February 26, 2021

A N AG E N C Y O F T H E J E W I S H F E D E R AT I O N O F O M A H A

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Jewish real estate developer pushed to integrate the suburbs Page 5

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FEBRUARY 26, 2021 | 1 4 A DA R 578 1 | VO L. 1 01 | NO. 1 9 | CANDLELIGHTING | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 5:54 P.M.

Etta and Harold Epstein Security Fund LINDA POLLARD Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation n 1945, former AZA Sweetheart Etta Garelick married former AZA President Harold (Bae) Epstein.

Their love story started in high school, when they met through their good friend Betty Rubin. Etta and Bae were blessed to share 70 years of marriage, three sons, Paul, Gary and Steven, their love of the Jewish community and their generosity to both the Jewish and secular communities. Both Etta and Bae grew up in humble homes; Etta came from South Omaha and Bae from North Omaha. Through their shared dreams, goals and hard work, they created a more comfortable life for their family and gave generously to their community.

In order to pay tribute to their parents’ lives and carry on their legacy of supporting the Jewish community, Paul, Gary and Steven Epstein established the Etta and Harold Epstein Security Fund at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. This newly established fund will pay for police and other law enforcement and security See Epstein Security Fund page 2

I Biden: White supremacists are ‘the most dangerous people’ in America Page 6

Etta and Harold (Bae) Epstein

A kosher chef blossoms in Dubai Page 16

A meaningful gift

Death and Mourning in Judaism Part II: The cost of a funeral

REGULARS

Spotlight Voices Synagogues Life cycles

11 12 14 15

MAGGIE CONTI RBJH Director of Activities and Volunteer Services Not every gift has to be big and expensive. Sometimes, gifts can have enormous impact without a big price tag. Take for instance, the newest arrival at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

The Van Raam VeloPlus wheelchair transport bike came all the way from See A meaningful gift page 4

SAM KRICSFELD AND ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP- WRIGHT Preparing for the moment of death is difficult; we can’t pretend otherwise. What we can prepare for is the cost of the funeral. As unpleasant as it is to think and talk about, putting one’s affairs in order means not leaving loved ones behind to figure out practical questions about finances while they are mourning.

The average funeral with burial

costs $8,755 today, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. That is for a non-Jewish funeral, which includes embalming and other costs that don’t apply to a Jewish funeral. Currently, a funeral handled by the Jewish Funeral Home in Omaha has a cost range of between $4,500 and $8,500. To get some idea of what the different price points are, we spoke with the Jewish Funeral Home. Please be See Death and Mourning page 3

2 | The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021

Epstein Security Fund

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Continued from page 1 personnel to provide security for one or more events each year for the Jewish community. These are events that anticipate 50 or more attendees held at Jewish venues, or venues that require security for Jewish programs and events.

Paul stated: “Anti-Semitic violence, discrimination and expressions of hostility have created a climate of fear among a substantial number of Jews, impairing their ability to enjoy their rights to liberty and security. Our Jewish community offers many wonderful events in all of its agencies and we want to ensure this continues to be a safe environment. Our parents loved Jewish events and encouraged us and our families to participate whenever possible.

They would be relieved to know that the agencies could continue to put on spectacular programming without having to worry about budgeting for security. It’s also fitting that their legacy as Jewish philanthropists will continue to live on.”

Etta was the daughter of Russian immigrants, Edna “Yocheh” and Ben Garelick, who settled in South Omaha. Ben started working at a packing house and when he had enough money to buy a horse and cart, he became a fruit and vegetable peddler. He worked long days until a concern about his heart forced him to retire as a peddler. He then worked temporarily at Kilpatrick’s, followed by employment at the Nebraska Furniture Mart.

Etta was a devoted and involved mother to her three sons.

She volunteered in the PTA and Cub Scouts. She loved Beth El Synagogue, enjoyed playing Mahjong and Pan with her friends, bowled weekly in a ladies bowling league and played golf at Highland Country Club in a Women’s league. Etta was also involved in Hadassah, the National Council of Jewish Women and Beth El Sisterhood.

Bae’s parents were also Russian immigrants. His father was a fruit peddler and later worked at a liquor retail store before working at Nebraska Wine and Spirits, which was started by Bae. Bae joined the Army when World War II broke out and served overseas from 1943 to 1946, receiving several commendations. During World War II, he was assigned to a hospital in Malverne, England. While he was stationed there, another Omahan, Norman Hahn, was brought in with a concussion.

Norman and Bae had grown up together, and Bae was assigned to sit with Norman for an hour every day. During those times, he helped Norman to regain his memory with stories of their times together in Omaha.

After Bae’s military service, he worked for McKesson Wine & Spirits where he advanced rapidly. Bae became the Midwest regional vice-president of the company with responsibility for

nine wholesale liquor houses in six states.

On Sept. 2, 1975 Bae realized his dream and purchased the wine and spirits division of Capitol Liquors. On Feb. 1, 1977 he moved the facility to a larger location to better accommodate his customers. Under Bae’s leadership, the company continued growing with a total area of warehouse and office space of approximately 100,000 square feet.

Bae was inducted into the Omaha Hospitality Hall of Fame in October 2001. Like Etta, Bae loved raising his sons, playing golf, and “a good game of gin rummy,” according to Gary. Traveling was also one of Bae’s loves. Bae’s volunteer activities included Israel Bonds, B’nai B’rith, along with various secular causes. Bae and Etta helped build the Harold and Etta Epstein Family Chapel of Remembrance at Beth El cemetery.

Gary said: “Mom and Dad loved their Omaha roots! Their local group of friends and family were very special to them. They were proud of Jewish Omaha and being a part of Beth El Synagogue and the Jewish Community Center. Etta and Bae loved to travel and play golf. Their biggest thrill in life was to be with their family and see their grandchildren and great-grandchildren at every Simcha and holiday. Family always came first.

Bae Epstein was always proud of his last name. He always wanted that legacy to be continued. The Epstein name was taught to his grandchildren to be “Respect and Integrity”.”

Steven said: “My parents taught my brothers and me the meaning of being Jewish and the importance of practicing our Judaism and the importance of giving Tzedakah. They felt fortunate to be part of the wonderful Omaha community and they ingrained into each of us the significance of giving back to the community that we grew up in. We were blessed with parents that loved us unconditionally and for that we honor the memory of our loving parents, Harold and Etta Epstein.”

Establishing the Etta and Harold Epstein Security Fund was the perfect choice to honor beloved parents and dedicated members of the Jewish community.

“Security is becoming more and more of a challenge with threats in our society, with white supremacy and other groups, nationally and locally. Etta and Bae Epstein loved their Jewish heritage and close friends and family in Omaha and would want to know that they helped create the safety for large Jewish get-togethers in Omaha,” said Gary.

Etta and Bae Epstein’s legacy of love for their community is suitably remembered and honored now and throughout the years by helping to ensure security at events and programs in the Jewish community.

ORGANIZATIONS B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS The Monsky Lodge of B’nai B’rith is pleased to announce the resumption of its award-winning speaker program via ZOOM. Although the Home auditorium remains temporarily closed, we’ll continue presenting an outstanding lineup of thought-provoking keynoters. For specific speaker information and/or to be placed on the email list, please contact Breadbreakers chair at gary.javitch@gmail.com or leave a message at the B’nai B’rith JCC office 402.334.6443.

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The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021 | 3

An unidentifiable object

News LOCA L | N ATION AL | WORLD

Death and Mourning

CAROLE A LAINOF In the late 70’s we lived in Upstate New York and even though I was busy raising a young family, nursing part time and pursuing a master’s degree, I decided to go into the antique business. After all, I had grown up in southern New Jersey where everything was “old” and my mother had loved and collected antiques.

One day on a road trip to Utica, a nearby town, we stopped to browse in a small antique shop where we found this “object’ tucked away in a corner. Taking it to the proprietor, she explained that she knew nothing about the object, but of course we did, and we bought it for a small sum! As I recall, we did attempt to describe its use in Jewish culture to the owner of the shop.

This grogger is a simple handmade design of wood, probably pine, and VERY LOUD when twirled. We have kept it all these years, and it makes the plastic and metal groggers of today pale in comparison. I kept my antique business for many years, but never made much money. However, we have many treasures, such as this grogger, and such wonderful memories of scouting all over the country for old and beautiful items.

Written in response to the Egyptian Amulet “Tefillin” article published by the Jewish Press last year.

Continued from page 1 aware that there are many other options; rather than an absolute answer, we aim to give you some idea about the many different aspects. As everyone’s circumstances are unique, call your synagogue for more specific answers.

Regarding coffins, the Jewish Funeral Home lists three options, ranging between $1,000 and $3,000. All are kosher for burial. For prices through other mortuaries, please call the mortuary you plan to use, as prices in the open market vary greatly.

