historical changes throughout the region make the solution of the Israeli-Palestine conflict through negotiations more important, not less. … We urge both parties to engage without delay in substantive talks with a view to concluding a framework agreement on all final status issues.” That declaration came close to doing something that the overwhelming majority of protesters from Tunisia to Damascus never asked for: linking their drive for freedom to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Historically, such emotional pandering has been cynically deployed by every Mideast tyrant, from Saddam Hussein to Bashir Assad, to deflect from serious domestic problems. And it never helped a single Palestinian. The masses yearning for freedom from Tehran to Cairo have earned our support by courageously putting their lives on the line. That should be the primary focus of North Americans’ diplomatic, political and economic support. Which brings us to the Israel-Palestine conflict. It is no secret that Harper was the only G-8 leader who rejected Obama’s new push for a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. Harper ultimately prevailed against the pressure to go along with the posturing of the majority. While consensus building, especially in diplomacy, is an important goal and powerful tool, Harper’s position is that this time the majority is wrong. For Israelis who have fought five wars and absorbed suicide bombers and thousands of missiles, size counts. Even including the West Bank and the Golan Heights, Israel is

2,700 square miles smaller than Vancouver Island. Israelis cannot go back to an “adjusted” version of its indefensible pre-1967 lines -- dubbed the “Auschwitz borders” by the late Foreign Minister Abba Eban. If they did, they would still be facing 60,000 Iranian-supplied missiles from Hezbollah at the Lebanese border in the North and genocidal Hamas in Gaza. Israelis also would have to fear a renewed wave of suicide bombers who could literally walk from the West Bank into major Israeli urban areas, including Jerusalem. Speaking of the Holy City, since 1967, the undivided city has facilitated millions of pilgrims -- Jewish, Christian and Muslim -- and maintained the status quo of the Muslim presence on the Temple Mount, the holiest site of Judaism. No Israeli would ever agree to have to show their passport in order to pray at the Western Wall. Stephen Harper has gained the trust and admiration of citizens of Israel and supporters of the Jewish state. On core issues of human rights, the United Nations and the Middle East, he has often broken loose from the obscurity and safety of the pack and exhibited real leadership. Harper yanked Canada out of the so-called Durban II conference on racism when Washington dithered for months. Only when Iran’s President Ahmadinejad was given the opening keynote did the United States and most European Union members wake up and do the right thing. A few months ago at an Interparliamentary Conference in Ottawa, Harper delivered a blistering public rebuke to the largely ignored resurgence of worldwide anti-Semitism. Continued on page 13

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June 10, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 13

We must talk about the two Jerusalems

Behind the headlines JILL JACOBS NEW YORK (JTA) -- After my first visit to Israel, at age 6, I proudly toted my photo album to Hebrew school for showand-tell. As the class crowded around a picture of the Kotel, my teacher marveled, “Look how blue the sky is!” I squinted at the picture: The sky didn’t look any bluer than the sky in Framingham, Mass., where I grew up. But I believed her. Of course, the Jerusalem sky would be bluer than anywhere else in the world. I’m still not sure about that sky, but my teacher’s comment sums up the relationship that many American Jews have with Jerusalem. For many of us, Jerusalem has become more of a spiritual ideal than an actual place. On June 1, many Jews will celebrate Yom Yerushalayim, or Jerusalem Day, which marks the 1967 military victory that led to Israeli control of East Jerusalem. In the American Jewish communities that celebrate Yom Yerushalayim, the day often becomes a time for rhetoric about the perfection of Jerusalem. We may quote the ancient rabbinic claim that nine-tenths of the world’s beauty rests in Jerusalem. We speak of Jerusalem as the city of peace and as the holy city. We sing Naomi Shemer’s song, Jerusalem of gold, of bronze, of light. Some of this talk reflects a conscious political attempt to close down any discussion about the status of Jerusalem in a peace agreement. Some of this talk arises from a well-intentioned desire to put aside politics and focus on Jerusalem’s religious meaning. But nothing about Jerusalem is apolitical. If we focus only on the holiness and beauty of the place, we unfeelingly ignore the pain of its Arab residents, lowincome families, foreign workers and others whose lives there involve injustice and lost opportunity. If we focus only on the injustices committed there, we forget the religious power of Jerusalem for Jews, Muslims and Christians. When we choose to speak about Jerusalem only in idealistic terms, we fail to grapple with the essential messiness of the actual place. In the real Jerusalem, people go to work, run errands and worry about their children. In the real Jerusalem, haredi Orthodox and secular Israelis battle over Shabbat laws and segregated bus lines. In the real Jerusalem, English speakers and well-off Israelis eat sushi in upscale cafes. In the real Jerusalem, longtime Arab residents are evicted from the homes they have occupied for decades so that religious Jewish settlers can move to homes they have pur-

