February 6, 2026

Rising Together

JCRC Opens Applications for Rekindle

HEILBRUNN

Program & Communications Manager Applications are now open for the second cohort of Rekindle – Black Jewish Dialogue in Omaha. Sup-

ported by The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), the nationwide initiative brings together members of the African American and Jewish communities.

Founded in Cleveland in 2021, Rekindle has expanded to 20 chapters across the country, including Omaha. The program is designed to foster meaningful dialogue, strengthen relationships and build mutual understanding between the two historically allied communities.

Through honest conversation and shared learning, selected fellows participate in five workshops facilitated See Rekindle page 2

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press Editor

The first portion of your kneading, you shall separate as a dough offering (challah)... In all your generations, give the first of your kneading as an elevated gift to G-d (Numbers 15:20-21).

It’s time to mark your calendars for the upcoming Mega Challah Bake, a collaboration between Chabad of Nebraska and the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Join us Thursday March 12 at the Omaha Staenberg JCC as we come together as Jewish women to fulfill the sacred Mitzvah of separating challah. We will be taking over the entire Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Community Engagement Venue for this event. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the program starts at 7 p.m.

It will be an evening of connection, joy, and spiritual renewal, where tradition comes alive through community and the mitzvah of making challah together. Learn the art of preparing, braiding, and baking challah alongside experienced women bakers, and discover the meaning, mitzvah, and sacred traditions of challah baking while making as many new friends as you can handle. It’s a meaningful and handson experience, it celebrates resilience, female strength, and the power of gathering while we braid bread and build bonds.

Let’s face it: when it comes to food, is there See Rising Together page 2

Rabbi Ben Sharff’s Trip: The Journey Begins

RABBI BENJAMIN SHARFF

Temple Israel Senior Rabbi

This is the first installment of daily updates from Rabbi Sharff as he travels to Israel in January 2026

I am pleased to say that I have arrived in Israel safe and sound. This is the first time I have attempted this trip since moving to Omaha. Thankfully, my travels were not impacted by the winter storm, but the extreme cold did make it challenging. When I landed in Chicago, it took us nearly an hour to reach our gate, so I had to race to make my flight to Newark. Though I have to say, it was really neat seeing Lake Michigan partially frozen over.

As I sat down in my seat, the flight I raced to catch was, of course, delayed due to waiting for the ground crew. Though I want to shout out all the amazing men and women working in sub-zero temperatures to help keep things moving.

After landing in Newark, I had to race across the airport to make my flight to Tel Aviv. We were not delayed, well, until we pulled out of the gate and had to return to the gate for a two-hour repair to the computer system. They turned off the airplane and turned it back on. I am amazed that a Boeing 787 basically works the same as a Microsoft Windows computer.

Once we got going, I noticed that all the announcements on the flight were in both Hebrew and English, and you could overhear many Hebrew conversations. I knew I was on my way to Eretz Yisrael.

See Sharff Trip page 3

Rising Together

Continued from page 1 anything more quintessentially Jewish than challah? For more than a hundred generations, Jewish women throughout the world have fulfilled this beautiful and life-transforming mitzvah. This event is open to women of all ages, so bring your daughters-Jewish girls are never too young to learn. And: all those questions you have about braiding, how much yeast to use, how long to let the dough rise? This is your chance to get all the answers. We even have it on good authority there will be live music and perhaps dancing, so wear your comfortable shoes. We are grateful to Nancy and Joel Schlessinger from LovelySkin for sponsoring the gift bags. Of course, there is also plenty of opportunity to schmooze-which is one of the best things about attending events like these. It’s meaningful, it’s healing, and it’s also just plain fun. If you have ever attended a Mega Challah Bake before, you know; if not, this is your chance. There will be pre-made dough as well as braiding demonstrations. Participants can use their own preferred style, or learn new techniques from volunteer “challah experts.” While the night will be more about connection and celebration than learning, there will be learning opportunities as well. The vibe is very casual.

Sign up today at ochabad.com; hover over “upcoming” and you will see the Mega Challah Bake. Individual participants pay $36, and there are several sponsorship opportunities, which you can read more about at our website. We cannot wait to see you there!

Rekindle

Continued from page 1 by cohort leaders, gaining deeper cultural and religious understanding while developing leadership skills in support of social justice.

Applications for the second cohort will be accepted through February 23, 2026. Local meetings for the cohort will begin in March 2026 and will be led locally by Bobby Brumfield and Toba Cohen-Dunning.

Community members interested in participating are encouraged to apply.

For more information about Rekindle – Black Jewish Dialogue and the application process, please visit https://www.jewishomaha.org/inspire-change/jcrc/ rekindle-fellowship

About the Cohort Leaders:

Bobby Brumfield - A leader in Omaha’s Black community, Bobby Brumfield is a former Omaha Police Department detective, Federal Bureau of Investigations Safe Streets Task Force member, and retired U.S. Marine. He owns a security consulting firm and has been a mentor and advocate for Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs. Bobby has dedicated his life to influencing those around him in a positive and uplifting way.

Toba Cohen-Dunning - Toba chairs the JCRC Advisory Board. She oversees Nebraska’s largest school district foundation, The Omaha Public Schools Foundation, which enriches students’ lives by funding learning experiences that inspire hope, open doors, and help students and their families achieve their dreams. Her commitment to the Jewish community runs deep including serving as President of Beth Israel Synagogue, Co-Chair of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home and Jewish Family Service advisory boards as well as the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors.

UPCOMING SPECIALS AT STAR DELI

Star Deli dishes up (among other delights) overstuffed corn beef, pastrami and smoked turkey sandwiches, matzah ball soup, salad platters, Dr. Brown’s Assorted Sodas, plus toothsome desserts and sometime-specials like Prime Rib, Chicken Pot Pie, Smoked Brisket and Chili with Corn Bread. We also sell delectable glatt Kosher meats by the pound. The Deli welcomes everyone in the Jewish community and the larger Omaha area community to join us for lunch.

