Vol. LXXXV No. 10 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 84 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
With Discovery of Ancient Church, Israel Banks on Christian Tourism
16 Cheshvan, 5766 November 18, 2005
Two from Omaha Experience Israel on Birthright Trips
representative in by GIL SEDAN Italy, told JTA JERUSALEM (JTA)--It that the impormay not qualify as a miratance of religious cle, but an exceptional tourism shouldn’t archaeological find in the be underestimatMegiddo Prison in northed. ern Israel could prove to I “When be a tourism bonanza for served in Italy, Israel. they displayed an “This finding may attract exhibit with the millions of Christian pilsupposed shroud grims to Israel,” Tourism of Jesus. Some Minister Avraham two million peoHirschson told JTA. ple visited the Through September, place in two some 1.4 million tourists weeks,” she said. have visited Israel this year. In 2000, before the Israel offers intifada Palestinian the Christian pilbegan, tourism reached Discovered during construction in Israel’s Megiddo prison, the ruins of a grim a journey an all-time high of 2.67 Christian church, dated by some experts as approximately 1,700 years old, into the past that are cleaned by an Israeli prisoner. Credit: BP Images/JTA can’t be matched million visitors. The archaeological find was impressive: Inmates at the elsewhere. In addition to Megiddo--the biblical prison uncovered the remains of a 1,700-year-old church Armageddon, site of the projected doomsday conflict in during an excavation designed to clear the way for a new the New Testament--pilgrims have no lack of historic sites. A standard seven-day tour takes the religious tourist to prison wing. The mosaic floor decorated with Greek inscriptions, as Caesarea, capital of Judea under the Romans; Jesus’ well as remnants of an altar decorated with fish--a hometown of Nazareth; the Sea of Galilee; Tabgha, site Christian emblem that preceded the crucifix--raises of the miracle of fish and loaves; the Church of hopes that these are remains of “the oldest church in the Multiplication, with its fourth-century mosaic floor; Mount of the Beatitudes, where Jesus delivered the world,” Hirschson said. But can one develop a world tourism center within a Sermon on the Mount; the Banias spring and waterfall, where Peter made his great confession; the Jordan River; prison compound? and, of course, Jerusalem. “No, we’ll move the prison,” he said. Noa Sher-Greco, who served as the Tourism Mini-stry’s Continued on page 13
by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator “I wanted to go to Israel my whole life,” insisted Rebecca (Becki) Smedlund, an Omahan who attends the University of Kansas in Lawrence. “I know a lot of people who had tried to go before and their trips got cancelled.” But she thought she would try to apply to birthright Israel, a free ten-day tour of Israel for young Jews, ages 18 through 26, who have never been there on a peer/educational tour. Becki’s trip wasn’t cancelled. In January of this year, she found herself on her way to Israel with about 30 other students from KU. The trip was sponsored by KU Hillel. Lauren Freeman, a junior at Washington University in St. Louis, who is majoring in political science and international business, also saw Israel on a birthright trip. She was there in May and June 2005 on a Washington University Hillel-sponsored trip. Continued on page 20
Becki Smedlund plants a tree at the Jewish National Fund Forest at Shaar Hagag while on a birthright israel trip.
Nebraskans Make Impact on Film Scene The Return of the (Omaha) Native by GARY JAVITCH wanted to advocate for indeLook for a big difference pendent filmmaking, promote and major improvement in social education through film, your movie-going enjoyment and gain wider distribution of next year. That’s when native singular voices in filmmaking Omahan Rachel Jacobson will through the non-profit sector. open a new independent film Until she could realize her theater. dream, Jacobson worked in Even before her graduation fundraising, specifically in from the University of Illinois individual giving and marketing at WNYC, New York Champaign/Urbana in 2000, Public Radio, the most lisRachel held an abiding interRachel Jacobson tened-to-public radio station est in the movies. She nurtured it during her last semester of col- in the country. In addition, she pursued lege while taking history and criticism her love of film, enjoying the excellent courses in both French and documentary non-profit and art cinemas the city offers, film. It was then that Jacobson conceived and developing close personal relationships with filmmakers, critics, and other of the idea for an art cinema in Omaha. The idea continued to take shape after industry professionals. Saddle Creek Records Project she earned her English and Political Science degree and moved to New York It was Saddle Creek Records executives City. In the Big Apple, the young gradu- Jason Kulbel and Robb Nansel who actuate worked at Miramax Films in distribu- ally prompted Rachel’s return. The duo tion. “When I saw how the industry pri- was aware of Jacobson’s concept for a oritized money over art, it reaffirmed my non-profit cinema and wanted to incorpersonal mission,” Rachel said. porate her idea into their own project. Her mission was to start a non-profit, Their blueprint called for the redevelopindependent theater back in her home- ment of “NoDo”--North Downtown-town. More formally, she wanted to through a unique mixed-use entertain“enhance the cultural environment of ment district on vacant land between Omaha through the presentation and dis- 13th and 14th Streets and Cuming and cussion of film.” Webster. All of this is just west of the She envisioned three ways to share her Qwest Center. appreciation of the art form. Jacob-son Continued on page 8
Inside Opinion Page see page 16
Former Omahan’s Documentary Debuts in San Diego “Growing up in Omaha was really a by PAM MONSKY Tony Okun had an idea, a question and great thing, especially in the Jewish comcamera. In his film, The Park, a docu- munity. I love Omaha. My father, and brother still live there, mentary about his old and I visit often. The neighborhood park in great thing about the Los Angeles, Okun Jewish community in ponders the simple Omaha is that it seems question, “What if the like everyone knows park could talk? What each other, and I stories would it tell?” always liked that,” he The result is a explained. “Being remarkable and often humorous view of how involved in Weizmann a park affects the lives Jewish youth group of the people who go during high school was there. great, too, because not Okun’s own story of only did I play sports how a Jewish boy from with them, but I had a Omaha has become an whole additional up-and-coming filmgroup of friends outside of high school. maker in California is “There is just a tighter also remarkable. bond among the Okun attended WestJewish community that side High School and The Park, Tony Okun’s documentary, you don’t get outside graduated from the debuted in San Diego. University of Nebraska of it and I miss it,” in Lincoln in 1991 with a degree in reflected Okun. Journalism and Advertising. He moved The difference between living in a city to San Diego in 1993 and two years later such as Omaha and a metropolis like Los relocated to Los Angeles where he lived Angeles became amplified during the for more than ten years before moving time Okun lived there. Continued on page 14 back to San Diego.
This Week: Special Issue on Travel & Entertainment Live from 92nd St. Y presents Wiesel and Stewart Broadcasts: Page 2
Part III of JTA’s Investigative Series on What Your Kids Are Learning: Page 4
Coming Next Month: Hanukkah Gift Guide on Dec. 16 Romania, Roumania, Rumania Topic of Historian’s Footprint: Page 6
Exclusive Interview with King of the Corner’s Riegert and Shapiro: Pages 10
Page 2
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
November 18, 2005
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FRIDAY, NOV. 18 BBYO Regional Board Training in KC, Nov. 18=20 “Ima and Me” Class, 10:30 a.m. at Chabad House Visions Luncheon Meeting, 12:30 p.m. at Venice Inn SATURDAY, NOV. 19 C HAZAK Lunch & Learn, 12:30 p.m. at Beth El L SUNDAY, NOV. 20 I P Living Hebrew Class and Bible Study, 10 a.m.
C L I P
at Beth El & Adult Education, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel
&
Prayer Class and Jewish Potpouri, 11 a.m. at Beth El S Yachad Israeli Dance & Story-Telling, 1 p.m. A V MONDAY, NOV. 21 E
S A V E
JSS Senior Luncheon, 10 a.m. Hadassah Board Meeting, 1 p.m. BEAM, 7 p.m. at Beth El Youth Commission, 7:30 p.m. at Beth El Derekh Torah Course, 7:30 p.m. Jewish Press Meeting, 7:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 23 OTYG Interfaith Program, 6 p.m. at Temple Israel & Thanksgiving Interfaith Service, 7 p.m. at Temple Israel S THURSDAY, NOV. 24 A V JCC CLOSED FOR THANKSGIVING E Beth El USY Kinnus, Nov. 24-27, in Minneapolis
Beth Israel Annual Flag Football Game, 10 a.m. 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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L I P & S A V E
by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator This year, Temple Israel will host the annual Thanksgiving Interfaith Service, a gathering of congregants from First United Methodist Church, Dundee Presbyterian Church, First Christian Church, St. Margaret Mary’s Church, Underwood Hills Presbyterian Church, and Temple. The service will take place this Wednesday, Nov. 23, 7 p.m. Temple’s Cantor Wendy Shermet said, Temple Israel’s choir Kol Rina will sing four songs with choirs from the churches. Two of the selections are in English and Hebrew; the other two are in English. A bell choir will also present music of peace and thanksgiving. Instrumentalists will include Temple members Tom Friedman on guitar and Hannah Grossman playing her flute as well as musicians from the churches. In addition, Cantor Shermet said she will chant from the Torah, “Mi Shebeirach” will be sung, and the shofar will be blown.
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Call Allan Handleman 334-6451
shows from NBC--her reality show “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart” and her daytime syndicated show “Martha”--as well as a radio program on Sirius satellite radio which will provide daily round-the-clock how-to content. Stewart will discuss the secrets of her success, her career and her new book, The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Grow, or Manage a Business. Inspiration surrounded Stewart at an early age. Raised in Nutley, New Jersey, in a family with six children, she developed her passion for Martha Stewart cooking, gardening and home keeping in her childhood home on Elm Place. Her mother, a schoolteacher and homemaker, taught her the basics of cooking, baking, canning and sewing, and her father, a pharmaceutical salesman and avid gardener, introduced her to gardening at the age of three in the family’s small but orderly backyard garden. While earning a bachelor’s degree in history and architectural history at Barnard College, Martha worked as a model to pay her tuition. She got married during her sophomore year, and upon graduating, became a successful stockbroker on Wall Street, where she gained her early business training. After moving to Westport, CT, with her husband and daughter, Alexis, in 1972, she developed a catering business that showcased her remarkable talent and originality. Her unique visual presentation of food and the elegant recipes she created for her catered events were the basis for her first book, Entertaining (Crown, 1982), which has become an American classic. Martha Stewart was named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women” by Fortune magazine in October 1998, as well as one of “America’s 25 Most Influential People” by Time magazine in June 1996. She has earned two Emmy Awards for “Outstanding Service Show Host” (for the 1994-95 and 1996-97 broadcast seasons), and Martha Stewart Living earned an Emmy for “Outstanding Service Show” for the 1998-99 season. Martha Stewart Living has been honored with numerous awards, including three National Magazine Awards, more than 50 Society of Publication Designers Awards, and the Acres of Diamonds Awards for Magazine Development. Stewart will be interviewed by Stephen J. Adler, editor-in-chief of Business Week magazine. The Elie Wiesel broadcast is co-sponsored by the Center for Jewish Education, formerly Jewish Educational and Library Services, and the Martha Stewart broadcast is co-sponsored by an anonymous donor. Both programs are also funded in part by the Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Supporting Foundation. The broadcasts will be shown in the JCC Theater, and tickets for each program are $5 and can be purchased in advance by calling Cindy Reed, Registration Associate, at 334.6419. For more information about the Live from NY’s 92 ST Y Series, contact me at 334.6404.
Temple Israel to Host Thanksgiving Interfaith Service
TUESDAY, NOV. 22 “The Guy & Bob Show”, noon BBYO Night, 6 p.m. Adult Education, 7 p.m. at Temple Israel C “The Guy & Bob Show” Evening Edition, 7:30 p.m. C L I P
by RACHEL BLUM JCC Program Director The Live from NY’s 92nd Street Y Satellite broadcasts continue in December with two very different subjects. On Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m., Elie Wiesel will return to our satellite programming with a live discussion titled, “The Time of the Uprooted.” The years of exile and repeated expulsions of Jews across the globe mirror the early experience of our forefather Abraham. He, too, was forced to leave his home and begin anew in a strange and Elie Wiesel hostile land. The theme of uprootedness has been molded into the Jewish psyche and has had a most profound influence on Jewish life today. This lecture is part of a 92 St Y four-part series by Wiesel that explores the evolution of the Jewish people throughout history. Elie Wiesel was born in 1928 in Sighet, Transylvania, which is now part of Romania. He was 15 years old when he and his family were deported by the Nazis to Auschwitz. His mother and younger sister perished, his two older sisters survived. Elie and his father were later transported to Buchenwald, where his father died shortly before the camp was liberated in April 1945. After the war, Wiesel studied in Paris and later became a journalist. During an interview with the distinguished French writer, Francois Mauriac, he was persuaded to write about his experiences in the death camps. The result was his internationally acclaimed memoir, La Nuit or Night, which has since been translated into more than thirty languages. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed Elie Wiesel as Chairman of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust. In 1980, he became the Founding Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. He is also the Founding President of the Parisbased Universal Academy of Cultures and the Chairman of The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, an organization he and his wife created to fight indifference, intolerance and injustice. Wiesel has received more than 100 honorary degrees from institutions of higher learning. For his literary and human rights activities, Wiesel has received numerous awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal and the Medal of Liberty Award, and the rank of Grand-Croix in the French Legion of Honor. In 1986, Wiesel won the Nobel Prize for Peace, and soon after, Marion and Elie Wiesel established The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. On Sunday, Dec. 4, 6:30 p.m., the Live from NY’s 92nd Street Y series continues with an interview with Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart is an undeniable force in the business world. One of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs, she turned her personal passion into Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, a billion dollar business. This Fall she’s breaking new ground with two television
To purchase a gift subscription, visit the Jewish Press page on the Jewish Federation’s website at: www.jewishomaha.org, or call 402.334.6448. The annual rate is just $31.
