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MOMentum 2019 Kate’s story Increase your impact on our Jewish community Page 2
Jewish Business Leaders Page 5
KATE MURPHY saw the Downton Abbey movie. I loved the TV show, and I was sad when it was over; so, I watched the movie. It was slow and quiet, a lot like the TV show. I recommend it. The movie concluded with a theme of continuity. Mary Crawley is tasked with car-
I
Tracing Jewish heritage on Finding Your Roots Page 12
rying on the archaic traditions of the fiefdom. The matriarch is dying. Mary is the next generation. Her sister has moved away from the manor house. Mary is the only one, and her grandmother impresses upon her how important it is for everyone in the community that the manor house carry on. It See MOMentum 2019 page 2
Spiritual Pathways: A bold experiment in worship at Temple Israel
REGULARS Spotlight Voices Synagogues Life cycles
6 8 10 11
RABBI BRIAN STOLLER Senior Rabbi, Temple Israel Everyone has their own particular pathway to connect with Judaism, and Jewish spirituality is no exception. Each of us finds spiritual connection in different settings and experiences. For some, traditional prayer services bring that feeling of warmth and inspiration. And yet, we each prefer different kinds of services: some like contemporary music, others favor classical melodies. Some love high-energy, participatory prayer,
while others find more comfort in serene, contemplative services. Others among us don’t like services at all. We feel more plugged in spiritually when we’re exercising, or out in nature, or reading a great book, or playing music, or singing, or painting, or having deep conversation about ideas and life. These things may not be what we tend to think of when we say “prayer,” but they should be. Because there are many different ways to pray, many different ways to experience God. This is why our Temple Israel clergy team is inviting you to join us in thinking about prayer and Shabbat in a new, more expansive way. I am excited to announce that, beginning in late February and running through mid-June, we will experiment with a variety of new forms of Shabbat wor-
ship. This will include several different styles of prayer services as well as four new Shabbat experiences that explore spirituality through physical activity, nature, music and art. They will be held on a rotating basis throughout this experimental period. Each of these new worship experi-
ences will be substantially different, and we recognize that not all of them will resonate with every congregant. And that’s okay, because spirituality is not one-size-fits-all. Our hope is that you will give them a try and find your pathway to meaningful connection in at least one of them. We think this is a bold experiment See Spiritual Pathways page 3
Foundation update Do you own property that you used to enjoy, but now seldom use? Perhaps a vacation home or a summer home by the lake? What if you could get a steady income stream from that p r o p e r t y HOWARD EPSTEIN during your Executive Director, lifetime and JFO Foundation leave a generous gift to charity? Consider the following scenario: Susan has a vacation home worth $300,000 that she and her deceased husband purchased years ago for $100,000. Her family uses it only rarely now. At age 75, she is ready to shed the responsibilities and costs of owning it. She also is a loyal supporter of the Jewish Federation of Omaha who contributes to the Federation campaign every year. Susan’s annual income is $100,000, and it comes mostly from income earned on her retirement savings, social security and a small pension. She would like to supplement that income with a steady and reliable stream of additional cash, and she would like to continue to support Omaha’s Jewish community even after her lifetime. A charitable trust called a Flip Charitable Remainder Unitrust (“Flip CRUT”) may be ideal for Susan. She can transfer her vacation home to this charitable trust and designate that the trustee of the charitable trust sell her vacation home. Since the vacation home does not generate any current income, Susan will not receive any income from the charitable trust until the vacation home sells. Then starting in the year after the trustee of her charitable trust sells her vacation home, she will start receiving income, and she will continue receiving income for the rest of her life. She will name the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation as the charitable remainder beneficiary of her CRUT, and she will also establish a future Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment (PACE) Fund at the Foundation. After Susan’s lifetime, the Foundation will receive the balance remaining in Susan’s charitable trust, and that remainder will go directly into Susan’s PACE Fund. Each year thereafter, the Foundation will distribute income generated by the PACE fund to the Federation for the Federation’s annual campaign. Now that is a winning scenario for Susan and for her favorite charitable cause, the Jewish Federation Annual Campaign. In addition to enjoying a steady income stream from the trust after See Foundation update page 3
2 | The Jewish Press | January 31, 2020
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MOMentum 2019
Continued from page 1 becomes important to Mary, too, and she dedicates the rest of her life. I also recently saw Israel. As a modern Reform Jew and an atheist, I went to Israel to have a low-cost trip to Israel. I also wanted to get to know women in our local community and to discover. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to discover, only that I wanted to do so. At some point during my trip, I became Mary Crawley. It’s hard to be an atheist. There is literally nothing to live for. There is no reward waiting in the afterlife. There is no one greater-than to impress with my generosity or humility. There is nothing special about personhood. It is science; it is biology; it is chemistry. There is nothing other than this. I try to be a good mother, wife, friend and Jew. I try to live in a godlike way, because that is what it means to me to be a Jew. Sometimes I go to Torah study. Much less frequently, I chant Torah on Saturday morning. Why? Because I am Jewish, and that is how I was raised. But there was nothing greater-than. Nothing else.
Kate Murphy and Andee Scioli
Now there is. In Israel I came to understand that my greater-than is Judaism itself. I am Mary Crawley. We all are. The only way that Downton Abbey survives is its people carrying it on. The only way Judaism survives is its people carrying it on. We live to serve. There are so many Jews in Israel!
Many moved to Israel to be their own Mary Crawley. By living in Israel, they are preserving it for all of us. The most powerful place I visited, for myself in Israel, was a small section of Mount Herzl: the plot of the last-of-kin. These are graves of those who lost their entire families in the Holocaust and then lost their own lives in the fight for Israel’s independence. They understood how important it is to carry on Judaism. They understood it so well that they gave the last of their family line. They will not carry on their family; their family died so that Judaism would survive. Those buried as the last-of-kin are a small subset of Jews who gave themselves for the survival of the Jewish people. We met people who came from the United States and all over the world to grow their families and to grow the Jewish people. We met people who came to serve in the military, which is a tough gig, but they did it to continue the Jewish State. And, as visitors and students of Judaism, we were also there to continue. See MOMentum 2019 page 3
6 MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS - $10,000 each for 2020
For two Jewish students …who are college-bound high school seniors
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GABBY BLAIR Staff Writer, Jewish Press Every year, the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s Annual Campaign secures the funds that allows our community to thrive. Your support helps the organizations, whose values and traditions are vital to Omaha’s Jewish life. Because of your financial commitment to Jewish life in Omaha we are able to: • Educate and Engage • our Local Jewish • Community • Empower Seniors to • stay vital and active • Fund and Facilitate • Jewish Youth • Scholarships • Advocate and Educate • • about Anti-Semitism, • respect and tolerance • Assist those in need in • Omaha • Provide Funding to • vulnerable commun• ities in Israel and • around the Jewish • World This Sunday, Feb. 2, be part of “Super Tzedek Sunday” by answering the call and donating to our 2020 Annual Campaign. To make your pledge online go to www.jewishomaha. org/donate. Help our community “Grow Stronger Together.”
The Jewish Press | January 31, 2020 | 3
Anti-Semitism is a current event The American people are not becoming more anti-Semitic. Between 1992 and today, adults expressing anti-Semitism reduced from 17 percent to 12-14 percent of the population. Unfortunately, that is still 25-30 million adults who feel more emboldened than ever to share their misguided beliefs in the public square. As another Jewish house of worship, GARY NACHMAN this time in Lincoln, NE, fell victim to Regional Director, obscene vandalism, it is a stark re- ADL-CRC minder that anti-Semitism is not a history lesson but a current event. We live in a new reality but we are not helpless. South Street Temple knew this and had the foresight to install a camera system, and in doing so not only initiated a strong deterrent against more threatening violations, but provided security and law enforcement an excellent means of bringing to justice those who sought to inflict harm under the cover of darkness.
