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All about NCJW
March 20, 2015 29 Adar 5775 Vol. 95 | No. 27
This Week
Passover is coming Page 2
Where’s the beef satay? Page 7
Dig travels far, but not as deep Page 12
by ALICE KLEIN NCJW Omaha Section, VP Public Relations On Feb. 18, Jan Schneiderman addressed the B’nai B’rith BreadBreakers at their weekly speaker luncheon. Her topic was the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), of which she has been an active life member for 60 years! Jan has held many positions with the organization, including NCJW Omaha Section President (1976-1980) and NCJW National President (1999-2002). Jan shared her thoughts about NCJW’s commitments and programs before B’nai B’rith members, NCJW members, and guests. NCJW is the only national women’s organization in the Omaha area. Jan focused her discussion on NCJW’s belief that the moral test of a nation is how it treats its most vulnerable members. NCJW is committed to social justice and human rights for all. The NCJW areas and programs that Jan touched on at her talk included: Promote health through equitable health insurance and reproduction rights. NCJW has long been a strong Jewish voice for health equity, reproductive freedom, and true moral
Jan Schneiderman autonomy for all. We refuse to stand by in the face of injustices that deny us or our neighbors the right or ability to make our own decisions about our bodies, health, families, and future. Affordable health coverage for all promotes health and wellness for all Americans. Reproductive rights for all women demands full funding of Title X. Title X is the only existing federal grant program that is completely devoted to providing comprehensive family planning and other related preventive
health services to individuals. Support consumer protection laws. Consumer protection laws through the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as an independent agency. The CFPB regulates the offering and provision of consumer financial products and services. An aim of the CFPB is to protect families from predatory business practices. Advance women’s equality in the workplace. NCJW works to advance women’s equality in the workplace. We were a major advocate of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act signed into law by President Obama in 2009. The Fair Pay Act extended the statute of limitations of a worker’s right to sue in a wage discrimination case, inducing employers to ensure equal pay. To advance women’s equality, all discrimination must end. NCJW supports laws for paid sick leave and a living wage. Protect women from domestic violence. Jan cautioned that violence against women applies to Jewish women also. NCJW’s campaign against domestic Continued on page 3
Klutznick Learning Series
Inside Point of view Synagogues In memoriam
Next Month Passover See Front Page stories and more at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press
8 10 11
by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Program Coordinator, The Center for Jewish Life The final evening of the 2015 Klutznick Learning Series will be held this coming Tuesday evening, March
24. The five session series has focused on looking at ten commandments not found on the famous tablets, thus the theme Beyond the Big Ten – And We’re Not Talking Football. Sessions meet from 7-8:30 p.m. in the JCC Social Hall with four, 15-minute presentations, Q&A time plus a short break with refreshments provided. “The sessions to date have been terrific,” commented Nancy Skid. “It has been fascinating to learn more about some of the ‘other’ commandments. The mix of hearing the traditional side followed by how the rules relate in day-to-day living makes you look at things in a whole new way.” She added “Everyone should take the
opportunity to treat themselves and attend the final evening.” The March 24 session will begin with Hazzan Michael Krausman from Beth El Synagogue talking about the commandment not to consult “ghosts.” He will be followed by well-known community members Patty Nogg and Zoë Riekes sharing their experiences in having “readings” with deceased loved ones. The second part of the evening will feature Rabbi Steven Abraham of Beth El talking about the commandment to not charge interest when lending to the poor. Margo Riekes, Communications Director for the Continued on page 3
Dr. Marc Shapiro by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Publicity Chair, Beth Israel Synagogue Dr. Marc Shapiro, the Weinberg Chair in Judaic Studies at the University of Scranton will visit Omaha as a Scholar-in-Residence at Beth Israel Synagogue, March
Dr. Marc Shapiro 27-28. The Scholar-in-Residence weekend is sponsored in memory of Rabbi Myer Kripke. Rabbi Kripke, who passed away last spring, was highly respected in the community, providing a great influence to those with whom he came in contact. He served as the spiritual leader at Beth El Synagogue for 30 years. Dr. Shapiro is the author of various books and articles on Jewish history, philosophy, and theology. His writings often challenge the bounds of the conventional Orthodox understanding of Judaism using academic methodology while adhering to Modern Orthodox sensibilities. Shapiro is a popular on-line lecturer for Torah in Motion and often writes for the Seforim Blog. Shapiro received his B.A. at Brandeis University and his Ph.D. at Harvard University, where he was the last Ph.D. student of the late Prof. Isadore Twersky. His father is Edward S. Shapiro who has published books on American Jewish history. Dr. Shapiro is a frequent speaker around the country. The Scholar-in-Residence weekend will begin on Friday evening, March 27, with Mincha at 7 p.m., followed by Kabbalat Shabbat services featuring the Beth Israel choir. A Shabbat dinner will follow services and will include challah, soup, chicken, potatoes, vegetables and dessert. The cost is $12 for adults and $6 for children four-12. An added bonus is that as Shabbat haGadol, the last Shabbos before Pesach, this is a great opportunity to avoid cooking Shabbat dinner right before Passover! Events continue on Shabbat, March 28, with a mini-lecture, The Origins of Modern Orthodoxy, by Dr. Shapiro during Shabbat services. Kiddush lunch will be followed by a lecture by Continued on page 2
2 | The Jewish Press | March 20, 2015
Passover is coming
Ladies’ Lunch
You’ve all seen photos of the men’s annual lunch at LA’s Langer’s Deli. In fact, you’ve seen them for years, because it’s one of our favorite pictures to print. Now, it’s time for the women to have a turn. Having lunch in Palm Springs recently are, back row: Maxine Kirshenbaum, Jill Erman, Joanie Lehr, Mitsue Austin; seated: Nancy Greenberg and FeFe Passer.
Dr. Marc Shapiro Continued from page 1 Dr. Shapiro, Sense and Censorship: Is Historical Truth a Jewish Value? Babysitting will be provided until the end of the lecture. At 6 p.m., Rabbi Ari Dembitzer will give a presentation in honor of Shabbat ha-Gadol, focusing on the extraordinary meaning of Passover. Mincha will be held at 7 p.m. with the evening continuing with Seudah Shlishit. Dr. Shapiro will conclude his presentations with a discussion of the Rambam, Glimpse into the Secret Maimonides. “It will be an honor to welcome Dr. Shapiro to the community,” commented Harry Berman, chairman of the Adult Education Committee. “A congregation at which he spoke in 2013 described their experience as ‘a wonderfully informative, intellectual and inspiring weekend.’ Based on Dr. Shapiro’s level of scholarship and his compelling way of looking at Jewish thought, I expect our weekend to be equally fascinating.” Dr. Shapiro’s books Between the Yeshiva World and
Modern Orthodoxy: The Life and Works of Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg and The Limits of Orthodox Theology: Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles Reappraised were National Jewish Book Award Finalists. He is also the author of Saul Lieberman and the Orthodox and Studies in Maimonides and His Interpreters. Dr. Shapiro’s books are available in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library. Please make dinner reservations by March 23 by emailing bethisrael@orthodoxomaha.org or by calling the synagogue office at 402.556.6288. The mission of Beth Israel Synagogue is to perpetuate the legacy of Torah Judaism in the modern world and provide a home for those who wish to learn about and observe halacha, Jewish law. Beth Israel Synagogue welcomes all persons of the Jewish faith to join and accepts the diversity of practice and thought among its members. Beth Israel offers a variety of religious, cultural and social programs throughout the year. For more information, please contact the synagogue office.