Temple youth group members will meet at 5 p.m. at Village Inn, 78th and Dodge, for dinner--paid for by Omaha Temple Youth Group, and then carpool to Temple for the service. Reservations are helpful, but Director of Youth and Informal Education Lynne Jensen encouraged youth groupers to attend even if they don’t make a reservation. RSVP to her at Temple at 556.6536 or at ljensen@templeisraelomaha.com. Temple college students are also invited to the interfaith service. They will gather afterwards with Josh Katelman and make plans to meet at a place of their choice. All participating congregations will host a dessert reception at the conclusion of the service. Temple members can call Sandy Passer at 330.4289 to help provide baked goods. At the reception, cans of food will be collected for Together Inc. of Metropolitan Omaha which provides emergency relief services such as food, clothing, and financial assistance. The service is open to the public. EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE The Jewish Press office will be closed Thursday, Nov. 24, for Thanksgiving; the deadline for the Dec. 2 issue is Wednesday, Nov. 23. Questions? Call 334.6448.
November 18, 2005
JCC of Omaha Participates in National Campaign to Help Sister JCC of New Orleans by LISA SHKOLNICK At its November Board meeting, the Jewish Community Center of Omaha voted unanimously to send $10,000 to the JCC of New Orleans to help them get back on their feet after Hurricane Katrina. Gary D. Epstein, JCC President, indicated that “by participating with JCCs all over the country in an effort to raise $1 million for the New Orleans J, we will play a critical role in the rebuilding process of one of our sister JCCs.” The New Orleans J is facing tremendous challenges in trying to reopen and provide much needed service to the community. They have opened one of their two facilities and are beginning to operate day care out of the available space. The other facility has substantial damage and does not have a projected reopening date as of yet. The Center has been able to retain only 60% of their staff and they have funding only through December of this year. The JCC Association is coordinating the national cam-
paign to raise $1 million from its 220 affiliated Jewish Community Centers throughout North America. These funds will allow the New Orleans J to operate through next June, when they hope they can have enough programs and facilities back in operation to begin to generate their own income again. Capital repairs are being funded through money raised by United Jewish Communities. Edward H. Kaplan, Chairman, and Allan Finkelstein, President of the JCC Association of North America, thanked the Omaha JCC for its generous commitment to support the reopening of the New Orleans J, noting, “Your support will make it possible for the New Orleans Jewish community to feel a sense of return to normalcy while feeling connected to and embraced by the wider North American Jewish community.” The JCCs have just reached $200,000 in contributions and commitments. In all, there are now 29 JCCs participating in this movement-wide effort.
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 3
Yachad Enjoys Afternoon of Israeli Culture by DUANE J. PIEPER Earlier this month, the Yachad members gathered together to learn a few Israeli folk dance steps taught and directed by Cheryl Lerner. These steps put together in a creative and rhythmic sequence resulted in a number of well loved ethnic dances. What sometimes seems impossible to do on your own becomes a reality when you approach it together as a group with apt and professional guidance. Anyone who felt self-conscious of their two left feet found two right feet just waiting for them to help create something beautiful in a fun and satisfying way.
Friedel Children Collect Money for Hurricane Katrina Victims by JORDANA L. KURTZMAN evacuees. By working in conjunction with members of The children of Friedel Jewish Academy put the con- another faith, the children learned that tikun olam is the cept of Tikun Olam, or making the world a better place, responsibility of all people in society. into action when they colThe teachers chose several worthy charlected and sent money, ities which need financial help with their books, and toys to victims of continuing efforts to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Helping the hurricane that devastated the Gulf with the ongoing efforts to Coast, but they allowed the children to raise money, the children-vote for which charities their collected under the guidance of their funds would go. The students voted to teachers--were able to collect send half the money to the American Red $462 by bringing in their Cross and half the money to the Nebraska family’s tzedakah cans from Humane Society. Arzi believes this project was such a suchome. cess with the children because it gave the Friedel families also donatchildren “a sense of empowerment that ed 150 books and 60 gently they could help by going through their used games and toys which own toys and books to send to evacuees.” they delivered to St. Bernadette’s School in Samantha Wiener, left, Cleo Rogers- For more information about Friedel, call Bellevue which, in turn, Markovitz, Eva Phillips, Tal Margalit, and Katskee or Administrative Assistant Mary Jane Tweedy at 334.0517. delivered these supplies to Sophie Cemaj load books and toys)
Ron Giventer, left, Jackie Walker, Debbie Solomon, Jill Solomon, Ben Friedman, Kathie Pieper, Cheryl Lerner, Lisa Solomon, Josh Parsow, Na’ ama Arzi and Carol Parsow. The dancing was followed by a presentation which focused on the land and music of Israel shared by Rachel Ochana, the shlicha from Jerusalem who serves in the Omaha Jewish community. Through her pictures the group received a mini-tour of Israel from the Negev desert to snow-capped Mt. Hermon. Everyone enjoyed singing and humming to traditional Israeli tunes as Rachel lead them in song with her guitar. The next Yachad event will take place at the VSP Club on Nov. 20. As 2005 winds down the group will reflect on the events of the past year. They will have an opportunity to creatively express the memories and experiences with Yachad by constructing their own personalized picture collage. At the conclusion of the event, Yachad will celebrate with a group birthday party. Anyone wanting more information on the event, please call Jewish Family Service, at 334.6491.
The person who does good and does not pursue kavod (honor) Her kavod will overtake. Yiddish proverb
Frances Batt quietly planted seeds of compassion, the entwining of traditional and visionary ideas, and the central core of mitzvot in the Jewish and Omaha communities. We will always honor her memory for the lasting legacy of caring for and supporting the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. The Residents, Board, Administration and Staff of The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home
“May her memory be for a blessing.”
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
November 18, 2005
Part III: What Teachers Are Learning about Islam, Israel and the Mideast
by JTA STAFF REPORT WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Chairs are lined up in neat rows. Coffee is brewing, muffins arrayed. The table is thick with handouts. One of them is Saudi Aramco World, a magazine published by Aramco, the Saudi government-owned outfit that is the largest oil company in the world. The Arab World in the Classroom, published by Georgetown University, thanks Saudi Aramco on its back cover. Alongside it is the brochure of The Mosaic Foundation, an organization of spouses of Arab ambassadors in America, whose chairwoman and president of the board of trustees is Her Royal Highness Princess Haifa Al-Faisal of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. If you think this is a meeting of Saudi oil executives or Middle Eastern exporters or Saudi government officials, you are wrong: It’s a social studies training seminar for American elementary and secondary teachers, held last year at Georgetown University. It’s paid for by U.S. tax dollars, as the organizer points out in her introduction. “We are grateful to the grant we have under Title VI of the Department of Education that underwrites these programs,� Zeina Azzam Seikaly, outreach coordinator of Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, tells the more than three dozen current and former teachers at the seminar. Georgetown’s Middle East outreach program is one of 18 affiliated with federally designated national resource centers, each of which receives hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funds under Title VI of the Higher Education Act. Much has been written about the biased nature of Middle East studies programs at universities around the country. Less known is that with public money and the designation as a national resource center, universities such as Georgetown, Harvard and Columbia are dramatically influencing the study of Islam, Israel and the Middle East far beyond the college campus. As a condition of their funding, these centers are also required to engage in public outreach, which includes schoolchildren in grades K-12. Through professional development workshops for teachers and resource libraries, they spread teaching materials that analysts say promote Islam and are critical of Israel and the West. Georgetown’s outreach and the materials it disseminates are singled out for special praise by Dar al Islam, an educational center in Abiquiu, NM. Dar al Islam, which houses a mosque, religious school, summer camp and teacher training institute, was
financed in part by the late King Khaled ibn Aziz of Saudi Arabia. Its Web site lists four other outreach centers it admires: the University of California at Berkeley, Harvard, Penn and the University of Michigan. Professional development workshops like the one at Georgetown provide the most frequent paths for the dissemination of supplementary materials to history and social studies teachers, according to “The Stealth Curriculum: Manipulating America’s History Teachers,� a lengthy inquiry by educational expert Sandra Stotsky. Stotsky is a former director of a professional development institute for teachers at Harvard and a former senior associate commissioner of Massachusetts’ Department of Education. Her study was published last year by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a Washington-based education think tank. The problems with many of the supplemental materials, Stotsky said in her report, stem from “the ideological mission of the organizations that create them. “Their ostensible goal is to combat intolerance, expand students’ knowledge of other cultures, give them other ‘points of view’ on commonly studied historical phenomena and/or promote ‘critical thinking,’ “ she wrote. But an analysis of the materials convinced her that their real goal “is to influence how children come to understand and think about current social and political issues by bending historical content to those ends. “They embed their political agendas in the instructional materials they create so subtly that apolitical teachers are unlikely to spot them.� Among the materials Stotsky cites is The Arab World Studies Notebook, which has been widely criticized for bias, inaccuracies and proselytizing. Two school districts have banned the book, and the American Jewish Committee has urged others to follow suit. Audrey Shabbas, editor of the notebook, rejects the criticism. “We’re providing the Arab point of view,� she said. Responding to criticism that the material paints an overly rosy picture of Islam, she said, “My task is not to defend what Muslims do in the world� but to focus on the “difference between what people call themselves and what they do.� In an interview with JTA, Stotsky recounted that in the summer of 2002, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Massachusetts Department of Education decided to offer a seminar on Islam and the Middle East for area teachers. They accepted a proposal from Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies that “looked very promising.� One of the organizers of the seminar was Barbara Petzen, the center’s outreach coordinator. But when Stotsky and other officials saw the syllabus, which included the Arab World Studies Notebook, they requested that the course present a more balanced view of Islam. Officials wanted at least to include a book by Bernard Lewis, a Princeton University professor emeritus who is con-
sidered one of the pre-eminent authorities on Islam. But Petzen and her colleague “ducked recent history� by agreeing only to include one of Lewis’ older books from the 1970s, rather than one of his more recent critical perspectives on Islam, Stotsky said. Petzen could not be reached for comment. Stotsky was further shocked when she saw the lesson plans created by some of the seminar participants. One, which required the students to learn an Islamic prayer and design a prayer rug to simulate a mosque in the classroom, crossed the line. “It’s really indoctrination to have students do such religious things,� she said. While there is no way to know the extent to which the teachers, from 20 Massachusetts schools, ultimately incorporated their proposed lessons into the classroom, the assumption of the education department, which paid for the seminar, “is that the teachers use the material they learned,� Stotsky said. In New York City, meanwhile, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has barred the head of Columbia University’s Middle East Institute from lecturing to city teachers enrolled in professional development courses on the Middle East. That puts Columbia in an awkward position, since Rashid Khalidi not only is director of the Middle East Institute but also its outreach coordinator, whose job includes reaching out to elementary and secondary school teachers. Klein’s move in February against Khalidi, who holds the Edward Said chair at Columbia, was in response to “a number of things he’s said in the past,� said Michael Best, the department’s general counsel, according to The New York Times. The department wouldn’t specify any remarks, but The New York Sun reported that Khalidi has called Israel a “racist state.� Khalidi could not be reached directly, but he admitted to the Times in February that “I may have used the word ‘racist’ about Israeli policies.� He said he had talked about “the system of control of Palestinians, where they cannot move, and I said if that system is maintained, it would develop into worse than the apartheid system.� A spokesman for Klein said that “nothing has changed� in Khalidi’s status, meaning that he still is barred from lecturing at teacher-training seminars. For Stotsky, a major problem with the teacher-training seminars is the lack of oversight. “What teacher or principal is going to challenge� material that comes “with the sterling credentials of Harvard?� she said. While she doesn’t claim to have all the answers, Stotsky recommends halting public funding for professional development until there is “strong evidence that most history teachers learn something useful from a majority of workshops they attend.’’ JTA Editor Lisa Hostein was among the contributors to this report. The final part of this series will be in next week’s Jewish Press.
