October 7, 2022

NJHS anniversary

JILL KUSHNER BELMONT

The Nebraska Jewish Historical Society will welcome Oliver B. Pollak, PhD, back to Omaha for the organization’s 40th-anniversary celebration on Sunday, Oct. 16, at the Jewish Community Center. Pollak will serve as keynote speaker during the 2 p.m. event.

Pollak, who co-founded NJHS along with the late Mary Fellman, is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Nebraska Omaha, where he taught from 1974 to 2012. An esteemed author, he has penned 11 books and hundreds of scholarly and popular articles. Before his retirement in 2016, he also practiced law in Nebraska and Iowa. He currently resides in California.

Oliver Pollak

Pollak said that Fellman had been impressed by the growth of local Jewish historical societies around the country, and had realized that establishing one in Nebraska would be of great value to the Jewish community, as well as to the state in general.

Calling her “a muse and a macher,” he recalled that Fellman edited the Jewish Press from 1943 to 1947, and in 1978 became the first woman elected to lead the Jewish Federa-

Memory Serves: Symposium event at UNO

tion of Omaha.

Discussions about creating a historical society began in 1980, when the groundwork was carefully laid.

“I contributed my professional education to community building,” Pollak said. “Mary anticipated the 1989 Field of Dreams mantra, ‘If you build it, they will come.’”

Two years later, the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society -- which also serves the Council Bluffs Jewish community -- was established. In addition to Fellman and Pollak, the organization’s founding executive board members included Silvia Roffman, and the late Lois Friedman and Joie Simon.

Pollak’s own dedication to preserving and sharing history (“my vocation and avocation,” he said), can be attributed to his childhood experience of emigrating from England to the United States in 1952.

“Perhaps my immigration to America at the age of eight imprinted the fragility of the sense of place, deracination and memory,” he said. “Certainly my parents, refugees from Germany and Austria, and family losses in the Holocaust had an impact. My parents tried to protect me and offer New World opportunities. The culture shock of a little kid See NJHS anniversary page A3

the Press

MAGGIE

recently spoke at Memory Serves: Drawing Others Close International Symposium at the UNO Barara Weitz Community Engagement Center. Jill Ohlmann, Activities Coordinator, and Maggie Conti, Director of Activities and Volunteer Services, discussed the program Opening Minds through Art (OMA) and RBJH activities before and during the pandemic. The symposium explores how the humanities can play a pivotal role in addressing the challenges and rewards of caring for older adults and caregivers

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMPWRIGHT

Jewish Press Editor No, that is not a typo. We just finished our work on this year’s High Holiday issue, which was foodthemed. For the first time, we’ve decided not to stop there. After writing about some pretty mouth-watering dishes, why not come together and enjoy some of these foods in real life? Year after year, our staff create

endless stories for the bigger editions of the Jewish Press. However, once the paper hits your mailbox, we move on rather quickly—and that is a bit of a shame.

“The Salami 101 story brought back wonderful memories of Diamond’s Butcher Shop,” Howard Kutler said. “My mother would pick me up on Sundays at Beth El after Hebrew school. We would go to

Maggie Conti, left, Dr. Mark Gilbert, and Jill Ohlmann

Memory Serves

(m)Eat the Press

Continued from page A1 Diamonds for lunch meat, which included corned beef, salami, and bologna. I was always guaranteed that either Sam or Stanley Diamond would motion for me to walk behind the counter for a fresh cut sample of their kosher meats.”

And so on Sunday Nov. 13, from 2 to 4 p.m., the Jewish Press, in collaboration with Jewish Family Service and PJ Library will host ‘(m)Eat the Press’ in the Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Community Engagement Venue.

gether. There were no outings, nothing special on the agenda, no entertainment—we’d just be. That feeling, of just being together while sharing a good meal and much-needed

Continued from page A1

health professional burnout and wellbeing. A special thank you goes to Dr. Mark Gilbert, Associate Professor of Art & Art History in the School of Arts at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, for organizing the symposium and the invitation to speak. Dr. Gilbert's exhibition Memory Serves: Drawing others Close is on display at the UNO Art Gallery until the end of September.

RBJH Artwork from OMA is currently on display at the UNO Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center until Sept. 29. OMA is a Scripps intergenerational art program for people with dementia that aims at promoting their social engagement, autonomy, and dignity through the experience of creative self-expression. Before the pandemic, residents paired with the UNO Gerontology students for an eight-week residency. The Home looks forward to the day when the students return to RBJH.

There will be kosher salami, fried kreplach from the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home’s kitchen, Sandy Nogg’s Clementine Cake and latkes, among other things. We’re still in negotiations for brisket, so stay tuned. This is an event for all ages; no need to find a babysitter, because we will offer story time for our youngest community members, with JFO President Mike Siegel, IHE Executive Director Scott Littky and Gail Veitzer reading PJ Library books to anyone who wants to come and listen.

We’d love it if, in addition to signing up, participants can bring donations for the JFS food pantry. Specific needs are high protein items like canned tuna, chicken, corned beef, sardines, salmon or roast beef; nutritional shakes and bars; canned nuts and liquid and powdered laundry detergents.

How many memories of our families center around the meals we’ve shared? When I was young, our entire family would descend on our grandparents’ house. My grandfather would make a large pan of soup on Friday morning, and we’d spend the weekend to-

Please

Vote

conversation is what we are hoping to recreate with this event. Programming is great, but sometimes we just want to see our friends, and schmooze while eating something nice. So sign up, and come hang out!

Reservations are due by Nov. 1; cost of the program is $36 per family, while kids under 16 are free. Please register at www.jewishom aha.org. For more information, contact Annette at avandekamp@jewishomaha.org

This event is made possible through the generosity of the Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Supporting Foundation.

By:

Toba Cohen-Dunning Kip Gordman Sara Kohen Paul Landow

Noddle Margo Rosen Harley Schrager Tony Schrager

NJHS anniversary

Continued from page A1 in short pants in snowy New York may have encouraged historical inquisitiveness, how things happen and change.”

That curiosity has followed Pollak through his personal and professional lives.

“I invest in the history of where I live,” he explained. “When I lived in Zimbabwe, I dug into Doris Lessing, African writers and organized African labor, and pedaled my bicycle to the National Archives. When I realized I would be in Nebraska more than three years, I invested in Nebraska and Jewish history. I read the weekly Jewish Bulletin (1916-1920), and the Omaha Jewish Press on microfilm and hard copy at least twice.”

About returning to Omaha for the NJHS celebration he said, “I’m thrilled and kvelling to share my passion and investment in Omaha.” He noted that since moving away in 2016, he has published the following articles of local interest: The Omaha Jewish Cook Book Trilogy, 1901-1928 in Western States Jewish History (Fall 2020); William Castelman, Omaha and Chicago Pinter, Activist and Autodidact, in Nebraska History Magazine (Summer 2021); and The Golden Age of Omaha Kosher Restaurants, 1905-1925, in Nebraska History Magazine (Summer 2022).

Pollak is currently working on an article titled, The Mohel’s

Daughter: Ella Fleishman Auerbach, Historian and Journalist His keynote address next month will focus on Auerbach, an author and early chronicler of Jewish history in Nebraska from the early to mid-1900s.

“I read in amazement her unpublished manuscript, Jewish Settlement in Nebraska, typed in 1927,” he said. “I admired her craft and wondered why it was never formally published.

“Ella died fifty years ago,” he added. “Reading her 1927 history for the fourth time in 2022 revealed aspects I did not recognize in 1979. The enormity of her contribution should be appreciated by future generations.”

Future generations will also have the opportunity to appreciate the many collections and precious treasures safeguarded by NJHS, said Board President Ben Justman.

“Thanks to Dr. Pollak’s and Mary Fellman’s forward-thinking idea to establish this organization 40 years ago, the history of Jewish Nebraska and Council Bluffs will be preserved for many years to come. I’m looking forward to Dr. Pollak’s return to Omaha to celebrate this milestone birthday.”

The entire community is invited to the upcoming celebration. Reservations are requested and may be made by contacting NJHS Interim Executive Director Liz Boutin at njhs@jewishomaha.org, or 402.334.6641.

Israeli rescue services connect

Jerusalem

The dispatch systems of Israel’s three rescue services are now interconnected so any of the three agencies — the Israel Police, the Fire and Rescue Service, and Magen David Adom — can now automatically dispatch each other in emergencies without having to manually contact them, as was previously necessary.

The interconnect, which was developed by the in-house programming unit at Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s emergency medical service, will speed the flow of information between all three rescue services and potentially save time and lives in emergencies requiring responses from multiple agencies.

Israelis dial separate emergency numbers for police, ambulance, and fire (100, 101, and 102, respectively). The clear advantage of that system is that callers don’t have to first talk to a 911 operator as they do in the U.S., a sometimes time-consuming process that can delay a response by minutes. While callers in Israel only have to call one number in an emergency, it was incumbent on the police, fire service, or MDA to call or radio the other agencies if the

emergency required their response as well.

This new three-way connection eliminates the need for that call, enabling the artificial intelligence that MDA built into its own system, as well as the system MDA designed for the Fire and Rescue Service, to automatically summon the necessary resources — even those from the other agencies.

MDA medics take calls at the 101 National Dispatch Center, which will now be able to automatically dispatch the fire service and police through new MDA AI software. Credit: Magen David Adom

“We’ve long believed that having separate numbers for police, EMS, and fire rescue, has been an advantage for callers in an emergency,” said Eli Bin, director-general of Magen David Adom, Israel’s national EMS organization. “In a medical emergency, for example, callers are instantly connected to an EMT or paramedic, who can provide lifesaving medical instructions to the caller while the ambulance is dispatched.”

Under the system’s design, entering the nature of an emergency into any of the service’s computer-assisted dispatch (CAD) systems will determine whether multiple agencies are dispatched. A call to MDA regarding someone injured in a shooting, for example, would automatically summon both an See Israeli rescue services connect page A5

Nichols

High Holiday prayers not working for you? Try remixing metaphors.

ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL

JTA

One of the centerpieces of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy is the “Avinu Malkeinu” prayer — Our Father, Our King. It’s a desperate and emotional appeal for forgiveness, set to powerful melodies over the centuries.

It’s also a hurdle for many people, regular and occasional synagogue-goers alike. Some can’t relate to a “king,” or bristle at the gendered implications of “father.” Whatever they hoped to feel or achieve in prayer is undermined by the archaic language and metaphors that don’t speak to them.

That’s the challenge described in Rabbi Toba Spitzer’s new book, God Is Here: Reimagining the Divine. The spiritual leader of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek in Newton, Mass., Spitzer understands how the language of Jewish prayer can stand in the way of the meaningful spiritual experience many people are seeking. Her solution is to “dislodge” unhelpful metaphors of prayer and look for meaning in different ones — ancient and modern — in ways that help people think and talk about “something that is greater than ourselves.”

The book asks what might be useful if we were to think of God as water, or fire, or a place, or yes, even a king. All are metaphors for God found in the Torah and the Jewish prayer book. You don’t need to ask whether you believe that God is a parent or a monarch, she says, but rather explore where the poetry of metaphor can take you. “My hope,” she writes, “is that we can recapture the alive-ness which once pervaded our holy texts, and reconstruct our metaphors so that they are once again engaging and meaningful.”

Spitzer is the past president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association — the first LGBTQ rabbi to head a national rabbinic organization. She spoke with me via Zoom.

Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity Jewish Telegraphic Agency: It’s the High Holidays. People find themselves in a synagogue for the first time all year, where even regular synagogue-goers face that firehose of liturgical language that may not speak to them. For both sets of people, there may be a sense that the Iron Age metaphors of the prayer book — God is king, heavenly father, shepherd, or even a potter — don’t resonate with them. You say “people don’t have a God problem as much as a metaphor problem.” Can you explain that?

Rabbi Toba Spitzer: When I started this journey into

metaphor and cognitive linguistics, I realized, and this is a quote from the anthropologist Barbara J. King, that “the religious imagination thrives on the human yearning to enter into emotional experience with some force vaster than ourselves.”

There is some foundational human experience of the sacred that’s existed at all times and at all places. And at some point, people started using metaphors to think about and interact with that experience:

“God is a big person” or “God’s an old man in the sky.” It’s not that that is a bad metaphor, but there are some problematic aspects to it. Or the “king” one: I think Americans have a huge problem with royalty. We’re trained to not like authority so it doesn’t work for a lot of Americans.

So the metaphor problem is, “Wow, I do have spiritual experiences. I do want to feed my spirit. And then I turned to a metaphor that doesn’t work for me, what do I do?”

I use this analogy of a restaurant — like I just walk out of the restaurant, because there’s nothing on the menu that satisfies me. And yet our ancestors had a much richer palette of metaphors to choose from that could convey their experiences of the sacred. So, the book is nothing new. It is just trying to say, what if we took these other metaphors seriously?

So, when you try to reclaim metaphors, you’re still drawing on some of those found in tradition: God is fire, or a warrior, or an eagle, water, a rock.

I want to reclaim all of it. In the first couple of chapters I lay out this argument, which is the argument of cognitive linguists George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, that in order to apprehend reality and get our minds around abstract things, we need metaphors. I feel like these were metaphors that were very alive in our ancestors’ lives and not just words on the page, so it’s not surprising a lot of them are from the natural world. I tried out more modern ones, like electricity and GPS, but I love the ancient ones.

I want to dig into a few of those in a second, but I like your framing of how to deal with doubt. Instead of asking, “Do I believe this?” we can ask of a prayer: “Where is this trying to take me?” How might that work in practice?

Let’s go back to the High Holidays and some of the human metaphors. We say, “Our Father, our King.” Do I believe God is a king? No. But if I say this is poetry and my ancestors were trying to evoke something, it takes me to a few directions. I See High Holiday prayers not working? page A5

TOOKER

Credit: JTA illustration by Mollie Suss

Israeli rescue services connect

Continued from page A3

ambulance and police. Likewise, reporting an apartment fire to the Israel Fire and Rescue Service would summon personnel from all three services — firefighters to address the blaze itself, police to control street traffic, and ambulances to treat anyone potentially injured.

“The new interconnect will save time and potentially lives,” said Ido Rosenblat, MDA’s chief information officer, who oversaw MDA’s role in the initiative. “Previously, the protocol for us to contact police or fire services was sequential, meaning we’d dispatch our ambulances and Medicycles and only then contact the other agencies.”

Similar sequential processes would happen at the Israel Police or at Israel Fire and Rescue if they were first called, but determined other agencies needed to be dispatched too.

“Now,” Rosenblat explained, “the process is simultaneous, meaning that police, fire, or ambulances are dispatched at the same time — and from any of the three agencies — automatically if the emergency dictates a multi-agency response. That’s a huge timesaver, one that will bring a more robust emergency response more quickly to the scene, and free up dispatchers to spend more time counseling the caller and providing them with better service.

Magen David Adom is Israel’s national paramedic and Red Cross service. A leader in mass-casualty response and in EMS technology, Magen David Adom treats and transports nearly 1 million people to hospitals every year, collects, safety tests, and distributes nearly all the blood to Israel’s hospitals, and, through its affiliation with the Red Cross movement, responds to disasters around the world.

ORGANIZATIONS

B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS

The award-winning B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS speaker program currently meets Wednesdays via Zoom from noon to 1 p.m. Please watch our email for specific information concerning its thought-provoking, informative list of speakers. To be placed on the email list, contact Breadbreakers chair at gary.javitch@gmail.com

High Holiday prayers not working?

Continued from page A4 think the big theme of Rosh Hashanah is like, “I’m not the center of the universe. There’s something much bigger than me.” So what did a king represent to the ancients? Something powerful, someone who held the power of life and death in their hands, but who is also largely beneficent. The High Holiday liturgy is asking me to confront my mortality and confront the fact that I’m extremely, extremely miniscule in the scheme of the cosmos. I was just doing some research and found that referring to God as a king in the Roman period was subversive — at a time when the Roman emperor was considered God. So the metaphor is saying that while we have earthly rulers, there’s something higher than that. So even if the word “king” might not work for me, that’s powerful, and I want to go in that direction.

How might that work with water, which you write is one of the most common metaphors for God in the Hebrew Bible, as in Psalm 42: “As the deer longs for water, so does my soul long for You, O God.”

Water adds a few things. We say we are created in God’s image, and I’m 70% water. There is sacred stuff literally flowing through me. So that’s one piece. And that psalm leads me to ask, how am I dry? How do I nourish myself spiritually,

what do I need? Water is also a metaphor for godly power in the Bible.

If in the Bible, God’s justice is often imagined as water, how do we align ourselves with the flow? How do I get my values and my actions aligned in the new year? Right now in New England, we’re in a drought and in other parts of the world they are getting too much water. That’s scary, and God is scary. So it’s both: We need both a sense of awe and sustenance, and as we move through the High Holidays, those two pieces are a big part of the liturgy.

You write that in the early rabbinic period, or the first two centuries of the Common Era, the term “HaMakom” — “The Place” — had become a fairly well-known Jewish name for God. I always thought of it as just a euphemism and not really a metaphor, the way the people in Harry Potter’s world talk about “the one who shall not be named.” How is it useful to think of a place as a metaphor for God?

The rabbis call [God] that for two reasons. One is because wherever you are, there’s godliness. The rabbis were in a period when the Holy Place — literally, the Temple — had been destroyed and they were recreating connections to the Divine everywhere. So literally HaMakom was where we experienced the Divine in

every place. It’s always associated with compassion, and a sense of God’s nearness. I’ve found that when people are in distress, whatever they think or don’t think about God, I ask them to describe for me experiences of the sacred. And they almost always talk about places. I think it’s very easy for most people to conjure up places where they feel sheltered, where they feel a sense of wonder or the sacred. Place is very accessible.

Do you worry that if you do away with what you call the “God is a big person” metaphor, it risks making God less personal? Nature metaphors are lovely, but can they blur the intimate relationship many people hope to have with God?

I’m really not trying to get rid of any metaphors. Sometimes, you know, I want God to hold my hand or I want to feel like I’m being embraced by the Beloved or loved by, you know, a cosmic mother or whatever it is. I don’t want to get rid of those metaphors. I think the specific metaphor of God as a distant emperor, which has sort of somehow got more dominant in Jewish tradition, is problematic because it says tyrannical power is godly. But yes, we want a deep personal connection, and the idea that God is a teacher or a lover or parent is beautiful.

CriminalJustice

High Holiday prayers not working?

Continued from page A5

Human metaphors do not deal well, for instance, with the whole realm of theodicy, the whole realm of “when bad things happen to good people.” Because then you are stuck with, “Why is this happening to me?” or “Why is God doing this to me?” Or, “If God is good, how could God allow this to happen?”

Those are just not useful questions. By contrast, when I was going through my own heartache and hard times, the water metaphor said to me, “Okay, I’m in the water, the water is godly. It’s also totally overwhelming. How do I navigate this?” That’s a really useful question.

Can the search for new or different metaphors be pushed too far? Can you stretch the definition of God in such a way that it’s no longer God as understood by Jewish tradition? If God is water, can water create and control the universe or enter into a covenant with Abraham and Sarah or punish the Israelites for the Golden Calf, as we are told in the Bible?

Metaphors are not definitions. In the ancient Near East, every divinity had multiple ways of being represented. And again, I think the ancients had a much more direct experience of the Divine than

we can even imagine. And they knew they needed lots of metaphors, and that’s why our scriptures are filled with them.

But we need all these metaphors because different ones speak to different experiences. Fire is often a metaphor for God’s anger. We need to deal with anger. There is such a thing as holy anger and unholy anger and even holy anger can lead to destruction. That’s what many of the biblical stories show us. I think that metaphor is much more useful to me than, like, “the angry old man.” Because I understand fire. I understand how fire is completely necessary to human life and could burn you really quickly. Most people can wrap their heads around that and then think about divine fire or holy anger in a totally different way than like, “Why is God mad at me?” which again, is not useful at all.

My friend Rabbi David Nelson wrote a book a few years ago called Judaism, Physics and God, in which he drew on metaphors from modern science to describe God, like God is a fractal, or God is a neural network connecting billions of human consciousnesses. Do you encourage people to find metaphors in current technology or society, like, I don’t

us on facebook:

know, God is a life coach or something like that?

You know, whatever works for people. For a metaphor to be something we live by, we need to really make it active in our lives. I use GPS as a metaphor because it’s really useful. There’s three parts of GPS: There’s the location part: Where am I? That’s the spiritual question. There’s the map: How do I find my way from here to there? That’s spiritual practice. And then there’s the crowdsource: people telling me where the bumps in the road are or where the cop car is. That’s the community. I found that all of a sudden that metaphor was really useful. So I totally encourage people to dive into a metaphor, knowing that what may resonate with you today may not feel useful tomorrow.

Andrew Silow-Carroll is editor in chief of the New York Jewish Week and senior editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. He previously served as JTA’s editor in chief and as editor in chief and CEO of the New Jersey Jewish News @SilowCarroll

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

Coexistence through hummus

MARCUS M. GILBAN

SAO PAULO | JTA

Brazilian Jews, Christians and Muslims celebrated their peaceful coexistence with a competition centered on one of the Middle East’s signature foods.

The Hebraica Jewish club in Sao Paulo organized and hosted an inaugural Abrahamic Hummus Championship on Sept. 21, timed to the United Nations’ International Day of Peace.

A team of three Christian Arab Brazilians, seated in front, won first place at the inaugural Abrahamic Hummus Championship in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sept. 21, 2022. Credit: Hebraica Sao Paulo

Ariel Krok, one of the event’s organizers, compared the contest to a “soccer friendly match.” Brazil is home to nearly 10 million people of Arab descent, the largest such population in the Americas, while over 100,000 Jews call Brazil home, including around 60,000 in Sao Paulo.

Team Sahtein, composed of three Christian Arab women, was declared winners by the technical jury. A popular jury of participants gave the title to a group of Christian Arab men.

“It is an incredible chance to exchange ideas, experiences, and contacts. Together, making hummus, making peace, making a better future,” added Krok, an inter-religious activist who is a member of the JDCorps delegation, the diplomatic arm of the World Jewish Congress.

Jack Terpins, the Brazilian president of the WJC arm in Latin America, referred to the event in an article.

“Bringing Jews, Muslims and Christians around one of the most popular and present dishes on the tables of the Middle East served to refine the relations between the three groups and expand the dialogue between them,” Terpins wrote in Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil’s most influential daily newspaper.

TIM ROYERS DEMOCRAT FOR LEGISLATURE DISTRICT 31

We need to strengthen our great community for this generation and the next by:

Giving our schools the resources they need.

