October 24, 2003

Vol. LXXXIII No. 8 Omaha, NE

Elie Wiesel Featured in 92nd Street Y Broadcast by RACHEL BLUM JCC Program Director Jewish Educational and Library Services (JELS) and the Institute for Holocaust Education, a division of the Anti-Defamation League, are co-sponsoring the upcoming Live from the 92nd Street Y broadcast featuring Elie Wiesel, scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 6, 7 p.m., in the Theater at the Jewish Community Center. A well-known survivor of the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel, is a humanitarian, scholar, author and teacher, and he will address the topic of war and peace in the Jewish tradition. The discussion will feature an exploration of the Talmud’s most dramatic passages on war and peace in light of the complex situation of the world today. He will discuss what they teach us about the evils of war and when it is necessary nonetheless, as well as the value of peace within the Jewish tradition. “Elie Wiesel is one of the most important writers of our era,” states Guy Matalon, Executive Director of JELS. “His interpretations of Biblical and Talmudic passages force us to look at our tradition from a completely different perspective. His readings are challenging and inspiring. The lecture should be stimulating for both mind and spirit”. The Institute for Holocaust Education, cosponsor of the broadcast, opened as a resource center under the auspices of the Great Plains Elie Wiesel Regional ADL office in the fall of 2000. The mission of the Institute is to provide the Jewish and the larger community - including teachers and young people--appropriate educational Holocaust-related programs, resources and support to explore the lessons of the Holocaust, with the goal that they may apply these lessons to their own life experience while searching for ways to make the world a better place. “It is programs such as the 92nd Street Y’s broadcast with Elie Wiesel that help us bring the community more opportunities for learning about individual humanity. The Institute is proud to co-sponsor the event with JELS, as together we strive to bring educational programming of quality to Omaha,” commented Beth Seldin Dotan, Director of the Institute for Holocaust Education. Wiesel has devoted himself to the eradication of hate, the defense of human rights, and the pursuit of peace throughout the world. Since 1976 he has been the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Wiesel was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the United States Congressional Gold Medal. His acclaimed publications include Night, Dawn, The Testament, Sages and Dreamers and his two-part memoir, All Rivers Run to the Sea and And the Sea Is Never Full. He recently released After the Darkness: Reflections on the Holocaust and the novel The Judges. This month, Wise Men and Their Tales: Portraits of Biblical, Talmudic, and Hasidic Masters will be published. A selection of Wiesel’s books will be available for sale before and after the broadcast in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library. The program will be broadcast live via satellite from the 92nd Street Y in New York City and projected onto the movie theater size screen at the JCC. Tickets for the broadcast are $5 for JCC members and students and $8 for non-members, and can be purchased in advance by calling JCC Member Services at 334-6426. For additional information, contact Lisa Shkolnick at 334-6425.

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Member of U.S. Holocaust Council Offers New Perspectives on Remembrance of Kristallnacht by DIANE AXLER BAUM a.m.-noon, featuring poetry for Beth El Synagogue and prose that recognize “Zachor,” the injunction to remember, Kristallnacht, “the Night of is one of the most frequently repeated the Broken Glass.” At 11 words in the Torah according to Dr. a.m., students of Beth El Alvin Rosenfeld, who believes that with Synagogue Talmud Torah respect to the Holocaust most Jews (BESTT) will come to the probably feel an obligation to rememSanctuary to join the adults ber and assure that others do the same. already in attendance. Dr. Rosenfeld, a member of the U.S. The scholar’s visit will Holocaust Memorial Council, promises coincide with the commemto provide new perspectives on oration of Kristallnacht in remembrance at four presentations in Omaha and around the Omaha, Friday-Sunday, Nov. 7-9, at world. “The Night of the Beth El Synagogue His appearances Broken Glass” refers to Nazi will keynote one of Beth El’s important anti-Jewish outrage commitannual learning events, the Dr. Benton ted on Nov. 9-10, 1938. and Harriet Kutler Scholar-in-Residence Attacks on Jews and Weekend. destruction of synagogues Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld The director of the Institute of Jewish and Jewish-owned property Culture and the Arts at Indiana University said his pre- took place throughout Germany and Austria. At least sentations are aimed at raising issues “that thoughtful 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration Jews need to confront as they contemplate the most camps. This turning point proved there was no place destructive part of the Jewish past and seek to shape an for Jews in the German economy and that Germany informed and meaningful Jewish future.” offered no chance for independent Jewish living. His talk following a Congregational Shabbat dinner, Dr. Rosenfeld said he prefers “the give-and-take of Nov. 7, will set the tone for the weekend with a half- discussion to lecturing, so I hope everyone will read hour on “The Ethics of Remembrance.” His D’var Torah the materials I’m sending ahead. That way, we will all the next morning will examine “How Do Jews learn from each other.” Materials may be ordered in Remember?” At a Beth El Lunch and Learn on Shabbat advance from the Beth El office and also will be avail(BELLS) program following services, he will lead a 45- able at the program. minute discussion on “What Are We to Remember?” The entire community is invited to study and learn Childcare will be available both Friday night and with Dr. Rosenfeld. Reservations are required for the Saturday to allow parents an opportunity to attend. dinner and the luncheon. To make a reservation, or for Saving the best for last, Dr. Rosenfeld is preparing a more information, please call the Beth El office, at 492session about “The Future of Memory” for Sunday , 10 8550.

Funding Hate Anti-Israel Activists at Durban Funded by Ford Foundation Part I of a four-part series espouse an openly antiby EDWIN BLACK Semitic stance. WASHINGTON (JTA)--In Many Western leaders, August 2001, thousands of including U.S. Secretary of human rights activists from State Colin Powell, declined around the globe gathered to attend what U.S. Rep. in Durban, South Africa, for Tom Lantos (D-CA), a mema United Nations conference ber of the American delegathat participants hoped tion to the conference, would address racial injustermed “a transparent tice plaguing humanity, attempt to de-legitimize the from Rwanda to Sri Lanka to moral argument for Israel’s the United States. existence.” But after more than a year As expected, anti-Israel of preparatory conferences agitation, anti-Zionist propaheld in Iran, Switzerland, ganda and blatant antiChile, France and Senegal, it Semitism permeated the became clear to Israeli offieight-day Durban affair. cials and Jewish organizaPosters displaying Nazi tional leaders that icons and Jewish caricaPalestinian non-governmentures, anti-Israel protest tal organizations, or NGOs, marches, organized jeering, and their allies, had manipinciting leaflets and antiulated the agenda of the Jewish cartoons were everyThe Ford Foundation’s headquarters in New York. U.N. World Conference where, as was orchestrated Photo by David Karp/JTA anti-American agitation. Against Racism into a focused indictment of Israel as an illegitimate apartheid, A virulent resolution drafted by non-governmental colonial and genocidal regime. organizations at the Durban conference declared Israel Moreover, the proposed language of conference res- a “racist apartheid state” guilty of “genocide and ethnic olutions would deny or dilute the Holocaust and Continued on page 4

This Week: Community Connection: page 7 Legal Scholar Speaks at NCJW Event Page 2

28 Tishrei, 5764 October 24, 2003

Groups Work to Combat Hunger in Israel Page 3

Coming Nov. 7: Salute to Education and Camping Update on Beth Israel Cemeteries Page 10

“Who Cares About the Rest of the Jews?” Page 12

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 24, 2003

Legal Scholar Speaks at NCJW Event

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 Temple Israel JYG/OTYG Event, 7 p.m. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26 Jewish Federation Community Event with Guest Speaker Brad Artson, 10 a.m. Beth El Adult Study Group at Beth El, 11 a.m. C Visions Brownville Concert Series, noon L B’nai B’rith Policeman/Fireman Recognition I Reception, 2 p.m. P & S A V E

MONDAY, OCTOBER 27 YES Program, 10 a.m. War & Peace with Leonard Greenspoon, 7 p.m. Beth Israel Talmud Class with Rabbi Kutner, 7 p.m. Third Year Melton Class, 7 p.m.

