February 8, 2018

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Spaghetti Dinner

Celebrating Past Pastas

i

Jacob kahn Temple Israel Youth Director f you have spent any time at Temple Israel in the past 50 years, it’s inevitable that all discussions will find their way to including two seemingly innocuous words: Spaghetti Dinner.

A long-standing tradition, Spaghetti Dinner is more than just an event that has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Omaha Temple Youth Group (OTYG) and philanthropic causes for over a half century; it’s an event that has bound a congregation and community together. It’s also the inspiration

Bubee page 12

Viewpoint Synagogues Life cycles

of this year’s theme: Celebrating Past Pastas.

Whether you’re 14 or 88, just mentioning the event brings fond memories of meatballs, a metal statue of an Italian chef, and bidding wars over Gretchen Radler’s famous rugalach. “It was 1963 and I was a freshman when I first did it,” Gary Kaplan, a former OTYG member and Temple Israel President reminisced. Back in the 1960s, OTYG members would auction themselves off to the congregation for things like babysitting and yard work. “The best job you hoped to get bought for was to serve one of Mike and See celebrating past pastas page 3

Catching up with Omaha BBYO

inside

8 10 11

What I Wish You Knew

F EBRU ARY 8 , 2 0 1 9 | 3 AD AR I 5 7 7 9 | V O L . 9 9 | NO . 1 7 | c a nD leli g h ti ng | FRID AY , F EBRU ARY 8 , 5 : 3 1 P. M.

Enhanced Food Pantry now open page 4

Parkland High School shooting survivor speaks at Beth El page 5

SponSoreD bY the benJamin anD anna e. wieSman FamilY enDowment FunD

Jacob geltzer Omaha BBYO/ Teen program Director Omaha BBYO is off to a great start this New Year! We recently attended

Mid America Region’s Winter Regional Convention in Kansas City, Kansas on Jan. 18-20, and had a blast with 140 teens from Omaha, Kansas City, Minneapolis, and St. Louis. The theme for the weekend was MARLypmics, and had a very similar vibe to the actual Olympic Games. We started Friday evening off with a presentation of the torch and that’s when the real fun began! Chapters from across our region competed in a variety of competitions to show off their chapter’s pride and competitiveness. Competitions included a spelling bee, talent show, relay races, scavenger hunt, and so much

more. We ended the weekend on Sunday at the Matt Ross Community Center where we had our AZAA Basketball tournament. Mother Chapter AZA #1, the Omaha AZA Chapter, fought hard and made it all the way to the championship game, but lost in a hard-fought battle. Omaha BBYO had a great time at Winter Regional Convention, and we look forward to seeing all of our regional friends again in St. Louis for Spring Regional Convention on March 28-31.

February is also another big month for BBYO. Over Presidents’ Day See omaha bbYo page 2

annette van De kamp-wright Editor, Jewish Press In the Fall of 2018, Jewish Family Service produced a video titled What I Wish You Knew. In it, high school and college students look directly into the camera and talk about the challenges they face. They address the difficulty that comes with finding a trusted person to talk to, moving beyond the stigma of

mental illness, how to make teachers and parents understand that certain behaviors have a reason and that there might be more going on beneath the surface-if only you take the time to ask. There are challenges for them as well as for their friends, family members and teachers; without interruption, they remind us all that there are many sides to their stories and that, most of all, it is time to listen.

The video is educational, enlightening and sobering. As a society, we haven’t done a stellar job really listening to our youth and the very real challenges they face.

“My generation is trying to keep the dialogue open,” says Logan Miller, who is one of the youth featured in the video.

He’s remarkably comfortable addressing either the camera or an entire room full of people, as he did recently during a Jewish Family Service event at Temple Israel. “I love my friends,” he says, “and so I share my story and my experience with them. We have to change the dialogue, we have to move past the stigma and separate illness from character. Having a mental illness doesn’t mean there is something wrong with you.”

It was Patty Nogg who first brought the idea for the video to Karen Gustafson, Executive Director of JFS. When a family member, whose daughter had participated in a similar video sent it to her, she immediately knew it was a powerful tool.

“The Friendship Circle of West Bloomfield, Michigan brought people together from each high school through their initiative, UMatter. They created a video with the aim to fight depression and teen suicide and then showed it at a citywide gathering. As soon as I saw it, I called Karen and told her all about it.”

As soon as Karen saw it, she was deeply touched: “I thought, we need to do a video like this with our kids. We can make this happen!

See What I Wish You Knew page 2

What I Wish You Knew

2 | The Jewish Press | February 8, 2019

community

Omaha BBYO

Continued from page 1 weekend (Feb. 14-18), more than 5,000 of the Jewish community’s top teen leaders, educators, professionals and philanthropists from around the world will come together in Denver, Colorado for one of the largest Jewish communal events of the year, BBYO International Convention. Teens will hear from and meet inspiring speakers, deepen leadership skills, serve the local community, celebrate Shabbat and learn together, have access to exclusive music performances and do their part to strengthen the Jewish Future. Omaha is sending seven teens to International Convention and we are so excited to hear about their experience when they return. Keep an eye out for a future article about our time in Denver!

While this amazing international experience is taking place in February, there are also some great local programs coming up this month that we are excited to share. Feb. 10, MZ Yoshanah BBG will be hosting an ice skating program at Moylan Iceplex from 1-4 p.m. Reach out to Council/Chapter President Raelyn Cherry at raelyncherry1@gmail. com with any questions.

While we have a variety of programs each month, we also have weekly chapter meetings for both AZA and BBG every Tuesday night at the JCC in the Kripke Library from 6-7 p.m., with an optional dinner afterwards.

We are also excited for our Spring Kickoff Program this year on Feb. 24. Omaha BBYO will be enjoying all the luxuries that come with sitting in a Private Luxury Suite as we watch our local USHL hockey team, the Omaha Lancers, play the Chicago Steel on Feb. 24 at 4:05 p.m. in Ralston Arena.

Cost to attend this event is only $15. This gets you a ticket into the game, seating in our luxury suite, snacks, and maybe even some special surprises. Only a limited amount of tickets

are available, so register soon! This event is open to any Jewish teen in grades 8-12. For more information and to register your teen, go to www.bbyo.org/omahaspring kickoff. We are excited to see both old and new faces at this event and to see everyone share an amazing experience you can only get with BBYO. Is your teen too young for BBYO? No worries: BBYO Con-

nect is a program for 6-8th grade teens designed to introduce them to pre-high school programming with other Jewish teens in the community. Our final BBYO Connect program of the year is taking place on April 14 from 2-4 p.m. at the JCC. We will have Mobile Gaming Experience, a local Gaming Truck company, come to the JCC to provide an amazing experience for all who come out. This event is FREE to attend! To RSVP your teen(s), please email BBYO director, Jacob Geltzer, at jgeltzer@jccomaha.org.

BBYO is offered for Jewish teens in grades 8-12. To join BBYO, go to www.bbyo.org/join to pay the one-time, lifetime membership fee of $149. By becoming a BBYO member, you are able to attend all local, regional, and international programs.

For more information about BBYO and BBYO Connect, please feel free to contact Jacob Geltzer, BBYO/Teen Program Director, at jgeltzer@jccomaha.org or 402.334.6404.

Passover A $52 Greetings B $65 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 March 12, 2019.

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Continued from page 1 And it did, thanks to our donors: the Jennifer Beth Kay Memorial Fund, the Lazier L. Singer Memorial Fund for Youth and the Richard ‘Pete’ Lee Memorial Fund.”

Videos like the one JFS produced are meant to be shared with school counselors and other teens.

“The goal of our video in Omaha was to have young people share how they feel about mental health and some of the advice they would like to share with the significant people in their lives (i.e., parents, friends and teachers), Karen says. “Their advice also includes what they have learned on their journey and what advice they would give their ‘younger-self’ through personal self-reflection. JFS’s goal for this video is to use it to promote support for mental health care and treatment in hopes of preventing a suicide from occurring in our community.”

“It really opens the door to dialogue,” Patty says, “and stimulates a conversation we absolutely need to have.”

