Celebrating More Than 75 Years of Service VoLLXXV
14 Nisan, 5758
No. 29
April 10,1998
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One of the most representative scenes of Israel is the Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock sets atop thq Temple Mount, where the First and Second Temples once stood. This photo was taken by Mike Linn during and Omaha UJA Federation Mission in February, 1997. More of his photos appear on pages 10-11
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 10,1998
A salute to Israel at 50.. Omaha has some talented photographers, too, In this year, the 50th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel, it seemed only fitting to dedi- who submitted photographs used throughout this special 72-page issue. We especially, thank The cate the 1998 Passover issue to Israel at 50. The stories and photos on these pages have been Nebraska Jewish'Historical Society for their black written by people who've expressed their love for and white photos of the early days of the State of the land and people of Israel. Some have visited, • Israel; as well as: Harry and Annie Allen, Minnie studied or lived in Israel; some are still there - as Breslow, Janey and Jerry Dann, Bob Eisenberg, students or as former Nebraskans who've jnade Lisa and Todd Ephriam, Mel and Lois Epstein, aliyah. Their stories are especially poignant and Mary Fellman, Sara Juster, Melissa and Jeffrey meaningful, especially to readers who know the Katzman, Gloriann Levy, Mike Linn, Kathy writers as friends or relatives. Some readers wrote McGauvran, Sidney Mirvish, Pam Monsky, Jan also about their experiences on UJA/Federation Perelman, Evan Saltzman, Bill Shackman, Miriam Simon, Jon Whitman, Earl Wigodsky, missions, synagogue, NCJW or Hadassah trips.
Members of the Israel Defense Force look east toward the Old City of Jerursalem -1997.
Allyson Bradin Wilczewski and the Miami Herald for the photo of the Ross-Weinberger family. We also thank the staff of the Jewish Press: Maureen LaPour, Larry Axelrod and Sheryl/ Friedman and outside salespeople, Barbara Frankel, Dora Shefren and Rocky Stern for their outstanding sales and creative efforts. And we dedicate this issue to our long-time friend and volunteer, George Schapiro, whose presence in this office we have greatly missed these last few months. ' Chag Pesach Sameach! Steve Levinger, Chairman Carol Katzman, Editor
Babies frolic on the beach at Tel Aviv as the Mediterranean Sea rushes in at high tide - 1997.
A jeep tour through the Golan Heights comes The Shrine of the Book, located at the Israel upon an abandoned Syrian bunker -1991. • Museum, houses the Dead Sea Scrolls -1989.
Jerusalem's new Municipal Building houses all the city government offices -1996.
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The Committee Members and Staff
of The Jewish Press wish our readers
a happy, healthy Passover THE JEWISH PRESS ' ' . (Founded in 1920) The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. ', Centers of Excellence of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish ' — ,v. Community Center, Jewish Education and Library Services, Jewish Family ^ Service, Jewish Senior Services. The Jewish Press is a Constitutional • Committee of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. The Jewish Press (USPS 276620) is published weekly on Friday for $26 per calendar year U.S.; $30 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is Thursday, noon, eight days prior to publication. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68164; Telephone 402-334-6448; FAX 402-334-5422; Email <jshpress@aol.com>
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spirit of Passover season wish for all a world of peace.
Page 4
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 10,1998
ThevSi'x.-Day War and its aftermath a perspective frorn Jerusalem by Gloriann Levy
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By the beginning of 1967,1 had finished my two B.A.'s at the Hebrew University and had almost completed my two-year teaching certificate. I had started teaching English in the little town of Netivot Azata near Beersheva. This was a boarding school for girls, and I would travel down from Jerusalem on Tuesday, teach the 11th and 12th grade high school classes English, and then, at night, I would teach English to adults, as a volunteer. I slept overnight, and on Wednesday, I would teach the high school students again and then travel back to Jerusalem that evening. But by the spring of 1967, we started to feel the unmistakable signB of war approaching. There had always been Arab rhetoric on the English-speaking station broadcast from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, about throwing the The menorah in front of the old Knesset Jews into the Sea. But we never really paid much building on King George Street in 1967 was attention to it until we suddenly noticed how much later moved to its present location, infrontof more frequently and vehemently it was being the new Knesset in west Jerusalem. repeated. By late May, 1967, with the closing of the Straits of Tiran by Egypt and the expulsion of the United Nations from Egyptian territory, the Israeli Army started slowly calling up the [reserves. This meant that classes were cancele,c\,.at the Hebrew University, since most of the professors and male students over 18 were gone. We then started packing sandbags to protect the propane gas tanks from exploding on our porches and readying the bomb shelter (basement) of our building by cleaning it and putting in supplies.' United States State Department sent students a notice advising all American citizens to leave the Middle East. They could not be held responsible for us if we did not comply. But how could we leave now! Both my brother, Burt and I had been living in Jerusalem since 1963 The sign entering the Old City in May of 1967 and this was our home! read: "Path for walkers to the Western Wall." It was an unbelievable.time to be in Jerusalem. Soldiers went to their bases before they were After the Six-Day War, someone changed the called up; there were lines of people donating blood; yellow sign to "STOP, frontier was ahead." people volunteered to go to the kibbutzim to har- ran out into the streets with everyone else, wishing vest the crops and I,had volunteered to go and each other "Mazal Tov" with the flags flying all work with the social workers in the suburb of over Jerusalem. . Katamon to prepare the immigrants from Arab The city was not heavily damaged except for countries for the coming war. some bullet holes which can still be seen today at By 11 a.m., on June 5,1967, the air raid sirens in the end of Jaffa Street near the Main Post Office. Jerusalem sounded. But there were so-many Israeli soldiers who gave I had taken the people of Katamon into their air their lives for Jerusalem and there were so many raid shelters and I prepared to return to my apart- who were wounded, that we wondered if the price ment building in the Rechavia section of was too high! • ' Jerusalem. . The song, Jerusalem of.Gold, was on the lips of so As I left the shelter and stepped out of the build- many of the soldiers who went into the battle for ing, I could hear the machine gun bullets from Beit Jerusalem that it became known as the Battle Safafa, right above us. I saw those bullets cross Hymn of the Six-Day War. I was fortunate enough right in front of me as I crossed from building to to have attended the Music Festival of Jerusalem building. For me, it was a scene out of the movies. in May, 1967 when Shuli Natan (a Canadian-born When I finally got to the road, I flagged down a singer) first sang Naomi Shemer's beautiful bus which stopped just long enough for me to Jerusalem of Gold. The whole audience loved the board. An Israeli soldier, not more than 18 years of song and sang'the chorus with her! age, lay bleeding on thefloorof the bus; most of the I entered the Old City of Jerusalem just a few passengers on that bus were soldiers. I think that days before Shavuot to see the Western Wall. The it was then that I realized how serious war was and buildings in front of the Wall had not been cleared the toll it would take in human lives. • and so I actually walked through a street to see i t I returned to my apartment house and stayed in On the Wall was a sign in Arabic and English prothe shelter for two nights, sleeping on a mattress claiming T h e Wailing Wall". That sign has since
we had dragged down from our .apartment, while been taken down. , the shelling of Jerusalem continued day and night. On Shavuot, more than 200,000 people went to We played Scrabble, told stones to the children the Wall near the Temple Mount and most of us and listened to the radio for constant bulletins. just cried. It was both a miracle and a nightmare June 8,1967 was declared Jerusalem Day and we (Continued on page 5)
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Aftermath of the Six Day War that we hoped would never have to be repeated! , : The reunification of Jerusalem began right after the clearing of the land mines in the space between the Old and New Cities of Jerusalem known as "No Man's Land". All the years I had lived in Jerusalem between 1961 and 1967, the city had been divided and surrounded by Jordanian border police. I had never actually seen, the Old City, except from the top of Mount Zion.
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(Continued from page 4) Mount. We became quite familiar with all four quarters of the Old i City, including the Christian Quarter and the Stations of the Cross from "Ecce Homo" Monastery to Church of the Holy Sepulcher. We were also saddened to see that the Jewish tombstones on the Mount of Olives had been either destroyed and mutilated or taken away and used aa steps in the Arab Quarter. The Old Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus were in ruins. Because of this devastating destruction, the ceremony for our graduation was held in the outdoor amphitheater of the Old Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. It was just thrilling! But the most exciting Israel Independence Day I had ever seen was - held in May, 1968, in Hebrew University held its graduation ceremonies in the amphitheatre Jerusalem. It was a full military on Mount Scopus in 1968; the site had been captured by the Jordanians parade with planes flying overhead in 1948 and destroyed. HU rebuilt the campus after the Six-Day War (not allowed for all the years I had and today it is one of the largest in Israel's university system. lived in Jerusalem, since Jerusalem had an "international city" status and no military equipment or planes were allowed in or above the city). Thousands of people were on hand that day to mark the first year of a united Jerusalem! We truly believed that peace in Jerusalem was inevitable and we knew that no matter what, the city would never again be divided.
Right after Shavuot, thousands of Arabs began to come into the New City of Jerusalem to visit and buy. , We were shocked to discover the conditions of the Old City, when we were first allowed to walk around freely. There were no sewers in the streets and unsanitary waste flowed through the streets and the Arab marketplace. Children had no milk and there was no sanitary water supply. The first thing the New City of Jerusalem Municipality did was to bring milk into Arab East Jerusalem and hook the homes of the residents up to a clean central water supply. The poverty of these Palestinian Arabs was just unbelievable. As we traveled into the surrounding towns of Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus, Beit Jallah, and others, we were overwhelmed by the primitive NOTE: Gloriann (Grayman) Levy and farming, housing and.transportation her brother Butt Grayman's letters from systems. Jerusalem during the Six-Day War were I especially enjoyed exploring the published in Letters From Israel, The Old City of Jerusalem. In addition to Making of a Nation, 1048-1968, introducgoing to the Western Wall, which was tion by Leon Uris and edited by Jay not segregated at first, we were also David. Published by Coward-McCann, New York 1968. It is available at the able to visit the two Mosques — Inc., Jewish Federation Library. Omar and El Aksa near the Temple
Gloriann Grayman Levy at Bet Hakerem in Jerusalem, 1965
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A lunch in Omaha leads to Israel by Beth Seldin Dotan
Four years ago, I was having lunch with Amnon at Mahoney State Park when we suddenly realized that it was time to move to Israel. We had always planned on moving to Israel, but we just didn't think that we would be in the States for seven years before it would happen. In August 1994, we packed up our necessities, our two children, said our difficult good-byes and plunged into our new adventure. Do you know what it's like to pick up and leave? We decided to go for a year and see how things developed before we made a decision as to where to spend the next period of our lives. Almost four years later, I realize the significant move we made for ourselves, and the lives of our children. We live in a peaceful arid beautiful kibbutz, surrounded by wild flowers and growing fields. Though the economic and social realities of the kibbutz are presently very difficult; political tensions of this country's government constantly effect our lives, but we have still found a way to find peace within ourselves and our home here in Israel. One of the most significant experiences that has happened since we arrived is the unbelievable adjustment that our children, Liatte and
and Yonatan, have made in such a short time. Each found a way to make their niche in the children's world of the kibbutz, not to mention the impression they have imprinted! Liatte arrived in her gan (preschool) at age four, with no Hebrew speaking skills what-soever. She was familiar with many songs and heard Hebrew at home, but was most definitely an English speaker. During her first few months in her new day care setting, she spent her time portraying every and any animal she could think of just to communicate with the few children who were patient enough to pay attention to her. She was accepted willingly by the other 18 or so children in the gan The Dotan children: Yonaton, age five, and Liatte, age eight, enjoy and within a short time, was speak- rollerblading on the grounds of Kibbutz Ayelet Hashachar. ing Hebrew very well. In the beginning, she spoke only in the feminine tense (since she only played with little girls!), but soon began to correct herself. The children in the gan became intrigued with the girl from Omaha. In their discussions together, Omaha became: a house-hold word, a place where wonderful books and toys came from, and even an entire country! When one of the kids didn't soil their clothes enough on one of their ; • - , ' • (Continued on page 7) ',: : '. * . • f'j' i ' ' C*> " \ Former Omahan Beth Seldin-Dotan holds a master's degree in education ic from Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. She.works part-time at the *( Ghetto Fighter's,, Museum to whi<ih !J| the recent YJO mis- • sion visited. Left: Beth, center, speaks to Debbie Stiel, left, Amnon Dotan holds son, Yonatan, as Beth Seldin-Dotan hugs daughter, and Bill and Jill Liatte. Omahans often visit as part of the .UJA/Federation Missions Swanberg. program and stay in the guest quarters on th^ kibbutz grounds. '., ».L^fi.^u.'-L
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April 10,1998 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE Page 7 too, has begun; to identify wild-flowers and leads A lunch in Omaha the way when the rest of the family decides to join (Continued from page 6) in an adventure. . adventures, the teacher would comment that land. She still feels a great devotion to Omaha and Amnon and I continue to revel in the growth of delves into many a discussion when Clinton's name the kids and how they marvel at the world for what maybe that child "came from Omaha!" The term developed a life of its own. Needless-to- is mentioned in the news. Most of all, she is enjoy- it has to offer. We are constantly aware of how say, Iiatte learned to enjoy getting as dirty as the ing a wonderful childhood, for which we are forever Liatte and Yonatan's daily experiences help them • : • ' • ' • • others, along with being able to identify the names grateful. understand and deal with the realities of this counYonatan, our five-year-old son, was a babe of a try. Together, we have found a balance of family in of every type of tree and flower around the kibbutz. year-and-a-half when we arrived. Since he did not a different surrounding, with a purpose that we all She also learned the names of every cat and dog. Most exciting in Liatte's development during bur speak when we arrived, he took his time, and half a share. Living in a Jewish State has become importime in Israel, has been her experiences in the first year later, began to speak in sentences - in Hebrew! tant to all of us. Though we speak English for the most part at and second grades. The annual national educationI am quite sure that the lunch date I had with : al theme during first grade was 100 years of home, Hebrew quickly became Yonatan's motherAmnon over four years Zionism. This year, the ago overlooking the theme is the 50-year bluffs of the Platt river anniversary of the State was probably one of the of Israel. most important meals The elementary school, we've ever eaten. situated here on the kibThe opportunity to butz, serves as a regional make a significant settlement school and change in our lives has has developed educationprovided us with experial methods which weave ences far beyond those the annual theme into which can be written in a almost every subject short article. Knowing taught in the curriculum. that our children's lives Liatte's first introduction have been enriched make to school has become a the change well worth cornucopia of songs of Amnon Dotan prepares lunch for the family Beth Dotan and daughter, Liatte, show of the the challenges we faced the early settlers, stories and visiting guests in the kitchen of their kibbutz's archeological museum to Lois Epstein, j n the beginning. . of the grandparents who private quarters on the kibbutz. left, and her daughter, Rikki Epstein-Mor. We are now quite developed the kibbutzim, aware that each and .and; field trips to the battle grounds of the lost sol- tongue; Not only did he feel,comfortable with the every day is interesting and unpredictable in language, he^qiijickly became an Israeli-kib- Israel. We are also aware that because of this our diers who fought to build a Jewish land. Her saba and saftd (grandfather and grandmoth- butznick, as wMp£. ,. family constantly finds new ways to give each other • We often backtrack Yonatan's daily activities to strength. er) have contributed to her rich knowledge from their first hand experience to help build this coun- the color of his hands and fingernails (finger-paint- Making tremendous changes in life can be frighttry. While, visiting cousins in Tel Aviv, both Liatte.;• ing, berry-picking, or digging an important hole in ening and misunderstood. Facing the challenges and Yonatan broke .'out in song about the old days the dirt). He thrives on taking jeep trips with and sharing them with one another have been most of the Palmach...they were stunned and amused all friends or building a something-or-other with his important as a family." Choosing to make these grandfather. ; • '•••'•,. at the same time. changes in Israel has allowed us to define the The innocence of the pioneer days, and the direc- Yonatan's latest adventures have taken him on meaning in our life for our kids and our lives tion in which Israeli children understand their morning walks to the outskirts of the.kibbutz with- together. ' country has certainly given. Liatte a sense of his best friend and his grandmother to build a .Beth Seldin Dotan is the daughter of Sarah belonging to an important country and Jewish. camp fire and; make up stories about nature. He, and Ted Seldin of Omaha.
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Page 8 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE April 10,1998
The Omaha-Israel
Omahans Lois and Mel Epstein visited their daughter and son-in-law, Rikki and Alon Mor, and Alon's parents, and toured Israel.
Menachem Mor, former Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization at Creighton University, and his wife, Devora, overlook Haifa, their home.
3
BBYO Director Alon Mor takes a break from army service with his wife, Rikki.
Lois and Mel Epstein enjoy a moment in Safed.
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RECONSTRUCTIONIST SYNAGOGUE "Warmest wishes for the entire Greater Omaha Jewish Community as we celebrate this happy season."
Happy, HeMtfuf^? Beth El Synagogue Sisterhood TSS BESTT
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April 10,1998 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE Page 9
Second Temple period expert, Prof. Mor, points out a Roman inscription on a section of the aqueduct found near Haifa.
Alon and Rikki Mor were married in Omaha in 1997 and made aliyah shortly thereafter. Alon, an Israeli native, graduated from Creighton University and received his master's degree from UNO. Rikki EpsteinMor graduated from the.University of Missouri and is now employed by a shipping company in their new city, Haifa. .
9
Lois Epstein explored the ancient port city of Acco, on the coast.
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Page 10
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April'10,1998
UJA/Federation Outreach Mission...
Members of Omaha's outreach mission hear from Mike Ginsburg, left, at Misgav Am on Israel's northern border with Lebanon, February, 1997.
