September 27, 2019

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The CHS Alumni Association held the inaugural Hall of Fame induction ceremony Sept. 30, 1999. Since that time, a ceremony has been held annually and a total of 188 people have been inducted.

The 21st Annual CHS Hall of Fame will be held Thursday, Oct. 3, at Central High School. The CHS Alumni Association was proud to induct ten individuals whose paths from the halls of Central High School led them to the highest levels of achievement in business and community service. Inductees are selected by the Central High School Alumni Association and the program is presented by the Central High School Foundation.

The late Stanley Silverman, left, and Ted Seldin

Gabby blair Staff Writer, Jewish Press he Jewish Business Leaders (JBL) third annual Hall of Fame Breakfast will take place Oct. 26 from 7:30-9 a.m. at the Happy Hollow Club (1701 S. 105th Street).

An initiative of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, JBL strives to bring Omaha’s Jewish businesses together to highlight the entrepreneurs, founders and change makers in our community while creating opportunities to connect, teach and leverage relationships to build a stronger Jewish Omaha.

Founded three years ago by Alex Epstein, this initiative is nearly 100 members strong and growing. “Jewish Business Leaders is an important outlet for the people in our community to connect and have a place to do business with one another. This has gone on for generations within our community; now we have an intentional outlet for it. The other reason JBL is successful is because our community enjoys learning about one another’s business ventures and hearing the stories from what often are multi-generational companies,” Epstein said.

See Jbl Hall of Fame page 3

Mainstreeters October lineup

inside

Central High School Hall of Fame

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Mali: Fran versus the Diviner of the Desert Page 6

Suicide Prevention Education Walk Page 6

SPOnSOred by THe benJaMin and anna e. WieSMan FaMily endOWMenT Fund

MaGGie COnTi Director of Activities and Volunteer Services, RBJH Friday, Oct. 4: Visit UNO Criss Library to see the exhibit Shirley Goldstein’s Immigrant Rights Legacy: Operation Exodus in Omaha. Cost is $5 per person. Have lunch at the STAR Deli before departing to UNO. The deli hours are 11:30-1 p.m. If you sign up for the tour you will receive a $5 voucher to STAR Deli to use for Oct. 4 only. The exhibit will highlight the impact of Shirley Goldstein and the Omaha Jewish community’s activist work on behalf of Soviet Jewish emigres from the 1970s

Shirley Goldstein

through the 1990s. Included on display are Shirley Goldstein’s archival papers and oral histories collected from Soviet Jewish emigres who settled in Omaha and community members who participated in Operation Exodus. Depart from the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home by a small bus at 1:30 p.m. to return by approximately 3:30 p.m. Space is limited – first come first served! Sign up early because it might sell out! Cost for transportation is $5 round trip.

Deadline for Reservations: Friday, Sept. 27 (if there is still room on the bus). Make check payable to Jewish Social Services. Send Reservation with full payment to Mainstreeters, c/o Maggie Conti, 323 S. 132nd Street, Omaha, NE 68154.

Monday, Oct. 7: Balance & Dizziness Workshop, 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Boardroom. No Charge. Invite a friend.

Presented by Nicholas Muchowicz, PT, MPT | Board Certified Physical Therapist. As the owner of Active Spine Physical Therapy, Nick has See Mainstreeters page 2

C.M. “nick” newman | Class of 1943 Newman proved a visionary in growing his family’s grocery business into a regional industry leader, but his most lasting contributions came through his dedication to equality and helping the disadvantaged. After attending MIT and Stanford, he earned an MBA at the University of Chicago. Shortly thereafter, he became president of Hinky Dinky, transforming it from a chain of 30 small groceries into 45 modern supermarkets. An industry innovator, he then developed a concept of operating food departments within department stores, at its zenith featuring 40 locations from coast to coast. Newman possessed a dedication to equal employment opportunities that went far beyond his stores. He was one of the founders of the Boys Club of Omaha, funded new playgrounds in north Omaha and helped launch a new minority-owned community bank. He also served as president of Goodwill Industries and Omaha’s Jewish Federation. His life was tragically cut short in 1973 at age 47 by cancer. Shortly before his death, he was awarded the Nebraska Urban League’s first Whitney Young Memorial Award for his contributions to civil rights and equality. One can only imagine what he would have accomplished had he lived a full life. eugene Zweiback | Class of 1955 As one of Omaha’s best known general and vascular surgeons, Zweiback has mended many hearts and shown a big one outside the operating room through his charitable endeavors.

Zweiback earned his “Speedy” nickname See Central High School page 2

Central High School

2 | The Jewish Press | September 27, 2019

community A Free Afternoon at the Movies: Yesterday, Friday, Oct. 25. 1 p.m. in the JCC Theater. Complimentary popcorn, warm and delicious, will be served. No reservations are necessary. Bring a pal. Jack Malik is a struggling singer-songwriter in a tiny English seaside town whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading, despite the fierce devotion and support of his childhood best friend, Ellie. Then, after a freak bus accident during a mysterious Continued from page 1 over 16 years of outpatient physical therapy experience specializing in spine disorders, post-surgical spine patients, orthopedic injuries and balance issues. Do you lose your balance at home or in the community? Do you get dizzy when you get out of bed or up from a chair? Do you get dizzy or feel like the room is spinning? You will learn: What nicholas Muchowicz, Pt, MPt causes balance issues and Credit: Strata Healthcare dizziness; top three exercises to decrease the risk of falling; how to improve your balance issues. Refreshments will be served. To RSVP by Wednesday, Oct. 2, please call Maggie Conti at 402.334.6521 or email mconti@rbjh.com.

Sunday, Oct. 20: Joy of Laughter presents Tim Walkoe at 1:30 p.m. at (NEW LOCATION) The Heritage at Sterling Ridge, 1111 Sterling Ridge Road. Tim is a comedian, musician, Woodstock survivor! Our first show at Sterling Ridge.

Join us for a FREE comedy show starring Tim Walkoe, a Grand Prize Winner of ABC TV’s America’s Funniest People.

This quick-witted comedian and musician will make you think as hard as you laugh! Free refreshments afterward.

Sponsored by The Meyers Family Legacy of Laughter Endowment Fund of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation.

Comedian tim Walkoe global blackout, Jack wakes up to discover that The Beatles have never existed... and he finds himself with a very complicated problem, indeed. This film is 1 hour and 57 minutes and is rated PG-13 (for suggestive content and language).

Don’t be late for the show! Bring a sweater. If you have any questions or would like to enjoy a Star Deli lunch in the Blumkin Home Auditorium before the movie, call Maggie Conti at 402.334.6521. Lunch is on your own. The Star Deli opens for business at 11:30 a.m.

Mainstreeters welcomes all Jewish residents of the Omaha area age 60 plus. The group offers a variety of learning opportunities plus social and cultural events. We have additional first-run movies and special surprises planned for the fall and winter months. Be sure to join the good times.

Organizations

B’nai B’rith BreadBreakerS

dr. ari kohen, UNL Professor, on his recent trip to Europe, Anti-Semitism, and the recently held Israeli elections on Wednesday, Oct. 2, noon. For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewish omaha.org.

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Continued from page 1 as an athlete at Central before going on to Princeton University and then received a medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Military service followed and Major Zweiback served as chief of surgery at the Air Force Academy Hospital in Colorado Springs. Following a post graduate vascular fellowship under world renowned heart surgeon Michael De Bakey, he returned to his native Omaha. His primary practice was at Clarkson Hospital, but he practiced Speedy Zweiback throughout the city including two years as president of the Midlands Hospital staff. He also served as president of the Metropolitan Omaha Medical Society and spent three decades as a surgical instructor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Charitable work has included volunteering to provide medical services for the indigent in both Phoenix and Omaha.

He has served on the boards of Special Olympics, University of Nebraska Internal Review Board and the Jewish Community Center. h. Bruce Bernstein | Class of 1961 Bernstein has been recognized as an expert in finance and insolvency law during his more than 50-year career. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he became associated with, and later a partner of, the Chicago-based law firm of Sidley Austin LLP. As part of Sidley’s executive and management committees, Bernstein helped the firm grow from 140 to over 2,000 attorneys with offices in more than 20 cities around the world. He has testified before Congress and participated in the drafting of the Federal Bankruptcy Code, the Uniform Commercial Code and the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, and has frequently written and lectured on these laws. He served as chair of the Bruce Bernstein commercial law sections of both the Chicago and Illinois State Bar Associations, as fellows of both the American College of Bankruptcy and the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers and as a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference. For many years Bernstein also served as the general counsel of the Commercial Finance Association, an international trade association representing the asset-based lending and factoring industries. He has been active in Jewish charitable causes and a generous supporter of the Central High School Foundation.