C L I P & S A V E

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28 The Case for Israel, Noon Temple Israel Adult Education, 6 p.m. UNO Kabbalah Class, 6 p.m. BBYO Night, 6 p.m. Federation Executive Committee Meeting, 6 p.m. Federation Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29 B’nai B’rith Breadbreakers, Noon at the Park Inn Regency Lodge Temple Israel Bible Quiz Rehearsal, 5:30 p.m. C Temple Israel Adult Education, 6:30 p.m. L Beth El Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 7 p.m. I P & S A V E

C L I THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30 P Temple Israel Adult Education, 10 a.m. & Walk-in Drop-in Activity, 10 a.m. S Yiddish Group Meeting, 1 p.m. A Ethics of Cloning with Toby Schonefeld, 7 p.m. V Israeli Dance Class, 7:30 p.m. at Beth El All events held at the JCC unless otherwise indicated.The Jewish Press is not E

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 JOAN K. MARCUS NCJW’s BenchMark program will bring noted legal scholar and author, Jeffrey Rosen to speak at the William H. Thompson Alumni Center of the campus of UNO on Wednesday, Nov.12, 7 p.m. BenchMark is sponsored by contributions of NCJWOmaha Section, the Susan A. Buffet Foundation, Darlynn and Tom Fellman and the Sharee and Murray Newman Foundation. It is a national NCJW campaign that educates, mobilizes and advocates for federal judiciary that will protect federal freedoms. Among these freedoms are: an individual’s right to privacy, religious and other minority rights and a woman’s right to reproductive choice. The campaign is a combination of grassroots and national efforts to reach out to decision-makers on judicial appointments-United States senators who vote to confirm federal judicial appointments. Since more than 30 percent of federal appeals court seats and some United States Supreme Court seats will be open to lifetime appointees, NCJW is committed to ensuring that the judges who are appointed will hold firm to the constitutional principles. Jeffrey Rosen is an associate professor of law at The George Washington University in Washington D. C. He is also legal affairs editor of The New Republic and teaches constitutional law, criminal procedure and the law of privacy. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College and was a Marshall scholar at Balliol College in Oxford, England. He received his J.D. from Yale University School of Law. Professor Rosen frequently contributes articles to The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker and National Public Radio. He is a provocative storyteller and he has insight into the essential intelligence that we all need in the digital age. He suggests that it is possible to strike an effective and reasonable balance between liberty, privacy and security. He is curious why, after 9-11, businesses and government officials have adopted “feel good” choices that give us the illusion of safety without actually making us safer. Thus, he describes the dangers of adopting poorly designed laws and technologies that can make us less free while distracting our attention from responses to terrorism that might work. Some of these things include the latest “code orange” alerts and the security systems at airports. Says Rosen, “I’m looking forward to coming to Omaha to argue that it’s possible to protect privacy and security at the same time, even after 9-11. But, as the U.S. Patriot Act shows, the public may not demand a

reasonable balance, the courts may not require it, and the technologists may not supply it on their own. “Ultimately, I’m putting my faith in Congress,” he added, “which has been more sensitive to Jeffrey Rosen the balance between privacy and security than the other branches of government.” The New York Times has described Rosen’s book on privacy, The Unwanted Gaze: The Destruction of Privacy in America, as “the definitive text on privacy perils in the digital age.” His new book, The Naked Crowd: Reclaiming Security and Freedom in an Anxious Age, makes an impassioned argument about how to preserve freedom, privacy and security in a post-9-11 world. “How we use emerging technologies will be crucial to the preservation of essential American ideals in an information economy,” Rosen insisted. His lecture in Omaha will be entitled, “Defending Privacy” and will focus on the potential for erosion of constitutionally protected privacy rights as the federal courts and United States Supreme Court become more conservative. “For better or worse, it’s now obvious that conservatives have lost the culture wars on the Supreme Court,” Rosen continued. “The Rehnquist Court has refused to resurrect school prayer, to allow the restriction of early term abortions, or to permit the restrict of consensual behavior by gays and lesbians based on moral disapproval. “Rather than worrying about whether the next Supreme Court nominee will overturn Roe, liberals instead might do better to focus on the new privacy battles on the horizon,” Rosen urged. “These will look very different than the old ones!” The lecture is open to the public and is free of charge.

Sukkot Outside and In! by SARAH KELEN sukkah looked “pretty” and for Congregation B’nai Jeshurun that she particularly liked A special early evening the pine cones hanging Sukkot and Shabbat family from the sukkah as well as service at Congregation the oversized construction B’nai Jeshurun (the South paper carrot decorations Street Temple in Lincoln) made by her cousin Katy marked the first use of the Williss. Adults were equalcongregation’s newly-purly impressed with the chased Gates of Joy holiday sukkah’s construction, and prayerbook, which is particularly with John’s sucdesigned to make holiday cess in building a level services more child-friendly. sukkah on a sloping lawn, Instead of a sermon, no easy feat. Rabbi Debbie Stiel gathered After a short service led all of the children under the by Rabbi Stiel and some sukkah to tell them a story enthusiastic singing, conabout a shy little sukkah gregants shared an opporwho learned a valuable lestunity to eat and schmooze, son about self-confidence. and proved once again that This year the Temple's we are a community united sukkah was set up by Lon not only by our love of Rabbi Debbie Stiel, center, leads members of B’nai Hollibaugh and decorated Judaism, but by our love of Jeshurun in the blessing, “L’shave baSukkah.” by Amy Zlotsky with help good food! from her children, Sarah and Aaron Hoagland, who Deborah Swearingen took in the view of Pine Lake covered the sukkah with beautiful produce that con- and the beauty of the changing leaves, and observed gregant Bob Bleicher donated from “the corners of his that Sukkot brings together two important elements in fields.” our tradition: sharing community with others and the The congregation gathered on a spectacular fall appreciating wonder of the natural environment. She Sunday afternoon at the home of Ellin Siegel and John said that she always enjoys the Sukkot Potluck, Mosow for the annual Sukkot Potluck. All month long, “because you’re outdoors with nature and also with the congregation’s children made decorations for the other people.” sukkah, and the results looked great. After exchanging recipes and sukkah construction Six-year-old Ty Chapelle, attending her first Sukkot tips, congregants headed home, looking forward Potluck, seemed impressed. She declared that the already to another great potluck in 5765.

October 24, 2003

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

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Groups Work to Combat Food Poverty Indicated by Israeli Nutrition Study by LOOLWA KHAZZOOM TEL AVIV (JTA)--When, not so long ago, the director of an Israeli nonprofit organization noticed that an employee would appear at work every Sunday morning so fatigued that he could barely function, he issued him a stern warning to “stop partying so hard on Saturday nights.” The gaunt-looking employee burst into tears, explaining he had not eaten since Thursday afternoon, when he received his last hot meal of the week at work. That sad tale is one of the stories that got Laurie Heller, the Israel representative of the Baron De Hirsch Fund, to establish a new group to investigate and address the rising hunger and poverty in the Jewish state as the economy has fallen. The Forum to Address Food Insecurity and Poverty in Israel brings together a number of groups to help match philanthropists with soup kitchens and other organizations that feed those in need. The sponsoring groups include federations and foundations investing money in Israeli non-government organizations; the Brookdale Institute, which is the research arm of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee; and Israeli government organizations. The Forum is funded primarily by the Los Angeles Jewish Federation, the San Francisco Jewish Federation and the Rochlin Family Foundation. The forum's mission is to “make funding opportunities for many philanthropists to find their place in the range of solutions for food insecurity,” Heller, who is the group’s co-chairwoman, says. Using available research, the forum will

determine “which problems are not being addressed by existing programs, where we need to put our emphasis collectively, where people can channel funding,” she says. To that end, the Brookdale Institute began a national survey in March to ascertain nutrition habits among Israelis. The study focused on three factors: food consumption in the general population-quantity, variety and types of food consumed; the nutritional components consumed, including both calories and various nutrients; and household difficulty in accessing adequate and appropriate food due to economic constraints. The Brookdale survey interviewed Israelis aged 22 and up in a national telephone survey of 1,490 households between March and May of this year. The study examined the impact of hunger on focused groups of veteran Israeli families, immigrant families and Arab families, and within those groups, on children, the elderly, single-parent families and families with large numbers of children. Although the results of the survey have not yet been released, some conclusions were leaked from the Ministry of Health, and the report has been discussed around the country. Consequently, the director of the Brookdale Institute, Jack Habib, issued a three-page summary of the findings. “With the worsening of the economic crisis during the past two years,” the summary states, “food poverty has again become an issue.” Food poverty is defined as severe food shortages that

the equivalent of the United States' Good Samaritan Law, which protects institutions from lawsuits in the event that people get sick from donated food. Cheri Fox, who is cochairwoman of the forum, executive director of the Fox Family Foundation and co-chairwoman of the Jewish Funders Network, emphasizes that she, Habib and Heller are not trying to provide an alternative to the government's response to hunger, but working to enhance it. An Israeli man searches a garbage bin for food in Tel Aviv. “The study was done with Photo by Brian Hendler/JTA a team of researchers from the Ministry of Health and lead to malnutrition, requiring emerin partnership with National Insurance gency medical treatment. “There is enough food, but 22 percent and Social Welfare,” Habib says. “We of the population doesn’t have enough now have fairly intensive discussions money to purchase it on a regular basis,” with government ministries with the hope that they will move to develop Heller says. The Brookdale study found that while more effective responses to the situathere are more than 125 organizations tion.” The effectiveness of these responses, addressing the problem of food poverty through food distribution, such as say Heller and Fox, is an urgent matter. “In school-age children,” Heller canned food drives, and recycling food, such as leftovers from restaurants, there explains, “malnutrition lowers IQ by 10 is virtually no coordination or shared points.” “When malnourishment is found in the information between the organizations 0-5 age group,” Fox adds, it “can create dealing with the problem. Heller’s new organization seeks to severe, irreversible problems in physical coordinate the efforts of each organiza- and intellectual development.” As such, she notes, Israel is beginning tion and also sponsor new laws that will encourage organizations to help. For to see “enormous gaps between rich and example, the forum wants to introduce poor.”