Reforming Nebraska’s tax system.

Implementing programs to retain our talent and grow our local businesses.

Succot, Israel, and Reform Judaism

The phrase “after the holidays” is wellknown to all Israelis, whether religiously observant or not. It refers to the end of the three-week period between the onset of Rosh Hashanah and the conclusion of Simchat Torah. Outside of Israel, the phrase is only relevant for observant Jews, since this is not a holiday period in the general culture. A much larger percentage of American Jews do gear up for a holiday period in the Fall, but it is restricted to the High Holidays. Succot is simply not on the radar for most American Jews.

TEDDY WEINBERGER

What I have said in the past about Shavuot is just as relevant concerning Succot, Judaism’s other week-long holiday (after Passover): There is not a single person living in the State of Israel who does not know when the holiday of Succot is celebrated, since the first day of the holiday (this year, Oct. 10) is a national holiday (Simchat Torah, “The Eighth Day of Assembly,” is also a national holiday—this year Oct. 17). Ay, but there’s the rub: Precisely because all Israelis know about Succot, there are many Israelis who feel that it is an excellent time to go on a trip abroad. This Succot, therefore, instead of cuddling my four-year-old grandson Noam and his one-year-old brother Lavi over the weeklong holiday period, I will be waving to them via whatsapp as they explore Rome and the surrounding countryside with their parents.

Viewed from a certain perspective, one could say that the State of Israel facilitates Reform religious practice. Unlike Orthodoxy and Conservatism, which view practice as legal obligation, Reform does not. Reform emphasizes the autonomy of the individual: one chooses what to do religiously based on personal commitment. Because Israel has a majority Jewish culture, Jewish tradition is readily accessible and even socially supported (as long as it does not involve synagogue attendance, which non-observant Israelis find intolerable). And so, a person touring abroad this Yom Kippur may find themselves in Israel, fasting, next Yom Kippur; a young couple may spend

this Friday night with family at a traditional Shabbat meal, and next Friday night they might be eating at a non-kosher Tel Aviv restaurant; and this Succot, a son and his family (ahem, ahem), may find themselves wandering the hills of Napoli, whereas next Succot they may be eating (more than one, please) meals in my succah. To an Orthodox person, who views ritual observance through the lens of Jewish law, such practice is unfathomable: how can you do the right thing one week and sin the next? For Reform Judaism, it makes perfect sense: sometimes you feel like practicing and choose to practice, sometimes you do not.

Outside of Israel, since the majority culture is not Jewish, it’s more difficult to drop in and out of tradition. To access religious practice in the diaspora presupposes a certain amount of religious knowledge and commitment--which many nonobservant Jews do not have. Take the holiday of Succot. You and your family are not observant, but you have received an invitation to eat with your cousin’s family in their succah at 7 p.m. on Sunday night Oct. 9. The cousin lives about an hour away from you. This first night of Succot is a school night for your small children, and the next day is the beginning of your work week. This is what I mean about Israel facilitating Reform practice. As opposed to the difficult decision facing you in the scenario I just described, in Israel, since the first night of Succot is a holiday night, it would be much easier for you to choose to accept that invitation. Good luck with your choices and have a Happy Succot Holiday!

Teddy Weinberger, Ph.D., made aliyah with his wife, former Omahan Saraj Jane Ross, and their five children, Nathan, Rebecca, Ruthie, Ezra, and Elie, all of whom are veterans of the Israeli Defense Forces; Weinberger can be reached at weinross@gmail.com

IN THE NEWS

The Jewish Business Leaders Hall of Fame event in memory of David Jacobson for Oct. 19 is now scheduled for Dec. 7

Details coming soon.

Annual Fall Arts and Crafts Show

The Annual Fall Arts and Crafts Show will be held Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 8-9 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs.

The show is billed as one of Iowa’s largest shows, with over 150 talented exhibitors presenting and selling thousands of unique, handmade products. Among the various products being sold at the show are leather goods, wine barrel furniture, paintings and prints, ceramics, wall hangings, toys, blankets, jewelry, metal art sculptures, pet products, etched and stained glass, yard and garden art, pottery, candles, clothing, quilts, aprons, pillows, doll clothes, baskets, rugs, place mats, table runners, purses, floral arrangements and wreaths, wood and metal signs, soap and lotions, emu oils and many more

original products.

Exhibitors will also be selling coffee cakes, dips, salsa, barbeque sauce, soups, jams, jellies, cheese and sausage, wines, fudge, honey, food mixes and roasted nuts. All items offered for sale to the public are handmade by the exhibitor.

The hours of the show are from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $6 and children 10 and younger are free. Parking is free throughout the show. All patrons who attend the show on Saturday will receive a two-day re-entry stamp.

For more show information, please call Callahan Promotions, Inc. at 563.652.4529.

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Quality Handmade Affordable Products and Over 20 Food Vendors

Garden Art, Oak Furniture, Paintings, Ceramics, Jewelry, Metal Art Sculptures, Pet Products, Etched & Stained Glass, Yard Art, Pottery, Blown Glass, Candles, Clothing, Floral Wreaths, Toys & Dolls, Baskets, Rugs. Glassware. Purses. Ornaments, Food and Many More Original Products. All Handmade by the exhibitor.

Garden Art, Oak Furniture, Paintings, Ceramics, Jewelry, Metal Art Sculptures, Pet Products, Etched & Stained Glass, Yard Art, Pottery, Blown Glass, Candles, Clothing, Floral Wreaths, Toys & Dolls, Baskets, Rugs. Glassware. Purses. Ornaments, Food and Many More Original Products.

All Handmade by the exhibitor.

Garden Art, Oak Furniture, Paintings, Ceramics, Jewelry, Metal Art Sculptures, Pet Products, Etched & Stained Glass, Yard Art, Pottery, Blown Glass, Candles, Clothing, Floral Wreaths, Toys & Dolls, Baskets, Rugs. Glassware. Purses. Ornaments, Food and Many More Original Products. All Handmade by the exhibitor. Callahan Promotions, Inc. 563-652-4529

Callahan Promotions, Inc. 563-652-4529

Callahan Promotions, Inc. 563-652-4529

Callahan Promotions, Inc.

Callahan Promotions, Inc.

Top, above, left and below: Chabad of Nebraska hosted the Mega Challah Bake & Boutique in the Goldstein Community Venue and honored Nancy Rips, Nancy Schlessinger and Michele Aizenberg, top; as well as Cady Scheer, Lauren Dobson and Elinor Dunning, left

Top, above, below and bottom: Happiness is yelling BINGO at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, while enjoying the courtyard.

Below: ESGR (Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve) representative Ron Boro, left, Interim CEO Phil Malcom, JFO past-President Paul Cohen and Sarah Rasmussen after Phil signed the pledge to support guard and reserve members among our staff.

Right: L’shana tovah u’metukah from our Volunteer Artist Dawna Robertson.

Voices

The Jewish Press

Margie Gutnik President

Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Susan Bernard Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Gabby Blair Staff Writer

Sam Kricsfeld Digital support Mary Bachteler

Accounting

Jewish Press Board

Margie Gutnik, President; Abigail Kutler, Ex-Officio; Seth Feldman; David Finkelstein; Ally Freeman; Mary Sue Grossman; Les Kay; Natasha Kraft; Chuck Lucoff; David Phillips; and Joseph Pinson.

The mission of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish Community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world. Agencies of the JFO are: Institute for Holocaust Education, Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Social Services and the Jewish Press

Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www.jewishomaha.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. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

Editorial

The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org ; send ads (in TIF or PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org

Letters to the Editor Guidelines

The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1.402.334.5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org.

Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf.

Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de Kamp-Wright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450.

Postal

The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $40 per calendar year U.S.; $80 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422.

Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or email to: jpress@jewishomaha.org

Viral

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor

Over the last few weeks, the Miami Boys Choir’s 2008 rendition of ‘Yerushalayim’ has been on repeat at my house. They suddenly, out of nowhere, went viral on TikTok, which coincidentally is the app responsible for my husband’s, mine and our daughter’s poor time-management. Jackie Hajdenberg wrote about the phenomenon for JTA: “‘K-pop is over,” one Twitter user declared. ‘We’re listening to Orthodox Pop from now on.’ With those words, the Miami Boys Choir has transformed over the last two weeks from a singing group popular among Jewish insiders to a viral sensation. On TikTok and Twitter, users have shared clips of the group’s concerts, overlaid its music with other scenes and inserted themselves into split-screen duets. New fans of MBC, as the group is known for short, have chosen their favorite singers through their stage presence, their vocals, or simply, their ‘it’ factor.”

One disclaimer: I’m listening to K-Pop as I’m writing this, because it’s going to take more than the MBC for me to move on from that. However, I’m fascinated—not only with the way this has blown up, but with the vast numbers of non-Jews who jumped on the bandwagon. Normally, when I see a Jewishthemed TikTok, I am tempted to avoid the comment section. And to be honest, the antisemites show up here, too, but in much smaller numbers. They make a few weak jokes about how the choir members all became accountants, and they are im-

mediately silenced by the fans. Because this is fun, it’s happy, and no one is allowed to ruin it.

It’s been a hot second since being Jewish was this cool. How did this happen? Why are videos of singing 12-year-olds, dressed in satin shirts and ties, so much sheer, unadulterated fun?

If it was just us, I’d say it’s the dayschool vibe, the recognitions, the familiarity of the lyrics. But for non-Jews?

“The YouTube version of the full “Yerushalayim” song, which was uploaded Sept. 11, well into the frenzy, has 70,000 views. ‘I’m not Jewish but I’ve listened to this so many times I’ve memorized the words,’ one user commented. Another wrote, ‘I would give away my first-born child to go back in time to watch this concert live.’

“This kind of exaggerated proclamation is not uncommon in the world of pop fandom, and the comparisons of MBC to Korean boy band BTS of KPop fame have been made clear in the comment section and in TikToks about the group.” (JTA)

It’s true, this is the type of language that is most often found among Korean and other Asian band’s fans, which mostly belong to Gen Z, and have set up their own set of rules. Don’t be mean. Don’t make fun of accents. It doesn’t matter if you can’t

understand a word. If you enjoy it, it is okay—you don’t need to justify that you’re listening to music in a different language from a culture that is not your own—as long as you are respectful.

I highly doubt Kosher Pop will replace K-Pop, but

K-Pop definitely paved the way for it. And it’s nice, to watch kids in kippahs sing their hearts out and not be slandered (much). Especially since they genuinely sound amazing.

When was the last time anything Jewish crossed over into the mainstream without backlash? When did we last experience this type of joy, without the immediate ‘free Palestine’ trolls ruining it for everybody?

I hope it lasts. Next stop, the Grammys.

Attention may be flagging, but Ukraine’s Jews still need our help

ARIEL ZWANG

JTA

When I traveled to Poland shortly after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, I met a young mother who, with her baby, fled Kyiv without her husband. More than baby food and a roof over her head, she needed a support system and community to navigate all that would come next. With the outpouring of assistance from individuals and our partner institutions abroad who see it as their duty to aid our fellow Jews in distress and rebuild Jewish life for coming generations, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), was there for her.

Seven months later, many people outside of Ukraine think the danger has abated, that a reduction in the pace of those fleeing signals an end to their plight, and that the Ukrainian Jewish community is diminished but stable.

