JFNA Women Philanthropists
Stark Gordman
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT
Jewish Press Editor
Two members of our Omaha Jewish community, Dana Erman Kaufman and Danielle Stark Gordman, were recently invited to join the Jewish Federation of North America National Women’s Philanthropy Board.
Women philanthropists are the change-
makers and community-shapers of the world. No matter where we live, we are all part of a global family. We are sisters and daughters, mothers and friends, compassionate and committed women at every stage of life and career. The JFNA National Women’s Philanthropy Board engages Jewish women in the fulfilling work of making the world a better place.
See JFNA Women Philanthopists page 2
Passover with the Dreyer family
MARY SUE GROSSMAN for Beth Israel Synagogue
Still have a few yummy hamantaschen tucked away in the freezer? Is there a bowl of leftover mishlonach manot goodies on the kitchen counter? How about those delicious Girl Scout cookies stored in the pantry? It’s now time to enjoy those goodies and move your house into a “No Chometz Zone,” for Passover. Passover begins Saturday evening, April 12 and concludes Sunday evening, April 20. Beth Israel’s Pesach events are listed below including special guests for the Passover holiday.
Rabbi Ari Dembitzer’s weekly Character Development class that occurs
each Thursday at 9:30 a.m. via Zoom will offer a special session on April 3, with Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Passover but Were Afraid to Ask. This will be a great opportunity to ask those odd questions that you are wondering about while Rabbi Ari provides a review of the ins and outs of Passover. A link for the class is available at orthodoxomaha.org
Be sure and complete a Sale of the Chometz form, available in the weekly Beth Israel email, found at or thodoxomaha.org, or in the synagogue office. Bedikat Chometz, the search for the chometz, should take place in everyone’s home after dark on Thursday, April 10. The following day, Friday, April 11, beginning at 11:30 a.m., Beth Israel will have a “burning of the chometz” session, in which community members are encouraged to participate.
Beth Israel’s communal seder, open to the community, will take place on the second night, Sunday, April 13 Candle lighting and the commencement of the seder will be at 8:30 p.m.
Special visitors Yoni and Shiran Dreyer and family will add extra excitement to this year’s event. Yoni, Beth Israel’s former Assistant Rabbi and Shiran, a teacher at Friedel Jewish Academy, along with their children, will make Beth Israel’s holiday extra special. “Our family is so excited to join our multitude of friends in Omaha for Passover,” shared Yoni.
See Beth Israel Passover page 3
presents
Gary Green
JAY KATELMAN
JFO Director of Community Development
We invite you to join us on April 4, from 7:30-9 a.m. for the next Jewish Business Leaders event with guest speaker and Hall of Fame-inductee Gary Green. Gary is an American businessman and entrepreneur, and the former CEO of Alliance Building Services, one of the largest privately held building service providers in North America.
With over 25 years of real estate experience, Gary led Alliance to be one of the largest privately held building services companies in North America, with over 5,000 employees, and a portfolio that includes Citi Field, The Empire State Building and many others. In 2009, at the pinnacle of his building services career, Gary spun his business savvy and love for baseball into Cofounding Alliance Sports LLC with business partner Larry Botel. In June 2012, Green acquired the Omaha Stormchasers. He negotiated to buy the franchise from owners Warren Buffet, Walter Scott, Jr., and Bill Shae. Gary has recently sold the Omaha Storm Chasers to focus on Union Omaha. In 2019, Green took his experience in the sports industry and negotiated to buy an expansion franchise from the United Soccer League (USL). In 2020, Union Omaha became Nebraska’s only professional soccer team. In 2021 Union Omaha joined the USL League One Championship, and won the USL League See JBL presents page 2
Danielle
Dana Erman Kaufman
Gary Green
Yoni and Shiran Dreyer
Introducing Will Fischer
Hello! My name is William Fischer (just Will, most of the time) and I am very happy to be joining you as the new creative director for the Jewish Press
I am a Nebraskan born and raised. 27 of my 35 years were spent in Papillion. Of the other eight, four were spent at UNL studying theater and film, and four were spent in Ireland: one at the National University of Galway for a master’s in film direction, and three at Coláiste Dhúlaigh in Dublin studying animation.
Filmmaking is my favorite art and pastime, followed closely by fencing (modern saber and historical Spanish rapier) and baking (first rule of any recipe: add more cinnamon). I’ve also been known to doodle – not to be confused with inattention.
despite almost a full lifetime in the Omaha area, the first I knew about the JFO came when I filled out my job application. But no new hire could ask for a more welcoming organization. I’ve had a wonderful time here, both with the work culture and with the crash course in Jewish life provided by our editor, Annette van de Kamp. One week into this job and I was not only learning the story of Purim, but getting volunteered to find prizes for the costume contest!
Will Fischer
As a lapsed Catholic once removed, I’m pretty much a neophyte to Jewish culture, and
ORGANIZATIONS
B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS
The JFO has turned out to be much bigger than I expected when I came in for my first interview. I’m looking forward to learning more and getting to see and take part in what it has to offer. And of course, to the duties of my actual job: presenting creative and visually pleasing layout for the Jewish Press, following on from the template set by outgoing creative director Richard Busse.
The award-winning B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS speaker program currently meets Wednesdays via Zoom from noon to 1 p.m. Please watch our email for specific information concerning its thought-provoking, informative list of speakers. To be placed on the email list, contact Breadbreakers chair at gary.javitch@gmail.com
JFNA Women Philanthropists
Continued from page 1
Its board members are strong leaders, committed to addressing pressing issues in the Jewish world today, and dedicated to cultivating and sustaining a strong global Jewish community—now and for generations to come.
"I am truly honored to be part of the NWP Board,” Dana said. “The board serves as an extension of our efforts here in Omaha to build and support Jewish life for generations to come in communities worldwide. I am excited to represent our Omaha Federation in this endeavor and look forward to collaborating with leaders from other federations throughout my term on the board."
Danielle feels equally honored:
“While my Judaism has always been a significant part of my life and a source of pride,” she said, “since Oct. 7, I feel even more of a responsibility to learn, lead and advocate. I look forward to doing so with a cohort of like-minded women from around the country.”
Through donations and hands-on community service, NWP fights domestic violence, improves women’s health and nutrition, provides shelter to vulnerable children, protects at-risk seniors and so much more. In addi-
JBL Presents
Continued from page 1
One Player’s Shield in 2021, 2023, and 2024, making it the most successful team in North American men’s pro soccer since its inception.
A special thank you to our Platinum sponsors, Bridges Trust, OMNE Partners, Jetlinx, and CFO Systems LLC. We also thank our
tion, NWP supports Israel with their dollars and their presence. Federation inspires and empowers women to become leaders and decision-makers. Our collective philanthropy enriches our own lives while improving the lives of others.
“We know our community has a large number of extremely dedicated donors,” JFO CEO Bob Goldberg said. “It is no surprise to anyone who knows them that Dana and Danielle were both selected to join the NWP board. They deeply care about their own community, and I have no doubt they will contribute greatly on the national level.”
Amid rising anti-Semitism, Jews in Europe and around the world rely on NWP’s support and security expertise. Where Jewish life is experiencing a renaissance, we’re there to nurture it. In parts of Europe, North Africa and the Caribbean, NWP helps dozens of burgeoning synagogues and groundbreaking community centers. At workshops, retreats, and summer and winter camps, NWP supports thousands of young Jews as they forge new paths for their communities. No matter what the challenges are, NWP is a major part of JFNA’s efforts to support and strengthen Jewish life around the world.
Hall of Fame Event Sponsors, Union Omaha, Broadmoor Development, Security National Bank, and Alex Epstein. Please visit our website at www.jewish omaha.org to sign up for this event and renew your JBL membership for 2025, or reach out to Jay Katelman at 402.334.6461 or jkatelman@ jewishomaha.org
Building character and growing kindness at Friedel
SARA KOHEN
Friedel Jewish Academy Director of Advancement
Research shows that social and emotional learning (“SEL”) helps increase positive social behaviors (like kindness and sharing), helps students feel happier and motivated, and even improves academic success. It does this by building selfawareness, emotional and behavioral regulation, social awareness, relationship skills, and the ability to make decisions responsibly.