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November 18, 2005
Dedicated Therapist Joins Jewish Family Service by SHARON BARGAS JFS Program Coordinator Surrounded by books, artwork, and pictures of her children, Michelle Pfeifer, M.S., L.M.H.P, has dedicated her career to working with adolescents and young adults as a therapist at Jewish Family Service. Pfeifer’s experience ranges from families in crisis to outpatient therapy. She works with individuals and families adjusting to life changes and adolescents with at-risk behaviors and issues including depression, grief, family issues, and self-harming behavior. “It is exciting to watch these young adults become empowered as a result of therapy.” Her professional experience ranges from work at the Eastern Nebraska Community Office of Retardation to her work at the Child Saving Institute. In all, she has been working as a therapist for nine years. After having her first child in 2002, Pfeifer started her career at JFS as the Yachad Coordinator and then became a full-time therapist. According to Pfeifer, developmentally, teenagers need to separate from their parents emotionally and this process can be difficult and sometimes painful for parents. She recommends the following ideas to parents during this time: • Parents need to encourage their kids to bond with other trusted adults who can be a resource in times of crisis. • Find healthy and appropriate ways to show affection toward a young adult. “Sometimes parents feel awkward or uncertain about ways to maintain physical contact with their teen. Many times, adolescents need and desire this contact with
their parents.” • Parents should be encouraged to feel that it is okay to choose their relationship with their child over engaging in power struggles. “This can be scary for parents, but it is necessary in order to continue nurturing their relationships.” • Parents should be responsible for their actions and feel comfortable apologizing when necessary. This allows the adult to own their behavior and model an appropriate way to handle this type of situation. Equally as important, this communicates to teens that they did not “cause” the behavior in the parent (i.e. yelling, bad mood, poor decision) and are not responsible for taking care of the parent or making the parent feel better. “We know that the addition of Michelle to our staff will be a fantastic resource to many people in our community,” says Becki Brenner, Executive Director. JFS is a human service agency whose purpose is to strengthen and preserve life in the community at every stage of the life cycle. The certified and licensed staff is focused on providing services to families and individuals facing challenges in their lives. The agency provides counseling services for such issues as depression, child and adolescent difficulties, domestic abuse, grief, life transitions, couples and family difficulties, infertility counseling, as well as parenting concerns. “I wanted to work at JFS because I was familiar with the high quality of services provided to clients,” says Pfeifer. “It is inspiring to be a part of a process that allows people to make changes in their lives.” For more information on services provided at JFS, call 330.2024.
Beth El’s “Comfort and Conversation” Group to Discuss “Staying Afloat: Caring for Caregivers” by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Following a short break during the High Holidays, Beth El’s “Comfort and Conversation” group will resume on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 6 p.m. after minyan. Originally established to support those mourning the recent loss of a loved one, the group’s scope has expanded; this month’s theme, “Keeping Afloat” will address ways to support caregivers of loved ones. Speaker will be Chaplain Anne Marie Aita from the Visiting Nurse Association’s Hospice, and facilitators will be Shane Kotok, Director of Outreach and Admissions for Jewish Senior Services, and Shelly Fox, JSS social worker. Chaplain Aita, who has worked with Kotok as a speaker/support person at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home for the past several years, explained the importance of easing the stress and helping caregivers to sustain themselves as they tend to loved
ones. A sense of community, of support, is essential during these times, as “caregivers can sometimes feel isolated, and normal relationships can oftentimes be minimal, at best,” she said. Everyday relationships may go by the wayside because friends and acquaintances may not know how to be helpful, may feel uncomfortable dealing with illness and may be too busy with their own lives to lend support to those immersed in care giving situations. “Our main focus will be to give support to caregivers and show them how to help themselves.” All Jewish community members are welcome to attend. An optional dinner will be available at a $5 charge; reservations may be made by contacting Program Director Margie Gutnik at 492.8550, or at programming@ bethelomaha.org.
JFS Needs Communities Help to Stock Pantry for the Needy by SHARON BARGAS for Jewish Family Service Deciding what to cook for dinner is an everyday occurrence for most families. Unfortunately, stopping at the grocery store or pulling ingredients from kitchen cabinets is not always an option for some local families. As a result, these Jewish neighbors may be forced to go to bed hungry. Through the Jewish Family Service (JFS) Pantry, Jews have an opportunity to help feed low-income Jewish families. JFS, in keeping with the biblical mandate tikun olam, “perfecting the world,” established the Jewish Community Pantry in 2005. This program seeks to address the growing problem of hunger by supplying non-perishable food items to those in need. It may be a child’s classmate who has difficulty learning on an
empty stomach, the working mother whose low-wage job doesn’t cover living expenses, or an elderly neighbor who has to choose between filling a prescription or buying groceries. Currently, the following items are needed for the pantry: tuna, canned fruit, toiletries, cereal, paper goods, laundry detergent, cleaning products, kosher foods. “The JFS pantry exists to help fulfill the mitzvah of feeding the hungry,” says Becki Brenner, Executive Director. Food will be distributed once a week with eligible Jewish households able to pick up food twice a month. The pantry is open from 10 a.m. until noon. There will be no cost to food recipients. Donations can be dropped off at JFS, 333 So. 132 St., M-Th, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and until 2:30 p.m. on Friday.
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 5
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
November 18, 2005
“Romania, Roumania, Rumania� Famous Sammy’s Rumanian Steak House
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Karen has known Louise since she was 15. They went through high school and college together as well as the joys of family growth and the tsoris of aging. In the 1980s, we attended her children’s bar miztvahs. Louise still lives in the San Fernando Valley. Karen and Louise talk frequently on the phone, and I tag on as a third wheel on occasional get-togethers. Weddings traditionally involve rehearsal dinner for out of town guests. In July 2004, Louise’s son Glenn married Nadine in Los Angeles with a wonderful dinner in Malibu at the Taverna, a Greek style celebrity haunt. Louise’s 34-year-old entertainment lawyer daughter Allyson Weisberg met 39-year-old real estate developer Jonathan Simon from New York at Aspen. They were married on April 30, 2005 in New York. Karen and I have wanted to eat at Famous Sammy’s Roumanian Steak House for more than 20 years. We just never seemed to make it to the lower east side. Well, you guessed it. The rehearsal dinner was at Sammy’s. Two buses transported about 85 guests from the St. Regis Hotel to the old Jewish neighborhood. The restaurant is upstairs; the party room is on the lower level. And what a meal it was. Sammy’s accommodated Pesach with King David’s matza on the table. On the table was a bottle of Belvedere vodka in block of ice and Rumanian Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Sammy’s “Kleina� bar was just that, small, but generous. Dani, doubling as singer and DJ, kept people on the dance floor and although Fiddler on the Roof was playing at Omaha’s Orpheum theater and in New York, there were no renditions of “Sunrise Sunset.� Hors d’ouerves included pickled eggplant on matza, little cocktail weenies, and fried kreplach, described in Sammy’s Dictionary of Basic Yiddish
as kosher-style ravioli. The table was set with chopped egg with onion (reminiscent of gehackte eier that my father would make for Sunday breakfast), pickled cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, and a seltzer bottle. The waiters brought chopped liver with gribenes or greeven (fried onions) and schmaltz, Romanian karnatzlack, a combination of beef and veal labeled with the warning “For garlic eaters only.â€? The cabbage was stuffed with sliced brains, which I did not find out until after I ate it. Potato latkes were served with apple sauce. The choice of main course included Rumanian steak that covered the plate, the largest half-chicken I have ever seen, and a large salmon steak. All were accompanied by mashed potatoes with fried onions, and fresh fried potato chips. Dessert was an appropriately understated rugelach. Karen talked to the restaurant owner about how much fun she was having and that I would probably write a story. They gave her three t-shirts in return for a copy of this account which they will place on their wall with other kudos. The bus took us back to the hotel. Quite (un)characteristically bloated with vodka, schmaltz, thousands of calories, and carbohydrates, I slipped into a half-hour sleep or gustatory coma. I woke up as the bus pulled in front of our hotel. I had an Irish coffee followed by grappa with new-found friends at a little sidewalk cafĂŠ next to our hotel. Don’t wait to be invited to a New York wedding to get to Sammy’s. The regular menu includes other traditional Eastern European Jewish delicacies, including kishka, kasha varniskes, p’tcha, and liver with onions. Curiously there was no herring. And no one sang “Rumania Rumania.â€? When I go back, I will try the broiled or fried filet of sole, to balance the evil of cholesterol. The wedding was prominently reported in the Style Section of the Sunday New York Times. Author, attorney and historian Oliver B. Pollak can be reached at: OBPOMNI@aol.com.
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If you’ve ever been on the streets of New York you’ll savor this fascinating read from this radio personality/food writer/devoted and critical eater as he takes you through New York food history, personalities, neighborhoods, restaurants, up and down the streets of New York bite by bite from “In the Beginning: What the Indians Ate� through twenty more chapters to “The New Immigrants�. Many vintage photographs dot the pages. The chapter “The Jews� begins “The influence of Jews in New York City’s food culture cannot be overestimated.� and so does the Jewish food history from the early 1900s...appetizing (dairy) stores, bagels (and when they met lox), delicatessens, Dr. Brown’s Celery Tonic, Pickles, Reuben’s Restaurant,
egg cream, matzo balls, latkes, and more. Second Avenue Delicatessen’s Health Salad, Kinishes and some knishery history, Blintzes, and the almost forgotten Karnatzlach--a Romanian Yiddish word for “dear little sausages� are all part of this delightful book. Enjoy a stroll down memory lane and remember your visits on the streets of NYC! Each of the recipes in this chapter and the 100 in the cookbook are detailed in background and have clear instructions. The debate about the origin of the Reuben sandwich only relates to the recipe for the sandwich from Reuben’s Deli. “Arnold Reuben probably did not create the Reuben sandwich, but he took the credit.�, but we know the original was from the Blackstone Hotel, don’t we! REUBEN’S RUSSIAN DRESSING 1⠄2 cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon chili sauce or ketchup 1 teaspoon finely grated onion 1⠄2 teaspoon horseradish 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley Caviar (optional) In a small bowl or cup, combine all the ingredients and mix well. Makes about 1⠄2 cup.
Consecration Honors New Students at Temple Israel by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator Kindergartners and other new students at Temple Israel sang songs and received a special blessing from the clergy along with their parents on Simchat Torah at the children’s consecration, a yearly celebration at Temple. Marking the beginning of their formal Jewish education on the holiday were, first row: Sean Bernstein, left, kindergartner class teacher’s aide; Simon Murphy, Eliana Reiss, Ellie Simon,
Jonathan Gordman, Jane Glazer, Harrison Stoneking, Zoey Newman, Chloe Ray, Samantha Matz; second row: Adam Silverman, Ian Schrier, Madeleine Rauhauser, Benjamin Brodkey, Aleia Budwig, Harley Gordman, Hannah Bargas, Jack Fletcher, third row: Melany Weinstine and Ann Noodell, kindergarten teachers; Isaiah Schrier, Adam Cooper-Kahn, Adam Folsom, Mia Vinci, Kathleen Kirshenbaum, Steven Vinci, Rabbi Craig Marantz; fourth row: Noah Hale, Jessica Pfrenger, Abigail Schondelmeyer, Sarah Pfrenger; fifth row: Rabbi Aryeh Azriel and Cantor Wendy Shermet.
November 18, 2005
Plug Into “Rabbi Azriel Unplugged” at Temple Israel by CLAUDIA SHERMAN Temple Israel Communications Coordinator “Everything comes up!” at “Rabbi Azriel Unplugged,” according to the rabbi. A yearly chance to ask Rabbi Aryeh Azriel of Temple Israel anything you ever wanted to ask a rabbi, this educational opportunity will be on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 7 p.m., at Temple Israel. In the past, Rabbi Azriel has fielded inquiries on politics, Jewish identity, rituals, the relationship of American Jews to Israel, the occupation of the West Bank, even solutions to world problems. No question is insignificant, trivial, or out of the question. If there’s something you’ve always wanted to ask the rabbi, this is the night. Todd Hutton, who has attended “Rabbi Azriel Unplugged” in the past, said, “It gives participants a unique opportunity to probe Rabbi Azriel’s vast knowledge of Jewish faith, culture, and traditions. In this unscripted environment, the topics vary and the conversation expounds on any area of interest the participants choose to explore. It’s an outstanding interactive learning experience.” “There are always local, state, national, and world events that really help generate interest and comments,” added Jill Idelman, a past “Unplugged” participant. “I see that being the case again. Of course, Rabbi Azriel is never at a lost for comment, but this gives us a chance to hear him give his viewpoint from a somewhat unedited pulpit setting. The gathering also encourages dialogue that will help us better understand how we as Jews can be affected by secular and non-secular topics in our own lives.” There is no charge to attend “Rabbi Azriel Unplugged,” and it is open to all adults in the community.
Get-Out-of-Your-Kitchen Shabbat Dinner at Beth Israel by MARY BORT for Beth Israel Synagogue For most, Thanksgiving means enjoying a big homecooked meal with turkey and all the trimmings. However, by the next evening, you may be tired of turkey or toiling in the kitchen, and need a break. Not to worry! Following Kabbalat Shabbat at 4:45 p.m., Beth Israel will hold a “Get Out of Your Kitchen” Shabbat Dinner, on Friday, Nov. 25, 5:45 p.m. Reservations are required for the Shabbat Dinner. Cost is $12 for adults, $6 for children ages four to 12 and free for children ages three and under. Please call the office, 556.6288, to make your reservations.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 7
IN THE NEWS The Wandering Golfer, a show on the Fine Living Network, recently featured a segment with Omahan Gary Rifkin teaching the show’s host, Chad Maulsby, the art of playing “Throlf.” As a 19-year-old, Rifkin set a Guiness Book of Records of 103 for throwing the golf ball around the Highland Country Club golf course. Though the record was short-lived, The Wandering Golfer was interested in reprising the game at the Ironwood Country Club for the show. The show was also in western Nebraska, playing the Wild Horse Links Golf Course rated one of the top 25 courses in the country. Ginger’s Hang-Up has opened a second location--at the Galleria Collection Plaza, 144th and West Center. From now until the end of the month, Ginger’s is hosting a storewide sale with 20-50% off custom framing. Visit Ginger’s other location at 84th and Frederick.
