October 23, 2015

Endowed by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA

The Joy of Laughter

October 23, 2015 10 Cheshvan 5776 Vol. 96 | No. 6

This Week

by LINDA POLLARD Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation “If ya gotta ask, ya just don’t get it.”

Those words were the mantra of Bernie Meyers. Bernie never took himself or the world too seriously, and had little patience for those who did. Bernie’s life was lived with humor, even publishing a book, the Book of Bobo, with over 450 pages of a lifetime of his observations.

Bernie, or “Bobo” to his family and friends, passed away this summer at the age of 88. He is survived by his daughter Vicki Perlmeter and sons Bruce and Mike, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Bernie and his beloved wife, Roie or “Roro,” lived in the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home the last years of their lives. Roie passed away in 2011.

In a loving tribute to their parents, Vicki, Bruce and Mike established the Meyers Family Legacy of Laughter Endowment Fund at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. According to a family statement, “The mission of The Meyers Family Legacy of Laughter Endowment is to keep that laughter alive, to spread joy to the residents of the Rose Blumkin Home and the Jewish community it serves.

If we can bring a smile, a chuckle, a giggle, or a guffaw to people who

How Jerusalem is coping Page 6

Temple toddlers Page 7

Bernie and Joie Meyers have earned the right to have a good, healthy laugh, then the full and happy lives of Roro and Bobo will have added up to something truly meaningful: The Joy of Laughter.” The En-

JFS sponsors children Beth El Holiday and families Boutique

“Jews need to stop navel-gazing” Page 12

by SANDY NOGG JFS Assistance Coordinator It’s autumn, school is in session, and, for the second year, Jewish Family Service has provided funds to buy school supplies and/or school clothes for 21 children from 12 families, who would be financially strapped to provide these things which many of us

take for granted, due to job loss, medical expenses, or a myriad of other issues. You may have children of school age, or you may remember the excitement of getting new things for the school year. That excitement has not changed, and seeing these kids get to pick out their new school supplies is wonderful. Their parents

Inside Point of view Synagogues In memoriam

dowment will sponsor The Joy of Laughter Live Comedy Series. The Fund will present semi-annual events offered and organized by the activities department of the Rose Blumkin

Jewish Home to entertain and benefit the residents of the home, their families, and the entire community.

The first show in the Joy of Laughter Live Comedy Series will be on Sunday, Nov. 1, from 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, with a reception to follow. The entire community is invited to the premiere of what promises to be the start of a light-hearted and entertaining series.

Native Nebraska comedians, Brad Stewart and Mary Maxwell, will be the first comedians in the series. Brad now lives in Lincoln after 16 years in Los Angeles, and Mary resides in Omaha. Brad entertains through observational humor and spontaneity.

Brad’s videos on You Tube have had over 22 million hits. Brad opened shows for Joan Rivers over 50 times.

Through the years, Mary Maxwell has entertained audiences with her wit and humor. No stranger on You Tube, Mary has had over 12 million hits. Her public speaking career began over 45 years ago, and Mary offers her humorous insights on aging and other life events.

Maggie Conti, Director of Activities and Outreach Programs at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, said, “I have never seen a couple enjoy each Continued on page 3

8 10 11

Next Month Financial+Business See Front Page stories and more at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press are most appreciative, as noted on that day of shopping, through phone calls, emails, and thank you notes.

This program can be provided thanks to Jewish Family Service’s generous donors and friends. Please know that through your thoughtful giving, many children proudly go toward the future with new school supplies for the 2015-16 school year. If Continued on page 3

by BETH EL PUBLICITY Beth El Synagogue has brought back its holiday boutique.

Don’t miss the shopping event of the year on Sunday, Nov. 15 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at Beth El. An amazing array of handcrafted wares from local artisans will fill all available space inside the synagogue.

“We’ve sold out all the booth space and the vendors are all looking forward to showcasing their crafts for Jewish Omaha,” said Boutique chair Joni Brooks. But the Boutique is for everyone – so bring your neighbors and co-workers.

Absolutely everyone is Omaha is invited!

“There is shopping for everyone, all ages and all price points. Beth El teens in United Synagogue Youth are offering a used book sale and we have a bake sale with delicious takehome treats,” Brooks explained.

Handcrafted jewelry, housewares, Judaica, baby clothes, accessories, jewelry and candles are just a few of the items on display.

Beth Brown Gershovich of BBG Artistry is just one of almost 40

artists who will be ready to sell at the Boutique. She makes a wide variety of fused glass items; including pendant necklaces, earrings, pillboxes, purse hangers, glass bowls and dishes. “Everything I make is functional. I like to know that my pieces are being used and enjoyed. Studies show that people are happier when they are surrounded by pretty things!”

Gershovich sells her work in the Joslyn Art Museum gift shop and will be offering some western and Native American designs at the museum beginning in October to coincide with an exhibit of the same theme.

Continued on page 2

2 | The Jewish Press | October 23, 2015

Omaha’s 42nd Annual celebration of Jewish Book Month

by MARK KIRCHHOFF Administrative Assistant, Center for Jewish Life This year’s 42nd year of celebrating Jewish Book Month is an annual event of the Kripke Jewish Federation Library, the Center for Jewish Life and the Jewish Federation of Omaha.

Promoted by the Jewish Book Council, Jewish Book Month is dedicated to the celebration of Jewish books. The roots of Jewish Book Month started in 1925 when Fanny Goldstein, a librarian at the West End Branch of the Boston Public Library, set up an exhibit of Judaic books and used it as a focus of what she called Diana Bletter Jewish Book Week. The event was later adopted and expanded by communities around the country.

Omaha’s first event will be held Wednesday, Nov. 4 featuring author Diana Bletter. Diana, an author from Omaha’s Partnership2GETHER region in northern Israel, will give a presentation and hold a book signing at The Bookworm, beginning at 6 p.m. Her 2015 novel, A Remarkable Kindness, traces the lives of four American women who become part of the Chevrah Kadisha, the Jewish burial society, in their kibbutz. In preparing and dressing women for burial, they grow in friendship and marriages, learn to accept death and come to appreciate the sorrows and wonders of life. This event is free and open to the public. The Bookworm is located at 2501 S 90th Street.

On Thursday, Nov. 12, popular novelist Pam Jenoff will be the featured speaker for the Jewish Book Month Luncheon. Pam will speak on her recent novel, The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach takes place in 1941 and tells the story of young Adelia Monteforte who flees fascist Italy for America, where she is whisked away to the shore by her well-meaning aunt and uncle. She meets and falls in love with an Irish-Catholic boy and their lives become entwined with the war and a tragedy that hits close to home. The event begins at noon at the Jewish Community Center and the meal cost is $12. Reservations are needed by Nov. 9 for the luncheon by calling 402.334.6463 or via email to mkirchhoff@jewishomaha.org. Following the luncheon, Pam will hold a book signing in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library.

Her book will be available for sale at that time.

Included in the Jewish Book Month line-up, the Global Day of Jewish Learning will take place Sunday, Nov. 15. This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Ron Wolfson, a well-known and popular author who will talk about his latest publication, The Best Boy in the United States of America: A Memoir of Blessings and Kisses. The event will begin at 1 p.m. on

Sunday, Nov. 15 at the Jewish Community Center. In the book Dr. Wolfson shares his memories of growing up in a warm family, encountering colorful characters like the merchants in Omaha, navigating adolescence and learning

Dan Ephron

Pam Jenoff

never to underestimate his mother. The afternoon, which is sponsored by the Klutznick Chair of Jewish Civilization at Creighton University, also include breakout sessions throughout the afternoon by local presenters focusing on the Global Day theme, Love: Devotion, Desire and Deception.

Watch for more details in early November.

Beth El Synagogue will host the fourth Jewish Book Month event featuring author Dan Ephron on Monday, Nov. 30 beginning at 7 p.m. Ephron will talk about his book, Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel which relates the parallel stories of Rabin and his stalker, Yigal Amir, over the two years prior to the Rabin assassination. The presentation will be followed by a

dessert reception.

The final event of the Jewish Book Month will focus on where reading begins – with the kids. It will be “A Celebration of PJ Library Fun!” at the Omaha Children’s Museum on Saturday, Dec. 26 from 6-9 p.m. The event is geared toward children of PJ Library age – six months to eight years – with their parents. PJ Library provides books and music for children 6 months to 8 years, mailed to the child’s home each month.

Omaha’s program is sponsored by the Dorothy and Myer S. Kripke Institute for Family Literacy. The Dec. 26 Dr. Ron Wolfson event, which is open to Omaha’s young Jewish families, is possible through the generous support of the Mort Richards Youth Program Fund and the Murray and Sharee C. Newman Supporting Foundation, both funds of the Jewish Federation of Omaha.

A light dinner will be provided. Reservations are needed by Dec. 22 by phoning 402.334.6463 or emailing mkirchhoff@jewishomaha.org.

Jewish Book Month, the Global Day of Jewish Learning and PJ Library are programs of the Center for Jewish Life, whose mission it is to maximize involvement of Omaha’s Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences. For additional information, please call 402.334.6463.

Beth El Holiday Boutique Continued from page 1 As is true with many artists, her creative process is influenced by whatever crosses her path. She loves color and texture. “Nature, people I meet, customer ideas and funny sayings are what inspire me. Plus, anyone who knows me knows how crazy I am about animals as one of my muses.”

