Promoting Empowerment
in Our World
PAM MONSKY JCRC Assistant Director
The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) recently hosted 130 tenth grade students from thirteen different metro area high schools for the 37th PEW, Promoting Empowerment in our World, a day-long workshop focusing on anti-bias training and introspection.
For 37 years PEW has brought together students from different school districts, backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, races, and cultures for an intensive one-day interactive workshop designed to heighten students’ awareness of stereotyping in their own environment and enable them to recognize and overcome biases in themselves and their peer group.
utive Director Sharon Brodkey.
The students, along with their school chaperones and 24 trained volunteer facilitators began the day at Temple Israel with a breakfast and welcoming remarks from JCRC Exec-
MAGGIE CONTI
RBJH Director of Activities and Volunteer Services
The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home and Friedel Jewish Academy have teamed up for an art and wellness program with HERE Mindfulness. This program was appropriately called “Appa’s Paws for Peace – A Mindful Journey with a Gentle Bernese.”
Appa is the RBJH mascot, and dog belonging to Christina Caniglia, Assistant Activities Director. Christina brings Appa several times a week for pet therapy.
We paid tribute to the animals in our lives by decorating paw print and doggy bone ornaments. This program provides a platform for participants to deepen their understanding of
Hakarat HaTov, a concept in Judaism that encourages gratitude and the recognition of life’s blessings, especially by honoring our pets.
HERE Mindfulness (HERE for You, For Them) is a unique program in Omaha that promotes creative See Paws for Peace page 3
Students are carefully selected by their teachers and guidance counselors to participate in the workshop. The day consists of small group activities designed to examine biases that exist within ourselves and throughout the community. See Promoting Empowerment in Our World page 3
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMPWRIGHT
Jewish Press Editor
Although this leap year our holidays are a little later than we’re used to, eventually Hanukkah will arrive on our doorstep. The sizzle of latkes, the anticipation of presents, chocolate coins and dreidel games, the delightful aroma of sufganyot: what’s not to love?
The perfect holiday, if it weren’t for the wax we have to scrape off our Chanukkiahs every year. Or the spilled wax on the table when we
forget to put down tinfoil.
“We’ve all spent countless hours cleaning out Shabbat candlesticks and Chanukkiah sockets,” Alan Tipp said. “It’s a universal frustration amongst Jews dating back 3000 years!”
Enter Alan’s latest business venture, The Candleware Collective: “The idea of never ever having to clean your Menorah again, is now made possible with the invention of the Orli™ Candle Cup,” he said. Alan is a born-and-raised Omahan and See Candle ware cleanup page 2
Actors from RESPECT role play with a student
The Kaplan Book Group: Victim or Patsy
SHIRLY BANNER
JFO Library Specialist
On Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. the Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group will gather for their monthly meeting. Group members have the choice of meeting either in person in the Benjamin & Anna Wiesman Reception Room in the Staenberg Jewish Community Center or via Zoom. This month they will be discussing Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy by Anne Sebba. This month’s selection looks at the life of Ethel Rosenberg and her infamous trial. New participants are always welcome.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were an American married couple who were convicted of spying for the Soviet Union in 1951 and executed by the federal government of the United States in 1953. Sebba provides detailed background information regarding Ethel and Julius’ history and the events that led up to their arrests and convictions. It is left for you to form your own conclusions. It has been over seventy years since the execution, but Sebba’s book reveals information that was disclosed after the fact which would have had a dramatic impact on the outcome of the trial’s verdict and sentencing.
Sebba presents information that questions whether Jules was really involved in passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union or whether it was Ethel’s brother who was the instigator. It is a story of “he said, she said, who do you believe?”
Ethel and Julius’s early lives were typical of first-generation immigrants, seeking to find themselves and adapt to the country where they lived. They were in search of better education, better jobs, more ambition, and social justice. As time passed, Ethel and Julius’s politics skewed towards believing in the Communist ideals of making a better life such as by “organizing among the lowest-paid workers and creating a working-class culture that went beyond normal union issues of better pay”.
The trial actually included three defendants: Julius Rosenberg, Ethel Rosenberg, and Morton Sobell. Each was being tried together as part of an alleged espionage and spy ring. The most damaging testimonies given during the trial were provided by Ethel’s brother David (who was given a fifteenyear sentence for his involvement) and sister-in-law Ruth (who was never charged with any involvement). In the end, the Rosenbergs were given death sentences while Sobell was sentenced to thirty years in jail for his involvement with the Rosenberg conspiracy.
The Rosenberg’s trial was indeed an American tragedy and gross miscarriage of the justice system. It was only afterwards that the collusion between the prosecution’s lawyers and the presiding judge was revealed. It was also years afterwards that the perjured testimonies responsible for the conviction of Julius and Ethel by Ethel’s brother David and his wife Ruth came to light.
Please feel free to join us on Nov. 21 in person or via Zoom.
The Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group meets on the third Thursday of every month at 1 pm. New members are always welcome.
The Group receives administrative support from the Community Engagement & Education arm of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. For information about the group and to join in the discussion, contact Shirly Banner at 402.334.6462 or sbanner@jewishomaha.org
Candle ware cleanup
Continued from page 1 the son of Marylin and Steve Tipp. He is married to Sonia; they have two children, Adria and Asher.
Alan Tipp’s invention, the Orli™ cups, are silicone cups you place in your Hanukkiah in which you then place the candle. The wax drips are caught by its rim, and once the candles are done burning, the wax is easily removed.
Named after Alan and his wife Sonia’s daughter, the Orli™ Chanukkah Candle Cup makes menorah clean-up a breeze.
“I feel like we all own at least four or five menorahs, have collected them throughout the years, or inherited them,” Alan said. “The problem is that you never want to use the good menorah, because you know cleaning it is a chore. It’s also not worth it to damage it or scald yourself or to have to scrape the film out of your sink or pot. The online forums go on and on with thousands of comments and suggestions of less-than-ideal wax clean-off methods, and none of them are sustainable or easy until now. I’d say it’s about time.”
patented technologies to his name, which has uniquely prepared him to explore passion projects like this one.
“My visit to Israel with Momentum in May of 2023,” he said, “really helped to contextualize the significance of cultural objects and jewelry like Mezuzahs, Tefillin, and Menorahs. I also felt a bit helpless after Oct 7 as to what I could do to make an impact. I felt compelled to bring a Jewish-centric product to market and the Orli™ was it. It’s helping to spread a glimpse of light and joy amidst the darkness considering what’s been happening around all of us.”
The Orli™ cups fit most menorahs, are compatible with standard Hanukkah candles and are made from flame resistant silicone. To clean up after your celebration, simply invert the cup and pop out the wax plug. No more poking at the wax with your pocket knife or leaving your Chanukkiah in the freezer for hours and hours. And they are sustainable; you can use them year after year.
“Orli is Adria’s Hebrew name,” Alan said, “and means ‘my light,’ and Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights, so it seemed appropriate.”