ADL-CRC has recently formed a Jewish Security Task Force that includes Omaha and Lincoln. Its purpose is to share ideas and information, relevant to our security needs, in real time. ADL’s internationally renowned research divisions, the Center on Extremism and Center for Technology and Society, focus on monitoring social media and other sources of information in cyber space, collecting data and innovating new methods of redirecting those teetering on the fence ready to fall into a hate group. Last year alone, ADL provided over 600 tips to law enforcement that resulted in crimes prevented as well as providing background in ongoing investigations. Because of tips just like these, ADL has corroborative information that may prove useful to law enforcement on this very instance of hate in Lincoln. Still, it should not be our goal to simply strengthen our walls or erect a fortress. It must be our goal to build awareness. ADL is a pillar of anti-bias and anti-hate education in our community, focused on creating safe and effective allies and stalwart advocates for the causes that unite us all. The ADL-CRC stands alongside you. Together we will make the world a better place.
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Spiritual Pathways Continued from page 1 in spirituality, an intentional effort to create as many opportunities as we can for our diverse congregation to find meaning and inspiration in Jewish spiritual practice. To our knowledge, nothing like this has been tried on this scale before at Temple Israel. We’re doing it because we believe this innovative approach to worship will resonate with the modern spiritual senFriday Evenings, 6 p.m. ■ SHABBAT B’YACHAD Temple Israel’s signature Friday evening service featuring a tapestry of contemporary and familiar Shabbat melodies. Feb. 21 & 28, March 13 & 27, April 10 & 24, May 8, 15 & 29, June 12 ■ CLASSIC SHABBAT An elegant worship service featuring classic cantorial music in a traditional Reform style, familiar English prayers, and a Torah reading. March 20, April 17, May 22, June 19 ■ SHABBAT SHIRAH A soulful musical service-in-the-round with energetic and participatory singing in the style of modern Reform, Israeli and postdenominational minyanim. March 6, April 3, May 1, June 5 ■ TOT SHABBAT (5:45 p.m.) An engaging, joyful Shabbat experience designed for our youngest congregants, including challah braiding, kid-friendly songs, a PJ Library story, and a family Shabbat dinner. Jan. 31, March 20 Saturday Mornings, 10:30 a.m. ■ KOL LIBI: A MUSICAL SHABBAT PRAYER SERVICE An uplifting, energetic musical service led by our clergy and Kol Libi, one of our magnificent Temple Israel worship bands, fea-
sibilities and needs of our community and help keep Jewish spirituality relevant and compelling in today’s world. Below you will find descriptions of our various services and alternative experiences, along with the dates on which each will be held. We are very excited about these new opportunities and we invite you to jump in with us and discover the spiritual pathway that works for you. turing Torah and haftarah reading, and an inspiring d’var Torah. Feb. 22 & 29, March 7 & 28, April 11 & 25 May 16 & 30, June 13 ■ TEVA TRAIL: SHABBAT IN NATURE A peaceful Shabbat bike ride or walk with our clergy through one of Omaha’s beautiful trails or neighborhoods. May 2, June 6 & 20 ■ JEWISH YOGA: SHABBAT THROUGH MOVEMENT A meditative yoga experience incorporating Jewish teachings and Shabbat themes for people of all ages and skill levels, led on an alternating basis by master yoga instructors Wendy Goldberg and Katherine Finnegan. April 4, May 23 ■ THE COLOR OF SHABBAT: SPIRITUALITY THROUGH ARTISTIC EXPRESSION An interactive opportunity to experience the beauty of Shabbat and express yourself creatively through painting and other visual arts, led by creative artist Annette van de Kamp-Wright and one of our clergy. March 21, April 18 ■ SHIRU L’ADONAI: SHABBAT IN SONG AND PROSE A participatory spiritual experience exploring Shabbat and other Jewish themes through integrated text study and communal singing, led by our cantor and rabbis. March 14, May 9
advisors to help you accomplish your philanthropic goals. If you know anyone who may benefit from reading this and future eNewsletters from the Foundation, please send me their email address. Also we encourage you to “like” our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. Please feel free to contact me at 402.334.6466 or by email at hepstein@jewishomaha.org. We will be happy to help you achieve your charitable legacy. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, tax or financial advice. When considering gift-planning strategies, you should always consult with your own legal and tax advisors.
MOMentum 2019
Continued from page 2 As participants, we were challenged to identify a Jewish change we would make in our lives to carry the teachings of our trip into the future. But for me, the change was far more. I went to Israel with nothing greater than this life. I returned with an understanding of that which is greater: the Jewish people. There is nothing special about human existence, but yet there is something special about our existence. We are the only means to the end of Judaism. It is only us. We are the only instrument; we are the only tool. There is nothing other than us to make Judaism a reality. And so much depends on us! Regardless of how important I make Judaism in my own life, there so many others for whom Judaism is their life. And for them, I am the only one, we are all the only one, who can be Mary Crawley. Judaism is so important to those in Israel, and many of those in our own community, that it is their lives. Ju-
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Foundation update Continued from page 1 it sells her vacation home, Susan will receive a generous income tax deduction and avoid immediate capital gains tax on the appreciation in her vacation home. Susan will want to include some cash with her gift so that the trustee can maintain the property, as needed until it sells. Also, the trustee will need a qualified appraisal of the property once a year until it is sold, a strong incentive to sell within the first year. You will want to consult with your professional legal, tax and financial advisors should the concept of a charitable trust be of interest to you. We at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation will be happy to work with you and your
WHY NOT DO IT THE EASY WAY?
daism for me is a guide, a tradition and an identity. But it is also a gift that I alone, that we alone, can give to other Jews. By our dedication, spirit, adherence to tradition, questioning, challenging, observing; by all of this or some of this, we can continue Judaism for ourselves and for those who live by it. There is no one but us, and Judaism is greater-than. Life has meaning because this is who I am and what I will do.
ORGANIZATIONS
g n i g n a Ch your ? s s e r d ad Please give us the following information: Your name, old address and new address and when you want the address change to go into effect.
B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS
Call 402.334.6448 or email us at jpress@jewishomaha.org
The Omaha World-Herald’s new executive editor, Randy Essex, will share his thoughts and plans as newspapers across the country continue downsizing on Wednesday, Feb. 5, noon. For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org.
The Jewish Press
4 | The Jewish Press | January 31, 2020
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All events held at the Jewish Community Center unless otherwise noted. This calendar does not include all community events. For a complete listing, visit the Federation’s website: www.jewishomaha.org (click on calendar). To keep calendar accurate, call Pat Anson at 402.334.8200. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of the events.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 31 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH Our Shabbat Tables in Homes—pick up food, noon at Beth El SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1 Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2 Blood Drive, 8 a.m. at Beth El Torah Study, 10 a.m. at Beth El MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3 Eye on Israel, noon Exploring Judaism with Scott Littky, 7 p.m. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4 The Book of Jewish Values Class, 11:30 a.m. at Beth El WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5 Breadbreakers and Speaker, noon at RBJH THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6 Baby Playgroup, 9:30 a.m. at Temple Israel FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH Beth El Tot Shabbat, 5:30 p.m at Beth El
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10 Meals that Heal at McDonald House, 4:30 p.m. at Beth El Exploring Judaism with Scott Littky, 7 p.m.
