thejewishpress AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA
this week
O CT O BER 5 , 2 0 1 8 | 2 6 T ISH REI 5 7 7 9 | V O L. 9 8 | NO . 5 0 | 2 SECT IO NS | C A nD LeLi G h Ti nG | FRID AY , O CT O BER 5 , 6 : 4 1 P. M.
31st Annual Klutznick Symposium
T
LeonArD GreenSpoon Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization, Creighton University he 31st Annual Symposium on Jewish Civilization—Authority and Dissent in Jewish Life— takes place this year on Sunday, Oct. 28, and Monday, Oct. 29. A highlight of this event has always been the keynote presentation. This year is no exception, as we welcome Gil Graff PhD, JD, Executive Director of Builders of Jewish Education, who will speak on Jewish Law and the Law of the State: The Impact of Modernity and Its Echoes in the United States. He is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 28, in the JCC Theater at 7:30 p.m. Like all Symposium events, this is free and open to the public. Graff has an earned PhD from UCLA and a law degree also from UCLA. At present he is Executive Director of Builders of Jewish Education (BJE). BJE is the only group in Los Angeles wholly dedicated to supporting and enriching Jewish educational experiences. To further its goals, this wide-ranging organization works with families and Jewish educational programs across the spectrum of religious movements. Beyond his leadership roles in the non-profit sector, Graff has also been active in the academic world. In addition to numerous scholarly articles, his publications include books on separation of church and state in Jewish law and a history of Jewish education in the United States. For his work in academia and the non-profit world, he has been the See klutznick Symposium page A3
Challah Bake rises to the occasion page A7
The 17th Annual Omaha Jewish Film Festival wants you
Russian Meatballs: The ultimate comfort food page A12
MArk kirChhoFF Community Engagement and Education, Jewish Federation of Omaha By now you have likely turned your calendar page from September to October. As you look at the month, if you have not already written in
inside Viewpoint Synagogues Life cycles
A9 A10 A11
WWW.JEWISHOMAHA.ORG
SponSoreD by The benJAMin AnD AnnA e. WieSMAn FAMiLy enDoWMenT FunD
Oct. 14 and 21 for the 17th Annual Omaha Jewish Film Festival showings in the JCC Theater at 7 p.m. each night, please do so now. And while you are at it, look ahead to November and do the same for Nov. 10, 11, and 18. I’ll wait. The festival begins with a double
feature on Sunday, Oct. 14 featuring Wendy’s Shabbat as the introductory short film. The film is in English, produced in the United States, directed by Rachel Myers and released in 2017. It is a documentary
featuring 88-year-old Roberta Mahler and other Jewish retirees who for the past eight years have been holding their Friday night Shabbat dinner at a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant in Palm Desert, California. There they say prayers and light candles over hamburgers and fries. The film is humorous, entertaining, and insightful about what Shabbat means to this group of people. The feature film for the evening is the comedy, Humor Me (English, United States, 93 minutes, directed by Sam Hoffman). The protagonist, Nate Kroll, (Jamaine Clement) is an award winning playwright who suddenly finds himself wifeless, jobless and homeless. With nothing else to lose, he moves in with his eccentric See omaha Jewish Film Festival page A3
keynote speaker Gil Graff
The Goldstein Family Aquatic Center
Don Goldstein
AnneTTe vAn De kAMp Editor, Jewish Press And some say: A father is also obligated to teach his son to swim. (Talmud, Kiddushin 29A) Don Goldstein has loved to swim since he was a little kid; it’s why he can be found in the Jewish Community Center’s pool on a regular basis. A pool that carries his family’s name: our outdoor waterpark is now known as the “Goldstein Family Aquatic Center.” “I had my first swimming lessons at
the old JCC and have been involved with swim meets since I was six years old,” he said. “I swam all through high school and in college. It was my sport, since my size didn’t really allow for a basketball or football career! Swimming is competitive, it’s clean and it forces you to have discipline. The goals and the time commitment it requires carry over to the rest of your life, especially in academics. What you learn in the pool is just as useful on dry land.” See Goldstein Aquatic Center page A2