ORGANIZATIONS THE YOUNG ENERGETIC SENIORS Join us on Monday at the JCC. The Omaha Theater Company presents Famous Women of the 20th Century. This educational play introduces the audience to inspirational American women of the 20th century such as Jane Adams, Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt and more. Lunch begins at noon at $6 per person. The program will begin at 12:45 a.m. Students from the Friedel Academy will join us. Try your luck with bingo with Eileen Remer at 10 a.m. Exercise will begin at 10:30 a.m. and the discussion group at 11 a.m. in the Social Hall. Call Dee Dee for transportation at 330.4272. LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Come to the Yiddish meeting at the JCC in the Social Hall on Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. Even if your Yiddish isn’t so “Aye-Aye-Aye”, you’ll enjoy it anyway! It’s guaranteed to enhance your Yiddish! Call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638. BREADBREAKERS Congressman Tom Osborne, candidate for Governor will be the guest speaker on Wednesday, Nov. 23, noon, at the Regency Lodge. To ensure that we have adequate seating and food, please RSVP to Gary Javitch, gjavitch@cox.net or Lois Epstein, lepstein@jewishomaha.org or 334.6443 by Nov. 21, 5 p.m. Cost is $11 for a full lunch and $3 for beverage service only. All men and women in the community are invited to attend.
Cleo and Isaac Rogers-Marcovitz will once again dance in the Nutcracker at the Orpheum Theatre Dec. 1-4. Cleo plays the role of a “party girl” and “Sweet”, too, and Isaac is a “party boy”. Their parents are Mimi Rogers and Scott Farkas. PITTSBURGH, PA--Jewish singles in their 20s, 30s, and 40s are invited to ski one of North America’s top rated resorts--Crested Butte - during the Third Annual National Jewish Singles Ski Week sponsored by Amazing Journeys and the Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh, PA. From Feb. 5-12, 2006, singles from all over the country will gather together for a special week of skiing and winter fun as Amazing Journeys brings their unique brand of customer service to the slopes for an unparalleled ski package. The trip includes lodging at the Grand Lodge at Crested Butt, only 225 yards from the slopes, roundtrip transfers from Gunnison Airport, lift pass, breakfast daily, complimentary ski storage at the hotel and all hotel taxes & gratuities. Additionally there will be a Super Bowl Party, complimentary dinner, Shabbat services, complimentary Après Ski Cocktail Party, group pizza party and a mountain tour. Cost is $1,249 for double occupancy. For reservations, pricing information and other details, log onto www.amazingjourneys.net or contact Bill Cartiff 1.800.734.0493, bcartiff@jccpgh.org. Carrie W Jacobson is now a Senior Producer at Arnold Advertising in Boston, MA. Prior to her appointment, Jacobson had been a freelance producer in the area for over a year. A graduate of Emerson College in Boston, she interned at TBWA Chiat Day in Los Angeles before serving on staff for six years. Her credits include Apple Computer, Playstation 2, Nissan, Infiniti, Dunkin’ Donuts and Boston Market. She is the daughter of Richard and Joanie Jacobson. Jonathan Rathsam was honored with a $5000 award from the permanent endowment at the New York Community Trust, the Martin Hirschorn IAC Fund and the INCE (Institute for Noise Control Engineering). Rathsam is a PhD candidate at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in accoustical engineering. The following high school students were inducted into the National Honor Society at Millard North: Kelsey Lepp, daughter of Bob and Karen Lepp; Allison Levinger, daughter of Steve and Bonnie Levinger; Andy Siref, son of Larry and Kathy Siref; and David Sukiennik, son of Hyman and Marlene Sukiennik.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
November 18, 2005
The Return of the (Omaha) Native try,” Jacobson observed. Her organization is committed to presenting a wide array of films that demonstrate cinema’s importance as an art form. Unlike commercial cinemas that are motivated solely by box office gross, Film Streams will be funded by contributions from their membership program, individual donors, and grants from foundations, corporations, and government entities. That will allow them the freedom to show artistically interesting and socially relevant films, rather than limiting their presentations to high-grossing, Hollywood films. The two screens will seat 208 in one and 111 in the other. Film Streams will present first-run films that are unlikely to play at other venues in Omaha. In the larger theater, each film shown will be the Omaha premiere of an American independent or foreign art film. In the smaller venue, Rachel intends to screen “repertory selections” that will include foreign and American classics (Band of Outsiders, Some Like it Hot), themed series (film noir), and directors’ retrospective. Groundbreaking for the NoDo construction will take place shortly. But even before next year’s grand opening, Film Streams will screen 10 unique films at the Joslyn between January and May. The Film Streams program has many additional educational facets. Depending on negotiations with the schools, the plan includes the use of ‘teaching artists’ to discuss film history and criticism in courses that would be available to Omaha high school students. The “artists” might even “guestteach” English courses. Alternatively, students would be bused
Continued from page 1 Saddle Creek Records Project The development would house Saddle Creek Records’ administrative offices, an independent rock music bar/club called Slowdown, and include retail space, residential lofts, and Film Streams’ cinema, if Rachel wanted to be a part of it. She did. In June 2005, Jacobson returned to Omaha to implement her plan for Film Streams, Inc. Her life has been a whirlwind since. The Plan All the more remarkable, Jacobson had to launch the entire project from scratch. Included among her many tasks, she had to construct a theater, establish a non-profit structure, write a business plan, develop a board and refine her guiding mission. Equally important, she had to raise funds to pay for the project and create a program of activities. Jacobson has made great progress on all fronts in anticipation of opening in 2006. Just recently, for example, she scored a coup when Academy AwardWinning Omaha native and critically acclaimed film director Alexander Payne agreed to join her board. At the Nov. 8 announcement, Mr. Payne said, “I’m so happy that downtown Omaha will have cinemas again for the first time in thirty years. I couldn’t be more thrilled that a home for art house and retrospective screenings will now be a permanent part of the community in general and of the new downtown residential and arts scene in particular.” “Film Streams will be the only autonomous non-profit cinema in Omaha, and one of the few in the coun-
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to the film center for after-school programs. The goal of the curriculum would be to give young people a cultural context to learn how to empathize with characters and to analyze film as art. Whenever possible, Film Streams will hold post-screening question and answer sessions. In addition, the non-profit will host special one-time screenings for local independent filmmakers. Through her leadership, Jacobson cultivated relationships with several local organizations, including the Joslyn Art Museum, the Nebraska Arts Council, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, and the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center in Lincoln. At the same time, Film Streams has enlisted an exceptional team of community leaders, business professionals, and film experts dedicated to the cinema’s long-term success. Notables on the board include, besides Payne, her father, Kutak Rock managing partner David Jacobson, board chair, who has been
instrumental in the organization’s development. In addition, Scott Anderson, Chief Executive Officer, Anderson Partners Advertising; Mark Javitch, President, Action Ink and Toner; and Ginger O’Neal serve. She also has a sterling advisory board, which lists Kurt Andersen, host of PRI’s Studio 360, founder of Spy Magazine, and former editor of New York Magazine; Danny Lee Ladely, Director, Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center; Michael B. Yanney, Board Chair, America First Companies,; and Steven W. Seline, Vice Chairman, Waitt Media, Inc., among others. Those with questions or interested in donating to the new film company, can send their tax-deductible donations to Film Streams, c/o director Rachel Jacobson, 5102 Capitol Ave. #2, Omaha, NE 68132, or by calling her at 933.0259. Naming opportunities are also available. (For more information: rachel@filmstreams.org or visit the website at: www.filmstreams.org.)
Opera Star Entertains Yiddish Group Mezzo-soprano Janice Meyerson, left, has triumphed in opera houses and concert halls on four continents. She has appeared as soloist with the New York Philhar-monic, Minnesota Orchestra, Mexico City Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, National Symphony, New Orleans Symphony, Dallas Symphony, and American Symphony. Between international engagements, Meyerson also entertained the Yiddish study group of which her mother, Eve Handleman, right, is a member. “It was an afternoon we’ll always remember,” said Ethel Grossman, who made arrangements for the performance. The group meets on Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center.
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Excalibur Realty The Nebraska AIDS Project’s annual fund-raiser, Night of a Thousand Stars, will take place on Saturday, Dec. 3, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Central, 72nd and Grover Streets. The theme of this year’s blacktie soiree is “Life is a Cabaret,” and will be highlighted by entertainment by The Confidentials and a special Broadway musical revue performance. Co-chairmen of this year’s gala event are Barbara and Marshall Kushner; honorary chairman is David M. Rice.
Barbara and Marshall Kushner David Rice In the past, Night of a Thousand Stars has attracted thousands in the metro area, who join together to dine on decadent desserts and dance the night away. All proceeds will benefit the Nebraska AIDS Project, which was founded in 1984 and operates five offices across Nebraska, as well as eastern Wyoming and southwest Iowa. For more information about the December fundraiser, contact Jean Imray at 552.9260, ext. 142, or visit www.nap.org. The Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights have partnered with Bucky’s Express and the Omaha World Herald to give hockey fans in greater Omaha a chance to win tickets to a game. Visitors to any Bucky’s Express in Omaha, Council Bluffs and LaVista and Cal’s Xpress in Bellevue can pick up an entry form, fill it out and submit it at any of the stores. Drawings will be held at each of the 15 locations on Nov. 29 and Dec. 13 for four tickets to an upcoming Ak-Sar-Ben Knights’ game. The deadline for submissions is Dec. 12. Tickets for all home games are on sale all week at the Civic Auditorium box office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets may also be purchased by phone through Ticketmaster at 422-1212 and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Tickets are also available on-line at Ticketmaster.com. Partial season tickets, group tickets and mini-plans are now on sale by calling the Knights at 402.344.4625. For more information, visit the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights’ web site at omahaaksarbenknights.com. A three artists exhibition of reverse painted glass and paintings are on view Dec. 2-27. For Your Eyes Only opening party is on Friday, Dec. 2, 6 p.m. at the Nicholas Street Gallery in the Hotshops Art Center, 1301 Nicholas St. For Your Eyes Only will showcase three diverse Nebraska artists. Omaha artist James Bond creates reverse painting on glass and is known for his unique style created by blending metallic, color and calligraphy into dramatic and visually stimulating works of art. Linda Hunt is an emerging artist from Lincoln. Hunt’s style incorporates dramatic colors and texture that translates into flowers and imaginary city scenes inspired by real life and dreams. Inna Novikova is a Russian born artist who has been living and creating in Omaha for the past 10 years. Novikova’s favorite subject matter is landscapes and cityscapes. Her use of texture and color conjure up an almost spiritual identification with visions of elusive quests for hidden meaning and a great longing to explore the mysteries of the infinite and eternal. Bugeater Films, the production arm of Slamdance Film Festival co-founder Dan Mirvish, announced today that its real estate musical feature film Open House was released on DVD Tuesday through Wellspring Media. Former Omahan Mirvish is the son of Dr. Sidney and Lynda Mirvish. Among the cast, Open House stars Anthony Rapp, who also stars in Sony’s big screen version of Rent, which is slated for release on Nov. 23. In Open House, Rapp plays the critically-acclaimed role of an off-kilter real estate agent. In contrast to Rent and most other musicals, Anthony and all the other actors in Open House sang live, with no lip-syncing or dubbing. “Or as I like to say,” said Mirvish, “If you want to see Anthony Rapp in a real estate musical, why Rent, when you can own...Open House!” Mirvish garnered world-wide headlines for Open
House last year when he spearheaded an Oscar campaign (joined by Miramax, Paramount and Disney) to reignite the Academy’s dormant Best Original Musical category. “We had a film that was made for less than the price of an Oscar gift bag,” said Mirvish. “But the Academy literally rewrote the rules of the Oscars because of us.” On top of its Oscar-qualifying run last year in Los Angeles, Open House screened in over a dozen international film festivals and had a limited theatrical run. In addition to Anthony, Open House also stars Oscarnominee Sally Kellerman (MASH), Kellie Martin (ER), Jerry Doyle (Babylon5), James Duval (Donnie Darko) and Ann Magnuson in a madcap musical that follows a group of real-estate hungry homebuyers and agents as they search for stolen jewels, lost love and the perfect 2story Spanish colonial in the film that Venice Magazine called “the first great musical of independent film--it’s fantabulous!” Mirvish added, “There are three things that Americans like today: sex, real estate and musicals. Open House has all three.” Mirvish noted that the film has sparked a trend in young couples having sex in Open Houses. “The film itself has a fairly tame PG-13 sensibility, but what people do after they see the movie, well that’s another matter.” Unique highlights of the Open House DVD are the first ever “Musical Commentary” featuring the new song, “This is the DVD Commentary!” (with lyrics like, “Your patience will be bulging, to keep up with our selfindulging.”) as well as an audio option to watch the film along with the Park City festival audience (patent-pending “Slamdance-arama” audio). There is close to an hour of “film school in a box” how-to featurettes on the DVD, ranging from how to cast, shoot and direct a lowbudget musical, to a step-by-step guide to creating your own Oscar category, and even how to make finger sandwiches featuring a conversation between Sally Kellerman and former Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern. The DVD also features sing-a-long subtitles for all the songs. For more information, go to the film’s official website at www.slamdance. com/mirvish or call Dan Mirvish at 310.839.2569.
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The Nebraska Wind Symphony has 85 adult brass, woodwind, and percussion players that represent all walks of life. Darwyn Snyder, who realized that many former student musicians needed a place to continue to practice their craft, founded the band in 1977. Today the band is led by Dr. Erica Neidlinger, Associate Professor of Music at UN-Omaha. The wind symphony plays three indoor concerts (Strauss Performing Arts Center at UN-Omaha) between November and April. In keeping with community band tradition, the band maintains family friendly ticket prices. A free Independence Day Concert in the park at Chalco Hills Recreation Area has become an annual tradition. The band participates in other area civic celebrations. Several smaller ensembles from within the band are also available for private functions. For more information call the voice mail at 391.3418 or log on to www.nebraska windsymphony.com.
