Vol. LXXXIII No. 7 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 82 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
A Taste of Israel and a Talk about Religious Equality by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Looking for something different for Friday night dinner? How about something Mediterranean, something Israeli? A Shabbat dinner, featuring authentic Israeli flavors and regional dishes prepared by Moshe Basson, owner/chef of the Eucalyptus, the Jerusalem Land of Israel Restaurant, Chef Moshe Basson will be served at Temple Israel on Friday, Oct. 31, 6 p.m. No other restaurant in Israel has received the level of acclaim and number of positive reviews that the Eucalyptus enjoys, according to a newspaper review. A place of pilgrimage for food writers visiting Israel and other enthusiasts of the gastronomic experience, Eucalyptus was located in a ramshackle building in the Talpiot industrial zone of Jerusalem, hidden under a spreading tree from which the establishment took its name. Its fame spread slowly by word of mouth until last year when the restaurant closed which led to mourning in the culinary community. Eucalyptus reopened but due to the turmoil in Israel, it was closed again. Basson’s three-week visit to the United States is sponsored by the Israeli Affairs Committee of Congregation Ohev Sholom of Prairie Village, KS. With all proceeds going to the chef, Ohev Sholom hopes to help the economy of Israel in a small but direct way. Basson’s imaginative menu, based on biblical flavors, features Jerusalem Mediterranean cooking which is gaining popularity because of its healthy ingredients
and fresh flavors. The chef travels throughout Israel to harvest wild herbs and had even started growing his own produce on the restaurant’s roof. Following the dinner, Rabbi Uri Regev, Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center, the advocacy arm of the Reform Movement in Israel, will speak at Shabbat worship services which begin at 7:30 p.m. Rabbi Uri Regev Established in 1926 in London and now headquartered in Jerusalem, the World Union for Progressive Judaism is the largest body of religious Jews in the world. The organization serves congregations and communities in nearly 40 countries encompassing more than 1,200 Reform, Progressive, Liberal, and Reconstructionist congregations and more than one and a half million members throughout the world. Prior to his current position, Rabbi Regev served as founding chair and later as Executive Director and counsel of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the leading advocacy group in Israel promoting religious pluralism, social justice, and human equality established by the Reform Movement. In that capacity, he led the battles in which he and IRAC’s legal team achieved historic victories in the Supreme Court of Israel in cases involving the “Who is a Jew?” issue, the fight for representation in religious councils for equitable funding for Reform and Conservative institutions, and on other central issues of religious freedom and religious pluralism in Israel. Continued on page 2
21 Tishrei, 5764 October 17, 2003
Former Ambassador to Israel To Speak in Omaha Next Week
Dennis Ross, the former U.S. Ambassador to the State of Israel, is the featured speaker for the 2004 Jewish Federation’s Community Campaign Event, scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 23, 8 p.m., at Beth El Synagogue. The event is free to the Omaha Jewish community with an increased pledge of any amount to the 2004 Annual Campaign. Ross is the Director and Ziegler Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, was President Clinton’s envoy to the Middle East. His book, The Missing Peace, will be published next year. A Major Gifts dinner with the Ambassador will precede the Community Event, starting at 5:45 p.m. Chairmen for the event are Steven and Carol Bloch and Jennifer and Scott Meyerson. For more information and to read recent commentary by Ambassador Ross, visit the Federation website at: www.jewishomaha.org.
Noted Legal Scholar and Author Jeffrey Rosen Brings Clarity to Constitutional Issues by WENDY GOLDBERG NCJW BenchMark Co-chairman Jeffrey Rosen, professor of law at The George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., will present a lecture entitled, “Defending Privacy,” regarding the potential for erosion of constitutionally-protected privacy rights as the federal courts and United States Supreme Court become more conservative, on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 7 p.m. The National Council of Jewish Women, Omaha Section (NCJW) is sponsoring this event as part of NCJW’s ongoing BenchMark Campaign. Prof. Rosen will speak at the William H. Thompson Alumni Center on the campus of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. This event is open to the public, free of charge. BenchMark is a campaign to educate, mobilize and advocate for a federal judiciary that will protect fundamental freedoms, including an individual’s right to privacy, religious and other minority rights, and a woman’s right to reproductive choice. It is a combination of grassroots and national efforts that reach out to the decision makers on judicial
Inside
appointments-our U.S. Senators-who vote to confirm federal judicial nominations. Over the next several years, more than 30 percent of federal appeals court seats and, very likely, some United States Supreme Court seats, will become available to life-time appointees. NCJW is committed to ensuring that the judges who fill these positions hold firm to the constitutional principles so essential to our democratic way of life. “The pro-choice position is the belief that every woman has the right to make private and personal decisions concerning such important matters as contraception, when and whether to have a child, and abortion,” said Carol Bloch, a former NCJW National Board Member. “When the basic question is ‘Who decides?’ the basic answer must be ‘the woman.’” she added. “Women rightly have the constitutional and humane right to live in a society in which they can make their own personal decisions without being harassed by people who do not agree with them, attacked by antichoice terrorists, or forced by politicians to give birth.
Jeffrey Rosen “A person can be unsure of their feelings, or even be against abortion for themselves, and still be ‘pro-choice,’” Bloch insisted. “Without fundamental rights of privacy and free choice, and tolerance for the choices of others, we cannot have a moral and democratic society.” Prof. Rosen teaches constitutional law, criminal procedure and the law of priva-
This Week: California Jews Sort Out Election: page 2 Jewish Travel: Spanish City Finds Remnants of Jewish Past...page 4
The History Footprint: Books and the Big Apple Page 9
cy at The George Washington University Law School, as well as serving as the legal affairs editor of The New Republic. A graduate of Harvard College, summa cum laude, Prof. Rosen was a Marshall Scholar at Balliol College in Oxford, England, and received his J.D. from Yale University School of Law. His book, The Unwanted Gaze: The Destruction of of Privacy in America (2001), has been hailed by The New York Times as “the definitive text to privacy perils in the digital age.” Rosen is a frequent contributor to The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker and National Public Radio. Professor Rosen’s second book, The Naked Crowd: Reclaiming Security and Freedom in an Anxious Age, is scheduled for release in January 2004. This program is made possible through the contributions of NCJW-Omaha Section, the Susan A. Buffett Foundation, Darlynn and Tom Fellman and the Sharee and Murray Newman Foundation. For further information about this event or about BenchMark, please contact Susan Norton, NCJW BenchMark Cochairman, at 334-6565.
Coming Nov. 7: Salute to Education and Camping Mmmm Good! Campbell’s Vegetable Soup Goes Kosher...page 11
Goldsteins Form New Foundation page 16
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 17, 2003
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17 Temple Israel Consecration & Service, 7 p.m. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 JCC OPEN FOR SHEMINI ATZERET Beth El Simchat Torah Congregational Program, 7 p.m. C L SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19 I JCC OPEN FOR SIMCHAT TORAH P Temple Israel Men’s Club, 10 am
C L I P
Temple Israel Club 56, Noon Temple Israel OTYG Board Meeting, 2 p.m. S Live from the 92nd Street Y with Hillary Rodham Clinton, 7 p.m. A
&
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 20 YES Program, 10 a.m. Beth Israel Talmud Class with Rabbi Kutner, 7 p.m. War & Peace with Leonard Greenspoon, 7 p.m. JFS Book Discussion--Odd Girl Out, 7 p.m. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21 The Case for Israel, noon Temple Israel Adult Education, noon NCJW/Anita Diamant Dinner, 5 p.m. BBYO Night, 6 p.m. Live from the 92nd Street Y with Anita Diamant, 7 p.m. Temple Israel Board of Trustees Meeting, 7:30 p.m.
C L I P
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22 B’nai B’rith Breadbreakers, Noon at the Park Inn Regency Lodge JFS Event, Noon Beth El Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 7 p.m. JELS Hebrew for the Traveler, 7 p.m.
& S A V E
All events held at the JCC unless otherwise indicated.The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of events.To keep calendar accurate or for questions, call Marlene Hert at 334-6437. FOR A COMPLETE LISTING,VISIT THE FEDERATION’S WEBSITE: www.JewishOmaha.org (click on calendar)
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by TOM TUGEND LOS ANGELES (JTA)-- What’s a Jew to do when the Republican son of a Nazi Party member defeats the Democratic incumbent to become governor of the nation’s most populous state? If you can’t beat ‘em, join 'em, say jubilant Republicans, hoping that California Jews will flock to support the state’s new governor-elect, Arnold Schwarzenegger. “It used to be in California that we were afraid to speak out in a roomful of Jews, but now we’re standing up and speaking up,” the ecstatic chairman of the Southern California chapter of the Republican Jewish Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigns during California’s recall election. Coalition, Bruce Bialosky, said at Photo, courtesy of www.joinarnold.co Schwarzenegger’s victory party Sonenshein predicted that the 2004 national election Tuesday night. “Why, even the rabbis are changing “will be the closest to a civil war we’ve had since the their sermons!” Bialosky’s enthusiasm was shared by Jewish Civil War.” The President of the Jewish Federation of Republicans across the state Tuesday night, minutes Greater Los Angeles, John Fishel, said a after Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, conceded his loss Schwarzenegger administration’s real impact on in the recall election, and the Republican action-movie California Jewish communities might be in economic terms, especially if deep budget cuts lower state supstar was chosen as his successor. “This is akin to the Reagan revolution,” proclaimed port for Jewish and other social welfare agencies. Jewish voters apparently were little influenced by attorney Sheldon Sloan, one of Schwarzenegger’s earliest Jewish backers. “We’re going to make big inroads charges that the Austrian-born Schwarzenegger, whose estranged father joined the Nazi Party during World War into the Democratic hold on Jewish voters.” That analysis was not shared by most Democrats or II, harbored admiration for Hitler when he was political analysts, however, who predicted that there younger. Schwarzenegger was largely estranged from would not be any fundamental changes in the state’s his father, and repeatedly has disavowed any support political culture--or in the Jewish tendency to vote for his father’s political views. Over the weekend, Schwarzenegger’s campaign Democratic. Davis assiduously cultivated California’s one-million strong Jewish community during his five released a transcript of an interview 25 years ago in years as governor. In a quick, informal election-night which the bodybuilder-cum-actor said, “In many ways survey, experts and party activists weighed in on I admired people--It depends for what. I admired whether Jewish influence in Sacramento would wane Hitler, for instance, because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education, up to power. under the new governor. “I doubt it,” Republican pollster Arnold Steinberg And I admire him for being such a good public speaksaid. “There are so many Jews in the entertainment er and for his way of getting to the people and so on. industry and on the west side” of Los Angeles “who But I didn’t admire him for what he did with it.” The actor also has long supported the Simon know Arnold, and he will be reaching out to the Jewish Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance, both community fairly quickly.” Bialosky and Sloan said they were certain that there as a donor and as a speaker on behalf of tolerance. “Arnold has been our No. 1 supporter in the enterwere enough high-level Jewish Republicans in Los Angeles and other parts of the state that Jewish con- tainment industry, and he is certainly an anti-Nazi,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the center's associate dean. cerns would be heeded in the new administration. On election night, Cooper agreed to join the transiUrban analyst Joel Kotkin disagreed, saying he foresaw a “pretty heavy gentile administration” with a con- tion team managing the changeover from Davis to Schwarzenegger. comitant loss of Jewish clout. Kotkin, who said Jewish influence in Sacramento Experts said they doubted Schwarzenegger’s victory would wane as a result of the Schwarzenegger victory, put would do much to strengthen Republicans nationally. But “it’s a big morale booster for the beleaguered most of the blame for the change of fortune on Jewish White House,” said political scientist Raphael leaders--who, he said, “had ignored their own tradition by making comfortable deals with Davis, an amoral politician Sonenshein, of California State University in Fullerton. The Republican victory could end up energizing who debased the political culture of California.” No demographic exit polls were available in the Democrats, Sonenshein said, because the Davis recall has “enraged thousands of Jewish and other hours after polls closed, but Kotkin estimated that 30% Democrats, who will redouble their efforts to beat Bush of Jewish voters cast their ballots for Schwarzenegger, an unusually high figure for a Republican in California. at the next election.”
