I t comes as no surprise that summer camp at the JCC this year was a glowing success. After all, as Omaha’s only day camp accredited by the American Camp Association, the quality programming, top notch staff and fantastically renovated Staenberg Kooper Fellman JCC Campus makes J Camp a number one choice amongst campers andAsparents.thesummer camp season winds down and families prepare for a return to school, Mark Martin, JCC Executive Director, shared the numbers for J Camp’s eighth and final week in 2022.
We are getting more and more excited about the upcoming community trip to Israel and hope you are too! This exhilarating and meaningful eleven-day mission trip will be chaired by Andi and Donald Goldstein and will take place from March 15-26, 2023. On the trip, Omaha area community members will experience Israel’s rich culture and traditions, as well as connect with our people and ourWestory.will host an information session Oct. 6, at 6 p.m. in the Wiesman room, located near the front entrance of the “WhetherJCC. this is your first time in Israel, or your tenth,” Don Goldstein said, “this trip will provide you with unique, one-of-a-kind experiences. Andi and I are very excited to chair this trip. It’s extra special, because this is post-Covid. We haven’t been anywhere in a while! Besides, you don’t know when you will get another chance to take a trip like this.”
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“It is hard to believe that a few short years ago we considered registering 100 campers per week a success. We had a record breaking 399 kids registered across eight different camps which were run simultaneously in our final week this year! Historically, the last week of camp is the least attended
J Camp 2022 page 2 J CAMP 2022
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A record breaking summer success iN2L (It’s Never Too Late)
AUGUST 26, 2022 | 29 AV 5782 | VOL. 102 | NO. 44 | CANDLELIGHTING | FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 7:48 P.M. New in Kripke Library’s collection Page 4 Jewish Business Leaders returns Page 5 NJHS to spotlight Jewish business community Page 6 The Jewish PressWWW.OMAHAJEWISHPRESS.COM | WWW.JEWISHOMAHA.ORG SPONSORED BY THE WIESMANANDBENJAMINANNAE.FAMILYENDOWMENTFUND AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA REGULARS Spotlight 7 Voices 8 Synagogues 10 Life cycles 11 INSIDE ANNETTE VAN DE KAMPWRIGHT Jewish Press Editor
On behalf of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, I want to thank the Shirley & Leonard Goldstein Supporting Foundation and the Merriam & Harold Cooperman Endowment Fund of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation for the generous support of iN2L Mobile Flex. We already knew that iN2L was valuable and popular since we already enjoyed a 75-inch screen engagement system. Still, we felt we needed a smaller, more reachable design for Resident’s rooms or smaller spaces. This engagement system is eye-catching, with over 4,000 applications to facilitate social interactions. iN2L is easy to operate; See It’s Never Too Late 3
GABBY BLAIR Jewish Press Staff Writer
In Jerusalem, we will explore the Old City, visit the Kotel, yad Vashem and join in a festive Shabbat dinner. In the Mahane Yehuda, we will have a tasting tour with a food specialist. We will visit Tsfad, spend time in our Partnership region and of course visit Akko. We will also enjoy an Israeli wine tasting and BBQ in Zichron Yaakov. Lesser-known places like the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Tel Aviv as well as the new ANU Museum of the Jewish People are also on the itinerary, as are many other destinations. How would you like to visit Mitzpe Ramon, the world’s largest crater? Or attend a See Meet Me in Jerusalem 3
MAGGIE CONTI RBJH Director of Activities and Volunteer Services
Jay is from Maplewood, NJ, and is a recent graduate of Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, where he graduated with a B.A. in Film and Media Studies and a B.A. in Theater. In high school Jay was president of his temple’s youth group, and in college he was on the executive board and general board of Hillel and a peer educator for various DEI and educational organizations. Jay has previously worked as the Director of Media and Assistant Campus Head at Camp Mah-Kee-Nac. He also worked alongside the Programming Director at Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange, NJ, to create programs for children and teens.
Rabbi Berezin said she is delighted that Jay will be joining our Temple Israel team:
In his free time, Jay can be found creating short films, reading, watching awful romantic comedies and exploring nature. He is excited to join the Temple Israel family!
“Jay is passionate, engaging, warm and deeply committed to creating meaningful experiences for our youth and teen communities. I am excited to see how he and Jennie Gates Beckman, our new Director of Education, will partner in growing our vision for youth engagement in the coming months! Please join me in welcoming Jay to our Temple Israel family!”
2 | The Jewish Press | August 26, 2022 News LOCAL | NATIONAL | WORLD J CAMP 2022 New Director of
Continued from page 1 as different school districts stagger their return and families try to squeeze in end-ofsummer trips and begin preparing for the back-to-school routine. The numbers don’t lie, a true testament to the success of our J Camp.”
“When I walked in at 9:15 a.m., I was immediately confronted by Lisa and Gary Epstein in the most positive way. They had met their son and three year old grandson for the brunch and said, ‘Mark this event is wonderful and I wish you could do this every Sunday morning! This is a great way for us to get three generations together at the same time, so thank you!’” Mark Martin continues. “Who would have thought a 9 a.m. event on a Sunday would be so well attended?! This special members only event proved to be a great time and I would be remiss to not point out that none of the growth we are experiencing would be possible without the generosity of our donors who have provided such fantastic amenities for our community. Thank you!”
While the traditional JCC Day Camp alone drew in just over 200 campers in Week 8, there were many new camps offered in the final week including Spies Camp, Swim Speed Camp, Strength Training and Dance Boot Camp- both for older kids- and a late summer Dance Camp which all proved to be very popular, nearly doubling the number of campers. J Camp is open to all, with members paying a reduced rate. Special activities at the JCC for those holding membership included a family friendly Sunday Brunch Series, the most recent of which “Pancakes at the Pool” featured The Pancake Man who served up freshly made pancakes to over 165 attendees. “When planning this event back in May, we estimated under 50 members would attend,” explained Mark Martin who couldn’t be more pleased with the turnout.
Youth Education
Jay Ascher
Indeed, the continuing transformation of Omaha’s Staenberg Kooper Fellman JCC Campus, thanks to the generosity of our donors, has brought our beloved institution to the forefront of premier facilities in the city. From our excellent fitness and recreation facilities- including the state of the art Phil Sokolof Fitness Center, Goldstein Family Outdoor Aquatic Center and beautiful new Baker Family Indoor Leisure Pool, updated health spas and locker rooms, and dedicated studios for J Fit, Personal Training, yoga and pilates — to our beautifully updated Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theatre, Linda & Nelson Gordman Black Box Theater, Art Gallery and Community Event venues — The Omaha JCC, now in its eighth decade, continues to be your home for activities for all ages and occasions!
We are excited to announce that Jay Ascher has joined the Temple Israel staff in July!
Come with us as we explore the extraordinary beauty and hidden gems of this ancient land. We hope to see you there!
CHRISTINA CANIGLIA, Assistant Activities Director
There will be similar introductory services at Chabad for the high holidays. All are welcome, RSVP preferred [not required]
• “The iN2L is amazing. It provides hundreds of activity options that are geared toward senior citizens. So far, our Residents have really enjoyed it.”
