Vol. 90 No. 7 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 89 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
Institute for Holocaust Education to receive community service award by ILANA WEISS teachers who reserved student seats. The Institute for Holocaust Education Brundibár could not have been the success it was The Institute for Holocaust Education will be pleased without the immeasurable volunteer work of to accept the Jewish Chairperson Eunie Federation of Denenberg and her Omaha’s Community daughter Debbie Service Award on Denenberg who kept Tuesday, Oct. 26 for the project on track the second year in a during two years of row. The IHE will planning. Over 80 volreceive this award in unteers participated by recognition of its procalling schools, superduction of Brundibár vising rehearsals, servin November 2009. In ing as hosts during addition, Eunie student performances Denenberg, project and much more. chairperson and IHE When asked about Governance Council her experience of volmember will receive unteering during the the IHE Volunteer of IHE’s production of the Year award. Brundibár volunteer During the week of Daphna Pollak our Brundibár perexpressed, “It meant a formance, the IHE lot to me to help eduhosted over 9,500 cate youngsters in our children from Omaha, community about the Lincoln and Iowa at Ela Weissberger, the original cat in the Terezín productions of Brundibár Holocaust, especially the Rose Theater, and and Eunie Denenberg. while we still have surover 600 community members at the public perform- vivors alive to share their stories, and it was clear that the ance on Nov. 7. More than 70 schools were represent- collaboration between the IHE and Opera Omaha on ed, and many homeschoolers and guests were present. Brundibár would produce an unforgettable experience! Educators in the community contributed to an extensive Volunteering also gave me a chance to learn a bit more educational Brundibár Guide which was sent to all Continued on page 9
Kosher camping by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT ended Friday before Shabbat, so there were no issues Howard Gendelman and Bonnie Bloch like adven- with keeping Shabbat and staying off the river.” tures. They also keep kosher, and combining the two Then, in 2007, the decision was made to take the can be a bit of a challenge. Who hasn’t longingly looked longer trip that would encompass the lower half of the at a vacation package, only to wonder whether what canyon. It’s at least eight days, and so it would autoyou’re fed during that vacation can pass muster? matically include Shabbat. “Our trip in 2003 was a first Howard and for the Outdoors Bonnie found a Unlimited compasolution with ny,” Bonnie says, O u t d o o r s “but they were so Unlimited (O.U.!), successful in exea company that not cuting everything only organizes outperfectly. They doors trips, but was really educated willing to make it themselves about entirely kosher. utensils, about They took their keeping food sepafirst trip in 2003, rate, they were so accompanied by informed. We were two of their chilconfident this dren and several would work out friends from just as well the secMaryland, where ond time.” they used to live. This time, the “In total, we had Boating down the Colorado River Lesley Gendelman, second from left, and group wanted to 18 people from Bonnie Bloch, second from right. fill all 24 slots with Silver Spring, MD, who were Orthodox and wanted this observant Jews, and they ran ads in several newspapers kosher trip,” Bonnie remembers. “Our son Adam and to include people from places besides Silver Spring. They daughter Sierra were with us, as well as six non-Jewish managed to attract enough people, and together with people to fill up the group, four boats, and guides, as son Adam and daughter Lesley, Bonnie and Howard well as extra boats for luggage.” flew into Las Vegas and took a small aircraft from there For five days, they paddled the Colorado River, hiked, to the Grand Canyon. and explored. They slept outdoors rather than in tents, “Most of us knew each other from before, and we and by the end of the trip they checked into a lodge made sure to mix up the boats so the ‘new’ people didwhere Shabbat could be observed. n’t feel left out. Besides, when you spend that many days “That first trip was short; it started on Sunday, and Continued on page 10
Inside Op-Ed Page: see page 12
This Week: Jewish Camping starts on Page 10 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press’
Adam Lehman receives GOAL Award Page 2
7 Cheshvan 5770
October 15, 2010
Taking care of others is Sheila Tomps’ profession by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Sheila Tomps never says no to the Blumkin Home. She’s “always” there helping at all Blumkin Home special events, programs, or just sitting with residents to keep them company. At family dinners and holiday meals, she sits with residents whose families can’t be with them. She also takes residents to their doctor appointments as well as cultural events at the Jewish Community Center and in the community. When Tomps is at the Home, she always welcomes newcomers. She’s been on the L.O.V.E. Board for about three Sheila Tomps years and has been on the Temple Israel Caring Committee as well. One of the Caring Committee’s functions is to visit Temple residents at the Blumkin Home on Friday afternoons, bring a snack or two, and chat a bit. Tomps makes the rounds with the Caring Committee and on her own. “Sheila makes a difference in the lives of all of our residents,” said Lois Wine, director of volunteer services at the Blumkin Home. “Sheila truly cares about each and every one of the residents. She is our angel.” In addition, she’s “always” at Remington Heights assisting when Temple Israel’s clergy leads “Shabbat Comes to You.” She also goes to Remington Heights on other days of the week to visit residents. Likewise, she visits residents at Skyline Manor. She thinks of all her humanitarian efforts as her profession. At Temple Israel, Tomps graciously invites newcomers to sit with her at worship services. She arranges trays for Oneg Shabbats and has even been spotted washing dishes in the kitchen. She’s “always” here, too, says Executive Director Dennis DePorte. “She asks before we need her.” Whatever is needed……she does it. For a “life that embodies the values of kindness and compassion and whose actions have been devoted to helping others lead meaningful, dignified lives,” the Jewish Federation has selected Tomps to receive its Chesed (loosely translated as kindness) Award. It’s been about ten years since the Jewish Federation last awarded this honor to a member of the community. For more than 30 years, Tomps volunteered at Western Hills School. She helped take children on field trips and assisted children on a one-to-one basis. She also volunteered at Rose Hill School where she assisted special education students. Over the years, Tomps has been active with Special Olympics as well. When her three sons were younger, Tomps was especially active with the Boy Scouts and the Eagle Scout program. All three boys became Eagle Scouts. She’s constantly baking cookies and honey cakes for Rosh Hashanah, hamantaschen for Purim and taking them to people who cannot make their own or go shopping. She knows who likes poppy seed hamantaschen and who doesn’t -- everyone gets their favorite flavor. For people who are recuperating from hospital stays, Tomps delivers entire meals to their homes. Even as a young girl, following in the steps that her mother walked, Tomps helped neighbors clean their homes and wouldn’t accept payment. She continues to be “an angel” today whether caring for ill family members or reaching out to strangers. She will be publicly recognized at the Federation Volunteer Recognition Reception on Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 7:30 pm, at the Jewish Community Center.
Coming Oct. 29: America Decides - Election Preview Klutznick-Harris Symposium on “Jews in the Gym” Page 3
Jewish Federation recognizes 2009 Volunteers of the Year Page 8
Page 2
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 15, 2010
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Adam Lehman receives GOAL Award from Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln by DEVRA BRAM speak and only being able to gesture with his hands. If you were in Omaha five years ago, you probably When Adam returned home from rehabilitation, his remember hearing about the 5 year old local boy who fell former classmates from the CDC had decorated his from his second story window. That boy was Adam entire house to welcome him back. Taking time to Lhman, and he ended up in a coma with a sustained brain adjust to school, he entered kindergarten a month late. injury. What you might not know is what happened next. Today, he is a fifth grader at Aldridge Elementary, and in Remarkably, this story has a happy ending. addition to thriving academically, he is an all around athAdam Lehman’s amazing lete. recovery was celebrated on On Sept. 30, the Madonna Thursday, Sept. 30 at the Hospital celebrated Adam’s Cornhusker Marriot Hotel in (and three others’) achieveLincoln, where Adam and ments during the annual three other former patients of GOAL award ceemony. A the Madonna Rehabilitation brief video was shown of each hospital were honored for their of this year’s GOAL recipients. success stories. The event also celebrated the After the horrible accident, opening of the Alexis Verzal Adam spent two weeks in the Children’s Rehabilitation intensive care unit at Hospital. This world-class Creighton Medical Center. pediatric rehabilitation facility After his release from was made possible through the Creighton, Adam went to the generous $1.2 million donaMadonna Rehabilitation tion from The Git-R-Done Hospital in Lincoln for intenFoundation, a project of comesive speech, occupational, and dian Dan Whitney, who is betphysical therapy. What hap- Madonna Board of Directors Chairwoman Angie ter known as Larry the Cable pened during his stay was Muhleifen and Adam show off his GOAL award Guy. nothing short of a miracle. Part of the thrill of the event When Adam entered the was Larry the Cable Guy’s parfacility, he could not lift his ticipation. The award recipihead from his pillow. He ents were able to meet him couldn’t speak. However, after during a private reception. only 29 days he was discharged True to character, he attended and returned home, able to the event in his traditional flanwalk and talk. He did have nel cut off shirt and shorts joksome minor vision issues ing to the audience that he which were later resolved. couldn’t afford a suit because The staff at the Madonna of his donation to the hospital. called him “the bionic boy” Five years after Adam’s accibecause of his remarkable dent, Denise and the family progress. His mother, Denise appreciated the opportunity to Lehman, who was at his side step back and remember how the entire time, took detailed the Omaha Jewish community notes of all the various therapulled together for them, visitpies. She said: “In addition to ing them every day, and weltherapy, the love of his family coming them back to celebrate Adam Lehman is congratulated by Larry the Cable and the community pulled him Adam’s miraculous recovery. Guy, who is one of the hospital’s donors through”. Denise sees every day with According to Denise, Adam does not remember the Adam as a miracle, and takes nothing for granted. These accident, but he does remember the therapy at Madonna days, Adam participates in all the typical activities of a and the room that he stayed in where his sisters and father healthy ten-year old boy. Everyone who meets Adam has visited him daily. He also remembers not being able to the same thing to say: “He’s really a great kid.”
Spanish journalist receives Pearl Award
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by JTA NEWS STAFF Left Party of Catalonia. During the Gaza war in 2009 Rahola, among others, (JTA) -- Spanish journalist Pilar Rahola was presented with the ADL Daniel Pearl Award. Rahola received the received death threats for her support of Israel. “We believe that your disaward Thursday, Oct. 7 in course against antiBoston for “writing and Americanism, anti-Semitism, speaking out about antiand anti-Israelism in Europe, Semitism and anti-Zionism especially among intellectuals in Europe and elsewhere from the extreme left, has throughout the continent.” been one of the most couraThe Anti-Defamation geous and encouraging voicLeague’s Daniel Pearl es that we have heard from Award, which is dedicated to Europe in the last decade,” the Jewish American reporter wrote Judea and Ruth Pearl, who was abducted and murDaniel Pearl’s parents, in a dered in Pakistan in 2002 letter to Rahola. while pursuing a story about In receiving the award international terrorism, was Pilar Rahola Rahola said that it was “an created to recognize individCredit: jssnews.com extraordinary honor, uals who have made a “positive contribution to promoting improved understanding undoubtedly undeserved, one which I will try to carry of Jews and Judaism, be it in journalism, interfaith dia- with humility and responsibility.” Previous recipients of the Pearl award include Thomas logue, politics, or diplomacy.” The award was presented to Rahola during the ADL’s L. Friedman, columnist for The New York Times; Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent for The annual meeting which took place in Boston. Pilar Rahola, born in Barcelona in 1958, writes for the Atlantic; and Robert Satloff, executive director of The Spanish daily La Vanguardia and is a known figure on Washington Institute. television and radio. From 1993 to 2000 she was a Pilar Rahola’s writings can be found at her website: member of the Spanish Parliament for the Republican www.pilarrahola.com.
