September 15, 2017: Rosh Hashanah Edition

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Happy New Year

hAT WE TACKLED this year is not the most logical subject for a special High Holiday issue. But then, neither are most of our other special topics. Really, the only thing we look for when we decide our annual Rosh Hashanah theme is that we have stories to tell. And that, I have to say, was not hard once we began to look at the To you, the readers, thank you for supporting us, for performing arts and the role the stage, and all being excited when the paper comes out every week its players, has in our community.

From Campaign Cabaret to the annual and welcoming us into your home. Thank you for callFriedel Hanukkah play (Kindergartners singing in ing in a panic when the mail is late and for sharing Hebrew!); from Karen and Friends to the JCC Musi- your stories and your simchas with us (one of these cal Theater Community Acting Group; from Team days I’m going to find the time to add up how many Omaha’s dancers who returned with no fewer than 16 lifecycle events we’ve published during the past almedals from the 2016 Maccabi Games to the smallest most-100 years). performers at the Pennie Z. Davis Childhood Development Center’s pre-school graduation, performing seems to be in our blood. At least for some of us; even our CEO is parent to two phenomenally talented musicians. My own kids have spent countless hours at the JCC theater and in doing so have gained an entire family.

Whether we look at dance, theater, songwriting or music, each performer in her or his way tells a unique story. Unless you are Rita Paskowitz, it is not always easy to put that story into words.

Nonetheless, with the help of My own children backstage during the JCC’s production of some excellent freelance writers, Oklahoma! we’ve tried to do just that.

We also looked at those of us Finally, I want to thank all my colleagues in this who have no desire to be on stage but are eager to support those who do. There is an amazing amount of building, for being a constant reminder that community passion people feel for artists, accompanied by a gen- is the reason we do what we do. This paper, as Jewish erous spirit. Sometimes, it’s both. Then, we combined papers go, is unique in the sense that we do not ever it all with a number of stories about the High Holidays, work in a vacuum. We share this building with a Marbecause that is of course the real reason for this big keting Department, a Campaign Staff, Jewish Family Services, the RBJH, a day school as well as a childcare issue. The Main Act, if you will.

This issue would not be possible without first and center and preschool, the marvelous staff at the foremost the support of the Jewish Press Board of Di- ADL/CRC and the IHE, the Nebraska Jewish Historical rectors, whose enthusiastic support is necessary and Society, a Cultural Arts Department, accountants and receptionists, fitness trainers and maintenance people; appreciated.

I’m grateful to the Jewish Press staff for their hard the list goes on and on. Being surrounded by Jewish work: Creative Director, Richard Busse, who is a ge- professionals makes doing what we do so much more nius and nobody can convince me otherwise; Assistant worthwhile.

So, the holidays are here. Soon, we’ll be seeing each Editor Lori Kooper-Schwarz, without whom I would certainly lose my head at least three times a week; other at synagogue; we’ll be dousing our apple slices Sales Manager Susan Bernard, who is tireless and with honey and enjoying the company of friends and family. Why do we do this year after year? Because does not know the concept of giving up.

Gabby Blair, Ozzie Nogg, Nate Shapiro, Liz Feldstern, it’s who we are and because it’s a privilege to be a Teddy Weinberger, Sybil Kaplan, Lois Friedman and our part of it. The Jewish Press Board and Staff wish you 2017 Murray H. and Sharee C. Newman Jewish Press all the most wonderful of holidays. May this new year Intern Emma Hochfelder all worked their magic to fill bring much joy and many blessings to all of you. these pages. Without their hard work, these big issues L’Shana tova umetukah, are impossible to complete.

I also want to thank Alan Potash and Julee Katzman, who are always willing to pore over my list of Annette van de Kamp Editor, Jewish Press topics with me and fill in the blanks.

Our proofreaders: Andi Goldstein, Margaret Kirkeby, Deborah Platt, Silvia Roffman and Dottie Rosenblum, who are the most solid and consistent volunteers I’ve ever seen. Week after week, they read these pages and catch mistakes before they go to print.

Cover photo credit: Tommybuddy via Wikimedia commons

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | a3

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Omaha Steaks: A stakeholder in the arts

Ozzie NOgg The arts are fundamental to our humanity.

They ennoble and inspire us - fostering creativity, goodness, and beauty. The arts help us express our values, build bridges between cultures, and bring us together regardless of ethnicity, religion, or age.

When times are tough, art is salve for the ache.

Randy I. Cohen of ARTSblog ilvia (Sivi) ROffmaN was a dear friend of the late Fred Simon.

“We graduated from Central High together in 1955 and kept in touch while we were in college,” Sivi explained. “I went to Iowa, Fred attended Penn, and when we came home on school breaks, we’d often go out — usually to the Golden Spur at the Blackstone Hotel — and have spirited conversations about art and music and argue over whether Beethoven or Mozart was the greater talent. When we weren’t in Omaha at the same time, we kept in touch though letters,” Sivi continued. “Fred wrote me once about how lucky he felt, being at school in the East and being able to take advantage of all the culture — the opera, the symphony, the museums and theater — and he vowed that when he graduated and came back home to join Omaha Steaks — the family business — he’d do everything he could to elevate the arts in Omaha. This was a pretty lofty goal, coming from a college kid. But Fred made good on his promise.”

Indeed he did. By the time of Fred Simon’s death in 2015, Omaha Steaks as a company and the individual members of the Simon family and the family foundations they participate in had been ardent and consistent supporters of the performing arts in Omaha, and sometimes nationally, for decades.

“We have a long, personal history with many of the organizations we support,” said Fred’s son, Todd Simon, Omaha Steaks Senior Vice President, who acted as spokesperson for the company and the Simon family for this article. “Members of various branches of the family — my uncles Alan and Steve, my cousins Bruce and his wife Stacy, my

wife Betiana and I — served or currently sit on numerous Boards including Opera Omaha, The Omaha Symphony, The Omaha Conservatory of Music, Filmstreams, The Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Joslyn Art Museum and the Santa Fe Opera, to name just a few. Bruce serves on the Board of Friends of Florence, an organization

cial support. For example, we think that groups like Opera Omaha and the Omaha Community Playhouse do fantastic jobs – but so do the smaller groups like Briget St. Briget Theatre, and the Bluebarn, and the Great Plains Theatre Conference and Ballet Nebraska. This year one of our family foundations decided to support the education pro-

based in Italy that is dedicated to the restoration and preservation of Renaissance art. Our involvement with the arts really hit its stride in the late 1950s and has trended up and up until today.”

How does Omaha Steaks decide which groups to back? “Our criteria starts from the idea that the arts are vital to the community and must be supported,” Todd said. “Then we look to the accomplishments of the organization itself. We do believe that the high-profile performing arts organizations with big audience footprints need ongoing finan-

grams at the new Union For Contemporary Art on North 24th Street. We see value in helping smaller organizations get off the ground, and we see value in recognizing programs that bring the arts to under-served neighborhoods and celebrate the diverse cultures represented in Omaha.”

Louder Than A Bomb is one of the smaller programs Omaha Steaks chose to embrace. Modeled after a teen slam poetry festival that originated in Chicago, LTaB engages students in Nebraska and See Omaha Steaks page a5

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A happy and peaceful New Year

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a4 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah Reflections from behind the scenes at Campaign Cabaret Gabby blair

n a lovely October evening in 2015, my children and I had the opportunity to be part of Jewish Omaha History. I had signed them up to sing in a Federation event called “Campaign Cabaret” after a call for volunteers was announced at Friedel Jewish Academy, where they were enrolled at the time. Not being from Omaha, I had no understanding of what “Campaign Cabaret” actually was, in scope, meaning and legacy, until much further along in the process. After the first few practices at the JCC Theater, I received a call from Joanie Jacobson, Production Co-Chair. She lovingly explained, in detail, the history of the show and her role in “Campaign Cabaret”, past and present. She implored me to join in the effort in some way. While I was not able to commit to performing, it was her excitement and enthusiasm for this long awaited revival that inspired me to volunteer to help behind the scenes. I ended up working with Jordana Glazer, Federation CFO. We were tasked with keeping track of the numerous young performers, and coordinating who was supposed to be where and when. Once our practices moved to the Joslyn Museum, Ms. Glazer and I worked together like a well-oiled machine, mapping out the timing and props for each group.

Keeping the large group of young performers organized for

each number, and safely entertained, fed, relatively quiet and contained for the rest of the show was no small feat, especially in the vast underbelly of the museum. The shadowy stairwells, allure of perfect acoustics and interesting works of art piqued the curiosity of many young minds. Thankfully, there were a few other parents and volunteers who stepped up to help be room helpers while we shuttled groups back and forth through the maze of hallways and tiny winding spiral staircases between the holding room in the basement and the stage, three floors up. Without the help of these unnamed, unrecognized volunteers, some of whom gave up their own opportunity to watch the show, we could not have done it.

We were so very thankful and grateful to these selfless people.

Being a small part of Campaign Cabaret 2015 was very illuminating, especially working unnoticed, behind the scenes. It was beautiful to see how an entire community can come together to achieve a common goal. Everyone who helped in any way, no matter how big or small, was instrumental in making that evening happen with success.

The level of coordination and dedication among the director, performers, stagehands, musicians, event planners, backstage helpers and those, like the last minute volunteers who saw a need and stepped in to fill it, is what makes our community great.

The show, of course, was a huge success and went off without a hitch. The theater was packed with standing room only. It was wonderful to peek out from behind the curtain and see all the hard work and hours of practice come together in such harmony. Looking out, I could see my own children performing with their friends, countless community members, Blumkin Home residents and their caretakers, generations of families, young and old alike, faces alight with delight, enjoying a show that was 30 years in the making. It was a really wonderful experience and I am so glad we were able to be a part of it!

Apples and honey

Emma HocHfEldEr Intern, Jewish Press ood is at the pentacrest of so many memories. It can bring you back to a moment in time. It can act as a trigger for a flood of old memories. Food can be much more than vital nourishment.

Enjoying food together, breaking bread, is a tradition as old as time. Jewish culture itself undeniably partially thrives on food. Not just eating it, but the time spent together that surrounds the meal. The schmoozing and the chatting; eating is an activity, not just a necessity. So it is not surprising that for one of the holiest days of the Jewish yea,r a portion of the highlights encompasses noshing.

In addition to the spiritual and religious aspects of Rosh Hashanah, many people associate the holiday with the traditional apples and honey. In fact, the memories associated with snacking on the sweet treat are so potent it is often the first thought that comes to mind when asked about the holiday. Whether it be in reference to the symbolic meaning of “new beginnings” as Emily Newman, ADL/CRC, says or reminders of “children singing the apples and honey song they learned at the CDC [Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center]” like Louri Sullivan, Senior Director of Community Impact and Special Projects, reminisces about. The common thread is clear.

The commonality of food for Rosh Hashanah surpasses just apples and honey, though. Many people associate Rosh Hashanah with other sweet foods.

omaha steaks

continued from page a3 Council Bluffs, bringing them together across racial, gang, and socio-economic lines to help build community through cooperative competition. “Some friends asked us to help Matt Mason, Executive Director of the Nebraska Writer’s Collective, to get Louder Than A Bomb up and running and we decided to take a chance,” Todd said. “It’s been hugely rewarding.” According to Mason, “The Simons have supported us since we started Louder Than a Bomb in 2012.

And I mean they supported us from the very beginning, being among the first to donate and making our work possible. They trusted the vision we had of creating unique, exciting ways to serve area youth. Using poetry as our medium, we coach teams of students through the entire school year. We focus on their writing and public speaking skills, help them create, revise and rehearse their work and give them the confidence to perform in front of an audience. Louder Than A Bomb has impacted thousands of teens and also brings paid work opportunities to almost forty local poets who we now employ as writing mentors to the kids. The Simons helped get us moving and have been fantastic in keeping us going. The support they give to us and to other nonprofits makes Omaha that much more of an outstanding place to live.”

A savvy businessman who knows how to market steaks, Todd Simon also knows how to market his hometown.

“One of the things we understand — and the Omaha Chamber of Commerce will tell you this as well — is that in order to attract and retain talent to our community, we have to offer high quality amenities,” Todd said. “The best cities have symphonies, opera companies, pro-sports teams, a vibrant music and food scene, and Omaha is no different. The performing arts are a community resource that serves to attract people from out-of-town and hopefully keep our best and brightest from leaving Omaha. Or, if they do leave, the wealth of artistic experiences found here will make them want to come back some day.” Omaha Steaks offers these experiences to its employee team, many of whom would not normally have exposure to the performing arts. “I can’t tell you how many nice notes we get from our people, thanking us for giving them the chance to see the Opera, Symphony or Ballet. It’s very gratifying to run into them at the shows, often with their spouses or kids. It’s a great benefit to those who work for us.”

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | a5

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Happy New Year Charoset is a favorite among many Jewish people for the holiday. Once again, the love of food stems from more complexity than just taste. Memories and moments associated with preparing the snacks are equated with the new year. Whether it be a current tradition or recalling when “it was so much fun cooking and just being with family and friends” asSusan Bernard, Advertising Manager at the Jewish Press, recalls.

The preparation of food for Rosh Hashanah is a relished occasion. Almost everyone has a Rosh Hashanah cooking or baking story. They range from failed efforts of thinking it was “a good idea to put blue frosting on the challah” like Annette van de Kamp, Jewish Press Editor, remembers to a generation-togeneration tradition of “cutting snakes and rolling balls” to perfect the apple crisp with honey recipe like Deborah Kronick, CDC teacher, did with her grandmother and now her children. Thinking of food for Rosh Hashanah prompts these waves of memory.

Besides preparing the food, the actual eating of the meals on Rosh Hashanah are fundamental in many lives. Unlike Pesach, there is not a traditional Credit: Jaiqian Airplane fan seder to follow. Rosh Hashanah allows more flexibility. The new year meals allow that special time for loved ones to gather outside of services and appreciate the holiday in each of their own unique ways.

For Rosh Hashanah and many other occasions, food is more than a substance to maintain life. Food is a medium for conversation, memories to make, and moments to cherish. So this year, enjoy the guests at your table and savor your apples and honey, because everyone celebrates Rosh Hashanah differently, but food is universal.

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402-661-7900 Table Supply Meat Company, the original name of Omaha Steaks, was founded by J.J. Simon and his son, B.A. in 1917.

B.A.’s son, Lester Simon, joined the company in 1929.

Lester’s sons, Alan, Fred and Steve assumed leadership positions in the 1950s and ‘60s. Steve Simon passed away in 2006. Alan Simon is currently Chairman of the Board.

Alan’s son, Bruce, is now Omaha Steaks President/CEO. Fred Simon and his widow, Eve, loved the culture and art of Santa Fe and, beginning in the mid-1980, started spending nearly half the year there. Fred served on the board of the Santa Fe Opera, as well as the National Patrons Council for the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. In 2010, Fred and Eve Simon received the National Trustee Recognition Award from OPERA America - the nation’s service organization for opera companies - for their outstanding support of the art form. In 2005, the Nebraska Arts Council dedicated The Fred Simon Gallery in his honor, and in 2012, Fred received the Dick and Mary Holland Leadership Award in honor of his support of the arts in the community.

Having learned the love of culture from his father’s example, Todd Simon and his wife Betiana are passing on the tradition to their children. “We take them to everything we can in terms of performance, everything that’s age appropriate,” Todd said. “They attend arts camps, we encourage them to meet artists, we go to the Joslyn and Bemis and to all art openings and exhibits we can get to. Our kids play piano, guitar, cello and are learning music theory, as well.”

Bruce and Stacy’s eldest daughter is currently studying art and art business in a graduate program in New York. Their younger daughter has been involved in a number of performing arts groups in middle and high school and regularly volunteers at the Joslyn.

For five generations, Omaha Steaks has embraced the power of the arts to educate, energize and bring people together. “We have always believed that the cultural arts are a gift to be shared,” Todd said, “because they richly enhance the quality of our lives and inspire us all to higher levels of thought and creativity. It’s been satisfying to watch many of our performing groups evolve and grow and improve. We have a whole new generation of leadership in Omaha’s arts community, and they are really innovative around programming, audience, formats, venues, everything. Art and artists bring value to society. It’s the responsibility of Omaha Steaks, as corporate citizens, to support them.”

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A6 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

Keeping Holocaust education center stage

May your home be blessed with Health, Love, and Joy this season and throughout the whole year.

MECHANICAL CONTRACTORS & ENGINEERS

Liz FELdstErn incE its incEption, the Institute for Holocaust Education has followed a philosophy that Holocaust education is only as successful as the impact it has on how we think, feel, and understand the world around us. The goal has never been for students (or anyone) to memorize the facts and figures of WWII - though that is certainly important and critical to a full understanding - but for listeners to think critically about the how’s and why’s of the Holocaust, to consider the individual choices that millions of people made every day that allowed the Holocaust to happen, and to contemplate their own actions and inactions today and in the future – recognizing that their words, choices, and efforts matter immensely.

In more than 15 years of doing this work, the IHE has explored many possibilities for how to sensitively and effectively acquaint audiences with information related to the Holocaust. This has included speakers from many different backgrounds and experiences, films, museum exhibits (both traveling and permanent), eye-witness accounts from Holocaust survivors and WWII military liberators, and much more.

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The Institute for Holocaust Education has also looked to the Performing Arts to share this message. A medium that is at once human and larger-than-life, awe-inspiring and relatable, powerful and fragile – the performing arts have helped the IHE to explore what the tragedy of the Holocaust meant for those who experienced it, and the meaning it holds for all of us today.

The IHE’s Performing Arts programs have included: Hana’s Suitcase - Under the auspices of the Omaha Theater Company, this April 2009 production was performed for 900 Omaha students, as well as two public performances at the JCC. The cast of nine was directed

by Fran Sillau. The play included period music and a specially-designed multi-media background. It was based on a book that tells the true story of a modern-day school teacher in Japan, who is opening a small Holocaust center and receives a suitcase of artifacts from Auschwitz.

The program from the production stated, “The philosophy of the Institute for Holocaust Education embraces the idea that Holocaust education must incorporate not only statistics and descriptive information but also the stories of specific children, families and individuals to reveal the human dimension of such pervasive inhumanity.”

Brundibar – A project of more than two years in the making, the IHE partnered with Opera Omaha in 2009 to mark our organization’s 10th anniversary with an historic production of the children’s opera, Brundibar. Adult professionals from around the country were joined by more than 35 Omaha youth. The 10 sold-out performances at the Rose Theater reached more than 9,000 audience members. Brundibar was originally performed by children incarcerated in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. The highlight of the Omaha performances was the participation of Holocaust survivor, Ela Weissberger – who played the role of “the cat” in all 56 of the 1943/1944 Terezin performances.

Hawthorne String Quartet - The Boston Symphony’s Hawthorne String Quartet champions the works of composers persecuted during the Nazi regime with an emphasis on the Czech composers incarcerated in the Terezín concentration camp. Together with professional visual artist, Jim Schantz, the Quartet came to Omaha in October 2012 to conduct an eight day artist-in-residence program: Remembrance, Creativity, and Transformation. Preparation for the residency included a series of educational, journaling, and museum visit sessions for students.

Once the artists arrived, students were able to watch as the Hawthorne String Quartet musicians played their instruments. They were close see Holocaust education page A8

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | A7

roshhashanah

P Ozzie NOgg

You can’t tell the players without a program... retend you’re at a staged performance of It’s A Wonderful Life starring The Denenbergs. You’re unfamiliar with the cast, not sure which actor plays which part. So before the lights dim, you open your Playbill to the bios and here’s what you find, in order of appearance.

Norman Denenberg (Pater familias) A founding partner of both The Firehouse Dinner Theater and The Upstairs Dinner Theater in Omaha (circa 1980), Norm was a sleeves-rolled-up, influential boss at both venues. He is also a stalwart audience member, attending stage shows, dance or piano recitals and sports competitions in which his wife, kids or grandkids are involved. When not applauding his family, Norm practices law. eunice Denenberg (Mater familias) Wife of Norm, mother of Larry, Steve and Debbie, Eunie’s show biz career began when she was a 5-year old, belting out Hit Parade Hits at her folks’ Sunday afternoon poker games. For more on the dazzling Denenberg doyenne, look for Eunie on Stage? Goody, Goody, on page C2.

Larry Denenberg (Norm and Eunie’s first-born) Harvard grad and self-described socially inept nerd, Larry received the 2013 Festival Honoree of the Year Award from the Israel Folkdance Festival in Boston. Early on, Larry used his interest in dance as a way to get dates, because the kinds of dance he does — Israeli, contra, swing and other genres — let you interact with women without knowing how to talk to them. For additional dish on Larry, read, Do I hear a waltz? No. More likely a hora found on page B2.

Rachel Rosner (wife of Larry Denenberg) comes to the family from film - Spaghetti and Matzo Balls (Rebecca Manishevitz, 2005) - and stage, where her credits include Threepenny Opera (Polly Peachum) at Rutgers University, 1991; Tony 'n Tina's Wedding (the Caterer's Wife) in Philadelphia and Atlantic City companies, 1991; Nunsense (Sister Mary Amnesia) in Rochester NY and Philadelphia companies, 1991-1993; The Real Inspector Hound (Lady Cynthia Muldoon) at TheatreZone, Boston, 2002; and Fiddler on the Roof (Fruma Sarah) at Temple Aliyah, Needham MA, 2015. Off-stage, Rachel Rosner, Ph.D. in Psychology, co-authored Cognitive Therapy and Dreams (Springer Publishing Company, 2003). Her current work in progress — In Beck’s Basement — explores the life of psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck, the father of cognitive therapy.

Abigail Denenberg (Larry and Rachael’s 12-year-old daughter) Better known as Ayla, Ms. Denenberg is a member of Rimonim, an Israeli dance group in the Boston area, plays flute in the Oak Hill Middle School band, loves everything about horses and has participated in numerous equestrian events. Ayla is also a voracious reader of teenage dystopian novels.

eli Denenberg (Larry and Rachael’s 10-year-old son) fences at the Boston Fencing Club and has won awards in competitions at other facilities. He plays trumpet in the Bowen School band, where he is a soloist, and relaxes with Magic — a Mensa Select Award winning trading card game.

Steven Denenberg (Norm and Eunie’s secondborn son) Steve’s favorite role is Mr. Applegate in Damn Yankees, a part he played with abandon as a Central High senior. In college, Steve sang tenor in 400 performances with the Harvard Glee Club, and played a Prison Guard in the Boston Opera Company production of Beethoven’s Fidelio. He recently trod the boards at Brigit Saint Brigit Theatre Company, Blue Barn Theatre and the Omaha JCC. Steve plays the role of a facial plastic surgeon in real life.

His personal theater moment, Standing in the wings with Steve Denenberg, can be found on page C9.

Tiffany Denenberg (wife of Steven Denenberg) Tippi’s stage roles include the Grand Duchess Olga Katrina in You Can't Take It With You and Elaine in Arsenic and Old Lace at Westside High School. At Vassar, Tippi stole the show in an original musical when she played a dancing deodorant. She lays claim to The Schimmel Connection through her grandparents, A.Q. and Marion Schimmel, who regularly hosted touring actors at the family’s hotels — The Blackstone and The Cornhusker. Tippi has photos of her mom and grandparents with Carole Lombard, Jimmy Stewart and Bob Hope to prove it.

Daniel Denenberg (14 year-old son of Steve and Tippi) Fresh off the title role in Peter Pan at the Rose, Danny nabbed the Omaha Theatre Arts Guild 2015-2016 Outstanding Youth Actor Award for Caroline or Change. His appearances in fourteen stage productions have garnered rave reviews. Could the future hold an Emmy? A Tony? To read more about Danny, look for His middle name is Oscar. Really it is on page A14.

Michael Denenberg (13-year-old son of Steve and Tippi) Michael charmed JCC theater goers with his portrayal of sharp shooting Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun. Michael also appeared in the JCC production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, and last winter’s staging of A Charlie Brown Christmas with the Circle Theater that played to sold-out crowds at the Urban Abby Downtown. A gifted piano player (he learned to read music without being taught), Michael is also known for his star turn as The Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland at the JCC. His adorableness was captured on a YouTube video.

Sasha Denenberg (10 year-old daughter of Steve and Tippi) Sasha got her theatrical feet wet at the JCC in Fiddler on the Roof (Bielke) and Bye Bye Birdie (Sad Girl). In 2015, Sasha auditioned for the role of Tiny Tim at the Omaha Community Playhouse, but blanked on the lyrics and didn’t get the part. The next year she auditioned for Tiny Tim again - this time for Nebraska Theater Caravan - and, in her words, “Nailed it.” She then spent six weeks on the road with the Caravan playing forty shows all over the northeast United States. Sasha next appeared at the Playhouse as Chip in Beauty and the Beast, the role that brought her nominations for Best Youth Performer from both the Playhouse and TAG. Sasha says playing Tiny Tim was her favorite role, because it was a big part with a big professional company and she got carried a lot.

Sima Denenberg (8 year-old daughter of Steve and Tippi) Sima’s talents have thus far been showcased at in-home performances, many of which were orchestrated by her older siblings, Sasha and Danny. Sima was especially wonderful as the baby in the Denenberg Family Passover Play. Sima’s older cousin, Becca, gave ‘birth’ to her, which amazed the rest of the family who didn’t realize Sima was hiding in Becca’s skirt during Act I. Sima adores theater but says her place is behind the scenes like her Aunt Debbie.

She wants to produce or direct.

Solomon Denenberg (5 year-old son of Steve and Tippi) Like his sister, Sima, young Solly is still considering his theatrical future.

Deborah Denenberg (daughter of Norm and Eunie) Debbie says she’s always loved the theater but can’t act her way out of a paper bag.

Instead, she acted as Producer/General Manager of the Upstairs Dinner Theatre from from 1983 to 1989, and turned the place around. With success under her belt, Debbie moved to New York and co-founded Big League Theatricals which produces national tours of Broadway shows. To read more about Debbie and her Broadway days with Guys and Dolls and The Who’s Tommy, look for Move Over, Bialystock and Bloom in the second section on page B8.

Rebecca Denenberg (14-year-old daughter of Debbie Denenberg) Becca is a trampoline and tumbling champ, first in Nebraska in both Level 8 trampoline, and Level 6 tumbling in the age 15 and over category. Last year, Becca placed third in Regionals, a twelve state area. As articulate as she is limber, Becca earned third place in the the 2015 Modern Woodmen of America Speech Contest regional competition. The topic? An Interesting Landmark.

Becca chose Ellis Island, and her speech brought the audience to tears.

Lev Denenberg (14-year-old son of Debbie Denenberg) Lev, a select baseball player with Omaha Suburban Stampede, is the team’s leadoff batter, plays third base and pitches. He’s the man they put on the mound in the bottom of the ninth with the tying run on third, the winning run on second, and only one out. Between curve balls, Lev placed 12th out of 10,000 Nebraska entrants in the 2017 National Geographic Geography Bee, and took third place at Beveridge Middle School in the Modern Woodmen of America Speech Contest. The topic? Hunger in America. Lev’s Speech?

Food Deserts: Areas Where No Fresh Produce is For Sale.

T

he entire cast thanks Ruth Belzer Newberg Kirshenbaum, Louis Newberg, Fanny Rothenberg Denenberg, David Aaron Denenberg, Tena Tarler Rosner, Arthur Rosner, Carolyn Schimmel Magid and Bernard Magid for supplying the gene pool that made It’s A Wonderful Life with the Denenbergs possible.

Holocaust education

A8 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah Read it and eat

100 Best Jewish Recipes | Evelyn Rose | Interlink, $25

veLyn RoSe, eDitoR with photographs to inspire you to try. of the Jewish Chronicle From the introduction: “You can almost for three decades, cookpinpoint the exact occasion, in the secbook author, radio and ond millennium BCE, when the art of television personality Jewish cooking was born. On that day, died in 2003. Her daughthe course of world history was changed ter Judi has selected when the matriarch Rebecca, by the jufrom the recipes researched and tested dicious use of herbs and spices gave the over the years by her mother 100 family savor of wild venison to the insipid flesh favorites, including traditional and con- LoiS FRieDmAn of a young kid, and established a culinary temporary kosher cuisine from around the philosophy of ‘taste with economy’ that world with cultural notes and holiday connections. has been followed by her descendants ever since.”

For Yom Kippur, she notes recipes before (choose From the matriarch Rebecca and her son Esau who simple, soothing foods that satisfy without being sold his birthright for thirst-making) and after Kol Nidre (select spiced food a bowl of lentil soup that tickles the fasting palate) 25 hours later. From (Haimische Winter the desserts of Sukkot, Simchat Torah and Hanukkah Soup recipe is infestivals, choose the least demanding. For the other cluded) fast forrecipes, choose from Albondigas al Buyor (Greek-Jew- ward 3000+ years ish meatballs in sweet-and-sour sauce) to Katsis to the foods of Kishuim (an Israeli zucchini pate... a vegetarian alter- today and this apnative to chopped liver) for delicious international petizer, traditiondishes. ally made with a Enjoy the food, customs, and symbolism of the up- “hackmesser”, coming festivals in recipes with ta’am, that extra wooden-hansomething that makes them taste special. The chap- dled chopper ters are Small Plates, Soups, Poultry, Meat, Fish, Veg- that can be etable & Side Dishes, Bread/Bakes & Desserts, and made in your Basics. Think Haimische, comfort food, like mama Cuisinart! used to make... four recipes for chicken soup, many L o i s chicken choices: Khoresh (Persian sweet-and-sour), Friedman can be reached at Readit Pepitoria (Spanish with ground almonds), Izmil (Turk- And eat@yahoo.com. ish with eggplant) and more. Generously illustrated See Read it and eat page A9

Continued from page A6 enough to count the strings, see the frets, and watch the bow vibrate across the strings.

Schantz, inspired by the quartet’s music, created a piece of art before them, and then the students, many for the first time, put a paint brush to a real canvas and painted what the haunting music of Holocaust musicians spoke to their souls. Over 600 students were reached by the quartet. Public performances reached nearly 800 people. Crowning the residency, nationally recognized composer Clint Needham conducted Voices, a piece specifically commissioned for Remembrance, Creativity and Transformation.

My Broken Doll – Beginning in 2015, the IHE in partnership with The Circle Theatre were honored to commission, My Broken Doll, the play adaptation of local Holocaust survivor Bea Karp’s memoir. The 45minute play was written specifically for school performances. The play depicts a series of flashbacks recounting taunting by schoolmates, Bea’s family being forced from their home, time in a concentration camp, and finally dealing with Bea’s relocation to the United States. The play premiered in August 2016 at the JCC theater

and went on to tour to 13 different school venues in central and eastern Nebraska during the 2016-17 school year, reaching just over 2,700 students. The play will continue to tour in 2017-18, with a special emphasis on reaching schools in western Nebraska.

Carolyn Dorfman Dance – Most recently, the IHE and Omaha Performing Arts partnered to present an unparalleled opportunity to share the history, stories, and lessons of the Holocaust through dance. The partnership brought Carolyn Dorfman Dance to Omaha for a weeklong residency in January 2017. During the residency, the company’s 10 dancers reached hundreds of adults and students with their dance performance of The Legacy Project: Dances of Hope. Dorfman, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, produced this creative repertoire to celebrate and honor Jewish history and culture, and the commonalities of the human experience. The IHE program focused on outreach into the Omaha community and to students through a performance at the JCC, in-school workshops, and performances at the Orpheum Theater. A public performance and a student matinee performance took place in Slosburg Hall, with nearly 1,000 in attendance.

Top: Jim Schantz painting with the Hawthorne String Quartet and below: Carolyn Dorfman Dance.

From my family to yours, we wish you a peaceful and prosperous new year.

www.facebook.com/jean.stothert | Twitter: @Jean_Stothert Paid for by the Jean Stothert for Omaha Committee, 5909 S. 118th Plaza, Omaha NE 68137

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | a9

Bashert: Stephanie Olson

annette van de kamp-wright Editor, Jewish Press tephanie OLSOn, married to Eric and mother of Noelle (16), Tessa (13) and Will (11) was born in the Chicago area and grew up in a Jewish Home.

“My grandfather was Jewish, so we celebrated all the holidays, but I never realized you could join the Jewish Community Center if you weren’t Jewish yourself,” she said. But after moving to Lincoln when she was in seventh grade, meeting and marrying Eric Olsen and eventually ending up in Omaha, she found she had a Catholic neighbor—and that neighbor was a member of the JCC. The family had initially joined the YMCA and daughter Tessa played basketball.

“Practice was at 7:30 a.m. Obviously,” Stephanie said, “we needed a different place to belong. Getting up that early is not exactly ideal for our family.” Membership at the JCC followed, where one day Tessa noticed an audition call for the musical Seussical.

Tessa joined the Community Theater Musical Acting Group and never looked back.

“When they announced Fiddler on the Roof, Tessa dragged me to the audition. Not that it was hard,” Stephanie said, “because I love the stage.”

Since Fiddler, Stephanie has acted and sung in Bye Bye Birdie, Beauty and the Beast (she played the wardrobe), Into the Woods, Love at the Café, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat (in which she was one of the narrators) as well as many others.

Her JCC track record totals 12 plays, including the Institute of Holocaust Education’s production of My Broken Doll, the play based on Bea Karp’s remarkable story.

Somewhere along the way, son Will joined the family business as well.

The small group of actors who made up the Broken Doll cast worked closely with Director Fran Sillau, bringing Bea’s story to Nebraska students from fifth grade to college-age. When looking for people to join, Fran asked Stephanie to audition because he needed actors with flexible schedules.

“I love the story,” Stephanie said, “and it has been such an honor to be involved with the project. Bea Karp’s story is incredible.

She is a survivor in the literal and the global sense, she has such love; her attitude of compassion and hope is contagious. It’s a lesson everyone needs. Working with the “Set Me Free Project,” I think about survivors all the time.”

Read it and eat

When asked if it is more important to share stories of survivors with kids than with adults, Stephanie is not sure: “I think we all need to hear it. Still, when I was a child, it was a story that was consistently told, and I am not sure that is still the case today. With what is going on in the world, lessons like these are so important.

Children need to learn compassion and love against the odds.”

egg and SCaLLiOn FOrSpeiSe

Ingredients: 1 bunch of scallions, white parts and 4 inches of the green, or 1 onion, cut into 1 inch chunks 8 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and halved 4 tbsp. soft margarine, butter, rendered chicken fat, or chicken-flavored vegetable fat 1/2 tsp. salt 10 grinds of black pepper Preparation: Put the onions into the bowl of a food processor

Please let the Jewish Press know in advance when you are leaving and when you are returning. Sometimes several papers are sent to your “old” address before we are notified by the Post Office. Every time they return a paper to us, you miss the Jewish Press and we are charged! Please call us at 402.334.6448 or email us at jpress@jewishomaha.org.

Medical Care for Mind and Spirit Mental healthcare for a variety of disorders including: Insomnia | Depression | Bipolar disorder Memory disorders | Concentration difficulties Anxiety disorders | Life stressors 440 Regency Parkway Dr. | Suite 136 Omaha, NE 68114

402-934-7404 Stephanie Olson in Love at the Café.

The “Set Me Free Project,” of which Stephanie is the CEO, focuses on prevention and education as it relates to child slavery, sex trafficking and social media safety.

With her B.A. in Psychology, Stephanie has six years of experience in curriculum writing and development or women experiencing domestic violence, homelessness and alcohol and drug addictions. She has also educated women in the area of empowerment and spent four years educating youth from 11-18 in healthy relationships, the dangers of human trafficking and social media safety.

“I had worked with women’s issues, speaking to women in domestic violence situations. We wanted to reach out to victims of sex trafficking and couldn’t find a clear pathway. Once I started researching and talking to former traffickers as well as victims, I realized it was happening right here in Omaha. For girls, the average age of the victims is 12-14, for boys even younger.

But it’s very difficult to find good statistics, because only 1-2 % of victims are rescued.

There is some awareness, but there is also a lot of misinformation out there. Who tells the parents and kids they are at risk?”

Stephanie approached educators in the See Stephanie Olson page a10

100 Best Jewish recipes | Evelyn Rose | Interlink, $25

Continued from page a8

snowbirds

and pulse for 3 seconds until roughly chopped. Add all the remaining ingredients and pulse for a further 5 seconds until finely chopped and blended.

Turn the mixture into a small gratin dish, smooth the top to level, and mark with a pattern using the blade of a knife. Cover and chill for at least an hour before serving.

Serve with warm French bread, crackers or slices of challah.

Keeps for 1 day in the fridge.

Serves 6 as an appetizer, 15 as a spread.

www.lifetimeinsight.com

Sarit Hovav, M.D. Board-Certified Psychiatrist Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

www.facebook.com/lifetimeinsight www.twitter.com/lifetimeinsight

402-392-1818

A10 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

The Purimspiel: High jinks, low art

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Ozzie NOgg Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Vashti.

Vashti who?

Vashti dishes and I’ll give you a Hamentashen.

(Rim shot.)

ROAN All yOu want. This corny joke is typical fare in the Purim Spiel (Yiddish, for play or skit), the wacky show performed on the festival of Purim.

Traditionally, these spoofs of the Megillah skewer characters in the Esther vs. Haman melodrama, though satiric barbs may also be lobbed at the local rabbi, cantor and community big wigs. Annual staging of the Purim parody began in Medieval Europe as holiday entertainment for the family, but eventually turned into professional performances for the paying public. And while the buffoonish Purimspiel can’t be called High Art (and though early Jewish sages condemned the theater as frivolous, vulgar and pagan), the spiel proved to have legs. It’s considered the only surviving genuine folk theater that still flourishes today in Jewish communities.