Get comfortable, it’ll be an hour
Continued from page 1 with a touch of the screen, you can tap on a sing-along, game shows, trivia, and travel worldwide. The RBJH activities staff is thrilled with iN2L and wonders how they engaged Residents before this technology because research goes into each application. For example, if you want to tour Israel, there are videos to watch, trivia, facts, history, cooking demonstrations, and great slide shows at a touch of a screen. Here are a few personal success stories and testaments of the success of iN2L.
• “I like the travel section because I can watch videos and learn about every country worldwide.”
STEVE, RBJH Resident • “I enjoy the video of children laughing; so contagious makes everyone giggle.” MARY, RBJH Resident
The Jewish Press | August 26, 2022 | 3 WHY NOT DO IT THE EASY WAY? GARAGESPECIALISTSDOOR DOORNORM’SSERVICE SALES AND SERVICE COMMERCIAL • RESIDENTIALINDUSTRIAL 6200 South 90TH St. at 90th & Washington Omaha, 402-331-8920Nebraska
Continued from page 1 local music program, visit the Shanti House and meet the at-risk youth who receive new chances there, or visit an outdoor artist market? The sign-up deadline for this trip is Friday, Oct. 14, and you can find the link to reserve your spot here: tgxyhttps://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/ouXILg?vid= . You can secure your spot for the trip with the completion of the online form and your $750 deposit. For more information, contact Jenn Tompkins at 402.334.6435 or jtompkins@jewishomaha.org, or Rachel Ring at 402.334.6443 or email rring@jewishomaha.org. In addition, you can download the brochure here: omaha-community-trip-to-israel/jewishomaha.org/about/israel-and-overseas/https://www.
it seems everyone in the group, meeting, or dinner party knows about something that you are absolutely clueless about? Is this what shabbat synagogue services feel like? Whether or not you went to Hebrew school as a child or have attended services as an adult, davening (prayer) can be uncomfortable. The prayers are in a foreign language, and whether or not you can read them, their meaning, structure, and purpose eludes you. Even just being on the correct page is a struggle!
JILL OHLMANN, Activities Coordinator
Enter Chabad’s 1 Hour Introductory Service! Designed for beginners, this program is held once the full (2+ hour) shabbat service is complete. It offers you the chance to become familiar with the words and tunes and even understand the translation and deeper meanings behind shabbat morning services. And it’s all packed into an hour, so you don’t have to sit on an uncomfortable pew fidgeting as you wonder when the merciless end will come. The service is followed by a fabulous kiddush lunch, featuring some of the Shabbos favorites like homemade gefilte fish, kugel, the best cholent in the Midwest, and rugelach. Better yet, the discussion is every bit as delicious as the food!
• “The iN2L has been incredible for the Residents and the activities staff. We are all so impressed with the variety of content the iN2L offers; there truly is something for everyone. The Residents have already had so much fun with it. Every day we can do something different, and there is still so much we haven’t even discovered yet. The iN2L already has so many great activities installed, so I can spend less time researching and preparing activities and more time engaging with the residents in my office. That might be the best part about it.”
RON, RBJH Resident • “Yesterday, we used the maps to look up everyone’s address from childhood homes. We could see how all of the houses look today. Seeing where everyone grew up was fun, and looking at the house I grew up in brought back so many memories.”
It’s Never Too Late
RABBI ELI TENENBAUM Chabad of Nebraska Synagogue services are just like Husker games. It’s not the intense prayer when the team is down by a touchdown at the 2-minute warning. Let me explain. Imagine the excitement of your old friend and neighbor Andrew Johnson, a UNL alumnus, as he plans and books his ticket to Dublin to watch your Huskers take on the ExcitementWildcats.builds as the day of Andrew’s flight draws near. He’ll check that his passport is valid again, double check the dates on the ticket, the hotel reservation - everything is in place. The day arrives and the excitement grows further when he sees Husker caps and shirts as he passes through security. It seems like everyone on the plane is a Husker fanatic! In Ireland the excitement is even more palpable. Andrew makes his way to Lansdowne Road and the sea of scarlet and purple is exhilarating. He finally arrives at section 323, row J, seat 6, and takes a moment to absorb the surroundings. As he tries to take it all in, he realizes his seatmate in seat five is old Mrs McDonald who lives four houses down back in Omaha! Why would this sweet granny fly across the Atlantic to participate in the spectacle? She barely knows the difference between a quarterback and a cornerback, nevermind the benefits of zone vs. man-to-man coverage! Andrew soon hears that she won the trip at a bingo tournament and decided it would be a fun change of pace despite being clueless about football. Being the kind person he is, Andrew explains some of the basics of the game to her, and to his surprise, she picks it up rather quickly and is sharing in the excitement in no time at all! Do you ever feel out of place like granny McDonald? Where
For more information, or to sign up for reminders about the one Hour Introductory Service schedule, please email Rabbi Eli@ochabad.com
Meet me in Jerusalem
• “The iN2L engages Residents and staff to have fun together by exploring different avenues of content, and with a variety of content, it’s possible to find personalized interests of our residents.”
FAITH GATEWOOD, Activities Coordinator
The one hour service will take place on the second shabbat of each month, launching on shabbat, Sept. 10 at 11 a.m.
We know you’ll love this program, but be sure to share the experience and invite your family and friends! Bring your Bubby along, she’ll love humming along with the tunes. Who knows, maybe we can even make a mi shebeirach prayer for the Huskers!
ORGANIZATIONS
ANDREW LAPIN
JUVENILE: Dear Mr. Dickens by Nancy Churnin Eliza Davis believed in speaking up for what was right. Even if it meant telling Charles Dickens he was wrong. In Eliza Davis’s day, Charles Dickens was the most celebrated living writer in England. But some of his books reflected a prejudice that was all too common at the time: prejudice against Jewish people. Eliza was Jewish, and her heart hurt to see a Jewish character in Oliver Twist portrayed as ugly and selfish. She wanted to speak out about how unfair that was, even if it meant speaking out against the great man himself. So she wrote a letter to Charles Dickens. What happened next is history.
“When we got The Diary of Anne Frank, we thought, ‘This is a joke.’ But it wasn’t,” Hawes said, adding that the complaint was that “the book shouldn’t be read without parent supervision.” She suspected that the parent may have objected to the unabridged diary’s references to female genitalia, same-sex attraction and other sexual matters, which have been deemed “pornographic” by parental challenges in the past. But she couldn’t be sure because the parent who challenged the book didn’t show up to the meeting.
Hawes’ committee reinstated the book and thought that would be the end of the saga. But following school board elections in May, right-wing activists backed by campaign funds from a PAC affiliated with conservative cell phone company Patriot Mobile gained a majority on the board. They are now rewriting the guidelines for responding to parental book challenges and have ordered all challenged books from last year to be removed from school libraries in the meantime.