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Continued from page 1 This year’s JBL board members include Epstein, Tamara Draeger, Adam Kirshenbaum, Jerry Slusky, Alan Tipp and Steve Levinger. Each year the board considers companies and business professionals for induction into the Hall of Fame and are pleased to announce that this year’s inductees are Ted Seldin, Stanley Silverman (of blessed memory) and The Seldin Company.

Steve Levinger, JFO Chief Development Officer shares that Seldin Company’s selection as this year’s inductee to the JBL Hall of Fame was because it “stands out as such an iconic Omaha business that has had significant and meaningful impact in our community for decades.”

Founded by World War I veteran Ben I. Seldin in 1923, the firm began as a one-man insurance company in Council Bluffs, Iowa. In the years since its inception, Seldin Company, an awardwinning multifamily management organization headquartered in Omaha, has emerged as a leader in home building, diversified property development and asset management, creating housing for a wide range of clientele across seven states.

According to the company website, Seldin Company’s mission “is to preserve and nurture our presence in the community by providing quality comprehensive real estate and property asset management services in an ethical and professional manner.” This mission stays true to Ben Seldin’s original business ideal that a “deal must be fair to both parties or it’s not good for either parties.”

Ben Seldin grew his business and earned his real estate license in 1940. He was joined soon afterwards by his sons Ted and Millard and son-in-law Stanley Silverman after they completed service in the United States Air Force and Navy, respectively. As a business born of service men, hard work, dedication, loyalty and service are an integral part of this company’s fabric. The company continues to grow with generations of the Seldin family working together to operate various facets of the business drawing on the Jewish tradition of L’dor V’dor.

“It’s a privilege to induct Seldin Companies into the Hall of Fame,” explains Epstein. “Ted Seldin, the late Stan Silverman, and their families have had a remarkable run in real estate for generations. The reputation of their company is that of class and doing things the right way. The company’s roots from 1923 to now are special as they continue to be family owned and now have a third generation involved. The company continues to grow at a rapid pace. JBL is honored to have the opportunity to induct such a storied company run by two brilliant families who have had a remarkable impact on Greater Omaha and beyond.”

Ted Seldin was born and raised in Council Bluffs. He earned a BA in economics from the University of Iowa and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Iowa Law School before joining the Air Force. After his active duty ended, he remained in the reserves for 16 years, until his honorable discharge in 1968. After moving to Omaha with his wife, Sarah, the Seldins became ac-

The Jewish Press | September 27, 2019 | 3

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JBL Hall of Fame

tive members of the Jewish Community.

Selected as the JFO Humanitarian of

Ted Seldin

Stanley Silverman 1940 high school graduation portrait the Year in 2015, Ted Seldin’s contributions to Omaha are numerous. He has served on the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce Housing Committee and its Board of Directors as well as on a variety of other boards, including Temple Israel, where he was President. Seldin also served as President of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation from 1994-1996 and continues his role as a board member to this day.

His influence on the Omaha landscape through both his company’s real estate development and his volunteer work cannot be overstated. Seldin’s career always focused on so much more than the work itself; for Ted Seldin, community engagement is obviously a high priority.

In a 2010 Jewish Press article, Bert Lewis wrote, “In spite of all Ted Seldin’s accomplishments, he remains humble and likes to point the spotlight away from himself.” In 2012, Seldin was inducted into the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and in 2013 The University of Iowa Alumni Association presented him with the Distinguished Alumni Award, calling him “an entrepreneur with a social conscience.”

Stanley Silverman was born in 1922 to David and Bessie Silverman of Omaha.

A graduate of Central High School, Silverman graduated from Iowa State Collage with a BS in Chemical Engineering.

Throughout his life, Silverman worked many jobs and was not afraid of hard work. In his autobiography, he shares many details of jobs he held from a young age, such as delivering groceries and newspapers, canning pickles and learning halachic slaughter of chickens to digging trenches at Offut Air Force Base and working in packinghouses as

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Upon his graduation from Iowa State in December of 1943, Stanley took a position at Phillips Petroleum in Oklahoma. While home for a few weeks between graduating college and starting his new job in January 1944, Stanley met Norma Seldin and the two began dating. Over the next few months, they maintained a long distance relationship, and enjoyed occasional visits. By August, the couple was married and Silverman had enlisted in the U.S. Navy. After his time in the service, Silverman found work in Chicago before his own young and growing family returned to Omaha where he worked for the city’s smoke abatement department and as a chemist for Quaker Oats. He also began helping at his father-in-law’s insurance and home building company, eventually joining the family business at the Seldin Company full time.

Over a career spanning 50 years, Silverman worked his way up from writing newspaper ads for new builds, to helping guide the Seldin Company as Secretary, Treasurer, senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer. Working closely with brother-in-law Ted, Stanley helped the Seldin Company create the legacy it has today. Silverman passed away in September 2016, just before his 94th birthday.

Alan Potash, JFO CEO calls the Seldins “Strong community builders, not just in commercial and residential building but strong supporters of the Jewish community in Omaha and Council Bluffs and many other institutions.” Potash added, “In conversations with people that know the Seldin family, one hears about the contributions they have made throughout the years. Their involvement ranges from supporting the Jewish Federation of Omaha and its agencies, the ADL and the Institute for Holocaust Education, Temple Israel, UNO, to the cemetery in Council Bluffs.

Ted has been a mentor for me in many different areas.”

Seldin is a company that cares about its people, and it shows. As one of the earliest providers of benefits and health insurance to employees and their families, Seldin also gave back to their communities by donating land for schools, fire stations, community centers, libraries and places of worship. In addition to building many familiar Omaha family neighborhoods, like Montclair, Royalwood Estates and Westwood, Seldin Company is a leader in providing dignified and quality senior living options for a broad range of demographics. Among the most important real estate work Ted Seldin has been involved in is the development and management of low-income senior housing, including Livingston Plaza, on the JCC campus. Early on, he saw the need for decent places where seniors can live in dignity and security, and fought hard for FHA housing assistance for seniors.

The thoughtful investments of the Seldin Company into not only the Jewish Community, but into the neighborhoods of greater Omaha, are just a few examples of what makes the Jewish Federation of Omaha and the JBL proud to name Ted, Stanley and the Seldin Company as the 2019 Jewish Business Leaders Hall of Fame inductees.

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calendar OctOber 2019

All events held at the Jewish community center unless otherwise noted. This calendar does not include all community events. For a complete listing, visit the Federation’s website: www.jewishomaha.org (click on calendar). To keep calendar accurate, call Pat Anson at 402.334.8200. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the accuracy of the events.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 Human Rights Week at UNO-Omaha Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH Mainstreeters Movie, 1 p.m.

OJAA Rosh Hashanah Tailgate, 4 p.m.

Pre-Neg and Six String Shabbat, 5:30 p.m. at Beth El

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14 JCC Closed for Sukkot

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 First Aid/CPR, 7:45 a.m.

Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17 Book Group Film, 11:30 a.m.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 JCC Closed for Rosh Hashanah TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1 JCC Closed for Rosh Hashanah WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2 Breadbreakers and Speaker, noon at RBJH FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4 Friday Learning Series with Dr. Greenspoon, 11:15 a.m.

Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5 Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6 Sukkah Building, 9 a.m. at Beth El Torah Study, 10 a.m. at Beth El Israeli Cooking Workshop with Ron Lugasy, Community Shlicha, 4:30 p.m. at Beth Israel MONDAY, OCTOBER 7 Eye on Israel, noon

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9 JCC Closed for Yom Kippur Wilson Lectures, noon at UNO Weber Fine Arts Bldg-Art Gallery Reading Series with Bak Exhibit, 7:30 p.m. at UNO Weber Fine Arts Bldg-Art Gallery FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH Temple Israel Shabbat Comes to You at Heritage on Sterling Ridge, 4 p.m.