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 24, 2003

Anti-Israel Activists Funded by Ford Foundation Continued from page 1 cleansing.” The spectacle was so noxious that Powell withdrew the American delegation. Who financed a number of the groups at Durban that printed and distributed these materials, purchased advertising and conducted workshops? “No one knew where the money was coming from to fund all these NGOs,” remembers Judith Palkovitz of Pittsburgh, Hadassah General Secretary and a delegate to Durban. “I assumed it was a foreign group--say Saudi Arabia.” When asked, one Jewish communal leader after another, and several State Department officials, also guessed: Saudi Arabia. They were wrong. The Ford Foundation, one of America’s largest philanthropic institutions--and arguably the most prestigious--was a multimillion-dollar funder of many human rights NGOs attending Durban. That is the conclusion of a two-month JTA investigation, involving interviews with dozens of individuals in seven countries, as well as a review of more than 9,000 pages of government and organizational documents. Ford--which was endowed with funds donated by Henry and Edsel Ford but no longer maintains any ties to the Ford Motor Company--has long been known as a funder of Palestinian causes. But most observers did not suspect the extent of the foundation’s involvement in funding of groups that engage in antiZionist, anti-Semitic and pro-Palestinian activities both inside and outside the Middle East. With hundred of millions of dollars being pumped into Mideast NGOs by numerous private foundations here and in Europe, government and communal officials are raising significant questions about transparency, how the money in Palestinian areas is being used and whether funders such as the Ford Foundation are exercising proper controls. Increasingly, federal agencies concerned with fighting terrorism are asking: When money goes in one NGO’s pocket, where

does it go and whom does it benefit? cy that created the hostile environment The Jewish representatives at Durban at Durban. “didn’t understand the efforts, the financPNGO led the move to craft an NGO ing and the organization that went into resolution that would “call upon the hijacking the conference,” recalls Reva international community to impose a Price, Washington representative of the policy of complete and total isolation of Jewish Council for Public Affairs and a Israel as an apartheid state,” including Durban delegate. “the imposition of mandatory and com“We knew we were walking into prob- prehensive sanctions and embargoes, lems because of what happened in the [and] the full cessation of all links (diploearly meeting in Teheran,” Price said. “But matic, economic, social, aid, military we didn't cooperation understand and training) how organbetween all ized the states and opposition Israel.” and what a Durban well-financed was not a campaign it one-time was.” investment Many for the Ford Jewish orgaFoundation-nizational a major funofficials who der of LAW participated and PNGO. in the long The home page of the Ford Foundation Web site (www.fordIndeed, process com- found.org) as of Oct. 3. through its plained that a Cairo office, key organization responsible for the Ford has extended more than $35 million in methodical hijacking of the conference grants to some 272 Arab and Palestinian was the Palestinian Committee for the organizations during the two-year 2000-2001 Protection of Human Rights and the period alone--the most recent years for Environment, which operates under the which data is available--plus 62 grants to acronym LAW. individuals that total more than $1.4 million, LAW officials took leadership positions according to Ford’s Web site as accessed in on the Durban conference steering com- mid-October 2003. Since the 1950s, the mittees, conducted workshops and even foundation’s Beirut and Cairo offices have sponsored a pre-conference mission to awarded more than $193 million to more the West Bank and Gaza Strip for South than 350 Middle East organizations, almost African delegates, to convince them that all Arab, Islamic or Palestinian. Israel was an apartheid state. Ford’s Web site, at www.ford“LAW was instrumental in creating the found.org, offers detailed information anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic focus at about its Middle East grants. On the site Durban,” confirmed Andrew Srulevitch, as of mid-October, “Palestine” is freExecutive Director of U.N. Watch, a quently mentioned on its Mideast pages, Geneva-based group that monitors the but Israel’s name is absent. world organization. Moreover, the Web site’s shaded map But it was not just LAW. The of the geographical region from Egypt to Palestinian NGO Network, or PNGO, an Lebanon and Jordan blanks out over umbrella organization of some 90 Israel’s territory, even though Ford does Palestinian NGOs, as well as many of its make grants to both Jewish and Arab constituent groups, diligently became organizations in Jerusalem. embedded in the conference bureaucraInitially, despite more than two dozen

requests by phone and in writing over a period of several weeks, the Ford Foundation’s Communications Vice-president Alex Wilde, deputy media director Thea Lurie and media associate Joe Voeller refused to answer any questions or clarify any issues regarding the foundation’s funding of groups engaged in anti-Israeli agitation and anti-Semitic or anti-Zionist activity. However, after this investigation was completed, Wilde did send a six-page written statement, declaring, “We have seen no indication that our grantees in Durban or elsewhere engaged in antiSemitic speech or activities. The Foundation does not support hate speech of any kind.” Wilde added: “Some of our human rights and development grantees have certainly been critical of policies and practices of the Israeli government insofar as these discriminate against Palestinians or otherwise violate their rights, according to internationally agreed human rights standards and international law.” “We do not believe that this can be described as ‘agitation,’” the statement asserted. Both LAW and PNGO confirmed that their Ford funds were pivotal. “Ford has made it possible for us to do much of our work,” a senior LAW official in Jerusalem said in an interview. Since 1997, LAW has been the recipient of three Ford grants, totaling $1.1 million, to engage in “advocacy” and participate at international conferences, according to LAW officials. A Ford Foundation official’s check of the charity’s confidential computer databases confirmed the information. Reached in Ramallah on her cell phone, PNGO program coordinator Renad Qubaj recalled her coordination of activities in Durban. “In Durban, for sure we published posters saying, ‘End the occupation,’ things like that,” Qubaj said, “and we published a study, had a press conference, organized our partners and protest marches.” Continued on page 5

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October 24, 2003

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AntiIsrael Activists Funded by Ford Foundation Continued from page 4 Asked about finances, she added, “Unfortunately we are very dependent on the international funds. Not just PNGO but all the Palestinian NGOs--90 of them in our group. We get very little money from the Arabs--just needy family cases. Ford is our biggest funder.” Allam Jarrar, a member of the 11-person PNGO steering committee network, and one who helped organize the events at Durban, explained that Ford money allows PNGO to have a global scope. “We do lots of international advocacy conferences and regional forums,” Jarrar explained in an interview, “and we always try to represent our political view to Europe. We attended some women’s conferences [in Europe], plus Durban.” “Our biggest donations come, of course, from Ford,” Jarrar added. “We have been in partnership with Ford for a long time--a real partnership, a real understanding of our needs. “Of course, when we go to an international conference, we try to get extra funds from one of their special budgets,” Jarrar said. “Or sometimes the conferences’ organizers, if they have their own Ford Foundation funding, they send us the finances to attend.” From 1999 to 2002, PNGO received a series of Ford grants totaling $1.4 million, plus a $270,000 supplement, according to an examination of the Ford Foundation’s IRS Form 990 filings, Web site databases and annual reports. PNGO continues to receive at least $350,000 annually from Ford, according to the data. LAW and PNGO were hardly the only Ford-backed groups at Durban. The conference was a major enterprise for the Ford Foundation. In a Ford Web site commentary written prior to Durban, Bradford Smith, Ford’s vice president for peace and social justice, wrote that the conference’s issues were “at the core of the Ford Foundation’s mission since its inception.” More than a dozen activist organizations--from Brazil to Sri Lanka--received well over $1 million in Ford grants specifically earmarked for the production of advertising materials, public meetings and advocacy at the Durban conference. “Does all this mobilizing, networking and drafting of statements have real impact on people’s lives?” Smith asked in the statement. His answer: Yes, “because for

years to come they [Ford grantees] and the foundation will work together to implement the [Durban] Conference Plan of Action.” Since the Durban conference, LAW has continued its public crusade against Israel and Zionism, and PNGO, as well as many of its 90 members, continue organizing efforts to try Israeli officials as war criminals, boycott the Jewish state and label Israel a racist, illegitimate state that must be stripped of its Jewish identity. While a number of the Ford-financed organizations at Durban, such as LAW and PNGO, engaged in antiIsrael and anti-Zionist agitation, certainly many did not. Either way, Ford Foundation money, as intended, was a prime mover in the production of the advocacy pamphlets, posters, workshops and other materials at the conference that shaped the overall atmosphere. “I saw the Ford representative at Durban,” remembers Palkovitz, the Hadassah delegate, who spotted him in connection with African American reparations issues. “There was no way to miss the antiSemitism. The Ford guy would have to be blind. It was the most anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist stuff you ever saw. “I told the Ford representative I thought it was a mistake because the whole meeting was being hijacked,” she related. “He disagreed. He said he believed what the conference was doing was correct.” “We are struck,” said David Harris, Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee, “by the scores of Palestinian NGOs funded by Ford, a number of which have deeply disturbing and troubling records on Israel and Jews.”

