January 28, 2022 by Jewish Press

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The Diaspora: Kaifeng Jews Kindergarten Roundup at Friedel Page 4

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Picture of East Market Street in Kaifeng in 1910. The Synagogue was off to the right of the stores on the right side. The stele of 1489 mentions that the Kaifeng was at the intersection of Earth Market Street and Fire God Temple Lane.

SAM KRICSFELD he Chinese city of Kaifeng sits northwest of Shanghai on the banks of the Yellow River. This ancient Chinese city has nearly five million residents – and about 1,000 ethnic Jews. The exact number of these Kaifeng Jews is unclear – a

T This cantor is making modern Yiddish music that swings Page 16

Chabad Chai-Lights Hanukkah success

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GABBY BLAIR Jewish Press Staff Writer It is the middle of January, and while we are yearning for spring, thinking back on Hanukkah 2021

warms the heart. “After the low-key and socially isolated activities of Hanukkah 2020, Chabad was determined to make the most of our opportunities to safely spread the light this year in new ways that would allow our community to celebrate even in the darkest of times,” share Rabbi Eli and Mushka (Katzman) Tenenbaum of Chabad. As usual, Chabad’s innovative programming was well attended and did not disappoint. The long tradition of lighting the giant menorah at Boys Town followed See Chabad Chai-Lights page 3

Sept. 25, 2016, New York Times article estimated that there were about 1,000 Jews, only 100-200 of them active. That number may be shrinking, and the Kaifeng Jews’ culture is actively being blotted out by the Chinese Communist Party. As recently as Dec. 13, 2020, The Telegraph reported that the See Kaifeng Jews page 2

Sokolof Lecture features Prof. Kontorovich Omaha websites. The 2022 Sokolof DR. JEANNETTE GABRIEL lecture will examine the illegitiDirector of the Schwalb Center macy of international legal claims for Israel and Jewish Studies that are levied against Israel within at UNO The University of Nebraska- the context of three current topics Omaha’s Schwalb Center for Israel – claims of Israel being an apartheid and Jewish Studstate, Israel’s disies and the Jewish tribution of vacFederation of cines and Omaha are property claims pleased to anwithin Israel that nounce the 2022 sparked the 2021 Ruth and Phil conflict. KonSokolof Lecture torovich said, “Alin Israel and Jewlegations against ish Studies feaIsrael increasingly turing Professor resemble meEugene Kondieval blood libels torovich from - using claims George Mason that are at the University in same time astonProfessor Eugene Kontorovich Washington, DC. ishingly false yet Professor Kontorovich will be pre- strongly proactive.” senting a lecture, Three Modern Eugene Kontorovich is a profesBlood Libels about Israel: Vaccines, sor at George Mason’s Antonin Evictions, and Apartheid, during an Scalia School of Law and the direconline event Thursday, Feb. 22 at tor of its Center for International 7 p.m. Registration is required and Law in the Middle East. Before comlinks can be found on the Schwalb ing to George Mason, he had been a Center and Jewish Federation of See Sokolof lecture page 5

2 | The Jewish Press | January 28, 2022

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Kaifeng Jews

Chinese locals and assimilation spelled the end of active Continued from page 1 ruins of an ancient Jewish well were paved over, museum dis- Kaifeng Jewry. plays about Jewish culture were removed, the Hebrew sign for According to Eber, “By the eighteenth and nineteenth cen“Teaching Torah Lane” was torn down, and security cameras turies the Jews had so completely blended into their environwere directed at the entrance to where the Jews would gather ment that they were indistinguishable from their Chinese and pray. The Times article reneighbors.” The synagogue was ported that the government dismantled in the mid-1800s, had shut down organizations and virtually no traces of Jufor Jewish rediscovery and prodaism remained beyond hishibited gatherings for Jewish torical markers and some holidays. forms of kashrut. Surprisingly, the Kaifeng Surprisingly, there was a reJews were generally accepted vival among the descendants for over 900 years before this. of the Kaifeng Jews to redisTheir existence was little cover their Jewish identities. known, and they were largely According to MyJewishLearn left alone. According to ing, the introduction of diploK’aifeng Jews Revisted by Irene matic relationships between Eber, Jewish traders visited Israel and China in the 1980s China by sea as early as the and the resulting Jewish late eighth century. The tourists to Kaifeng sparked a Kaifeng Jews were established mini-renaissance: “A prayer around 1120. At the time, group met for the first time in Kaifeng had over a million resyears, local residents gave idents and was an important tours to sites of Jewish interest, hub for import and export. and a 50 person Passover seder Eber cites a 1489 Chinese inwas held in 2015.” scription that says the original Kaifeng Jews were not alJews came from India as cotlowed to enjoy their rediscovton merchants and that a synery for very long. According to agogue was built in 1163. The Telegraph, Chinese leader Kaifeng Jews from the second half of the 19th century. According to The K’Aifeng Jews Xi Jinping “has waged a harsh by Lawrence I. Kramer, Jr., the original residents were of Per- campaign against foreign influence and unapproved religion, sian descent. part of a push to ‘Sinicise’ faith – ripping down church crosses According to Eber, the Kaifeng Jews kept many Jewish tra- and mosque onion domes, and detaining more than a million ditions, including minyans, Torah and Haftorah readings, Muslims in the western Xinjiang region.” These harsh policies kashrut, circumcision and holidays. They were called names, also fell on the miniscule Jewish community. According to My including Chiao-ching chiao (scripture teaching sect), T’iao- JewishLearning, “The Chinese government feels that ethnically chin chiao (the sect that extracts the sinews) (referencing Chinese groups claiming minority status could lead to social kashrut), and Lan-mao hui-hui (blue-cap Muslims) (referenc- and political instability. By contrast, non-Chinese Jews (Jews ing blue kippot). According to a MyJewishLearning article by living in China outside of Kaifeng) are free to practice Judaism Madison Jackson, they faced west towards Jerusalem when as long as they don’t promote Judaism among the Chinese praying. Most of the information we have about the Kaifeng population.” Jews comes from records of Jesuit missionaries, a few Chinese Kaifeng Jews also face problems when trying to make inscriptions and some artifacts. Aaliyah to Israel. Israel’s definition of Judaism is matrilineal, Around 1605, Kaifeng Jews began to receive Chinese sur- but Chinese tradition is patrilineal – plus, the intermarriage names and were organized into “lineage families.” According over many generations makes proving their Judaism very to MyJewishLearning, they can be recognized by the surnames hard. Some Kaifeng Jews have gone through a conversion Ai, Shi, Gao, Gan, Jin, Li, Zhang or Zhao. process to become “fully Jewish” and make Aaliyah. According to Eber, the acquisition of Chinese surnames and Though it had faded, the Kaifeng Jews’ descendants were adjustment to family lineage over religious community began actively trying to rekindle and establish their heritage. With the downfall of the Judaism in Kaifeng. A flood in 1642 and less than 1,000 descendants remaining, assimilation and the the rise of the Qing Dynasty in 1644 also damaged the com- policies of the Chinese Communist Party may spell the end of munity. According to MyJewishLearning, intermarriage with nearly 900 years of Chinese Judaism.

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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 the Press 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.