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October 15, 2010
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Many topics featured at Klutznick-Harris Symposium on “Jews in the Gym” by LEONARD GREENSPOON Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization, Creighton University For some, the connection between Jews and athletics might seem farfetched. But we, as members of Omaha’s Jewish community, know better: we witnessed the hugely popular Maccabi games just a few months ago, we make frequent use of the J’s world-class exercise facilities, and we often participate in one or more sports on a regular basis. This year’s Klutznick-Harris Symposium, on Oct. 24 and 25, welcomes everyone, including doubters, to a two-day exploration of topics related to “The Jews in the Gym: Judaism, Sports, and Athletics.” Thirteen presenters will gather to share their thoughts, insights, and experiences as researchers on many facets of this fascinating relationship. The proceedings begin at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday Oct. 24, at the Jewish Community Center. David J. Leonard, of Washington State University, will make the first presentation, A Global Game: Omri Casspi and the Future of Jewish Ballers. He will talk about the arrival of Casspi, the first Israeli to play in the NBA, as a rookie for the Sacramento Kings during the 2009-2010 session. Casspi’s Jewishness has been a central feature in publicity about him. His warm reception also speaks to the transformation of basketball in Israel. Following Leonard is Nina Spiegel, from American University; her talk, Sporting a Nation: The Origins of the Maccabiah Games, will investigate the circumstances surrounding the first
Maccabiah Games, in Tel Aviv in 1932. In the process, she will examine how the Maccabiah was established, focusing on one of its primary goals—to reconfigure the Jewish body. Between this first session and the second, lunch will be served, beginning at noon, for all in attendance. The second session, which begins at 1:05 p.m., features three speakers. First is Danny Rosenberg, who is traveling to Omaha from Brock University, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada. His presentation is titled The Jewish Athlete of Faith: On the Limits of Sport. He takes as his starting point the influential book, The Lonely Man of Faith, by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, in which two personality types (Adam I and Adam II) are delineated. Rosenberg will pay special attention to individuals whom he terms Jewish athletes of faith; they conform to Soloveitchik’s Adam II. Well-known as a lawyer and Omaha community leader, Steven Riekes will follow, with his paper titled Is Life a Game? Athletic Competition as a Metaphor for the Meaning of Life. In it, he explores a point made by the Jewish author Maurice Samuel in his book, The Gentleman and the Jew. According to Samuel, athletic competition as typically practiced in the Western world is an offshoot of Greco-Roman philosophy, to which Judaism presents a morally elevated contrast. Such principled
opposition may explain, some have argued, the persistence of virulent antisemitism. Riekes will be followed by Steven A. Riess, from Northeastern Illinois University, who will speak on antiSemitism and Sport in Central Europe and the United States, c. 1870-1932. His presentation encompasses a comparative study of Jewish sport and anti-Semitism in Central Europe and the United States during the half century preceding the rise of Nazism. Riess contrasts the successes of Jewish athletes in gymnastics and other competitions throughout Eur-ope with their general failure to gain acceptance in these same societies. The situation in the United States, so it turns out, was rather different. After a break, the third session, which runs from 3:35 to 5 p.m., will begin. The first presentation in this session has the title, Grappling with Ghosts: Jewish Wrestlers and Antisemitism. It will be presented by two individuals: William Kornblum, from the Graduate Center CUNY, and Phillip Oberlander, who represented Canada in two Olympic Games and is one of the wrestlers featured in the presentation. Through memoirs, historical reconstruction, oral history, and archival research, the authors of this paper gained insight into the influence of Jewish wrestlers on their sport from the
late 1920s to the present. Linda J. Borish, of Western Michigan University, follows, with Jewish Women in the American Gym: Basketball, Ethnicity, and Gender in the Early Twentieth Century. In this presentation, Borish features basketball for Jewish women, an area that has been largely neglected by historians, even though it is a topic of considerable importance in understanding the historical experiences of Jews in the gym. Among the sources for Borish’s material are the archives of Jewish cultural and religious institutions. Sunday’s Symposium activities will be brought to a rousing conclusion by the keynote presentation of Jeffrey Gurock, from Yeshiva University. His talk, which takes place in the J Theatre, begins at 7:30 p.m. The second day of the Symposium, Monday Oct. 25, features five presenters. These activities will take place in the Ballroom of the Skutt Student Center on the campus of Creighton University. (Convenient parking for the public is available at the Lied Center for Fine and Performing Arts, located at 24th and Cass Streets.) The first presentation of the day, Cutting Their Way to Success: Hungarian Jewish Sportsmen at the Olympic Games, 1928-1936, will be given at 8:30 a.m. by Mihály Kálmán, of Harvard University. The late 1920s and early 1930s saw a high watermark of athletic accomplishment by Hungarian Jews, especially in the sport of fencing. At the same time, the country of Hungary experienced increasing antisemitism. Continued on page 4
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October 15, 2010
Klutznick-Harris Symposium Continued from page 3 Georgetown University’s Ori Z. Soltes will follow with From Benny Leonard to Abi Olajuwon: Jews, Muslims, Evangelicals, and the Evolving Challenges of Being an American Athlete. Soltes begins by chronicling the ways in which sports offered early twentieth century Jewish immigrants a way out of the ghetto and into the mainstream. He will also show how similar opportunities and parallel concerns arise for members of other religious communities in America as well. After a break, the next session, lasting from 10:05 to 11:30 a.m., starts. The first presenter of this session, Loren R. Spielman, of Portland State University, will talk on Playing Roman in Jerusalem. He takes as his starting point the establishment by Herod the Great (40 BCE-4 BCE) of festival games in Jerusalem. The failure of these games has usually been attributed to the fierce opposition of his Jewish subjects to such a spectacle. But, as Spielman demonstrates, Jewish attitudes toward Greek and Roman games were varied and complex. The next speaker, Nathan Abrams, is journeying to the Symposium from Bangor University, Wales. His presentation is titled, The Jew in the Gym: Judaism, Sports, and Athletics on Film. In general, the representations of Jewish sports figures in film have been few and far
between. However, as Abrams shows, there have been exceptions: Jewish characters in recent films have often been defined by their athleticism. At the conclusion of Abrams’ presentation, a kosher deli lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. Directly after the lunch, at 12:20 p.m., Robecca Alpert, of Temple University, will conclude the Symposium with her presentation, Who Is That Masked Man? Buster Haywood and Black Baseball’s Invisible Jews. Buster Haywood was a catcher, who over two decades played primarily for Jewish owners. Additionally, Haywood had an intriguing connection to a community of Hebrew Israelites. This event is made possible by the generosity of the Harris Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Kripke Center for Religion and Society at Creighton University, the Ike and Roz Friedman Foundation, the Riekes Family, and the Henry Monsky Lodge of B’nai B’rith. It is also supported by the Center for Jewish Education. All of the presentations are free and open to the public. For further information, please call Fran Minear at 280.2303 or email her at fminear@creighton.edu. Summaries of all of the presentations, as well as other features, can be accessed at the Klutznick Chair website: www.creighton.edu/ccas/klutznick.
Waters, ADL have exchange on anti-Semitism charges by JTA NEWS STAFF (JTA) -- Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters defended himself against accusations of anti-Semitism -- and the Anti-Defamation League responded to the musician. The ADL had slammed Waters last week for using what it said was anti-Semitic imagery during performances of “Goodbye Blue Sky” on his 2010-11 “The Wall Live” tour, which targets Israel’s West Bank security fence. An animated scene projects images of planes dropping bombs in the shape of Jewish Stars of David, dollar signs, a crucifix, a hammer and sickle, a crescent and star, a Mercedes sign and a Shell Oil sign. The ADL had expressed concern that the juxtaposition of the Star of David and the dollar sign “could easily be misunderstood as a comment about Jews and money.” In a letter published Monday in The Independent, Waters said that “there are no hidden meanings in the order or juxtaposition of these symbols. The point I am trying to make in the song is that the bombardment we are all subject to by conflicting religious, political and economic ideologies only encourages us to turn against one another, and I mourn the concomitant loss of life.” The letter goes on to say that “In so far as The Wall has a political message it is to seek to illuminate our condition, and find new ways to encourage peace and
understanding, particularly in the Middle East.” Waters told Britain’s The Independent that he felt compelled to respond to the ADL’s charges. “If I don’t respond, people will see the story and will come to believe I’m anti-Semitic, and I’m not,” he said. “Nothing could be further from the truth. “ Waters said he had never heard of the ADL before the controversy. Abraham Foxman, the organization’s national director, responded to Waters in an open letter. “We, too, have heard from many of your fans who have attended the concerts in the States and were shocked by the decision to immediately follow the Star of David with dollar signs,” Foxman wrote. “We would ask, out of sensitivity to those who might be offended, that you change the order of the symbols so that the dollar signs are made to appear elsewhere in the show. For us, it would put this matter entirely to rest.”
To order a gift subscription to the Press... Send a check for $40, made out to the Jewish Press and prorated for this year and for 2011, to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. For more information on how to connect your out-of-town relatives and friends, call 334.6448.
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Temple Israel celebrates Simchat Torah and new Religious School students
On Simchat Torah, Temple Israel welcomed new Religious School students as they begin their formal religious educational studies. On the bimah are Melany Fullenkamp, first grade teacher, top left, Cantor Wendy Shermet, Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Religious School Coordinator Lori Bennett, Rabbi Eric Linder, and Ann Noodell, first grade teacher; middle row: Sam Gittelman, Gregory Sacks, Charlie Blum, Noemi Gilbert, Emma Broshar, Cat Rawlings, class assistant; front row: Reagan Koom, Alex Kugler, Delaney Graham, Camille Horner, Marissa Cooper, Vanessa Cooper, Ella Zuber, Ainsley Meyerson. Not pictured: Mendel Wright.
BIRTH Kari and Elias Saratovsky of San Francisco announce the birth of thier daughter, Liya Avital. Grandparents are former Omahans Linda and Sidney Dunn of Carmel, IN, and Emily and Boris Saratovsky of Belle Harbor, NY. Great-grandparents are former Omahan Sylvia Cohen, and Pesya Saratovsky of Brooklyn, NY.
ORGANIZATIONS B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Speaker yet to be announced for Wednesday, Oct. 20, noon at the Blumkin Home. An optional buffet lunch costs $13; beverage service is $3. For more information or to be placed on the e-mail list call 334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org. LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Yiddish words have made their way into every phase of modern life, show biz, law, classrooms, etc. Come join us at our new meeting room (across from the beauty salon) at the Blumkin Home, every Thursday, 1-3 pm. For information, call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638.
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October 15, 2010
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous by JOAN NATHAN (Knopf, $40. Available November 2010)
READ IT AND EAT Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN Vive la France! And vive the recipes and personal stories of these cooks. Award winning cookbook author Joan Nathan visits kitchens all across France to create this book of culinary French Jewish cooking. She includes histories of food that stretch back for centuries. She began her love affair with France as a teenager, returned as a college student, and worked her way through Julia Child. Madame Taleb Tunisian’s Stuffed Meatballs are “symbolic of family, remembrance and Friday-night dinners.” Chef Daniel Rose’s version of his grandmother’s chicken soup is Spring Chicken Broth, prepared for this American’s tiny restaurant, Spring, in Paris. Huguette Uhry from the Alsace married a local butcher and became a well known cook. She bakes her favorite Brioche recipe for Rosh Hashanah. Instructions with the Sauce au Raifort (Horseradish Sauce) tell you to open a window and put on a pair of goggles. The Cabbage Stuffed with Gefilte Fish can be made with leftovers (the earliest gefilte fish recipe was printed in a Paris volume in 1691!). Typical Alsatian mustard has been eaten “for centuries by the northern Jewish communities in France.” The memories, experiences and haunting tales of World War II make for poignant reading. Nathan clearly captures the people, stories and instructions for the
recipes. It’s all tightly and artfully written. Her search for Jewish cooking in France resulted in more than 200 recipes, spread over 11 chapters. Appetizers, Soups, Salads, Breads-Both Sacred and Secular, Fish, Chicken-Duck & Goose, Beef-Veal & Lamb, Quiches-Kugels, Omelets & Savory Soufflés, Grains-Pulses-Couscous & Rice, Vegetables and Desserts. The Sampling of French Jewish Menus has holiday and everyday suggestions. The Source Guide lists Jewish Food Stores and Restaurants in France. Meat, Dairy or Parve icons are included as are recipe Notes. It would be difficult to pick the ‘piece du résistance’, because there are many candidates. Turn olives from Le Monde des Épices, “a tiny shop on the Rue François-Miron, near the Marais, which was traditionally the city’s Jewish section,” into a colorful appetizer. You can vary this mix by adding to it six cloves of garlic, peeled and kept whole; six red peppercorns, or a few hot red peppers cut into small pieces; or the diced rind of half a preserved lemon. FLAVORED OLIVES 1 pound mixed olives with their juice 1 handful of orange zest or thin slivers of kumquat 1 handful of dried cranberries 1 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs, such as parsley, dill, basil, cilantro and mint 1 cinnamon stick Place the olives and some of their juice in a clear glass bowl. Stir in the orange zest or kumquat, the cranberries, the mixed herbs, and the cinnamon stick. Serve immediately or keep in the refrigerator and eat at your leisure. Yield: 2 cups Lois Friedman can be reached at ReadItAndEat@ yahoo.com.
