May 5, 2023

The Jewish Press

Community Service Award

Cantor’s Concert

HAZZAN MICHAEL KRAUSMAN

Beth El Synagogue

Rick Recht is one of the most influential and celebrated Jewish artists and leaders of our time. He will be the featured artist at Beth El Synagogue’s upcoming Cantor’s Concert live and in the beautiful, newly renovated sanctuary on Sunday, May 21 at 4 p.m.

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press Editor

We rarely have the opportunity to hold a mirror up to ourselves and see how our own actions matter. This past February, “Clean Speech Nebraska” allowed all who participated to do this every day for 30 days. Clean Speech Nebraska, an initiative of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) was nominated for the annual Jewish Federation of Omaha Community Service Award. Clean Speech Nebraska

was a community-wide, month-long campaign to clean up our conversations, one word at a time. By encouraging mindfulness and personal awareness, we can create a more peaceful and respectful world, where our communities are united and connected.

Presented by the Jewish Community Relation Council (JCRC), Clean Speech Nebraska presented a month of videos featuring community members, and a workbook focused on being mindful of how we speak to each other when we disagree. Daily lessons were inspired by Jewish values.

See Community Service Award page 3

Woman of Valor: Joanie Lehr

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-

WRIGHT

Jewish Press Editor

Ed. Note: During Passover, we featured women in our community who have made a difference. Going forward, we continue this as a more permanent feature in the Jewish Press

Joanie Lehr has made the pages of the Jewish Press more than once. In her 1960 engagement announcement, she was called ‘Miss Joan,’ daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred S. Mayer, planning a wedding to Martin J. Lehr, son of Mrs. Sarah Lehr. In true 1960s fashion, her mother’s maiden name and first name were not included; back then it was common to refer to married women by their husband’s name only. By those rules, Joanie should have been known as ‘Mrs. Martin Lehr.’

That, however, was not the case: Joanie very much made a name for herself. By 1977, she was elected as Temple Israel’s first woman presi-

dent—the same year that Temple hired its first woman cantor.

Then-head Rabbi Sidney Brooks said: “I don’t follow the logic of my traditional brethren. I think we live in a world where women are asserting themselves—politically, economically and certainly spiritually.”

By the time Joanie assumed the board presidency, she had already been the president of the Temple Sisterhood, a member of Hadassah, the NCJW, and taught Sunday school for more than 15 years.

“I was born to volunteer,” she said. “I’ve always looked for ways to help, at the synagogue, but also at the Jewish Federation and at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, and I continue to do so to this day. Nowadays, I spend my time knitting for charity.”

Before she became president, she filled the roles of treasurer and vicepresident. It was not unexpected: “I told them when I joined the board,” Joanie said, “I would only do so if they See Woman of Valor page 2

Recht’s official website notes: “Rick’s innovations in Jewish music, media, and leadership training have had a profound impact on the fabric of Jewish life. Recht is the national celebrity spokesman for PJ Library and the founder and Executive Director of Songleader Boot Camp – a premiere national leadership training conference. Recht is the founder and Executive Director of Jewish Rock Radio and JKids Radio, the first high-caliber, 24/7 international Jewish music radio networks. He also serves as Artist in Residence at United Hebrew Congregation in St. Louis, Missouri. Rick Recht has 13 top selling Jewish albums, including his latest hit album, Here I Am.”

As in the past, proceeds from the concert will go to benefit the Seth Rich Memorial Camp Scholarship Fund which enables students to attend Jewish summer camps of every denomination. Jewish summer camping is fertile ground that nurtures and develops Jewish spirt, identity and commitment. Purchasing a ticket or sponsoring this event not only will provide you with an unforgettable afternoon of entertainment but is an investment in our future communal leadership.

It is most appropriate that this effort is presented in memory of Seth Rich. Seth Rich was part of our Beth El family. He attended Camp Ramah in Wisconsin for six years, participated in the Ramah Seminar in Israel and served as a staff member at Ramah Wisconsin for two years. Seth also attended Camp Sabra for one year. He was an outstanding example of how attending Jewish summer camps can benefit the individual, our communities, and the entire country. See Cantor’s Concert page 3

RBJH says Thank You! Page 3

The Women of the Intel Mafia Page 4

Welcome to the Matzo Factory; we’ll meet again!

Rick Recht

Joanie Lehr

Woman of Valor

Continued from page 1 were serious about one day having a woman as president.”

Joanie was born and raised in Omaha (her father Alfred was president of Temple Israel’s board before her) and attended Dundee Elementary as well as Central High. She calls Omaha one of the best kept secrets, and she loves living here: “It’s a community that has giving as its base, from grassroots efforts to big gestures and everything in between.

The Tri-Faith Initiative is a great example—it may not (yet) be perfect, but it is a most comfortable place.”

After high school, she went to Briarcliff College and Brandeis University.

Until his death in 2014, she was married to Marty for 54 years, and considers raising their three children “the most successful undertaking of my life.”

Those children include John, married to Sandy, daughter Susan and daughter and son-in-law, Cindy and Bruce Goldberg. In addition, there are five grandchildren: Avery and Jacob Lehr, Adam, Scott and Max Goldberg, and one greatgrandchild, Hila. Avery lives in Denver and is an attorney; Jacob works for the University of Washington and lives in Seattle; Adam made aliyah with his family and works for an AI company. Max has made St. Louis his home and works for Boeing; Scott is a rabbi at Leo Baeck

Temple in Los Angeles. They are all great lay leaders, she said: “Watching them become who they are, seeing their work ethic, how much they care about Tzedakah and about volunteering, both in and beyond the Jewish world really is inspiring. It carries on through the generations, and when I look at our grandchildren, I’d like to think I had something to do with who they have become.”

Tzedakah has always been important.

“I come from a classical Reform background,” she said, “so back then we

Mental Health

Hotlines and resources for teens

called it charity. I remember, when I received allowance, one part was for gifts, one part for charity and one part for me. As I grew older, it became more and more important. Jews should give to other Jews—there are fewer of us.”

Besides her parents, she credits Rabbi Brooks for teaching her about Judaism. She was 13 years old when he came to Omaha, and “the smartest person I’ve ever known. Besides, he was so accessible to all his congregants, no matter their age.”

Judaism has permeated her life since a young age. When it comes to Jewish role models, she said, “it’s always special to hear about the good ones. But when Jewish role models are bad, we pay attention too. I somehow have always felt there was a proper way to set an example, and I wanted to be a good messenger.”

The best advice she has now, is to take care of yourselves:

“If you care for yourself, you can care for others. Enjoy life, and be there for your loved ones. I try to be there for my children and grandchildren, and now my great-grandchild. Whatever is important to them is important to me. You know, my greatest joy is when we have a holiday table filled with children and grandchildren. It’s magnificent.”

GENERAL EMERGENCY SERVICES: Call or text 911. 988 SUICIDE AND CRISIS LIFELINE: Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for free and confidential support for people in distress. For TTY Users: Use your preferred relay service or dial 711 then 988.

LOVEIS: NATIONAL DATING ABUSE HELPLINE: Call 866.331.9474, text “LOVEIS” to 22522, or use TTY: 800.787.3224 to access 24/7 support if you or someone you know may be experiencing or is at risk for dating abuse. Remember that dating abuse is a pattern of behaviors used to gain or maintain power and control over a partner — physical violence is just one example of dating abuse.

NATIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING HOTLINE: Call 888.373.7888 or text “HELP” to 233733 for 24/7, confidential support if you or someone you know may be a victim of human trafficking. TTY: 711

NATIONAL RUNAWAY SAFELINE: Call 800.786.2929 (800.RUNAWAY) or text 66008 for 24/7 confidential and nonjudgmental support for youth considering running away from their living situation.

SAMHSA’S NATIONAL TREATMENT REFERRAL ROUTING SERVICE: Call 800.662.4357 (800.662.HELP) or text your zip code to 435748 (HELP4U) or use TTY: 800-487-4889 for free, confidential, 24/7 treatment referrals and information services (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental or substance use disorders.

STRONGHEARTS NATIVE HELPLINE: Call 844.762.8483 (844.7NATIVE) to access a free, confidential and anonymous, culturally appropriate 24/7 domestic, dating and sexual violence helpline for Native Americans.

THE TREVOR PROJECT: Call 866.488.7386 or text 678678 for 24/7 free and confidential support for LGBTQ youth. The Trevor Project provides trained counselors for young people in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgmentfree place to talk.

This series is sponsored by the Jewish Press and the Jennifer Beth Kay Memorial Fund.

Name Parent(s)’ Name(s)

Joanie Lehr with her grandchild

RBJH says Thank You!

MAGGIE CONTI

RBJH Director of Activities and Volunteer Services

On behalf of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, the staff wants to thank the Shirley & Leonard Goldstein Supporting Foundation, Anything Grants, Staenberg Family Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, and L.O.V.E (League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly) for the generous support in updating the RBJH auditorium audio-visual system. A working AV system will keep us on our mission of providing joy, purpose, and meaningful experiences.

With flawless friendly technology, the staff is already less frustrated; the technology has worked seamlessly. We can have a Zoom meeting with cameras; the cordless microphones work simultaneously and override the projector/videos for presentations. With the channel inverter system, we can show whatever we display in the auditorium to all the rooms and lounges on our in-house channel. The touchscreen system is simple; Residents and family members can use it when the staff is absent, perfect for evenings and off hours. We are excited to do more with less time with fewer headaches and annoyances.

Here are a few testaments of the success of the new RBJH Auditorium AV system.

Continued from page 1

The updated sound system is essential to our programming; it has been streamlined for efficiency and ensures all residents will hear the speaker clearly.