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Chabad Chai-Lights

Nebraska Sunrise News For over fifty years city newspaper monopolies have gradually been diminishing their local news coverage while increasing their reliance on biased national news narratives that fundamentally distort the truth. From the time that Cleisthenes handed each Athenian a white rock and a black rock to decide their collective destiny, democracy has required one foundational element from which everything else is built. It is the operational linkage. It is the rule that transcends all other rules. It is the pivotal point of all philosophy, and the bright light that guides us to a better future. What is this magic element that is so powerful, so gracious and so enriching? It is simply the truth – the telling of the truth. Truth is the virtue that gets us to all other virtues. Without truth we cannot get to trust. Without trust we can’t get to fairness. Without fairness we can’t get to compromise, and without compromise democracy cannot function. Faith, sacrifice, frugality, balance, discipline, diligence, civility, justice, humility, courage and honor itself all are founded on one simple requirement – truth. The Nebraska Sunrise News was created to give you back the news that’s important to you. We cover local sports, business, politics and all the stories you expect from a big city daily newspaper. Except, we present it all to you with the ease of opening your own phone. And here’s the kicker. We don’t clutter our site with advertising. Our jobs listings, classified ads and obituaries are all free to subscribers. We’re not about gouging you with shady deals. Our subscriptions are set and don’t change with a magic wand every few months. We believe in service to our readers, pure and simple. Join us at Nebraska Sunrise News. We’re what you’ve been looking for. Subscribe now at NebraskaSunriseNews.com. PAID AVERTISEMENT

Continued from page 1 by the Menorah Parade - complete with police escort across the city- was well attended. As has been the custom for many years, this event, which is open to the public and held in cooperation with Boys Town, was festive and bright. We shared music, food and the Miracle of Hanukkah with our friends and with our city. Rabbi Eli continues, “In an effort to find new ways to celebrate together

while spreading the light - but not germs- we settled on ideas that included being outdoors. B”H the Nebraska weather cooperated for the most part!” Chabad held their first ever Bagel Menorah in Aksarben’s Stinson Park. The event drew an enthusiastic and cheerful crowd, including curious community members from throughout the city. “It was fun to see everyone’s reaction to a giant Menorah made of bagels

and a good time was had by all as we noshed on bagels and latkes and stayed warm by dancing to Hanukkah music in the park!” Chabad was also on hand at the JCC’s Hanukkah Extravaganza, where they helped to spin the dreidel, allowed children to see what was inside of Tefillin and lit all eight lights of Chabad’s 12-ft. Menorah at the J, which was dedicated See Chabad Chai-Lights page 4

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Kindergarten Roundup at Friedel

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Chabad Chai-Lights Continued from page 3 in memory of Henry and Dorothy Riekes by Elijah, Alexander, Sarah, Isaac, Shaked, Sofia, Gabriel, Michael, Matias, Henry, Daniella Luz and David. “Despite the ruthless winds, we were able to kindle the Menorah, and the little lights prevailed, another nod to the message of resilience and overcoming odds that is Hanukkah.” However, the biggest hit of the holiday hands down- was Chabad’s now famous Latke Truck! “Nebraska’s Latke Truck is the first ever of its kind and will be replicated, G-d willing, throughout the globe next year!” “This was the first ever Latke Truck in the world as far as we could find, and we are grateful to Richard and Joanie Jacobson for spearheading this project,” share the Tenenbaums, who explained that the idea for the truck came from a Chabad of Nebraska board meeting. They continue, “Thanks to many helping hands and the generosity of Louis Rotella Jr., a dear friend of Chabad, we served over 1000

latkes in celebration of Hanukkah!” Latkes were prepared ahead of time and reheated to crispy perfection in the back of the truck at the many events for which it was reserved. “We drove all around Omaha delivering piping hot latkes outdoors to Hanukkah, birthday and office parties. We had a parking lot party for Rose Blumkin staff and for the community who attended our Bagel Menorah event in Aksarben and our Boy’s Town Menorah Lighting. We delivered latkes to the Nebraska State Capitol and to The University of Nebraska -Lincoln where we served over 100 students thanks to the efforts of UNL undergrads Lillian Cohen and Rachel Moros. We were even invited to the governor’s mansion. Given the feedback we have received on both the idea and the food, it is definitely something we plan to do again in the future!” We are already putting our heads together to deliver another indigenous to Nebraska, fun and creative Menorah. Save the date for Dec. 18, 2022!

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Friedel kindergarteners learned about trees in all four seasons (in Hebrew!) just in time for Tu B’Shevat.

SARA KOHEN Friedel Jewish Academy Director of Advancement Kindergarten Roundup is coming to Friedel Jewish Academy on Friday, Feb. 11, from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Children entering kindergarten in fall of 2022 are invited to visit Friedel’s kindergarten classroom to have fun with friends (both old and new) and meet our teachers. Parents are encouraged to sign up for Kindergarten Roundup as soon as possible; pace is limited, and spots are filling quickly. To sign up for Roundup, schedule a tour, or if you have questions, please email Sara Kohen, Friedel’s Director of Advancement, at skohen@fjaomaha.com. Please let both us and the ELC know if you would like Friedel to bring your child to Friedel from the ELC for Roundup.

Registration for the 2022–2023 school year will be opening soon. Conveniently located on the JCC campus, Friedel Jewish Academy is a private school serving students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Our school boasts a 10:1 student-to-classroom teacher ratio along with premier curricular materials, integrated technology and outstanding teachers. Friedel students benefit from a cross-curricular and internationally-renowned immersion language and Jewish studies program, plus swimming instruction, visual and performing arts, engineering and robotics classes and physical education. Friedel students come from families across the entire range of Jewish practice and affiliation, as well as non-Jewish students who attended the ELC. We work to build respect and community among all students and their families.

Blessings in the New Year

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Don Bosworth RUNNING FOR LEGISLATURE DISTRICT 18 Paid for by Bosworth 4 Legislature

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IHE Third Thursday Lunch and Learn Series

ARIEL O’DONNELL IHE Administrative Assistant The Institute for Holocaust Education was formed to be an institutional resource to ensure Holocaust education, survivor testimonies, and engagement opportunities were accessible to the broader community. One of the recent hallmark IHE programs is our Third Thursday Lunch and Learn Series, which we are Jake Newsome proud to continue offering in 2022 completely virtually, via Zoom. On Feb. 17, 2022, at 11:30 a.m., IHE will welcome Dr. Jake Newsome to present Approaching Nazism and Jim Crow in the Classroom. Dr. Newsome is the Manager of Civic Learning for Campus Communities at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington, D.C. Through his work at USHMM, he cultivates civil responsibility and consciousness among university students with a Holocaust education foundation. He was instrumental in the curation of a program which examines both race and society in Nazi Germany and Jim Crow laws in the United States. The Third Thursday presentation will discuss the outcomes of the USHMM program created by Dr. Newsome,and investigate other interwoven topics. The program on March 17, 2022 at 11:30 a.m., will host Dr. Ari Kohen to speak about the direction we are headed in Holocaust research and education. Dr. Ari Kohen is a professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he is also the Schlessinger Professor of Social Justice and the Director of the Norman and Bernice Harris Center for Judaic Studies. Kohen has published multiple books, including In Defense of Human Rights: A Non-Religious Grounding in a Pluralistic World, and serves as co-editor of a book series with

Ari Kohen

IHE April Program

the University of Nebraska Press - Contemporary Holocaust Studies - which examines Holocaust Studies through contemporary research and its impact on teaching Holocaust education. The most recent volume of the series, Antisemitism on

the Rise: The 1930s and Today, was released in 2021. On April 21, 2022, at 11:30 a.m., IHE will welcome Dr. Doyle Stevick and Morgan Bailey to present on The Anne Frank Traveling Exhibit and Education Program. Stevick and Bailey both work for the Anne Frank Center USA and will be speaking on the renewed partnership between the Anne Frank Center USA and the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. The USA center is located at the University of South Carolina, and through a powerful exhibit showcases the realities behind the life of Anne Frank. The presentation will include the history of the Barringer House, where the exhibit is located, and information about other partnerships across the country. IHE is honored and proud to continue being able to sponsor the Third Thursday Lunch and Learn Series for the broader community. To register for these Zoom sessions, or if you have any questions, please contact IHE Executive Director Scott Littky at slittky@ihene.org.

AARON HANSON FOR DOUGLAS COUNTY SHERIFF

Sokolof Lecture Continued from page 1 professor at Northwestern University School of Law for 11 years. An expert in international and constitutional law, he has published over 30 academic articles in the leading law reviews and peer-reviewed journals. His scholarship has been cited in leading international law cases in the U.S. and abroad. Professor Kontorovich is also the head of the International Law Department at the Kohelet Policy Forum, a Jerusalem-based think tank, and is recognized as one of the world’s preeminent experts on international law and the Israel-Arab conflict. He “has emerged as a one-man legal lawfare brain trust for the Jewish state,” as well as “one of the cagiest commentators,” according to a recent essays in Haaretz. In his work at Forum Kohelet, he regularly advises senior Israeli, U.S. and European officials on a variety of diplomatic issues. The 2022 Ruth and Phil Sokolof Lecture, Three Modern Blood Libels about Israel: Vaccines, Evictions, and Apartheid, will examine current legal claims made against Israel in three high-profile situations related to the current COVID crisis as well as political and property rights. “Antisemitic accusations have always tried to implicate Jews in what contemporary audiences regarded as the worst crimes back then, killing Jesus, today, killing members of racial minorities,” Konotorivch explains,.“ While the accusations are false, they still make a deep emotional impact in listeners and incite hatred against Jews.” The Ruth and Phil Sokolof Lecture in Israel and Jewish Studies is an annual event hosted by the Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies at the University of NebraskaOmaha. The Schwalb Center was founded by Natan and Hannah Schwalb based on their vision to provide young people in Omaha an opportunity to learn and explore Jewish and Israel Studies through scholarship and travel. Today the Schwalb Center provides Israel and Jewish studies-related academic offerings and research, public programming featuring scholars from Israel, the United States and throughout the world, as well as faculty and student scholarships for research and travel. For more information on Schwalb Center 2022 programming please, see our website at unomaha.edu/college-of-arts-and-scie nces/schwalb-center.

