A N AG E N C Y O F T H E J E W I S H F E D E R AT I O N O F O M A H A
The Jewish Press WWW.O M A H A J E W I S H P R E SS .CO M
INSIDE
|
WWW. J E W I S H O M A H A .O R G
SPONSORED BY THE BENJAMIN AND ANNA E. WIESMAN FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND
FEBRUARY 2, 2024 | 2 3 S H E VAT 578 4 | VO L. 1 05 | NO. 1 5 | CANDLELIGHTING | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 5 : 23 P.M.
A reason to celebrate Journey to Poland Page 4
Birthright registration Page 5
AMY BERNSTEIN SHIVVERS The Foundation Executive Director n Jan. 20, I had the pleasure of being among over 200 guests at the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society Grand Opening of the Milton Mendel and Marsha Kleinberg Jewish Omaha Heritage Center. Three generations of Kleinbergs were represented, and the gratitude for this family was shared by all.
O
Art Hour Page 6
Ellen Freeman Memorial Scholarship
REGULARS Spotlight Voices Synagogues Life cycles
7 8 10 11
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMPWRIGHT Jewish Press Editor Ellen Freeman passed away unexpectedly on April 18, 2022, at the age of 63. She was preceded in death by her parents, Joanne and Jerry Freeman. Ellen was “a very creative person,” her brother John Freeman said. “She had the most infectious smile and the most vivacious personality. She was the best AZA Sweetheart ever. She donated one of her kidneys. She was the glue that held people together no matter where she went or what she was doing. She had such a passion for life.” She is survived by her brothers and
The Heritage Center boasts a beautiful design, and visitors are encouraged to engage with touchscreens throughout the museum. We’ve been informed that the exhibits will rotate, allowing for the sharing of more rich Omaha Jewish history. Currently, the Heritage Center is divided into four sections titled Early Immigrants, Making A Better World, Faith and Identity, and Public Service. This project has been in the works for several years. See A reason to celebrate page 2
Omahans March for Israel: Part 5
Dr. Joel and Nancy Schlessinger Ellen Freeman
sisters-in-law, Bob and Robyn and John and Karen Freeman of Omaha; nieces and nephews, Adam and Allie Freeman; Ally Freeman and Geoff Silverstein; Lauren Freeman and Matt Sculnick; Alex Freeman and Brian Zuerlein; and Susan Freeman. “Ellen was a long-time member of NCJW, and touched many lives in the Omaha Jewish community during See Freeman Scholarship page 3
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMPWRIGHT Jewish Press Editor On Nov. 14, approximately 290,000 people participated in the March for Israel on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Among them were members of our Omaha Jewish community, as well as the wider Omaha community. The Jewish Press asked some of those in attendance to describe the experience.
DR. JOEL SCHLESSINGER Once we grasped the magnitude of the event, the decision to go was nearly immediate. It’s a little hard to imagine that this could be the largest gathering of Jewish people in the history of the United States, but once it was clear this was the intent, we signed on and arranged to go immediately. I can’t even begin to describe the See March for Israel page 2
2 | The Jewish Press | February 2, 2024
News
A reason to celebrate
LOC AL | N ATI O N A L | WO R L D
March for Israel
Continued from page 1 beautiful feeling of the event. There were so many remarkable moments, but for me in particular, it was the realization that I personally had ten family members that came in from Connecticut, Cleveland and Atlanta to be there. We only saw four other family members due to the insane combination of logistics in a crowd that was wall-to-wall together and the lack of any form of communication once the hordes arrived (there was absolutely zero cellphone reception during and for the most part before it started). We loved seeing the joy on people’s faces as they expressed their love for Israel and their desire for peace and a world without anti-Semitism, alongside the return of the hostages. Too often, Jews have been divided and that has not served us well as a people. This was one notable time that we came together as a people. The world has splintered Jews as the diaspora has expanded, and divisions have led to enmity. We are still one people, living under one G-d. This March for Israel proved this. Now, if only the rest of the world understands the issues that we marched for, only time will tell, but it had to be tried. We stood on our feet for over five hours and it was absolutely impossible
to sit down. The sun was absolutely broiling us, even though it was 55 degrees out there and it was physically and emotionally draining. Both Nancy and I have been thinking of the hostages and our family/friends and brethren in Israel nonstop since Oct. 7. This march gave us a moment to share solidarity with the other 300,000 attending, as well as the world at-large, so that was a huge plus. One of the hostage’s family members related that they went to Capitol Hill and were asked by a staffer how many times they are allowed to speak with their son a week. They were shocked that they didn’t understand the barbarity and cruelty of the hostages, but explained they haven’t spoken to their son at all. The world doesn’t understand, and if this event helps to evolve understanding, it was all worth it. Also, the challenges that so many undertook are worth noting. People drove in buses all night long to get to DC and then left and drove home overnight to get home. There was the story of the people from Detroit that were left on the tarmac in DC, and never able to attend after flying in due to a bus company that had anti-
Semitic bus drivers who refused to drive Jews to the rally. To me, this is not being covered enough in the press (I have only seen this in a few Jewish/Israeli publications). People have to understand the depth of hatred out there and the fact that we must stand together. Jews as a whole seem to concentrate on helping others. We see Jews who don’t give back to our community, yet fund large projects like libraries, museums or hospitals, believing that others will fund Jewish activities or that they have to support the community. While we all have to support others and our community, now is the time (and really it is unclear when the time will end) that we have to support our own Jewish community. That way, we will have enough protection for our JCC, synagogues and events as well as the support for Israel and other Jewish communities across the world that are dealing with a chilling increase in anti-Semitism. If there has ever been a time that donating to Jewish funds is of paramount importance, it is now. We had 25 people from Omaha and we hope that next time it will be 250.
JEWISH PRESS READERS If you do business with any of our advertisers, please tell them you saw their ad in the Jewish Press. It really helps us!
CONGRATULATE YOUR GRADUATE
Continued from page 1 Securing the gift to transform the empty gallery space in the lobby was crucial, and we owe our thanks to Milton Mendel and Marsha Kleinberg. Another important but perhaps less prominent milestone occurred in November 2020 when Milt and Marsha created the Hall of History Maintenance, Repair, and Replacement Endowment Fund Agreement at The Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. The purpose of this endowment is to provide funds for maintaining, repairing, replacing, and renovating the Milton Mendel and Marsha Kleinberg Jewish Heritage Center (initially called the Hall of History) at the Jewish Community Center in Omaha, Nebraska, including equipment, furniture, and fixtures located in the museum. The Omaha Jewish Community is blessed with gifts both small and large. These gifts may be further safeguarded when a family creates an endowment, ensuring their gift will continue to sparkle on our beautiful campus. As an example, The Foundation has endowments for the Levine Theater, Tichauer Reflection Garden and Institute for Holocaust Education exhibit, the Janet and Stanley Perlmeter Memorial Courtyard, to name a few. Endowments provide annual income for the continued operation, appearance and maintenance of the spaces we all enjoy with the plan that they look as good as the day we celebrated their grand opening! The Kleinbergs understand this, and we are doubly grateful for their gift to build the Jewish Omaha Heritage Center and to endow the museum for future generations. If you or your family have a wish for our Jewish community, please reach out to me so that we can create a plan similar to that of The Kleinbergs. Contact me at ashivvers@jew ishomaha.org or 4023346466. PS if you haven’t visited the beautiful museum, please do so!
Congrats, Rachel! We are so proud of your achievements – membership in NHS, varsity letter in tennis and a Merit Award from the Band.
ere Photo h
Love, Mom, Dad, brothers and sisters
Size A | $36 The annual Graduation Issue will publish this year on May 24, 2024. Senior photos will run in that issue and we know you’ll want to highlight the achievements of your high school graduate! Congratulatory ads are available in two sizes. Limit of 25 words.
Mazel Tov, Aaron!
CONGRATULATE YOUR GRADUATE ORDER FORM _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________
ere Photo h
Name ___________________________________________________________ Address _________________________________________________________ City, State and Zip _________________________________________________ Phone __________________________________________________________ Size A O Size B O Photo enclosed O Check enclosed for $ _________ Send check and photo to The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 by May 7.
We are so proud of your achievements – membership in NHS, varsity letter in tennis and a Merit Award from B.E.S.T.T.
