IHE COMMUNITY TRIP
Credit: Howard Kaslow
SCOTT LITTKY
Institute for Holocaust Education Executive Director
The Institute for Holocaust Education (IHE) will sponsor a community trip to Poland and Germany from July 14 to July 24, 2025, in memory of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the commencement of the
A month of fabulous fun
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMPWRIGHT
Jewish Press Editor
Grandparents Day, usually scheduled on the first Sunday of September after Labor Day, was designed to honor grandparents. It is not a public holiday, and it doesn’t always get the attention it deserves in the nation at large. Luckily, at the Rose Blumkin See Fabulous fun page 3
Nuremberg Trials. The trip will coincide with the Kaiman Nuremberg to the Hague (H2N) Summer Study program, through the law school and Creighton University and we will be overlapping during the trip with a number of activities in Poland and Nuremberg.
It has been twenty years since the IHE led a community See IHE Community Trip page 3
A week in Budapest
JAY KATELMAN
JFO Director of Community Development
From September 16 to 23, a small but mighty Omaha delegation (Tamar Yellin and myself) made our way to Budapest for Partnership2Gether’s Horizon Seminar for Young Adults in Budapest. Budapest was a first for both of us, and we were excited to experience this week-long
seminar. It did not disappoint. Our schedule was filled with seminar activities and field trips to incredible places around the city. The group included representatives of our 17 US partner cities, Budapest, and Israel. There were familiar faces as well as new ones. The group quickly became tight-knit, and the intimate vibe was very much See A week in Budapest page 2
The Kedoshim of Nova Page 2
Inspired by Natan Sharansky Page 5 Poland’s
Tamar Yellin and Jay Katelman in Budapest
The Kedoshim of Nova
ZELIG KATZMAN
Last spring I went with my sister to see the Nova Exhibit that was held in Manhattan. Several weeks later, it was the scene of antisemitic protests, but that Sunday it was relatively calm.
It was a deeply emotional and difficult experience. You cannot be unmoved by the gory footage (although they blurred out more than in the clips I’d seen online, kudos to them!), the burnt-out cars, the first-hand testimony from tens of survivors, playing on loop on the small screens that were everywhere.
was wedged in the beginning.
But the most powerful moment was when I came to the Lost and Found section. Like in Auschwitz, there were piles of clothing and shoes, and various other items left behind.
As I scanned around the table, something caught my eye. A pocket sized Shnayim Mikra, Chumash Devorim. At first I was deeply puzzled-What was that doing here?
And then I remembered: It was Simchas Torah! The time when we rejoice in the completion of the Torah. When we finish Devorim and immediately begin from Bereshis. For, as it says in Sefer Yetzirah, the ends are wedged in the beginning.
The ends are wedged in the beginning.
This massacre ended lives. Hundreds of pure Jewish soulsfilled with Mitzvos like a pomegranate-perished. But their end
Continued from page 1
Just as when they prepared to enter the world, a malach taught them the whole Torah, preparing them for the journey ahead. So too, when they were preparing to leave it, some pure soul filled the atmosphere with words of Torah, to accompany them as their souls soared heavenward.
Yes, perhaps the Nova Festival wasn’t an obvious display of a love for Torah. But Torah teaches us to look beyond externalities, to see the core of everything. These Jews were dancing because it was a day of joy above, and because one Jew among them had just concluded a cycle of studying Hashem’s most precious gift.
In the days and weeks afterwards, I resolved that starting this Simchas Torah, I will do Shnayim Mikra every week. To remember the angels, the Kedoshim of Nova.
Yehi Zichram Baruch, Hashem Yikom Dam’am.
(Note: Shnayim Mikra is shorthand for the Halachic requirement to review the entire Parsha with a translation or commentary, ideally Friday afternoon/evening)
Zelig Katzman was born and raised in Omaha, and now resides in New Haven, CT., where he writes and studies Torah. He is passionate about exploring the modern relevance of Torah and Chasidic thought through his work.
A week in Budapest
welcomed. Partnership is first and foremost about peoplehood and person-to-person connections, and our conversations were very meaningful.
We visited the Holocaust Memorial Center, where we saw a large courtyard which on one side had a floor-to-ceiling list of Hungarians who perished during the Holocaust. Opposite the wall was a beautiful building which housed an exquisite synagogue and a Holocaust exhibit. It tells the story of the Nazis’ arrival in Hungary, and how Jewish life and work changed as the result. Seeing what was left behind by those who were forced into ghettos was impactful; normal, everyday items like eyeglasses, binoculars, a girl’s stuffed doll.
many of us were involved in during our time in Budapest.
“Talking with our Hungarian and Israeli peers,” Tamar said, “and seeing all of the Jewish history and sites around Budapest, were among my most impactful experiences.” She especially enjoyed Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat services at the Sim Shalom Progressive Jewish Congregation, located inside the Budapest JCC, which were attended by locals and tourists alike.
Next, we toured the Rumbach Synagogue, which also has been used as a concert hall and Jewish Museum since 2021. The Rumbach Synagogue’s Bimah is retractable and can sink into the floor.
Most lectures and small group activities were held in the Merkaz building, which is The Hebrew and Israeli Culture Center. We were fortunate enough to meet with the regional director of the Jewish Agency for Israel for insights into Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. We participated in an interactive conversation with the Israelis who came to the seminar, and learned about their experiences post-October 7. This may have been one of the most impactful things
In the middle of the week, we toured the Dohany Synagogue and finished the night exploring the ruins area of the Jewish quarter. To end the week, we visited the Jewish Salgotarjani cemetery, which has some historic names but unfortunately has not been kept up. However, it was still impressive to see hundreds of years’ worth of names and connect them to history.
Finally, we went to what is known as “old Buda,” where getting off the bus was like going back in time. It looked like a small village. In fact, before the war, the whole town was employed by a large textile company that was Jewish-owned. It was a very interesting story. Old Buda has a still-functioning synagogue, and our visit was a little overwhelming: the wonderful older woman who showed us the synagogue broke down. She cried when she realized we had traveled from such far distances, and made time to see “her little synagogue.” Old friends, new friends, and many memories made this Partnership2Gether trip something we will remember a long time.
The Holocaust Memorial in Budapest Credit: Mark Ahsmann, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Friends and family of the victims of the Nova music festival massacre gather at the site of the massacre in southern Israel one year after the attack, Oct. 7, 2024. Credit: Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90 Via JTA
IHE COMMUNITY TRIP
Continued from page 1 trip to Poland. Members of that trip included Marcel and Ilse Kahn, Bea Karp along with daughters, Jeanie, Nancy and grandson, Danny Krantz. IHE Advisory Board members, Gloria and Howard Kaslow also joined the trip and recalled, “Our trip to Poland had a profound effect on us. Every aspect of the trip was full of meaning, from walking through museums that captured the rich culture, religion and vibrant Jewish people who were targeted for destruction by the Nazis and their collaborators, to visiting concentration camps, one that to our horror, is situated in the middle of a city where locals cut across the sacred grounds to go to work.
Contrasted to experiencing the atrocities of the Holocaust, we also witnessed the return of Jewish life within a Warsaw synagogue, reassuring us of the enduring strength and resilience of the Jewish community. Visiting these sites not only honors the past but reinforces our sense of collective responsibility to educate the younger generations to the consequences of hatred and intolerance.”
This year’s journey will include the history of the Holocaust supplemented with written materials from Nebraska survivors and camp liberators, introduce present-day Poland, and experience a commemoration in Courtroom 600 with Nuremberg Trail experts in conjunction with Creighton law students and community leaders.
Scott Littky, IHE Executive Director, Jane Nesbit, IHE Education Director, and Beth Dotan, Research Professor at the UNL Harris Center for Judaic Studies will lead the group along with local guides in both Poland and Germany. Preparatory sessions will be scheduled in late spring prior to departure.