Friday February 6 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Smoked Prime Rib

Friday February 20 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Schnitzel

Friday March 6 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Cabbage Rolls

Friday March 20 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Shawarma

Friday April 3 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Latke Reuben (Passover)

Friday April 17 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Smoked Brisket

Friday May 1 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Braised Chicken Quarters

Friday May 15 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

Friday June 4 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Pulled Chicken BBQ Sliders

Friday June 19 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Dairy Deli (TBA)

Friday July 17 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Schnitzel

For more information about Star Catering or to preorder take-out from the Kosher Deli at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, please email Jennifer Addison at jaddison@rbjh.com

Standing on Their Shoulders: Rediscovering Federation Presidents

Morris Jacobs (Federation President 1945–1947)

MARTY RICKS

Nebraska Jewish Historical Society Board Member Morris Jacobs, the seventh president of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, was born in Omaha in 1897, the city that would remain the center of his personal, professional, and communal life. From an early age, his path was shaped by newspapers, public life, and an instinct for building institutions that endure.

Jacobs’ introduction to journalism came early. At the age of seven, he sold copies of the Omaha World-Herald on street corners. Before long, he was collecting receipts from other newsboys for the paper’s circulation department. Newspapers were not simply a job for Jacobs. They were a calling. He dreamed of becoming a reporter and enrolled in the journalism school at the University of Missouri.

Financial constraints forced him to leave Missouri after two years, but a professor who recognized his talent helped secure him a position as a night police reporter in Springfield, Illinois. Though grateful for the opportunity, Jacobs missed Omaha. He soon returned home and joined the Omaha Daily News, a competitor of the World-Herald, where he befriended city editor Leo Bozell. This association would shape both of their futures.

Although reporting was his passion, Jacobs was repeatedly reassigned, first to classified advertising and then to display advertising. While the work frustrated him, it revealed a different set of talents. Assigned to the Brandeis Department Store account, Jacobs signed what became the largest display advertising contract in the Daily News’ history. Still, he pressed to return to the newsroom, eventually convincing leadership to move him back to reporting.

Omaha’s Jewish community a unified voice at a critical moment in its development.

Jacobs held the publisher role briefly before a new opportunity redirected his career. Recruited by the Nebraska Power Company to develop a controversial advertising campaign during a utility rate dispute, Jacobs demonstrated a sharp understanding of public persuasion. The campaign’s success revealed a future in advertising, and in 1921 he persuaded Leo Bozell to join him. Working nights and weekends, the two launched what became Bozell & Jacobs, an agency that grew from a two-man operation into a national firm.

By the late 1930s, billings reached $5 million. By the mid1950s, they had grown to $20 million. After Bozell’s death in 1946, Jacobs led the firm for two decades. In 1965, he appointed his son-inlaw, Charles Peebler Jr., as president. Subsequent mergers and a relocation of headquarters to New York City expanded the firm dramatically, with billings reaching $100 million by 1975. Jacobs later sold the company to Peebler and other executives. His was, unmistakably, a rags-to-riches American story.

Sharff Trip

Continued from page 1

Finally, after 20 hours of travel, I arrived at Ben Gurion Airport. As it was Shabbat, the airport was relatively quiet. Though customs insisted on searching my backpack to make sure that my computer was not a new one I was attempting to bring into the country. Truth be told, the only new item on me was my new large travel backpack, which I bought just in case my luggage arrived late, which thankfully, it did not.

The last time I was in Israel was in February 2023, just a few months before I began serving Temple Israel as Senior Rabbi. Obviously, much has changed since then. In February of 2023, we were focused on the fight for progressive rights in Israel, including participating with over 100,000 Israelis in protesting against the proposed judicial reforms. Many of us ran in the Tel Aviv marathon. And we spent Shabbat with numerous Reform congregations around Tel Aviv. It was a different world and a different time.

This is the first time I have been back since Oct. 7, 2023. Many others have traveled here since then. On the surface, Israel appears to be returning to ‘normal.’ The hostage photos are down in the airport. Though a few people are wearing yellow ribbons, they are much less common. People are enjoying the beach. And life seems to be moving along as best it can.

During my time here, we will be focusing on the work of our Reform colleagues, bearing witness to the tragedies of Oct. 7, meeting with people who are still striving for a peaceful future between Jews and Muslims, hearing of the ongoing work of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), and spending a little time reconnecting with the people and the places that make up this complicated and beautiful land. In preparation for this trip, following Cantor’s recommendation, I began reading Daniel Gordis’ book, Impossible Takes Longer: 75 Years After Its Creation, Has Israel Fulfilled Its Founders’ Dreams? Thankfully, the print size is reasonable, as I lost my readers somewhere along my journey.

In his early twenties, Jacobs attempted to enlist for military service but was rejected due to an eye deficiency. He returned to journalism and was sent to Des Moines to write a series on returning Omaha and Western Iowa soldiers. The work led to a higher-paying position at the Des Moines Register and Tribune, but the pull of Omaha proved stronger. At just twenty-two, Jacobs returned once again to the Omaha Daily News as a reporter.

In 1920, Jacobs was offered a role that would permanently shape Jewish life in Omaha. Samuel Ravitz, Dr. Philip Sher, and Federation president Morris Levy invited him to become the first publisher of the Jewish Press. Jacobs resigned from the Daily News, and on December 16, 1920, the inaugural issue of the Omaha Jewish Press was published. The paper gave

Yet Morris Jacobs’ public life extended far beyond business. During his term as Federation president from 1945 to 1947, he led during a period marked by transition and loss. His partner Leo Bozell died midway through Jacobs’ presidency. World War II ended during this time, and Henry Monsky, one of Omaha Jewry’s most consequential leaders, passed away at the close of Jacobs’ term. Through it all, Jacobs worked alongside longtime executive director Paul Veret, who had been hired in 1938, helping steady the organization during uncertain years. Jacobs was deeply engaged in Omaha’s civic life. He served on the State Board of Education, chaired the Omaha Transit Company, acted as associate chairman of the College World Series, and sat on the boards of regents of Creighton University and the University of Omaha. He was also involved with the Boy Scouts, Children’s Hospital, the Omaha Symphony, and the YWCA. His service was widely recognized. Jacobs received a national citation from the Omaha chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Beth Israel Synagogue Citation Award, and in 1954 was crowned King of Ak-Sar-Ben, then considered the city’s highest civic honor.