Adult educational offerings at Beth Israel by BETH COHEN Executive Director of Beth Israel Synagogue Learning opportunities for adults at Beth Israel are expanding as a new schedule of classes begins. “Just as we are commanded to set aside money for tzedakah, so too every one of us is charged to set aside time and dedicate it for Torah study,” explains Beth Israel’s Rabbi Jonathan Gross. “Regular Torah study is so valuable that the Mishnah equates its worth to the performance of all other mitzvot.” Beth Israel’s new class schedule offers something for adults every day of the week. “Whether Chumash, Mishnah, Gemara, Halacha, philosophy, or prayer,” says Gross, “choose the areas that meet your preferences and your schedule, and make an effort to set it as a fixture in your routine.” Rabbi Yitzchak Mizrahi teaches on Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m., “Torah Revelations.” The class will be based on the text of Pirkei Avot, Ethics of our Fathers. Explains Mizrahi, “This delightful work of our sages explores from many angles and perspectives, the values, character and qualities necessary to be a ‘perfect’ person.” On Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Rabbi Yaakov Weiss will teach, “Wrestling with Rashi.” This interactive class focuses on unlocking the hidden mysteries behind each word and concept in the Torah. Rashi’s encyclopedic mastery of biblical and Talmudic texts will come to life as participants uncover the lessons within. Come ready to flex your brain’s muscles while reading between the lines of our most sacred text. Rabbi Weiss is the Pastoral Services Coordinator at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. Also on Wednesdays, the Advanced Halachic Kollel meets at 9 p.m. The Kollel is a forum for advanced Torah study in the classical yeshiva style. We primarily follow the text of the Shulchan Aruch with commentaries but also introduce the relevant passages from the Gemara, Tur, Beit Yosef, Magen Avraham, Mishnah Brurah, as well as classic and modern responses to real life situations. We have the privilege of sometimes being led by Rabbi Mendel Senderovic of the Milwaukee Kollel or other guest lecturers. You don’t need a Yeshiva background to appreciate the Kollel. If challenging advanced learning interests you and you would like to learn more about the Kollel, please contact Rabbi Gross. Thursday brings two different learning opportunities led by Rabbi Jonathan Gross. At 9:30 a.m., Rabbi Gross teaches the Women of the Torah class. This class is on a quest to complete the entire Tanach. “We are the people of the book,” explains Rabbi Gross, “but unfortunately most of us have never read it all. We learn with commentary and we have discussions about the moral
lessons learned from the texts. After a year of continuous in-depth study, we just finished the book of Trei Asar and we are about to embark upon the books of Daniel, Ezra and Nechemia. Most people have never read their timeless words and therefore are unaware of how these lessons have affected western civilization. Every week is a perfect time to begin coming to class because every week we are starting a new topic.” Resuming on Thursday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m., Rabbi Gross facilitates “Rabbis Around the World.” This class has given Beth Israel national recognition for creativity in using technology to affordably bring talented speakers to our community. Last year, we heard from 30 different scholars via Skype, an on-line video calling service that allows for live interaction between two locations. Every Kabbalat Shabbat, Beth Israel opens the pulpit to our congregants, giving them a chance to develop their d’var Torah skills. Giving a d’var Torah is a great way to honor a birthday, anniversary, yahrzeit, graduation, or other special occasion. D’vrei Torah are scheduled in advance. Contact Rabbi Gross if you are interested in participating. Once a month on Shabbat morning, Rabbi Mizrahi leads “Understanding the Prayer Book,” at 9 a.m. This class focuses on different aspects of the Shabbat service and will meet again on Saturday, Oct. 16. Every Shabbat morning, Rabbi Gross leads an interactive parshah study prior to the week’s Torah reading. One hour before Mincha each Shabbat afternoon, a variety of classes are offered for teens and adults. The Shabbat afternoon classes culminate with a festive Seuda Shlishit, the third meal of Shabbat, and a beautiful youth-led Havdalah service. “This year,” says Rabbi Gross, “let’s all make a commitment to increase the time we set aside each week to study Torah, thereby drawing ourselves closer to God, to each other, and adding more meaning to our lives.”
IN THE NEWS TEDx Omaha, an independently organized TED event, will be held from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on Oct. 16 at the Durham Museum. The event will also be streamed live in its entirety. The challenge is to deliver the most inspiring performance of your life in 18 minutes or less. TEDx Omaha has selected 15 performers and speakers, concentrated on the theme of Inspiring Omaha. For more information, contact Brian Smith at brian@rebel-interactive.com, or call 402.561.0520, or contact Rita Paskowitz at storywitz@gmail.com.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 15, 2010
Temple scholar to reveal glimpses of her Sabbath world
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by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator About a decade ago, “I began to take a passionate interest in the Sabbath, the ancient weekly day of rest,” said Judith Shulevitz in an online interview. “I told myself that this was purely a matter of intellectual curiosity, but it wasn’t,” admitted the literary critic and former columnist for The New York Times Book Review. “I was ravenous for something, though I didn’t know what. I tried to get my hands on everything having to do with the Sabbath. Tales of good Sabbaths and of bad Sabbaths.” As a scholar-in-residence Judith Shulevitz will be at Temple Israel, Shulevitz Temple Israel's scholar-inwill talk about the history of residence the last weekend the American Sabbath when in Oct. Credit Elena Seibert she speaks at the 6 p.m. Shabbat worship service on Friday, Oct. 29. Contining the celebration of Shabbat together, the service will be followed by a congregational dinner. The next day, Shulevitz will focus on true rest as a group activity as she leads an intergenerational retreat at Fontenelle Forest from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. celebrating the Sabbath. On Sunday, Oct. 31, beginning at 10 a.m. at Temple Israel, she’ll discuss how to make room for Shabbat in our lives. Open to the entire community, Shulevitz’s residency is sponsored by the Hermene Zweiback Center for Lifelong Jewish Learning. Shulevitz admits that her obsession about the Sabbath “was not exactly socially productive. Saying that I’d been reading up on the Sabbath was a good way to cut a vigorous conversation short,” she confessed. “Occasionally, some kind soul would agree to chat briefly about the great modern work on the subject, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s The Sabbath, a retelling of Hasidic legend that has become a popular primer for people taking their first steps back to Judaism.”
Although she describes Heschel’s book as “beautiful…many of the others I could have talked about were not. The more I read about the Sabbath, though, the more I was struck by the power of the idea. It seemed to me that I could justify my interest in utilitarian terms. I could explain to my skeptical friends that a structured period of non-productivity could be very useful for an overscheduled society.” A journalist, editor, and literary critic, Shulevitz graduated from Yale College in 1986. From 1991 to 1994, she was co-editor of Lingua Franca, 1990-2001, an American magazine about intellectual and literary life in academia. She is also the founding culture editor of Slate, an online magazine of news, politics and culture that combines humor and insight in analyzing current events and political news. She worked as deputy editor of New York Magazine, and her articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, and elsewhere. She is the author of The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time, published by Random House in March 2010. For Shulevitz, “the Sabbath…is not only an idea. It is also something you keep. With other people. You can’t just extract lessons from it. Me, I want to keep it and teach my children to keep it.” She likes “the idea of keeping the Sabbath, but at the thought of actually doing it, of passing an entire day following strange rules while refraining from all customary recreations, I am knocked flat by a wave of anticipated boredom.” She’ll address how her family has come to enjoy observing Shabbat in their own way, because it gives her family time to be together in a world filled with distractions. “One problem with the modern weekend as I experience it -- and I have two young children -- is that they want to play soccer, and they want to have play dates, and they want to do things. If you don’t pay attention to setting aside time to be together, you possibly won’t.” Shulevitz and her husband, Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and their children live in New York City.
Beth El families to share morning of fun during annual “Bring Your Parents to School Day”
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school board, will discuss goals for the year. During the by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator rest of the morning, parents may attend their children’s Beth El parents who want a close-up look at their chil- classes and enjoy snacks and beverages in the West Court, dren’s Jewish education will have that opportunity on courtesy of the synagogue’s Men’s Club. In addition, at Sunday, Oct. 17, as the synagogue’s Talmud Torah 11:30 a.m. in the chapel, Janie Murow, director of the B’nai Tzedek program, will (BESTT) sponsors its annudiscuss with parents philanal “Bring Your Parents to thropy opportunities for School Day” from 10 a.m. their children. to noon. All families with A directory of classrooms students in pre-kinderand teachers’ names will be garten through seventh posted in the canteen area, grade are invited to particiRubin said, adding that parpate in this special open ents are welcome to stay for house, which offers parents either the entire open the opportunity to become house, or just a portion of familiarized with their chilthe morning. She also dren’s Sunday school classes noted that in addition to and participate in a funthe interactive open house, filled morning of learning Parents and their children check out the Talmud Torah’s parents are always welcome alongside their children. computer lab during last year’s “Bring Your Parents to to visit mid-week religiousThe morning will begin School Day” program. school classes and may set a with an open assembly in the chapel, where Education Director Judy Rubin, Rabbi date and time by contacting her at 498.0904, or Mordechai Levin and Joel Rich, chair of the BESTT eddir@bethel-omaha.org.
Herzl Camp worth checking out by ANNE HOPE Director of Herzl Camp Herzl Camp is a welcoming, Independent, Jewish camp located on 120 acres in Webster, Wisconsin on the shores of Devils Lake. Herzl Camp is accredited with the American Camping Association and offers summers filled with plenty of activities, including, tennis, basketball, sailing, swimming, boating, ultimate, dance, drama, and more! You will make lifelong friendships, eat great food and have the time of your life. Just two hours north of the Twin Cities, campers come from Minneapolis, St. Paul, Kansas City, Omaha, Lincoln, Des Moines, Iowa City, St. Louis, and throughout the country. Join us this summer for an opportunity to try something new while being a part of the Herzl Camp traditions spanning 64 years.
Our facilities include all new cabins built in 2010, an air-conditioned/heated Chadar Ochel (Dining Hall) and Kosher Kitchen, a beautiful “Mercaz” (combination Chapel and scenic Ampitheater overlooking the lake), the “Ulam,” (Theater), and excellent sports facilities including four fields, tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts, and a superior Outdoor Climbing Wall. Our commitment is to give every camper the best Jewish camping experience possible. If you have questions or need more information, please contact us. We are ready to help you get started on the greatest summer of your life. We will be in Omaha and Lincoln on Nov. 16 and 17. Please check our website, herzlcamp.org, for exact locations and times or call us at 952.927.4002.