It is for this reason that Friedel Jewish Academy has a comprehensive SEL program for all of its students, who range in age from kindergarten through eighth grade. Beth Cohen, Friedel’s Head of School, says that Friedel works to build students’ character “through a variety of everyday encounters—such as giving older students chances to help and mentor younger students—and through a dedicated character development curriculum.”
month. For example, last month’s middah was respecting your parents. The students do all school activities on that month’s middah during the morning meeting.
Friedel also emphasizes being “bucket fillers.” Based on the best-selling book, Have you Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud, Friedel students learn how to “fill” other people’s imaginary buckets by being kind and helpful and how to make sure we don’t “dip” in other people's buckets with unkind words or actions.
Friedel’s SEL program includes different components that work together to best prepare children to be successful academically and socially. For example, Friedel participates in Boys Town’s Well-Managed Schools program, which is a research-based program providing all-school instruction on the 16 social skills that are proven beneficial to academic progress.
Friedel’s Monthly Middot program also works to facilitate SEL by focusing on a different middah (Hebrew for “character trait”; “middah” is singular, and “middot” is plural) each
Another SEL program that Friedel participates in is ADL’s No Place for Hate. No Place for Hate is a national program to help build a learning community founded on respect. Friedel’s eighth graders run the No Place for Hate committee, and they present learning activities to the school four times each year.
Finally, this fall, Friedel started a middle school book club, led by Friedel’s Director of Learning Initiatives, Melissa Shrago. Mrs. Shrago selects small groups of middle school students to participate and varies the groups, picking different books for each. The book club has helped to start discussions about difficult topics including social media use, friend groups, and inclusion. Cohen says, “Our SEL curriculum helps provide a framework for our students to grow into the best version of themselves. We know that we provide academic excellence. We also work hard to support students in being great people.”
April is National Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month
TERESA C. DRELICHARZ, MS, NCC, LIMHP
JFS
Executive Director
Every April, Jewish Family Service and other organizations recognize Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness month. We may see many Pinwheels planted around the city, a long-running campaign known as Pinwheels for Prevention.
This provides a visual reminder of the month’s significance in the lives of so many young people.
According the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are many risk factors for abuse. Family Risk Factors include social isolation, family stress, separation or divorce, domestic violence, parental stress, poor parent-child relationships, and negative interactions. Community Risk Factors include violence, a high concentration of poverty or unemployment in a given area, extensive use of alcohol, and poor social connections. It’s up to all of us to look out for the most vulnerable members of our communities, the children. Keep an eye out for children who may be isolated, hungry, stressed out, or in unsafe conditions. Help a struggling neighbor as much as you
can. Watch for signs of conflict, lack of supervision, and children in distress. If you see something, SAY something! If you suspect a child is in danger, make a call to the Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-652-1999 in Nebraska, or 1-800-362-2178 in Iowa. You may also be able to help by making referrals to agencies who specialize in assisting people in emotional distress. Jewish Family Service offers mental health treatment and support, with in-person or telehealth services available to clients in the metro area, and across the state of Nebraska. For more information, please call JFS at 402.330.2024!
Our annual Pinwheel Garden will be planted on the JCC front lawn on Sunday, March 30, 2025 (rain date Sunday, April 6, 2025), and will remain on display through the end of April.n
Beth Israel Passover
Continued from page 1
“Working with Rabbi Ari on the Beth Israel seder two years ago was so great and the entire family can’t wait to enjoy another event.” Yoni, who continues to be a IDF reservist, has been called up several times in the past 18 months, and will be coming off lengthy service time. “We look forward to catching up with as many people as possible during our Omaha visit,” adds Yoni, “and we hope to see you!”
The Old Avoca Schoolhouse in Avoca, Nebraska will be streaming a harmonica workshop entitled I’m in the Mood for Modes Harmonica Workshop
This is for folks who own a 10 hole diatonic harmonica in the key of C.
The Workshop will be on Tuesday, April 1, 7 p.m., Central Time, Wednesday, April 2, 10 a.m. Central Time, and Friday, April 4 at 7 p.m. Central Time.
There is limited enrollment, and pre-registration is required. The cost for each workshop is $15. For more information, and to register for the workshop: https://www.greenblattandseay.com/workshops_harmonica _modes.shtml
The seder menu will include all required seder food plus pareve matzah ball soup, braised beef brisket, herb roasted chicken, pareve quinoa & mushroom stuffed acorn squash, pareve honey glazed carrots, chopped salad, savory potato kugel, and pareve flourless chocolate cake. Pricing is $52 for those 12 years and older, $12 for ages 6-11, and free of charge for 5 and younger. The reservation deadline is Monday, March 31. Financial assistance is available. Registration links and additional information can be found in the weekly Beth Israel email or at orthodoxomaha.org. Registration is also available by calling 402.556.6288 or via email to executiveasst@orthodoxomaha.org. Check the website for a complete Passover schedule. Have other questions about Passover? Everyone is encouraged to contact Rabbi Ari or Rabbi Geiger at Beth Israel.
The Beth Israel board, staff, and membership wishes everyone a happy and healthy Passover. Enjoy this special time. Chag Pesach Sameach!
Build a strong Jewish future
BRAD ABRAMSON
JFO Foundation Life & Legacy Coordinator
"We made a Life & Legacy gift because we believe in giving back to the community that has been a big part of our lives. It's our way of helping to ensure that others can benefit from it too. We envision a strong and vibrant Jewish community in Omaha, one that continues to support its community members, keeps traditions alive, while also adapting to the future."
JAY
AND ALLISON GORDMAN
Making a Life & Legacy commitment is one of the most meaningful ways to ensure the future of our Jewish community—and it doesn’t impact your finances today. Like Jay and Allison Gordman, you can make a lasting impact simply by designating a portion of your estate or a dollar amount of any size, to sustain the programs and institutions that matter most to you.
Your after-lifetime gift helps strengthen our community by supporting education, cultural programs, social services, and places of worship, ensuring they continue to serve future generations.
Your Letter of Intent today secures tomorrow. Join Jay and Allison in shaping the future of Jewish Omaha without affect-
ing your financial situation during your lifetime. To learn more about how you can participate in our afterlifetime initiative, contact Brad Abramson, Life & Legacy Coordinator, at babramson@jewishomaha.org or 402.334.6485.
UNL Harris Center Fifth Sommerhauser Symposium
The UNL Harris Center for Judaic Studies hosted the fifth biennial Sommerhauser Symposium on Holocaust Education on Monday, March 3, at the Nebraska Union in Lincoln. The workshop, sponsored by the Lou Sommerhauser Fund for Holocaust Education, included additional support from the Harris Center for Judaic Studies, the Forsythe Family Program on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, and the UNL Department of History. This year the symposium addressed “Transitional Justice Revisited: From the Nuremberg Trials to the Present,” and featured well-known scholars on Nuremberg, Holocaust education, and transitional justice.
Reilly, in the School of Global Integrative Studies at UNL, presented material on the challenges of convicting crimes in Sri Lanka through the International Criminal Court.
Every other year the Harris Center organizes the Sommerhauser Symposium on Holocaust Education—a one-day conference that brings together Holocaust researchers, local educators, and the campus and broader community. The conference aims to make academic research findings more accessible and to foster dialogue and exchange between Holocaust researchers, educators at all levels, and the wider public. It focuses on contemporary issues related to the historical study of the Holocaust, such as antisemitism, racism, political extremism, and ethno-nationalism. Results are published in the series Contemporary Holocaust Studies with the University of Nebraska Press, edited by Ari Kohen, Schlesinger Professor of Social Justice in Political Science & the Director of the Norman and Bernice Harris Center for Judaic Studies and Gerald J. Steinacher, James A. Rawley Professor of History.
