Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA
Jewish Learning
November 14, 2014 21 Cheshvan 5775 Vol. 95 | No. 9
This Week
It’s Uri Levin at “Eye on Israel” by MARK KIRCHHOFF The Center for Jewish Life This month’s “Eye on Israel” session will feature a very special guest, Omaha’s first Community Shaliach, Uri Levin. On Tuesday, Nov. 18 from noon-1 p.m. in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library, Uri will share his first-hand experiences of life in Israel.
Weitzman a Shoe-in on community building Page 6
Seasoned actors needed to run... Into the Woods Page 7
Yes: Heroes and Fools (and Villains and Saints) Uri Levin by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Program Coordinator, Center for Jewish Life With a diverse range of presentations and workshops, this year’s Global Day of Jewish Learning will include sessions of interest for every-
Jonathan Greenblatt to succeed Abe Foxman as ADL chief Page 12
Inside Point of view Synagogues
This Month Shopping Guide See Front Page stories and more at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on Jewish Press
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one. Based on the Global Day theme of Heroes, Villains, Saints and Fools: The People in the Book, the Sunday, Nov. 16 event will take place from 1:30-5 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center. Following the keynote workshop,
Judaism and the American Songbook, with Doni Zasloff and Eric Lindberg of the Mama Doni Band, there will be different sessions throughout the afternoon. The keynote, which will run from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m., will Continued on page 2
Red Ribbon Week leaves impact on Friedel students by CLAUDIA SHERMAN for Friedel Jewish Academy “Cigarettes and cigars have over 400 chemicals” in them. “It’s really bad on your body, your lungs turn black,” explained ten-year-old Shmuel Aaron Shyken, a fifth grader at Friedel Jewish Academy. During the last week of October, Shmuel and the other students at the school participated in Red Ribbon Week, organized by the National Family Partnership and impacting communities across the country. Denise Bennett, fifth-sixth grade teacher at Friedel, planned Red Ribbon daily themes in order to educate students about the dangers of drug use and to help them make the lifelong choice to be drug free. Each day focused on a particular issue. Monday featured “Being Drug Free is No Sweat,” and the children could wear
Dr. Alan Kricsfeld visited Friedel Jewish Academy during Red Ribbon Week. He showed the students the damage smoking wreaks on the body’s lungs. sweats or athletic clothes or team apparel. Tuesday was “I Mustache You Not to Use Drugs.” Students were given mustaches to wear for the day. “Drugs are Ridiculous!” was Wednesday’s theme, and students were encouraged to wear silly outfits and show off ridiculous hairstyles. By Thursday, Friedel students were wearing Hawaiian or vacation clothes for the “Catch the Wave of a Drug Free Life” theme. Wrapping up on
Friday, the students wore jeans and red shirts or Husker apparel as opposed to the usual white shirts and blue pants and skirts for “I’m a Jeanius; I’m Drug Free” day. In addition to the theme-based attire, Bennett invited Alan Kricsfeld, M.D., to speak to her students about the perils of smoking. He showed the youngsters slides of the effect of cigarettes on a smoker’s body. In addition Continued on page 2
Uri first became known to the Omaha Jewish community in Sept. 2004 when he arrived for his first of two years as community shaliach, with the mission of bringing Israeli experiences and perspectives to the community. Uri has returned on several occasions, both physically and via Skype, to share his perspectives with us. His most recent participation was with the “Eye on Israel” session on Aug. 12, in the midst of Operation Protective Edge. Uri and former Community Shlicha, Naama Keren-Guy, were both called up as reservists during the conflict, and they joined the discussion via Skype to share their experiences. When the conflict subsided, it was evident that many things in Israel had been placed on a lower priority for a period of time. In the October “Eye on Israel” session, Eliad focused on the silent wars of the people who have suffered financially in Israel throughout 2014. Stories were shared about the poverty in the streets; about homeless families; the Holocaust survivors in Israel who struggle for their rights; soldiers who suffer from poverty and about the sorrows various populations experience in Israel. The upcoming session continues the same theme with “The war is off, what is on?” Uri will lead a discussion about liberalism and social justice in Israel. He will bring forth the voice of young Israelis challenging society in their efforts to achieve economic and social self-sufficiency. Among the topics will be a discussion of the challenges in buying a house, in finding an adequate job, and in Continued on page 3
2 | The Jewish Press | November 14, 2014
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Pippa White comes to Lincoln’s South Street Temple by SARAH KELEN of the Temple’s Board of On Tuesday, Nov. 18 at Trustees at the time, will add 7:30 p.m. at Lincoln’s South some of their thoughts and remembrances of the events Street Temple (Congregation covered in the show and will B’nai Jeshurun), Pippa White, answer questions. The South a Lincoln storyteller and proStreet Temple is located at the fessional actress who specialcorner of 20th and South izes in one-woman shows, will Streets in Lincoln. This event tell the story Not by the Sword. is open to the public, and is Based on the 1995 book by part of a year-long celebraKathryn Watterson, Pippa’s story is about Cantor Michael tion of the Temple’s 130th Weisser, who was the spiritual year as a congregation and leader of the South Street 90th year in its historic South Temple, his wife Julie, and Street building. Larry Trapp, a Nazi and Ku Information about the perKlux Klan member who, after former, Pippa White, as well being treated with kindness as images, can be found on Pippa White by the Weissers, renounced her website at http://www. his affiliation with hate groups and eventually converted to pippawhite1co.com/ Judaism and became a member of the Temple. For further information, please contact the South Street Michael Weisser’s son David, and Alan Frank, a member Temple office: 402.435.8004.
A wide array of presentations for the Global Day of Jewish Learning Continued from page 1 explore tunes from the mid-1800’s to current day, making a connection between some of America’s most beloved songs and the Jewish tradition. The afternoon sessions will include the following: Dylan, Cohen and the Akedah: Commentaries on Biblical Characters in Contemporary Music is the workshop that will be presented by Marty Shukert. During the session, attendees will listen to and discuss how Jewish composers and musicians have both used and interpreted biblical figures and sources in their work. Subjects will range from Abraham to Jeremiah and many points in between. Shukert, a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, is the principal planner for RDG and a former Omaha planning director. Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, the Klutznick Chair and Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Studies at Creighton University, will led a session called Heroes and Villains: A Guide to Identifying Who’s Who or Which Is Which. On the basis of early Sunday School education, it’s easy to tell the “good people” from the “bad people” in the Hebrew Bible. However, the rabbinic evaluations are often not so clear, and modern scholarship adds additional layers of ambiguity. Participants will look at some famous -- and infamous -examples. Greenspoon commented that attendees should be ready to change some of their own views based on the discussion. King David: Warrior or Saint? will be the session with Rabbi Ari Dembitzer. King David was the greatest warrior in Jewish tradition. He took many lives and shed much blood, yet, he represents the ability for world peace and unity. Participants will explore this complicated figure whose complexity comes out in different ways. Rabbi Dembitzer is currently serving as Beth Israel’s interim rabbi and has been the synagogue’s High Holiday cantor for the past 12 years. An array of music has been written to inspire, commemorate and describe conflicts and battles throughout the centuries. In Songs of Our Wars, Omaha’s Community
Shaliach, Eliad Eliyahu Ben Shushan, will lead a workshop exploring the songs that tell the stories of the wars of Israel and the Jewish people. Eliad is a talented singer and composer and his first CD Shirat Hael reached the top of the charts in Israel. He weaves his musical talent into many aspects of his shaliach work and appreciates the ways in which music enhances education. Ophir Palmon will challenge his group to discuss and explore and to identify, construct and present the image of a selected person from the book The Hero’s Face in the Abstract. Palmon, photographer and owner of Artistic Visions, uses storytelling imagery that centers on the life phases of people’s lives and also does fine art photography, finding visual abstract in the human form and in the life that surrounds us. Focusing on the villain’s portion of the Global Day theme, Hazzan Michael Krausman will give a presentation entitled The Presence of Satan in our Liturgical Tradition. Satan, for most people, and conjures up an image of a sinister, pointed ear, pitchfork carrying devil. Does this character have a place in Jewish tradition? Is this symbol of ultimate evil found in our prayers or Biblical readings? Participants will take a look at traditional Jewish liturgy to see what, if any, role Satan has and what meaning this may have for us in the 21st century. Hazzan Krausman, a native of Toronto and a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary and the University of York in Toronto, and has been with Beth El Synagogue since 2012. Omaha’s Global Day event is open to the community, free of charge, thanks to the generous funding of the Klutznick Chair of Jewish Civilization at Creighton University and the Sokolof Javitch Music Fund. Refreshments will be available throughout the afternoon. The Global Day of Jewish Learning is presented through the Center for Jewish life whose mission it is to maximize involvement of Omaha’s Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences. Questions about the event may be directed to Mark Kirchhoff at 402.334.6463 or mkirchhoff@jewishomaha.org.
