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Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA October 4, 2013 30 Tishei 5774 Vol. 94 | No. 03 | 2 Sections

This Week

by LEONARD GREENSPOON The Twenty-Sixth Annual Klutznick-Harris Symposium is set for Sunday, Oct. 27, and Monday, Oct. 28. This year’s topic is “Wealth and Poverty in Jewish Tradition.” This year’s keynote speaker is Hasia Diner, Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History at New York University. She brings to bear both professional and personal experience in her presentation, “Peddlers, the Great Jewish Migration, and the Riddle of Economic Success.” After receiving her PhD in History from the University of Illinois-Chicago, Diner has become an internationally recognized researcher and writer on immigration and ethnic history, American Jewish history, and the history of American women. Earlier, Diner had studied at the University of Wisconsin (for her bachelor’s degree) and the University of Chicago (for her master’s). Diner’s choice of mid-Western academic institutions was not by chance. She grew up in Milwaukee; both of her parents were from the

B’nai B’rith hosted annual campus Sukkah decorating Page 6

New arrivals at the Kripke Library Page 7

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Hasia Diner Ukraine. In this sense, immigrant history is very personal to her. As she recalls, English was not the family’s language at home. Her parents basically spoke only Yiddish. Because of this, she acquired almost all of her knowledge about America and about English from her school and on the street. This experience has enabled her to feel viscerally the process of negotiating marginality that char-

In memoriam: Forrest Krutter

Is decision to ‘opt out’ a cop-out? Page 12

Point of view Synagogues In memoriam

Wealth and Poverty

8 10 11

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMPWRIGHT Jewish Press Editor Forrest N. Krutter of Milton Mills, New Hampshire, and Omaha, NE, died Thursday, Sept. 26. He was 58 years old. He is survived by his wife, Lisa Stewart-Krutter, his mother, Shirley Levine Krutter, and his sister Marlene Krutter; he was preceded in death by his father, Irving A. Krutter. Forrest graduated from MIT, Hebrew College and Harvard Law School. He first came to Omaha in 1978 as an attorney for Union Pacific. After a few years, he left UP and went to work for Berkshire Hathaway, where he served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, where despite his illness he continued to work almost until the end. Where Forrest went to school and where he worked are important details of his life, and yet, they seem more like background noise to the people who knew him. When talking to others about Forrest, one thing immediately becomes clear: Forrest was loved. Really loved. For his in-

acterized many of the individuals she has studied as a scholar. Because her father was a teacher of Hebrew, Diner acquired excellent knowledge of that language from an early age. Together with her thorough familiarity with Yiddish, this childhood upbringing has served her in good stead in her archival research through primary documents. Diner’s father considered himself a socialist, and she herself was active in Habonim, the Labor Zionist youth movement. From these experiences, which included civil rights activities, she acquired a deep commitment to social justice. All of these experiences have come to fruition in her numerous publications, which include the following books, among others: In the Almost Promised Land: American Jews and Blacks 1915-1935, A Time for Gathering: The Second Migration, 18201880, Lower East Side Memories: The Jewish Place in America, Hungering for America: Italian, Irish, and Jewish Foodways in the Age of Migration, Her Works Praise Her, and The Jews of the United States: 1654-2000. Her most recent book, which won the National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies, is We Re-

member with Reverence and Love: American Jews and the Myth of Silence After the Holocaust, 1945-1962. This influential work has decisively changed the way in which we look at how post-World War II American Jews dealt with the many difficult issues raised by the Holocaust. In 2014, Yale University will publish her newest book, Roads Taken: The Great Jewish Migration and the Peddlers Who Made It Possible. She will incorporate research from this project into her Symposium keynote address. Given the high quality of her work and the critical approbation that it has garnered, it is probably no surprise that she has held a number of important positions in prestigious organizations. Thus, in addition to her endowed professorship at New York University, she is also director of its Goldstein Goren Center for American Jewish History. In addition, she has held a Fulbright Professorship at the University of Haifa and has been a Lilly Fellow at Harvard University’s Bunting Institute. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, she is a member of the American Academy of Jewish Research and the Society of American Continued on page 2

Frances and Sam Fried honored

Forrest Krutter tegrity, his patience, his loyalty, his service to others, his passionate commitment to charitable causes, and most of all his modesty. “When Forrest first came to Omaha,” longtime friend Dennis Paley said, “My wife Susan and I met him at the old Beth El. We invited him for Shabbos dinner the next week, because he didn’t know very many people at the time. He came to us that next Friday, and stayed for twenty years.” Shabbos with the Paleys turned into a beloved tradition, and was a welcome respite in an increasingly busy life. “Making the move from Union Pacific to Berkshire Hathaway came with a lot of soul searching,” Dennis said. “When he finally made the decision, it put him in a different orbit. Continued on page 11

Frances, left, and Sam Fried, and Frances Blumkin by GRETCHEN BREN Rotary Club of Omaha On Aug. 28, the Rotary Club of Omaha presented its 2013 Service Above Self Community award to Frances and Sam Fried for their work on the Nebraska Holocaust Memorial. The Rotary Club of Omaha honored the Frieds for the work that they and their foundation have done for the Nebraska Holocaust Memorial located in the Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, NE. This Wall of Remembrance is dedicated to the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust and in honor of all the liberators and survivors of the Nazi concentration camps. The Nebraska Holocaust Memorial is a place of reflection and also serves to educate visitors about the horrors of the Holocaust. A sea of

stones surrounds the monument, representing the millions of men, women and children that were slaughtered by the Nazis and their collaborators. The site also has the “Star of Remembrance” sculpture that stands 16 feet tall and depicts the three stages of the Nazi war against humanity: isolation, deportation, and extermination. The Frieds are founders of the Heartland Holocaust Education Fund, which perpetually funds college level Holocaust programs at universities and colleges so that our future leaders can gain greater understanding of the lingering and serious impact of the Holocaust. The Service Above Self Community Award is given annually by the Rotary Club of Omaha to honor Continued on page 3

2 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2013

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by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Before you say anything, no, a story about Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen does not seem like an obvious choice for a Jewish Press spotlight. And yet, there is reason to believe many in our community are more than a little interested in Opera Omaha’s new season. Besides, it’s nice to learn what’s happening around town. “The Jewish community has always been very supportive of the arts,” says Sharon Brodkey, current Director of Marketing for Opera Omaha. “I’m sure many in the community will be delighted to see what we have planned. This season promises to be absolutely spectacular.” In Carmen, Bizet tells the tragic story of its title character, a femme fatale gypsy, and Don José, a soldier with a past. Don José is seduced by Carmen, even leaves his childhood sweetheart for her and deserts his military duties, only to end up losing her to another man — after which things go really wrong. Jealousy, passion, murder and betrayal — all against a background of poverty and desperation--combine to create a most compelling story. Conductor Hal France leads a distinguished cast of singers. Director Lillian Groag will deliver a compelling production worthy of the opera’s celebrated reputation; Leann Sandel-Pantaleo is Carmen. Hal France is a familiar name in Omaha. During his thirty-year professional career as an opera conductor, Hal France has led organizations and performed with opera companies and symphony orchestras around the United States. His activities include speaking and advocating for arts education. He has completed tenures as Executive Director of KANEKO, and was the Artistic Director of Opera Omaha from 1995 to 2005. “Carmen is probably one of the most popular operas ever,” says Brodkey, “and definitely one of the more accessible ones. If you haven’t been to the opera before, this is a great opportunity to acquaint yourself with what opera has to offer. It has a large cast, it has soldiers and gypsies and smugglers and toreadors; there’s just so much happening, you won’t be bored for a second.” Composer Georges Bizet, born in 1838 in Paris, was born

Klutznick-Harris Symposium Continued from page 1 Historians. She has also served as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Academic Council of the American Jewish Historical Society and is currently president of the Immigration and Ethnic History Society. One of Diner’s colleagues is Rela Mintz Geffen, former president of Baltimore Hebrew University, professor at Gratz College, and herself a participant in this year’s Symposium. Geffen’s praise for Diner is surely not exaggerated when she says, “Hasia is one of the preeminent scholars of the American Jewish experience. Through her writings and her presentations, she has opened up a vast treasure-trove of fascinating and important knowledge for both scholars and the larger general public. Her presentation in Omaha will surely satisfy and surprise everyone in the audience.” Diner’s keynote presentation takes place in the Omaha JCC Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27. Preceding her, from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., eight other scholars will cover topics related to “Wealth and Poverty in Jewish Tradition.” These presentations are also at the JCC. The Symposium will continue at Creighton University’s Skutt Student Center on Monday, Oct. 28, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 1 p.m. All of the presentations, along with lunch on Saturday and Sunday, are free and open to the public. For further information, please contact Colleen Hastings at Creighton: 402.280.2303 or check out the website of the Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization: www.creighton.edu/klutznick. The Symposium is made possible through the generous support of Creighton University, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the Ike and Roz Friedman Foundation, the Jewish Federation of Omaha, the Riekes Family, and other donors. The participation of UNO’s Schwalb Center is new this year and is the subject of an accompanying article on page 4 of this issue of this Jewish Press.

into a musical family, and was admitted to the Paris Conservatory at the age of nine. His most influential teacher was the prominent opera composer Jacques FromentalHalevy; under his tutelage, Bizet blossomed and even won the prestigious Prix de Rome when he was only 19 years old. After several years in Rome, he returned to Paris (Jacques Halevy had died in 1862) where he became engaged to Genevieve Halevy, the daughter of his former teacher. The star pupil was not welcomed as a potential sonin-law, however, because Georges was an atheist and financially irresponsible. Genevieve wasn’t welcomed by the Bizets, because she was Jewish. Georges and Genevieve married in 1869 against both families’ wishes, but it was not a happy marriage. Still, Bizet’s career progressed. In 1872, the French Opera Comique commissioned a full three-act opera; Genevieve’s cousin Ludovic Halevy was asked to write the libretto with his partner Henri Meilhac. Prosper Merimee’s novella Carmen was chosen as subject matter, and it caused an uproar. Too much sex, dishonor and violence for a family theater, the critics said. Carmen premiered March 3, 1875, and was a gigantic failure. Disillusioned and depressed, Bizet died three months later, on what should have been his and Genevieve’s sixth wedding anniversary. He was 36 years old. Genevieve had one child with Georges, Jacques, who later became best friends with Marcel Proust. After Bizet’s death, she became an influential salonniere, hosting get-togethers for the likes of Guy de Maupassant and Robert de Montesquiou, as well as many supporters of Alfred Dreyfus. Genevieve eventually became depressed herself and ended up a recluse; her son committed suicide in 1922. Genevieve died in 1926. It seems as if the private life of Bizet’s family was as full of dramatic turns as the operas he put on the stage. The 2013-14 opera season continues with Agrippina in February, and Cinderella in April. Carmen will be performed Friday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available both as part of a season pass or on an individual basis. For more information, please contact www.operaomaha.org or call 402. 346. 4398.

Musical interlude

Samantha Marie Ray, daughter of Nick and Emily Ray and granddaughter of JFO Foundation Director Howard Epstein, had a great time at the Backyard Concert on Sept. 22. Join the community in the campus backyard for the final concert of the series on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 5 p.m.

October 4, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 3

The Yale Richards Professional Education Seminar by MARY BORT Yale Richards Professional Education Endowment Assistant/Staff Writer, Endowment Fund, which is now a compoJewish Federation of Omaha Foundation nent fund of the JFO Foundation. The purThe Jewish Federation of Omaha pose of the fund is to provide financial supFoundation will co-host the Yale Richards port for periodic seminars for professional Professional Education Seminar at Boys advisors and interested donors. Town Conference Center on Thursday, Oct. 24. The daylong seminar will feature four nationally-known speakers who will focus on charitable giving techniques and estate planning to fulfill a donor’s philanthropic intent. These are issues of interest to donors, and to attorneys, accountants, financial advisors and insurance professionals. The seminar has been Lawrence Brody Christopher Hoyt approved for Nebraska Continuing Education Credits for attorneys, The four experts who will speak at the semaccountants, and life and health insurance inar are Lawrence Brody, M. Read Moore, professionals who attend. Donald O. Jansen and Christopher Hoyt. The Yale Richards Professional Education Brody is a Partner of Bryan Cave LLP, St. Seminar is sponsored by the JFO Louis, and he will discuss the uses of life Foundation, Boys Town, and Union Bank & insurance in charitable planning. Moore is a Trust Company. Partner in the law firm of McDermott Will Yale Richards was a senior partner at the & Emery LLP, California, and he will explain firm of Marks, Clare and Richards, LLC, community property issues for non-comuntil his death. He also served as counsel munity property lawyers. Jansen is Senior and Executive Director of the Milton S. and Tax Counsel for the University of Texas Corinne N. Livingston Foundation for 28 System Office of General Counsel, and will years. talk about charitable lead trusts, including In 1998, in recognition of his valuable the transfer of underused family wealth and service to the Omaha Jewish community, income tax techniques for the charitably the Livingston Foundation established the inclined. Hoyt, Professor of Law at the

To order a gift subscription to the Press... Send a check for $40 for the rest of the year and all of 2014, made out to the Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. For more information on how to connect your out-of-town relatives and friends, call 402.334.6448.

