September 23, 2011: Rosh Hashanah Edition

Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA

September 23, 2011 | 24 Elul 5771 Vol. 91 | No. 2 3 Sections

2 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

Introduction

American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

Community building - the Jewish way

We talk (and read) often about this community on the pages of the Jewish Press. Whether it involves programming, education for children and adults, a film festival or a really great pastrami sandwich, everything we do, we do to build up this community. Not that it’s always easy. This past year has been extra exciting, because so much has changed. In Mike Silverman, we’ve found a dedicated and tireless Chief Executive Officer, and we are better for it. Staff in the building now wears identity cards, and we all park a little further away so visitors to the building don’t have to. The pool has towels (no more schlepping!) and the Cultural Arts Department has a lounge. We continue to fine tune procedures and protocols, and we are slowly but surely becoming what we were always meant to be: One Campus. Just as with an actual structure, upkeep is necessary. And so this new year, we will continue to patch the roof, tear down walls, and keep renovating where necessary, so to speak. For this issue, we have taken the concept of “building a community” quite literally: you’ll find stories about architects, developers, offices and apartments, synagogues and shopping centers. It is amazing to see how much has been “built Jewishly” in Omaha, Nebraska. Even when we take into account that “building Jewishly” is something that can’t necessarily be defined all that easily. Suffice it to say that Omaha Jews have left their mark on this city for many years, and continue to do so. It was Hugo Gressmann who, in 1927, told the Jewish Institute of Religion in New York that civilization begins when man begins to build. When structures are raised,

meant to exist for generations after the builders have passed on, humanity can look past the present into the future. Becoming civilized means packing up and moving from the caves into the skyscrapers, so to speak. Of course, “becoming civilized” involves much more than building. Nonetheless, erecting semi-permanent structures does say something about a society’s intent. It means we stick around; we’re committed to turning our surroundings into a home. In a Jewish context, that makes for an interesting dichotomy: we are Diaspora Jews, yet we build, and what does that mean? It’s not necessarily a question we’ll see answered on these pages, but it’s interesting to think about. For now, suffice it to say that the Omaha Jewish community has left its mark on the city. Some of these names you’ll recognize, others may surprise you. As with every special holiday edition, we had tremendous fun collecting stories, and we want to thank everyone who opened their doors and agreed to be featured. I imagine it can be somewhat scary to have someone else define you on the page, and it never ceases to amaze me how enthusiastic the members of our community are to share the details of their life. In this issue, we have also included tales of builders and structures elsewhere, as well as some stories (sometimes loosely) related to the holidays. We hope there’s something for everyone this time around. None of this would have happened without a talented and tireless staff. First of all, we owe thanks to our Creative Director Richard Busse, without whose incredible talent we’d all be in a hopeless kerfuffle. Our Assistant Editor Lori

Kooper-Schwarz, who never gives up, even when phones won’t stop ringing and computers won’t stop crashing. To Allan Handleman, our Advertising Manager (call him!): you did it again, and we are proud of you. There are quite a few writers out there who have missed out on some necessary sleep, and we are grateful they are so dedicated: Hal, Ozzie, Gloria, Sybil, Claudia, Jill, Bert, Teddy, Masada, Lois, Oliver and Emily: we couldn’t do this without you. Thank you for another great year. And yes; I do notice those crazy timestamps on your emails. It would be equally hard to finish a job like this without proofreaders. Over the past year, we have had the assistance of Suzanne Singer, Dottie Rosenblum, Deborah Platt, Margaret Kirkeby, Ellie Batt and Phyllis Brown. Please keep dotting those i’s; any mistakes that linger (and sometimes they do) belong to the editor. The list goes on; even a newspaper can’t be built without an enormous amount of people who support us in one way or another. They are too many to mention, but you know who you are, and we thank you. We do want to give a shout out to the members of the Jewish Press Board: we know how valuable your time is, and we appreciate your dedication. Finally, of course, we want to thank all our readers. Without you, there would absolutely be no good reason to go to work in the morning. Please keep reading, keep calling, and keep writing. From all of us to all of you: L’Shana Tova. May it be a phenomenal one. Andrew Ruback, President Annette van de Kamp-Wright, Editor

Front page, from left to right: the Parking structure at Aksarben Village; Natelsons, Herzbergs and the Brandeis building in the background; Valmont Plaza.

(Founded in 1920) Andrew Ruback President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper Emily Giller Intern

Jewish Press Board Eric Dunning, Vice President; Jason Epstein, Treasurer; Bobbi Leibowitz, Past President; Marc Brodkey; Phyllis Brown; Daniel Christensen; Mel Epstein; Scott Farkas; Michael Kaufman; Paul Rabinowitz; Caryn Scheer; Mark Senal; Nancy Wolf. The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service/Jewish Senior Services, and the Jewish Press. Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www jewishoma-

ha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment. Editorial The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial

material and photos to: avandekamp @jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jew ishomaha.org. Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1.402.334.5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jew ishomaha.org.. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” The Editor may edit letters for content

and space restrictions, but it should be printed as soon as possible to ensure timeliness. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer, but the name can be withheld at the writer’s request. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a

news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de Kamp-Wright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $37.50 per calendar year U.S.; $80 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or email to: jpress@jewishomaha.org.

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Finegold Alexander returns to Omaha after 20 years to build second synagogue by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator and JILL BELMONT Beth El Synagogue Publicity Coordinator Waking from his sleep, Jacob said, “Truly the Eternal is in this place and I did not know it! How awe-inspiring is this place. This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gateway to heaven.” Genesis 28:16-17 Fashioning Jewish sacred space is a challenging undertaking, yet the architecture firm of Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc. has accepted the task twice in Omaha. Twenty-two years ago, the Boston-based architecture firm designed Beth El Synagogue; this year, Finegold Alexander is drafting designs for a new Temple Israel.

Alexander Finegold, who has been with the firm for 37 years, has been responsible for a wide range of projects including restoration and reuse of historic buildings, new structures, and urban planning. His award-winning projects range from a small public library to a master plan for a square mile comprising 1,200 buildings. He has collaborated with several distinguished architects including John Andrews of Sydney, Australia; Pei Cobb Freed, based in New York City; Israeli-born Moshe Safdie; and Dean of the Yale School of Architecture Robert A.M. Stern, on significant projects of civic and institutional importance. A cum laude graduate of Harvard Graduate School of Design with an A.B. and a master’s degree in architecture, Finegold has designed numerous synagogues including ones in Minneapolis, San Antonio, Chicago, Memphis, Dallas, Acton, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Encino, CA. Awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters from Boston Architectural College in 2007, Finegold has served as a critic and jury member and has published many articles. An active member of the Society for College and University Planning, the League of An overview of the Beth El sanctuary during a wedding. Historic American Theaters, the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Arts and Architecture and the AIA Academy of Architecture for Justice, he serves on the board of the New England Holocaust Memorial Foundation. “When we began the design of new synagogues, the first being Beth El, we developed a series of four guiding principles that we believed would help alter the course of thinking about this very special Moe Finegold Tony Hsiao building type,” Finegold Established in 1962, Finegold Alexander explained. “While each project responds to is the recipient of more than 140 awards for its own locale, its own site, and own prodesign excellence. The firm’s clients range grammatic requirements, these principles from academic, cultural, commercial office, have been applied and developed on our 15 public, religious and multi-unit residential synagogue projects in the last 20 plus years.” structures. Finegold Alexander was the “The concept of an entry sequence leadrecipient of the first American Institute of ing from secular to sacred, developing a Architects (AIA) Honor Award for extended focused, preferably singular point of entry use of the 1976 conversion of Boston’s Old has had a major impact on planning and City Hall to private office and restaurant expression,” he continued. “Instead of the use. Other notable projects include the Ellis sanctuary, for example, being a stand-alone Island National Monument and Museum form with its own entrance... the single(with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects). The entry concept has turned the entrance to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (with Pei sanctuary inward. One now enters a sanctuCobb Freed & Partners), and Harvard ary from inside the building. The resulting University Radcliffe Quadrangle. interior space has become the public square, “We selected Finegold Alexander + the community court, the village center, the Associates for both their architectural skill heart of the building where the community and their insight into the Jewish communi- gathers to meet and greet, to socialize and ty,” said John Waldbaum, chair of Temple celebrate. The origin of this space is in the Israel’s Building Coordinating Committee. word synagogue itself, essentially the com“Over the last four years, it has become quite ing together for a communal event. evident that Moe Finegold and Tony Hsiao, “This has become an expected attribute of the team leaders on this project, understand our synagogue projects,” Finegold added, our goals. But they have also pushed us to “and clients look forward to that space helpconsider design concepts that we might not ing the congregants meet and greet and stay have envisioned on our own. and talk. The first of these was at Beth El “Given their experience with other con- Synagogue and the latest at Temple Israel, gregations across the country, the early steps and they have proven to be a most welcomin the planning process were simplified... ing space and an integral part of what we allowing us to spend more time on concep- refer to as the arrival sequence.” tual planning. While at times our conversaFinegold’s approach to building Beth El tions have been spirited,” Waldbaum won over the congregation’s leadership from acknowledged, “we have enjoyed the give- the get-go, according to Rabbi Paul Drazen, and-take with our design partner. The who led the congregation from 1982 to 2002. results will be beautiful.” “I remember listening to architects talk Maurice (Moe) Finegold, President of Continued on page 4

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Finegold Alexander returns to build second Synagogue Continued from page 3 has generated not only energy saving conabout what they would design and most of cepts but a desire to have more and more them came in with pictures of what they’d daylight brought into as many spaces as posalready built,” said Drazen, who now serves sible. True at Beth El, it will be even more as Director of Special Projects for the United visible at Temple Israel.” Synagogue for Conservative Judaism in New Tony Hsiao, director of design with York. “Moe came in and said, ‘I really can’t Finegold Alexander, was also involved in tell you what it’s going to look like; I have to drafting the plans for Beth El Synagogue daven with you first.’ That sold us.” and is engaged in Temple Israel’s design. A He added that, “Each and every other syn- graduate of the University of Michigan in agogue that Moe has built is different, and 1980 with a B.S. degree, Hsiao received his that’s because his design philosophy is very Master of Architecture from the Harvard much ‘I have to build it for you.’” Graduate School of Design in 1984. He For Beth El’s leadership in 1989, building joined Finegold Alexander that year and a synagogue that was accessible to all was a became a principal and director of design in priority, Drazen noted, explaining that the old synagogue building at 49th and Farnam Street, was built on several different levels and was not handicap-accessible, making it increasingly difficult for congregants with physical limitations to maneuver through the building and participate fully in rituals and activities. The vision of Drazen, his lay leaders, and architect Finegold, resulted in Beth Moe Finegold and Rabbi Drazen, 1989. El’s home at 145th and California Streets: a welcoming, fully accessible building featuring a community court area with the feel of a public square, a large social hall to accommodate hundreds, an intimate chapel; and a breathtakingly beautiful sanctuary. (The religious-school addition was built in 1997.) When Finegold presented his initial drawing of the sanctuary, “We said, ‘That’s the one,’” Rabbi Moe Finegold, Charles Wilscam, Jr. and Howard Kooper, 1989. Drazen recalled. “Everything was very much 1997. In addition to his design work, Hsiao designed to make an impression. The whole creates and oversees the production of renidea of having those windows at the top with derings, presentation drawings, and models no coverings on them so there would be a that visually communicate design concepts difference in the light in the spring and the to clients. summer, in the fall, in the winter – none of A member of the AIA, Hsiao has also parthat was accidental. It was very deliberate, to ticipated in the design of more than a dozen have a sense of the world around us.” synagogues, Jewish community centers With Beth El’s sanctuary, Finegold solved including one in Munich, Germany, comthe issue of capacity concerns, adding cur- munity buildings, public buildings and tained-off pods around the periphery of the national monuments such as the U.S. room which would serve as classrooms, as Holocaust Memorial Museum and a well as overflow space. Holocaust memorial in Frankfurt, Germany, “The committee at Beth El said they want- educational institutions, multi-unit residened a space that would be as intimate in its tial facilities, theaters and performance expanded mode as in their normal mode,” halls, public schools, and libraries. he said. “We have found solutions in “Being from the Midwest originally, what expanding concentrically into additional strikes me about designing these projects in seating pods such as at Beth El. Another Omaha is the special sense of place that Moe solution has been a balcony design. At alludes to,” Hsiao remarked. “I am struck by Temple Israel, we’ll use the latter solution the open expansiveness of Omaha and creating three areas of seating: in a central Nebraska in general and the very down-toarea, around the perimeter in a raised loge, earth quality of the community that resides and additional seating in a balcony.” there. This has led to some very site specific Integrating art, both existing and new, approaches in how we design buildings that “enhances the spirituality of a place by creat- are rooted in the earth, the choice and color ing a focus for reflection,” Finegold pointed of materials that are timeless and long lastout. “Sometimes it’s simply text of which ing, not trendy; and allowing the special there are abundant sources, sometimes a quality of light that exists in Omaha to filter menorah, often a special ark door. We began into all the spaces of the synagogue. working with artists, sculptors, and crafts “Since we designed Beth El over 20 years people at Beth El and have continued to do ago, the primary evolution in our design for so. We know congregates like to bring along Temple Israel is our heightened sensitivity of certain items from existing or prior build- the preciousness of our environment and ings, and we have learned to incorporate the need to create a synagogue that speaks to them. sustainability for the future.” Hsiao indicat“If we’ve found there’s been much change ed the use of local sourced materials, recyover the years,” he said, “it has been towards cling, reusing, minimizing the use of a growing recognition of the concept of sus- water,higher energy efficiency, orienting the tainability, green architecture as an act of building to allow the sanctuary to face East tikkun olam, the repair of the world. This Continued on page 5

September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 5

Cousin Bennett sees the big picture by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press As soon as the theme for this year’s Rosh Hashana issue was decided, our ad manager Allan Handleman said: “ You have to get cousin Bennett!” “Cousin Bennett,” also known as Bennett A. Ginsberg, agreed (maybe because he knew Allan wouldn’t let it go), and here we are. Bennett Ginsberg is the current President of brokerage firm CB Richard Ellis|MEGA, a position he has held since 1998. As such, he oversees the brokerage, property management, marketing and accounting departments. He has been in the commercial real estate business since 1988. Once upon a time, he was a floor manager in his family’s meat packing business, but we’ll talk more Bennett Ginsberg about that later. He was born and raised in Omaha, went to Westside, received his Bar Mitzvah at Beth Israel, under the supervisory eyes of Cantor Fettman and Rabi Nadoff. After high school, he attended the University of Arizona, the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and eventually received his degree in real estate and land use economics from UNO. He married Julie Schrier in 1994; together they have two children, Eden, 15, and Elias, 13. You are the President; what does that mean in layman’s terms? It means I take a macro approach. It is my job to look at the bigger picture. We have a great team that focuses on the actual brokerage and accounting, and I work on, rather than in, the business. You could call me the ‘face’ of the company. I work with executives, and help come up with strategies. I have to think out-of-the-box, and sometimes give people messages that they don’t like to hear, like when the value of their property doesn’t quite match reality. It’s important to not sugarcoat things when that happens. Is this what you dreamed of doing when you were little? I didn’t really know what I wanted back then! But I never did want to be a fireman or something like that. I guess I always assumed I would follow in my father’s footsteps and end up in meatpacking. What does a typical day look like for you? I wake up, get the paper and have coffee. I walk the dog, and fit a workout in somewhere, usually during lunch. I spend the rest of the day working, mostly helping clients with transactions and getting new business. Oh, and during the summer, I play a lot of golf. What do you like about living and working in Omaha? Omaha is a hidden gem, and it has great energy. Because

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of my business, I see companies invest in Omaha all the time, and they do it because they believe in Omaha. The social environment is great., and we are seeing more aspects that bigger cities have, and because of that, we keep attracting more business. People everywhere know Omaha Steaks, the College World Series, Mutual of Omaha. In addition, Omaha has a strong Jewish community, which is a definite draw. Once upon a time, I entertained the idea of working for the Omaha Chamber of Commerce, because I think Omaha is just a great place. Which buildings around town did you have a hand in? TD Ameritrade’s head quarters, Applied Communications, and Valmont Plaza, to name but a few. Has the flood of the Missouri affected your business? Since we don’t develop, but manage other people’s buildings, the flooding doesn’t affect us directly. However, we do communicate with our clients when something like that happens and warn them when we can. Would you explain your meatpacking roots? My father Eddie always worked in meatpacking, first for Mike Kaplan, then in 1976 he started Prime Meats together with Ben Nachman and John Nebbia. John was in insurance, and Ben was a dentist, so my dad took care of the daily operations. They mostly packed liver. The business grew quickly, so Ben quit the dentistry business and joined my dad full time. Buying out Costpacking was my father’s dream; he finally realized it in 1984, and two months later he passed away.

That’s when everything changed. It wasn’t easy, but things have worked out okay. One of my fondest memories is from when I was about 14 or 15 years old, and he took me with him on a business trip. He even gave me my own business cards: they said “President in training.” Who also do you consider influential in your life? Jim Moore, who used to own MEGA was a great influence, as is my father-in-law, Stan Schrier. He told me to buy the company, take some risk and become my own boss. He was right. What excites you? Seeing my kids do well (and they are really, really good kids!) and watching them make good decisions. And, of course, that beautiful, perfect golf shot. I love golf; I used to play it with my father, who was an amazing golfer. Now that we all know Allan Handleman is your cousin, any ideas on how to keep him in line? Scotch. We know your cousin is an avid golfer as well. Is he actually any good? Depends. He talks a lot. How would you describe yourself? I’m fun, trustworthy, compassionate, sincere, and I have a definite c’est la vie attitude. Any wise parting words for our readers? It’s not what’s easy that defines you.

Finegold Alexander as we develop the design for synagogues. It is a very special Continued from page 4 and unique challenge to design a house of worship and as and maximizing the solar orientation for daylight. an act of faith, a very opti“I would say that the mistic one.” warmth and haimisch “On a personal note,” conquality of both commucluded Hsiao, “I feel our nities in Omaha... have own roots began in Omaha been incredibly influenat Beth El.” tial in our design “In each synagogue,” approach. There is very Finegold observed, “we seek strong participation by to define the spirituality of a the congregations and place appropriate to a concommittees we have gregation and to create worked with to develop a space that when you are in synagogue that speaks to it, you feel you are standing their particular needs on holy ground as Moses and that they can call stood before the Burning home.” Both are “very Bush. Just to make sure committed to building about a reality check, we fulon the roots of the past fill the tradition of leaving while bridging to future Moe Finegold showing plans of Beth El Synagogue. generations -- a sense of place rooted in history. We are an unfinished niche as a reminder that the world is not yet constantly evolving and challenging our own assumptions perfect, nor are we, but we keep chasing it.”

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The exciting life of Don Polsky by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press Don Polsky, of Don Polsky Architects, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but grew up in Lincoln. “I graduated from UNL, and went straight into the service during the Korean War.” Alas, the military didn’t need architects; Don was sent to school for one year and became a Communications Officer. “I was sent overseas, to French Morocco, and when the people over there found out I was actually an architect, they realized they did need one of those. I was asked to design ‘Permanent Temporary Facilities’ in the boondocks, like the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert, for 250 men at a time.” Don’s unit was part of a larger group that was meant to step in, in case Russia would attack Europe. “In the 1950s, we really couldn’t lose Europe,” Don says, “and if Russia decided to attack, we didn’t think they would stop at the English Channel.” After leaving the service, Don decided he needed more education, and he “wanted to learn from the best.” That meant Richard Neutra, one of modernism's most important architects. Richard Joseph Neutra was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, on April 8, 1892. He moved to the United States by 1923 and became a naturalized citizen in 1929. Richard Neutra worked briefly for Frank Lloyd Wright before making the move to California, where he became celebrated for his rigorously geometric but airy structures. “I had to go through six interviews before I even got to meet him in person,” Don remembers. “But then he hired me. I went to work in an office with about 8 other people; we worked in Neutra’s office, and his house. There were architects there from all over the world, so I worked with people from

Polsky, middle, receiving a Fellowship from the Am. Institute of Architecture in 2003. Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, Germany; you name it. What made it even better was working for projects all over the world, from Cuba to Pakistan. It was a very exciting time.” On the heels of his experience with Neutra, Polsky formed a partnership with another architect, doing a lot of work for the U.S. government. “One of the places we designed was the Hall of Records in downtown Los Angeles,” he says. Another experience Don had was the 19 months he spent designing for Universal Studios. He did Marlon Brando’s dressing room and the parking garages. “Then,” he says, “Mike Milder asked me to do a house in Omaha. I took the opportunity to move my wife Kini and our two children, then four and two years old, to the Midwest.” And that was all she wrote, at least as far as moving around was concerned. Don may have stopped moving, but he remains active to this very day. What is your favorite building in Omaha?

Don Polsky with his family in 1964. My next project is always my favorite. What building do you wish you could have designed? I am thrilled with all the work I’ve been able to do, and the clients I have had. There’s definitely no wishful thinking. What direction will modern architecture take over the next few years; can you make a prediction? I think it evolves according to the materials used, and technological advances that are made. There are new restraints as well, such as energy usage; we have to become more energy efficient. I remember when I came to the Midwest, there were many climate related things I didn’t know, and it’s a good thing I wasn’t proud. In Los Angeles, you work with a 70 degree climate much of the time, whether you are indoors or out; if Neutra built the same in LA as in South Dakota, it wouldn’t hold up. I had to respond to this different weather here if I wanted to be successful. I learned a lot from carpenters and

masons, and I listened to anyone who wanted to share knowledge. What professional accomplishment are you most proud of? Which one of your children do you love the most? It’s like Sophie’s choice! It’s impossible to pick my favorite. What should every architecture student know when they receive their degree? I think it is very important to spend some time just doing construction. You may not get a job in an office right away, and even though things are better here in Omaha than in many other places, times are still tough. Which building should have never been torn down? Lots of them! The Post Office, and City Hall, for starters. Sometimes, when houses don’t make any kind of statement, I don’t mind it; after all, you can’t keep everything. If you could build anything, the sky’s the limit, what would you create? There’s always gravity…unless you ask me to build in outer space! Did you build a lot of forts as a child? Oh yeah, I started very early, and I knew exactly what I wanted to be. I loved doing art and design, even in grade school. Once I was in junior high, I took a course in drafting and got to design a house. I knew that was it! I also read books about architecture constantly, especially about Frank Lloyd Wright. I noticed your office is at 10010 Frederick, and nowhere near my house, which is also on Frederick. Why is there more than one Frederick? It comes and goes! What gets you going in the morning? I am still working. Big jobs and deadlines keep me going. What do you do to relax? Work more!

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Rebuilding after the fire by GLORIA SHUKERT JONES midwest as well. There are lots of restaurants that are After 33 successful years and a devastating fire, the Bagel “kosher-style”, but that simply means they serve foods that Bin, located just south of 119th and Pacific Street, is still a Jews traditionally may order, such as corn beef sandwiches, thriving business. Co-owners are Sue Brezack and her sons, or even gefilte fish, but that doesn’t mean they’re actually Dave and Scott. According to Sue, her sons are “her back- kosher. However, the most observant of Jews can eat at the bone.” Sue and Dave spoke very candidly about the Bagel Bagel Bin, confident that it complies with kashruth and Bin, indicating that it has experienced ups and downs over Jewish dietary laws the years. They now realize that something terrible, like the The new interior of the restaurant is very inviting, with fire on Jan. 7, 2010 that put them out of business for eleven warm colors and modern art prints over each set of tables, months, was actually a and four chairs against the blessing in disguise. Dave perimeter of the walls. It Brezack explains it like has a clean, bright and spathis: cious ambiance, so you “After 30 years, the don’t feel hemmed in even building was really run when the place is full. down. All the equipment According to Sue was old, and the money Brezack, “We had to bring here wasn’t tremendous. It in an interior decorator supported our family, because there were three which is good, but there families involved, and they wasn’t really enough to all had different ideas of close down and renovate what they wanted. My for a week. We weren’t younger son, Glenn, did all going to spend our money the building inside, the on this, because we needed front part. He’s in conit to survive. So the fire struction and does the Scott, left, Sue, and Dave Brezack and the insurance gave us remodeling for high-end this blessing. Now it’s brand new, and hopefully will last, and houses. He said what he wanted, but when we got to the colin another 30 years, I hope it burns down again,” he said, ors, it was like three women in the kitchen. So we got an laughing. He further added. “It was nice to get that eleven- interior decorator and kind of told her what we wanted. She month vacation.” brought in a bunch of colors and told us to pick out what we While most of the city sleeps, Dave and his brother, Scott, wanted, and she started putting it together, and she brought are on the job at 2 a.m., getting things ready for wholesale some paint colors. She did an excellent job on it.” delivery, and for opening at 5:30 a.m. Then they leave about Regarding Glenn, Sue described him as a perfectionist. 10 a.m. to catch up on sleep and home responsibilities. All “Everything has to be just so. He took off working for his items are baked and prepared on the premises. Sue comes in boss, and spent some time here working with one of his at 5 a.m to bake all the Danish, donuts and cakes, and guys. Glenn is the manager for the remodeling company remains most of the day until closing. that he works for. And shortly after the fire, Glenn’s boss “The clientele isn’t the same as it used to be when we first calls up and says he would like to bring his crew over to strip started back in 1978,” Dave reported. “It’s a younger crowd the store out. And I was like, ‘You haven’t been up here yet. now. Every Friday, you used to see a line at the door, people It’s a mess!’ My son said, he wanted to do that. Everything coming in for challah, and now it’s a handful of people. But has to be perfect. I’m very easy going, so if it doesn’t get we still cater to them.” done, it doesn’t get done. But he knew exactly what he wantThe change in clientele could be due partly to the demo- ed to do, and set it up his way. We just let him do whatever graphic shift, as families keep moving further west in he wanted.” Omaha, and people more often tend to patronize places Sue spoke in great detail about the cause of the fire. It closer to home. appeared to be a chain reaction precipitated by bad weather “We do have a lot of regulars,” Dave added, “The business and excessive snowfall; one thing led to another. survives on regulars. And the new building helped out a lot. “The fire marshall felt that our roof goes down to the The place needed it.” street in back,” she explained. “We only have a back door, When the Bagel Bin reopened Dec. 1, 2010, Dave indicat- and they felt in plowing the snow--and we had such a large ed there was considerable community support. “When we amount of snow that year--it piled up on the roof, thus reopened after eleven months, at 5:30, there wasn’t a cus- pushing the flue away. As a result, it ignited the fire. The tomer in the place. I figured we’d be lucky if ten people wind was really bad; and it was below zero at the time. When showed up. By 6:30, there was a line out the door that stayed one of our helpers came in and lit the oven, the wind was the entire time we were open. It was really nice to see the blowing so hard that the gas never made the connection support there.” with the flame.” “We used to deliver bagels to the “J”, and challahs to She further added that the business owners next door Friedel Jewish Academy, but we don’t do that any more,” were away at the time of the fire, which was about 9:30 that Dave said. “I think it has to do with being kosher. In my night. Much of the building was burned to the firewall. She generation, or people even younger than me, don’t think it’s indicated the businesses on the other side of the building as big a deal being kosher. suffered water damage, and everyone had to move out. The That may have been his experience, however it could landlord relocated them, doing the best he could, and some depend less on age, and more on the degree of observance, of them eventually moved back. One of the businesses which varies widely among the Jewish population every- moved closer to the maintenance garage, which for the where. Brezacks was beneficial, because that business had too many The Bagel Bin also has a non-Jewish clientele. If someone vehicles, and the Bagel Bin owners needed the extra parking comes in the store and orders a sandwich made with meat, space for its customers. Dave regretfully tells that person he is unable to serve meat The Brezacks kept me laughing throughout the interview and suggests a substitute item. “We have egg salad, tuna, with one-liners, quips and good natured fun. For example, vegetables and dairy. Ours could basically be considered a Dave mentioned the men in his family were not known for vegetarian as well as a kosher restaurant,” he said, “We don’t their longevity, and as long as his mother was his partner, call ourselves vegetarian, but we could.” Dave and I both she would probably outlive him, and he’d never be able to agreed that most midwesterners are meat eaters, and also retire. “I don’t know what I’d do, though, if I didn’t work,” crave fast food places, which are everywhere. Despite their Dave commented. “I always thought I’d accomplish so many popularity they don’t offer the healthiest choices. things when I retire, but during the entire eleven months Dave and Scott are originally from New York, which prob- after the fire, I didn’t do much except take one short trip to ably explains the authenticity of the bagels produced in their Yellowstone, and that was it.” establishment. They are nothing at all like those packaged I asked Sue if they close on Passover, since they deal with donut-shaped imitations you buy in the grocery store. Dave baked goods. “We used to shut down when Rabbi Nadoff indicates that producing authentic bagels involves a lot more was here,” she said. “At the time, we were the only bagel place time and work, and actually are worth more than what the in Omaha. About ten years after we opened, that’s when Bagel Bin charges. They are the kind I remember eating with Brueggers came in, and shortly afterwards, that was folcream cheese and lox, sold in Jewish bakeries when I was a lowed by Bagel Bistro. Panera’s arrived a little bit later. So we child. told Rabbi Nadoff we really couldn’t close down during The Bagel Bin also makes and sells other baked goods, Passover week because we’d lose all our business. He said if such as cookies, sweet rolls, pastries, cakes, and offers veggie we sold the items to our cake baker he would be the temposubs for the lunch crowd. Everything is strictly kosher and rary owner, and under those conditions, we could stay supervised by Rabbi Jonathan Gross. According to Dave, open.” besides the Star Deli, the Bagel Bin is the only kosher eating Sue was born and raised in Omaha, but went to New York place in Omaha, and has this unique distinction in the entire Continued on page 8

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Everybody’s Home by OZZIE NOGG Some call it, simply, “The Home.” Other’s, “The Blumkin Home.” We all know, of course, that the official name of this important element on our Federation campus is The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. And therein lies a question: What makes The Blumkin Home Jewish? You might consider this a no-brainer, since more than one hundred-fifty different mezuzahs are affixed to the Home’s many doorposts, the facility has a kosher kitchen, a synagogue with talit, Torah scrolls, Shabbat candles, menorahs, shofar sounds and the legendary Rabbi Myer S. Kripke as a permanent resident. What more proof do you need? If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, then it must be a duck. Ergo: The RBJH is Jewish. However... Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson of the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, asks, “What makes a place holy? Is the ground holy because there is something special and unique about that particular place, or does its holiness derive from its special use?” According to Artson, “A place is made holy because of what we do and experience in that space.” So, with a couple of semantic switches we could say, “The Blumkin Home is made Jewish because of what we do and experience in the Blumkin Home.” Members of our community (with inside knowledge) support this reframing of Rabbi Artson’s statement. These thoughts, from Sally Zipursky. “My mom and dad, Selma and Jim Shamburg, spent 57 of their 60 married years in Grand Island, a town with few Jews and no synagogue. They worked hard to create a Jewish home and instill Jewish identities in their children. When they came to live at the Blumkin Home, my folks began attending Shabbat morning services because our daughter, Naomi, helped lead the service. And since Grandpa and Grandma were there, our son Aaron soon joined the party. Had there been a synagogue in Grand Island, I don’t know if they would have been regular attendees. The neat thing to me is how the Home gave my parents the opportunity to join a community, expand their observance and truly experience their Jewishness -- an unexpected, welcome gift at the end of their lives.” Andy Greenberg, a long-time volunteer service leader at the RBJH, offers his observations. “To hear people greet each other with a ‘Shabbat Shalom’, to drink Kiddush wine together. To join with more than one hundred people -- residents, their families and friends -- in a heartwarming Passover Seder. To comfort a mourner on his or her loss by being part of the minyan so that person can recite the mourners Kaddish. It’s the ‘doing’ of those mitzvot that connects us to our tradition and makes the Blumkin Home Jewish.” Another regular volunteer at the Home, Nancy Rips, spends many Friday nights at the RBJH. “For the past few years I’ve gone from dining room to dining room, singing Shabbat melodies -- my version of caroling -- and wishing everyone an individual Shabbat Shalom. One resident said he felt like he was on a cruise, and I was the entertainment.” If residents don’t want to leave their rooms to eat with the others, Rips knocks on their doors and asks permission to come in and light Shabbat candles. “We say the blessings together, although some of them become teary and can hardly speak. To this day, a few of those residents still thank

me for bringing Shabbat to them when they weren’t well. For me, the interaction, the chance to touch another person, is what makes the Blumkin Home Jewish.” Excellent responses. But like a quiz show contestant who wants the absolute, definitive answer to a tough question, I decided to use my ever dependable life-line -- Jewish text -and here’s what the sages said. When the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 C.E., God’s presence was exiled from the mikdash and took up residence in the Jewish home, thereby making each one a mikdash m’at -- a Little Sanctuary. It therefore follows that the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home is our community’s quintessential mikdash m’at. But, the sages continued, bricks and mortar alone do not a Little Sanctuary make. The sages (just like Rabbi Artson) bestow mikdash m’at status based not on what we have in the home but how we behave in the home. To qualify, a Little Sanctuary must be built on a foundation of compassion, generosity of spirit, hospitality, trust, and mutual respect between those who live there and those who work there. The mikdash m’at must be a place of safety and comfort, where human needs are met, where each resident is considered special. A Little Sanctuary is a place where people perform deeds of loving kindness -- g’milut chasadim. Bless our sages. Did they just describe the qualities that make the Rose Blumkin Home Jewish, or what? In support of this hechsher, Sally Zipursky said, “I spent many hours at the Home while my folks lived there. The level of respect shown to every resident and their families by the staff and volunteer corps went above and beyond. That includes everyone, from the janitorial staff to the servers in the dining rooms to the aides and nurses. They treated the residents with such dignity. That behavior seems so fundamentally Jewish.” “Family members of non-Jewish residents appreciate the warm, loving and welcoming atmosphere that we extend to all our residents,” said Joanie Bernstein, a woman deeply involved with the Blumkin Home and its programs. “Our volunteers, our Board, Mike Silverman, our non-Jewish staff, they all have big Jewish hearts. Everyone who walks in the door is made to feel welcome. Our community and our Home are one big extended family. And that emphasis on family is about as Jewish as you can get.” Finally. On the wall near each Blumkin Home nursing station you’ll read this verse from Leviticus: mipnei seiva takum v’hadarat penai zaken. You shall rise before the aged and show honor to the elderly. “Honoring and respecting the elderly of our community is one of the greatest manifestations of chesed -- kindness,” said Rabbi Yaakov Weiss, RBJH Pastoral Service Coordinator. “Indeed, the sages say that the practice of loving kindness is one of the pillars on which the world was built and on which it continues to stand.” So there’s the answer. Bricks and mortar are important. Ritual objects, as well. But the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home is Jewish because what we do and experience within its walls reflects the teachings, traditions and values of our fathers and mothers. In the New Year, may all who dwell and work at the Blumkin Home, along with all who enter its gates, live in harmony and be blessed with happiness and peace.

Bagel Bin

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Continued from page 7 where she met her husband, Joel. He originally owned a cookie franchise and had a route in Brooklyn. He’d been robbed once or twice, and decided he didn’t want to be engaged in that occupation anymore, especially since the route was so long. The couple would come to Omaha every year, and the first thing Sue’s husband wanted to know was where the bagels were. They really liked Omaha, and decided they wanted to live here. “We lived in my mother’s basement for two years,” Sue recalled, “and we sold everything. My husband had sold the route and he had nothing to do. I was working. When we came to Omaha, we had the water tested. Hard water comes from two areas in Omaha, and the water district told us where those areas were. We ended up living in the

area with hard water problems.” Like the proverbial phoenix, one might say the Bagel Bin has literally risen from the ashes, and is now doing business as usual. Everyone deals with problems in different ways, but the Brezacks don’t let adversity get the better of them. It helps to think positive, have a philosophical outlook, and plenty of chutzpah. A sense of humor doesn’t hurt either. Sue and her sons possess these qualities in abundance, which undoubtedly is the secret of their ongoing success. The new Bagel Bin is the place to go, whether stopping by on the way to work to grab a dozen bagels for the office, or getting together with your group for a monthly meeting, or just schmoozing with a friend over coffee and goodies. The staff is friendly and welcoming. The atmosphere is great and the food is fantastic.