Additional artists include Mindy Foral with Gold Canyon Candles, Peggy Roberts with Nye Ave. accessories, Sarah Massingill with handmade baby items, Cat Souliere, who crafts chainmail necklaces and Rebecca Weak who will be selling “slumped” wine bottles.

Nancy Anderson will be selling American Girl and Bitty Baby doll clothes, perfect for Hanukah gifts.

Brooks noted that many vendors are home-based businesses and look to local craft fairs and boutiques for increasing their exposure and adding to their customer base. “We have a lot of home-based businesses excited to sell their beautiful handicrafts,” Brooks said.

IMAGINE SUMMERS HERE

Those include Jamberry Nails, Usborne Books & More, Tupperware and Pampered Chef. Home-based businesses will be showcasing bling t’shirts, handmade and embroidered baby items, painted shoes, hair turbans, dish cloths, tutus and tiaras, superhero capes and albums.

Gershovich echoed many of the artists who expressed their enthusiasm for the return of the Beth El boutique.

They like the people who attend and several mentioned the “kibbitz” factor – socializing and catching up with friends and neighbors.

“Plus, I am a big fan of their bake sale! Yum!” said Gershovich.

She added, “The vendor experience has been outstanding, thanks to Joni Brooks. She is a breath of fresh air in the way she has organized the event. Her upbeat attitude has a way of getting a vendor excited to participate.”

This year, Hanukkah begins at sundown on Sunday, Dec. 5 and continues for eight days.

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October 23, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 3

Lisa’s letter to Senator Kerrey is still relevant Lisa Shulman, daughter of Barbara Widman and Hersh Shulman, wrote poetry and stories, and left behind an impressive body of work. By pursuing her passion of writing, she unknowingly left a gift, a legacy of sorts, for all who knew her.

In February of 1989, Lisa wrote a letter to then Senator Bob Kerrey regarding her thoughts on our country’s national values and priorities. Senator Kerrey was so impressed with her insight and clarity that he asked then President George Herbert Bush to

consider Lisa’s letter for inclusion in the Records of Congress.

“Occasionally,” Kerry wrote, “a letter arrives that touches us dramatically, that conveys a message better than we could ever hope to.”

On June 12, 1989, both Kerrey’s recommendation and Lisa’s letter were printed in the first session of the 101st Congressional record. We are reprinting Lisa’s words here for the readers of the Jewish Press.

What she wrote is, 26 years later, still relevant.

Omaha, NE. February 3, 1989 Dear Senator Kerrey, As I sit at the dinner table each night with my parents, I am constantly reminded of the tragedy and plight of the human situations throughout the world as they are relayed to us through the network news. After listening to these types of things night after night, one tends to build up an immunity to them: rarely does any one story stand out to me.

However, on the February 2nd broadcast of NBC Nightly News, my attention was drawn to John Chancellor’s commentary. He was addressing the problem of technological advancement in the U.S. as compared to that of Japan and West Germany, where the governments contribute largely to their country’s research and development programs.

He believed that the reason the U.S. was falling behind in the technology race was its lack of funding in that area; funding that was being spent on military advancements should perhaps be used to fund the research and development of consumer goods.

Later in the broadcast was a story about the small town of Blue Hill, Mississippi, where its residents were living, in 1989, as they always had -- without running water or indoor plumbing. Imagine, in a time when my friends and I face computers, compact discs, and automatic icemakers as everyday facts of life, that people in this supposedly wonderful nation are driving 35 miles a day to gather buckets of creek water just to take a bath! This not only frustrates me,

but as an American, embarrasses me. Our government spends billions of dollars to build mechanisms to defend us in case of a war that we aren’t even sure will ever happen, yet won’t spend the money to give 2% of its population a standard of living that the other 98% practically take for granted. To me, this is absurd. If the government were to cut back just a small fraction of its defense spending and use that money to raise the standard of living not only of its own unfortunate, but perhaps, someday, for the world.

I am not what I would consider a great follower of politics and the many things that go on in our government each day.

There are a lot of things that I don’t know or understand, and I realize that what may sound like the ideal solution may not always be such. But I know that it is possible to overcome obstacles that lay in our path. When I was twelve, I was diagnosed with cancer and though the battle has been long and hard, I have managed to come out winning so far (I am now 17). Were it not for the technology that we have, I would probably not be alive today. But just because I have survived does not mean that research for the cause and cure of cancer should stop.

Likewise, just because our Nation has prospered or made a few advancements, does not mean that we should delay further achievements. If our government continues to spend money on defending its people instead of enriching the projects that contribute to their wellbeing, it may someday have nothing to defend.

Sincerely, Lisa Shulman

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The Joy of Laughter

Continued from page 1 other more than Roie and Bernie.” Maggie stated that the couple cherished life and were aware that they had been blessed in their lives. All who knew Roie and Bernie were blessed as well, according to Maggie. She added that the couple was loved by the entire staff of the Blumkin Home.

“Bernie was well respected; he was always a gentleman and a mensch of a man,” she stated.

Maggie said that the Legacy of Laughter event is a unique opportunity for comedy programming at the Blumkin Home. She remarked that this is a “win-win” for the community and a real “home run for the Residents of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home – who doesn’t enjoy laughing?”

Maggie is confident that the audience attending the semiannual events will laugh, enjoy themselves and leave smiling.

To Bernie and Roie Meyers, family was the most important thing. Mike said, “Our parents loved to laugh with family and friends, at themselves, and the crazy world they made better.” It is clear that the love Bernie and Roie gave to their family was fully returned by their three children. Vicki, Bruce and Mike speak with great love and respect for their parents. Bernie wrote, “The best decision I ever made: To cohabitate with Roie and have children.”

“This project was our idea, and came naturally to us based on the way our parents taught us to live and enjoy life, even when things get a little tough. While we wanted to do something with humor, it was the staff of the Blumkin Home that came up with the idea of the comedy shows. We wanted to do more than have a plaque or a bench at the home. We wanted to be able to give the residents a few minutes of laughter for what can sometimes be a very lonely and isolated life. Most important, this is our very small way to say thanks to the Blumkin Home staff for eight years of loving care to Dad, and four years to Mom,” according to Bruce.

The Meyers family will be very involved in the planning of the series. Mike stated, “I have been searching for possible acts all the way from big names in New York City and Los Angeles to local comics.” Mike added, “Our dreams go beyond free comedy shows to possible improv classes, creative writing courses and more.”

“Mike, Bruce and Vicki are really excited to bring the

upcoming Nov. 1 comedy show to the Blumkin Home residents and broader community,” commented Howard Epstein, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. “All of us are looking forward to the premiere, and we’re anticipating a good crowd. It should be fun,” Epstein added. “It has been a treat to work with Bernie and Roie’s children to establish this endowment. Bernie and Roie will be remembered through the Joy of Laughter-Live Comedy Series by many generations of Omahans, thanks to the generosity of their children in establishing this endowment fund at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation.”

The family of Roie and Bernie Meyers would like everyone to take a little time on November 1 to relax, laugh, enjoy and not take life so seriously. In Bernie’s own words, “The worst decision I ever made: One day I took myself seriously. The point? I want to have some fun – and, If ya gotta ask, ya just don’t get it.”

JFS sponsors children and families Continued from page 1 you would be interested in sponsoring a child in the future, please call Sandy Nogg, 402.334.6493.

As we have said in previous articles, Jewish Family Service does Project Dreidel for Chunakah to provide gifts for children in families who can provide the essentials but might be unable to provide those special Chanukah gift wishes of their children. Last year we served 19 families with 39 kids. Community members can sponsor a family, a parent and child, or a child.

Sponsors can receive a wish list and shop for the family or child, or they can donate a sum and JFS volunteers will do the shopping, or make a general donation toward this project. There are many options available and we hope you will join us in November for the December deliveries. Once again, Sandy Nogg, 402.334.6493, should be contacted by Nov. 2, 2015, for those interested in helping to sponsor Project Dreidel.

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Blumkin Home County Fair huge success

by MARY HEIMAN tional six months to put the tree together on four large RBJH Activities Director charts.

Over 200 people attended the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Other exhibits at the County Fair included beautiful knitCounty Fair this past ted sweaters by Selma Aug. 30. The entertainSadofsky, and needlement, tasty food, carniwork and fine art by Annette and Leo val games and chances Fettman. Phyllis Bittner to win prizes enticed did a needlepoint canvas young and old alike. of the United States This year’s Best of Wagon Trails. I’ve never Show Exhibit was awarded to Vera Lewis seen anything like it. To and her son, Bruce, for put icing on the cake, their Lewis/Parilman the Omaha Interfamily tree. Bruce startnational Folk Dancers ed working on the projdrew attendees to the ect in 1986, and over the RBJH Auditorium for a years he spent an beautiful show of dances impressive number of from Eastern Europe, Vera Lewis and her son, Bruce, with their Best in Show exhibit: The hours on the phone and South America and Lewis/Parilman Family Tree visiting with family other countries, includmembers in order to gather photos and trace the family his- ing Israel. All in all, the County Fair was a wonderful, fun tory. After getting the information, it took Bruce an addi- filled afternoon.

