ilewish Press
f CfiR- Hi I Ne H
1500
o 1 ^1 ^
soHr
« sr
UN L' 0 I, /v
Nt '«^««-l6Si
Serw/jff Nebraska and Iowa Since 1920
VoLLXXi No. as Omaha
Dr. Ron Wolfson to speak Dr. Ron Wolfson, a vice president at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, will speak about his new book, A Time to Mourn, A Time to Comfort at the Jewish Community Center on March 29, 1994 at 7:30 p.m. His lecture is co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation Library and Dr. Wolfson Jewish Family Service. He first learned how to celebrate Jewish holidays right here in Omaha where, "There are 6,000 Jews who make up one of the finest small Jewish communities in North America." Dr. Wolfson earned his Ph.D. in education at Washington University in St. Louis. Coming west to the University of Judaism for further study in Judaica, he was invited to join the faculty in 1975. After service as dean of education, he now serves as vice president, William and Freda Fingerhut assistant professor of education and director of the Shirley and Arthur Whizin Center and the Whizin Institute for Jewish Family Life. Dr. Wolfson has pioneered several innovative programs in Jewish family education, including parenting workshops and an educational tour of Israel for families. He is the author of The Art of Jewish Living, a series of books on the celebration of Jewish holidays in the home, including The Shabbat Seder, Hanukkah, and The Passover Seder. When a loved one dies, one is bombarded by conflicting emotions, including anger, pain, relief, and guilt. His book offers mourners a guide to dealing with these emotions, and offers those around the mourner a means of reaching out to comfort those in pain. His talk will include such specific topics as what to say at a shiva call, and appropriate words to comfort the mourning family.
'Lfiii
So6i e ty
6 Niaaan, 57M, Marih IS, 1M4
Holocaust Memorial Day program, April 7 The Jewish Cultural The piece also deals with the dilemma of treating Arts Council will comthe Holocaust as a subject for art and theater. memorate Yom HaShoah, After having written a Holocaust "best seller", an Holocaust Memorial Day elderly survivor confronts herself, as well as the on April 7 at Beth El audience, in an attempt to deal with this complex Synagogue. moral issue. A community memoriHighlights of her creative and performance al service and candle activities since 1990 include one-woman shows at lighting by Holocaust the Virginia Beach Arts Center, Olin Fine Arts survivors will begin at 7 Center, and the Providence Athenaeum, major unip.m. , Claudia Stevens, versities such as Duke, George Washington will perform "An Evening University, and the University of Virginia. with Madame F" followHer acclaimed performance in "An Evening with Claudia Stevens ing the service. Madame F" was produced for television in 1990, "An Evening with Madame F" is a work of the- and "The Heart Disclosed", a monodrama created ater-with-music, conceived and written by Claudia with composer Vivian Fine, was produced as a Stevens for her one-woman performance as radio play in 1991. pianist/singer/actor. The music and electronic It will air nationally on "NPR Playhouse" this sound are composed by Fred Cohen. Commissioned December. Stevens' most recent work is "Felice to for Holocaust Remembrance Day by the Richmond, Franz", based on the relationship of Franz Kafka VA, Jewish Federation,-the work has been per- and Felice Bauer. formed throughout the United States and broadcast Ms. Stevens will also lead workshops in the comby PBS Television affiliate WCVE. munity on Friday, following her performance The work explores the life-and-death experience Thursday night. of music performance in concentration camps, The Yom HaShoah program has been made posdrawing upon survivor accounts, including that of sible through support from the Dorothy Lustgarten Fania Fenelon, who performed in the Women's Riekes Music Fund, The Mort Richards Orchestra at Auschwitz until her deportation to Endowment Fund, ADL/CRC and the JCAC/JCC, Bergen Belsen. agencies of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Or. Lafontalne to speak at Beth El
Temple Israel to host Institute on Judaism Temple Israel will host the 54th Annual Charles Rosenstock Institute on Judaism for Clergy Friday, April 8, at the Temple, 7023 Cass St., Omaha. Rabbi Dr. Richard A Freund will speak. Events scheduled for the day are: 10 a.m., Invocation, Rabbi Freund will speak on Jewish Ethics end Judaeo-Christian Ethics; 12:15 p.m., luncheon; 1:30 p.m. Topic for the lecture is Lying and Deception in the Bible and Post-Biblical Religious Tradition; 3 p.m.. Benediction.