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October 15, 2010
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Tennis is good, but blessings are better BERT’S EYE VIEW by BERT LEWIS Camping - now there’s a topic to explore. If you don’t have children, or if you never had a camp experience yourself, this won’t pertain to you. I’d venture you won’t find anything worth reading, so beware. I’m into the idea of young children and going to camp. It turns out things have changed very greatly since the early days of camping....when I had a crumpled piece of paper on which “be sure to bring” items were listed. Seems that’s all cut and dried, because every Mom knows how many of every item her kid needs in a certain span of time. The list, however, will name all the other stuff Mom might not think of, and that’s why it’s such a necessary part of preparing for the big departure. For example, my eight-year-old grandchild had her first sleep-away-camp experience this past summer, and special notice needed to be taken regarding clothing. She lives in Florida, and her camp was in northern Minnesota. Ergo: don’t forget to pack sweaters, long sleeve shirts, long pants and any other such items useful when the sun goes down and the chilly air moves in. This kid practically lives in shorts and T-shirts so I don’t know if she believed the warnings about warm clothing. She found out. Having said that, let me skip ahead to the different kinds of camps. I don’t know exactly when specialty camps came into the picture, but I do remember how
astonished I was when a very young great-nephew told everyone he was going to “tennis camp.” Tennis camp? What’s with that? Obviously, it’s for kids polishing their skills and hoping to become champions some day! That was the first of such camps I heard about, but certainly not the last. In fact, the Florida granddaughter I just mentioned, went to a camp that not only specialized in chilly nights, but in a foreign language. Spanish Camp it was called, and when she and her Dad arrived, they learned how serious the language part really was. Turned out everything was in Spanish: Signs pointing to important destinations on the grounds, menu listings for each meal, money to be deposited for the requisite gum or candy bars, directions for everything, no matter what, were in Spanish! A somewhat rude awakening for the child who only knew if she didn’t say por favor, chances were pretty good she wouldn’t get what she asked for. I wasn’t at all sure how our camper would manage, but as kids usually do, she managed quite nicely. Her visit to me at the end of her camp experience demonstrated she could handle herself with the basics. And the best part? She loved everything about it and only worried if she’d be allowed to go next year. Proof of success, yes? So what does that tell us about special camps? I suppose it mostly is proof that no matter what else is expected, camp is fun and the usual reaponse to “how was it?” was “Great! I really loved it!” So does that mean all camps should have some special thing going on? Does a kid really need to learn everything about championship swimming, or tennis, or gymnastics while at camp? No, I don’t think it’s
mandatory, but like chicken soup for a cold, it couldn’t hurt. If you subscribe to the theory that everything that goes on in a child’s life every day is something of a learning experience, then a specialty camp is a plus. Don’t just pick up on something, but really learn all about it. That seems reasonable to me, but I’m just a bystander at this point, and you know how critical such a person can be. Of course, we can’t overlook the Jewish camps if we’re going to talk about every other kind. I think, depending on the kid (like the first rule is: he has to be Jewish), that can be a wonderful experience. Personally, I’ve known more than one Mom who began making Friday night dinner a much more important event than just food, after her kid came home from a Jewish camp. Some are accustomed to the important fact of shabbat before they go to camp, but for the youngster who only sees that now and then, it’s an eye-opener. And everything else they learn in an ethnic venue can contribute greatly to a youngster’s feelings about his/her religion. Yes, tennis is good, but the habit of saying blessings before various events is better. I have come to believe the exposure, especially in such a pleasing atmosphere, to everyday “Jewishness” doesn’t hurt a kid one iota. I’ll even go so far as to say it’s a good thing. Camp is a wonderful interlude in a kid’s life if it’s been carefully chosen to “match” the child and/or his interests. Music camp has to be a marvelous thing for the youngster who plays an instrument and loves it. In additon to all that, the new people waiting to become friends are always right there, anxious to turn
into somebody’s new best friend. Yes, on the whole, there’s lots to be said for what the kids call “sleep away camp.” Never mind all the special stuff that’s taught, just the experience of being away from home and in the care of others is an important part of growing up. Learning the importance of following all the rules is easier at camp than at home, I’m almost positive. Ok. I’ve thought it all over, very carefully, and here’s what I think: If your kid drives you crazy begging to go to camp, investigate and make a decision based on what’s best for the kid, not you. conversely, if the kid doesn’t want to go to camp and you think it would be really good for him, don’t just make him go. First find out why he doesn’t want to go. I don’t think a child should be forced to go with the theory that once he gets there, he’ll love it. Not necessarily. That’s when you can expect the dreaded phone call from camp, from the counselor who hates to make the call and secretly thinks the kid is a wimp and is trying not to say that. Oy. You know what? I just remembered something. Nobody appointed me a maven on this whole issue of kids and camp. So what the heck am I telling you all this stuff for? Beats me. I just got carried away. For heaven’s sake, do what you think best for your kid. But you might want to give it a chance. In my house, the kids loved it. At least up to a certain age. When girls discover boys, and boys discover girls, well, just check out the place very, very carefully! This is called advice. Remember, it’s worth exactly what it costs you. Bert Lewis can be reached at BertLewis39@aol.com.
The Jewish Federation of Omaha is proud to announce Murray H. and Sharee C. Newman
Hanukkah GIFTS+MORE Humanitarians of theYear COMING 11.19.10 | SPACE RESERVATION 11.10.10 | CAMERA READY DEADLINE 11.12.10
the Newmans will be honored at the Federation Campaign Community Event Wednesday Nov. 3, 2010 | 7:30 pm | JCC
Contact your advertising representative to advertise in this very special edition.
ALLAN Handleman Call Allan Handleman at 402.334.6451 or email: ahandleman@jewishomaha.org
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 15, 2010
Jewish Federation recognizes 2009 Volunteers of the Year by SHERRIE SAAG Jewish Federation of Omaha Every year, the agencies of the Federation recognize outstanding volunteers who give of their time to make our community a better place. This year is no exception and the following volunteers are being recognized for their participation, involvement and concern for the place we call home. The entire community is invited to join us Tuesday, Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m. in the JCC Auditorium as the Federation honors these outstanding people as our 2009 Volunteers of the Year. Jewish Federation of Omaha Bruce Friedlander For Bruce Friedlander, the word no is not an option. He gives of his time on behalf of the Federation because he is someone who believes that Federation is always there when needed. He joined the Federation’s Board of Directors during Bob Lepp’s two year presidency and continues in that position today. He has also served on the Budget and Allocations committee and was the Men’s Campaign Chair for two years. He describes his newest volunteer role as a member of the Omaha Jewish Business Forum as very important work. Bruce’s guiding principle in giving so much of his time and talent is simple. “Saying yes to Federation is saying yes to yourself.” Jewish Community Center Doris and Harry Alloy For as far back as they can remember, the Jewish Community Center has been a very important part of Doris and Harry Alloy’s lives. They visited the JCC on 20th and Dodge as children and “hung out” there throughout high school. Harry has been a JCC Board member for the past nine years and believes his “older perspective” is appreciated. He enjoys sharing his input and suggestions and the Board enjoys receiving them. Their volunteer efforts at the JCC extend to almost every program on the calendar and it is not unusual to see them both on campus for long days. A recent Tuesday found them involved in three different volunteer jobs: a committee meeting for the new Mainstreeters group at the RBJH, sponsoring a Birthday cart for its residents and selling hundreds of tickets at the Yom Ha-atzmaut celebration. Their volunteer spirit extends throughout the entire campus and also includes BBYO and Jewish Family Service.
The Jewish Press Dottie Rosenblum Dottie Rosenblum is the Jewish Press’ choice for volunteer of the year. Her research experience, knowledge of the community and its agencies, organizations, and people, and how they interact is invaluable to the Jewish Press. Dottie is detail oriented, which makes her the right person to check the synagogue page every week, and make sure all the t’s are crossed. Dottie is willing to spend extra time to make deadline, and she does whatever it takes to make the Press as accurate as possible. The Press staff appreciates all Dottie’s hard work, and hopes to enjoy her support for many more years. Institute for Holocaust Education Eunie Denenberg Aa a key member of the Institute’s Governance Council, Eunie Denenberg provides immeasurable support and guidance. She is always at the table with new and innovative ideas; just when we think we can’t come up with another single thing, there is Eunie with a great idea! Eunie served as the chairperson for the Institute’s 2009 production of Brundibar. She recruited a large team of volunteers and managed their expertise in the areas of fundraising, education, production and event planning. Her energy, passion and love for this event set the tone for everyone involved. Eunie came to each Brundibar meeting armed with a personal binder, the contents of which rivaled those of the IHE’s staff. Her dedication and commitment were truly an inspiration to all those with whom she worked. Center for Jewish Education Toba Cohen-Dunning Toba Cohen-Dunning is passionate about education. Not only has she made it her professional career, but along with a busy young family, she finds time to pursue this passion in a volunteer capacity. Toba has served on the Center for Jewish Education Board since 2006 – with key roles as treasurer, chair of the community Yom HaShoah Committee and vice president. She is now President of the Board and will serve through 2010-2011.
Her guidance and leadership proved invaluable as she took on her most recent challenge, that of chair of the Community High School committee. Toba was instrumental in guiding this group through the intricacies of establishing a brand new school. That she did this respectful of the needs of three congregations and interested community members, is a testament to her talents and volunteer commitment. With many thanks to her, the Omaha Jewish Community High School opened in the fall of 2010. Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Minyanaires by OZZIE NOGG Webster’s dictionary defines a volunteer as: a person who voluntarily undertakes or expresses a willingness to perform a service. Those words describe the twentyfour volunteers who give their time to lead prayer services at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. Their efforts have won them a group nomination for the Federation Volunteer of the Year Award from the RBJH and Jewish Social Services. “The core of volunteers involved with prayer services at the Rose Blumkin Home is large and devoted,” said Lois Wine, RBJH Director of Volunteers. “They are the epitome of what volunteer service is all about. Our volunteer religious leaders -- we call them our minyanaire mensches -- put forth a great amount of time each week and never ask for recognition. Blumkin Home residents look forward to Shabbat and holiday services, and our volunteers leave the Chapel with a feeling of satisfaction, knowing they have given our residents an uplifting religious experience involving Torah, tefillah -- prayer -and chesed -- kindness.” According to Wine, “At 8:00 a.m. each Shabbat and holiday morning, Jim Polack, Renee Kazor and her son Mark arrive at the Home to begin their volunteer service. They set out siddurim and tallit and then begin escorting residents to the Chapel. They make certain that each male resident has a yarmulke, assist in wrapping the tallis around their shoulders, and help residents turn pages of the prayer books so they can follow the service. When the service is finished, these patient volunteers serve Kiddush, making sure that residents with special diets are taken care of. After Kiddush, the volunteers escort residents back to their rooms and then return to the Chapel to put the tallit and prayer books away.” Wine went on to explain that Andy Greenberg, David Herzog, Jim Polack, Miles Remer, Steve Riekes, Alan Shulewitz, Rabbi Maximo Shechet and Marty Shukert are Shabbat service leaders on a rotating schedule. “Jim Polack’s sons Josh and Max come and read the Torah portion,” she said, “and teenagers Zack Bram and Naomi and Aaron Zipursky are assistant Shabbat service leaders. Rabbi Kripke often delivers the D’var Torah, and residents and guests are given aliyot. In all these ways, Shabbat mornings and Jewish holidays are made very special for everyone.” In addition to leading services, volunteers blow shofar, help conduct Passover Seders and bring Kabbalat Shabbat Friday night songs to Blumkin Home residents. Continued on page 9
Thank you to last year’s outstanding Annual Campaign team for their dedication and leadership; last year’s campaign raised $2,950,000. General Campaign Chairs - Zoe and Carl Riekes Pacesetter Chair - Keith Josephson Lion of Judah Chair - Bobbie Epstein Men’s Campaign Chair - Bruce Friedlander Women’s Campaign Chair - Ellie Batt Young Leadership Chair - Jamie Friedland Super Sunday Chairs - Teresa and Andy Ruback
October 15, 2010
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Institute for Holocaust Education to receive award for Brundibár Continued from page 1 Educators made great use of a 40-page about the great programming the IHE Educational Guide created by educators puts out year round. I was very proud to working with the IHE. The Guide conbe associated with Brundibár and the IHE.” Even with the IHE’s small staff and volunteers, it was the hard work of Opera Omaha and the 38 cast members in the show – all students from the area – who presented an artistic, inspiring and educational performance. Students and adults were also treated to hear Holocaust survivor, Ela Weissberger, an original cast member of Brundibár in the Terezin ghetto during the war. She spoke at every performance throughout the week and also addressed crowds at the Omaha Public Library, Credit: Opera Omaha the Kripke Jewish Scott Goldberg and Grace Bydalek. Federation Library, and the Omaha tained seven lesson plans along with Czech group. other resources to prepare students to Dozens of educators saw Brundibár as see the opera. The effect of Brundibár an important story in Holocaust did not just stop with those who were in Education to explore with their students. attendance. Over 1,200 lbs. of canned
2009 Federation Volunteers of the Year Continued from page 8 The group of twenty-four volunteers, whom Wine calls “truly special people” also includes Carole Greenberg, Sam Munzesheimer, Marti Nerenstone, Nancy Rips, Sally and Jim Zipursky, and the late Milton Marcus and Phyllis Hoffman. “Even during nasty blizzard conditions -- when birds, squirrels, and rab-
bits take cover, and the newspaper and mail is not delivered -- these volunteers are not deterred,” Wine said. “Some of our leaders have walked through thighhigh snow to make sure the residents have services. You can see why the Blumkin Home and Jewish Social Services is proud to nominate these worthy individuals for the Jewish Federation Volunteer of the Year Award.”