“The purpose of this is to spark a conversation that needs to be happening,” says Rabbi Yarden Blumstein, teen director at Friendship Circle in West Bloomfield. “Teens and their families currently sit through a crisis in isolation and think they’re the only ones. We need to share our stories in an effort to build a community of resilience. This all starts with a conversation.” (JewishNews.com) Logan Miller thinks the video is the perfect vehicle to address and fight the stigma surrounding mental health.

“People have, for a long time, been scared by a diagnosis. When you stigmatize mental illness, you lose the best parts of yourself. I have control of my illness, not the other way around and understanding that is important. We need to share that message with everyone.”

All Jewish youth groups and their parents will have an opportunity to view the video and participate in a discussion, Wednesday, Feb. 27 from 6-8 p.m. at Beth El Synagogue. For more information about this program, please contact Danielle Gordman at dgordman @jewishomaha.org. The trailer for the What I Wish You Knew video can be accessed by visiting the Jewish Family Service website at http://jfsomaha.com/ and clicking on the link. To watch the entire video and for more information, please contact Karen Gustafson at 402.330.2024.

Passover Greetings from Your names go here

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The Jewish Press | February 8, 2019 | 3

Celebrating Past Pastas

Continued from page 1 Gloria Fleischl’s fancy eight-course dinner parties,” says Gary.

“You got to eat the same food as they did.”

Decades later, Hannah Budwig would be helping to orchestrate one of the last Spaghetti Dinners at the previous synagogue on Cass Street. When asked about her favorite memories of the event, Hannah recounted that the youth group realized they needed more things for the live auction the day before. “Ariel Kohll got a pencil and drew a portrait of Rabbi Azriel from memory. We found a frame and put it up for auction that day, and it went for a couple hundred dollars during the live auction.”

Although Spaghetti Dinners can be traced back to as early as the 1960s, being run by “a group who wore long hair and OshKosh® overalls,” as described by Carol Farber, a longtime supporter of Temple Israel’s Youth Group, it wouldn’t be executed on the scale or seen as a fixture in Temple Israel life for years. So when exactly did Spaghetti Dinner as we have come to know it begin?

It all started with two freshman treasurer co-chairs, Stephanie DePorte Eshel and Elizabeth Kaplan in 1991.

Stephanie came to her father Dennis the current Executive Director of Temple Israel, to help make it happen. It just so happened that Dennis was a member of the Sons of Italy, who for 40 years held a spaghetti dinner every Thursday at their hall on 10th and Pacific Street. Dennis asked for their help, and members of the order become the first volunteers of Temple Israel’s modern Spaghetti Dinner. Raising $2,000 in its first year, Spaghetti Dinner now raises over $20,000.

Where exactly does all of this money generated go, you might ask? A portion of the proceeds goes towards Camp Rainbow, which provides free camping experiences to children undergoing treatment for, and survivors of, cancer and blood-related diseases and disorders. Ben Brodkey, a recent OTYG graduate who now studies music education at Drake University, recalls “I went to Camp Rainbow in 2016 because of the exposure I had through spaghetti dinners and NFTY. The kids who attend the camp go for free, and it’s the one place where they be kids for once. They’re going to tons of hospital visits, some are taking daily chemo, and they don’t live a normal life. Being able to allow these kids to just forget their struggles and hospital rooms for a week and have fun with them was an amazing experience.”

The other portion of the proceeds goes towards funding the Temple Israel Youth Group. “It was united by this effort because we all loved youth group and the youth groupers,” says Jane Rips, a youth grouper herself from Sioux City and whose children were actively involved at Temple Israel while growing up. “It was a good way to help the youth group be more independent by raising their own money.” The money raised helps to support many of the activities OTYG members have enjoyed over the decades like Temple lock-ins, leadership development opportunities, and travel to regional chavurot (formerly known as conclaves).

“As Midwestern Jews, we wanted to make sure our kids participated with other Jewish children. It was a dynamic time

for our country and a dynamic time for our children. We gave them every possible push and opportunity behind these young adults. Temple Israel has always had a youth group and been incredibly supportive of it. This is why you have people who come to the Spaghetti Dinner or donate items years after their kids leave,” recounts Carol Farber.

Whether it was the 1960s, 1991, or 2019, it’s clear that Temple Israel has always made the development of their young people a priority. “Temple has always been supportive because you have to be so intentionally Jewish here. You have to choose to be a Jew in Nebraska; you can’t be casual about it,” says Jane Rips. Spaghetti Dinner is a representation of L’Dor v’Dor, from generation to generation, that culminates as the passing down of the wisdom and resources needed to grow confident and intelligent Jewish adults.

Join OTYG on Sunday, March 3, 5:30 p.m. as we celebrate the legacy of Spaghetti Dinner and close a wonderful chapter in our congregation. Spaghetti Dinner has provided so much support for both our youth group and Camp Rainbow. This is not an end, but a beginning of a new chapter that opens the space for our youth group to create new traditions for years to come. Tickets are $10 per adult, $4 per young person ages 6-12, and no charge for children five and younger. For any inquiries or if you would like to donate to our final spaghetti Dinner, please contact Temple Israel Youth Director Jacob Kahn, jkahn@templeisraelomaha.com.

Goldstein Human Rights Forum

Please join the Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Center for Human Rights at the University of Nebraska-Omaha for the Human Rights Forum, Feb. 12 from noon-1 p.m.

Topics will include discussion of why birthright citizenship is common in the Americas; loss of citizenship and human rights violations; migration and state sovereignty.

Professor Curtis Hutt from UNO’s Department of Religious Studies, Executive Director of the Goldstein Center for Human Rights, will moderate the discussion. Panelists are Professor Cristián Doña-Reveco, UNO Department of Sociology/Anthropology and Director of the Office of Latino/Latin American Studies; Professor Danielle Battisti, UNO Department of History; Professor Laura Alexander, UNO Department of Religious Studies & Goldstein Family Community Chair in Human Rights.

Bring your questions as the panel tackles birthright citizenship from a variety of academic viewpoints.

The forum will take place in Room 205/209 of the Community Engagement Center. This event is sponsored by the Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Center for Human Rights and the Goldstein Family Community Chair in Human Rights. For more information, please contact Professor Alexander at 402.554.6160 or lealex@unomaha.edu.

Autism Study participant speaks out

This report is from Peter Brodkey’s daughter Laura, whose son not sure would ever happen. I hope by sharing [Max’s] story, we can Max is participating in an Autism Study previously reported in the help others in the same predicament as Max. Jewish Press.

This study is sponsored by the non-profit Therapeutics Research Our son Max had been a perfectly healthy happy affectionate tod- Institute (TRI) and is open to all. There are no fees or charges; everydler but then, something changed. He became introverted, had long one receives the supplement. On average, 90% of participants are reangry outbursts, could not follow directions, was kicked out of sevsponding and these are reversing 75% or more of their autism eral day-cares, and nearly expelled from kindergarten. Max was fibehaviors within the first six months. TRI plans to expand the study nally diagnosed with a type of Autism (Asperger’s) and ADHD. to 300 families, but it needs some benefactor who will help with the Prescription drugs helped with his angry outbursts but Max could not significantly added funding required. socialize with other kids. Max didn’t have friends and just played by Said Steven Evans, the study’s director, “Funding this proposal to substantially expand enrollment represents a legacy opportunity to himself on the playground. It was truly heartbreaking. some potential benefactor who will unquestionably affect the lives So I enrolled Max in the Autism Study. I can tell you we saw reof innumerable families such as the Brodkey’s.“ For information markable changes within a few weeks. Now Max is super social and about study enrollment and/or possibly providing TRI with funding talks to everyone. He is impatient to get to school so he can play assistance, email steven.evans@ControlAutismNow.org. football with his ‘squad.’ Max has a best friend! Something I was PAID ADVERTISEMENT

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Autism Study Participant Speaks Out

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summer

intern The Jewish Press is looking for a summer intern.

If you are currently attending college, are between the ages of 18 and 24, and want to become more involved in our community, this is your chance.

If you are interested, please send your resume and cover letter to avandekamp@jewishomaha.org.

We can’t wait to meet you!

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4 | The Jewish Press | February 8, 2019

Enhanced Food Pantry now open: Even kids can donate

Class of 2019 HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS High School Seniors and Parents

We will be publishing our annual High School Graduation Class pages on May 17, 2019.