Since 2019, IHE has been working with Professor Mike Kelly and has assisted in providing Holocaust educational sessions and speakers before their yearly summer trip. Scott has also had the opportunity to assist in their understanding of their visit to Auschwitz by accompanying the class and being educational support for the Poland piece of the trip.
When asked about the opportunity to work together this coming summer on members of our community being able to learn from and experience parts of the Kaiman Nuremberg to the Hague (H2N) Summer Study program, Professor Kelly stated, “This immersion experience is not only a unique opportunity for Omaha’s Jewish community to see the apparatus of the Holocaust firsthand and witness the legacy and power of the Nuremberg trials that followed, but to also understand the importance of international law and cooperation in the ongoing effort to make sure that it never happens again.”
An informational meeting about the trip will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Staenberg Omaha Jewish Community Center.
For more information or to rsvp for the meeting, please contact Scott Littky at slittky@ihene.org
Fabulous fun
Continued from page 1 Jewish Home, we have professionals who know how to throw a party, and how to put the Residents in the spotlight.
“At RBJH, we celebrate Grandparents Day the whole month of September-and beyond,” Maggie Conti, Director of Activities and Volunteer Services, said.
“For us, this is not just a one-day affair. However, we do pay extra attention in September.”
The Residents enjoyed top-notch entertainment with a Barbra Streisand Tribute from Camille Metoyer Moten and pianist Dave Murphy, an Air Force Heartland Band, Neil Diamond tribute with Dan Reynolds, Billy Troy, a mother and daughter concert with Cathy Pacholski and her daughter Taylor Wyatt.
“We also celebrated the Huskers with a BBQ and Corn Shucking,” she added. “We had a visit from the HETRA Mini Horses ,and a campus-wide rock concert with Daybreak, Feel Good Music, and Kona Ice.
HETRA stands for Heartland Equine Therapeutic Riding Academy, and serves a variety of participants including children and adults with disabilities such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, brain tumors, head or spinal cord injuries, visual impairments, autism, developmental delays, and strokes. Their miniature horses have been spreading joy and comfort to long-term care facilities, day programs, and schools in the greater Metro Omaha area.
“The finale was a whirlwind Grandparents Day Carnival,” she said, “which became even more special with the help of the students from Friedel Jewish
Academy. The ability to have intergeneration activities is one of the many advantages of being part of our Staenberg Kooper Fellman Campus.”
To keep the theme going, RBJH will celebrate with an extraordinary monthly concert to celebrate grandparents! “We had a spectacular Grandparents’ month,” Maggie said, “thanks to the support of a number of Foundation Funds. Special thanks to the following funds from the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation: Sheldon and Lorrie Bernstein Endowment Fund, Betty Studna and Seymour Lee Endowment Fund, and Chester and Phyllis Lustgarten Endowment.
Traditional Values
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UNO Human Rights Essay Contest
The War in October
With this war soon to enter its 14th month, its impact has been far reaching. Having not grown up here, not served in the army, and mainly worked as a freelancer, I have a relatively limited social network, and yet the following were messaged to me during the course of October, the bloodiest month of 2024:
Oct. 10, on a group-chat of the Yeshivah of Flatbush Class of ’79 who made aliyah, from Mina (Krumbein) Marantz: “It is with deep sorrow and dark grief that we announce that our dearest son Tzvi Matitiyahu Marzntz has fallen while fighting in northern Gaza. The funeral will be held at Mount Herzl tonight at 1 a.m.” Tzi, of blessed memory, had married a Givat Ze’ev girl named Tal Sasson and lived there with their three children. Our son Ezra had grown up with Tal, and as Tzvi and Tal had already become a couple while they were in high school, Ezra had become friendly with Tzvi as well. After he paid a shiva call to Tal, Ezra told me: “For the first time in this situation, I was dealing with a person whom I had actually hugged.”
Oct. 20, on our family’s chat, from my
daughter Rebecca: “To all those who pray, please have in mind the healing of the officer who was seriously wounded today, Yehuda son of Miriam (the husband of Naama Shafir).” Naama was at Rebecca’s wedding this past summer and the two of them, both top basketball players in their age cohort, have been friends for 25 years. Lieutenant Colonel and Tank Battalion Commander Yehuda Shalev were surveying the fighting in northern Gaza with Division Commander Colonel Ahsan Daksa when a bomb exploded underneath them, killing Colonel Daksa. On October 23, after a number of operations, Yehuda’s condition had stabilized and his life was no longer in danger. Rebecca visited Naama at Assuta Ashdod Hospital. Yehuda was still in an induced coma and so family and friends were gathered outside his room. Yehuda’s father requested and was given permission to go inside the room to sing his son Sabbath songs. Oct. 25, in a forwarded Facebook post from our cousin Miriam Epstein: “Sammy Harari was a lone soldier who lived with us during his service. He moved to Tsfat recently with his family [his wife Anna, who is studying medicine in Tsfat, and their three children] and was called for reserve duty. Yesterday, he was killed by Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon. He was a wonderful human being: kind, thoughtful, funny, and always optimistic. May his memory be a blessing.” An email from
Yeshivah of Flatbush told me that Sammy was class of ’07 from my high school.
Oct. 19, On the Friday of Sukkot, our son Elie, who is a Company Commander, sent a video clip on the group-chat for the family members of his Company, wishing everyone—from afar—a happy holiday and peaceful Sabbath. Elie’s message can serve as a kind of moral framework for all of the above: “This area is of strategic importance and so our presence here is very important [a “West Bank” Arab village is in the background of the video]. Just in the past week our Company helped prevent many terrorist attacks, and we also found many weapons. Our presence here is critical. Dear families, you are a part of all of this; you are a source of pride for all of us, and we have a huge amount of respect for you. I know that the holiday of Sukkot is very family oriented and everyone wants us to be home. We all want to be home, but this year we are here because our national home is much more important at this stage. Much respect to all of you. Thank you--thank you for your partnership.”
Teddy Weinberger, Ph.D., made aliyah with his wife, former Omahan Sarah 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
Human Rights are instrumental to our wellbeing and success as individuals. The Goldstein Family Community Chair in Human Rights invites students to submit entries by Feb. 1, 2025. The contest is open to students in Nebraska High Schools, UNO, UNL and UNK. Your entry may cover any topic related to human rights, broadly constructed. By engaging with students, we hope to spark understanding and curiosity about these issues, which students will carry into their future endeavors of life-long learning.
Learn more and see previous winners on the Goldstein Center Webpage at Cas.unoma ha.edu/gchr. Please send submission to Dr. Lana Obradovic: lobradovic@unomaha. edu
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BEYOND KUGEL
TEDDY WEINBERGER
Inspired by Natan Sharansky
POTASH
Being connected to the greater Jewish world is important to me. No matter where I go, I always try and find a Jewish connection. I am not unique in this pursuit and I am sure I am not the only one who is still surprised when I am in a remote part of the globe and the person next to me turns out to be Jewish. Most of us take a bit of pride in these experiences. The same type of pride when we learn that someone Jewish achieves something incredible.
Growing up Jewish in a post WWII America we have witnessed acceptance on one level but cautious of the next level. 2021 is a reminder that the levels of acceptances change. I recently finished reading, Never Alone by Natan Sharansky and Gil Troy. This blog post will not be a review of the book but an inspiration to reflect on my own connection to Israel and the Jewish people. As a student of the 70’s and very much aware of the Freedom for Soviet Jewry Movement I followed the struggles of the refuseniks. As I look back to that time, I am reminded of the privilege afforded me growing up Jewish in America. An experience different than our cousins in Russia and privilege I hope I didn’t take for granted. It was on my second trip to Israel in 1984 when I knew I needed to move to Israel.
In the early days of 1986 (35 years ago now) and following Sharansky’s struggle I knew the time was right to give Israel a try. I made the not so difficult decision to get up and go. Granted, it was much easier for me to move to Israel in 1986 than Sharansky and the other refuseniks. To be honest, I felt guilty as a 26-year-old American Jew with all the opportunities in front of me knowing that some guy I never met but knew a lot about really wanted to be in Israel. He was in a Soviet prison for something I had the freedom to do. I wonder now, how many other people felt the way I did at that time in solidarity with him.