CHRISTINA CANIGLIA, Assistant Activities Director

Giving a presentation in the auditorium to our Residents connecting via Laptop, USB, or with the coming Mersivewirelessly should be easier for me and volunteers who would like to bring their travel stories and pictures or any presentation to the Residents.

SABINE STRONG, Volunteer Coordinator

We are thankful to have updated AV equipment in the RBJH Auditorium. This technology will allow us to seamlessly share movies and presentations with our Residents and their guests. Thank you for your generosity.

JILL OHLMANN, Activities Coordinator

Community Service Award

“Just as Jewish tradition offers guidelines for respectful, community-oriented speech,” JCRC Executive Director Sharon Brodkey said, “Clean Speech Nebraska encourages people of all faiths to cleanse their speech and be more mindful of the language they use. In fact, Clean Speech Nebraska was the first local initiative to focus specifically on respectful, community-building speech.”

During the month of February 2023, participants received a daily lesson featuring community members and Jewish organizations to watch or read. There were also weekly challenges and inspiring memes.

“In today’s divisive world,” JFO CEO Bob Goldberg said, “understanding the power of our words matters. Too much of the behavior we see modeled is intended to demean and hurt, rather than support any particular point of view. Language is too often weaponized. This is dangerous, and it is causing a breakdown of civility in society. Clean Speech Nebraska was designed to put in front of us every day for 30 days lessons to help us elevate our own use of language in order to improve ourselves, and to positively impact the lives of those around us. It provided us a training course to be aware of the power of our words.”

Participating organizations included BBYO, Beth El Syna-

Cantor’s Concert

Continued from page 1

The concert chairs, Mary and Joel Rich and Pam and Bruce Friedlander, together with the entire team at Beth El, are working hard to produce this outstanding concert. Pam and Bruce noted, “We are so excited to hear the fabulous Rick Recht at this year’s Cantor’s Concert. Monies raised will go to our kids so that they can attend Jewish camp this summer, which costs more and more each year. Please bring your family and have a wonderful afternoon with us!”

Rick Recht is perhaps the most engaging Jewish Concert artist you will ever see! Whether performing at a summer camp, a youth conference or at a synagogue concert – the entire audience quickly becomes part of the performance. From the moment we first saw Rick in concert in Florida, my entire family and I became instant fans! With his upbeat, exciting, and passionate style, Rich Recht will have you and the entire audience, tapping your feet, singing along and dancing in the aisles.

As Cantor of Beth El, I have a threefold goal in producing these annual concerts: to provide an outstanding and unique Jewish Musical experience for the Omaha Community, to establish Beth El Synagogue as a premier venue for concerts of Jewish Music and, to ensure that any student who wants to can go to a Jewish summer camp. Rick Recht fulfills all my wishes and more!

ORGANIZATIONS

gogue, Beth Israel Synagogue, B’nai Israel Synagogue, Boomer Radio, Friedel Jewish Academy, Institute for Holocaust Education, JCC Performing Arts, Jewish Family Service, Jewish Federation of Omaha, Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, Jewish Press, Jewish Social Services, Kohll’s Pharmacy, Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, Omaha For Us, the Staenberg Family Foundation, the Staenberg Omaha Jewish Community Center, Temple Israel and the Tri Faith Initiative.

“The Clean Speech initiative was successful,” Bob Goldberg added, “because it was discussed in our Jewish Press, in emails, and on our website. The project got people talking about talking, talking about how our talking to one another influences our own lives and those of people around us. Lessons around Lashon Hara are central to the writings of the Chofetz Chaim, and its lessons, grounded in Torah, are as relevant today as ever.”

You can be sure that Clean Speech will return with an allnew theme and new videos next year!

Please join us in the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater on June 5 to celebrate The JCRC and all our other award recipients. We will start at 6 p.m. with wine, beer, and light hors d’oeuvres. The program itself will start at 6:30 p.m., and will end by 8 p.m. with desserts and drinks.

Rabbi Steven Abraham, Beth El’s spiritual leader, puts it this way: “I am incredibly thankful to Hazzan Krausman and the concert committee for all the work they do to put on our annual cantor’s concert. Jewish summer camp benefits our students, their families, Beth El and the entire Omaha Jewish community. We are extremely lucky to be able to provide these funds to further our student’s Jewish identity. I look forward to seeing you and hearing from the amazing Rick Recht.” While individual tickets start at $18, there are a variety of sponsorships available. Please visit our website to purchase tickets or find links to some of Rick Recht’s amazing songs. https://www.bethel-omaha.org/event/cantors-concertwith-rick-recht.html You can also email me at hazzan krausman@bethel-omaha.org, or call the Beth El synagogue office at 402.492.8550 for more information.

In keeping with his dynamic and inclusive style, Rich Recht has invited our fabulous BESTT Religious School students to join him on stage for a song at this awesome concert. In talking about our concert Rick said, “I’m incredibly excited to return to Omaha to sing and celebrate with Hazzan Krausman and the amazing Beth El community. I know this will be a particularly special community experience featuring talent of all ages. It really doesn’t get better than this!”

The award-winning B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS speaker program currently meets Wednesdays via Zoom from noon to 1 p.m. Please watch our email for specific information concerning its thought-provoking, informative list of speakers. To be placed on the email list, contact Breadbreakers chair at gary.javitch@gmail.com

Anne & Alan Cohen Marty & Kathy Cohen

RBJH activity staff says thanks: Maggie Conti, left, Amy Anderson, Roinin Staunovo Polacco, Sabine Strong, and Jill Ohlmann (not pictured Christina Caniglia).

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS

The Women of the Intel Mafia

LT. COL. KELLEY JETER

Seventh US Air Force, Public Affairs

Editor’s note: In mid-April, I received an email from Diane Zipay, who thought we might be interested in an article about her daughter, Colonel Michele Zipay Olsen. Michele is currently stationed as the Director of Intelligence in South Korea. Michele grew up in Omaha and celebrated her Bat Mitzvah at Temple Israel. Once she retires from the Air Force, she plans to return to Omaha with her husband and three children.

OSAN AIR BASE, REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Four colonels assigned to Osan Air Base and Camp Humphreys met up in March to take a picture and mark a moment that is unusual in their respective units. They are all women who currently lead intelligence units for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army in the Republic of Korea.

U.S. Air Force Col. Natalie Mock is the Chief of the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Division at the 607th Air Operations Center; U.S. Air Force Col. Amanda Figueroa commands the 694th ISR Group; U.S. Air Force Col.

Michele Olsen is the Director of ISR for 7th Air Force, and U.S. Army Col. Lisa Winegar commands the 501st Military Intelligence Brigade.

All four leaders are charged with providing the best intelligence they can for their respective commanders, about threats to the national safety of the Republic of Korea. They are all leaders of their organizations, ranging from 80 to more than 1,000 intelligence professionals, and all four are wives and mothers.

Women working in intelligence is not a particularly new thing, and neither is women achieving the rank of colonel. But having all women in charge at some of the most senior U.S. military intelligence positions in the Republic of Korea---all at the same time---was unexpected and something they all agree is an encouraging milestone.

Olsen, Mock and Figueroa are the lead figures of what has been dubbed the “Intel Mafia” at Osan Air Base. A term coined by U.S Air Force Col. Barry Leister at 7th Air Force in 2012, the moniker was intended to create a sense of identity and community among disparate intelligence professionals at Osan Air Base, who had previously been organized under a single unit.

“The Intel Mafia gives us a collective identity, that we are all working together towards the same requirements,” said Olsen. “Different organizations could end up being disjointed, but collectively we continue to come back together under a shared identity with a shared problem set; because at the end of the day we need to move out and get after understanding the adversary, and enhancing our knowledge, to inform planners and operators of how to stay one step ahead.”

Olsen graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and says she joined the Air Force “on a bet.” She took the Air Force Officers Qualifying Test in college when a friend bet that she couldn’t beat his scores. When she did so well that she qualified for a scholarship, she saw it as a way to relieve the burden on her family, who were trying to send four kids to college.

Her initial intent was to do the required four years, then transition to something outside the Air Force, but along the way she learned to love it, and now really enjoys being a leader in Intelligence.

“My favorite thing is empowering and enabling those that are much, much smarter than me to run faster than I ever could,” said Olsen. “The position that I’m in now allows me to advocate for and gain the support of senior leaders to move faster, to get after problems.” She loves removing obstacles for those at the tactical level, so they can move quickly and think several steps ahead.

U.S. Air Force Col. Amanda Figueroa commands around 550 military members and civilians in her position at the 694th ISRG, and says: “I love being able to articulate a vision to my teammates, and see them get energized, and then achieve the goal.”

“They always amaze and surprise me with their ability to get things done,” said Figueroa. “Their ingenuity and their willingness to persevere through challenges just makes us so much better.”

A University of Wisconsin at Madison graduate of AFROTC,

her wide-ranging career has included creating targets at Red Flag, working signals intelligence, human intelligence in Iraq, force protection intel, weapons school instructor, Legislative Liaison, special operations and many more areas.

Figueroa also appreciates the ability of the Intel Mafia to work together and be able to support one another.

“It’s really unique here how close we are; very few of my sister group commanders have their Air Operations Center and their Numbered Air Force closely located,” she said. Explaining how each of the intelligence units on base contributes to the overall mission, she said “None of us could succeed without the other. None of us could work in isolation and be good at our jobs.”

U.S. Air Force Col. Natalie Mock leads 90 intelligence professionals at the ISR Division in the 607th Air Operations Center. An Air Force brat who grew up in Europe and Colorado,

she decided while in college ROTC that she wanted to be an Intel analyst.