Tot Shabbat, 5:30 p.m. at Beth El Monthly Shabbat Speaker Series, 7:30 p.m. at B’nai Israel, Council Bluffs, IA. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12 Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13 Sukkah Building, 9 a.m. at Beth El Torah Study, 10 a.m. at Beth El From My Mothers Kitchen, 10:30 a.m. at Beth El Musical Theater Rehearsals, 3 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16 Breadbreakers and Speaker, noon at RBJH Educator’s Evening, 4:30 p.m. at UNO Weber Fine Arts Bldg-Art Gallery

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 Life Guarding Class, 8 a.m.

Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20 Life Guarding Class, 8 a.m.

Torah Study, 10 a.m. at Beth El Musical Theater Rehearsals, 3 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23 Jewish Business Leaders, 7:30 a.m. at Happy Hollow Country Club Breadbreakers and Speaker, noon at RBJH The Ethics of Juvenile Solitary Confinement Class, 6 p.m. at Beth El Community Beit Midrash, 7:30 p.m.

Reading Series with Bak Exhibit, 7:30 p.m. at UNO Weber Fine Arts Bldg-Art Gallery THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24 Whistleblowers in the Past & Present: From Soviet Café to the Internet, 6 p.m. at UNO Criss Library FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25 Star Deli, 11:30 a.m. at RBJH Pre Neg and Six String Shabbat, 5:30 p.m. at Beth El SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26 Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. at Temple Israel SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27 First Aid CPR, 8 a.m.

Klutznick Symposium, 8 a.m.

Torah Study, 10 a.m. at Beth El Musical Theater Rehearsals, 3 p.m.

Beth El Young Families, 5 p.m. at Vala’s Pumpkin Patch WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30 Breadbreakers and Speaker, noon at RBJH The Ethics of the Environment Class, 6 p.m at Beth El

BBB Integrity awards

The vision of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is “an ethical marketplace where buyers and sellers can trust each other.” In this spirit, BBB’s Foundation held its 24th Annual Integrity Awards Event to gain public recognition for organizations that go “above and beyond” in serving all of their stakeholders and their community.

The 2019 Award Winners were selected from among applications submitted to independent panels of judges representing businesses and academic and charitable organizations in metro Omaha. They were honored on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at the Integrity Awards Luncheon held at the Embassy Suites Omaha - La Vista Conference Center.

In the large for-profit and not-for profit business categories, Integrity Awards were presented to Bridges Trust, a privately owned wealth management company (25-99 employees); The Schemmer Associates, Inc. an architecture, engineering and construction firm (100-249 employees); Seldin Company, a property management and leasing business (250-499 employees) and WoodmenLife, a not-forprofit life insurance company (500+ employees).

outlook Nebraska hosts Dinner and Dessert in the Dark

More than 15,000 metro area residents are blind or visually impaired. You can help these neighbors lead more fulfilling lives through adaptive tech training, cultural and recreational activities provided by Outlook Enrichment.

We invite you to attend our Vision Beyond Sight Dinner and Dessert in the Dark, Friday, oct. 18 from 6-9 p.m. at Embassy Suites La Vista Conference Center.

Vision Beyond Sight is an eye-opening sensory experience. You will meet those in our community who directly benefit from your attendance and participation in this fundraising event. All event proceeds support Outlook Enrichment’s programs. We will also celebrate Outlook Nebraska’s award winners and nominees.

While you enjoy a gourmet meal and dessert in the dark, you will learn how Outlook Nebraska impacts lives and changes perspectives of blindness. Meet some of Outlook Nebraska’s visually impaired associates and be inspired by low-vision World Champion martial artist Chip Townsend.

Chip began his journey in martial arts at the age of 13. He lost his right eye at the age of three because of an accident. Despite this, Chip adopted the mindset of never letting his disability hold him back.

Chip holds 14 International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) World Titles in Breaking and seven ISKA World Records. He performs stunts that martial artists with two eyes struggle with or cannot fathom. He has been featured on ESPN, the Discovery Channel, and NBC's America's Got Talent. Chip is also a multi-time Hall of Fame Inductee for martial arts. These successes give him a powerful platform to impact others.

Buy your tickets and reserve your table at https://outlookne. org/event/auto-draft/.

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The Jewish Press | September 27, 2019 | 5

community

P

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur at B’nai Israel

NaNcy WoLF ceived her masters in Jewish Education Why We Pray?, will surely be inspiring. lease join us for our mean- from the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Dr. Greenspoon is Klutznick Chair in ingful and participatory She has spent the last 13 years working Jewish Civilization at Creighton UniverHigh Holiday services at in a variety of Jewish settings including sity, where he is also Professor of ClasB’nai Israel in Council several summer camps and was the Re- sical and Near Eastern Studies and of Bluffs!

Theology. The author or Once again we are editor of almost 30 books, pleased to welcome Jeffrey Greenspoon is a specialist Taxman as our Cantorial in the Hebrew Bible, SecSoloist, a role he has ond Temple Judaism, served with inspiration Bible Translation, and Reand great heart for more ligion in Popular Culture. than 18 years. Jeffrey has a Jim Fried will share his life-long love of music and thoughts at the morning participation in the Jewish Yom Kippur Service, Oct. Jeffrey Taxman Leonard Greenspoon Jim Fried community. Jeffrey’s ca9 at 10:30 a.m. His rereer as a Cantorial Soloist began in 1973 gional Director of EMTZA USY. Most marks: Sin and Forgiveness: In the World filling in over December holidays with recently she served as the Assistant Di- and in Ourselves, will address how we Rabbi Sidney Brooks at Temple Israel in rector of Educational Engagement at the deal with the mystery of the human Omaha. He taught music at Temple Is- University of Michigan Hillel and was condition. rael in San Antonio, Texas during col- the Campus Director of the University An Omaha native, Jim is the first genlege and again in New York City during of Denver Hillel prior to that. She is ex- eration of his family born in America. His graduate school. After returning to cited to have returned home and is hon- parents, Magda and Sam Fried, of blessed Omaha in 1980, Cantor Firestone asked ored to be in a role that enables her to memory, both Auschwitz Survivors, were him to sing tenor in the High Holiday give back to the community in which active in Holocaust Education and the Quartet at Temple Israel. Jeffrey also she grew up. Currently she serves as Di- Omaha Jewish Community. A retired sang High Holidays for three years for rector of Development for the Jewish technology and management consultant, the Jewish Chaplain at Ouffut Air Force Federation of Omaha.

Jim is currently President Elect of the Base in Bellevue.

On Rosh Hashanah morning, Sept. Jewish Federation of Omaha, Chairman Jeffrey taught music in the Temple Is- 30 at 10:30 a.m., Nate Shapiro returns Emeritus of The Plains States Region of rael Sunday school for 20 years and to B’nai Israel to share his inspirational the Anti-Defamation League, and a filled in when the cantors were away for message Rosh Hashanah: Moving For- Board Trustee at Beth El Synagogue. vacation, illness, maternity leave and ward, While Looking Back.

The Memorial service immediately conferences.

Nate grew up in Wayne, Nebraska, follows the Yom Kippur morning service.

He enjoys singing with Rabbi Ari served in the IDF in Israel, worked for a The Yom Kippur Concluding service is Dembitzer and friends on Shabbos at time at the Jewish Federation of Omaha held at 5:30 p.m., with a dairy Break-theBeth Israel as well as at the Blumkin and is an active member of our Jewish Fast community potluck to follow. Please Home for Hanukkah.

Community. He currently serves as Ex- contact Carole Lainof at 402.293.0321 for We have an outstanding line-up of ecutive Director of Beth Israel Synagogue. information about Break-the-Fast. speakers!

Dr. Leonard Greenspoon has delivered B’nai Israel is not affiliated with any speFor the Erev Rosh Hashanah service the D’var Torah for Kol Nidre services at cific Jewish denomination, and we welSunday, Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m., Jamie B’nai Israel for Kol Nidre for more than come all who wish to worship with us. We Skog-Burke will share her thoughts on 15 years, and we are honored to announce strive to provide a comfortable, friendly the topic: Standing at an Intersection: In- that he will do so again on Oct. 8 at 7:30 service, in a traditional setting. We are a dividual Identity & Jewish Peoplehood. p.m. His topic, Vows, Vowels and Virtue: short drive from Omaha, just a block Jamie is an Omaha native who re- Does It Really Matter When, Where and north of Broadway. Hope to see you!