Since the Durban conference, LAW has continued its public crusade against Israel and Zionism, and PNGO, as well as many of its 90 members, continue organizing efforts to try Israeli officials as war criminals, boycott the Jewish state and label Israel a racist, illegitimate state that must be stripped of its Jewish identity.

Beth El’s PTA to ‘Get Personal’ by DIANE AXLER BAUM for Beth El Synagogue “Get Mugged” and the PTA of Beth El Synagogue Talmud Torah (BESTT) are working together to carry out a creative fund-raiser to benefit the school. The project also will enable Beth El members to prepare, early, for Hanukkah with personalized gifts for friends and family. Rhonda Saferstein, who chairs the PTA, explained the plans: Stan and Barbara Widman, Beth El members and owners of “Get Mugged,” will be at the school to sell a number of items, and they will take photos of individual children or groups of children to print onto these items. “They will transform ordinary items into extraordinary, personalized items, which will be a pleasure to keep or to give,” Saferstein said. Among the items available for purchase are t-shirts, sweatshirts, mouse pads, aprons and mugs. Previously existing photos, or newly taken photos, may be used for printing onto any of these items. Parents of BESTT students have received order forms brought home by their children. Order forms also were sent to the entire congregation in the mid-month mailing. The three photo sessions are scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 2, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; Tuesday, Nov. 4, 4 p.m.-7 p.m.; and Wednesday, Nov. 5, 4-8:45 p.m. All funds raised will support BESTT and BESTT students, by going toward the purchase of classroom support materials, such as software, and toward field trips and other enrichment activities. For more information, call Rhonda Saferstein, 333-7226.

Edwin Black is the author of the newly released War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race (Four Walls Eight Windows), which investigates corporate philanthropic involvement in American and Nazi eugenics. In May 2003, he won the American Society of Journalists and Authors’ award for best book of the year for his previous book, IBM and the Holocaust (Crown Publishing, 2001). The entire JTA investigative series on Ford Foundation funding can be read at www.jta.org/ford.asp.

Pets Welcome at Outreach Event in the Park by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Cantor Wendy Shermet and her dog, Schmoo, will lead the march on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2 p.m., at Pipal Park, 78th and West Center Road, at Temple Israel’s afternoon in the park with pets. The event is sponsored by Temple’s Outreach Committee. “Each animal sings its own psalm of praise to Cantor Wendy Shermet’s dog, God,” remarked Cantor Schmoo. Shermet. Schmoo, a mixture of Sheltie and Beagle has been the family pet since being found homeless 121/2 years ago. Reflecting on Judaism’s compassionate views concerning pets, Cantor Shermet said Jewish ethics teach that pets should be fed even before their owners eat. In addition to learning a little more about what Judaism has to say about animals, this “Best in Show” event will be an opportunity for fun in a casual and welcoming environment. The entire community is invited to attend. Reservations are not needed. Hot chocolate and cookies will be served. There will be prizes for the furry participants. All amicable four-legged creatures and feathered friends, as well, are most welcome to accompany their owners.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 24, 2003

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ORGANIZATIONS B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Attorney General Jon Bruning will speak at Breadbreakers on Wednesday, Oct. 29, noon, at the Park Inn Regency, according to Gary Javitch, October Chairman. Bruning will discuss his summer trip to Israel. Cost is $9 for lunch and $2 for beverage service only. Breadbreakers is open to the community.

Y.E.S. Members will meet Monday at the JCC. Come 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, the Hometowners from Council Bluffs, will perform. For transportation call Dee Dee at 330-4272.

VISIONS Reminder: For those members going to see Sylvia McNair in Brownville on Sunday, Oct. 26, please meet at the JCC at 11:30 a.m. Join us for the Miracle of Life Tour at the Lied Transplant Center (UNMC) on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 10:45 a.m. Tour of facility and heartwarming informative speech by D o c e n t / S u r v i v o r. 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 That will Make you HUM 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 out 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. Family Service will use this donation 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 Jewish Family Service. Any amount will be greatly appreciated.

WALK-IN, DROP-IN For those members going to the Bluffs Run Casino on Thursday, please meet at the main entrance of the JCC at 8:45 a.m. Call Maggie Conti for transportation at 334-6521.

JEWISH SENIOR SERVICES A Veteran’s Day Celebration with the Avi8Ors on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m., at the JCC auditorium. There is no admission fee. The Avi8Ors ensemble perform in USO show style by some of the finest musicians in the Heartland The Avi8Ors ensemble blend subtle choreography and dialogue with the music to give the performance a bit of a nostalgic feel. Refreshments will be served. For reservations call Maggie Conti at 3346521. Seating is limited.

OMAHA CENTER FOR TORAH LEARNING Rabbi Tuvia Hoffman will lead a discussion on the “Hidden Dimensions of Psalms” on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 4:30 p.m. at the home of Shirley Goodman, 732 Sunset Trail. There will be no Lunch and Learn next Wednesday. Brooke’s Teen Girls’ Class meets Thursday, Oct. 30, 7:30 p.m. at the home of Brooke Shrago, 805 So. 120 Ave. For more information on OCTL classes and programs, call Rabbi Hoffman, 981-0569 or Rabbi Blum, 320-8055.

LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Want a place to brush up on your Yiddish? Join us every Thursday, 1-3 p.m., at The Yiddish Conversation Group in the Social Hall of the JCC. Call Anne Skolkin for information at 343-1638. JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA Spend your Sunday morning engaged in stimulating conversation! On Sunday, Oct. 26, 10:15-11:45 a.m. at Beth El Synagogue, please join Rabbi Bradley Artson, Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and Vice-president of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, as he presents “Who Are We Meant To Be? The Challenges and Opportunities Facing the Jewish Community.” The event is free and open to the community. For more information, please contact Julee Katzman, 334-6428 or via e-mail at: jkatzman@jewishomaha.org.

A Night of Catskills Humor in the Heartland by ARIELLA HOFFMAN for the Omaha Center for Torah Learning The Borsht Belt might be 1200 miles away, but Saturday, Nov. 8, the Catskills are coming to Omaha! The evening will be the second annual “Fun Night” put together by The Omaha Center for Torah Learning. The night’s events will center around a live comedy performance, kosher dinner, and a Chinese Auction. Even if you have never heard of Jackie Mason, these comedians are guaranteed to take you back to a 1960s summer bungalow colony. Dinner will be provided by Culinary Services by Nancy Mattley at her hall on Main Street in Ralston. The fun starts at 7 p.m. Last year’s “Fun Night” was a great success, so we’re doing it again! Not only does it allow for us to all get together for an enjoyable night with friends over a fabulous kosher meal, all the proceeds go to help raise money for the myriad of programs that the OCTL offers to the community free of charge. The Chinese Auction just might be the first one to come to the Omaha community. It consists of all the items broken down into price groups in monetary cat-

egories, starting as low as $5! Each displayed item will have a box in front of it. To win that prize, buy the appropriate ticket and put it in the box. You can put in as many tickets as you want for each item. For example, a pedicure or manicure at a local salon may be in the $5 category. Buy a $5 ticket and hope your name is drawn! At the end of the evening, the prizes will be announced and distributed. (I won a bike and a printer at the first Chinese Auction I attended in Israel, but my best friend only won a case of Dr. Brown’s soda. Just beginner’s luck!) Some of the items donated for this event include: UNO athletic event tickets, Omaha Symphony tickets, jewelry, artwork, household items, massages, salon services, food items, and many gift certificates. If you want to be a part of the Chinese Auction, but cannot attend, just ask a friend who will be there to enter your tickets for you. The cost of the dinner and entertainment is $36 per person. Invitations will be going out by next week, and if you would like to attend, or for a full listing of auction items, please call me at 553-5397.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT The Omaha Theater Company for Young People will present Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, Nov. 1-Dec. 7, at the Hitchcock Theater at The Rose. Tickets are available at The Rose box office, 345.4849 or online at: www.rosetheater.org.

Nixon, Ford, and Reagan, and was counselor to President Clinton. The event, sponsored by University of Nebraska-Omaha, is $12.50 per person; tickets can be purchased by calling 554.2981.

Learn how to be safe around the house in a fun and interactive show at the Omaha Children’s Museum, Thursday, Oct. 30, 11 a.m. OPPD will conduct an Electrical Safety Show. Call 342.6164 for membership information and hours of operation.

Lincoln Community Playhouse presents Stuart Little, Nov. 14-23. The musical version of E.B. White’s classic tale about a mouse born into a normal New York family enhances the story of a determined underdog trying to survive in a real people’s world. For ticket information, call the LCP at 402.489.7529.

Political commentator David Gergen is the featured speaker at the ABC Breakfast speakers Series, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 7 a.m., at the the Holiday Inn Convention Center, 72nd and Grover. Gergen has served in the White House as an adviser to Presidents

The Omaha Community Playhouse and ACT II present Threads and Theater, the 2003 holiday fashion show on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 11 a.m., at the Playhouse. Tickets are $50 for general admission and $75 for patrons and are available by calling 553-4890, ext. 145.

October 24, 2003

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 7

There Are Jews in Omaha!