The Sommerhauser Symposium opened with a panel on the “Historical Dimension” of the Nuremberg Trials, with Peter Black of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and Michael Kelly of Creighton University Law School. Opening the panel was John Barrett, the Benjamin N. Cardozo Professor of Law at St. John’s University who discussed the relevance of accountability during the Nuremberg trials where the International Military Tribunal prosecuted Nazi German leaders for crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit of any these crimes. Following discussion on the significance of this international effort, a second panel posed current examples to the “Contemporary Dimension” of human rights and international tribunals. Scholars included Roland Kostic of Uppsala University in Sweden, who discussed his work in transitional justice and reconciliation after genocide. Dawne Curry from the Institute for Ethnic Studies at UNL shared her research on Death and Violence in Apartheid South Africa, while Julia
In reflecting on his panel, John Barrett noted, “I was honored to participate in the Sommerhauser Symposium. It assembled a top group of scholars who addressed from many angles the history of the Holocaust and the challenges of transitional justice after atrocity crimes, including in wartime. My contribution was a lecture on the post-World War II decision of the victorious allied powers to hold Nazi leaders accountable in public, fair trials based on evidence, rather than to kill them summarily. This was a just, morally proper decision that we all can look back on with pride.”
A third panel in the afternoon considered how to apply this information within educational platforms. Panelists stressed not only the relevance of tribunals in crimes against humanity, especially after genocidal events since the Holocaust, but the importance of teacher education bringing viable material to the classroom. Doyle Stevic, professor of education and Executive Director for Anne Frank Center at the University of South Carolina noted that “pursuing justice takes cultural work” that must be implemented within the classroom. Mark Gudgel of the College of Saint Mary in Omaha shared his work on the Rwandan genocide, stressing that as important as it is to teach about the history of that tragedy – educators must also remember that there is a rich cultural history in Rwanda beyond the trauma of war. Joining on Zoom, Goran Miljan, a historian in the Uppsala Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies reminded symposium participants of the utmost importance of training educators properly in the framework of Holocaust education.
Following the Sommerhauser Symposium, the Institute for Holocaust Education and the Harris Center co-sponsored the annual Henry and Gretl Wald Lecture in Judaic Studies at the Staenberg Omaha Jewish Community Center on March 4 with speaker John Barrett. In discussing the outsized role played by Justice Robert Jackson in the Nuremberg trials 80 years ago, Professor Barrett described the unfolding discoveries of the planned extermination of human lives that was the Holocaust. While the victors set out to prosecute the crime of war, they ended up proving the Nazi genocide of European Jewry. Professor Barrett remarked that “building on those Nuremberg trial achievements, we today must study, learn, and teach the Holocaust and accountability to students and all people, as parts of fighting antisemitism and all hatreds.”
Important update from Star Deli
We regret to inform the community that as of this writing, both in-dining at Star Deli and the takeout option have been paused.
This is due to dietary staff availability and the continued high levels of viral spread in the community. Deli will be canceled for take-out and in-person dining on March 21st and until further notice.
Please watch your email and Facebook for an announcement about dates for when take-out and in-person deli will resume. Let’s all keep each other safe, and especially our friends and family at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.
BETH S. DOTAN
JCRC Community Conversation:
Antisemitism in Healthcare
MORGAN GRONINGER
JCRC Program and Communications Manager
Mark your calendars and join the JCRC for a Community Conversation on Antisemitism in Healthcare on April 2, 2025 at 7 p.m. in the Wiesman Room. Learn about the increase in antisemitism in healthcare, how patients, providers, and medical systems experience and mitigate it, and your rights if or when you do encounter it.
In recent years, there has been an alarming rise in antisemitism within the healthcare sector, affecting both medical professionals and patients alike, especially since Oct. 7, 2023. A 2024 report from the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) revealed that nearly 40% of Jewish medical professionals have directly encountered antisemitism in their workplace, highlighting the growing prevalence of discrimination in healthcare settings. This disturbing trend includes efforts to target and marginalize Jewish healthcare providers, such as the creation of a “blacklist” aimed at excluding Zionist psychiatric professionals, and even those willing to accept Zionists as patients.
If you have experienced antisemitism as a patient or a healthcare provider, the JCRC wants to hear from you. Your voice is vital in helping to address this critical issue and raise awareness about the challenges faced by the Jewish community in the healthcare sector.
Please contact Sharon Brodkey at sbrodkey@jewishom aha.org or call 402.334.6582 to share your experiences or ask for support.
The Untested Cookbook
Nanci Kavich
Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups zucchini, grated and peeled
3 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. double acting baking powder
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup coarsely chopped filberts or walnuts
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the eggs until light and foamy. Add the sugar, oil, zucchini and vanilla and mix lightly. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Add to the egg-zucchini mixture. Stir until well blended. Add nuts. Pour into two 9”x5”x3” loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack.
CONGRATULATE YOUR GRADUATE
Ingredients:
CRISP ONION ACORN SQUASH
Janey Dann
2 large acorn squash
3 Tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 lb. yellow onions, thinly sliced
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Quarter slice squash. Seed. Place skin down in a baking dish. Combine butter and seasonings, mixing well. Spread inside squash. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 45 min. or until tender. Sauté onion slices in oil until very crisp. Drain on a paper towel. Spoon onions on squash last 10 min. 8 Servings. 182 calories. 8 grams of fat as prepared.
EGGPLANT PARMESAN
Susan Rothholz
Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 lb. sliced mozzarella
1/2 cup tomato sauce
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pare eggplant. Cut in slices. First, dip each slice in egg then into crumbs. Sauté in oil until brown on both sides. Place slices in a baking dish. Sprinkle with parmesan and oregano. Cover well with tomato sauce. Repeat until all eggplant is used. Top last layer with mozzarella. Bake for 30 minutes. Serves 6 to 8.
The annual Graduation Issue will publish this year on May 23, 2025. Senior photos will run in that issue and we know you’ll want to highlight the achievements of your high school graduate! Congratulatory ads are available in two sizes. Limit of 25 words.
are so proud of your achievements –membership in NHS, varsity letter in tennis and a Merit Award from the Band.
Photohere
ZUCCHINI BREAD
Above, right and below: Purim at Temple Israel meant a spiel delivered by clergy and staff, an exciting carnival for Temple’s YLP students and their families, a tasty lunch with hamantaschen, and of course lots of costumes! Editor’s note: Like every other year, the Jewish Press has received many Purim photos from around the community, so we’ll be including those in the weeks to come, for quite a while after the holiday is over (and probably overlapping Passover), but they are all too good to leave out!
SP O TLIGHT
PHOTOS FROM RECENT JEWISH COMMUNITY EVENTS
SUBMIT A PHOTO: Have a photo of a recent Jewish Community event you would like to submit? Email the image and a suggested caption to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org
Right: Charles, left, and Aaron Parsow flank mom Margo after the recent Ritchie Boys presentation at Temple Israel.
Below right: Cody Starkey, who is a lighting designer , spoke with eighth graders at Friedel Jewish Academy about lights and color rendering. Different light sources show colors differently. Students tried to identify colors under different light sources.
Below: JFS Dir. of Comm. Outreach Shelly Fox with Lola.
Above: Middle school students packed mishloach manot packages to be delivered on Purim to our friends at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.
Above, below and bottom: Friedel Jewish Academy getting the garden ready for spring in Environmental Education class.
SINGULARITY
Materialized from Oct. 7
During the month of March, artist Kim Goldberg is showing her beautiful work in our JCC Eisenberg Gallery. Singularity, a solo exhibition of works on paper, materialized following the events of Oct. 7. That morning, those attending the NOVA Music Festival looked up to see what they thought was a fireworks display. They soon learned they weren’t seeing fireworks but rockets launched by Hamas terrorists.
Singularity represents the beauty of the NOVA participants and the horror on the ground that day. It honors the lives of those who were taken, the deep mourning of their families, and the trauma experienced by survivors. It processes the emotion of that day and asks: What do we see when the world turns upside down?