Texas school district orders a version of Anne Frank’s diary removed from shelves
4 | The Jewish Press | August 26, 2022 “OMAHA’SMOSTTRUSTEDNAMEINAPPLIANCEREPAIR” NOW BRINGS THAT SAME ATTENTION TO HEATING & COOLING Jackson Home Appliance Jackson Heating & Cooling FEATURESCARRIER HOME HEATING & COOLING PRODUCTS Omaha,8827CALLTODAYFORYOURFREEQUOTEFROMONEOFOURHVACSPECIALISTSONANEWFURNACE,AIRCONDITIONERORHEATPUMPMapleStreetNE68134CarrierFactoryAuthorizedNateCertifiedTechnicians 402-391-4287 FOR A LIMITED TIME! 12800 West Center Road 330-0200 210 Regency Parkway 392-0400 Sensational N.A., MEMBER F.D.I.C. CD Rates Ask an Enterprise Banker about our latest CD Special and let us help put your money to work for you! MEMBER F.D.I.C. www.enterprise.bank Chinese Restaurant CARRY OUT AVAILABLE 402-498-8833 Beer and Wine Available 2068 N. 117 Ave. North Park (117th & Blondo) M-Th: 11-9:30 • Fri & Sat. 11-10:30 • Sun. Noon-9:30 GardenJade Tritz Plumbing Inc. family402-894-0300www.tritz.comownedandoperatedsince 1945 repair • remodelcommercial
Other books which will presumably now be removed include Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and Jon Ronson’s So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed. The district has not shared any timeline for when the new review policy will be implemented. Under the current policy, any district parent, employee or “District resident” may challenge any book in the district “on the basis of appropriateness.”
New in Kripke Library’s collection
B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS
ADULT: Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva Legendary spy and art restorer Gabriel Allon has at long last severed ties with Israeli intelligence and settled quietly in Venice, the only place where he has ever truly known peace. His beautiful wife, Chiara, has taken over the day-to-day management of the Tiepolo Restoration Company, and their two young children are discreetly enrolled in a neighborhood scuola elementare. For his part, Gabriel spends his days wandering the streets and canals of the watery city, bidding farewell to the demons of his tragic, violent past. But when the eccentric London art dealer Julian Isherwood asks Gabriel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the rediscovery and lucrative sale of a centuries-old painting, he is drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse where nothing is as it Gabrielseems.soon discovers that the work in question, a portrait of an unidentified woman attributed to Sir Anthony van Dyck, is almost certainly a fiendishly clever fake. To find the mysterious figure who painted it—and uncover a multibillion-dollar fraud at the pinnacle of the art world—Gabriel conceives one of the most elaborate deceptions of his career. If it is to succeed, he must become the very mirror image of the man he seeks: the greatest art forger the world has ever known. Stylish, sophisticated, and ingeniously plotted, Portrait of an Unknown Woman is a wildly entertaining journey through the dark side of the art world—a place where unscrupulous dealers routinely deceive their customers and deep-pocketed investors treat great paintings as though they were just another asset class to be bought and sold at a profit. From its elegant opening to the shocking twists of its climax, the novel is a tour de force of storytelling and one of the finest pieces of heist fiction ever written. And it is still more proof that, when it comes to international intrigue and suspense, Daniel Silva has no equal. The Auschwitz Violinist by Jonathan Dunsky What if your friend was murdered and the police wouldn’t investigate?Israel,1950 – When private detective Adam Lapid runs into Yosef Kaplon on a crowded Tel Aviv street, he can hardly believe his eyes. The last time they met was in Auschwitz. They were prisoners together in the same barracks. Then one day, Kaplon was gone. Adam was sure he was dead. Soon after Kaplon tells Adam his remarkable story of survival, he’s found dead in his apartment. The police say it was suicide, but Adam isn’t so sure. He decides to investigate the matter himself.
The award-winning B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS speaker program currently meets Wednesdays via Zoom from noon to 1 p.m. Please watch the Press 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
JTA A school district in suburban Fort Worth, Texas, has ordered its librarians to remove an illustrated adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank from their shelves and digital libraries, along with the Bible and dozens of other books that were challenged by parents last year. The book purge at the Keller Independent School District in Keller, Texas, was requested by a district executive in an email, a copy of which was obtained by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. A copy of the email also circulated on social media.
The parental challenge against the book came in February, and the district initially dismissed it, Hawes said. Hawes, who is not Jewish, is on a list of parents who can be called in to serve on a committee to review book challenges.
“Right now, Keller ISD’s administration is asking our campus staff and librarians to review books that were challenged last year to determine if they meet the requirements of the new policy,” the district said in a statement to JTA when reached for comment. “Books that meet the new guidelines will be returned to the libraries as soon as it is confirmed they comply with the new policy.”
• residential SHIRLY BANNER JFO Kripke Jewish Federation Library Specialist
This article was edited for length. Read the full story at www.omahajewishpress.com
Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation Credit: Anne Frank Fonds
Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, by Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman and illustrator David Polonsky, is a 2019 illustrated adaptation of the bestselling diary by the teenage Holocaust victim. The New York Times called the book “so engaging and effective that it’s easy to imagine it replacing the [original] Diary in classrooms and among younger readers.”
In a twisting case that takes him from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Adam must follow a winding trail of clues to uncover the shocking solution to the mystery. Did Kaplon really take his own life? Or has Adam stumbled on the trail of a serial killer who is hunting a unique sort of victim?
“By the end of today, I need all books pulled from the library and classrooms,” wrote Jennifer Price, Keller ISD’s executive director of curriculum and instruction. It was the latest in a string of book removals being implemented at schools at the behest of conservative activist parents and school board members who are challenging a slew of texts on grounds ranging from their LGBT-friendly content to their supposed connections to “critical race theory.” Some of these challenges have ensnared books with Jewish themes in the past.
&
JFO Director of Community Development
JCC
Fellman Campus | 333 S.
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For the first time in more than a year, Jewish Business Leaders Bagels & Business reconvened on July 27th. A wonderful presentation was given by Jamie Rosenthal, owner of Greenberg Fruit Company. Jamie was a natural and passionate speaker. He spoke about his childhood in Sioux City, which included his many trips to Omaha, how he started in the fruit business, and how his business has evolved over the years. Jamie bought the business from Don Greenberg, who was in attendance. One of the things Jamie is most proud of is his company’s ability to pivot in the changing landscape of their business. As a self-proclaimed ‘glorified fruit peddler,’ Jamie described what has made their business successful. Greenberg Fruit Company supplies fresh fruit and veggies to many local schools and universities all over Nebraska. Jamie really knew how to tell his story and the crowd seemed to eat up every second (pun intended).
