April 28, 2017

thejewishpress AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA

this week

Sigma Alpha Mu recharters Page 6

JCC Spin Bike Ride Page 8

This young chef is trying to make Ashkenazi food cool Page 11

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SPoNSoreD BY the BeNJAMiN AND ANNA e. WieSMAN fAMiLY eNDoWMeNt fuND

Sokolof Merit Scholarships APRIL 2 8 , 2 0 1 7 | 2 IY AR 5 7 7 7 | V O L. 9 7 | NO . 2 9 | c A ND LeLi G h ti NG | FRID AY , APRIL 2 8 , 8 : 0 0 P. M.

t

David Atri Schuller

Seth Norton

LiNDA PoLLArD Endowment Assistant/Staff Writer, JFO Foundation his year’s Phil and Ruth Sokolof Honor Roll Merit Scholarship recipients represent some of the most dedicated, involved, compassionate, and brightest students in the Omaha area. None of the scholarships are need-based, but rather given on the late Phil Sokolof ’s criteria of personal achievement, scholastic performance, community service and overall good character. Two high school students and two health care students have received the $10,000 Phil and Ruth Sokolof Honor Roll Merit Scholarships, and two music students received a $10,000 Karen Sokolof Javitch Music Fund award.

The late Phil Sokolof endowed the funds 13 years ago to honor exceptional students. Each year, selecting recipients is a difficult process, with many worthy applications received. It is with great pride that the Sokolof committee announces the 2017 scholarship recipients. The winners for their freshman year of college are David Atri Schuller and Seth Norton; in health care the winners are Alec Lerner and Jeremy Wright; and Benjamin Bird and Josh Po-

Alec Lerner

Jeremy Wright

lack are the winners in the music category. The community is invited to a reception honoring these recipients on Thursday, May 9 at 7 p.m. in the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Auditorium.

DAviD Atri SchuLLer David will graduate from Westside High School this spring and plans to attend either the University of Nebraska-Omaha or the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Vanderbilt, or the University of Minnesota Twin Cities this fall. David plans to double major in electrical engineering and physics, with the goal of a career in digital communications after graduating. David has earned membership in the National Honor Society, is an AP Scholar with Distinction, has received the Award for Excellence in STEM, and the Society of American Military Engineers Award of Distinction. David is involved in the Student Mentoring Program, Robotics Club, and Symphonic Bank, and is the founder and president of the local Amateur Radio Club. He also volunteers on a weekly basis as the secondary Torah reader for Beth Israel Synagogue. For the past two years he has volunteered at Camp Simcha Special, for children

Yachad creativity displayed

Benjamin Bird

Josh Polack

with chronic and terminal illnesses.

In describing David, a teacher wrote that “His compassion is exemplary. His empathy and maturity are way beyond his years.” Another instructor said, “He has a knack for teaching skills he has mastered to those who are still learning.

He is patient, thoughtful and clear when he is helping others.”

David’s parents are Adina Schuller and Eduardo Atri.

Seth NortoN This spring, Seth will graduate from Westside High School. Consistently on the Honor Roll throughout high school; Seth is a National Honor Society member and an AP Scholar with Honor.

Seth has been able to achieve academic success while participating in varsity football, varsity swim team, and the DECA Club. Seth also finds the time to serve as a Teacher’s Aide at Temple Israel Religious School, work as a Rockbrook Pool lifeguard, swim team coach, and at a Runza Restaurant. In 2015 Seth participated in the Mega Teen Trip to Israel.

See Sokolof Merit Scholarships page 2

Volunteers of the Year

inside Viewpoint Synagogues Life cycles

12 14 15

KAreN GuStAfSoN JFS Executive Director Beginning in May, Yachad’s most creative endeavor yet will be displayed in the front vestibule of the JCC (upstairs). Omaha’s Yachad group consists of about ten active members with various abilities who join together to attend activities,

such as Personal Training at the JCC, a Seder at Beth El, a Purim carnival at Beth Israel, bowling at The Mark, attending ball games, having swim parties, etc. Our artists for this project were: Avi Wolfson, Lisa Salomon, Jillian Salomon, Grace Isler, Jeff Steinberg and Marilyn Zevitz.

Our recent venture began when we asked community member and artist Kim Noddle if she would work with us to create some smaller paintings that could be turned into photographed Notecards our members could sell in order to generate income for their programming.

100% of all proceeds will go back into Yachad programming at JFS. This is an idea that we created See Yachad page 2

ANNette vAN De KAMP-WriGht Editor of the Jewish Press Every year, agencies at the Jewish Federation of Omaha selects deserving community members for its Volunteer of the Year Awards. The following individuals went above and beyond in their dedication and commitments to our shared mission. rBJh | reNee KAzor Jewish Social Services is proud to nominate Renee Kazor for the Jewish Federation of Omaha Volunteer of the Year.

Renee truly exemplifies a woman with exceptional spirit. Renee is extraordinarily committed to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home and for years she has given countless volunteer hours.

Like clockwork, Renee comes to the Home for every Shabbat service and every holiday, to help organize, lead and escort Residents to the Simon Family Chapel.

Renee has memorized where each Resident loves to sit and will make a point to

personally invite new Residents to Shabbat services.

She takes attendance for the activities staff and will pass out the wine and cookies for Kiddush. In the past, Renee also helped compile the High Holidays prayer book for the Residents. These prayer books are such a help to Residents because of the large visible print and are lightweight and easy to hold. This past year, Renee organized the new service prayer books for the chapel in memory of her mother, Molly Franklin, who was a Resident of the Blumkin Home. This beautifully color-coded book is titled Siach Shoshan, Rose’s Prayer and was donated

by Renee’s family along with her sister, Helene Shrago, and their family.

Renee also previously had two aunts who were Residents of the Home. Renee sat on the L.O.V.E. board for approximately ten years and worked a variety of jobs See volunteers fo the Year page 3

2 | The Jewish Press | April 28, 2017

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members of the young adult group tiyPe enjoyed getting together at the end of Passover to watch movies, eat and play games.

sokolof merit scholarships Continued from page 1 Seth plans to study medicine at college. He will attend either the University of Southern California or the University of Virginia. Seth wrote in his essay, “My interest in pursuing a career in medicine will allow me to serve my community...” He has demonstrated his interest in serving by his jobs and volunteerism. His volunteer activities range from working at the Omaha Food Bank, helping with elementary school carnivals, political campaigning and as a Religious School teacher’s aide.

Letters of recommendation stated, “Seth is a take-charge person who is very goal oriented. His work is always done with one hundred percent effort.” And, “I am always impressed with his ability to manage his time and activities. Seth is very driven and I can see he has clear goals for his future.”

Seth’s parents are Susan and Michael Norton.

AleC lerner Alec graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a major in Psychology in 2013. Alec will attend medical school at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, with a goal of becoming a medical doctor.

Alec was busy throughout his undergraduate college years with activities heavily weighted in the health care area. He is a member of a pre-medical committee where he has received mentoring and guidance from faculty members. He has served as a lab supervisor and research assistant, a camp counselor, wheelchair basketball coach, and food pantry volunteer. In his application he stated, “The field of medicine encompasses all of my deepest interests – biomedical and social sciences, literature, philosophy and morality.” He continues later in the application, “Helping others gives meaning to my life.”

Affirming Alec’s merit for the scholarship, one person wrote, “Alec is an individual of the highest moral character, someone who cares about his community, has a stellar academic record and, most importantly, is a mensch. He is the type of person we want to take care of our children and parents when they are ill.” Another wrote, “Alec’s personality is well-suited for the field of medicine. He is outgoing, friendly and intelligent. Alec also has the ability to work and communicate with people of all ages and backgrounds.”

Alec’s parents are Cheryl and Gary Lerner.

Jeremy Wright After working at Boys Town as a family teacher for seven years, Jeremy returned to college to earn his Master’s in Clinical Counseling. He understands the importance of mental health treatment and desires to help those in need to his fullest abilities. Currently, Jeremy is in private practice in individual and family therapy. Jeremy plans to become a medical doctor, pursuing residencies in neurology and psychiatry upon earning his degree. He will attend the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Jeremy states in his application, “I can do more for my patients and others like them if I continue my education. As a physician, I can help patients better than I can as a counselor.”

In writing about Jeremy, one person wrote, “Working together with high school dropouts, I saw the lengths to which Jeremy persevered to provide service and support to these students, going far beyond what his peers demonstrated in the program. His students are better off today because he worked with them. Jeremy plans on serving underprivileged patients in his medical practice; they will be better off because he is providing their medical care.”

Jeremy fills non-working hours with volunteer activities.

Jeremy has spent many hours volunteering for Temple Israel, Friedel Jewish Academy, the Institute for Holocaust Education, and he is involved in theater.

Jeremy’s family consists of wife Annette van de Kamp-

Wright and children O’Bryen, Isabella and Mendel.

BenJAmin Bird Benjamin is currently attending Eastman School of MusicUniversity of Rochester and plans to graduate in the spring of 2018, with a degree in jazz trumpet performance. Ben is a graduate of Lincoln Southeast High School. Music has always been a big part of his life. He started piano lessons at age 5 and then trumpet lessons in third grade. Benjamin’s activities at Eastman have been filled with musical performance, from playing with all of the bands at the school to performances in the greater Rochester area, including the Rochester Greater Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra and two pop bands. He has also found time to work as a Wellness Coach at the YMCA and spent a summer working for an event design company. This summer he will be a musician on the Crown Princess, a ship owned by Princess Cruise Lines.

Benjamin plans to play professionally for a few years after graduation and then plans to return to school to earn his Musical Doctorate. His long-range goal is to become a professor of music.

One of his letters of recommendation stated, “Mr. Bird exudes a genuine compassion for helping others, which is only matched by his exceptional work ethic.” Another person wrote that Benjamin “has shown himself to not only be a gifted musician but also a very cooperative, thoughtful, and responsible young man.”

Benjamin’s parents are Jill and Nick Bird of Lincoln.

Josh PolACk This spring, Josh Polack will graduate from Burke High School. Josh will attend Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Josh’s love of music started with a gift of a toy guitar for Hanukkah. This love of music has grown to his performing in musicals, choir, plays and bands. He, however, also has been very involved in JROTC, receiving awards throughout his four years of involvement. Josh also currently volunteers at the Rose Blumkin Home, as he has for the past four years.

One recommendation letter states, “In the late summer of 2016, Josh was awarded JROTC’s Legion of Valor Bronze Cross for Achievement. This prestigious award is awarded for exceptional leadership in the JROTC program, demonstrated academic excellence and superior community involvement.” Another wrote, “Josh’s dependability, initiative and integrity are what make him an excellent choice...” “He challenges himself, works hard, and respects all people.”

Josh’s parents are Susan and James Polack.

The Phil and Ruth Sokolof Honor Roll Merit Scholarships and the Karen Sokolof Javitch Music Fund are administered by the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. Jody Malashock chairs an anonymous committee that selected the award recipients.

Yachad

Continued from page 1 several years ago and our cards sold out. It was time to create some new cards with a fresh look!

Kim had a larger vision, leading the group to create a collaborative piece of art that could be displayed in the hallway of the JCC and eventually, permanently, at JFS. Thanks to Mark Martin, JCC Executive Director, who gave us permission to hang this newly created masterpiece in the lobby of the JCC. Please stop by to see the painting anytime you are in the JCC building. And... if you happen upon one of our Yachad members during a community program, please let them know that you saw their painting. I promise you, each person will beam with pride.

Notecards are available for purchase through JFS.

The Jewish Press | April 28, 2017 | 3

Volunteers of the Year

Continued from page 1 helping out wherever it was needed. We are so grateful to Renee for all the years of service and for her unfailing leadership – she is an extremely valuable asset to Jewish Senior Services.