chased in the neighborhood. In the real Jerusalem, inspiring activists and advocates devote their life to creating a better city for all residents. In the real Jerusalem, Jews, Muslims and Christians come to pray. The disconnect between the idea of Jerusalem and the reality of the place is not a new phenomenon. Classical Jewish texts distinguish between “Yerushalayim shel malah,” the spiritual, heavenly Jerusalem, and “Yerushalayim shel mata,” the earthly Jerusalem. In Yerushalayim shel malah, God is visible, suffering is absent and there is perfection. In Yerushalayim shel mata, real people struggle with deep political, religious and personal conflict. In Yerushalayim shel mata, perfection remains elusive. When we speak only about the beauty and holiness of Jerusalem, we effectively act as though we already live in Yerushalayim shel malah. This approach gets in the way of our making progress in ensuring that the actual Jerusalem is a just and peaceful place. If we are able instead to engage with Yerushalayim shel matah, in all of its messiness and complexity, we have a chance to create a better future for the city. Encountering this messiness means visiting, or at least reading about, the diverse communities living in the city. It means seeing what neighborhoods make up East Jerusalem, who lives there, and how life differs in the Arab and Jewish parts of the city. It means spending time in religious and secular communities and understanding the tensions as well as the commonalities between them. It means visiting the wealthiest and poorest neighborhoods of the city. Jerusalem has become the primary battleground for the peace process and for internal debates about the nature of Israeli society. Jerusalem’s status in these debates is both symbolic and real. The rabbis of the Talmud describe Jerusalem as the portal to heaven. There is, according to these texts, a direct line from Jerusalem to the Divine throne. However, these same rabbis elsewhere assert that one of the doors to “gehenom,” the underworld, also sits in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, the holiest of all cities, offers the possibility of Divine encounter. But even the ancient rabbis understood the flip side of this holiness: We can get so involved in our own religious longings that we fail to see that we are falling into unhappy territory. This year, let’s make Yom Yerushalayim a time for real communal conversation about the messy, complicated and exciting history, reality and future of the city. If we succeed in doing so, we may move ourselves just one step closer to realizing Yerushalayim shel malah. Rabbi Jill Jacobs is the executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights-North America.

How did ‘Zionist’ become a pejorative? And why hasn’t David Horowitz been to Israel?

Behind the headlines DANIEL TREIMAN I feel like I’m seeing with increasing frequency uses of the word “Zionist” that casually assume it’s a pejorative term. I’m not talking about anti-Israel firebrands here, but rather observers who perhaps are simply more used to seeing the word tossed about as a term of opprobrium than hearing it claimed as a point of pride and self-identification. The latest example is from a newspaper report about a speaking appearance at the University of California, Santa Barbara by conservative activist David Horowitz. The article stated: He is often perceived as having an anti-Muslim slant to his rhetoric, and being an outright Zionist, accusations which he regards as baseless and false. Meanwhile, here’s the quote from the paper on what Horowitz said on the issue: “I feel totally American -- I don’t have an identification with Israel; they are as foreign a country to me as any other foreign county – but Jews are the most persecuted people on the face of the earth, and that’s just the truth,” said Horowitz. “If the Arabs disarm there will be peace, if the Jews disarm there will be a massacre. I’m portrayed as a big Zionist but I’ve never been to Israel. I just know when a country needs to be defended.” So Horowitz, founder and CEO of the eponymous David Horowitz Freedom Center, has made defending Israel a cen-