September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 9

The old Synagogue and Cemetery of Barbados by STEVEN J. RIEKES A number of years ago, my wife, Margo, and I were on a cruise of the Caribbean. We were with our friends, Nate and Hannah Schwalb, Larry and Barbara Zacharia, and the late Steve Skid and his wife, Nancy. Our ship docked at Bridgetown, the capitol of the island and former British colony of Barbados. We went off to explore the city, about which we knew very little, and stumbled upon a treasure. A few blocks from the pier, we saw a sign, “Synagogue Lane.” Following the lane, we soon beheld a charming little synagogue next to a Jewish cemetery that is reputed to be the oldest graveyard in the Western Hemisphere. Starting in 1628, Jews began to arrive in Barbados and were welcomed by the British. Barbados was the first British territory in which Jews obtained political rights. The largest number of Jews was Sephardic. They fled the reimposition of the Inquisition after Spain and Portugal defeated the Dutch in Northern Brazil. In 1654, they established a synagogue, Nidhei Israel (“the Disbursed Ones of Israel”). So, the building is in the Sephardic style with the Bimah in the middle. While the Jews of Barbados prospered in the 18th Century and the early 19th Century, and helped bring prosperity to the island, in 1831 a massive hurricane devastated it. After that, the Jewish community began to decline. This decline was also caused by the collapse of the sugar economy of the Caribbean in the 19th Century. By 1925, very few Jews remained. Therefore, contact was made with the Bevis Marks Synagogue in London which is regarded as the “Mother Synagogue” for many Sephardic Jewish communities in the Western Hemisphere. They were instructed to ship the Torahs to Bevis Marks and sell

structure to a law library and for other business purposes. However, shortly after he began to convert the synagogue to his own uses, he had a heart attack and died. Many in the native population were certain that the new owner died because he was violating a holy structure. This superstition helped to preserve the existence of the building. No one wanted to Interior of the Barbados synagogue after the restoration tamper with it. Meanwhile, in the 1930’s, Jews began fleeing Eastern Europe as the storm clouds of the Nazi Regime grew darker. However, since they did not own the synagogue, they had to establish their own building and congregation, named Shaare Tzedek (the Gates of the Righteous), and acquired a building in a different part of town. In the 1970’s, the government of Barbados Nancy Skid, Barbara Zacharia, and Margo Riekes by Synagogue acquired the synagogue Lane. and proposed to level it the building, which they did for 500 pounds. to make room for a government building. At this time, a local historian, E. M. Then, a local Jewish man, Paul Altman, Shilstone, thought the building should be whose grandfather had arrived in the 30’s, preserved, but he was not listened to. He did, wanted to save the synagogue and restore it. however, take important photographs of the At the time, he was serving on the board of building as it originally existed. the Barbados National Trust. So, he went to The building was bought by a local lawyer the Barbados Prime Minister, who told him and businessman, who began to convert the that if he could find the money, a million

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dollars, to restore the building, the government would give it to the Jewish community. Part of Altman’s pitch was using the photographs taken by Shilstone, 50 years before. Against all odds, Altman succeeded in getting sufficient funds. He raised more than a million dollars, attracting contributions from the Commonwealth Jewish Council in Britain, the American Jewish Congress, the Canadian Jewish Congress, and various individual donors. The University of Florida sent a graduate architecture student to assist in the restoration. Artifacts were gathered from all over the island and local artisans helped with the restoration using the Shilstone photograph. Thus, through the happenstance of local superstition, plus the dedication of Paul Altman, the synagogue building is now restored and is a charming structure worth visiting. The cemetery, which is next to the synagogue, is also worth visiting. Some of the oldest gravestones appear to have Ladino (the language of Sephardic Jews) writing and contain some kind of symbol which looks like a skull and crossbones. Consequently, some people have said that this shows there were some Jewish “pirates.” That is very speculative. Another gravestone, from the mid-18th Century, marks the grave of Benjamin Massia. The wording of his tombstone praises him for having been “a reader of the Jews Synagogue for many years without a fee or reward and performed the office of Circumciser with great applause and dexterity...” In the year 2008, a Jewish museum was added to these interesting sites. If you are ever in Bridgetown, Barbados, a stroll down Synagogue Lane is highly recommended.

10 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

What Trenton Magid has been up to lately by HAL G. SENAL Trenton Magid is what one would call a renaissance man. Born in Omaha, in 1969, he went to Westside High School and, from there, attended Tulane University in New Orleans (“Great place!”), where he earned a B.S. in Management, Business and Marketing, in 1991. After school was out, however, it was time to take on the big, bad City of Angels, Los Angeles, CA. For two years, he was the owner and operator of a film and video production company, known as -- what else? -- Magid Entertainment. “Yeah, it’s crazy out there,” Magid said, in his own very droll, laid-back fashion. “We did a lot of movie trailers, a lot of work for Paramount Studios and Samuel Goldwyn. We did corporate videos as well. You know, stuff like that.” However, in 1993, Magid came back to his hometown, “The Big O,” where he worked in a completely new biz. Trenton Magid “I kind of fell into commercial real estate,” he explained. “It was kind of a stale market, at the time, but it just kind of took off from there. Prior to that, though, I had bought some real estate books in high school, but never really did anything with them. After working for another real estate company, called The MEGA Corporation [for four years], I started my own company, called World Group.” His Jewish history, however, was never really a big deal until he got a chance to see our Holy Land. “My Jewish education was not formal,” said Magid. “However, in 1992, I went on a tour of Israel -- it was sort of a deal with Rabbi Azriel and a group from Temple Israel -and from there, it was a great experience getting in touch with my religion and my understanding of it, learning about the history. I’ve always felt Jewish and have been proud to be Jewish, but since I never had a formal Jewish education, it helped fill in some blanks.” Upon his return to Omaha from Israel, Magid felt a responsibility to help other young Jewish people fill in some of their own blanks. “I got involved with the young Jewish community,” Magid continued. “I was asked by Sharon Kirschenbaum to be CoChairman of Young Jewish Omaha (YJO), which had all kinds of different programming and, as a result of that, I served for a year or two on the Jewish Federation Board. So, it’s amazing what influence a trip to Israel can have on Jews of all ages, as well as all levels of Jewish education!” These days, starting in 2004, Magid founded his own, very personal project, called Grow Omaha, the metro area’s only talk show, centered on economic development, urban growth,

and commercial real estate development. As co-host, along with Jeff Beals, Magid can be heard every Saturday morning, at 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., on News Radio 1110 KFAB AM. “We’ve done almost 400 episodes,” said Magid. “It’s kind of taken on a life of its own. “We’ve had everybody on the show -- from Lou Dobbs of CNN to Ted Turner to the President of Shell Oil; just a lot of national and local perspectives. And it’s all about discussing economic development, with a slant toward commercial real estate.” As of Jan. 1, 2011, Magid, a very project-oriented individual, merged and became partners with Seldin Company (another Jewish family!), a real estate company that’s been around Omaha for about 88 years.

“It’s fun to be part of Omaha’s built environment,” Magid exclaimed. “We have very strong relationships with the Chambers of Commerce in Omaha and Sarpy County. We get involved with the Planning Department and the Mayor’s office. Learning about what companies and businesses are coming to Omaha before, pretty much, everyone else does, because we know who is looking for space to grow.” When asked whether or not his Judaism plays a large part in his professional career, Magid is at once serious and glib. “There’s a huge population of Jews in commercial real estate,” Magid said, attempting to explain the boom. “Why that is I don’t know; but, you know, I guess that if you don’t let people own land for 2000 years, maybe that’s what happens.”

Time is a thief

The historian’s footprint OLIVER B. POLLAK Elisheva Carlebach, Palaces of Time, Jewish Calendar and Culture in Early Modern Europe (Harvard University Press, 2011) 292 pages Every year we get two illustrated calendars. January through December are laid out month by month with pictures displaying the seasons, landscape and cityscape. Our Jewish calendar starts in the Fall and contains pictures of traditional and modern religious art and artifacts. We never buy calendars; they come as gifts, blandishments from nonprofit organizations and merchants. We reconcile Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover, Yahrzeits, and make plans similar to where we will be on those occasions as well as Thanksgiving. Time is a thief. We want to make the best and most enjoyable use of it. Elisheva Carlebach, the Salo W. Baron Professor of Jewish History, Culture, and Society at Columbia University has written an enjoyable, if technical, informative guide to the creation of Jewish spiritual annuals within the context of the larger surrounding Christian and Moslem communities. Carlebach found medieval calendar remnants in archives in nine countries. Passover and Easter do not mix. Those who observed them at the same time were called Quartodecimans. On certain Christian celebrations it was better for Jews not to be on the street. Calendars assisted in reconciling the timing conflicts inherent in lunar and solar calculations between Jewish Shabbat, Christian Sabbath and the workaday world of commerce, contracts and market days.

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Early calendars were handwritten. After 1450 they increasingly took printed form. Different towns had different calendars and illustrations were crude, colorful, and sometimes lewd. They had to pass Christian and Rabbinic censors. Lax proofreading could lead to typographical embarrassment. The Book of Hours, perpetual and circular calendars were made obsolete by the big business of printed annual calendars. In 1582 the Gregorian calendar replaced the inadequate Julian calendar, dropped ten days, and further hardened “lines already deeply incised into the religious and political landscape.” England, a Protestant nation, did not adopt it until 1752. Calendars contained religious sparring. The German word for Christmas, Weinacht, is derided in some German Jewish calendars as wein nacht (night of wine). The most confusing and wrongheaded Jewish folk tradition was the tequfah which had strictures against drinking water at the solstice and equinox marking the four seasons. You would swell and die unless there was an iron object in the water vessel. This foolishness became the anvil on which Jewish converts to Christianity ridiculed their forsaken faith. Fortunately, the tequfah custom has faded from Jewish tradition. AD started at the turn of the fifth and sixth century. CE and BCE started in the late 20th century. This beautifully illustrated work contains humorous and irreverent caricatures. This volume should be part of any serious home Jewish library.

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September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 11

Cologne invests its future in unearthing its Jewish past

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by ALEX WEISLER COLOGNE, Germany (JTA) -- This city in western Germany is banking its future on its Jewish past. But at present, the investment is exacting a heavy price: $52 million, to be exact. Following a decades-long battle, Cologne’s municipal government voted recently to allocate that sum toward the construction of a new museum focused on the city’s medieval Jewish quarter. Its centerpiece will be the product of a massive excavation project that began in 2007 in the middle of the city, on the square in front of City Hall.

he said. “This is a site where you can learn how to live together with other people.” The massive project to unearth Cologne’s medieval Jewish quarter began four years ago. The city had begun excavating its past decades ago, but until recently the focus was on its Roman quarter. Archeologists working on the Roman quarter actually threw away Jewish material that they had unearthed. But in the late 1980s the calls began for excavating the Jewish quarter, and in the 1990s some archeological work was done. For a long time, pedestrians could peer down through a glass pyramid on a city square and see the medieval mikvah, or ritual bath, that Cologne’s Jews had used hundreds of years ago. But the real work on the Jewish quarter began in 2007. Archeologists uncovered evidence of a thriving merchants’ quarter. They unearthed a synagogue that had been in use since the year 780 and the home of a goldsmith; both will be showcased in the new museum. At its peak in medieval Onlookers peer at the archeological dig and planned times, the Jewish quarter musuem site on the Rathaus square in downtown Cologne. housed about 1,000 people -Credit: Alex Weisler the size of a small German For years the project had been dogged by city. It was the oldest Jewish community in opponents who said the country didn’t need Europe north of the Alps, and often enjoyed another monument dedicated to the Jewish special privileges -- such as when the past.But with Cologne’s decision to fund the Roman emperor Constantine decreed in the museum, adding to the $18 million already year 321 that Jews could be elected to the allocated by the state government of North city council. Rhine Westphalia, the city has made a deciWhen Jews were targeted during the sive choice: to embrace its Jewish past. Crusades, Cologne officials often protected “In a city like Cologne, you always have to the Jews by hiding them in fortresses and safe think about what you can present to bring houses. In 1349, a pogrom in the midst of the new tourists,” said Cologne City Black Plague killed many of the city’s Jews. Councilman Ralph Sterck, who voted in About 20,000 Jews lived in Cologne favor of the project, which passed by a two- immediately before the Holocaust. About 40 thirds majority in the 90-member council. percent emigrated before they could be The museum’s projected revenue was among deported to concentration camps. the factors that prompted City Council The museum also will spotlight the ruins members to support the allocation, he said, of previous city halls and of Cologne’s but there was also the element of embracing Roman years. Artifacts on display will range Cologne’s Jewish heritage. All over Europe, from Roman bricks and pottery to a 1920s from Girona, Spain, to Vilnius, Lithuania, seder plate found among the ashes from cities and countries are making similar deci- World War II. Tourists already can view the sions in the hopes that becoming a Jewish excavation on tours offered every Friday, or travel destination will bring in tourism dol- by peeking through holes in the fencing surlars. rounding the archeological dig. In Germany, much of the effort at memoSchutte says the new museum will comrializing Jewish history has focused on the bine forces with the existing Praetorium, a Holocaust era, and Cologne has three other former Roman palace, and provide visitors museums concentrating at least partly on with a multi-era approach to Cologne’s past. World War II-era history. The new project is “It’s the historical greeting card of spotlighting a period when Jewish life Cologne because we can show two millenthrived in the city -- the 1400s. nia,” he said. The museum will offer a new way of lookSchutte plans for the museum to be teching at German Jewish history, said Georg nologically advanced, with wall displays to Quander, Cologne’s deputy mayor for cul- unlock special content for visitors with tural affairs. It was Quander who lobbied smartphones and large print options availthe City Council to provide the funding for able for the elderly. the planned museum. Since the City Council voted to fund the “History is always an exchange between museum, opposition to the project has several cultures,” he said. “I think it’s very faded. One future neighbor, the Wallrafimportant to understand this. Maybe it’s Richartz art museum, had expressed conmore important than to separate them.” cerns about a large new structure obstructSven Schutte, the leader of the Cologne ing its views and the flow of pedestrians excavation and museum project, concurred. across the square, but is now collaborating “If you concentrate just on the Jews in the with the Jewish archeological museum to Nazi times, you put the Jews in a corner that offer tourists a two-for-one ticket. they never have been in,” he told JTA. “To Samuel Gruber, who runs a blog dedicatshow all this rich history is something ed to Jewish art and monuments, and which should be done.” recently attended a colloquium in Cologne Schutte, who is not Jewish, said he is glad about the project there, said the excavation the museum will focus on how Jews have in the city is monumental. been integrated into Cologne city life for “The extraordinary finds of the excavacenturies rather than excluded from it. tions make the creation of some sort of “If you look at Jewish museums, even museum essential. One can’t just cover this Berlin, you see a separate history and you all up again,” said Gruber, of Syracuse, N.Y. can think that the Jews come from the “The historic site of Jews for more than a moon, that they were not an integral part,” millennium is the natural place.”

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by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT development, and extremely special. It’s something that Editor of the Jewish Press Omaha will enjoy for many, many years. For Jeff Kirshenbaum, son of Joe and Maxine, coming Something I am very excited about is how much more back to Omaha was not the plan. After he graduated from environmentally responsible we are nowadays. For the past the University of Pennsylvania in 1988, he initially decided 15 years, we have made a cognizant effort to be not only to stay in New York. After having been born and raised in responsible, but also efficient. This used to be a foreign conOmaha (he attended Burke) he wanted to live and work cept, but nowadays the environment is a top priority. One of somewhere else. the Aksarben buildings, for instance, has a green roof, and “New York was where all it’s not the only one around. Things like that are great to see my friends were, and I in Omaha. found a job with a real What do they wake you up for in the middle of the night? estate developer that I was Actually, waking me up is easy; I always have my phone on very excited about. Except and I’m a light sleeper. If you wake me up for an early run at for the part where four a crazy time, I’ll go. months later, there were Are you a workaholic? cutbacks, and I ended up No. And Sharon would back me up on that! I love work, without a job.” but there’s too much out there I can’t miss out on. I never That would discourage miss any of my daughters’ activities. many people, but not Jeff. What is your current lay leader role in the community? “I spoke with a friend of Currently, I serve as a Board member for JSS, for Beth El, my father’s,” he says, “to and for Mount Sinai Cemetery. I recently finished my last get some ideas about what term on the JCC Board, which may be the first time in 17 Jeff Kirshenbaum to do next. He was in the years I am not involved there; it was the first Board I joined process of starting a new company, but wasn’t really hiring anyone with my qualifications, so I told him I would work for him, and do anything he could throw at me, and I offered to do it cheap.” Jeff ended up staying for two years, gaining a massive amount of experience by overseeing the conversion of brownstones into apartments, and raising funds. Among other things: he had a wide variety of responsibilities and tasks, and in the process realized he no longer felt the need to stay in New York. “I found I didn’t want to be in a city quite that size he says, “I thought I should maybe look at One of Noddle Company’s developments in Aksarben Village. Chicago, or Denver. At that point, Harlan Noddle and my dad offered to give me a when I came back to Omaha. place at Noddle Companies, just for a year. And here we are, What is your favorite building? And you can’t say 21 years later, and I’m still here.” Aksarben. As Vice President of Construction, Jeff focuses on Noddle I’m a huge fan of the Holland Center. I like the old Plaza Companies’ new development of office and retail projects. Hotel in New York; it has great character (it recently In addition, he oversees the redevelopment and renovation reopened its doors following a $400 million, two-year transof the company’s existing property portfolio. formation, ed.). As much as I like new buildings, I do have a Jeff found he still had many friends here; he asked soft spot for old buildings that have maintained their charSharon, who hails from the East Coast, to come and check acter, like those brownstones in New York’s Stuyvesant Park it out. “Omaha grew on me,” he says, “and when Sharon that were my first project. came and found out she liked it, it sealed the deal.” Sharon When you’re not at work, do you carry it with you? Do and Jeff married, today they are the proud parents of you secretly look at your neighbor’s properties and develop Alyssa, a sophomore at Burke, and Lauren, who is an eighth them in your head? grader at Beveridge. Sharon works for the Jewish Probably! More so the last several years; the economy has Federation of Omaha, and is in charge of the annual been struggling, and so it consumes you more, even on Women’s Campaign. vacation I think about it. What does a typical day look like for you? What’s the next big thing? There is no such thing as a “typical day.” We’re in the servOmaha is doing relatively well compared to many other ice business, so at any given moment I deal with tenants who parts in the USA, and so I think we’ll continue to grow. come to us with various issues. These issues are unpre- Things are going to get better and better. I think the expandictable, sometimes dependent on the weather. The weirdest sion west has slowed down a bit; there is more of a push for calls I get often involve tenants who think they see some- downtown, and the more established areas. thing (or someone!) outside their window. Once I received What do you do for fun? a call from people who noticed bats in the trees on the adjaI work out, I ride my bike and go for runs. Because my cent property, and it creeped them out. They wanted us to daughter plays volleyball, I’ve become interested in that as make them go away. well; I also like Nebraska football. Also, people will ask us to adjust the temperature in their I don’t get football. buildings, which we can do by computer. I once received a I don’t get soccer. call from someone who felt too hot in their cubicle; at the What?! exact same time, someone else notified us it was too cold. How can you play for 90 minutes, and end up with a 0-0 Without knowing it, these people worked mere feet away score? from each other. How can you drop a ball in the end zone and get 6 points What is it like to work so closely with your father? at once? Just kidding. Do you go to the games in Memorial Working with my dad is the best part of my job. It makes stadium? it so enjoyable. Since I came to Noddle Companies, I have Yes! I love going to the games, I grew up with it, and it’s as learned something from both Harlan Noddle and my dad much fun as ever. It’s guy time! Everybody needs guy time. every single day. I could not possibly have asked for more. Of course, ‘guy time’ these days includes two teenage How would you describe Omaha to outsiders? girls... Friendly, surprisingly culturally diverse, and genuine. That’s right, you have two teenage daughters. What irriPeople here go out of their way to help each other. tates them about you? What does your dream project look like? I don’t let them lie around doing nothing! I think you That’s a really hard question to answer; each project is bet- should always be doing something. ter than the last one. Aksarben Village is, of course, a great Continued on page 13

September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 13

Joe Kirshenbaum likes being in the middle of things by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT scene! Our business is very much ‘tenant Everyone thought we were crazy, but we Editor of the Jewish Press driven,’ which means the tenant will come to filled it with 3 million bushels of grain. The first thing that anyone notices about us and request the space they want, rather We hired someone to walk the building so Joe Kirshenbaum is that he is a mensch. than the other way around. nothing would happen to the grain, and to Mention his name, and people will tell you: What were those early days like for you check for hot spots. I walked with him one “Did you know he and [his wife] Maxine still and Harlan? time, and he told me you could sink into the live in the same house they raised their kids When Harlan and I got together we started grain -- I didn’t walk with him after that! It in?” was our first and Joe was born and raised last experience in in Omaha; he earned his the farm busiBachelor of Science degree ness. with a major in real estate Grain storage; from the University of that’s very Nebraska in Omaha in Biblical. And 1953. After his military your name is service, he worked as an Joseph. appraiser for the U.S. It gets better: Corps of Engineers, and the government subsequently served as stored that grain Chief Appraiser for the with us for seven Douglas County Assessor’s years! Office. In 1960 he opened How great is it an Omaha-based branch to work with office for the Real Estate your son Jeff on a Research Corporation, a daily basis? national appraisal and It’s fantastic; to market research firm. In see my other two 1972, he joined forces with Shopping center in Kearney, NE that nowadays features Hobby Lobby and Hastings Books. children, I have Harlan J. Noddle. with financing and construction. to travel to Chicago and Houston, but Jeff Joe has been a partner in For instance, in Kearney, NE, we has an office two doors down, so I see him Noddle Development built the shopping center off of every day. That is a very special thing. Company for more than 2nd Avenue that nowadays housWhat projects stand out in your mind? 30 years; during that time, es Hobby Lobby and Hastings The two office buildings in the First he has kept busy with Books & Music. Harlan took care National Bank building on 137th and property management, of the leases; I did the financing. California across from Biaggi’s, and One construction, and financWe drove back and forth practi- Pacific Place, which we sold off halfway ing. He has developed cally every week, except, back through the project. That one kept us in more than 85 shopping then, the speed limit of I-80 was court for five years. It was one of the first centers in 16 states. 55 miles an hour. It took four Combined, the centers hours to get from Omaha to cover more than 8.5 milKearney! For someone who stuck Joe Kirshenbaum lion square feet of retail to the speed limit, that is. space. Put it like that, and staying ‘down to We also built a number of Hinky Dinky Continued from page 12 earth’ is a pretty impressive accomplishment stores, and moved into other states, like South What is it that nobody knows about indeed. Dakota and Iowa. We also built Walgreens you? 8.5 million square feet; that’s a lot of stores on the East Coast, in Staten Island and Everyone knows everything about me. retail space. How much does the public need Connecticut; it meant a lot of traveling. I’m an open book. to shop? Any off the beaten track projects? Tell me about food at your house. It’s hard to imagine now, but when Harlan The prime rate went up during the 1980s, It must be Asian. I love good Thai and and I first started in the 1970s, there were and the economy was bad. Then, an unexJapanese food. As long as you throw a many places in the country that didn’t have pected opportunity presented itself: the govbagel in there from time to time, I could any retail space at all. We would go into ernment had a problem with grain storage, live on it. What I despise is really fancy small towns, county seats, college towns, so we went to Mason City, Iowa, and built a restaurants, especially combined with and oftentimes we were the first on the flat grain storage facility, 210 by 700 feet big.

mixed-use projects, and everyone sued us, from neighbors to developers to the Bass Angler Society! Of course, we didn’t know that would happen when we started that particular project. The building was finally finished in 1978. Has online shopping hurt the retail industry? There’s no doubt that, especially among younger people, online shopping has had an adverse effect. However, I believe some things don’t change: malls across America continue to be meeting places. Wherever you go, you’ll see a group of people getting together; that will never change. What excites you? Being at the office, in the middle of things. You are a past President of the Jewish Federation, among other things.What is your current lay leadership role in the community? I’m on the Board of Directors at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. Can you look at the world around you without going into work mode? No! I immediately notice the vacant stores. I am always looking at buildings. Have you ever wanted to build in other countries? Maybe a tall tower in Dubai? No; there are too many different rules. What food can we wake you up for? As long as it’s not in the middle of the night, breakfast is my favorite meal. What is one of your favorite experiences? In 1975, Harlan and I met up with an investor, Robert Grimes. He and his wife Ellen became life-long friends. That friendship is one of the best things that happened.

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Working for a corn beef sandwich by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT morning, I stopped by Baker’s Square, and Editor of the Jewish Press met up with Abe Baker, who said: “What are Now retired, architect Gary Goldstein was these boys up to now?” He had no idea they born and raised in Omaha. Like so many oth- were adding that kind of square footage.” ers, he graduated from Central High, where he received a “wonderful education. Plus,” he says, “it was close to where the Jewish Community Center used to be, so it was a great location.” He became a Bar Mitzvah at Beth Israel; when he had children of his own, he took them to Temple Israel, where he remains a member to this day. Gary attended the University of Michigan and the University of Oklahoma, where he earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree, with Baker’s Square after its recent remodeling. distinction. Together with his wife of 35 years, Barbara Gary revolutionized the parking lot in Simon Goldstein, he moved to Colorado front of the supermarket by putting in plantabout 17 years ago. Between the two of them ing island. The city soon changed its they have four children, and nine grandchil- approach to what a parking lot should look dren. Once upon a time, Barbara wrote and like. was the guest editor for a special edition of Not everything Gary was involved in had the Jewish Press, and won a national award to do with designing new buildings: he also for this paper. did a lot of work during the aftermath of Omaha architectural projects that stand Omaha’s 1975 tornado. out in Gary’s mind are the Eisenberg Gallery “We worked on three major projects,” he at 36th and Dodge, and Baker’s supermar- remembers. “We helped rebuild Temple kets, particularly the one that used to be Israel, which had sustained quite a bit of located at Baker’s Square, on the corner of damage. The Baker’s supermarket on 72nd 132nd and West Center. and Blondo needed a massive rebuild after “We did a lot of work for Baker’s, and it was the storm, and then we worked on the one of my favorite projects. I used to drive Wolf ’s Brother’s store on 70th and Dodge.” my motorcycle around on Sundays and ride The tornado had taken the entire top of the past whatever we were working on. One building, and after some of the work had

been completed, I drove by one morning to see the north wall gone. It had just been put back up, so I called Joe Kirshenbaum, to find out if he had seen it. Joe didn’t know any-

thing about it, and met me at the location. As it turned out, the contractor hadn’t yet braced it correctly, and the wind blew it back down.” Another project that stands out in his mind is Bluffs Run Casino (now Horseshoe, ed.): “We had to complete the project, from design to construction, in 8 months flat. We worked seven days a week; it was certainly interesting, but it went fast!” After the casino was completed, Gary retired. Together with wife Barbara, he currently resides in Aspen, Co. During your career, what sort of buildings did you focus on? Much of what I did centered on residential remodeling. Actually, the first job I ever did was remodeling a basement; my payment

was a corn beef sandwich. I’ve been involved in many different projects, from residential to what used to be the Bluffs Run casino. When I was fresh out of college, I worked for other firms, eventually got my license and started practicing at my own office. I ended my career as one of five partners at BVH architects. How do you balance form with functionality? I think that kind of comes naturally. Function is an intrinsic part of the design; I’ve never really separated the two. What does it mean to produce something that will potentially be here, long after you are gone? As I get older, I think about that a lot. It really is gratifying, whether it’s in Omaha or elsewhere, to know that I’ve left my “stamp” on the landscape. I know some of it will remain, even after I’m gone, my children and grandchildren will be able to drive by certain places, point, and say: “My father, my grandfather designed that.” What is your favorite city? I’d have to say New York, with Chicago and San Francisco as close second choices. If you could design anything, no strings attached, what would it look like? Oh my; I don’t know! I guess I’m going to have to think about that. If you had to explain the city of Omaha to someone who’s never been here, what would you say? Actually, since we live in Aspen, that question comes up all the time. Aspen gets so Continued on page 16

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Tom Fellman: still going full tilt

The yin and yang of Howard Kooper

by OZZIE NOGG by OZZIE NOGG The first thing I noticed when I entered Tom Fellman’s If a Martian landed in Omaha and said, “Take me to your office was an honest-to-goodness, neon-flashing pinball leaders,” Howard Kooper’s office would be one of the alien’s machine. A longer look around the office (from which first stops. Described by a friend as “the guy who makes Fellman is often absent) revealed a motorcycle airbag vest, things happen”, Kooper’s deal-making, fund-raising fingerski poles, ski boots, athletic shoes, a Wilson basket ball, a prints are all over many important building projects in our radio controlled miniature army jeep and a plush, doggie- Jewish (and non-Jewish) community. The Residences at shaped, big-enough-toOne Pacific Place. Beth El nap-on bean-bag from Synagogue. The Fitness F.A.O. Schwarz. But the Center and CDC on the toys (intended for Tom’s JCC Campus. The Rose grandkids to play with Blumkin Jewish Home. when they visit his office) Broadmoor Apartments at and the sporting gear Ak-Sar-Ben Village. Some clearly don’t distract impressive list for a man Fellman from his work at who, in his teens, wanted Broadmoor Development, to be a doctor. “I gave up where he and his business that idea after watching a partner, Howard Kooper, movie that showed a neuhave racked up considerrological operation,” able success. “My dad, Kooper said. “Too bloody Leon Fellman, taught me for me.” the love of real estate. Medicine now off his list, When I was young, he Kooper graduated with a took me to countless projBusiness Administration Tom Fellman and Howard Kooper ects that he was looking at degree from UNL and then or working on. That’s tried law school. “I where is all began for me. enrolled at Creighton as a Then he took me to the promise to my dad, Bob horse track and showed Kooper. He always stressed me how the horses wear the importance of educablinders on their eyes so tion, how no one can take they don’t get confused by it away from you.” After what everyone else is one year of course work in doing.” (A-ha. Focus on Civil Procedure, Litigation what you’re doing. Smart.) Strategy and Appellate Tommy’s sisters, Nancy Briefs, Howard said byeRips and Janie Pickus, bye to the Bar. “I couldn’t describe Tom as the consee myself sitting in an summate “idea man” with office all day, doing that a unique vision that lets kind of work.” Broadmoor at Aksarben Village complex. him see a piece of property In 1977 Kooper and his and instinctively understand how best to develop it. “like a brother” friend, Tommy Fellman, launched Fellman’s first project involved building two houses at 52nd Broadmoor Development Company which currently owns and W Street on a lot owned by his dad. He started his own and manages over thirty-five apartment communities in company in 1966 and about ten years later joined forces Nebraska and Iowa. The Fellman-Kooper partnership was a with Kooper, building apartment communities in Omaha natural fit for the two young entrepreneurs. “At the time, I and surrounding areas. The best advice he ever received was involved in Kooper Investments -- a solo venture. came from his father. “My dad always told me you have to Tommy was already a real estate broker and I was working make more right decisions than wrong ones, that nobody out of a closet-sized space I’d rented in one of his buildings. makes good decisions all the time, but you have to work on Tom’s office was six doors away and he kept coming over to making more good ones.” discuss deals.” Tom offered Howard a piece of a Hinky“Omaha has a positive image in its own right,” Fellman Dinky shopping center in Fremont. Next, an apartment that said, “and I’m not sure our buildings have any bearing on the pair went on to syndicated to other investors under the that fact. But we’ve had fun building them. It’s fun to see name of T&H Realty. “The challenge,” Kooper said, “is how people really enjoy living in our different apartments doing the deal. Whether you can make it work. T&H Realty and the sense of community we’ve established. I built was as good a deal as we’ve ever done.” Thomasville Apartments when I was twenty-five years old, An only child, Kooper describes himself as “stubborn, and forty-four years later people are still living out there and selfish, I always want my way.” He prefers working with enjoying it. A very wise, older real estate developer once small groups of people rather than with committees. “More told me that real estate was never meant for the first owner can be accomplished by dictatorship,” he said, smiling. In to hold onto, meaning the first owner usually went broke the same breath Kooper quoted one of his mentors, Jack and had to sell it off to someone else. In the mid-70s there Marer. “Jack advised me that a bad settlement is better than were plenty of struggles that made it plenty difficult for me a good law suit. That’s a reality. It’s better to make a deal to hold on, but I’ve always loved watching our communities through compromise rather than hold out.” Howard also and how much the people who live there enjoy it.” referenced his father. “My dad felt you had to give back to “I used to work very hard and I loved every minute of it,” the community. Hopefully he’s someplace where he can hear Fellman continued. Still hyperactive and busy, he’s always what I’m saying now, because I used to argue with him a lot.” ready for the next adventure. “I wake up every day ready to (Interesting concept. A ‘dictator’ who compromises. A ‘selfgo. I don’t need a battery charger.” Fellman and Darlynn, his ish’ guy who gives back to the community. Howard Kooper. wife of 41 years, live most of the time in Aspen, Colorado. An anomaly, for sure.) “Darlynn’s the one who keeps me organized and grounded.” Dr. Dennis Beavers, a confidant with whom Kooper My recent email interview with Tom went like this: speaks almost every night, shed light on his friend’s contraWho do you go to for advice? dictory nature. “Howard is funny, eccentric, a tough busiDarlynn, Howard and a couple close friends. ness man. You don’t get to be successful by having everyWhat do you do to relax? body love you. On the other hand, he’s one of the most kindTake my dog for a walk, sit on my patio with a Bud Light. hearted, benevolent people I know. What Howard does in What books are you currently reading? public is obvious, but the private stuff... that’s another story. None. My twin sister, Nancy, does all the reading for me. If he sees a TV show about a poor single mom who has to Name the best gift you ever received. wash her kids clothes by hand in the bath tub, he’s apt to Darlynn. Our children Louri, Bruce and Ted; and nowa- send her a washer and dryer. I chide him constantly about days our grandkids, Rachel, Josh, Samantha and Tommy his Jewish guilt.” Joanie Jacobson, another friend, also comSullivan, and Leo Pine Fellman. mented on Kooper’s generosity. “Howard is all about comIf you could change one thing about yourself, what would munity building,” she said. “Both he and Tom have hearts as it be? big as their apartment complexes.” More patient. Patience has never been my strong suit. Kooper’s heart is wide open to his wife, Sharon, his kids What’s your typical way of dealing with conflict? and grandkids -- upon whom he dotes. His advice to them, Quickly. Very quickly. and his wishes for them, mirror his own experience. “Find Continued on page 17 Continued on page 17

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Bill Bowers by HAL G. SENAL this: How does one go from selling shoes...to First and foremost, Bill Bowers, is not selling commercial property?! Jewish. At the beginning of our phone inter“When I was in the shoe business, I was view, he wanted to set the record straight. involved in negotiating leases for the shoe “Ok, just before we get departments,” explained started, so you know, my wife Bowers. “And the idea of Midge is Jewish, but I am negotiating, to get a lease not,” he carefully clarified. put together? I found that “So, if that makes a difference, really interesting. There’s a I think we should probably give-and-take, trying to discuss that now. You just get a deal put together, and mentioned ‘Jews in architecit has to be a win-win situture,’ and I didn’t want to misation for both parties, and lead you in any way.” I thought it was fun and Nope! interesting to get into that I explained, jokingly, that negotiating process. So, we, at the Omaha Jewish my wife’s uncle, Shelly Press, are equal opportunity Harris, was an attorney, offenders (although, we do and he was sort of my have a little-known aversion mentor in trying to figure Bill Bowers to carnies. That, however, is a out what business to get much different topic; for Purim, perhaps). into. We looked at a number of businesses to That seemed to lighten-up and loosen-up buy, but we just couldn’t find anything that the hesitant interviewee. we really had an interest in, and he suggestGetting back on point -- AHEM!! -- once ed that maybe real estate would be interesthis religious heritage was cleared up, and he ing, since he was a real estate attorney. So, I was informed that he was a welcome addi- went to interview with every commercial tion to the community, Bowers, 67, was real estate, residential company in Omaha, happy to gab about his life. at the time.” “Well, I taught Junior High history and So how did he end up with Midge? psychology for about three-and-a-half years, The answer is a lot simpler than you’d think. in Fremont, NE,” said Bowers. “My wife’s father, Henry Greenberg After that gig, it was time to move on. owned the Phillips Department Store in “I went to work for Larry Plattner at Fremont, and I just met her because she Phillips Department Store, in Fremont,” con- would come out to the Fremont store with tinued Bowers. “Subsequently, I bought the her kids and buy shoes,” said Bowers. “She lease with a couple of partners and was in the worked with the computer system, which shoe business for probably 10 to 12 years.” they were installing in the store, and we just Following that, it was, once again, time to met each other and... I moved into Omaha, try his hand at a new and exciting endeavor. and we just became close, at that point.” “I helped Henry Greenberg, who owned Certainly, one might think that dating the Phillips Department Stores, close down the boss’s daughter had to make the workplace stores, and, in 1987, went into the real estate just a tad awkward. business,” said Bowers. “I’ve been in com“I dunno,” said Bowers, with an aw-shucks mercial real estate business ever since.” chuckle. “As time progressed, everything Now, the question that begs to be asked is seemed to work out okay.”