JFO | DAnny COhn In 2016, Danny Cohn chaired the FED event. He came up with the concept based on an event in Kansas City. He took an idea and implemented the entire event, including decorations, the menu, the host committee recruitment and event attendance. He brought people to this event who had not participated in anything Jewish in the community.

Danny is currently helping to revitalize the Ben Gurion Society. He is single handedly trying to recruit young donors to be more committed to the Federation and giving. He has already agreed to chair the campaign when it is his turn.

Danny is a member of the Beth El Board of Directors, worked on the fall fair and is a very committed board member. He is also a member of the ADL Board and, in that role, has agreed to chair an event and is working on the development committee.

“His positive attitude and can-do attitude has energized his active participation on the ADL/CRC board and membership on the ADL/CRC Development committee,” said Mary Beth Muskin, Executive Director of the ADL/CRC. “We are lucky to have him back in the Omaha community.”

As a member of the NJHS Board, he is chairing a fall event, Heirloomist 10/21.

“This community is very fortunate that Danny Cohn and family moved back to Omaha,” NJHS Director Renee Corcoran said. “He has the desire to get involved, and luckily, for our Jewish community, he has.

As a new member of NJHS board of directors, Danny jumped right in. He volunteered at his first meeting to be in charge of a project. He makes my job easier because I know I can always count on him.”

“I met Danny a little over a year and 1/2 ago, in November 2015,” Beth El’s Rabbi Steven Abraham said.

“He had just moved back to Omaha with his partner Andrew and their beautiful daughter Nora. Danny made an appointment to meet with me on a Friday afternoon, told me his story, his love for Beth El, the pain he felt to leave and now being back... how much he wanted to help me make Beth El and the Omaha Jewish community a better place. I remember going home that night for Shabbat and saying to my wife Shira, “I met a guy today who unSuzanne Singer derstands what I’m trying to do.” Danny came back to raise his daughter in the same loving community where he grew up. Since he arrived home he has done everything in his power to make the community a better place, from sitting on multiple boards (ADL, Beth El... etc), to helping run multiple large-scale successful programs (Beth El End of Summer Festival, FED, Ben Gurion Society Dinner), Danny is the best of what Jewish Omaha is and hopes to be.”

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community Renee Kazor

Credit: Cynthia J. Kohll Carol Bloch

Danny Cohn

Albertha Schmid

Jim Polack

Shira Abraham

IhE | AlBERthA SChmID Albertha has been an outstanding volunteer for the IHE. In the last year, she has been extremely accessible in helping our survivors, whether it is driving them to speaking engagements both in Omaha and outside of Omaha, or by delivering care packages during the holidays. Albertha also consistently volunteers to read essays for the annual “Tribute to the Rescuers” essay contest.

When it is time to put a call out for volunteers, I know Albertha is somebody we can always count on.

I have been extremely impressed with the care, understanding and empathy she demonstrates when talking with our survivors. Not only does the IHE see Albertha consistently volunteering for the organization, but she also regularly donates to help promote the organization, and she attends our events. Albertha Schmid See Volunteers of the year page 5

4 | The Jewish Press | April 28, 2017

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Save the Date Catering originates from Kracky McGee’s Restaurant, which has locations at the Eppley Airport and the Woodmen Tower in Omaha. For over 11 years we have served customers from all over the world, and have developed a menu that is as diverse as they are.

Give us an idea of your vision, and we will come up with creative ways to make it come to life. We cater elegant disposables all the way to formal, fully staffed, sit down meals. There are no minimums or maximums, no order or event is too small or too large. If you have any special dietary needs, we will follow them precisely to your guidelines.

Your special day may focus on a wide range of age groups, so offering traditional items like chicken, salmon, soup and bruschetta, or ethnic fusion items like sushi, mini hot dogs, quesadillas and tostadas, is a great idea. Even the pickiest of your guests will enjoy kosher or non-kosher catering when you offer a variety of items at the event you are hosting.

Check out our menu at www.savethedatecateringandevents. com, but just use that as a template, let your imagination be your guide! We love a challenge and can do almost anything! Our Catering Coordinator, Brenda Tharp, would love to sit down and discuss the details of your upcoming event, call or text her anytime 402.871.5708 or email savethedatecateringandevents@yahoo.com.

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The Brandon Thomas Pursuit of Passion Scholarship, Senior celebration and OTYG installations

T

ScoTT LiTTky Program Director, Temple Israel he Third Annual Brandon Thomas Pursuit of Passion Scholarship will be presented during Shabbat Services on Friday, May 5. The scholarship, awarded to a graduating senior, can be used to pay for vocational training or college expenses such as tuition, books and room and board or a gap year program in Israel.

The scholarship is named in memory of Brandon Thomas who was just shy of graduation from the Institute for the Culinary Arts when he died at age 21 from injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident. Brandon was passionate about his career choice and was a loving and caring friend to all who knew him.

When asked to describe Brandon, his mother Brandon Thomas Andie Gordman said, “Brandon had a passion for culinary arts, he knew from a young age he always wanted to be a chef. Thanksgiving was absolutely his favorite holiday and he couldn’t wait to help plan the menu and cook the meal.�

The Brandon Thomas Pursuit of Passion Scholarship is being presented to Jacob Wigodsky, son of Andrew Wigodsky and Tereza Wigodsky. Jacob will attend the University of Nebraska Omaha this coming fall and will be studying Music Education.

Also during Shabbat evening services, we will honor our seniors as they prepare to graduate high school and enter their next chapter. Seniors to be honored are: Logan Armstrong, son of Mindi Armstrong; Spencer Arnold, son of Brenda and Barton Arnold; Alex Belgrade, son of Robyn

Belgrade and James Belgrade; Zachary Belgrade, son of Robyn Belgrade and James Belgrade; Annie Boggust, daughter of Paula and Matt Boggust; Avi Dolson, son of Racquel and Thomas Dolson; Whitney Feidman, daughter of Nancy Feidman and Ted Feidman; Nathan Gendler, son of Tamara Field and Lawrence Gendler; Max Goldberg, son of Cindy and Bruce Goldberg; Gayle Goldstein, daughter of Dacia and Michael Goldstein and the late Debra Lyddon Goldstein; Grant Goldstein, son of Dacia and Michael Goldstein and the late Debra Lyddon Goldstein; Geordi Gonzales, daughter of Dana and Edward Gonzales; Hannah Goodman, daughter of Jennifer and Scott Goodman; Emily Kazor, daughter of Michelle and Stu Kazor; Nicholas Kizlin, son of Ronna Jo Kizlin; Mikayla Langdon, daughter of Sharon Comisar-Langdon and Randy Langdon; Sophia Leopold, daughter of Lisa and Julian Leopold; William McGauvran, son of Kathy and John McGauvran; Jacob Meyerson, son of Jennifer and Scott Meyerson; Aaron Noddle, son of Kim Noddle and Jay Noddle; Olivia Nogg, daughter of Patty and Tony Nogg; Seth Norton, son of Susie and Mike Norton; Lindsay Osborne, daughter of Ann and Don Osborne; Josie Platt, daughter of Ellen and Jeff Platt; Isabella Radler, daughter of Gretchen and David Radler; Bennett Ray, son of Shayna and Matthew Ray; Asher Rosenquist, son of Julie Roffman and Thor Rosenquist; Phillip Schrager, son of Laura and Rick Schrager; Ian Schrier, son of Jeff Schrier; Josephine Slovut, daughter of Beth and Mitchell Slovut; Samantha Sullivan, daughter of Louri Sullivan and Charlie Sullivan; Cecelia Vann, daughter of Wendy and John Vann; Joshua Wax, son of Melissa Wax and William Wax; and Jacob Wigodsky, son of Tereza Wigodsky and Andrew Wigodsky.

Finally, during services the new board of OTYG will be installed for next year.

The evening will conclude with an Oneg after services.

The Oneg is sponsored by Elly and Bob Gordman, Andie Gordman and Dan Fitzgerald and Lindsey Thomas in celebration of Brandon Thomas and all of the graduating seniors.

" " !!!

"" "" "

The Jewish Press | April 28, 2017 | 5

Volunteers of the Year

Continued from page 3 goes above and beyond as a volunteer, and we are a stronger organization because of her support.

When talking to survivors Albertha has worked with, they all agree she is one of the best volunteers they have ever had. To survivor Kitty Williams, Albertha is more than a volunteer -- she is a friend. In the short amount of time they have known each other, they quickly became friends with a deep connection to what it means to be different in society.

Not only does Albertha drive Kitty and other survivors to speaking engagements or events, but she also helps deliver gift baskets for the holidays and takes the initiative to write survivors’ letters to express how much she cares and misses them. Every time she is done with her volunteering, she expresses how grateful and honored she is to have the opportunity to engage with our survivors; but the survivors who she has worked with are also grateful to have such a warm and caring person in their lives.

It is her warmth, care, accountability and passion that make Albertha an outstanding volunteer for our organization. I am very happy to nominate Albertha Schmid for the Volunteer of the Year.

Jewish Press | Suzanne Singer Suzanne Singer recently moved to Seattle to be closer to her daughter and her grandchildren. For many years, Suzanne dedicated herself to volunteering for the Jewish Press. She was a passionate member of the Jewish Press Board of Directors and helped out in a variety of roles wherever she was needed. In recent years, she continued to proofread the paper every week.

In her role as proofreader, she not only checked for grammar and spelling issues; it went beyond that. She maintained high standards for how the overall paper looked, whether people were presented favorably and whether any language used could possibly be misinterpreted. To her, the Press is a vehicle that first and foremost builds community. It is that type of ownership that made her such an excellent volunteer.

“When I first started as editor, Suzanne immediately took me under her wing,” Annette van de Kamp said. “She has such tremendous knowledge about the intricacies of the job, great relationships in the community and is always willing to share her experience.

She knows what the community expects from this paper and as someone who didn’t grow up here, having Suzanne help and assist wherever and whenever needed has been priceless. Suzanne would answer questions I didn’t even know to ask. She is the best mentor I could have wished for.”

Suzanne was born and raised in Omaha; her passion

for our community is unequaled and never ceases to inspire. adl-crc | Carol bloCh Carol is currently the co-chair of ADL-CRC’s Civil Rights committee, and last summer spearheaded the revisions of ADL-CRC’s bylaws. These are the very same bylaws she was instrumental in implementing in 2002. Carol has devoted her service life to the promotion of human and civil rights issues.

The goal of the Civil Rights Committee is to assist the Regional Director in monitoring current affairs and legislation, local politics, media and other civil rights activities in Nebraska, Iowa and parts of Kansas. This includes Israel advocacy, ensuring concerns are heard by all levels of government and legislation outreach through the monitoring of current events and legislation on local as well as regional levels.

“I feel personally fortunate to have the opportunity to work with and learn from Carol,” Mary Beth Muskin, Regional Director of the ADL/CRC, says.

“Her willingness, persistence, expertise and commitment to support underserved populations embodies the mission of ADL-CRC. Thank you, Carol, for making our world a better place!” jfS | jameS (jim) PolaCk Jim Polack currently serves on the Jewish Social Services Board of Directors. He received the Volunteer of the Year award previously from the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. “However,” Karen Gustafson, Executive Director of Jewish Family Service, said, “I feel that Jim is worthy of being recognized again for his exceptional service to this community. As an attorney, Jim works with his whole heart, making sure that vulnerable community members have appropriate legal representation. He should be recognized every year for his tireless, consistent love of this community and its members. It is clear he cares deeply. jCC | Shira abraham Shira currently serves as the President of the Pennie Z. Davis Childhood Development Center’s Parents Committee. In addition, she is a member of two Jewish Community Center committees, involved with overseeing the dance and cultural arts department.