The Purimspiel was found throughout Ashkenazic Jewry as early as the 1400s. The spiel could be a silly monologue, parodies of Biblical narratives (David and Goliath; the Sacrifice of Isaac), or an irreverent take on religious or political issues of the day, delivered in Yiddish by a cast of lowly students, poor musicians, dancers, acrobats and artisans — all men and boys, Purim being the only day of the year when cross-dressing was allowed. Performances were held in large public venues like yeshivas or, alternately, the costumed players strolled the village streets from house to house, followed by hordes of excited children. If wealthy families invited the Spielers to perform in their living rooms, the actors were rewarded with food (sort of a sing for your supper arrangement) and then, after eating the roast, were free to roast their well-off hosts.

Today, Purimspiels — along with the Megillah reading itself — are usually geared toward little kids and the child within all of us. Who can resist hooting when your rabbi dresses up as Humpty Dumpty or Elmo?

Q: What was Queen Esther’s royal gown made of?

A: Poly-Esther

Stephanie Olson

New Year.

New Opportunities.

Best wishes.

402.492.9200 | mgwl.com

But spiels weren’t always PG rated. The humor often included erotic, obscene profanity which, in 1728, led the city fathers of Hamburg, Germany’s Jewish community to create an early version of the Hayes Office.

These bluenoses banned the performance of all Purimspiels and fined all violators. (Oi. Such a shandeh for the neighbors...)

Knock knock!

Who’s there?

Haman.

Haman who?

Hey, man! open the door! It’s cold out here. (groan some more...)

On Purim we’re encouraged to masquerade, make merry, drink booze until we’re blotto. Purim is the day when disaster was averted, a day of fun and laughter.

As an example of how laughter has distracted our people and alleviated their fears throughout history, consider the Purimspiels performed in ghettos during the Holocaust era, depicting Haman as Hitler. As an antidote to our own turbulent times, consider these contemporary knee-slapping options: The Dr. Seuss Purimspiel; The Muppets Take Purimspiel; You Tube videos of The 8th St. Bobov Purimspiel; and the Ad Lo Yada Purim parades and street theater staged throughout Israel. If you’re in New York on Purim, check out the Steven Wise Free Synagogue on West 68th Street for the spiel created by Norman Roth, 79, a retired accountant who has provided Manhattenites with a new Purim skit every year since 1987.

According to the New York Times, Roth appropriates songs from Broadway, the Beatles, Motown, Nashville, disco, and alters the original lyrics to fit Megillah characters. In Roth’s 1992 production of The Megillah According to Rodgers & Hammerstein, Queen Vashti’s rebuke of Ahashuerus sets up the King’s song, I’m Gonna Vashti Queen Right Outta My Hair. In 1999’s The Megillah According to the Beatles, Roth turned Yesterday into Esther-Day. In his See parody of Elvis, a lyric from Blue Suede Shoes became Don’t you step on my Shushan Jews. Roth’s 2016 offering — The Megillah According to Andrew Lloyd Webber — featured an Evita-esque rendition of Don’t Cry for Me, Ancient Persia. For his next effort, Roth says he’s tempted to send up Hamilton. (Should he The Purimspiel page A11

Continued from page A9 happened to the family, how is Bea’s relationship Millard school district and the response was: ‘If with her sister today. They have many questions you can create a curriculum by a certain date, about the Holocaust itself, the difference between we’ll introduce you to work camps and the administration.’ death camps; it’s “Within weeks, I very obvious when was speaking to the the teachers have entire Millard disprepared their stutrict,” she said. “All dents beforehand. at no charge, beYou can tell from the cause nobody wants questions they ask,” to fund prevention.” she added.

From speaking In retrospect, it about sex trafficking was perhaps Bashert to speaking about that daughter Tessa the Holocaust, noticed that SeussiStephanie is one of cal poster at the J; Stephanie Olson and her daughter Tessa those people who without it, Stephanie will not shy away from a challenge. would not have become involved in the JCC’s Mu“It’s interesting to hear the questions kids sical Theater, wouldn’t have met Fran Sillau, come up with after each performance of My Browould not have ended up acting out Bea Karp’s ken Doll,” she said. story- something that is obviously close to her heart and quite in line with her day job.

“They want to know about relationships, what

Peace through music: Aviva Segall’s greatest score

GAbby blAir quick GooGle SeArcH will reveal that many articles have been written about Omaha’s premier youth conductor, our community’s very own Aviva Segall. On this, the completion of her Chai (18) anniversary of landing in Omaha and taking the helm of the Omaha Area Youth Orchestras (OAYO) as Music Director and Principal Conductor, Aviva shared some reflections and insights about her career in music and her family.

Segall recounts how her love of music began at an early age and was heavily influenced by her father, who enjoyed spending countless hours listening to music and going to concerts with her. She began playing at age five, eventually choosing cello and bassoon as her instruments of choice, and for Segall, the music has never stopped.

Aviva studied music in the US and abroad, living at times in Munich, Germany and London, England. She went on to obtain her Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and then attended the University of Southern California School of Music. This was followed by obtaining a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducing from Northwestern where she studied with the University’s Director of Orchestras, Victor Yampolsky, who also serves as Musical Director Emeritus of the Omaha Symphony.

Upon completing school, Segall moved to Portland, Oregon in 1994 for a position with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra as an Apprentice Conductor. This move would prove to be one of the most important decisions she ever made, both for her personal and professional lives.

On her second day in Portland, all alone in her new and exciting city, Segall set off on a course that would change her life more profoundly than she could have ever anticipated that morning. She went out to a mall in search of a world map shower curtain. This, in itself, seems like a rather

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | A11

roshhashanah

mundane chore; however, in retrospect, the delicious irony and foreshadowing of this particular item she sought set the stage for some beautiful music in Aviva’s life.

As she left the initial store empty handed, she looked around the mall and noticed the “Oregon Peace Institute” store front directly next door. In-

Dr. Patrick McNamara and Aviva Segall terest piqued, Segall recounts wandering in and striking up an easy conversation with a handsome young man named Patrick McNamara, who was facilitating a program called ‘Congregations of Peace: Conflict Resolution in Churches and Synagogues’. During the course of conversation, Segall selected a bumper sticker stamped with the words “Peace through Music,” to purchase. McNamara, after learning that she was new in Portland asked if she knew anyone in town and offered to show her around. The rest is sweet music between now accomplished Musical Director and Conductor Segall and her distinguished world traveling, political scientist husband Dr. Patrick McNamara, who serves as the Director of International Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. A remarkable love story that had, at its base, the merger of the passions they both still hold today- music, world travel, and peaceful conflict resolutions.

The next life changing event came in the form See Peace throuth music page A13

The Purimspiel

continued from page A10 pull that off, I want to be in the room where it happens.)

Now, before we dismiss the Purimspiel as mere burlesque, or a harmless opportunity to wear masks and disguise our identity for an evening, let’s remember that the Megillah itself is full of hidden meaning. Nahma Sandrow, a historian of Yiddish theater, writes, “Purimspiels aren’t just about using modern language to tell an ancient story. They also use the ancient story to poke fun at current reality.” Deborah Eisenbach-Budner,

Above: Holon Purim carnaval Credit: Edgar Asher/ASHERNET

education director at Portland’s Havurah Shalom congregation, agrees. “The Purimspiel is so much about power,” she says.

“There’s no way to get around that. It’s about power and lack of power and vulnerability. So that translates into politics.” To illustrate her point, the Purimspiel EisenbachBudner wrote after the 2016 election compares the characters from the Biblical story — the bombastic, impulsive king, his anti-Semitic adviser — pretty directly with the Trump administration. And many spiels performed this past Purim probably featured kings who fire off angry tweets. “It’s pointed humor,” Eisenbach-Budner says, “but that’s the Purimspiels’ job.

This quote from the Jewish Agency for Israel web site sums up the evolution of the Purimspiel: Whether amateur or professional, they have moved far from their theological and folkloristic origins, but continue to offer a vehicle for satire and comedy about Jewish life and major issues of the day. To their credit, Purimspiels continue to be written and performed as interpretative Jewish fringe theater in times of repression during the 21st century, thus retaining an essence of the original spiel: a humorous blast of the absurd in an era of darkness.

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a12 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah The Rosh Hashanah symbol syBil kaplan

omegranates are referred to in the Bible in many various ways. In the sensual poetry of Song of Songs, we read: “I went down into the garden of nuts... to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower” (Song of Songs 6:11). In another passage, the poet writes-- “I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, of the juice of my pomegranate” (Song of Songs 8:2). Song of Songs has four additional mentions of pomegranates, and there are also references in Joel, Haggai and I Kings.

For many Jews, pomegranates are traditional for Rosh Hashanah. Some believe the dull and leathery skinned, crimson fruit may have really been the tapuach, apple, of the Garden of Eden. Originating in Persia, according to Matthew Goodman (The Food Maven in The Forward), the pomegranate is one of the world’s oldest cultivated fruits, having been domesticated around 4000 B.C.E. The Egyptians imported pomegranates from the Holy Land in 1150 B.C.E., and natural pomegranate juice, made into spiced wine, was a favorite of Hebrews living in Egypt. Pomegranate wood could also be carved into skewers on which to roast the lamb for Passover.

The word pomegranate means “grained apple.” In Hebrew, it is called rimon (also the word for a hand grenade!). In fact, the English words, hand grenade, are said to come from this and that both the town of Granada in Spain and the stone, garnet, come from the name and color of the pomegranate. The juice can also be made into the concentrated syrup, grenadine.

The Hebrews yearned for the pomegranates they left behind in Egypt while wandering in the desert—”And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates” (Numbers 20:5). And so it was the spies who reported their findings in Canaan back to Moses—”And

they came unto the the valley Eshkol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it upon a pole between two; they took also of the pomegranates, and of the figs” (Numbers 13:23).

Pomegranates were also used on the faces of the shekel in the second century B.C.E. King Solomon had an orchard of pomegranates, and pomegranates of brass were part of the pillars of his great Temple in Jerusalem.

Throughout the Bible, as seen from the quotations above, the pomegranates are referred to and became symbolic of fertility.

The tradition of kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) recounted that there were 613 seeds in each pomegranate, equaling the number of mitzvot commanded by God. On the second night of Rosh Hashanah, when it is customary to eat a “new” fruit that has not been eaten during the year, many Sephardic Jews choose pomegranate. They recite the prayer “ken yehi ratzon—may it be thy will, O Creator, that our year be rich and replete with blessings as the pomegranate rich and replete with seeds.”

In modern days, a study at the Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa a few years ago showed the power of the fruit. The cholesterol oxidation process, which creates lesions that narrow arteries and result in heart disease, was slowed by as much as forty percent when health subjects drank two to three ounces of pomegranate juice a day for two weeks. The juice reduced the retention of LDL, the “bad” cholesterol that aggregates and forms lesions. When subjects stopped drinking the juice, the beneficial effects lasted about a month. Other studies showed that pomegranates fight inflammation and cancer and slow cellular aging. Pomegranates are a good source of potassium, low in calories and low in sodium.

When choosing a pomegranate, look for one that is large, brightly colored and has a shiny skin. Store a pomegranate in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, and it can keep up to ten weeks. To open a pomegranate, score the outside skin into four pieces, then break the fruit apart with your hands following the divisions of the membranes that separate the sections. Pull off membranes then scrape the seeds into your mouth or lift them out with a spoon. for more recipes see rosh Hashanah symbol page a13

L’shanah Tovah!

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Credit: RecipesPlus.co.uk

Baked apples in pomegranate syrup

Ingredients: 4 slightly tart apples 1 halved pomegranate apple juice 1/3 cup preserves of your choice 1/2 tsp. cinnamon Preparation: Cut each apple into 4 wedges. Place in microwavable dish.

Squeeze juice from half the pomegranate into a measuring cup.

Add enough apple juice to make half a cup. Add preserves and cinnamon and mix well. Pour over apples to coat them.

Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes. Stir and microwave 2 more minutes. Place apple wedges in serving dishes.

Remove seeds from other half of pomegranate and garnish apples.

Makes 6-8 servings.

pomegranate syrup

Ingredients: 6 pomegranates 1/3 cup white sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 cinnamon stick 1/8 tsp. nutmeg 1/8 tsp. allspice Preparation: Puree seeds from pomegranates in blender or food processor and strain.

Place in saucepan.

Add white sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes. Add nutmeg and allspice and cook 1 minute.

Remove from heat, discard cinnamon stick and strain.

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | A13

Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Shanah Tovah Peace through music

Continued from page A11 that was professional in nature. The Musical Director at the Oregon Symphony, Huw, asked Segall if sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be at all interested in taking on additional duties working with the Portland Youth Philharmonic as a staff conductor. Aviva had loved being a young musician in Youth Orchestra as she was growing up, and this positive experience inspired her to return to being a part of a Youth Orchestra, this Aviva Segall time in the role of conductor. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I absolutely love working with young musicians. To see them develop and grow in their own abilities, their own passion for the music... is very satisfying.â&#x20AC;? Segall goes on to say â&#x20AC;&#x153;Children are quick learners,â&#x20AC;? and that some of her best students are those who have started later in life of their own volition and with a desire to play. While many children who have started playing music early in life excel, Segall has found that with young musicians, choice is perhaps the most important aspect to fostering success. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is not unusual for young musicians to play more than one instrument, and sometimes what a parent feels their child should be playing and what a young musician wants to play, conflict.â&#x20AC;? Segall emphasizes that kids who are allowed to find their instrument, and â&#x20AC;&#x153;make the study of music their own, grow to love it in a way that those who are forced into playing an instrument or style, cannot. The study and performance of music requires a high degree of discipline in all aspects, and the key to motivating that discipline is a love of their part of the music.â&#x20AC;?

Segall and McNamara married and moved to Omaha in 1999, when she was selected to lead at OAYO. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It really was my dream job,â&#x20AC;? explains Segall who was thrilled to land the highly sought-after position. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My mentor at Northwestern, Victor Yampolsky, had told me about Omaha, and I was very excited to move here for the job and for the many positive qualities Omaha offered, â&#x20AC;&#x153;among which was included the thriving Jewish community and the fact itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great place to raise a family. Ever supportive of Avivaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s musical opportunities, Patrick jumped into life in Omaha, earning his Ph.D at UNO, among many other projects, and eventually rising to the leadership role he has today.

While Segall says McNamara is not personally musically inclined, he loves listening to music and is a perfect counterbalance for her. They juggle their schedules together to maintain balance for the daily lives of their family. Between overseas travel for research, teaching and consulting for Patrick and the demands of facilitating auditions, occasionally traveling as a guest conductor and clinician, running and planning the OAYO seasons, and, of course, conducting the two top orchestras for Aviva, to say they stay busy is an understatement. Segall explains though life is busy, and sometimes hectic, they wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have it any other way. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We love our jobs and are very blessed to feel we are truly making a difference in the lives of others. Both Patrick and I feel that we are following our calling and as such, have purpose. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We feel very strongly that it is so important to model for our daughters the importance of living a meaningful life and being part of something bigger than oneself. There are many ways to achieve meaning, and being part of our Jewish community is one way that will help them on that road.

Our greatest hope is that as they grow into the people they are destined to be, they will do something they are passionate about.â&#x20AC;? Fulfilling her dream of becoming a conductor provided Segall with plenty of experience in forward thinking and multitasking, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Conducting was the best preparation for motherhood!â&#x20AC;? she jokes.

Both of Aviva and Patrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughters enjoy music and the performing arts, no doubt in part due to their motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s influence. Ilana, 16, has played a few different instruments, but her love is the Viola. Last year, Ilana earned 5th Chair for the All-State Nebraska Orchestra and was the highest ranked sophomore musician in the State of Nebraska. Currently a Junior at Omaha Central and enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program, Ilana enjoys chamber music in particular and joined the OAYO three years ago,

Thank you to all our friends and customers for your loyalty and business! after completing successful auditions.

Leora, 14, played flute for a few years before choosing to instead pursue her passion, which is dance. Talented and graceful, Leora has enjoyed years of dance classes at the Omaha JCC under Director Esther Katz and enjoys giving movement to the music. Leora especially appreciates the versatility of the JCC Dance Program in fitting the needs of dancers spanning such a wide range of abilities, bodies and experience while allowing dancers to be who they are. She loves the camaraderie and friendship among the dancers, staff and community that is expertly fostered by Katz.

The upcoming season, which runs from August through May, was planned starting last Fall and this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first concert is slated to take place Oct. 29, 2017. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I prepare all the music, however, I do like to involve my students into the selection process. I will often present them with a suite of choices that we decide from and I do encourage them to come forward with ideas for music they may be interested in that I perhaps did not consider.â&#x20AC;? Segall admits that she has, on occasion, written off a piece or composer that initially did not appeal to her, but after a request from students, she reconsidered and incorporated these in with success. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is so important to me that my students feel a connection to our work and have some ownership in this process- it needs to be a pedagogical experience for our students.â&#x20AC;?

While Segall herself works primarily with the middle and high schoolers these days, OAYO currently offers many different programs around the city and consists of 500 dedicated musicians ranging from ages 8-18. Auditions are held every spring, although there are occasionally open seats for any who may be interested. Rehearsals for OAYO are held at UNO and performances primarily take place at venues such as the Holland Center, Joslyn Museum, Iowa Western University, and at UNO. Segall â&#x20AC;&#x153;would love it if everyone in the community would come to an Omaha Area Youth Orchestras concert this season and hear what a treasure this is in Omaha and consider becoming supporters of the program. OAYO is a very important piece of a vibrant music community in Omaha and needs the support of the community as well.â&#x20AC;?

For more information on how to join, support or attend OAYO performances, please call 402.238.2044 or visit the website at http://oayo.org.

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a14 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

his middle name is Oscar.

Really, it is.

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Ozzie NOgg he kiD’S pROfeSSiONal resume reads: Daniel Oscar Denenberg,14 years old, 5’6” tall, 105 lbs., blue/silver eyes. Good Dexterity (gymnast); Musical Instruments (piano, drums); Dance (ballet and tap).

Now, like midrash, one often needs to read between the lines of a resume. Only then will hidden drama in the story be revealed. “I started taking piano lessons from Claudette Valentine when I was six,” Danny said. “Anne Marie Kenny is my singing coach, and I go to Patrick Roddy for tap lessons, but I’m still really new at the tap stuff. So a couple years ago, I’m in New York with my mom, and I’m auditioning for the role of Ralphie in the traveling company of A Christmas Story. I’d prepared my audition song - Red Rider Carbine Action BB Gun - and felt pretty good about that, but we also had to do a tap routine and my tap dancing background at that point?

Three lessons — THREE — with Patrick which is like NOTHING. As we’re about to perform before the judges, I asked this kid to my left, ‘So how long have you been taking tap?’ and he says, ‘Ten years,’ and I said, ‘Wow. How old are you?’ and the kid says, ‘Eleven.’ AAARRGGGHH.” In the end, Danny made it to the final eight, but didn’t get the part. “But get this,” he said.

“When we return home from New York, I find out that The Rose is doing

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Christmas Story.

I audition and do get cast as Ralphie, just at a different theater.”

Between 2011 and 2017, Danny ristmas Story Denenberg mang as Ralphie in Ch Danny Denenber aged to 1. beat 94,000 entrants from all across the US and win First Place in the Modern Woodmen National Speech Contest, 2. audition for and be selected to attend the Musical Theater Program at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Wisconsin, 3. record several Karen Javitch tunes, 4. land a role in Geez Louise, soon to be in film festivals around the country and, 5. appear on stage at The Rose Theater, Omaha Community Playhouse, Chanticleer Theater and the Great Plains Theater Festival. His roles include Mollusk/Narrator/ Mermaid, Peter and the Star Catcher; Ralphie, A Christmas Story; Howie, Ramona Quimby; Noah Gelman, Caroline, or Change; Francis Cratchit/Minion/School Chum/Shepherd, Christmas Carol; Colin Craven, The Secret Garden. At the Omaha Jewish Community Center Theater, where kids are often cast in adult roles, Danny starred as Conrad Birdie in Bye Bye Birdie and Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls. He also lisped his way into our hearts as Winthrop in Music Man. “My favorite part was Ralphie in A Christmas Story,” Danny said, “because that show was the most fun to do. The cast and crew were fun to be around, and actually funny. The director always had answers for problems and we worked them out together. Rehearsals were a blast, and the singing and dancing were amazing because the dancers were experienced and Sue Booton, the choreographer, made sure I knew my steps inside out. And the set was this giant turntable with Santa’s world on one side and the house on the other side. During one performance the turntable malfunctioned and fell off it’s track which meant we couldn’t turn it to change to the next scene so we had to vamp. Fast.”

Over the past couple years, Danny’s acting awards have piled up. Fast.

1. Outstanding Youth Actor, To Kill a Mockingbird, 2016-2017, Omaha Community Playhouse; 2. Outstanding Youth Actor, Caroline or Change, 2015-2016 Theater Arts Guild Omaha; 3. Outstanding Youth Actor, A Christmas Story, 2014-2015, Theatre Arts Guild Omaha; 4.

Charles Jones Director’s Award, 2016 Omaha Community Playhouse; 5.

See Danny Denenberg page a15

The Two R’s of Rosh Hashanah: Reflect and reinvent EmmA HoCHfElDER Intern, Jewish Press T THE sAmE time that Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the new year, it also marks the close of the previous one. That shared time of closure and commencement creates a unique opportunity for the Jewish community. Rosh Hashanah offers an occasion to reflect and to reinvent.

The reflection on the past year is a humbling experience. Jordana Glazer, Chief Financial Officer, summarizes it best as the opportunity to “think about our past year, what went well and what we could work on.”

To move forward, we have to begin with the reflection. For Jews, Rosh Hashanah allows that unique time to analyze our previous year in hopes of creating a better new one.

“Restarting on all those misses, no other religion has that, not just with G-d, but with other people too,” explains Deborah Kronick, CDC teacher. Reflecting on the past year isn’t a solitary activity. A reflection requires reviewing the experiences and the people who have been a part of that year, too. It is a journey no one can take completely alone.

Putting in the legwork between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is a vital component of the holidays. It is important to forgive yourself, but rebuilding burnt bridges is just as important.

Reflection during Rosh Hashanah inevitably leads to reinvention of oneself for the new year. Amanda Ryan, Administrative Assistant at the Institute for Holocaust Education, elaborates on how Rosh Hashanah is the time to

be “most reflective and introspective about the year we have completed. Hopefully a sense of growth and progress is rejuvenated

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | A15

roshhashanah

of being better and doing better. It is a time of reinvention. Lisa Cooper, Pennie Z. Davis Assistant Director, explains how her favorite part of Rosh Hashanah is “the sense that there’s a new start.” A new start is appealing to everyone.

As Julee Katzman, Special Projects Coordinator, eloquently expounds, the new year provides “a meaningful opportunity... time to reflect on a lot of parts of your life. The joyful anticipation, reflection, moving forward as a Jew and a person.” Rosh Hashanah provides all of that and more.

It is the religious aspect of Rosh Hashanah that embodies the holiday for me. Each new year that passes reestablishes my commitment to my Jewish identity, however that changes each year. The food is good, the family is great, but even sitting alone in a new synagogue, in a new state, the most precious time to me is the prayer. Even Credit: Charles Clegg tashlich, even as just a symbol, it is hopeful. The act itself is as we begin the New Yea.r” In fact, the inter- restorative. The entire holiday of Rosh twining nature of remembering the past and Hashanah, to me, is therapeutic. new beginnings is a beloved part of the holiThe religious and spiritual meaning behind day.

Rosh Hashanah is felt even if it is at a base The idea of a clean slate is monumentally level for many. Noshing on apples and honey appealing. We, as Jews, are offered that gift symbolizes the sweetness of the new year, each Fall. “The idea of renewal,” as Esther spending time with family and friends around Katz, Director of Dance and Cultural Arts at the table relishing the past and sitting in synthe Jewish Community Center, mentions, is agogue hearing those familiar tunes. Rosh just that, an idea. It is an idea that tempts us Hashanah is a time to appreciate the two R’s: to start over and begin again, with intentions reflect and reinvent, any way you choose.

Danny Denenberg

Continued from page A15 Best Youth Performance, Caroline or Change, 2015-2016 Omaha Arts and Entertainment Awards. “It’s a huge honor to be recognized by all the theater lovers in Omaha,” Danny said.

“But it’s especially important to me and my fellow cast members because we put so much time and effort into our shows.”

The venerable Alfred Lunt, when asked his secret for being a fine actor, explained blithely, “I speak in a loud, clear voice — and keep from bumping into the furniture.”

Danny’s diction carries to the last row, and he never seems to put a foot wrong. Of his portrayal of Ralphie in A Christmas Story, the review from the Omaha Reader said, “Danny Denenberg as Ralphie performs with non-stop expertise as actor, singer and dancer in every scene, carrying the full weight of the role as if it were merely a shiny snowflake on his shoulder.” Another review described Danny as “A dynamo with a great big pitch-perfect voice. He’s also a natural comedian, not hammy but drawing laughs that flow from disappearing into the character.” As Noah, in Carolyn and Change, Danny’s work was hailed as “an emotionally nuanced performance far beyond his years, capturing Noah’s yearning, confusion and anger.” (Danny wouldn’t comment on the praise, but mom, Tippi, said, “He just shrugs it off.

He never tells me he did great on an audition or at a show, and for sure he never has a bad word about any other actor.

He’s a true team player.”

On stage, Danny delivers his character’s lines. Off stage, Danny speaks for himself. “Theater arts are important to me because the plays let me talk about ideas or issues in a manner that is both entertaining and thought provoking. I benefit from the theater because the parts let me look at things from a different perspective, and I’m able to feel how others may feel in different situations. Everyone should do theater at least once in their lives.”

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A16 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

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The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | B1

section2

play every note like you mean it annETTE van dE kamp-wrighT Editor, Jewish Press hamp’ is ForEvEr Blowing Bubbles, the 1947 Omaha World Herald headline reads.

Not many of us can rival Tuffy Epstein’s claim: going down in Omaha history as the “bubble gum champion.”

“He appeared before the bubble gum editor,” the story goes. “Chubby cheeks were puffed in righteous indignation.

He is Arnold Epstein, 10, of 1923 Martha Street. And, said Arnold, those Benson High bubble gummers, pictured in the Sunday Omaha World Herald, are rank amateurs. Before the bubble gum editor could retreat to a previous prepared position, the youngster started to demonstrate. Arnold blew oblong bubbles that hung from his lips like careworn blimps. He blew round ones that made him look like he had two heads.

“Desks were deserted as less gifted persons stared with awe. A true artist, Arnold seemed oblivious to his surroundings. Then Arnold began to blow bubbles inside of bubbles. Big ones, little ones, inside and out. One or two of the larger ones exploded.

Arnold soberly scraped the gum from his face and chest and launched another. He can, he said, blow five bubbles –one inside another—when in top form.

“Assured that no one present questioned his claim to the championship, the sixth grader from Castelar School settled his plump cheeks into the routine of

chewing. He was asked the $64 question. Where did he get his gum? “My dad owns a grocery store.”

“Where is it?”

“I’m sorry,” Arnold replied firmly. “I don’t tell anybody that. The other kids would be buying all the gum.” (OWH, 3-26-1947)

Tuffy Epstein Of course, nowadays, Arnold “Tuffy” Epstein is known not for his gum prowess, but for entirely different talents. Working those cheek muscles

ROSH HASHANAH

was good for something: he plays the Saxophone, Clarinet and Flute professionally, but says he can play practically any instrument he picks up.

He’s married to Helen; they are the parents of Danielle and Marti. Tuffy and Helen are grandparents to Marti’s 15-year-old son Gideon and Danielle’s 1-year-old son Michael.

Like most musicians, Tuffy started young.

“When I was five years old, my mother wanted me to play Hawaiian guitar,” he said. “It’s the instrument that was popular at the time and there was a teacher close to where I lived. I did anything and everything I could to get out of practicing. It took me two years, but finally I moved on and was given an alto saxophone.” Tuffy’s parents, Jennie and Harry, paid $100 for the sax.

Tuffy hated to practice with it, but by the time he turned 13 years old, it suddenly clicked.

“Of course, that’s right around the time my parents tried to make me stop,” he laughed.

At Central High, Tuffy found an inspiring Music Director in Noise Bartolomew. He also found like-minded friends: Dick Fellman was the drummer in the first band Tuffy found himself in.

“We played at the Oasis Youth Club at the Dundee Presbyterian Church,” Tuffy remembers, “and our first job ever was a 1951 Denenberg wedding. We rehearsed at Dick’s house because he was the only one who could afford to purchase a music library.” The group played together for about a year.

“As a junior, I joined the Musician’s Union,” he said. “I wanted to play professionally and had quite a few friends who did the same thing.” see play every note page B2

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B2 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah

Play every note Continued from page B1 The Omaha Musicians’ Association continues to exist and is a local chapter of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada.

It represents the interest of professional musicians by negotiating fair agreements, protecting ownership of recorded music, securing benefits such as health care and pension, or lobbying legislators. More than 400 individuals and bands are members locally.

“I remember my first job after joining the union was in St. Joseph, MO,” Tuffy said, “We piled into a 1942 Pontiac Station Wagon and broke down just past Nebraska City. We finally made it to our destination around 10:30 p.m. Of course, by then, they’d found another band to play our gig.

Another time, we were playing in Wall Lake, Iowa. That time, we had a 1946 station wagon—which blew four tires.

We eventually made it, played half a set and were paid $5. And still, I became a professional. I give my parents a lot of credit for allowing me those crazy adventures.”

“My main competitor in high school was a kid by the name of Frank Tirro,” Tuffy said. “We just kept trading back and forth as far as who was the best musician. Today, Frank is Dean Emeritus at the Yale School of Music.”

Tuffy began playing Jazz while still in high school.

“It happened because of a man named Luigi Waites.”

Waites was a jazz drummer and vibraphonist who began playing in nightclubs while still in high school.

“He would have jam sessions at the Dreamland Ballroom at 24th and Lake every Thursday night,” Tuffy said. “He told me there was no such thing as a wrong note in Jazz. He also told me to

play everything as if I meant it.”

From Luigi and Tuffy’s long-time piano man and composer and arranger, Bob Edson, came Tuffy’s “musical ramblings” as he calls them.

“She has been nothing but supportive our entire marriage,” Tuffy said.

“Music always comes first, it’s always been that way, but only because of her strong support.”

Do I hear a waltz? No. More likely a hora OzziE NOgg

EOmETRy, LiKE ThE human body in motion through space and time, uses combinations of circles, lines, arcs and angles. Algorithms, like choreography, constantly move, rearrange and resort themselves. Is Euclid cousin to Terpsichore? Is their relationship the lure that drew Larry Denenberg, Ph.D. from Harvard University in applied mathematics, to folk dancing?

“You want the truth?” Larry said. “I started dancing in 1977 because I overheard two women complaining about the horrible - for women - sex ratio at dance sessions in Boston. So, I went to get dates. What else can a socially inept nerd do? The kinds of dances I do are awesome in this respect, because you can dance with women without knowing how to talk to them at all.”

Larry Denenberg, second from right, with Khamsin dance group. 1986

A treat for visitors: Tuffy Epstein during the 2014 Omaha Reunion Another big reason Tuffy became a Jazz musician: his brother Ira. “Ira was the best Jazz pianist I ever worked with,” he said. “However, just after college, he decided on a different career and went to law school instead.

He ended up on the west coast with many clients in show business and lives in San Diego. He has done well for himself. You know, he owns a Steinway piano, but I don’t think he’s ever played it! As kids, we couldn’t agree on anything, but we could always make music together.”

Credit also goes to wife Helen.

Then, there is tenor saxophonist Don Rice.

“I copied him most of my youth,” Tuffy said. “He’s out in Palm Springs and still plays six nights a week.”

Tuffy obtained his BA in music education at the University of NebraskaLincoln, where he played in the marching band. “I worry about the state of music education nowadays.

For instance, back then we prepared a unique show for each home game.

Today, they learn one show and play the same thing over and over. It’s See Play every note page B4

This early rationale led Larry Denenberg to perform at the 1986 Boston Festival as a member of Screaming Sa’adya and the Electric Camels. From there, he jumped to Bustan Boston, one of four groups that represented North America at the first Karmiel Dance Festival in Israel in 1988. Since then, Larry has lined up with Zikukim, Neshikat HaGamal, Rimonim, Chafif, Lehakat HaChashmal and Khamsin dance troupes, participating with them at the Israel Folkdance Festival of Boston, the New York Israel Folk Dance Festival and the New England Folk Festival. Larry has also made an invited guest appearance with the Rausch Irish Dance Troupe in Monroe, NY. and served as guest instructor at Tel Aviv University. His audacious sense of humor and excitement about Israeli dance caught the attention of the Boston Israeli dance community as well as the Israeli dance community around the world. In recognition of his decades of devotion, Larry was named 2013 Festival Honoree by the Israel Folkdance Festival of Boston.

At the time, Becca Rausch, Festival participant and former committee member, was quoted as saying, “The thing about Larry is that he is infectiously enthusiastic about Israeli dance. He believes it is an art that brings people together as a community, while maintaining the capacity to teach about history and culture. Larry is dedicated See Do i hear a waltz? page B3

L’shanah tova!

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The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | B3

– Update on Autism Study –

Friends and family Emma HoCHfEldEr Intern, Jewish Press

the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society. It becomes the people that make the holiday. osH HasHanaH is a The “people” aspect of Rosh Hashanah is time heavy with present when reflecting on current and past prayer and relitraditions. Shelly Fox, Director of Commugious tradinications at Jewish Social Services, keeps “an tions. index of Rosh Hashanah in [her] memory However, it bank”. She can recall “sitting in synagogue doesn’t seem with [her] Grandpa and playing with his to be comtallis”. Then years later now, she is “with plete without [her] mom, dad, and daughter adding those other essential new memories to the memory bank”. It is a important facfamiliar sounding story, one we can all tors: friends and imagine: savoring the past memories while family. “There is a at the same moment creating new ones. certain excitement havAlso in the memory banks are habits for ing everyone in the room for the holiday. the holiday created with family and friends.

Looking around seeing familiar faces. The Aspects of celebrating Rosh Hashanah are habitual. “It’s a familiar feeling celebrating a holiday” as Rachel Martin, BBYO/Teen Director at the Jewish Community Center, mentions.

Traditions like apples and honey, holiday tunes at services, or “getting together with family and having dinner” like Helen Abrahamson reminisces, a Rose Blumkin Jewish Home resBring the honey Credit: Merdal at Turkish Wikipedia ident. Enjoying time with family kids are back from school. It just nice to see is a tradition many are lucky to have for all of these people,” emphasizes Liz FeldRosh Hashanah. stern, Executive Director of the Institute for Sometimes the spiritual aspect of the holiHolocaust Education. day takes a back seat. “Rosh Hashanah is It is no surprise when asked about one’s fa- about the family”. As Jan Wayne, a CDC vorite part of the holiday “friends and famteacher, explains, Rosh Hashanah allows us ily” is one of the most popular answers. It is “the chance to be together with family and a common theme in a multitude of variafriends”. It is an opportunity that can’t be tions from joyfully recalling “seeing old taken for granted. Family and friends surfriends in synagogue” says Linda Cogen, As- rounding each other on the holiday embodsistant Coordinator at Jewish Family Servies an atmosphere that allows for celebrating ices, to specifically “spending special time the new year and new beginnings in the best with family” explains Renee Corcoran, from way possible: with each other.

Do I hear a waltz?

Continued from page B2 to preserving the foundations of Israeli dance. He is a master teacher of traditional styles, and an expert debka performer. Simultaneously, he is also dedicated to making Israeli dance accessible to future generations. While he shines in both capacities, the latter is really something, for there is nothing quite like watching the pure joy exude from Larry when he dances with his daughter, Ayla. Indeed, Larry started Ayla in Israeli dance when she was at the ripe old age of two months; the two made a cameo appearance in the premier Sucaria Boston Festival performance.” Gil Preuss, Executive Vice President of Combined Jewish Philanthropies and fellow Boston Israeli dancer, added, “There is no other Israeli folkdance instructor quite like Larry. Not only do you learn the dance but you learn math at the same time.”

Does Larry Denenberg focus only on doing the grapevine and Cherkessia? Hardly. This is the man who, while Senior Scientist at BBN HARK Systems, had the primary responsibility for creating graph-theoretic algorithms and traffic modeling tools used to design networks that combined to form the original Internet. This is the guy who taught Discrete Mathematics at Tufts and Harvard Universities. The fellow who, along with Harry Lewish, published, The Complexity of the Satisfiability Problem for Krom Formulas. This is the Omaha-

born engineer with over 30 years industry experience in all aspects of computer and communications systems design, development and deployment. The Larry Denenberg who is a recreational dancer, dance instructor, and performer; the founder of Hora Eclipse, the once-in-alifetime dance camp held last month near St. Louis; a bicyclist and hiker; a bibliophile; an authority on the works of Rafael Sabatini who also, by the way, is competent in Hebrew? How do all these parts add up?

“I gotta say, where the dance piece is concerned, I do it mostly to spend time with my friends, hear my kind of music, use my teaching and learning skills, get lots of exercise. Same thing for performance, really.

It’s what my friends do, so I do it. It’s not because I’m drunk on having people watch or applaud or anything of the sort. I’d just as soon dance in an empty hall. But I do like to perform for other dancers, as at festivals when the troupes perform for each other, because everyone knows what to look for and appreciate. I think it’s more just something different to do with oneself. Sure, you can be only a computer nerd, or a surgeon, or a housewife, or whatever, but that’s boring. Here’s George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, as quoted by Rafael Sabatini. ‘Man in his time plays many parts. Who plays one only may as well play none.

To live, my friend, you must sip at many wells of life.’

It’s kind of nice to have completely separate lives.”

The Omaha-based non-profit Therapeutics Research Institute (TRI) has enrolled clients in this Study for more than a year. Just published medical journal results show a nearly 60% reduction in the clients’ autism attributes for the single food supplement intervention and a nearly 90% reduction in all attributes for the dual intervention. With added financial support from the Jewish Community, we are adding five more families with the single [supplement] intervention and up to five more with the dual intervention. This research is based on prior Johns Hopkins and Harvard’s teaching hospital research showing remarkable improvements in autistic individuals using this same extremely safe overthe-counter food supplement (their results were also published in a medical journal).