Brundibár had a deep impact on the Jewish Community as well. The Beth El Synagogue Talmud Torah incorporated the production into its Shabbaton programming occurring on the same weekend. “When we returned to the synagogue after the play, we discussed what we had seen and how it related to the Holocaust,” stated Beth El Educational Director, Judy Rubin. “While these were relatively young children, they were very insightful and our ‘debriefing’ session continued for at least 20 minutes with every child vying to contribute an idea or express a feeling after seeing the show.” IHE Executive Director, Beth Seldin Dotan, stated Some of the cast of Brundibár. Credit: Opera Omaha “The production of Brundibár production a true act of serv- Brundibár was a colossal event that ice to the entire Omaha community. marked the tenth anniversary of the The process of the production touched Institute for Holocaust Education. At no the lives of the families of the cast and other time in our many years of operaorchestra. Director Helena Binder was tion have we had the opportunity to coldeeply moved by the holistic way in laborate with so many arts organizations which the IHE planned this presenta- in the community. Partnering with tion. As she stated after the show’s run: Opera Omaha, we also had direct collab“Thank you for your kind tribute. Since oration with the Nebraska Arts Council, I returned home, I have talked to practi- the Nebraska Humanities Council, cally everyone I run into about this Omaha Public Schools, KANEKO, The amazing project. It has affected me like Omaha Public Libraries, musicians from no other and brought new lessons of the the Omaha Symphony, and others. This Holocaust and strength of spirit to me event opened doors and relationships when I was not even aware there was that would not have been possible withmore to learn. I’m sure that others will out the support of the arts community. be enlightened and enriched. This is a We hope to have great opportunities like gift you have given them.” this again!” food goods were collected for the Omaha Food Bank from students attending the production – making the
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Tuesday, October 26th at 7:30 p.m. Jewish Community Center Auditorium The Phil & Terri Schrager Spirit of Federation Award: Pete Brodkey and Judy Josephson Community Service Award: Brundibar, Institute for Holocaust Education Volunteers of the Year: Jewish Federation of Omaha: Bruce Friedlander Jewish Community Center: Doris and Harry Alloy JSS/Rose Blumkin Jewish Home: The Minyanaire Mensches ADL/Community Relations Comittee: Eunie Denenberg The Jewish Press: Dottie Rosenblum Center for Jewish Education: Toba Cohen-Dunning Chesed Award: Sheila Tomps
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 15, 2010
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Cutting education in rural Nebraska Dave Heineman just went on a tour encouraging kids to go to college, but talk is cheap. When it comes to Mike Meister investing in education that will benefit those students and the rural areas of the state, he doesn't deliver. Let me explain. Dave Heineman eliminated funding for Area Health Education Centers (AHEC). These centers develop health care professionals to work in underserved rural areas by recruiting students from those areas and ensuring that they receive health science training. To date AHEC has placed 150 health care professionals back into our underserved rural areas It was eliminated because it was seen as a cost to the state, not the investment that it actually is. It created revenue by educating our kids and making them tax-paying health care professionals, it resulted in an increase in our quality of life because health care is available, and it brought our children home to raise their families . Dave's elimination of AHEC ended education opportunities and quality health care options. The state will lose tax revenue and the rural brain drain will continue as a direct result of his actions. This is just one of the many examples of Dave Heineman talking a good game but failing to deliver. AHECs were not a cost they were an investment in our future. Vote Mike Meister for Governor, because we need to invest in Nebraska again. Paid for by Meister for Governor Kevin Sylvester, Treasurer 614 E. 27th St. St. C, Scottsbluff, NE
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Temple Israel kids can’t wait to return to camp next year by CLAUDIA SHERMAN mer at OSRUI, which was founded by the Union of Temple Israel Communications Coordinator American Hebrew Congregations, now the Union for Sisters Hannah and Shelby Goodman, 11 and nine, Reform Judaism. “I love it,” she insisted. “It’s the best went to camp last summer at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union place on earth!” For Hannah, the best part of camp is Institute (OSRUI) which opened in 1952. Since then, the friendships she’s made. They “are strong and lasting. 30,000 campers have learned, worshipped, made It’s wonderful to be with others who are just like me.” friends, and had fun there. Sophie Budwig, 12, one of Although Camp Director Hannah’s sisters, attended Jerry Kaye has seen plenty her fourth summer at of OSRUI alumni send OSRUI last summer. She their children there, Scott was influenced by Hannah’s Goodman, Hannah and enthusiasm to choose the Shelby’s father, fondly camp, located in Wisconsin. remembers his camp days at Sophie said the best parts of GUCI Camp near camp were “making friends Indianapolis. He thought and learning more about about sending his daughters being Jewish.” to GUCI, but after joining Ten-year-old Aleia Budwig Temple Israel about two returned for her second years ago, he heard about summer at OSRUI. OSRUI. “I think GUCI Swimming in the lake and OSRUI are very similar topped Aleia’s list of to each other,” he said. favorite things to do. She Madison Bierman backpacking in the Rockies. Hannah shared that she also liked her electives: “wanted to go to camp, because my father went to sports, art, and photography. All three Budwig sisters Camp GUCI when he was young, and it was his best hope to return to OSRUI next summer. childhood experience.” Hannah “loved late night camp“My parents chose OSRUI for me when we moved to fires during havdalah, going horseback riding, and rid- Omaha,” explained Rachel Saag, 14, “and it is one of ing on a huge slip-n-slide.” the greatest choices they’ve ever made for me.” She “My younger sister Shelby came with me, and I met spent last summer participating in Moshavah Bet, “a tons of wonderful friends I still keep in touch with.” very special program for high school students. You Hannah added, “We had services every day. They taught choose…either biking, canoeing, hiking, or rock climbus new Hebrew words and even had Israel Day. I loved ing. I chose biking and rock climbing, both of which I being my Jewish self there.” had never done before.” She biked more than 100 miles Shelby recalled the “great stories about camp and all in five days. the songs” her Dad told her. She loved tubing in the “Being older at camp means you learn to be self-suffilake. “It was so much fun. It made me smile. We also cient and self-reliant,” said Rachel. “And when there are had a warm and fun campfire. I made such great mosquitoes, cold showers, and only the ground to sleep friends.” Like her sister, Shelby wants to return to on, you ‘suck it up the Moshavah way’ and don’t comOSRUI next year. plain. It was the best experience of my life.” “I’m thrilled they enjoyed camp so much,” remarked Another favorite among Temple Israel kids is Scott. He described it as “a social growth experience -- Shwayder, nestled at an elevation of 10,200 feet in the certainly also a religious experience -- but a place to sep- Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Madison Bierman, 13, arate from school and family, a safe environment where spent some of her summer there in 2009, and returned they can mature.” for two weeks last summer. “My favorite thing was the Asher Rosenquist, 11, and his brother, Eitan, eight, as people there and the location. We went to the ropes well as three of their cousins, Seth, Leo and Aaron course, rode horseback, and went on an overnight hike.” Norton, also attended OSRUI last summer. “It was a She made “a lot of new friends. I loved the completely fun place” especially “climbing the Alpine Tower,” said Jewish environment. You don’t feel like the minority, Eitan. He also enjoyed swimming, horseback riding, because almost everyone is Jewish. I learned a lot about playing in the gym, and making new friends. my religion, and Shabbat there is a blast!” This was 14-year-old Hannah Budwig’s seventh sum- Continued on page 11
Kosher camping Continued from page 1 lowing the rules. On the in the outdoors together, other hand, cell phones you get to know each other don’t work in that area of very well,” Bonnie says. On the Grand Canyon, so that Friday, the group started doesn’t tempt you.” walking the trail to the The second Friday, after a Colorado River, and subsefull week of paddling, going quently paddled towards a through rapids, and hiking, rocky beach where they the group was more ready would have their first outfor a quiet and calm day. doors Shabbat. One of the “Two of the guides we had travelers even brought a the second trip were the Torah along, encased in a same as before. Again, they special waterproof carrier. impressed us with how well “We hadn’t been out Shabbat in the Grand Canyon. they had informed themthere very long before that selves. One of them was an first Shabbat started, and absolute expert on Kashrut; really wanted to be on the they took everything very river. The biggest challenge seriously.” is to just relax for 25 hours, For 11 days, there is no telwhen it’s so hot, and the evision, no radio, no hot river is right there in front water. There are no trapof you. Rocks absorb the pings of modern life, just heat, so even though it gets “you and the stars. It was a dark, it stays hot.” more spiritual way to celeObserving Shabbat under brate Shabbat. You’re surthe stars, according to rounded by these magnifiBonnie, poses additional cent landscapes, beautiful challenges: “The guides sand beaches, and rock formade an Eruv just for us (a From left to right: Lesley Gendelman, Bonnie Bloch, mations; it’s a total experistring to indicate how far Howard Gendelman, Ben Gerber, Adam Gendelman ence. You really feel like you objects may be carried) and are in the very middle of the arranged the flashlight so it could be used by us. But in universe. It’s peaceful, and at the same time completely addition to that, there are so many things you don’t do overwhelming. This experience was awesome, in the true on Shabbat, and workaholics can have a tough time fol- sense of the word.”
October 15, 2010
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Temple Israel kids can’t wait for camp Grants and Scholarships can help make Continued from page 10 which attracts children from all branches your child’s camp experience happen “Seeing all my camp friends again and of Judaism. “My favorite things were tubagain” is Jake Vann’s favorite part of ing and the counselors. I even went tubcamp. The 13-year-old has been to ing backwards! I met some new friends, Shwayder three times. He also mentioned the ropes course, horseback riding, pool night, movie night, and havdalah. Jake and sister Cecilia’s parents, John and Wendy, were the camp doctor and nurse. For the first day or two, they treated homesickness and altitude sickness, “then just regular pediatric stuff,” explained Wendy Vann, a nurse for 20 years, 17 of them in pediatrics. Wendy and John Vann, a pediatrician for 20 years, “love how beautiful and quiet it is there. The staff are vibrant and caring. My kids absolutely love it and don’t mind that we are there. It is a very unique type of medicine, and we are blessed to be able to have the experience,” according to Wendy. Benjamin Brodkey, 11, and his sister Julia, eight, picked Camp Sabra in Rocky Mount, Missouri. Benjamin went for four weeks last summer. Their mother, Stacie Brodkey, was once a Sabra camper too. “My favorite thing about camp is tubing or doing stuff with my cabin,” Benjamin pointed out. “I Abby Hack, left, and Hannah Radler at Shwayder went tubing my first time as a cabin Camp. activity in 2008, and it was awesome!” He also enjoyed drama, videos, too. I liked celebrating Shabbat at camp, low ropes, land sports, swimming in the and I enjoy being Jewish there.” lake, sailing, funyaking (a type of kayakTemple Israel Religious School stuing), and “Maccabia….(which) is all dents will be treated to a Camp Day on about spirit and sporting events.” Sunday, Oct. 31, during regular school “This was my first overnight camp,” hours. OSRUI Director Kaye is expected Julia said. She spent two weeks at Sabra, to be on hand that day.
by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Director of Operations & Programming, The Center for Jewish Education Going to summer camp is an amazing experience for Jewish kids. Suddenly they are no longer in the minority. They can talk about their Bubbe and Zayde and not have to explain what those names mean. Whenever someone talks about stories from Hebrew school, Bar Mitzvah parties, Passover seders, or Chanukah plays, everyone understands! Singing “Hatikvah,” saying “Shabbat Shalom” on Friday and Saturday plus learning at least one new Hebrew word a day are normal activities. Jewish summer camp is a totally inclusive place for Jewish kids. It is rare to find a Jewish family who doesn’t want to send their kids to camp. But the price tag can be a bit scary and saying “yes” is a financial challenge for more and more families every year. In Omaha, families are incredibly fortunate because there are wonderful financial resources that provide grants and scholarships to help make the cost of camp affordable. The first program, provided by the Jewish Federation of Omaha, is a Jewish Experience Grant. Jewish Experience Grants are available for all children in grades 3 through 12. The total grant amount is $1,000 which can be used in one summer or divided into two-$500 grants to be used over two summers. All that is required is that the child attends a residential Jewish summer camp with a minimum two week session, is enrolled in religious school the year before and the year following the camp experience, and that the family is a contributor to the
Jewish Federation Annual Campaign. The second program, handled by the Financial Aid Committee of the Center for Jewish Education, is financial-need based scholarships. Scholarships are available for residential summer camp, JCC camps, Maccabi Games and Israel experiences. With funding provided through several endowment funds and support through the Federation’s Annual Campaign, the Committee has awarded nearly $300,000 over the past five years. The 2010 Guide to Scholarship and Grant Opportunities will be distributed as an insert in a late December issue of the Jewish Press. The Guide will provide detailed information on application deadlines, program requirements, the securing of applications and contact information. Applications will be available by Dec. 31 on the Scholarships and Grants page of the Center for Jewish Education section at www.jewishomaha.org. So don’t let the price tag of camp scare you. Give your child the chance at an amazing summer experience by sending them to a Jewish summer camp. For additional information on grants and scholarships, please call the Center for Jewish Education at 334.6445 or email mgrossman@jewishomaha.org. (Are you are interested in helping to fund scholarships? Donations are always welcome to the CornerStones Fund which provides funding for Jewish youth to attend the Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center, Friedel Jewish Academy, Jewish youth programs, and Jewish summer camps. Just call 334.6445 for more information.)