To be included, email us the graduate’s name, parents names current high school and the college you plan to attend plus a photo to: jpress@jewishomaha.org by May 1, 2019.

thejewishpress y

m e d a c A h s i w Friedel Je Israel p JCC Day Cam l o o h c s e r P h Jewis

p m a C h s i w e Summer J GRANTS & SCHOLARSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE TO HELP PAY FOR THESE GREAT JEWISH EXPERIENCES! Scholarship funding also available for post-secondary education, including vocational training and college.

Applications due March 1, 2019 For more info and applications, visit the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s website at www.jewishomaha.org, call (402) 334-6407, or email Diane Walker at dwalker@jewishomaha.org

Promotional support provided by the David E. Beber Scholarship Fund and the Livingston Fund.

Scholarship dollars are provided in part by Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation funds.

J

LInDa CogEn If you prefer to go directly to www.wal Assistance Coordinator, Jewish Family Service mart.com: click the three lines in the upper ewish Family Service, an agency of left corner, choose “Walmart Services” near The Jewish Federation of Omaha, the bottom, choose “Event” under the headidentified a significant need in the ing “Registry Services,” enter “JFS Omaha” Omaha/Council Bluffs Jewish (without quotes) in the “Event or Organizacommunity to update and reno- tion’s Name” box, choose Nebraska as the vate the food pantry. The utilization doubled this past year and cried out for a much larger footprint and additional offerings. Due to grant writing, generous donors and collaboration, the pantry is NOW able to offer an enhanced experience for our clients, including kosher food options. The rules of the kosher certificate process increase the price significantly.

To date, the majority of our clients don’t keep kosher. However, our goal is to alleviate food insecurity and provide healthy, nutritious food for all JFS clients regardless of their medical or dietary restrictions.

Additional shelving for kosher items, specialty items for dietary needs and items not allowed to be purchased in subsidized programs have Above: Joshua Shapiro in the Enhanced Food Pantry and below: been added to our pantry. The the CDC visits the pantry. pantry even has offerings for our “furry friends.” Please call JFS to arrange an appointment to ensure confidentially for all.

JFS would like to thank the following families who have made a significant difference in helping us offer high quality and kosher food in our Pantry: Howard and Gloria Kaslow, friends and family of Ruth Erman in memory of Ruth; The Murray H. and Sharee C Newman Supporting Foundation; and, one of our Life & Legacy donors. In addition, thank you to the Jewish Federation of Omaha state and click the blue arrow. You will be for increasing the JFS allocation specific to the taken to our registry.

Food Pantry. The entire community is dediIf you’d rather do your shopping for us on cated to making sure that we provide ade- www.amazon.com, go the front page, click quate food for those who need to supplement “Account and Lists,” under “Your Lists,” what they currently have. Additional referrals choose “Find a List or Registry,” choose “List” to community food pantries are also offered. on the left dropdown box, enter “JFS Omaha” If you wish to support the pantry, we have (without quotes) in the “Enter a person’s made it easy. Please visit: www.jfsomaha.com name” box and click the search button. You and click on the Walmart or Amazon logo to are now at our registry. make your selections. Items will be shipped Don’t forget that JFS is a non-profit tax exdirectly to JFS, so you don’t have to worry empt 501c3 organization, and all donations about delivery. are tax deductible.

In the news

Greenblatt & Seay’s Schoolhouse Performance Series features a concert of Irish and Celtic music on Sunday, March 10 at 2:30 p.m., in the Old Avoca, Nebraska Schoolhouse. Greenblatt & Seay & Friends will be singing and playing a variety of instruments, including fiddle, pennywhistle, guitar, hammered dulcimer, and recorders. Traditional Irish, Scottish, and Welsh tunes will be featured, along with some Greenblatt & Seay originals inspired by the great Celtic traditions.

Greenblatt & Seay have been playing and singing together since the night they met, decades ago.

Their performance on March 10 will include the championship fiddling styles of Deborah Greenblatt, and the fancy whistle-playing of David Seay.

The concert will be downstairs, and followed by light refreshments, and a chance to chat and even jam with the performers. Avoca is in southern Cass County, Nebraska, on the 13 C Spur, one mile south of Highway 34.

Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens, and $1 for children. Seating is limited.For more information, call 402.275.3221, or e-mail debby@greenblattandseay.com.

Kindergarten Roundup at Friedel

Sara KOHeN Director of Advancement, Friedel Jewish Academy Kindergarten Roundup is coming to Friedel Jewish Academy Wednesday, Feb. 27, from 10 until 11:30 a.m. Conveniently located on the JCC campus, Friedel is a private school serving students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The school boasts a 12:1 student to classroom teacher ratio in an educational environment 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 art, music, swimming instruction, engineering and robotics classes, and physical education. Friedel students come from families across the entire range of Jewish practice and affiliation, as well as nonJewish students who attended the CDC. We work to build respect and community among all students and their families.

Kindergarten Roundup gives children entering kindergarten in fall 2019 a fun preview of the kindergarten experience. Parents may choose to either drop off their child at Friedel or to have Friedel staff bring their child to and from the CDC for Kindergarten Roundup. Parents should let CDC staff know if they would like Friedel to pick up their child. Parents are encouraged to sign up for Kindergarten Roundup as soon as possible: space is limited, and spots are filling quickly. To sign up for kindergarten roundup, or with questions, please email Sara Kohen, Friedel’s Director of Advancement, at skoh en@fjaomaha.com. Registration for the 2019–2020 school year will be opening soon, and the enrollment deadline is March 18.

The Jewish Press | February 8, 2019 | 5

community Parkland High School shooting survivor speaks at Beth El Ozzie NOGG At approximately 2:40 p.m. EST on the afternoon of Feb. 14, 2018, Oren Edrich was in Room 231 near the library at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School when a shooter, armed with an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle, opened fire. The slaughter lasted six minutes, killed 17 students and teachers and wounded 17 others. Oren will describe his experience on Saturday, Feb. 22, during lunch after Shabbat morning services at Beth El Synagogue.

The community is invited to attend.

“My class was evacuated during the fire alarm,” Oren said, “and I heard everything, including the gunshots, while the events unfolded. I’ve told the story of that horrific day to my friends and family, but my visit to Omaha will be the first time I’ve spoken publicly. My presentation at Beth El will come shortly after the one-year yarzheit observance of the shooting,” Oren continued; “and, as part of the MSD Day Commission that’s working on memorials for the February anniversary, I’ll include remarks about those activities in my talk.”

After the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Oren was one of 200 students selected by the

Gabby Giffords Foundation to join the thousands who gathered in Washington, DC, for the March For Our Lives

attention to the issue, which is why I do not consider myself an activist.”

Now a senior at MSD High School,

Mahatma Gandhi’s quote greets students and visitors to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. rally. He was also selected to attend a Vote for Our Lives Rally at Columbine High School on the 19th anniversary of that tragedy. Still, Oren Edrich doesn’t consider himself an activist. “To me, activists are leaders and creators of movements with political intentions. People like Emma Gonzalez or Kyle Kashuv. I will side with particular movements over others, but I don’t share my story for political intentions: merely to draw

17-year old Oren Edrich was selected for the National Honor Society, and is active in the Robotics Club and the Coding Club. “As of now, before starting medical school, I want to attend college for a BA in Computer Science,” he said.

“I have a passion for programming and have created multiple apps, four of which are available on the Apple App Store. I’m currently working on an See Parkland shooting survivor page 6

6 | The Jewish Press | February 8, 2019

community The partnership between God and man

rick eirenBerg ere is a time when Jewish people must travel the path known as Teshuvah. God spoke seven words—one was Teshuvah—it is translated to mean ‘repent’ or ‘return.’

It means nothing less than to become a servant of God. A servant not only acknowledges that God exists, but abides by His commandments. He abides by this agreement with His servants in turn. e Jewish relationship with God is one of yielding; in yielding to God you regain your freedom from human servitude: “You shall be my servant say the Lord and not the servant of my servant.” rough praying the Shema twice a day, we further cement our relationship with God. It reminds us of the commandment between God and the Israelites: “I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you to Me in justice and in righteousness, in kindness and in mercy; I will betroth you to me in faithfulness and you shall know the Lord.” (Hosea 2:21-22) To serve God is not just physical; it is a spiritual endeavor to do His will. Rabbi Ari says it is more than just asking God for things and receiving a blessing. It is living with a combination of the physical and the spiritual. If God only granted the things we asked for, God would be doing our bidding.