“My father was enlisted in the Air Force; he was a C-130 aircrew member” and he spoke four languages, “but he told me he was a clerk typist,” said Mock. “It wasn’t until I chose and was selected for intel that my father informed me that he had always been an intel analyst, and while on the C-130s he was a Russian linguist.”

Mock loves the career field and all the wide-ranging specialties in which she has worked.

“I love that I have supported every domain: air, land, maritime, space, cyber, information operations, and special operations,” said Mock. “I love that every single job that I have had has been completely different.”

Leadership has also been a challenge she’s enjoyed. “It is very rewarding to be in a position where you can mentor and connect with all of the career field,” said Mock. “Because of my upbringing, I’ve always connected with the enlisted force and held high respect for what they do, and not everyone does, so I promote that,” adding that the young lieutenants and CGOs she leads in the Air Force now are also extremely impressive.

Olsen pointed out that there are other intelligence members on Osan Air Base, working for the Space Force and other Air Force units, and they are also embraced as members of the Intel Mafia. The community’s informal name has definitely stuck, and to this day, many members are instantly identifiable on jersey Fridays when they sport their distinctive black-onblack designs.

In the spirit of reaching out to other intelligence professionals, they have also brought U.S. Army Col. Lisa Winegar in from Camp Humphreys to be an honorary member of the group. Commanding a brigade of more than 1,500 soldiers and civilians, Winegar is the highest-ranking female Army intel officer on the peninsula. Her unit is responsible for multi-discipline, ground-based intelligence collection, processing, exploitation and dissemination (PED), Army aerial ISR collection and PED and other forms of collection and analysis. The brigade also has a variety of programs that train other intelligence professionals throughout the Korean peninsula.

She commissioned out of Army ROTC at Texas Christian University

“Most of my career has been consumed by the counterinsurgency fight with the wars in Iraq

Afghanistan,” said Winegar. However, in Korea, the “shift toward peer competition See Women of the Intel Mafia page 5

in 2000, and notes how much the world and her career field has changed since then.

and

The women of the Intel Mafia met up recently at the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron, Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea. U.S. Air Force Col. Amanda Figueroa, left, commands the 694th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group; U.S. Air Force Col. Michele Olsen, middle-left, is the Intelligence, Reconnaissance and Surveillance Director for 7th Air Force; U.S. Air Force Col. Natalie Mock, middle-right, is the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Director for the 607th Air Operations Center, and U.S. Army Col. Lisa Winegar, right, commands the 501st Military Intelligence Brigade. Credit: U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Kenneth W. Norman

Intel Mafia

Bucky & Caryl Greenberg Scholarship

PAM MONSKY

JCRC Assistant Director

Two $500 college scholarships will be awarded to eligible graduating high school seniors in the Omaha metro area who have demonstrated a passion for building inclusivity, respect and equity in their school and community.

The completed application is due May 25, 2023 and can be accessed here: https://www.jccomaha.org/bucky-

caryl-greenberg-scholarship/

The Omaha Jewish Community Relations Council (CRC) is offering this scholarship in memory of Barton (Bucky) & Caryl Greenberg, whose desire for ensuring civil rights and equality extended not only to the Jewish community, but to all people.

For more information or any questions, please contact Pam Monsky, JCRC Assistant Director, 402.334.6572, pmonsky@ jewishomaha.org

Continued from page 4 with readiness to fight and win during large scale combat operations, requires a shift in our intelligence posture. Our collectors and analysts need a deep and rich understanding of the operational environment.”

“In addition, the cyber domain is much more robust than when I started my career,” she said. “It requires collectors and analysts to develop a more technical skill set to leverage the vast quantities of data available to us.”

Regarding the challenges of her leadership position, Winegar echoes the theme of enjoying the everyday wins.

“When soldiers have clear guidance and feel purpose in what they do, they can accomplish anything,” she said. “The soldiers, civilians, KATUSAs, Korean nationals and contractors are committed to our mission. My job is to ensure they have the resourcing and tools they need to be successful.”

All of the women have spouses and children and have had to do that crucial balancing act of having families and a fulltime military career. All have had to make the sacrifice of deployments, late nights at work, staying up all night with sick kids, and felt the pressure of trying to make it to sports or music practices, and keeping a date night with their spouse.

But Olsen says it can be done.

“You don’t have to choose between being a woman and a leader, a mom and a senior military officer,” she said. “I want young officers to know you CAN have it all.”

Trade scholarships available for the 2023-24 academic year

An anonymous donor in our community has created two trade school and/or cosmetology school scholarship opportunities, up to $5,000 each, to go towards the 2023-24 academic year.

Not every student who advances into higher education signs up for a four-year curriculum. Some high school graduates seek job training that lasts a year or two and then places them in the workforce. Such opportunities include,

but are not restricted to: Information Technology, Construction, Industrial, Transportation and Horticulture. It is not too late to apply for this upcoming school year!

Qualified students who have unmet needs regarding tuition for either a two-year trade school program or a trade certificate program can contact the Jewish Press at avande kamp@jewishomaha.org or jpress@jewishomaha.org for more information.

Reminder: Eric Fingerhut visit

Please join us Wednesday, May 10 at 6 p.m. as we welcome Eric Fingerhut, President and CEO of Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) to Omaha! We invite you to join us at Happy Hollow Country Club to meet Eric and hear about the impact Jewish Federations make locally and across the globe in supporting Jewish needs. After the presentation, stay for discussion and dessert!

Prior to his appointment at JFNA, Mr. Fingerhut served as the President and CEO of Hillel International from 2013-19.

LAST CHANCE TO CONGRATULATE YOUR GRADUATE

At Hillel, he led the organization’s Drive to Excellence, which resulted in doubling the number of students engaged by Hillel each year to over 130,000 and the total funds raised each year to nearly $200M. His emphasis on recruiting, training and retaining top talent for the system, and on building a data and performance driven organization, have become models for the non-profit sector.

There is no cost to attend this event, but we ask you to register at www.jewishomaha.org

Intelligence professionals in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army work together to ensure the entire team is “ready to fight tonight,” in the Republic of Korea. Credit: U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Kenneth W. Norman

My tzitzit and the political situation

Two or three times a week I swim at a recreational center in Ra’anana. The locker room is a busy place, since it serves the whole complex (including the fitness and tennis centers). I enjoy the banter and even contribute on occasion. As you can imagine, the talk over these last few months has often revolved around the government’s proposed judicial overhaul, with the vast majority of the guys in the locker room being on the side of the protesters. While I share their view, I feel that the opposite is assumed—because of my tzitzit. Since I usually bike to “Country Ra’anana” (Israeli culture appropriates and transliterates just the first word of “country club”), in the locker room I am either wearing my biking helmet or am bareheaded, but I do often wear those ritual fringes. This brands me as a religious person, and it also suggests, given the presence of all of the religious parties in the governing coalition, that I might be inclined to support what some are referring to as a “judicial coup.” As a result, I have become incredibly adept at whipping off my tzitzit and ramming them

into my locker.

The situation I face in the locker room is the situation, writ small, confronting many a “modern Orthodox” man in Israel. Unlike the haredim, who want to distance themselves from general Israeli society and culture, the “moderns” seek to combine religion with a contemporary lifestyle. For some of the religious men in this “modern” category, religious attire, such as tzitzit and kipot, represents an obstacle to their acculturation and so they eschew it. These men are said to wear kipot shkoofot (“transparent yarmulkes”), and my son Ezra (30) happens to be one of them. Ezra adds an additional reason for not wearing the kipa; he does not want to be the representative of religious people in Israel: “I don’t want someone to be thinking bad of me if I do something that a strictly Orthodox person wouldn’t do, such as giving a woman a friendly hug or jumping nude into a ma’ayan. I tell people that I’m on the religious spectrum. There are all sorts of variations today, from people who only wear a beret but never a kipa, to people who go bare-headed but wear tzitzit.”

It feels a little weird to be so self-conscious about Jewish attire in the State of Israel. To be sure, the calculus involved here is very different from the one facing Jews outside of Israel, where fear of antisemitism plays a big part.

It’s hard to see anything positive, from a Jewish perspective, in the decision outside Israel to forgo Jewish identification in public, though it might be necessary. In free societies, being Jewish at home and a “man” in the street (wearing nothing identifiably “Jewish”) can lead to complete assimilation. In Israel by contrast, where “the street” is a street in the Jewish state, there can definitely be an argument for not emphasizing religious differences outside the home in order to work together to build a better society. I would like to think, though, that honest conversation is a great antidote to preconceived generalizations, and indeed there are many organizations in Israeli society that bring religious and secular people together for various purposes such as learning Jewish texts, cultural events, and social-action volunteering. For my part, I will continue to wear my tzitzit into Country Ra’anana, though you might have to look quickly before they get put away, and I will always look to start kibitzing with the guy sharing my locker-room bench.

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

B’nai Israel speaker

Sandi Yoder is the featured speaker at B’nai Israel Synagogue, May 12. Services at B’Nai Israel start at 7:30 p.m. and are followed by an oneg.

Sandi is the Director of the Iowa Jewish Historical Society (IJHS) and has been with the Society since 2008. She has an extensive background in museums, including working at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Williamsburg, VA. Sandi holds an MA in History and an MBA from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, and a BA in History from Lenoir-Rhyne College in NC. She is the Past President of the Iowa and Nebraska Museum Associations.

The entire community is welcome to join for services and stay for the oneg after. For more information about B’nai Israel Synagogue, please visit https://www.cblhs.org.