Alan is an experienced independent designer, a solopreneur operating the design consultancy ATIPPICAL: “I am a product designer, problem solver and innovator,” he said. He has 35+
The response so far has been positive: “I see the reactions to the instructional video we filmed,” Alan said, “and it’s clear that people are responding with gratitude. And statements like ‘Where has this been my whole life!’ really validate that you hit on something. It’s a product that resonates with people.”
There is a handy video on the website: visit www.thecandlewarecollective.com to see how it works. Once you are there, you can pre-order your kit for only $36.
The Candleware Collective is currently accepting pre-orders, with guaranteed delivery by the first week in December, as well as a promotion for 18% off in appreciation for their first supporters.
“Also coming in January of 2025,” Alan added, “is the Shabbat set of candle cups. It’s the same thing, but sized to fit shabbat candles. “
The magnetic gift box packaging allows you to store them and includes the Hebrew blessings with English transliteration in large print for easy reference. Especially for Jewish Press readers, Alan created a coupon code for 18% off: JPRESS18. The code will be valid from Nov. 15 through Nov. 22, so don’t miss out!
Paws for Peace
Continued from page 1 activities, fosters calm, healing, and connection, and invites participants on a journey of self-discovery and wellness. HERE provides proprietary, early intervention and prevention mindfulness programs to organizations, schools, behavioral health providers and families in the UK and US, with team members on both sides of the pond to help. These evidence-based mindfulness programs bring calm, connection and healing, as well as tools to help build resilience and strong brains too. HERE aims to make mindfulness an accessible, soft intervention, which is available and relatable to all.
Special thanks to the generous donation of the Staenberg Family Foundation Anything Grant of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation for this marvelous AHA Art experience.
ORGANIZATIONS
B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS
The award-winning B’NAI B’RITH BREADBREAKERS speaker program currently meets Wednesdays via Zoom from noon to 1 p.m. Please watch our email for specific information concerning its thoughtprovoking, informative list of speakers. To be placed on the email list, contact Breadbreakers chair at gary.javitch@gmail.com
Promoting Empowerment in Our World
Continued from page 1
After going through the activities the students reunite with their schools and discuss ways to combat discrimination and injustice within their school communities.
During lunch the nonprofit organization RESPECT performed a staged reading of Headlines of Hate, based on actual events in the news that focus on bullying and bias. RESPECT was founded in 2000 by Dr. Patricia Newman to “build healthy relationships using theatre and community collaboration.” RESPECT harnesses the power of theater to create an experience where social-emotional learning can flourish. RESPECT provides a safe and collaborative environment in which audiences are invited to “try-on” new behaviors, practice new skills and reimagine how to handle difficult situations.
In addition to the students, teachers and facilitators, a number of volunteers were on hand to make sure the day ran smoothly.
PEW is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Chesed Fund (formerly the Murray H. & Sharee C. Newman Supporting Foundation), the Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Supporting Foundation, Speedy and Debbi Zweiback, Zoë and Carl Riekes, and Ideal Pure Water.
The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) is dedicated to working in common cause to enhance cooperation with other religious, racial, ethnic, and civic groups to foster a just, democratic and pluralistic society
as well as promote the security of Israel and Jews everywhere. Guided by Jewish values, the JCRC is a nonpartisan agency that advocates, educates, collaborates, and mobilizes action on issues important to the Jewish Community and the greater community.
Above: Students participate in an activity; below left: PEW coordinator Doreen Jankovich takes the microphone from Sharon Brodkey, JCRC Executive Director to welcome students; and below right: Mark Kelln leads the Diversity Iceberg activity.
News
Polka Police
MAGGIE CONTI
RBJH
Director of Activities and Volunteer Services
Residents of the RBJH didn’t know what to expect, but the stupid, awesome polkathemed rockin’ parodies band The Polka Police were a hoot and a holler and something refreshingly different.
This concert was genuinely unique, carrying on the tradition of great musical performers from Lawrence Welk to high-energy polka-themed rock and roll.
At RBJH, we celebrate Grandparents Day with a monthly special concert, thanks to the generous support of the Chester & Phyllis Lustgarten Endowment of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation.
Reminder: Jewish Press Writing Workshop
‘Write With Us,’ the recent collaboration between the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Press, will continue in smaller format in the fall. New workshops are scheduled for Nov. 21, Dec. 19, Jan. 16, Feb. 2, March 20 and April 17 at 6 p.m. in the Noshery at the Staenberg Omaha JCC. Register by emailing jtay lor@jewishomaha.org or avandekamp@jewishomaha.org There is no cost to attend, although donations are always welcome. If you have wanted to write your family’s story, that great American novel, or you have always wanted to try your hand at poetry, join us! Maybe you are already an accomplished writer, but you would benefit from being in a room with other writers. Perhaps you have convinced yourself you can’t write at all but would love to try. Everyone, from absolute beginner to professional, is welcome to attend.
Rabbi Geiger’s
Torah Expedition
PARSHA VAYERA
This week’s parsha describes the various tests that G-d set for our forefather, Avraham. Avraham is one of the most righteous people to have ever lived! And yet he must suffer famine, his wife being taken from him, and finally, he is told to bring his son as an offering. Seriously? Why did he have to go through all that? And for that matter, why do I have all the challenges within my life? I’m no Abraham, but still...
Kintsugi. No, I did not just sneeze.
Kintsugi is a beautiful form of Japanese art. Kintsugi literally means”‘to join with gold.” This art essentially involves gluing broken pieces of pottery together with gold. When the pieces were whole it was nice, but after having been broken and filled with gold, it became exquisite art.
I think that when we face challenges, we tend to assume that G-d is punishing us or just doesn’t care about us. But there is a third option: the true option. G-d knows the greatness that lies within us. But like Kintsugi, sometimes we have to first be broken before we truly shine.
Shabbat Shalom.
HANUKKAH
RABBI MORDECHAI GEIGER Beth Israel
Hand-painted Kintsugi Pottery Bowl Credit: Ruthann Hurwitz, licensed
Jesse Eisenberg’s love letter to Poland
JACKIE HAJDENBERG
JTA
In Jesse Eisenberg’s new film, a pair of American Jewish cousins on a heritage tour of Poland sneak back onto a train they already had tickets for, after getting off at the wrong stop.
“It’s the principle of the thing,” says Benji, played by Kieran Culkin. “We shouldn’t have to pay for tickets in Poland. This is our country.”
“No it’s not,” says David, played by Eisenberg. “It was our country. They kicked us out because they thought we were cheap.”
It is an exchange that encapsulates the mix of pathos, humor and fast-paced banter that Eisenberg brings to A Real Pain, which he wrote and directed in addition to stars in. Eisenberg, 41, loosely based the script and characters on a composite of real people and experiences, including a 2008 visit with his now-wife to what was once his great-aunt’s house in Poland until 1939 — back when the Eisenbergs were still “Ajzenbergs.”