Such misunderstandings downplay the urgency of challenges we have a part in solving. This is especially true given the outsized role that the global Jewish community has played to date in the humanitarian response. With tens of millions of dollars in support from the Claims Conference, Jewish federations across North America, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, foundations, individual philanthropists and many others, we’re invested in this crisis for the long term.

It is important, therefore, to set out three important realities and re-engage the wider Jewish public in our critical work:

The majority of Ukraine’s Jews, and their leaders, remain in their country.

One of them is Svetlana M., the heroic director of the JDC-supported Hesed social service center in Poltava, in central Ukraine. Hesed serves the region’s needy Jews and is a hub for crisis support.

“We refuse to leave our city, and all those people who need us,” she told us. “Think about the elderly people afraid to even step foot outside. They need us, their community, now. We have a rule in our family: in good times and hard times, we should be together.”

It’s true that tens of thousands of Jews have fled. But the vast majority of the country’s estimated 200,000 Jews, like Svetlana, have remained in the country. Many escaped to Ukrainian cities in safer

locations. Others have left, and then returned. Among the nearly 40,000 poor Jewish elderly and families served by JDC before the conflict, approximately 90% are still there.

Svetlana and the staff and volunteers at Hesed have endured the stress of constant air raid alerts — more than 500 since Feb. 24 — and the influx of more than 250,0000 internally displaced people to the city.

Need is spiking throughout Ukraine.

Boris R., 70, and his wife, JDC clients before the conflict, had to flee their home in the east with our help, when, as Boris tells it, “our house was ruined

facing poverty. Those who were poor before the crisis are in even worse shape. With prices for food and medicine increasing more than 20 percent in the last year, pensioners like Boris living on $3-4 a day have seen scarce resources stretched even further. Add to this the widespread reality of posttraumatic stress brought on by loss in many forms — loved ones, homes and safety.

Our support — including food and medicines and supplemental aid for emergency needs like their rent and utilities — is a lifeline for these Ukrainians. JDC has shipped more than 600 tons of humanitarian aid into Ukraine, and we are directly supporting 35,000plus clients today, including more than 2,600 new poor and internally displaced Jews. This is in addition to the tens of thousands of others to whom we have provided trauma support, medical care, evacuation, or hotline services to date. But — with no end to the conflict in sight — more needs to be done.

The refugee crisis is not over.

by shelling. There’s no apartment, nothing. At such an age, I had to leave my native town.” It was a harrowing journey, especially as Boris’s wife has advancing Alzheimer’s and cannot walk. They emerged from the building’s basement and left with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing, their passports, and their marriage certificate.

After staying in Dnipro for 10 days to recover, Boris and his wife traveled to Lviv, where they have been for the last three months. His son and family are also nearby. Boris has no intention of leaving Ukraine, but is barely able to survive without our help. The cost of his rent, with increasing utility prices, comes to $324. He and his wife’s combined pensions are only $243.

While headlines focus on the south and east of the country, their plight is part of an under-reported, unfolding crisis around the entire country. Decimated infrastructure, severely reduced human services, and limited access to utilities are widespread. Making matters worse, 3.6 million Ukrainians who remained lost their jobs, resulting in a population of “new poor,” previously middle class folks now

While the mass exodus of refugees has slowed, there are, according to our European Jewish community partners, some 10,000 Jewish refugees in their remit. The actual number is likely higher, as some have not reached out for help. As global inflation worsens and many choose to remain in Europe, we expect more may turn to Jewish communities for support. We need to ensure they are prepared with the ability to extend care to their, and our, extended Jewish family.

In partnership with local Jewish communities, JDC is currently caring for 4,000 refugees in 13 countries. In addition to food, medicine, accommodation, psychosocial support, and connections to local programming, we’re moving from temporary care to long-term support. This includes housing solutions, health care, living stipends and workforce opportunities. And helping Ukrainian Jews to integrate into local Jewish communities is critical.

Rosh Hashanah is approaching, ushering in a time of introspection and new beginnings. During this period, we should proudly take stock of all we have done for Ukraine’s Jews—and concentrate on all we must continue to do in the New Year ahead.

Ariel Zwang is the CEO of JDC, the global Jewish humanitarian organization.

This article was edited for length.

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.

A homecare worker from a JDC-supported Hesed social service center in Odessa, right, cares for a homebound elderly Jew. Credit: Konstantin Gerasimenko

The Miami Boys Choir has gone viral on TikTok and Twitter, creating a new generation of fans of the Orthodox pop group. Credit: Screenshots via Twitter, TikTok/Design by Jackie Hajdenberg

Synagogues

B’NAI ISRAEL

SYNAGOGUE

618 Mynster Street

Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 712.322.4705 www.cblhs.orb email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com

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

LINCOLN JEWISH

COMMUNITY: 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: oafbjsll@icloud.com

ROSE BLUMKIN

JEWISH HOME

323 South 132 Street

Omaha, NE 68154 rbjh.com

TEMPLE ISRAEL

Union for Reform Judaism (URJ)

13111 Sterling Ridge Drive

Omaha, NE 68144-1206 402.556.6536 templeisraelomaha.com

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY:

TIFERETH ISRAEL

Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

3219 Sheridan Boulevard Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 402.423.8569 tiferethisraellincoln.org

Monthly Speaker Series Service, Friday, Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m. with our guest speaker, Oliver Pollak. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel!

For information on COVID-related closures and about our historic synagogue, please contact Howard Kutler at hkutler@hotmail.com or any of our other board members: Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Mary-Beth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.

BETH EL

Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON MINYAN SCHEDULE: Mornings on Sundays, 9:30 a.m.; Mondays and Thursdays 7 a.m.; Evenings on Sunday-Thursday 5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Jr. Congregation, 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 7:30 p.m. Zoom only; Young Adult Break Fast, 8 p.m. at LeSmash.

SUNDAY: BESTT (Grades K-7), 9:30 a.m.; Kibbutz Chaverim Goes to Valas, noon; Cleanup in Trendwood Park, 2 p.m.

MONDAY: Sukkot I Morning Service, 10 a.m. followed by Soup in the Sukkah

TUESDAY: Sukkot II Morning Service, 10 a.m. followed by Soup in the Sukkah

WEDNESDAY: BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4:15 p.m.; Hebrew High, 6 p.m.

FRIDAY-Oct. 14: PreNeg and Tot Shabbat 5:30 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.

SATURDAY-Oct. 15: Shabbat Morning Services with Yizkor, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Jr. Congregation, 10 a.m.; GaGa Shabbat, 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 7:25 p.m. at Beth El & Zoom followed by Planetarium Program at Beth El.

Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.

BETH ISRAEL

FRIDAY: Selichot, 6:40 a.m.; Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 6:39 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:45 a.m.; Tehillim for Kids, 5:30 p.m.; Kids Parsha Class 6 p.m.; Mincha/Shalosh Suedos 6:30 p.m.; Laws of Shabbos/Kids Activity 7 p.m.; Ma’ariv/Havdalah, 7:36 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit 9 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv/Candlelighting, 6:35 p.m.

MONDAY: Synagogue Offices Closed for Sukkot; Shacharit, 10 a.m.; Kiddush, 11 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:30 p.m.; Law of Sukkot, 6:45 p.m.; Candlelighting, 7:34 p.m.

TUESDAY: Synagogue Offices Closed for Sukkot; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Kiddush, 11 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:30 p.m.; Havdalah 7:32 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:40 a.m.; Shacharit, 6:45 a.m.; Sukkah Hop, 4 p.m.; Daf Yomi, 6 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:30 p.m.; Simchat Beit HaShoevah, 7:30

Save these dates

IHE Third Thursday Lunch & Learn Oct. 20 | 11:30 a.m. | via Zoom

The Institute for Holocaust Education will welcome Becki Zanardi, a Holocaust Educator from Nebraska who will be giving a presentation entitled Upstanders & Rescuers. Zanardi’s presentation will seek to discuss hard questions about the actions of people during the Holocaust. She says, “It’s been a perplexing question regarding the Holocaust: Why did some gentiles choose to aid Jews while others did not? We’ll look at why people acted in a certain way based on country, class, and religious beliefs in addition to how the events of the world around them affected their decisions.”

For more information or to sign up to receive the Zoom link, please email Scott Littky at slit tky@ihene.org.

p.m.

THURSDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:40 a.m.; Shacharit, 6:45 a.m.; Character Development, 9:30 a.m.; Daf Yomi, 6: p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 6:30 p.m.

FRIDAY-Oct. 14: Nach Yomi, 6:40 a.m.; Shacharit, 6:45 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 6:27 p.m.

SATURDAY-Oct. 15: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat 10:45 a.m.; Tehillim for Kids, 5:30 p.m.; Mincha/Shalosh Suedos, 6:10 p.m.; Hashanah Rabbah Learning, 6:40 p.m.; Ma’ariv/Havdalah, 7:26 p.m.

Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.

CHABAD HOUSE

All services are in-person. All classes are being offered in-person/Zoom hybrid (Ochabad.com/classroom). For more information or to request help, please visit www.ochabad.com or call the office at 402.330.1800.

FRIDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Inspirational Lechayim, 5:45 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ochabad.com/Le chayim; Candlelighting, 6:38 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 7:35 p.m.

SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps: Video Presentation, 9-9:30 a.m. and Breakfast, 9:45 a.m.; Light Holiday Candles, 6:34 p.m.

MONDAY: Shacharit 10 a.m.; Light Holiday Candles after, 7:32 p.m.

TUESDAY: Morning Service 10 a.m. Holiday Ends, 7:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Tanya, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Katzman; Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Hebrew Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Women’s Soup in the Sukkah, noon

THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Advanced Hebrew Class, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study (Sanhedrin 18 — No advance experience necessary), noon with Rabbi Katzman; Jewish Law Class, 7 p.m.

FRIDAY-Oct. 14: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Inspirational Lechayim, 5:45 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ochab ad.com/Lechayim; Candlelighting, 6:26 p.m.

SATURDAY-Oct. 15: Shacharit 10 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 7:24 p.m.

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL

Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch. Note: Some of our services, but not all, are now being offered in person.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Service with Rabbi Alex and music by Nathaniel and Steve Kaup, 6:30 p.m. at SST; Oneg host TBD; Candlelighting, 6:40 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex at TI; Havdalah, 7:38 p.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS Classes, 9:30 a.m. and parents join us at 11 a.m. to help decorate the sukkah; Men's Jewish Bike Group of Lincoln meets Sundays at 10 a.m., rain or shine, to ride to one of The Mill locations from Hanson Ct. (except we drive if it’s too wet, cold, cloudy, windy, hot or humid) followed by coffee and spirited discussions. If interested, please email Al

Weiss at albertw801@gmail.com to find out where to meet each week; Candlelighting for Yom Tov at 6:37 p.m.; Pickleball at Tifereth Israel is on hiatus until after Yom Kippur 5783. In the meantime, everyone is welcome to play at Peterson Park until after Yom Kippur; just wear comfortable clothes and tennis or gym shoes. For more information, contact Miriam Wallick by email at Miriam57@aol.com

MONDAY: Synagogue Offices Closed; Candlelighting for Yom Tov at 7:34 p.m.

TUESDAY: Tea & Coffee with Pals, 1:30 p.m. via Zoom; Havdalah 7:33 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: No LJCS Classes; Pizza in the Hut, 56:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome; this is a community wide event.