Opening up the map from the Jewish Agency’s Kibbutz Aliyah desk, I found a red dot in the Mediterranean Sea; by the way the only ulpan listed in the water. Coming from the great land locked state of Nebraska a kibbutz in the water seemed perfect for me. Sdot Yam isn’t really on the water but close enough to hear the waves crashing every night.
I romanticized my move to Israel; like many immigrants and refugees before me. I decided to make my journey by boat from Europe to Israel. Getting off the ship in Haifa I knew I made the right decision. Even though there wasn’t a party to greet me (I did not have any family in Israel). No one welcoming me, but when I arrived at the pensione and told the owner I was moving to Israel he gave me the only room with a shower.
After a day in Haifa and a quick trip to see friends in Jerusalem (I missed meeting my future wife by a few hours), I headed to the kibbutz to start the ulpan. As I walked through the entrance I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the kibbutz (it truly is one of the most beautiful places in Israel), until I saw the room, I was going to spend the next 5 months in-I think it dated back before Israel was a country (the idea that it might have been used by Hannah Senesh made it a little easier to digest). Also, no indoor plumbing.
I am going on about this is to provide context to the fact that while I was settling in to Kibbutz life Natan Sharansky
was being released from prison and making his way to Israel.
A lot has changed in Israel over the past 35 years and some of the changes are for the better. I am not sure if we can say the same about how Jews in America have adapted to Israel’s evolution. Israel for many of us in the diaspora (oh, yeah I lasted five years in Israel) has not kept up with the advances in Israel. While our cousins in Israel have been inventing, healing, defending, growing, educating, building (a lot of building), making movies, winning Eurovision, Gal Gadot what more can I say. Are we the shlumpy cousins in America?
Here in America Jews have been lagging behind the inspiration of Israel. Yes, there are more American Nobel prize winners who are Jewish, and of course more billionaires, philanthropists, a few sports stars and politicians to think of but have we matched Israel’s ingenuity for survival as a democracy in the desert?
What I am really trying to say is that Israel has been moving forward on most levels to meet the needs of a country not even 75 years old. While on some level holding the proverbial bag for the rest of the Jewish world. For the past 75 years Jews in America have been moving forward at a pace no other minority has been able to achieve. And this is creating a new challenge for us. At the same time its connection to its cousin on the other side of the world appears to be faltering
Some of us still plant trees and collect zedakah in our JNF Blue Boxes and travel on missions. We take great pride when Jews and Israelis achieve greatness but we also hide when Israel is being criticized. We struggle to find the right words to criticize Israel’s actions while questioning whether we have the right to do so.
We also don’t know how to support Israel when some voices on the left or right tell us what Israel really is; in their eyes. From where I sit today, as a Jewish professional I see that the horizon is not as clear as I would like when I listen to those voices. Now at a point in our relationship when we need to ask each other, do we really care about each other? Or should we go our separate ways? Why do I ask these questions? The farther removed we are from each other the harder it is to understand what we can do for one another. Now, more than ever we as Jews in the diaspora and Jews in Israel need to get on the bus together and strengthen our relationship.
As Sharansky writes in his book, the relationship between American Jews and Israelis has also changed dramatically. As a Jewish professional today, the demands on advocating for the American Jewish and Israeli relationship gets harder and harder. I have been on my own type of personal shlichut for over 30 years working across the spectrum of the Jewish world helping people find their path to understanding why Israel is important and why it is okay to be proud being Jewish too. I want to thank Natan for inspiring me again and reminding me we are never alone. Thank you!
For over 25 years, Alan Potash was embedded in American Jewish Life. As a working professional working for Hillel, ADL and Federation, he advocated for and wrote about how to make a stronger connection to Israel and the Jewish world, helping people map out their Jewish journey. These columns were first published by the Times of Israel and are reprinted with permission from Alan’s family.
www.il.proquest.com
ALAN
A View of the Mediterranean from Sdot Yam. Credit: Alan Potash
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Don Sturm stayed engaged until the end
Sturm founded ANB Bank and was a big donor to the University of Denver and other causes, Don Sturm, a successful Denver financier, knew what it was like to see billions of dollars evaporate in the dot-com bust and to watch the ownership of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche, seemingly in his hands, slip away at the last minute.
But Sturm never lost his work ethic, his vision for the future, his desire to help the larger community in the present, and his sense of humor, family and colleagues.
Sturm, a mover and shaker on Denver’s business scene in the 90s and 00s, died on Saturday at age 92, overcoming his setbacks and leaving his indelible mark on Colorado.
“He was in the office every day — even until right here at the end,” said Koger Propst, CEO at ANB Bank, which Sturm strung together from a group of troubled banks he acquired during the Savings and Loans crisis in the early 1990s.
Propst said Sturm was a thoughtful and strategic thinker who even into his late 80s and 90s never stopped planning.
Sturm’s second son, Stephen, described him as an amazing father, who was kind, attentive and thoughtful. He said his father worked until late last month and when he died this weekend, he was surrounded by family.
“He clearly lived a very busy life but he always made time for his family. You learned a lot through what he said, but you learned more through how he operated,” Stephen Sturm said.
Born Donald Lawrence Sturm to an immigrant family in Brooklyn on Jan. 10, 1932, Sturm attended City College of New York before being drafted into the U.S. Army. He moved to Denver to earn his law degree at the University of Denver, and then returned to New York, where he obtained a master’s degree in taxation law.
After working as an attorney for the Internal Revenue Service, Sturm joined the engineering and construction firm Peter Kiewit Sons Co. in Omaha, eventually becoming vice chairman. In 1984, he guided the company’s acquisition of Continental Group, a multi-national conglomerate.
holdings and has established master-planned communities over the years, the most recent being The Meadows at Castle Rock, where 20,000 residents live.
Sturm invested heavily in Cherry Creek North, redeveloping the old Tattered Cover building and creating Fillmore Plaza, and its investment arm has funded several startups.
Sturm also was part of a group that helped Continental Airlines emerge from bankruptcy in 1993 and he helped Kiewit spin off what would become Level 3 Communications.
That telecom investment, and a significant holding in WorldCom –once the country’s second-largest long-distance provider– helped Sturm reach an estimated net worth of $3.2 billion in 1999, per Forbes
That year, he bid $461 million for Ascent Entertainment Group, owner of the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and the soon-to-open Pepsi Center, beating a $400 million bid from Bill and Nancy Laurie, heirs of Walmart founder Sam Walton.
But city officials wanted guarantees that a new owner wouldn’t move either team for 25 years, which Sturm contested. That allowed Stan Kroenke, also associated with the Walton family, to slip in and acquire the two teams and arena in 2000.
Over the years, Sturm and his foundation have supported several area groups and institutions, including Judaism Your Way, which Sturm founded after rabbis refused to marry him and Sue; the Jewish Community Center of Denver; the Denver Museum of Nature and Science; the Summit Huts Association and Arapahoe Community College.
In 2019, the Sturm Family Foundation donated $10 million for ACC’s Sturm Collaboration Campus, the largest gift in the history of Colorado’s community college system.
“Don Sturm was a visionary in imagining a fully inclusive, welcoming home to interfaith and mixed heritage families. He was steadfast and unwavering in his support of Judaism Your Way’s mission to welcome Jews and their loved ones with unconditional love. The wider Jewish world has changed and become more inclusive as a result of his dedication,” Rabbi Caryn Aviv wrote in an email.
His greatest financial generosity, however, was reserved for his alma mater, the University of Denver, where the Sturm College of Law, the classroom building Sturm Hall, and the Sturm Center, a psychology program that helps veterans and those in the military, carry his name.
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In 1987, Sturm, previously married, met and married Susan Morgan, who survives him, along with his four children — Robert Sturm, Melanie Sturm, Stephen Sturm and Emily Sturm Ehrens.