Sports Coming late October

University of Missouri-Kansas City, will lead two sessions. The first will explain the 3.8% health care surtax for higher modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), including exemptions and techniques to reduce an individual’s MAGI, such as utilizing charita-

Donald O. Jansen

involved in planning this year’s seminar through the Foundation. Thanks to our partnership with Boys Town and Union Bank & Trust Company, this year we’re able to bring in four national experts. This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who does

M. Read Moore

ble trusts. In his second session, Hoyt will focus on planning for retirement assets in an estate, including the best ways to make charitable uses of retirement assets. Howard Epstein, Executive Director of the JFO Foundation, attended last year’s Yale Richards Professional Education Seminar while he was still an attorney at Marks Clare & Richards LLC. “I was impressed by the wealth of information that was provided by last year’s speaker,” he said. “And I’m pleased to be

Yale Richards

estate planning, works in charitable gift planning or is charitably inclined.” Due to the support provided by the cosponsors, the registration fee for the Yale Richards Professional Education Seminar is $75 and includes all seminar materials and handouts, as well as lunch. Seating is limited, so it is important to register as soon as possible. For more information or to register, email lpeatrowsky@jewishomaha.org or call 402.334.6439. You may also register online at www.jfofoundation.org/events.

Frances and Sam Fried Continued from page 1 one or more outstanding citizens each year who have gone beyond the call of duty to help their fellow man. This award was formerly known as the “George Award”. The name comes from the saying “Let George do it”, which refers to someone who does the work that no one else will do. It was changed to the Service Above Self Community award to reflect Rotary International’s core value -- service above self.

4 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2013

Go beyond the basics during Beth Elâ€™s Masters in Judaism by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity For those wishing to immerse themselves in Jewish study taught in a more advanced format, Beth El is offering Masters in Judaism, a seven-session course beginning Wednesday, Oct. 9, 6:45 p.m. â€“ 8:30 p.m. This mini course will offer a great opportunity for adults to engage in several fascinating and thought-provoking topics, said Eadie Tsabari, Beth Elâ€™s Director of Congregational Learning. â€œWe wanted to give people a chance to go home at the end of the day and eat dinner, and then come back to the Anat Gilboa shul for class,â€? Tsabari said, â€œand because it will be held at the same time as our Hebrew High School, weâ€™ll show our kids that Jewish learning is important for adults, too. Four different classes will be presented during the sevenweek series; students may select two to attend. Re-think Israel: Jewish and Israeli Culture and Art, will be

led by Dr. Anat Gilboa, the Schusterman Visiting Israel Professor at the University of Nebraska-Omahaâ€™s Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies. Gilboa is an art historian specializing in early modern art, as well as Jewish and Israeli visual culture. â€œIn this class we will go beyond politics, reli-

Andy Greenberg

Susan Paley

gion, and the headlines that typically shape our perceptions,â€? Tsabari said. â€œDr. Gilboa will challenge us to re-think Israel.â€? Susan Paley, a longtime teacher in the Jewish community, will teach Jewish Literacy, focusing on the Jewish religion, its people and its history. Participants will also explore Jewish contemporary life, beliefs, ethics and rituals, plus holidays

Marriages

Schwalb Center joins Fall Symposium by LEONARD GREENSPOON The Natan & Hannah Schwalb Center for Israel & Jewish Studies was founded at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2009. This year the Schwalb Center is joining the Harris Center for Judaic Studies at the University of NebraskaLincoln and the Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization at Creighton as a major sponsor of the annual Klutznick-Harris Symposium (for further information on this fallâ€™s Symposium, see the front page article in this issue of the Jewish Press). Moshe Gershovich, the Schwalb Centerâ€™s faculty director, in conjunction with David Boocker, Dean of UNOâ€™s College of Arts and Sciences, took the initiative in arranging for this cooperative step. In these efforts, they were supported by other Center faculty and by the Centerâ€™s Advisory Board. As a result of this action, Nebraskaâ€™s three main institutions of higher learning for Jewish Studies are joining their scholarly and fiscal resources. Such cooperation is not always the norm elsewhere. In commenting on this, Sara Juster, chair of the Schwalb Centerâ€™s Advisory Board, said: â€œIt is an exciting opportunity for the Schwalb Center to join in supporting Nebraskaâ€™s premier academic symposium focused on Jewish studies. Having been involved in the Klutznick Symposium during its early years, it is especially gratifying to me to assist in expanding the reach of the symposium to the UNO community.â€?

and life-cycle events. Andy Greenberg, a Beth El congregant and well-known motivational speaker, will present The Torah: Itâ€™s Simple Once You Understand the Complexities. This class will look beyond the literal translation of the Torah into the deeper meaning, Tsabari said, adding that prior knowledge of Hebrew and the Torah is not required. Finally, Rabbi Steven Abraham will lead The Great Debate, which will look at Jewish texts and different ways to explore their contents. All adults in the Jewish community are invited to participate in â€œMasters in Judaism,â€? Rabbi Steven Abraham and are also welcome to enjoy a preview of each â€œMastersâ€? class this Saturday afternoon, during Beth Elâ€™s â€œWatch Out for Shabbatâ€? program. Cost to attend the seven-week course is $36 for Beth El members, and $45 for non-members. Register online at www.bethel-omaha.org; for more information, contact Tsabari at 402.492.8550, or etsabari@bethel-omaha.org.

After this fallâ€™s Symposium, its leadership will meet to consider changing the name of this event -- which was initially the Klutznick Symposium, now the Klutznick-Harris Symposium. The possibility of holding some of the Symposiumâ€™s activities at UNO will also be discussed.

Community Garden

Friedel Jewish Academy students in communtiy garden

KATZMAN/FLIEGELMAN Rachel Shira Katzman and Elliott Marc Fliegelman of Chicago were married on April 28, 2013, at the Westin Oâ€™Hare Hotel in Rosemont, IL. The bride received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Loyola University Chicago and currently works in online fundraising and marketing. She is the daughter of former Omahans Michael and Carol Katzman of Overland Park, KS. The groom received a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Northeastern Illinois University and works in e-commerce marketing management. He is the son of Louis and Suzanne Fliegelman of Chicago. The couple currently resides in Chicago.

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October 4, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 5

Temple’s adult education offers broad range of topics by DAVID GOLBITZ Temple Israel Staff Writer Adult Education classes have always been a cornerstone of the lifelong learning offered by Temple Israel, and the 20132014 curriculum will continue that tradition as the clergy and Debbie Massarano, new Director of Lifelong Learning, discuss dynamic and educational topics. “Our adult learning opportunities this year will offer a broad range of experiences,” Massarano said. “Everything from TED Talk conversations on Sunday morning to three major keynote speakers. Our Adult Education programs are held on Wednesday evenings, Thursday mornings and Sunday mornings when Religious School is in session.” Wednesday evening class is divided into trimesters. The first trimester, taught by Massarano and beginning Oct. 2, is “an exploration of our personal relationship with Israel, as well as gaining a basic understanding of the Reform Movement’s approach to Israel.” This class will use various texts, documents and conversation to explore one’s understanding of how the land and people of Israel fit into the daily lives of Reform Jews. “A fundamental piece of Jewish identity is having a personal relationship with Israel,” Massarano said, “and this class is going to look at that and what that is for everybody. We will explore how to make the connection with Israel and how to articulate one’s own personal relationship with Israel.” The second trimester begins on Dec. 4 and will be led by Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, who will offer an exploration of many different religions, the ways in which they are similar and different to Judaism. The third trimester, beginning Feb. 19, 2014, is entitled “The Symbiotic Relationship of Science and Religion,” and will be taught by Rabbi Josh Brown. This session will also include a conversation with, and presentation by, Rabbi Douglas Kohn, whose book, “Life, Faith and Cancer,” includes essays written by rabbis, cantors and other

Jewish scholars who have experienced cancer in their lives. “Adult Education is about engaging people on different topics,” Massarano said. “People should come to the classes that interest them.” In addition to the Wednesday evening classes, Thursday morning’s Adult Study with the Clergy returns with three nine to ten-week sessions taught by Rabbis Azriel and Brown, along with Massarano. The first session, taught by Rabbi Azriel and beginning Oct. 3, continues the conversation the rabbi began in early 2013 with “Dilemmas of Faith: God and Spirituality in the Modern World.” “I think there is a need in modernity, in post-modernity, to look at faith, because Judaism, in addition to rituals and observance, needs to also address and understand the language of faith,” Rabbi Azriel said. “We are living in a world in which we are approached by and constantly in touch with faith communities and I want Jews to feel comfortable with the word ‘faith.’” The course will also examine the need for ritual practices in relation to faith. Does one need to perform these rituals in order to have faith, or can one simply believe? “I see faith and practice as one,” Rabbi Azriel said. “We need to talk about faith without practice and practice without faith. It is a challenge. I want to be able to shed light on understanding the challenge of both the faith and the practice.” Rabbi Azriel hopes this course will encourage further discussion of what he knows is a very difficult, yet equally important, topic for many people. “I want them to struggle, to question, to be irritated, uncomfortable,” he said. “I want to introduce a set of values and a set of questions that are important for us to engage in.” Adult Study with the Clergy is held on Thursday mornings from 10-11:30 a.m. To register for the course, contact Program Director Wendy Goldberg at wgoldberg@temple israelomaha.com. The course fee is $45 for members and $55 for non-members.

NJHS plans annual meeting by RENEE RATNER CORCORAN Brandeis and State theaters. We bowled at the 20th Century Executive Director, Nebraska Jewish Historical Society Alleys, had cokes at Metro and Beaton Drugs and window The Nebraska Jewish Historical Society’s annual meeting shopped at Borsheims, Brodkeys and Malashock Jewelers. It was a wonderful downtown will be held on Sunday, Oct. and they were the good old 13 at 2 p.m. in the JCC audidays. torium. The NJHS program will Do you remember include a video with other Downtown Omaha, mid-centwists and surprises. Helen tury 1940s, 50s and 60s, Epstein, a past NJHS presibefore malls and mega-movie dent, will receive the Shirley houses? Women wore hats, gloves and high heels to shop Berman Volunteer of the Year at Brandeis, Herzbergs, Award. Also planned is a hors Natelsons and Goldstein d’oeuvre reception honoring Chapmans. We ate in the Lois Friedman on the special “Pompeiian Room” in occasion of her 90th birthday. Brandeis, Bishops, the King The entire community is Fong Café, the Virginia Cafe invited to attend and join the Goldstein Chapmans and Northrup-Jones. We NJHS as downtown Omaha is went to movies at the Orpheum, Paramount, Omaha, revisited and remember a special time in our history.

Beth El’s Social Action Committee plans community service by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity For Beth El’s Social Action Committee, Sunday, Oct. 27 will be a day filled with community service in both Omaha and Lincoln. Committee members and participating volunteers will be busy at work at a local Habitat for Humanity house (site to be announced), beginning with orientation at 8:30 a.m.; the first shift will then run from 8:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Following a lunch break at 11:30 a.m., the second shift will run from 12:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. No prior experience is necessary. Volunteers must be 17 years old; 16-year-olds may participate only with written parental consent. Under no circumstances will any children younger than 16 be allowed on site. For volunteer requirement information and to sign up, visit www.bethel-omaha.org. All volunteers are required to register by noon on Thursday, Oct. 24. Volunteers are also needed to make and deliver lunches that day; for more information, contact Program Director Margie Gutnik in the synagogue office, 402.492.8550, or at programming@bethel-omaha.org. Also on the 27th, Beth El’s aptly-named ‘BE Warriors’ team members will don their walking shoes for the American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” event at Holmes Lake Park in Lincoln. The 1 p.m. walk, offering one-or three-mile routes, is expected to draw

around 6,000 participants and benefits breast cancer research, education, advocacy and services. Beth El’s team captain is congregant Michelle Shkolnick, a breast cancer survivor and the American Cancer Society’s 2012 Nebraska Hero of Hope. A fervent advocate and fund raiser for breast cancer research, Shkolnick said, “I am here because there were other women who did things in the name of research that I benefitted from,” and added, “I do this so my sisters never have to hear the words ‘You have cancer.’” Beth El’s team will meet at the synagogue at 10:30 a.m. to caravan to Lincoln; participants may also drive there on their own and meet up with the team at the park, Shkolnick said. There is no registration fee, but participants are encouraged to set a donation goal of $100 or more. Register online at http://main.acsevents.org/goto/BEWarriors and click on the “Join our team” button. Registrations will also be accepted the day of the walk. Advance registrants will receive detailed information about the day via email; participants may also contact Shkolnick at RelayChick@cox.net, for additional information. Shkolnick encouraged people to join the walk, saying, “We have so many members of our community who have been touched by cancer, and if we can get even just a handful involved, we can make a huge impact.”