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Thanksgiving Football Game at Beth Israel by MARY BORT for Beth Israel Synagogue Following 9 a.m. morning minyan and bagel breakfast, Beth Israel Synagogue’s Second Annual Thanksgiving Football Game will be held Thanksgiving morning, Thursday, Nov. 24, 10 a.m. “We had a great turnout last year and we anticipate having the same this year,” said Rabbi Jonathan Gross. The touch football game will be held on Beth Israel’s property, near their new playground. “I’d say that it would be appropriate for kids starting at the age of eight or nine to play in the game,” said Gross. “It’s touch football for boys and men. The idea behind our Beth Israel ‘Turkey Bowl’ is to have some fun after morning minyan, before gathering with our families for Thanksgiving dinner.” Beth Israel member, Dik Weiner, will officiate the game. “We’re very fortunate to have Dik helping with our football game,” explained Gross. “He has many years of referee experience.” Everyone is invited to attend the football game. Please call 556.6288, for more information.
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Hollywood’s Peter Riegert and UNL’s Gerald Shapiro Concoct King of the Corner by LEO ADAM BIGA For months now, noted stage and screen actor Peter Riegert has been taking his new film comedy about “crummy Jews,” King of the Corner, on the road. Best known for his work in front of the camera, he’s the director, co-writer and
wanting to die, his troubled marriage, his rotten job and his willful daughter, Leo acts the meshugina, but he’s really a guileless mensch short on confidence and, therefore, judgment. More than once, he’s asked, “What do you want?” To his dismay, he doesn’t know.
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KIDS! Your color drawing could be on the front of our Hanukkah Gift Guide! Use color markers or crayons to create your drawing on an 8.5X11 piece of white paper. Fill out the form below, attatch it to the back and send to the Jewish Press, 333 South 132 Street, Omaha, NE 68154. The deadline is December 5, 2005.
This drawing by Megan Kahn won her a gift certificate last year since it was one of the first two we received.
2005 Hanukkah Gift Guide Cover Name ___________________________________________________________ Age ______ Parent’s Names _____________________________________________________________ Address ___________________________________ Phone Number ___________________
Peter Riegert, center, was the guest speaker at last spring’s Jewish Federation of Lincoln’s campaign event, which also featured Prof. Gerald Shapiro, author of King of the Corner. In addition to speaking at a major donor event, Riegert, who directed and starred in the film, spoke to a group of teens, Kurt Hill and Sue Schriber at the Tomkins-Weisz home in Lincoln. star of this engaging satire that critic Roger Ebert gives 31/2 stars. While this is the first feature he’s directed, Riegert won praise for helming the 2000 short By Courier, an Oscar-nominated adaptation of the O. Henry short story. In March, he brought his new film to Lincoln, where he has a history showing his work and where his co-script writer, Gerald Shapiro, author of the short stories upon which the film is based, resides and teaches. Although they’d never met before their collaboration, Shapiro’s long admired Riegert’s work. A University of Nebraska-Lincoln creative writing professor, Shapiro utilizes one of the actor’s best known films, Crossing Delancey, along with an audio reading by Riegert of a famous Yiddish story by Sholem Aleichem, in his Jewish American fiction class. “I was an admirer of his before I ever saw ‘Crossing Delancey’. I loved him in ‘Animal House’. I loved him in ‘Local Hero’,” Shapiro said. Personally peddling his cinema wares to theater and video chains has Riegert appreciating the irony of schmoozing over a movie whose two main characters are Sol Spivak (Eli Wallach), an ex-doorto-door salesman with a Willy Loman death wish, and his son Leo (Riegert), a newfangled huckster beset by an Oedipal complex. “I’m turning into Leo and Sol,” a joking Riegert said by phone. The story revolves around Leo, the dutiful yet resentful son in the midst of an identity crisis that has him questioning everything, including his own religious heritage, and doubting advice given him, especially by his father. From the very opening, Riegert portrays Leo as a man adrift. Sitting at his office desk, he’s the picture of apathy and narcissism as he sends a parade of windup toys marching over the edge into the abyss. This image instantly conveys he’s heading for a similar fall and one he’ll precipitate himself. It’s happens, too, but to Riegert and Shapiro’s credit, the crisis assumes richer, funnier, sadder dimensions than we could imagine. Continually kvetching about his father
Where family and colleagues see a protege angling for his job, Leo seems strangely unaware and unfazed by the threat. So depressed is Leo that even when their suspicions prove true, he can’t get angry. He can’t feel anything, except lost. As men often do, his nonverbalized fears and frustrations drive him to act badly-impulsively pursuing a tryst in a kind of retro-adolescent daze. There’s no question he loves his wife (Isabella Rosselini) and family. But he gives into temptation and reaches for the nearest fix to feel something, anything, again. In the surreal infidelity sequence Leo revels in his conquest in a most inappropriate way, only to have a moment of selfawareness--too late, as it happens--that’s delicious for how absurd and ashamed he feels. Riegert has just the right ironic detachment, sardonic bemusement, pragmatic charm, cockeyed whimsy and simmering venom to make his character one we can both laugh at and empathize with. It turns out Leo is a lot like Shapiro. The actor’s career revolves around New York and L.A., but his many ties here extend to filmmaker Joan Micklin Silver, a native Omahan based in New York. He first worked with her as the wry friend to John Heard in her Chilly Scenes of Winter and next as stand-up Sam, the lovelorn pickle man (opposite Amy Irving), in her Crossing Delancey. For his new film, he’s teamed with transplanted Nebraskan Shapiro, whose book Bad Jews and Other Stories supplied the plot and characters adapted into King of the Corner. The film falls into that cinema limbo where many good, small, character-driven movies, either owing to limited distribution or poor studio marketing, end up, which is anywhere but your local cineplex. As unusual as it may seem for someone to make the circuit with their picture, “it’s not an uncommon thing,” Riegert said, for moviemakers “to be out there hustling their film. (John) Cassavetes did it. I’m pretty sure Mel Brooks did it with ‘The Twelve Chairs’. I’ve met lots of indie directors who do it.” Continued on page 12
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November 18, 2005
King of the Corner
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“The title made me laugh out loud and I thought if Continued from page 10 Indeed, Joan Micklin Silver and her producer-hus- the book is half as funny as the title then maybe I’ve band Raphael Silver made the rounds with her Oscar- found what I was looking for, which was material for a nominated feature debut Hester Street and again with feature. I read the book on a plane back to L.A., where Between the Lines. If you want your film shown in the- I was working, and just thought this guy is fantastic. I aters, self-distribution is the only route left when your called him up the next day and began a process of colpic fails to win a traditional studio release, as was the laborating.” Directing is something Riegert’s longed to do since case with King. It’s not something entered into lightly, but Riegert almost sounds fortunate when he says, college, when he made a promising short film. When “Basically, I’ve had to learn every part of making his acting career took off, years passed before he realized he hadn’t followed up movies”--from producing on his passion. By Courier to writing-directing to marwas his “if I don’t do it keting. now, I’m never going to do “I didn’t want to distribute the movie myself, but I it” project. In Shapiro, Riegert found didn’t find the help I felt an artist with a shared world the movie needed. I didn’t view that sees “the sense of want somebody to just outsidedness many of us release it. I needed somefeel” and “how we’re the body to nurture it, because engineers of our own probit’s that kind of a movie, lems.” He also admires and nobody was stepping Shapiro’s appreciation for up in any particularly how “the drama and comeenthusiastic way. So, now dy in our respective lives coI’m learning about every exist at the same time, part of movies, and in a way Peter Reigert, left, and UNL professor Gerald Shapiro. that’s not only theoretical but practical.” which is what I think makes his material so rich.” The experience should inform whatever project he Shapiro said the two share “a dry sense of humor. I directs next. His efforts to get his film more widely think both Peter and I tend to laugh at things that are seen were bolstered when a national chain took it on. not especially funny. There’s something so Jewish “I booked the first three months of the tour and then about that as well. But where he’s more optimistic, I’m Landmark Theaters, which specializes in independent gloomier.” In the end, Shapiro feels King stands alone as more films, picked me up for June, July, August and September,” he said. “So, that was a big help and a Riegert’s vision than his own. “I think it has its own nice endorsement in terms of their confidence. In gen- voice and its own validity,” he said. “To be perfectly eral, the reviews have been very good and people have honest, what it captures is Peter’s voice, and that’s how been coming out to support the film. We’ve been held it should be, because he is the author of that film. The over in Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, San Francisco. What thing I learned from watching this film get made is the I believed, which is that there’s an audience for the director really is the author of the film, and in the case movie, has proven true. So, I’m seeing there is some of ‘King of the Corner’, it’s Peter’s movie from top to kind of word of mouth.” bottom. His vision and his voice are everywhere.” Yes, there’s a nice little buzz about it, but to do any For Shapiro, the experience of writing the film real business--the kind that gets Hollywood’s attention entailed a series of firsts. It was his first screenplay, col--a big fat exploitation campaign is called for, which is laboration and adaptation. just what Riegert and Elevation Filmworks can’t “I’m not used to working with anyone. I’m not used afford. to hearing someone else’s input or having someone lis“What I’ve learned is that as valuable as word of ten to me. So, that was strange. Not having the tool of mouth is, you have to help it along and that’s where a narrative to work with as a writer--having to have marketing budget comes in. I essentially don’t have everything visual or come out of someone’s mouth-one. I don’t have the clout to buttress it with advertis- it’s a huge difference. My voice as a fiction writer is ing support and I can’t get national press for it” with- much more than my dialogue. Most useful to me with out it being in theaters everywhere. ‘King of the Corner’ were the staged readings Peter Minus a wide release and cushy press junket, he arranged in New York and Los Angeles that I attendpushes King “one city at a time.” On the other hand, ed. It’s wonderful to hear the screenplay read aloud by he gets to know its audience more intimately than he talented actors before a live audience, especially if would otherwise. For example, he conducts Q & As you’re writing comedy. You get to hear if the jokes after select screenings. He said he enjoys “my conver- work. You get to hear the pacing. Because that’s really sations with audiences,” adding the sessions have what a lot of it is hinging on.” “reinforced my instinct” about the film resonating Many of the actors at those readings wound up in the with people. film, including Eli Wallach, Beverly D’Angelo, Harris As much as he believes in his film, he knows its real Yulin and Eric Bogosian. worth will be measured by box office-rental-pay-perAs funny as it is, the film’s humor springs from heavy, Death of a Salesman themes. Sol’s bitter over a life view dollars and by how it stands up over time. “Anybody who makes a film, or makes anything for spent lived out of cars and motels, schlepping a heavy that matter, has to have a certain kind of crazy courage case to support his family. He bears Leo’s disdain and or arrogance about it,” he said. “You have to believe in rues his only child’s weakness. Leo shrinks at the yourself. The audience eventually tells you whether notion he’s anything like his dad. Despite an office, a you’re right or wrong. And then, of course, time real- three-piece suit, a fancy title and his focus groups, he’s ultimately a peddler, too. ly tells you whether you’re right or wrong.” In his wallowing Leo recalls the bad times. It’s only Last winter, Riegert’s road show took him to Lincoln, where King played the Mary Riepma Ross much later, after his dad’s gone, he looks past the negMedia Arts Center (His picture has yet to be screened ative to see a more balanced truth. Near the end, there’s a marvelous monologue, lifted in Omaha.). The visit brought Riegert and his project full circle. His appearance there a few years before, for nearly verbatim from Shapiro’s book, in which Leo a screening of his own By Courier, proved fortuitous as delivers a raw, hilarious excoriation of his “crummy” it was then he was first introduced to Shapiro’s work. Jewish roots. Riegert said the intent was to make Leo’s The author got someone to slip the actor a copy of Bad from-the-gut rant as unvarnished as possible. Jews. The stories struck a chord in Riegert. Continued on page 13
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King of the Corner Continued from page 12 Perhaps the most moving scene is the funeral service. Sol’s died a most unflattering death. Leo’s given the freelance rabbi with the silly name, Evelyn Fink, nothing but dirt to say about the old man. Fink runs Sol down so much even Leo’s offended. Finally, he can’t take it anymore and launches into an impromptu kaddish that’s equal parts confessional and atonement. In a sad-comic soliloquy, Leo properly memorializes his father, poignantly coming to terms with the man and his legacy, which is to say, himself. At the end, Leo’s found himself again. Even though his fate’s unclear, he can dare to dance his troubles away. The film’s charm is that it’s so real in adeptly showing the fine edge in comedypathos, levity-gravity, absurdity-profundity, and how we slip so easily from one to the other. It helps that all the actors
underplay their roles in the naturalistic style Riegert prefers. “What I knew as an actor I’m now becoming more confident in as a director and writer,” he said, “which is to let go of whatever control I think I have and just let my imagination loose and figure out what it means later.” While Riegert searches for his next directing project, Shapiro’s shopping around a new script, drawn from both his novella Suskind: the Impresario, and Bad Jews. The story focuses on a PR man in San Francisco (where Shapiro once lived) struggling with his job, his estranged family and the new woman in his life. “It’s a comedy,” he said. Producers are reading it, but Shapiro, like Leo, isn’t one to boast. “I’m amazed anybody would ever want to do anything with anything I wrote. I’ve not had the kind of success that leads to the raging self-confidence I see in other people.”
