SERVING NEBRASKA AND IOWA SINCE 1920 Vol. LXV No. 3 Omaha, Nebr.
Miriam Simon to lead Chai Grand Gift Division By Joanie Jacobson Federation public relations director i Bert Lewis, Women's Division chairman ffor the 1988 Federation Campaign, has announced the appointment of Miriam Simon jto lead the Chai Grand Gift Division. t "Miriam is a natural choice to lead," said [Mrs. Lewis. "She has demonstrated her personal commitment by participating in the [women's campaign over the years and has [served in every capacity including general [chairman." f "1 was raiised on philanthropies," explained Mrs. Simon. "Of course, we don't ^all it that today but the message is the pame. Giving. I was raised that I should [ive. "My father was an ardent Zionist when Israel was 'Palestine.' My mother was very pKtive in the community. Both of my par'ent always talked about Palestine and about giving. Today, I have a daughter and ,8on-in-law and grandchildren living in IsIrael. So, you see, I have more than a passing interest in what happens here and [abroad. ("The problems of the Omaha Jewish community may change from year to year, but ;the bottom line will always be 'Jews helpling Jews—wherever they are.' Because of ;my work with the Blumkin Home, Jewish i Family Service, the Bureau of Jewish Edu»cation and having served on the Federation board, I know that our agencies need our money. We have important local needs that have to be met.
"Recently, we've seen more Jews get out of Russia and a large percentage of them are choosing to live in Israel. As chairman of the Omaha resettlement committee for Russian families, I know how much resettlement costs. It's absolutely necessary that Israel receives American Jewish dollars to help provide fof*these people. "This year, Bert is committed to the idea of worker training and the Grand Gift division will be no exception," emphasized Mrs. Simon. "I strongly believe in worker training. I don't care if you've worked on the campaign all your life, each year something is different—each year there are different and crucial problems that need resolving. "In addition, worker training workshops offer inspiration. A good speaker/trainer can instill enthusiasm in people. It revs you up. It gets you excited and makes you proud of the work you are about to do. "I sincerely hope that the Omaha Jewish community will respond by affording these people the opportimity to do their job," concluded. Mrs. Simon. "They're volunteers. They're not asking for anything for themselves, they're asking for aU of us. We ourselves will be the beneficiaries of what we give," "We are fortunate to have a woman of such caliber working for the Federation campaign," commented Mrs. Lewis. "Miriam Simon is exceptional. Her experience and her deep sense of community, together with her ability, make her perfectly suited to lead the Chai Grand Gift Division for 1988."
Press announces speakers for publicity seminar The Jewish Press has announced the list of speakers for its commimity pubUcity seminar taking place Oct. 19 at '7 p.m. in the Jewish Community Center. Judy Siff, seminar chairman, said that members of the Jewish Press staff and lay members of the cominunity will present a ; detailed explanation of things that organization publicists can do to improve their success in getting information into the newspaper. Those taking part are as follows: . Suzanne Singer, Jewish Press president; Oliver Pollak, vice president; Morris Maline, editor-in-chief; Jill Belmont, a director; Mandy Frost, advertising coordinator; Joanie Jacobson, public relations director, Jewish Federation of Omaha; Patricia Newman, ft director, and Bert Lewis, coltminist and a director. Mrs. Siff also announced that those attending will have an opportunity to ask
questions. A publicity booklet also will be . distributed to those in attendance. There is no charge to attend, but those who would like to participate should call the press office at 334-8200 and make a reservation. There is no limit to the number attending from any organization or institution, Mrs. Siff added. She pointed out also that plans call for videotaping the seminar so that the information can be made available to interested parties on future occasions.
Inside B'nai B'rith sponsors second annual Bible quiz—Page 7.
9 Tlshri, S748 Friday, Oct. 2, 1987
Oregon Senator Bob Packwood Israel Bond dinner speaker Oregon Senator Bob Packwood wiU be a speaker at this year's Israel Bond dinner, according to Sylvia Wagner, general chairman for the State of Israel Bonds. Dietary laws will be observed at the Oct. 18 dinner at the Marriott Hotel, Mrs. Wagner noted. Senator Bob Packwood "We are very pleased to bring to Omaha a speaker of such caliber as Senator Packwood," Mrs. Wagner said. "He has a proven record of helping Israel in the,Senate and his appearance here will Be a red letter day for Omaha." Senator Packwood has been in public office since 1962 when he won election to the Oregon Legislature where he served three terms. Following that he ran for the United
States Senate and is currently in his fourth term. Upon his election to the Oregon Legislature and the U.S. Senate, Senator Packwood was the youngest member to serve in each governing body. Senator Packwood is the ranking Republican and former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, former chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and a member of the Foreign Commerce and Tourism Subcommittee, the Surface Transportation Committee and the National Ocean Policy Study. In 1970 and 1971 he received awards from the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith in Oregon, and in 1973 Senator Packwood received the University of Judaism and the Portland Society of Fellows of the University of Judaism Award for Outstanding Puhlic Service. He is also the recipient of Omaha's Woodman of the World Life Insurance Conservation Award. Additional information on the dinner may be obtained by calling the Israel Bond office, 341-1177. Invitations will be mailed to the community shortly, Mrs. Wagner said.