Laura Lee Needelman, front, walks through Tel Dan with Barbara Ault, Howard Needelman, Henry Monsky and Elyce AzrieL
Sailboats wi tit peacefully hi the marina in Tel Mike and Pat l i n n tour through the Golan Aviv on the~Mediterranean Sea. Photos on Heights in a caravan of jeeps filled with pages 10-11 were taken by Mike linn. Omaha mission participants.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 10,1998
Impressions of Israel by Sidney Mirvish
My impressions of Israel from my first visit in 1952 were very different from those of my most recent visit there in November, 1997. Among memories of that first trip was a few days spent at kibbutz Tsor'ah (the birthplace of Samson) at the foot of the hills leading to Jerusalem. The kibbutz was founded by South African members of the Zionist Socialist youth group Habonim, of which I had been a keen member in Cape Town. Tsor'ah has white limestone soil and dust was everywhere, but despite the dust my friends there were enthusiastically settling down. On my most recent trip I met an old friend Gus Seligman, who had been at Tsor'ah in 1953 and later became an agricultural expert giving advice in many countries. Tsor'ah just celebrated its 50th anniversary with a party for all ex-Habonim members living in Israel. (Of the 115,000 Jews that lived in South Africa, 15,000 now live in Israel.) On the same trip I climbed Mount Carmel from Haifa with a young man from that city. It was a beautiful climb but the young man was still in a state of shock after taking part in the 1948 war of
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liberation, where so many of his friends had been killed. I also landed up at the home of an Israeli Arab family in the Galilee, who kindly allowed to stay overnight on the roof of their house, reminding me of the roof that the prophet Elisha stayed on when he visited the Shunammite woman. This was the period of austerity (tsenah) with not enough food except for eggplants, which were eaten, sometimes flavored with a little chopped herring or liver, with every meal. • In 1960 Lynda and I got married in Cape Town, South Africa, and moved to Israel, where we stayed until 1969. Our first year there was spent in Jerusalem, where I worked for Hadassah. Jerusalem was then a small and divided city. When we drove in any of three directions, the roads suddenly petered out and we knew we had better turn back because we were approaching the border. The fourth side went down the mountain to TelAviv. One bend of that road had only a single lane. From the roof of the Notre Dame monastery we could see the crowded Damascus gate area of the Old City across the border. Hadassah had been expelled from Mount Scopus (continued on page 13)
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... . April 10,1998 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE Page 13 : .Doreen and I visited the spectacular ancient rosecolored city of Petra in the Jordanian desert after flying to Eilat and crossing the border to Akaba. lve your event Israel is more prosperous than before, intercity roads are much better but traffic jams are worse. a little {bwubst>l> There are many foreign workers doing menial work. CALL MARY BERNSTEIN TODAY! ' The Russian immigrants are now one sixth of the population, have five daily newspapers in Russian •LinenRental • Fund-Raisers • Picnics Events I n c . -Seminars '. .. arid are making a great contribution. There are. • Bar/Bat Mltzvahs • Galas • Conventions • GoM Outings • Weddings now two daily newspapers in English. A large new shopping center in Tel-Aviv had been • Corporate Events • Parties EVBtf 8 WIIH A 1WI1II open on Saturdays, but since it was purchased by a 352 N. 76th Street Omaha, NE 68114 (402)391-0708 religious Australian Jew, it is closed on Shabbat. A final highlight was my visit to Jerusalem, including the Old City, Mea Shearim (the old Orthodox quarter) and the beautiful new Supreme Court. TOM GOODMAN I heard much pessimism about the ongoing conMortgage Banker flict between the Orthodox, Conservative/Reform and non-religious factions, the lack of progress in the peace process and, probably for these reasons, the current economic stagnation. I hope there will soon be progress in all these areas. MORTGAGE CORPORATION The long-term economic advance is obvious and should continue despite persistent pockets of poverty. Israel is still a small, emotionally warm, mainly Jewish state where everyone seems to know and be 909 North 96th Street concerned about everyone else, and we in the Omaha, Nebraska 68114 (402) 397-3333 Jewish community of Omaha remain deeply involved in its future.
(Continued from page 12) _ in 1948 and was still building the Ein Karem hospital where they, are now. Our daughter, Leora, was born in a Hadassa^ facility built about ,1880. as a British mission to convert tlie Jews! ;, r , ,.]Part of. the tin»|^,I; woirked ,jn a laboratory in a Turidsb) goyernor*3 building ,that had been a harem with a separate room for each wife (^urkey governed. Palestine until 1918). If only the governor had had more wives, we would have been less crowded. ,.... We then spent six years in Rehovot, where I worked at the Weizmann Institute of Science, except for a fellowship to Madison, Wisconsin. We returned to Rehovot from Madison just in time for the six-day war of 1967, when we were kept busy taping up plate glass windows oat the Weizmann Institute and going to the apartment's air-raid shelter. Soon after the war, we walked for the first time to the Old City of Jerusalem past outposts of the Arab Legion, still with discarded white shawls (kefiyas), and prayed at the Western Wall. In 1969 we moved to Omaha and have remained here ever since. Since leaving Israel, I have visited it every three to four years to see my family and follow changes in the country. The last time, in November, 1997, I stayed in Safed at the weekend cottage of my sisters, Miriam and Doreen. Their cottage is an old-style Safed house with domed ceilings built as caves-one room per level into the steep hillside overlooking the ancient Jewish cemetery. We visited the ruins of the Montfort Crusader castle and hiked down a wild valley where we saw many Russian immigrants hiking and the diggings of wild boars. The upper part of the stream is rocky with many small fish, but the lower part is diverted into the state water system. I spent time with family and friends in Tel-Aviv. A cousin works hard as a volunteer helping and setting up e-mail systems for Russian and EnglishMirvish visited the new Supreme Court building. speaking immigrants. :
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F-.ge 14
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 10,1998
Israel Posfaf"Authoiiff Issii^s stamps recalling War of Independence The Israel Postal Authority has kicked off the 1998 stamp program with the release of three stamps and a souvenir sheet that recalls the 50th anniversary of the Jewish nation's struggle for survival during the Israeli War of Independence fought between 1947-1949. Even though the British mandate to govern the Holy Land was to conclude on May 14, 1948, Arab military attacks against the Jewish community of the former Turkish province of Palestine commenced in 1947. . Immediately following the United Nations adoption of a resolution in November, 1947, that called for the establishment of separate Jewish and Arab nations in the British mandatory territory of Palestine, the Arabs rejected the compromise and began fierce military attacks against Jews living in areas with heavy Arab populations. The new stamp issue focuses attention on three strategic campaigns whose success was vital to the viability of Israel's survival as a nation, especially taking into account the fact that it was surrounded by bitterly hostile Arab countries who had vowed to destroy the Jewish state. These three campaigns were for control of Jerusalem, Safed and Eilat, representing the three major battle fronts of Israel.
Strategic Castel Village The central front was represented by the battles at the Castel, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, between April 2-9, 1948. At the beginning of the War of Independence, the Arabs in Castel village (situated on a high mountain overlooking the main road, five kms. west of Jerusalem) began attacks on Jewish transportation. Their attacks managed to
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block the vital road, causing considerable damage to both life and property. When these acts of sabotage increased, the village was captured by a company from the Fourth Battalion of the Palmach and one from the Etzioni Brigade, units of the Hagana, predecessors of the Israel Defense Forces that came into being following the establishment of Israel on May 14,1948. However, the Arabs under the command of Abd El-Kader El-Hussein, made a counter-attack and after five days of fighting, managed to regain the strategic village. Members of the Palmach, a unit of commandos, captured the village in a major attack on Castel for the second time on April 9, 1948. It has been under Israeli control since.
The Holy City of Castel In April, 1948, some 1500 Jews resided in the city of Safed which had an overwhelming Arab majority. Safed is a historic city, considered by religious Jews to be one of the four holy communities (the others being Jerusalem, Tiberias and Hebron) in Israel. The Jews were surrounded by 12,000 hostile Arabs intent on ousting them. The British Army vacated Safed on April 16. They had offered to evacuate all the non-military Jewish population, however the Jewish high command rejected the British suggestion and decided instead to try and capture the entire Safed region.
The responsibility was given to Yigal Alon, the commander of: the Hagana in the Upper Gfalilee. Two Palmach battalions surrounded Safed after capturing the Arab villages situated to the north and south of the city proper. One of the two military groups then joined residents of the Jewish quarter and proceeded to conquer the city fort, thereby gaining virtual control of the entire city on May 11,1948. The Arab residents fled the region by the thousands, including the Syrian commander Adib Shishalcly. Later the Rabbi of Safed told Yigal Alon that the Jewish community was rescued from destruction due to an action and a miracle. The action was the round-the-clock prayer kept up by the mostly religious Jews since the time the British troops left town. And the miracle was the arrival of the Palmach soldiers.,. Eilat was captured from theJordanian Army on March 10,1949 by members of the IDFs Negev and Golani brigades. This was the last military campaign of the Israeli War of Independence. A flag was raised near the beach by the Negev brigade advance guard. The soldiers, who discovered they did not have a flag on hand, quickly improvised, by drawing the design in ink on a sheet. ' Readers interested in the new Israeli stamps recalling milestones in the Jewish state's War of Independence SO years ago, can contact a stamp dealer or the Israel Philatelic Agency, 535 Fifth Avenue, Suite 300, New York, NY, 10017; telephone: 1-800-607-2799:
. ; Chag Sameach ; Happy Passover! rS
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 10,1998
The faces of Israel...
IDF soldiers on duty in the Old City of Jerusalem -1991.
Artisan making crafts for sale at the Lifeline for the Old, a sheltered workshop for the elderly, in Jerusalem -1997.
Arab men waiting for work on the border between Israel and territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority -1995.
Ethiopian children at the absorption center at Ayelet Hashachar - 1991.
New olim arriving during one of the many flights from the former Soviet Union - 1991. \\ .'•?':,-•••..
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^, The Jewish Federation of Qmaha Board of Directors & Staff jsh you a joyous Passover Officers President Howard Kooper Vice President Forrest Knitter ce President Bobbie Epstein Treasurer Robert Lepp retary Jan Schneiderman President TbmFellman ive Director Jan Perelman
Directors p JlllBeM6nt" Carol Bloch DeanFrankel
David Goldberg SorinJuster Steve Levinger Trenton Magid
MargoRiekes MarkSanford Harley Schrager ^ Marty Shukert ArnieWeitz
i Campaign Chairmen Sandy Epstein Barbara Platt
Paul Epstein Steve Simon
Center of Excellence Presidents
This Passover, as we have foMl(fflopn(teof yeafs,-Mv>& wllf gather around family tables and partake of ue Seder p l a t ^ ^ ^ % the ag&old cycle of Jewish 1 represents... the ideals of spiritual andpolh*^Lj^^|^jetomUonanjJjB8Stee that are at the center of our shared Jewish tradition.. TmaJTmoieiEntf any'tning, Jewish life is aboutcommunity.WealsoaskyoutotememberthatyourUJAFederationAnnualCampaign is at the heart of sacied Jewish trust to build, strengthen and care for our community... at home, in Israel and in 60 countries. This Passover step up to the plate and renew your connection to the Jewish people.
ADUCRC Larry Raful Jewish Community Center Steve Pitlor .. , Jewish Educational & Library Services Spencer Brooksteln Jewish Family Services Gloria Kaslow Jewish Senior Services Jerry Kohll
Rabbis Rabbi Aryeh Azriel
Rabbi Paul Drazen
Rabbi Howard Kutner
April 10,1998
iiPiiii
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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AWISH. . . for you and your family: may the ancient traditions^ of Passover foringjoy arid peace throughout the year.
Page 17
Page 18
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 10,1998
Seeking shelter by Aryeh Breslow
During the Gulf War, we had to make one room into a bomb shelter. Actually all new houses in Israel must be built of special materials that transforms it into a 'real' bomb shelter. Anyway the Israeli government was most concerned about a gas attack. In addition to gas masks, the authorities instructed all Israel citizens to choose one room and to tape up the windows and door with plastic. This was done in order to seal the room in case of a gas attack. Like most Israelis, we did not take these orders very seriously. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, the allied forces attacked Iraq. Hurriedly we rushed into the designated room, which was my daughter's bedroom. When the sirens began to wail, we put on our gas masks and began taping up the windows and doorway. After finishing the work, I realized that I had to go to the bathroom. I removed the plastic from the door and went to the bathroom. I returned and
retaped the door only to discover that my daughter had to go. I removed the plastic and tape again and my daughter went to the bathroom. When she returned, I redid the taping. Then, my wife Anne reminded me that we were supposed to turn off the gas in the kitchen. Once again, I removed the tape, went into the kitchen and turned off the gas. •'''] Then I thought I heard an explosion near by and smelled gas. Panicked, I ran as fast as I could into the bedroom and resealed the doorway. In the end, I had imagined the explosion and gas. Lucky for us, no missiles landed in Jerusalem during the war. Check out our site on the World Wide Web: http://travel.to/jerusaleni. Former Lincolnite Aryeh Breslow was known as Leroy, son of Lincolnite Minnie Brealow and the late David Breslow. He and his wife, Anne, teach Tai Chi in Israel. They live in Efrat, south of Jerusalem, with their three daughters: Merav, Amira and Leah Breslow.
Aryeh and Anne Breslow (in front) teach Tai Chi in a Jerusalem park.
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A deer waits at Kibbutz Urim Children's Zoo.
Merav, Amira and Leah Breslow enjoy a moment of fun together,
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ApriI10,1998 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE Page 19
Israel at home also conversation? , Here it is also possible to feel that-"standpoints" are not only intellectual positions. At least, they Israel has always been my people's homeland. It did not quite seem that way to me during army is now also my home and the home of my family. reserve duty at the Cave of Machpelah, or a highIn some ways, I continue to feel very much "at security prison in Samaria, or the Erez crossing home" in the city where I was born and raised lovbetween the Gaza District and the State of Israel. ingly by my parents, Omaha, and in the expansive In any case, I feel deeply that the future to which land where I was given a range of remarkable privI look forward is one in which I participate every ileges, America. But from the time I first visited moment I live in the Land. Israel in 1970,1 felt that something was drawing For my wife Ahuva, whom I met shortly after I me here, and that this something was not only the arrived in Israel, Israel has been home much longer past, but the future. than it has been for me. As for the past, perComing from America haps every Jew who has to Israel at an early visited Israel already age, she speaks knows something of its Hebrew and English abiding presence here. (and a couple of other As for the future, perlanguages) fluently, haps almost every Jew and as the Curator of can now consider Art of the Hebrew whether or not to belong University, she brings to it in Israel. objects of beauty into Such considerations do the lives of many peonot always have the ple. She also brings dreamy orientation I had 1997 - Jon and Ahuva Whitman, son and still more radiant and on the first night of my daughter-in-law of Omahan Norman Whitman . . . . . . „ , . . . o i l . . •««»«« personal of beauinitial visit, when I set and the late Elinor Whitman, with their Naomi Eliora Whitman, September 1, 1997 f . . kinds „, • „ . . /»T •, • ii. i-_ii_.» J i _ *• A J « 'y into our my sleeping bag on the daughter, Naomi Eliora, at her kindergarten (Naomi's sixth birthday and her first day of h o m e m J e r u 8 a l private em beach, looked up at the graduation party in Jerusalem. school in first grade) in Jerusalem. For our child, our starry sky, and knew bility of perceiving the world from centering points darling Naomi Eliora, now over six years old and in that multitudes of our people, like multitudes of different from those I had experienced in America first grade, Israel has always been home. Born in stars envisioned by Abraham, now live here. and Europe. Jerusalem, she is perhaps the first person from my Sometimes it seems easier to proceed with an Here it is possible to teach a course in literature family in about two thousand years to begin life in attitude like the one I heard expressed some time and compare an English poem with the Hebrew the Land of Israel. For her, the religion, the people, ago by a member of Knesset charged by his inter- psalm that underlies it; to live in a city where the Land, the history, the calendar, the language, viewer with an "internal contradiction." So what, .thousands of non-"academic" people are returning the music, the rhythms of Judaism belong to the (he member of Knesset placidly replied: we all have home from lectures they have just attended on air she breathes. She evokes with a turn of phrase our internal contradictions. Jewish ethics, or Talmudic law, or Hebrew poetry, or mind what years of education in the Diaspora Internal contradictions? When I made aliyah in or Israeli art; to belong to a country where the des- scarcely approach. She has visited quite a few 1984, one of my concerns was that my field, the tiny of our people is not just a topic of occasional countries, but even when we do not travel, she wonstudy of English literature, seemed somewhat speculation, but a matter of daily conversation. drously transports us! marginal even in the academic circles I joined-iniOur destination, like our destiny, is still in Israel. By the way, is shouting by Jon Whitman
tially, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and later, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where I have taught now for over a decade. I used to console myself thinking that at least it might be possible for me to offer Israeli students a way of imagining the world that otherwise they would not have, and I still think that is an important thing to do. But whatever perspectives I might offer numerous students who arrive in the English Department with Hebrew, Russian, Arabic, and other backgrounds, I hardly understood the extent to which people in Israel would, offer me the possi-
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Page 20 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE April 10,1998
A pioneer in Israel May You Find Happiness and": Fulfillment in this Joyous Celebration Happy Passover ft i ' '
THE BELGRADE FAMILY Congregation Tifereth Israel a
/feaf&ty and' PeacefiU PaM&vet
Jacob Mirviss, right, visits with his great-nephew, Aryeh Breslow, at Kibbutz Urim. Ninety-nine-year-old Jacob Mirviss recalls nine months in Omaha, from September, 1927 to June, 1928, which changed his life. That's when he met and married his wife, the former Lillian Margolin. Though she's gone now, Mirviss still stays in touch with family here: brother-in-law, Dr. Milt Margolin, and sister-in-law Minnette Cutler. Last summer, another relative, Minnie Breslow (mother of gubernatorial candidate John Breslow and former Lincolnite Aryeh Breslow, who now lives in Efrat with his wife and three children) visited Mirviss' home at Kibbutz Urim in the Negev. Mirviss was, for a short time, the program and educational director of the old JCC on 20th and Dodge Streets, under the late Samuel Gerson, then
CELEBRATE A JOYFUL
fAykea/i ach&f for" you, Iffael, and your1 pkyline of gold Arid ike enlightening fia/iej tkat our"guide Clie^er', {old. • what ear\ he paid fa ana wka f never" been 7 Iff an Indescribable feeling
Federation Director. It was his first job after earn-J ing his degree in social work in New York. He later! served as Center Director in New HavenJ Minneapolis and Milwaukee. In 1967, he and Lillian made aliyah to Israel. Two daughters, Carmi Pollak and Judith Criden were already living on kibbutzim in Israel, the first at Urim and the latter at Kfar Blum in the Galilee. Though his wife died in 1985, Mirviss is still active, attending simchas in his growing family of great-grandchildren and now great-great granchildren. Like he did so many years ago in Omaha, Mirviss still helps young boys prepare to become Bar'Mitzvah...the last one he assisted was his own great-grandson.
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(Editor's note: Randi Friedel Sherman is a former. Omahan now living in the Phoenix area. She wrote this poem shortly after her return from a Phoenix Community Mission to Israel and said in her note to the Jewish Press, "Whether from Omaha, Phoenix,.Cleveland or Miami, Israel is the tie that binds all Jews.")
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Israel Strips-*, or what a difference few years make Xby Dr. Earl Wigodsky
I don't know what Lee was thinking, but as we approached the Jordan river I thought, "What is a nice Jewish couple on their first trip to Israel doing coming from' the East, from Amman of all places?" This was in June of 1983, and no treaty had been signed at that time. We had started our trip by going on a Friendship Force visit to Cairo, the first American PF trip to that country and we were the only Jewish couple. At the conclusion of our visit about 25 of us had signed to go on an extension to Israel. Since we were traveling on Royal Jordanian Air their base was naturally Amman. So here we were like Moses nearing the Holy Land from the east. When we crossed the river and entered the Israeli check point we of course went through the usual searches and were surprised to get a piece of paper as our visa. No stamp in the passport, and later we learned why. This was at Jericho and we were able to see the famous fallen down walls. Next time with our children we were not allowed to go near the city because of strife. Because we had a non-Jewish guide we saw many Christian sights but not nearly enough from the Torah. We did, however, get to the "Good-Fence", Golan Heights, Megiddo, Joseph's well and many other places of interest. i<),n.. One of our outstanding memories is of the kibbutz Nof Ginosser. We had to teach our group about "milk and meat." Those who did not follow our suggestion and had an ordinary turkey dinner were very sorry afterward when we told them about gefilta fish, blintzes and all the other goodies that we enjoyed. One of our greatest memories was of all of us going to the top of the Mount of Olives for a sunrise service of, our own. We consisted of Mormons, Catholics (including a priest), Presbyterians, an agnostic, Church of Christ, Lutheran and a few others. Someone from each denomination gave a brief talk on what being there at ,that time with that groujii meant to thfem. As we finished the sun rose over the top of the mountain; there were many tears and a closeness that exists in all our memories to this day. • Leaving Israel we found out why the paper visa were picked up as we left the country. Crossing the Allenby bridge again into Jordan, their check point looked for an Israeli stamp/Since there was none to be found we were allowed to enter. Of course the only place we could have been for ten days was Israel, but as long as our passports didn't say so we were "kosher" to enter.