INFORMATION

ANTISEMITIC/HATE INCIDENTS

If you encounter an antisemitic or other hate incident, you are not alone. Your first call should be to the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) in Omaha at 402.334.6572, or email JCRCreporting@ jewishomaha.org. If you perceive an imminent threat, call 911, and text Safety & Security Manager James Donahue at 402.213.1658.

TEDDY WEINBERGER

Sandi Yoder

SP O TLIGHT

PHOTOS FROM RECENT JEWISH COMMUNITY EVENTS

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

GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY

Above, below and right: The kids enjoyed the pre-Pesach program at Beth Israel.

Top, above, below and bottom: Temple Israel’s Passover Community Seder, where we recreated our own leaving of Egypt. Temple clergy and staff asked those in attendance to bring a meaningful item that they’d pack if they had to leave at a moment’s notice. This item had to fit in a carry-on suitcase. Credit: Mark Kirchhoff

Left, above and below: RBJH Residents and family members enjoy the beautiful warm spring weather in the courtyard.

Left, above and right: First Annual community poker tournament at Beth El. Funds raised for the Education for the Future Campaign. Big winners were David Pitlor, Mosah Goodman and Michael Small.

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole.

The Jewish Press

(Founded in 1920)

Margie Gutnik

President

Annette van de Kamp-Wright

Editor Richard Busse

Creative Director

Howard Kutler

Advertising Executive

Lori Kooper-Schwarz

Assistant Editor

Gabby Blair

Staff Writer

Sam Kricsfeld

Digital support

Mary Bachteler

Accounting

Jewish Press Board

Margie Gutnik, President; Abigail Kutler, Ex-Officio; Seth Feldman; David Finkelstein; Ally Freeman; Mary Sue Grossman; Natasha Kraft; Chuck Lucoff; David Phillips; and Joseph Pinson.

The mission of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish Community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world. Agencies of the JFO are: Institute for Holocaust Education, Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Social Services and the Jewish Press Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www.jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

Editorial

The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org ; send ads (in TIF or PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org

Letters to the Editor Guidelines

The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1.402.334.5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org.

Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events.

News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.”

The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf.

Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de Kamp-Wright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450.

Postal

The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $40 per calendar year U.S.; $80 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422.

Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or email to: jpress@jewishomaha.org

Jews on Television

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press Editor

When I was younger, it was rare to see any kind of Jewish representation on TV-mostly it was references to the Holocaust, history, nostalgic tidbits about how life used to be. Honestly, the fact that the presenter of Funniest Homevideos (the Dutch version) was Jewish, was a flex.

Then came cable, followed by the internet and streaming services. Nowadays, if I want to see anything Jewish-themed, or even Israeli, whether it is a documentary or a murder mystery or a cooking show, all I have to do is press a button. In and of itself, that is a nice development.

At the same time, it sometimes feels as if there continues to be this one-dimensional portrait, the notion that to be Jewish on TV, you should have payos and a black hat. If you are a woman, you should wear a wig and act oppressed. Jewish characters struggle, life is difficult. It’s as if ‘being Jewish’ is the main plotline as well as the protagonist. And on the occasions when that’s not the case, we have to put up with Adam Sandler. I know I’m generalizing, but I just started the Belgian series Rough Diamonds, and I have opinions. If you plan to watch it but don’t want to know too much, please stop reading. I’m trying not to give anything away, but I don’t know if I’ll succeed.

“Rough Diamonds, a joint production from Israel’s Keshet International and Belgium’s De Mensen, follows the Wolfson family as it navigates internal tension and business struggles in the wake of a death in the family. The protagonist, who left the

haredi world 15 years earlier, returns to Antwerp to look into his relative’s death and help steer the family company back to prominence.” (JTA)

My disclaimer: I’m only three episodes in, so it could become phenomenally interesting or really boring by episode four, and I wouldn’t know.

First off, the series is filmed in Flemish and Yiddish, but my Netflix has it dubbed in tepid, uninspired English. I’m contemplating not watching any more until I find the original voices- it bothers me, because a big part of representation is voice. No matter our native language, how we sound is a large part of our identity. There may not be as many people who speak and understand Yiddish, but it would be beneficial to at least hear it from time to time. There is value in the sound, it’s more than words. It’s familiarity, a comforting melody that should be part of our life’s soundtrack. Don’t erase it. Everybody already knows English isn’t the mother tongue in Antwerp, so why the dubbing?

But, here is the really interesting part. From the moment Yanki wakes up and says the Modeh Ani and washes his hands, to everything that happens next, there is very little explanation to the audience. If you already know why the location of a grave is a point of contention, or what the prayers mean, or what a Shiva is, or why the marriage broker shows up, you know. If you don’t, you will need to do your

own research. This story isn’t educational, it’s not to showcase to a non-Jewish audience what Jewish life in Haredi Antwerp is really like. The characters are the vehicle for the story, not the other way around. Oftentimes, when Jewish characters show up, that’s all they are: they are performative, they don’t add anything to the story—their only reason for being there is to provide a Jewish flavor. The Purpose of Diamonds is not to make another Yentl, it

is to explore a very different side of Jewish European life. It’s a story without nostalgia, a story where suffering is largely of one’s own making. Most of all, the characters feel realistic, raw and sometimes downright unlikeable. And that last one is something we as an audience are not always comfortable with. We tend to hope, when Jewish protagonists show up, they are sympathetic. Diamonds doesn’t really give us that, at least not in the first three episodes.

Can a Holocaust documentary have a happy ending? Should it?

ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL JTA

Holocaust documentaries tend to sit along a scale from horrific to heartwarming. For every Night Will Fall, the rediscovered British film showing gruesome scenes from newly liberated Nazi concentration camps, there is a family-friendly film about a survivor, like The Number on GreatGrandpa’s Arm

Some critics distrust Holocaust documentaries that have “happy” endings, or that focus on the second chance given to survivors, as if they betray the fate of the many more millions of Jews who died rather than survived. Raye Farr, the former director of the Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, once criticized Holocaust documentaries’ “increasing inclination to go for sentimentality.”

How Saba Kept Singing, a documentary airing on PBS on Tuesday in honor of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is firmly on the side of uplift. It’s about Cantor David Wisnia, whose unlikely survival tale was told in a memorable New York Times article in 2019. The film’s redemptive message is clear from its first line — “I’m a lover of life,” says Wisnia — to one of its last: “You are really the proof that Hitler did not win,” he tells his grandson.

Wisnia was a Polish Jew who survived Auschwitz by literally singing for his captors. Defying the perverse and inexplicable odds of the Final Solution, the former cantorial prodigy managed to live close to three years at the death camp and slave labor complex.

Perhaps as remarkable was his relationship with a fellow inmate, Helen “Tzippi” Spitzer, a similarly “privileged” prisoner who managed to stay in the Nazis’ good graces thanks to her skills as a graphic artist. Her assignments took her to places beyond the women’s barracks, where she met Wisnia, eight years her junior. Soon the two were arranging trysts in a loft where prisoners’ uniforms were stored. Fellow prisoners kept a helpful watch for guards.

Their death camp romance ended on the eve of liberation, when the Germans began emptying the camps and forced the prisoners on a series of death marches. Although David and Tzippi made plans to meet in Warsaw, life had other ideas. Wisnia

eventually made it to America after the war, where he became a cantor at synagogues in Levittown, Pennsylvania, and Trenton, New Jersey. As for Tzippi, Wisnia wasn’t sure if she survived the war — and when he discovered the truth it set in motion the next remarkable chapter in their story.

The documentary recalls the horrors of the Holocaust — David speaks movingly about the murders of his parents and brothers in the Warsaw Ghetto, and having to stack bodies on a work detail at Auschwitz — but maintains a cautious distance. Writer and director Sara Taksler keeps the archive footage to a minimum, and when Wisnia relates his story of survival — with the help of Avi Wisnia, a singer-songwriter who accompanies his grandfather on a trip to Poland — it is usually over scenes of the camp as it looks today or black and white animation.

Still, “How Saba Kept Singing” is hardly saccharine. Grandfather and grandson are clear-eyed chroniclers of stories David told often (in 2015, he published a memoir, One Voice, Two Lives: From Auschwitz Prisoner to 101st Airborne Trooper). And David never takes his good luck for granted — the film is organized around his suspicion that there is a missing piece to his story of survival and that, as Avi says, “He could not have done it alone.”

About his time with Tzippi, David is both honest and discreet. “It was physical,” he admits. “She taught me everything. I knew nothing. I was a kid.”

Avi recounts the family’s shock when they first learned of their patriarch’s relationship with another prisoner at Auschwitz. “Even in the hell of a concentration camp you can still find some kind of a human connection,” says Avi.

Wisnia arrived in the United States in 1946 and lived with an aunt in the Bronx. He met his wife –the appropriately named Hope — and got work as an encyclopedia salesman and, for over 50 years, as a cantor. The couple would go on to have two sons, two daughters and six grandchildren.

As for Tzippi — it’s not giving away too much to say that she also survived the war and got married, to a bioengineering professor who eventually taught at New York University. Per the Times, the

couple “devoted years of their lives to humanitarian causes.” She and David would meet again, in a reunion described in that 2019 New York Times story and heard in the documentary on audiotape. Suffice to say that David got an answer to the mystery that long nagged him: “How come I stayed in Auschwitz two and half years and never moved? How the hell can you explain it?”

The film is also saved from sentimentality by the knowledge that David is among the last living witnesses to the Holocaust, which he and Avi sadly acknowledge when discussing whether David would return to Auschwitz for the 75th anniversary of its liberation in 2020. Cantor Wisnia died June 15, 2021, at the age of 94; Tzippi died in 2018 at age 100.