6 | The Jewish Press | September 27, 2019

community Suicide Prevention Education Walk

Top picture: Dave Livingston, left, Billie Bankus, Les Kay, Arla Edelbaum, Harold Edelbaum and Helen Kay. Not pictured: Bobbie Bankus, Jay Durmaskin, Tina Gardner, Cheryl Lerner, Jackie Livingston, Jayden Moser, Riley Shafer and Shari Sterenberg; Bottom picture: Front row: Danni Christiansen with son Donivan, left, Karen Gustafson, Amy Tipp, Teresa Drelicharz; Back row: Jeff Gustafson, Mariana Nieto, Buey Ray Tut, Michael Raffel.

Not pictured: Ron Hackbart and Connar Hackbart.

MARiANA NiETo Assistant to the Executive Director, Jewish Family Service On Sunday Sept. 8, the Omaha walk for Suicide Prevention Education, called “Out of the Darkness Walk,” took place in several states across the country.

Jewish Family Service has a Suicide Prevention Education program that is funded by a grant from e Dennis Schuman Charitable Foundation, and we do several programs every year.

Postcards were sent to the community, communicating the Omaha Walk info for people who wanted to attend and join the JFS team. Some people had their own team names, since they have different connections to suicide and wanted to honor a loved one.

i

Mali: Fran versus the Diviner of the Desert RiCH JuRo t was with some trepidation that Fran and I signed on for a journey through Mali. This large landlocked country adjoining the Sahara Desert in the middle of West Africa is known nowadays more for its poverty and heat than for anything else.

This was just a few years before Al Queda dominated and terrorized much of the nation. We found an ancient civilization, friendly people, and a true test of Fran’s power.

We flew into Bamako, located on the banks of the Niger River. That waterway flows for many hundreds of miles winding through the savannahs of West Africa, eventually emptying into the ocean. It serves as the main channel for travel and commerce in the whole sub-Saharan area. Bamako itself is very unimpressive in appearance and functionality even though it is home to almost 2 million people and is the capital of Mali. For example, we tried to visit the national post office to buy first-day covers for stamp collectors, but it was never open when it was supposed to be.

Leaving Bamako, we flew up to Mopti, the jumping-off point for visiting the more interesting areas of Mali. A city squeezed between the junctions of two rivers, Mopti has little room to grow even though it is the country’s main port. Maybe the inability to expand, whether for housing or trash, is the reason the city is home to an amazing recycling site. There are hundreds of little stalls where old metal from petroleum drums, machinery, containers or anything else is melted down in small hot kilns and reshaped into new usable articles such as utensils and kitchenware.

The next day we drove a long distance to visit the home of the Dogon (pronounced “Doe-gone”) people. Over 1,000 years ago, refusing to convert to Islam, they retreated to a high escarpment near the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The Dogon have continued to live for centuries just as their ancestors did. The equivalent would be like visiting England today and finding medieval Anglo-Saxons living as serfs in feudal manors without electricity, heat or plumbing.

Stopping at a little village, we saw the simple mud huts that serve as homes. Only 2% of Mali is cultivated for agriculture; the arid land gives subsistence farming its true meaning. It’s a hard life. We watched a woman pounding grain with a large cylindrical club. I tried to imitate her ac-

tions but lasted only a minute.

The Dogon are animists, honoring their ancestors and the natural spirits. They have numerous taboos that exercise strict constraints over their daily lives. For example, menstruating women are banished to separate huts in the far end of the village so that others do not come into contact with them. Our guide, Temmay, grew up as an animist in a Dogon village, but when he moved to the city for further schooling he found it difficult to heed the long list of forbidden acts.

For instance, when living in a large community of strangers, how was he to stay away from menstruating women if he didn’t know who or where they were? So what did Temmay do? His frank answer: “I became a Muslim for convenience!”

Temmay and I were enjoying a cold beer at lunch one hot

Mali-Grand Mosque-made of Mud day, so I asked him, “How can you drink beer now that you are a follower of Islam?” He laughed and replied, “In my heart I’m still an animist.”

The academic expert with our group was a professor at Dartmouth College. She had researched and published articles on the women of Nigeria who had started successful small businesses and were hopefully becoming a force of their own in their country’s politics and economy.

As Mali is located just north of Nigeria, we appreciated her insights into the cultures of both nations.

A quick aside: we later went to The Gambia. Yes, the correct name of that tiny country on the West coast of Africa is The Gambia. We were surprised that our Dartmouth professor had no idea how to reach her cousin who lived in Banjul, the small capital city. Trying to be helpful, I accompanied her in her search for a telephone book. No such directory existed. But when a helpful shopkeeper asked who we were looking for, he said he had heard of the cousin and suggested we go to another shop where we would find a “person who knew everybody.” Sure enough, the know-itall did know the cousin, told us she was a lawyer and proposed to take us to the street where she lived. We took him up on his offer, and sure enough, our professor found her long-lost cousin.

See Mali page 12

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The Jewish Press | September 27, 2019 | 7

Our Story

Renee RatneR CoRCoRan Executive Director, Nebraska Jewish Historical Society Sunday, oct. 20 from 2 to 4 p.m., the National Council of Jewish Women-Nebraska and the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society will be celebrating the refurbishing of the Our Story exhibit in the JCC gallery. The display, which has been a favorite since the early 1980s, is getting a face-lift thanks to the generosity of the Milton S. and Corrine N. Livingston Foundation Fund. The exhibit, based on the Our Story book published in 1981 by NCJW-Nebraska, is a recollection of 57 storytellers sharing their memories and experiences of our early Jewish community.

NCJW is hosting a dessert reception and the entire community is invited.

Interest-free student loans available Diane WalkeR Scholarship Administrator The Jewish Federation of Omaha’s Financial Aid Committee administers the Benjamin & Elizabeth ‘Bess’ Stern Scholarship Loan Fund. The committee is pleased to announce that substantial interest-free loans are available for Jewish graduate students, regardless of geographic origin.

This need-based fund was created to make academic loans available to graduate level students in the following fields: • Higher mathematics, physics (both classical and quantum), astronomy, meteorology, astrophysics, engineering or a field related to any of the foregoing which allow us to know more about the universe in which we live; • Journalism, in its best sense of ethical, honest, and accurate reporting, and photo journalism; • Finance and economics; • Architecture* and related fields, including city planning, which affect the quality of life in a community; • Classical music (limited to piano, flute, cello and violin) to give young and old joy from the beauty of its sounds; and • Scientific research in rare and incurable human diseases for which no known complete cure has been found.

Loan recipients need not be residents of the Omaha metropolitan area but must be Jewish and must be attending either University of Nebraska Omaha, University of Nebraska Medical Center or Creighton University. *In addition, loans are available for coursework at the University of Nebraska Lincoln in the fields of Architecture, Astronomy and Meteorology.

Awards are interest-free loans, payable in

full over 15 years, beginning one year after graduation.

The Benjamin and Elizabeth ‘Bess’ Stern Scholarship Loan Fund was established at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation by sisters Louise H. Stern and Naomi Stern Jaffer in memory of their parents. Bess Stern was a descendant of Benjamin Stock, the brother of Devoshe (Mrs. Samuel) Riekes. Benjamin’s granddaughter, Gertrude Brodkey, was married to Justice Donald Brodkey, the first Jew to serve on the Nebraska Supreme Court.

Colonel Benjamin Stern taught mathematics and physics at Omaha University after his retirement from the U.S. Army. An Omaha native with military decorations including the Air Medal, the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm Leaf, Col. Stern founded the Cadet Corps at Creighton University, the foundation for Creighton ROTC. Col. Stern was the first Jewish person from Omaha to receive an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He graduated from West Point in 1923, did graduate work at Rutgers University and earned a master’s degree in science from the California Institute of Technology. Certainly, education was important to both Benjamin and Elizabeth Stern.

Loans will be made based on demonstrated financial need and character to qualified Jewish graduate students. The application deadline for this special offering (for use in the 2020 spring semester) is Nov. 1, 2019. The application is available on the Jewish Federation website – www.jewishomaha.org.

Please contact Diane Walker at 402.334.6407 or dwalker@jewishomaha.org with any questions.

the arts publishing date | 10.18.19 space reservation | 10.08.19

Contact our advertising executive to promote your business in this very special edition.