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terpiece of his activism. Yet he says he’s never even visited. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, to paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld. (After all only about a third of American Jews have ever visited Israel.) But speaking of Seinfeld... Jerry Seinfeld once had a bit on his eponymous show about a dentist who he suspected had converted to Judaism solely for the Jewish jokes. One wonders if Horowitz got into pro-Israel activism solely for the fights. At U.C. Santa Barbara, at least, his pugnacious style of activism has managed to bring about a remarkable result: uniting the campus’s Hillel and the pro-Israel student group with Students for Justice in Palestine in criticizing him. UPDATE: After posting this item, I saw that I was beaten on the David-Horowitz-has-never-been-to-Israel news by a few months.

Heed the lonely voice of reason of Canada’s prime minister Continued from page 12 Now, at the G-8 Summit, he stood firm against shoving Israel down the gangplank of indefensible borders and another deadly war. Harper often has been a lonely voice struggling against the din of politically correct attacks on Israel’s legitimacy and security. We can only hope that as he begins his new term as Canada’s leader that his lonely voice of reason will help calm the roiled Middle East and help set the stage for Israeli-Palestinian talks based on mutual respect and sacrifice. Rabbi Marvin Hier is the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Rabbi Abraham Cooper is the center’s associate dean.

Time to assert Jerusalem’s Jewish heritage

Focus on issues NATHAN DIAMENT WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Among his many statements related to Israel in the last couple of weeks, President Obama got at least one thing right when he said at a London news conference that Jerusalem goes deep into how the Jewish people think about their identity. As we mark 44 years of a reunited Jerusalem this week, we should appreciate the centrality of Jerusalem to Jewish identity. This is why most Israelis and American Jews consistently reject the idea that Israel surrender swaths of the holy city as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians. Jerusalem has been a touchstone of our identity throughout our history, and our contemporary experience gives Jerusalem a central place in our faith today. From the religious perspective, when Jews pray, we face toward Jerusalem -- and the Temple Mount in particular -no matter where we are in the world. We pray each day for the welfare of Jerusalem, and we conclude our most sacred services, the Passover seder and Neilah on Yom Kippur, with the pledge and prayer, “Next year in Jerusalem.” Historically, we regularly read biblical accounts of our forefathers and mothers that take place in and around Jerusalem. King David made the city his capital 3,000 years ago, and it has been the national capital of the Jewish people -- and no other nation -- ever since. Only brute force has kept us out. Such was the case, we must still recall, from 1948 to 1967, when Jews were barred entry to the Old City and denied worship at the Western Wall during the time that the West Bank was controlled by Jordan. Since Jerusalem’s reunification in 1967, the city has been open to all. As noted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his recent address to Congress, “Only a democratic Israel has protected freedom of worship for all faiths.” Moreover, reunification has enabled Jerusalem to flourish economically and culturally. While it is a poorer city than Tel Aviv, Jerusalem has a vibrant tourist trade, entrepreneurial businesses and first-rate theater and museums. Some, in Israel and elsewhere, assert that Jerusalem can be easily divided with minimal impact upon the life of the city, let alone the sanctity and safety of its holy places. Indeed, there are neighborhoods, especially those to the east of the West Bank security barrier, where Jews seldom venture. But modern Jerusalem is far more an interwoven checkerboard of Jewish and Palestinian areas than starkly segregated enclaves. The Arab area of Beit Safafa lies between the Jewish neighborhoods of Talpiot and Gilo, while the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah lies between the Old City and the Jewish neighborhood of French Hill. Moreover, an area like the City of David or Silwan may have more Palestinian than Jewish residents, but it is deeply connected to Jewish history. It is no more feasible to separate the Palestinian and Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem from one another than to ethnically divide the neighborhoods of Manhattan. Proponents of a “two-state solution” are wont to say that “everyone knows” what the details of a deal are. Those details often include the presumption that Jerusalem will again be divided and will serve as the capital of two states: Israel and Palestine. It is high time to repudiate this presumption. The international community would never expect the Muslims to cede sovereignty over Mecca, the cradle of their faith and history, any more than Americans would be asked to return Philadelphia to the queen of England. The Jewish people should be afforded no less respect. Jerusalem must remain united under Jewish sovereignty. Days after the 1967 Six-Day War and the reunification of Jerusalem, one of the great leaders of religious Zionism, Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Neriah, wrote that the Jews were not worthy to hold onto Jerusalem in 1948 because they were divided into many factions. “In 1967,” he wrote, “we entered the city through one gate, the Lions’ Gate, with one army, the IDF, under one flag.” Of course, we Jews find ourselves in many factions today. We must fight on many fronts to assert the Jewish heritage of Jerusalem. On this Jerusalem Day, or Yom Yerushalayim, we must commit ourselves to confronting those who would redivide our capital from without and to working to unify the Jewish people from within. We must do it for the sake of Jerusalem. Nathan Diament is the director of public policy at the Orthodox Union.