FRIDAY-Oct 14: Kabbalat Shabbat Service with Rabbi Alex and music by Leslie Delserone and Peter Mullin, 6:30 p.m. at SST; Oneg host TBD; Candlelighting, 6:29 p.m.

SATURDAY-Oct. 15: Shabbat Morning Service 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex at TI; Havdalah, 7:27 p.m.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE

FRIDAYS: Virtual Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month at Capehart Chapel. Contact TSgt Jason Rife at OAFBJSLL@icloud.com for more information.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME

The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home’s service is currently closed to visitors.

TEMPLE ISRAEL

In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Batsheva Appel, Rabbi Deana Sussmam Berezin, and Cantor Joanna Alexander

FRIDAY: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m.; Shabbat B’yachad Service, 6 p.m. Zoom & In-Person.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. Zoom & In-Person.

SUNDAY: Youth Learning Programs Grades PreK6, 9:30 a.m. In-Person.

MONDAY: Sukkot Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person.

TUESDAY: Bring you own Lunch in the Sukkah, noon with Rabbi Appel; Schmooze ‘n Brews in the Sukkah (21+), 7 p.m. In-Person.

WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m.; Bring your own Lunch in the Sukkah, noon with Cantor Alexander InPerson.; Sukkot Program Grades 3-6, 5-6 p.m In-Person; All Community Dinner, 6 p.m.; Sukkot Teen and Community Program, 6:30 p.m. In-Person

THURSDAY: Thursday Morning Class, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Azriel via Zoom or In-Person; Bring your own Lunch in the Sukkah, noon with Rabbi Berezin In-Person

FRIDAY-Oct. 14: Drop-In Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m.; Shabbat B’yachad Service, 6 p.m. Zoom & In-Person; Sushi in the Sukkah for Twentysomethings, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY-Oct. 15: Torah Study 9:15 a.m. Zoom & In-Person; Shabbat Morning Services and Bat Mitzvah of Makayla Lucoff, 10:30 a.m. Zoom & In-Person.

Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.

on Nov. 9. Session Two, Life Cycle, begins Jan. 11, 2023

Mark your calendars for the 20th Annual Omaha Jewish Film Festival to be held Tuesday evenings, Nov. 8, 22, 29, and Dec. 6

On Sunday, Nov. 13 join GenNow and the Kansas City Young Adult group for a brunch tailgate and KC Chiefs game! Bus leaves the JFO at 7 a.m., tailgate/brunch until kickoff at noon, plan to return to the JFO by 6:30 p.m.

The 2022-2023

Omaha Beit Midrash series begins Nov. 9. This year’s series features two thematic sessions. Session One, Mitzvot, begins

Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m., Jazz at the J kicks off with an Omaha area favorite! Camille is known for her starring roles in musicals like Ragtime, Evita, Funny Girl, and Having Our Say, and as performer with her band. She has been nominated as the Top Jazz Vocalist in Omaha. Find more about Camille at www.musicbycamille.com. Tickets can be purchased by calling 402.334.6403 or online.

MAKAYLA LUCOFF

Makayla Lucoff, daughter of Lisa and Chuck Lucoff will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022 at Temple Israel.

Makayla is a seventh grade Honor Roll student at Elkhorn Valley View Middle School.

Her interests include softball, basketball, volleyball, swim team, and spending time with her friends. She also attends Camp Sabra which she calls her ‘Happy Place.’

For her Mitzvah Project, Makayla volunteered at HETRA, (Heartland Equine Therapeutic Riding Academy) where she helped improve the quality of life both physically and emotionally of adults and children of all ability levels through equine assisted activities.

She has a sister, Kori (11).

Grandparents are Suzy and Norm Sheldon of Omaha and Dena and the late Mark Lucoff of Milwaukee, WI.

TO SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. Readers can also submit announcements -- births, b’nai mitzvahs, engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at www.omahajew ishpress.com/site/forms/. Deadlines are normally nine days prior to publication, on Wednesdays, 9 a.m. Please check the Jewish Press, for notices of early deadlines.

Tritz

FRANCES V. BLUMKIN

Frances V. Blumkin passed away on Sept. 29, 2022 at age 96.

memorial service was held on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, at Temple Israel, 13111 Sterling Ridge Road.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Louis Blumkin and parents, Nathan and Jenny Veitzer.

She is survived by sons and daughters-in-law, Ron and Chris Blumkin, Irv and Susie Blumkin, Steve and Cindy Blumkin; eight grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren; brother and sister-in-law, Irving and Gail Veitzer and brother, Norman Veitzer; numerous nieces and nephews.

Frances was deeply committed to her family, friends and her community. Her generosity, kindness and positive outlook on life was an inspiration to everyone she met.

Memorials may be made to The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home (https://rbjh.com/donate), The Rose Theater (https://rosethea ter.org/support/donate), Louis and Frances Blumkin Professorship for Holocaust and Genocide Studies University of Nebraska at Omaha (https://nufoundation.org/ fund/01121980/), or to the organization of the Donor’s choice.

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GENERAC

UTILITIES

by

ISRAEL / OVERSEAS

THE STRENGTH OF A PEOPLE. THE POWER OF COMMUNITY.

CARING FOR EACH OTHER:

DON BACON U.S. Congress, District 2

I grew up on a farm baling hay, cleaning animal pens, and working the fields. This taught me the value of a relentless work ethic and the importance of humility. I also learned that service to others is an expectation and that I owed my best to our country.

I worked my way through college, married my college sweetheart, and then joined the Air Force. I spent the next three decades serving this great nation, protecting our allies abroad and defending our families back home.

After retiring as a Brigadier General in 2014, I wanted to continue defending our great country. I taught leadership courses at Bellevue University, before answering the call to run for Congress in Nebraska’s Second District. I talked with my wife and four children, and spent months in prayer before deciding to run.

In 2016, I ran on my core principles: civility, honesty, and integrity. My team and I have worked diligently since then to bolster our national security, protect Israel, combat anti-semitism, advocate for Nebraska small businesses and farms, and help reform the Foster Care system. Together, we have passed 13 of my bills into law over the last five years. Further, our Omaha office received the Democracy Award in 2021 for the best constituent services in the entire country and I was named the #1 elected official in America for seeking common ground.

I’ve spent almost my entire life in service to the people of the United States, and I’m excited to continue serving you. With so many major issues to tackle in the next two years, this election is crucial to the future of our community.

It has been an honor and a privilege to serve you. I am asking for your vote on Nov. 8, and I’ll be grateful for your support.

MARILYN ASHER Nebraska Legislature, District 8

“Property taxes are crushing Omaha homeowners.” That’s the view of Marilyn Asher, a candidate for the State Legislature in District 8.

“Our state legislature has accomplished some good things in this area, but we need to do more if we are going to keep our state competitive in terms of attracting jobs that will keep our young people here,” she said.

Asher is also campaigning for a back-to-the basics approach to education. “American kids are falling behind and we need to focus on the basics if we’re going to compete globally,” she said. “The National Center for Education Statistics (2018-2020) reported that Nebraska fourth graders are only 43-55% proficient in math and 23-45% proficient in reading.”

A third issue of her campaign is full funding for police. We need adequate law enforcement to protect our neighborhoods. “We can’t let isolated abuses result in less funding for police,” she said. “That just doesn’t make sense. The vast majority of police officers are hard-working honest men and women and they deserve our thanks.”

Although this is her first time running for public office, she has been active in assisting state senators with research and passing legislation.

Marilyn holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership, has been the volunteer coordinator for the Nebraska Correctional Youth Facility, as well as co-owner of a small business, specializing in home renovations.

She and her husband Dallas have three children and twelve grandchildren.

“I am running because I care about the future of our kids and grandkids and for all the future generations of this great state,” Asher said. “The citizens of Nebraska are the second house of our state Legislature and we need our

voices to be heard,” she said.

With the Nov. 8 election just around the corner, Marilyn is running to secure Nebraska’s strong future.

CHRISTIAN MIRCH

Nebraska Legislature, District 6

My name is Christian Mirch. I am a proud husband, father, police officer and attorney. I attended Creighton University, but with a passion for public service I left Creighton a year before graduating to pursue a career in law enforcement with the Omaha Police Department. I served our city as an Omaha Police Officer for 10 years, where I worked in every precinct in our city, on every shift, and mentored at-risk youth. I also served in the Criminal Investigations Bureau and Special Operations Section - Gang Unit, where I worked to suppress violent gang activity and prevent children from falling victim to gang recruitment.

While working as a police officer, I finished my undergraduate degree at Creighton and later attended Creighton University School of Law. After graduating from law school, I left the Omaha Police Department to clerk for the Chief Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court. Today, I work as an attorney in Omaha helping small businesses start and find success. I continue to serve as a police officer for a rural community and serve on the Board of Directors for the Set Me Free Project, a non-profit focused on ending human trafficking.

I am running for legislature to lower taxes, push back against high inflation and housing costs, increase public safety, and to maximize student success in school. I believe that as a collaborative voice in the legislature, I will be a consensus builder and advocate for our community. We must ensure that during the uncertain times facing our nation - with rising costs of healthcare, childcare, food, and housingthat our representatives are focused on making Nebraska a better place to live, with a strong economy and more opportunity for all.

Please visit votemirch.com to learn more. I’d appreciate your vote on Nov. 8!

CHRISTY ARMENDARIZ

Nebraska Legislature, District 18

Christy Armendariz is running for District 18

in the Nebraska Legislature, which spans over Bennington, Northwest Omaha, and Irvington.

She has a Bachelors from UNO, and an MBA from Methodist College. She is a leader in business, healthcare, and technology, and professionally negotiates contracts for the Methodist Health System. She understands budgets, insurance, and a large bit of the medical field overall.

She has lived in Omaha her whole life, and knows her neighbors. She has been married to Ralph for 30 years, and they have 3 grown children, Lauren, Alex and Gabrielle, and one grandson, Forrest, they are all the joys of her life.

She will work hard in the Unicameral to cut the waste, and fight to help lower our tax burden in this time of high inflation. She believes that our government should be efficient and nimble, that politicians don’t know how to spend your money better than you do. She will strive to reign in regulations inhibiting the pursuit of the good life and any overreach on our freedoms.

She also enjoys the endorsement of LD18’s outgoing Senator, Brett Lindstrom, and will carry on his legacy of getting big things done.

Visit ChristyForNE.com to learn more!

STU DORNAN

Nebraska Legislature, District 20

The Dornan family has lived in legislative district 20 for 30 years and it would be an honor to represent you in the Nebraska Legislature. This district now includes the Jewish Community Center.

My desire to serve in the Legislature is driven by my lifelong commitment to community service.

I believe we all have a responsibility to give back in whatever ways best utilize our abilities and interests.

Public service has always been an important part of my life. Through my work as an FBI agent, serving as Douglas County Attorney, and helping others throughout my legal career, I know the importance and impact of serving others.

My involvement in many community organizations, including having served on the Westside Board of Education, and current service on the boards of ESU #3, Community Alliance, as See more Candidate Statements page B2

America

Jewish Coalition

PAC

Farm Bureau Mayor Jean Stothert

BACON IS SUPPORTED BY

“With your support, we can continue to bring Nebraska values like and to Congress.”

of the Taylor Force Act

News

CANDIDATE STATEMENTS

Continued from page B1

well as UNMC’s Board of Counselors, has provided me the background and experience necessary to address the issues facing our district.