In the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society archives, a speech Jacobs delivered in 1955 for the Federation’s 50th anniversary See Federation Presidents page 4

In it, Gordis argues that Israel, like the United States, is one of the rare countries that was founded upon an express purpose. One was created out of a dream of a nation of immigrants to become one country. The other, out of continued Diaspora, to become a homeland for Jews. Both nations are at a crossroads right now.

Random thought as I am processing all of my travel: We still think of Israel as a relatively young country. But truth be told, at nearly 80 years since its founding, Israel is now older than 110 countries in the world. Officially, there are 195 countries recognized by the U.N., so Israel may be young, but it is older than over half the nations of the world. It is no longer an infant nation, but a maturing one with all of the crises and opportunities that modern nations face. A topic I hope to explore during my stay.

In addition, I am looking forward to my time here, where I’ll learn more about how so many of our Reform values are expressed by the people doing the hard and sacred work. I hope to return with more potential partnership opportunities. I am hoping to come back with more stories to share. But mostly, I am hoping to come back with a sense of hope. A sense that even amidst all that we have experienced over these past two years, there are pathways forward for a better and more peaceful tomorrow, while also understanding the nuances and complexities of a land that is still trying to do the impossible, even if it will take longer.

(A huge thank you to you, my colleagues, the staff, and the lay leadership for affording me this opportunity to spend a week reconnecting with the people and the land of Israel. I am so eternally grateful for this, and my plan is to share my journeys and experiences with you).

Federation Presidents

Stories of ghosts, grief and Shabbat gladness

PENNY SCHWARTZ

JTA

Anna is a misunderstood sixth-grade girl who communicates with the ghosts of her Jewish ancestors. Teased by her classmates and worried over by her family, she finds comfort and understanding with her Bubbe and her beloved Jewish traditions.

Neshama, Marcella Pixley’s lyrically written novel-in-verse, won the gold medal for Jewish children’s literature for middle-grade readers from the Association of Jewish Libraries. Its Sydney Taylor Book Awards were announced today in a virtual livecast from Chicago.

Continued from page 3

offers a fitting summation of his values. Reflecting on his predecessors, Samuel Ravitz, Morris Levy, Dr. Philip Sher, William Holzman, Henry Monsky, and Sam Beber, Jacobs told the audience:

“My friends, we don’t truly build ourselves by doing things for ourselves. We build ourselves by doing things for others. This, these gentlemen, deeply understood. They did this because they had a passion for things Jewish. They had deep feeling and attachment for their people.”

Quoting Henry Monsky, Jacobs added:

“We must pay rent for the space we occupy on this earth, and we pay that rent by service, service to our community, service to our nation, service to our God.”

Morris Jacobs died in February 1987 at the age of 90. We proudly stand on his shoulders, and on those of the six leaders who preceded him, who guided the Jewish Federation of Omaha through its first forty-two years. Their work laid the foundation for the thriving campus and community that exist today.

We thank the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society for preserving these stories and invite readers to share memories, photographs, or family connections that can help us rediscover the lives of those who built our community. Standing on their shoulders, we continue their work.

The Jewish Federation of Omaha Past Presidents series is a collaboration between the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Press. For questions or more information about the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, please contact Executive Director Jane Rips at jrips@jewishomaha.org or visit nebraskajhs.com

Writing workshop

‘Write With Us,’ our small and intimate writing workshop (no need to be nervous) continues in the winter and early spring. Upcoming workshops are scheduled for the following Thursdays: Feb. 26, March 26 and April 30 from 5-7 p.m. in the Noshery at the Staenberg Omaha JCC. Register by contacting Jessi at jtaylor@jewishomaha.org or Annette at avandekamp@jewishomaha.org. There is no cost to attend, although donations are always welcome. If you have wanted to write your family’s story, that great American novel, or you have always

wanted to try your hand at poetry, join us! Maybe you are already an accomplished writer, but you would benefit from being in a room with other writers. Perhaps you have convinced yourself you can’t write at all, but would love to try. Everyone, from absolute beginner to professional, is welcome to attend. We will provide the kosher snacks and the writing prompts.

The award committee called Pixley’s “a lyrical, deeply Jewish story about identity, grief, and resilience.”

The annual award, named in memory of Sydney Taylor, the author of the All-of-a-Kind Family series, “recognizes books for children and teens that exemplify high literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience,” according to the award committee’s announcement.

Other winners include D.J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T, a coming-of-age mystery by Abby White, which won in the young adult category, and Shabbat Shalom: Let’s Rest and Reset, a lively board book written and illustrated by Suzy Ultman, which won the picture book award.

The Sydney Taylor committee named Uri Shulevitz, whose 2008 book How I Learned Geography drew on his boyhood experiences fleeing Poland after the Nazi invasion in 1939, as the winner of its Body-of-Work award. Shulevitz, a multi-award winning storyteller and illustrator, died last year.

In addition to the top winners, the Sydney Taylor committee named five silver medalists and nine notable titles of Jewish content.

“This year’s winners and honorees exemplify excellence in Jewish children’s literature through vibrant storytelling and rich perspectives that foster empathy, understanding, and a deep appreciation for culture and community,” said Melanie Koss, chair of the award committee.

Winners will receive their awards in June in Evanston, Illinois, at the AJL’s annual conference.

In “D. J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T, an about-to-be bat mitzah-age girl is determined to prove that her beloved cousin did not die by suicide. Abby White lightens the emotional subject with a teen’s authentic, humorous voice.

“She wrestles with her Torah portion and faith, finding strength to face loss and begin moving forward,” the committee noted.

Shabbat Shalom may be the first board book to garner the award, Heidi Rabinowitz, a longtime podcaster about Jewish children’s books, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“The sophisticated board book combines succinct text with playful art,” the committee wrote in its release.

In awarding its Body-of-Work award to Shulevitz (1935-2025), who lived with his family in Israel before settling in New York, the committee recognized him as a “foundational voice in Jewish children’s literature.” His books “illuminate Jewish culture and reflect universal experience,” the committee wrote.

Many of Shulevitz’s titles reflect his Jewish roots, including The Golem, by Isaac Bashevis Singer and The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela, an illustrated travelogue for children based on the real-life voyages of the 12th-century Jewish traveler who visited Rome, Constantinople, Baghdad and Jerusalem. Shulevitz garnered the Caldecott medal, children’s literature’s top honor for illustrated books, for The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship

Earlier, the AJL announced that Jessica Russak-Hoffman, a journalist for Jewish media outlets, won the organization’s new manuscript award for How to Catch a Mermaid (When You’re Scared of the Sea), a novel set in Israel for ages eight-13.

