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'•*CR11 CAR-RT SORT Ne Hiet. Society 15 0,0 R ST LINCOLN
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68508-1651
Serving Nebraska and Iowa Since 1920
3 Sivan, 6764, May 13,1994
VoLLXXI No. 34 Omaha 1
Israeli baby undergoes liver transplant Special to the Omaha Jewish Press By Gary Javitch
Bulletin: On Monday, Or Bibi underwent surgery for a liver transplant. To save their baby's life, Israelis Nitzchia and Eli Bibi have traveled about a quarter of the way around the world. Their nine month old son, Or, was bom with a medical condition that has caused his liver to deteriorate. Without a new liver the baby cannot survive. Leaving their two teenage daughters at home with Eli's sister in Nes Tziona, a community near Tel Aviv, Mr. and Mrs. Bibi sought help at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, world renowned for its pioneering work in liver transplants. For the last six weeks, the trio have anxiously awaited a donor with a compatible organ. The tedium facing the couple is exacerbated because neither speaks much English. Communicating with their outside world has proved frustrating right from the moment of their midnight arrival on March 17, when they were met at the airport by Sherman and Harriet Sperling who were only able to connect with the Bibis by holding up a sign in Hebrew which said "Shalom." Stepping in to assist them was Beth Seldin Dotan. Fluent in Hebrew, she coordinated arrangements on their behalf, by among other things, recruiting her Hebrew speaking friends to help hurdle the language barriers with the medical staff.
Or Bibi She was not the only one, however, to volunteer her time. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel eased the newcomers way in their first days. Several days later, so did Ophir Palmon, an Israeli, working locally as a photographer. He spent two solid days with the Bibis, serving as a translator with the team of surgeons, social workers and child development psychologists who described the medical predicaments their angelic baby faced. Hanna Schwalb, Kiva and Yaffa Shyken were also there to assist. Others jumped in, too. Rabbis Drazen and Friedman came by. So did many more. Meanwhile, Beth arranged food through the Blumkin Home's kosher kitchen. (Continued on page 2)
Germany used ovens before Holocaust By Morris Maline The president of the Holocaust Center of Northern California told a group of local doctors and dentists that Germany utilized poison gas and crematoria to eliminate the 'medically unfit' before attempting to^terminate the Jews. Tn the early 1930s, six installations consisting of ras chambers and crema;oria were established Dr. Thaler and used to dispose of 72,312 people whose lives were declared "unworthy of living,''8aid Dr. M. Michael Thaler. A Holocaust survivor and currently professor of pediatrics, division of gastroenterology and nutrition at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Thaler spoke last week to about 50 members and guests of the Jewish Federation's Maimonides Society at the Marriott Hotel. He said the installations, called the T4 program (for the location and people who made the deadly decisions) was only the prelude to a policy of active euthanasia which claimed more than 400,000 before the Catholic church put an end to the practice in 1941. Dr. Thaler, who is pursuing historical research in line with a forthcoming graduate degree, talked about the changes that transformed German medicine into Nazi medicine. .. He said the practice of killing piisple for "health' reasons was part of a "giant public health program." Dr. Thaler's starting point was the industrial revolution when 16 feudal states formed Germany to compete with Britain and Prance. The shift from an agrarian society to an industrial country brought with it miyor diseases. This period, he said, coincided with rapidly
Children of the Dream earns Community award This year's Community Service Award winner is the progrrarn. Children of the Dream, nominated by ADL/CRC, the Jewish Federation of Omaha has announced. The award presentation will be made at the Federation's annual meeting, Sunday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Jewish Community Center. A previously announced 7 p.m. groundbreaking ceremony for the Dan and Esther Gordman Educational Center has been postponed due to a scheduling conflict. Children of the Dream took place last Octob er and involved the appearance in Omaha and Kansas City of four Israeli/Ethiopian teenagers and their chaperon. This event was part of a cooperative effort with Voices United for Israel, a Kansas Christian/Jewish coalition group promoting support for Israel. Funding was provided through a grant from the Herbert Goldsten Trust. The program was designed to strengthen bonds and understanding between diverse groups and communities. Omaha public schools participated setting uy Schedules for speaking engagements; volunteer.-, were recruited to assist with a community meeting; _^_ sessions with Jewish youth were arranged. .^M As a result of the project, Omaha high school students gained an understanding of the diversity of the Jewish people and were challenged to change the stereotypes they may have that all Jews are of white European descent and physically identifiable, the announcement pointed out.
Rabbi Kushner to speak
Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People and To Life: A Celebration of Jewish Being and Thinking, will deliver a community lecture on May 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Jewish Community Center. Sponsored by Jewish Family Service and the Jewish Federation Library, the event is free and open to the public. A dessert reception will follow and Rabbi Kushner's books will be available for purchase. A private reception for those belonging to Friends of the Library will take place in the Library at 6:30 p.m. Reception chairmen are Linda Gordman and Barbara Simon Goldstein. Friends of the Library is an organization whose membership has an interest in Jewish literature and learning. A contribution of $18 enrolls one in the group. According to Edythe Wolf, executive director of the Library, appeals for renewals and new members are being made at this time highlighted by the forthcoming appearanc* of Rabbi Kushner. A rabbi for more than 30 years, Rabbi Kushner also wrote When Bad Things Happen to Good To demonstrate the medical mindset of Germany People to cope with a family tragedy. He also is at the time, Dr. Thaler quoted from a talk delivered the author of Who Needs God, When All You've by the dean of the University of Vienna's School of Wanted Isn't Enough. MIS latest book, To Life, is described as a book Medicine before faculty and siiidcnts of the for everybody who had n bad Hebrew School experi Department of Anatomy:" ence as a child, for anyone who feels n need to fill the spiritual vacuum in his life, for the Christian ...The purpose of caring for the who may suddenly find himself with u Jewish individual i8 to sustain the peo- daughler-jn law and Jewish grandchildren, for the Ele as a whole...With this goal believer who wants to find out about the origins of cfore us. our social awareness his faith, and for everyone who is seeking time-testand the legal guidelines will ed answers to the ongoing religious an spiritual enable us physicians to treat the issues that every human being has to face. "To Life explores the ideas and visions of entire nation both in the positive sense, in the sense of pro- Judaism — explaining why prayer matters, how moting the able-bodied, but also holiday observances and life-cycle events teach us in the sense of eradicating the to be human, why we follow the dietary laws, how we look at Christianity, and why the world needs wortiilesB." committed Jaws to make God's purposes come •bout," the announcement stated
advancing research into genetics and the emergence of "racial hygiene" as a new science. It was during this period that the Nordic-blueeyed concept of a superior race developed along with the fear that an inferior gene pool would cause the downfall of the nation. When the Nazis came to power, they turned Germany into a "giant public health program," proving that given the right conditions, modern medical science can lead to something criminal, Dr. Thaler explained. Research into genetic markers prompted Joseph Mengele to undertake his experiments in the con centration camps, Dr. Thaler added. He pointed out that the Nuremberg laws added additional public health measures such as deafness and blindness to the list of those not contributing to the well-being of society. An outgrowth was the establishment of the T4 program, the adoption of the "pure Aryan race" concept and the isolation of the Jews. The Holocaust was an extension of a vast health program."
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