14 | The Jewish Press | June 10, 2011

Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 | 402.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California | Omaha, NE 68154-1980 | 402.492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org Services conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Beth Schlossberg. FRIDAY: Shabbat on the Green outdoor Shabbat celebration on the synagogue’s back lawn. Dinner will be served at 5:45 p.m.; then Kabbalat Shabbat services at 6:45 p.m. For dinner cost, contact Margie Gutnik in the office or at programming@bethel-omaha.org. No dinner charge for new Beth El members (since May 2010) and all graduating high school students. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m.; Yoga Shabbat, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., enjoy a unique, alternative Shabbat experience during Yoga Shabbat. Tippi Denenberg will lead yoga exercises; program leaders will be Andy Greenberg and Cantor Schlossberg. Wear tennis shoes and comfortable clothing (no tank tops or shorts). If you have a yoga mat, feel free to bring it along; Evening Services, 8:50 p.m. SUNDAY: Bible Study Discussion Group, 10 a.m.; Parsha & Pizza, 10 a.m. Join Cantor Schlossberg at Bagel Bin for a slice (or two) of pizza and a discussion about the week’s Torah portion. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. MONDAY: Let’s Wine About It, 6:30 p.m. meet Cantor Schlossberg at Fox and Hound, 506 N. 120, for a get-together filled with conversation about anything and everything Jewish. All adults in the Jewish community are welcome. THURSDAY: Open Arms Meeting, 7 p.m., the community is invited to Beth El to learn about the synagogue’s new Open Arms Initiative publication. (see full story on page 5.) All Beth El classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street | Omaha, NE. 68154 | 402.556.6288 www.BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fri., 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross and Rabbi Yitzchak Mizrahi. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes begin with Torah Parade, 9:45 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by Alan Kohll in honor of Brigitte’s birthday; The Laws of Shabbat, 6:30 p.m.; Advanced Parshah Study for Kids (ages 10 and up), 7:30 p.m.; Mincha, 8:30 p.m. followed by Seuda Shlishit; Havdalah, 9:49 p.m. SUNDAY: Gemara class, 8 a.m., learning tractate Kiddushin; Shacharit, 9 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

MONDAY: Weekly Teleconference Mishnah Class, 10:30 a.m. Contact the office to get the dial-in number and access code. TUESDAY: Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m.; Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Board of Commissioner’s Meeting, 6:30 p.m.; Advanced Halachic Kollel, 9 p.m. THURSDAY: Women of Torah class, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Gross.