The Sturms began acquiring failed banks and troubled properties in the early 1990s after Don left Kiewit and moved to Denver, which was especially hard hit by the S&L crisis, to be closer to their investments. The acquired banks, owned by Sturm Financial Group, came together as Denver-based ANB Bank, which now has 30 locations and $3 billion in assets.
Sturm emphasized building local management teams connected to the local community at each bank location, and understood the important role independent banks played, Propst said.
The family enterprise, named Alder, oversees the real estate
“From the time he was a determined law student on our campus until the last day of his service as a trustee, Don Sturm, along with his wife, Susan, made so many contributions to the DU community,” Chancellor Jeremy Haefner in an email. In 2016, the university awarded Don and Sue its first inaugural Founders Medal, the highest non-academic honor the university can bestow.
“You want to help people. You can’t take it with you,” Sturm said in a video accompanying his admission into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame in 2022. “You want the place where you live to be a better place because you lived there.”
The Sturm family held a private funeral and memorial service. Donations in Sturm’s memory can be made to Judaism Your Way, 950 South Cherry St., Suite 310, Glendale, CO 802462699. Those impacted by Sturm’s life are asked to share memories and stories via a letter to “The Sturm Family” at 3033 E. First Ave., Suite 300, Denver, CO 80206.
Reprinted with permission from The Denver Post
Rabbi Geiger’s Weekly Torah Expedition
PARSHA LECH LECHA
The first time Noach is mentioned, the torah prefaces his introduction by telling us that he was righteous. One would expect our great father Abraham to receive a colorful and wondrous introduction. Instead, he is first mentioned when G-d commands him to leave his home.
To understand what is happening here, I want you to imagine that you were introducing Irena Sendler to some of your friends. Irena was a Polish woman who saved Jews in World War II. When the Germans arrested her, she withstood their vi-
cious torture so as not to reveal any names or locations. How would you introduce such a woman? Anything that you would say would minimize who she truly was.
Rabbi Yehuda Alter (Sfas Emes) explains that G-d’s command to “leave the home of your father” was announced to the entire world. However, only one man in the whole world heard it. There was only one man who had lived his life, small step by small step, to prepare him to listen to the voice of Gd. And his name was Abraham. The Torah does not give him any introduction because an introduction would not do justice to the greatness of his actions. If I want to hear the voice of G-d in my daily life, feel his love, and be the best version of myself, I must ask myself, what is the next step I can take? What is the next step to make my actions like our forefathers?
Shabbat Shalom.
Donald Sturm
RABBI
MORDECHAI
GEIGER
Beth Israel
Above: Sushi in the Sukkah. Temple Israel’s group of 20somethings get together every year to have Sushi-in-theSukkah! What a great Saturday evening!
SP O TLIGHT
PHOTOS FROM RECENT JEWISH COMMUNITY EVENTS
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Above: Celebrating Simchat Torah and blessing the children from the Lincoln Jewish Community School.
Top, above, below and bottom: Celebrating Simchat Torah at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home with service leaders Renee Kazor, and Jim Polack. Chag Sameach! May this end bring new blessings.
Above: On Yom Kippur, Congregants of Temple Israel participated in donating, sorting and packing for their annual food drive where they were able to gather over 3600 pounds of food for Food Bank of the Heartland!
Below: The Lincoln Jewish Community gathered for a Shabbat Dinner in the Community Sukkah during Sukkot.
Above and right: Chabad hosted the annual Soup in the Sukkah women’s event.
Left, center and right: Sukkot at Chabad. The lulav is for every age!
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ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT
Jewish Press Editor
Ben Sales wrote: “President Joe Biden said he wants Israel’s strike on Iran to be the end of direct fighting between the two countries.” (JTA) It made headlines all over my social media: Biden’s hopes for “the end.”
The thing is, direct fighting between Iran and Israel is only the tip of the iceberg. If money and weapons somehow make it from Iran to Lebanon, does that count? What about Hamas, what about the Houthis? Where’s North Korea in this, or Russia? What about Qatar? Whoever still does that, “direct fighting?” Even Israel’s attack comes accompanied by implied approval from its allies. There is so much more to worry about than “direct fighting.”
I know; semantics. Also, I’m making a bit of a lazy argument based off one quote. So, what’s really bothering me? I will tell you.
It’s the incessant, never-ending barrage of rockets that are dropped over Israel on a daily basis. It’s not something that began on October 7; it’s been going on for years. Rocket after rocket; were they to make it through the Iron Dome, they would leave a body count we’d rather not imagine. It’s not that hard to find out that this is happening, and if people spent half as much time researching the truth as they do deciding what to have for breakfast, they’d know. Why don’t they?
Because they don’t care. They’d rather live in a world where Israel has to justify itself for checking Iran; they’d rather live in a world where heads of foreign nations admonish Israel for not holding
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.
back. Because those daily attacks on Israel, we can ignore. But when Israel strikes back, we have to remind her to not overreact. Remember, Israel’s response has to be ‘measured.’
At the moment, I am reading Keren Blankfeld’s book, Lovers in Auschwitz. Slowly, two chapters per day, because that’s all I allow myself. Otherwise my rabbit hole becomes too deep. It contains the story of David Wisnia, and his love affair during the Holocaust; it’s a story of extreme cruelty and survival. If the name sounds familiar, the Institute for Holocaust Education showed a movie about his life earlier this year.
In it there is a passage where, during liberation, he spends time with a platoon of US soldiers, and finds himself alone in a barn, facing a member of the SS. He shoots him and leaves without checking if he killed him or not. And then he proceeds to feel conflicted about the two bullets he fired. A life is still a life. Do we want to sink as low as our enemies? It’s a valid question, to which we all know the answer.
this is not a theoretical issue. And just so you know, while I’m typing this on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 10:21 in the morning, rockets are headed for seven different communities in Israel. And I could go back through my app and tell you how many hundreds of rockets have been sent in the past month alone,
but I don’t want to. It’s exhausting, even at this safe distance.
Yet, there are few of us who would blame a survivor of Auschwitz for killing a Nazi. When to lie low, and when to fight back; for the State of Israel,
President Biden can hope for an end to “direct fighting” between Iran and Israel. We can all hope for that. But personally, I think we need to set the bar much, much higher.
I realized the depth of my Israeli trauma after a rocket exploded while I was circumcising a baby
RABBI HAYIM LEITER
The incident took place on the first anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel | EFRAT, WEST
BANK — JTA
For the past year, I’ve worried about what I would do if air-raid sirens sounded while I was performing a brit milah, a ritual circumcision. Would I halt the proceedings and send everyone to the bomb shelters? Or, if the procedure was under way, would I send everyone else to the shelter until it was safe to move the baby? The work demands such focus, I have always feared that I might not even hear the alarms. It took until the first anniversary of Oct. 7 to find out.
I felt uneasy the entire day. It was unexpected because my calendar was filled with nothing but happy occasions. The morning began in Jerusalem, my old stomping ground, with the bris of a third sibling. The event was in the synagogue where we had been members for seven years. It’s always nice to visit a place I used to call home.
The day continued in my hometown of Efrat with two adult conversions. Helping people along their path to Judaism never gets old. And I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the first anniversary of the darkest days in recent Jewish history than making more Jews. But still, something didn’t feel right.
My anxiety actually began a few days prior on Shabbat. After the weekly Torah portion is read in the morning, we get a preview of the next section during the afternoon service. Due to this year’s calendar, we were already up to the final segment of the Torah — the reading for Simchat Torah.
I was instantaneously transported back to the last time I heard this portion read — Black Sabbath. We were staying in Jerusalem when Israel first came under attack. There were 17 air-raid sirens throughout the day and the building we prayed in did not have a bomb shelter. After spending the majority of the morning running in and out of the stairwell, it was decided to quickly complete the service outside. In retrospect, that seems like a crazy notion.