The extended Christensen family enjoys n moment in Jaffa, the old port city of Tel Aviv.
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Daniel Lee Christensen rides a camel on the Mount of Olives, just east of the Old City. Lee and I decided as we left that somehow we were going to bring our whole family on a visit. When we got home we told the children and grandchildren to begin preparations because this was coming in the not too distant future. In 1988 all the arrangements were made. Our group consisted of Cathy, and Bill, their children, Jesica and David; Bruce and Jan and their son Bryce; Janey; Lee and Earl. Unfortunately Steve and his children, Andy, Dan and Glenn were not able to accompany us. Each person was given a topic to research and tell all the rest what they had learned, such as weather, money, shopping, holy places to visit, and soon. . Jan, being Lutheran, asked me if there was going to be anything on this trip for her since everything we talked about seemed to be Jewishly oriented. I assured her that you could not set foot anyplace in Israel without it being a holy sight. When I told our (this time) Jewish guide about this, he asked Jan to read on the second day when we arrived at the place of\the Sermon oh the Mounit/After a few; Words she had to quit'because of sobs of happiness. So, Dad had to finish reading for her while the whole family jgthered tightly around for her sup-: port. What a wonderful feeling of togetherness. A few random thoughts...David, about to be Bar; Mitzvah, reading his Torah portion on top ,of| Mas'ada, while his grandparents beamed; Bill and I being in a bank and held there while theysearched out a bomb threat on the s,treet; the funny looks Bill got when he went togetth'edreidels they had: ordered for the kids,-arid told them his name was Christensen; the feelings we all had being on tjie i Golan Heights;.the, very sqmbejrmood at Yad ( Vashem, especially after, seeing one of the camp pictures entitled Dr. Wigodsky in the Vilna ghetto. I Probably the most fun was on Thanksgiving day. I had looked all over for a place that ; had a real American Thanksgiving dinner, turkey and all. When I finally found one, I broached the subject to the family. They turned me down flat, preferring instead to go back to the Bagel Nosh where we had eaten once before. Lox, cream cheese and bagel made for a strange but very enjoyable holiday meal. While we did not get to Jericho on this trip, the wonderful family enjoyment and the understanding our family, especially the grandchildren, derived made it all worth it. The feeling when we left was that we had to come back sometime, God willing, it will be this year for Lee, Steven and me when Danny is in Israel studying for his first year of rabbinical school!
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L'shana ha'b'ah. by Mary Fellman
"Next Year in Jerusalem" was the way our family and thousands of other Jewish families always ended their Passover seders. And for Morrie and myself it was also a dream that became a reality in 1966 when we became part of a three week National Hadassah VIP tour to the land of Israel for the dedication of the John P. Kennedy Information and Reception Center in the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center. Traveling to Israel on an El Al plane was an unforgettable, tumultuous, tiring experience in itself. And approaching Israel for a first glance from the window with a plane full of American Jewish men and women was another emotional unforgettable and quiet experience. I remember a National President of Hadassah saying, "We are living in a generation producing its own miracles!" The first day included staying at the beautiful Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv, buying art from the Gazbo art shop that Ethel Levenson told us we 'had' to patronize, and just walking down colorful noisy Dizengoff street with so many young and old people Bitting with drinks or a bite to eat at the outdoor cafes. What did it matter? We were in Israel and walking as close to the Mediterranean as we could get! In Jerusalem we were joyous with the view we had from the King David hotel, the opportunity to ride in the same elevator as Mayor Teddy Kollek, (he sadness of knowing my parents and grandfather Jacob Freed would never see what I was enthralled and moved by - the Knesset building, the wondrous Israeli Museum, Ben Yehuda street, with its people from so many countries, and the beautiful, beautiful children no matter where we turned.. . • . And with it all there was wondrous Safed with its art studios and the synagogue where we held Mincha services. We stayed at the Beersheba
Mary FeUman poses with a camel on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Desert Inn Hotel and watched the camels. Eilat where he asked me, "Where are your children and meant the Queen of Sheba Hotel and the Red Sea, why are they not in Israel?" where we sat on the beach and sunned ourselves. I then presented him with the latest Hadassah', We marveled always at the wondrous work of yearbook which we had dedicated to him. s Hadassah, Mizrachi, ORT, National Council of And to add to-the joy of our trip we climbed \ Jewish Women in their special projects and reach- Masada in the days before the cable car, had lunch 1 ing out to the children and also the Sephardim and listened to Golda Meir who said "rather than from so many countries. ' . . ' / . being a nice people dead we would rather be cenIn addition to the emotional dedication of the sured and be alive*. , .%; i, ;•' .; • ' • .' John F. Kennedy building there was the planting pf There-was the warm and charming tea at the trees in Jewish National Fund forest where we lit- home of the President of Israel Zalman Shazar and erally watered the trees with our tears, the emo- his wife and we also had the privilege of hearing tional visit to Mount Herzl arid the. graves of Israeli the Prime Minister of Israel speak. And of course soldiers who had died in the earlier ware. we heard the Israeli symphony and, every day And I will never forget the opportunity to visit walked, walked, walked, and ate, ate, ate!. (Continued on page 23) with Ben Gurion in the Dan Camel hotel in Haifa
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..b'Yerushalayi'm (Continued from page 22) And while we were in Israel we remembered that the Mandelbaum gate was the crossing point, Mount Scopus was in ruins, and there was no access to the Wall. In keeping with "remembering" we drove to Rehovet to the Weizman Institute of Science and a wreath laying ceremony at the grave of Israel's first president Dr. Chaim Weizmann. As our trip to wondrous Israel came to an end we realized we had seen cities and settlements, towns and kibbutzim, ruins and new discoveries, people of every color and religion, green grass and brown rich land, crops and barren rock area, the Red Sea, Dead Sea, Lake Kinneret and the Mediterranean, the borders of Syria, Lebanon,. Egypt and Jordan. We had ridden in planes, cars, busses, subways and jeeps, we climbed Masada and crawled down
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the steps at Megiddo, we attended services at the oldest synagogue at Acre and the biggest synagogue in Jerusalem. We prayed together, shared Shabbat together, laughed together and of course cried together. And just as I wept when I first saw the shores of Israel from the sky so did I weep when I left that land because I feared I would never see it again. It was then that Paye Schenk, our national Hadassah leader said to me, "Don't cry; you'll be back!" And so I have! I hope many others will feel Israel, will thrill to its growth and its development, will pray for its peace in the next fifty years just as we have in the Mary and Morris Fellman visited Israel in first fifty! 1966, before the Six-Day War and the reunifi(Editor's note: Mary Fellman is in Israel now!) cation of Jerusalem.
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Everybody loves the holiday of Purim. We dress up in silly costumes, eat delicious hamantachen, hear Megillas Esther with family and friends, and have a great time. It is not until after Purim that we realize, Pesach is only a month away! How will we;be able to clean the entire house in time? Who will we invite for the seder? What activities will we do with the kids on Choi Hamoed? '' I think'many;of the parents but!there:cari agree the weeks before Pesach can* be the most hectic of the year. I think that being in Israel for Pesach is the ultimate experience (besides actually experiencing the Exodus from Egypt). I spent most of my time in Har Nof, an American-populated suburb of Jerusalem helping families with preparations for the holiday and then enjoying it with them. Cleaning for Pesach is on everybody's mind. Israel does not have 'The Maids,' who drive around in those yellow cars. When the time is right, people start advertising for Pesach cleaning. A typical sign might say, 'Chometz Busters: Experienced yeshiva guys who know that you want to relax on Pesachw Let us do the cleaning for you.' Yeshivot in Israel usually give the entire'month of Nisan off as Pesach vacation. The administrator of my yeshiva ran his little Pesach cleaning business from the office and I helped him out; many people do not enjoy cleaning their homes for Pesach alone as it can be very tedious and stressful. . In Israel it feels different. When you're down on your knees scrubbing a stoye-or using q-tips for those tiny corners in the kids' rooms, your next door neighbor is doing it also. Their neighbor is doing it; your friend in the Old City is doing it; everybody in the whole country is cleaning! When you look out the window and see six families cleaning their cars with their vacuum cleaners, and when you have to use your neighbor's electrical outlet for the vacuum, you could feel Pesach.
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Once all the cleaning is done, the boxes of Pesach utensils are unpacked. The food is baked, roasted and cooked and the cakes (the ones which usually sink in the middle) are baked and the last thing you want to do is search for the chometz, again! Bedikas chometz (searching for the leaven) is per- i formed the night of Erev Pesach. First, I searched' | my dorm room in yeshiva, and then I helped "my *| family" search their apartment. We searched the apartment;' thfe; ckr, ttte^oftice, teVeirywhere^'jiisyiiKe^1 the law says. The customary burning of the chometz took place'' the next morning. In Har Nof alone, where there' are approximately 20,000 people, it seemed that most of them were outside that morning; it looked like there were fires everywhere as pillars of smoke rose towards the sky. . Finally came the moment that we had all been waiting for - the seder. I was all dressed up in my nicest clothes, as were my hosts for the seder, as was everybody in shul that evening. You could feel the excitement in the air. I also felt a sense of satisfaction; instead of touring Israel or other countries; I helped others prepare for Pesach. My hands were chapped from all the cleaning; I was physically and emotionally drained.,But that night I was going to sit down and remember all the hardships and toil our ancestors endured during their slavery. My workload was nothing compared to what they had to do, BO I didn't complain. I was just looking forward to an exciting and memorable seder. We sang and laughed, acted out the story of the Exodus, ate matzah and enjoyed the atmosphere of being in Eretz Yisroel (the land of Israel). It made my seder the best I had ever experienced. There is only one day of Yom Tov in Israel and the custom is (according to most authorities) that if one is not living in Israel permanently, celebrating two days of Yom Tov is required. (Continued on page 25)
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It's Pesach already! (Continued from page 24) ' Many Americans had come in for Pesach and sec- everyday but on Choi Hamoed there is one large ond day Yom Toy minyans were easy to find. It is minyan with thousands of people and hundreds of very strange celebrating the holidays in Israel if Kohanim. I'm a Kohane and looked forward to this because you keep two days of Yom Tov, because the locals are doing their everyday activities, while it was semi-annual event. Imagine what it must have still Yom Tov for me. It seemed a bit funny because been like on Yom Kippur during the times of the people were going shopping and driving their cars. Temple, for all Jews to hear all the Kohanim But while I was still eating my matzah and chanting Hashem's name in unison. This is the closest experience to it. Taking place Manishevitz chocolate cake, everybody else was already ordering pizza or noshing on 'not-kosher- at the Kotel made the experience even more amazing because one day when the third Temple is resfor-Passover" cookies. Choi Hamoed, (the days between the first .two urrected I could be here again. There are also many musical concerts and and last two days of Pesach) is one of my favorite times as Birkas Kohanim occurs at the Kotel Israelis go to amusement parks. For one whole (Western Wall); on Choi Hamoed Sukkos and Choi week Israel celebrates our freedom from the Hamoed Pesach. In Israel every morning at~ -Egyptians with joy, song and happiness. Shacharis (the morning service) the Kohanim. Have a wonderful Pesach and a Chag Sameach! (priests) chant the priestly blessing. Most of us are familiar with the those blessings on Rosh Evan is the son of Lynne and Errol Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In Israel it is recited Saltzman and a junior at Yeshiva University.
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tance movements against the Nazis, sending its own paratroopers into occupied Europe. At war's end, it led the struggle against the British Mandate, defying the White Paper by "illegally" smuggling more than 85,000 Holocaust survivors in some 70 ships and thousands of Jews from Syria and Lebanon overland into Palestine. Upon the creation of the State of Israel, Palmach fighters .became the commanders and soldiers of the newly-formed I.D.F. In the first hours after the declaration of the State in May 194,8, the Egyptian forces severed the Negev, the Jordanian Army cut Jerusalem off from the rest of the country, the Syrian army crossed the Jordan River, and'the Lebanese army occupied the Lower Galilee in the north. In the east, the Iraqi army took over most of Judea and Samaria. The three Brigades of the Palmach, joined by volunteers from North America and elsewhere, Holocaust survivors, and new arrivals from the Arab countries, faced enemy troops on all fronts. Of 7,000 PaLmach fighters, more than 1,000 lost their lives.
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photographs of Israel's war of independence on exhibit at HUC-JIR In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion presents 'The 'almach Archives." • These riveting photographs document the lives and struggles of Israelis who fought for the creation of a Jewish state. The photographs will be on display in the conference level of the College-Institute, located at 1 West 4th Street, New York City, 10012". Despite a direct order from Palmach commander Sfigal Allon that all photos of Palmach training or personnel be destroyed for fear that they might fall into the hands of the British during Black Sabbath 'a British operation aimed at destroying the 'almach leadership), many disobeyed and hid their photographs under floor tiles and behind walls. In 1987, Dita Perach, once a fighter pilot in the Palmach air force, began to gather these phoographs in an ongoing program to document the 'ery beginnings of the Israel Defense Forces. Today the Palmach Archives is a visual treasure if more thai) 25,000 photographs of the young men md women who dared to dream of the creation of a ewish state, The phoographs in this exhibit ;ive us a glimpse into heir youth, their love of ife, their courage and heir undaunted belief in lfheir goal. The Palmach •\rchives are preserved :\t Kibbutz Beit iaShitah in Israel. The Palmach—the trjking force of the laganah (the military irm of the Jewish settlenenta in Palestine)—was Established in May 1941, ind incorporated seven ears later into the Israel Defense Forces. l.D.F) Its members, all olunteers, were trained •o report for active duty in 24 hours notice and to erve in any capacity j jVherever and whenever ;
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Israel-.. oo r destiny "
by Sara Gold
After my first visit'to Israel as a teenager, 28 years ago, I became obsessed with the idea of . returning again for a longer amount of time. Although I hated the heat, preferred trees to stark sky overhead, and found Israeli life. . . well, very different from the well mannered, comfortable Midwestern lifestyle I was accustomed to, I experienced a mysterious pull eastward. One year later I was back studying in Israel where two years later I met my future husband. After seven years of marriage in the U.S. we returned to stay, making aliyah to a Zionistic haredi cooperative tnoshav with our three small children, (two more were yet to come). Israel of the early 1980s was economically and socially very different than Israel today. On the settlement where we lived for the first ten years, the telephone was in the secretary's office. Nowadays, the shrill ring of cellular telephones reverberate in nearly every public place! In my first months on the moshav I was introduced to a practical, no frills attitude; you don't turn on the oven unless you have several different dishes to bake at once; time the seconds of every telephone call you make; and get used to drying cloth diapers in the sun — considering the cost of running a clothes dryer! And as far as Pampers go.. .they were only to be found in the homes of North American immigrants! But no more. Changes in mentality just as much as economy explain the difference between the then and now; I think you'd be hard pressed to find even a poor family who does not use disposable diapers today. (My frame of reference is understandable since, Betar Illit, where we live today has the highest birth rate in the country!) I muse over these bitter-sweet memories, but nostalgia hits hard when comparing the change in idealism. When we made aliyah, the pioneering, chalutznik spirit was yet contagious for those who
wished to become infected. " .Young, people in fulfillment of their army service yrere still forming the nuclei of new settlements, secure in support from the government and overall population, and certain that they were instrumental in protecting the Jewish Homeland by settling its borders. • Today, the internal conflict and lack of clear direction that prevails in the post-Zionistic period we have entered, challenges, the spirit of the entire country and of each individual, in a way that all previous wars did not threaten. Of course, it would be a distortion to portray Israeli society as ever having been thoroughly unified. I suppose there have always been three opinions for every two Jews. But today the Israeli populace seems divided very deeply from within, struggling to identify the enemy; (the Palestinians, the secularists and the haredim, vie for first place depending upon your viewpoint). Considering this climate, it is interesting to pon- Sara Gold and her father, Erv Simon of Omaha. der, who are the people that continue to come to settle in Eretz Yisrael? Is there some inspiration that brings them here? What heartens North American olim to endure the hardships of exchanging a lucrative income for a lower one, losing one's eloquence of expression (at least temporarily and, frequently, the trial of retraining for a new profession. (Not to neglect one of the new oleh's most critical challenges - - no Sunday time-off!) Not meaning to use this brief personal account as a soapbox, I justify the issues I am raising since I deal weekly with them in my work as an employment counselor for North Americans considering aliyah. In my job, which I find stimulating and exciting, it is interesting to see what answers come to the forefront. In spite of statistics showing a drop in volume of new olim (immigrants), I am inspired by the high quality professionals entering the Israeli society and^work force as a result of American and Sara'and her childhood friend, Raizell Canadian aliyah. • Alperin Kalishman of St. Louis. (Continued on page @7)
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Israel...our destiny (Continued from page 26) So what do the array of accountants; environmentalists,, lawyers, psychologists and rabbis, (yep, even rabbis can sometime's find jobs!) as well as the' variety of hi-tech personnel, (not to mention many more) all have in common in choosing to make, their home in Israel? The answer that I see is that the overwhelming majority are religiously or spiritually motivated, and while these immigrants may aspire to contribute to the development of Israel, foremost they are seeking to live their lives more Jewishly in Eretz Yisrael. Despite the broad spectrum of differences in religious observance, I see that the impetus spurring these people to undertake so great a change in their lives is grossly different from the secular Zionism of the past, which (perhaps necessarily) stressed the physical building of the State. And Israel benefits from the influx of American know-how, social and business etiquette, and some of the more desirable aspects of Western values; invaluable gifts that are gradually permeating Israeli society. I feel very fortunate to be living in Israel during this great era, fraught though it is with turmoil and change. With increasing commitment toward growth and development beyond the physical plane alone, I believe that we can look forward to an Israel that is moving towards its destiny. Sara Gold is the daughter of Omahans Miriam and Ervin Simon.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE . Page 28
Temple Israel brings group to Israel an 1989 Touring Israel during winter break of 1989-90, Temple Israel's group of 29 participants visited more than just the usual tourist spots of Haifa, Tel Aviv, Tiberias and Jerusalem; they also brought along nine wedding dresses for brides in Israel. Kathy Beauchaine and Jeff Laudin 'schlepped' two extra boxes with them, courtesy of Jim Sherman and the Jewish community of Sioux City, IA. The dresses were left over from a synagogue garage sale and were sent to Omaha to be delivered in Jerusalem to the Rabbinit Bracha Kapach. She runs a bridal service for Jerusalem women who can't afford bridal gowns. In addition to performing that mitzvah, the group also celebrated Shabbat in both Tiberias and Jerusalem, met Israeli soldiers at the Good Fence Janey Dann, left, Rabbi Aryeh Azriel and his Tippy Magid, right, talks with the shonunus, on the Lebanese border, visited excavations at Beit sister, Tali, enjoy Shabbat dinner in Jerusalem. the caretaker, at a synagogue in Safed. Shean, Masada and the Old City, and talked with Israeli artists, kibbutzniks, scholars and archeologists. The Omahans also met Rabbi Aryeh Azriel's parents and sister, Tali. Members of this tour group included: Rabbi Azriel, his wife, Elyce and their daughter, Leora; Bev Gilinsky, Joyce and Patrice Schmidman, Pennie Z. Davis, Janey and Jerry Dann, Sandy and Jeff Passer, Jeff Laudin and Kathy Beauchaine, Warren, Joseph and Josh Zweiback, Norm Wohlner, Lois Joseph, Adam Zweiback, Tippy Magid, Ellen and Richard Slosburg and their children, Jacob and Rachel. In addition, Lorraine and Ed Prank of Indianapolis and Jeff Zweiback and Laurie Davis of New York joined the group in Israel. The accompanying photos were taken by Jerry and Janey Dann. As Janey said, "Looking at my photos in preparation for the Passover issue of the Jewish Press brought back so many wonderful memories. "Some of our friends on that trip have since passed away," she added, "It makes it all the more It" . special that we took this trip when we did!" Jerry Dann, left, and Janey Dann meet Israeli artist Avigdor Bczalel in bis studio. The Dann's brought back Bezalel's candlesticks for their four children to use for Shabbat and holidays.