Marriages FREEMAN-SCULNICK Lauren Calli Freeman and Matthew Sculnick were married on May 24 at 6 p.m. at Pippin Hill Farm and Vineyards in Charlottesville, VA. The ceremony was officiated by Rabbi Aryeh Azriel.

The bride is the daughter of Robyn and Bob Freeman and the granddaughter of Joanne and Jerry Freeman and Barbara Burke, all of Omaha.

The bride graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a B.A. in 2007 and cum laude from credit: Clary Pfeiffer Photography Georgetown University Law Center with her J.D. in 2012.

She is an Associate at the law firm Sidley Austin LLP. Her attendents were her sisters, Allyson and Susan Freeman.

The groom is the son of Linda and David Sculnick of New York, New York and the grandson of Norma Tarlow of Boston, MA. The groom graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a BS in 2008, and Johns Hopkins University with a MS in Environmental Planning and Management in 2012.

He received his MBA from University of Virginia in 2015.

He is an Investment Banking Associate at Deutsche Bank.

His attendents were his brother, Daniel Sculnick and friends, Jason Schulweis and Andrew Zimmerman.

After a wedding trip to South Africa and Mauritius, the couple will reside in New York City.

LIEB-MARCUS Howard K. Marcus and Lisa Gordman Lieb were married June 28 at Beth El Synagogue in Omaha. Rabbi Steven Abraham of Beth El and Senior Rabbi Aryeh Azriel of Temple Israel officiated, along with Hazzan Michael Krausman of Beth El. The processional song Trumpet Voluntary was played by Michael Thompson, accompanied by pianist Anna Mosenkis. The bride entered the sanctuary accompanied by her father, Jerry Gordman, and her son, Sam Lieb.

As the bride circled the groom, former Omaha resident Jonathan Rathsam sang Anah Dodi from the Song of Songs, accompanied by pianist Esther Wax. Matron of honor was the bride’s sister, Randi Gordman of Acton, MA. Bridesmaids were Danielle Gordman and Julie Potash, both of Omaha, and Danielle Sherman of San Francisco. Junior bridesmaids were Harper Gordman and Alex and Natalie Pichik, all of Omaha, and Anna and Jamie Monteleone, both of Acton.

Best man was Michael J. Sloan of Omaha. Groomsmen were Jeff Gordman, Dr. Howard W. Needelman, Sam Lieb, James Polack and Jared Maxwell Polack, all of Omaha, and Rand Monteleone of Acton. Junior groomsman was Zev Gordman of Omaha.

The bride, a daughter of Jerry and Linda R. Gordman of Omaha, is a communications specialist. She chairs the Beth El Hebrew School committee and serves on the executive committee of the Beth El board of trustees. Lisa earned a bachelor of arts in telecommunications from Indiana University.

The groom, the son of Joan K. Marcus of Omaha and the late Milton Marcus, is deputy special sections editor of the Omaha World-Herald, and writes the newspaper’s Around and About column. A past president of the Jewish Press, the Omaha Press Club, the OPC Foundation and the C. Louis Meyer Rehabilitation Foundation, he is currently a member of the Munroe-Meyer Institute board and the OPC Foundation executive committee. Howard earned a master of arts in journalism from the University of WisconsinMadison and a bachelor of arts in communication from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

The reception was at Happy Hollow Club. Following dinner, the couple waltzed to the tune Could I Have This Dance? as played by Tuffy’s Group - instrumentalists Tuffy Epstein, Dan Cerveny, Mary O’Keefe and Steve Thornburg, and vocalist Michael Lyon.

The couple reside in Omaha.

Your life story lives on in the beauty of nature.

What a wonderful way to express the continuation of life. The John A. Gentleman Botanical Memorial Program honors memories through tribute plantings of trees, shrubs and perennial flowers throughout Lauritzen Gardens.

An annual memorial dedication ceremony allows families to again celebrate the lives of those they’ve lost, with a special plaque to display the names.

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

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October 23, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 5

Brad Ashford visits Temple Israel

Congressman Brad Ashford speaking to members of the congregation at a recent Sunday morning coffee.

Chabad brings Sukkot to UNL

by MIRIAM KATZMAN Rabbi Katzman leading a ‘toast to the holiday’ and to Jewish unity. The students felt embraced and inspired.

Being away from home can be a challenge to one’s Jewish identity. A warm holiday hug is very effective.

Organizations B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Danielle Conrad, ACLU’s executive director reveals “How ‘Gay Marriage’ came to be the ‘Law of the Land’” on Wednesday, Oct. 28, noon. For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org.

Moshe Gershovich presents France and its Jews

by MARK KIRCHHOFF Center for Jewish Life The Center for Jewish Life welcomes Dr. Moshe Gershovich as a return speaker in its Friday Learning Series when he presents a threepart series titled From Rashi to Dreyfus and Beyond: A Brief History of France and Its Jews. This past February, Dr. Gershovich’s class looking at the differences of Sunni and Shiite factions within Islam was praised as both fascinating and informative. No doubt this series, tracing the chronicle of Jews in France, will undoubtedly receive the same acclaim. Sessions Dr. Moshe Gershovich will meet Nov. 6, 13, and 20 from 11 a.m. – noon in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library. The class fee of $26 reduced to $21 for those in good standing with their contribution to the Annual Campaign of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. To register, contact Mark at 402.334.6463 or mkirchhoff@jewishomah.org.

Dr. Gershovich is Professor of History at UNO and Director of the Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies.

“Discussing the history of French Jewry is particularly relevant these days when questions are raised about its future,”

remarked Gershovich. “Earlier this year we were stunned by the terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the Kosher Market in Paris. It’s important to place these horrific events in a proper historical context in order to assess the future.”

Gershovich further explained that Jewish presence in France is nearly as old as France itself. However, Jews were expelled and absent from the country for several centuries.

Once they began to return, they integrated with the French culture and national identity. The French Revolution and Napoleon emancipated the Jews and made them equal citizens. Still, at several junctures in the history of modern France, Jews became the victims of hatred and discrimination, culminating in the dark years of the Holocaust.

“Studying the history of France is one of my passions,” says Gershovich. “For many years I’ve studied French colonialism in Morocco, North Africa, and the Middle East. I’m equally passionate about modern Jewish history. Now I get to combine the two in this class.” The class will explore the rich heritage of Jewish presence in France and the contribution of this presence in culture, arts, sciences, politics, and more.

Also included in the discussion will be the quest of French Jews to preserve their unique identity while remaining loyal members of the Mother Country. But do recent events cast a shadow of doubt over the future of French Jewry? Register for the class to gain insight into this question.

The Friday Learning Series is presented through the Center for Jewish Life whose mission is to maximize involvement of Omaha’s Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences. Contact Mark at 402.334.6463 or mkirchhoff@jewishomaha.org to register.

Next round of Adult Education classes

by SCOTT LITTKY Program Director, Temple Israel As we near the end of October, our next round of Adult Education Classes are about to start at Temple Israel. Our classes will continue to meet on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Thursday mornings from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. All of our classes continue to be open to the public and we have a suggested donation of $45 per semester of classes.

On Wednesday evenings, Cantor Wendy Shermet has two sessions left in her class, The Structure of the Prayer Service. The class has focused on the evolution of Jewish prayer and how it has grown in purpose and meaning.

During this course Cantor Shermet has also brought guests in to teach, such as Hazzan Michael Krausman of Beth El Synagogue. The final two sessions of the course are Oct. 28 and Nov. 4.

Beginning on Nov. 11 and continuing on Nov. 18, our class is titled, URJ Biennial Reflections. Every two years, the Reform Movement holds its annual conference for professionals and lay members of our congregations. Of course, not every member of a congregation is able to go to the con-

ference, so during these two weeks we will pack the conference with leaders from the Reform movement and our congregation. On Nov. 11, we will be joined by a member of the URJ staff, with Jane Rips serving as facilitator. On Nov. 18, we will be joined by a member of the RAC staff, with Gary Kaplan serving as facilitator.

On Thursday mornings, Rabbi Josh Brown has one class left in his class, Speaking Metaphorically: An exploration of metaphors used in Jewish stories as a window into our lives today. The class has explored rabbinic and midrashic writing as literature as well as the works of modern midrashic writers such as Ruth Calderon and Anita Diamant. The final week of this class is Oct. 29.

The next class on Thursday mornings will be taught by Cantor Wendy Shermet and is titled, Conversations with the Cantor. Course dates are Nov. 5, 12, 19 and Dec. 3, 10, 17 again from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Each week, Cantor Shermet will lead a discussion on a topic of her choosing and expertise.

For more information on our Adult Education classes, please contact Program Director, Scott Littky at 402.556.6536.

See more at www.jewishomaha.org

6 | The Jewish Press | October 23, 2015

How Jerusalem is coping

by BEN SALES The seven Israeli deaths during the past two weeks don’t JERUSALEM (JTA) -- “No pepper spray, no tear gas, no approach the death tolls of the suicide bombings that hit nightsticks,” sighed Itzhak Mizrahi to three disappointed Jerusalem during the second intifada 15 years ago, in which men, as if it were a mantra he’d recited dozens of times. hundreds died. Even so, some Jerusalem residents said this The glass-topped display case in Magnum, the central time is worse.

