November 11, 2016

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Stolpersteine

Installation of Rabbi Deana Berezin at Temple Israel

NO V EMBER 1 1 , 2 0 1 6 | 1 0 CH ESH V AN 5 7 7 7 | V O L . 9 7 | NO . 6 | C A nD LELi g H Ti ng | FRID AY , NO V EMBER 1 1 , 4 : 5 0 P. M.

SCOTT LiTTKy Program Director, Temple Israel On Friday, nov. 18, Rabbi Deana Berezin will be officially installed as Rabbi at Temple Israel. Rabbi Berezin, who has been at Temple Israel since July 1, will be installed during a special Shabbat worship service that will begin at 6 p.m. in the

Now showing in the JCC Gallery page 9

Omaha Jewish Federation receives four stars page 14

i

Julius Speyer, left, Hedwig Speyer Rosenberg and “Benno” Rosenberg

HAnnA ROSEnBERg gRADWOHL was born in Coburg, Germany, in 1935. My parents, Ilse Speier Rosenberg and Ludwig Rosenberg, and I escaped the Nazis in 1937 and emigrated to the United States. We settled in Lincoln, joining my maternal

Fleeing anti-Semitism in France, an African Jewish family makes aliyah page 16

inside Viewpoint Synagogues Life cycles

SpOnSORED By THE BEnJAmin AnD AnnA E. WiESmAn FAmiLy EnDOWmEnT FunD

12 14 15

Rabbi Deana Berezin

grandparents (Alfred Speier and Käte Blüth Speier) and aunt (Eva Speier) who had fled Germany in 1936. Why did the Speier and Rosenberg families settle in Lincoln? They did so with the assistance of my grandfather’s first cousins, Albert Speier and See Stolpersteine page 2

Andres Spokoiny speaks at PACE/LOJE Luncheon

AnnETTE vAn DE KAmp-WRigHT Editor of the Jewish Press On Oct. 26, over 50 honored PACE and LOJE contributors joined at Fleming’s Steakhouse to hear speaker Andres Spokoiny. Howard Epstein, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, said: “The Foundation board wanted to recognize and honor those who have perpetually endowed their gifts to the the JFO Annual campaign through the PACE and LOJE funds and encourage others to do the same. Our speaker brought genuine

Andres Spokoiny, left, Carl Riekes and Howard Epstein excitement about what we accomplish when we pool our efforts to benefit the Jewish community. We wanted our guests to share in that excitement.”

Over lunch, Spokoiny discussed The Transformational Impact of Collaborative Philanthropy.

He is the President and CEO of

the Jewish Funders Network and works with Jewish philanthropists to improve the quality of their giving and maximize their impact as they make the change they want to see in the world. In more common terms, to be philanthropic comes with certain See pACE/LOJE Luncheon page 3

Rabbi Susan Talve

Sanctuary. Along with the congregation and greater community, several of Rabbi Berezin’s family members will be in attendance as we officially welcome her to Temple Israel. Rabbi Susan Talve, founding rabbi of Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis, MO, will install her former colleague. When asked about the importance of her installation at Temple Israel, Rabbi Berezin said, “Temple Israel has been so warm and welcoming, and I have enjoyed each day I have been here. I am excited to have Rabbi Talve, my teacher, colleague and friend, have the opportunity to formally introduce me into the next stage of my rabbinic life and career.”

Rabbi Berezin is a native of St. Louis.

Before coming to Temple Israel, she served the last two years as the Rabbi Educator at Central Reform Congregation, a vibrant congregation of 780 households in St. Louis. Rabbi Berezin attended HUCJIR in Los Angeles. She earned a Master of Arts in Jewish Education and was ordained in May 2014. In addition to student pulpits at Temple Beth Torah, Temple See Rabbi Deana Berezin page 3

2 | The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016

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Continued from page 1 Stolpersteine in Frankfurt, Germany, in memory of my paHenrietta Gold Speier, who lived in Lincoln and ran several ternal grandparents, Bernhard “Benno” Rosenberg and Hedlaundry and dry cleaning businesses. During the summer of wig Speyer Rosenberg, and my great uncle, Julius Speyer.

1935, Albert and Henrietta traveled to Europe and invited Hedwig and her brother Julius were born in Völkermy grandparents to meet them in Switzerland. They did not hausen, in 1874 and 1872 respectively. Benno was born in want to set foot in Nazi GerDankelshausen in 1872. When many because of the growing Benno married Hedwig, he setanti-Semitism in that country. tled in Sonneberg and joined My grandparents went to the Speyers in the ownership Switzerland to meet their and operation of a department American cousins and were store established there in 1895. convinced that they should By 1938, rampant anti-Semiconsider fleeing from their tism forced the family to sell homeland. Hence, my grandfatheir store to an “Aryan” busither sailed to the U.S. in the nessman. Benno, Hedwig, and spring of 1936 and looked over Julius subsequently moved to the situation in Lincoln for Frankfurt am Main, seeking several weeks. He then resecurity in the larger Jewish turned to his home in Halbercommunity there. stadt, where he and my Ultimately, there was no segrandmother decided to emicurity. The three were degrate as quickly as possible. ported from Frankfurt to This was not an easy decision Theresienstadt on Sept. 2, for my grandfather, since he 1942. Benno and Hedwig were was a patriotic German, was in sent on to Treblinka and murthe German army during dered there on Sept. 29. Julius World War I, and received an remained in Theresienstadt Iron Cross for his distinand was murdered there on guished military service. My Nov. 28. grandfather sold his fashion The setting of the Stolpertextile store and disposed of his steine in memory of my grandassets as best he could, includparents and great-uncle was ing the payment of an exorbiinitiated by a man named Hans tant “Reichsfluchtsteuer” tax Bruno Venema, who contacted for the privilege of leaving his my cousin, Angela Rosenberg, native country. in Berlin.

Alfred and Henrietta Speier In 1942, Mr. Venema was a signed all the necessary finanyoung boy living in the same cial papers and affidavits to get apartment house as Benno, my grandparents and aunt out Hedwig, and Julius. He rememof Germany. Once they settled bered his Jewish neighbors and in Lincoln, they turned their ef- Hanna’s farewell to her grandparents, Hedwig and Benno the fact that they had been deforts to get my parents and me Rosenberg, August 1937. ported and sent to their deaths out of Hitler’s Third Reich. We arrived in August of 1937 and by the Nazis. He offered to sponsor the setting of Stolpersteine moved into a large house on B Street rented by my grandpar- in their memory. Interestingly enough, the Venema family ents. My grandfather went to work in the Speiers’ laundry was mentioned in letters my grandparents and great uncle and dry cleaning business. My aunt continued school at the had written to my parents in Lincoln, NE. The letters often University of Nebraska’s Teachers’ High School. My father mentioned the Venemas’ daughter, Bärbel, who was about my got a job as a “stock boy” at Gold’s Department Store, owned age and made my grandparents long to see me again.

by Nathan Gold, brother of Henrietta Gold Speier. My The last time I saw my grandparents and great-uncle was mother went to work in the Speier laundries, and my grandin early August of 1937, when I was not yet two years old, mother babysat me. just before my parents and I escaped to the United States.

I graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1957 and The setting of the Stolpersteine was an occasion for a married David Mayer Gradwohl, who was born and grew small family reunion. Coming from Berlin was my cousin up in Lincoln. In 1962 we came to Ames, Iowa, where Angela (daughter of my late first cousin, Jochanan “Joe” David was employed by Iowa State University, and I had a Rosenberg, whose family had fled to Palestine before career as a school social worker. In 1996, my mother and WWII), her husband, Andreas Schlaegel, and their daughaunt, lifetime members of The South Street Temple, moved ter, Naomi Rosenberg. My brother, John Rosenberg and his from Lincoln into a retirement community in Ames. wife, Anke Boudreau, from Madison, Wisconsin, joined my Since 1995, the German artist Gunter Demnig has been husband David, and me. This was also an opportunity for crafting and setting “Stolpersteine” in memory of civilians us to meet Hans Bruno Venema and his wife, Maria, their murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. The term daughter Ute Müller and her husband, Ernst.

“Stolpersteine” literally means “stumbling blocks.”

In addition, there were relatives and friends of Angela.

Demnig selected this designation because in pre-World Our group met for lunch at the Café Laumer, a favorite War I Germany, it was a custom for non-Jews, if they stumneighborhood restaurant where Benno, Hedwig, and Julius bled along a cobblestone-paved street, to say, “There must liked to eat before Jews were prohibited from eating in pubbe a Jew buried here.” lic places. We then walked to Westendstrasse #88 where the These memorials consist of concrete blocks, approxilarge apartment house once stood. mately four inches square, covered with a sheet of brass. On Today, a modern office building occupies that space. But these brass plates, Demnig stamps the words “Hier wohnte” Mr. Venema pointed to older apartment houses still stand(here lived), the name of the victim, his or her birth date, ing across the street to give us an idea of the 19th century date of deportation, and place and date the victim was mur- architectural style of the building in which the Venema dered by the Nazis. If possible, the Stolpersteine are placed family, my grandparents, and great-uncle once lived. He deflush with the sidewalk in front of the last place the individ- scribed where the main entrance, gardens and sidewalks ual voluntarily resided. had been. Meanwhile, Gunter Demnig had already visited Demnig set the first Stolpersteine in the city of Cologne in the location and had prepared a place within the interlock1995. Since then, over 50,000 of these memorials have been ing concrete bricks of the sidewalk for the placement of the installed, primarily in Germany, but also in Austria, the Stolpersteine.

Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, NorShortly after our arrival, members of the Frankfurt way, and the Czech Republic. Although most of the StolperStolpersteine Initiative Organization appeared. They unsteine have been set in memory of Jews, Demnig has also furled a large banner reading “Steine Gegen das Vergessen” installed these memorials for other victims of the Holocaust. (Stones Against Forgetting). Soon after that, Gunter See Stolpersteine page 3 On Sunday, May 17, 2015, Gunter Demnig set three

Rabbi Deana Berezin

Continued from page 1 Beth Shalom, Beth Knesset Bamidbar, and at the China Lake Naval Air and Weapons Station, Rabbi Berezin served as the Harold M. Schulweis Rabbinic Intern at Jewish World Watch, an organization that promotes education, advocacy and action around issues of genocide and mass atrocities. She had a second rabbinic internship at Our House Grief Support Center, providing pastoral care to both children and adults. Prior to her enrollment in rabbinic school, Rabbi Berezin attended Indiana University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jewish Studies and Religious Studies and a double minor in Hebrew and Psychology. Rabbi Berezin married Jared Berezin in 2016.

In her first few months at Temple Israel, Rabbi Berezin has worked closely with Interim School Director Sharon Comisar Langdon to add her expertise to the religious school and confirmation. Rabbi Berezin has helped in both our Tot programs and with our Young Adult and Family programming. As we move forward, Rabbi Berezin looks forward to adding a new dimension to Social Justice at Temple Israel. She also teaches our 9th and 10th grade confirmation students, and beginning on Thursday, Nov. 17, she will teach an adult class, The Magic of Rituals.

Rabbi Deana Berezin’s installation will be followed by a special Oneg in the Simon Community Court.

Rabbi Berezin’s installation and our weekly Friday night Shabbat services are open to the public and all are invited to commemorate this special day in the life of Temple Israel. For more information, please contact Program Director, Scott Littky at 402.556.6536.

Stolpersteine

Continued from page 2 Demnig came and quickly set about placing the Stolpersteine. He removed several loosened concrete bricks from the sidewalk and placed the three Stolpersteine into the remaining gap. Next he filled the remaining spaces with small cobblestone fragments and tapped them into a level surface.

Then he spread a mixture of sand and powdered cement over the area to fill up all the intervening spaces. Finally, he poured water over the area, and brushed it clean.

Then he hurried off to set some 50 other Stolpersteine in Frankfurt that weekend.

Meanwhile, Mr. Venema and Angela delivered speeches followed by short statements of appreciation by my brother and me.

During the speeches, Andreas held up photographs of Benno, Hedwig, and Julius -- literally the faces of history being com-

memorated on that day. By that time a crowd of 45-50 people had gathered. The leader of the Initiative asked us all to form a circle, join hands, and spend a moment of silent contemplation on the occasion and the importance of remembrance. Finally, one of Angela’s friends stepped forward and placed a large bouquet of white roses next to the Stolpersteine.

Tears of profound loss and sublime gratitude flowed down our cheeks. We were all thankful that Gunter Demnig’s setting of these Stolpersteine had brought back from anonymity the names and living memories of Benno Rosenberg, Hedwig Speyer Rosenberg, and Julius Speyer. Now, the lives of my grandparents and great-uncle will remain, not only in the minds of our family, but as a blessing in the sidewalk at Westendstrasse #88 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Wishing

Madeline Katzman a happy 95th birthday on November 16 with love from her children and their spouses Susan, Michael & Carol, Larry & Danna and Howard & Katie and all her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

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The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016 | 3

PACE/LOJE Luncheon

Continued from page 1 his way to making his strings attached, such mark in the corporate as being aware of how world when, in 1997, one’s gift impacts othhe received a phone call ers and doing the from the American proper legwork to enJoint Distribution sure one’s giving actuCommittee. ally has the Living in Paris, desired effect.

France, Spokoiny beBorn in Buenos came the Regional DiAires, Argentina, rector for Northeast Spokoiny is fluent in Europe, and held prosix languages: English, grams in the areas of French, Spanish, Porwelfare, Leadership Detuguese, Hebrew and velopment, CommuDebbie Zweiback, left, Mike Erman and nity Development and Yiddish. All four of his Speedy Zweiback grandparents immiOutreach. He now grated to Argentina from Poland in the speaks regularly to Jewish groups, empha1930s. He was raised by a single mother and sizing the transformational nature of phiduring tough economic times, the local Jew- lanthropy. In addition, he is a member of ish Community Center was a refuge for him the selection committee for the Genesis and his younger brother. The generosity of Prize Foundation.

Jewish donors who helped him and his famAnd he’s not afraid to ask uncomfortable ily inspired a passion for Jewish philanquestions of donors. thropy. He attended Jewish day school and “We need to be honest with ourselves, and subsequently entered the Conservative Maask: Is our grant-making ‘good enough’ or sorti Seminary, spent seven years at a rab‘great?’ How many grants are we doing on binical seminary, and received his MBA autopilot? Are we true masters at what we degree for Jewish education studies at Hedo or are we simply repeating old formulae brew University of Jerusalem. In addition, over and over?� he wrote in 2012. he studied Business Administration at the “If we believe,� Spokoiny says, “that our University of Buenos Aires. funding can change the world, our passion He started his professional career working to be great at it is not simply a desire but a for IBM in South America and was well on necessity.�

For my daughters, it’s peace of mind.

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OTYG fall into Fall

4 | The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016

community

B

Gourmet Kosher meals? Of course.

OzziE NOgg

eth El Synagogue will welcome noted kosher Chef Laura Frankel as Scholarin-Residence, Friday, Dec. 2 through Sunday, Dec. 4.

During her stay, Chef Laura will prepare a gourmet Shabbat dinner following Friday night services at Beth El, and teach an 11 a.m. cooking class at the synagogue on Sunday morning.

“Chef Laura has cooked meals for President Barack Obama, President George Bush, Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Senator Joseph and Hadassah Lieberman, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, Director Steven Spielberg and many other dignitaries,” said Margie Gutnik, Beth El Program Director. “To have Chef Laura in our synagogue kitchen, preparing a gourmet Shabbat dinner and teaching a cooking class, is a real thrill.”

Frankel’s resume is a testament to her impact on kosher cuisine. The former chef and founder of the Shallots kosher fine-dining restaurants in New York and Chicago, she served as the executive chef at Wolfgang Puck Kosher Catering at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago from 2007 to 2015, and was recently appointed Culinary Director for Jamie Geller’s Test Kitchens and Kosher Network International. Frankel is the author of Jewish Cooking for All Seasons and Jewish Slow Cooker Recipes, and contributes to The Jerusalem Post and EATING WELL magazine. Her third book, Clean Slate Jewish Cooking, will be published in 2017.

Half jokingly, Chef Laura suggests she emerged from her mother’s womb with a full understanding of how in-

Kosher Chef Laura Frankel is Beth El Scholar-in-Residence, Dec. 2 - 4.

Everything you make from a box, jar or package can be made better from scratch.

Chef Laura Frankel

gredients work together. A Chicago native, Frankel received her professional training from Le Cordon Bleu and The French Pastry School, and credits this

education with her interest in the chemistry behind baking. These days, chemistry drives her philosophy on parve desserts, known to be one of the kosher food world’s greatest challenges.

“Both sweet and savory parve dishes can be made with natural ingredients like olive oil and nut butters instead of the typical non-dairy substitutes that are commonly used,” she said. “I want to do it in a real way, not to create ‘faux food’ using parve whips and margarine. I prefer to use more natural and seasonal ingredients.”

An active educator committed to modernizing kosher food, Chef Laura shares her craft and experiences with live audiences across the country and on her Facebook page: https://www. facebook.com/cheflauraskosher.

Among her lessons? “There is something very satisfying and peaceful about taking a few ingredients and turning them into gorgeous loaves of bread. Baking challah -- from scratch -is about love.”

Working with Gutnik on Chef Laura’s appearance are Judi Finkle and Miriam Gottlieb, Co-chairs; Eadie Tsabari, Beth El Director of Congregational Learning; Laura Bair, Beth El Kitchen Manager; and Allison Newfeld, Beth El Executive Director.

Reservations for both the Friday, Dec. 2, Gourmet Shabbat Dinner and Sunday, Dec. 4, Gourmet Cooking Class can be made on the synagogue website, www.bethel-omaha.org, where you’ll also find complete details for the weekend. Space is limited. Deadline to register for both events is Nov. 21.

After that date, please call the Beth El office, 402.492.8550, for availability.

Chef Laura’s visit is sponsored by a generous donation from The Henry and Dorothy Riekes Endowment Fund.

Our 9th–12th grade youth group social event to celebrate Fall.

The evening included dinner, storytelling, games, hot cocoa, s’more making, and Havdalah.

We’re making a bold statement

KaREN DaNEu Executive Director, Susan G. Komen® Nebraska No one should ever have to die from breast cancer. That is not the reality; however, as more than 40,000 women and men die of breast cancer every year in the U.S. Since 1982, Susan G. Komen® has helped to educate millions on the importance of early detection, give breast cancer survivors a voice, improve therapies and targeted treatments, and fund community-based programs for financial, medical and psychosocial support for women, men and families. The result is a 37 percent decline in breast cancer deaths from 1990 to 2013.

But it’s not enough when a child grows up without a mom lost to breast cancer.

In September, Komen® announced a plan to reduce the nation’s 40,000 breast cancer deaths by 50 percent in the next 10 years. This is a bold plan that includes improving access to quality and timely cancer care for the underserved and enhancing Komen’s research focus on lethal breast cancers.

Improving access to care is the focus of the African American Health Equity Initiative to end disparities in breast cancer outcomes in the African American community. Working side-by-side with civic, business, and health leaders, the goal is to reduce deaths and continue to fund local programs to fill the care gaps in many underserved communities. In addition, over 60 percent of the 2016 Komen research grants are directed to metastatic breast cancer research, new treatments for aggressive types of breast cancer, and technologies to detect new or recurrent breast cancer.

This is what Komen is doing. What are you doing? This goal needs your help to end breast cancer. Act. Donate. Get Involved. Call 402.502.2979 to make a commitment to Komen Nebraska.

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The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016 | 5

This is how we roll

california rolls

Tracy Modra Director Member Services, JCC You love sushi. You devour it any chance you have; and for quite a while now, you have been planning to learn how to make it.