“I was at this house, I was standing in front of it, and I was expecting to feel something specific and revelatory, and nothing came,” Eisenberg said in a Zoom interview. “That feeling of emptiness kind of stayed with me for a long time. I was trying to diagnose the emptiness, and I was wondering: Is it because I’m an unfeeling person? Or is it because it’s really just impossible to connect to the past in an easy way, in a kind of external way?”
All these years later, A Real Pain, which hit theaters Nov. 1, seeks to ask those questions, Eisenberg says: “How do we reconnect to the past? And how do our modern struggles connect to the struggles of our families?”
Eisenberg, best known for his cerebral, often neurotic turns in The Social Network, the FX limited series Fleishman is in Trouble and a number of Woody Allen films, has returned to the Holocaust as a subject in a number of projects.
In 2013 he wrote and starred in The Revisionist, an off-Broadway play about a Polish survivor of the Holocaust. In 2020 he took part in a staged reading at New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage of The Investigation, Peter Weiss’ documentary play about the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963-1965. That same year he played Marcel Marceau in Resistance, about the famed mime’s role in the French resistance.
As in Treasure, a movie released this year in which Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry star as a daughter and father who travel to Auschwitz, A Real Pain is about the main characters’ evolving relationship and about the legacy of the Holocaust on American Jews now two generations removed from the genocide.
In Benji and David Kaplan, viewers are introduced to two very different expressions of trauma: Benji feels everything and has no filter and an ability to get people to open up, while David is overly cautious, analytical and takes medication for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
They set out for Poland while reeling from the death of their grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, joining a tour group of adults much older than they are. The group is led by facts-obsessed guide James (Will Sharpe), and includes Marcia (Jennifer Grey), whose marriage recently fell apart, as well as a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan). Egyiawan’s character is based on a real person, Eloge Butera, who converted to Judaism because, Eisenberg said, “the only people he felt connected to were older Jewish people who could relate to the experience.” Eisenberg and Butera have stayed in touch since meeting at a wedding years ago, and Eisenberg said he had always thought Butera’s story made him an interesting model for a trip participant.
“As I was writing, of course, it occurred to me that it does this other thing, which is allow the audience to broaden out their perspective,” Eisenberg said from Indiana, wearing the same red Indiana University baseball cap his character wears throughout the film. (Eisenberg dropped out of Hebrew school in his native New York City but has recently begun attending a synagogue in Bloomington, Indiana, where he lives with his family.)
He added, “It allows me to bring in other stories of trauma in a way that’s not kind of academic, but actually in the physical presence of this man who is a survivor.”
As the movie’s characters reckon with their personal and collective trauma, the main characters’ differences come into stark relief. Benji wisecracks his way across the brittle terrain, while David deals with a sense of guilt for ever having felt like his own problems were legitimate.
On a walk with the group, the cousins briefly imagine what their life would be like if the Holocaust didn’t happen. They would probably be religious Jews, Benji thinks, and have beards, and not touch women, according to traditional interpretations of Jewish law. Bottom line: They would likely still live in Poland.
That’s a scenario with some appeal for Eisenberg, who developed such an affection for the country while filming there that he decided to seek citizenship, an option often available to descendants of Polish Holocaust survivors. He will become a citizen this month and formally mark the occasion at the Polish embassy in Washington, D.C., which will also screen the film.
“I think of myself as a New Yorker through and through, because I go to Broadway shows and I was born here, but the reality of my lineage is that we were Polish for a lot longer,” Eisenberg said. “There’s something so kind of sad about the way things can end so abruptly and be forgotten so abruptly, because to remember was so painful, because of the war and because so many people were killed. And so the way I think about it is I’m trying to reconnect.”
Filming in Poland, Eisenberg said, allowed him to experience the generosity of the people living there who worked to tell his family’s story and preserve the memory of the Holocaust, defying his expectations of contemporary Polish cultural attitudes toward the Holocaust.
In 2018, the Polish government, led by the right-wing nationalist Law and Justice Party, passed a law criminalizing speech blaming Poland for crimes committed by the Nazis, part of a broad effort to demand pride in Polish history. (The party was ousted from power last year.) The law created a chilling effect for some stewards of Holocaust history, curbing a public reckoning about the degree to which Poles collaborated with the Nazis.
The crackdown on “unpatriotic” accounts of Polish history also caused a shakeup at the Polin Museum, Poland’s national Jewish museum, where A Real Pain had its international premiere in May. A museum leader was pushed out when he sought to stage an exhibit about a wave of antisemitic persecution in 1968. When the museum recently marked its first decade, Eisenberg spoke virtually at the gala.
Eisenberg said the political tensions over Holocaust memory did not encroach on him as he filmed on location, including at the interior of the Majdanek concentration camp, which remains remarkably preserved.
“I’m aware of it in a kind of intellectual way, but my experience there was just the exact opposite,” he said. “I was working with a crew of 150 people who were all eager and working their asses off to try to make my personal family story come to life.”
In gaining permission to film at Majdanek, Eisenberg said he benefited from telling a story that is rooted firmly in the present, even though the camp uniquely lends itself to filmmaking set in the past because it remains in roughly the same condition as it was in when the Nazis operated it.
“A few things were in our favor: Most movies want to shoot in Majdanek, and they want to turn it into 1942 Auschwitz, and they want to have 100 extras in Nazi uniforms running around with guns. We were trying to do the opposite,” Eisenberg said. “What we were trying to do was depict Majdanek as it is now as a tourist site, in an attempt to do the exact thing Majdanek is trying to do itself, which is to try to bring awareness to this, to the horrors that occurred on these grounds.”
He said he had ended up becoming close with a number of young scholars on the staff at the camp memorial. “Our relationship started off with suspicion,” Eisenberg recalled, “and wound up as a beautiful meeting of the minds.”
Eisenberg said he believed that collaborating with others around his age — removed by generations from direct connection with the Holocaust — enabled A Real Pain to channel a fresh approach to grappling with the past.
“I’m in a younger generation,” he said. “I have enough distance to go to Poland... and not feel the kind of visceral memories of pain, but going there with an open heart and mind and meeting people who I love and who are contemporaries and friends and who are working to make the world a better place.”
UNO Human Rights Essay Contest
Human Rights are instrumental to our well-being and success as individuals. The Goldstein Family Community Chair in Human Rights invites students to submit entries by Feb. 1, 2025. The contest is open to students in Nebraska High Schools, UNO, UNL and UNK. Your entry may cover any topic related to human rights, broadly constructed.
By engaging with students, we hope to spark understanding and curiosity about these issues, which students will carry into their future endeavors of life-long learning. Learn more and see previous winners on the Goldstein Center Webpage at Cas.unomaha.edu/gchr. Please send submission to Dr. Lana Obradovic: lobradovic@unomaha.edu
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The Untested Cookbook
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press editor
There’s a Jewish Federation of Omaha cookbook on my desk; the title is The Untested Cookbook, and it contains no information about the people who put it together. All it says is “2001 Women’s Division Event.” Perhaps it’s missing a page? However, I did find an article in the Jewish Press from November 24, 2000, written by Lois Friedman.