As a community, we must continue to work together to address repeat offenders, provide meaningful opportunities for rehabilitative programs, institute and expand problem-solving courts, prevent additional crimes, and support and ensure justice for crime victims.

As part of our work, we must enhance our restorative justice approach for the betterment of our community.

Simply put, restorative justice reaches out to victims to heal their wounds to the extent possible. It encourages individuals who are tax burdens to become taxpayers.

My family and I are committed to the work required to be elected to the Nebraska Legislature. We welcome your support and vote in upcoming general election.

Thank you for reading and for all you do for our community, state, and nation.

JOHN FREDRICKSON Nebraska Legislature, District 20

My name is John Fredrickson and I am running to represent District 20 in the Legislature.

I am a father, husband and mental health provider who grew up in Omaha, and I’m so grateful I did. I had a family that loved me, community that cared about me, and teachers that invested in me.

After finishing high school, I moved to New York for my postsecondary education, where I earned a Bachelor’s from NYU and a Master’s from Columbia University. After finishing school I met my husband, we adopted our son, and decided we wanted to move back home to Nebraska.

I have been working as a therapist for over a

decade, and this has been a huge driver for me to run for office. Our Legislature does not currently have any subject matter experts in mental health – a perspective that is extraordinarily valuable when it comes to mental health policy, and frankly any policy that impacts the day-to-day lives of our neighbors. My hope is to bring my expertise to the table to help create a brighter future for Nebraskans and to increase access to services.

I’m a parent, so education is something that is extraordinarily important to my family. I’m passionate about our teachers and schools having the resources they need to provide for our kids, so that our kids can graduate with the skills they need to be successful.

Finally, I’m invested in Nebraska’s future. I think there are a number of ways to tackle this, but one that is near and dear to me is ensuring we have policies in place that will attract and retain talent in Nebraska so that we have a sustainable future both culturally and economically.

Learn more about my campaign: JohnForNebraska.com, and I hope to earn your vote on Nov. 8

RICK HOLDCROFT

Nebraska Legislature, District 36

Rick Holdcroft is running for the Nebraska Legislature in District 36. District 36 was moved to Sarpy County as part of the 2011 redistricting. It includes Gretna, Springfield and portions of Papillion and Bellevue.

Rick’s top priority is to reduce the tax burden on our families by controlling spending and rebalancing our 50-year-old tax structure.

Nebraska home and will be a champion for our veterans in the Legislature.

As a former aerospace executive who built a field office from the ground up with a nationleading company, Rick knows what it takes to help local businesses succeed and create good jobs. He’ll be an advocate for reducing the tax burden and incentivizing businesses to stay and grow in Nebraska.

Rick is a husband, father and grandfather who values family and faith as the cornerstones of the Good Life we enjoy in Nebraska. He will help our community maintain and uphold the values and principles important to our quality of life.

Rick was named the 2019 Knight of the Year for the Nebraska Knights of Columbus and received the 2019 Distinguished Service Award from the University of Nebraska Alumni Association. He remains active in several military service organizations and recently served on the commissioning board for the U.S.S. Omaha.

Rick is a strong Republican who will bring conservative values to the Legislature.

BOB EVNEN Nebraska Secretary of State

For nearly four years I have had the honor and privilege of serving as Nebraska’s Secretary of State. I respectfully ask for your vote again this year in my candidacy for re-election.

The office of Secretary of State involves many responsibilities, of which serving as Nebraska’s Chief Election Officer is a major part. But did you know that the Secretary of State is Nebraska’s Chief Protocol Officer – charged with the statutory responsibility to promote international trade, and the international exchange of education and culture?

For example, in February I led a trade mission of 25 Nebraskans to the UAE and Jordan. We had along UNL professors from the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources who are experts in agricultural technology, precision agriculture and water management. We also had Nebraska entrepreneurs who are looking to expand their businesses or attract sound foreign direct investment. And we had leaders of Nebraska agricultural commodity groups.

With 28 years of decorated military service including two assignments at U.S. Strategic Command, and with four children also serving in the military, Rick understands the sacrifices made by the servicemen and women who call PAID ADVERTISEMENTS

Nebraska exports beef to the Middle East. The

only Kosher beef processing plant in the U.S. that exports beef to Israel is located in Nebraska. Nebraska processors also ship Halal beef to the Middle East. I’m working to help our beef processors expand their Middle East markets.

The Secretary of State has many other responsibilities: chair of the State Records Board, which oversees Nebraska.gov, the state government website; chair of the Real Estate Commission; running business services; and much more.

Have you heard that Nebraska’s 2020 elections were fraudulent? That’s false. Our elections were fair and secure. I have investigated every claim about our elections that has been brought to our office – and many that weren’t. None of them are true. Check out what I found in “Fake vs. Fact,” at sos.nebraska.gov

I respectfully ask for your vote for my reelection as Nebraska’s Secretary of State.

MIKE HILGERS

Nebraska Attorney General

Mike Hilgers was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, as the middle of five children. With his wife, Heather, Mike is raising his four children, Alice, Elsie, Clara Jane, and Michael.

Mike Hilgers is a successful attorney with well over a decade of courtroom experience defending his clients’ rights around the country, and he is a small business owner and entrepreneur who founded a nationally recognized company. Mike’s law firm, Hilgers Graben, has reduced costs through innovation and has been named one of the fastest-growing companies in the country. Mike has grown the firm’s headquarters here at home, helping to keep talented Nebraskans in Nebraska while recruiting families to our state. Hilgers Graben PLLC has been named Inc. magazine’s 5000 fastest-growing companies three times.

Mike Hilgers has served in the Legislature since 2017 and has been entrusted with leadership by his colleagues every year since his election. He has served as the Rules Chairman, and the Chair of the Executive Board, and was elected the Speaker of the 107th Legislature.

Mike received his degree in economics from Baylor University, and he received his law degree

See more Candidate Statements page B3

Mike Hilgers

take his small business and

leadership to the Attorney General’s office. The Attorney General plays a critical role in protecting Nebraskans, and as Nebraska’s next Attorney General, Mike Hilgers, will hold the line against federal overreach,

law enforcement,

our constitution,

protect our communities and families.

Mike Hilgers has been endorsed by Governor Pete Ricketts, Lieutenant Governor Mike Foley, United States Senator Deb Fischer, Congressman Don Bacon, Mike Flood, Adrian Smith, and other Nebraskan leaders.

MARNI HODGEN

State Board of Education, District 8

Marni Hodgen was born and raised in Omaha. She graduated from Roncalli Catholic High School and received her B.A. from Doane College in Crete, Nebraska. Marni and her husband Patrick have been married for 13 years and have three energetic boys.

Last spring when the State Board of Education proposed a comprehensive sex education curriculum within the health standards, Marni became immediately concerned upon reading it, and has been dedicated to providing public comment opposing the standards over the last year and a half. Despite an overwhelming 90% of parents concerned about the radical standards, the State Board of Education has ignored us, and even thumbed their noses at us. This was the catalyst in Marni’s decision to run for State Board, she wants to be the positive change she wants to see.

When elected, Marni will give her full support to local control and parental involvement. She will prioritize academic excellence, and push for transparency in the curriculums. She also believes in the Skilled Trades as a viable pathway for students. Marni has been a strong voice and leader, working hard to redirect the board’s focus to what matters, a quality education.

To find out more, please visit www.Marni4 NEKids.com!

DON KLEINE Douglas County Attorney

It is an honor to serve the citizens of Douglas County as your Douglas County Attorney. We have assembled a great team of 63 lawyers who are responsible for processing and trying cases. Most often these cases present complex and difficult issues. As their leader, I continue to mentor my team with the wealth of experience I have acquired throughout my career. Those experiences are vital in understanding how the system works and what can be done to improve in making Douglas County an even better place to raise families. I was born and raised in Omaha and strive every day to keep our community safe.

Keeping people out of the system and giving second chances is also an important aspect of our job. Douglas County has more problem solving courts than any other county in Nebraska. Drug Court, Diversion, Mental Health Diversion, Young Adult Court, and Veterans Treatment Court all offer defendants an opportunity to address their underlying issues while holding them responsible.

As the Douglas County Attorney, I am also assigned the task of Coroner. I have worked very hard to improve our services to the residents of Douglas County. Our office continues to work with Live On Nebraska to ensure families’ wishes are carried out with organ recovery.

I am on the National Board of District Attorneys which allows me to work with lead prosecutors from across the country to solve problems that exist on a national and local scale. I am on the Board of our child advocacy center, Project Harmony, and have worked tirelessly to do everything possible to improve our ability to protect the most vulnerable. We collaborate with schools and superintendents to keep kids in school in an effort to address the truancy issues that often lead to crimes. I believe in using my experience to teach. I teach the police recruits, was an adjunct at UNO and currently teach att Creighton Law School.

I would appreciate your vote in November!

DAVE PANTOS

Douglas County Attorney

I’m Democrat Dave Pantos and I am working hard every day to be your next Douglas County Attorney.

The fact is that democracy is on the ballot this fall. Locally, Governor Ricketts and his mom have spent almost $2 million dollars to put “Voter ID”

in front of voters which has the direct intent of disenfranchising minority and elderly people. All people should be terrified of this endeavor.

Governor Ricketts is also underwriting the campaign of my opponent. My opponent endorsed, voted for, and publicly supports Donald Trump. He called Trump a “Law and order President.” Can you believe that? After all that has happened?

As a Democrat, you can count on me to defend democracy. That means standing up to powerful interests who would take away your right to vote. This also means standing against efforts to end abortion access in Nebraska.

The plain fact is that my opponent will prosecute health care decisions between a woman and her doctor if abortion is criminalized in Nebraska. I will not.

I’ve been a lawyer for 26 years. I have experience running large law offices like Legal Aid of Nebraska. I’ve been in court, handled major litigation matters, and I look forward to keeping our community safe through fair and just criminal justice reform. Unfortunately, under the current administration, the homicide rate in August 2022 was the highest month for homicides in Omaha in over a decade.

How can we get a handle on public safety if we are wasting time prosecuting voters and reproductive health? Also, how can we effectively prosecute if turnover at the County Attorney’s office is at an all-time high? That office is losing an average of 15 lawyers per year (out of a total of only 60.) No wonder people think it’s time for a change.

Let’s bring back fairness and safety to the Douglas County Attorney’s office. I am honored to earn your vote. Visit me at davepantos.com to get involved.

P.J. MORGAN

Douglas County Board of Commissioners, District 4

I feel so very fortunate to live in America and being born right here in the great city of Omaha. I thank the people of Omaha for allowing to have served as Mayor for two terms, State Senator and now Douglas County Commissioner, District 4.

I consider it a tremendous privilege to serve and with that comes the responsibility to always do my best and MOST important listen to the citizens and be available.

I have served my community on the Salvation Army Board, the American Cancer Board, Cerebral Palsy Board, Omaha Chamber Board and also as the Chairman of the Eppley Airport Authority over the last 40+ years.

I would greatly appreciate your vote again, so I can continue to serve the people of our great county and state. Thank you again for this Most Special Privilege.

MARY ANN BORGESON

Douglas County Board of Commissioners, District 6

It has been an honor to serve the residents of Douglas County. I have led the charge on implementing cost saving programs such as the: Juvenile Home Monitoring Program which has saved taxpayers $28,601,393 and a total number of detention bed days saved from 1-1-2004 to 2-28-2022 = 194,860. Douglas County’s Live Healthy Prescription, Health & Dental Discount Program which has saved over 150,000 citizens more than $4 million dollars on their prescription drug costs since June 2005. Adult Community Corrections Programs (Re-Entry Assistance Program, Work Release and House Arrest) have saved taxpayers $23 million dollars since 2012.