Gary Goldstein Continued from page 14 many visitors from all over the world, and they usually end up asking where we are from originally. I tell them what my brother Bruce used to say: Omaha is a miniature city. There was one of everything: one opera, one skyscraper, and so forth. Plus, the universities are fantastic, so there’s a lot happening in the area of education and intellect. Of course, I tell them it’s a wonderful place, safe, and a great city to raise a family. I remember when my son was young and I was coaching Little League, there was another dad who had moved here from New Jersey. He told me how nervous he was to move to Omaha, but then after a few months realized he never wanted to leave again. It’s just a great place. Why do you think humanity has such an urge to build? I think ever since prehistoric times, it’s been mostly about safety, and defense. People would build a wall for protection, and everything kind of grew organically from that point on. People needed a safe place to live within the walls, and people with money and power want to leave something behind that endures. What do you think the Diaspora has contributed to the world’s architecture? Like in many other areas, the fact that Jews are spread worldwide means their influence can be seen everywhere. There are many centers of good architecture, in many different places; for instance, you’ll find wonderful architects in Austria and Germany, especially from the late 1800s to the late 1930s. A great example is Erich Mendelsohn (March 21, 1887 – Sept. 15, 1953, ed.) who was a Jewish German

architect, known for his expressionist architecture. Someone who has been very influential in our own time is Canadianborn Frank Gehry (whose real name was Goldberg), who designed such important buildings as the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain, and the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis. Do you think there is such a thing as a typically Jewish building? No. When you travel to other places, do you focus on architecture, or can you get excited over a great forest or a good beach? I used to carry a SLR camera with me everywhere, and take tons of slides, until my wife reminded me I looked at everything through a lens, and to take in the entire view. After that, I stopped focusing on only the architectural details, and began to experience the whole picture. Which places are on your bucket list? I would love to go to Egypt, visit Alexandria, see the ruins along the Nile. South America would be great as well; I’d like to see Machu Picchu, and the Galapagos Islands. What food can they wake you up for in the middle of the night? Pizza. What is the best movie ever made? I don’t know! When can we see you in Omaha next? Actually, we come back on a very regular basis: every November for 4 to 5 weeks, because we celebrate Thanksgiving here, with our children and grandchildren. We also return every April for four or five weeks for Passover. So you’ll see me next in November!

September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 17

The surprising appeal of Kol Nidre by LAWRENCE A. HOFFMAN NEW YORK (JTA) -- On his way to converting to Christianity, philosopher Franz Rosenzweig attended Yom Kippur services and was so moved that he decided to remain Jewish. One look at the most famous prayer for the occasion makes it hard to believe that he did not abandon Judaism all the quicker. Kol Nidre actually is no prayer at all. Rather it is a legal formula in Aramaic that delineates obscure categories of vows and oaths known to the Bible and the Rabbis, and then solemnly proclaims that we are free of them. The origin of this concern was our ancestors’ anxiety over reneging on promises sworn in God’s name. The Talmud permitted such oaths to be canceled, but only one by one and in the presence of a Talmudic sage. The idea of a blanket nullification was anathema to rabbis who first heard of it in the eighth and ninth centuries and denounced it as “a foolish custom.” But no one listened. The prayer had emerged alongside a parallel practice of smashing clay pottery on which a formula to annul vows had been engraved, the idea being that your enemy might have conjured evil spirits and forced them magically to promise you harm. Breaking the bowl would free them from their promise.

Howard Kooper Continued from page 15 something you like to do and you’ll be a success. Find mates with whom you’re happy. Be good citizens and contribute to society.” Assessing this stage of his life, Kooper said, “I don’t know if there are any more mountains for me to climb. I’m content to keep busy growing our business with the fabulous group of young, fun people who work with us at Broadmoor.” Retirement? “No way. Sharon would kill me.” According to Beavers, “Howard is overwhelmed by his success. Life has been so good to him, he’s sure something’s wrong. He’s an intense hypochondriac, always worried about getting sick, about dying, about how to get himself immortality. I tell him mortality is 100 percent. He’s not going to live forever. That’s his mishegas, or one of them.” If immortality is achieved through the good we leave behind, Howard Kooper can stop worrying.

Pulverente

Here, then, is a superstition-laden prayer that was condemned by rabbinic authorities but stuck anyway. Its final version reflects a 12th-century substitution of “vows made in the future” for “vows made in the past,” so as to do away with its obvious disregard for Talmudic law. Even so, it hardly represented Judaism at its moral best. In the 19th century it fueled German anti-Semitism to the point where Jews were hauled into court and forced to swear that they would be held answerable for the truth of any oath they took there. Despite all this Kol Nidre persisted, eventually supplied with unforgettable music and the choreography of a courtroom trial held before God. Jews were chanting it is as far back as 11th-century France; 14th-century German cantors were prolonging the melody to make sure latecomers got to hear it. Polish Rabbi Mordecai Jaffe (1530–1612) sought in vain to change the text because cantors resisted coupling the age-old melody to new lyrics. Nineteenthand 20th-century rabbis tried to substitute Psalms or write a new prayer altogether. A more successful subterfuge was to play Kol Nidre on a musical instrument without words or to chant the prayer but omit the words (especially in translation) from the prayer book.

What attracts us to this strangely haunting ritual of Kol Nidre? Is it the music? Surely. Is it also the high drama of the occasion -- Torah scrolls dressed in white and held stunningly in full view of the congregation throughout the chant? Yes, it is that as well. But it is more. All These Vows: Kol Nidre (Jewish Lights, 2011) assembles the thoughtful and moving answers of more than 30 people -- rabbis and cantors, artists and thinkers -- the world over. My own view is that Kol Nidre connects us with the sacred. Since the 19th century we have been on a road toward greater secularity -- not necessarily a bad thing, if by “secular” we mean the discovery that the world is devoid of magical forces and that everything runs by an immutable set of scientific laws. But we have paid a price. Secularization is the process of yanking at the curtain of the universe and discovering there is no wizard micromanaging it. But a universe that operates by natural law can still have mystery. We pilgrims on the yellow brick road strive to be secular, scientific and savvy without giving up on God and the certainty that life still matters. On Kol Nidre eve, it is as if nothing has eroded that certainty because energy runs high, memories go deep and some things seem not to have changed in a thousand years or more. People mistakenly think that they cannot pray because they cannot believe. The reverse is true. Prayer compels belief, not the other way around. For a very brief moment, as Kol Nidre is chanted, we are in touch with the sacred and with our finitude; with those we love and with the broader human universe; with our own better selves and with the God we are not even sure we believe in. Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, a professor of liturgy, worship and ritual at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, is the author most recently of All These Vows: Kol Nidre (Jewish Lights).

Tom Fellman Continued from page 15 And what does Tom Fellman consider his greatest accomplishment? “Being co-chairman of Operation Exodus, which raised approximately $2 million dollars in 1986 to rescue and resettle over three hundred Russian Jews to Omaha. Those immigrants reminded me so much of my grandparents, only those folks didn’t have the good fortune of leaving Russia when our grandparents did. Thank goodness our grandparents had the gumption to get up and leave when they did.” Issues that concern Fellman include “healthcare for those who really can’t afford it, equal privileges for all, a decent education for everybody, gun control laws that would attempt to keep guns out of the hands of crazies, and the US/Israel relationship.” He

hopes to see the Omaha Jewish Federation “right-size itself for the future and try to become more pertinent and important to our younger people and families.” How would you like to be remembered? As a good guy What tunes do you have on your iPod? Jimmy Buffett songs. (Buffett’s An Attitude of Gratitude, is my guess...) When Tom Fellman does sit at his Broadmoor Development desk, he can look directly at a large, colorful Andy Warhol-esque painting of Darlynn. On the desk, which is mostly bare of papers, sits a palm-sized, soft, red rubber heart. Sure, sporting gear and toys have their place. But Darlynn and that heart are Tommy Fellman’s true lodestars.

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18 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

You can’t keep a good shul down by OZZIE NOGG On the night of March 5, 1930, the congregation of B’nai Israel in Council Bluffs, Iowa, stood by helplessly while the wooden synagogue, standing since 1904, burned to the ground. As fire roared through the upper floor and roof, several brave souls entered the building through a side door and, disregarding the heat and smoke, made their way to the bimah where they seized the priceless Torah scrolls from the Ark and carried them to safety. Not surprisingly, there are conflicting accounts of this rescue mission. Sissy Katelman Silber (not yet born at the time) recalls her father, Louis Katelman, later telling her that upon seeing the fire from his clothing store on Broadway, he rushed to the shul and scooped up the scrolls before the building was lost. Another version claims Mrs. A. Diamond (the rabbi’s wife), Miss Rosie Fox and Mrs. Charles Endelman were the heroines. The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, reporting on the blaze, counted Morris Grossman, all five Katelman brothers plus some non-Jewish neighbors in the rescue efforts, which included a gold and silver crown valued at $1,000. In any case, according to the Nonpareil, “Church leaders estimated the fire loss at $15,000, only about $3,000 of which was covered by insurance.” Also salvaged from the ruins -- the cornerstone from the 1904 shul. (Or church, depending on who’s doing the reporting.) Despite the Great Depression and B’nai Israel’s limited funds, the congregation immediately began building a new synagogue on the ashes of the original site at 618 Mynster Street. On August 30, 1930, during a ceremony attended by “some of the most prestigious Jews and Christians of Council Bluffs including Mayor Brown of the City”,

the old cornerstone -- now bearing the dates June 19, 1904 and August 30, 1930 -- was laid. The stone contains local newspapers, a

minutes of their meetings that they spoke Yiddish. Sometimes I get tears in my eyes thinking of the rich history they brought to

Back row: Simon Steinberg, left, Abe Gilinsky, Sam Friedman, Hentze Saltzman, Simon Shyken, Getze Whitebook, O. Hochman, A. Diamond and Barney Gilinsky. Middle row: Joe Scharf, left, William Bernstein, Sam Meyerson, Morris Grossman, Joe Passer, Rosenthal, Herman Friend, Morris Passer and Sam Gross. Front row: Max Cohen, left, Joe Gotsdiner, Zurwell, Charlie Salzman, Dave Fox, Morris Hoffman, Meyerson, Morris Yudelson and Sam Bubb. silver dollar, names of congregation members and members of the building committee. The synagogue was completed on January 11, 1931, at a cost of $26,000. Large enough to seat 500 people, the new B’nai Israel was built of brick to avoid the same fate that befell the old wooden building. The present structure reflects remodeling and expansion done in the early 1960s. Current B’nai Israel board member Sandra Kurland said, “Sometimes I sit in the synagogue and think about the Jews who came to Council Bluffs in the 1850’s by horse and buggy, and about those people who built B’nai Israel in 1904. We can tell from the

the city that we call home so many years later. We have to do whatever we can to preserve the things they made possible by their hard work.” In the 1950s, during B’nai Israel’s heyday, the congregation boasted 175 families. When Sandra, her husband, Allen Kurland, and their children moved to the Bluffs in 1982, membership numbers had greatly declined, the rabbi had left, and the Talmud Torah and Sunday School were closed. Only a small minyan still met at the shul. “They decided to sell the building to a chiropractor, figuring the Jews of Council Bluffs could go to services in Omaha,” Kurland said. “But

when David Gallner and Dr. Gene Freund heard of the plan, they sprang into action with a Why Cross the River? mailing that invited people to a Save-the-Synagogue Wine and Cheese Meeting. The objective was to offer a more contemporary, progressive Judaism that would appeal to new members and young families. And the plan worked. B’nai Israel was invigorated.” In 1989, Rabbi Sharon Steifel became the congregation’s first Reconstructionist rabbi, albeit part-time. “The numbers at Friday night services grew,” Kurland continued. “Young and old came to celebrate Shabbat with guitar and song.” Rabbi Steifel was followed by Rabbi Sheryl Shulewitz, and later by Rabbi Ruth Ehrenstein. But B’nai Israel eventually found itself again without a rabbi, a situation that remains today. Twenty-five families now comprise the congregation. Allen Kurland serves as President; Mark Eveloff, Vice President; Ruth Edelman, Secretary; Harold Edelman, Treasurer; Flora Telpner and Barry Kricsfeld, along with Sandra Kurland, are Board Members. And they persevere. On a June weekend in 2004, with an official proclamation from Council Bluffs Mayor, Thomas P. Hanafan, the congregation marked its 100th Anniversary at a B’nai Israel Century Celebration attended by over 500 people. Former members traveled long distances to renew old friendships, admire the remodeled synagogue and take a sentimental journey through the improved Council Bluffs, where many of them had lived and worked but where their homes or businesses no longer stand. Nostalgic stories took center stage. Remember the time when one past-president got into such a hoo-ha with the current Continued on page 19

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September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 19

The entrepeneurial spirit of Ben Wiesman

Commercial Residential

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by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press Ben Wiesman, Chairman Emeritus of Wiesman Development, was born and raised in Omaha, and was a graduate of Central High School. He served in the Army during the Korean War. In 1955, after completing his military service, Ben returned to Omaha. Omaha was expanding at the time, and he purchased his first property -- a duplex near 42nd and Farnam. It was located between the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Omaha, and it rented quickly. Ben would go on to purchase many more duplexes and apartment complexes in the same area. While he saw his residential development grow, he had a full time job working for Sidles Corporation. “Sidles was the wholesale dis- The Wiesman building in Omaha tributor for Whirlpool appliances and RCA television,” he says, “and I had various jobs there primarily in advertising and sales promotion. Eventually, I was promoted to Director of the Marketing Department,” which included advertising and sales promotion. His department designed many outstanding appliance ads, and he soon was noticed nationally by both Whirlpool and RCA. They began to use his ad layouts on a national basis. Ben was offered positions as Advertising Manager for RCA, which would have him move to New York; and a similar position at Whirlpool, located in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Both companies flew Ben and his wife to their headquarters in a private jet, no less, and showed them the personal amenities of the two very different areas. It was a difficult decision to make, “but Anna didn’t necessarily want to raise our (at the time) two young children in the New York area, and preferred the less hectic lifestyle in Michigan.” Ben never regretted the choice “The Community had a small Jewish population, and they were extremely friendly, warm, and welcoming people.” While at Whirlpool, he was able to start the very first 800

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phone number in the world. By combining resources with AT&T, IBM, Collins Radio, Raytheon and many other subcontractors, Whirlpool launched the first worldwide 800 phone number. People would call Whirlpool to get questions answered and advice about their appliances. After a few years, Ben used his background and experience to help design a new synagogue for the community in Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, Michigan.” “We also helped with the fundraising and the construction.” According to the Conservative movement, the design was quite spectacular; it was even featured in several national publications. Overseeing the design and construction of a multi-million dollar synagogue was a far cry from painting duplexes and laying carpet; and “he could not explain the exhilarating feeling when helping cementin a cornerstone for the synagogue.” Ben and Anna’s personal life grew with the addition of two more sons. In the meantime, Wiesman Development made progress in Omaha; during the 1960s the company branched out into commercial real estate. “Wiesman Development was run by capable people,” Ben says, “and we had an in-house construction company, Build and Lease, Inc.” “A lot of credit should go to our subcontractors who did much of the work and were responsible for the final appearance of our commercial buildings. Along the way, we were selling the residential duplexes and apartments, and concentrating more and more on commercial buildings.” Ben was active in the design, and enjoyed the development end of the business. After almost ten years, the Wiesmans were still living in Michigan, but the development business in Omaha had grown, and as Ben says, “the tail had begun wagging the dog. Our sons were also growing up; the two oldest now almost teenagers. Anna and I felt it was important they should have time to spend with their grandparents, as well as the rest of the family.” Anna and Ben decided it was time Continued on page 22

B’nai Israel Synagogue Continued from page 18 Jewish religious and ethnic presence in Southwest Iowa. president that he stopped coming to shul altogether and “The continuation of B’nai Israel is so important,” instead, davened at home, every morning and every Kurland said. “Aside from what we offer the few Jewish resevening, alone. idents in the area, the And let’s not forget the synagogue also serves as NOISE. Women gossipa place where non-Jews ing in the balcony, kids can learn that all people running around wild, have more similarities shrieking, the men, davthan differences. A few ening at the top of their years ago, B’nai Israel lungs, all at different participated in a tour of speeds, and Shyken -- on religious institutions. the bimah -- giving a When the bus came to klop with his siddur, pick people up from the yelling, “VEIBER! synagogue to go on to the KINDER! ZOL ZINE next stop, no one wanted SHA! Oi, those were the to leave. Everyone was so days. interested to learn the And Rabbi Castle. history of B’nai Israel. It’s Celebration for being listed on the National Register of Historic Remember how he never our responsibility to prePlaces in 2007. Myron Bear, left, and David Bear talking to could get the Bar serve the rich heritage of Senator Mike Gronstal. Mitzvah bochers to stop those who came before playing football in front of the shul and come to cheder us, to make sure the significance of this building and its until one day -- Castle was really big, as I recall -- one day place in the Council Bluffs community is understood and he kicked the football all the way from 6th and Mynster to preserved for future generations.” 38th and Avenue F. I did learn to read Hebrew after that... “Through the years, people have prayed at B’nai Israel for Remember Doc Bleicher, how he could fix anything many reasons,” Kurland continued. “This is a caring confrom plumbing to the roof? Good old Doc who never hes- gregation. We notice when someone is missing from servitated to answer your medical question, even at the Oneg ices. As one former member said, ‘The Jews in Council Shabbat. Doc and Frieda, they were the glue that held B’nai Bluffs were a close group, like a family. When one person Israel together, kept things going at the place he referred to celebrated, we all celebrated. When one person mourned, as The Little Synagogue Off Broadway. Remember? we all mourned.’ Many, many members of the Omaha The U.S. Department of the Interior placed B’nai Israel Jewish community have roots or connections in Council Synagogue on the National Register of Historic Places in Bluffs and we’re very grateful for their support -- with 2007. The building is described as a rare surviving exam- donations, as volunteer speakers on the High Holidays and ple of an active Jewish synagogue in the state of Iowa, one our 2nd Friday-of-the-Month series. Without their continof the best extant representations of Jewish settlement and ued support we couldn’t exist. Our numbers have dwininfluence in the Council Bluffs community, and the last dled, but our optimism hasn’t.”

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by EMILY GILLER History and culture are some of the basic foundations of any great community. Many times when people think of Nebraska history, they think of the days of Lewis and Clark, the Union Pacific Railroad and the College World Series. The word “history” itself has become synonymous with “big events,” “world changing moments from the past.” But it’s important for people to remember, especially Jews in Nebraska, the basic infrastructure of the city’s history: the brick-by-brick layering that helped build the Jewish community here in Nebraska. Jewish architecture is a prominent source of historical information within the Jewish community. It is literally the mortar that holds together our culture and beliefs and plants them firmly into the foundations of this city. Jewish impact in Nebraska architecture dates back to the 1800’s and continues to move forward into the modern age. Although it is important for architecture to keep looking forward and evolving itself, sometimes it’s important to take a step back and be reminded of Jewish Nebraska’s architectural past.

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September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 21

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22 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

Ben Wiesman Continued from page 19 consultant) for more than 805 of the telemarketing industry. to go back to Omaha. This included hotel giants such as the Holiday Inn and Ben met with Mr. Gray, his boss and mentor, also CEO of Marriott. Whirlpool, to advise him of his decision to go back to Over the years, the number of companies Wiesman had Omaha. The final meeting done business with has with Mr. Gray was an grown to an impressive emotional one: “He underlist. To name a few: from stood the situation,” Ben AT&T, Windstream, to says, “perhaps because he First Data, H-P, Wells had lost a 22-year old son Fargo, Union Pacific, ITT, in a motorcycle accident Children’s Hospital, just two months prior to Medical Solutions and the meeting. This was Nebraska Medical Center. probably one of the most Wiesman also restored the sentimental meetings ever, Flatiron building at 17th with the Chief Executive and St. Mary’s to its former of the company and one of elegance, and has been his employees crying and responsible for restoring hugging each other. I will The new synagogue in Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, Michigan. other downtown areas that never, ever forget that day.” were run down. “At After their return to Wiesman Development, Omaha, Ben became perwe try to find ways to give sonally active in the develback to the community opment business again. that has given us so much.” “While still at Whirlpool, I “As times changed, our had met Mr. A. N. company has changed,” Pritzker, the owner of the Ben added. “We started to Hyatt Hotel chain. It was a develop larger properties, small company then, but and in 1988 we consolidatvery ambitious.” Pritzker’s ed some of our businesssons were eager to move es.” The company began to ahead and start an 800 rely more and more on number telecenter. two of the Wiesman sons Although Wiesman didn’t David and Mark. Mark have a building available at Interior of the Michigan synagogue. stated that “the company the time, he helped them select and equip an existing build- prides itself on a commitment to the environment that ing. This was the first hotel 800 number in the U.S. includes refusing properties where development could Within a few years, Ben developed a larger facility for potentially threaten the general environment; also as an Hyatt near 90th and Maple, from where they grew exponen- example, the company has had a policy of relocating trees tially. Ben assembled a team that could work quickly, and rather than destroying them.” Wiesman Development was working with more than 30 The company’s current projects included Exec West, an hotel companies, such as Ramada, Best Western, Omni- office/business park located at 96th and L Street to 99th and Dunfey and more to secure design and build their reserva- L Street south to Mockingbird Drive. It developed and built tion centers. most of the buildings in that area including Concentra, Sears, “The challenge was,” Ben says, “to build a facility that Goodyear, ITT, DialAmerica, Omaha Police Precinct and could handle over 500 people at a time, as well as shift others. They have also developed the office area fron 90thchanges.” Special attention had to be paid to huge electrical 93rd and Burt Street north to 90th-93rd and Western Avenue. cabling and communication demands, and consideration They also developed a few years back the 60-acre business for designing ventilation systems, lavatory facilities, park- park along I-680 between Fort Street and Military Avenue. ing, large break rooms, and training rooms. For 56 years, Ben Wiesman has kept an eye on Omaha’s Wiesman Development didn’t stop there. Since there was westward expansion. “I appreciate the fact that we’re able to no previous blueprint for the building of a call center, the meet the specific needs and be of service to our clients now, Wiesman design became a model for many others. For over as when we purchased that very first duplex and created the 15 years, Wiesman built or owned facilities (or served as very first 800 telemarketing number in the United States.”

Roundup of new prayer books by DAVID A.M. WILENSKY SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (JTA) -- The following is a roundup of new prayer books and related projects during the past year. The Koren Talpiot Siddur: A Hebrew Prayerbook with English Instuctions. Koren’s new version of its classic Hebrew-only prayer book has English instructions, for use in Israel and in the Diaspora. Unlike its popular 2009 release, which has a full English translation, this version has no commentary, only instructions.

The Koren and “Lev Shalem” machzors are among the many High Holidays prayer books that have been pubCredit: David A.M. Wilensky lished in the past year. The Open Siddur Project: Run by volunteers with a budget of zero and a daunting mission, The Open Siddur Project was started in 2000 by Aharon Varady. Its goal is to create an exhaustive digital archive of Jewish liturgical texts that will be free to any user who chooses to access, contribute to or edit any element of their database. “Our siddur builder is a tech demo and barely functional,” Varady said in an e-mail to JTA. “Most of the cool stuff we’ve introduced has been on the backend (read: aimed at programmers for now),” he said. OneShul Community Siddur: OneShul, an online synagogue run out of Marietta and Decatur, Ga., holds services online. Its minimalist siddur, presented almost entirely in English, is available online. Service-goers can follow along in a PDF of the new siddur on their computers as they watch the service unfold. Vaani T’fillati: Masorti, Israel’s Conservative movement, came out a year ago with a new siddur called “Vaani T’fillati.” Published in partnership with Israeli newspaper Yediot Achronot, the siddur has become a best-seller in Israel billed as a contemporary, universally Jewish prayer book. Expanded ArtScroll Siddur: Late in last year’s Jewish calendar, ArtScroll published a new edition of its wildly successful prayer book. The bulk of the expansion consists of highly specific prayers that will be unfamiliar to most Jews, such as a long selection of prayers to be said at specific holy sites in Israel. PRINTING, COPYING and DIGITAL NETWORK

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EXTRA! EXTRA! 13-year old chosen to build God’s House by OZZIE NOGG one solid piece of gold, the boy understood In response to God’s command that the and made the Menorah at once.” Expressing Children of Israel, “Make Me a sanctuary his admiration for Bezalel’s intuitive powers, that I may dwell among them”, Moses Moses said, “Even when I have not relayed announced today that the building contract to him the proper order of work, Bezalel has been awarded to Bezalel, son of Uri son knows to make the things himself, accordof Hur, a Bar Mitzvah-aged lad from the ing to God’s intention.” tribe of Judah who the Lord singled out by Also supporting Bezalel, a spokesperson name. “Bezalel,” Moses continued, “is filled for the Midrash Society said, “When Moses with the Spirit of God, in asked the Almighty who wisdom, insight, undershould be selected to build standing and skill in all the Tabernacle, God kinds of craftsmanship, showed him The Book of and is therefore well Adam in which are recordequipped to do the work ed all the generations from for the labor of the Creation to the end of Sanctuary.” days. It included every Bezalel’s detractors king, leader and prophet claim his appointment is a who would arise in Israel. clear case of cronyism. “It’s God told Moses that when not what you know but the Book was created, each who you know,” said one person's calling was listed, Israelite who chose to and Bezalel had been remain anonymous. “The named for the task of kid comes from an upperbuilding the Tabernacle. crust family, and that’s the That fact alone justifies his only reason he got this selection. Let me, however, plum commission.” also point out that the Background checks into Hebrews in Egypt only Bezalel’s family tree, Portrait of Bezalel by James Tissot learned how to make though often ambiguous in their findings, bricks. Not one among them knew how to do support claims of nepotism. Bezalel is the work with the precious materials required great-grandson of Miriam -- the sister of for building the Mishkan. But Bezalel was Moses and the matriarch of the Davidic line given this knowledge prophetically by God. of kings. Bezalel’s grandfather, Hur, acted as People who say the lad doesn’t deserve this Moses’ right-hand man during the battle job should just get over it.” against Amalek at Rephidim where -Bezalel will be assisted in his work by together with Aaron -- Hur helped the Oholiab ben Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan, weary Moses hold up his arms until sunset, who brings expertise as a weaver and a maneuver that won the Israelites a victory embroiderer in blue, purple, scarlet and fine over their arch enemies, the Amalekites. linen to Project Tabernacle. Etymologists Hur is also identified as the man who tried are quick to point out that the Hebrew name to stop the Israelites from worshipping the Oholiab means Tent of the Father. Golden Calf. For his devotion to the one Representatives from the Equal EmployGod, Hur was stoned to death by his com- ment Opportunity Commission praised the patriots. “And now,” groused the anonymous Bezalel/Oholiab partnership. “God deliberIsraelite, “Bezalel has been rewarded for his ately selected two individuals from tribes far zeydeh’s self-sacrifice by being chosen to apart in social standing,” an EEOC build the Mishkan. I understand the logic, spokesperson explained, “Bezalel is from the but it still smacks of favoritism to me.” great tribe of Judah, a descendent of leaders. In addition to Bezalel’s ability to make Oholiab is from the lowly tribe of Dan, the designs in gold, silver and copper, to cut and son of a maidservant. For in the eyes of God set stones and carve wood, some insiders Who is everywhere, the great and the small compare the lad’s wisdom, understanding are equal. God’s home will be built by repreand knowledge to that with which the Lord sentatives of all God’s children without disfounded the earth, established the heavens tinction. Kings of flesh and blood show and burst apart the depths. One group of fans favoritism. Not so the King of all Kings.” insist that the boy is well-versed in secret lore, Bezalel has already completed the Ark in and knows how to combine the letters by which the Torah will reside during the conwhich the heavens and earth were created. struction process. The Tabernacle itself Despite these hyperbolic claims and should be completed in approximately three charges of preferential treatment, Moses months, with a dedication ceremony defends the choice of Bezalel to be chief planned for the first of Nisan. Meanwhile, architect of the holy space. “God transmit- all Israelites who excel in ability and whose ted all the details regarding the Mishkan’s hearts move them -- the illustrious and the design and construction to me,” Moses said, plain, the noble and the wretched -- are “and I must admit that the Menorah in the invited to join the work and bring whatever Tabernacle was so complicated I couldn’t offerings they please to the building site. figure out how to make it, even after the Gifts are not accepted on Shabbat. Lord twice showed me a heavenly model. Note: Contributors to this report include But when the Almighty described the the Book of Exodus, Ginsberg’s Legends of Menorah to Bezalel and told him that all its the Jews, various Talmudic commentators flowers, knobs and cups must be made from and miscellaneous Midrash.

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September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 25

Time flies by JILL BELMONT as an assistant rabbi at Beth El, Beth El Publicity Coordinator so the Farnam Street shul was Twenty years ago, Beth El her second childhood home began a new chapter in the and a place of countless memsynagogue’s history, as the ories. congregation moved from Following the synagogue’s 49th and Farnam St. to its curmove out west, Nogg said, “I rent residence at 145th and was very proud of what the California St. On July 7, 1991, congregation had accomcongregants flocked to the old plished -- that the space had sanctuary to bid farewell to turned out so beautifully -- but the synagogue’s home of 50 I missed everything about the years, and to join the procesold Beth El. That building was sion west, accompanying the my other home. And since my Torahs to their new dwelling. mother and father were such a At the same time, another huge, big, gigantic part of the gathering was taking place at old Beth El, it felt like I had left the new building, where conthem behind -- deserted them gregants and community -- when we moved. members prepared to cele“I do remember feeling like brate the homecoming. a fish out of water when we The memories of that day moved into the new building,” are fond and poignant, as sevshe added. “Each Shabbat I’d eral key players during that sit in a different part of the time can attest. sanctuary, trying to find my Cantor Emil Berkovits, who new ‘place’ -- it took a while served Beth El from 1981 to before I settled on the row and 2003, recalled that special the seat that I now unofficialtime of farewells and beginly claim as mine.” nings, even noting the last Bat Rabbi Paul Drazen, spiritual Mitzvah at the old building leader of Beth El from 1982 to Clockwise from top left: Cantor Emil Berkovits and his wife, Lili, follow congregant Abe Gendler out of the sanctuary; Rabbi (Hannah Rennard’s) and the 2002, was instrumental in Drazen, followed by Stan Widman, helps to organize what will be a mile-long motorcade heading to West Omaha; Among the first one at the new location Beth El’s relocation. After Beth El congregants leading the motorcade were Dan Fellman, driving, and his passengers Ruvane Kurland, front seat, Sarah (Rebecca Wolfson’s). joining the congregation, he Raful and Bobby Shackman; Congregants applaud in celebration as the procession of Torah bearers, including Cheryl “I do have fond memories realized that many members Cooper, enter into the new synagogue’s sanctuary for the first time. of the move,” said Cantor had moved to the western Berkovits, who is Cantor Emeritus at course, continuing to celebrate with our past all of the preparation and planning for the part of the city; consequently, the synagogue Congregation Shirat Hayam in Swampscott, presidents and many, many congregants, new location, it did feel much like ‘finally was no longer in a convenient location for going home.’” Massachusetts. “How I remember carrying a and finally, doing our first service.” most. He was also concerned that the curIt was also time of mixed emotions. On For Ozzie Nogg, Beth El’s immediate past rent building lacked any handicap accessiTorah out of the old building behind a dear friend, Abe Gendler, and placing the Torah the one hand, thoughts turned to “so many president at the time, leaving the old building bility, limiting the opportunities for some into one of the convertible cars that was special occasions with so many families [at was tinged with sadness. For many years, congregants to fully participate in motorcading to our new home. Then, of the old building],” he said, “and yet, seeing Nogg’s father, Rabbi Alexander Katz, served Continued on page 26

YOUR INVITATION TO PERFORM ONE MORE ACT OF KINDNESS BEFORE THE HIGH HOLY DAYS

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Wishing you a happy and heathy New Year from the boards and staff of the Jewish Federation of Omaha and the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation!