CHABAD HOUSE An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street | Omaha, NE 68144-1646 | 402.330.1800 www.OChabad.com | email: chabad@aol.com Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Service, 7 a.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Minyan, 10 a.m.; Youth Minyan, 10:30 a.m.; Mini Mensch title will be awarded. Kiddush luncheon follows. Join Rabbi Katzman, noon-1 p.m.; W.O.W. Parsha, Prophets and Prayer, 12:45 p.m. SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m. MONDAY: JLI class, Oasis in Time, 7 p.m. Register now at www.my jli.com or call 402.330.1800. Questions contact JLI@OChabad.com or call 402.330.1800. All programs are open to the entire community.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN South Street Temple | Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street | Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 | 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by David Williss, with oneg following hosted by Nancy and Mark Intermill. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. led by Stephanie Dohner; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. led by Rick Kohn. MONDAY-FRIDAY: LJCS Camp Israel, June 13-24, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. for kindergarten age and up at Tifereth Israel. A light kosher lunch will be provided. Please let us know if you are interested by emailing Tracy Gordon at tgordonjc@ yahoo.com or Andrea Halpern at halperns@inebraska.com.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway | Offutt AFB, NE 68113 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.

NEIGHBORHOOD PRAYER GROUP 1317 North 57 Street | Omaha, NE 68132 | 402.551.6609 FRIDAY: Minyan, 8:39 p.m. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to the Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m.

Shabbaton for the Hearing Impaired by STEPHEN STEINER “Our Way,” the Orthodox Union's division for Jewish deaf and hard of hearing, will be providing the hearingimpaired of the Omaha Jewish community with a one-ofa-kind Shabbat experience. The program will be held Parshat Shelach -- Friday, June 17-Saturday, June 18 at OU member Beth Israel Synagogue. Registration is mandatory, and sleeping arrangements are available upon registration. Our Way has brought its joyous Shabbaton programs to communities all over North America, open to members of the Jewish community from all backgrounds. Materials and prayer services will be provided in American Sign Language and deaf advisors will assist to create a meaningful, traditional Shabbat experience. The Friday-Saturday event will include three delicious meals and snacks, interpreted services in the synagogue, a beginners minyan, child care, program sessions, and an opportunity to join together with others to live and learn about Judaism. Saturday night culminates with the showing of the popular documentary "Ingelore" about a young deaf girl and her family who escaped the Nazis during World War II. The film will be shown in sign, voice, and captions. Rabbi Eliezer Lederfeind, Director of Our Way, will lead

a key session on "How to Pray, What to Say." Back by popular demand, Rabbi David Kastor, will serve as the Deaf Scholar-in-Residence. He will discuss "The Three Weeks," in addition to other workshops, and there will be a question and answer session. Rabbi Kastor graduated from Gallaudet University for the Deaf with a B.A. in Computer Science and married an Israeli deaf woman, Tchia. He received his semicha (rabbinical ordination) from Ner Israel in Baltimore three years ago. He started the Ahavas Israel School for the Deaf in Frederick, MD and taught there for two years. Rabbi Kastor has worked for the OU as a Regional Representative in Maryland for almost 20 years. Lina Kogan, an Omaha resident of 20 years, will be the Deaf Host of the Shabbaton. Lina briefly attended Gallaudet University for the Deaf, and is continuing her education in Omaha. As a teenager, she first attended an Our Way convention in Baltimore. To participate, please send a check for $35 payable to Our Way Shabbaton to Our Way C/O Lina Kogan, 5152 N. 169th Street, Omaha, NE 68116. She can be reached at LinaMomASL10@cox.net or voice/relay phone at 402.682.7144. Rabbi Lederfeind can be reached at ourway@ou.org or by voice/relay phone at 212.613.8234.

Candlelighting Friday, June 10, 8:39 p.m.

led by 39 Forever Members. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Alan Shulewitz. Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend.

TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street | Omaha, NE 68132-2651 | 402.556.6536 www.templeisrael-ne.org FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to You at Remington Heights, 4 p.m. led by Rabbi Azriel; Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Linder and Tami Field. SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. Madelin Miller, daughter of Jennifer and Paul Miller, will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah. TUESDAY: Executive Meeting, 6 p.m.; Board of Trustees Meeting, 7 p.m. Shabbat Service at Home of Connie and Robert Kully (431 South 89 St.), Friday, June 17, 6 p.m. D’var Jonathan Rockman and Matt Ferer – O’Brother, Where Art Thou? One’s Man Decision to Make a Difference.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard | Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 | 402.423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Study Session on Pirkei Avot, 9:30 a.m.; Morning service, 10 a.m. led by Avi Knecht followed by Kiddush lunch in honor of Avi Knecht’s confirmation sponsored by Jennifer Rosenblatt and Kurt Knecht. MONDAY-FRIDAY: LJCS Camp Israel, June 13-24, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. A light kosher lunch will be provided. Campers must be kindergarten age to enroll. Please let us know if you are interested by emailing Tracy Gordon at tgordonjc@yahoo.com or Andrea Halpern at halperns@ inebraska.com.

