thejewishpress AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA
this week
WWW.JEWISHOMAHA.ORG
SpONSOrEd by tHE bENJaMiN aNd aNNa E. WiESMaN FaMiLy ENdOWMENt FuNd
JCC Maccabi team Omaha
SEPT EMBER 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 | 2 T ISH REI 5 7 7 8 | V O L. 9 7 | NO . 4 8 | C a Nd LELi g H ti Ng | FRID AY , SEPT EMBER 2 2 , 7 : 0 3 P. M.
Lincoln PJ Library family outing page 5
t
rachel Kricsfeld, left, Laura Kirshenbaum, rachel Martin, david Kay, david Seelig of Oklahoma City and Lev denenberg
2018 Annual Campaign Major Donor events pages 8 & 9
raCHEL MartiN eam Omaha had an awesome week at the 2017 JCC Maccabi Games in Birmingham, AL, July 30Aug. 4. Five Jewish teen athletes from Omaha and Oklahoma City trained, prepared for and represented the Omaha delegation. More than 1000 athletes from seven countries came together to compete in athletics, connect with Jewish teens, and give back to both
Mega turn out for the Mega Challah Bake page 11
inside Viewpoint Synagogues Life cycles
12 14 15
The Volunteer Coordinator and Activities Team at RBJH
Emily Clement, left, Sarah Navratil, Jill Ohlmann, Sabine Strong, Maggie Conti and Mary Heiman
OzziE NOgg Maggie Conti, Director of Activities and Outreach Programs at the Rose Blumkin Home, bubbles with enthusiasm when she talks about Sabine Strong, the Rose Blumkin Home Volunteer Coordinator, and
the RBJH Activities Coordinators — Mary Heiman, Jill Ohlmann, Sarah Navratil, and Emily Clement. “Sabine has been in charge of coordinating our volunteers since February,” Maggie explained, “acting as a liaison between the Home and LOVE. Our Activities Directors are called Coordinators now, and Mary Heiman has been part of the team since 2008. Jill Ohlmann started last September. Sarah Navratil was a Geriatric Intern who worked here during her last semester at UNO. When Karen Menagh, one of our veteran Activities Directors, left for Texas because her husband got a new job there, Sarah switched gears and took Karen’s place. It was perfect timing. And Emily Clement replaced Karen Hook when See Meet the team page 4
the Jewish and greater communities of Birmingham. Team Omaha may be the only delegation that came home with more medals than members of the entire delegation! Southern hospitality is no joke in Birmingham. All of the volunteers, security officers, and staff were incredibly friendly and accommodating to the JCC Maccabi Games athletes and participants. There was a police escort for each See JCC Maccabi team page 2
Judaism explored
Sam Looking for Jews near Ødda, Norway.
SaM LiEb aNd EtHaN pOtaSH This summer, at 20 years of age each, we had the opportunity to travel to Israel together. We have been close friends since our third grade Hebrew School class. We went through bar mitzvahs, middle school and BBYO together, and this summer we wanted to experience the country we had heard so much about, while at the same time testing the limits of how many days in a row we could eat exclusively falafel. We decided to go on Birthright, and found out that we had some funds available through the Passport to Israel program to do some additional travelling after the tour. So we set off on
a five-week journey to Israel, Holland and Norway in search of chickpeas and a better understanding of our culture. Most of our time in Israel was spent with a large tour group, seeing the sights rapid-fire in an attempt to experience as much of the country as possible. Starting in the North we hiked in the rugged Golan Heights, saw the towns of Tiberius and Tzfat and got to know the 38 other Americans we were travelling with. We went on to haggle in the markets of Jerusalem and party in Tel Aviv, bringing in the Sabbath on the shores of the Dead Sea. We went See Judaism explored page 3