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Vol. LXIII No. 3
Omaha, Neb., Fri., October 4,1985
Israel aids Mexico Mick By Hugh Orgel . TEL AVIV — Civil defense rpccialists and Israel Defense Force engineers are in Mexico City to assist in ongoing rescue operations following the major earthquakes that devastated the heart of the Mexican cupital with a death toll estimated between 3,000 and 5,000. The IDF engineers with them not only sophisticated equipment but know-how gained in Lebanon, rescuing people buried in the rubble of buildings blasted by terrorist bombs. Israel's action 13 in reaponso to a general appeal for help from the Mexican government. Israeli amateur radio operators (hams) have already established a communication network with Jewish radio hama in Mexico. They have volunteered to pass messages between Mexico and Israel, transmitting information and inquiries among concerned citizens of both countries. The Israeli rescue teams are also carrying communications equipment by which they will keep in touch with Israel via the Israel embassies in Mexico City and the U. S. Their reports will determine whether more men and equipment are needed. The equipment with the Israeli specialists includes sensory devices which can pinpoint the faintest sounds coming from beneath rubble; specially designed inflatable airbags to be used as jacks to carefully lift fallen masonary or steel girders weighing as much as 54 tons. This equipment will enable rescuers to crawl beneath rubble to extricate survivors or the bodies of victims. The (continued on page 5) :
By Susan Paley Campaign Volunteer "How lucky our community is to have a committed and caring Jewish woman as superlative (" Tilickey Sturm," said Nancy Grcenborg, Women's Campaign Chairman. A past campaign chairman in both 1979 and 1931, Mrs. Sturm chaired the Grand Gifts Event in 1983, and it is in this capacity that she will be serving for this year's campaign. "I'm doing what I like to do beat," states Mrs. Sturm, "and that's helping to plan Mickey Sturm exciting JewiGhly educational events. It is my hope that
special events which bring our community together will enrich and improve the quality of our Jewish life here in Omaha." Mickey has a long history of involvement in special events which include chairman three times of the HIES fashion show for Hadassah. She end liar family made possible the extraordinary Danzig 1939 exhibit at Joslyn Art Museum in 1984, an event which was five years in the making. "I feel that special events are what I have the most talent for, and we are planning a vesy unique event to honor our Grand Gifts ladies at our Chai/Grand Gifts Luncheon on Dec. 3. We will be doing something that has never been done before, and wq hope that everyone who is able to join this special group of women will do so," Mrs. Sturm concluded.
tar Mitzvah 'boys' twinned with Soviet when a boy or girl becomes a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. In Omaha By Morria RfESlino At Shabbat services tomorrow morning at Beth El Syn- recently, a baby girl was named in a twinning ceremony agogue, three men will be given Torah honors in celebration along with a Jewish child in the Soviet Union. According to Soviet Jewry Chairman Shirley Goldstein, of their becoming Bar Mitzvah 'boys'. Each of the three is 83-years-old. ' the twinning of throe elderly Soviet3 with Omahans in their And thousands of miles away, in the Soviet Union, three 80s may be a first for the nation. Mr. Lerner was once among the most renpected and honmen will somehow share the day and the honor. In a rare twinning occasion, the lives of Abe Gendler, ored scientists in the Soviet Union; Mr. Ovsisher had served A.B. Krantz and Charley Fellman — all of Omaha — will a3 a colonel in the Russian Army and wa3 awarded 15 orders and medals; Mr. Lifshitz is a retired construction engineer. be intertwined with three Soviet Jewish Refuseniks. All three have been refused permission to emigrate to T.hey are: Alexander Yakovlevich Lerrier, Lev Petrovich Israel. \ Ovsisher and Boris Lifshitz. These men are in.their 60s When the three Omaha men rise for their aliyaha, they and 70s. , will parry with them the dreams of freedom from three In most cases, the growing practice of twinning is used fellow Jews trapped in the Soviet Union.