Love, Mom, Dad, brothers, sisters and grandparents
Size B | $99
The Jewish Press | February 2, 2024 | 3
A Win-Win opportunity AMY BERNSTEIN SHIVVERS JFO Foundation Executive Director What if I told you that you can enjoy a partially tax-free, fixed payment for life, immediate tax deductions, a reduction in estate tax liability and support your favorite nonprofit with just one tool? The Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation is partnering with the National Gift Annuity Foundation to offer Charitable Gift Annuities. Through a charitable gift annuity, donors can make a gift to the charity of their choice, and receive guaranteed income for themselves and/or a beneficiary of their choice, for life. Annuities can be funded with cash or marketable securities such as stock and mutual funds, as well as non-cash assets like real estate or closely held stock. The payments are fixed for the term of the contract. CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITY DONOR A contribution through a gift annuity is an excellent way to fulfill your desire to support a favorite nonprofit organization while aiming to meet your requirements for current or future income. A charitable gift annuity may be appropriate for donors 55 years or older who: • Could benefit from an immediate charitable income tax deduction and who seek to secure income for retirement • Have highly appreciated securities • Want to make a significant charitable gift without giving up income • Want the intangible benefits of supporting a nonprofit organization that is important to them HOW IT WORKS Today – you transfer cash, securities, life insurance, property to a charitable gift annuity Lifetime – you receive an income tax deduction and may save capital gains tax. You receive a fixed amount each year or to anyone you name for life. Typically, a portion of these payments is tax free.
End of term – when the gift annuity ends, the remaining principal passes to your designated charity. MEET ROBERT AND MARCIA ABRAHAM Robert and his wife, Marcia, have been loyal donors to the Jewish community, averaging gifts of about $100 a year for
more than 25 years. Additionally, he has made year-end gifts of stock in the $500 range twice over the past five years. They are both retired. They have two grown children, who are wellestablished in their own careers; one of their children is married and has two young children. Robert and Marcia are considering a Life & Legacy gift in their wills. Robert would like to support charity in a more significant way but is hesitant to make a large cash gift. He shares concerns about “outliving their money” and he talks a bit about his investment portfolio – he and Marcia have a number of highly appreciated securities that pay them little income, but the threat of capital gains taxes makes them very hesitant to consider selling the shares. Robert and Marcia decide to establish a Charitable Gift Annuity. They transferred stock to fund their CGA and elect a fixed income payment semi-annually which is guaranteed until they pass. They are not penalized with capital gain taxes since they used the stock to open their CGA. After their lifetime, the remainder of their CGA will go to their Life & Legacy commitment. NEXT STEP A Charitable Gift Annuity is a perfect way for a charitably inclined Donor to get favorable tax treatment, to get a steady source of income for life and to also leave an after-lifetime gift to charity. Please reach out and we can discuss your charitable giving plans and find the right tool for your win-win. Contact me at ashivvers@jewishomaha.org or 402.334.6466.
HONEYMAN RENT-ALL ce The Party Pla ENTERTAIN
FIRST CLASS
FOR THE FINEST IN ENTERTAINING ACCESSORIES, HOW CAN YOU THROW A PARTY AND NOT INVITE US? Tables • Chairs • Linens • Skirting • China • Glassware • Chafing Dishes Party Canopies • Wedding & Church Displays • Dance Floors • BBQ Grills Coat Racks • Candelabras • Margarita Machines • Chocolate Fountains Visit Our Showroom or www.honeymanrentall.com
8202 F Street | Omaha, NE 68127
402-333-2882
Freeman Scholarship Continued from page 1 her lifetime,” John said. “She dedicated much of her life to the food service industry and owned her own high-end bakery in Countryside Village. Setting up the Ellen Freeman Memorial Scholarship in her honor was not a hard decision. Ellen received her Culinary Arts Degree at the Culinary Institute of America in New York and worked at MCC for a number of years. The scholarship was established to recognize her contributions.” “Ellen was truly one of a kind,” friend Shelly Fox said. “She was extremely creative and had that unique artistic touch in her writing, her cooking and overall sense of style. She was funny and quirky and extremely generous in ways that could never be repaid.” “Most of all, Ellen was a thoughtful and loyal friend. I think of her often and will miss her always. The Ellen Freeman Memorial Scholarship @ MCC Culinary Arts is a wonderful method for her family to honor Ellen’s memory.” Beth Staenberg, also a close friend of Ellen, agreed: “Ellen was one of a kind. A compassionate, loving, and considerate friend. She was such a great baker and very creative in designing what she would make. She had good insight into human nature and looked for the best in people. Life presented her with challenges and she did her best to live her life to the fullest. I often think of Ellen’s kindness and then a smile spreads on my face. I miss Ellen. Her life on
earth ended too soon. It is wonderful that the Freeman family has set up this endowed scholarship in memory of Ellen.” Executive Director of the Metropolitan Community College Foundation Amy Recker said: “The Ellen Freeman Memorial Scholarship is an endowment that is invested and managed over time. The impact of this long-term investment is that it will provide ongoing funding for MCC culinary scholarships for years to come. We are grateful to Ellen’s family for entrusting her legacy with the MCC Foundation. It is a fitting tribute to Ellen’s passion for students and the culinary arts.” Ellen was committed to her students and took pride in seeing their growth in the Culinary Arts program. She had a dynamic personality, a raucous laugh and a caring heart. This scholarship has been established to honor those attributes and assist students in springboarding forward in their own successes in the field of Culinary Arts. This renewable scholarship provides funding for tuition, fees, books and student needs as per the syllabus for the Culinary Arts program. Students who have a Cumulative GPA of 2.0 or above and are pursuing a degree in Culinary Arts with a preference for bakery can qualify. FAFSA recommended; Financial need is preferred, but all applicants will be considered. For more information, please visit https://www.mccneb.edu/AboutMCC-Nebraska/Foundation/Current-MCC-Foundation-Scholarships.
Trade scholarships available for the 2023-24 academic year
An anonymous donor in our community has created two trade school and/or cosmetology school scholarship opportunities, up to $5,000 each, to go towards the 2023-24 academic year. Not every student who advances into higher education signs up for a four-year curriculum. Some high school graduates seek job training that lasts a year or two and then places them in the workforce. Such opportunities include, but are
not restricted to: Information Technology, Construction, Industrial, Transportation and Horticulture. It is not too late to apply for this upcoming school year! Qualified students who have unmet needs regarding tuition for either a two-year trade school program or a trade certificate program can contact the Jewish Press at avandekamp@ jewishomaha.org or jpress@jewishomaha.org for more information.
SALES POSITION PART-TIME FLEXIBLE HOURS
The Jewish Press is looking for a part-time sales person, with the following responsibilities: • Digital sales • Digital content development • Website development and management Requirements: • Previous experience in a sales-related role is • a plus • Great customer service skills • Excellent written and verbal communication • skills
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.
Visit us on facebook: www.facebook.com/ShalomahaPress
Interested? Send your application to Avandekamp@jewish omaha.org today. We cannot wait to meet you!
The Jewish Press
4 | The Jewish Press | February 2, 2024
Tritz Plumbing Inc. 402-894-0300 www.tritz.com repair • remodel
Journey to Poland: Part 3
commercial • residential
family owned and operated since 1945
Home Appliance
Heating & Cooling
402-391-4287
ROOFING
SIDING
GUTTERS
SUMMER INTERN THE JEWISH PRESS IS LOOKING FOR A SUMMER INTERN. If you are currently a high schooler age 16 and up, or college student up to 24 years old, and want to become more involved in our community, this is your chance. If you are interested, please send your resume and cover letter to avandekamp@jewishomaha.org.
WE CAN’T WAIT TO MEET YOU!