Debate on Pope Pius XII follows Miami statement By Susan Bimbaum NEW YORK (JTA) - A simple statement made in Miami by Pope John Paul II at the meeting with Jewish leaders, in which the Pontiff said he believed that Pope Pius XII would be vindicated by history, has elicited a skeptical response from Holocaust historians and some Jewish figures present at the meeting. Pope Pius XII has been accused, in the years since the end of World War II, of a singular Holocaust sin: silence. In effect, John Paul's assertion reopens an old can of worms, one which was given tremendous attention beginning in 1963 with the production of the play "The Deputy," by German playwright Rolf Hochhuth, in which Pius XII was assailed for having refrained from speaking out on behalf of those who were persecuted, particularly the Jews. Critics of the wartime Pontiff base their judgment on the fact that Pius XII did not speak out on behalf of the Jews specifically. The telling document many refer to is the address the Pope gave at Christmas, 1942. The criticism leveled at him is that he never once in the very long statement mentioned the word "Jews." The Christmas plea given by the Pope, printed in its entirety in the Dec. 25, 1942 issue of The New York Times, was, rather.
a sweeping condemnation of the perils of a "Godless society" and the threat to private capital under Marxism. In broad but gerieralized terms, he called for opposition to the "excessive herding of men into lifeless things" and urged mankind to "uphold respect for the. practical realization of the . .. fundamental personal rights ... to maintain and develop one's corporeal, intellectual and moral life and especially the right to religious formation." . In attempting to explain the Pontiff's reasoning during that era, many have pointed the finger at his treinendous loathing of Communism. It has also been variously noted that it was simply not in the style of Pius XII to be specific about any people suffering, nor by whom. Pius's record is a somewhat mixed bag, in that it is known and documented that he allowed sanctueu-y to be given to the Jews of Rome; that he intervened, through the papal nuncio in Berlin, for the Jews in northern Italy; that he telegrammed a personal appeal to Hungarian Regent Admiral Miklos Horthy. On Sept.20,1942, Pope Pius XII gave an audience to U.S; envoy Myron Taylor, of which it was speculated that the topic discussed was the persecution of the Jews.
The powerful Kol Nidre is no prayer W^F' '
By Rabbi Bernard S. Raskas (Copyritkt l9gJ, Jewlth TiltgrMpUc Agtacr, IncJ
Kol Nidre, which begins the Yom Kippur service, is one of the most popular and powerful pieces in Jewish liturgy. Yet, it is not a prayer and does not eyen mention the name of God. The origin of its famous melody is unknown, and its inclusion in the prayer book was strongly opposed by several generations of prominent rabbis. The setting of Kol Nidre is a Jewish court. Two people hold Torah scrolls at either side of the Cantor, thus constituting a "beth din," a court of three that is required for the legal procedure of granting the dispensation from vows. It is preceded by a brief paragraph bvokmg the Academy on High, the heavenly body of rabbis. Because the recitation is in the nature of a court procedure, which cannot be conducted on a holiday, it is recited before sunset. The text is a precise legal formula in which the wor-
shippers proclaim that all personal vows, oaths, etc., that they made unwittingly, rashly or unknowingly (and thus cannot be fulfilled during the year) should be considered null and void. However, it should be pointed out that the Talmud (Yoma 8:9) says explicitly: "Yom Kippur atones for sins against God. yom Kippiu- does not atone for sins against another human being until one has placated the person offended." In order to understand the nature and function of Kol Nidre, we must look to biblical times, when it was common practice for people to make vows that could not possibly be honored. After the Second Temple was destroyed, this practice continued among the people. The leaders of the conununity were troubled, for they viewed a person's word as his or her bond. Failing to convince the people of the desirability of avoiding rash promises altogether, the rabbis of the Talmud finally created a formal ritual for annulling those unkept vows. No one knows for certain, but it is probable that in
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the ninth century C.E. Rav Amram's siddur contained the first complete known text of Kol Nidre, quite different from the talmudic legal formula. Kol Nidre was a collective annulment, unlike the Talmud's individual annulment, and it was written in a mixture of Hebrew and the then vernacular Aramaic. There are two other explanations for its introduction. According to Rabbi Mordecai ben Hillel (Germany, d. 1298), this formula was instituted by Rabbi Meir ben Barukh of Rothenberg (d. 1293) to permit transgressors who had been excommunicated because of their defiance of communal regulations to worship with the congregation; toward the end of the 19th century, Joseph Bloch had proposed the theory that Kol Nidre arose in the seventh century when secret Jews—who had been converted to Christianity after persecution by the Visigoths (590-711)—would c6me to the synagogue on Yom Kippur eve.
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