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Vol. LXI No. 33
SERVING NEBRASKA, IOWA Omaha, Neb., Fri., April 29,1883
Grand Marshal named By Para Cohen The Jewish Cultural Arts Council in conjunetion with t h e Yam Ha'atzmmit Committfe announces the selection of their Grand Marshal for this year'* Salute to Israel I'nrnde. Ham Friedman was born in Little Sioui, Iowa on .luly 22, 18&1. He and his family moved c> Omaha in IS-Sfl. His first husinc&s wan Omnho Improvements Company, which built the first c o n c r e t e building in Omnha. That building is the Little {'million in Klmwood Pork. The nr>xl liuainw* lie owned was Sum
Ham Friedman Friedman Company which did general con-
tracting work and remodeled t h e entire Blackstone Hotel after it was purchased by the Bernard Schim me I family. Mr. Friedman holds the honor of being the oldest mason in the State of Nebraska. His family includes Rons Al of Kansas, Lloyd Friedman of Omaha, grandson Scott Friedman of Omaha, and the newest addition great • granddaughter, Jennifer Friedman of Omaha which makes his a four generation family. May Israel have the longevity of years that Sam Friedman hns enjoyed, L'Chaim!
Birthday celebration has varied activities
By Linda Dunn Yoxn Ha'atzmaut co-chairman A carnival atmosphere dotted with Israeli potpourri will give Omaha residents and visitors a taste of authenticity during this Sunday's Yom Ha'atzmaut Celebration. The grounds of the Jewish Community Center will be transformed for the multifaceted event being coordinated by a largo committee under the Co-Chairmanship of Pom Cohen and Ben L«et. At both endfl of the parade route, people of nil ages will find activities tailor-made for them. On the Jewinh Community Center grounds, a flag raising ceremony will kick off the day's events at 9 a.m. Lag B'Omer names for children ages five through 13 will he held nt Beth Israel West storting at 10 a.m. A Youth Run, co-sponsored by Children'n Hospital and the Health and Physical Education Department will he held from 9:30 to 11 a.m.
Noon marks the time for the grand opening of a huge tent filled with a variety of booths sponsored by organizations and individuals. Among the boothB will be a combination of Israeli and American foods including hot dogs, poppy seed cookies, wines, bagels, international coffees, and an Israeli fruit soup. Informational materials and exhibits will also be housed in the tent until 8 p.m. These will feature gift items, art work, B'nai B'rith Women's Dolls for Democracy, handmade kipot, Children's Hospital doll house, a listening display of Jewish music and more. Youth groups will also be participating in o variety of ways. Cornbelt Region B'nai B'rith Girls will have information and a petition concerning Soviet Jewry. AZA #1 will sponsor a sponge throw, while Kdinr BBG runs a kissing booth and hat sale. M. Z. Yonhanah will conduct a plant sale and (continued on page 8)
Rabbis comment on synagogue attendance H> David Bitlner Week after w<*k the rabbi performs under our critical cyt-K. He mnnn^CA to tunind inspired as ho recites responsive rending* which «re soim-limc-n platitudinous. Ho deliver* Mrm'niH he know* v.p r*|K-<;t to IK* topical and entertaining. Ho iflfcr»i uire not to mispronounce names on the yahrzeit lixt*. Hut tthnl ii hi* view of uo n» he stands under our hariih scrutiny? Believe it ur nut, it is not the giim-clackers who irritate him the most, hoi the ynwncn*and whisperer* who drive him crazy — it i« the fuel t hnt mnte of his conjfregnnta, even with nil these faults nnd other*, don't show up. . Rflhhi IMSC Nodoff posits o fjer.eral rule that "the bijfter the sanctuary, the worje a email attendance looks," nnd wiyh that in Beth Innicl KynngOf?tio'* own main sanctuary, built to accommodate &r>0 persons, attendances of hundreds fewer on Friday nights and Saturday mornings
By Ncchcmla Meyers Never has a scientific meeting in Israel aroused such controversy ax "The First Congress on Inquiries into the Origin of Life and Evolution," held recently on the campus of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. This to because the gathering — organized by a group of Orthodox Jewish scientists from Israeli institutions of higher learning — took place under the auspices of the Israel Ministry of Education and enjoyed the support of the Israel National Council for Research and Development and of the prestigious Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Thus with the imprimatur of officialdom and adorned in on academic cloak, Crentioninrn was officially welcomed to Israel. Even beforehand a Jerusalem rabbi by the nome of Mordechai Arnon had raised the issue of Darwinism in Israeli eeculor echoob. But since he was an Israeli comedian before "eecing the light", his initiative wan not taken seriously; now, with leading scientists and official bodies involved, the issue cannot be ignored. Some participants in the Jerusalem meeting, while finding fault with the Darwinian and neo-Dorwinian approaches, also said that other doctrines, including that put forward in Genesis, were open to question. However, Prof. Alvin Radkovsky, who played a key role in the development of American nuclear submarines and ia now on tho staff of Ikn-Gurion University of the Negcv In Beensheba, felt otherwise. In the course of a talk on "Miracles," ftadkovsky said that scientific research had already demonstrated "the extreme improbability that life originated and developed by