The Jewish Press
HAZZAN MICHAEL KRAUSMAN On Friday morning we woke extremely early to make our pilgrimage to Auschwitz. We stopped on our way to pray at the restored synagogue of Oswiecim, (Auschwitz in Polish). Although words do not suffice to convey the sensation of praying just a few minutes’ drive away from the site of unspeakable atrocities that were perpetrated against our people, the melodies of our soulful prayers from that morning will ever reverberate in our hearts. Auschwitz is divided into two massive parts: Auschwitz One and Auschwitz Two - Birkenau. To gain entrance to this concentration/death camp, one must be accompanied by an official Polish museum guide. As we explored the original stone barracks of Auschwitz One, we observed the remnants of the thousands of souls that passed through those horrible gates: piles of shoes, old suitcases, a huge bale of human hair, a trove of housewares and a vast room filled with prosthetic limbs, canes, and crutches. We saw torture cells of various sizes and functions, the wall against which inmates were shot, and the Appel Platz, or gathering spot where prisoners stood at attention, mercilessly exposed to the elements for hours on end. The latter featured a large gallows on which countless prisoners were hung in full view of everybody. We also passed by the building where unspeakable medical experiments were performed on helpless Jewish prisoners – particularly women, by the abominable Dr. Mengele. Just before leaving for Auschwitz two, we assembled in the only remaining gas chamber where, despite the objection by our Polish guide, we recited the mourner’s kaddish. We then made the short walk to Auschwitz two. Entrance to the camp was marked by long train tracks that passed under the infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” (work brings freedom) sign. As we walked on the very difficult, uneven stone path it started to rain; we were already quite cold. It occurred to us that while we were uncomfortable, despite wearing layers of warm clothing, sturdy hiking shoes, and raincoats, our parents and grandparents who walked that very path wore only threadbare striped pajamas and almost no shoes. Soon we passed by the spot where the horrible Dr. Mengele selected who would be murdered immediately in the gas chamber and who would be worked to death in the camp. One of our fellow travelers recounted how at that very spot, while his mother was chosen to live, his grandparents were sent to their deaths. His mom never recovered from the tremendous guilt she felt stemming from that moment. Parked at the Selection Point is a vintage railway cattle car that, during the war, had been repeatedly crammed with Jewish inmates for transport to Auschwitz. This car is a memorial
to a young man who, after exiting the car and surviving selection, reentered the car at great peril to retrieve his most prized posessions – his Tallit and Tephillin. An indignant Nazi guard shot that young man on that spot. An old set of Tallit and Tephillin is sealed inside that railcar, as a perpetual memorial to the courage and conviction of that young man. I had two very personal experiences in that ghastly place. In one of the restored barracks of Birkenau, I had the privilege of telling part of my father’s story of survival. Although he was not in Auschwitz, my dad experienced unimaginable horrors in three other Nazi camps. We next passed the remains of huge gas chambers and the massive crematoria that had operated night and day. As the Russian army approached, the Nazis, seeing that they were about to be defeated and wanting to cover up their atrocities, had attempted to destroy much of the camp. My dad would have been proud to know that I was honored to chant the El Male memorial prayer in front of the remains of one of those sinister gas chambers. Laurel brought an Israeli flag which she proudly wore around her shoulders as we toured Auschwitz. Before marching out of that hellish place, we all took turns taking pictures with that flag at a point that was ironically the termination of the Auschwitz train tracks – the end of the line for millions of Jews, as Betsalel so eloquently stated. We returned to our Krakow hotel moments before the start of Shabbat. So, with almost no time to prepare, we quickly changed and headed to the beautiful Tempel Shul for services. This beautiful synagogue got its name because it reminded its designers of the original “tempel”; the Holy Temple that stood in Jerusalem. The stunning Tempel Shul sanctuary is in the process of restoration, so it is covered in scaffolding and construction materials. Our joyous shabbat services were led by Laurel and two other women from our group. Naturally, we sang Lecha Dodi to the melody of the Krakow Nigun and danced in a circle, our hearts filled with delight, as we sang Shiru Ladonai Shir Hadash (sing unto the Lord a new song). As we gleefully perpetuated the tradition that Hitler tried to extinguish, Betsalel wisely remarked that while our shoes were still covered in the dust of Auschwitz, it is mingling with the dust of the restoration of this magnificent sanctuary. After services, we went to the extremely dynamic Krakow JCC where we met the director and his young American intern, Isaac. Ironically, Isaac is a close friend of my son Zach. He had participated in the very same Ramah Poland program as ours several years ago. We learned how the JCC serves the needs of the burgeoning Krakow Jewish community, including a growing number of Ukrainian refugees. We were privileged to join several dozen of the JCC members for a delicious Shabbat dinner. The staggering scope and variety of programming and services the JCC of Krakow provides, including a food and clothing pantry for Ukrainian refugees, is truly inspirational. Editors note: This is part three in a series of four.
Scholarship reminders DIANE WALKER JFO Foundation Fund & Scholarship Administrator Thanks to the generosity of our community, a variety of funding sources are available to Omaha’s Jewish families to help with the financial burden of Jewish sleepaway camp, JCC summer camp, the Pennie Z. Davis Early Learning Center, Friedel Jewish Academy, and youth group activities. Assistance is also available for undergraduate, graduate, vocational, technical, professional or yeshiva studies. Information and applications are available on the Jewish Federation of Omaha website, www.jewishomaha.org. The deadline for applications is a little different this year – Monday, March 4, 2024. Grant programs, funded by the Jewish Federation of Omaha, are available to any Omaha Jewish family meeting the program requirements, regardless of the family’s financial situation.
Jewish Experience Grants provide up to $2,000 for Jewish children in the metro area to attend a residential summer camp. Grants are paid over two years with no more than $1,000 per summer. Israel Experience Grants provide up to $1,500 to students in grades 9 – 12 or young adults aged 18 – 26 for an Israel peer program. An additional stipend of $1,000 is provided for the bi-annual community teen trip to Israel. These are of course, dependent on the situation in Israel. Scholarships, awarded by the Financial Aid Committee of the JFO, are funded by a number of endowments established through the JFO Foundation, outside entities, and through the JFO’s Annual Campaign. Scholarships are available for JCC summer camp, residential Jewish summer camp, Israel peer programs, Friedel Jewish Academy, the Pennie Z. Davis Early Learning Center, and youth group See Scholarship reminders page 5
The Jewish Press | February 2, 2024 | 5
Birthright registration ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor Registration for summer 2024 Hillel Birthright Israel is now open. We invite your student to apply at www.birthright israel.com for a 10-day trip and join us on a journey through the center of Jewish history. Alongside a diverse community of Jewish and Israeli peers, your student will experience the ancient wonder of Jerusalem, take in the beauty of the Negev Desert, and embrace the innovative spirit of Tel Aviv.
During this 10-day journey, your student will gain a firsthand, in-person perspective of this compelling land and have opportunities to participate in impactful volunteer work and engage in meaningful educational experiences. Safety and security during your student’s trip is our top priority. Each group will be accompanied by a trained security guard from the moment your student lands in Israel until the moment the trip ends. Daily check-ins with staff and students will be conducted, and each group will be accompanied by highlytrained educators and experts. We encourage your student to select a trip and submit their fully-refundable $360 deposit for a trip this summer. To learn more about safety and security measures, please visit https://www.birthrightisrael.com/faq?section= safety_and_security. This trip is a gift from Birthright Israel. The gift of a Birthright Israel trip is made possible thanks to an innovative partnership between Jewish philanthropists, Jewish communities and Federations, the people of Israel through the Government of Israel, tens of thousands of alumni, their families, and individual donors from around the world who believe in our mission.
INFORMATION ANTISEMITIC/HATE INCIDENTS If you encounter an antisemitic or other hate incident, you are not alone. Your first call should be to the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) in Omaha at 402.334.6572, or email JCRCreporting@jewishomaha.org. If you perceive an imminent threat, call 911, and text Safety & Security Manager James Donahue at 402.213.1658.
Visit us at omahajewishpress.com
News LOCA L | N ATION AL | WO RLD
It’s not about the territories but what about the territories? From Hamas’s strategic perspective, the only thing that could have made its Oct. 7 attack even more “successful” would have been had it taken place in the Territories rather than within the Green Line. In addition to the actual devastation wrought, such an attack would not have caused Israel to immediately unite under the slogan “Together We Will Win”; instead, a sizable TEDDY percentage of the country would have WEINBERGER thought: “That’s what’s going to happen if you live in the Territories.” (Ironically, the communities in the Western Negev that were devastated on Oct. 7 were disproportionately populated with those who might have been expected to take such a view.) Given the actual location of the pogrom, however, this war is obviously not about the Territories but about safeguarding the right of Israelis to live in Israel and especially in border communities. To say that Iron Swords is not about the Territories does not of course mean that the Territories are not affected. Indeed, in addition to the IDF’s fronts in Gaza and on the Lebanese border, our troops in the Territories have been very busy over these last three-and-a-half months, as anyone on the “Extended Seymour Family” whatsapp chat can attest. Battalion 43’s Company Seymour, led by Major Elie Weinberger, was stationed near Shilo in the Shomron (Samaria) from the beginning of the war until Jan. 23, when it moved to the Ofer Army Base near Givat Ze’ev. In a letter to the families of his troops to mark the 100th day of the war, Elie offered the following examples of the Company’s work: “We arrested dozens of wanted persons in our area; we
confiscated NIS 350,000 of terrorist funds as well as dozens of stolen and unauthorized vehicles; we blew up the house of Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas commander and a leader of its military; and we defended all the roads and towns in our jurisdiction.” With all this and obviously much more going on throughout the Territories, one cannot help but ask: Is this war going to change Israel’s status quo with the Palestinians? While there are those, such as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who feel that a resolution of the Gaza conflict should include concrete steps toward a Palestinian State, it’s hard to imagine Israel entering such discussions in the near future, given the horrors of Oct. 7. However, I’m bothered by a comment in this connection made to me by a friend. He said that if Israel were to proceed toward a two-state solution with the Palestinians, that would be like rewarding Hamas for its atrocities--since Hamas would then take credit for instigating the process that led to the Palestinian State. I would urge us all to eschew this kind of thinking, for it will never allow us to make peace with our enemies. We cannot object to peace because it will make our enemies happy. If it does turn out that the next Israeli government decides that it is in our best interests to work with the Palestinians toward establishing a state, then I would urge everyone to support this. While it may end up taking many years for such a decision to be made, in the wake of Oct. 7 it’s clear that the status quo in the Territories does not inspire hope for a better future. Teddy Weinberger, Ph.D., made aliyah with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Jane Ross, and their five children, Nathan, Rebecca, Ruthie, Ezra, and Elie, all of whom are veterans of the Israeli Defense Forces; Weinberger can be reached at weinross@gmail.com.