Shira has been extremely helpful with the JCC Jewish Summer Camps. She is also assisting in the planning for expansion of the JCC. Mark Martin, JCC Executive Director, said: “Shira has been an invaluable asset to the leadership of the JCC and is always willing to volunteer where needed. She is an active JCC participant and advocate for many of our programs and classes. She brings a good perspective, both as a parent and as a board member.”

Snowbirds Please let the Jewish Press know in advance when you are leaving and when you are returning.

Sometimes several papers are sent to your “old” address before we are notified by the Post Office. Every time they return a paper to us, you miss the Jewish Press and we are charged!

Please call us at 402.334.6448 or email us at jpress@jewishomaha.org.

OMAHA IS ON THE RIGHT TRACK. ON MAY 9TH, VOTE TO RE-ELECT AIMEE MELTON! As a former domestic violence prosecutor, a working mom, and a small business owner, Aimee Melton understands the issues that matter most:

d Cut personal property tax rates – twice d Balanced city budgets and increased cash reserves

d Hired and trained 56 new police officers, and invested in new patrol cars

Arts in April at Main Street Studios

d Increased funding for road improvements by $4.8 million, and

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“The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed.”

James Madison At times in our history, our society has struggled to live up to the ideal of religious diversity. Nevertheless, religious liberty is a hallmark of the American experience. This legacy makes recent stories of religious intolerance all the more difficult to hear.

Omaha is a city that strives to exemplify understanding and cooperation. We have built our city on the shoulders of pioneers, immigrants of every stripe, and we are reminded of all that unites us. It is this spirit that has defined the work of the Omaha Jewish Federation. It promotes education about the rich heritage of the Jewish people, service to others,

and stronger bonds of community. It is easy to take this spirit for granted, and even to assume that it is effortless, but events around the country, and now in our own city, sadly remind us otherwise.

The First Amendment protects freedom of religion. However, the right to worship can never be realized in the face of threats and violence. The work of combating hatred and promoting understanding is not just the job of any single organization. Rather, it rests with all of us. Whoever we are, we are obligated to acknowledge and promote all that unites us in this community we call home.

I applaud the work of the Omaha Jewish Federation.

I stand with you to preserve and expand that spirit of unity in Omaha.

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d Omaha has added nearly 8,000 new jobs since 2013.*

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When I was elected to represent District 7 on the Omaha City Council in 2013, our city faced many tough challenges. Skyrocketing taxes, a deficit budget, and rising crime were my top priorities.

Since then, Omaha’s budget deficits have turned to surplus, and we cut property tax rates twice. We have made public safety our number one concern, adding more police and investing in new technology.

We have made great progress in Omaha. Our city is growing again.

Let’s keep it going, together.

Your neighbor, Aimee

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6 | The Jewish Press | April 28, 2017

Sigma Alpha Mu recharters

Father’s Day

Coming

in

june

publishing date | 06.09.17 space reservation | 05.30.17 camera ready deadline | 06.02.17 Promote your business in this special issue with an ad and a short article.

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

Susan Bernard

402.334.6559 | sbernard@jewishomaha.org

Rechartering Ceremony – April 15, 2017 – National Representatives, Alumni, Initiated Members DAvID Alloy, Alumni President AND CARol Alloy After an absence of over 20 years, Sigma Omicron Chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity has achieved official fraternity status back on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus by rechartering. The original chartering of the chapter was on Dec. 11, 1926 and the chapter continued in existence through the mid-1990s.

The chapter recolonized on Oct. 10, 2015; the new members, with alumni support, have been continually recruitRechartering Ceremony – April 15, 2017 – New Initiated Members ing to build our numbers to as some of the new members gave speeches. get to this point in time. We have a strong class of 15 new David Alloy made closing remarks, including a special members who were officially initiated in an event on April announcement of scholarships, which were presented to 15 at the Omaha Jewish Community Center, which was a Zach Ostravich and Derek Baumfalk. Zach Ostravich recombination rechartering of our chapter and initiating the new members. We have three additional pledges who joined ceived a $1,000 Trailblazer scholarship from Sigma Alpha Mu National Foundation. This was for his organization and this spring. They have not reached initiation status as of yet work to aid in the development and rebuilding of the Sigma and will formally be initiated in the fall of 2017. This will Omicron Chapter. Derek Baumfalk received a scholarship give us a total of 18 new members before formal recruitment starts during this spring and summer season. The new to attend a five-day institute for fraternity and sorority leaders from universities across the country offered by the Unmembers have set a goal of signing 15 new pledges for the dergraduate Interfraternity Institute, hosted by the fall of 2017 semester, which would give us a total of 33 by North-American Interfraternity Conference. The conferthe end of this year.

The events at the Omaha Jewish Community Center were ence will take place this summer at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Mr. Baumfalk’s expenses that are not attended by four members representing our national headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are Executive Direc- covered by the scholarship will be supplemented by the alumni treasury fund. tor Andy Huston, Supreme Vice Prior Jerry Conrey, and This was a very successful event which was conveyed to Educational Leadership Consultants Jacob Isaacson and us by the representatives from national headquarters. They Tyler Kieffer. Also in attendance were 26 alumni from Virginia, California, Texas, Michigan, Iowa, and South Dakota, mentioned that just recently they had attended a similar event for the chapter at “The Ohio State University.” They as well as Omaha and Lincoln. Highlights of alumni attenonly had ten alumni from their chapter who attended out dees was the participation of the retired Honorable Judge Ben Novicoff, Class of 1938, and Mort Zuber, Class of 1941. of 1,200 living alumni, and 80% of them living in the immediate area surrounding Columbus, Ohio. In addition, Immediately following the ceremonies at the Jewish there were many glowing comments from everyone who Community Center, a cocktail reception and banquet was attended. It was considered an extremely successful event held at Cascio’s Italian Steakhouse. Joining the new initiates by all. were their family members; alumni were accompanied by The national representatives commented that we have an their spouses for a total of 70 attendees. extremely cohesive group of young men who are also very Introductions were presented by Alumni President David Alloy of the four representatives from the national headquar- good friends, and they know they will continue to work hard to keep building the chapter. They also indicated they ters, the alumni, and special guests of honor, the newly initiare looking forward to celebrating our chapter’s centennial ated members. Chapter officers are Zach Ostravich, Prior; anniversary in 2026.

Tanner Crable, Vice Prior; Derek Baumfalk, Exchequer, and For additional information, please contact David Alloy, Brandon Warren, Recorder. After this was completed, a President of Alumni Board of Control and Advisor at wonderful meal was served. An audio video presentation 402.334.0609 or alloyent@cox.net, or Zach Ostravich, Prior ,produced by the new member, was shared with the everyat 720.290.5818 or sammysigmaomicron@gmail.com. one.Representatives from the national headquarters as well

B’nai B’rith Jewish Trivia Contest B’nai B’rith’s 17th Annual Jewish Trivia Contest will be held May 1 at 6 p.m. in the JCC Social Hall. It will include 25 trivia questions covering Jewish personalities, current events, tradition, culture, Israel and the Bible.

Each team/individual will write down their answers on an answer sheet provided. Tie-breaker questions may be asked. All rules/interpretations will be at the Lodge’s sole discretion.

This contest is a part of the community’s Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) Celebration. The Lodge strongly encourages all Jewish organizations to form and enter teams.

Enter as an individual or form a team (Limit 6) from family or friends or your organization. Minimum age is 13. Pick a name for your team.

In fairness, members of the clergy or full-time professional religious educators cannot be a team member. They are welcome to attend, but will not be eligible for a prize.

First Place prize is $250, Second Place prize is $100 and Third Place prize is $50; half of the prize money will go to the team and the other half will go to the Jewish charity or institution for which the team is playing.

There is also a special high school bonus prize for the best all-high school team: $25 to the team and $25 to a Jewish charity or institution of that team’s choice.

For more information and to sign up, please call the B’nai B’rith office at 402.334.6443 or email bnaibrith@jewish omaha.org.

t

a new dedication

scOtt Littky Program Director, Temple Israel emple Israel on Cass Street in Omaha served as our congregational home for 60 years. If you speak with both young and older members of Temple Israel, you will be told special stories of memories in the old building. One such memory is of the relief sculptures attached to the façade of the building on Cass Street. In Hebrew, the words written on the three pieces were Torah, Truth and Peace.

These are more than just words; they are ethical concepts to live our life by as Jews. So special were these sculptures that they we used in creating the logo of Temple Israel.

Pirkei Avot chapter 1 verse 18 states: “Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: “On three things the world stands: on judgment, on truth and on peace, as it is said (Zachariah 8:16), ‘Judge truth and the justice of peace in your gates.’” The root or source of judgment in Judaism is Torah, and from Torah we are taught how to live an ethical and meaningful life. In a lesson from 10 Minutes of Torah, we learn the following about Truth: “The Sages of the Talmud considered the concept of emet so important that they called it the “seal of God.” When setting forth the attributes of God, Exodus 34:6 states that God is rav chesed ve-emet, abundant in goodness and truth.

The Rabbis saw emet, as one leg of the tripod that sustains the world, the other two being din, justice, and shalom, peace. Between nations, as between people, truth must prevail lest the whole world collapse into chaos. Individuals who engage in self-deception, persistently lying to themselves, can bring about the collapse of their private worlds.

The concept of peace or, in Hebrew, Shalom, is also central to the Jewish people. In explaining the Biblical meaning of Shalom, Dr. Aviezer Ravitzky writes: “In the Bible, the word shalom is most commonly used to refer to a state of affairs, one of well-being, tranquility, prosperity, and se-

The Jewish Press | April 28, 2017 | 7

curity, circumstances unblemished by any sort of defect.

Shalom is a blessing, a manifestation of divine grace.”

When learning about the three relief sculptures that now sit in front of our new Temple Israel, a congregant said: “The Confirmation Class of 1954, of which I was a member, helped to con-

duct the very first service at the Cass Street building. The three sculptures adorned the North exterior wall of that building. Three out of our class were assigned to speak about each of these words. I was assigned emet. I remember the service and the sculptures having special meaning to our class and to all of us at Temple Israel.”

The three sculptures now sit to the west of the front of the Sterling Ridge building at the end of the garden. On Sunday, April 30 at 11:45 a.m. the sculptures will be rededicated. The community is invited to attend.

For more information on the rededication, please contact Program Director Scott Littky, 402.556.6536.

Organizations

B’nai B’rith BreadBreakers

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speaker to be announced for Wednesday, May 3, noon. For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org.

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community BRKers Shabbat in Omaha

racheL schOenhOLtz Chabad of Nebraska Chabad welcomes all Berkshire attendants to Omaha!

Shabbat meals and davening will be hosted at the Capitol Lounge, a pub property that we have leased and prepared for the occasion. It is in close proximity to the CenturyLink Center and Hilton, where many will gather over the weekend. Every week, Chabad hosts weekly Shabbat services, dinners, and minyanim. Next week it will add an option for downtown on May 5-7.

Buffet enthusiasts come to Omaha for Berkshire’s annual meeting from as far as Australia and South Africa to get a glimpse of the man behind the empire.

Many are surprised by a different kind of inspiration which leaves a very rich impact. Shabbat or the Sabbath is an island in the frenetic, swirling ocean of life. Eager visitors to Omaha flock to the warm and welcoming Shabbat events hosted by Chabad of Nebraska. They imbibe inspiration and nourishment for the soul along with a tantalizing feast of traditional and trendy Shabbat foods.

This international Shabbat program networks Jews from around the world and adds pizzaz to their already full Omaha pilgrimage.