Company withdraws ‘Hipster Hitler’ T-shirt line by JTA NEWS STAFF SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) -- An Australia-based online vendor has withdrawn T-shirts that satirized Hitler and the Holocaust following complaints by the Jewish community. Red Bubble, a Melbourne-based company that markets the works of more than 150,000 artists worldwide, this week stopped selling the “Hipster Hitler” line of T-shirts that parody the Holocaust with slogans such as “Eastside Westside Genocide,” “Back to the Fuhrer” and “Three Reichs And You’re Out.” In a statement Monday, the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission praised the decision by Red Bubble. “It’s not a matter of free speech or censorship," said commission chairman Anton Block. "It’s a matter of sensitivity and decency. “As a Jewish organization we have a particular sensitivity to anti-Semitism, and this led us to get in touch with Red Bubble after a number of complaints about Hipster Hitler.” The commission said it had agreed with Red Bubble on guidelines to ensure “survivors of violence and trauma” were respected. “We do have a high commitment to freedom of expression,” Red Bubble’s chief executive officer Martin Hosking was quoted as saying in The Sunday Age newspaper. “I do, however, have to listen to people who have such an intense experience with the Holocaust.” Hipster Hitler, a New York-based art and clothing firm, still has the offending T-shirts for sale on its own website.

To Submit B’nai Mitzvah Announcements: Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewish omaha.org or online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on Jewish Press and go to Submit Announcements; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 (with photos we will scan and return). Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing: avandekamp@ jewishomaha.org.

Pulverent e

June 10, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 15

The Influence of Light

Sparks from the word RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parsha Beha’alotcha Our Sidrah describes an interesting feature of the traveling Sanctuary during these 40 years in the wilderness. The lights (no doubt large candles) were directed toward the Ark of the Covenant. The purpose was to keep the Sacred Text always lit up, both day and night. It will come as no surprise to know that this is the greatgreat-grandfather of the “Nir Tamid” (eternal light) in Synagogues all over the country. “Light” is always understood both in a physical sense and in a spiritual sense. “Light” has the connotations of intelligence, learning, enlightenment, and the destruction of ignorance, brutality, and stupidity. One of the great rabbis of second century Israel was rabbi Meir. The name ‘Meir’ means “One who gives light.” The intention was to say that he gave explanation and spread understanding of Torah Law. In all the generations, those who have been called Meir, as I have, have been blessed with the hope that they would be able to enlighten, instruct, and explain the laws and customs of Judaism to all about them. My own parents came under the influence of someone who had a Greek tendency. My next older brother is named Homer, and originally, I was named Myron. Notice the “on” at the end of the name, which is obviously Greek. Condition, opinion, decision, and many more words end in “on,” a Greek literary flair. Note also, for example, Alexander the Great, who came from Macedon. English thinkers of course changed it to Macedonia. If you remember the origin of the festival of Hanukkah, you’ll remember it was a protest against the attempted imposition of Greek as the language of Israel. Even the word “imposition” carries that ‘on’ at the end of the word. Think about it, and you will remember many more English words under Greek influence.