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B’nai B’rith hosted annual campus Sukkah decorating by DEB MARBURG Administrative Assistant, B’nai B’rith Monksy Lodge A little rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the more than 30 members of B’nai B’rith Henry Monsky Lodge, BBYO, BBYO Connect and families from Friedel Jewish Academy and the Child Development Center, who came together Sunday, Sept. 15 to decorate the Sukkahs at the Rose Blumkin Home, Friedel and the CDC. “I was so impressed with the huge turnout of teens this year! The enthusiasm that they had for taking part in such a great mitzvah was evident in their smiles and laughter,” said BBYO/BBYO Connect Director Leora Kathleen Kirshenbaum lends a hand as other teens and Azriel. “Each BBYO and members of the community place boughs on one of the BBYO Connect teen put three Sukkahs on the JCC Campus. forth a lot of effort and labor into creating beautiful places to celebrate Deb Marburg, and Leora Azriel for organizing the project and helping to generate Sukkot around the JCC campus.” Lodge President Ari Riekes added: “It such great enthusiasm.” This event is held annually and sponwas wonderful to see so many teens and other members of the community pitch in sored by B’nai B’rith with a pizza lunch for and contribute to this mitzvah. The B’nai all attending. B’rith gives special thanks to Steve Riekes,

Mainstreeters in October, part 2 by OZZIE NOGG A fun movie and a free concert are all part of Mainstreeters October programming. Please come and enjoy the free concert by the Intergenerational Orchestra of Omaha, Chuck Pennington Conductor: Sunday, Oct. 20. 2 p.m. in the JCC Auditorium. Jewish Senior Services invites you to a 29th Anniversary Concert performance by this non-profit group of youth and senior musicians playing popular orchestral music, show tunes and vocals. The Orchestra’s mission is to combine the talents of two diverse generations of musicians for the purpose of creating beautiful music and then sharing that music with others. Bring a friend. Everyone in the community is welcome. Sponsored by The Ruth Riekes Richards Fund of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. Join Us at the Movies: The Yankles. Friday, Oct. 25, 1 p.m. in the JCC Theater. No charge for the film or for unlimited bags of warm, delicious popcorn. No reservations necessary. Invite a friend. The Yankles tells the story of Charlie Jones, a washed up, exmajor league ballplayer, and how he gets a second chance at life and love by managing

an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva baseball team. According to publicity releases, the film is not just a funny film about baseball; it’s about second chances, reconciliation and forgiveness; about making mistakes and moving on; about living by principles and not passions. What’s not to like? If you want to have lunch at the Star Deli before the show, call Maggie Conti at 402.334.6521 to reserve a table. Lunch is on your own. The Star Deli starts serving at 11:30 a.m. For questions call Maggie Conti at 402.334.6521. Mainstreeters welcomes all Jewish residents of the Omaha area age 60 plus. The group offers a mixed-bag of social events and learning opportunities that give participants the chance to meet new people, exercise their brains, take part in new activities and continue enjoying life to the fullest. Maggie Conti, Director of Activities and Outreach Programs at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, said. “Mainstreeters continues to offer diverse programs every month, and we invite community members to join the October excitement.”

Organizations B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Terry Moore, President, Omaha Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, will answer the question, “Economic development in Omaha: Are unions dead?” on Wednesday, Oct. 9, noon, at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. An optional buffet lunch costs $11; beverage service only is $3. For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org.

words in any other language. So be a mentsh and zog a por verter, (say a few words). We meet every Thursday from 1-3 p.m., in the boardroom of the Rose Blumkin Home. For information, please call Anne Skolkin at 402.343.1638.

LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Yiddish, once thought to be a dying language, is nowadays presented in transliterated form using the Roman alphabet, so that everyone can become a maven instantly. If you want to “jazz up” your conversation, throw in a few Yiddish words. One word in Yiddish has more meaning than a dozen

Melissa and Rabbi Daniel Fellman of Syracuse, NY announce the Sept. 2 birth of their daughter, Elizabeth Hannah, Elisheva Chana. She has two brothers, Zachary and Jacob. Grandparents are Bev and Dick Fellman, and Dr. Carol Ellstein and Joe Wildberg of Wolverine, MI, and the late Charles Ellstein.

Birth

October 4, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 7

“Check out” the new arrivals at the library by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Program Coordinator, The Center for Jewish Life The Kripke Jewish Federation Library is an integral program of the Center for Jewish Life, providing the community with a wealth of materials for leisure, learning and more. Frequent new arrivals continually enhance the collection of fiction, non-fiction, Judaica, children and young adult books plus a large selection of CDs and DVDs. There are literally thousands of selections populating the shelves, ready and waiting for you. And remember, the new Sony eReaders are available to check-out. Community members are also encouraged to let us know what you want to read. Is your favorite Jewish author publishing a new book soon? Did a friend in another city tell you about a great book on a Jewish subject or with Jewish content? Perhaps you heard an interview on the radio with a title that sounds intriguing. Just call the library – 402.334.6462 – and give us the titles to add to the Kripke Library collection. The following is a small sampling of new books that have arrived in the past two months. Fiction A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams - Memorial Day, 1938: New York socialite Lily Dane has just returned with her family to the idyllic oceanfront community of Seaview, Rhode Island, expecting another placid summer season among the familiar traditions and friendships that sustained her after heartbreak. That is, until the Greenwalds decide to take up residence in Seaview. The Retrospective: A Novel by A. B. Yeshoshua - An aging Israeli film director has been invited to the pilgrimage city of Santiago de Compostela for a retrospective of his work. When Yair Moses and Ruth, his leading actress and longtime muse, settle into their hotel room, a painting over their bed triggers a distant memory in Moses from one of his early films: a scene that caused a rift with his brilliant but difficult screenwriter—who, as it happens, was once Ruth’s lover. Kind of Blue by Miles Corwin - When a legendary ex-cop is murdered in L.A, the pressure’s on to find the killer. Lt. Frank Duffy needs his best detective on the case, but his best detective, Ash Levine, quit a year ago. A tenacious, obsessive detective, Ash resigned after Latisha Patton, the witness in a homicide case he was working, was murdered. Without his job, Ash is left unanchored -- and consumed with guilt that he somehow caused Latisha’s murder. When he’s asked to rejoin the force, Ash reluctantly agrees. The Wayward Moon by Janice Weizman - After Rahel, a 17year-old girl in 9th century Iraq, murders a vicious assailant, she must disguise herself and flee. Equipped with only her wits, she’s kidnapped into slavery, poses as a novice monk in a monastery, finds work as a cook at a remote roadside inn, and falls in love with Lucan, a traveler from the far west. An odyssey through the Middle East at the height of the Islamic Empire, this unique story provides a rare glimpse into the mind and heart of a young girl on a journey of self-discovery. Boston Cream by Howard Shrier - Canada’s top private eye, back as Jonah Geller, resumes his vagabond ways in Boston Cream, the Vintage World of Crime trade paperback original and sequel to the Arthur Ellis-winning novels Buffalo Jump and High Chicago. In Boston Cream, David Fine is not the kind of guy to go missing. Or so his father

tells PI Jonah Geller. A brilliant young surgeon-in-training, devout, devoted to his parents--last seen two weeks ago leaving the Boston hospital where he worked. Still recovering from a concussion, Jonah and partner Jenn Raudsepp soon find out that David fled for his life after a vicious Irish crime boss tried to abduct him.

Non-Fiction Jewhooing the Sixties: American Celebrity and Jewish Identity by David Kaufman - Sandy Koufax, Lenny Bruce, Bob Dylan, and Barbra Streisand first came to public attention in the early 1960s, a period Kaufman identifies as historically ripe for American Jews to reexamine their (Jewish) identities. Kaufman investigates these celebrities’ rise to fame, the specific brand of Jewishness each one represented, and how their fans and the public at large perceived their ethnic identity as Jews. Black Harlem and the Jewish Lower East Side: Narratives Out of Time by Catherine Rottenberg - Harlem and the Lower East Side are two neighborhoods that evoke not only a rich, if contested, history, but also a particular racial narrative. Indeed, these spaces - one downtown and one uptown - on Manhattan Island have become almost synonymous with the Jewish American and the African American experiences in the twentieth century. The Jewish Story Finder: A Guide to 668 Tales Listing Subjects and Sources by Sharon Barcan Elswit - Storytelling, as oral tradition and in writing, has long played a central role in Jewish society. Family, educators, and clergy employ stories to transmit Jewish culture, traditions, and values. This comprehensive bibliography identifies 668 Jewish folktales by title and subject, summarizing plot lines for easy access to the right story for any occasion. Doublelife: One Family, Two Faiths and a Journey of Hope by Harold Berman, Gayle Redlingshafer Berman - It truly was

love at first sight, even though Gayle was the Minister of Music in a Texas mega-church and Harold was a secular Jew from New York. Fate brought them together. But destiny had something else in mind. From the Bible Belt to northernmost Russia to the heart of the Jewish world, Doublelife is really about the journey within, to discover who we are and who we are meant to be. Children and Young Readers My First Kafka: Runaways, Rodents, and Giant Bugs by Matthue Roth - Runaway children who meet up with monsters. A giant talking bug. A secret world of mouse-people. The stories of Franz Kafka are wondrous and nightmarish, miraculous and scary. In My First Kafka, storyteller Matthue Roth and artist Rohan Daniel Eason adapt three Kafka stories into startling, creepy, fun stories for all ages. The Crystal Ball: A Rebecca Mystery by Jacqueline Dembar Greene – Ages 8-11 - Rebecca and her neighbor, Mr. Rossi, seem to be having bad luck. When Mr. Rossi sprains his wrist, Rebecca takes over the care and feeding of his pigeons--and discovers a strange black pigeon with an eerie message warning Mr. Rossi of danger. Where did the pigeon come from, and what sort of danger is lurking? Is Rebecca herself now in danger as well? Only a visit to a fortune teller will reveal the truth! Destination Unknown: Adventures of a Lifetime and The Churva Plot by Zev Spekor –Join young Avraham as he embarks on adventures of a lifetime found in the first two books in a new trilogy for kids ages 9-12. The Watcher in the Shadows by Chris Moriarty – At the turn of the twentieth century, New York’s Bowery District becomes the scene of a terrible murder when the Klezmer King gets fried to a crisp by his Electric Tuxedo—on stage! The Inquisitor’s apprentice, thirteen-year-old Sacha Kessler, tries to help find the killer, but the closer he gets to solving the crime, the more it sounds as if the creature that haunted him in his first adventure is back. Worse still, his own Jewish family is in danger. Sacha has avoided learning magic until now, but as his world falls apart around him, he changes his mind. Room for Baby by Michelle Edwards – Ages 3-6 - What’s a family to do when there’s a baby on the way but no place to put a crib? The big brother-to-be is worried. His mom does have a sewing room, but its every nook and cranny is stuffed with cast-off items and outgrown clothes that people have given her to recycle and reuse—someday. Don’t Sneeze at the Wedding by Pamela Mayer – Ages 4-8 Anna is excited to be the flower girl at her aunt’s wedding, but that morning she wakes up and... ah-choo! Don’t sneeze at the wedding! everyone warns her, but will their remedies work? The library, located by the main entrance of the Jewish Community Center, is open 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Friday. The library’s online catalog is available 24/7 on the Kripke Library page of the Jewish Federation website at www.jewishomaha. org. Know a book you want and are in a hurry? Just call 402. 334.6462 and your selections will be ready and waiting for you when you arrive. The Kripke Jewish Federation Library is a program of the Center for Jewish Life as part of its mission to maximize involvement of Omaha’s Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences. For additional information, please call 402.334.6462.