Red Ribbon Week Continued from page 1 to the lungs, Shmuel mentioned, “You’re going to get more wrinkles,” if you smoke, “and your breath will smell, and your teeth will have a little bit of yellowish color.” Dr. Kricsfeld found the students to be “very enthusiastic, and they asked insightful questions” such as, “If cigarettes and drugs are so bad for you, why does the government allow them?” His daughter Rachel, 11, a sixth grader, said the most important thing she learned that week was “probably about how drugs can make you go mentally crazy.” “Dr. Kricsfeld showed us these disgusting pictures of what lungs would look like if you smoked. Mrs. Bennett told us a really sad story of one of her college friends. He had been a
straight A student, but he took drugs and fell off a bridge,” said Leora McNamara, 11, a sixth grader. Mrs. Bennett also gave the students a chart with the current cost per pack of cigarettes in each state. The students were asked to choose a state and then calculate the cost of smoking a pack a day for one week, one month, one year, ten years, 20 years, and 30 years. After comparing and discussing the cost of smoking, “the students realized that smoking is not only unhealthy, it’s expensive!” Mrs. Bennett said. “Red Ribbon Week is a time for us to focus on B’ree-oo-t, health and well-being,” noted Mrs. Bennettt. “This is a reminder of how and why we take care of our bodies and our minds.”
November 14, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 3
Help fight hunger by RACHEL MARTIN BBYO/Teen Director Omaha BBYO is partnering with Jewish Family Service, the Stephen Center, and the Jewish Community Center for this community-wide event. We will be hosting a canned food drive to support Jewish Family Service and The Stephen Center. Before the movie, teens will deliver a brief presentation on world hunger and what others can do to help. Last year, BBYO and its partners raised more than 17,000 pounds of food nationally, during the second Hunger Games film release. Since this is Omaha’s first time participating, let’s all show our support! BBYO OMAHA COUNCIL presents We are requesting that each person attending THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1 the pre-screening bring PRE-SCREENING ON NOV. 20th three canned food items Doors 6 p.m. | Prescreening 7 p.m. to be donated to the AMC Oakview 24 movie theater that night. 3555 S. 140th Plaza, Omaha, NE 68144 *Those who bring 10 or more canned food items A pre-purchased movie ticket and three canned goods are required for entrance into the pre-screening. Donations will be entered into a raffle awarded the night benefit Jewish Family Service and the Stephen Center. of the pre-screening.” Purchase tickets now! www.bbyo.org/hunger/omaha Please share the ticket For more information contact Rachel purchasing link with friends and family, as we encourage EVERYONE to attend this Martin at 402.334.6404 or rmartin@jccom aha.org. fun and unique event!
Friedel helps Jewish Family Service
Principal Ron Giller and several students from Freidel Jewish Academy delivered books to Sandy Nogg and Teresa Drelicharz. They were donated to JFS through the schools Scholastic Book Fair on Oct. 20. The books will be utilized for children in the JFS waiting room, Play Therapy Room and gifts during Hanukkah.
Eye on Israel Continued from page 1 navigating the challenges of modern society. Uri will also share what a previous shaliach’s life now looks like in Israel. Other activities for Uri while visiting Omaha will include a YJO’s “Cocktails and Conversations” session, speaking at B’nai B’rith Breadbreakers on the Nov. 19 and visiting Temple Israel’s religious school. Please plan to come on Tuesday, Nov. 18 from
noon-1 p.m. to say “shalom,” get caught up with Uri and hear more about life today in Israel. “Eye on Israel” and the Community Shaliach program are offered through the Center for Jewish Life whose mission is to maximize involvement of Omaha’s Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences. For additional information, please call 402.334.6463.
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4 | The Jewish Press | November 14, 2014
Is she Jewish? Rabbinate says yes, Israel says no by BEN SALES TEL AVIV (JTA) -- In 2012, Anna Varsanyi was married in an Orthodox Jewish ceremony conducted through Israel’s Chief Rabbinate. Two years later, the Hungarian immigrant has made a life in Israel, settling with her husband in the central city of Modiin and working a desk job in a hospital. She is weeks away from having her first child. But when the baby won’t be Jewish, according to the State of Israel. Varsanyi, 30, is the victim of an unusual bureaucratic mix-up. Israel abounds with immigrants who are considered Jewish by the state but not by the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate under its stricter qualifications. Varsanyi is the rare case in which the opposite is true. Born to a Jewish mother, Varsanyi meets the Chief Rabbinate’s standards for who is a Jew. But Israel claims Varsanyi isn’t Jewish because her mother converted to Christianity. Varsanyi says her mother is Jewish and it was her great-grandmother who converted - in 1930. “It’s like they tell you, ‘Come, make aliyah, you’re Jewish, you’re one of us,’” Varsanyi said, using the Hebrew word for immigration to Israel. “But when you’re already here, they say ‘You’re second-class, you’re not one of us. So you might as well leave.’ “ Born under Hungary’s Communist regime to a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father, Varsanyi grew up barely aware of her Jewish heritage. But a growing interest in her Jewish roots led her to study Yiddish literature and culture at university and to register for a 10day Birthright Israel trip. Next came a year abroad at the University of Haifa, where she met her Israeli future husband. After a stint working for the Jewish Agency for Israel in
Budapest, she immigrated in 2011. Varsanyi gained citizenship under the Law of Return, which requires only one Jewish grandparent for an immigrant for automatic citizenship. Varsanyi’s maternal grandfather was unambiguously Jewish. But when Israel’s Interior Ministry saw a
Anna Varsanyi is considered Jewish by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate but not by the country’s Interior Ministry. Credit: Anna Varsanyi document concerning her great-grandmother’s conversion, they refused to register her as Jewish, claiming she was raised Christian. To be recognized as Jewish, the ministry told Varsanyi, she needed to convert. Except Varsanyi can’t convert because she is already Jewish according to Jewish law, which doesn’t recognize conversions to other religions. The chief rabbinates of both Israel and Hungary consider Varsanyi, her mother, her grandmother and her greatgrandmother to be Jewish. “It’s hard to imagine anybody more committed to the Jewish people than someone
like Anna,” said Rabbi Seth Farber, the founder of Itim, an Israeli organization that guides people with religious status issues through Israeli bureaucracy. “They’re simply not looking at the facts. This woman’s basic rights are being violated, and those of her unborn child are being violated.” At first, the Interior Ministry’s decision had little effect. Varsanyi already had citizenship and was married, the two areas in which issues of personal religious status are most likely to cause problems. But last year she began petitioning the ministry for a change in status, worried that her future children would not have their marriages recognized by the government. “I think it’s ridiculous,” Varsanyi said. “Why would they force me to convert when I’m Jewish? If I didn’t have principles or problems I’d say let them win. But I wouldn’t be able to face myself.” The ministry has rebuffed her requests, claiming that her mother converted from Judaism before she was born. Varsanyi says this is not true, that it was her great-grandmother who converted. The ministry also has refused to rely on the Chief Rabbinate’s recognition of Varsanyi as Jewish, despite a 2012 law allowing it to do so. Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabin Haddad told JTA that the ministry has asked the rabbinical court that declared Varsanyi Jewish for an explanation but has yet to receive a response. After several rejections, Varsanyi has come to feel like the ministry’s employees “don’t give a crap.” She said she once met with a ministry official, who after reading her papers said, “I don’t know what you want because you’re not Jewish.” “It was traumatic -- I almost cried,” she said. “Like, ‘Welcome to Israel: You’re not a Jew.’ “
In the news
Isabella Wright, daughter of Jeremy Wright and Annette van de Kamp, received the Citizenship Award at Millard North Middle School. The award is given to students who show outstanding International Baccalaureate learner’s profile traits, such as critical thinking, communication and open mindedness.
Organizations B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS Uri Levin, the former Israeli Emissary to Omaha returns from Israel to talk about life in Israel following the recent Gaza war (Operation Protective Edge) on Wednesday, Nov. 19, noon, at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. An optional buffet lunch costs $11; beverage service only is $3. For more information or to be placed on the email list call 402.334.6443 or bnaibrith@ jewishomaha.org.