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 15, 2010
Blame by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press And another one bites the dust: barely had the nation recovered from Dr. Laura’s recent attack of foot-in-mouth disease, when CNN anchor Rick Sanchez decided to add his two cents. Last week, he spoke the following words in a radio interview: "I'm telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like [Jon, edit.] Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart, and to imply that somehow they, the people in this country who are Jewish, are an oppressed minority? Yeah." It was a stupid remark, but we should do more than simply blame Sanchez. Even though he chose to speak those words, even though he made the decision to repeat the old ‘Jews-own-the-media’ stereotype. Jon Stewart himself felt compelled to mention the fact that Sanchez has often addressed racism and antiSemitism on his show, and can therefore not be all bad. The message: this man slipped up, but he’s hardly the next Mel Gibson. Stewart, wisely, decided not to act as the victim, but chose to mend fences instead. To tell lies successfully, you need willing listeners. Maybe Rick Sanchez and his poorly chosen words are not the real problem here; maybe the people who listen to him are. Sure, he made a lot of Jews mad with what he said, but what about the rest of the population? Comments like these, which keep popping up with disturbing frequency, can only be combated successfully when non-Jews get upset as well. That, unfortunately, isn’t always the case. In fact, sometimes it is almost as if you can sense a sort of tiredness. “Here we go again,” people seem to be thinking. “It’s just words, how bad can it be?” I think we are all familiar with the accusation that we’re too sensitive, an expression that adds insult to injury. Having said that, the responsibility we have now is not to keep denouncing Sanchez, but to worry about our own response. It is easy to vilify one man and think we’re doing okay as
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long as we make enough jokes about him. Tomorrow, next month, or next year, some other anchor will stick his foot in his mouth. Maybe that next anchor will say something derogatory about Jews as well. Maybe he or she will verbally attack Muslims, Mexican Americans, gays, or women instead. You name it: we all know this is not the last time someone put an entire group on the chopping block to make a quick point. It all amounts to the same thing: an intolerance of others, the assumption that, just because people share ethnicity, religious convictions, or national origin, they should be piled together, particularly when it comes to insults. Yes, we should hold those who spread intolerance accountable. But: the rest of us have the additional responsibility to acknowledge what makes these comments possible in the first place: the large audience that agrees with the hateful words. Don’t wait for a famous actor or a controversial news anchor to cross the line. Speak up
when your neighbor makes comments about gays, when your second cousin talks down to women, when some of your Facebook friends make fun of immigrants. It is only when we address intolerance close to home as well as on national television that we will truly make an impact. On a completely different note: now that the holidays are behind us (and I sincerely hope they went well for all of you) it is time to start thinking about Hanukkah. Here at the Press, we would love some input from the youngest members in our community. If you have children 12 and younger, please consider having them participate in our annual art contest. We ask that they create something beautiful and Hanukkah-themed before the deadline of November 10. They can use crayons, paint, whatever they want: all we ask is that it is done on a 8 by 11 piece of white paper. Using extra bright colors helps, as it shows up much nicer on newspaper. Good luck to all; we eagerly await the entries!
by LESLIE SUSSER JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Following reports of an unprecedented U.S. offer of a host of assurances in return for a 60-day extension of the freeze on building in West Bank settlements, some political analysts are wondering why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not grabbed the deal with both hands. According to the reports, President Obama is offering Netanyahu pledges that the United States will: • Not ask for additional extensions on the partial ban on settlement building, which expired Sept. 26; • Commit to using the U.S. veto to prevent U.N. recognition of a unilaterally declared Palestinian state, if Israeli-Palestinian negotiations fail to bear fruit; • “Accept the legitimacy” of Israel’s security needs as defined by the Netanyahu government -- understood as referring to Netanyahu’s demand for a long-term Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley, in the eastern West Bank; • Broker talks with neighboring Arab states on a “regional security structure” -- a nod to Netanyahu’s desire for cooperation on confronting Iran; • Enhance Israel’s security through the sale of a second squadron of state-of-the-art stealth F-35 fighters and space cooperation, including access to U.S. satellite early warning systems.
Jewish Press Board Andy Ruback, Vice President; Eric Dunning, Treasurer; Howard K. Marcus, Past President; Daphne Pollak Alperson, Marc Brodkey; Phyllis Brown; Jason Epstein; Mel Epstein; Scott Farkas; Michael Kaufman; Jamie Meyerson; Michael Sigmond; Jim Simon; Dorothy Spizman; Nancy Wolf. The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service/Jewish Senior Services, and the Jewish Press . Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment. Editorial The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org.
For Netanyahu to accept new freeze, U.S. might have to sweeten the deal
BEHIND THE HEADLINES
Bobbi Leibowitz President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper
The price: Israel must agree to extend for 60 days the recently expired West Bank building freeze. If Netanyahu spurns the offer, Israel not only would lose out on all the above, but the Americans would come out publicly in support of the 1967 borders as the basis for all future territorial negotiations with the Palestinians. On its face, the deal would seem like a nobrainer for Netanyahu to take. So why hasn’t he? For one thing, it’s not only up to Netanyahu. He needs the approval of a settlement freeze extension from his 29-member Cabinet or at least his 15-member Security Cabinet, and he doesn’t have enough votes yet in those bodies. While by most accounts Netanyahu is inclined to take the deal and is pushing for Cabinet members to approve it, the United States first might have to sweeten the pot. The U.S. offer followed intensive negotiations in Washington between Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and an American team led by veteran Middle East adviser Dennis Ross. The idea was to affirm the U.S. commitments in a presidential letter to Netanyahu to persuade him and pro-settlement members of his government to go along with a new temporary freeze -- and in so doing keep alive the direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks launched in early September. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has pledged to quit the talks if the freeze is not extended. For now, the Israeli prime minister is being pressed by Cabinet hard-liners not to accept
the American package as is. They warn that it is all very general and that much of it will not stand up in practice. The hard-liners are suspicious, too, of Barak’s motives. They believe Barak is behind the American offer because he fears that if the peace talks with the Palestinians break down, his Labor Party would be forced to withdraw from the government. Such a move would cost Barak the post of defense minister and, in all likelihood, his political future. As things stand, Netanyahu does not have the votes for the deal. In the full 29-member Cabinet, 14 ministers are for extending the freeze and 15 are against. In the 15-member Security Cabinet the count is seven for and eight against, and in the unofficial forum of seven top advisers, three are for extending the freeze and four are against. In Netanyahu’s governing coalition, without the support of Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas, Torah Judaism, Habayit Hayehudi and Likud hardliners, the prime minister would have the support of fewer than 40 members of the 120member Knesset. Netanyahu’s greatest political fear is of a repeat of 1999, when after making concessions to the Palestinians at Wye Plantation, he lost his right-wing political support base and was roundly defeated by Barak in the ensuing election. This time, the scenario that Netanyahu wants to avoid is accepting an American package, going ahead with the peacemaking and then losing the next election to Kadima’s Tzipi Livni. Even if Netanyahu could jettison the procontinued on page 13
Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1-402-334-5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jewish omaha.org.. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions, but it should be printed as soon as possible to ensure timeliness. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer, but the name can be withheld at the writer’s request. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de Kamp-Wright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $35 per calendar year U.S.; $72 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or email to: jpress@jewishomaha. org.
American Jewish Press Association Award Winner
Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008
October 15, 2010
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 13
Counting American Jewry FOCUS ON ISSUES by LEONARD SAXE WALTHAM, Mass. (Sh’ma) -- In a translation that makes the complex seem simple, Anglo Jews call the fourth book of the Torah “Numbers.” Although counting and numbers play a role in the biblical account of our people’s story, the Hebrew name of this book -- B’midbar, or “in the wilderness” -- is a more apt descriptor of our physical and spiritual wandering in the desert. Nevertheless, the English translation captures what has become an obsession, carried through to the modern era, in counting our numbers. Over the past several decades, the American Jewish community has invested more funds in sociodemographic studies of the Jewish population than it has in any other form of systematic social research. In recent decades, major national studies of the size and characteristics of the American Jewish community have been conducted in parallel with the 1990 and 2000 U.S. censuses. It also has become common for local Jewish federations to sponsor decennial studies of their populations. Although I have benefited from communal support to conduct some of these studies, I am a reluctant contributor to this knowledge base. Knowing the number of Jews in the United States and in local communities is far less interesting and important than understanding their
character. Unfortunately, conducting demographic research has drained attention and resources from the task of better understanding the dynamics of communal engagement and the effectiveness of our efforts to engage and educate new generations. Key to my pessimism with our counting obsession is that we have not been able to conduct very good studies. Modern demographic studies often are treated as if they are censuses that yield actual counts. But they are surveys of a “rare” population and are strongly affected by coverage and nonresponse errors that can provide misleading results. “Who is a Jew?” questions notwithstanding, it’s extremely difficult to locate Jews and to estimate accurately their numbers. When the Israelites were wandering in the desert, b’midbar, their number was counted initially to assess military strength. The contemporary American version is to count our numbers so that we know how to plan for communal needs. But planning requires an understanding of who the people are and what they need. It requires the ability to look “backward” at how Jewish identity and engagement have evolved and, at the same time, the capacity to look forward and predict the future. Even if we could overcome challenges to locating a representative sample and develop accurate “point estimates” of the number of Americans who claim Jewish
What is essential about any research is that it enables comparison. In the case of population numbers, assessing trends -the growth or decline of the community...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: I feel something should be said about the Sukkah Hop that was held on Sept. 26. As a community, we very seldom get together with all three synagogues for a fun event. Because of the great planning of Margie Gutnik, Beth Cohen, and Wendy Goldberg, this event was a huge success. Everyone had fun and went to as much or as little of the venues as they wished. I was very thrilled and pleased with the attendance at all four venues. I hope that this was just the first of many for a new Omaha tradition. Tuffy Epstein
Dear Editor: We at the Internal Revenue Service are concerned because more than 2200 small community-based nonprofits in Nebraska are in jeopardy of losing their tax-exempt status. Among them are local sports associations and community support groups, volunteer fire and ambulance associations and their auxiliaries, social clubs, educational societies, veterans groups, church-affiliated groups, groups designed to assist those with special needs and a variety of others. The organizations that are at risk failed to file the required returns for 2007, 2008 and 2009, according to IRS records. The requirement to file is the result of a tax law change that occurred in 2006. For many of these small organizations, complying with the new law may be as simple as completing a 10minute form online. They can preserve their exempt status under a one-time relief program the IRS announced in July, but only if they file by Oct. 15, 2010. A list of the organizations that were at-
identity, our data would be insufficient. What, then, would be useful and what is feasible in terms of resources and methodology? One approach is to synthesize existing data from dozens of surveys that ask questions about religious and ethnic identity. This approach enables us to have accurate data at a relatively low cost and, equally
important, to track population changes over time. But the demographic data does not shed much light about the Jewishness of the population or the impact of changes in communal structure. To understand those issues, we are conducting additional studies with representative, albeit imperfect samples, that allow us to track longitudinally how Jewish identity and behavior change. What is essential about any research is that it enables comparison. In the case of population numbers, assessing trends -the growth or decline of the community - is more important than the actual numbers. It is the comparison of population estimates over time, not the numbers themselves, that are most significant. Similarly, being able to compare those who engage with the community and those who don’t -- and identifying the causal factors -- is the basis for policy analysis. A new generation of studies is needed.