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11 The Book of Jewish Values Class, 11:30 a.m. at Beth El
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12 Breadbreakers and Speaker, noon at RBJH THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13 Baby Playgroup, 9:30 a.m. at Temple Israel FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH Temple Israel Shabbat Comes to You at Heritage on Sterling Ridge, 4 p.m. Monthly Shabbat Speaker Series, 7:30 p.m. at B’nai Israel, Council Bluffs, IA. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15 Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16 Torah Study, 10 a.m. at Beth El MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17 Jewish Press Board Meeting, 5:30 p.m. Exploring Judaism with Scott Littky, 7 p.m. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18 The Book of Jewish Values Class, 11:30 a.m. at Beth El WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19 Breadbreakers and Speaker, noon at RBJH Hamantashen Baking, 4 p.m. at Beth El THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20 Baby Playgroup, 9:30 a.m. at Temple Israel Boys and Girls Club Read and Feed with Beth El, 5 p.m. at Beth El FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH Shabbat Service: Artist in Residence Jacob “Spike” Kraus, 6 p.m. at Temple Israel SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22 Torah Study with Artist in Residence Jacob “Spike” Kraus, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel Shabbat Service: Artist in Residence Jacob “Spike” Kraus, 10:30 a.m. at Temple Israel Tot Havdalah with Artist in Residence Jacob “Spike” Kraus, 4:30 p.m. at Temple Israel Fed Event: A night in the country pub crawl, 8 p.m. at Countryside Village SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23 Hamantashen Baking, 9 a.m. at Beth El Torah Study, 10 a.m. at Beth El Israeli Cooking Workshop with Ron Lugasy, Community Shlichah, 4:30 p.m. at Beth Israel Meals that Heal at McDonald House with Beth El, 4:30 p.m. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24 Exploring Judaism with Scott Littky, 7 p.m. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25 The Book of Jewish Values Class, 11:30 a.m. at Beth El WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26 Breadbreakers and Speaker, noon at RBJH Hamantashen Baking, 4 p.m. at Beth El THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27 Baby Playgroup, 9:30 a.m. at Temple Israel FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29 Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel
The Jewish Press | January 31, 2020 | 5
Jewish Business Leaders
News LOCA L | N ATION AL | WORLD
Temple Israel debuts new Friday Sermon Series Jewish Business Leaders of Omaha featured Dr. Joel and Nancy Schlessinger, owners of LovelySkin.com at the Bagels and Business Breakfast event. They spoke about the evolution of their business. The title of their presentation: “How Missing Being in the Phone Book Changed My Career.” Thank you to Centris Federal Credit Union and our platinum sponsors for 2020, Bridges Trust, for sponsoring this event.
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Women’s Guide
make the world a better place through acts of RABBI DEANA SUSSMAN BEREZIN tikkun olam, to engage with our Tri-Faith Associate Rabbi, Temple Israel This past September, we celebrated the Jew- partners, to create unique opportunities for ish New Year together, members of all ages and A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND ringing in 5780. During interests – that work is (HOLY) WORDS that time, as is typical for not separate from what Friday, Jan. 31 the New Year, we made happens inside the sancRabbi Deana Sussman Berezin some resolutions, if you tuary. Judaism has and will, set some goals as a always will be a combiA WALK THROUGH MUSICAL clergy and professional nation of all of these TRADITIONS team for our congregathings: of prayer and acFriday, Feb. 7 tion. We outlined these tion, of individual interCantor Joanna Alexander goals in the Pathways ests and communal book, which set forth our responsibility. “YOU HAVE MADE OUR BODIES philosophy that we each To that end, we are WITH WISDOM”: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE have a unique path to thrilled to bring the conFriday, Feb. 14 Jewish life, and that is our versations taking place Rabbi Brian Stoller role at Temple Israel to outside of the sanctuary help each and every perto the very heart of it ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE son walk that path. through our Friday Feb. 21-23 Now, in the first weeks Night Sermon Series. We Jacob “Spike” Kraus of the secular New Year, invite you to join us as we wanted to share we explore a wide array LEAN ON ME: CULTIVATING some exciting ways that of topics, each conA CARING COMMUNITY our resolutions are being nected to the important Friday, Feb. 28 put into action. Much of work that we are doing, Cantor Joanna Alexander what happens at Temple together, as a Temple Israel takes place outside of the walls of the community. Our clergy and guest speakers sanctuary, and yet, our prayer services are will help us connect, learn, grow, and engage. central to who we are and what we do. The We hope you will join us as we go on this jourwork we do to create a caring community, to ney together.
Join the four-woman acapella group, Quince, for a night of gorgeously apocalyptic melodies in remembrance of the Dust Bowl. On February 10, these four critically acclaimed sopranos will perform a series of folk ballads inspired by Woody Guthrie as part of their “This a Changin’ World” tour. Quince has been described in Opera News as “the Anonymous 4 of new music” and the versatility of their voices is truly something to behold! $15 General Admission $10 for KANEKO Members and Students
Publishing date | 02.14.20 Space reservation | 02.05.20 Contact our advertising executive to promote your business in this very special edition. SUSAN BERNARD | 402.334.6559 | sbernard@jewishomaha.org
More info at thekaneko.org With gratitude to the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.
6 | The Jewish Press | January 31, 2020
Above: Ded icated congregants Ayela and Mila are “helping” prepare Wednesday night dinner at Temple Israel. Below: Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Grodzinsky Yartzeit Seuda at the home of Rabbi Yoni Dryer recently.
Above: Kamp KEF Blowout! at Beth El.
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.
Above: Friedel Jewish Academy Kindergarteners learned about the Hebrew letter ‘Lamed’ by making a lemonade-sipping clown. Below: RBJH Staff participated in Wear a Hat Day recently as Residents enjoyed a Mad Hatter Tea Party.
Above and right: Beth Israel winners of the Master Chef Jr. competition being treated to an evening of bowling. Below: On Jan. 12, the Epstein-Morgan chapter of the Jewish War Veterans club met for the first time in 2020.
Above: The weekly Community Beit Midrash was held at Beth Israel, Jan. 15.
GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY
The Jewish Press | January 31, 2020 | 7
2020 elections
North O Renewal
Which democratic system is more problematic: One that leads to a third election within the span of 11 months, or one in which the winner receives fewer votes than the loser? Quite a relevant question for 2020, as Israel heads to the polls for another do-over election and President Donald Trump, who in 2016 lost the popular vote 65,853,514 to 62,984,828, seeks re-election. TEDDY While it is clear to most Americans WEINBERGER that the use of the Electoral College violates the democratic principle of one person one vote, we were raised to believe that the likelihood of a President’s being elected after having lost the popular vote is too slim to bother with a constitutional amendment. And besides, in the end we hope that things even out; for example, while Republicans won the Presidency in 2000 and 2016 but lost the popular vote, there is good reason to believe that the reverse happened in 1960. In truth, however, the unusual case of a winner losing the popular vote is a red herring in this whole discussion because to a partisan of parliamentary democracy, the very nature of a winner-take-all system is problematic. Israelis have a concept called “throwing away your vote.” If you vote for a party that does not pass the electoral threshold, you have thrown away your vote since no one from the party you voted for made it into the Knesset. Currently, a party must garner a minimum of 3.25 percent of the votes cast in order to enter the Knesset. If a party does manage to get 3.25 percent of the votes, it is allocated four Knesset members; if it falls below that threshold, it does not get into the Knesset at all. Israelis do not like to throw away their votes, and a person will feel bad if they took a chance on a small party that did not succeed in passing the electoral threshold. From an Israeli perspective, one
could say that the 65,853,514 Americans who voted for Clinton in 2016 threw away their vote, given the winner-take-all system. The situation is particularly egregious with a lame-duck president. That is, one could argue that during his first term in office President Trump had a political incentive to try to turn at least some Clinton voters into Trump 2020 voters. But what can be said for the 60,933,504 Americans who voted for Mitt Romney in 2012 and who had to settle for the re-election of a president who could not run again, who had no political incentive to please or win these voters over? These 60,933,504 Americans did their best, but in the end they threw away their vote. Having said all this, I have to also say that Israelis feel exasperated at having to go to the polls for a third time in a year. In a certain sense, we all feel that the votes we cast in the past two elections were thrown away. Plus, it’s now clear to everyone that this huge effort and expense of a third election is to achieve just one thing: the removal of Bibi Netanyahu from office. The difference between the two big parties is fairly minimal, and Haaretz’s veteran op-ed writer Gideon Levy has already written a piece saying that a government formed by Benny Gantz and the Blue and White party will be remarkably similar to the government of Netanyahu and Likud. Yes, this ultra-leftist writer basically feels that if indeed all that will be accomplished politically in the next elections will be to have a different Prime Minister for the first time in over a decade—and that nothing will be advanced vis a vis the Palestinians and the “occupation” (and this does seem to be the case)—then little in fact will have been accomplished. Here’s hoping for decisive but also good results in the 2020 elections--Israel’s as well as America’s. Teddy Weinberger, Ph.D., made aliyah in 1997 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 Israel Defense Forces; Weinberger can be reached at weinross@netvision.net.il.