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Jay Noddle, President & Marty Ricks, Executive Director

26 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

It’s real easy being green

Time flies

by OZZIE NOGG are great, but they’re not going to get us there. We need to Designing a house to fit on a 25’ wide lot is no small feat. rethink the way and the amount we consume; not just energy But former Omahan Jeff Stern, now an architect in Portland, but also water, materials, food, most things. As someone who OR, pulled off that challenge and won a prestigious prize to builds buildings that, by necessity, consume resources and boot. “Portland has thousands of 25’ wide lots in its old neigh- energy, the hypocrisy is not lost on me.” IN SITU recently comborhoods,” Stern explained, “but pleted the schematic design for a neighborhood opposition was new mixed-use project in North growing against the usual Portland, called BUG (Beech builder homes that were getting Urban Gardens). “It’s intended to squeezed into these tight spaces. raise the bar for energy efficiency. Portland is very supportive of The project is designed to meet infill development -- building on Passivhaus criteria -- the rigorous empty land within existing German standard that results in neighborhoods -- so in 2004 the passive buildings with ultra-low city sponsored a ‘Big Ideas for energy consumption. One of Small Lots’ design competition BUG’s cool features are the slidwhich attracted 500 entries from ing panels on the south façade around the world. I designed a Beech Urban Gardens project rendering. that allow occupants to comcompact two-story house that’s modern in style but fits with pletely shade their windows in the summer. By blocking the the older neighborhood feeling because of its simple compo- sun before it gets through the window, you eliminate the heat sition and modest scale. My entry was chosen as a Design gain and make it much easier to maintain comfortable temExcellence winner and published in a small monograph, and peratures. Equally important, the sliding panels will really anialso chosen as part of the Portland Catalogue, a collection of mate the building, since they’ll be constantly changing.” designs they considered most suitable as infill.” In addition to BUG, Stern is currently working on plans for This simple, modest design stands in sharp contrast to the two houses near Seattle that are part of six architectfirst job Stern tackled upon arriving in Portland in 1996. designed, ultra-energy efficient Passivhaus certified homes. “My first Portland project was for Paul Allen, owner of the “When they’re complete, there will be a big public exhibition Portland Trailblazers basketball team. We were asked to -- a showcase tour à la Omaha’s Street of Dreams. But this will design him an apartment inside the Rose Garden Arena be a Street of Greens.” Stern and his wife, Karen Thurman, a where the Trailblazers played. It was a crazy crash pad, built fiber artist, hope to start construction on their own house within the arena’s giant roof trusses, with a big window look- this fall. “It’s very small but fits our needs and lifestyle really ing down on home court and a balcony punching through to well. It, too, has been designed to meet Passivhaus criteria. the outside. We called it the Skyloft. It’s location is very dis- The house is super-insulated, and we’re using beautiful wood, creet -- almost no one knows it’s there. Unfortunately, aluminum clad, triple-pane windows from Germany. The because of the concern for Mr. Allen’s security, we weren’t windows and doors are our one big splurge, but they so far allowed to photograph the apartment for our portfolio, so it outperform anything available here, and will have a huge lives on in memory only.” impact on both the comfort and the quality of the space.” Stern holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design with When not at his drafting table, Stern is a guest critic at Honors from the University of Colorado in Boulder, a Master Portland State and the University of Oregon, where he also of Architecture from the University of Oregon, and has been served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor. “I love to solve a licensed architect in Oregon since 1996. In 2008, Stern problems and I love to learn. I love to collaborate with other opened his own firm, IN SITU. “It’s a Latin term that rough- talented people -- other architects as well as contractors, ly means, ‘in its natural place,’ ” he said. “Architecture is very craftsman, engineers and artists. Good design is, of course, much about the experience of a particular place, and I’m very dependent on talent, but it’s also very much a result of hard interested in creating environments that feel like they devel- work and discipline. Every project is different and every day oped naturally out of the site. The architectural experience is a unique challenge. I love architecture, cities and buildshould reinforce the qualities of a place and what makes it ings, and couldn’t imagine not being part of it in some way.” unique and gives it identity -- the climate, the play of light, Pragmatic in nature, modern in spirit are terms Jeff Stern the rise and fall of the land, the views, the culture, the sounds, uses to describe IN SITU's style. “We work hard to achieve the smells. In our work, we try to preserve the natural con- an architecture that is clear, effortless, timeless, and not selftext of a site and create a better place than when we began.” conscious. We focus on simple forms, natural materials and Stern is passionate about sustainability and energy efficien- straightforward details.” For his clients or for himself, Stern’s cy. “We need to get serious about aggressively reducing our goal is to distill complex problems into simple, elegant solucarbon footprint. Recycling, bamboo flooring, low VOC paints tions. “But,” he said, “simple does not mean simplistic.”

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Continued from page 25 rituals and social functions. As a result, the new synagogue was built to be fully handicap accessible, and its new location just off of 145th and West Dodge Road, was just minutes away from many congregants’ homes. So when asked if it was difficult to leave the old facility, Drazen replied, “It was bittersweet, but much more sweet than bitter. We had built a place where everybody could come.”

Congregant Carol Gendler affixes the mezuzah at the entrance of the new synagogue. Looking back to moving day, the rabbi recalled some memorable moments, such as the old sanctuary, packed with congregants gathering there for the last time; the half-dozen convertibles carrying Torahs and leading the mile-long motorcade west on Dodge Street (“We really held up traffic, but since it was Sunday, it wasn’t a big deal,” he said.); media coverage of the move by all three local television stations (“This was the first time a synagogue had moved in Omaha from the time Temple Israel had moved over to 72nd Street in the 50s,” Drazen noted.) Arriving at Beth El’s new home, and seeing congregants setting up refreshments and sweets for the reception, as well as a packed sanctuary with welcoming community members. The first time he walked into the bright, new sanctuary, Drazen said he realized that “This was really an example of a community taking a dream and literally making it concrete. Once we were there, people really saw that we had done something that changed not only Beth El, but the face of Jewish Omaha, in a way that hadn’t happened for years and years.”

Rosh Hashanah Greetings from

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Shalom

A happy and peaceful New Year

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September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 27

The City as Our Contribution to Creation: A Jewish View by MARTIN H. SHUKERT Every so often when I find myself in need of both professional inspiration and a renewed sense of meaning, I like to reread two meditations on God and human creativity, Halakhic Man and The Lonely Man of Faith, by the great Orthodox rabbi and thinker Joseph B. Soloveitchik. In the former, Rabbi Soloveitchik establishes the profound relationship between God and humanity in the nature and fate of the world: When man, the crowning glory of the cosmos, approaches the world, he finds his task at hand – the task of creation... Man, the creature, is commanded to become a partner with the Creator in the renewal of the cosmos; complete and ultimate creation – this is the deepest desire of the Jewish people. If a man never creates, never brings into being anything new, anything original, then he cannot be holy unto his God... Creation is the lowering of transcendence into the midst of our turbid, coarse, material world; and this lowering can take place only through the implementation of the ideal Halakhah in the core of reality... Both Rabbi Soloveitchik and the Kabbalists agree on the concept of tzimtzum, a “contraction” by which God ultimately limited His own creation to provide creative space for humanity in the perfection of the world. Their disagreement relates to how this space is filled. Rabbi Soloveitchik fills it with the “practical-utilitarian” dimensions of Halakhah and hiddush, which he defines as “creative interpretation” of Torah. The Kabbalists fill it with metaphysical explorations of the secrets of the universe. As one of a more “practicalutilitarian” bent who has always tried to integrate the secular and spiritual aspects of life, I see that creative space in the built environment – the development and perfection of the city. The city is uniquely the creation of humanity, and is a natural consequence of our innate characteristics. It is also where our power to create and perfect contends with our inclination to destroy. The Creation story of B’reishit is all about God’s creation of the natural universe: sun, moon, stars, earth, water, plants, and animals. Man and Woman are placed in an idyllic Garden, with themselves, the plants and animals, and a fateful serpent and tree for company. God tests His human creations with a command that the very characteristics with which He imbued them inevitably drive them to disobey – not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. As a result, God expels them from the perfect but static Garden, and into the world of mortality and labor. The narrative moves on to the story of Cain and Abel. Cain is described as “oved haadamah,” a worker of the soil – one who can have a creative impact on the environment. Abel, whose name hevel means “vapor” is the foil. God suggests to Cain that sin “crouches at the door” but that he can rule over it. Instead, when God accepts Abel’s offering over Cain’s, Cain responds not by mastering sin, but by murdering his brother. God curses Cain and condemns him to a life of wandering. Banished from the soil and condemned to wander, Cain becomes a father and invents the city – the imperfect place where we as humans are drawn to partner with God in perfecting the world. In the Bible, the city gets off to a bad start. Mankind, commanded to fill the earth, instead fills it with corruption and lawlessness, leading God to undo Creation with the flood. After that event, a resurgent human race organizes to create a city with the world’s first skyscraper, to “make us a name

lest we be scattered over all the earth.” God, seeing the power of creativity without responsibility, scatters humanity both by language and geography. Later, Abram begins his journey to God by leaving his hometown and venturing out to a new land. He comes upon Sodom and Gomorrah, cities of unmitigated evil that are destroyed in a cataclysm of fire and brimstone. Later, slavery is a pillar of Egypt’s urban society and

Humanity does not have the power to improve the natural universe. Indeed, the goal of the contemporary environmental movement is largely negative: to minimize the harm that we do to God’s creation. Pharoah’s treasure cities, Pithom and Ramases, are built on the backs of slaves. Cities are places where creativity goes wrong. But Jerusalem, the city, is also the metaphor for restoration of the Jewish people and, in a larger metaphor, a perfect society. Humanity does not have the power to improve the natural universe. Indeed, the goal of the contemporary environmental movement is largely negative: to minimize the harm that we do to God’s creation. It is the city, the most human of inventions, that presents us with the arena for our shared creative enterprise with God. The city was born of conflicting forces -- Cain’s isolation and drive for a legacy, the human need to gather together and to acquire knowledge, and the drive to create. The city produces humanity’s greatest advances, but also the degradation and chaos that could undo it all. Perfecting the city is the mission that God gives us as partners in creation – to synthesize our own dueling inclinations of good and evil that we learned about at the Tree into something that is “tov m’ohd” – very good. As individuals, we can neither undertake everything that needs to be done nor be intimidated or paralyzed by that knowledge. We are incremental creators. As practical beings, we must have specific, small things that we can do that lead to a larger outcome so large that we despair of accomplishing it. Rabbi Tarfon famously expresses this in Pirke Avot (2:21): “You are not obliged to finish the task nor are you free to neglect it.” In reference to the city, I believe that our tradition and texts offer us principles that can help us work in our limited way to perfect our unique creations -- our cities. I have found five principles that I try to apply to my own work in planning and design for cities and towns: migrash, eruv, avdah ul’shamrah, zusia, and tzedek. Migrash: In Numbers Chapter 35, the Torah required Levitical towns to have a migrash, or open pastureland, that extended out from the town wall in all four directions, for the common use of the town’s residents and their cattle. The migrash was arguably the first example of a required greenbelt or public park. This principle teaches us the value of space that is the territory of everyone in a town, and of the importance of incorporating the natural environment into the cities that we build. Eruv: The Eruv is an enclosure bounding an area where certain procedures are permitted, most notably the act of carrying on Shabbat. The word means “mixture” or “unification.” Rabbi Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer, in his book The Contemporary Eruv, traces its origin to the Talmud. An eruv defines an urban district as a single “house,” permitting acts of movement that would otherwise be prohibited, such as transportation from place to place through the public domain. From the concept of the Continued on page 28

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Jerry Gordman’s learning curve by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Are you hands-on? Editor of the Jewish Press Yes. When we were considering developing a space for If you want Jerry Gordman to loosen up, ask him about Aldi supermarkets, I realized I didn’t really know who they music. The French horn, to be precise; word around town is were. In real estate, I am constantly learning. I went into one he is a talented musician. He is equally enthusiastic about his of their stores, and talked to random customers to find out family’s involvement with Friedel Jewish Academy; he was what attracted them. They thought I worked there! They instrumental in building the were all wildly positive, so we school. His last name is most were pretty confident. notably tied to the RichmanWhat is your favorite buildGordman stores, but after a ing in Omaha? midlife career change in 1998, One of my favorite archihe found himself in real estate. tects is Stan Howe, who Tell us a little about yourdesigned the office building self: at Lake Regency, where I have My wife Linda and I are my office. I love that building, both Native Omahans, and with all the glass, and it’s next we raised our children here. to Regency Lake. Valmont Both Linda and I went to Plaza is another one I really Central High, and the funny like. Also, some wonderful thing is: my brother Nelson things have been done in also met his wife there, and Omaha, such as the Holland she is also named Linda. My Center, which is one of my son Jeff lives in Omaha with Jerry Gordman shows a rendering of a current project. favorites in the world. I had his wife Danielle and their the opportunity to play my two children, as does daughFrench horn there once, and ter Lisa with her son; our it was such a privilege! It is daughter Randi lives in truly one of the nicest buildBoston with her husband ings, and the acoustics are Rand and their children. phenomenal. What about this business The city continues to grow. you’re in? Can you look in your crystal I haven’t been in it very ball for a moment and tell us long, only since ’98, but I’ve where the future of Omaha is? kept very busy developing Currently, I think we are one and redeveloping commercial of the most successful nonreal estate. Both my brother sunbelt cities. We have a Nelson and my sister diversified economy and a Deborah Platt are partners in very active business commuthe business, although Nelson nity. In addition, there is a also spends quite a bit of time serious dedication to the arts, Jerry Gordman playing his French horn. in Aspen, Colorado. and, compared to the rest of What do you like about Omaha? the nation, we are economically sound. We have fantastic There are a lot of people who will leave for a while, but universities like UNO and Creighton; all in all, we are a city they come back, because this is such a wonderful place. I that is successful in many different areas and I think that will think this city appeals to the general as well as the Jewish only get better. And every time we bring a company here population; we have great synagogues, and a fantastic day because we are able to provide the right building and the school. In addition, we have wonderful philanthropists right right environment, we do our part. Although just as in every here in the city, both private citizens as well as businesses other area, commercial real estate has gone through some who go the extra mile and give back to Omaha. difficult times, but I do believe we are moving in the right What are you proud of? direction, especially during the past six months. I think real estate, if you do it right, needs to reflect everyHow have you grown professionally since changing thing that is great about Omaha. As a rule, we try to follow careers? that line of thinking. We’re fairly broad, and I like that: we I am still learning every day, especially when it comes to do retail space, offices, and warehouses; in addition to different rules for different businesses. For instance, a Omaha we are in Council Bluffs, Lincoln, and Grand Island. healthcare business has completely different demands than a This business is more complicated than it appears--people retail store, and we deal with different building codes, legal often think all you have to do is ask how much the rent is, requirements, and so forth. I rely heavily on professionals but, depending on what you try to develop in any given area, who are familiar with all the rules and requirements, and there is a lot more to it than that. We work with architects, learn from them. We are currently working with a firm that we do financing, we handle the leases and do interiors as services the elderly in a day program setting, and it is great well as exterior work, and we do maintenance. Every area to learn about that, and at the same time feel really good needs a slightly different skill set, so you have to be versatile. about providing a service to a company you can get behind. Many different parts make the whole successful. It makes me proud of what we are doing.

The City as Our Contribution to Creation: A Jewish View

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Continued from page 27 eruv, we learn that our immediate neighborhoods are part of our house, and that a sense of scale, structure, and intimacy must be part of our cities. We learn that if we live close to one another, in a common “house,” we know and understand each other and work toward a common purpose. Avdah Ul’shamrah: Adam is commanded “to work and to guard” the world in Chapter 2 of Genesis. The world is there for humankind to develop, but in doing this, we must also guard and protect. This leads to the contemporary concept of sustainable development – building to meet our individual and societal needs without reducing the quality of the world or its ability to maintain its diversity. “Zusia:” In a famous Hasidic story, Reb Zusia of Anapol is terrified by a vision that he had of angels at the gates of heaven grilling him about his life. His disciples ask him what a man of his great piety and scholarship has to fear from such a questioning. He responds that he has learned that the angels will not ask him why he was not Abraham, Moses, or Joshua. The disciples then ask what he could have been asked that fills him with such dread. Zusia responds,

“They will ask, ‘Zusia, why were you not Zusia?’ ” Applying the story of Zusia to cities teaches about the importance of understanding and capitalizing on the strengths that make individual communities unique and delightful. Tzedek: Tzedek, tzedek tirdof – Justice, justice you shall pursue (Deuteronomy 16:20) – is one of the most famous of the Biblical statements. The principle of tzedek reminds us that cities must be places that pursue justice – economic, social, and environmental. Our drive to a creative partnership with God to repair and perfect an imperfect world leads inevitably to cities. Cities, with all their greatness and horrors, are a purely human invention. And we know from Torah that we can make cities either “Sodom” or “Jerusalem” – the debased or the ideal. It is in our nature to gather in cities – and our unique charge is to focus on the quality, justice, and environmental sustainability of our urban habitat. Our ultimate goal is our power to “create worlds” (in Rabbi Soloveitchik’s words), but to inform that power with understanding and responsibility – to work and to guard the Garden that God gave us.

September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 29

The Mishkan: from desert wilderness to concrete jungle by OZZIE NOGG In uncharacteristic and truly mind-numbing detail, the Torah uses almost half the book of Exodus to describe the building of the Mishkan -- the portable Tabernacle our ancestors carried through the wilderness. Even the Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman) commented, “It would have been sufficient for the entire matter to say, ‘And Moses told the whole congregation of Israel of the work which God had commanded him, and the Israelites executed everything as The Lord had commanded Moses.’” So, what do we gain from learning how many cubits of acacia wood were used to create the Ark of the Covenant or how many talents of silver went into the sockets for the Tabernacle? The Talmud suggests that the Torah lovingly details the measurements, materials, furnishings and functions of the Mishkan because the builders needed to clearly understand each jot and tittle in order to endow the holy space with its proper symbolism. In our homes a lamp is a lamp is a lamp. Not so in The Almighty’s home, where every little movement has a meaning all its own. Rabbinic commentators consider the Tabernacle to be either a microcosm of the entire world (with each component corresponding to a specific act of creation) or a macrocosm of the human body (with each of the Mishkan’s 613 parts and vessels matching the number and location of man’s vital organs, limbs and sinews.) Proponents of the Mishkan-as-the-World Theory posit that the Tabernacle’s separate parts represent heaven and earth, which were created on the first day. And just as the firmament was created on the second day to divide the waters below from the waters above, so did the curtain in the Tabernacle divide the Holy from the Most Holy. Next. Just as God created the seas, grass, herbs and trees on the third day, so did He specify the washstand in the Tabernacle -- along with a table for the showbread -- to acknowledge that all sustenance comes from The Almighty. Continuing this cosmic line of reasoning, the sevenbranched candlestick (which provided light in the Tabernacle) symbolizes the sun, moon and stars created on the fourth day. The Cherubim, with their wings covering the Ark, correspond to the birds created on the fifth day. On the sixth day of creation, man was formed in the image of God to glorify his Creator. So too was the High Priest anointed to

serve the Lord. And finally. The courtyard of the Tabernacle (with its sixty pillars representing the approximately sixty days in a year that we treat with the sanctity of Shabbat) is the seventh day of creation. So there, too.

V’asu Li mikdash, v’shachanti b’tocham. Let them build for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them. Exodus 25:8 Those who buy the Man-as-Mishkan Theory look to Midrash and Kabbalah for evidence of anthropomorphism in the Tabernacle’s furnishings and vessels. To wit: The curtains of goat hide are a person’s skin, the beams supporting the Mishkan are the ribs, the washstand alludes to bodily fluids, and the table with the showbread represents the sense of taste and/or the stomach. The candlestick symbolizes the human intellect (which provides us with the light of understanding) and the Cherubim’s wings are the lungs which supply air to the human heart -- said heart represented by the Ark of the Covenant. Thus, since the Mishkan represents the entire human body, it follows that the Shechinah (God’s Presence within the Tabernacle) dwells within each of us. (An aside. Though my Poppa-the-Rabbi appreciated this sort of talmudic head trip, he did allow that our sages often

had too much time on their hands, resulting in pilpul -- the fine art of Talmudic debate and hair-splitting -- as exemplified above. But I digress...) Contemporary scholars are less apt to deconstruct the Mishkan and more likely to question its relevance today. Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom writes, “The Tabernacle did not last forever, but the lessons it taught did.” And the lessons are? Noting that constructing the Mishkan was a collective enterprise in which all of Israel was invited to participate with a generous heart, Rabbi Arthur Green puts a 21st Century spin on the notion that rich and poor are equal in God’s eyes. “The way to achieve unity,” Green writes, “is through everyone holding on to his or her own distinctive viewpoint while fully accepting the infinite variety of minds and opinions, all of them making up a single divine whole. Here no view is to be dismissed or rejected. How easy is it for you to open yourself up to other’s point of view?” Call this lesson: Tolerance Writ Large. A noble goal, not easily attained in our age of increasingly fractious ethnic, economic, political and religious pluralism. Rabbi Shefa Gold has her own mystical take on the Mishkan and ways we can build our hearts into dwelling places for God where the Shechinah will “whisper, speak, sing and shine.” To this end, Gold suggests we make our relationships a Mishkan by acknowledging the mystery of love and paying attention to the details of kindness. We can transform our communities into dwelling places for God by honoring differences while celebrating our shared humanity, by making room for expression, by collaboration, laughing together and learning from our mistakes. And how might we turn our polarized world into a Mishkan? By enjoying each miraculous moment in unconditional gratefulness for the journey of life, by spreading joy whenever we can, by keeping our hearts open in compassion, and by awakening the light at the core of darkness. For Gold, this Mishkan is the Promised Land. I, for one, would love to live there. Now, lest you think the allure of the Mishkan is only for rabbis and sages, please consider this final take-away lesson. In The Mishkan as Metaphor: On the Transformation of Urban Space, New York architect Bonnie Roche-Bronfman writes, “At the center of steel and stone in our modern cities Continued on page 30

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30 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

Life’s crucial aspects

Journal entry from Israel TEDDY WEINBERGER On Rosh Hashanah, all of life’s crucial aspects come under God’s judgment: Who shall live and who shall die; who shall become poor and who shall become rich; who shall struggle with illness and who will enjoy good health. In the following open letter I write about my family’s critical journey of this outgoing year: Ms. Marcie Natan President, Hadassah: The Women’s Zionist Organization of America Dear Ms. Natan, This past winter, Hadassah saved the life of my son, Ezra. I’m writing to tell you about our experience and to thank you. In December, Ezra (then 18) was diagnosed at Hadassah Ein Karem with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. This cancer, which attacks the juncture of the nasal passages, auditory tubes and upper respiratory tract, is relatively common in Southeast Asia but rare in Israel. Statistics didn’t matter to us, however. If your son is diagnosed with cancer at a relative early stage, you are put in the position of agreeing to make him very sick at a time when he seems OK. Ezra’s oncologist, Dr. Amichay Meirovitz, did an excellent job in preparing us for the side effects of Ezra’s treatment: He scared us silly. Because of Ezra’s youth and large build Dr. Meirovitz was being as aggressive as possible in order to knock the cancer to kingdom come. Ezra would receive an initial strong dose of chemotherapy (requiring an in-patient stay of several days), followed by weekly chemotherapy and 32 exceptionally high-powered radiation treatments. Nurse Michelle Peleg, who treated Ezra in the day-patient chemo ward, said that she had never seen such a massive course of treatment. And so began our intense relationship with Hadassah. For six and a half weeks, Sunday-Thursday we would travel to Hadassah Ein Karem. We usually took the scenic route, cutting through the Jerusalem hills and the winding picturesque roads to the hospital from the Mevasseret Tziyon area. Is there another world-class hospital situated in such a pastoral setting? I doubt it. Upon reaching the hospital’s main gate, which opened automatically for our pre-approved license plate, we would head for the exclusive small parking lot of the Sharett Institute of Oncology (your hospital parking rights are in direct proportion to the severity of one’s situation). Ezra would then hustle in to put his name down on the day’s Continued on page 32

How totally super is that? by HAL G. SENAL The following text was written by Buffy Rosenberg, a former student at Sunnydale-Bayside High School, located in West Beverly Hills, CA 90210. It has been excerpted and reprinted, with (pretty much) her approval, from a 2004 research paper on 20th Century Architecture. It is with our highest appreciation that we present the following D+ effort! --The World Society of Jewish Underachievers, celebrating its 11-month Anniversary

getting her beauty sleep, during boring old history class, right?), there was this Jewish Austrian dude named Victor Gruen, and he came to Los Angeles. After that, in 1951 (jeez... it sure took the guy long enough! Like, wow!) he founded an architectural firm called Victor Gruen Associates. They were hoppin’ mad busy, ya know? So, like, in 1954, after some war, he designed the first open-air suburban shopping center (um, can you say “flea market?!” Yeah... that’s what I thought!) called Northland Mall, near Detroit, Michigan (EW!). ...Okay, so, like, where were So, anyway, it was totally a we? Oh, yeah! Totally! I hit. In fact, it was such a big hit remember now! This is, like, that he was asked by the ownmy favorite history story of all ers of Dayton Department Still from The Gruen Effect with Victor Gruen, right. time. Well, everyone just stores, in some weird, foreign knows that I, Buffy Rosenberg, just completely adore shop- country called Edina, Minnesota, to design and build the first ping at, like, the mall, right? completely enclosed shopping mall, in 1956! Uh... YAY! And for those of you losers who get down on people who So, he must be a pretty important dude, because this other enjoy, like, shopping? Well, let’s not be haters, shall we? I dude named Malcolm Gladwell, from some uppity, boring mean, hello! Just because you’re too poor to enjoy the finer magazine called The New Yorker (I mean, if it’s not Cosmo, things in life, doesn’t make you special. It makes you bor- why even bother, right? It didn’t even have my horoscope in rrrrrrring. it! I know, right?!) wrote that "Victor Gruen may well have After all, the mall is, like, the greatest place in the whole been the most influential architect of the twentieth century." wide world. Even more than that big ugly lady in her toga, So, yeah. Victor Gruen, people. holding a book in one hand (ugh!) and a torch in the other The man created the mall. How totally super is that? (uh, honey, do you not realize what heat from that fire does The End. to your fingernails?!) Once again, The W.S.J.U. appreciates Ms. Rosenberg’s So, getting to the point. cooperation in allowing us to reprint this term paper. We Back in 1941, when Dinosaurs ruled the earth (my time- can’t thank you enough! Your mediocrity is what makes lines might be slightly off. But hey! You can’t blame a gal for this organization soar to such pretty-high heights!

The Mishkan Continued from page 31 stands the same individual that once stood in the shadows of the ancient desert. This individual yearns for the same spiritual rootedness to a universe larger than oneself. This cry for a glimpse of the ineffable is becoming increasingly audible as a public voice in the canyons of our urban environments. Can we by way of an ancient metaphor, the Mishkan, the Tabernacle of the Hebrew Bible, create a sacred moment in a secular city?” Roche-Bronfman continues. “Many interpret the Mishkan to have been the metaphor for the Sabbath itself, for moving from motion to stillness, from measured time to timelessness, from the six days of the week to the

Sabbath. Today, as nomads in the desert of our cities, we need to stop, to gather, to rest. We ache for Heschel’s ‘radical amazement’, for the original idea of a world greater than ourselves, greater than our built urban wilderness, for an idea inclusive of and with deep regard for the individual.” “It is my belief that we, like the ancients, must construct places that remain silent, incomplete, waiting for human beings to enter,” says Roche-Bronfman, the modern builder. “And in these places in the center of our urban terrain, we must, as the ancients did, cease and pause for breath in genuine gratitude for the beauty that has been bestowed upon us.” Yep. The Mishkan is no more, but it’s memory (and influence) lingers on.

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Morris Lapidus: Master of cartoon castles in the sand by OZZIE NOGG Meet Morris Lapidus, architect of the Fontainebleau, Eden Roc and Americana Hotels in Miami Beach. Grab a thesaurus, dump every overblown adjective on the page, and you might come close to describing his style. Ornamental excess. Profligate abandon. Hearty vulgarity and Bronx boarding-house baroque. Or go for the jugular (as did his detractors) and joke that Lapidus’ hotels were “probably not too disturbing to people who have lost their eyesight.” Born in 1902 in Odessa, Lapidus grew up in Brooklyn where his life indelibly changed when he saw Coney Island’s gleaming Luna Park -- the magical amusement paradise where horses jumped into pools of water, visitors rode to the moon, and gold minarets

The Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. were illuminated by 1,300,000 light bulbs. “Visitors to a seaside resort do not wish to encounter the seriousness iof their everyday lives,” said the designers of Luna Park. “Everything must be different from ordinary experience. What is presented to them must have action, sensation, surprise, shock, swiftness, or else comedy.” Luna Park’s hedonistic philosophy was transferred by Lapidus to Miami Beach. “They call my hotels corn,” he said proudly, “but they’re better than corn. They make people happy, excited, titillated. Vacationers need to feel a sense of adventure. That’s why I build my closets so big. People need big closets emotionally.” Critics sniped that the Fontainebleau was “the nation’s grossest national product” and said its white concave shape resembled the rim of a toilet seat. Unfazed, Lapidus deemed the Fontainebleau “a tasteful three-ring circus. I want people to walk in and drop dead.” He specified gold telephones and bidets in the bathrooms, planted plastic flowers in public spaces, brought in live alligators (so guests “would know they were in Florida”) and prided himself on giving people “Something to gape at.” His lobby for the Americana Hotel featured an orchid-filled terrarium, open on top so the lobby could be rained into without the guests getting wet. “It’s ridiculous to have a glass-enclosed hole in the middle of a building,” Lapidus admitted, “but it gives people a lift.” He considered minimalist guru Mies van der Rohe “an idiot” for adopting the motto “Less is more.” Lapidus insisted that, “Less is is not more. How stupid can you be? Less is nothing. If you like ice cream, why stop at one scoop? Have two, have three.” The title of his autobiography, Too Much Is Never Enough, says it all. Lapidus began his career in the 1930s as a retail store designer, creating curved glass exteriors that drew shoppers deep inside the opulent interiors where they were captured by his use of theatrical lighting -- what he called “The Moth Principle.” Lapidus successfully employed this merchandising aesthetic in his zany, glamorous 1950s hotels. “My whole success is I’ve always been designing for people,” he explained, “because I want to sell them merchandise. When I got into hotels, I had to rethink, what am I selling now? A home away from home? Absolutely not. People want to buy

the tropic luxury of a wonderful vacation of fun in the sun. You’re selling a good time.” The Fontainebleau is considered Lapidus’ masterwork and much has been written (overwhelmingly negative) about this “palace of kitsch” on Collins Avenue. The Eden Roc and Americana Hotels fared no better on the applause meter. When Frank Lloyd Wright met Lapidus in the mid-1950s, Wright said, “Miami Beach? You’ve done some work down there? Well, if I were you I wouldn’t talk about it.” While highbrows tossed brickbats at Lapidus’ buildings, the public threw bouquets. The Fontainebleau’s 565 rooms began filling up with nouveau riche suburbanites, Manhattan matrons, mobsters, movie moguls and regular Joes, all eager to enjoy what some critics dubbed the “pornography of comfort.” A significant number of the Fontainebleau’s clientele was Jewish, among them Isaac Beshevis Singer. “You could go any day into the lobby of a hotel and just sit down,” Singer wrote. “I saw all kinds of people; heard all kinds of Yiddish dialects. It was remarkable. Jewishness had survived every atrocity of Hitler and his Nazis. For me, a vacation in Miami Beach was a chance to be among my own people. It was a magnet -- a place they flocked to like geese to rest and warm themselves in the sun. In the 1940s and ‘50s, it was a hub of Jewishness and a great source of inspiration for my stories.” The Yiddishkite that inspired Singer disturbed the social equilibrium of the time, and Jewish tourists -- like Lapidus’ hotels -soon came under scathing stereotypical attacks. The Jews of Miami Beach were labeled boisterous, loud and vulgar, obsessed with sex and food. And where better to satisfy those appetites than at the Fontainebleau, with its erotic mix of soft furniture and hard marble floors, where six kitchens (designed to serve 3,000 meals simultaneously in ten dining areas) dished up orgiastic buffets. One publicist suggested, “The reason Jews like Miami Beach is because it says ‘Indulge yourself, live a little.’” New York Times critic Ada Louise Huxtable roiled the waters by describing the Americana Hotel’s lobby as “relentlessly adorned, where two sluggish alligators dozed beneath a giant terrarium that burst through the roof with tropical chutzpah.” Was Huxtable simply denouncing Lapidus’ “uninspired super-schlock” or showing her anti-Semitic stripes? You decide. During much of his career, Lapidus’ work was never published in an architectural journal, except to abuse it. “I was anathema,” he said. Though perplexed, Lapidus remained sanguine. “I’m not designing for architects. I’m designing for the people. I’ve simply done something as a pop artist might do it. I design these hotels with tongue in cheek.” To Lapidus, bad taste was not such a bad thing if done on purpose. And his giveem-what-they-want approach paid off. By 1984 he had billed $50 million. In 1985, still unappreciated by pundits and peers, he closed his office and burned fifty year’s worth of drawings. In 2000 Lapidus was honored by the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum as an American Original, an award created especially for him. “After a long, long life at last somebody said, ‘Let’s give him something,’” he told Charlie Rose. “Near the end they said, ‘You were right. We were wrong.’” Today Lapidus’ work is embraced by a new Continued on page 33

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by HAL G. SENAL boasts at its forecourt a who’s who of celebriAs a person grows older, there’s nothing ty handprints and footprints. It was, and for scarier than the thought of departing from many, still is, truly the stuff dreams are this world without having left a mark, a made of. legacy. After all, what kind of life has one lived, if no one can barely remember your mere existence? Well, sadly enough, that life can be described in two words: perfectly ordinary. That is, unless you’re a bright shining star! That’s right, folks! If you have a high-wattage smile, a martial arts-fighting, buttkicking pony-tail, or, heck, are even a web-footed (animated only, please!) animated character, then step right up to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, a magi- Graumans Chinese Theatre cal place where stars like to get their hands To punctuate the notion that once you’ve dirty! (And, no, we don’t mean, having their got your digits (hands or feet) imprinted in a personal assistants spilling coffee on them- cement square, you know you’ve hit the bigselves, or their Chihuahua pooing in their time; Marilyn Monroe has a small statue on purses!) the fountain beside the north wall, sporting Created by Jewish showman, Sid one of her famous quotes. Grauman (born Sidney Patrick Grauman, in “I used to go to Grauman’s Chinese 1891, to Sidney Grauman and Rosa Theatre and try to fit my foot in a celebrity Goldsmith, in Indianapolis, IN), and having impression,” she said. “It really meant, to opened May 18, 1927, the Chinese Theatre Continued on page 33

Life’s crucial aspects Continued from page 30 radiation list. Rules are that you must signin in person; however, you are then free to take care of other business and your spot will be held for you. Often Ezra did have other business. One of the truly exceptional things about Hadassah is that it offers world-class care across the board. Dr. Meirovitz insisted right from the start that Ezra see dental specialists Drs. Motti Sela and Anat Sharon in order to make sure that Ezra’s teeth and mouth would come through all that radiation. Another side trip Ezra would make would be to Naama Hirschberger, the psychologist attached to oncology. I’m proud of Ezra for taking advantage of Naama’s help and for unburdening himself to her. With us Ezra was very careful not to worry us. Even when he could not eat due to severe pain in swallowing food and a loss of appetite and had to have a feeding tube inserted into his stomach, Ezra never said he was hurting although sometimes I would tell him, “For God’s sake, Ezra, it’s okay to complain.” While Ezra went about his business I would go about mine. (I should note at this point that when my wife took Ezra, her strategy was different than mine: she would just sit and wait). I would go back to the car, get my jogging gear, change in one of the always-clean bathrooms (hourly cleanings are posted and supervised), and get out on to the Hadassah Trail. As you know, Hadassah grooms a beautiful hiking trail surrounding the hospital. Running at a moderate pace, I could make a loop around the entire trail in about 35 minutes. I would then return, change back (sorry for getting your bathrooms sweaty) and, if the time was right (1:30 p.m.), head off for mincha to what has to be not only the most aesthetic hospital chapel ever built, but one of the most beautiful synagogues in the world: the Chagall Windows shul. I loved staring at those windows as I davened. The colors put the whole experience on an otherworldly plane. At the conclusion of the afternoon prayer service, I could eat the lunch provided to patients’ families by Lottie’s Kitchen (e.g., hamburger, pasta and mixed vegetables). Yes, it’s true: With the complimentary parking, the beautiful run, the spiritual uplift and the free food I could almost forget that

my son had cancer. And Ezra preferred it this way. He didn’t particularly like to sit next to me even when I did wait with him for his radiation turn. In the middle of March, Ezra’s treatment came to an end. Around that time, Sarah and I and Ezra met with Dr. Meirovitz. We asked him if Ezra could plan on attending a family wedding in Chicago in August. We thought he would say, “Let’s wait until the results of Ezra’s PET CT scan in July.” To our surprise Dr. Meirovitz said “Go.” After the meeting, I asked Sarah, “Did I hear what I just heard?” We had basically been told that as far as Dr. Meirovitz was concerned the PET CT was simply a confirmation to what he, as a man of science, already knew: Ezra’s cancer had been wiped out. No one was celebrating just yet, though. Ezra was at his lowest point physically. He had lost a lot of weight, his whole nasopharyngeal area was sore and he had no appetite, no active taste buds, and when he forced himself to eat or drink something, swallowing caused him great pain. Somehow, Ezra managed to get through the next few months. At first, the side effects of the treatment continued in all their power, but gradually their severity lessened. On July 7, Ezra had his PET CT scan. We learned the results on July 21: Normal metabolic activity in the nasopharyngeal area -no trace of cancer. There are dozens and dozens of names on the walls leading to the entrance of Hadassah’s Sharett Institute. And there are hundreds of thousands of Hadassah members, including my wife, a life member thanks to her grandmother, Sylvia Ross (of blessed memory). If we could, we would personally thank every single Hadassah supporter. As Hadassah’s centenary president, please be so gracious as to accept our thanks on behalf of the entire Hadassah community. In 1948 the mighty Babe Ruth succumbed to nasopharyngeal carcinoma. 63 years later mighty Hadassah was there for our son. Thank you. Teddy Weinberger made aliyah in 1997 with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children. Their oldest three, Nathan, Rebecca and Ruthie, are veterans of the Israel Defense Forces; Weinberger can be reached at weinross@net vision.net.il.