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tourism during the intifada was the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem. The organization was founded in 1980, as it says, “as an evangelical Christian response to the need to comfort Zion according to the scriptural mandate: ‘Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.’” Hirschson is confident that Israel will meet its target of two million tourists in 2005, a rise of 25 percent from last year. He expects three million people in 2006 and five million by 2008, when Israel celebrates its 60th anniversary. But that's all subject to the security situation. “Even if there’s a deterioration, I need to work as if the situation is good. Otherwise we lose the economic momentum,” Hirschson said. Catholic tourism remains below preintifada levels, but it is rising again. Catholic pilgrimage from Italy increased by 74 percent this year, according to Tourism Ministry figures. Tourism from Spain increased by 142 percent to 37,000, tourism from Poland increased 167 percent to nearly 20,000 tourists and tourism from Portugal rose 194 percent to 6,690. “The absolute figures may not be too impressive,” Sher-Greco said, “but the trend is there.” Israel received another boost of Christian tourism as a nine-day tour of evangelical Christians began last weekend. Hirschson is not deterred by criticism of controversial evangelical preachers who visit Israel, or possible objections from fervently Orthodox circles. “I’m not a theologian, I’m the minister of tourism, and I’m not interested in the politics of our tourists as long as they come here,” he said. “They come here as tourists, and they’re friends of Israel.”
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Continued from page 1 But there’s a catch: Christian pilgrims, especially Catholic, don’t consider the tour complete without a visit to Bethlehem, known as Jesus’ birthplace. For most of the past five years, Bethlehem, which is part of the Palestinian Authority, has suffered from lawlessness and violence. Israel’s Tourism Ministry has set up a special coordinating body with the Palestinian Authority to reduce potential danger, but Catholics were among the first to begin avoiding the Holy Land following the outbreak of the intifada, dropping from 32 percent of tourists in 2000 to just 10 percent in 2003 and 12 percent in 2004. Bethlehem often is cited as an example of Palestinian and Israeli tourism interests meeting: If Bethlehem reappears on the Mideast tourist map, Israeli hotels in Jerusalem will gain. In an effort to legitimize Bethlehem, the Tourism Ministry supported the Vatican-initiated Jerusalem-Bethlehem marathon, held in April. “Until 2000, Christian pilgrimage to Israel was larger than Jewish tourism,” Sher-Greco, now head of the Tourism Ministry’s public affairs and information department, told JTA. Those numbers have been climbing again as violence has ebbed, and last year 46 percent of tourists to Israel were nonJews. The only two groups that maintained a relatively steady flow of tourism during the intifada were Jews and evangelical Protestants. Hirschson has initiated an evangelical prayer center--linked to the Rev. Pat Robertson--at the northern tip of the Dead Sea. Together with the inauguration of daily Delta flights from Atlanta, this will bring some 100,000 additional tourists to Israel each year, he said. Another major force in promoting
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Author of King of the Corner, Gerald Shapiro, left, is introduced by Marcia Kushner, President of the Jewish Federation of Lincoln, along with the film’s director and star Peter Riegert; Sue Schriber, Campaign Chairman; and Mark Weintraub, UJC Regional Director.
Page 13
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Page 14
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
November 18, 2005
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Former Omahan’s Documentary Debuts Continued from page 1 According to Okun, “I was geared up to start a short Okun went on to add, “In the Midwest people are documentary when my subject got cold feet and canmore friendly and honest, where as in L.A. people are celed. I was taking my usual walk through my neighbornot. It’s a fake world in which people are looking to see hood park one day with a friend having a film related how you can help them before they are nice to you. It’s discussion when he turned to me and said, ‘You know, also a very competitive place where you feel like if you this park would make a really interesting story with all of don’t get yours now, somebody else will. It’s also intim- the strange and different things that go on here.’ And he idating at the same time, and that’s why I eventually left was right!” Okun’s roots in Jewish and moved back to San Diego. I’d just had enough, Omaha continue to impact his work. He looks at his life and I feel like I can do documentaries anywhere.” so far philosophically. “It was Okun says his interest in really good for me to experifilmmaking grew from a fascience life in LA, because now I the difference. nation with reading biograknow phies of athletes, musicians Growing up in the Jewish and businesspeople as a child. community of Omaha, life “The most interesting thing was much simpler, I knew a to me was to find out the lot of great people, and I felt background on these people, safe. In L.A., I didn’t have how they got to be where many close Jewish friends, they are today, the steps that except for one exceptional led up to their success. person, Eric Goldboim, a senPersonally, I’ve always been sational musician who grew a creative guy, an idea guy in Tony Okun, left, directs his camerman in shooting the docu- up in Israel.” a sense. I knew from a young mentary film, The Park. Okun says that the message age that I wanted to create something big, which would he hopes to get across in his films is pretty simple. “I see garner lots of attention, but in a good, positive way,” he much more good in people than bad. And that seems to explained. Despite the challenges Okun faced in the big be what I focus on in my films. There is enough negativicity, it was in Los Angeles where the urge to make films ty in the world, just watch the evening news. I like to really took hold. search out the simple and the good in people. I want to Okun explains how he embarked on his journey as know their stories and how they impact the world in a posfilmmaker. “I got the bug and really wanted to work in itive way, and in my opinion, although it seems mundane showbiz. In the beginning, I tried my hand at acting and simple, it’s really very interesting. People have wonwhich I found out wasn’t the thing for me. I found derful stories to tell.” myself paying more attention to the way things were One thing from home that has stuck with Okun is the being directed and looking at the video monitor of how way the Jewish community in Omaha takes care of one the shot was set up, than caring about how I was acting. another and people in need. Okun has found a way to From there, I worked on a number of student films and carry that principle with him. independent films, as well as television production on Said Okun, “I’ve always wanted to help out, be a volvarious game shows before coming to the realization unteer, do something to try and make a difference in that I could actually make my own film.” the world. I really wanted to but never did. Now, I’ve But it was in Los Angeles in Okun’s own neighbor- found a way to do that, and filmmaking is my way of hood park, that the idea for The Park was born. giving back.”
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college students while they’re home during this holiday break,” Rabbi Levin said, noting that afternoon will be spent enjoying lunch, sharing their college experiences and some laughs with one another. “This will be a great opportunity for our young people to catch up with their old friends and make new acquaintances,” he added. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so make your reservation today--just call the office, 492.8550.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 15
O N N S O A W L ! E
November 18, 2005
DECEMBER 9-11 ORPHEUM THEATER
Tickets are available at at the Holland Center, call 402-345-0606, or Ticketmaster.com and outlets, call 402-422-1212 (Omaha) or 402-475-1212 (Lincoln) Due to the nature of live entertainment dates, times, prices, shows, actors, venues, and on sales are subject to change without notice. All tickets subject to convenience charges.
Page 16
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
November 18, 2005
Local vs. Overseas Needs It’s a conundrum. Who gets the funds raised each year by the Federation’s annual campaign? Is it ethical to raise donations on the premise that Israeli agencies need it for social services--and then cut the allocation to Israel and overseas needs in the former Soviet Union? What happens when oil prices shoot through the roof, raising the costs of heating the Jewish Community Center and the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home (not to mention the cost of snow removal and cutting the lawn)? What does the leadership do when health insurance premiums keep rising? Sure, it’s easy to cover a 50% increase in heating costs if you cut the allocation to Israel. But aren’t they suffering from the same increase in the price of oil as we are? And can we ask the Jewish Community Center to lower the cost of providing child care by firing their longest tenured (and often best) employees and replacing them with younger teachers at a lower cost? What about the Press? So what if we’re the only community our size still publishing a weekly newspaper. Maybe we should print biweekly, saving thousands of dollars in printing and postage. Or drop our subscription to JTA or stop paying freelancers to supply us with interviews of members of the local Jewish community. These are not easy qustions to answer. We have to deal with them in our own lives, trying to handle the increasing costs of doing business while attempting to carry out our agencies’ missions and being fair to everyone involved: beneficiaries, donors, staff, etc. So how can we accomlish the goal of providing services and programs to members of this Jewish community, while helping those Jews in need in Israel or anywhere they live?
One obvious answer is: raise your gift to the Federation’s annual campaign. If you’re giving $36, pledge $54. That’s only $1.50 a month more spread out over a year’s time. Even teens (hint, hint) could make a pledge like this. Now multiply that $36 or $54 by 10 or 100 and imagine the results! We’re not suggesting that hard choices shouldn’t be made, even in times of plenty. The leadership of this community should always look at improving, whether it’s through cost-saving ventures like recycling paper and newsprint, through instituting a slightly higher deductible to save on insurance premiums or even examing staffing to see where jobs could be combined or cut entirely. On the other hand all the cost savings may not be able to make up for increased needs. Back to the JCC’s Child Development Center.would parents really want to see a reduction in the quality of services even if it translates into lower child care prices? We think not. Longtime employees bring experience and a wealth of knowledge to their positions; the JCC shouldn’t be penalized for wanting to maintain that high quality. Instead, funding for its scholarship fund should be increased, allowing the CDC senior staff to work privately and quietly with individual families to ensure they
can afford to provide a quality Jewish education for their preschoolers. Now, put that preschool in Israel. Which one are you going to fund? When it comes right down to it, we have to do both. We have to ensure a high quality of Jewish life here in Nebraska in order to attract our young adult children and others. But we can’t fund local agencies while ignoring an elderly Holocaust survivor in Kiev who depends on our funds for a small basket of food each month. What about the young Jews who want to leave France and immigrate to Israel? Or the Falas Mura in Ehthiopia who wants to join her family in Jerusalem? There is no choice here. Despite rising oil prices, despite increased health care premiums, we have to make this work.
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.
The Millennial Generation: The Future of Jewish College Communities?
BEHIND THE H EADLINES by RABBI YEHUDA SARNA The study which Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life plans to unveil next week will indicate that more students than ever before have just one Jewish parent, date non-Jews, and see Judaism as a culture, not a religion. News of this phenomenon is likely to spawn conversations about how best to hit the bull’s eye of this target population through cultural programs and social action. But what the study will not report is that the other fastest-growing Jewish population on college campuses comes from the opposite end of the religious spectrum. Recently, the number of Jewishly empowered, predominantly Orthodox, day school products who socialize mostly with their own kind and view Judaism as their religion has ballooned. Perhaps the focus should be less on one target and more on how to achieve a beneficial chemistry between two very different groups. The recent surge of highly empowered Jewish students is easily discernible in Hillels across the country. Of the 20 top feeder high schools to New York University, the largest private university in the country, five are Orthodox. Four years ago, none even made the list. This trend will only become more acute. The National Jewish Population Survey in 2001 found that roughly ten percent of Jewish college students declare themselves Orthodox, while one third of Jewish students attend Hillel at least once throughout their college
experience. According to the UJA Federation of New York Jewish Community Study in 2002, more than half of the children in the Metropolitan area (including the five boroughs, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk) under age six being raised Jewish are members of Orthodox households. True, New York’s Orthodox community is disproportionately large compared to the national average, and true, some Orthodox communities will not send their children to a secular college. But there is no question, anecdotally or statistically, that traditional Jews will constitute more and more of the Jewish campus population.
...what model might succeed in integrating a questioning, self-conscious and loosely-connected set of individuals with an empowered, religious, and internally networked community? In addition, it will be difficult not to see them on campus. Unlike the growing numbers of students with one Jewish parent, graduates of day schools instinctively seek out and settle in dedicated Jewish spaces. They will make Hillel their home. So the real question is not how Hillel should engage the growing numbers of students with one Jewish parent but, rather, what model might succeed in integrating a questioning, self-conscious and loosely-connected set of individuals with an empowered, religious, and
(Founded in 1920) Joanie Jacobson Chairman Carol Katzman Editor Richard Busse Managing Editor Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Pam Monsky Sales Associate Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper Jason Rich Sales & Marketing Intern Jewish Press Committee Howard K. Marcus, Vice-Chairman; Bobbi Leibowitz, Secretary; Scott Meyerson, Finance Chairman; Steve Simon, Treasurer; Fred Tichauer, Immediate Past-chairman; David Herzog; Jamie Meyerson; Stanley Mitchell; George Quittner; Linda Saltzman; Joe Shyken; Michael Siegal; Nancy Skid; Dorothy Spizman; and Melany Weinstine. 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, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service, and Jewish Senior Services. The Jewish Press is a constitutional committee of the Jewish Federation.
internally networked community? The first step is sensitization of empowered students. Day school teachers, congregational rabbis, and Hillel professionals should assume the responsibility, given the contemporary reality, of educating their students about the fact that Jewish identity has religious and cultural dimensions. For example, just because some students have non-Jewish mothers does not prevent them from identifying as Jewish if they were so raised. I often share with my students the deep pain that students with one Jewish parent feel when they hear someone tell them, “Oh, so you’re not really Jewish” or ask them to be their shabbos goy. One such student broke down in tears when she decided to walk up nine flights of stairs to her room on Friday night, only to have an Orthodox student ask her why she didn’t just take the elevator. The second necessary step is the creation of safe, nonreligious spaces for students with one Jewish parent. Hillels will initiate more arts programming, social justice opportunities, and exposure to secular Israeli culture, but to truly succeed, these ventures will need to compete with the activities of emerging traditional communities in terms of numbers or content. The best way of sensitizing already empowered religious students is by showing them a compelling power of another persuasion. Otherwise, the imbalance of grassroots religious activity with staff-initiated, moderately attended cultural programming will only feed the stereotype that Millennials adhere to a “less Jewish” version of Judaism. Third, I hope Hillel does not underestimate is the potential for the authentic, close-knit feeling of traditional communities to attract Continued on page 17
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, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly on Friday for $31 per calendar year U.S.; $36 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or e-mail to: jpress@jewishomaha. org.