Would we do His? We would be treating God as a genie.

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Saying goodbye

Jewish Federation of Omaha staff and lay leaders came together Friday, Feb. 1 to say goodbye and mazal tov to Tammy Johnson, who is leaving for a new opportunity. Tammy has been an extremely valuable and beloved colleague and she will be missed! We wish Tammy good luck and hope she’ll stop by often.

Organizations

B’nai B’riTh BreadBreakerS

The Denver regional director of AIPAC will travels to Omaha to discuss the Middle East , the upcoming Elections in Israel, and introduce us to his new assistant on Wednesday, Feb. 13, noon. For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org.

Parkland shooting survivor

continued from page 5 update for the March of the Living app that includes testimonies of nine Holocaust survivors in the form of written biographies and video recounts of their experiences.”

The March of the Living app is just one example of Oren Edrich’s connection with Judaism. “Previously, my mom was the Director of Education at the synagogue that I grew up in and that enabled me to attend Hebrew School on a regular basis,” he explained. “In the summer of third grade my parOren edrich ents sent me to Ramah Darom for Nitzanim. I loved camp so much that I spent the next eight summers there.

This past summer I went on Ramah Israel Seminar and had the best summer yet.” Oren works at his local synagogue, B’nai Torah, as a Hebrew school tutor, has attended Hebrew High School there since freshman year, and is President of his USY Chapter. During his weekend in Omaha, Oren will stay with Hazzan Michael and Laurel Krausman and their son, Zach. “I met Zach two summers ago at Ramah Darom, and this past summer he was on my bus during Ramah Israel Seminar. He’s a really funny kid.

Our friendship has grown so much and I’m happy to still have Zach as my friend.”

If Oren could deliver his message in just one sentence, he would choose a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, Be the change that you wish to see in the world. “Those words are written right in front of the main entrance to school, and I see them every day. I saw those words on the day of the tragedy. They now have special meaning to me, and it’s a quote I live by.”

Oren Edrich’s Feb. 22 presentation, including lunch, is open to the community at no charge.

To reserve a spot, please go to the Beth El website: www.bethel-omaha.org.

real estate

publishing date | 03.08.19

space reservation | 02.27.19

Contact our advertising executive to advertise in this very special edition.

Susan Bernard | 402.334.6559 | sbernard@jewishomaha.org

The Jewish Press | February 8, 2019 | 7

T

Fellman and Kooper Scholarships JAn ROOS

he Bruce M. Fellman Charitable Foundation Trust has announced the availability of scholarships for the 2019-2020 academic year. The scholarships will be based on financial needs of students pursuing their post-secondary education.

This is limited to undergraduate studies only and does not include any graduate programs.

Bruce, son of Tom and Darlynn Fellman, was a 1982 graduate of Westside High School. He was active in BBYO and served as president, vice president, secretary and treasurer of Chaim Weizmann AZA. He attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and was participating in the University of Pittsburgh’s Semester at Sea at the time of his death in 1984.

Applications may be obtained by contacting Jan Roos in Howard Kooper’s office (402.384.6471 or jroos@broadmoor. cc). The application packet must be received back in Mr. Kooper’s office no later than March 1, 2019.

The Robert H. & Dorothy G. Kooper Charitable Foundation Trust has announced the availability of scholarships for

the 2019-2020 academic year. They will be based on financial need for Jewish students with ties to the Omaha community who are pursuing their post-secondary education. This is limited to undergraduate studies only and does not include any graduate programs.

Robert Kooper had a long history of service to the Jewish community.

He was elected B’nai B’rith president in 1929; headed Beth El Synagogue in 1941; was president of Highland Country Club in 1951; and was President of the Jewish Federation of Omaha 1958-1960.

He died in 1961.

Mrs. Kooper was a strong supporter and worked with the Jewish Federation and Beth El Sisterhood. She passed away in May, 1995.

“Awarding a scholarship to a young Jewish person is a very appropriate way of honoring my parents,” Howard Kooper noted.

Applications may be obtained by contacting Jan Roos in Mr. Kooper’s office (402.384.6471 or jroos@broadmoor.cc).

The application packet must be received back in Mr. Kooper’s office no later than March 1, 2019.

Black Jewish actor assaulted in Chicago

EmiLy BuRACk Covenant and Marshall.

JTA Many users expressed their outrage at the attack on social Black Jewish actor Jussie Smollett, best known for his work media. on the show Empire, was hospitalized in Chicago on Tuesday “is reported attack on Jussie is a disturbing reminder of following an assault that is being described by police as a pos- the terrible homophobia and racism that plagues our society,” sible hate crime.

Anti-Defamation League CEO Smollett was exiting a Jonathan Greenblatt said in a restaurant when two men apstatement. “We call on police proached him. e Chicago to investigate this vile incident Police Department reported as a hate crime and work they “gained his attention by swily to bring the alleged perpetrators to justice.” yelling out racial and homoJewish comedian Dan Levy, phobic slurs towards him.” known for his role on the popey then proceeded to attack ular sitcom Schitt’s Creek, Smollett, pouring an “untweeted, “Horrifying, heartknown chemical substance” on breaking, and deeply disturbhim and wrapping a rope around his neck. ing. Combat this hate by e Hollywood Reporter redonating to a Black/LGBTQ ported later in the day that organization today.”

Smollett said his attackers Empire co-creator Danny yelled “MAGA” or “Make Jussie Smollett speaks at the Children's Defense Fund Califor- Strong also spoke out, tweetAmerica great again” state- nia's 28th Annual Beat The Odds Awards at the Skirball Culing: “e terror of racism and ments during the incident — a tural Center in Los Angeles, Dec. 6, 2018. homophobia has no place in Credit: Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images our society, it is the most indereference to President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. cent way to live. Whoever did this, do not forget that you are Smollett was born to a Jewish father and African-American nothing but hate-filled cowards while Jussie’s talent and acmother. He portrays a gay musician on Empire named Jamal tivism will continue to shine a bright light on to the world for Lyon. In 2015, Smollett came out as gay, telling Ellen De- decades to come.”

Generes, “I choose not to talk about my personal life. But Smollett is reportedly in good condition at the hospital. Authere is, without a doubt, no closet that I’ve ever been in.” thorities are asking witnesses to come forward and help the In addition to Empire, he has appeared in the films Alien: investigation into the attack.

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American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press As- National Newspaper sociation Association Award winner 2008

W

The party is in Tel Aviv ANNETTE vAN dE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor, Jewish Press e’re all looking forward to spring because of the weather that, come May, will surely no longer make us miserable. But there’s another reason to look forward to May: the Eurovision Song Festival!

Some of you may not know what that is, so let me explain.

It’s a once a year extravagant television spectacle where European countries send their ‘best and brightest’ pop stars to compete. The songs are often a little dippy, the sets and costumes over the top; Eurovision is a place where camp and kitsch rule. Sometimes, people in other parts of the world think it’s just entertainment. They are wrong. Europeans, in general, are very serious about Eurovision. Although official rules state: “The ESC shall in no case be politicized and/or instrumentalized,” things get competitive and political (watch France snub England, watch England snub Germany, watch Greece and Turkey snub each other, watch Russia being snubbed by almost everyone). The country that wins gets to host the following year (my own country hasn’t hosted in many years and sometimes we don’t even qualify; we pretend not to care but really, we’re deeply ashamed). Over the decades, it’s become so popular that not every country can participate each year; land in the bottom during the semi-finals and you can forget about it.

Since singer Netta Barzilai won for Israel* in 2018, Tel Aviv will be hosting this year. Tel Aviv, with its beaches, club scene and party atmosphere, is the perfect backdrop for such an event. It’s a match made in heaven; what’s not to like?

Of course, there are those who disagree.

Fifty famous British artists from various disciplines signed a letter to the BBC, asking the broadcaster to “press for Eurovision to be relocated to a country where crimes against freedom are not committed.”