Scholarship reminders Continued from page 4 programs. Jewish students, who are residents of the Omaha metropolitan area, can apply for scholarships for undergraduate, graduate, vocational, technical, professional or yeshiva studies programs. While most scholarships are based on financial need, some college scholarships are merit-based. There are also several scholarship programs available which are outside the realm of the Financial Aid Committee. These include the Sokolof Honor Roll scholarships, the Fellman/ Kooper
scholarships, the Leon Fellman, DDS and A.A. & Ethel Yossem scholarships for Creighton University and the Bennet G. Hornstein Endowment Fund. Sources for additional information on these scholarships is available at www.jewishomaha.org. Omaha’s Jewish families are encouraged to take advantage of these funding opportunities. All financial information is kept completely confidential. For any questions, please call Diane Walker at 402.334.6551 or via email at dwalker@jew ishomaha.org.
2024 HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS PARENTS & SENIORS
We will be publishing our annual High School Graduation Class pages on May 24, 2024. To be included, fill out the form below with a photo and send it to us or you can email the information and photo to: jpress@jewishomaha.org by May 10, 2024. HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR INFORMATION _________________________________________________ Name _________________________________________________ Parent(s)’ Name(s) _________________________________________________ Current High School _________________________________________________ College you plan to attend Send by May 10, 2024 to: The Jewish Press | 333 So. 132 St. | Omaha, NE 68154
The Jewish Press
6 | The Jewish Press | February 2, 2024
News LOC AL | N AT I O N A L | WO R L D
Jewish Family Service is expanding Yachad TERESA DRELICHARZ Through our Yachad Program, Jewish Family Service provides social and educational opportunities to those members of the Jewish community who have developmental disabilities. Currently, the program provides weekly yoga at the JCC, and several monthly activities planned throughout the community. There is no cost to become a member of our group, or to participate in activities. We are excited to announce that we are expanding mem-
bership to include any developmentally disabled individuals in the community, six years of age and older! Activities will be planned with all age groups in mind and facilitated accordingly. Please help us spread the word! If you have a family member or know someone in the Jewish community who might be interested, contact Heather Topil, our Yachad Coordinator, at 402.330.2024, or email at htopil@jfsomaha.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
Child Saving Institute recognizes Debra Kaplan ERIN WEIS Child Saving Institute (CSI) recently awarded seven individuals with various awards for their dedicated commitment to CSI and aiding local families in need of additional support. One of these volunteers was Debra S. Kaplan, who received the A.W. Clark Award. Named after CSI’s founder, this award is being
given to Kaplan for demonstrating vision and continuing outstanding service to children, youth and families in the community. Her passion and tireless volunteer work have been instrumental in supporting CSI in fulfilling its mission. Debra exemplifies the spirit of generosity that lies at the heart of CSI’s purpose: Champion what’s best for each child and family.
Art Hour with Helen Epstein and Margie Gutnik ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor All throughout our building, there are pieces of art, the vast majority donated by Michael Staenberg. It sets a tone, it livens up our building, but how often do we stop and stare? A small group of community members and Jewish Press board members gathered recently to take a closer look. They each selected one art piece, read up on the work and answered questions. Continuing with Helen Epstein and Margie Gutnik, we’re sharing their stories in the Jewish press. Helen and Margie selected Ribbons sculpted in Varia Ecoresin, which is located in the Schlessinger Family Lobby. This piece was created by design company LightArt. Rooted in handmade design, the LightArt studio creates one-of-a-kind chandeliers, sculptural installations, as well as standardized pendants, drums, sconces, and linear fixtures. What do you see? HE: Multicolored ribbons, curled in various ways. MG: It looks like the hard candy I used to eat. What is the first word that comes to mind when you look at it? HE: Gift wrap. MG: Colorful What’s the second one? HE: Candy. MG: Swirly What do you imagine the artists was feeling while creating it? HE: Frustration, because the ribbons wouldn’t lay the way they wanted, like knitting yarn. MG: A free-flowing mind.
Ribbons by Varia Ecoresin
What would you ask the artist if you could? HE: Why did you create this work? What is the story behind it? MG: How did you do this? It would love to have watched this being made. How does this artwork relate to you personally? HE: It makes me think of gifts. MG: It inspires joy. How would you connect this artwork to our Jewish community? HE: It reminds me of the multiple facets of Judaism and how they come together to create one faith. MG: If I think about it without the colors, it could represent the noodles in our chicken soup.
PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS ADVERTISE IN THE JEWISH PRESS Reach the Jewish communities in Omaha, Lincoln, Council Bluffs and surrounding areas. Contact Howard Kutler 402.334.6559 | hkutler@jewishomaha.org
The Jewish Press
The Jewish Press | February 2, 2024 | 7
Above: Berkeley Abramson and Sam Kutler at Chabad and PJ Library’s Youth Challah Bake.
SP O TLIGHT PHOTOS FROM RECENT JEWISH COMMUNITY EVENTS
Top, above, and below: Who knew challah and hot chocolate make an excellent pairing! Thank you to all the families who came out to the PJ Library and Chabad of Nebraska 2nd Youth Challah Bake.
SUBMIT A PHOTO: Have a photo of a recent Jewish Community event you would like to submit? Email the image and a suggested caption to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org.
Top, above, right and below: Sunday, Jan. 21, marked the official opening of the Milton and Marsha Kleinberg Jewish Heritage Center.
Below: Pam Monsky of the JCRC unloads copies of The Children of Willesden Lane that are being given to area middle school students for the Willesden READS project. The culmination of the project is a free concert at the Holland Performing Arts Center featuring book author and piano virtuoso Mona Golabek on March 28. The community is invited to an evening performance. Tickets are available at ticketomaha.com.
GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY
8 | The Jewish Press | February 2, 2024
Voices
The Jewish Press (Founded in 1920)
Margie Gutnik President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Howard Kutler Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Gabby Blair Staff Writer Sam Kricsfeld Digital support Mary Bachteler Accounting Jewish Press Board Margie Gutnik, President; Abigail Kutler, Ex-Officio; Helen Epstein; Andrea Erlich; Seth Feldman; David Finkelstein; Ally Freeman; Mary Sue Grossman; Chuck Lucoff; Suzy Sheldon; Joseph Pinson and Larry Ring. 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 The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in TIF or PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org. Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1.402.334.5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de Kamp-Wright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $40 per calendar year U.S.; $80 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or email to: jpress@jewishomaha.org.
American Jewish Press Association Award Winner
Nebraska Press Association Award winner 2008
National Newspaper Association
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.
Distractions
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor During a forum of senior politicians and Jewish leaders from 25 European countries, hosted by the European Jewish Association in Krakow, Elon Musk said that X, his social media platform, could have saved Jews from the Holocaust. Saving the world in hindsight, what a fantastic idea. “Two thirds of my friends are Jewish,” he also said. “I have twice as many Jewish friends as nonJewish friends. I’m like Jewish by association — I’m aspirationally Jewish.” (Source: Shira Li Bartov, JTA). ‘Aspirationally’ is not a real word. And ‘Jewish by association’ is not a thing. I don’t want to write about Elon Musk saying uneducated stuff. I think sometimes we spend too much time obsessing over what famous people do and say. However, the thought that any form of social media could have saved us from the Holocaust must be addressed. It’s not true, of course. Coulda, woulda, shoulda: we’ll never know because we can’t have a do-over. One simple question: the current misinformation surrounding the terror attack by Hamas and the subsequent war, does social media make it better, or worse? It’s both, really—depending on your algorithm. There is much antisemitism, misinformation and conspiracy and hate out there; there is also a tremendous amount of pro-Jewish and proIsrael content. The social media platforms are not in and of themselves moral; it’s the people who populate it who set the tone.