PAM MONSKY

JCRC Assistant Director

The community is invited to join the JCRC at the State Capital in Lincoln for the 4th Annual Jewish Day of Action on Feb. 19, 2026. Beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Capitol rotunda, meet with legislators and their staff to discuss issues facing the Jewish community. Getting to know our legislators is vital, as many have no Jews in their district. Our Jewish Day of Action gives them the opportunity to ask questions and learn about our faith and concerns. A kosher lunch with legislators and staff will follow at noon at Peetz & Co., 1233 Lincoln Mall. Jewish Day of Action is a dynamic event designed to foster connections between constituents and their state legislators. This powerful day of advocacy brings together members of the reform, conservative and orthodox communities in Omaha and Lincoln united by a shared commitment to civic engagement within the Jewish community.

Last year, over 50 Jewish community members and state

legislators gathered in the Nebraska state capital for the 3rd Annual Jewish Day of Action. JCRC is again partnering with 8th grade students from Friedel Jewish Academy, giving the students an opportunity to strengthen their involvement in state-level politics.

No prior experience is necessary. An in-person and virtual Legislative Boot Camp is being offered to interested community members on Feb. 16 from noon to 1p.m. To register for Jewish Day of Action and the Boot Camp, please email Pam Monsky, pmonsky@jewishomaha.org

Participants will meet one-on-one with lawmakers, including state senators and their staff members, to discuss important issues such as religious freedoms, voting rights, and community security and support. The event highlights the significance of Jewish values in public service, emphasizing the role of grassroots organizing in shaping state policies. Jewish Day of Action is funded by a Staenberg Family Anything Grant.

HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS

The Jewish Press

FRIEDEL

Returning Home: Part II

ITAY

JFO Community Shaliach

In December of 2025, Itay, our community shaliach, accompanied Jay Katelman and synagogue leaders on the Jewish Omaha teen trip to Israel. You read about Jay’s impressions in our Jan. 23 edition. This is part II of Itay’s story.

After the lookout, we went to the Nova Music Festival site — the nature party where the Oct. 7 massacre took place. We walked among the signs, reading about people who came simply to celebrate life, to dance with friends and family, and were brutally murdered on that cursed day.

For me, this was also the first time returning to the site since Oct. 7. The first time I saw it, it was pure chaos — burned cars, personal belongings scattered everywhere. Now everything was clean, organized, and marked with signs bearing names and faces. It was shocking. The number of people, the dramatic transformation of the site — it was incredibly difficult, especially when I saw names of people I knew. But this is exactly why everyone must know what happened there — so it never happens again.

After visiting the Nova site, we drove to the “Shuva Junction.” During the war, this junction became a refreshment stop for soldiers heading into or returning from combat — a place for hot food, coffee, and essential gear. Three brothers run the site, and one of them, Dror, filled me with pride. These are the people of Israel. People who embody the country’s values and Jewish values—being there for one another in the hardest moments and truly living the idea that we are all brothers and sisters. We ended the day with an especially delicious dinner at Eitan’s family home.

The next morning, we opened the day by singing together and arrived at one of the most beautiful viewpoints in Jerusalem — Armon HaNatziv Promenade. On any journey, unexpected moments happen, and this was one of them. Suddenly, more tourists arrived, a man with a drum started playing, and before we realized it, we were all dancing and singing together. The best experiences often come from what you don’t plan.

After that, we traveled to the City of David and walked through the ancient water tunnel built by King Hezekiah. We learned about the historical period and how the tunnels were constructed, feeling history beneath our feet. We then arrived

at the Western Wall, a place where Jews from all over the world come to pray and place notes between the stones, each carrying their own hopes and prayers.

We ended the day at Mahane Yehuda Market. It’s not just a food market — it’s a living, breathing place full of noise, color, smells, and people. Stalls of fruits and vegetables, spices, baked goods, fresh fish, and vendors calling you over to taste something even when you don’t need it. I love the market — the energy, the smiles, the sense that everyone knows everyone. I took the teens on a tasting tour, and through food we told the story of Israeli society: sabich, malawach, citron juice, and of course — how could we not — a warm rugelach straight from the oven.

Friday was a shorter day. We began the morning at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum. It was my third time there, each time with a different guide, and every visit brings a new perspective and deeper understanding.

Afterwards, we went to Mount Herzl, Israel’s national military cemetery. We visited the grave of my commander. I spoke about him, and it was hard to stand there again. Even after three years, I still haven’t fully processed that he is gone.

That evening, we returned to the Western Wall to welcome Shabbat. What started as a small circle of singing grew into massive circles of dancing with hundreds of people. No one was a stranger. We danced, sang, and felt that we were truly one family. We ended the night with a Shabbat dinner and Kiddush, followed by a social evening with games and a Krav Maga session.

more

more information, call 1-800-521-0600, ext. 2888 (US) or 01-734-761-4700 (International) www.il.proquest.com

It’s RBG at Temple and the Orpheum

Michelle Azar stars in From Baghdad to Brooklyn: a One-Woman Show at Temple Israel Wednesday, February 25, 6:30 p.m.

Then, on Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m., The Orpheum Theater presents All Things Equal: the Life and Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsberg Tickets start at $35.50 and can be purchased at TicketOmaha.com

See the journey of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bater Ginsberg (RBG) come to life over the course of ninety fascinating and often funny minutes in this stage play written by Tony Award®-winning playwright Rupert Holmes.

Starring the acclaimed actress Michelle Azar, the play presents an intimate portrayal of a true American original.

The one-woman show at Temple Israel features segments from From Baghdad to Brooklyn, which explores ancestry, identity, and Jewish life. Drawing from her Iraqi and Ashkenazi roots, Azar traces a personal journey that spans Baghdad, Brooklyn, Poland, and Israel—blending deep emotion with wit and warmth. This intimate family story unfolds within a rich historical landscape and speaks to questions that are both deeply personal and universally resonant.

Following the performance, everyone is invited to participate in an interactive workshop that delves deeper into themes of ancestral identity, culture, and self-expression. Whether you're a part of Hebrew CHAI, love music, or are curious about how your own heritage shapes who you are, this meaningful and engaging experience is for you.