Go to the Study’s site ControlAutismNow.org to learn more. Nothing is being sold and there are no costs at all to participate. For a copy of TRI’s recently published Study, email steven.evans@ControlAutismNow.org and put Autism Study in the subject heading. If you have a child with autism, Study participation is a no-brainer – it’s just that simple.

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Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups full-fat or 2% Greek yogurt 1/2 cup sour cream 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 1/4 tsp. grated lemon zest 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice 1 tsp. white wine vinegar 2 large garlic cloves, minced or pushed through a press 2 tsp. dried dill kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 5 small Persian or kirby cucumbers, peeled and grated on the large holes of a box grater (helps them blend into the sauce) Preparation: In a medium bowl, stir together the yogurt, sour cream, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, dill, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste.

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continued from B2 perfect, but it’s the same. Back then, we weren’t perfect, but there was variety. I think with it being less structured, we had more fun.”

After graduation he tried to find a teaching job in Denver, in order to be close to Helen’s parents. When that didn’t work out, he joined the Air Force.

“I auditioned for the Air Force Academy Band,” he said, “but just as I was accepted, they came out with a height requirement, so that was the end of that—and I auditioned for the AF Band of the Rockies instead.”

That band’s home was the Lowry Air Force Base, whose Commander had a brother in Nebraska. That brother happened to be Victor Molzer, of the Molzer Music Company, a studio in Lincoln. Victor, Tuffy said, “basically put me through school.”

There are no coincidences.

From 1958 to 1962, he played in the Air Force Band of the Rockies.

“We went all over, wherever we were needed. President Eisenhower had a second home in the Rockies, so we played for him all the time. We had a special uniform we wore when we played for the President. I remember you couldn’t sit down.”

After four years, Tuffy was offered a job as Music teacher in Menzanola, Colorado. It was a school in a small town, Kindergarten through 12th grade, but when the family arrived, they found out the house they were supposed to move into had been sold. They drove back to Denver, where Tuffy received a phone call with a job offer from Carson, Iowa. Suddenly, he found himself almost back to where he started, 26 miles outside of Council Bluffs. In 1964, together with daughters Danielle and Marti, the family came back to

Credit: thedaringgourmet.com (It is noted that sometimes ground walnuts, dill or rose petals are added.)

Serves 6 to 8.

Omaha so he could teach at Nathan Hale Junior High.

“We moved to 100th and Blondo and ended up living next door to Bob Woody. He worked at UNO and played the banjo. He also did vocals, and we decided to form the River City Ragtime Band, which existed until about 2016.

We played all over for many years.”

He also played part-time in the Omaha Symphony from 1966 until 1978 and started Tuffy’s Klezmorim with which he has played for decades, together with Daniel Cerveny, Steve Thomas and Debbie Greenblatt-Seay.

“Klezmer is like Jazz in the sense that both music styles are creative and improvisational,” he said. “Neither relies heavily on the exact reading of music.”

Today, Tuffy still plays with the Inter Generational Orchestra, led by Chuck Penington.

“Chuck and I were in the National Guard Band together,” he said. “He’s quite the genius. I do it to stay in shape, it’s a nice orchestra where I am not the lead instrument and I get to just play with others without any pressure.”

Tuffy once called music ‘both an intellectual and emotional pursuit:’ “Every time I play, I think about how it was constructed and why it was constructed. The ‘how’ is intellectual, the ‘why’ is emotional. For instance, when I play with the Inter Generational Orchestra, playing along with the other musicians is mostly an intellectual pursuit. Then, in the middle of that, I have a solo, and it becomes emotional.”

He’s come a long way since his bubblegum shenanigans.

Still, there is an element of joy in Tuffy, something that is often found in people who have taken a path they truly love and, what’s more, are seriously good at what they do. It’s that spark that 10-year-old Arnold “Tuffy” Epstein, I think, would approve of.

Happy 10th birthday, Film Streams OzzIe NOgg

N 1895, LOuIS Lumiere — along with his brother Auguste — created the first machine able to project moving black-and-white images onto a screen. The brothers went on to make very short, under-60-second films of everyday life in Paris, and though audiences begged for more, Louis declared, “The cinema is an invention without any future.” This prophecy, obviously, proved false. For more than 120 years — from the silents, the talkies, to 3-D and surround sound — people have sat in darkened theaters, mesmerized by movies. Among them, Rachel Jacobson, who brought Film Streams’ Ruth Sokolof Theater to Omaha’s north downtown district in 2007. Since opening night, the organization has successfully articulated its mission: To enhance the cultural environment of the Omaha metropolitan area through the presentation and discussion of film as an art form.

“I was fortunate to develop the concept for a nonprofit cinema in Omaha as part of a terrific month-long post-graduate intensive course in arts administration at NYU,” Rachel said. “I took the class with the dream of one day creating a ‘Cinemateque in Omaha,’ similar to the one near my dorm when I studied in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1999. From the beginning, the idea was to develop a nonprofit, mission-based business model with diversified income that wasn’t dependent on box office and concessions and Hollywood marketing budgets. A business model that would allow us to bring foreign films, American independents, documentaries and classics that you would never find at a commercial theater. I had budgeted initially for 500 members, and now we’ve grown to almost 3,500 subscribers. We wouldn’t be here today without community support. Since our opening,” Rachel continued, “we’ve presented roughly 1,600 films — substantive, engaging, challenging, and transformative works of art that represent cinema history. That’s a testament to the wonderful, growing film community that’s blossomed in Omaha over the past decade.”

In addition to “picking films and showing them to people and sharing this great art,” Rachael Jacobson explained another part of her job at Film Streams. “Education programs are essential to developing new audiences and furthering the mission of arts organizations,” she said. “I took film history and criticism classes in college and thought it would be terrific to serve Omaha high school students in a similar manner, by introducing them to critical thinking through film analysis and tie it into

their English literature or foreign language classes.” To this end, Film Streams recently hired Diana Martinez, who holds a Ph.D. in Media studies, as full-time Education Director to oversee the theater’s Film History and Criticism Program for High School Students. “The goals of our current education program — to analyze film as an art form, to interpret films in a cultural context and learn how to empathize with characters in ways beneficial to the students’ own development — are the same goals I conceived in that course seventeen years ago.”

Rachel Jacobson, left, Academy award-winning actress Julianne Moore, Susie Buffett and Rachel’s mother, Nancy Jacobson, at the Film Streams’ Feature VII on April 24, 2017 at the Holland Center. Moore joined fellow Oscar winner Alexander Payne for an onstage conversation about her acclaimed career and perspective on the media. Approximately 1600 Film Streams supporters attended the event. Previous Feature VII guests include Laura Dern, Debra Winger, Steven Soderbergh, David O. Russell, Jane Fonda and the stars of Nebraska: Bruce Dern, Will Forte and June Squibb. Funds raised during these events help support Film Streams’ day-to-day operations.

Credit: Daniel Mueller

The Film History and Criticism Program for High School Students provides free tickets to teens and their teachers through a grant from the Qwest Foundation. The program has offered I Am Not Your Negro, which explores the life and work of James Baldwin, as a tie-in to high school classes in Black Studies, U.S. History and Literature. Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows was seen and discussed by French language students. The 1966 documentary, A Time For Burning, opened up a giveand-take on race relations in Omaha. Spanish language students were See Film Streams page B6

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | B5

roshhashanah Pennie Z. Davis CDC is a class act!

gABBy BLAIR HIS PASt SPRINg, I was the proud parent of a 2017 graduate. No, not of a high schooler, or college student, but of a preschooler! As the JCC theatre filled with proud and anxious parents, grandparents and friends, it was obvious that this year’s class had a standing room only crowd; a testament to the ever growing popularity of the quality preschool programming offered at the Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center. This year’s graduation theme was “Yo! CDC Raps!” It was adorable, beautifully executed and totally ageappropriate. The kids danced in mixed groups, all singing along to their songs with gusto. They sat on risers attentively listening to their classmates while awaiting their turns to take center stage for an introduction and often humorous description of their self proclaimed future plans before exiting stage left and shaking hands with CDC Director Jeanine Huntoon and JCC Director Mark Martin. Towards the end, the children waited patiently backstage as the crowd was treated to a beautifully produced video, a collaboration between CDC teacher Amy Cox and JCC Director of Marketing Margie Utesch, complete with adorable pictures and out takes- some funny, some sweet- collected throughout the year. This was followed by a tear jerking slide show of professional quality “senior pictures” taken by CDC parent and professional photographer Linda Gentry.

The whole production, which lasted approximately 45 minutes, got me wondering, HOW the teachers, staff and of course, exuberant preschoolers, pulled off a production of this caliber with such precision. I do not know about most See CDC is a class act! page B6

Film Streams

B6 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah CDC is a class act!

Continued from page B5 While there are many other smaller musical performpeople, but often times, trying to get out of the door in the ances throughout the year which are incorporated into morning with one preschooler, fully dressed with matching larger events, such as individual class songs during the shoes and teeth brushed, Passover Seder, the Family seems like a major accomSukkot program, and the plishment...yet here were Simchat Torah musical paabout 50 five year olds, all rade around the JCC camseemingly coordinated and pus, anyone who has walked acting like professionals. into the CDC knows what a “I can assure you, the bulk large part music plays in the of the work occurs in the building. Beyond having classroom with our fabulous music playing in the classlead teachers,” explains rooms at pick up, and durCDC Assistant Director ing play and rest times, the Lisa Cooper. Cooper, who children sing and dance at has been in her current pocircle time, and in Hebrew sition for 2 years, has had studies with their beloved plenty of experience prepar‘HaMorah’ Deborah. Music ing for graduation and is an integral part of every other, smaller performances CDC Director Jeanine Huntoon surrounded by her students CDC student’s day. Perhaps as she spent the previous music is most visible to seven years serving as a lead teacher in the CDC’s preschool those who visit the CDC during Havdalah on Mondays or program. “Graduation is by far our biggest show, and is a Shabbat on Fridays. “Our family Shabbat and Havdalah team effort. The teachers from each of our three Preprograms have become so popular and well attended, that Kindergarten classes coordinate and work together on this year, we will be holding these monthly events in the everything from the theme, songs and dances, to ideas for JCC Auditorium to better accommodate all the wonderful decor and refreshments. They tell me what they envision, parents, grandparents, siblings and friends who join us!” and I set up the arrangements with the JCC and Star CaterCooper explained. With the transition to the JCC Auditoing for the theatre space, the reception etc. Everything you rium, this year will also feature Shabbat and Havdalah prosee is the fruition of their vision and hard work.” grams that are class led. “For many years we have been The beauty, as a parent, of watching the graduates this fortunate to have Carrie Fingold lead our programming. We past spring, was that while obviously scripted, nothing was had the idea to refresh our Shabbat and Havdalah programs forced. The kids were up there having FUN. My child never by incorporating the children more and give parents and came home complaining of tedious hours spent practicing, loved ones additional opportunities to see their kids sing but would come home singing and dancing to songs I now and lead. Parents of CDC students enrolled this fall should recognize, in retrospect, as being from the show, without be on the look out for a schedule of when their children’s even realizing this was practicing! The ability of the CDC classes will take the lead and be sure to attend! teachers to incorporate music and movement into the natuAlso new this year will be the addition of administrative ral, daily curriculum kept the kids from feeling pressure iPads, specifically for curriculum planning and musical use about the performance which I, for one, really appreciated. for each of the 11 CDC classrooms, thanks to a Staenberg Cooper gives credit to former CDC Assistant Director and Foundation Anything Grant and matching funds from the artistic muse, Carole Greenberg and long time lead teacher Special Donor Advised Fund Grant and CDC Directory Ad Julie Shelburne for helping graduation evolve into the event sales. “We are very excited to be able to provide all of our we see today. “The graduation performance is a celebration classrooms with this technology because it will allow our of young children, and we strive to make sure all the kids teachers to file-share music across all of our devices See CDC is a class act! page B8 are comfortable in their roles.”

Continued from B5 invited to see and discuss Which Way Home, a 2010 Academy Award nominated documentary that follows two unaccompanied child migrants on their journey from Mexico to the States. “These screenings and discussions involve a great mix of school kids who ordinarily would never be in the same room together,” Rachel said. “They get to hear different perspectives and a diversity of voices. The education programs for students gives them a great window into other people’s experiences. It’s very cool.”

Another essential element of Film Streams’ mission is its Community Development Program, which involves working collaboratively with other local nonprofits to bring in national or international films followed by a discussion led by leaders from the partnering nonprofits. “Some years ago, Rabbi Aryeh Azriel and my dad, David Jacobson, created the Black-Jewish dialogue and were passionate about finding opportunities to create space for community conversations about tough issues following films,” Rachel said. “When we opened the Ruth Sokolof Theater, dozens of nonprofit organizations reached out, wanting to partner on film programs followed by panel discussions that related to their respective missions. In response, we developed a Community Development committee made up of representatives from the nonprofit, academic and philanthropic communities. The committee invites nonprofits to suggest Collaborative Film Events, and the proposals have resulted in more than twenty diverse programs each year, using film as a springboard for important conversations about the world at large and our community in particular. The structure is unique throughout the country and now serves as a model for other arthouse theaters nationally.”

If construction goes as planned, Film Streams’ renovation of the 92year old Dundee Theater should be complete by the end of the year.

The expansion includes a 300-seat main auditorium, a 25-seat micro cinema, plus a restaurant and bookstore. “Bigger, first-run films will run in the main auditorium,” Jacobson said. “There’s a lot of good stuff out there, and this will allow us to play more of it. In the micro-cinema we’ll be able to program stuff that only twenty-five people want to see. It could operate like a gallery theater in the sense of some nonlinear, non-narrative stuff playing on a loop. We could run Saturday morning cartoons or random 16 mm shorts. With two venues, Film Streams will have more flexibility and be able to bring Omaha more movies. The Dundee renovation is the biggest project in our young history, and we are so grateful to the Sherwood Foundation, our terrific board and all of our donors for making it possible.” Rachel also acknowledged the help she receives from her husband, Stephen Osberg. “My days have so many moving parts, I’m lucky to have Steve as a supportive husband/co-parent of our 2-year-old daughter, Cleo.”

Rachel Jacobson understands that the Dundee Theater and its neighborhood have a special vibe. “The Dundee has a long history with the Jewish community,” she said. “When we go to the movies at the Dundee, we’re sitting in the same space our parents and grandparents sat in, watching a film and being emotional, moved by the experience, just as they were. In our first ten years, the Ruth Sokolof Theater welcomed more than half a million moviegoers, and many of them live in the Dundee neighborhood. In fact, 68132 is the most popular ZIP code for Film Streams members. I’d like to see more and more people know who we are, care about us, and care about film as a result. Going forward, I want Film Streams downtown, and in Dundee, to continue being a vibrant and important part of the cultural life of our city.”

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The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | B7

The scandal of repentance

hE pERIoD BEGINNING on Rosh Hashanah and ending on Yom Kippur is known as “The Ten Days of Repentance.” Rabbis will often approach the topic by asking the following question: TEDDY Why is it so hard to WEINBERGER repent? For the great Rabbi Nachman of Bratslov (1772–1810), founder of the Breslov hassidic movement and a key spiritual influence upon contemporary Israeli society, repentance is difficult because we believe that we have been crushed by iniquity, that we have sunk so low that there is no point in trying to repent because no redemptive light can be seen from our long dark tunnel of sin. To this Rabbi Nachman says, in an oft quoted phrase (which has been put to music in a popular song) ein shum ye’ush ba’olam clal, there is no despair in this world. According to Rabbi Nachman, however low one has sunk, one must not despair of pulling oneself out through repentance.

Somewhat similar to Rabbi Nachman’s position on the problem of repentance, is the teaching of my friend Rabbi Lior Engelman, for whom “the quest for perfection is the enemy of repentance.” According to Rabbi Engelman, a feeling of “all or nothing” when it comes to religious observance prevents a person from gradually repenting of their sins. Rabbi Engelman relies here on the words of Israel’s first Chief Rabbi, Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935), who wrote: “One should not delay repentance because of any spiritual or (a fortiori) physical reason, and even if he is unrepentant of a few areas for which there is no excuse, at any rate he should repent with happiness from all that he is able.”

I’m afraid that the words of the rabbis whom I quoted above do not ring true to me concerning “the enemy of repentance.”

Rather than feel that there is too much for which to repent, I feel that there is not enough of which to repent. Judaism teaches us that there are two kinds of commandments: those regulating behavior between human beings, and those pertaining to our relationship with God. It has grown difficult for me to think as sinful the violations of the Sabbath and of the dietary laws (examples of commandments between human beings and God). In a world where the most appropriate answer to the deaths of millions of Jews is silence, how can we yet say that we know that God commands us to abstain from automotive transportation on the Sabbath and from shellfish?

The Reform Movement was way ahead of the curve on this one. Already in the mid-19th century, Reform Judaism had divorced itself from Jewish law (halakha) and said that it was up to the individual person, based on their education and commitment, to decide what particular religious ritual to adopt in their lives. In a certain sense, therefore, a century and a half ago Reform declared what many in our post-Holocaust world feel: There are no sins concerning the traditional commandments between human beings and God, there are only sins concerning the commandments between human beings and human beings.

One further problem with thinking as sinful a violation of the “human beings and God” commandments is that we raise our children in a free and open society, exposing them to Western thought and allowing them to decide for themselves what religious traditions they will practice. If I am not willing to speak of my son or daughter as sinning if they violate the Sabbath or kosher laws, then how can I think of myself in that way?

The scandal (in its biblical meaning of “stumbling block”) of the High Holidays is that the sins for which Yom Kippur atones are precisely and exclusively the sins concerning the “human beings and God” commandments. You are supposed to come into Kol Nidre with a clean slate concerning your human relationships and if need be humble yourself by asking forgiveness from your intolerable neighbor. One answer, for those who are faith-challenged, is to remember that in sinning in your human relationships you also sinned against God, and while you might have addressed the human aspect of the problem, the Day of Atonement allows you to repair the damage you caused in your relationship with God. Shana Tova!!

Teddy Weinberger made aliyah in 1997 with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children. Their oldest four, Nathan, Rebecca, Ruthie and Ezra are veterans of the Israel Defense Forces; Weinberger can be reached at weinross@netvis ion.net.il.

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Move over, Biyalistock and Bloom Ozzie NOgg

key role — and we began producing hits.”

Or Max BiyalistOck The performers on stage stand in the and Leo Bloom spotlight and get the applause, while people (the main charwho work behind the scenes go pretty much acters in Mel unnoticed. “We non-actors — the producBrooks’ The ers who make sure the bills and salaries are Producers), paid, the box office personnel, house manbeing a agers, ushers, the publicity people, even the Broadway janitors — we don’t win awards or get bouimpresario quets, but the business that the audience means seeing never sees is critical to a theater’s success,” their names in Debbie said, “and we folks backstage conlights, sleeping sider ourselves theater people, too.” As the ‘til half-past two Upstairs producer, she brought in profesand lunch at Sardi’s. sional managers for the theater’s restaurant For Debbie Denenberg, being a producer is and bar, parted ways with the caterer, and “a combination of passion, hard work and took over the food service in house. “That managerial skills. A little mazel helps, too. was a scary step,” Debbie admitted, “but Good theater can’t happen without it.” caterer Hap Abraham generously taught me Long before she bethe ropes on his way out, came a professional proand the change fueled ducer, Debbie learned profitability.” Her turnwhat it takes to be one. around of the Upstairs Her parents, Norm and Dinner Theater became a Eunie Denenberg, were Harvard Business School founding partners of Case study that has been both the Firehouse Dintaught at Harvard, Coner Theater and the Uplumbia and Stanford stairs Dinner Theater in Business Schools, and Omaha, circa 1970. “I other B-schools nationspent every spare 12-year wide, for over thirty-five old minute at the Fireyears. “Students see few house while my mom cases with women proand dad begged me to go tagonists, let alone to USY events instead. charming businesses like My dad, in founding a dinner theater. Many these two successful, cases are about senior professional theaters, is managers, and technical, one of Nebraska’s most difficult to understand Debbie Denenberg significant producers. products. The Upstairs But even on Broadway, people know the case study allowed a professor to say, ‘She is shows and the stars, not the producers. Still, 25, just like you. What would you do in this I’m his biggest fan.” situation?’ The case remains very popular.”

In 1983, with her freshly-minted Harvard With the Upstairs Dinner Theater doing MBA in hand, Debbie climbed the steps of boffo business, Debbie headed for New York the Upstairs Dinner Theater and put her City where, from 1990 to 1999, she worked smarts to use. “Until that point,” she exfor a team of Broadway producers known as plained, “the Upstairs lacked a true General The Dodgers. “We had this thing about Manager and had been run a bit absentee by baseball, even though we were a theatrical my mom and dad and the other partners. It company. Who knew that I would one day was a tricky business with a big physical have a son, Lev, who has made real baseball plant, a 9-to-5 weekday sales office, a 5-toa big part of my life?” As a professional 10:30 weekend theater, and a manager employed by the Dodgers, Debbie restaurant/bar. The Upstairs had never founded and grew a start-up company — turned a profit, so it took someone who was Big League Theatricals — that became an driven and all-in to make it succeed.” industry leader. “My title was Executive According to Debbie, the Upstairs started Producer. We produced, booked and manout staging shows like Tribute and Four aged second national tours of Broadway Poster. “But I understood that our niche was shows including Into the Woods, The Secret commercial, Broadway theater. So we Garden, Guys and Dolls and The Who’s switched gears and began producing enterTommy — a show of great innovation on taining regional premieres like Annie — one Broadway.” Tommy was a career highlight. of the longest-running musicals in Omaha’s “Not only did Tommy bring The Who to history, with our own Andee Friedlander Sci- the boards, it told the story with slides and oli in the title role — and A Chorus Line, with moving film,” she said. “So in the prelude, the JCC’s own Wendy Larsen as Cassie. My the scenery could change instantly — and mom knew how to market the shows, the late on the beat — from the doctor’s office, to Novalene Gibbons took over group sales — a see Debbie Denenberg page B9

CDC is a class act!

continued from page B6 simultaneously,” explains Cooper. She goes on, saying “Most of our classrooms are still equipped with boomboxes and CD players, which hinder our ability to share music.

The Staenberg Grant is allowing us the unique opportunity to purchase the iPads all at once, which would not be possible without their support.”

Children at the CDC are also fortunate to have many other enrichment options available at the JCC, ranging from sports and

arts to cooking and dance classes, which run year round. As current and former parents know, the Pennie Z. Davis CDC is the gem of our community, providing our children with an excellent first experience in education and the arts. For more information about enrollment options at the Pennie Z. Davis CDC or the many enrichment classes offered, please visit the website at http://www.jewishomaha.org/jcc/earlychildhood/ or contact Jeanine Huntoon, Director, at 402.334.6415.

A very special audience

aNNEttE vaN DE kaMp-wRight an Elvis impersonator! He comes usually three times per year. Musicians Debbie Greenblatt and David Editor, Jewish Press aggiE CoNti iS married Seay from Avoca, Iowa are regular visitors as well.” to Gilberto; together they Some of the programming is organized for the have a son, John, who is a residents only; other times, Maggie’s department freshman at UNL and two invites elderly members of the Jewish community daughters, Maria, a Junior, as well. and Anna, a Freshman at “We’ve had all kinds of performers, from a mariBurke High School. Maggie achi band, to Tai Chi and Tae Kwon Do demonstrahas worked at the Rose tions. On any given day, you can hear the sounds of Blumkin Jewish Home for 27 years. visitors from the Omaha Conservatory of Music or “I came to fill in for social worker Robbie Kohlnick the Merrymakers. We are very blessed to have these during her maternity leave,” she said, “but that ini- resources.” tial job only lasted for six weeks.

I decided to travel for a while and when I came back to Omaha, I was offered a job at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home!

I remember visiting here when I was a child and I always loved it here, so that was an easy decision to make.”

Maggie started as activity assistant, then became the Community Outreach Program Director.

After a few years, Mike Silverman, the Home’s Executive Director at the time, wanted someone to oversee the activities department. Maggie’s current title is Director of Activities and JSS Outreach Programs.

Rick Ehrenberg, left, Maggie Conti and Mitzie Monovitz A big part of Maggie’s job is to ensure programming for the residents; much of Some residents come to enjoy everything, but that comes in the shape of the various performing some don’t, so Maggie tries to have music playing artists who visit the Home on a regular basis and during meal times. That way, music is still is someshare their talent with this very special audience. thing they get to enjoy and are exposed to.

“On average, we have 15 artists per month,” “It elevates their mood, especially if they enjoy Maggie says. “Every Sunday there is some sort of the music or performance, which is why we have visit, from Opera Omaha, to the Omaha Philhar- such a variety,” Maggie said. “Some residents like monic Orchestra or, for instance, the Iowa Western klezmer, some like country music, some like Jazz.

Community Orchestra. The residents even get to see See a very special audience B11

Michael Halsted, MD

Peter Whitted, MD, JD Jeffery Hottman, MD Kathryn Hodges, MD Mark Emig, MD David Hanks, DO Teri Geist, OD Martin Mizener, MD Scott Greder, OD Matt Appenzeller, MD

Courtney Hellman, MD Mondy Dickinson, OD David Ingvoldstad, MD Jill Grennan, MD Jerry Damme, OD Abigail Jackson, OD Michael Feilmeier, MD Krystal Wells, OD Matthew Willis, OD

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | B9

roshhashanah Debbie Denenberg

Continued from page B8 Debbie eventually took the Big League the airplane, to the bedroom. Today, lots of Theatricals production of Tommy to Brazil. plays use projections, but Tommy was first.

“It was so much fun. We opened in Rio, Now, after a show leaves Broadway, it goes played Curitiba and Sao Paulo. I hired an on a first national tour of weeklong engagements in major cities. But the national tour of Tommy failed because the crew couldn’t transport, load-in and focus the special projectors in the quick turnaround needed.

So the show was pulled from the road, stranding many presenters that had sold tickets on their subscription series. In stepped Big League Theatricals. We were a second tier touring company with fewer trucks, shorter runs — right down Debbie Denenberg, left, next to Murray Newman at the 2016 Camto one-night stands. We paign Cabaret. were lighter and more flexible than the first national tour — which was infectious disease doc to lecture the young a plus — but could we do a production that cast about the dos and don’ts of internawould satisfy Philadelphia, Denver and Los tional travel. Just before we left for Rio, we Angeles? Well, we did. We were given heard that about twenty-five percent of the $1,000,000 to create a completely new Phantom of the Opera cast were mugged on Tommy — not a copy of the Broadway the beach in separate incidents. We stayed piece. Our production was a big hit, paid off on another beach, only ventured out with a the investors, and satisfied those stranded buddy and carried nothing of value. We had markets. By the way, it played The Orno tsuris.” Debbie still works for Big League pheum in Omaha in 1997. To this day I beas their fund-raising producer. “In recent lieve our Tommy was the most successful years I’ve produced tours of Dreamgirls, A See Debbie Denenberg page B10 version of this Broadway musical.”

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B10 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah Fran and Rich Juro:from escapist to thought-provoking

annette Van De kamP-wright Editor, Jewish Press ran anD riCh Juro like to travel. Of the 195 countries of the world, they only have 20 left to visit.

You, the reader, know this because from time to time they write about their experiences and share with this paper where they have been and what they learned. Personally, I live vicariously through their travels. There is no better education than visiting unfamiliar locations and learning that the world is big and full of wonder.

But the Juros have another passion. Bring up theater, and you’ll find they have many stories to tell.

“I’ve always loved the theater,” Fran said. “My parents used to take me from a very young age, and that hasn’t changed. I’ll be watching the Tony Awards and say: ‘I want to see this, and that one!’ We see every production at the Omaha Community Playhouse, and we’ve gone to London and New York mainly to see theater. We’ve also seen plays everywhere from New Orleans to Sydney, Australia.”

Since his retirement, Rich has been a stalwart volunteer at the Playhouse.

“I told him he couldn’t stay home and drive me nuts,” Fran explained.

Ever since Rich took drama courses in college, he has been equally hooked on the theater.

“We loved going to previews when we lived in New York,” he said, “but it’s during the last ten-plus years that I’ve really become more involved.”

When Rich says ‘involved,’ he is not joking around: he is

on the Executive Board of Directors at the Playhouse, is cochair of the development committee, as well a member of the OCP Foundation Board.

Omaha Community Playhouse

Credit: Wikipedia

“Seeing productions is what makes it all so fulfilling,” he said. “You can sit around and discuss how to make it happen, but when it all comes together on the stage, that’s where the real satisfaction is. And that satisfaction with the actual play and the actors on stage happens regardless of the genre.”

In addition to the Playhouse, the Juros have a soft spot for the other local live theater venues: Bellevue Little Theater, the Bluebarn Theater, Snap!, the Shelterbelt Theater and the Brigit St. Brigit Theater. They can all count on their support where and when it is needed.

“People need an escape,” Fran said. “But having said that, theater isn’t always just about that—it can simultaneously be very thought-provoking. While the U.S. government continues to defund the arts, it is more important than ever we remember how theater plays a role in making us think about current events. For instance, last year’s Playhouse production of To Kill a Mockingbird was extremely timely.”

The novel by Harper Lee was adapted for the stage and See Fran and rich Juro page B11

Continued from page B9 Christmas Story: The Musical, and yes — Mel Brooks’ The Producers. And by the way,” she added, armed with statistics aimed at the White House, “one Broadway musical creates hundreds of jobs. The current administration’s attack on the National Endowment for the Arts is specious.

The NEA represents only .004% of the national budget, yet the nonprofit side of the arts alone generates $135 billion in economic activity, supporting 4.1 million jobs. Most Western countries publicly support the arts and we Americans should support the arts, too, not demonize them.”

Though she did beat out her friend Kim Kotzen for the role of the Slave of the Lamp in Omaha Junior Theatre’s 1968 production of Aladdin, Debbie Denenberg says she can’t act her way out of a paper bag. Nonetheless, she can claim a unique brand of show biz experience. “While my mom rehearsed her part in Oh, What A Lovely War, I sat next to Claudette Valentine on her piano bench and watched and memorized every word. I hung out at the Studio Theatre in the basement of the Playhouse during rehearsals and the run of Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba, again watching my mom in the show. I remember my mom’s opening lines to The Amorous Flea, though she doesn’t. I remember hanging out with my dad in local bars at 10:30 p.m. waiting for mom’s shows at the Omaha Community Playhouse to get out, being stared at by the clientele. I looked too young to be my dad’s date, being, oh eight or nine.”

A passion for Judaism and a love of learning are part of Debbie Denenberg’s makeup, theatrical and otherwise.

“We are the People of the Book. We know that by telling our stories, our children can connect to Abraham and Sarah, to Isaac and Rivka. Through the telling of the story of the Exodus, we learn who we are and what is expected of us: let all who are hungry come and eat. Theater starts with a story, a story that comes to life in front of us. It can expand our horizons, shed light on the human condition, allow the weak to protest the mighty. Our lives are enhanced through the theater. Theater helps us to see farther, to feel and think deeper. And to be entertained, too.”

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From escapist to thought-provoking

Continued from page B10 debuted in 1990 in Lee’s birthplace of Monroeville, Alabama. Set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, the story addresses racial injustice, class, courage and loss of innocence as well as gender roles. Fun fact: the novel is so revered in Monroeville that people quote lines from it like Scripture, yet Harper Lee herself never attended a single performance.

“Early next year,” Rich said, “the Playhouse is planRich and Fran Juro ning to put Parade on the stage.” The musical premiered on Broadway my business life competing with Wal-Mart, so I really identify with a man who spent his in 1998 and won Tony Awards for Best life tilting at windmills.”

Book and Best Original Score and six Of course, they also try to Drama Desk Awards. catch a show now and then Parade tells the story of during their travels, alJewish factory manager Leo though the language barrier Frank, who in 1913 was acdoes come into effect. cused and convicted of rap“We will see local pering and murdering a formances when we don’t thirteen-year-old employee. need a translator, like He was sentenced to death, shadow or puppet theater.” but the sentence was comRich says. Fran saw Kabuki muted to life in prison. in Japan, but the make-up Frank was then transferred was more interesting than to prison in Midgeville, the actual performance.

Georgia, where he was kidRich and Fran also enjoy Leo Frank Credit: Wikipedia napped and ultimately and support other local cullynched. The events surtural arts and performances, attending and rounding the investigation and trial led to two groups emerging: the revival of the KKK sponsoring events at Omaha Performing and the birth of the Anti-Defamation League. Arts, Joslyn Museum and the Omaha SymRich is also past chair of our local ADL-CRC, phony.

The best thing Fran has ever seen: “Ella so Parade will be of special interest to him.

Fitzgerald, standing on a wooden crate and Another example of a play that really singing her heart out for four hours.” sends a message, according to Fran, is The What’s next for the couple?

Book of Mormon.

“We usually prefer local productions be“You’re watching this play and it’s hilaricause of the convenience, price, and how ous, but then you take it home with you; it amazingly well-done they are,” Rich said. really forces you to think hard about reli“But I really want to see Bette Midler in gion and you find yourself adjusting your Hello, Dolly!”. Midler will have her final permind about certain things.” formance at New York City’s Shubert TheThe number of plays Rich and Fran have ater on Jan. 14, 2018, so there’s a little time viewed over the years is mind boggling and to make that happen. too many to count. A few stand out: Fiddler There’s no doubt they’ll see the Divine on the Roof, Fran says, “which we saw in Miss M. on the stage. Whether pure escapism preview in 1962. I remember telling all our or thought–provoking and impossible to friends to quick go buy tickets while they shake, chances are Fran and Rich have seen it had the chance.” or are planning to see it. And the theater--– Don Quixote from The Man of La Manany theater—is a better place because of it. cha is a favorite character of Rich’s. “I spent

A very special audience Continued from page B9 We try to find something for everyone. We also try to include smaller programs, where residents can interact one-on-one with visiting performers. While in certain cases it is nice to sit in the auditorium or the JCC Theater and simply enjoy the performance, I don’t want all our programming to be passive, where residents are the audience and consume but don’t participate. Sing-alongs are especially great, because it gets the residents more involved.”

For instance, a few months ago, storyteller Rita Paskowitz paired residents with fifth- and sixth-grade students from Friedel Jewish Academy. During an entire week, the residents and students spent several hours together, one-on-one, exchanging stories. The students interviewed ‘their’ residents and subsequently wrote their story, which they then read in front of an audience.

Thanks to the Michael Staenberg Family Foundation’s Anything Grant, Maggie will be organizing the Noah’s Ark program next.

“We will be holding this program in November. It is

a five-day residency where residents and students play roles of Noah and his family members, and act out the story of Noah and the flood. They will work together on stage and perform in front of an audience.”

From classical music to Tai Chi: over the years, Maggie has familiarized herself with everyone and everything that could potentially make residents’ lives better through performing. That includes Maggie and her staff dressing up countless times over the years, not just during the Purim holiday. There is a dog show; there are Oscar parties and talent shows. There are county fairs, complete with live sheep; there are endless musicians and dancers and visits from animal handlers and belly dancers. If you can think of it, Maggie has tried it or it’s on her wish list. ‘Impossible’ is not really in her vocabulary. Of course, if one is going to dream, one has to dream big: “I have always wanted a hot air balloon to take residents up in, if it is something that is even remotely possible, it should be done,” she said. “At the end of the day, our main role is to bring joy to the residents, any way we can.”

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b12 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

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apples and honey

sybil Kaplan ne of The most well-known customs of Rosh Hashanah is the dipping of apple pieces in honey, but what is its origin?

In the time of King David, we know he had a “cake made in a pan and a sweet cake” (II Samuel 6:15, 19) given to everyone. Hosea 3: 1 identifies the “sweet cake” as a raisin cake.

The Torah also describes Israel as eretz zvat chalav u’dvash, the land flowing with milk and honey, although the honey was more than likely date honey, a custom retained by many Sephardic Jews to this day.

Honey may have also been used in the cake, but the honey of ancient Eretz Yisrael was made from dates or grapes or figs or raisins because there were no domestic bees in the land. At that time only the Syrian bees were there and to extract honey from their combs it had to be smoked. Still, honey was of importance in the Biblical times as there was no sugar at that time.

During the Roman period, Italian bees were introduced to the Middle East, and bee honey became more common.

Today, Israel has roughly 500 beekeepers who have some 90,000 beehives which produce more than 3,500 tons of honey annually. Kibbutz Yad Mordechai is the largest producer of honey—10,000 bottles a day.

Among Ashkenazic Jews, challah is dipped in honey instead of having salt sprinkled on it for the blessing, then the blessing is given over the apple, “May it be Your will to renew for us a good and sweet year,” which is dipped in honey.

Dipping the apple in honey on Rosh Hashanah is said to symbolize the desire for a sweet new year. Why an apple? In B’reishit, the book of Genesis, Israel compares the fragrance of his son, Jacob, to sadeh shel tappuchim, a field of apple trees.

Scholars tell us that mystical powers were ascribed to the apple, and people believed it provided good health and personal well being.

Some attribute the using of an apple to the translation of the story of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit which caused the expulsion from paradise.

According to Gil Marks (z”l) in the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, “the first recorded

association of apples with Rosh Hashanah was in Machzor Vitry, a siddur compiled around 1100, which included this explanation: ‘The residents of France have the custom to eat on Rosh Hashanah red apples.... ’Future generations of Ashkenazim adopted the French custom... leading to the most popular and widespread Ashkenazi Rosh Hashanah tradition.”

Rabbi Jacob ben Asher, born around 1269 and fled with his family to Spain in 1303, was the first to mention the custom of apples dipped in honey in his legal compendium Arbah Turim, c. 1310, citing it as a German tradition.