A Taste of Israel C L I P &
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23 Temple Israel Adult Education, 10 a.m. Walk-in Drop-in, 10 a.m. Yiddish Group Meeting, 1 p.m. Jewish Federation Community Event with Ambassador Dennis Ross, 8 p.m., at Beth El Synagogue
California’s Jews Try to Sort out New Political Realities after Election
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Continued from page 1 The menu at Temple will include Meza salads, red lentil soup, stuffed leaves, fresh figs filled with chicken breast, maalubeh (chicken casserole with rice and vegetables), veal kofta with Jerusalem-artichokes. Dessert will be ice from paradise--sesame cream and date honey, using kosher ingredients from St. Louis. Eight to ten volunteers will be needed to help Basson in the kitchen at Temple during the day on Friday, Oct. 31. He will provide a cooking class for the volunteers as they help him prepare the meal and also present “Foods of the Holy Land” to the diners while they eat. Open to the entire community, the dinner will cost $18 for adults and $8 for children 12 years and younger. Please call Temple at 556-6536 to make reservations or to volunteer by Friday, Oct. 24. To learn more about Chef Basson, his restaurant, and his recipes, visit www.the-eucalyptus.com on the internet. For more information about the event, call Rosie Zweiback, Program Director at Temple Israel, 5566536 or e-mail her at: rzweiback@qwest.net.
Rabbi to Resume Popular Class for Beth El Adults by DIANE AXLER BAUM for Beth El Synagogue In response to many requests, Rabbi Mordechai Levin will resume his class for adults, starting Thursday, Oct. 23, noon to 1 p.m., in the Beth El library. Rabbi Levin titled the new class “Jewish Wisdom for the 21st Century.” He will structure the classes to “show how the wisdom of the past can address the moral perplexities of the present,” he said. The “wisdom” to which he refers is “found in classical texts that form Jewish religious tradition.” Last year, Rabbi Levin’s Introduction to Judaism class became an instant hit. From the first session in October to the final one in May, the Beth El library was packed every Thursday with enthusiastic adults eager to learn about the teachings, expectations, and rituals of the Jewish religion. Many stayed after class to share lunch. Rabbi Levin invites his former students and other Beth El adults to attend any or all Thursday sessions. For lunch, make a reservation in advance, by calling the synagogue office, 492-8550. Cost of the meal is $5.
October 17, 2003
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 3
It’s a New Decade, but Peace Plan has a Decidedly Familiar Ring to It by DAN BARON JERUSALEM (JTA)--Just as many people in Israel are driving the last nail into Oslo’s coffin, along comes a reincarnation of the decade-old accords. The faces were familiar--Yossi Beilin leading the 40-member Israeli team, with Yasser Abed Rabbo on the Palestinian side--but this time the secret proposal for Middle East compromise was drafted not in Norway’s capital but in the Jordanian resort town of Shuneh, on the Dead Sea. Under the plan, Israel reportedly would relinquish sovereignty over Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and the Palestinians would give up the “right of return” for refugees who fled their homes during Israel's 1948 War of Independence. Neither delegation to the talks had any official weight, although Abed Rabbo--a former Cabinet member in the Palestinian Authority and a longtime Palestinian negotiation--said the authority would endorse the plan. Israeli politicians criticized the plan, which is being called the Geneva Accords, due to the Swiss Foreign Ministry’s role in financing and mediating the two and a half years of negotiations. “The opposition is negotiating behind the government’s back with the Palestinians, while we are in a serious conflict with them, in a war against Palestinian terror, which is directed and encouraged by some of the people with whom the left-wing officials have met,” Israel’s health minister, Dan Naveh, said. The Israeli delegation says Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was aware of the
negotiations, a charge aides in the Prime Minister's Office denied. Israeli officials have said such opposition efforts are counterproductive.
For his part, Barak called the new peace proposal “delusional,” saying it “clearly harms the interests of the State of Israel.”
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Karia, right, standing with P.A. President Yassir Arafat, left, makes a statement about the formation of a government in Ramallah on Oct. 3. Photo by BP Images/JTA ``At a time when the whole world is becoming convinced by our arguments against Arafat, people stand up among us and come to a final agreement with them. This puts us in a ridiculous light,” a source in the Prime Minister’'s Office told Ha’aretz. Beilin, a former Knesset member and official of the left-wing Meretz Party, led the last round of peace talks under former Prime Minister Ehud Barak in Taba, Egypt, in January 2001, shortly before Barak was voted out of office.
The draft reportedly has Israel agreeing to withdraw troops and settlers from much of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to allow for a Palestinian state. Holy sites in Jerusalem would be shared by several religious groups, much as President Clinton envisaged at the failed 2000 peace talks at Camp David. “The document provides solutions to final-settlement issues such as the status of Arab east Jerusalem, frontiers, the establishment of a Palestinian state and the right of returning home of Palestinian
refugees who were forced to leave Palestine when Israel was founded in 1948,” said the deputy Palestinian ambassador to Jordan, Atallah Khairi. Palestinians denied that the document requires them to give up the right of return for millions of refugees or their descendants. Israel regards the demand for a right of return essentially as the elimination of the Jewish state. P.A. President Yasser Arafat has refused to budge on the right of return, but he backed the contacts that led to the meeting between Beilin and Abed Rabbo over the last year. The initiative joins the People’s Voice for Peace, a grass-roots Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation campaign, in applying pressure on the Israeli government to restart peace efforts. The plan reportedly will be mailed to all Israeli homes, according to the Jerusalem Post, but it has not yet been published. “Certainly I welcome any movement that sees peacemaking with the Palestinians as a matter of agreeing on final issues first,” People’s Voice’s director, Ami Ayalon, a former chief of the Shin Bet domestic security service, told JTA. “But otherwise we will have to reserve judgement until all the facts are out” about the initiative, especially regarding the refugee question. The two negotiating teams are expected to sign the final memorandum in the coming weeks. Despite denials from Amman, the Ha’aretz newspaper said Jordanian officials had attended the talks. Thro ug h s a t e llit e t ra ns mis s io n, we will bro adc ast t his disc ussio n L IV E in o ur J CC The a t e r.
The Je wish Community Center of Omaha Presents...
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 17, 2003
Spanish City Digs Deep to Find Remnants of its Jewish History
JEWISH TRAVEL by JEROME SOCOLOVSKY SEGOVIA, Spain (JTA)--A group of cloistered nuns sat still inside a locked cage as a chamber-music trio played a Sephardic lullaby. But when the singer sang “durme, durme”--which means “sleep, sleep” in Ladino--the nuns smiled through the iron bars at the children playing on the floor of the ancient synagogue. The concert was held to mark the inauguration of the 12th century “Corpus Christi” synagogue, the only one of seven medieval synagogues still standing in this historic Spanish city about 60 miles northwest of Madrid. The synagogue was restored in a twoyear project that cost $243,000 in public money and enlisted some of the city’s top artistic talent. The project is part of a plan to renovate the entire Juderia, the medieval Jewish quarter, said Clara Luguero, Segovia’s alderman for culture. City records show that Jewish inhabitants of the Juderia at times outnumbered the city's non-Jews in the medieval era, she said. The Juderia “is part of our history and it’s important that our citizens get to know it,” Luguero said. Around a thousand people, the overwhelming majority of them locals, turned out for the synagogue inauguration and tours of the Juderia, which were held as part of the recent European Day of Jewish Culture. In Toledo, with its much more famous synagogues, only about 100 people showed up for the Juderia tours, according to Luguero.
“It was so interesting to discover all these synagogues and what they were for,” said Segovia native Rosa Velasco, who belongs to an association for the preservation of the city’s Left: The ceiling of the recently restored 12th century The door of the recently restored 12th century Corpus Corpus Christi synagogue, the only one of seven medieval Christi synagogue, the only one of seven medieval synaheritage. Until now, synagogues still standing in historic Segovia, Spain, about gogues still standing in historic Segovia, Spain, about 60 Photo by Municipality of Segovia S e g o v i a ’ s 60 miles northwest of Madrid. Photo by Municipality of Segovia miles northwest of Madrid. However, the rows of white columns The ceiling and columns were Jewish history was virtually unknown to Spaniards. They know the city well and Moorish arches carved with ornate destroyed by fire in 1898, but blueprints because it was here that Queen Isabella palm motifs have been restored to their survived that served as a guide for the Catholic-- who along with her hus- original splendor. The wooden ceiling and restorative work carried out by three of band, King Ferdinand, decreed the intricate woodwork on the balconies also Segovia’s most talented artists. have been rebuilt, and further work is After the Corpus Christi, the tour of the Jewish expulsion--was crowned. Segovia is also one of Spain’s top planned on the outer walls and doorways. Juderia wound through the narrow alley“There’s got to be a lot more under ways of the quarter, stopping at the locatourist destinations because of its towering Roman aqueduct, an enduring mar- here,” Velasco said. “But since it’s still a tions of other synagogues and the home vel of engineering, and its late Gothic convent, I think they’re trying not to find of Rabbi Avraham Senneor, one of the out more than they have to,” she added most famous apostates of the Inquisition. Alcazar Cathedral. Senneor’s residence is now a municipal Even though the restoration of the with a knowing smile. According to the historian, the Corpus cultural center, where an exhibit on Jewish Corpus Christi was publicly financed, the synagogue--like most restored shuls in Christi synagogue was the largest of life showed the hows and whys of Jewish Spain--remains the property of Roman seven believed to have stood in ritual, from wearing tefillin (phylacteries) medieval Segovia. to the chupah (wedding canopy). Catholic ecclesiastical authorities. It was built by Joseph Iban Sosan, who According to Segovia historian Valero It serves as a convent for Clarissa nuns --a cloistered order--and the building still was the “Almojarife”--or minister of the Herrera Ontanon, another prominent bears the name of the church that was treasury--in the court of King Alfonso Jewish Segovian was Jacob Cachopo, established inside its walls after the VIII in the latter part of the 12th century. who raised funds for Ferdinand and As often was the case with medieval Isabella's conquest of Islamic Granada expulsion of the Jews in 1492. A giant cross with a life-size Jesus fig- Spanish synagogues, it was built by and is also believed to have funded Muslim architects. Columbus’ voyage to the Americas. ure still looks down on the stage.
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UNO to Host Biblical Archaeology Conference and Reunion by DR. RAMI ARAV for UNO At the end of October, the Bethsaida Excavations Project at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) will convene its annual Batchelder Biblical Archaeology Conference. This event, in its fifth year, will continue UNO’s long tradition of promoting biblical archaeology and sharing it with academic and general audiences. The university's yearly interdisciplinary forum will take place from Oct. 30-Nov. 1, at the W.H. Thompson Alumni Center, 6705 Dodge on the UNO campus. This year conference’s focus is urbanism. Spotlight topics such as the Septuagint as an Urban Document, Urbanism and Ruralism in Turkey, and Settlement Patterns in Jordan will be covered during the two-day agenda. Faculty from all over the world will share updates on Near Eastern excavations at Qumran, Abila (Jordan), Nazareth, and Bethsaida. Notably, local scholar Leonard Greenspoon from Creighton University and Richard Freund (formerly of UNO, now Director of the Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford) will be featured in the program. Keynote speaker for the conferences is Dr. Dan Bahat, Senior Lecturer at Bar Ilan University in Israel. Dr. Bahat is an expert in early archaeology of Israel; Jerusalem medieval architecture and arts; Jerusalem topography and history; and Jerusalem through the ages. Dr. Bahat, the district archaeologist of Jerusalem from 1963-90, was invited in 1988 by Pope John Paul II for a presentation on Jerusalem. He has received many awards, including the Jerusalem Award for Archaeology (1989), and the Ish Shalom award (1993) for his book, The Illustrated Atlas of Jerusalem (1990). Dr. Bahat will also speak on Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, and other topics during the two-day long conference. The opening event is a video premiere of a documentary produced by the Biblical Archaeology Society, The Archaeological Search for Jesus. Part I will be screened on Thursday evening; Part II will conclude the conference on Saturday evening. Both evening events are free and open to the public. Registration for the conference is required for all events. Registration materials are available at www.unomaha.edu/~betsaida or by contacting Wendi Chiarbos, Bethsaida Excavations Project Coordinator, at 554.2902.