An experimental and conceptual artist, Kim explores the spaces between the corporeal and the abstract. She pairs tangible materials (paper, water, ink, and watercolor) with the intangible (time, instinct, and introspection) to create unique visual expressions.
“Process is as much a part of my work’s meaning as is the final product,” Kim says. Beginning with a clear mind and undetermined end, she selects paper, brushes, and colors, then follows her intuition. The amorphous materials require her to flow within the moment, to stay in her physical body while freeing her mind to discover images as she creates them. As Kim works, symbols and rhythms emerge. In time the end presents itself.
“A nova is a star that shows a sudden, dramatic increase in brightness. Black holes are created when stars collapse in on themselves at the end of their lives and their bright light goes out. Singularity is a point or region where space and time become distorted or break down. It is a point at which a function reaches infinity, particularly when matter is infinitely curved, as at the center of a black hole.”
Kim Goldberg, artist and graphic designer, is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute with a focus in sculpture and new genres art. She has 28+ years of professional work as a Senior Design Consultant at Gallup, a Senior Art Director at Ervin & Smith Digital Marketing Agency, and has run her own design business since 2009.
Singularity represents the beauty of the NOVA participants and the horror on the ground that day.
Kim’s method emphasizes the beauty of imperfection and letting go. Her work evokes the spaces between choice and chance, the material and spiritual, the body and mind, the conscious and subconscious.
Kim had the honor of leading art workshops with NOVA Festival survivors and their families in Israel last summer.
The title “Singularity” was conceived and by Shelley Mika:
Kim has been an active volunteer with Partnership2 Gether, Western Galilee since 2006, founding and contributing to numerous art programs to connect global creatives including the Artist in Residency Exchange program in which she was a five-time participant. Her work is in private collections in the U.S., Europe and Israel. She exhibited work in Abstract Sensitivity a group show in 2022 at the Art Salon Contemporary, Budapest. In 2022-23 she had solo exhibits at the Eisenberg Gallery at the J and Mainframe Studios in Des Moines, IA. During the summer of 2024 she facilitated art workshops titled Free Flow—Healing Art Workshops, in the Galilee Medical Center, with Western Galilee community members and the Nova Music Festival Community. In December 2024, she had a private solo exhibit displaying works from her most recent series.
This year she has solo exhibits scheduled in Omaha, NE (March), in Canton, OH, at Strauss Studios (May) and Kibbutz Lohamei HaGeta’ot, Israel (July-Aug). She lives in Omaha, NE with her husband where she has an art and design studio.
Voices
The Jewish Press
(Founded in 1920)
David Finkelstein
President
Annette van de Kamp-Wright
Editor
Richard Busse
Will Fischer
Creative Director
Claire Endelman
Sales Director
Lori Kooper-Schwarz
Assistant Editor
Sam Kricsfeld
Digital support
Mary Bachteler
Accounting
Jewish Press Board
David Finkelstein, President; Margie Gutnik, Ex-Officio; Helen Epstein, Andrea Erlich, Ally Freeman, Dana Gonzales, Mary Sue Grossman, Hailey Krueger, Chuck Lucoff, Larry Ring, Melissa Shrago, Suzy Sheldon and Stewart Winograd.
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 JFO are: Institute for Holocaust Education, Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Social Services, Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Press Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www.jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.
Editorial
The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org ; send ads (in TIF or PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org
Letters to the Editor Guidelines
The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1.402.334.5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org.
Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.”
The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf.
Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de Kamp-Wright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450.
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Not that Jew
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor
In a recent JTA article, Sam Fischer and Lonny Goldsmith wrote:
“When Rabbi Ari Jun learned that faith leaders were invited to speak at a rally in Cincinnati against neo-Nazis and white supremacy, he quickly responded that he would be there.
“As the former director of the local Jewish community relations council who recently took the helm of a progressive Reform synagogue, Jun has experience responding to antisemitism and a passion for social justice. But a week later, he was told he was off the docket. The reason: He is a Zionist. Billie Pittman, one of the organizers, spelled things out clearly: ‘Rabbi Ari Jun is a well-known Zionist, and while this event is intended to oppose Nazis and white supremacy, allowing Zionists to participate undermines the original goal of the demonstration.’ Pittman also posted on the event’s Facebook page: ‘We are in the works of having another speaker from the Jewish community.’”
In other words, the organizers aren’t opposed to having a Jew participate, just not one they don’t fully agree with. It makes sense, if you equate Zionism with Nazism. But to truly believe they are the same thing, you have to be spectacularly uneducated.
To be sure, Rabbi Jun does not approve of all Israeli politics; he regularly criticizes the Israeli government (often he finds himself in Jewish groups’ crosshairs because of it), spoke out publicly against Trump’s Gaza plans, has shown support for Pales-
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.
tinians, and has warned against the dangers of having empathy “only for Israelis and Jews.” He has solid interfaith credentials, but he made one crucial error: he refuses to deny Israel’s right to exist.
When we look at everything that’s been said to us and about us since Oct. 7, this is ultimately what it comes down to: a large part of the world would like to wipe Israel off the map. All else is just background noise. Don’t think they’d stop at Israel either; we all know better than to think Jews would be safe anywhere else.
The thing is, if endless wars and attacks since 1948 haven’t ended Israel’s existence, a canceled invitation to some rally in Cincinnati isn’t going to make a dent. And yet, organizers such as these need to signal to the world what side they are on. It’s gaslighting at its finest; dare I say that Hitler would have approved?
map. Is it just too easy to blame Israel, because the world has a blueprint for that? Is this all just habitual?
We talk about it a lot, how it’s all too familiar, so much the same as what previous generations experienced. And yet, we are ill-equipped to deal with
In the meantime, nobody is talking about the more than 1,300 revenge killings in Syria, or the 233,000 dead in Yemen, or the 150,000 in Sudan. I haven’t seen any protests against the 177 Christians who were beheaded in the Democratic Republic of Congo during the months of January and February alone. I guess these tragedies aren’t sexy enough, or maybe it’s too hard to keep track of the numbers, I don’t know. Perhaps they can’t find Congo on a
it. We kind of told ourselves this was all in the past. Micro-aggressions, sure; silly people believing silly things, we can deal with that. But this unadulterated hate, this vitriol, people actually saying out loud they want us dead? We are still in collective disbelief.
It’s time we see this exactly for what it is: a reality check. And before we start beating ourselves up for not seeing it sooner: let’s remember Nazis love to hide. It’s just, these days they hide in plain sight.
Why I teach genocide law at Columbia despite campus antisemitism
MENACHEM Z. ROSENSAFT
JTA
My friend and colleague Deborah Lipstadt recently announced that she turned down an invitation to teach at Columbia University, citing anti-Israel protests on campus and how the school has handled them.
I share Professor Lipstadt’s concerns. But I’ve made a different decision. I am continuing and planning on continuing to teach about genocide at Columbia Law School despite the antisemitism that has plagued the university for the past year and a half.
First, I must emphasize that I am not criticizing Professor Lipstadt’s decision in any way. She is the epitome of not just a woman of valor but an individual of the highest possible merit, accomplishments, and intellectual integrity. The academic’s academic, she defeated a notorious Hitler-loving Holocaust denier in a London court of law. An acclaimed author and professor, she served with great distinction as the U.S. State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism in the Biden administration. Most importantly for me, she is a dear friend of long standing for whom I have nothing but the highest respect, affection, and admiration, and with whom I had the privilege to serve for many years on the board of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. I respect her decision-making in all regards and believe it is her absolute prerogative to turn down any role and to publicly explain why.
In fact, we all need to take seriously Professor Lipstadt’s arguments, which she laid out in The Free Press, that she does not believe the university’s administration is serious in its commitment not to tolerate continued instances of violent anti-Israel and antisemitic demonstrations and disruptions of the type that have plagued the Morningside campus since Oct. 7, 2023. Specifically, she maintains that Columbia’s “recent history regarding demonstrations suggests that it has far less than a firm commitment to the free exchange of ideas, or to preventing classroom disruptions or even condemning disrupters and their demonstrations.” She also fears that her presence at Columbia “would be used as a sop” to cover up the failure to fight antisemitism adequately, and that she and her students might not be safe.