Eko Nova: Quince Notes by the members of Quince: Inspired by the poetry, songs, and activism of Woody Guthrie, This A Changin’ World is a collection that conjures the wind, land, and stories of unplanned migration alongside songs about the American experience of loving and losing. The evening includes arrangements of Guthrie’s music as well as newly composed works by members of Quince and some of our very favorite collaborators, including David Lang, Gilda Lyons, Laura Steenberge and Warren Enstrom. About Quince Ensemble: Singing with the precision and flexibility of modern chamber musicians, Quince Ensemble is changing the paradigm of contemporary vocal music. Described as “the Anonymous 4 of new music” by Opera News, Quince continually pushes the boundaries of vocal ensemble literature. As d ed icated ad vocates of new music, Quince regularly commissions new works, providing wider exposure for the music of living composers. They recently
launched the Quince New Music Commissioning Fund, a fund to grow the repertoire for women and treble voices. Quince has released three studio albums, Realign the Time, Hushers, and Motherland, all available on iTunes, CD Baby, Spotify, and Amazon. In 2016, Quince was featured on the KODY Festival Lublin, Poland, in collaboration with David Lang and Beth Morrison Projects. They have also appeared on the Outpost Concert Series, the Philip Glass: Music with Friends concert at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn, Alia Musica, and the SONiC Festival in New York. During the 2018-19 season, they will collaborate with International Contemporary Ensemble, Lincoln Center, Linfield University, Vespers Concert Series, Kamratōn Ensemble, Connecticut Summerfest, and UC Berkeley, to name a few. Comprised of vocalists Liz Pearse (soprano), Kayleigh Butcher (mezzo soprano), Amanda DeBoer Bartlett (soprano), and Carrie Henneman Shaw (soprano), Quince thrives on unique musical challenges and genre-bending contemporary repertoire.
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Do you know an outstanding Jewish teacher currently teaching K-12 in the Omaha metro area?
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Just write a letter describing this teacher (who has been teaching at least 3 years) and tell us why she/he deserves this special recognition. Encourage others (current or former students, parents, teachers) to do so also. A teacher who was nominated in the past, but not selected, can be nominated again. Only an update is needed.
Send your letter by March 2, 2020 to Janet Henthorn at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, 333 So. 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68154 or jhenthorn@jewishomaha.org. Contact her with any questions at 402-334-6551.
Growing Community, Not Just Plants Sponsored Content: #008 in the Series
Dear Friends of the Environment, As you perhaps know, the Benson Plant Rescue was born back in 1999 as an accidental offshoot of Charlotte Hauser’s Benson Garden Walk. For the first dozen or so years of our existence, we served a “majority minority” clientele primarily from North Omaha because that’s where we were located, on 50th Street between Maple and Ames. Two stories stand out in my mind from these early days, both of which have had a profound impact upon my life. The first was from our earliest days, probably 2001 or so, and took place in my back yard (pictured above), the site of our earliest foundation. A slightly bent grandmother came up to me holding some flowering annuals in her frail black hands. The cares of 80 or more years were etched in her dark, wrinkled face, and just the glint of a tear edged her appreciative eyes as she told me how happy she was to get such beauty for only 25¢. As she continued to tell me how much of a difference these flowers were going to make in her front yard, I felt like I was talking to Maya Angelou’s GreatGreat-Great-Great-Great- Grandmother celebrated in an essay I used to teach to my students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln back in the Seventies. In it Maya narrates how her ancient relative endured a lifetime of abject poverty by always keeping a small plot of flowers out front of her slave hovel. It gave her comfort and hope in an otherwise bleak, hard life. And that same story was taken a step further around 2009, our tenth anniversary year, when an elderly mother and her forty-something daughter chatted with me about the transformation taking place on their block. As they and another relative beautified their three homes and yards, the entire block seemed to follow suit and come alive. They were a living manifestation of then President George W. Bush’s “thousand points of light,” transforming their local community not with government handouts but with their personal initiative and sweat equity. The picture below was taken around that time across the street at the third yard to which Benson Plant Rescue had by then expanded. The home had just undergone a complete remodel, the yard making a statement like that of those three women.
How put a value on some 21 years of such quiet, private North Omaha Urban Renewal Please be so kind as to give serious thought to becoming a Sustaining Member of Benson Plant Rescue/Community Produce Rescue. Your generous donation will assist us in taking our Omaha-based model nationwide. Thank You.
by Dr. D, Co-Founder & President Benson Plant Rescue/Community Produce Rescue (BPR-CPR) 7224 Maple, Omaha, NE 68134
(402) 933-3867
BensonPlantRescue.org.
8 | The Jewish Press | January 31, 2020
Voices
The Jewish Press (Founded in 1920)
Abby Kutler President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Susan Bernard Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Gabby Blair Staff Writer Michael Ivey Accounting Jewish Press Board Abby Kutler, President; Eric Dunning, Ex-Officio; Danni Christensen, Candice Friedman, Bracha Goldsweig, Jill Idelman, Andy Isaacson, Natasha Kraft, Andrew Miller, Eric Shapiro, Shoshy Susman 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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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.
A few things...
