November 25, 2022

REGULARS

HAZZAN MICHAEL KRAUSMAN Beth El Synagogue

The Omaha Jewish community is in for an uplifting cultural, spiritual and musical experience during the weekend of Dec. 2-4. Beth El Synagogue is so excited to announce that this year’s Musical Scholar In Residence will be Yahala Lachmish.

According to the website of the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, “Yahala Lachmish is a musician, Cantor, Paytanit, [liturgical poet] and Singer. She holds a B.A. in composition from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and accompanies the Sephardic track of the Ashira Tehilot program for musicians and cantors at the Schechter Institute.

Yahala has been performing for 25 years as a solo artist, in various ensembles (such as Tandu and Voca Shabbat) as well as orchestras. She is the musical director and conductor for the National Singing Communities organization in Israel (Kehilot Sharot) and teaches Bib-

lical trope and sessions on Jewish liturgical poems.”

Yahala explained what led her to become one of the very few Mizrachi (Middle Eastern) Cantors.

“My first experience as a Hazzan was quite coincidental. It was a very uplifting experience, and that was when I realized I wanted to be a part of a community. I joined one straight away, though it took a few years for me to deeply understand and embrace my place as a prayer leader. From the minute I started practicing as a Cantor, it was just a matter of time for everything to fall in place and for other roads to open and merge. Within a few months I found my voice in Mizrachi prayer, and I realized that prayer for me takes many forms – whether in a synagogue or on stage. Ever since I have felt that this is the main road of my journey in life – building bridges between people through love, music and prayer.”

Yahala will participate in services and teach at Beth El on See Yahala Lachmish page 3

Scholar in Residence: Yahala Lachmish Reflections

from NATA

NATE SHAPIRO

Executive Director, Temple Israel

From Nov. 5-9, I had the privilege of attending the National Association for Temple Administration (NATA)’s annual conference in Clearwater Florida. This was my first time attending the conference in person, and it was an incredible experience. The conference included an inspirational keynote address, The Art of Asking Better Questions; How The Right Questions Lead To More Efficient and Effective Outcomes, from dynamic Executive Coach, Professor, 3x Best Selling Author, and Radio Host, Alonzo Kelly. This address provided some concrete strategies for effective leadership, such as neurolinguistic programming to communicating effectively.

I attended breakout sessions that addressed practical aspects of my po-

sition as Temple Israel’s Executive Director, such as Using the Reform Movement’s Market Place tools, to potentially save money for the congregation. I attended another session, Maximizing Your Staffing Structure, to ensure organizational alignment and efficiency, which gave me a tool for analyzing how we might evaluate positions and tasks to create a more organized hierarchy. I also attended sessions entitled: What the Torah can teach us about leading change and Maintaining Healthy Boundaries in a Culture of Yes!

In addition to breakout sessions, See NATA reflections page 2

Scrolling through Facebook, I was intrigued to read Rabbi Steven Abraham’s Kol Nidre sermon about what we need to do to prevent Omaha from becoming like the other, nearby Jewish communities that have all but faded away.

If you know me, we’ve probably had this conversation! Are we building a Jewish community that our children will want to live in as adults? Are we instilling in our children what is needed for them to become the next generation of community leaders? Are we providing the opportunities for our chil-

dren to engage Jewishly (and joyfully) with their peers and their community? As a current Federation board member and the immediate past president at Friedel Jewish Academy, I’ve become more and more focused on how we can work together to answer these questions and to grow Jewish Omaha.

Vibrant Jewish communities emphasize education and youth programming, starting with babies and continuing through the teen years. The data is clear that having a thriving Jewish day school is a necessary component.

Follow the data page 2

JEFF ZACHARIA

Yahala Lachmish

Nate Shapiro

Continued from page 1

A 2010 AVI CHAI Foundation study found that approximately 40% of the 3,000 Jewish leaders—defined as those who have spearheaded new Jewish initiatives, direct existing mainstream Jewish organizations, and are considered leaders or activists regarding Jewish endeavors— aged 22 to 40 in the study attended a Jewish day school.

Omaha has an exceptional Jewish day school, Friedel Jewish Academy. Friedel serves families across our community: Friedel families belong to each of the Omaha synagogues, some are Jewish families who do not affiliate with a synagogue, and others are not Jewish but have chosen to become part of our community, after first sending their children to the ELC.

Friedel offers an excellent, well-rounded secular education. Friedel has small class sizes, skilled teachers who are given the resources they need to help students reach their potential, and dual language immersion. While other schools are cutting the arts and physical education, Friedel students have weekly art, gym, and swimming classes. And at a time when test scores have fallen across the country, Friedel’s math and reading scores remain high.

But Friedel’s benefits go beyond that. The school is a true community: Older students and younger students mix throughout the day, helping the older students develop lead-

Follow the data

ership skills and giving the younger students a chance to learn from the older ones. Parents, too, are brought into the community for events and celebrations, both during the

Industries, Inc. and father of Friedel students, says, “Having a day school for Jewish kids is essential in attracting high caliber Jewish professionals to the Omaha community. As an international business, we have to compete, nationally, for talent. Without core Jewish infrastructure, we immediately start with one arm tied behind our back.”

NATA reflections

Continued from page 1 there were also formal and informal discussion groups with other Executive Directors.

I found discussion groups about maximizing facility usage and cemetery management to be particularly helpful.

The networking that occurred with my peers and colleagues there was invaluable. I now have a proverbial Rolodex of colleagues that deal with similar challenges whom I can call and ensure that I’m not reinventing the wheel constantly.

school day and outside of it.

Friedel gives students the tools they need to be the future leaders of our community. Jewish traditions and values are an integrated part of each day, rather than being separate from everyday life. Students become fluent in Hebrew. In addition to the great brain benefits that come from becoming bilingual at an early age, this helps our students to feel at home in Jewish settings around the world so they can make their own choices about how they will relate to Judaism as adults.

Finally, Friedel helps attract new families to Omaha. Stephen Kaniewski, CEO of Valmont

We’re lucky to have so much going in our favor in our Omaha Jewish community, and Friedel is one key component of it. Community support, both financial—from the Federation, foundations, and individual donors—and by people trusting the school with their children has allowed Friedel to get to this point. And the school is growing: Friedel which currently goes through sixth grade, will welcome its first seventh grade class in 2023, and will expand through eighth grade in 2024.

Friedel has made a huge difference for my family. I encourage you to learn more about the school, whether it’s as a prospective parent or as an interested community member. Feel free to reach out to me, or to school staff, if you’d like to learn more. Friedel’s website is www.FriedelJewish Academy.com. If you’d like more information, please reach out to Friedel’s Head of School, Beth Cohen, at bcoh en@fjaomaha.com, or Director of Advancement, Sara Kohen, at skohen@fjaomaha. com

There was also a great group of vendors and sponsors that could lead to fruitful relationships in the future. NATA also supplied a photographer, at no cost, to provide professional headshots to anyone that needed one!