You even have one of those sushi mats, sitting in a kitchen drawer, patiently waiting for the day you will pull it out of obscurity to whip up a spicy tuna roll. Some day, right?

Guess what: that day is closer than you think. On Thursday, Dec. 8, 5-7 p.m., the Jewish Community Center, in collaboration with chef Chu KIm from Kona Grill, will offer a class on sushi preparation in the JCC Social Hall.

The Sushi class is part of the Jewish Community Center’s adult engagement programming, initiated by the JCC Board of Directors’ Adult Programming Committee.

This Committee aims to offer unique and engaging opportunities to adults. Engagement at the JCC goes beyond the treadmill, because healthy living comes in all forms.

Most people assume sushi is Japanese in origin, which is only partially true. In fact, the food that developed into sushi began in Southeast Asia. Sour rice was wrapped around fermented fish (yum!) and this food was enjoyed in China. The modern style of

Credit: Mk2010 via wikimedia commons sushi was invented in Japan in the 8th century. The word ‘sushi’ refers to the combination of vinegar, sugar, salt and rice that is used for wrapping the fish. Fish which, by the way, tastes best when it is not exactly fresh. Fun fact: “It is traditional to eat sushi with one’s fingers, not chopsticks. However, it is appropriate to eat sashimi, which is slices of raw fish, with chopsticks. Sushi should be eaten immediately and usually in one or two bites.” (factretriever.com) A menu to include an assortment of sushi rolls(including a dessert sushi roll), cucumber salad, tuna wonton crisps, and a tuna flatbread will be served during the class; afterwards you will of course want to eat your own creation, all with some special Fuji Apple sake on the side.

Cost of the class is $35 for JCC members and $40 for non-members, 21 years and older; this includes all ingredients. Food offered during this class is not certified kosher, but no shellfish will be included.

Register today on-line at www.jccomaha.org, over the phone with Laura Wine at 402.334.6419, or in person at the Member Services Desk. For more information, contact Tracy Modra at 402.334.6427

Stanley Ginsberg discussing The Rye Baker at Jewish Book Month Luncheon

Mark kirchhoff feature a sample of breads from The Rye Baker.

Program and Communications Assistant, JFO Following the luncheon, Ginsberg will hold a book Author Stanley Ginsberg will be the speaker at the signing in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library where 43rd Annual Jewish Book Month Author Luncheon in his book will be available for purchase. He will then the JCC Auditorium on Wednesday, meet with the Dorothy Kaplan Book Nov. 16 beginning at noon. The Discussion Group and others who buffet luncheon is open to the comwish to join for an informal discusmunity. Cost of the meal is $12 per sion. person. While the reservation deadThe luncheon is the first of four line of Nov. 9 has already passed, author events for 2016-2017. On call or email today and we will have feb. 2, 2017, Marjorie Ingall a meal for you. To make reserva(columnist for Tablet Magazine, and tions, contact Mark Kirchhoff at author of Mamaleh Knows Best: mkirchhoff@jewishomaha.org or What Jewish Mothers Do to Raise 402.334.6463.

Successful, Creative, Empathetic, InGinsberg will be featuring his redependent Children) will be a feacently released book, The Rye Baker tured speaker at Beth El Synagogue.

Stanley Ginsberg in his presentation. The book shares This will be followed on March 29, over 70 classic recipes that introduce bakers to the 2017, by Jason Gewirtz and april 20, 2017, by rich world of rye bread from both the old world and Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. Details for all these events the new. His recipes span rye’s many regions that lend will be publicized by all the normal sources. Be sure to its varying characteristics. The luncheon itself will to mark the dates and watch for the details.

6 | The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016

Come celebrate the Kids Campaign!

snowbirds

The Jewish Federation of Omaha and the Pennie Z. Davis Child Development Center invite all kids from our community (and any adults they want to bring along) to come celebrate Hanukkah and Tzedakah during the Kids Campaign Hanukkah Extravaganza, Monday, Dec. 19 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Join co-chairs Stephanie, Matthew, Shalom, Judah and Eliana Beneda; Crystal, Aryeh, Nina and Josie Epstein; Lisa, Chuck, Makayla and Kori Lucoff; Jamie, Troy, Ainsley, Aiden and Audrey Meyerson; Melissa, Matt, Joshua, Evan and Lea Shapiro and Sonia, Alan, Adria and Asher Tipp at the front entry of the Jewish Community Center.

Friedel Jewish Academy will host their annual latke sale. More information will follow in next week’s Jewish Press, so stay tuned!

Makayla and Kori Lucoff are ready for the party

Partnership2Gether trip

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.

Please Join us on Thursday, Nov. 17 from 7 to 8 p.m. in the RBJH board room to learn more about the exciting Partnership2Gether’s Journey to Poland, Bratislava, and Budapest. This trip comes with optional extensions to Berlin or our partner region in Israel. Trip organizers Jan Goldstein and Zoe Riekes will be available to answer questions. Nate

Shapiro, Director of Development for the Jewish Federation of Omaha, will also be on hand to answer questions about Partnership2Gether, Israel programming, or The Jewish Federation of Omaha. Contact Nate Shapiro 402.334.6440 for any questions regarding this session.

$14 million raised for Magen David Adom JTA NEWS STAFF Nearly $14 million was raised by the American Friends of Magen David Adom at a Los Angeles gala.

Some $5 million of the total raised at the Red Star Ball to support the services of Magen David Adom in Israel, an official Red Cross affiliate, came from a single donor, Maurice Kanbar, the creator of Skyy vodka. Some of the money will go to build a new blood services center in Israel. e event honored David Suissa, president of Tribe Media and publisher of the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, with the Humanitarian of the Year Award; Stanley Black, founder and chairman of Black Equities Group, with the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Black’s grandson, Zach Zalben, senior vice president of Black Equities Group, with the Next Generation Award.

Merrill Moses, a three-time U.S. Olympic water polo player and 2008 Beijing silver

medalist, introduced Yarin Ashkenazi, an Israeli soldier who was nearly killed in a terror attack, and Yair Schussheim, the MDA paramedic who saved him.

In addition, family members of MDA youth volunteer Netanel Litman, 18, and his father, Rabbi Yaakov Litman, who were killed last year in a West Bank terror attack, were recognized. ey were driving in a car with five other family members to the Shabbat pre-wedding celebrations of their daughter and sister when they came under fire.

Dvir Litman, 16, was presented an honorary uniform by MDA Director-General Eli Bin and a group of paramedics in honor of his work to save his family in the aermath of the attack.

Visit us at jewishomaha.org

November is National Adoption Month

The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016 | 7

community

teresa Drelicharz, liMhp Adoption Coordinator, JFS November is National Adoption Month, and Jewish Family Service is helping to raise awareness about the need for adoptive families for older youth in foster care. Every year, more than 100,000 children and youth in the U.S. foster care system seek permanent families. Having permanent family connections are critical for older youth to have legal and emotional support as they transition into adulthood and strive for achievement, growth and well-being.

National Adoption Month is an initiative sponsored by the Children’s Bureau, in partnership with AdoptUSKids and Child Welfare Information Gateway. Each November, National Adoption Month brings awareness to the needs of children and youth seeking and awaiting a “forever family.” This year, specific attention is being paid to the needs of the thousands of older youth ages 15–18 who face the challenges of aging out of foster care and beginning their independent, young adult lives.

There are 6,231 children in foster care in Nebraska; 913 of these children are waiting for adoptive families. The National Adoption Month website, https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/adoption/nam/, contains an entire section dedicated to providing adoption and permanencyrelated resources and tips for families, including families considering adoption and families who have adopted. The website also supports child welfare professionals in preparing families for adoption and talking with older youth, who may feel they are too old to be adopted.

Jewish Family Service is proud to offer adoption services to prospective adoptive parents. We provide flexible scheduling to accommodate your busy lifestyles. As an affiliated member of the Nebraska Adoption Agencies Association (NAAA), JFS offers the following services: • Domestic Home Studies and International Home Studies, along with post-placement services.

• Adoption Search services for individuals placed through Jewish Family Service.

For more information, contact Teresa at Jewish Family Service, 402.330.2024, or go to our website at http://www.jfsomaha.com.

jeWish press Notices

W

Max Kohll Omaha Mazkir, Head of Communications ith the exception of high holidays, AZA and BBG were very active in the past month. First, we had a haunted havdalah program at Bellevue Berry Farm. It was extra special due to the fact that it was a joint effort with BBYO, OTYG, USY, and NCSY. After Yom Kippur, AZA helped build sukkahs around the JCC with B’nai Brith. It felt great to help out. The following Tuesday we had a Sukkot program led by Benjamin Brodkey in the sukkahs that we had already built. It was a very well done, interactive program. BBYO Connect was also a huge success with over 20 seventh and eighth graders being introduced to BBYO. It was a great time at Vala’s with them. We have also assigned coordinators and steering for WRC, which is a convention throughout the region that will be hosted by Omaha with BBYO teens from Kansas City and St. Louis. We are very excited for it. If there are any questions about AZA membership, text or call Max Kohll at 402.306.6501 or omahaalephmazkir.aza@gmail.com.

For BBG membership text or call Brooke Wilczewski at 402.889.9855

celebrating hanukkah

The Jewish Press will be closed on thursday, Nov. 24 for Thanksgiving. The deadline for the Dec. 2 issue is tuesday, Nov. 22, Noon. Questions? Call 402.334.6448.

AZA/BBG update

coming in december

publishing date | 12.16.16 | space reservation | 12.07.16 Contact our advertising executive to advertise in this very special edition.

Susan Bernard | 402.334.6559 | sbernard@jewishomaha.org

March of the Living 2017

8 | The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016

community kaplan Book Group to discuss The Lion’s Gate

MaRk kiRchhOff Program and Communications Assistant, JFO If you have ever wondered what it is like being in the cockpit of an Israeli plane, inside one of its tanks, or walking with a state-issued helmet upon your head in a desperate effort to defend your country, then The Lion’s Gate by Steven Pressfield may be the book for you. It is the book the Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group has chosen as its November selection.