September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 33

What dreams are made of Continued from page 32 me, that anything is possible... almost.” Besides the latter, other famous names include Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Joan “NO MORE WIRE HANGERS, EVER!” Crawford, Judy Garland, Al Jolson, Clark Gable, Mickey Rooney, Abbott & Costello, Bob Hope, Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Yul Brenner, Sophia Loren, Kirk Douglas, Paul Newman, Jack Lemmon, Hayley Mills, Peter Sellers, Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Steve McQueen, Sidney Poitier, Jack Nicholson, George Burns, John Travolta, Burt Reynolds, Donald Duck (signed by his, um, vocal coach, Clarence Nash), George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Michael Keaton, Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, and Tom Hanks. And that’s just to name a few. Trust us, the list goes on. Heck, they even have Darth Vader’s John Hancock! Obviously, though, there’s no accounting for taste. I mean, come on, how can we live in a world where Steven Seagal has his prints in cement, but thespians like Chuck Norris and The Muscles from Brussels, JeanClaude Van Damme, don’t? Oh, the humanity!! In addition to hosting the premieres of many famous films, including that rather small, 1977 independent film, Star Wars, the Chinese Theatre has been the venue for three Academy Awards ceremonies. To this day, Sid Grauman’s Chinese Theater remains as one of the nation’s most-visited tourist attractions. Talk about a legacy!

Morris Lapidus Continued from page 31 generation of architectural thinkers. “That’s the one thing I’m eternally grateful for,” he said before his death in 2001. “That I’ve lived to see my work accepted.” His advice to younger architects was not surprising. “In the 21st century, remember who you’re designing for -- not your client, not the critics, but the man and woman in the street. I won’t be there, but my influence will be.” Part of Lapidus’ New York Times obituary read, “I was standing on the elevated platform just as dusk was falling at Luna Park, and the lights went on. To me it was the most beautiful sight I’d seen. Of course, I knew it was hankypank, a circus and showmanship. But to a child of six it was all the wonders of the world. I never outgrew it.” On Dec. 22, 2008, the Fontainebleau Hotel was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Ted Seldin is Omaha’s cheerleader by OZZIE NOGG Someone should tell the Omaha Chamber of Commerce to close its office and turn the job of head cheerleader for our city over to Ted Seldin. “In Omaha we have a quality of life that’s exceptional,” he said. “I travel to many other cities and it’s easy to see the difference. In New York, it’s buildings jammed together. In Omaha we have open spaces. Los Angeles is one big clogged freeway, with smog and starter homes that cost 600 thousand bucks. In Omaha a family can find a wonderful 3bedroom house near a Ted Seldin good school for 130 thousand dollars. We also have clear air and affordable electricity. I’m just a small town boy at heart. My attitude reflects my roots.” Ted also waxes lyrical about his fellow citizens. “This community is blessed with people who care, who are willing to step up and take responsibility. For a city with such a small Jewish population to have a JCC campus like ours, it’s amazing.” When speaking about the Omaha Jewish Federationowned Livingston Plaza, which the Seldin firm developed and manages to this day, Ted said, “I get satisfaction being in the Livingston Plaza and seeing seniors living independently, with dignity in apartments they can afford, being able to walk through the connector right into the JCC. Where else in town -- or in this country -- can seniors safely leave their front doors and have access to a theater, an indoor pool, a library, the programs at the Blumkin Home, the action on Main Street. This entire outstanding JCC campus was created by the generosity and foresight of the people in our Omaha Jewish community. Incredible.” Ted Seldin’s pride in Omaha’s current status as a Forbes Magazine Top City is matched by his nostalgia for the less high-profile olden days. “Sundays on North 24th Street in the 1930s was always interesting. We’d drive over from my home in Council Bluffs -- in the shadow of the Lincoln Monument -- and visit my grandparents on 30th and Charles. We’d stop at Glass’ butcher shop for meat, then Adler’s Bakery for pumpernickel. And Easter Sunday on the North side was so colorful. The African American commu-

nity, their enthusiasm, all dressed up in fabulous hats and suits from Tully’s. But then, in the 60s, we had George Wallace, the riots on the Near North Side, businesses destroyed. The neighborhood, the entire city suffered years of unrest.” Today, the Seldin firm is proud to have had a small part in the revitalization of the near North side. “We developed and continue to manage the senior housing for the Mt. Moriah Baptist Church on 20th and Grant.“ Seldin said. “We also manage Kellom Apartments near Creighton University.” Seldin gives former C.U. President Father Schlegel high marks for the Creighton campus expansion and the part it plays in Omaha’s new skyline. “The dramatic way we now enter Omaha from the airport, the corridor that connects Eppley to downtown, the Qwest Center and Creighton, it’s marvelous. Omaha is so much more sophisticated, more respected. People I meet and talk with in other cities have stopped asking me if we still have cowboys and Indians here.” In the April 2010 issue of ONE Magazine, former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub said of Seldin, “I love the guy. He’s a softspoken gentleman, unflappable, persistent, three attributes I believe have contributed to his success. Omaha’s lucky to have had so many wonderful years during which time his heart has always been in Omaha.” Daub went on to describe the role played by Seldin in the development of the Benson Park Plaza at 72nd and Ames. The area, which received a “blighted” designation by the Omaha Planning Department in 1998, was subsequently redeveloped by the Seldin Company in cooperation with the City of Omaha, and is now a thriving retail shopping center that breathed new life into the neighborhood. According to Daub, payback from this public-private partnership “was terrific. The city received more tax revenue and jobs were created,” Daub said. “Blight that was spreading north was stopped. And it all developed because of Ted Seldin and his partners’ -Millard Seldin and Stanley Silverman -- vision.” Ted is confident that the city of Omaha and the Omaha Jewish community have bright futures. “Kiplinger Magazine calls Omaha the #1 Best Value City for 2011. That kind of press is bound to lure young entrepreneurs, and maybe even convince our local kids to stay in Omaha and enjoy the good living and the good economy.” When asked what he wished for the Jewish community in the New Year, Seldin said, “To stay motivated, to keep building on the solid foundation that already exists. To be willing to share ideas and accept others’ opinions in order to maintain this amazing quality of Jewish life, all the while continuing to be part of the larger community. It’s true that in Omaha we can’t ski or see the ocean. But, hey. We have wonderful people.”

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by HAL G. SENAL You know, there’s a great monologue in one of cinema’s Call him a dreamer, a man with a vision! Call him a gang- greatest, yet unsung, classics, 1987’s Broadcast News, written ster. Heck, call the man “late for dinner!” But whatever you and directed by James L. Brooks. The bit of dialogue, perdo, do NOT—and we mean it! -- call him “Bugsy.” fectly performed with passion and complete sincerity, by Known for his loose-cannon, erratic Albert Brooks’ character, Aaron behavior, Benjamin Siegel (born Altman. Benjamin Siegelbaum) was haunted -“What do you think the Devil is going some might say branded! -- throughout to look like if he’s around?” he asks Holly most of his life by that much-hated Hunter’s character, Jane Craig. “Nobody moniker. Those who used it, as witis going to be taken in if he has a long, nessed in Barry Levinson’s terrific 1991 red, pointy tail. No. I’m semi-serious film, Bugsy, were not-so-lucky tempters here. He will look attractive and he will of their fate. be nice and helpful and he will get a job Born in Brooklyn to an impoverished where he influences a great God-fearing Jewish family from Letychiv, now modnation and he will never do an evil ern Ukraine, in 1906, Siegel quickly thing... he will just bit by little bit lower rose to the upper-ranks of the standards where they are important. Just Genovese crime family, along with felcoax along flash over substance... Just a low M.O.T.’s Meyer Lansky and Meyer tiny bit. And he will talk about all of us Harris “Mickey” Cohen. really being salesmen.” While he was a vicious killer, he was Here was a man who made his way also a visionary who wanted to start a through life by lying, cheating, stealing, legitimate business. and killing; by trying to make an “honBugsy Siegel And how! est” buck by allowing ordinary men and Siegel may never have built anything in his short life woman to lie, cheat, gamble, and prostitute their lives away. (other than helping to construct a Los Angeles crime syndi- There’s a reason why the phrase “What happens in Vegas...!” cate... but who’s counting, right?), but no one can argue that exists. what we now know as Las Vegas was his very own brainThat reason is Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel. child. He was the driving juggernaut behind the driving jugAnd while modern-day Vegas may or may not be exactly gernaut that is the City of Sin. what he had in mind, certainly, it was his American Dream Who says you can’t mix business with pleasure? that brought it to life. After all, where else can you find government approved So, it’s true, then, what they say about best intentions. gambling, prostitution, drugs (the latter not legalized, After all, ever since Vegas, and ever since Siegel’s death, in though not exactly discouraged either) and Celine Dion, all 1947, the devil has had his lucky day. in one neon-lighted, gift-wrapped package? And the house always wins.

Bimahs and baptistries: Jews who design churches by OZZIE NOGG On Sunday, Oct. 26, 2003, the 108,414 square-foot Iglesia del Jubileo (Jubilee Church) was consecrated in Rome. News of this singular event hit Italy like a ton of tortellini, because the visionary responsible for the ultra-contemporary white ecclesiastical wonder was Richard Meier, the first Jewish architect in history to design a Roman Catholic church. In a subsequent interview, Meier stressed the fact that three of the six architects invited to submit designs for the church were Jewish: Peter Eisenmann, Frank Gehry, and Meier. “Each could have won,” Meier said. “I feel extremely proud. It’s clear that the Catholic Church chose my design based on its merits, not because they needed to make a statement regarding their relationship to Jews throughout history. However,” he continued, “I think it’s important that there is communication, mutual admiration and respect between members of all faiths. As the architect of this church, some might say that I am, to some degree, a symbolic bridge between faiths.” Sadly, the same cannot be said for Jewish architect Niccolo Matas who, in 1853, designed a new facade for the Basilica di Santa Croce (circa 1294), the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy. Matas cleverly worked a prominent Star of David into the composition. The architect (beyond naive, in my opinion...) hoped to be buried inside the church with his peers, but was instead buried under the porch. Poor Niccolo Matas, No ecumenical Ponte Vecchio, he. Jewish architects who’ve included churches in their portfolios represent the profession’s crème de la crème. In the mid-1800s, Prague-born Leopold Eidlitz (the first Jewish architect in the United States and a founder of the American Institute of Architects) worked on the design for The Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, often called “the most churchly church in America.” Other notable Jewish church designers include Emery Roth (The First Hungarian Reformed Church of New York,1916), Louis I. Kahn (The First Unitarian Church of Rochester New York, 1959), and

Richard Neutra who created Robert H. Schuller’s glass walkin/drive-in Tower of Hope (later called The Crystal Cathedral) near Disneyland in 1959. For the record, Eidlitz, Roth and Kahn built synagogues, too. And for those who question whether Jewish designers of churches deny their Jewish identity and eschew Jewish practice, there is no one-sizefits-all answer. In her book, Leopold Eidlitz: Architecture and Idealism in the Gilded Age, Kathryn E. Holliday writes, “Eidlitz (is) clearly not a practicing Jew anymore, but he doesn’t belong to any church either. He thinks what religions have in common is more important than what they don’t share. His approach was to express the greatness of (God) no matter what the specifics of the religion.” In his early work on New York City’s Shaaray Tefila Synagogue (1846), Eidlitz identified himself as Jewish to his clients, but other evidence suggests he later hid his heritage, representing himself as simply German or Austrian. Emery Roth -- who emigrated to America from Austria-Hungary -- often faced rejection because of his faith, but never forgot his Jewish origins. Louis Kahn came to America from Estonia in 1904 during an era of opportunity and anti-Semitism. Art History Professor Joseph Siry writes that Kahn, though nonobservant and not affiliated with any synagogue, identified with being a Jew in a way inevitable for most immigrants of his generation. According to Siry, while the architect worked on Mikveh Israel Synagogue in Philadelphia, “Kahn’s extraordinary mind struggled to come to terms with Judaism as a religion he did not practice but, in this project, one that he tried to reconcile with his own profoundly spiritual aims for his style of modern architecture.” Which brings us back to Richard Meier. In her book, Stars of David: Prominent Jews talk About Being Jewish, Abigail Pogrebin asked Meier if, in the course of building the Jubilee Church, he thought about his own spirituality. “I thought about what it is to make a religious place; whether it’s Continued on page 38

Richard Meier’s Jubilee Church has “curtain-like walls that represent the protection afforded by the church and offering a space in which to take refuge. In view of the Jewish origin of the architect, it may be presumed that this representation could be influenced by the Jewish religious custom of covering oneself with a talit when praying.”

September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 37

Building a legacy by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press Nate Schwalb originally hailed from Pardes Hanna, Israelabout ten minutes southeast of Caesarea. “At the age of 16, we left Israel because my dad had relatives here, and I ended up at Central High,” he says. From there it was on to UNO to major in business, followed by Creighton Law. The rest is (mostly) history: nowadays, there are few in Omaha who aren’t familiar with Nate’s business, Schwalb Realty. “I have known Nate since he first came from Israel,” says Nate Schwalb Marty Ricks, Director of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. “He barely spoke English, and his hair was all over the place! If there ever was a success story, his would be it. He has grown into one of the kindest, most sincere, and most generous people I know.” Nate is happily married to Hannah, who is also a native Israeli; their children David and Karen both live in Chicago. Hannah and Nate have four grandchildren. How did Schwalb Realty get started? When we came here, it was my mom, dad, and two sisters. I am the eldest. My father passed away in 1963; he had been a contractor in Israel, and he had just started building a small house in Benson. Mom tried to carry on while I was in law school, and I helped her continue to build small houses. The economy at the time was pretty bad, especially in the home building business, and things were slow. We continued to build a home here and there, and I remember telling my mother we needed to go to South central Omaha. Our business continued from the late 1960s until 1998, when my mother, Paula, died. She was so involved all those years, from dealing with the subcontractors to putting a lot of the finishing touches on the houses. During those 30 years, we also ventured more and more into apartment buildings. We have a strong preference to build in well-established areas; we like building new structures in older neighborhoods, and thereby lifting the neigh-

borhood up and preserving it. I think it supports growth, especially in the case of residential buildings. I think we did well for the city; the way we went about it involved a lot of rezoning, but the city administrators have always encouraged us. What do you think the correlation is between going to work every day and your personal happiness? In any profession it applies: the greatest satisfaction anyone can have is to look forward to going to work every day, and be pleased with what he or she does. I have always felt that the projects we got into were good; they didn’t just benefit me, but others as well. It’s particularly exciting to see how happy people are when they move into a new house or apartment. What can you tell about Omaha residents from looking at how they live? For Omahans, their home is their castle. I think in the Midwest, maybe more so than in certain other cities, people show a lot of pride in where they live, regardless of which neighborhood they are in. And they will show that pride both in the exterior and the interior of their homes. What is your favorite city, architecturally speaking? St. Petersburg or Venice. It’s amazing how homes can be built surrounded by water, and somehow hold up. Although I have to admit, it’s hard to choose just one city! Both our kids live in Chicago, and I like some of the buildings there as well. How do you think the Jewish community in Omaha has affected the cityscape? I am not sure, but I do know there are many neighborhoods that were developed by Jewish developers. What is a “Schwalb Community? We have apartment buildings that offer typical amenities, like laundry rooms, and we have always emphasized extensive storage space, really great kitchens, and we have introduced security systems on the windows of most of our apartments. What do you do to relax? I do several things: I have played tennis for over 40 years, and continue to do so three times a week. I also play chess with friends, and I love traveling. I like going to Israel, the Mediterranean, as well as Northern Europe and Central America. I went to Eastern Australia, and enjoyed that

immensely. Besides that, I like to follow college football. What is your legacy? In the work I have done, I have dealt with people fairly and I have met their expectations. In family life, I hope that I have instilled the right values in our children and four grandchildren. In the community, I hope that my endeavors, such as the Center at UNO, as well as other philanthropy involvements, all prove themselves worthwhile, and will serve as an example for others. When Nate speaks modestly of “the Center,” what he means is the “Natan and Hannah Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies,” established at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2009. Its interdisciplinary program focuses on teaching and scholarship in Jewish and Israeli history, politics, culture and society. The primary goal is to expand knowledge about Judaism and Israel, both on the university campus and in the broader Nebraska community, and to promote and facilitate collaborative scholarship with academic institutions in Israel. (unomaha.edu) The Schwalb Center’s Director is Guy Matalon, who simultaneously serves as the Jewish Federation of Omaha Scholar-in-residence. “We offer classes on campus such as Israel through Film, Israel and Palestine,” Matalon says. “We aim to show the complex and diverse side of Judaism and the land of Israel. It is a great resource because we are able to bring speakers to Omaha to talk about politics, economics and the future of Israel. For instance, this year's Sokolof Lecturer will be Rabbi Danny Gordis, who will challenge all of us and provide us a fascinating perspective on current events in Israel.” According to Matalon, the Center’s programs are engaging the community on a number of levels: “Thanks to Moshe Gershovich, we are working on a major project with Westside High School to provide a training program and material to their high school students about Israel and the Middle East. We are also planning on offering Jewish educational trips to Spain and other countries to attract students and community members to learn about Jewish history and culture.” With the educational opportunities offered through the Schwalb Center, Nate has ventured from houses and apartments to leaving an even more lasting tribute in the community. A worthy legacy, indeed.

38 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

Charlie Sullivan fullfills his childhood dreams by HAL G. SENAL when it came to converting to Judaism. Back in the day, before mind-numbing â&#x20AC;&#x153;People always ask me if I did it for my video games like Call of Duty and â&#x20AC;&#x153;socialâ&#x20AC;? wife or for my kids, and the answer is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;no,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? networks like Facebook and MySpace (R.I.P.) he explains. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I did it for myself. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a religion took hold of our nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s youth, the most where I found myself very comfortable, very wondrous time to be a youngat-peace, and very secure.â&#x20AC;? ster was at twilight: running The big question, however, around and laughing freely, that remains, is what led him giddily, amidst the jungles of down a path of building real neighborsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; yards, playing estate? games like Hide and Seek, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s some more irony,â&#x20AC;? Freeze Tag, and Cops and said Sullivan. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My dad was a Robbers, until the street lights designer of furniture and would shine brightly over the ended up owning a company. vistas of lush green grass and But his passion was for cold, hard, sometimes punishdesigning furniture while I ing concrete, signaling to would design floor-plans and mom or dad that it was time we would always end up havto get ready for bed, which ing a good time doing that was usually followed by an stuff together. I grew up in Charlie Sullivan â&#x20AC;&#x153;awwww... mom?!/dad?!â&#x20AC;? or Dallas... and after I graduated â&#x20AC;&#x153;Canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t I have five more minutes?! Please?!â&#x20AC;? from SMU (Southern Methodist But thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most kids. University), I went to work in the commerCharlie Sullivan, 51, a newly devout con- cial real estate business. So, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been in the vert to Judaism (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m the new Jew on the real estate business, in one form or another, block!â&#x20AC;? he proclaimed, laughing, having ever since my junior year in college.â&#x20AC;? converted about five years ago), a member As always, though, the magnetic force of of Temple Israel, and builder of residential â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Big Oâ&#x20AC;? could not be ignored and, evenOmaha real estate, on the other hand, was tually, Sullivan heeded the call. too busy to be bothered with running â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve lived in Omaha for about 15 years,â&#x20AC;? around. said Sullivan. Seventeen years ago, however, Instead, he had more imaginative, creative my father-in-law, Tom Fellman, was in ways of spending his time. Dallas to see my wife, Laurie, and me [for â&#x20AC;&#x153;As a kid, I would sit up at night and draw Thanksgiving]. At that time, I was working floor-plans,â&#x20AC;? said Sullivan, 51, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was never in corporate real estate, but I was thinking much good, speaking candidly, at drawing about going on my own... and he said â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Well, the elevation of a house. I could tell you why donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you come and do it in Omaha, good from bad, but I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t draw it. But I where itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a smaller pond. I can give some loved drawing floor-plans.â&#x20AC;? help to you in getting some leasing contacts.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Sullivan, who was adopted at threeIt was a sweet deal that Sullivan simply months and raised as a Catholic in Texas, is couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pass up! often questioned what his motives were â&#x20AC;&#x153;So, we moved to Omaha in April and

adopted our first child in June,â&#x20AC;? Sullivan said proudly. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I spent the first few months in Omaha getting my real estate license, moving my father up from Dallas, and being a father for the first time. I really needed to start making some money. So, my father-inlaw says, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Well, when I started in the real estate business, I built houses first, because, at the time, there was a low financial barrierentry,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; which is not the case anymore, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;so, why donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you build some houses and make some money, while you figure out which development business you want to get into.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? It was at this time that all those childhood floor-plans finally paid off.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;So, I really started building houses, to make some cash-flow, and actually ended up loving it, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never gotten out of it!â&#x20AC;? exclaimed Sullivan. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I finally got to fulfill my childhood dream of drawing floor-plans for real, and it turns out Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m pretty good at it! People like what I draw and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just been a great trip.â&#x20AC;? As far as happy endings go, this one was clearly 40 years in the making. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like that old joke asks: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice! And kids, no matter how old they grow to be, will always be kids.

Jews who design churches Continued from page 36 Catholic or Jewish, it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a religious space.â&#x20AC;? Raised Reform, Meier went to synagogue on the High Holidays when growing up, but doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t attend services anymore. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If I observe the holidays now, I observe them at home,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel part of a quote, unquote, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Jewish community.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Still, friends who have sat at his seder table describe Meier as a privately religious man who savors tradition and has never strayed far from his Newark Jewish roots. Cases in point: In 1963, Meier curated the influential exhibition -- Recent American Synagogue Architecture -- at the Jewish Museum in New York. Currently, the Museum is showcasing a series of Meierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mezuzot and a limited edition Hanukkah menorah. Each candle holder in the menorah depicts a dark moment in Jewish history, starting with the expulsion from Egypt, through Russian pogroms to

the concentration camps of Europe. Of the menorah, Meier says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was trying to express the collective memory of the Jewish people... (their) struggles and resilience and strength so wonderfully captured by the Hanukkah story.â&#x20AC;? A copy of the menorah resides in Mr. Meierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home and is still used by the architect during the holidays. Richard Meier admits that the work which gives him the greatest satisfaction is the Jubilee Church. He also admits that building a synagogue would give him even more joy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen a lot of synagogues get built, some by great architects,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But I still think I could do it better. It would mean a lot to me, both as a Jewish American and an architect, to be able to build my own (but) no one has asked me to build one.â&#x20AC;? From the architectural website Floor mature.com.

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September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 39

Nebraska’s Jewish spiritual and communal building blocks Simply stated, co-religionists in sufficient numbers formed congregations that built houses of worship. The architectural marble, brick, concrete, and glass edifices of temples and synagogues testified to the permanence of Jewish life in the Midwest. This fostered a fascinating communal network. Jewish communities are based on neighborhoods. Synagogues, kosher butcher shops, delicatessens, bakeries, mama and papa grocery stores, and peddlers lined Omaha’s North 24th Street. Cohesion

The historian’s footprint OLIVER B. POLLAK Nebraska Jewish settlement dates from the mid-1850s. Jews homesteaded and ranched, and moved into at least twenty-four different towns. However, the survival of Jewish communities as a distinct religious or ethnic group has been limited to Omaha and Lincoln.

declined around the Second World War as the community drifted from between 11th and 30th Streets to between 45th and 72nd Streets. The location of the Jewish Community Center reflects an even more dramatic westward movement. Initially located at 20th and Dodge Streets in 1924, it moved to 132nd Street in 1973. The Jewish Old People’s Home, opened in 1912 at 25th Street and Seward, was renamed the Dr. Phillip Sher Home when it opened on 52nd Street in 1948, and in 1982 it was replaced by the Rose Blumkin Home on 132nd Street on the JCC campus.

Generation by generation, westerly movement has eliminated the neighborhood based on ethnic cohesion. The number of Jewish-owned store-fronts declined. The Yiddish tongue is almost silent. As Deborah Dash Moore has observed, changes in the “external” geography of neighborhoods reflects changes in the “inner” Jewish identity. Assimilation and increasing prosperity have diminished Jewish neighborhoods and reduced the need for immigrant camaraderie and mutual aid. Suburbia is geographic proof of this transformation. Continued on page 40

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Nebraska’s Jewish spiritual and communal building blocks

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Continued from page 39 The Omaha/Council Bluffs area included three Jewish communities. South Omaha maintained its own synagogues and social organizations for fifty years. By the end of the Second World War, the Omaha and South Omaha Jewish communities merged and the separate South Omaha Jewish community passed into memory. In 1983 the Council Bluffs Jewish community comprised between twenty-five and thirty families, barely sufficient to maintain B’nai Israel Synagogue. In 1983 I wrote “They have not had a resident rabbi in several years. Organized religious life in Council Bluffs hovers on the brink of extinction. Now, most Jews cross the Missouri River to worship in Omaha.” Nonetheless B’nai Israel has continued to hold Friday night services and High Holy Day services. The growth, decline, and eclipse of communities is linked to immigrant habits. Omaha, although inland, was virtually the port of entry for many Jews who had left Europe only a few weeks earlier. They reached New York or Galveston by boat, and came to Omaha by train. However, it may not have been the place they stayed, married, had children, retired, and were buried. The attractions of Denver, Kansas City, Miami, Chicago, and Los Angeles, were a continuous lure for the adventurous. The prospect of broader economic opportunity, kinsmen, and a larger Jewish community, had a magnetic attraction. I. Beryl Weiner reports the story of his immigrant grandfather who arrived in Omaha in 1903, went on “vacation” to San Francisco in 1905, and ended up staying in Los Angeles. He had many counterparts. Howard Chudacoff coined the term “mobile Americans” while studying Omaha’s ethnic neighborhoods. Not only did immigrants change neighborhoods in an upwardly mobile manner, but they apparently did not hesitate when it came to moving to another city. A low birthrate, approaching zero population growth in the late twentieth century, intermarriage, and a decline in religious adherences and identification took their toll. The arrival of Jewish immigrants in America’s urban centers was followed by the creation of a myriad of religious, social, and economic organizations. Beyond the primary adherence to Judaism lay kinship, national origin, neighborhood, livelihood, and political affiliation. An undergrowth of organizations cushioned the impact of the newcomer to the Goldene Medina, not always as friendly as the translation suggests. The appeal of groups and organizations did not decline in second and subsequent generations; however, their direction and emphasis changed. First, there were the synagogues and temples associated with formal and active worship. Closely associated with the synagogues are communal societies. Newcomers, for religious and social reasons, want ritually proper burials. Several cemeteries were founded. Clubs fostered fellowship, leisure, and recreational activities. They nurtured a Jewish outlook that included social consciousness for domestic and international service projects. Mutual aid is a common element of these groups including charity, free and interest-bearing loans, in addition to a sense of belonging. The largest organization was the Omaha Hebrew Club, incorporated in 1892 to come

to the “relief of its members who are distressed, injured, sick or disabled” and to provide employment and relief for widows. It lobbied on immigration legislation, and raised money with dues, benefit dances, and concerts. The latter added to Omaha culture. The annual picnic in 1930 attracted four thousand people. Like so many other organizations, vitality ebbed following the Second World War. The groups assisted the immigrant newcomer as did the five Jewish peddlers’ unions organized between 1894 and 1919. Each was short lived as their members bettered their economic position. The American-born children did not continue these societies. The final expression of spiritual concern is international. During the 1930s, Zionists sent money and aid to Palestine and Eastern Europe. During the Second World War many organizations raised substantial funds in war bond campaigns. Following the war and the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, fundraising focused on Holocaust survivors and the survival of the fledgling nation. The existence of many loosely coordinated organizations, sometimes duplicating charitable functions, prompted the creation of the Associated Jewish Charities in 1903. Over the years various reviews of procedure, structure, and community needs resulted in the creation of the Jewish Federation, a multifaceted service agency whose responsibilities included the Bureau for the Aging, the Jewish Press, Family Service, Jewish Community Center, Bureau of Jewish Education, Library, and Anti-Defamation League/ Community Relations Council. These local, national, and Federation organizations constituted a formal response to perceived needs. Groups were founded, flourished, and went out of existence. Other organizations were more durable. If interests changed, or people moved out of the neighborhood, the group faded away. Jewish spiritual life in Nebraska clearly flows beyond the Temple and Synagogue. It encompasses a wide variety of communal and secular organizations that served in the acculturation process and simultaneously preserved a distinctly Jewish spirit. The immigrant community has been succeeded by an American-born generation and the vitality of the organizing spirit has adjusted to these generational and demographic changes. Much has occurred within the Jewish Community since the 1980s. The Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, with the support of Henry and Dorothy Riekes, created a museum with the main exhibit featuring the history of Omaha’s synagogues. Jewish studies programs blossomed at Creighton University, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. The front page of the Aug. 12, 2011, weekly English language Forward reported plans for a tri-faith religious center, Jewish, Muslim and Episcopalian, rising on the site of the former Highland Country Club. When completed, all Jewish houses of worship will be west of 120th Street, drawn in great part by the westerly location of the Jewish Community Center and suburban lifestyles. Jewish building blocks are spiritual, communal and geographic. Portions of this story appeared in The Nebraska Humanist in 1983 and Memories of the Jewish Midwest in 1985. The content has been updated by the author.

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September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 41

5771 Year in Review by JTA NEWS STAFF NEW YORK (JTA) -- The following is a review of the news highlights of the Jewish year 5771. September 2010 Despite offers of increased U.S. military equipment, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decides against extending the 10-month West Bank settlement freeze. October President Obama’s top two Jewish aides -- Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and senior adviser David Axelrod, both with offices within shouting distance of the Oval Office -announce that they will be leaving the administration.

under the auspices of the Israel Defense Forces. The Knesset moves to safeguard the IDF conversions. Israel allows another 8,000 Falash Mura from Ethiopia to immigrate. WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of classified U.S. documents shows Arab leaders expressing grave concern about Iran’s nuclear intentions and urging the United States to curb Iran’s nuclear program. The National Museum of American Jewish History opens in Philadelphia with a gala headlined by Vice President Joe Biden, comedian Jerry Seinfeld and entertainer Bette Midler.

woman elected to statewide office in Arizona, is shot in the head during a public campaign appearance in Tucson, triggering a national outpouring of sympathy and prayer. First responders later credit the emergency bandage colloquially known as “the Israeli bandage” with saving lives in the aftermath of the shooting that left six dead and 13 wounded. Newly leaked maps detailing Palestinian and Israeli negotiations over the West Bank in 2008 show how close the two sides were on some issues -- and how far apart they were on others. With Lebanon in turmoil and a Hezbollah-backed prime minister poised to take power in Beirut, Israel is concerned at the prospect of a tectonic shift in the regional balance.

The U.S. Supreme Court convened with three Jewish justices, with the addition of Elena Kagan. Credit: JTA

Massive forest fires in northern Israel prompt firefighting assistance from countries around the region. The fire takes 42 lives. Credit: Shay Levy/Flash90/JTA

Astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, holds his critically wounded wife’s hand. Credit: JTA

December Forty-two people are killed and 12,000 acres are destroyed by a massive forest fire in northern Israel that prompts firefighting assistance from countries around the region. In a speech to an Arab-American group in Michigan, former White House journalist Helen Thomas says that Congress, the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street are “owned by the Zionists.” The remark prompts the Society of Professional Journalists later to drop her name from an annual lifetime achievement award. Newly released Nixon-era tapes include recordings of Henry Kissinger saying the theoretical gassing of Soviet Jews wouldn’t be an American concern. A Seattle group pays for ads to run on buses in the city that accuse Israel of war crimes. The ads are pulled before they ever run, prompting a lawsuit. Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav is convicted of rape. January 2011 Jews worldwide mourn the passing of Debbie Friedman, a popular singer and songwriter who is widely credited with reinvigorating synagogue music and best known for her composition Mi Shebeirach, a prayer for healing that is sung in many North American congregations. U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), the first Jewish

February Massive street protests drive Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, an ally of Israel and the United States, from power. Coming on the heels of a similar turn of events in Tunisia, Mubarak’s fall raises hopes that a wave of democracy has been unleashed and fears -- especially in Israel -- that what is being called the Arab Spring will end with radical Islamic forces in power. U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, a tough-talking Jewish Democrat from California, suddenly decides to quit Congress in a sign of the precarious position of the Democratic Party’s centrist bloc. An annual survey from The Chronicle of Philanthropy finds that America’s most generous citizens gave less in 2010 than they have over the past decade, with Jews remaining among the top givers. At the Academy Awards, Jewish winners included Israelborn Natalie Portman for her portrayal of a tortured ballerina in Black Swan and 73-year-old The King’s Speech screenwriter David Seidler, himself a stutterer whose paternal grandparents perished in the Holocaust. Oscars were handed out as well to American filmmakers Kirk Simon and Karen Goodman for Strangers No More, a short documentary on the Bialik-Rogozin School in south Tel Aviv, and Continued on page 42

For the first time in history, the U.S. Supreme Court convened with three Jewish justices. A Knesset proposal to require loyalty oaths of non-Jews wishing to become Israeli citizens wins the endorsement of Israel’s Cabinet and prompts protests in Tel Aviv. The proposal is later amended to include Jews as well. The Anti-Defamation League lists a Jewish group, Jewish Voices for Peace, on its list of top 10 anti-Israel organizations in America. A month after the collapse of renewed peace talks with Israel, Palestinian Authority officials begin talking publicly about declaring statehood unilaterally. Packages containing explosive devices are mailed from Yemen to Jewish institutions in the Chicago area but are intercepted before they reach their intended targets. November In the Republican Party’s near sweep of the 2010 midterm elections, six Jewish members of the U.S. House of Representatives lose their seats. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Claims Conference disclose that they have discovered thousands of fraudulent claims, including ones filed by Claims Conference employees; 17 people are arrested. By mid-2011, more than $50 million in fraudulent claims had been found. A review panel established by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate threatens to invalidate thousands of conversions performed

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42 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

5771 Year in Review Continued from page 41 Susanne Bier, the Danish director-writer of In a Better World who studied for two years at the Hebrew University and the Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem. An Israeli backpacker is among the dead after an earthquake hits Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island. The city’s Chabad house is destroyed. Actor Charlie Sheen’s rant against his Jewish boss is called

years in prison in Cuba for subversive activities. The United States says Gross was in the country to help Cuba’s Jews. A car bomb explodes in central Jerusalem, killing one. Groups on the Jewish left express outrage after a Knesset subcommittee votes to convene hearings on J Street, the Washington-based lobby that calls itself “pro-Israel, propeace.” NGOs condemn the hearing as part of an Israeli government campaign to target NGOs critical of Israel.