COMMUNITY C ONNECTION by JANIE MUROW Jewish Press Editor Carol Katzman started the venture of finding newcomers to Omaha for the Rosh Hashanah edition. I continued the process by calling realtors, synagogue professionals, and JCC staff, and was so pleased to find even more new people! In addition to many new Jewish professionals, our business and medical communities have benefited from Omaha’s new arrivals. During the past month there have been many opportunities for our newcomers to meet community members. The Jewish Federation of Omaha held its Women’s Campaign Event and many newcomers attended. During the High

Holidays, many of you invited people new to Omaha into your homes and synagogues. Thank you for helping everyone feel welcome! Keep those invitations coming, it takes a while for people to get connected to a community. It’s vital that relationships are formed, friends are made and that Omaha becomes home for a long time. On Sunday, Nov. 2, the Federation will host a brunch for our newcomers. Jewish community professionals from the synagogues, agencies and organizations will be attending to answer questions about Jewish Omaha and what we have to offer. Tours of the JCC will be available and there will be activities to keep the children busy. If you are new to Omaha within the past two years and you didn’t receive an invitation, then

Beth El to Kick Off ‘Membership Team’

Jewish professionals and lay leaders to discuss what we as a community can do to assist Jews in Argentina who want to immigrate to the United States. When Omaha worked with the resettlement of Jews from the former Soviet Union, we had a tremendous amount of help from our volunteer corps. This will also require volunteer assistance. However, before anyone can immigrate to the United States, they need employment. Our first task will be to identify jobs that match the qualifications of those wanting to leave Argentina. If you are interested in working on this project, please call me. There is a lot happening in the Community Development office! Contact me with any ideas and suggestions you have via e-mail at: jmurow@jewishomaha.org or call me at 334-6566.

BIRTH

by DIANE AXLER BAUM his love of our synafor Beth El Synagogue gogue.” Beth El is kicking-off a Grossman expects some creative, organized effort members of his new to spread the word about team to serve as mentors the wide and varied to those who have joined opportunities the synaBeth El recently. Other gogue provides for living teammates will introduce a meaningful Jewish life. Beth El to Jewish individCary Grossman has uals and families new to agreed to head a new Omaha or to Jews in the committee, which he city who are not affiliatwants to develop as a ed. Cary Grossman powerful “Membership “I hope many members Team.” The team’s first huddle is a brain- of Beth El will join me in going to bat for storming/planning breakfast, Sunday, our synagogue,” Grossman said. Nov. 2, 10 a.m. For more information about Beth El or “We are fortunate to have Cary Grossman’s Membership Team, please Grossman in this important position,” call him at 496-2292 or e-mail him at: said Rabbi Mordechai Levin. “We will cgrossman9@cox.net; or call Larry benefit from his expertise in sales and DeBruin, Executive Director of Beth El, marketing, his outgoing personality, and at 492-8550.

Beth El Sisterhood to Bake for Holiday Bazaar by DIANE AXLER BAUM for Beth El Synagogue Beth El Sisterhood is working on a raffle and a bake sale to enhance the Holiday Bazaar scheduled for Nov. 16, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., at the synagogue. Bakers will get together for baking in the Beth El kitchen on two Sundays, Nov. 2 and 9, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. The bazaar will fill the synagogue’s Social Hall with a wide variety of items, according to co-chairs Patti Adler and Caryn Rifkin. Included will be antique

you’re not on my list and you need to be! Please join us! As I talk to people, I’m developing lists of interests and activities for adults and children that newcomers feel would help them get connected. Some ideas that have surfaced are “Mommy/Daddy and Me” groups for parents of babies and toddlers, Mah Jongg and bridge groups, team athletics, and a “girl’s night out” group. Contact me if you would like to participate in any of these smaller group activities or if you have other ideas. I would be delighted to facilitate organizing interest groups with newcomers and other Omahans. Another project I’m working on is bringing Jews from Argentina to Omaha. A representative from the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society (HIAS), devoted to work in Latin America, is scheduling a visit to Omaha in early December. The focus of that trip will be to meet with

jewelry, original paintings, Russian Lithographs, stationery, crafts, and much more. Vendors are not necessarily members of Beth El.Space still remains for vendors wishing to participate. To reserve a table, please send your Tax Identification Number and a check for $30, made out to Beth El Sisterhood, to the synagogue, PO Box 54-0430, Omaha 68154. Additional information is available from Patti Adler, 333-4047, or Caryn Rifkin, 334-7216.

Former Omahans Beth and Toby Bennett of Edgeware, London, England, announce the Aug. 3 birth of their son, Yisrael Shaanan. Grandparents are Carol and Manny

Goldberg and Sue and Peter Bennett of Bushy Heath, London. Great-grandparents are Sarah Becker of Hollywood, FL, Joan Bennett and Harry and Phyllis Gordon, all of London.

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IN THE NEWS Jonathan Rich as been named President of Business Printing Service in Omaha. He has been with the company since 1995. He has recently added a new division, Direct Digital, to specialize in variable data printing. The company was founded in 1947 by his grandparents, Gene and Charlotte Rich. In 1965 they were joined by their son, Lou Rich, who with his wife, Beverly, ran the company until the present time. Joel Rich has been with Business Printing since 1992 and continues as Director of Sales.

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Page 8

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 24, 2003

Opinion For Our Kids For nearly a decade, the Jewish Press has published a full-page feature devoted to our Jewish youth--“Teen Age”. Started by our current Press Chairman, Joanie Jacobson and originally funded by Ideal Water, the monthly feature, September through May, contains original essays, fiction, artwork, photos, poetry and reports on a variety of topics--from Israel trips and Jewish camp experiences to political issues of the day and coming of age. The Press has found it increasingly difficult to obtain these original works from our Jewish youth--they’re so busy with school work, after school activities, youth groups and even paid jobs. So the Jewish Press Committee--an incredibly creative group which works so well in creating consensus, came up with a brand new model for “Teen Age”. Each month, starting with the youth of Beyt Shalom on Nov. 7 (which just happens to be the date of our annual salute to Education and Camping), our Jewish youth groups will be featured in their very own “Teen Age”! Through the generosity of the Murray H. and Sharee C. Newman Supporting Foundation, the focus has changed slightly. Oh, we’ll still be showcasing our teens’ creativity, but now we have a unique opportunity to help them, too. A grant from the Newman Foundation will enable the Press to give each youth group $150 in exchange for providing us high quality submissions from our teens each month. The Press will be working with the youth

FOCUS ON ISSUES by RACHEL POMERANCE NEW YORK (JTA)--The list reads like a roster of “Who's Who in America,” and it’s full of Jewish names. It’s the 19-page list of organizations and individuals that the National Rifle Association deems “anti-gun.” In addition to Britney Spears, NBC News and the NAACP, Jews and Jewish organizations figure prominently on the list--from Jerry Seinfeld and Mandy Patinkin to the AntiDefamation League and the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation. The NRA has had the list, which it periodically updates, for more than a decade, and it's posted on the group’s Web site, according to NRA spokesman Ted Novin, who is Jewish. The list came to public attention after a recent New York Times column by Bob Herbert--who is on the list-- blasting the gun lobby. Now a group called Stopthenra.com has decided to publicize what it calls the “blacklist,” launching a campaign at www.nrablacklist.com that urges readers to “join the honor roll” on the NRA list. The list is not easy to find on the NRA’s Web site. One has to click through layers of the site’s legislation and research sections to find those the group considers “pro-gun” and “anti-gun.” The list is about as expansive as America. Among those named are the American Medical Association, Maya Angelou, Ed Koch, Julia Child, the St. Louis Cardinals, Spike Lee, Ben & Jerry’s, the United States Conference of Mayors, Hallmark Cards, the National Education Association and Moon Zappa. For their part, the Jewish groups listed seem little troubled by the listing. Some said they considered their presence on the list a “badge of honor.” Others expressed slight concern at making the blacklist of a group whose members possess so much ordnance, but they still support gun

(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.

group advisers, so this is a win-win-win situation! Our teens continue to be featured on a monthly basis; our community gets to know what’s on their minds, and the Press is guaranteed a continuous supply of original material by our Jewish youth. And finally--our Jewish youth groups have a guaranteed fundraiser! In addition to Beyt Shalom on Nov. 7, the other youth groups will be published in “Teen Age” as follows: Beth El’s USY on Dec. 5; Beth Israel’s NCSY on Jan. 2; the teen of Lincoln’s B’nai Jeshurun and Tifereth Israel Congregations on Feb. 6; Temple Israel’s OYTG on March 5; B’nai B’rith Youth Organization’s AZA on April 9 and BBG on May 7. Our annual Salute to Graduating High School Seniors will be published on June 4. The Press staff and committee are thrilled with this new arrangement--and grateful to the Newman Supporting Foundation for recognizing its merits. We hope you’ll agree!

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.