Ranked in Omaha Magazine as the “Best of Omaha” for Best Retail Art Gallery and Best Custom Picture Framing, Lewis Art Gallery remains a local favorite for Omaha. The gallery and the yarn shop are open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
with English subtitles. - SPONSORED
The Jewish Press | August 26, 2022 | 5 News LOCAL | NATIONAL | WORLD & Boutique B’H Staenberg Omaha JCC 333 South 132nd Street SeptThursday 15 6:15 PM Boutique, bites and beverages 7:00 PM Demo and Program • SHOP THE BOUTIQUE featuring Judaica, art & gifts • LEARN HOW TO MAKEEARN CHALLAHCHALLAH step by step • CONNECT WITH AND MAKE FRIENDS To Register go online to Ochabad.com/challahbake or scan QR code Email for more information or questions, Office@ochabad.com Join us for a fun evening honoring extraordinary women in our community! COMMITTEE: Jess Cohn, Tippi Denenberg, Shani Katzman, Andee Scioli, Louri Sullivan, Mushka Tenenbaum Join us for the opening of the EISENBERG ART GALLERY at the Staenberg Omaha JCC
Jewish Business Leaders will finish out 2022 with its annual Hall of Fame event on Oct. 19 This year, we will honor the late David Jacobson. David was an attorney and the former Chairman of Kutak Rock LLP. He is known for growing Kutak from over 200 lawyers in nine cities to over 500 lawyers in 18 cities. David was passionate about the issues of diversity and inclusion and made those a top priority for himself and the firm. He served on many boards in Omaha, and together with his daughter Rachel was inducted into the 2021 Aksarben Court of Honor in the Arts category. We are thrilled that David’s wife Nancy and daughter Rachel agreed to be a part of honoring him!
Goldstein
8 5:30
Thursday, September to 7:00 PM Held at the Staenberg Omaha in the Gallery the Shirley Leonard Community Staenberg Kooper 132nd Street Omaha, NE this special event, Bob Eisenberg will present a history of his parent’s immigrant experience in Yiddish BY BOB EISENBERGBella & SCAN QR CODE
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Engagement Venue Refreshments will be served.
Pictured left: Don Greenberg and Amy Shivvers; right: Jay Katelman, Jamie Rosenthal and Alex Epstein.
RSVP!TO
Jewish Business Leaders returns
ErwinEisenbergwiththeirsonBob PLEASE
Eisenberg Art
JAY KATELMAN
Serving Omaha for over 50 years Lewis Art Gallery at 8600 Cass Street is Omaha’s most established retail art gallery after being in business for over 50 years. Lewis Art Gallery’s unique and extensive collection has everything that you need to inspire and transform your space, with hand-crafted tables, one-of-a-kind paintings, home accessories, a variety of over 400 lamps, and more. Revive a room with paintings from local, regional, and international artists or dress up your current artwork and photos with one-week custom framing and a selection of over 800 frame moldings from their frame shop. The gallery shares its building with Personal Threads Boutique, where you will find an extensive array of in-stock yarn, patterns, and supplies for needlepoint, knitting, and crochet. You can also sign up for one of Personal Threads Boutique’s classes, which are open to knitters of any experience level. The gallery remains family owned, and it is now operated by its second generation. Julie Wynn is the manager of Lewis Art Gallery, while her husband, Joe Wynn, manages Personal Threads Boutique. They will soon be celebrating their 15th year at their new location in the heart of Omaha, which was designed to include the frame shop, the knitting store on the second floor, and plenty of room to display artwork.
68154 During
Lewis Art Gallery:
6 | The Jewish Press | August 26, 2022 News LOCAL | NATIONAL | WORLD Susan Bernard | 402.334.6559 | sbernard@jewishomaha.org Contact our advertising executive to promote your business in this very special edition. Publishing date | 10.14.22 Space reservation | 10.04.22
NJHS to spotlight Jewish business community
THE ARTS
Rebecca Harrison
MAGGIE CONTI RBJH Director of Activities and Volunteer Services
Residents create something beautiful
During the past several months, the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society has shared fascinating documents, photographs, and other memorabilia during its interactive “Archives Uncovered” series. Program attendees have learned littleknown facts about community members past and present -their accomplishments and their contributions, not only in Nebraska, but far beyond. The final installment of the series, focusing on the local Jewish business community, is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 13, 7 p.m., at the Jewish Community Center. In addition to looking through items from archival collections, participants will have the opportunity to tour NJHS’s climate-controlled archive space, located in the lower level of the “ArchivesJCC. Uncovered” is open to the public at no charge. Space is limited and reservations may be made by emailing njhs@jew ishomaha.org, or by calling the office at 402.334.6441. Don Goldstein and Helen Epstein look through memorabilia displayed during a recent “Archives Uncovered” program.
JILL KUSHNER BELMONT
The Residents at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home participated in a workshop sponsored by the Nebraska Arts Council Creative Aging through the Arts Programs with artist Rebecca Harrison. Over several weeks Residents designed four window panes by painting glass to resemble stained glass. Creative Aging through the Arts Program provides grants to artists to lead workshops for nonprofit senior centers. During the residency, Rebecca Harrison shared her expertise through sequential art lessons, helping participants hone their skills in various mediums and art sessions. Funds for this program come from the Leveraging State Investments in Creative Aging program, a joint initiative of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) and E. A. Michelson Philanthropy. Rebecca Harrison is a co-director of A Midsummer’s Mural, a 20-yearold Omaha-based mural company. She is also a founding member of the South Omaha Mural Project, which has produced ten large-scale community murals about different neighborhoods and groups in South Omaha. We plan on taking Residents to visit these murals in the fall. Rebecca teaches ceramics, painting, printmaking, preschool art, and open studio classes to students of all ages at the Salvation Army Kroc Center.
The series’ final program is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 13.
Above, left and below: A lot is going on at Beth Israel synagogue! to the guys that came to spend some time with again those who sponsored and helped with
The Jewish Press | August 26, 2022 | 7 SUPPORTEDGENEROUSLYBY 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 SP O TLIGHT
Above and below: RBJH welcomes back volunteers Karen and Jerry Ohlmann, parents of RBJH activities coordinator Jill Ohlmann, as they help lead Game Day. A fun afternoon of playing poker, Yahtzee, UNO, and Rummikub. It is so grand to see familiar faces again!
thank you to all
all the activities and programs!
Top, above and below: Residents and staff enjoyed a visit from a team from Fontenelle Forest Raptor Recovery program with up close and personal encounters with an Owl, Hawk, and Falcon. Right and below: Before school started officially, Friedel Jewish Academy welcomed students back with a picnic at the JCC pavillion.
us. And once
Above and above right: Shimmy Shack: Belly Dancers enthralled RBJH Residents with graceful movements and lots of shimmies.
Thank you
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Nebraska AwardAssociationPresswinner2008American Jewish PressAwardAssociationWinner NationalAssociationNewspaper 8 | The Jewish Press | August 26, 2022 Voices
The Jewish Press
The Mega Challah Bake and Boutique comes to Omaha on Sept. 15. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center for wine, socializing, and shopping. At 7 p.m., participants will learn how to mix, knead, and shape their own tasty challah bread. Organizers aim to weave together more than challah dough. They want to bring together both established Omaha and new Omaha, young and not-so-young, experienced bakers and total newbies. Like a cooking show, ingredients will be pre-measured and friendly teachers will go from table to table to give hands-on assistance. If you have NEVER made a loaf of bread you will be in good hands. If you are a competent challah baker and want to learn a sneaky trick or two, There will be something for you too. The challah baking extravaganza will sell out. To register, go to Ochabad.org/challahbake. You can also call 402.330.1800. Also, let’s get social, challah bakers! We want to see your challah on Instagram, so please send your pics to @MCBBomaha on Instagram.
ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL JTA I tend to get to Israel every two or three years, and every time I come home with a hamsa. The latest, which I picked up in May (along with a case of COVID — another story) is a lovely teal ceramic design from a workshop in the Golan Heights. We have a wall of these hand-shaped amulets in our house — less for good luck or spiritual karma than to advertise our connection to Israel. But to advertise what, exactly? The hamsa’s Jewish roots are slightly tenuous, or at least secondhand. The “hand of Fatima” is a Muslim symbol, perhaps pagan before that, and possibly Christian. According to one interpretation, the five fingers are meant to represent the five pillars of Islam (faith, fasting, pilgrimage, prayer and tithing). Like a number of folk customs, it was absorbed into Sephardic Jewish culture in the lands where Jews and Muslims lived and worked side by side, and where it came to suggest the hand of God, or a talisman used to ward off the Evil Eye. I have hamsas with an eye motif worked into the palm of the hand, others with fish designs — Jewish symbols of both fertility and luck. What they don’t have are overtly “Jewish” symbols: I avoid the ones with stars of David or menorah decorations. To some degree that’s my rebellion against Jewish kitsch — the gaudy, insistent aesthetic I associate with old-fashioned synagogue Judaica shops and well-meaning bar and bat mitzvah presents. I think it is also virtue-signaling on my part: The hamsa says I support the multicultural Israel that includes Jews and Arabs, Ashkenazim and Sephardim. “Cool” Jews like me don’t display exclusionary tchotchkes studded with Jewish stars or hang paintings of bearded dancing Hasids. (I mean, I have lots of Judaica with both — we just don’t put them on the top shelf.) It’s the same sort of insidery, too-cool-for-shul aesthetic that I have long associated with the Wissotzky Magic Tea Chest. I am guessing you have seen this or even have one: It’s a wooden box filled with tea sachets from Wissotzky, the Tel Avivbased company that has roots in tsarist Russia. Before it was widely available on Amazon, the tea box was a popular souvenir for repeat travelers to Israel. At one point I started calling it the “first postmodern Israeli souvenir”: Instead of celebrating Zionism or Judaism, the box’s decorations feature imagery from the Indian subcontinent. The writing is Hebrew but the message is international. Maybe first-timers bring home olive-wood camels and gaudy mezuzahs shaped like the Jerusalem skyline. Old hands like me know that a box of supermarket tea, like that delicately filigreed hamsa, says the “real Israel.” I know that’s putting a lot on a souvenir, and sometimes a hamsa is just a hamsa. But there is a whole field of scholarship that examines the deep meanings of everyday objects. Jenna Weissman Joselit, the doyenne of Jewish material culture, writes about how even Mordecai Kaplan, the influential 20th-century rabbi “not generally known for his interest in the material side of Jewish life,” counseled Jews to fill their homes with Jewish awere“Jewishsignifiers.appointmentsintendedtoconveymoralstatementthatwent far beyond the physical: Manifestations of group identity, they served as constant reminders of ideals and practices,” Joselit writes in her study of Jewish consumerism, “The Wonders of America.” Besides, others are going to attach moral statements to your bric-a-brac that you may not even have intended. Search “hamsa” and one of the first things Google delivers is the question, “Is it disrespectful to wear a hamsa?” The answer comes from a jewelry seller, who advises, “It can be culturally insensitive to wear it without knowing what the symbol means.” Insensitive to whom is not clear, although presumably there are Jews and Muslims who object to seeing the symbol dangling from the wrists or necks of celebrities who are neither. At the very least, as one Mizrahi Jew has written, Ashkenazi Jews who embrace the hamsa as a symbol of Jewish or Zionist pride should be aware of and acknowledge its distinct meaning for Jews from the Middle East and North Africa.
What’s your most meaningful or interesting Jewish object? What does it say about your “ideals and practices”? Send pics and your thoughts to me at asc@jewishweek.org and I’ll try to feature them in a future column. Andrew Silow-Carroll is editor in chief of the New York Jewish Week and senior editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. He previously served as JTA’s editor in chief and as editor in chief and CEO of the New Jersey Jewish News. @SilowCarroll
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.
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Why I am excited about the Mega Challah Bake
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I don’t think there was anything culturally insensitive about the artists who recently carved an elaborate hamsa into the sands at California’s Newport Beach. Or the Jewish environmental activist who places a clay hamsa along the shore of San Francisco Bay as an “offering to the water.” I prefer to think of the hamsa as a wonderfully ecumenical symbol. The hand is a blank canvas on which artists can project their own meanings, and the wearer their own statements. My statement is a little smug (“You won’t catch me with a dancing rabbi on the wall”) but also extremely hopeful: The open hand celebrates Israel’s unlikely blend of cultures and faiths, even as it wards off those who refuse to accommodate coexistence.
The particular Jewish meaning of my hamsa collection
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ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor It’s something we can’t take for granted: programming is happening in the Jewish community left and right. Speakers at synagogues, the JCC, summer camp with hundreds of kids, our own Jewish Press Local Author Series (yes, that’s a plug, Ari Kohen will visit us in December!) and soon religious school and Beit Midrash and Eye on Israel. I could go on and fill this entire page with everything that’s on the calendar. However, there is one event that I think deserves particular attention. Chaired by the inimitable Jess Cohn, Tippi Denenberg, Andee Scioli and Louri Sullivan, the Mega Challah Bake and Boutique will bring 100+ women from all across the community together with one goal: to be inspired. I already know that the energy in the Goldstein Venue that evening will be amazing. Last week, you read about the women who are being honored: Michele Aizenberg Ansari, Nancy Rips and Nancy Schlessinger. But there is another group of women who will be put into the limelight that day. And they deserve our attention, because they show us what the future can and should look like.Their names are Lauren Dolson, Eleanor Dunning and Cadee Scheer, and they are to be honored as the 2022 Mitzvah Ambassadors. The Rose Mitzvah Amabassador Award was established in memory of Rose Schupack, OBM. What’s special about the honorees is that, according to Shani Katzman, “they wear their Judaism on their sleeve.” For Teens and college-age people, that is not always an easy thing. There is pressure from all sides to not be so outwardly Jewish, pressure from a majority culture that often doesn’t understand us or lives with long-held Antisemitic prejudice. There is criticism of the State of Israel, and the line between anti-Zionism and Antisemitism can’t be found so easily. Watching young people nonetheless make the transition from being a Jewish child to becoming their adult Jewish selves is inceredibly exciting and we must celebrate it when it happens. Moreover, we must acknowledge it out loud and take every opportunity to tell them how proud we are of them. Because let’s face it, someday we will all be in the Rose Blumkin Home and we will have to trust them to run the show.