“In case you were unable to attend the Annual Women’s Campaign Luncheon in October, where Susan Stamberg was the featured speaker, all of the dessert goodies were baked at the “Bakemitzvah” under the direction of Lucy White, fantastic food maven, in Beth El’s kosher kitchen by intergenerational groups. An idea blossomed and a cookbook ensued, which was a luncheon gift. The cookbook can be purchased at the JCC, or call the Federation office. “The $10 cost of the
cookbook goes back to the campaign,” said Kathy McGauvran, Women’s Campaign Director, who has been part of the project from the start and “has made several recipes and they were really good. The Joffe clan really did the work, overseeing this big chore, reading, editing, calling,” she said.
Sheryn Joffe said: “It was an honor to have my daughters, Suzanne Pocras and Andrea Siegel, living back in the city and work with them as adults on a project. It was important to us as well as the community.”
Thanks to the Jewish Press archive, we now know who created this particular cookbook. All the more reason to preserve and revisit the recipes it contains. This particular copy is falling apart, I’m sorry to say, so last summer, our Intern Melanie Schwarz graciously digitized the recipes inside. Melanie’s internship was made possible through the generosity of the Chesed Fund. Here goes the first installment!
SALSAS, SAUCES & STARTERS
“Jewish foods survive only in the tired humor of tired comedians; American Jews are more familiar with sushi than gefilte fish.”
JOSHUA HALBERSTAM, philosopher and author, Schmoozing: The Private Conversations of American Jews, 1997
PICO DE GALLO DEB MARBURG
Ingredients:
ways
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Credit: Sharon Chen, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Ingredients:
2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1 avocado, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 bermuda red onion, chopped
We work directly with law enforcement, Secure Communities Network, and the Anti-Defamation League.
1-2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
Directions: Combine all ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste. Chill for 1 to 2 hours so flavors blend. Serve at room temperature. Garnish with tortilla chips or pita wedges.
GARDEN SALAD
STACIE SPIES-MATZ
Ingredients:
1-2 ears of corn or corn niblets, drained
1 can black beans
1-3 tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 to 1 cup cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp. vinegar
2 Tbsp. red onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 small jalapeno pepper, chopped salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together. Toss gently. Serve with Tostitos round chips.
BLACK BEAN SALSA RANCHERO DIP
Ingredients:
MARTI
ROSEN-ATHERTON
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
1 1/2 tsp. lime juice
1/4 cup scallions, sliced
1/4 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 cup commercial salsa
Directions:
Combine beans, scallions, red pepper and cilantro. Set aside. Mix together salsa, lime juice, garlic and cumin. Combine with bean mixture and chill for 2 hours. Garnish with chopped avocado. Serve with tortilla chips. Makes 2 1/2 cups.
2 cup whole fresh cranberries
1 small onion
2 Tbsp. horseradish
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
Directions: Grind cranberries and onion. Mix with other ingredients. Freeze mixture in a plastic container. Store in the refrigerator 3 hours before serving. Remove from mold and serve as a sauce for turkey, gefilte fish etc.
CRANBERRY CHUTNEY
BETH COHEN
Ingredients:
1 lb. fresh cranberries
1 1/2 tsp. ginger, ground
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cloves, ground
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 cup apple, peeled and chopped
1 cup water
1/2 cup raisins
1 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup onion, chopped 1/2 cup celery, chopped
Directions:
Combine cranberries, sugars, apples, raisins, spices and water in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes until juices are released in cranberries. In a separate pan, sauté onions and celery for about 10 minutes or until soft. Fold onion mixture in cranberry mixture. Simmer, uncovered, for about 40 minutes until it thickens. Chill before serving. Yield 8.
CALIFORNIA SUMMER SALAD ANDI WILLENSKY
Ingredients:
2 tomatoes (1 lb.) peeled, seeded and diced
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup red pepper, diced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup yellow pepper, diced
1/4 tsp. pepper
3/4 carrot peeled and diced
1 avocado, peeled, 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup corn niblets
parsley leaves
2 Tbsp. italian parsley, finely chopped
Directions:
In a mixing bowl combine all ingredients except the avocado. Refrigerate for 1 hr. Spoon into a serving bowl or platter. Right before serving, add avocado and taste for seasoning. Serve with tortilla chips. This is a light, healthy and colorful appetizer.
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MAMA STAMBERG’S CRANBERRY SAUCE
SUSAN STAMBERG
SP O TLIGHT
PHOTOS FROM RECENT JEWISH COMMUNITY EVENTS
SUBMIT A PHOTO: Have a photo of a recent Jewish Community event you would like to submit? Email the image and a suggested caption to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org
GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY
Above and below: One of the themes for Friedel Jewish Academy’s Healthy Habits Week was “Exercise Your Mind.” Check out the crazy hat/crazy hair day pictures!
Below: Friedel first and second graders created a pumpkin patch. They painted paper plates to look like pumpkins and then added and labeled all the parts of a pumpkin. They even used (and tasted) real pumpkin seeds!
Top, above and below: For the first time in forever, Star Deli welcomed very happy guests for lunch.
Above and left: RBJH Dog Show. The Main Street of RBJH was bustling with yapping, a spotlight on dogs, and a fun dog show. Dog-inspired refreshments were served to our dog friends and human friends.
Above and below: Great fun with BILU USY. After some serious Bible Quiz studying, they competed in a CHOPPED competition. The secret ingredient... Fruit Loops. It got real!
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The mission of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish Community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world. Agencies of the JFO are: Institute for Holocaust Education, Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Social Services, Nebraska Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Press Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www.jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.
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Lean into community
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT
Jewish Press Editor
This past week felt heavy and difficult, and I decided to create my op-ed before the election results were known. As I’m typing, it’s almost 11 a.m. on election day, and whatever happens, some of us will be disappointed, and some of us will be elated. It’s really hard sometimes to keep everyone happy, isn’t it? While I normally don’t let it stop me, I am finding that this year, things feel trickier, more like the proverbial minefield.
At the Jewish Press, we have chosen to mostly stay out of it. A cowardly choice? Maybe. But the staff of the Jewish Press should not try to influence whoever gets your vote. We didn’t feel JTA articles that paint either candidate in a certain light belonged here, either. The one exception we made was paid advertising. Not only because we can use the income to keep us afloat, but also because it would get us in legal trouble if we refused ads based on political likes and dislikes. Paid advertisements are not endorsements, not from us, and not from our Jewish Federation.
The Arizona Jewish News recently sent out the following statement: “The Jewish News apologizes for any confusion caused by recent paid political advertisements sent to our readers. These ads were paid for by the campaigns and not an endorsement from our team
“The Jewish News does not endorse candidates under any circumstances. We do, however, accept political advertisements regardless of political party affiliation. Thank you for your understanding.”
That sounded very familiar; I’m kind of glad we’re
not the only ones who deal with this. At the end of the day, though, our role is not to tell you how to vote, it is to tell the story of Jewish Omaha. In similar fashion, we will not be running any congratulatory stories about candidates who end up winning. Perhaps we’ll put the results on our website, I don’t know yet.