Rabbi Katzman of Chabad envisioned how strangers could become instant friends under the shared banner of Shabbat. Forrest Krutter, of blessed memory, helped make this idea a reality.

Chabad welcomes all Jews regardless of affiliation or observance. Come by the old Capitol Lounge to grab a kosher snack and schmooze.

Friday and Saturday services and meals will be held at the Capitol Lounge at 1011 Capitol Avenue, across the street from the CenturyLink Center.

Friday, May 5, 7:30 p.m. - Mincha followed by a traditional Shabbat dinner. Candle lighting at 8:08 p.m. saturday, May 6, 7 a.m. - Early Minyan and cholent, Minyan - 10 a.m., Mincha - 7:30 p.m. and Shabbat Ends - 9:13 p.m. sunday, May 7 - 8:30 a.m. - Shacharit and breakfast at the Chabad Center 1866 S. 120th St., Omaha, NE 68144.

For reservations, email britta@ochabad.com with your contact information.

Chabad welcomes all Jews regardless of affiliation or observance. A schedule of events can be found on our website: www.ochabad.com/Brk. For more information, call 402.330.1800 or email britta @ochabad.com.

Mazal Tov, Aaron!

We are so proud of your achievements – membership in NHS, varsity letter in tennis and a Merit Award from the Band.

ere Photo h

Love, Mom, Dad, brothers and sisters

by 4 inches

Congrats, Rachel!

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________________________________

ere Photo h

Address _________________________________________________________________ City, State and Zip __________________________________________________________ Phone ___________________________________________________________________ Ad A O Ad B O Photo enclosed O Check enclosed for $ _________ Send check and photo to

The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 by May 5.

We are so proud of your achievements – membership in NHS, varsity letter in tennis and a Merit Award from B.E.S.T.T. Love, Mom, Dad, brothers, sisters and grandparents

NCJW Omaha Section update

8 | The Jewish Press | April 28, 2017

community

T

JCC Spin Bike Ride BreAnn lundBlAd JCC Fitness Center Director he JCC spin outdoor bike ride was a casual pace social ride where we could easily converse with one another while riding.

The route was on official bike trails, so we had protection from cars and safety. We traveled 22 miles in total from the Pedestrian Bridge in Omaha to the Wabash Trace Trailhead in Council Bluffs.

We had 14 riders, all participants from JCC spin classes, including some who hadn’t ridden outdoors in more than ten years. At the end of the ride, most of the group gathered at a nearby coffee shop to enjoy post-ride refreshments.

When I teach spin class during the fall and winter months, my primary goal is to help people grow stronger on the bike.

However, most of my spin class participants do not ride bikes outdoors, so another goal is to, as Freddie Mercury says, “Get on your bike and ride.”

During spin class, I simulate riding outdoors in a fast moving, strong group of cyclists by having participants take turns riding in front so they’re working harder than the rest of the class. I also call out challenging roads I ride, citing the name of the roads, describing the ups and downs, and the various surges that a group of cyclists would go through. For example, “We’re going strong up a hill, stay strong, don’t get

dropped, go strong on the last of this hill, now take a right turn, look to your right and see who you’ve dropped, we’re going downhill, pick up your speed,” and so on.

When a fellow JCC member suggested I organize a group bike ride outdoors, interest spread quickly. The JCC spin bike ride was a big success, and I’m looking forward to doing it again this summer.

Alice Klein President, NCJW-Omaha Section The Omaha Section of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) has been busy communicating with its members recently. Several mailings have gone out.

• Did you get your donor request?

Through donations we support several efforts in the area, including programs for the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, the Physically and Visually Impaired, Children and Youth, Israel, Mini-Grants for Teachers, Resources Available for Teens, AdoptA-School, and programs in Israel. With larger donations we can add more programs and expand the ones we have. If you have not received your donor letter, please contact Sonia Tipp at 402.408.5657 or stipp0811@yahoo.com.

• Did you get your Spring Bulletin?

Besides NCJW Omaha Section having Facebook, twitter, and website pages, we mail a bulletin to members to let them know what is going on with both NCJW here and nationally. If you did not get your bulletin, please let me know - Alice Klein at 402.991.7303 or aklein547@cox.net. In addition, the current bulletins and past bulletins can be found through our website at ncjwomaha.org/bulletins/.

• Did you get your Member Directory?

Our directory contains a list of our members with address, phone number,

and email address. If you did not get your directory, please contact Jen Koom at 402.699.4602 or jenkoom@cox.net. If you find errors or omissions, please contact Alice Klein at 402.991.7303 or aklein547 @cox.net. In addition, we remind you that the directory is a major fundraiser for us.

Please patronize our advertisers who are supporting us with their ads.

• NCJW Omaha Section Board Election.

Looking ahead, we are getting ready for

our election and installation of next year’s NCJW Omaha Section Board. The election committee has been busy, and the slate of nominations will be presented at our election meeting on Monday, May 8 at 7 p.m. in the Rose Blumkin Board Room.

All members are encouraged to attend to vote. Refreshments will be provided.

• Board Installation and Awards.

Our installation of newly-elected officers will be held the evening of Thursday, June 29. Dessert will be served and NCJW annual awards will be presented. Invitations to members will be sent out in June.

Come and bring a friend. Learn more about where NCJW is going and what you can do. Honor our award winners and incoming board.

American idealism and skepticism meet in a Chicago donut shop in this dark comedy.

Class of 2017 HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS

High School Seniors and Parents

We will be publishing our annual High School Graduation Class pages on May 19, 2017.

To be included, fill out the form below with a photo and send it to us or you can email the information and photo to: jpress@jewishomaha.org by May 1, 2017.

MAY 5 – JUNE 4, 2017

By Tracy Letts Directed By Susan Baer Collins

High School Senior Information

________________________________________________________________________ Name ________________________________________________________________________ Parent(s)’ Name(s) ________________________________________________________________________ Current High School ________________________________________________________________________ College you plan to attend Send by May 1, 2017 to: The Jewish Press | 333 So. 132 St. | Omaha, NE 68154

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Celebrate Israel with an Israeli-themed Shabbat Dinner at Beth Israel MARy Sue GRoSSMAn Beth Israel Synagogue On the heels of the celebration of Yom Hautzmaut earlier in the week, Beth Israel Synagogue will celebrate with an Israeli-themed Shabbat dinner on Friday, May 5, followed by a special class by Beth Israel’s Visiting Scholar, Rabbi Shlomo Abramovich.

The evening will begin with Mincha, Maariv and Kabbalat Shabbat services at 7:30 p.m., followed by Shabbat dinner.

Rabbi Abramovich’s class, What is Jewish About the Jewish State will take place after dinner. Dinner is $12 for adults, $6 for ages 4-12, and is Rabbi Shlomo Abramovich free of charge for those under 4. Reservations are needed by May 3.

“While Israel celebrates its independence, the question is

being debated if Israel should continue to be a Jewish state and what is the meaning of being a Jewish state”, shared Rabbi Abramovich. “My talk will touch on these issues while looking at Israel’s history and the role of the IDF and aliyah in the modern state.”

With a master’s in Jewish History from Bar Ilan University and as a Ph.D. candidate in Jewish History from Bar Ilan, Rabbi Abramovich is well suited to speak during this Israel focused evening. Rabbi Abramovich teaches a variety of classes at Beth Israel, including The Tales of Rabbi Nachman, Jewish Ethics and an on-going Hebrew class. He is part of Beth Israel’s outreach program at Creighton, UNO and UNL and works with NCSY, leads Eye on Israel for the Jewish Federation, and holds a weekly class for Blumkin residents and also leads many individual learning sessions.

Reservations for Shabbat dinner are needed by May 3 and can be made by calling the Beth Israel office at 402.556.6288, emailing bethisrael@orthodoxomaha.org, or through the synagogue website at www.orthodoxomaha. org. All events are open to the community. For additional information, please call 402.556.6288.

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Lawmakers pledge to mandate Holocaust education JTA NEWS STAFF Some 26 legislators representing 20 states have committed to introduce legislation that would require public schools to teach about the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide and other genocides. e states are among the 42 in the United States that do not already require education on genocide awareness and prevention, the New York-based Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect said in announcing that it had obtained the commitments as part of its 50 State Genocide Education Project to mandate genocide education in public schools across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. e center made the announcement on Monday, observed this year both as Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. It asked the state legislators to sign a pledge to introduce legislation that would require genocide education, or in

In the news

Holden Reece Fried, son of Eric and Melody Fried of Lubbock, Texas, grandson of the late William G. and Marilyn Bernstein Fried, longtime residents of Omaha, and Ted and Ruthie Jenkins of Paris, Tennessee, will graduate from Texas Tech University with majors in Biochemistry and Mathematics in May. He will be inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society, one of only 60 invited this year from Texas Tech’s student body of 36,500 students. He was also awarded the American Chemical Society’s Organic Division Undergraduate Award as TTU’s most outstanding senior organic chemistry student, the Mathematics Scholarship for the Kappa Mu Epsilon National Mathematics Honor Society, and the Outstanding Senior Award in Chemistry and Biochemistry, for the top senior in all Chemistry and Biochemistry majors at Texas Tech University.

Holden will enter the PhD program in Bioengineering at Tufts University in Boston this fall, where he has been awarded a graduate assistantship and a full tuition scholarship.

some cases to strengthen a state’s existing requirement through a commission or task force. e 26 legislators have signed the pledge, the center said in a statement. e 20 states are Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington. ree states -- Florida, Illinois and New Jersey -- require genocide education from grades K-12, and have a state commission or task force to keep genocide education comprehensive and up to date. California and Michigan require genocide education from grades 7 or 8 through 12, and have a state commission or task force. Indiana, New York and Rhode Island mandate genocide education from grades 7 or 8 through 12 but do not have a commission or task force.

Looking ahead

Cantor Wendy Shermet and Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin recently went to visit Rabbi Brian Stoller at his current congregation in Chicago to continue planning for Rabbi Stoller’s becoming Senior Rabbi at Temple Israel.

Superior Donuts at the omaha Community Playhouse

Superior Donuts, by Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright a widely diverse community. The play was recently adapted for televiTracy Letts (Bug, August: Osage County), takes place in the historic sion and is currently a sitcom on CBS starring Judd Hirsch, as Arthur, Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, where Arthur Przybyszewski runs and Jermaine Fowler, as Franco. the donut shop that has been in his family for 60 years. Franco Wicks, This production is directed by former longtime Omaha Community a young black man and Arthur's only employee, wants to update the Playhouse associate artistic director Susan Baer Collins, who retired shop with healthy choices and music, but Arthur remains set in his in 2014, but recently returned to help direct the 41st annual production ways and reminisces about his Polish immigrant father. This provocative of A Christmas Carol. comedy, set in the heart of one of Chicago's most diverse communities, Tickets are available at the OCP Box Office, by calling explores the challenges of embracing the past and the redemptive 402.553.0800 or online at www.omaha Playhouse.com or power of friendship. www.Ticketomaha.com. Single tickets are $36 for adults and $22 Superior Donuts tells the tale of an unlikely friendship spanning two for students for Thursday–Sunday performances. Group rates are availgenerations and examines the true meaning of friendship and family in able for groups of 12 or more people.

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all events held at the Jewish Community Center unless otherwise noted. This calendar does not include all community events. For a complete listing, visit the Federation’s website: www.jewishomaha.org (click on calendar). To keep calendar accurate, call Pat Anson at 402.334.8200. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of the events.

FRIDAY, APRIL 28 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH OTYG Lock in and Elections begins at 5:45 p.m. at Temple Israel Scholar Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman, 6 p.m. at Temple Israel SATURDAY, APRIL 29 Scholar Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman, 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Temple Israel Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m. at Beth El

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We want to thank the Jewish community for their support, and we look forward to serving all of you in the future.