Hanukkah Celebrating Coming December
Publishing Date | 12.05.13 Space Reservation | 11.19.14 Camera Ready Deadline | 11.21.14
Contact our advertising representative to advertise in this very special edition. Jessie Wees | 402.334.6559 | jwees@jewishomaha.org
November 14, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 5
Gila Manolson: A refreshing voice by MARY SUE GROSSMAN Head to Heart: What to Know before Dating and Marriage Beth Israel Publicity Chair and Choosing to Love: Building a Deep Relationship with Gila Manolson has been described of using “beautiful Another Person - and with Yourself. Her newest book, Hands insight” and “refreshing honesty” to address the topics of Off! This May Be Love: God’s Gift for Establishing Enduring physicality, modesty, dating, sexuality and love. This unique Relationships was written for a general, spiritually-oriented style will be foremost when Beth Israel audience, including religious Synagogue hosts Ms. Manolson as its Christians and other people of faith. Scholar-in-Residence the weekend of Beth Israel’s Scholar-in-Residence Nov. 21. Events are being coordinated weekend will include a Family Shabbat by Tippi Denenberg, Debbie Kricsfeld, dinner on Friday night at 6 p.m. Aviva Segal, and Liat Shyken. Candle lighting begins at 4:42 p.m. Born into an assimilated Jewish and dinner will follow Mincha and family and once considering herself Kabbalat Shabbat. Gila’s talk following an atheist, Gila found herself in dinner will be How to Have a Jerusalem where she discovered Relationship with God. Shabbat dinTorah Judaism. She was intrigued, ner is $12 for adults, $6 for children began to study and has never left, livages 4-18 and free for those 3 and ing there today as an Orthodox Jew. under. An alternative family rate of $30 In addition to a family which is also an option. Sponsorships are includes seven children, she has a available at $36, which includes one teaching, speaking and writing dinner; $54 including two dinners; $72 career. Speaking engagements take for up to three dinners; and $90 for up her around the world, engaging peoto four dinners. Call the synagogue Gila Manolson ple of all faiths. While in the U.S., office at 402.556.6288 for reservations. Manolson will also address groups in New Jersey, New York, Manolson will deliver the Shabbat morning sermon, Boca Raton, Cincinnati, Silver Spring and Baltimore. Finding Yourself in the Crowd: Judaism and Individually. In Manolson’s books focus on male-female relationships and the late afternoon, following the 4:25 p.m. Mincha service, her very first book was The Magic Touch: A Jewish Approach a special Women’s Suedah Shlishit will feature a round table to Relationships. A bestseller, the book explores the idea of discussion with Gila and presentations by Beth Israel’s refraining from all physical involvement before marriage. In youth. The weekend will conclude with Girl’s Night Out response to the query of what made her write the book, she beginning at 7 p.m. A special Melava Malka, a unique meal replied she felt that kids were being told the rules without to say farewell to Shabbat, will include Gila’s presentation of being made aware of the practical benefits of those same Who Am I? Self-Definition in Judaism. The Saturday night rules. She was frustrated by this, as the benefits had become program is free of charge but reservations are appreciated. overwhelming clear to her once she became religious, so the Manolon was asked why people would enjoy hearing her idea for the book was born. speak, and her reply was “If you want to hear a down-toA later book, Outside/Inside: A Fresh Approach to Tzniut earth, straight-talking woman with a lot of life experience focused on modesty, which she states is better translated as talk about real things that impact all of us, I believe I have a internality. In light of the phenomenal pressure experienced lot to offer!” today in the areas of appearance and body image, Ms. Beth Israel’s Scholar-in-Residence weekend is open to the Manolson was asked to share her top insight for teen girls on community. The mission of Beth Israel Synagogue is to perhow to avoid that pressure. Her response was given in all petuate the legacy of Torah Judaism in the modern world capital letters - NOT TO PICK UP A WOMEN’S MAGA- and provide a home for those who wish to learn about and ZINE. She cited research that has shown one’s self-esteem observe halacha, Jewish law. Beth Israel Synagogue weland mood will drop precipitously within minutes of leafing comes all persons of the Jewish faith to join, and accepts the through one. She added that in the absence of ridiculous diversity of practice and thought among its members. Beth ideals to which to compare oneself, nearly everyone can find Israel offers a variety of religious, cultural and social proat least some beauty within. grams throughout the year. For more information, please Other publications by Ms. Manolson, all of which are contact Beth Israel Synagogue’s office at 402.556.6288, or eavailable in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library, include mail BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org.
If I could talk to the Animals! by SCOTT LITTKY gious kibbutz, and to make sure that our sheep were treated Temple Israel Program Director properly; they needed to be manually milked on Shabbat. On Sunday, Oct. 26, the students and families of Temple I remember a long time ago loving the movie Dr. Dolittle Israel experienced firststarting Rex Harrison. To this hand our devotion and day, I love hearing the song dedication to animals Talk to the Animals. Judaism with the annual blessing has always valued and of the animals held respected animals, and the before the end of reliTorah and rabbis of old were gious school. Families very clear on how we were to gathered with their dogs, treat animals. In the Torah, cats and guinea pigs to animals were created before first share in a number of people; and in the story of readings from the Parsha Noah, we know that he was of Noah. This was then ordered to save animals. followed by our clergy Further, within the Talmud speaking to the group we learn of the prohibition about the role of animals against unnecessary cruelty in our lives. Then famior suffering of animals - tzaar Letting our pets know how much we love them are Emily Sacks, baalei hayim. There were lies had the opportunity left, and Abby Kohll even codes of conduct dealto individually bless their ing with the proper treatment of animals when they were animals. A special meaningful yearly family ritual has been used for work. Many years ago, I spent a summer on a reli- created for all participants.
Beloved N.Y. Jewish coffee shop to close by JULIE WIENER Another old-school New York Jewish institution is about to fall victim to gentrification. The New York Times reports that Cafe Edison, a modest Theater District coffee shop long favored by Broadway’s cognoscenti, has been asked to leave by the owner of the hotel in which it is located. While not kosher, Cafe Edison serves deli sandwiches and traditional Ashkenazi Jewish fare, like blintzes and matzah ball soup, and was founded by Polish-born Holocaust survivors, Harry and Frances Edelstein.
It’s also the inspiration for the setting in Neil Simon’s play, 45 Seconds From Broadway. Simon reportedly enjoyed frequent meals there with his producer Emanuel Azenberg. Other regular patrons included comedian Jackie Mason, actor Henry Winkler and the late African American playwright August Wilson. Mimi Sheraton, a former Times restaurant critic who has published books about bialies and chicken soup, among other topics, features Cafe Edison in her forthcoming 1,000 Places to Eat Before You Die.
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HELP WANTED
Yachad Program Assistant
We are looking for a Program Assistant at Jewish Family Service to work with our ADULT DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED COMMUNITY MEMBERS. This job is roughly 5-10 hours per week which includes 2 evenings a week (6-9 p.m.) and Sundays.
WHAT IS YACHAD?
Yachad, which means “togetherness”, is made up of individuals with developmental disabilities. The group meets several times a month for a variety of spiritual, social and creative events. Support for members and families extend beyond the social network. Yachad members are eligible for respite services (when grant dollars are available) and assistance with Medicaid/Medicare and social service related issues. The goal of our members, families, staff and volunteers is to engage in activities that will nourish a valued quality of life. We share a destiny and strive to help every Yachad member obtain personal and individualized goals.
Please contact Karen Gustafson, Executive Director of Jewish Family Service, to inquire about the position or submit a resume to the email address below. Phone: (402) 334-6492 Email: kgustafson@jfsomaha.com
Between 2010 and 2030, the population of Nebraskans age 65 and over is expected to grow by 75 percent. Members of the Nebraska Association of Home & Community Health Agencies (NAHCHA) are equipped to deliver skilled, high-quality, costeffective healthcare to our state’s aging citizens in the comfort and safety of their homes. Home health agencies help Nebraskans save a significant amount of money by preventing emergency room stays and re-hospitalization. Home healthcare is the most economical healthcare choice, representing about 10% of institutional costs. NAHCHA member agencies deliver high-quality, skilled healthcare to Nebraskans in the safety and comfort of their homes. Services include: wound care; catheter care; IV therapy; injections; tube feedings; medication set-up; disease management; care for patients with cardiac, cardiopulmonary and orthopedic disorders; personal care; and medical social services.
Our members have the training and ability to provide compassionate patient-centered care that allows you, or your loved ones, to remain independent at home. For more information, or to locate a home health provider in your area, visit: www.nebraskahomecare.org.
6 | The Jewish Press | November 14, 2014
Weitzman a Shoe-in on community building by SHERRIE SAAG Communications, Jewish Federation of Omaha “We are here to save lives,” Jane Weitzman stated, when she spoke with purpose and conviction at the Nov. 4 Lion of Judah luncheon, part of the Federation’s 2015 Annual Campaign season. Weitzman, a noted philanthropist and author of Art & Sole, is the wife of celebrated shoe designer Stuart Weitzman, best known for his signature purple shoeboxes. She was executive vice-president of the company and in the 90’s became internationally recognized for showcasing one-ofa-kind fantasy shoes from artists all over the world in its NYC Madison Avenue store. She also has served on the boards of the Greenwich, Connecticut, United Jewish Appeal, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the Jewish Book Council and volunteers and fundraises tirelessly for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. In this capacity, she has traveled to China, Russia, Hungary, India and Egypt advocating on behalf of struggling Jewish communities in these countries. “Our job is to help Jews wherever they are,” Weitzman said. She currently sponsors three schools in
from the United States. “These women (most were widowed) had nothing, most were unable to even leave their apartments, for a variety of physical or mental disabilities. Yet, they displayed their Jewish possessions proudly for us and their families and re-told what little they knew about them.” “I remember feeling, very deeply, one woman’s loneliness. And we decided to go out and buy her a television, which you could buy for about $150.00; well, that television became so much more than we thought. It was there for her family, her friends, and suddenly, her apartment was the gathering spot and social center for her Jewish neighborhood.” Weitzman said the experience left a lasting impression. She realized anyone could be a philanthropist. “You can do a lot for a little bit of money. It’s all about one Jew helping another Jew. ” She added, “If we save one person, we
“If we save one person, we aren’t saving the whole world, but we’re saving that person’s whole world.”