The group meets on Nov. 17 – meetings are always the third Thursday of the month – at 1 p.m. in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library. The group welcomes new members with open arms and a broad variety of book selections.

The Lion’s Gate is about the 1967 Six Day War in which the Jewish State beat back the combined forces of Jordan, Syria and Egypt and captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. Many historical books and accounts have been written about the war.

Blessing of the pets

This book by Pressfield, a celebrated novelist, takes a different approach. He calls his work a “hybrid history.” It is a narrative drawing from hundreds of hours of interviews with the veterans of the war, documentary research, and the author’s imagination. The book is written as first-person accounts. Pressfield admits that while relying on facts, he is focused on feelings, and he hopes to convey a sense of the Israeli experience.

The events of the war are clear. The Jewish State has long taken pride in executing its pre-emptive strike battle plan with skill, daring, and confidence. The audacious leadership of Moshe Dayan and Ariel Sharon has become central to Israeli culture. But few histories peel back the layers of elation and tension that ran through the six days of battle as does The Lion’s Gate. Through one soldier in the book, Pressfield relates that Sharon often quoted Zionist pioneer Ze’ev Jabotinsky, who said that “as long as the Arabs preserve a gleam of hope that they will succeed in getting rid of us,” they would never make peace with a Jewish state. This book poses the question, “Would the Six Day War victory finally extinguish this gleam?” The book offers little hope that it would, but it refuses to apologize for Israel’s daring to try.

November’s selection presents an ideal opportunity for new members to join the discussion. The war is familiar, the people in the group are kind, and the coffee and tea is free. Make note of the following: Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group, Nov. 17, 1 p.m., the Kripke Jewish Federation Library.

to commemorate Parsha noah, our annual blessing of the pets was held on sunday, Oct. 30. after gathering for a community blessing from Rabbi deana Berezin and cantor Wendy shermet, pets and their families had the opportunity to take their picture with Rabbi Berezin and cantor shermet.

Rachel MaRtin BBYO/Teen Program Director e March of the Living is a two week travel experience and a tradition when Jewish teens from five continents converge in Poland and in Israel for an emotional journey that will impact your sense of history, perspective and identity. e March of the Living commemorates Yom HaShoah and Holocaust Memorial Day, with teens marching from Auschwitz to Birkenau. e teens then go to Israel to celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut, Israeli Independence Day, by dancing in the streets of Jerusalem. e goal of the March is to educate Jewish teens about the richness of our past and to perpetuate our future. Past participants have maintained their level of Jewish commitment by returning to Israel, seeking a Jewish lifestyle in college, acting to protect human rights, and developing a sense of leadership and responsibility for the world around us. e program is open to Jewish teens in grades 9-12.

Teens will travel from April 20 – May 4, 2017.

Prior affiliation with BBYO is not necessary to participate in BBYO’s National Teen Delegation to the March of the Living.

For more information about the program, check out: http://www.bbyopassport.org/Trips/March-Of-e-Living or contact Rachel Martin, BBYO/Teen Program Director, rmartin@jccomaha.org.

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The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016 | 9

K

Now showing in the JCC Gallery lynn batten Publicity Manager/ Gallery Manager ristallnacht, also known as the ‘Night of Broken Glass’, occurred on Nov. 9 and 10 in 1938.

It was an attack on Jewish civilians living throughout Nazi Germany and annexed Austria. e name Kristallnacht comes from the shards of broken window glass that littered the streets following the destruction of Jewish-owned stores, buildings and synagogues.

Jewish homes, hospitals and schools were

life inside the camps, including daily routines, the treatment of new arrivals, beatings and torture.

From 1943 to 1945, while Zielezinski was incarcerated, he created secret drawings on scraps of paper. Aer the war, he used these sketches as the basis for his series of drawings -- the likes of which are reproduced in this series of lithographs. Following the liberation of Dachau, Zielezinski went to Schwandorf displaced persons camp and later relocated to the Munich Displaced Persons camp.

ransacked as the attackers demolished and burned buildings. e attacks were carried out by the paramilitary wing of the Nazi party and German and Austrian civilians.

Local authorities had been ordered not to intervene. At its conclusion, there was widespread damage and destruction to over 1,000 synagogues and 7,000 Jewish businesses.

Kristallnacht was followed by continued economic and political persecution of Jews and was a significant event in the advancement of Nazi Germany's broader racial policy and the beginning of e Holocaust.

On this, the 78th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Jewish Community Center Gallery would like all those who pass through to pause to remember the significance of Kristallnacht and the importance of remaining vigilant against injustices and the persecution of any minority group. e artwork on display during the month of November challenges viewers to do just that. artwork by Carol Kuhfahl Born aer the end of World War II, Carol Kuhfahl is a Nebraska farm girl reared in Burt County. She became interested in World War II from listening to stories told by relatives who had served in the military.

She became more focused on the Holocaust aer researching and writing a term paper while in high school. Since then, she has continued to study and learn more about victims of the Holocaust. Comparing her own free life with lives of Holocaust victims she further developed the deep sympathy she held for them.

Aer working as a registered nurse for 46 years, Carol retired and dedicated time to her passion of creating. e mixed-media creations done for this exhibit were the most “time-intensive labors of love” that she has ever undertaken. She hopes her work will help viewers recognize and reflect on the plight of all Holocaust victims.

Selected lithographs by George Zielezinski Polish artist George Zielezinski was a Dachau concentration camp survivor and political prisoner. Zielezinski’s drawings, done mostly in charcoal, have an impressionistic style and refined aesthetic, even though they depict the horrors of life in a concentration camp. e images document

e portfolio of his original artwork was acquired by Dixie Foster when she worked as a civilian court reporter during the US War Crimes Tribunal at the former Dachau concentration camp. e portfolio was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by Gretchen Davenport, the great-niece of Dixie Foster. e lithographs on display are courtesy of Annette Fettman and the former Museum of Religious Arts near Logan, Iowa. aDl exhibit We were Strangers Too As long as there have been wars, persecution, discrimination and intolerance, there have been refugees. ey are of every race and religion and can be found in every part of the world. Forced to flee out of fear for their lives and liberty, they have oen le everything behind, experienced terrible suffering and been separated from their families.

In refugee camps, they will find safety; but the living conditions are grim. In their asylum country, refugees are oen victims of xenophobia. If, aer years of exile, they are finally able to return home, their return is oen to a country shattered by war.

Unfortunately the refugee experience is all too familiar to those of us in the Jewish community, putting us in a good position to further the dialogue and enhance the understanding of the refugee experience.

Understanding the important role of imagery in influencing hearts and minds, ADL has partnered with the Creative Action Nework, a network of over 10,000 artists worldwide, to launch a new campaign called We Were Strangers Too. Artists are using their talents to tell stories of refugees from around the world and across time by submitting artwork to this project. e ADL-CRC has taken a portion of the works completed to create collages that share the refugee experience. ese works will be exhibited in the JCC Gallery through the month of November.

Works are available for purchase through the ADL-CRC office.

For more information about the JCC Gallery, please contact Publicity Manager/ Gallery Manager Lynn Batten at 402.334.6564 or email lbatten@jcc omaha.org.

10 | The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016

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Sisters in Israel

MarcelyN rogers s a fairly secular, self-identified â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;High Holiday Jew,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; I heard about Israel during services from time to time. More oî&#x201A;?en, I heard about Israel in the news. I had very few personal opinions about the country, so when I had the opportunity to travel to Israel as part of the Jewish Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Renaissance Project, I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sure what to think.

To be honest, when I first saw the Jewish Press article about the trip, I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really think anything. Knowing I had never been there, and recognizing an opportunity, my family nudged me to go. And I havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t regretted one minute of it.

It was incredible to find a country so completely immersed in Jewish culture, yet so diverse. I finally began to understand why we still end our Passover Seder with the phrase â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Next year in Jerusalem.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Being there taught me how it is possible for a Reform Jew from Nebraska to love Israel. î ˘e country is a community; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Shalomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is a lifestyle. I saw diďŹ&#x20AC;erent groups of Jews, Muslims and Christians co-existing and I saw a general acceptance of the diďŹ&#x20AC;erences between those groups. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not something that is oî&#x201A;?en discussed in mainstream media. You can walk into a store with your Jewish travel companions and find a Muslim engaging in daily prayer, while a Christian buys his daily newspaper. î ˘ese are mundane acts, far from the violence we see in most newspapers. Violence is a problem, and we need a path to peace, but it gives me hope that this path is possible.

We spoke oî&#x201A;?en about advocacy for Israel. Criticism isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t anti-Semitism, but can lead to a better future for Israel.

Deligimization, however, is where we should draw the line.

Any leader of any country should be willing to look at himor herself critically and citizens should be able to voice concerns. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what makes America a great country, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what makes Israel great. Yet to say that Israel has no right to exist, should be destroyed or should somehow make itself vanish is neither productive nor acceptable.

I will never forget our trip to Yad Vashem. While there, I realized the privilege I have: to live my life as a modern Jew, in a world with a Jewish State. Israel advocacy is so important and finding information from a variety of sources is imperative to understanding the State, building up what unites us and ensuring that Israel will continue to develop as a safe home for Jews for generations to come.

I loved the classes oďŹ&#x20AC;ered by JWRP, which were focused on acts of kindness, Torah, and service. We learned that happiness is a choice and that even our day-to-day relationships are acts of holiness. As a class, we learned small ways to implement Judaism into our lives. Judaism teaches mothers to better raise their children, helps wives become better spouses and helps women fullfill the needs of the community as a whole. Aî&#x201A;?er traveling to Israel, I have a much better understanding of how Judaism can stretch beyond the walls of my synagogue.

Being in Israel helped me connect to Judaism in a brand new way. I now know that every time I focus on emotional bonding with my husband, I engage in a Jewish act. I know that my words matter. I learned that words are so powerful that God created the world using speech. And, with my own

speech, I can either create or destroy based on what I say and how I say it.