The Union for Reform Judaism names Rabbi Rick Jacobs as its choice to succeed Rabbi Eric Yoffie at the helm of the movement. Jacobs comes under fire for his affiliations with J Street and the New Israel Fund. He is later confirmed by the union’s board. The Palestinian Hamas and Fatah factions announce that they are reconciling, prompting calls for the U.S. government to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority. However, a

Massive street protests drive Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from power. Credit: Takver/Creative Commons

Five members of the Fogel family were stabbed to death in their sleep by a Palestinian terrorist who broke into their home in the West Bank settlement of Itamar. Credit: Edgar Asher/ISRANET

Thousands of Arabs storm Israel's borders from Syria to mark the Nakba -- the anniversary of the “catastrophe” of Credit: Hamad Almakt/Flash90/JTA Israel’s founding.

borderline anti-Semitism by the Anti-Defamation League and, after some additional outbursts by Sheen, results in his eventual firing from the popular CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men. March The fashion house Dior fires acclaimed designer John Galliano after a video surfaces of him praising Hitler. In a terrorist attack in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Itamar, five members of the Fogel family are massacred while they sleep. Two Palestinians in their late teens are arrested; one is found guilty by an Israeli military court. The other suspect is awaiting trial. Israel’s Navy intercepts a ship laden with weapons bound for Gaza. Jewish and Israel groups begin sending aid to Japan as it struggles to respond to a massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. American Jewish contractor Alan Gross is sentenced to 15

Academy Award-winning actress Elizabeth Taylor, who maintained support for Israel after converting to Judaism in the late 1950s, dies. Protests sweeping the Arab world spread to Syria. April Richard Goldstone, author of the controversial U.N. report on the 2009 Gaza War that accused Israel of war crimes, withdraws the central tenet of that report in an OpEd piece in the Washington Post. That prompts an unsuccessful drive by Israel and its supporters to void the report formally in the United Nations. A bomb explodes outside a Chabad center in Southern California. The suspect turns out to be Jewish. Obama picks Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Jewish Democrat from Florida, to chair the Democratic National Committee.

Hamas-Fatah unity government fails to materialize. May Osama bin Laden is killed in Pakistan by U.S. forces, prompting questions about whether the liquidation of alQaida’s leader makes a follow-up attack more or less likely and whether Jews could be a target. JTA launches its online digital news archive, for the first time making widely available on the Internet more than 90 years of English-language Jewish reporting. In a controversy over the Israel positions of Jewish playwright Tony Kushner, the City University of New York first cancels, then reinstates, plans to grant Kushner an honorary degree. Capping more than three decades of legal drama, a Munich court rules that former Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk, 91, was a Nazi war criminal. Continued on page 43

Wishing the Omaha community

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Rosh Hashanah Greetings

Apple and Honey Cake by SYBIL KAPLAN Ingredients: 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup sugar or sugar substitute 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon cloves 3 cups grated, unpeeled apples 2 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3/4 cup vegetable oil 1/3 cup non-dairy creamer or pareve whipping cream 1/2 cup honey or honey substitute Preparation: 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a bundt pan. 2. In a mixer or food processor, blend flour, baking soda, salt, sugar or sugar substitute, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Add apples. 3. Add eggs, vanilla, oil, non-dairy creamer or whipping

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5771 Year in Review Continued from page 42 Thousands of Arabs storm Israel’s borders from Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere to mark the Nakba -- the anniversary of the “catastrophe” of Israel’s founding. Caught unprepared, Israeli forces hold the crowds back and more than a dozen Arabs are killed. The arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn in New York on sexual assault charges represents a particularly harsh blow for many in France’s Jewish community. Law enforcement offi-

price rising steadily, becomes the focus of a consumer revolt and a symbol of frustration with the high cost of living in the Jewish state. Later, the protests broaden and focus on the shortage of affordable housing in the country, with mass demonstrations and tent cities popping up in Tel Aviv and elsewhere. July The lower house of the Dutch parliament passes a ban on kosher slaughter, spurred on by the unlikely convergence between animal rights activists and the country’s far-right,

Netanyahu receives multiple ovations during remarks to a joint session of Congress on May 24, 2011. Credit: Avi Ohayon/GPO/Flash90/JTA

Protests in Israel broaden and focus on the shortage of affordable housing in the country, with mass demonstrations and tent cities popping up in Tel Aviv and elsewhere. Credit: Avi Ohayon/GPO/Flash90/JTA

cials would later report that major questions have emerged about the credibility of his accuser, but not before he resigns his post at the International Monetary Fund. His planned candidacy for the French presidency is considered dead. San Francisco approves a ballot measure for November to outlaw circumcision of minors in the city. A judge later strikes the ban from the ballot, saying the city has no authority to ban circumcision. President Obama delivers a major speech on Mideast policy in which he states that Israeli-Palestinian negotiations should be based upon “1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps.” The formulation sparks a fiery debate over whether the president was simply reiterating longtime U.S. policy or pressuring Israel. Soon after, the president holds a tense news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both leaders speak to thousands of pro-Israel activists at the annual AIPAC policy conference. Later, Netanyahu receives multiple ovations during remarks to a joint session of Congress. After a deadly tornado strikes Joplin, MO., the Jewish community sends help. In the Chasidic village of New Square, N.Y., an arson attack that leaves a Jewish man severely burned raises questions about religious violence in the name of fealty to a rebbe. June One of the most hawkish pro-Israel Democrats in Congress, New Yorker Anthony Weiner, is engulfed in scandal over lying about illicit messages sent on Twitter. Eventually he resigns. Yale University shutters its Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Anti-Semitism, saying it failed to meet certain academic criteria. Critics, however, claim the program was killed for shining a light on Muslim antiSemitism. Cottage cheese, a national staple in Israel that has seen its

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anti-Muslim movement. After a flotilla of ships to Gaza fails to launch from Greece, protesters announce a planned “fly-in” to Israel to protest its treatment of the Palestinians. Jewish communities in New York and Houston are rocked, respectively, by the murder of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky, who was abducted walking home from summer day camp in Borough Park, Brooklyn, and a car crash that instantly killed Josh and Robin Berry, 41 and 40, and left two of their three children paralyzed from the waist down. For the first time since 1945, the Maccabi Games -- the socalled Jewish Olympics in Europe -- are held in a Germanspeaking country. Maccabi officials said the crowd made up the largest gathering of Jews in Vienna since the Holocaust. Israel passes a law that penalizes those seeking to boycott Israel or West Bank Jewish settlements. American Jewish groups slam the law as undemocratic. As media mogul Ruport Murdoch’s News of the World is engulfed in a phone-hacking scandal and shuts down, some Jews worry that a pro-Israel voice in the media will be muted. Jewish British singer Amy Winehouse, 27, dies. Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian anti-Muslim extremist who wrote a manifesto expressing sympathy for Israel’s plight, bombs a government building in Oslo and goes on a killing spree on the nearby island of Utoya, killing 77.

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The small sanctuary by OZZIE NOGG According to the Book of Exodus, even The Almighty had very specific ideas about how His house should look. Make for Me a mikdash (sanctuary) and I will dwell in their midst, God instructed Moses. Then, from Mt. Sinai, God handed down detailed blueprints that Moses, in turn, gave to the construction firm of Bezalel & Oholiab, Inc., and their crew of wise and skillful workmen. When the sanctuary was finished and the decorating complete, the structure featured an ark of acacia wood overlaid with pure gold, tapestries of blue, purple and crimson twisted linen, embroidered curtains, ramskin coverlets, bronze chests, copper basins as well as solid gold tables, jugs, ladles, bowls and lamps. Impressive, to be sure. This conveniently portable mikdash (which eventually evolved into the Temple in Jerusalem) accompanied the Israelites in their wanderings, and it was to this sacred place that the people came to celebrate festivals and holidays, to give thanks to God and to be in His presence. Tradition tells us that when Jerusalem was destroyed, the Shechinah (God’s presence) was exiled from the mikdash and took up residence not in the synagogue but in the Jewish home, thereby making each one a mikdash me’at. A Little Sanctuary. A place where every Jew could celebrate and observe Jewish tradition, give thanks to God and be in His presence. But short of going into hock to duplicate the golden accessories of the original sanctuary, what sorts of improvements must we make in order to turn a house into a mikdash me’at? We can, easily enough, decorate our homes with all manner of Jewish ritual objects -- mezuzahs, ketubot, Shabbat candlesticks, kiddush cups, menorahs, seder plates, Jewish books plus collections of dreidels and spice boxes. Impressive, to be sure. But no amount of conspicuous Judaiconsumption will win you The Best Mikdash Me’At In Town Award. Nope. In a mikdash me’at, what you have is not as important as how you behave. Simply put, if we want our homes to truly be Little Sanctuaries, we must create spaces where human needs are expressed and met. Were there a manual titled: How To Build A Mikdash Me’At, it might include the following instructions: 1. To qualify as a mikdash me’at, a home must be a place of safety, comfort and refuge, where the hungry find food, the weary find rest and the stranger finds warmth and welcome. In order to be a true mikdash me’at, a home must be a place where many voices are allowed to sing -- in harmony or in disagreement. To qualify as a Little Sanctuary, a home must be a place where people are free to say anything, be anything. To laugh, cry, pray, think their own thoughts in stillness and quiet. 2. When erecting a mikdash me’at, place it on a solid foundation of compassion, generosity, modesty, humility and positive spiritual values. Trust, and the ability to forgive, are also critical building blocks. 3. To make a home a mikdash me’at you must take nothing for granted. When you rise up, give thanks for the new day and the opportunities it brings. When you lie down, give thanks for the day that is past and the lessons it taught you. 4. A mikdash me’at is built on respect -- to spouses, partners, parents and children. In a Little Sanctuary there must also be respect for the people who work in the home. Pay them fairly and treat them kindly. Be good, also, to pets. 5. Remember. Hospitality is as important as divine worship. In a mikdash me’at, food is shared in joy with others. At the table, speak words of wisdom and kindness. Do not gossip. Even if you are alone, do not be distracted by television during meals.

peace in the home. Shalom Bayit. If not every day, then at least on Shabbat. On this one day, at least, try to shut out the stress and cares of the week. Replace tension and argument with words of sweetness and love. Be patient. Be generous with hugs. A calm atmosphere is especially beneficial for children whose sense of security depends in large measure on what they receive at home. Perhaps peace in each of our Little Sanctuaries could bring peace to the entire world. Call this a crash course in Home Improvement, Jewish Style. Turning your home into a mikdash me’at is the perfect do-it-yourself project. So what if it takes longer than a weekend? Jewish obserArtwork by Beth Brown Gershovich vance is often a work in ferent ways. In this place, people listen to one another with progress. Sacred work, at that. In the meantime, may all who dwell in your home live in open hearts. In this place, spiritual values are instilled, the importance of study and tzedakah are taught, memories are harmony and enjoy lives of blessing and good health. May created and a sense of belonging begins. all who enter be blessed with peace and happiness. Amen. 7. Important! To qualify as a mikdash me’at, there must be 6. To qualify as a mikdash me’at, a home must be a place where each family member is appreciated and considered special. Where each is encouraged to grow and learn in dif-

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September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 45

Designing Beth Israel: A meditation by MARTIN H. SHUKERT During a recent visit to New York, I was bicycling down Bedford Avenue in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn. I was on my way to explore Brighton Beach when things started to look familiar. Soon, I happened upon Robert A.M. Stern’s Kol Israel synagogue, a relatively small building that had a large impact on me. I had the extraordinary chance about ten years ago to work with Beth Israel on the design of the congregation’s new synagogue. Seeing the Stern building in Brooklyn led me to reflect on whether there is such a thing as “Jewish architecture” and about the process of trying to contribute to a sacred community by designing a building. It has always been hard to define “Jewish architecture.” Today, Jewish designers like Moshe Safdie, Frank Gehry, Daniel Libeskind, and James Polshek stand at the forefront of the architectural scene, complementing the historic work of Louis Kahn, Eric Mendelsohn, Richard Neutra, and many others. But is there something that makes architecture “Jewish?” The Torah describes the Mishkan, or the Tabernacle in the desert. In Tanach, we read about Solomon’s Temple and its elaborate furnishings, but we can only guess at what it looked or felt like. The Torah provides one primary commandment about building design: that buildings should be built with parapets to keep people from falling off roofs, suggesting that user safety is the highest responsibility of the architect. Halakhah states that a synagogue should be taller than any other building in a town except those structures built solely for beauty. But the need to avoid attracting undue attention caused ornate Italian synagogues to look like anonymous palazzos on the street, and placed historic European synagogues like Amsterdam’s

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Sephardic synagogue and London’s Bevis Marks synagogue off inner courtyards. Designers have used different techniques to express Judaism in their architecture.

Montreal Expo in 1967 was an experiment to provide a prototype that would use industrial processes to provide good housing for all people. Louis Kahn’s government build-

The interior of Beth Israel synagogue Some have used formal elements that are intended to recall the traditional architecture of Israel, the Middle East, or Eastern Europe. New York’s wonderfully restored Central Synagogue is an example of this approach. Modern architects, such as Mendelsohn and Percival Goodman, have used building design to express Jewish themes symbolically. Even more difficult and profound is creating a place with a spirit that expresses the essence of Judaism and its vision for the world. Some of the best examples of Jewish architecture are not even synagogues. Safdie’s Habitat for the

ings for Bangladesh expressed his noble conviction, borne of Jewish values, that even the poorest of countries deserved and could achieve a government of laws. The most moving part of Nathaniel Kahn’s documentary about his father, My Architect, is an interview in which a Bangladeshi colleague credits Louis Kahn’s great structures for inspiring a successful democracy in a country where conventional wisdom predicted failure. We can’t describe Jewish architecture, but, if we’re observant, we might know it when we see it. I am eternally grateful to the members of

Beth Israel Synagogue for giving me the opportunity to work with them to try to create an expression of “Jewish architecture.” A synagogue is not about the designer; its real purpose is to serve as a catalyst for the spiritual expression and work of the congregation. In approaching the project with Beth Israel, we tried to accomplish a fusion of the spirit of the place, illuminated by our texts and traditions, with the needs of the people who use and experience the building. In designing such a Jewish place, we were guided by two Biblical quotations. The first is from the book of Kings and describes Elijah’s vision of God after fleeing to a cave to escape the murderous persecution by Jezebel: The Lord passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind -- an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake -- fire; but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire -- a still, small voice. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his mantle about his face and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. (Kings, 19:11-13) Adapted to buildings, a Jewish place need not be a structural tour d’force or a soaring form. Spirituality is found in a place that encourages people to hear the “still, small voice,” both from within and without. When we asked congregants how they wanted their building to feel, the adjectives “warm” and “welcoming,” rather than “awe-inspiring,” dominated the discussion. The second quotation, one that I’ve always loved and expresses so much of what I believe is wonderful about the fundamental outlook of Judaism, comes at the end of Moses’ valedictory summary of the Continued on page 46

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Designing Beth Israel Continued from page 45 Rabbi Howard Kutner and our committee to do better and commandments of the Torah in Deuteronomy. Moses says: to avoid typical symbols and solutions. For example, instead Surely this instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is of the “standard” Menorah, we designed stained glass winnot too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the dows with leading in the form of the Menorah, employing heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the forms and colors to express the verses from Deuteronomy heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may that were part of the philosophical foundation of the buildobserve it?” Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ing. Stained glass design is not my medium, and I struggled “Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get with it; but in the middle of one night, this design came to it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” No, it is me like a lightning bolt, and I couldn’t rest until I had very close to you, in your sketched it out. mouth and in your heart, to The walls of the sanctuary observe it. (Deuteronomy, establish the overall theme of 30:11-14) the relationship of God and In synagogue design, this the people. A frieze, elegantly can be expressed by a buildexecuted in paint and gold ing that is wonderful, yet leaf by the Boston-area artist down to earth and accessible and calligrapher Jonathan – a building that welcomes Nix, includes intertwined coland encourages, but does not ored strands. These symboliintimidate. It also means cally represent the relationaccessibility in the literal ship between God and the sense: there is an element of people of Israel through the spirituality in a bimah that is Covenant. Twelve stained fully accessible to all users, Beth Israel: “Wonderful, yet down to earth and accessible.” glass windows, which I whether disabled or able-bodied. We were able to incorpo- designed, include the names of each tribe and represent the rate these themes in the art of the sanctuary. convocation of the people at Sinai. Superimposed in gold With this Biblical guidance, our partnership of a great and leaf calligraphy are the two central texts of the Covenant -dedicated building committee and designers undertook the If you will keep my Covenant, you shall be precious to me challenge of building a Jewish place. We had specific, down (Exodus 19:5), and You shall be a kingdom of priests and a to earth issues to address: acoustics and a sanctuary shape holy nation. (Exodus 19:6). The overall composition that would enable congregants to hear everything without expresses the unity of the Israelite people as they stood amplification; meeting all halakhic requirements for together and willingly accepted the Torah at Sinai. mechitzah in an organic and natural way; meeting the need At the entrance to the sanctuary, facing the entrance street to expand the space for High Holidays and special occasions that recalls the Cardo in Jerusalem, is a striking piece that without compromising quality or adding unnecessary interprets the concept of tikkun olam, or repair of the world, expense and space; providing a respectful place for yahrzeit donated by Mike and Judy Feldman. Rabbi Joseph plaques without those commemorations dominating the Soloveitchik, the intellectual giant of Modern Orthodox sanctuary. One by one, we were able to develop solutions for Judaism, wrote in his great book “Halakhic Man” about these individual challenges that we hoped would reinforce humanity’s partnership with God. He mentions the continthe overall sense of both humility and spirit. We also went uing act of Creation by perfecting an often imperfect world. down some wrong paths at times. For example, I developed The metal scattered within the overall curve of the globe a façade concept that alluded to the forms of Beth Israel’s represents the imperfection of the world, knitted together predecessor congregations and rationalized this as express- and repaired by classical and contemporary Jewish religious ing congregational continuity. The committee was too polite and ethical teachings, inscribed in fused glass. to burst my bubble, but eventually, before it was too late, So Beth Israel, like anything worthwhile, was an effort suggested that people really weren’t very comfortable with motivated by love of God, Judaism, the congregation, and the design. The truth hurts sometimes, but sometimes we our texts and values. All of us involved -- the best commitneed to have our eyes opened! tee anybody could hope for, a visionary staff and congregaI can’t help but think that the art of the synagogue helped tion, and our design team -- worked hard to create a Jewish to make the building special. The art was designed as a med- architecture: a concept hard to describe, but hopefully felt itation on the encounter between the people of Israel and when one walks into the space and uses the structure. God at Mount Sinai, involving the gift of Torah and the forg- Ultimately, the building is a catalyst, transformed when ing of the Covenant between God and the people. During inhabited by its congregation from a physical container into the design process, we were continually challenged by both a spiritually enriching “House of Israel.”

Dozing on the Days of Awe by EDMON J. RODMAN LOS ANGELES (JTA) -- Don’t let Maimonides catch you napping on Rosh HaShanah. His famous quote, “Awake, awake, you slumberers from your sleep, inspect your actions and return” -- usually found in the High Holidays prayer book before the sounding of the shofar -- is meant as the ultimate shluf alarm, his righteous tap on your shoulder. But what if while sitting in services one Jewish New Year’s Day you should “accidentally” hit the snooze button and head off into the realm of somnambulant psalms?

The Jewish New Year brings a long day of services. What Credit: Edmon J. Rodman happens if you nod off? Some of us seem to become so drowsy the second we set foot in a synagogue. Then the passages seem long, the air conditioning makes us feel cool and comfy, words barely familiar buzz around our ears, the rabbi goes on and on... our lids grow so heavy. As our heads lurch forward, startling us awake, we wish there was a Starbucks in the social hall or a private place to sacrifice a can of Red Bull. For many of us who work long hours, the prayers and sermons of the Days of Awe work best when they are preceded by nights of ahh. The need for sleep and wakefulness is even emphasized in the liturgy: On Rosh Hashanah morning we thank God for removing “sleep from our eyes, slumber from our eyelids, as well as restoring vigor to the weary.” Later in the morning, the shofar’s blast calls us to physical and spiritual attention. On Yom Kippur afternoon, when we are tired, hungry and out of it, we read the story of Jonah, who while heading by sea away from where God wants him to go, falls into a deep sleep in the ship’s hold. While he’s napping, the sky storms and the sea crashes; the ship begins to flounder. Continued on page 48

Rosh Hashanah Greetings from

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A Happy and Joyous New Year

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From Our Family to Yours

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September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 47

Taking it home

Bertâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye view BERT LEWIS I wonder who had the idea that bricks and mortar could be apt words to connect to Jewishness? Maybe they are, but it will take some deep thinking and rummaging around in the mental files we all keep. Where to begin? At the beginning, of course. Home. Where Mom and Dad were, and where the basic rules and regulations of the family were established. Where at a very early age a child could learn and always remember that Friday night and Saturday were different in many ways, from the other days. Where, when the dinner table was set on Friday (also known as erev shabbos in my house), the candlesticks and challah were the first items to be placed on the white tablecloth. In addition, where holidays always began - seated around that dining room table where Mom struck the big kitchen match, to light the candles. The house we grew up in, where all kinds of events happened. I use the word happened since not all were happy. When the saddest of all, the loss of a loved one happened, hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where everyone gathered. Whether in the oldest tradition of shiva, or where close friends paid â&#x20AC;&#x153;a call.â&#x20AC;? At the heart of the family... the home. Happily, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also the place where simchas can be, and were celebrated. Where a graduation, or an engagement, or the arrival of a new baby, for example, were celebrated. Life cycle events of all kinds. Yes, many special occasions were toasted in party rooms of public buildings, but the most meaningful raising of a glass most often was first done where? At home, where likely the news was first delivered. Home. Where so many Mom/daughter or son, and Dad/son or daughter conversations were held. The kind of talking within a family that might be termed more important than discussions at the U.N. How can I make such a statement? Easy. Just try to think back to some of those heart-to-heart talks you had with either or both of your parents. Probably at the time, they had earth shaking importance... to you. And there wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t any place else where complete privacy could be assured - just like the old axiom says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no place like home.â&#x20AC;? Home was where those values we, as parents, want so desperately to instill in our children, were instilled in us. Where a casual conversation at the dinner table might be an excellent opportunity for one parent or another, to use as an example to make a

point. If you think back, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more than likely you can recall relating a long story about a disturbing occurrence, which you repeated to Mom or Dad. And can you also remember when you were finished, hearing something like this: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes, of course that was an unkind thing he said to you. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why we always remind you to be careful what you say, because words can hurt.â&#x20AC;? A silly example, but I trust you follow me. Home is where a person remembers earliest experiences with ill health. Somebody is sick. Is it a child with an upset stomach, or is it an adult with a dreadful case of flu? Or somebody stricken with something much more serious and/or potentially life threatening? If itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the latter, even if the patient would be better off medically to be in a hospital, more often basic human comfort is found at home, in oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own bed. After all, even if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a cold that seems bad enough to take the victim right to deathâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s door (he says), home is where needs are met with caring hands and minimal eye rolling. Somebody really, really sick and being cared for professionally in a care facility will sometime be heard to say â&#x20AC;&#x153;I want to go home.â&#x20AC;? Yes? Of course. Because whether the chips are down, or whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s celebration time because â&#x20AC;&#x153;Auntie Chaikah is engaged!,â&#x20AC;? when thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s news to be spread, you take it home, where whatever it is, it will be received by those who truly care. Home is where your earliest memories are probably inscribed in indelible ink. And by the way, just one more thing. The home didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t (and still doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t) need to be a multilevel estate with acres of land and 16 garages. No, no. The home where it all begins for us can just as easily be an unassuming small residence, not quite roomy enough for everyone. The size isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really relevant. Bricks and mortar arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily the issue. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important is the heart of the family... those who reside in that home, whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grand or modest. Where if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Jewish family, the traditions and culture are learned day by day, by example and demonstrations of daily living. Which is not to say the synagogue isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t important, or any Jewish cultural center, for that matter. What Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m saying is my own interpretation of which building might be the most important if weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re talking bricks and mortar and being Jewish, my vote for the number one place is the home. Happy New Year, everyone! Bert Lewis can be reached at BertLewis 39@aol.com.

ANN KAIMAN TURNS NINETY ON OCTOBER 1ST! Please join the families of Barry and Frank Kaiman as they celebrate this milestone. Ann will be honored at Shabbat morning services at Temple Israel and with an Oneg Shabbat luncheon following. Shabbat services will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1st at Temple Israel located at 7023 Cass St., Omaha 68132. We hope that you will be able to make it and join in Annâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s special day.

May the New Year Bring You Peace, Prosperity and Love The Jay Stoddard Family

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for our vision, our freedom, our clothing and our other basic needs. For those who have what they need to survive, these blessings remind us to be grateful for what we have, even when every one of our desires might not be fulfilled. For those who are struggling to get by, these blessings offer hope that our situations will improve. For all of us, these blessings challenge us to create a world in which every person is free, and in which every person can meet the basic needs of his or her family. We cannot simply thank God for opening the eyes of the blind without considering how we can make the world more accessible to people with physical limitations. And we cannot thank God for giving us freedom without working to secure the freedom of the estimated 12 million people in the world who remain enslaved. Rather than allow us to retreat internally, prayer forces us out into the world. At the same time, prayer provides a necessary check on the tendency of social justice activists to try to fix the world right now, no matter the cost to them or to others. Prayer, Shabbat and other rituals provide spiritual nourishment, the feeling that our work is connected to a broader whole, and even a sense of humility. Social justice work famously burns out many of the idealistic young people who sign up after college to be organizers or campaign workers. As for the longtime social justice activists, some begin to feel like the work is the only thing that matters. In many cases, this leads to long work hours and a never-ending sense of urgency. In the worst cases, some come to believe that the relentless pursuit of the cause justifies bad behavior toward others or the tolerance of abusive work environments. Stopping to pray, to mark time or even to take off 25 hours for Shabbat is a means of acknowledging that even if we work every minute of every day, we’re not going to fix everything. This realization forces us to see ourselves as participants in a long-term struggle rather than as heroes able to repair the world on our own. Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur may be days to sit in prayer and contemplation. But this ritual does not constitute a break from justice work. Rather, these days should both nourish our justice work and challenge us to recommit to these efforts in the year ahead. Rabbi Jill Jacobs is the executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights-North America.

Dozing on the Days of Awe Continued from page 46 “How can you be sleeping so soundly!” the captain cries out to him. To save the crew and ship, Jonah needs to rouse himself, and during the High Holidays we want to rouse ourselves, too. After all, apparently something important is going on, and that “gentle” elbow in the side from our partner can leave a mark. In talking about the relationship of sleep to the High Holidays, Dr. Rubin Naiman, the sleep specialist and a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Arizona’s Center for Integrative Medicine, cited Shabbat as an example of how sleep relates to our spirituality. “It’s been a reminder to slow down and sleep,” he said in a phone interview from his Tucson home. “Sleep is not simply unconsciousness; it refers to the deepest part of ourselves. “My parents, who were Holocaust survivors, taught me to honor sleep,” said Naiman, who grew up in a traditional Jewish home. Naiman feels sleep helped them to survive. In his book, Healing Night: The Science and Spirit of Sleeping, Dreaming, and Awakening, he suggests a battle between divine and man-made forces as a reason for our sleep deficits. “When God said, ‘Let there be light,’ he divided it equally with night,” he wrote. “But when Edison said let there be even more light, he appropriated it from night. And there are serious casualties.” To avoid being a casualty, Naiman has a couple of suggestions. “It’s not like you can prepare the night before. You need to run up to it,” he said. While reminding that sleep requirements differ, Naiman said

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by JILL JACOBS NEW YORK (JTA) -- In contemporary Jewish discourse, the worlds of the synagogue and the worlds of service and advocacy sit far apart. The former is a place of introspection, of prayer and of relationship with God. The latter is a place of action and engagement in the world. Many of us distinguish between “religious” Jews and “secular” Jews. Religious Jews attend synagogue, observe Shabbat and keep kosher. For secular Jews, their primary involvement comes through culture and justice. But these boundaries between prayer and justice, and between the internal and the external, are foreign to Judaism. Halachah, most often translated as “Jewish law,” literally means “the way to walk.” To be a Jew is to walk through the world in a Jewish way. This Jewish way includes contemplation and action, prayer and service, relationships with the Divine and relationships with other human beings. On Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, many Jews spend more hours in the synagogue than at any other time during the year. For this reason, these holidays can feel purely contemplative. Yet Rosh HaShanah is also “yom teruah,” “the day of sounding the shofar,” when we hear the sound that the Torah associates with liberation. And Yom Kippur morning is punctuated with Isaiah’s call to “loose the chains of injustice... to set the oppressed free.” These intrusions of real-life politics into the contemplative business of prayer remind us that prayer and justice work were never meant to be separate realms of behavior. Rather, the two constitute complementary aspects of an integrated Jewish life. In this integrated life, prayer and ritual push us toward justice work and sustain us in these efforts. We often think of prayer as a one-way conversation with God. We praise God for everything that is good in the world and beg for supernatural forces to change what is not. Instead, we might understand prayer as a two-way exchange that includes a challenge to us as well as an appeal to God. For example, Jews each morning traditionally recite a series of blessings about everyday miracles. We give thanks

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that “Few people can get by with less than seven to nine hours.” To find a natural balance between sleeping and waking, he suggested “avoiding excessive stimulation.” But perhaps to the chagrin of pulpit rabbis everywhere, Naiman suggested that if growing drowsy, we should “stop fighting sleepiness” and go with it. “Falling asleep is an act of faith,” he said. “Think of it as diving into a pool of water; close your eyes and descend.” In other words, if you feel the need, it’s OK to shut your eyes. At first I thought, napping through Rosh Hashanah: What’s next, recliners instead of pews? But later that day, taking the doctor’s advice, I closed my eyes to take a nap and re-thought our conversation. Feeling a pleasant wave come over me, I wondered if Naiman was on to something. While on the couch, I remembered being in synagogue on Shabbat, closing my eyes and saying the Shema. More than once I kept them closed a few beats longer, even while chanting the first paragraph. When I finally opened my eyes, I had felt refreshed. I also remembered on Rosh Hashanah seeing several members of my congregation closing their eyes while the ba’al tekiah sounded the horn. Naiman had said the shofar’s blasts on Rosh Hashanah were “calling people to a higher state of wakefulness.” Were those with their eyes shut experiencing wakefulness within? This year I would close my eyes and see. Edmon J. Rodman is a JTA columnist who writes on Jewish life from Los Angeles. Contact him at edmojace @gmail.com.

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Messages A time to listen to the Shofar by RABBI MORDECHAI LEVIN Beth El Synagogue For many, the blowing of the shofar -- a ram’s horn prepared for use as a musical instrument -- is one of the most moving moments of the High Holy Days services. It is one of the earliest musical instruments known to man that is still in use. The shofar is first mentioned in the Torah (Exodus 19:16), at God’s revelation at Mount Sinai. It was commanded to be blown on Rosh Hashanah (Numbers 29:1). During the month of Elul, which precedes Rosh Hashanah, the shofar is blown every morning -- excluding Shabbat -- immediately after the morning service. It is not sounded on the morning before the Jewish new year. It is sounded on the two mornings of Rosh Hashanah, but not on Shabbat; and once more at the conclusion of Yom Kippur. There are three types of shofar blasts: Tekiah, a straight, unbroken sound that ends abruptly; Shevarim, a series of three disconnected sounds, whose combined duration equals that of a tekiah; and Teruah, a quick succession of short trills made up of nine staccato tones equivalent in duration to the tekiah. There is also a Tekiah Gedolah, a long blast. Rosh Hashanah is the first of the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah -- Ten Days of Repentance - which conclude on Yom Kippur, and the

shofar is sounded to encourage us to confront our past errors, repent, and return to God. Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (1135-1204), gave this explanation (Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Teshuvah 3:4): “Although it is a divine decree that we blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, there is a hint of the following idea contained in the command. As if to say: ‘Awake from your slumber, you who have fallen asleep in life, and reflect on your deeds. Remember your Creator. Those of you who miss reality in the pursuit of shadows, and waste their years in seeking vain things which do not profit or deliver, look well into your souls and improve your behavior. Forsake each of you your evil ways and thoughts.’” A story by Jacob ben Wolf Kranz (17411804), also known as the Dubner Maggid, describes the purpose of the shofar. A naive villager came to a big city for the first time. He was awakened in the middle of the night by the loud beating of drums. He then inquired, “What’s this all about?” He was told that a fire had broken out and the drum beating was the city’s fire alarm. On his return home he reported to the village elders. “They have a wonderful system in the big city; when a fire breaks out the people beat their drums and before long the fire burns out.” They then ordered a supply of drums and distributed them to the population. When a

fire broke out sometime later, they beat the drums, and while the people waited for the flames to die out, a number of their homes burned to the ground. A visitor to the village derided the simplistic people. “Do you think a fire can be put out by beating drums? You beat the drums as an alarm, and then you must take measures to extinguish the fire.” This, said the Dubner Maggid, applies to those of us who believe that beating the breast during the Al Het confessional, rais-

ing our voices during worship, and blowing the shofar, will put out the fires of sin and evil that burn in us. They are only an alarm, a warning to wake up and resort to soulsearching, so that we may merit the favor of God. On this Rosh Hashanah, may the sound of the shofar move us to search our souls, to correct our mistakes, and to decide to live a meaningful year. My best wishes for a year of life, health, fulfillment, justice and peace. Shanah Tovah!

Within these walls by RABBI STEVEN ABRAHAM Beth El Synagogue As we enter the Yamin Noraim we get to spend a lot of time in synagogue. We sit, we listen, we respond, we pray – and then we do it again. For many, the High Holy Days comprise our annual pilgrimage to the synagogue. For others, we enter the familiar space again, yet have the chance to spend a more concentrated amount of time inside the building. With all this talk about spending more time at synagogue, it made me think about the important role that synagogues play in my own life. I grew up in the metropolitan DC area attending a vibrant, family oriented conser-

vative synagogue. I remember all of the Hebrew school rooms, the quickest path from my class to the playground, and the parking lot where I would run out to the car when my mom came to pick me up. As I got older and started to attend the daily minyan, I can still remember the smell of the old chapel, and I can picture exactly where all of the regulars used to sit. I remember my parents telling me stories about the majesty of the main sanctuary and how meaningful it was that I had my bar mitzvah on the same bima as my mother’s bat mitzvah and my parents wedding. More importantly, I remember as a teenager being disenchanted Continued on page 50

50 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

Messages The fate of the world by RABBI JONATHAN GROSS Beth Israel Synagogue In the gemara it is written that when we approach the high holidays everyone must view themselves as if they are being judged by Hashem. Each one of us has an internal score board, on one side listing our sins, and the other listing our mitzvoth. The goal is to have more mitzvoth than sins going into the New Year. The Gemara goes on to say that each of us must imagine that our score boards are exactly tied, the exact same amount of mitzvoth as sins, and the clock is ticking. Every second and every action counts at this stage in the game and we must try and get in as many mitzvoth as we can before the final buzzer - the shofar blowing at the end of Yom Kippur. To add to the intensity, the Gemara goes a step further and challenges us to perceive the entire world as hanging in the balance. Imagine that all of the collective actions of everyone in the entire world comprise a tie game, there are exactly the same amount of sins as mitzvoth in the world. The fate of the universe is hanging in the balance and the ball is in your hands. A sin will mean the world will be judged unfavorably. On the other hand, a single mitzvah can turn the tables and bring a year of happiness and blessing to the entire world! If we can each internalize that allegory and apply it to our daily actions we would all be more conscious of everything that we do. While it may it may be hard to imagine that a single action on our part has the power to affect the entire world, in a certain sense the words of the Gemara are very true. Elsewhere the Gemara teaches that to save a life is to save an entire world. Every person is considered an entire world to themselves. We may not be able to affect the entire world with our actions, but we all know that we can affect the life of an individual. A word of encouragement to a young child can stay with him or her for decades, whereas an insensitive remark can have terrible repercussions that reverberate for many years. A visit, a phone call, or even a kind word to someone who is lonely or alienated can change their entire day and in some cases even save a life. As we approach the new year let us all remember the power that our actions, words, and deeds can have on others. Let’s go out of our way to discover new worlds that we have the ability to save, and let’s work together to bring a year of happiness and blessing to the entire world.

