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SEEWEKG ICLSIASXA AND IOWA StKCE 1C20
Vol. LXIII No. 21
Dr. Eric Ray ie described in Cnltifrafrec Magazine as "one of the two best Hebrew calligraphers in the United States." He ia a renowned authority on Jewish art and a practicing Torah Scribe. He will give a lecture-demonstration at the JCC on Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. This program is sponsored by the Jewish Cultural Arts Council. Admission is free but participants are asked to RSVP by calling 334-8200. The subject of the lecture-demonstration will be how "Sifrei Torah," Torah Scrolls are made. Dr. Ray will discuss the materials employed, and how the script developed. Differences and similarities between Asb. kenazic (western) and Sephardic (eastern) Torah scrolls will be shown. He will demonstrate calligraphy with a quill-pen, using Kosher ink. He will also describe how parchment is pieced together in the construction of the Torah scroll. Dr. Ray will be in Lincoln through the week for the purpose of repairing Torah scrolls at Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Thus Dr. Ray's appearance in Omaha is made "possible. "The ability to bring a Torah back to congregational life ia a special joy," said Dr. Ray, "but my private joy is when I'm working alone. I move on to a different spiritual plane and I converse with my colleagues over the centuries; they become alive." Dr. Eric F.L. Ray, is internationally renowned as an authority on Jewish art, i l luminated Hebrew manuscripts and synagogal architecture. He holds a Masters Degree in Art History and a Ph.D. in Symbolism in the Arts of Religion from the University of London, England. He is a consultant to museums, universities and television programs in the United States, Israel and Europe. Dr. Ray was, for a quarter of a century,
ByHughOrgel TEL AVIV (JTA) — Dr. Josef Mengele, the Auschwitz death camp doctor responsible for inhuman medical experiments that cost the lives of at least 30,000 inmates and permanentlyjn aimed, manythousands more, is being tried in absentia in Jerusalem this week. Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal, who has come to Israel for the public trial, said that the eye-witness evidence it will produce of iMengele's crimes is more important than the fate of the criminal. Mengele's "life is absolutely without any importance, and believe me that throughout the 25 years I have been occupied in the search for him, we have had many propositions, from people who could do it, to kill him," Wiesenthal said. "And I have always said no, no. His life is absolutely without any importance at a time when we have a generation after the Holocaust, when in the world there are groups which deny the Holocaust. They talk about the 'Auschwitz lie' and they deny the existence of the gas chambers," Wiesenthal noted. Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Osnsha, Neb., Fri., February 8,1085'
prior to his arrival in New York during the Fall of 1978, the Director of Visual Arts for the University of Judaism (West CoaBt campus of The Jewish Theological Seminary of America) at Los Angeles, California. !.-> that capacity he served as the director of the University's Jewish Museum and University Press and as Chairman of the Visual Arts Dept. of its School of Fine Arts. In addition, he served as consultant on motion pictures and television programs and appeared regularly on television for the Jewish Federation Council of Los Angeles, the Israel Consulate General of Los Angeles and on the university's own television programs. As a practicing artist, book-designer and Torah scribe, Dr. Ray has been featured in both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times for his book designs; for designing and creating the art of over twenty synagogues in Canada, South America and the United States; for re-writing a centuryold Russian Torah; and for originating the current renaissance 6f the Ketubah (Illuminated Jewish Marriage Contract). Dr. Ray is represented in the collections of art museums in the United States and around the world, at the U.S. White House, Israel's Knesset and in major private collections. In 1948, he created the first map ' department for the State of Israel's armed forces in the newly formed Israel Navy during the War of Independence.
"A trial against Mengele would be the big historic lesson," the Nazi-hunter said. "It will be this lesson the young people need. And this will be a battle won against all the deniers, whether simple people or university professors. What he (Mengele) has done cannot be punished. How. can you punish a man who was responsible for the deaths of 300,000 people, for such cruel experiments?" Wiesenthal added, "The only thing we can do for the world is to put him on trial and speak the'truth." He said he was "99 percent certain" that Mengele is still living in Paraguay under the protection of powerful friends within the military dictatorship of that country. A public meeting was held here, attended by some 1,200 Auschwitz survivors and their children. A similar gathering was held at Oswiecim (Auschwitz) in Poland, site of the death camp, to mark the 40th anniversary of the liberation. The gathering here was described as a memorial to those who died and an event .to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive so that such barbarities can never occur again.
