Life cycles

IN MEMORIAM

IRVING B EPSTEIN

Irving B Epstein passed away on Dec. 25, 2022, in Omaha. Services were held on Dec. 28, 2022, at Golden Hill Cemetery and were officiated by Rabbi Dembitzer. He was preceded in death by Geri, his wife of 66 years and son Dr. Barry E. Epstein. He is survived by daughters, Leslie Epstein and Cynthia Epstein; son-in-law, David Wiesman; and grandsons, Harison and Mathew. A fellow of the Nebraska Bar Association, Irving was an attorney for over 75 years after graduating early from Creighton. He was part of the JAG Corp during the Korean War. He initially worked as an Omaha City Attorney and then went on to private practice. He enjoyed traveling, art, and his grandchildren. Among many other awards, he recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his volunteer legal help at Beth Israel Synagogue. Memorials may be made to the Dr. Barry E. Epstein Health Care Scholarship Fund c/o Jewish Federation of Omaha or to the organization of your choice.

HAROLD M. FRIEDMAN

Harold M. Friedman passed away on Dec. 30, 2022, at age 86 in Omaha. In accordance with his wishes, he was cremated at Heafey Hoffman Dworak Cutler without a service. He was preceded in death by his parents, Merriam (Hollander) and Harry Friedman. He is survived by a brother and sister-in-law, James and Cheri Friedman of Minneapolis; sister, Cheryl Smith of Cedar Falls, IA; and several nieces and nephews. A lifelong resident of Omaha, Harold had many good friends in the community. He graduated from what is now the University of Nebraska at Omaha and began his working life in the field of social work because he enjoyed making a difference in people’s lives. Later, he transitioned into sales and retired as the Sales Director at Brown Transfer. Harold loved the outdoors and spent many vacations at national parks hiking, snow mobiling and jet skiing. As a younger man, he enjoyed playing hockey, baseball, and football. Memorials may be made to St Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

JEFFREY MICHAEL STERN, SR.

Jeffrey Michael Stern, Sr., of Birmingham, AL, devoted father, friend, and husband, passed away on Dec. 26, 2022. A graveside service was held on Dec. 29, at Elmwood Cemetery. He is preceded in death by his parents, Harold Stern and Lillian Schrager, and his brother, Richard Stern, all of Omaha. He is survived by his wife Laura “Lolly” Stern; son, Jeffery “Jay” Michael Stern, Jr. and daughter and son-in-law, Melinda “Mimi” and Lester Gammon; step-children, Courtney Lanter and Cole Lanter; sister and brother-in-law, Cheryl and Raymond Norton; sister-in-law, Judith Stern; nine nieces and nephews; eleven grand-nieces and nephews; two great-grand nieces and nephews, and his dear Labradoodle, Henrietta Wilson. Jeff was born on Oct. 19, 1943, on an army base in Alexandria, LA, while his father, Harold Stern, was serving as a major in the European Theater during WWII. As a youth in Omaha, he worked for his uncle Morton Friedlander at the family grocery store, which kindled an entrepreneurial spirit. As a young man he moved to Houston, TX, where he entered an executive training program at Foley’s Department Store and served in the National Guard. After meeting and marrying Felice Ann Stern (now Goldstein), Jeff began working for his father-in-law, Max Stern Jr., at American Peerless Laundry, Inc, in Birmingham, AL. In 1973, Jeff started Rite Way Services, Inc., a commercial janitorial cleaning company, with little more than a mop, a broom and a truck. Although he was incredibly proud of the later successes of his company, he claimed it was due to hiring “the right people,” rather than any special talent. He always preferred to tell people he was a janitor rather than a CEO. In his retirement, Jeff’s main hobbies were traveling and boating. He found a way to combine the two by exploring The Great Loop with Lolly, on their boat, Knot So Fast. He also enjoyed fishing, cooking, woodturning, and cleaning up after people before they were done eating. Jeffrey touched so many lives through his fun and generous spirit and loyal friendship. His memory will be a blessing to all who were fortunate to know him. Memorials may be made in Jeff’s name to Saint Jude’s Hospital.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor, l also have fond memories of B’nai Israel Synagogue and Beth Hamidrash Hagodol and recall them frequently. My parents were members of both, although although I do not recall if it was simultaneous. At approximately eight years of age, I was enrolled in the Omaha City Talmud Torah at 20th and Dodge across the street from Omaha Central High School. Classes were after school and I took public transportation with no problems at that time. My Melamed at Omaha City Talmud Torah was Mar. Judah Wolfson of blessed memory. What an exceptional teacher. In addition to his duties at the Talmud Torah he was in charge of the Junior Congregation at Bnai Israel. It is because of his mentorship that I and others such as Perry London and Norman Shyken learned to lead Schachris and Musaf. We were the Chazzonim. When it came time for Krias Hatorah we would go upstairs to the adult service and return to ours when it was finished.