Clockwise from the top left: Jane Weitzman; Anne Shackman, left, Bobbi Leibowitz and Jan Schneiderman; Alan Potash; Suzy Sheldon, left, Jane Weitzman and Patty Nogg; Jan Schneiderman; and Terri Schrager, left, and Sandra Belgrade. Israel with a mostly immigrant population, supplying everything from computers and smart boards, to school supplies. “If you get kids young enough, it doesn’t matter what their nationality or socio-economic background is they can learn, become educated and be model Jewish citizens,” she said. Weitzman recalled her first trip to St. Petersburg, shortly after the fall of communism, as a game changer. The group visited with elderly Jews, most of whom had never met a Jew from another country, much less
aren’t saving the whole world, but we’re saving that person’s whole world.” According to Lion of Judah Chair Jan Schneiderman, Omaha is home to one of the largest groups of Lions per capita of any Federation community. “We represented 24 percent of the Annual Campaign gifts to the Jewish Federation of Omaha last year, and I have every expectation we’ll surpass that this year.” Federation Interim CEO Alan Potash Continued on page 7
November 14, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 7
A Jewish perspective on Thanksgiving by MARGIE GUTNIK College) and Jerusalem (Hebrew University, Beth El Program Director Schechter Rabbinical Seminary), he was a Beth El welcomes Rabbi Peretz Rodman, member of the inaugural cohort of Jerusalem United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Fellows. Scholar-in-Residence, Sunday, Nov. 23, at 7 Rabbi Rodman serves as the head of the rabp.m. when his topic will be Thanksgiving: A binical court (av bet din) of the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel and the Masorti Movement. Jewish Perspective. He is also a contributing writer to Peretz Rodman is a Jerusalem based rabbi MyJewishLearning.com (where he was a foundand Jewish educator, writer, and translator ing editor), Sh’ma, Conservative Judaism, with a wide array of professional experiJBooks.com, and numerous anthologies and ence, several decades of teaching Torah, and helping to build Jewish communities in other publications. Rabbi Peretz Rodman many places around the world. Educated in There is no cost to attend this program and it Jewish studies in Boston (Brandeis University, Hebrew is open to the community.
JAFI visits Omaha by BETH COHEN Executive Director, The Center for Jewish Life Representatives from the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) were in Omaha in early November. They met with members of the Federation’s Israel & Overseas Committee and the Campaign staff, and made a presentation to a group including staff and board members from the Jewish Senior Services, L.O.V.E. (League Offering Volunteers to the Elderly), the Jewish Press and the Institute for Holocaust Education. The presentation focused on JAFI’s Amigour program which provides sheltered housing to Israel’s elderly population. They serve almost 8,000 residents in 57 apartment buildings. Eighty-Five percent of the residents are Holocaust survivors or immigrants from the Former Soviet Union. Pictured are Lisabeth Lobenthal, JAFI’s North
American Director of Community Relations, left; Erez Shani, JAFI’s Director of Amigour; and Mike Silverman, Executive Director of Jewish Social Services.
Weitzman a Shoe-in
Eve Simon, left, Eunice Denenberg
Kimberly Robinson, left, and Sandy Lehr
Continued from page 6 shared more locally pressing needs with the group. Requests for support have increased. “We increased our support of synagogue religious schools this year; we have more requests for funeral assistance and supplies for the JFS food pantry. Similarly, we are making more dollars available for scholarships at the JCC for both memberships and CDC enrollment. We are sending more kids and teens to summer camp, to Israel, and to leadership training institutes and youth
group conventions.” “We are the lifeline for everyone in our community to live Jewishly, and in so doing, we support our mission to care for Jews here at home and around the world,” Potash said. Weitzman concluded her presentation by saying, “The chain of one Jew helping another Jew is changing. The generational message must continue to be sent to our children. It is incumbent upon us to make sure young people learn how to give.”
Seasoned actors needed to run... Into the Woods! by GABBY BLAIR In a departure from traditional JCC theater casting calls, The JCC Musical Theater Community Acting Group is looking for 21 experienced, mature actors for the upcoming production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods. This epic, m a g i c a l adventure is sure to delight the crowd, combining well loved fairytales and bringing your f avor it e B r o t h e r ’s Grimm characters such as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack and his infamous bean stock, to life. To make the magic happen, our dedicated production team will be casting one boy, one girl, four men, seven women, and eight seasoned actors for universal roles. Auditions for this whimsical musical will be held Sunday, Nov. 23 at 12:30 p.m. at the JCC Theater. All actors are required to prepare and perform 16-32 measures of a song of their choice, and must bring a legible copy of music for the accompanist, although they may sing a cappella. Those interested in auditioning must submit a resume and an audition form to the JCC Dance and Cultural Arts Department by Monday, Nov. 17. Audition forms can be found online at: www.jewishomaha.org under musical theater. There is NO COST to take part in this production. Rehearsal scheduling will be determined after casting. Cast members will work with the music director one-onone at a mutually convenient time, as well as on their own during the month of December. Full cast will meet for the final rehearsals on all of the Wednesdays in January and the first two Wednesdays in February, approximately 6-8 p.m. The performances will be held Sunday, Feb. 22 at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. This program was made possible by a generous grant from the Sokolof Javitch Music Fund of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. Questions should be directed to Esther Katz, JCC Dance and Cultural Arts Director at 402.334.6406 or ekatz@jccomaha.org.
8 | The Jewish Press | November 14, 2014
Point of view
American Jewish Press Association Award Winner
Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008
Happy little things ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor The days are getting shorter and the weather colder; the terror attacks in Jerusalem are becoming more frequent while ISIS is recruiting like crazy, not everyone was pleased with the recent election results and there’s Christmas music playing in the stores. Plenty of reasons to kvetch, especially if you turn on the news. Maybe it’s time to remind ourselves there are still positive things happening in the world. The Schlolskirche, located in the German parish of Cotsburg, has reopened as a synagogue. It will be formally dedicated on Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27; it is the first synagogue in the state of Brandenburg since the last one was destroyed during Kristallnacht in 1938. In 1998, the Jewish community of Cottbus was finally formally reestablished, today, it counts 350 members. Two ancient synagogues that Soviet authorities confiscated were rededicated as Jewish houses of worship. One rededication occurred this week in Voronezh, in southern Russia, at a 110-year-old synagogue that was nationalized and turned into a textile factory. Another rededication took place in the Black Sea city of Krasnodar at a ceremony led by Rabbi Berel Lazar, a chief rabbi of Russia, and Rabbi Avraam Ilyaguyev, who is in charge of religious services for Mountain Jews at the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia. Christian volunteers in Vienna spent Nov. 2nd known as All Souls Day, cleaning up Waehringer Cemetery. The cemetery is one of Vienna’s largest ancient burial sites. The Jewish community, once 200,000 strong, now has only 7,500 members and cannot carry the cost of tending to the large number of older graves. Marco Screuder began recruiting volunteers for the cleanup ten years ago when he was a city counselor for the Green Party. A film festival in Vietnam is marking more than 20 years
of diplomatic relations with Israel. The five-day festival organized by Israel’s embassy opened Saturday at the National Cinema Centre in Hanoi and was moving on Nov. 6 to the BHD Star Cineplex ICON68 in Ho Chi Minh City, the embassy announced on its Facebook page last week. Tel Aviv University Professor Dan Peer was awarded the inaugural prize for his groundreaking work in cancer treatment. Peer was one of three Israeli inventors selected for the
Untold News award. Untold News is an American non-profit and dedicated to educating Americans on the positive news generated from Israel. A Canadian art museum said it will return a Nazi-looted painting to the heirs of its German Jewish owners. The Art Gallery of Hamilton in Ontario announced it will return “Portrait of a Lady,” a 17th-century painting by the Dutch artist Johannes Verspronck, CBC Hamilton reported.