Rabbi Isaac Nissenbaum, another victim of the Warsaw Ghetto, purportedly gave permission for the Nazis’ prey — and perhaps future filmmakers — to see their survival as a sanctification of life, not an occasion for guilt. “Today when the enemy demands the body, it is the Jew’s obligation to defend himself, to preserve his life,” he is reported to have said.

Avi Wisnia picks up this theme during a performance with his saba, Hebrew for grandfather.

“I honor the past, and we sing for the future,” he tells the audience. “The greatest act of defiance is to live.”

Andrew Silow-Carroll is Editor at Large of the New York Jewish Week and Managing Editor for Ideas for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

Kevin Janssens, center, as Noah Wolfson in Rough Diamonds.

Credit: Screenshot from YouTube)

Survivor David Wisnia and his pianist grandson Avi in a scene from “How Saba Kept Singing,” a documentary airing on PBS on April 18. Credit: Retro Report

JEANNETTE NADOFF

Editor’s note: The text below contains the funeral oration for Rebbetzin Jeannette Nadoff, written and delivered by her son, David Nadoff at the Shamgar Funeral Home, Jerusalem, Israel, 12 Nisan, 5783/April 3, 2023.

The Sages teach: “אגרא דהספידא דלויי”. The essential feature of a eulogy that merits reward is the lifting of the voice in lamentation to arouse grief and tears. (Berahot 6b; Rashi ibid.)

My mother, Rebbetzin Jeanette Nadoff, Rabbanit Yokheved bat Yehuda VeRoza ע"ה, is surely worthy of our tears and grief. And we too are deserving of the catharsis such an expression would bring.

Yet, the halakha deprives us of this opportunity, as we stand in the month of Nisan, a sanctified slice of time in which hesped (eulogy), in the sense just described, is forbidden. (Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim 429:2.) And it is as if I am subject to God’s excruciating command to the prophet Yehezkel (Ezekiel) regarding the loss of his wife (Ezekiel 24:16):

בן אדם הנני לקח ממך את מחמד עיניך במגפה ולא תספד ולא תבכה ולוא תבוא דמעתך

Son of man, I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes by plague; but you shall not lament or weep or let your tears flow.

How is one to cope with this clash between the emotional needs of the hour and the halakhic strictures to which we are subject?

In explanation of a difficult Midrash, Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin contrasts the reaction of the ministering angels to the suffering and death of a mortal with the reaction of God. Rabbi Henkin maintains that the ministering angels are indifferent to the suffering and death of an unworthy person and shed no tears for him, particularly if he is resentful and fails to come to terms with God’s will, whereas God weeps, as it were, over the failure and downfall of one of His beloved creatures. On the other hand, the ministering angels weep over the seemingly unjust suffering and death of a worthy person, particularly one who lovingly accepts his lot and submits to the divine will, while God rejoices, as it were, over the elevation of such an exalted soul. (Teshuvot Ivra, Kitvei Hagaon Rav Y.E. Henkin, Vol. 2, pp. 198-99.)

On an occasion such as this, the prohibition of hesped demands that we set aside the morose perspective of the ministering angels on the suffering and death of the righteous and, in the spirit of imitatio Dei (vehalkhta bidrakhav), adopt God’s positive perspective by focusing on my mother’s singular merits; if not joyfully, at least without inordinate tears and grief unsuited to the season. In this light, it is not surprising that even when hesped is otherwise prohibited, there are authorities who permit enumerating the virtues and merits of the deceased, not to arouse grief and tears, but to edify and inspire others to conduct themselves similarly.

I do not wish to dwell on my mother’s difficult lot in the later years of her life, other than to note that she accepted her trials graciously, without complaint against God or man, maintaining her faith, good humor and kindly disposition throughout. Let us direct our attention instead to the rich and productive years that preceded her decline.

Despite my mother’s humble role as a small-town rebbetzin in Springfield, IL, Des Moines, IA and finally Omaha, NE, in her more than 50 active years, from approximately 1948 to 2000, she accrued exceptional merit through her unstinting efforts on behalf of the Clal (the greater Jewish community), locally, nationally, and even internationally. This is well reflected in numerous awards and honors conferred upon her over the years in recognition of her outstanding accomplishments.

To mention only two of them:

In 1981, she was honored as Woman of the Year by the Greater Omaha Women’s Division State of Israel Bonds. This award was bestowed not only in recognition of her service to Israel Bonds, but also for “her lifelong dedication to Israel and the Jewish people.”

In 1999, she received Amit Women’s Humanitarian Award, not only for her service to Amit, but in recognition of “a lifetime of selfless service to Israel and the Jewish people.”

In connection with her 1981 selection as Woman of the Year, Mr. Joe Kirshenbaum, a prominent lay leader in her community, said of my mother:

She is an outstanding woman. … She’s the most sincere person I’ve ever worked with, serving and adding her intelligence and competence to whatever needs to be done. She works only for the cause, never for the glory.

Mr. Kirshenbaum had occasion to reaffirm that assessment more than 27 years later, when interviewed in connection with my mother’s 2008 farewell to the Omaha Jewish community.

My mother’s commitment to the cause and indifference to the glory was a trait she shared with my late father, Rabbi Isaac Nadoff, of blessed memory, himself an accomplished Torah leader and activist for Jewish causes. On the occasion of the Sheloshim memorial held for him following his passing in 1992, one of his rabbinic mentors, the late Rabbi Oscar Z. Fasman, stated that he had all the attributes of a talmid hakham (Torah scholar), save one – he lacked the sheminit shebisheminit ga’ava )1/64th part of self-pride( that the Sages prescribed for a Torah scholar. (Sota 5a.) My mother likewise lacked even that scintilla of self-pride, despite her many impressive achievements.

In fact, having been away at an out-of-town yeshiva and, later, university throughout my adolescence and into adulthood, I was generally unaware of my mother’s extensive activities and the honors she received. Though I spoke to my parents by phone at least weekly throughout that period, never was I informed of any of the high honors my mother received for her multifarious communal activities. I learned of them many years after the fact from press clippings and commemorative plaques that came into my possession when my mother moved out of our family home and from search-

ing the archives of Jewish publications that recorded such matters for posterity. Such was the extent of my mother’s humility.

Although my mother did not hail from a rabbinic family and never had the benefit of an intensive Torah education, she had an inbred devotion to the Jewish people, as well as a commitment and passion for her calling as the young wife of a newlyordained rabbi, that enabled her to rise to the challenges and rapidly become an accomplished rebbetzin working alongside my father in the service of at-risk communities in relatively small midwestern towns.

But my mother never limited her horizons to the confines of my father’s congregation and her role as a rebbetzin. I’d like to mention just a few highlights of her manifold public roles over the years.

In the 1950s and ‘60s, my mother worked with my father and their colleagues to establish Orthodox congregational youth groups and sisterhoods throughout the Midwest as innovative vehicles of Torah education and mitzvah observance to combat the creeping inroads of heterodoxy, assimilation and intermarriage that threatened to decimate entire communities. That pioneering work initially took place well before the Orthodox Union (OU) and similar national bodies conceived the creation of NCSYtype youth groups and women’s divisions for various Jewish organizations.

Indeed, less than five years ago, at the OU Women’s Initiative First Lay Leadership Confab, the honoree of the event, Mrs. Nancy Klein, fondly recalled in conversation with Mrs. Toba Cohen-Dunning of Omaha how she worked with my mother for many years building Orthodox congregational sisterhoods throughout the country.

In 1971, my mother visited Israel as the representative of American Mizrachi Women on a multi-organizational task force for the study of Israel’s humanitarian needs. In the same year, she served as Chairman of the local Women’s Division of Israel Bonds, a cause to which she had already been devoted for many years.

Throughout the 1970s and ‘80s, my mother served at various times on the board and the executive committee of the Omaha Jewish Federation, and as chairman of its leadership training programs, including, in 1981, the presidency of its Women’s Leadership Cabinet.

In 1976 and again in 1980, my mother served as chairman of the Women’s Division of the Omaha Combined Jewish Philanthropy Campaign.

She also served at various times on the national board of the Women’s Division of the OU, as an officer on the national Board of Amit Women, on the national board of Mizrachi Hapo’el HaMizrachi, and as an officer of the Omaha Chapter of Hadassah.

All of this was, of course, in addition to her duties as a wife and mother, her career as a rebbetzin, her personal hesed (benevolent) activities, and her responsibility for communal programs such as bikkur holim (visiting the sick), hevra kadisha (sacred society for disposition of the departed) and mikva’ot (ritual baths), all of which she faithfully discharged.

I should add that despite her seriousness of purpose, weighty responsibilities, and constant busyness, my mother always exhibited a healthy sense of humor, a sharp wit, and an easygoing manner that endeared her to her community and everyone she worked with. As one of the latter put it, “she approaches her work with fun and intelligence that make her a joy to work with.”

Even in her declining years, my mother was much loved by the caregivers, nurses and other helpers who attended her. Among them I must count with deepest gratitude my wife, Jenny, who for many years took care of all my mother’s financial affairs and personal needs with utmost diligence and scrupulousness. I offer that expression of gratitude on behalf of my mother as well, who loved and cherished Jenny like a daughter.

In light of my mother’s impressive record of accomplishments,

I think of her less in terms of Eshet Hayil, the woman of valor whose praises are sung in Proverbs 31:10-31, and more in terms of Eshet Lapidot, the Prophetess Devora (Deborah), who is identified as Eshet Lapidot (the wife of Lapidot) in Judges 4:4. Eshet Hayil is, after all, at least on the level of peshat (basic meaning), a shrewd businesswoman who brings material prosperity to her family. To be sure, she is possessed of many sterling character traits and spiritual attributes, but she is nonetheless, in the final analysis, a woman principally engaged in commerce and investment for the financial benefit of her own family circle. It is only her husband who is said to be noda bashe’arim, active and well-known in public affairs.