Susan Bernard | 402.334.6559 | sbernard@jewishomaha.org

Compassion is a lesson that can’t be unlearned.

inspire your senses at Pure Inspiration

piece of the Omaha community.

At the Center for Childhood Deafness, LanSee the beautiful works of art and auction guage and Learning, the educators, speech-lanitems available for purchase, plus a special exhibit guage pathologists, early intervention specialists created by the children in the Center for Childand therapists strive to change the way America hood Deafness, Language and Learning preschool cares for kids who are deaf and hard of hearing program. and kids who have communication disorders by Feel the warmth in your heart as you provide giving them access to the sights and sounds of hope for families in Omaha and across the state the world. who use the programs at the Center. Attendees The Center invites community members to help will have the opportunity to hear from a patient with this purpose by tapping into some of their family directly impacted by the Center for Childown senses at Pure Inspiration, thursday, oct.

10 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Lied Learning & hood Deafness, Language and Learning services.

Technology Center, 425 N. 30th Street.

Proceeds from Pure Inspiration will benefit the taste some of the finest food, wine and spirits Center for Childhood Deafness, Language and that Omaha has to offer. Local restaurants are Learning at Boys Town National Research Hospital. bringing in gourmet small plates, which will be exTo purchase tickets for Pure Inspiration or learn pertly paired with a variety of wines and spirits. more about the event and the cause it supports, Hear the soothing sounds of live music while visit BoystownHospital.org/inspiration. For enjoying pleasant conversation with friends – old event updates and previews, check out our event and new – who have gathered to support this on Facebook.

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8 | The Jewish Press | September 27, 2019

Above: The Russian Cultural Club enjoyed a beautiful day at UNO visiting two exhibits of the Shirley Goldstein’s Immigrant Rights Legacy and the Witness the Art of Samuel Bak exhibit with Curator Jeannette Gabriel. Participants enjoyed an Eastern European luncheon at the Criss Library. This event was sponsored by the Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Endowment Fund of the JFO Foundation and the Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Center for Human Rights.

Below: Families from across the community gathered at Friedel Jewish Academy for Super Science Sunday, where they enjoyed the Omaha Children’s Museum’s Space: It's Out of This World show and engaged in some fun hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) projects.

Above: Together with wife Sally, former Omahan Maynard Telpner lives in Oregon—but still reads the Jewish Press, even though he doesn’t recognize many of the people pictured. He’ll recognize this one!

SP O TLIGHT

Above: Resident Yu Sun and family enjoyed Grandparent’s Day at the photo booth.

JFO employees Amber (HR), above, and Russell (IT), below, spent a recent Saturday jumping out of a plane.

GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY

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

Above: Intergeneration Art Project with visiting artist Yitzchak Moully, students from Friedel Jewish Academy and Residents from the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

Above: Joshua Malina, who was the featured speaker at the JFO Community Event, made a stop at Friedel Jewish Academy’s Kindergarten class.

Above: Patricia Newman's dog Lily dressed as Wonder Girl at K9 Hero Day at Puppy Care.

The Jewish Press | September 27, 2019 | 9

viewpoint thejewishpress

(Founded in 1920) Abby Kutler President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Susan Bernard Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Gabby Blair Staff Writer

Jewish Press Board Abigail Kutler, President; Eric Dunning, Ex-Officio; Danni Christensen, Candice Friedman, Bracha Goldsweig, Jill Idelman, Andy Isaacson, Natasha Kraft, Andrew Miller, Eric Shapiro, Shoshy Susman and Amy Tipp.

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Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: wwwjewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’

Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content.

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American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press As- National Newspaper sociation Association Award winner 2008

i

Teshuva

ANNETTE vAN dE KAMP-WRiGhT Editor, Jewish Press t’s often difficult to read headlines about wellknown Jews who have made questionable decisions. It’s equally hard to write opinion pieces about it, because what do you say? Someone who happens to be Jewish did something bad; please don’t assume we’re all like that? It may be what we’re thinking, but we don’t necessarily like to dwell on it.

This is especially true when it come to sex crimes. The sheer notion others might suppose a correlation between Judaism and that sort of bad behavior makes us all nervous. When searching for yet another topic to write a column about, I automatically skip over the stories that deal with sexual abuse. I’ve been doing that for almost ten years. Avoiding Jeffrey Epstein as inspiration for my weekly 700-or-so words came naturally. But Epstein’s story is the tip of an ever-growing iceberg, and I am starting to wonder: is avoidance still the right thing?

It’s not really relevant to Jewish Omaha, I tell myself. I have nothing to add. But then I check the news wire and find the following headline: “FBI releases new details on Jewish day school administrator’s child pornography scheme.”

Immediately below it is another: “Former head of University of Iowa Hillel charged with sexually abusing young boy.”

I suddenly strikes me how my immediate response is refusing to engage. And while I wouldn’t go so far to say that it is my responsibility to pay attention to every single Jewish story I see, I am starting to think that if there is one specific topic I categorically walk away from, it might be time for some tough questions.

Last month, Samuel G. Freedman published a Q&A with Gary Rosenblatt, outgoing editor and publisher of the New York Jewish Week in the Columbia Journalism Review.

“Rosenblatt wrote, edited, and published,” Freedman said, “pioneering work investigating sexual harassment and assault, long before the #MeToo movement gave such

stories greater attention and impact.”

About the difficulty of producing these stories, Rosenblatt said: “This issue was about lashon hara, which is based on a Biblical quotation about not speaking publicly about somebody. It’s been interpreted to mean not only saying something negative about them but also, in some cases, saying anything about them publicly, because human nature is that, once you start talking about somebody in public, people will say critical things. I see it as kind of the central tenet of ethical journalism—right there in the Bible, in one sentence. It basically says, You shouldn’t be a talebearer. But you also shouldn’t let the blood of your neighbor go unattended. You should call out people and publicize when wrongdoing is done.” (cjr.org) Of course, Rosenblatt’s dilemma was much larger than ours: he had direct contact with victims and was faced with the choice to follow up and publish, rather than discussing what others had already written. If you are the first person to break the story, the stakes are incredibly high.

The question remains: are we doing ourselves a disservice by not putting these stories front- and center? Simply put: should we stop turning a blind eye and start talking about it? It’s impossible to answer these questions without quoting others much smarter than me.

“There is an inherent danger in talking about Jewish men and sexual perversion,” Rabbi Daniel Brenner wrote in 2018. “It would be much easier to simply address these issues by talking about “men” in general and to point to the patriarchy or to “toxic masculinity” or some other term which means “men and the abuse of power.” (medium.com/@danielbrenner) True, but there are other reasons why it’s hard to talk about: “One issue,” Dr. Elana Maryles Sztokman wrote for EJewishPhilanthropy.com, “is that ‘community,’ so valued in Jewish life, can be a double-edged sword. ‘We want people to promote community-like relationships,’ one informant

told me. ‘Which means that the people you work with might be the people you go to shul with or the people whose kids go to the same school as your kids. This is true also for board members and donors. But that can make it very difficult for [victims] to report problems they are experiencing.’”

It also makes it hard to pay attention to stories about abuse in other cities. These communities are, after all, not that different from us. They are almost too recognizable, too much like us. If it happens there, it could happen here, and that’s not something that’s easy to admit.

“In a world where current events are one salacious scandal after the next,” Rachael Bregman wrote for MyJewish Learning.com, “we are walking the edge all the time between information and gossip. It is our jobs to know enough and nothing more. Our inner curiosity needs to be held in check. We may be tempted to think we need to know all the details of this sex scandal or that. But we don’t. We need to trust the people who do need to know to do right and for the rest of us to leave the horrors of other people’s lives to them. One of the great traumas of sexual assault and harassment is needing to relive it again and again. When we decide to make the intimate details of other’s lives topics of dinner table conversation or the object of our own scrutiny, we re-victimize and re-traumatize.”

The edge between information and gossip, as Bregman calls it, is probably one of the biggest obstacles in discussing sexual assault in the Jewish community. Do we talk about the Jeffrey Epsteins and the Harvey Weinsteins of this world because it’s so scandalous? Or do we use this to initiate a real discussion, a way to address sexual assault that makes it better for the victims, including the ones that live in our own community? It’s a question we shouldn’t just ask—it’s one we must ultimately answer.