The Chevra Kadisha will prepare the body for burial, a process called a tahara. While the work is done by unpaid volunteers, there are certain material costs that come with the process.

Costs include gloves and protective gowns. Other costs stem from processes such as when the deceased is dressed in a shroud, pottery shards cover their eyes, and dirt from Israel is put in the coffin. Once the tahara is completed, the room must be cleaned. We will cover more about the Chevra Kadisha and the tahara process in a future article.

The base price of the Jewish Funeral Home is $2,200. Additional costs will include the casket, transportation to and from the JFH of the deceased, daily charges for any time at the JFH of over 24 hours, and additional charges if burial

is on a Sunday or civil holiday. Other costs are incurred if the family wants limousine service or a funeral escort. For males, if a tallit is not provided by the family, there is a $50 fee.

The Jewish Funeral Home provides the transportation of the body once contacted. They will arrange for pick up from wherever the body is, whether that is home or another location like the hospital. By the time the body gets to the JFH there will be someone, a shomer, there to stay with the body. A shomer will remain on site 24/7 once the deceased arrives. Legally, the funeral home has to provide the full price list to the family and prepare a contract. The contract has to be signed before the funeral and is legally binding. Most funeral homes require payment in advance, but the Jewish Funeral Home requires 50% of the total.

In Nebraska, death certificates are $16 and many newspapers, including the Omaha World-Herald, charge for printing an obituary (The Jewish Press does not).

If the body of the deceased must be transferred from out of town, there are additional charges, which vary with whether the body has already been prepared elsewhere or still needs tahara when it arrives.

A shiva meal, traditionally, is held at the home of a family member and should

not necessarily cost the family anything.

However, if a lunch is served at the synagogue after the service, there is additional cost; in that case, contact your own synagogue for information. We will cover more about the mourning process, including shiva, in future articles.

Whether there is a cost for the actual service varies and often depends on whether the deceased was a member of the congregation.

The Jewish Funeral Home does not list prices for the cemetery and everything that comes with the actual burial. This is another area for which you must contact your synagogue. Cemetery charges include opening and closing the plot, purchase of the plot, perpetual care, and common area maintenance. In some places a dome is placed over the casket so the ground doesn’t settle. Some synagogues use certain equipment to manage the work; Beth Israel requires graves to be dug by hand. This is not a Halachic requirement; it instead stems from the way the cemetery is laid out. Cemetery maintenance costs will include upkeep of the common area, snow removal, the sprinkler system and mowing.

Temple Israel lists the cemetery plot at $1,300; perpetual care is $1,100. Burial costs $1,400 while internment of cremated remains is $950. Sometimes there See Death and mourning page 5

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Due Date: February 28, 2021 Selection complete by: March 31, 2021 These one-time matching grants will range from $1,000 to $5,000, equal to 50 percent of the project budget.

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4 | The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021

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Who Am I?

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

A meaningful gift

Continued from page 1 the Netherlands, where biking is the preferred mode of transportation for many people. Because of that, many nursing homes have adopted a way to keep residents active, even if they can no longer ride a bike themselves.

This latest battery-powered transport bike has a modern design with unique riding characteristics and is stable for almost every wheelchair.

Last summer, with the generous support from the 2020 Staenberg Family Foundation Anything Grant and the Shirley & Leonard Goldstein Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, we purchased the FUN@Go three-wheel tandem adaptive cycle.

The bike couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time during beautiful weather and COVID isolation. It was pure joy

for Residents to ride around the campus outdoors with the wind blowing.

Steve Levinger wrote to Michael Staenberg about the bike and how his father took a ride to the nearby school. Michael reached out the Chris Ulven immediately and asked if RBJH needed another bike. Chris quickly responded: “Absolutely, yes!”

It took five months to make the long journey from Holland to our contact, AllAbility Cycle in Jefferson, Iowa, but it finally arrived in zero-degree weather. We are so fortunate to now have two adaptive cycles at RBJH. Thank you, Michael Staenberg. We can’t wait for spring to take a spin outdoors!

So think about what you can do to make a difference in the lives of our RBJH Residents. Call a few friends, pool your resources and together, make a big impact on our seniors.

Death and Mourning Continued from page 3 are applicable ‘winter fees,’ and you are charged an additional $200. If the deceased was not a member of the congregation, those fees change. Beth El and Beth Israel have their own fee structure.

At Beth Israel, the headstone is included in cemetery costs if the deceased is buried at the Beth Israel Cemetery, but that may not be the case everywhere. Headstones can cost as much as $10,000; however, some cemeteries have limitations on the size and look of headstones.

Something to consider: in the past, an Irrevocable Funeral Trust allowed you to set up aside funds in advance to cover

costs. This will be switching to a simpler, insurance-based format that will be easy to use. This is especially important when your loved one goes into a nursing home; it protects that money and makes it readily available. Call your financial advisor for more information about how to do this.

As with everything we write for this series, please contact your own synagogue for more specific and up-to-date information.

We aim to run these articles the last week of every month.

If you have questions or are hoping there is something specific we will cover, please feel free to reach out. The writers can be reached at skricsfeld553@gmail.com and avande kamp@jewishomaha.org.

See full digital issues at https://issuu.com/jewishpress7

The Nebraska Jewish Historical Society (NJHS) requests help from the community in identifying photographs from the archives. Please contact Kathy Weiner at 402.334.6441 or kweiner@jewishomaha.org if you are able to assist in the effort to preserve Jewish Omaha history.

The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021 | 5

This Jewish real estate developer pushed to integrate the suburbs LISA KEYS This story originally appeared on Kveller.

To those with a passing knowledge of architecture, the name Joseph Eichler is synonymous with the iconic mid-century modern homes that help define suburban Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Between 1949 and 1964, the Jewish developer’s eponymous company built some 11,000 tract homes for middleclass Californians. Thanks to details like post-and-beam construction, open floor plans and indoor/outdoor living designed around central atriums, “Eichlers,” as they are colloquially known, remain very much in demand by design buffs today.

It turns out, however, that Eichler’s work was groundbreaking in another perhaps more significant way: He was one of the first major developers to take a stand on housing discrimination.

A recent story in Dwell magazine highlights Eichler’s longstanding yet little-known commitment to undoing racist housing policies. He was one of the first builders to sell a home to anyone who could afford it — regardless of their race, ethnicity or religion.

“I really do think Joe may have been motivated by discrimination against Jews back in New York,” Dave Weinstein, features editor at CA-Modern Magazine and the Eichler Network, told Dwell. “It was common not just in housing, but in society in general.”

Eichler was born in New York City in 1900, the son of German Jewish immigrants. According to a profile of the builder that was published on the Eichler Network, he “was raised in a politically liberal family that revered Franklin Roosevelt, and grew to maturity in the culturally diverse community of New York City.” He began his career on Wall Street and later joined the wholesale poultry business run by the family of his wife, Lillian, who was the daughter of Polish Jewish immigrants.

The couple and their two kids,

Richard and Edward, known as Ned, relocated to California in 1940. There, they rented a Frank Lloyd Wright home — a move that eventually inspired him to launch a new career building similarly spacious, open modern homes.

as D, or red, no matter what their social class or how small a percentage of the population they made up.

“These neighborhoods’ properties were appraised as worthless or likely to decline in value,” she continues. “In short, D areas

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At the time, housing discrimination throughout the country was rampant — and legal. As Beryl Satter describes in her book Family Properties: How the Struggle Over Race and Real Estate Transformed Chicago and Urban America: In the 1930s, the U.S. appraisal industry opposed the “mixing” of the races, which it believed would cause “the decline of both the human race and of property values.” Appraisers ensured segregation through their property rating system. They ranked properties, blocks, and even whole neighborhoods according to a descending scheme of A (green), B (blue), C (yellow), and D (red). A ratings went to properties located in “homogenous” areas — ones that (in one appraiser’s words) lacked even “a single foreigner or Negro.” Properties located in neighborhoods containing Jewish residents were riskier; they were marked down to a B or C. If a neighborhood had black residents it was marked

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were ‘redlined,’ or marked as locations in which no loans should be made for either purchasing or upgrading properties.”

“Redlining,” as the practice was known, along with similarly racist policies, deepened as suburban development swelled in the post-World War II era. And yet, as Jewish wealth grew, many white Jews had the luxury of “passing,” while African Americans and other People of Color did not.

As Hannah Lebovits notes on our sister site JTA, racist housing policies continue to persist, even if policies were deemed illegal by legislation such as the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

“The era of ‘No Dogs or Jews’ is over,” she writes. “When they go to apply for a mortgage, to rent an apartment or to access social services, European Jews do not have to check a demographic box other than ‘white.’”

