8 | The Jewish Press | February 4, 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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Can this dark history be rectified? ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor “Beneath a sprawling 14th-century building with moss-furrowed terrace walls and interiors painted in garish strokes of purple and yellow,” Orge Castellano wrote for JTA, “lie what could be the remains of Spain’s second-largest synagogue from the medieval era. The 7,500-square-foot estate [is] currently being explored by researchers and archeologists. “The property has had a lengthy and multifaceted history as a hospital, in the 17th century; a Catholic chapel; an orphanage, and most recently, in the 20th century, as a school, a restaurant and a cocktail bar. But the city council bought the now abandoned property in 2018 and launched an archaeological excavation project last February, with the hope of uncovering a synagogue that was pushed underground over the centuries.” Castellano goes on to explore how abandoned, excavated and renovated synagogues are a great draw for tourists. Also, the aim is “to preserve and foster Jewish history and culture — something the country’s government has prioritized in recent years in order to rectify its dark Inquisition history.” And there’s the catch. Let’s be honest: you can’t ‘rectify’ anything by creating museums out of what was left behind. Growing up in Europe, I know there are places like that everywhere, serving as constant reminders of what used to be.There are few things that drive the point home as much as seeing everything from Jewish quarters, stores, businesses, synagogues and
mikvehs having become tourist attractions. I want viewed through very different glasses than the to scream: none of this belongs in a museum! It’s present. It’s easy to be sympathetic to Jews who real life and it should still be here! were tortured and persecuted hunderds of years But it isn’t. And that is probably why, when I see ago. But extending that same empathy to Jews stories about happy Spaniards who proudly display today, who are real people and not faded images in excavated Jewish memories, I get a little testy. a history book, is hard. Of course, these buildings must be preserved. I Or perhaps I am just really, really overthinking am not advocating to pave them over and forget all about it. But at the same time, it strikes me how much more comfortable the world seems to be when they have Jewish life in the rearview mirror, rather than here, among them, in the present. And who wants their trauma to be a tourist attraction? I have questions about those tourists, whoever they are. Are they being educated? Do they come away from these archeo- A view of the interior of the Synagogue of Lorca in Murcia, Spain. Credit: logical sites appropriately Museo Arqueológico Municipal de Lorca schooled on how Spain treated its Jews? Do they this. Here’s a thought: what if, instead of museums, know the gory details of the Inquisition, the stories the local governments turn some of these excaof torture? And once they do learn all that, do they vated shuls into housing for Jews? Like that turn around and continue to support BDS because Moshav that is being constructed in California—a they deem Israel an Apartheid State? Do they still modern-day Jewish communal space. I know, no believe in antisemitic tropes? plumbing, but that can be fixed. Or maybe turn I know I’m making all kinds of big jumps and as- them into Jewish community centers of sorts. Or sumptions here, but it is possible that people can Jewish student housing, or yeshivas. Because you pay lip service to antisemitism, while not seeing know what’s even better than Jewish museums? what’s right in front of them. Again, the past is Real living and breathing Jewish people.
Jewish women are leaders on abortion rights. But they can’t do it alone. BARBARA DOBKIN JTA In 1966, I was a student at Boston University’s School of Social Work when I received a phone call from a college friend. She explained in hushed tones that she needed an abortion and thought I could help her. At that time, I didn’t know anyone who had terminated a pregnancy; all I knew was that abortion was illegal. I quietly asked some classmates if they knew how to end a pregnancy safely. One of them had an answer. It didn’t take long before I received the phone number for a doctor who performed abortions in a kitchen that functioned as an underground health clinic. “He won’t call you back unless you say the right word,” my classmate instructed me. I nervously left the doctor a message with the code word, knowing that my friend’s fate hung in the balance. When the doctor called me back, I booked my friend an appointment. For $500, she terminated her pregnancy, regained her independence and moved on with her life. We never spoke of her abortion again. My friend was lucky to have had a small community of resourceful people during an era when accessing an abortion was illegal and shrouded in fear, intimidation and shame. She was also lucky to be able to pay $500 (about $4,300 in today’s dollars) for a risky procedure and not suffer health complications. According to a report published by the Guttmacher Institute in 2018, more than 22,000 women and girls worldwide die each year after having an unsafe abortion. Now, all signs suggest that the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn or substantially erode Roe v. Wade, its landmark decision that legalized abortion in 1973. If it does, at least 24 U.S. states would deem it illegal to receive or perform abortions. Consider the number of people who will die or suffer long-term health problems as a result of unsafe abortions if we return to a pre-Roe world. I am a Jewish philanthropist who has supported many initiatives for the dignity of women in the American Jewish community, Israel and the broader
world. I never thought I would live to see the day right to make decisions about our own bodies? when abortion would become illegal once again. Where is the communal outcry about that? But here we are. I look around and wonder: Why There are, no doubt, thousands of people in the are so few Jewish leaders speaking out? Jewish community — rabbis and educators; Most Jews — 83% according to the Pew Research donors and congregants; friends and neighbors — Center favor abortion rights, making the Jewish who have had abortions or will need them in thecommunity among the most progressive religious groups in the nation that support reproductive justice. Given that percentage, I would expect Jewish groups to use their influence to protect abortion access at this urgent moment in our history. And yet the vast majority of American Jewish organizations have been chillingly silent. Jewish women have an enduring legacy in advancing reproductive justice. The Jewish Women’s Archive documents that history in its digital collection Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution as well as in a National Council of Jewish Women leaders and advocates recent podcast episode about The Jane Col- rallied on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to show suplective – an underground abortion counsel- port for abortion access, Dec. 1, 2021. Credit: NCJW ing service in Chicago founded by Jewish activist future. Their reasons may vary, but one thing reHeather Booth that operated from 1969 to 1973, mains true: Keeping abortion safe and legal reflects when abortion was illegal. our most cherished Jewish values: pikuach nefesh Since its founding in 1893, NCJW has been a (saving a life), briyut (health and safety), kavod leader in the reproductive health and rights move- (human dignity) and tzedek (justice). ment. Recently, it launched the “Rabbis for Repro” So I call on every Jewish leader and institution — campaign and convened a Jewish Abortion Access not just the ones run by and for women — to speak Coalition with partners inside and outside of the out boldly in defense of abortion access and safety. Jewish community. NCJW organized Repro Shabbat, Our lives, our families, and our futures depend on it. an opportunity for congregations, organizations and When my friend who needed an abortion called me communities to celebrate the critical importance of for help nearly 50 years ago, I know she felt profoundly reproductive health and justice, and to learn more afraid of what her future would look like if she were about Judaism’s approach to these issues. forced to become a mother before she was ready. I I am grateful for all of these efforts. But the bur- never want another to experience that same fear. den to mobilize Jews around abortion access The Jewish community knows how to stand up should not fall to women and LGBTQ+ people for dignity, justice and the health of those we love, alone. Leaders of the organized Jewish community including those who are strangers among us. We’ve dominated by men have never been shy in voicing done it before, and we must do it again. The time outrage about crises that undermine our basic hu- is now. manity, such as antisemitism and violence in Israel. Barbara Dobkin is a feminist philanthropist. Nor have they been shy in expressing anxiety about The views and opinions expressed in this article are assimilation, intermarriage, infertility and Jewish those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the continuity. But what about the crisis of losing the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.