We hope to see you at brunch on Sunday.

SUNDAY, APRIL 30 Temple Israel Breakfast Service, 7:30 a.m. at Stephen Center Temple Israel Scholar Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman, 10 a.m.

BESTT Sunday School, 9:45 a.m. at Beth El Religious School, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel TED Talk, 11 a.m. at Temple Israel Jake Lucoff Walk/Run for Camp Scholarships, 1 p.m.

Musical Theater Rehearsal, 3 p.m.

Beth El Cooking/Serving at Stephen Center, 5:30 p.m. at Stephen Center, 2723 Q St MONDAY, MAY 1 Yom Ha’Atzmaut Festival, 5:30 p.m.

B’nai B’rith Jewish Trivia Contest, 6 p.m.

Yom Ha'Atzmaut Festival Movie, 7 p.m.

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 3 Breadbreakers, noon at RBJH Religious School, 4 p.m. at Temple Israel BESTT Hebrew School, 4:15 p.m. at Beth El Hebrew High Dinner, 6 p.m. at Beth El Adult Education Class, 6:30 p.m. at Temple Israel BESTT Hebrew High, 6:45 p.m. at Beth El THURSDAY, MAY 4 Women’s Class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel FRIDAY, MAY 5 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH Tot & Family Shabbat & Dinner, 6 p.m. at Beth El High School Senior Celebration, 6 p.m. at Temple Israel SATURDAY, MAY 6 Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel BESTT Junior Congregation, 10 a.m. at Beth El Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m. at Beth El SUNDAY, MAY 7 BESTT Sunday School, 9:45 a.m. at Beth El Religious School, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Temple Tots Sunday, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel BESTT Torah Tots, 10:30 a.m. at Beth El JCC Dance Recital: Cast B, 4 p.m.

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MONDAY, MAY 8 IHE Governance Council Mtg, 11:30 a.m.

Eye on Israel with Rabbi Abramovich, noon JCC Dance Recital: Cast B, 6 p.m.

Jewish Press Board Meeting, 5:30 p.m.

FJA Board of Directors Meeting, 7 p.m. at FJA

TUESDAY, MAY 9 Sokolof Awards Reception, 7 p.m. at RBJH WEDNESDAY, MAY 10 Breadbreakers, noon at RBJH Religious School, 4 p.m. at Temple Israel BESTT Hebrew School, 4:15 p.m. at Beth El Adult Education Class, 6:30 p.m. at Temple Israel BESTT Hebrew High, 6:45 p.m. at Beth El JCC Dance Recital: Cast A, 7 p.m.

THURSDAY, MAY 11 Women’s Class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel Budget and Financial Review, 5 p.m. at RBJH JCC Dance Recital: Cast A, 7 p.m.

Temple Israel TiYPE Trivia Night, 7 p.m. at Varsity Sports FRIDAY, MAY 12 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH Shabbat Service/Confirmation, 6 p.m. at Temple Israel Shabbat Services, 7:30 p.m. at B’nai Israel-Council Bluffs SATURDAY, MAY 13 Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel BESTT Junior Congregation, 10 a.m. at Beth El Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m. at Beth El Kids Night Out, 5:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, MAY 14 Musical Theater Rehearsal, 3 p.m.

TUESDAY, MAY 16 Board of Trustees, 7 p.m. at Temple Israel WEDNESDAY, MAY 17 Breadbreakers, noon at RBJH BESTT Hebrew School, 4:15 p.m. at Beth El BESTT Hebrew High, 6:45 p.m. at Beth El THURSDAY, MAY 18 Women’s Class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Adult Study with the Clergy, 10 a.m. at Temple Israel FRIDAY, MAY 19 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH SATURDAY, MAY 20 Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel BESTT Junior Congregation, 10 a.m. at Beth El Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m. at Beth El SUNDAY, MAY 21 BESTT Sunday School, 9:45 a.m. at Beth El BESTT Torah Tots, 10:30 a.m. at Beth El Musical Theater Rehearsal, 3 p.m.

THURSDAY, MAY 25 Women’s Class, 9:30 a.m. at Beth Israel Friedel Jewish Academy Graduation and Reception, 6:30 p.m.

FRIDAY, MAY 26 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH SATURDAY, MAY 27 Temple Tots Shabbat, 9 a.m. at Temple Israel Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m. at Beth El SUNDAY, MAY 28 Musical Theater Rehearsal, 3 p.m.

The Jewish Press | April 28, 2017 | 11

community This young chef is trying to make Ashkenazi food cool

Ben SAleS cuisines, from Italian pasta to Chinese stir-fry, have become CHICAGO | JTA common in a home cook’s repertoire, but traditional Amerhe platter, served during Passover, contained a ican Jewish food -- even among American Jews -- is genergreen, a bitter herb, an egg and matzah. But it ally relegated to Rosh Hashanah and Passover, if at all. was no seder plate. “e base for most Jews in America is that Jewish food Instead, it was the appetizer served during a at best is bland, except the one or two things that someone six-course prix fixe meal at Aviv, a pop-up, does really well, that someone does once a year,” Posner kosher-for-Passover restaurant housed for one night at said. “Jewish food is really holiday food and doesn’t exist Rodfei Zedek, a Conservative synagogue in the Hyde Park in the daily kitchen of most American Jews. In what ways neighborhood on this city’s South Side. can Jewish food have a cuisine the way we have French e course, a pickle platter, featured pickled cucumbers, cuisine or Italian cuisine?” pickled asparagus tips and beet-pickled eggs, along with According to Liz Alpern, the Gefilteria’s co-founder, she olive tapenade, citrus-carrot horseradish and -- de rigueur and other Jewish foodies are merging their generation’s culifor a Passover meal -- Tam Tam crackers with everything The Pickle Platter at Aviv included pickled cucumbers, pickled asparagus nary sensibilities with Jewish culture. Just like previous gentopping. e first course also came with a so gluten-free tips, beet-pickled eggs, olive tapenade, citrus-carrot horseradish, Tam erations cared about low-fat diets, these young Jewish chefs Credit: Aleya Cydney Photography are buying their ingredients at farmers’ markets, avoiding matzah that resembled a tea cracker and, as guests noted Tams and matzah. holiday’s fourth night, for $54 a head. “is is a meal and a approvingly, didn’t really taste like matzah. processed foods and making sure their dishes have color. pop-up restaurant that celebrates spring. e food will be Aviv had taken over what was usually the synagogue so“A lot of people we knew really loved cooking locally green, the food will be bright and it will be delicious.” cial hall, with guests seated at long tables covered with dissourced, high-quality meat, but when it came to Jewish cookWhile success stories like Michael Solomonov and Einat posable white table cloths. e courses, served on ing, like when it came to making a brisket, they didn’t care, Admony may have made Israeli food all the rage in the U.S., really,” Alpern said. “e ways this is different is it’s a coming biodegradable dishes, included a shaved Brussels sprouts Wandering Foods is one of several recent enterprises that salad with lemon-ginger dressing and micro-herbs, as well together of our values as a generation around food, and our aim to make Ashkenazi food hip. ere’s the Gefilteria, as whole-roasted spiced cauliflower with seared haloumi love of Jewish cooking and authenticity and tradition.” which has resurrected traditional recipes for gefilte fish, cheese, parsley gremolata and marinated Fresno chilies.

Plus, tasty food can be an accessible entry point for many horseradish and borscht with an emphasis on local, seae pop-up restaurant was the latest creation of Wanderinto other modes of Jewish life. More events like this, Possonal ingredients. ere’s the Wandering Chew, which creing Foods Productions, a kosher food caterer that aims to ner said, could draw young Jews to large synagogues that ates artisanal Montreal-style Jewish food and conducts create kosher fine dining experiences that fuse traditional may fail to attract them to Shabbat services. David Minkus, culinary walking tours of Mile End, the Canadian city’s Jew- rabbi of Rodfei Zedek, which hosted the Passover pop-up, Jewish recipes with other cuisines. Wandering Foods is the ish neighborhood, complete with tastings of bagels and brainchild of Jonathan Posner, a lanky, 26-year-old rabbiniagreed that a synagogue can, for various reasons, be the smoked meat. Zak Stern, aka Zak the Baker, a kosher deli cal student with a baritone voice and five years of experiright place for a Jewish culinary event. owner in an artsy Miami neighborhood, makes his sandence working in upscale Chicago restaurants.

“I thought it was an opportunity to reshape the way peowiches with fresh-baked sourdough bread.

“How to rethink what Passover is like and what it means ple think about having kosher food, how they think about Despite the accolades garnered by these food entrepreto eat on Passover” is how Posner, dressed in a black T-shirt eating in a synagogue,” he said of Aviv. “I didn’t understand neurs, Posner still feels that Ashkenazi foods like brisket and with a pinstriped apron, described Aviv as he welcomed 35 why synagogues didn’t use their kitchens, which are usually kugel get short shri. He asks why other international See Ashkenazi food page 15 people to the first of two sold-out seatings on April 13, the

The Jewish Federation of Omaha is excited to be a part of this amazing grant opportunity!

A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TO

Fund your Jewish organization’s* operations, project or program with a Staenberg Family Foundation Anything Grant.

Eligible grant applications could be for anything, including: • Hiring a nonprofit consultant • Purchasing technology • Staff/Board professional development

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• Building beautification/improvement *Available to Jewish organizations in Omaha, Lincoln and Council Bluffs, IA

For more information visit www.jewishomaha.org/education/scholarships-and-grants/view/anything-grants/ Questions? Contact Louri Sullivan at lsullivan@jewishomaha.org.

12 | The Jewish Press | April 28, 2017

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(Founded in 1920) eric Dunning President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor richard Busse Creative Director Susan Bernard Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Thierry Ndjike Accounting Jewish Press Board Eric Dunning, President; Andy Ruback, Past-President; Sandy Friedman, Treasurer; Andrew Boehm; Paul Gerber; Alex Grossman; Jill Idelman; Mike Kaufman; David Kotok; Debbie Kricsfeld; Abby Kutler; Pam Monsky; Paul Rabinovitz and Barry Zoob.

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Y

Let’s celebrate together!

ANNeTTe vAN De KAMP-WrIGhT Editor of the Jewish Press om Ha’atzmaut, the fifth of Iyar, falls on Monday May 1 this year. Do you know where you are going to be that night? We hope the answer is: “at the Jewish Community Center,” because a big party is being planned for 5:30 p.m. and you’re all invited.

Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day, is a national holiday in Israel and everyone has the day off. That doesn’t go for Jews in the diaspora, unfortunately, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate. It’s kind of a big deal, the official establishment of the State of Israel and we should treat it as such.

Being proud of Israel, celebrating its establishment as well as its continued existence, is nothing to scoff at. It is, nowadays, also not something that is without criticism. Israel and its politicians aren’t perfect, of course, but between the relentless anti-Zionist PR machine and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (with a side helping of anti-Semitism and never ending negative UN resolutions) it sometimes seems as if saying out loud that one loves Israel is asking for trouble. It’s unpopular.

How do we as Diaspora Jews respond to that? Especially since so much of the anti-Israel criticism seems to be born from ignorance? Do we keep trying to educate, in one-onone conversations or, heaven forbid, online discussions?

To be honest, there are times when I won’t even listen if the criticism comes from someone who’s never set foot in the Middle East. Someone who couldn’t find Jordan or Lebanon if you asked them to point it out on a map, someone who’s never stood at the border and realized just how close Israel’s neighbors really are.

Forgive me. I’m getting cranky and that was not the purpose of this editorial. Back to the party.