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The hamsa is a blank canvas on which artists can project their own meanings, and the wearer their own statements. Credit: New York Jewish Week
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To give you a little context, 217 years ago Napoleon was crowned King of Italy, Lewis and Clark headed out on their expedition, Beethoven premiered his Third Symphony and the first steam locomotive had just had its first run. There was no electricity, no cars, no phones, no internet. The United States itself was a mere 29 years old. Consider what can happen in two centuries. How would you like the world to look in Year 6000 and what are you willing to do to help make it that way? It’s a mistake to think that the people who will be affected will likely not be your people. According to the handy Descendants Calculator, in 217 years, or eight generations, the youngest of my children, 13-year-old Ruby, could have anywhere between 500 and 87,000 offspring, depending on the average number of kids per generation. And that’s just one of my three children!
The future is not just about flying cars, jet packs and robots doing our laundry. Nor is it just about climate change, rampant inequality or the loss of global biodiversity. Taken together, these aspects — good and bad — leave us with an incomplete picture of tomorrow’s promises and perils.
The huge challenges we face as a society are going to require significant action at a political level.We need to vote at the booth and at the check-out counter in a way that aligns with our values. But that is not enough. Shaping the future also entails doing something beyond the political, something in some ways more difficult and definitely closer to home. Shaping the future towards a world we want to see necessitates that we connect with each other — at the human-to-human level — in a way that has significantly more impact than just how we vote or consume.
Many years ago I was asked to speak, on short notice, at a symposium in Geneva about the future of the global climate refugee crises. It was an important opportunity, but attending meant I was going to miss my 11-year-old daughter Eliana’s choir concert, the one for which she had been rehearsing for months. I was crushed, but no compromise was possible — I’d be on the other side of the globe for every performance.
He asked them “Who is called a ‘wise man’?” They responded to him, “The person who sees the consequence of their action.”
Stuck in a forever state of reactive short-termism — an almost obsessive focus on the near future — glued to our devices and grappling with never-ending “breaking news” and business plans measured in hours and even minutes, we’ve become too much tree and not enough forest. News about the most recent COVID variant, for example, is a tree. Being part of my kid’s growing up? That’s the forest. Our short-term addictions, understandable as they are, are obscuring our longer term potentials.
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. it looks to the past
In another story from the home front, my 9-year-old Gideon recently did something…improper. It’s not important what, but let’s just say he wasn’t being his best self. When I found out, I flipped out and really read him the riot act. My wife Sharon pulled me aside and whispered, “Ari: longpath.” The word is a mantra in our household — it stands for the deliberate practice of long-term, holistic thinking and acting that, at its root, starts with real, hard-earned self-knowledge. At that instant I saw how off I was. Instead of modeling behaviors of self-awareness to help my son grow, I was reacting, and probably overreacting at that, glued once again to the short term at the expense of the long-term relationship with my son. On the highest level, I knew who I wanted to be in that moment with my son, but we are reactive creatures, easily prone to short-term decision making. So why is a futurist, who works with multi-national organizations, governments and leading foundations, and whose TED talk has been viewed several million times, writing about conversations with my children?
When Judaism considers the long term,
To my great shock, Eliana didn’t care, at least not exactly.
“It’s okay, Dad,” she said. “If you miss it, you miss it. But do me a favor. When you are here, how about actually being here?” I was stunned, a little hurt, but I knew just what she was talking about. For the past year-plus, I’d been wandering around the house, conducting half my business by cell phone, distracted even when I was playing a board game with her. In the great way that children can state a complex thing simply and purely, my daughter had summarized our whole culture’s dilemma.
ARI WALLACH JTA
(Babylonian Talmud, Tamid 32a)
TrimHow?tabs.
The Jewish Press | August 26, 2022 | 9
Trim tabs are the small edges of a ship’s rudder that, although tiny, can make a huge impact on the direction of the ship. The futurist Buckminster Fuller used the metaphor of a “trim tab” to explain how even small actions could have massive long-term effects, especially when scaled acrossShapingpopulations.thelong-term trajectory of society means connecting with others through a lens of empathy and with an eye on how those interactions will ripple out through time. What makes you a futurist — someone who cares and wants to shape society towards a better tomorrow — is putting your device down when your child enters the room and thinking about how your every action will play out over generations. This is the mindset of a true futurist. This is longpath thinking. At its heart, the belief in a longpath or “longer-term” mindset is a Jewish one. After all, we’re the people who have dragged our story along to every outpost — the people who have waited on and insisted upon a future return. And just as our Passover story promises a transformation that does not happen overnight, the longpath view says that, yes, you can be an agent of change, not just a slave to the current climate, but it’s going to take some work. For me, the High Holy Days manifest the essence of a longpath outlook best of all. Rosh Hashanah both reaps the harvest of the past and points us toward our most profound wishes for the future year — but you can’t get there without a Yom Kippur. On this day of teshuvah, which means repentance and return, we understand that to look ahead of us requires that we first look back on the year past and engage in an honest reconciliation with all we have been and all those we have wronged — both in our own eyes and God’s. It’s hard work, but if we do this with an open heart, we have a chance to not only envision a better future, but to participate in creating it — for us and for others.
The longpath view doesn’t just look deep into the future, but deep into the past. It holds that you cannot consider the future without transgenerational empathy, a clear accounting of all the preceding generations went through. Then, when you are ready to face the days, months, years, decades and centuries ahead, you must do your future-oriented thinking with future generations in mind. After all, your community and your world will belong to them. My father was a Polish refugee who escaped the ghetto and lost most of his family in the Holocaust — he went onto become a commander in the Jewish resistance. Years later, he used to say, “The future really started yesterday.” To move through the narrow passages and get to the land of milk and honey, we must adopt a mindset that integrates the far past and the far Transgenerationalfuture. empathy is not merely a high-flown concept — it’s a practice, a way of taking the future seriously. On our mantel, along with photos of my parents and Sharon’s parents, and photos of us and of the kids, we have placed a few empty frames, a reminder of the generation to come. Seeing those empty frames is a subtle but persistent reminder that the decisions we make today, as individuals, as a family, as a community, are going to have everyday repercussions hundreds of years from now. This Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of 5783 in the Jewish calendar. That means we’re only 217 years from the year 6000. Some say that’s the latest time for the messiah to arrive and usher in the redemption. Others insist the messiah can and will come earlier. The real question is: Where do we want the world to be in 6000, and what kind of longpath thinking will help get us there?
What kind of a world do you want your descendants to live in? What do we have to do collectively to co-create that future?We don’t need the answers this instant, but we do need to start making the small actions and asking the big questions right away. Ari Wallach is a futurist to Fortune 500 companies, global nonprofits and philanthropists and is the author of Longpath: Becoming the Great Ancestors Our Future Needs (HarperOne, Aug. 16, 2022). Ari is also the co-creator of the 2008 presidential campaign-focused initiative, The Great Schlep with Sarah Silverman, and was formerly adjunct faculty at Columbia University lecturing on artificial intelligence, public policy and strategic futuring.