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8 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2013

Point of view

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Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

The neighborhood by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor This edition, as you may have noticed, has a special section dedicated to Temple Israel’s move from Cass Street to Sterling Ridge. “Welcome to the neighborhood,” read the signs at Beth Israel when Temple members walked by with the Torah, and those signs were very us, very Omaha. We’re in this together and don’t you forget it. We may disagree about all sorts of things, but ultimately we’re one community. We’ll again have the chance to see that attitude in action on Oct. 20, when the annual Campaign event takes place at Dave and Busters near 132nd Street and Center Street. It’s 2013, so it’s called the Jewish Federation of Omaha B’nai Mitzvah party. You’re all invited. There will be plenty of kosher food, free games for the kids, no cost to attend and zero excuses to stay home. Speaking of Temple Israel, last Sunday the third graders had a family session, where they did a variety of activities with their parents. One of those was walking around the new building and finding items that connected us to God. We walked into the chapel and I expected my son to point at the Torah, or the eternal light. Instead, he picked the chairs. He explained: “It’s where all the people will sit.” To him, as it turns out, those chairs symbolize togetherness. They symbolize the anticipation of

people coming to the building, and sitting with each other. I think that is true for synagogues, as well as for all the other areas in our community. And why is it so important that we all come together and spend an evening in each other’s company? Why can’t we just send in a pledge card when the time comes and stay home for a quiet evening in? Our lives are already so hectic. Do we really have to? There are a few reasons. First of all, a community is only as strong as the relationships that exist within that community. Relationships suffer when we don’t actively work on them. We have to actually spend time together, and what’s more, we have to want to spend time together. And you have to admit, a ready-made party, where you don’t have to cook or clean or even pay, and you don’t have to get a baby sitter, where everything is taken care of for you and all you need to do is show up, is a pretty good deal. Thanks to event chairs Kimberly Robinson and Cindy Goldberg who did all the hard work, this should be easy for the rest of us. Second, a Jewish life is not something you can accomplish alone. Jewish life demands community and a shared experience. There are certain prayers that cannot be said by one person, but need a minyan. There are entire websites designated to how to combat being alone during Shabbos and/or

holidays, and many communities make it a priority to reach out to Jews who live far from other Jews. “It is difficult,” says the Jewish Agency for Israel, “to overstate the importance of community in the Jewish story. (…) The peculiarity of the Jews as a people who have spent most of their history in Diaspora has caused the community to become a substitute for the nation. That is, many generations of Jews throughout history have experienced their nationhood through life in their specific Jewish community. In the absence of national structures, the community not only replaced the nation; to a large extent, it became the nation.” (jafi.org) Community understands us, and it gives us economic stability and mental health. It helps us to give more meaning to religious life and feeds us when we can’t do so ourselves. Our community prays with us, helps us educate our children and each other, celebrates our simchas with us and is there for us when we suffer a loss. Community keeps an eye on us, whether we always want it to or not. This is our neighborhood, and we belong here. So much so, that even an eightyear-old knows that in a Jewish building, the chairs are very important. So, let’s celebrate that neighborhood. Together, as a community, and let’s have some fun while we’re at it. Besides, I want to see you. I sit here, writing to you, week after week, staring at my computer screen. It would be a nice change to see your face. Get out of our respective bubbles, leave the routine behind for a bit, and spend some quality time together. The party is at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20 at Dave and Busters, 2502 S. 133rd Plaza. RSVPs can go to Zach Spooner at jspooner@jewishomaha.org, or you can call 402.334.6431.

schools can’t be absorbed, say school superintendents. School systems that receive extra federal money to help educate the children of service members housed in base communities around the country are especially hard hit, as are funds for reservation schools serving Native American children. The wheels of the criminal justice system will grind even slower because the sequester forces cuts in the reimbursement of lawyers hired to make it work, say federal judges and the federal courts, already burdened by vacancies, are reeling under cuts from sequester. Efforts to rehabilitate offenders or treat drug abuse are suffering. Programs such as Meals on Wheels, help for low-income students in preparing for college, low-income housing vouchers, free emergency lifeline service to seniors, weatherization programs, community health centers -- all have been significantly affected. For those in need of these services, the individual impact is huge. A child who isn’t ready for school will earn less over a lifetime, as will a low-income student who doesn’t make it to college. A low-income couple living in a home that costs them an exorbitant amount to heat won’t be spending money in the local economy that fuels job growth. Even the cuts with indirect effects, such as the $1.7 billion taken from the National Institutes of Health or funds deducted from other scientific research, can be translated into lives lost that might have been saved by new treatments for deadly diseases. What too many fail to grasp is that to say we are all in it together is not just a platitude but an economic and social reality. Policies that make people more productive, help people spend money locally, and upgrade our infrastructure have an impact throughout the economy and mean a more prosperous future for everyone, not just those immediately affected.

That is why the spectacle of our continuing gridlock on the federal budget is so depressing. And it doesn’t seem to be reality-based. Refusing to allow the federal government to pay the interest on its debt does not undo the fact that the money has already been borrowed and spent. Ever rising health care costs spurred in part by having so many uninsured -- never mind more people actually dying because they lack health care -- aren’t reversed by defunding the new health care law. At the same time, the federal deficit has declined dramatically since the worst days of the great recession because of cuts already made. At this point further budget cutting is a purely ideological exercise, whose practical effect is not more growth, but more stagnation, as many studies show. Passing a fair and equitable federal budget is a moral statement and a moral imperative. It reflects not only a commitment to fiscal sanity that will comfort investors, banks, businesses, and other economic interests, it also will bring stability and hope to millions. These are our neighbors and family members who are seeking to pay their bills every month or aspiring to improve their lives through the dint of their own hard work and furthering their education. The time is short, but Congress must act. What it needs to do now is no mystery and requires no hearings -- restore the cuts and pass a sane budget that bolsters those in need rather than punishing them in the name of fiscal austerity. Nancy Kaufman is the CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women. This article originally appeared in Huffington Post. Kaufman has had a distinguished career as a public servant, advocate, and non-profit leader. Prior to joining NCJW, Kaufman served as the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Boston for twenty years, where she led the social justice, Israel advocacy, and governmental affairs agendas for Boston’s Jewish Federation and its agencies.

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.

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 per-

Sequester Shenanigans

Behind the headlines NANCY K. KAUFMAN, Cheif Executive Officer of NCJW The federal budget for fiscal year 2013 expired Sept. 30, and a new one is nowhere in sight. The arbitrary and capricious cuts of the sequester begun in March are slated to continue for ten years unless Congress acts. The national debt ceiling must be raised in mid-October, and a minority in the House wants to defund the new health care law or shut down the government and/or refuse to pay the nation’s debts. We are stuck in a recurring nightmare inflicted by a few individuals with an agenda of undermining government no matter the cost. That nightmare is ignored by too many who seem oblivious to the real consequences of this stalemate for those less fortunate. What’s missing from this picture? The implications for ordinary people, who are faced with wage stagnation, home devaluation, continuing high unemployment, and, in many cases, massive state budget cuts to programs they desperately need, including public education! The litany of cuts is growing daily and happening largely under the radar. The fact that sequester cuts are designed to gather steam over time has made them invisible from the lofty perch of many national pundits. But for those affected, the cuts are happening at ground level. The Coalition for Human Needs compiles an ongoing account of sequester effects. Reduced funding for Head Start means 57,000 fewer pre-schoolers will be served by a critical school-readiness program. Cuts to federal aid to public

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October 4, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 9

J Street confab’s message: We’ve arrived

Focus on issues RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The story that this year’s J Street conference schedule tells is, typically enough, about getting Israel and the Palestinians to a two-state solution. Between the lines is another narrative as urgent as peacekeeping to the liberal pro-Israel group: getting J Street into the establishment. The second objective received a major boost earlier this month with the announcement that Vice President Joe Biden would headline the conference, which begins Saturday. The first vice presidential appearance at a J Street event will be supplemented by a handful of other first appearances: a top Israeli government minister, representatives of the hard-line Israeli parties Likud and Shas, and the president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the national Jewish community’s umbrella body. The conference, titled “Our Time to Lead,” could be read as J Street’s aspiration to community leadership as much as an urgent call for American involvement in advancing the peace process. “All across the country we’re making progress in getting representation on JCRCs,” Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street’s founder and director, told JTA, referring to the Jewish community relations councils that operate in most American Jewish communities. “We’ve done several hundred events at Jewish communal institutions. Our rabbinic cabinet is over 700. There is a growing understanding that this is a very important part of the American Jewish landscape, that we have a very important seat at the table,” he said. Ben-Ami is unabashed in describing how he has striven for establishment acceptance. He noted that J Street, having passed its fifth birthday, is now eligible for the ultimate imprimatur of Jewish establishment credentials: membership in the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The Presidents Conference, the main communal umbrella group on foreign policy issues, confirmed that J Street had submitted a formal application but would not comment further, citing the confidentiality of the process. J Street also has applied for JCRC membership in five cities -- Boston, Baltimore, Atlanta, San Francisco and Denver -- with only Denver rejecting the bid. Ronald Halber, who directs the Greater Washington JCRC, said J Street’s arrival was more a function of its longevity than communal acceptance of its position. “If you’ve been around a while, you start making friends and relationships,” he said. “The more you’ve become an established fact, the more you’re a player.” Still, J Street remains vulnerable, as it has been since its founding, to charges that it is not in step with the broad communal consensus on Israel. Lee Smith, writing in the online Jewish magazine Tablet, fumed that J Street had pulled “a Putin on Obama” in its refusal -- virtually alone among Jewish groups -- to back President Obama’s request for congressional authorization for a strike on Syria following an alleged chemical weapons attack by the regime of President Bashar Assad. Though it has dominated Middle East headlines for the past month, Syria does not feature at all on the J Street schedule. Iran, with nuclear ambitions seen by Jerusalem as a more pressing existential threat than the conflict with the

Palestinians, merits a single session. Ben-Ami said J Street was taking its cue from a U.S. administration that has placed a premium on keeping the Israeli-Palestinian talks going. “The real core mission of J Street is to demonstrate that a lot of people who care deeply about Israel strongly support what the president and the secretary of state have laid out this year,” he said. Even those establishment figures who laud J Street’s new prominence acknowledge that its first five years have been anything but smooth. Rabbi David Saperstein, who directs the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, recalled some significant bumps: J Street’s attempt at even-handedness during the 2009 Gaza War and its refusal to take a position on a U.N. Security Council resolution in 2011 that would have condemned Israel’s settlement practices. Both postures were roundly repudiated by the Jewish establishment. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, then president of the Union for Reform Judaism, berated the group at its 2009 conference for its Gaza position. “It has been more strongly messaged in recent years on moving the peace process forward,” Saperstein said of J Street. “It has been targeted in the key messages it’s put out, focusing with clarity on the peace process. For the significant majority of American Jews who remain committed to the peace process as indispensable to Israel’s well-being, it has become a go-to entity for people who wanted to make a difference.” One key to J Street’s acceptance, said the JCPA’s Rabbi Steve Gutow, has been its role in pushing back against the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, particularly against mainline Christian churches. “Three years ago at the Presbyterian convention, [J Street Senior Vice President] Rachel Lerner came in literally at the last minute and gave a remarkable speech about why delegitimization was wrong,” Gutow said. One of the church’s publications had just praised J Street as an emerging new voice in the Jewish community. The divestment bid was defeated. Ben-Ami said his group’s legitimacy on the left was among the added values it brought to the Jewish table and a reason why the Jewish center had softened its stance. “The center-right understands they don’t present the best face on BDS,” he said. That strength is also J Street’s Achilles’ heel in its bid for establishment bona fides: its inability to accrue associates on the Republican side of the congressional aisle. Not one Republican is slated to speak during the conference, and in recent elections, J Street’s affiliated political action committee has backed only Democrats. Ben-Ami said Republicans are becoming more right wing and have moved away from the peace process activism that was evident as recently as George W. Bush’s second term, when Condoleezza Rice, as Secretary of State, spearheaded the Annapolis peace talks. But he acknowledged it was necessary for J Street to forge alliances with the GOP. “It is a very important goal of ours to try and make some inroads in the Republican Party on the Hill because this used to be an area of bipartisan agreement,” Ben-Ami said, referring to the backing for a two-state solution. Republicans say J Street’s missteps have undercut its credibility. Fifty-four members of Congress, not a single Republican among them, signed a J Street-backed congressional letter in 2010 urging President Obama to press Israel to lift certain embargoes on the Gaza Strip.