In Israel, the festivities start a few minutes after sun-

down on Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day, when the flag is raised on Mount Herzl from half-mast to the top of the pole.

Representatives from the Navy, the Air-Force and the Army parade their flags, after which there is a torch lighting ceremony. Then, the next day, Israeli families celebrate in every

possible way, from hiking and dancing to attending any of the street performances. At the conclusion of Yom Ha’atzmaut, the Israel Prize is delivered to individual Israelis for their unique contribution to the country’s culture, science, arts, and the humanities.

In Omaha, we will celebrate on a slightly smaller scale,

but we will celebrate nonetheless.

From 5:30 until 7 p.m., there will be a children’s carnival with plenty of games. The JCC Pavilion allows you to travel Israel through games, inflatables, face painting, tattoo artist, and balloon art. Even better: there are prizes to win! Israeli Teens from our Partnership Area will be here to help bring a true Israeli vibe to our celebration. Food from Star Catering will be available for purchase. We recommend parking in the Fitness Center parking lot. In the event of inclement weather, the event will be held indoors.

The 17th Annual B’nai B’rith Trivia Contest will take place in the Social Hall from 6 to 7 p.m. Participants can win cash prizes for themselves and their favorite local Jewish charity. Advanced sign up is required. Please email bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org or call 402.334.6443 for details or to register.

At 7 p.m., join us for a free screening of Bar Bahar (or In Between) on the big screen in the JCC Theater. Bar Bahar tells the story of three Palestinian women living in an apartment in Tel Aviv, as they try to find a balance between traditional and modern culture. Special Israeli concessions will be available during the film.

Stick around after the movie for a reception in the JCC Gallery featuring delicious Israeli street food, beer, and Kosher wine. This portion of the event is open to community members, ages 21+. (I borrowed all these details from Jewishomaha.org) All events are free. Whether you come early and stay for the entire program, or whether you attend only one portion of the evening, we truly hope to see you there. Remember: the best way to celebrate is when we do so together.

This program is made possible with the support of the Herbert Goldsten Trust, the IAC, and the following Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation Funds: Special Donor Advised Fund, the Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Supporting Foundation and the Murray H. and Sharee C. Newman Supporting Foundation.

ANDreW SILoW-CArroLL quarter of women are in the labor force; not Mali, NEW YORK | JTA where adult women’s literacy is only 29 percent.

Recently the Palestinian-American activist Recently, Sarsour responded to a critic who Linda Sarsour started a fundraising campaign to asked why activists need to check their Zionism at help restore the graves at a St. Louis-area Jewish cemetery damaged by vandalism. The Jewish community there and across the country welcomed the effort -- wildly successful, as it turned out -- as a lovely moment in interfaith solidarity.

“It’s sad that it’s happening in the midst of tragedy, but it’s a beautiful gesture,” Rabbi Brigitte Rosenberg of the United Hebrew Congregation in St. Louis told the Forward.

Gratitude like Rosenberg’s largely drowned out the voices, mostly from the right, of those who charged that Sarsour’s efforts were a “cynical atWomen wave Palestinian flags at a New York City park tempt” to distract critics from her support for the to mark International Women’s Day, March 8, 2017.

Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment movement.

Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images A basic principal of coalition building – of civil society, in fact – is putting aside disagreements the door when signing on to a feminist platform. on specific issues to work together on the things “I identify as a Zionist because I support Isyou can agree on. In this case, Jews and Muslims rael’s right to exist as a Jewish state,” Emily Shire have a mutual self-interest in standing up to bigwrote in The New York Times. “I am happy to deotry, even if they disagree on some major issues. bate Middle East politics or listen to critiques of If Sarsour accepts this principle, it’s not clear Israeli policies. But why should criticism of Israel from her role as an architect of the International be key to feminism in 2017?”

Women’s Strike USA, the grassroots feminist Asked by The Nation to respond to Shire, Sarmovement that organized events around the sour was unequivocal: If by Zionist you mean world on International Women’s Day. In addition someone who doesn’t accept the platform’s sinto calling for gender equality, an end to racial and gular focus on Israel, then no, you can be a Zionsexual violence, and protection of reproductive ist or a feminist, but you can’t be both. rights, the group’s platform includes a plank “For “It just doesn’t make any sense for someone to an Antiracist and Anti-imperialist Feminism” say, ‘Is there room for people who support the that demands “the decolonization of Palestine.” state of Israel and do not criticize it in the move“We want to dismantle all walls, from prison ment?’ There can’t be in feminism,” Sarsour said. walls to border walls, from Mexico to Palestine,” “You either stand up for the rights of all women, the platform continues. including Palestinians, or none. There’s just no It is important to note that “Palestine” is menway around it.” tioned twice in the brief platform; no other counSarsour can’t seem to imagine a movement in try or people is specifically singled out as a cause which activists might disagree on certain issues to be embraced or a target for activism – not but can work together on others. In the name of India or any one of 49 nations that don’t crimiintersectionality, she is willing to lose useful allies nalize marital rape; not Pakistan, where just onewho cannot sign on to every plank of her platform.

In her remarks, Sarsour also alleged that Palestinian-American women hesitate to get involved in social justice causes because they fear becoming “an immediate target of the right wing and rightwing Zionists.”

But Sarsour also focuses on “right-wing Zionists” at the exclusion of all others. She doesn’t leave room for Israelis who might share her social justice agenda, not only when it comes to feminism but to Palestinian women as well.

Such thinking seems infectious. Writing about the Shire-Sarsour debate in New York magazine, Eric Levitz explained, “To a Palestinian woman in the West Bank, no issue may appear more central to her liberation than the end of the Israeli occupation. To a Zionist woman in Tel Aviv -- whose family tree lost branches to Hitler and then to Hamas -- no issue may seem less relevant to her interests. The feminist movement has no choice but to represent one woman, and not the other.”

Really? No choice? Because I can point to Israeli women who have lost family members in the Holocaust and to terrorism, and who care deeply about women’s – and all people’s – rights in both countries.

The Women’s Strike platform is not just asking followers to “criticize” Israel, but to do so in terms insisted upon by Sarsour and the BDS movement: Israel as a colonialist and racist enterprise. There’s no mention of peace, only of a “decolonization” of a Palestine whose borders are never specified -- because, one suspects, the BDS movement cannot bring itself to recognize Israel’s right to exist. There is no room in the coalition for the Israeli -- left, right or center -- who wants women on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide to enjoy full rights, but who believes with good reason that the platform’s framing of the conflict is a recipe for eternal violence.

According to the Women’s Strike platform, “We celebrate the diversity of the many social groups that have come together for the See The false choice page 13

The false choice between Zionism and feminism

The Jewish Press | April 28, 2017 | 13

Open House on Memorial Day On Memorial Day (which this year begins on Sunday night April 30), Israel does not just remember its fallen soldiers -- it also embraces the bereaved families. In practice what this means is that there is a kind of “open house” at the homes of most bereaved families. If you are friendly with a bereaved person, you try to visit them on Memorial Day, though given the TEDDY unfortunately large number of beWEiNBERGER reaved families, you might not get to everyone on your list each year.

This custom was powerfully brought home to me a few years ago. I had become friendly with Yossi Uziel, the bereaved father of Gabi Uziel, who died in combat in 2003 at the age of 20. A few days after Memorial Day that year, word got back to me that Yossi was disappointed that I hadn’t visited him. I have tried not to let that happen again.

You can’t have an “open house” in Israel without providing guests with refreshments, and were it not for helpful friends and relatives, bereaved families would be overwhelmed on Memorial Day. For many years now my daugh-

ter Ruthie (26) has been one of the key helpers at the home of Miriam Peretz, just up the block from us. Miriam is bereaved of her son Uriel, who died in combat in Lebanon in 1998 at the age of 23; and of Eliraz, who died in combat in Gaza in 2010 at the age of 31, leaving behind a wife and 4 small children (Miriam’s Song, a book about Miriam Peretz’s life was translated into English in 2016). Ruthie has been friends since childhood with Miriam’s youngest child, BatEl. I asked Ruthie about what she does every Memorial Day and to say a little about why doing so is important to her.

The Peretz family returns from the Mt. Herzl military cemetery around 12:30 p.m. on Memorial Day (having stood near the graves of Uriel and of Eliraz during the nationwide 2-minute 11 a.m. siren). Ruthie starts working at 1 p.m. and for the next 5 hours does not stop. Ruthie’s main task at the Peretz home on Memorial Day is to act as head waitress. The order of the day is vegetable soup served on hand-made couscous (all cooked by Miriam’s sister Zahava). There’s also hot and cold drinks, snacks, and ices for the kids, including Miriam’s grandchildren.

The eldest Peretz daughter Hadas -- and only Hadas--ladles out the soup. She has developed an encyclopedic knowledge of the exact portion to be given to each guest as

well as the precise proportions of couscous to soup. Miriam and her family are well-known in Israel, and many hundreds of people pass through the Peretz home each Memorial Day afternoon. Guests include high-ranking army officers, philanthropists from abroad, and government officials. Besides serving, Ruthie’s other tasks include clearing up, taking out the garbage, rearranging tables and chairs, and in general being at the beck and call of Miriam.

Why is Ruthie so committed to being at the Peretz home?

Ruthie told me: “Years ago I understood that the Peretz family needs a lot of help on Memorial Day. Bat-El is one of my best friends. I’m a person who loves to help so I come and help. It’s the least I can do. They rely on me and they like me. I also have to say that Miriam feels very comfortable with me and so she has no problem ordering me around.” Ruthie adds: “The bereaved families always say that every day for them is Memorial Day. On Memorial Day it’s our chance to show that we remember them.

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.

“We’ve lived like that,” he says. “In a way we have lived Anne Frank’s life.”

Augustine Sosa, a gay man from Paraguay, says his “life is very similar to that of Anne Frank.”

A tearful Beatrix Marthe, an Austrian woman in her 30s, tells the filmmakers that she is crying not only for Anne but

analyzed the play in a 2015 essay.

The opera is a relatively a mild example of how Anne Frank’s memory is used by artists and activists.

A more controversial case is the reproduction in Amsterdam of images of Anne Frank wearing a kaffiyeh, the checkered shawl favored by pro-Palestinian activists. Postcards and T-shirts bearing the image, which was first circulated on social networks and adopted by activists seeking a boycott on Israel, were sold for years despite protests by Dutch Jews who said it suggested an equivalence between Israel and Nazi Germany.

The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam also objected to the image because it is “deeply hurtful, even in 2016,” the institution’s director, Ronald Leopold, told JTA last year at a symposium about the iconization of Anne Frank. The conference, featuring prominent scholars, was an attempt to understand what Anne Frank will mean to future generations.

In 2006, the Arab European League, a radical Belgiumbased Muslim rights group, posted on its website a caricature of Anne Frank in bed with Adolf Hitler. A Dutch appeals court in 2010 fined the organization for hate speech and ordered the offensive caricature removed, but it had spread on social media, where it circulates today.

And last year the Anne Frank Foundation criticized an escape room-style game in a southern Netherlands town made to look like Anne’s hiding place in Amsterdam.

A more mainstream attempt at recontextualization came in a New York Times op-ed from August 2016 titled Anne Frank Today Is a Syrian Girl. Columnist Nicholas Kristof likened U.S. reluctance to admit refugees from Syria to the refusal to take in most European Jews fleeing Nazism.

Anne Frank “is the holy trinity of symbolism: the child, the young woman, the Jew,” said Eyal Boers, an Israeli filmmaker and director of the 2009 Dutch-language documentary The Classmates of Anne Frank. “It’s not surprising that she is so attractive as an icon.”

But that power, he added, means that the Anne Frank story and its elements -- including Anne’s Jewish identity -“will ultimately transcend any attempt to twist it.”