At that forum in Poland, a presentation was at Americans waving Palestinian flags and calling made imagining what X would look like, had it for Intifadah. Sit with that for a while—now imagbeen available during WW II: ine Goebbels with an Instagram account. “Set to dramatic music, the posts included mesOf course, all of this is a distraction. Musk himself sages such as, ‘The Nazis told the Jews to get inside doesn’t know that, but we do. Antisemitism will the synagogue – entire families, infants in their thrive, with or without social media. As long as mothers’ arms, right? They’ve closed the doors and people need a convenient scapegoat, it will conwindows with metal bars and then SET IT ON FIRE! OH. MY. GOD. The world must know!’ Another post suggested that social media could have improved upon Jewish resistance efforts. ‘It’s time to fight back,’ it said. ‘Join the Jewish Fighting Organization, under my command, and attack Nazis in Warsaw Ghetto!’ And there you have it: victim blaming at its finest. Millions of lives could have been saved, if only the Jews had fought harder. We have Rabbi Menachem Margolin of the European Jewish Association, Elon Musk heard this before. We all like to think that and right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro stand on stage at an EJA conference in were the world to live Krakow, Poland, Jan. 22, 2024. Credit: EJA through the first half of the 20th century again, peo- tinue. There is no shortcut to make it disappear. ple would make different choices. But many of But what if (hear me out) we can work towards those choices are in the world now, and look at making it less relevant? What if we are so strong, what’s happening. Do we really think humanity so proud, so steadfast, that no matter how much learns anything? Look at the United Nations, look they hate us, we still thrive? at the American Left, look at our universities. Look
How US Jewish teens are feeling amid the Israel-Hamas war LYDIA ETTINGER, TY FAULKNER BRANUM, AMI GELMAN, ZOE KLEVENS, ELIZA LAMPERT, OLIVER MASON AND ABIGAIL RUBINSTEIN JTA Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7 was thousands of miles away for Jewish teens in the United States — yet they have found themselves caught in a crossfire of opinions, misinformation and anger about the situation ever since. JTA Teen Journalism Fellows interviewed their peers about what they have been hearing and feeling over the last three weeks. Our reporters discovered that many high schoolers were afraid to go on the record, saying they feared aggravating tensions or didn’t want to get “canceled” within their community. The ones that did agree to talk, however, say they are doing their best to stay strong and feel united, not divided. Some of the teens interviewed expressed their concerns about antisemitism while others offered insight into what’s happening in their social media circles. From Jewish day school students in the West to public school kids in the South, here’s what American Jewish teens have to say about the war between Israel and Hamas. Nathan Arst, 17, Parkway Central High School, St. Louis Being an American teen Jew, if there was one thing I wish adults would know about [us is that] sometimes it can be really hard. For me, I’m fortunate, being surrounded by a strong Jewish community at my school and at my temple, so my community is really supportive. But some of my friends go to schools with small Jewish populations and feel very isolated. People have to keep that in mind. Judaism — you can’t always see it from the outside, unless someone is wearing a form of identification like a necklace or a kippah. You can’t always see it and a lot of Jewish teens are going through a lot of different emotions right now. Avi Askenazi, 14, Denver Academy of Torah, Denver I’m hearing from adults that Israel is trying to do good things to help their citizens and destroy Hamas. [Teens] aren’t taking it as seriously as adults, they think it’s more of a joke than how serious it really is. Some of the jokes are that Hamas
isn’t killing innocent people because no Israelis are comforted, and it gives me hope. innocent. It makes me sad that students make My non-Jewish friends have made jokes about it; jokes about something so serious and sad. they just don’t understand the significance and seAlissa Barnholtz, 17, Parkway Central High riousness of the situation. When I hear jokes from School, St. Louis non-Jewish people, actually, it really upsets me. If It’s hard to understand the complexity of the sit- you don’t know about it, don’t joke about it, don’t uation on social media. Saying it’s retaliation is say anything about it. You need to educate yourself kind of like justifying Hamas. Hamas is antisemitic. before you speak up on a sensitive subject. Their goal is to kill people and Jews. I deleted InstaDeborah Haspel, 16, Yeshivat Kadimah High gram because it was a lot to see. School, University City, Missouri I haven’t personally experienced any antisemitism from this situation but I know people who have. It’s sad and it’s scary because I love being Jewish. I’m so happy to be Jewish, but right now I’m so scared to be Jewish. Right now, I’m lighting Shabbat candles with my family every Friday night which makes me feel better and makes me feel more connected to the community. Elsie Cohen, 17, Latin School of Jewish teens from across the country shared their thoughts and Chicago, Chicago views on the Israel-Hamas war. Credit: Design by Grace Yagel Most people around me are not discussing the war, which feels really lonely. I underWhen talking about the whole situation in Israel stand that it is a difficult topic to talk about, but it with my peers, there has been a lot of frustration has to be discussed, and ignoring it makes my Jew- and sadness. Everyone is worried, really worried. ish peers and me feel alone. We are making sure we are praying and donating I have never felt bad about being outwardly Jewish to the IDF. It’s a very difficult situation. It puts a in the past, especially considering I attended a Jew- strain on everything. Making sure we are contributish school up until high school. However, in recent ing and praying — it’s pretty much all we can do. weeks, I have felt uncomfortable displaying my idenRachel Katzke, 18, The Masters School, Ardtity, and uncomfortable talking about the situation sley, New York with those who are openly against my entire religion I refuse to be ashamed of my Judaism. Once and people. I feel afraid to walk around wearing my again this conflict is so complex and hard and deStar of David necklace and I feel awkward being one pressing that, yes, there are some things I purely of few Jewish people in my small school. cannot defend, like videos of IDF soldiers putting Nate Friedman, 17, Riverwood Interna- cement in the water pipes in the West Bank, but tional Charter School, Atlanta there are other cases where people don’t know conFrom my Jewish friends, everyone’s really in- text and that I can defend. formed, and they all know about it, and everyone I feel on social media the words “colonizers” and discusses how they’re disgusted by it. The main “open-air prisons” just egg people on. When there topic of discussion is just how there’s a lot of prop- is an infographic about how we are “colonizers” aganda and how [other] people are really misin- then everyone in the comments says “Free Palesformed about what’s going on in Israel and the tine” it just feeds into the perspective that we are truth. We talk together, support each other and give colonizers and that we have never lived in this land. each other a little pick-me-up to let each other This article was edited for length, Read the know it’s going to be okay. It really makes me feel full story at www.omahajewishpress.com.
The Jewish Press | February 2, 2024 | 9
When Elie Wiesel came to my summer camp, and what he taught me about speaking the unspeakable RABBI DIANE ELLIOT This article initially appeared in My Jewish Learning Shabbat newsletter Recharge | JTA It was August 1966, the summer before my senior year of high school, and I was attending a Reform movement summer camp in Wisconsin when Elie Wiesel came for a visit. Wiesel’s Night, a spare, searing memoir of the 11 months he spent in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, had been published in English just a few years before. Now Wiesel would come to a different kind of camp to meet with a bunch of American high-schoolers to get a taste of our experience and offer us a window into his. The day of his arrival, I saw him from afar walking with the rabbis, a thin, dark-haired man, chest concave — enwrapped, it seemed to me, in a mist of sadness, not fully of this world. I had not yet read Night, but I knew that he had lived through something unimaginable, and I was both drawn to him and vaguely horrified, as if I were about to approach someone bearing a grave, open wound. That afternoon we sat rapt, packed into the airless Quonset hut that served as our social hall, listening to Wiesel describe what he endured and barely survived some 20 years earlier, when he was the same age as his audience. He spoke in a low voice, devoid of affect. I don’t remember the particulars, but I can still feel the reverberations in my body. You could have heard a pin drop as we strained to understand his RomanianYiddish accented English. I had been asked to write a poem expressing the essence of philosopher Martin Buber’s concept of I and Thou, the idea that one may experience the divine by being wholly present with another. That night I read my poem during the evening service in our outdoor chapel, stars shimmering above the treetops. Wiesel sat quietly at one end of a wooden bench, folded into himself. As the service ended, he approached me, gripped my arm with a ferocious strength and said with quiet intensity, as if to emboss the words on my soul, “Dat vas veddy gud.” Thrilled,
I ran off by myself to lie beneath the stars and savor his praise. I wonder what it must have been like for this European refugee, a survivor destined for greatness as a writer, speaker, teacher, activist and eloquent witness to the destruction of European Jewry, to encounter a group of well-fed, comfortable American teenagers, enjoying our privileged suburban lives, just waking up to the racial injustices in our own country and
Elie Wiesel in Paris after being awarded the French literature Medicis prize for his novel Le Mendiant de Jerusalem, Nov. 26, 1968. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
to the war gathering steam in the jungles of southeast Asia, but mostly oblivious to the suffering in so much of the world, even to the traumas embedded in our own lineages. For me, meeting him was an initiation, a window into a world of religious piety, human suffering and courageous resilience. I sensed in him a kindred poet-mystic, as perhaps he did in me. At his request I sent him my Buber poem and others. He sent back notes of encouragement, which I keep in a manila folder marked “Historical Materials,” and which I read from time to time, a memento of my younger yearning self, reaching for a connection backward in time, outward to the world, and inward to my own soul. Perhaps Elie Wiesel would
have been less surprised than I to find myself, some 40 years later, being ordained as a rabbi. I have often reflected on the 10 years it took Wiesel to begin to write or speak about the horrors he experienced. Maybe like Moses, he had to spend time in the wilderness tending other flocks before the call to speak for the living and the dead flamed up in him like a burning bush, unquenchable. Perhaps his heart still needed to hold on to the boy he had been before the war, measuring the weight of his anger, shame and grief before he could speak the unspeakable. How much longer has it taken a shocked humanity to begin to process those devastating years of the Holocaust? Two decades of relative silence gave way to what has become, more than 75 years later, a flood of memoir, film, poetry, fiction, choreography, museums and monuments, mostly created and curated not by those who lived it, but by their children and grandchildren. It has taken lifetimes — generations of slow digestion and gradual openings of heart and mind. How much time, how much holding does it take for a collective nightmare to be felt through and digested? The prophet Ezekiel, speaking to his own vanquished people in exile nearly 2,500 years ago, offers God’s stunning promise of renewal: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” In this time of polycrisis, when images of horror and destruction flash across our computer screens hourly, I wonder how long it will take to revivify our hearts, how many generations to begin to feel, absorb and heal. Rabbi Diane Elliot is a spiritual leader and somatic therapist. She leads retreats, teaches nationally, and works with individuals in spiritual direction. Learn more about her work at www.whollypresent.org. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.