Jerusalem gun shop Mizrahi has owned for three decades, “If you were careful and you were lucky to live in the right featured a wide variety of pistols on Oct. 15. The pepper place, you’d be fine,” said Margalit Cohen, 39, referring to spray compartment, however, was empty, stormed earlier in the violence that wracked the city from 2000-2005. “It doesthe week by nervous Israelis hoping to defend themselves n’t feel like that now. Now, it really feels like anywhere you from stabbing attacks. go, it could be there.”

The country is suffering a Benjamin, the British imminationwide pepper-spray grant, no longer checks her shortage, Mizrahi said. As the phone constantly or wears men left, Mizrahi told them heels, in case she needs to he hoped to restock his tear run. Some of her friends have gas supply early next week. taken self-defense classes, a Jerusalem’s streets and step she said is a bit much. shops have been desolate for “I just think it’s part of this several days and its atmoshysterical panic, and I don’t phere tense. A string of stabwant to be a part of that,” she bings, shootings and car-ramsaid. ”Walking around with Israeli Border Police guarding a checkpoint in the eastern ming attacks in the city over pepper spray -- that’s not the Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber, Oct. 15, 2015. the past two weeks have killed world I want to live in.”

Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 seven Israelis and paralyzed As the government has the city center, leading its residents to take measures to pro- encouraged civilian vigilance, its own response has been miltect themselves. Many others are staying inside rather than itary. Hundreds of soldiers and policeman were deployed risk getting knifed. In their place are security guards, check- across Jerusalem this week and stationed along main streets. A points and police vans. soldier holding a rifle guarded one of the city’s light rail stops, “There’s a lot more stress everywhere,” said Alexandra while a police officer stood opposite him inside the train.

Benjamin, who immigrated from London to Jerusalem in Security is especially intense inside Jerusalem’s Old City. A 2002. “I’m refusing to allow myself to not go out, but I can’t metal detector was positioned at the Jaffa Gate and the usuhelp noticing the streets are much, much quieter.” ally bustling nearby market was lined with pairs of soldiers.

For Mizrahi, business is booming. He has sold about twice Arab residents of Jerusalem are also suffering from the tenas many handguns as usual the past two weeks, and he sion. On the road to the Arab neighborhood of Silwan, solapplauds the government’s recent decision to relax Israel’s diers sat behind a concrete block at a checkpoint, bags of chips strict gun laws. Last week, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat scattered between their combat helmets. As a dusty red car urged licensed gun owners to carry their weapons in the approached, they stopped it for a few minutes of questioning. street and was himself photographed toting a firearm.

“I’m scared they’ll shoot me by mistake,” said Samir Masri, “We take the guns not to attack, just to defend,” said 24, who had taxied to work from the eastern Jerusalem neighMizrahi, a pistol lying by his hand. borhood of Wadi Joz during the past week, rather than walk.

Others have looked to more primitive tools to protect “People aren’t going out. The security situation is terrible.” themselves. On Thursday, a warm, sunny day, a man walked Israeli Jews and Arabs alike have tried to ease the stress hurriedly past the central Zion Square holding an umbrella with humor. One spoof of a self-defense video shows the like a spear. A woman carrying shopping bags tucked a mop victim conjuring a fireball with his bare hands to deter an handle -- sans mop -- under her right arm. On Tuesday, a attacker. The lone Arab occupant of a Tel Aviv apartment man fought off a terrorist with a selfie stick. building became a viral sensation when he posted to Other Jerusalem residents have chosen to say home. Jaffa Facebook a selfie with a notice inviting residents to discuss Street, the city’s central thoroughfare, was almost empty the security threat he supposedly represented. The photo Thursday, as was the Ben Yehuda Street pedestrian mall. was captioned: “I'm coming and I'll bring muffins!”

Standing outside his cell phone store, Yair Kouhara, 18, said Self defense measures are largely coping mechanisms too, he hadn’t made a sale all morning. But having lived through said Jerusalem shopkeeper Kesem Atedgi, 21. The city, he the second intifada as a child, Kouhara said he was unfazed said, won't be secured by pepper spray. by the terror.

“If someone comes at you with a knife, this won’t stop him “We’re here not doing anything all day,” Kouhara said. “We in any case,” said Atedgi, referring to a can. “It’s for a feeling grew up in this situation. We’re used to it. It’s always tense.” of security.”

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Polish Jewish history in bronze

by KATARZYNA MARKUSZ WARSAW, Poland (JTA) Helena Czernek and Aleksander Prugar are the founders of Mi Polin, a Polish design studio specializing in contemporary Judaica. For their Mezuzah From This House series, the pair traveled across Poland searching for traces of mezuzahs in the door frames of homes where Jews once lived. From the depressions left in the frame, Czernek and Prugar produce a plaster cast and create a bronze mezuzah, engraved with the letter shin and the address where the original mezuzah once hung.

Last year, Czernek and Prugar traveled to Sokolow Podlaski, a small town about 60 miles east of Warsaw. They stopped by the building at 4 Wilczynskiego St., which housed a kosher butcher shop before the Holocaust. The old door frame wasn't there anymore, but amazingly, Czernek and Prugar found a door from the house lying nearby in a dumpster A bronze mezuzah made by Mi Polin that had a trace of a mezuzah.

Orie Niedzviecki, a Canadian from a trace of an old lawyer whose grandparents came Polish mezuzah.

Credit: Mi Polin from Sokolow Podlaski, bought two mezuzahs made from depressions found there by Czernek and Prugar. One he gave to his parents, the other to a niece who had just moved to Israel.

“The idea that this mezuzah is now in Israel along with some members of my family, and hopefully myself soon, provides some link to the past as the Jewish people move forward to its inevitable future as a free nation in its own homeland,” Niedzviecki said.

Though some three million Jews lived in Poland prior to the Holocaust, most Poles do not realize that the marks still remaining on door posts were likely the spots where Jews had hung their mezuzahs. When the doors are replaced, one of the last traces of the Jewish inhabitants of those homes often disappears as well.

“In contrast to synagogues and cemeteries, mezuzah traces are the least visible part of the material legacy of more than three million Jews who once lived in Poland,” said Krzysztof Bielawski, who runs the Virtual Shtetl project at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. “Few people are turning attention to them.

Helena’s and Alexander’s design is not only a documentation of the traces, it shows that each mezuzah is linked to the history of specific individuals.”

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October 23, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 7

Temple Israel toddlers Temple Israel continues the Sunday morning Toddler and Parent program for children ages 23. Dani Howell will facilitate activities, games and songs for toddlers with their parents. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet other families with young children and connect with our Temple Israel community. For more information, please contact Interim Religious School Director Sharon Comisar-Langdon at 402.556.6536. You can drop in or you can let her know you are coming.

We will meet the following Sundays from 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. in the Social Hall: Nov. 15, Dec. 6, Jan. 10, Feb. 7, March 6, April 3 and May 15.

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Schwalb Center upcoming Events

by MOSHE GERSHOVICH Professor of History at UNO and Director of the Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies The 28th Annual Symposium on Jewish Civilization will take place Oct. 25-26. The first session will be held at UNO on Sunday, Oct. 25, starting at 9 a.m. in the College of Public Affairs and Community Service (CPACS) room 132D. Later sessions that day will be held at the Jewish Community Center, including a keynote presentation Sunday evening, 7 p.m.

Monday session will be held at Creighton University (morning), and at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (after-

noon). For more details about the schedule, speakers, and location contact Colleen Hastings at 402.280.2303 or colleenhastings@creighton.edu or www.creighton. edu/klutznick We are also excited to announce a special screening of the movie A Borrowed Identity on Tuesday, Oct. 27 from 7-9:30 p.m. at Film Stream’s Ruth Sokolof Theater (1340 Mike Fahey Street). A discussion will follow the screening with author and screen writer, Sayed Kahua, along with fellow Israeli author, Assaf Gavron. Tickets are on sale at http://www.filmstreams.org/filmstreams_ calendar.aspx?ID=1631.

To submit announcements: Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, 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 the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements.

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8 | The Jewish Press | October 23, 2015

Point of view

American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

Rocks were thrown

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor If I wear a new dress, and you tell me it looks ‘interesting,’ what you mean does not necessarily match your words. I was hoping for pretty, or glamorous, or at least cute.

I can live with cute. But interesting? That probably means you think it’s hideous. You have a hard time imagining why I bought it in the first place; you would never, ever, in a million years put on something like that. Of course, you wouldn’t say that out loud (and I appreciate that) so you come up with ‘interesting.’ It’s code for: “I love you, but I don’t love the dress. What, honey, were you thinking?”

Language works like that. The words we use have layers, and the fastest way to become confused is to take people literally. Instead, we have to discover the hidden meaning, we have to interpret each other’s words and hope we get it right.

Language can be a minefield.

There are few places where that becomes as obvious as in the current media coverage of Israel. Case in point: according to CNN online, “Joseph’s tomb caught fire.”

It did? Spontaneously, it caught fire? In the same week, rocks were thrown. Shots were fired. Stuff happened, and what caused it is anyone’s guess. At least, if you go by the headlines.