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor, Jewish Press We were all very excited when the invitations for the Jewish Press Centennial Soiree were sent out. The room had been reserved, the food tasted, the band booked- we’re well on track, I thought. After months of hard work by our Board of Directors’ member Candice Friedman to design the perfect invitations, discussions about what the envelopes should look like, dedication by the marketing department to get everything printed just so, hours of stuffing envelopes by the kind people at the front desk, we were all relieved when we could check another thing off the list. You know that moment when you congratulate yourself on a job well done, only to realize (too late) you just made a mistake on a grand scale? I’ll explain. We wanted to invite every single person who receives the Press. For that, I thought, we’ll use thePress reader database, that way we’ll reach every household. Yes, except, in most cases, there is only one family member’s name on the address label. To make it even worse, oftentimes, that’s the husband—leaving a good number of women to feel as if they weren’t included. Who ever looks at the label on their paper, right? I don’t. Even at my own house, it was only my husband’s name that appeared on the invite, because the paper comes under his name. Archaic, I know. I can come up with a whole list of excuses, but I won’t. This was completely and totally my fault. I hereby offer all of you who felt slighted my sincere apology and I hope you’ll all still come to our party, because it honestly wouldn’t be the same without you. Also, if you want your label changed, please let us know at avandekamp@jewishomaha.org or
at jpress@jewishomaha.org and we will make it happen. In other news, we’re working on our Passover edition and are still looking for some lifetime readers who want to be interviewed about what the paper means to them. If you’d like to answer a few short questions about your personal memories of the Press, please let us know. Maybe you have a unique story, maybe you remember a time when you read something that surprised you, perhaps you’d like us to find mention of your Bar Mitzvah in the 1940s or your grandparents’ wedding announcement from the 1920s, you name it; please consider sharing it with the rest of us. The deadline for the Passover edition is Feb. 19. Finally, I want to draw your attention to a few other important dates. The FED event, “A Night in the Country,” is scheduled for Feb. 22 from 8-10 p.m. at Countryside Village. Enjoy nosh from Timber and spend the rest of the evening connecting with new friends while exploring the Casual Pint and Cedar. The night will end with a bonfire and s’mores bar. Cost is $25 per person. Contact Jamie Skog-Burke at jskog-burke@jewishomaha.org for more information. You will have another chance to show your support for our Jewish community Super Sunday,
Feb. 2. Every year, the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s Annual Campaign secures the funds that allow our community to thrive. Your support helps the organizations whose values and traditions are vital to Omaha’s Jewish life. Everyone in our community has a powerful story to share of how the Omaha Jewish community has impacted their life.
We are looking for people to call our donors to share how their generosity impacts our community. Please help us secure the funds needed for our community to continue to thrive. If soliciting isn’t your thing, we will be making “Thank You” calls to our donors as well. First calling session is from 10 to 11:30 a.m. (Nosh will be served); the second calling session is 12:30-2 p.m. (Light lunch will be served). Location: Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Community Engagement Venue at the JCC (the former “auditorium”) Contact Jamie Skog-Burke at jskog-burke@jewishomaha.org if you are willing to help.
Why is a church still holding services in Auschwitz-Birkenau? RABBI AVI WEISS OSWIECIM, POLAND | JTA As the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz approaches, survivors are preparing to gather and commemorate the event, testifying to their faith in life over death. Political and religious leaders from around the world will be there, too, declaring that what happened in that dark abyss will never happen again. Brooding over all those assembled will be what is today the greatest violation of Holocaust memory — the church at Birkenau. From just about anywhere in Birkenau, looking up, one can see the church’s towering crosses casting their shadows over the death camp. Some 1.1 million Jews were murdered in the camp, constituting 95 percent of its victims. The church building once served as the Nazi commandant’s headquarters — Jewish inmates, especially women, were tortured and raped there. Over the years, I’ve become increasingly sensitive to interfaith matters, including the importance of building and maintaining good Jewish-Catholic relations. Still, the Birkenau church does not belong at the largest Jewish cemetery in the world. The church, which remains operational and fully functional to this day, represents one of today’s most imminent threats to the integrity of Holocaust memory. It stands in violation of a solemn agreement signed in 1987 by European cardinals and European Jewish leaders that “there will be no permanent Catholic place of worship on the site of the Auschwitz and Birkenau camps,” and in violation of the 1972 UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Culture and Natural Heritage. With the camps decaying, and when the survivors are gone, and when we, the second generation, also are gone, all that will be left at Birkenau will be the church and its crosses. In the dark times of the Holocaust, the Catholic Church turned its back on Jews desperate for help. While there were “righteous gentiles” who, at great risk, saved Jewish lives, the Vatican was nowhere
to be found. I and others have been calling for the church to be moved for decades. In 1995, during the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, I took part in a sit-in at the church and was arrested. When we were taken to the police station, we were ordered to strip. I looked incredulously at the police and said, “Haven’t you stripped enough Jews in this place?”
A view from outside the former death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland. Credit: Alexandre Marchi/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
In describing the establishment of the Birkenau church in his book “Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the Jews,” former priest James Carroll wrote: “When suffering is seen to serve a universal plan of salvation, its particular character as tragic and evil is always diminished … [T]he elimination of Jewishness from the place where Jews were eliminated makes the evil worse.” When we first protested the presence of another Christian presence in the concentration camps, the Carmelite convent at Auschwitz, more than three decades ago, the locals kept reminding us that Auschwitz is a German name. They only knew of Oswiecim, the Polish name of the town. It was their way of saying that Poland had nothing to do with what occurred at that site. The extent to which Poland was complicit in the Holocaust is a matter of serious debate that has been compounded by the government’s recent attempts to criminalize references to Polish complicity in Nazi atrocities. What is not up for debate is that the Birkenau church operates today with the
government’s approval. The Polish government has the power to demand that the church be moved elsewhere, an action that would make clear that when Poland is in control, it will do the right thing. To be clear, we aren’t suggesting that the people living in the village of Birkenau be deprived of their parish church. A church should be built for them in the village, away from the camp. Pope Francis, too, has the power to make a difference. In the matter of the Carmelite convent, it was only when Pope John Paul II insisted that the nuns move out of the building they had occupied in Auschwitz I — the Nazis had stored canisters of the deadly Zyklon B gas there — that they vacated and the convent was closed. Pope Francis can step forward and do the same with regard to the Birkenau church. On Jan. 27, marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, we will be there as the survivors and the dignitaries gather for the commemoration ceremony. At its conclusion, we will walk the short distance to the Birkenau church, raise our placards and, in dignity and peace, demand that the church be moved out of the camp. The Carmelite convent protest, together with actions of the larger Jewish community, led to the closing of the convent. Our hope is that now, too, survivors and other good people assembled at the commemoration of the Auschwitz liberation will join us in raising a voice of moral conscience — of Jewish conscience — on behalf of the six million who cannot speak for themselves, our brothers and sisters whose “blood cries out from the ground” demanding justice. Rabbi Avi Weiss is founding rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, Bronx, NY. He is national president of AMCHA — the Coalition for Jewish Concerns and a longtime activist for Jewish causes, human rights and defending Holocaust memory. 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 31, 2020 | 9
Why intersectionality fails the Jews BATSHEVA NEUER NEW YORK | JTA Thirty years ago, Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality as a way to help explain the oppression of AfricanAmerican women. The theory of how different forms of discrimination interact is a useful tool to recognize the way privilege and oppression overlap. It can serve to challenge notions about oppressions and hierarchies, class struggles and racial divides. But the recent spate of anti-Semitism in New York compels us to ask if it also has its demons. Identifying Jews as white in the context of American history is not only a perversion of the Jewish past but a denial of its peoplehood. In American politics, white implies one who is a beneficiary of the past 500 years of European exploration and exploitation. It is identified with control, dominance and exclusivity — hardly accurate characteristics of Jewish history. While in the past 50 years American Jews have enjoyed privileges associated with hierarchical whiteness, only a collective amnesia would preclude us from recalling just how recently Jews were still barred from exclusive hotels, unwelcome in select restaurants, country clubs and even neighborhoods, and restricted by elite universities that had a “Jewish problem” (i.e too many Jews), forcing them to limit Jewish registration by implementing quotas. It is nearly impossible to imagine that any other group who had one out of every three of its members wiped out in a sixyear span would be considered privileged. This narrative, however, is facilitated by the absorption of Jewishness into whiteness, which is both an erasure of Jewish ethnicity and misrepresentation of the dynamic Jewish identity. Jewishness as whiteness obscures the unique and often oppressed experiences of Jews, including those of Sephardic, Arab, African or Middle Eastern descent. It also accentuates and accelerates anti-Semitic tropes based on Jewish power. The subsuming of Jewishness into whiteness was displayed recently by Linda Sarsour, who was filmed one month ago saying that Israel was “built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else” and implied that one cannot be against white supremacy unless he or she is against the Jewish state. Although Sarsour tried walking back her word choice, the linking of white supremacism to Israel — a country that is dis-
tinctively Jewish — was intentional. White supremacism is an acceptable identifier — even if it obfuscates the Jewish experience and demographic reality — whereas Jewish supremacism sounds reactionary and bigoted. The discourse associating Jews with power based on their perceived whiteness is particularly threatening given the centrality of the myth of Jewish hegemonic pursuit in the repertoire of historic anti-Semitism. As law professor David Schraub notes: “The Whiteness of the Jewish figure served to cleanse, even validate, arguments that otherwise would reek in their anti-Semitic familiarity.”