Dr. Harry Lafontaine will speak at Beth El Synagogue March 26, during morning Shabbat services. He will tell the story of the escape to freedom. Bom in Denmark in 1913, he escaped to England in 1940 to join the war efforts against the Nazis. After training, he parachuted back into Denmark where he worked in the underground until 1945. He is one of the 12 Danes who engineered the escape of more than 7,000 Jews from Denmark to Sweden in 1943. Only five of the 12 survive. The groups he helped start are credited with stopping 90% of all production for the Nazi forces.
Detroit cuts to UJA seen as sign of national trend By Larry Yudelson NEW YORK (JTA) — A federation considered one of this country's staunchest supporters of overseas causes plans to spend more of the funds it raises at home promoting Jewish education, sending less money to Israel and Jewish causes overseas. The move by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit worries advocates of overseas aid, who see an accelerating trend in which Israel receives a declining percentage of federation money. Actually at stake is less than $1 million, as the Detroit federation reduces over the next three years the share forwarded to the United Jewish Appeal to 50 percent of gross campaign revenues from its current 53 percent share. The Detroit campaign last year raise^j a total of $26.3 million. The move highlights a growing sense, both in America and Israel, that the needs of American Jews may have been neglected for too long. It comes at a time when Israeli officials, from Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin down to consular officers in the United States, say that American Jewish continuity is at least as much a part of the DiasporaIsrael partnership as is supporting disadvantaged Israelis. And it comes at a time when khe generation whose links to Jews overseas was forged by the Holocaust and the founding of the Stata of Israel is being replaced by a generation less viscerally connected to Jews overseas. Detroit's planned decrease in overseas allocs,tiont will leave Detroit with one of the highest ratios orfcdorotion fUnds going overseas.
But it is precisely because of Detroit's longstanding commitment to the UJA that national fundraising professionals in New York are worried. "There is no way of knowing if Detroit is the end of the wave of reductions (of overseas allocations) or the beginning of the next wave," said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It's only the tip of the iceberg," said another professional. "If the line can't be held in Detroit, it can't be held anywhere." This person noted that the Motor City is home to leading UJA engines like Max Fisher, the grand old man of the United Jewish Appeal and the founding chairman of the Jewish Agency, and Joel Taubcr, UJA's national chairman. During the 1980s, the tradition of federations' sending at least half their funds to Israel weakened across the country, as is evident from figures comparing federation allocations in 1982 to those in 1990. Over that time, UJA's share shrunk from 50 to 42 percent, and local agencies' shares rose from 29 to 34 percent. In terms of absolute dollars, UJA increased its revenue by 22 percent — less than inflation — while local agencies received 70 percent more dollars. The UJA is not coming out against Detroit's move. "I wish other communities would give 50 percent of gross," said UJA Executive Vice President Brian Lurie. "It keeps cleorly to the concept of shared partnership," he said.
And in a sharp departure from the not-so-recent past, when Israeli officials would talk darkly of conducting a competing fund-raising drive if federations cut their allocations to Israel, the Detroit move is being greeted with equanimity by Israel. "If it's to fund Jewish continuity, then I have nothing to say against it," said a consulate official here. Indeed, the executive vice president of the Detroit federation describes his motivation in just that way. "We needed to have a shifting of funds to continuity, while remaining a pre-eminent funder of UJA," said Robert Aronson, The move, he said, was studied for a year and a half "This process was well underway before the whole Beiliii- nhmeilin thing," said Aronson. He was referring to Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin's recent controversial remarks that Israel no longer needed Diaspora "charity." Shortly before the decision was announced, the Detroit Jewish News editorialized in favor of such a shift of priorities. "We just felt there were so many programs in Detroit that were being asked to stretch their bud^ gets that it makes sense to keep our money here,*^ said Phil Jacobs, the paper's editor. The squeeze on local programs reflects the confluence of the American recession, which has cut into fund mining these past few ycnrs, and Ihp Israeli absorption of more than half a million immi grants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia.
1