I also managed to have a little fun. We ate very well, enjoyed a sunset dinner cruise and were able to visit an aquarium that rehabbed injured dolphins.

I would like to take a moment to thank The Sadie and Harry Kulakofsky Endowment of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation for providing funds. I also want to thank Temple Israel’s Board of Trustees for making professional development a priority in the annual budget. I also want to thank the Clergy and Staff at Temple Israel for holding down the fort, so that I could focus on The Big Picture conference.

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Upcoming IHE Lunch and Learn Series

SCOTT LITTKY

Institute for Holocaust Education Executive Director

The Institute for Holocaust Education is pleased to announce the next three months of our Third Thursday Lunch and Learn Series speakers. The Third Thursday Lunch and Learn Series, presented by the Institute for Holocaust Education, is programming that seeks to educate, engage, and empower the community through discussion, presentations, and informative speakers about topics pertaining to the Holocaust. All Third Thursday presentations are offered via Zoom, from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. on their respective days.

On Dec. 15, 2022 our speaker will be Dr. Richard Quinlan, the director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education at Saint Elizabeth University. Dr, Quinlan will be speaking about Burundi. Burundi is a small, landlocked nation in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa largely known as Rwanda’s neighbor. Tragically, it is a country that has also suffered two genocides and continues to wrestle with the violence of its past. This presentation will offer a brief overview of Burundi’s tumultuous history as well as the potential for a brighter future.

On Jan. 19, 2023, the Institute for Holocaust Education will welcome Professor Michael Kelly, the Senator Allen A. Sekt Endowed Chair in Law Professor at Creighton University School of Law. Professor Kelly coordinates the International and Comparative Law Program at Creighton University School of Law, including its nationally-ranked summer school program on international criminal law and the Holocaust in Germany: From Nuremberg to The Hague. He is past-president of the U.S. National Chapter and currently a member of the Board of Directors of L’Association International du Droit Pénal, a Paris-based society of international criminal law scholars, judges and attorneys founded in 1924 that enjoys

consultative status with the United Nations. His research and teaching focuses on the fields of international and comparative law and Native American law. He is the author and co-author of seven books and over forty articles; his widely-cited work is among the top 3% downloaded from the Social Sci-

ence Research Network (SSRN). Professor Kelly will be sharing his experiences on the Nuremberg to the Hague program.

On Feb. 16, 2023 our speaker will be Hillary Nather-Detisch, Executive Director of the Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center. She will speak about University of Omaha’s (UNO) vision for a future facility and hub for art and dialogue around art, Holocaust education, human rights and genocide as well as how to visit and engage with the Phase 1 temporary space that opens in early February 2023. Hillary works closely with leaders from across campus and the Omaha community, including philanthropic, government and corporate partners to develop the Museum’s foundational operations, structure and vision. The Museum and Learning Center will serve as a hub for intercultural dialogue and education for the region, where art becomes the tool to begin a safe discussion for all visitors – students, faculty, staff, the greater Omaha community and beyond.

For more information regarding Third Thursday programming at IHE, or to RSVP for any of these IHE Third Thursday Lunch and Learn programs, please reach out to Scott Littky, Executive Director of IHE, at slittky@ihene.org

Omaha Community Playhouse presents Sister’s Christmas Catechism

It’s “CSI: Bethlehem” in this holiday mystery extravaganza, from the author of Late Nite Catechism, as Sister takes on the mystery that has intrigued historians throughout the ages— whatever happened to the Magi’s gold? (“We know that Mary used the frankincense and myrrh as a sort of potpourri—they were in a barn after all.”)

Retelling the story of the nativity, as only Sister can, this hilarious holiday production is bound to become a yearly classic. Employing her scientific tools, assisted by local choirs as well as audience members, Sister creates a living nativity unlike any you’ve ever seen. With gifts galore and bundles of laughs, Sister’s Christmas Catechism is sure to become the newest addition to your holiday traditions.

The production runs at the Omaha Community Playhouse

Yahala Lachmish

Continued from page 1 both Friday night, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m., and Shabbat morning, Dec. 3, at 10 a.m. Additionally, in collaboration with Temple Israel, she will present an extraordinary community Havdalah concert on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Temple Israel. She will also present a class at Temple Israel on Sunday, Dec. 4, at 10:30 a.m. entitled: Piyutim Around the World Cantor Joanna Alexander of Temple Israel commented, “We are so excited to learn about this musical poetic art form. Piyutim are integral to Jewish Liturgy but are often skipped over in Reform worship, so slowing down to explore their meaning and impact on worship is an amazing learning opportunity.”

When asked about her unique combination of talents and interests, Yahala replied, “Ever since I was a little girl, I have been singing and loving every moment of bringing people together through music. I have also always loved praying and, surprisingly, it took me years to feel the deep connection between both of these worlds – music and prayer. I am very blessed to have that as my calling in life – building bridges between people through love, music and prayer.”

Throughout the weekend, we will be treated to her special insight into the world of Piyutim. Not only will we learn about the origin and content of some of her favorite liturgical poems, but Yahala will also share some Mizrachi and Sephardi melodies, and even teach us songs that we can add to our own traditions.

Piyutim are poetic insertions that come from everywhere Jews live and pray. Some date back to the Middle Ages like Lecha Dodi (Shabbat) and Unitane Tokef (High Holy Days),

in the

from Nov. 25 to Dec. 23. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by visiting the OCP Box office at 6915 Cass St., calling the OCP Box Office at 402.553.0800, or visiting omahaplayhouse.com

and some are still being composed as we speak. “Some Piyutim are meant to endure for generations, and some are meant for a specific purpose (e.g., prayers for the people of Ukraine.),” Yahala explains. “This liturgical poetry is composed by authors who are influenced by the disposition of the Jewish community in which they find themselves at the time they are writing. By studying these Piyutim, we can learn a lot about the history and culture of their community of origin.”

For the past three years, Beth El has been privileged to host a Musical Scholar In Residence from Israel. This has been made possible due to the generosity of the Albert and Eleanor Feldman Family Israel Foundation. Past artists have included Feliza and Or Zohar and Yoel Sykes. This year’s version promises to be the most engaging and enlightening yet. Robby Erlich, Beth El’s Engagement Coordinator who has been instrumental in producing this exciting weekend said, “While I was in Israel just a short couple of weeks ago, I was amazed by the ruach and spirit that I felt with music there. I am excited for Yahala to bring that spirit to Beth El!”

Rabbi Steven Abraham summed up the feelings of all of us who are involved. “I’m extremely excited to have Yahala Lachmish at Beth El to enable our congregants to experience her love and passion for Jewish prayer.”