The Nazis stole the painting in 1940 from Alma Salomonsohn. In 1987, the Hamilton museum, unaware of the painting’s original ownership, bought it for $58,000. The museum’s decision comes after 10 years of negotiations to prove the authenticity of the Salomonsohn family’s claim. Sarah Solmssen, Salomonsohn’s great-great-granddaughter, told CBC Hamilton that her great-great-grandmother, who died in 1961, had unsuccessfully searched for the painting after World War II. Voters in New York state passed a schools bond act that may provide up to $38 million in reimbursements to Jewish day schools and yeshivas. The Smart Schools Bond Act of 2014, one of three referendums on the state ballot Tuesday, authorizes the state comptroller to issue and sell up to $2 billion in bonds to finance educational technology equipment and facilities, the construction and renovation of pre-K facilities, and the installation of high-tech security features in school buildings. One of the preeminent rabbinic courts of North America is set to add its first female board member. The Beth Din of America invited Dr. Michelle Friedman, the founder and chair of the Department of Pastoral Counseling at New York’s Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT), to join its board. Founded in 1960 by the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), the Beth Din of America adjudicates commercial, communal and matrimonial conflicts in accordance with Jewish law. In 1994, it became an independent organization, with a separate board of directors. None of these stories will change the world or cure it. And yet, if we don’t pay attention to all the small stories, the stuff that’s not earth shattering, the little victories of the human spirit, we lose out. It’s okay to be aware of the bad stuff; in fact, we have a responsibility to do so. But every now and then, we need to find some balance.
G.A. offers collaboration at its best
Focus on issues JERRY SILVERMAN and MICHAEL SIEGAL (JTA) -- Reinventing. Rethinking. Rebranding. Innovating. They’re all buzzwords we hear today whether talking about education, health care, product marketing or Jewish communal work. We’re living in a time in which endless access to information and 24-hour communication is challenging us to question just about everything. As a result, we have seen new models of business, philanthropy and outreach in every corner of the globe. Airbnb, Zipcar and Kickstarter are examples of businesses that have successfully harnessed the tools of this new era to fill a need. For some, the opportunities are tremendous. In the Jewish community, we have also witnessed a new age of innovation. Birthright, Moishe House and PJ Library are just a few organizations that have emerged to fill our communal needs. And at this year’s annual General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, we are going to take a good look at how we can continue to maximize our potential. We will know we have been successful when attendees leave with just as many new questions as answers and are inspired to continue the conversation long after the conference concludes. The theme of the G.A. is “The World is Our Backyard.” The program amplifies this message through a combination of thinking sessions and inspirational moments, high-level speakers and new opportunities for federations to share
(Founded in 1920) Andrew Ruback President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Jessie Wees Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Thierry Ndjike Bookkeeper
Jewish Press Board Eric Dunning, President-Elect; Sarah Edelstein, Scott Farkas, Sandy Friedman, Paul Gerber, Sarah Grossman-Lopez, Debbie Kricsfeld, David Kotok, Noah Priluck, Paul Rabinovitz, and Nancy Wolf. The mission of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish Community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world. Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations Committee, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish LIfe, Jewish Social Services, and the Jewish Press. Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www jewishoma
their best programs and strategies, and discuss their scalability. In Florida, for example, the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando recognized how tough it is for adults with disabilities to find jobs. So the federation started a program called RAISE (Recognizing Abilities and Inclusion of Special Employees) that not only matches adults with special needs to part-time jobs, but also gives those employees professional support and job training, helping them to become valued and productive members of the community. In San Francisco, the Jewish Community Federation was struggling to figure how to engage young people in philanthropy. The result was to schedule events around different themes that federation supports, whether Jewish camping or LGBT programming, with each attendee asked to make voluntary contributions. In Vancouver, British Columbia, Jewish leaders saw the difficulty in getting social services to suburban areas and came up with JHub Richmond, which provides office space, meeting rooms and administrative support for social workers, counselors and peer support staff from various agencies to meet clients, family members and caregivers. These kinds of programs are in our Jewish community backyards throughout North America. In fact, when Jewish Federations of North America solicited 153 North American federations for ideas to feature at this year’s G.A., to be held Sunday, Nov. 9 to Tuesday, Nov. 11 in National Harbor, Md., we received 250 submissions, selecting 50 to showcase. By featuring these 50, we’ll be giving representatives from across North America the opportunity to gather ideas, share stories and question their colleagues on what worked for them, what didn’t and what they learned along the way.
It’s collaboration at its best. And that’s what the General Assembly is all about: Federations are able to amplify the successes of their own communities to others, and think about the ways we can have a greater impact on the issues and concerns we share. That’s the value of collaboration. And the collaboration extends to the global Jewish community, whether it’s aiding Israelis under rocket fire, helping to fund Jewish summer camps and other identity programs in the former Soviet Union, or assisting elderly afraid to leave their homes in Ukraine. As at all G.A.s, this year we’ll hear from top U.S. figures -including Vice President Joe Biden and Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan -- internationally renowned journalists, and game-changing innovators in philanthropy, education and Jewish life. We’ll also hear compelling stories from some of the millions overseas whose lives we’ve touched this year, including Jews from Europe who are fighting the rising tide of antiSemitism and Israelis from the resilient South. We will hear from Israel’s U.S. ambassador, Ron Dermer, the top editors of Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post, and students defending Israel on college campuses. But most of all we’ll hear from each other, gathering as one big family in our “Backyard” -- where the physical space has been transformed to foster and support conversations and schmoozing. The G.A. Backyard transforms the traditional exhibit hall into a themed, welcoming area. Registration, exhibit booths, conversation areas, game areas, food areas and stadium-seating conversation pits will create the kind of casual meeting Continued on page 9
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November 14, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 9
Rabbis bearing witness in Ferguson
Focus on issues MICHAEL ADAM LATZ MINNEAPOLIS (JTA) -- Recently, national faith leaders called rabbis, pastors, priests and imams to Ferguson, Mo., a city rife with racial violence and pain. Along with my rabbinic colleagues from Truah: The Rabbinic Call for Justice, I responded to the call to the people of Ferguson that their struggle for justice is a timeless spiritual struggle. I went with the intention of teaching protesters and police alike a new path for justice, a promise of racial healing. I realized I had the wrong idea: This wasn’t about clergy teaching anyone anything but about our bearing witness to a movement. After 18-year-old Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a police officer, the youth of Ferguson are demanding that he, and they, not be forgotten. We rabbis went to Ferguson to hold ourselves accountable. We participated in an interfaith prayer service calling upon community leaders to advocate for racial justice; we stood before the Ferguson police station demanding that they, and we, atone for standing idly by when Michael Brown and so many other young people of color are harassed, jailed and killed. We left the sukkot in our home communities, eschewing comfortable meals and the joy of the festival, and went to Ferguson to build a different sort of sukkah: a sukkat shalom, a “shelter of peace.”
Here is what we learned: Our children are angry. They are angry that young men of color like Michael Brown are being shot on our streets. They are angry that police caused Brown further indignity by leaving his body in the street for four hours and 32 minutes, forcing parents to hide their children’s eyes. They are incensed that even in death, the police did not show his corpse that modicum of dignity. Our children are committed. For 65 days, these young leaders have shown exquisite leadership, organizing nightly protests, confronting police, demanding answers, crying out for justice. Our children are hopeful. They believe that with the power of their voices, the gathering of their feet and the sacred work of their hands, they can bring about justice and dignity for all people in this nation. Our children are righteous. As we stood in front of the police station at Ferguson, one young African-American woman stood face to face with a police officer in riot gear, a sign in her arms held high: “Black Lives Matter!” She testified to him, staring deeply into his eyes: “What you all did to Michael Brown makes me want to hate you. But I won’t have hatred in my heart. I will only have love. And I know you all want to repent for what you’ve done, for creating a system that lets my sisters and brothers of color die. I won’t hate you. I want to hug you.” And she did. With fierce tears, she treated that officer like a human being. And she asked -- she
demanded -- that her humanity be seen. Our children are capable. I thought they needed the rabbis and ministers and imams and priests who came to Ferguson to “show them the way” to make justice happen. But they don’t need us to do it for them. They need us to amplify their holy work, to bear witness to their righteous anger and their anguish and their longing to be treated with compassion and with dignity and affection. Our children are impatient. After all, they are children. They should be dreaming of a world unfolding in front of them. They should be impatient with how they’ve been treated. What does it say about us when we ask them to be patient? And finally, our children are here. Did we need to show up and stand for four hours and 32 minutes in the pouring rain to face off with police officers in riot gear? We did. We did so to show that this movement is for repentance: for the police who fail to serve and to protect; for all of us who have allowed this to happen; for each one of us who needs to commit to the hard work of dialogue and social change. What the mainstream media show are neighborhoods in chaos. What we saw were young people full of passion, skill and moral courage demanding that America live up to its national promise: that we are all created equal, that dignity is not for some of us but for all of us. Rabbi Michael Adam Latz is the senior rabbi at Shir Tikvah Congregation in Minneapolis.