As that year’s Torah cycle was being completed,
I noticed one of the participants walk to the street. He hugged and kissed what looked like his son, who was wearing army fatigues. At the time, we still didn’t have a full concept of what was happening in the South. I now know that that may have been the last time these two saw one another.
The first anniversary of that grim day was rounded off with a second bris in Har Gilo for fellow Efrat residents. The family scheduled the brit milah in a neighboring community even though keeping it close by would have been more convenient for all of us. I had driven by the location often but this was my first time entering the gates. Upon arriving at the cafe that would host the event, I understood immediately why they chose to put in the extra effort — the view was stunning. It felt as if you could see all the way to Tel Aviv.
tire year of running into stairwells or bomb shelters or just for cover. These things happen, and then get immediately compartmentalized. It’s the only way to survive.
This is why commemorating Oct. 7 was so challenging for me. My emotional tank is at an all-time
The cafe had an outdoor/indoor feel to it. The main area was a porch, which had already been winterized to protect us from the wind. The hilltops in our West Bank region get quite blustery during the cold months. It’s common practice to silence cell phones during occasions like this, so it was jarring when someone’s phone began blaring, midway through the ceremony. At the time, I almost didn’t make note of it. And then the explosions began.
I was so startled, I thought it might have been the wind hitting the windows. Yemen had fired surfaceto-surface missiles at Israel as they’ve been doing for a year. We imagined that, due to the elevation of the town, the noises we heard were the interceptions of the Iron Dome over Beit Shemesh, about 30 miles away. Since it all happened so quickly, and there were no sirens in our area, we pressed as normal. We later found out that shrapnel from a rocket had fallen mere meters away from where we were. The explosions had been just overheard.
Driving home that day, I began to cry. I’m not much of a crier. It took until the following day to realize why I became so emotional. This was not the first time we’ve dodged a bullet. It’s been an en-
low. The day marked a year of persistent stress that isn’t over. We’ve had no distance from the tragedy that we’re all still living through.
When I arrived home, my family was watching the first televised memorial. It felt like all of the others we have here in Israel, but I couldn’t participate. It just felt too soon. I know how imperative it is that we keep the hostages and the soldiers who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice at the forefront of our minds. But I feel as if, just like my intense focus during a brit milah, I can only look forward to where we’re headed. I don’t have it in me to even look to the side, let alone behind.
Rabbi Hayim Leiter is a rabbi, a wedding officiant, and a mohel who performs britot (ritual circumcisions) and conversions in Israel and worldwide. Based in Efrat, he is the founder of Magen HaBrit, an organization protecting the practice of brit milah and the children who undergo it.
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.
Rabbi Hayim Leiter performs a bris ceremony in Har Gilo, West Bank, on Oct. 7, 2024. Credit: Netanel Fish
Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon hits a hospital (specifically, Bnei-Zion a.k.a Rothschild hospital) in Haifa, Israel, 2006. Credit: Tomer Gabel, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Why Jewish Americans can’t agree on racism
ILANA M. HORWITZ
Like the general population, a sociologist writes, the Jewish community is polarized along religious and political lines | JTA
In the summer of 2020, a friend and I were deep in conversation about race. You might remember it well, that summer of reckoning that followed George Floyd’s murder, igniting discussions on race across the country. Race relations suddenly became as central a campaign issue as the economy and health care.
“Why does color have to matter so much?” my friend asked. This question lingered with me.
As a sociologist studying American Jews, I was curious about how this community — often lauded for its progressive stances on social justice — was navigating the national debate on race. One stark point of division stood out —regarding perception of discrimination. According to the Pew Research Center, Jewish Democrats are nearly four times as likely as Jewish Republicans to believe Black people face significant discrimination (71% vs. 18%), with a similar gap in views on discrimination against Hispanic people.
This polarization was surprising. Historically, American Jews have been regarded as some of the most progressive on racial issues, often supporting pro-integration policies, expressing favorable views toward Black Americans and engaging in racially tolerant behaviors.
This polarization within a community known for advocating equality left me wondering: What’s behind these divergent perspectives? In fall 2020, I had a unique opportunity to find out.
At the time, I was interviewing Jewish parents in the Philadelphia area about how they were coping with the economic setbacks of COVID-19. Philadelphia was also a focal point for racial protests. Toward the end of each interview, I asked about their views on the protests, whether they had participated and what shaped their views on the 2020 presidential election. This study, co-authored with Ilana Spencer and Landon Schnabel, was published this year in Contemporary Jewry
The people I spoke with were politically diverse: About a third leaned conservative, another third leaned liberal, and the remainder identified as independent, libertarian or without a clear position. This political variety reflected the religious makeup of my sample, which was about half Orthodox. I found that nearly half of my interviewees supported the Black Lives Matter movement, while others were indifferent or opposed. This divide was often shaped by political and religious affiliations, with many politically and religiously conservative respondents expressing views that sociologists describe as the discourse of “colorblindness.” Proponents of “colorblindness” try to ignore race altogether. They suggest that racial issues come from individual behavior instead of bigger, systemic problems. Several people I spoke with described
A love letter to New York
ANDREW SILOW CARROLL
The linguist’s celebration of the polyglot city inspires a series of shows at Manhattan’s Little Island | JTA Years before The Power Broker started appearing on the shelves of every journalist giving a Zoom interview, I would enlighten (my wife would say “bore”) friends and family with my enthusiasm for Robert Caro’s monumental biography of New York City planner Robert Moses. I’d gush about how it completely transformed my view of the city and its suburbs, and showed me how the roads, beaches, parks, infrastructure and even values of the region where I grew up were shaped by one powerful man.
In recent months I’ve found a new obsession: Ross Perlin’s Language City. Perlin’s book traces the work of the Endangered Language Alliance, which he co-directs with Daniel Kaufman. It aims to document and preserve the 700 languages spoken across the five boroughs — perhaps the most language diversity in any city ever. Perlin reports that one in every 10 languages spoken on the planet has a speaker in New York City. Like The Power Broker Language City cracks the city open like a geode. Perlin describes just one square mile in Brooklyn that “is home to a Ghanaian evangelical church, a Russian banya, a florist/bar for hipsters, a Juhuri-speaking synagogue for the Jews of Azerbaijan and Daghestan, Dominican hair salons, Pakistani auto body shops, Haitian dollar-van stops, an organization of Darfuri refugees, a Cambodian Buddhist wat, an Albanian mosque, a Panamanian bar, and a restaurant where Uzbek Uber drivers swig bottles of Jameson while savoring fine kebabs.”
It’s a portrait of New York, Perlin told me in an interview, that makes us recognize “the linguistic diversity around us, the riches that it brings, and the advantages that it brings to this city and this country. It’s what makes it tick.”
Language City is also a story of loss: Perlin writes that few immigrant languages typically make it beyond the third generation, making New York a “Babel in reverse,” where domi-
Floyd’s death as simply the result of “bad officers,” or as one woman, Miriam, put it, as a case of “a few bad apples” — sidestepping the possibility of a larger issue like systemic racism.
(Note: All quotes in this piece come from study participants whose identities were kept anonymous in order to protect their privacy under ethical research guidelines.)
Critics of colorblindness call it a subtler form of racism — entrenching inequality by rationalizing the existing racial hierarchy. Proponents of colorblind rhetoric argue that acknowledging race perpetuates division and discrimination.
A kippah-clad man holds a sign reading “Jews for Black Lives” at the weekly Black Lives Matter “Jackie Lacey Must Go!” protest in front of the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles, Sept. 9, 2020. Credit: Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images
This colorblind approach also connects with what’s called “respectability politics” — the idea that marginalized groups need to act a certain way if they want fair treatment. Yael expressed frustration with the protests, saying, “If you want to show that you need to be respected, don’t go around smashing windows.” This idea places responsibility on individuals and communities rather than addressing root issues like unequal access to education or healthcare, which make it harder for certain groups to succeed.
Some also embraced a “post-racial” view, believing racial barriers are relics of the past. Tehila cited the election of Barack Obama as proof that anyone can succeed: “We elected a Black president,” she said. “How would that happen if the majority here are racist?”