Spain’s high court overturns Nazi bookstore conviction

PEOPLE WHO READ NEWSPAPERS ARE

by JTA NEWS STAFF MADRID (JTA) -- Spain’s Jewish community has slammed a ruling by the country’s Supreme Court that overturns the conviction of four people connected to a Barcelona bookstore that sold Nazi literature. The four connected to the now defunct bookshop, Kalki, had been found guilty by a lower court of fostering xenophobia and anti-Semitism through the selling of Nazi literature. The acquittals include a publisher in the nearby town of Molins de Rei. In 2009, the four were each sentenced to 3 1/2 years in jail after being found guilty of selling publications that justified the Holocaust and praised the Nazi regime. In the Supreme Court’s ruling, Justice Miguel Colmenero wrote that the selling of Nazi propaganda that promotes genocide is only a crime when there exists a danger that it could create a climate of hostility that would incite violence. “Jews in Spain view with extreme concern the fact that the Spanish judiciary, so sensitive in certain situations, does not consider as criminal conduct the sale of books denying the Holocaust and promoting racism, in spite of standing criminal legislation to the contrary,” the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain said in a statement. The Israeli Embassy in Madrid in a statement said that Israel was “sad and concerned” to hear of the acquittals, “allowing for the circulation of books that incite hate and deny the Holocaust.”

STUDENTS WITH BETTER GRADES

To Submit obituaries to the Jewish Press:

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Email to the Press at jpress@jewish omaha.org; fax to 402.334.5422, or mail to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154, or online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on Jewish Press and go to Submit Announcements.

Producer Arthur Cohn honored by film academy by JTA NEWS STAFF LOS ANGELES (JTA) – Swiss producer Arthur Cohn, a six-time Oscar winner, was honored for his body of work by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Cohn attributes much of his success to a piece of advice Shakespeare put into the mouth of Polonius, “This above all, to thine own self be true.” Though speaking more colloquially, Cohn cited the rule as one of his guiding principles during an Academy Arthur Cohn evening May 19 devoted to his Credit: Coolspotters.com remarkable body of work. The occasion marked the 40th anniversary screening of Cohn’s 1971 breakthrough success, The Garden of the Finzi-

Continis, the story of an aristocratic Italian-Jewish family that falls victim to Mussolini’s anti-Semitic purge during World War II. As Academy Executive Director Bruce Davis noted, among more than 100 films about the Holocaust, Garden is one of the few that has maintained its power to this day. Drawing lessons from his 50-year career as a producer, Cohn elaborated on his three guiding principles. First: follow your own intuition, don’t listen to objections by others, be true to yourself. By way of illustration, he said, after “Garden” was finished, the film was turned down by 31 distributors until it unexpectedly won an Oscar as the year’s best foreign film. His two other guidelines are “always use authentic settings” and “the audience must be able to identify with the actors.” Cohn’s grandfather, then the chief rabbi of Basel, invited Theodor Herzl to hold the first Zionist Congress there after rabbis elsewhere objected.

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Saving the past for the future by EDGAR ASHER Aviv, Neveh Tzedek. In fact Neveh Tzedek was established As world cities go, Tel Aviv is one of the youngest, having by a group of Jewish families in 1887, twenty-two years only been established in 1909 by the Jewish community of before Tel Aviv. Writers and artists, such as Nobel Prize lauthe ancient city and port of Jaffa, which is located immedi- reate Shmuel Agnon and artist Nachum Gutman were ately to the south of Tel Aviv. The growth of the new Jewish drawn to Neveh Tzedek, as was the famous Rabbi Abraham city soon outpaced that of its southern neighbor and, two Isaac Kook who had a yeshiva there. In 1921 he became the years after the establishment of the State of Israel, Tel Aviv and Jaffa were merged into one single municipality. Today the city of Tel Aviv has become one of the most popular destinations for visitors to Israel, after Jerusalem itself. Its wide sandy beaches, first class hotels and restaurants, museums, cultural life and night life have made the city a perfect Clockwise from above: The carefully restored main train station holiday destination. Now a building constructed in 1892. The symmetrical design was UNESCO world heritage influenced by the 19th century European -- Templar construcsite, Tel Aviv has the tion. In 1913, 183,000 passengers passed through the terminus world’s largest concentrato make the four-hour journey to Jerusalem. Today the interior tion of Bauhaus buildings. of the station is a coffee shop and souvenir shop. Top right: The The municipality has freight terminal building constructed in 1892. By 1913 it was always been mindful of handling some 43,000 tons of freight annually. Freight trains the fact that although Tel were able to load and unload their wares directly to and from Aviv does not have a histothe freight cars. Right: The Wieland family were Templers who ry going back thousands came from Germany in 1900. In 1905 they built a factory and of years like for example home near the station. The factory was created to make floor Jerusalem, Safed and tiles, concrete products, window frames, metal construction Acco, there is nevertheless Credit: Edgar Asher/ISRANET and irrigation pipes. a more recent history that links Israel’s ancient past with the reestablishment of the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Palestine. Land of Israel as a modern Jewish state. Therefore there is In 1970’s Neveh Tzedek was run down and crumbling, but an obligation of cities, like Tel Aviv, to preserve their begin- many of the original buildings were still intact, including a nings and development for future generations. Tel Aviv has train station that marked the terminus of the Jaffaa better than average record of preserving its past and today Jerusalem line. This line had operated from 1892 to 1948. In many visitors are enjoying a nostalgic look into the life of the 1980’s it was decided that Neveh Tzedek would be renothe city during its development and in the decades immedi- vated and preserved. Once this renewal was started the area ately before its foundation. became a magnet for those wishing to buy property and To the immediate north of Jaffa is the oldest part of Tel invest in the area. It was also clear that the 49 acres that