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Warren Zweiback, right, and Jerry Dann chat with two Ibraeli soldiers at the Good Fence checkpoint between Lebanon and Israel.
Mud-covered'Grandpa'Joe Zweiback rests at . the Dead Sea; he brought his son, Warren, g e v Gilinsky woke up to a surprise celebraand grandsons Adam, Josh and Jeff Zweiback t j o n planned by the Temple Israel group on to Israel on Temple Israel's trip, 1989-90. her birthday in Jerusalem, December, 1989.
'> • .« .Jerry Dann stops to put a note in the Kotel, the Western Wall, on a rainy winter day.
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Page 30 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE April 10,1898
An aliyah that "took a while" by Harry and Annie Allen
Our Journey to Israel, which ended with our aliyah in October 1987, actually began on our first date, April 2,1944. Over a beer at Omaha's Fontenelle Hotel we discussed, among other 'romantic notions', Herzl's Jewish State, and discovered we were both ardent Zionists. from Bob Eisenberg It took a while but we finally made it to Israel fulfilling two lifetimes of Zionist commitment. Americans have settled in Israel for many reasons: children, religious belief, disenchantment with America but primarily in our own case it was our Zionism which was the driving force. We felt we ought to be at least a small part of state building and not distant observers. We also thought we Former Lincolnites Harry and Annie Allen could have a more intensive, though non-Orthodox, COfrTEMPOJW^/ CASUAL DINING Knowing religious life in Israel. what we now So how have the past know would ten and a half years " FUN ATMOSPHERE we do it all met our expectations? over again? Some have been fulLUNCH DINNER SUNDAY The answer filled, others less so. Tues-Fri Tues-Thurs: 5-10 p.m. BRUNCH 11 a.m.Fri & Sat: 5-11 p.m. 1 o a.m.Life in Jerusalem is a The conver2:30 p.m. Sunday: 5-9 p.m. 2:30 p.m. hectic emotional expesations of rience on the one hand April 2, 1944, 1212 S. 119th St. and a quite normal, still have even prosaic experi330-7577 330-7336 much meanence, on the other. ing, and not Our religious, culturjust the Zional, and intellectual ist parts. This experiences are is still an superb. We study exci t i ng Talmud with an excepplace, poputionally gifted teacher lated by fasciat the Masorti Center. nating, but We take in as many of contenti-ous the diverse lectures as people. time permits and Everyone music is always availwe meet is a able any day of the week, whether it is the Annie and Harry sun themselves on Netanya's beachfront. s t o l y WE CATER TO THE MOST Israel, Philharmonic or chamDISCRIMINATING CUSTOMERS despite its Amercanization (which we deplore) is ber recitals. Both of us are active in the Conservative Shul on still a country in the making. As Israel struggles with defining itself as a Agron Street and Annie additionally has a busy Jewish society, we are pleased to be a very small schedule of work with Hadassah. . .''' But a major block of time is taken with Harry's part of that process. • Dog & Cat Boarding Call 359-4155 for volunteer efforts with PEF-The Israel Endowment • Grooming reservations or a Fund, an organization which funnels some $29 • Labrador Breeding complimentary million a year to various Israeli projects. We have both had this wonderfully enlightening opportuni• Natural Life Pet brochure or tour. ty of travelling to all parts of Israel to evaluate Products • programs which receive PEF funds. COTTONWOOD KENNELS • 26858 W. CENTER RD. ^C 4» So far we have been to some 175 organizations from fervently Orthodox B'nai Brak to the most secular of programs. These experiences have given us insights into Israeli society, its problems and hopes that we think few people have had the ..opportunity to eiyo'y?(Harry has shared some of these visits through his frequent Letter from Israel column which appears in the Jewish Press.) TheVe are frustrations as well which will take '• this country tiflie to solve. .-;..••" : The religious-secular divide is. something we did The Aliens explore the Book of Records in not expect to be as strident as it is It is a matter Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust museum. which must somehow be resolved, but it will take time and patience. But our major unhappiness was •thelriurder of Yitzcha't ^abiin: This is an event MAY PASSOVER •which haunts Isr-ael and'overlays so much of its BRING ;i politics. PEACE, HEALTH & HAPPINESS . Our aliyah over-all has been an expansive experience for us. We have been blessed of course byyl having a small part of our family here and equally fortunate that we have managed to keep in close touch with children, grandchildren, family and . friends in the "old toUoSr^-,.. Our greatest'frustrationi however, has been our WHAT WE DO. inability to learn Hebrew well.
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April 10,1998 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE , Page 31
Going 'home' for the first time by Allyson Bradin Wilczewski
The week before going to Israel was very hectic. Not only did I have to physically prepare but people from my office, friends and family were all asking me, "how do you feel? Are you excited? Scared?" Quite honestly, I had not given it any thought. Frankly, to me, this was simply going to be another vacation - a time to relax and get away with my husband. I am not stupid; I knew of the problems in the Middle East. In fact, Chris and I had a contingency plan; if the trip was canceled at the last minute, we would just head off to Tucson for two weeks. In short, I did not feel a Jewish connection to Israel of "going home". I did not know what to expect or have any preconceptions of how I would feel going to my "homeland". Everything changed for me at the landing.of the plane. I did a complete '360'. Reality hit; Jewish music was piped throughout the plane as we landed in Israel. I knew at that very moment that this 'trip' was going to be much more than a vacation. A feeling of pure exhaustion from the flight, excitement and emotion overwhelmed me. As I took my first steps on Israeli soil and watched my husband (who is not Jewish) step off the plane, I felt as if I were home. From the minute we landed at the airport we were constantly on the move. Alex Fleischer, our tour guide, not only shared historical facts with us, he shared himself and a lot of his own opinions. He made this trip very special and very complete. And in doing so, I will always hear the word "kadimah" ,1-inging through my head when I recall this journey. . ' ,. .:••. ; ; ._-. To recount the experience of everything our group did would take far too long. And frankly, all you would interpret this mission, to be, is a sight seeing tour. It was more than .that. Although the mission was filled with sights of Tel Aviv, visits to Haifa, Masada, Tiberias, Safed, The Dead Sea,
Allyson and Chris Wilczewski stand before the Golan Heights during the YJO trip to Israel. The Golan Heights, Jerusalem, hiking through the Tel Dan, Mitzpe Ramon and the Negev. The truly unique and unforgettable memories are about the people we met and spoke to, the soldiers who are defending Israel, the teachers who are educating the children about their heritage and the importance of Jewish identity and Jewish continuity, and Holocaust survivors who courageously share their personal story to missions from all over the world time and time again. . This is what is important. As Menachem Perlmutter, so eloquently stated, "The Jewish spirit is unbreakable." This statement is one that we can trace throughout history as well as, important to understanding what I felt like being in Israel; (Continued on page 32) f Chris and Allyson plant trees in a JNF forest.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 10,1998
Young Jewish Omaha
Going 'home' (Continued from page 31) I mentioned in the beginning that my husband was not Jewish. In fact, almost half of the people I traveled with were not Jewish. y "~ I think for both the Jewish spouse and the nonJewish spouse this trip aided in the understanding of both religious backgrounds. This was not a trip to convert people, nonetheless, I feel it has brought some closer to including more about Judaism and the conversion process. On a personal note, I am not one that goes to Temple every Shabbat, however, there is nothing like experiencing Shabbat and participating in a Havdalah service in Israel. It boggles the mind, that if you walk down almost any street in Jerusalem during Shabbat, 95% of the people are welcoming Shabbos just like you. The most emotional time for me was seeing; touching and listening to the people at the Western Wall. To me, the wall is a true modern day and ancient symbol of Judaism. I said my prayer, made my wish and said Kaddish (the memorial prayer) for my parents. For me this made my journey complete. Now the challenge was leaving one reality for another - home. Part of me did not want to leave but, as an American Jew, my responsibility is to take what I have learned in Israel and apply it to my everyday living to help my family and community. I thank the Jewish Federation, its Executive Director Jan Perelman, our guide, Alex Fleischer, and the entire group I traveled with for helping me rekindle something I had lost.
Members of the Young Jewish Omaha (YJO) mission, February, 1998, included, front row: Debbie Stiel, Dan Marburg, Julie Rosenquist, Nadine Ostrow, Lisa Ephraim, Thor Rosenquist; middle row: Steve Stiel, Deb Marburg, Allyson Wilczewski, Kevin Gilinsky, Patty Gilinsky, Jill Swanberg, Todd Ephraim, Jan Perelman; back row: Tiffany Franklin, Chris Wilczewski, Julian Leopold, Lisa Leopold, John McGauvran, Kathy McGauvran, Bill Swanberg.
Photo at right: Chris and Allyson Wilczewski share a moment by the sea at the caves of Rosh HaNikra on Israel's northern border near Lebanon. Far right: The group stops at Mitzpeh Ramon in the Negev region of southern Israel, front row: Rabbi Debbie Stiel, John and Kathy McGauvran, Julian and Lisa Leopold, Jill and Bill Swanberg; back row, 'on the rocks': Lisa Ephraim, Chris and Allyson Bradin Wilczewski.
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April 10,1998 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE Page 33
Lessons learned by Todd Ephraim
by Usa Ephraim
came when he was able to recite the motzi, (the blessing over bread) as proof of his Jewish decent, a test given by the liberating allied forces. Perlmutter is now a leading force in the development of Negev Desert, where planting, cultivating, and producing many of Israel's fruits and vegetables occurs. One of the most important things I will share
The Israel YJO Young leadership mission was so I almost decided not to go on this trip because I memorable I will never forget the wonderful group was afraid to leave our children, and the media was we were with and activities that we did. ' promoting such serious problems in the Middle The entire trip was one filled with activity and East. I finally found the courage after talking with high levels of energy and, most importantly for me, several people who knew. Israel was far more stable U lessons learned. It wasn't enough that the trip then the media portrayed. highlighted the drive to succeed for the Jewish peo.T ple but it went beyond that and illustrated beautifully the ways in which Jewish people have thrived throughout history. Most memorable of the trip was one morning when we learned how Israel has learned to grow a garden of vegetation and plants in the Negev dessert, a rock dessert. They are not only engineering ways to do this but are producing higher yields than anywhereelse in the world.' Another stop was to hear a lecture on the Israeli Works Project, a project where Israelis are producing a whole new industry out of the minerals of the Dead Sea. They have also learned how to work with their Jordanian neighbors to benefit both countries and provide a vested interest in the peace process. However, the main lesson that I received during my trip to Israel was that we (the Jewish people) need to pass on the story and continue to retell it to the generations that come behind us. For if we do not talk of the history - there may be no future, as Dr. Menachem Perlmutter, center, former director of the Negev Engineering Division of the generations to come will hot have the same interest Jewish Agency for Israel's Rural Settlement Department, speaks to Lisa and Todd Ephraim during their visit to Israel on the YJO Mission in February. as their ancestors. • •'.••'•• . A second lesson I learned was that the most valuWhen we left, I did not have any preconceived with our children is t h e powerful story of able commodity in Israel is not peace but water. ideas of what we were about to experience. The Menacham. Although this man experienced the disA continuing supply of water is the most signifi- places we went to, the people we met and the regard one human can: have for another, he has cant problem that faces the government of Israel knowledge we gained will forever be a part of my overcome to dream, rebuild,'and live a life of joy and happiness. He like many others we met in and is the key to finding peace in the Middle East. renewed Jewish life. ' Water is the fundamental stumbling block to creatAs a parent, I was truly affected by the lives of Israel inspired not only me but the entire group to ing industries and communities and sustaining life. Jewish children, both past and present. We visited become more positive about the life and freedoms Yet the American media almost never portrays any the children's museums a t both the Ghetto we so easily take for granted in the states. One other important message we will share with reference to the vital necessity that water plays in Fighters kibbutz and Yad Vashem; At the Ghetto the peace process in the Middle East. ~ ' Fighters Museum, we heard adults tell their stories Alex and Blake, is that there are things in our Jewish history that are not easy to talk about nor Another lesson for us is that Israel is a very small of survival as children of the Holocaust. "'•".';:. •;.'...' country, Within the past year, 71 Israeli soldiers We also learned about Dr. Janusz Korsak, who should we forget, but there are many Jewish lost their lives in a training accident. This is a • rescued children and; placed them in his orphan- events, ideas, and people who have given us so tremendous loss to a country the size of.the state of ages to spare, their Jives. This amazing man walked much reason to rejoice and be proud. I would like to thank the Jewish Federation for Delaware. One Israeli newspaper surveyed the pop- to his death with ffie children from his orphanage. ulation and discovered that 85% of Israelis were At Yad VaShem, there is a room of mirrors that their support and funding of the missions to Israel. related or knew a relative of one of the soldiers. reflect one burning candle, a beautiful tribute to I know there is an enormous amount of work and This illustrates not only its small size, but the the million-and-a-half children who were killed planning for the mission to be successful. Another key element for a successful mission is closeness of the community. during the holocaust. Everyone, regardless of t h e "amount of We also met Menacham Perlmutter, a survivor of the people who go and we thank to those who expeJewishness" in their lives should visit their ances- the Holocaust, who had an amazing story to share. rienced Israel with us and made our trip an adventral home. As a result, I am resolved to do two He and his brother spent their teen years being ture to remember. One final note to anyone who is considering a things: keep the stories of Judaism alive, and captured, escaping, and being imprisoned again in always promote at trips to our homeland, Israel. many jails throughout Europe. His final release mission to Israel...GO!