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 5
Kids, Families Celebrate Sukkot at Temple Israel
by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Communications Coordinator Photo top left: Sitting under the sukkah at Temple Israel before Erev Sukkot services began are Cindy and Bruce Goldberg and their sons: Scott, Max, and Adam. Top right: Hillary Fletcher helped her daughter, Baye, construct decorations for the sukkah. Bottom left: A potluck supper in the
Choral Arts Rehearses at Beth El; Perform at UNO
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Friedman Social Hall preceded worship services. Enjoying the meal are Patty and Stephen Goldstein and their daughter, Alison, along with baby, Maxwell. Bottom left: Josie Platt also participated in making crafts for the sukkah. During the service, babies born since last year’s High Holy Days along with children celebrating July, August, and September birthdays were called to the bima for a special blessing.
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The Nebraska Choral Arts Society 2003-2004 Concert Season will kick off on Saturday, Oct. 25, 7 p.m. The Masterworks singers will join with New York bass, Kevin Deas, to bring Omaha audiences a wealth of music by American composers, such as Gershwin, Copland, and others. Kevin is an acclaimed bass in New York City, focusing on opera and orchestral concert literature. The Choral Arts Society Teens will also join the program at the UNO Strauss Performing Arts Center (63rd and Dodge). Among the singers is Holly Friedman Weill, who took the photo of Monday night’s rehearsal, above. Tickets are $10 for adults ($12 day of show) and $8 for youth/seniors. To purchase tickets, contact choir member, Holly Weill at 212-3337 or the NCAS office at 342-6753.
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Page 6
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 17, 2003
Down Home Diabetic Recipes
The Power of the Press
BERT’S EYE VIEW by BERT LEWIS
I’m here to tell you, never underestimate the power of the press--especially if it’s the Jewish Press. Maybe you remember a column I wrote some weeks ago, complaining that all the shopping in Omaha couldn’t turn up men’s pajamas or bedspreads --did you happen to see that? Well, never mind. It wasn’t required reading. It was just a rant, about not being able to find either of those two items. Well, here’s the funny end to that story, in case you’re interested. I got so much response to that column, you would have thought it was really an important issue! Naturally, to me it was, but I wouldn’t have believed the phone calls and e-mails I got, in addition to some clippings from magazines sent in the mail. Quickly I learned the answer to my problems could be easily found in any one of many catalogues. In fact, a lovely lady arranged for me to pick up some of her catalogues, which she even dogeared for me so I could find exactly what I wanted! (Thanks, Judy.) And the phone calls....well, I’ve lost count of those, and as a matter of fact, I’m sorry I never got back to you, Bernice, but I got too busy and just forgot! Such an out-pouring of friendly interest was really unexpected, and greatly appreciated. For one thing, it’s very nice to have assurance that somebody is reading my stuff, and all those suggestions about catalogue sources was certainly validation enough for even somebody as paranoid as I am. And if all that wasn’t enough, here’s part II of the megillah. A short while after all the brouhaha over the bedspreads, the boyfriend and I flew east to see the kids and grandkids. Standing in my daughter’s house (actually in her office), I told her my hilarious story of
the column on the subject of absent bedspreads. She wasn’t amused--in fact, she was amazed. “What do you mean you can’t find a bedspread? That’s absolutely ridiculous” was her first response. The second was “just a minute and let me see what I can find on the Internet.” And that’s about what it took....just a minute. In no time, she asked which of three or four linen outlets I was interested in, then found bedspread ads, complete with color, size, cost, etc. She demanded I study them until I had made a decision; then said, “Okay, give me a credit card.” Within maybe 10 minutes, she assured me the bedspread would either be there when I got home or the day after for sure. And you know what? It was. And you know what else? It looks exactly the way I hoped it would and everyone who sees it thinks it’s great. See, when the computer is like an extension of your arm, it'’s second nature to call on it to solve any and all problems. This kid of mine also helped connect me to a shoe company that had exactly what I had been looking for. Once again it was, “Mom, give me your credit card...I found your shoes.” She did, too, and I’m enjoying them very much, thank you. That’s all I have to report. I just wanted you to know, since you’re a reader of The Jewish Press, the power of the press is awesome indeed. There aren’t any problems so tough that somebody out there won’t call and say, “I know exactly where to find your shmichick.” Heck, I even got information on where to find pajamas! It brought to mind a delicious old expression I used to hear when I was a child. The older generation would often say (in wonder), “Nu, darf men gain in college?” If you don’t understand, forget it. It would lose too much to translate. Bert Lewis can be reached at: Bertlewis39@aol.com.
edited by Anne Cain (Oxmoor House)
Prevention’s Decadent Desserts for Diabetics by Regina Ragone (Rodale, $16.95)
R EAD IT AND EAT Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN If you or someone you know is one of the “15 million Americans” that have diabetes, these cookbooks will be of great interest and help. Enjoy your favorite down-home foods in a new and healthier way in Down Home Diabetic Recipes. The Introduction includes a dozen helpful pages...menu/calorie planner, recent findings and suggestions and low-fat and sugar substitutes to lighten traditional recipes for healthy, family pleasing recipes. Over 140 recipes with reduced sugar and fat include nutritional information. The recipes, marked “super quick”, “make ahead”, and “vegetarian”, are one-to-a-page, have clear instructions with notes, secrets, variations, shortcuts and helpful tips. Whether you count carbohydrates, which my diabetic husband does--and I find this method easier to master--or use the diabetic exchanges, of interest is “a recent study found that peanut butter may actually help fend off diabetes.” HOMEMADE PEANUT BUTTER 1 pound unshelled, unsalted roasted peanuts (21/2 cups shelled) Shell peanuts; remove and discard skins. Place peanuts in a food processor. Process 3 minutes, stopping once to scrape down sides. Store in refrigerator. Yield: l1/4cups (service size: 2 tablespoons). Note: The natural oil in the peanuts may rise to the top of the jar. Stir the oil back into the peanut butter before serving. Peanut Pointers: We like the flavor of unsalted peanuts, but if salt isn’t a problem for you, you can make this peanut butter with salted peanuts. And, to save
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time, you can start with shelled roasted peanuts. Diabetics can have their cake and eat it and chocolate, too, in Prevention Magazine’s new Decadent Desserts for Diabetics. “It’s not just sugar, but all carbohydrates, that can affect blood sugar levels.” Breaking the dessert myth with seven steps for the best way to eat is how the cookbook begins. Simple ways to make desserts diabetic friendly with tips on substitutions. are found in 125 dessert recipes. You might want to sink your fork into Almond Chocolate Flourless Cake, Bananas Foster, Chocolate Canolis or Coconut Cream Bundt Cake. The nutritional data is given with each recipe for both carbohydrate and Diet Exchange. This book is intended as a reference volume and “the foods discussed and the recipes given here are designed to help you make informed decisions about your diet and health.” TAPIOCA PUDDING 3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca 1/3 cup sugar 2 large eggs 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 4 cups fat-free milk 1/4 cup dried cherries, blueberries or raisins 1 teaspoon vanilla extract In a medium saucepan, mix the tapioca, sugar, eggs, cardamom, and cinnamon until smooth. Stir in the milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cherries, blueberries, or raisins and vanilla. Pour into a serving bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until cold. Makes 8 servings. Lois Friedman can be reached at: readitandeat@yahoo.com.
October 17, 2003
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 7
Beth El’s Rosh Hodesh Group to Peek in Mrs. Noah’s Closet by DIANE AXLER BAUM for Beth El Synagogue The Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group of Beth El Synagogue will welcome the month of Heshvan at a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 7 p.m., at the apartment of Nancy Rips in One Pacific Place, 1302 So. 101 St. The session, co-hosted by Ozzie Nogg, will begin with dessert; discussion will follow at 7:30 p.m. Ozzie Nogg and Nancy Rips prepare for Beth El women’s While there are no holidays in Heshvan, according next Rosh Hodesh meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 28. Rips and Nogg promise some laughs, to legend it’s the month when the Flood some serious stuff, and, perhaps, some began. “So, in an effort to tie the Flood song and dance. They request reservaand Fashion together,” Nogg said playtions in advance, via e-mail: fully, “we’ve titled the evening, ‘Did Mrs. ozmom@cox.net. Noah Have a Closet on the Ark?’” The Rosh Hodesh Group was created Becoming more serious, she explained by and for the women of Beth El that the theme is aimed at exploring Synagogue to provide an open forum for “how dressing up in our mothers’ spiritual discovery and discussion and to clothes and accessories may have taught further the values of Conservative us something about being adult Jewish Judaism. All Beth El women are invited women.” to attend. Participants are invited to bring a More information is available from “cherished item” that once belonged to Joanie Jacobson, 554-0500; or Dinah their mother, or another woman signifiRaful, 493-1436 or mamaraful@hotcant in their lives, and to share the reamail.com. son this article is important to them.
Photojournalist Frederic Brenner Focuses on Jewish Exile Condition whose 2001 survey of American Jewish by JOE BERKOFSKY NEW YORK (JTA)--A man with a chis- identity was widely seen as a benchmark study, Brenner’s highly styleled face and Roman profile ized portraits of U.S. Jews gazes into the light amid a recorded a whimsical, irrevroomful of Greco-Roman erent but loving slice of life. busts that could be of his “These are not photoancestors. A silver-haired graphs either of or for comIndian merchant sits in his fortable Jews,” he wrote, opulent Calcutta living but unearth “the layered room, a servant holding his personae” of American tea tray. Jewish school stuJewry. dents stand atop a pyramid There were photos of alongside a faux Sphinx and Jewish Civil War enthusiasts, palm trees in Las Vegas. Jews at a Catskills singles During an interview last resort, and famous Jews like month, photojournalist Frederic Brenner Dustin Hoffman and Henry Frederic Brenner sifted Photo by Jan Cobb Kissinger. But author and through these images, stopping to point at one black-and-white commentator Leon Wieseltier, writing in image of a young Italian Jew whose vis- The New Republic, said the Jews in the age seemed to morph into the marble book were “exploited in a cheap culture game.” statues. “Brenner’s pictures adore themselves. “This capacity of becoming the Other --this is what the whole project is about,” They believe themselves to be fresh, shocking, paradoxical, controversial,” he he says. The project Brenner is referring to wrote. “See how they blow the lid off is Diaspora: Homelands in Exile, a two- American Jewish identity and go behind volume set of photographs and essays the conventions of American Jewish due out Sept. 30 from HarperCollins. In existence and boldly reveal it to be riddled” with irony. many ways, it encapsuStill, Mayer says lates his life’s work. Brenner’s latest work surBrenner, 44, is the confaces at a crucial troversial chronicler of moment--after the release world Jewry who for 25 of the National Jewish years roamed five contiPopulation Survey, a $6 nents living with and phomillion study said to protographing indigenous vide the most compreJews--from Azerbaijan to hensive statistical snapYemen and Brooklyn to shot of U.S. Jewry ever. Jerusalem. Brenner’s art captures something facts It was his 1996 Jews/America/A Representation, which included a room- and figures cannot, Mayer says. He “can ful of Groucho Marx impersonators, a do artistically what we social scientists chapter of Harley-Davidson riders and a are trying to do by asking 1,000 questable of semi-naked women displaying tions,” Mayer says. Whether it’s the photo of Russian their mastectomy scars, that brought his name to the coffee tables of many immigrant taxi drivers lining up their cabs on Coney Island or a picture of the American Jews. The book, available at the Kripke lesbian daughters of Holocaust surJewish Federation Library, also exposed vivors, Brenner “is trying to capture a a debate over the nature of this new complexity that Jewish institutional organizations are uncomfortable with,” form of Jewish documentary. For Egon Mayer, a noted sociologist Mayer says.