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Agudath Israel condemns Chovevei Torah by URIEL HEILMAN With Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the liberal Orthodox rabbinical school founded by Rabbi Avi Weiss, set to install Rabbi Asher Lopatin as its new president, Agudath Israel of America is coming out swinging. The 13-year-old rabbinical seminary always has been a flashpoint for traditionalist Orthodox critics, largely because of Weiss’ controversial actions, including ordaining women Orthodox clergy. But what has Aguda’s hackles up this time is a roundtable discussion at the Oct. 6 ceremony honoring Lopatin that will feature leaders from the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements. Aguda says the ceremony “does violence” to Orthodox principles: “A yeshiva is a place where Jews rigorously pursue the timeless truths of Torah. That leaves no room for those who reject the very concept that such timeless truths exist. The forthcoming YCT installation ceremony does violence to this essential principle.” Read the entire story at www.jta.org.

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J Street’s touting of the letter made it appear partisan, a view reinforced later that year when it was revealed that Ben-Ami had lied about receiving support from the liberal philanthropist George Soros. Most damning, however, for Republicans, was Ben-Ami telling The New York Times in 2010, “Our No. 1 agenda item is to do whatever we can in Congress to act as the president’s blocking back.” In his interview with JTA, Ben-Ami attempted to walk back the quote, saying he would have made the same pledge in George W. Bush’s last two years in office, when the president made reviving Israeli-Palestinian talks a priority. Matt Brooks, the director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, wasn’t buying the explanation. “You define yourself very clearly where you stand when you call yourself the blocking back for the president,” Brooks told JTA. “It’s no surprise that Republicans are distrustful and by and large in disagreement with the strategies of J Street.” Halber of the Washington JCRC agreed. “Their missions statement is not bad,” he said. “The problem with J Street is that they’ve turned Israel into a partisan issue.” It’s a message the group has taken to heart. J Street led lobbying this summer for a congressional letter urging Obama to take up the offer of the newly elected Iranian president, Hassan Rohani, to engage. Of the more than 130 signatories, 18 were Republican. In Israel, J Street appears to have had even more success in breaking through the party line. Tzahi Hanegbi, a former justice minister and member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing Likud party, and Yitzhak Vaknin, a lawmaker for the Sephardic Orthodox Shas party, will both be attending the J Street conference. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel’s chief peace negotiator, is the opening night speaker. Michael Oren, the outgoing Israeli ambassador who once scored the group as a blight on the American Jewish body politic, now has close relations with Ben-Ami. Oren, BenAmi said, has been a “tremendous” ambassador.

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10 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2013

Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 | 712.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com For information on our historic synagogue – dates and times for Friday night services, call 712.323.8885. FRIDAY, Oct. 11: Services, 7:30 p.m. followed by an oneg with guest speaker, Larry Blass on the Care System for the Elderly is Like an Oriental Menu (It may sound good, but you’re not always sure of what you’ll get.) The community is invited. Miles Remer will officiate at all of the Speaker Series Services.

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 Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman. FRIDAY: Kabblatat Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Guest speaker, Michelle Shkolnick. Iron Chef Cholent Challenger, 12:30 p.m.; Watch out for Shabbat: Join us for a peaceful Shabbat afternoon at the shul. Enjoy a delicious cholent lunch, featuring games, a preview of our “Masters in Judaism” series, and Shabbat activities for the entire family; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 6:45 p.m. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. SUNDAY: Torah Study Group, 10 a.m.; The Secrets of the Jews, 10 a.m. with Andy Greenberg. Cost is $36 for members, $45 for non-members. Register online at www.bethelomaha.org; Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 11 a.m.; USY Lunch and Apple Picking, 12:30-3:30 p.m. at Ditmar’s Orchard, Council Bluffs. Cost: $10 (includes apples and lunch). RSVP to Betsy Goodman at youthdir@bethel-omaha.org, betsy 4589@gmail.com, or 402.321.1806. Drop-off and pick-up at Beth El. MONDAY: Tai Chi class, six-week session, led by certified Thai Chi instructor Beth Staenberg, 6:30 p.m. Cost, $18. Register online at www.bethel-omaha.org. TUESDAY: Wrestling with the Rabbis of the Talmud, 10 a.m. weekly adult-education class led by Rabbi Abraham. No charge to attend; everyone is welcome. WEDNESDAY: Sisterhood Cherryberry Fundraiser, 5–9 p.m. Come to CherryBerry Yogurt, 157th and Pacific St., for a kosher, frozen yogurt delight, mention Beth El Synagogue and part of the cost will be donated to Beth El; High school dinner, 6 p.m. followed by classes at 6:45 p.m.; Choir Rehearsal, 7:30 p.m. in the chapel. Masters in Judaism, Adult-education series scheduled for Wednesdays, Oct. 9 – Nov. 20, from 6:45 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. (see full story on page 4.) Family Shabbat Dinner, Friday, Oct. 11, 6 p.m., familyfriendly services with dinner to follow. RSVP online. Family Shabbaton, Nov. 15-17, Lied Lodge in Nebraska City. All families in the Jewish community with children in seventh grade and younger, are welcome. Register online at Beth El’s website. All classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Good Shabbos Nebraska, 10 a.m. Guest Shmuley Boteach; Mincha, 6:15 p.m.; Havdalah, 7:29 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Daf Yomi: Week in Review with Rabbi Gross, 7:45 a.m. TUESDAY: Women’s Study Group, 6:30 p.m. at the home of Kathy Weiner. WEDNESDAY: Coffee and Your Jewish News, 7:45 a.m.; Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:45 p.m. THURSDAY: Sacred Grounds: Great Torah and Great Coffee, 9:30 a.m.

CHABAD CENTER An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street | Omaha, NE 68144-1646 | 402.330.1800 www.OChabad.com | email: chabad@aol.com Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m. followed by Hakafot and Kiddush; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush lunch; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 7 p.m. SUNDAY: Minyan, 8:30 a.m.; Breakfast Bonanza, 9:30 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m. TUESDAY: Dynamic Discovery with Shani Katzman, 10:15 a.m. A class for women based on traditional texts with practical insights and application. RSVP by calling the office. WEDNESDAY: Personal Parsha class, 10 a.m. with Rochi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office; The Development of the Oral Tradition, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office. THURSDAY: Women’s Study at UNMC with Shani Katzman, noon. RSVP by emailing Marlene Cohen at mzcohen@unmc.edu. 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: Diner and Early Family Shabbat Service, 6 p.m.; Classical Reform Shabbat Service, 7:45 p.m. with oneg following hosted by Nancy and Mark Intermill. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Noach. SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Jewish Book Club, 2 p.m. at Ann Rickover’s home, 2434 Ryons Street and will discuss American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar. WEDNESDAY: LJCS classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. ADULT EDUCATION THURSDAYS, Beginning Hebrew, 6 p.m.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street | Omaha, NE. 68154 | 402.556.6288 www.BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross. FRIDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 6:42 p.m.

New study: 6.8 million Jews living in U.S. by JTA NEWS STAFF NEW YORK (JTA) -- An estimated 6.8 million Jews live in the United States, according to a new study. The estimate counts 4.2 million American adults who self-identify as Jews; 1 million Americans who identify as having a Jewish background but do not identify as Jewish by religion; and approximately 1.6 million Jewish children. The new population estimates were synthesized from the data of nearly 350 recent surveys of the U.S. adult population, with more than 320,000 respondents and 6,900 Jewish respondents. About 65 percent of American Jews live in just six states, according to the study's estimates

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 SATURDAY: Shabbat Services, 9 a.m.

Breaking the Fast

B’nai Israel Synagogue in Council Bluffs had its annual break-the-fast potluck. Participants gathered for a picture after the meal.

Candlelighting Friday, October 4, 6:42 p.m.

Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend.

TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive | Omaha, NE 68144-1206 | 402.556.6536 http://templeisraelomaha.com FRIDAY: First Friday Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Azriel, Rabbi Brown and Cantor Shermet along with Grade 6 with candle lighting at 5:30 p.m. and dinner following services. Please RSVP by contacting Temple Israel, 402.556.6536 or RSVP@templeisraelomaha.com. SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. Madeleine Rauhauser, daughter of Nancy Nogg, will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah; JYG Glow in the Dark Scavenger Hunt, 7 p.m. Please RSVP to Dominique O'Connor, dtzoconnor@gmail.com. SUNDAY: Grades K-6, 10 a.m.; Grade Two Meet the Teachers in the classroom, 10 a.m.; Grade Three Meet the Teachers in the classroom, 11 a.m.; Kol Rina Rehearsal, 12:30 p.m. TUESDAY: Adult B’nai Mitzvah: Hebrew Study, 6:30 p.m. with Na’ama; Kol Rina Rehearsal, 6:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 4 p.m.; School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Family School, 6 p.m.; Grades 7-8, 6 p.m.; Temple Teen Night, 6 p.m.; Tools to Engage in a Conversation about Israel as an American Jew, 6:30 p.m. with Director of Lifelong Learning, Debbie Massarano. THURSDAY: Dilemmas of Faith: God and Spirituality in the Modern World, 10-11:30 a.m. with Rabbi Azriel. Class Fee: $45 for members, and $55 for non-members; Kol Rina Rehearsal, 6:30 p.m. Dedication of the New Building, Friday, Oct. 11, 6 p.m. Come celebrate Shabbat and help dedicate our new building. Hear the newly commissioned choral version of Hashkiveinu by Cantor Jonathan Comisar and listen to the sermon by Rabbi Eric Yoffie from the URJ. An oneg will follow the service and you can also explore the new building. OTYG Haunted Havdallah and Hayrack Ride with Bonfire, Saturday, Oct. 12, 5:45 p.m. at Shady Lane Ranch. Contact Nikki Flatowicz for more information.

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, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. FRIDAY: Shabbat Services, 6:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning service, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush lunch. SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Jewish Book Club, 2 p.m. at Ann Rickover’s home and will discuss American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar. Please contact Stephanie Dohner with any questions. WEDNESDAY: LJCS classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. Please join us Saturday, Oct. 12, 10 a.m. for Lucy Bowers adult Bat Mitzvah.

Bat Mitzvah Madeleine “Maddee” Grace Rauhauser, daughter of Nancy Nogg, will become a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 5, at Temple Israel. Maddee is an eighth-grade Honor Roll student at Westside Middle School. She is WMS Vice President of National Junior Honor Society, Excellence in Youth and a National Quiz Bowl contestant. Her interests include cello, reading, intermural track, volleyball, basketball, quiz bowl, OAYO, kayaking, Schwayder camp and JYG. For her mitzvah project, Maddee is working with Nebraska Humane Society for Agility Project to benefit heartland charties and supporting Nebraska Wildlife Refuge. She has a brother, Ari Rauhauser, and two step-sisters, Elizabeth and Sydney Goodman, and dogs, Samantha and George. Grandparents are the late Irving and Marian Wolpa Nogg, and Ruth Rauhauser of Graettinger, IA and the late Robert Rauhauser.

Pulverent e

October 4, 2013 | The Jewish Press | 11

Unfinished business

Sparks from the word RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parsha Noah Here are some unrelated incidents, problems, situations: Anti-apartheid progress, Israelâ€™s rescue of Ethiopian Jews, race-related riots around the world, and the last chapters in Parsha Noah and their rabbinic interpretations. Actually it appears these are not so unrelated at all. They are indeed related--morally, intellectually, urgently. Ancient Israelita writers showed their own racist prejudice by their put-down of Canaan and Ham. They show their secret satisfaction with the curse laid on these of their enemies. It really will not do to try and explain this away. It is certainly in order to say that this was small in comparison with the important all-pervading, never-ending, bedrock insistence that racism is immoral, irreligious, an affront to God. The Bible writers themselves were skilled stylists. They never discussed racism in so many words. But their lesson

was not lost on the rabbis. The ancient rabbis saw at once that the creation of an original human pair, Adam and Eve, meant all their descendants were brothers. There is only one human race. And if you missed the lesson the first time around, here it is again: all human beings are descendants of Noah and his wife. There is only one human race. Demographers and anthropologists may or may not find inaccuracies in the lists of groups in Chapter 10 of Genesis, but this is not the point. The point is the unwavering, seminal moral absolute that there is only one human race. We shall all have to learn that skin color has no implications whatever for intelligence, diligence, cleanliness, trustworthiness, or anything else that matters. For some time, cultural differences may affect one or another of these. But they are not matters of physical, racial inheritance. Americans in general, and Jewish Americans among them, still have these lessons to learn. And there is more: In an age where nuclear poisons may finish all civilization, we still tolerate racial poisons in our atmosphere. In an age where we may be united in a brotherhood of death, we have not learned to seek a brotherhood of life. In an age where business is king, the chief unfinished business of mankind is the elimination of racism.