“The European Broadcasting Union chose Tel Aviv as the venue over occupied Jerusalem,” the letter also said, “but this does nothing to protect Palestinians from land theft, evictions, shootings, beatings and more by Israel’s security forces.”

And your letter does? What was that rule again about

French singer Bilal Hassani poses in Paris on January 28, 2019.

Credit: Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images

not politicizing the ESC? I don’t know what the Brits are complaining about —I mean, I get their longstanding hobby of boycotting Israel, I know what that’s all about, but why care about Eurovision? It’s been 22 years since the last time they won (Katrina and the Waves!) and besides, I think Brexit should automatically disqualify them from Eurovision, no?

One artist who’s not boycotting Tel Aviv is 19-year-old Bilal Hassani, a Parisian of Moroccan heritage, who’s

ready to represent France with his song Roi. “19-year-old Bilal Hassani boasts an androgynous appearance, a keen queer social awareness, a dazzling array of wigs. He has some choice words for critics who say he's 'denigrating his Muslim heritage,' wrote Aya Chajut in Haaretz.

The singer has received hateful messages and death threats due to his sexuality, appearance, and since winning a spot in Eurovision, for his planned trip to Israel, which he’s very excited about, by the way. This kid has been dreaming about representing France at Eurovision since he was little; he’s not going to miss that flight to Ben Gurion. Meanwhile, the threats have become so bad, his attorney, Étienne Deshoulières, filed a suit on his behalf for “insults, incitement to hatred and violence and homophobic threats.” Police reports were filed: tweet your hate and face prosecution (although it may take the French authorities some time to sift through all the messages).

Hassani’s critics are not so different than those boycott proponents on the other side of the channel. Eurovision, for all its faults, was meant to bring people together. People of different national origin, language, race, faith, sexual orientation, you name it. It’s meant to be a bonding experience. For one night, millions are looking in the same direction. Let those who want to be a part of it do their thing. Don’t like it? There’s a simple solution: Don’t watch. * Another reason that ill-advised boycott attempt is breaking the rules. All Europeans know Israel is not technically part of Europe, but we’ve pretended for years not to notice. This often irritates the Israelis, except during Eurovision. Then, nobody gets to question Israel’s honorary Euro-status.

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.

How a change in policy helped Israel export medical marijunana

ANIS ModI WASHINGTON | JTA This week, the Israeli Cabinet unanimously approved legislation that will allow local cannabis companies to start exporting medical marijuana, making Israel the third nation in the world where it is legal to do so.

According to the latest available estimates from Israel’s Ministry of Finance, exporting marijuana could result in up to $1 billion in tax revenue for the country. The global legal cannabis market is expected to grow to $57 billion by 2027, and there is a clear economic advantage to entering the international market early.

But the road to legal export has not been easy.

While medical marijuana use has long been legal in Israel for the treatment of severe health conditions, export and recreational use have not been.

Israeli officials tasked with keeping recreational marijuana from the Israeli public originally balked at the export proposal.

The cannabis export law has been stalled primarily over security and public health concerns, as well as political opposition from abroad. But a recent shift in the Trump administration’s prosecutorial approach has given the startup nation the necessary incentive to finally enter the global market.

While President Barack Obama was still in office, the Israeli government began laying the legal groundwork for domestic medical marijuana production. But the 2016 election of Donald Trump, a newly minted member of the party in which being seen as soft on drugs is political suicide, threw a wrench in the implementation plans.

While Israel was trying to create an industry, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions made clear that he was ending the Obama administration’s lax approach to marijuana.

But by early November 2018, Sessions was out of a job – and Israel’s parliament seized the moment.

Israeli laws governing the export of medical

marijuana have been in the works since 2011, when the government established an office to deal exclusively with the subject, and it’s been a nineyear fight to get to where we are today.

In June 2016, the Israeli government passed decision number 1587, which established the legal precedent for medical marijuana and allowed farmers and medical companies to apply for cannabis export licenses.

Marijuana exports could result in up to $1 billion in tax revenue for Israel, its Finance Ministry says.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, eight Israeli companies were licensed to grow medical cannabis for domestic consumption as of April 2018. There are also more than 900 pending applications for new farms, factories and pharmacies.

But in a February 2018 government meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said that President Trump had personally conveyed “his general opposition to the legalization of cannabis.” Netanyahu added that “The administration’s position is clear on this,” and he was not sure Israel should butt heads with the U.S. over the issue.

The United States is by far Israel’s largest trading partner. According to the Israeli Export Institute, which is part of the Ministry of Finance, the U.S. imported more than $11 billion in goods and services from the country in 2017 and was responsible for more than 26 percent of Israeli global trade that year. It would make sense that Netanyahu would not want to anger the Trump administration over

an infant industry like medical marijuana.

Of course, that was nearly a year ago, and change comes quickly in Trump times. In 2018, Sessions as attorney general was still waging a personal war against marijuana and ignoring Obama-era guidance that encouraged prosecutors to refrain from making cases against recreational use in areas where such use is legal on the state level.

But Sessions’ presumed replacement, William Barr, said during his confirmation hearing that the “current marijuana situation is untenable.” While he added that he is not a supporter of federal legalization, Barr later clarified that he plans to follow Obama-era guidelines and generally refrain from prosecuting state-legal cannabis businesses.

Alongside new bipartisan bills supporting research into medical marijuana and a recent farm bill that legalized growing hemp, it seems that cracking down on the cannabis industry is not the sticking point it once was for the Trump administration.

In addition to a change in U.S. policy, domestic security concerns that originally stalled the Israeli law’s implementation and caused gridlock have since been resolved. The Ministry of Public Security demanded increased authority and funding, and the Ministry of Finance tried to minimize the government’s expenses in connection to the law.

Ultimately, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Knesset member Yoav Kisch approved the advancement of the law allowing for marijuana export in November, once Erdan’s office received increased funding and oversight over growers (and once Sessions was officially out of their way).

Although they could not export cannabis directly until now, many of Israel’s leading marijuana producers have already focused on expanding sales and facilities outside of the country.

The Israeli cannabis company Together recently signed a two-year deal to supply $300 million worth of medical marijuana to the Canadian market, See Israel export medical marijuana page 9

The Jewish Press | February 8, 2019 | 9

Howard Schultz could fund 50,000 grassroots campaigns instead of stroking his ego

amanda LiTman JTA Howard Schultz should not run for president as an independent – and neither should any other billionaire.

Mounting an independent bid for president is a dangerous idea for any number of reasons. No matter who you are, you almost certainly won’t win. A third-party candidate will likely tilt the next election toward President Donald Trump, just like Gary Johnson and Jill Stein helped do in 2016 and like Ralph Nader did for President George W. Bush in 2000.

But the most important reason why Schultz shouldn’t run is that spending the $300 million to $500 million he is prepared to spend on an independent presidential campaign is a deeply ineffective way to change our country for the better.

For just a fraction of this amount, Schultz could help elect thousands of change-makers into office and leave a lasting positive impact.

In business terms, mounting an independent presidential campaign provides a horrible return on your investment. An altruistic billionaire hoping to improve the country could do any number of things with $500 million. For example, it costs less than $5 million to put an initiative on the ballot in at least 24 states. In Washington state, for example, the average cost of getting an initiative on the ballot is around $2 million.

Schultz could finance hundreds of ballot initiatives aimed at improving American health care, strengthening gun control, ending mass incarceration or safeguarding voting rights.

But if he really wants to make a difference, Schultz should consider helping young people run for state and local office.

Put to this use, his money could help elect literally thousands of new individuals hoping to make a difference. Schultz could change the world, build a bench of talent for the future and

ensure a golden legacy for generations to come.

Here’s the math: Since we started Run for Something just over two years ago, we have spent just under $2.5 million and helped 208 individuals get elected to state and local offices across the country. Half of those we helped elect are people

Howard schultz, seen in a 2017 photo, could spend $300 million to $500 million on an independent presidential campaign.

Credit: Michael Cohen/Getty Images for The New York Times of color, 55 percent are women, 16 percent are LGBTQ and all are under the age of 40. We’ve recruited nearly 30,000 people in total, all of whom are considering mounting their first campaigns now or in the near future.

