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AUGUST 1 1 , 2 02 3 | 24 AV 578 3 | VO L. 1 03 | NO. 41 | CANDLELIGHTING | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 8:10 P.M.
Kaplan Book Group SHIRLY BANNER JFO Library Specialist On Aug. 17th at 1 p.m. the Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group will gather for their monthly meeting. Group members have the choice of meeting either in person in the Benjamin & Anna Wiesman Reception Room in the Staenberg Jewish Community Center or via Zoom. This month they will be discussing The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom. New participants are always welcome.
Rabbis, monks and bats: A religion scholar and a zoologist find a new way to map early Jewish-Christian relations Page 4
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor ehind every Lion pin is a woman. A story. A legacy. A future. Lions of Judah wear their pin proudly – knowing that it’s an internationally recognized symbol of her philanthropy, commitment, Jewish values, and sisterhood. But the pin, as valuable as it is, doesn’t have the power to share what being a Lion really means. What happens when the pin gets passed down? Lions now have the opportunity to pass on their legacy to the women of their family - the women they know and those who will come after. The Jewish community of Omaha currently counts 77 women who give at the Lion level, and 35 Pomegranate donors, and counting! Tuesday, Sept, 12 from noon-2 p.m., the Jewish Federation of Omaha will host The Lion Behind the Pin in the Champions Run Ballroom. The event, chaired by Darlynn Fellman and Louri Sullivan, invites
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Start planning for Rosh Hashanah Page 5
Pickleball is a hit at Jewish camps Page 7
Lions and Pomegranates and their guests to share their heritage and inspire the generations to come. Hear from Shelly Robbins and Debbie Lazarov, the inspirational creators of the Lion Behind the Pin program. They will guide you to ensure your Jewish legacy for generations to come. “I grew up watching my parents support the Jewish Federation of Omaha,” Louri Sullivan said, “helping Russian Jews move to Omaha, getting Ethiopian Jews to Israel. In 2004 my Dad took a group of young leaders on a free trip to Israel. His only request was that each of us commit time and energy to the Omaha Jewish community. Shortly after that, Anne Shackman took me for coffee and planted the seed - the importance of becoming a Lion - as a leader and a donor. The first year that I planned to attend the International Lion of Judah conference as a professional I knew it was time - I wanted to be a Lion with the 18,000 other women from See The Lion behind the pin page 2
Sam’s summer at Herzl
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SPONSORED BY THE BENJAMIN AND ANNA E. WIESMAN FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND
ASHTON KAY Jewish Press intern Sam Kutler is the son of Abby and Adam Kutler. He attends Aldrich elementary in Millard public schools. He plays hockey and wants to try out for basketball. This year, Sam went to camp Herzl, a Jewish summer camp in Wisconsin. It’s his third year going to Herzl, and he went for three weeks. “Every year, there’s different food, and when you’re older you get to do more stuff,” Sam said. “You get more choices about what you want to do, and when you want to do it.” Being older means more freedom,
Sam Kutler
particularly when it comes to cabin mates. This year, Sam was able to request to room with friends he made the year before. “In the morning, we wake up at 7:45 a.m. The counselors come in with a speaker and play music. When you wake up, you have to brush up and get dressed.” Once the campers are up and ready, they check their duties for the day. Next up is something called ‘flag.’
“Flag is when, in the morning, we have an American, an Israeli and Herzl camp flag that we raise to a song of our choice. My cabin picked the song Party in the USA.” Afterwards, the campers eat breakfast and then do some Jewish education. “The Jewish education is mostly about Israel,” Sam explained. “Some stuff about holidays, but mostly Israel. There were also some challenge games like trying to pop a balloon without hands.” Finally, the campers have to clean up after themselves, which means making beds, sweeping, trash, or setting the table. Then for the rest of the day they play games. There were a lot of games that the campers could play, like basketball, three sticks, and something called roof ball: “You have a ball and you throw it on the roof,” Sam said, “and you have to catch it without it dropping. If you don’t catch it, you’re out. And these aren’t big roofs, just the cabins. You See Sam’s summer page 3
Is it possible to have a profound change in the lives of people in your life? For Frankie Presto, a gifted but troubled musician, this is accomplished with the gift of six magical blue guitar strings. The book is written in the first-person from the perspective of “Music” which is representative of the music within all humans - from the music of a beating heart to the music created within one’s soul. ”Music” provides us with first-hand accounts from a variety of who’s who influencers of music who are in attendance at Frankie Presto’s funeral. They relate their relationship with Frankie as well as provide a narration for the reader of Frankie’s difficult and tragic life. The novel is divided into six parts of Frankie’s life: part one deals with Frankie’s birth and early childhood; part two deals with Frankie’s early musical start and subsequent success and failures; part three deals with Frankie’s love life and how his music takes on a different emphasis in his life and ambitions; part four deals with Frankie abandoning music all together and becoming a recluse on a small New Zealand island with his wife Aurora who is the true love of his life. There he adopts Kai, an abandoned child, and reconnects with his music. Part five deals with the heartbreaking results of Frankie and his family’s return to his native Spain in search of his music mentor, El Maestro. Part six deals with several tragedies in Frankie and Aurora’s lives, the joy of See Kaplan Book Group page 3