Rabbi Alexander Susslein of Frankfort, Germany, a 14th century rabbinic authority, revealed it had become a widespread practice in Germany.

A few years ago, an article revealed that the average Israeli eats 125 apples and 750 grams of honey a year, mostly around the High Holy Days. Israel is very self sufficient with regard to apples with around 9,900 acres cultivated yearly, grown in the North, the Galilee hills and the Golan Heights.

The most popular types of apples grown are Golden Delicious, Starking, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Gala and Pink Lady.

The word honey, or dvash in Hebrew, has the same numerical value as the words Av Harachamim, Father of Mercy. We hope that G-d will be merciful on Rosh Hashanah as He judges us for our year’s deeds.

Moroccans dip apples in honey and serve cooked quince, which is an apple-like fruit, symbolizing a sweet future. Other Moroccans dip dates in sesame and anise seeds and powdered sugar in addition to dipping apples in honey.

Among some Jews from Egypt, a sweet jelly made of gourds or coconut is used to ensure a sweet year and apples are dipped in sugar water instead of in honey.

Honey is also used by Jews around the world not only for dipping apples but in desserts.

Some maintain in the phrase “go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,” sweet refers to apples and honey.

Here are some recipes using honey for your Rosh Hashanah eating. for more recipes see apples and honey page b13

TishpishTi: MIDDLE EASTERN HONEY-NUT CAKE

Ingredients: Honey syrup: 1 1/2 cups honey 2/3 cup water 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup lemon juice Cake: 2 cups finely ground almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios or walnuts 1 cup cake meal 2 tsp. orange juice 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. allspice or ground cloves 6 eggs 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 Tbsp. grated orange or lemon zest Preparation: Stir honey, water, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over low heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium, bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Let cool.

Credit: LA Times Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.

Combine nuts, cake meal, cinnamon and cloves in a mixing bowl.

In another bowl, beat egg yolks with sugar. Add to nut mixture with orange juice. Add oil and orange or lemon zest.

In a third bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold into batter. Pour batter into baking pan and bake in preheated 350 degree F. oven 45 minutes. Cool.

Cut cake into 1 to 2-inch squares or diamonds. Drizzle cooled syrup over the warm cake. Serve at warm or room temperature.

Apples and honey

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | B13

roshhashanah

Continued from page B12

Work as play: Joanie Jacobson

Credit: ReformJudaism.org

My GrAndMA SAde’S TeiGlACh

My favorite reference book for any food is Encyclopedia of Jewish Food by Gil Marks (z”l). My Grandmother was born in New Jersey, although her mother came to the States as a young girl from Russia so she probably learned this Eastern European dish from her mother.

Teiglach means “little dough pieces,” and was originally for family celebrations and various holidays. Today, it is made primarily for Rosh Hashanah as a symbol for the sweet new year. Teiglach were brought to the United States by Eastern Europeans in the early 1900s although nuts were not part of the recipe in the “old country.”

Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp. baking powder 4 Tbsp. oil 4 eggs 1/8 tsp. salt 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 1/3 cups honey 1 tsp. ground ginger 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 1 cup finely chopped pecans Preparation: In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, oil, eggs and salt.

Stir until a dough is formed.

In a saucepan, boil sugar, honey, ginger and nutmeg for 15 minutes.

Wet a board with cold water.

Pinch pieces of dough and drop them into the boiling honey mixture.

Cook until very thick. Add nuts and stir. Pour honeyed pieces onto the wet board and cool slightly.

With wet hands, shape dough into 2-inch balls or squares. Let cool.

Store in an airtight container.

For another recipe see Apples and honey page B14

Ozzie nOGG hAT dO yOu call a performer who can act, sing and dance? You call him/her a triple threat. And what do you call a performer who also writes, directs and offers financial support to the arts? You call her Joanie Jacobson — the Omaha Jewish community’s very own six-pointed star. How did we get so lucky? Here’s how, in Joanie’s own exuberant syntax...

“After two years at Ohio State University, with only social work and education as possible majors for me, I found my way to the Goodman Theater School of Drama in Chicago in 1966. I still can’t believe my parents agreed to send me to a theater school -- girls from Des Moines went to college and got married -- or just got married.

At Goodman I learned things I would have never known otherwise. I learned that theater was much more than a play or a musical. It was a mouthpiece for social change, right and wrong. It explained why people do what they do, and why they don’t. As a Directing major, I learned the basics — lighting, costumes, set design and acting. I was motivated, challenged and determined to do good work. I was where I belonged, and it was a great feeling.”

“I had a brilliant teacher who taught me everything that has always worked for me as a director. Patrick Henry — yep, that was his name — was dashing, very chic, often intimidating but always brilliant. It was overwhelming to be in his orbit. But you knew you were being taught by the best, so you listened and remembered and put Patrick’s words to good use.

“Case in point. Patrick taught a Scene Study class.

Two students would partner up, pick a scene, rehearse like hell, and then perform it in front of the class. You knew it wasn’t going well if Patrick interrupted with, ‘Excuse me. Excuse me. What... are you doing... in this scene?’ If it took you longer than 15 seconds to answer, he’d say, ‘Stop. If you can’t say it in one sentence,

then you don’t know what you’re doing in this scene!’

It’s been a lifelong metaphor. If it takes me longer than 15 seconds to explain, justify or defend what I’m doing, thinking or saying — on or off the stage — it means I don’t know what I’m doing, thinking or saying. Trust me, it’s not just an ‘acting thing.’

“Enter, the Free Street Theater, a project of the Illinois Arts Council, created to bring live theater to those who never or almost never had seen it. Patrick was the writer/director, and I was thrilled to be one of the performers in a racially-mixed company in 1970 — the days of Make Love, Not War; women’s lib; civil rights; gay rights; and the sexual revolution.

Our message? C’mon people, now — smile on your brother — everybody get together — try to love one another right now.

“The Free Street Theater changed the way I saw the world, and my place in it. I found that good theater moves you. Moves you to cry, laugh, sing, dance, forgive, reconsider, feel afraid, get mad, raise the bar, see the light, make amends, forget your troubles, renew your faith, hope, dream, imagine — the entire gamut of human emotions and actions. Good theater is when you leave the theater with a different feeling than when you came. I mean, how cool is that? The older I get, the more grateful I am to my parents for giving me the opportunity to attend Goodman. Next to Richard, Carrie and Maggie, Eric and Jed and my grandchildren, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

And one of the best things that ever happened to the Omaha Jewish Community, too. Here, with Joanie’s See Work as play page B15

I stumbled into the arts. A moment of divine intervention.

When I found theater, I found me.

Joanie Jacobson

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B14 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah apples and honey Continued from page B13

Two Layer appLe & Honey Cake

This was in my recipes files, but I have made changes and I do not know the source.

Tofu cream cheese frosting: Ingredients: 16 ounces Tofu cream cheese 2 cups flour 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup unsalted pareve mar2 tsp. baking soda garine 1 tsp. salt 1 cup confectioners’ sugar 2 tsp. ground cinnamon 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/4 tsp. ground cloves 1 tsp. grated orange peel 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg 1/2 cup honey 3/4 cup vegetable oil 2 large eggs 1/3 cup parve milk 1/2 cup honey 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 3 cups coarsely grated apples Preparation: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices. Form well in the center.

Add oil, eggs, milk, honey and vanilla. Whisk until moistened. Fold in apples. Spoon half into each baking pan. Bake in preheated 325 degree F. oven about 45 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool.

Frosting: Beat cream cheese and margarine in a bowl until fluffy.

Add sugar, vanilla and orange peel. Add honey and beat until smooth.

Chill. Place 1 cake flat side up on a serving dish. Spread with 1 cup frosting. Top with second layer, flat side down. Spread remaining frosting on top and sides of cake.

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Twin Horns of Joy: Adeev and Ezra Potash naTe SHapiro

S THe Sun began to set on July 6, 2017, the unbearable heat retreated and left only unpleasant heat. The crowd of thousands began to murmur with anticipation as two dapper young men strode confidently onto stage at Turner Park at the Midtown crossing as the headlining act of the inaugural concert of the 2017 season of Jazz on the Green. One man cradled a trumpet, the other held a trombone. Together, Adeev and Ezra Potash are The Potash Twins (pronounced “Po-TASH”. Backed by their band, The Potash Twins entertained the crowd with a wide variety of songs.

Named one of the “15 most stylish twins on Instagram” by The Huffington Post, The Potash Twins (Identical) have not had a quiet nine-tofive career. They are accomplished musicians, entertainers, and hosts of their own show on the Travel Channel called Southern Road trip with The Potash Twins. They’ve been called the “Twin Horns of Joy,” by National Public Radio (NPR). They’ve broken the top ten on the iTunes Jazz Charts with their 2015 eponymous album, The Potash Twins. They’ve performed at South by Southwest (SXSW), they’ve graced the stage at TEDxOmaha to talk about “twintuition (twin + intuition).” They’ve performed for the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. They are big in Asia, due to placing 2nd on a Chinese competitive TV show. Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts bestowed upon Ezra and Adeev Nebraska’s highest Honor: the title of “Admirals of the State of Nebraska.”

Not only are Adeev and Ezra native sons of Omaha, but they are the sons of Alan Potash (pronounced “POT-ash”), CEO of the Jewish Federation of Omaha (full disclosure: The Jewish Press is an Agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha), and Amy Nachmann.

One might wonder about why the Potash Twins pronounce their surname differently than their father. The story goes that the boys were at their camp, camp Herzl, and were referred to as the “Potashim” (Potash + the Hebrew plural ending “im”), which shifted the emphasis to the end of word and added a little pizazz. It’s touching, as a Jewish Communal Professional, to see that they carry their camp identity with them. In fact, as I was chatting with them on the phone, they were headed up to their summer camp to visit.

The twins have had a lot of press over the past few years: they have been featured in The Huffington Post, the Omaha World Herald, NPR,

Menswear Style magazine, The Miami Herald, Town & Country Magazine, and many others. With that media pedigree, they still made time for the Jewish Press!

One thing that I noticed, was that the interviews failed to capture is just how much fun the Potash Twins are to talk to. I had the great fortune to chat with them by phone. I was excited to talk with them about, of all things, fashion. Adeev and Ezra have a very particular and coordi-

The potash Twins: adeev and ezra

nated style. I asked them for some fashion tips (admittedly, most of my wardrobe comes from Lands’ End). They told me the secret was bold accessories and more conventional clothes. They enjoy wearing brightly colored glasses, watches, or sneakers while complementing said accessories with more conventional blazers or jackets. Their overarching philosophy is that “if it looks good once, it’ll look good doubled.” We chatted about their nearly boundless ambition. Their goal for the near future is to play the nightly talk shows. I asked them about the possibility of their appearance on a personal favorite show of mine, NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. They responded that they were in talks, and were working out scheduling issues. We then chatted about Game of Thrones and our opinions on the latest season (we love it).

Despite all of their success, the Potash twins are incredibly humble and pleasant guys with whom to shoot the breeze. We, as the Omaha Jewish community, are incredibly proud of these two nice boys and wish them amazing success with their endeavors. If I was in any position to give away keys to the city, or at least the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s campus, I would present them to the Potash twins.

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The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | B15

Happy Rosh Hashanah

Work as play

Continued from page B13 night. Nothing like a little drama with your drama.) parenthetical asides, are the shows she’s written, directed Campaign Cabaret 2016 (Needs no introduction. More of and presented to us: the same good music while singing and dancing our way Free To Be You and Me (My first show in Omaha. Bobbie into the hearts of over 600 men, women and — this time — Epstein recruited me. Rabbi Drazen congratulated me, then children. I didn’t direct this one, but loved working behind asked, ‘If you do another the scenes with Beth Friedshow, could you make sure man, Andee Scioli and it has some Jewish content?’

Louri Sullivan.)

And I did, from then on...)

More Joanie-speak, now The Good and Bad regarding her support of the Dreams of Sylvia Rosenthal arts. “When I started work(A musical about a lady who ing at the Jewish Federation, had better things to do — or as its first Communications nothing at all to do — Director in the late ‘80s, I rather than join her synacame to especially admire gogue Sisterhood. Through those who had charitable a series of some pretty farfunds — money set aside out dreams, Sylvia sees the just for making the world a light. Poo, poo, poo.) better place — and I hoped Israel ‘45 Spectacular (A I might have a fund of my collaboration with Karen own one day, at the FederaSokolof Javitch at the JCC to tion Foundation. On my commemorate Israel’s 45th 50th birthday, my parents anniversary. From the gave me a very nice check, mashuganah lady who came enough money (I thought) to Israel to find her tree — to finally start a fund. Not you know, the one she so. But Sheldon Bernstein, planted with the Jewish Nathe Foundation’s Executive tional Fund (oy) — to the Director at the time, let me soldiers, tired from war and put my money ‘on account’ calling for peace, to the anuntil I had enough to offithem of One People, One cially open a donor-advised Destiny, that show packed a fund. After a couple more punch.)

Joanie Jacobson, right, as Susie Streetnoise in INK - Interesting years, adding contributions To Bubbie and Zaydie News for Kids, a puppet show created by the Free Street Theater that family and friends With L.O.V.E. (One of my made on my birthday or and picked up by WGN-TV in Chicago in 1972. all-time favorites, this special occasions, the Joanie fundraiser celebrated the deep, fun-loving relationship beJacobson Jewish Cultural Arts Fund was established in tween grandparents and grandchildren.)

1996. That day was (and still is) one of the proudest days of A Sentimental Journey (Commemorated the 100th anmy life. It’s exciting. Fulfilling. The majority of allocations niversary of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) go to support Jewish cultural arts, but a donor-advised fund at the Rose Theater. Over 130 people in the cast, a nine-piece allows me to make contributions in all areas of community show band and over 800 people in the audience. So fun!) life, Jewish and non-Jewish. Helping to fund programs, The Best of Beth El (Celebrated Beth El’s new home at projects, events, special requests — whatever I choose to do 144th & Dodge. More than 70 in the cast, a six-piece show — is incredibly fulfilling. It really is.” band, and 500+ people in the audience.)

“What would civilization be without The Arts? Without Beth El In All Its Glory (Celebrating the 75th Anniversary artistic expression? Art as a visual form? Art that is spoken? of Beth El Synagogue. Again, over 130 cast members, a Shared? Bought and sold? Sure, you’d still have beauty in seven-piece band, and close to 600 people in the audience. nature, discovery in science, complexity in math, but even Those were the days, folks.) those would be ‘less than’ without the ability to interpret POP! Goes the Cantor (A Beth El Cantor’s Concert, featur- what is — whatever it is — in an artistic way. The Arts are ing Cantor Gaston Bogomolni, a cast of over 45, and some about emotions, feelings, creativity, spirituality, life’s meanmighty fine professional musicians Gaston brought along to ing, the intangible. The Arts speak to your heart, your soul, entertain the more than 450 people in the audience. Great your mind, and your purpose. The possibilities for engagemusical variety in this show.) ment are endless.”

In Your Honor (A musical and dramatic program pre“I feel so lucky to be Jewish, living in Omaha, able to sented by Jewish men in honor of Jewish women. A Federa- think creatively and practice my craft for over 35 years. I’ve tion Major Donors’ event, and I still love the concept. It was had the pure pleasure of working with literally hundreds of different and important.) the greatest people I could ever hope to know. Performers A Purim Schpiel For Adults Only (One whacked-out night who volunteer their time and talent. I’m not athletic and I featuring a fractured version of the Purim story complete can’t sit still long enough to play a game of almost anything. with ‘50s parodies and a rollicking (not-so-Greek) chorus, My idea of fun is directing. Rehearsals are fun. We work eats and drinks and lots of laughs.) hard but we work ‘fun.’ I’ll incorporate anyone’s idea if it’s This Is Your Life, Gloria Kaslow (A take-off on the old TV better than mine because the goal is always the same -- to show as Jewish Family Service honored Gloria Kaslow. A give it your very best shot. My work is my play.” total surprise, just like on TV, as her whole life paraded be“Theater portrays life as it is and life as it isn’t, the life you fore her. Lots of research on this one but worth every sleephave, the life you don’t have, and the life you want. I hope less hour!)

I’ve brought some good theater to the Omaha Jewish comCampaign Cabaret 1986 (The show that started our exmunity. That everyone in the audience (a tall order, I know) travaganza ball rolling. Over 60 people in the cast, a 12has left a performance reconnected to something wonderpiece band and over 900 people in the audience. Everyone fully Jewish -- Jewish music, stories, humor, pride, tradiworked so hard and so well together. A great example of or- tions, values, family, friends, community, holidays, life cycle dinary people doing extraordinary things.) events or maybe just matzo ball soup. Of course, you can Campaign Cabaret 1987 (Cabaret ‘86 was so successful, celebrate being Jewish on your own, but it’s so much more Federation decided to produce it again. Unfortunately, there fun to do it together, when the curtain goes up. Thank you, was a snow storm and we had to cancel. Fortunately, the Omaha Jewish community, for giving me the opportunity to city shoveled itself out, and the show went on the next do my work.

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B16 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

Shucks Fish House & Oyster Bar

Absolutely Fresh Seafood Market

The story of Absolutely Fresh Seafood Company: since 1979, Lindberg began bringing fresh seafood to Nebraska and Iowa, selling off the back of a refrigerated truck. He moved ‘inside,’ at the request of the Douglas County Health Department and never looked back.

1727 Leavenworth was the site of the first Absolutely Fresh fish market, as well as the emerging wholesale seafood operation, opening there in 1982. In 2002, Absolutely Fresh retail market merged with Sherm’s Seafood, and then moved completely to that location, at 1218 South 119th Street.

Today, Absolutely Fresh consists of the market at 119th and Pacific plus the wholesale division (the Mother Ship) still at 18th and Leavenworth.

Selling to over 300 restaurants, hotels, casinos and clubs in the Omaha, Lincoln and Des Moines areas, fresh fish is flown in several times each day.

The fish market has expanded from a few gulf seafood offerings (shrimp, crab, oysters, flounder, red snapper) into a thriving market featuring fresh and frozen seafood from around the world. The selection on any given day can include crab legs from Alaska, lobster from Maine, salmon from the Faroe Islands off Scotland, shrimp from Louisiana, mussels from Massachusetts, oysters from New England, and fish from Central and South America.

Absolutely Fresh has long been famous for homemade cocktail sauce, freshly steamed shrimp and fresh smoked salmon. Prepared dishes, such as Seafood Enchiladas, are quickly becoming a significant part of the business. Also, fresh baguettes are delivered from Le Quartier daily.

Grab-and-go items, like sausages and cheese abound, as well as a wide variety of wine and beer.

on the Gulf Coast, I would be killing time waiting for a boat to come in, and I would hang out in these seafood shacks instead of holing up in the Motel 6,” said Lindberg. “I never dreamed that someday I would make my own seafood shack in Omaha.”

From the very old barn wood (they call it ‘wharf’ wood) on the walls, to the straightforward recipes, to the oh-so-casual ambiance, Shucks is a tribute to the many establishments Lindberg frequented in Louisiana, as well as in New England, Florida and the West Coast.

“We have the very thinnest breading possible,” Lindberg said. “Never have I seen any thinner. When we started the Luncheonette in 2003, with Chef Claude

Hampton, we did not have a fryer. No fried fish, no french fries. I was trying to create a very healthy place to have lunch.”

“That was one of the biggest of my many, many mistakes,” Lindberg said. And he explained that people love fried food but not the calories. To that end, they purchased a fryer and started experimenting with the thinnest breading possible. That resulted in what Shucks touts as “the thinnest breading in town.”

Today, Shucks’ three locations each boast its own chef and long-term staff, and has been voted Best of Omaha for the last seven years.

Did you know the Dell has been around since 1934?

It is possibly the oldest restaurant and bar in Omaha, with the recent closings of Omaha landmarks such as the Bohemian Café, Piccolo’s, and others.

In 82 years, there have been several owners, most recently Greg Lindberg, who bought the Dell from Pat Gobel, who owned it for 27 years. Coincidentally, Gobel bought the business from Neill Everitt, who also had the Dell for 27 years. Lindberg thinks he has a shot at 27 years himself.

Famous for Fish and Chips for decades, that recipe

continues to this day, and is considered sacred. Since The Dundee Dell is now in the Absolutely Fresh family, a few additional seafood dishes have been added to the menu: Faroe Islands Salmon, Peel ‘n Eat Shrimp, and the MacHaddie (haddock – quite similar to cod – with a very thin breading).

Pat Gobel, before he handed the baton to Lindberg, had this to say: The Dell is unique. It has its own vibe. It is a pub in the style of pubs in the British Isles. In the small villages and hamlets there, everyone gathers at the

pub. Their homes were traditionally too small to gather in. So, the pub.

The smallest child, the oldest person, and everyone in between. No matter what your background or income level or your education, you are welcome at the pub. It is where you go to be yourself and be with other people; not virtually but really. This is what the Dell is about.

Lindberg is proud to be able to say that 29 of the 31 Dell employees are still around, after the change of ownership.

Café Café occupied the space where Bailey’s is now, for about 25 years, under four different owners.

When it suddenly closed, Greg Lindberg decided to take a chance on the breakfast business.

“On a Tuesday noon, when the parking lot should have been busy, it was deserted. A sign on the door explained that Café Café was closed, and it was ‘just another Omaha statistic.’ That really got to me,” said Lindberg. The casinos had moved in, along with chain restaurants, and he was concerned about the loss of identity of Omaha as a result.

“We thought we could throw up a little paint, fix up some of the kitchen equipment, and be in the breakfast and lunch business,” said Lindberg. “Then I proceeded to lose a few hundred thousand dollars in the next 18 months, doing a complete remodel and then not having enough customers coming in” he said, smiling.

After the third year, the school of hard knocks started paying off, and Bailey’s has been profitable ever since.

Karen Bauermeister, who with other staff, started in 2007, even before Bailey’s was open, left in 2013

to open Over Easy. Lindberg and staff are delighted that she returned in January of this year to retake the helm.

Bailey’s claims to have the best bacon in town. “It ain’t rocket science,” says Lindberg, “we just buy the best, thickest, meatiest bacon on the market. You should try it.”

Best sellers include six variations of Eggs Benedict, Chicken Fried Steak, coffee cake, and salmon salad. The lunch menu also includes sandwiches, soups and several salads. Breakfast is served all day, and house made corned beef hash is available Fridays through Sundays.

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“I swore I would never get into the restaurant business,” Greg Lindberg said many times. “So many restaurants have gone broke owing us money. And it’s an endless amount of work. You’re just never done!”

Lindberg, owner and founder of Absolutely Fresh Seafood Company, distributors of seafood to over 300 restaurants and clubs in the area, nonetheless found himself starting Shucks Fish House in 2006. Because of customer demand, Absolutely Fresh Seafood Market began serving soups, salads and sandwiches for lunch; on four tables next to the fish counter at 119th and Pacific.

“Back in the day, when I was looking for seafood

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The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | C1

section3

ROSH HASHANAH

The ultimate collaboration: Fran Sillau and Mark Kurtz Gabby blair

haT aGe old question, asked of all small children, at one time or another, is: “what do you want to be when you grow up?”

What is the likelihood that a young child knows, without a doubt, what they really want to be in the future? Surely, the workings of faith, family, support, perseverance, and dedication would be instrumental in any chance the child would have to making their dream come true, in spite of the odds life may stack against them. In the cases of Fran Sillau and Mark Kurtz, they are living this dream.

Sillau, who is currently the JCC Musical Theatre Director, Accessibility Coordinator at the Rose Theatre and Artistic Director of the Circle Theatre, got his start in the performing arts at the young age of four. “I was always an imaginative child,” explains Sillau. “My family belonged to a Catholic church here in town, and I spent a lot of time in various children’s fellowship programs singing, dancing, and playing pretend. A woman who helped

Fran Sillau and Mark Kurtz with the church’s program saw something in me and told my parents they should get me involved in some type of children’s performance opportunities.” Soon after, Fran’s parents, who took this recommendation to heart, enrolled their son in the Emmy Gifford Children’s Theater, better known today as The Rose Theater.

Fran spent years taking classes

and performing in shows. By the time he was 12, he knew, without doubt, that he would never leave the theater. “I knew what I wanted to be before I knew what it was called,” says Sillau. “I loved acting, and I still do, but I knew I wanted to be a theater director, and the way to that position was through time on the stage. Everything I’ve done since I stepped foot on the stage at

age four was in preparation for this job, this dream.” The path for Fran, however was not necessarily an easy one. His participation and presence in the Omaha performing arts community throughout his entire life had built him a vast network of colleagues any aspiring actor/ director would envy. However, as he matured into a young man, with his goals more focused than ever, the focus on his disability also grew.

Sillau, who was born with Cerebral Palsy and walks with the aid of crutches, is quoted in an article from the Aberdeen News as saying “ I don’t know what it is like to not have a disability, and I find it is more about what I can do than what I cannot do. Theatre is a really freeing outlet for me.” He went through an interview process for vocational rehabilitation and found more than ever, as an adult, that having a disability opens some doors while seemingly closing others firmly. “It is very easy to be put into a box, even by the most well intentioned of people, and I just didn’t fit into that box,” he explains.

See The ultimate collaboration page C2

5778 Caring

As we enter the New Year full of hope and opportunity, we want to thank you for the impact you have made on Jewish Omaha this past year.

ng i t ca u Ed Bui

Enric lding hing g n i t ca Supporting o v Ad Leveraging Inves ting g n i liz i b Mo

2018

BRUCE FRIEDLANDER, PRESIDENT ALAN POTASH, CEO

Imagine the New Year where your support changes lives for the better and creates a brighter future for us all. Your investment does that.

L'SHANAH TOVAH U'METUKAH May you have a good and sweet year.

TED FRIEDLAND, PRESIDENT HOWARD N. EPSTEIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

C2 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

Wishing the entire Omaha Jewish community a very happy New Year.

Eunie on stage? Goody, Goody OzziE NOgg

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adult theater, maybe a little risqué and always thought-provoking.”

In no particular chronological order, sometimes in a supporting role but more often as leading lady, Eunie appeared in West Side Story, Little Me, and Solomon Grundy at Chanticleer in Council Bluffs; 40 Carats, The Fourposter and Fiddler on the Roof at the Upstairs Dinner Theater;

t’s triCky fOr Eunie Denenberg to pinpoint exactly when her life in show-biz began, but she gave it her best shot. “Let’s say it started with my five year-old belting out all 10 Hit Parade Hits at my folks’ Sunday afternoon poker games. Or maybe the neighborhood show I co-produced on my friend Marie Calandra’s driveway.

My poignant rendition of Alice Blue Gown is still being discussed. By me,” she added, laughing.

Ask Eunie to list the shows she’s been in since those singin’-on-the-driveway-days and she mentions Council of Jewish Women’s Trouping Theater, Red Stockings, plus a slew of Beth El Synagogue and Hadassah shows in-between. “And let’s not forget The Fourgone Conclusions,” she says. “That nightclub act with Dick Mueller and Lou Filbert and me and you, Oz. Back in the 1970s. Remember when Skee Fisher hired us to play the Colony Club on Good Friday because no other acts were available and how Skee thought he’d lose money on us but we packed the place?”

Oh, you bet I remember. I also remember Eunie’s first audition at the Omaha Community Playhouse in 1963 because I was there, too — both of us angling for a spot in Pajama Game. Here’s Eunie’s recollection. “We had a Saturday night date with Ozzie and Don, and Normie suggested we do something different — like Oz and Eunie try out for the musical being cast at the Playhouse. I figure my mom will kill me if I get in a show and leave the kids. A nice Jewish young married mother appearing onstage was the unspoken ‘no-no’ here. But Normie, the original women’s libber, offered to watch the kids. So, ignorantly blissful, each of us scrambled on stage to do our auditions, a cappella — Ozzie, On the Good Ship Lollipop — Eunie, Goody, Goody. The stunned directors cast us both. I even got a line. Three memorable words — I et already.”

In the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, Eunie Denenberg went on a theater tear.

“I played one of the daughters in Garcia Lorca’s House of Bernarda Alba in the Studio Theater at the Playhouse. Next, I played the lead in both Oh, Dad, Poor Dad and Oh, What a Lovely War in the Studio. We did shows by Brecht, Kopit, Durrenmatt, and had wonderful innovative directors like Jane MacIver and Don Ruble. The Studio Theater was edgy

6 Rms Rv Vu at the JCC Theater; Any Wednesday and Cactus Flower at the Playhouse. “As one gets more experienced, auditions become more and more terrifying,” Eunie said. “Each time you try out for a part, you recognize how stiff the competition is. When I realized the gal reading against me for Cactus Flower was too young to be the nurse — the lead role — the pressure was off. I figured I’d probably get the part. That was a yippee moment.” Her work in Cactus Flower brought Eunie the 196465 Omaha Community Playhouse Acting Award. She took home the Best Actress Award from the Metropolitan Actors Guild in 1971 for her portrayal of the madcap young Belle Poitrine in Chanticleer’s Little Me. When the Upstairs Dinner Theater staged Neil Simon’s two-character romantic comedy Same Time, Next Year in 1981, Eunie found her favorite role as Doris. “The show also gifted me with a precious small-world moment. During one rehearsal, I was going through scenes with our Stage see Eunie on stage page C4

Continued fron page C1 Refusing the narrative that he couldn’t turn his experience and passion for theatre into a profession, he earned a scholarship to Iowa Western Community College’s new theater program which had just opened a multimillion dollar facility run by Hersh Rodasky, a mentor from Fran’s youth.

Upon earning an Associates of Arts in Theatre from Iowa Western, Sillau ended up pursuing an education degree. Although education, itself, was not his passion, it complemented his already impressive portfolio, further expanding his niche of accomplishments that ranged well beyond the roles of actor and director, to producer, author and teacher.

“I have to give credit to my parents and my mentor Dr. James Larson, Director of the Emmy Gifford/Rose Theater from 1986 to 2012. Their support gave me the strength to pursue my dreams and make them my reality. Dr. Larson transformed the theater into a place where I could be successful.

Because of the chance he gave me, I have professional working relationships with people I have known since I was four years old,” something that is truly astounding and unusual.

After graduating, Sillau took jobs and traveled, observing how other youth theaters worked. One position took him to The Lexington Children’s Theatre in Kentucky. During his time in Kentucky, he chanced overhearing the reading of a play called ‘Hannah’s Suitcase’, which called to him, but was only being given to professional houses. Soon after, Sillau returned to Omaha, and pitched the idea to Dr. James Larson, not really expecting anything to come from it. “I remember being called into Dr. Larson’s office, which wasn’t something that just ‘happened’. My nerves turned to shock and elation when he told me he’d reviewed the script I had mentioned and he was willing to sign the contract for it and provide some funds and technical staffing, but that it would be up to me to do the work and direct the regional premier in addition to finding a venue for the performance.” Teaming up with Beth Seldin, then director of the Institute of Holocaust Education (IHE), I met Esther Katz and got my start at the JCC theatre, where Hannah’s Suitcase was a success in 2009.

“I love directing at the JCC because of the people here. The theater team under Esther Katz is just amazing. Jessica, Courtney, Bernadette and I work together as one unit and

there is no way we could pull off the performances that we do without this amazing collaboration of their talents”.

Today Fran has become an accomplished director and teacher. He has conducted educational workshops for professional development as well as for youth theater programs nationwide, with a special focus on teaching workshops for youth with physical and developmental disabilities. As it states on his professional bio, Fran “uses theater as a tool to help every child, disabled or not, to see the good and power within themselves.”

While Fran’s professional life was full, he found himself soul searching for introspection during some personally difficult times in 2010. One day, he decided to attend First United Methodist Church, which prides itself in being a very welcoming congregation. A congregant, who had enjoyed Fran’s singing welcomed the newcomer and suggested he join their choir. On a whim, Fran decided to seek out the choir director at conclusion of services in order to inquire about joining, and thus he met his future husband, Mark Kurtz.

Kurtz, a native of North Dakota, had a natural aptitude for music from a very young age. He began piano lessons around age 5, and his serious dedication to music continued through his formative years. He was ‘discovered’ by Robert Hebble, a composer and organist of international renown, who told Kurtz’s parents their son had extraordinary potential and needed to study at a level beyond what was available to him in North Dakota. In an amazing leap of faith, the Kurtz family sold their home and quit their jobs, relocating to North Carolina where Mark, at age 13, had been accepted into The North Carolina School of the Arts. “My parents had to have such faith to move across the country, blind, for me and my future in music. They were willing to do anything to give me the opportunity to study,” says Kurtz. “We had never even visited North Carolina before the move. My parents rented a condo over the phone and found work after we relocated. Just before the move, my parents, who had already quit their jobs, walked into a music shop in North Dakota and told the salesman they wanted to buy a grand piano; not an inexpensive purchase.

The salesman, concerned over their lack of employment see the ultimate collaboration page C3

the ultimate collaboration

Eunie Denenberg in Cactus Flower at the Omaha Community Playhouse.

Friedel on stage

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | C3

roshhashanah

the ultimate collaboration

annette van de kamp-wright Editor, Jewish Press erforming on stage can be an education in and of itself. Rarely more so than when we see the younger members of our community show their stuff - from the CDC to Purim Plays, from the JCC to Friedel Jewish Academy. The latter has fully integrated performance into the curriculum. There is no Passover Seder without someone dressing up as Pharaoh. There is an annual talent show, there is a performance during graduation and then there is, of course, the Hanukkah Play. Time for Head of School Beth Cohen to answer some questions about the why and how. friedel has done the hanukkah play for many years. what is the educational value?

There is great value to children having the opportunity to perform publicly. In addition to learning the material – be it a speech or a song or a part in a play – students gain self-confidence, build their self-esteem, learn about see friedel on stage page C5

Continued from C2 asked where the piano was to be delivered and my parents laughed and told him they were not sure yet, as they had just sold their house. After they shared our story, the salesman, moved by what he’d heard, threw in a piano cover and dolly for free, and told them about a scholarship that the piano company offered”, which Kurtz, naturally, won.

After finishing the program at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he won a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence and was named Outstanding Senior, Mark went on to graduate with highest honors from the University of Ann Arbor, Michigan, with an undergraduate degree in Music Composition. Kurtz followed that with an M.A. from The University of Minnesota-Minneapolis. “My education experience was amazing, but very serious and focused on classical music; conservatory style. In Minnesota, my eyes were opened to the magic of theater music.” Kurtz took a position at Stages Theater Company and spent four years directing shows and writing music for them. “This really helped me to move in a direction outside of academia and into performance and composition. I am very eclectic, and found that I loved trying many musical styles and making them my own.”

Today, Kurtz’s compositions have been performed across The United States, in Canada and Europe, and he is an ac-

complished commissioned composer who has produced two CDs of his own original music. In addition to spending the past 17 years at First United Methodist Church as the Director of Music Ministries and his work as composer, Kurtz also serves as Associate Director and Collaborative Pianist with Résonance, a professional choir that performs regularly with the Omaha Symphony.

That fateful day in 2010, when their paths crossed at church, Kurtz recalls recognizing Fran from a theater performance. Fran joined the choir and the two became fast friends, finding they had many similar experiences, interests and some acquaintances in common. The two remained committed to each other for the next five years, when Mark underwent an emergency appendectomy in June of 2015. As he awoke from anesthesia, Fran had turned recovery room TV on, where headlines announced the legalization of same-sex marriage to which Mark, still in a haze, wondered aloud “how long, exactly, have I been asleep!?” much to the amusement of those present. The two men were married at the courthouse the following month, sealing the deal on their most important collaboration to date.

The couple serves as a vital support network to each other, personally and professionally, and their experiences in the performing arts allows them to draw inspiration and understanding from each other. “As an artist, you must have a thick skin. Not everyone sees your vision as you do. You can see the potential in how things could be, and it is our job to create it,” says Sillau. He goes on to say “I think perseverance and passion is the key in this profession. Sometimes the projects you love the most and put the most energy into, are not the ones that will pay the bills, or that come to fruition easily.” Kurtz and Sillau both agree that in theater and music alike, the beauty and satisfaction is not just in the finished product, but in the process; bringing people together through shared experience, the ultimate collaboration.

Eunie on stage

c4 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah Never stop laughing

EMMa HocHfEldEr Intern, Jewish Press or yEars BErniE Meyers would schlep to and from work every day. He worked fourteen hours a day, six days a week to support his wife, Roie, and three children, Vicki, Bruce, and Mike. However, working in the Nebraska Warehouse Company wasn’t his passion. He left his dreams behind to tend to his family.

Bernie Meyers, affectionately known as Bobo, abandoned his potential career in journalism to be a husband and a father. Yet, every night when everyone was asleep he pulled out his trusty old typewriter. It became his “creative release”. Political satire, letters for his friends, short anecdotes, etc. He composed page after page of his own creative works. Bernie liked to “use words to make people happy”. Even though Roie was his adoring wife, humor was his first love.

Bernie loved laughter and used humor in everything he did. He raised his kids with his wit and laughs. It’s how he communicated with everyone in all aspects of his life. Bernie truly thrived off of laughter. It was the cornerstone for his life and marriage, too.

Roie and Bernie were quite the pair. “Roie was Bernie’s #1 fan. She was always laughing with him, but maybe a little bit at him too”. They were always laughing and loving one another. Humor was a huge part of their marriage and lives together through the very end.

Towards the end of their lives Roie and Bernie moved into the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. It was a difficult transition for the two. “There was not a whole lot of joy and laughter. It bothered them”.

The discomfort didn’t stop Bernie, though. He wanted to bring laughter to those in the Home.

Every time he went to lunch at the home with his friends, the laughter at their table echoed through the building. Bernie and Roie were able to make the best out of the situation. The Home found a special place in their hearts.

The staff, the community, and the people comprised a warm and inviting environment for the couple to live and thrive. They truly loved it at the Home. However, a few years into their house warming, Roie passed away in 2011.

Eunie denenberg in Same Time Next Year at the Upstairs dinner Theater.