Synagogue architecture by RABBI YITZCHAK MIZRAHI Beth Israel Synagogue After the destruction of the Second Temple, circa year 70, the local synagogue became the center for Jewish worship in every place where Jews relocated. Synagogues, unlike churches and mosques, have no specific design that immediately identify them as synagogues, although it has become common in the last centuries to use the symbol known as the star of David, or of the menorah, as a marker on the building. While the builders of the Temple in Jerusalem had to conform to a very specific blueprint, synagogues have few rules concerning their design and architecture. The Talmud offers only two guidelines concerning a synagogue structure. One point the Talmud notes is that the synagogue must be taller than the other buildings in the town. In fact, the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 11a) admonishes that a city in which there are buildings taller than the synagogue will eventually be destroyed. This posed a difficulty for Jews living in places where the dominant culture was of another religion. It was not acceptable to the Church that the synagogue be taller than the Church steeple. In Moslem countries as well, no building was allowed to exceed the height of the mosque. To fulfill the Talmud’s rule without antagonizing the local population, Jews came up with creative solutions. In some cases, the synagogue floor was depressed several feet lower than the entrance level so that one had to

descend stairs upon entering. This way, while the roof of the synagogue was lower than that of the local place of worship, the interior, from floor to ceiling, was effectively higher than those of the other buildings. This solution also served to fulfill a verse in Psalms (130) “from the depths I call to You, O’ Lord.” In Moslem countries, especially in early Palestine under the Ottoman rule, the gears of the law were occasionally lubricated with discreet negotiations involving bribery. A famous example is the Churva synagogue in the old city of Jerusalem. Although it is built next to a mosque and its great arch is visibly higher, the Jews living there were able to bribe the authorities to overlook its height. Nevertheless, in most cases the Talmudic requirement for the synagogue’s height was not adhered to due to the local laws. Another element of synagogue design is that a synagogue should have windows. This rule is found as well in the Babylonian Talmud (Berachot 31a). The ruling is based on a verse in Daniel (6:11), “his windows were open in his upper chamber.” Presumably, the reason for windows in the synagogue was for esthetic and spiritual effect. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Palestine (before Israel became a state), suggests a novel idea behind this rule. The windows in the synagogue, explains Rabbi Kook, are to teach us that a Jew must not withdraw from the world and pray only for his own needs. The windows in Continued on page 51

Rabbi Abraham Continued from page 49 with Judaism inside of that synagogue, and then coming to grips with my own faith and learning to love Judaism more deeply than I could have ever imagined, and still being welcomed back into the walls of the synagogue in my own time. Yet nothing is forever, and the synagogue I called home was sold about seven years ago as the congregation felt that they needed to move in order to attract new members. This was their “moving west” moment. People volunteered to store everything from Torah Scrolls and Megillot to folding chairs in their own homes. What was remarkable, at least to me, was that while the synagogue dealt with setback after setback in getting the green light to start building, the membership stayed with the congregation. They met in people’s homes, they met in public schools (sometimes different schools for Friday night and Saturday morning), and they met at local theaters. They did as Jews have done for centuries before us: they met to pray together. It wasn’t ideal, but it was their proverbial wandering in the desert before reaching the Promised Land. This past weekend, they final-

GRACE/MAYER

ly opened their doors again in their new building – at long last they were home. In the Tanakh, the Mishkan (portable tabernacle) can be seen as the first physical space in which to pray, or I like to think of it as the very first synagogue. When discussing the building of the Mishkan we are told “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). God is always around us, whether at work, school or even at home doing the dishes – and yet God commands us to build a sanctuary for Him to dwell! Why would we need a physical space if God is all around us? In short, the synagogue we are commanded to build is to be a place that brings the community together. The synagogue is a place that allows us to find God with our friends, with our family and most importantly with our children. May this High Holy Day season allow us the opportunity to sing together, to eat together and to pray together in the sanctuaries that we have built for God to dwell among us. Shanna Tova U’Metukah – Wishing you a happy, healthy and sweet new year!

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Messages Rabbi Mizrahi Continued from page 50 the synagogue demonstrate that during our prayers we must be aware of the outside world. Many modern synagogues are built with twelve windows, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. But this architectural pattern, too, was not always followed. Windows were a liability for synagogues in environments hostile to Judaism because the sounds of prayer might be heard outside and be considered an affront to the sensibilities of the non-Jews. Other elements of a synagogue’s architecture had mainly to do with the building style of its place and time. Synagogues

were often designed according to the contemporary art of the country they were built in. Surviving synagogue buildings in Western Europe from the 16th century and earlier are gothic in style, with pointed arches and ribbed vaults. Ornate woodwork and stonework were also used in the designs. Structures from the 17th and 18th centuries were built in Baroque style, which was popular in Italy. Of course there was no use of sculptures since halacha does not allow for that. There never was a form of art or style that was specifically Jewish and therefore Jews assumed the styles that were prevalent in their host countries. Stained glass is a good example of an artistic element introduced into synagogue

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décor which was taken from the Church. Stained glass was a popular decorative addition to churches, and, since there was nothing iconic or inherently Christian about such glass, it was replicated in synagogues as well. While the external appearance and style of the synagogue has evolved through the ages, the function of the synagogue -- worship, study and society -- has remained the same. That spirit pervades all our houses of worship and unites us with all of our differences. It also connects us with all the communities of the previous centuries and millennia in preserving our tradition, that same tradition which in turn preserves the character of our people.

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Messages Building a place within ourselves

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by RABBI MENDEL KATZMAN Chabad House At this time of year when Jews the world over flock to synagogues in droves, attention often turns to the aesthetics of these hallowed places of gathering: high ceilings. skylights. Cushioned pews or auditorium seating. Cavernous or cozy. Ornate or simple. While the benefits of these and other decor choices will be left to the discretion of architects and interior designers, the prototype for a House of G-d (Mishkan) is clearly mapped out in 13 chapters in the Book of Exodus. “Construct for me a Dwelling Place, and I will dwell in them,” G-d instructs. The incongruence in this verse which speaks first about a singular edifice and concludes with a multiplicity of places (them) points to the notion that we must each build a place for G-d within ourselves. To be sure, there must be a meeting place for the Congregation. Throughout the millennia of Jewish history, magnificent Synagogues have been built lovingly and painstakingly. These are places where we serve G-d as a united community. Where the Torah scroll may be read aloud and Kaddish recited. Venues that generate inspiration and strengthen faith. But they are not enough. A Jew must embody G-dliness. We must each build within ourselves a Sanctuary. A sacred space within, whence to connect with G-d. With meticulous detail G-d outlines the process. He enumerates the materials to be used and the dimensions of both the

structures and their furnishings. In the Mishkan’s details can also be found its correlation to the human experience. The commentators, particularly the Kabbalists, describe the Mishkan as a model of man. The Mishkan’s vessels are symbols of the various organs and faculties of man: the Ark (containing the Tablets) corresponds to the mind, intellect and the faculty of speech; the Menorah, to the eyes and the sense of sight; the Table that held the “showbread,” to the sense of taste; the Inner Altar on which the incense was burned, to the sense of smell; and the Outer Altar on which the animal and meal offerings were brought represent the digestive system and remaining organs. G-d’s abundant gifts of intellect and the senses must be inducted in to His service. Now is the time to build and fortify our inner Mishkan. A woman may light Shabbat and Holiday candles to nurture her inner Menorah. A man may wrap Tefillin to support his inner Holy Ark. We all can pledge to utilize our minds to study Torah, our hearts to care and share with others. Matzah on Pesach, Challah on Shabbat and Kosher food strengthen our inner Showbread Table. Each Mitzvah we perform is yet another expression of the personal Mishkan we endeavor to create each day of our lives. May we each have the strength and courage to build magnificent Mishkan structures on the inside that are reflected and projected to the rest of the world on the outside. Warm and heartfelt wishes to all for a Ketiva VaChatima Tova.

A palace in time by RABBI CRAIG LEWIS Congregation B’nai Jeshurun These High Holy Days of 5772 will be among the few that I have not spent on a basketball court. Based on this statement, it would seem that I had been ignoring this most important season of the Jewish year -- that I would rather drive to the baseline than to the beis kenesses or that I was more focused on the area behind the arc rather than what was in the ark. To the contrary, I am proud to say, on behalf of my parents who were responsible for taking me to the basketball courts, I was actually doing what a nice Jewish boy should do on the Holidays. I was at services, and those services have given me some things to reflect upon regarding the theme of “Jewish Builders.” When I was very young, my synagogue, Temple Beth El of Overland Park, KS, built its home in an old school building. During the Holidays, we held services in the gymnasium. I even recall that we disguised the basketball hoops by filling them with flowers. Needless to say, it was an unusual setting for the Jewish New Year. When our Temple eventually closed its doors, we believed there would be no more services in a gym. However, my family soon joined Congregation Beth Torah, which at the time rented space at the JCC. And the only space large enough to house a High Holy Day crowd was -- the basketball court. There were no apologies, no attempts to hide the backboards or break-away rims. Scattered across the hardwood, there were hundreds of well-dressed Jews toting burgundy-colored books. At the front of the gym, on a

makeshift bimah there stood a portable ark, and a temporary eternal light. Thinking back to those memorable days, I believe there is meaning to be derived from the location of those Holidays. For one, I think we needed an “al cheit” for ignoring the “No black-soled shoes” signs. Perhaps I will add that to my “viduy” this year. Still, there are two greater lessons. The first of these is that, like basketball, during the High Holy Days, we must keep our focus until the final horn sounds. In all seriousness, we may be tempted to see Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as two separate holidays, and the ten days between them as a chance to let up or to “get back to our lives.” If instead we think of the entire period of time as “Yamim Noraim,” Days of Awe, we can see Rosh Hashanah as the tipoff and Ne’ilah as the end. The days in between are days in which we keep forgiveness at the forefront of our thoughts. We can keep a sensible pace, with a methodical approach, so that we are not scrambling at Yom Kippur to make up for lost time. When we do, as Jewish builders, we can emulate what A.J. Heschel described as building a “palace in time.” The second lesson is that the “palace in time” can be built in any place. While a beautiful and well-planned sanctuary can serve its purpose to inspire, it is merely window dressing for the task at hand. The words, the feelings of the day, the accounting of our souls, those are always, pardon the expression, at center-court. Just as we learn in Pirke Avot (3, 2), wherever Jews gather in common purpose to share in Continued on page 53

September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 53

Messages

Borrowing from life

A holy and meaningful place by RABBI YAAKOV WEISS Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Pastoral Services Coordinator The first architectural firm in the Torah was that of Moses and Betzalel as they designed and built the Tabernacle in the desert. God gave Moses intricate details, and Moses, Betzalel and the rest of the firm followed the instructions in constructing the Tabernacle. The first architectural firm I personally came across was Graham Gund Architects. When I was in tenth grade I attended morning services daily at my synagogue, Young Israel of Brookline. One cold winter morning I was running late and didn’t have time or energy to walk or ride my bike, so I asked my father to drop me off at synagogue on his way to work. As we drove towards the synagogue, we saw that the street was closed off and he dropped me off as close as he could. I started to walk, and as I got closer I saw that there was flooding turning into frozen puddles coming directly from my synagogue. The building was surrounded by fire trucks and other emergency vehicles and personnel. It became apparent that there had been a serious accident which destroyed the inside of the synagogue. It was a difficult sight to see. I grew up with that synagogue, and I felt like it was a part of me. After much discussion and comparison shopping by the synagogue’s board and committees, Graham Gund Architects was chosen to design my synagogue in Boston. During the years that it took to finish the rebuilding project, we first used a public school gym and rented space at a local hotel for services. As a short-term solution (which became a fairly long-term solution) we rented and renovat-

ed an old bank down the street from the synagogue that I remember as 14 Green Street. We used that property until the completion of the rebuilding. I know that our original synagogue building was created and crafted to be used exclusively as a synagogue, and at the end of the building process our new synagogue building was designed with specifications to meet the vast needs of the congregation. It was a beautifully crafted and executed synagogue of which I am proud. That make-shift synagogue at 14 Green Street, however, was certainly not originally constructed with that designation. It was only turned into a synagogue or holy place through utilization. It was only through being used as a synagogue - as a place for people to feel comfortable and connect with God - that it became a holy and meaningful place to an entire community. To create such a place took some minor architectural renovations, but the real work came from the community’s care and involvement. That was what made it special. It used to be a medium sized bank with tellers on one side and offices on the other, but once we renovated it, the room itself was opened up into one large room with folding chairs lined up in rows. I can still envision where my selfchosen seat was in that building. But it doesn’t really matter what the decor was, or how the chairs were lined up. I remember the building fondly only because of the classes I attended there, the davening that I took part in, and the experience of walking to what was just an ordinary building every Shabbat, but finding it transformed into something so much more. To this day, when I am back in Boston, I still walk past the building at 14 Green Street on my way to the current location of my synagogue. As I walk by, I recall the special connections that were built there. For some reason I always try to peek inside to see what has become of the building, but I know that it is really just the memories of what took place there that are truly important.

Rabbi Lewis Continued from page 52 words of Torah, the Divine Presence abides. This can apply if we are in a sanctuary, if we are at our home synagogue, if we are traveling, or if we, for whatever reason, are forced into a makeshift facility. I personally have been a part of High Holiday services in three countries, in large and small venues, on basketball courts, and in fourth-level apartments. I have been in congregations of 20, and of 2,000. In all of those places, the Holidays transcended the geographical locations. In all those places, like-minded Jews gathered to give the

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offerings of their hearts, inviting the Divine Presence to dwell with us, making holy even the most ordinary of places. Being a Jewish Builder, especially during the Holidays, means making thoughtful use of the materials and time we have to construct beautiful palaces in which the offerings of our hearts, our worship, repentance, and charity may bring meaning to our lives, to our families, and to our community. My wife Jennifer and son Eden look forward to building palaces in the Nebraska Jewish community. L’shalom.

by RABBI ARYEH AZRIEL Congregation Temple Israel On Rosh Hashanah the Torah reading is the familiar story of the childless Hannah from the Book of Samuel. She visits the Temple and vows that if God blesses her with a son she will dedicate him to the service of the Lord. God answers her prayer. “And Hannah bore a son and called his name Samuel, saying: “Because I have borrowed him from the Lord.” In that phrase, “I have borrowed from the Lord,” is implied a much-needed philosophy of life. Our inner views and values, our yearnings, our entire mode of living would undergo a complete and blessed metamorphosis, if we but considered that, not only our children [as Hannah], but all of our possessions -- health and comforts, gifts, talents, wealth, time and opportunity and even life itself are borrowed from God and passed to us for useful purposes and consecrated living. Sooner or later we must learn that all things are loaned to us, and that all of us are large borrowers from life. Even before we were born, each one of us borrowed from our mother some of her vitality; bone marrow of her bones, calcium of her teeth. Ever since, we have borrowed from life. Do we not borrow food from mother earth, light from the sun, beauty from the skies, fragrance from the flower and truth itself from the universe? And we borrow from one another, also. The merchant and the purchaser, teacher and pupil, musician and audience, preacher and congregation all are indebted to each other. Not only individuals but people borrow from one another. We borrowed our system of numerals, the basis of arithmetic, from the Arabs, and our alphabet from the Phoenicians. We borrowed our love from the Romans, our art from the Greeks and opera from the Italians and the French. Borrowing largely from life and borrowing largely from one another, we must repay largely, just as did Hannah. Borrowing from life we must repay by ennobling human existence. Borrowing love we must repay with thoughtfulness. Borrowing labor we must repay with honest services. Borrowing from beauty we must repay with appreciation. Borrowing from other people we must repay with understanding, respect for differences, and good will. The whole structure of society rests upon goods and gifts mutually exchanged. Life is glorified through these borrowings and repaying. And how are we repaying for the things we borrow? Continued on page 55

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54 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

Going around the world to break-the-fast by SYBIL KAPLAN in Poland. They also drink soda water, milk JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Breaking the fast or lemon tea. Later they have a meal starting has its own set of traditions. Ashkenazim with pickled herring and lemon fish. usually break-the-fast with something sweet Typical among South African Jews whose rather than salty, like herring, because they ancestors came from the island of Rhodes is believe fish restores salt lost by the body while fasting. Herring also was the cheapest fish in Eastern Europe, where the custom originated. Egg and cheese dishes -dairy products in general -are popular among the Ashkenazim for the first foods after Yom Kippur. Some Eastern European Jews break-the-fast with a German sweet roll called shnekem, from the German word for snails, because of its coiled shape. The yeast dough Persian Yogurt and Cucumber Soup can be prepared ahead containing milk and sour of the break-the-fast meal. Credit: Barry A. Kaplan/Jerusalem cream is rolled out, brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with a cin- breaking-the-fast with melon pip milk, namon sugar, raisin and nut filling, then bread with olive oil, sponge cake, honey and rolled up, cut into slices and baked. almond turnovers, and rusks. Gil Marks writes in The World of Jewish Others break the fast with cold chicken, Desserts that Central European Jews ate chicken soup and sesame biscuits, followed cheese kuchen, a coffee cake, for the meal by almond sponge cake with syrup or marzifollowing Yom Kippur. German Jews also ate pan. (Marzipan is a sweet mixture of almond erstesternen, a cinnamon star cookie, so paste, sugar and egg whites often tinted with called because stars were the sign of the end food coloring and molded into forms such of the fast day. as fruits and animals.) Layered phyllo pastry Zimbabwe Jews break-the-fast with juice, with almonds and honey also may be served. traditional rolls with oil called rusks, oil bisAmong Sephardim and Middle Eastern cuits and cheese. Sweets include almond and Jews, a light snack is followed by a heavier honey turnovers and sponge cake. Later they meal. For example, some Syrian, Iraqi and dine on a meal of cold chicken, fried fish, Egyptian Jews break-the-fast with carchicken soup and other sweets. damom coffee cake. Some Iraqis drink milk, The Jews of South Africa, whose origins then have the cake or a cardamom-almond were in Europe, have babke, a sweet milk cookie called hagadi badah, Marks writes in bread with almonds and raisins originating The World of Jewish Desserts. Afterward they

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have a big meal that includes teebeet, a stuffed whole chicken with rice that has been left to cook over a low flame all Yom Kippur day. Pan dulce, a sweet yeast bread in loaf form or rolls, is served by some Sephardim before and after the fast, Marks notes in his book. Marks also writes that the Jews of India for the meal following Yom Kippur have a semolina-filled turnover called singara or kushli, and sutlach, a Middle Eastern rice flour pudding. Some Yemenites break-the-fast with ginger cake or watermelon, then they drink coffee and eat cookies. Afterward they have more of the broth from before the fast or another Yemenite soup. Edda Servi Machlin, author of the cookbook Classic Italian Jewish Cooking, among others, recounts that her Italian family drinks vermouth and then eats a special, oval-shaped bread to break-the-fast. They then enjoy a meal with soup and pasta, chicken, fish, stewed fennel, cold noodles with sauce, sweet cakes and fruit. Marks writes that Italians typically break the fast with il bolio, an Italian sweet yeast bread. Nicholas Stavroulakis, who wrote The Cookbook of the Jews of Greece, relates that Greek Jews prepare interesting drinks to break-the-fast. One is made with grenadine; another with almonds; another with lemons; and one has melon seeds, water, sugar and almond extract or rosewater. Rachel Dalvin, who has researched about the Jews of Ioannina, Greece, shares the fact that these Jews broke the fast with avgolemono, chicken-lemon soup, and a variety of stuffed vegetables that were common in Turkish cookery and acquired because Turkey occupied that part of Greece for centuries.

Some Moroccan Jews break the fast with fijuelas, a deep-fried pastry soaked in sweet syrup. They may also drink arak, an aniseflavored liqueur. Later they have coffee with milk, cake and cookies. Still later they have harera, a special thick soup with chicken and ground vegetables. Here are some special recipes to break the fast from Olive Trees and Honey by Marks, a cookbook of traditional Jewish vegetarian dishes from Jews around the world that can be prepared ahead. PERSIAN YOGURT AND CUCUMBER SOUP Ingredients: 2 to 5 garlic cloves 1 teaspoon table salt or 2 teaspoons kosher salt 4 cups plain yogurt 1 cup milk or 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1/2 cup water 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil (optional) 4 cups peeled, seeded, diced or grated cucumbers 1/2 cup chopped scallions 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill, cilantro or mint or 6 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon plus 3 tablespoons fresh dill 2 chopped hard-boiled eggs or 1/2 cup chopped walnuts Preparation: 1. Mash garlic and salt into a paste in a bowl. In a large bowl, blend yogurt, milk and oil. Stir in garlic, cucumbers, and scallions. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 2. Five minutes before serving, stir in herbs. Pour into serving bowls and garnish with eggs or walnuts. Serve with crusty bread or pita. Makes 6-8 servings. Continued on page 56

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Messages What does the shofar call you to do? by RABBI ERIC LINDER Congregation Temple Israel The shofar is an ancient alarm clock. Before the iPhone, we used non-electronic means to wake up and gather as a community. The ramâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s horn, the shofar, is such a tool. Maimonides teaches that yes, the sounds of the shofar focus our attention(s), alerting us and waking us up. But more than that, it is a spiritual alarm clock. It wakes us up to life, to renewed priorities, to God and to each other. And to ourselves. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are a culmination of the month of Elul, a month of introspection and self-struggle. During the 10 days of Awe, we renew our promise to become who we want to be, and who we need to be. Every year, our High Holiday liturgy challenges us with the question: WDSCU2D? What does the shofar call you to do? Will it call you to be a better friend? To be more forgiving? Less selfish? More giving? Happier? We pray that we may be inscribed in the Book of Life. Our tradition suggests that God does not willy-nilly pick who is inscribed and who is not. It is based on our daily deeds, on our relationships, on our work. We recite prayers that lead us to action. Tshuvah is not only introspection and meditation. We achieve true tshuvah only when those meditations spur us to DO. The sounds of the shofar are an inspiration for each of us to merit the inscription of each of our names in that book. It gives each of us the chance to wake up -- to think about the self-imposed shackles of habit and apathy, and to create ourselves anew. So, now is the time to start thinking... WDSCU2D?

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Rabbi Azriel Continued from page 53 We borrow friendship. Do we repay with sincerity or betrayal? We borrow love. Do we repay with tenderness or infidelity? We borrow positions of honor and leadership. Do we repay with devotion and integrity or incompetence and duplicity? If we are fortunate enough to be blessed with wealth and material possessions, which in reality are only loaned to us, do we repay with generosity, with service to the community, or with self centered pleasures and exploitation to accumulate more wealth? We parents borrow from our children. Do we repay with companionship, guidance and noble example? Our children borrow from us. Do they repay us with understanding or thoughtfulness? The great paradox of life is not that men and women are unwilling to pay once they borrow, but that they are unwilling to borrow wisely. We are wretched payers, but we are still more wretched borrowers. Life offers us all of these precious goods, but what do we select? We are like primitive folk readily lured by a few shiny glass beads. The riches of thought, faith, beauty and love are ours, if we but choose. Only a few know how to borrow wisely and largely -- to borrow all the riches of life, and when borrowing largely, to repay largely. May we learn from this story of Hannah. Let us borrow as she borrowed and let us repay as she repaid. Let us borrow the riches of beauty and truth, of love and friendship, of mind and soul. Let us repay willingly, generously, and nobly so that our lives on earth be worthwhile. Lashanah Tovah Tikatevu.

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Break-the-fast Continued from page 54 ITALIAN COLD PASTA IN EGG-LEMON SAUCE Sauce Ingredients: 2 large eggs 2 large egg yolks 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons flour or 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 teaspoon salt or 2 teaspoons kosher salt 2 teaspoons sugar (optional) 2 cups boiling vegetable soup or water

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Pasta Ingredients: 1 pound tagliolini/taglierini or thin egg noodles such as linguine 1 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup olive oil 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (optional) Preparation: 1. Beat eggs, egg yolks and lemon juice in a saucepan. Whisk a little of the egg mixture in a bowl with the flour or cornstarch to make a paste. Stir it back into the egg mixture. 2. Add salt and sugar if using. Gradually beat in hot soup or water. Cook over medium heat, stirring continually with a wooden spoon until smooth and thick, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and continue to stir for 1 minute. Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let cool. 3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt then noodles and stir. Return and bring to a boil and cook 7 to 10 minutes. Drain. Place in a bowl and toss with olive oil. Let cool at least 30 minutes. 4. Mix noodles with sauce and garnish with parsley. Makes 5-6 servings. MY FAVORITE NO-HERRING TASTE APPETIZER Though I do not like herring, once I tasted this dish more than 20 years ago I was won over and make it often -- and not just for breaking the fast. Ingredients: 2 cups herring in wine 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons dill 2 teaspoons sugar Chopped scallions Preparation: 1. Wash and pat dry herring. Place in a blender. Add sour cream, mayonnaise, dill, sugar and scallions. Blend a second or so just until herring is pureed slightly. Spoon into a serving dish. Serve with crackers or pita chips. Makes 4-6 servings. Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, food writer and cookbook author who lives in Jerusalem.

EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE The Jewish Press will be closed on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 29-30 for Rosh Hashanah, and Thursday and Friday, Oct. 13-14, for Sukkot. The deadline for all ads, articles and photos is Monday, Sept. 26, 9 a.m. for the Oct. 7 issue and Wednesday, Oct. 12, 9 a.m. for the Oct. 21 issue. Questions? Call 402.334.6448

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Life cycles Births Naama Yocheved daughter of Shira and Rabbi Steven Abraham Marley Quinn daughter of Stacey and Brett Atlas Chaya Muska daughter of Estie and Rabbi Leibel Baumgarten Walden Wilhelm son of Lynn and Jonathan Beha McKinley Paige daughter of Lesley and John “Ashley” Buchanan Samara Rose daughter of Suzanne and Darren Cowan Alexandra Michelle daughter of Sarah and Steve DeBruin Havah Miriam daughter of Drs. Ali and Mark Doyle Lochlan Zev Theodore son of Fran and Chris Edwards Lexi Claire daughter of Laurie and Jeffrey Epstein Moriyah Miriam daughter of Whitney Elisheva and Dan Feferman Levi Benjamin son of PJ and Jordan Feinstein Henry Lynn son of Jill and Jeff Fredericks Mia Pearl daughter of Lisa Coren Green and Lt. Col. Brad Green Raya Liba daughter of Rabbi Jonathan and Miriam Gross Aviv Yehoshua son of Ariela and Rabbi Baruch HaLevi Hazel Clover and Arrow Drake twins of Mary Drake and Mark Hoffman Bennett Daniel son of Erin and Joe Hornstein

IN

Ava Marie daughter of Robyn and Jason Jensen Noah Ben son of Eliana Pissk and Sorin Juster Talia Adair (Shoshanna Rachel) daughter of Esther and Philip Katz Lily Rei daughter of Captain Matthew and Anna Kenkel Drew Solomon son of Drs. Sarah and Beau Konigsberg Aron Kotylar son of Sarah and David Simon Kotlyar Henry Bauer son of Rachel and Alex Kramer Charles Dean son of Jennifer and Michael Lerner Harper Jillian daughter of Andrea and Brian Lewis Noah Asher son of Amy and Scott Levine Kori Danielle daughter of Lisa and Chuck Lucoff Nachum Marcovitz son of Tziporah and Max Marcovitz Mitchell Quinn son of Stacy and Curti Marti Chaim Benyomin Zev son of Rabbi and Mrs. Nosson Meir Meretsky Sadie Isabelle daughter of Lindsay and Dustin Nichols Taylor Andrew son of Jaime and Brian Nogg Owen Keanu son of Mara and Patrick Prendergast Grace Tate daughter of Julie and Arnold Robinson

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Emma Naima daughter of Kate Koester and Daniel Rosen Rayna Shoham daughter of Jennifer and Oved Ruff Evan Michael son of Melissa and Matt Shapiro Zachary Arthur son of Shannon and Mitch Sherman Sawyer Alexander son of Sara and Lance Polikov Liya Avital daughter of Kari and Elias Saratovsky Ryan Blake son of Rebecca (Demb) and Brandon Schneider Jonathan Louis son of Antonia and Andrew Schroeder Zachary Arthur son of Shannon and Mitch Sherman

Elliot Loggia son of Karen Loggia and David Spizman Adam son of Dasha and Jeff Stein Zaiden Walter son of Kolleen Feldman and Dr. Cory Tichauer Ella J daughter of Carrie Jacobson and Eric Voegele Isabel Emmalynn daughter of Jennifer and Erin Vik Spencer Miller son of Jamie and Dan Weinstein Anna Elise daughter of Lindsey and Blaine Westervelt Noah Daniel son of Rachel and Edward Winthrop Alexander Lawrence son of Sarah and Adam Yale

Marriages Marissa Wiseman and Bradley Abramson Erin Hayley Malashock and Aaron Robb Berger Aviva Kremer and Ari Fellman Heidi Marie Judson and Jeremy Isaac Friedman Bracha Bennett and Gideon Garland Carrie Kaplan and John Gobel Yesenia Osorio Rojas and Bradley Goldstrom Marsha Fox and Michael Green Annie Nogg and Todd Jason Kari Sheldon and Alan Josephson Karen Sokolof Javitch and Gary Javitch

Jamie Heller and Josh Katelman Deborah Politi and Edward Kenkel Jodi Brodsky and Mike Levine Kassie Ramirez and Matt Plotkin Shira Schwarzenberger and Jacob Priluck Amy Redich and Evan Robinson Rachel Kanner and Joey Shyken Kristen Baker and Ben Spohn Michelle Malashock and Burton John (BJ) Turnbull III Kimberly Johansson and Tim Veitzer Jamie Priesman and Jeffrey Weisbrot Diana Manvitz and Jason Williams Tamar Schiller and Ian Yellin

From Generation to Generation.

You will continue to change the lives of those in need through Hadassah’s global humanitarian efforts in Haiti, Africa and around the world. You will finish building the state-ofthe-art Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower. You will enhance Israel’s economy by educating and training a top-notch cadre of skilled professionals at Hadassah College Jerusalem. IN

5772, you will make the world a better place. Share the gift of Hadassah with someone in your life.

Shanah Tovah U’metukah May we all have a sweet New Year filled with blessings, miracles, love and hope. HADASSAH. FOR NOW. FOR LIFE. Take advantage of Hadassah’s Centennial Lifetime Membership. Enroll online at www.hadassah.org/100 or call 800.664.5646, or donate today.

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Call 952-924-4999 • www.uppermidwest.hadassah.org This celebration price is valid January 1 – December 31, 2011. Payment plans excluded from offer. A portion of the Life Membership/Associate enrollment fee is allocated for a subscription to Hadassah Magazine. In keeping with IRS regulations, membership dues/enrollment fees are not considered to be tax-deductible contributions. ©2011 Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc. Hadassah is a registered trademark of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc.

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58 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

Life cycles

Deaths

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Veronica Dubov daughter of Ilya and Tanya Dubov Isaac Ferber son of Jenni Schlossman and Jeffrey Ferber Jacob Klein son of Janet and Harry Klein Lauren Kirshenbaum daughter of Sharon and Jeffrey Kirshenbaum Daniel Levy son of Deborah and Steven Levy Samantha Nahimov daughter of Inna Goldman and Alex Nahimov Tomer Palmon son of Roni Reiter-Palmon and Ophir Palmon Brooke Shulewitz daughter of Cindy and Alan Shulewitz Jake Simon son of Jill and Scott Simon Emilie Stein daughter of Susan and Mark Stein Deborah Turetsky daughter of Lucy and Boris Turetsky

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN/ THE SOUTH STREET TEMPLE Jonah Lux son of Nicole and Adam Wall

TEMPLE ISRAEL Ali Marie daughter of Barbara and Steve Brehmer Sophie Nassauer daughter of Larry Budwig and the late Kirsten Budwig Estella Rose daughter of Nora Sarvetnick and Howard Fox

Elias David son of Julie and Bennett Ginsberg Jack Henry son of Jill and Joseph Goldstein Cole William son of Angela and Paul Horner Brandon Michael son of Jill and George Idelman Sarah Nicole daughter of Roxanne and Todd Krasno Solomon Arthur son of Deb Marburg and Dan Marburg Michael Joseph son of Ellie and Paul Militzer Madelin Jordan daughter of Jennifer and Paul Miller Benjamin Scott son of Karen Oyler Phoebe Nicole daughter of Kimberly and Matthew Placzek Jessica Leanne daughter of Bonnie and Jochen Pfrenger Sarah Ann daughter of Bonnie and Jochen Pfrenger Abigail Leigh daughter of Wendy and Robert Reiss Brett Alexander son of Kimberly and Andrew Robinson Gavin Corbet son of Marcee and Charles Rogers Jordan Louis son of Sherrie and David Saag Monica Hope daughter of Andrea and Michael Siegel Naomi Sarah daughter of Sarah Teetzel and Erik Teetzel Rachel Megan daughter of Amee and Ted Zetzman

College Students

B’nai Mitzvahs

Avraham Arav, Ronald Archer, Maurice Joseph Aresty, Mary Jane “MJ” Bear, Rose K. Becker, Barry Belmont, Anne Bergman, Esther Bernstein, William Birenbaum, Shirley Bittner, Jack Boggust, Alan Lewis Bramson, Mary Ann Brochstein, Carol Rae (Fisher) Brodkey, Jack Irwin Brody, Ruth E. Bronn, Samuel M. Budwig, Charles L. Carlson, Marion Cobrin, Marilyn Brodkey Cohn, Phyllis Cohen, Samuel V. Cooper, Burns Davis, Ruth Dotan, Eugene F. Eisenberg, Linda Emery, Renee Engel, Nicholas Farland, Ruth Feist, Martin Feldman, Marc M. Fellman, Lucell Fenton, Jay Kenneth Filler, Marilyn Fingerhut, Bonnie Fisk-Hayden, Jill R. Folsom, Carl Fredricks, Harry L. Freeman, Phyllis Joy Friedel, Idella Marion Gaer, Mark Garanuner, Dorothy Katzman Garson, Geri Geifman, Beverly Gilinsky, Yefim Goldin, Ann Kennedy Goldstein, Linda Lee Goodman, Naomi Greenberg, Ruth Greenberg, Pearl Osoff Gross, Anna Guss, Frederick Guss, Marilyn Heller, Leo Hill, Hyman Hurwitz, Beverly Israel, Richard Ivers, Morris “Mace” Jabenis, Ben Josin, Clara Juster, Stewart K. Kahn, Ronald Kaiman, Ellen Kamil, Eleana Katz, Baila S. (Billie) Kennedy, Raymond

Kirke, Myrna J. Kirshenbaum, Donald Kneeter, Aaron H. Krantz, Harriet Kutler, Gerald C. Lasensky, Morey Landman, Ben Lebowich, Sonia Lerman-Gluck, William Levy, Richard Lewin, Herbert Abraham Lewis, Mollye Saltzman Marcus, Rosalie Meiches, Alexander (Al) Mehr, Rosalie Meiches, Rochelle ‘Roie’ Meyers, Leo Meyerson, Henry Misle, Rosetta “LaVerne” Mitchell, Dr. Benjamin Nachman, Sigmond Nadler, Edward Newman, Ken Norman, Sherwood Patrick Peartree, Mitchell Perlmeter, Norman Karl Plotkin, Gladys Raffkind, Rosa Richtman, Dorothy Chait Riekes, Barbara Taxman Rips, Ann Roitstein, Larry Rosenfield, Julia Schapiro, Abraham Schloff, Sarah Schreiber, Selma Markman Shamberg, Marc Shapiro, June Elizabeth Richards Segal, Sarah Silver, Dr. Marvin Simon, Esther Elaine Siref, Shalene Sosland, Harriett K. Sperling, Netta Kripke Stern, Sylvia Summer, Sidney Taren, Marvin Taxman, Lorraine D. Teller, Linda Friedman Tilley, Agnes Trick, Geraldine Trachtenberg, Susan Marie Vann, David Wallace, Anne D. Weiner, Sidney Weissman, Joyce White, Miriam Warshaw, and Harry Wolfson.