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by SCOTT LITTKY Program Director, Temple Israel The snow has melted, the temperature is above freezing, we have set our clocks ahead an hour, and we have celebrated Purim. It must be time for Passover. Temple Israel is excited again this year to offer to our congregation and community our 2nd Night Seder, to be held Saturday, April 4 from 5:30–7:30 p.m. As in the past, the Seder will be conducted by Rabbi Azriel, Rabbi Brown and Cantor Shermet. We hope that you join us for our family friendly Passover Seder with delicious food, thought-provoking discussion, joyful song and activities for children. The Passover Seder is one of the Jewish people’s most treasured traditions. To this day, in every corner of the world, Jewish families come together to reconstruct that original Passover Seder, again and again, year after year. And every year, there is more to learn. We look forward to sharing this tradition with you and your family this year at Temple Israel. Dinner will include matzah ball soup, roast brisket, potato kugel, salad, chocolate-dipped macaroons for dessert, and all the traditional favorites such as charoset, gefilte fish and, of course, matzah. Kids are advised to get their detective skills ready to search for the afikoman. Reservations are a must! Please contact the Temple Israel office, RSVP@templeisraelomaha.com or 402.556.6536, by Wednesday, March 25 to reserve your seats. Cost of the dinner is: $25 for adults, $12 for children ages six-12, and no charge for children ages five and under.
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March 20, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 3
Jewish producer says he was threatened over film about AMIA bombing BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) -- A Jewish producer making a movie about the 1994 AMIA bombing case and its late special prosecutor Alberto Nisman said he was threatened. Stan Jakubowicz, a Venezuela native now living in Miami, will produce the movie. The Prosecutor has a budget of about $3 million and will start production later this year. Filming locations have not been disclosed by Jakubowicz, but it is reported likely that it will be shot in Buenos Aires. “Nisman’s death and all the recent developments surrounding this case have created lots of fear, especially among Argentinians,” Jakubowicz told JTA this week. “We have received all kinds of messages trying to convince us not to make this film. As a security measure for our cast and crew, we have considered taking production to another country, but nothing is confirmed yet.” Eighty-five people were killed and hundreds injured in the attack on the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires. Iran has been blamed for the attack, but none of the accused have ever been brought to justice. Nisman, who was heading the probe, was found shot dead in his apartment on Jan. 18 hours before he was to present
evidence to Argentine lawmakers that the country’s president and other government officials covered up Iran’s role in the attack. “This film is not Nisman’s biopic,” Jakubowicz told JTA. “The film takes a close look at the terrorist attack against the AMIA building, its victims and suspects and the web of lies and corruption that creeps beneath the surface. It also takes a close look at the alleged Iranian involvement. “Iran’s threat to the world is as relevant as it has ever been,” he said. Jakubowicz will develop the film in co-production with Spain’s A Contracorriente Films. The Prosecutor will be the second film in his “trilogy of impunity,” which takes place in Argentina. The first, Wakolda, was about the Nazi war criminal Joseph Mengele’s escape to Argentine Patagonia. The film, coproduced by Jakubowicz, was Argentina’s submission to the Academy Awards and Golden Globes in 2014. The third film will be about the unconfirmed theory that Adolf Hitler did not commit suicide, but escaped and lived in multiple Latin American countries, including Argentina. With a similar budget, Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai also is preparing a movie about AMIA and Nisman.
All about NCJW
Continued from page 1 violence (Higher Ground) is a national effort to end powerbased personal violence and increase survivors’ autonomy by improving the economic status of women. Grounded in the understanding that economic security is critical to women’s safety, Higher Ground educates and mobilizes advocates, community members, and decision-makers to promote progressive policy solutions that champion economic justice. Ensure a fair and independent judiciary Through BenchMark, NCJW’s Judicial Nominations Campaign, we have been a leading voice in the progressive community’s fight to ensure a fair and independent judiciary that keeps faith with constitutional values. At NCJW, we understand that federal court decisions impact every aspect of our lives: the schools we can attend; our privacy; our ability to marry whom we choose and start a family when we choose; the safety of the products we buy; our religious freedom; and our voting rights. And the composition of the federal courts defines how justice is delivered in our nation. NCJW believes that judges confirmed to lifetime seats on the bench must have a commitment to constitutional rights, including reproductive rights. Sex trafficking must be eliminated. Sex trafficking of women and children is not just a global problem affecting millions; it’s a disturbing reality at home in the United States. It is modern-day slavery -- and it is growing. Exodus, NCJW’s anti-sex trafficking initiative, is aimed at preventing the trafficking of women and children. NCJW has an active Israel program. NCJW has been a leading organization in supporting Israel for more than 60 years, helping to lay the groundwork for important social change efforts in Israel. An example Jan discussed is the NCJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education (RIFIE) at Hebrew University. For over 40 years it has been a cornerstone of NCJW’s education work in Israel. Founded in 1969, RIFIE was created in support of the development of educational programs in Israel aimed at bridging societal gaps. The Institute’s researchers develop and facilitate innovative methods of education to meet the needs of immigrant and disadvantaged children and their families, promoting their integration into Israeli society.
In response to questions at the end of her talk, Jan explained that it is difficult to get members to volunteer for work programs like the Thrift Shop that NCJW ran in the 1960s. Today, most members have jobs outside their homes with minimal time for weekday work. So the major part of current NCJW work is advocacy. This is an area that is not as time consuming as projects, but is very important and in need of volunteers. Jan also noted how NCJW Omaha Section’s significant donations to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home have paid for several vans and other items over the past 50 years. For more information on NCJW or volunteering, please contact Jan Schneiderman at 402.330.7127; kbjrs@aol.com, NCJW Omaha Section President Holly Weill at 402.493.5126; hollyweill@yahoo.com, or Debbie Friedman at 402.330.5155; dkfanon@aol.com. To make a donation to NCJW, contact Lois Friedman at 402.398.1119 or Debbie Friedman at 402.330.5155; dkfanon@aol.com. Some information included in the article is from the NCJW website ncjw.org.
Klutznick Learning Series Continued from page 1 Better Business Bureau will share the many financial dangers and challenges faced by the poor and the resources available to help. The series is available free of charge thanks to the generous financial support of the fund of the Klutznick Chair of Jewish Civilization at Creighton University. The Klutznick Governance Council includes Bonnie Bloch, Steve Riekes, Marty Shukert and Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, the Klutznick Chair. While there is no cost, registrations are appreciated for planning purposes. Make reservations by calling 402.334.6463 or mkirchhoff@jewishomaha.org. The series is presented by the Center for Jewish Life whose mission it is to maximize involvement of Omaha’s Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences.
It is expensive to send a child to a Jewish summer camp. We need your help. Call the Foundation today.
Contact Howard Epstein, Executive Director 402-334-6466 | hepstein@jewishomaha.org | www.jfofoundation.org
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4 | The Jewish Press | March 20, 2015
SEWING CENTER
Breaking news about the Israeli-American relationship
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Class of 2015 High School Seniors High School Seniors and Parents
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American Jews. The Puritans may have thought of America as the New Canaan, but their modernday descendants have a lot of respect for the original one. Also, the fact that in our post-9/11 ISISafflicted world, Israel stands alone as the only democracy in the Middle East, has to instill admiration in the hearts and minds of all Americans. And there is one more factor, which is sort of the flip side of the recent Pew survey of American Jews that charted high rates of intermarriage and assimilation: The lives of tens of millions of non-Jewish Americans are intimately tied to the lives of American Jews and hence to the Jewish State. This was brought home to me recently when I was flying from New York to Boston to attend my nephew’s bar mitzvah. It was a Friday afternoon; and as I was waiting to deplane, I mentioned to the stewardess that I was from Israel and that the reason I was going to Boston was for “a kind of family life-cycle event for my nephew.” Now you’re going to have to trust me here when I say that this stewardess looked about as AllAmerican Christian as you can get. And yet she said, “Oh, of course, yes you would want to go to your nephew’s bar mitzvah -- I’m part Jewish you know; I understand.” The people ahead of me started to progress toward the exit, and I said “Shalom” to the stewardess. She said back to me: “Isn’t it ‘Shabbat Shalom’?” And I said, “yes it is.” As the 34th government of Israel takes shape, I think all the people who are worried about the American-Israeli relationship can relax. Of course, not everything that Israel does will please everyone -- Jew or non-Jew, Israeli or American -- but if we are speaking about the relationship between the American people and Israel, it is clear to me that it is grounded on respect, concern, and love. Teddy Weinberger made aliyah in 1997 with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children. Their oldest four, Nathan, Rebecca, Ruthie and Ezra are veterans of the Israel Defense Forces; Weinberger can be reached at weinross@ netvision.net.il.