Continued from page 1 From then on, he couldnâ€™t always make it to dinner on Friday night. But: he would call, every week, to wish us a happy Shabbos. One time, Susan told him: â€˜Forrest, youâ€™re breaking up. Where are you?â€™ Turns out, he was calling from a volcano in New Zealand. Just to wish us Good Shabbos.â€? Alan Parsow, who chaired the Investment Committee at Beth El, saw first hand how Forrest became involved in the Jewish community. First, he joined Alan on the Beth El investment committee; then, Dennis put him on the Budget and Allocation committee at the Federation. He also served as President of Friedel Jewish Academy, and ultimately became the President of the Jewish Federation of Omaha from 1999 to 2002 â€œHe came to Omaha as a young man,â€? Alan said, â€œand he was quiet and shy. He ended up giving so much to Omaha, but I really do believe Omaha gave much to him as well. It was a mutually beneficial relationship, between Omaha and Forrest; being here allowed him to blossom and come into his own.â€? â€œHe was simply a class act,â€? says past Jewish Federation of Omaha president Howard Kooper. â€œThe quiet way in which he gave of his time and energy commands respect. He was a true gentleman, and a good friend.â€? Forrest was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few days before Rosh Hashanah 2012. â€œKnowing his diagnosis,â€? Alan said, â€œand his chances of survival, he spent the last six months making sure his wife, mother and sister would be taken care of. Upon completing that, he planned additional charitable giving, which he felt was essential. Itâ€™s typical of how he lived his life; to all who knew him, Forrest exemplified commitment to family and community, and a tireless devotion to others.â€? His Jewish roots were extremely important to him, and so when Alan spoke with former Beth El Cantor Emil Berkovits a few weeks ago, and told him about Forrestâ€™s declining health, Cantor Berkovits went to visit him. Forrest was unable to attend Yom Kippur services, and Cantor Berkovits asked if heâ€™d like to hear the shofar. Forrest agreed, and was able to do the mitzvah of hearing the shofar while calling out the commands himself. â€œForrest would never introduce himself by saying he was head of the legal counsel at Berkshire Hathaway,â€? said Dennis Paley. â€œIf asked, heâ€™d simply say he worked for the corporation, but his professional success never went to his head. He was a unique individual, brilliant, but without a trace of arrogance. And whatâ€™s more, he was funny, and always positive. Forrest could put a positive spin on any situation. He believed that creating a positive outcome was always a mathematical possibility.â€? Funeral services were held in Brookline, MA on Sunday, Sept 29; interment followed at Tifereth Israel Cemetery. Rabbi Mendel Katzman and Cantor Emil Berkovits officiated; eulogies were given by his wife, Lisa, longtime friend Jonathan Sarna and associates Ajit Jain and Brian Snover. â€œThe two things I most want to say to you,â€? Snover said in his eulogy, â€œare â€˜thank you,â€™ and â€˜congratulations.â€™ Thank you for being the best kind of colleague and mentor to so many of us. Your famous work ethic, your professionalism, your integrity and the high demands you placed upon yourself, all in the interests of Berkshire, set a standard that is not easy to follow.

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â€œMany of us will continue to operate on the principles you established,â€? he continued, â€œand if we are able to get that even half right, and pass on to others even a few of the Krutter principles, yours will be a secure legacy of loyalty, dedication, and hard work for the company you loved and counseled so well. Please accept my heartfelt congratulations on a job well done. â€œI mentioned the third pillar of your life being your faith. I remember someone asking you to explain your concept of God one night at dinner. Your response was: â€œThere are a lot of things in this world I donâ€™t understand. I call that God.â€? That was as good an explanation as I ever heard, and it leads me to conclude that God must be at work here today, as I will never understand why it is we had to lose you so early. Then again, I will never understand how we got lucky enough to have you in our lives, either.â€? Remembrances may be made to the Boston Synagogue, 55 Martha Rd., Boston, MA 02114; the Chabad Lubavitch of Nebraska, 1866 South 120th St., Omaha, NE 68144, or to the Hebrew College, 160 Herrick Rd., Newton Centre, MA 02459. In addition, the Parsow family along with many of Forrestâ€™s friends and colleagues are planning a new section of the Beth El Synagogue Cemetery expansion to be named The Forrest N. Krutter Memorial Gardens in his memory. Contributions may be sent to Beth El Synagogue, 14506 California, Omaha, NE 68154. A memorial service is being planned in Omaha at a later date. For more information, please contact Alan Parsow at aparsow@aol.com. L

WILLIAM RATNER William Ratner passed way on Sept. 22 in Boca Raton, FL Services were held on Sept. 24 in Boca Raton. He is survived by his daughters and sons-in-law, Donna and Alan Hersch, Sherry and Joel Roth; sons and daughtersin-law, Robert and Carole Ratner and Jeffrey and Rochelle Alexander; eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He was active in Jewish Federation of Bergen County, NJ. Memorials may be made to your favorite organization.

MAYNARD TATELMAN Maynard Tatelman, USAF, Lt. Col, Ret. passed away on Sept. 30 at age 81. Services: Oct. 4 at 11 a.m. at Fisher Farm Cemetery in Bellevue. He was preceded in death by parents, Sam and Edna Tatelman. She is survived by daughter and son-in-law, Sheryl Tatelman and Arie Meler of Rochester, NY, son, Scott Tatelman, son and daughter-in-law, Eric and Deb Tatelman of Houston, TX.; grandchildren: Yoni Meler, Danny Meler and Alec Meler. Memorials to Make a Wish Foundation or the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

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

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12 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2013

For one mother, is decision to ‘opt out’ a cop-out? by DEVORAH BLACHOR JERUSALEM (JTA) -- At a recent kids-included party in Jerusalem, I spent much of the time either on the floor with my daughter Mari or trailing her around to make sure she didn’t eat anything toxic. A successful American journalist living here chatted with me for a few minutes, and as I left her to intercept my daughter before she reached a stairwell, she told me, “Don’t worry. They get older. You get your dignity back.” Funny, I didn’t even have any spit-up on my clothes. But her words tapped into the part of me that feels inadequate. It occurred to me that being a stay-at-home mom was perhaps not the best strategy for an insecure woman. And now that Mari, who recently turned 2, had just started a half-day preschool program, I started to wonder how I came to “opt out.” Beyond the “lean-in” versus “opt out” debate are a million women with an infinite number of nuanced variables that contribute to the big decision. If I were following the trend of those around me, I’d have gone back to work. In Israel, women receive 14 weeks of maternity leave and are entitled to take off another 12 without pay. At my neighborhood park in Jerusalem, I was one of just two mothers who came every day with her baby. The other babies and toddlers were with full-time nannies or their saftas -- some had taken early retirement to care for their grandchildren. But even though I’m living in this “working gal” environment, I was raised in a different one within a Jewish community on Long Island, where the women in the 1970s and ‘80s opted out long before the phrase ever evoked the hotbutton issue of work-family balance. It’s just what women did, with some, including my mother, returning to work when the youngest child started a full day of school. Sometimes I wonder if the social mores of my childhood have influenced me and my decision, even if I’ve left behind most of the other values. Another consideration that guided me away from the workplace was the state of the work to which I’d be returning (a topic that’s often not mentioned in the debate). I was a freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker whose biggest project lost funding midway through production, though I managed to finish it. I also wrote fiction in my spare time. Journalism, documentaries and fiction: I give you the trifecta of hopeless endeavors in these declining days of old media. When my daughter was born, the thought of returning to work was depressing. What would I have been going back to? Submissions and unacknowledged query letters, rejections and being asked to write for websites without being paid. Yet the judgments of others still whispered in my ear. Even now, when I tell people that Mari started school, many say things like, “You must be so happy. You’ll have your life back!

Devorah Blachor wondered whether staying home after the birth of her daughter Mari was just a convenient way of surrendering to her fears and not facing the world. You’ll have so much time now.” The subtext is that a woman at home with a baby must be unhappy and unfulfilled. Which brings me back to my insecurity. I wonder if the staying at home option was just an escape hatch. Maybe not returning to work was a convenient way of surrendering to my fears and not facing the world. Was my opt out a cop-out? Even the degree to which I opted out implies submissiveness. Unlike with my first child, when I hired a babysitter and worked a few hours a day, with Mari I let go of most things that had been part of the fabric of my life -- writing, social life and what I’ll call physical maintenance, a list that

includes pedicures and buying new clothes. Happily for those around me, I still showered. I was still a parent to my oldest, I still did yoga, and my partner and I built a stronger connection than we’ve ever had. Nonetheless, perhaps this intense connection I feel with my daughter is unhealthy in the same way a co-dependent romantic relationship is. I don’t believe there is an absolute truth here for me -- or any woman navigating her own path. I only know that after Mari was born, I tried to get in touch with the deepest part of myself. When I did, I wanted to be with her. It’s been a process to accept myself, one that requires maintaining that connection with what I truly want while separating my selfregard from the opinion of others. I work at it every day. And now it’s over. Mari’s in school coloring in apple cutouts for Rosh Hashanah and I’m adrift without anyone to make errands seem like an exciting adventure. As I apply for jobs, I still wonder which came first: Did I love my baby so much that my career failed, or did my career fail so I loved my baby? Then I think, who cares? Love comes in all kinds of different ways, but whenever and however it comes along, let it in. It’s love, and John Lennon had it right -- it is the answer. At least for me. These last two years have been beautiful. There is one thing I have been doing outside of mothering. During Mari’s nap times, I spent my “free” hours trying to sell my novels. As much as I tried to be cheerful about it, the task of marketing my work, particularly as I lack the marketing gene, was one huge dignity-suck. That’s what I might have told the woman at the party: Following my crawling baby around was an absolute pleasure. Devorah Blachor writes a mystery series under the pen name Jasmine Schwartz. Her novels include Farbissen and Fakakt.

Friedel’s Tashlich Friedel Jewish Academy students enjoy their lunch in the outdoors, as they take a break during their Tashlich activities at Standing Bear Lake. Each year, Friedel staff and several parents accompany all students to a nearby body of water before the High Holidays.

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Temple Israel

30 Tishrei 5774 | A supplement to the Jewish Press | October 4, 2013

T2 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2013

Temple Israel Torah Walk Aug. 25, 2013 This is a very exciting and satisfying day. Thanks to the tireless efforts of many, many people, the dream of a new Temple Israel has become a beautiful reality. From the dedicated staff, led by Rabbi Azriel, Wendy Goldberg, Dennis Deporte and others; to the dozens of congregants who served on various committees and helped outline the necessary parts and pieces required to create a vibrant, inclusive and useful building; to the very supportive Board of Directors led by Past President John Lehr, and current President, Sally Kaplan; to the Major Donors like Tom Fellman, Bob and Murray Newman, Silvia and Larry Roffman, Ted Seldin, Richard and David Slosburg, Alan, Fred, Bruce and Todd Simon, Nancy and David Friedland, and Terri and Phillip Schrager, who committed huge sums of money enabling us to create this wonderful House of Worship... there are lots of people who played key roles in getting this done and are deserving of our thanks and praise. I can’t tell you how many hundreds of hours of their personal time that Ted Zetzman and John Waldbaum spent working with the contractor, architects and our project manager. Let me simply express the Congregation’s gratitude for the tremendous job they did, and compliment them on the terrific results of their monumental efforts. Finegold Alexander and Associates, our architectural and design firm, did a spectacular job of designing a 21st Century Reform Temple structure. Their ties to the Jewish Community in Omaha date back to their design of Beth El Synagogue... their first religious structure design. We have benefited from their more than 20 years of experience at designing synagogues. They were great to work with and the product of their effort speaks for itself! Kudos to Moe Feingold, Jeff Garriga, and Tony Hsiao!

Project Advocates, through its principals John Taylor and Rob Zimmerman, and their man on site, Chris Bilau, were incredibly helpful at finding ways to help us save money, refining numerous elements of the building, and representing our Congregation in dealing with contractors and architects on a myriad of issues in a very effective manner. Their help was instrumental in creating everything you see, and doing so in a cost effective way. Vrana Construction, led by Chip Vrana, Troy Perry and their Superintendant on site, Marty O’Neill, could not have been easier to work with, and have done marvelous work in constructing this magnificent building... we owe all of these people our respect and gratitude for the work they each contributed.