The recent reporting about the Bedouin shooter, who shot an Israeli soldier point blank, then took his machine gun and opened fire on the crowd, mostly focused on the aftermath. A security guard mistook an innocent bystander for an accomplice; the panicked crowd subsequently bludgeoned that bystander to death.

“On Sunday, four Palestinians were injured by live fire in the West Bank, according to a spokesman for the Palestinian Health Ministry,” the article continued. And: “At least 44 Palestinians have been killed this month in Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinian Authority Health Ministry spokesman Osama al-Najjar told CNN. This figure includes those killed after carrying out attacks. This is in addition to

the more than 1,770 injured by live fire or rubber bullets in the same time period, according to Najjar. Both sides have traded blame about who is responsible for the ongoing violence. Both sides have turned up gruesome video recordings to support their claims.” (CNN.com)

Ahmed Manasra, who, according President Abbas, was “executed in cold blood,” is recuperating at Hadassah Hospital.

Credit: Edgar Asher And there it is: the “both sides” argument.

It’s a lazy argument, and a dishonest one. Are mistakes made on both sides? Of course; I don’t think anyone is disputing that. However, much of the reporting we see in the

United States continues to be in code. A code that means: Israel had it coming. The Palestinian violence is a consequence of Israeli misbehavior. It is just as much Israel’s fault as the Palestinian authority’s. The dress is very, very interesting.

But in the meantime, we don’t discuss the real issues. Why is that? Why is it that there seems to be an almost gleeful response to the current violence perpetrated by Palestinian protesters? Where does this never-ending hatred for Israel come from? Is everyone so stuck in assigning blame that we forget to work towards a solution?

I don’t know the answer to that. But as long as much of the international media portrays the Palestinian people as victims, and the Israelis as the bad guys, things will not change.

If the media wants to talk about Israel’s faults, then let’s really talk about them. Not in vague, borderline anti-Semitic language, but with real words. Let’s call a spade a spade. Let’s really talk about the Eritrean man who was brutally killed by a mob. Let’s talk about the horrible price tag attacks on Palestinians, which have no place in a democracy. But while we’re at it, let’s also admit, publicly, that the Palestinian people are anything but innocent. Not in a “both sides have issues-“ kind of way, but by really taking a long hard look at the politics at work here. Let’s talk about Mahmoud Abbas, about Hamas and Hezbollah, about the tunnels, the rocks, the stabbings.

Let’s also pay attention to those who would see the world get better, and who work towards peace. Let’s talk about all the initiatives where Palestinians and Israelis work together, live together, and talk together. Because this is not a black and white issue, the narrative is much more diverse than that.

It’s hard to tell the whole story. It takes work. But, when told correctly and completely, this is a story that is worth telling.

And unlike that imaginary dress, which you may call ‘interesting’ to spare my feelings, the tensions in Israel deserve and require honesty in reporting.

Israel-China romance is based on ancient values

by ALEXANDER B. PEVZNER tory seriously. And the countries actually share quite a few (JTA) -- The rise of a new global power usually creates cultural values, such as a strong emphasis on family and tensions with the incumbent superpower, and the United education, a work ethic and a passion for learning.

Ancient Jewish and Chinese thinkers even independently States-China duo is no exception.

At their summit last week in Washington, D.C., Presidents came to the golden rule. The Talmudic saying by Hillel the Barack Obama and Xi Jinping spoke of progress in some Elder, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your felareas, such as cyber espionage and climate change, but skirt- low” (Shabbat 31:1), and which is said to summarize the entire Torah, has an exact equivaed more contentious issues, such as lent in a saying attributed to China’s reclamation of contested Confucius: “What you do not want islands in the South China Sea and done to yourself, do not do to othhuman rights.

While the U.S. and China are ers.” (James Legge translation, managing an uneasy relationship, “Analects,” 15:23) Israel and China are in the midst of Further, the Chinese have no hisa romance. With fewer potentially tory of anti-Semitism. Jews, most clashing interests, both countries likely from Persia and Iraq, have are invested in boosting the bilaterbeen living in China since at least al relationship -- and historical and the 10th century without suffering cultural affinities are greasing the persecution. During World War II, diplomatic wheels. some 20,000 European Jews found On the face of it, Israel and China refuge from the Nazis in Shanghai. could not be more different. There With Jews now facing increasing is the geographic distance, the huge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hostility in Europe, China’s attitude disparity in size (the entire popula- meeting with China’s president, Xi Jinping, at is a welcome respite. tion of Israel is about a third that of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, May 9, Israel and China have certainly had Credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Getty Images their disagreements -- revolutionary China’s capital city, Beijing), the 2013. thousands of years of cultural divergence and the different China sided with the Arabs in the Middle East during the political systems. But there is plenty of common ground if 1960s and ‘70s. But the past few years have seen an unprecethe Jews and Chinese want to find it -- and they do. dented strengthening of ties spurred by the governments and Israel and China both see themselves as ancient nations, a by nongovernmental organizations on both sides. commonality that is important to the Chinese, who take hisFaced with an increasingly challenging international envi-

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ronment and a geopolitical realignment in the region, Israel understands it must strengthen its ties with China because of the latter’s importance to Israel’s security. There is also the obvious lure of the huge Chinese market.

Amid the upheaval in the Middle East, China has realized that Israel is one of its few stable and reliable partners in the region, which it will need help navigating as it seeks to meet its growing energy needs. China is also interested in what Israel has to offer in technological innovation and creativity as it tries to upgrade its industrial base and move away from exports-based economic growth.

The upshot is trade and investment are reaching new highs, and relations between the governments have been upgraded to include semi-annual dialogue at the level of deputy foreign ministers. The two countries have even agreed to launch talks to conclude a free-trade agreement.

From Alibaba to Fosun and Ping An to Baidu, Chinese firms are investing in Israeli technology -- providing Israel with funds, thousands of jobs and access to the world’s largest consumer market. Even the iconic Israeli food and dairy cooperative Tnuva Group was bought last year by the Chinese state-owned conglomerate Bright Food (Group) Co. All this political and economic exchange is driving a mutual interest in the other’s culture. Academic and tourist exchanges are flourishing. Israelis study the Chinese language in ever greater numbers, and the Chinese are becoming more and more interested in all things Jewish.

In a recent interview for a global finance program on China Radio International, a Chinese reporter asked me the meaning of the phrase “All of Israel are responsible for one Continued on page 9 News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.”

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October 23, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 9

The New York Times’ ‘Big Lie’ about the Temple Mount

by STEVEN FINE NEW YORK (JTA) -- Last week, I opened The New York Times to Rick Gladstone’s article, Historical Certainty Proves Elusive at Jerusalem’s Holiest Place, happy that the newspaper of record would explain to its audience the historical context of this embattled piece of real estate.

As I read on, I was horrified.

“The question, which many books and scholarly treatises have never definitively answered, is whether the 37-acre site, home to Islam’s sacred Dome of the Rock shrine and Al Aqsa Mosque, was also the precise location of two ancient Jewish temples, one built on the remains of the other, and both long since gone,” Gladstone reported.

The article received an avalanche of comment from scholars and lay readers, Jews and Christians, who well understood that beneath this article was an attempt to problematize the very existence of the Jewish temples on Mount Zion.

While it is true that the temple shrine has not been found, the entire platform of the Temple Mount was built by Herod and his successors and are part of the temple complex -- visible to the eye and described in detail by the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus and others. The attempt to throw doubt on this is obfuscating, taking advantage for political or religious benefit of the appropriate willingness of historians to question sources.

While this is quite disheartening, what is most disturbing

about this article is that The New York Times gave voice to yet another Big Lie about Jews and Judaism. Joining claims of deicide and ritual murder, which are broadly believed in the Islamic world, Muslim commentators in recent years have purveyed the belief that there never was a Jewish tem-

The Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem Credit: Hadas Parush/Flash90 ple on the Haram al-Sharif.

“They claim that 2,000 years ago they had a temple,” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has written. “I challenge the claim that this is so.”

Palestinians have much to gain in claiming that there was no Jewish temple. If there was no temple on Mount Zion,

then Jews have no claim on that hill, nor to the land of Zion and Jerusalem. Hence, no Zionism.

The Big Lie that there was never a Jewish temple is thus a cipher for discrediting and undercutting the entire Jewish claim to the Holy Land -- the very claim that, in fact, makes this particular land holy.

What Palestinians stand to lose by purveying this untruth, however, is the trust of those, like me, who are willing to listen carefully to legitimate claims and to act on them. The claim that there was never a temple is offensive and in no way furthers Palestinian national aspirations.

The claim that there is no “Palestinian people” is similarly offensive to Palestinians. But while that claim has mostly disappeared among Jews and Israelis, the Big Lie that Jews are foreign to the Holy Land, and that the temple never existed, is alive and well.

What disturbs me most is that The New York Times totally missed this complicated history and unintentionally gave the Big Lie a voice on its pages, as if it is equal to actual historical fact.

The Times deserves credit for (somewhat) correcting the article online, but what about the millions who read only the paper version?

Steven Fine is the Pinkhos Churgin professor of Jewish history at Yeshiva University and director of the university’s Center for Israel Studies and the Arch of Titus Project.