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Purim as Israeli Jewish masquerade I used to think of Purim mainly as a children’s holiday--but that was before I was exposed to Tel Aviv culture. Now that my two daughters live in Tel Aviv and I live in the neighboring city of Herzliya, I know that Purim TEDDY is not just for kids: It is WEINBERGER the Jewish holiday for adults in Tel Aviv, especially young ones.

The nights surrounding Purim are jampacked with masquerade parties. These parties have a very different cast of characters than one sees at traditional Purim fairs or at Jewish day schools, where the Big Four (Mordecai, Esther, Haman and Ahasuerus) loom large. The Purim story is far from the minds of Tel Aviv revelers, though this is not to say that Jewish culture does not make an appearance in a costume or two—last year, for example, one creative Tel Avivian got dressed up as a succah.

Purim has achieved something that no other Jewish holiday has achieved: It has galvanized secular Israelis into investing a lot of time and energy into something that is rooted in the spirit of the day. Secular Israelis celebrate most of the other Jewish holidays as recreation days, spent at the beach or in parks, with big family meals that feature a relevant holiday touch--whether apples dipped in honey, jelly donuts, matza or cheesecake.

With Purim, secular Israel has taken a key element of the holiday and run with it. In the Talmud (Tractate Megilah 7b), Rava says: “Everyone should reach a state where they cannot tell the difference between cursed Haman and blessed Mordecai.” All those wild Tel Aviv Purim parties may be thought of as being in the spirit of this Talmudic dictate.

The traditional Purim commandments (mitzvot) are typically not practiced by people who party the night away, and this is perhaps why, from my Orthodox perspective, I used to think of Purim just as a children’s holiday.

While every Israeli child observes the holiday to the extent that they come to school in costume on the appointed day, the traditions of going to synagogue on the night and on the morning of Purim to hear the reading of the Book of Esther, of exchanging food baskets (shalach manos), of giving Purim charity, and of having a festive meal are almost exclusively the preserve of the religious. For example last year, our first year in Herzliya, I had thought that Purim might be an opportunity for the people in the six other apartments in our building to reciprocate for some of the challah that I routinely give them. They did not because, in general, secular people do not give shalach manos; this, even though you can buy ready-made Purim food baskets all over Israel in the weeks leading up to the holiday, and many Israeli work places have a day around Purim for exchanging such baskets. (Just for the record--not that my “spread the love through challah” project is dependent on it-reciprocation came in advance of this past Rosh Hashanah.)

Perhaps I am making too big a deal out of Purim as Israeli Jewish masquerade? After all, the cast of characters that one will see at a Tel Aviv Purim party will not be all that different from a big costume bash that might be given in your own neighborhood on Halloween. But there is a difference: Only in Israel, the one country in the world with a majority Jewish culture, is the country’s annual masquerade on Purim, and only in Israel do secular Jews as well as religious Jews celebrate on Purim.

As someone who is committed to Jewish tradition, and as someone who has both religious and secular Israeli grandchildren, I’m very happy to be living in Israel. I only hope and pray that the coronavirus-coast is clear enough to celebrate this year. Happy Purim!

Teddy Weinberger, Ph.D., made aliyah with his wife, former Omahan Saraj Jane Ross, and their five children, Nathan, Rebecca, Ruthie, Ezra, and Elie, all of whom are veterans of the Israeli Defense Forces; Weinberger can be reached at weinross@ gmail.com.

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Continued from page 5 “As a result,” she adds, white-presenting Jews “have gained the privilege to access white spaces in a way that Black people have not.”

By contrast, non-discriminatory housing was a cornerstone for Eichler, who launched his company in 1947. (His son Ned, born in 1930, joined the business in 1954.) A pamphlet, Race and Housing: An Interview With Edward P. Eichler, President, Eichler Homes, Inc., first published in 1964, put it bluntly: “More than 10 years ago Eichler Homes quietly ruled out racial restriction on its sales,” it reads, noting that Asian families bought Eichlers in 1950 and the company made its first sale to a Black family in 1954. “The open occupancy policy was voluntarily adopted well before the enactment of California’s fair housing legislation.”

Reportedly, Eichler offered to buy back homes from anyone who complained about their new neighbors. He also resigned in protest from the powerful National Association of Home Builders in 1958, when the vice president of the San Francisco branch said: “It is a generally accepted theory that minority races depreciate property values. There may be no statistics to prove it, but as the representative of homebuilders, it is the theory under which I operate.”

Eichler responded: “Since I am the largest and probably the most prominent buildermember of this association, it would seem that these statements [opposed to the court ruling] tend to reflect my views, and I wish to state emphatically that Eichler Homes in no

way practices any kind of discrimination.”

Most of the time, however, Eichler Homes’ non-discrimination policy was not broadcast to prospective buyers and local governments.

Instead, the builders preferred to quietly sell to anyone who was qualified. Activism on a larger scale, however — specifically, at the state and federal levels — was a different story. Behind the scenes, the company pushed for widespread fair housing laws in California and for the federal government; Joe Eichler even accepted an invitation to testify before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission of 1960.

“They were simple merchant builders who found that doing the right thing did not hurt resale value,” Ocean Howell, a professor at the University of Oregon, writes in his paper, The Merchant Crusaders: Eichler Homes and Fair Housing, 1949–1974. “Eichler Homes demonstrated that housing could be integrated without fundamentally altering the character of the suburbs, instigating battles with municipalities, or hurting the bottom line.”

While housing discrimination remains rampant across the country today, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 officially made housing discrimination illegal — and the social activism of the Eichlers played a major role in helping such legislation come to pass.

“The most tiresome thing one hears about racial discrimination is the frequent advice, ‘You can’t legislate morality,’ or ‘You can’t change people with a law,’” Ned Eichler told a California legislature committee in 1961.

“There is a good deal of evidence, from the time of Moses, that you can do exactly that.”

The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021 | 7

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Anything grants LOURI SULLIVAN JFO Senior Director of Community Impact and Special Projects We will once again be offering Anything Grants in 2021 funded by the Staenberg Family Foundation and friends of the Federation for Jewish organizations in Omaha, Lincoln and Council Bluffs. These special one-time matching grants will range from $1,000 to $5,000, equal to 50 percent of the project budget. Organizations are responsible for raising the

remaining 50 percent from other sources. Project budgets should not exceed $10,000. Michael and Carol Staenberg chose to establish the Staenberg Family Foundation in 2005 to mobilize resources needed to preserve and enhance Jewish life in St. Louis, Israel and around the world. They have now expanded their support to Omaha where Michael was born and raised. The Staenbergs hope that their actions will inspire others to give back to the community by funding Anything Grants to benefit Jewish non-profit organizations or synagogues in Omaha, Lincoln or Council Bluffs.

All applicants must have a 501(c)3 tax status.

Grant applications will be accepted Feb. 2,-Feb. 28, 2021.

Anything Grants, like the name says, could be for anything, such as hiring a nonprofit consultant, purchasing technology, staff development or building needs.

Applications will be accepted at: https://www.jccomaha.org/anything-grant-application/ You must complete the application all at once; this program does not allow for saving and budgets will need to be emailed to me.

These grants are intended for projects or programs on your wish list that would not be funded without this grant.

For more information please visit our website: https:// www.jewishomaha.org/education/scholarships-andgrants/view/anything-grants/.

For questions or to discuss possible grant ideas, please contact Senior Director of Community Impact and Special Projects Louri Sullivan at lsullivan@jewishomaha.org.

LO CA L | NAT IO NAL | WO RLD

‘Who are we?’: Asian-American Jews explore their identities in a new video project

The series is the brainchild of two recent college students GABE FRIEDMAN who found themselves craving a way to get to know other peoJTA When Maya Katz-Ali saw the ad on Facebook recruiting ple whose identities overlapped with their own.

Asian Jews to participate in a new video project about identity, One of them is founder Gen Slosberg, who was raised without she scrolled through her list of friends to figure out who might religion in China and moved with her Ashkenazi father and Chibe a good fit. nese mother to the U.S. as a The daughter of a Jewish teenager. As an undergradumother from New York and ate at the University of Calia Muslim father from India, fornia, Berkeley, she joined it didn’t occur to Katz-Ali multiple groups for students that she fit the bill herself. of color — where to her surThough she grew up conprise she discovered Jews of nected to both parents’ culcolor like herself. tures — especially the food “Everybody I knew who — she always saw them as was Jewish was white,” said distinct. When her mother Slosberg. But even after wanted to hire Indian learning from those student dancers for her bat mitzvah, groups, she had never been she shot the idea down. in or heard of a space for “I remember specifically Asian American Jews in saying, ‘Mom, no, that’s Inparticular. dian. That’s not Jewish,’” said “I would for example hear Katz-Ali, who now works for one of the people at one of the Shabbat programming my JOC [ Jews of color] organization OneTable. “So Shabbats go ‘Oh yeah, my obviously, in my head, I had Chinese grandmother, this, this big kind of divorce of this and this,’” Slosberg said. these two identities.”