"look* terrible." Rabbi Paul Drnzen of Ileth El Synagogue snys more people could become synagogue-Kocrs if they would just rnnke an effort to gel themselves into the habit. "It's hnrd the firtit few times." he Raid, "hut with more practice it ran
"If religion were high priority with our congregants, the sanctuary would be filled to over-flowing every Friday night nnd Saturday morning," he said. "It all depends on what in important to people," naid Rabbi Drazcn. "People who value education go to PTA IKJCOIDC regular." ineetingH. People who think religion is important go lo servltnbbi Sidney Brooks of Temple Israel hns service at- ices" Like Rabbi Nadoff, Rabbi Drazcn noted that "sectendance down to a science. "1 enn predict n large attend- ularized" Jews moid synagogue, although he maintained once on three occosions," he said. "They ore: High that Meculorization is not necessarily "fatal," with people Holidayn; anything having to do with death, mirh on ynhr- continuously "moving up and down on the religious speczcit and ykkor; and bar and bat mitzvah'i." trum." • To explain the phenomenon of low attendance, the Uahbi Brooks wild rabbis should not let thcnuelve* rabbis put at lenst port of the blame on a growing non- "become frustrated" by poor nhowings at services. "The religiosity of many American .lews. problem i.i not with them, or with the synagogue, or with Rabbi Nadoff thinks many Jews are "frankly secularly- the sermon, or with t ho prayerbook," he said. "The problem oriented people to whom religious concerns ore not impor- has to do with the theology of the individual Jew, Many (continued on page .')) tant."
evolutionary means; this being the case," he declared, "there wan no other possibility than the divine origin of life." His view was seconded by Dr. Dunne Gish, a leading Christian creationist from the U.S., in a talk on "Speculations ond Experiments Related to Theories of the Origin of Life." A rather different approach was presented by Prof. Cyril Domb, a well-known physicist who nomn years ago left Kings College, I<ondon to take up a post at Israel's BarIlan University. Speaking on evolution ot a special session . for students, Domb asserted that many aspects of the theory of evolution had been refuted, though not in time to prevent that theory from doing "enormous moral damage to Western noclcty" by encouraging tho belief in man's animal nature and in a meaningless universe. At the samo time, ho Raid he saw no point in portraying the Genesis account of events an an alternative scientific theory since itn acceptance was based on revealed truth and not on experimental evidence; it was thus above science. While participants were primarily concerned with counteracting the influence of Darwinism in secular schools, /computer expert L.M. Spetner warned that it had also found its way into religious nchoobi. "If Darwinism is to be in the curriculum at all," he declared, "then it should be only as a means of preparing ntudenU to confront it." Naturally moat non-observant Israel scientists disagreed with the viewpoints heard in Jerusalem, but so did many Orthodox scientists. For example, Wcizmnnn Institute Prof. Michel Revel, a leading expert on interfcron as well as an observant Jew, dismisses the organizers of the conference as no more than a vociferous ond unrepresentative group. "The vast majority of religious scientists," ho says, "feel otherwise, and in thin respect are quite in keeping; The United Talmud Torah of Omaha in the name of with Jewish tradition." Revel, who has lectured on evolution at both inntitutionn the new t.chool resulting from the merger of Beth El and Beth Israel talmud tornhs, Judi Itlninmow, committee , of higherlearning and at yc»hivot (Tnlmudical Academics), soys that Jswinh tradition 1ms long accepted the fact chairman, has announced. that man evolved from other forrnn of life. This wn« re. . She said the new nnrno was selected from a list of 50 suggestions and that suggestions now will lie welcome for flected in animal sacrifices during Biblical times, where the animal took upon itself the nins that resulted from the ana school logo. imal clement in man's nature This element is frequently She also Kaid that the new second grade class will meet mentioned in the literature of hnsnidie Jews an well, he adds. Like many other Jewish thinkera, Revel sees the account on Sundays and one day during the week. Cantor Kmil Bcrkovits and Cantor Leo Fettmnn will work with grades of creation in Genesis, with its progression from lower to higher forms of life, a* being in broad agreement with' DarK-7 on music. , '
winism. Indeed, Revel declnres, evolution — which is based on life having n beginning ond hence an end — in a very religious concept. The Weizmann Institute researcher is disturbed by the growing intolerance he finds in some religious circles as well as by the attempts made to put religion against science. "When a child is told that he should accept something On faith rather than on the basis of scientific evidence, he is liable to lose that faith when he finds that science was right after all," Revel warns.
School named
Volunteers win Bobbi Leibowitz (left) and Lcanno Goldberg were selected as outstanding volunteers in tho Special Services category during tho 28th Annual Volunteer of the Year Awards program recently. The nominees represented the National Council of Jewish Women, Omaha Section. Other nominees from the Jewish community are on page 7/