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 10,1998
Israel—revealed in every generation by William Shackman
Coming over Wadi Tilah in the Sinai for a week of hiking, I could see the whole village of St. Catherine. The few cars and tour busses were far below, the size of ants. Looming before me was the vast desert and five days to discover its spirit. Mountains, wind, and sky conjured up a feeling of history and holiness. This is the landscape of revelation, the stark and barren land where God supported our people with manna from heaven and water from the rock. It made sense that in this place God chose to give the Israelites His Torah. In such emptiness our ancestors were filled with His Presence. Lost in some of these thoughts, I realized how far below the ground was, and how hard the wind was blowing against me. I got scared. I was afraid of falling. I took hold of some sturdy rocks, but the wind was not going to stop. I set myself down out of its way but like the wind my fear would not stop. This was not a normal fear, not a desire to be safe. This was a feeling that shook me deep within my soul. I've been to the peaks of higher, more dangerous mountains. I knew I would not fall, but the fear kept growing. It was something larger than I was. Looking at the immensity of the desert I felt how small I was. In the middle of our busy lives we take our goals and desires so seriously. Our cares and hurts, joys and sorrows are so important. Yet facing the deBert this importance;faded,away compared to that which is not me. I was'filled with a sense of awe, a hint of infinity, Yirat Hashamayim. Having realized its root, I could channel this fear. I instinctively felt the need to pray. I was thankful to have my siddur with me, thankful for words that could come close to adequately expressing what I needed to say. Within the framework of the traditional mincha service I could add the thoughts of my own heart. Without it I would have been speechless in front of
Bill Shackman, center, studies text with his classmates at The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. in Hebrew books. the Infinite. This framework is what I came to Israel to find. According to Maimonides, as well as the tradition This is what I have been working on for the past of Kabbalah, Torah was not only revealed in one year and a half- a way to channel, express, and grand moment at Mount'Sinai. It continues to be understand these religious impulses. What made revealed in every genera'tion through the process of this mountain different from a weekend hike up study. I am very grateful, as well as lucky, to have Mount Washburn in Yellowstone was not the place, found a place to study this language. nor even the genuine feeling of awe, but the fact I realize now that it took a great deal of faith to' • that I now had a vocabulary, a means to explore come to Jerusalem! I had no idea what to expect br the religious experience. where to go, but at'the tune it seemed like a naturMy religious experiences are not usually so al decision. • '•''. ; ':•' grandiose as this one. Only through the difficult Where else does one go to explore Judaism? and slow work of building a religious vocabulary The place I found is truly remarkable, the have I grown to appreciate the more dramatic Conservative Yeshiva. The Yeshiva, as we simply ones. Unfortunately that vocabulary i8$argely in (Continued on page 35) what is still a foreign language to me, hidden away
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Israel...revealed (Continued from page 34) Through them one can see how previous texts came call it, met me at my own level, on my own terms. I knew I wanted a place that would look at things to be understood and integrated into a whole syscritically, the way I had been taught in university tem of living. And from them one can follow their ideas up to without making me sacrifice my intellectual values, but which would also address my spiritual needs. I the present, and see how they translate into life wanted to learn how to live in a community filled today. It is a challenging and sometimes very fruswith Judaism: praying, following Halacha, and trating task, but I have also found it to be very observing Shabbat, but also learning solid reasons rewarding. for these actions. Perhaps most importantly I knew I had to find a The Conservative Yeshiva is a place where we place that would not separate me from my past. It explore these reasons. Teachers encourage us to is all too easy to come to Jerusalem and discover a follow our questions even when they appear to end lifestyle which takes one away from one's family, one's background. in contradiction. Here I have found a place which encouragesme As Rabbi Mordechai Silverstein told me, "The real religious questions don't always have easy to build upon my background.'not leave it. I look answers, Bill." . back with pride at the Jewish community in ' Aside from the "real" questions, I also needed to Omaha. find a place where I could start from the beginning. The Jewish education I received there certainly Along the road to big answers are literally millions provided much my desire to connect to Judaism. I of little questions. can remember taking stances in lively Hebrew I came to Israel with only the most basic abilities High School discussions and can see how those in Hebrew, unable to read a Jewish text in the orig- stances have grown as I have. My involvement in inal. This skill is essential. My lack of it led to Omaha's Bilu USY chapter shaped much of my years of frustration mouthing seemingly meaning- involvement in Jewish community. less groups of syllables and calling it prayer. I had I always smile when telling strangers here in to learn how to read all over again. Jerusalem, "Yes, there are Jews in Omaha. The Knowledge is the key, and in Judaism that means Jewish community there is actually very strong." Not only am I glad for what I have taken from a knowledge of Hebrew text. Judaism forged its traditions out of dialogue Omaha to Jerusalem but I am eager to return and through books. In order to understand or con- share some of what I have learned here. tribute to that dialogue I had to find a way into the Bill Shackman is the son of Bruce texts. I am forever indebted to the patience of my Shackman of Omaha and Liz Shackman of teachers at the Yeshiva who took me from being Chicago. (Editor's note: For more information only able to pick out' a few words to being able to about The Yeshiva of The United Synagogue of understand the complex discussions and argu- Conservative Judaism, contact them at: 2 ments that make up a page of Talmud. Agron St., Jerusalem, Israel; phone: 972-2-622Fax 972-2-623-4127; e-mail: These discussions are truly the place where 3116; Judaism as we know it came to be shaped. ye8hcon@netvi8ion.netU) Left photo: After reciting shacharit, the morning service, at the Kotel, the Western Wall, Anat Hoffman, right, stands with, .her < daughter and other members of Women at the Wall. Hoffman, a Jerusalem City Council member, has been instrumental in promoting women's religious rights in Israel.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 10,1998
lei Aviv Museum recalls where Israel began, new attentjon focuses on Israel's Independence Hall "President Truman sent messages to David Ben
. • by Campbell .Simon
Gurion, leader of Palestine's Jews, urging him to delay for six months. The British told him to wait,. Ask most residents of Tel Aviv how to reach too. Even Ben Gurion's own military advisers told Independence Hall, and you'll probably be told i t s him the new state would have only a 50-50 change in Philadelphia. ofsurvival." . That's because Tel Aviv's old art museum entered . But, after 2,000 years, after 50 years of organized immortality only briefly, one Friday afternoon in Zionism, and after the greatest Holocaust the world May, 1948, as David Ben Gurion's choice for the had ever known, Ben Gurion insisted the opportusite of the new State of Israel's Declaration of the nity must not be missed. Independence. "If you think the chairs look like they were borAnd, like a theater director setting a stage, Dror The 32-minute ceremony, secret until the last rowed for the ceremony from a coffee-house, well describes the trappings of the day itself. The bormoment for fear of sabotage, concretized the November, 1947, resolution of the United Nations that's because they-were," he continues, "and the rowed furnishings, and the draping of what was to to divide British-run Palestine into separate lewish carpets were borrowed from a carpet store, and the. become the Israeli flag, offset by the museum's microphone from a radio shop around the corner." prized old masters framed on its walls. The memand Arab states. It's the building's lack of formality which may bers of the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra The location and drama surrounding the ceremony are poignantly recalled a half century later by explain why so few Israelis come here preferring to arrayed on the upper level, ready, at the right sigremember their country's rebirth at more imposing nal, to play Hatikvah, the Jewish national anthem. visitors to what is now called Independence Hall. The arguments surrounding the actual content of Built in 1911, just after Tel Aviv was founded, as sites in Jerusalem such as the Knesset, Mount Herzl, the Western Wall, even Yad Vashem, the declaration were resolved less than half hour home of Meir Dizengoff, the city's first mayor, the before the ceremony was to begin. The dispute building was enlarged into Tel Aviv's Bauhaus- Israel's national memorial of the Holocaust. But with the entire country marking its 50th about what the new country would actually be style art museum in 1936. called. (Would it be Zion? Judea? Israel?) With the opening of a new Tel Aviv Art Museum anniversary, more and more Israelis, and more and more tourists too, are finding their way to this simThe empty piece of parchment the participants in 1959, the old building briefly became Tel Aviv's Bible Museum, then fell into disuse until a govern- ple and elegant structure on Tel Aviv's patrician, would sign was eventually to be appended to the ment decision in 1979 to restore it to exactly how it tree-lined Rothschild Boulevard where, for 32 min- declaration, elegant and etched by a calligrapher. had appeared on that one fateful day thirty years utes fifty years ago, one of the most extraordinary The typewritten invitation urged dignitaries to dramas in human history reached its climax. wear formal dress, and to keep the location of the earlier. "Why this building?" Dror asks. declaration secret. "This is where Golda sat," proclaims Itzik Dror, Then he answers his own question by pointing "Of course," Dror smiles, "tell 350 excited people, thumping one of the dozen chairs which front the out the hall's bunker-like design, and that with 350 Jewish people who've been waiting two thoudais, "and Ben Gurion stood there." Dror, tall and gawky, with a three-foot wide Jewish Jerusalem cut offhand under siege, the cere- sand years for this day to keep a secret, and what do you have? smile, is one of a team of young actors who guide mony had to be in Tel Aviv. He leads the visitors into an adjacent hall for a "Right, a crowd of thousands outside straining to visitors through the building, a stark contrast with the high-tech sophistication of most other historic short video on the city, which underscores this par- hear the ceremony on the loudspeakers!" Then he flicks a switch, and we, too, are transsites in Israel. Indeed, his spiel, and that of his col- ticular house's centrality in the city's brief history. leagues, is so low-key, and conducted with such Next, visitors wander through-galleries housing an ported back to May 14,1948. David Ben Gurion's emotionless, staccato voice pharro, that the significance of the occasion he's exhibit on Israel's War of Independence, but soon proclaims Israel's independence, its goals, its bringing to life becomes all the more touching. they're back in the main hall itself. Dror explains the unique circumstances leading dreams, its desire for peace with the Arabs. Indeed, few visitors emerge dry-eyed from (Continued on page 37) up to the declaration. Independence Hall.-
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Museum recalls where Israel began (Continued from page 36)
The proclamation chamber of Independence Hall in Tel Aviv has been restored to exactly how it appeared on May 14, 1998. Ben Gurion, standing beneath a portrait of Zionism's founder, Theodore Herzl, declared Israel a State, some 1878 years after the Romans expelled the Jews from their homeland. He ends with the spartan phrase "Zeh Medinat (Editor's note.* Independence Hall is located Yisrael (This is the State of Israel)!" at 16 Rothschild Boulevard in the heart of Tel Next, Tel Aviv's chief rabbi, his voice tearful and Aviv, a short walk from retrv-chic Neve Tzedek, cracking, recites the age-old prayer, the and from Nahlat Binyamin Street - location of Shechenyanu, thanking the almighty for bringing Tel Aviv's Sunday, Tuesday and Friday afterus to this time. Then the singing of the Hatikvah noon street fairs. The museum, teh 03-517-3942, anthem. The tape is thin and crackly, and one can fax 03-641-2408, is open Sunday through sense the tension and emotions that inevitably Thursday, 9 a.nu until 2 p.m., and, for groups, Beared through the room in 1948. at other times by appointment) And, as if transfixed, today's visitors stand, and emotion fills them too...barely less intensely, it seems, than a half century before.
May this Spring Festival of Freedom usher in a Time of Peace
A break in Israel before college kibbutz near Gaza. Life here is simple. I start my work day by six-thirty in the morning and finish up When deciding where to attend college, a pro- by lunchtime for the day. Sticking with my Omaha gram offered by the United Synagogue of roots, I volunteered to work in the refet (with the cows). It is a very enjoyable, but smelly, job. Conservative Judaism came across my mind. For the next three months I'll be living on The program, Nativ, as a ten month program; spending one semester at Hebrew University in Kibbutz and working. I hope to continue throughout the rest of my stay in •Jerusalem and the rest of the Israel. I have enjoyed myself year living and working on more than I ever imagined posKibbutz Sa'ad. I had many sible. I definitely made the reservations before coming right decision to spend my year abroad for an entire year, but in Israel. . I put those thoughts aside and Andi Gutnik is the daughcame on the program. ter of Omahans Bruce and The decision was well worth Margie Gutnik. A 1997 graditl So far this has been the uate of Bitrke High School, most amazing year of my life. she will enter the University . : We recently made the tranof Indiana next fall as a sition from living in sophomore. Jerusalem to living on kibAndi Gutnik in Jerusalem butz. ' After finishing my stay in Jerusalem I sat back and reflected on my semester. It was unbelievable to think about the experiences that I was fortunate enough to have. While in Jerusalem I studied at Wishing You a Happy Passover Hebrew University Sunday through Wednesday. In addition to school I volunteered at Hadassah hospital every week helping where needed. During my year I've had extensive amounts of POLLAK & HICKS, P.C. time to travel. Almost every Shabbat I would travel to a different city and explore. I was also able to travel to Turkey for a week. It was incredible! That 203 Historic Library Plaza experience is something I will never forget! Now I'm living on Kibbutz Sa'ad, an Orthodox by Andi Gutnik
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April 10,1998
Spielberg may film U.S. pilots who helped Israel in 1948 war byTomTugend
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LOS ANGELES, (JTA) -- American volunteer pilots who played a key role in creating the Israeli air force may be the focus of a Steven Spielberg film. The director said he hit on the idea after sitting in the cockpit with an Israeli pilot on an El Al flight from New York to Tel Aviv. "I asked him about his life and learned that he had been a hero during the 1967 Six-Day War," said Spielberg. "He told me about the history of the Israeli air force and said that everything started with eight American pilots in 1948. I didn't know about that." Most of the American airmen who flew for Israel just before and during the War of Independence were Jewish veterans of World War II, but also included some non-Jewish volunteers.
The director of Schindler's List and Amistad has also announced the launching of Visual History Films, which will produce documentaries based on the testimonies of Holocaust survivors. The new documentary division will draw its material from the archives of Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, which has so far interviewed almost 40,000 survivors from 48 countries in 29 languages. Because the survivor testimony was videotaped in so many languages, Spielberg said he hopes that the documentaries will be screened around the world. (Editor's note: Ornahan Dr. Ben Nacftman is a volunteer with Speilberg's Shoah Foundation and is videotaping interviews of Holocaust survivors and other Jewish seniors. For information, contact the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, 334-6442.)
Jewish youth see Zionism as ideology of Israel's past by Jessica Steinberg
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JERUSALEM (JTA) - The Herzliya Gymnasia school sits on a corner plot of land in the prestigious neighborhood of north Tel Aviv, a sandstonecolored building surrounded by palm trees and grassy areas studded with flowers and benches. . More than 1,000 junior high and high school students attend the Gymnasia, which was established in 1905, the first high school in the country that taught Hebrew and later became a cultural center for the burgeoning city of Tel Aviv. At the school's entrance is a display of photos and essays commemorating Israel's jubilee year — a large portrait of Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, is posted prominently in the middle, as if to remind the students whom to thank for the tiledfloprjtbeneaththeir Doc Martens, shoes popular with teen-agers. <• ''• Lee Avzuk, Shimrit Tsiporen, Aiiat Tal and Lior Ben-Kereth - four typical Tel Aviv teenagers dressed in baggy clothes — pay no attention to the blue and white display^and make i!heir way through the maze of hallways and classrooms to the school's cafeteria where they plop themselves down to drink coffee and discuss Zionism and patriotism in their country's 50th year of statehood. Tal, a lanky 11th grader huddled in her khaki green army-style jacket, is somewhat disillusioned with the concept of Zionism, commenting that it's a romantic concept from the past, existing only in politics. Her friends agree, adding that army duty and youth movements are two of the last vestiges of patriotism left in their young state, and even those are losing in popularity. "All the guys have to say they want to be paratroopers, even if they don't want to," says Tal. "That's their Zionism." That's a fairly typical reaction, according to Doubi Schwartz, director of Tel Aviv and Israel's central region for Melitz, a non-profit organization specializing in informal education for high school students. Melitz has been organizing seminars about Israeli solidarity and patriotic values for the jubilee year, primarily in secular schools. "Most students feel quite strongly about living here," says Schwartz, "but it's about belonging, not about history." Tsiporen, whose mother is American, believes that Jews outside of Israel are taking the jubilee year more seriously than Israelis, partially because they have no other identity. 1000N.90lhSt.
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A sixth-grader, right, at one of Tel Aviv's elementary schools tutors a third-grader in reading as part of Yachad (Reading Together), a program developed by the National Council of Jewish Women's Research Institute for Innovation in Education. "What they don't realize is that Judaism and Zionism are two different things," she says, "and because we're, here, it's less important to us." For the most part, Melitz educators are accustomed to approaching students with questions, not answers. It's a different attitude than that of the Education Ministry, which declared Israel's 50th anniversary as the central subject of the year, devoting additional class hours to the study of Israeli society's accomplishments. The ministry, as well as the government's jubilee celebrations, has been plagued by managerial and internal troubles. Not a good start to the jubilee year, but typical of Israel's politicized society. The Education Ministry's 70-page history book, targeted at elementary, schools and titled "Israel's Jubilee," recently came under fire in the Israeli media for not mentioning the Palestinians when it discusses Israeli society. The ministry spokesman refused to comment on the workbook's contents. Avzuk reminisces about the days following Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination, when the country's youth gathered in city squares to light memorial candles and vent then* feelings and frustrations. "That was Zionism," she adds, "because we were mourning together."
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YJO goes to Israel
Members of Young Jewish Omaha's February mission to Israel witnessed a graduation rehearsal by the Israel Defense Forces honor guard at the gravesite of David Ben Gurion, the State's first prime minister, at Sde Boker in the Negev.
Kathy McGauvran talks with new Ethiopian olim, now Israeli schoolchildren in the afternoon program at the absorption center of KiryatGat.
Jill Swanberg, left, and Lisa Platt Leopold, right, speak to Israeli soldiers at Rosh HaNikra, who guard the 'Good Fence,' on Israel's northern border with Lebanon.
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April 10,1998
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Shortly after being named Ambassador to the U.S., Gen. Yitzhak Rabin met with House Minority Leader Gerald Ford; the two would later lead their respective countries.
After the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin in 1995, Shimon Peres was named Prime Minister. Above, he signs autographs prior to the election against 'Bibi.'
Former Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Allon and Henry Kissinger met in Washington, D.G.
American-educated Benjamin Netanyahu is currently Prime Minister of Israel and the leader of the Likud Party.
Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, examines a 1942 photo of the Emergency Zionist Conference and recalls the event for William Wexler, B'nai B'rith president in.1967, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the declaration of a Jewish commonwealth. Photo by wutcstono
President Richard Nixon welcomed Prime President of Israel in 1968, Zalman Shazar, Minister Golda Meir to the White House, 1971. left, meets with Prime Minister Levi EshkoL
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A nation struggles to beborn
Above left: Jewish immigrants run the blockade in defiance of the British ruling, wondering if they will gain entry into Palestine, 1947. Above right: A border watchtower is manned in 1948 by soldiers of the Haganah and Irgun, the forerunners of the Israel Defense Forces, (these two photos are from a documentary "The Promised Land.") Right: Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, center, meets with members of what will be his cabinet in the days before the founding of the State ofIsrael,Mayl4,1948.
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by Sara Juster
April 10,1988
length of the trip make a difference? Apparently they did. So many teens applied for the program that a lottery was needed. In the end, more than forty Omaha high school students travelled to Israel that summer, most on Artza, but several on longer programs. ,'.•,.' ; Many of the parents of the Artza' participants readily admitted that they couldn't pass up such a great deal. And although the teens often griped
T w e n t on a.whim with my friends. . . biit I ' completely fell in love with Israel and vowed'toogo back," said Jennifer Rubin, recalling her trip to Israel as participant in the first Artza trip to Israel. • Several years later, Jennifer did go back, &i,<Oi chairman of the Federation's Young Jewish Omaha' Mission. • •• : "When I was asked to chair the mission, I was thrilled!" she added,. "I wanted everyone else to experience what I had." . Artza was the brainchild of Margo Riekest then president of the Bureau of Jewish Education, Norm; Sheldon, president of the JGC, Jeffrey Aizenberg, JCC Executive Director and Susie Drazen, BJE Director. ^Frustrated with the small number of Omaha' teens whawent on'Israel -trips,.the group proposed a community trip that would last-three weeks,'half as longas<most Israel'trips;. The hope was that if teens didn't have to give up their entire summer, and if the cost was reasonable, more would make the journey.. Margo worked tirelessly to obtain funding for the trip from various foundations and the Federation so that the cost was only $ 500, the remaining $1500 per person would be paid by the community. But this offer wasn't without strings. Participants were required to attend a series of classes on Israel, attend a Shabbaton and speak to community groups about their experience when they returned. , . • As Director of Artza, this writer spent a year working closely with Mrs, Riekes and Mr. Aizenberg, planning every detail of the trip, from publicity to the itinerary, from accommodations to the pre-trip classes and Shabbaton. But when it came time for registration, we weren't sure what to expect. The previous year, only two or three Omaha The Artza group, 40 strong, gathers for teens had gone to Israel.. Would the subsidy and instructions on their first day in Israel.
about the classes, every one fulfilled'the pre-trip requirements and got on the place to Israel with me and the other two madrichim, Mitchell Warren and Sorin Juster.
•' .
.
,
••
Sorin moved to Israel in May 1988 after marrying this writer. He had immigrated to Israel from Romania in 1971, served in the Israel Defense Forces and studied engineering a t Haifa's (Continued on page 45)
Dave Blatt, left, and Danny Kasin, shop for souvenirs in the shuk, the Arab market.
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,4, April 10,1888 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE Page 45
Artza: to the Land
&*
...(Continued from page 44) , Techniqn. Mitchell, a native of Ojnaha and (lie son of Marilyn end, Martyjyarren, had just graduated from the University Wisconsin. ; ; : ,, •.,.: . The whirlwind tour included time in^ Jerusalem, Tel Aviv,' the! Galil and the Golan Heights, the Negey and Eilat. .We visited sites of religious, and historical significance, climbed Masada at 4 a.m., kayaked down the Jordan River.and went yachting in the Red Sea. • But what Jaimie Zacharia remembers best is walking back from Shabbat services in Jerusalem. "I'm not particularly religious,; but I remember being overwhelmed by emotion when we walked back from the synagogue," she recalled. Jaimie "loved the hikes and the archeological dig (where Rachel Shkolnick lost her contact!)." Although Jennifer Rubin complained the entire way up the ancient Snake Path, she mentioned "standing on the top of Masada and seeing all the history that went on there" as one of her most vivid memories." . .. / Sorin Juster believes that this opportunity "to discover their roots - to see how they're connected to the past, is the most important reason for teens to experience Israel." As Jaimie explained, "It was an eye-opening trip to go and see all the things you hear and talk about in Sunday School." . Jennifer agreed, "When yOu're 16, you want to go have a good time. You don't realize the history and beauty until you're actually there." Both women say that the trip had a profound impact on their lives. "It made me appreciate my religion more," said Jaimie, while Jennifer says she would never have chaired the Young Adult Mission had she not gone on Artza. Since 1988, several hundred Omaha teens have been to Israel, many on an Artza trip. Many things have changed since that first trip. As Aizenberg recalls, "I tried to phone the group on Saturday night when they were in Safed. No one spoke English there and I had a heck of a time
"Now, they can be in thelniddle of the Negev desert and I can call them on a cell phone!*'' Susie Drazen noted.that before Artza, teens who travelled to Israel "received a $500 subsidy. • That' doubled alter Artza'.">,..'•-. .',•'• ; But perhaps most importantly,' gohig to'Israel during high school is now "the thing to do" in Omaha.-". .