For weeks leading up to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on March 3, Israel’s top two newspapers (Yediot Ahronot and Haaretz) were filled with articles and opinion pieces concerning the damage that the Prime Minister was about to inflict upon the U.S.-Israel relationship (the right-leaning Jerusalem Post as well as Sheldon Adelson’s free daily Yisrael Hayom expressed no such concerns). And way before Speaker of the House John Boehner invited Netanyahu to address Congress, many of my Israeli friends were very worried about the tensions between President Obama and the Prime Minister. They feared for the relationship between America and Israel and feared the ramifications of an impairment of this relationship. Besides the United States’s annual multi-billion-dollar aid package to Israel, there are a myriad fruitful academic, business, medical, and hi-tech partnerships between the two countries. My Israeli friends wondered: Is Netanyahu putting this all to risk by his failure to find favor in the eyes of Obama? My standard reply to my friends’ concern remains the same now after the elections as it was before: Americans love Israel. What my Israeli friends sometimes forget is that the United States electorate consists of the full American populace and not just a select number of university campuses where the BDS movement is strong. And when you do leave these ivory towers and travel around America and tell people that you are from Israel, rather than hearing about boycotting Israeli products, you are usually treated with respect and concern for your safety, and you will often be told (as I was recently) something like: “I pray every day for the people of Israel.” There are multiple reasons for Americans’ affinity for Israel. Certainly, religion plays a part -- which is why more American Christians visit Israel each year than do
In the news Jeremy Passer, formerly of Omaha, has received a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. He graduated with Distinction from Capella University in November of 2014. He has taken a position with the Emmerich Group as a Client Relationship Manager/Consultant in Eden
Prairie, Minnesota, and will begin his work in March of 2015. Jeremy is the son of Jeffrey A. Passer M.D. and Claire Flatowicz of Omaha. He currently resides in Crystal, Minnesota, with his wife Laurie.
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March 20, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 5
Join Beth Israel Synagogue for Passover Across America by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Publicity Chair, Beth Israel Synagogue Beth Israel Synagogue is happy to announce it will again host a communal Passover Seder on the second night of Pesach, Saturday, April 4, beginning at 7:30 p.m. An exciting enhancement for this year’s event will be a partnership with the National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP) as part of “Passover Across America.” Join Beth Israel, NJOP, and Jews around the world, to celebrate Passover as never before. Passover is one of the most celebrated Jewish holidays in the world. Jews join with family and friends and celebrate the Seder together. Beth Israel will provide a great Seder experience with great discussion, spirited music, excellent food and much more. Everyone is invited to this unique explanatory Seder singles, couples, families – all ages. Invite your neighbors, your friends, and your co-workers to celebrate together. The Seder will begin at 7:30 p.m. with an introduction, salad, learning and songs. After a short intermission, part two of the Seder will continue at 8:35 p.m. The dinner menu will include matzo ball soup, tossed salad, brisket, baked chicken, mushroom farfel kugel and asparagus, plus chocolate cake and fruit for dessert. The cost is $18 for adults, $10 for children 4-12 and $5 for those under four. Please make reservations by April 1 by calling 402.556.6288 or via email to BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org. The purpose of the Seder is to ensure that the attendees will have a beautiful experience and learn the meaning, explanations and customs of the Seder together. This is a wonderful opportunity to share the beauty and meaning of a Pesach Seder with members of the community. Rabbi Ari Dembitzer states, “Coming together for the Seder makes it more meaningful. Everyone should make sure to find a
Temple Israel photo album
group to join for the Passover Seder, either at Beth Israel Synagogue or any other location. Think about fellow Jews you can invite to share in the Seder with them.” Thanks to the generosity of NJOP, Beth Israel has received grant funding to help offset the costs of the Seder, providing the opportunity to involve more people than ever. Anyone in need of financial assistance to participate in the Seder should contact the synagogue office at 402.556.6288. “I guarantee that you will leave this year’s Seder having experienced something you have never done before,” explains Rabbi Yaakov Weiss. “The Passover Seder is magical in that it was created to give voice to all kinds of Jews – experienced or not-yet experienced, simple or complex, beginners or experts.” The mission of Beth Israel Synagogue is to perpetuate the legacy of Torah Judaism in the modern world and provide a home for those who wish to learn about and observe halacha, Jewish law. Beth Israel Synagogue welcomes all persons of the Jewish faith to join, and accepts the diversity of practice and thought among its members. Beth Israel offers a variety of religious, cultural and social programs throughout the year. For more information, please contact Beth Israel Synagogue’s office at 402.556.6288, or e-mail BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org.
Organizations B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS UNL professor Dr. Ari Kohen will discuss last week’s Israeli election results and their implications for American foreign-policy on Wednesday, March 25, noon. For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org.
Top: Sharon Comisar-Langdon and Rachel Rosenberg – light Shabbat candles at our March First Friday dinner, bottom: Rabbi Josh Brown and Dennis DePorte dressed to kill for our annual Purim Spiel.
Keep up with Jewish Press online at jewishomaha.org
THE RESIDENTS OF THE ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME EXTEND A CORDIAL INVITATION TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO SHARE THE SEDERS WITH THEM IN THE SILVERMAN AUDITORIUM Reservations are due by March 27. Seder 1 – Friday, April 3 at 6 p.m. Leaders Andy and Carole Greenberg
Seder 1 Menu Vegetable Platter Gefilte Fish w/Beet Horseradish Matzoh Ball Soup Chicken Picatta
Herbed Potatoes Seasonal Mixed Vegetables Matzoh Honey Cake
Seder 2 – Saturday, April 4 at 6 p.m. Leaders Jim, Susan, Max and Josh Polack
Seder 2 Menu Vegetable Platter Gefilte Fish w/Beet Horseradish Matzoh Ball Soup Smoked Beef Brisket
Sweet Potatoe Tzimmes Seasonal Asparagus Matzoh Fudge Chocolate Cake
*Children’s Menu includes chicken tenders and a side of fries
Please call Maggie Conti at (402)334-6521 with any questions. Make check payable to: Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. Mail this order form with payment to: Rose Blumkin Jewish Home c/o Maggie Conti, 323 South 132nd Street Omaha, NE 68154 Name: __________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________ Residents and others you would like to sit with: ________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ April 3 – Seder 1
April 4 – Seder 2
Number of Adults ($26.00) ____ Number of Adults ($26.00) ____ Children under 12 ($16.00) ____
Children under 12 ($16.00) ____
There is no charge for Residents. Total Amount Enclosed $ _________
6 | The Jewish Press | March 20, 2015
Consider gifts of appreciated stocks and securities
From the Foundation Director HOWARD EPSTEIN, Executive Director, JFO Foundation The stock market has reached record highs this year. In early March, the NASDAQ closed the day over 5,000, a level not seen since the Dot Com bubble burst in 2000. Along with the general markets, many individual publicly-traded stocks have increased significantly in value, some reaching record high prices. These gains present an opportunity to take advantage of tax laws that encourage charitable gifts of appreciated assets. Gifting appreciated stock directly to a donor-advised fund or an endowment fund at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation -- rather than selling the stock and donating the after-tax cash proceeds -- can significantly increase the amount of funds that you have available for charitable giving while providing you with a larger tax benefit. Charitable contributions of long-term appreciated securi-
ties (those held for more than one year), including stocks, bonds, and mutual fund shares, remain one of the most taxefficient ways to benefit a charity such as the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. You are entitled to a tax deduction for the full fair market value of such gifts, up to 30% of the your adjusted gross income in the current tax year, and you pay no capital gains tax on any appreciation. In effect, this tax savings goes directly to the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation in the form of a larger contribution and your lower tax bill leaves you with additional assets that could fund other charitable gifts or be put to other good uses! For those taxpayers paying federal taxes at the highest marginal rates, the tax on long term capital gains is now 20%, and there is an added 3.8% Medicare surtax. As an example, if you gift appreciated stock valued at $100,000 rather than donating $100,000 outright in cash, your immediate, long-term capital gain tax savings would be $23,800 (23.8% of $100,000), and Omaha’s Jewish community would get full benefit of your $100,000 gift. If you have not already done so, you might want to consider establishing a donor-advised fund (DAF) that can work in tandem with this financial and tax savings strategy.