We have to move on, preferably before Thanksgiving dinner so we don’t fight with uncle so-and-so. The best way to do that is to go over-the-top positive, to celebrate all the great aspects of life, to spread joy and happiness. A radical thought, I know, but don’t you feel like you desperately need a break from it all? I think this is one of those times when it’s a great idea to change the topic, and change the tone.
I’ll start.
Israeli botanists grew a tree from a 1,000-year-old seed they found in the desert north of Jerusalem. Lois White in Kansas is 95 years old and still plays
Pickleball twice a week. In Tanzania, rats with tiny backpacks are being used to sniff out illegally trafficked wildlife items, like elephant tusks and rhino horns. The Polish Wroclaw Zoo welcomed four healthy Sumatran tiger cubs (Sumatran tigers are among the most endangered tiger-subspecies).
State parks in Virginia have equipped all 43 managed properties with special viewfinders for the colorblind. Belgian Mario Vangeel grew a 2,539-pound pumpkin, which is as much as a 2007 Honda Civic. Random, I know; but don’t you feel better? The thing is, it’s up to us to set the tone. Every time I see a news story that mentions “division,” “trauma counselors” or “existential consequences,” I think: we have the power to change the conversation. And no, that probably doesn’t mean we should only discuss rats-with-tiny-backpacks or tiger cubs, but it does mean we have a choice. Do we highlight the good, or do we drown in the bad? When we see each other, do we see a person, a friend, a neighbor, or do we see a voting ballot?
“Uncertainty about the future is a major source of general anxiety and can lead to a sense of powerlessness,” Allie Volpe wrote for Vox.com. “With so much out of an individual’s control, it’s important to focus on areas where you do have authority. Lean into community. Feeling supported by friends and family helps combat anxiety, so try to avoid spending the next few weeks in isolation. Instead, reach out to friends and family (preferably discussing anything but politics) or attend a safe and affirming community event.” I couldn’t say it better. “Lean into community,” I love that sentence. I hope you do, too.
This election, I finally understand the undecided Jewish voter
AMY KLEIN
Oct. 7 and its aftermath scrambled the political certainties of many pro-Israel voters, writes a longtime Jewish journalist. | JTA
“I don’t know anyone voting for Trump,” my mother said, hyperbolically. She hates the man so virulently that my sister and I are sure to steer clear of talking politics, even though we are all Democrats.
My mother is wrong. My father, her ex-husband, is a staunch Trump supporter, and likely switched his party affiliation the minute he divorced her 30 years ago. But so is my brother, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi in Los Angeles, whose congregation is likely to vote in large numbers for the former president as well.
Mine is a family divided, an instantiation of the polarization that has swept the country. Meanwhile, the polls show that a sizeable majority of Jews will once again vote for the Democratic candidate.
But neither the polls nor my relatives’ politics tell the whole Jewish story in this tense election year. I suspect that no matter how Jews end up voting, many are going to the polls this year as part of the small but significant cohort of undecided voters.
I used to be incredulous about the undecided voter. “How can anyone not know who they want to vote for?” I’d demand. “It’s always so clear!” As a lifelong Democrat who supports women’s rights, gay marriage, welcoming immigrants and a whole slew of other liberal positions, I thought something must be wrong with undecided voters.
Then came Oct. 7, and the silence of our liberal friends, colleagues, companies, compadres.
Yes, we’d stood up with them for #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter and every liberal cause, but they were not standing up for us. Even before Israel launched a ground invasion of Gaza – well before it launched an invasion of Lebanon — progressives began denouncing Israel, accusing it of genocide, ignoring the hostages and either ignoring or defending the killing by Hamas of 1,200 people in Israel on what some called a day of “liberation.”
As the months went by, and the death toll rose — and hostages (or their bodies) remained in Gaza — it got worse here in America: College campuses became protest zones that made many Jews feel unsafe; “Zionist” authors were blacklisted; artists came out against Israel and lifelong Democrats like
me began to feel adrift: betrayed, abandoned, alone. It was through this lens that Jews like me began to look at our political choices. Yes, President Biden rushed to back Israel after Oct. 7, and gave it a green light to root out Hamas. Harris came out at the Democratic National Convention for “Israel’s right to defend itself,” but will she do the same if elected president? Could the Democrats have done more to denounce what was happening on the campuses?
And yes, while Trump has said many problematic things about Jews and other minorities – including suggesting Jews will bear a big part of the blame should he lose — his record on Israel and Iran was reliably hawkish. Meanwhile, it was Republicans such as Ron DeSantis in Florida and Elise Stefanik in upstate New York who came down the hardest on the campus protests.
As I consider this tension, on the eve of a momentous election, I finally, deeply understand the undecideds.
I’m not the first to observe that what we have long referred to as voters who are undecided are actually voters who are unexcited. It’s not that most of these people don’t understand the issues, or haven’t researched the candidates. It’s that they once they begin to question which issues are most important to them, no candidate stacks up. If Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party are bad for Israel, but Donald Trump and the Republicans are bad for America, who do you vote for?
Historically, “dual loyalty” is a “bigoted trope used to cast the Jews as the other,” according to the American Jewish Committee. But alive and kicking around the heart and soul of many Jews in America is a question that many of them dare not say aloud:
Which is more important to us at this fraught moment, Israel or America?
“America will be around forever but Israel’s very existence is at stake,” one undecided voter commented on my Facebook page.
My Israeli-born, naturalized American husband, meanwhile, pointed out that the equation is not so simple: He doesn’t believe that Trump is good for Israel — just good for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Which president is better for Israel,” he said, “depends on which Israel you support — Bibi’s nationalist-fundamentalist one, or the progressive, secular state” (which he sees himself part of).
And for many Jewish voters, it’s actually not clear what “good for Israel” might even mean anymore. Does it mean letting Netanyahu and his government do whatever they want, unfettered? Or does it mean restraining the worst impulses of a rightwing government and pushing Israel’s leaders to keep hopes for a two-state solution alive?
I recently took three hours of my day to listen to Bari Weiss’ Honestly Podcast, featuring a debate between conservative Ben Shapiro and liberal Sam Harris. Shapiro was unabashedly team Trump, and Sam Harris a more tepid supporter for Kamala Harris (or “anyone but Trump”). They each thought their candidate was better for both Israel and America, resolving the dual loyalty question.
Come Election Day, many people won’t vote, will write in other candidates or will vote holding their noses. And I bet there are other “dual loyalists” trying to choose between their pocketbooks and conscience — or other competing loyalties.
And I? I would lose friends on both sides for saying who I am voting for — either getting called a selfhating Jew or a Nazi. (The irony is not lost on me.)
But my point is not who I’m voting for. It’s that I finally understand the undecideds. And I’m throwing my hat in with them.
Amy Klein is a New York-based writer covering health, fertility, parenting and Jewish issues. Her most recent book is The Trying Game: Get Through Fertility Treatment and Get Pregnant Without Losing Your Mind.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.