On Conservative Judaism, why all the talk about failure?

by JACK WERTHEIMER, STEVEN BAYME and STEVEN M. COHEN (JTA) -- “In the United States, ‘Conservative Judaism’ is a synonym for failure.” So writes the Israeli journalist Yair Ettinger after interviewing a spectrum of American Jewish religious leaders. If, as it seems, this judgment has become the new conventional wisdom, we reject it as both inaccurate and destructive.

The rationale for such a gross generalization lies in the decline in numbers of Jews who identify with the Conservative label. In the decades after World War II, and as recently as 1990, the plurality of American Jews self-identified as Conservative. More recently, the Pew Research Center found that by 2013, the Conservative proportion had fallen to 18 percent. That quantitative loss has resulted in a shrinking population of synagogue members, fewer students enrolled in Solomon Schechter day schools -- though not in Ramah summer camps -- and more limited financial resources for the Conservative movement.

Shorn of any context, these trends seem to point to failure.

But a more thoughtful approach might first ask: as compared to what?

True, the declines in Conservative identification are noteworthy relative to surging haredi Orthodox populations and the growing modern Orthodox numbers. But those are standards that no non-Orthodox group has matched. So the more pertinent question is: How do Conservative Jews stack up against the other non-Orthodox populations?

We might begin with “market share.” According to the Pew study, Conservative Jews comprise 20 percent of nonOrthodox Jews 45-59 years old and no less (20 percent) among those aged 30-44. In other words, the Conservative proportion of the non-Orthodox Jewish population is holding steady.

By comparison, 47 percent of non-Orthodox Jews 45-59 identify as Reform, but among their counterparts 30-44, the Reform share drops to 30 percent (with the no-denomination Jews picking up the slack).

Israel-China romance Continued from page 8 another.” (Midrash Safra on Vayikra) Still, China’s political and energy interests in the Middle East and its comprehensive ties with the Arab world dictate a cautious and balanced approach to the region. China enjoys good relations with Iran based not on antipathy toward Israel, but on its desire to boost ties with the Persian Gulf and secure its western flank.

To keep the romance going, Israel and China must stay focused on their similar traditions as well as their shared interests. At a reception last week for China’s National Day hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin emphasized these very points, calling the Israel-China relationship “a friendship which honors and respects the oldest of traditions, but produces the most modern technology and economic development.”

Let’s hope his speech was translated into Mandarin.

Alexander B. Pevzner is the founding director of The Chinese Media Center at the School of Media Studies of The College of Management Academic Studies in Rishon LeZion, Israel.

What’s more, Conservative Jews have higher birthrates than Reform and non-denominationally identified Jews.

Their intermarriage rate is far lower than for other nonOrthodox Jews. For those marrying since 2000, 39 percent of Conservative-raised Jews married non-Jews, as compared to roughly 80 percent for those raised as Reform or nondenominational. Conservative Jews are far more likely to enroll their children in more intensive forms of Jewish schooling and summer camping than other non-Orthodox Jews.

The United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism’s centennial celebration, October 2013.

Credit: Mike Diamond Photography Among members of Conservative and Reform synagogues, large gaps open between them when they are asked about their attachment to Israel, attendance at Shabbat services, involvement with Jewish organizations and the importance of being Jewish in their lives. On all of these and other measures of Jewish involvement, Conservative congregants are far more engaged than their Reform counterparts.

The positive effects of a Conservative Jewish upbringing are most dramatically evident in the 30-44 category. In comparing Conservative-raised with Reform-raised individuals in this age group, we find that the former are far more likely

to fast on Yom Kippur; twice as likely to belong to a synagogue and to feel that being Jewish is very important to them; three times as likely to send their children to day school; four times as likely to light Shabbat candles usually; and five times as likely to maintain what they regard as a kosher home.

Why, then, all the damning talk about failure? As the movement in the center, Conservative Judaism has taken fire from groups to its right and to its left since its founding.

Today, some in the centrist Orthodox world are campaigning to stamp out more open-minded approaches to modern Orthodoxy and find it convenient to belittle their foes either as crypto-Conservative Jews or as going down the same “failed” path as the Conservative movement. To the left, it has long been convenient to create the illusion that the Jewish population divides into merely two camps -- between the Orthodox and everyone else supposedly marching under a so-called religiously “liberal” banner. The dichotomous language of “Orthodox” and “liberal” blurs very real distinctions in Jewish commitments and outcomes among Conservative, Reform and nondenominational Jews.

If we seek to strengthen American Jewish life, it makes no sense to demean and dismiss a movement with a proven track record of producing and retaining more highly engaged Jews than any other in the non-Orthodox world. And if the goal is to rebuild what we term “the Jewish middle” as a necessary step to reinvigorating Jewish life outside of Orthodoxy, bashing Conservative Judaism is self-defeating.

Wouldn’t the more responsible approach for those who profess to care about the vitality of American Jewry be to help the Conservative movement -- even to praise it -- so that it can continue to produce, mobilize and serve committed Jews?

Jack Wertheimer is a professor of American Jewish history at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Steven Bayme has been a visiting professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Steven M. Cohen is a professor at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and director of the Berman Jewish Policy Archive at Stanford University.

News anchor slams leaders

by JTA NEWS STAFF Arab-Israeli news anchor Lucy Aharish isn’t afraid to take on both sides of her fraught identity. She has spoken out against the racism that Palestinians face in Israeli society as well as against Palestinian violence.

Aharish, 34, spoke recently on Israel’s Channel 2 about the wave of Palestinian terrorism that has Israel on edge.

Aharish slammed Palestinians for using religion as an excuse to attack Jews and their leaders for inciting the violence.

“Some of the Arab leaders are keeping a horrific and deafening silence,” she said, according to a translation by The Israel Project. “They are not trying to calm the situation, not trying to act towards mutual understanding and accepting the other.” Aharish didn’t shy away from the controversy surrounding the Temple Mount, saying Israeli policy on the Temple Mount has not changed and, even if it had, there is no excuse to resort to violence.

“Even if the status quo on the Temple Mount has been broken, does that allow someone to go and murder someone else because of a sacred place?” she said. “Why, because of God? What God are they speaking of? One that allows for

children to go out and murder innocent people?

“What woman puts a hijab on and prays to God, takes a knife out and tries to stab innocent people?” she asked.

Aharish also called Arab leaders in Israel “weak” and suggested their outrage about the Temple Mount is insincere.

“They know how to march and go to the Temple Mount and shout, although they don’t believe in God, you don’t have a religion, but yet shouting that it’s ours. What ours are you talking about?” Aharish said. “It’s the house of God. Your God? You have ownership on it?” She ended her rant by criticizing leaders for inciting young Arabs to violence.

“You are inciting thousands of young people to go to the streets. You are destroying their future with your own hands,” she said.

Aharish hosts news shows for Israel’s Channel 2 and i24 News stations. She was the first Arab Muslim news anchor on Arab Muslim television and remains one of the few, according to Haaretz.

When Aharish was six years old, she was injured when Palestinian attackers lobbed a Molotov cocktail at the car she was riding in with her parents in the Gaza Strip.

10 | The Jewish Press | October 23, 2015

Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 |712.322.4705 email: BnaiIsraelCouncilBluffs@gmail.com Join us for our monthly Shabbat Speakers Series on Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker, Bea Karp. She will be speaking about her experiences as a child survivor of the Holocaust, and sharing stories from her book My Broken Doll. Oneg to follow service. Please join us! Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel!

Larry Blass will officiate the Speaker Series Service.

For information on our historic synagogue, or to arrange a visit, please contact any of our board members: Mark Eveloff, Rick Katelman, Carole Lainof, Marty Ricks, Sissy Silber, Nancy Wolf and Phil Wolf. Tribute cards for any occasion are available. Contact Sissy at 311 Oak Ridge Ct., Bellevue, NE 68005 or 402.292.8062.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California | Omaha, NE 68154-1980 | 402.492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

FRIDAY: Lunch at Nebraska AIDS Coalition, 11:30 a.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with D’var Torah

by Leonard Greenspoon; Junior Congregation, 10 a.m.; Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:15 p.m.

WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.

SUNDAY: BESTT Classes, 9:45 a.m.; Torah Study, 10 a.m.; Torah Tots, 10:30 a.m.

WEDNESDAY: BESTT Classes, 4:15 p.m.; USY/Kadima Lounge Night and Dinner, 5 p.m.; Hebrew High, 6:45 p.m.

Shabbat Services/Minyan in the Round, Saturday, Oct. 31, 9:30 a.m.

USY/Kadima & BESTT Kibbutz Chaverim Social Action Program, Sunday, Nov. 1, 12:15 p.m.

All classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street | Omaha, NE. 68154 | 402.556.6288 www.orthodoxomaha.org Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Ari Dembitzer.

FRIDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha, 6:14 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; 15 mins after Kiddush -Mishna L’Neshamah & Teen Class; Torah Parade and Shabbat Classes, 9:45 a.m.; Insights into the Weekly Torah Portion, 4:55 p.m.; Mincha/Seudah Shlishit, 5:55 p.m.; Havdalah, 7:13 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Bagels and Beit Medrash: Understanding Our Prayers, 9:45 a.m.; Shavua Tov with Yaldei Beit Yisrael: The future of Beth Israel, 1 p.m.; Caffe Ivrit, 2 p.m. with Shaliach Eliad Eliyahu.