As uncomfortable as it may be.

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

How we are coping at Tree of Life synagogue a year after the massacre.

BETh KiSSiLEff PITTSBURGH | JTA Our sages teach us that “kol hatchalot kashot,” all beginnings are difficult. is phrase feels especially resonant this Rosh Hashanah. e man who blew the shofar last year at my Pittsburgh synagogue, New Light, is not here to blow it now. He was murdered on Oct. 27 at the Tree of Life synagogue, where the New Light and Dor Hadash congregations rented space. e sounds of the shofar, which Ashkenazi Jews have a custom of blowing in synagogue the entire month of Elul, have a different resonance to me now. e Sefer Hachinuch explains that “the Torah commanded us to make a sound similar to wailing” when we blow it. at won’t be hard; there is plenty to wail about this year. e Sefer Hahinuch adds, “Since a person is physical, he is only aroused by something that arouses, like the way of people during wartime [to] blow and even scream in order that they should be properly aroused for war … and the voice of the shofar arouses the heart of all its listeners … when he hears the broken sounds, he breaks the evil inclination of his heart for the desires of the world and his cravings.”

We need to hear this wailing, and be induced to wail ourselves, so that we can change. e Talmud (Rosh Hashana 33b) associates these sounds with the wailing of a bereaved mother of an enemy general. In Judges 5:28, the mother of Sisera wails that her son has not yet returned from battle, nor returned with any captive women or spoils.

It is hard to know how to interpret this. Even though Sisera’s mother is awful in glorifying her murderous son, she is still a mother and still has compassion for her son — it is that human piece of her we are told to identify with. Perhaps Sisera’s mother is wailing out of sheer human instinct. Her

wailing is a sign that she knows that her son will never return, though her words, possibly spoken out of false bravado, suggest otherwise. e guttural scream of someone trying to comprehend that life will be lived without a loved one is sheer terror. I hope never to hear it again. I have been with families at the moment they received official notification from the FBI of their loved one’s

When we hear the shofar, if we hear it as a wail and scream, perhaps we can change our lives and make what comes aer Rosh Hashanah irrevocably different from what comes before.

I have seen it happen in my own community.

People have changed over the course of the year.

Some have made and kept commitments to attend synagogue more regularly. Some of our new haftarah chanters have not used the skill since bar mitzvah, if ever, but are committed to reading every few weeks in honor of our three devoted haarah readers at New Light — Dan Stein, Rich Gottfried and Mel Wax — who are no longer able to chant the prophetic words. ere are those who did not have much interest in the spiritual side of Judaism who now attend any classes we hold. People who have always wanted to learn Hebrew have been studying it for the first time.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, right, holds hands with Rabbi is Rosh Hashanah, all American Jonathan Perlman, who survived the attack at the Tree of Life Jews, shocked to our core at the resursynagogue, at Rodman Street Missionary Baptist Church during gence of violent anti-Semitism here — a a service for victims of the mass shooting, Oct. 31, 2018, Perl- country to which our ancestors immiman's wife, the author Beth Kissileff, is seated to his left. grated as a haven from such things in the Credit: Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images rest of the world — will hear the shofar as deaths. ough they knew in their hearts that their a wail and scream. We have undergone the deeply loved one was gone when they did not hear from painful trauma of knowing that in Pittsburgh and them hours before, the moment of irrevocable un- Poway, Jews have been murdered solely because derstanding that they will never see their loved one they are Jews. again is a dreadful one.

However, this deep trauma we have experienced But sometimes the deepest pain can also bring also means we can and need to think about how as healing. a community we can attempt to work through the e concept of post-traumatic growth is a psy- trauma to achieve meaningful growth. chological theory about transformation aer It is not uncomplicated, but Rosh Hashanah is trauma. It shows that people who undergo signifi- coming, and we all have the opportunity to begin cant trauma can emerge from the experience with again — however difficult. an improved appreciation for life, relationships Beth Kissileff is a Poitsburgh-based writer. with others, personal strength and spiritual e views and opinions expressed in this article growth. is does not remove the many challenges are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect and anxieties connected to coping with trauma, the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces but adds that growth is possible, too.

Media.

10 | The Jewish Press | September 27, 2019

synagogues b’nai israel sYnagogue

618 Mynster Street Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 712.322.4705

beth el sYnagogue

Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Street Omaha, NE 68154-1980 402.492.8550 bethel-omaha.org

beth israel sYnagogue

Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street Omaha, NE. 68154 402.556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org

chabad house

An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street Omaha, NE 68144-1646 402.330.1800 OChabad.com email: chabad@aol.com

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 email: jfrife@outlook.com or sand burgrife@gmail.com

rose bluMkin Jewish hoMe

323 South 132 Street Omaha, NE 68154

teMple israel

Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive Omaha, NE 68144-1206 402.556.6536 templeisraelomaha.com

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

Please join us for upcoming events: rosh hashanah MondaY, sept. 29: Rosh Hashanah Community Dinner, 6 p.m. Reservations accepted at nancywolf16620@gmail. com; Erev Rosh Hashanah Services, 7:30 p.m., Jamie SkogBurke will speak on Standing at an Intersection: Individual Identity and Jewish Peoplehood. tuesdaY, sept. 30: Rosh Hashanah Morning Services, 10:30 a.m., Nate Shapiro will speak on Rosh Hashanah: Moving Forward, While Looking Back.

Kol Nidre, tuesday, oct. 8, 7:30 p.m., Dr. Leonard Greenspoon will speak on Vows, Vowels and Virtue: Does It Really Matter When, Where and Why We Pray?

Yom Kippur, wednesday, oct. 9, 10:30 a.m., Jim Fried will speak on Sin and Forgiveness: In the World and in Ourselves immediately followed by Memorial Service. Concluding service, 5:30 p.m. followed by Break-the-fast Potluck. For information email thelainofs@cox.net.

Our High Holiday services are led by guest Cantorial soloist Jeff Taxman.

For information on our historic synagogue, contact any of our board members: Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Howard Kutler, Carole Lainof, Wayne Lainof, Sissy Silber, Nancy Wolf, or email nancywolf16620@gmail.com.

Handicap Accessible.

beth el sYnagogue

Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman. fridaY: NE AIDS Coaltion Lunch, 11:30 a.m. — Offsite; Pre-Neg, 5:30 p.m.; Six String Shabbat, 6 p.m. saturdaY: Shabbat Morning Services, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation (Grades 3-7), 10 a.m. weekdaY services: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. sundaY: Torah Study, 10 a.m.; Erev Rosh Hashanah Ma’ariv Service, 6 p.m. rosh hashanah MondaY: Office Closed; Family Service, 9 a.m.; Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Babysitting (Ages 0-5), 9:30 a.m.; High Holy Day Discussion, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham; Torah Service, 10 a.m. led by the B’nai Mitzvah Class; Youth Programming Grades K-7, 10:30 a.m.; Shofar Service, 10:45 a.m.; Musaf Service, 11:15 a.m.; Shofar Blasts, 12:30 p.m.; Tashlich, 4:45 p.m. tuesdaY: Office Closed; Morning Service, 9 a.m.; Babysitting, 9 a.m.; Torah Service, 9:45 a.m.; Youth Programming Grades K-7, 10 a.m.; Shofar Service, 10:30 a.m.; Musaf, 11 a.m.; Rosh Hashanah Lunch (Reservation only), 12:45 p.m. wednesdaY: BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4:15 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12) and Dinner, 6:15 p.m. thursdaY: Brachot and Breakfast, 7 a.m.; Chesed Committee visits the Blumkin Home, 2 p.m.

Chesed Committee visits Remington Heights, tuesday, oct.

8, 2:30 p.m.

Break the Fast at Beth El, wednesday, oct. 9 following the final blowing of the shofar. No charge to attend and reservations are requested by Oct. 1.

beth israel sYnagogue

Services conducted by Rabbi Ari Dembitzer fridaY: Shacharit, 6:40 a.m.; Mincha/Candle Lighting, 6:55 p.m. saturdaY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Insights into the Weekly Torah Portion, 5:50 p.m.; Mincha/Seudah Shlishit, 6:35 p.m.; Havdalah, 7:53 p.m. sundaY: Selichot/Shacharit, 8:30 a.m.; Mincha/Candle Lighting, 6:50 p.m. rosh hashanah MondaY: Office Closed; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Kiddush, 12:30 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:50 p.m.; Candle Lighting, 7:50 p.m. tuesdaY: Office Closed; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Kiddush, 12:30 p.m.; Tashlich, 1:30 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:50 p.m.; Havdalah, 7:48 p.m. wednesdaY: Fast Begins, 6 a.m.; Shacharit, 6:40 a.m.;

MeMorial services

sunday, october 6 Temple Israel Cemetery, 6412 No. 42 St., 10:30 a.m.