JTA graphic by Grace Yagel
FRIDAY-Sept. 2: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m.; Shabbat B’yachad Service, 6 p.m. via Zoom or In-Person. SATURDAY-Sept. 3: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. via Zoom or In-Person. Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.
BETH SYNAGOGUEEL Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Street Omaha, NE bethel-omaha.org402.492.855068154-1980
THURSDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deepening Prayer, 7:45 a.m.; Character Development, 9:30 a.m.; Daf Yomi, 7 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:40FRIDAY-Sept.p.m. 2: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deepening Prayer 7:45 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY-Aug. 27: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat 10:45 a.m.; Tehillim for Kids, 5:30 p.m.; Kids Parsha Class, 6:50 p.m.; Mincha/Shalosh Suedos, 7:50 p.m.; Laws of Shabbos/ Kids Activity 8:20 p.m.; Ma’ariv/Havdalah, 8:49 p.m. Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links. All services are in-person. All classes are being offered in-person/Zoom hybrid (Ochabad.com/classroom). For more information or to request help, please visit www.ochabad.com or call the office at 402.330.1800.
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10 | The Jewish Press | August 26, 2022
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“Normally a German leader would challenge such undiplomatic language,” Nina Haase, the diplomatic correspondent for the state-run Deutsche Welle broadcaster said. “He didn’t look good here.”
Scholz winced at hearing the term, which carries extra weight in Germany, but did not speak up.
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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 moreTheinformation.RoseBlumkin Jewish Home’s service is currently closed to visitors. In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Batsheva Appel, Rabbi Deana Sussmam Berezin, and Cantor Joanna Alexander FRIDAY: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m.; Shabbat B’yachad Service, 6 p.m. via Zoom or In-Person.
SUNDAY: Blood Drive, 8 a.m.; Bagels & Jo on the Go, 9 a.m.; First Day of BESTT (Grades K-7), 9:30 a.m. MONDAY: Women’s Book Group, 6:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY: BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4:15 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-10), 6 p.m. FRIDAY-Sept. 2: Kabbalat Shabbat 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream. SATURDAY-Sept. 3: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Bar MItzvah of Colin Kelln; Havdalah, 8:30 p.m. Zoom Only. Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.
WEDNESDAY: LJCS Classes, 4 p.m. THURSDAY: HHD Choir Rehearsal, 7 p.m. FRIDAY-Sept. 2: Kabbalat Shabbat Service with Rabbi Alex and music by Nathaniel and Steve Kaup, 6:30 p.m. at SST; Oneg host TBD; Candlelighting, 7:39SATURDAY-Sept.p.m. 3: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parashat Shoftim; Havdalah, 8:37 p.m.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, left, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrive to speak to the media following talks at the Chancellery in Berlin, Aug. 16, 2022.
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BILD reported that Scholz, who had already objected to Abbas’ use of the term “Apartheid” to describe Israeli practices in the West Bank, felt constrained to object a second time because the press conference was wrapping up.“Before the Chancellor could contradict this outrageous sentence, the government spokesman had already moderated the press conference — as usual after the last question/answer block — which visibly annoyed Scholz,” a Scholz spokesman told BILD. “The government spokesman then told the journalists who were still present, who could not help noticing the chancellor’s annoyance, how outraged the chancellor was about the statement and also that he had not had the opportunity to openly contradict one more time.” Scholz was quoted as saying in a statement: “Especially for us Germans, any relativization of the Holocaust is unbearable andTheunacceptable.”Germangovernment is planning a ceremony in Munich next month to mark 50 years since the Olympics murders. All but one of the family members of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered during the 1972 Munich Olympics are planning to boycott that ceremony, calling the financial compensation that the German government will offer them “a joke.”
FRIDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer, 7:45 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat, 7:30 p.m.; Candlelighting, 7:49 p.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:45 a.m.; Tehillim for Kids, 5:30 p.m.; Kids Parsha Class 6:50 p.m.; Mincha/Shalosh Suedos 7:40 p.m.; Laws of Shabbos/Kids Activity 8 p.m.; Ma’ariv/Havdalah, 8:49 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit 9 a.m.; Daf Yomi 7 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:40 p.m. MONDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Deeping Our Prayer 7:45 a.m.; Daf Yomi 7 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:40 p.m.; Beth Israel Tribute Dinner RSVP Due, 11:59 p.m.
Mahmoud Abbas accuses Israel of ‘Holocausts’
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THURSDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Advanced Hebrew Class, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study (Sanhedrin 18 — No advance experience necessary), noon with Rabbi Katzman; Jewish Law Class, 7 p.m.
SUNDAY: LJCS Classes and Candle Making Activity, 9:30 a.m.; Men's Jewish Bike Group of Lincoln meets Sundays at 10 a.m., rain or shine, to ride to one of The Mill locations from Hanson Ct. (except we drive if it’s too wet, cold, cloudy, windy, hot or humid) followed by coffee and spirited discussions. If interested, please email Al Weiss at alb ertw801@gmail.com to find out where to meet each week; South Street Temple Board Meeting, 1:30 p.m. via Zoom; Pickleball at Tifereth Israel is on hiatus until after Yom Kippur 5783. In the meantime, everyone is welcome to play at Peterson Park through the spring and summer; just wear comfortable clothes and tennis or gym shoes. For more information, contact Miriam Wallick by email at TUESDAY:Miriam57@aol.com Tea & Coffee with Pals, 1:30 p.m. via Zoom.
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According to the Times of Israel, the popular German daily BILD headlined a story “Antisemitism scandal: Abbas relativizes the Holocaust … and Scholz is silent.”
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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of committing “Holocausts” at a press conference after meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, and Scholz’s muted initial response is spurring criticism. Abbas used the term in response on Tuesday to a reporter who asked if the Palestinian leader would apologize for the murder 50 years ago of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics. An arm of the Palestine Liberation Organization carried out the attack, and the PLO and the Palestinian Authority are intertwined. “If we want to go over the past, go ahead,” Abbas said in Arabic, standing alongside Scholz, The Times of Israel reported. “I have 50 slaughters that Israel committed … 50 massacres, 50 slaughters,” before switching to English to say “50 Holocausts.”
Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
JTA
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CORRECTIONS Antisemitic threats continue in the wake of the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search
This article was edited for length. Read the full story at www.omahajewishpress.com
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Now Abbas calls Holocaust the ‘most heinous crime’
Abbas’ statement came after Hussein Al-Sheikh, the current PLO secretary-general had a “difficult” conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, according to Israeli reporter NogaScholzTarnopolsky.drewcriticism for not calling out Abbas in real time but subsequently decried the comment.
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COLIN HERSHEL KELLN Colin Hershel Kelln, son of Heather and Mark Kelln will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022 at Beth El Synagogue. Colin is an eighth grade Honor Roll student at Alice Buffett Middle School. He is a member of student council and National Junior Honor Society. He is a member of the No Place for Hate Club at Buffett, swims competitively for ACE and Buffett, plays violin in the Omaha Area Youth Orchestra, enjoys cooking and loves his time spent at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. For his mitzvah project, Colin is learning about ways to best support the needs of the Omaha refugee community. He has a brother, Peyton. Grandparents are Jody and Ray Goldstein of Rochester, MN, Don Kelln of Oconomowoc, WI and the late Kathy Kelln.
