September 25, 2020 by Jewish Press

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The Jewish Press AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA | WWW. JE WISHOMAHA.ORG

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Stronger than before ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor hroughout the years. The Jewish Federation of Omaha has welcomed the community to an inspiring campaign event that brings all of us together in one space. Naturally, this year will have to be different due to the pandemic. That, however, will not stop our community from uniting towards a common goal. We introduce you to Koolulam: a social-musical initiative, aimed at strengthening the 2021 fabric of society. Event chairs Danny Denenberg and Jimmy Friedlander will lead us in a musical performance that will remind us of what makes this community: our ability to come together, even when times are challenging. We hope you will consider participating in our Community Event as we come together in song – while we are apart. We are excited to share an amazing concept that will produce a video we think will be cherished for years to come, as we sing “One Da” by Matisyahu’ with Koolulam. This is a one-of-a-kind event that with your help, will include as

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many community members as possible. This event offers all Omahans – even those that currently live in other cities the ability to participate. “I became involved initially after talking with Louri Sullivan at another JFO event,” Jimmy said. “The idea of a social, group musical experience sounded like a lot of fun - and something right up my alley. Originally, we had discussed an in-person event, I believe, before the pandemic of course. However, I think now perhaps this concept takes on even greater meaning and purpose and gives our ANNUAL CAMPAIGN JFO community an opportunity to collaborate together musically with people of all ages and have some fun. I am really excited to see the final product.” Koolulam is an Israeli initiative that centers around musical performances, created by convening large groups of individuals to form a uniquely collaborative musical creation. Koolulam brings together people from all walks of life to do one thing: stop everything for a few hours and just sing – together. At Koolulam, the audience is the artist! Every participant enters as a unique individual and leaves See Stronger than before page 3

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Understanding extremism

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We live in harmony, comforted by the idea that our homes are safe, our jobs secure, and that everyone’s family is able to enjoy the GARY NACHMAN fruits of this Regional Director, great country’s ADL-Plains States opportunities... Region In case you were wondering, yes, that was a fantasy! Togetherness is a lovely notion—a beautiful goal—but our reality is discord: racial inequality, civil injustice, disproportionate use of force by law enforcement against black and brown communities, bad actors influencing social norms and our electoral process. All this and a pandemic killing 1,000 Americans per day. That is nearly 400,000 people los-

ing their lives in a year! And while comparisons to other catastrophic events in our history are easy to make, none of those comparisons account for the fact that this is happening now, at the peak of technological and scientific advancement and... it should not be. Covid-19 has caused staggering personal and economic turmoil giving ground to desperate actions by those in despair, and turmoil has always been a breeding ground for bad actors who hate for hate’s sake. Contemporary American society has become a petri dish for what festers when decency is stripped away and all that remains is choosing sides in a fight. We live in a world where opinions and facts have equal value. There are those who desire a race war. Those who wish to remove all foreigners from our soil. Those who wish to overthrow our government. As some fight against any form of Fascism, Nationalism or Autocracy, others endeavor to usher them in. Some seek to vilify educated, liberalthinking, progressive people—or worse, those who actively seek to subjugate, marginalize, prosecute, incarcerate, remove and even kill, those who look differently. Extremists value systems can be so misaligned that they actually believe the freedom to think for one’s self is a See Extremism page 3

Beth El is gifted new security system

Gail and Steve Friedman with their Maltese, Precious. “She refused to let us take the picture without her,” Steve said.

OZZIE NOGG The Oct. 27, 2018, massacre of eleven congregants at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, sparked a subsequent action in Omahan Steven Friedman. “It seemed

like there was one shooting after another,” Friedman said. “Madmen attacking Jewish institutions, like the JCC in Overland Park in 2014, the Poway shooting last year, vandals See Beth El security page 2