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Page 8
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 17, 2003
Blood Drive Scheduled for Temple Next Month
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by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Donating blood “is a perfect way to begin the new year with a mitzvah,” said Bill Rosen who, along with Harry Alloy, is chairing Temple Israel’s annual blood drive on Monday, Nov. 3. Most Americans expect blood to be available when they need it during surgery or for emergencies such as earthquakes, floods, fires, and storms. But only about five percent of eligible Americans actually give blood. Many people donated blood after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, to ensure a sustained and secure blood supply for the military, for blood centers, and for all 5,000 of the country’s hospitals. But according to the Midwest Region of the American Red Cross, the region’s blood supply is currently at what appears to be a 20-year low. Only about one third, or a one-day supply, of the 100,000 units the Red Cross strives to have on hand at all times is currently available. Depending solely on volunteer blood donors, the Red Cross meets the needs of thousands of patients each day who are being treated for accidents, routine surgeries, and serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and hemophilia. Temple’s annual blood drive will be between the hours of 1p.m. and 7 p.m. Donors need to be healthy, at least 17 years old, and weigh 110 pounds or more. Alloy, who has chaired Temple’s blood drive for close to 10 years, said he gives blood, because “I know it’s much needed and something people think others are going to do.” “We need to all pitch in and help out in this situation,” reminded Rosen. Please call Temple at 556-6536 to be a blood donor.
MARRIAGE VICTORIA/HABER Verna Victoria, daughter of Luz San Pedro of San Fernando Valley, CA, and Adam J. Haber, son of Lawrence Haber of Ventura, CA, and Dr. H. Perrin Garsombke and Sheila D. Garsombke, were married Sept. 13 at the Los Angeles River Center. Cantor Beth Faber, a cousin of the groom, participated in the ceremony, which was followed by a reception. The bride earned a BS in accounting and finance at Sonoma State University in California. She is a vision services analyst at Kaiser Permanente. Her maid of honor was Maria Bucana; bridesmaids were Barbara Victorio and So Young Kim. The groom graduated with honors from the University of California at San Diego with a BS in political science. He earned a master’s degree in public policy from UCLA and is a senior analyst with Kaiser Permanente. The groom’s best man was Mark Spizman; groomsmen included the groom’s brother, Aaron Garsombke, and Paul Weinberg. His grandparents are William Haber and the late Beverly Haber, and the late Abe Margel. Great-grandparents are the late Sam and Gertrude Fagenberg. Following a wedding trip to Carmel, Monterey and San Simeon, the couple makes their home in Pasadena, CA. They leave for a honeymoon later this month in Australia and New Zealand.
Cantor Hosts Event for Teens as Beth El Celebrates Sukkot by DIANE AXLER BAUM for Beth El Synagogue Beth El Synagogue combined new activities and traditional events this year to enrich celebrations of Sukkot for members of all ages. The teens of Beth El enjoyed a new Sukkot activity, an overnight “fiesta” hosted by Cantor Gastón and Lena Bogomolni in their home, and centered in their Sukkah. Sam Edelstein, president of the Bilu Chapter of USY, expressed thanks for the gracious hospitality that resulted in what he described as “an outstanding program.” In addition to eating in the Sukkah, the teens socialized, played instruments, sang Jewish songs, and “had the best time,” he said. The Beth El Men’s Club once again masterminded the building of the synagogue’s Sukkah between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. President Larry Hasslinger invited all the group’s members to participate, whether in an active role or merely “to provide moral support while enjoying coffee and doughnuts.” The actual decorating of the Sukkah, mostly with items created by students of Beth El Synagogue Talmud Torah (BESTT), developed into an evening that was both fun and meaningful for the teens of USY and the pre-teens of Kadimah. “Thanks to these combined
efforts,” said Rabbi Mordechai Levin, “the Sukkah was ready to provide a lovely setting for Kiddush following Sukkot services on Shabbat morning and the following day.” Also in honor of Sukkot, the Beth El Minyannaires gathered for services extra early on five mornings. Michael Gerson, leader of the Minyan, said these special services culminated today, with a particularly early 6:15 a.m. start. Marking the seventh day of Tabernacles with the Hoshanna Rabbah this morning, participants carried the lulav, or palm branch, and etrog, or myrtle, as they circled the chapel seven times, chanting the entire time, to bring Sukkot to a prayerful close.
Above: Kadima member Emily Giller holds the personal sukkah greeting she created at the USY/Kadima Sukkah decorating party. Right: Josh Sweet, USY member, hangs the paper chain in the Beth El sukkah. Hundreds of feet of papr chains and other decorations were made by the kids.
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October 17, 2003
Books and the Big Apple
THE HISTORY F OOTPRINT by OLIVER B. POLLAK What you take with you on a trip and what you bring home in your shopping bag may be revealing. Our second trip to New York this year was a combination of pleasure and pleasure. Some trips are museum trips, some shopping trips, some going to plays and musical events. In March we crammed in five plays and musicals into four days. I stopped at W. H. Smith at Eppley Airport for some inflight reading and nothing attracted me. So it was off to Waterstones where a young energetic persuasive salesman convinced me of the worth of Pasquale’s Nose by former Omahan Michael Rips. I also purchased How to be Alone by Jonathan Franzen, the author of Corrections. I read the Rips’ book first and was so enchanted by his quirky romp in Tuscany, with Jewish Nebraska undertones, that when I got to New York I called him up at the Chelsea Hotel and set a Sunday breakfast meeting. More of that later. Karen took Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and other Observations by Al Franken, as it was in paper back rather than his more recent hardback Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, a Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. We attended the wedding of the son of friends whom we have known for 29 years. My wife, Karen, and Carol Kelly were pregnant together, the kids went to Montessori together, and although they moved to Denver in 1980, the girls kept in touch, sometimes mournfully through funerals and sometimes joyously with weddings. The wedding, officiated by a Presbyterian and a Jesuit, joined a professional couple in their late 20s, a Scottish-Asian Presbyterian and an Irish Catholic. We ignored Bloomingdales, Macy’s and many of the specialty shops. Instead, we sampled and tasted a few of Manhattan’s 500 bookstores and glorious libraries. The second pleasure was using the resources of the New York Public Library, Columbia University and the new Center for Jewish History in pursuit of searching the sad fate of the Berlin born anti-Nazi, pacifist journalist Berthold Jacob. He had been kidnapped by the Nazis in 1935 in Basel, Switzerland, released and kidnapped again in 1941 in Lisbon, Portugal, after he had ostensibly been saved by Varian Fry. A trip to the New York Public Library Bookstore netted the following recently published books: The Word Museum, The most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten by Jeffrey Kacirk; Drek, The Real Yiddish Your Bubbe Never Taught You by Yetta Emmes; Quirky Qwerty, A Biography of the Typewriter and its many characters by Torbjörn Lundmark; and a reproduction of a 1924 publication, The Typewriter, An Illustrated History. There is a pattern confirmed by a purchase of Book Lust by Nancy Pearl, longtime librarian at the Seattle Public Library, picked up at the recently
IN THE NEWS Kids, Inc., announced the relocation of its offices to 11414 W. Center Rd., Suite 220. Founded by Allan M. Gonsher, LCSW, CMSW, 18 years ago, Kids, Inc., has embarked upon a new venture, training professionals to work with children. Those child and family therapists include: Dr. Paul Fine, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Sherry Bauer, PLMSW, LMPH; Jack Dross, MS, LMPH; Sally Fine, CMSW, LMPH; Bryce Thull, LMPH, NCC, and Mary Ann Greene-Walsh, CSW, LMPH. Rini Gonsher was featured in a six-minute segment on National Public Radio last month in a piece on telemarketers. Gonsher, who is a “telephone sales representative,” as she likes to be called, is a top salesperson for Omaha Steaks, Inc. Among the list of “America’s Top Doctors” in the latest edition of a national guide published by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., of New York City, were 15 Nebraska physicians, including 13 from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Among those were Steven M. Denenberg, MD, otolaryngology (head and neck surgery) and Stephen Rennard, MD, pulmonary disease.
reopened independent bookstore Coliseum across the street from the NYPL and Bryant Park. I did some work at the New York Public Library and the Columbia University Library. Both want to be user friendly and employ state of the art security. Within five minutes we were issued photo ids with bar codes. Being on the edge of Hurricane Isabel, New York was unusually windy. New York creates self imposed gridlock. We saw three films being made and traffic being diverted. On Sunday there were several parades and street fairs and markets that closed down several blocks of major thoroughfares. My wife and I like Jewish cookbooks, particularly the genre of Jewish charitable cookbooks typically produced as fund raisers by sisterhoods, National Council of Jewish Women and Hadassah. Many are distinguished by peculiar looking plastic and wire spiral bindings. We went to Dean & Deluca on 560 Broadway, which has a cookbook selection in the back of the store. We bought no books there, but did not want to go away empty handed, so to speak, so we acquired one of their canvas book bags and a four pound square iron Japanese teapot. Kitchen Arts & Letters on Lexington Ave. contains about 12,000 cookbooks and an additional 3,500 older out of print and antiquarian stock. Unfortunately we visited on a Friday and the owner of the store, Nahum Waxman, who controls the rarer items, does not work Friday or Saturday. A similar experience barred us from going into the Center for Jewish History Bookstore as it is also closed on Friday. We purchased some recent imaginative Jewish charitable cookbooks including The Hawaii Passover Cookbook by Honolulu’s Congregation Sof Ma’arav, Dining with the Ancients by Pittsburgh’s Rodef Shalom, Biblical Botanical Garden, and California Kosher by Congregation Adat Ari El Synagogue of North Hollywood. My interest in labor saving devices such as the pressure cooker, led to the purchase of Mechanical Brides produced by the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum, a third of which incidentally was about the typewriter. Familiar nostrums provide some guidance, such as a person is what she eats. Perhaps you can tell a person by the company they keep. Pets may imitate their masters. You cannot tell a book by its cover. What can you tell about a person based on their reading habits and the books they buy? Our last social event in New York neatly and pleasurably tied up our wonderful four day stay. Breakfast at the Antique Café in Chelsea included former Omahans and writers, Michael Rips, Seth Bornstein and his spouse, Diane Loughran, and Talya Greenspoon. Michael gave us a tour of Chelsea and the Sunday Flee market scene. We met Michael’s wife, Sheila Berger, and five-year-old daughter Nicolaia. They will be in Omaha when Sheila has an opening at the Bemis. We parted with words of well wishing and promises to keep in contact by email. Give yourself a treat, read Pasquale’s Nose. Oliver Pollak OBPOMNI@aol.com
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Opera Omaha has announced the launch of its newly revamped website: www.operaomaha.org. Visitors can now purchase tickets online and view the stage from each section of the Orpheum Theater. The 2003-04 schedule includes: Puccini’s LaBoheme, Jan. 28, 30 and Feb. 1, 2004; Donizetti’s Lucia d’Lammermor on March 24, 26 and 28; and Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree, April 28 and 30 and May 2. The Omaha Symphony will feature works by Russian composers at its concert tonight and tomorrow, Oct. 17-18, 8 p.m., at the Orpheum. For tickets, call 342.3560 or purchase online at: www.omahasymphony.org. The Lincoln Community Playhouse has formed a partnership with radio station KFOR 1240 AM with the introduction of a series of live radio broadcasts. The first, a rebroadcast of Orson Welles; historic 1938 War of the Worlds, will be broadcast Thursday, Oct. 30, 8 p.m. The LCP will join forces with the Sheldon Art Gallery, Nov. 7-9, to present Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett’s drama Krapp’s Last Tape. For more information, call 402.489.7529.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 17, 2003
JWI Plays for Fun and Charity
ORGANIZATIONS B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Join Breadbreakers on Wednesday, Oct. 22, noon, at the Park Inn Regency, for lunch and a guest speaker. Cost is $9 for lunch and $2 for beverage service only. Breadbreakers is open to the community. VISIONS Join us for the Miracle of Life Tour at the Lied Transplant Center (at UNMC) on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 10:45 a.m. Tour of facility and informative speech by Docent/Survivor. Lunch on your own follows at Katie’s Greek Restaurant. Send reservations to: Fred and Sandy Bromley, 13419 Marinda, Omaha, NE 68144. Deadline is Oct. 28. Luncheon meeting is Friday, Nov. 21, 12:30 p.m., at Venice Inn. Cost is $9 per person. Join us for music with Earl Bates (alias Will Rogers). Send reservations to: Tootie and Mickey Simon, 8725 Izard, Omaha, NE 68114. For information, call Harry Alloy at 697-8709. Make check payable to Visions. Do a Mitzvah for Visions Mitzvah Program. As a joint project with Jewish Family Service, we are asking our members for a monetary gift; JFS will use this money for Jewish families who are in need. Please bring your donation to the luncheon or send a check to: Doris Parker, 120 So. 70 St., Omaha, NE 68132. Make check payable to JFS. Any amount will be greatly appreciated Y.E.S. Members will meet Monday at the JCC. Play bingo at 10 a.m. with Eileen Remer or exercise with Stacey Paskert at 10:30 a.m. Bring articles to share for “YES Talk” at 11 a.m. Following lunch at noon, a volunteer from Volunteers Intervening for Equity (V.I.E.) will speak on useful services offered and an update on Medicare fraud. For transportation call Dee Dee at 3304272. Call Maggie Conti, 334-6521, for Bluffs Run, Oct. 30.