The best Jewish books I read in 2023 ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL JTA When I spoke with novelist Elizabeth Graver in August about her novel Kantika — inspired by her own Turkish Jewish family — I asked her how she managed to breathe life into a tired genre like the Jewish family saga. “I want the characters to be flawed and complex, and for the turns that they take to come out of their intersections with both history and their own very particular circumstances,” she told me. The flawed and the complex; the historic and the particular. These are the qualities that I look for in a good book. Below are some of the Jewish books I read and enjoyed in 2023. Nearly all reflect Jewish reality before Oct. 7; I suspect next year’s list will include a slew of books dealing with the crisis in Israel or will be read through the lens of the war. NONFICTION Jonathan Rosen’s memoir, The Best Minds: A Story Of Friendship, Madness, And The Tragedy Of Good Intentions, deserves all the accolades it has received. The former arts editor of the Forward writes about his friendship with Michael Laudor, a Yale Law School graduate whose brilliance and schizophrenia made him a sort of poster child for the successful mainstreaming of the mentally ill until it all went tragically, shockingly wrong. It’s also a beautifully told story about growing up precocious and Jewish in suburban New Rochelle, New York, and how Judaism can be both a balm and an astringent for those under the throes of psychosis. In Happily, fairy tales are the prompts for a series of dreamy and rigorous biographical essays by Sabrina Orah Mark on “motherhood, and marriage, and America, and weather, and loneliness, and failure, and inheritance, and love.” And, as the New York Times noted, Mark deals with raising two “Black Jewish boys in a time of rising antisemitism.” I also enjoyed another collection of biographical essays, Immigrant Baggage, by Boston College professor Maxim Shrayer. A former Soviet refusenik who immigrated to the United States in 1987, Shrayer writes about life as a “translingual” father, husband and writer who finds wisdom and the absurd in all the languages that he speaks. Bruno Schulz: An Artist, a Murder, and the Hijacking of History is a page-turning literary detective story by Benjamin Balint, exploring the all-too-short life and unlikely legacy of enigmatic Polish-Jewish writer and artist Bruno Schulz. Balint’s book prompted me to finally read Schulz’s best-known book, the hallucinatory The Street of Crocodiles, and two contemporary works of fiction that draw on Schulz’s biography: The Prague Orgy by Philip Roth and The Messiah of Stockholm by Cynthia Ozick. In The Literary Mafia: Jews, Publishing, and Postwar American
Literature, Joshua Lambert debunks the myth that Jewish intellectuals had an iron grip on what was read and reviewed in the post-war years — even as he celebrates the era’s undeniable burst of Jewish creativity and influence. One of those influential figures was Robert Gottlieb, the legendary editor at Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf and The New Yorker, whose charming, gossipy memoir, Avid Reader, I avidly read (actually, listened to: Gottlieb narrated the audiobook) after he died in June. That led me to Gottlieb’s 2013 biography, Sarah: The Life
Credit: JTA collage by Mollie Suss
of Sarah Bernhardt, which helps the reader understand the appeal of the beloved French Jewish actress in the context of the theatrical conventions of her day. Bernhardt’s florid stagecraft couldn’t have been more different from the naturalistic acting style that Isaac Butler describes in “The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act.” The Jewish acting teachers Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg and Harold Klurman play central roles in Butler’s engaging history of the modern theater. And just before the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas, I read A Day in the Life of Abed Salam” by the Jerusalem-based Jewish writer Nathan Thrall. The book, a challenging account of a deadly school bus crash in East Jerusalem, is a forensic examination of the inequalities and indignities that stateless Palestinians face on a daily basis. You don’t have to agree with Thrall’s politics to learn from the realities and complexities that he describes. FICTION Many of the short stories in Iddo Gefen’s collection Jerusalem Beach start with a high concept — What if a start-up could manufacture dreams? Or a radio could pick up the thoughts of passers-by? — but they are always grounded in the Israeli reality. Indeed, one of his concepts, about a geriatric soldier who returns to the front, foreshadowed a real-life event, when retired general Noam Tibon raced from Tel Aviv to Kibbutz Nahal Oz to rescue his son’s family from Hamas terrorists. James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store was in-
spired by his own Jewish grandmother, who ran a grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, in the 1930s and ’40s. McBride’s recreation of the place and time is a rollicking story of two communities coming together around a common, racist enemy. I love how The Golem of Brooklyn starts with a summary of a novel that Adam Mansbach decided not to write, then literally lurches into a hilarious imagining of an avenging Jewish Frankenstein’s monster coming to life in one of the less-hip neighborhoods of Brooklyn. It’s a Jewish road trip novel that confronts the persistence of antisemitism. If you are yearning for a sprawling satirical novel about a liberal Jewish family making spectacularly bad choices, then Hope by Andrew Ridker is the book for you. Set in Brookline, Massachusetts, Hope has good, smart fun with synagogue social justice committees, Birthright Israel trips and Obama-era optimism. AUTHORS Jenny Caplan’s book, Funny, You Don’t Look Funny: Judaism and Humor from the Silent Generation to Millennials, deals with the way North American Jewish comedy has evolved since World War II, with a focus on how humorists relate to Judaism as a religion. In Mel Brooks: Disobedient Jew, Jeremy Dauber describes the parody Brooks mastered as “nothing less than the essential statement of American Jewish tension between them and us, culturally speaking; between affection for the mainstream and alienation from it.” In The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, the religion reporter and writing professor Jeff Sharlet chronicled his recent journeys across America interviewing QAnon acolytes, Christian nationalists, proud misogynists, unrepentant January 6ers, armed militia men and strict anti-abortion activists — all still in thrall to Donald Trump. Letty Cottin Pogrebin’s latest book, Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy, is about a generation of Jews and new Americans “bent on saving face and determined to be, if not exemplary, at least impeccably respectable.” Rabbi Diana Fersko wrote We Need to Talk About Antisemitism in response to congregants who were experiencing anti-Jewish hatred as they never had before. In Dwell Time: A Memoir of Art, Exile, and Repair, art conservator Rosa Lowinger, uses the tools and materials of her profession — stone, tile, metal, marble — as metaphors to tell how her Jewish family came to Cuba and fled after the revolution, and what they found and lost when they settled in Miami. Try as I might, she writes, “I can never get my mother to understand that conservation is not about repairing what is old. It’s about sustaining all fabric of human endeavor, what people treasure, where we live, and what we honor, no matter when it was made.
Synagogues
10 | The Jewish Press | February 2, 2024
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
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street Omaha, NE 68154
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
B’NAI ISRAEL Monthly Speaker Series Service, Friday, Feb. 9, 7:30 p.m. with our guest speakers, Jane Rips, the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society Executive Director and Jennifer Garza, the Director of Archives and Collections for NJHS. 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: Renee Corcoran, Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Ann Moshman, Mary-Beth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.
BETH EL 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: Pre-Neg & Tot Shabbat, 5:30 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Jr. Congregation (Grades K-12), 10 a.m.; Kiddush Lunch sponsored by the Saltzman Family following services; Havdalah, 6:20 p.m. Zoom Only. SUNDAY: BESTT (Grades K-7), 9:30 a.m.; Hebrew Reading for Adults, 10:30 a.m. with Hazzan Krausman; Adult B’nai Mitzvah, 11:15 a.m. with Hazzan Krausman; Beth El Trivia Challenge, 12:30 p.m. TUESDAY: Pirkei Avot, 10:30 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham. WEDNESDAY: Tai Chi, noon with Beth Staenberg; BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4:15 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 6 p.m. THURSDAY: PJP What Jews Think Series: Dr. Eugene Sheppard, 7:30 p.m. FRIDAY-Feb 9: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. SATURDAY-Feb. 10: Shabbat Morning Service, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Jr. Congregation (Grades K-12), 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 6:25 p.m. Zoom Only. Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.