The entire community is invited to join us for Friday night and Saturday services at Beth El, and the Saturday night concert, and Sunday morning class at Temple Israel. There is no charge to attend any of these events. For more information, please visit our website, www.bethel-omaha.org, or contact me at Hazzankrausman@bethel-omaha.org

Dr. Richard Quinlan

Michael Kelly

Hillary Nather Detisch

Howard Drew Theatre

New in the Kripke Library’s collection

SHIRLY BANNER

JFO Library Specialist

JUVENILE:

Last Night I Has a Laughmare by Judy Egett (J.E.) Laufer

Judy Laufer’s delightful new picture book, Last Night I Had a Laughmare, takes sleepyheads of all ages to a magical world of bedtime adventure where nothing is EVER quite what it seems! Clever rhymes and vivid imagery bring Laufer’s delightful picture book to life with laugh-outloud wit and adventure, making bedtime a magical time for sleepyheads of all ages as they explore the unforgettable land of Gigglyville!

Star-hung swings? Purple hair? Shoelaces made of spaghetti? These are just a few of the surprises in store for visitors to Gigglyville... and the town’s silly residents love to have company. Bring your own chair and join Liverlips, Smellyfeet, Purplepudding, and Dishes on an exciting romp through a place where special wishes are granted. Snowballs are made of ice cream. Readers will be laughing ‘til morning. Fantastic fun!

ADULT: Concealed by Esther Amini

Esther Amini grew up in Queens, New York, during the freewheeling 1960s. She also grew up in a Persian-Jewish household, the American-born daughter of parents who had fled Mashhad, Iran. In Concealed, she tells the story of being caught between these two worlds: the dutiful daughter of tradition-bound parents who hungers for more self-determination than tradition allows.

Exploring the roots of her father’s deep silences and explosive temper, her mother’s flamboyance and flights from home, and her own sense of indebtedness to her Iranian-born brothers, Amini uncovers the story of her parents’ early years in Mashhad, Iran’s holiest Muslim city; the little-known history of Mashhad’s underground Jews; the incident that steeled her mother’s resolve to leave; and her parents’ arduous journey to the U.S., where they faced a new threat to their traditions: the threat of freedom. Determined to protect his daughter from corruption, Amini’s father prohibits talk, books, education, and pushes an early Persian marriage instead. Can she resist? Should she? Fo-

cused intently on what she stands to gain, Amini comes to see what she also stands to lose: a family and community bound by food, celebrations, sibling escapades, and unexpected acts of devotion by parents to whom she feels invisible.

An Affair of Spies by Ronald H. Balson

From the winner of the National Jewish Book Award Ronald H. Balson’s An Affair of Spies tells of a spy mission to rescue a defector from Germany and prevent the Nazis from

creating an atomic bomb.

Nathan Silverman grew up in Berlin in the 1920s, the son of a homemaker and a theoretical physicist. His idyllic childhood was soon marred by increasing levels of bigotry against his family and the rest of the Jewish community, and after his uncle is arrested on Kristallnacht, he leaves Germany for New York City with only his mother’s wedding ring to sell for survival.

While attending an evening course at Columbia in 1942, Nathan notices a recruitment poster on a university wall and decides to enlist in the military and help fight the Nazi regime. To his surprise, he is quickly selected for a special assignment; he is trained as a spy, and ordered to report to the Manhattan Project. There he learns that the Allies are racing to develop a nuclear weapon before the Nazis, and a German theoretical physicist is hoping to defect. The physicist was a friend of his father’s, and Nathan’s mission is to return to Berlin via France and smuggle him out of Europe.

Nathan will be accompanied by Dr. Allison Fisher, a brilliant young scientist who can speak French; he travels to her lab at the University of Chicago for a crash course in nuclear physics, then they embark on their adventure. Nathan and Allison soon develop feelings for one another, but as their relationship deepens they move ever closer to their dangerous goal. Will they be able to escape Europe with the defector and start a new life together, or will they fail their mission and become two more casualties of war?

Temple Israel hosts camp visitors

STEFANIE BAGUIAN

It’s never too early to solidify summer camp plans for your children. Temple Israel is hosting a series of opportunities to meet with Jewish away camp representatives to help families explore their options.

Our first visitor, Dylan Singer, will be in town Wednesday, Nov. 30 to meet with interested families. During Hebrew School, the Senior Assistant Director of Olin-SangRuby Union Institute (OSRUI) will be speaking with grades 3-6 and be present in the Temple Israel building to answer any questions parents may have about their programs.

From Director of Education, Jennie Gates Beckman, “This year we are excited to have several camps planning visits with our community to help communicate the magic that is Jewish summer camp! Camp is an incredible way to build lasting Jewish identities and Temple Israel works with all our families to ensure they have camp as an option.”

OSRUI offers camp sessions for students entering grades 2-12, so if there are families with kids outside of grades 3-6 interested in learning more – we will be providing information on subsequent Sundays during religious school and are happy to arrange additional opportunities to speak with individual families.

“Our campers build relationships face-toface at camp, coming together to laugh, play, sing, and support each other,” said Solly Kane, Executive Director at OSRUI. “At OSRUI, we live the Jewish values of Ometz (Perseverance), Kavod (Respect), Tsumet Lev (Really Listening), Derech Eretz (Doing the Right Thing), Chesed (Kindness) and so many more!”

Temple Israel has many camps that we partner with. For a list of partner camps and more details on scholarships and financial aid, visit www.templeisraelomaha.com/camp or reach out to Jay Ascher, Director of Youth Engagement, 402.556.6536.

Women’s Wellness

Oasis

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor

Dec. 12 from 5–8 p.m., Chabad of Nebraska will host the Women’s Wellness Oasis, a program that explores spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health for women.

The evening starts with dinner and participants will dive into innovative and fun ways to support our health. It’s a time to come together in sisterhood, relax, catch up, eat a healthy and elegant meal, and take care of ourselves.

“We all need to care for our well-being,” Shani Katzman said, “and sometimes we need a break, come together as women and focus on ourselves. That includes awareness of how we are feeling spiritually, are we paying attention to what we are eating, are we sleeping enough, are we taking good care of our emotional health?”

Highlight of the evening is speaker Shaindy Jacobson, who will speak about women’s Jewish heritage and its practical application in the symphony of life.

“Shaindy Jacobson is the director of the Rosh Chodesh Society,” Shani Katzman said, “the women’s studies division at the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI). She has been involved in the field of Jewish education for 40 years, teaching at the Associated Beth Rivkah Schools, in both their High School and Division of Higher Learning Teacher’s Seminary. She has also worked extensively with students at risk, and served as community liaison and counselor for Operation Survival, a substance abuse program.”