A DAF operates as a sort of permanent charitable planning tool as you benefit from an up-front deduction for the contribution of assets to the account and you can choose which qualifying charities receive distributions at a later date. Next time you consider rebalancing your investment portfolio, the DAF can be the repository for some or all of the appreciated securities. Another gifting strategy to consider is the creation of a charitable remainder trust (CRT) funded by appreciated stock. In addition to avoiding the capital gains tax, the CRT could provide you with a current charitable deduction as well as an income stream for a period of years. For more information about gifts of appreciated property and other Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation giving opportunities such as establishing a donor advised fund or charitable remainder trust, please contact me at the Foundation office, at 402.334.6466 or hepstein@jewishomaha.org. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, tax or financial advice. When considering gift planning strategies, you should always consult with your own legal and tax advisors.
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March 20, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 7
Where’s the beef satay? by URIEL HEILMAN ropes. When the school year ends, his wife DENVER (JTA) – Dena Ivgi lives in and four daughters will join him in Denver. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but she does her “Michael does things very old school; he kosher food shopping 500 miles away, at the doesn’t even have a cellphone,” Horowitz East Side Kosher Deli in Denver, Colorado. told JTA in an interview on Feb. 26, the day That’s because the deli -- a Denver institu- the store officially was sold. “I’ve been learntion that’s part restaurant, grocer, butcher, ing the business and taking over some operbakery and deli counter -- is the closest ational roles.” kosher food purveyor to Ivgi’s home. Horowitz has a few changes planned. He Usually, she puts in a mail order, but she wants to overhaul the restaurant menu, stops in whenever she has the opportunity. “We’ve been ordering kosher food from here for the last four years,” Ivgi told JTA. “Our car will be going back packed full of food, especially with kosher-for-Passover stuff. The matzah they sell in Jackson Hole isn’t even kosher for Passover.” All around the mountain states and in Denver, the East Side Kosher Deli in the city’s Cherry Creek neighborhood is a lifeline for kosher conOwners: Joshua Horowitz, left, bought the East Side Kosher sumers, carrying everything Deli in February 2015 from Michael and Marcy Schreiber, from Israeli cheeses to short Credit: Uriel Heilman who had owned it for 17 years. ribs to sizzling chicken fajitas. There are other places to get kosher food which has some 250 items and an apparent in Denver -- big-box supermarkets carry fixation on iceberg lettuce, to make it freshsome kosher products -- but none have the er and more seasonal. He plans to bring in deli’s breadth of offerings or are exclusively Angus beef. But mostly he wants to keep the kosher, and the deli is the only full-service formula that has kept the deli going for kosher meat restaurant for at least 700 miles some 25 years. in any direction. It’s also a meeting place for That means continuing to operate both Denver Jews, as well as skiers and summer the grocery and the restaurant, which are vacationers passing through town. separated by tinted glass panels. It also “We have people come in here and see means catering to locals and travelers, as people they haven’t seen in 20 years,” said well as customers farther afield. longtime owner Marcy Schreiber, who Traffic at the store ebbs and flows. The knows practically all her customers by name week of Martin Luther King Day is one of -- not to mention their kids and grandchil- the deli’s busiest because it’s Yeshiva Week, dren. “We’re like the Jewish community cen- when yeshiva day school families with kids ter of Denver.” on school holiday come through town and Last month, after more than 17 years put in orders for deliveries to the ski resorts. behind the counter, Schreiber, 64, and her One Passover, Schreiber remembers sending husband, Michael, 67, sold the deli follow- three carloads of food to Vail. For Passover, ing a two-year search for a buyer. The cou- Schreiber has been taking orders from as far ple will be moving to Lakewood, N.J., where away as Mexico City. their kids live, following the well-trod path Survival hasn’t been easy. The Schreibers of many of their Orthodox friends whose regularly put in 80-hour weeks, and it’s been children have moved to larger Jewish com- harder to keep customers as supermarkets munities on the East Coast. have beefed up their kosher sections and “This is the trend in Denver: Parents go to added incentives like gasoline points. where their children are. We’re just joining Nevertheless, they have mixed feelings the parade,” Schreiber said. “And this deli about leaving Colorado. Marcy’s great-grandneeds new eyes, a new outlook to take it for- parents came to the state in 1897; two of her ward. That’s Shua.” great-grandfathers had tuberculosis and the Joshua “Shua” Horowitz, 36, is the buyer. mountain air was considered curative. An entrepreneur from New York’s Long (Starting in 1904, the Jewish Consumptive Island and a self-described foodie who has Relief Society helped treat thousands of TBowned a grocery store in the Catskills, stricken patients in Colorado.) worked as a line cook and done sales for a “It’s bittersweet,” Michael Schreiber said. meat company, Horowitz has been working “My family has been here since 1902. We’re at the deli since Christmas, learning the the last of an era.”
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8 | The Jewish Press | March 20, 2015
Point of view
American Jewish Press Association Award Winner
Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008
It’s personal by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor Not everything about newspapers, not even this one, was good in 1930. The pending war is never far from one’s mind while reading what life was like. And, then, there’s the very different way in which women were protrayed: once married, never mentioned by their own name, and you only have to look at the advertisments for cleaning products and fur coats to understand women were often reduced to a secondary role. And yet, if you look closely at the article below, you will see mention of a Doctor R. R. Mikelberg, formerly Dr. Rose Minkin. Were you to ask me beforehand if I expected to see that, I would have said “No.” Any article about this woman would be great, and I would love to find out more about her. However, it is thanks to the silly little announcement of her sister’s trip that we know she existed in the first place. Which goes to show that when it comes to newspapers, there is relevance in even the simplest things. When you read the article below, you will see some examples of how differently the Jewish Press used to report the news. In some cases, the change has been good. In others, we’ve lost something valuable along the way. What always catches my attention when I look at papers from decades ago is the society column. The short announcements of who is visiting his mother, who went on a trip, who had a birthday, who attended a ball. They are seemingly insignificant snippets that are squeezed in the small spaces between the “real”
news. And yet, it is these life events that make the mortar that keeps the community together. Gossip? Hardly. They offer us a glimpse into what daily life was like back then. And a glimpse is all it is: most announcements are short and invite us to speculate about the details. Take Mr. Ellis Bottigheimer from Peoria, Illinois, for instance. Together with his wife, he visited his in-laws for several weeks. How did they travel in 1930? By train, perhaps? How long would that have taken them? I’m imagining what they wore, how much luggage they had to shlep. I wish I could take a look at the contents of their suitcases. I bet Mrs. Bottigheimer’s dresses were as fabulous as they were uncomfortable. What about Miss Pearl Feldman, who, according to the March 7 society page left for Chicago to visit family and friends for two weeks? These days, we look at a simple announcement like that as old-fashioned. Why spend room in the paper telling us she’s on a trip? By the time the paper comes out, her trip is halfway over. And how did Miss Anna Pill, the correspondent who put all those news bits together, find out what was going on in the community? Nowadays, social media has replaced most of this. Facebook is our modern-day society page. It’s where we find out who went on vacation, who is getting married, who just had a baby. We are able to share the minutiae of each other’s lives with full color photographs that are uploaded almost as soon as they are taken. But although the channels through
which we communicate have changed, we still care about the small stuff. In the Jewish Press of 2015, we continue to publish something called “In the News.” We also feature B’nai Mitzvah, engagements and weddings, birth announcements, and obituaries. Future generations will be able to tell a lot about us by looking at our archives. But ask yourself this: why not, the next time you put something that matters to you on Facebook, also put it in the Press? How much fun would it be to bring back some of the flavor of that old society page? I propose we give it a try. As always, announcements for B’nai Mitzvah, engagements, weddings, and births, as well as obituaries, are printed in our paper at no cost to you. The same goes for program announcements from any synagogues, agencies or other Jewish organizations. But we’d love to offer you something more: announcements that don’t fit a specific category can be included in our paper for $18; include a photo and the price goes up to $36. In order to try this out, we’re offering this service free through the entire month of April. Maybe your daughter just had a promotion at work, maybe your mother celebrated her 80th birthday or your son made the honor roll. Send us your news; any appropriate email that arrives in my inbox before May 1 is placed in our “In the News section” at no cost to you. Yes, you can stick with social media. I’m quite fond of it myself. There’s immediacy and endless room for photos and it’s free. I remember the phone bills I used to have from talking with my mother across the pond, so I’m not complaining. But social media is fleeting. I know it stays somewhere on a server, but its practical use is very temporary. The difference between a handwritten note for your birthday, versus a meme on your Facebook page is enormous. Print is lasting. Besides, you’d be supporting the Jewish Press, the one place where our community’s ongoing story is told. You are a part of that story, so let’s make sure you’re included on the pages of this newspaper.