“And I’m like, what if we After her epiphany that The Lunar project brought over 20 Asian American Jews together were in a space and we she would be a good candi- in conversation. Credit: Luna could all understand what date for the video initiative she saw advertised on Facebook, it’s like to have an Asian grandma. Wouldn’t that be cool?”

Katz-Ali reached out to its founders. That’s how she ended up So last spring Slosberg reached out to a few other Chinese in Taste of Connection, the food-focused first episode of Lunar: Jews through connections and social media, hoping to create The Jewish-Asian Film Project, a series of videos of young that space for herself. She found Jenni Rudolph, a Berklee ColAsian American Jews in conversation with each other that lege of Music graduate who was featured in a widely viewed launched this week, to coincide with the lunar new year, a hol- YouTube video about interracial identity. iday celebrated in multiple Asian cultures. The series — which Rudolph had grown up in Huntington Beach, a predomiis on YouTube and also lives on the website of Be’chol Lashon, nantly white city in southern California’s Orange County, a group promoting Jews of color that helped support the proj- where she struggled to feel at home in white, Asian or Jewish ect — will tackle a new theme in each episode. spaces. She had attended a Jewish preschool, but after it “[It’s] really fun to break the stereotype of ‘You want Jewish closed, her two younger sisters didn’t get the same Jewish food? Ok, it’s a bagel,’” Katz-Ali says in the video, after describ- foundation, and her family wasn’t very religious. ing how she blends Indian cuisine with Jewish tradition.

See Who are we? page 9

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8 | The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021

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

Biden: White supremacists are ‘the most dangerous people’ in America attorney general.

RON KAMPEAS The president noted reports of more police and military JTA President Joe Biden, saying domestic terrorism was the personnel joining white supremacist groups. The Trump ad“greatest threat” in America and white supremacists are the ministration downplayed the threat of right-wing terrorism, “most dangerous people,” pledged to focus his Justice Depart- and Biden attacked Donald Trump for what he depicted as ment on the rise of white supremacy. his predecessor’s encouragement of far-right groups.

Biden, in Milwaukee on “You may remember, in one Tuesday at his first town hall of my debates with the former as president, fielded a question president, I asked him to confrom Joel Berkowitz, a profesdemn the Proud Boys and he sor at the University of Wiswouldn’t do it,” Biden said. “He consin-Milwaukee, about what said ‘Stand by,’ stand ready, or Berkowitz termed the “ongoing whatever the phrase exactly threat” from white supremawas.” Trump had told the cists in the wake of the deadly Proud Boys to “stand back and Jan. 6 raid on the U.S. Capitol. stand by.”

A number of far-right groups Bantering with Berkowitz, and figures were involved in who teaches foreign languages the insurrection. and literature, prior to the “I got involved in politics to question, Biden said he studied begin with because of civil French for five years and could rights and opposition to white President Joe Biden speaks at a CNN town hall in Milwaukee, not speak it. supremacists, the Ku Klux Wisc., Feb. 16, 2021. Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images “I’ll teach you some Yiddish Klan, and the most dangerous people in America continue to some time. How’s that?” Berkowitz said. exist,” Biden said on the CNN-sponsored event, which was “I understand a little bit of Yiddish,” Biden said. hosted by Anderson Cooper. “That is the greatest threat to ter“I’m sure you do,” Berkowitz said. ror in America, domestic terror. And so I would make sure that “It would be a shanda if he didn’t,” said Cooper, who like my Justice Department and the civil rights division is focused Biden was raised as a Roman Catholic. heavily on those very folks, and I would make sure that we, in Biden’s three children who survived into adulthood marfact, focus on how to deal with the rise of white supremacy.” ried Jews, making him a grandfather to several Jewish grandBiden has tapped Merrick Garland, a Jewish judge, to be his children.

Fellman and Kooper scholarships available

JAN ROOS The Bruce M. Fellman Charitable Foundation Trust has announced the availability of scholarships for the 2021-2022 academic year. The scholarships will be based on financial needs of students pursuing their post-secondary education.

This scholarship has a four-year cap and is limited to undergraduate studies only. Graduate programs are not included.

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.

The Robert H. & Dorothy G. Kooper Charitable Foundation Trust has announced the availability of scholarships for the 2021-2022 academic year. It will be based on financial need for Jewish students with ties to the Omaha community who are pursuing their post-secondary education. This scholarship has a four-year cap and is limited to undergraduate studies only. Graduate programs are not included.

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 at 402.384.6471 or jroos@broad moor.cc or downloaded from the Jewish Federation of Omaha website, click on Community & Education, then Scholarships and Grants, then Additional Scholarship Opportunities. The application packet must be received back in Mr. Kooper’s office no later than March 1, 2021.

The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021 | 9

A letter from HIAS MARCIA KUSHNER When I picked up my mail last week, there was an envelope with HIAS (Hebrew Immigration Aid Society) in the return address. I thought it was probably a fund-raising appeal, and though I hold their work in high regard, I knew I would not be donating at this time. I almost didn’t open it, but I did. The letter informed me that a donation had been made by RM (I will not use his name), with his address, in memory of my husband Sheldon Kushner.

My husband died over eleven years ago. It was strange that a donation had been made at this late date, and the donor’s name brought no one to mind. Our Jewish community in Lincoln is very small, and as a long-time resident I am familiar with most of the Jews who affiliate with the two synagogues. The name was totally unfamiliar. Many Jews don’t know HIAS, and this person did not seem to be part of the Jewish community.

I googled him and the only connection I

could see was that he was a member of Kiwanis, as was Shel. I wrote a note thanking him and gave him my phone number so that we might talk about Shel. He did call. He was very fond of Shel as they worked on many Kiwanis projects. But, how did he know of HIAS? He told me that he was terribly disturbed when a shooter killed eleven Jews at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg. He read that part of the motivation to kill Jews came from the deranged man’s knowledge of HIAS. So, Shel’s friend researched HIAS and decided that the way to express his horror at the shooting, would be to donate to HIAS. It was a while until he got the information and when he got the donor form, there was a place: In Memory of----, so he made a donation in memory of his Jewish friend.

I was so touched—what a mensch!

Note: Kushner family made a donation to HIAS in honor of RM

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Who are we?

Continued from page 7 “That was just a really exciting moment for me,” Rudolph said of her initial virtual meet-up with Slosberg’s group, “of meeting others and being able to talk in a group and decide — so this is a community, what do we stand for? Who are we? And what does it really mean to be these things?”

Slosberg and Rudolph decided to take the concept — bringing Asian American Jews together to talk openly and casually about their identities and experiences — and branch out with it. Beyond just ChineseAmericans, they found Jewish people with what was for them an unexpectedly diverse array of different Asian backgrounds, from Indian to Thai to Filipino and more.

One thing they quickly realized was that all of them felt that they had not seen their identity represented in American Jewish spaces.

The American Jewish community has begun to pay more attention to the experience of Jews of color in recent years, as highlighted by the rise and expanded profile of groups such as Be’chol Lashon and the Jews of Color Initiative, and the increasing number of Jews of color in organizational leadership roles. An analysis by researchers from 2019 found that Jews of color have been slightly undercounted in broad surveys on American Jews.

But there has not been much research done on Asian American Jews in particular.

Sociologists Helen Kim and Noah Leavitt — who are also a married couple — have published two landmark research papers on Asian Jewish families, one in 2012 and another in 2015. Besides that, Slosberg and Rudolph did not have previous projects like theirs to turn to for inspiration.

“We saw a gap in the media that could be filled,” Rudolph said.

She and Slosberg remained mindful throughout their project of how the term “Asian-American” can be a flattening term.

“The Asian diaspora is just so huge and diverse that it feels weird to kind of lump ourselves in, but also — white America lumps

us all in together anyways,” Rudolph said.

“So that’s kind of a common thread that we’re all relating on. We have a lot of very common experiences.”

For participant Jacob Sujin Kuppermann, born to a Brazilian Ashkenazi father and Thai mother, the project’s diversity was an important selling point.

“That’s kind of what made me excited about this project — that there was a very diverse range of different Asian experiences,” Kuppermann said. “Obviously there’s not a huge amount of discussion about mixed race Jews [in American society]. But usually when it comes up, it’s tiny. It’s Chinese American.”

In the inaugural video, participants talk about how their knowledge of both Jewish and Asian foods helps them feel like they “have stake in” each broader cultural community, in the words of one person. Another said that that knowledge helps her “prove” her Jewishness in Jewish spaces that are predominantly white. Some pointed out the ways in which Asian and Jewish flavors go well together, while others talked about the difficulty of eating Asian dishes while trying to keep kosher — stemming from the fact that multiple Asian staples, such as shellfish and pork, are not allowed in Jewish dietary law.