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Beth El Day of Service

Back row: Mike Newell, left, Bill Martin and Robby Erlich; front row: Becky Kahn, left, Eadie Tsabari, Allison Newfeld, Hazzan Michael Krausman and Mary Montgomery.

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Safe Communities, Equal Justice

ROBBY ERLICH Beth El Engagement Coordinator Beth El staff participated in a day of service to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Jan. 17. Staff prepared lasagnas to support the organization Lasagna Love. It was a wonderful day for the staff to pay it forward and to be involved with such a great organization. Lasagna Love is a global nonprofit and

grassroots movement that aims to positively impact communities by connecting neighbors through homemade meal delivery. Participants may sign up to bake and deliver homemade lasagna or other meal, to families or individuals who are in need. Whether it be a financial need, emotional need, or just the need for a night off, Lasagna Love is a great fit.

Fourth vaccination for the Israeli aged—including me Though I had tried valiantly to avoid writing about turning 60, COVID and the State of Israel have finally broken me. I did withstand the initial attack: On Aug. 8, my 60th birthday, I received a form-letter TEDDY from my family doc- WEINBERGER tor (sent by text message by my HMO) inviting me to get my third vaccination—then being offered only to those over 60. At the time, I was not unduly concerned that my country equated the start of my seventh decade with an increased susceptibility to disease. Back then, it was clear that all of Israel would soon be able to get a third shot, and the fact that I was being allowed to beat out my children to this vaccination by a few weeks did not seem like a big deal. But there is no getting around it now; Israel has indicated that it has no plans to offer the fourth vaccine to anyone under 60 (aside from the immunocompromised and medical workers), and so it is clear that I received a fourth shot on Jan. 14 for one reason only: The State of Israel considers me to be an old man. What now? Interestingly, this was the main question I asked myself when I turned 50 (as some of you might recall from my column to mark that occasion). The answer to me then, having recently attended the high school graduation of our youngest child, was clear: I looked forward to becoming a grandfather. And though it took my kids most of the decade to produce, being a grandfather has indeed fulfilled the promise of my 50s. What about my 60s? I keep thinking: Is there anything professionally that I need to do, that I should do? But Dear Reader, I have come to a startling realization: This bi-weekly column of mine, begun exclusively for the Omaha Jewish Press in 1998 when I was a wee lad of 37 and then picked up by exceptionally discerning editors three years later, is my life’s work. Yes, I have come to the realization that with this

column I am already doing what I should be doing! It’s true that over these last 23 years I have done other things in addition to writing this column, but when all is said and done, when I am not just old but very old, nothing will have the professional weight and gravity of this bi-weekly column. So please consider yourself very special, Dear Reader! Personally, Sarah and I have a big dream for our 60s. We knew back in 1997 when we made aliyah with five small children and no close relatives here that we would be building our own little empire from scratch, and now it’s time to find a permanent home for this empire. Ideally, we would like it to be in a relatively small community where our home would be alongside the homes of several of our married children. I want to see my grandchildren every single day, and I want to cook and bake for them. That’s the dream. I’ll update you if/when there is any progress on it. In an effort to find solace at having my “aged” status publicly recognized, I am comforted by older friends and family who are living their lives with dignity and happiness. I must give a shout-out here to the wonderful editor of Houston’s Jewish Herald-Voice, Jeanne Samuels, who, now into her 100th year, is an absolute inspiration to me, and kudos go as well to my in-laws Willie and Al Ross (84 and 90). My friend Anat Hoffman, Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center, where I worked for several years, is an experienced sexagenarian, and so I turned to her for some advice. Her words seem to me like a good guide for the decade ahead: “Seize the moment. Don’t delay. Use your body now. You will soon not be able to. Tell your children every day that you are proud of them. Let Sarah know how precious she is.” 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.

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The Star Newsroom

Ed. Note: This is part 2 of 6 stories about Dick Fellman’s experiences with the Lincoln Star, Lincoln’s morning newspaper, during the 1950s. After walking down a long hallway and RICHARD FELLMAN past the office of James E. Lawrence, editor of the Lincoln Star, we passed a glass window that hid the editor and staff of what was then called “the Society Page.” Its editor was “Nell.” I never formally met her, nor did I ever know her full name. But I did know what everyone said about her and her position, and I also knew what I could see. It was 1956 and she was about 60; and elegant and always beautifully dressed. She wrote stories about the upper echelon of Lincoln’s social life, including engagement and wedding announcements, fashion, food, and now and then a main news story. According to lore, she was hired as a general-assignment reporter during the First World War when the male reporters were being inducted into the Army. She was a good writer and by reputation a close friend of both Jimmy Lawrence and his wife, for she lived in their lovely home and went to dinner every evening with the two of them. Mrs. Lawrence drove to the Star’s office early in the evening and waited for Mr. Lawrence to leave the newsroom, which did not happen until the paper was “put to bed.” The three of them then had dinner in the nicest restaurant in the Cornhusker Hotel. Afterwards, Mr. Lawrence returned to the paper, and the two women went home. I never recalled having even a small conversa-

tion with Nell. My first day on the job was mostly spent with Larry Becker, the news editor and righthand assistant to Mr. Lawrence. He told me to call him “Larry.” So, I did. Larry literally took me by the hand and introduced me to the city editor, Earl Dyer, and the half-dozen men seated around the “city desk”—that long U-shaped table that had its open end facing the rest of the newsroom. At one side was a small room with the Associated Press machines clanging away without stop. That was the source for all national and international news. Spread out along the two sides of the newsroom were individual desks. Some seemed to be empty and out of use, but others were obviously in constant use and occupied by reporters. They were filled with piles of newspapers and equally heaped with used paper coffee cups, old sacks of food, and clothing of every imaginable description. Neatness was absent in its entirety. Against the far wall, Larry told me, was a desk which would be mine. It was empty, except for a Smith Corona typewriter and a stack of copy paper together with a pile of large black pencils, the kind all the reporters seemed to be using. The city desk sat at the far and front end of the newsroom. It commanded the entire newsroom. All finished stories were handed to the city editor, who in turn gave it to one of the copy editors to read for spelling and punctuation, to make necessary revisions and corrections, and to write a headline to fit the space where it would be placed in the printed edition of the paper. Copy editors worked hard. Each was an expert in one news area or another. They seemed unusually See The Star Newsroom page 8

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Director of Development job opportunity Although it may not seem that way, the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s donor development department has not been fully staffed since the summer of 2021. We will be posting a full-time position soon. Are you (or is someone you know) looking for a career change? Do you enjoy developing relationships? Omaha is built on a culture of giving. People who support the Jewish Federation of Omaha have done so year after year, and they do so with enthusiasm and passion. They do it because they know this is how they make a difference in others’ lives, gaining a benefit for themselves and for our families. Our Jewish community would not exist today without this history and culture of giving. We enjoy our extraordinary campus facilities and outreach social services that take care of all ages. Come and join us! We are looking for someone to lead in the following areas: • Donor development • Campaign events and programming

Those of us who already work at the Jewish Federation of Omaha understand how special this community is. Our next JFO professional will ensure we continue to provide resources to carry on to the future. How would it feel if your next job was much

more than a job? What if it were a passion, a calling? Join us, build a career and give back to our community while working with different pockets of our community. Engage with our community members and experience substance and meaning in your job! If you are interested in the Director of Development full time position at the Jewish Federation of Omaha please contact Jenn Tompkins at jtompkins@jewishomaha. org or at 402.334.6435 to apply.

