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NOVEMBER 26, 2021 | 2 2 KIS LE V 578 2 | VO L. 1 02 | NO. 7 | CANDLELIGHTING | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 4:39 P.M.
Unraveling Racism with Adam Fletcher Sasse ADL-CRC Walk Against Hate Page 2
The blockbusters keep coming Page 4
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor n our Nov. 12 edition, we introduced the readers to Adam Fletcher Sasse, who will facilitate an intensive workshop from Dec. 9-12. Titled Unraveling Racism, this multi-day experience will offer participants countless opportunities to learn about both presentday racism in Omaha, as well as its history. This event is the result of the hard work done by the Ruby Platt Allyship Initiative— now it is time for the rest of us to sign on and take part in the work. “I grew up in North Omaha in the Miller Park neighborhood,” Sasse said. “Growing up in this historical, predominantly African
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Registration for the 35th Annual Zorinsky B’nai B’rith Bible Quiz Page 8
American neighborhood, I was a bit of an anomaly: I was a goofy white Canadian kid in cowboy boots and corduroy pants from a poor family in a crappy house. But I devoured history, especially the stories of the place where I was growing up.” Not much was taught in school about the neighborhood’s history, he remembers, but he found other channels to learn: “One of my mentors was Idu Maduli, who taught me the neighborhood’s history when I was young. I also learned glimpses of the city’s history from other mentors, including Rev. Helen Saunders, many of the people at Pearl Memorial United Methodist Church, Von Trimble, and Mr. and Mrs. Hickerson, See Unraveling Racism page 2
Death and Mourning in Judaism: Cemetery Information
REGULARS Spotlight Voices Synagogues Life cycles
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SPONSORED BY THE BENJAMIN AND ANNA E. WIESMAN FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND
SAM KRICSFELD Visiting the final resting place of a family member or friend can be a turbulent experience. The cemetery can be a difficult place to navigate mentally and emotionally. Conduct surrounding burial, gravestones, unveilings, and visitations are established by Jewish tradition and can help with the strong feelings a cemetery can elicit. According to Maurice Lamm in The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning,
cemetery plots should be purchased by someone before they die, if possible. Ideally, the grave should be among other Jewish graves or in a specifically Jewish cemetery. A row of Jewish graves will often be laid out
with couples alternating positions, so that two husbands are next to each other, and two wives are next to each other. This prevents someone being buried next to someone else’s spouse. See Death and Mourning page 3
Additions to the Kripke Library SHIRLY BANNER JFO Kripke Jewish Federation Library, Library Specialist YOUNG ADULT: Summer of Stolen Secrets by Julie Sternberg
Catarina has never met her strict Jewish grandmother. But now, with an opportunity to spend three weeks in Baton Rouge and away from her best-friends-turned-bullies, Cat packs her bags and leaves New York City to get to know the woman who has always been a mystery. Down South, she begins working at her grandmother’s luxury department store with her rebellious cousin Lexie. Nothing seems to be going right and nobody talks about the past. But just when Cat is starting to think that this whole trip may have been a huge mistake, she stumbles onto a secret from a time her grandmother refuses to speak of. Suddenly Cat’s summer, and everything she thought she knew, has changed. Award-winning author Julie Sternberg tells a tender family story full of humor, heart, and heartbreak that reveals the power of forgiveness and proves it’s never too late to start over. ADULT: More Than I Love My Life by David Grossman More Than I Love My Life is the story of three strong women: Vera, age ninety; her daughter, Nina; and her granddaughter, Gili, who at thirty-nine is a filmmaker and a wary consumer of affection. A bitter secret divides each mother and daughter pair, though Gili—abandoned by Nina when she was just three—has always been close to her grandmother. With Gili making the arrangements, they travel together to Goli Otok, a barren island off the coast of Croatia, where Vera was imprisoned and tortured for three years as See Kripke Library page 3