“I’M MOST PLEASED THAT “IN THE END, WE HAVE “SUCCEEDED AT BUILDING “SOMETHING THAT IS “BIGGER AND FAR MORE “IMPORTANT THAN “INDIVIDUAL CONCERNS...” Two of the unsung heroes in this huge project were my nephew Jeffrey Schrager and Stacey Rockman, each of whom played important roles in helping me raise the funds needed to make this undertaking possible. In addition, under his leadership and wonderful design, Jeffrey and his siblings, Tim, Rick, Angel and Jack provided 100% of the money to create the Sculpture Garden that will be dedicated to their father Phil. Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the more than 400 donors who contributed to our efforts, we have accomplished what just three or four years ago everyone doubted could be done. Two years ago I spoke to the Congregation at the Rosh Hashana morning service. I pledged to complete raising the requisite funds; to assemble a Building Council comprised of major donors to oversee the design and construction; and, I promised, we would finish the new Temple on time, on budget, and with a finished product that would make us all proud. I said that our new Temple would shine like a beacon on a hillside, welcoming its worshippers with love, and the hope that our Congregation would thrive in its glow for decades to come. I’m thrilled to report that we have accomplished those goals. We raised sufficient funds to build the Temple and to place additional funds in our existing Endowment to help maintain the facility going forward.

The Building Council I alluded to was comprised of Terri Schrager, Silvia Roffman, Ted Seldin, Murray Newman, Tom Fellman, Bruce and Todd Simon, John Waldbaum, Ted Zetzman and me. I cannot explain how much time, effort and dedication each of these members contributed, but I offer my heartfelt thanks for their loving devotion to the project. Many have told me how proud and pleased my brother Phil would be... and to me that’s the highest compliment I could receive. I think he’d find this building much to his liking. However, the thing that would please him the most is how we all came together to accomplish this. Finally, on a very personal note, allow me to say that I am very proud to have played a role in bringing this important project to fruition. From the Jerusalem limestone imported from Israel that covers the building’s walls, to the stained glass pieces in the hallway outside this sanctuary that remind us all of our roots at 69th and Cass Street, to the beautiful sculpture garden dedicated to my brother Phil that will be completed in the next several weeks, this has been a labor of love and remembrance for me. I have never been associated with a group of people more devoted to creating a thing of beauty, not for themselves, but for our entire Temple Israel family. We have overcome many obstacles, both real and imagined; some generated from outside our Congregation, and some from minor disagreements within. I’m most pleased that in the end, we have succeeded at building something that is bigger and far more important than individual concerns or angst. I’m quite certain that this building will be here long after we are all gone; and that others will still be enjoying its beauty more than fifty years from now; for we will leave behind a Temple of enduring quality, warmth and usefulness. We have a 21st Century Temple that houses elements from our past as well as the hopes for our future. Now it is up to clergy, staff, and every congregant to make this into a home for worship that is much more than just a pretty structure... a Temple dedicated to love of G-d, love of our fellow man, and most importantly, respect for one another. I doubt that I will ever again be involved in as large a project as this was, so excuse me if I kvell a little when I say how proud I am of the work we all did in creating this fabulous new Temple Israel. Thank you for listening. These are the words HARLEY SCHRAGER shared with Temple’s congregation on Moving Day.

Mazel

Tov on your beautiful new building

P.O. Box 27383 | Omaha, NE 68127

402-339-4140

October 4, 2013 | The Jewish Press | T3

Genesis by DAVID GOLBITZ Designing, financing and constructing a building is, by itself, a daunting and challenging endeavor. To do so while simultaneously taking into account the needs and dreams of a 700-plus member religious congregation is an altogether different challenge, one skillfully and diplomatically met over the past 10 years by the Temple Israel Board of Trustees and, perhaps most especially, the Presidents of the Board over that period. From first introducing the prospect of a new building to a congregation that wasn’t sure it wanted one-Michael Walts, ‘01-’03--to keeping the dream alive dur-

ing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression--Jon Meyers, ‘07-’09--to maintaining and strengthening congregational bonds during construction-Sally Kaplan, ‘11-present-Temple Israel’s presidents worked tirelessly to first build consensus, and to then maintain the congregation’s focus and will to meet this challenge head on. “We started talking about a potential move from Cass Street at least a few years before we started discussing it with congregants,” remembers Michael Walts. “The building was aging, and maintenance/repair costs were escalating. Perhaps more significantly, we recognized that our members were ‘migrating’ west. We were no longer located in the ‘Jewish neighborhood.’” Despite the Cass Street building’s age and cost of upkeep, many Board members were unsure which of three options they were most comfortable with: renovate the Cass Street building, tear down and rebuild at Cass Street or build a new Temple Israel out west. “...we loved the campus, the community, the proximity to churches, and tradition and memories,” Walts said. “So it was a real tough decision to make.” Temple Israel held many meetings and the congregation had many discussions before ultimately voting in September 2005 for a new building in a new location in West Omaha. The only question was, where? A committee was formed to look into possible areas for the new Temple Israel. The committee considered land as far west as 192nd Street, but, as Jan Schneiderman remembers, that seemed much too far west.

“I heard from a lot of congregants, ‘I don’t want to go way, way out, like 192nd and Dodge,’” said Schneiderman, who served as President briefly in 2009 before an illness made her step down. “Before Village Pointe, people didn’t want to go so far west,” Jon Meyers said. “After Village Pointe was built, that far west didn’t seem so far anymore.” Once it was decided that the congregation would move, Temple Israel hired the Boston architecture firm Finegold Alexander + Associates to begin the initial stages of designing the new building. Perhaps not coincidentally, Moe Finegold had been hired 20 years earlier to design the new Beth El Synagogue that sits near 144th and Dodge. As the building was designed and Temple Israel held more congregational conversations about what the

congregation wanted its new home to be, no plot of land was deemed appropriate for the new temple. “We talked about our neighbors,” Schneiderman said, “who we wanted our neighbors to be. We didn’t want a gas station, we didn’t want a Walmart. We knew we needed to be near someone so we could borrow their parking lot for High Holy Days. For 50 years we had the Playhouse, we had the church across the street, we didn’t have any parking problems.” The search for the right location went on so long that by the time Jon Meyers, who had been involved as early as 2003 in the discussion about a new building, began his term as President in 2007, not much progress had been made. In fact, as Meyers attests, his “presidency probably had the least progress, in terms of the new building. “Looking back, those two years I was president, what an anomaly that was,” he said. “This was during the financial crisis, so the idea was kind of put on hold. We had picked Finegold Alexander, but we just didn’t do anything for a few years. Other things took precedence, like trying to make our budget.” In hindsight, the slow progress was “a blessing,” Meyers said.

In the long run, over that 10-year period, we ended up with a very well-thought-out plan. We were very methodical, especially in communicating with the congregation. This was a morphing decision, a live, organic decision. Nothing was done in a vacuum. We did our very best to respond to the congregation, to the leadership, to keep everyone involved.” Meyers continued, “I don’t think too many congregations would say okay to going through a 10-year process like we did, but; in the long run, everything fell into place.” After the financial crisis had abated, a seemingly perfect piece of land became available. In 2010 a developer purchased Ironwood Country Club, formerly the Highland Country Club, with plans to develop it into residential and retail property. “When the old Highland/Ironwood property became available, it was like it was from heaven,” Schneiderman said. “It was perfect, right in the middle of the Jewish community, with Beth Israel down the street, Beth El up the street, the Jewish Community Center right across the street... I can’t think of any other Jewish community that is all in the same area.” Under John Lehr’s presidency, Temple Israel purchased a plot of land in what would become the Sterling Ridge development, and that’s when construction really began. Under guidance from the Building Coordinating Committee--Katherine Finnegan, Wendy Goldberg, Jon Meyers, Ted Zetzman, and chaired by John Waldbaum--things began happening quickly, from finding the right building material suppliers to the groundbreaking ceremony in April 2012.

“From the time we found out about that property to the time we moved in, it seemed like a very short period of time,” Schneiderman said. When Sally Kaplan took over as Board President in May 2012, a lot of the heavy lifting had already been handled. Contracts had been signed, construction had begun. She saw her “job as keeping everything else going at Temple while the new building was being built.” Kaplan continued, “By that, I mean keep the committees up and running, keep the Board focused on the life of the congregation. I thought it was my job to involve as many people as I could in the whole building process, and then in the moving process, to build excitement and build involvement with as many congregants as possible.” Kaplan formed 13 committees, or “task forces,” as she called them, to focus on smaller-picture decisions, such as the artwork in the building, the furniture, moving the Torah scrolls, planning the dedication celebration. “I just wanted to involve as many people as I could,” Kaplan said, “so that everyone would have a sense of ownership of our new home, and I think we succeeded in that.”

T4 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2013

I AM a people with a history and a community with a future

THE FEDERATION

Mazel Tov, Temple Israel, on the congregationâ€™s new home. May we go from strength to strength for generations to come. JAY NODDLE, PRESIDENT & MIKE SILVERMAN, CEO

I AM THE FEDERATION 2 0 1 4 A N N UA L C A M PA I G N

One Campus One Community

October 4, 2013 | The Jewish Press | T5

Voices of joy welcome Temple Israel to its new neighborhood by CLAUDIA SHERMAN “We are so happy to welcome Temple to the neighborhood!” emphasized Rabbi Jonathan Gross, spiritual leader of Beth Israel Synagogue, located a few blocks northeast of the new Temple Israel now at 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive.

After a decade of conversation, countless planning meetings, a record-breaking fundraising campaign, and a groundbreaking ceremony in April, congregants were “blown away by the finished product,” in the words of Joe Erman. The people “who worked on it did a terrific job. It’s beautiful and peaceful with the natural light coming in.” He hopes that the congregation will experience “another 60 years of relative peace” like at 70th and Cass Street. Dave Noodell agreed. It’s “an amazing accomplishment -- beautiful but functional.” “It’s so futuristic and really high tech,” observed Alexander Kraft, 11. “It’s unbelievable and so very different from Cass Street -- in a positive way,” added Vicki Perlmeter. She enjoys “the brightness and having the community court to bring people together.” Dan Marburg noted that “Even though the sanctuary is much larger than in the old space, it still feels every bit as intimate.” He hopes “that people will gather after services in the community court, and that it will be the catalyst for easier, comfortable community-building.” “I was impressed with the building and the landscape, and the Jerusalem stone is pretty,” pointed out Mike Walts, who was president of the Temple Israel Board of Trustees when formal conversations began about moving or rebuilding alternatives. “It’s cozy but roomy at the same time. I like the windows, especially during the morning services. It’s nice being close to Beth Israel and Beth El,” he also noted. Mike Silverman, CEO of the Jewish

Federation of Omaha, spoke of “the wonderful relationship” the synagogues have had and hopes that “their close proximity will allow us to collaborate even more meaningfully.” Brenda and Bart Arnold attended the first Shabbat service at the new Temple

on Aug. 30 with their three sons. Brenda noticed “just how open and welcoming the Temple is.” She also likes the seating. “My wheelchair fits comfortably in a row.” She was struck by the Hebrew letters on the windows in the sanctuary that read, in part, ‘Make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell in your midst.’ “It was emotional and inspiring seeing so many people at Temple on at the first Shabbaton and for the High Holy Days and how much joy there was,” said Paul Rabinovitz. Justin Cooper helped install the memorial plaques which were transported from 70th and Cass to the new Temple Israel. He said his favorite spot in the new synagogue “is the hallway where the stained glass windows,” also moved from the old space, “reflect on the plaques. It’s a moving experience thinking about the history” of the congregation.

Clockwise, from top | Temple members who carried the Torah from Cass Street to Sterling Ridge were welcomed to the neighborhood when they passed Beth Israel. Almost there: congregants arrive at the new building. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel greets Stacie Brodkey who walked the entire way.