New ways of doing and understanding research on American Jewry will provide not only a number-based account of the community’s evolution, but also the analytic base for understanding how we are acculturating and preserving Jewish tradition. It will assess our strength in spiritual and intellectual prowess as well as our numeric strength. This research will provide tools to understand how we relate with one another, and how we relate with Jews in Israel and around the world. Parashah B’midbar describes God’s instruction to Moshe, “Se’u et rosh kol adat bnai Yisrael” -- “Take a census of the whole Israelite community.” The instruction is not simply “Moshe, tell me how many people you have … give me a number.” It is far more profound. Literally, the text translates as “Lift up the head of the Israelite community.” The biblical injunction should be the byline of social scientists who aid the community in their research. We need to uplift the community with knowledge and, in so doing, contribute to a vibrant future. Leonard Saxe is the Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies, chair of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program, and director of the Steinhardt Social Research Institute and the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University. Reprinted from Sh’ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility (www.shma.com www.shmadigital. com) October 2010, as part of a larger conversation about the ways Jews Count.
Lieberman to European ministers: Solve your own problems first risk as of the end of June is posted at IRS.gov along with instructions on how to comply with the new law. We encourage everyone who is connected with a small nonprofit community group to make sure that their organization is aware of the law change and is in compliance before the October 15 deadline. Best regards, Christopher Miller, IRS Spokesperson for Nebraska
Dear Editor, I enjoyed reading your recent editorial, “Poor,” because it spoke to the value and importance of supporting the agencies of the Federation. However, from a fundraising perspective, I need to draw an important distinction. While a tenant, housed on the JCC campus, the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society has never been part of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Nevertheless, independently, we preserve the histories of Jewish families who settled in Nebraska and Iowa. We present interesting exhibits, like the one currently on display at the Blumkin home, honoring our area Jews who have served our country in war and peace. We also mail two fact and picture-filled publications each year. But we accomplish all this and much more through private donations and public memberships – without any support from the Federation. We count on and need generous financial contributions from our Jewish community to aid our valuable work. So please, support both the Historical Society and the Federation; we both do good work for our community. Gary Javitch, Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, Board of Directors
by JTA NEWS STAFF JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is under fire for telling his Spanish and French counterparts to solve their own problems before telling Israel what to do. Lieberman reportedly made his remarks Sunday during a dinner meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos. “I don’t expect you to solve the problems of the world, but I certainly expect that before you come here to teach us how to solve conflicts, you will deal with the problems in Europe and solve those conflicts,” Lieberman reportedly said Sunday. “Solve your own problems in Europe before you come to us with complaints. Maybe then I will be open to accepting your suggestions.”
Lieberman also said that the international community is trying to make up for its own failures in such areas of the world as Afghanistan, North Korea and Iraq though its Middle East involvement. “In 1938 Europe placated Hitler, sacrificing Czechoslovakia instead of supporting it, and gained nothing from it,” Lieberman reportedly said. “We will not be the Czechoslovakia of 2010; we will stand up for Israel's vital interests.” The ministers told Lieberman in a phone call Monday that his statements “violated every rule of diplomatic etiquette,” Haaretz reported Monday. Moratinos and Kouchner also met Sunday with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and opposition leader Tzipi Livni.
U.S. might have to sweeten the deal continued from page 12 settler parties from his coalition and bring in Kadima -- changing the balance of power in the government and the Knesset in favor of pro-negotiation parties, and accepting the U.S. package -- it could cost him the premiership. Netanyahu therefore is being extra careful about making any moves that could lose him large swaths of what he sees as his natural constituency. The Israeli prime minister also has a major strategic concern. According to confidants, he fears that as soon as any new 60-day freeze ends, the Americans will put a “take it or leave it peace plan” of their own on the table. With the U.S. midterm elections over, Obama might feel able to publicly present parameters for a peace deal that Netanyahu would find impossible to accept. Israel might then find itself totally isolated and under intolerable international
pressure. That is a scenario Netanyahu hopes the current negotiations with the Americans will help him avoid. So far, Netanyahu has spoken of ongoing “delicate” negotiations with the Americans and implied that much of what has been reported in the press is inaccurate. As so often in the past, Netanyahu is caught between the U.S. administration and his right-leaning coalition. If he chooses his coalition, he risks losing the support of the current administration; if he chooses America, he fears he could lose his coalition and, with it, the premiership. What Labor and Likud moderates reportedly are telling him is that it is not 1999, and that now he can have his cake and eat it, too: If he goes with the Americans and the peace process, he will win the next election hands down
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 15, 2010
Candlelighting Friday, October 15, 6:25 p.m.
Synagogue Listings B’nai Israel Synagogue 618 Mynster St. Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com
Beth El Synagogue Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Omaha, NE 68154-1980 492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org
Beth Israel Synagogue Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific St. Omaha, NE. 68154 556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org
Chabad House An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 S. 120th St. Omaha, NE 68144-1646 330.1800 www.OChabad.com email: chabad@aol.com
Congregation B’nai Jeshurun South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 S. 20th St. Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 435.8004 southstreettemple.org
Offutt Air Force Base SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway Offutt AFB, NE 68113 294.6244
Rose Blumkin Jewish Home 323 S. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154
Temple Israel Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street Omaha, NE 68132-2651 556.6536 templeisrael-ne.org
The Neighborhood Prayer Group 1317 No. 57 St. Omaha, NE 68132 551.6609
Tifereth Israel Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org
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B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m.
BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Services conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Beth Schlossberg. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation (3-7), 10 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:30 p.m. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. SUNDAY: Bible Study Discussion Group, 10 a.m.; Jewish Images on the Big Screen, 10:30 a.m. with Frydman-Levin. BRING YOUR PARENTS TO SCHOOL DAY: Sunday, 10 a.m.-noon. All BESTT parents will have an opportunity to observe what and how their children learn at BESTT. Refreshments to be served by Men’s Club. For more information, contact Judy Rubin at 498.0904, or eddir@bethel-omaha.org. B’NAI TZEDEK PROGRAM: BESTT Seventh and Eighth graders will join Community High School students in participating in this community-wide program at the JCC on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 6:30-8:30 p.m. SHABBAT TUNES AND TALES: Saturday, Oct. 23, 11:15-11:45 a.m. USY/KADIMA: Will enjoy an apple-picking outing at Ditmars Orchard on Sunday, Oct. 24, 24 p.m. Drop-off and pick-up at Beth El. On Thursday, Oct. 28, 6–7:30 p.m., the youths will meet in the synagogue kitchen to bake pies with the apples they picked the previous weekend. For more information, contact Youth Director Shiri Tene in the synagogue office, or at youthdir@ bethel-omaha.org. RABBI’S THURSDAY CLASS: New weekly class, Life Lessons from the Hebrew Bible will begin on Thursday, Nov. 4, noon. During this class, the rabbi will discuss what the text has to say about topics such as families, parenting, faith, failure, and many more. The year-long course is open to all adults in the Jewish community. Cost is $36 for Beth El members, $45 for non-members. To register, call the synagogue office, or email programming@bethel-omaha.org. All Beth El classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fri., 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross and Rabbi Yitzchak Mizrahi. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6:25 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes begin with Torah Parade, 9:45 a.m.; Kiddush is sponsored by Sisterhood; “Guard
Your Tongue,” “The Great Midrash” and “Advanced Parshah Study for Kids” (ages 10 and up), one hour prior to Mincha every Shabbat; Mincha, 6 p.m. followed by Seuda Shlishit; Havdalah, 7:23 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; One-Hour CPR Course, 4:30 p.m., sponsored by Dani and Leon Shrago; Sunday Night Dinner, 6 p.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Lecture Series with Rabbi Gross, 7:30 p.m. TUESDAY: Scholars Club for fourth-sixth graders, 3:45 p.m. at the Blumkin Home; Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m.; Advanced Halchic Kollel, 9 p.m.; Follow the Kollel at www.omahakollel. blogspot.com. THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m.; Rabbis Around the World, 7:30 p.m.
CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Service, 7 a.m.; Chef’s Demo, 1 p.m. at Rose Blumkin Jewish Home SATURDAY: Shabbat Minyan, 10 a.m.; Youth Minyan, 10:30 a.m.; Mini Mensch title will be awarded. Kiddush luncheon follows. Join Rabbi Katzman, noon1 p.m.; W.O.W. Parsha, Prophets and Prayer, 12:45 p.m. SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m. MONDAY: After school teen program, 3:40-4 p.m. THURSDAY: The Parsha Club for Level I beginners, ages 5-6; and Level II intermediates and experts, ages 7-9, 3:50 p.m. Please contact Shevi@ochabad.com. All programs are open to the entire community.
CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel, with oneg following hosted by Sara Friedman. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. all led by Rabbi Emanuel; Game Night/Potluck, 6 p.m. SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Gan-Grade 2, 9:45 a.m.12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.noon at South Street Temple; Board of Trustees, 1-3 p.m. TUESDAY: Women’s Lunch Group, noon at Dino’s, 2901 S. 84th St. Questions? Contact Stephanie Dohner. WEDNESDAY: Hebrew classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel; Evening with Rabbi David Fine, 7 p.m. Please RSVP by no later than Sunday, Oct. 17 by calling 402.435.8004 or by www. sur veymonkey.com:80/s/38 PWSZL.
ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY, Oct. 17, 10:30 a.m. Jewish Views on poverty and the mitzvot designed to alleviate it, led by Rabbi Emanuel and Nancy Coren at the Mill, 4736 Prescott Avenue.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.
NEIGHBORHOOD PRAYER GROUP FRIDAY: Minyan, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Marty Shukert. Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend Services.
TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Azriel and Cantor Shermet. We will honor everyone with a special blessing who has celebrated a birthday or anniversary in Oct.; Tot Shabbat, 6 p.m. led Rabbi Linder followed by dinner. Hosted by Sara and Asher Stoller, and Sarah and Adam Yale. Sponsored by WRJ. Cost for the dinner is $5 for adults and no charge for children. Contact the Temple Israel office, 556.6536 or mkube@templeisraelomaha.co m, to make a dinner reservation. SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m.; Morning Service, 10:30 a.m.; Estella Fox, son of Nora Sarvetnick and Howard Fox, will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah. SUNDAY: No Religious School. TUESDAY: Executive Meeting, 5 p.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah, 6:30 p.m. Join them by contacting Program Director Wendy Goldberg, 556.6536 or wgoldberg@templeisraelomaha.com. An Adult B’nai Mitzvah ceremony
is scheduled for May 13; Board of Trusteees, 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 46 p.m.; All School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Family School, 6 p.m.; Grades 7-8, 6:30 p.m. at the JCC for program and dinner; Hebrew 101, 6:30 p.m. with Mor Sheinbein; Cost is $18 for members; $25 for non-members; no charge for Family School parents; Temple Mitzvah Corp.Learning Community 101, 6:30 p.m. with Lorraine Chang and Nancy Jacobson. THURSDAY: Adult Study with the Clergy,” 10 a.m.; Omaha Table Talk, 6:15-9 p.m. Temple’s Social Justice Chair Mimi Silverman will host a Table Talk Dinner at Temple. If you would like to attend, please contact Mimi, 740.2201 or Ellen Platt, 397.0551. Raise Money for Religious School by eating a Julio’s on Sunday, Oct. 24, 4-9 p.m., 123rd and West Center. Scholar-in-residence, Judith Shulevitz on Oct. 29-31. (see full story on page 6.)
TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. FRIDAY: Shabbat service, 6:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush luncheon and Talmud study. SUNDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Gan-Grade 2, 9:45 a.m.12:15 p.m. at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 10 a.m.noon at South Street Temple. WEDNESDAY: Hebrew classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY, Oct. 17, 10:30 a.m. Jewish Views on poverty and the mitzvot designed to alleviate it, led by Rabbi Emanuel and Nancy Coren at the Mill, 4736 Prescott Avenue.
Dylan’s childhood shul for sale by JTA NEWS STAFF SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -- The synagogue where Bob Dylan celebrated his bar mitzvah is for sale. The former home of Agudath A c h i m Synagogue in Hibbing, Minn., where the former B o b b y Zimmerman became a man in 1963, has belonged to Eric and B r e n d a Shafer-Pellinen since 2001. Their hopes to turn the building into a bed-and-breakfast failed to materialize. The building is listed on Craigslist for $119,000. Shafer-Pellinen told the Duluth News Tribune that she is also reaching out to Dylan fans via websites such as expectingrain.com and dylanradio.com. Item No. 8 on Hibbing’s official Bob Dylan Walk, the building still has its original stained-glass windows, one boasting a Star of David, and two kitchens, indicating the congregation prepared separate meat and milk dishes.
Pulverente MONUMENT CO.
October 15, 2010
A new beginning
SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Bereishit There is always a certain thrill in opening the Bible to the first chapter of Genesis. How did our ancient ancestors view the beginning of the year? They took it as a reminder of their belief that at a point in actual time God created heaven and earth. And then, different species of growing things, ending with the creation of humanity, man and woman. Our ancestors, who wrote Genesis, knew nothing of evolution, period. Their innocence in this regard is a blessing for it enabled them to name God as the single force that brought humanity to life. There is another sense in which the beginning of Genesis is important. It enables each one of us to assess his own life and await a judgment upon it. If he is not quite satisfied, by Genesis he is given the opportunity to start over again, to turn a new leaf, as it were. This means that we are not permanently hampered by past mistakes and failures. We have a chance to begin, without the burdens of the past, an opportunity to choose a new path, a path leading to honorable living and achievement. Therefore there is opportunity for each of us to use the new year for a new life – a life of honorable motives, a proper direction and, hopefully, of finding new values in our lives. We are bidden, each of us, to seize the new opportunity and direct ourselves, as Americans would put it, to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Let Rosh HaShana not pass as merely a religious ritual: it must touch our lives deeply so that we recognize that life is a gift of God that is meant to be happy, and not wasted on trivialities, but directed to value God’s gift as a most precious possession. Happy yom tov – happy new year. L’Shana tova tikatev v’techatem!
Jewish rituals aren’t just for Jews anymore by SUE FISHKOFF Conservative Rabbi Jason Miller, founder of the Kosher Michigan certification agency in metropolitan Detroit, points out in his blog how prevalent certain Jewish traditions have become in nonJewish America. For instance, there’s the 87-yearold Catholic woman in Manhattan with mezuza envy. According to a recent New York Times article, she wanted one of those little prayer boxes left behind on so many of her neighbors’ doors: “She often wished she had inherited a mezuza like many of her non-Jewish neighbors did. The tradition recalled her youth, she said, when her local priest appeared each Easter to write “God bless this house” on her family’s front door. To her delight, one of her Jewish neighbors recently hung a mezuza on her doorway. “Every time I come home and remember, I kiss it and touch it and then I bless myself, saying, ‘In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.’” (NYT) To cap it off, Miller points out that teen heartthrob Justin Bieber -- not a MOT -- says the Shema before his concerts. None of this is a bad thing, Miller opines: “There’s nothing wrong with non-Jews eating kosher food, dancing the Hora, putting mezuzas on their doors, or saying the Shema. In fact, it only shows how Judaism continues to transcend borders in the 21st century”.
To submit obituaries: E-mail to the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; fax to 402.334.5422, or mail 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. The Press does not “pick up” obituaries from other publications. For more information, call 402.334.6448.
DEATHS WILLIAM LEVY William Levy passed away on Oct. 4 in Minneapolis. Services were held Oct. 6 at the United Hebrew Brotherhood Cemetery in Minneapolis. He was preceded in death by parents Selma and Morry, and brother Donald. He is survived by son and daughter-in-law Steven and Deborah Levy; daughter and son-in-law Barbara and Bob Johnson, son Howard Levy; sister Marilyn Carew and Louise Kloner; grandchildren Elyssa, Taylor, Jacob, Daniel, Nathan and Tori. Memorials may be made to the American Diabetes Association, or to Sholom Home Alliance in Minneapolis.
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
60 Years Experience With Jewish Lettering and Memorials
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B’nai Israel invites community to hear variety of speakers by SANDRA KURLAND For anyone who is interested, Council Bluffs B’nai Israel synagogue offers a monthly speaker series combined with a short Friday night service. “There are lots of reasons to go to a small synagogue,” says Nancy Wolf, who attends from time to time. “In a small congregation, you can find a unique intimacy; also, it matters that there is still a synagogue in Council Bluffs. It’s such a beautiful building, with so much history.” Pam Cohn is a high school principal, and will be speaking Nov. 5 about “Equitable support for all children.” “Funny enough,” says Nancy, “Pam Cohn is the principal at the school where our daughter Hannah works. So yes, we’ll definitely go and hear her speak.” Dec. 10 will bring story tellers Anna and Mercy Cotton, followed on Feb. 11 by Mitch Sherma. Sherman is a sports reporter with the Omaha World Herald; his topic is “Covering Nebraska football and sports.” Rachel Jacobson, exec. director of Filmstreams will come on Mar. 11, and, finally, on April 8, Dr. Richard Fellman will round out the speaker series with his talk titled “What would my grandfather think.” Dr. Fellman teaches political science at UNO. For more information on B’nai Israel, and for times of services, please contact Sandra and Allan Kurland at CBsynagogue@hotmail.com.
BBYO needs your recipes by ANNE MUSKIN Ediar BBG, a chapter in the Bnai Brith Youth Organization, needs your help in making everyone’s favorite recipes available for all to enjoy by creating an Ediar cookbook. Please email your favorite family recipes or questions to ediarcookbook@yahoo. com, or feel free to drop them off at the BBYO Office to Jodi Levine located in the JCC across from the Canteen. Recipes will be accepted until Nov. 1. Please list you name, a title for the recipe, and the recipe. We are planning on having the cookbook out by December, so please take the time to send in your recipes so everybody has a chance to share the special memories this year!
NCJW Omaha Section kicks off Book Series by BETH FRIEDMAN Co-President of NCJW-Omaha Section National Council of Jewish Women-Omaha Section kicks off 2010-11 Book Series with Nancy Rips and her newest book High Holiday Stories: Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur Thoughts on Family, Faith and Food on Wednesday, Oct. 27. There will be a meet and greet dessert reception at 7 p.m. followed by her presentation at 7:30 p.m. at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, 323 S. 132nd St. This event is open to the community, so bring a friend. The cost is only $5. Please RSVP in advance to bmfriedman@cox.net or 334.7539, or admission at the door.
To Submit Announcements to the Jewish Press: Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpressjewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 (with photos we will scan and return). Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by emailing: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org. Readers can also submit other announcements -- births engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewish omaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements. Deadlines are normally eight days prior to publication, on Thursdays, 9 a.m. Check the Jewish Press, however, for notices of early deadlines prior to secular and Jewish holidays.
To order a gift subscription... Send a check for just the low price of just $35 for 2011 (we did not raise our price from 2010!), made out to the Jewish Press, to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. For more information on how to connect your out-of-town relatives and friends, call 334.6448.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 15, 2010
For many Beth El youths, memories are made at Jewish summer camps by JILL BELMONT many Jewish kids that I would have Beth El Publicity Coordinator never known. I’ve learned so many Going to sleep-away summer camp is more different things about being usually a child’s first extended time away Jewish. But the best part is when I’m from home, and the benefits of a great learning all these new things; it’s all in a camp experience are many: new adven- fun and meaningful way.” tures, camaraderie and countless memoAmong the many activities offered at ries. Add to that mix a daily dose of Herzl are creative arts (dance, drama, Judaism and spirituality, and you have a music, movie-making); outdoor activirecipe for an even more meaningful summer. For years, a number of Beth El children and teens have been avid Jewish summer camp attendees; several of them recently shared thoughts about their special summer getaways, their meaningful immersion in Jewish life and a community bond that has touched them all. High school freshman Alyssa Cohen has attended Herzl Camp in Webster, Wisconsin, for the past two years. Now in its 64th year, Amanda Simon, right, and Omaha buddy Julia Raffel, smile Herzl was founded as an for the camera during their summer stay at Herzl Camp. independent, trans-denominational, ties (Israeli Scouts, rock climbing, Zionist overnight camp with a large wilderness survival and outdoor cookcamper base from the Midwest, and is ing); and a wide variety of sports and home away from home every summer for waterfront activities. over a dozen Beth El kids. The camp’s Cohen’s favorite activities included the mission statement reads: “Herzl Camp is Color Wars competition, and the camp’s a welcoming, independent camp where Shabbat celebration, which includes a young people become self-reliant, create musical Shabbat caravan of campers lasting Jewish friendships, and develop which goes cabin to cabin, picking up commitment and love for Judaism and campers along the way. Israel. Herzl Camp creates a vibrant Natalie Pichik also cited Shabbat as a Jewish community of future leaders.” favorite time at Herzl. “I learned a lot of For Cohen, going to camp “has really songs and prayers,” the fifth grader made me appreciate being Jewish a lot shared, adding, “I liked how we all more. I feel a stronger connection to so dressed in white on erev Shabbat.”
During the two summers she’s spent at camp, Pichik says she has enjoyed participating in activities such as arts and crafts, guitar, and Ultimate Frisbee. Eighth grader Sam Lieb is a four-year veteran of Herzl Camp. For Sam, “What kept me coming back was all of my friends that I never get to see anywhere else.” He added that “camp has helped
Tomer Palmon for the past five years. Sabra offers a variety of activities including numerous water sports, cliff jumping, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, tennis, archery, drama, dance, music, a climbing wall, a zip line and more. The camp also offers opportunities to learn about and participate in outdoor living skills, camping trips, outdoor cooking and hiking. For Tomer, skiing, kayaking and swimming are favorites, and, like his Beth El peers, getting to spend time with friends draws him back to camp year after year. Sabra has also been meaningful to the seventh grader’s Jewish life; he noted that camp “has helped me grow Jewishly by making new Jewish friends and going to Friday and Saturday services.” Beth El encourages its young congregants to parSam Lieb, far right, clowns around with fellow Omahans ticipate in Jewish summer Sarah Kutler, Ethan Potash and Alex Pichik, during their experiences, which supple2009 session at Herzl. ment and enrich Jewish me meet a lot of Jewish friends that are home life and classroom experiences. going through the same things as me, The synagogue offers a variety of service and some of them even live nearby, grants to help offset the cost to attend. which is great.” All Beth El youth who plan to attend a Following her first summer at Herzl, Jewish summer camp or trips endorsed Amanda Simon was enthusiastic about by the synagogue, may contact camp, saying, “I can’t wait to go back Education Director Judy Rubin at next summer!” Among her favorite 498.0904, or eddir@bethel-omaha.org activities, the fourth grader cited shore about service grants; applications will be sports and Israel Scouts, which offers an available in December. All students are opportunity to work with Herzl’s Israeli entitled to benefit from grant money; scouts in team-building and outdoor art the amounts awarded are based upon projects. merit and are repayable by service to Camp Sabra in Lake of the Ozarks has Beth El Synagogue or to the Talmud been the summer stomping grounds for Torah.
Herzl Camp
Building Jewish Identities Since 1946
Registration for Summer 2011 Now Open!
(952)-927-4002 . www.herzlcamp.org