When I choose to be kind to others through my words, I am making a Jewish choice. When I choose not to judge others but find the best in them, I am making a Jewish choice. When I teach my children the importance of Tzedakah, I am making a Jewish choice. I am much more than a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;High Holiday Jew.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; While on the plane home, I met a girl who had just completed her IDF service. She was the same age as my own daughter, who is a junior in college. She told me: â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is our

Top picture: The Negev offered camel rides, dancing and beautiful views; Bottom picture: Marci by the side of the road in Jerusalem.. duty to protect our homeland.

Prior to the Jewish Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Renaissance Project trip, I would have had no opinion on her words. Now, I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t agree more.

We began our trip as a group of Jewish women from many diďŹ&#x20AC;erent places, with diďŹ&#x20AC;erent levels of observance and unique identities. By the end, we were sisters, all in the same boat as Jewish women and Jewish parents.

An Invitation to the Community î ˘e Omaha Area Youth Orchestra and the Karen Sokolof Javitch Music Fund invite the community to an evening of chamber music on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m., the Jewish Community Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Auditorium will host the Chai Season Celebrating Chamber Music Concert, marking Maestro Aviva Segallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 18th season with OAYO. Honorary hosts for this event are Barabara Taxman and Barbara Wolpa. î ˘e Youth Symphony Chamber Orchestra will open the concert by performing J.S. Bachâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brandenburg Concerto.

î ˘e third Brandenburg Concerto for nine solo strings and keyboard accopmaniment has no specifically designated soloists. Youth Philharmonic and Youth Symphony musicians will present chamber music in a variety of ensembles.

Aviva and OAYO will provide a complimentary ticket to menmbers of the Jewish community for an Omaha Area Youth Orchestra performance of their choice.

To take advantage of this oďŹ&#x20AC;er and to find more information about OAYO upcoming concerts, please visit the OAYO website at www.oayo.org.

The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016 | 11

community The ‘only Jew at the dinner table’ feeling EllinE lipkin Kveller via JTA When I was four weeks from my due date with my first child, my husband and I moved into our first home in a small enclave of Los Angeles. Aer renting in an area that was Hipster Central, we were stunned to find ourselves smack in the middle of a quasi-suburb. But then again, aer turning the corner into new parenthood, we generally found ourselves stunned at all times.

Forward a few blurry years to last fall when my thenthree-year-old son just started preschool. My husband and I picked a co-op that emphasized play-based learning, involved parents and a seemingly diverse community.

All was well until the holiday season settled in and I heard the songs that he would be learning during December. Many were what I’d call “American standards” rather than explicitly Christian-themed - Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, much of which struck me as ironic in the 70-plus degree weather. ere was the token Dreidel, Dreidel, but a deep-seated dread began to creep in as I realized this nod to Hanukkah was just the start of a long road in which my young son would learn that when it came to celebrating religious holidays, both in school and within American culture at large, such a small place would be made for him.

My classroom workday fell during the week of the allschool holiday party and his teacher, I suspect a little panicked about the upcoming performance, singled out my boy to shout “Merry Christmas!” at the end of their practice. I lurked in the back and cringed. I had brought latkes that day for the class snack, only to hear his teacher introduce them to the kids as “hash browns.” In the moment, I was too baffled to know what to do.

Years ago, as a literature graduate student, I fell in love

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with Laurie Colwin’s writing. Her descriptions of mood were always disarming and charming in their accuracy. But the phrase that won me over described being seated at a dinner party and having the “only Jew at the dinner table” feeling.

I should have known this day was coming -- that the early corollary for the “only Jew at the dinner table” feeling is being the only Jewish kid in your class. Feeling le out, or included, is simply part of American culture, I rationalized to myself as I listened to the singing. But recognizing what now seemed inevitably difficult for my son was a bad feeling. What would happen next year when more of his preschool classmates could talk about Santa? Another previously unknown dilemma started to take shape when I considered how to handle the “Is Santa real?” question.

I grew up in a suburb of Miami Beach where all the major Jewish holidays so emptied out the public schools I attended, the principal decided that no one needed to fill out an excused absence form on those days. I would see half of my schoolmates, at least, at our local shul. I swear my social life peaked the year I turned 13, as some weekends filled with a trio of events divvied up between Friday night, Saturday morning and Saturday evening bar and bat mitzvah parties. I knew that being Jewish meant being in the minority -- statistically and otherwise -- in the United States, but it didn’t feel that way in the suburb where I lived.

By contrast, my husband grew up overseas as a “Foreign Service brat” where he suffered a sense of double exclusion -oen enough, he was the only American, never mind being the only Jew as he attended a range of private schools. His Jewish identity is a long series of trying to embrace a sense of absence.

In the Reform household where I grew up, we disdained anyone who had a “Hanukkah bush,” and were openly critical of the commercialism of the Christmas season. Neither my husband nor I yearn for the pageantry of Christmas, al-

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though I do think it’s a natural reaction to finding yourself always on the outside looking in. We’re still figuring out how observant we want our household to be, particularly as we come from communities that were so polar opposite in how comfortably we were able to wear our Jewish identities.

But I had never before thought about how my son would have to navigate his own sense of exclusion and inclusion, and how difficult it would be to watch him recognize he will likely be the one le out. e year before, when we lit the Hanukkah candles, our then two-year-old burst into a round of Happy Birthday at seeing the colored candles and matches emerge. I got to see the light reflected back in his tiny, enraptured face as he understood that something beyond a birthday, but equally special, was taking place. And he has definitely caught on about presents.

Since the moment he’s been born, realizing all the ways my child could be hurt has been a painful preoccupation -worse yet is the thought that there’s only so much I can do to prevent any of it happening. How to handle his burgeoning education -- religious and otherwise -- is something my husband and I are still learning. Standing in the back of his classroom and realizing how inevitable it is he will feel the loneliness of being the only Jew in the classroom was suddenly a lot to swallow.

At the moment, it feels like all I can do is counter this with the sense of celebration I hope he’ll also know, and the knowledge that within the array of experiences that growing up Jewish carries, a sense of difference is something also shared.

Elline Lipkin is a research scholar at UCLA’s Center for the Study for Women and also teaches poetry for Writing Workshops Los Angeles. She is the author of a book of poems, e Errant read, and Girls’ Studies, a nonfiction book about girlhood in America. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and young son.

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12 | The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016

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(Founded in 1920) Eric dunning President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor richard busse Creative Director Susan bernard Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor thierry Ndjike Accounting Jewish press board Eric Dunning, President; Andy Ruback, Past-President; Sandy Friedman, Treasurer; Andrew Boehm; Paul Gerber; Alex Grossman; Jill Idelman; Mike Kaufman; David Kotok; Debbie Kricsfeld; Abby Kutler; Pam Monsky; Paul Rabinovitz and Barry Zoob.

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After the storm

ANNEttE vAN dE KAmp-Wright Editor of the Jewish Press his is the last editorial I’m writing before the election, and the first you’re reading after.

What happens in between is still somewhat uncertain; all I can do on this end is hope and pray for the best. The big question is: how do we regain our love, friendship, optimism; how do we return to a place where we remember we have much in common, and stop focusing on what sets us apart? It will take nothing short of a miracle: it feels as if we are playing the fourth quarter and we’re 30 points behind.

Or maybe... maybe this is the time we take the loss and aim for a better season next time around. I am not talking about which candidate is or isn’t elected, because winning and losing are flexible concepts when we don’t all agree. I think what we need to do is take an honest look at how we play the game.

In life (time to abandon the football metaphor) what counts is how we treat each other. Are we playground bullies or are we human beings? What do we see when we look at each other? Our necessary ingredient, empathy, is running low. While in the past we may have been able to forgive, forget, and move on, this time we have a much tougher battle ahead.

Many of the issues that have come up are deeply personal. One example: Mike Pence’s track record of supporting conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth. As a parent of an LGBTQ child, I can’t forgive that very easily, even when I technically believe we all deserve to have our own opinions.

You don’t have to like my child. But don’t you dare defend brainwashing her.

Then there are the countless stories I’ve read from women who finally opened up about sexual assault, about abuse, about abortion, only to have random strangers make fun of them, discredit their pain and punish them with hateful language. It’s hard when we can’t put ourselves in each other’s shoes. When all we have to hang on to is our own preconceived notions of ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’ and anyone who

doesn’t fit in the box gets left behind.

I want to believe in civilized discourse. I think it’s the backbone of a democratic society to agree to disagree, I believe passion can go hand in hand with respect, but it gets harder and harder to square that belief with what I see in the real world. Where did we go so wrong? Does it feel good

but when it’s about things that truly matter: don’t fall silent just because it’s uncomfortable. Stand up for your beliefs, and choose your words wisely -- words, not memes.

We’re living under the myth that this election is about politicians. That is not the case. This election is about us.

We are the fabric of this nation, whether we’re Republicans,

Credit: Schulleiter via wikimedia commons

to get this angry at each other, does it makes us feel righteous? Where on earth do we start repairing our world?

I know where we don’t start: by burying all our disagreements. We can’t move forward by pretending the past year didn’t happen, because we’ve all seen first hand that when things get buried, they don’t simply go away -- they fester.

If it’s important enough to talk about during an election year, it’s important on a regular Tuesday. So if you’re tempted to sanitize your Facebook history and delete your Twitter account now that the election is behind you: don’t. Keep working, keep talking, keep trying your very best to stay civil,

Democrats, Libertarians, none of the above; whether we’re Jews, or Christians, or Muslims, Baha’i or Hindu or atheists, whether we’re gay, straight or bi, transgender or agender or asexual, male or female or neither, no matter the clothes we wear, the color of our skin or what our passport says: we are human beings. We have to make this work, one way or another. So stop using your candidate as a lightning rod, step up and stand tall.

This past year was awful, but we have the power to make things better. So, let’s get busy: there is much work to be done.