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September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 59

Boards

Happy New Year!

Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Board: President, Allen Kurland; Vice-President, Mark Eveloff; Secretary, Ruth Edelman; Treasurer, Harold Edelman; Members: Barry Kricsfeld, Sandra Kurland and Flora Telpner.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Board of Trustees: President, Beverly Fellman; VicePresidents, Jon Jabenis, Janie Murow and Lloyd Roitstein; Treasurer, Allan Noddle; Secretary, Sharon Brodkey; Religious Life, Glen Fineman; Program Director, Margie Gutnick; Past-President, Steve Pitlor; BESTT Chair, Joel Rich; Board Members: Sandee Friedman, Jay Gordman, Marc Kahn, Mark Kelln, Bruce Kutler, Jeffrey Kirshenbaum, Sheldon Lerner, Lisa Lieb, Roni Reiter-Palmon, Juliana Reno, Ari Riekes, Linda Saltzman, Caryn Scheer, Wayne Schwarz, Howard Shandell, Ben Shapiro, Aveva Shukert, Alan Shulewitz, Scott Simon, and Jan Wayne.

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Sisterhood Board: President, Marcie Spivack; Treasurer, Heather Kelln. Men's Club Board: President, Michael Schop; Programming Vice-President/Midwest Rep to the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs, Glen Fineman; Membership VicePresident, Scott Simon; Religious Vice-President, Steve Levy; Social Vice-President, Brent Spivack; Fundraising VicePresident, Ben Shapiro; Secretary, Andy Raffel; Treasurer, David Finkelstein; Immediate Past-President, Steve Levy; Board Members: Bruce Kutler, Kevin Saltzman and Les Kay. USY: President, Naomi Zipursky; Executive Vice-President of Israel Programming, Alyssa Cohen; Vice-President of Membership/Kadimah, Brad Kutler; Vice-President of Religion and Education, Aaron Zipursky; Vice-President of Social Action and Tikkun Olam, Eva Phillips; Vice-President of Communications, Julia Edelstein; and Vice-President of Purim Carnival, Tal Margalit.

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BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Board of Commissioners: President, Guy Matalon; Vice Presidents, David Kohll, Bruce Potash, Howard Gendelman; Treasurer, Joshua Gurock; Secretary, Rachel Kanner; Board Members: Bruce Goldberg, Julee Katzman, Debbie Kricsfeld, Susan Polack, Zoë Riekes, Adina Schuller, Dani Shrago, Michael Shrago, Susie Shyken, and Harry Weiner. All past presidents who are members in good standing are members of the board. Sisterhood Cabinet Members: President, Tobye Swichkow; Executive Committee: Shirley Goodman, Julee Katzman, Bette Kozlen, Susie Shyken, Debbie Kricsfeld All past Sisterhood presidents are members of the Board.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN/ THE SOUTH STREET TEMPLE Board Members: President, Marc Shkolnick; Vice President, Mark Schwartz; Treasurer, Mark Intermill; Secretary, Nancy Intermill; Board Members: Kevin and Stacy Balter, Tracy Gordon, Eleanor Shirley Kirkland, Fishel Liberman, John Mosow, Lori Schwartz and Nicole Wall.

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TEMPLE ISRAEL Board of Trustees: President, John Lehr; Vice Presidents, Mike Halsted and John Waldbaum; Secretary, Katherine Finnegan; Treasurer, Alan Fredricks; President Elect, Sally Kaplan; Past President, Jon Meyers; Board Members: Stacie Brodkey, Sharon Comisar-Langdon, Justin Cooper, Marlen Frost, Dan Gilbert, Scott Goodman, Danielle Gordman, Jordan Jensen, Judy Josephson, Gary Kaplan, Dan Marburg, Paul Miller, Jeff Nogg, Magda Peck, Paul Rabinovitz, Rob Reiss, Jane Rips, Susan Rothholz, Jeff Schrager, Howard Shrier, Michael Silverman, Mimi Silverman and Dorothy Spizman. Omaha Temple Youth Group: President, Jordan Jensen; Programming Vice President, Sophia Miller; Social Action Vice President, Hannah Radler; Religious/Cultural Vice President, Hannah Perry; Membership Vice Presidents, Maddie Jensen and Morissa Miller; Communications and Visual Vice President, Hannah Budwig; Special Projects Coordinator, Sophie Goldberg; JYG Liasion, Hannah Budwig Continued on page 60

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60 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

Boards

Synagogues

Jewish Federation of Omaha JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA President, Jody Malashock; VicePresidents, David Gilinsky and Stacey Rockman; Treasurer, Ian “Shami” Jacobs; Secretary, Keith Josephson; Past-President, Bob Lepp; Board Members: Joel Alperson, Brett Atlas, Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Ellie Batt, Bonnie Bloch, Debbie Denenberg, Jim Farber, Jamie Friedland, Bruce Friedlander, John Glazer, Rabbi Jonathan Gross, Patrick Jensen, Rabbi Mordechai Levin, Mark Martin, Jay Noddle, Marcia Pitlor, Wendy Raffel, Andy Ruback, Anthony Scioli and Norman Sheldon.

ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE/ COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL President, Patrick Jensen; Treasurer, Michael Levine; Past-Presidents, Jonathan Rockman and Richard Evnen; Board Members: Michael Alley, Ellie Batt, Bob Bleicher, Carol Bloch, Shirley Cemaj, Laura Crosby, Katherine Finnegan, Ted Friedland, David Gilinsky, Bruce Goldberg, Danielle Gordman, Jeff Gordman, Gary Javitch, Rich Juro, Sara Juster, Jeff Kirshenbaum, Dan Marburg, Eyal Margalit, Jaine Merliss, Gary Nachman, Bob Nefsky, Brian Nogg, Alan Parsow, David Phillips, Susan Rothholz, Jan Schneiderman, Norman Sheldon, Tom Vann, Donna Walsh, Aaron Weiner, Larry

Widman; Advisory Committee: Bucky Greenberg and Sylvia Wagner.

CENTER FOR JEWISH EDUCATION President, Bonnie Bloch; Vice-President, Patrick Jensen; Treasurer, Bruce Kutler; PastPresident, Toba Cohen-Dunning; Board Members: Karen Cohen, Sharon ComisarLangdon, Janet Kohll, Bruce Kutler, Julie Phillips, Bonnie Pfrenger, Matt Ray, Michael Shrago and Dorothy Spizman.

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER President, John Glazer; Vice-President, Steve Levinger; Treasurer, Mark Martin; Secretary, Jason Epstein; President-Elect, Mike Siegel; Past-President, Kimberly Robinson; Board Members: Stacey Atlas, Stacie Brodkey, Sheldon Gallner, Cindy Goldberg, Jay Gordman, Mark Javitch, Scott Meyerson, Michael Miller, Shayna Ray, Tom Rice, Scott Simon and Dana Wear.

JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA FOUNDATION President, Jay Noddle; Past-President, Steve Bloch; Treasurer, Andrew Robinson, Secretary, Don Goldstein; Board Members: Paul Epstein, Michael M. Erman, Ted Friedland, Joseph Kirshenbaum, Allan Murow, Murray H. Newman, Carl Riekes, Larry E. Roffman, Harley D. Schrager, Ted

M. Seldin, Frederick J. Simon, Suzanne Richards Singer and Norman Veitzer; EdOfficio: Jody Malashock and Stacey Rockman.

JEWISH PRESS President, Andrew Ruback; Vice-President, Eric Dunning; Treasurer, Jason Epstein; Secretary, Caryn Scheer; Past-President, Bobbi Leibowitz; Board Members: Marc Brodkey, Phyllis Brown, Daniel Christensen, Mel Epstein, Scott Farkas, Michael Kaufman, Paul Rabinovitz, Mark Senal and Nancy Wolf.

JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICES/ ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME President, Jim Farber; Vice-Presidents, Paul Epstein and Howard Epstein; Treasurer, Cliff Levitan; Secretary, Carol Bloch; PastPresident, Bob Belgrade; Board Members: Ellie Batt, Joanie Bernstein, Judy Brookstein, Justin Cooper, Ted Friedland, Alex Grossman, Richard Jacobson, Jeff Kirshenbaum, Susan Lehr, Lisa Lewis, Harold Mann, Nancy Noddle, Steve Nogg, Larry Roffman, Harriet Singer, Suzanne Singer, Dorothy Spizman, Andi Willensky, and Synagoge Representatives: Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Rabbi Jonathan Gross, and Rabbi Mordechai Levin.

EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE The Jewish Press will be closed on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 29-30 for Rosh Hashanah, and Thursday and Friday, Oct. 13-14, for Sukkot. The deadline for all ads, articles and photos is Monday, Sept. 26, 9 a.m. for the Oct. 7 issue and Wednesday, Oct. 12, 9 a.m. for the Oct. 21 issue. Questions? Call 402.334.6448

Continued from page 59 Women of Reform Judaism-Omaha: President, Mimi Silverman; Vice Presidents of Membership, Cat Rawlings and Sherrie Saag; Vice Presidents of Development, Wendy Furst and Mendy Halsted; Vice President of Religious Action, Jennifer Miller; Vice Presidents of Programming, Joi Brown and Debbi Josephson; Vice President of Finance / Treasurer, Iris Ricks; Vice President of Public Relations, Dana Gonzales; Vice Presidents of Young Family Programs, Carrrie Fingold and Teresa Kramer-Ruback; Vice Presidents of Religious Living, Kate Kirshenbaum and Nikki Kirshenbaum; Recording Secretary, Wendy Furst; Directors, Mary Wampler and Allyson Wilczewski; Event Chairs: Stacie Brodkey, Jen Goodman, Andie Gordman, Danielle Gordman, Bonni Leiserowitz, Denise Meyers and Tina Meyers; WRJ Regional Officer, Marlen Frost; President Elect, Stacie Brodkey; and Past President, Susie Norton.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Board Members: President, Lou Halperin; Vice President, Ken Bloom; Treasurer, Howard Feldman; Secretary, Lucy Bowers; Membership Chair, Jeffrey Payne; Fair Shares Due Chairs, Everett Evnen and David Brockman; Immediate Past President, Cindi Weiss; Trustees, Pinkie Hansen, Rifka Keilson and Marlon Weiss; Lay Leader, Nancy Coren; Administrator, Nava Halpern; Members at Large: Sarah Bauman, Joyce Davidson, Bob Evnen, Dan Friedman, Nanci Hamicksburg, Dennis Kornbluh, Marcia Kushner, Harlan Priesman and Jennifer Rosenblatt.

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September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 61

Boards

What happened this year

Jewish Organizations B’NAI B’RITH HENRY MONSKY LODGE #3306

MAINSTREETERS

President Emeritus, Gary Javitch; Alvin Abramson, Mike Abramson, Gerald Meyer, Marty Ricks, Steve Riekes, Howard Shandell and Aaron Weiner.

Executive Chair, Dick Rochman; Advisors, Harry Alloy and Susan Rothholz; Luncheon Co-Chairs, Linda AbramsTederman and Shelley Stern; Menu Chair, Tootie Simon; Recording Secretary, Dottie Rosenblum; Communications, Jim Wax; Social Programming Co-Chair, Rose Pitlor; Education, Rocky Stern.

FRIEDEL JEWISH ACADEMY Executive Board: Executive Chair, Lloyd Roitstein; Treasurer, Mike Abramson; Public Relations, Debbie Denenberg; Friends of Friedel Vice-Chair, Donald Gerber; Secretary, Ruti Margalit; Recruitment, Yaffa PodbilewiczSchuller; Past Chair, Bruce Potash; Exec. Admin. Chair, Alum Chair, Susan Witkowski; Board Members: Joel Alperson, Harry Berman (Fundraising), Bonnie Bloch, Saundra Clarke (By-Laws and Technology Committees), Karen Cohen (Wellness Chair), Tippi Denenberg, Ron Giller (Principal), Jerry Gordman, Cookie Katskee (Curriculum Committee), Alan Kohll, Debbie Kricsfeld (PTO), Erika Lucoff (Recruiting), Becca Ruetsch-Finkelstein, Gary Shyken, Susie Shyken (Sunshine Chair), Julie Stein (PTO), Harry Weiner (By-laws Revision Committee); Ex-officio: Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Rabbi Jonathan Gross, Rabbi Mordechai Levin.

L.O.V.E. (LEAGUE OFFERING VOLUNTEER SERVICES FOR THE ELDERLY) President, Judy Brookstein; Membership Vice-President, Leslie Kully; Co-Recording Secretaries, Beth Friedman and Denise Ipock; Treasurer, Esther Wax; President Elect, Jim Wax; Directors: Doris Alloy, Harry Alloy, Audrey Epstein, Gloria Friedman, Dora Goldstrom, Howard Kaplan, Renee Kazor, Mark Kazor, Mark Lippett, Wendy Manvitz, Jim Polack, Iris Ricks, Michael Shrago, Tootie Simon, Ricki Skog, Shelly Stern, Sheila Tomps and Kathy Weiner; Honorary members: Norman and Marjorie Lincoln.

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN President, Jan Fischer; Vice-Presidents of Community Service, Michelle Epstein and Kelly Nogg; Vice-Presidents of Fundraising, Melinda Graham and Vicki Perlmeter; VicePresidents of Membership, Melissa Shapiro and Cari Green; Vice-Presidents of Public Affairs/Education, Wendy Raffel and Cathy Christensen; Vice-Presidents of Public Relations, Tippi Denenberg and PJ Feinstein; Treasurer, Iris Ricks; Recording Secretary, Sonia Tipp; Corresponding Secretary, Lori Kooper-Schwarz; Financial Secretary, Kelly Kirk; Parliamentarians, Dottie Rosenblum and Julie Martin; Directors: Sophie Ambrose, Laurie Epstein, Rocky Lewis, Lisa Lucoff, Patty Nogg, and Holly Weill; Immediate PastPresident, Beth Friedman; Honorary National President, Jan Schneiderman; Honorary Vice President, Lois Friedman; Standing Committee Chairs: Finance, Roxanne Kahn; Nominating, Kim Noddle; and Planning & Evaluation, Tina Meyers.

by EDGAR ASHER In June 2011, the Shalit family and their supporters mark five years since their son Gilad was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists and virtually kept incommunicado for all this time without even one visit from the International Red Cross.

NEBRASKA JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY President, Debbi Josephson; Treasurer, Don Dandy; Archival Advisor, Doug Hartman; Membership Chairman, Dick Rochman; Immediate Past President, Ira Nathan; Honorary Member, Max Neiden; Beverly Fellman, Jan Fischer, Norma Fried, Michael Gendler, Gary Javitch, Nan Katz, Rocky Lewis, Sue Millward, Vicki Perlmeter, Caryn Rifkin, Larry Roffman and George Shafer.

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BESTWISHES for a happy, healthy & prosperous NEWYEAR!

In August 2011 missiles cause serious damage in Beersheba following salvos of rockets being fired from Gaza. Credit: Edgar Asher/ISRANET

62 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

Synagogues

Candlelighting Friday, September 23, 7:02 p.m. | Wednesday, September 28, 6:53 p.m. Thursday, September 29, no earlier than 7:51 p.m.

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

NEIGHBORHOOD PRAYER GROUP

618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 | 402.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m. ROSH HASHANAH WEDNESDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m., Dr. Sol Kutler speaks about “Council Bluffs, the Good Old Days.” Apples, honey and sweets to follow. THURSDAY: Services, 10:30 a.m., Phil Wolf addresses “Why Be Jewish?” All services led by Jeffrey Taxman. Saturday, Oct. 8, 5:30 p.m., Yom Kippur concluding service and Break-the-fast potluck. Please call 712.323.8885 to RSVP and let us know what dish you’d like to bring.

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, 7:02 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes, 9:45 a.m. with Torah Parade; Kiddush is sponsored by Sisterhood; The Laws of Shabbat, 4:45 p.m.; Advanced Parshah Study for Kids (ages 10 and up), 5:45 p.m.; Rabbi Gross’s Twitter Topic Class, 5:45 p.m.; Mincha, 6:45 p.m. followed by Seuda Shlishit; Havdalah, 7:59 p.m.; Selichot, 11:30 p.m. SUNDAY: Gemara class, 8 a.m., learning tractate Kiddushin; Shacharit, 9 a.m. followed by breakfast. MONDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m. followed by Shacharit; Weekly Teleconference Mishnah Class, 10:30 a.m. with Rabbi Gross. Contact the office for information on how to call-in to the conference call. TUESDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m. followed by Shacharit. ROSH HASHANAH WEDNESDAY: Selichot, 6:30 a.m. followed by Shacharit; Scholars Club for fourth-sixth graders is canceled due to Erev Yom Tov; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 6:53 p.m. THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Torah Reading, 9:30 a.m.; Sermon, 10 a.m., followed by Shofar blowing; Kiddush is sponsored by David, Janet, Anna, Sam, Max, Jack and Leo Kohll in honor of Sandra Kohll’s birthday; Veshinamtam: And You Shall Tell It Over (to your children), a learning program for families, 5:30 p.m.; Mincha, 6:45 p.m. FRIDAY, Sept. 30: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Torah Reading, 9:30 a.m.; Sermon, 10 a.m., followed by Shofar blowing; Kiddush is sponsored by Sisterhood; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:50 p.m.

1317 North 57 Street | Omaha, NE 68132 | 402.551.6609 FRIDAY: Minyan, 7:02 p.m. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. There will be no services starting Sept. 30 until after Simchat Torah. Services will resume Oct. 28.

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, Rabbi Steven Abraham and Cantor Beth Schlossberg. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6 p.m.; Tot Shabbat & Say Shalom to Shabbat, 6 p.m. A kid-friendly dinner follows at 6:30 p.m. Dinner cost is $5 for Beth El members, $7.50 for non-members. No charge for children ages six and younger. All families in the Jewish community are welcome. For more information or to RSVP, contact Margie Gutnik in the office at 402.492.8550, or programming@bethel-omaha.org. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush sponsored by Jill and Scott Simon, in honor of the Bar Mitzvah of their son, Jake; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:10 p.m. SELICHOT: Beth El will observe Selichot, along with the formal installation of Assistant Rabbi, Steven Abraham. The evening begins with a 9:30 p.m. dessert reception, followed by Havdalah at 10 p.m. Rabbi Abraham’s installation ceremony will then take place; followed by our Selichot service. GET YOUR MORNING MIDRASH!: Meet with Rabbi Abraham on Saturdays at 9 a.m. to discuss the week’s Torah portion, midrashim (rabbinic stories), plus medieval and modern biblical commentators. The class is open to everyone (knowledge of Torah is not required). Class will conclude prior to the beginning of Shabbat services. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. SUNDAY: BESTT Family Assembly, 9:45-10:15 a.m. in the social hall annex. Parents of students are invited to attend each week. USYers will sell bagels and donuts from 9 a.m. to 9:40 a.m. each Sunday; BESTT PreK meets, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.; Bible Study Discussion Group, and A World Without Jews?, Andy Greenberg explores contributions Jews have made to the world, 10 a.m. Registration fee is $36 for Beth El members; $45 for non-members. To register or for more information, contact Margie in the office, or at programming@bethel-omaha.org. ROSH HASHANAH WEDNESDAY: Ma’ariv, 6 p.m. THURSDAY: Morning Service, 9 a.m.; Alternative Service, 9:45 a.m.; Tashlich, 4:45 p.m.; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 6 p.m. FRIDAY, Sept 30: Morning Service, 9 a.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. All Beth El classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.

MEMORIAL SERVICES Sunday, Sept. 25 Mount Carmel Cemetery in Lincoln, 10 a.m. Golden Hill Cemetery, 5025 N. 42nd St., 11 am Beth Israel/Mt. Sinai, 78th & Crown Point, noon BHH/Fisher Farms, 8900 S. 42nd Street, 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2 Oak Hills/Bikhor Cholim, Council Bluffs, 10 a.m. Beth El Cemetery, 84th and ‘L’ Sts., 11:45 a.m. Temple Israel Cemetery, 6412 No. 42 St., 1 p.m. Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, 3 p.m.

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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. FRIDAY: Service, 7 a.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Minyan, 10 a.m.; Youth Minyan, 10:30 a.m. Mini-Mensch title will be awarded. Kiddush lunch follows. Join Rabbi Katzman from 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. ROSH HASHANAH WEDNESDAY: Morning Services, 7 a.m.; Evening Services, 6:30 p.m. Rosh Hashanah Family Dinner to follow services. THURSDAY: Morning Services, 9 a.m.; Shofar Sounding, 11 a.m.; Tashlich Service, 4 p.m.; Evening Services, 6:45 p.m. FRIDAY, Sept. 30: Morning Services, 9 a.m.; Shofar Sounding, 11 a.m.; Evening Services, 6:30 p.m. 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 Services conducted by Rabbi Craig Lewis. FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. with Oneg following hosted by Lori and Mark Schwartz. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Nitzavim-Vayalech; Selichot service, 9 p.m. led by Michael Boekstal. SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth; Hallah High, 10 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple. ROSH HASHANAH WEDNESDAY: Evening Service, 8 p.m. with Oneg following hosted by the Board of Trustees. THURSDAY: Children’s Service, 9 a.m. (Parents are encouraged to attend); Morning Service, 10 a.m.; Tashlich service, 3 p.m.

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

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to the Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m. led by Beth Israel members. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Steve Riekes; Selichot Services, 2:30 p.m. led by Marti Nerenstone. ROSH HASHANAH WEDNESDAY: Evening Service, 7 p.m., led by Andrew Greenberg. THURSDAY: Morning Service, 9 a.m., led by Andrew Greenberg. FRIDAY, Sept. 30: Morning service, 9 a.m., led by Miles Remer. Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend Services at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street | Omaha, NE 68132-2651 | 402.556.6536 www.templeisrael-ne.org FRIDAY: Shabbat Service: Going Deeper, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Linder and Cantor Shermet. SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.; S’lichot with a Twist, 7 p.m. followed by a Chocolate Oneg. SUNDAY: Teachers Meeting, 9 a.m.; Grades K-6, 10 a.m.; WRJ Book Sorting, 10 a.m.; Write or You’re Wrong, 10 a.m. with Cantor Shermet; Kol Rina Rehearsal, 1 p.m. TUESDAY: Kol Rina Rehearsal, 6:30 p.m. ROSH HASHANAH WEDNESDAY: Evening Service, 7:30 p.m. highlighted by our holiday challenge What Does the Shofar Call You to Do? Rabbi Azriel, Rabbi Linder, Cantor Shermet, the Kol Rina Choir and members of our Omaha Temple Youth Group will lead the service. Sign language interpretation is provided. THURSDAY: Tot Service, (pre-school age and younger) and Children’s service, 9 a.m. (suitable for K-3) led by clergy; Morning service, 10:15 a.m. led by clergy and the Kol Rina Choir. Sitter Service is available; Sign language interpretation is provided; New Building Report, immediately following the Rosh Hashanah Morning Service -- John Waldbaum will give a presentation about the New Building Project.

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: Tot Shabbat, 6 p.m.; Services, 6:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning service, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush lunch; Selichot Service, 8:15 p.m. SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth; Hallah High, 10 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple. ROSH HASHANAH WEDNESDAY: Ma’ariv, 8 p.m. THURSDAY: Morning Service, 9 a.m.; Tashlich & Mincha, 5 p.m. FRIDAY, Sept. 30: Morning Service, 9 a.m.; Mincha, 6:30 p.m.; Shabbat Service, 7 p.m.

September 23, 2011 | The Jewish Press | 63

Advertising index Advertiser Page A Permanent Solution .................................................... 7 Abacus Consulting ...................................................... 31 Abrahams, Kaslow & Cassman LLP ............................ 26 Acura of Omaha .......................................................... 23 All Makes Office Equipment Co. .................................. 56 All Seasons Home Improvement Company ................. 10 Allens ............................................................................. 8 Amazing Pizza Machine ............................................... 38 American Friends of Magen David Adom ..................... 13 American National Bank .............................................. 59 Anderson O’Brien Gallery ............................................ 39 Anti-Defamation League .............................................. 64 Arnold Weitz & Co. ....................................................... 13 Associated Counseling Professionals ........................... 48 B’nai B’rith Henry Monsky Lodge ................................ 64 B’nai B’rith Youth Organization .................................... 24 B’nai Israel Synagogue ................................................ 64 B’nai Jeshurun Synagogue .......................................... 26 Badger Body & Isuzu Truck ............................................ 8 Bag ’N Save ................................................................. 38 Bagel Bin ..................................................................... 28 Beth El BILU USY ......................................................... 24 Beth El Synagogue ...................................................... 64 Beth Israel NCSY ......................................................... 24 Beth Israel Sisterhood .................................................. 64 Beth Israel Synagogue ................................................. 64 Body Basics ................................................................. 51 Boys Town ................................................................... 14 Boys Town National Research Hospital ........................ 53 Bresel Family ............................................................... 36 Broadmoor .................................................................... 3 Broadmoor Market ...................................................... 39 Brodkey’s ..................................................................... 22 Brownell Talbot ............................................................ 47 Canfield’s Sporting Goods ............................................. 7 CB Richard Ellis/MEGA ............................................... 55 Center for Jewish Education ........................................ 64 Chabad ....................................................................... 64 Charleston’s ................................................................ 28 Christel’s ..................................................................... 43 Cohen Family .............................................................. 12 Colliers International .................................................... 27 Countryside Village ...................................................... 39 Creighton University ....................................................... 9 Dental Sleep Solutions/Horizon Dental ....................... 27 Edward Jones-Mike Sigmond ....................................... 27 Emanuel Contracting ................................................... 40 Enterprise Bank ............................................................. 6 Faces Spa ................................................................... 39 Family ENT .................................................................. 56 Feinman Family ........................................................... 43 Frankel, Zacharia ............................................................... 19 Fraser Stryker Law Firm ............................................... 59 Friedel Jewish Academy ............................................... 20 Gordmans ................................................................... 61 Grace/Mayer Insurance .............................................. 50 Hadassah Upper Midwest Region .............................. 57 Hap Abraham Catering ................................................ 48 Heritage Pointe .............................................................. 6 Hiller Electric ............................................................... 59 Hoberman Family ....................................................... 48

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Advertiser Page Hockenbergs ............................................................... 31 House of Mufflers ........................................................ 54 I-Go Van & Storage ....................................................... 48 Ideal Pure Water & Coffee ............................................ 32 Ilumin .......................................................................... 22 Industrial Packaging Corporation ................................. 16 Institute for Holocaust Education ................................. 64 Interim Homestyle Services ......................................... 11 Javitch Family .............................................................. 26 Jewish Community Center .......................................... 45 Jewish Federation of Lincoln ........................................ 52 Jewish Federation of Omaha ................................. 25, 54 Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation .................... 25 Jewish Press ...................................................... 2, 24, 60 Jewish Social Services ................................................. 57 Jewish Women International ........................................ 64 Johanns, Senator Mike .................................................. 4 Julio’s .......................................................................... 48 Kaiman, Ann ............................................................... 47 Kidwell ......................................................................... 18 King Fong .................................................................... 15 Kohll’s Pharmacy & Homecare .................................... 55 Lakeside Dental ............................................................. 4 League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly ................... 64 Lerner Company ............................................................ 6 Lion’s Automotive Upholstery ...................................... 20 Louie M’s Burger Lust ................................................. 15 Lynn Roberts International ........................................... 18 Malashock Jewelry ...................................................... 10 Malbar Vision Centers ................................................. 33 Marathon Real Estate .................................................. 23 Marathon Ventures ...................................................... 20 Mark Sanford Group .................................................... 43 Marks Clare & Richards ............................................... 36 Marriott Regency Hotel ................................................ 23 Max I. Walker ............................................................... 11 McGill, Gotsdiner, Workman & Lepp, PC, LLO. ............ 32 McGrath North ............................................................ 41 Meehan Drywall ............................................................ 7 Mid Con Systems Inc. ................................................. 30 Mid-City Jewelry & Loan ................................................. 3 Midwest Box Co. ............................................................ 4 Midwest Ear, Nose, & Throat, P.C. ............................... 23 Montemarano Landscapes Inc. ................................... 19 N. Pitlor & Son, Inc. ..................................................... 58 Nan C .......................................................................... 31 Natan & Hannah Schwalb Center for Israel & Jewish Studies ................................................................... 64 National Council of Jewish Women .............................. 64 Nebraska Democratic Party ......................................... 54 Nebraska Furniture Mart .............................................. 10 Nebraska Jewish Historical Society .............................. 64 Nebraska Press Statewide Classifieds .......................... 63 Nelson, Senator Ben and Diane .................................. 40 No Frills ....................................................................... 46 Nobbies ....................................................................... 41 Noddle Companies ........................................................ 5 Norms Door Service .................................................... 53 Northwestern Mutual-Rob Randels .............................. 16 NP Dodge-Kathy Miller ................................................. 53 Oak Hills/Bikhor Cholim Cemetery .............................. 17

Advertiser Page Omaha Community Playhouse ................................... 29 Omaha Compound Company ..................................... 16 Omaha Steaks ............................................................ 44 Omaha Surgical Center ................................................. 5 Omaha Symphony ................................................ 34, 35 Omaha Temple Youth Group ........................................ 24 One Drake Place .......................................................... 58 Parkwood Terrace/Belgrade Co. .................................. 12 Parsow’s ...................................................................... 32 Pasta Amore ................................................................ 51 PeggyBank .................................................................. 33 Peterson Brothers Realty Co. ....................................... 30 Pulverente Monument Co. ........................................... 17 Quality Dental Care LLC. ............................................... 8 RDG ............................................................................. 11 Regency Court ............................................................. 49 Rehab Visions .............................................................. 58 Remer Family ................................................................ 8 Remington Heights ...................................................... 21 Republic National Distributing Company ..................... 19 Ricks Family ................................................................ 46 Roberts Dairy ................................................................. 3 Rockbrook Floors ......................................................... 23 Rockbrook Village ........................................................ 51 Rolling Hills Ranch ....................................................... 30 Rosenfeld Family ......................................................... 53 Rotella’s Italian Bakery ................................................. 20 Russell’s ...................................................................... 39 St. Joseph Villa ............................................................ 55 St. Peter & Paul, St. John Nepomucene & Holy Trinity Catholic Churches .................................................. 50 Sanctuary Day Spa ...................................................... 18 Sarah’s ........................................................................ 39 Schwalb Realty ........................................................... 19 Security Equipment, Inc. ............................................. 12 Security National Bank ................................................ 51 Seim Johnson ............................................................. 49 Seldin Company .......................................................... 47 Sir Speedy ................................................................... 22 Sol’s Jewelry & Loan ................................................... 12 Sonny Gerber Auto Sales ............................................... 5 Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP ...................................... 44 Stoddard Family .......................................................... 47 Suburban Newspapers Inc. ........................................... 7 Swartzbaugh Farber .................................................... 43 Taxis Grille & Bar .......................................................... 28 Tea Trove ..................................................................... 56 Temple Israel ............................................................... 64 Terry, Congressman Lee .............................................. 52 Tifereth Israel Synagogue ............................................. 26 University of Nebraska Medical Center ........................ 37 Valentino’s ................................................................... 48 Vann Realty ................................................................... 8 Village Pointe Pediatrics ............................................... 42 Wiesman Development ............................................... 56 Winery ......................................................................... 15 Wolf Bros. Western Store .............................................. 30 Wolfson Used Cars ...................................................... 36 Wright Printing-Joel Rich .............................................. 55 Zio’s Pizzeria ................................................................ 15

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KNOW A child with bone, muscle or joint problems? Free Nebraska Shriners Screening Clinic, September 30, 1-4 p.m., Omaha, Grand Island. Call 888-333-7764 ext. 108 for information/appointment. LOOKING FOR the classic car, truck or motorcycle of your dreams? Go to www.midwestclassiccars.com. It’s your Midwest connection to classic vehicles for sale. Need to sell a classic vehicle? For only $25, your ad with photos will run until sold! Call this newspaper today for more information or call 1-800-369-2850. NEBRASKA ANGUS Tour - September 22-24. Visit Angus ranches throughout Southwest Nebraska. For registration and more information check out the website at www.nebraskaangus.org or call 308-577-6700. AFFORDABLE PRESS Release service. Send your message to 175 newspapers across Nebraska for one low price! Call 1-800-369-2850 or www.nebpress.com for more details.

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GUN SHOW: Modern/Black Powder. Early American Trade Fair. Lancaster Event CenterPavilion I, Lincoln, Saturday, September 24, 9am to 5pm, Sunday, September 25, 9am to 4pm. Admission $4.

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RESTAURANT EQUIPMENT Outlet; new & used restaurant equipment. See www.Chillmasters.biz for more info; Sioux City, IA, 1-800-526-7105. CENTRAL NEBRASKA agricultural equipment dealership in immediate need of a service manager. Ag experience given priority. Also hiring service technicians and precision farming specialist. Send resume to bmasin@ordequipment.com by September 29. AGGRESSIVE GM Dealership in Midwest Nebraska looking for automotive technician. Good benefits, pay is negotiable. Contact Pony Express Chevrolet, Gothenburg, Nebraska, 308-537-3671.

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64 | The Jewish Press | September 23, 2011

Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year

Beth El Synagogue Sisterhood Kadimah USY BESTT

Men’s Club BILU USY Hazak

Best Wishes for a Happy New Year

Henry Monsky Lodge B’nai B’rith

National Council of Jewish Women Omaha Section

The Natan and Hannah Schwalb Center for Israel Jewish Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha wishes everyone a:

NCJW extends its warmest wishes to the Jewish community for a Joyous New Year.

Happy NewYear

Wishing the community a healthy and happy New Year

Look for our Mahjong Tournament Sunday, October 2

Sincere wishes for a Happy,Healthy NewYear

Have a sweet New Year!

League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly

L’Shana Tovah

The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Auxiliary

On Rosh Hashana we accept G-d’s absolute Sovereignty. As such, we recognize our own dignity and majesty-created in His image. We are empowered to improve our world through the “big” and “little” Mitzvahs. This year - let’s make a difference! Moshiach Now! Shana Tova! Rabbi Mendel and Shani Katzman, Chabad’s board, staff, and volunteers

Shana Tovah!

From the Board Members and Staff of the Center for Jewish Education

A beneficiary of the Annual Campaign of the Jewish Federation of Omaha

Happy & Healthy New Year With Your Help We’ll Have A Great Past Ahead Of Us

Become an NJHS Member and Provide a Legacy for Future Generations Benefactor $1,000 • Platinum $500 Gold $250 • Patron-1 Year $100 Sponsor $50 • Regular $25

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A Peaceful and Prosperous

Rosh Hashanah

A Century of Tradition 618 Mynster Street, Council Bluffs 51503

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