By way of contrast, Eshet Lapidot is devoted not to her family alone, but to her people as a whole, applying her energy, intelligence, and inspiration for the benefit of the Clal. As such, Devora judged their disputes, fought their battles and ministered to their religious needs for 40 years.

Like the husband of Eshet Hayil, my mother was noda’at bashe’arim, well-known for her public activities, and like Eshet Lapidot, she devoted her best energy, intelligence, and inspiration to the good of her people.

When I reflect on my mother’s life and career, there comes to mind the biblical figure of Avigayil (Abigail), who is described in I Samuel 25 as “isha tovat sekhel”, a woman of fine intelligence. I think also of each of the two women described in the Bible as “isha hokhma” (a wise woman), the one from Avela Beit Hama’akha, whose initiative and ingenuity saved her town from destruction in II Samuel 20, and the other from Tekoa, whose insightfulness and creative adaptation to circumstances was instrumental in reconciling King David with his estranged son in II Samuel 14. Finally, I am reminded of the Shunamit (woman from Shunem), who is described in II Kings 4 as “isha gedola” (a great woman) – great in good deeds and prominence, according to the commentary of Malbim.

My mother was just such a great and wise woman of fine intellect, who labored unselfishly and unceasingly, with remarkable talent and resourcefulness, not to enrich herself or her family financially, but to enrich the Jewish people in all matters spiritual and material.

With the imminent approach of Passover, I wish I could cry out in the words attributed to God in the Midrash (Eikha Rabba, Petihta 23):

אילו זכיתם הייתם קוראין בתורה ליל שימורים לה' (שמות יב מב),

ועכשיו שלא זכיתם הרי אתם קוראין בכה תבכה בלילה (איכה א ב).

Had you merited, you would have read in the Torah [as in reference to the first Passover in Egypt], “It is a protective vigil night for the Lord …” (Exodus 12:42), but now that you have not merited, you are reading [as in reference to the destruction of Jerusalem], “She weeps bitterly in the night …” (Lamentations 2:1).

And would that I could lift my voice in the classic Talmudic expressions of lamentation (Sanhedrin 111a; Berahot 5b):

חבל על דאבדין ולא משתכחין

ועל האי שופרא דבלי בעפרא

How devastating the loss that cannot be recovered; the beautiful spirit that we must now consign to the dust.

But that would be the quintessence of hesped, forbidden to us this month of Nisan. And so I refrain. Instead, I commend my mother’s shining example to your attention as a source of edification and inspiration in plotting your own course.

And I conclude with the final words of the last Mishna in Tractate Moed Katan:

אבל לעתיד לבא הוא אומר (ישעיה כה ח), בילע המוות לנצח ומחה ה' אלוקים דמעה מעל כל פנים וחרפת עמו יסיר מעל כל הארץ But regarding the future to come, the verse states: “He will eliminate death forever; and the Lord, God, will wipe away tears from off all faces and the reproach of His people He will take away from off all the earth” (Isaiah 25:8).

Remembering Linda R. Gordman

HOWARD K. MARCUS

Services were held April 18, 2023, at Mount Sinai Cemetery in Omaha for Linda R. Gordman, who died the previous day at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. The private family burial was followed by a memorial service at Beth El Synagogue.

Born in Omaha in 1940, Linda attended Omaha Central High School. At age 14 she met Jerry Gordman, then 16, who became the love of her life. Following her graduation from Central in 1958, Linda attended the University of Texas at Austin and was a member of Sigma Delta Tau Sorority. After marrying her high school sweetheart Jerry in 1960, the couple moved to Fort Lee, Virginia, where Jerry began his military service and Linda taught sixth grade. They returned to Omaha the following year.

In 1976, Linda and Jerry founded Kalico’s, a specialty clothing store for children and teen girls with locations in Omaha and Kansas City. She oversaw buying for the children’s clothing department and was involved in most other aspects of the business. She and Jerry traveled to New York City on buying trips several times per year, where Linda greatly enjoyed the city’s theater scene, restaurants and culture.

“She was a diligent student of the business, one about which she had zero background or experience, which enabled her to develop the necessary skill set for the complexities of her role in the company,” said her son, Jeff Gordman. “She took her merchandising responsibilities very seriously, and was always intensely focused on understanding and meeting the needs of her customers. By her example, our mom taught us the importance of a strong work ethic, purpose, responsibility and high standards.”

After Kalico’s closed in 1997, Linda completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where she earned a Bachelor of General Studies degree, graduating magna cum laude in 2001.

In her later years, she served as a Joslyn Art Museum docent as well as a volunteer at Liberty Elementary School. In her leisure time, she enjoyed travel, playing bridge, attending Omaha arts events and spending time with family and friends.

In addition to Jerry, Linda was predeceased by her parents, Reva and Myer Rosenbaum. She is survived by her children: Jeff Gordman (Danielle); Randi Gordman (Rand Monteleone); and Lisa Marcus (Howard); grandchildren: Sam Lieb, Anna and Jamie Monteleone, and Harper and Zev Gordman; and siblings, Carol Latz (Steve) and Michael Rosenbaum (Julie Arnow).

Memorials to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, Friedel Jewish Academy or the Beth El Synagogue Education for the Future Fund.

Linda R. Gordman

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

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN

South Street Temple

Union for Reform Judaism

2061 South 20th Street Lincoln, NE 68502-2797

402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE

Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road Offutt AFB, NE 68123

402.294.6244

email: oafbjsll@icloud.com

ROSE BLUMKIN

JEWISH HOME

323 South 132 Street Omaha, NE 68154

TEMPLE ISRAEL

Union for Reform Judaism (URJ)

13111 Sterling Ridge Drive Omaha, NE 68144-1206

402.556.6536 templeisraelomaha.com

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: TIFERETH ISRAEL

Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

3219 Sheridan Boulevard Lincoln, NE 68502-5236

402.423.8569 tiferethisraellincoln.org

Monthly Speaker Series Service, Friday, May 12, 7:30 p.m. with our guest speaker, Sandi Yoder, Director of the Iowa Jewish Historical Society. Our service leader is Larry Blass. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel!

For information on COVID-related closures and about our historic synagogue, please contact Howard Kutler at hkutler@hotmail.com or any of our other board members: Renee Corcoran, Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Beth Moshman, Mary-Beth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.

B’NAI ISRAEL BETH EL

Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON MINYAN SCHEDULE: Mornings on Sundays, 9:30 a.m.; Mondays and Thursdays 7 a.m.; Evenings on Sunday-Thursday 5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Graduation & Teacher Appreciation Shabbat 5 p.m. Pre-Neg; Kabbalat Shabbat 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Jr. Congregation (Grades 3-7) 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 9:05 p.m. Zoom Only.

SUNDAY: BESTT (Grades 3-7), 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10 a.m.; USY Mystery Bus Tour, 11 a.m.

MONDAY: Women’s Book Club, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY: Pirkei Avot, 11:30 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham.

WEDNESDAY: BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 6 p.m.

FRIDAY-May 12: Annual Meeting, Kabbalat Shabbat, Awards & Dinner 5:30 p.m.

SATURDAY-May 13: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Jr. Congregation (Grades 3-7) 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 9:15 p.m. Zoom Only. Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.

BETH ISRAEL

FRIDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat, 7:30 p.m.; Candlelighting, 8:08 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:45 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8 p.m.; Laws of Shabbos/Kids Activity 8:30 p.m.; Havdalah, 9:13 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit 9 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 8:10 p.m.

MONDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:10 p.m.

TUESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Lag Ba’Omer, 5 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:10 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8:10 p.m.

THURSDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; NCSY Shabbaton for grades 9-12, 7 a.m.; Character Development, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Ari; Mincha/Ma’ariv 8:10 p.m.; Parsha Class 8:40 p.m.

FRIDAY-May 12: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit,

7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat, 7:30 p.m.; Candlelighting, 8:15 p.m.

SATURDAY-May 13: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat 10:45 a.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 8 p.m.; Laws of Shabbos/Kids Activity, 8:30 p.m.; Havdalah, 9:21 p.m.

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

CHABAD HOUSE

All services are in-person. All classes are being offered in-person and via Zoom (ochabad.com/academy). For more information or to request help, please visit www.ochabad.com or call the office at 402.330.1800.

FRIDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Inspirational Lechayim, 5:45 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ochabad.com/ Lechayim; Candlelighting, 8:07 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 9:12 p.m.

SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps: Video Presentation 9-9:30 a.m. and Breakfast, 9:45 a.m.

MONDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Personal Parsha, 9:30 a.m.; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen.

TUESDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 7 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen.

WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Mystical Thinking (Tanya), 9:30 a.m.; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 7 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen.

THURSDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Parsha Reading, 10 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study (Sanhedrin 34), noon; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) Class, 7 p.m.

FRIDAY-May 12: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Inspirational Lechayim, 5:45 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ocha bad.com/Lechayim; Candlelighting, 8:15 p.m.

SATURDAY-May 13: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 9:21 p.m.

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY:

B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL

Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch. Note: Some of our services, but not all, are now being offered in person.

FRIDAY: Omer Day 29; Marin Weisser Bat Mitzvah and Kabbalat Shabbat Service with Rabbi Alex and Marin Weisser and music by the Star City Kochavim, 6:30 p.m. at SST; Oneg host: The Weisser Family; Shabbat Candlelighting, 8:09 p.m.