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November 18, 2005
A Thanksgiving Present from Israel
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Page 17
A Letter to King Abdullah II of Jordan
FOCUS ON ISSUES by RABBI AVI SHAFRAN
JOURNAL ENTRY FROM ISRAEL by TEDDY WEINBERGER
Your Highness: This was to have been a letter of concern and protest, over a Jordan-based satellite network’s planned airing during Ramadan of a virulently anti-Semitic television series. Instead, having been informed of new and heartening developments, I write to express my gratitude and admiration for the cancellation of the series’ broadcast. As you surely know, the series, “Al-Shatat,” or “The Diaspora,” rivals the worst canards ever propagated by the Nazis. It includes wild fabrications intended to incite hatred for, and violence against, Jewish people. It depicts, for example, a rabbi overseeing the slitting of a Christian boy’s throat in order to obtain blood to bake in matzos; a Jewish leader taking “credit” for suggesting the destruction of Hiroshima; a “Secret Jewish World Government” assisting in the Holocaust in order to drive European Jews to the Holy Land - and other canards, both old and original. I became aware of your government’s intervention to prevent the airing of the Syrian-produced poison through groups like the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and the Middle East Media Research Institute; both had earlier drawn attention to the broadcast and have now promptly informed the public of Jordan’s principled action. Jewish and other media have since followed with reports of the good news, and welldeserved praise for your government has come from every corner of the civilized world. As one of a number of Jewish religious representatives you invited to a luncheon in Washington last month, I heard you eloquently address the importance of building bridges between Jews and Muslims, and I, like all those gathered, deeply appreciated your words. You have now shown them to be more than mere words. I salute you 204983A01 for showing your willingness to back them with action. With your indulgence, though, please allow me to share a further hope. By preventing the broadcast of the vile and hateful propaganda, Jordan not only struck a blow for truth and
It’s an age-old problem for the American workplace: to declare a work holiday on the day after Thanksgiving, or to require employees to use a vacation day if they do not wish to come in to work? What has made this a problem for employers is not their hard-heartedness but the lack of a suitable justification for their generosity. If the reason to give off on that Friday after Thanksgiving is nothing other than employee convenience, well that just won’t do will it? I mean, different employees find many different days throughout the year when it would be convenient for them to stay home. So you can’t just give your workers off because it’s convenient for them not to come in to work. But if there was some way to give that Friday off without letting things get out of hand, most employers would jump at the chance. Well, corporate America, Israel has a one-word solution to your problem: gesher. The gesher (or “bridge”) is how Israel addresses a situation where one or two days separate one period of holiday from another. For example, this year Yom Kippur was on a Thursday. Ordinarily, most schools in Israel are open on Fridays (for a six-day school week), but the Friday after Yom Kippur was a classic gesher day since it bridged the holiday time of Yom Kippur and Shabbat. Friday was thus declared a gesher day and schools were closed. This year, however, was special because of a rare backto-back gesher, for that Shabbat after Yom Kippur did double duty: acting as both the tail end of one gesher and the front end of another. After all, only five days separate Yom Kippur from Succot, which began this year on a Monday night. Since Israelis like to get a jump on their holidays and so the eves of holidays are usually also holiday, schools and many work places were closed on Monday Succot eve. This left little old Sunday standing in between the two holiday times of Shabbat and Succot eve. Some schools resisted the temptation and were open that Sunday. But my eighth grader Ezra’s school completed the full double gesher, giving students off on both that Friday and Sunday, allowing for a full 15 days of uninterrupted vacation from the eve of Yom Kippur until the day after Simchat Torah. The lesson for America is simple: the Friday after Thanksgiving is merely a bridge between the Turkey holiday and the ensuing weekend--it is a gesher waiting to happen. Employers could feel generous giving that Friday off but secure in the knowledge that there was an official name to the holiday and that their workplace was not turning into a free-for-all. If you are wondering at this point whether or not a gesher could be declared any time Dec. 25 (and therefore also Jan. 1) or July 4 fall out on a Thursday or Tuesday, for a four-day holiday weekend, the answer is: yes. But the true beauty of the gesher is that once a culture fully internalizes gesher principles, a four-day holiday weekend seems not only reasonable but a Godgiven right. Happy Thanksgiving and Gesher Days. Weinbergr made aliyah to Israel with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children. He can be NOTE TO PUB: reached at: weinross@netvision.net.il.
get history buff.
good will here, it set an important example. For that example to have an effect, though, it must be placed squarely, boldly and proudly before your people and the entire Arab world. Al-Jazeera reports that Jordanian officials have been “tight-lipped on the ban [of the television program], apparently to avoid agitating a public opinion frustrated with Israel’s policies.” In fact, while the statement of your embassy in Washington was laudable, it disturbingly characterized the Al-Shatat program only as “controversial,” and contended only that it “drew concerns for inciting hate.” But Al-Shatat is an evil production, pure and carefully distilled lies and hatred. And condemning such antiJewish poison should have nothing to do with anyone’s political views. When you spoke to us in Washington, one of your themes was precisely that: the need to separate political matters from religious ones. You asked your listeners to put the question of Israel and the Palestinians aside and focus on fostering mutual respect between religions. Al-Shatat’s producer--Hezbollah-surely has its political views, but the production is, above all else, anti-Jewish in its every frame. And so it is my hope that you will find the right opportunity to state, unequivocally and straightforwardly, as a descendant of Mohammed, the monarch of a great nation and a promoter of truth, that Al-Shatat is falsehood from beginning to end, that it was designed to foment hatred of Jews, and that no Muslim who respects truth or justice, ideals glorified by the Koran, should, for even the briefest moment, imagine otherwise. Your Highness, if I thought you were a leader like all too many others, concerned only with maintaining his position and enjoying its perquisites, I would not express my hope; indeed, I would have no reason to harbor it. But you have demonstrated unusual--in fact, unique-determination and courage in speaking up for the cause of true peace among religions and peoples. And so that is what emboldens me to share with you my prayer that you continue, and intensify, the work you have bravely begun. May the Creator grant you long life, good health and His constant protection in that holy task. Rabbi Avi Shafran is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of Americ. This letter was sent to King Abdulla via the Jordanian Embassy in Washington on Nov. 1, prior to the Nov. 9 terrorist attack which claimed 57 lives.
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Jewish College Communities Continued from page 16 spiritually seeking students with one Jewish parent. Cultural and social action programs do not exist in a vacuum, with no growing religious community nearby. Some students I’ve met construct their own Judaism. Others deepen their cultural Jewish identity through arts programming, social action or support for Israel. But the spiritual seekers among them tend to gravitate toward the intensely religious community and want to have their identity crisis resolved through religious activities. Ignoring the emerging population of day school products will only make them feel unwanted and defensive. They’re not going away. Why not embrace both sides of the spectrum? This op-ed is courtesy of Edah, the advocacy group for Modern Orthodoxy; the organization can be reached at: www.edah.org.
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Page 18
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
November 18, 2005
Candlelighting Friday, Nov. 18, 4:44 p.m.
Synagogue Listings B’nai Israel Synagogue 618 Mynster St. Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com
B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m. Dr. Benjamin Nachman will speak about “Shoah Stories.” The community is invited.
dent on break, you’re invited to join Rabbi Levin and Cantor Bogomolni for lunch at Beth El on Saturday, Nov. 26, following Shabbat services. Call the office to make your reservation.
BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Beth El Synagogue Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Omaha, NE 68154-1980 492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org
Beth Israel Synagogue Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific St. Omaha, NE. 68154 556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org
Beyt Shalom An Affiliate of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation 3012 S. 119 St. P.O. Box 390352 Omaha, NE 68139 660.2395 www.beytshalomomaha.org
Chabad House An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 S. 120th St. Omaha, NE 68144-1646 330.1800 nebraskajudaism.com email: chabad@aol.com
Congregation B’nai Jeshurun South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 S. 20th St. Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 435.8004 southstreettemple.org
Offutt Air Force Base SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway Offutt AFB, NE 68113 294.6244
Rose Blumkin Jewish Home 333 S. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154
Temple Israel Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street Omaha, NE 68132-2651 556.6536 templeisrael-ne.org
The Neighborhood Minyan 1317 No. 57 St. Omaha, NE 68132 551.6609
Tifereth Israel Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 423.8569 www.tiferethlincoln.org
FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. in the chapel. SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Alternative Service, 10 a.m. in the chapel; Junior Congregation (3-7), 10 a.m.; K’tantan (K-2), 10:45 a.m.; Kiddush sponsored by Beth El; Evening Service, 4:50 p.m. Sitter Service is available during Friday night and Saturday morning services, on a drop-in basis, at no charge. SUNDAY: Bible Study Class with Leonard Greenspoon, 10 a.m.; “Living Hebrew,” with Susi Frydman-Levin, 10 a.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah class with Cantor Bogomolni, 10 a.m.; Jewish Pot Pourri Class, 11 a.m.; “From Your Heart to God’s Ears”, led by Andy Greenberg, 11 a.m. HAZAK LUNCH ‘N’ LEARN: Following Shabbat services tomorrow at 12:30 p.m., ADL Plains States Director Bob Wolfson will address issues of interest to the Jewish community at a luncheon. Cost is $10.50 per adult; $5.50 for children under 12 (3 percent will be donated to Mazon). For more information, contact Gloria Goodman at 333-3351. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sunday, 9 a.m./5:30 p.m.; Weekdays, 6:55 a.m./5:30 p.m. SISTERHOOD: Will meet on Sunday, Nov. 20, 12:30 p.m.; a light lunch will be served. PATTER: Wednesdays, 10:30 -11:45 a.m. led by Helen Epstein THURSDAY, noon: “Discovering the Talmud: Lessons for Everyday Living,” with Rabbi Levin. For more information, contact the synagogue office. JEWISH VETERANS’ PROJECT: Now through Dec. 12, the community is invited to the Jewish Veterans’ Project, a pictorial exhibit, on display at Beth El. COMFORT AND CONVERSATION GROUP Wednesday, Nov. 30, 6 p.m. following minyan. (See full article on page 5.) COLLEGE STUDENTS’ LUNCHEON If you’re a Jewish college stu-
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Office Hours: Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 4:45 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Free Babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 10:30 a.m.; Kiddush sponsored by Harry Wolfson in honor of his birthday; Early Mincha, 1:15 p.m.; Mincha, 4:45 p.m.; Havdalah, 5:52 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Contact the office for Mincha/ Ma’ariv time. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Contact the office for Mincha/Ma’ariv time. THURSDAY, THANKSGIVING DAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m., followed by breakfast and Second Annual Men’s Football Game. FRIDAY, Nov. 25: “Get-Outof-Your-Kitchen” Shabbat Dinner, following 4:45 p.m. Kabbalat Shabbat. Make reservations with the office by Nov. 22. The synagogue office will be closed Wednesday through Sunday for Thanksgiving weekend.
For information about programs or to register for classes, call the office or visit: www.nebraska-judaism.com.
CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m., led by Sarah Kelen, with oneg following. SATURDAY: No Shabbat Morning Service; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. led by Robert Friedman; Game Night/Potluck, 6 p.m. SUNDAY: Gan Simcha, grades K, and 4-7, 9:30 a.m.-noon, at Tifereth Israel; grades 1-3 and Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at B’nai Jeshurun. ADULT EDUCATION Sundays, 7 p.m. Intro to Judaism, led by Rabbi Emanuel on break this week. Tuesday series on Jewish Social Justice on break until Nov. 29. WEDNESDAY: No Hebrew classes.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Shabbat Services, 9 a.m. led by Andrew Greenberg.
CHOOSE TO DONATE LIFE SUNDAY, Nov. 20, 10 a.m., Men’s Club is hosting a program concerning Organ Donation. A panel, “Choose to Donate Life,” will feature Ann Goldstein, a donor recipient; Cheryl Cooper, a donor; Chris Dunham, community liaison director of Nebraska Organ Retrieval System; Dr. Alan Langnas, chief of transplantation and director of the liver and intestinal transplantation program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC); and Dr. Toby Schonfeld, assistant professor, Section on Humanities and Law, Department of Preventive and Societal Medicine at UNMC. Contact Ron Brodkey at ron91336@aol.com for more information. The discussion is free and open to the community. WEDNESDAY, Nov. 23, 7 p.m.: Join our neighbors for a Community Interfaith Thanksgiving service. (See full article on page 2.) ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY, 10:15 a.m.: Beginning Hebrew with Colleen Kennealy. TUESDAY, Nov. 22, 7 p.m.: Lifting the Veil: New Models of Thinking to Reveal Insights Hidden in Judaism.
NEIGHBORHOOD MINYAN FRIDAY: Minyan, 5 p.m. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.
TEMPLE ISRAEL BEYT SHALOM FRIDAY: Learners’ Minyan, 7:30 p.m.