This event is made possible by Special Donor Advised Fund of the JFO Foundation. Please register at templeisraelomaha.com.

The following evening, head to The Orpheum to see the journey of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg (RBG) come to life over the course of ninety fascinating and often funny minutes in this stage play written by Tony Award®-winning playwright Rupert Holmes. This courageous icon of down-to-earth American justice has a long, complex story that must be told, and should be heard.

The play presents an intimate portrayal of a true American original. Holmes invites the audience into the intimacy of RGB’s life and her many trials: losing her mother the day before she graduated as valedictorian of her Brooklyn high school, being one of only nine young women studying law at Harvard while also raising a daughter and helping her husband battle cancer, fighting for women's rights in the 1970’s before condescending all-male courts, and taking courageous stands for human rights as a voice of reason amid a splintering and increasingly politicized Supreme Court.

Jared Kushner and ‘New Gaza’

PHILISSA CRAMER

JTA

Jared Kushner presented a phased vision for the future of Gaza at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, saying that there was “no plan B” when it comes to reconstructing the territory battered during the two-year war between Israel and Hamas.

Kusher, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and advisor, was crucial to negotiating the ceasefire that ended active fighting in the war in October.

The 20-point vision he presented in Davos reflects elements of that ceasefire deal, which has been only partially implemented. It calls for starting at the enclave’s southern border by reopening the Rafah crossing and moving steadily northward until the entire Palestinian territory has been rebuilt, to include a seaport, airport and tourism infrastructure.

The end result, according to a slide he presented, would be “peace & prosperity.”

Kushner said the most important step is to disarm Hamas, which still controls a portion of Gaza, and emphasized that reconstruction will take place only in portions of Gaza where Hamas is demilitarized, he said some Hamas members who agree to lay down their arms will be given amnesty and could become part of a new security apparatus in Gaza.

Kushner suggested that he understood that his vision, which would take many years and at least $25 billion to implement, could encounter obstacles. But the White House had decided to “plan for catastrophic success,” he said.

Read more at omahajewishpress.com

ORGANIZATIONS

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS

The award-winning B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS speaker program currently meets Wednesdays via Zoom from noon to 1 p.m. Please watch our email for specific information concerning its thought-provoking, informative list of speakers. To be placed on the email list, contact Breadbreakers chair at gary.javitch@gmail.com

Explore. Engage.

Discover Omaha senior living where you’re valued, welcomed, and celebrated for who you are. At Ovation Heartwood Preserve, we live by our core value: “a culture of respect, belonging, and celebration of diversity”

“I needed this oxygen of people. And I think I made the right choice because of the tremendous respect for individuality here and to who we are.” – Rabbi, Ovation Heartwood Preserve Resident

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Will Fischer

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Sam Kricsfeld

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David Finkelstein, President; Margie Gutnik, Ex-Officio; Joseph Abrahams, Helen Epstein, Andrea Erlich, Ally Freeman, Dana Gonzales, Mary Sue Grossman, Hailey Krueger, Chuck Lucoff, Sara Rips, Stewart Winograd and Bob Yaffe.

The mission of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish Community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world. Agencies of the JFO are: Institute for Holocaust Education, Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Social Services, Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Press Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www.jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

Editorial

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We need a reset

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press Editor

We are finished with January. I am not sure what the reason is, but personally I am always relieved when this month is over. I can’t really look forward to spring until we’re at least a little further in the new calendar year. Once the days get longer (I can now drive home from work before the sun is completely down, most days) everything feels a little easier.

At the same time, I am wondering what this new year will bring. Will this whole ICE mess clear up? Will Greenland save itself? Will there really be a “new Gaza,” will the United Nations learn to behave, will Iran attack? Is Putin really looking to take Poland, Germany, Holland?

And the most important question of all: will I stop doom scrolling?

Who knows. For at least the past decade, life has been unpredictable and a little crazy, going from “Not this again” to “Now what?” Maybe I’m just getting older and crankier. But I also know I am not the only one who feels exhausted. Yet, it’s hard to look away and give myself a break.

I know the answer (it’s always the same.) We have to find joy in the middle of all this mishegas. The reason doom scrolling is so dangerous? It makes us focus on bad stuff we can’t do anything about. So, the only medicine is to look for what we can control, and create our own happy moments in spite of what’s happening out there. I realize that sounds both like an oversimplification, and a little naive.

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Advisory Board, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole.

Bear with me, though. Here’s my thought: if you’re already on your phone switching from one social media app to another, reading and reposting terrible witness accounts and calls for action and all kinds of horribleness, go ahead and put “kittens” in your search bar. Or “puppies,” if that’s more your speed. Go on, try it. The more you click, the more the algorithm will recommend stupid-cute videos that are part waste of time, and part NOT depressing.

Don’t like animals? Try cooking and baking videos. Or knitting, or art, or nature scapes, or fashion. Puzzles! Old black-and-white movie stars. Anything, really. As long as it yanks your brain away from the nonstop politics. Because seriously, we all need a hard reset.

You see, since the 1990s, “news” has become too easily accessible. Hear me out. Yes, we need to stay informed, of course we do, but we also get a lot of our news from social media these daysand there is a big difference between reading the newspaper and going on TikTok. The newspaper doesn’t send you down a rabbit hole—unless you read it only online. Social media posts, on the other hand, will send you on a wild goose chase. There is always the next video, every one more depressing than the last. Add to that the fact that many people these days mistake their Facebook homepage for their therapist; who needs it?

I’m telling you: kittens. Falling pandas. Screaming goats. Did you know there are zoos in China where kids interact with red pandas? Let’s use our phones, our social media, for moments of joy. Sure, check the news, but also look for some fantastic

Alvesgaspar, licensed under the Creative Commons

Shabbat recipes (there are so many Israeli cooks on Instagram!) or find some fashion inspo for Passover. Use your phone for its intended purpose: text or call a friend. Oh, and since Spring will eventually get here: gardening tips!

The sky is the limit. We all know social media is here to stay, the ship has sailed, so let’s use it wisely If we are smart, we can balance all the bad news with something good. And we deserve something good.

German trains can’t be allowed to disturb this site.