BETH ISRAEL FRIDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 5:24 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Kids Kiddush Club, 11:15 a.m.; Soulful Torah: Unpacking the Or HaChayim’s Teachings, 4:25 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:10 p.m.; Laws of Shabbos/Kids Activity, 5:40 p.m.; Havdalah, 6:27 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Kinyan HaMasechta, 9:40 a.m.; Men’s Spin & Torah Class, 11 a.m.; Duties of the Heart, 3 p.m. with Rabbi Geiger; 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.; Kinyan HaMasechta following Mincha/Ma’ariv. 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.; Character Development Class, 9:30 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m.; Parsha Class, 5:50 p.m.; Kinyan HaMasechta following Mincha/Ma’ariv. FRIDAY-Feb 9: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Candlelighting, 5:33 p.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat, 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY-Feb. 10: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Kids Kiddush Club, 11:15 a.m.; Soulful Torah: Unpacking the Or HaChayim’s Teachings, 4:30 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:20 p.m.; Laws of Shabbos/Kids Activity, 5:50 p.m.; Havdalah, 6:35 p.m.
CHABAD HOUSE Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links. All services are in-person. All classes are being offered in-person and via Zoom (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.; Inspirational Lechayim, 5 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ochabad.com/Lecha yim; Candlelighting, 5:23 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 6:25 p.m. SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps: Shacharit, 99:30 a.m., Video Presentation, 9:30 a.m. and Breakfast, 9:45 a.m.; Torah and Tea, 10:30-11:15 a.m. MONDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Personal Parsha, 9:30 a.m.; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen. TUESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 7 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen. WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Mystical Thinking (Tanya), 9:30 a.m.; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen. THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study (Sanhedrin 34), noon; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) Class, 7 p.m. FRIDAY-Feb 9: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Inspirational Lechayim, 5 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ochabad. com/Lechayim; Candlelighting, 5:32 p.m. SATURDAY-Feb. 10: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 6:33 p.m.
LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE
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.
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME
The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home’s service is currently closed to visitors.
TEMPLE ISRAEL
In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Benjamin Sharff, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin, and Cantor Joanna Alexander FRIDAY: Drop in Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat B’yachad Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom. SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom. SUNDAY: Grades PreK-7, 9:30 a.m.; Temple Tots Sunday, 10 a.m.; Coffee and Conversation with Board Members, 10 a.m. WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m. In-Person; Grades 36, 4:30 p.m.; Grades 8-12 Teen Lounge Night, 6 p.m. THURSDAY: Rosh Chodesh Event, 7:15 p.m. at Josyln Castle. RSVP Required. FRIDAY-Feb 9: Drop in Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m. InPerson; Tot Shabbat, 5:45 p.m. In-Person; Classic Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom. SATURDAY-Feb. 3: 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.
Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch.
Rabbi Geiger’s Weekly Torah Expedition PARASHA MISHPATIM When living in N.Y., my mother, a born and bred Angelio, struggled with the winter weather. So, to make herself feel better, she would look at the weather forecast in even colder places. I once heard about a man sentenced to prison in just such RABBI a place many years ago. He MORDECHAI was sent to Siberia for prac- GEIGER ticing his Judaism. While Beth Israel there, he was given a grueling task: pushing a very heavy wheel. He was told that this wheel was attached to a system used for something important for his fellow inmates. Although the task was challenging and it was freezing cold outside, the thought that he was doing something meaningful gave him purpose and motivation to get through the day.
All services offered in-person with live-stream or teleconferencing options. FRIDAY: Shabbat Candlelighting, 5:27 p.m.; Erev Shabbat Service with Rabbi Alex, 6:30 p.m. at SST. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parashat Yitro; Havdalah, 6:29 p.m. SUNDAY: LJCS Classes, 9:30 a.m.-noon at SST; Men’s Bike/Coffee Group, 10:30 a.m. in the Conference Room at Rock 'n Joe (5025 Lindbergh St.). For more information or questions please email Al Weiss at albertw 801@gmail.com; Pickleball, 3-5 p.m. Anyone interested in playing or learning how to play can text Miriam at 402.470.2393. If there are enough interested people; we will play in the Social Hall at TI. MONDAY: Mutual Review Committe Meeting, 7 p.m. at SST. WEDNESDAY: LJCS Hebrew School, 4:30-6 p.m; Richard Kohn Improv Practice. 7-9 p.m. at SST. FRIDAY-Feb 9: Shabbat Candlelighting, 5:35 p.m.; Erev Shabbat Service with Rabbi Alex, 6:30 p.m. at SST. SATURDAY-Feb. 10: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parashat Mishpatim; Havdalah, 6:37 p.m.
But when his time was up, the guards performed a torture worse than all the previous years combined. They showed him that his wheel connected to nothing. He had been wasting his effort for all those years. This, more than anything else, was what broke him. Last week, we explained that the Jews merited the Torah because they said they would do what Gd said, even though they didn’t understand why. We love and trust G-d that much! But this week, parsha begins, “These are the rules that you shall set before them” (Exodos 21:1). Rabbi Feinstein explains that G-d told Moses to explain the reasons for the commandments. The more the Jewish people understand the meaning behind what they do, the easier it will be for them to do it. Let us not think we are like the prisoner in Siberia, following pointless rules and customs. There is so much depth and meaning in the Torah; we just have to take the time to find it.
See full digital issues: omahajewishpress.com/eedition
IHE 3rd Thursday Lunch & Learn On Feb. 15 at 11:30 a.m. by Zoom, Eadie Tsabari will be presenting the testimony of her father, Holocaust Survivor, Joe Fishel. Eadie is the newest member of our Seco n d - G e n e ra t i o n Holocaust Speakers Bureau. Joe was born in Poland in 1921. Joe arrived at Auschwitz on September 30, 1944, and was liberated from Dachau. After the Holocaust, Joe came to live in Omaha, NE. For more information regarding 3rd Thursday programming at IHE, or to RSVP please reach out to Scott Littky, Executive Director of IHE, at slittky@ihene.org.
The Jewish Press | February 2, 2024 | 11
Life cycles IN MEMORIAM
DORIS PARKER Doris Parker passed away on Jan. 20, 2024 in Omaha. Services were held Jan. 24, 2024, at Temple Israel Cemetery and were officiated by Rabbi Sharff. She was preceded in death by her parents, Frances and Aaron, and her husband, Milton. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Monica and Ben Nemani; son, Gary Parker; grandchildren: Aryn and Peter Nemani; and brother and sister-in-law, Jerry and Millie Singer. Doris was known for her kindness, tenacity, passion for teaching and love for Judaism. She will be remembered for the laughter she gifted, the wisdom she shared, and the love she generously bestowed. Memorials may be made to the Israel Emergency Fund, Nebraska Humane Society, and Lauritzen Gardens.
SUBMIT OBITUARIES TO THE JEWISH PRESS: Email the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; mail to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; or online at online at www.omahajewishpress.com/site/forms/.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor, Please let Jewish Press readers know about the current fundraiser for rehab equipment for the wounded soldiers who need to be retrained how to walk. As the conflict persists, we are seeing a major increase in the need for rehabilitative care among wounded civilians and soldiers. Roughly one-third of the thousands of casualties will require specialized rehabilitation. Among those patients, some 70% will require targeted neurological care for injuries to the brain, spinal cord, or nervous system. Many soldiers and civilians injured during this war have already begun their journey toward healing at Hadassah. Hadassah Hospital is committed to promoting the quality of care for patients in the state-of-the-art Rehabilitation Center, which will open in 2024. The Occupational Therapy Department serves over 1,000 people a year. Occupational therapy is the most important component of the rehabilitation process after injury and complicated surgeries, therefore patients and therapists need to rebuild life skills together and increase the chance of recovery. For more information and to help, please visit https://web.causematch.com/donate/hadassah-israel-pef. NANCY COREN
PEOPLE WHO READ NEWSPAPERS ARE
STUDENTS WITH BETTER GRADES
It all starts with Newspapers.
Pulverent e MONUMENT CO.