Who is Anne Frank? The answers kindle a debate in her native Holland

CNAAN LipHsHiZ AMSTERDAM | JTA Decades after her death, Anne Frank’s restless spirit in heaven finally finds a soulmate in Zef Bunga, an Albanian teenager who was murdered in a revenge killing.

Anne falls in love with the Muslim boy. They kiss and they commiserate and bond over the injustice of their early deaths -- Zef in the 1990s in Tirana, Anne in 1945 in the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp.

This original take on the Anne Frank story is the plot line of a 2015 opera for children titled Anne and Zef. Critical of the Nazi genocide as it is of Albanian revenge killings, the show was performed last month at the National Holocaust Museum here by singers and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.

Based on a 2009 play of the same name, the Anne and Zef opera is a recent addition to a growing but controversial slew of artworks and essays that examine the Anne Frank icon outside of her historical context.

As witnesses to the Holocaust leave this world, proponents of such adaptations say they are necessary to keep the message and memory of the genocide relevant and accessible to future generations. Yet opponents argue that such projects blur historical accuracy, obfuscating, diluting and ultimately cheapening the memory of the Holocaust.

After decades where she was largely thought of as the quintessential Jewish victim of the Holocaust, “in the past 20 years Anne Frank has come to symbolize the victim of all of the world’s evils,” said David Barnouw, author of the 2012 book The Anne Frank Phenomenon. Barnouw is a former researcher at the Dutch Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

The debate on whether Frank’s story should be viewed and taught as a particular case of the genocide against the Jews or more generally as a story of a child victim of war is as old as the diary itself, which has been translated into dozens of languages since its publication in 1947. A 1955 Broadway play and the 1958 Hollywood version were dogged by accusations that their creators had made her story less Jewish and more universal.

But amid rising levels of anti-Semitic hatred in Europe and on social networks, appropriations of the Anne Frank symbol have rekindled the debate among scholars and activists.

“Everyone took Anne Frank for their own beliefs, and with Zef it’s just the same: ‘Yeah, we’re all victims,’ etc.,” Barnouw said, adding that he does “not feel comfortable with this” but despite his objections, “this is the general perception today.”

The creeping decontextualization of the Anne Frank story is the main theme of a 2014 Dutch documentary featuring interviews with dozens of the roughly 1 million people who each year stand in line for hours to enter the Anne Frank House -- the Amsterdam museum that was set up at her family’s former hiding place.

In the film, titled In Line for Anne, an activist for African-American rights from Texas, Omowale LuthuliAllen, compares Anne’s experience to that of blacks living under segregation.

Lilian Farahani and Benjamin de Wilde portraying Anne Frank and Zef Bunga at the National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam, March 5, 2017.

Credit: Cnaan Liphshiz also for her grandfather, a soldier who fought in Adolf Hitler’s army. Other interviewees include Tibetan monks who say Anne is the ultimate symbol for their quest for independence from China.

An eccentrically dressed British mother explains that she brought her teenage daughter to the museum so she would feel more comfortable wearing flamboyant clothes even though it makes her “excluded.”

Such interpretations are part of what makes the “reception of the Anne Frank story after the war a sad affair,” said Yves Kugelmann, a volunteer board member of the Anne Frank Foundation, which Anne’s father, Otto, founded in Basel in the 1960s and the designated heir to the family’s archive, including the diary.

“The bottom line is that the broad public’s knowledge about her is inaccurate, decontextualized and therefore easy to distort,” Kugelmann said. “She’s become an iconized saint instead of a real Jewish girl who was in hiding from the Nazis and their Dutch collaborators.”

He added that Anne Frank has been “transformed into a kind of kitsch and everbody uses her for anything.”

But the use of Anne Frank as a symbol for causes unrelated with her life and death can amplify the lessons of her diary and the Holocaust, according to Ernst van Bemmel van Gent, an Amsterdam lawyer with Jewish roots who visited the Holocaust museum for the first time to catch the Anne and Zef opera.

“Seeing it here, next to a room commemorating the victims, adds another dimension to my understanding of the Holocaust,” van Gent told JTA. The play and opera “break from taboos on representing the Holocaust” because they present it “not as unique, but together with other forms of violence,” according to Cock Dieleman and Veronika Zangl, Dutch theater scholars who

The false choice

Continued from page 12 International Women’s Strike. We come from many political traditions but are united around the following common principles.”

Like the Black Lives Matter platform issued last year, however, the Women’s Strike version seems engineered to specifically exclude one social group: supporters of Israel who do not buy into a one-sided condemnation of Israel, who believe it doesn’t deserve to be singled out among all the conflicts in which men and women have been oppressed, marginalized or exploited -- and who don’t accept that the only solution worthy of discussion is the one that leaves no room for a Jewish state.

14 | The Jewish Press | April 28, 2017

synagogues B’nai israel synagogue

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

Beth el synagogue

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

Beth israel synagogue

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

ChaBad house

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

Congregation B’nai Jeshurun

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

offutt air forCe Base

Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road Offutt AFB, NE 68123 402.294.6244

rose Blumkin Jewish home

323 South 132 Street Omaha, NE 68154

temple israel

Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive Omaha, NE 68144-1206 402.556.6536 templeisraelomaha.com

tifereth israel

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

B’nai israel synagogue

Join us for our monthly Shabbat Speakers Series on may 12, at 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker Dick Fellman, he will offer reflections on his recent trip to Paris to celebrate his granddaughter’s Bat Mitzvah. Oneg to follow service. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel!

Our services are led by lay leader Larry Blass.

For information on our historic synagogue, please contact any of our board members: Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Carole Lainof, Marty Ricks, Sissy Silber, Nancy Wolf and Phil Wolf.

Beth el synagogue

Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman. friday: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. saturday: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. featuring Shabbat speaker, Ivan Gilreath, President and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of the Midlands; Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8 p.m. weekday serViCes: Sundays, 9:45 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. sunday: BESTT Classes, 9:45 a.m.; Kevah 5th and 6th Grade, 9:45 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:15 a.m.; 7th Grade Parent Meeting, 11:30 a.m.; Dinner at Stephen Center, 5:30 p.m. wednesday: BESTT Classes, 4:15 p.m.; USY Elections, 5 p.m.; Israeli Night (Grades 8-12), 6 p.m. at the JCC. Drop off and pick up at the JCC. Family/Tot Shabbat, friday, may 5, 6 p.m.

Graduation & Teacher Appreciation Shabbat, friday, may 5, 6 p.m.

Scholar-in-Residence Shabbat Speaker, Dr. Baruch Feldstern, saturday, may 6, 9:30 a.m.

Sunday Scholar Series, sunday, may 6, 11:15 a.m., featuring Dr. Baruch Feldstern on Critiquing the Tradition from Within.

All classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.

Beth israel synagogue

Services conducted by Rabbi Ari Dembitzer. friday: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv & Kabbalat Shabbat, 7 p.m.; Candle Lighting, 8 p.m. saturday: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Insights in the Weekly Torah Reading, 7 p.m.; Mincha/Seudah Shlishit, 7:45 p.m.; Havdalah, 9:05 p.m. sunday: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Bagels & Beit Medrash, 9:45 a.m. monday: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Reb Nachman Class, noon; Hebrew Class, Level II, 7:30 p.m. tuesday & wednesday: Shacharit, 7 a.m. thursday: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Ethics Class with Rabbi Ari, 7:45 a.m.; Woman’s Class with Rabbi Ari, 9:30 a.m.; Lunch and Learn with Rabbi Shlomo, noon at UNMC.

ChaBad house

Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. friday: Shacharit, 7 a.m. followed by coffee, treats, study and shmoozing. saturday: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. followed by a festive kiddush luncheon. sunday: Shacharit, 8:30 a.m. followed by Sunday Secrets: Jewish Fun Facts class at 9:15 a.m. weekdays: Shacharit, 7 a.m. followed by coffee, treats, study and shmoozing. monday: Personal Parsha class, 9:30 a.m. with Shani. wednesday: New Tanya Series -- The Anatomy of Your Soul: Who Are You?, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Mendel Katzman. thursday: Advanced Talmud Class, noon with Rabbi Mendel Katzman.

All programs are open to the entire community.

Congregation B’nai Jeshurun

Services conducted by Rabbi Craig Lewis. friday: Pre-neg and Sha-ba-ba-bat Family Dinner, 6 p.m.; Shabbat Evening Service and Sha-ba-ba-bat Family Service, 6:30 p.m.; Candlelighting, 8:02 p.m. saturday: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Tazria-Metzora; Havdalah (72 Minutes), 9:33 p.m. sunday: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m. at Tifereth

Israel; LJCS Gesher, 10 a.m. at South Street Temple; Chichester Psalms: A Dialogue Sermon, 10:30 a.m. at St. Paul United Methodist Church (1144 M Street, Lincoln). Rabbi Lewis will be working with Pastor David Lux and his choir on to present a joint sermon on Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms; LCJS Teachers’ Meeting, 12:15 p.m. at Tifereth Israel; Board of Trustees Meeting, 1:30 p.m.; Yom Ha’Atzma’ut Celebration/ Israeli Dance Party, 3:30 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. tuesday: Kochavim Rehearsal, 6:45 p.m. wednesday: LJCS Hebrew School, 4 p.m. at TI. thursday: Trope Class, 6:15 p.m. with Michael Boekstal. Class participants will need The Art of Torah Cantillation

by Marshall Portnoy and Josee Wolff; Choir Rehearsal, 7 p.m.

33rd Annual Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast: Building Community in a Divided World, thursday may 4, 7:30 a.m. at Cornhusker Marriott Hotel (333 South 13th St) with guest speaker, Preeta Bansal, international advocate for religious freedom and interfaith cooperation. Cost: $30 per person. Please make checks payable to “Lincoln Community Foundation.” Payment deadline is April 28.

LJCS Last Day, sunday, may 7, 9:30 a.m. at TI. Please help us fund our Annual commitment to Clinic With a Heart. The funds we contribute help to pay for clinic supplies and prescription medications for the patients. Your tax deductible contribution to Clinic with a Heart can be made with a check to the Temple, designated for the clinic.

Help in our Temple Gardens! Help us get ready for a beautiful summer garden! How can you help? Tending the flower beds during the summer: We can also use help with routine weeding and trimming during the spring and summer. Help us keep a beautiful garden to enhance our Temple! Contact: Ellin Siegel at ellin7@aol.com or 402.525.4022 or the Temple Office and let us know you would like to help in the gardens.

LJCS CAMP ISRAEL, July 10–July 21, 9 a.m.–2 p.m. at TI. Kosher lunch and snack provided. LJCS enrolled students entering. Tuition for each week is $75 and if you are enrolling two or more children, the cost is $50 per child, per week. This program is open to children entering kindergarten through sixth grade.

Please send tuition checks payable to LJCS to Andrea at TI no later than July 1. Camp registration is required through LJCS.

offutt air forCe Base

friday: Services, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month.

rose Blumkin Jewish home

saturday: Services, 9:15 a.m. led by Alan Shulewitz.