comprised the site known as ‘HaTachana’ - The Station, was an important part of the early historical development of Palestine that would lead on to the establishment of the Land of Israel. The Station actually consists of twenty-two various buildings that cover about a thirty-year period from 1892. $30 million was invested in a ten-year restoration program for all the twentytwo buildings that made up the area. The Tel Aviv Municipality handed over the development and restoration of the site to an urban planning company who, with their partners, would operate the complex on a BOT basis: Build, Operate and Transfer. Now complete, The Station and its various buildings has become one of the most popular places to visit in Tel Aviv. Although the station is no longer connected to the Jerusalem line, parts of the original track and rolling stock can still be seen. The train station and freight terminal, built in 1892, now all look new and pristine. As the visitor walks through recent history and commerce, he can chose to eat at numerous restaurants and cafes that occupy the old, now renovated buildings and factories. Fashion shops, book shops, temporary exhibition areas and attractive marketstyle stalls dot the complex. There are also artist exhibition areas and special areas for children, a spa area, and an area for live shows and music. On Thursday evenings and Friday mornings there is an arts and crafts fair. In a short time the historic freight terminal will become a music center to host performers from Israel and abroad.

Pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian students join to blast activist by JTA NEWS STAFF (JTA) -- Pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups at the University of California, Santa Barbara, issued a joint letter condemning a conservative activist’s attacks on the school’s Muslim student group. The letter criticizing David Horowitz, founder of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, was signed by the Santa Barbara Hillel and UCSB American Students for Israel along with the campus’ Muslim Student Association and its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. It was published Thursday in the campus newspaper in advance of a scheduled address by Horowitz that evening

titled “Infantile Disorders at UCSB: Why the Muslim Students Association is Afraid of David Horowitz.” The campus’ College Republicans chapter is sponsoring the address. “The UCSB MSA is an incredibly valuable member of our campus, has been involved in numerous interfaith dialogues, and provides a cultural and religious home to a large segment of the UCSB Muslim community,” the four groups wrote in their letter to The Daily Nexus. They suggested that Horowitz’s event would promote “bigotry and prejudice.” Tensions between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students have run high at many California colleges. For instance, the

Muslim student group at the University of California, Irvine, down the Pacific coast has sponsored events featuring anti-Semitic rhetoric, praise for anti-Israel terrorism and calls for Israel’s destruction. Rabbi Evan Goodman, executive director of the Santa Barbara Hillel, told JTA that relations between Muslim and Jewish students have been good on his campus of late. “Over the last two years we’ve worked very hard to develop positive relationships between Jewish and Muslim students on and off campus,” Goodman said, adding that “The Muslim Student Association has been helpful in working with us to combat bigotry on campus in all forms.”

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