SATURDAY: Omer Day 30; Marin Weisser Bat Mitzvah and Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex and Marin Weisser at TI; Kiddush Lunch sponsored by The Weisser Famiy; No Torah Study;

Havdalah 9:14 p.m.

SUNDAY: Omer Day 31; No In-person LJCS Classes; Joint Board Meeting, 10:15 a.m. at TI; Men’s Bike/ Coffee Group continues to meet during the winter months, 10:30 a.m. at Rock-N-Joe, just off of 84th and Glynoaks. For more information or questions please email Al Weiss at albertw801@gmail.com; Pickleball, 3-5 p.m. at TI.

MONDAY: Omer Day 32; Federation Board Meeting, 7 p.m. via Zoom.

TUESDAY: Omer Day 33; Lag BaOmer

WEDNESDAY: Omer Day 34; LJCS Classes, 4:30 p.m.

THURSDAY: Omer Day 35

FRIDAY-May 12: Omer Day 36; Sacha Regard Bar Mitzvah and Kabbalat Shabbat Service with Rabbi Alex and Sacha Regard and music by Leslie Delserone and Peter Mullin, 6:30 p.m. at SST; Oneg host: The Bensmihen-Regard Family; Shabbat Candlelighting, 8:16 p.m.

SATURDAY-May 13: Omer Day 37; Sacha Regard Bar Mitzvah and Shabbat Morning Service 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex and Sacha Regard at TI; Kiddush Lunch sponsored by The Bensmihen-Regard Famiy; No Torah Study; Havdalah 9:22 p.m.

FRIDAYS: Virtual Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month at Capehart Chapel. Contact TSgt Jason Rife at OAFBJSLL@icloud.com for more information.

The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home’s service is currently closed to visitors.

TEMPLE ISRAEL

In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Batsheva Appel, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin, and Cantor Joanna Alexander

FRIDAY: Drop in Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Shira Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.

SATURDAY: Torah Study 9:15 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom.

SUNDAY: Grades PreK-6, 9:30 a.m. In-Person; Temple Tots Sunday, 9:30 a.m. In-Person; Coffee and Conversations with Board Members, 10 a.m. In-Person; Book Club, 10:30 a.m.; Confirmation Celebration, 11:10 a.m. In-Person.

TUESDAY: Who Knows One Live, 7 p.m. In-Person.

WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m. In-Person; Lag B’Omer Picnic and S’MOREgasbord, 5:30 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6 p.m.

THURSDAY: Thursday Morning Class, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Azriel.

FRIDAY-May 12: Drop in Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m. InPerson; Shabbat B’yachad Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom; Pop-UP Shabbat with Tish, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY-May 13: Torah Study 9:15 a.m. In-Person & Zoom.

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

Arsenal launches Jewish fan group to combat antisemitism

JACOB GURVIS JTA

The English Premier League club Arsenal has launched a new fan affiliate group called the “Jewish Gooners,” as part of its plan to address recent incidents of antisemitism.

The club also announced that it had banned 31 fans for three years each over “abusive and discriminatory behaviour since the start of the 2021/22 season.” Those 31 incidents include five acts of antisemitism, three of which occurred at the team’s Emirates Stadium in London, and two online.

In January, Arsenal launched an investigation into alleged antisemitic incidents that occurred at the stadium and at a local pub during the team’s match against Tottenham, a team known for its sizable Jewish fanbase.

The new affiliate group, the “Jewish Gooners,” which incoporates the nickname for Arsenal fans, will aim to both prevent future antisemitic incidents and to create a more “inclusive” environment for Jewish fans, according to the Jewish Chronicle of London. The Jewish security group Community Se-

curity Trust and Britain’s antisemitism czar Lord John Mann are both involved.

“We’re very pleased to welcome the Jewish Gooners supporters’ club to the Arsenal family,” said Arsenal spokesman Mark Brindle. “We’ve already worked together on a number of initiatives and we’re looking forward to building on this in the future.”

Jewish Arsenal fans had been in conversation with the club about creating such a group for more than two years. The group will also enable observant fans to give their tickets to friends when matches fall on Shabbat.

While Arsenal and other clubs have plenty of Jewish fans, Jewish players are rare in the Premier League, arguably the best soccer league in the world.

One rising star, Israeli midfielder Manor Solomon, has turned heads with his performance for Fulham F.C., leading to reports that the 23-year-old could draw interest from top teams, including Arsenal. Arsenal, a London-based team with over a dozen league titles in its 136 years of existence, is currently in the top spot of the Premier League this season.

A view of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in London. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Life cycles

was the last surviving founder of First Data Resources and CEO of Service Data Omaha.

MAX CHARLES BAUM

Max Charles Baum, son of Matthew and Deborah Goldstein Baum, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, May 13, 2023, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Max is a seventh-grade honors student at Gilman School, where his favorite classes are history, English and art.

He enjoys playing basketball, golf, and soccer and spending his summers at Camp Skylemar in Jefferson, Maine.

He has an older sister, Beatrice.

Grandparents are Donald and Andi Goldstein and the late Ann Goldstein, Jane and Stan Rodbell of Baltimore, Maryland, and Patti and the late Charles Baum of Severna Park, Maryland.

MICHAEL BARRY LIDDY

Michael Barry Liddy passed away on April 10, 2023. Shiva services were held on April 16, 2023, at home and were officiated by Marti Nerenstone.

He was preceded in death by his father Thomas Liddy; mother, Iris Liddy; and son, Thomas J. Liddy.

He is survived by wife Deana Liddy; sons, James (Julie Swanson) Liddy, John Liddy, Richard (Hillary Brunkow) Liddy, Joshua (Terri Porter) Finkler; daughters, Ruth Liddy, Jean Liddy, Kathleen Finkler; daughter-in-law, Christy Liddy; sisters, Judy Farrington of Seattle, WA, Tanya Liddy of Portland, OR and Colleen Groth of Glenwood Springs, CO; grandchildren; and nieces and nephews.

He was a long time member of B'nai Israel Synagogue, where he was married in 1991 and loved to go to services, and of the Beyt Shalom Havurah, where he celebrated and learned. Michael was a long-time donor to the Jewish Federation of Omaha. He

Memorials may be made to Alzheimer's Association of Nebraska (www.alz.org) or the Nature Conservancy of Nebraska (www.nature.org/nebraska).

Teacher Appreciation at the ELC

My name is Carrie Epstein, I’m the Chair of the Parent Committee at the Early Learning Center (ELC), our preschool at the JCC. I have four children, two of whom go to the ELC. My husband Cory and I moved to Omaha from New York City the summer of 2021. The ELC has been a huge part of our transition and we are so thankful for the love the ELC staff has given to our family.

Now that Covid is starting to be a distant memory we are very excited to start a new fresh chapter of community, friendship, and showing our love and appreciation to the people who take such great care of our children every single day. The week of May 8-12 is TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK. Each day will be a new theme honoring our teachers and staff at the ELC. If you are interested in helping out by sending in some yummy treats or donating money please email carrie.e.epstein@gmail.com

In an effort to strengthen our community we are hoping to continue to post what’s happening at the ELC in the Omaha Jewish Press. We are all better when we work together, we hope you enjoy following along.

Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People, dies at 88

BEN HARRIS AND PHILISSA CRAMER

JTA

Rabbi Harold Kushner, one of the most influential congregational rabbis of the 20th century whose works of popular theology reached millions of people outside the synagogue, has died.

Kushner, who turned 88 on April 3, died Friday in Canton, Massachusetts, just miles from the synagogue where he had been rabbi laureate for more than three decades.

Kushner’s fairly conventional trajectory as a Conservative rabbi was altered shortly after arriving at Temple Israel of Natick when, on the day his daughter Ariel was born, his 3-year-old son Aaron was diagnosed with a fatal premature aging condition, progeria.

When Bad Things Happen to Good People, published in 1981, represented Kushner’s attempt to make sense of Aaron’s suffering and eventual death, just days after his 14th birthday. It was turned down by two publishers before being released by Schocken Books, a Jewish imprint.

In the book, Kushner labors to reconcile the twin Jewish beliefs in God’s omnipotence and his benevolence with the reality of human suffering. ”Can I, in good faith, continue to teach people that the world is good, and that a kind and loving God is responsible for what happens in it?” he writes.

Ultimately, he concludes that God’s ability is limited when it comes to controlling the hazards of life that result in tragedy on a widespread and smaller scale, such as the Holocaust and the death of a child.

It is a view that runs afoul of traditional Jewish teaching about God, and it earned Kushner critics among some Orthodox Jews and also drew rebuttals from other Jewish theologians. But it resonated widely for a long time and with many people, Jewish and non-Jewish, rocketing to the top of The New York Times’ best-seller list. More than 4 million copies have been sold in at least a dozen languages.

He scaled back his duties at his synagogue, then stepped away, as other books followed, tackling topics equally as daunting: the meaning of life, talking to children about God, overcoming disappointment. To Life: A Celebration of Jewish Being and Thinking, published in 1993, became a go-to resource for people exploring Judaism, while Living a Life That Matters: Resolving the Conflict Between Conscience and Success, published in 1986, was another best-seller.

“I think that Rabbi Kushner was successful because he catered to everybody,” Carolyn Hessel, the director of the Jewish Book Council, said in 2017 when it revived the Lifetime Achievement Award to honor Kushner. “He reached everybody’s heart. It wasn’t just the Jewish heart. He reached the heart of every human being.”

Kushner was born in Brooklyn and educated in the New York City public schools. After his ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1960, he went to court to have his military exemption waived.