A house of cards. Credit: Getty Images
In fact, a perceived all-encompassing Jewish power, or cabal, is one of the few tropes that unites extremists on the right and left. In November, white supremacist Patrick Little of Idaho declared his candidacy for the general election, running as a Republican. He told the Idaho Press that “the only way to challenge Jewish power in this country is with local elections.” He also said that the “top priority” for the Jewish people is to displace white people specifically, adding that the Jews control the media, entertainment industry and politics. Along these same lines on the left, Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party has become a “safe space” for anti-Semites. From ancient through medieval times, the fear of a secret Jewish conspiracy to dominate both the economy and government was used to justify anti-Semitic violence. Later, the Nazis capitalized on old Christian themes of secret Jewish
Passover A Greetings
dominance to propagandize and mobilize support for their Jewish liquidation program. Today, that fear has been expanded by modern anti-Semites to the point of caricature to include the media, global markets and geopolitical stability. Framed according to this trope, a paradox develops: Not only is the Jewish experience lost in whiteness, but Jewishness serves to epitomize whiteness’ vilest iteration. A white Jew is not only powerful but hyper powerful. He is not only exploitative and manipulative but the arch puppeteer, controlling world affairs. While intersectionality can be a valuable tool, it has been ineffective in the case of “white Jews.” The result is a dangerous distortion of the Jewish experience — its history, diversity and challenges. Although Jewish skin comes in every shade — reflecting the diversity of a people that spans the globe and is all at once an ethnicity, nation and religion — some of its whitest members endured a genocidal program that prompted the world to proclaim Never Again. An intersectional approach can prove useful only if the two identities are separated and if the Jewish experience is articulated rather than subsumed or dismissed. Fighting antiSemitism will begin when the complexity of Jewish experience is properly portrayed rather than lost in skin color. Batsheva Neuer teaches Jewish thought at Touro College and is pursuing a doctorate in New York City. Her articles appear in The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. 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.
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Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. Readers can also submit announcements -- births, b’nai mitzvahs, engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements. Deadlines are normally eight days prior to publication, on Thursdays, 9 a.m. Please check the Jewish Press, for notices of early deadlines.
Passover Greetings from
$52
This year you can send your greetings through these very special ads that will run in our annual Passover issue. Each ad can be personalized with your name, the names of your children or your grandchildren. Just fill out the form below and send or bring it to the Jewish Press office. But hurry; these ads will only be accepted through February 19, 2020.
PassoverGreetingsAds Name __________________________________________________________________ Address _______________________________________________________________ City ____________________________________________ State ____ Zip ___________ Check the size of ad you would like:
OA
OB
OC
Use the lines below to list your family members names you would like on your Passover ad. _______________________________________________________________________
Your names go here
Passover
B $65
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C $81
Passover GREETINGS
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_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ Please send a check for the amount listed along side the different sized ads with this form to the Jewish Press office in the JCC or mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 South 132 Street, Omaha, NE 68154
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Synagogues
10 | The Jewish Press | January 31, 2020
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
CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN
South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE
Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road Offutt AFB, NE 68123 402.294.6244 email: oafbjsll@icloud.com
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME
323 South 132 Street Omaha, NE 68154
TEMPLE ISRAEL
Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive Omaha, NE 68144-1206 402.556.6536 templeisraelomaha.com
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 for our monthly Shabbat Speakers Series on Friday, Feb. 14, 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker Ken Freed. Our service leader is Larry Blass, and as always, an Oneg wil follow the service. 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, MaryBeth Muskin and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.
BETH EL Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman. FRIDAY: Short Story Discussion Group, 10 a.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services, 9:30 a.m.; Jr. Congregation (Grades 3-7), 10 a.m.; Kiddush following services. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9:30 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. SUNDAY: Blood Drive American Red Cross, 8 a.m.; Madrichim Meeting, 9 a.m.; BESTT (Grades K-7), 9:30 a.m.; World Wide Wrap, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10 a.m.; School Committee Meeting, 11 a.m.; Yiddish Class, 11 a.m. with Hazzan Krausman; USY/Kadima/Kibbutz Chaverim, 12:30 p.m. TUESDAY: Short Story Discussion Group, 10 a.m.; Jewish Values Class, 11:30 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham; Mahjong, 1 p.m. WEDNESDAY: BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4:15 p.m.; USY Purim Prep, 5:15 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 6:30 p.m. THURSDAY: Brachot and Breakfast, 7 a.m.; Chesed Committee visits the Rose Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m. USY/Kadima Shabbat, Friday, Feb. 7, 6-9 p.m. USY and Kadima are leading Kabbalat Shabbat followed by Ramen Shabbat dinner at Eadie’s. Please RSVP to Amy at adworin@bethel-omaha.org. Chesed Committee Visits Remington Heights, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Join members of the Chesed Committee as we visit with residents of Remington Heights on the second Tuesday of the month..
BETH ISRAEL Services conducted by Rabbi Ari Dembitzer FRIDAY: Laws of Shabbos, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 7:40 a.m. with Rabbi Ari; Lights of Teshuva, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Moshe; Mincha/Candle Lighting, 5:22 p.m. SATURDAY: Open Beit Midrash — All welcome to learn the Torah and Dance, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Torah Tot Shabbat, 10:50 a.m.; Insights into the Weekly Torah Portion, 4:20 p.m.; Teen-led Youth Group, 5 p.m.; Mincha/Seudah Shlishit, 5:05 p.m.; Havdalah, 6:24 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 am.; Works of Maimonides, 9:45 am.; JYE BI, 10 am.; JYE BI Jr., 10:15 am.; Mincha/ Daf Yomi/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. at RBJH. MONDAY: Laws of Shabbos, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 7:40 a.m. with Rabbi Ari; Lights of Teshuva, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Moshe; Mincha/Daf Yomi/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. at RBJH. TUESDAY: Laws of Shabbos, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 7:40 a.m. with Rabbi Ari; Lights of Teshuva, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Moshe; Torah Tuesday, 1 p.m. with Rabbi Ari; Mincha/Daf Yomi/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. at RBJH; Tasty Torah: Learning Torah through the Palate, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Men’s Pick-up Basketball, 8 p.m. at the JCC. WEDNESDAY: Laws of Shabbos, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 7:40 a.m. with Rabbi Ari; Lights of Teshuva, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Moshe; Mincha/Daf Yomi/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. at RBJH. THURSDAY: Laws of Shabbos, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 7:40 a.m. with Rabbi Ari; Lights of Teshuva, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Moshe; Character Development, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Ari; Mincha/Daf Yomi/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m. at RBJH.