Jews Appear on ‘Backlist,’ Prepared by NRA, of Gun Haters control and downplayed the list’s importance. Shelley Klein, director of advocacy for Hadassah, which is on the list, said that “to try to stigmatize organizations” and reduce multifaceted groups to a single issue is “really troubling.” But Klein was largely dismissive of the list. “Seeing the company we keep, we’re not concerned,” she said. Other Jewish groups labeled “anti-gun” include the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress, B’nai B’rith, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Jewish Labor Committee, the National Council of Jewish Women and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Reform Jewry’s most prominent national leaders made the list, including Rabbis David Saperstein, Eric Yoffie and Paul Menitoff.

“I would hope that the NRA would be more sensitive,” Saperstein said, because the list “could be seen as a suggestion that those people be targeted for criticism, at the least, and perhaps even more.” Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, is not surprised. The Reform movement has a “long history of being out front” on gun control, he said. Saperstein criticized the tactic. “It’s always dismaying when a group keeps an enemies list or a blacklist,” he said. It “shuts off debate, it demonizes those who disagree.” He also had a note of caution for the NRA. “I would hope that the NRA would be more

sensitive,” Saperstein said, because the list “could be seen as a suggestion that those people be targeted for criticism, at the least, and perhaps even more.” The NRA’s Novin said the list is “strictly for informational purposes” and is made up of organizations that have given either financial or grass-roots support to anti-gun organizations or causes. The NRA drew up the list to help members who wanted to know whether companies they patronize support anti-gun policies, Novin said. Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, shrugged off the issue. “There’s nothing wrong with it,” Foxman said. Calling it a blacklist is “inappropriate,” he said, because the NRA does not petition members to take any action against those listed. The ADL is “appropriately on there because we are an organization that has opposed”the NRA on gun legislation, Foxman said. The list only “adds credibility to them and to us.” Aaron Zelman, Executive Director of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, also downplayed the list. “Who really cares?” he said. “They’re not the only ones who have done a list before.” He added: “This is the American way.” The real problem, Zelman said, is Jewish communal leaders' support for gun control. “If you study the history of gun control,” he said, it has been “used by every police state to disarm people and then kill them”--both Jews and non-Jews. Stopthenra.com says its campaign against the list is part of an effort to mobilize opposition to impending legislation that would protect manufacturers, distributors and dealers of firearms from lawsuits. The group also wants to drum up support to reauthorize a federal law banning the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons.

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.

Nebraska Press Association

October 24, 2003

BEHIND THE HEADLINES by JOE BERKOFSKY NEW YORK (JTA)--Spurred by fierce debate in the press, Jewish social scientists are organizing a conference on the controversial National Jewish Population Survey so they can study it for themselves. In late October, dozens of scholars are set to gather in Boston with officials of the NJPS 2000-01, Jewish federations and community policy makers to scrutinize the $6 million study, which is the costliest and most extensive survey ever taken of American Jewry. “The discussions that have been in the newspapers have been less than satisfying,” said Leonard Saxe, Director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University, which is co-sponsoring the meeting. “The hope is to get everybody together to see if we can come to some kind of agreement” about what the NJPS means, he said. The answer to that question has been the focus of intense debate since NJPS’ release last month. The debate was highlighted by an OpEd column in The New York Times by J.J. Goldberg, Editor of the Forward, who accused the study’s sponsors of spinning a statistical “myth” of population decline. In his own paper, Goldberg called the NJPS a “fraud” for allegedly skewing both the population and intermarriage rates so that the United Jewish Communities, which sponsored the study, could raise more money in fundraising campaigns. His broadsides spawned dueling commentaries in American Jewish newspapers and in Israeli media outlets such as Ha’aretz and the Jerusalem Post. Stephen Hoffman, CEO and President of the UJC federation umbrella organization, denied that his group had manufactured fears of a population decline. Goldberg’s criticism “stuck in my throat,” Hoffman told JTA. The Times OpEd was akin to “slander” against the UJC, he said. How Jews count themselves, and what conclusions they draw from those numbers, has been a matter of debate since biblical times. The last NJPS, in 1990, made headlines with its finding that 52 percent of Jews who had married in the previous five years had married out of the faith. That survey sparked more than 200 studies and at least 11 books, and steered a decade’s worth of communal spending on efforts to promote “continuity” among committed Jews and “outreach” to uninvolved Jews. Billed as a “colloquium,” the confer-

After Fierce Debate, Scholars to Meet to Discuss NJPS’ Value ence on the current NJPS is set for Oct. 26-27 at Hebrew College in Boston and Brandeis University, in Waltham, MA. But some who plan to attend said it still is too early for serious discussion about NJPS because few have pored over the details. “People have started pontificating, when we don't have the data to make judgements yet,” said Rela Mintz Geffen, President of Baltimore Hebrew University. The NJPS is no stranger to controversy. After suddenly pulling the survey last fall because of lost data, the UJC launched an internal probe and an independent audit, both of which found methodological flaws and potential statistical problems. However, both reviews largely upheld the study’s value. Since NJPS came out last month, discussions among Jewish social scientists and demographers have focused on the charges and countercharges surrounding the survey. Much of the debate has been conducted via scholarly online listservs, and Geffen said some academics suggested a professional gathering was in order. Another co-sponsor of the conference is the Wilstein Institute at Hebrew College. Rabbi David Gordis, Director of the institute and President of Hebrew College, said the gathering intends to avoid media hype. The goal is to study NJPS “in a quiet, reflective, analytical way” rather than “in a sensationalized way,” Gordis said, “because there has been so much attention to controversy--everything from the amount of money spent on it to the methodological issues.” One of those who plans to attend is Steven Cohen, a professor of sociology at Hebrew University and chief consultant to the NJPS. Cohen sparked intense debate of the 1990 NJPS over intermarriage statistics he considered inflated. “I think it’s good for there to be discussions,” said Cohen, who disagreed with Goldberg’s accusation that NJPS organizers purposely inflated intermarriage numbers and depressed population counts. Lorraine Blass, NJPS’ project director, said UJC officials would attend this month’s conference in the hope of avoiding yet more fireworks. “My starting point is that this is an extraordinarily complex project, a lot has been said about it over time from many quarters--not just in the press--and we feel discussion is healthy and will ultimately promote a better understanding of its findings and its broad use,” Blass said.

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 9

Support During Bosnian War Helps Woman Come to Israel, Convert

by RACHEL POMERANCE “to buy human beings and their future.” JERUSALEM (JTA)--Life boiled down to After continuing on to Budapest, the one egg for Sarah Pechanac. group flew to Tel Aviv. Shortly after war erupted in Sarajevo in Like most Bosnians, Pechanac’s family the early 1990s, her family’s home was was secular, and they had many Jewish wrecked in a bombing that forced them friends. Soon after she arrived in Israel, into communal quarters underground. she decided to convert. Hope came in the form of a single egg “It’s a love story,” she says. “I want all --a piece of charity dispensed from my life to be a Jew” and “I feel all my life Jewish communities to the general pub- that I am a Jew.” lic in Bosnia. Fittingly, Pechanac now works at Yad Pechanac, who was Vashem as an archives In the summer of 1985, Israel’s manager at the museum. born a Muslim, describes the jubilation Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Pechanac imbibed she felt asking her invited Pechanac's mother, Israel’s Jewish culture daughter, then 9, how Zejneba Harbaja, to plant a tree as families welcomed she would like the egg her to their Shabbat honoring her family as prepared. At the end of dinner tables. She the 20th century, in the “Righteous Gentiles.” jumped into the Fittingly, Pechanac now works crowds shopping at middle of Europe, their biggest decision was at Yad Vashem as an archives Jerusalem’s Mahane “how to eat one egg,” manager at the museum. Yehuda market, pickshe muses. ing over spices and The egg symbolizes the life story of sweets, figs and flowers for Shabbat. Pechanac, who went on to complete a And she labored with rabbis. Approval Jewish circle begun by her family. came one year after her immigration Fifty years earlier, under Nazi occupa- when, exasperated, she asked, “If I keep tion, her parents and grandfather hid Shabbat and kashrut,” and send my Jews in their Sarajevo home, which was daughter to a Jewish school, can I situated across from Gestapo headquar- become Jewish? ters in Yugoslavia. “Welcome, you are a daughter of Through their connections, the well-to- Israel,” the rabbis answered, she says. do family fabricated Christian identificaPechanac changed her name from Aida tion documents for Jews to flee to Italy to Sarah--she likes to go by “Sarah of and Palestine. Jerusalem”--and her daughter’s name to Pechanac’s grandfather was jailed for Esther. At 46, her husband, Vladimir, was aiding Jews. He eventually was shipped circumcised and changed his name to to a concentration camp, and never Moshe. heard from again. The couple remarried in a traditional In the summer of 1985, Israel’s Yad Jewish ceremony, and her daughter, Vashem Holocaust Memorial invited now a 20-year-old officer in the Israel Pechanac's mother, Zejneba Harbaja, to Defense Forces, had a Bat Mitzvah. plant a tree honoring her family as The death of Pechanac’s mother--and “Righteous Gentiles.” her daughter's reaction to it--further Nearly a decade later, in the thick of fueled her Jewish mission. Pechanac’s the Bosnian conflict, Israel took daughter, then 11, urged the family to Pechanac and her family on the last con- leave Israel in search of Jews they could voy of Jews rescued from the city. aid. Pechanac's daughter explains that The convoy was organized by the she wants to continue her grandmother's American Jewish Joint Distribution legacy of helping Jews. Committee, which had been involved in There are still “a lot of Jews around the humanitarian efforts during the Bosnian war. world who need help, so we should get Pechanac remembers that the convoy there and give them” help, she told JTA. --300 people on six buses--passed 24 In response, Pechanac, whose sister checkpoints from Sarajevo to Makarska, is Muslim and brother is Christian, has a small Croatian town on the Adriatic toured North American Jewish federaSea. At each stop, convoy organizers tions during the past nine years, raising paid cash to facilitate their passage. The funds for the relief of Jews in distress. Jewish Agency for Israel helped her and “With my story, I want to motivate peoothers from the convoy to get to Israel. ple to continue to help our brothers and “Here you can see where money sisters all around the word,” she says. goes,” she says, praising the work of the JTA staff writer Rachel Pomerance visited Jewish Agency and the JDC, overseas Kiev and Israel on a trip partially sponbeneficiaries of the federation system-- sored by the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Page 10