Bernie Meyers Bernie was heartbroken, but he did what he did best and continued to make it through with laughter. He used humor to help with his grief and coping. His children and grandchildren also were right by his side. It was at this point his son, Mike, pushed him to continue writing.

There were boxes and boxes of Bernie’s written comedic works from throughout the years. The two worked together to comb through the older material and create new drafts as well. The end product was a 400+ page creation, called The Book of Bobo.

The Book of Bobo brought laughter for all of those who read it. It was one of the last contributions Bernie would make to the community and the world. Bernie Meyers passed away in June of 2015. see never stop laughing page c6

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continued from page c2 Manager, Paula Clowers, and we got to the part where I’m seated on the bed with my lover, showing him pictures of my kids from my wallet.

Paula had supplied the stage wallet and stage pictures. So, I’m opening the wallet, saying my lines, taking out the first picture, and everything stops — fast. I’m staring at a picture of Roswell Howard, a dear friend from Central High who died at age 35, one of the first in our class to go. I said, ‘Paula. Where’d this picture come from?’ And she said, ‘I brought it. It’s my dad and me and my brother.’ And I said, ‘Roz Howard was your dad?’ And Paula said, ‘Uh-huh.’ Who knew. So every night when we did that scene, I had plenty of emotion to draw on, with my old math buddy, Roz, guiding me perfectly.”

From pagan tribal chants to contemporary poetry, Eunie considers the arts critical to society. “Those who can, need to support the arts just as they need to pay taxes for the streets. Through the arts, children and adults develop imagination, learn to express themselves and enrich their lives along the way. Beside the immediate pleasure we receive from a great concert or play or short story, we learn what other people thought or are thinking and how they lived or currently live their lives.

And maybe, hopefully, we stretch our social awareness and empathy.”

“Except for the joy and gratitude for being able to participate in the lives of husband, children and grandchildren, the theater was my most fulfilling activity,” Eunie continued. “Performing is deeply personal, scary, fun and constantly surprising. You can never totally anticipate what’s going to happen in front of a live audience. Rehearsals were my favorite part. Learning from the other actors, the director, the script, your own instincts. Realizing what it means to develop a character, discovering what you can do — cry on cue, get a laugh, control an audience. Being onstage was always new. And on closing night, I inevitably said, ‘If I could only do it one more time, I think I could get it right.’ Not a bad epitaph, either.”

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The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | C5

Read it and eat

The Joys of Jewish Preserving | Emily Paster | Quarto, $24.99

eing raised in an are the chapters: Chapter 1: Jams, interfaith family (her Syrups, Butters and Other Fruit father is Jewish and Preserves, Chapter 2: Pickles and mother raised Other Preserved Vegetables, Catholic) the auChapter 3: Use Your Preserves: thor’s childhood Recipes to Showcase Your Homememories were more made Jam and Pickles. Recipes about food and the delights of celare from Shtetl Raspberry Syrup, ebrations than religion. She a tonic for the sick (the coloring Lois Friedman thought herself half-Jewish with kinship to the blood), Ashkenazi flavors. A Parisian JewEingemacht (fruits or veggies ish host family in her college student days cooked in honey or sugar served for special exposed her to Sephardic customs, food, tra- occasions, ditions and celebrations. Eventually after served with a meeting, falling in love and deciding to have cup of scalding a Jewish family, Emily converted and marhot tea, on ried in a Jewish ceremony. Their family lives challah or in Chicago. matzo), MemFood preservation became her hobby. brillo (quince Aapplesauce for Hanukah, apricot jam for paste for Hamantaschen and kosher dill pickles and Rosh pickled green tomatoes to go with every Hashannah) cornbeef sandwich. Her recipes are cento Matbuda turies-old and inspired by the great cooks in (stewed her life. Incorporating traditions and contomatoes temporary techniques and ingredients was and pepthe goal. The recipes reflect fruits menpers) usutioned in the Bible and Talmud, and holiday ally served as part of meze or inspirations as well. Influenced by Rosh appetizer. Sidebars and headnotes add more Hashanah and sweet traditions, Yom Kippur information to the recipes. and breaking the fast, Hanukkah and Israeli The need for keeping kosher and having sufganiyot (doughnuts), banuelos (dough foods easily transported could be met with fritters), and latkes, and other holidays. this recipe from Emily’s North see read it and eat page C6 Following the description of preserving

Friedel on stage

Continued from page C3 process toward product, and learn the value of being part of a team.

How does it make you feel to watch these kids perform and show off their Hebrew skills on stage in front of a crowd?

So proud! People are often skeptical about our students’ language skills.

How could kindergarteners possibly know enough Hebrew by December to be able to perform at the Hanukah Show? are your graduates actually fluent in Hebrew?

We use a renowned curriculum, have topnotch teachers, and dedicate the time needed for students to effectively learn a language. Research shows that learning a second language benefits children in many ways that make them stronger students in all subjects: increased critical thinking skills and creativity; enhanced phonological awareness, which help develop literacy in one’s native language; improved mathematical ability, particularly problem-solving; and improved ability to learn an additional language. While I love to see how proud our students are of themselves when they complete a fabulous performance, I am most proud of the educational experience

Friedel provides.

What are the other times during the school year that performing in front of people happens?

All the time! Performing may take different forms at different times but the result for students is building important life skills. Students are leaders in front of a group during our school prayer services and during birkat hamazon (prayer after we eat). Our fifth and sixth graders annu-

ally participate in the Modern Woodmen of America Oration contest. They deliver an original three-to five-minute speech in front of the whole school and a panel of judges. During the science fair, all participating students present their experiment and results to a panel of judges during the day of the fair and again to family and community members during an evening program. And, of course, the annual Hanukah Show and annual End-of-Year Celebration give the opportunity for all students to perform on stage.

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Never stop laughing Continued from page C4 The loss of the Meyers’ patriarch was felt deeply by Bernie’s entire family. Yet even in grief, laughter was used as an essential tool for the family.

On the day of Bernie’s funeral, all the men in his family wore bright yellow neon shorts. They recalled Bernie’s refusal to wear long pants, even in the harshest of Nebraska winters. So for his final hour they honored him with their humorous choice of garment. Even the Rabbi was a bit taken by surprise by their outfits.

The service itself also contained some chuckles. Bernie had a habit of writing his own obituaries. So Mike read some out loud to those in attendance. By the end of the service it was hard to tell if the tears were from sadness, laughter, or a combination of the two.

The loss of Bernie Meyers was not only felt by his family, but at his previous residence too, the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

Losing Roie, and then Bernie, the Meyers’ absence was felt deeply in the Home. There was a void of vivacious laughter that once filled the halls from the couple.

So when Vicki, Bruce, and Mike Meyers reached out to the Home to make a contribution, they were met with open arms. The Meyers family sat down with the staff to brainstorm. They wanted to honor their parents in the place that meant so much to them in their final years.

Everyone was in agreement that whatever the final product was, it had to have something to do with humor. They thought of perhaps a collection of Jewish comedians through time, videos of comedians, books,

Read it and eat

etc. They were crafting ideas to have a fitting memorial for Roie and Bernie.

Yet, they realized a fitting memorial wasn’t what the residents of the Home truly would appreciate. Vicki (Meyers) Perlmeter explains how “bringing laughter to the Blumkin residents and community” would be exactly what her parents would want. Then it came to them: humor-based entertainment.

Bernie was an entertainer who loved to thrill everyone he met with jokes and jest.

To continue that legacy of entertainment through humor, the Meyers family decided to begin bringing in comedians to perform at the Home.

The siblings wanted to bring laughter and joy into the Home similar to the laughter and joy their parents had filled their entire lives with, which is how Legacy of Laughter was born.

Bruce Meyers explains how the need for laughter was a necessity: “Each and every day the world gets to be scarier and scarier and we need a break from that reality. We would hope that the tears and horrors of the real world could stop, but we know that won’t happen, so sometimes we just need to step back, don’t take everything so seriously and laugh not only at the ridiculousness of it all, and of course just laugh at ourselves.”

Legacy of Laughter is now a tradition at the Home. The Meyers family created the endowment in honor of both Bernie and Roie to host comedians at the Home. Twice a year the Meyers family partnered with Director of Activities for the Home, Maggie See Never stop laughing page C7

The Joys of Jewish Preserving | Emily Paster | Quarto, $24.99

Continued from page C5 Carolina rabbi. Researched “that the Cherokees were the ones who had bestowed the nickname “egg eaters” upon itinerant Jewish peddlers who traveled throughout the American South and West in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries... to keep kosher on the road, these men either stuck to a vegetarian diet or brought their food with them”. Eggs appear in many aspects of Jewish life... Seder plates, mourning, and are dipped in ashes for the final meal eaten before Tisha B’Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. The following version mostly sticks to classic Ashkenazi flavor and is good as a snack, in salads, sandwiches, as a

classic English ploughman’s lunch or bar snack. Emily finds oven-baking is easier than boiling for preparing large quantities of hard-cooked eggs.

Two more cookbooks exploring the goodness and benefits of fermentation: Traditionally Fermented Foods by Shannon Stronger (Page Street, $22.99). Downto-earth writing in this in-depth guide for delicious and nourishing ferments.

Fiery Ferments by K. & C. Shockey (Storey, $24.95), 70 recipes combining probiotic goodness with global, international flavors Lois Friedman can be reached at ReadIt AndEat@yahoo.com.

Rabbi Max’S PiCkled eggS

Ingredients: 12 large eggs 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar 1 cup water 1 small onion, minced 1 clove garlic, peeled 1 tsp. kosher salt 1/2 tsp. yellow mustard seeds 1/4 tsp. dill seeds Preparation: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Sterilize a quart jar by filling it with boiling water, draining it, and allowing it to air-dry. Place the unpeeled eggs in the cavities of a muffin tin. Bake 30 minutes and then immediately plunge in an ice water bath to stop the cooking. When cooled, peel the eggs. Place

Credit: prairiecalifornian.com them in the jar. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Ladle the brine over the eggs in the jar. Cover and refrigerate. Allow the eggs to cure for 72 hours before eating. The eggs will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Makes 1 dozen eggs.

Jerry Gordman’s passion annette Van de kamP-wriGht Editor, Jewish Press ou may haVe seen him on the bimah at Beth El, sounding the Shofar. Or maybe you have enjoyed his talents while playing his French horn playing with the Intergeneration Orchestra. If you haven’t, you’re missing out: Jerry Gordman has been honing his musical talents for many, many years.

“I have loved the French horn since the moment I first picked it up,” Jerry says. “I decided early on that this was my instrument.

It’s sort of a difficult instrument, but I enjoy it thoroughly.”

Jerry has fond memories of Central High School, which has always had “an outstanding music program,” he says.

“I was a member of the CHS Band, we had an orchestra and a marching band; in addition, I played with just about every musical production they needed me for. Noise Bartholomew was in charge of the music program and he was excellent; it was a very active place and a great experience for a high school kid like me.”

After high school, Jerry attended college in Philadelphia, where he found himself in three music groups: “I joined the University of Pennsylvania Symphony, was in a semi-pro orchestra and played with the Jimmy DePreist Orchestra as well.”

James Anderson DePreist (1936-2013), a native Philadelphian, was one of the first African American conductors on the world stage. He was the director emeritus of conducting and orchestral studies at The Julliard School and laureate music director of the Oregon Symphony.

During the 1965-66, Leonard Bernstein personally chose him as the assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. He received the national medal of Arts from President George W. Bush in 2005.

“For someone who was getting his business major,” Jerry says, “I really put a lot of effort into my music. I even took lessons from the Philadelphia Orchestra’s principal horn player. Philadelphia was a great place to attend concerts, shows, hear live Jazz performances, and I took full advantage of that.”

After college, Jerry spent a year and a half in the U.S. Army, married Linda, then went to work in the family business. This meant traveling frequently, which made it difficult to belong to an orchestra.

“I’d spend at least two months per year in New York,” Jerry remembers, “and to belong to an orchestra, you need to make it to rehearsal. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make that commitment at the time.”

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The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | C7

But music kept calling his name, which is why about 18 years ago he went back to the French horn and a life of rehearsals. This in addition to sounding the Shofar at synagogue, which he has been doing for the past 40 years.

“I just really love doing it,” he says. “Going back to playing actively, rehearsing with other musicians, it’s changed my life so much for the better.”

Jerry Gordman The Intergeneration Orchestra is made up of members who are either 25 years or younger, or over 50. It’s mission statement: “To combine the talents of two diverse generations of musicians for the purpose of creating beautiful music and then sharing that music.”

Funded in 1985 through a grant from the Peter Kiewit Foundation, with sponsorship of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging, the Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha is funded entirely through grants, donations, memberships, fundraisers and performance fees. Its conductor, Chuck Penington, is in his 32nd year as conductor for the Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha. He has performed with musical legends such as Tom Jones, Henry Mancini, Wayne Newton and Engelbert Humperdinck, and conducted orchestras for top names such as George Burns, Bob Hope and Bob Newhart.

Community members who Jerry runs into during rehearsal: Tuffy Epstein (see his story elsewhere in this paper) and Jerry’s son-in-law, Howard Marcus.

“The orchestra has everything,” Jerry says, “from strings to saxophones, from the clarinet and bass clarinet to flute.

We have trombones, trumpets, French horns and, of course, piano, percussion and bass guitar. In addition, we See Jerry Gordman page C8

roshhashanah Never stop laughing

Continued from page C6 Conti, to craft the perfect Sunday afternoon filled with laughter for the residents and larger Omaha community.

The program is going into its third year. It has brought in stand-up comedians and comedian-based groups like Rocky Mountain Jewgrass.

Legacy of Laughter is extremely popular among the residents of the Home. Everyone packs the auditorium to the brim and the roaring laughter can be heard throughout the building.

In the simplest form, Legacy of Laughter allows folks the opportunity to escape whatever situation they are in and just laugh.

Laughter is a powerful tool to use to cope, to grieve, and to “live a more joyful life”.

Legacy of Laughter is specifically aimed for those in retirement homes and communities because as Mike Meyers says “let the elderly have a good laugh because they earned it.”

The endowment program is still developing and expanding. The future plans are already in the works. Mike has began expanding the program to the Chicago area. He is using the endowment to fund humor workshops and improv classes for the elderly. The aim is to create a program where residents of retirement homes “can start entertaining themselves” through comedy workshops.

The family desires to support the art of comedy, which is why this particular endowment is so near and dear to their hearts. The family recognizes humor and comedy as a performance, as an essential to a happy life. Mike Meyers explains: “It [comedy] has great emotional power, it can be beautiful, and powerful and it can change people’s lives”, so that is what Legacy of Laughter is striving to do every step of the way.

The next performance hosted by the Legacy of Laughter is on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 1:30 p.m. in the Jewish Community Center Auditorium.

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A way of life, the breath of his soul

c8 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah Jerry Gordman

continued from page c7 have six or seven vocalists.”

The Intergeneration Orchestra will be performing at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home in March 2018.

Regular rehearsals are three hours long; as of this writing, Jerry just came off an Intergeneration orchestra retreat that lasted from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Although he is still busy with his real estate company, he nonetheless performed at an Aug. 27 concert, in addition to joining the Iowa Western Community Band at the JCC on Aug. 29.

That’s not all: Jerry’s skills with the Shofar are so well known, when one of the actresses with the Nebraska Shakespeare Company needed to learn how to get sound out of a Shofar, Jerry received the call to teach her.

“She had absolutely no musical background and only one week to learn,” he says. “I taught her during that week and then took her shopping, because the Shofar they had was not very good.”

Luckily, Jerry sometimes enjoys being in the audience as well. He rarely misses Friedel Jewish Academy’s Hanukkah or graduation show. In addition, both daughter Lisa and her husband Howard can regularly be found performing, whether it is in the Beth El Choir or in the theater.

“It’s great to watch them,” Jerry says, “especially with the Beth El choir; besides, last year it allowed us to be together on the bimah quite a bit.”

It’s perhaps the true value of a musician like Jerry: bringing others together while sharing a common passion. If those others happen to come from your own family, even better. Keep an eye on the community calendar, and don’t miss the next performance of the Intergeneration Orchestra. Find out more about the Intergeneration Orchestra at www.igoomaha.org.

Visit us at jewishomaha.org

Shani Katzman Education Director, Chabad Center n my childhood home, we learned to sing and dance before we could speak or walk. Music was everywhere. From typical sound sources like the record player, huge reel-to-reel tapes, and eventually the various cassettes, music was sacred. You could hear it in the humming of tunes, in the strumming of guitars, in the bow of the violin. Father inducted the Shabbat meal with his melodious Kiddush and we huddled around the crowded table where the singing lasted for hours punctuated by lively conversation and my mother’s delicious food. Fledgling Bar Mitzvahs dropped by the house to learn their Torah portions; famous musicians and vocalists to collaborate or chat. You could hear the music in his accented English, in his lilt as he told a joke, in the rebuke as in the laughter. Every summer in the back seat of our blue Dodge Dart, my brothers and I filled the two-hour trek with rambunctions, often pensive song as we snaked up the Catskill Mountains. You could see the music in my father’s gait from a mile away, always in the glint of his eye. You could hear it in the tick tock of his wristwatch. The name Eli Lipsker was just another word for music.

In his final days in room #3 at Brooklyn’s Methodist Hospital CCU from which my father would be taken to his Eternal resting place in Queens, the music refused to be quieted. It came in the forms of song, chatter and prayer.

Sterile glove encased iphones at the head of the bed played old favorites as we chatted to fill the stale air, and never stopped praying, talking to G-d in the words of the Psalmist, King David, “sweet singer of Israel”. Loud, sickening, arrhythmic music whirred from machines that measured his heartbeat and breathing.

Six hours before my father breathed his last, we crammed into the room where my brother

Mendy played melodies on his bass recorder.

As father moved in and out of consciousness, he wiggled his swollen toes and raised his hands in sync with the rhythm of the music.

love. Of its unrest. Of its angst. Of its desires.

Its hopes. Dreams. To touch its essence. For this, one needs a melody- a Nigun. For this reason, Niggunim are so prominent in Chassidic life.

The music reached its crescendo at about 4 a.m. on the 20th of Shevat. I stood with my girls in disbelief, at the end of the long, gray corridor as father’s exhausted body released his soul to return to its Maker. My brother Yosef and his son Mendel stood near my mother, close to the room in view of the monitors and sang a series of Niggunim, hallowed wordless melodies reserved for holy occasions, and Leibel, our son-in-law with them, recited Tehilim. And when everything had ended, the music was still there. In the thick silence.

The Alter Rebbe, the founder of the Chabad movement, composed ten Niggunim. He taught that words are the pen of the heart, but melody is the quill of the soul. Words and language serve to tell the heart’s tale. The tumultuous, finite narrative of the human experience. But the story of the soul needs more. Words are inadequate to tell of the soul's yearnings. To speak of its

If the Neshama, the Jewish soul, is at the center of life, then its mode of expression must always be nearby, accessible. In prayer. In joy.

Even in sorrow. The wordless Niggunim particularly are the deepest, most soulful, and empower us to rise to great spiritual heights.

To perform or entertain means to provide (someone) with amusement or enjoyment. But how does a Chasid, to whom music, or Niggunim, are a way of life, the breath of his soul, become a “performing artist”?

My father was the 6th of 14 children born to Malka and Reb Leibel Lipsker. They were devotees of the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn whose followers stood up to the Communists and continued fearlessly to practice Judaism in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution. The family escaped along with thousands of Jews to Kutaisi, Georgia on the See headline page c10

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The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | C9

Standing in the wings with Steve Denenberg

Ozzie NOgg uriNg iNterviewS fOr this edition on Performing Artists and Those Who Support Them, I started by asking typical boiler-plate questions — what was your favorite role and why, tell me about the most unexpected thing that happened to you on stage during a performance, describe an audition horror story, etc. etc. The responses were, as expected, who-whatwhy factual. But sometimes, a question opens floodgates of emotion and memory, which is what happened when I asked Steve Denenberg to describe a experience in the theater that deeply affected him. Here, slightly edited, is Steve’s answer.

This is kind of a long story, but I wanted to put it on paper. Don’t think I’ve written it down before. Anyway...

The emotions that the theater evokes can claw holes in your chest.

When Danny played Noah in Caroline, or Change at the Playhouse last spring, I saw the show about ten times. After the first time, Tippi wouldn’t sit next to me any more. Wouldn’t even sit in the same half of the theater, because I would start crying late in the first act and bawl all the way through the second act. Too sad, and too beautifully produced and performed.

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Danny Denenberg, left, Sasha Denenberg and Steve Denenberg at the JCC’s 2013 production of Seussical the Musical Caroline, or Change would affect me that way regardless of who played Noah, but seeing one of my children in a big production is just about life changing for me. Like seeing Danny as Ralphie in Christmas Story at the Rose, or Sasha as Tiny Tim in the Playhouse tour, or Sasha as Chip in Beauty and the Beast at the Playhouse. But in 2012, I experienced something at the theater that was unparalleled for me.

Danny was playing Francis Cratchit in the Playhouse’s production of Christmas Carol. He was in fourth grade and had come home early from Friedel that day, sick with a fever, needing rest, but fully intending to perform that night. Danny’s part was not understudied, and he was really sick. Throwing up sick. So sick I knew I wouldn’t have been able to go on had it been me.

I took Danny to the theater a little earlier than his usual call time.

He changed into his costume, we told the stage manager what was going on, and she helped us position plastic buckets strategically in some backstage locations, in case Danny needed to puke during the show, between scenes. As we waited the last half hour before show time, Danny’s nausea came and went in waves.

First, “I can’t do it, Daddy.”

Then, “It’s better; I’ll be okay.”

Then, “I won’t be able to do it, Daddy.”

Finally, at five minutes and “places”, Danny tells me that he just can’t do it. I take his hand and we walk to the stage manager’s station, just off stage right, and tell her it’s a no go. The look of terror in her eyes lasts about a third of a second and then she says, “Danny, we’ll be just fine here. You go home and get well.”

By now, the cast is on stage, in their places, ready for the curtain to go up, for the show to start. Danny’s sitting in a chair just a couple yards from the stage manager. I’m rubbing his legs a little, trying to make him feel better. I figure we’d get up, get him out of his costume and get him home in just a minute. Now the opening music starts — it’s maybe fifteen seconds before the curtain rises — and Danny lurches to his feet, says, “I’m going to do it,” and marches through the stage-right wing to his opening position on stage. Now this I’ve got to See Steve Denenberg page C10

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Archives: 1938 Rosh Hashanah rom the GolDStein-ChApmAn’S (‘where Omaha shops with confidence’) advertisement in the Jewish Press, September 27, 1938: Rosh Hashanah 5699 is born ‘midst a dismal vale of tears and blood.

Governments have adopted Jewish-extermination policies, endless tales are repeated of economic discrimination and physical persecution, of spiritual suppression and barbaric cruelty. Hearts ache at the depths to which medieval inhumanity has sunk.

But the Jewish New Year comes opportunely. A wellspring of spiritual coverage and dauntless faith. Rosh Hashanah exemplifies the lesson of the centuries. The inevitable triumph of righteousness. In their journey through the desert of life for almost nineteen centuries, the people of Israel breathed the philosophy and idealism which reflected eternity, by which the nations of the earth were gradually educated to a knowledge of God and morality. They survived paganism, polytheism, hellenism, persecution and tortures, fire and sword. They lived on immortally, while their oppressors perished from the earth.

Rosh Hashanah symbolized the deathlessness of our hope and faith. In Obadiah’s inflexible triumph of righteousness over wickedness is written the psalm of Israel’s life, ever seeking the harmonies of the families of the earth, at peace and united in brotherhood and the common idealism of righteousness.

That our paper was full of doom and gloom in 1938 is not a surprise; few readers would expect otherwise, knowing what we know now. That it even invaded advertisements

A way of life

Continued from page C8 coast of the Black Sea, to get out of Hitler’s path. The Lipskers’ yearslong journey took them by way of the DP camps in Germany and ended in Israel in 1948.

My father’s golden voice was discovered early as he learned to daven and sing as Chassidim do. His sensational musical talent was matched by his love for it. Over the years, mostly self-taught, he played all sorts of instruments, created a band, composed dozens of melodies, taught music to thousands of children, created and conducted children and adult choirs, established a marching drum corps featured at the renowned Lag Ba’omer parades at 770, notated and arranged music, published two music books and recorded hundreds of hours of songs.

While music was his passion, Chabad Chassidism was my father’s life.

As with all of Chabad’s dear, deep beliefs, it soon became apparent to him after he emigrated to the States as a Yeshiva student that there was much work for the Chasid and his music. That it was imperative to take the sacred, hallowed Niggunim, and make them accessible to Jews everywhere. My father was excited to share the deep, inspiring, soulful messages intrinsic to Chabad- the love of fellow, the joy of doing a mitzvah, the depth of emotional prayer- to the greater Jewish community through the medium of his music. Encouraged by the Rebbe to take his music and its ideas on the road, my father began to collaborate with Chabad Centers throughout the world to plan and schedule concerts and music festivals and to be featured as a “performing artist”. In the early 1960s he performed in Detroit, in St. Paul, then Houston. And the idea caught on like wildfire. Soon my father was traveling regularly across the world.

Hundreds of thousands have been impacted in some way by his music.

A modest console piano which my parents bought shortly after their marriage in 1963 stood in the living room of our home and was a hub of joy and laughter. This piano, which my parents could barely afford, took years for them to pay off at $15.79 a month. Often, into the wee hours of the night, long past the time I should have been asleep, I could hear

that we normally expect to simply say “Happy New Year!” is not so odd either. The above text was accompanied by a verse from Obadiah: “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous; But the way of the wicked shall perish.” Of course, in September 1938, the ‘way of the wicked’ still had much time left.

There is always a strange feeling one gets when looking at newspapers from that time. I can’t help thinking: “Nobody knew how many would be murdered over the following years.” It’s kind of hard not to have morbid thoughts, but then I feel the same when I see advertisements and stories about utterly mundane things during that time period. How could any level of normality exist?

But exist it did. Case in point: the story on the same page, right next to the above advertisement, was titled Film Comedians Discuss Humor.

Elsewhere in the same edition, we find page after page of New Year’s wishes, submitted by readers for friends and family. How many of them had relatives abroad? How many of them came from the very countries that were under the threat of war in 1938? How many prepared to celebrate the High Holidays while frantically trying to get their relatives out?

We are once again getting ready to welcome a new year.

It’s almost 5778; we tell each other L’Shana Tovah and focus on the positive. A new beginning, a fresh start against the backdrop of family time, a few days off and extra-sweet meals. But while we do so, let’s remember those who came before us. Let’s remember that having a happy and sweet New Year is by no means a given; let’s hope that advertisements like the one in 1938 will never again be necessary.

my father at the piano. I still hear the strains of his nimble fingers dancing across the keyboard. And in it I hear his message and the voice of our collective souls.

Steve Denenberg

Continued from page C9 see. Is Danny okay, can he stay on his feet, is he really going to do this? So I follow Danny into the wings, standing hidden in a tiny, big-enough-for-one-person expansion of that corridor. As the curtain comes up, there’s Danny, big smile on his face, singing and acting with the ensemble, you’d never know anything was wrong.

But something was going wrong with me. Even though I planned to stand in the wings for maybe half a minute, just to make sure Danny was okay, I had a flashback to when I was a little kid. When I was five years old, or six or seven or so, Eunice was in musicals at the Playhouse, and sometimes Kenneth Wilson, the director, would let me stand there, in that little bulge of the right wing, and watch my mom on stage. Now here I was, more than a half-century later, standing on that exact square foot of linoleum, watching my son on the same stage. The waves of memory and emotion were overwhelming and I fought not to faint.

I hung around for the show, helping Danny out, managing the buckets. He didn’t puke, but he did miss one scene because he felt too woozy to walk out on stage. The rest of the cast covered for him perfectly, and I’m sure nobody in the audience even knew. Danny completed the show, looked great during curtain calls, and cemented his reputation at the Playhouse as one of their hardest workers.

I used to joke with the beautiful late Rachael Rosenberg that when she and I conversed, communication was slow, because in sixty seconds of talking, each of us would use the word kinehora about twenty times. (An ancient Jewish superstition is to say the word kinehora whenever you’re talking about your kids or you mention something good that happened.) I love when my kids, kinehora, can make me feel these strong emotions through their work in the theater.

Jan Fischer knows how to put on a show anneTTe van de kamp-wrighT Editor, Jewish Press an FisCher is an Omaha native and married to Steve. Together, they have a daughter, Melinda, married to John Graham and a son, Jon, married to Laura. They are grandparents to Delaney, Alison, Harrison, Benjamin and Caroline.

After graduating from Central High, she went to the University of Iowa—accompanied by 17 other Jewish kids. Jan majored in Elementary Education and Dramatic Speaking. When she and husband Steve moved to California, she found out a major in Education wasn’t possible, unless she signed up for a five-year program. Melinda had been born while the couple lived in Iowa; Jon joined the family in California.

“So, I took night classes,” she said, “and ended up with a bachelor’s degree in English. Steve’s family was there, but after seven years we decided to come back to Omaha,” Jan said. “Steve is originally from New York, but really liked Omaha. Still does!”

Next, Jan “fell into the job of Assistant Editor at The Jewish Press.”

She calls it a perfect match: “Jon was at the CDC, so he was near me in the building.

Judy Marburg was Acting Editor at the time.”

While working at the Press, Jan also decided to go back to school at UNO, where she discovered there was an overabundance of elementary education students, flooding the market. Not sure what to do, she spoke with the Director of Education, who gave her some questionable advice: “This was 1975. He told me I was married and thus my husband’s property. Why did I want to go back to school?

They also didn’t care I was from Omaha originally; they wanted me to pay out-of-state tuition anyway.”

In the meantime, Jan had become active with various Jewish organizations, volunteering her time to the National Council of Jewish Women (her mom made her a lifetime member), ORT, B’Nai B’Rith Women, the Sister-

hood and Hadassah. With the Council, in particular, she continued her love for theater.

“The Council had this Trouping Theater, and we would regularly put on skits for children around town. I had my first taste while still at Central, when I began working behind the scenes in the theater department. Back then, all the girls took makeup classes and the boys took stagecraft.

During my senior year, I student-directed when we put on Fiorello!”

Fiorello!, the musical about New York City Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, who took on the TamJan Fischer many Hall political machine, is one of only nine musicals to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

“One Summer,” Jan remembered, “we sent the kids to visit family in California. My mother was working for Pacesetter and asked me to come help out. I ended up working there for two-and-a-half years! I was President of ORT at the same time; while working with a friend on an ORT fundraiser, she suggested to me I look at finding a job in OPS. I decided it was a good idea and ended up getting hired as Secretary for Omaha North High. It was funny; I barely passed the typing test!”

Once back in education, Jan found herself taking on responsibilities that weren’t exactly secretarial duties. First came the Book room, which Jan completely reorganized.

“We all realized I had better things to offer than typing,” she said. She began volunteering with the school plays and see Jan Fischer page C13

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | C11

roshhashanah The Taxman family

naTe shapiro he JeFFrey and Sherry Taxman family is a pillar of Omaha’s Jewish and non-Jewish community.

Jeffrey and Sherry are regularly seen in the community attending Synagogues, lectures, Friday Deli and other events around town. They are very active in the wider Omaha community. In fact, Jeffrey has been involved with the Ak-Sar-Ben Coronation and Scholarship Ball, serving as the Prime Minister of the mythical Kingdom of Quivira since 1989. JefChelsea and Jeff Taxman frey Taxman has served as the High Holiday congregational lay leader and Cantor at Congregation B’nai Israel in Council Bluffs for 17 years. Beyond that, the family has an extremely robust relationship with music and the performing arts.

I had the chance to chat with Jeffrey Taxman, and I asked him to talk about his, and his family’s, musical journey.

Tell me about your family’s musical past.

It starts with my grandmother and her sisters (The Adler girls). They all came to Omaha in the late 1800s. They were see Taxman family page C12

Wishing You

A Good & Sweet New Year

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C12 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah History lessons

anneTTe van de kamp-WrighT Editor, Jewish Press he JewisH Press of July 19, 1974 (I was three years old, if you want to do the math) announced the opening production of the JCC’s Cultural and Performing Arts Department “Center Stage.”

The production was Cabaret; the Cultural Arts Director at the time was Mark Zalkin. Ruth Katzman was the chair of the Cultural and Performing Arts Committee.

In the cast were Loretta Conway and Mark Dawson; they portrayed the outsiders caught up in the events taking place in pre-war Berlin. Robert Yaffe was the shopkeeper “who deludes himself that the Nazi movement is no threat to him,” and Shirley Fogel was his love interest. Julian Jones was the Master of Ceremonies.

“Others in the cast include Ann Rosenblatt, Nancy Fellman-Katzman, Bruce Greenberg, Mike Goodman, Saragail Katzman, Marilyn Rosen, Jeri Stone, Barb Hurwitz, Ellie Batt, Barbara Barron and Lynne Friedel.” Ira Raznick, who also designed the backgrounds, directed the play. Rita Glass designed the costumes.

A separate announcement in the Aug. 2 paper asked the community to show their support for Soviet Jews prior to the play and during intermission:

The committee for Soviet Jewry, headed by Shirley Goldstein and Miriam Simon, planned to sell New Year’s greeting cards for 50 cents each—including postage.

“Those wishing to purchase cards may simply sign the cards, or they may also include a message of support. The Omaha committee will take care of addressing the cards from its list of names of Soviet Jews.”

A total of 2,485 people came to see Cabaret, the paper reported a month later. It was deemed a “commercial success,” illustrating what Ruth Katzman

called “the miracle of the JCC Theater. It’s not only given the community good theater, but it also provided performing opportunities for those who might not have otherwise had the chance.”

The JCC Theater, according to Mark Zalkin, “gives people the opportunity to get involved.”

This is based on old coverage in the paper from 1974.

Taxman family

Continued from page C11 all great musicians. My great-grandfather would proudly open the windows of their house in North Omaha so the neighbors could hear the girls performing.

Barbara Taxman, my mother, is a classical pianist. She still plays! When she moved into One Pacific Place, her apartment included a custom space for her grand piano. My brother and I took piano lessons growing up.

I still play piano.

The Tuesday Musical Society Concert Series brought the world’s best classical Artists to Omaha for more than 120 years. Bess Trustin (my grandmother) was on that board. Barbara Taxman guided that board for decades.

The Artists would often come to mother’s house to practice before the performance.

Her grandchildren would skip school to meet the artists (Emmanuel Ax, YoYo Ma, Lynn Harrel, Pinchas Zuckerman, Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern...) at her home.

From the age of nine until college, I was involved in about every show at the Omaha Community Playhouse. I was a singer, a dancer, an actor and a drummer. I received a drum set for my Bar Mitzvah and that drum set has traveled the world.

I went to college at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and received a double

major in Music and Theatre.

Sherry grew up in New York City. Her parents loved Broadway and her mother would come home after a show and play the entire score ‘by ear’.

Where has that drum set traveled?

In 1973, those drums traveled with me on a two week performing tour in Romania and Czechoslovakia through an exchange program between those countries and the United States. We played covers of Jethro Tull, Chicago, Rolling Stones and a good sampling of Pop, Rock and Jazz. We even performed for the dictator of Romania [Nicolae Ceaușescu]. After the performance, he lectured us on the evils of the United States and the U.S’s war in Vietnam.

That’s quite the college experience. What did you do after graduation?

I attended the State University of New York (SUNY-Binghamton) to receive a Master’s in Business Administration in See Taxman family page C15

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | C13

How is this publication thinking about the future?

By becoming part of the past. This publication is available from ProQuest Information and Learning in one or more of the following ways:

Jan Fischer

Continued from page C11 decided to go back to college.

“I had that BA in English, but I still really wanted that degree in Secondary Education.

I found a woman at UNO who sat down with me and looked at all my experience. I received credit for four journalism classes due to my work at the Jewish Press! She was great and saved me several years. I finally ended up with a degree in Language Arts and Secondary Education. The Millard Public School system had only been around for about three years and they had more students than they expected. Millard North hired me in January of 1984 as an English teacher. I was 37 and finally where I really wanted to be.”

As soon as she started teaching, she became involved with MPS’ theater department. Teaching beginning drama classes, Jan asked her students to read plays, study drama theory, do written and oral reports and, of course, attend live performances, which they had to review afterwards.

“I always tried to make it practical,” she said. “Many of the students who took the class didn’t really have interest in acting themselves, but they all watched things and quickly figured out it is important to know what you like and why. I always included Shakespeare in my English lessons and took my students to Shakespeare on the Green.

Did you know that Shakespeare on the Green is a great place to meet girls when you’re a high school boy? My students figured that one out rather quickly!”

At the time, Millard North had a Fall and a Spring Show; the One-Act, which was recently brought back at Millard North, won many awards. Jan’s colleague Terry Petersen encouraged her to direct the Winter play: “I ran them like I ran volunteer organizations. The One Act offered real opportunities for those kids who weren’t necessarily singers. It became a major thing; we did Dirty Works at the Crossroads and Mash.

Mash was great, because it had 35 parts!”

“I was never a performer myself,” Jan said.

“But I have always had a lot of ideas. I wanted to make this a big group, so the stage crew grew bigger and bigger. Each time we held auditions, we had 100+ kids show up.”

“Both of my children attended Millard North High School,” Mark Kirchhoff, JFO Program and Communications Assistant, said. “I came to know Jan as my kids participated in her drama program. They each developed great student-teacher relationships that became lasting friendships after they graduated. When they went on to college, Jan always asked me about them and was always current with information about all her

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FITNESS CENTER Jan Fischer was a huge role model and the bridge between the two biggest passions of my high school years: art/theater and Judaism. As Art Director of the Winter Play, I designed the forested set for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, including the creation of a hollowed-out tree for the actors to duck in and out of as the scenes allowed.