'
'.
• •'
i •••
.. Lois Epstein, the mother of Artza participant Robyn Epstein, remarked; "It was'a great experience for her. She was 15 . . . her parents were 53 the first time they went to Israel. We're grateful that the community would make it possible for our . children to have opportunitieswe didn't have." Susie Drazen believes that Artza "set in motion the mechanism for making a summer in Israel a reality for Omaha teens." Next summer, approximately forty teens are expected to participate in the fourth "Artza: to the The group toured the Old City of Jerusalem Land." . ' atop the ramparts, the walls which surround Sara Jaffa Juster was director of the first all four quadrants: The Jewish Quarter, Artza trip to Israel in 1988 while she was Armenian, Christian and Muslim Quarters. Youth Director of the JCC; she later became Director of the Jewish Cultural Arts Council, married Sorin and graduated fromCreighton Law School She is an attorney with National Indemnity. The Justers are the parents of three childrenfCaroline, Samantha and Ariel
:
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Lisa Hurwitz, center, and Ari Riekcs, right, look up from the Cardo, the Old City's main shopping street which dates from Roman times.
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Rob Millimet d o n s a h a t for p r o t e c t i o n against the summer sun during the group's stop at the archeological dig at the Southern Wall in Jerusalem's Old City.
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April 10,1898
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beating. A press leak exposed the arrest of Mossad agents in a friendly European country, the source "I didn't know there were any Jews in Omaha," a of the leak, a faction within the Mossad intent on phrase I have heard often in my years in Israel that seeing the Mossad chief resign. He did. Issues such as the conversion law do little to would have to be answered over and over again. It seems like the Jewish world never made room enhance our (Israeli) image within the DiaBpora. At 50 years, Israel is at a turning point with its for Omaha in its lexicon. So the natural response I commonly receive is T h a t must be why you moved Arab neighbors. There can be little doubt of the to Israel!" And in that statement resides a great intense desire of a majority of Israelis to enter the deal of truth; hot for what the Omaha Jewish com- next millennium with a different relationship, one munity lacked, but rather for its richness and dedi- based on peace and economic prosperity. But as the public debate continues on such issues cation to classical Diaspora Zionism. Long before it was determined by Jewish profes- as our security zone in Lebanon, negotiations with sionals that a trip made to Israel as a teenager Palestinians, it becomes clearer that we are truly a could be effective in combating the growth of assim- divided nation as to the means of achieving our , f ilation, the Omaha Jewish community sent its objectives. In my work as a tour guide/educator licensed by youth to Israel. The buzzword of 'continuity* probably wasn't the Israeli government, I am bombarded by quesused in Omaha when I departed in June of 1976 on tions over these difficult issues. The visitor to Israel today who is searching for the Omaha Israel pilgrimage. But, as I sit in Eretz Yisrael, Ha Yafa, the beautiful Israel, can Jerusalem in 1998 with my wife of 11 years, Laurie, and children Merav, 8, Nadiv, 6, and still find it. It is in the spring flowering of the Judean countryside, it is in the fast flowing waters I Naomi, 4,1 believe 'continuity* is assured. It would be unfair to characterize my aliyah as a of a dry riverbed {nahal in Hebrew, wadi in Arabic) 1 .. 1 result of one teen trip, certainly my parents, sib- come to life during a prolonged intense rain. It is in the sound of prayer at the Tomb of Rachel lings and grandmother deserve much of the credit. But even attaching a value to living in Israel is the Matriarch and the Cave of Machpela burial site something I believe that is part of the Omaha expe- of Avraham, Issac and Jacob (and wives minus Rachel). rience. The beautiful Israel can still be seen in the eyes When a troop of Israeli scouts arrived in Omaha, the community took part in hosting them. If an of our children, who last month took to the streets Israeli singing group performed in Omaha, the com- in costume while celebrating the miracles of Purim. Israel at 50 is like no other place in the world. A munity showed up, the same for scholars or athletes. Without a formal shaliach (messenger) from the homeland for Ethiopian and Russian Jews who Aliyah Desk, the community still managed to put arrived here in the 1990s looking to better their Israel programming on its agenda. That is what I lives, a homeland for Jews of all colors and backgrounds who wish to place their future with the referred to as classical Diaspora Zionism. ' Jewish nation in Israel. i Is the situation still like that in Omaha now? And that, is a reason to celebrate. Celebrate our J I don't know, though I am a frequent visitor to common goals and not our seemingly unbridgeable | Nebraska but have not lived there since 1979. J I hope that for the Jewish youth of Nebraska the opposing views to attain them. When asked by tour groups why I moved to \ mention of Israel conjures up a magic not tainted by theinternal battles being fought here by reli- Israel, I usually respond with the following story; 1 Sometime around 1970 or 1971, I remember gious and secular, by right wing and left wing, by attending Beth El Sunday school and being neo-canaanites and neo-fascists. Before we were 50, the issues seemed to be so brought into the chapel for a screening of a black clear cut in Diaspora—Israel right or wrong. and white film on the Six Day War." The image in my mind is of Gamel Abdul Nasser Internal debates on Israeli policy were seen as crossing the Suez Canal swearing to wipe the Jews damaging the security of the nation. Israel at 50 has no such problems; last week the into the sea. I thought at the time if it was so greatly damaged image of the Mossad took another important for him to wipe Israel into the sea, then (Continued on page 47) by Jonathan Duitch
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Blessings, and tiappingss...
May these be yours at passover and throughout the year. Steve and Bonnie Levinger Allison, Amy and Jessica
Aveva Malin Sliukert, Ph.D. Licensed and Certified Psychologist
Evaluation & Psychotherapy For Adults & Children The Duitchs met with the UJA/Federation Mission in 1991, from left: Susan Koller (wife of former Federation Assistant Director Conrad Koller, Forrest Krutter, Glen Fineman, Laurie Duitch, Steve Riekes, Jonathan Duitch, Frank Kelberg and Bruce Goldberg.
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Never underestimate Omaha (Continued from page 46) it must be equally important for me to move there and thus complicate his task. At this point in the retelling of the story, I recap my education, my studies in Israel, my aliyah, marriage .children, etc. But I return to Beth El Chapel. Sometime in the mid 1980s I connected with former Omahan Alan Potash when he immigrated to Israel (I am sorry that he has since left). Late one evening I returned home from a party with big Al and as I recall it now, the hour was 4 a.m. and the streets were empty and the time was opportune to pop the QUESTION. So I asked, "Why did you make aliyah?" And the chill is still in my bones. He said, "Jon, you remember the time in Beth El Sunday school when they took us to the chapel to see a film on the Six Day War?...." So, I believe the influence of Omaha can never be understated. Jonathan Duitch is the son of Jack and Jean Duitch of Omaha.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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These photos depict scenes of the arrival of millions of immigrants to Israel over the last 60 years. Clockwise at right: Jews from Arab lands begin arriving hi Israel shortly after 1948; eventually more than 700,000 were forced to flee, including this family who escaped Iran after the Shah was overthrown. Below. Operation Magic Carpet brought Jews from Yemen; it was followed by Operation Exodus (which brought 850,000 Jews so far out of the former Soviet Union, FSU, and Operation Solomon which airlifted 21,000 Jews from Ethiopia). Glen Fineman was among the many who waited at Ben Gurion Airport in the middle of the night and greeted those arriving from the FSU; activist for Soviet Jews, Shirley Goldstein, speaks to a young girl who arrives without her family.
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Page 50 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE April 10,1998 In each generation, every individual shall feel as though he or she has actively been redeemed from Mitzrayim "to stop the defamation of the Jewish people," "to secure justice and fair treatment of all citizens alike''
.. .ADL in every generation
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In I©¥e with Israel schooling. The schools here stress active learning, and children are encouraged to do their learning in small groups. Teachers pay attention to a child's In order for an American Jew to make aliyah he social and spiritual development as well as to their or she must be gripped with an overpowering exisscholastic abilities. And if someone is concerned tential sense that Israel is home. that their child receive a Jewish education, well it Aliyah begins with at-one-ment, a sense of wholeis simply fantastic that a public school that we can ness and completion that a Jew finds only in Israel. see from our own house is teaching our children-in Sarah and I both had this feeling when we were in the holy language and using the resources pf the Israel in May of 1982. Sarah was completing her holy land-on a par with the very finest of Jewish Junior year abroad at Hebrew University and I was day schools in the States (where tuition for our visiting, having spent a significant period of time in family this year would be over $30,000). Israel a few years earlier. To hear Hebrew music echoing around the valley We were both just short of turning 21; we were not yet married, and we did not quite know what to where we live, knowing that it is emanating from expect from adult life in the United States. So we our children's school as they sing and dance in put aside that emotional pull towards Israel, and honor of the coming Shabbat, well, that is to know for the-next 12 years neither one of us even visited. yiddishe nachas. Sarah and I are equally pleased with our two preThen, in the summer of 1994, my university sent me to Israel for 10 days to present a paper at a con- schoolers' programs There are three years oigan in ference, and my feelings for Israel powerfully Israel-two pre-k (three and four-year-olds) and one returned. This time, I was 33 and could see that year of kindergarten (five-year-olds). Gan teachers whatever else life in America could give me, it in Israel have degrees in early childhood education could not give me the sense of at-homeness that I and are required, like all other teachers, to take continuing education courses in their field. got in Israel. The teachers are professionals and they-and it It was time to make a decision, and when Sarah picked me up at the Miami airport on July 4, 1994, seems the entire country—treat pre-school educawe both decided it was time to give aliyah a chance. tion with all of the respect and joy that it deserves. It feels great living in a country where the majorWe realized our dream of aliyah on July 29,1997. Our Hit ah, absorption into Israeli society, has been ity culture is Jewish. In Israel, your heritage comes'alive. One examgoing wonderfully. We live in Givat Ze'ev, a suburb of Jerusalem- ple: after years of singing the Tu B'Shvat song that though technically if s in the "territories." We did begins with the words hashkediah porackat (the not specifically choose to be over the Green line; almond tree is blooming), it was only recently, what was most important to us was to have a place when I saw some flowering trees in Givat Ze'ev to live where our five very active kids (ages 10, 9,7, around the time of Tu B'Shvat-and was told that 5 and 3) could roam freely and not be cooped up these were almond trees, that the song made sense. Yes, that*s the bottom line of living here in Israel, inside an apartment it makes the most sense out of one's Jewishness. Givat Ze'ev is also commuting distance from Tel It's your basic Zionist ideology; Jews.belong to the Aviv, where Sarah has a terrific job in the invest-; Jewish nation, the Jewish nation requires a physiment field. I teach courses in Judaism at a number cal home like all other nations, and this home is of locations, mostly in the Jerusalem-area.' . Israel. Thus, if you are Jewish it makes sense to One terrific thing for the kids about Givat Ze'ev is live in Israel. that they can go the whole week without having to In Miami, we were very close with a Catholic get into a car. They walk to their religious public school; they walk to their friends' homes, to their family. The husband grew up in Massachusetts and afternoon activities, to the indoor swimming pool, he remembered his days there as mostly gray arid dreary. He told us that sometimes when he wakes and to the supermarket to buy last-minute items. And beginning at about the,age of Seven, they can- up.to jr4t.another dazzling sunny day in Miami; he do all of this walking on their own (younger kids, simply is overcome by a keen sense of joy and typically do require chaperones, but this is often appreciation for having ended up in South Florida. Sarah and I did not feel thisway about living in provided not by adults but by other children-sibMiami~and we knew we couldn't anywhere in the lings or friends). :':..Diaspora. But Sarah and I wanted to feel deeply Because of this freedom that the children have'•:'. connected to the land in which we lived. here, the short school day (the kids, get home at So we now live in Israel. • about 1 p.m.) is manageable for parents. Once a child gets to second grade or so (and hopefully has Ted Yfeiriberger is married to Sarah Ross, done some homework), they simply do not require a lot of supervision during the afternooh-they go and the daughter of Willis Atin and Al Ross of Omaha; they made aliyah from North Miami play with their friends. Sarah and I are very pleased with .our children's Beach, FL, last summer. by Ted Weinberger
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Bellevue 734-8232 Leaving North Miami Beach for Givat Ze'ev, a suburb of Jerusalem, was the Ross-Weinberger family, back row, from left: Sarah and Teddy Weinberger and Elie, 3; front row: Rutbie, 7, Nathan, 10, Ezra, 5, and Rebecca, 9. Photo courtesy of Will Yurman for the Miami Herald.
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Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish gunman, Yigal Amir, posing as a security guard at a rally in Tel Aviv in October, 1995. Rabin, a former general in the Israeli Defense Force, led J;he successful-campaign to retake Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967 and later, served as Ambassador to the United States. Growing increasingly uncomfortable with the tension between Arabs and Jews in Israel, he continued Peace Talks started by Likud Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir which led to a peace treaty on the grounds of the White House in 1994. with Yasser Arafat, chairman of tlw'Palestine Liberation Organization. Above left: Henry Monsky lights a yarzheit candle at the site where Rabin was slain. Left: photo of graffiti at Kikkar Rabin, the assassina-
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April 10,1998 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE Page 53
Scenes of Israel
Though largely a desert, the Negev is also home to Beersheva, a growing metropolis, and Ben Gurion University, where the business of agriculture has turned Israel's arid land into high-yield production. For thousands of years, the waves have crashed against the rocks at Rosh Hanikra, forming caves and grottos through which the setting sun is visible. This site is part of Omaha's Partnership 2000 region.
Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi is one of a number of successful kibbutzim, this one exporting meat products and dates. The kibbutz movement started in the early days of the State as collective farms; today, most tribbutzniks' live in private homes, make individual salaries and are responsible for their own children and family's welfare.
May you have peace and joy this holiday season and prosperity throughout the corning year*
Eilat, on the Bed Sea on the southern border, has become a worldwide tourist attraction. Parasailing, above, as well as scuba-diving, fishing and underwater photography bring thousands of tourists here. It is also a transit point for Israelis, Americans and others crossing into Aqaba, in Jordan, on the way to the ancient city of Petra.
from
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Beyond common sense: tips on traveling to Israel by Natalie Weinstein Jewish Bulletin of Northern California
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) Travel guides to Israel always offer handy advice, like don't forget your AC adapter. But sometimes, your best tips come from another traveler's real-life mistakes. Here's my short-list: * No matter how idiotic it looks to your seatmates, use one of those Ushaped, blow-up pillows that wraps around your neck. It made all the difference on my marathon flight. While others squirmed in their cramped seats, I rested my head comfortably on my velvet-coated pillow of air. And I actually slept well. * If your Hebrew is rusty, brush up ahead of time. I found myself on the transAtlantic flight trying desperately to make conversation with an older Israeli couple who spoke no English. Avram and Rachel could only offer me mints and kind smiles, while I struggled to relearn my stunted vocabulary of about a hundred words of Hebrew. * If you know no Hebrew, learn a few fundamental phrases beforehand. (Though to be honest, you don't need to know any Hebrew as a tourist in Israel. So many Israelis know English.) B'vakashah,pleaBe. Todah, thank you. SHchah, excuse me. B'seder, OK MedaberAnglit?, Do you speak English? Eyfo ha-sherutiml Where
Where is the bathroom? * Bring a toothbrush and toothpaste onto the plane. Ditto, bottled water. * Once you've arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport, exchange some of your cash for shekels while you're waiting for your luggage. Israel's major banks have airport branches and offer reasonable exchange rates. It's great to have a wad of shekels right off the bat. * Never make calls from your hotel room's phone. One woman made a few calls using her long-distance calling card. She still was charged $15 for simply using the phone. So before your trip, find out how Vour phone company handles international calls from public pay phones. For local calls within Israel, buy a publicphone card at any little corner store. *If you're ever getting any kind of body work (i.e., massage or mud treatments) in Israel, specify at the time you set the appointment which gender you prefer for your body worker. There is definitely a more open, more European attitude in Israel toward such trivialities as who will be touching your bare bod. No comment. Former Oinahan Natalie Weinstein of Oakland, CA, is the daughter of Bonnie and Harold Weinstein of Mesa, AZ. She graduated from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and is a reporter for the Jewish Bulletin of Northern California. She is planning a June, 1998, wedding to David Eaimj also of Oakland.
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April 10,1888 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE Pago 55
MARGIE NEARENBERG - "I loved it. I climbed the mountain there We went into the market and saw the meat and fruit and different things. There were people sitting there and they were not very good people. I swam while I was there." FANNIE WINTNER - "I was there for the 7-day war. We were scared. \Ve went, to step over the border and they made us go back." MABEL KATSKEE - "I went to the Wall with my husband, David. It was a wonderful experience. We also went to the top of the Temple Mount and to an Orthodox synagogue. I bought a tallis for one of my sons." SY KATZ - "I remember the Wall. It was fantastic. It was a very moving experience. I went with a group of men from the Jewish Federation. We were riding in the bus one day and the bus driver pointed across the distance and said'that's where David slew Goliath.' I saw the Dead Sea." MOLLIE FRANKLIN - "I went three times once with my husband, Morrie, once with my daughters, Helene and Renee, and once with group from Beth El. My husband's family was there. I saw a lot of Israel and wanted to live there. It is a beautiful country. They have beautiful synagogues. I didn't know how to speak Hebrew but they knew how to speak English."
SARA SALTZMAN - "I couldn't get over the fact about how modern things were. They had beautiful homes and office buildings. That impressed me more than anything else. MIRIAM GROSSMAN - "I had an elated experience, knowing that our forefathers prayed for Israel and didn't live long enough to see it and I, such a gornish, had the pleasure to see to experience their dream. I tried to see as much as I could. I traveled by bus to see Jerusalem. I was visiting a cousin, born in Poland, who lived there. At that time I also had a brother in East Germany; he was an avid Zionist and bis dream was to see Israel." ROSE BENSTEIN - "When you go there, you see what they have done with it. It's mind turning. Everything that you have been reading about, comes back to you; it was wonderful to see." DAVE WINE - "Went with wife, Marion, an elderly aunt and cousin. Everything we saw and did was beautiful. I had a Polaroid camera. We were sitting in the dining room and I took a picture of a couple sitting next to us; you should have heard them yell. It was like manna from heaven for them. We took tours and went to the mountains." SYLVIA ROSS - "This little country, they took arid land and turned it into a garden. It is too bad they have to spend so much money for protection.