MENACHEM Z. ROSENSAFT

JTA

A proposal by officials at Deutsche Bahn, the German federal railway system, is serving up a potential train wreck of gargantuan proportions when it comes to preserving the memory of the Holocaust.

The officials have proposed a “preferred route” for a new high-speed rail line between Hamburg and Hanover that would run less than a quarter of a mile from the loading ramp where trains of Deutsche Bahn’s inglorious predecessor during the Nazi era, the Deutsche Reichsbahn, deposited prisoners destined for the nearby concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen.

The route that these officials are recommending risks damaging, even destroying, this ramp, which the officials know full well was a place of intense suffering and anguish during the years of the Holocaust.

Tens of thousands of Jews and other victims and enemies of the Nazi German regime, my parents and Anne Frank among them, arrived here between 1943 and April 1945, when Belsen was liberated by British troops. Here, they were taken off trains that had carried them for days, sometimes longer, in the most inhumane conditions imaginable.

“Two weeks in cattle cars,” recalled Hanna LévyHass, a survivor from Yugoslavia. “Holed up, forty to sixty per car, men, women, the elderly, children. Hermetically sealed, with no air, no lights, no water, no food … we were suffocating in a tiny space saturated with filth, fumes, sweat, stench … ravaged by thirst and lack of space.”

Many of the arrivals at the ramp were forced to leave behind family members and friends who had died on the journey. They were then forced to march some six kilometers to the camp’s barracks where many of them died of starvation and typhus and other diseases, or were viciously murdered at the hands of SS officers and guards.

Even without gas chambers and large-scale crematoriums, Bergen-Belsen was an instrumental killing site of Hitler’s Final Solution of the Jewish Question. In order to contain a raging typhus epidemic, the British liberators hastened to take the survivors, many of whom were critically ill and on the verge of death, to a nearby German army base that became the Displaced Persons camp of Bergen-Belsen.

On May 21, 1945, British officers and soldiers

burned the barracks of what they had termed the “horror camp” to the ground. The railway loading ramp is thus one of the very few authentic remnants of the perpetration of the Holocaust at what may not have been a killing field but was definitely a field of gruesome, harrowing death.

The annual commemoration of the liberation at the Memorial Site of Bergen-Belsen includes a moving ceremony at the ramp.

The proposed railway route could disturb all of this, unsettling an important site of Holocaust memory.

Elke Gryglewski, the memorial site’s director, wrote to the transportation committee of the German parliament earlier this month to raise concerns about the railway plans.

The ramp “plays an important role in our educational work,” she wrote. “Every day, we guide groups here and provide information about the history of the loading ramp and the journey of the concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war, which involved a 6-kilometer march to the Bergen-Belsen camps.”

Gryglewski warned that historical structures at Bergen-Belsen could be damaged or destroyed during construction and that noise pollution and changes to the space could “violate the dignity of the site and disrupt educational work.” She even raised the possibility that construction work could unearth human remains of those who were killed or buried near the ramp during the deportations.

Senior members of the staff of the Bergen-Belsen Memorial Site have made the appeal in person, too. When representatives of Deutsche Bahn visited before making their proposal, the staff members not only explained the ramp’s historical importance but warned, among other concerns, that if the pro-

posed new line were to run closer than one kilometer away, the construction work involved risked causing significant if not irreversible damage to the ramp’s infrastructure.

The “preferred route” runs less than half of that distance away.

As we observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day, one of our collective solemn responsibilities as a society is to safeguard the memorial sites of the Holocaust, and that includes the Bergen-Belsen loading ramp.

The Deutsche Bahn bureaucrats have acknowledged that an alternate route running substantially further away from the ramp is indeed feasible. In the name of the survivors of Bergen-Belsen, their descendants, and their families, and also as chair of the Advisory Board of the Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation that oversees the Memorial Site of Bergen-Belsen, I call on the transportation committee of the German Bundestag to reject Deutsche Bahn’s “preferred route” for the Hamburg to Hannover railway line and instead opt for the alternate route.

There could be upsides to having a heavily trafficked rail line running close to an important site of Holocaust memory. Germans could benefit from being forced to confront the country’s Nazi history in the course of doing business. And being able to hear ordinary Germans going about their lives from the Bergen-Belsen site could underscore the cruel circumstances in which the Holocaust unfolded.

But the risks to the site’s dignity and integrity are not worth chancing it — and Deutsche Bahn officials owe it to keepers of Jewish memory to listen to our preferences.

There is no question that the Reichsbahn made the perpetration of the Holocaust possible. “Without the Reichsbahn, the industrial murder of millions of people would not have been possible” declared Susanne Kill, Deutsche Bahn’s in-house historian, in 2008. There is also no question that Deutsche Bahn is the Reichsbahn’s successor. As such, it and its employees have a particular responsibility not only to acknowledge but to highlight the Reichsbahn’s complicity in the World War II genocide of European Jewry. One immediate way to accomplish this goal is by taking the necessary measures to preserve rather than risk damaging the loading ramp of Bergen-Belsen.

Synagogues

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

618 Mynster Street Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766

712.322.4705 www.cblhs.org

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE

Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Street Omaha, NE 68154-1980

402.492.8550 bethel-omaha.org

BETH ISRAEL

SYNAGOGUE

Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street Omaha, NE. 68154

402.556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org

CHABAD HOUSE

An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street Omaha, NE 68144-1646

402.330.1800 OChabad.com email: chabad@aol.com

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY:

B’NAI JESHURUN

South Street Temple

Union for Reform Judaism

2061 South 20th Street Lincoln, NE 68502-2797

402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org

OFFUTT AIR

FORCE BASE

Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road Offutt AFB, NE 68123

402.294.6244 email: oafbjsll@icloud.com

TEMPLE ISRAEL

Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive Omaha, NE 68144-1206

402.556.6536 templeisraelomaha.com

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY:

TIFERETH ISRAEL

Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 402.423.8569 tiferethisraellincoln.org

Monthly Speaker Series Service, Friday, Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m. with our guest speaker, Cpt Jessica Wagner. Our service leader is Larry Blass. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel!

For information about our historic synagogue, please visit our website at www.cblhs.org or contact any of our other board members: David Alloy, Renee Corcoran, Rick Katelman, Gail Kenkel, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Ann Moshman, Mary-Beth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.

Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

IN-PERSON AND ZOOM MINYAN SCHEDULE:

Mornings on Sundays, 9:30 a.m.; Mondays and Thursdays, 7 a.m.; Evenings on Sunday-Thursday, 5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Our Shabbat Tables in Home

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m.; Mah Jongg Shabbat 1 p.m. with Eadie Tsabari; Havdalah, 6:25 p.m. Zoom Only.

SUNDAY: Hamantashen Bake, 9:30 a.m.; World Wide Wrap, 9:30 a.m.; BESTT (Grades K-7), 9:30 a.m.; Torah Tots (Ages 5 and under), 10:45 a.m.

MONDAY: Women’s Book Group 1:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 6 p.m.

THURSDAY: Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. Zoom Only.

FRIDAY-Feb. 13: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. with Cantor Gil Ezring at Beth El and Live Stream followed by free dinner with Cantor Ezring (dinner registration required by Feb. 9).

SATURDAY-Feb. 14: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. with Cantor Ezring followed by Lunch & Learn with Cantor Ezring; Havdalah, 6:30 p.m. Zoom Only. Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.

FRIDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 5:29 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbos Café, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class 10:45 a.m.; Mincha, 5:20 p.m.; Kids Activity/Laws of Shabbos, 5:50 p.m.; Havdalah, 6:31 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 5:30 p.m.

MONDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Monday Mind Builders 4 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 5:30 p.m.

TUESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 5:30 p.m.

THURSDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7

a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 5:30 p.m.; Smichat Chaver Men’s Class, 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY-Feb. 13: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 5:38 p.m.

SATURDAY-Feb. 14: Shabbos Café, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Mincha, 5:30 p.m.; Kids Activity/ Laws of Shabbos 6 p.m.; Havdalah, 6:40 p.m.

Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.

Join classes via Zoom. Go to ochabad.com/academy. For more information or to request help, please visit www.ochabad.com or call the office at 402.330.1800.

FRIDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Lechayim, 4:30 p.m., go to ochabad.com/lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 5:29 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 6:31 p.m.

SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps, 9 a.m.

MONDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Personal Parsha 9:30 a.m. with Shani; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 6 p.m. with David Cohen; Translating Words of Prayer, 7 p.m. with David Cohen.

TUESDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Camp Gan Israel Registration Opens at 9 a.m. at ochabad.com/camp; Aramaic Grammar, 10 a.m. with David Cohen; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 6 p.m. with David Cohen; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 7 p.m. with David Cohen

WEDNESDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 11:30 a.m. with David Cohen.

THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 11 a.m. with David Cohen; Talmud Study, noon; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 6 p.m. with David Cohen; Code of Jewish Law Class, 7 p.m.

FRIDAY-Feb. 13: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Lechayim, 4:30 p.m., go to ochabad.com/lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 5:37 p.m.

SATURDAY-Feb. 14: Shacharit 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 6:39 p.m.

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL

Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch. All services offered in-person with live-stream or teleconferencing options.

FRIDAY: Shabbat Candlelighting, 5:32 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30-7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on

Parashat Yitro via Zoom; LYJI Havdalentine's, 6 p.m. at TI; Havdalah, 6:34 p.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS Classes, 9:30 a.m.; LJCS Spring Committee Meeting, 10 a.m.; Men’s Bike/Coffee Group, 10:30 a.m. at Rock 'N' Joe Coffee, 5025 Lindberg St, Lincoln. For more information or questions please email Al Weiss at albertw801@gmail. com; Adult Ed: Understanding Worship Services: the Hows, Whys and Whens, noon at TI.

WEDNESDAY: LJCS Hebrew School, 4:30-6 p.m.

FRIDAY-Feb. 13: Shabbat Candlelighting, 5:41 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30-7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST.

SATURDAY-Feb. 14: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study noon on Parashat Mishpatim via Zoom; Havdalah, 6:42 p.m.; LJCS Havdalah @ Carlson's.

FRIDAYS: Virtual Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month at Capehart Chapel. Contact TSgt Jason Rife at OAFBJSLL@icloud.com for more information.

In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Benjamin Sharff, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin, and Cantor Joanna Alexander.

FRIDAY: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9 a.m.; Shabbat B’yachad Service with Grade Two, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Shabbat Morning Service and Bat Mitzvah of Sarah Ginsburg 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom.

SUNDAY: Second Sunday Breakfast, 9 a.m. at Stephen Center; Grades PreK-7, 9:30 a.m. In-Person; Coffee and Conversations with Board Members 10 a.m. In-Person; Book Club, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Temple Tots, 10:45 a.m. In-Person.

TUESDAY: Living and Ethical Will Workshop, 11 a.m. with Rabbi Berezin (RSVP Required) In-Person; Mah Jongg Made Easy 1:30 p.m. In-Person.

WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m. In-Person; Grades 36, 4:30 p.m. In-Person; Hebrew CHAI: Grades 8-12, 6 p.m. In-Person.

THURSDAY: The Zohar: Thursday Morning Class, 11 a.m. with Rabbi Sharff — In-Person & Zoom.

FRIDAY-Feb. 13: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9 a.m.; Classic Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.

SATURDAY-Feb. 14: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. InPerson & Zoom.

Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.

Jewish world marks first day with no hostages in Gaza by shedding their symbols of support

PHILISSA CRAMER

JTA

After 843 days, Jews around the world put down their masking tape, yellow ribbons and pins: The last Israeli hostage in Gaza was home.

The return of Ran Gvili’s body on Monday ended a two-and-a-half-year advocacy campaign to return the roughly 250 hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The campaign galvanized Jews around the world and introduced a visual vocabulary of symbols meant to keep the hostages in the public consciousness and add pressure for Hamas to return them.

Some Jews removed or reduced their hostage displays in October, when all of the living hostages were released. But others said they would not do so until the last hostage was home.

Now, they are shedding their symbols.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog posted a video of himself removing his hostage pin.Rachel GoldbergPolin and Jon Polin, the parents of Hersh GoldbergPolin, who was murdered in captivity, announced that they would not wear the masking tape marking the number of days since Oct. 7, a symbol they popularized.

“In solidarity with all of the families who have had to bury loved ones since October 7, we take off our masking tape and pray for comfort…for us all,” they posted on Instagram.