by JEWISH PRESS News Service WALK-IN, DROP-IN Members will meet Thursday at the JCC. Exercise and bingo will begin at 10 a.m., Bring a dairy sack lunch to eat at 11:30 a.m. in the Social Hall. At noon, the movie, Bringing Down the House, will be shown in the auditorium of the Blumkin Home. Popcorn will be served. Call Maggie Conti for transportation at 334-6521 LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Want a place to brush up on your Yiddish? Join us every Thursday, 1-3 p.m. at the JCC. Call Anne Skolkin for information at 343-1638. JEWISH SENIOR SERVICES A Veteran’s Day Celebration with the Avi8Ors is Tuesday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m. at the JCC. There is no admission fee. Refreshments will be served. For reservations call Maggie Conti at 334 6521 Seating is limited. JELS Don’t worry if you missed the first week of the “Texts of War and Peace” with Leonard Greenspoon. Please join us Mondays, Oct. 20, 27 and Nov.3, 7 p.m., in the Kripke Federation Library as we continue our discussions of these topics in the Jewish tradition. This four-week class is co-sponsored by Jewish Educational & Library Services and the Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization at Creighton University. For more information call Kathy Hirshman at 334-6445.
Practicing for the upcoming MahJongg Tournament, sponsored by Jewish Women International, are: Rosalie Greenspan, left, Cindy Shulewitz, Esther Wax and Corinne Levin. JWI’s fundraiser is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 2, noon, at the Jewish Community Center. The entrance fee is $15, payable to JWI, and can be mailed to Rosalie Greenspan, 8108 Howard St., Omaha, NE 68114; or Esther Wax, 118 So. 88 St., Omaha, NE 68114. The deadline for registration is Wednesday, Oct. 29. For more information, call 319-1954 or 393-4442.
Visions Hears from Member’s Son by JEWISH PRESS News Service
OMAHA CENTER FOR TORAH LEARNING Join Ariella Hoffman for a discussion of women’s roles and spirituality in Judaism on Monday, Oct. 27, 8-9 p.m., at her home. Call 553-5397 for more information. Save Saturday night, Nov. 8, for OCTL’s second annual “Fun Night” with entertainment and an auction.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month by JENNIFER MEYERSON Jewish Family Service October symbolizes many things--the High Holidays and the beginning of a new year, a change of seasons, and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. One out of every nine women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Dealing with a cancer diagnosis isn’t just trying to cope with the physical aspects of the disease. Cancer affects one’s mental and emotional well-being, too. When a person is diagnosed with cancer, he or she is not the only one affected. Family and loved ones are dealing with overwhelming emotions as well. How can family members and the patient deal with the psychological issues of cancer treatment? It is common to have uncertainties. Aside from the fear of the unknown, there is fear of body disfigurement, of no longer being able to carry on previous roles and responsibilities, of side effects and more. These fears, as well as feelings of disbelief, shock and numbness, can shift and change as treatment progresses. There are many things that patients and families can do for themselves and for each other. One important and useful tool is to help the patient feel she has some control over what is happening to her. This means being informed about the diagnosis, treatment options and medical recommendations. I am not suggesting reading everything there is to know about breast cancer; there is so much information, this can be overwhelming and even depressing. But knowledge is power, and understanding the realistic expectations about the disease is key in the patient’s treatment and recovery. Methods of gaining a sense of control and reducing
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stress and anxiety include coming up with a plan of care together as a family, listening to each other’s concerns and fears, attending doctor and/or treatment visits together. Relaxation techniques, attending support groups, talking with a professional counselor, and/or taking antidepressant medication may also be useful. It is also important to remind patients they may already possess coping techniques. Most of us have developed methods to help us deal with stress or loss. Start with what’s worked in the past. Ask yourself what you usually fall back on when you’re seeking comfort, support, and spiritual guidance--a sense of feeling grounded and in control. Whom do you turn to for comfort and strength? Family and loved ones are a source of comfort and strength. I understand, firsthand, how significant the physical-mental connection is with a cancer diagnosis. I was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago this month, and know how important it is to have emotional support from loved ones. My family was instrumental in my recovery; their unwavering love, support, patience, and guidance helped me at all stages of my treatment and healing. I never felt I was alone. Having been cancer-free for two years now, I am grateful to my family and friends who helped me every step of the way. As we begin the New Year, let us remember what’s important in our lives: family, friends, being there for one another. While we cannot control some of the bad things that happen, we can control how we react to them. Let us take an extra moment to be grateful for what we have, and with whom we have to share it. From all of us at Jewish Family Service, have a healthy, happy New Year.
Now Open • Think Daily
Omaha World-Herald senior staff reporter C. David Kotok spoke at a recent Visions luncheon, noted his mother, Dorothy Kotok. For information on upcoming Visions events, call Harry Alloy, 697-8709.
Rolling on the River by JEWISH PRESS News Service
Nearly 50 Visionaires enjoyed an autumn cruise on the River City Star while listening to a narrative about the Lewis and Clark explorations of the Midwest. Vera Lewis, left, invited her cousin, Janet Becht ,and son, Bruce Lewis, to observe the beautiful fall scenery along Omaha’s riverfront.
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Mmm, Mmm Kosher! Campbell's Vegetarian Vegetable Gets the OU Seal of Approval; More Varieties May Follow by STEVE LIPMAN Staff Writer, The New York Jewish Week NEW YORK--Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Oreos. M&Ms. These are some of America’s favorite sweets that have come under kosher certification in recent years. It’s not just desserts. Campbell’s Soup, one of the oldest and most noted food manufacturers in the country--remember Andy Warhol’s famous prints?--announced this month that its condensed Vegetarian Vegetable Soup is now certified kosher by the Orthodox Union. The first cans bearing the OU kashrut symbol, Campbell’s first kosher soups, rolled off the production line in August at the firm’s plant in Maxton, NC, and will appeared this month on store shelves in the Northeast in Septmeber. Nationwide distribution will begin in December. More kosher soups may be coming, say Campbell’s officials, if the first cans sell well. “We’re really looking to make our soups available to a wider consumer base,” said Campbell’s spokeswoman Julie Mandel Sloves. Campbell Soup Co. entering the kosher food field serves as another milepost of Jewish life in the U.S., reflecting both the buying power of kosher-observant Jews and the eagerness of non-kosher companies to gain a foothold in the kosher world. Supermarkets across the country carry the thousands of kosher items, from appetizers to entrees to desserts, under the supervision of the OU and a score of competing kashrut supervision agencies. Other Campbell products, including Pepperidge Farm cookies and Godiva chocolates, already are under OU supervision. “Offering a kosher soup is another important step toward meeting the rising expectations of our consumers,” said Jeremy Fingerman, president of Campbell’s U.S. soup division. “It says a great deal about what was considered to be a relatively exotic religious requirement” a few decades ago, said Steven Bayme, national director of contemporary Jewish life at the American Jewish Committee. “The kosher food industry has found a niche within mainstream American culture.” The sale of kosher food to observant Jews is augmented by the products’ acceptability to religious Muslims and other consumers who consider a kashrut certification a mark of purity. While some consumers may try Campbell’s “out of curiosity,” and its label carries a certain panache, it won’t necessarily harm the sales of smaller, kosher-only firms like Manischewitz or Rokeach, Bayme says. “The effect won’t be felt immediately. Buying habits are not that easy to break,” he said. For the American-born kosher consumer, Campbell’s offering a supervised product is especially significant, ranking with the day when Oreo’s, another culinary sta-
LETTER FROM Y.E.S. by ILENE PACHMAN I suppose you think I’ve already left for Florida. Not yet; they’ve had too much rain. Besides I’d miss out on the very special meetings we’ve had. Last month, Jim Delmont, a staff writer at the WorldHerald, spoke about censorship in the movies. A few days later, the paper ran an article about the Hays Office of 1922 and the use of twin beds--oh, has Hollywood changed. Now if they would just clean up the foul language. Michael Hamilton sang love songs to us at our Jewish New Year’s party, but we didn’t dance. This month is busy, join us! If you need a ride, call the van; it’s only $3. Bye for now.
ple of American life, went kosher. “When we think of an American food, Campbell’s is one of them,” said Rabbi Menachem Genack, rabbinic administrator of the OU’s kashrut division. Culturally it represents American eating habits, “as Coke does,” he said. Coca-Cola, incidentally, has long been under OU supervision. “Wherever you eat,” in parts of the country where such Jewish name brand products as Manischewitz and Rokeach are not available, “you can get kosher soup,” the rabbi said. “Based on years of experience in which we have seen that receiving OU certification has often significantly increased the sale of a product, we anticipate that the same will hold true here.” Campbell’s, which was founded in 1869, is taking a cautious first step into the kashrut field, offering only the one product. The Ve g e t a r i a n Vegetable soup, alphabet letters included, is the firm’s seventhleading “eating” soup, according to Sloves. If sales of the pareve, reconstituted soup meet expectations, “we certainly hope we’ll be able to work with the OU to certify other soups in the future,” she said. Might tomato and chicken noodle, the firm’s two most popular soups, be kosher one day? “Everything is under consideration,” Sloves said. Campbell’s will promote its kosher soup in kosher trade shows and as part of an advertising campaign this month in Jewish newspapers. The now-kosher soup, Sloves notes, appears in time for the High Holy Days season. “This is the type of soup you could enjoy in your sukkah,” she said. Campbell’s decision to experiment with a kosher soup follows a decade of negotiations with the OU. Certifying a product as kosher--even one as apparently uncomplicated as a vegetable soup, with no dairy or meat ingredients--involved a weeklong visit by a three-rabbi OU team to the North Carolina plant to kasher every piece of equipment used on the production line by cleaning and purging; inspection trips by other kashrut authorities to Campbell’s facilities around the country to check on soup ingredients; and the presence of an OU mashgiach in North Carolina while the kosher soup is being produced. “It’s a fairly expensive process,” Sloves said, but declining to provide a dollar amount on how much Campbell’s spent on the kosher conversion process. “It’s always been in the back of their minds,” Rabbi Genack said of Campbell officials’ ongoing discussions with the OU. “It didn’t work out.” As an unofficial kickoff for the kosher soup, the OU scheduled a tasting party at its headquarters in Lower Manhattan. OU staffers and representatives of local Jewish organizations were invited. “It (was) a chance,” said Rabbi Genack, “to give the entire OU a taste of Americana.”