She is also a mentor at Links and Living Legacies, which are organizations that focus on Jewish children who have lost a parent. Furthermore, she is an accomplished musician and composer, who is deeply passionate about the role music plays in our lives.

Shandy resides in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, N.Y., together with her husband, Simon. She is proudest of, and most thankful for, her G-d given gifts: her children and grandchildren.

This event is co-chaired by Karen Cohen, Andi Goldstein, Shani Katzman, Helen Kay, Patty Nogg, Mushka Tenenbaum, Susan Witkowski and Annette van de Kamp-Wright. Cost for the evening is $100 per person; please make your reservation at //ochabad.com/wellness by Dec. 8.

This event is made possible in part through the generosity of the Kenneth Ray Tretiak Memorial Fund, Impact Grant of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, and the Livingston Foundation Grant.

20th Annual Omaha Jewish Film Festival:

Not just for foodies

MARK KIRCHHOFF JFO Engagement and Education

In Search of Israeli Cuisine is the third in a series of four films in this year’s Omaha Jewish Film Festival. Showing is Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. in the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater in the Staenberg Omaha Jewish Community Center. Tickets are $10, available in advance by going to jew ishomaha.org and clicking on the sliding banner at the top, or at the door with cash or check. As with all the films, snacks are available free of charge and a drawing for free tickets follows the show.

This film starts out as if it might be no different from any of the many foodie shows on television. Award-winning chef Michael Solomonov goes on a journey in search of Israeli cuisine. He encounters chefs, home cooks, farmers, vintners, and cheese makers, all drawn from the multitude of cultures that make up Israel today –Jewish, Arab, Muslim, Christian, Druze. As the documentary unfolds, it touches on issues like culinary appropriation and national identity as defined through food. Some of those he talks to mouth platitudes about everyone’s getting along around the dinner table, but others aren’t so simplistic, mentioning things like the difficulty Palestinian restaurants have in attracting a diverse clientele during times of tension. And

Letter from the JCRC

SHARON BRODKEY

Executive Director, JCRC

JCRC is reaching out through Omaha Police Dept. and the Omaha Interdenominational groups with the following letter.

People of all religions, backgrounds and ethnicities deserve to feel safe and free from fear whether gathering for religious worship and service or participating in communal events. Faith and ethnicity-based institutions are sanctuaries – from synagogues, churches, temples and mosques, where we pray

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not all speak admiringly of the melting-pot approach to cuisine; some resent Israelis’ helping themselves to the cooking traditions of other cultures. This film will prove to be a worthy selection from the menu of movies offered this year. And in keeping with this year’s theme of Views of the World Through Israeli Eyes, it provides a thought-provoking look into living in a country with many cultures influencing daily life. B’tavon!

The festival concludes on Dec. 6th with Kiss Me Kosher. This final film includes a talk-back session with the actors, writer, and producer that followed a screening at the Atlanta Film Festival.

The 20th Annual Omaha Jewish Film Festival is made possible through the generosity of these Jewish Federation of Omaha

Foundation funds: Lois Jeanne Schrager Memorial Fund; Samuel & Bess Rothenberg Endowment Fund; Ann Woskoff Schulman Memorial Fund; Ruth Frisch & Oscar S. Belzer Endowment Fund; Lindsey Miller-Lerman (Avy L. & Roberta L. Miller Foundation); Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation IMPACT Grant. Additional support from B’nai B’rith – Henry Monsky Lodge.

Address questions about the festival to Mark Kirchhoff at mkirchhoff@jewishomaha.org or 402.334.6463.

- to community centers, faith-based schools, and other communal institutions where communities gather.

The Nonprofit Security Grant (NSGP) is a government program that keeps our communities safe by helping communities install vital security infrastructure, conduct security training, and so much more, so all can continue to gather and flourish. Last year, approximately $250 million was available to at-risk faith-based nonprofits across the country to apply See Letter on page 11

Shaindy Jacobson

Momentum Israel trips

“Inspire a woman and you inspire a family. Inspire enough families, you inspire a community, inspire enough communities and you can change the world”

That’s the motivation that drives the Jewish Federation of Omaha to continue to partner with Momentum and participate in its Israel trip for men and its year-long Jewish journey for women.

The program includes Jewish and Israel education, including a trip to Israel, and the selection process emphasizes each participant’s ability to transmit their experience and knowledge to their families and to participate in the Jewish community as volunteers and advocates.

In addition, the Jewish Federation of Omaha brings these trip participants North, to the Western Galilee, to see first-hand how the support we provide to the region helps its residents. With the help from our partner – Partnership2Gether – we end our time in Israel truly understanding the power we have to make a difference.

Recently, 21 moms and dads from the Omaha metropolitan area participated in the 2022 trips. Here are some of their impressions:

As shared by the women, “It’s hard to believe that we are sitting in the airport waiting to board a plane to fly home. Ten days with an amazing set of women and a lifetime worth of experiences for us to hold onto as we continue to develop the friendships that started here in Israel. Many of us were friends before this trip, but now we are so much more than that. As they call us to board the plane I have mixed feelings about leaving. L’hitraot. I leave with new friends both from Israel and from Omaha."

As shared by the men, “Today was our last day in Israel, and we traveled North to spend the day in Omaha’s partner region, Western Galilee. We had an opportunity to tour the Western Galilee Medical Center, the closest hospital to the Lebanese border. We also toured an elementary school with a proud group of 6th graders. With the notable exception of underground bomb shelters, the school and classrooms are more similar than different when compared to ours. We went to a community center in the Israeli Arab village of Sheikh Danun and learned about the programs he develops to bring together Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. They are seeking to understand as much as they are seeking to be understood. This is something we could all put into practice in our lives every day.”

For information about Jewish Federation of Omaha's 2023 Momentum programs, please contact Stacy Feldman at Sfeldman@jewishomaha.org or 402.334.6440.

For more information about the Momentum Trip Experience and Year-Long Journey, log-on to www.MomentumUnlimited.org

SP O TLIGHT

GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY

PHOTOS FROM RECENT JEWISH COMMUNITY EVENTS SUBMIT A PHOTO: Have a photo of a recent Jewish Community event

Left: This quilt was made to honor veterans and designed for B’nai Israel. Thank you to the artist, Denita Van Wyk.

At m(EAT) the Press. Top: Gail Veitzer entertains the kids; above: Howard Kutler and Rabbi Eli Tenenbaum; below: Helene Shrago and Mary Sue Grossman; and bottom: Lauren and Phil Malcom with their daughters.

Below: Grandfather-granddaughter time for Rabbi Mendel Katzman and Chana Tenenbaum.

Above: RBJH Residents and staff recently celebrated the retirement of Tony Smith, who has worked in Dietary for 32 years. We appreciate his many years of service and dedication to RBJH. It is time to unwind and celebrate. Mazal Tov, Tony!