Bar Mitzvah Max Menolascino Zweiback, son of Amy and Tim Zweiback, will become a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Temple Israel.

Max is a seventh-grade student at Westside Middle School. He is in Honors math and is a Duke University Talent Identification Program participant. He has earned awards for Omaha Team Math Competition.

His interests include select soccer and ultimate frisbee.

For his mitzvah project, Max volunteered at the Foodbank of the Heartland by collecting, sorting and packaging food.

He has a sister, Mia. Grandparents are Judy Zweiback and the late Warren Zweiback, and Donna Menolascino and the late Dr. Frank Menolascino.

Great-grandparents are the late Joe and Rosie Zweiback, and Moe and Dorothy Gimp.

To Submit B’nai Mitzvah Announcements Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewish omaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154.

Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, by e-mailing the editor at: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org or online at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press.’

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

THURSDAY: Women’s Class, 9:30 a.m.; Scholar’s Club for 6th Grade, 3:30 p.m.; Avot U-Banim, 7 p.m.; Talmud Learning, 8 p.m.

CHABAD HOUSE An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street | Omaha, NE 68144-1646 | 402.330.1800 www.OChabad.com | email: chabad@aol.com Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m SATURDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 9:30 a.m.

SUNDAY: Minyan, 8:30 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

TUESDAY: Dynamic Discovery with Shani Katzman, 10:15 a.m. A class for women based on traditional texts with practical insights and application. RSVP by calling the office.

WEDNESDAY: Personal Parsha class, 9:30 a.m. with Rochi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office; The Development of the Oral Tradition, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office. In memory of Forrest Krutter -- Efrayim Menachem Ben Avraham Yitzchak.

THURSDAY: Women’s Study at UNMC with Shani Katzman, noon. RSVP by emailing Marlene Cohen at mzcohen@unmc.edu.

All programs are open to the entire community.

Candlelighting Friday, October 23, 6:14 p.m.

Registered Restorative Yoga Teacher. We will combine philosophy from the Torah with movement (asana) from yoga to provide an uplifting experience that is good for every body type. Bring your yoga mat and any props you need, if you have them. A limited supply of mats and props will be available.

Congregation B’nai Jeshurun/The South Street Temple Annual Meeting, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2 p.m.

President’s Office Hours, Sunday Mornings, 10 a.m.–noon at SST. If you have any Temple business you would like to bring before the Board of Trustees, potential programs, or new ideas, please let us know! Call for an appointment at the Temple or just to chat any time at 402.513.7697. Or if you prefer, just email David Weisser at president@southstreettemple.org.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road | Offutt AFB, NE 68123 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to the Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m. with Chabad.

SATURDAY: Services, 9:15 a.m. led by Alan Shulewitz.

Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN South Street Temple | Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street | Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 | 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org Services conducted by Rabbi Craig Lewis.

FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. with oneg following hosted by Vicki Edwards.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Lech Lecha; Lincoln Temple Youth Group Haunted Havdalah, Time TBA. SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Board of Trustees, 1:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: LJCS classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY: Issues of the Day, 3 p.m. led by Rabbi Craig Lewis.

TUESDAY: Intro to Judaism, Session 3, 6:30 p.m.

THURSDAY: Prayer of the Heart, Session 2 of 2, 6:30 p.m.

In this class we will explore the deeper meanings of several of our most familiar prayers so that when we read the Hebrew on the page, our hearts may truly understand. There is no cost to participate.

SHA-BA-BA-BAT Family Dinner/Service, Oct. 30, 6 p.m.

Torah Yoga for everybody, Oct. 31, Jan. 30 and April 30, 9:30 a.m. at South Street Temple led by Barbara Barron,

Order the memories

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor, Jewish Press The night of Oct. 11 was one of those special moments in the history of our Jewish community when adults, teens and children came together to celebrate Jewish life and the contributions of generations past and present.

We relived the excitement, energy and commitment just as we did 30 years ago.

Whether you were at the Joslyn Museum and saw Campaign Cabaret in person, or whether you missed the magic and would like to see what everyone has been talking about, you can now order your very own DVD or Blu-Ray copy. Watch friends and family take the stage, and relive the performances that could only have happened right here in Omaha.

The price of a DVD is $25; a Blu-Ray costs $35. To receive an order form, contact Steve Levinger at slevinger@jewishomaha.org, or go directly to the website at http://moranrecordings.com/.

TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive | Omaha, NE 68144-1206 | 402.556.6536 http://templeisraelomaha.com FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Brown and Cantor Shermet.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. Jordan Raffel, son of Wendy and Adam Raffel, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah; OTYG/BBYO Haunted Havdallah, 5:30 p.m. Meet at the JCC at 5:30 p.m. and then head to the Bellevue Berry Farm and Pumpking Ranch. The cost is $20 and will include pizza, s’mores, drinks and entrance. Remember to dress warm! To RSVP, please contact Director of Youth and Young Adult Engagement Aliyah Lasky, 402.905.0409. Reservations are required.

SUNDAY: Grades K-6, 10 a.m.; Kibitz with the Rabbis, 11 a.m. What’s on the mind of our Rabbi’s? Every other week either Rabbi Azriel or Rabbi Brown will lead a discussion of topics that they feel need addressing! Watch the eTidings for dates and topics; OTYG Board Meeting, 12:30 p.m.

TUESDAY: Mah Jongg Classes, 7 p.m. Come learn how to play Mah Jongg! Cost is $45 and will include a Mah Jongg card. To RSVP, please contact Program Director Scott Littky, 402.556.6536.

WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 4 p.m.; Chapel for School Service wtih Rabbi Azriel, 4:30 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6 p.m.; School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Bible Quiz Study with Rabbi Azriel, 6 p.m.; Structure of the Prayer Services, 6:30 p.m. with Cantor Shermet.

THURSDAY: Speaking Metaphorically: An exploration of metaphors used in Jewish stories as a window into our lives today, 10 a.m. with Rabbi Brown; MRJ Thursday Night Football, 7 p.m. at Buffalo Wild Wings, 4287 S. 144th St. RSVP to Program Director Scott Littky, 402.556.6536.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard | Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 | 402.423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning service, 10 a.m. followed by a special Kiddush luncheon sponsored by Sarah Bauman and Miles Bryant. Please join us as we say farewell to Sarah and Miles as they move to their new home in Washington State; Lincoln Temple Youth Group Haunted Havdalah, Evening time TBA. SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Symposium on Jewish Civilization, 9-11:30 a.m. at UNO and noon-5 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the JCC in Omaha.

MONDAY: Symposium on Jewish Civilization, 8:30 a.m.1 p.m. at Creighton University and 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at UNL. Events are FREE and open to the public. For more information, please call 402.280.2303 or e-mail colleenhastings@creighton.edu WEDNESDAY: LJCS classes (grades 3-7), 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

Pulverent e

October 23, 2015 | The Jewish Press | 11

In memoriam ELLIOTT BANNER Elliott Banner passed away. Services were held Oct. 15 at Beth Israel Cemetery (77th & Crown Point Ave).

He was preceded in death by parents, Sam and Gertrude Banner, brother, Mac Banner, sisters Rose Greenspoon and Hilda Nashman.

He is survived by his wife Ida; son, Howard “David” Banner and daughter, Shirly Banner, and many nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be made to Beth Israel Synagogue or Rose Blumkin Home.

JENDA “ETTA” EPSTEIN

Services were held Monday, Oct. 19, at noon at Beth El Synagogue, 14506 California St. She was preceded in death by her parents, Ben and Yocha Garelick; brother, Jake Garelick and sister, Bernice Miller.

She is survived by her husband of 70 years, Harold “Bae” Epstein; sons and daughters, Paul and Sandy Epstein, and Gary and Lisa Epstein, and son, Steven Epstein; grandchildren: Kari and Brandon Tauber, Cory and Carrie Epstein, Kimberly and Jason Schlanger, Hayley and Gabriel Maislos, Robert and Andrea Epstein, Ben Epstein, and Alex Epstein; and nine great-grandchildren.

Memorials to Beth El Synagogue or the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home.

Jenda “Etta” Epstein passed away on Oct. 17 at age 91.

Netanyahu’s newest public enemy

by BEN SALES ization by the United States.

TEL AVIV (JTA) -- In assigning blame for the recent wave Though they all share the same principles and operate of violence in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu similarly -- Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood also operhas turned to the usual suspects -- Hamas and the ate educational and social service programs in addition to Palestinian Authority. their political activities -- the Islamic Movement has no But he has also accused a lesser-known group that oper- organizational relation to the others. Rekhess says remainates within Israel’s borders: the Islamic Movement, a reli- ing separate gives the movement a niche within Israel. And gious political group and social service organization.

Ali says keeping its distance from Hamas helps the moveNetanyahu has seized on ment avoid prosecution. the inflammatory rhetoric Which is why ... of the movement’s northThere’s not much Netanyahu can do to ban ern branch, which claims the Al-Aqsa mosque in it.