CHABAD HOUSE Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Minyan, 7 a.m.; Ima & Me, 10–11:30 a.m. SATURDAY: Maamar class, 9 a.m.; Service, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush to follow service. SUNDAY: Services, 8:30 a.m.; Mishne class, 9:30 a.m.; Chabad Cheder and Aleph Champions, 10 a.m.-noon.; Gan Israel Club Bowling Bonanza, 3 p.m. WEEKDAYS: Minyan, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Halacha, 7 p.m. Kabbalah WEDNESDAY: Circle, 7 p.m. THURSDAY: Torah Tots, 4:15 p.m.
FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 6 p.m.; Rabbi Craig Marantz and Jonathan Rathsom will officiate; Shabbat Comes to You, 4 p.m. at Remington Heights. SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15-10:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. SITTER SERVICE: Available at each Friday evening service, Saturday mornings when there is a bar or bat mitzvah, and Sunday mornings when there is Religious School. Advance reservations and a $5 donation are appreciated. Sorry, there are no facilities for infants.
TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Rabbi Royi Shaffin. Minyan, MONDAY & THURSDAY, 7 a.m., followed by breakfast. FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m. with an Shabbat dinner following. SATURDAY: Parashat Hashavu’a class, 8:30 a.m.; Morning service, 9:30 a.m. followed by Shabbat lunch and Talmud class. WEDNESDAY: Men’s Lunch Group will meet at the Knolls, 12:30 p.m. Contact Yale Gotsdiner at 423.7066.
Beth El Students Commemorate Kristallnacht
To Submit B’nai Mitzvah Announcements
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to reserve space, call Allan Handleman, 334-6451, or Pam Monsky, 334-6559.
Announcements of children becoming Bar or Bat Mitzvah will be printed on the synagogue page of The Jewish Press one week prior to the event if submitted eight days prior to publication. The following information may be included: name, name of parents, grandparents and/or great-grandparents (including late parent[s] and/or late grandparent[s]), names of siblings, date and location of event. In addition, the school which the child attends, honors and hobbies may be included, if space permits, as well as the name of the child’s Mitzvah Project and a short description. A clearly identified photo is welcome if it is easily reproduced. Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing the Editor at: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org. You can also submit announcements online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements.
Beth El Synagogue’s eighth-grade class led a solemn commemoration of Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), last week during Hebrew High School. Singing “Oseh Shalom” along with guitarist Lev Nachman are, front row: Dayna Epstein, left, Marlee Skolkin, Harison Wiesman, Shir Palmon,
Rachel Meyer, Anna Grossman, Rachel Stein, Seth Fox and Cantor Gaston Bogomolni; back row: eighth-grade teacher Gloria Kaslow, Colin Belmont, Nathan Kahn, Ben Gordon, Natan Lailari, Jesse Reno, Brianna Sadofsky, and eighth-grade teacher Beth Seldin-Dotan.
November 18, 2005
From Abraham to Isaac
B’nai B’rith to Host an Evening with Saul Kripke
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
PEOPLE WHO READ NEWSPAPERS ARE
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Pulverent e MONUMENT CO.
Frank L. Ciciulla Jr.
SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat VaYera We are told that Abraham is visited by two “men” (or was it three?). An important announcement is made to him: although he is 100 and Sarah 90, the birth of Isaac is heralded for “this time” next year. Sarah is said to have laughed at such a prediction since she is well beyond the child-bearing age. But she is reprimanded and told that nothing is beyond the ability of the Lord. Announcement is made also that the cities of Sodom and Gemorra are to be destroyed. It is perfectly possible that some settlements near the Dead Sea were swallowed up by the sea, and that then, the ancients, assuming that all things happen in relation to morality, assumed the wickedness of the Sodomites. Note how their reputation has continued to the ancient world all the way to our own. There is a highly interesting interchange between Abraham and the Lord. Abraham was afraid that there would be righteous people also involved in the catastrophe of Sodom. He bargains with the Lord for 50, for 45, for 40, for 30, for 20, or even 10 righteous people. If that many decent people remain in Sodom, will You indeed destroy the city, wicked and righteous alike? We are told that Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his family, were permitted to leave before the destruction. On an entirely different note, Abraham finds himself in a different environment, the area of Gerar, where King Abimelech finds that his servants have taken the beautiful Sarah into his harem. Abimelech promises Abraham that no harm has come to Sarah. We are told, for our own information, that the whole area was prevented by an unidentified problem so that they could not violate Sarah. At any rate, Abimelech chastises Abraham for thinking that this was an immoral land and proclaiming Sarah his sister. Nonetheless, Abimelech settles large amounts of property and wealth on Abraham.
by GARY JAVITCH Many Omahans know that Saul Kripke is world famous and that he is the son of Rabbi Myer Kripke, rabbi emeritus of Beth El. However, while many know that his work is extremely significant and that he is held in great renown in the academic world, few lay people have had the opportunity to gain some understanding of his enormous contributions to philosophy and logic. That will change Sunday, Nov. 27, 7 p.m., when the Henry Monsky Lodge of B’nai B’rith will present Saul Kripke with an award at the Saul Kripke Jewish Community Center. The program, “An Evening with Saul Kripke”, will allow a lay audience to interact with this great scholar. As part of an informal discussion, Dr. Cody Gilmore, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, will introduce some of Kripke’s work--for a lay audience. Dr. Gilmore received his PhD at Princeton and attended one of Kripke’s graduate seminars. Besides the presentation by the Lodge, and the informal conversation, Jan Goldstein, Jewish Federation Executive Director, will offer welcoming comments, as well as those of Steve Riekes, a life-long friend. Kripke is a graduate of Central High and Harvard University and has lectured all over the world. He has received honors from many universities, including those in Israel and has held faculty positions at Rockefeller University, Harvard, Cornell, and for many years at Princeton, where he is now professor emeritus. Twice he has been awarded Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships. A leading figure in 20th century logic, metaphysics and philosophy, Kripke received the prestigious 2001 Schloock Prize from the Royal Academy of Sweden. Most logicians and philosophers consider it comparable to a Nobel. Like that commendation, it comes with major monetary remuneration. For his groundbreaking work, a number of axioms and theorems have been named after him.
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CORINNE ROCKMAN Corinne Rockman died in London, England on Oct. 25. Services were held in London. Though she was not an Omahan, she spent two months a year here and felt like Omaha was her second home, said her daughter-in-law, Stacey Rockman. She is surived by her husband, Jack Rockman; sons and daughters-in-law, Stephen and Natalie Rockman, all of London, and Jonathan and Stacey Rockman; and six grandchildren, Oliver and Caroline, and Dominic, Sam, Daniel, and Misha, of London. Memorials to the Temple Israel or the Eileen S. Erman Education Fund at the Federation Foundation.
To Submit an Obituary Notice: Send to the Jewish Press via e-mail: ckatzman@jewishomaha.org; fax: 402.334.5422; or mail, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; or log on to www.jewishomaha.org and click on ‘Jewish Press’, and then Submit announcements. Call 402.334.6448 for more information.
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PAULA KENNEDY Paula Kennedy died Nov. 14. Services were held Nov. 15 at Fisher Farm Cemetery. Originally from the East Coast, Kennedy, a teacher by profession, relocated several times. After losing her only son in the late 1960s, she spent some time in Los Angeles and then moved permanently to the Omaha area in 1980. RUTH SHAPIRO STERNHILL Ruth Sternhill died in Sherman Oaks, CA, on Nov. 14 at the age of 89. Services were held there on Nov. 16 She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Irving Sternhill. She is survived her her daughters and sons-in-law, Frieda and Bob Ferguson, Sheri and Bernie Lipman; daughters, Leslie Kravitz and Maryl McGee, all of California; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren; brother and sister-in-law, Morris and Audrey Shapiro; and sister, Esther Meiches.
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APPLY ONLINE BEFORE NOVEMBER 18th to pre-qualify for employment testing & interviewing at the Hiring Fair. Go to www.up.com, click on Jobs at UP, View Positions, then Search Position Database. For internet access, visit your local job service, library or copy center. Apply for any of these opportunities in North Platte: • (NPHF-ML) N. Platte Hiring Fair– Mechanical Locomotive Shop Jobs – All Levels (Pay ranges from approximately $12.10/hr to $21.50/ hr) –Be considered for one of the following jobs in the locomotive shop: Mechanical Shop Laborer, Apprentice Diesel Electrician, Journeyperson Diesel Electrician, Apprentice Diesel Mechanic, or Journeyperson Diesel Mechanic • (NPHF-TS) N. Platte Hiring Fair – Train Service (Pay ranges from approximately $40,000/year to start, up to $75,000/year if fully marked up after approximately 5 years): A train service employee is responsible for the safe movement of freight trains & switching of cars in the yards. Failure to apply online before November 18th may not provide you with the opportunity to be tested or interviewed at the Hiring Fair. However, all walk-ins are welcome at the Hiring Fair, so don’t miss out! If you have any questions, please call 1-800-877-5634, Option 4.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
November 18, 2005
Two From Omaha on Birthright cancelled due to safety reaContinued form page 1 sons. “I think this is one reaDuring high school, Becki, son birthright has been and who is now 19, was a member continues to be very popular of Omaha Temple Youth for my age group,” menGroup (OTYG), B’nai B’rith tioned the 20-year-old. Youth Organization, and she “We traveled to most of was a religious school the major cities and regions teacher’s aide at Temple. At of Israel in the ten days we KU, the sophomore is a memwere there,” recalled ber of Sigma Delta Tau sororLauren. “Because Israel is ity and is involved in Hillel. geographically small, it’s not “We started our trip in difficult to get to most of Jerusalem,” Becki said. the country in ten days. We “Then we went to the mega stayed in Jerusalem, Tel event where all the birthright trip participants met each Becki Smedlund relaxes at Sde Boker, home of Israel’s first Aviv, and Tiberias, by the Sea of Galilee as well as in a other. There were thousands prime minitser, David Ben Gurion. Bedouin tent in the desert of teenagers!” Becki and her companions also rode camels, visited an army base in the the night before we climbed Masada and went to the desert, bused their way to the Northern Golan where they Dead Sea. “Truly an amazing experience,” Lauren said. “I will saw Masada, the Dead Sea, and enjoyed a jeep ride. The always look back on this first time in Israel as a special last two days of her trip were spent in Tel Aviv. “I really enjoyed every aspect of Israel, because the experience, because I shared it with many other people State of Israel is so diverse. But my favorite place was my age who felt the same way. I consider almost every Jerusalem, because it has so much history. And I love aspect of the trip a highlight, but to name a few,” she limestone buildings,” which, she pointed out, is one rea- pointed out climbing “Masada to see the sunrise at 4 son she likes the KU campus, “because we also have a.m.” and “our first Shabbat in Jerusalem with Friday night services overlooking the Old City, and for the first limestone buildings.” time in my life, actually looking at the Kotel when I Jerusalem “is so beautiful!” She remarked that she felt safe throughout the trip. prayed. Saturday morning we walked to the wall and “Birthright only sends you to the safe parts where the prayed on our own at the wall with hundreds of people.” On the bus as she traveled throughout Israel, Lauren Israelis speak English. And we have at least one or two was accompanied by about 15 others from Washington armed guards with us.” Lauren agreed with Becki that “there was never a time University as well as students from Hofstra University, on the trip when I did not feel safe. “Birthright was the University of Wisconsin, and Northeastern extremely conscious of our safety 100 percent of the University. She knew only one other participant prior to time and would change our itinerary if they felt our per- the trip, but she “made many new friends both from sonal safety was ever in danger. We had two armed secu- Wash U and other schools.” “I am so thankful the birthright program exists,” menrity guards, who went everywhere with us, at all time on tioned Lauren, “because it provided many of us (88,000 our bus,” Lauren said. Also active in religious school at Temple Israel and since birthright Israel was founded in 1999) this opporwith OTYG when she was in high school, Lauren didn’t tunity to go to Israel in college.” For more information on birthright Israel, visit have much opportunity to visit Israel on an organized youth trip when she was in high school. Many trips were www.birthrightisrael.com or call 1.888.99.ISRAEL.
Non-Stop Shopping, Food, Fun at Beth El Sisterhood Boutique by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator The halls of Beth El will be buzzing with excitement and activity on Sunday, Dec. 4, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., as the synagogue’s Sisterhood organization holds its third annual Boutique. The day will be filled with shopping, a raffle, and of course, lots of food, including breakfast provided by the USY kids, and lunch, provided by Men’s Club. All proceeds from the event will be used to repair the synagogue’s Torahs. According to Sisterhood President Caryn Rifkin, who is co-chairman along with Patti Adler, vendors will be selling items such as hand-made glass-fused art, mosaic artwork, jewelry (antique, sterling silver and handmade), personalized stationery, baskets, Judaic art, kitchen items, beauty items (lotion and make-up), whimsical women’s accessories, home décor, cookbooks, children’s items, purses and hand-knitted clothing. (Rifkin also noted that it’s not too late to become a vendor; for more information, please contact her at 334.7216, or Adler, at 333.4047.) Raffle prizes will be given away every 10 minutes, and Beth El’s Judaica Shop will be open all afternoon, offering a wonderful selection of Hanukkah items, as well as a beautiful array of Judaica and holiday pieces for every Jewish home. For those who have a hankering for some scrumptious sweets, the Boutique will offer a kosher bake sale, which will feature Lucy White’s f a m o u s peanut butter balls, along Beth El Sisterhood members Jori Kravitz, other mouth- left, Carole Lainof and Debbie Roitstein disw a t e r i n g play some of the wares to be on sale during the annual Beth El Boutique. goodies.