Jennie Gates students. She cared about each of them and made it a point to get as many former students together as possible when they were back in town for holidays and the summer. I also admire her hours of work supporting Shakespeare on the Green. Jan is one of those great people for whom I will always be thankful, both for the positive impact she had on my two children and for the friendship we developed as a result of that.”

The really great teachers extend their influence beyond the walls of the school, and Jan is no different. From hosting the breaking of the fast at her house (including writing excused notes for those who invariably had rehearsal afterwards) to having meals together, Jan turned her students into a family.

“I never rented backdrops,” she said. “The kids made everything, which allowed them to work together, solve problems together.

Creating as a group is a fantastic bonding tool and the kids benefited from that greatly. It became a big deal to be Stage Manager or Assistant Director. I remember teaching them all the word ‘macher!’

The pay off for Jan was working with the theater crowd: “Theater kids have always given me hope for the future. It has always been a very inclusive place, a welcoming and safe space, full of understanding. I never had a hard time finding certain kids in my various classes who could really benefit from calling the Theater ‘Home.’ When I see these kids 15 years later, they are still in contact with each other. Theater creates a bond for life.”

Omaha Transportation and Technical Museum History tells us where we’ve been and where we’re going. When it comes to technology, knowing history prevents us from reinventing the wheel.

Laundry’s been an issue ever since man started to become civilized. From the days of dashing fabric on rocks, we’ve been concerned about clean clothing. The first improvement in the laundry was the washboard. The next advancement was a barrel and moving paddle. Then, a gas or electrical agitator was added.

Most people don’t know that Henry Ford completed his first automobile in 1896. Ford was working as a troubleshooting engineer at the Edison electrical generating plant, but wasn’t required to be at the plant unless there was an issue. This allowed him to work on his hobby, the automobile.

Ford worked with a company called the Detroit before going off on his own to start the Ford motor

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company in 1904.

Thomas Edison designed a machine to record voice, using a cylinder covered in foil. The first recording was Edison reciting Mary Had a Little Lamb. Recording medium changed to a flat disk. Advances in electronics allowed the use of microphones and speakers to play the records.

We hope to highlight these advances with our museum. Our current goal is a $10,000 ad campaign.

Donations can be made through Great Western Bank. Checks can also be sent to Omaha Transportation and Technical Museum, PO Box 27272, 7300 Main Street, Ralston NE 68127. We’re a 501 (c) 3 and all donations are tax deductible. All donations will be acknowledged with a letter and posted to our Face Book page. Plans are to have acknowledgements in the administrative static display building. Visit our website, www.otatm.webs.com.

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C14 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

Groundbreaking TV comedy introduces Israelis to their Ethiopian neighbors Andrew TobIn TEL AVIV | JTA AsT sprIng, IsrAelIs, for the first time, saw a black lead character on a homegrown, primetime television show.

Nebsu, a half-hour comedy, focuses on an Ethiopian man who is married to an Ashkenazi Jewish woman. Misunderstanding ensues.

“There is definitely a lot of cultural confusion in the show,” Yosi Vasa, the star and co-creator of the show, told JTA. “But the great thing about comedy is when the audience laughs, that means they get it. So that’s progress.”

Following a series of sometimes violent protests between Ethiopian Israelis and police in recent years, the creators of the new show think comedy is called for. They hope that by making light of the frictions between Ethiopian immigrants and the broader society, they can promote mutual understanding.

“People went out to [the highway] Ayalon South and demonstrated with anger. People wrote columns,” co-creator Shai Ben-Atar said in a promotional video, referring to 2015 demonstrations protesting police brutality against Ethiopians. “Our demonstration is a demonstration of love.

We come to the audience with love. We come with characters full of love.”

In the March 9 premiere, Vasa’s character, Gili, steps out of his suburban house to run an errand. A police officer driving by stops and demand his ID, which he has left inside the house. Moments later the officer is aggressively frisking Gili against the trunk of his car.

Vasa, 41, said such incidents are part of his reality, which many Israelis find difficult to believe. But one evening last year, the show’s third cocreator, Liat Shavi, had a firsthand look. After saying goodnight to Vasa, who had stopped outside the office in Tel Aviv to smoke a cigarette, her cellphone rang.

“Suddenly he’s calling me, and I don’t understand. He’s speaking un-

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The cast of Nebsu, the first Israeli primetime show to feature a black actor in a lead role.

Credit: Reset

clearly, and he says, ‘Come here for a second,’” Shavit recalled in the promotional video. “So I look across the street and I see him standing there with a police officer.”

Ben-Atar adds: “He didn’t care about the fact that he was arrested.

He just really wanted us to see that it actually happens, and that was really comedic.”

Roni Akale, the director-general of the Ethiopian National Project, said most Israelis don’t get where Ethiopians are coming from because they live largely separate lives.

Ethiopians, who make up just 1.5 percent of the population, tend to be clustered in poor areas of the country, with many living on the periphery. They have the highest poverty rate among Jews in Israel, and are stopped, arrested and incarcerated at much higher rates. Their children perform worse in school and finish fewer years than the general population.

“Israeli society doesn’t know us because we are not in their environment. They don’t see how we live,” Akane said. “Maybe this show can highlight the good things that happen in the Ethiopian community.”

What Israelis have seen in recent years is Ethiopians protesting in the streets alleging widespread discrimination. The April 2015 demonstrations were a response to video footage showing a seemingly unprovoked police assault on an Ethiopian Israeli soldier. Thousands of members of the community joined demonstrations across the country, sometimes clashing with police officers.

Nebsu brings Ethiopian culture into Israeli living rooms, and mashes it up against mainstream culture to comedic effect. Gili has had the kind of life that taught him how to pick locks and hot-wire cars while his blond wife, Tamar, played by Merav Feldman, comes from a privileged background.

Although Gili and Tamar are simpatico, their families and the rest of society are another story. Tamar cannot believe that Gili’s mother wants to slaughter a goat that her daughter has adopted as a pet. And Gili struggles to eat his mother-in-law’s bland Ashkenazi cooking.

Tamar is often outraged by the injustices Gili faces and wants to set them right, whereas he has learned to keep his head down. An exception in the first episode is when Gili explodes at the neighbors, accusing them of changing the locks on their doors because they fear him. Worn out after a racially charged day, Gili turns out to have misjudged the situation.

“There are a lot of times you find yourself in a very white environment, so you see things you would probably see differently if you were surrounded by Ethiopians,” Vasa said.

Vasa’s family came to Israel from a remote Ethiopian village as part of Operation Moses in 1985, one of several daring government operations to rescue Ethiopian Jews. The eight of them settled in coastal Netanya, and he bounced between government boarding schools for Ethiopians. As a theater and education student at the University of Haifa, he and a classmate created a series of videos that went viral in the Ethiopian community.

“All they had for media was some videotapes of TV from Ethiopia, which were sold at grocery stores,” Vasa said. “So we started selling our tapes at the same stores. The tapes started getting copied and passed around, so they didn’t show us the money, but it was a great thing to do for us and for our community.” see groundbreaking TV comedy page C15

Taxman family

Continued from page C12 Arts Management. I then worked at the Roundabout Theatre Company, funded by a grant from the New York State Council for the Arts.

I had opportunity to perform with some very talented musicians and actors at that time who went on to great careers.

In New York City, I was the General Manager for the Roundabout Theatre Company, The American Dance Machine and Brooks-Van Horn Costume Company. At Brooks we did the costumes for Broadway shows, Saturday Night Live, and The Ringling Brothers Circuses. For the Circus, all of those costumes were completely covered in sequins, from the trapeze artist to elephants. We did the costumes for the classic SNL ‘killer bees,’ and ‘Coneheads’ sketches. when did you return to Omaha?

Sherry and I married in 1980 and we came back to Omaha. Sherry has been very supportive of me and our children’s involvement in performing. Rehearsing and performing the run of a show is a commitment of months at a time.

The Omaha Jewish Community Center (JCC) put on Fiddler on the Roof 26 years ago. I was cast as Tevye the milkman. JCC had an active theatre production program and I was on the lay committee. The program produced several seasons of plays and musicals. I enjoyed performing and directing many of those productions.

During that time, I worked as Business Manager for Opera Omaha, as well as a time as General Manager of the Firehouse Theatre, where I had opportunity to perform.

I also taught at Temple Israel Religious school for 20 years. For many years I was ‘Hebrew Letterman’, a character thought up by Ann Schwartz as a way to introduce Hebrew to the Sunday school kids. I brought my guitar and sang with the students in classroom and in services. I had many opportunities to substitute when the various Cantors were out for vacations, maternity leave (over the High Holidays) or sick.

How have your children been involved in the performing arts?

Our oldest daughter, Lindsey, played cello in school. She now lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. She’s married and has 2 children. Our grandson is playing violin.

Next is Whitney. She was a singer and pianist. She was part of the Westside High School Show Choir. During her senior year, she produced a musical evening which raised 1.5 million pennies to remember the children lost in the Holocaust. [Thanks to an initiative of the Jewish Press, you can find an article Whitney wrote about the experience here: https://tinyurl.com/y7ja9xbn] Whitney currently lives in Israel.

Whitney also did several summers as a Song Leader at Olin Sang Ruby Camp.

Our son, Ben Taxman, played trombone. He played sousaphone in marching band. I think the sousaphone was larger than he was! Ben also played electric guitar for a

PAUL GERBER A U T O S A L E S Happy New Year

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The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | C15

while, and was a multiple year participant in Westside High School Show Choir. He is a Baritone. [Author’s Note: I texted Ben for a comment, stating that I didn’t know he had been a singer. Ben responded, ‘A very talented one at that.’]

My youngest daughter, Chelsea, is a pianist, vocalist and songwriter. She also participated in Show Choir and can be seen performing original and covered works around Omaha. She has been a guest artist with the famous ‘Bagel Boys’ ensemble. She has many fans.

There is no question that the Arts have and continue to enhance the quality of our lives. Our family receives great satisfaction from our participation in the Arts. The Jewish Community in Omaha are leaders, supporters and participants in our Arts institutions (which are exceptional for a city of our size). We should all continue to make sure our Arts organizations remain healthy and productive.

A new kids book for the High Holidays

PennY SCHwArtz JTA It Only takes a Minute Bracha Goetz; illustrated by Bill Bolton Hachai Publishing; ages 2-5 A young boy in a haredi Orthodox family discovers that small acts of kindness can make a big difference — when he remembers to do them, of course.

Throughout the book, the boy learns “it only takes a minute” to do good deeds, such as saying “thank you” or to thoughtfully say a bracha – a blessing – even when he is rushing for the school bus.

At a soccer game, he takes a minute to appreciate the nature around him. While aimed at traditional religious families, the narrative touches a universal chord: that even young kids can, and should, make the effort to do what is right.

roshhashanah Groundbreaking TV comedy

Continued from page C14 Reversing the usual Israeli order, Vasa joined the army after university, performing in the storied theater unit that entertains troops. After his three years of service, he developed a one-man comedy show with BenAtar called It Sounds Better in Amharic, which he still performs. He met his now-wife at an English-languge version of the show in San Francisco.

Like Tamar, she is a non-Ethiopian Israeli, but her ethnic background is half Ashkenazi and half Mizrahi Jewish.

Nebsu co-creators Yosi Vasa, left, and Shai Ben-Atar.

Credit: Reshet

Vasa sees the Ethiopians as just “another Israeli immigration story,” and thinks racism toward his community will fade, as it has toward Mizrahi Israelis. Attitudes toward Arabs, he said, is a separate issue.

Arab Labor, a comedy that ran for three seasons between 2007 and 2012, similarly broke down cultural barriers in Israel, in its case between Jews and Arabs. Nevertheless, its Arab-Israeli creator, Sayed Kashua, eventually left the country, despairing that “an absolute majority in the country does not recognize the rights of an Arab to live.”

Vasa started working on Nebus in 2012. After he shopped the show to production companies for several years. Reshet picked it up two years ago. Tamar Morom, who heads the Israeli production company’s scripted series department, said the pitch immediately struck everyone as a “good idea.”

She also said the timing was right.

“Probably it wouldn’t have worked five years ago,” Morom told JTA. “There were a lot of demonstrations and not very pleasant issues between Ethiopians and police in the last two years. So it’s not that it’s calm now. I think it’s just the right time to criticize our society.”

L’Shanah Tovah

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C16 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

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section4

The music is a miracle: Karen Javitch AnneTTe vAn de KAmp Editor, Jewish Press elieve iT or not: Karen Sokolof Javitch was a shy child. Daughter of Phil and Ruth, married to Gary Javitch, she has 18 CDs under her belt.

She has also written several musicals, which continue to be performed around the country, as well as hundreds of songs, which she regularly shares in front of audiences with her group Karen and Friends.

Karen and Gary’s daughter Jenny is married to Alon Ventura; son Mark is married to Allison, and daughter Rachel and husband Dan Canfield recently became parents to Noah David (born Aug. 18 of this year), making Karen and Gary grandparents to one very lucky little boy.

“Together with my brother Stevie, I grew up in a musical family,” she said. “My dad Phil enjoyed performing and he sang. He was very much an entertainer. My mother Ruthie played the piano. While Dad was the consummate businessman, my mother started a school for visuallyimpaired children. She did that together with Bernice Wolfson and she taught there for many years.”

Karen initially followed in her mother’s footsteps, obtaining her degree from the University of Texas.

Karen Javitch When Karen was very young, she began tap dancing classes; it was her first foray into show business. She also began singing for the first time when she was around ten years old.

“It really helped my shyness,” she said.

You could say that again. These days, Karen is anything but shy, although she continues to be humble and easygoing. According to Omaha Magazine, Karen is an “unassuming, quietly engaging woman, who buys flavored water at her favorite coffee shop. Not surprising, since there are many facets to the Omaha native:

singer, songwriter, author, playwright, radio host, advocate, teacher, wife, mother, daughter, philanthropist.” (Omaha Magazine.com, 2013) Spend a few minutes talking to her, and you’ll find out that description is close to perfect.

“I didn’t really begin writing lyrics until college,” she said. “I guess I was waiting for a reason.”

That reason came in the form of Jim Conant, who had a script for the musical Love at the Café—minus 17 songs that were desperately in need of lyrics. Karen volunteered her as yet untapped talents, and “It was like turning on a faucet.”

The two began a partnership, which, according to Karen, marked the beginning of her second career.

They revised the songs until they were happy with the result, and in 1996, one year after Jim wrote the

ROSH HASHANAH

initial script, Love at the Café made its debut. Soon, a performance at the Jewish Community Center followed and today, the musical is a popular go-to for high school drama departments around the country. For Karen, it was the taste she needed for what was to come: the musicals From Generation to Generation and Princess Diana followed.

“You can just blame Jim,” she laughed.

From Generation to Generation is heavily influenced by Karen’s personal story and family. In it, Karen tells the story of Rose Lieberman, who attempts to leave a lasting gift for her unborn granddaughter. It won the Omaha Theatre Arts Guilds TAG Award in 1996/97 for Outstanding New Script. Karen wrote all original songs; Chuck Penington, of Mannheim Steamroller-fame, made the arrangements.

See The music is a miracle page d2

L’Shanah Tovah May you have a happy, sweet year, filled with many blessings.

D2 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah

The music is a miracle

Continued from page D1 “There is a lot of inspiration that came from my own family,” Karen said,” but at the same time, it can be about any family. Although the story is undeniably Jewish, I think everyone can relate.”

The musical is undeniably Jewish indeed, with songs like Sabbath Prayer, I Love to Kvetch and Ani L’Dodi and, of course, the well-known Golda!

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana; there are 11 theaters around the country performing Princess Diana, the Musical.

Karen wrote the music and worked with Joanie Jacobson on the lyrics, ending up with 33 songs on the CD. The musical followed: it narrates Diana’s life with Prince Charles, from their courtship to her death in 1997. Once again, Chuck Penington was involved as well; the musical is based on Andrew Morton’s book Diana: Her True Story. Karen collaborated with Elaine Jabenis to write the script. Proceeds from the CD and musical have been donated to two of Diana’s favorite causes: AIDS research and the Red Cross.

“Over the past 20 years,” Omaha Magazine reported in 2013, “Karen has raised over $300,000 in service to others.

One project in particular remains dear to her heart. The Nebraska Celebrities Sing for Sight CD, for which she wrote most of the music and lyrics and featur-

ing 20 celebrities from the area (including a terrific country vocal from former U.S. Senator Ben Nelson), raised money for visually impaired children. The man who couldn’t compete with Frank Sina-

Sokolof Music Fund, even though I didn’t really want him to, but he put his money aside and I get to disperse it, which is a privilege. We’ve always supported Esther Katz’s department, espe-

Just do it: A High Holidays call to action

DaviD MarKus Rabbis Without Borders via JTA s The high Holidays tides approach and soon over-wash with their poignant waters of joy, awe, solemnity and introspection, it’s tempting to imagine that this season is only for emotional and spiritual internals.

This season of teshuvah (returning, repairing, forgiving) is for thinking and feeling teshuvah – but mainly as springboards for action.

It’s good to think teshuvah in our minds and feel teshuvah in our hearts. It’s healthy to commit to change behaviors that don’t serve us, others or the world. It’s right to arouse intention to seek and give forgiveness. Good, healthy and right as our inner turns can be, they aren’t fully teshuvah until they spur action where action is possible.

Karen and Friends tra also sings a track.”

Recently, Karen, accompanied by Elaine, her daughter M’Lee and Karen’s husband Gary, went to see Diana in Charleston, just one of the many places where the musical has been performed.

The fourth musical Karen wrote is titled Rachel and Ruthie, which she wrote for both her daughter and her mother: “My mom never met Rachel, so instead I brought them together in this short piece (the musical is half an hour long).”

The Jewish Community Center holds a special place in Karen’s heart.

The Karen Sokolof Javitch Music Fund has helped make many performances possible throughout the years and allows Karen to give to others who share her passion.

“It’s all because of my Dad,” she said.

“He made it possible for me to where I could give funds. He called it the Karen

cially the Musical Theater because it’s a great program and she does a great job.”

Karen is a firm believer in the power of theater, especially when it comes to young children: “Look at the confidence it builds!

Acting in a group and going to rehearsal after rehearsal means you become a family along the way. You make lifelong friends whom you wouldn’t meet otherwise and it’s hard to know how being part of the theater will inspire kids in other areas of their life.”

It is when she is creating that Karen feels most like herself: “When I sing, I feel like the music is the miracle. A life full of music is a life filled with miracles. Watching kids, especially, performing my songs, whether it’s with Karen and Friends, at Friedel Jewish Academy, or in a Musical Theater performance, it’s just unreal to watch. It totally mesmerizes me. We all need the arts for our souls and I am tremendously grateful to have this creative outlet. It’s Bashert.”

May 5778 be a year of health and happiness for you and your family.

Paid for by Bob Evnen for Nebraska, 3145 S. 31st Street, Lincoln, NE 68502

Thinking and feeling are the fertile soil of teshuvah, but action is the harvest, David Markus writes.

Credit: Public Domain

Jews are called to action. Our spiritual ancestors answered Sinai’s call by responding “na’aseh v’nishma,” “We will do and we will hear” (Exodus 19:8) – doing is paramount. Shabbat doesn’t just happen magically: “The Children of Israel will... do Shabbat for all their generations as an eternal covenant” (Exodus 31:16) – doing makes Shabbat. Doing is our covenant.

Doing is the goal of the inner return and repair we call teshuvah.

The riveting High Holidays Avinu Malkeinu liturgy pleads to God “Aseh imanu va’chesed” – “do with us justice and lovingkindness.” On Yom Kippur, we hear anew the call to emulate God – “Be holy, for I [the Holy One] am holy” (Leviticus 15:2) – so this season calls us to do likewise. We are to do the same justice and lovingkindness that we crave for ourselves.

What is a teshuvah of doing? It depends on context, but usually includes action knowable to others. It can mean actually speaking apology to people we wronged (not just thinking or feeling it). It can mean correcting a rumor we spread (even if we can’t undo all of a rumor’s harm). It can mean sending an email to begin repairing a relationship. see Just do it page D4

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | d3

The storyteller’s story

annette van de kamP-wRight Editor, Jewish Press ita Paskowitz was born and raised in Omaha, attended Beth Israel as a child and “ran away from home at the tender age of 27,” as she tells it. A major in theater and a minor in English at UNO, she left and swore to never come back. Ever.

She worked in a comedy store in Los Angeles and did comedy at Minneapolis’ Dudley Rigg’s Brave New Workshop.

“We wrote and performed our own material,” she said, “and it really taught me about transforming myself. I loved it.”

Together with a friend from Rapid City, Rita began ‘The Last Laugh Theater.’

“It took women a long time to find their place on stage.

We traveled with a piano player and I learned all I could about interacting with the audience. Then, I went to New York City and be-

Rita Paskowitz came involved with a comedy group there. I simultaneously worked at an art gallery in Soho. New York City was interesting until it wasn’t. When it came time to leave, I went to Santa Barbara, where I worked in the theater while waitressing. San Diego came next, but I have to say: if the weather is that good every day, why would you still want to work? I wrote for a satirical newspaper and did a radio show but ultimately decided the West Coast was not good for me. I went back to Omaha and was trying to decide whether I wanted to settle in New York or go back to Minneapolis, when it became apparent my parents were getting up in years. Lucille and ‘Wild Horse’ Harry needed me to stay, so I stayed.”

Rita’s father came from a musical family: “My grandfather was a teacher in the old country, and because he needed to make a living, my father never became a professional musician like he wanted. I think I feel the obligation to carry on performing for him. Also, I apparently need a lot of attention.”

A conversation with Rita goes like that: she is full of anecdotes that sizzle and spark, with not a boring minute in sight. She can move back and forth between being laugh-out-loud funny and serious, nostalgic and scathing, sharp and deep; one thing is certain: she has many stories to tell, and she tells them well.

“All joking aside, I do believe I have something to say. I used to be an actress, I used to be terribly shy while at the same time wanting the world to notice me. Nancy Duncan gave me tapes (she was the godmother of storytelling) and when I took her workshop, it changed my life. Telling stories has one enormous advantage when it comes to performing: it allows you to teach your audience.

Words are such powerful things.”

Rita gives workshops that aren’t always fun and light; she definitely doesn’t choose ‘easy’ when it comes to sharing her talents.

Take, for instance, grief workshops for women who have lost a child. She takes those workshops to Grief ’s Journey (the former Ted. E. Bear Hollow): “I always hope I learn as much as I teach,” she said. “The stories you end up hearing are a great gift. It is possible to create healing through the arts, not only through storytelling but also through music, poetry, visual arts and the theater. Different types of creativity have an amazing way with our emotional well being.”

When she inspires people to tell their story, amazing things happen: “When they open up and share what they haven’t before. It’s see the storyteller’s story page d4

D4 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

The storyteller’s story

Continued from D3 like you’re being let in on a secret, and it’s a powerful moment, every time. I do power stories at UNO, when everyone in the group has to stand up and share something that changed their life. If you can tell your biggest secret in front of others, in a safe environment, it is a powerful experience.

Creating that safe environment is in and of itself a privilege; the participants might never tell that story again, but getting it out just once is cathartic.”

With the courage to tell a personal story comes the courage to be honest. Participants in her workshop often start out feeling tentative, Rita said. “When someone embellishes or leaves things out, it usually is very obvious. It takes courage to tell the truth. I love the stories where someone overcomes an obstacle, because those are the types of stories that have a lesson for all of us built in. And: a story has to have purpose, otherwise it’s just blather.”

So what’s better, comedy or tragedy?

“Funny stories can be great to tell, but there is something compelling about deep, dark and serious stories. When we do the workshops at UNO, we will talk about Mental Health, Divorce, the tough stuff. When I take the lead and begin telling some of my stories, the participants figure out it’s okay. The sky won’t fall. There is a phrase by Mary Ann Williamson: ‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.’

To create a space where people can get their story out, a place without judgment where it is safe to share is its own

form of Tikkun Olam, Rita said.

“I find Tikkun Olam, the idea that with everything we do we have the opportunity to heal those around us, a delicious piece of being Jewish.

Coaching people to speak, witnessing for them, it’s an honor.”

Often, when Rita coaches people, she begins by asking questions of her audience or workshop participants. Since it can be scary to open up in public, we’ve included a few questions to get you started at home.

You can create your own story by answering the following: 1. What is a Jewish Holiday that has a specific memory for you?

2. Where did this memory take place?

3. Who was there?

4. What made it memorable?

5. What did you learn from it?

After you answer the questions, you can do one of two things: you can send us your story, and we will print it, or you can tuck it away in a drawer where someday perhaps one of your grandchildren will find it.

Either way, tell your story! To prove

In the spring of 2017, Rita worked with Friedel students and Seniors in our community.

Shirley Goldstein, z’l, reads the stories the 5th and 6th graders compiled.

I can put my money where my mouth is, I’ll include my answers below.

1. The first thing I think of is a breaking of the fast at Oliver and Karen Pollak’s house, many years ago. I’m not sure why that’s the first thing that pops into my mind, but there it is.

2. See #1.

3. Not sure. I do know I was sitting next to Marty Shukert.

4. Funny story. We had recently returned from Pella, Iowa, which people kept telling me I had to visit since it was a Dutch settlement. It had been a surreal experience, since descendants of Dutch people aren’t exactly the same as actual Dutch people. Everyone had a Dutch name, but nobody spoke Dutch. The bakery sold Dutch things that weren’t quite “it.” Kind of like a phone game, where you end up with a very different recipe a century and a half later.

There was some very impressive architecture, which was inspired by old Dutch houses, like the ones in Amsterdam, with an actual canal. The kids mentioned how it was “Not really like Holland because everything was too clean. Imagine being able to see the bottom of the canal! Ridiculous!”

Marty asked me what I thought of it, and I decided to skip the children’s criticism and told him it was very beautiful. He looked at me and said: “I designed that.” Whew.

5. I learned that choosing to not always jump to criticism first is a good instinct. The children can be forgiven: they were five and nine years old at the time.

Just do it

Continued from page D2 It can mean communicating forgiveness long restrained by grudge. It can mean returning an item that belongs to another.

In all of these cases, teshuvah means doing: Thinking and feeling are the fertile soil of teshuvah, but action is the harvest – the purpose and fulfillment.

Teshuvah often is risky: action risks rejection and failure. But in most cases, that’s exactly the point. Except in abusive or dangerous contexts in which repair is not safely feasible by action in this world, risk is part of what we must do to heed the call of teshuvah. A true teshuvah of action asks courage to risk our hearts in service of doing true repair and healing. Our hearts and souls – and others’ hearts and souls – are worth it.

That’s the call of this season – a teshuvah of action that’s riskier – and far more healing and liberating – than thinking or feeling alone.

Justice and lovingkindness, community and spirituality, compassion and mercy, forgiveness and repair, Shabbat and Jewish life – all of these call us to do. So in this season of teshuvah, what are you waiting for? Make that call. Send that email. Just do it.

Rabbi David Evan Markus is co-chair of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, the umbrella organization for the Jewish Renewal movement, and co-rabbi of Temple Beth-El of City Island in New York City.

New kids’ books for the High Holidays Penny Schwartz JTA

challah-baking JewiSh giant, a young baseball champ and an endearing boy in a pumpkin patch are among the stars of delightful new books for kids published just in time for the High Holidays.

This year’s crop includes new stories by two of the country’s most prominent children’s book writers, David A. Adler and Eric A. Kimmel, who have entertained and informed decades of young readers. Three of the books are set during the holidays — Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year; Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement; and Sukkot, the seven-day fall harvest festival.

Two others are uplifting, kid-centered stories about good deeds and repairing the world — themes that reflect the spirit of the holidays as a time for reflection as well as renewing commitments to do better in the year ahead. big Sam: a rosh hashanah tall tale Eric A. Kimmel; illustrated by Jim Starr Apples & Honey Press; ages 3-8 Samson the Giant, known as “Big Sam” to his friends, sets out to make a giant round challah in preparation for Rosh Hashanah. Big Sam begins by digging a big hole – the Grand Canyon — to use as a mixing bowl. Step by massive step, Big Sam crisscrosses the U.S., filling his bowl with a mountain of flour, a lake of oil, thousands of eggs and more.

For water, he dams up the Colorado River and then whittles a giant California redwood into a spoon for stirring.

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | D5

But before he can celebrate the holiday, two bald eagles caution the giant that he’s caused an awful lot of damage to the environment — flattening hills and threatening habitats. In the spirit of the holiday, Big Sam considers his misdeeds and sets about to make things right. When he’s finally ready to dig in to the huge challah, Big Sam welcomes in Rosh Hashanah with his American tall-tale pals – Paul Bunyan and Slue Foot Sue among them. yom kippur Shortstop David A. Adler; illustrated by Andre Ceolin Apples & Honey Press; ages 4-8 The story opens as a young boy named Jacob makes the winning catch in the last inning of his Little League game. If they win the next game, they’ll be the champions — but the final game is on Yom Kippur. After reminding Jacob that Yom Kippur is an important holiday, Jacob’s father says, “Think about what you want to do.”

Over the course of the next few days, Jacob does just that. Will he go to the game or spend the day at synagogue with friends and family, observing the holy Jewish day? No spoilers here, but Jacob eventually realizes that he’s part of many teams: his family, friends, his people and Little League.

This relatable, deftly told story taps into the reality facing many American Jewish families today – the conflicts between Jewish holidays and the secular calendar of school, sports, recitals and other activities. The story is, of course, inspired by the Jewish baseball legend Sandy Koufax, who sat out the opening game of the 1965 World Series because it was Yom Kippur. In his author’s note, Adler introduces the Hall of Fame pitcher to his young readers.

See new kids’ books page D6

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New kids’ books

D6 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah The fierce talents of Darlynn Fellman AnneTTe vAn De kAmp Editor, Jewish Press T wAs 1989 when Darlynn Fellman played the maid in The musical comedy Murders of 1940 at the Omaha Community Playhouse. It’s in one of the newspaper notices that shows up when one checks her file at the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society. A black and white photograph shows a petite but fierce Darlynn, dressed immaculately for the part, staring daggers at John Durbin, who plays Patrick O’Reilly in the show. She’s in the moment and nobody better forget it.

Darlynn is married to Tom Fellman. They are parents of Louri Sullivan, the late Bruce Fellman and Ted Fellman and grandparents to Rachel, Josh, Samantha and Tommy Sullivan and Leo and Grayson Fellman.

“My love of theater came at a very early age,” Darlynn says. “There was always music in our house with my dad playing the piano or organ and my mom singing opera. I used to play duets with my dad and we actually were in a few shows together in Council Bluffs. I used to perform for their dinner guests whenever they would ask me! I did lots of school shows and finally did my first real acting in my 20s at Chanticleer Theatre. I was really lucky to have been cast as Molly in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, both at Chanticleer and at the Omaha Playhouse. The shows were almost ten Darlynn and Tom Fellman years apart, so it was really challenging and very exciting to play her at those different times in my life.”

The role of Molly at Council Bluffs’ Chanticleer marked her major acting debut. After that, the sky was the limit.

In a 1990 Jewish Press article, then-editor Morris Maline wrote: “Actress Darlynn Fellman, a fixture on area stages and a winner of multiple

acting awards, is a woman of many faces and assorted voices. Currently, she plays a gray-haired matron in her 60s with a Southern Louisiana drawl in the hit show Steel Magnolias.”

It’s hard to imagine Darlynn as a “grey haired matron,” but it speaks to her versatility as an actress: just 12 days before Magnolias opened, she embodied a Spanish nightclub performer in El Grande de Coca Cola, also at the Playhouse. It was the first time she’d studied for one play while performing in another, and “I’ll never do it again, but I’m glad I did it,” she said at the time.

John Durbin and Darlynn Fellman in Murders of 1940.

In a side note, that play allowed Darlynn’s parents to make a cameo: “The night I reviewed the performance, Helen and Leo Meyerson became part of the act in that they were extracted from their ringside table at different times to enhance the comedic routines. Their names, I’m guessing, may have been selected because their daughter Darlynn Fellman see Darlynn Fellman page D7

Continued from page D5 The Best sukkot pumpkin ever Laya Steinberg; illustrations by Colleen Madden Kar-Ben; ages 4-9 Micah can hardly contain his enthusiasm for picking pumpkins at Farmer Jared’s pumpkin patch. He and his family join others from their synagogue who are helping the farmer pick the last of the season’s pumpkins to donate to a soup kitchen. Micah, however, thinks he’s searching for the perfect pumpkin to decorate his family’s sukkah, the temporary hut Jewish families build to celebrate the fall harvest festival of Sukkot.

In this warm tale, Micah learns about generosity -- he picks many more “perfect” pumpkins, turning them over to Farmer Jared to use to help feed the hungry. But what about Micah’s own sukkah? As the day at the farm comes to an end, Micah is unexpectedly delighted when he discovers that a pumpkin headed to the compost pile offers up seeds he can plant for next year’s “perfect” Sukkot pumpkin. moti the mitzvah mouse Vivian Newman; illustrated by Inga Knopp-Kilpert Kar-Ben; ages 2-5 Moti, a busy little mouse with a big heart, lives under the sink at the Bermans’ house.

When the Berman kids — and the family cat — are asleep, Moti secretly wanders the house finding ways to be helpful.

Each page finds Moti doing a mitzvah: He feeds the fish, he puts away misplaced toys, he collects loose coins left around and puts them in the tzedakah box.

Lively illustrations make this an engaging, interactive read that kids will want to read again and again.

see full digital issues: https://issuu.com/jewishpress7

WISHING YOU A

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Paid for by Festersen for City Council, 660 Parkwood Lane, Omaha, NE 68132

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | d7

Apple and honey pie pops

sheri silver The Nosher via JTA ike mosT Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah brings to mind certain traditional food customs – the most wellknown being the dipping of apples in honey.

And while a classic apple pie or cake is a lovely way to commemorate our hopes for a “sweet new year,” I thought it would be fun to change things up a bit. These apple and honey pie “pops” are a cinch to make – and even more fun to eat! They can be assembled (and frozen) in advance, and are especially nice to serve for a crowd – no cutting or forks needed!

Even better, you only need a few simple ingredients, yet wind up with something truly delicious – and a little different. Sweet indeed.

Sheri Silver writes the blog Donuts, Dresses and Dirt [http://sherisilver.com/], where she shares her passions for baking and cooking, gardening and shopping, and her adventures in and around New York City with her husband and three children.

Darlynn Fellman

Continued from page d6 had a major role in the show. Mrs. Fellman, incidentally, is a spirited performer who can hold her own on any stage anywhere, as she ably demonstrated in a superb mudwrestling scene with Sherry Fletcher. It was Nancy Reagan against Raisa Gorbachev with some guy by the name of Noriega as referee—a high point for an already high level of comedy and showmanship.” (Morris Maline, April 1990) “I’ve never had any formal training as an actress,” Darlynn says. “I only attended one semester of college, but I was very lucky to have been chosen for the Cherub program at Northwestern the summer before my senior year in high school.”

The Playhouse became her second home. For about 20 years, she played many different roles on its stage, averaging one per year. When she and Tom moved to Aspen, Colorado, she took her love of theater

with her. “In Aspen, I appeared in I Hate Hamlet and I played a dog in Sylvia. I loved that role probably the best of all the roles I’ve played.

As the years have flown by and it gets harder and harder to remember lines (or anything for that matter!), I have found that doing walk-ons is a lot easier and still a lot of fun!”

In 2014, Darlynn even had a walk-on on the TV show White Collar.

These days, Darlynn throws her support behind Theatre Aspen, holding a board position and encouraging others with a similar passion for the stage.

“Theater is a wonderful way to get away from your own life,” she says, “and for a few hours immerse yourself in someone else’s life! I know how much time and effort it is for the actors and production people and I applaud their efforts. I love to make people laugh so when they do laugh, I feel like I’ve done a good job and I can be happy!”

L ’Shana Tova 5778 We Celebrate the New Year and Millard’s 91st!

Millard and Bev Seldin, Scott and Beth Seldin, Derry and Wendy Seldin, Traci and David Moser and Grandchildren Ariana, Ben, Marina, Grayson, Aaron, and Grant Credit: Sheri Silver

Apple And honey pie pops

Ingredients: 2 Granny smith apples, peeled and diced 2 Tbsp. sugar 2 Tbsp. honey 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. salt 1 package (2 crusts) refrigerated pie crusts, set out at room temperature for 15 minutes 1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp. water raw or “sanding” sugar, for sprinkling Special equipment: 2- to 3-inch cookie cutter (or drinking glass) lollipop sticks Preparation: In a medium pan combine the apples, sugar, honey, cinnamon and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, or until the apples have softened and the juices have thickened. Remove from heat and let cool.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Unroll one pie crust on a work surface. Use your cutter to make as many circles as you can; place on your prepared baking sheets. Put a lollipop stick in the center of each circle, pressing down lightly to secure. Place a teaspoon of cooled filling on each circle.

Use a pastry brush to brush a bit of the beaten egg around the edge of each circle.

Unroll the second pie crust and cut out an equal number of circles to the first crust – place atop the filled crusts and press lightly to seal. Crimp the edges with a fork, and make a few small incisions in the center to allow steam to escape. Brush tops with the egg and sprinkle with the raw sugar (pops may be frozen at this point – reheat directly from the freezer, adjusting baking time by a few extra minutes).

Bake pops for 20 minutes; transfer trays to wire racks to cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature (pops may be kept tightly sealed, at room temperature, for 3-5 days).

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D8 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah

How can we forgive the unforgivable?

AlAnA SuSkin Rabbis Without Borders via JTA he month of Elul is the season of repentance and forgiveness that culminates with Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot.

In the rabbinic imagination, Elul is an acronym for “Ani L’Dodi V’dodi Li” – “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” This verse from Song of Songs is understood in regards to this season as reminding us that when we reach out to God, God in love takes us back. This culminates in the holiday of Sukkot, in which the fragile hut with the open roof symbolizes the marital home and the trust in its ability to withstand the winds and the rains in the grace of God’s love.