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 17, 2003
Opinion Jews and the Arts One way that Jews express themselves is through the arts. From conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein to painter Marc Chagall, Jews have long used the arts to explore Jewish themes. Omaha is no exception. We’ve got an abundance of musicians, photographers, artists, dancers, writers, and others who have something special to say in a unique way--and that’s the theme of our Passover issue, to be published April 2, 2004. (And you thought we were celebrating Simchat Torah!) We’re looking for names of people we can interview for this large issue--we’ll take photos of their art, but we hope the subjects of our interviews can also supply us with photos of them at work. Please call us at 402.334.6450 if you’d like to be interviewed or if you know someone who fits this category. Please keep in mind that we may not be able to interview everyone whose name has been suggested to us (and some may have been interviewed for other special issues in the recent past). We’d also like to include our Jewish teens. So if your teenager (or someone you know) has drawn an outstanding piece of art, created a fabulous sculpture or piece or piece of pottery, taken an interesting photograph or written a meaningful poem, short story or essay--we’d like to publish it. Please bring pottery, sculpture, drawings or paintings
to us at the Jewish Press office, where we’ll photograph or scan them to use in the Passover issue. You can send essays, fiction or poetry to us via e-mail at: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org (please don’t send them as attachments-copy and paste any written work into the body of your e-mail and then send). You can also send hard copies of photos and written works to us at: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. Thanks-in advance--for your help!
A Sticker for All Seasons
OUR MAN IN ISRAEL by CARL ALPERT Haifa - The promotion of a political program requires widespread advertising, and this involves major expense, whether in the press, on television, on public billboards or elsewhere. Yet in Israel one inexpensive promotional medium is being exploited to a degree far more than anywhere else--automobile bumper stickers. It’s not that this medium is unknown elsewhere, but a survey in America a few years ago revealed that the majority of the bumper stickers there touted local sites or favorite sport teams or places of employment. Only 5% conveyed political messages. A parallel survey in Israel disclosed that the great majority here advocated political or national causes of one kind or another. A look at cars on Israel’s streets or highways reveals a plethora of slogans which reflect the many controversial issues of the day. The stickers have become so numerous that they have graduated from the bumpers of the cars to the back and side windows as well. Many cars revel in displaying three, four, five or even more of their slogans, all for the same cause, of course. Incidentally, there is a good Hebrew word for the strips of paper, but everybody refers to them as stickerim. While the stickers obviously flourish around election time, there are enough burning, controversial issues all year round to warrant a constant display. A quick look appears to justify the claim that one out of every three cars in Israel carries a message, the vast majority of them political in nature. One estimate has it that right wing political slogans outnumber the left wing causes by about two to one. Large, expensive cars are often free of stickers, which abound on small and older vehicles. Certain stickers have become classics. At a time when the future of the Golan Heights was in doubt, “The Nation is with the Golan” was very widely displayed. President Clinton’s farewell eulogy to Yitzhak Rabin, “Shalom, Chaver,” was extremely popular. Despite the passage
The Cemeteries Readers may have noticed a number of “Letters to the Editor” regarding the Jewish cemeteries. Obviously, there is a great deal of concern and even anguish about the condition of several cemeteries here, managed by the Beth Israel Cemetery Committee: their own cemetery at 78th and Crown Point, Golden Hill, and BHH/Fisher Farms. We’re not going to censor a community discussion on this subject, and we do feel for those whose family members are
buried in these cemeteries. However, we have printed a response from the Beth Israel Cemetery Committee and we think it’s time to let their staff and leadership continue to do their work and solve this problem. According to the committee, while they recognize there’s more work to be done, their staff have made noticeable improvements and additional upgrades are planned for the near future. There are a number of goals, however, that the committee members must determine before anything can be implemented. Those issues include (but are not limited to): regular mowing, spraying for weeds, and the design of the gravesites themselves. For example--in addition to the problem of mowing between gravesites edges with concrete coping, spraying for weeds without damaging the ground cover over each grave--there are halachic issues regarding the gravesites themselves. The Cemetery Committee wants very much to ensure the sanctity of where loved ones are buried; they don’t want people walking directly on the graves. This is not to say that community members and those whose relatives are buried at the three cemeteries should remain silent if improvements aren’t made. But now that the issues have been raised, let’s let the committee and their maintenance staff complete the task at hand. We’ll keep you posted.
of time and the multiplication of other causes, both are still to be seen. “Peace Now” proved so popular when advanced as a slogan, that the leftist organization adopted the name. A battle of bumper stickers is frequently in effect, and one sharp slogan elicits an equally incisive reply. Religious elements quickly learned to take advantage of this inexpensive avenue of publicity. A few years ago the Lubavitchers saw to it that all cars within their sphere carried the message “Prepare for the Coming of the Messiah.” A message, “We Can Rely Only on Our Father in Heaven” drew a response with “We Can Rely Only on our father in the Military Reserves.” And a revolt against the whole system drew “Enough of Stickers--Begin Reading Books.” All of these are in Hebrew, of course, though some patriots have brought over an English import from America: “We Love Israel.” Another foreign import, but in Hebrew, is the practical “If You Can Read This You are Too Damn Close.” Other public causes have gotten into the swing of things, and we now have bumper stickers advocating environmental causes, protection of animals, road safety, warnings against drugs and others. Some of the slogans have given rise to controversy, like “Shalom, Shalom.” Is this a call for peace with the Arabs, or is it an expression bidding farewell to the opportunity for peace? The slogan, “No Arabs--No Terrorist Attacks” on bumper stickers and on sport shirts was at first banned on the grounds that it was racist, but the courts later removed the ban. The very subject of the stickers has become newsworthy, and papers like Yediot Ahronot and Mekor Rishon have published analytical articles. Collectors have staged exhibits of their specimens and have arranged to swap duplicates. The great advantage of this form of publicity, of course, is that it is inexpensive to produce and receives wide attention. Distributors of the stickers are often to be found at traffic light intersections, capitalizing on the red light to induce drivers to affix a slogan. What about us? Proudly we have maintained that we have resisted all pleas to attach a slogan. However, the other day we took a second look at our rear window and discovered that years ago we had put up a Hebrew sticker, “Ani Chai Poh,” a clever combination of letters meaning “I Live Here in Haifa.” It’s still there. Carl Alpert can be reached at: alpert@techunix.technion.ac.il.
(Founded in 1920) Joanie Jacobson Chairman Carol Katzman Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Ray Pred Account Executive Timothy J. Ketelsen Bookkeeper Jon Gates Production Assistant Jewish Press Committee Howard K. Marcus, Vice-Chairman; Bobbie Leibowitz, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Finance Chairman; Steve Simon, Treasurer; Fred Tichauer, Immediate Past-chairman; Jean Duitch; Penny Endelman; Kip Gordman; Stanley Mitchell; George Quittner; Linda Saltzman; Joey Shyken; Nancy Skid; and Melanie Weinstein. The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Centers of Excellence of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Educational and Library Services, Jewish Family Service, and Jewish Senior Services. The Jewish Press and the Foundation are constitional committees of the Jewish Federation. Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Committee, the Jewish Federation of Omaha 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 a Constitutional Committee of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, noon, eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org. Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1-402-334-5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org.. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be singlespaced 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 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. 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 more information, contact Carol Katzman, Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly on Friday for $31 per calendar year U.S.; $35 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. 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or to ckatzman@jewishomaha. org.
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Time for Iraqis to Run Iraq
BEHIND THE H EADLINES by DANIEL PIPES What to do in Iraq? The question is made urgent by the steady attrition of coalition forces, punctuated by seven large car-bomb explosions. The latest of them, on Sunday, killed six and wounded dozens at the Baghdad Hotel. More broadly, the briefly-held gratitude to the coalition for being relieved of Saddam Hussein’s hideous rule has been overtaken, as the weeks turn into months, by feelings of resentment. Iraqis complain that the bridges have not been rebuilt fast enough, the currency is not steady enough, and utilities are not regular enough. A people accustomed to live in the confines of a totalitarian state finds the free-for-all disturbing. Even Iraqis working closely with the coalition are grumbling with Washington’s decisions. The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC), an appointed body, has expressed dismay at the
prospect of Turkish troops being stationed in Iraq-something the Bush administration had worked particularly hard for. These divergences between Iraqis and their liberators are likely to increase over time. What to do? It’s simple, actually: Turn power over to the Iraqis. Let them form a government. Reduce the scope of Presidential Envoy Paul Bremer’s role. Take coalition forces off their patrols of city streets and away from protecting buildings, and put them in desert bases. From there, they can undertake key tasks of controlling the borders, guaranteeing oil and gas infrastructure, chasing down Saddam Hussein, and providing the ultimate authority for the Iraqi government-without being in the Iraqi population’s face. Admittedly, this advice runs along the lines of what the French government is calling for; President Jacques Chirac has said that “There will be no concrete solution unless sovereignty is transferred to Iraq as quickly as possible” and called for a shift of power over six to nine
months. U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell responded by dismissing such a transfer as “totally unrealistic.” The U.S. plan is for the Iraqis to take control in years, not months. But Iraqis hostile to the coalition and the French are not alone in wanting a speedier transition; so, too, do Iraqis working with the coalition, whether tight with Tehran, Riyadh, the CIA, or the Defense Department. Most notably, Ahmad Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress, is urging for Iraqis at least partially to take over the finance and security ministries. This has met with wide support, enhancing Chalabi’s popularity. So major a change in direction has unpleasant implications for Washington. It raises questions about American staying power; forfeits much of the credibility that came from the successful war against Saddam Hussein; risks throwing away a chance of victory; and permits Arab, European, and Democratic critics to crow. Worse, it will be noted that sustained violence against U.S. troops works, perhaps inviting further attacks on U.S. forces elsewhere.
These are valid reasons not to pull out --but they lose their pertinence if one expects, as I do, that the mission in Iraq will end in failure. I predict that unhappy outcome, not due to shortcomings on the American side, but by calculating the U.S. motivation for being there versus the Iraqi motivation to remove them. It reflects the intense hostility commonly felt by Muslims against those nonMuslims who would rule them. From this pattern, I draw a rule of thumb: unless a non-Muslim ruler has compelling reasons to control a Muslim population, it will eventually be worn down by the violence directed against it and give up. Note that the U.S. government has already given up twice in recent years--in Lebanon and Somalia. The U.S.-led effort to fix Iraq is not important enough for Americans, Britons, or other non-Muslim partners to stick it out.Hand substantial power over to the Iraqis--and the sooner, the better. Daniel Pipes is Director of the Middle East Forum and author of Militant Islam Reaches America. He can be reached at: pub@danielpipes.org.