At the heart of that declaration, and which justifies the birth of the modern state of Israel, was the acknowledgment that the return of the Jewish people to Israel was based on the thousands of years of the centrality of Israel to the existence of the Jews. Balfour understood that one couldn’t

of the Palestinian state, and the beginning of the refugee problem.

Since then, time and again, Palestinians have, in the words of Abba Eban, “never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” Except for the reality that what was considered an opportunity, to them was not because there never was any legitimacy to Jewish claims to Israel. Therefore, anything called an opportunity which involved the legitimization of this invading entity is a nonstarter.

But what about Oslo and seeming Palestinian recognition of Israel? That was the hope and remains the hope.

But when the president of the Palestinian Authority talks again and again about the Jewish connection to Israel being a fantasy to justify a colonial takeover, then we know that this original obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation remains center stage.

Getting back to the UNESCO votes, that is why an abstention does not do the trick. A clear message must be sent from the international community, particularly from those who claim to be the greatest supporters of the Palestinians, that this must stop.

Continuing Palestinian claims, supported by the international community, that the glorious Jewish history in Israel is a made-up story, are efforts to damage Israel’s reputation and legitimacy. It damages the legitimacy of critical international bodies. But most of all, it is the Palestinians themselves who suffer the most from this lie about history. It is the major obstacle to the kind of acceptance that offers the only hope for peace and for creating two states for two peoples.

Clarity and truth-telling, not equivocation and abstention, are what is needed now more than ever.

Abstention on UNESCO vote is not good enough KEN JACObSON Deputy National Director of the Anti-Defamation League It stands in the way of a two-state solution.

There has been much commentary on the voting patterns of UNESCO member countries on several outrageous resolutions on Jerusalem which explicitly or implicitly deny the Jewish connection to Israel and its capital.

It has been noted that the votes reflect the inherent bias of U.N. bodies against Israel. In the General Assembly, for example, there is an automatic majority against Israel regarding any issue surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

It has also been noted that the second vote of the executive committee was an improvement over the first in that a number of countries, most notably France, shifted their original no votes to abstentions.

These shifts seem to signify that those countries recognize, as Secretary-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova has said, that a resolution that ignores the Jewish connection to Jerusalem is inappropriate and harmful. However, for political reasons, pressure from the Islamic world or other concerns about Israeli policy, they could not bring themselves to vote no. An abstention seems to many to be a safe harbor from the roiling surf of international diplomacy.

An abstention, however, misses the true significance of these initiatives and allows a destructive dynamic to continue to operate which stands in the way of Israeli-Palestinian peace and a necessary two-state solution.

Palestinian denial of the Jewish connection to Israel lies at the heart of the conflict that has raged for a 100 years. It is no accident that as we enter 2017, the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is calling on the British to apologize for that historic pronouncement.

properly talk about Jews and their history without referencing Israel.

This denial by the Palestinians, despite every evidentiary record to the contrary, including archeological discoveries regularly made, explains everything else they have done for decades which has prevented peace and has brought so much suffering to their own people, not to mention to Israelis.

After all, if there was no Temple, no Jewish kingdom, no link to Jerusalem, as the Palestinians claim, then Israel is one more colonial invader, with the only difference that their “colonialism” still survives while the others have passed into the dustbin of history.

It means, therefore, that there is no room for compromise. So when the U.N. partitioned Palestine in 1947, which would have created a Jewish state and a Palestinian state, the dominant Palestinian motif was no colonial Jewish state.

This led to the war against the Jews, the negation

The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016 | 13

Bob Dylan and Philip Roth bring it all back home LaRRy yuDeLsON JTA As a fan who runs the Bob Dylan: Tangled Up in Jews website, I should be ecstatic at the Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to the writer whose words have been the soundtrack to my life since I first sang them at a Jewish summer camp some 40-odd years ago.

However, as an editor of a New Jersey Jewish newspaper located just 23 miles from the Newark neighborhood of Weequahic where Philip Roth grew up and placed so much of his fiction, I should be heartbroken that Roth, also rumored to be a contender for the prize, lost out -- again.

So, to quote the laureate, how does it feel?

Roth, 83, and Dylan, 75, have a great deal in common.

Both are the grandchildren of Jewish immigrants. Their fathers were middle class: Herman Roth was an insurance salesman. Abe Zimmerman had an appliance store in Hibbing, Minnesota.

Each was an early herald of the escape from middle class norms that defined the 1960s.

Young Robert Zimmerman dropped out of college, moved to New York City, sought out folk singer Woodie Guthrie as an inspiration and role model, made up fantastical stories about running away from home as a child, and changed his name to Bob Dylan. He would soon be dubbed “the voice of his generation” for warning “mothers and fathers throughout the land” that “the times they are achangin’.”

Young Philip Roth graduated college, attended graduate school, became a teacher and earned literary respectability with stories in The New Yorker in the late 1950s. But his first short stories told of Jews who refused to either fully assimilate or to behave: Jewish soldiers who lied about Yom Kippur to get an extra pass from the army; a child who refused to except Hebrew school dogma; and, perhaps most presciently, a suburban Long Island householder who becomes a Hasid.

Even before he portrayed an unmarried nice Jewish girl worrying about birth control or a not-so-nice Jewish boy soiling the family dinner, Roth’s willingness to tell the story of his Jewish community in public earned anger and disapproval, perhaps most famously when he appeared on a 1962 panel at Yeshiva College alongside Ralph Ellison. The tone of the evening was summed up in the words of a Yeshiva educator who wrote, in a letter to the Anti-Defamation League, What is being done to silence this man?

For Roth’s and Dylan’s Eastern European forebears, the choice was simple if not always easy: You were either in the community or out. Were you a Jew or did you abandon the faith? The dilemma was not unique to America: Fiddler on the Roof captures the mood of Russian Jews worried about their children’s fate more than a century ago. Would they fall in love with a Christian and convert out? Would they fight for a tradition-annihilating Communist revolution?

In the postwar American Jewish community, these concerns were expressed in the language of sociology. Assimilation or continuity? Exogamy or endogamy? But really the question came down to a phrase of black dialect, set down in a story by a Jewish writer, and popularized in a song the

senior Roths and Zimmermans possibly danced to during World War II: Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby?

Looking at young Philip and young Robert, say, a decade after their bar mitzvahs, it is easy to imagine the dismay of a generation of Jewish mothers and fathers. Their sons and their daughters -- certainly Philip and Robert -- were beyond their command.

What did that bode for the Jewish people?

The answer turned out to be blowing through the words they wrote and the lives they lived. They were not, despite the very Jewish blessing contained in a song Dylan wrote

Left Picture: The time for Philip Roth to win a Nobel Prize may be running out.

Credit: Julian Hibbard/Getty Images; right picture: Bob Dylan, won the prize on Oct. 13, 2016.

Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for his son Jakob, forever young. Instead, they matured and grew, coupled and uncoupled and recoupled, even matured into nostalgic elders, and along the way chronicled and contributed to the mixed-up confusion that is contemporary American Jewish life.

Dylan felt the surrealistic quality of the present while yearning deeply for the past. He tells of devouring Civil War newspapers in the New York Public Library when he was first living on borrowed sofas in Greenwich Village. His most recent 21st-century songs mashed up phrases from 19th-century poets and prewar blues singers into a timeless collage.

This mix of past and present works with a spirituality that is largely absent from the work and life of Roth, a proud atheist. Each man toyed with the question of making his life in Israel. (Dylan started filling out paperwork to move to a kibbutz; Roth imagined a counterlife where he was Israeli.)

But it was Dylan who was photographed at the Western Wall for his son’s bar mitzvah; who became a born-again Christian follower of the evangelist Hal Lindsey; who performed on a Chabad telethon; who showed up on Yom Kippur at Chabad houses across the country, and who was seen occasionally at student performances at his grandchildren’s Jewish day school.

The question of in or out, whether for an individual or a generation, has no easy answer because people are never static. The enfant terrible matures, kicking and screaming, into the elder statesman. It was 50 years ago that Dylan “went electric” and embraced rock ‘n’ roll; who can count

the stages between then and his present status as a gravelly voiced interpreter of Frank Sinatra songs? Roth began as a naughty young Jewish writer, became a champion of Eastern European authors and let his early ambition to be a great American novelist play out as the grand chronicler of lives lived amid historical moments, capturing the eras of his lifetime, including the McCarthy era, the ‘60s counterculture, the presidency of Bill Clinton and, in his 2004 novel of alternate history, The Plot Against America, World War II. That book is a prescient depiction of the temptations and consequences of America First nativism and anti-Semitism and features not only a conspiracy-mongering President Charles Lindbergh but a bullying developer who is described as a “cheapskate,” “screamer,” “shouter” and “a man without a friend in the world.”

For that reason, a Nobel nod to Roth right now might have been seen as more Swedish meddling in American politics, akin to President Obama’s peace prize. Yet Dylan, too, is a rebuke to the Trump moment -- not only for his youthful support for the civil rights movement as a songwriter and performer (he professed to abandoning politics back in 1964, singing that he was “younger than that now” and has, with a handful of exceptions, remained apolitical since), but for showing that singing American and being American is as rooted in the language and songs of the African slaves as it is in the folk immigrants from England and Scotland, and that a grandson of Russian Jewish immigrants can nurture himself and his country by grafting on to these deep roots.

In awarding a literature prize to a songwriter for the first time, the Nobel Committee honored Dylan for the boundaries he broke in the genre of popular song. Surrealism, anger, confusion -- again and again Dylan found words with old echoes for ideas new to the radio and record player.

And it is for this, for using old words in new ways, that I come down on the side of Dylan over Roth. Roth beautifully, masterfully chronicles the life of American Jews. But in recombining old texts for new times, Dylan hearkens back to the most ancient Jewish way of reading and writing, from the first compilers of the Bible, through the rabbis of the Talmud and the Zohar, to the Yiddish and Hebrew writers of the past two centuries.