Jerusalem is “in danger” Salah has served prison and has funded protest time for assaulting an groups that harass Jewish Israeli police officer and is visitors to the site. appealing a conviction for Netanyahu has blamed the incitement, but several movement’s rhetoric for experts say Netanyahu will inciting the attacks and is be hard-pressed to outlaw seeking to formally ban its the whole group for inciteactivity. ment to violence. Its offiHere’s what the movecial pronouncements are ment does, what it believes too ambiguous to qualify Raed Salah, leader of the northern branch of the Islamic about the Temple Mount as illegal, they say.

Movement, in Jerusalem, March 26, 2015. and why it might be diffi“They don’t call for vioCredit: Miriam Alster/Flash90 cult to ban. lence,” Ali said. “They What is the Islamic Movement? know that use of violence will cause the destruction of the The Islamic Movement is a political organization, reli- movement. I’m not saying they’re angels or that they oppose gious outreach group and social service provider rolled into violence, [but] they’re using vague concepts.” one. Formed in the 1970s, the movement’s overarching goal Outlawing the group could also spark a broad backlash in is to make Israeli Muslims more religious and owes much of Israel’s Arab sector. Knesset member Talab Abu Arar, a its popularity to providing services often lacking in Israel’s member of the movement’s southern branch, said he could Arab communities. Today the group runs kindergartens, view any ban on the group as an attack on Arab-Israelis as a colleges, health clinics, mosques and even a sports league – whole. sometimes under the same roof.

“The Islamic Movement includes most of the Arab public “Their popularity stems from the fact that they had, in in Israel,” Abu Arar told JTA. “Outlawing it, you could say, is every place, changed the face of the local village or town,” outlawing the entire public from the land.” said Eli Rekhess, the Crown Chair in Middle East Studies at Northwestern University. “It’s this combination that underlies the Islamic Movement’s formula.”

The movement split two decades ago. One faction, known as the southern branch, began fielding candidates for Israel’s Knesset in 1996 and now is part of the Joint List, an alliance

by JTA NEWS STAFF of several Arab-Israeli political parties. Three of the Joint JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Saturday, Oct. 17, approximateList’s 13 current Knesset members are part of the movement. ly 1,500 Jews and Arabs rallied in Jerusalem for an end to The more hardline northern branch rejects any legitthe current violence and a resumption of the peace imization of Israel’s government and has called on its adherprocess. ents to boycott elections. The branches now operate essenThe peace protest on Saturday night came after a day in tially as two separate organizations. which four Palestinians were killed during what are The ‘Al-Aqsa is in danger’ conference believed to be attempted stabbing attacks.

The movement’s northern branch is in Netanyahu’s sights The alleged assailants were killed in separate attacks, now for its aggressive advocacy for Islamic control over the including two in Jerusalem. Three Israeli police officers Temple Mount, the Jerusalem shrine known to Muslims as and another alleged Palestinian assailant were wounded the Noble Sanctuary. The branch’s leader, Raed Salah, has in the incidents. called on his followers to “redeem” the mount, which housIn addition to the Jerusalem attacks, three occurred in es the Al-Aqsa mosque, from purported Israeli aggression. the West Bank city of Hebron, including one near the Every year, Salah hosts a conference titled “Al-Aqsa is in Cave of the Patriarchs. danger,” and has promoted the idea -- hotly disputed by The rally participants marched under the banner “we Israeli officials -- that Israel seeks to change the status quo at will not surrender to despair,” the Israeli daily Haaretz the site. reported.

The movement also funds a group called the Standing Together, a group that formed in response to Mourabitoun, whose protests against Jewish visitors at the the deadly violence over the past month, organized the Temple Mount have occasionally turned violent. On Sept. 9, demonstration.

Several Knesset members were on hand, Israel banned the group from the mount, sparking the riots including left-wing Meretz party head Zehava Galon, that preceded the current wave of attacks. Salah has accused who called for international intervention to solve the criNetanyahu of declaring war on the mosque. sis.

Right-wing protesters demonstrated on the sideline of An offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood the rally.

Netanyahu also sees the group as something of an Islamist Also on Saturday night, Five Jewish-Israelis injured in a fifth column within Israel. The movement, according to confrontation with Palestinian police were rescued and Haifa University’s Nohad Ali, is an ideological offshoot of then taken in for questioning by Israel for illegally enterEgypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, as is Hamas, the militant ing the Tomb of Joseph near Nablus. group that controls Gaza and is considered a terrorist organ-

Jerusalem peace rally brings out Jews and Arabs

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12 | The Jewish Press | October 23, 2015

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: “Jews need to stop navel-gazing”

by URIEL HEILMAN NEW YORK (JTA) -- Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, a philosopher and member of the U.K. House of Lords who served as Britain’s chief Orthodox rabbi from 1991 to 2013, is in America lecturing and promoting his latest book, Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence. JTA’s Uriel Heilman caught up with Sacks in New York for a conversation about his prolific writing pace -- 25 books and counting along with a new line of Koren Sacks prayer books -- the crises facing Jews today and whether Sacks, 67, would consider the presidency of Yeshiva University.

JTA: You’re a member of the House of Lords, you teach at King’s College London and New York University, and you travel the world lecturing. How do you have time to write, too?

Sacks: I used to take, when I was chief rabbi, six weeks in the summer and, instead of taking a holiday, I’d write a book.

You go into a kind of trance when that happens. I’d be thinking about it for the preceding year, so it wasn’t out of nothing. At the age of 40 I completed my first book, and I’ve done one a year since. I usually write the books I want to read.

Long ago I made a list of the books that I think need to be written, and I just knock them off one by one.

You know what your next project will be already?

Well, I know what’s for the next 20 years, we should all live so long.

You have 20 lined up?

Oh, more. I’m sorry about that, but that’s how it goes.

What’s your next project?

I am writing a new commentary to the Chumash [the Bible]. There was a commentary -- it’s still used in Anglo Jewry -- called the Hertz Chumash, written by one of my predecessors. It is a commentary that asks: How do we set this against its historical background? What does it mean to us today? Nobody’s done a Hertz Chumash since Hertz a century ago and it’s an urgent necessity. ArtScroll anthologizes traditional commentaries and it’s done tremendously well. But they have not stepped outside that world of the yeshiva and said how do we make sense of this today?

That sounds almost Reform.

If Maimonides was a Reform Jew, then I suppose it is. But Maimonides wasn’t. That is the classic tradition. The rabbis

formulated it in a very simple way: There’s the Written Law and Oral Law. Although the text never changes, you always need that act of interpretation to translate the word of God for all time into the word of God for this time. Generation after generation reads the same words and says: Was that then or is that now? There’s a mitzvah to live in our time.

There’s a lot of disagreement among Jews when it comes to interpretation.

Judaism is a religion of argument. It’s the classic environment. Judaism is a choral symphony scored by many voices.

I don’t see that as a problem. I see that as a sign of vitality.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ latest book is Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence. Credit: United Synagogue Tell me about your new book about religious violence.

I have tried to get to the roots of the historically fraught and potentially violent relationship among Jews, Christians and Muslims. [Those roots are] highly specific narratives in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Koran, all of which lead back to the stories of sibling rivalry in Genesis.

Sibling rivalry, according to Sigmund Freud, is the primary driver of violence through history. It’s a very serious book to be read seriously by people who care for the future of humanity. It took me 12 years to write.

Is this a Jewish book?

“Not in God’s Name” was very consciously written for an audience that is predominantly not Jewish. It is directed to Jews, Christians and Muslims with equal emphasis on all three. I’m really trying to make a statement in the book, that navel-gazing is not necessarily the best answer for the Jewish

people right now. We are living in a very dangerous world.

The people of Israel are exposed to immense danger, and now is not the time for internecine, domestic squabbles. We have to stand hand-in-hand and shoulde-to-shoulder with Christians, moderate Muslims, secular humanists and people of other faiths in defense of religious freedom and humanitarian values. Because right now we are at one of the most dangerous turning points in history.

What’s the danger?

I don’t know if the West really knows what to do with radicalized political Islam. I don’t know if the Muslim world really knows what to do with it.

Do the Jews know what to do with it?

Fundamentalism is the attempt to impose a single truth on a plural world. Jews have always stood against that. We never went with the majority. We insisted on our right to be different. That is why Jews carry a very important message to the world. If you’re al-Qaida or ISIS, attempting soon or eventually to impose the caliphate on the world, you will have to oppose the Jews and the State of Israel because historically we were the ones who stood against them.

I imagine you’re often asked about anti-Semitism in Europe.

If it is not safe to be a Jew in Europe, it is not safe to be a human being in Europe, and if Europe ever lost its Jews it will have lost its soul. So this is a big problem. And the real trouble is that Jews continue to talk about it in a way that does not communicate itself to non-Jews. There’s a deep danger when the Jewish response to anti-Semitism is complaining to other Jews or using language that will only really be heard by other Jews. It’s the ultimate exercise in futility.

Is there a crisis of leadership in the Jewish world today?

There’s a crisis of leadership in the world. That is manifest.

And there’s a great desire for magical leaders who will solve the problems of the world, and that leads to violence, tyranny and all sorts of bad things. So we are in a crisis of democratic leadership, I would say.

But what about in the Jewish world?

I’m very impressed by the rabbinate here in America. Not an easy position; it never was. I’ve traveled to a lot of communities and seen a lot of very, very impressive young Orthodox rabbis and young leaders.

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Jessie Wees | 402.334.6559 | jwees@jewishomaha.org