Relative Bad Luck: A Middle-Aged Morality Tale
JOURNAL ENTRY FROM ISRAEL by TEDDY WEINBERGER Bad luck is relative, and in Israel these days there is very little room for the luxury of feeling sorry for yourself when mishap occurs. I broke my leg and severely dislocated my ankle (requiring surgery) on a Friday afternoon in August. In any normal country I could have spent a good bit of the six-and-a-half weeks that my leg was cast-bound wallowing in anguished cries of “why me?” and bemoaning my bad luck. But August 29 happened to fall between several terrorist attacks in Israel, where life and death was as arbitrary and capricious as a missed bus or lingering over a cup of coffee. How could I feel bad for myself when all I
had to show for my suffering was a temporary cast on my leg? And yet. And yet it’s natural to be depressed over a broken leg, isn’t it? So am I going to let the terrorists win? Am I going to forgo my natural right to feel sorry for myself? No sirree, Bob! Her name is Miri. She is 16. She was once friendly with my girls and I had been introduced to her on one occasion. On that fateful Friday of August, I arrived at the pool area with my sons Ezra (age 11) and Elie (9) and worked out in the fitness room before joining the boys. That’s when I noticed that Miri was also in the pool. She was wearing a bikini and, God help me, she was filling it out so very, very nicely. For the next few hours, as I read and ate lunch with the boys, I tried not to look for Miri--after all, she’s only 16 and I am a married 42-year-old. I got set to leave at about 2 p.m. The
boys would walk home later in the afternoon when they were done swimming. Givat Ze’ev’s pool was originally outdoors but was later enclosed and winterized. So there’s a grassy outdoor area for lounging and an indoor pool. The entrance to the pool from the outside area is through a door and then a few steps, alongside which is a small ramp. When the ramp is wet it’s easy to slide and slip on it, and indeed I’ve slipped there in the past and I was about to do so again. There was something different about my slip this time, however; as I began to descend the treacherous slope, Miri came into view, walking slowly by just a few feet ahead of me. I gave Miri’s body an appreciative glance, and that was it-my feet were already being pulled out from under me by some preternatural force, the fraction of a second expended in the accursed glance condemning my flailing arms to the merciless air. I came down tush-first, and only then
was my left leg released, landing with a sickening popping sound. As the shock of what had happened began to dawn on me, someone was already by my side, helping me up on my non-fractured leg. It was Miri, and she was telling me, “You’ve got to be more careful on that spot.” Why me, O Lord, why me? Dozens of people have slipped on that spot. Why was I singled out? Did you really have to break my leg because I was admiring one of your creations (with, I might add, the eyes that you gave me)? Did I really do something so terrible? Well, I’ve learned my lesson O Lord, I’ve learned my lesson. The next time you send me one of your temptresses as I board that slippery slope, I verily will use the handrail. Teddy Weinberger made aliyah five years ago with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children. He can be reached at: weinross@netvision.net.il.
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Page 14
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Synagogue Listings
October 17, 2003
Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.
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 1502 N. 52 St. Omaha, NE. 68104 -5013 556-6288 BethIsrael@novia.net
Beyt Shalom An Affiliate of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation 3012 S. 119 St. P.O. Box 390352 Omaha, NE 68139 660-2395 http://welcome.to/beytshalom/
Chabad House An Affiliate of the Worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch Movement 1866 S. 120th St. Omaha, NE 68144-1646 330-1800 nebraskajudaism.com email: chabad@aol.com
Congregation B’nai Jeshrun South Street Temple Member of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations 2061 S. 20th St. Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 435-8004 jewishnebraska.org
Offutt Air Force Base SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway Offutt AFB, NE 68113 294-6244
Rose Blumkin Jewish Home 333 S. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154
Temple Israel Member of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations 7023 Cass Street Omaha, NE 68132-2651 556-6536 templeisrael-ne.org
Tifereth Israel Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 423-8569 tiferethisraellincoln.org
If you’re looking at this space, so are others! YOUR AD CAN GO HERE...to reserve space, call Allan Handleman, 334-6451, or Ray Pred, 334-6559.
BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. FRIDAY: Morning Minyan will start and extra hour early to allow for Hoshana Rabbah, 6:15 a.m.; Join us in prayer, song and joy at a musical Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning Services, 9:30 a.m., which includes Yizkor and the dedication of memorial plaques as we mark Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah, followed by a Kiddush, sponsored by Beth El, K’tantan: a Shabbat enrichment program for kindergarten through third grade, 10:45 a.m.; Minha-Ma’ariv, 6:30 p.m., followed by Simchat Torah Evening Services, 7:15 p.m.; starting in the Sanctuary and moving into the Community Court. SUNDAY: Simchat Torah Morning Services, 9:30 p.m., the congregation will pay tribute to Tuffy Epstein and Joanie Jacobson for volunteer service and honor frequent Torah readers with the Yad Award. Evening Services, 6:30 p.m. ADULT EDUCATION WEDNESDAY: Adult Bat Mitzvah class with Cantor Bogolmoni, 7 p.m. THURSDAY: Rabbi Levin will start weekly sessions for adults, at noon. This year’s topic will be “Jewish Wisdom for the Twenty First Century.” A THOUGHT FOR SHABBAT To receive Rabbi Levin’s weekly “Thought For Shabbat” e-mail message, please send your e-mail address to exec@bethelomaha.org. This is free and open to the entire community.
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: MondayThursday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.;
Fridays, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Howard Kutner. FRIDAY: Erev Yom Tov Evening Services, 6:25 p.m. SATURDAY: Shemini Atzeret Morning Services, 8:45 a.m.; Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 10:30 a.m.;Yizkor, 11 a.m., Kiddush sponsored by Sisterhood; Mincha, 6:15 p.m. Ma’ariv, and Hakafos, 7 p.m., followed by a dairy dinner and ice cream social. SUNDAY: Simchat Torah Morning Services, 8:45 a.m.; Mincha, 6:25 p.m.; Havdalah, 7:19 p.m. MONDAY: Talmud Class with Rabbi Kutner, 5:30 p.m. Weekday Morning Services, 7a.m.; Weekday Mincha and Ma’ariv, 6:25 p.m.
BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Shabbat in the home. SUNDAY: Simchat Torah, 1:30 p.m., at the Blumkin Home.
CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. MondayFriday, morning services, 7 a.m. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6:40 p.m.
CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Rabbi Debbie Stiel will be in the office Tuesdays and Thursdays, all day. You may reach her 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays at 416-2321 (local for Lincoln), or at rabstiel@aol.com. FRIDAY: Simchat Torah Family Shabbat Service, 7 p.m.; Family service and consecration. SATURDAY: Shabbat service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. TUESDAY: Board Meeting, 7 p.m. THURSDAY: Midrash writing workshop, 7:30 p.m. UPCOMING EVENTS
Candlelighting Friday, October 17, 6:22 p.m. Saturday, October 18, no earlier than 7:28 p.m.
SUNDAY, OCT. 26: Interfaith Council awards dinner for DiAnna Schimek. Tuesday, Nov. 4: Dr. Gerald Shapiro of the Harris Center for Judaic Studies at UNO, will lead a discussion of Amos Oz’s book, Panther in the Basement.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Shemini Atzeret and Yizkor Service, led by Rabbi Maximo Shechet, 9 a.m. SUNDAY: Simchat Torah Services, led by Beyt Shalom Congregation, 1:30 p.m.
TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: All male members of Temple Israel are invited to a weekly informal get together at Spirit World, 7517 Pacific St. Join us for some relaxation and great conversation, 11:45 a.m.; Rabbi Aryeh Azriel and members of the Temple Youth Group will lead a Shabbat Service at Remington Heights, 4 p.m.; Erev Simchat Torah, 7 p.m. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Rabbi Craig Marantz and Cantor Wendy Shermet will officiate. Kindergartners and older students who have never been consecrated will participate in this special service. The joyous tunes of the Fabrangen Fiddlers, Tuffy Epstein’s group, will add to the merrymaking at our celebration. A special Oneg Shabbat will follow with ice cream, cookies, music and dancing. SATURDAY: No Bagels and Sacred Books scheduled. Simchat Torah Service and Yizkor, 10:30 a.m. SITTER SERVICE Sitter Service is available at each Friday evening service, Saturday mornings when there is a bar or bat mitzvah, as well as Sunday mornings when there is
Jewish Journey Group to Explore Herzl’s The Jewish State by CLAUDIA SHERMAN mends this course to anyone with an Temple Israel interest in the philosophical underpinCommunications Coordinator nings of Zionism and a concern about Written more than 100 years ago, the future of the Jewish state. “In light of Theodor Herzl’s book, The Jewish State, all the challenges Israel currently faces made the definitive argument for a and the increase in anti-Semitism around homeland of safety and security for the the world, Herzl’s argument may be just Jewish people. The book describes con- as compelling now as it was in its own ditions Jews faced particularly in France time,” she said. following the Alfred Dreyfus affair in Beginning Tuesday, Oct. 28, 7-8:30 1894. John Dacey, a member of Temple p.m.. the journey group will meet for Israel, will lead a Jewish Journey Group five weeks at Temple. Open to the comexploring the relevance of the book to munity, Jewish Journey Groups provide Jews today. an opportunity for participants to share Herzl was “the right man what is meaningful in their at the right time,” said lives while exploring a Dacey who has led several unique Jewish theme. The Jewish Journey Groups at groups seek to foster deep Temple. Currently working connections, openness to on his master of science growth, and an awareness degree in Jewish Studies at of the Divine Presence. Spertus College in Chicago, There is no class fee, only Dacey is a counselor for a book fee. Please contact drug and alcohol addictions Zweiback by e-mail at in private practice. rzweiback@qwest.net or Rosie Zweiback, Temple’s call her at Temple at 556program director, recom6536 to register. John Dacey
Religious School. Please make a reservation through the Temple office so we may plan accordingly. Cost is $2 per family. Sorry, there are no facilities for infants. ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY, 10:30 a.m.: The 4Bs: Behaving, Belonging, Believing and Bagels Part II of “How to Help Your Kids Maintain Their Jewish Identity” with Rabbi Marantz. TUESDAY, Noon-1 p.m.: Conversation with Rabbi Azriel. Bring your own lunch to ta discussion of current events and issues affecting the Omaha Jewish community and others throughout the world. THURSDAY, 10-11:30 a.m.: “Adult Study With The Clergy” with Rabbi Azriel.
TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Rabbi Stanley M. Rosenbaum. Minyan, Monday & Thursday, 7:15 a.m. FRIDAY: Erev Shemini Atzeret Services, 8 p.m. SATURDAY: Shemini Atzeret Services, 9:30 a.m., Junior Congregation Services, 10:15 a.m. Mincha/Ma’ariv and Consecration Service, 6:30 p.m. SUNDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation and Yizkor Service, 10:15 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:40 p.m. Followed by Simchat Torah Family Services. WEDNESDAY: The Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. BAR MITZVAH David Solomon, son of Angie DeCamp, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on Oct. 25-26. A kiddush luncheon, sponsored by his mother, will follow Shabbat morning services.
UNVEILING SUNDAY, Oct. 26 : A monument will be unveiled in memory of Lou Orloff, 2:30 p.m., at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Lincoln.
BAR MITZVAH Adam Brice Simons, son of Sam Simons, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Beyt Shalom. Adam is an eighth-grader at Papillion Junior High, where he was selected as honor student of the month. He won first place there in the Sigma math contest and was awarded “Outstanding Achievement” in social studies. Adam enjoys writing, reading, an history and playing flag football. For his mitzvah project, he assisted with the animals at the Towne and Country human Society of Papillion. Grandparents are the late George and Selma Simons and the late Walter and Virginia Brice.