So, what’s new? Society News from the past The correspondent who wrote the social news in 1930 was named Anna Pill. She is long gone, as are most of the people mentioned in what she wrote. Reading her announcments is a reminder of how active this community has always been. It’s not just about the short sentences that describe random trips people took; it’s also the auxiliaries, the organizations, the meetings and volunteer efforts that are evident in these pages. From time to time, we recognize a familiar name (you probably more than I) or location. I am particularly enamored of the Purim Ball held at the Blackstone Hotel. It sounds so glamourous, doesn’t it? I maintain, we need to bring that back. We often attempt to reinvent the wheel. Looking at the history of our community is a lesson in humility. There were many people who came before us; and if they could, they’d probably tell us: “Been there, done that.” Mr. and Mrs. A. Simons and son Milton have departed for a four week trip to California, where they will visit friends and relatives. On their return trip, Mr. Simons plans to make a buying trip for his Fur shop. Mr. Louis Wigodsky is visiting friends in Milwaukee. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Bottigheimer have departed for their home in Peoria, Ill., after a visit of several weeks in the home of Mrs. Bottigheimer’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ben Shulein. Miss Elizabeth Passman is spending the weekend visiting her sister Frances, who is enrolled at Drake University in Des Moines. Mr. Carl Furth of Omaha is a guest in the home of his sonin-law and daughter, Mr.and Mrs. Leon Marx. Mr. Leon Dobrofsky attended the district meet of the Ivre Club held in Omaha last Sunday.
(Founded in 1920) Andrew Ruback President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Jessie Wees Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Thierry Ndjike Bookkeeper
Jewish Press Board Eric Dunning, President-Elect; Scott Farkas, Sandy Friedman, Paul Gerber, Debbie Kricsfeld, David Kotok, Paul Rabinovitz, and Nancy Wolf. The mission of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish Community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world. Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations Committee, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish LIfe, Jewish Social Services, and the Jewish Press. Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www jewishoma ha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’
Miss Gertrude Cohen of Chicago is visiting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Max Herzoff. The P.E.T. Sorority honored two of its members, Rose Kozberg and Neomi Horwitz, last Friday evening on the occasion of their birthdays. Mrs. Max Fromkin is a chairman of the Deborah Society Ball, to be given at the Blackstone Hotel this Sunday evening. Randall’s Royal Orchestra will feature the music. The purpose of the ball, besides providing a destinctive social affair for the Jewry of the city, is to raise the funds for the Talmud Torah. The Women’s Auxiliary of the conservative synagogue will meet Tuesday afternoon at the Jewish Community Center at 2:30 p.m. An interesting program has been arranged for the meeting. Mrs. Max Fromkin will read a special paper on “the significance of Purim.” Mr. and Mrs. J. Ruback announce the engagement of their daughter, Anne, to Mr. Morris J. Gotsdiner, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Gotsdiner of this city. No definite date has been set for the wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Robinson of Walthill, Nebr., were the guests of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. S. Robinson, over the weekend. Mr. Robinson was here on his spring buying trip. Miss Pearl Feldman has left for Chicago to visit friends and relatives. She will be gone for two weeks. Mr. and Mrs Max Fish announce the engagement of their daughter, Sara Rae to Mr. Nathan Sekerman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Sekerman. Miss Fish is a talented piano teacher. Mrs. Sam Weinberg and son Robert Alyn of Fremont, Nebr., returned Sunday from a seven week’s trip to the East.
Mrs. Weinberg and Robert visited at the home of Mrs. Weinberg’s sister and brother-in-law, Drs. R.R and H.B. Mikelberg of Philadelphia, also with friends and relatives in Boston, Mass., New York, Wocester, Mass., and Chicago, Ill. Dr. R.R. Mikelberg was formerly Dr. Rose Minkin of Omaha. Mr. and Mrs. A.M. Shrago announce the birth of a son Friday, February 28, at the Methodist Hospital. The K.T. Club of Central High School will hold its spring formal at the Athletic club on Saturday evening, March 8, with the Happy Rhythm Boys furnishing the music. About 150 guests will be present. Chaperones for the affair will be Mr. and Mrs. Michel Katleman and Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin Friedman. On Wednesday evening, March 19, at 8:15 p.m. Judge Herbert Rhoades who is connected with the Juvenile Court and Court of Domestic Relations will be the guest and speaker at the meeting of the Leaders’ Club. Everyone is welcome to attend. The Icor of Omaha will hold its third annual Bazaar at the Labor Lyceum, 22nd and Clark streets. The proceeds will go to Jewish colonization in Soviet Russia. The Icor is appealing to the Jews of the city to help their committee which is solliciting funds and merchandise for this Bazaar. A bazaar of the Pioneer Women’s Organization will be held Sunday, March 9, at the Labor Lyceum. Doors will be opened at ten in the morning. Many useful and beautiful articles will be on sale. Proceeds of the bazaar will be given for the Chalutzos of Palestine. All are urged to come early.
Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.
The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer, but the name can be withheld at the writer’s request. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid per-
Editorial The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial
material and photos to: avandekamp @jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jew ishomaha.org. Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1.402.334.5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jew ishomaha.org. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.”
sonal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de KampWright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $40 per calendar year U.S.; $80 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or email to: jpress@jewishomaha.org.
March 20, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 9
What billionaires owe the Jewish community by JAY RUDERMAN BOSTON (JTA) — In the past decade, a new class of Jewish mega-givers has emerged, reshaping the Jewish philanthropic landscape. This has been, without a doubt, a tremendous boon for Jewish life. Super-donors are facilitating the expansion of the Jewish enterprise. With their largesse, more young people are going to Israel, more kids are receiving scholarships for camp, more dollars are flowing to the Jewish state and more seniors are aging with dignity. But there is a downside to this funding windfall: These donors are essentially setting the agenda of the Jewish world, and no one but them has a say in it. In some communities, a single contributor provides more funding than the rest of the Jewish community combined. “This is a group of people with remarkable power,” Mark Charendoff, then president of the Jewish Funders Network, said in 2007, when the shift in power first became apparent. “There is virtually no accountability for how they exercise it. They can either be thoughtful or not. They can be strategic or ego driven. No matter what they decide, they have an impact.” With all the power these donors wield in dictating the direction of Jewish life, don’t they, at the very least, have an obligation to be in an active dialogue with the larger Jewish community about how they might best use their funds? After all, while the donors may foot the bill, everyone else has to live in the world they’ve constructed. To be sure, the impact of mega-givers is not an entirely new phenomenon. There have always been wealthy, generous people in the Jewish community who have played an outsized role in setting the communal agenda. But the emerging class has much deeper pockets than the previous generation of givers, is contributing a much higher percentage of the annual budgets of Jewish organizations and, consistent with generational trends in philanthropy,
demands a much bigger role in determining how its funds will be used. An older generation of donors tended to give to big institutions, which they counted on to make good use of their funds. Less trustful of institutions and more keen on making a direct impact, this generation of funders tends to tailor its giving to particular areas of interest and expects an active role in molding the projects it funds.