Katz-Ali shares in a clip that Ashkenazi Jewish food doesn’t always “feel like home” for her, but she’s always excited when finding Indian restaurants that are kosher. After participating in the project, in December she inaugurated “pakoras and menorahs,” her name for a new Hanukkah tradition that incorporates a traditional Indian fried food into the Jewish holiday that celebrates oil.

Now she’s trying to keep the Lunar group together, in part by planning OneTable Shabbat events for them.

“I’m so excited that this is taking off,” she said. “I think this is also going to give more permission to people to create and find that place of belonging and community that they can gather within.”

We will be publishing our annual High School Graduation Class pages on May 21, 2021. To be included, send us an email with the student’s name, parents names, high school they are attending, the college they will be attending and photo to: jpress@jewishomaha.org by May 3, 2021.

The Jewish Press On A comedic tour de force with a single actor portraying 40 larger-than-life characters.

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10 | The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021

Biden and Netanyahu speak for an hour

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challenges in the region.”

RON KAMPEAS Biden has said that he would preserve the WASHINGTON | JTA President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime normalization agreements that his predecesMinister Benjamin Netanyahu nearly a month sor, Donald Trump, brokered between Israel into his first term — a time frame that drew and four Sunni Arab countries. The president criticism from Republicans for its length.

Biden appeared to make up for lost time, at least according to Netanyahu’s account on Twitter, and the two spoke for an hour.

The conversation was “friendly and warm” Netanyahu said in Hebrew, addressing an Israeli electorate that places a high value on healthy relations with the United States. His tweet, accompanied by a photo of a grinning Netanyahu on the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to President Joe phone, comes just weeks be- Biden in his office in Jerusalem, Feb. 17, 2021. Credit: Twitter fore an Israeli election. also has said that he wants to return to the “The two leaders remarked on their per- Iran nuclear deal, which Netanyahu opposes. sonal relationship of many years and said they Netanyahu did not say whether they diswill work together for the continuation and cussed Israeli-Palestinian relations. Biden strengthening of the unshakeable alliance be- wants to revive U.S.-Palestinian ties, which tween Israel and the United States,” the tweet were all but cut off by Trump. said.

The two men also discussed Israel’s sucNetanyahu said they discussed “advancing cessful vaccination program to contain the the peace deals, the Iranian threat and the coronavirus pandemic.

ADL Reports Iranian textbooks replete with hatred against Jews and Americans New York, NY, Feb. 11, 2021 A comprehensive study of state textbooks exposes how students in Iran are being taught antisemitism, hatred and incitement to violence against America, Israel and the Jewish people.

Released by ADL (Anti-Defamation League) on the 42nd anniversary of the Iranian revolution, the new study reveals that current editions of the regime’s school textbooks even go so far as to blame Western media for hyping the pandemic to undermine last year’s celebration of the Iranian revolution.

Incitement: Anti-semitism and Violence in Iran’s Current State Textbooks is the first comprehensive study of anti-semitism, intolerance, or extremism in the official Iranian curriculum in nearly half a decade. Iran, which has been identified by the U.S. State Department as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, is publishing and distributing an official school curriculum whose textbooks glorify terrorism, indoctrinate hate among young people and encourage conspiratorial thinking—all in flagrant disregard for international norms and obligations.

“It is no secret that the Iranian regime continues to promote extremism and terrorism and feeds its people on a steady diet of antisemitic and anti-American propaganda,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “Iran’s textbooks show how deeply ingrained this official campaign of incitement is within society, and how they are reaching impressionable young people with these xenophobic and dehumanizing messages as part of the formal teaching curriculum.”

Some current examples cited in the ADL report: Teaching students to chant “Death to Israel,” which the books describe as a fake regime that must be eliminated; Teaching students that Jews have conspired against Islam from its earliest days, forging Islamic scriptures and using warfare and even Freemasonry to achieve evil aims; Teaching students that U.S.-led sanctions against Iran are part of a “satanic plan” to eliminate Muslims’ religious beliefs; and Teaching students that the Iranian peo-

ple, through their nuclear scientists in particular, “have achieved a blessing with your great jihad and the blood of your bounteous youths.”

In response to the global pandemic, Tehran’s current school textbooks are also promoting a conspiracy theory alleging that Western media exaggerated the coronavirus in 2020 to drive down turnout at crowded ceremonies for the regime’s 41st anniversary last year, said report author David Weinberg.

“While some curricula in the region are starting to improve, scaling back incitement and encouraging discussions about tolerance, Tehran’s educational antisemitism and incitement to violence is as militant as ever,” said Weinberg, ADL’s Washington Director for International Affairs. “From demonizing Jews in lessons about ancient history to glorifying antisemitic terrorists as recently as 2020, Tehran’s current curriculum is brimming with state-sponsored bigotry.”

ADL calls on the U.S. and other national governments to urgently to take coordinated action to condemn and to counter Iran’s state-sponsored incitement of antisemitism, including in its schools.

ADL recently wrote to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey urging him to finally remove all accounts associated with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei because of their repeated violation of Twitter’s policies against incitement to bigotry and terrorism. ADL has also documented Iran’s systematic scapegoating of Jews and Baha’is regarding the pandemic and Tehran’s latest international cartoon collection promoting Holocaust denial and other egregious anti-semitism.

ADL is the world’s leading anti-hate organization. Founded in 1913 in response to an escalating climate of anti-semitism and bigotry, its timeless mission is to protect the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment for all. Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of hate with the same vigor and passion. A global leader in exposing extremism, delivering anti-bias education, and fighting hate online, ADL is the first call when acts of anti-semitism occur. ADL’s ultimate goal is a world in which no group or individual suffers from bias, discrimination or hate.

The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021 | 11

Above and below: The new arrival at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. See the story on page 1.

Above: Physical activity is important for everyone, especially children.

Everyone at Friedel Jewish Academy is glad they are able to use the gym for active recess, even when it's cold outside!

Right and below right: The Tri-Faith Garden and Orchard Team really does work year-round!

Above, below and bottom: Friedel kindergarteners spend time each day playing and using their imaginations.

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PHOTOS FROM RECENT JEWISH COMMUNITY EVENTS SUBMIT A PHOTO: Have a photo of a recent Jewish Community event you would like to submit? Email the image and a suggested caption to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org.

Happy 100th day of school! Above: Ms. Coffin and Mrs. Shelburne dressed up as if they were 100 years old and left: Mrs. Bennett as a suffragette from 100 years ago.

12 | The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021

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Whether ignorance or malice, hate in any form hurts someone…

When hate wounds us, we have a clear choice: ignore it and hope it goes away, or face it. But when our hurt is derived from another placeone less easily understood, the choices become less clear.

Why would an educator uncap their dry erase GARY NACHMAN marker and, without any Regional Director, context, elevate the words, ADL-Plains States benign or not, of Hitler and Region display them for all to see?

Was the conclusion that a reasonable quote, even if ascribed to a mass murderer, deserves to be echoed? Was it intended as a history lesson in irony or a challenge in the form of intellectual provocation? Could it have been something even worse?

We’ll never know. Not really. Whether offered with ignorance or malice, the weight of words carries irrevocable consequences. Once in the public domain, it is not only our intent we must take responsibility for, perhaps more importantly, their impact. Impact creates culture, it creates the climate in our schools and the realities we must face in our communities.

Intent may be elusive, but impact is clear, it’s raw and unfiltered. Highlighting a person responsible for the murder of 6 million Jews and countless other minorities, because he may have said some-

thing mildly thoughtful once, legitimizes the author. It diminishes the memory of those millions who perished. It gives credibility to other things he may have said and paves the way for hate speech and worse.

Once we legitimize those who openly prescribe to hate in the public square, we lose our sense of what it means to be fair, what it means to be just.

We are dangerously close to that place now. The events of the past few years, even the past two months, highlight growing extremism. In this time, in this moment, words matter.

Westside Community Schools seem to have understood this. They took swift action to address a challenging incident without delay and did so with candor and responsibility.

They took ownership when others have chosen to deflect. This reflects the maturity and sensitivity required to truly lead students to become better, future citizens. Leading by example, they showed that rather than arguing intent, we gain greater understanding by acknowledging the hurt caused, apologizing for it, educating ourselves and others, and striving to do better.

The need for education starts with our community, teachers, parents and students. ADL is committed to doing our part in working with schools to build spaces where facts are shared, and personal and cultural experiences are considered in every choice made. We need all citizens to do your part, despite ideology or political affiliation. We cannot do this alone. We ask that we all do more in renouncing hateful speech, xenophobia, racism, antisemitism, and most importantly, ignorance. This is so important particularly when the offending party is in your own political party, state, community, school, or family. It is the only way we have a chance to reverse this very real, and very deadly, trend. Let’s applaud Westside for their professionalism and care for their future citizens. Together, we have a chance of removing hate.