For two years he served as a military chaplain in Oklahoma before assuming his first pulpit, as an assistant rabbi at another Temple Israel, this one in Great Neck, New York.

Four years later he moved to Natick, where he remained even as he became a celebrity. In 1983, with his book a best-seller and demanding more of his time, Kushner cut back to part-time at the synagogue. Seven years later he stepped down to devote himself fully to writing.

The congregation, believing their then-55-year-old rabbi too young to be named rabbi emeritus, made Kushner their rabbi laureate, a title held by only a handful of American spiritual leaders.

It would be one of a growing number of accolades: Kushner was honored by the Roman Catholic organization the Christophers as someone who made the world a better place, and the organization Religion in America named him clergyman of the year in 1999. In 2004 he read from the book of Isaiah at the state funeral of President Ronald Reagan.

He remained involved in the Conservative movement after leaving the pulpit, serving as a leader in the New England region of its rabbinical association and, with the novelist Chaim Potok, editing its 2001 Etz Hayim Torah commentary.

“My seminary training was all about Jewish answers. My congregational experience has been more in terms of Jewish questions,” Kushner told JTA in 2008. “I start with the anguish, the uncertainty, the lack of fulfillment I find in the lives of the very nice, decent people who are in this synagogue and who are my readers. And Judaism is the answer.”

He added, “How do I live a fulfilling life is the question. And Judaism is the answer.”

Kushner’s wife, Suzette, died in 2022, 45 years after their son Aaron. Kushner is survived by his daughter, Ariel Kushner Haber, and two grandchildren.

NEBRASKA STATEWIDE CLASSIFIEDS

ANNOUNCEMENT

ATTENTION ADVERTISERS! For $225/25 word classified you can advertise in over 150 Nebraska newspapers. For more information contact The Jewish Press or call 1-800-369-2850.

HELLO NEBRASKA! Introducing www.nepublicnotices.com, a new public notice website presented as a public service by all Nebraska newspapers. Free access, fully searchable – because democracy depends upon open government and your right to know.

AFFORDABLE PRESS Release service. Send your message to 155 newspapers across Nebraska for one low price! Call 1-800369-2850 or www.nebpress.com for more details.

FOR SALE – CELL PHONE

SWITCH AND save up to $250/year on your talk, text and data. No contract and no hidden fees. Unlimited talk and text with flexible data plans. Premium nationwide coverage. 100% U.S. based customer service. For more information, call 1-877-768-5892.

FOR SALE - INSURANCE

GOOD INSURANCE affordable price for Home or Auto? Call Kyan Hass @Goosehead insurance. FREE Quotes over the phone. Office 402-513-9644 or cell 909-418-4116 CALL NOW! SAVE MONEY! kyan.hass@goosehead.com.

DENTAL INSURANCE from Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. Coverage for 350 plus procedures. Real dental insuranceNOT just a discount plan. Do not wait! Call now! Get your FREE Dental Information Kit with all the details! 1-855-490-4149 www.dental50plus.com/81 #6258.

FOR SALE - INTERNET

FREE HIGH speed internet for those that qualify. Government program for recipients of select programs incl. Medicaid, SNAP, Housing Assistance, WIC, Veterans Pension, Survivor Benefits, Lifeline, Tribal. 15 GB internet service. Bonus offer: Android tablet FREE with one-time $20 copay. Free shipping & handling. Call Maxsip Telecom today! 1-855-646-1256.

FOR SALE - SERVICES

GOT TERMITES. We’ve killed them for over 42 years! Free over the phone quote. Bear Service. Call Kiley at 800-241-7179 Email: bearmeyer1@gmail.com.

FOR SALE - UTILITIES

THE GENERAC PWRcell, a solar plus battery storage system. Save money, reduce your reliance on the grid, prepare for power outages and power your home. Full installation services available. $0 Down Financing Option. Request a Free, no obligation, quote today. Call 1-833-513-0190.

HOME REPAIR

DOES YOUR basement or crawl space need some attention? Call Thrasher Foundation Repair! A permanent solution for waterproofing, failing foundations, sinking concrete and nasty crawl spaces. FREE Inspection & Same Day Estimate. $250 off ANY project with code GET250. Call 1-844-958-3431.

HOME SERVICES

REPLACE YOUR roof with the best looking and longest lasting material steel from Erie Metal Roofs! Three styles and multiple colors available. Guaranteed to last a lifetime! Limited Time Offer

$500

+ Additional 10% off install (for military, health workers & 1st responders.) Call Erie Metal Roofs: 1-888-316-7713.

Author and Rabbi Harold Kushner is pictured with his best-selling book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, in 2001. Credit: Ron Bull/Toronto Star via Getty Images

Welcome to the Model Matzah Bakery; we’ll meet again!

ISA WRIGHT

During the weeks leading up to Pesach, people at no fewer than 19 locations around Nebraska and South Dakota experienced a unique traveling bakery. The project was led by Rabbi Eli and Mushka Tenenbaum (daughters Chana and Devorah also helped); locations included a number of different synagogues as well as schools. Chabad of Nebraska’s Model Matzah Bakery is a hands-on interactive workshop where people of all ages are invited to make their own shmurah matzo. Shmurah means “watched.” Unlike the squares you buy in the store, shmurah matzah is monitored the entire time, and it takes 18 minutes from the time the water touches the flour to when it’s done baking.

“The kids had so much fun learning with all their senses,” Mushka said, “getting their hands dirty, donning a special hat and apron to take home. And of course dusting their noses with real flour!”

The day chosen for the harvesting of the wheat is a clear, dry day. The moment it is harvested, the wheat is inspected to ensure that there is absolutely no moisture. From then on, careful watch is kept upon the grains as they are transported to the mill. The mill is meticulously inspected by rabbis and supervision professionals to ensure that every piece of equipment is absolutely clean and dry.

The water, too, is carefully guarded to prevent any contact with wheat or other grain. It is drawn the night before the baking, and kept pure until the moment it is mixed with the flour to bake the shmurah matzah.

Also in the bakery itself, shmurah matzot are under strict supervision to avoid any pos-

Nancy Schlessinger, Co-President*

Mike Siegel, Co-President*

Jon Meyers, Past President*

Betsy Baker

Bob Belgrade

Shane Cohn

Ron Feldman

Margie Gutnik

Sharon Kirshenbaum

Jon Meyers

Michael Miller

Brian Nogg

Zoë Riekes

Aviva Segall

Yosef Seigel

Norm Sheldon

Seth Shuchman

Justin Spooner

Jeff Zacharia

sibility of leavening during the baking process. This intensive process and careful guarding gives the shmurah matzah an added infusion of faith and sanctity—in fact, as the matzah is being made, all those involved constantly repeat, “L’shem matzot mitzvah”—“We are doing this for the sake of the mitzvah of matzah.”

Shmurah matzot are round, kneaded and shaped by hand, and are similar to the matzot that were baked by the Children of Israel as they left Egypt. It is thus fitting to use shmurah matzah on each of the two Seder nights for the matzot of the Seder plate. (Source: chabad.org)

What better way to learn about this than through hands-on experience?

“Participants learned where flour comes from,” Mushka said, “and they even ground their own. This workshop catered to visual, audio, and kinesthetic learning styles. We are so excited to bring many more workshops to your school or place of work!”

The Matzah Bakery is sponsored in part by the Jane Cohen Educational Fund through the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation.

The Matzo Factory will be back next year. Similar hands-on workshops are available for Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, Pesach, and Shavuos. Interested organizations can book the shofar factory right now, in plenty of time for Rosh Hashana!

For more information, please contact us at RabbiEli@ochabad.com

As of April 28, 2023.

Bob Belgrade, President

Stacey Erman Rockman, Vice President

David Gilinsky, Past President

Michael Abramson

Steven Bloch

Paul Epstein

Ted Friedland

Donald Goldstein

Kip Gordman

Jay Gordman

Howard M. Kooper

Susan Lehr

Troy Meyerson

Michael Miller

Murray H. Newman

Steve Nogg

Susan Norton

Carl Riekes

Andrew Robinson

Nancy Schlessinger

Louri Sullivan

Norm Sheldon, President

Jeff Kirshenbaum, Past President

Jim Farber

Darlene Golbitz

Dana Kaufman

Larry Kelberg

Kate Kirshenbaum

Alan Kricsfeld

Dan Marburg

Tina Meyers

Susie Norton

Gretchen Radler

Shayna Ray

Ari Riekes

Aviva Segall

Yosef Siegel

Terri Zacharia

Shane Cohn, President

John Glazer, Past President

Amanda Blumkin

Marty Cohen

Shane Donnely

Carrie Epstein

Laurie Epstein

Janet Klein

Nick Lemek

Tiffany Milone

Terry Rush

Margie Gutnik, President

Abigail Kutler, Past President

Jay Ascher

Helen Epstein

Seth Feldman

David Finkelstein

Ally Freeman

Mary Sue Grossman

Chuck Lucoff

Patricia Newman

Joseph Pinson

Larry Ring

Zoë Riekes, President

Ellie Batt

Carol Bloch

Toba Cohen Dunning

Ally Freeman

Dusty Friedman

David Gilinsky

Ron Giller

Jan Goldstein

Barry Grossman

Erin Porterfield

Sara Rips

Rebecca Ruetsch

Lacey Studnicka

Susan Witkowski

We invite the community to the Federation's Awards Night & Annual Meeting on Monday, June 5th from 6-8 p.m. in the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater for the installation of the Boards.

*Nancy Schlessinger becomes President and Mike Siegel Past President in Jaunary 2024.