I have been a leader in addressing some of the hardest issues in county government: mental health, criminal justice, developmental disabilities, and aging issues. I have worked to hold the line on our spending, looked for meaningful and productive public/ private partnerships and constantly strive for more efficient and effective ways to provide high quality services to our citizens.

I pride myself in working hard and being responsive every day to the citizens of our great County. I have as much passion today for representing Douglas County as I did when I first ran the County Board. I plan to continue to work hard and will always look for cost savings and ways to improve the services we provide to the taxpayers. I want Douglas County to be the County residents are proud to live!

I would appreciate your vote Nov. 8th!

THOMAS FLYNN

Douglas County Clerk of the District Court

I’m running for Douglas County Clerk of the

SNOWBIRDS

many

the course of

have placed over 1,000 at risk juveniles in safe haven homes under juvenile ex parte orders. I have made over 5,000 criminal warrant arrests, as well as served thousands of board of mental health and protection orders. I have catalogued and inventoried countless pieces of evidence into property for safeguarding, chain of custody and future prosecution. I have testified in front of numerous juries and sat in on their selections and safeguarding them while doing their Civic duty, including being sequestered.

I understand the requirements of this office, why they are important and how they are used in the criminal justice system. I spent my career building relationships with elected officials, department heads, judges and attorneys, who interact with the clerk’s office on a daily basis.

I will bring a balanced conservative approach to the clerk’s office, both as an economic steward and an opportunity seeker. I will place Douglas County in a position to embrace the chal-

lenges of the next generation. My office would be the most efficient county office with a continued focus on reducing taxpayer expense, but not to the detriment of a taxpayer’s experience. We would also take an innovative approach towards new technology, find ways to streamline the process, and will be open to different forms of payment.

Over the course of my 27 years with the sheriff’s office I have received several awards: Douglas County deputy of the year, 2007 and 2011; Medal of Honor, 2011; Medal of Valor, 2007; Purple Heart, 2011; and Nebraska Sheriff’s Association Deputy of the year, 2011.

CRYSTAL RHOADES

Douglas County Clerk of the District Court

Commissioner Rhoades has a vision of efficiency for the Clerk of the District Court’s Office

The Clerk of the District Court’s Office is a crucial supplier of public services to Douglas County, and Commissioner Crystal Rhoades wants to use her experience to improve efficiency and customer services, and that’s why she’s running for Clerk of the District Court.

As the current Commissioner of the Nebraska Public Service Commission, who has acted as an administrative law regulator

for nearly eight years, Rhoades has consistently reduced costs and brought money back to Douglas County. She fought for and secured more funding from the state for the Douglas County 911 call center, increasing the annual amount from $400,000 to more than $1.4 million. In addition, she ordered a cellular phone company to refund customers $296,000 in overcharges, and levied a fine of $50,000 against the company for its errors.

Her work with the Metropolitan Community College Board also resulted in savings for taxpayers. Rhoades successfully negotiated a new funding formula that yielded an additional $4 million of state aid for the college, reducing the tax burden on Douglas County residents, and she collaborated closely with staff to retrofit all campus buildings to make them more energy efficient. MCC saves more than $80,000 annually because of these upgrades.

The strategies Rhoades has successfully employed in recent years are directly transferable to the duties of the Clerk of the District Court. Rhoades has a deep understanding of how the office can be improved, and she has the tools and know-how to fix them. During her two-year tenure as a juvenile detention alternative initiative coordinator, she personally identified systemic bottlenecks rooted in the Clerk of the District Court’s Office, and See more Candidate Statements page B5

Continued from page B4 she now hopes to address those problems by streamlining services and implementing costsaving technologies, just as she has done for the past eight years as Commissioner.

TODD PFITZER

Douglas County Engineer

My name is Todd Pfitzer, and I am running to serve as the Douglas County Engineer. I have lived in the Douglas County metro area my entire life. After graduating from UNO earning a degree in Civil Engineering in 1991, I began working in our community as a Professional Civil Engineer.

I have a passion for transportation and pursued a career in traffic/transportation engineering.

After working for 15 years in the engineering consulting field, I was offered the City Traffic Engineer position by the City of Omaha in 2006 and have served as City Engineer since 2010.

As City Engineer I oversee all aspects of transportation engineering within the City of Omaha including Design, Traffic, Construction, Street Maintenance, Asset Management, Parking and Curbside Management. This includes managing in excess of 5,000 lane miles of roads, 1,000 traffic signals, over $200 million in annual budget and over 600 people.

With those responsibilities comes the need for prioritization and efficiencies. I am constantly striving to improve safety on our streets and make things more efficient. Over the decades I have overseen countless safety projects, including improved intersections, signal timing and optimization, traffic speed control, and more, with the goal of making our streets and intersections a safer place for all users.

With over 32 years of experience in transportation engineering and the experience I’ve gained serving as the Omaha City Engineer, I am uniquely qualified for the role of Douglas County Engineer. I am humbled to have numerous bipartisan endorsements, including Mayor Stothert, Congressman Bacon, and the late Tom Doyle, who served as Douglas County Engineer from 1983 until this year.

I would be grateful for your trust and vote on Nov. 8. To learn more about me, please visit toddpfitzer.com

GREG GONZALEZ

Douglas County Sheriff

If elected our new Douglas County Sheriff, Greg Gonzalez will celebrate several firsts for the top elected law enforcement official in our community.

Some of those distinctions are readily apparent. He would be the first Latino to hold the job, and he would uphold a multi-generational family commitment to the profession. More than a dozen relatives have served or continue to serve in law enforcement positions. For examples, his cousin was U.S. Marshal for Nebraska and his wife Kathy has served as the police captain in command of the Southeast Precinct.

Gonzalez points to other firsts more substantive for the challenges and opportunities facing the Sheriff’s office. Gonzalez has uniquely worn both uniforms in a 28-year-long career starting as a Sheriff’s Deputy and recently highlighted by his retirement after 9 years as Deputy Chief of the Omaha Police Department.

“I have the most executive experience of any candidate in the race,” he said.

Gonzalez holds a master’s degree in Public Administration, has hired over 450 police officers, managed a $57 million budget, and was responsible for implementing body-worn cameras at the Omaha Police Department.

His leadership skills were honed in the field, where he advanced through the ranks while working violent crimes including undercover narcotics, the gang unit, and homicide.

Gonzalez also brings to this race a long-held commitment to community policing. For example, he is a co-founder, volunteer coach, and leader of Police Athletics for Community Engagement (PACE), which provides free mentoring and athletic programs for over 6,000 youths from 38 local zip codes.

“I’ll bring new energy to the leadership of the Sheriff’s office, and that will include a fresh commitment to community policing, implementation of body-worn cameras, and a focus on recruiting and retaining deputies,” said Gonzalez.

“Ultimately, our goal is a safer Douglas County.”

AARON HANSON

Douglas County Sheriff

I’m Sgt. Aaron Hanson, a 26 year OPD vet-

RE-ELECT

CANDIDATE STATEMENTS

eran and father of four great kids. I was born and raised in Omaha, Douglas County, currently the supervisor of the Fugitive Unit pursuing the Omaha Metro’s most dangerous fugitives with past assignments in the K9 Unit, Gang Unit and Uniformed Patrol. I served as President of the Omaha POA for six years. I have the endorsement of Mayor Stothert, County Attorney Don Kleine and Todd Schmaderer. Like these great leaders, I know that to achieve true, long-term public safety gains we must have a perfect balance between being tough on crime, gaining community trust and helping worthy people to get a second chance.

My priorities as Sheriff:

1. Keep innocent people and families safe. This is the most critical role of government and I have been trained by the best, Chief Schmaderer. I have the most experience in this race as a proven crime prevention and violence disruption expert.

2. Enhanced Sheriff emphasis on Behavioral Health. Teaming expert law enforcement professionals with highly educated civilian corresponder therapists will allow us to maximize our service to the Board of Mental Health to identify and help those in crisis and keep everyone safer.

3. Strive to give worthy people a second chance. I have spent the last few years of my life working to help people who made mistakes get a second chance with a career in the skilled trades. This will not only help those individuals by making them self sufficient, it helps our community by making us safer, expanding our tax base and reducing our incarceration costs. Most importantly, it helps those individuals’ innocent children by giving them a more stable and safe home environment, disrupting generational cycles of poverty and cre-

PAID ADVERTISEMENTS

ating generational wealth anew.

I’m asking for your vote.

JOHN EWING

Douglas County Treasurer

John W. Ewing, Jr. is a name you’ve trusted for over 40 years to provide quality, professional service with integrity.

I started my career as a police officer on March 1st 1982 and served this community with distinction. I rose to the rank of Deputy Police Chief prior to retiring at the end of 2006 to become your Douglas County Treasurer.

While running for office I promised to restore fiscal integrity, restore public trust in the office and utilize technology to serve you better and have delivered on those promises.

Systems have been put in place to ensure fiscal integrity. I have always been honest and transparent about your Treasurer’s Office and we have gone from a check or cash only office to online availability for almost every service, taking payments over the phone and offering debit and credit card services in the Customer Service Centers.

I would appreciate your vote Nov. 8. Thank you for allowing me to serve you!!!

LEE POLIKOV

Sarpy County Attorney

To my many supporters who have shown trust and faith in my ability and philosophy to manage the Sarpy County Attorney’s Office: Thank You. Fortunately, I grew up in the 1950s, one block north of the Crossroads Mall. My family belonged to Beth Israel Synagogue, I graduated from Westside, and served as Prior of ƩAM in Lincoln.

There I met Norman Krivosha, who greatly influenced my career path. As an See more Candidate Statements page B6

Continued from page B5 undergraduate, I joined Army ROTC, took Basic Training at Ft. Riley, KS, received an Educational Delay to complete UNL-Law, and then did Intelligence Officer Basic at Ft. Huachuca, AZ.

Sarpy County tripled in population since I started 48 years ago with Sheriff Pat Thomas. I planned for one year, but growth was exciting and challenging, so I stayed for 26 years. When the Supreme Court removed my predecessor, I was appointed to serve three years of the term. The office needed rebuilding and preparation to grow. I inherited a terrific group of attorneys and staff, which has grown to 26 attorneys and 46 support staff. We have a Criminal Division, a very active Civil Division driven by fast-paced growth, a Juvenile and Child Support Enforcement Division and the best Victim Witness Unit in the state.

I have been President of the Nebraska County Attorneys Association and now serve as a Vice President of the National District Attorneys Association. I love what we do for victims, families, and the community. Considering my sixth election, I think of Robert Morgenthau, famed District Attorney for Manhattan, who won nine elections and was 90 when he retired. At 85, a reporter asked if he was going to retire -- his answer was that he called his older brother who told him that this was a bad time to be out of work. I did the same and got the same answer.

JOHN S. McCOLLISTER

MUD Board of Directors, SubDivision # 6

The Metropolitan Utilities District (MUD) must continue to provide safe and affordable natural gas and water to the City of Omaha. As a customer-driven utility, it is absolutely essential to maintain high levels of customer service.