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Synagogue Listings

October 24, 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

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: At Shabbat morning services, 9:30 a.m., we will celebrate together as Macklin Emas, son of Rick and Leigh Emas, is called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah. The family will host a kiddush following services. Junior Congregation: A learning service especially for students in Grades 4-7, meets at 10:30 a.m.; K’tantan: A Shabbat enrichment program for K-3, 10:45 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Services Sunday, 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, 6:55 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. ADULT EDUCATION Rabbi Mordechai Levin continues his weekly sessions for adults, on Thursday, Oct. 30, noon, in the library. This year’s theme is “Jewish Wisdom for the 21st Century.” For information, or to make a reservation for optional lunch, at 1 p.m., please call the synagogue, 492-8550. The Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah class will meet with Cantor Gaston Bogomolni, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m. 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

SATURDAY: Morning Services, 8:45 a.m.; Free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 10:30 a.m.; Kiddush sponsored by Sisterhood; Mincha, 6:05 p.m.; Havdalah, 7:11 p.m. SUNDAY: Morning Services, 9 a.m.; Mincha, 5 p.m. MONDAY: Rosh Chodesh Women’s Brunch, 11:30 a.m. in the JCC’s Community Room, led by Rocheyl Simon. Bagel Bin lunch provided for $5. Please make reservations with Rocheyl at 330-4695. Talmud Class with Rabbi Kutner, 7 p.m. Weekday Morning Services, 7 a.m.; Weekday Mincha and Ma’ariv, 6:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Lunch and Learn with Rabbi Kutner, noon, at the office of Joe Kirshenbaum, 13710 First Nat’l Bank Pkwy. Bagel Bin lunch provided for $5; make reservations with the synagogue office. LET’S GO OUT TO EAT Sunday, Nov. 2, 5:30 p.m. Hungarian kosher dinner.

BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Kabblat Shabbat, 7:30 p.m.; Adam Simons will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah, at the synagogue. SATURDAY: Bar Mitzvah of Adam Simons, 9:30 a.m., at the synagogue. SUNDAY: Tikkun Olam Project, 4 p.m.

CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. MondayFriday, morning services, 7 a.m. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6:40 p.m.

333 S. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154

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: Kabbalat Shabbat Services, 6:15 p.m.

Temple Israel

Improvements Made to Cemeteries

Rose Blumkin Jewish Home

Member of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations 7023 Cass Street Omaha, NE 68132-2651 556-6536 templeisrael-ne.org

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: Shabbat Service, 7:45 p.m.; led by Rabbi Stiel, followed by an oneg. SATURDAY: Shabbat service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. SUNDAY: Interfaith Council awards dinner for DiAnna Schimek. ADULT EDUCATION Tuesday, Oct. 28: “Modern & Ancient Approaches to God and Spirituality.”, 7 p.m.; led by Rabbi Stiel. Tuesday, Nov. 4: Prof. 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: Services, 9 a.m.; led by Andrew Greenberg.

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.; Shabbat Evening Service, 7:30 p.m.: Rabbi Craig Marantz and Cantor Wendy Shermet will officiate. Rabbi Marantz will give the sermon. The Oneg Shabbat will be sponsored by the Women of Reform Judaism. SATURDAY: Bagels and Sacred Books, 9:30-10:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 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 Religious School. Please make a

Tifereth Israel Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 423-8569 tiferethisraellincoln.org

PERSONAL Thanks to every one for saying Prayers and Tehillim for me. God was listening and did indeed answer your loving thoughts and good wishes. The surgery was successful and each day I get stronger. David has been a wonderful support throughout this challenging time. This New Year is indeed a new beginning and may we all go from strength to strength. Shirley Goodman

by BETH COHEN Executive Director, Beth Israel The Cemetery Committee of Beth Israel Synagogue has made great strides over the past many weeks to improve the maintenance level at each of the synagogue’s cemeteries: Golden Hill, Beis Hamedrosh Hagadol/Fisher Farms, and the Beth Israel

Cemetery. Additional maintenance staff has been hired and the committee is considering some options for improvement projects for spring of 2004. Pictured above left: The new section of BHH/Fisher Farms Cemetery; top right: The Star Garden at Beth Israel Cemetery; bottom right: Golden Hill Cemetery.

Candlelighting Friday, October 24, 6:12 p.m.

reservation through the Temple office. Cost is $2 per family. Sorry, no facilities for infants. ADULT EDUCATION TUESDAY, 7-8:30 p.m.: John Dacey will lead a discussion of Herzl’s The Jewish State, written more than 100 years ago. WEDNESDAY, 6:45-8:30 p.m.: “History of Israel, Part I: Biblical and Pre-Modern Foundations” with Dr. Moshe Gershovich. Thursday, 10-11:30 a.m.: “Adult Study With The Clergy” with Cantor Wendy Shermet. RABBI URI REGEV Friday, Oct. 31, 7:30 p.m.: Rabbi Regev, Executive Director of the Jerusalem-based World Union of Progressive Judaism, will speak about “Who Cares About the Rest of the Jews in the World?” Saturday, Nov.1, 9:30-10:15 a.m.: Rabbi Regev will join the study of this week’s Torah portion. Sunday, Nov. 2, 10 a.m.: Bagel brunch and discussion with Rabbi Regev on “Judaism, Power and Moral Restraint--Conflict Resolution in Jewish Tradition.” BAR MITZVAH Dylan Jack Saferstein, son of Lynda and Mark Saferstein, and Stephanie and Mike Siedschlag, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah at the Shabbat Morning Service, Saturday, Nov. 1.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Rabbi Stanley M. Rosenbaum. Minyan, Monday & Thursday, 7:15 a.m. FRIDAY: Shabbat Services, 8 p.m. SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Bar Mitzvah of David Solomon, 10:15 a.m.; kiddish luncheon, sponsored by Angie DeCamp, follows services Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:40 p.m. WEDNESDAY: The Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m.

Beth El to Host Sunday Morning Classes by DIANE AXLER BAUM for Beth El Synagogue On four occasions this month and next at Beth El, parents have an opportunity to attend learning sessions for adults during the hours their children are in Sunday School. The first two sessions, sponsored by the Jewish Federation, are open to the entire community. • Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and Vice-president at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, discusses, “Who Are We Meant to Be?” on Oct. 26, 10:15 a.m. • Prof. Alvin Rosenfeld, Director of the Institute for Jewish Culture and the Arts, and Professor of Jewish Studies at Indiana University, in Bloomington, will speak on “The Future of Memory” on Nov. 9, 10 a.m. In addition, the parents of students in Beth El Synagogue Talmud Torah (BESTT) are invited to two Sunday morning sessions in the library. On Nov. 16 and 23, 10 a.m., Beth El’s Rabbi Mordechai Levin will discuss matters of significance “Between Parents and Children.” The two classes, he said, “will focus on source-texts to explore what parents owe children; what children owe parents; common-sense parenting, limits of parental authority; handling child-parent disagreements and related issues.”

UNVEILING SUNDAY, Nov. 2: A monument will be unveiled in memory of Dave Richtman, 1 p.m., at Golden Hill Cemetery.