As candidates, these folks knock on doors, build relationships with voters and are the best, most authentic messengers for progressive values. ey’re able to break past the frustra-

Israel export medical marijunana

continued from page 8 bought a German marijuana outfit for two million euros and operates a farm while also building a factory in Uganda.

Other Israeli ventures are eyeing European destinations such as Denmark and Portugal.

Now that the export of medical cannabis is legal, growers predict that both tax revenue and the ability to do research will increase dramatically.

Sid Taubenfeld, CEO of TO Pharma, the American medical and research division of the Israeli cannabis company Tikun Olam, told JTA by phone that the new law will help Israel become a global leader in the field.

“We’re doing studies in Israel, and we’re going to do studies in Canada now,” he said. “The rest of the world is playing catch up.”

Along with the significant economic windfall expected, this development will help Israel get a head start in this growing market and maintain its reputation as a global hub for medical and business innovation. While the United States is not as progressive when it comes to drug policy, other interests in both camps will prevail.

More than anything, the fact that the whisperings of the president of the United States seem to have superseded the

wishes of Israel’s democratically-elected representatives makes clear that the U.S.-Israel relationship is not a relationship of equals. While Israel has certainly enjoyed a warmer relationship with the Trump administration than with the previous administration, that closeness sometimes comes at a cost.

But Taubenfeld told JTA that he isn’t too worried about the future of his industry.

As he put it, “Trump has other problems to worry about besides cannabis.”

Anis Modi is a DC-based writer and current staff editor for Moment Magazine. He was born and raised in Israel.

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.

To submiT announcemenTs

Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press at jpress@jewish omaha.org; 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.

tion voters have with extreme partisanship by connecting over issues and problem solving – local candidates are able to engage personally with voters in a way that a presidential candidate, especially a billionaire, could never dream of.

If and when these office seekers win, they immediately get to work making life better for their constituents. School board members take steps to protect LGBTQ kids in their districts and make sure curriculums promote tolerance, science, the arts and truth. City council members fund health care centers, provide affordable housing, protect wildlife and reduce energy bills. State legislators expand access to affordable health care, enact criminal justice reform, reduce traffic so our commutes are shorter, and protect women’s reproductive health and the fundamental American right to vote.

Many of the folks who start out on city councils and in state capitols go on to run for Congress, or governorships, or for the presidency. A small investment today can yield dividends for generations.

Progress doesn’t start in Washington, D.C. – it starts with thousands and thousands of people deciding to change their lives (and perhaps careers), to make change in their communities and ultimately change the world.

Our dream two-year budget is about $14 million. If Schultz decided to set aside his ego and instead gave a fraction of what he’d spend running for president to an organization like ours, we could sustain ourselves for three decades and elect nearly 50,000 people to local office across the country. at’s both a good business investment and the best way to make impactful and effective progress for the long run.

Amanda Litman is the executive director of Run for Something, which recruits and supports young, diverse progressives to local office across the country.

LeTTers To THe ediTor

Dear Editor, Thank you for your editorial about Bob Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots. I went to college with him, and we graduated Columbia in 1963. Bob was Class President all four years and played freshman and lightweight football. In addition to donating huge sums for health care and to fight prejudice and anti-Semitism, Bob has given millions of dollars to our Alma Mater. At least $1,000,000 went for the Columbia Jewish Students Center (Hillel). Hopefully, that’s had more success than the millions he’s donated for the Columbia football program (which is at least winning some games now).

By the time this is printed, we’ll know if the Pats won another Super Bowl. Regardless of the outcome, Bob Kraft is a real “mensch” in every good sense of the word. rich Juro Dear Editor, Some more reasons to root for the Patriots: 1. Kraft not only is Jewish but was a ZBT frat member in college and Omaha has many many ZBT alums. 2. WR Julian Endelman..father is Jewish..sometimes is said to admit to being Jewish and the Jewish Sports Review does consider him to be Jewish. 3. RB Rex Burkhead was former UNL player and 4. QB Tom Brady is a grad of U of Michigan as are many Omaha Jews including myself and Steve Levinger.

Jerry Freeman

10 | The Jewish Press | February 8, 2019

synagogues 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 synAgogue

Join us for our monthly Shabbat Speakers Series on feb.

8, at 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker Jeannette Gabriel. Our service leader is Larry Blass, and as always, an Oneg to follow service. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel!

For information on our historic synagogue, contact any of our board members: Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Howard Kutler, Carole Lainof, Wayne Lainof, Sissy Silber, Nancy Wolf, or email nancywolf16620@gmail.com.

Beth el synAgogue

Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman. frIdAy: Tot Shabbat Pre-Neg, 5:30 p.m.; Tot Shabbat, 6 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. sAturdAy: Conversation with God, 9:30 a.m.; Shabbat’s Cool, 10 a.m.; Mini-Shul In, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Mincha following Shabbat morning services. weekdAy serVICes: Sundays, 9:30 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. sundAy: BESTT Classes, 9:30 a.m.; God 101: An Intro for Believers and Skeptics, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham; Torah Study, 10 a.m.; Mitzvah Fair for Grades 3-4, 10 a.m.noon at Beth Israel; Yiddush Class, 11 a.m. with Hazzan Krausman; Habonim goes to the Makery, Grades 1-2, noon; Kibbutz Chaverim goes to Moylan Iceplex, Grades 5-6, noon. tuesdAy: A Journey through the Talmud, 11:30 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham; Mahjong, 1 p.m.; Chesed Committee visits Remington Heights, 2 p.m.; God 101: An Intro for Believers and Skeptics, 6 p.m. with Rabbi Abraham. wednesdAy: BESTT Classes, 4:15 p.m.; USY Love Connection, 5:15 p.m.; Wisdom Literature, 6 p.m. with Professor Leonard Greenspoon; BESTT Hebrew High, 6:30 p.m.; A Journey through the Talmud, 7:15 p.m. with Rabbi Abraham. thursdAy: Breakfast and Brachot: Service, 7 a.m. and Breakfast, 7:30 a.m.; Shanghai, 1 p.m.

Become a Soulful Parent, sundays, feb. 24 and march 31 at 10 a.m. Join us for an exploration of parenting challenges against the backdrop of Jewish ideas and texts.

Six String Shabbat, friday, feb. 15, 6 p.m.

No BESTT Classes, sunday, feb. 17 USY Purim Prep, wednesday, feb. 20, 5:15-6:15 p.m.

Beth IsrAel synAgogue

Services conducted by Rabbi Ari Dembitzer frIdAy: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha, 5:32 p.m.; Candle Lighting, 5:32 p.m. sAturdAy: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Insights into the Weekly Torah Portion, 4:30 p.m.; Mincha/Seudah Shlishit, 5:15 p.m.; Havdalah, 6:34 p.m. sundAy: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Community Mitzvah Fair, 10 a.m.; Jews and Money — Jewish Attitudes Towards Wealth, 10 a.m. with Yosef Seigel; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:40 p.m. at Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. mondAy: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Jewish History — Your History, noon with Rabbi Shlomo; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:40 p.m. at Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. tuesdAy: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Torah Tuesday, 3 p.m. with Rabbi Ari; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:40 p.m. at Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. wednesdAy: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:40 p.m. at Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. thursdAy: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Connecting with Our Faith, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Ari; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:40 p.m. at Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

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, 7 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. mondAy: Personal Parsha class, 9:30 a.m. with Shani. wednesdAy: Mystical Thinking, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Katzman. thursdAy: Talmud Class, noon with Rabbi Katzman.

All programs are open to the entire community. For more information call 402.330.1800 or visit www.ochabad.com.

CongregAtIon B’nAI Jeshurun

Services conducted by Rabbi Teri Appleby. frIdAy: Candlelighting, 5:35 p.m.; Erev Shabbat Service: Shabbat Shaleim, 6:30 p.m.; Oneg, 7:30 p.m. sAturdAy: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Scholarin-Residence: Prof. Margaret Gurewitz-Smith and Dr. Zachary B. Smith, 10:30 a.m. on Christianity and Anti-Semitism: Culture Roots, followed by a light lunch; Havdalah (72 minutes), 7:05 p.m. sundAy: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.; LJCS Gesher, 10 a.m.; Adult Hebrew Prayer Class, 11:30 a.m.; Come learn and play Pickleball, 7-9 p.m. All equipment furnished. Wear comfortable clothing. For questions, call or text Miriam Wallick at miriam57@aol.com. wednesdAy: LJCS Hebrew School, 4 p.m. at TI. Jewish Book Club, sunday, feb. 17, 1:30-3:30 p.m. at Walt Library, 6701 S. 14 St and will discuss TThe Weight of Ink by Rachel Kaddish.