In that, Dylan puts me in mind of the Jewish writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1966, Shmuel Yosef Agnon. Like Roth, Agnon chronicled the lives of Jews in their times. Like Dylan, Agnon creates something new from old language, using the words and phrases and images from the prayer book and midrash to tell his tales -- with more than a touch of the mythical and surreal thrown in for good measure.

Roth, for all his brilliant sentences and psychological awareness, is a writer of Jews.

In making newspaper headlines sound like ancient wisdom, Dylan is a Jewish writer.

Larry Yudelson is the associate editor of The Jewish Standard.

Visit us at jewishomaha.org

14 | The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016

synagogues b’nai israel synagogue

618 Mynster Street Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 402.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com

beTh el synagogue

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

beTh israel synagogue

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

Chabad house

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

CongregaTion b’nai Jeshurun

South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org

offuTT air forCe base

Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road Offutt AFB, NE 68123 402.294.6244

rose blumkin Jewish home

323 South 132 Street Omaha, NE 68154

Temple israel

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

TifereTh israel

Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 402.423.8569 tiferethisraellincoln.org

b’nai israel synagogue

Join us for our monthly Shabbat Speakers Series on nov.

11, at 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker, Mark Finkelstein, Community Relations Director at the Des Moines Jewish Federation, on Can You Recognize Modern Antisemitism? Oneg to follow service. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel! Our services are led by lay leader Larry Blass.

For information on our historic synagogue, please contact any of our board members: Rick Katelman, Carole Lainof, Marty Ricks, Sissy Silber, Nancy Wolf and Phil Wolf.

beTh el synagogue

Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman. friday: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. followed by congregational Shabbat dinner with NATAL. saTurday: Shabbat Services, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 10 a.m.; Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m.; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 5 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.; NATAL Adult Education Program, 11 a.m. monday: Women’s Book Club, 7 p.m. at the home of Debi Kutler.

Tuesday: Rabbi Abraham’s Ethics & Values: A Jewish Guide to Life’s Most Difficult Questions, noon at Whole Foods. wednesday: BESTT Classes, 4:15 p.m.; USY Program, 5 p.m.; Rabbi Abraham’s Ethics & Values: A Jewish Guide to Life’s Most Difficult Questions, 6:15 p.m.; Hebrew High, 6:45 p.m.; USCJ Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi David Ebstein, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday: Ramah Info Night, 6 p.m. at the home of Jay and Allison Gordman.

Our Shabbat Tables, friday, nov. 18 in congregants’ homes.

Shabbat’s Cool, saturday, nov. 19, 10 a.m.

BESTT Shul-In (Grades 3-7), saturday, nov. 19, 12:15 p.m.

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

beTh israel synagogue

Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Ari Dembitzer. friday: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv & Kabbalat Shabbat, 4:50 p.m.; Candle Lighting, 4:50 p.m.; Shabbos Project Shabbat Dinner, 6 p.m.; The Power of Shabbat by Rabbi Ari, 7:30 p.m. saTurday: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Torah Parade and Kids Classes, 9:45 a.m.; Special Shabbos Project Kiddush, 11:30 a.m. at Chabad; Insights in the Weekly Portion, 3:45 p.m.; Mincha/Seudah Shlishit, 4:30 p.m.; Havdalah, 5:51 p.m.; Shabbos Project Musical Havdalah and Musical Melave Malka, 7 p.m. at Chabad. sunday: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Bagels and Beit Medrash, 9:45 a.m.; Sisterhood Donor Luncheon and Style Show, 11:30 a.m. weekdays: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

Thursday: Women’s Class, 9:30 a.m.; Lunch & Learn, noon at UNMC; Scholars Club, 4:30 p.m. at JCC; Avot UBanim, 7 p.m.

Chabad house

Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. friday: Shacharit, 7 a.m. followed by coffee, treats, study and shmoozing; Shabbos Dinner for the Community, 5 p.m. at JCC. saTurday: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Special Shabbos Project Kiddush, 11:30 a.m.; Shabbos Project Musical Havdalah and Musical Melave Malka, 7 p.m. sunday: Shacharit, 8:30 a.m. followed by Sunday Secrets: Jewish Fun Facts class at 9:15 a.m. weekdays: Shacharit, 7 a.m. followed by coffee, treats, study and shmoozing. monday: Personal Parsha class, 9:30 a.m. with Shani.

Tuesday: Women’s Workshop: The Art of Marriage, noon wednesday: New Tanya Series -- The Anatomy of Your Soul: Who Are You?, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Mendel Katzman.

Thursday: Advanced Talmud Class, noon with Rabbi Mendel Katzman.

All programs are open to the entire community.

CongregaTion b’nai Jeshurun

Services conducted by Rabbi Craig Lewis. friday: Candlelighting, 4:52 p.m.; LJCS Family Shabbat, 6 p.m. followed by dinner. saTurday: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Lech L’cha; Havdalah (72 minutes), 6:22 p.m. sunday: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m. at Tifereth Israel; LJCS Gesher, 10 a.m. at South Street Temple.

Tuesday: Ladies Lunch, noon at Daffodil Mediterranenan Cuisine, 5500 Old Cheney Rd. Please contact Deborah Swearingen with any questions. wednesday: LJCS Hebrew classes, 4 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. adulT eduCaTion Tuesday: Intro to Judaism, Session #3, 6:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Lewis. wednesday: Intro to Prayer Hebrew, Session #5, 6 p.m.

Thursday: Beginning Conversational Hebrew, Session #4, 6:30 p.m.

Global Day of Jewish Learning Community Event, sunday, nov. 20, 10 a.m.- noon at Tifereth Israel.

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 at 402.513.7697. Or if you prefer, email David Weisser at president@southstreettemple.org.

offuTT air forCe base

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

rose blumkin Jewish home

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

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

Temple israel

friday: Shabbat Comes to You at Remington Heights, 4 p.m.; Organ Donor Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. During Shabbat evening services, Jenn Tompkins Kirshenbaum will share her story as she awaits a liver transplant. Amy Zetzman who donated one of her kidneys to her father will also be in attendance and available after services to speak with anyone who would like information on becoming a kidney donor. For more information, please contact Program Director Scott Littky at 402.556.6536. saTurday: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Services, 10:30 a.m. Torah Reader: Jeff Schweid and Haftarah Reader: Miles Remer. sunday: Grades PreK-6, 10 a.m.; Temple Israel Book Club, 10 a.m.; Temple Tots Sunday, 10:30 a.m. Children 4 and under (unless enrolled in PreK) and their families are invited to participate in a morning of stories, songs, crafts, and activities!

Tuesday: Youth Committee Meeting, 6 p.m.; Executive Meeting, 6 p.m.; Board of Trustees Meeting, 7 p.m.

wednesday: Grades 3-6, 4 p.m.; School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Grades 7-12 and Family School, 6:30 p.m.; OSRUI Camp Day. Win a $1000 OSRUI scholarship! Parents may call Temple (402.556.6536) by nov. 15 to register your child(ren) to win this scholarship! Grades 3-6, 5:15 p.m. Dinner, 6 p.m. Grades 7-12 and Family School, 6:30 p.m. Camp Alumni and All School Bonfire and S’mores!, 7:30 p.m.; The Lost Art of Jewish Cooking, 6:30 p.m.; A Taste of Talmud: The Most Important Rarely Studied Text in Reform Synagogues, 6:30 p.m.

Thursday: The Magic of Rituals, 10 a.m. with Rabbi (Sussman) Berezin; Movie Night at Temple Israel: A Borrowed Identity, 7 p.m. Post-screening discussion with Dr. Moshe Gershovich, Director of the Schwalb Center for Israel & Jewish Studies.

Installation of Rabbi Deana Berezin, friday, nov. 18. Services, 6 p.m. followed by an Oneg. (See full story on page 1.)

Jewish Camp Fair: Herzl, JCC Omaha, Sabra and Shwayder, sunday, nov. 20, 10 a.m.-noon. All Classes will visit with Reps from Each Camp. Parents may register their child (ren) to win 1 of 2 $1,000 overnight Jewish Camp scholarships. One scholarship will be for OSRUI and one can be used at any Jewish overnight camp. Drawings will be held on Nov. 16, during OSRUI Day and on Nov. 20, during Jewish Camp Fair (1 drawing at each event). Contact Temple Israel, 402.556.6536, to register no later than nov. 15. Winning students’ parents will be notified at the conclusion of the drawings.

Temple Israel TED Talk, sunday, nov. 20, 11 a.m. Andie Gordman will be discussing “How to raise successful kids – without over-parenting” by Julie Lythcott-Haims.

Annual Thanksgiving Service, sunday, nov. 20, 5 p.m. at St. Margaret Mary Church, 6116 Dodge Street. Rabbi Crystal, Rabbi Berezin, Cantor Shermet and the Kol Rina Choir will represent Temple Israel and participate in the Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service along with First Christian Church, First United Methodist Church, St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, Underwood Hills Presbyterian Church, Hanscom Park United Methodist Church and members of the Muslim community. A reception will follow the service. We need a few volunteers willing to help bake some sweets for the service. Contact Program Director Scott Littky if you can help.

TifereTh israel

Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: monday-friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. friday: Services led by LJCS Students, 6 p.m. at South Street Temple. Note: We will not hold services at Tifereth Israel this evening. saTurday: Shabbat Morning service, 10 a.m. followed by a Kiddush Luncheon. sunday: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m. at Tifereth Israel; LJCS Gesher, 10 a.m. at South Street Temple; Parenting Group, sunday, nov. 13, 11 a.m.-noon on How do we find joy in the mundane facilitated by Nancy Coren.

Tuesday: Ladies Lunch, noon at Daffodil Mediterranenan Cuisine, 5500 Old Cheney Rd. Please contact Deborah Swearingen with any questions. wednesday: LJCS Hebrew classes, 4 p.m. at Tifereth Israel.

World Without Hate Shabbat, friday, nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m.

Global Day of Jewish Learning Community Event, sunday, nov. 20, 10 a.m.- noon at Tifereth Israel.