Above and below: The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home celebrated Veteran’s Day by thanking veterans of all military branches and the serviceman’s spouses. All servicemen/women got a veteran’s T-shirt, and the L.O.V.E. and teen volunteers made Veteran’s Day cards for all the celebrants. Thank you for your sacrifice, your bravery, and service.

The Jewish Press

(Founded in 1920)

Margie Gutnik President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Gabby Blair Staff Writer Sam Kricsfeld Digital support Mary Bachteler Accounting

Jewish Press Board

Margie Gutnik, President; Abigail Kutler, Ex-Officio; Seth Feldman; David Finkelstein; Ally Freeman; Mary Sue Grossman; Les Kay; Natasha Kraft; Chuck Lucoff; David Phillips; and Joseph Pinson.

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 and the Jewish Press

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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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Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de Kamp-Wright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450.

Postal

The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $40 per calendar year U.S.; $80 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422.

Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or email to: jpress@jewishomaha.org

Staying positive

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor

Palestinian assailant kills 3 Israelis in the West Bank before being shot dead. Israel will not cooperate with FBI inquiry into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh. Former Jewish leader clashes with demonstrators at Munich anti-vax protest on Kristallnacht.

Most weeks, I intend to write about something positive, something hopeful for this page in our paper. Then I check the newswire and my heart sinks. Dual crankiness (can’t find a topic and the deadline is looming; all the news is bad) ensues. What should I write about in the current climate? Dave Chapelle? The latest UN shenanigans? Israeli politics? No, thank you.

There is a book sitting on my desk, called The Positivity Bias. It’s by Mendel Kalmenson, and to be honest, it’s been sitting there for quite a while. My friend gave it to me and I promised I’d read it. So far, I’ve made it to page 21. Turns out, I don’t always keep my promises.

“The shape of our thoughts,” Kalmenson wrote, “directly impacts the color of our emotions, the tone of our speech, and even the efficacy of our actions. Certain thoughts are more likely to lead us down dark and destructive pathways, while other thoughts have the power to inspire and strengthen us in pursuit of our highest purpose.”

That’s where I stopped reading. My excuses range from being too busy, having a vast number of other books to also read, and being tired. Has it occurred to me that I could put this in my purse and take it

home and read it during the weekend? Well, no. Once again, I tell myself I really need to read this, soon. Maybe I will take it with me on the plane next month.

Having a positive attitude sometimes feels like work. It’s worthwhile work, for sure, but a small part of my brain still thinks this should be easier. And maybe it’s just the long-term consequence of the pandemic, but it seems like the entire country is just a little more depressed, a little angrier, than usual. I cannot be the only one who feels that way.

All the more reason to try harder, fight more, bring the light. Those headlines? Perhaps they should remain as headlines only. Some days it is okay to not click, to not read the whole story. Some days it is okay to avoid the noise and not go down that rabbit hole. If you didn’t watch SNL last week, don’t look it up online. While I don’t recommend we stick our heads in the sand, some days it is advisable to curate our news intake. Being informed is not the same thing as being immersed.

It would help tremendously if the bigger world

out there could stop throwing antisemitism around like it’s Bar Mitzvah candy. But we all know we can’t hold our breath. So, barring the antisemites getting

ADAM MENDELSOHN JTA

Max Glass, a recent immigrant from Hungary, had an unhappy Civil War. Tricked out of his enlistment bonus when he joined the Eighth Connecticut Infantry — recent arrivals were soft touches for scam artists — Glass was then “abused for reason [sic] that I never understand” by men in his regiment. “It may have been,” he speculated, because I did not make them my companions in drinking, or as I am a Jew. If I went in the street or any wher I was called Jew. Christh Killer & such names. I also had stones, dirt thrown at me (sic).

He complained to his commanding officer, begging to be transferred, because “no man that had feeling could stand such treatment,” but to no avail.

Finally, Glass fled his regiment, hoping to receive better treatment if he enlisted in the Navy. Instead he was tried as a deserter and sentenced to hard labor.

Glass was not the only Jewish soldier to be cruelly mistreated when serving in the Union Army. But as the new Shapell Roster of Jewish Service in the Civil War demonstrates, his experience was far from typical.

For every Max Glass there was a Louis Gratz. Born in Posen, Prussia, Gratz scraped by as a peddler before the war. Enlisting in April 1861 — just days after the war started — he took to military life. By August he had become an officer. As he proudly wrote to his family,

I have now become a respected man in a respected position, one filled by very few Jews. I have been sent by my general to enlist new recruits so I am today in Scranton, a city in Pennsylvania only twenty miles from Carbondale, where I had peddled before. Before this no one paid any attention to me here; now I move in the best and richest circles and am treated with utmost consideration by Jews and Christians.

In contrast to Max Glass, his letters whisper not a word about prejudice. As my new book on the experience of Jewish soldiers in the Union army demonstrates, Gratz’s experience was not unusual.

Max Glass ultimately escaped his sorry start in the army through the intercession of General Benjamin Butler. After reading Glass’ tale of woe, the general pardoned the hapless Hungarian.

But this story does not have a redemptive ending. Beyond the rank and file, Jews felt the sting of prejudice. The damage done in wartime left a legacy of antisemitism that continues to this day.

a clue and finding a new hobby, we have to be in charge of our own happiness.

We have to remind ourselves that for each bad story, there are a multitude of good ones. Shabbat dinner with your kids, a simcha, or a really wellmade kugel from your mom’s recipe. Intentional prayer, a smile from a stranger, a meeting with an old friend, or a short conversation that changed the course of your day for the better. And let’s treat the positive experiences with the attention they serve.

Let’s find happiness where we can and worry only about the things we can control.

For even as General Butler was pardoning Max Glass, he was locked in a heated public exchange that reveals how wartime warped attitudes towards Jews. The imbroglio began when Butler took special note of the fact that a small group of smugglers, recently detained by the Union army, were Jewish. When challenged, the combative general refused to apologize. Instead, he countered that deceit and disloyalty were among the defining characteristics of Jews, and that avarice was a particularly Jewish avocation. According to his logic, Jews could never become loyal Americans because they preferred profit to patriotism.

Butler’s corrosive claims reflected a steady drip of acid on the home-front that began in 1861. In the first year of the war, Jews felt the sting of prejudice as the “shoddy” scandals captured the public imagination. Military contractors were publicly accused of fleecing the army by supplying substandard uniforms and gear, even as soldiers shivered in the field for want of decent clothing.

In seeking to explain the profiteering and corruption that attended the rush to war, the press summoned the specter of the venal and disloyal Jew. Cartoonists delighted in identifying Jews as the archetypal cunning contractors, who not only refused to enlist but also actively undermined the war ef-

fort. Jews were also imagined as the speculators who profited at the expense of the common good and as smugglers who traded with the enemy. Butler, in other words, was drawing on calumnies that became common currency during wartime.