It’s time for mega-donors to embrace a new ethic of accountability to the Jewish community, the president of the Ruderman Family Foundation writes. Credit: Shutterstock That’s all well and good as long as the desire of the donor matches the collective priorities of a community. But in some cases the inclinations of donors have essentially become the de facto strategies of the organizations and communities that they fund. When a donor responsible for half the budget of an institution favors a certain program or service, rarely is that Jewish organization in a position to argue. If the donor is interested in elevating a certain kind of Jewish identity program or in promoting a certain view of Israel or in building a new museum rather than, say, a new
school, that donor can often singlehandedly dictate the community’s agenda. Invariably, when a large donor makes a major investment in an area of activity, that investment attracts other dollars and corrals the energy of the entire community. A community that might not have otherwise chosen to build a new museum might all of a sudden find itself completely immersed in a large-scale project, just because one donor thought it was a good idea. It’s high time the Jewish philanthropic world adopted a new ethic of accountability. I don’t mean accountability in a legal sense. Donors can legally invest in whatever philanthropic purposes they choose. Rather, the big donors should open up the decision-making process and invite the community into the discussion about how they might best use their money. Just as corporations hold an annual meeting with their stockholders who vote on the direction of the company, mega-donors should treat the larger Jewish community as stakeholders in their communal giving enterprise and factor in their aspirations and priorities. Mega-givers should hold their own annual meetings of stakeholders — the Jewish community — and open the floor for conversation. They should also be transparent in how they use their funds and issue annual reports of their giving. Such input and transparency would not undercut donors’ ability to make decisions about how they use their money. It’s theirs to spend. It would, however, help the donors stay in sync with the people they are serving, and give the larger Jewish community confidence that it’s part of the process of determining the Jewish future. As Voltaire said more than two centuries ago, “With great power comes great responsibility.” It’s time for mega-givers to exercise greater responsibility in how they help the Jewish community grow. Jay Ruderman is president of the Ruderman Family Foundation. Follow him on Twitter@jayruderman.
What the Jewish community owes its donors by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor The very title of the opinion piece above is abrasive. That’s okay; we all know it’s just there to make you pay attention. Although there are more sympathetic ways to draw the reader in, it nonetheless made me take notice. However, there are several problems with the article. For starters, it singles out a segment of the Jewish population in a way that opens the door to dangerous stereotyping. It confirms the notion that, even if not all Jews are rich, there are some wealthy magnates who decide all kinds of things behind the scenes. In addition, it talks in very general terms about donors. If any real-like givers inspired this piece, why not meet with them face to face? When Ruderman writes “These donors are essentially setting the agenda of the Jewish world and no one but them has a say in it,” whom is he talking about? Who is he trying to reach? Doesn’t it make sense that any donor who would be considered a “mega-donor” would want to know how his or her money is spent? I would. “This generation of funders tends to tailor its giving to particular areas of interest and expects an active role in molding the projects it funds,” Ruderman writes. How is that new? Haven’t donors always given to those areas that they care the most about? Who has heard of a big donor who gives to things he or she doesn’t give one iota about?
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There is this unspoken wish that we all find big, rich donors, who dump a fat check in our lap and subsequently get out of the professionals’ way so we can do what we want without interference. Or, who automatically agree with everything the professionals say. This is, of course, nonsense. It is also insulting. It assumes that mythical donor doesn’t know what he or she is talking about, and that the professionals always know best. But if that is the case, then we, as professionals, are not doing a good job informing our donors. And that means we are also not doing a good job informing our community as a whole. Giving needs to be in sync with the community’s needs, Ruderman is right about that. But the responsibility for making that happen does not fall in the lap of the donor. What’s more, if (and that is a big if) a donor happens to want something the community doesn’t feel it needs, isn’t it everyone’s responsibility to make sure those needs are in sync? The discussion about those needs begins long before that donor writes a check. A donor doesn’t just wake up one morning and decides to make a large contribution out of the blue. It is simply not a realistic notion. When a donor makes a large gift, it is because he or she cares. Deeply. When we receive that gift with paranoia about how “involved” this donor is going to be, we are doing that donor and ourselves a disservice. We are basically saying:
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“we’ll take your money, as long as you get out of our way; we don’t really care that you care.” There are many causes a donor can give his or her money to. The world is a scary place, there is poverty, and hunger, and an abundance of war-torn regions that need help. Donors who want to make a difference don’t have to give to their own community; when they choose to do so, they have thought about it, and they most likely have discussed it with their families. They are doing something good, something positive. To think that when someone decides to give, he or she could be met with a wall of resistance on the part of the recipient(s) is scary. Were I a donor, I would be suspicious of any institution that would accept my money and not give me a seat at the table. In fact, I’d demand that seat. I don’t think that is a bad thing at all. Institutions should actively engage their donors, rather than treat them as meddlesome mothers. After all, if we want to stay relevant, we need more than dollars. We need people who care, deeply, about the outcomes of our programming, about the health and wellbeing of our community, and about the future. With that comes transparency about how those dollars are spent, and that transparency always goes both ways. There is a time to be highly critical and cautious, and there is a time to be simply grateful. Gratitude, real gratitude, does not come with conditions, with fear or suspicion.
10 | The Jewish Press | March 20, 2015
Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 |712.322.4705 email: BnaiIsraelCouncilBluffs@gmail.com Join us for our monthly Shabbat Speakers Series on April 10, at 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker, John Bueltel, Head of Brewer Keg Creek Brewing Company on Discovering Craft Beer and Beer Tasting. Oneg to follow service. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel! Larry Blass will officiate at all of the Speaker Series Services. For information on our historic synagogue, please contact any of our board members: Mark Eveloff, Rick Katelman, Carole Lainof, Marty Ricks, Sissy Silber, Nancy Wolf and Phil Wolf.
BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California | Omaha, NE 68154-1980 | 402.492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. featuring Scholar-inResidence, Dr. Burton Visotzky. Congregational Shabbat Dinner following services. SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m., featuring Scholar-in-Residence, Dr. Burton Visotzky; Junior Congregation, 10 a.m.; Shabbat’s Cool (Grades 3-7), 10 a.m., followed by lunch; Mini Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m.; Kiddush lunch following services; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:30 p.m.; Study Session with Dr. Burton Visotzky, 7 p.m. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. SUNDAY: BESTT Classes, 9:45 a.m.; Torah Study Group, 10 a.m.; Torah Tots, 10:15 a.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 11 a.m.; Sunday Scholar Series, 11 a.m., featuring featuring Dr. Burton Visotzky, Professor, Talmud and Rabbinics JTS on How to have a Successful Seder; BESTT Third & Fourth Grade Wedding, 11:15 a.m. MONDAY: Women’s Rosh Hodesh Event, Screening of No. 4 Street of Our Lady and discussion wth Fran Malkin, 7 p.m. at Aksarben Cinema. TUESDAY: Wrestling with Rabbis of the Talmud, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham. WEDNESDAY: BESTT Classes, 4:15 p.m.; Hebrew High School, 6:45 p.m. Lunch at Nebraska AIDS Coalition, Friday, March 27, 11:30 a.m. Family Shabbat/Got Shabbat?/Tot Shabbat, FridayMarch 27, 6 p.m. followed by a Shabbat Oneg. Sunday Scholar Series, Sunday, March 29, 11 a.m., featuring Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization and Professor of Classical & Near Eastern Studies on Marching as to War: Writing a Commentary on the Book of Joshua for the Jewish Publication Society. All classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street | Omaha, NE. 68154 | 402.556.6288 www.orthodoxomaha.org Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. FRIDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/ Shabbat Across America, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Seudah Shlishit, 7 p.m.; Havdalah, 8:19 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Bagels and Beit Midrash: Understanding our Prayers, 10 a.m.; Monthly Kids Craft, 10 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.