But what happens when it doesn’t?

It’s not a terribly uncommon story these days to hear of a husband or wife who decides that the stability of marriage isn’t as exciting as a new infatuation. Some people are so addicted to those feelings that they pursue them time and again, through multiple marriages, and nonstop entanglements and drama.

We like to think of love as that which cures all, the cause of all happy endings, but for too many people, love ends in betrayal and brokeness. Even God, throughout the Torah, suffers from these feelings – it is not for nothing that the metaphor most commonly used for Israel turning away from God is the deepest, most heartrending one of the marriage betrayed.

What about when love doesn’t carry the day? It is well known that Jewish law states that for wrongs between people, God does not forgive until forgiveness is asked and received by the people in-

volved. And in theory, no one wants to be that person who can’t let go, who refuses the request for forgiveness. But is it really possible, or even right to forgive everything?

The word “elul,” when one adds the letter yud at

moved on from – but what if it can’t?

This season is replete with people sending each other messages of trivial apology and forgiveness – “If I have done you wrong, please forgive me...” “Of course!” But perhaps some years we should live in our sin for a while. Maybe it would be worthwhile to spend longer saying “If only I hadn’t...” or insisting that some wrongs cannot just be glossed over.

There is much discussion these days of micro-aggressions and triggers.

“Brush it off!” comes the choir. “Grow up!” “Grow a thicker skin!”

But perhaps what we really need is a thinner skin and more attention to the small things that do harm, and instead of brushing them off, maybe we should grab them and wave them around a bit.

Maybe those tiny barbs are actually the building blocks for larger wrongs, the Credit: Flickr Commons way that they hook on to those with less power. Maybe the wronged spouse the end, becomes “eluli” — “if only, if it weren’t shouldn’t be so ready to forget and move on, and for.” In the rabbinic imagination, the letters that maybe we shouldn’t ask them to. make up God’s name become an extension of God, Maybe eluli really means “If I only could hold on so that adding a yud to elul is symbolically pouring a minute more, maybe next time things will be difGod into the month of Elul. ferent.” Maybe when we say that “I am my If it only weren’t that, we might say, then I could beloved’s and my beloved is mine,” we should think forgive. Our society loves the prodigal. Social of love as an aspect of eternity, that what we do and media are filled with inspirational memes about say doesn’t disappear, for good or for bad, but lives forgiveness – that we should forgive, that it will on in us, and we shouldn’t be so ready to let it go. help us, if not the person who wronged us. But I’m Rabbi Alana Suskin received her rabbinic ordinot entirely sure. Forgiveness doesn’t necessarily nation and master’s degree in rabbinic studies mean the cleaning of the slate, but it certainly imfrom the University of Judaism’s Ziegler School of plies that what was done can be repaired, or at least Rabbinic Studies.

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

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The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | e1

section5

ROSH HASHANAH

Rosh Hashanah 5778

n inteResting fAct about the Jewish calendar: we often receive it prior to Rosh Hashanah.

It goes right on the refrigerator to remind us of the upcoming holiAlAn PotAsH days. Many of us Chief Executive Officer, flip from Rosh Hashanah to Hanukkah JFO and then on to Passover. We do not always pay much attention to the other months.

The Jewish calendar is a wealth of information on Jewish life and observance. With just a Jewish calendar in front of them, one can absorb and understand the vibrancy of daily Jewish life. Some versions include candle lighting time for Shabbat and the Torah portion. Some will reference if it is a special Shabbat; for example, Shabbat Shuvah or Shabbat Shekalim (known in some communities as the Federation Shabbat) or one of my favorites, Shabbat HaGadol. In addition, the holidays are shown. Some calendars show only the day of the holiday, while others also show the night before or erev.

Then, there is the moon. Since ours is a lunar calendar I can tell you with confidence that the fifteenth of every month on the Jewish calendar will be a full moon. There will be a full moon on Sept.6/15th of Elul, Oct. 5th/15th of Tishri, Nov. 4/15th of Cheshvan – check it out. If I am wrong, please let me know!

To learn more, take a look at another type of Jew-

Happy New Year

ish calendar called a Luach. I call it a user’s guide to the Jewish calendar. I first experienced this calendar when it came in the mail to me more than 18 years ago during my Hillel days. It caught my attention when I opened the envelope because of the title - ‘Ezras Torah Luach’. I have a son named Ezra and thought at first it was something my twins ordered. It has turned out to be a great resource. It provides details about the customs to follow for the day as well as the Torah and Haftorah portion and any special blessing that one needs to include. For example, one might read before Rosh Hashanah to ‘take a haircut and bathe in honor of the approaching holiday,’ or when Sukkot ends and Simchat Torah begins and when you stop eating in the sukkah.

This is not the only Luach out there. I know the Conservative movement has one and I believe the Reform movement does as well. As customs and traditions vary from movement to movement, following the Luach can help provide a uniform practice. The luach I mentioned comes in three versions – a handy pocket size that fits nicely in a talis bag, a poster version that many synagogues place on the wall and a digital version for those who prefer the downloadable. To learn more about Ezras Torah, visit them at https://www.ezrastorah.org/calendar.php.

I may have shared with you before, my fascination with the Jewish calendar. In my opinion, it is an underutilized guide to Jewish life. I am including this information in my Rosh Hashanah greeting to emphasize how it can enhance one’s daily connection to Judaism.

Shanah Tovah – Have a sweet and healthy New Year.

wAnt to wisH everyone a healthy and happy new year. Serving as president of the Federation has been an honor for me, and I thank you for the trust you have given me.

The High Holidays have always been a special time for our family.

We celebrate Shabbat every bRuce week, but this is a bonus time to fRiedlAndeR come together. For my wife Pam President, JFO and I, spending time with our children and their children is priceless.

Every week, Pam spends hours preparing food for Shabbat. The High Holidays mean more people, which requires even more food. I love coming together in the synagogue and I love sharing meals at home; these are the times that are meaningful. My wish for you is to have the same joy with your family.

Our Jewish community is a family in its own right.

Just as with family, our biggest strength as a community is how we treat each other. As family, we spend time together, support each other, take care of each other. During these holy days, we pray together, celebrate and fast together. This is also the time we give each other an extra hug.

I am lucky to live by the J. It is easy for me to get to my work. I thank you for a campus that brings me a Jewish experience that I will always cherish.

As we start the new year, stay healthy and continue to be kind to each other.

Shana Tova!

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e2 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah RABBIS’ MESSAGES

The Torah’s message about Rosh Hashanah oSh hAShAnAh diStinguiSheS itself from the other Biblical holidays in the sense that it is not based on a specifically Jewish experience.

Pesach, for example, is the time when G-d liberates the Jewish people from Egyptian bondage. We retell and appreciate the wonders and miracles wrought for us in the final days of Egyptian slavery. The annual Pesach seder strenghthens the bond between us and G-d as we celebrate our unique relationship with Him. Shavuot marks the Revelation at Sinai when G-d gives the Torah to the Jews. In numerous ways we relive Sinai on Shavuot and rededicate ourselves to G-d’s Covenant.

Yom Kippur marks the day in which Moshe Rabeinu secures forgiveness for us after our tragic betrayal in making the Golden Calf. On Yom Kippur Moshe bequeaths G-d’s reconciliatory gift to the people: the second set of Tablets of Law (as the original Tablets were smashed). Yom Kippur is the time to harness the ever present mutual love and connection of Jews and G-d and to hash out grievances.

Sukkot remembers the protection that G-d affords the Jewish Nation for 40 years in the desert. We reenact G-d’s loving embrace and acknowledge His constant protection by “dwelling” in a Sukkah for seven days.

Each of these festivals focuses on an important historic event that highlights the unique G-d-Jew relationship and dynamic.

Rosh Hashanah is different. The theme of Rosh Hashanah is G-d’s creation of the entire, vast universe. Rosh Hashanah commemorates the birthday of Adam, the first human being, whom G-d forms at the very end of six days of Creation.

Hence, on Rosh Hashanah we pause to ponder ALL of Creation, which culminates on the sixth day with the final

creation: humankind. In our davening on Rosh Hashanah we repeat again and again that ‘today marks the beginning of Your work.’ Today, all humans are judged. Today, the fate of mankind, the fate of all of Creation for the coming year, is decided and inscribed in The Book.

Compared to the other Holy FestiRAbbi Mendel vals, “Mikra-ay Kodesh”, this might seem decidedly universal, generic, KAtzMAn Chabad of Nebraska even “secular”. What lesson does the Torah convey to us marking Rosh Hashanah a global, cross-denominational event, rather than a specifically Jewish one?

The Torah’s message about Rosh Hashanah is that Jews, through the medium of Torah and Mitzvot, must transform the global, cross-denominational, even secular, world. The universe, renewed yet again each year on the anniversary of the birth of humankind must be fixed, repaired, healed. In its original meaning and intention, ‘tikkun olam’ means to take G-d’s generic, neutral, even apathetic world, and to infuse it with the awareness and inspiration of its Creator. To mobilize all the world’s power as Adam did and sublimate it to G-d’s desires and to His plan. “Come,” said Adam. “Let us prostrate ourselves and bow before G-d, our Maker”. Thus, Rosh Hashanah empowers each of us, assures us, that we have the wherewithal to live up our Jewishness in the form of Torah study and the performance of Mitzvot and impact the whole world. Adam, as quoted in our Rosh Hashanah prayers mobilized all of Creation to acknowledge its Creator.

So can we!

May we all be written into The Book of life, health, abundance, peace, and the fulfillment of our dreams and desires.

May we be successful to replace darkness with light and evil with goodness.

Shana tova umetukah!

t iS SAid that the High Holy Days are the happiest time of the Jewish year. The Talmud gives us insight into why: “Rabbi Yonatan said: ‘Great is t’shuvah, for it brings redemption into the world’” (Yoma 86b). Oftentimes we tell ourselves that our day-today actions don’t matter that much: “OK, so I spoke insensitively to my friend today,” or “Yeah, I treated my co-worker unfairly that time... but, hey, I’m only human. She’ll get over it.” R. RAbbi bRiAn Yonatan’s proverb reminds us that we are much StolleR more powerful than we might want to admit: our Temple Israel words and deeds can impact other people and the

world around us quite profoundly. The good news is that just as we have the power to cause others pain and angst by our actions, even by the slightest offhanded comment, so too do we have the power to bring about healing, peace, and redemption by doing t’shuvah – that is, by digging deeply into our souls, acknowledging the suffering that our actions have caused others, and making the effort to change our behavior. Each year at this season, God gives us a gracious and beautiful gift: the chance to do t’shuvah, to make things right in our relationships and our lives, to be cleansed, and to start anew. And that is why the High Holy Days are the happiest time of the year.

My wife Karen, our children Lindsay and Zachary, and I are delighted to be part of the Omaha Jewish community and to be at Temple Israel. We look forward to getting to know you, and we pray that your High Holidays will be meaningful, contemplative, energizing, and joyful. Shanah tovah!

A gracious and beautiful gift

The Jewish life within

Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Carole lainof, Marty Ricks, Sissy Silber, nancy Wolf, Phil Wolf B’nai Israel Board of Directors To the Community: notheR SuMMeR SeASon is drawing to a close.

While it can be a little sad to move on from the carefree days of warm weather and outdoor activities, we have our New Year holiday to mark the transition and give us pause to reflect as we look forward.

We have completed another year and now reflect back on what has been accomplished for the institution and congregation of B’nai Israel. We are not simply here; we are maintaining our vitality and determined to purposefully add to it.

Last year in this note, we talked about “meaningful measures” and by that barometer, we noted a successful past year. This year has similarly been one of not simply sustenance but one of continuing progress in the development of the entire environment of B’nai Israel Synagogue.

In addition to the regular schedule of High Holidays services, we continued with our ongoing congregational practice of once-a-month Shabbat services. We again had a great group of speakers, who each seem to help fulfill the congregation’s interests as well as drawing new folks into the group.

We expect to maintain the same format for 2017/2018.

We have been very privileged to have the leadership of Larry Blass, who once again led the Shabbat service experience for us in a very worthwhile way (we also thank Larry’s wife Claire for helping to keep him on the straight and narrow in this endeavor).

We continue to add new members. Some are old friends within the larger community and some are altogether new. We are very happy to welcome them as well as any others from the community who just want to come by for a service and check it out. We strive to provide a warm friendly experience in a traditional Jewish setting. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel.

For those who have not been to the building in recent months, physical plant improvements continue, concentrating now on sprucing up the interior, including new chairs for the chapel made possible as a result of a gift from Shirley Goldstein, of blessed memory. Progress continues.

We have a nice line-up of speakers set for the High Holidays which includes Curtis Hutt, Anna Mosenkis, Leonard Greenspoon and Karen Gustafson. Our service leader will once again be Jeff Taxman, who brings great heart, warmth and energy to the task. Watch announcements in the Jewish Press for particulars.

There have been significant contributions by many supporters throughout the year as we have continued to sustain B’nai Israel’s contribution to Jewish life in the metropolitan area. It has truly been a Community effort. Thank you to each and every one who has helped.

As we have in the past, we again use the phrase “by what are the most meaningful measures” when describing the Synagogue’s success, because those measures we concede are most meaningful have to do with the people, the sense of community environment, those things which bring us together, things which give us a sense of purpose in sustaining the Synagogue and Jewish life. While the building is a continuing visible manifestation of the Synagogue’s existence, our central anchor of purpose is really embodied in the Jewish life within and its impact on the participants.

Again, by the most meaningful measures... it has been another good year.

L’Shana Tovah.

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | e3

snowbirds

Counting our blessings

hen you Raise your cup, do you see it as half full or half empty? We all know individuals who seem to face life’s challenges without grumbling. They suffer a loss but are thankful for the wonderful relationships that left them with memories that are irreplaceable. They face physical challenges but are thankful that they are alive. They lose a job but see it as an opportunity for a new beginning.

Gratitude is a word that defines their outlook on life.

We also know individuals who can’t make it through a day without complaining about something. Their focus is on their waning health or their personal losses. They are not sure how they can carry on when life is not exactly as it had been when it was at its best.

Judaism does not sugar coat life. It recognizes that the world is not perfect. Hunger, disease, loneliness, homelessness, all abound. There are heartbreaking times that make us wonder how we will be able to manage. Yet Judaism also tries to show us how we can prevail; how we can work to perfect the world; how we can rise above the suffering and count our blessings.

Judaism challenges us to say 100 brachot each day for the goodness that surrounds

us. In effect, it is having us change our attitude and outlook on life. If we were to wait until there were no more problems or sadness to be faced, we would never express our gratitude. If we try to transform nanCy CoRen Spiritual Lay Leader, our experiences of Congregation Tifereth sadness, pain, and Israel suffering into positive actions to help ourselves and others, then we have become what Rabbi Sidney Greenberg, z’’l, called “victors of circumstance.”

As we enter this period of time, the Days of Awe, we are reminded about the fragility of life. It’s a reminder that the time we have together should be used to improve not only ourselves but the lives of all we encounter, even those who will carry on after us. Involve yourself in the spiritual life, tzedakah life, and learning life of your community.

Set a personal goal to see that half-cup as other than half-empty because you have been working hard to refill it!

Wishing each and everyone a meaningful new year filled with the opportunity to be a blessing to your family and others.

L’Shanah Tovah Tikateyvu.

s a Rabbi, the High Holy Days are always on my mind. Whether it be hearing a new understanding on our liturgy, to a beautiful story that lights up the days of awe. Yet no matter how much the Holy Days are on my mind, they always seem to sneak up on me.

The month of Elul leading into Rosh Hashanah has become a time for me to refocus on the things that matter most in my own life – to take a step back from the craziness of the world around me and ask myself if I am going the right direction. Not simply how can I be a better father, husband, son and rabbi... but what does that tangibly mean in the year to come?

To say it another way, the Holy Days give me a chance to ask myself if the GPS that is guiding my life is calibrated the way I want, am I headed the right direction or do I need to make a legal U-Turn?

As I look forward to 5778, I am also saying good-

bye to 5777. There were goals that I made and met and others that still need work. Now is the time I get to ask myself, what did I learn in 5777 so that I make 5778 even better? It is a time of honest introspection, a time to realize that mistakes were made, Rabbi steven but that no one is defined abRaham by one action, whether it Beth El be good or bad.

Now is the time to be honest with ourselves about what we want and who we want to be in the upcoming year. Rosh Hashanah is a time when we get to start anew, a chance to look at our lives and either stay on our current route or decide to enter a new destination.

I wish you luck on your journey.

L’shanah Tovah.

his time of year, synagogues around the world look for creative ways to make a service more memorable so that people would perhaps be interested in returning more than once a year. I don’t know if there is a way to measure the success of this innovative thinking. I believe, however, this is a band-aid.

The real question is how to create passionate Judaism that doesn’t require innovative programming to attract people. In a recent parent meeting at Beth Israel, parents asked me how to educate their children in a way that makes them passionate Jews. The answer is two-foldconnection, and consistency. Judaism is not centered in the synagogue, it is centered in the home. At shul, we get the guidance and inspiration to understand what it means to be a Jew. Outside of shul, we apply that guidance and that inspiration to live as a Jew. It is how we eat, sleep, and act in our daily lives that creates passion. One is passionate when there is consistency. When the heart, mind, and body are in sync and connected, that creates passion.

So the first approach to living Judaism passionately is not to do the Jewish, it’s to be the Jewish!

The second approach is to understand the “why” of what we do. The more we learn, the more we understand, the more we connect. The more we connect, the

more we identify with the concepts, the more we feel joyous when we act as Jews. When we just perform rituals without understanding the depth behind the rituals, it becomes a burden and we cannot pass it on to our children. If, however, we deepen our understanding of what we do and why we do it, we enjoy it more, and that is the learning we can pass

A time for introspection

Creating passionate Judaism

Rabbi aRi DembitzeR Beth Israel Synagogue

to our children.

“Rosh Hashanah” means the new year. In addition to meaning “year”, Shana also means repetition for the sake of deepening and sharpening. This year as we approach the High Holidays, let us not observe; let us deepen our understanding. Let’s not do the Jewish, let us live the Jewish. Let us take upon ourselves a little more in living as Jews and let us continue to understand and learn why that is important.

May we live a passionate Judaism and be able to pass that to the next generations with joy.

Blessing for a happy, sweet New Year.

Please let the Jewish Press know in advance when you are leaving and when you are returning. Sometimes several papers are sent to your “old” address before we are notified by the Post Office. Every time they return a paper to us, you miss the Jewish Press and we are charged! Please call us at 402.334.6448 or email us at jpress@jewishomaha.org.

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uDAiSM HAS ALwAYS been dedicated to the arts. While in the desert, we learned about the Mishkan and the role that Bezalel of the tribe of Judah and Oholiab of Dan had in its construction. Places of worship for Jews have never been sterile, they have always contained art that in many cases helped to enrich the experience of worship. As a result of the generosity and devotion of the membership of Temple Israel, our new Temple building is full of many amazing works of art that have added to the feel and ambience of Temple. Some of those works are as follows.

The Ark Curtain, created by Israeli artist Galya Rosenfeld, is a colorful representation of the “seven species,” the seven agricultural products listed in the Torah as being special products of Israel.

The curtain is made of two separate panels, both adorned with symbols of six important Jewish holidays and Shabbat. The symbols are digitally printed on voile fabric for the inner curtain. When the curtains are aligned, they form an opening in the shape of a Magen David, or Star of David. Next, the Eternal Light (Ner Tamid) embedded toward the top of the ark is an electric light that is never extinguished. This “eternal light” symbolizes the fire that burned on the altar in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. Designed by Kansas City artist James Woodfill, the eternal light is built into the wall. One also cannot stop but notice the window lettering facing inward which serves as a message to the congregation: the text, from the Hebrew blessing Hashkiveinu, reads “Spread the shelter of peace over us” along the south and east walls. Facing outward, as a message to the community, the text reads, “Guard our comings and goings” along the north wall, and “Praising God” on the west wall. Michigan artist Lynne Avadenka was asked to design the text that adorns the Sanctuary windows.

The Chapel at Temple Israel was designed as an intimate, sophisticated spot. The chapel is a favorite venue for small gatherings and seats 125 people. The Ark in the Chapel, which was designed by Rabbi Sidney Brooks, was taken from the Livingston Chapel in the Cass Street building.

It represents hope after the Holocaust with its branch and bud motif.

The text on the ark door reads, “And the surviving remnant which is escaped of the House of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.” The eternal light was designed by Kansas City artist Linda Lighton, who was inspired by a word cloud created by congregants when asked what they wanted the Chapel’s eternal light to convey.

The 14 Stained Glass Windows found in the hallway by the Chapel tell

the story of Creation: “And it was evening and it was morning, one day.”

Designed and created by Omaha artist Bill Hammond in the 1960s, they were destroyed in the 1975 tornado. Hammond had moved away and lived in Italy at the time. All his records and drawings wewre de-

stroyed, so Temple representatives mailed slides of the original windows to him and he recreated the windows, which are currently installed in the new building at Sterling Ridge.

The Schrager Sacred Garden is named for longtime Temple Israel member and noted art collector Philip Schrager.The Memorial Garden is designed to be a warm, inviting and introspective space. Schrager’s children, Jeffrey, Timothy, Richard, Angel and Jack, chose four sculptures from their father’s collection that they felt best represented the various facets of Philip’s life. In addition to helping to design the Garden, local Omaha artist John Lajba also created a memorial piece specific to Philip Schrager: a six-by-six foot, 4,000 pound copper plate, colored black, to serve as the focal point of the garden.

The Simon Community Court was designed to transition beautifully between the Service and the reception. The walls of the community court have been filled over the last three years with temporary art exhibits while the Art Committee under the direction of Todd Simon and Jack Becker work on acquiring a permanent work for some of the walls.

Currently, the exhibit is Who’s Huldah? Biblical Women Who Shaped Our Tradition.

These examples are just a small sampling of the dedication to the arts that one will find at Temple Israel. For more information on Temple Israel or to arrange for a tour, please contact the Temple Office, 402.556.6536.

Artists’ protest of Israel play fizzles -- as it deserved to

Co-Presidents Lauren Kirk and Emily Kutler Vice President Zach Krausman Membership/Kadima Amanda Simon and David Kay Social Action/Tikkun Olam Spencer Gordman Communications Melanie Schwarz and Josh Stein Religious Education Gabby Witkowski USY offers a variety of social, spiritual, cultural, educational, community and religious programming including regional conventions, lock-ins, lounge nights, a Purim carnival and so much more!

For more information, contact Amy Dworin at 402.492.8550 or adworin@bethel-omaha.org

ANDrew SiLow-CArroLL Lincoln Center Festival. Last week, a group of more than 60 NEW YORK | JTA artists called on Lincoln Center to cancel the play because N DAviD GroSSMAN’S 2008 novel To the End of the one of its backers was Israel’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

Land, an Israeli mother flees to the countryside to The protest’s organizer, Adalah-NY, accused Lincoln avoid news of her solCenter of “helping the Isdier son, who is servraeli government to impleing a dangerous stint ment its systematic ‘Brand in the West Bank. Ora Israel’ strategy of employconsiders herself apoing arts and culture to dilitical and tries to vert attention from the avoid talking or thinking state’s decades of violent colonization.” about the Israeli-PalestinThe ironies abounded, ian conflict. and seemed to be lost on “And yet politics chases the kinds of artists who her and crushes her,” usually promote complexGrossman told an interity in — and, as Jordan viewer. “Politics is like acid here. No matter how many Hoffman noted in The protective coatings you Times of Israel, governput on yourself, it eats Members of the Habima National Theatre and the Cameri Theatre ment funding of — the through them.” of Tel Aviv appearing in an adaptation of David Grossman’s novel arts. Grossman is not only Politics chased GrossTo the End of the Land, as part of the Lincoln Center Festival in the best-known Israeli man to New York this New York, July 24-27, 2017.

Credit: Ge rard Allon novelist of his generation, he is one of its leading leftweek, where an adaptation ists as well. For years, much of what the West knew of the of his novel by two of Israel’s best-known theater compa“real anguish of the Palestinian people” -- Grossman’s nies -- the Habima National Theatre and the Cameri TheSee Artists’ protest page e7 atre of Tel Aviv -- was staged Monday night as part of the

JewiSh FeDeration oF oMaha

anti-DeFaMation league/ CoMMunity relationS CoMMittee

executive Board Members: Co-Chairs: Jim Fried and Gary Nachman; Board Members: Ellie Batt, Bob Bleicher, Carol Bloch, Becki Brenner, Arthur Brumfield, Shirley Cemaj, Toba Cohen-Dunning, Danny Cohn, Ted Friedland, David Gilinsky, Jeff Gordman, Steve Hogan, Nancy Jacobson, Rich Juro, Jeff Kirshenbaum, Bob Nefsky, Andrea Olson, Alan Parsow, David Radler, Mark Singer, Tom Vann and Aaron Weiner.

inStitute For holoCauSt eDuCation

Chairperson, Gloria Kaslow; Stacey Atlas, Bob Cohen, Eunie Denenberg, Shami Jacobs, Bea Karp, Howard Kaslow, Ari Kohen, Paula Lenz, Jamie Meyerson, Lori Miller, Teresa Ruback, Jama Samiev, Jill Sideris, Paul Smith and Steve Wees.

JewiSh CoMMunity Center

President, Jason Epstein; President-elect, Scott Simon; Board Members: Shira Abraham, Alex Epstein, Dan Epstein, Karen Flayhart, Jason Franklin, Dusty Friedman, Chuck Lucoff, Jamie Meyerson, Bruce Muskin, Wendy Raffel, Dorothy Spizman, Linda Zimmerman and immediate Past President, Michael Siegel.

JewiSh FeDeration oF oMaha

President, Bruce Friedlander; President-elect, Jon Meyers; Budget and Financial review Chair, Mike Siegel; CrC Board President, Jim Fried; Foundation President, Ted Friedland; JCC President, Jason Epstein; Jewish Press President, Eric Dunning; JSS Board Co-President, Toba Cohen-Dunning; Members at large: Bruce Goldberg, Richard Heyman, Dana Kaufman, Scott Meyerson, Mike Norton; ex-officio, immde-

JewiSh organizationS

B’nai B’rith henry MonSKy loDge

President, Ari Riekes; Board Members: Al Abramson, Mike Abramson, Gary Javitch, Marty Ricks, Howard Shandell, Aaron Weiner.

FrieDel JewiSh aCaDeMy

President, Jeff Zacharia; Vice President, Ari Kohen; Secretary, Liz Feldstern; treasurer, Ron Giller; Members at large: Joel Alperson, Shervin Ansari, Danny Cohn, Amy Friedman, Anna Goldberg, Joe Hoffman, Jody Malashock, Lisa Marcus, Patrick McNamara, Linda Potash, Ben Shapiro, Helene Shrago, Lauren Tam (PTO Chair), and Jeremy Wright; exofficio, immdediate Past President, Lloyd Roitstein; rabbis, ex-officio: Steven Abraham, Deanna Sussman Berezin and Ari Dembitzer; ex-officio, head of School, Beth Cohen.

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | e5 diate Past President, Jay Noddle; Chief executive officer, Alan Potash; Chief Financial officer, Jordana Glazer; Chief Development officer, Steve Levinger; Foundation executive Director, Howard Epstein; JFS executive Director, Karen Gustafson; Special Projects, Julee Katzman; JCC executive Director, Mark Martin; aDl/CrC, MaryBeth Muskin; JSS executive Director, Chris Ulven; Jewish Press editor, Annette van de Kamp-Wright.

JewiSh FeDeration oF oMaha FounDation

President, Ted Friedland; Vice President, David Gilinsky; Board Members: Bob Belgrade, Steven Bloch, Paul Epstein, Michael M. Erman, Donald Goldstein, Gloria Kaslow, Howard M. Kooper, Jody Malashock, Murray H. Newman, Steve Nogg, Martin Ricks, Carl Riekes, Andrew Robinson, Harley D. Schrager, Jeffrey Schrager; emeritus, Ted M. Seldin; Norman Veitzer; ex-officio, Bruce Friedlander and Mike Siegel.

JewiSh PreSS

President, Eric Dunning; Past President, Andy Ruback; Board Members: Sandy Friedman, Alex Grossman, Jill Idelman, Andy Issacson, Michael Kaufman, David Kotok, Debbie Kricsfeld, Abby Kutler, Pam Monsky, Eric Shapiro and Barry Zoob.

JewiSh SoCial SerViCeS

Co-Presidents, Toba Cohen-Dunning and Jeff Kirshenbaum; treasurer, Kate Kirshenbaum; Secretary, Susan Norton; Joanie Bernstein, Sharon Brodkey, Dr. Alan Kricsfeld, Tina Meyers, Jeff Platt, James Polack, Mike Shrago, Dorothy Spizman, Terri Zacharia and Sally Zipursky; ex-officio, immdediate Past President, James A. Farber, and Past Co-Presidents, Richard Jacobson and Steve Nogg.

roshhashanah BOARDS

SynagogueS

B’nai iSrael

Board of Directors: Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Carole Lainof, Marty Ricks, Sissy Silber, Nancy Wolf and Philip Wolf.

Beth el Synagogue

President, Jim Zipursky; Vice President of Service organization: Adam Kutler; Vice President of Marketing: Caryn Scheer; Vice President of administration: Robert Yaffe; treasurer, Jay Gordman; Secretary, Ari Riekes; BeStt Chair, Lisa Marcus; religious life Chair, Ari Kohen; Past President, Joel Rich; Rabbi Steven Abraham; hazzan, Michael Krausman; executive Director, Allison Newfeld; Director of Congregational learning, Edith Tsabari; Board members: Robert Belgrade, Danny Cohn, Gary D. Epstein, Hollie Fineman, David Finkelstein, Miriam Gottlieb, Bruce Kutler, Cheryl Lerner, Allan Murow, Amy Nachman, Melissa Shapiro, David Weill, Susan Witkowski and Barry Zoob.

Bilu-uSy: Co-Presidents, Lauren Kirk and Emily Kutler; Vice President, Zach Krausman; Social action/tikkun olam, Spencer Gordman; Membership/Kadima, David Kay and Amanda Simon; Communications, Melanie Schwarz and Josh Stein; religious education, Gabby Witkowski.

Beth iSrael Synagogue

Co-Presidents, Michael Shrago and Mark Kazor; treasurer, Les Kay; Secretary, Ricki Skog; Board: Gabby Blair, Linda Novak, Gretchen Radler, Vicki Perlmeter, Dottie Rosenblum, Crystal Smith, Shelley Stern, Jim Wax and Lois Wine; Staff, Sabine Strong.

President, Toba Cohen-Dunning; treasurer, Jeff Kirshenbaum; Secretary, Julee Katzman; administration Vice President, Jeffrey Stein; Financial Vice President, Bruce Goldberg; Membership Vice President, Bruce Potash; Board members: Joel Alperson, Janet Kohll, Debbie Kricsfeld, Lynne Saltzman, Helene Shrago, Michael Shrago, Andreea Shnayder, Lauren Tam, Sherry Taxman and Harry Weiner.

Committee Chairs: advisor, Harry Alloy; luncheon Chair, Shelley Stern; Menu Chair, Tootie Simon; recording Secretary, Dottie Rosenblum; Communications, Jim Wax; education, Rocky Stern; and Staff Director, Maggie Conti.

President, David Weisser; Vice President, Nathaniel Kaup; Secretary, Julie Moore; treasurer, Leslie Delserone; Board members: Alex Clark, Vicki Edwards, Aimee Hyten, John Mosow, Dottie Shapiro and Art Zygielbaum.

l.o.V.e

MainStreeterS

See Jewish organizations page e6

Congregation B’nai JeShurun (South Street teMPle)

See Synagogue Boards page e6

e6 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

roshhashanah LIFE CYCLES 5777

JeWISh organIzaTIonS

Continued from page e5

naTIonal CounCIl oF JeWISh Womenomaha SeCTIon

president, Becki Brenner; Vice presidents of Community Service, Pam DePorte and Janie Kulakofsky; Vice president of membership, Jen Koom; Vice president of public affairs, Ann Moshman; Vice president of Communication, Claire Flatowicz; Treasurer, Alice Klein; Financial Secretary, Patty Nogg; recording Secretary, Darlene Golbitz; parliamentarian: Deb Marburg; directors: Marlen Frost, Tippi Denenberg, Debbie Solomon, Pam Friedlander, Melissa Shrago; Immediate past president, Alice Klein.

neBraSKa JeWISh hISTorICal SoCIeTy

president, Bob Belgrade; Vice president, Beth Staenberg; Secretary, Rocky Stern; Treasurer, Nan Katz; past president, Sue Millward; Board members: Ellie Batt, Jill Belmont, Judy Brookstein, Danny Cohn, Michael Gendler, Dora Goldstrom, Janie Kulakofsky, Rocky Lewis, Vicki Perlmeter; Past Presidents: Joanie Bernstein, Midge Bowers, Helen Epstein, Debbi Josephson, Ira Nathan, Helen Rifkin; honorary member, Max Neiden; Founders (1892): Mary Fellman and Oliver Pollak; office Staff: executive director, Renee Ratner Corcoran and assistant, Kathy Weiner.

Synagogue BoardS

Continued from page e5

Temple ISrael

president, Rosie Zweiback; presidential appointees, Brent Bloom and Justin Cooper; president elect, Andie Gordman; Vice presidents, Dan Gilbert and Susie Norton; Secretary, Troy Meyerson; Treasurer, Gary Kaplan; assistant Treasurer, John Glazer; past president, Michael Halsted; Board members: Denise Blake, Aleia Budwig, Jessica Cohn, Marlen Frost, Dani Howell, Lester Katz, Stan Krieger, Traci Kugler, Lisa Lewis, Dan Marburg, Jeff Platt, Hap Pocras and Paul Rabinovitz. omaha Temple youth group: president, Aleia Budwig; Co-programming Vice president/Social action Vice president, Maddee Rauhauser; Co-programming Vice president/religious and Cultural Vice president, Brooklyn Armstrong; membership/Communications and Visual Vice president, Ben Leathers-Arnold; Special projects Coordinator, Ellie Reiss; Co-Freshman liaison: McKenna Blake and Ruby Platt.

TIFereTh ISrael

president, Seth Harris; Vice president, Marlon Weiss; Treasurer, Howard Feldman; Secretary, Ken Bloom; Immediate past president, Marcia Kushner; membership Chair, Dan Friedman; Fair dues Chair, David Brockman; members at large: Miriam Wallick, Nanci Hamicksburg, Esti Sheinberg, Robert Evnen, Joyce Davidson, Gary Hill, Cindi Weiss and Max Neiden; Trustees: Kirk Bowers and Jay Slevin; lay leader, Nancy Coren; administrator, Nava Halpern.

BIrThS

gabriel manashe, son of Shana Miles and Assaf Barnoy; noah david, son of Rachel and Dan Canfield; rina Vivian, daughter of Laura and Rabbi Ari Dembitzer; ariella reese, daughter of Kathleen and Sam Dubrow; Jared hirsch and michael rubin, sons of Andrea and Robert Epstein; avi Joseph, son of Melissa and David Estaver; Frankie nicole, daughter of Candice and Dusty Friedman; aaron Bailey, son of Drs. Bethami and Lenny Grossman; abraham robert, son of Sarah and Evan Halpain; daniel lev, son of Sara and Ari Kohen; adam Joseph, son of Brigitte and Alan Kohll; david Solomon, Tizporah and Max (Mordechai) Marcovitz; Foster rice, son of Michelle and Ryan Malashock; oliver rhodes, son of Lauren and Jeff Nathan; dax e., son of Maggie and Jed Ortmeyer; aliza

Schachter-Fuerst, daughter of Rachel Fuerst and Mathew Schachter; mira Schachter-Fuerst, daughter of Rachel Fuerst and Mathew Schachter; lev Joseph, son of Marla Schuchman and Jonathan Rathsam; howard miles, son of Susan and Dan Senft; Jacelyn Sage, daughter of Kelsea and Chad Shulewitz; Sophy reed, daughter of Allyson Freeman and Geoffrey Silverstein; Steven arthur-John, son of Elisa and Steven A. Speer; eden laurel, daughter of Micha and Kathleen Solomon; Baby Tam, son of Lauren and Tommy Tam; gev, son of Hofit and Ran Tsabari; laila haley, daughter of Shree and Zachary Thompson; robert Ira, son of Shauna and Jason Wagner; and addisyn ann, daughter of Amanda and Adam Waldbaum.

Wyatt penn deodato, son of Cassius and Daryn Almeida; zachary evan, son of Brett and Stacey Atlas; ethan Joseph, son of Bo and Sharon Bargas; Bradley Berman, son of Harry Berman and Beth Cohen; hanna l., daughter of Samuel Bierner and Joseph Pinson; mcKenna Karsen, daughter of Chris and Denise Blake; Charles michael, son of Rachel Blum; Kennedy Brooklyn, daughter of Kevin and Kimara Clark; emma Jordyn, daughter of Brian and Leslie Eades; emma erin, daughter of Steven and Carrie Fingold; ari and ethan Finklestein, sons of Rebecca Ruetsch and David Finkelstein; rose ellen, daughter of Ted and Jamie Friedland; abigail grace, daughter of Jason and Jackie Friedland; zev dan, son of Jeffrey and Danielle Gordman; delaney elizabeth, daughter of John and Melinda Graham; leah hack-Curtis daughter of Tim Curtis and Lori Hack; emily Judds (adult); abigail paige, daughter of Michael and Dana Kaufman; Jordyn ashley, daughter of Adam and Nikki Kirshenbaum; leo Kohll, son of David and Janet Kohll; nathan yale, son of Todd and Roxanne

Krasno; Benjamin Kutler, son of Pam and Bruce Kutler; eli, son of Mario and Amanda Lopez Dominquez; Jake lucoff, son of Erika and Phil Lucoff; elizabeth Sara, daughter of Jay Matz and Stacie Spies-Matz; Sophia and phoenix, daughter and son of Karen Klingberg and Dimitrios Mavropoulos; Joshua zippori, son of Rich and Brenda Rosenblatt; elena Isabel, daughter of Rich and Brenda Rosenblatt; ethan Ben, son of Erica Parks and Barry Rubin; dina Saltzman, daughter of Linda and Kevin Saltzman; Jack morton, son of Anthony and Andee Scioli; matan Shapiro, son of Amy Reynolds and Ben Shapiro; aiden Shnayder, son of Michael and Andreea Shnayder; Kayla Shnayder, daughter of Michael and Andreea Shnayder; aviva Chana Shyken, daughter of Gary and Liat Shyken; Shmuel aaron Shyken, son of Gary and Liat Shyken; hannah Stein, daughter of Jeff and Dasha Stein; nicole Taege (adult); oren Trainin, son of Dr. Guy and Sarah Trainin; and mia menalascino, daughter of Tim and Amy Zweiback.