Sandy Epstein mentioned that she “had a hard time finding my parents’ yahrzeit plaques, but I didn’t mind lingering,” because “the stunning stained glass windows” there reflect their rainbow of color on to the memorial tablets. On her father’s yahrzeit, “It was just so eerie sitting on (the former) Highland (Country Club’s) golf course” where her father spent so much time. “Then to hear his name called was very moving for me.” “I was surprised how at home I felt,”

admitted Marlen Frost. Debbi Josephson agreed that “It feels like home, and it feels comfortable. Sitting in the sanctuary, I really like that you could look around and see people’s faces, rather than just the backs of their heads.” “I feel like I’m outdoors,” Phyllis Glazer marveled. “It’s welcoming with an inordinate feeling of warmth. It takes your breath away. My prayer is that the feelings we shared on Rosh Hashanah will continue with the generations to come.” Lee Needelman was “drawn to the windows in the sanctuary especially on Rosh Hashanah eve.” She noticed how “the moving clouds, birds flying past, the changing of nature before my eyes” coincided with a passage from the prayer book which refers to “the awe of nature.” She also found the choir, the music, and the sound system to be “stunning.”

After sitting in the sanctuary balcony with his sons during the High Holy Days, Andrew Wigodsky said, “it’s really cool to sit up there.” He also enjoyed the view of geese flying by the windows from his mother Patsy Wigodsky’s fifth grade classroom. Justin Cooper was struck by Rabbi Josh Brown’s sermon on Rosh Hashanah. Although “we spent a lot of time talking about architectural design, Rabbi Brown talked about how to help everybody get to know each other and find a home at Temple.” Hillary Fletcher said, “The building is beautiful, but it’s really the people.” She hopes the congregation will “embrace the space as the Tri-Faith community becomes reality” and appreciates “what a contribution it will be not just to Omaha but to our entire country.”

Sam Fried said he hopes “the congregation will find the new Temple to be a true home and support it.” “When I walked into Temple, my first reaction was this is our future,” recalled Catherine King. She noted how the building reflects both “history and strength. This sacred space will become a place to create new memories.”

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“PHIL WAS ADAMANT ABOUT “A NEW BUILDING FOR “TEMPLE ISRAEL AND LED “THE EFFORT WITH A “DONATION TO PURCHASE “THE SITE AT STERLING “RIDGE.” still recall being excited when my fourth grade class was asked to raise funds for the March of Dimes. A classmate was stricken with polio, and we were all frightened. I think that’s when my enthusiasm for helping others first took root. Since then, I’ve had a soft spot for people in need and I believe strongly that it is up to us to help repair the most vulnerable areas of society.” He continued, “I’m proud to call myself a philanthropist. That’s the legacy I would like to leave to my children and grandchildren. I want them to understand the value of a ‘philanthropic heart,’ and I want them to appreciate that each of us has a responsibility to Israel and to our community.” According to Jeffrey, his father enjoyed building things. He was instrumental in the creation of a new Beth El Synagogue and the Schrager Memorial Chapel at the Temple Israel cemetery, and it was only natural that he would place a high priority on locating an appropriate site for a new Temple Israel. “He loved architecture, fancied himself an amateur architect and would have greatly enjoyed the planning and building of our new Temple.”

President and my Uncle, Harley, and my four siblings, Tim, Rick, Angel and Jack. Harley and I joined Stacey Rockman as campaign chairs for the major donor effort and Harley agreed to lead the building council to oversee design and construction.” Harley Schrager says that Phil was adamant about a new building for Temple Israel and led the effort with a donation to purchase the site at Sterling Ridge. “Had Phil lived, he would have also led the effort to build the Temple. He loved the site and committed the funds to buy the land. I worked with him directly on this and I feel it was my obligation to fulfill his legacy when he passed. With the family leading the campaign with their gift, his children’s generous gift, my gift and our efforts to fundraise; all of this happened because of our immense love and respect for Phil.” “There is an admiration for Phil that is sometimes hard to put into words. All he had done and accomplished; the reasons behind everything he did... he was just so well respected,” Harley added. His legacy continues and will culminate again in midOctober when the Phil Schrager Memorial Garden is completed. Phil’s five children have created an outdoor artistic-filled space in the middle of the new Temple Israel building. It will hold four sculptures from the Phil Schrager collection and a newly-commissioned piece dedicated to his life and memory. “It will be a minimal space, complete with walking path, benches, shrubs and flowers. It will be very Phil-like,” Jeffrey said. “Dad was a passionate and intense person often called upon for his experience, drive and motivation. He considered himself a great salesman; and if he called on you to pitch in, he was usually successful. His vision and love for his family and community are what I remember most. Hopefully, he left enough of his imprint on all of us to carry on his ideals and his spirit. Our city and our Jewish community need all of us to step up, big or small, in any way that we can. I know that my Dad inspired me to think and do more for others, and hopefully we can all carry that message beyond his generation.”

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October 4, 2013 | The Jewish Press | T7

The Moving Torah by COURTNEY BIERMAN After a long, sometimes anxious, wait, Temple Israel finally moved into its new home, and this milestone event in the congregation’s history did not happen quietly. When a Jewish congregation gets a new place of worship, it has long been a tradition that one of the Torah scrolls be walked from the old location to the new one. Temple Israel did not break from this tradition. On the morning of Aug. 25 more than 300 members of Omaha’s Jewish community took to the streets to carry

a roughly 10-pound Torah scroll halfway across the city. Robyn and Bob Freeman cochaired the event, and Andrea Siegel, Susie Norton, Troy Meyerson, Wendy Goldberg and Jon Meyers worked out the logistics. The event took about two months to plan; the route had to be mapped, team captains had to be recruited, police escorts had to be obtained, and more minute details had to be hammered out. Their hard work paid off and those who participated agree, everything ran smoothly. “Everything went right that day; the organization was great,” said walker Hillary Fletcher. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Ninety degree heat and high humidity greeted the congregation that morning. Nonetheless, the turnout did not disappoint. “It was great to see so many people show up to carry the Torah,” Temple Israel Cantor Wendy Shermet said. “It was really, really meaningful.” The trek totaled about six miles. Every half-mile, the Torah scroll was handed off to another team that was in charge of carrying it to the next checkpoint. Each team was led by one of 13 captains. Meyers and Siegel worked together to select each captain and make sure they came from a variety of ages and included kids, adults and Temple Israel staff.

“We tried to recruit people from different areas of the Temple,” said Andrea Siegel about the selection process. “We wanted to make sure all facets were covered.” When OTYG Vice President of Programming Abby Hack was asked to lead a team, she jumped at the opportunity. “I knew it would be a really meaningful experience, so I wanted to be part of it,” Hack said. “It was really powerful. It was something that doesn’t happen very often, so it was really great to participate. I felt really connected to Judaism and Temple.” Temple member Jennifer Miller felt similarly. “I thought it was, for the size of our Jewish community, really fun to be a part of,” Miller said. “I was really

“IT WAS REALLY POWERFUL. “IT WAS SOMETHING THAT “DOESN’T HAPPEN VERY “OFTEN, SO IT WAS REALLY “GREAT TO PARTICIPATE.” glad that there were so many kids involved in the process. Seeing the next generation help move the Torah to the new building, considering that they’re the ones who are going to be taking over the building in the future, it was a cool experience.” Bystanders who were not members of Temple Israel had heard about the Torah scroll walk in advance and came to support its participants. Members of St. Andrew Episcopal Church, which is located at one of the walk’s checkpoints, offered bottles of water to the thirsty walkers as they passed. The attention they paid to the walkers was appreciated; the event was meant to be viewed by more than just those who were participating in it.

“We’re a minority in this community...so for nonJews to see the Torah scrolls being moved, it makes them pay attention to another culture within their midst,” Cantor Shermet said.

As the walkers passed Beth Israel, synagogue members were waving signs that read “Welcome to the Neighborhood.” The procession continued through Sterling Ridge to the new Temple, to an assembly in the new sanctuary, where students lined the aisles as the Torahs were carried to the Bimah and placed in the Ark. After years of preparation, the excitement is finally over. Aside from the fast-approaching dedication service next week, the boxes that are in need of unpacking, and that strange feeling that next week’s Shabbat services are not going to be held on Cass Street, Temple Israel’s congregation is almost completely settled into its new home. The sheer size of the move and the amount of work that went into it means that it is a key part of the history of Omaha’s Jewish community and it will not soon be forgotten.

Top, from left | Silvia Roffman, who carried one of the Torah scrolls into the new building. | Danielle Gordman on her way from Pacific to Sterling Ridge. | The Torah Scrolls wait patiently while the cornerstone is unveiled. | Bottom, from left | Bruce Simon also had the honor of carrying a Torah into its new home. | Rabbi Brown gets some help from Isaac Rogers.

T8 | The Jewish Press | October 4, 2013

by OZZIE NOGG Hashkiveinu: A Shelter of Peace, a choral work by Jonathan Comisar, will be the focal point during Temple Israel’s dedication ceremony on Friday, Oct. 11, beginning at 6 p.m. The Hebrew words of the Hashkiveinu prayer, adorning the windows that surround Temple’s sanctuary, inspired the piece which was commissioned by the Congregation.

“The words speak of God spreading his shelter -- his Sukkah -- of peace over us. Our new building represents a shelter where we can find peace, protection and compassion in our coming and going.” Choral works by two area composers will also be performed during the Dedication. Shalom Aleichem, scored for girls’ and women’s voices, is the work of organistcomposer Kurt Knecht of Lincoln, NE. Knecht is music director at St. Mark’s on the University of NebraskaLincoln campus and artistic director and conductor of the Lincoln Lutheran Choir. He attends Conservative Congregation Tifereth Israel in Lincoln. Noah, scored

Comisar is music director at Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, NY and a faculty member of Hebrew Union College School of Sacred Music. During an interview with Omaha Magazine, the composer said his goal was to interpret the Hashkiveinu with “integrity and authenticity; to make this not only fitting for a prayer but fitting for the grandeur of a new synagogue. It’s a moment which marks a milestone in the congregation’s life, so I was very mindful of the significance. This was a wonderful, challenging task.” Comisar’s Hashkiveinu is scored for cantor, adult and children’s choirs as well as for violin, cello, clarinet and flute. Comisar will be featured at the piano along with select Omaha Symphony members. “The Hashkiveinu prayer is so appropriate for our Dedication,” said Temple’s Senior Rabbi, Aryeh Azriel.

for young children’s voices, is by Karen Javitch, Omaha songwriter-playwright and Temple Israel member. “Kol Rina, our volunteer post-B’nai Mitzvah choir, will be front and center during the Dedication service,” said Cantor Shermet. “For this occasion, Kol Rina will be under the direction of Jerry Brabec, Minister of Worship at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. Additionally, our K-6 kids will join in Comisar’s Hashkiveinu, the women of Kol Rina -- plus all the girls I can wrangle who can sing -- will be part of Shalom Aleichem, and our little kids, K-2, are rehearsing for Noah. The Dedication is basically an extended family Shabbat service with special music to commemorate the event.” Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, President Emeritus of the Union for Reform Judaism, was invited by the Temple Israel

Hashkiveinu

congregation to help them dedicate their sacred space. He will deliver the sermon during services. “Temple Israel is an extraordinary congregation -- activist, innovative, and engaged with the world,” Yoffie said. “Given what its new campus is certain to become, the dedication of its building is a historic moment for American Reform Judaism. Indeed, all American Jews take pride in its vision, its accomplishments, and its contribution to religious understanding in America.” Additional participants joining Rabbi Azriel, Rabbi Brown and Cantor Shermet during the celebration include Sally Kaplan, Speedy Zweiback, Harley Schrager, Maurice Finegold, of Finegold Alexander Associates Architects, Boston, MA, and Temple Israel teen soloists and musicians. A reception will immediately follow services. “It’s a privilege to work with my committee to plan a memorable Oneg Shabbat for our Dedication,” said Nancy Noddle, Chair. “Temple women are baking special challahs and sweets, and an appetizers buffet is planned to delight everyone’s palate. The evening will be memorable in every way. We invite the entire community to come celebrate the dedication of our new, glorious home.” Working with Noddle on Oneg arrangements are Rabbi Azriel, Cantor Shermet and Wendy Goldberg, Temple Israel Program Director, along with Paula Albert, Beth Brodkey, Katherine Finnegan, Tom Friedman, Ducky Milder, Sandy Nogg and Louri Sullivan. “Our beautiful new building reflects the tireless service and generosity of the Congregation of Temple Israel and will long serve to perpetuate Reform Judaism in Omaha,” Goldberg said. “We are thrilled with the positive energy in the new space. The Friday, Oct. 11 service is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the hard work and vision of so many.” The new Temple Israel is located at 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive. Valet parking will be available during the Dedication. For additional information contact the Temple Israel office at 402.556.6536.

Left | The stained glass windows from the building on Cass Street have found a new home. | The windows of the sanctuary. | Left photo credit | Kessler Photography