Beth El Cemetery, 84th and ‘L’ Sts., 11 a.m.

Oak Hills/Bikhor Cholim, Council Bluffs, 11 a.m.

Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, 11:30 a.m.

Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:40 p.m.; Fast Ends, 7:39 p.m. thursdaY: Shacharit, 6:40 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:50 p.m. at Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

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. weekdaYs: Shacharit, 7 a.m. followed by coffee, treats, study and shmoozing. sundaY: Shacharit, 8:30 a.m.; Sunday Secrets, 9:15 p.m. following Minyan; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner; Candle Lighting, 6:51 p.m. rosh hashanah MondaY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Shofar Service, 11 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7 p.m.; Light Candles after 7:48 p.m. tuesdaY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Shofar Service, 11 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7 p.m.; Holiday ends at 7:47 p.m. wednesdaY: Fast Begins, 5:55 a.m.; Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Fast Ends, 7:32 p.m.

All programs are open to the entire community. For more information call 402.330.1800 or visit www.ochabad.com.

congregation b’nai Jeshurun

Services conducted by Rabbi Teri Appleby. fridaY: Erev Shabbat Service, 6:30 p.m. featuring music by Nathaniel & Steve Kaup; Oneg, 7:30 p.m. hosted

by Leslie Delserone & Peter Mullin; Candlelighting, 6:57 p.m. saturdaY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study on Parashat Nitzavim, 10:45 a.m.; Havdalah (72 minutes), 8:25 p.m. sundaY: No LJCS Classes; Garden Work Party, 8:30-10 a.m., We will be trimming, weeding, and mulching and all members, friends and family are welcome to join in; Board of Trustees Meeting, 1:30 p.m.; Candlelighting, 6:53 p.m.; Rosh Hashanah Evening Services, 8 p.m. rosh hashanah MondaY: Morning Service, 10 a.m.; Children’s Service, 1:30 p.m. (for Third graders and under); Tashlich Service and Potluck Picnic, 4 p.m. at Antelope Park; Candlelighting, 8:21 p.m. wednesdaY: LJCS Hebrew School, 4 p.m. at TI. thursdaY: High Holidays Choir Rehearsal, 7 p.m.

Annual High Holy Day Food Drive: In the days between S’lichot and Yom Kippur, the SST will again collect food and funds to donate to the Food Bank of Lincoln. Look for the blue barrels in the Temple vestibule and help us fill them up! We’ll have the Food Bank pick up our donations during Sukkot.

offutt air force base

fridaY: Services, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month.

rose bluMkin Jewish hoMe

saturdaY: Services, 9:15 a.m. led by Larry DeBruin. rosh hashanah sundaY: Erev Evening Service, 6:45 p.m., led by Marti Nerenstone.

MondaY: Morning Service, 9:15 a.m., led by Marti Nerenstone. tuesdaY: 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.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. sundaY: No Youth Learning Programs; Fifth Sunday Breakfast at the Stephen Center, 8:30 a.m.; Erev Rosh Hashanah Service, 7:30 p.m.; Sitter Service, 7:30-9 p.m. rosh hashanah MondaY: Rosh Hashanah Morning Pre-Readers’ Service, 9-9:30 a.m.; Sitter Service, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; Rosh Hashanah Programming for Grades K-5, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; Rosh Hashanah Morning Services, 10:30 a.m.; Musical Prayer and Conversation for Grades 3-5, 11:30 a.m. wednesdaY: Grades 3-6, 4-6 p.m.; Community Dinner, 6 p.m. Menu: Pizza Bagels, Roasted Vegetables, Enhanced

Salad Bar, Dessert. Wednesday night dinners are open to the entire community! If you have a child in our Wednesday learning programs, there will be no cost for your family’s dinner. Cost is $4 per adult and $3 per child (12 and under), which will be billed to your account. Please RSVP to Temple Israel the Monday before; Grades 7-12, 6-8 p.m.

Shabbat Shuva and Tashlich, friday, oct. 4, 6 p.m. This family-friendly Shabbat is the Friday night between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in which we will think about the ways in which we “missed the mark” this year and set intentions for what we hope to get in the year to come.

Break-the-Fast with Temple Israel for a Sweet New Year, wednesday, oct. 9, 6:30 p.m. This year our Break-the-Fast is being graciously sponsored by the Rosalie and Milton Saylan Fund. Reservations are required. You must RSVP, rsvp@tem pleisraelomaha.com or 402.556.6536, by Friday, Oct. 4.

tifereth israel

Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. fridaY: No Services; Candlelighting, 6:56 p.m. saturdaY: Shabbat Morning service, 10 a.m followed by a Kiddush luncheon; Junior Congregation, 11 a.m. followed by a snack; Havdalah (72 minutes), 7:55 p.m. sundaY: No LJCS Classes; Ma’ariv, 8 p.m. rosh hashanah MondaY: Synagogue office closed; Services, 9 a.m.; Youth Service, 11 a.m.; Tashlich, 5 p.m. at Antelope Park. tuesdaY: Synagogue office closed; Services, 9 a.m.; Youth Service, 11 a.m. wednesdaY: LJCS Hebrew School, 4 p.m. at TI. The Yom Kippur Break Fast for our congregational community is immediately following Yom Kippur's Neilah service on wednesday, oct. 9 at 7:40 p.m. There is no charge for this meal. We hope to see you there.

We will have a uniformed officer present and babysitting available during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Services/Activities.

Tifereth Israel will once again be participating in food collection for the Lincoln Food Bank's I CAN, YOU CAN, LINCOLN CAN project. We will have two barrels available for canned food donations between sunday, sept. 1 and thursdays, oct. 10. Your donations may be brought on any day except Shabbat. It is very appropriate to bring them just prior to our Kol Nidrei service.

And Then They Came For Me, Remembering the World of Anne Frank, oct. 3 & 4 at 7 p.m., and oct. 6 at 2 p.m. at Southwest High School, 7001 S. 14th Street in Lincoln. Tickets are $10 for Adults and $8 for Students. And Then They Came for Me is a unique theatrical experience: a multimedia play that combines videotaped interviews with Holocaust survivors Ed Silverberg and Eva Schloss with live actors recreating scenes from their lives during World War II. Ed was Anne Frank's first boyfriend, and she wrote about him in the beginning of her nowfamous diary. Mature Language and subject Matter - May Not be Suitable for Young Children.

Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish makes a match

JTA It’s life imitating art over at New York City’s off-Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish.

Stephanie Lynne Mason and Drew Seigla, who play the young couple Hodl and Perchik in the production, are engaged, the show announced Sept. 22 on its Twitter feed.

“We’re KVELLING! Our real life Hodl & Perchik are engaged! Talk about a match made in heaven. Congratulations Stephanie & Drew,” the tweet said.

Jackie Hoffman, who plays the matchmaker in the production, responded to the good news with her own tweet. “e real actress who plays Hodl just got engaged to the real actor who plays Perchik. As the real person who plays the matchmaker, I had nothing to do with it cause I’m real lame.” e all-Yiddish production has been playing off-Broadway since it opened at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in July 2018. It moved to the off-Broadway venue Stage 42 in February where it has had an open-ended run.

The Jewish Press | September 27, 2019 | 11

lifecycles Birth

Myelle Grace ShyKeN rothBart

Beth Shyken Rothbart and Chad Rothbart of New York, NY, announce the July 29 birth of their daughter, Myelle Grace.

She is named for paternal great-grandfather, Morris Endlich and maternal great-grandmother, Gertrude Pachman.

Grandparents are Susie and Paul Shyken of Omaha, and Phyllis and Jay Rothbart of San Diego, CA. Great-grandmother is Edythe Rothbart of Bayonne, NJ.

iN MeMoriaM

Beverlee KatheriNe GreeNBerG weiSS FroMKiN Beverlee Katherine Greenberg Weiss Fromkin passed away after a short illness on Aug. 31 at age 96 in Antioch, California with her daughters holding her hands. At Beverlee’s request there was no funeral or memorial service.