Credit: Getty Images; JTA illustration
Credit: Credit: Steve Wilson, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Meet two rabbis who are trying to fight ‘toxic polarization’ — one Jewish text at a time
ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL
JTA
Last month, clergy from 15 faith communities in Northern Virginia — Jewish, Evangelical, Mainline Protestant and Muslim — gathered at a local park to plant an elm tree. It was an optimistic gesture (they called it “Growing Hope in Democracy”) inspired by the anxiety all of their congregations were feeling about the recent election — not just the outcome, but the violence, polarization and discord that has surrounded the entire campaign.
A sapling might not strike you as the boldest response to an election that some are calling the most divisive in American history, but Holzman, 50, said that interfaith gatherings like the one in Northern Virginia “create a moral ballast that holds the ship of state upright.”
Holzman is committed to using faith as an antidote to political polarization. At NVHC, a Reform synagogue, he helped create the award-winning Rebuilding Democracy Project to bring Jewish values and texts to bear on creating constructive civic and communal dialogue. A national, nonsectarian version, the American Scripture Project, launched in 2022.
Holzman has also partnered with Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin, the former director of Jewish programs at the One America Movement, an interfaith effort to cool “toxic polarization” and bridge community and political divides. Schmelkin, 36, now an associate rabbi at Washington Hebrew Congregation, created a ritual during the COVID pandemic that inspired this month’s tree planting.
In 2017 Schmelkin was the associate rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel in Charlottesville, Virginia, when neo-Nazi marchers came to town. The experience inspired her work at One America and now at Washington Hebrew, an 1,800-member Reform congregation and fixture among the capital’s political and government class.
I spoke to Holzman and Schmelkin Thursday on Zoom, days before the 2024 election, in the hope that they could provide some encouragement, Jewish wisdom and practical advice for voters. Does Judaism offer perspective on overcoming political strife? Are houses of worship closing or widening the divides between Americans? And is civil dialogue what anybody needs right now, when the stakes in the election feel so high?
The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Is the dialogue in your communities civil? How willing are people to debate across political lines?
Holzman: Before Oct. 7, I was operating under the assumption that my community had largely sorted itself, like the rest of American society had sorted itself. In that way, a small minority of people were very quiet conservative and Republicans; almost nobody was a MAGA Republican. Oct. 7 elevated people’s emotions, and in the Jewish community created divisions around support for the State of Israel. I don’t think I have a lot of antiZionists in the congregation, but certainly a lot of people who are more willing to criticize the conduct of the war and the number of Palestinian casualties, and other people who felt like the real topic was Palestinian terror and the barbarism of Oct. 7. I’ve been quite impressed with the way in which people have been able to talk about that openly and disagree with each other within the congregation, largely because we have drummed it into the congregation’s head about the values we have around respect and honesty and courage when we talk with each other. We use the language of covenant, and that membership in the congregation has moral value, not just a financial responsibility. What does Judaism bring to bear on these notions of democracy and ending polarization?
Schmelkin: Judaism is replete with all kinds of examples of rabbis who disagree with each other. We see this in the Talmud, where the minority opinion is preserved and articulated over and over. There are also these incredible texts that teach us that we should show compassion even to our enemies. So for example, if your enemy’s ox has strayed from their home, or is stuck down under some kind of a heavy load, you’re supposed to return the ox or lift the ox up. And among the many answers to this in the Talmud is that we should prioritize helping our enemy because we likely have feelings of negativity, illwill, distance, estrangement, etcetera towards them. By helping our enemy, we force ourselves to suppress these feelings and express compassion instead. How am I supposed to have a civil conversation with someone who doesn’t want to have a civil conversation with me?
Holzman: Well, they’re probably not the person to have the conversation with, from my view. Because you’re right: There does actually have to be an openness from both parties to do this or it won’t work. One of the things that I have learned since Oct. 7 is that sometimes it’s actually not the right time to try to have the conversation. It doesn’t mean not ever, but not now, because we’re too agitated, we’re too emotional, we’re too upset, and we’re actually going to hurt each other more and do more damage.
Right now, when we’re feeling really vulnerable as Jews, it’s natural that we would feel like support for Hamas verbally is harm to us personally here in America, even though I’m not worried that I’m going to be attacked by a terrorist. But, God willing, that will pass, and in months or years to come we can sit down and have an intelligent conversation with someone we disagree with, who holds views that we find to be atrocious, because we’ll be in a stronger place emotionally.
But what happens when the harm isn’t emotional or hypothetical, but real?
Schmelkin: I don’t think that you have to choose. I am in dialogue with people who are anti-abortion, even though I am very much in favor of reproductive rights and choice. I’m in those conversations at the same time that I’m showing up to protest Supreme Court decisions on abortion. Those people know that, so I’m making my voice heard while at the same time trying to understand another perspective and share mine with the people who are willing to listen — not to convince them, but to share my own human story behind that issue, and to hear their human story behind that issue.
Holzman: Rachel facilitated a group at my synagogue with an evangelical church, and brought that group to a point where the two sides were ready to talk about abortion together, and it was one of the most spiritually powerful experiences in my entire life. Tears were just flowing as people told their stories and what was meaningful to them and why this issue touched them so deeply. The group felt closer together afterwards, after talking about abortion together. That’s what we’re supposed to do as human beings.
Do you worry that for all the great work being done on the ground, you can have leadership that just really undermines all that?
Holzman: Donald Trump is a uniquely talented wannabe authoritarian, and I don’t think there’s much debate about that. But what’s more important is to look at the voters. The man has 50% of the country behind him, and we should be asking why, and we should be trying to understand our fellow citizens and the reasons they’re supporting him. I just saw data that the biggest divide in our country is between non-college-educated white men and college-educated white women. It’s just a gigantic gap on every subject, on every policy topic. How often do college-educated white women interact with non-collegeeducated white men, and vice versa? How do we get people to interact with each other? How do we get people to hear each other’s stories, to understand what they’re struggling with?
How do you engage as a community in the wake of a bitter campaign?
Schmelkin: I’ll share what I once learned from Rabbi Michael Holzman — that at least at synagogues, we need to do what we do best, which is provide Jewish ritual and prayer and music and spirituality and study. We’re not going to solve it, but what we can do is lean into the things that bind us together. If we’re lighting Shabbat candles on Friday night, it doesn’t matter who voted for which candidate, because we’re lighting Shabbat candles together. If we’re in Torah study and we’re studying the parsha [the weekly portion], it doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter who you voted for, because we’re studying Torah. And I think that we’re going to have to elevate that idea and do it more and more.