And pro-Israel Instagram influencers created a montage of themselves taking off their pins and necklaces, interspersed with footage of emotional reunions of hostages and their families in the past.

In Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, a small crowd gathered for a ceremony to count down until a clock measuring the time since the hostages were taken was turned off.

during the war and has worked with the Israeli government, said he was removing his pin but would

The return of Gvili’s remains marks the end of a period of intense pain for Israelis and Jews around the world and clears the way for a new phase in the three-month-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. It also raises questions about whether ties between Israeli and Diaspora Jews could suffer without the hostage issue that has united them.

Some Jewish organizations have announced that they are collecting hostage pins and other relics of the era to create a lasting record of the era.

Eylon Levy, a pro-Israel influencer who ascended

keep it in his pocket, not shelve it totally. He said the conditions under which the war ended, with Hamas still armed and in power in much of Gaza, meant it might be useful again.

“The Oct. 7 hostage crisis is over, but it won’t be the last hostage crisis,” he said. “We put the hostage takers of tomorrow back on the streets.”

Life Cycles

BIRTH

HARPER JEAN BELMONT

Amanda and Colin Belmont are happy to announce the birth of their daughter, Harper Jean, on Jan. 12, 2026.

Harper has also been welcomed by her brother, Hudson, 4. Grandparents are Michelle and Ron Bucher, and Jill and Mark

Belmont.

Great-grandparents are Marshall Kushner and the late Barbara Kushner; the late Joan and Ben Kaiman; Shirley Bucher of Tucson AZ, and the late Gerald Bucher; and the late Florence and Joseph Belmont.

Jewish seniors are offering to hide their caregivers

ANDREW LAPIN JTA

About 500 seniors live at Sinai Residences in Boca Raton, Florida, including many Holocaust survivors. Recently, some of them asked if they could hide the building’s Haitian staff in their apartments.

“That reminds me of Anne Frank,” Rachel Blumberg, president and CEO of the center, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “There’s a kindred bond between our residents being Jewish and seeing the place that the Haitians have gone through.”

The seniors were aware of something that is only beginning to dawn on the rest of the country: that in addition to the aggressive immigration enforcement operations underway in Minnesota and elsewhere, the Trump administration has moved to cancel Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from a handful of countries once deemed too unsafe to return to.

Earlier last week, a judge paused the end of TPS for Venezuelans. But barring any 11th-hour changes, about 350,000 Haitians will lose their status on February 3 — ending their right to live and work in the United States legally and putting them at risk of immediate detention and deportation.

workers, told JTA. “There will be no caregivers in this country if our isolationist policies are all enforced.”

Some argue that Jews, especially, should be attuned to these dynamics.

“The Jewish community employs these populations to care for the most vulnerable among us. And it creates major challenges,” said Reuben Rotman, president and CEO of the Network of Jewish Human Services Agencies. Many Jewish social services agencies also serve immigrants as clients, he noted: “This is part of our Jewish identity and ethos, to serve our full

The deadline has sent waves of panic through communities with many Haitian immigrants, including in Ohio — where the Trump team took aim at Haitians in 2024 — and in South Florida.

While the effects will be sharpest for the immigrants themselves, the end of TPS for Haitians is sure to have a ripple effect. At Sinai Residences, for example, 9% of staff members are Haitians with TPS, and they won’t be able to work after February 3 (In total, 69% of the center’s staff are foreign-born; caregiving industries are heavily dependent on immigrant workers.)

To make up for the expected losses, the center is redoubling its hiring efforts. Representatives from other Jewish senior living homes say they will need to turn to temp agencies, suggesting a growing inconsistency in senior care. Whatever happens, residents are likely to see their own costs go up as a worker shortage is exacerbated.

But the blows will be felt in other ways, too. Seniors in longterm care facilities develop deep bonds with their staff. Blumberg’s residents, she said, “can relate to not being wanted, to being kicked out and coming to America for salvage and freedom and safety and shelter. And they want to be able to protect the Haitians.”

Temporary protected status for Haitians and similar communities dates back to the Reagan administration. Because it was offered by executive action, it can be undone without congressional approval.

Temporary means temporary,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said about the administration’s decision to end the status. Late Wednesday, Jan. 28, a federal judge ruled that Noem had exceeded her authority by ending the status, but additional court intervention would be needed to delay or deter the action.

With a rapidly aging American population, experts say, the country’s seniors will especially feel the effects of restricting immigrant laborers. The policy, to those who come face to face with the workers and those they serve every day, makes no sense.

“We have a workforce filled with people who weathered COVID in a nursing home. This is no small thing. And now you’re saying they don’t deserve to be in this country? I don’t think so,” one Jewish senior living director, who requested anonymity so as not to draw attention to the center and its

community with Jewish values and welcoming the stranger. So this is all connected.”

Rotman continued: “The Jewish community depends on these populations. And for them to feel so vulnerable that they’re afraid to go to work because they might get picked up and deported, or they might get picked up and sent to a Texas detention center, nobody should have to live with that fear.”

Ruth Katz, president and CEO of the Association for Jewish Aging Services, told JTA that senior living executives have no choice now but to familiarize themselves with the federal immigration system.

“They’re feeling the need to share as much information as possible, get as smart about immigration policy and immigration enforcement as they can,” Katz said. “Because they’re all worried about this.”

Back at Sinai, residents aren’t waiting for careful plans to be laid. Every worker soon to lose their status is receiving “$2,000 and a hug” from the center; many residents are contributing more out of their own pockets.

Residents mounted a letter-writing campaign to Washington (only Rep. Jared Moskowitz, the Florida Jewish Democrat, responded, Blumberg said). They are asking what more they can do.

Some Sinai residents will be attending a protest against ICE being held at a local Home Depot, where ICE agents across the country have been seizing day laborers.

And, of course, there is the Anne Frank offer. Others — including, last week, the governor of Minnesota — have drawn criticism for invoking the Holocaust’s most famous victim in connection with Trump’s immigration policies. But given what awaits those who are deported, Blumberg said, the comparison makes sense.

“The Haitians cannot go back to Haiti. They’ll be murdered,” she said. “The gangs have taken over the country, and it is lifethreatening for them. And our residents do recognize and realize that.”

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