Some people shared personal or family stories — especially ones about Jewish struggles — as a way to make sense of racial issues. Rivka, for example, spoke about how her father succeeded despite facing discrimination, asking why Black Americans couldn’t do the same. Such stories often frame success as achievable for everyone, assuming that hard work alone overcomes barriers, thereby minimizing structural issues.
In contrast, those who supported BLM — mostly liberals and independents — saw systemic racism as a pervasive problem needing urgent action. Cheryl, who attended a racial justice protest with her children, viewed the protests as essential for
nant languages like English, Spanish and Mandarin threaten to smother NYC’s 300 or so endangered, indigenous and minority languages until few are left. This flattening extends to Jewish languages, which the ELA tracks in its role as a partner in Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s Jewish Language Project. In the book Perlin notes how Iraqi Jewish New Yorkers, with synagogues in Jamaica Estates and Great Neck, Long Island, once spoke Baghdadi Judeo-Arabic; “Today, every Jewish form of Arabic is almost gone,” he writes.
Out of a small headquarters in Manhattan, the ELA is doing what it can to reverse trends like these, first and foremost with a “Languages of New York” map that includes over 1,200 sites around the city where those 700 languages are spoken. ELA also records languages and helps their speakers find resources to promote their use. During the pandemic, it worked with the city to make sure translations of important health information were available in languages other than the 10 “citywide” languages that count 100,000 or more speakers in the five boroughs.
Perlin, who lectures in linguistics at Columbia University, earned his PhD in linguistics from the University of Bern in Switzerland for his work on Trung, an endangered language of southwest China. In 2001, while doing his research in China, he made videos in Yiddish under the title A New York Jew in China
We recently spoke about the fate of Yiddish, why multilingualism is good for individuals and cities, and why “language justice” is necessary public policy.
“Celebration is a part of it and central to the story,” Perlin said. “We have to begin by recognizing the linguistic diversity around us, the riches that it brings, and the advantages that it brings to this city and this country. It’s what makes it tick.
“And I think we have to realize the loss that can come with so-called straight line assimilation. Certainly, English is the lingua franca of the United States and of New York City. It’s essential in education and work and so on. But I don’t think that
achieving racial equality. For others, like Mike, recognizing systemic racism helped him connect with the movement. “I think they [Black people] have a right to be angry,” he said, acknowledging the deep impact of generational poverty and inequality. After my research, here’s what I’d say to my friend who asked, ‘Why does color have to matter so much?’ For some Jewish Americans, I’d explain, color shouldn’t matter at all. Many conservative Jews see racial issues as personal problems, not systemic ones. If everyone is treated equally under the law, any disparities come down to individual effort and responsibility. This “colorblind” view aligns with Republican ideals of personal accountability, emphasizing fairness through equal treatment. But this perspective can overlook how structural inequalities shape outcomes for marginalized groups, making it easy to attribute disparities solely to personal choices rather than larger issues.
On the other hand, liberal Jews take a different view of fairness. They believe that ignoring race doesn’t make inequality go away — in fact, it makes it worse. For them, fairness means actively addressing the barriers that keep certain groups at a disadvantage. They see true equality as something that requires policies and reforms to break down the accumulated effects of discrimination. From this viewpoint, pretending race doesn’t matter only serves to reinforce the same inequalities that many are trying to dismantle.
While my study cannot definitively determine whether political affiliation or Jewish values primarily drive attitudes on race, it reveals the correlation between denomination and political ideology, suggesting a dynamic relationship where the two likely reinforce each other.
As we head into the 2024 election, it’s striking to see how much the national conversation has changed. In 2020, race was front and center; today — even as one of the candidates is a person of color and the other is white — it’s been pushed aside by other pressing issues. But the deep divides over race and inequality within the Jewish community — and across the country — are still here. These divisions reveal just how differently we understand what fairness and justice really mean. So while the question of why color matters may not be in the headlines right now, it’s not going anywhere. It continues to expose the tough, underlying rifts in how Americans — Jewish and otherwise — wrestle with the complicated reality of discrimination.
Ilana M. Horwitz is assistant professor of Jewish Studies and Sociology and Fields-Rayant chair in Contemporary Jewish Life at Tulane University. Her book God, Grades, and Graduation: Religion’s Surprising Impact on Academic Success (2022) won the ASA Sociology of Religion Distinguished Book Award.
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.
amnesia is a necessary condition. Research shows how New York City in particular, and other cities like it, as they’ve become more and more diverse over time, have functioned through multilingualism, even if that kind of overarching story that we’ve told ourselves has been about assimilation to English. That has never really been the full story on the ground.
“And then there’s the concept of language justice, that what actually brings us together is making sure that those who need translation and interpretation can access it. It’s part of the challenge, but also the extraordinary opportunity, of this ever more globalized world and ever more globalized immigration story.”
Perlin finds parallels between the challenges Yiddish speakers and people from other linguistic minorities face in preserving their languages:
“Yiddish was the mother tongue of all my great grandparents’ generation,” he said, “but for my grandparents and parents, Yiddish became vestigial, even a punchline, the dirty words. And even when there was a real attachment to Yiddish — I grew up going to the Folksbiene Theatre, and the klezmer revival — there was no recognition that it was actually a full blown language with grammar, and in fact, some of the attitudes of shame and that Yiddish was somehow a broken language — a jargon — is familiar to speakers of endangered languages whose languages are not regarded as “real” languages either in their home countries or here.
“And so it was extraordinary to discover really only in my 20s that Yiddish had an entire literature, that there were gigantic dictionaries and grammars, that there was YIVO, and that indeed there was this Hasidic revival as well as the world of secular Yiddishists I describe in my book. So I tried to immerse myself in that and learn Yiddish as a language, not just as a lot of individual words.”
This article was edited for length; the entire interview can be found on www.JTA.org and on www.omahajewish press.com
B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
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BETH EL SYNAGOGUE
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Monthly Speaker Series Service, Friday, Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m. with our guest speaker, James Donohue. Our service leader is Larry Blass. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel!
For information about our historic synagogue, please visit our website at www.cblhs.org or contact any of our other board members: Renee Corcoran, Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Ann Moshman, Mary-Beth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber.
Handicap Accessible.
Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.
IN-PERSON AND ZOOM 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; Our Shabbat Tables in Homes.
SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream with guest speaker Suzanne Horwich; Jr. Congregation (Grades K-12), 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 5:45 p.m. at Beth El & Zoom; USY Goes Skating, 6:15 p.m.
SUNDAY: BESTT (Grades K-7), 9:30 a.m.; School Remodel & Parent Information Session, 10:15 a.m.; USY Board Meeting, noon.
TUESDAY: Mishneh Torah, 10:30 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham.
WEDNESDAY: BESTT (Grades 3-7), 4:15 p.m.; Hebrew High (Grades 8-12), 6 p.m.
THURSDAY: PJP Eretz Yisrael Zoom Series, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY-Nov 15: Pre-Neg & Tot Shabbat, 5:30 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream
SATURDAY-Nov. 16: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El and Live Stream; Kiddush Sponsored by Thomas Fohner; Boys and Girls Clubs Youth of the Year Speeches during Kiddush; Jr. Congregation (Grades K-12), 10 a.m.; Havdalah, 5:40 p.m. at Beth El & Zoom.
Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.
FRIDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 4:53 p.m.
SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class 10:45 a.m.; Soulful Torah, 3:50 p.m. with Rabbi Geiger; Mincha 4:40 p.m.; Kids Activity/Laws of Shabbos 5:10 p.m.; Havdalah, 5:54 p.m.
SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Kinyan, 9:40 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 4:50 p.m.
MONDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Monday Mind Builders, 4 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 4:50 p.m.
TUESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 4:50 p.m.; Kinyan, 5:25 p.m.
WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:50 p.m.