Holzman: Judaism teaches us that we’re supposed to believe in atonement and forgiveness. We’re supposed to believe that the people who disagreed with us in this election are still in community with us, and we have to find ways to heal our disagreements. And so if we’re the ones who are afraid because our side lost, then that is precisely the time to find our neighbors and say, “Hey, we’re afraid. Can we talk about it?” Can we come together and show compassion to each other and heal? And the people who are more confident because their side won should be the ones who are showing compassion and embracing those who are afraid because their side lost, and that’s how democracy survives. That assumes a lot of good faith on both sides. What in your work as rabbis or advocates for democracy suggest that people are willing to reach out across these divides? Holzman: Going back to your previous question of what Ju-
daism offers here, most local Jewish communities, especially the Reform Jewish community, often serve as the glue of a network of interfaith clergy and institutions that get together on a regular basis and create a network of civic health all over the country, for decades. You see it after a natural disaster or an act of violence. Suddenly, the police and the county officials are calling the local clergy and saying, “Can you help us?” We are in these relationships with Christian and Muslim clergy partners, and we can create a moral ballast that holds the ship of state upright. Can either of you give me an example?
Schmelkin: I was in Charlottesville at ground zero of the Unite the Right rally in 2017, and the story of that entire summer leading up to that horrible event was the multifaith community showing up together and standing strong together. There were times when the multifaith community literally stood around the perimeter of my former congregation, because local law enforcement was not showing up the way we needed them to. And after that horrible, horrible shooting at the mosque in New Zealand in 2019 — the Muslim community in Charlottesville was really scared after that and I went with a group of local clergy and local activists and we stood outside the mosque during their morning prayers. And it was really a beautiful, beautiful relationship.
Holzman: There was a murder here, in 2017, and it was a Muslim girl who was killed on the street during Ramadan. And everybody thought it was a hate crime. It turned out to be a hate crime, but not an anti-Muslim hate crime, but an antiwoman hate crime. But we stood together as a faith community and produced a ritual that was peaceful, that brought together young people, that helped hold up our local values, and that could not have happened without the cooperation between all the different institutions that existed for decades. That’s a new thing in Jewish history, that we’re serving that role, and I think that in the months to come, that may be a super necessary role. Has there been talk in the faith community about worstcase scenarios, and what clergy are prepared to do in case of violence surrounding the aftermath of the election?
Holzman: There are already groups that are training clergy on how to be poll chaplains, who stand outside the polling area to be a calming presence on Election Day. And A More Perfect Union: The Jewish Partnership for Democracy has a whole resource center with scenario planning and thinking about how clergy can participate in efforts to tamp down any kind of unrest or potential violence. How do synagogues become comfortable places for people in the political minority? Should they be?
Schmelkin: There are lots and lots of synagogues where people feel like they can’t disagree with whoever the Democratic candidate is, and that they’ll be ostracized. I’ve had people come to me and say, “I don’t tell anybody I’m a Republican, because I’ll have no friends.” That’s terrible. We’re bigger than our political identities. I don’t want to be part of a community where people who are Republican think they have to be in the closet. That’s why I’ve been teaching the classes I’ve been teaching at Washington Hebrew. One class I am doing right now is called Holding Together: Navigating a Divisive Election That’s why our senior rabbi, Susan Shankman, in her Rosh Hashanah morning sermon, said that while in order to be authentic she needed to talk about Israel, she understood that people might disagree with her and her office door would be open to those who wanted to discuss it with her. Their perspective is valued here, and we want to hear their voice.
Holzman: I had a conversation with one of the authors of The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? (2013), about why people say they’re leaving their churches and what it would take for them to rejoin. And the number one thing they said would bring them back was a healthy governance, a healthy community where dialogue and relationship was respected. People are hungry for places where they’re not going to be ostracized because of the people who want to make churches and synagogues and mosques monocultural and mono-political. This week we are studying Parshat Noach. I don’t want to live in the world that Noah was living in, where everyone was doing each other harm. Why would I seek to contribute to that world? That’s the message I’m trying to preach as much as possible to my congregation through this election and through the inauguration, when there’s going to be prophets of fear and harm rampant in our media ecosystem, and I don’t want my congregation to buy into that culture and create the world that Noah was living in before the flood.
Andrew Silow-Carroll is editor at large of the New York Jewish Week and managing editor for Ideas for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media, The Jewish Press, or the Jewish Federation of Omaha or their Boards.
Campaign signs, in Hebrew, in support of Donald Trump, left, and Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz. Credit: Getty Images; JTA illustration by Joseph Strauss
B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
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For information about our historic synagogue, please visit our website at www.cblhs.org or contact any of our other board members: Renee Corcoran, Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Ann Moshman, MaryBeth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.
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SUNDAY: BESTT (Grades K-7), 9:30 a.m.; A Journey Through The Shabbat Siddur, 10:30 a.m. with Hazzan Krausman; Hands-On Judaism, 11:15 a.m. with Hazzan Krausman
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SUNDAY: Chabad on Campus International Shabbaton; Sunday Morning Wraps, 9 a.m.; Sunday Pod, 9-11 a.m. Open to kids from newborn to five. Register by texting ‘Sunday Pod’ to 402-215-5240.
MONDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Peronal Parsha 9:30 a.m.; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Translating Words of Prayer, 7 p.m. with David Cohen.
TUESDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Translating Words of Prayer, 11 a.m. with David Cohen; Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 7 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen.
WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Mystical Thinking (Tanya), 9:30 a.m.; Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Parsha Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen.
THURSDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 10 a.m.; Advanced Biblical Hebrew Grammar, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study, noon; Introduction to Alphabet, Vowels & Reading Hebrew, 6 p.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Code of Jewish Law Class, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY-Nov 22: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Lechayim, 4:30 p.m., go to ochabad.com/Lechayim to join; Candlelighting, 4:41 p.m.
SATURDAY-Nov. 23: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 5:43 p.m.
JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH
Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch. All services offered in-person with live-stream or teleconferencing options.
FRIDAY: Shabbat Candlelighting, 4:50 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30-7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST.
SATURDAY: Shabbat Service, 9:30-11 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; A special Lunch and Learn with Bob Hutkins on Reflections on Jewish food, cuisine, and culture following Shabbat services; Kiddush luncheon sponsored by Bob Hutkins. All members of the Lincoln Jewish Community are welcome to attend; Torah Study, noon on Parshat Vayera led by TBD via Zoom; Havdalah, 5:51 p.m.; Potluck Dinner and Family Game Night, 6 p.m. at SST. Adults and kids of all ages are welcome. Please bring a dish to share.
SUNDAY: LJCS Classes, 9:30-11:30 a.m. at TI; Men’s Bike/Coffee Group, 10:30 a.m. at The Mill on the Innovation Campus. For more information or questions please email Al Weiss at albertw801@gmail.com; Intro to Judaism Class, noon-1:30 p.m. at TI.
TUESDAY: Ladies' Lunch, 1 p.m. at Lila Mae's, 2110 Winthrop Rd.. If you'd like more information or would like to be added to the group please contact at oohhmmm.barb@gmail. com.
WEDNESDAY: LJCS Hebrew School, 4:30-6 p.m. at TI; Adult Ed Movie Night: Golda, 6:30 p.m. at SST.