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The Star Newsroom

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New at the Kripke Library collection

SHIRLY BANNER JFO Kripke Jewish Federation Library, Library Specialist DVD: Standing Up, Falling Down A comedy about the unlikely friendship that kindles between a struggling stand-up comedian from L.A., forced to move back home to Eastern Long Island with his tail between his legs, and a tragically flawed, but charming and charismatic, alcoholic dermatologist. Discovering they are kindred spirits, each helps the other find healing in addition to the confidence to face the “failures” in their lives. Note: This video was recently shown during the 2021 Omaha Jewish Film Festival, so if you missed it then, here’s your opportunity to watch it. Please note that the copy we have is Blu-Ray. Adult: Three Sisters by Heather Morris Against all odds, three Slovakian sisters have survived years of imprisonment in the most notorious death camp in Nazi Germany: Auschwitz. Livia, Magda and Cibi have clung together, nearly died from starvation, overwork, and the brutal whims of the guards in this place of horror. But now, the Allies are closing in, and the sisters have one last hurdle to face: the death march from Auschwitz, as the Nazis try to erase any evidence of the prisoners held there. Due to a last-minute stroke of luck, the three of them are able to escape formation and hide in the woods for days be-

fore being rescued. And this is where the story begins. From there, the three sisters travel to Israel to their new home, but the battle for freedom takes on new forms. Livia, Magda and Cibi must face the ghosts of their past--and some secrets that they have kept from each other--to find true peace and happiness. Inspired by a true story, and with events that overlap with those of Lale, Gita and Cilka, written by the bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey, The Three Sisters will hold a place in readers’ hearts and minds as they experience what true courage really is. The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel Champagne, 1940: Inès has just married Michel, the owner of storied champagne house Maison Chauveau, when the Germans invade. As the danger mounts, Michel turns

his back on his marriage to begin hiding munitions for the Résistance. Inès fears they’ll be exposed, but for Céline, the French-Jewish wife of Chauveau’s chef de cave, the risk is even greater—rumors abound of Jews being shipped east to an unspeakable fate. When Céline recklessly follows her heart in one desperate bid for happiness, and Inès makes a dangerous mistake with a Nazi collaborator, they risk the lives of those they love and the vineyard that ties them together. New York, 2019: Recently divorced, Liv Kent is at rock bottom when her feisty, eccentric French grandmother shows up unannounced, insisting on a trip to France. But the older woman has an ulterior motive and a tragic, decades-old story to share. When past and present finally collide, Liv finds herself on a road to salvation that leads right to the caves of the Maison Chauveau.

Continued from page 7 smart to me. Most had lunch boxes on the floor beside them, the type carpenters and laborers took with them on the job. I noticed that nearly all of the copy editors had Phi Beta Kappa pins on their tie clips. I had not qualified even closely for PBK membership—the honorary for extremely high college grade point averages—and in noting that these men took their “lunch” to work, I began right then to think that I did not want their job. Across from my new desk was the sports desk with Don Bryant, the “Fox,” its editor. He would in later years become director of all sports’ publications for the University of Nebraska. And back in the corner, Bernie Rothenberg, the editorial page editor, sat behind a stack of old newspapers that almost hid him, except for the beat-up old brown fedora that sat at an angle on his head and the smoke arising almost without pause. Bernie was to become my good friend. After the introductions, Larry gave me my first assignment. I had become a reporter at a daily newspaper.

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The Jewish Press | January 28, 2022 | 9

Colleyville rabbi: ‘It’s safe to go to shul’ ANDREW LAPIN JTA Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, the man at the center of the Colleyville, Texas, synagogue hostage crisis last weekend, says that he is looking for another job, but wants the world’s focus to remain on his congregation’s trauma and healing process rather than his career. “My congregation, Congregation Beth Israel, and Colleyville have just undergone a traumatic experience. I’ve just undergone a traumatic experience,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “And that’s where the focus needs to be.” Cytron-Walker was responding to an article published in the Forward reporting that the rabbi had resigned from his congregation last fall, possibly amid discord about whether he should remain. The synagogue is advertising for a new rabbi on the Reform movement’s jobs board, its search committee met twice this month and Cytron-Walker made an oblique joke about the situation from the stage of a healing service held Monday night. “I am looking for another opportunity after dedicating over 15 years of my life to a congregation,” Cytron-Walker told JTA, adding that he is leaving with many positive feelings about the only pulpit he has held since graduating from rabbinical school. “I love the congregation. I love the people. I love the community.” Cytron-Walker said he also wants Jews to know that despite what happened to him, he would stress to Jews everywhere that “it’s safe to go to shul” — and that synagogues should continue to make themselves sanctuaries for all. Cytron-Walker’s 12-hour ordeal with an antisemitic gunman on Saturday, which ended with him throwing a chair at the hostagetaker to allow himself and two congregants to escape safely, drew international attention to his congregation, as well as to himself. The rabbi said that it’s been “incredibly overwhelming to see the level of support that we have received from our local community, our national community and the global community. I can’t tell you how much it means to me and the congregation.” At the same time, he added, Beth Israel is still struggling to figure out how to heal. “We’re really trying to figure out what we need to do,” he said. “We’ve got repairs to make to the congregation and we’re making arrangements so that we can have services this weekend.” He’s also encouraging his congregants to seek out therapy if they need it. The newfound scrutiny on the congregation has come with some discord, including a man identifying himself as a former congregant who criticized the rabbi on social media for, he claimed, forbidding congregants to carry guns inside the building and for calling Israel “an apartheid state.” Both claims, Cytron-Walker said, were untrue. Though Beth Israel requests that visitors to its synagogue not carry firearms openly, he said, concealed carry — hiding a firearm on one’s person in a public setting with the proper license — is permitted. “And I would have hoped that one of the people in the synagogue that morning, one of the members from the synagogue, had had a gun on them to have ended things a little bit earlier,” he said. (Texas is an open-carry state, but “we don’t feel that open carry should be a part of a synagogue service,” the rabbi said.) And, Cytron-Walker said, he does not believe Israel is an apartheid state. “When I teach about Israel, I teach about how Israel is complicated. I’m a huge supporter of Israel,” he said, noting that the synagogue’s education program works with the Ofek Learning Hub to have Israeli teachers leading online learning for youth programs, and that “we sing Hatikvah [the Israeli national anthem] at the

end of every religious school.” The hostage crisis has caused many Jews the world over to once again have heightened concerns for synagogue security, as congregation leadership weighs how to balance personal safety with the Jewish commandment to “welcome the stranger.”

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker Credit: Emil Lippe/Getty Images

“It’s such a random occurrence, and the percentages are so low” of an antisemitic incident occuring at services, he said. “I have literally led thousands and thousands of services at Congregation Beth Israel, and this was the first time we had such a traumatic incident,” Cytron-Walker said. At the same time, the rabbi acknowledged, “We have to be hospitable and we have to be secure. And we have to find ways to strike that balance.” Smaller congregations such as Beth Israel, he noted, don’t have the means to hire security officers for every service, particularly when, as in Saturday’s Shabbat morning service, they attract so few people. Cytron-Walker instead encouraged synagogue leaders and congregants alike to undergo security training akin to drills he had run with the Anti-Defamation League and Secure Community Network in recent months — exercises that he has credited with saving his life. Doing that training, Cytron-Walker said, helped him assess the risks of Saturday’s situation even as he was able to attend to what he initially thought was an innocuous visitor. “While I was providing hospitality, I was also analyzing the situation,” he said, while acknowledging that he had been thrown off initially because the assailant’s behavior at first didn’t match the training. “This guy didn’t exhibit the nervousness, the looking in all different directions. He looked me in the eye. ... I didn’t see any of the things that indicated falseness in that initial encounter.” What congregations cannot do, the rabbi emphasized, is cease welcoming the stranger. “I’ve welcomed people into the congregation that don’t look like your stereotypical visitor to a Jewish synagogue, over and over and over again,” he said. “And people are looking to pray. People are looking for community. And they’re asking the question, ‘Do I belong?’ And we need to stress to them, and the whole community has to be able to stress to them, that yes — you belong.” One of the most visible ways the congregation has worked to heal itself was with a special service, at which Cytron-Walker stood on the bimah next to synagogue leaders and preached directly to his congregation, as well as the broader community — a show of unity, healing and love, regardless of any internal strife. “We need to be able to know,” Rabbi Cytron said, “that ‘kol arevim zeh bazeh,’ that each of us are responsible for one another. And if we can live that value, beyond any other disagreements that we may be experiencing, then, I mean, that’s the space that we need to live in. That’s the value that we need to live.”