B’SHALOM, MARSHALL N. FORBES

Dear Bob Goldberg, Omaha is so lucky to have you. I enjoyed your article in the Jewish Press about BBYO. To think AZA #1 was in Omaha a generation before you! In my day, BBYO was everything. My brothers David and Stanley were proud members of AZA #1 along with your father Frank. As I meet younger people from around the country, some have never heard of BBYO. What a shame! When I tell them about my experience, they just look at me with a lost expression. That scares me. There are many reasons that youth organizations are fading and it has a lot to do with social media. I have no answer. My high school years, 1959-1963, because of BBYO, were the best years of my life. The JCC was across the street from Central and we went there many days after school. The boys showed off playing basketball and the girls watched us.

MARSHALL WIDMAN

Steve Bogushawl, left, Tony Bradford, David Forbes, Bill Kutler shooting basketball, Marshall Widman, John Spitzer, Sherman Poska, Stewart Forbes and Barry Goldware. (Not sure of the spelling of the names). Good luck in your hometown of Omaha.

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Oman, once thought to be next Abraham Accords signer, criminalizes relations with Israel

DAVID I. KLEIN

JTA Just a few years ago, Oman was expected to be next in line after Morocco, Sudan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to sign onto the Abraham Accords normalization agreements with Israel. On Dec. 30, the country’s parliament voted to criminalize any relations or interactions with “the Zionist entity.” While the exact details have not been made public, the new law seems to be broadly applied. “The brothers, Your Excellencies, looked at the development taking place, whether it was technical, cultural, economic or sports, and proposed additional amendments that include severing any economic, sports or cultural relations and prohibiting dealing in any way or means, whether it was a real meeting, an electronic meeting or something else,” said Yaqoub Al-Harithi, vice president of the Omani parliament, about the bill, according to Oman’s WAF news agency. The sultanate at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, where the Indian Ocean meets the Persian Gulf, was for a long time closer with Israel than other states in the region were. Oman never took part in any war with the Jewish state and established unofficial trade relations with Israel in the early 2000s. Omani Sultan Qaboos Bin Said welcomed three Israeli prime ministers to his country: Yitzhak Rabin in 1994, Shimon Peres in 1996 and Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018. Rabin’s visit was the first by an Israeli prime minister to a Gulf nation. Under Qaboos’ leadership, Oman carved a niche for itself as the Switzerland of the Middle East, able to deal simultaneously with countries such as Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Yemen, all while maintaining a sense of neutrality. The country has been an important middleman in everything from the Iranian nuclear talks to Yemeni Civil War negotiations. So what happened? Sultan Qaboos, who was the longest reigning ruler of the Middle East’s oldest independent state, died in 2020 with no heirs. Rulership passed to his cousin Haitham Bin Tariq.

Though Sultan Haitham, upon his inauguration, announced that he would follow in his predecessor’s peace-making footsteps, he has moved closer to Iran, which funds military activity throughout the region. While Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for Israeli flights earlier this year, Oman has held out on opening its own, blocking the most direct route for some flights from Israel to Asia. In doing so, Oman has received pressure from President Joe Biden’s administration to open its skies. However, the developments Al-Harithi is referring to in his statement could include the rise of Israel’s new right-wing government, which has already provoked anger well beyond the Middle East. “What also potentially fuels this is a recent call by a number of Arab countries, including the UAE, to go to the United Nations and condemn Israel over the recent rise of [Itamar] Ben-Gvir,” Nir Boms, the director of the Program for Regional Cooperation at the Moshe Dayan Center of Tel Aviv University told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Protesting Israel “remains one of the few unifying factors in the Arab world,” Boms said. For more Islamist-leaning factions across the region, “The issues around Israel are coming to a point where they need to have a counter-reaction and come back to a boycott policy,” he added. Another reason may be fear of Iran, which is conducting military exercises off of Oman’s coast and is reeling from months of domestic protest. “The last thing Muscat wants is for the Gulf to become a battlefield with attacks on western shipping, resulting in the closure of the Straits of Hormuz,” said Tom Gross, a British journalist and Middle East expert. “Oman, like Qatar, is trying to calm Iran. Their message is: ‘We are not the ones rushing to form relations with Israel so don’t take it out on us.’” Despite the bill, Gross thinks that Omani relations with Israel will continue as they always have, under the table. “The Omani vote was primarily designed to appease the Iranian regime. There is a feeling in intelligence circles that the counter-revolutionary uprising in Iran has passed the point of no return and as a result the regime in Tehran may try to externalize its domestic problems,” Gross said. “Meanwhile, relations with Israel will likely continue, albeit more quietly.”

Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tarik al-Said, right, meets with Omani Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-

Thani in Muscat, Oman, May 21, 2020. Credit: Qatari Foreign Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

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