PERSONAL I want to thank my friends and family for their thoughtfulness during my recent illness. A special thanks to the caring staff and nurses at the Rose Blumkin Home. Lorraine Reiss
October 17, 2003
What is Azeret? ...And Simhat Torah
SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Shemini Azeret/Simhat Torah Azeret implies closing, holding back. It closes the celebration of Sukkot--the harvest festival (in America, the Bible-reading Pilgrims were influenced by it to hold a Thanksgiving festival, which school kids and all of us with them still cherish). The rabbis, whose sometimes playful minds still now intrigue us, suggested that the festival season was now finished, but not quite. The festivals, Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot, were for all mankind, not only for Israel. But the Lord, not quite satisfied, now urged there be one more, just for Himself and Israel. Like a child’s party. On the sly, the celebrating youngster asked his special friend, among all his friends to stay for a bit after the party, when all others had left. “Now, you and I, we alone together, can have a private party by ourselves!” So, there are seven days of Sukkot. But now there was to be an eighth day, a day held back, a day reserved, not open to everybody, a day of private celebration. How ironic all of this is in the face of Jewish history. How much of history is the tale of special persecution reserved for Israel, from ancient times until our own. That tale includes the savage Christian centuries behind us and the ineffable Nazi Holocaust from whose terrors we cannot free ourselves. We have been at the “ head of the line” to receive the fury of not-yet-civilized mankind, the slings and arrows of embittered human beings. “If we cannot hit out at our real enemies,” suffering mankind murmurs to itself, “then at least we can vent our anger and frustrations at something or someone, and if so, why not the Jews? They are different from us, unprotected and vulnerable and conveniently at hand. Why not the Jews?” Most of history, mutatis mutandis and Salo Baron notwithstanding, can be described that way. But no longer. Not today. That doughty little nation, Israel, has taught us very much. It will not take abuse. It strikes back with the vigor that comes with righteousness. It is no longer Shemini Azeret, an eighth day of the harvest festival. It is a ninth day, a day of standing up and flexing muscular strength, still tiny to be sure, still few to be sure, but willing to trade blow for blow, eventually to fend off attackers so they attack no more. Let the eighth day remind us that since a new week starts with an eighth day, that the ninth and 10th day must be the beginning of a new era, and era of strength that leads to peace, and era of the joy and celebration that are the issue of peace.
Now Jews want to be happy. What did they have to be happy about? About freedom? No. About national joys? No. About military conquest? No. Then what? About Torah! And if, from the very beginning, Jews were to celebrate the best thing they every did, it would still be the same. They had willingly accepted Torah, the rule of law and morality, the clinging to One God Who is Master of all the universe and of mankind’s universal hopes. Simhat Torah! It is permissible even to dance with the Torah in hand, to handle it in a familiar fashion, as though the scroll was a cherished friend who would not resent being handled in too familiar a fashion. Ordinarily not. But on Simhat Torah, yes. For the Torah indeed is our familiar friend, and we can never be too familiar with it. one who spends his life studying Torah is commended for it. The medieval Jew had it right: Toirah is the beste Schoirie, of all precious things, Torah is the best! Nowadays the mother of a new baby wishes that he would be a professional when the time comes. But in the past (and wasn’t she right!) she wished that the new baby would be a Torah scholar. So let us dance with the Torah and love it. But let us learn it, learn it, learn it!
LILLIAN BERKOWITZ Lillian Berkowitz died Sept. 27. Services were held at Beth Shalom Congregation in Sioux City, IA with burial at Mount Carmel Cemetery. She worked at Sadioffs clothing store in Sioux City, where she was also involved in volunteer life. She was preceded in death by her husband, Abe Berkowitz, and a daughter. She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Phil and Ester Dobrofsky of Chicago; sister-in-law, Babe Dobrofsky of Omaha; nephew, Jeff Abramson and his wife, Laurie of Iowa; niece, Carolyn Donley and her husband, Jack Donley of Pennsylvania; other nieces and nephews; a great-grand-nephew, Andrew Abramson in Iowa; and close friend, Susan Anderson of Sioux City. Memorials to Beth Shalom Congregation in Sioux City City.
Page 15
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Federation Sponsors Brunch for Newcomers by JANIE MUROW Community Development Director The Jewish Federation of Omaha will host a Newcomer’s Brunch on Sunday, Nov. 2, 11-2 p.m., at the Jewish Community Center. Newcomers to the community are invited to bring their families and join us in the festivities. All of the Federation’s agencies and organizations have been invited to meet our newcomers and answer questions about their roles in the Jewish community. This is an excellent opportunity to meet other newcomers, Omaha natives and community professionals. Adults will have a chance to talk about their interests and what they’d like to see from the Federation. Kids will have special activities and time to play with other children. Denise Ipock, JCC Member Services Director will also be available to give tours of the Jewish Community Center. If you haven’t received an invitation and you would like to attend, please call me at 334-6566, or email jmurow @jewishomaha.org. Come join us for good food, great conversation, and a special welcome gift bag!
DEATHS VERA BERKOWITZ Vera Hutzy Berkowitz died Oct. 8 at the age of 74. Services were held Oct. 10 at Temple Israel Cemetery. She was preceded in death by her husband, Israel Berkowitz. She is survived by her son, Howard Berkowitz; daughter and son-in-law Susan and James Polack; grandchildren, Kayla, Max and Josh; sisters, Leona, Rachel and Bernice; brothers, Philip, Norman and Myer. Memorials to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
MIRIAM PILDES SHAFER Miriam “Mickey” Shafer died Oct. 13 at the age of 84. Services were held Oct. 13 with burial at Golden Hill Cemetery. A founding member of Volunteers Intervening for Equity, she was a member of many local Jewish and general service organizations. She is survived by her husband, George J. Shafer; daughters and sons-in-law, Bunny and Steve Rothenberg and Patty and Michael Sherman; grandchildren, Alexis, Ian and Max Rothenberg, Ali Sherman, and David and Jennifer Sherman. Memorials to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home or Visiting Nurse Association Hospice. CORRECTION The name of Pavel Kazantsev was misspelled in last week’s article about the young man paralyzed in a fall. To make a donation, send checks made out to Great Western Bank for the Pavel Kazantsev Fund, to: Great Western Bank, 6015 N.W. Radial Hwy, Omaha, NE 68104.
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LAST CHANCE Do you remember what it felt like to be left out? Well, you don’t have to be. Bring your 12-17 year old daughter and yourself to a book discussion. "Odd Girl Out" by Rachel Simmons. JFS is sponsoring a mother/daughter book discussion on October 20 from 7:00-8:30 in the Kripke Library. Paperback books are available on the "book club shelf" at the Bookworm or can be ordered on Amazon.com. The discussion group will be faciliated by Karen Gustafson and Sally Kaplan, licensed therapists at JFS. For more information, you may call JFS at 330-2024.
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333 South 132nd Street Omaha, NE 68154 or see bottom of page 4 for email address and Fax number
Don’t Forget the Jewish Press Salute to Education and Camps
The Jewish Press
Page 16
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
October 17, 2003
Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Still Providing Support by CLAUDIA SHERMAN fully supported through the years by Foundation Public Relations Director Leonard, Shirley was honored by the For at least 30 years, Shirley and Leonard National Conference of Christians and Goldstein have devoted their lives to Jews (now the National Conference for improving other people’s lives. From their Community and Justice) and the Jewish first trip to the Soviet Union and other Federation in 1982. In 1996, the Eastern Block countries in 1972 as tourists, University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Shirley Goldstein helped keep the plight of honored her by awarding her an honSoviet refuseniks in the public eye. orary doctor of Humane Letters. Shirley and her friend, In 1997, the Goldsteins Miriam Simon, formerly of expanded their efforts on Omaha, established the behalf of human rights by Omaha Committee for establishing an annual Soviet Jewry in 1973 and lecture at UNO to provide convinced the Jewish a wide range of views on Federation to assist in human rights and related resettling Soviet Jews here. issues. The lecture is Shirley also played a major open to the public and role in verifying in person Leonard and Shirley Goldstein this year featured Dr. (on her seven trips to the former Soviet William Schulz, Executive Director of Union) reports about refuseniks. She Amnesty International. passed the information on to American Leonard is now retired from running officials who applied pressure on Soviet the Penske Truck Rental franchise. While officials to give refuseniks permission to Shirley was busy raising their family, leave the country. opening their home to hundreds of forHer most active years on behalf of the eign students and even some foreign refuseniks were from 1972-89. On one correspondents, and subsequently saving trip, she secreted out an audio tape made Soviet Jews, Leonard served two terms as by former refusenik Anatoly Sharansky President of the Jewish Federation, headwhich described the Soviet government’s ed the annual Federation campaign in harassment towards him. Due to her suc- 1972, and served on the Beth El Board, cess at publicizing the plight of Soviet where he and Shirley have been memJews, Shirley was denied a visa by the bers since they married 61 years ago. Soviet government in 1978 for the next 10 In 1994, the Goldsteins established an years “for (her) activities.” endowment with the Jewish Federation Former President Ronald Reagan talked Foundation to enable the Kripke Library to to a group that included Shirley about the acquire or make available books, newspacondition of Jews in the Soviet Union on pers, periodicals, films, videos, disks, the eve of his summit meeting in 1987 tapes, records, literary and educational with President Mikhail Gorbachev. materials of all kinds, lectures, classes, Subsequently, increased numbers of Jews programs and services of interest to or for were permitted to leave the USSR. the benefit of Jewish immigrants or their For her work on human rights, faith- descendants from lands once constituting
the former USSR. Two years later, they set up a second endowment fund with the Foundation to supplement scholarship funds available to the Financial Aid Committee of the Bureau of Jewish Education (now Jewish Educational and Library Services) to enable Jewish youth to attend the Jewish Community Center summer camps or camping programs sponsored by local and national Jewish organizations. Their donor-advised fund allows the Goldsteins the opportunity to make recommendations for distributing the fund’s income or corpus to qualified Jewish or secular public charities. In January of this year, Shirley and Leonard created a fourth fund, a supporting organization to support programs for Soviet Jewry in the United States, Israel and the former Soviet
What is a Supporting Organization? Supporting organizations are separate charitable corporations or trusts which are organized and operated to support the purposes of public charities such as the Jewish Federation of Omaha, Inc. Supporting organizations avoid private foundation status and are thus eligible for more favorable tax treatment. Unlike private foundations, there is no excise tax on net investment income. Contributions to supporting organizations are more liberal than those made to private foundations. A donor may wish to fund a supporting organization by using stock in a closely held corporation or other assets which may have appreciated substantially and would be subject to tax if sold. Supporting organizations are an attractive way of involving a family with the Jewish community and of carrying out the donor’s wishes long into the future. Supporting organizations have proven particularly appropriate when a donor wishes to have his or her family play a direct and continuing role in supporting various charitable causes and carry on a family tradition of community responsibility and participation. For more information about establishing a Supporting Foundation, call Marty Ricks, Executive Director of The Foundation of the Jewish Federation at: 402.334.6440.
Union; to aid local and national charities in medicine and medical research, human rights, rescue and relief, education and current events of Jewish content; and to support meaningful local projects and programs of the Jewish Federation and its agencies, synagogues, and Jewish organizations. Particularly interested in funding services for Jews from the former Soviet Union who still have many needs, the Goldsteins also are supportive of medical research being conducted at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. They also want to help further education through the Federation and synagogues for both children and adults. Both Leonard and Shirley are members of the board of directors that will review applications and make decisions to disburse funds from their new foundation. The couple’s children, Donald and Ann Goldstein, Gail and Phil Raznick, and Kathy Helm, their children, and successive generations will also be able to have input regarding the recipients of financial grants from the Goldstein Supporting Foundation. The committee will meet Nov. 24 to review the applications submitted to the Foundation office in September. “We’re lucky that we’re able to do these things,” Leonard commented. “I’m lucky that Leonard supported me when I did the things I did,” responded Shirley who admits she likes “to keep my finger in the pot.” “She did a good job,” he said smiling. Marty Ricks, Foundation Executive Director, put it succinctly: “Leonard and Shirley are the epitome of generosity to the Jewish world and to secular causes near and dear to their hearts. They truly make the world a better place.”
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