I am running for Governor because we need to think big, be persistent, and have a clear vision for the safety and advancement in our future. We need to be bold, driven and have the confidence to move Nebraska forward, bring in people and jobs to secure economic development, and promote “The Good Life” for generations to come. Now is the time to push Nebraska forward to a stronger, post-covid economy, demonstrating our faith, resilience, creativity, unity, and power as a State People should use their circumstances as motivation to seek opportunity rather than allow their circumstances to define who they are. My career experience include: Elementary and middle school substitute teacher; Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, Security/ Custody Corporal, Emergency Response Training Specialist and Crisis Negotiator; Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, Exercise Training Officer to State Agencies and Statewide First Responders; Nebraska Department of Education, School Safety Director for 244 school districts, public and private schools; Nesbitt & Associates-School Security Services, training colleges, universities, public and private schools in safety, emergency preparedness, outside assaults, and active shooters; University of Nebraska Omaha, School of Criminal Justice and Criminology CRIM 451 Violence-Schools. Trained by former Shin Bet and Mossad at the University of Israel, Tel ‘Aviv, I bring a unique skill set to the State in my run for Governor. Advanced certification in Homeland Security being one. Additional degrees and certifications include: Emergency Preparedness Response Specialist-Law Enforcement Training Research Associates, Campbell, CA; Professional Development Series Advanced Emergency Manager, Incident Command Systems and National Incident Management Systems, Continuity of Operations, Continuity of Government, Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Programs, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); Crisis/Hostage Negotiator-Nebraska Department of Correctional Services; Bachelor’s Degree in Education-University of Nebraska-Kearney, Associates of Arts in Social Science, York Christian College and DiplomaYork High School. I was the Governor’s appointee to the Nebraska Infrastructure Protection Committee, and the US Attorney’s, Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council. Additionally, I served in the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals and the Nebraska Suicide Prevention Coalition. Lela McNinch Running for Governor

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A Jewish couple is suing after a Christian adoption agency refused to help them SHIRA HANAU JTA A Jewish couple is suing Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services after a Christian adoption agency that receives state funding refused to help them adopt a child because they are Jewish. The lawsuit, filed by Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram with the support of a religious liberty group, is the first to challenge a 2020 law in Tennessee that allows adoption agencies not to place children in arrangements that violate the agencies’ “religious or moral convictions or policies.” Tennessee’s law was designed to allow agencies not to place children with same-sex couples. As has happened in other places with similar laws, agencies are using the latitude more broadly. The Rutan-Rams tried to adopt a child with the Holston United Methodist Home for Children in Greenville, Tennessee, last year. After deciding to foster and eventually adopt a child from Florida, the couple reached out to the Holston adoption agency to participate in the agency’s foster parent training. After initially being told they would be able to work with the agency to complete the training, according to the lawsuit, the agency told them the day before their training was set to begin that it would not help them. “I felt like I’d been punched in the gut,” Elizabeth Rutan-Ram

said in a news release, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. “It was the first time I felt discriminated against because I am Jewish. It was very shocking. And it was very hurtful that the agency seemed to think that a child would be better off in state custody than with a loving family like us.” The Rutan-Rams are not the first Jewish family to face difficulties working with Christian adoption agencies because of their religion. “I think often about the other older children who were waiting for families, the ones in Miracle Hill institutions whom we could have loved if we had not been rejected because of our faith,” Lydia Currie wrote about her family’s experience in South Carolina for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2019. “I wonder what happened to them — and whether they are still waiting.” In South Carolina, the Trump administration allowed the governor to waive federal requirements prohibiting religious discrimination for organizations that receive federal funding, which many adoption agencies do. The Holton agency that the Rutan-Rams sought to use also receives federal funds, and the agency sued the Biden administration over the regulations last month, according to the Knoxville newspaper. The couple is being represented in their suit, which was filed Wednesday, by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “Public funds should never be used for religious discrimination,” Alex Luchenitser, the group’s associate vice president, said.

The Jewish Press | January 28, 2022 | 11

Above: Shervin Ansari, Dennis DePorte and Rabbi Eli Tenenbaum prepared for Bistro Night at Chabad (5 stars!) early.

SP O TLIGHT PHOTOS FROM RECENT JEWISH COMMUNITY EVENTS 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, below and bottom: Much better than the real stuff: Friedel Jewish Academy students create their own snowﬂakes.

Clockwise from above: Shani Katzman and Eli Tenenbaum serve food at Chabad’s Bistro Night, held on Tu B’Shevat; Lisa and Gary Epstein with Pam DePorte; Rabbi Mendel Katzman and granddaughter Chana; Roman and Lina Kogan; Dennis DePorte back in his element (the food was great, Dennis!) and Shane Cohn and Howard Kutler came to pick up their orders.

GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY

12 | The Jewish Press | January 28, 2022

Voices The Jewish Press (Founded in 1920) Margie Gutnik President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Susan Bernard Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Gabby Blair Staff Writer Mary Bachteler Accounting Jewish Press Board Margie Gutnik, President; Abigail Kutler, Ex-Officio; Danni Christensen; David Finkelstein; Bracha Goldsweig; Mary Sue Grossman; Les Kay; Natasha Kraft; Chuck Lucoff; Joseph Pinson; Andy Shefsky and Amy Tipp. 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 Federation are: Community Relations Committee, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Life, Jewish Social Services, and the Jewish Press. Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: wwwjewishomaha.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 KampWright, 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.

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Blaming the victim ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor This headline should make you cringe: “A Jew betrayed Anne Frank’s family, cold-case investigators conclude.” Excuse me? “The man identified by a cold-case team (led by Vince Pankoke, a retired FBI agent) that has been working for six years to identify the persons responsible for the discovery of the Franks by Nazi authorities was Arnold van den Bergh,” Cnaan Lipshiz wrote in his JTA article, “a notary and a member of the Jewish Council, which the Nazis established to better control Dutch Jews. The accusation is outlined in The Betrayal of Anne Frank, a book published last week by the Canadian author Rosemary Sullivan. No surprise, I am not the only person to have problems with this. “Libelous nonsense,” one Dutch historian who specializes in the Jewish Council called it. That pretty much sums it up. Mention the Jewish Council to any Dutch Jews and we know which argument is coming. We’ve heard it all before. To put this in context, the Jewish Council was one of the ways the Nazis organized their crimes— because no matter how evil the plans, structure was a must in Nazi-occupied Europe. Like Jews who were put to work in the camps, like those who were forced to dig graves for their own people, the Jewish Council paved the way for a years-long blaming of the victims. ‘They did it to themselves,’ people said after the war. ‘The Jews allowed it to

happen.’ And: ‘Why didn’t they fight?’ This is just more of the same. However, there is more to unpack, such as the fact that this cold-case team worked on this for six years. What, this is considered a long time? Six years is nothing — especially by the standards of European researchers and academics who have been poring over the Holocaust and its aftermath for over seven decades and still have barely scratched the surface. And what of the fact that this research team claims to be “85% sure” van den Bergh was indeed the one guilty of betrayal? So, there is a 15% chance you are accusing someone who can’t defend himself ? What of this man’s family? Even if he has no family left, this is too bitter an accusation to make. I once asked my grandmother what the worst part of the war was (I know, horrible question, in my defense, I was 12) and she told me: ‘When the Nazis came, they saw us as criminals and treated us like criminals, until we began to see ourselves that way. We lost the right to be regular human beings.’ I never asked that question again. Dutch Jews struggle with the way Anne Frank has been portrayed. We understand that she is an important symbol, her story a tool through which countless school children have learned about the Holocaust. But so often, the real Anne disappears. People forget she was a human being, a girl with hopes and dreams and thoughts. People forget that another 100,000 Dutch Jews were murdered. The

focus is too often on the living Anne, not the one who died at Bergen Belsen and certainly not on all the atrocities that happened in the wider Jewish community. The world has reduced the memory of Anne to a bite-sized, easily digestible bit of tragedy. Anne’s story became a tourist attraction (you should see the lines outside the Anne Frank

House), and it has once again dehumanized her. And now they want to add a bad guy to the story? Why? Hitler and his ilk weren’t enough, we need another villain? Can anyone justify abusing her memory for the sake of accusing another survivor? Both Anne Frank and Arnold van den Bergh deserve better. Mostly I’m irritated because any time the Jewish Council is mentioned, it turns into victim-blaming. And when it come to the Holocaust, that is never acceptable. Never, never, ever.