From our Archives
The Jewish Press, Nov. 6, 1924 Clubs
The Shebas Club held a meeting Sunday, Nov. 2, at the home of their sponsor, Miss Martye Weinstein.
The Ladies’ Free Loan Society will give a ball Dec. 28 at the Kelpines Dancing Academy.
The Merry Hearts club of the City Sunday School entertained at a party Saturday evening at the home of Miss Elsie Romm. Prizes for costumes were won by Dorothy Lustgarden, Mary Manevitz and Gertrude Zier.
A regular meeting of the Haysod Chelemes Society will be held Wednesday, Nov. 12, at the Adase Yeshuren Synagogue, Twenty-fifth and Seward streets. Business of importance will be transacted. Social News
Mrs. N. Chasson left this week for Gary, Ind., where she will visit with her son and family, Mr. and Mrs. H. Chasson, and family, formerly of Omaha.
Mrs. Morris Cohn entertained at three tables of bridge Wednesday afternoon at her home, honoring Mrs. Herman Zuber, of Hastings, Nebr., who
THURSDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Character Development, 9:30 a.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 4:50 p.m.; Kinyan, 5:25 p.m.
FRIDAY-Nov 15: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 4:47 p.m.
SATURDAY-Nov. 16: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat, 10:30 a.m.; Youth Class 10:45 a.m.; Soulful Torah, 3:45 p.m. with Rabbi Geiger; Mincha, 4:30 p.m.; Kids Activity/Laws of Shabbos, 5 p.m.; Havdalah, 5:48 p.m. Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.
All services are in-person. All classes are being offered in-person and via Zoom (ochabad.com/academy). 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.; Lechayim, 4:30 p.m., go to ochabad.com/Lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 4:52 p.m.
SATURDAY: Shacharit 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 5:52 p.m.
SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps, 9 a.m.
MONDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Peronal Parsha 9:30 a.m.; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Translating Words of Prayer, 7 p.m. with David Cohen.
TUESDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Translating Words of Prayer, 11 a.m. with David Cohen; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 7 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen.
WEDNESDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Mystical Thinking (Tanya), 9:30 a.m.; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen.
THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 10 a.m.; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study, noon; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Code of Jewish Law Class, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY-Nov 15: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Lechayim, 4:30 p.m., go to ochabad.com/Lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 4:46 p.m.
SATURDAY-Nov. 16: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 5:47 p.m.
LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL
Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch. All services offered in-person with live-stream or teleconferencing options.
FRIDAY: Shabbat Candlelighting, 4:56 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30-7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST.
SATURDAY: Shabbat Service, 9:30-11 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parshat Lech Lecha led by TBD via Zoom; Havdalah, 5:56 p.m.
SUNDAY: LJCS Classes, 9:30-11:30 a.m. at TI; Men’s
was visiting here with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. Cohn, for the past several weeks, leaving for her home Sunday. A number of affairs were given for her during her visit here.
Miss Rose Levin returned last week from Hollywood, Calif., where she has been making her home for the past seven months. She is now visiting with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Levin, expecting to leave this
Bike/Coffee Group, 10:30 a.m. at The Mill on the Innovation Campus. For more information or questions please email Al Weiss at albertw801@gmail.com; Intro to Judaism Class, noon-1:30 p.m. at TI.
MONDAY: Lincoln’s Young Jewish Initiative (YJI) Event 6:30 p.m. at SST. Please RSVP to lincolnyji@ gmail.com to get the door code and let us know you can make it with the number of attendees.
WEDNESDAY: LJCS Hebrew School, 4:30-6 p.m. at TI; Men’s Lunch Group, 12:15 p.m. at HoriSun, 8055 O St. We meet every other Wednesday. Please contact albertw801@gmail.com to get on the mailing list. As plans can change the last minute and it is necessary to contact everyone. Bring lunch, a drink and a chair; Adult Ed Movie Night: Cup Final, 6:30 p.m. at SST.
FRIDAY-Nov 15: Shabbat Candlelighting, 4:50 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30-7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST.
SATURDAY-Nov. 16: Shabbat Service, 9:30-11 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parshat Vayera led by TBD via Zoom; Havdalah, 5:51 p.m.; Potluck Dinner and Family Game Night, 6 p.m. at SST. Adults and kids of all ages are welcome. Please bring a dish to share.
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.
In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Benjamin Sharff, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin, and Cantor Joanna Alexander.
FRIDAY: Drop in Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m. In-Person; Village Walking Group, 10 a.m. In-Person; Tot Shabbat, 5:45 p.m. In-Person; Classic Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.
SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom.
SUNDAY: Grades PreK-7, 9:30 a.m. In-Person; Grade 6 Parent Meeting, 10:15 a.m. In-Person.
TUESDAY: Exploring Jewish Prayer, 6 a.m. In-Person.
WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m.; Grades 3-6, 4:30 p.m. In-Person; Hebrew High: Grades 8-12, 6 p.m. InPerson.
THURSDAY: The Zohar: Thursday Morning Class, 11 a.m. with Rabbi Sharff and Rabbi Azriel — In-Person & Zoom; Over-Simplified: Israel and Palestine, 6:30 p.m. In-Person.
FRIDAY-Nov 15: Drop in Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m. InPerson; Village Walking Group, 10 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Service and Consecration, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.
SATURDAY-Nov. 16: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom.
Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.
week with her sister, Mrs Lewis Podrofsky, formerly Miss Gertrude Levin, of this city.
Mr. and Mrs. J. Gross announce the birth of a baby daughter, born Friday, Oct. 30.
Mr. Philip Stein of Los Angeles, Calif., formerly of this city, who has been visiting here for the past several weeks with his mother, Mrs. R. L. Finkelstein, and other relatives, left Thursday for his home. He was entertained by a number of his Omaha friends.
Mrs. L. Segelman is visiting at Ottumwa, Ia., with her daughters Mrs. Dave Redman and Mrs. J. Sigel.
Mr. and Mrs. Reiben Ferer left Sunday morning on a motoring trip to Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago. They were accompanied by Mr. Ferer’s mother, Mrs. S. Ferer, and Mr. Ferer’s sister, Mrs. H. White.
B’NAI ISRAEL
BETH EL
BETH ISRAEL
CHABAD HOUSE
Life cycles
IN MEMORIAM
HELEN FIRST MISLE
Helen First Misle passed away on Oct. 28, 2024 at age 97. Services were held on Nov. 3, 2024 at Congregation Tifereth Israel, 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE. 68502.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Abram, her loving daughter Lynn Weiner, and son Howard Misle. She is survived by her three daughters, Linda Misle Shrier (Howard), Marsha Misle Haugland (Sam), Gayle Misle, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, whom she cherished and who loved her dearly.
She was born in Chicago, Illinois and later relocated to Nebraska upon meeting her husband and pride and joy, Abram. Helen was a very big sports enthusiast and loved to compete as an avid sports woman herself, even having a hole-in-one, all while being able to compete in many statewide golf and tennis tournaments. She was a University of Nebraska Foundation Life Time Supporter and huge fan of Husker women’s volleyball and
football. She was a lifelong Nebraskan who believed in her community, participating in many wonderful causes, a financial supporter of many numerous philanthropic organizations, and most of all, loved her amazing family.
Memorials may be made to the Congregation Tifereth Israel, 3219 Sheridan Blvd, Lincoln, NE 68502.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor,
I just finished reading the front page article by Grace Caskey about her experience in Ga’aton, Israel. Her writing is exceptional. Although I have never met Grace, through her writing, I felt as if I was walking side by side with her.
Thank you Grace, for a beautiful article.
SUSIE SILVERMAN
Spread the light: Jewish communities worlwide
called to action
MAOR HADAR
JTA
On Nov. 9, the world will commemorate the 86th anniversary of the November Pogrom, commonly known as “Kristallnacht.” In light of this event, “Spread the Light” an initiative of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, and the Religious Kibbutz Movement calls upon Jewish communities across the globe to unite in a powerful act of remembrance and solidarity. In the face of rising antisemitism worldwide, synagogues, community centers, schools and other public cultural spaces are urged to join the “Spread the Light” initiative, and keep their lights on throughout the night of 10 Nov. to commemorate the November Pogrom of 1938.