Bat Mitzvah Julia Brodkey, daughter of Stacie Brodkey and Marc Brodkey, will become a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, March 28, at Temple Israel. Julia is a seventh-grade student at Westside Middle School. She is in honors math. Her interests include show choir and Circle of Friends. For her mitzvah project, Julia has been assisting children with special needs. She has a younger sister, Elizabeth, and an older brother, Benjamin. Grandparents are Vicki and Jerry Chesen, and Sandy and Sherman Brodkey.
MONDAY: Scholar’s Club for Boys, 3:30 p.m. TUESDAY: Wrestling with Rashi Class, 8 p.m. with Rabbi Weiss. THURSDAY: Women’s Class: Deepening Our Connection with God, 9:30 a.m.; Med Center Chaburah, 1 p.m.; Scholar’s Club for girls, 3:30 p.m.; Avot U-Banim-Parent Child Learning, 7 p.m.
CHABAD HOUSE An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street | Omaha, NE 68144-1646 | 402.330.1800 www.OChabad.com | email: chabad@aol.com Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 8:30 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m. TUESDAY: Dynamic Discovery with Shani Katzman, 10:15 a.m. A class for women based on traditional texts with practical insights and application. RSVP by calling the office. WEDNESDAY: Personal Parsha class, 9:30 a.m. with Rochi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office; The Development of the Oral Tradition, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office. In memory of Forrest Krutter -- Efrayim Menachem Ben Avraham Yitzchak. THURSDAY: Women’s Study at UNMC with Shani Katzman, noon. RSVP by emailing Marlene Cohen at mzcohen@unmc.edu. All programs are open to the entire community.
Candlelighting Friday, March 20, 7:18 p.m. office, 402.435.8004, for either or both of these events so we can prepare with enough supplies and food. If you have questions, please contact Barb Straus at barbstraus@gmail. com. We hope you can join us in this special anniversary year event. Annual Passover Community Second Seder, Saturday, April 4, 6 p.m. We are looking for volunteers to help with the shopping, cooking, and set-up. Please contact Rabbi Lewis at 402.435.8004 if you are available to help. President’s Office Hours, Sunday Mornings, 10 a.m.–noon at SST. If you have any Temple business, programs, or new ideas you would like to discuss with Temple president David Weisser, please email him at president@southstreettemple. org or call him at 402.513.7697, or stop by the Temple between 10 a.m. and noon on Sundays when religious school is in session.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road | Offutt AFB, NE 68123 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month.
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Chef ’s Demo, 1:30 p.m. with Temple Israel. SATURDAY: Services, 9:15 a.m. led by Alan Shulewitz. Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend.
TEMPLE ISRAEL 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 Services conducted by Rabbi Craig Lewis. FRIDAY: FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE! Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. with oneg following hosted by Vicki Edwards. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Vayikra; Game Night/Potluck, 6 p.m. SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Confirmation Class, 10:15 a.m. at South Street Temple; Board of Trustees, 1:30 p.m.; Anniversary Year Special Event-Torah Yoga, 3-4:30 p.m. led by Barbara Barron. Donations to the Temple are appreciated for this class, which is a $20 value. Join us to share in the yoga experience! WEDNESDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. ADULT EDUCATION TUESDAY: Intro to Judaism, 6:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Lewis. THURSDAY: Beginning Hebrew, 6 p.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 7 p.m. Anniversary Year Special Event-Family Art Project, Congregational Havdalah Service and Potluck, Sunday, March 28, 4-6:30 p.m. Families with children pre-school through high school to join us in a family art project at 4 p.m. led by Jennifer Lewis. Each family is asked to bring pictures of their family (printed or photocopied) to use in creating a personalized family challah tray. At 5:30 p.m. all members and friends of the congregation are invited to join us to celebrate Havdalah and share a potluck dinner. The Temple will provide a main course and beverages, and families are asked to bring sides and desserts. There is no cost for this program. Please RSVP by March 21 to the Temple
To submit announcements: B’nai Mitzvah announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 (with photos we will scan and return). Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing: jpress@jewishomaha.org. Readers can also submit other announcements -- births engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements. Deadlines are normally eight days prior to publication, on Thursdays, 9 a.m. Check the Jewish Press, however, for notices of early deadlines prior to secular and Jewish holidays.
Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive | Omaha, NE 68144-1206 | 402.556.6536 http://templeisraelomaha.com FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Brown and Cantor Shermet. SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. Torah and Haftarah Reader: Miles Remer. SUNDAY: Teachers Meeting, 9 a.m.; Grades PreK-6, 10 a.m.; Beginning Prayer Study, 10 a.m. with Elyce Azriel; Torah Chanting - We would love you have a chant!, 10 a.m. with Cantor Shermet; Parent/Toddler Program, 10:30 a.m. for children ages 2-3 with Dani Howell. For more information please contact Director of Lifelong Learning Debbie Massarano, dmassarano@templeisraelomaha.com. You can just drop in or you can let Debbie Massarano know you are coming; Non-Jews Raising Jewish Children, 11 a.m. with Rabbi Azriel. WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 4 p.m.; School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Family Night, 6 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6 p.m.; Al Had’vash v’al Haoketz: The Honey and the Sting, 6:30 p.m. with Rabbi Jan Katzew. THURSDAY: The Gifts of German Jewry, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Brown; OTYG Board (Spring), 6 p.m. Passover Family Seder: Let Us Make the Seder for You!, Saturday, April 4, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Reservations are a must! Please contact the Temple Israel office, RSVP@templeisrael omaha.com or 402.556.6536, by Wednesday, March 25 to reserve your seats. Cost of the dinner is: $25 for adults, $12 for children ages 6-12, and no charge for children ages five and under.
TIFERETH ISRAEL Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard | Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 | 402.423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat HaChodest Morning service, 9:30 a.m. followed by a special Kiddush luncheon sponsored by Everett and Elaine Evnen; Lunch and Learn featuring Ben Merliss on Jews in Jazz. SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Confirmation Class, 10:15 a.m. at South Street Temple; Haftorah Reading class, 11-11:50 a.m. WEDNESDAY: LJCS Grades 3-7, 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. If you are hosting a Passover seder at your home and can invite some guests from our Tifereth Israel family, please let Nava in the office know. If you would like a home invitation for a seder, please let Nava know as well. Although the calendar says there will be two communal sedarim, these two events will not be taking place at the synagogue this year.
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March 20, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 11
In memoriam BORIS LITVIN Boris Litvin passed away on March 6. Services were held on March 8 at Beth El Cemetery, 84th & L St by Rabbi Ari Dembitzer. He is survived by his wife Anna; daughter and son-in-law, Elaine and Sam; and grandson Daniel. Boris worked as a Mechanical Engineer in the former Soviet Union until his family immigrated to the United States in 1991. After moving to Omaha, Boris worked extremely hard in manufacturing to support his family. A driven and will-powered man, Boris worked tirelessly to achieve his goals. He was a fighter and was never afraid to take on a challenge. Boris was a devoted and caring husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, and friend. He will be greatly missed and always remembered by his family and friends as a selfless man who put the needs and wants of others above his own. Memorials may be made to the organization of your choice.
Bat Mitzvah in Israel by JTA NEWS STAFF JERUSALEM (JTA) -- The bat mitzvah whose celebration in Copenhagen ended abruptly after the shooting death of a volunteer synagogue guard was feted in Israel. Hannah Bentow, 13, on Sunday night in Jerusalem had a ceremony and a dance party for girls and women with a DJ. The Feb. 15 celebration of Bentow’s Bat Mitzvah at the Copenhagen Krystalgade Synagogue, had been put off a year due to the year of mourning for her grandmother, according to Josh Salmon of Toronto, one of the philanthropists who helped fund the trip. The teen reportedly had said to her mother after the shooting attack by an Islamist fanatic that killed guard Dan Uzan, “I wish I didn’t have a bat mitzvah, and then Dan would still be alive.” The Dan Hotels chain and some private foundations paid for the party in Israel as well as vacation there for a week. In Eilat, the family spent time at the dolphin reef in a program designed specifically for victims of trauma. Also, they distributed care packages to soldiers at army bases.