But even as I cannot take issue with any of these points, I cannot and will not follow her lead. And I hope that other Columbia faculty members, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, who have been appalled by the callously abhorrent behavior of radical activists, including some of their colleagues, will similarly stand their ground.
Alumni of Columbia Law School carried out a silent pro-Palestinian protest with keffiyehs and banners calling for a ceasefire during their graduation ceremony in New York City, May 13, 2024. Credit: Fatih Akta/Anadolu via Getty Images
I hold two degrees from Columbia — a master’s in modern European history and a law degree — and I have been teaching a course on the law of genocide at Columbia Law School since 2011. I am also an adjunct professor of law at Cornell Law School, where I teach about antisemitism in the courts and in jurisprudence. At the end of August 2023, I stepped down as general counsel and associate executive vice president of the World Jewish Congress.
I am neither unaware of nor insensitive to Columbia’s serious failings. Following the Oct. 7, 2023, slaughter of approximately 1,200 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians, I was publicly critical of then-President Minouche Shafik’s refusal to condemn the Hamas perpetrators of that savagery by name. I have also taken the university’s alumni magazine sharply to task for ignoring the exploding antisemitism at Columbia. Like Professor Lipstadt, I am outraged by the Barnard administrators’ kowtowing behavior toward student protesters last week. At the same time, I have watched with respect and appreciation as many senior members of the Columbia administration and faculty — including
Interim President Katrina Armstrong, Dean Daniel Abebe, Dean Emeritus David M. Schizer of the law school and Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo of the School of International and Public Affairs — have demonstrated a strong and, I am convinced, utterly sincere commitment to have the back, as it were, of the thousands of Jewish students immersed in this crisis. (Cornell’s interim president, Michael I. Kotlikoff; President Emerita Martha Pollack; and law school dean Jens David Ohlin, incidentally, have been and are admirably steadfast in this respect as well.)
In the final analysis, this is why I continue to teach at Columbia: the students. And not only the Jewish students. The students in my class there this semester are Jewish, Christian, Sikh, and, in all likelihood, Muslim and Buddhist. They are American, Italian, French, Australian, Indian and from a number of other countries. They deserve to be taught that antisemitism was the malignant cause of the Holocaust just as anti-Muslim bigotry caused the genocide of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica, and just as ethnic hatred caused the genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda. They deserve to be taught that Hitler admired an American antisemite named Henry Ford and that the Nazis’ antisemitic jurisprudence was largely and directly cribbed from American Jim Crow and anti-miscegenation laws. They deserve to be taught that Zionism is not racism but a multifaceted response to centuries of antisemitic oppression and persecution, that Jews are as entitled to have a nation of their own like other peoples across the globe, and, yes, that the Palestinians are entitled to these very same rights as well.
The vast majority of Columbia’s student body is made up of decent individuals who are neither antisemitic nor pro-Hamas. The same holds true for the university’s faculty, administrators and staff. I do not want to abandon them at the very moment when they are most in need of support.
Menachem Z. Rosensaft is a lawyer and human rights activist, adjunct professor of law at Cornell Law School, lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School, and author of Burning Psalms: Confronting Adonai after Auschwitz. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.
The skyline of Cincinnati. Credit: Getty Images; inset: Rabbi Ari Jun. Credit: Courtesy
Two middle-aged women defied the Nazis. One ‘wrote’ a
book that betrayed the other.
ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL
JTA
There’s an ignoble tradition of falsified memoirs. “The Hitler Diaries,” a forgery published in 1983, fooled even a Hitler expert. Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years, published in 1997, was sold as a survivor’s testimony but turned out to be a hoax (the part where the author was raised by wolves might have been a yellow flag).
When the truth is revealed, the writers are publicly shamed, and critics and readers debate what is acceptable when shaping the facts for literary or commercial purposes.
But while most readers might agree that a book labeled “nonfiction” should strive to get its facts right, what if the fabrications serve a higher purpose — say, rallying Americans to the anti-Nazi cause?
Matthew Goodman didn’t set out to explore that question when he began research for his new book, Paris Undercover: A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal. He meant to tell the story of Etta Shiber and Kate Bonnefous, middleaged women in Nazi-occupied Paris who sheltered dozens of British and French soldiers trapped behind enemy lines and smuggled them to safety.
His source text was Paris-Underground, an enormously popular account of their exploits first published in 1943 and credited to Shiber and two co-authors. It told how the two women helped establish an “escape line” for soldiers in the first months of the occupation, how both were arrested by the Gestapo, and how Shiber was released after 18 months while Bonnefous (called “Kitty” in the book) continued to suffer in Nazi-run prisons.
The book spent 18 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list on the way to selling half a million copies, with a boost by the influential Book-of-the-Month Club. Constance Bennett, a highly paid star of the 1930s, produced and starred in a Hollywood movie adaptation released in 1945.
“It checked a lot of the boxes that I look for when I write a book: It’s got a dramatic arc. It has interesting characters, it has larger significance,” Goodman recalled in an interview. “My only worry was that I was going to be too dependent on the memoir for my book.”
Not to worry: The more Goodman dug, the more he found much of the book didn’t match the historical record. While Shiber and Bonnefous did run an escape line, the book was largely fictionalized, and Shiber didn’t write it. What’s more, an inspiring story of wartime courage took on a darker tone when Goodman found evidence that the book’s publication actually endangered Kate, at the time still a prisoner of the Nazis.
“Ultimately it becomes a larger, more complicated story and, to me, a more interesting story, because it does get into this sort of moral calculus,” said Goodman. “Kate is obviously betrayed by this publication of the book; Etta is betrayed by the publishers,” who assured her that its publication would not make things worse for her friend. “At the same time, you can understand why they might have said that, because it did help the war effort. It’s a complicated affair.”
Etta Kahn Shiber, a Jewish New Yorker, sailed to Paris after her husband died in 1936. She moved in with Bonnefous, a divorced friend nine years younger. Goodman describes Shiber, while highly cultured, as shy and “terminally anxious”; the
British-born Bonnefous was adventurous and independent, owning a business and a sleek car at a time when French women were not allowed to have their own bank accounts.
When the Nazis marched into Paris in June 1940, the two fled south, but soon returned to Kate’s Paris apartment. Kate, a volunteer with the Red Cross, proposed helping a British officer being held by the Germans in a requisitioned hospital; Etta reluctantly agreed to be her accomplice. After smuggling him out of the hospital in the trunk of their car, the women eventually handed the airman off to an improvised network of shopkeepers, priests, dissident bureaucrats and homemakers who were helping soldiers escape over the border.
“I quote one historian in the book who describes this as the artisanal phase of the escape lines,” said Goodman, adding that the organized French resistance emerged only many months later.
Before the Gestapo came knocking in November 1940, the two women had helped perhaps 40 soldiers — half of them British, the other half French — escape. Many returned to the battlefield, and earned medals for their service.
Etta became the first American woman to be held by the Nazis in France; in her early 60s and already in ill health, she suffered three heart attacks in prison and barely survived. She returned to the United States under a swap in 1942, while Kate, who the Nazis considered a ringleader, languished in solitary confinement.
A book based on their adventures was the idea of a Hungarian Jewish émigré named Aladar Anton Farkas, who had arrived in New York from France in 1941. He read a newspaper account of Etta’s travails and thought the story would make an inspiring novel about the French underground. He took the idea to Paul Winkler, another Hungarian Jew who had fled Paris and reestablished his publishing and literary agency in New York.
Winkler arranged for assistants to interview Etta (Farkas spoke English poorly) over a period of months. With assurances from Winkler and strapped for cash, Shiber agreed to put her name to the book “in collaboration with Anne and Paul Dupre” — the pen names of Winkler and his wife Betty. Farkas went uncredited, and the suit he eventually filed against the publisher, Charles Scribner’s Sons, would provide Goodman with a record of just how much of the book came from the real author’s imagination: Names were changed,
characters were invented, and the women were credited with an improbable 250 rescues.