October 24, 2003

A Document of Faith, not a Scientific Treatise

SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MORDECHAI LEVIN Parashat Bereishit The first parashah of the Torah, Bereishit, tells that God created the world in seven days and rested on the Shabbat. Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, and were expelled after disobeying God's prohibition against eating from a certain tree. Their sons, Cain and Abel, fight and Cain kills his brother Some Christian groups who read the text in a literal manner have proposed that biblical creationism be included in public school classes as an addition to, or even a replacement for, the study of evolution. They base their argument on a belief that the book of Genesis offers a true, accurate, and complete account of creation. All ultra-Orthodox and some Orthodox Jews share this literalism (the disposition to take words and statements in their literal sense). Ismar Schorch, Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, wrote that “the Torah’s story of creation is not intended as a scientific treatise, worthy of equal time with Darwin’s theory of evolution in the curriculum of our public schools.” And Nahum Sarna, General Editor of the JPS Torah Commentary, pointed out that “literalism involves a fundamental misconception of the mental processes of biblical man and ignorance of his modes of self-expression. It thus misrepresents the purport of the narrative, obscures the meaningful and enduring in it and destroys its relevancy.” The biblical creation narrative is a document of faith. It enunciates the fundamental postulates of Judaism, offering important truths about human beings and our world. What can we learn from these stories? Here are a few examples. In the beginning God created heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1). The universe is the purposeful product

DEATH RUTH KAPLAN Former Omahan Ruth Kaplan died at the age of 86. Burial was in Las Vegas, NV. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ben Kaplan. She is survived by sons and daughters-in-law, Gene and Ronna Kaplan, Steve and Lynnda Kaplan of Aurora, OH; sons, Marc Kaplan of Payson, AZ, and Donn Kaplan of Las Vegas.

NCJW Turns a New Generation of OPS Elementary Students into Readers

by SALLY ZIPURSKY NCJW Public Relations Co-Vice-president Volunteers from the National Council of Jewish WomenOmaha Section picked up 1400 dictionaries Monday to distribute to fourth graders in Omaha Public Schools. This is the eighth year the organization has funded and run this community service project. Above: Volunteers Gary Kudym, left, Dictionary Day Chairman Sandy Epstein, Robbie Kudym and Tuffy Epstein load the Kudym’s car with dictionaries.

of God, who is a transcendent Being outside of nature and who is sovereign over space and time. The diversity and complexity of creation is not attributed to multiple and competing realms of power. All existence owes its state of being to God. In the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (1:27). All human beings are descendants of the first man and woman. All humanity is one family. Our common origins contribute to human harmony. No human being can claim to have come from ancestors more noble than another’s. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that He had done. (2:3). Shabbat is unlike anything else in antiquity. The day made little sense to Roman intellectuals who ridiculed the idea of giving up one-seventh of one’s life. In the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, the Sabbath is a day of harmony and peace. Peace between man and man, peace within man, and peace with all things. God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden, to till it and tend it. (2:15). Human beings must be caretakers of the natural world. Every generation has the responsibility to make sure that the natural world--the work of God’s will--is passed on intact to the following generations. What have you done? Hark, your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground! (4:10). Human life is of infinite value, for uniquely among the creatures, we bear the image of God. Preservation of human life takes precedence over all commandments in the Torah except three: idolatry, murder, and forbidden sexual relations. The Talmud teaches that the taking of a life must be seen as the moral equivalent of destroying the whole world, and a person who saves one life is as if he saved a whole world. Yes, Torah is not a scientific treatise. Science is concerned with facts. Torah is concerned with values. Science tells us how. Torah tells us what for. Science offers knowledge. Torah offers wisdom. And much of that wisdom is found in the Genesis story.

JTA NEWS BRIEFS • Syria’s nuclear capabilities are a threat to U.S. national security, a senior State Department official said. John Bolten, Undersecretary of State for arms control and international security, told the House of Representatives’ International Relations Committee that Syria remains a threat because of moves to seek weapons of mass destruction, and because of the security and protection it offers to terrorist groups. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) gave Bolten a letter addressed to President Bush that seeks a downgrade in U.S.Syrian relations until Syria breaks its ties with terrorism, including withdrawal of each country’s ambassador. Syria is one of the countries on the State Department's list of terrorist-sponsoring nations. • Six percent of French Jews say they will move to Israel, according to a recent poll. The poll, conducted by Erik Cohen, a demographer at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, found that 36 percent of French Jews said they might consider immigrating to Israel while 58 percent said they would not consider the option, the Jerusalem Post reported. Last year, some 2,400 French Jews left for Israel, according to Jewish Agency for Israel figures. The survey contacted 1,132 French Jewish families for the survey. • Israel is reducing its allocation to the birthright israel program to a symbolic sum. The cut in the state’s 2004 draft budget would bring the figure down to $500,000 for 2004 from its original commitment of $14 million for five consecutive years. However, Israel will restore its full financial commitment to Birthright in 2005, said Israel’s minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora affairs, Natan Sharansky. Sharansky was was involved in 11th-hour negotiations on the matter with Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and American philanthropist Michael Steinhardt. Funding for the program, which provides free trips to Israel for Jewish youths aged 18-26 who have never before visited Israel on an organized tour, is shared equally by Israel’s government; the United Jewish Communities, the umbrella federation group; and private philanthropists, as well as other Jewish groups.

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

Page 11

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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

October 24, 2003

Leader of World Union for Progressive Judaism to Ask: “Who Cares About the Rest of the Jews…?” by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator “A charming and articulate 43-year-old father, Rabbi Uri Regev might seem like the perfect man for a pulpit job,” reported the Stamford, CT, Ledger. However, “Regev has chosen to do battle with the Israeli religious establishment, hoping to achieve his vision of an Israel open to all forms of Jewish expression. Perhaps you could say that his pulpit is the entire country.” A native of Tel Aviv, Rabbi Regev is an attorney and served in the Israel Defense Force as an assistant legal advisor in the Gaza Strip and Sinai and as a military prosecutor of the Israeli Navy. He currently holds the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Reserves and lives in Jerusalem with his wife and their two children. Executive Director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, Rabbi Regev will give the sermon at Shabbat worship services on Friday, Oct. 31, 7:30 p.m. at Temple Israel. His subject will be: “Who Cares About the Rest of the Jews in the World?” Founded in 1926, the World Union of Progressive Judaism’s aims are to create common ground between its 1200 Reform, Progressive, Liberal, and Reconstructionist congregations and also to promote Progressive Judaism in places where individuals and groups are seeking authentic yet modern ways of expressing themselves as Jews. In addition to its Jerusalem headquarters, there are regional offices in London and Moscow. ARZA/World Union is the rep-

resentative of the World Union for Progressive Judaism in North America. Rabbi Regev is also one of the founding members of the Israel Religious Action Center which, in 1985, petitioned the Supreme Court of Israel on behalf of Susan Miller, an American Reform Jewby-choice who was denied the right to make aliyah. Israeli authorities did not recognize her as Jewish. During the course of the court proceedings, the Interior Ministry announced that it would register Miller as a Jew. “Israel, ironically (is) the only democratic country in the world where Jews are denied their religious freedom,” pointed out Rabbi Regev in an article in the summer issue of Reform Judaism. “Many Diaspora Jews rise to defend Jewish rights everywhere on the globe except in Israel. They condone abuses in the Jewish state they would never tolerate in their own communities.” In Israel, “If you count the actual duespaying members of the 25 Reform congregations, it would amount to a few thousand,” said Rabbi Regev in the Reform Judaism article. “But if you count the Israelis who participate in Reformsponsored activities, such as worship services, educational programs and schools, and life cycle celebrations, the number would be in the tens of thousands--and growing fast.” “Today, as the largest international religious Jewish organization, we need to have a seat at the table of interfaith dialogue. We need to be active players in efforts to confront the growing threat of anti-Semitism in France, Russia, and else-

Rabbi Uri Regev where. We need to be more involved in international organizations connected with the United Nations such as the World Conference on Religion and Peace and the Human Rights Commission in Geneva.” In the belief that “we are able to make a greater impact in the world as a movement when we go beyond the concerns of the synagogue,” Rabbi Regev advocates addressing “such issues as religious freedom, ecology, world hunger, and women’s rights. In doing so, we also gain further ‘legitimacy’ and relevance in the minds of Jews who might otherwise see our activities as parochial and selfserving. Our presence in interfaith dia-

logue will not only enable us to make a greater contribution to international discourse…but also gain us greater impact and visibility that will have the effect of empowering our local congregations.” Rabbi Regev has also been associated with the Jewish Agency; the Association of Civil Rights in Israel; HEMDAT, the Council for Freedom of Science, Religion, and Culture in Israel; the Forum for National Responsibility, established by the Rabin Center in cooperation with the Council for National Security in order to address social schisms within Israeli society; the Joint Headquarters for Freedom of Religion; the Forum for Free Choice in Marriage which works for the introduction of civil and non-Orthodox marriage options in Israel; Rabbis for Human Rights; the Institute for Progressive Halacha; and B’Tselem which monitors human rights in the occupied territories. In conjunction with Rabbi Regev’s talk, a dinner will be prepared by Chef Moshe Basson, owner/chef of the Eucalyptus, the Jerusalem Land of Israel Restaurant, Shabbat dinner will be served at 6 p.m. preceding services at Temple for those who make reservations by Friday, Oct. 24. Basson, from Jerusalem, is on a three-week visit to the U.S., preparing meals featuring authentic Israeli and biblical flavors. His restaurant is presently closed due to the turmoil in Israel. Dinner is $18 for adults and $8 for children (12 and younger) and is open to the community. All proceeds will be for the benefit of Chef Basson. For reservations, call the Temple office, 556-6356.

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