Beneath the ‘chickenshit,’ political and diplomatic uncertainty fuel U.S.-Israel divide
Behind the headlines RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) – What lies beneath “chickenshit?” The coarseness of the epithet for cowardice used by an anonymous Obama administration official to describe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has seized the attention of Jerusalem and Washington. The snipe, reported by The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, is seen by analysts as emblematic of deteriorating Obama-Netanyahu relations at a time of great political and diplomatic uncertainty. Top officials in the Israeli and U.S. governments are bracing themselves for possible radical changes within the next months in how the world relates to Iran and how the Palestinians pursue their quest for independence, as well as for increased turbulence in Jerusalem and the prospect of political change in Washington. “The rhetoric from both sides, and this has been going on for some months, is a reflection of frustration, of ‘the other side doesn’t understand us the way we want to be understood, the other side is not sensitive enough to our interests,’” said Tamara Coffman Wittes, the director of the Brookings Institution Center for Middle East Policy. Coffman Wittes helped shape Middle East policy at the State Department in President Obama’s first term. The latest scuffle comes as U.S. officials are expressing greater optimism about the likelihood of a nuclear deal with Iran and Israelis fret that the parameters of the deal could leave Iran on the verge of becoming a nuclear power. “The bottom line is that Benjamin Netanyahu sees the potential for even a modified, defanged nuclear program as an existential threat to Israel,” said Jonathan Schanzer, the vice president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank that consults closely with Congress on Iran policy. “President Obama views a deal with Iran as perhaps one of the only remaining opportunities for a foreign policy legacy.” Schanzer added, “To analyze this flap without understanding the centrality of Iran ignores the majority of what is fueling this conflict.” As negotiations appear to be entering their final stages ahead of a Nov. 24 deadline, it remains to be seen how much each side will give and take, and the factor of the unknown is fueling Israeli anxieties. The U.S. national security advisor, Susan Rice, last week pledged to continue “unprecedented coordination” with Israel on Iran policy after meeting with her Israeli counterpart, Yossi Cohen. Another unknown inciting angst on both sides are Tuesday’s midterm elections. A Republican-led Senate, by some estimations, could yield a Congress more sympathetic to Netanyahu’s appeals to obstruct what he believes would be a bad Iran agreement. Pollsters are predicting a GOP victory in both houses of Congress, although a number of races may go to runoffs and it may take weeks to determine which party controls the next Senate. Once there is resolution in both arenas -- Congress and the Iran talks -- the clarity could serve to somewhat calm
U.S.-Israel tensions, said Aaron David Miller, the vice president of the Wilson Center, a foreign affairs think tank. “The time to deal with this is after the midterm elections, after we see where Iran-nuclear is going,” said Miller, for decades a U.S. Middle East peace negotiator. “We’ll have a better idea of what the factors are.” Complicating matters is lack of clarity over factors that so far have been beyond the control of the United States or
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and President Obama meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, March 3, 2014. Credit: Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images Israel, among them increased tensions in Jerusalem between Jews and Arabs. The strains came to a head last week with the assassination attempt on a leader of the movement to establish a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount and the killing of his purported attacker during a raid by Israeli forces. “You could end up with a major crisis in Jerusalem,” Miller said.
In recent weeks, Obama administration officials have intensified their calls on Netanyahu to roll back planned building in the eastern part of the city, citing the potential for an outbreak of violence. Recently, however, a Jerusalem planning committee approved the construction of hundreds of apartments in a Jewish neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem. Another factor contributing to the uncertainty is the Palestinians’ revival of their bid to achieve statehood recognition through the United Nations Security Council. The American obstruction of a similar attempt in 2012 may not be replicated this time around, Goldberg said in his article. Two years ago, Americans kept the proposal from acquiring the nine out of 15 votes needed for consideration by heralding the revival of the peace process. But the process is now in tatters following the collapse in April of talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and the war in Gaza over the summer. Additionally, said Matt Duss, who directs the Foundation for Middle East Peace, a think tank that has been critical of Netanyahu’s policies, the Obama administration may no longer have the appetite for such an intervention. “The security relationship will continue, but the United States will not be willing to spend as much diplomatic energy defending Israel from the consequences of its bad decisions, particularly regarding settlements,” he said. Israel fears statehood recognition not simply because it robs it of leverage in peace talks, but also because it would grant the Palestinians status to seek war crimes charges against Israeli officials in the international court system. There’s no formal statehood recognition bid yet, but a Jordanian resolution condemning Israel’s settlement policies is now circulating. In 2011, the U.S. vetoed a similar resolution. But, Duss said, “The United States is much less likely to veto it this time around.”
Shmuel Azimov dies by JTA NEWS STAFF PARIS (JTA) -- Rabbi Shmuel Azimov, one of the leaders of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement in France, has died. Azimov, a native of the former Soviet Union, died in France on Nov. 5 from an illness that required hospitalization. He was 69. His body was brought to Israel for burial on the same day. “Despite his eminence, this was a man who spoke to his juniors, to everyone, as equals,” said Rabbi Avraham Weill of Toulouse. “And though he never sought the limelight, he was the driving force behind the educational revolution of the Chabad movement in France. He wasn’t just a spiritual father to thousands of Jews but an actual second father to many of them.” Chabad-Lubavitch has 115 centers in 95 cities in France, which the movement’s official website, chabad.org, called “the direct result of his work.” The centers are staffed by more than 450 emissaries. Azimov studied in the Central Chabad Yeshivah in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he became deeply connected to the
Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher rebbe. In 1968, Schneerson sent Azimov and his late wife, Bassie, to Paris to serve as his emissaries there. The couple’s three children are Chabad emissaries in the French capital.
G.A. offers collaboration Continued from page 8 space where participants can, well, hang out and network. It’s an opportunity to learn from our successes and failures, exchanging ideas and offering guidance; to embrace a new age and a new way of thinking. And of course, being together will fuel our “neshamot,” our souls, allowing us to return to our communities renewed and inspired. Gerrald (Jerry) Silverman is president and CEO and Michael Siegal is chair of the board of trustees, respectively, of the Jewish Federations of North America.
10 | The Jewish Press | November 14, 2014
Synagogues B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
CHABAD HOUSE
618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 |712.322.4705 email: BnaiIsraelCouncilBluffs@gmail.com Join us for our monthly Shabbat Speakers Series on Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker, Phil Wolf on Jews in Spain. For information on our historic synagogue, please contact any of our board members: Mark Eveloff, Rick Katelman, Carole Lainof, Marty Ricks, Sissy Silber, Nancy Wolf and Phil Wolf.
An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street | Omaha, NE 68144-1646 | 402.330.1800 www.OChabad.com | email: chabad@aol.com Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 8:30 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m. TUESDAY: Dynamic Discovery with Shani Katzman, 10:15 a.m. A class for women based on traditional texts with practical insights and application. RSVP by calling the office. WEDNESDAY: Personal Parsha class, 9:30 a.m. with Rochi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office; The Development of the Oral Tradition, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Katzman. RSVP by calling the office. In memory of Forrest Krutter -- Efrayim Menachem Ben Avraham Yitzchak. THURSDAY: Women’s Study at UNMC with Shani Katzman, noon. RSVP by emailing Marlene Cohen at mzcohen@unmc.edu. All programs are open to the entire community.
BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California | Omaha, NE 68154-1980 | 402.492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m.; Our Shabbat Tables Dinner in congregants’ homes. SATURDAY: Shabbat Services, 9:30 a.m. Bar Mitzvah of Ari Saltzman, son of Linda and Kevin Saltzman; 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 Group, 10 a.m.; Strange Customs of the Modern Day Jew, 10 a.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 11 a.m.; Sunday Scholar Series, 11 a.m., with Bea Karp on The Moroccan Jews; Habonim (K2nd grade and parents) Lunch and Swimming at the JCC, 12:15 p.m.; USY/Kadima Spiel Bound Board Game Cafe, 12:30 p.m.; Global Day of Learning, led by Hazzan Krausman, 1 p.m. WEDNESDAY: BESTT Classes, 4:15 p.m.; Hebrew High School, 6:45 p.m. THURSDAY: Drinks & Dames goes to the movies, 7 p.m. at Oakview 24. (Doors open at 6 p.m.) Shabbat’s Cool and BESTT Shul-in, Saturday, Nov. 22, 10 a.m. followed by lunch. Sunday Scholar Series, Sunday, Nov. 23, 7 p.m. with Rabbi Peretz Rodman on Thanksgiving: A Jewish Perspective. All classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street | Omaha, NE. 68154 | 402.556.6288 www.orthodoxomaha.org Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. FRIDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat, 4:47 p.m. SATURDAY-Kids Rule the Shul: Talmud Brachot, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Seudah Shlishit, 4:30 p.m.; Havdalah, 5:49 p.m. SUNDAY: Talmud Brachot, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Bagels and Beit Medrash: Understanding Our Prayers, 9:45 a.m.; A Deeper Look at Talmud, 10:30 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m. MONDAY: Current Events with Jack Kozlen and Rabbi Ari, 7:45 a.m.; Scholar’s Club with Boys, 3:30 p.m. TUESDAY: Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 8 p.m. THURSDAY: Women’s Class: Deepening our connection with God, 9:30 a.m.; Med Center Chaburah, 1 p.m.; Scholar’s Club for girls, 3:30 p.m. Scholar-in-Residence, Gila Manolson, Nov. 21-22. (see full story on page 5.)
CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN South Street Temple | Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street | Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 | 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org Services conducted by Rabbi Craig Lewis. FRIDAY: LJCS Shabbat Family Service and Dinner, 6 p.m. at South Street Temple. Please join with the teachers and children of the Lincoln Jewish Community School as we usher in the Sabbath and celebrate the consecration of this year’s LJCS students. The meal following the service will be prepared by the Hallah High students. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Chaye Sarah; Game Night/Potluck, 6 p.m. All ages welcome! SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Global Day of Jewish Learning, 10:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; SST Annual Festive Summit and Meeting, 2-3:30 p.m. Please bring a dessert to share; Cantillation Class, 6 p.m. TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at Lazlo’s, 5900 Old Cheney Road; The Anniversary Planning Committee event: Pippa White will present Not by the Sword at 7:30 p.m. (see full story on page 2.) WEDNESDAY: Hebrew classes, 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. Global Day of Jewish Learning, Sunday, Nov. 16, 10:30 a.m.–noon at Tifereth Israel. ADULT EDUCATION TUESDAY: Intro to Judaism, 6:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Lewis. (The class will join Pippa White program at 7:30 p.m.) THURSDAY: Beginning Hebrew, 6 p.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 7 p.m.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road | Offutt AFB, NE 68123 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month.
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to the Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m.
B’nai Mitzvah Spencer Schneiderman, son of Heidi and Scott Schneiderman, will become a B’nai Mitzvah on Saturday, Nov. 22, at Temple Israel. Spencer is a seventh-grade student at Westside Middle School and he has received the Presidential Academic Award. His interests include football, select basketball and select baseball. Spencer is a member of Student Advisory Board and Circle of Friends at WMS. For his mitzvah project, Spencer attended and helped facilate packing of food that is sent to children around the world through Kids Against Hunger. He has a sister, Brooke and a brother, Tyler. Grandparents are Deenie and Larry Meyerson, and Jan and Les Schneiderman. Great-grandmother is Sonia Forbes.
Charles Thomas “Tommy” Sullivan, son of Louri Sullivan and Charlie Sullivan, will become a B’nai Mitzvah on Saturday, Nov. 22, at Temple Israel. Tommy is a seventh-grade student at Westside Middle School. His interests include football, basketball and hanging out with friends. For his mitzvah project, Tommy worked with a family friend with special needs. He was able to help him play baseball, swim and rollerskate. He was also able to visit the Munroe-Meyer center, a special place where his friend attends camp. He has a two sisters, Rachel and Samantha, and a brother, Josh. Grandparents are Darlynn and Tom Fellman, and the late Colleen and Bill Sullivan. Great-grandparents are the late Leo and Helen Meyerson.
Candlelighting Friday, November 14, 4:47 p.m. led by B’nai B’rith. SATURDAY: Services, 9:15 a.m. led by Jim Polack and David Herzog. Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend.
TEMPLE ISRAEL Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive | Omaha, NE 68144-1206 | 402.556.6536 http://templeisraelomaha.com FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to You at Remington Heights, 4 p.m. led by Rabbi Azriel; Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Azriel, Rabbi Brown and Cantor Shermet. SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m.; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. Jack Rubin, son of Erica and Michael Parks, and Whitney and Barry Rubin will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah; Experience Shabbat for Grades K-6, 4 p.m.; OTYG Fall Lock-in at Temple Israel, 6 p.m. thru Sunday at 9 a.m. During the Lock-In we will have a mystery trip! More details to come. Cost is $25 and includes dinner, snacks and breakfast. Please RSVP to Director of Youth Engagement Nikki Flatowicz by Thursday, Nov. 13. SUNDAY: No Religious School. TUESDAY: Executive Meeting, 6 p.m.; Board of Trustees Meeting, 7 p.m.; Mah Jongg Mavens are Back!, 7 p.m. They invite anyone who is interested in coming for lessons and tips. Bring friends or make new friends (men welcome too!). $45 per person, includes a 2014 Mah Jongg card. Contact the Temple Israel office to RSVP, 402.556.6536. WEDNESDAY: Grades 3-6, 4 p.m.; Grades 7-12, 6 p.m.; Family Night, 6 p.m.; School Dinner, 6 p.m.; Torah from the Beginning: Why Torah? Who wrote it? What is my Torah?, 6:30 p.m. with Rabbi Josh Brown and Dan Gilbert. THURSDAY: Music in Transition, 10 a.m. with Cantor Shermet; Kol Rina Rehearsal, 6:30 p.m. Thanksgiving Interfaith Service, Sunday, Nov. 23, 5 p.m. at First Christian Church.
TIFERETH ISRAEL Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard | Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 | 402.423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. FRIDAY: LJCS Shabbat Family Service and Dinner, 6 p.m. at South Street Temple. The meal following the service will be prepared by the Hallah High students. Note: There will be no services this evening at the synagogue. SATURDAY: Morning service, 10 a.m. followed by a Kiddush luncheon. SUNDAY: LJCS Gan through Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Global Day of Jewish Learning, 10:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel. TUESDAY: Ladies Lunch Group, noon at the South Lazlo’s. Please contact Stephanie Dohner with any questions; Harris Center for Judaic Studies events: The Battle of Armageddon, 3:30 p.m. with Michael Dick, History Department at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. WEDNESDAY: Hebrew classes, 4-6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel. THURSDAY: Harris Center for Judaic Studies events: Holocaust Rescue and US Intelligence, 3:30 p.m. and 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed, 7 p.m. with Eric Cline, Professor of Classics and Anthropology at George Washington University. Intergenerational Shabbat Year 3, Friday, Nov. 21, 6 p.m. followed by a special celebratory Oneg. LJCS Hat and Mitten Drive: Join with the JLCS as we collect hats and mittens for the children of the Foster Care Closet. Donations can be dropped at the Synagogue through Sunday, Nov. 23.
JEWISH PRESS NOTICES The Jewish Press office is closed Thursday, Nov. 27, for Thanksgiving; the deadline for the Dec. 5 issue is Monday, Nov. 24, 9 a.m. Questions? Call 402.334.6448.
To Submit B’nai Mitzvah Announcements Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewish omaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154. Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, by e-mailing the editor at: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org or online at: www.jewishomaha.org, click on ‘Jewish Press.’
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November 14, 2014 | The Jewish Press | 11
U.S. Supreme Court justices talk Jewish at G.A. opening by JTA NEWS STAFF Kagan was a kid. OXON HILL, Md. (JTA) -- U.S. Supreme Court justices The bat mitzvah wasn’t exactly identical to her brother’s, Stephen Breyer and Elana Kagan talked about their Jewish Kagan said -- it was called a bat Torah, took place on Friday identities at the opening plenary of the 2014 General night rather than Saturday and had her chanting the hafAssembly conference of the Jewish Federations of North tarah portion rather than the Torah portion -- but it was America. meaningful and groundSpeaking before a crowd of breaking nonetheless. more than 2,000 at the con“We reached a kind of deal: ference center just outside It wasn’t a full bar mitzvah, Washington, Breyer said the but it was something,” she most remarkable thing about said. “Rabbi Riskin was very there being three Jews among gracious, and I think it was the nine Supreme Court jusgood for the synagogue.” tices is how unremarkable it is Breyer said that when he in America today. thinks about what it means to Kagan, the other justice on be Jewish in the court, he the panel discussion moderthinks about the Jewish tradiated by NPR correspondent tion of tzedakah. Nina Totenberg, said that her “It’s not quite charity,” he Jewish identity was the one said, “and it’s not quite rule of thing that didn’t come up law either, but it’s part of tryduring her confirmation ing to create a better world.” process. Breyer said the great diviSupreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer making a point dur“The one thing nobody sions of the world today are ing a panel discussion also featuring Justice Elana Kagan at ever said, the one thing I between those who believe in the 2014 General Assembly conference of the Jewish never heard was, ‘We don’t the rule of law and those who Federations of North America in suburban Washington, Nov. need a third Jewish justice,’ or don’t. Credit: Ron Sachs 9, 2014. ‘There’s a problem with that,’” “And that is a battle, and she said. “So that’s a wonderful thing. My grandmother we’re on the right side of that,” he said. would have said ‘Only in America.’” The theme of this year’s General Assembly is “The world Kagan also talked about her bat mitzvah, crediting Rabbi is our backyard,” and speakers will include Vice President Shlomo Riskin -- then of the Lincoln Square Synagogue on Joe Biden and, via satellite, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Manhattan’s Upper West Side (and now rabbi in Efrat, West Netanyahu. Bank), with enabling the ceremony even though that sort of “This year’s G.A. will remind us of why federation is relething was not done in Orthodox synagogues back when vant and critical,” G.A. co-chair Howard Friedman said.