Despite the artifice — and perhaps because of that inflated number — Kate did suffer as a result of the book’s publication.
Goodman recounts in detail her torture under the Nazis, and their decision to reinstate her death sentence based on the testimony, however distorted, provided in Shiber’s book. She wouldn’t be freed until the Allied liberation in 1945, and even then she and other prisoners suffered at the hands of drunken Red Army soldiers. She weighed 73 pounds when she arrived back in France.
Lawyers talked her out of filing a lawsuit against Shiber and her publisher, and there’s no indication that two women spoke again after the war. Etta died in 1948; she was 70. Bonnefous died in 1965 at age 79, recognized by the British and French government for her valor but otherwise mostly forgotten.
Goodman — who I knew as the food columnist for the Forward before he began writing deeply researched histories of 19th-century American journalism and the college basketball point-shaving scandal of the 1950s — said his book is about how citizens can fight back when the institutions of government fail them.
Goodman said he began researching the story of the nascent French resistance in 2019, and was “struck by the question of how individuals react in the face of growing authoritarianism, deepening social injustice and a deepening strain of xenophobia.
“These two women, who were very unlikely heroines, especially Etta, managed to find resources in themselves and do things that perhaps they did not think they would be able to do,” he added. “They really did risk their own safety and security, even their lives. I think that there’s something quite admirable about that.”
He also notes another way in which Shiber’s purported memoir distorts the record: It doesn’t mention that Shiber was Jewish. Highly assimilated, she was married at the secular Ethical Culture Society by its founder, Rabbi Felix Adler. Her book contains only a few references to the anti-Jewish measures the Nazis were inflicting on France and the rest of Europe.
Goodman thinks the publishers did that intentionally.
“There was such a high level of antisemitism in the United States at that time, and there was definitely a feeling even among the Roosevelt administration that they did not want to too closely equate the Jewish problem” with the war, he said. “There was always this undercurrent fostered by people like [Charles] Lindbergh that American boys were dying to save Jews. Even the Jewish organizations at that time tended to keep a lower profile, because they didn’t want to have the war effort be seen as somehow ‘tainted.’”
And whatever she thought about her own Jewishness or vulnerability, and the risks for Kate, Shiber and her publishers justified the book’s embellishments and omissions in the name of aiding France and liberating Europe.
“It did boost morale. It did,” Goodman said. “It did lead Americans to understand the nobility of the French cause and the resistance.”
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.
Trump should talk to anyone, anywhere, if it can save our hostages
JTA
If I found myself sitting across the table from one of the top leaders of Hamas, I don’t know if I would have been able to control my emotions and not try to kill him.
On Oct. 7, when I drove from Tel Aviv to the Gaza border area in order to save my family and their neighbors, I saw with my own eyes the cruelty, sadism and hatred of this evil terror organization.
But if someone had told me that by sitting across the table from these monsters, and negotiating with them instead of trying to kill them, I’d increase the likelihood of releasing our hostages from the dark tunnels of Gaza – I would absolutely do it, without any hesitation.
Not because I have any bit of sympathy for Hamas, but because after 17 months of war, it is time to put an end to the hostage crisis, and bring home all our people.
That’s why I felt hopeful when I read that senior members of the Trump administration were holding secret talks directly with Hamas in order to prolong the ceasefire and hostage release deal signed in January. This effort is under a politically motivated attack by certain members of the Netanyahu government. But if it succeeds in bringing back our hostages, all Israelis will be very grateful.
The United States has a long history of talking to the kind of people it usually tries to kill, when there’s a chance to save
the lives of Americans caught in harm’s way. There’s no reason not to try this method with regards to the hostages held in Gaza.
During Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, our last prisoners of war came back home after eight months. Back then, Israel
was a much smaller country, with a significantly weaker military. The fact that today, we still have hostages held by dangerous terrorists, after more than double that amount of time, is unacceptable. That’s why most Israelis believe we must prioritize the return of the hostages over all other goals at this point in time.
With President Trump in the White House, Israel will have four years to defeat our enemies, guarantee our security needs and reach historic peace agreements with friendly Middle Eastern countries. But our hostages don’t have all this time left. They can’t wait. We must save them now, first of all, and then move on to other missions.
On Oct. 7, I rushed to the Gaza border area, but had to stop again and again on my way to my son’s kibbutz – in order to fight terrorists, save people I met along the way, and evacuate wounded soldiers to safety. Only at the end of that very long day, I found out that two of my son’s neighbors were kidnapped by Hamas 10 minutes before I entered the gate of the kibbutz. Those 10 minutes have haunted me every day since Oct. 7. I ask myself, could I have arrived sooner?
To President Trump’s negotiators, I say – don’t waste even a single minute. Make sure you talk to anyone, anywhere, if you believe it can save the hostages. The people of Israel support you.
Noam Tibon a retired major general who served in the IDF for more than three decades, from 1981 to 2014. On Oct. 7, 2023, he fought Hamas terrorists, rescued injured soldiers and helped save his own family and other residents of Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.
NOAM TIBON
Demonstrators protest for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip, outside Hakirya Base in Tel Aviv, March 5, 2025. Credit: Tomer Neuberg/Flash90
Etta Shiber, seen in a publicity photo for the 1943 book ParisUnderground, and Kate Bonnefous, shown in 1940, were friends and unlikely heroes of the early French resistance.
Credit: Ballantine Books
Synagogues
B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
618 Mynster Street Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766
712.322.4705 www.cblhs.org
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
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
Monthly Speaker Series Service, Friday, April 11, 7:30 p.m. with our guest speaker. Our service leader is Larry Blass. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel!
For information about our historic synagogue, please visit our website at www.cblhs.org or contact any of our other board members: Renee Corcoran, Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Ann Moshman, MaryBeth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.
Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.
IN-PERSON AND ZOOM MINYAN SCHEDULE:
Mornings on Sundays, 9:30 a.m.; Mondays and Thursdays, 7 a.m.; Evenings on Sunday-Thursday, 5:30 p.m.
FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat with Musician-in-Residence Joanna Dulkin, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.
SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services with Hazzan Dulkin, 10 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Jr. Congregation (Grades K-12), 10 a.m.; Havdalah and Coffee House Concert with Hazzan Dulkin, 8 p.m.
SUNDAY: BESTT (Grades K-7), 9:30 a.m.; Hands On Judaism, 10:30 a.m. with Hazzan Krausman; Torah Tots, 10:45 a.m.
TUESDAY: Mishneh Torah, 10:30 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham
WEDNESDAY: BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 6 p.m.
THURSDAY: Gesher Lounge Night (Grades 5-8), 6 p.m.
FRIDAY-Mar. 28: Nebraska AIDS Project Lunch, 11:30 a.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.
SATURDAY-Mar. 29: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Jr. Congregation (Grades K-12), 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 8:20 p.m. Zoom Only.
Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.
FRIDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m.; Candlelighting, 7:20 p.m.
SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Soulful Torah, 6:25 p.m.; Mincha 7:10 p.m.; Kids Activity/Laws of Shabbos 7:40 p.m.; Havdalah, 8:20
p.m.
SUNDAY: Shacharit 9 a.m.; Mind. Body. Soul. Women’s Event, 11 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:20 p.m.
MONDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Monday Mind Builders 4 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 7:20 p.m.
TUESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 7:20 p.m.
WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7
a.m.; Board of Directors Meeting, 6:30 p.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 7:20 p.m.
THURSDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Character Development, 9:30 a.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 7:20 p.m.
FRIDAY-Mar. 28: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit,
7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m.; Candlelighting, 7:27 p.m.
SATURDAY-Mar. 29: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class, 10:45 a.m.; Soulful Torah, 6:35 p.m.; Mincha, 7:20 p.m.; Kids Activity/Laws of Shabbos 7:50 p.m.; Havdalah, 8:28 p.m.
Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.
All services are in-person. All classes are being offered in-person and via Zoom (ochabad.com/academy). For more information or to request help, please visit www.ochabad.com or call the office at 402.330.1800.
FRIDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Lechayim, 5:30 p.m., go to ochabad.com/lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 7:19 p.m.
SATURDAY: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 8:20 p.m.
SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps, 9 a.m.
MONDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Personal Parsha, 9:30 a.m. with Shani Katzman; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Translating Words of Prayer, 7 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen.
TUESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Translating Words of Prayer, 11 a.m. with David Cohen; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 7 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen.
WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Mystical Thinking (Tanya), 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Katzman; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen.
THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 10 a.m.; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study, noon-1 p.m. with Rabbi Katzman; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 6 p.m.; Code of Jewish Law Class, 7 p.m.; CKids Shabbaton and JewQ Championship, contact Mushka at mushka@ochabad.com for more info.
FRIDAY-Mar. 28: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Lechayim, 5:30 p.m., go to ochabad.com/lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 7:27 p.m.; CKids Shabbaton and JewQ Championship.
SATURDAY-Mar. 29: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 8:28 p.m.; CKids Shabbaton and JewQ Championship.
LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL
Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch. All services offered in-person with live-stream or teleconferencing options.
FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30-7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 7:22 p.m.
SATURDAY: Shabbat Service, 9:30-11 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parshat Vayakhel led by TBD via Zoom; Havdalah, 8:22 p.m.
SUNDAY: LJCS Classes, 9:30-11:30 a.m. at TI; Men’s Bike/ Coffee Group, 10:30 a.m. at The Mill on the Innovation Campus. For more information or questions
From the archives: The JCC in May, 1926
The J celebrates its 100th anniversary! The following articles are reprinted from the May 20, 1926 edition of the Jewish Press Public Invited to Visit New Jewish Community Center on Inspection Day Sunday, May 23-Jewish Community Center building nearing completion.
The new Jewish Community Center building will be open for inpection to the public Sunday, May 23. Letters have been sent to the subscribers of the Jewish Community Center building inviting them and their friends to visit the Community Center building on Inspection Day. Special guides will be appointed to take the large crowds through the building. Every corner and room of the building will be shown to the people.
The new Jewish Community Center building is nearing completion for opening week. The interior work will soon be completed and will be ready for the opening week of June 6. The building, according
to those who have viewed it, is one of the finest buildings of its kind in the country. Every modern convenience for such a type of building is found in the Jewish Community Center building.
The swimming pool and gymnasium are already completed and are two of the finest athletic accomplishments in the city.
Jewish Community Ball Team Wins Another Game
The Jewish Community Center Baseball team won its fifth straight game when it defeated the Crane Co. team by a score of 7 to 2. The Jewish Community Center team is leading the Gate City League. The Center team will play the
please email Al Weiss at albertw801@gmail.com; Adult Ed: Intro to Judaism Class, noon with Rabbi Alex at TI; Community Mitzvah Day, 1:30–3:30 p.m. at Food Bank of Lincoln Inc, 1221 Kingbird Rd, Lincoln. Contact Barb Straus for more info
TUESDAY: Ladies' Lunch 1 p.m. at Kinja, 4141 Pioneer Woods Dr #120, Lincoln, NE 68506. If you'd like more information or would like to be added to the group please contact at oohhmmm.barb@gmail. com.
WEDNESDAY: LJCS Hebrew School, 4:30-6 p.m. at TI.
FRIDAY-Mar. 28: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:307:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST; Shabbat Candlelighting, 7:29 p.m.
SATURDAY-Mar. 29: Shabbat Service, 9:30-11 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parshat Pekudei led by TBD via Zoom; Havdalah, 8:33 p.m.
FRIDAYS: Virtual Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month at Capehart Chapel. Contact TSgt Jason Rife at OAFBJSLL@icloud.com for more information.
In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Benjamin Sharff, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin, and Cantor Joanna Alexander.
FRIDAY: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9 a.m. In-Person; Tot Shabbat, 5:45 p.m. In-Person; Classic Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.
SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom.
SUNDAY: Grades PreK-7, 9:30 a.m. In-Person; Book Club, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Prayer Preparation: Chanting and Reading Prayers, 1 p.m. In-Person.
WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m. In-Person; Grades 36, 4:30 p.m. In-Person; Hebrew High: Grades 8-12, 6 p.m. In-Person; How the Israelites Became the Jews, 6:30 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.
FRIDAY-Mar. 28: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Shira Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.
SATURDAY-Mar. 29: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Morning Service and Bar Mitzvah of Stockton Draeger 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom. Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.
OBITUARY CHANGES
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fast Castle Hotel team Sunday afternoon at Fontenelle Park as one of the feature games of the week. The game will begin at 1:30 p.m.
Kauffman, ace of the
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will do the receiving for the Jewish Community Center boys.
B’NAI ISRAEL
BETH EL
BETH ISRAEL
CHABAD HOUSE
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Center’s picthing staff,
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Life cycles
IN MEMORIAM
BARBARA JEAN KUSHNER
Funeral services were held at Beth El Cemetery on March 10, 2025, for Barbara Jean Kushner, who died on March 8, at the age of 88.
She was predeceased by her parents, Eva and Meyer Ruback, and brothers, Howard and Norman.
Barbara is survived by her beloved husband, Marshall; children, Karen (Robert Weirich) Kushner, Jill (Mark) Belmont, Kimberly (Matthew) Placzek, and Timothy Kushner; grandchildren, Jessica (Cliff) Smolinsky, Lindsay (Michael Small) Belmont, Colin (Amanda) Belmont, Aaron (Monique) Placzek, Noah Placzek, Phoebe Placzek, Max Kushner, Eva Kushner, and Ben (Sinéad Maguire) Weirich; and great-grandchildren, Caden and Aria Smolinsky, Hudson Belmont, Lila Small, and Brooks Placzek.
Barbara will always be remembered for her warm heart and deep love for her family. She spent 68 wonderful years with Marshall, the love of her life. Together, they raised four children and enjoyed many years playing tennis and duplicate bridge, biking and traveling the world. Their Fourth of July parties were epic and memorable; their backyard pool was the family’s gathering
place for many years.
Barbara touched the hearts of everyone who knew her. She was kind, generous, and fun loving. Each grandchild and greatgrandchild enjoyed a special relationship with her. She was always attentive and took a genuine interest in their lives, from school to jobs to friends.
After over two decades at home with her children, Barbara proved to be a smart and savvy businesswoman, when she and her dear friend, Cookie Hoberman, created and ran Pleasure Pac, a popular entertainment coupon book, from 1982 to 1998.
She was passionate about justice and equal rights for all and held a special place in her heart for the LGBTQ+ community. She and Marshall were actively involved with the Nebraska AIDS Project, where she also served as a board member. Over the years she also served on the boards of the Omaha Symphony and the Omaha Public Library.
Barbara lived a full, rich life and will forever be remembered. Memorials may be sent to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home or Nebraska AIDS Project.
Feds arrest a second Columbia protester
Immigration authorities have arrested a second Palestinian involved in protests at Columbia University, the Department of Homeland Security announced on Friday.
A third person who was involved in pro-Palestinian protests at the school, a current graduate student, “self-deported” earlier this week after having her visa revoked, according to the department.
The announcement comes as Columbia reels from both the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian protest leader with a green card, and the loss of $400 million in federal funding as retaliation for last year’s pro-Palestinian protests.
A flurry of developments from both the school and the federal government on Thursday amounted a hammer falling on the pro-Palestinian protest groups that, for the past 17 months, have made the New York City Ivy League school the epicenter of student demonstrations over Israel and Gaza, and raised the alarm over campus antisemitism.
Students were suspended and expelled. Federal agents searched campus. And the Trump administration outlined its demands for the school to be able to recoup the $400 million in federal grants canceled last week — including further constraining protesters and empowering police.