She was preceded in death by her parents Dr. Abe and Bluma Greenberg, husbands Richard V. Weiss and M. Robert Fromkin, and sister Renee Engel all of Omaha.

She is survived by daughters, Penny Dolginer and Jamie Weiss; sister, Phyllis Milenbach all of Califormia and many nieces and nephews.

She was loved by all who knew her and will be missed by all.

Memorials may be made in her honor to the organization of your choice.

juDy SieGler liBerSoN

Judy Siegler Liberson passed away peacefully on Sept. 17 at age 75 surrounded by her husband and children. Services were held Sept. 19 at Beth El Cemetery Chapel, 4700 South 84th Street.

She was preceded in death by her parents Bernard and Amalia Siegler, and her brother Sylvan Siegler.

She is survived by her husband, Gary; son and daughter-in-law, Joshua Liberson and Brooke Williams, daughter and son-in-law, Lisa and Dave Rosen; grandchildren: Greta, Cassidy, and Ada; brother and sister-in-law, Manfred and Ginny Siegler; sister-in-law, Merna Siegler; and many loving nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

letter to the coMMuNity

My family and I want to thank our Omaha friends for the many cards, calls, letters and donations that were sent in memory of our beloved Hazzan Emil Berkovits. He treasured his years in Omaha and the wonderful friendships he developed. He would be so touched to be remembered in such beautiful ways. Please know that we are deeply appreciative of your kind words and thoughts. lili Berkovits Delray Beach, Florida

jewiSh preSS NoticeS

The Jewish Press will be closed on Monday and tuesday, Sept. 29 and oct. 1 for Rosh Hashanah, wednesday, oct. 9 for Yom Kippur, and Monday, oct. 14 for Sukkot. The deadline for the Oct. 18 issue it is tuesday, oct. 8, 4 p.m. Questions?

Call 402.334.6448.

See full digital issues https://issuu.com/jewishpress7

Is your child vaping?

KareN GuStaFSoN JFS Executive Director With the astronomical rise in teen vaping and so many national news stories in the last several months about vaping, the dangers of vaping and the recent deaths associated with vaping (where the “actual” cause is still unknown), I wanted to pass along a very good resource for you to learn more.

Just google My Life My Quit, a resource designed for teens

by National Jewish Health, the leading respiratory hospital in the nation. https://www.nationaljewish.org/about/news/ pressreleases/2019/njh-launches-vaping-and-tobaccocessation-program-to-help-vaping-epidemic.

Jewish Family Service is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Our ongoing goal is to bring relevant information to you as it relates to mental health and wellness for your family.

If you would like additional information about JFS, please call 402.330.2024 or e-mail me at kgustafson@jfsomaha.com.

Bulgaria’s Jewish community opened its first Jewish school in over 20 years

cNaaN lipShiz JTA e opening last week of the Ronald S. Lauder Day School in Sofia is a significant development for Bulgaria’s 6,000 Jewish minorities.

Lauder, World Jewish Congress President and a major donor to Jewish communities and organizations, attended the school’s opening on Sept. 15, WJC said in a statement.

Prior to the opening of the school, Bulgarian Jewry had a Jewish school in the Lauder-ORT No. 134 “Dimcho Debelianov” Jewish School in Sofia. However, No. 134 is a public school that in 1998 received, with support from the Lauder Foundation, some Jewish-oriented content, including Hebrew language classes, in addition to its regular curriculum.

“During the past 20 years, we achieved many targets, but this is not the ‘Jewish school’ that can lead the Jewish community of Bulgaria to further development and enhancement,” Becca Lazarova, director for Bulgaria of the Ronald S Lauder Foundation, told the Sofia Globe about No. 134.

“What do we want from the school? We want the children to be proud of being Jewish. In order to be proud, they have to know what they’re proud of, and why,” Lauder said at the Sept. 15 inauguration of the new school.

In 2010, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, or JDC, opened with the Shalom Bulgarian Jewish community a Jewish kindergarten. Dozens of children attend the kindergarten.

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12 | The Jewish Press | September 27, 2019

community

Mali: Fran versus the Diviner of the Desert Continued from page 6 A number of our professor’s former students had joined the Peace Corps. One of them, Ann, who was working in Mali, joined us for dinner one evening. She had grown up in a small town in Middle America and entered the service organization with dreams of making a positive effect on lives. Ann was assigned to a Dogon village and charged with bettering health by improving the water supply. The young idealist thought she might be able to help but was soon disillusioned. Materials for new wells, pipes, and the like were difficult and expensive to procure; and the people were just not interested in developing a more reliable water source. So Ann adjusted her goal to a more realistic one: convincing the villagers to wash their hands more often in running water to prevent the spread of disease. This was a hard sell as the Dogon culture, probably because of the ever-present lack of moisture, just didn’t consider handwashing as a worthwhile basic habit. Ann was trying to persevere, but without conviction that she would make much progress.

However, there was one major change that Ann had made in her own life. She had fallen in love with a local youth, and they were now engaged. We couldn’t help speculating on the reaction of her parents when they met their future son-inlaw. And we never found out whether Ann was planning on her wedding being performed by a Christian pastor, a Muslim Imam or a Dogon shaman.

The next stop was the legendary city of Timbuktu. This was the ancient crossroads where camel caravans carrying gold, salt, and slaves from the black kingdoms in the South connected with the Arab sheikdoms to the North. The local Tuareg people led the convoys, and Timbuktu became wealthy as the center of trade. Eventually it declined in importance as ships plying the coastline proved more efficient. The town still boasts the largest mud structure in the world, a huge caravansary (inn and meeting place), although it does dry out

and has to be reconstructed every other year.

We were introduced to a local Tuareg chief. He was quite tall, dressed in the traditional deep blue robe and his smiling face had a dark olive complexion. He told us in perfect English: “I spent two years at the University of Colorado, where most people assumed I was Mexican.” Although there was now a paved road across the Sahara, he informed us that he still led camel caravans from the desert salt mines to the urban centers.

The continuing success of the ancient mode of transport, he said, was because trucks get stuck when the blowing sand clogs their engines or large dunes block the road. Other people told us later that the camels would soon be outdated, but I prefer to believe that our Tuareg chieftain will be leading his caravans for years to come.

The next day our guide asked if we would like to meet a local diviner. In Mali, a diviner is not a person who finds water in the desert. Rather he is more like a seer from whom one seeks guidance, so of course we said we’d like to go. We drove for miles on unsurfaced trails through the dry desert.

Finally our driver spotted a little wood hut in the middle of nowhere.

We stopped, and a little old man emerged slowly from the shack. Leaning on his walking stick, he told us through the translator that he would answer any question for a dollar. No one else stepped up, so I asked, trying not to sound like a smart-ass: “I have had the same spouse for 40 years. Should I be looking for a young woman to be my second wife?” Please realize that both Muslims and animists in Mali are allowed to have more than one wife, so the nature of this query appeared not to bother him; but it apparently troubled Fran.

The diviner explained how he would arrive at the answer.

First he took his long stick and drew five parallel lines like furrows in the desert sand. After he inspected them to his own satisfaction, he pointed to the crest of a small hill about 100 yards away. He continued through the translator: “There is a fox that lives atop that hill. At night he comes down to search for food. The fox crosses the patch of land on which I have dug these rows.

In the morning I will come out from my home and examine the tracks which the fox has left. I will divine the answer to your question from the pattern left in the sand.”

It was time to leave. We piled back into the vehicle. As we started to drive away, the heavens opened; and it started to rain in the Malian desert in February for the first time in 40 years. The lines in the sand would be washed away, and the diviner would be unable to look at the tracks of the fox. There was no point in returning to learn if I should take a second wife. Fran’s magical powers were demonstrably superior to the mysterious conjuring of the diviner of the desert. We continue to live happily ever after, and I have not even considered taking a new mate. Do you blame me?

15-20 of the travel adventures of the writer are now in a blog. Just go to: franandrichstravels.com, and you’ll find memoirs of travels from Haiti (1971) to North Korea (2012) to Liberia and Sierra Leone (2019).