From vigils to vitriol, the Texas hostage crisis showed social media at its best and worst I’m talking about the Jewish conversation. ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL Jewish users began to demand that Muslim New York Jewish Week via JTA During the long agonizing hours of the Saturday groups denounce and distance themselves from evening, during which a rabbi and three congre- the crime. And when they did — when the Muslimgants were held against their will at a Dallas-area American organization CAIR said the hostage-taksynagogue, social media performed perhaps as its ing was “an unacceptable act of evil” — many held them and their spokespeocreators and optimists alple responsible for years of ways thought it would. It incitement against Israel was a community of caring. and the Zionist synagogues They sent messages of that support it. Others hope to the Jews trapped in turned their ire on the the building and words of media, claiming without evgratitude to the responders idence that the standoff gathered outside. would have gotten more atVirtual vigils were quickly tention if the victims were organized, allowing people Black and the perpetrator to tune in and turn to one were white. (CNN, the only another to pray and commiserate. Twitter became a Twitter isn’t real life, but it is a close simu- cable channel running nontool for creating commu- lacrum of how Jews talk to and about one an- stop coverage, broke off to other." Credit: JTA illustration by Mollie Suss air a previously scheduled nity at a speed that could scarcely be imagined in an analog world. Jewish of- documentary on The Movies: The 2000s.) Even as the lives of four people hung in the balance, ficialdom assured the world that they were “monitoring” the situation, a benign word meaning “we Jews and Muslims sniped. When some users fretted are anxious and scared and feeling as helpless as about an Islamophobic backlash, they were attacked for “centering” Muslims during a Jewish tragedy. the rest of you.” The comments got ugly and uglier. Some Jews atAs Shabbat ended and more and more Jews who had been enjoying a quiet Shabbat joined the vigil, tacked the synagogue’s rabbi, Charlie Cytron-Walker, the conversation grew and the topics expanded. For for his liberal politics. Or asked why he invited a many the crisis at Congregation Beth Israel in Col- stranger into the synagogue in the first place. At the same time, people eagerly shared the news leyville was playing out as a slow-motion repeat of the 2018 Pittsburgh massacre, when people tuned that Cytron-Walker was known for his outreach to in after another Shabbat and learned of the deaths the Muslim community and overall menschiness. CNN quickly turned back to the hostage crisis of 11 Jews at the Tree of Life synagogue. The locations of other recent deadly attacks on when a loud bang was heard from the direction of Jews were repeated like an incantation: Pittsburgh, the synagogue, and reported some 30 minutes later that all the hostages were safe and the suspect dead. Poway, Jersey City, Monsey…. With the immediate crisis resolved, the online conAnd inevitably, this being Twitter, the conversations began to shift, taken over by the angry rheto- versation shifted yet again, this time to a comment ric of a polarized era. I’m not talking here about the by the head of the FBI Dallas Field Office, Matthew white supremacists who celebrated the crisis, or Desarno, who said that the hostage-taker was “sinthe Muslim activist who appeared to support the gularly focused on one issue and it was not specifihostage-taking because the hostage-taker de- cally related to the Jewish community.” Jewish manded the release of an accused Muslim terrorist. Twitter erupted, asking how an attack on a syna-

gogue on a Shabbat morning could be anything other than “specifically related to the Jewish community.” That conversation, at least, was rooted in the facts and an important communal debate. The British national who carried out the attack was said to be demanding the release of Aaifa Siddiqui, a Muslim woman suspected of plotting attacks in New York who is now serving an 86-year sentence in the Fort Worth area. How was it possible, commentators like Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin of Religion News Service asked, to separate Islamist terrorism from the antisemitism and anti-Zionism of its ideologues? It’s conceivable that Desarno wasn’t deeply versed in what is and isn’t a “Jewish” issue — perhaps mistakenly viewing antisemitism as an attack on Judaism as a religion and not an attack on a people inextricably tied up, intentionally or not, in geopolitics. (It’s also conceivable that he was just tired.) If he wasn’t before, he probably is now: In thanking the FBI and law enforcement, the Anti-Defamation League said pointedly in a statement: “There is no doubt, given what we know so far, that the hostage-taker chose his target carefully. We urge law enforcement and prosecutors to investigate the role antisemitism may have played in motivating the suspect.” The debate won’t end there. Some Jews will insist that targeting Jews in the name of an Islamist terrorist confirms their worst fears about “the new antisemitism.” Others will point out the central place Israel holds in American synagogue life and conclude that vulnerability to haters is the price Jews pay for their commitments. Twitter isn’t real life, but it is a close simulacrum of how Jews talk to and about one another. Twitter is a machine for amplifying fast takes, misinformation and invective. It is also a tool for communityorganizing, mutual support and enlightening opinions. During this crisis, it was both. Andrew Silow-Carroll is the editor in chief of The New York Jewish Week and senior editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (@SilowCarroll). 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 Jewish Press | January 28, 2022 | 13

I hope we won’t let this crisis erode in-person prayer

RAPHAEL MAGARIK J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA The Jan. 15 hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, has inspired many fears: that there will be more violence directed at synagogues, that this attack will fuel Islamophobia, that increased policing at shuls will harm Jews of color. I think there is yet another danger, less immediate but nonetheless worth discussing. As Jewish communities talk more about security, safety concerns may encourage the continued migration of services to Zoom and discourage the resumption of in-person collective gatherings. When the pandemic started, liberal and Modern Orthodox synagogues overwhelmingly canceled in-person services. Such shutdowns saved lives. Many communities began experimenting with online programming. For Purim 2020, I went straight from reading the megillah in-person at an office to reading from it for an online broadcast, when my Chicago congregation canceled its large, in-person reading. Online services present problems for the traditionally observant, like me: Can one convene a prayer quorum, or minyan, over the internet? Which technologies are permissible or not on Shabbat? Then again, Zoom services fill important spiritual and social needs for people stuck alone at home. And they even have advantages over in-person gatherings, as remote services are accessible to homebound seniors and people with disabilities who couldn’t attend even before the pandemic. They allow synagogues to reach sympathetic audiences in far-off places. Eventually, communities could save on expensive, large physical buildings. Little by little, a stopgap measure begins to seem appealing as a long-term choice. Concerns about security will only increase this appeal. Providing security is costly and logistically complicated, requiring additional staffing and training. Moreover, fears about hostile attackers encourage us, as COVID-19 does, to imagine public in-person gatherings as dangerous, fraught occasions. Given the horrible attacks on synagogues in the last five years, what regular synagogue-goer has never felt nervous about security? Moreover, we worry about a security threat for some of the same reasons we worry about a virus. In-person synagogue services are public; we let everyone in, which means we give

up control over whom we encounter. Reading through an Anti-Defamation League guide called “Protecting Your Jewish Institution,” I am struck by how the word “public” is used to signal danger: Avoid providing directions to your institution online because they will be “public.” Do not “publicize” details of a trip too widely. Be wary of the “security concerns created by “going public.’” The more the “event is open to the public,” the higher the risk. Security protocols, like health protocols, involve managing, controlling, and inherently limiting the public. Of course, such management is far easier over Zoom. But that ease comes at a cost.