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Europe’s undercover yarmulke journalists by GABE FRIEDMAN (JTA) -- Sending a yarmulke-wearing man out with a hidden video camera to document anti-Semitism on the streets of Europe, particularly in Muslim neighborhoods, is quickly becoming a journalistic trope. In January, a reporter wearing a kippah walked around the heavily Muslim neighborhood of Malmo, Sweden, where he was assaulted and cursed at. In February, an Orthodox Jewish journalist walked through the streets of Paris, where he was taunted and intimidated, as shown in a video recording. (A Muslim man’s similar experiment in Milan in February, in which he wore a “traditional Muslim outfit” and carried a Koran, also garnered discriminatory comments from passersby.) British tabloid the Daily Mail deployed an entire team of kippah-wearing reporters to multiple European countries. The results were mixed. The worst report of anti-Semitism reported by a kippahwearer in the Daily Mail occurred in England. Jonathan Kalmus, who has written for England’s Jewish Chronicle magazine, was spit on and yelled at on the streets of Manchester and Bradford, two midsize cities with sizable Muslim populations. British Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour party leader Ed Miliband, a spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and the Labour parliament representative for Manchester central all responded in the Daily Mail to Kalmus’ account. Cameron said “There are no excuses for the shocking anti-Semitism revealed in this report” and Miliband said “We need to renew our vigilance and ensure every family of every faith can be secure in our country.” The other Daily Mail reporters experienced less or no anti-Semitism in other cities like Berlin, Rome and Stockholm. However, the most interesting encounter occurred in Copenhagen, the latest European city to be rocked by a Muslim terrorist attack. Award-winning Palestinian-Danish filmmaker Omar Shargawi donned a
yarmulke while walking through parts of the city, including Mjølnerparken, a rough neighborhood where the recent Copenhagen shooter grew up. He garnered several positive comments, but also heard some nasty anti-Semitic ones. All of this begs the question: Is antiSemitism really so bad in Europe that Jews are truly uncomfortable wearing a yarmulke in public in some areas? Has this only been the case since last summer’s war in Gaza, which ignited a wave of anti-Israel sentiment and anti-Semitism around the world? Or are these reporters deliberately going into heavily Muslim and immigrant neighborhoods to bait a reaction that also may have happened 10 years ago? Jews have a long and fraught history with the French state that is more complex than can be explained in this blog post. But I think it’s worth pointing out that one journalist walking around a heavily Muslim neighborhood with a kippah isn’t necessarily representative of the average French person’s reaction towards Jews. Don’t get me wrong. Jews, like anyone, should be able to walk anywhere they want without getting slurs hurled at them. Is it wrong? Yes. Is it upsetting? Very. Is it surprising? Not really. The video itself makes no distinction between neighborhoods, which is somewhat problematic in a video headlined “10 Hours of Walking in Paris as a Jew.” Paris is a big place, with many internal tensions. Dropping one kippah-clad reporter into that mix does not an instructive video make. Of course, it is hard to evaluate all of this from the far-off metropolis of New York City. However, the idea of “no-go zones” for Jews in Europe has recently come under fire. Fox News commentators purported the idea after the Charlie Hebdo attack in January, making false claims that “Sharia law,” outside of government control, reigned in these zones. The New York Times highlighted the mistake and Fox News was forced to apologize for its “regrettable errors.” (The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, was not impressed with the apology and threatened to sue Fox News.)
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NBC Universal’s Dig travels far, but not as deep by ANTHONY WEISS LOS ANGELES (JTA) -- Last summer, in the midst of the Gaza conflict, the threat of rocket fire forced NBC Universal’s Dig to stop production in Jerusalem and move out of the country. If only the show itself were half that dramatic. Instead, Dig, which premiered Thursday, March 5 on the USA Network, is a rather flat amalgam of Indiana Jones and The Da Vinci Code poured into the mold of a standard television conspiracy-thriller. The show follows FBI agent Peter Connelly (Jason Isaacs) investigating the murder of an American archaeologist, which leads him to uncover a group of apocalyptic religious extremists seeking to bring about end times by reenacting the ceremonies of an ancient biblical cult. Although the action sprawls across the globe, it is focused primarily on Jerusalem, a piece of territory as charged and dramatically contested as any on earth. Yet in a sign of the show’s weakness, Dig feels oddly detached from the actual currents roiling the ancient city. Making it even more perplexing, Dig was co-created by Gideon Raff, the creator of the hit Israeli show Prisoners of War and its American spinoff, Homeland. If anyone has shown an ability to explore complex characters against the backdrop of the political conflicts of the Middle East, it is Raff. But despite being partially filmed in Israel, the setting of Dig bears only a passing resemblance to the actual country. Not only is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict wholly absent (aside from obligatory news clips), but there are no significant Muslim characters. There is one Palestinian character, but he is an apocalyptic Christian and an international
Jason Isaacs stars as Peter Connelly in the USA Network show Dig, which premiered last week. Credit: NBC Universal art thief -- not exactly representative. Instead, the writers focus on the rites performed in ancient temples and a rather unique coalition of Jewish and Christian fundamentalists intent on reenacting them. Thus, we have a group of Orthodox Jews focused on procuring a red heifer, a Christian sect in the New Mexico desert that has been raising a young boy for an as-yetunspecified role, an international antiquities conspiracy to assemble the breastplate of the high priest, and an archaeological dig underneath the Temple Mount seeking to uncover the original ark of the covenant. There is even an appearance by the Essenes, the ancient religious sect, reborn here as globetrotting, white-clad killer ninjas. There is also, of course, a conspiracy, and it inevitably goes All the Way to the Top. Unfortunately, the character development isn’t nearly as carefully worked out as the
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eschatology. Our hero, the FBI agent Connelly, a tough all-American cop posted to Jerusalem, is sucked into the case after he meets a female archaeology student who happens to look exactly like his dead daughter. They spend the night wandering through Jerusalem, eventually descending into an archaeological tunnel to skinny dip in the mikvah of the ancient temple. The next morning she is found dead. The Connelly part is thinly written. The extent of his emotional life is both explored and exhausted in periodic calls to his wife to grieve over the loss of their daughter -- calls that seem largely designed to reassure the audience that he is still invested in finding the killer of his daughter’s doppelganger. Still, that’s better than his boss (Anne Heche), whose role consists of sleeping with Connelly and repeatedly telling him, unsuccessfully, to back off the case.
By far the most genuine relationship on the show is between a young Hasidic man and the red heifer he is sent to care for and transport to Jerusalem. Here, at least, there is real affection. Meanwhile, the audience is left with no insight into what motivates any of the religious extremists. Such people do exist, after all, and it isn’t as if religious extremism has ceased to be a relevant topic. Dig could have gone in a different direction by demonstrating a sense of fun; it already teeters at times on the edge of ridiculousness. Connelly can’t seem to turn a Jerusalem corner without running into some sort of religious procession. And the show also demonstrates a level of cooperation among evangelical Christians, Catholics and Orthodox Jews that would seem, apocalypse or no, to deserve some sort of award for interfaith cooperation. Instead, Dig insists on taking itself deadly serious. Ultimately, Dig manages to cover some of the richest, most resonant terrain in the world -- both physically and thematically -without ever delving beneath the surface. This is a pity given the talent involved. Raff ’s co-creator, Tim Kring, demonstrated in Heroes that he could take comic book genre material and still make gripping television. Raff ’s sense for the ways that people can be torn apart by larger political and social pressures should resonate beautifully in a country that has often been a magnet for messianic fantasists. And Israel is never less than mesmerizing as a backdrop. (The show also was filmed in part in Canada, New Mexico and Croatia.) Dig, however, seems to approach Jerusalem with all the curiosity of a lazy tourist, making it little more than a venue for some pictures and tired fantasies.
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