CHABAD HOUSE Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and Friday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. FRIDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m. followed by coffee, treats, study and shmoozing. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m. followed by coffee, treats, study and shmoozing. SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m.; Sunday Secrets, 9:15
p.m. following Minyan. MONDAY: Personal Parsha class, 9:30 a.m. with Shani; Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. WEDNESDAY: Mystical Thinking, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Katzman; Introduction to Reading Hebrew, 10:30 a.m. THURSDAY: Intermediate Hebrew Reading and Prayer, 11 a.m.; Talmud Class, noon with Rabbi Katzman. All programs are open to the entire community. For more information call 402.330.1800 or visit www.Ocha bad.com.
B’NAI JESHURUN Services conducted by Rabbi Teri Appleby. FRIDAY: No Erev Shabbat Services at the Temple; Jewish Community Event: Community Dinner and guest speaker Tal Schneider, Chief Diplomatic and Political Correspondent for Globes to our City, Israel’s oldest financial daily newspaper, 6:30 p.m. at TIfereth Israel; Candlelighting, 5:25 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:45 a.m. on Parashat Bo; Havdalah (72 minutes), 6:56 p.m. SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.; LJCS Gesher, 10 a.m.; Adult Hebrew Class, 11:30 a.m. TUESDAY: Intro to Judaism, 6:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY: LJCS Hebrew School, 4 p.m. at TI. 2020 Federation Camp Grants: All Federation families are eligible for Camp Incentive Grants of $300 per camper to pay the initial camp registration deposit. Additional camp scholarships beyond the incentive grants are available based on need and require submission of a scholarship application.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month.
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME SATURDAY: Services, 9:15 a.m. led by Jim Polack. Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend.
TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service: A Picture is Worth a Thousand (Holy) Words, 6 p.m. with Rabbi Berezin Tot Shabbat, 5:45 p.m. An evening just for our youngest congregants! We will begin at 5:45 p.m. with challah braiding and baking, at 6 p.m. there will be crafts, music, and prayers and at 6:30 p.m. we will enjoy dinner together. PJ Library will bring a story for the children and provide wine for the adults during dinner. RSVP to Temple Israel, 402.556.6536. SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. SUNDAY: Youth Learning Programs for Grades K-6, 10 a.m.; Social Justice Committee Meeting, 10:30 a.m.; Rosh Chodesh Magical Mystery Tour: Take 2!, 2 p.m. hosted by Mindi Marburg at the JCC. This year our tour will be led by Renee Corcoran, Executive Director of the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society. Renee will present the history of the Omaha Jewish community, Temple Israel’s beginnings, and share stories of families who have been a part of the Omaha Jewish community for many generations. We will tour the Omaha Jewish Historical
Society and have the opportunity to ask questions and share our own stories and memories. Light snacks provided. This will be a great for newcomers who want to learn about the rich Jewish history of Omaha, those who have lived here all their lives and want to reminisce, and everyone in between! RSVP to Temple Israel, 402.556.6536; Temple Israel’s Annual Super Bowl Party, 4:30 p.m. Come watch Super Bowl LIV with us! Temple Israel will provide all-you-can-eat appetizers and nonalcoholic drinks. BYOB. We will have everything from wings and dips to meatballs and sweets. Kids activities and sitter service provided. The suggested donation for the evening is $7 per person or $15 per family. Please RSVP to Temple Israel by Friday, Jan. 31. TUESDAY: More Than a Joke: A Tri-Faith Symposium Panel Discussion Yes, Even You Can Carry a (Spiritual) Tune: Music & Art as Pathways to God, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Temple Israel. RSVP encouraged to: info@trifaith.org. $10 suggested donation. WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 4-6 p.m.; Community Dinner, 6 p.m. Menu: quesadillas, chips and salsa, roasted veggies, enhanced salad bar, dessert. RSVP to Temple Israel, 402.556.6536.; Grades 7-12, 6-8 p.m.; Women of the Bible: Celebrating Their Stories, Reclaiming Their Voices, 6:30 p.m. with Rabbi Berezin; Omaha Jewish Community Beit Midrash: Gender Roles and Identity in Modern Jewish Thought with Rabbi Steven Abraham, Rabbi Brian Stoller and Cantor Joanna Alexander, 7:30 p.m. at Temple Israel. THURSDAY: Israel Forum, 10 a.m. “Justice, Justice You Shall Pursue”: Social Justice as a Pathway to Jewish Meaning, Wednesdays, Feb. 12, 19 & 26, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Pursuing justice is one of the great commandments of the Torah and a core value of Reform Judaism. Rabbi Berezin will lead us in an exploration of our tradition’s call to work for justice, compassion, fairness, and equitability into the world, and help us learn how we can use our hands to do God’s sacred work in the world. Artist-in-Residence Weekend with Jacob “Spike” Kraus, Feb. 21-23. Taste of Tri-Faith, Sunday, Feb. 23, 4 p.m. at AMI.
TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. FRIDAY: Lincoln Community Dinner with guest speaker Tal Schneider, Chief Diplomatic and Political Correspondent for Globes to our City, Israel’s oldest financial daily newspaper, 6:30 p.m. Please RSVP to the Tifereth Israel office. Evening sponsored by Congregation of Tifereth Israel, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, and the Lincoln Jewish Federation; Candlelighting, 5:25 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Service, 10 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 11 a.m. followed by a snack; Havdalah (72 minutes), 6:26 p.m. SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.; LJCS Gesher, 10 a.m.; Come learn and play Pickleball, 7-9 p.m. WEDNESDAY: LJCS Hebrew School, 4 p.m. at TI. It’s not too soon to be thinking about summer camp! All Federation families are eligible for Camp Incentive Grants of $300 per camper to pay the initial camp registration deposit. Application packets are availible in the Tifereth Israel foyer. Please submit all applications no later than Monday, March 16.
A robbery attempt inside Baltimore synagogue and pork chops in Greenport MARCY OSTER JTA Two gunmen who tried to hold up a worshipper inside a Baltimore synagogue after Sabbath services were forced to flee after the intended victim fought back. The men entered the Khal Chassidim Synagogue in the Park Heights neighborhood last Friday evening. One of the suspects pointed a handgun at a congregant and tried to rob him, police told the newspaper. The intended victim and a suspect then engaged in a “struggle,” which caused the would-be robbers to flee, according to police. The victim was not injured, the local CBS affiliate WJZ reported. Photos of the men have been obtained from surveillance video. They also are suspects in two other robberies in the area, the Baltimore Sun
reported. Police reportedly have increased patrols in the area. Meanwhile, an upstate New York woman has been charged with a hate crime for throwing pieces of pork at a local synagogue. Tara Rios, 47, of Hudson, was arraigned in Livingston Town Court on Saturday and charged with first-degree harassment as a hate crime, according to local reports. Rios went to Congregation Anshe Emeth in Greenport on Jan. 19 and threw a package of pork chops on its front steps, CBS 6 Albany reported. She returned to the synagogue at 3 a.m. to photograph her actions, police said. She was released on her own recognizance and was scheduled to return to court on Monday.
Life cycles IN MEMORIAM JEAN ELKON Jean Elkon passed away on Jan. 11 at age 93. Services were held Jan. 14 at Beth El Cemetery and were officiated by Rabbi Steven Abraham. She was preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, Wally, brother Melvin Bernstein and parents Sylvia and Harry Z. Bernstein. She is survived by daughters and sons-in-laws, Marsha and Ira Cooper of Atlantic Beach, NY, and Beth and Bill Ginsburg of Omaha; six grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and brother and son-in-law, Jerry and Marlene Bernstein of Cambria, CA. Memorials may be made to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.