Amanda Bucher and Colin Belmont; Shannon Behm and Aaron Bleicher; Jamie Skog and Bartley Burke; Haleigh Brockman and Matt Carlson; Shayna Kurland and Ben Cohen; Dana Greenspan and Jay Gellman; Rebecca Gellman and Andrew Goldenberg; Abby Scheer and Joshua Haber; Cari Green and Kevin Hagemoser; Matt Blodgett and Yousef Hazimeh; Jayne Draper and

Julie Moore (license signing); Cassidy Milder and Christopher Murphy; Shira Kronick and Joseph Offenhartz; Sara Edelstein and David Palay; Allison Levinger and Adam Pechart; Amy Saylan and Luke Schwartz; Carly Sorenson and Nate Shapiro; Kelsea Townsend and Chad Shulewitz; and Jodi Levine and Ben Unger.

Milton Paul Abramson, Harold Melvin Abrahamson, Alvin Ackerman, Bette Alloy, Marsel Azriel, Jane Batt, Joseph Bauer, Sonny Beamer, Harold E. Bernstein, Herbert M. Berkowitz, Mildred Bisacca, Jo Ann Black, Sarah Bloom, Marilyn A. Boggust, Janet Boguchwal, Michael Boosalis, Florence Davidson Brody, Ruth Segall Cain, Leizere Chimanovitch, Thomas Circo, Arthur S. Cohen, Harvey M. Cohen, Joseph Cohen, Jack Cooper, Carla Dessauer, Stephanie Dohner, Sheila Dworak , Dale W. Ebers, MD, Galina Elizarova, Lucille Epstein, Genevieve Feigenbaum, Edith (Toby) Fellman, Stanley Feltman, Bernard S. Finkelstein, Barbara (Burkett) Fishkin, Dorothy (Ann) Fleishman, David Fredricks, Adele Friedman, Barbara Fuchs, Adri Geppert, Bernice C. Gerber, Moshe Gershovich, Richard “Dick” Glazer, Techiya Shirel Shimona Gold, Gloria Goldberg, Nancy Barron Goldstein, Shirley Gershun Goldstein, Betty Ruth Goldstrom, Irene Witt Gotsdiner, Dottie Grant, Harriet (Pinky) Greenberg, Stephen David Greenberg, Ethel Grossman, Marian Groussman, Calvin Gunn, Robert Hack, Martin Hersh, Nancy Ann Hoberman, Anne Thomas Hoile, Lewis Izenstat, Thomas Jaeger, Sylvia Jess, Natalie Justa, Leo Kamisar, Stanley Kaplan, Asher Tuck Katz, Jennifer Beth Kay, James Keller, Joan Kern,

Gabriel Klein, Betty Kolnick, Edythe Krasne, Sylvia Kushner, Mark Jay Lazarus, Sheldon (Shelly) Lincoln, Arlene R. Lavin, James L. Lipsey, Stanford Lipsey, Bonnie J. London, Justin “Judd” Manvitz, Victor Mashbein, Mikhail Mayzel, Betsy McFarland, Ramelle Joy Ferer Monsky, Elizabeth Cohn Morris, Igor Scalt Mosenkis, E.E. “Gene” Nelson, Sarah (Babe) Nogg, Eleanore Osheroff, Allen Passer, Rose Cohn Perelman, Rose Pitlor, John W. Platz, Joyce Pocras, Lawrence P. Pollack, Myrna Raffkind, Bryon Raznick, Francis Rechner, Charles Rey, PH.D., Harry David Richman, Jack Cople Rockman, Phyllis Anne Roffman, David Romanik, Rabbi Stanley Rosenbaum, Sheila Evelyn Rosen, Jo Anne (Yocheved) Ross, Shayna Sacks, Selma R. Sadofsky, Cari Michelle Biniamow Schaefer, Seymour Schrier, Sidney Max Schwartz, Solomon Schwartz, Harold S. Selner, Yakov Shats, Maxine Simons, Norma Seldin Silverman, Stanley Silverman, Marion Gill Slosburg, Sarah Snyder, Louise Springer, Paul Stanfield, Mary Swearingen, Baylamae “Billie” Tatelman, Donald E. Tawzer, Elizabeth Tovian, Dr. Rita Trainin, Yuliy Tronyak, Barbara Ann Uehling, Martin (Marty) Louis Warren, Kimberlee Durant Williams, Pauline Jeanette Wine, Ann Harriet Wolfson, Ruth Jane Wolpa, Annette Yaffe, and Irvin Ziegman.

B’naI mITzVah

marrIageS

In memorIam

Wishing You a Happy New Year!

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The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | e7

Pomegranate and honey glazed chicken Liz Rueven The Nosher via JTA omegRanates, oR Rimonim in Hebrew, are among the most recognizable and highly symbolic fruits in Jewish culture. Originating in Persia, these reddish, thick-skinned fruits (technically a berry) begin to appear in markets at the end of summer and are readily available for holiday cooking by Rosh Hashanah.

According to Gil Marks in The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, the abundance of seeds, nestled into a white membrane and encased in a protective and leathery skin, is associated with the 613 commandments in the Torah. They serve as symbols of righteousness and fruitfulness, as expressed in the Rosh Hashanah expression, “May we be full of merits like the pomegranate (is full of seeds).”

This ancient fruit, prized for its juice and seeds (called arils), is mentioned in the Bible as one of the seven most bountiful agriculture products of ancient

Artists’ protest

Continued from page e4 words -- came through his nonfiction works like The Yellow Wind.

To the End of the Land is a play about Israeli anguish, not Palestinian, but you’d have to be a dunce not to realize that its anti-war message is implicitly about the need to solve the conflict in order to keep boys and girls on both sides from dying.

The Adalah-NY petition drew a handful of biggish names, including playwright Caryl Churchill, an old anti-Israel hand; director Andre Gregory; and actor Greta Gerwig. But if they expected street protesters, they never materialized: The play went on without a hitch, and the sizable police contingent had little to do other than direct the sold-out audience to the box office. The largely gray-haired audience was patted down and passed through metal detectors (more ironies!), and no one rushed the stage or cried “shame” from the balcony.

To be fair, and I don’t know why I need to be, the petition targeted the government’s sponsorship of the play, not its content. Israel, as governments are wont to do, promotes its brand abroad using the arts and culture. This makes Lincoln Center, according to the petition, complicit in promoting Israel as a “progressive center of the arts and culture.”

The protest also noted that Israel’s minister of culture, Miri Regev, would attend the play and thereby “underline the importance the hardline Israeli government places on its Lincoln Center partnership.”

Maybe, but Israel’s cultural elite also resent Regev because she doesn’t want the government to sponsor theater or artists who undermine the country’s values and symbols as she sees them. Last year, she initiated an amendment that would give her the authority to suspend funding for cultural activities that “contravene the principles of the state.”

So, in one sense, you can say the protesters and their target deserve each other — or at least agree, weirdly, that government

Israel. It is associated with fertility and sensuality, and is mentioned six times in the Song of Songs.

In biblical times, pomegranates were used to add tart flavors to ancient dishes before lemons and tomatoes were discovered. Since then, pomegranates have been used to add unique and complex dimensions to Sephardic and central Asian soups, stews, sauces, chutneys and desserts. They may be juiced, dried, reduced, ground or pressed into pomegranate oil.

Today, pomegranates are prized for their antioxidant and potent nutritional value, just as they were in ancient Egypt when the seeds were believed to heal intestinal disorders. Juice, molasses (actually a reduction and thickening of the juice and sometimes called pomegranate concentrate or syrup) and arils are used in a wide range of applications including cocktails, glazes, simmer sauces, and glistening toppings for green salads and vegetable dishes.

In The New Persian Kitchen, author Louisa Shafia offers numerous pomegranate dishes, including a classic Iranian stew called fesenjan that is often served see Pomegranate page e8

funding for the arts is inherently political and problematic.

But then you watch the play, or look around the audience, and you realize how misguided the protesters are. There was Regev and Dani Dayan, the former settler leader who now serves as consul general in New York. There was Grossman, whose own son was killed in Lebanon shortly before To the End of the Land was published.

I sat behind New Yorker editor David Remnick, who has written both lovingly and deeply critically of Israel, publishing fiction and nonfiction that has angered both the right and the left.

What the protesters don’t get — and which Regev realizes — is that Israel’s cultural sector is the most reliable critic of the policies they abhor. If they silence these critics, it’s another victory for the Israeli right. If you want to hear criticism of Israel, look no further than your typical Jewish film festival: The Israeli entries, often with government funding, are invariably heavy with examinations of the occupation and its toll on both Jews and Palestinians.

The protesters aren’t just one-sided in putting all the responsibility for the conflict on the Israeli side, they are myopic in how they view the Israeli body politic. Making Israel a pariah state won’t bring the Palestinians any closer to achieving freedom and self-determination, but it will turn Israelis even more insular and uncompromising.

As Grossman himself has written, “I believe that Israel still contains a critical mass of people, both left-wing and rightwing, religious and secular, Jews and Arabs, who are capable of uniting — with sobriety, with no illusions — around a few points of agreement to resolve the conflict with our neighbors.”

Instead of discouraging works like To the End of the Land from being seen abroad, protesters might encourage the kind of cultural and political debate they incite and the critical mass they might inspire. It’s crazy that you would need to remind artists of this.

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e8 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

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Pomegranate

Continued from page e7 at celebrations. The chicken is cooked with beets and thickened with coarsely ground walnuts and pomegranate molasses. As in many Persian dishes, pomegranate seeds are used as a glistening, jewel-like garnish.

Shafia illustrates removing the seeds a few different ways, but I like the “water method” best. Simply slice off the two ends and quarter the fruit with a knife. Submerge the quarters in a bowl of cold water and pull out the seeds with your fingers. The pith and skin float to the surface as the arils sink to the bottom. Scoop out everything but the seeds and pour water and seeds through a mesh colander to collect them.

Consider using pomegranates in your Rosh Hashanah meals when it is considered a positive omen, or segulah, to incorporate symbolic foods in our holiday menus. Whip up this easy chicken dish and you’ll have both bountiful and sweet symbols covered.

Holiday chicken is potent with pomegranate’s goodness as this symbolic fruit is used in three ways: juice, molasses and arils (seeds).

The flavors are bold, tangy and slightly sweet — a Middle Eastern-influenced sweet and sour.

Pomegranates are highly symbolic in Jewish tradition, most often associated with fertility and good deeds. By combining the tart flavors of pomegranates with honey here, the sweet-

ness balances the tang and positive energy is imbued in this main course for Rosh Hashanah.

Note: The simmer sauce may be prepared two to three days ahead and refrigerated until ready to prepare the chicken.

Liz Rueven’s blog, kosher like me, features restaurant and product reviews, tips on events where like-minded eaters like her can actually eat, and news about folks in the food world.

The Nosher food blog offers a dazzling array of new and classic Jewish recipes and food news, from Europe to Yemen, from challah to shakshuka and beyond.

Check it out at www.thenosher.com.

Pomegranate and Honey glazed CHiCken

Ingredients: 1 4-pound chicken cut in eighths (breasts cut in half if large) 4 tbsp. canola oil (separated: 2 tbsp. for simmer sauce and 2 tbsp. for browning the chicken) 1 large onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup pomegranate molasses 1/2 cup sweetened pomegranate juice 1/2 cup honey 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth 1 tsp. cumin 1/2 tsp. powdered ginger 1/8 tsp. allspice 1/2 tsp. turmeric salt and pepper to taste For the garnish: 2 tbsp. parsley 2 tbsp. pomegranate arils (seeds) Preparation: Heat 2 Tbsp. canola oil in a large pan (you’ll need a lid for later).

Sauté chopped onion until soft and translucent. Add minced garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes (do not brown).

Add pomegranate molasses, juice, honey, broth and spices.

Stir and bring to boil. Reduce to an active

Credit: Liz Rueven simmer, and cook uncovered, for about 20 minutes or until sauce is reduced by about half the volume and slightly thickened.

Taste sauce and adjust seasoning. Too tart?

Add 1 to 2 tablespoons honey. Want more kick? Crack more black pepper.

Remove sauce from heat and pour into bowl. Set aside.

Wash pan.

Rinse chicken parts, pat dry, season with salt and pepper.

Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil in pan and place chicken parts skin side down. Brown on one side and flip to second side. Do not crowd chicken in the pan, as this causes chicken to steam rather than brown.

Lower heat, pour prepared simmer sauce over the chicken. Cover pan and simmer on low for 35-40 minutes.

Remove from pan and platter, garnishing with chopped parsley and pomegranate arils.

The Lincoln Jewish Community wishes you L’Shana Tova and a Sweet New Year!

Congregation B’nai Jeshurun The South Street Temple Member of the Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street Lincoln, NE 68502 402/435-8004 southstreettemple.org

Congregation Tifereth Israel Member of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Nancy Coren, Lay Spiritual Leader 3219 Sheridan Boulevard Lincoln, NE 68502 402/423-8569 tiferethisraellincoln.org

The Jewish Federation of Lincoln

Part of the Network of Independent Communities of the Jewish Federations of North America P.O. Box 67218, Lincoln, NE 68506 402/915-3659 jewishlincoln.org

These two non-Jews are stars of Yiddish theater GaBe FRiedmaN NEW YORK | JTA

eteRaN aCtOR ShaNe Baker has performed in three productions of God of Vengeance, Sholem Asch’s Yiddish classic about a brothel-owning family and their daughter’s lesbian relationship.

Playing earlier this year to sold-out audiences at New York’s Theatre at St. Clement’s Church, the play — which was first staged in 1906 — still resonates today as a treatise on morality, religion and sexuality.

When Baker brusquely growls, in Yiddish, to his wife, Sarah (played with charm and poise by Caraid O’Brien) about wanting to own a Torah scroll, they really pack a punch.

But here’s the surprising thing: While Baker and O’Brien are at the forefront of the Yiddish culture and theater scenes, neither actor is Jewish.

Baker, 48, who was raised Episcopalian in Kansas City, has been performing in Yiddish plays since the mid1990s. He is also the first non-Jewish director of the Congress for Jewish Culture, an organization that brings Yiddish productions around the world. In addition, he teaches a summer workshop on Yiddish theater at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research here, as well as classes for the Workmen’s Circle, an organization that promotes Jewish culture and offers Yiddish lessons.

O’Brien, 42, grew up in Boston and traces her family’s roots back to Galway and elsewhere in Ireland’s Aran Islands. She has translated multiple Yiddish plays into English (including God of Vengeance, although the current production is staged in its original Yiddish) and has taught classes on Yiddish theater history. She is finishing up a book on Seymour Rexite, a former star of the Yiddish stage known for translating pop and Broadway songs into Yiddish, as well as her friend and mentor.

Both Baker and O’Brien admit that people are often surprised to come across non-Jews who are so passionate about Yiddish. Still, both said they see their interest in Yiddish as the same as anyone’s interest in any culture that’s not their own.

“No one gets surprised if a Scotsman studies French or a German studies Russian,” Baker told JTA in a phone interview. “Why should it be such a shock if a gentile studies Yiddish? It’s reflective, in a way, of a sort of inferiority complex regarding Yiddish.”

True as that may be, it’s nonetheless rare these days to hear anyone speaking Yiddish who was not brought up in a haredi Orthodox community. On top of that, Yiddish

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theater — which hit its heyday during the late 19th and early 20th centuries — is even more of a niche interest.

There are only two Yiddish theater companies left in New York City: the New Yiddish Rep, which is behind this God of Vengeance production, and the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene.

Still, if a packed house on a cold Sunday afternoon is any indication, this production of God of Vengeance, which is playing through March 26, is finding a receptive audience.

The play is riding the buzz around the upcoming Broadway debut of Indecent, written by Pulitzer Shane Baker, front, and Caraid O’Brien Prize winner Paula in the New Yiddish Rep’s current pro- Vogel, which chronicles the realduction of God of Vengeance.

Credit: Ronald L. Glassman life drama that surrounded God of Vengeance. When the play arrived in New York in 1923 after success in Europe, it staged the first same-sex kiss in Broadway history — and was subsequently banned after the cast and producer were arrested on obscenity charges.

The fact that several of the actors in this production of God of Vengeance were formerly Hasidic has also made waves.

But Yiddish theater still suffers from stereotypes.

“When I arrived in the New York theater world, people didn’t know anything about Yiddish theater, or they had this idea that it was some kind of joke, or some kind of schlocky melodrama,” O’Brien said.

When he first began attending Yiddish cultural events, Baker said he was approached by groups of Jewish women wondering whether he would consider converting to Judaism. He later discovered they were using what he called their “shidduchim radar” — meaning they were looking for men to enter arranged marriages.

O’Brien noted that her appearance -- punctuated by fiery red hair -- would sometimes confuse groups of Yiddish speakers.

“We’d have a conversation, in Yiddish, then at the end of the conversation they would say, ‘Do you speak Yiddish?’” she recalled. “They just couldn’t process that that was happening.”

O’Brien said she was first hooked on the language while See Yiddish theater page e11

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | e9

roshhashanah How I keep my Bubbe’s memory alive during the High Holidays

StaCeY ZiSOOk ROBiNSON Kveller via JTA S a kid, I didn’t live a particularly Jewish life. We were sent to Hebrew school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and got dropped off at Sunday school. We fidgeted through services occasionally — usually because we were attending a bar mitzvah or it was High Holidays season. I went to Saturday morning services pretty regularly the year prior to my own bat mitzvah — only because it was a requirement. My parents were under no such requirements, so their weekends were filled with other things.

They got their Judaism through osmosis, I guess — the act of taking us to temple, their proximity to the building, hearing us practice a prayer or a chant.

That was Jewish enough for them.

Don’t get me wrong, they took great pride in their Judaism. Not only did they occasionally drop into a service on Shabbat, they never missed attending High Holidays services, enjoyed lox and bagels on Sunday mornings at the local deli (and the much less kosher ribs on Sunday nights), followed all the “famous” Jews who made it into the news for good (ya!) or ill (oy!), and observed all the holidays (that they knew of), and by “observe” I mean mom cooked a huge meal and the extended family came to feast.

The beginning of every holiday meant soup. Chicken soup, replete with lokshen (noodles), knaidlach (matzah balls, the harder the better), kreplach (think “Jewish ravioli” and you’ll be close). Even those occasional Friday nights when, for no discernible reason, mom got it into her head to “do Shabbat,” dinner started with chicken soup. And while her mother would make the noodles from scratch, along with the kreplach and knaidlach, mom was happy to start with the package variety of everything but kreplach.

My mother visited her mother often. We lived in the south suburbs of Chicago; Bubbie was on the north side, our version of the shtetls of Poland and Russia, though made up of highrises and gorgeous lake views. Still, Tevye would have fit right in after a day or two. Every so often, her pilgrimage had a specific mission: replenish the kreplach supply. She stored them in the freezer until needed. I would come across the bag every so often as I searched for something else and I would seriously think of taking — just one! — to eat, but in the days before microwaves, I couldn’t come up with a way to do it quickly and, more important, stealthily.

As my grandmother aged, though the quality never diminished, the amount of kreplach did. It was difficult for her to chop the meat by hand, in her wooden bowl and with an ancient blade.

See Bubbe’s memory pages e11

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e10 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

synagogues b’nai israel synagogue

618 Mynster Street Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 402.322.4705 email: BnaiIsraelCouncilBluffs@ gmail.com

beth el synagogue

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

beth israel synagogue

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

chabad house

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

congregation b’nai Jeshurun

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

offutt air force base

Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road Offutt AFB, NE 68123 402.294.6244

rose bluMkin Jewish hoMe

323 South 132 Street Omaha, NE 68154

teMple israel

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

tifereth israel

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

b’nai israel synagogue

rosh hashanah wednesday: Services, 7:30 p.m., Curtis Hutt, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, UNO Schwalb Center will speak on Seeing Past the Schticks: Jerusalem 5778. thursday: Services, 7:30 p.m., Anna Mosenkis, Community Member will speak on 26 Years as a New American Celebrating as a Jew, Freely.

Break-the-Fast Potluck will follow the concluding service on saturday, sept. 30. Please call Carole Lainof, 402.293.0321, for more information.

If you would like any names read for remembrance, please send a note by email or otherwise to Nancy Wolf at nancy wolf16620@gmail.com.

All services led by Jeffrey Taxman.

Shabbat Speakers Series resumes friday, oct. 13, 7:30 p.m.

Annual Membership Meeting, sunday, oct. 15, 11 a.m.

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

beth el synagogue

Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman. friday: NE AIDS Coalition Lunch, 11:30 a.m.; Pre-Neg, 5:30 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat Services with guest speaker Riva Silverman of HIAS, 6-7 p.m. saturday: Shabbat Services, 9:30 a.m. with guest speaker Riva Silverman of HIAS; Kiddush lunch to follow services; Shabbat’s Cool (Grades K-7), 10 a.m.; Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 7 p.m.; Havdallah, 7:58 p.m. followed by Selichot Service and dessert reception. weekday services: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. sunday: BESTT Classes, 9:30 a.m.-noon; Torah Study, 10 a.m.; Service Grant Meeting, 12:15-12:45 p.m. wednesday: Chesed Committee visits The Heritage at Sterling Ridge, 2 p.m.; No BESTT Classes or Hebrew High Classes; Erev Rosh Hashanah Ma’ariv Service, 6 p.m.; Candle Lighting, 7:07 p.m. rosh hashanah thursday: Synagogue office closed; Morning Service, 10 a.m.; Babysitting,10 a.m.; Youth Service Grades K-2, 10 a.m.; Youth Programming Grades 3-7, 10 a.m.; Tot Service, 10:30 a.m.; Torah Service, 10:30 a.m. led by B’nai Mitzvah Class; Youth Programming Grades K-2, 11 a.m.; Junior Congregation Grades 3-7, 11 a.m.; Shofar Service, 11:15 a.m.; Sermon, 11:30 a.m.; Musaf, 11:45 a.m.; Final Shofar Blasts, 12:45 p.m.; Tashlich, 4:45 p.m.; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 6 p.m.; Candle Lighting, 8:04 p.m. friday-sept. 22: Synagogue office closed; Morning Service, 9 a.m.; Babysitting, 9 a.m.; Youth Programming Grades K-2, 9 a.m.; Torah Service, 9:45 a.m.; Story Time, 10 a.m.; Youth Programming Grades 3-7, 10 a.m.; Shofar Service, 10:30 a.m.; Sermon, 10:45 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 11 a.m.; Musaf, 11 a.m.; Final Shofar Blasts, 12:45 p.m.; Lunch (by RSVP only), 12:45 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat/Ma’ariv, 6 p.m.; Candle Lighting, 7:03 p.m.

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

beth israel synagogue

Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Ari Dembitzer. friday: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv & Kabbalat Shabbat, 7:15 p.m.; Candle Lighting, 7:16 p.m. saturday: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; September Simcha Kiddush, 11:30 a.m.; Insights into the Torah Reading, 6:10 p.m.; Mincha/Seudah Shlishit, 6:55 p.m.; Havdalah, 8:14 p.m. sunday: Selichot, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Bagels and Beit Midrash-High Holiday Prep Class, 9:45 a.m.

Monday-tuesday: Shacharit, 7 a.m. rosh hashanah wednesday: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv/Candle Lighting, 7:07 p.m. thursday: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:04 p.m.; Earliest Candle Lighting, 8:06 p.m. friday-sept. 22: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv/Candle Lighting, 7:04 p.m.

chabad house

Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and Friday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman.

friday: Shacharit, 7 a.m. followed by coffee, treats, study and shmoozing. saturday: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. followed by a festive kiddush luncheon. sunday: Shacharit, 8:30 a.m. followed by Sunday Secrets: Jewish Fun Facts class at 9:15 a.m. weekdays: Shacharit, 7 a.m. followed by coffee, treats, study and shmoozing.

Monday: Personal Parsha class, 9:30 a.m. with Shani. rosh hashanah wednesday: Mystical Thinking class with the Rabbi, 9:30 a.m.; Candle Lighting, 7:07 p.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 7:15 p.m.; Family Dinner, 8 p.m. thursday: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Shofar Service, 11 a.m.; underINSPIRED!, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; Tashlich Mystery, 7 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:30 p.m.; Light Candles after 8:04 p.m. friday-sept. 22: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Shofar Service, 11 a.m.; Light Candles before 7:03 p.m.

All programs are open to the entire community.

congregation b’nai Jeshurun

friday: Shabbat Evening Service, 6:30 p.m. led by Nathaniel Kaup; Candlelighting, 7:16 p.m.; Oneg Shabbat, 7:30 p.m. hosted by Keren Coulter; Dessert Potluck and Wall of Words Study Session, 7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Teri Appleby. saturday: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelech led by Robert Rickover; Dessert Potluck, 8 p.m.; Havdalah (72 Minutes), 8:44 p.m.; S’lichot Service, 9 p.m. with High Holy Days Choir. sunday: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m. at Tifereth Israel; LJCS Gesher, 10 a.m. at South Street Temple. tuesday: Ladies’ Lunch, noon Granite City Food & Brewery, Gateway Mall; Star City Kochavim Rehearsal, 6:45 p.m. rosh hashanah wednesday: Mystical Thinking class with the Rabbi, 9:30 am; Candlelighting, 7:07 p.m.; Rosh Hashanah Evening Services, 8 p.m. led by Rabbi Allen Bennett with oneg following hosted by the Board of Trustees. thursday: Rosh Hashanah Family Service, 9 a.m. (Parents, please accompany your children); Morning Service, 10 a.m. led by Rabbi Allen Bennett (Childcare available); Tashlich service, 3 p.m. at Wilderness Park; Candlelighting, 8:36 p.m. friday-sept. 22: Shabbat Evening Service, 6:30 p.m.; Candlelighting, 7:04 p.m.; Oneg Shabbat, 7:30 p.m.

Jewish Book Club will meet sunday, sept. 24, 2-4 p.m. at Scooter's on 84th in Lincoln to discuss God Was in This Place and I, i Did Not Know, by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner.

Break-the-fast Potluck, saturday, sept. 30, 6 p.m. Please join the congregation after Yom Kippur concluding services for a Break-the-Fast Potluck.

The Temple will be collecting non-perishable food, personal care items, and monetary donations for the Food Bank of Lincoln to help with this year’s Lincoln CAN project. Donations can be placed in the blue barrels in the Temple vestibule. We’ll need a volunteer or two to bring the collected items to the East Campus Mall on Oct. 1, between 2 and 4 pm.

offutt air force base

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

rose bluMkin Jewish hoMe

saturday: Sehlichot Services, 4 p.m. led by Marti Nerenstone. rosh hashanah wednesday: Erev Evening Service, 6:45 p.m., led by Marti Nerenstone. thursday: Morning Service, 9:15 a.m., led by Marti Nerenstone. friday-sept. 22: Morning service, 9:15 a.m., led by Marti Nerenstone.

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

teMple israel

friday: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. saturday: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Rabbi Stoller and TiYPE’s Husker Tailgate, 10 a.m. at UNL. Join Rabbi Stoller to tailgate before the Huskers play the Northern Illinois Huskies in Lincoln. There will be bagels, coffee, juice, friends, and fun! If you are in Omaha, contact Aliyah if you are interested in carpooling to the tailgate. RSVP required; Shabbat Morning Serv-

ice, 10:30 a.m. Torah Reader Shelley Smith and Haftarah Reader Miles Remer. sunday: Grades PreK-6, 10 a.m.; Temple Israel Book Club, 10:30 a.m. All are welcome to join our book club. Each month we will be reading and discussing a different book.

Watch the eTidings to find out what book will be read. Newcomers are welcome; Kol Rina Rehearsal, 1 p.m. rosh hashanah wednesday: Erev Rosh Hashanah Service, 7:30 p.m.

Remember to pick up a grocery bag for the High Holiday Food Drive: Fill a Bag, Feed a Family. thursday: Children’s Service (Tots-4th Grade), 9 a.m. with Rabbi Stoller, Cantor Shermet, and Rabbi Berezin; Rosh Hashanah Morning Service, 10:15 a.m.; Rosh Hashanah Children’s Programming (Grades 1-4), 10 :15 a.m. Children in 1st4th Grade will meet Director of Youth and Young Adult Engagement Aliyah Lasky in the Simon Community Court at 10:15 a.m. for Rosh Hashanah Programming led by our Religious School Madrichim; Tashlich, 12:30 p.m. Following our Rosh Hashanah service we will gather at the Amphitheatre for Tashlich, which means “cast away.” We will throw our transgressions into the creek behind our building and begin the new year cleansed of our sins and misdeeds.

Shabbat Shuva, friday, sept. 22, 6 p.m. and on saturday, sept. 23, 10:30 a.m.

Break The Fast, saturday, sept. 30, 6:30 p.m. EARLY BIRD Reservations by friday, sept. 22. Adults and 13 and older are $12, Children 6-12 years old are $5, Children 5 and younger are no charge. Your payment is your reservation. Reservations made AFTER Friday, Sept. 22: Adults and 13 and older are $16, Children 6-12 years old are $9, Children 5 and younger are no charge. Menu: matzah ball soup, egg salad, tuna salad, fruit, vegetable salad, sweet kugel, plain kugel, bagels and cream cheese, desserts, root beer floats, Kid friendly food.

Break the Fast with TiYPE and YJO, saturday, sept. 30, 6:30 p.m. Join us for Break the Fast at Temple Israel! We will have a table and break the fast together! RSVP to alasky@ templeisraelomaha.com by Friday, Sept. 22.

tifereth israel

Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. friday: Services, 6:30 p.m. saturday: Shabbat Morning service, 10 a.m. followed by a light Kiddish luncheon; Junior Congregation, 11 a.m.; Selichot Service and Study, 8 p.m. sunday: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m. at Tifereth Israel; LJCS Gesher, 10 a.m. at South Street Temple. tuesday: Ladies’ Lunch, noon Granite City Food & Brewery, Gateway Mall, 6200 O St. Please contact Deborah Swearingen with any questions. rosh hashanah wednesday: Synagogue office closed; No LJCS Class; Ma’ariv, 8 p.m. thursday: Synagogue office closed; Services, 9 a.m.; Youth Service, 11 a.m.; Tashlich, 5 p.m. at Antelope Park. friday-sept. 22: Synagogue office closed; Services, 9 a.m.; Youth Service, 11 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:30 p.m.

Annual Congregation Break-the-fast at the end of Yom Kippur. Havdalah service and meal, 7:51 p.m.

We will have a uniformed officer present and babysitting available during Rosh Hashanah Services/Activities.

Tifereth Israel will be participating in the Lincoln Food Bank's drive, LINCOLN CAN. Starting Sept. 4-Erev Yom Kippur, we will be collecting canned food items to help support those in our community who face food insecurity. Please make sure cans are dent-free and not bulged. You may also donate money by writing a check written the LINCOLN FOOD BANK and sending it to the synagogue office. We will deliver it with the canned items on Oct. 1.

MeMorial services

sunday, september 17 Mount Carmel Cemetery in Lincoln, 10:30 a.m.

Golden Hill Cemetery, 5025 N. 42nd St., noon Beth Israel/Mt. Sinai, 78th & Crown Point, 1 p.m.

BHH/Fisher Farms, 8900 S. 42nd Street, 2 p.m. sunday, september 24 Oak Hill/Bikhor Cholim, Council Bluffs, 11 a.m.

Beth El Cemetery, 84th and ‘L’ Sts., 11 a.m.

Temple Israel Cemetery, 6412 No. 42 St., 1 p.m.

Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, 3 p.m.

The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017 | E11

Bubbe’s memory Continued from page E9 Somewhere my mother has that recipe for kreplach, as dictated by my Bubbie. There’s even a video of her, my mother, sister-in-law and niece learning the art of kreplach-making. Mom also has the recipes for brisket and chopped liver and challah and roasted chicken and kishke and every other food that has come to mean holiday and feast and family and love.

Most are kept in her head. I told her years and years ago that she never needed to buy me another present, that for any birthday or holiday, all she needed to do was write down one of the recipes. She swears she’s doing this, but I’m not holding my breath.

I know — I could look up the recipe for anything I would ever want to cook on the interwebs. But those recipes don’t taste the same as the ones from my mother, who got them from her mother, who got them from her mother, who got them from that long line of ancestors going back into almost forever ago.

When I make my soup — as I did last year for Rosh Hashanah — I think back to my Bubbie, whom I called the first time I made her soup. Add some salt, she said. How much? Enough. You’ll taste it.

But it’s water, Bubbie!! You’ll know. An exasperated sigh. Add the carrots after you’ve skimmed off the dreck that floats to the top. Dreck? Ew. Don’t forget the dill! How much dill? Enough. You’ll know.

Oy. I was beginning to sense a pattern here. Finally: And five minutes before it’s done... Wait. What?

How will I know when it’s done? You’ll know.

I feel my grandmother with me whenever I make her soup. I feel her mother, and hers, and all of them — that long line of them back to forever ago. My kitchen is crowded with their presence, in the steam and the scent and the bubbling pot that holds so much more than soup.

I got lost in that thought as I stirred and skimmed that day. My 17-year-old came into the kitchen.

“Soup!” he said. I nodded. “You know, you have

to write that recipe down for me before I go away to school next year.” I nod again, mostly because I couldn’t talk in that minute. “Is it done yet?”

How will I know if it’s done?

I’ll know.

Stacey Zisook Robinson has been pub-

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adVErtisiNG iNdEx

Yiddish theater

Continued fron page E9 reading Isaac Bashevis Singer stories in high school. She scoured the two shelves of Boston’s public library dedicated to Yiddish literature and became enamored with other Jewish writers such as Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud and Chaim Grabe. She saw connections to Irish literature and culture: a similar quick wit, self-deprecating sense of humor and the suffocating influence of religion.

O’Brien then studied Yiddish literature at Boston University. During her senior year, while digging in the Yiddish theater archives at Harvard, she stumbled upon work by Joseph Buloff, a former Yiddish theater star.

A librarian there suggested she meet with Buloff ’s wife, Luba Kadison, who was living in New York.

Kadison, a former star of the illustrious Vilna Troupe — one of the world’s most famous Yiddish theater companies between the world wars — would become one of O’Brien’s mentors. The pair would meet weekly to go over Yiddish scripts and talk about their craft.

“I wasn’t really meeting Jewish per-

Credit: Wikimedia Commons lished in several magazines and anthologies. She is the author of the book, dancing in the Palm of God’s Hand. She blogs at http://staceyzrobinson.blogspot.com.

son to non-Jewish person with Luba,” O’Brien said. “It was artist to artist.”

Baker, too, also was mentored weekly by Kadison. His interest in Yiddish theater was piqued when he saw a Yiddish play in the early 1990s starring Mina Bern. Entranced by her performance, he wanted to talk with her after the show — but language proved to be a barrier. Inspired, Baker decided to learn Yiddish and soon began meeting regularly with Bern, who helped him make connections in the Yiddish theater scene (and introduced him to Jewish delicacies such as tzimmes and tongue sandwiches).

When this God of Vengeance run is over, O’Brien will put the finishing touches on her book on Rexite. Baker will get back to adapting Sholem Aleichem stories into humorous plays for the Congress for Jewish Culture.

Both will continue pushing for greater appreciation of the language and culture they have grown to love.

“With the right choice of materials and marketing and exposure,” Baker said, “there’s great growth potential for Yiddish culture.”

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E12 | The Jewish Press | September 15, 2017

Have a happy and healthy New Year!

League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Auxiliary

L’Shana Tovah

B’nai Israel Synagogue A Century of Tradition 618 Mynster Street, Council Bluffs 51503 Best wishes for a Happy, Healthy New Year!

Sabine Strong Volunteer Coordinator 402.330.4272 Ext. 6519 sstrong@rbjh.com

Best wishes to our wonderful community for a sweet, healthy, happy year.

May this year bring the fulfillment of our most fervent wishes and dreams.

Rabbi Mendel and Shani Katzman and Family Chabad Board Members and Volunteers

You’re always welcome at B’nai Israel!

National Register of Historic Places

OTYG Omaha Temple IsraelYouth Group

wishes everyone a Peaceful and Prosperous New Year!

JEWISH WAR VETERANS of AMERICA Epstein Morgan Post 260

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and peaceful Rosh Hashanah.

FREE membership to all active-duty personnel Contact: Jay Benton, Commander 402-250-6133 We welcome any and all new members

Best wishes for a Happy, Healthy New Year The Natan and Hannah Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha wishes all our Friends and supporters a

Beth Israel Synagogue | Beth Israel Sisterhood Jewish Youth Experience at Beth Israel (JYE BI)

Happy New Year

With Your Help We’ll Have A Great Past Ahead Of Us

Best Wishes for a Happy New Year

Henry Monsky Lodge B’nai B’rith

Happy & Healthy New Year Benefactor $1,000 • Platinum $500 Gold $250 • Patron-1 Year $100 Sponsor $50 • Regular $25

National Council of Jewish Women Omaha Section

NCJW extends its warmest wishes to the Jewish community for a Joyous New Year.