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OUR CARS ^Residents of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Fannie Wintner. Back row: Sara Saltzman, Home for the Aged reminisce about Israel, Mollie Franklin, Fannie Chunovic, Dave Wine front row, from left: Mabel Katskee, Miriam and Margie Nearenberg. Not pictured: Sy h7Syltia:R«^j^nd--\Katz; ; -- ! "*' :i ?""^ : v*''^ * • • :•' -'[\' ; FANNIE CHUNOVIC - "It was a beautiful coun- For all these thousands of years, we have been try. It was more beautiful than I expected. In waiting for this land to call our own. I hope they Jerusalem the boulevards are magnificent. I just will be able to keep it and make friends with the enjoyed it so much. I took my oldest grand-daugh- Arabs; everyone who goes there to live should be ter to visit, who was attending Hebrew University. able to live the way they want. I had always wantI saw Hadassah hospital and stayed at the Hilton. ed to see Israel, even as a child. My husband had a It was so lovely and we had a room that was out- relative getting married when I first went. The second time I went to see if it had changed." standing."
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As I sat on the bus, I gazed out the window in thought on 'the rdad back to my hometown,' , Yerushalayiih, the most important city to me in the • world. However, I was returning from a place of different but equal significance: Tzfat. Situated at the top Of a mountain in the north of Israel, Tzfat is one of the four holy cities in the country, the others being Jerusalem, Hebron and Tiberias: Many great rabbis and tzaddikim (righteous people) lived here, and their gravesites can be seen oh the famous mountainside. As the bus approached the city, going up the twisted mountain road, I felt as if I was being elevated and prepared to enter into the holy city. The air is different here; it is clean and refreshing. The Kabbalistic color blue, seen painted on synagogues and houses, is very soothing. Six other girls with whom I was traveling stayed with a warm and welcoming family, who lived just below the steps leading up to the old city of Tzfat. Our bedroom for Shabbat was one of the lofts built by the father, the son of one of the original students in the Mir Yeshivah in Poland. The mother was an artist, whose paintings hung all over the unusually-shaped house. And the children were beautiful as well as artistic and learned, like their parents. It must be something in the air. Before Shabbat on Friday, we walked through the streets of the Old City of Tzfat, looking through the artists' shops and chatting with the locals. We came upon an organic health food store where a man began talking to us. David was a remdent of Tzfat and a well-known man in the community. Along with being a vegetarian and eating only organic foods, he often hiked through the surrounding mountains and valleys and offered to take my group on a walk after Shabbat. Being adventure-seekers, we gladly accepted the invitation. When looking at the breathtaking views from the city, I couldn't help but want to explore what was beneath that covering of trees. I looked forward to the hike. Shabbat was wonderful. The girls and I went to pray at the Breslov-Hassidic shul on the edge of the mountain. Breslov is a sect of the Hassidic movement who still follow the teachings of the great Rebbe Nachman zt"l. They are very spiritual and one can see this through their ways of praying. The sunset was gorgeous; a great way to start the weekend. We spent that night and next day eating meals with the family, relaxing, and taking long refreshing walks. Shabbos was over when three
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The hikers ended their walk at this waterfall in the forest outside Tzfat. stars, quite possibly three thousand, could easily be seen in the clear night sky...perfect place for an astronomy lesson. After another night of sound Tzfat-sleep, Sunday came. We dressed hi hiking clothes, brought water (very important in Israel even if its not hot), and went to meet David at the health food store. He was ready and waiting and lead us out of the city on the decent to the valley, called Nachal Amoud. Even the walk out of the city to the start of our hike was incredible. I found my eyes gazing upward at the city ascending behind us, and realized that I should be watching my feet to avoid large rocks. After passing through a pasture of cows, we came upon the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley we were going to descend. This view can't be seen from Tzfat because it is covered by trees. There is another world down here; a view of a deep opening into the earth's crust filled with rocks and caves and springs. (Continued on page 57)
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April 10,1098 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE Page 57
'Clob Wed'for the Soul ' '. " (Continued from page 58) '-• It w is beautiful «?nd I felt-very small; nature is above the valley, we still had yet an additional mirac lous.; . . . . climb back up to the city.Tve done a lot of hiking in The hike was difficult,- (don't worry,- parents, we my life, but this was a most wonderful one. - . .-are.'es perienced hikers). David took us on steep After learning some last bits of Torah and inspipaths, we scaled rock walls, crossed narrow rivers, rational knowledge, from the parents of the family, but it ,vas all worth it when we finally reached our and taking my last breath of fresh Tzfat air( I d e s t i n ition. • ••• '.',•':','. .•••'••'• boarded the bus going south;: • . -,. 1 AfU r three hours of hiking, we came to a small It's now that Ieit, staring out the window of the: water ill leading to a beautiful natural spring, one Egged bus, feeling freshly inspired and renewed, as of the many natural mikvahot in the area. It was if I had'just spent a weekend at Club'Med: "Club natur illy shaded by overhanging trees and the Med" for the Soul. water was so clear, I could see the rocks on the bot- Yerushalayim is the place where I spend most of tom of the pond. . . . my time, living,,learning, and meeting friends; The Bun was beginning to set and David suggest- however, it gets a bit heavy sometimes, a little too ed we head back because once night falls, it's wise real. Tzfat is my city of refuge; it is my health club. to;hava camping gear since it would be impossible, The buB pulled into the station in Jerusalem, the to see Jur way out of the valley. Seeing that we did- tachana mercazit. I stepped out, retrieved my backn't ha; e any, we headed back to the holy city. pack, and headed back to school, feeling revived. As ve emerged from the abyss and found ourMelissa, daughter of Michael and Carol selvet back on flat land, we could see the last Katzman, spend a year-and-a-half studying in remai ling piece of color from the sunset, just Israel, at Midreshet HaRova and Neve direct y over the mountain. Yerushalayim colleges for women. She is now Nov that we had reached the vast open space a freshman at Boston University.
. ~ . •• -
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Melissa Kntzman, left, spent Shabbat in Tzfat with friendsjrpm Neve: Ahuva Moses, Renee Forsgren, Estee Luiemberg and Shari ; Bernstein. '
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Davic leads the girls on their Sunday hike into the dense forest surrounc ing the city of Tzfat1.
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Page 58 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE April 10,1998
Focus on Issues
Controversy and celebration by Bob Eisenberg
It's no big surprise that this year's'festivities revolving around Israel's 50th anniversary are wrapped in a mantle of controversy. While virtually every Jewish citizen of Israel, and an increasing number of Israeli Arabs view the creation of the State as a salutary miracle, no one seems to agree on anything else. On the Right, the mayor of Jerusalem wants to expand the municipal boundaries of the city as a statement of triumphalism for this commemorative year. The Smithsonian Institute in Washington was forced to cancel a series of symposia on the birth of the State because of right-wing protests that too many participants had ties to the Israeli peace movement. . Further along the political spectrum, fervently Orthodox anti-Zionists plan to shroud their schools and neighborhoods with black flags on Independence Day. The reason for this seemingly perverse act is their avowed opposition to any Jewish state in existence before the arrival of the Moshiach. (It should be noted that they are a small minority, even among the ultra-Orthodox.) Most other fervently Orthodox will simply ignore the celebrations, with the exception of the Lubavitchers and some other Hasidic groups. On the Left are Palestinians who plan to proclaim a day of mourning. Israeli Arabs, however, are not participating in this. . In the broad center, concerns about security have muted any natural inclination to indulge in popular acts of chest-beating or conspicuous bacchanals. Rather, modest festivities are planned throughout the year.
There is also controversy surrounding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's purported decision to speak before 20,000 Evangelical Christians in Orlando who will be gathering to celebrate Israel's anniversary, since some of them are accused, perhaps unjustly, of having goals of proselytizing. And finally, Tourism Minister Moshe Katsav recently became the third chief of jubilee events to resign this year, citing a laundry list of frustrations. There have been calls for a general amnesty directed towards all prisoners in Israeli jails, with allusions to the Torah as a historical precedent. Most politicians have rejected this, citing a huge increase in crime after the two previous acts of clemency in 1949 and 1967. In recent weeks, the calls for amnesty have quieted down. But there is one prisoner on whom attention has been focused and that is Jonathan Pollard, the conTeddy Kollek, then mayor of Jerusalem visits victed spy, on whose behalf Absorption Minister hospital patients in the aftermath of the Yom Yuli Edelsten has pleaded for his release from an Kippur War, 1973. American penitentiary to commemorate t h e jubilee. This has been all but ignored in the United States. So we can all rest assured that in this anniversary year, controversial acts and vibrant debate continue to thrive in the State of Israel, along with the nation's healthy economy and its steadily improving security status. Perhaps all the ruckus should be taken as a signal that one can never plan too far ahead and that it's not too early to start preparing for the upcoming centennial. Omahan Bob Eisenberg is the author of Boychiks in the Hood; he is currently working on his second book.
Troops daven between skirmishes during the 1978 Yom Kippur War.
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A family celebrates
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The daughter of Jeanette Nadoff and the late Rabbi Isaac Nadoff, Sharon Mizrahi (fourth from left) and her husband Moshe Mizrahi (second from right) and their family celebrated the marriage of their daughter Shulamit to Yosef (the bride and groom) in Jerusalem. The other Mizrahi children include five girls: Ruti, Yocheved, Mazal, Hannah and Nechamah, and boys; Yehoshua, Hillel, Shalom and Yakob. The Mizrahis live in Neve Yaacov.
Our Passover Things
50 years 6,000,000 people
Cleaning and cooking and so many dishes. Out with the chometz, no pasta, no krtishes Fish that's gefilted, horseradish that stings, These are a few.of our favorite things. Matza and karpas and chopped-up haroset Shankbones and kiddish and yiddish neuroses Tante, who kvetches arid uncle who sings These are a lew of our favorite things.
from
The Foundation
When the plagues strike, When the lice bite, ' ' When we're feBling sad, We simply remember our Passover things And then we don't feel so bad. , •• • Motzi and maror and trouble with Pharoahs, Famines and locusts and satves with wheelbarrows, Matza balls floating and eggshells that cling These are a few of our favorite things.
(Editor's note: this parody of the Sound of Music song Our Favorite Things from the Internet was sent to Cantor Leo and Annette Fettman for Jeanette Nadoff by her daughter, Sharon MizrahL) .. •
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
April 10,1998
I^SfX.F^1. W The curved arch is reminiscent of the ancient Hurva synagogue. It was destroyed by the Jordanians when they controlled the Old City of Jerusalem from 1948 until the city was recaptured by the Israelis during the Six-Day War in June, 1967.
The beautifully situated Monastery of Saint Catherine can be reached only via a winding mountain road off the highway between Jericho and Jerusalem. The monks, who are totally isolated, receive deliveries only once a month; no one outside the Order has been inside for years,
This soaring sculpture stands on the grounds of Shaarei Tzedek Hospital in West Jerusalem. Israel is home to thousands of artists, musicians and writers and boasts more orchestras per capita than any other country in the world. •
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April 10,1998 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE Page 61
GarieSlelighting Friday, April 10. Saturday, Aprlin....
7:41 p.m. no earlier than 8:43 p.m.
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
TEMPLE ISRAEL
BETH EL SYNAGOGUE
Member of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations . 7023 CassJtreet, Omaha, NE 68132 . 656-6536
Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California, Omaha, NE 68154 492-8550 . http://oniahafreenet.org/betb.el
Member of Union of Orthodo*, Office hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. Friday, April 10: Jewish Synagogues of America a to 5 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Service's are conShabbat services .5 p.m. ducted by Rabbi Paul Drazen and Cantor Emil 1502tyb.52 Street, Omaha, NE 68104 Saturday, April 11: . \ Berkovits. ' , .; ; ' Shabbat Morning service. ..10:36 a.m. \ Friday, April 10, First Seder: .......,6 p.m. Siyyum B'chorim......... Services conducted by Rabbi Howard Kutner. Congregational Seder...,....:........ ;....I6:3O a.m. . Tuesday, April 14: Office hours: Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to Shacharit.....i..,.......;.; ..6:55 a.m. 4:30 p.m.; FridaV, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Healing service ,.' 7:30 p.m. Mincha-Ma'ariv :.. .....6 p.m. Friday, April 10: First Seder Those in need of additional healing for physical, Saturday, April 11, Second Seden Fast of the Firstborn begins 5:40 a.m. emotional or spiritual needs and those whose pres- Shacharit 9:30 a.m. Morning service, followed by Siyyum ence would lend comfort are invited to this week- Mincha, Ma'ariv and Havdalah ........6 p.m. B'chorim.....\.. 6:45 a.m. day service in the Livingston Csapel. Sunday, April 12: Wednesday, April 15: Chometz not to be eaten after 10:50 a.m. Shacharit 9:30 a.m. 10 a.m. - 12 noon Mincha, Ma'ariv. Chometz to be burned ho later than.....,...12:O7 p.m. Adult B'nai Mitzvah Class :...8p.m 12 noon Mincha :...-.\.L. Z....:.;.7:45 p.m. TIGGS..................:..;;::. Monday, April 21-Wednesday, April 15: Saturday, April 11: Second Seder Meet for lunch and hear a guest speaker. The cost Choi HaMoed, Shacharit 6:45 a.m. Morning service... 1. 9:30 a.m. is $4; make reservations with Mary Lou Goodman, Mincha, Ma'ariv 5:30 p.m. Mincha ;..;...,........:'............'...;.;..... 7:35 p.m. 553-6634 or Marilyn Mellen, 896-0200. Thursday, April 16: Sunday, April 13: Thursday, April 16: Choi HaMoed, Shacharit...... 6:45 a.m. Morning services.. .............9:30 a.m. Sisterhood Adult Education 9:30 - 11 a.m. Mincha, Ma'ariv. .......6 p.nr. Mincha.;....;.,.............. ....:.... ...7:45 p.m. Rabbi Aryeh Azriel will teach "Israel at 50 Friday, April 17: Midlife Crisis." Shacharit ...9:30 a.m. • Monday."Apifl^S-^ednesday^Ajiril 15: Women's Seder.......... .......11:30 a.m. Mincha, Ma'ariv 6 p.m Mornirig" senracea, Ch6i HaMoed.;.... .>..;,, ....v... .7; a.m. The story of the Exodus from Egypt and the speSaturday, April 18: M i h ^ ^ V 7 5 0 cial roles played by our Matriarchs will be high- Shacharit (Yizkor is said) 9:30 a.m. Thu^day, April 16: ErevYomToy : . lighted. Lunch will be served; the cost is $4. Make Mincha, Ma'ariv , 7:55 p.m M o r n i n g service 7 a . m . reservations with the Temple office, 656-6536. Passover ends no earlier than 8:30 p.m. Mincha.. ;.;.;...........•.•.•.;;.. 7:50 p . m . Friday, April 17: BEYT SHALOM Morning service ...8:45 a.m. RECONSTRUCTIONIST SYNAGOGUE Candlelighting.... 7:48 p.m. An Affiliate of the Mincha..... 7:50 p.m. Jewish Reconstructionist Federation Saturday, April 18: Concluding day of Pesach The South Street Temple PO Box 42-1130, Omaha, NE. 68124 Morning service .8:45 a.m. Member of the Union. 758-9233 Yizkor 10:30 a.m. of American Hebrew Congregations http://pwl.netcom.com/~salinim Mincha ..7:45 p.m. 2061 So. 20 St., Lincoln, NE. 68502-2797 Havdalah 8:52 p.m. 435-8004 Kabbalat Shabbat services are normally at Friday, April 10: Chometz should not be eaten until after... 9:20 p.m. 7:30 p.m at 3012 So. 119 St in Omaha; however, as Kabbalat Shabbat and Festival Worship...5:30 p.m. tonight is the First Seder, there will be no services. Saturday, April 11: TIFERETH ISRAEL Religious school, normally scheduled for Sunday Shabbat and Festival Worship..... 10 a.m. Member of the United Synagogues and Tuesday, is cancelled this week. Classes Community Seder, led by Cantor MichaL Weisser of Conservative Judaism resume on April 19 at the JCC. at the Temple....... 6:30 p.m. 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE. 68502 Saturday, April 11: 423-8569 Community Seder..... :...... .........5 p.m. CHABAD HOUSE Services are, conducted by Rabbi Stanley M. An Affiliate of the Worldwide Rosenbaum. Chabad-Lubavitch Movement Friday, April 10, First seder: 1800 So. 120 St., Omaha, NE. 68144 ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME Shacharit and Siyyum B'chorini 7:15 a.m. 330-1800 Mincha-Ma'ariv 6 p.m. 323 South 132 Street; Omaha, N E . 68154 chabad@aol.com Saturday, April 11, Second seder: 330-4272 Friday, April 10: Mincha..... '.:.... 6 p.m, Friday, April 10: Kabbalat Shabbat and Ma'ariv 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 12: 6 p.m. Saturday, April 11: Shacharit 9:30 a.m. First Seder..... Saturday, April 11: Shacharit, kiddush to follow ...9:30 a.m. Thursday, April 16: 9 a.m. Ma'ariv ...8:30 p.m. Mincha-Ma'ariv....^..... .V. ...8 p.m. Morning services .. Second Seder... .....6p.m. Sunday, April 12: Friday, April 17: Sunday, April 12: Shacharit, kiddush to follow 9:30 a.m. Shacharit 9:30 a.m. .' ....9 a.m. Thursday, April 16: Kabbalat Shabbat .....8 p.m. Morning services..... Friday, April 17: Mincha-Ma'ariv.... 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 18: ; 9 a.m. - . Friday, April 17: Shacharit and Yizkor 9 a.m. Services Saturday, April 18: Shacharit, kiddush to follow 9:30 aim. Services, followed by Yizkor. .9 a.m. Ma'ariv 8:30 p.m. B'NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Seders and Passover Morning services will be led Saturday, April 18: 618 Mynster St., Council Bluff's, IA., 51S03 by Mark Levy. Shacharit, followed by Yizkor 9:30 a.m. 322-4705 e-mail: docjeb2@juno.com Back by popSaturday, April 17: ular demand, Passover Seder........,:.'........... 7,p.m. the Little A buffet: for Passover will include a presention People's " the tale of the Exodus as a news story on the radio Passover is with eye-witness reports as .the plagues and waters now on view divide. For reservations, call Sandra Kurland, 323in the JCC 8885, or Peggy DeLand, 731-7519. front lobby. PainstakingOFFUT ly created by 25th and Capehort, Bcllevue, NE v olunteer 204^051 Edith Rogert, Saturday, April 11: the setting Passover seder 6:30 p.m. A community seder will be held a t SAC features a Memorial Chapel. Please call Carole Lainof, 293-. family seder. 0321, for reservations.
CONGREGATION B'NAI JESHURUN
,1. ,.