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

temple israel

friday: Shabbat Service with Scholar - in - Residence Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman: A Jerusalem Synagogue That Changed the Way We Pray, 6 p.m.; OTYG Lock-In with Elections, 5:45 p.m.-saturday, 8, a.m. Calling all 8th-12th graders-join OTYG for our annual lock-in/elections at Temple Israel. $25 includes dinner, programming, and the social. RSVP required. saturday: Torah Study with Scholar Rabbi Levi WeimanKelman - Interfaith Dialogue in Jerusalem Today: How Jewish,

Christian and Muslim Leaders Share Their Stories, 9 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Services, 10:30 a.m. Bat Mitzvah of kennedy Clark, daughter of Kimara and Kevin Clark; Scholar Rabbi Levi WeimanKelman - Song of the Soul: A Jewish Prayer Workshop, 1 p.m. sunday: 5th Sunday Breakfast Service at Stephen Center, 7:30 a.m.; Coffee and Bagels with Scholar Rabbi Levi WeimanKelman: My Life in Israel: A Father, a Synagogue Rabbi, a Faith Leader, 10 a.m.; Grades K-6, 10 a.m.; Temple TED Talk, 11 a.m.; Relief Sculptures Dedication, 11:45 a.m. Join our religious school and our Clergy at the entrance courtyard as we dedicate these 3 beautiful relief sculptures brought over from the Cass Street building. Everyone is welcome!; Teacher Appreciation Lunch, noon. wednesday: Grades 3-6, 4 p.m.; Chapel for School, 4:30 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6 p.m.; Family School, 6 p.m.; Teen Trip to Israel Information Meeting, 7 p.m. at JCC. Dinner included. All Current 10th and 11th Graders and their parents will meet with Synagogue and Federation representatives to learn about the 2017 Teen Trip to Israel opportunity for next year’s 11th & 12th graders; Taste of Talmud II, 6:30 p.m. thursday: Music of Today as Prayer and Prayer of Today as Music: What’s it all About? 10 a.m. with Scott Littky.

High School Senior Sendoff and Celebration, friday, may 5, 6 p.m.

10th Grade Confirmation, friday, may 12, 6 p.m. annual meeting, tuesday, may 23, 6:30 p.m. Please join us for the Annual Meeting to honor Rabbi Darryl Crystal for his great service and leadership as our Interim Rabbi during this year of transition. We will also be voting on the Bylaws and the Board of Trustees 2017-2018 slate. Afterwards, we will enjoy a wine and cheese oneg.

tifereth israel

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 Morning Services, 10 a.m. followed

by Kiddush lunch. sunday: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m. at Tifereth Israel; LJCS Gesher, 10 a.m. at South Street Temple; LCJS Teachers’ Meeting, 12:15 p.m. at Tifereth Israel; Yom Ha’Atzma’ut Celebration/Israeli Dance Party, 3:30 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. wednesday: LJCS Hebrew School, 4 p.m. at TI. The 33rd Annual Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, thursday, may 4, 7:30 a.m. at Cornhusker Marriot Hotel (333 South 13th St.) Cost: $30 per person. Guest Speaker is Preeta Bansal, international advocate for religious freedom and interfaith cooperation.

Please make checks payable to “Lincoln Community Foundation.” Payment deadline is April 28.

LJCS Last Day, sunday, may 7, 9:30 a.m. at TI. LJCS CAMP ISRAEL, July 10–July 21, 9 a.m.–2 p.m. at TI. Kosher lunch and snack provided. LJCS enrolled students entering. Tuition for each week is $75 and if you are enrolling two or more children, the cost is $50 per child, per week. This program is open to children entering kindergarten through sixth grade.

Please send tuition checks payable to LJCS to Andrea at TI no later than July 1. Camp registration is required through LJCS. The date of the Tifereth Israel Annual Meeting has been changed from June 4 to may 21 at 3 p.m. Please mark your calendar and plan to attend.

Teen accused of threatening JCCs charged in Israel

JERUSALEM | JTA The Israeli-American teenager accused of making threats against JCCs in the United States was charged with extortion and several other offenses in a Tel Aviv court. The teen from Ashkelon, in southern Israel, was charged Monday in district court with thousands of counts on offenses that also include publishing false information, causing panic, computer hacking and money laundering. He was arrested in Israel last month in a joint operation with the FBI and cannot be named in reports originating from Israel.

According to the indictment, the teen, who has dual U.S. and Israeli citizenship, made threats to 2,000 institutions around the world, including the Israeli Embassy in Washington and other Israeli diplomatic missions, schools, malls, police stations, hospitals and airlines.

Threats to three airlines, including Israel’s na-

tional carrier El Al, led to planes making emergency landings, dumping fuel and requiring military escorts, according to the indictment.

He is also charged with threatening a Delaware lawmaker, Sen. Ernesto Lopez, for publicly criticizing the person who made the threatening calls to Jewish institutions, including sending illicit drugs to Lopez’s home and threatening to publish photographs and call the authorities to arrest him for possession. The teen also is charged with harassing a former Pentagon official, George Little, including threatening to kidnap and kill his children.

Other charges include buying drugs, running an online hacking and document forging service, buying and selling weapons online, and possession of child pornography, as well as the assault of an Israeli police officer who came to arrest him, according to The Times of Israel.

lifecycles In MEMoRIAM

GAlInA ElIzARovA

Galina Elizarova passed away on April 18 at age 58. Services were held April 21 at Beth El Cemetery.

She is survived by her husband, Alex Dobin; daughter and son-in-law, Anastasia Elizarova and Alexi Sher; sister and brother-in-law, Dianna Vinogradova and Alexi Govorov; mother-in-law, Vera Dobin; former mother-inlaw, Lora Elizarova; ex-husband, Igor Elizarov.

Galina was one of those unique people about whom no one could ever say anything bad.

Memorials may be made to the Hospice House of Omaha.

Anti-Semitic, racist fliers found on Princeton campus

JTA NEWS STAFF Fliers with anti-Semitic, racist and anti-immigrant messages were posted on the campus of Princeton University. e fliers were discovered in at least four areas of the campus on April 20, the Daily Princetonian student newspaper reported, including on the door to the main entrance of the campus Center for Jewish Life. e person posting the fliers was wearing dark clothing and a ski mask, the Daily Princetonian reported. e fliers were from a white nationalist organization called Vanguard America, which bills itself as a group for “White Nationalist American youth working to secure the existence of their people.”

Among the charges made on the flier: “Jews are 10% of Princeton’s students, an overrepresentation of 500%,” and 80 percent of the first Soviet government was Jewish.” e flier also was posted on the group’s Twitter feed on April 20, the anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s birthday. e fliers were removed aer a complaint was called in to the university. e campus Public Safety is investigating the fliers as a bias incident.

In an email to the campus community, Michele Minter, vice provost for institutional equity and diversity, said: “Princeton is committed to protecting and promoting free expression, but it regards actions that are threatening or harassing based on identity as serious offenses. ese flyers were contrary to the values of the university, which seeks to create and maintain an environment free from discrimination and harassment.”

Anti-Semitic incidents in the United States soared 86 percent in the first three months of 2017 aer rising by more than one-third in 2016, according to the AntiDefamation League. is year has seen preliminary reports of 541 anti-Semitic incidents through March. e 2017 incidents include 380 for harassment, including the 161 bomb threats, an increase of 127 percent over the first quarter of ’16; 155 for vandalism, including three cemetery desecrations, an increase of 36 percent, and six physical assaults, a decrease of 40 percent.

Ashkenazi food

Farewell to a Friend

Mikhail Mayzel, 1937-2017 He used to call me “journalisse” (jurnaluga in Russian). The joke originated not out of blank space but rather after the publication of my interview Lydia, the Daughter of the People’s Enemy in the local Jewish Press. The meaning of the word “journalisse” is ambiguous, and it largely depends on the speaker’s attitude - it may be positive, negative or even scornful. His was pure admiration! He said I created a journalistic masterpiece. I re-created another dark page of Stalin’s terror regime on the basis of the tragic fate of a two generations Moscow family. I used those journalistic tricks to get in touch with the Moscow Museum of the Revolution personnel to retrieve some copies of authentic documents relevant to this very family. Taken together, I constructed a live monument to the main character of the story – LYDIA – one of our Russian compatriots, now residing at the Rose Blumkin Nursing Home.

And he went on and on...

At that point I have to admit I had immense respect for Michael’s opinion, for he was in his own right a connoisseur of classic and modern Russian and western literature, art, theatre. I envied his outstanding memory power capable to keep most of the stuff he happened to read along his life – the names of the books and its authors, the subject matter, the main characters. And all this was in sharp contrast to me, who forgets everything that has been read only to enjoy it next time when rereading the same stuff as if anew!

Born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), the cultural capital of Russia, Michael was educated as an engineer but his inner calling was the Theatre.

At an early age he started there as a stage worker and went on to become an amateur actor, a director’s assistant, a director, a theatrical critic – whatever, the positon didn’t matter as long as it was the Theatre.

Surprisingly, Michael brought up the subject of the interview years later, when he returned from a short trip to Israel. He was overwhelmed with emotions. It was his dream come true. The country literally enchanted him. He would burst with impressions. Soon he passionately expressed himself into a lengthy poem The Israel I Saw and sent copies to his Russian buddies now residing in many countries. For the English speaking friends, he addressed me to translate the poem into English, which I dutifully did.

It was then that Michael asked me if I was in the mood for writing an interview about the Israel he saw. I said I needed time to think it over. I said he was not the only person to visit Israel. I said I couldn’t see the uniqueness of the story, an intrigue to be developed, something to hang onto, to make the story tense enough to keep the reader captivated... But he wouldn’t buy it. “Hey, don’t give me that, it’s up to the journalisse to make it all work!”

Still, I couldn’t bring myself to go ahead with the project and awfully regret it now, that Michael is gone!!!

And still, Michael’s main role in life was to be a husband to his beloved wife Larissa, a distinguished Russian language pedagogue, and a father to his three kids – Svetlana, an accomplished musician, Yulia, a PhD doctor and Maxim, the lawyer. “Good kids don’t grow like grass on the roadside, you have to nurture them,” he used to say. Above all, he was close to Max. “You know what, there is a special bond between father and son. A masculine one. An inborn and inseparable”.

A while ago, just before his last trip to the hospital and the ICU there, he called me to say he wanted to reread Ulysses by James Joyce. Just to refresh a few episodes.

But luck was not on his side this time.

Amen.

Mary Etus, Michael Mayzel family volunteer since 2000

cream and espresso.

Continued from page 11 “It’s not just a Sephardic-Ashkenazic mashup,” said Posner, large, industrial and kosher, to do something beyond servwho will also be hosting a regular supper club on the Upper ing kugel on Saturday aernoon.”

West Side of Manhattan beginning in May. “It’s taking specific Posner was raised in an observant Jewish family and was items, specific techniques, specific ingredients, understanding trained as a chef in downtown Chicago’s fancy restaurants. them in their own contexts and then making something that’s As he returned to Jewish observance as an adult, he knew greater than the sum of that working Friday and Satits parts.” urday nights -- the busiest Posner isn’t sure what times for restaurants -- would he’s going to do aer prevent him from keeping the rabbinical school or how Sabbath. So he le the restaulong he can sustain rant scene and two years ago Wandering Foods with a founded Wandering Foods.

Last year he entered rabbinifull course load. But he cal school at the Conservative said working in a movement’s Jewish eologikitchen and behind a cal Seminary in New York. pulpit aren’t all that difIn addition to elevating the Jonathan Posner, center, flanked by co-chefs Quincy Ream, right, and ferent. In both cases, he quality of Ashkenazi recipes, Garrett Skyhardt, at Aviv, Posner’s Passover pop-up restaurant in said, Posner feels he’s Chicago, April 13, 2017.

Credit: Aleya Cydney Photography leading “a life in service.”

Posner aims to fuse them with other cuisines, from Sephardi dishes to other Ameri“People seek out rabbis for a lot of the reasons they go to can and global culinary traditions. e matzah ball soup, restaurants,” he said. “ey go for the most momentous ocfor example, included shiitake mushrooms; for dessert, the casions of their lives. People want experiences. People want flourless chocolate cake was accompanied by green tea ice to feel cared for.”

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