Symbol of Jerusalem’s progress, light rail becomes terror target by BEN SALES and several Arab neighborhoods beyond the so-called JERUSALEM (JTA) -- It’s 3 p.m. on a Thursday and the “seam line” between the Jewish and Arab halves of Jerusalem light rail is packed with secular and religious, Jew Jerusalem. Citypass hopes to expand the existing route to and Arab, as it heads east from the city’s Central Bus Station. reach Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem in the west From there it passes some of the city’s most crowded ven- and Hebrew University in the east as well as the city’s southues, stopping at the Mahane Yehuda open market and ern neighborhoods. coursing down Jaffa Street until it hits the city center, where The train’s eastern section has eased access to the city centhe train cars empty out onto a thoroughfare loud with foot ter for residents of poorer neighborhoods like Shuafat. But traffic. some worry the physical link By the time it reaches the between east and west will station in the Arab neighbormake the city harder to split hood of Shuafat, the train is under a future Israelinearly empty and the scene is Palestinian peace treaty. desolate. The waiting area is “On one hand it creates an missing a roof and the ticket illusion of a united city, and machines are boarded up -the recent events in the city the result of riots that broke prove that it is not,” said out there in July following the Yudith Oppenheimer, execumurder of 16-year-old A concrete security barrier at a light rail station in tive director of Ir Amim, a Mohammed Abu Khdeir. Jerusalem, Nov. 6, 2014. Four people have been killed at nongovernmental organizaThe first service of its kind light rail stations in two separate attacks in recent weeks. tion that advocates for Arab in Israel, the Jerusalem light Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 Jerusalemites. “On the other rail was intended as a symbol hand, because they never of a forward-looking metropolis, a sleek, efficient and clean dealt with transit in the Palestinian neighborhoods, it’s a mode of transportation that united the city’s disparate transit tool that serves the Palestinians in the city.” halves and connected Jerusalem’s far-flung neighborhoods As unrest has increased of late in Jerusalem, the light rail’s to the city center. crowds, central route and easy access from the street have But after two Palestinian drivers rammed their vehicles made it attractive to terrorists. Police have responded with into crowds waiting at light rail stations in recent weeks, the concrete barricades at some stations and increased patrols. train has become enveloped in the mounting tensions in The Jerusalem municipality has also launched balloons and Israel’s capital city. The attacks killed four people, including unmanned aerial vehicles to conduct surveillance over the a 3-month-old girl, and injured 22. train’s route. “There’s a bad atmosphere in Jerusalem,” said Ozel Vatik, “It’s a relatively easy target in terms of a vehicle’s ability to spokesman for Citypass, the company that runs the light drive into people,” Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld rail. “The light rail is a microcosm of Jerusalem. It runs in said. “It has a large number of passengers. We’re talking the central spaces of Jerusalem. So what happens in about a central area with a lot of movement.” Jerusalem happens in the light rail, for better or worse.” As they have always done after terror incidents, When service began in 2011, the light rail aimed at easing Jerusalemites were quick to carry on with their routines folcongestion on Jerusalem’s ancient roads. Running down the lowing the recent attacks, packing the trains at rush hour central Jaffa Street, a windy thoroughfare once choked with and focusing mostly on jostling into the crowded cars. But bus traffic, the trains encounter few stoplights and run at an the attacks have also reminded riders of the potential for average speed of 15 miles per hour. The electric trains make danger. less noise and consume less energy than buses and have Hadas Meshi, a 17-year-old Jerusalemite originally from reduced air pollution on Jaffa Street by up to 70 percent, England, said security forces are trying to reassure residents Vatik said. following attacks. The one line traverses the full breadth of the city, from “But it’s not really safer,” Meshi said. “The next day, you Mount Herzl in the west to Pisgat Zeev in the east, along the see it on people’s faces. Something is always going on someway passing the Central Bus Station, City Hall, the Old City where.”
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12 | The Jewish Press | November 14, 2014
White House aide Jonathan Greenblatt to succeed Abe Foxman as ADL chief by URIEL HEILMAN At the White House, Greenblatt serves as director of the degree in business from Northwestern University’s Kellogg NEW YORK (JTA) – The Anti-Defamation League’s new Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation in the School of Management. national director will be social entrepreneur Jonathan Domestic Policy Council, where his portfolio includes In the Jewish world, Greenblatt has served on the board of Greenblatt — a special assistant to President Obama who national service, civic engagement, impact investing and the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, and he earlier in his career co-founded the bottled water brand social enterprise. was one of the judges in the 2011 “Next Big Jewish Idea” Ethos. contest of the Los Angeles Jewish federation. Greenblatt, 43, will succeed Abraham Foxman, who “I have enjoyed a varied career that has spanned business, announced in February that he would be stepping down nonprofit and public service, but the common thread linkeffective July 2015. Foxman, 74, has been the ADL's ing these experiences has been a commitment to tikkun national director since 1987. olam, to repair the world, whether by building businesses, The news was first reported by JTA on Thursday, Nov. 6 creating products, driving policy or forging partnerships,” and followed shortly afterward by a formal announcement Greenblatt said in his speech Thursday. at the ADL’s annual meeting in Los Angeles. Foxman will formally hand over the reins to Greenblatt The ADL said the unanimous selection of Greenblatt by on July 20. the 16-member succession committee was the culmination Foxman has been a singular leader for the organization. of a two-year nationwide search led by the Atlanta-based A child survivor of the Holocaust, he started at the ADL in executive search firm BoardWalk Consulting. The firm 1965. Under his leadership, ADL expanded its reach with reviewed hundreds of prospective candidates from the 30 regional offices across the United States and an office in fields of business, law, academic and nonprofit manageIsrael. In 2011, the last year for which data is available, the ment, according to an ADL news release. ADL reported nearly $54 million in revenue. Greenblatt, a grandson of a Holocaust survivor who But Foxman’s role transcends that of leader of an organiescaped Nazi Germany but lost nearly all his family in the zation that monitors anti-Semitic activity, offers discrimiwar, interned for the ADL while in college at Tufts nation-sensitivity training and runs anti-bigotry proUniversity and later participated in an ADL professional grams, including for law enforcement. He has become the leadership program. leading global arbiter for what constitutes anti-Semitism, His wife, Marjan Keypour Greenblatt, an Iranianthe go-to person for apologies and exculpation when pubAmerican Jewish immigrant, worked as an associate direclic figures make anti-Semitic gaffes or missteps, and a tor at ADL’s Los Angeles office for about eight years. Until Jonathan Greenblatt will succeed Abraham Foxman as national favorite hated figure of anti-Semites worldwide. He also last December, she was acting director of the Israel on director of the Anti-Defamation League. has been a staunch advocate for Israel. Campus Coalition. She went on to co-found the new nonA veteran of the Clinton administration, Greenblatt has “I’m confident that ADL will continue to thrive and grow profit Alliance for Rights of All Minorities, which promotes been a serial social entrepreneur. Ethos, the bottled water under Jonathan’s leadership,” Foxman said in a statement. “I women’s and minority rights in Iran, and serves as its director. company he and a business school classmate launched in look forward to working with him to ensure a successful and “Marjan herself escaped from her native Iran after the 2003, donated a portion of its profits to finance water pro- smooth transition.” Islamic Revolution when this ancient country that once grams in developing countries. After Starbucks bought the Greenblatt said he is deeply honored to have been chosen championed tolerance instead forged a political ideology in company, Greenblatt continued to promote clean-water for the post. the toxin of anti-Semitism,” Greenblatt said Nov. 6 in a funding in the developing world as the coffee company’s vice “The threats that face our community today – including speech delivered after the announcement, according to a president of global consumer products. He went on to serve the expanding specter of global anti-Semitism, the contintranscript of remarks provided by the ADL. “Like my grand- on the board of the nonprofit Water.org, which was co- ued legitimization of anti-Zionism, and the spreading infecfather decades earlier, my wife had to flee the land of her founded by the actor Matt Damon. tion of cyber-hate, are serious and sinister,” Greenblatt said birth and came to this country with the help of HIAS as a Greenblatt also started an open-source platform for vol- Thursday. “Fighting this scourge and advocating for the political refugee because of her Jewish identity. And so our unteers called All for Good, served as CEO of the media rights of all is not just an intellectual pursuit – it’s personal lives and those of our children are shaped by this pernicious company GOOD Worldwide and founded the Impact for me, a deeply held value, one that has been seared into my force, this longest hatred.” Economy Initiative at The Aspen Institute. He has a master's soul.”
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