Page 62
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
AprU 10,1998
Oldest synagogue discovered
PASSOVtlt GREETINGS to all of our friends
by Naomi Segal
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JERUSALEM (JTA) - Israeli archaeologists have uncovered remains of w.hat js believed to be the world's oldest synagogue. iiq ii , The remains, which are beliey^dUto date from the first century B.C.E., were uncovered near the West Bank town of Jericho. One of the relics discovered by the team was a u-shaped bench. The bench, which was apparently used for ceremonial meals, is the first physical evidence that such meals took place before the destruction of the Second Temple in70A.D. The team was headed by Ehud Netzer, a professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The remains were excavated near the site of a Hasmonean-era winter palace- perhaps the most famous Hasmonean leader was Judah Maccabee, whose triumph against the Seleucid kingdom in the second century B.C.E. is celebrated in Hanukkah. The previously oldest known synagogue was in the Golan Heights, according to Netzer. That synagogue.was built approximately 50 years later than this one. •
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•Israel has become one of the world leaders in economic growth rate, averaging 5% annually in the 1990s. •Israel's export industry grew from $41 million in 1949 to $31.3 billion in 1996, reaching the highest per capita of exports in the industrial -world. •The Intel 8088 microprocessor - the "brains" of the IBM PC that helped spark a worldwide personal computer revolution - was designed in Israel. The tiny state continued to be a leader in this high-tech industry, specializing in anti-virus and anti-piracy software. •Israel's diamond industry produces about 80% of the world output- of small polished stones. •Israel has the most highly educated work force in the world, boasting 135 scientists and technicians per 10,000 workers, more than any other developed country. • ;: •Israel has more cellular phones per capita than any other country in the world. *And, more Israelis have died in traffic accidents since 1948 than in all the wars arid terrorism.
American, Israeli stars joining In televised jubilee by Tom Tugend,
LOS ANGELES (JTA) - The atamaline-charged schedule of To Life!America Celebrates Israel's BOth is hitting the home stretch before: co-hosts' Kevin Costner and Michael Douglas open the.pro-' gram on at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. On April 15, 8-10 p.m.,the CBS-TV: network will broadcast the two-hour spectacular to millions In the United States and Canada. Later, it will air in. Israel and up to 50 other countries, reaching An estimated 500 million people around the globe.' The main roster of stars includes actors Kathy Bates, Sid Caesar, Richard Dreyfuss, Winona Ryder, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Noah Wyle. Singers Natalie Cole, Harry Connick, Jr., Stevie Wonder, and Noa, who is Israel's leading recording artist, are also slated to participate as well as violinists Mark O'Connor and Gil Shaham. Throughout the program, the 6,000-seat Shrine that will be linked electronically to the Tower of David in Jerusalem's Old Ciiy, where thousands of Israelis will gather to both watch and join in the . American performances. One highlight will be an aerial survey of Israel that will eventually swoop in on Masada, where, in a pre-taped sunset segment, the renowned African American soprano Jessye Norman will sing in Hebrew and English atop the redoubt. / : Altogether, the American and Israeli casts will include some 150 musicians, 400 choir singers and 75 dancers.
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April 10,1998 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE Page 63
Israel announces new-Jubilee issue of Israel Bonds Fifty years ago,' rib brie could have imagined the fate of the-neydyborn State ;of Israel, especially as it faced war' upoti the first day of her existence. Facing challenges ajt every; turn, from hostile neighbors tpbarrenterrain and scarce resources, Israel ii ^Hoping. tOiCreate a: special .partnership between Diaspora Jewry) and 'the people oft Israel, Israel's firsfcPzime- Minister; Bavid-BenrGurion sold an. audi once of 50-American 'Jewish leaders on the idea of•floatin&a.botid'iafiiie.cii;..;::..,;;;.:> ,r *• ;•::/., -Moreothan $18 billion in securi ties, later, thatspecial p'artnership.haS helped, fuel Jiearlyeverysector ofilstaeTs^ionoiiiy/iTodayirlsraiel is an industrial world .leader.. whioh>-boafits .agricultural; independence; i cutting-edge ,technologicali institutions, a moderii'infrastructure ancba highly-skilled.and educated: workforce- of scientists, ;dpctors .and engineers. As! she enters the;21s.tj:ent.ury: with a promise of peacei aild security, Israel expects to attract new economic links and explore new markets for continued growth/
Israel Bonds have helped fulfill that promise, starting in 1952 with the expansion of the deepwater port in Haifa and the construction of the National Water Carrier in 1955. That project was the largest single economic development ever carried out in Israel and brought 450,000 acres of land under irrigation. In 1957, IsraerBonds financed the TransEilat/Beersheva oil pipeline/That was followed by the building of tite^ort at Ashdod, in 1960, and the development oF'Ditnona as a major nuclear ; research center] • ' A water desalination plant was Wilt in Eilat in' 1963 to turn-salt water into fresh-water for both home consumption and industrial use. Four years later;'Israel Bonds helped to expand the nation's petrochemical industry. . The expansion of Israel's airline and railway systems occurred in 1971: and was followed by the creation of a satellite ground station in the Elah Valley a year later. A burst of activity took place between 1976 and
1978 with the launching of the Tefen Industrial Park in the Central Galilee, the construction of the 1400 kilowatt power station in Hadera and .the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. Progress continues on research and development in solar energy when the solar ponds in the Dead Sea become operational in 1981 and Darom power station expands in 1985. Since 1990, Israel Bonds has helped to expand the infrastructure of Israel and its capacity to absorb the nearly 900r,60O who've arrived from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia. ; And in celebration of Israel's 50th anniversary, Israel Bonds has launched a series of Jubilee Bonds: Series A with a five-year maturity and Series B, which matures after ten years. "A" Bonds purchased before April 24 will have an annual interest rate of 6.3%; "B" bonds will have a 6.65% annual rate. Initial subscriptions are $25,000. For information about Israel Bonds, contact Jeffrey Bernstein, Regional Representative in the Minneapolis office, at 1-800-752-5659.
ZIN BRIDGE -INAUGURATION CEREAfONITurning to Jewish communities overseas, David Ben Gurion invited 50 American Jewish leaders to Jerusadem in Septe.nber, 1950, to discuss establishing an Israel Bonds campaign.
In 1996, Manhat Technology Park in Jerusalem and the Nahal Zine Bridge (above) in the Arava were, inaugurated at special ceremonies commemorating the 3000th anniversary of the city of Jerusalem..
On the happy occasion \ of the Annual Celebration of Passover, we extend our sincerest greetings to all!
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filling up with poli e cars and men wearing dark. blazers and sunglasies are standing around everywhere. It happened >n Purim just as we were going to hear the megillah One day Sara Netanyahu was leaving her. in-laws is I was coming home and we chitchatted easily. Their proximity c ime in very handy last Succot when we had a gas hak. A pipe outside our. kitchen window had corrode I to the point that we couldn't walk in the kitchen; ir.tius smell. ; . ...,, ,.,. , ,, . Officially, or unof dally, .the whole .country : is on holiday during the I termediate Days .."i^tpr.trying for two days to get iomeone from the gas company to fix it, to no avail, I finally got the bright idea to call the Prime Minister's office. I told them we lived next door to Prof, and Mrs. Netanyahu and that if there was an explosion ;outside my window, it Would blow up their house,as
We made aliyah two years ago after Stuart served as Professor of Computer Science at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He now teaches math and computer science at Bar-Han University and I am a lecturer in Cross-Qutyural Management at the College of Netanya, as w e l ^ a at Bar-Dan. So many English-speaking oKm'(immigrants) live in our mixed secular-religious neighborhood of Old Katamon in Jerusalem, that storekeepers respond in English, (while we are desperately Struggling to practice our Hebrew!). Stuart is thrilled to be teaching Israelis, and such smart ones. Many are Russian-born and have special talent for math. All the male faculty members wear kipot, as he does. And there is a daily minyan for mincha in his department. Ironically, on the Fast of Esther, all the restaurants and cafeterias were closed, to the dismay of a non-Jewish French mathematician who was giving a guest lecture in the department, and couldn't find a thing to eat. Stuart is already teaching in Hebrew. His only complaint is that his students' cellular phones go off in the middle of class. Israel has the highest per capita use of cellular phones in the world! What strikes me most about life in Israel is the extraordinary informality, entwinement and sociability here. In one month we will have attended three weddings and a brit milah. Every Shabbat is an excuse of lavish entertaining. , And we discover that every "new" person we meet is connected to a dozen "old" ones and relationships progress Stuart a n d J a n e Margolis stand atop Mast d a as J a n e 6hows off h e r quickly as a result. Nebraska sweatshirt (written in Hebrew, no less!). Aryeh and Anne Breslow were at the brit and we share several well (which, by the w^y, was probably true). Within acquaintances with the Aliens (Harry and Annie). an hour, the gas comr uiy was here! So, there is never a dull moment It's always odd For better or worse, we Lincolnites, and Americans, in general, stick together. I understand my grand- to roe to see the drop in tourism when this or that parents' proclivity for their landsmen and as an incident occurs. life i;. Old Katamon is always sublimely normal. immigrant myself, I respect it now. Of course, we miss \ 'tuart's children: Josh, who's Natan Sharansky davens in our shul. One Shabbat, when I was sitting on our terrace, he studying acupuncture in Berkeley, and Leah, who passed by with his family and struck up a conver- lives in Lincoln, Stui r t travels back there to see them three times a ye ir. sation. .: i. • But, in every other espect, we have never felt as The Prime Minister grew up in the house next dooi to us. His parents still live there. We know whole, as fulfilled, or as much a part of hiBtbry as when Bibiis visiting when the neighborhood starts we do iri*Eretz Yisrael
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Our man Ink s'rael
Looking forward to Passover in Israel by Carl Alpert
Haifa - If Passover marks the Exodus from Egypt, be'a bottle of wine. Today they are much more it also marks, in our time, a sizeable exodus from sophisticated. the country of Israelis who seek to mark the holiLaBt year, for example, the employees of the day in their own way at distant destinations. Ben Electric Company had their choice of a range of Gurion Airport is braced to handle flights of tens of household appliances, watches or gift certificates at thousands of Israelis, who will be heading for a supermarketytup to a value of 1,000 shekels. Europe and the U.S. Other compafiiesl«ffer TV easy chairs, sets of lugBut for tile millions more who remain at home, gage, chinawarej'or even cash. preparations have'lbng since begun. Records show If the gift seems small, employees are reassured that in Bieweeks plrecedingpPa^sqver, sale of laun- that it will be more than made up for at Rosh "drysbaps rises by i3&^ •compared' £6 other months Hashana. Under the law, all such gifts are considof'thia'year/''1There;iB'int'ense competition'in the ered income and are subject to income tax. In most ' multi-rnilli6n dollar soap and cleanser market, with cases the employers cover this. Proctor and Gamble and Lever Brother's joining up Speaking of gifts, the most popular demands for with local companies'. '''•'"• '".' finding the afikoman this year are expected to be " T h e r e is more to' Passover than housecleaning, of bicycles, computers and computer games. course; There is food, for example. Last year Again this year the Chabad movement has made Israelis consumed some 6,000 tons of matza and it much easier for concerned Israelis to sell their matza flour to a cost of 120 million shekels. It is hametz to a non-Jew without the bother of leaving expected that the figure will be exceeded this year. their homes. All arrangements can be made via . ''* Each year new tastes and flavors are added to the internet. special packages of matza, and we have already Even the Biblical Zoo, in Jerusalem, is undergolocated matza with honey, with onion, eggs, garlic ing a comprehensive housecleaning to eliminate all as well as whole wheat matza and matza with traces of hametz - and during the holiday the anibran. Many of these find their way to the U.S., mals there will be fed a diet exclusively kosher for where Israeli matzas are said to command about Passover. All army camps, too, are being complete15% of the market. ly koshered for Passover. Enterprising bakers, and housewives too, have Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has1 issued a new halachic developed recipes which result in rolls, cakes, pasta ruling. Owners of sets of false teeth must be sure products and other items which give the illusion of to kosher their dentures in boiling water. being hametz, but are strictly kosher for the holiThe usual annual warnings have been posted. day. However, last year Haifa's Chief Rabbi -Shear- Housewives are urged to be careful during their Yashuv Cohen ruled that it is forbidden to eat housecleaning to avoid inhaling poisonous fumes of such products, even if made with matza flour, lest chemical cleansing materials. Each year dozens of observers get the wrong impression;. " cases are brought to the emergency rooms Kentucky Fried Chicken will be merchandising - Dieticians warn that a typical seder meal adds i t s . product covered with matza crumbs. 3,000 calories to the diet. MacDonald's and the other burger outlets will use And immediately after Pesach, pharmacies report rolls made of matza flour. a 50% increase in sale of medicaments to ease It is a longstanding practice for employers to give digestive problems. Happy Passover! Pesach gifts to their help Such gifts once used to
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Page 66 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE April 10,1998
Jewish carpets, Shushan,: and Pesach? or myPesach with a Kurdishiamily-ih;-israi9i: by Barbara Morrison Bresler
A new book in the Federation Library caught my eye a few weeks ago, Jewish Carpets by Anton Felton. The holiday of Purim is just past, the story of Esther's bravery in t h e town of Shushan. Passover is coming, and each year, visitors to the seder or the seders we visit are different and unique, and an Exodus story is told again. Twenty years ago, in 1978, I went on Young Judaea's Year Course program, to travel, study, and experience Israel. There was five months on Kibbutz Ginnegar in the Jezreel Valley, between Haifa and Afula where I learned Hebrew, picked grapefruit and observed the life of a Tzahal group, 18-year-old Israelis entering the army. The next two months on Moshav Noga, near Ashkelon and the Gaza strip, began my greatest adventure into culture shock. I had been given the choice to live with a family who spoke or did not speak English, and I chose the latter. And I was placed with a Kurdish family, on a settlement of families from Iraq, Iran, and various points in Persia. Seven languages in all, the Kashani family spoke, read, or wrote Kurdish, Arabic, Persian, French, Hebrew, Spanish, Aramaic. But of English, they knew only four words: "peace," "hello" and "goodbye," and "Roots," the current American TV favorite. Mr. Agagan Kashani was originally from the area of Kashan, a medium-sized city on the road from Tehran to Isfahan. The book, Persian Carpets, says that since medieval times, Kashan has been a centre of Persian Jewish culture producing scholars, chroniclers and poets. Some of the families are direct descendants of Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition, which would explain this family's knowledge of Spanish. Kashan has also been a major centre for the production of carpets and other
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textiles, particularly those made of silk and velvet. Mrs. Kashani was born in Shushan and lived her early years in what she called Kurdistan, which would be the mountainous aj^jj/outh of t h e Caucasus covering parts of Turkey Jr^n, Iraq and Syria. ~-"T%ti»h. ..,•••' Again, from Persian Carpets is a description of these people descended partly from the Israelite tribes who had been deported there by the conquering Assyrians after 722 BCE. From the eighth century CE, living amongst mostly Sunni Muslims and a few Christian minorities, they survived partly because of the inhospitable terrain. From the 16th century on and until a mass exodus in the 1950s and 1960s, the Kurdish Jews have been returning to Israel. That weaving and carpet making was generally considered a Jewish occupation in Kurdistan, and that they had mastered this craft is clear from folk tales and traveler's reports of the late 19th and early 20th century. I am told this Kurdish family was typical:- seven children, ranging in age from 11 months to 23 years. Mrs. Kashani's brother and family of six lived next cfoor, and Mr. Kashani's brother and family of eight lived about a half mile away. Their food was.different, lots of curry "carkum," lentils, and cilantro, soups, chicken, kabob, and home-made pitot, flat Bread. Hot coffee and tea was served with sugar cubes at 10 a.m., 2 and 4 p.m.. Work in their greenhouses began at 7 a.m. and ended about 3 p.m. Their livelihood was "Mercedes," a non-fragrant, red-orange long-stemmed rose, exported to the Holland floral markets. And the "small family gar- Mr. and Mrs. Agagan Kashani welcomed den" consisted of all the fresh vegetables they could Barbara Morrison Bresler to Moshav Noga 12 eat, two types of lettuce, carrots, potatoes, several years after her Passover seder with the Kurdish family. (Continued on page 67)
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My Pesach with a Kurdish family
April 10,1998 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE Page 67 Four Kashas (Questions), the whole group mumIt was a Passover with carpets and Shushan - it bled them in what language, I'm not sure. They was a Passover to remember, which is one of the humored me by letting me sing my Ashkenazic commandments of Passover. Hebrew version of the Four Questions. We are told to remember and to teach our chilThe Hill el sandwich? J u s t maror, no sweet dren, to experience and learn of the Exodus as if haroset, and this was the real maror, home grown, each one of us had made the Exodus. chunks of the white root, and hot, hot. The haroset These Kurdish Jews had. which came later with the meal was made of oranges, dates,'coconut, raisins, and no apples! Four glasses tiFwine? What for? The liquors • potato latkes • borscht • matzo ball soup served for aperitifs had been enough for me. • bagels with lox And at some point during the seder, the little (choose your own menu) bowler and bottles were removed, everyone was Enjoy your la vorile requested to take hold of the sheet and with a traditional foods for whoosh and a pull, we all stood up lifting off the Family Get-Togethers sheet, and the rest of the dinner lay underneath on CAFfcdDELl Parties 'Any Occasion large brass and copper trays filled with every type • Herring •Whiteflsh • Candles - Cookies of delicacy and the most beautiful meal I'd had in • Caviar • Smoked Salmon • Salami - Cheeses their home. • Tortos and Pastries (From Europe) Hot soup was brought in and songs were sung, BRITISH TEA TIME (Monday to Friday, 6:30 o.m.-2 p.m. only one of which I recognized. There was chicken 2-5 p.ltt. Sat. ft Sun., 7:30 a.m.<3 p.m. and salads and more fruit and more nuts and more Reservations Required SERVING BREAKFAST DAILY vegetable dishes. There were stories told about the families, about visits with their Persian friends in 750 N. 120th St. Western Crossing Plaza Gaza, about previous Passovers. Seder lasted well (Across from Menard's) 496-9955 past midnight with only the youngest children wandering off to sleep.
(Continued from page 66) types of beans, tomatoes, a few types of squash and - gourds, and loofah. I had transitioned to the next phase of my year, three months in Jerusalem when the Kashanis invited me for Passover. ." I arrived the day before Pesach. The salon, what they called their formal living room, and in which I had never been before, was being cleaned. The sofa had been removed as had a small table and chairs. The floor was scrubbed, the sideboard and bookshelves dusted, and the curtains taken down and washed. \-- y.. : I.was sent to Mr. Kashani's bedroom to help him take down the rug which was rolled up and stored above* the two armoires in his room. I was informed that this was the "family carpet," handed down generation to generation, brought with them from Kurdistan when they made their Exodus and immigrated to Palestine. The rug was laid outside in the sun to air out and then brought into the salon where it covered the whole floor. When it was time for seder the next night, everyone entered the salon where a large white sheet lay on top of the carpet. There were a few mysterious lumps in the sheet; small bowls of fruit and nuts and vegetables lay on top of the sheet; Small pillows, our s e a t s , were, spread on thefloor,-bordering the carpet. A large copper samovar w a s steaming on the sideboard. The seder started with this strange assortment of appetizers; olives, walnuts, almonds, apricots, dates, raisins and figs, eggplant, and avocados. An assortment of gin, vodka a n d brandies accompanied the appetizers. I mentioned the Passover prohibition of grain alcohol to my hosts, aad they reminded-''nre 1 that Sephardic seder tra ditions were^erc.diffe.r-^Scott, a n d B a r b a r a Bresler s t a y e d ' a t Beit en .t*" S h m u e l o n t h e c a m p u s of H e b r e w U n i o n When it came to the College in Jerusalem in 1990.
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Page 68
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
1'T" 'FIST
April 10,1998
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