Even as the heated rhetoric of the war years receded after 1865, these ideas remained primed for action. They were returned to service in the Gilded Age.

It was no coincidence that the episode traditionally identified as initiating modern antisemitism in America — the exclusion of Joseph Seligman by Henry Hilton from the Grand Union Hotel in Saratoga Springs on May 31, 1877 — had at its center a man who had made a fortune as a contractor and banker during the Civil War. Seligman, a friend of President Grant, was viewed as an exemplar of the new capitalism that was remaking America.

Henry Hilton slandered Seligman as “shoddy— false—squeezing—unmanly,” a social climber who “has to push himself upon the polite.” Hilton drew upon themes familiar from wartime antisemitism: the Jew as speculator who trafficked in credit and debt; the Jew as obsequious ingratiator who attached himself to the powerful; the Jew as profiteer who advanced by improper means; the Jew as vulgarian who flaunted his (and her) obscene wealth and did not know his (or her) place; and the Jew as overlord whose money allowed him (or her) to displace others.

In an age of inequality and excess, the antisemite imagined the Jew as embodying all that was wrong with American capitalism. And during an age of mass immigration from Romania and the Russian Empire, they soon added another theme familiar from General Butler’s wartime diatribe: The Jew could not be trusted to become fully American.

Sadly, even as Louis Gratz, Max Glass and many other Jewish soldiers became American by serving in the Union army, the Civil War produced a range of pernicious ideas about Jews that have proven remarkably durable. We have escaped the everyday torments that afflicted Max Glass, but are still haunted in the present by the fantasies of Benjamin Butler and Henry Hilton.

Adam Mendelsohn is the author of "Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War: The Union Army.“

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.

What I learned about antisemitism from a remarkable new archive about Jewish Civil War soldiers

Edward Solomon rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the 82nd Illinois Infantry, serving with distinction at Gettysburg. Credit: Library of Congress

Synagogues

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

618 Mynster Street Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 712.322.4705 www.cblhs.orb email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE

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

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

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

CHABAD HOUSE

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

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY:

B’NAI JESHURUN

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

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE

Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road Offutt AFB, NE 68123 402.294.6244 email: oafbjsll@icloud.com

ROSE BLUMKIN

JEWISH HOME

323 South 132 Street Omaha, NE 68154 rbjh.com

TEMPLE ISRAEL

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

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: TIFERETH ISRAEL

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

Monthly Speaker Series Service, Friday, Dec. 9, 7:30 p.m. with our guest speaker. Our service leader is Larry Blass. Everyone is always welcome at B’nai Israel!

For information on COVID-related closures and about our historic synagogue, please contact Howard Kutler at hkutler@hotmail.com or any of our other board members: Scott Friedman, Rick Katelman, Janie Kulakofsky, Howard Kutler, Carole and Wayne Lainof, Mary-Beth Muskin, Debbie Salomon and Sissy Silber. Handicap Accessible.

Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON MINYAN SCHEDULE: Mornings on Sundays, 9:30 a.m.; Mondays and Thursdays, 7 a.m.; Evenings on Sunday-Thursday, 5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat 6 p.m. at Beth El & Live Stream.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. at Beth El & Live Stream; Havdalah, 5:35 p.m. Zoom Only.

SUNDAY: BESTT Thanksgiving Break; Texts That Inspire Us Pause, 6 p.m. with Rabbi Abraham and Pastor Johnson.

TUESDAY: Pirkei Avot, 11:30 a.m. with Rabbi Abraham at Beth El & Live Stream.

WEDNESDAY: BESTT Thanksgiving Break

THURSDAY: Miriam’s Craft Night, 7 p.m. at Buff City Soap.

FRIDAY-Dec. 2: Kabbalat Shabbat, 6 p.m. with Musician-in-Residence, Yahala Lachmish at Beth El & Live Stream .

SATURDAY-Dec. 3: Shabbat Morning Services, 10 a.m. with Musician-in-Residence, Yahala Lachmish at Beth El & Live Stream; Havdalah & Concert, 6 p.m. with Musician-in-Residence, Yahala Lachmish at Temple Israel; Havdalah, 5:35 p.m. Zoom Only.

Please visit bethel-omaha.org for additional information and service links.

FRIDAY: Thanksgiving Friday — Office Closed; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 4:41 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat 10:45 a.m.; Kids Parsha Class, 4 p.m.; Mincha/Shalosh Suedos, 4:30 p.m.; Laws of Shabbos/Kids Activity 5 p.m.; Ma’ariv/Havdalah, 5:43 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Daf Yomi, 4 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 4:40 p.m.

MONDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Daf Yomi, 4 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:40 p.m.

TUESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Daf Yomi, 4 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:40 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7

A bundle of birthdays

My birthday is Nov. 10, 1943. My mother saved my early birthday cards. They are preciously charming. Few of the card senders are still among us. Omahan Howard Chudacoff, a Central High and University of Chicago graduate and Brown University professor studied birthday customs in How Old Are You? Age Consciousness in American Culture (1989).

The Pollak family left England and postwar austerity food rationing in 1952. In America my favorite birthday meal for many years was a celebratory steak, French fries, mushrooms and green peas, followed by chocolate cake.

I just turned 79. My birthday was noted traditionally by two birthday cards received by mail, two in person. Cards cost between 50 cents and $10, and postage is about 60 cents. I received 16 emails from friends, health care and insurance providers, Jewish organizations, and AARP. There were four text messages and three telephone calls from children and grandchildren, and one precious machatunim facetime moment. The online Jewish Insider included

a.m.; Daf Yomi, 4 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 4:40 p.m.

THURSDAY: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Character Development, 9:30 a.m.; Daf Yomi, 4 p.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv 4:40 p.m.; Parsha Class 5 p.m.

FRIDAY-Dec. 2: Nach Yomi, 6:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Candlelighting, 4:38 p.m.

SATURDAY-Dec. 3: Shabbat Kollel, 8:30 a.m.; Shacharit 9 a.m.; Tot Shabbat 10:45 a.m.; Kids Parsha Class, 4 p.m.; Mincha/Shalosh Suedos, 4:30 p.m.; Laws of Shabbos/Kids Activity, 5 p.m.; Ma’ariv/Havdalah, 5:42 p.m.

Please visit orthodoxomaha.org for additional information and Zoom service links.

CHABAD HOUSE

All services are in-person. All classes are being offered in-person/Zoom hybrid (Ochabad.com/classroom). For more information or to request help, please visit www.ochabad.com or call the office at 402.330.1800.

FRIDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Inspirational Lechayim, 4:30 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ochabad.com/Le chayim; Candlelighting, 4:40 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 5:42 p.m.

SUNDAY: Sunday Morning Wraps: Video Presentation, 9-9:30 a.m. and Breakfast, 9:45 a.m.

MONDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Personal Parsha, 9:30 a.m.; Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen.

TUESDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.

WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Tanya Class, 9:30 a.m.; Hebrew Grammar, 10:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Hebrew Reading, 11:30 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen.

THURSDAY: Shacharit 8 a.m.; Hebrew Reading, 11 a.m. with Prof. David Cohen; Talmud Study (Sanhedrin 18 — No advance experience necessary), noon; Jewish Law Class, 7 p.m.

FRIDAY-Dec. 2: Shacharit, 8 a.m.; Inspirational Lechayim, 4:30 p.m. with Rabbi and friends: ochab ad.com/Lechayim; Candlelighting, 4:37 p.m.

SATURDAY-Dec. 3: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush and Cholent; Shabbat Ends, 5:40 p.m.

Services facilitated by Rabbi Alex Felch.

Note: Some of our services, but not all, are now being offered in person.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Service with Rabbi Alex and music by Nathaniel and Steve Kaup, 6:30 p.m. at SST; Oneg host: TBD; Candlelighting, 4:44 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parashat Toldot; Havdalah 5:46 p.m.

SUNDAY: No LJCS Classes; Men's Jewish Bike Group of Lincoln meets Sundays at 10 a.m., rain or

me as the second oldest of 22 Jews, 17 birthday boys and five girls born on Nov. 10. Karen and I usually spend our birthdays in Southern California. We kick off birthday festivities with a friend from the early 1960s who is three days older than me. Then we celebrate my actual birthday with my younger sister in Laguna Woods. For many years my sister and I have exchanged a $100.00 birthday check, no adjustments for inflation.

The English birth mate class of 1943 includes politicians, entertainers, the Beatles, Monty Python, and two Nobel Prize winners: British Conservative Prime Minister John Majors, George Harrison, Eric Idle, Mick Jagger, Lynn Redgrave, and Keith Richards. Richard J. Roberts won the Nobel in 1993 for “discoveries of split genes,” and Sir Richard Timothy “Tim” Hunt in 2001 for “discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle.”

American November babies include Billy Jean King, who was a classmate at California State College at Los Angeles, since renamed “University,” my spouse Karen Goldstein Pollak, and longtime friend Beryl Weiner.

Several historic events associated occurred on Nov. 10, plus or minus one day. The Armistice ending the Great War, aka the First World War, was signed on Nov. 11, 1918. The peace treaty became

shine, to ride to one of The Mill locations from Hanson Ct. (except we drive if it’s too wet, cold, cloudy, windy, hot or humid) followed by coffee and spirited discussions. If interested, please email Al Weiss at albertw801@gmail.com to find out where to meet each week; South Street Temple Board Meeting, 1:30 p.m.; Pickleball will restart soon at TI, but first we want to know how many people are interested. There are three possibilities and we can do any or all of them depending on interest: Do a teaching clinic (equipment provided); Just Play. Newcomers welcome; Coaching sessions, providing tips and practice to improve your game. Please let Miriam Wallick know which options you're most interested in by text message 402.470.2393 or email at Miriam57@aol.com

TUESDAY: Tea & Coffee with Pals, 1:30 p.m. via Zoom.

WEDNESDAY: LJCS Classes, 4:30 p.m.; Adult Ed class: The Modern History of Israel: Faith, Hope, Reality, 6:30 p.m. with Rabbi Alex at SST.

FRIDAY-Dec. 2: Kabbalat Shabbat Service with Rabbi Alex and music by Nathaniel and Steve Kaup, 6:30 p.m. at SST; Oneg host: TBD; Candlelighting, 4:41 p.m.

SATURDAY-Dec. 3: Shabbat Morning Service 9:30 a.m. with Rabbi Alex at TI; Torah Study, noon on Parashat Vayetzei; Havdalah, 5:44 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.

The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home’s service is currently closed to visitors.

In-person and virtual services conducted by Rabbi Batsheva Appel, Rabbi Deana Sussmam Berezin, and Cantor Joanna Alexander

FRIDAY: Temple Office Closed; Shabbat B’yachad Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. In-Person & Zoom.

WEDNESDAY: Yarn It, 9 a.m. In-Person; Grades 36, 4-6 p.m.; Grades 9-12, 6-8 p.m.; Grades 7-8, 6:308 p.m.; Community Beit Midrash, 7 p.m.

THURSDAY: Thursday Morning Class, 10 a.m with Rabbi Azriel — In-Person & Zoom.

FRIDAY-Dec. 2: Drop-In Mah Jongg 9-11 a.m.; Shabbat Shira Service, 6 p.m. In-Person & Zoom.

SATURDAY-Dec. 3: Torah Study 9:15 a.m. In-Person & Zoom; Havdalah & Concert, 6-8:30 p.m. with Musician-in-Residence, Yahala Lachmish. Please visit templeisraelomaha.com for additional information and Zoom service links.

the subject of economist John Maynard Keynes in The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919). He predicted that saddling the Germans with War Guilt and Reparations would have disastrous consequences. Inflation, fascism and anti-Semitism would rack Germany. Twenty years later Kristallnacht, the anti-Semitic pogrom of Nov. 9-10, 1938, destroyed synagogues and Jewish businesses. Thousands of Jews were arrested. It was the precursor to the Holocaust. My mother and father fled Germany and Austria, some family members waited too long.

This year we are in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Stolen election allegations challenged democracy. The November 2022 mid term elections occurred with inflation at a 40 year high. Rampant inflation and widespread loss of economic security causes political extremes.

Nov. 10, 2022 may be remembered as a remarkable day in stock market history. Reuters reported “Wall Street soars on sign of cooling inflation.” The Dow Jones average rose 1201 points, 3.70%, the 6th largest point gain in its history. It was the biggest one day rally since the rebound from Covid-19 on March 13, 2020. NASDAQ and the S&P500 rose 7.85% and 5.53%. The Dow ended 1943 at 135.89. It

A bundle of birthdays page 11

B’NAI ISRAEL

BETH EL

BETH ISRAEL

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME

TEMPLE ISRAEL

LINCOLN JEWISH COMMUNITY: B’NAI JESHURUN & TIFERETH ISRAEL

OLIVER B. POLLAK

Life cycles

ROBERT L. WEINSTEIN

Robert L. Weinstein passed away peacefully on Nov. 11, 2022, at age 76 in Boca Raton, Florida. A graveside service was held on Nov. 17, 2022 at Beth El Cemetery-Bae Epstein Pavillion at 84th & L Street.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Herman and Shirley Weinstein.