No LJCS Classes, sunday, feb. 17. LJCS Teacher Development Day, 9 a.m.-noon.

SST is partnering with "We Can Do This" to provide weekend meals to the children of the F Street Community Center.

Join us as we provide lunch on the third Sunday of every month. Food/monetary donations, meal preparation and assistance with setting up, serving, and clean-up are needed! We will serve our next meal on feb. 17 at 2:30 p.m. For more information, contact Aimee Hyten at aimee.hyten@gmail. com or Lupe Malcom at lupemalcom65@gmail.com.

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 available in the Temple office and on the Temple website.

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 Stan Edelstein.

Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend.

temple IsrAel

frIdAy: Shabbat Evening Service, 6 p.m. sAturdAy: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Service, 10:30 a.m. Torah and Haftorah Reader: Miles Remer. sundAy: Beginning Prayer-Book Hebrew for Adults, 9 a.m.; Religious School for K-6, 9:30 a.m.; Grades 3 & 4 Mitzvah Fair, 10 a.m.; Temple Tots, 10:30 a.m.; Caring Committee Meeting, 10:30 a.m.; OTYG Meeting, noon; Religous School Steering Committee Meeting, noon; Book Club, 12:15 p.m. at Bagel Bin; Rosh Chodesh Event; Opera 360: The Elixir of Love hosted by Karen Flayhart, 5:30 p.m. at the

Orpheum Theater. wednesdAy: Religious School Grades 3-6, 4 p.m.; School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6:30 p.m.; Family School, 6:30 p.m.; What Happens When We Die? Tri-Faith Perspectives on the Afterlife: Islamic Views of the Afterlife with Inam Jamal Daoudi of the American Muslim Institute , 6:30 p.m. thursdAy: The History of the Jewish People: Tzfat & the Kabbalah, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Aryeh Azriel.

Chocolate Shabbat, friday, feb. 15: Dinner, 5:15 p.m., Services, 6 p.m. Join us at Temple Israel for a multi-generational service featuring our kids’ choir, Kol Chokolad! Everyone is invited! Chocolate Shabbat starts with a community dinner, continues with Friday evening Shabbat service, followed by a delicious chocolate oneg. There is no cost for the dinner, but we do need your reservation so we know how much macaroni and cheese to make. RSVP to Temple Israel, 402.556.6536.

Chocolate Shabbat and Ice Skating, friday, feb. 15, 6-9 p.m. Join the congregation and OTYG for services, chocolate, and some icy fun! There is no cost to participate. Transportation to and from Moylan Iceplex will be at Temple Israel.

RSVP to Jacob Kahn, jkahn@templeisraelomaha.com.

First Friday Shabbat Services, friday, march 1, 6 p.m.

Enjoy lively services with our First Friday band!

OTYG/JYG Spaghetti Dinner: A Celebration of Past Pastas, sunday, march 3, 5 p.m.

tIfereth IsrAel

Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: monday-friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. frIdAy: Services are at Legacy Estates, 7200 Van Dorn Street in the Pub room for a potluck oneg and short Shabbat service. Please arrive between 5:40-5:45 p.m. if possible.

The front doors lock at 6 p.m. Someone will be stationed at the door until 6:10 p.m. For those attending, please bring a dairy or pareve appetizer or dessert to share with the group.

There will also be salmon cakes and salad provided; Candlelighting, 5:35 p.m. sAturdAy: Shabbat Morning service, 10 a.m. followed by a light kiddush lunch; Got Shabbat, 11 a.m. Special Giveaways for those attending! Attendance earns UrbanAir Event on Feb. 24 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. RSVP to lbow2065@gma il.com.; Havdalah (72 minutes), 6:36 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.

All equipment furnished. Wear comfortable clothing. For questions, call or text Miriam Wallick at miriam57@aol.com. wednesdAy: LJCS Hebrew School, 4 p.m.

Beginning feb. 21, on thursday nights at 7 p.m. at the synagogue, there will be a class for adults who desire to learn how to read Hebrew. The class will be taught by Nancy Coren. Please let her know if you plan to attend.

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.

An Israeli company claims to have a cure for cancer, but fellow scientists say not so fast

JERUSALEM | JTA A team of scientists at a biotech company in Israel claimed that they will have a cure for cancer — all cancer — within a year. Sadly, their claims were shot down by fellow scientists.

In recent articles in Israel and the United States, Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies Ltd., or AEBi, which was founded in 2000 from the ITEK Weizmann technology incubator, announced that a new treatment being developed by the company would offer a complete cure for cancer with “no or minimal side-effects at a much lower cost than most other treatments on the market.”

The treatment, according to Dan Aridor, chairman of the board of AEBi, and CEO Dr. Ilan Morad works essentially like a cancer antibiotic, they told the Jerusalem Post.

They said the results of pre-clinical trials have been very good.

But fellow scientists quickly rejected the claims, calling them “spurious,” “highly irresponsible,” “unsubstantiated” and even “cruel.”

The skeptical scientists note that the research group has not published any findings to back up their claims, as

is traditional in the science community.

Morad told The Times of Israel earlier this week that it has not published its research in medical journals because it “can’t afford” to do so.

Writing in Forbes, Victoria Forster, a cancer researcher and child cancer survivor, called AEBI less than forthcoming with information about their alleged cure. “Delving into what the company does supply, there are two graphs and some pictures taken down a microscope, much less than I provided from a 6-week undergraduate research project a decade ago,” she wrote.

She also calls a claim that one cure will work for all of the over 200 different types of cancer out there a “huge red flag” that such a claim is “highly unlikely.”

The CEO of the Israel Advanced Technology Industries group said the whole situation has “damaged the image of Israel’s life sciences industry.”

So far, the tests have also only been conducted on mice, not on humans, although the scientists told the Jerusalem Post that their results are “consistent and repeatable.” The company told The Times of Israel that it plans to advance its research and get to clinical trials as fast as possible.

The Jewish Press | February 8, 2019 | 11

lifecycles BirtH

Parker B. HageMoser

Cari and Kevin Hagemoser announce the Jan. 8 birth of their son, Parker B. He is named after his maternal great-grandmother, Phyllis Roffman.

Grandparents are Sherri and Gary Green, Dorianne and Bret Harpster and Manuela and Tim Hagemoser.

Great-grandparets are Bonnie Hagemoser, Patsy Harpster, the late Phyllis and Normand Roffman, and the late Evelyn and Harry A. Green.

in MeMoriaM

Bernard Magid M.d.

Bernard Magid, M.D. passed away on Jan. 30. Services were held Feb. 1 at Temple Israel in Omaha after a private burial.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Max and Bernice Magid, and his brother, Stanley Magid.

He is survived by his wife Carolyn Schimmel Magid and sons and daughters-in-law, Terren and Julie Magid of Indianapolis, and Tucker and Cindy Magid, daughter and son-in-law, Tippi and Steven Denenberg, and son, Trenton Magid, all of Omaha; 11 grandchildren: Max, Zachary and Leo Magid, Mackenzie, Halle and Tanner Magid, and Daniel, Michael, Sasha, Sima and Solomon Denenberg.

Bernard Magid, M.D., U.S. Air Force Captain (Ret.) was born in 1929 and was a lifelong resident of Omaha. He graduated from Omaha Central High School in 1948, and the University of Nebraska (BA ‘51, MD ‘54).

After six years in the Air Force, he began his OB/GYN practice in Omaha where he cared for generations of patients and delivered almost 7,000 babies in 33 years of distinguished practice. Throughout his life he was active in the community and, in particular, the activities of his children.

Memorials may be made to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. 220 East 42nd St., NY, NY 10017.

Michigan editor fired for critical article about Henry Ford

Marcy oster JTA e editor of a quarterly journal published by the historical commission of Dearborn, Michigan was let go aer he published an article about Henry Ford’s history of anti-Semitism in the publication’s 100th anniversary issue. e article by Bill McGraw, editor of e Dearborn Historian, looks critically at the industrialist’s history of anti-Jewish invective and activism, including how his publication of books like e International Jew inspired Nazi leaders.