On the nights of 9-10 Nov. 1938, the Nazis unleashed a brutal wave of destruction upon Jewish communities in Germany and Austria. Synagogues were set ablaze, Torah scrolls and sacred books were destroyed, and Jewish homes, businesses, and cultural institutions were violently ransacked. Thousands of Jews were rounded up, arrested, and imprisoned in concentration camps. The Pogrom sent a devastating message to German and Austrian Jewry that they had no future in their homes and communities, and it marked a terrifying step toward the Nazi regime’s ultimate goal: the annihilation of the Jewish people and the erasure of Jewish culture and heritage.
“Spread the Light” initiative, Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan said, “as we face a future where the voices of Holocaust survivors will no longer be with us, it is our sacred duty to ensure that their stories, together with the legacy of both the victims and survivors continue to resonate today and for future generations. The light that the Nazis tried to extinguish eighty years ago must be amplified. By spreading light on this night, we send a clear message to the world that hatred and antisemitism have no place in our modern society.”
The “Spread the Light” initiative seeks to symbolically declare that the Jewish spirit was not, and never will be, extinguished. Whether in synagogues, schools, cultural establishments, or communal spaces, this simple act will send a powerful message: the Jewish people are still here, and our light continues to shine brightly.
This initiative, however, goes beyond symbolic lighting. Organizers encourage communities to pair this action with an educational event or gathering. Schools and synagogues are invited to hold discussions, host survivor testimonies, or engage in study sessions focused on Jewish solidarity and resilience during the Holocaust. This is not merely an act of commemoration but a vital opportunity to connect future generations to their past and educate tomorrow’s leaders about the importance of Jewish culture, heritage, and historical awareness.
“Spread the Light” also fosters global solidarity, uniting Jewish communities in a shared expression of collective memory. Participating centers and organizations are asked to upload photos from these events and share them on social media hashtag, #SpreadTheLight.
As we move into a generation of remembrance without the voices of Holocaust survivors, Yad Vashem is more committed than ever to preserving the legacy of Zachor, Remembrance, and passing it on to future generations. Under the leadership of Chairman Dani Dayan, Yad Vashem is actively engaged in creating innovative ways to continue this tradition of memory and inspire people to learn about the history of the Holocaust.
“Spread the Light” is one of many news initiatives empowering future generations to carry the torch of remembrance and deepen our understanding of our not-so-distant history.
As we approach the 80th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem is expanding its cultural and educational activities, ensuring that the flame of memory burns bright for generations to come. Reflecting on the importance of the
Sarah Evron, Head of The Religious Kibbutz Movement, and founder of the “Spread the Light” initiative remarked, “during these historic times, as the State of Israel fights for its future, we call upon all communities in Israel and around the world to unite. Together, we will remember that night when the lights went out for the Jewish people. Together, we will light up the night with the glow from our cultural centers and synagogues. Now, instead of the darkness, we spread light and hope. Together, we will “Spread the Light,” a light that will never be extinguished.”
Resources for educational activities and discussions, including survivor testimonies and source materials, are available on a dedicated landing page for the “Spread the Light” project. Join Yad Vashem in this profound initiative to show the world that, though our people have faced attempts to eradicate us, our light will continue to spread and shine brightly. Let the lights of our synagogues, schools, and centers stand as beacons of Jewish resilience, solidarity, and hope on Nov. 9-10, 2024.
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Synagogue in Hadera, Israel. Credit: Yuval Optovski / the Religious Kibbutz Movement
Synagogue in Sofia, Bulgaria. Credit: The Religious Kibbutz Movement
Poland’s Jewish museum marks its first decade
SHIRA LI BARTOV
WARSAW, Poland | JTA
In the heart of the former Warsaw Ghetto, where Jews were killed and their neighborhood razed during World War II, a Jewish community has never recovered — but a museum has for a decade drawn visitors to learn about their history.
The Polin Museum is marking 10 years since opening its exhibition about the 1,000-year history of Polish Jews. In that lifespan, it rose to fame as one of the world’s leading Jewish museums and a symbol of Poland’s long-deferred recognition of its extinguished Jewish past.
But it also faced down challenges from a government ruled by Poland’s right-wing nationalist Law and Justice party, which sought to remove museum leaders seen as too critical of government policies or unwilling to conform with nationalist versions of history. Law and Justice was overturned by a centrist coalition last year.
During a weekend of anniversary programming in late September, which included a gala, a symphony orchestra concert and curatorial tours, nearly 10,000 people passed through the museum, a modernist building designed by the Finnish firm Lahdelma & Mahlamäki.
Special guests ranged from government officials and museum founders and donors to influential members of Poland’s small Jewish community, including Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich and Marian Turski, a 98-year-old historian and Holocaust survivor who presides over the museum council.
The hoopla surrounding Polin’s 10-year anniversary reflects its impact on Poland, a society that only in recent decades has confronted the history of its Jewish community and the 3 million Polish Jews who were killed there under the Nazis. The museum’s name draws from a story about Jews who fled persecution in Western Europe and arrived in Poland during the Middle Ages. According to legend, they heard birds singing “Po-lin,” a translit-
eration of the Hebrew words for both “rest here” and “Poland.”
Before Germany invaded Poland in 1939, it was one of the most diverse countries in Europe. Jews made up 10% of the total population and a majority in many towns. Warsaw was home to more than 350,000 Jews — about 30% of the city.
After the Nazis killed most of Poland’s Jews, the country came under decades of communist rule. Soviet authorities
suppressed Jewish religious and cultural life and folded the Holocaust into an ideological narrative about the Soviets’ total victory over the Nazis — relegating Polish-Jewish history to what scholars call “the communist freezer.” Only in the early 1990s, after the fall of communism, did the idea of the Polin Museum first come into being.
Over 20 years and more than $100 million later, with the help of wealthy American donors and the Polish government, the Polin Museum opened its core exhibit in October 2014.
“For 50 years, people didn’t learn anything about what Polish Jews were about — including Polish Jews,” Schudrich told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “What’s really happened since
1989 is people beginning to learn, and the key pivotal place for that education to take place is here.”
The ambition of Polin was distinct from the memorials at Poland’s slew of concentration camps and Nazi killing centers: This place called itself a “museum of life.”
Only one of the eight multimedia galleries is dedicated to the Holocaust. The rest follow a millennium of Jewish life in Poland, from the first appearance of Jews in the 10th century to the development of Jewish towns; life under Poland’s partition between Russia, Prussia and Austria; waves of pogroms; the birth of modern Jewish social, political and religious movements; and a period of newfound freedoms after World War I, in the Second Polish Republic, all before the devastation wrought by the Holocaust.
A final gallery also traces the post-war years, when a small number of Jews remained in Poland. After a governmentsponsored antisemitic campaign in 1968 purged thousands of Jews from the country, only about 10,000 remained. This gallery also looks at a renewed curiosity about Jewish history since the 1990s, which has given rise to festivals of Jewish culture across Poland, many of them organized by non-Jews.
But the past 10 years have also brought challenges for people who work in education about Poland’s Jewish history. Between 2015 and 2023, a nationalist-conservative government made controlling history a central part of its platform, promising to revive Poland’s pride in its past and eradicate a so-called “pedagogy of shame” — which meant stifling discussions about Polish people who killed Jews or cooperated with the Nazi regime.
In 2018, the country passed a law that outlawed accusing Poland or the Polish people of complicity in the Holocaust. Although its penalty has changed — lawmakers downgraded it from a crime punishable with three years in prison to a civil offense — the law remains in effect today.
Read more at www.omahajewishpress.com
HANUKKAH
Visitors to the Polin Museum in Warsaw, Poland, can see a preserved historic synagogue with a painted ceiling, seen here in 2019. Credit: Omar Marques/Getty Images