We are grateful to partner with Westside Community Schools and the Institute for Holocaust Education in addressing this matter. Could this happen again? Certainly, in some form or another it will. Westside has set the bar of intolerance, as seen from this incident, I anticipate future episodes will be handled with equal sincerity.

Hitler quote displayed at Westside Middle School prompts action from District administration BENJAMIN KUTLER Westside Wired Managing Editor On Monday, Feb. 1, an email was sent to all Westside staff members, students and families regarding an incident that had happened that day at Westside Middle School. The email addressed the actions of a teacher who chose to display a quote by Adolf Hitler as the “quote of the day” in a hallway.

The email from Westside Middle School Principal Kimberly Eymann and Superintendent Mike Lucas included an apology and was followed up with a second email explaining some of the action that would take place.

“We used our morning announcements time and 30-minute homeroom period in all classrooms to discuss the severity of this situation,” Eymann and Lucas stated in the email.

Eymann and Lucas also said that they have been working closely with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to help guide them through the steps to come.

“The ADL helped us determine some appropriate videos and talking points to share with our students in all homerooms for the rest of the week, Wednesday–Friday,” Eymann and Lucas stated.

Eighth-grader Ryan Kugler said his classes are located in the same hallway area that the quote was displayed. Kugler said he is impressed with the way that the school has handled the situation.

“I think that the school is handling the situation pretty well, and I like how they are educating kids and teachers on why the quote being written was so wrong,” Kugler said.

Westside Director of Communications and Engagement Brandi Paul said that the administration was nothing shy of disturbed by the incident.

“We were very upset; so many of our students and staff and families and communities were,” Paul said. “We know the power of even hearing the name Hitler can have on any of us.”

Paul said she knows that many positive learning opportunities will come from this.

“We are trying to use it as a teaching moment for

everyone: our staff, our students, our families,” Paul said. “We sent out resources encouraging families to talk about it at home.”

Since the quote was written on Monday, several news sources have covered the story. The Omaha World-Herald, WOWT, KMTV and The Times of Israel have all reported on the incident.

reflect on the Westside community.

“I hope that that’s what people think of Westside from this,” Paul said. “That we don’t just take a challenge. We don’t just accept something negative.

We’re going to take that and get better from it. We are going to learn from it.”

Kugler said he thinks that seeing a quote written

by Adolf Hitler could be more impactful on Jewish students like himself.

“I think that the quote shouldn’t have been written and that it was insensitive to many people at Westside,” Kugler said. “Being Jewish makes the quote have a bigger effect on me because I have lots of friends and family who would also not like the quote.”

Paul said she hopes people who feel that the administration’s reaction to Westside Middle School Credit Westside Community Schools Website the incident was dramatic Paul said she is aware of the local and regional should consider how they would feel if they had a attention that the incident has received and high- different background. She said she also hopes that lighted the importance of sending an email to the they consider how it may affect other students. community right away.

“Everybody is going to perceive this situation a “We certainly understand that this has been all little differently,” Paul said. “What we have to do as over the place; we can’t change that,” Paul said. a school district is remember that we are serving “That was one of the reasons that we wanted to 6,000 students from 6,000 different backgrounds send out our messages to our school and our com- with 6,000 different beliefs, and we want to support munity first. That trust and transparency are so im- all of them.” portant to us... We wanted you guys to hear it from With the future in mind, Paul said that this misus first, to hear the facts and all of the details that take will have long-lasting effects on the district we could provide first so you would know what and the community as a whole. was going on and you could reach your own con“This isn’t something that is going to go away,” clusions yourself.”

Paul said. “This is a commitment and a mission for Paul cited the quote by Charles R. Swindoll, “Life us to improve all of those things… over the long is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react term in our curriculum and in our culture inside to it,” to highlight how she hopes the incident will our school.”

The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021 | 13

We don’t need a new synagogue ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor “Is the Jewish deli the new synagogue?” Andrew Silow Carroll asked in his headline for a recent JTA article. He poses the question after speaking with author Rachel Gross, who recently published her book Beyond the Synagogue: Jewish Nostalgia as Religious Practice.

The notion that Jewish life can be found outside the synagogue is not new, but is perhaps a more urgent and topical concept now that so many synagogues are—and remain— closed.

We are about to go into Passover without having opened the doors and that means we have completed an entire cycle of holidays—outside our synagogues. Yet, Jewish life in Omaha continues, from the never-ending Zoom classes, services and meetings to random phone calls, food drop-offs, social-distance walks (when it’s warm enough) and life-cycle events we refuse to miss—even if we attend from our living room. More than ever, we are aware of what’s missing when we can’t physically come together. Once we can open those doors again, we will flock back stronger than ever, determined to enjoy each other’s company- I do not doubt that.

“I’m arguing against a bunch of things,” Gross said. “One is a really narrow understanding of American Jewish religion tied to legacy institutions like synagogues, federations and JCCs. Thinking narrowly about Jewish religion, especially as synagogue services, has led American Jewish community leaders and some scholars to see American Jewish religion in decline. And I, building on the work of many scholars in religious studies, see religion really broadly. I think about religion as things that are meaningful to people and that place people in meaningful conversations with their community, and things that establish really sacred relationships between people, the divine and ancestors — a whole range of sacred relationships and networks. And when we think about religion that way, it lets us broaden our scope and see American Jewish religion as thriving in places that American Jewish community leaders have not largely focused on.”

There is a lot here we can pick apart and criticize. In fact, I think there is enough in this paragraph to debate for weeks.

But, besides the fact that JCCs do not equal religion (where did she come up with that?), we are more than a religion, we

are a people, and so of course not every Jewish aspect of our the life cycle events and the sermon. I want the vacations to lives happens in shul. And: Jewish life, if you want to narrowly Israel and the hamsas on the kitchen wall, the jokes and the define it only in religious terms, happens in the home as much movies and the Priestly Blessing. Most of all, I want to know as at synagogue. And our homes are still very much open, that the synagogue is my home. thank you very much. besides, even though synagogues have The underlying problem here is the idea of choice: to be closed, if services move online, are they really closed? So we Jewish is something that must be expressed a certain way to temporarily exist in a different space, so what? be valid. Gross accuses Jewish organizations and synagogue Gross also said: “Everything depends on money and, in fact, everything depends on material culture, which is the academic term for stuff. I think it’s a mistake to think of religion as “higher things” divorced from the material world in which we live. I’m interested in how religion works in real people’s real lives. And that’s through commerce and that’s through material goods. We’re physical beings in a physical world.”

I’m not entirely sure why this irritates me so much, and please don’t take my word for it, but I think Gross assumes a great many things about how Left: Beyond the Synagogue; right: Rachel B. Gross Credit: JTA.org organizations and synagogues operate. Whoever said our re- leadership of the sin she commits herself: the faulty belief that ligious life was divorced from the everyday and the mundane? there is a right way to be Jewish, that there is only one way.

Don’t those already go together? Why else do we have a You either get stuck in how things used to be, or you move bracha for handwashing and getting up in the morning and, with the times. Perhaps I just don’t get it (it wouldn’t be the for goodness’ sake, going to the bathroom? It sounds like she first time) but every time an academic tries to explain us to has some preconceived notions that lead her to conclude Jew- us, I feel like there are a lot of empty words on the page. Tell ish organizations and synagogues just don’t get it. She also in- me Jewish life does not only take place in the synagogue, and troduces the idea that the Jewish identity that is expressed in I’m with you. But don’t imply the synagogue is no longer relfood will most likely pop up elsewhere in our lives as well. Just evant. You want ‘real?’ The synagogue, for many of us, is very because we experience eating a bagel as a “Jewish thing” does- real. n’t mean it will be the only Jewish thing.

The Jewish deli is not ‘the new synagogue.’ Neither are the Maybe; I can agree with the notion that our shared food has museums, the theaters, the library or the kosher section at created a cultural bond, but I can’t think of eating a knish or a your local supermarket. The synagogue is what it has always brisket as a religious experience—or even a pathway to reli- been, a patient building that welcomes us home, where we gion. I want to have my cake and eat it. I want the food and can pray, bond, build relationships and be ourselves. We don’t the service. I want the books and the music and the prayers, need to reinvent the wheel.

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Synagogues

14 | The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

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

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE

Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Street Omaha, NE 68154-1980 402.492.8550 bethel-omaha.org

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street Omaha, NE. 68154 402.556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org

CHABAD HOUSE

An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street Omaha, NE 68144-1646 402.330.1800 OChabad.com email: chabad@aol.com

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN

South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org

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

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: TIFERETH ISRAEL

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

B’NAI ISRAEL Join us via Zoom on Friday, March 12, 7:30 p.m. for evening services. Our service leader is Larry Blass.

Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel!

For information on our historic synagogue, please contact Howard Kutler at hkutler@hotmail.com or any of our other board members: Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Mary-Beth Muskin and Sissy Silber.

Handicap Accessible.

BETH EL Virtual services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

VIRTUAL MINYAN SCHEDULE: Mornings on Sundays, 9 a.m. and Mondays and Thursdays, 8 a.m.; Evenings on Sunday-Thursday, 5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Purim Morning Service, 8 a.m.; Food Drive for Open Door Mission, 10 a.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 6:45 p.m.; Comedy Night, 7:30 p.m.

SUNDAY: Torah Study, 10 a.m.; BESTT (Grades K7), 10:30 a.m.; Purim Carnival Scavenger Hunt, 12:30 p.m.

MONDAY: Pizza To Go Orders Due, 5 p.m.; Book of Ruth with Rabbi Abraham and Pastor Johnson, 6:30 p.m.; Women’s Book Group, 7 p.m.; Jewish Law with Rabbi Abraham, 8 p.m.

TUESDAY: Book of Ruth with Rabbi Abraham and Pastor Johnson, 11:30 a.m.; Jewish Law with Rabbi Abraham, 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Coffee & Conversation with Rabbi Abraham, 2 p.m.; BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4:30 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 7 p.m.; Beit Midrash — The Promised Land?, 7 p.m.

THURSDAY: Virtual Office Hours with Eadie and Amy, 4 p.m.; Pearls of Jewish Prayer with Hazzan Krausman, 7 p.m.

FRIDAY-March 5: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY-March 6: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 6:55 p.m.

Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.

BETH ISRAEL Virtual services conducted by Rabbi Ari Dembitzer.

Classes, Kabbalat Shabbat and Havdalah on Zoom, Whatsapp or Facebook Live. On site services held outside in Sukkah, weather permitting. Physical distancing and masks required.

FRIDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Indoor Shacharit and Megillah Reading, 6:45 am.; Deepening Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Laws of Shabbos, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Indoor Megillah Reading, 12:15 p.m.; Outdoor Megillah Reading in Sukkah, 4:30 p.m.; Mincha/Candlelighting, 5:54 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Kids Class, 5:15 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha, 6 p.m.; Parsha Thoughts, 6:25 p.m.; Havdalah, 6:54 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Jewish Law in Depth, 9:45 a.m. with Rabbi Moshe; Daf Yomi with Rabbi Yoni — 30 mins prior to Mincha; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6 p.m.

MONDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 am.; Deepening Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom);

Laws of Shabbos, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Daf Yomi with Rabbi Yoni — 30 mins prior to Mincha; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:50 p.m.

TUESDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 am.; Deepening Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Laws of Shabbos, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Daf Yomi with Rabbi Yoni — 30 mins prior to Mincha; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:50 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 am.; Deepening Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Laws of Shabbos, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Daf Yomi with Rabbi Yoni — 30 mins prior to Mincha; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:50 p.m.

THURSDAY: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 am.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Laws of Shabbos, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Character Development, 9:30 am. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Pick Up Orders and Mishloach Manot, 5-7 p.m.; Daf Yomi with Rabbi Yoni — 30 mins prior to Mincha; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6 p.m.

FRIDAY-March 5: Nach Yomi — Daily Prophets, 6:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (WhatsApp); Shacharit, 7 am.; Deepening Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Laws of Shabbos, 8 a.m. with Rabbi Ari (Zoom); Mincha/Candlelighting, 6:02 p.m.

SATURDAY-March 6: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Kids Class, 5:15 p.m. with Rabbi Yoni; Mincha, 6:10 p.m.; Havdalah, 7:02 p.m.

Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.

CHABAD HOUSE Virtual services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Due to Coronavirus, all services and classes have moved online. For schedules and more information or to request help, please visit www.ochabad.org or call the office at 402.330.1800.

FRIDAY: Minyan, 7 a.m.; Lechayim, 4 p.m. with Rabbi Katzman; Candlelighting, 5:53 p.m.

SATURDAY: Minyan, 10 a.m.; Shabbat Ends, 6:54 p.m.

SUNDAY: Minyan, 8:30 a.m.

MONDAY: Minyan, 7 a.m.; Personal Parsha class, 9:30 a.m. with Shani Katzman; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Professor David Cohen.

TUESDAY: Minyan, 7 a.m.; Virtual Pirkei Avot Women’s Class, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Minyan, 7 a.m.; Mystical Thinking, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Katzman; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Professor David Cohen; Introduction to Hebrew Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Professor David Cohen.

THURSDAY: Minyan, 7 a.m.; Advanced Hebrew Class, 11 a.m. with Professor David Cohen; Talmud Study, noon with Rabbi Katzman; Fun with Yiddish, 1 p.m. with Shani Katzman.

FRIDAY-March 5: Minyan, 7 a.m.; Lechayim, 4 p.m. with Rabbi Katzman; Candlelighting, 6:02 p.m.

SATURDAY-March 6: Minyan, 10 a.m.; Shabbat Ends, 7:02 p.m.

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL

bat Service from SST, service leaders/music: Rabbi Alex and Elaine Monnier, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex via Zoom; Torah Study on Parashat Tetzaveh, 11:30 a.m. via Zoom; Havdalah (72 minutes), 6:54 p.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan-Gesher, 10 a.m. via Zoom; Adult Ed: Intro to Judaism Class, 11:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex via Zoom.

MONDAY: High Holidays Subcommittee Meeting, 7 p.m.; Makers of Jewish Things, 7 p.m. via Zoom.

TUESDAY: Synagogue Staff Meeting, 10 a.m.; Tea & Coffee with Pals, 1:30 p.m. via Zoom.

WEDNESDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 4:30 p.m. via Zoom.

THURSDAY: Fast Begins, 5:49 a.m.; Megillah Reading and Purim Songs, 6:30 p.m.; Fast Ends, 6:43 p.m.

FRIDAY-March 5: Candlelighting, 6:04 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, service leaders/music: Rabbi Alex, Steve and Nathaniel Kaup, 6:30 p.m. with featured speaker, Dr. Mike Eppel via Zoom.

SATURDAY-March 6: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Felch via Zoom; Torah Study on Parashat Ki Tisa, 11:30 a.m. via Zoom; Havdalah (72 minutes), 7:05 p.m.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE All services canceled until further notice.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME

The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home is currently closed to visitors.

TEMPLE ISRAEL

Virtual services conducted by Rabbi Brian Stoller, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin and Cantor Joanna Alexander.

DAILY VIRTUAL MINYAN: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.

Join us via Zoom.

FRIDAY: Shabbat Service: The Land of Israel: Spirituality, Culture and Politics: Marriage in the State of Israel with Rabbi Noa Sattath of IRAC, 6 p.m. Join us via Zoom.

SATURDAY: Torah Study with Rabbi Noa on Disqualifying Hate: IRAC’s work against Jewish Supremacists and Hate Groups, 9:15 a.m. Join us via Zoom.

SUNDAY: Family Purim Celebration, 10 a.m.

MONDAY: Jewish Law & the Quest for Meaning, 11 a.m. Join us via Zoom.

WEDNESDAY: Mindful Meditation with Margot, 9 a.m. Join us via Zoom; Youth Learning Programs: Grades 3-6, 4-6 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6-8 p.m.; Community Beit Midrash: The Promised Land? Jewish Pluralism & Power in the State of Israel, 7 p.m.

THURSDAY: Thursday Morning Discussion, 9:30 a.m. with Moshe Nachman. Join us via Zoom; Challah at Home with Rabbi Berezin, 8 p.m.

FRIDAY-March 5: Shabbat Service: The Land of Israel: Spirituality, Culture and Politics: It’s complicated: How Language Makes It Harder, 6 p.m. Join us via Zoom.

SATURDAY-March 6: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. Join us via Zoom; Shabbat Service: Bat Mitzvah of Madison Kully, 10:30 a.m.

Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.

Virtual services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch.

FRIDAY: Candlelighting, 5:53 p.m.; Kabbalat Shab-

Watch the JCC Dance Training Company via live stream The JCC Dance Training Company will live stream its performance “Persistence,” Sunday, March 4 in the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater. The live stream will start at 4 p.m. To get the link, please register by visiting www.jccomaha.com; the link will be emailed to you within 24 hours. If you are able, you can donate to help support our program through the registration link. We would greatly appreciate any amount you can give to help keep our program going.

The JCC Dance Training Company is for ages 1218 and gives dancers the opportunity to perform and gain experience in settings other than class,

recital, or competition groups.