He is survived by his brothers and sisters-in-law, Dale and Kay and Jim and Fran; five nephews and nieces: Lee, Benjamin, Guy and Alex, Jeffrey and Jordan and Lisa and Gopal; aunt, Doris Cohn; in the most recent years, the light of his life was his Florida family which included Jeff and Jordan Weinstein and his beloved grandnieces, Blake and Georgia.

Robert was born July 8, 1945, and he received his B.A. from

Oklahoma University and his J.D. from Creighton University. The majority of his professional career was spent in the building of a successful office furniture manufacturing business. Robert’s true avocation was wine collecting as he was a true wine connoisseur. He was a favorite of the young and old keeping close relationships with his childhood friends as well as making new friends on his vast travels throughout his life. Robert was the family historian as he was the oldest grandchild of his beloved grandparents, Leo and Julia Fox. He would share family stories with his first cousins, their spouses and children.

Memorials may be made in Robert’s memory to the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, 333 S. 132nd Street, Omaha, NE 68154.

Israeli fans at the Qatari World Cup

JACOB GURVIS

JTA

Qatar, which does not normally allow Israelis into the country, permitted Israeli visitors during the 2022 World Cup, prompting the Israeli government to warn travelers who make the trip to “downplay” their “Israeli identity.”

As many as 20,000 Israelis were expected to attend the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which began Nov. 20 in Qatar, an Arab country run by a Muslim monarchy that does not have diplomatic ties with Israel.

Qatar allowed for new direct flights from Tel Aviv to Doha, the Qatari capital, and an Israeli foreign ministry delegation traveled ahead of the opening, Reuters reported, preparing to help Israeli visitors navigate local laws and customs and avoid any possible tensions with locals.

Despite the unprecedented openness, Israel’s Foreign Ministry launched a campaign to urge Israelis to exercise caution, particularly given the presence of Iran, which routinely calls for violence against Israel, at the World Cup. Qatar has close ties with Iran.

LetterContinued from page 5 for grants of up to $150,000 per institution. In the coming year, as much as $360 million may be available. Yet too many at-risk faith organizations do not apply for this vital funding, and others have not had the opportunity to prepare successful applications.

That’s why Jewish Federations and our community partners have joined together to host the Nonprofit Security Program Webinar on Nov. 22, 1:30-3 p.m. EST. The webinar will feature Mark Silveira, Senior Advisor, Office of Grants Administration of FEMA’s Grants Program Directorate, Nate Looney, JFNA Director of Community Safety and Belonging and other experts and will include information about program history, how and when to prepare a successful application, and where to find additional resources, with the goal of helping faithbased nonprofits to prepare and position themselves to successfully apply when the government issues the funding opportunity, likely in early 2023.

Please rsvp to https://jfeds.org/securinghousesofworship

“The Iranian team will be in the World Cup and we estimate that tens of thousands fans will follow it, and there will be other fans from Gulf countries that we don’t have diplomatic relationship with,” Lior Haiat, a senior Israeli diplomat, said, according to the Associated Press

Haiat urged Israeli visitors to hide Israeli symbols, which could include Israeli flags or other things outwardly showing a Star of David. While an estimated 1020,000 Israelis purchased tickets to the quadrennial event, only 3,500 would be using their Israeli passport to make the trip, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The campaign also advised against public displays of drunkenness and homosexual relationships, both of which are illegal in Qatar, which has been hit with widespread criticism over its human rights record ahead of the World Cup.

While some of Qatar’s Arab neighbors, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, have signed recent normalization agreements with Israel, Qatar has said it will avoid negotiations with Israel until it sees a path forward for the creation of a Palestinian state.

A bundle of birthdays

Continued from page 10 broke 1000 in 1972. Fifty years on American capitalism evokes general confidence and optimism.

Overall, the financial news was a welcome birthday present. On Veterans Day the Dow went up an encouraging 32 points. But recall the caveat, past performance is not indicative of future results.

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 thought-provoking, informative list of speakers. To be placed on the email list, contact Breadbreakers chair at gary.javitch@gmail.com

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Qatar is hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Credit: Christopher Lee/Getty Images

a window to the past and foundation for the future”

The Nebraska Jewish Historical Society Celebrates 40 Years

The following letter was sent from the Fellman family, in honor of NJHS’s milestone 40th anniversary.

Like so many of you, we grew up with strong family relationships and stories about our families. In our case, the stories were about both the Arbitman-Freed families on our mother [Mary Arbitman Fellman’s] side, and the Fellman family on our father’s side. Those stories included how they arrived in the United States, made their way to Omaha and to other parts of this country, made their livings, grew their families, contributed to the strength and sustenance of their synagogues and temples, and became integral parts of both their religious and secular communities.

It is not an overstatement to note that for our mother, ‘family’ and ‘family stories’ were always of the utmost importance, and ‘family’ had a multi-dimensional meaning. ‘Family’ included parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins, and the Jewish community, starting with the Omaha Jewish community and expanding to wherever Jews had established their families and homes. Road trips with Mary always included her browsing the local phone book to see if we had family or connections. For our mother, preserving connections with families at every level was critical to the very existence and Jewish survival. She believed that only through the connections and the shared stories could we understand our responsibilities to both the Jewish and secular communities and guarantee the continuation of Jewish values and conditions.

The Nebraska Jewish Historical Society was a perfect vehicle for contributing to those goals. Those who knew Mary know that her words and ideas almost always led to action, especially when she had a willing and knowledgeable partner who, in this case, was Oliver Pollak. Their partnership with the sharing of ideas and actions was the right one at the right time in the right place. They were both dreamers who had ideas, said ‘why not,’ and then rolled their sleeves up to make the dream a reality.

We know that our mother would be more than thrilled and thankful to see the size, scope, participation, projects, and impact of the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society. She was excited when the Federation provided a single filing cabinet for materials, then a desk, then a workspace, and then and then and then until the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society became what it is today, which is a window to the past and foundation for the future.

Mary always had the vision to preserve notes, speeches and clippings that were important to the growth of the Midwest Jewish community, as well as her life. We have her Girl Scout uniform, Central High School scrapbook, letters to us at camp, and many photos, cards and honors she received, and copies of the Jewish Press from the period when she was the editor. This all was a precursor to the NJHS but was really part of her core... to leave and value a story for the following generations.

On behalf of our mother, we say thank you for remembering both Oliver and her, Mary Arbitman Fellman, on this 40th anniversary of their dream, which has been made possible with the work and contributions of so many. May the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society continue to go from strength to strength as it sustains its important mission.

Marsha Zimmerman

Mark Fellman

Ronald Fellman

Special thanks to the Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Supporting Foundation, the Carl Frohm Foundation, and the Staenberg Family Foundation.

And here’s how it all started ...

Oliver Pollak and Mary Fellman