Critics of the demands call them the latest attack on student activism, while some Jewish groups are praising the actions as a sign that the university is taking threats to Jewish students seriously.
“Columbia continues to make every effort to ensure that our campus, students, faculty, and staff are safe,” Katrina Armstrong, Columbia’s interim president, wrote in a Thursday night email to students about the federal agents. “Columbia is committed to upholding the law, and we expect city, state, and federal agencies to do the same.”
She added, “I understand the immense stress our community is under.”
The first wave of news on Thursday, March 13 concerned perhaps the single highest-profile event at Columbia last year: the forcible student occupation of a university building that led to an NYPD raid and dozens of arrests. It was the culmination of the pro-Palestinian encampment movement that began at Columbia and spread to schools across the country.
On Thursday, March 13, nearly 11 months later, Columbia announced in a brief message that it had “issued sanctions to students ranging from multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations, and expulsions related to the occupation of Hamilton Hall last spring.”
It didn’t detail how many students got each penalty, or who they were, but that news soon surfaced: Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the pro-Palestinian group leading many of the protests, tweeted that 22 students had been expelled, suspended or had their degrees revoked.
= So far, two of them have been named: Grant Miner, who heads a union chapter representing 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students employed at the school, and Aidan Parisi, a pro-Palestinian activist.
One pro-Israel user on X went viral after tweeting “Shalom, Aidan,” adopting President Donald Trump’s new use of the Hebrew greeting as a threat. The director of Columbia Hillel, Brian Cohen, praised the expulsions as an indication of the school’s changing attitude.
“This ruling is an important first step in righting the wrongs of the past year and a half,” he said. “I am grateful to the Rules
Administrator and other members of the Administration for their roles in ensuring these cases were resolved.”
Miner’s local is part of UAW, a large national union that has called for the United States to halt its military aid to Israel and that condemned the expulsions.
“As the UAW has emphasized, the assault on First Amendment rights being jointly committed by the federal government and Columbia University are an attack on all workers who dare to protest, speak out, or exercise their freedom of association under the US Constitution,” UAW said in a statement on Miner that called the punishments an attempt to unfreeze the grant money.
Shortly afterward, the U.S. government made clear that the school needed to do more to get the grant money back. A letter from the General Services Administration and the education and health and human services departments demanded a list of changes in return for the grants, most of which went to health and science research and which are due to cause job cuts at the school.
The letter, first reported by the Free Press, demanded that Columbia more stringently detail and enforce its rules around student protests, give the school president more power over disciplinary decisions, expand the authority of campus police and create a plan to “hold all student groups accountable” that have violated school by-laws.
It also demanded that the school:
• Ban masks at protests, which has become a central cause of a coalition of Jewish groups and other civil rights organizations.
• Adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, a widely adopted yet controversial document that defines some criticism of Israel as antisemitic.
• Place the Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies department under special supervision for five years.
“We expect your immediate compliance with these critical next steps, after which we hope to open a conversation about immediate and long-term structural reforms that will return Columbia to its original mission of innovative research and academic excellence,” the letter said.
And soon after that news broke, Armstrong sent another message to the school. Five days after Khalil’s arrest, DHS agents had entered and searched campus with a warrant — though no arrests were made there.
The next day, the department announced that it had arrested Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, for overstaying a student visa that had been terminated in 2022. Kordia was arrested in April 2024 in relation to the “proHamas protests at Columbia,” the press release said. It did not say whether Kordia had been a student at Columbia or what, if any, crime she had been charged with.
In an another case, a current graduate student from India on a visa left the country voluntarily on Tuesday, according to the department. Ranjani Srinivasan used the department’s new “self-deport” option on its app to convey her decision to leave the country. Her on-campus housing was searched on Thursday, her lawyer told the New York Times.
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country,” DHS Secretary Kirsti Noem said in a statement. “I am glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathizers use the CBP Home app to selfdeport.”
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Two sides criticizing Oscar-winner No Other Land.
BEN SALES
JTA
The BDS movement and Israel’s right-wing culture minister agree on one thing: No Other Land, the Israeli-Palestinian documentary that just won the Oscar for best documentary, is anathema. One says the movie is a smear on Israel. The other says it subtly works to perpetuate Israeli crimes.
And those two campaigns against the film have created another unlikely alliance.
The documentary chronicles Israeli demolitions in the West Bank Palestinian community of Masafer Yatta.
Culture Minister Miki Zohar, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, called the Oscar “a sad moment for the world of cinema.
“Freedom of expression is an important value, but turning the defamation of Israel into a tool for international promotion is not art — it is sabotage against the State of Israel, especially in the wake of the October 7th massacre and the ongoing war,” he added.
Israel Bachar, Israel’s consul general in Los Angeles, suggested viewers watch videos from Oct. 7 of “slaughtering entire families, kidnapping the elderly and infants, and committing every crime against humanity. That is the real documentary!”
Many in the pro-Israel world shared similar criticisms.
Some pro-Israel activists falsely claimed that Hayim Katsman, a peace activist who
was murdered on Oct. 7, was involved in the film’s creation — and that Abraham snubbed Katsman by omitting him from the Oscars speech. Katsman’s mother quickly clarified that her son was not involved in the movie, though some of the false claims remain online.
The ranks of critics gained a prominent if unexpected voice: the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, or PACBI.
In a lengthy statement, the group encouraged viewers to shun No Other Land
Unlike the Israeli critics, PACBI does not object to much of the film’s content. Rather, its objection is rooted in a phrase that has become increasingly salient in the pro-Palestinian activist world: anti-normalization.
PACBI defines anti-normalization as the refusal to work with Israelis, unless they call for an “end to the occupation, end to apartheid,
and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.” The project in question, in addition, must be one of “co-resistance against the Israeli regime.”
In other words, anti-normalization is generally understood as the Palestinian refusal to work with nearly all Israelis. The idea has gained currency in anti-Israel activist circles in recent years. It’s the ideological foundation undergirding pro-Palestinian groups’ refusal to interact with pro-Israel groups, on the argument that they support Israel’s existence and, therefore, are out of bounds.
It’s also why PACBI called last year for a boycott of Standing Together, one of the most visible Israeli-Palestinian anti-occupation groups (which is also organizing Israeli screenings of No Other Land).
Now, PACBI claims that No Other Land and its creators run afoul of its anti-normalization standards. Other hardline pro-Palestinian activists supported PACBI’s stance.
“No Other Land serves a soft Zionist function—exposing certain injustices while still legitimizing Zionist presence as part of the narrative, rather than centering decolonization and Palestinian liberation on our own terms,” tweeted Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of Within Our Lifetime, a New York City-based group that praises Hamas and routinely calls for Israel’s destruction.
Predictably, the backlash has sparked its own backlash. Prominent pro-Israel voices, as well as critics of Israel, defended the movie —
or at least called on their allies to tone down the criticism.
More than 100 Israeli filmmakers signed a letter in defense of the film this week. And Israel advocates are countering the criticism on social media as well.
Among Palestinians, Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom, congratulated Adra on his win. So did Mo Amer, a Palestinian-American comedian who stars in a self-titled Netflix show.
Political commentator Mehdi Hasan, one of the most prominent pro-Palestinian voices on X, called the film “powerful. Infuriating. Heartbreaking. Revealing.” and thanked Abraham and Adra.
And in a lengthy thread, Monica Marks — who teaches Middle East politics at New York University’s Abu Dhabi campus and has posted tweets critical of Israel — puzzled at the logic of the PACBI statement rejecting the film.
“The takeaway I come away with here is that an Israeli person can essentially dedicate their life to fighting Israel’s crimes, can denounce those crimes in the harshest terms available, can publish some of the greatest journalism exposing crimes of genocide... And *still* not be enough.” She continued, “If that’s not a project of joint resistance, what is? If Yuval Abraham is not enough, what Israeli is?”
This article was edited for length. See the full story on www.omahajewishpress. com.
Basel Adra, left, and Yuval Abraham. Credit: Monica Schipper/ Getty Images