By Alan S. Katchen , Editor's Note; Alan S. Katchen, director of ADL's Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana .Regional Office, was hoad of the Plains States Office during the height of the controversy about which he writes. This article is reprinted from the February 1985, issue of the ADL Bulletin, national publication of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.. Boot Hill Cemetery sits just above the recreated notorious Front Street of Dodge City, Kans. A visit to this his' torical site evokes memories of Bat Masterson, Wyatt Ear^, hard cattle drives and frontier violence* Yet today,: this
The- Omaha Jewish Arts Council, in cooperation with Amit Women, one of it3 member organizations, is sponsoring a lecture at the Jewish Community Center by Israeli educator. Dr. Naomi Cohen. Dr. Cohen is on a twoweek speaking tour of the United States made possible by the Amerij can Zionist I Federation. She |_ [ will speak Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Dr. Naomi Cohen The topic of Dr. Cohen's talk is "Education in a Changing Society." Dr. Cohen serves as assistant professor in the Department of Jewish Philosophy at Tel Aviv University. She has a strong commitment to Israel, Jewish education, and the status of women within them. This makes her an ideal spokesperson for the interests and goals of the organizations sponsoring her Omaha appearance, a Cultural Arts spokesman said. Dr. Cohen was born in New York City in 1930 to Rabbi and Mrs. Herbert S. Goldstein. Her father was the first American born and educated Orthodox rabbi. In 1949, she made aliya to Israel, where she married Rabbi Shcar-Yashuy Cohen. "~ .Sho studied at the Hebrew; UMvefeity'at1 Jerusalem^ where she earned her MA in 1958, her Teacher's Certificate in 1961 and her PhD in 1971. In addition to her teaching
duties,'she serves on the Boards of several educational institutions: The Rothschild High School for Girls, Efrata Teachers' Seminary for Women, ond a founding member of the Judith Lieverman Institute for the Study of the Woman in Judaism at Ramot Shapiro. She was a Government representative from 1970-1974 on the National Council for Consumer Interests. Sho currently serves on the Women's Advisory Committee to the Mayor of Haifa and on the Advisory Committee of the Office of the Prime Minister for the Advancement of the Status of Women in Israel. Dr. Cohen resides in Haifa with her husband, who is Chief Rabbi of Haifa. Dr. Cohen's talk is made possible by the cooperation of several organizations with the special sponsorship of Amit Women, formerly known as American Mizrachi Women. The Omaha Chapters, Hatikvah and Kalah Franklin are two of the more than 375 chapters in the US. Amit takes an active role in Jewish and Zionist affairs. It supports educational and cultural activities, and participates in community efforts to achieve more fully the ancient Jewish ideals of justice, brotherhood and peace. Amit Women is a member organization of the American Zionist Federation; the Coordinating Committee for Youth Aiiyah, and the Conference Committee of National Jewish Women's Organizations, Amit W^pmfeS^obperhtes^'frlly^wjtii the' United ' Jewish Appeal, actively supports the State of Israel Bond Drive, The Jewish National Fund, and NJRC.
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Jewish heritage in the eye of the camera Tel Aviv's Beit Hatefutso'th Museum recently selected 169 photos from 4,000 entries to offer an exhibit showing living documentation of contemporary Jewish life. This photo of a Jewish family from Afghanistan before emigrating to Israel won top honors for Moshe Shapiro, who had been a Jewish Agency official stationed in Persia after the creation of Israel in 1948. His work traces the aliya of Kurdish and Afghan Jews —- the makeshift markets in the first transit camps; the removal of the Torah scrolls by the last Jews to leave a small village; and finally, the convoy of rickety cars leaving for the Land of Israel.
county-seat town of 18,000 people, standing in the wheat plains of southwestern Kansas is far removed from 19th century lawlessness. . Imagine then, the community's reaction on Jan. 21,1983, to a "religious".broadcast over radio station KTTL-FM, entitled "Victory With Jesus," by William P. Gale. A few excerpts from that broadcast: "Yes, we're gonna cleanse our land. We're gonna do it with a sword. And. we're gonna do it with'violence. 'Oh,' they say, "Reverend Gale, you're teaching violence.' You're damn right I'm teaching violence! God said you're gonna do it that way, and it's about time somebody is. telling you to get violent, whitey."
And it continued: "You better start making dossiers, names, addresses, phone numbers, car license numbers, on every damn Jew rabbi in this land, and every Anti-Defamation League leader or JDL leader in this land, and you better start doing it now. And know where he is. If you have to be told any more than that, you're too damn dumb to bother with. You get these road-block locations, where you can set up ambushes, and get it all working now." On Jan. 24, Bob Kirby, the 30-year-old general manager of a competing Dodge City radio station, KGNO, in a broadcast,editorial said: •• , (continued on page 2)