thejewishpress
Volunteers of the Year AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA
this week
E
Jim Fried
Daniel Grossman
AnnETTE VAn DE kAmP Editor, Jewish Press very year, agencies at the Jewish Federation of Omaha select deserving community members for their Volunteer of the Year Awards. The following lay leaders went above and beyond in their dedication and commitments to our shared mission. They will be honored at our Annual Meeting, which will be held this year June 4 at 5:30 p.m. The entire community is encouraged to attend.
Yachad Volunteers
JFO | SHAnE AnD JESS COHn The Cohns were very engaged co-Chairs of this past year’s Kehilla Cup. They took it to the next level with mostly new chairs and volunteers, raised $20,000 more than last year, almost doubled the amount of cards completed and were personally responsible for reaching out to 142 donors. They handled all correspondence with the captains, as well as weekly emails and phone calls. They would also take any cards that teams were not successful reaching. We can’t say enough about how much
Dinner in Abraham’s Tent
inside Viewpoint Synagogues Life cycles
Alex Epstein
Jess and Shane Cohn
Cheesecake on Shavuot Page 12
9 10 11
WWW.JEWISHOMAHA.ORG
MAY 1 1 , 2 0 1 8 | 2 6 IY AR 5 7 7 8 | V O L . 9 8 | NO . 3 0 | C A nD lEli G H Ti nG | FRID AY , MAY 1 1 , 8 : 1 4 P. M.
Shavuot Garden Luncheon at Chabad Page 7
100 Cameras Page 8
SPOnSORED bY THE bEnJAmin AnD AnnA E. WiESmAn FAmilY EnDOWmEnT FunD
lAuRA PAulSEn Marketing & Development Specialist, Tri-Faith Initiative On Sunday, April 22, the Tri-Faith Initiative hosted its first major fundraising event since 2009, Dinner in Abraham’s Tent. The event, held in the ballroom of the
Credit: Scott Griessel with Creatista CenturyLink Center, attracted over 700 guests, including especially those from Omaha’s Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities. The evening opened and closed with performances by an interfaith choir that included members of Temple Israel, Countryside Community Church, and the American Muslim Institute. The program featured prayers, reflections, and storytelling from members of all three faiths, as well as a special acknowledgment of four of the Tri-Faith Initiative’s founders: Rabbi Emeritus Aryeh Azriel and Bob Freeman of Temple Israel, Dr. Syed Mohiuddin of the American Muslim Institute, and Rev. Tim Anderson of the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska. See Dinner in Abraham’s Tent page 4
John Walter
Ray Pred
Eric Dunning
Sandy Friedman
ownership they took of this event! JFO-Jbl | AlEx EPSTEin Alex came to us over a year ago to start Jewish Business Leaders. He put together the board, the meeting ideas, the Hall of Fame concept and the first round of speakers! He personally recruited members and sponsors, helped to formulate the structure, logo and the meeting format. He has been a strong leader and kept all of us on task to keep moving forward. JBL has been well received See Volunteers of the Year page 3
JFO in Israel
Garin Ometz Van: donated to Orot Hesed of Garin Ometz in Akko by the Thomases Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Omaha and Henry Davis of Omaha, to serve as a rescue vehicle and to deliver food, now with a brand new sign! nATE SHAPiRO Director of Development, Jewish Federation of Omaha On April 16 the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s Israel/Overseas Committee met to decide on projects in Israel and abroad to support on behalf of the Omaha Jewish community. As part of our agreement with Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), our parent organization, a percentage of our annual campaign is sent to JFNA to be split among three JFNA partners: the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), the
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and WorldORT. This money, known as the “core” allocation, has been about $800,000, roughly 30% of our annual campaign. Traditionally, the Israel Overseas committee has been given $50,000 from the aforementioned “core” allocation funds to designate to special projects to build relationships between the Omaha Jewish community and communities in need abroad and in Israel. This year, the See JFO in israel page 2