RON KAMPEAS JTA Under fire for accusing Israel of “50 Holocausts,” (see p.10) President Mahmoud Abbas walked back his statement, calling the Holocaust “the most heinous crime in modern humanAbbashistory.”released the statement August 17 through the Palestinian Wafa news agency. He had come under sharp criticism from U.S., Israeli and German officials for accusing Israel of carrying out “50 Holocausts” against the Palestinians during a press conference in Germany on Tuesday, standing alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. A German reporter had asked Abbas whether the Palestinian Authority would apologize on the 50th anniversary of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. The Palestine Liberation Organization, which is intertwined with the Palestinian Authority, carried out the massacre.
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Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority, speaks to the media in Berlin, Aug. 16, 2022. Credit: Sean Gallup/ Getty Images
“I don’t think Mar-a-Lago means every Jewish person needs to keep their head on a swivel,” Segal said. “I just think we’re in a particular dangerous time in this country. And everybody should be concerned.”
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“We know that U.S. extremists are willing to act on their beliefs. And we know, for some of these extremists, antisemitism is adjacent to their other ideologies,” said Oren Segal, vice president of the Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League. Segal and others who pay attention to extremism say it’s fair for Jews to be concerned, given their history in the United States and elsewhere — but they are also quick to emphasize that the danger posed by Trump’s supporters threatens a far wider swath of Americans.
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MADELINE FIXLER JTA When a Florida synagogue canceled its “Beach Shabbat” services amid threats against one of its board members, the judge who signed the warrant authorizing an FBI search of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, it felt to some like a pivotal moment in the history of American“Theantisemitism.combination of a synagogue in Florida having to cancel Shabbat due to antisemitic threats against the Jewish judge who signed the Trump warrant, combined with right-wing media figures pointing out that Merrick Garland is Jewish, is making me very uneasy as an American Jew,” a doctoral student in American Jewish history named Joel Swanson wrote on Twitter. Many of the attacks on Judge Bruce Reinhardt have referenced his Jewish identity, from a viral tweet by retired baseball player Lenny Dykstra to chatter on pro-Trump message boards. So, too, has criticism of Merrick Garland, the U.S. attorney general who authorized the search as part of an ongoing investigation into whether Trump may have violated the Espionage Act. The torrent of antisemitic vitriol against them have raised concerns that Trump’s base, which has already shown potential for violence, could channel that rhetoric into action.
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A version of this piece originally ran in J. The Jewish News of Northern California and is reprinted with permission. Mike and Frances Oznowicz at the Children’s Fairyland Puppet Fair in 1956. Credit: San Francisco Bay Area Puppeteers Guild and Children’s Fairyland Archives
“It’s part of our cultural fabric,” said Rabben of the CJM. “The Jews have always been an oppressed people who found ways to fight back, implicitly or more subtly. When you think of the legacy of Jewish humor in the U.S., that was a way for Jews to reclaim power and agency over how their stories were being told and who was telling them.”
Long before storing the puppets in an Oakland attic, Mike Oznowicz had buried them in Antwerp for safekeeping before fleeing the Nazi invasion, then retrieved them after the war. They remained in the attic until his son, by then fully aware of the historical importance of his parents’ handiwork, transported them to his Manhattan apartment, where he has kept them for more than 30 years.
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Oz told J. his father never liked to talk about the war, which claimed the lives of many of his relatives. Nor did he divulge the origins of the Hitler and cabaret band puppets or whether he ever performed with them. Mike Oznowicz, who died in 1998, was “very scrappy” and had an “attitude of rebelliousness,” according to his son. That may explain why he crafted a puppet that ridiculed Hitler. The tradition of mocking the German dictator continued for decades, from Bugs Bunny to Chaplin’s Great Dictator to Mel Brooks’ The Producers.
“The wear and tear is very evident,” Heidi Rabben, senior curator of the CJM, said of the treasures. “The costumes are faded and torn. The Hitler costume is broken down the front seam. I asked Frank why he thought his parents buried [the puppets] and did not destroy them. He said if someone creates something with one’s own hands it becomes meaningful. This [Hitler] marionette was for his parents a form of resistance.”
Frank Oz, 78, is best known as the puppetry genius who partnered with Muppets founder Jim Henson. He was the voice of Miss Piggy, Burt, Cookie Monster and, as recently as 2019, the voice of Yoda in the Star Wars series. As a filmmaker, he directed The Dark Crystal, Little Shop of Horrors and What About Bob, among others. But his puppeteering began at home, under the influence of his Whenparents.Germany invaded Belgium in 1940, possessing a subversive marionette like the Hitler puppet posed a danger to both Mike Oznowicz, a sign painter by trade and an amateur puppeteer, and Frances, a dressmaker. The couple buried it and several other marionettes in their backyard, then fled the country, wandering from Portugal to North Africa. While hiding in Casablanca, it was Frances who supported the family with tailoring work. After the war, they returned to Antwerp, retrieved the puppets and eventually brought them to Northern California, where they built a new life for themselves and their three children. They continued to make puppets and performed shows in the region, including at Children’s Fairyland at Lake Merritt.
DAN PINE J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA
“I see it as beautiful folk art,” he said of his parents’ handiwork. “[My father] didn’t go to woodcarving school. He just did it, and [the puppets] are representative of so many people who just appreciate the core of humanity.”
The puppets have never been on public display until now. They are the centerpieces of a new exhibition, Oz is for Oznowicz: A Puppet Family’s History, open now through Nov. 27 at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. The exhibit consists of the Hitler figure, as well as a puppet cabaret band decked out in swanky satin jackets, along with a raven-haired chanteuse in a red dress. Also included are archival photographs, reflections from Oz and his siblings and a video account from Mike Oznowicz recounting his harrowing escape from Nazi-occupied Belgium.
Long before Frank Oz gained fame as the puppet master behind such iconic characters as Miss Piggy and Yoda, he was Frank Oznowicz, an Oakland kid who attended Tech High, ate burgers at Kwik Way and watched movies at the Grand Lake Theater.Andfrom time to time, he’d rummage through the attic of his home. One day he came across something that would prove to be extraordinary: a set of wooden marionettes, carved in the 1930s by his Jewish father, Isadore “Mike” Oznowicz, a Holocaust refugee from Antwerp, Belgium.
Oz said he sees the CJM exhibit as a way to honor his parents for their creativity and resilience.
“Every few years I’d see [the puppets] and not think twice,” Oz recalled of his youth. “When I was an adult, I moved to New York and I realized, ‘My God, look what we have here.’”
The Hitler puppet stashed in Frank Oz’s Oakland attic
The costumes were handmade by his mother, Frances. One of the puppets, with its Charlie Chaplin mustache and raised right arm, was unmistakably a mocking caricature of Hitler.