A view of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Tex., on Jan. 17, 2022. Credit: Emil Lippe/Getty Images

One reason I attend religious services in the first place is that they are public. Much of our social life is not: Domestic spaces are usually restricted to the intimate circles of friends and family; workplaces are ruled by private employers; leisure spaces frequently require purchases to enter. Part of the point of a synagogue is that you do not have control, that you are exposed to others, that you are forced to sit next to those you might otherwise eschew, with whom you would never have thought to share an intimate, spiritual experience. I treasure in-person prayer for other reasons: Participatory singing does not work online, for instance, and Zoom services tend to divide communities into “performers” and spectators. But even if that were solved, what is lost online is precisely what makes synagogues inflexible, difficult to manage, sometimes sensorily unpleasant or even menacing. I remember how, when I spent a summer abroad in a small European community, two men who had a long-running per-

sonal and financial feud would both wince and smile when they saw each other at Shabbat afternoon services — because each knew he needed the other to make a minyan. That uncomfortable dependence is a benefit of the rigid inflexibility of place-based Jewish prayer. A community is defined by association with people who will never be your friends. Many trends in contemporary life reduce such unpleasant experiences: You enjoy the food you like at your dining table, without having to deal with the other diners; you exercise not in a gym, let alone a public park, but at home with an app; you share virtual space with people chosen for you individually by an algorithm. We lead increasingly atomized lives, buying in private rather than being in public. Private spaces are also inherently unequal. Not everyone has a computer, a quiet room and a reliable internet connection to access online services. For all their inclusiveness, online services will likely marginalize unhoused people; they will be most comfortable for those with large, spacious houses and up-to-date technology. A synagogue is supposed to be a space in which one matters just for being a person — regardless of their means, everyone eats the same at kiddush. Reports that the Colleyville hostage-taker impersonated an unhoused person looking for a shelter are frightening, but we should be proud that our synagogues offer a calm space for people without any other. Houses of worship are vulnerable by design, and when that space is closed off, whether through security or by going online, something is lost. Obviously, these concerns are secondary when lives are at stake. (And as we return to praying in-person, communities must learn to be more accessible to disabled people.) Nonetheless, the possibility of an active shooter or the dangers of a virus can also easily become alibis for a convenient erosion of public, physical gathering. That does seem to me something worth worrying about. A version of this piece originally ran in J. The Jewish News of Northern California, and is reprinted with permission. Raphael Magarik is an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Chicago. He earned a Ph.D. in English from UC Berkeley. 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.

Synagogues

14 | The Jewish Press | January 28, 2022

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

618 Mynster Street Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 712.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com

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

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Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road Offutt AFB, NE 68123 402.294.6244 email: oafbjsll@icloud.com

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323 South 132 Street Omaha, NE 68154 rbjh.com

TEMPLE ISRAEL

Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive Omaha, NE 68144-1206 402.556.6536 templeisraelomaha.com

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: TIFERETH ISRAEL

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

B’NAI ISRAEL Join us In-Person on Friday, Feb. 11, 7:30 p.m. for evening services with a guest speaker. The service will be led by the members of the congregation. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel! For information on our historic synagogue, please contact Howard Kutler at hkutler@hotmail.com or any of our other board members: Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Mary-Beth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.

BETH EL Virtual services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman. VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON MINYAN SCHEDULE: Mornings on Sundays, 9:30 a.m.; Mondays and Thursdays, 7 a.m.; Evenings on Sunday-Thursday, 5:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Nebraska AIDS Coalition Lunch, 11:30 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Jr. Congregation, 10 a.m. at Beth El; Havdalah, 6:10 p.m. Zoom only. SUNDAY: Siddur 101 with Hazzan Krausman, 9:30 a.m.; BESTT (Grades K-7), 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10 a.m. USY Project Linus, 12:15 p.m.; Dinner at the Stephen Center, 5 p.m. TUESDAY: Mussar, 11:30 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham at Beth El & Zoom. WEDNESDAY: BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4:15 p.m.; USY Lounge Night, 5:15 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 6 p.m.; A View from the Neighbors, 6 p.m. with Dr. Rami Arav; Community Beit Midrash, 7 p.m. via Inperson at the JCC or on Zoom. THURSDAY: Revisting the Classics, 7 p.m. with Hazzan Krausman. FRIDAY-Feb. 4: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream. SATURDAY-Feb. 5: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Jr. Congregation, 10 a.m. at Beth El; Havdalah, 6:20 p.m. Zoom only. Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.

BETH ISRAEL Virtual services conducted by Rabbi Ari Dembitzer. Classes, Kabbalat Shabbat and Havdalah on Zoom, WhatsApp or Facebook Live. On site services held outside in pergola, weather permitting. Physical distancing and masks required. FRIDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 5:18 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Torah Class/Kids Class, 10:30 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:45 a.m.; Kiddush, 11:30 a.m.; Daf Yomi, 4:40 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha, 5:20 p.m.; Shalosh Seudos/ Laws of Shabbos/Kids Activity, 5:40 p.m.; Ma’ariv/ Havdalah, 6:21 p.m.; Mind, Body, Soul: An Evening of Fun and Wellness for Women, 7 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Hebrew Café, 10 a.m.; Daf Yomi, 4:50 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. MONDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Daf Yomi, 4:50 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. TUESDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:30 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 6:45 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Kids Class, 3:45 p.m.; Daf Yomi, 4:50 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:20 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:30 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 6:45 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Wednesday School, 4:15 p.m.; Daf Yomi, 4:50 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. THURSDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Character Development, 9:30 am. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Daf Yomi, 4:50 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. FRIDAY-Feb. 4: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 5:27 p.m. SATURDAY-Feb. 5: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.;

Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Torah Class/Kids Class, 10:30 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:45 a.m.; Kiddush, 11:30 a.m.; Daf Yomi, 4:50 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha, 5:30 p.m.; Shalosh Seudos/Laws of Shabbos/Kids Activity, 5:50 p.m.; Ma’ariv/ Havdalah, 6:29 p.m. Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.

CHABAD HOUSE All services are in-person. All classes are being offered in-person/Zoom hybrid (Ochabad.com/classroom). 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/Lech ayim; Candlelighting, 5:17 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 6:20 p.m. SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps, 9 a.m. MONDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Personal Parsha Class, 9:30 a.m. with Shani Katzman; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen. TUESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Virtual Pirkei Avot Women’s Class, 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Mystical Thinking (Tanya), 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Katzman; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Introduction to Hebrew Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Women’s Power Lunch: Feminine Energy: Surrendered or Empowered, noon-1 p.m. with Shani Katzman at the Katzman Residence. Lunch will be served. RSVP at ochabad.com/lunch. THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Advanced Hebrew Class, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study (Sanhedrin 18 — No advance experience necessary), noon with Rabbi Katzman. FRIDAY-Feb. 4: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Inspirational Lechayim, 5 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ochabad. com/Lechayim; Candlelighting, 5:26 p.m. SATURDAY-Feb. 5: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 6:28 p.m.

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch. Note: Some of our services, but not all, are now being offered in person. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, service leaders/music: Rabbi Alex and Elaine Monnier, 6:30 p.m. at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 5:21 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study on Parashat Mishpatim, noon; Havdalah, 6:24 p.m. SUNDAY: LJCS Classes, 9:30 a.m.; Men's Jewish Bike Group of Lincoln meets Sundays at 10 a.m., rain or shine, to ride to one of The Mill locations from Hanson Ct. (except we drive if it’s too wet, cold, cloudy, windy, hot or humid) followed by coffee and spirited discussions. If interested, please email Al Weiss at al

bertw801@gmail.com to find out where to meet each week; South Street Temple Board Meeting, 1:30 p.m.; Come learn and play Pickleball, 7-9 p.m. at Peterson Park. Everyone is welcome; just wear comfortable clothes and tennis or gym shoes. If you need a paddle, contact Miriam Wallick by email at Miriam57 @aol.com or by text at 402.470.2393 before Sunday. TUESDAY: Tea & Coffee with Pals, 1:30 p.m. via Zoom; Jewish Ethical Teachings Class, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Alex. WEDNESDAY: LJCS Classes, 4 p.m. (remote only) FRIDAY-Feb. 4: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, service leaders/music: Rabbi Alex, Nathaniel and Steve Kaup, 6:30 p.m. at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 5:30 p.m. SATURDAY-Feb. 5: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study on Parashat Terumah, noon; Havdalah, 6:32 p.m.

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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 Brian Stoller, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin and Cantor Joanna Alexander. DAILY VIRTUAL MINYAN: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. via Zoom. FRIDAY: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat B’yachad: The Experience of Female Clergy: Responding to Abuse and Discrimination at HUC-JIR, 6 p.m. via Zoom or In-Person. SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. via Zoom or InPerson. SUNDAY: Fifth Sunday Breakfast Service, 9 a.m. at the Stephen Center; Youth Learning Programs, 10 a.m. In-Person; Parents and Proverbs, 10:15 a.m. InPerson. MONDAY: Jewish Law & the Quest for Meaning, 11 a.m. via Zoom. WEDNESDAY: Youth Learning Programs — In-Person: Grades 3-6, 4-6 p.m.; T’filah, 4:45 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6:30-8 p.m.; Community Beit Midrash, 7 p.m. via In-person at the JCC or on Zoom. THURSDAY: Thursday Morning Class, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Azriel via Zoom or In-Person. FRIDAY-Feb. 4: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Shirah, 6 p.m. via Zoom or In-Person; Seventh and Eighth Grade Lock-In begins at 5 p.m. SATURDAY-Feb. 5: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. via Zoom or In-Person; Shabbat Service, 10:30 a.m. Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.