“It’s an ugly side of the patriarch of one of America’s greatest families and founder of one of its best-known companies,” writes McGraw.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly prevented the January issue of the magazine, paid for by the city, from being mailed out. McGraw, who worked on an issue-by-issue contract, will not work on any more of the magazines.

O’Reilly in a recent statement said publishing Ford’s offensive opinions “could become a distraction from our continuing messages of inclusion and respect.” Dearborn’s population is about one-third Arab-American, according to e New York Times. e cover includes a black-and-white photo of Ford next to the quote: “e Jew is a race that has no civilization to point to, no aspiring religion, no great achievement in any realm.”

“I think given what’s going on in the world today with the rise of anti-Semitism, what happened to Pittsburgh in October and with the 100-year anniversary of the paper last week, it’s important to know that’s still playing a huge role online with extremists. It seems if Dearborn is going to be proud of Henry Ford, we should look at the whole picture,” McGraw, who has lived in Dearborn for 30 years, told e Detroit News.

Aer a vote, e Dearborn Historical Museum Commission called on the mayor to rescind his decision and allow the magazine to be mailed to its more than 200 subscribers.

Andrew Kercher, assistant chief curator of the Dearborn Historical Museum, told the Detroit News that O’Reilly ordered acting chief curator Jack Tate to terminate their contract with McGraw, a former reporter and editor for the Detroit Free Press. e article was published online on Deadline Detroit.

Visit us at jewishomaha.org

First bar mitzvah in centuries celebrated at reopened Budapest shul cnaan LiPsHiz

JTA A synagogue that was returned recently to Hungarian Jews following centuries of disuse hosted its first bar mitzvah in 332 years. e young celebrant, Yonatan Sebok, had his rite of passage event on Jan. 26 at the Buda Castle Synagogue, which reopened in September, the website Chabag. org reported. e first Jewish wedding held there in centuries is in the planning stages, yonatan sebok, above, was the first boy to according to the celebrate his bar mitzvah in Buda castle synagogue since 1686. Here, yonathan report. e Buda Cas- puts on tefillin with the help of rabbi Credit: Chabad.org tle Synagogue asher Faith. used to be a Jewish museum. Government authorities signed it over to EMIH, the Chabad-affiliated federation of Jewish communities in Hungary. President János Áder attended the Sept. 6 reopening. e synagogue’s remains were discovered in 1964. It had been ruined in 1686 by Christian fighters who took over what is now Budapest from the Ottoman Empire. Today it is one of a handful of synagogues in Buda. Separated from Pest by the Danube River, the two parts make up the Hungarian capital.

Julian Edelman is the first Jewish Super Bowl MVP

JTA news sTAff Wide receiver Julian Edelman was named Most Valuable Player as the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta.

After the game, an interviewer asked Edelman how he felt about earning the MVP award.

“It sounds crazy, it sounds crazy. 2018.

L’Chaim!” he said.

Edelman provided some of the rare offensive highlights in a torpid defensive game with a gamehigh 10 catches for 141 yards. Eight of those receptions led Credit: Al Bello/Getty Images to first-downs, keeping the ball out of the hands of the Rams’ quarterback, Jared Goff.

Edelman, 32, is one of only a few Jewish players in the league, embracing that side of his identity over time. His is the quintessential surprise story: Undersized at 5-10 and less than 200 pounds, without blazing speed and coming from Kent State, Edelman was picked toward the end of the last round of the 2009 draft. He didn’t establish himself as a standout until the 2013 season. It was during his breakout year that Edelman, who has a Jewish father, identified as Jewish in an interview with the NFL Network.

Since then, he has shown his Jewish pride on a number of occasions.

In a 2014 game, he wore a pin featuring the Israeli flag. He has tweeted about Jewish holidays. He even went on a Birthright-style trip to Israel, and has written a children’s book that references modern-day Zionism founder Theodor Herzl. After the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in the fall that killed 11, he wore special cleats with Hebrew on them to honor the victims.

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12 | The Jewish Press | February 8, 2019

community

B

Bubee

ubee was my maternal grandmother and oen held court while seated in her black wooden rocking chair in the corner of her living room in the duplex she owned on the corner of 38th and Dodge. She was not a judge and her living room was not the court room; in fact, Bubee was illiterate, but nobody who knew richard fellman her ever doubted her intelligence, her comon sense, or her sheer strength and will to live.

Bubee and her husband Meyer were immigrant Jews from Eastern Europe. He came from St. Petersburg, she from Kapulier, a small village near Minsk in what is now Belarussia.

Meyer came to America as a ten-year-old and learned to read and write in Omaha public schools. He could speak English without a Yiddish accent. Bubee on the other hand lived in what was at the time Czarist Russia until she was 18 and girls in Kapulier weren’t allowed to get an education.

Bubee’s real name was Bertha Shaon Green. By her fiies, most of her family members called her Bubee; her own children called her ‘Mama,’ to the outside world, she was Mrs. Green and to her siblings she was ‘Brochie,’ a shortened form of her Hebrew name, ‘Brocha,’ which means ‘Blessed.’

She emigrated from Russia with her brother Ben Shaon, who was a year older. ey ran out of money in Berlin and stayed there doing menial work, washing dishes in fancy restaurants and eating the leover food, until they had saved enough to come to America. ey settled in Omaha, where their older sister Gutel Jacobs lived. Ben ultimately opened his own dry goods store and moved his family to a two-story brick home across the street from Joslyn Castle on 39th Street.

When Bertha announced she wanted to marry Meyer Green, the family objected.

“He’ll never make a living. He’s a peddler now and that’s all he will ever be,” Ben argued. He turned out to be correct. But Meyer was universally liked and called “a kind and gentle man.”

Meyer was killed in 1929 when he was struck by a drunk driver. He was carrying a chicken from the butcher shop on North 24th St. to his home on 19th St. for Shabbat dinner. It le Bertha a widow with five children still at home.

Nobody seems to know how Bertha supported her family or how she was able to purchase a new home in the neighborhood west of 24th Street.

One warm summer evening in 1955, she found herself surrounded by five of her adult children and a few of their spouses as well as 14 grandchildren. Her chair sat next to a table which held her lamp and the radio on which she listened to soap operas every aernoon. I also remember a white doily and a glass bowl filled with yellow lemon drops nobody ever ate. And there was a tin box of ‘Asthmador’ that contained a green powder she would scoop into a small dish and light with a match so she could inhale the fumes that helped alleviate her asthma.

She had just returned from Sioux City and a visit to her daughter Phyllis, who had married a doctor (“My girls married two doctors, a dentist and a CPA,” she used to say. “Can you beat that?”).

While she was in Sioux City, her son-in-law, an internal medicine specialist, gave her a complete physical. is night, the gathered family wanted to hear the results. I sat in a cor-

ner of Bubee’s living room.

“So,” daughter-in-law Rosie began. “What did the doctor, what did Lew tell you?”

“Rosie, he said I was fine.”

“But,” Rosie continued with a bit of an edge to her voice, “What did Lew really say?”None of Bubee’s children would speak to her that way, but Rosie wasn’t one of her children.

“He said I was fine, just fine,” Bubee answered again.

But Rosie would not quit.

“Come on, Mama, Lew must have told you something. What did he say?”

Bubee was clearly upset. She always held herself with dignity and wasn’t used to anyone addressing her as Rosie was at that moment.

“Okay, Rosie,” she said. “I’ll tell you, and I’ll tell all of you. Here’s what Lew said: ‘Mama, your asthma still bothers you. It’s a problem. Your lungs are weak.

Your heart is not strong. You have a bit of a blood pressure problem.

You have a small amount of diabetes. You have arthritis and rheumatism. Your knees are weak and so are your ankles. Your hearing is also weak. You have cataracts in both eyes. You should drink more water. You need to get plenty of rest. Keep on walking to HInky Dinky, it’s good for you. All in all, Mama, for an 80year-old woman, you are fine.’

“Now, Rosie,” she said, “does that satisfy you?”

Rosie said nothing. For that matter, nobody in the living room said anything else.

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