FRIDAY-Nov 22: Shabbat Candlelighting, 4:45 p.m.; Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6:30-7:30 p.m. led by Rabbi Alex at SST.
SATURDAY-Nov. 23: Shabbat Service, 9:30-11 a.m. led by Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parshat Chayei Sarah led by TBD via Zoom; Havdalah, 5:51 p.m.
FRIDAYS: Virtual Shabbat Service, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month at Capehart Chapel. Contact TSgt Jason Rife at OAFBJSLL@icloud.com for more information.
In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Benjamin Sharff, Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin, and Cantor Joanna Alexander.
FRIDAY: Drop in Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m. In-Person; Village Walking Group, 10 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Service and Consecration, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.
SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom.
SUNDAY: Grades PreK-7, 9:30 a.m. In-Person; Temple Israel Welcomes Camp Sabra, 9:30 a.m. In-Person; Grade 5 Date Ceremony and Parent Meeting, 10:15 a.m. In-Person; Book Club, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom.
TUESDAY: Exploring Jewish Prayer, 6 a.m. In-Person.
WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m.; Grades 3-6, 4:30 p.m. In-Person; Hebrew High: Grades 8-12 6 p.m. InPerson.
THURSDAY: The Zohar: Thursday Morning Class 11 a.m. with Rabbi Sharff and Rabbi Azriel — In-Person & Zoom; Over-Simplified: Israel and Palestine, 6:30 p.m. In-Person.
FRIDAY-Nov 22: Drop in Mah Jongg, 9-11 a.m. InPerson; Village Walking Group, 10 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat B’yachad Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom. SATURDAY-Nov. 23: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person; Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. In-Person & Zoom.
Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.
Argentina’s Javier Milei likens Jewish foreign minister to Abraham
PHILISSA CRAMER
JTA
When it came time to swear in his new foreign minister, Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, turned to one of his favorite topics: the Torah.
Milei, who is not Jewish, cited the week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha, when inaugurating Gerardo Werthein, a Jewish businessman who is assuming the role. Milei fired his predecessor, in part because Argentina voted at the United Nations against the U.S. embargo of Cuba. Werthein had previously been Argentina’s ambassador to the United States. In public comments during a ceremony this week at Casa Rosada, his official residence, Milei drew a connection between the Torah portion, which describes God sending Abraham to Canaan to create a great nation, and Werthein’s task in steering Argentina’s foreign relations.
“The powers of heaven are sending you signals, Gerardo, because it speaks of the beginnings of Abraham’s travels throughout the world, spreading the messages of the creator,” Milei said in Spanish,
according to a video shared online by an Argentine news agency. “God tells him in this parashah that he will have a lot of influence on the nations of the world, and gives him an important responsibility to bring the messages of the Torah, of life and freedom to the entire world.”
A parashah is one of 54 portions of the Five Books of Moses read each Shabbat in synagogue; Jews study and chant the week’s portion according to a fixed calendar.
The Catholic-born Milei has been famously drawn to Judaism and said he intends to convert once he leaves office. (He says it would be impossible to serve as president and observe Shabbat fully, a commitment that involves abstaining from writing, driving and using electricity for a
rael. He has also cited Jewish stories at other events at Casa Rosada, including when he told the
day.) He studies regularly with a rabbi, Axel Wahnish, whom he appointed as his ambassador to Is-
year.
B’NAI ISRAEL
BETH EL
BETH ISRAEL
CHABAD HOUSE
LINCOLN
ISRAEL
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE
TEMPLE ISRAEL
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Hanukkah story and gave a menorah to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, last
President Javier Milei of Argentina gives a speech after his inauguration ceremony at Casa Rosada presidential palace on Dec. 10, 2023, in Buenos Aires. Credit: Getty Images; Tomas Cuesta/Getty Images
Life cycles
MITZVAH
TORI AND HALLE TAUBER
Tori and Halle Tauber, daughters of Kari and Brandon Tauber, celebrated their B’nai Mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Temple Israel.
Tori and Halle are seventhgrade students at Westside Middle School.
Tori and Halle dance competitively at Nebraska Dance on both Company and Squad programs. They enjoy spending time with their friends, watching scary movies and traveling.
For their mitzvah project, Tori and Halle baked sweets and spent time with residents of the Heritage Senior Living Center. They have a brother, Taylor Tauber, age 14.
Grandparents are Sue and Rhett Tauber of Highland, Indiana, and Sandy and Paul Epstein of Omaha.
IN MEMORIAM
GREGORY KULIK
Gregory Kulik passed away on Nov. 6, 2024 in Omaha. Services were held on Nov. 10, 2024 at Beth El Cemetery and were officiated by Rabbi Abraham.
He is survived by his wife Rita; and two sons, Yevgeniy and Aleksandr; and grandchildren: Hunter and Brooke.
Gregory worked as machinist till he retired in 2016. He loved fishing, being outdoors and spending time with friends and family. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.
SUBMIT OBITUARIES
at
www.omahajewishpress.com/site/forms/
Yechiel Leiter next Israeli ambassador
JTA
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed Yechiel Leiter, an American-Israeli former settler leader whose son was killed fighting in Gaza, as the next Israeli ambassador to the United States. The prime minister announced the appointment of Leiter, a former Netanyahu aide, saying Leiter is “a highly capable diplomat, an eloquent speaker and possesses a deep understanding of American culture and politics.”
His appointment likely signals that Netanyahu expects the incoming Trump administration to take a friendlier approach to Israeli West Bank settlements than President Joe Biden’s administration. Trump unveiled a peace plan in the final year of his first term that would have left Israel in control of vast swaths of the West Bank, and Trump’s ambassador to Israel during his first term, David Friedman, was also a supporter of settlements. Friedman has remained close to Trump and could be in the running to resume his old role.
Leiter was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and moved to Israel in 1978. Decades ago, he was among the leaders of the Israeli settlement in the West Bank flashpoint city of Hebron,
and later served in the Yesha Council, an umbrella body for the settlements, or communities built on land mostly controlled by but not annexed by Israel. He currently lives in the West Bank and has long been involved in the settlement enterprise and Netanyahu’s Likud party.
Leiter was appointed Netanyahu’s chief of staff in 2004, when Netanyahu was the finance minister. He also served in the education ministry and the Israel Ports Company, which manages the seaports of Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat.
Leiter has been affiliated with right-wing policy groups including the Shiloh Policy Forum and the Kohelet Policy Forum, a key player in the Netanyahu coalition’s controversial judicial overhaul. He has a doctorate degree in political philosophy from the University of Haifa.
His son, Maj. Moshe Yedidya Leiter, was killed in combat in Gaza in November 2023. When Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of Congress earlier this year, he brought Leiter in his delegation.
In 2020, in an open letter to American Christians, Leiter hailed Trump’s presidency and encouraged U.S. support for settlements. He called the first Trump administration “the best three years in US-Israel relations ever” and praised Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
Current Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog, who was appointed in 2021 by Naftali Bennett, a Netanyahu rival, ends his term in January. Trump will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, and Leiter’s term in Washington is expected to begin around the same time.
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