Albert Bourla awarded Genesis Prize in which 200,000 people participated, according SHIRA HANAU to the announcement. JTA “I accept it humbly and on behalf of all my Albert Bourla, the chief executive officer of Pfizer, was named the winner of the 2022 Genesis Pfizer colleagues who answered the urgent call of history these past two years Prize, the award sometimes and together bent the arc of called the “Jewish Nobel,” and our common destiny,” Bourla pledged his winnings to “prosaid in a statement. “I was jects aimed at preserving the brought up in a Jewish family memory of the victims of the who believed that each of us is Holocaust.” only as strong as the bonds of The award, which “honors our community; and that we extraordinary individuals for are all called upon by God to their outstanding profesrepair the world. I look forsional achievement, contriward to being in Jerusalem to bution to humanity, and accept this honor in person, commitment to Jewish valwhich symbolizes the triumph ues,” was announced last of science and a great hope for week. It will be presented by our future.” Israeli President Isaac Herzog Albert Bourla Credit: Sakis Bourla is set to donate his at a ceremony in Jerusalem Mitrolidis/AFP via Getty Images prize money to Holocaust meduring the month of June. morial initiatives “with a parThe announcement noted Bourla’s work at Pfizer, which developed one of the first vaccines ticular emphasis on the tragedy suffered by the Greek Jewish community.” Bourla’s parents, both to protect against COVID-19. Bourla’s win was determined by an online vote from Greece, were both Holocaust survivors.

Life cycles

The Jewish Press | January 28, 2022 | 15

Pulverente MONUMENT CO. Over 60 Years Experience With Jewish Lettering and Memorials

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IN MEMORIAM JOHN PAUL ZIPAY John Paul Zipay passed away on Jan. 18, 2022, in Omaha. Services were held on Jan. 21, 2022, at Beth El Cemetery and were officiated by Hazzan Michael Krausman. He was preceded in death by John and Margaret Zipay; and his in-laws, Lucille & Jack Epstein. He is survived by his wife, Diane; sons and daughters-in-law: Andre and Kim and Jeremy and Melody; son, Kyle; daughter and son-in-law, Michele and Michael Olsen; grandchildren: Jack, Henry, Tyler, Ava, Zoë, Xara, Ezri, Lincoln and Charlie; sister and brother-in-law, Dorothy and Bob Hempel. Memorials may be made to Friends of the Library, the Michael J. Fox Foundation or Rabbi Abraham’s discretionary fund at Beth El.

spected him from the first sight. You would not even have any doubts about his honesty, you could always count on him to help. As a husband, he was everything to me, protecting me from any worries I might have, helping in any way through the rough times I have with my health. And I have not seen any father who would be more dedicated to his children, loving them to death and at the same time making sure they grow up as hard working people, who have the same respect inside for themselves, like he had.

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SOLOMON MOGUILNER Solomon Moguilner passed away on Jan. 21, 2022, in Omaha. Services were held on Jan. 24, 2022, at Beth El Cemetery. He was preceded in death by his parents, Isaak and Olga. He is survived by his wife, Lina Spivak, son and partner, Valentin Rakhmanov and Amy O'Keefe; son, Alecsander Moguilner; daughter, Alecsis Moguilner; grandchildren: Xander and Silas; and sister Raya Moguilner. Solomon was the most amazing person I knew, really smart, wise and had this special respect for himself that would never let him go against the highest law. People who knew him re-

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16 | The Jewish Press | January 28, 2022

News LOC AL | N AT I O N A L | WO R L D

This cantor is making modern Yiddish music that swings

JULIA GERGELY New York Jewish Week via JTA Right before COVID hit in the spring of 2020, Yisroel Leshes was looking to branch out of the world of cantorial music. For most of his professional singing career, he has been working as the assistant cantor at Lincoln Square Synagogue, a Modern Orthodox synagogue on the Upper West Side. The 35-year-old is a lover of jazz music and jazz bars, so he asked his jazz musician friends — who happen to not be Jewish — what material he should start with. Their answer surprised him. “Why not take a look at Yiddish theater?” they suggested. “I always kind of wrote it off. It was something my grandmother listened to — not me,” Leshes, who lives in Brooklyn, said. “But once I started to dig into it, I found that I had misjudged it.” According to the Milken Archive of Jewish Music, the heyday of Yiddish theater lasted from about 1882 to the middle of the 20th century, back when New York’s Second Avenue was dotted with so many theaters it was known as “Yiddish Broadway.” This unique, Yiddish-language mix of vaudeville and musicals was both a nostalgic preservation of the Old World, as well a reflection on the hopes, anxieties and experiences of new Americans. As the 20th century progressed, Yiddish theater began to die out as Jews assimilated into broader American culture, though it has been seeing a small but popular resurgence in recent years. “We have over 50,000 albums of material [ from Yiddish theater] that almost nobody performs,” Leshes said. And if they are performing it, he added, it is in a nostalgic, traditional way. So in order to bring Yiddish musical theater into the world of jazz, Leshes had to reinvent the genre. For the past few years, he has been rewriting the old songs from Yiddish theater as modern jazz tunes. “I’m just discovering it all now, and it’s incredible,” he said. “There’s so much amazing material.”

Leshes grew up around Yiddish and speaks it himself, but it is only recently that he has been able to appreciate its modern applications in music and performance. Leshes just released his first music video for his song,

Cantor Yisroel Leshes in his music video for Younger World.

Younger World (Yinger Velt in Yiddish), which he filmed last summer while on vacation in Venice over the course of only a single morning. The original song is actually a reworked, swinging version of the song Di Zukunft (The Future), which was written by Yiddish poet Morris Winchevsky in the early 1900s. Leshes worked with jazz arranger Adam Podd to recompose the melody. The result has some of the vibe of Bei Mir Bistu Shein, the Andrews Sisters’ 20th-century Yiddish crossover hit, which itself was covered by such jazz greats as Ella Fitzgerald and Benny Goodman. In the video, Leshes sings his way around the colorful canals — crooning while sitting in a gondola — and walking along the narrow streets. He’s joined by a trumpet player, while his daughter, Shira, dances and laughs with him as they sing about the old world changing into a new era. “Venice is the most colorful city in the world,” said the Venetian director of the video, Dean Lakic, “It is a superb setting

for a song about a brighter future.” The reception to the song and video, Leshes said, has been great. “People stop me on the street in Brooklyn. I’m so glad to know it’s not just me, that a lot of people are really liking this kind of music.” Leshes’ appreciation for jazz and Yiddish theater isn’t limited to his own performances. One of his favorite things about jazz, he said, is the experience of being able to see and hear the music in an intimate venue with only a few dozen other people. But because he keeps kosher, Leshes was aware that he was harming jazz clubs’ bottom lines by not purchasing food when he took up a table. So, Leshes did the next logical thing: In the early months of 2020, he opened The Mansion NYC, a pop-up jazz club in the YJP (Young Jewish Professionals) Mansion, a three-story venue on East 16th St. near Union Square. The venue was able to host three shows before the pandemic shutdown in 2020; there was kosher food, a bar and about 100 people in attendance at each performance, he said. He showcased Jewish and Israeli Klezmer music, featuring performers Yanke Lemmer, Frank London and Daniel Zamir. “It was just absolutely magic,” he said. “People loved it. There’s just a very Jewish, heimish atmosphere. Nobody felt awkward or out of place.” Leshes had planned to reopen this month, before the recent Omicron spike delayed its comeback. He’s waiting until cases are lower before he’ll look into booking acts again. In the video for Younger World, Leshes belts the last lines of the song while sitting on a gondola as it glides along a canal: “Alzo mutik in di reynen, In di reynen, tsu befrayen, Tsu befrayen un banayen Unzer alte velt.” The video’s subtitles translates this to: “Let’s all have the courage in the ranks to free and rejuvenate our Old World.” It seems he is already doing so.

January 28, 2022

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