Thought of revenge became source of strength CNAAN LIPSHIZ OSWIECIM, Poland | JTA Holocaust survivors seeing their grandchildren facing the hatred that nearly killed them is a source of shame for the world, World Jewish Congress leader Ronald Lauder said at Auschwitz. Lauder spoke Monday, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, at the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death World Jewish Congress President Ronald camp in oc- Lauder at the 75th anniversary of the camp’s libc u p i e d eration in Oswiecim, Poland, Jan. 27, 2020. Credit: Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Images Poland. Dozens of world leaders attended the event at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum near Krakow, including Polish President Andrjez Duda, who was the only politician to speak. He vowed to “always nurture the memory of and guard the truth about what happened here.” Other leaders included Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. Several survivors also spoke, including Batsheva Dagan, 94, who lives in Israel but was born in Poland. “The thought of revenge became a source of strength allowing to endure longs days and nights of inhumane suffering,” she said of the prisoners at concentration camps. Lauder in his speech said that following the Holocaust, “everyone wanted to distance themselves as much as possible from the horrors” of Auschwitz. “But in recent years, I’ve seen something I never thought I’d see in the spread of anti-Semitism.” He also condemned what he called the “shameful and constant fixation on Israel at the United Nations,” which he said has passed 202 resolutions condemning individuals nations since 2013, of which 163 focused on Israel. “Anti-Zionism is nothing but anti-Semitism,” he added, prompting many survivors to applaud. Israel’s haters, he said, “speak of it as anti-Semites spoke before about Jews.”
1 in 5 Germans think the Holocaust gets too much attention TOBY AXELROD BERLIN | JTA Two new surveys show that about one in five Germans – and more than half of right-wing populists – think the Holocaust gets too much attention there. Reflecting on the Nazi’s crimes was a priority in post-war West Germany, but “this consensus is crumbling,” Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said in a statement on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Germans mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz – as well as other significant dates in Holocaust history throughout the year – with a wide range of programs, both official and private. And this is appropriate, said 45 percent of the 2,052 Germans surveyed by the Yougov Institute on Jan. 22-23 for the German news agency dpa. But while this survey found that 24 percent of respondents thought the topic should get more attention, 22 percent felt the opposite. A full 56 percent of those who identified with the far-right, anti-immigrant party “Alternative for Germany,” agreed that Holocaust remembrance is given too much weight. In recent years, prominent AfD politicians have decried Berlin’s Holocaust memorial as “a monument of shame.” AfD has become a challenger to Germany’s mainstream political parties since it was founded in 2013. Even more stark results came in a survey of 1,018 people by the polling institute Infratest for the Deutsche Welle news agency, which found that 72 percent of AfD supporters agreed that Germans had done their remembrance duty and should stop obsessing over Nazi crimes. Supporters of the Green Party were the least likely to support that view at 13 percent. Thirty-seven percent of all respondents said it was time to cease browbeating, representing a steady rise from 26 percent in 2018 to 33 percent in 2019. Fifty-five percent said they were fine with the current culture of remembrance, while 17 percent found that greater efforts should be made; 75 percent said a visit to a concentration camp memorial should be required by all schools.
The Jewish Press | January 31, 2020 | 11
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12 | The Jewish Press | January 31, 2020
FOOD | E N TE RTA I N ME N T | C ULT UR E
Tracing Jewish heritage on Finding Your Roots GABE FRIEDMAN JTA The latest episode of PBS’ celebrity genealogy show Finding Your Roots was a lesson in Jewish history. Titled Beyond the Pale — a reference to the Pale of Settlement, the region of what was then Imperial Russia where many Ashkenazi Jews have roots — the episode that aired Tuesday night explored the family trees of actor Jeff Goldblum, NPR host Terry Gross and comedian Marc Maron. As host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explained, each of them has “deep Jewish roots,” but they all knew next to nothing about their ancestors. Here’s a quick breakdown of their individual Jewish histories. On Goldblum’s mother’s side, his great grandfather Abraham Temeles left his hometown of Zloczow, a town in the Austrio-Hungarian empire, in the early 1900s because of the rampant anti-Semitism. Historians on Gates’ team believe that like many Jewish migrants at the time, he likely traveled 1,000 miles across Europe by train to the Dutch port of Rotterdam, where he boarded a ship for Halifax, Novia Scotia. The trip wasn’t easy. Temeles, who was 50 at the time, likely stayed in steerage for several days during the journey. He traveled on the SS Vulturno, which sunk two years later, killing over 100 Jewish migrants. “It’s just a random piece of luck that I’m here at all I guess,” Goldblum said. On his father’s side, great-great-grandfather Zelik Povartzik left his hometown of Starobin, Russia, in 1911, just a year before it was overcome by anti-Semitic violence. In 1941, when the Nazis invaded Russia, they killed most of the remaining Jews in Starobin, wiping a large chunk of Goldblum’s family out of the historical record. The only descendant Gates’ team could track down was a second cousin once removed who died fighting for the Soviet army against the Nazis.
“It’s moving, it’s very moving,” Goldblum said as he held back tears at the end of the episode. All Terry Gross knew about her grandparents’ Jewish history was that they all hailed from what they called the “old country.”
Jeff Goldblum on an episode of Finding Your Roots. Credit: Screenshot from PBS
When she and her parents once visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., her father teared up seeing part of a fence from a Jewish cemetery in Tarnow, Poland. As Gates’ researcher discovered, both of her paternal grandparents were born there in the 1880s and immigrated to the U.S. in early 1900s. Each had family that chose to stay, despite the rising anti-Semitism around them. When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, Tarnow’s Jewish population of about 25,000 quickly found itself cloistered in a ghetto. In 1942, Nazis began slaughtering them — a firsthand account said that the Nazis knocked children’s heads against cobblestones and bayoneted adults, killing 7,000 people in days. Most of Gross’ relatives from Tarnow disappeared from the record at that point — except for one survivor named Nathan Zeller, who only lived a few more years until his death at the Flossenburg concentration camp in Bavaria.
“It’s made everything I know about the Holocaust very specific and concrete,” she said. “I always ask myself if it was time to flee, would I know, would I have the courage to leave?” Marc Maron spent most of his segment expressing shock at the details revealed about his family, such as the fact that his maternal grandmother spent 13 days in steerage on a ship to migrate to the United States before World War I. “I don’t know how they did it... just the idea that you’re gonna leave your country, you’re gonna pack up, everybody’s gonna go... and get on a boat? Are you kidding?” he said at one point. “A boat? I can’t be on a boat for an hour without getting sick.” Maron’s maternal great-great-grandfather worked in a petroleum factory in Drohobycz, in what was then part of the newly formed republic of Poland. In 1914, at the outset of World War I, Russia invaded the Galicia region, of which Drohobycz was a part. Russian soldiers beat, raped and killed many of its Jews. Gates traced Maron’s father’s side back to a great-greatgrandfather named Morris Mostowitz, who owned a chain of grocery stores in the Charleston area in the late 19th century. Mostowitz had moved there with a wave of other Jews looking to fill needs for merchants and tradesmen in the wake of the Civil War. But Morris was no saint — he was involved in at least a dozen crimes, including horse theft and illegal liquor sales, and wound up getting sued by his son Barney over a loan he never paid back. Maron comically found some similarities in personality between himself and Morris, before ending his segment on a selfreflective note. “It does resonate, the fact that no matter how religious you are or what makes you a Jew in your particular life, the fact that you are defined on some level in a very real way by the reality of anti Semitism... there’s something about that awareness that is still and currently tremendously important,” he said.