the University of Southern California and formerly dean of the Visual and Performing Arts College of the University of Tel Aviv. Dr. Lazar will give a dramatic interpretation of Moses Maimonidea' life and times. Lauren Pomerantz is an internationally known musician experienced in Sephardic, Ladino and Medieval music. She spent 10 years living, performing and studying in Spain, concentrating her efforts on Sephardic music and culture. She will perform and discuss Sephardic and Ladino music. The Spanish Ministry of Culture sponsors her annual concert tours,
.... ,The Mediterranean ia blessed sviths&-hiliclimate arid an abundance of produce and grains. So it is no wonder that the Sephardim took not only the language and customs of Spain but the cooking, as. well. From Spain to Portugal and the New World or to North Africa, Turkey and Greece, Sephardic Jews added, modified and blended their Spanish cuisine with the host country's own specialties. "To create the ambiance of a Mediterranean coffee house," said Margo Riekes, "Susan Paley, Joyce Cohen and I will decorate the auditorium of the JCC, set the lighting low and pile the buffet table with Sephardic desserts and cups of thick, sweet Turkish coffee. Some of the desserts will include baklava, dates, halavah, almond cookies and churos (fried Spanish dough)," added Mrs, Paley. "For those who don't have a sweet tooth, like I do, we will offer pita bread and hummous, salted pumpkin seeds and spiced almonds." Reservations are required by Oct. 8. A $5 admission fee includes the dessert bar and entertainment. To make reservations call The Jewish Cultural Arts Council 334-8200. The Sepfaardic culture While Christopher Columbus was discovering America in 1492,-aome 250,000 Jews were being expelled from Spain and Portugal. The term Sephardi refers to the descendents of those Jews, many of whom moved to North Africa, Italy, Turkey and the Balkans. Eminent among them were the poet Judah Ha-Levi, Talmudist Joseph Caro, American philanthropist Judah Touro, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Perhaps the most notable among Sephardim was the physician, philosopher and halakhist Moses Maimonides. Throughout the Mediterranean world of the Sephardim, Jews preserved the cultural heritage of the 'Golden Age' of Spanish and Portuguese Jewry. That era, mostly during the liberal rule of the Muslim empire, lasted some 700 years, but ended in 1492 with the expulsion of Jews from the
Iberian peninsula by King Ferdinand and-Queen.Isabella of Spain. . The Sephardim took with them the language and customs of Spain. Called Ladino, Judezmo or Judeo-Spanish, it is still spoken by Jews in Turkey and Greece as well as by immigrants in Israel and the United States. It is likely that the dialect will soon be extinct, though efforts ifre being made in Madrid and Jerusalem to record the language. Food preparation follows the customs of the Middle East ' and Mediterranean, heavily spiced and often flavored with cumin, mint and coriander. Dishes rely on lamb, chicken, beans and eggplant and hummous. Sephardic cooking isn't limited to everyday meals. Shabbat breakfast after morning services is called 'desayuno.' In addition to apples and honey, Sephardim say blessings over other fall harvest foods at Rosh Hashanah — pumpkins, leeks, onions, beets are considered symbols of fertility, abundance and prosperity. At the New Year the pomegranate is symbolic. From the time of King Solomon the abundant of seeds and bright colors have made it a sign of fertility. The expulsion from Spain in the 15th and 16th centuries coincided with a relatively liberal regime in the Ottoman empire which allowed Jewish settlement in Israel. From that time the Sephardim became the predominant element and played a decisive role in transforming Safed into the spiritual center of world Jewry. By the 19th century the Ashkenazim outnumbered the Sephardim, transforming Israel politically. The opening of the College of Jewish Learning on Oct. 13 will give the Omaha Jewish community a chance to experience the life style of the medieval Sephardic Jew. Eating Sephardic desserts, listening to Sephardic music and learning about the times are all part of Cafe Sephardim.
By Bon Gallob _ Jewioh Telegraphic Agency,.Inc. An Ottawa rabbi, examing all the relevant sources, has concluded that, according to Jewish Law, a dying patient should not be told he is beyond hope of recovery. That Halachic position is contained in a new book, "Jewish Ethiro and Halachah for Our Times," published by the Yeshiva University Pieos. Rabbi Basil Herring, rabbi jof Congregation Beth-Shalom in Ottawa, is an alumnus of Yeshiva University. ' The book presents all the major Halachic views on nine social issues confronting society — the issue of whether or not to tell a dying person be or she is doomed being one of them — and helps the reader to appreciate basic Jewish sources and texts and how they are interpreted and applied in succeeding generations, according to university officials. Herring declared that most Jewish commentators believe that Jewish Law differs from the prevailing contemporary
idea that dying patients should be told about their condition. "The Jewish approach to the so-called terminal patient is at variance with that of many other religions and with certain recent theories put forth by those who argue for a more 'realistic' and 'accepting' methodology," Dr. Herring declared. The Halachic view is that the dying patient "should not get the impreoaion that there is nothing ho or anyone else can do to prolong his (or her) life," Herring asserted. "He can be told that he is seriously ill but that with courage and faith he can still live on "even though neither the doctor nor counselor nor family members believe it possible. The future 18 never entirely closed,, and hope is not inconsistent with truth." Nothing that the Jewish view is based on the Hebrew Scripture and traditional rabbinic thought, Herring de-
clared that "in Scripture, we find a number of cases where a dying person was not told of his situation and that attitude is echoed in the rabbinic literature." He added that Jewish Law is concerned with "the trauma of the situation. We know that a person often has trouble dealing with the impending death of a loved one, and it is obviously traumatic to learn of your own impending death." Herring declared that Jewish Law permits a doctor or friend or relative to protect a person "from the truth, es-. pecially if that person is weakened by disease or frightened." But, he added, Jewish Law does not forbid doctors and relatives to tell a dying person the truth. "If one can make the judgement that the truth will not hurt the patient, one may tell him (or her) the truth. But one should never say something like 'You have only three weeks to live.' One should never mention a time restriction, even as one should not rule out hope."
College Of Jewish Learning publicist The Jewish Cultural Arts and Council and B'nai B'rith Henry Monsky Lodge present "An Evening of Moses Maimonides and a Taste of our Sephardic Heritage" Sunday, Oct. 13. This multi-faceted evening includes three aspects of our Sephardic heritage; history, music and food. Cafe Sephardim opens at 7 p.m. with an authentic dessert bar featuring a variety of Mediterranean delights. At 8 p.m. Dr. Moshe Lazar and Lauren Pomerantz will take to the stage and begin entertaining and educating the audience on " Mairrionides and the Sephardic culture. Dr. Lazar is
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Lauren Pomeronts