Omaha Jewish Federation receives four stars

e Jewish Federation of Omaha has attained the coveted 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for demonstrating strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency.

We are proud to announce the Jewish Federation of Omaha has earned the second consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator. is is the highest possible rating and indicates that the organization adheres to sector best practices and executes its mission in a financially efficient way.

Attaining a 4-star rating verifies that the Jewish Federation of Omaha exceeds industry standards

and outperforms most charities in the area of work. Only 23% of the charities evaluated have received at least 2 consecutive 4-star evaluations, indicating that Jewish Federation of Omaha outperforms most other charities in America. is exceptional designation from Charity Navigator sets the Jewish Federation of Omaha apart from its peers and demonstrates to the public its trustworthiness. is favorable review of the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency is now visible on the Charity Navigator website.

The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016 | 15

lifecycles engagement

KeucK/epstein

Gary and Lisa Epstein announce the engagement of their son Alex Epstein to Lindsay Keuck, daughter of Kevin and Susie Keuck.

The bride-to-be graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in the College of Liberal Arts and Science from the University of Iowa. She is the Fashion Buyer for Nouvelle Eve, a women’s clothing boutique that her family owns in the Old Market.

Alex is the grandson of Harold Epstein and the late Etta Epstein, and the late George and Miriam Malacoff of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Lindsay is the granddaughter of Travis and Nancy Cochran, and Katherine Keuck and the late Vernon Keuck of Council Bluffs, IA. Alex earned his Bachelor of Science in Management and Entrepreneurship from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He is the Executive Vice President for World Group Commercial Real Estate in Omaha.

A wedding is planned for Fall 2017.

marriage

levinger/pechart

Allison Levinger and Adam Pechart were married on Saturday, Oct. 22 in Omaha.

The bride is the daughter of Bonnie and Steve Levinger, and the granddaughter of Leta and Chuck Levinger of Yankton, SD, and Sue and Bert Kwasman of Scottsdale, AZ. She works as a Merchandising Analyst for Dick’s Sporting Goods at their corporate headquarters.

The groom is the son of Sue Barcic of Pittsburgh, and Roger Pechart of Greensburg, PA, and the grandson of Sarah and Richard Bryga of Ligonier, PA, and Wilma and Clarence Pechart of Mt. Pleasant, PA. He works as an international tax accountant in the Investor Relations division of American Eagle Outfitters.

The couple resides in Pittsburgh.

in memoriam

ruth jane wolpa

Ruth Jane Wolpa passed away peacefully on Nov. 2, two days after her 95th birthday at Seven Acres in Houston, TX. Services were held Nov. 6 at the Adath Emeth Cemetery in Houston, TX. She was preceded in death by her husband Jack, brothers Al and Harold and son Ron. She is survived by sons and daughters-in-law, Mark and Linda of San Francisco, Jeff and Hedy of Kemah; grandchildren: David and Shelby, Scott and Jackie, Zach of Las Vegas, Gabe of San Francisco, Dayna of Los Angeles, and Elana of San Francisco; great-grandchildren: Adaline of San Francisco, Maddox of Phoenix; sister and brother-in-law, Harriet and Sonny Marko of Omaha; sister-in-law, Sara Masters of Houston; and many nieces and nephews.

She was born in Omaha and was the daughter of the late Libby and Sam Nepomnick. She and her husband Jack lived in Omaha until 1962 when they moved to Houston and raised three sons, Ron, Mark, and Jeff.

She was active in the City of Hope and volunteered for many years at the Jewish Community Center in Houston where she managed the gift shop.She loved playing maj-jongg and enjoyed weekly games with her friends for many years. Ruth was very proud of her family and especially enjoyed holidays and events which would bring the family together. She enjoyed travel, and one of her most memorable trips was her first trip to Israel.

Memorials may be made to the Jewish Family Service in Houston, TX.

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Stanford Lipsey passed away on Nov. 1 at age 89 in his home in Rancho Mirage, CA. Services were held Nov. 6 at Temple Beth Zion in Buffalo, NY. A committal service in Forest Lawn Cemetery was held privately.

He is survived by his wife of 14 years, Judith C. Hojnacki Lipsey, daughter, Janet; son, Daniel; and two grandchildren.

He was born and raised in Omaha, he attended Central High School, and graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in Economics in 1948.

He served in the US Air Force at Strategic Command Headquarters, Offutt Air Force Base as editor of Air Pulse.

Memorials may be made to Roswell Park Cancer Institute or the Erie County SPCA. See the next issue of the jewish press for more about Stanford Lipsey.

Orthodox papers duel over printing Hillary Clinton’s photo

JTA NEWS STAFF Aer one haredi Orthodox newspaper printed a photo of Hillary Clinton, a rival haredi paper accused it of breaking Jewish law.

Hamodia, a Hebrew paper in Israel, in an editorial this week denounced the decision by Mishpacha magazine, according to Yeshiva World News. Mishpacha, which is published in the United States and Israel, made history last week by being perhaps the first haredi paper to print Clinton’s photo. e Democratic presidential nominee’s profile was seen opposite that of Donald Trump, her Republican rival, on the cover. Both candidates appear in negative exposure covered by their campaign’s symbols. e editorial, screenshot by Yeshiva World News, suggested that a “true” haredi newspaper would not publish any photos

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of women, regardless of their position. Hamodia added that the decision not to print Clinton’s photo stemmed from concerns of protecting the modesty of women and has no bearing on whether haredim support her candidacy.

Sruli Besser, a contributing editor for Mishpacha, responded to the editorial in a biting, sarcastic letter to Yeshiva World News, writing that the magazine consulted with rabbis before printing Clinton’s photo.

“I’m so sorry that you don’t find us to be true chareidim,” the letter reads. “I thought hours of conversation and deliberation with real rabbanim [rabbis] would give us some credibility, but I guess not.”

Haredi newspapers generally do not publish photographs of women, claiming that such photos would violate the woman’s modesty.

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16 | The Jewish Press | November 11, 2016

worldnews

Fleeing anti-Semitism in France, an African Jewish family makes aliyah

CNAAN LIphshIz JTA As a Jewish family originally from the Ivory Coast, Amy and George Camara and their four children felt somewhat immune to the rising anti-Semitic thuggery in France. e Camaras, relieved to leave their war-torn African country, settled in the northern French city of Lille in 2012.

Because they fit no one’s Jewish stereotype, they said they were able to live as Jews without fear -- despite, in recent years, the rise in attacks on French Jews from a small segment of Muslim extremists.

But the Camaras soon discovered that belonging to both the African and Jewish minorities also came with its own set of challenges, said Amy, the 53-year-old daughter of an Ivorian father and a French Jewish Holocaust survivor. e difficulties prompted the family to again pack their suitcases and leave France -- for Israel, the only country where this unique Jewish family says it can live comfortably according to their identity.

For the Camaras, whom Amy describes as “proudly Jewish but not too observant,” life in France wasn’t “truly comfortable,” she said.

Precisely because no one from their immediate environment thought they might be Jewish, “people, even friends, would say the most awful lies about Israel and Jews in our presence,” Amy said. “ere was no single incident that made us decide to leave, it’s more of a cumulative effect,” she said.

Last week, the Camaras and their kids -- aged 25, 22 and twins who are 15 -- landed at Ben Gurion Airport aboard a flight organized by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. “e bottom line is that Israel is the only place for us to live as Jews comfortably, safely and freely,” Amy told JTA ahead of her immigration, or aliyah, to Israel.

George and Amy Camara and two of their four children arriving in Israel, Nov. 2, 2016.

Credit: International Fellowship of Christians and Jews at comfort and freedom was paramount, given the remarkable survival story of Amy’s mother, 78-year-old Solange Shuster. Given up for adoption as a toddler by her French Jewish parents who sought to save her life from the Nazis, she was the only member of her immediate family who survived the Holocaust. She met her Ivorian husband in France and moved with him to Abidjan, the Ivory Coast’s largest city and economic engine, aer their marriage in 1967. (Shuster now lives in France.)

Amy Camara recalls a happy and safe childhood in Africa, where she and George, a commercial airline pilot, raised their children as Jews. But life took a turn for the worse in 2002, when the Ivory Coast was plunged into its first civil war. When another armed conflict broke out in 2011, the Camaras decided to leave “because of a combination of factors that meant we could no longer live safely there,” Amy said.

Unfortunately, the Camara family chose the wrong year to move to France. In 2012, the murder of four French Jews in Toulouse by an Islamist gunman ushered in what the president of the Conference of European Rabbis, Pinchas Goldschmidt, has called a “wave of jihadist murders and other attacks” that has had a deep impact on the feeling of safety of many of the 500,000 Jews living in France.

Amid repeated attacks on Jewish targets -- French Islamists have killed 12 Jews in France and Belgium in three major attacks since 2012 -- some 20,000 Jews have le France for Israel, including nearly 8,000 people who came in 2015 alone. at figure, a record, was more than four times the number of French Jews who came in 2011.

Aliyah from France has slowed down this year, with only some 4,000 Jews making the move to Israel in the first 10 months of 2016. Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky attributes the decrease to “some improvement in the security situation” due to the robust response by French authorities to anti-Semitic attacks. e day prior to the Camaras’ arrival, the group brought approximately 300 Jews from Ukraine to Israel, including refugees from the rebel-held east. Eckstein’s organization has brought more than 4,000 people to Israel since it began directly organizing aliyah two years ago.

In Israel, Amy and George plan to settle in Ashkelon, a coastal city with some 6,000 Ethiopian Jews — the country’s seventh-largest population of members of that community.

While Amy has heard claims by some Ethiopian Jews that they face discrimination in Israel because of their skin color, she is optimistic that she won’t encounter any racism in the Jewish state.

“I think a lot of it depends on whether you perceive yourself as a victim,” she said. “I’ve never felt excluded by any Jewish community, Sephardi or Ashkenazi, so I expect we’ll integrate easily in Israel, God willing.”