Family Owned and Operated Over 60 Years Experience With Jewish Lettering and Memorials
1439 So. 13th
402-341-2452
More countries cut funding to UNRWA “The Agency runs shelters for over 1 million people and proRON KAMPEAS vides food and primary healthcare even at the height of the WASHINGTON | JTA A growing number of countries has suspended funding to hostilities,” Lazzarini said. the main United Nations agency aiding Palestinians in the Other top U.N. officials, including Secretary General Anwake of allegations that a number of its staffers were involved tónio Guterres and World Health Organization Director Genin Hamas’ Oct. 7 maseral Tedros Adhanom sacre in Israel. Ghebreyesus, joined in The U.N. Relief and expressing alarm at Works Agency for what the cuts will Palestine Refugees, mean. known as UNRWA, “The abhorrent alprotested the cuts, sayleged acts of these staff ing that they were acmembers must have celerating an oncoming consequences. But the famine in the Gaza tens of thousands of Strip. The agency was men and women who founded to administer work for UNRWA, many relief to Palestinian in some of the most refugees and their dedangerous situations scendants and is the UNRWA distributes flour to Palestinian refugees in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, for humanitarian workmain provider of aid in Nov. 22, 2023. Credit: Ahmad Hasaballah/ Getty Images ers, should not be peGaza, where it employs about 12,000 people from a total staff nalized,” Guterres said. “The dire needs of the desperate of 30,000. populations they serve must be met.” The United States and European Union have announced It’s not clear how much the cuts from the group of nations that they are suspending new funding for UNRWA, in addition will affect the agency, but the United States alone provides a to Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and other third of UNRWA’s funding. A number of nations, including Irecountries. land and Norway, said they would continue funding the The cuts follow reports that the agency’s staffers partici- agency. pated in the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas terrorists killed “We must distinguish between what individuals may have 1,200 Israelis and took some 250 hostage, sparking the current done and what UNRWA stands for,” Espen Barth Eide, the war. The Wall Street Journal cited intelligence sources who Norwegian foreign minister, said in a statement. “The people said ties between Hamas and the agency run deeper than pre- of Gaza urgently need humanitarian assistance and must not viously known, with 10% of UNRWA staffers implicated in the pay the price for the actions of others.” activities of Hamas. UNRWA last week fired 12 staffers after The Wall Street Journal reviewed the intelligence reports the Israel shared evidence that they were involved in the massacre. United States received from Israel. The reports said that 1,200 Israel has long accused UNRWA of complicity in Hamas’ of the agency’s 12,000 employees in Gaza have ties to Hamas, malign activities. UNRWA staff have said Hamas has stashed including 23% of its male employees. The Journal did not say weaponry in its schools, and Israel has said Hamas tunnels which countries aside from Israel provided intelligence. run underneath UNRWA facilities. Of the 12 fired employees, at least two were involved in kidUNRWA’s commissioner general, Philip Lazzarini, said the nappings, another two were tracked to the sites of massacres, cuts were threatening the “primary international agency” ac- and others provided logistical support, the intelligence said. tive in Gaza, nearly four months into the Israel-Hamas war More than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel that has devastated much of the strip. launched counterstrikes following Hamas’ attack, including “Many are hungry as the clock is ticking towards a looming thousands of children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled famine,” Lazzarini said in a statement. International health health ministry. Israel does not dispute those numbers, and agencies say the 2.3 million people of Gaza, most of whom says about a third are combatants. UBNRWA says that 152 of have been displaced by the war, are facing starvation. its staffers have been killed.
NEBRASKA STATEWIDE CLASSIFIEDS
ANNOUNCEMENT ATTENTION ADVERTISERS! For $225/25 word classified you can advertise in over 150 Nebraska newspapers. For more information contact the Jewish Press or call 1-800-369-2850.
HELLO NEBRASKA! Introducing www.nepublicnotices.com, a new public notice website presented as a public service by all Nebraska newspapers. Free access, fully searchable – because democracy depends upon open government and your right to know.
AFFORDABLE PRESS Release service. Send your message to 155 newspapers across Nebraska for one low price! Call 1-800-3692850 or www.nebpress.com for more details.
FOR SALE - SENIORS PORTABLE OXYGEN Concentrator? May be covered by Medicare! Reclaim independence and mobility with the compact design and long-lasting battery of Inogen One. Free information kit! Call 855385-3580.
FOR SALE - UTILITIES PREPARE FOR power outages today with a Generac Home Standby Generator Act now to receive a FREE 7-Year warranty with qualifying purchase* Call 1-402-899-2584 today to schedule a free quote. It’s not just a generator. It’s a power move. HELP WANTED FREY PIVOT Service, Stapleton seeks a hands-on individual for daily operations, gearbox lubrication, pivot checks. Mechanical knowledge required. Welding/electrical experience a plus. Full benefits, starting at $18/hr. Housing available. 308-636-2327.
HOME SERVICES DOES YOUR basement or crawl space need some attention? Call Thrasher Foundation Repair! A permanent solution for waterproofing, failing foundations, sinking concrete and nasty crawl spaces. FREE Inspection & Same Day Estimate. $250 off ANY project with code GET250. Call 1-844-958-3431.
THE BATHROOM of your dreams in as little as 1 day. Limited Time Offer - $1000 off or No Payments and No Interest for 18 months for customers who qualify. BCI Bath & Shower. Many options available. Quality materials & professional installation. Senior & Military Discounts Available. Call Today! 1-855-451-2244.
12 | The Jewish Press | February 2, 2024
News LOC AL | N AT I O N A L | WO R L D
Israelis speak at UNO DR. JEANNETTE GABRIEL Schwalb Center for Israel & Jewish Studies at UNO Director The Schwalb Center for Israel & Jewish Studies invites the Omaha Jewish community to two events at University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) in February that will feature Israelis from many different backgrounds speaking about their lives and experiences. These indepth explorations of identity and coexistence present a deeper understanding of the Israeli experience in contrast to what is seen in the mainstream media. DEFYING THE DEFINED The first event will highlight the experiences of an International Israeli student studying at UNO. Leigha/Lyiya Moore, a junior in the College of Business Administration, will present, Defying the Defined: Exploring the Complexity of a Japanese-Israeli Identity in Nebraska on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Community Engagement Center on the UNO campus. Free parking is available in the CEC lot for community members. This presentation will examine how her unique background of being both Japanese and Israeli has shaped her outlook. Leigha will examine the intricacies and nuances of this mixed identity and challenge the limited ways she has been defined by others. Born and raised in Jerusalem to an Israeli mother and a Japanese father, Leigha was brought up in an Orthodox home and speaks Hebrew, Yiddish, and Japanese fluently. On her passport she is officially designated as an Asian-Israeli. This small group of Israelis represents 2% of the overall population or about 180,000 people. Very little public attention had been given to this group in Israel until the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7. One of the hostages, Noa Argamani, a young woman abducted from the Re’im music festival, drew international attention due to her Chinese roots. Her case has been widely reported in both Chinese and international media and hu-
Leigha Moore
Rabbi Or Zohar
Ghadir Hani
Father Saba Haj
manitarian appeals have been made to Hamas for Noa’s released based on her mother’s terminal medical condition with stage four brain cancer. The Israeli Census Bureau is preparing a special report on
the breakdown of ethnicities within the Asian-Israeli categorization which will present new information about this small group. Leigha’s experiences differ even with this category in that her mother was Israeli as compared to her Asian-Israeli counterparts who overwhelmingly come from households with Asian mothers and Israeli fathers. Leigha’s dynamic presentation will examine how both these very different and yet intertwined cultures have shaped her journey. BUILDING COEXISTENCE IN A SHARED SOCIETY The next day, on Thursday, Feb. 22 the Schwalb Center will co-host a Human Rights Forum featuring Israeli leaders from The Spirit of Galilee Association. This panel discussion, Shared Society in the Time of War: Interreligious Voices from Israel is cosponsored with the Goldstein Center for Human Rights, the Islamic Studies Program, the Department of Religious Studies, and the Goldstein Family Chair in Human Rights and is being held in collaboration with Temple Israel. The panel will feature Rabbi Or Zohar, the Reform Rabbi of the Misgav region and founder and director of The Spirit of Galilee; Ghadir Hani, who is Director of an Arab women’s organization, the Mahhal-li project (A Place to Call My Own) in Akko who is also a renowned activist from the Negev region and a national leader in the Standing Together Movement; and Father Saba Haj, the head of the Greek Orthodox Christian community in Ibillin near Nazareth. The Schwalb Center will provide an overview of Shared Society movements within Israel, and panelists will discuss their collaborations together and challenges they have faced during this period of conflict. This lunchtime event from 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. will be held on the UNO campus and a Zoom option is also available. For more information on both these events, please contact the Schwalb Center at 402.554.2788 or visit our website.
PRIMARY ELECTION Publishing date | 04.12.24 Space reservation | 04.02.24 Contact our advertising executive to promote yourself in this very special edition.
Howard Kutler | 402.334.6559 | hkutler@jewishomaha.org