Vote on November

The lead pipe situation in east Omaha and the sewer relocation projects will require continued diligence and creative solutions by the MUD Board of Directors. The utility also needs to evaluate an opportunity to serve finished water to the City of Lincoln to the betterment of both cities. Finally, the utility will need to participate in efforts to reduce its carbon footprint by expanded home weatherization programs for customers.

Climate change is an existential threat to the world. CO2 traps heat which results in more frequent and severe wildfires, hurricanes, heat waves, floods, droughts, and storms. Those living in poverty are the hardest hit by climate change, despite being the least responsible for its cause.

Renewable energy, wind- and solar-generated electricity are the lowest cost zero carbon producing sources of energy available. Passage of my priority bill in the Unicameral, LB824 in 2016, allowed wind and solar companies in Nebraska to thrive by removing 1930’s regulatory barriers. Since passage, these companies have invested over $3 billion dollars to build wind and solar electricity generating facilities in NE.

Therefore, my decades of experience on the MUD Board and my two terms as a state senator sponsoring pro-environmental bills gives me a unique perspective to provide unrivaled leadership and experience to the MUD Board.

MIKE McGOWAN

MUD Board of Directors, SubDivision # 6

I am the incumbent Republican candidate for the MUD Board of Directors, SubDivision #6. I grew up in Omaha, graduated from Creighton Prep High School and earned a BS in Mathematics and a Master of Business (MBA) from Creighton University. I have been

married to my wife, Mary, for 48 years. We have five children and seven grandchildren.

I worked 36 years for Northern Natural Gas Company here in Omaha. I really know and understand the Utility business. I have served on the MUD Board of Directors for nine years – serving as Chairman of the Board in 2012 and 2021.

My message is very simple. I am not a career politician, I only want to put my knowledge, experience and conservative values to work for the benefit of the Omaha ratepayers.

I am proud of our accomplishments as a Board. NO natural gas rate increases since 2017! On the water side, the biggest cost increases have come from the City of Omaha due to the federally mandated, unfunded sewer improvements.

In the last National Memphis Light, Gas and Power national survey, MUD ranked 2nd lowest of 40 national utilities in gas rates and 16th lowest in water rates. MUD’s bond ratings for both natural gas and water are very strong – saving ratepayers significant costs on bond borrowings. Cash reserves are very strong and the MUD employee Pension Plan is funded at 94%.

I truly know and understand the Utility business and wish to continue to put my knowledge and skills to work for the ratepayers for another six years.

I am very proud to state that I am supported and endorsed by Congressman Don Bacon, The Douglas County Republican Party and Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom.

JOHN McCARTHY

Metropolitan Community College Board, At Large

My campaign will be focused on the crying need for young people to be educated in the trades. You’re probably aware of the disastrous lack of young people to enter the trades. It’s not only the heating and air conditioning trades where I’m a bit of an expert (or, so I think!), but in all trades.

The problem is going to get worse as electricians, plumbers, carpenters, HVAC techs, and all trades retire. The trades are great jobs, they pay well, they provide for stable families and benefit the entire community.

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It is said that in the next few years, there will be a shortage of thousands of people in the trades to build and maintain our homes, schools and buildings. We must be able to educate and train the young generation.

NANCY KRATKY

OPS School Board, District 6

My strengths in serving on the Omaha Public School Board include my experience and depth of knowledge of 53 years in OPS. I attended OPS from K-12 grade, student taught in OPS and taught for OPS for 33 1/2 years. My two children also graduated from OPS.

COVID-19 has limited school visitations. Prior to COVID-19, I visited schools whenever a new principal was assigned. I think it is very important to hear the principal’s perspective, concerns and needs. Our expanded summer program is going to address the loss of learning during the pandemic.

The public is not always aware of our programs and services we provide for OPS families.

We currently have 52,000 students in OPS and 17 Alternative Centers plus a Career Center. The Career Center is located on the lower level of the TAC Building which also includes an automotive repair classroom and preliminary nurses’ training The second floor includes a large meeting room and district offices. The fourth floor has been converted into one of our Adult High Schools.

We have to strive for transparency and feature our strengths. Greater Needs include:

1. Financial Literacy and in learning how to use just one credit card.

2. Correct language usage is necessary for both written and spoken form.

3. Suitable social skills.

4. Proper attire for various work environments.

By visiting schools there is the ability to question and ensure that proposals will ultimately benefit our student population.

CHRISTOPHER TOOKER

Learning Community Council, District 3

An old Chinese Proverb states, “If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten See more Candidate Statements page B7

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plant trees.

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your plan

for 100 years,

Education is the foundation of Omaha’s

Chris Tooker is committed to improving education at all levels. Tooker is the only conservative candidate for Learning Community

District 3; he opposes comprehensive sex education and believes parents should be engaged in their children’s education. A vote for Tooker supports conservative principles, fiscal responsibility, and family involvement.

Tooker graduated summa cum laude from Creighton University with degrees in financial analysis and economics. While attending Creighton, he led two teams to the national level of competition as President of the Mock Trial program, helped manage a portion of Creighton’s endowment, and mentored dozens of younger students as a resident adviser. Upon graduation, he worked in Corporate Audit at Union Pacific identifying millions of dollars in unbilled revenue and enhancing process efficiency in several departments. Since 2014, Tooker has helped businesses and individuals have a better relationship with their money as a Certified Financial PlannerTM professional. Since 2018, Tooker has also been teaching personal finance and insurance at Creighton University.

In the community, Tooker is active in the Omaha Real Estate Investment Association (REIA), and he previously served on the Board of Directors for both the Arthritis Foundation and Combined Health Agencies Drive (CHAD). Additionally, he will serve on the Downtown Rotary Foundation’s Board of Directors starting this summer. As a Past President of the Kiwanis Club of Omaha, Tooker remains dedicated to helping the most at-risk youth in our community. His passion for education and support for kids perfectly align with the Learning Community’s mission to measurably improve educational outcomes for children and families in poverty.

BARBARA NICHOLS

Papio-Missouri NRD Board, Subdistrict 4

Combined with a lifelong dedication to community service, the mission and work of the NRD is where I come alive and thrive –setting policies and making decisions to guide our most precious natural resources into our greatest assets to sustain our lives.

I was raised on a fourth generation farm where intersecting tributaries drain into the Missouri River. I gained firsthand experience with flood control built on private property when our farmland was taken for PL566 flood control structure and reser-

for Rick

voir. I learned as I supported my father throughout negotiations and legal proceedings with the NRD.

I lived and worked in Omaha all of my adult life. I know the geography, the demographics, and most importantly, the people. I am passionate about working to make a difference in improving the quality of life with our abundant natural resources, while holding the line on spending – for now and the future. Interest in natural resources guided my study at UNO where I earned BS in Environmental Science and Political Science, and Masters Public Administration coursework. My three sons, Jeremy Nichols, Dustin Nichols, and Adam Nichols have followed my passion for growth with environmental integrity through their education and careers in engineering and accounting.

I will work to make a positive difference helping our district be a better place to live, work, and play. I will apply sound and prudent reasoning as the NRD continues its proactive direction for flood control and public recreation. It isn’t always so much about change, but about better. I want to make it better.

I have education and experience, leadership and passion, to serve you on the Papio-Missouri River NRD Board of Directors.

I would be grateful for your vote on Nov. 8, Papio-Missouri River NRD Board, Subdistrict 4.

School Ties turns 30

STEPHEN SILVER

JTA

After a long career pause brought on by an assault-induced depression and injuries, actor Brendan Fraser is back in headlines, earning early Oscar buzz for his performance in the upcoming movie The Whale

What some of even his most ardent fans might not realize is that one of Fraser’s earliest roles — alongside Matt Damon in what was his first major onscreen role — came in one the few mainstream Hollywood films to focus on antisemitism at non-Jewish schools.

In School Ties, which hit theaters 30 years ago and was set in the 1950s, Fraser plays David Greene, a working-class Jewish kid from Scranton, Pennsylvania, who enrolls at an elite New England prep school for his senior year of high school, to play quarterback for the vaunted football team.

David is urged to keep his Jewishness a secret, and he proves an instant success on the football field. Faced in the early fall with a Sandy Koufax-esque choice — whether or not to miss a big game that falls on Rosh Hashanah — David sneaks to the campus chapel by himself late at night to say high holiday prayers. Confronted by a dean, he’s asked, “Was it worth it, breaking a tradition just to win a football game?”

Once a drunken postgame party guest lets the secret slip, David finds himself an outcast. What begins with a few jokes about “Jews and communists” at Harvard and how a classmate “Jewed” someone down for a deal for a stereo gives way to antisemitic slurs during a shower room brawl, a swastika on his dorm room wall and a cheating scandal meant to frame David.

All of his classmates, unlike him, are from the upper-crust WASP class and under pressure to be the fifth or sixth generation of their family to attend an Ivy League school. It’s also clear that many of them had never met a Jew in their life.

School Ties was directed by Jewish filmmaker Robert Mandel and written by, of all people, Law & Order creator Dick

Wolf. Wolf’s father was Jewish, but he had a Catholic mother and was an altar boy; Wolf also attended the prestigious Philips Academy in Massachusetts. Mandel has said in interviews that he experienced antisemitism during his college years at Bucknell University in the 1960s.

School Ties was an overly didactic box office bust, but it has become known for helping to kickstart the careers of Fraser (known for starring in blockbusters like The Mummy and George of the Jungle), Damon and two of Damon’s future Good Will Hunting co-stars: Hauser and Ben Affleck. It also features

Anthony Rapp, who would go on to originate the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway musical Rent

For Jewish fans and sports figures, the movie remains a unique cultural touchstone.

Brent Novoselsky, a Jewish native of Skokie, Illinois, who played seven seasons in the NFL as a tight end, mostly for the Minnesota Vikings, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the film tackled a real slice of history that affected Jewish athletes.

“I was impacted by the movie as the 40s, 50s and 60s were a rough time to be Jewish in the US,” said Novoselsky in an interview during the week of his induction into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, on Sept. 21. “I know this because of my involvement in the B’nai B’rith Sports Lodge of Chicago. The main reason it existed was to give Jewish people in Chicago an outlet for bowling and other sports that they weren’t allowed to participate in.”

In 2020, Michael Neuman, an Orthodox psychologist who had competed on and won a Lebron James-hosted obstacle course show in a yarmulke in 2019, hosted a Zoom call of current and former Jewish NFL players. The group discussed their experiences in the league, tied to the then-controversy involving an antisemitic social media post by former star player DeSean Jackson.

Neuman had some thoughts after watching the film recently.

“One of the main things we see in the movie is to be proud of who you are, though our environment may strip us away from that reality,” Neuman said. “Unfortunately, many of us decide not to stand up for who we are and let people walk all over our identity.”

“David wanted a life he thought he’d be happy in, and when the hate was targeted at him to bring him down, he reacted and believed it. As he said, he lied to himself but he allowed these people to make him feel differently than he is. If he knows he is a proud Jew and not different then any of the other students, then he wouldn’t have reacted with rage like at the beginning and handled the situation as he did at the end.”

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Above: Brendan Fraser, left, Randall Batinkoff, Matt Damon and Andrew Lowery at the Los Angeles premiere of the film, Sept. 11, 1992. Credit: Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, below: Cast members of School Ties, Brendan Fraser, left, Matt Damon and Cole Hauser. Credit: FilmPublicity/United Archives via Getty Images