It allows dancers to refine their technique while gaining experience learning choreography and par-

If you are interested in supporting the Training Company through a tax-deductible donation, you can become a ‘Friend of the Training Company.’

ticipating in the choreography process. Through performances, participants also get to share the true art and love of dance with the elderly, disabled, and the general Omaha population.

For more information, please contact Esther Katz, JCC Dance & Cultural Arts Director 402.334.6406 or ekatz@jccomaha.org.

Life cycles BAT MITZVAH MADISON KULLY Madison Kully, daughter of Denese and Tim Kully, will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, March 6, at Temple Israel.

Madison is a seventh-grade student at Westside Middle School and was nominated for the National Junior Honor Society.

Her interests include soccer, basketball, volunteering, reading books, spending time with family and friends.

For her mitzvah project, Madison is working with Foster Love, a nonprofit organization, that focuses on foster families throughout Nebraska whose mission is to provide basic needs and opportunities for children in foster care so they feel confident, empowered and important. She volunteered her time at Foster Love, spearheaded a blanket and stuffed animal drive, and interviewed people throughout the foster care community.

She has a sister, Sydney, and a brother, Cameron.

Grandparents are Leslie Kully and the late William Kully, and Sophie and Larry Nicholson.

SUBMIT OBITUARIES TO THE JEWISH PRESS:

Email the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; mail to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; or online at online at www.omahajewishpress.com/site/forms/.

IN MEMORIAM RUTH PAPERNY LUTTBEG Ruth Paperny Luttbeg passed away peacefully in the loving and extraordinary care of the dedicated staff of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home on Feb. 10, 2021 at age 96. A private service was held on Feb. 12, 2021.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Louis Paperny and Ida Wolfson Paperny, her three sisters and brothers-in-law, Sylvia and Morton Friedlander, Rose and Ben Rosen and Bernice and Alan Wolfson; nephews, Paul Rosen, William Rosen and Daniel Rubin.

She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Steven and Linda Luttbeg, daughter and son-in-law, Laurie Luttbeg and Mark Spiegler of San Diego; grandchildren: David and Miriam Luttbeg of San Diego, Lisa Luttbeg and Jared de Jong of Orange County, Mike Spiegler and Jessica Butler of Brooklyn, Scott Spiegler and Guy Bloembergen of Brooklyn lucky to be called GG by her great-grandchildren, Hannah and Lilah de Jong of Orange County; the last living of her generation, sister-in-law Barbara Luttbeg Rubin of Los Angeles; nieces and nephews, grand nieces and nephews, and great-grand nieces and nephews.

Ruth was a woman who gave love freely and unconditionally.

She lived her life by the Golden Rule, and love was her anthem.

Her home was a safe harbor for all her children’s friends, all were welcome. She was full of good humor, empathy and, most of all, love. Her memory will be a blessing to all she loved and who loved her “a bushel and a peck.”

Memorials may be made to the Welcome Home Fund at the San Diego Jewish Community Foundation or the Crawford High School Academy of Law Foundation.

Black athletes hold online panel about fighting anti-Semitism really going [on].”

GABE FRIEDMAN “And then this past year, with [the deaths of] Ahmaud Arbery, JTA Prominent Black athletes Zach Banner, Josh Bell and Alysha George Floyd, specifically that incident in New York in Central Clark came together with the rabbi of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Park, just realizing that they’re one in the same, that hatred is synagogue for a panel about fighting anti-Semitism on one in the same,” Bell said. “That idea that one person is less than the next because of hisWednesday night. tory or because of skin color or Banner, an offensive lineman because of religion, I think that for the Pittsburgh Steelers, has that is something that we all been outspoken about antineed to educate ourselves on.”

Semitism spread by athletes, Clark, a WNBA star who has including fellow NFLer DeSean won multiple championships Jackson last year. on different teams, is Black “We preach to identify to the and Jewish. Also joining the Black and brown people in the city of Pittsburgh. But you can’t panel was the director of the do that by turning off the light Holocaust Center of Pittson Squirrel Hill, Shady Side burgh, Lauren Bairnsfather. and other Jewish communities After Jackson shared anti-Sethat we have,” Banner said at mitic language by Nation of the panel.

Islam leader Louis Farrakhan Banner said that Bell, for- Zach Banner seen prior to a game between his Pittsburgh on social media last summer, merly a first baseman for the Steelers and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East an array of Black public figures Pittsburgh Pirates and now a Rutherford, N.J., Dec. 22, 2020. Credit: Rich Graessle/Icon spoke out about anti-Semitism in the Black community, inmember of the Washington Sportswire via Getty Images Nationals, first inspired him to become more involved in social cluding former athletes and commentators.

Earlier this month, 170 Black and Jewish entertainment inissues. Bell said at the panel that the 2018 Tree of Life shooting, which killed 11 worshippers, “opened up my eyes to what’s dustry leaders formed a Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance.

The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021 | 15

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16 | The Jewish Press | February 26, 2021

News LOC AL | N ATI O N A L | WO R L D

A kosher chef blossoms in Dubai

ASMA ALI ZAIN DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | JTA Last year, Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a treaty establishing diplomatic relations. But for more than a year earlier, diners in the UAE had already been finding their way to Jewish culture via the home cooking of a South African expatriate.

Elli Kriel, a sociologist by training who moved here in 2013 when her husband was transferred to the Emirates for work, began serving kosher food to Jewish tourists years ago out of her home kitchen. Now she has become the go-to kosher chef in the UAE at a time when Israeli tourists have begun streaming into the country.

Last year, Kriel launched Kosherati, which sells kosher-certified Emirati cuisine, as well as fusion Jewish-Emirati dishes.

And she opened a kosher pop-up restaurant in December at the Hilton Al Habtoor City, a Dubai hotel. Before the restaurant had to close because of rising COVID-19 rates, it employed three chefs and 12 other employees. Kosher supervision was provided by the Orthodox Union. “[For] those who wanted kosher foods, coming to eat the foods that they could get in their home communities [while] in Dubai was a bit of a waste,” said Kriel, sitting in the Hilton Habtoor’s lobby. “Because you’re a tourist, you want to experience the flavors of Dubai.”

When Kriel’s family arrived in Dubai, there were some 70 Jewish families in the UAE and little communal infrastructure, which made it challenging for the family to continue keeping kosher. Kriel would fill suitcases with kosher foods like frozen meat and cake mixes when she traveled, and would ask visitors from South Africa to do the same when they came to the UAE. Once they were settled, the family started hosting dinner parties for local Jews.

Word spread. Observant Jewish tourists and business travelers sought out Kriel and asked her to cook kosher meals, which she would do for free. When the UAE held a high-profile

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interfaith conference in 2018, organizers turned to her to feed nazi Jewish sweet noodle dish. Similarly, her chebab blintz a Jewish delegation. melds the Jewish crepe delicacy with chebab, an Emirati panSimilar events followed in 2019, and Kriel decided to set up cake. And Kriel’s “bread of peace,” named in honor of the nora website to market her cooking. malization agreement, combines challah with khameer, an “I got a call saying that there is a group of rabbis who will Emirati spiced pita-like bread. not eat a thing because it’s not kosher, and that I should do Demand for Kriel’s food has risen with the normalization of something about it,” she said regarding the 2018 conference. relations with Israel, as more than 50,000 Israeli tourists flew “I then cooked for this group three meals a day for seven days from my kitchen.”

While Kriel was building up a base of kosher eaters, she found another set of potential customers among local Muslims. Emiratis who had traveled to the United States or Europe and couldn’t find halal food often turned to kosher restaurants, which abide by similar dietary restrictions. Some developed a liking for traditional Jewish cuisine.

“They missed this taste when they came back to the UAE,” Kriel said. “I had two sets of audiences. I had those who wanted Jewish foods, not necessarily kosher foods, and also Elli Kriel, a sociologist by training, has succeeded as a chef by fusing traditional Jewish had those who wanted kosher foods, and Emirati recipes. Credit: Kriel but not necessarily Jewish foods.” to the UAE before travel to and from Israel was suspended due Kriel had long wanted to try her hand at traditional Emirati to the pandemic. Kriel hopes the influx will eventually lead to dishes, and began experimenting with kosher versions of them kosher ingredients being sold in Dubai. Last year saw her in 2019. When the pandemic began and Dubai locked down, move from her home kitchen into the Hilton Habtoor, and she she found more time to develop a repertoire. With the help of also plans to expand her business into Abu Dhabi. an Emirati friend, she exchanged recipes and began to create “Within six months, of course, it’s going to be a completely fusion dishes that combined Jewish and Emirati cooking. different environment — we’ll be able to go into the superOne of Kriel’s offerings is the balaleet kugel, which combines market, and you will find kosher products,” she said. “You’re an Emirati vermicelli and egg breakfast meal with the Ashke- going to have a section that says ‘kosher.’ So we will get there.”